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 62
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A few days after, the same party attacked a house a few miles N., belonging to Mr. Patterson. They captured that gentleman and his two sons, one five and the other seven years of age, and then returned to their country on the Niagara frontier. Mr. Pat- terson, being carelessly guarded, had several opportunities of escap- ing, but as he hoped to save his sons, he continued with them until within one day's journey of their villages, where he knew a cruel ' death awaited him. In the night, when the Indians were asleep, he took two horses which they had taken from him, and escaped. The second day, being without food, he killed one of them. The other, alarmed at the scent of blood, broke loose, and Mr. Patter- son going in pursuit, not only lost him, but was unable to find the spot where his slaughtered companion lay. In the course of this day he heard the Indians yelling in pursuit. He however eluded them, and travelled on by the sun for five days, without any food excepting buds and roots, and a snake and a toad he had killed, when he arrived at the head-waters of the Susquehanna. There
* The dwelling now occupied by Joseph Westbrook.
t This house is at present the residence of Jacob Hornbeck. It is the first two-story house ever built in the township.
# This pane of glass remained in the window until the summer of 1842, when the house was repaired.
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he crooked a pin for a hook, and attaching it with a worm at the end of a line made of the bark of slippery elm, caught five fish, and ate them raw. This appeased his hunger, and gave him strength to construct a rude raft, on which he floated down to the Wyoming settlements, and from thence returned home.
The sons were adopted by the Indians, became domesticated among them, and thoroughly savage in their habits. Elias, the youngest, when a man, returned to this part of the country and married, still retaining many of his Indian customs. Here he re- sided until 1838, when he and his wife left for the Tuscarora re- servation.
NEWTON.
Newton is about 13 m. long ; breadth on the E. end 9 m., and on the W. about 1 m. It is bounded N. by Frankford, E. by Har-
North View of Newton from the Milford Road.
diston, SE. by Byram, SW. by Green and Stillwater, and W. by Sandiston. The central part is level, and on the SE. and NW. hilly. The township is very fertile, and is watered by the Paulins- kill and the Pequest. There are 5 grist-m., 7 saw-m; cap. in manufac. $91,325 ; 3 acad. 155 students; 5 schools, 537 scholars. Pop. 3,857.
Newton, the seat of justice for Sussex co., is in the central part of the township; 68 miles from Trenton, 56 from New York, 40 from Easton, and 98 from Philadelphia. It is pleasantly situated in a beautiful amphitheatre of encircling hills, on ground gently sloping to the NE. and E., and terminating in what is called the " Bog Meadows," which in very foggy weather appear like a vast expanded sheet of water, covering many hundred acres, and ex- tending almost to Lafayette, a distance of nearly 5 miles, through
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which, fed by numerous springs, runs one of the branches of the Paulinskill, a stream originally known to the Indians by the singu- lar cognomen of the Tockhockonetcunk.
The above view of Newton was taken on the stage road to Mil- ford, about a quarter of a mile north of the village. The spire on the left is that of the courthouse, the Episcopal church is shown next to it, and the Presbyterian church on the right. The Metho- dist church is not seen from this point. Newton contains the coun-
View of the Courthouse, Newton.
ty buildings, 3 churches, 4 taverns, 9 stores, 4 groceries, 2 cabinet, 3 wagon, and 6 harness makers, 4 blacksmiths, 3 tailoring estab- lishments, 7 milliners, 1 tannery, 2 jewellers, 2 apothecaries, a bank, 2 newspapers, the New Jersey Herald and Sussex Register,* and a population of 912, viz : white males 410, white females 472 ; colored males 15, colored females 15. There are also a lyceum and a public library, 3 academies and grammar-schools, and 4 oth- er schools ; and only 2 white persons over 20 years of age who cannot read and write. These, with a large temperance society numbering about 400 members, with well-conducted sabbath- schools, speak favorably for the morals and intelligence of the population. The place is remarkably healthy, and the adjacent country furnishes many choice attractions, where the mineralogist, botanist, naturalist, and man of leisure, will find much to instruct and amuse.
