USA > New Jersey > Historical collections of the state of New Jersey : containing a general collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc. relating to its history and antiquities, with geographical desciptions of every township in the state. > Part 35
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Lamberton, the southernmost village, contains about 70 dwell- ings. It took its name from Mr. Thomas Lambert, who settled there about the year 1679. Mill Hill contains about 80 dwellings ; and Bloomsbury 150. Both of these villages are separated from Trenton by the Assunpink. The first lies a short distance back from the Delaware; the last upon it. As these different villages (or localities, rather) may be in a certain sense considered as a part of the city of Trenton, they will be described under that head. [See Trenton. ] The township of Nottingham in 1840, contained 28 stores, 3 furnaces, 3 fulling-m., 3 woollen fac., 7 cotton fac. 6,500 spindles, 5 tanneries, 10 grist-m., 7 saw-m., 1 oil-m .; cap. in manufac. $596,770 ; 1 academy, 36 students, 13 schools, 348 schol- ars. Pop. 5,109.
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PRINCETON.
The township of Princeton was recently formed from the town- ships of Montgomery and West Windsor. The village of Princeton was incorporated as a borough in 1812, and was then situated partly in Somerset and partly in Middlesex cos. The township is about 5 miles long, and 3 broad ; bounded N. by Montgomery, Somerset co. ; S. by West Windsor ; E. by Franklin, Somerset co., and South Brunswick, Middlesex co. ; and W. by Hopewell and Lawrence. Pop. 3,055. The village of Princeton is situated on an elevated ridge of land, which rises with a long and easy ascent, and com- mands, to the east, a prospect of great extent. Besides the collegi- ate buildings, there are in the village about 200 dwellings, 1 Pres- byterian and 1 Episcopal church, also one or two houses of wor- ship for colored persons, a bank, printing-office, &c. The population of the village is about 2,000. Distant 40 miles from Philadelphia,
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50 from New York, 18 from Somerville, 25.from Freehold, 16 from New Brunswick. and 10 from Trenton. The Delaware and Rari- tan canal, and the railroad from New York to Philadelphia, pass about a mile SE. of the college buildings.
The "College of New Jersey" was first incorporated in 1746; and has ever maintained its rank among the first literary institu- tions of this country. It o its origin to a difference of religious views in the Presbyterian es, which took place at the period of Mr. Whitefield's labors country. In 1741 the Synod of Philadelphia, which represented the whole Presbyterian church, was divided into two bodies-the Synod of Philadelphia. and that of New York. The mass of the Synod of Philadelphia lay to the W., and that of the Synod of New York to the E. of the Delaware river. The clergy of the Synod of New York were, to a man, the warm friends and coadjutors of Mr. Whitefield ; but those of Phila- delphia were generally his decided opponents. The Synod of New York reproached that of Philadelphia with introducing men to the gospel ministry without due regard to personal piety ; and that of Philadelphia recriminated, by charging that of New York with fa- voring enthusiasm, and with licensing men to preach the gospel without adequate literary attainments.
This last charge was believed by many, at that time, to have its foundation in truth ; and they accordingly took measures to remove the evil. The Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, of Elizabethtown, a lead- ing member of the Synod of New York, "gave being and shape to the deliberations that resulted in the creation of the College of New Jersey." He had been for several years a very successful and popular teacher of young men ; and when the institution was re- solved upon, every eye turned to him as the best qualified to lay its foundations, and to superintend its concerns. A charter for the college was sought and granted by John Hamilton, who acted as governor, (being the oldest member of the council,) between the death of Gov. Morris, in May, 1746, and the induction of Gov. Belcher, in 1747. The college thus founded was commenced in Elizabethtown, and Mr. Dickinson chosen its first president. He, with an usher, were the only teachers. The number of students was about 20, who boarded with the president, and with other families in the town. An old academy, which stood where the lecture-room of the First Presbyterian church in that town now stands, and which was burnt in the revolutionary war, contained the first recitation-room of the first classes ever attached to the New Jersey college. President Dickinson died October 7th, 1747. The students were then removed to Newark, and placed under the care of Rev. Aaron Burr, who was elected to succeed him. In 1757, the institution, then numbering about 70 scholars, was re- moved to Princeton, where the first college edifice was reared.
