USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > History of Paterson and its environs (the silk city); historical- genealogical - biographical > Part 36
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This day let peace and mirth prevail; No slavish tools will dare assail. Who cringe to Kings and bend the knee, They're strangers all to Liberty. Liberty, etc.
While Freedom's sons assemble here, At distance let them laugh and sneer ; They no such joys can taste as we, Who fought and bled for Liberty. Liberty, etc.
But Hark ! Our cannon now do roar, To welcome to our peaceful shore
Who dared to brave the raging sea, And bartered all for Liberty. Liberty, etc.
Let Washington be next our theme, And pleasure in each face be seen; With songs and glasses all agree, Toast WASHINGTON and LIBERTY. Liberty, etc.
Then hail this joyous festive day, That shall to latest time convey That Independence made us free, Huzza's the song for Liberty. Liberty, sweet Liberty, Huzza's the song for Liberty.
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Captain Godwin was a marvelously attractive host. He could play ex- cellently on various musical instruments ; he was a graceful dancer, a capital singer, and he was the life of every company in which he mingled. He was a most delightful reconteur, and never tired of telling of "the days that tried men's souls," when his father, two brothers and himself served their coun- try, to help win that country's independence. He was tall and dignified in bearing, and to the very last wore his hair in a queue, though in his later years it was tied up, instead of hanging down his back. What he lacked in early education he made up by an ardent zeal for knowledge, a readiness of acquisition, and a constant association with the most cultured men of his day, and the most distinguished visitors to the Falls were ever glad of the opportunity to converse with him. For many years he was one of the lead- ing men of the town, commanding the universal respect of his fellow citizens. No important occasion was complete unless graced by his presence. At ban- quets, celebrations, public meetings of every kind, he was always expected to make a speech. One of the pleasantest compliments imaginable was paid him in the naming of Godwinville-now Midland Park-on January 1, 1829, when he was present and made a felicitous address. Because of his early military experience, and his subsequent devotion to the training of the young in the manual of arms, he gradually rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the State militia. From time to time civil offices were also thrust upon him. He was elected overseer of roads in Acquackanonk township in 1792, and was on the Essex county grand jury in 1801. In 1802 he was elected to the Assembly from that county, being the first man ever sent to the Legislature from the territory now comprised in the city of Paterson; the people re- elected him in 1803, 1807 and 1810. At another time (August 17, 1814) he took a company of Paterson volunteers, seventy-six men, in military dress, down to Sandy Hook, where they were received with great acclaim, and did their full share of work on the entrenchments. Immediately after the death of his wife he advertised "Godwin's Hotel and Old Washington Tavern" to be let, March 1, 1826, and soon after leased it to his son-in-law, Ira Munn; six or seven years later, Henry H. Post, another son-in-law, leased the estab- lishment. In 1828 he was nominated for presidential elector, on the Jackson ticket. After giving up the hotel he devoted himself to his mercantile busi- ness, and the care of his extensive real estate possessions. Thus he enjoyed a dignified and comfortable retirement from all public affairs. His funeral was held in the First Presbyterian church, and was the largest and most imposing the little town had ever witnessed, all classes being anxious to do honor to the memory of so distinguished a citizen. His will, dated August 21, 1835, was proved November 16, 1835. He provides that "all my pictures of my own drawing shall be collected together and disposed of amicably among my children * * that my other pictures, scraps of poetry, &c., (if any there should be found worth preserving) shall be divided up as afore- said ;" his gold epaulets to his son Abraham ; his sword, chapeau and sash to his grandson, Abram H. Godwin; his executors were directed to sell his real estate and divide the proceeds into eight equal parts, among his children and
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the representatives of his deceased children. Executors-Caleb Munson God- win, Abraham Godwin and Russell Stebbins.