The village of Newton might have been better located a quarter of a mile SW. of its present site, but for a mistake on the part of the legislature. The act authorizing the building of a courthouse for Sussex co., passed in 1761, required it to be erected within half a mile of Henry Harelocker's house, then the only dwelling within
* This newspaper was established in 1813, and is the oldest in what is now Warren and Sussex counties.
Head
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the limits of what is now Newton village. By that proviso, it be- came necessary to build the courthouse where it now is, or in a less favorable place : for Harelocker lived where Amos Petit now resides. If it had been run out in any other direction, the location would, owing to the unfavorable form of the ground, have been 'still worse. As it was, it is slyly intimated that the 40 chains did not quite reach the present site ; but inasmuch as it would have been inappropriate to put his majesty's officina justitie exactly at the foot of a hill, and precisely over a stream of water, three or four chains were thrown in for good measure and the building placed partly up the hill-side. A few other buildings were in a short time put up in the neighborhood of Harelocker's plantation, and in 1765, the unique courthouse, a massive stone building, devoid of orna- ment, was finished. It faces the village green, at that time cov- _ ered with woods, and, although somewhat dilapidated, promises to last another generation. Previously, the village of Johnsonburg, in the present limits of Warren co., was the seat of justice for the county. It was then called " the log jail," from a jail there con- structed of logs. Newton has gradually grown up since the con- struction of this edifice, deriving its chief support from the agricul- tural interests of the surrounding country.
What is now called Spring-st., because it leads out from the village in the direction of the Big Spring, was formerly called the Gallows Road, on account of a number having been hung along that road. The two most frequently spoken of, on account of the aggravated nature of their crimes, and the peculiarly hard circumstances attending them, are Mary Cole and Peter Brakeman,-the former hung on the right hand side of the road, just below Dr. Stuart's residence, by Sheriff Green, in 1811, in what is still called the Mary Cole field. This wretched woman killed, or aided in killing, her ven- erable mother, and concealing the body under the hearth. Her husband was privy to the murder, and, as many believe, the prime mover in the fiendish plot, actuated by a: desire to get possession of his aged mother-in-law's property ; and that he got his igno- rant wife, the partner of his guilt, when detection was certain to overtake them, to as- sume the unnatural act,-assuring her that they could not hang a woman. Soon after the murder, they moved away ; and the family who went into the house, before long smelt the putrefying body, and search disclosed the accursed deed. They lived about a mile north of Lafayette, in the woods. He was acquitted. 'Tis said, that on seeing her husband smile at the gallows, the poor woman said, "Ah ! I could tell something that would change that smile into tears."
Peter Brakeman was hung further down, in a hollow near Moore's pond, by Sheriff Darrah, in June, 1820, for murdering a pedler by the name of Nichols, with whom he had travelled from Montrose, Susquehanna co., Penn., in the character of a friend, but evidently with the intention of taking his life from the first, to possess himself of three or four hundred dollars, which he knew he had. They were seen in different places to- gether, prior to the murder,-stayed 2 or 3 days at Predmore's tavern, Lower Lafayette,- played the game of 31, played cards, stopped together at Sparta, were seen in company 4 or 5 miles further on. After that, Brakeman stopped alone at a tavern 2 miles still fur- ther, (Woodsport,) called for supper, but took some lunch and went on, not waiting for the supper. They were bound for Philadelphia. Shortly afterward, a boy going along the turnpike after the cows, with a little dog, the dog ran into the woods by the road side, and, almost in plain sight, began to bark. The boy went to see what he had got,-when the body, shockingly mangled, met his view. A large knife, and an ugly club which Brakeman carried, were found beside the body. The club he cut in the beach woods, and carried with the large end down. Some persons spoke to him about it, as a barbarous- looking weapon : 'twas generally noticed. He was a large, stout man, over 6 feet high. Went to Philadelphia, and back to Montrose, where, some time after, he was taken, in his school-room. Shirt and stockings of the pedler were in his possession.
It made a great excitement at the time of his apprehension and trial. The body of
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the pedler was disinterred, and taken into the courthouse, to see if he would put his hand on it,-many thinking that if he did, and was guilty, blood would gush forth at his touch. He seemed much affected at the sight, wept, called him a dear friend of his, and freely put his hand on the bare body. No blood started therefrom, and this was considered, by not a few, full evidence of his innocence. A pretended confession was published after his death ; but the better opinion is, that only Brakeman, the pedler, and God, positively know the perpetrator of the crime. Circumstances were strong against him,-so strong as to require the forfeit of his life
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Moody's Rock.
