USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1 > Part 50
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The Thirteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-eighth Regiments contained Mon- mouth men; Company A of the last-named regiment being largely composed of soldiers from this county. Its original captain was Benjamin F. Lloyd, who died of fever in Jan- uary, 1863, and was succeeded in the captainey by Wesley Stoney. The Twenty-eighth was organized under command of Colonel Moses N. Wisewell, at Camp Vredenburgh, near Free- hold, where, on the 22d of September, 1862, it was mustered into the service of the United States for nine months. It left Freehold for the front on the 4th of October, reached Wash- ington on the 5th, and, after several changes of location and assignment, joined the Army of the Potomac at Falmouth, Va., on the 8th of December. Four days later it crossed the Rap- pahannock to the south shore, and on the 13th
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
it took part in the assault of the impregnable place on the 1st of November in the same year. Confederate position on the heights of Freder- The Third Cavalry was raised and organized icksburg, losing one hundred and sixty-one in at Camp Bayard, Trenton, in the early part of killed and wounded, and twenty-nine missing; 1864, and left the State on the 5th of April in -total, one hundred and ninety. The regiment that year, proceeding by overland march to was again engaged at Chancellorsville, sustain-
Annapolis, Md. Soon afterwards it joined ing a loss of about thirty in killed, wounded | the Cavalry corps of the Army of the Poto- and missing. At the expiration of its term of mac, at Alexandria, Va. It continued in service it returned to New Jersey, arriving, on active service during the remainder of the the 20th of June, at Freehold, where it was war, taking part in ten engagements and skir- mustered out of service on the 6th of July, mishes in the Wilderness and Petersburg cam- paigns until the latter part of July, 1864, when it was moved to the Shenandoah Valley,
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.1863.
In the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Regi- ments there was a considerable number of Mon- | and remained there as a part of Sheridan's mouth men, and in the Thirty-eighth, one com- pany, A, was chiefly of Monmouth. Its commis- army until March, 1865, when it moved back to the Petersburg line of operations, and was sioned officers were Captain Thomas J. Swan- 'present at the surrender of the Confederate nel, First Lieutenant Joseph E. Jones, Second army at Appomattox. Its companies were 1865, at Alexandria, Va., and Washington, Lieutenant John Grant. The Thirty-eighth mustered out of service in June and August, was commanded by Colonel William J. Sewell, now a United States Senator of New Jersey. D. C. The whole number of battles and skir- It was organized at Camp Bayard, Trenton, mishes in which the Third was engaged during and there mustered into the United States ser- its terms of service was thirty-five, embracing the actions at United States Ford, Hawes' Shop, Winchester, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, Five Forks, Appomattox and others of the severest cavalry conflicts of the war.
vice for one year in September, 1864. During its term of service it was on duty with the Army of the James, and stationed chiefly at Fort Powhatan, on the James River, and at City Point, where it was mustered out of ser- vice June 30, 1865.
In the Second and Third Cavalry Regiments there.were a large number of men from Mon- mouth County, embraced principally in com- panies F, H and I of the Second, and companies B and K of the Third. The Second was organ- ized at Camp Parker, near Trenton, in August and September, 1863, and left the State for the front in October. It was first assigned to duty in General Stoneman's Cavalry division of the Army of the Potomac, and remained in the vicinity of Alexandria, Va., until the 9th of November, 1863, when it moved under orders to Eastport, Miss., where it became ; a part of the Army of the Southwest. It remained in the Department of the Missis- the Tenth Army Corps. It took part in the sippi until after the close of the war, and dur- ing that time. took part in nearly forty battles and skirmishes. A part of the regiment was mustered out of service at Vicksburg, Miss., to be ready to quell the riots which were ex- June 29, 1865, and the remainder at the same | pected to occur during the Presidential election.
In the artillery service, in Batteries A (Hexa- mer's), B (Beam's) and D (Woodbury's), Mon- mouth County men were quite numerous, par- ticularly in Battery D, which was raised and organized in the summer of 1863, and mustered into the service of the United States at Camp Perrine, Trenton, on the 16th of September in that year, its total strength being one hundred and forty-four officers and privates. It left the State on the 29th of September, and proceeded to Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., where it received its outfit of guns, horses and equip- ments, and remained through the winter. On the 23d of April, 1864, it left the camp and moved to the front, where it was assigned to operations of the campaign of 1864 before Petersburg until November 4th, when it was ordered, with other troops, to New York City,
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MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65.
