USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > Centennial history of Somerset County [New Jersey] > Part 10
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CHAPTER VIII.
WASHINGTON AND DR. HARDENEURGH.
In the winter of 1778 and 1779 while Washington had his quarters in Caleb Miller's honse, Dr. Hardenburgh was residing next door in the parsonage. A friendship grew up naturally between them as the result of almost daily intercourse. They were, in many respects, men of the same spirit, although one was a warrior and the other a minister of the gospel of peace. Dr. Hardenburgh had not yet lost his church, and there can be little doubt that Washington, sometimes at least, attended divine service on the banks of the Raritan in the house which was after- wards burned, for he was a respecter of religion and careful not to seem to neglect, far less to oppose it.
The fruits of this intercourse and friendship are seen in several public orders issued to the army while at Raritan. His general orders quartering his army, dated September 17th, 1778, cautioning against unnecessary injury to per - sons or property belonging to the inhabitants, and forbid - ing peremptorily any trespasses-again, on October 28th, an order against horse-racing ; and what marks the coinci- dence and the inspiration, is that the minutes of the church show a protest about the same time written no doubt by Dr. Hardenburgh against "cock-fighting, shoot- ing matches and horse racing,"-still again, November 19, 1778, another series of orders directed against the prevail- ing practice of profane swearing, reprobating and forbid- ding it in the army, Attest this.
But there are two other papers arising out of this inter . course and friendship, which we have reserved for this
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place. The first is entitled an address of the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Dutch Reformed Church of Raritan, presented to His Excellency. George Washing- ton, Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States of North America, and is as follows : May it please your Excellency-
We, the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church of Raritan, beg leave to embrace this opportunity to declare to your Excellency the real sentiments of our hearts.
As we would wish to adore the directing hand of Provi- dence, so we are bound to acknowledge that. spirit of pa- triotism, which has indneed your Excellency to sacrifice the swe ets of an affluent domestic life, to put yourself and your most amiable and virtuous consort to repeated and afflicting separations, for no other reason than defending the just rights and liberties of our bleeding country. Here, sir, permit us to express our grateful sense of your Excellency's care and vigilance for this part of our country in the trying winter of the year 1777. when after two mem- orable victories. your Excellency by masterly strokes of generalship defended us by a handful of undisciplined mi- litia, against the depredations of a formidable army of our enemies, collected and quartered in our vicinity. We can not help admiring that gracious Providence which has made the success and victories of your arms to bear down the remembrance of discouraging disappointments ; and we cordially hope that the agreeable prospect of a speedy termination of the present troubles, in favor of our distress- ed nation, may support your Excellency under the pres- ent weight of perplexing cares and concerns, inseparable from your station.
Though the quartering of armies among ?citizens is al- ways attended with unavoidable inconveniences to the lat- ter ; yet we are agreably constrained to acknowledge that your Excellency has been pleased to take particular care, throughout the course of this last winter to prevent and alleviate these calamities, as much as Possible. Your Excellency's concern for the support of civil government in its just and equitable execution, ¿has endeared you to our fellow citizens ; and the strict discipline which the
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gentlemanly officers under your Excellency's more immediate command at this time, have observed not only at head quar- ters, but also throughout the body of the army, we are per- suaded has merited the approbation and applause of the good people of this neighborhood. We beg your Excellen- cy will do us the justice to believe us sincere, when we de- clare our affection and true regard for your person, and the deep sense which we entertain of the important services your Excellency and the gentlemen officers under your com- mand, have rendered their country in the course of this se- vere contest ! And we assure you, sir, that we shall deem it our duty and privilege to make our warmest addresses to the God of armies, for the preservation of your health and your invaluable life-as also that of the brave officers and soldiers of your army-praviug that indulgent Heaven may direct your counsels and crown your exertions in the ensuing campaign, with such victories and success, as shall compel a haughty and relentless enemy, to consent to the terms of a safe, honorable and lasting peace.
Signed by order of the Consistory.
JACOB R. HARDENBURGH, V. D. M. June 1, 1779.
This is quite a courtly document indeed ; but it ex- presses the sentiments of a noble man, in a case where pa- triotism and humanity were both concerned. Its warmth breathes not only admiration but friendship, and it forms a reminescence of those times, the value of which cannot be well overestimated. It proves the friendship of Wash- ington and Hardenbugh.