For the annexed account of Moody the tory, and for the histori- cal matter relating to Newton, the compilers are indebted to Nel- son Robinson, Esq.
Two miles south of the village of Newton, and half a mile west of the stage-road 'eading to New York, are two adjacent bodies of water, known as the Big and Little Muckshaw ; the former lying immediately south of the latter, with which, in high water, it forms a communication of several yards in width. Below these two ponds, to the south and east, a marsh extends, for quite a distance, in many places abounding in stagnant pools, and noxious weeds, or foul swampy shrubs, very difficult, if not totally impossible to be traversed. On the west of this marsh, a point of land juts forward, bounded northward by the southern margin of the Big Muckshaw, eastward by the marsh itself, upon which it abruptly fronts, and on the west, for considerable distance, by an inlet of the pond, and a piece of marshy ground below ; while to the southward it runs off into a ridge of irregular rocks, thickly shaded by a dense growth of trees, which for many a long year have concealed the gloomy haunts within.
This is one of the numerous spots in New Jersey, around which hangs an interest, a traditionary celebrity, that is destined to endure as long as the great principles for which her patriots of the revolution valiantly struggled shall animate their offspring to noble and virtuous enterprise. It was here that an instrument of foreign tyranny found shelter for himself and his loyal followers, in those days of peril. Hence, like a band of hungry wolves, they broke loose from their den, in the darkness of midnight, to com- mit their depredations upon those who rallied around the standard of liberty, and bade defiance to the wrath of the oppressor. To this wild and secure retreat, when danger threatened, did the tory leader, and his company of active associates, resort ; and the political hypocrites of those times nourished them there, and kept them advised of what was going on amongst the friends of the colonists.
Some time since, I visited this place, out of curiosity, to see what kind of a spot it was tha' afforded protection to the king's arms during that memorable period, and acknowledged the royal dominion till his hirelings could no longer maintain one poor inch of Jersey soil in subservience to his regal will. Entering the woods from the stage
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road, after a short walk, I crossed between the two Muckshaws, on a foot-log, and saun- tered along the western shore of the Big Muckshaw, skirted with woods ; till, having traced the gentle curvations of its crystal waters to their extreme southern marge, and passed down a piece along some low, wet, marshy ground beyond, I managed to cross over at length to the woody and elevated point of land, in quest of which I had started. Pursuing a narrow, winding path, that led through gloomy woods, and over and amidst rough, precipitous crags, it suddenly began to descend, by a kind of flight of natural stairs, constructed by the hand of Deity, out of the rough and solid limestone. After a gradual descent, the marsh on the east side comes close upon the path, which then bends suddenly round to the NNE. ; the steep rocks towering above, on the left hand, and the deep mire and water hemining up the right against all approach or escape. Following this narrow pass about forty-five yards from where it thus sud- denly bends to the northward, a large cavern is found, where it is said, upon good authority, that Bonnel Moody and his party harbored, for some time, during the revo- lutionary war. Hence it is well known, in the neighborhood, as Moody's Rock.
This cavern is formed by the cliffs shelving over, like an arch, fifteen feet deep, from front to rear ; eighteen feet high inside, in front, and gradually arching back till it meets the foundation, and consequently diminishing in height as it recedes ; and fifty feet in length, from north to south. The path still leads on from this past some minor caverns, about one hundred yards, where the steep, almost perpendicular crags, run into the marsh, and then shoot off to the NW .; forming an elbow almost impossible to climb around, even with the utmost caution and coolness. I did, however, contrive to get round this seemingly impassable obstacle, and discovered an incurvation into the massive wall, like a crescent ; menacing cliffs hanging overhead, and loose, detached fragments of stone under foot. One, in particular, here attracted my attention. That was a large flat rock, standing up edgewise, about ten feet long, six high, and three and a half feet thick, with a passage between it and the main chain of rocks, three feet wide. In that passage, behind that impregnable shield, Moody might have defied the bullets of his ad- versaries, though they whistled around him as thick as hail. Just beyond this, the wa- ters of the Muckshaw dash against the towering rampart, and render an approach from that direction out of the question ; and make the entrance already described the only available one to Moody's lurking-place. Twenty brave men could have made an effec- tual stand there against a legion of assailants. Nothing but starvation could have sub- dued men thus guarded, on every side, from attack. The selection speaks well for the judgment of the formidable personage who fastened upon it as his refuge in the hour of danger.