The principal edifice of the College of New Jersey is called Nassau Hall, and was erected in 1757. It is 176 feet long, 50
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wide, and 4 stories high. Gov. Belcher was much interested in the college, and made a "generous donation of his library of books, with other valuable ornaments" to it. In consideration of this, the trustees voted him an address of thanks, with a request that they might be allowed to name the collegiate building then erect- ing. This honor his excellency declined; and requested they would name it NASSAU HALL, to "express the honor we retain," (says the governor,) "in this remote part of the globe, to the im -- mortal memory of the glorious king William the Third; who was a branch of the illustrious house of NASSAU ; and who, under God, was the great deliverer of the British nation from those two mon- strous furies, Popery and Slavery," &c. The trustees, after the re- ceipt of the governor's letter, resolved, "that in all time to come,"
it should be called by the name of NASSAU HALL. At this early pe- riod, the discipline in the collegiate institutions of the country was materially different from that of the present day. Many customs, now considered absurd, were judged wholesome restraints, and as ยท enforcing salutary habits of obedience on the part of the pupil to his superiors in rank. The annexed extract, from the Collegiate Code of Princeton College in 1765, is an illustration in point :
Every scholar shall keep his hat off about ten rods to the president, and about five to the tutors. Every scholar shall rise up and make his obeisance when the president goes in or out of the hall, or enters the pulpit on days of religious worship. When walking with a superior, they shall give him the highest place ; and when first coming into his company, they shall show their respects to him by pulling off their hats ; shall give place to him at any door or entrance, or meeting him going up and down stairs, shall stop, giv- ing him the banister side ; shall not enter into his room without knocking at the door, or in any way intrude themselves upon him ; and shall never be first or foremost in any un- dertaking in which a superior is engaging, or about to engage ; shall never use any indc. cent or rude behavior or action in a superior's presence, such as making a noise, calling loud, or speaking at a distance, unless spoken to by him, if within hearing ; shall always give a direct pertinent answer, concluding with SIR !
Nassau Hall was occupied as barracks by the British troops pre- vious to the battle of Princeton. The basement story they used for stables. Gov. Belcher's library, which he gave to the college, consisted of 474 volumes. Many of these books were highly valu- able ; but such of them as remained after the purloining by the British and American armies, when they successively occupied the edifice, were nearly all consumed by fire on the 6th of March, 1802, which left nothing but the stone walls of the edifice standing. On its being rebuilt, the walls, which were not materially injured by the fire, remained as before, and the whole interior of the house, except the chapel, was converted into lodging-rooms-the library, refectory, and other public apartments being provided for in addi- tional buildings. At the time of the battle of Princeton, the room in Nassau Hall called the chapel, was adorned with a portrait of George II .; the Americans, in dislodging the British troops from the building, fired a cannon-shot which passed through the walls, and destroyed this picture. The frame, however, still remained sus- pended on the walls of the chapel, within which is now a portrait of Washington, painted by the elder Peale. It is stated that Wash-
COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PRINCETON.
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ington, in order to make good to the college the damage sustained by the fire of his troops, made the trustees a present of 50 guineas, which they expended in procuring the portrait of the general. Among other relics of antiquity belonging to the institution, there is in the Philosophic Hall the identical electrical' machine used by Dr. Franklin, and the orrery constructed by Rittenhouse.
The whole course of instruction at the College of New Jersey requires four years,-namely, one year in each of the four classes into which the students are divided. The college year is divided into two terms or sessions. The annual commencement is on the last Wednesday of September; and the winter session begins six weeks from that time, and closes on the first Thursday after the second Tuesday in April. The summer session begins five weeks after the close of the winter session, and ends on the last Wednes- day of September. The college library contains 8,000 volumes ; in the libraries of the two literary societies connected with the col- lege are about 4,000 volumes, making 12,000 in all. The college possesses a valuable set of philosophical, astronomical, and chemical apparatus, a mineralogical cabinet, a museum of natural history, and a large collection of drawings for the illustration of lectures on architecture and astronomy.