This interesting document was succeeded the next day, June 2d, 1779, by an answer, of which the following is a literal copy, dated at Camp Middlebrook, and addressed :-
Gentlemen : To meet the the approbation of good men cannot but be agrecable. Your affectionate expressions make it more so, In quartering an army and supplying its wants, distress and inconveniance will often occur to the citizens. I feel myself happy in the consciousness that these have been strictly limited by necessity ; and in your opinion of my attention to the rights of my fellow citizens. I thank you gentlemen sincerely for the sense you enter-
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tain of the conduct of the army, and for the interest you take in my welfare. I trust the goodness of the cause and the exertions of the people, under Divine protection, will give us that honorable peace for which we are contending. Suffer me, gentlemen, to wish the Dutch Reformed Church at Raritan a long continuance of its present minister and consistcry, and all the blessings which flow from piety and Religion.
I am, &c., GEORGE WASHINGTON.
A noble answer, showing how fully he appreciated the noble sentiments to which he was responding. These doc- uments are alike honorable to both parties, and form a pre- cious memorial of the times, and of the sentiments and men who uttered them.
We append to these interesting memorials of our revolu- tion two other public documents which seem to find here their most appreciated place.
GENERAL ORDERS, MORRIS HOUSE, July 29, 1779.
Many and pointed orders have been issued against that unmeaning and abominable custom of swearing, notwith- standing which, with much regret, the general observes it prevails, if possible, more than ever ; his feelings are con- tinually wounded by the oaths and imprecations of the soldiers whenever he is in hearing of them.
The name of the Being from whose bountiful goodness we are permitted to exist and enjoy the comforts of life, is incessantly imprecated and profaned in a manner as wan- ton as it is shocking. For the sake therefor, of religion, decency and order, the General hopes and trusts that offi- cers of every rank ,will use their influence and authority to check a vice which is as unprofitable as it is wicked and shameful. If the officers would make it an invariable rule to reprimand, and if that does not do, to punish soldiers for offenses of this kind, it would not fail of having the desired effect.
The following minutes of a public meeting at Millstone. are interesting as evidence of the pressure of the burdens of the war, and the patriotic spirit in which it is proposed to meet them :
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At a meeting of the electors of the County of Somerset, pursuant to notice by advertisement on Thursday, 3d inst., at the Court House of said county.
The business of the meeting being introduced and dis- cussed, the following resolutions were adopted :
Whereas, The concurrence of a variety of causes. the bills of credit emitted under authority of the United States in Congress assembled, have greatly depreciated in their val- ne, and in addition to the quantity circulating, will tend to increase such depreciaton ; therefore
Resolved, That a petition be presented to the legislature, requesting them to make application to Congress on be- half of this State, that the emission of bills of credit be henceforth discontinued.
Resolved, that the Legislature be requested to make ap- plication as aforesaid, that a plan be adopted and recom- mended for a general limitation of prices throughout the United States, according to which, such prices may be di- minished slowly from the present time or at stated periods and by small differences, until the quantity of money be reduced by taxation to what is necessary for a circulating medium.
And, Whereas, taxation is the most natural and bene- ficial source from which to derive the supplies necessary for suppoting the army and carrying on the war,
Resolved, That the Legislature be requested to make ap- plication as aforesaid that requisitions of taxes be hence- forward made on the States for the above purposes ; and that to avoid as far as possible the expense of purchasing in the modes hitherto practiced, and the necessity of such large circulations of money through the public treasury, a just quota of provisions, forage and other necessaries for the army, be laid upon each State, in such kind as they are severally suited to produce, to be paid in the way of tax at regulated prices by those who raise them, while those who do not, pay a fair proportion in money.
Resolved, That it be expressed to the Legislature as the sense of this meeting, that on levying all future taxes and aids for the use of the State and Union in general, the as- sessments be made according to the value of all property
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possessed by each individual ; it being reasonable that persons should be taked for their money, their income, the faculty and means of acquiring property, or for any estate whatsoever
Whereas, There is great reason to believe that many persons employed in various branches of the public depart- ment of the United States are guilty of mismanagement and fraud, in the execution of their trust and applying the public money, and there being no ready and regular mode presented by public authority, of which such as are dispos- ed may avail themselves, to furnish the necessary informa- tion to those who have the power to correct such abuses and thereby prevent unnecessary increase of the public burdens,
Resolved, That the Legislature be requested to direct some convenient and adequate means of collecting and transmitting to Congress, or to such Board or Committee by them appointed, as may be adequate in point of juris- diction, or to the executive power of the State in cases where that is competent, all such anthentic evidences and documents as can be procured, that the guilty may be pun- ished and the faithful seryants of the public may be res- cued from that indiscriminate censure which the bad and unworthy bring upon all, and that we will exert our ut- most endeavors for effecting so laudable a purpose.