David Godwin was born March 5, 1766. Being proficient with the drum, as his brother Abraham was with the fife, he joined his brother Henry's regiment (Fifth New York), December 29, 1776, and was mustered in to January, 1781, practically for the war. On October 7, 1777, the day after the disaster at Fort Montgomery, he was transferred from the Fifth to the Seventh Company (his brother Henry's), of the same regiment. In his memoir he relates this distressing occurrence, which gives an idea of the bitterness of the struggle, even so far in the interior as Totowa then was :
Uncle David Griffith being at Fishkill and going home I had a wish to see my mother and sisters I went with him I had not been home but a few days when uncle David sent one of his children where I was to come to him I went he shewed the British at our house and said we must get away before they found us we went to the river found a canoe (as the bridge was down) to take us over he then took me up on the hill back of the church where I could see the doors of our house and all that was done there, he told me keep myself close should any one come that way to hide in the bushes till he returned, he would hurry to Colonel Deys to try to get him to send some militia to meet them he returned without any success if he then had twenty men at the stone house of Mr Benson's they could have killed every man as they were wading the river and their arms of no use as the water was too deep to make use of their cartridges. they then took old Mr. Ryersons and Vanderbeek's Sleds and horses carried the troops back and then went to the house put on the plunder and carried it to the landing where they disposed of it for what it would bring and told Vanderbek if they wanted their Sleds they would come to the landing for them, After they had gone towards night uncle David and I returned to the house but dreadful was the Sight a mother and three Sisters stripped of everything, a plundered house filled with straw and feathers taken out of bed ticks to put their plunder in, not one article left in the house except a Book case too large to move which they commenced burning-Which was forbid by the commanding officer or they would have burned everything they could not carry with them We went to the kitchen there sat mother and sisters on the few chairs left in the kitchen which the major saved for them from the hands of the ruffians. mother said come girls let us have a cup of tea but alas they had saved the tea kettle and had a well of good water but where was the tea, That was the first of mother's giving way through the trials of the day her little consolation taken from her, her closets where was plenty stript not a vestige left her, Cellar stocked for the winter ransacked Provisions taken casks upset so that nothing could be left for their subsistence it was not long before the friendly neighbors brought in a supply of such things as to make them comfortable and once more raised the drooping spirits of my mother Which were not easily sunk by afflictions.
After various experiences-in the Northern campaign, then to Scho- harie, Schenectady, Canajoharie and on Sullivan's Western Expedition in 1779-the two lads returned with the army from Wyoming to Easton and "through the upper part of Jersey to Mendham near Morristown where we haulted that winter."
We had then been two years from home without hearing anything from the family It was a happy meeting to us to find Mother and three sisters all
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well after undergoing the hardships of war with a sett of cutthroats around them who when mother applied to them with money in her hand not conti- nental but hard money to let her have some clothing for herself and daugh- ters after being plundered by the Refugees their friends But they refused to supply their wants The next campaign we were marched from one place to another nothing transpired till we went to winter quarters at Pompton. The next spring was much as before till we were ordered down the Chesa- peake to Yorktown at that time I was on the sick list and remained so till the troops returned then went to Wallkill in the fall built huts for winter where I again joined them In the spring the army was discharged without money without anything and many no homes to go to every one had to look for him- self as there was no quarter-master to give any more rations. Each one must make the best of his way among friends till he could find some home after serving seven years hard service without money, without clothing and often without provisions.
On returning to Paterson, David learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed several years, being employed in the erection of the first cotton mill in Paterson, in 1792; in constructing the first dam (a wooden structure) above the Falls, and the Society's hotel, in 1794, on Market street, between Union and Hotel streets. He died in Rhinebeck, New York, January 31, 1852.