It returned to the Petersburg lines on the 21st of November, and continued on the front during the remainder of the war. It was mustered out of the service at Richmond, Va., June 17, 1865. The battle record of Battery D embraces ten engagements, in which it took part from May 10, 1864, to April 3, 1865.
During the War of the Rebellion more than three thousand men of New Jersey served in the United States navy. Of this large number, the ocean-bordered county of Monmouth furnished many more than her full quota, on a population basis. It is, however, impracticable to give here a list of their names or a record of their services, for they were scattered and distributed among more than half the vessels of the navy serving on the Atlantic and Gulf blockades, in the different cruising squadrons and on the gunboat fleets which patroled the rivers of the west and south.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
The Grand Army of the Republic, of which Henry M. Nevius is the department comman- der in the Department of New Jersey, has in Monmouth County the following-named posts, composed of members who were officers or en- listed men in the military service of the United States in the War of the Rebellion :
C. K. Hall Post, No. 41, at Asbury Park, 1859, being then but little over twenty years N. J .; instituted February 11, 1880. Member- ship, forty. The post was named after Cald- well K. Hall, who was adjutant of the Fifth New Jersey Volunteers from August 28, 1861, until 1862, when he was promoted to lieu- tenant-colonel of the Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers ; was brevetted colonel for merito- rious services at Cold Harbor, Va., and brevet brigadier-general for gallantry at Monocacy, Md.
James B. Morris Post, No. 46, instituted July at Hamilton, to which, with a number of the 15, 1880, at Long Branch ; one hundred mem- bers. Named after James B. Morris, first lieu- and was immediately selected as captain. The tenant Battery D, First Regiment New Jersey Artillery.
Vredenburgh, Post No. 47, Manasquan, with thirty-one members, instituted July 26, 1880. | Virginia the Twenty-sixth was assigned to Named after Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., major Brigadier-General MeDowell's division. In a Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, killed in short time his intrepidity gained for him the 'action at Opequan, Va. sobriquet of the " Young Lion." The Twenty-
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Captain J. W. Conover Post, No. 63, at Free- hold, instituted January 16, 1881; members, sixty-six. Captain Company D, Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, died of wounds received in action at battle of Monocacy, Md.
J. G. Shackelton, Post No. 83, at Matawan, instituted November 21, 1883 ; sixty-five mem- bers. Named after Dr. J. G. Shackelton, as- sistant surgeon Twenty-ninth New Jersey Vol- unteers.
Arrowsmith Post, No. 61, Red Bank, institu- ted Dec. 6, 1881 ; one hundred and one members. Named after George Arrowsmith, lieutenant- colonel One Hundred and Forty-seventh New York Volunteers, killed July 1, 1863, in the battle of Gettysburg.