Whereas, virtue and good morals are not only product- ive of individual happiness, but have a great and extensive good effect upon the political state of every government when they are cultivated,
Resolved, That we will by our example and influence en- deavor to promote these, and will look upon it as the course of duty to support and strengthen the arm of the civil authority in detecting and bringing to deserved pun- ishment all such as are guilty of profanity, immorality, extravagance, idleness and dissipation, of extortion, sharp- ing and oppression, and of all such practices as tend to the unjust advantage of individuals and detriment of the com- munity.
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Ordered, That a representation and petition to the Leg- islature be drawn up pursuant to these resolutions and signed by the chairman, and that the representatives of this county be requested to lay the same before the respec- tive house.
Extracted from the minutes of proceedings and publish- ed by order.
WM. C. HASTON, Chairman.
CHAPTER IX.
THE LADIES IN THE REVOLUTION.
The sufferings of the poor soldiers in their log huts on the south side of Kimbal's Mountain, west of Morristown, during the dreadful winter of 1780, when food was so scarce and many of them so poorly and scantily clothed, excited a wide spread and deep sympathy in the public mind. It manifested itself most prominently and perhaps the earliest among the Ladies of Philadelphia. They aroused themselves immediately, and began by forming an association for the sufferers relief. "Never, says one, was the energy of a noble and genuine sympathy more nobly expressed than by the noble matrons of the Quaker City on this occasion. Mrs Esther Reed, the wife of General Joseph Reed, though feeble in health and surrounded by a numerous family, entered with hearty zeal into the service, and was by the united voice of her associates placed at the head of the Society. Mrs. Sarah Bache, daughter of Dr. Franklin, was also a conspicuous actor in the formation of the association and in carrying out its plans. All classes in the city became interested and the results were glorious. All ranks of society seemed to have joined in the llberal effort, from Philis, the colored woman, with her seven shil- lings and six pence, to the Marchioness DeLafayette whose husband contributed in her name one hundred guineas in specie, and the Countess de Luzerne who gave six thous- and dollars in Continental paper. Those who had no money to contribute gave the labor of their hands in ply- ing the needle ; and in almost every house the work went on." It was charity in its genuine form, and from its pur- est source-the voluntary outpourings of the heart. It
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was not stimulated by the excitements of our day-neither fancy fairs nor bazars had anything to do with it. It was not pleasure and conspicuity that they sought, but the comfort of the suffering patriots in the winter huts, scan- tily fed and clothed, who appealed to their noble and lov- ing hearts ; and they met, counselled, acted and brought them relief. The American women working for the com- fort of a starving American patriot army was indeed a no- ble exhibition of patriotic kindness. That army needed relief and they provided and brought it. They went out and solicited money and other necessaries from door to door, stating what it was for, and carried it to the army di- rectly as the result of their activity. They had in the first instance given their trinkets and jewehy and wrought with their needles, and when the need was more pressing they claimed from the public what they themselves were unable to supply.
The Marquis DeChastellax who was in Philadelphia while this work was in progress, was delighted with the spirit excited by it. In describing a visit to several of the ladies, he says : "We began by Mrs. Bache. She mer- its all the anxiety we had to see her, for she is the daugh- ter of Dr. Franklin. Simple in her manners, like her re- spectable father, she possesses his benevolence. She con- ducted us into a room filled with work, lately finished by the ladies of Philadelphia. This work consisted neither of embroidered tambour waistcoats, nor net work edgings, nor of gold and silver brocade-It was a quantity of shirts for the soldiers of Pennsylvania. The ladies bought the linen fiem their own private purses, and took a pleasure in cutting them out and sewing them themselves. On each shirt was the name of the married or unmarried lady who made it, and they amounted to 2200."
The result of this sympathy and industry was great and very timely. The aggregate amount of the contributions in the city and county of Philadelphia was 9,500 dollars in specie value; added to this was a princely donation from Robert Morris of a ship fully loaded with military stores and elothing which had just arrived.