Passaic county furnished another important supporter of the Revolu- tionary cause, in the person of Robert Erskine, of Ringwood. The younger son of the Rev. Ralph Erskine, a distinguished Scottish divine, who is buried at Dryburgh Abbey, in Scottland, Erskine engaged in mercantile business in London, in which he sunk his patrimony, and became much involved. He then turned his attention to surveying and engineering, and especially mechanics. In the last-named field he was the author of several inventions, one of which, a centrifugal engine, he fondly believed, to his dying day, would rehabilitate his shattered fortunes, and win for him lasting fame. About this time he appears to have sought a professorship in the University at Glasgow. His abilities as a business man and his talents as an engineer now attracted the notice of the London Company of capitalists who owned the mines and iron works at Pompton, Ringwood and Charlottesburg, whose business had become involved, and he was sent over to America to take charge as general manager, and in the course of time straightened out mat- ters, greatly to the satisfaction of his employers. When mutterings of the Revolution began, two or three years later, he found himself in a trying posi- tion. On the one hand he felt constrained to protect the interests entrusted to his care. On the other, his Scottish love of freedom enlisted all his sym- pathies in the American cause. His letters indicate a clear prevision. Writ- ing in June, 1774, to his employers in London, he says : "I have no doubt that total suspension of commerce with Great Britain will certainly take place. Such I know are the sentiments of those who even wished a chastise- ment of Boston. If in want of friends here it will be difficult even with microscopic search to find them." On June 17 of the same year he writes .
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"The Virginians, who are the soul of America, take the lead. We have not yet heard from the southward, but from what has appeared hitherto, the whole colonies seem to look on that of New England as a common cause." And in October : "The Oliverian spirit in New England is effectually roused and diffused over the whole continent, which though it is now pent up within bounds, a few drops of blood let run would make it break out in torrents which 40,000 men could not stem. * * * The rulers at home have gone too far." A year later he thus expresses his views: "The communication with my native country may soon be cut off. The prospect is very gloomy and awful. God in his providence seems to have determined the fate of the British Empire, which is likely to be rent in pieces. I do not believe, how- ever, that there is a man of sense on this continent who desires such a dis- junction, provided they are not drove to it by absolute necessity, but if forci- ble measures are persisted in the dire event must take place, which may God in his mercy yet prevent. The situation of this country and my
own makes me truly anxious.
*
The generality of people at home
are totally wrong in their ideas of this country and its inhabitants, who being now in arms must by next spring be looked upon as equal to the same number of regular troops, not only to do them justice, but that their oppo- nents may have proper ideas of the business they go upon if the enterprise of subduing them be persisted in, which, however, I hope in God will not be the case."
He made no secret of his intentions, for he wrote fully to the London Company that he intended to join the Revolutionary army. The London Company in reply sent him a letter profuse with thanks for the ability and honesty with which he had managed their affairs and reluctantly unbraid- ing him for his disloyalty to the King of Great Britain. As early as August, 1775, he fully equipped a company of Continental militia at the Ringwood works, at his own expense-one of the very first companies organized in the State. He attached to the enlistment of his men the proviso that they should not be compelled to serve in any other company, his object being to keep the men together so that they might be used either in fighting or in making war material. The Provincial Congress warmly commended his zeal and ordered that he be commissioned captain of the company. He did valuable service to the American cause in running the works during subsequent years, supplying cannon balls and other necessaries to the army. Washington met him at Ringwood and, recognizing that his knowledge of the topography of the country would be of valuable assistance to the American cause, commis- sioned him to be Geographer and Surveyor-General to the army, a post he held until the day of his death. His remains rest in Ringwood soil, a short distance from the former residence of Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt. The tomb, a quadrangular structure, built of brick, rises about two feet above the surface of the ground; on it rests a slab with the following inscription : "In Memory of Robert Erskine, F. R. S., Geographer and Surveyor-General to the Army of the United States, Son of Ralph Erskine, late minister at Dumfermline in Scotland. Born September 7th, 1735. Died October 2d,
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1780, Aged 45 Years and 25 Days." On the slab of an adjoining tomb, similarly constructed, may be read, "In Memory of Robert Monteath, Clark to Robert Erskine, Esq. Born at Dunblain in Scotland. Died Dec. 2, 1778, Aged 33 years." Every possible care has always been taken to preserve these mementoes of the Revolutionary struggle the same care which is ex- tended to a small stone structure standing a short distance away, a building which was used as a smithy hallowed now because Washington frequently had his horses shod there.