Numerous clefts and fissures were visible, along the craggy front of these towering rocks ; from which occasionally the modest little hare-bell would greet my eye, or the golden solidaga, the fern, or a red-cedar, apparently growing on the barren surface of the rock itself, and necessarily diminutive, on account of the scanty sustenance provided for its support.
Some bones of sheep and of fowls, and also pieces of pipes, were found in or near the main cavern : one pipe-stem, very snugly stuck in a chink, scemed to have been put there by some one who was tarrying there, at leisure, some time or other.
A lofty pine-tree grew up from the extreme point of rocks, previously described, at about 100 yards north of the cavern; whceling around whose evergreen summit, or perched upon whose verdant boughs, were to be seen two loquacious crows ; the only liv- ing creatures that appeared to dwell thereabouts, and to me seeming like watchful senti- nels, keeping guard over the moody spot.
This irregular range of rocks rises above the marsh, receding westward by three suc- cessive elevations, somewhat after the fashion of so many rough and rudely-defined steps, the summit of which is 100 feet or more above the surface of the water ; and still west of this are gloomy woods, dark defiles, misshapen crags, and a wild and dismal scenery, well calculated to awaken in the mind ideas of a romantic and unusually ex- citing character.
From the brow of these rocks, screened by some of their vertical projections, and the dense foliage of the overhanging trees, Moody could safely watch the coming of an ene- my, from nearly every direction. From the northcast, east, and southeast especially, whence an attack might much the most probably be expected, no movement could occur unnoticed by him. All along, in these three courses, a miry swamp, about twenty rods wide, at that time undoubtedly covered over with stagnant water, and choked up by shrubs and reeds, extends, and prohibits a nearer approach than two opposite points of land, on its eastern edge ; the one running up from the south, the other from the north,
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and the two separated, almost immediately in front of the cavern, by a continuation of the marsh eastward, and an outlet of the Big Muckshaw, also about five rods wide, from point to point
South of this, two or three miles, along the Pequest, was a tory neighborhood, whither Moody resorted clandestinely, with his attendants ; and whence supplies were secretly furnished them, when the keen lookout of the whigs above rendered it impolitic for them to be prowling about far from their retreat.
Many stories are related about this man, most of which are undoubtedly true ; though perhaps some of them liave been colored, and a little exaggerated, by frequent telling.
It is related that, one cold night in winter, he suddenly entered the dwelling of Mr. Ogden, who had, a short time previous, moved up from the lower part of the state, and located himself in the vicinity of the present village of Sparta. He robbed the house of considerable valuable plate, and searched for money ; but was disappointed in not ob- taining the amount he appeared to have anticipated being in the old gentleman's pos- session. He then took him out back of the house, and forced him to take an oath ~ to make known his visit until sufficient time had elapsed for himself and a £
to escape pursuit. One or more hired men, however, who had been cor in the
upper part of the log-house, and who were not bound by their master's oath. immediately upon their departure sounded the alarm ; and a small party of the neighbors forthwith gave chase. They came very near overtaking them next morning ; for they tracked them through the snow to where they had lain in their blankets over night, and where their fires were still burning when discovered. They tracked the plunderers to Goshen, in the state of New York, and there recovered some of the booty which had been taken away. The whigs in and around Newton would occasionally get incensed at Moody, on account of his daring acts, and prepare schemes to catch him ; the endeavors to put which into successful operation were termed " Moody hunting."
On one of these occasions, they supposed they had got their wary antagonist cooped up in the house of an individual suspected of being tinctured with toryism, and who lived near what is now called Eden Farm, about three miles ENE. of Newton village. Here they searched every nook and cranny, stuck pitchforks into the hay and straw heaps, but no Moody was discovered ; who nevertheless afterward emerged from beneath the floor, where he had been snugly packed away in straw, to tarry until his hunters had withdrawn from the premises.