It went further. The ladies of almost all the populous
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towns en.ulated the kindness of their sisters in Philadel- phia. We are most interested in what was done in our native State, and we give a remeniscence of the patriotism of the ladies of Trenton. We record it with great pleas- ure as another proof of the important influence which our dear wives and daughters always give in trying times, of their tender hearts and their devotion to the right. It consists of an article, printed in the New Jersey Gazette at Trenton, July 5, 1780, to the following effect, showing that all the kindness exhibited for the suffering soldiers was not confined to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, but New Jersey furnished also ladies who seconded the efforts of those of Pennsylvania with all their might.
"The ladies of Trenton, New Jersey, emulating the no- ble example of their patriotic sisters of Pennsylvania, and being desirous of manifesting their zeal in the cause of American liberty-having this day assembled for the pur- pose of promoting a subscription for the relief and encour- agement of those brave men in the continental army, who, stimulated by example and regardless of danger, have so repeatedly suffered, fought and bled in the cause of virtue and their oppressed country, and taking into consideration the scattered situation of the well disposed throughout the State, who would wish to contribute to so landable an un- dertaking, have, for the purpose of the convenience of such and the more effectually to carry their scheme into execu- tion, unanimously appointed Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Dickon- son, Mrs. Forman and Miss Cadwallader a committee, whose duty it shall be immediately to open a subscription and correspond with the ladies hereinafter named of the different counties throughout the State, requesting their aid and influence in the several districts ; and in order the more expeditiously to carry the scheme into execution, the ladies now mnet, have taken the liberty to solicit the interest of the following ladies in promoting said subscrip- tion, viz : For the county of Hunterdon, Mrs, Vice Presi- dent Stevens, Mrs. Judge Smith, Mrs. Charles Cox, Mrs. R. Stevens, Mrs. Hanna, Mrs. Loweriey, Mrs. I. Sexton, Mrs. B. Van Cleve, Mrs. Col. Berry, Mrs. Dr. Barnes ; County of Sussex, Mrs. Councelor Ogden, Mrs. Colonel
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- Thompson. Mrs. Maj. Hoops, Mrs. T. Anderson ; County of Bergen, Mrs. Col. Dey, Mrs. Fell, Mrs. Kuyper, Mrs. Erkskine, Mrs. Maj. Dey ; County of Morris, Mrs Coun- eelor Condict, Mrs. Parson Jones, Mrs. Col. Reisen, Mrs. Van Zandt, Mrs. Carmichael, Mrs. Col. Cook. Mrs. Fa- esch ; County of Essex, Mrs. Governor Livingston, Mrs. C. Camp, Mrs. Dr. Burnet, Mrs. Elisha . Bondinot, Mrs. Hornblower ; County of Middlesex, Mrs Neilson, Mrs. Councelor Dean, Mrs. George Morgan, Mrs. Col. Neilson, Mrs. Neils, Mrs. Daniel Marsh ; County of Monmouth, Mrs. Gen. Forman, Mrs. Col. Scudder, Mrs. Newell, Mrs. Peter Forman. Mrs. Jacob Wyckoff, Mrs. Peter Coven- hoven ; County of Burlington, Mrs. Col. Cox, Mrs. Coun- celor Tallman, Mrs. Col. Borden, Mrs. Secretary Reed, Mrs. Capt. Reed ; County of Somerset, Lady Sterling, Mrs . Gen. Morris, Mrs. Co! Martin, Mrs. Attorney Gen. Pat- erson. Mrs. R. Stockton ; County of Gloucester, Mrs. Col. Clark, Mrs. Col. Westcot. Mrs. Col. Ellis, Mrs. Col. Hngg, Mrs, Bloomfield ; County of Cumberland, Mrs. Councellor Buck. Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Elmer, Mrs. Bowen, Mrs. Fithian ; County of Cape May, Mrs. Councelor Hand, Mrs. Whilden, Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Heldreth, whose well known patriotism leaves no room to doubt of their exertions in the promotion of our undertaking, so hu- mane and praiseworthy, and that they will be happy in forwarding the amount of their several collections either .with or without the names of the donors, which will im- mediately be transmitted by Mrs. Moore Forman, who is hereby appointed Treasuress. to be disposed of by the Commander-in-Chief agreeably to the general plan.