GEORGE ARROWSMITH rendered his services to the common cause in the regiments of another State, but the glory pertaining to his name belongs to New Jersey. He was born in the township of Middletown, Monmouth County, April 18, 1839, and was the fourth son of Major Thomas Arrowsmith, who has recently gone to his grave at a ripe age. Having re- ceived such advantages as the schools in his father's neighborhood afforded, he repaired to Hamilton, New York, and after a brief course in the grammar school, entered Madison Uni- versity in 1855, graduating with great eredit in
of age. His scholarship made the faculty desire to keep him in connection with the university as a tutor, and he spent some time in that capacity, and shortly after conjoined with it the study of the law. He had just received his license to practice when the war broke out. A predilection for military life, seconded by an ardent patriotism, led him to volunteer for the defense of his country. A company was raised students of the university, he joined himself, company was mustered into service May 26, 1861, and made part of the Twenty-sixth Reg- iment New York Volunteers. On reaching
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
sixth was engaged in the battle of Culpepper, and Captain Arrowsmith's gallantry caused his promotion by General Powers to be as- sistant adjutant-general of his brigade. In the second battle of Bull Run he distinguished himself, and when General Powers was wounded, led his command. At one time, not recognizing the rank of General Schenck, he rallied and led two regiments into the fight amid a shower of grape and canister. His services in this battle gained marked encomiums from General McDowell, and one of the general's staff wrote: "Arrowsmith has covered himself with glory." Although not wounded, his cap and clothes bore evidences of his narrow escape, and his health having suffered by hardship and exposure, he was compelled to accept a furlough. The news of his bravery and skill had justified the proph- ecies of his friends in Madison County, and a new regiment being raised,-the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh, New York Volunteers-he was urged to accept the colonelcy. He, however, preferred that Professor Brown, with whom in his college career he had formed a strong friendship, should take the first place, and he became lieutenant-colonel. This regiment was, unfortunately, attached to Gen- eral Schurz's command, and was the only American regiment in the division. The Germans, owing to dissatisfaction arising from Sigel's removal, behaved badly at Chan- cellorsville, but the One Hundred and Fifty- seventh was complimented in 'general orders and the brave bearing of Arrowsmith greatly praised everywhere. At the battle of Gettys- burg our lieutenant-colonel took an active part. With his hat in one hand and his sword in the other, he went forward, exclaiming, " Come, boys, follow me!" Suddenly Colonel Brown found his lieutenant missing, and, moving to the right, discovered him lying on his back, badly wounded in the head, evidently insensible and near his end. So terrible had been the exposure to which he had led his men that only eighty came out of the fight out of the four hundred and twenty who went in, and but eight officers out of twenty-six remained. Ow- ing to the hot fire of the enemy, it was impossi-
ble to remove him, and his wounded comrades. report that in a very short time he died. Col- onel Brown well described him as "a brave man, a skillful officer, possessing a keen sense of honor, generous to a fault and of the noblest impulses." And we may add he was a truly religious man. Some time before entering the army he united with the Baptist Church at Hamilton. His body has its resting-place in Fairview Cemetery, Middletown township. Here a comely granite monument, erected by citizens who loved him in his youth and graduates of his university, attests their appreciation of his character and achievements. On the die is the following in- scription :
" LIEUTENANT-COLONEL GEORGE ARROWSMITH.
ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVENTH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
He bore a distinguished part in several severe en- gagements, and fell at Gettysburg gallantly leading his regiment, July 1, 1863.
Aged 24 years, 2 months, 13 days.
Erected by his numerous friends in token of his distinguished personal worth, patriotic devotion and distinguished bravery."
CHAPTER XIII.
THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.
THE earliest courts in the territory now form- ing the county of Monmouth were held under authority conferred by Governor Nicolls in the "Monmouth Patent," which provided for the enactment of prudential laws by the people, and the establishment of courts. At first, the laws of local application were passed at town-meet- ing, and others of a more general character by a General Assembly of representatives of the towns, convened at Portland Point,-now the Highlands of Navesink. The first courts in what is now the county of Monmouth were held under authority of the Nicolls patent in 1667. But the Lords Proprietors of East New Jersey did not long permit the patentees and people of the Monmouth settlements to exercise the powers conferred by the patent of the royal
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.