There is an old lady, now residing in this village, who, according to report, one da-k and stormy night, although but in the early part of her teens then, mounted a horse, and rode some 12 or 16 miles, to warn him of a plan to apprehend him, which was shortly to have been put in execution.
On another occasion, just as the whigs were on the point of springing upon him and his band, a negro conveyed intelligence of their designs, and Moody, with his men, nar. rowly escaped ; the bread which was baking for him, and the other provisions which were prepared, falling into their hands. After this he left this section altogether.
About midnight, once, he made his appearance by the jailer's bedside, and demanded the key of the jail. This the jailer had previously declared he would not surrender to him, if the old tory should attempt to release the prisoners ; but his wife said, " Poor Jemmy trembled like a leaf, and handed over that key without resistance." He then unlocked the doors, and set the prisoners at liberty ; two of whom were condemned to death. After this he paraded his men in front of the jail, and coinmanded three long, loud cheers to be given, as he proclaimed a general jail-delivery, in the name of King George the Third.
An old rusty key, supposed to be the one obtained by Moody, was found, some few years since, in the woods, on a hill, just to the left hand as you enter the village from the north. One of the prisoners, after his release, being unacquainted with the village and the surrounding country, wandered about all night, within its precincts; and in the morning secreted himself in an old hollow log, in the woods then standing upon the hill, just out of the village, and running along the western side of Love-lane.
A party out after raccoons, in that direction, hearing their dogs bark steadily, in one spot, hastened thither, and, instead of a 'coon, found they had holed a man ; whom, up- on examination, they concluded to make game of, and therefore marched him back to his old quarters. He was subsequently hung, in front of the jail, where the surrogate's office now stands ; being then condemned to die, for robbing a gentleman's house and self, in the neighborhood of Belvidere. In this matter Moody was actually more just than the law, and the prisoner's cause better than his fortune; for it eventually turned out that he was innocent of the crime imputed to him.
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He died asserting his innocence, and declaring his firm belief that time would vindi. cate him from the charge. The tormented wretch, who had actually committed the deed, and brought death upon a guiltless head, finally, on his deathbed, acknowledged his own criminality, and exculpated the other from all blame.
While the American army lay at Morristown, and an officer was drilling some troops not long enlisted, a man, very shabbily dressed, mounted on an old broken-down nag, one day was seen riding carelessly along before the lines, like a simple-hearted and rather soft-headed rustic, not over-well supplied either with worldly sense or substance. Suspicion at length induced the belief that there was more about that old horse, and his awkwardly-inquisitive rider, than at first view one would conjecture. One of the soldiers thought he had seen that face before, and that a recognition was only prevented by the deep disguise of a crafty spy, thus openly reconnoitring their ranks. A horseman was soon dispatched to escort him back. Moody, for he was the suspicious charac- ter on whose track he was sent, shot him dead as he came up to him, dragged him into the woods out of sight, and once more narrowly escaped, by secreting himself in a contiguous swamp. It is said that he and a companion, in attempting to cross over the river into New York, to the English, were arrested at length, conveyed to Morris- town, and there hung, as traitors and spies. This last is somewhat doubtful, but still it may be true.
Moody is believed to have been originally from Kingwood township, in the county of Hunterdon, and employed by the British to obtain recruits, in this section, of such as were favorable to Great Britain. He likewise was to act as a spy upon the movements of the whigs, and to check and overawe them, by a show of opposition in their midst ; by making divisions and difficulties close at hand, and thereby drawing off their atten- tion and assistance from the colonial army.
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Central View in Lafayette.
Lafayette received its name at the time of the late visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to America, and was the first place in the Union named after that nobleman. It is situated upon the line of Newton and Frankford, and is divided into two portions, called re- spectively Upper and Lower Lafayette. The above view was taken in the lower village, which is compactly and neatly built. Lafay- ette contains 4 stores, a large grist and a saw mill ; 2 iron foun- dries, one of which, " the Lafayette Fatory," employs about 40 men ; an academy, 1 Baptist and 1 Methodist church, and 43 dwellings.
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