The Theological Seminary, in the village of Princeton, is a highly respectable institution. It was founded by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church of the United States, and is under its control and patronage. The plan of the institution was formed in 1811, and the edifice for the use of the seminary was commenced in 1813, and made habitable in 1817. It is of stone, 150 feet long, 50 wide, and four stories high. "This institution is conducted on very liberal principles ; for, although supported by the Presbyterian church, and primarily intended to promote the training of a pious and learned ministry for that church, students of all Christian de- nominations are admitted into a full participation of its benefits, on equal terms. It is wholly unconnected with the college, but enjoys by contract the free use of the college library." The course of study is extended through three years. There is but one vaca- tion in the year, which commences the third Thursday in May, and continues 14 weeks. The number of students in 1842 was 120.
BATTLE OF PRINCETON.
The situation of the American army after the action at Assun- pink or Trenton bridge, was extremely critical. If Washington maintained his position on the south side of the Assunpink, it was cer- tain that he would be attacked by a superior force, with the proba- ble result of the destruction of his little army. Fires having been lighted, immediately after dark a council of war was convened. Washington, by the advice of Gen. St. Clair, Col. Reed, and others, " formed the bold and judicious design of abandoning the Delaware and marching silently in the night, by a circuitous route, along the left flank of the British army, into their rear at Princeton, where he
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knew they could not be very strong. After beating them there, he proposed to make a rapid movement to Brunswick, where their baggage and principal magazines lay under a weak guard."
Plan of the battle of Princeton, fought January 3d, 1777.
Road to Trenton
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[ REFERENCES. A., Bridge on the old Trenton road. B., Friends meeting-house. C., T. Clark's house, in which Gen. Mercer died. D., The place where Gen. Mercer was mortally wounded. E., Head of column when first seen by the British. F., Head of column after Mercer's engagement. 1, 2, The British 17th Reg. 3, 4, Mercer's detach- ment, commencing the action. 9, 10, The 17th Reg., formed to dislodge Moulder. 11, 12, The Pennsylvania militia under Washington. 13, Hitchcock's regiment. 5, 6, Pur- suit of the Americans. 7, 8, Retreat of the British.]
The more effectually to mask the movement, (says Gen. Wilkin- son, in his memoirs,) Washington ordered the guards to be doubled, a strong fatigue party to be set at work on an intrenchment across the road near the mill, within distinct hearing of the enemy, the baggage to be sent to Burlington, the troops to be silently filed off by detachments, and the neighboring fences to be used as fuel by the guards to keep up blazing fires until towards day, when they had orders to retire. The night, though cloudless, was dark, and. though calm, exceedingly cold, and the movement was so cautious- ly conducted as to elude the vigilance of the enemy. Taking the lower road by Sandtown, across the Quaker bridge, the Americans reached Stony creek, which having crossed, they came to a small
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wood south of the Friends meeting-house, in the vicinity of Prince- ton, a little before sunrise. Here the main column wheeled to the right, and turning the SE. corner of the wood, marched directly for Princeton. Gen. Mercer, having under him captains Stone, Fleming, Neal, and others, with about 350 men, was detached to take possession of the bridge on the old Trenton road, for the double purpose of intercepting fugitives from Princeton, and to cover the rear of the army against Lord Conwallis from Trenton.
The morning was bright, serene, and extremely cold, with a hoar frost, which bespangled every object. A brigade of the enemy under Lieut. Col. Mawhood, consisting of the 17th, 40th, and 55th regiments, with three troops of dragoons, had quartered in Prince- ton the preceding night. The 17th regiment, on their march to join Lord Cornwallis at Trenton, had passed the bridge over Stony creek before they discovered the Americans. Col. Mawhood imme- diately repassed the bridge, when he first discovered Gen. Mercer's detachment marching up the creek at a distance of about 500 yards from the bridge. Both parties then endeavored to get possession of the high ground on their right. The Americans reached the house and orchard of William Clark, but perceiving the British line advancing on the opposite side of the height, and a worm fence between them, they pushed through the orchard, and anticipated the enemy by about 40 paces. The first fire was delivered by Gen. Mercer, which the enemy returned with a volley, and instantly charged. The Americans being armed only with rifles, were forced, after the third fire, to abandon the fence, and fled in disorder.