Governor. The local courts, which had been for a time in operation, had proved themselves entirely too feeble to quell the disturbances and disorders of that time, and the power and in- fluence of Governor Carteret soon brought about their discontinuance. But in 1675, when the second Proprietary Assembly met, one of its first acts provided for the establishment and maintenance of courts of justice throughout the province. There was to be, in the first place, a monthly court of small causes, for the trial of all matters under forty shillings. This court was to be held on the first Wednesday of every month in each town of the province, by two or three persons to be chosen by the people, of whom a justice of the peace was to be one. Then there were the County Courts, or Courts of Sessions, to be held twice a year in every county,1 the judges of which were also to be elected out of the (so-called) county to which the court belonged. These courts were em- powered to try "all causes actionable," and no appeals to be had from their judgments under the sum of twenty pounds, "except to the Bench or the Court of Chancery,"-the term "the Bench " meaning the Provincial Court of Assize, to be held once a year in the town of Woodbridge, or wherever the Governor and Council should appoint. "This was the Su- preme Court of the province; but from it, appeals would lie to the Governor and Council, and from them, in the last resort, to the King."2
In 1682-83, under the twelve proprietors, the four original counties of New Jersey were erected, and in each of these the County Courts were to be held four times a year. "The County of Monmouth, their Sessions to be the fourth Tuesday in March, in the Publick Meet- ing-House at Middletown yearly. The fourth Tuesday in June in the Publick Meeting-House at Shrewsbury yearly. The fourth Tuesday in September in the Publick Meeting-House in Middletown. And the fourth Tuesday in December, at the Publick Meeting-House in
Shrewsbury."3 The judges were to consist of at least three of the justices of the peace in the respective counties. A high sheriff in each county was now for the first time provided for, and all processes out of the County Courts were to be directed to him. In the court for the trial of small causes, either party could demand a jury ; and so sacredly was that mode of trial held that no man could be denied the benefit of it, even in the smallest matter. A change, too, was made in the name of the Supreme Court of the province. Instead of the "Court of As- size," it was to be called the " Court of Common Right,"-a name not transplanted from Eng- land, but entirely new, and peculiar to New Jersey. With reference to this court, the pro- prietors said, in their instructions to Deputy- Governor Gawen Lawrie: " We do require this one thing concerning the Court of Common Right: that it be always held at our Town of Perth [Amboy], if it be possible." Notwith- standing this injunction to the Deputy-Gov- ernor, the Court of Common Right (to consist of "twelve members, or six at the least ") was organized to be held at Elizabethtown four times a year; and it was not until 1686 that the court was directed to be removed thence, and held at Perth Amboy, the act providing for the removal declaring "that Amboy is more conveniently situated, near the centre of the province, the most encouraging place for trade and traffic by sea and land, and which will occa- sion great concourse of people." The Court of Common Right was a Court of Equity as well as of Common Law until 1695, when an act declarative of "the rights and Privileges of His Majesty's Subjects inhabiting within the Province of East New Jersey " provided that the judges of the Court of Common Right should not be judges of the High Court of Chancery.
"The first ordinance for the establishment of Courts of Judicature in the Province of New
1 The "two towns of Navesink," Middletown and Shrews- bury, to be considered as a county, though no counties had then been erected in the province.
" Field's Provincial Courts.
3 The first grand jury in the county, consisting of four- teen persons, met at Middletown on the fourth Tuesday of September, 1687. The first indictment was found, in 1689, against sixteen persons " for horse-racing and playing at nyne-pins on ye Sabbath-Day." The bills were at that time drawn in advance by the prosecuting officer, and sent to the grand jury for their action.
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
.
Jersey," says Field, " was that of Lord Corn- bury in 1704." It is really gratifying to be able to find a single redeeming feature in the administration of this weak, corrupt and tyran- nical man, who disgraced the sovereign whose By the provisions of Lord Cornbury's ordi- nance, above mentioned, a Supreme Court of Judicature was to be held alternately at Perth Amboy and Burlington. At Amboy on the first Tuesday in May and at Burlington on the representative he was, and dishonored the noble first Tuesday in November, annually and every ancestry from which he sprung. But he is entitled to the credit of having laid the founda- tion of our whole judicial system, and of having laid it well. True, the materials for such a work were found in the several courts which existed under the proprietary government ; but he reduced them to order and gave them shape and beauty and proportion. All that has been done from that day to this has been but to fill up, as it were, the outlines which he sketched, to make some additional apartments to the judicial edifice which he constructed. year; and each session of the said court to con- tinue for any term not exceeding five days. "And," says Field, "if the question were now asked, What is the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, as at present constituted? the only answer that could be given would be, in the language of Lord Corn- bury's ordinance," which was as follows: "To have Cognizance of all Pleas, civil, criminal and mixt, as fully and amply, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as the Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer within her Majesty's Kingdom of England, have or ought to have, in and to which Supream Court all and every Person and Persons whatsoever shall and may, if they see meet, commence any Action or Suit being upwards of Ten Pounds, and shall or may, by Certiorari, Habeas Cor-
" He gave to justices of the peace cognizance in all cases of debt and trespass to the value of forty shillings, with the right of appeal to the Court of Sessions where the sum in controversy was over twenty shillings. He ordained that there should be a Court of Common Pleas kept and holden in every county of the Province at the | pus, or any other lawful Writ, remove out of place where the General Courts of Sessions were held, and to begin immediately after the Ses- sions had ended, with power to hear and deter- mine all actions triable at Common Law, of what nature or kind soever ; subject to a re- moval to the Supreme Court either before or after judgment, where the matter in dispute exceeded ten pounds, or the title to land came in question." - ----
The General Sessions of the Peace were directed to be held four times a year in every county, at the times and places mentioned in the ordinance. For the county of Monmouth the places designated were Middletown and Shrews- bury ; the times of meeting were the fourth Tues- days in February, May, August and December.