As the ladies here would wish to expedite the good work as much as possible they have appointed Mrs. Dag- worthy of Trenton, their Secretary, who will receive and answer all letters that the ladies of the different counties may think proper to favor her with on the occasion, and to furnish them with proper subscription papers as soon as possible. In Spark's correspondence of Washington there is printed a letter from Mrs. Dagworthy of Trenton, trans- mitting to him the sum of 15,408 dollars, the amount col- lected in New Jersey up to July 17, 1780. This is not to be
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understood as the whole amount collected by the exertions of the "Ladies of New Jersey;" Subsequent to this date, the good work is known to have progressed, ceasing only when the occasion for exertion had ceased. We are not. therefore, able to say what were all the fruits of this move- ment. No record of it seems to have been made at the time, which has been transmitted to the future. It is however, an understood tradition, that large supplies were sent in, both in provisions and clothing, as well as in mon - ey, to relieve the pressing necessities of the army and en- courage the men to remain steadfast in their efforts to free the country from its oppressors. Indeed, when has the sympathy of the female heart been appealed to in vain. The women of the Revolution were the noblest of their sex. and the encouragement which they gave, on promi- nent occasions and in all proper ways, had no small share in sustaining the patriotism of their husbands and broth- ers, in the dark hours of the protracted contest. Many instances are remembered when it displayed itself in beau- tiful firmness or in tenderest sympathy, and the history of those times will not be written until these things find a pen to record them. There were many as noble and devo- ted women as Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Bache, in the other States of the Union, and it has been a real pleasure, to rescue from an obscure place the action of the ladies of New Jersey, and give it at least a temporary resuscitation in these remeuiscences of our Revolution. It is a valuable record in many ways. It presents to us the names of la- dies who were prominent in their day and who wielded an influence from which good was expected, and we are glad to know them.
CHAPTER X.
SERVITUDE AND SLAVES.
We give some notes on the subject of servitude and slaves. Servitude was early introduced in New Jersey in at least three different forms. Which was the worst form we shall not determine, but leave it as an open question for each one for himself to decide.
In the first instance the Proprietors sent over their ser- ·vants to occupy and improve their lands for them. Among the individuals who are most conspicuous for their efforts in this direction, were Lord Neil Campbell, William Dock- wra, Thomas Pierson, the Scotch Proprietors, Capt. Au- drew Hamilton, Gov Gawen Lawrie, Robert Fulton and David Mndie. These servants, perhaps, did not absolute- ly forfeit their personal liberty by their engagements with their masters, but still they were in all essential particu- lars "bond men," held in servitude and controlled entirely personally and socially, by those who had brought them into the province for their own profit. They were slaves in everything but the name ; and their relation to their superiors was unquestionably a form of what we may call "white slavery," and continued for life ; and in some in- stances included their children also. But as it had no legal sanction in the laws of the Province, it ceased of it- self from causes which the anthors of it could not control.
At a later period, many persons from the "Palatinate" came to New Jersey as well as New York, under what has been called the "apprentice system." The captains of the vessels who brought over the emigrant, did so under a bond signed by the emigrants, which gave the captain liberty to
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sell his time on his arrival in America for his passage money. This included fewer or more years, as the pur- chaser might be willing to accept ; and in this he was guided by the age, the health and the working power of the apprentice or emigrant. Many of these apprentices became prosperous citizens after serving out their time. Some of them even died wealthy. But while they were bound, their condition did not differ essentially from that of a slave. Nor were they better treated, except in one particular, having relation to their color. They were not negroes ; and were not kept with them in social equality.
The third form was negro slavery. The earliest instance which we have seen of negroes being held in bondage as slave in New Jersey, is that of Col. Richard Morris, of Shrewsberry, who is noticed as having sixty or seventy slaves about his "iron mill and plantation," as early as 1680. Whether Codrington, or Royce, or Palmer or White, had any negro slaves on their plantations in Som- erser County, we have not ascertained. We do not think the fact has been noted anywhere, and yet we hardly think there can be any doubt of it ! At all events, the first in- habitants on the Raritan, all had slaves as early as 1685 or 1690 The slave trade was active in the harbor of New York, and cargoes direct from the African coast, were sold to the planters in the various parts of the State. As a general thing these slaves were humanly treated, well clothed, and not over-worked. In the various homesteads, children were born and reared, until, sometimes, the ne- groes in them were more numerous than the whites. There was a difference in social position, and in the duties and employments assigned to them respectively, but this was nearly all the distinction. Authority was exercised by the one, and obedience exacted from the other. The two races were kept distinct when eating and sleeping, as well as in the employments and occupations of daily life, They were not clothed alike. They did not frequent the same places as amusement or pleasure might incline. But not- withstanding all these things, it would not be true to state that both were not comfortable in every essential par- ticular necessary to the well being of the individual man ;
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