On hearing the firing, Gen. Washington directed the Pennsyl- vania militia to support Gen. Mercer, and in person led them on with two pieces of artillery, under Capt. Wm. Moulder, who form- ed in battery on the right of Thomas Clark's house. The enemy had pursued the detachment of Gen. Mercer as far as the brow of the declivity, when they discovered for the first time the American army. They thereupon halted, and brought up their artillery. En- couraged by the irresolution of the militia, they attempted to carry Capt. Moulder's battery ; but being galled by his grape-shot, and perceiving Hitchcock's and another continental regiment advancing from the rear of the American column, they, after a few long shot with the militia, retreated over the fields up the north side of Stony brook. This action, from the first discharge of firearms to the re- treat of the enemy, did not last more than fifteen or twenty min- utes. They left their artillery on the ground, which the Ameri- cans, for want of horses, could not carry off. The 55th and 40th regiments of the enemy made some show of resistance at the deep ravine, a short distance south of the village of Princeton, and at the college, into which they precipitated themselves on the approach of the Americans. It was, however, soon abandoned, and many of them made prisoners. In this engagement upwards of 100 of the enemy were killed, among whom was Capt. Leslie, whose loss they much regretted, and nearly 300 taken prisoners. The numerical
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loss of the Americans was inconsiderable, not exceeding thirty. fourteen only being buried in the field ; but it was of great mag- nitude in worth and talents-Colonels Haslet and Potter, Major Morris, Captains Shippen, Fleming, and Neal were officers of much promise.
In the death of Gen. Mercer, the Americans lost a chief who, for talents, education, integrity, and patriotism, was qualified to fill the highest trusts of the country. "The manner in which he was wounded," says Gen. Wilkinson, "is an evidence of the excess to which the common soldiery are liable, in the heat of action, par- ticularly when irritated by the loss of favorite officers. Being ob- structed, when advancing, by a post and rail fence, in front of the orchard, it may be presumed the general dismounted voluntarily ; for he was on foot when the troops gave way. In exerting himself to rally them, he was thrown into the rear; and, perceiving he could not escape, he turned about, somewhere near William Clark's barn, and surrendered, but was instantly knocked down, and bay- oneted thirteen times; when, feigning to be dead, one of his mur- derers exclaimed, 'D-n him ! he is dead-let us leave him.' Af- ter the retreat of the enemy, he was conveyed to the house of Thomas Clark, to whom he gave this account, and languished till the 12th, when he expired."
The following, relative to the conflict at Princeton, was derived from persons living in Princeton ; one of whom was an eye-witness of some of the scenes described. Mr. Joseph Clark states that Gen. Mercer was knocked down about 50 yards from his barn ; and after the battle was assisted, by his two aids, into the house of Thomas Clark-a new house, then just erected, which is still stand- ing, now owned and occupied by Mr. John Clark, about one and a quarter miles from the college, and about one fourth of a mile from the house of Mr. Thomas Clark. The late Miss Sarah Clark, of the Society of Friends, with a colored woman for an assistant, took care of Gen. Mercer, while he lived ; and after his death his body was taken to Philadelphia, where, after laying in state, it was interred with military honors. The killed were buried about 200 yards north of Mr. Joseph Clark's barn, in a kind of drift-way. Their bodies, frozen stiff, with their clothing mostly stripped off by the American soldiers, were piled into a wagon, and thus carried to the grave.