any of the respective Courts of Sessions of the Peace or Common Pleas, any Information or Indictment there depending, or Judgment there- upon given, or to be given, in any Criminal matter whatsoever, cognizable before them or any of them; as also all actions, Pleas or Suits, real, personal or mixt, depending in any of the said Courts, and all Judgments thereupon given, or to be given,-Provided always That the Ac- tion or Suit depending, or Judgment given, be upwards of the value of Ten Pounds, or that the Action or Suit there depending or deter- mined, be concerning the Right or Title of any Free-hold."
The courts of Monmouth County continued bury's ordinance, as follows : " And one of the to be held at Middletown and Shrewsbury, al- ternately, until 1713; for about two years after- wards, at Shrewsbury only ; and from November, 1715,1 at Freehold, where they have always since been held.
Circuit Courts were provided for by Corn- justices of the said Supreme Court shall, once in every year, if need shall so require, go the Circuit, and hold and keep the said Supream Court . .. for the County of Monmouth, at Shrewsbury, the second Tuesday in May . .. Which Justice, when he goes the Circuit, shall in each respective County be assisted by two or more Justices of the Peace, during the time of
1 The first court at the place which is now Freehold con- vened on the fourth Tuesday of November, 1715,-Judge John Reid presiding ; Thomas Gordon, Attorney-General.
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.
two days, whilst the Court in the Circuit is sitting, and no longer." The judges of the several courts were authorized to establish rules of practice for regulating their proceedings ; and it was also ordained by Cornbury that all issues of fact should be tried by a jury of "Twelve men of that Neighbourhood, as it ought to be done by Law."
" The ordinance establishing the circuits1 re- quired the high sheriff, justices of the peace, the . mayor and aldermen of any corporation within the counties, and all officers of any of the courts, to be attending on the chief justice and other justices going the circuit, at his coming into and leaving the several counties, and dur- ing his abode within the same ; and the practice, as it was in England until the introduction of rail- ways, was for the sheriff, with as many justices and other gentlemen on horseback as he could conveniently collect, to await the arrival of the judge at the county line, to which he was in like manner escorted by the officers of the adjoining county, and escort him to the lodgings. At the opening and closing of the court, from day to day, the sheriff and constables, with their staves of office, escorted him from and to his place of lodging to the court-house, as was indeed the usual custom until very recently. When sitting in court the justices of the Supreme Court wore a robe of office," and commonly a wig, although it is-not probable that, like their brethren in England, they considered it necessary to carry four of these indispensable articles,-namely, 'the brown scratch wig for the morning, when not in court ; the powdered dress wig for dinner ; the tie wig with the black coif when sitting on the civil side of the court, and the full-bottomed one for the criminal side.' At May term, 1765,
the Supreme Court promulgated the following rule : 'The Court, considering that it is the usage in England for counselors at law, during term time at Westminster, and on the circuits through the kingdom, constantly to appear in court hab- ited in robes or gowns adapted to the profession of the law, and as the introduction of the like usage into this Province may tend to advance the dignity, solemnity and decorum of our courts, and have many other useful consequences ; It is therefore ordained that no person prac- tising as counsel at the bar (except those of the people called Quakers) shall for the future appear at any Supreme Court to be held in this Province, or in any of the courts on the circuits, unless he be habited in the bar-gown and band commonly worn by barristers at Westminster and on the circuits in England, under a penalty of a contempt of this rule.' It continued to be observed until 1791, when the leading counsel- ors presented a petition setting forth that it was found to be troublesome and inconvenient, and deemed by them altogether useless, and it was rescinded."
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