William Colfax was of the staunchest New England stock. He was born near New London, Connecticut, July 3, 1756. Of his early youth little is known. He often told his family that he participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. June 17, 1775, and it is probable that he never left the army until the liberties of his country had been assured. He appears to have en- listed in a Connecticut regiment and in the records of the Comptroller's office of that State he is credited with service in the Continental army to January 1, 1780, £ 184 3s. IId. On January 1, 1781, he received for bal- ance of service £106 Is. 4d. Strange to say, these two scanty financial entries appear to be the only records Connecticut has of this distinguished son of hers. While the American army was encamped at Valley Forge, Wash- ington issued an order, dated March 17, 1778, directing that "one hundred chosen men are to be annexed to the Guard of the Commander-in-Chief, for the purpose of forming a corps, to be instructed in the maneuvres necessary to be introduced into the army, and to serve as a model for the execution of them." These men were to be taken from the various States, and were re- quired to be from five feet eight inches to five feet ten inches in height, from twenty to thirty years of age, of "robust constitution, well-limbed, formed for activity, and men of established character for sobriety and fidelity." They were to be American-born, and the motto of the Guard was, "Conquer or Die." Into this honorable corps young Colfax was drafted, doubtless at this time. His fine appearance and gallantry in the field soon made him a favorite with the general, and it was not long before he became a lieutenant of the Guard, subsequently succeeding Caleb Gibbs, of Rhode Island, as captain commandant. though it appears that he was never commissioned a captain. He was thrice wounded in battle-once dangerously. One of these wounds was received at the battle of White Plains, New York, in October, 1776. Upon one occasion, when he was in the act of giving the word of command to his men, a bullet struck his uplifted sword, shattering the blade, and glanc- ing, skinned one of his fingers. In another engagement a bullet struck his forearm, severing the integuments and passing between the bones, without touching them. Again, while riding on horseback, in an exposed position a bullet was sent through his body, just above the hip and below the bowels, entering in front and coming out behind. The long buff waistcoat he wore' at the time is preserved by his descendants, and the hole is apparent, made by the almost fatal shot. In the excitement of the battle the impetuous young hero did not notice the wound, but still galloped from point to point over the
WILLIAM COLFAX, CAPTAIN IN WASHINGTON'S LIFE GUARD.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTER INSETT IND
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field delivering orders. Some Hessian soldiers, who had been taken prison- ers, saw the blood streaming from his side and into his boot, and gleefully exclaimed, "Mein Gott, the captain is wounded again." As he kept on in the fight some of his own men saw the crimson flow and cried out to him, "Cap- tain ! the blood is running out of your boot." Glancing down, he perceived his condition for the first time, saw that it must be serious, and rode over to the field hospital. Dr. Ledyard looked at the wound and bade him go at once into the hospital, and stay in, the latter order being deemed necessary to keep the fiery captain indoors. The excitement over, the wounded man suc- cumbed to the loss of blood and grew faint and as weak as a child. After hurriedly examining and dressing the injury, Dr. Ledyard asked, "Do you want to be cured quickly, or to let this thing linger along?" Said the captain, "As quickly as possible." The surgeon promptly applied the bistoury, tore the wound open and dressed it, whereupon it soon healed. However, recov- ery was attended by an eruption of boils, covering the patient from head to heels, and afflicting him as sorely as they did Job of old. Washington, see- ing the state of his trusted captain, remarked, "You are in a deplorable condi- tion ; I will give you a furlough that you may go home until you recover." Colfax persisted in staying with the army until they went into winter quar- ters at Morristown, in the winter of 1779-80. During that season he went home to Connecticut, riding all the way on horseback, the snow being so deep in March that he rode over the fence tops. He returned greatly im- proved in health, and was with the army until the close of the war. At the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in October, 1781, at his own particular request Colfax was permitted by Washington to occupy a promi- nent position, on horseback, near his beloved general, and he was never tired of describing in after years that memorable scene. The American and French armies were drawn up in line, facing each other, Washington at the head of one, and the Count de Rochambeau at the head of the other, the Brit- ish column passing between. Colfax said they marched to the tune of "Yan- kee Doodle." The British commander (General O'Hara, representing Corn- wallis, who pleaded indisposition) was loth to yield his sword to the "rebel," and, as he reached the head of the allied armies he tendered the blade to the French general. But that gallant and truly courteous officer resented the insult to the American commander, and, fiercely frowning, exclaimed, "Me no Washington. Me Rochambeau." The mortified prisoner then, with the best grace possible, surrendered the sword to the general-in-chief. The fore- going and other of these personal reminiscences of Colfax were related to Mr. Nelson in the summer of 1872, by Dr. William W. Colfax, the only sur- viving son of Captain Colfax.