The British being routed, the greater part retreated back to Princeton, about a mile and a quarter distant, where they had, for some weeks previously, occupied the college, and the large brick Presbyterian church, as barracks. Washington pushed on to Princeton, placed a few cannon a short distance from those build- ings, and commenced firing upon them. The first ball is said to have entered the prayer-hall, a room used as a chapel in the col- lege, and to have passed through the head of the portrait of George II., suspended on the wall. After a few discharges, Capt. James Moore, of the militia, a daring officer, (late of Princeton,) aided by
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a few men, burst open a door of the building, and demanded their surrender ; which they instantly complied with. In the building were a number of invalid soldiers; but Washington, having no time to spare, left those unable to travel, on their parole of honor, and hurried off with the rest toward Brunswick. On reaching Kingston, about three miles distant, a consultation of general offi- cers was hastily held on horseback ; when a wish was generally expressed, to move on to New Brunswick, fall on the British troops, and secure the large supplies there laid up for their winter's consumption. But the American troops had, besides the action in the morning, been fighting at Trenton the day previous, and marching all night over rough and frozen roads : not half of them had been able to obtain breakfast or dinner ; many were destitute of either shoes or stockings, and the whole were worn down with fatigue. Under these circumstances, Washington was reluctantly compelled to file off to the left, towards Rocky Hill. By going down the val- ley of the Millstone, he would avoid the British army under Corn- wallis, then in hot pursuit, from Trenton. Although the prize at
Brunswick was rich and tempting, yet the danger of being held at bay there till the overwhelming force of Cornwallis, rapidly ap- proaching in his rear, should overtake his worn-out troops, pre- vented him from making the attempt. Cornwallis arrived at Kings- ton shortly after the Americans had left ; but, supposing they were still on the road to Brunswick. he pushed on through Kingston, and over Little Rocky Hill, on the main road to Brunswick, which, from rocks and frozen ground, was almost impassable. Here his baggage-wagons broke down ; but, such was his anxiety to reach Brunswick, he pressed on, leaving them in charge of a guard of 200 or 300 men, to bring them on the next morning. A small compa- ny of 15 or 20 militia, from the neighborhood, having learned the situation of this baggage, soon after dark assembled and arranged themselves among the trees, in a semicircular form, around where the soldiers lay guarding their wagons. On a concerted signal, they set up a tremendous shout, and commenced firing. The Brit- ish were taken completely by surprise ; and having found, by ex- perience of the last ten days, that when they supposed their ene- mies were the farthest off, they were the nearest at hand, and their fears magnifying the number of their assailants, they hastily drove off what few wagons were in a travelling condition, and left the rest a prize to the militia-men, who took them the next morning to the American camp. Here they were opened, and found to con- tain what proved the most acceptable of all articles to the Ameri- can troops-namely, woollen clothing.
About the close of the action at Princeton, Washington detached a small party to destroy the bridge over Stony Brook, at Worth's mills, on the road from Princeton to Trenton. This party had scarcely half completed their work, before the British troops from Trenton made their appearance on the hill a short distance west of the dwelling of Mr. Worth, and commenced firing upon them.
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The Americans, however, pushed on their work with renewed vigor, until the cannon-balls began to strike around them,-by which time they had thrown off the loose planks into the stream, - and then hastily retreated. The baggage and artillery of the Brit- ish troops were detained at the bridge nearly an hour before it could be made passable. The troops, however, were ordered to dash through the stream, (then swollen and filled with running ice, and about breast high,) and press forward as rapidly as possible to- ward New Brunswick. The officer who commanded the detach- ment ordered to destroy the bridge, is said to have been Major (af- terwards Col.) John Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who died about the year 1835. After the British appeared in sight, it was necessary that some part of the bridge should be cut away,-which was an extremely hazardous service under the fire of the enemy. Maj. Kelly, disdaining to order another to do what some might say he would not do himself, bravely took the axe and commenced cutting off the logs on which the planks of the bridge were laid. Several balls struck into the last log he was chopping, and on which he stood, when it broke down sooner than he expected, and he fell with it into the swollen stream. His men, not believing it possible for him to escape, immediately fled. Maj. Kelly, by great exertion, got out of the water and followed after them ; but being unarmed and encumbered with frozen clothing, he was taken prisoner by a British soldier.
On the near approach of the British troops to Princeton, their advance division was suddenly brought to a stand by the discharge of a large 32-pounder. This piece, now in the central part of the college grounds, formerly belonged to the British ; which Washing- ton was unable to take with him when he left Princeton, on ac- count of its carriage being broken. It was left on a temporary breastwork, in the vicinity of the present residence of Dr. Samuel Miller, near the west end of the town ; and was loaded by two or three persons, and pointed toward the British army. As their ad- vance guard were coming up the rising ground, within 300 or 400 yards, it was discharged, which brought them instantly to a halt. The enemy, supposing that Washington had determined to make a stand under the cover of the town, sent out their reconnoitering parties of horsemen, and in the mean time cautiously approached the breastwork with their main body, determined to carry it by storm. By these movements, they were delayed nearly an hour : and when arrived at the breastwork and the town, were astonished to find them destitute of defenders.
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