Colfax was a man of fine presence ; about five feet ten inches in height, large frame, well proportioned, and weighing about 190 or 200 pounds. He had dark hair, a clean-shaven face, with massive, square-set under jaw, a clean, florid complexion, and beautiful blue eyes. His hair was powdered and worn in a cue, tied with a black ribbon, until his later years. A pretty
P-19
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miniature of himself, painted about the end of the Revolutionary War, for his sweetheart, shows that his coat was dark-blue, with collar and facing of scarlet, large gilt buttons ornamenting the facing; his waistcoat was doubt- less buff, although the color is now faded; a ruffled shirt bosom overflows the upper part of the waistcoat and there appears to be a black cravat about his neck, with a white collar turned partly over it. The neatness of his dress characterized his appearance all his life.
He was a personal favorite of Lady Washington, as well as of the gen- eral, and the family still preserve a sort of net for his cue, knitted of linen thread by her for the captain. They also have one of a brace of pistols given him by Washington, the other having been lost some years ago. It is about ten inches long, single barrel, flint lock, of iron or steel ; wooden stock, orna- mented with silver filagree work, the butt mounted with German silver, and having sunk in it a hideous face with mouth wide open. The pistol is in- scribed "Amsterdam," on one side, and "Thone" (doubtless the maker's name) on the other.
While the army was at Pompton Plains, the citizens showed the officers various courtesies. About a quarter of a mile above Pompton, the road to Wanaque and Ringwood leaves the old Hamburgh turnpike and at the south- east corner of these roads stood until recently an old yellow frame house, two stories high in front, with roof sloping almost to the ground in the rear, a covered verandah in front, quaint half-doors, and various other unmistak- able evidences of belonging to a past age. This was the residence during the Revolution of Casparus (Dutch for Jasper) Schuyler. His home was the scene of many a festive gathering in which Washington and his suite participated. The young officers found here a great attraction in the charm- ing daughter Hester, and the valiant young Colfax, brave as he was in battle, surrendered at discretion before the flash of her bright eyes. Soon after the war he took up his residence in Pompton and married Hester Schuyler, August 27, 1783. There for more than half a century he lived the quiet, peaceful life of a country farmer, seeing his children grow up around him, and witnessing the wonderful development of the nation, for whose existence he had fought so long and well in his youth. He was honored, trusted and revered by his neighbors and was repeatedly elected or appointed to various responsible positions in the town, county or State. He was a justice of the peace and Common Pleas judge for many years. He was elected to the Gen- eral Assembly from Bergen county in 1806-07-09-10-II and to the Legisla- tive Council in 1808-12-13. He was always interested in military affairs and in 1811 was brigadier-general of the Second Division of Infantry, Bergen Brigade. In the war of 1812 he had a command at Sandy Hook.
At the elaborate and enthusiastic celebration of Independence Day, which was customary in former years, the presence of Colfax was deemed indispensable at the demonstrations in his neighborhood. In 1824, on the occasion of the great parade in Newark in honor of Lafayette, Colfax par- ticipated as one of the most conspicuous Revolutionary heroes of the day.
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He preserved his faculties until the very last and died, after but a few days illness, September 9, 1838, aged eighty-two years and two months. He was buried on his own estate, with military honors, the militia of Paterson and vicinity turning out on the occasion, with martial music, under com- mand of General Abraham Godwin, the younger, and Colonel Cornelius G. Garrison, both of Paterson. The services were held in the Reformed Dutch church at Pompton, the Rev. Isaac S. Demarest officiating, while the people came by the hundreds from all the country around to testify by their pres- ence their respect.
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