History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 13

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140

USA > New Jersey > Sussex County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 13
USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 13

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which now would be esteemed invaluable, they appear to have been regarded as possessing merely an ephem- eral interest, and were thrown aside as so much rub- bish so soon as they had answered the immediate purpose in hand. I esteem it peculiarly fortunate that, amid the general destruction of these import- ant papers, the minutes of one of the carly meetings of the county committee have been preserved and are now in my possession. I found the manuscript among some loose papers in the elerk's othee, cast aside as of no account, and left to moulder undisturbed annid dust and cobwebs. The proceedings which this ancient document discloses took place at the session of the County Committee of Safety held at the court- house on the 10th and 11th days of August, 1775,- about eleven months before the declaration of inde- pendence was made by the representatives of the United Colonies. At this meeting delegates ap- peared from all the townships except Hardyston,- viz., William Maxwell, Benjamin Mccullough, and James Stewart, of Greenwich; Edward Demont, Sam- uel Hazlet, and William Debman, of Mansfield ; John Lowry, John McMurtry, and William White, of Ox- ford; Abraham Besherrer, Nathaniel Drake, and Andrew Waggoner, of Knowlton; Casper Shafer, of Hardwick; Archibald Stewart, Robert Price, John Stoll, Thomas Anderson, Jacob MeCollum, Philip Dodderer, and Jacob Stoll, of Newton; Jacob Dewitt and Joseph Harker, of Wantage; Abraham Van Campen, Daniel Depue, Jr., Moses Van Campen, Joseph Montague, Emanuel Hover, John C. Symmes, and John Rosenkrans, of Walpack; Samuel West- brook, Abraham Brokaw, and Henry Hover, of San- dyston; Henry W. Cortright and John Cortright, of Montague. William Maxwell, of Greenwich, was chosen chairman, and Thomas Anderson, of Newton, clerk. Returns were called for from the several town- ships of the names of those who refused to sign the Articles of Association for the respective townships. In Greenwich seven persons were returned as having refused to sign, four of whom were Quakers, who de- clared it to be against their conscience to take up arms; one gave no reason, and the remaining two would 'take time to consider.' From Mansfield two names were returned, but no reason for refusal as- signed. In Sandy-ton all signed except two, 'who are willing to do so when opportunity offers.' In Montague every citizen signed, and in Wantage all agreed except Joseph Havens and one or two more Quakers, 'who are Whigs and are willing to con- tribute.' The other towns, says the record, 'not having had the Association particularly carried to the inhabitants, ordered that the committee of said towns wait upon the people and make return at the next meeting of the committee.'

" What report was made from 'the other towns' is not now known, but may be inferred from the returns just given. These items afford us an insight into the state of feeling which pervaded the county at that

SUSSEX AND WARREN COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

early stage of the conflict, and conclusively refute the gross imputations which have been recklessly and maliciously cast upon the patriotism of our Revolu- tionary citizens.

"At this meeting means were taken to raise hy tax the county's quota of ten thousand pounds," ordered by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey for the purpose of raising money to ' purchase arms and am- munition, and for other exigencies of the province.' Casper Shafer was appointed collector of the county, to take charge of the funds to be raised under the anthority of the Committee of Safety. It was also ordered ' that the captains of the respective companies of militia send an account to the next meeting of the committee of all persons upwards of sixteen and under fifty years old in their several districts who re- fuse to sign the muster-rolls, that their names may be forwarded to Provincial Congress,'

" Capt. John McMurtry and Lient. William White, of Oxford township, being desirous to go to Boston, where the Americans were rallying under the stand- ard of Washington, then just appointed commander- in-chief of the Continental forces, requested the com- mittee to certify as to their 'place of ahode, charac- ter, and reputation,' which was at once complied with.

" On motion, it was ' Resolved, nem. con., That any person thinking himself aggrieved by any merchant or trader in this county taking an exorbitant price for any article of goods make application to the chair- man of the town committee where such merchant or trader resides, who is to call a meeting of said com- mittee as soon as convenient thereafter, which said meeting is to consist of five members at least. And the said committee, when convened, shall notify the said merchant or trader to appear and show why he has taken so great a price; and if it shall appear that he has taken an unreasonable profit, or shall refuse to attend or give any satisfaction in the premises, that he be cited by the said committee to appear at the next meeting of the county committee, there to be dealt with according to the rules of the Continental Congress.'

"A memorial on this subject was also drawn up and ordered to be presented to the Continental Con- gress, praying that the latter body would make in- quiry and ascertain if the Philadelphia and New York merchants of whom the traders in this county purchased their goods were not at the bottom of the system of extortion, speculating upon the public ne- cessity by affixing exorbitant prices upon their mer- chandise."

It appears that about this time there were good reasons for such a precaution, prices having so gone up that fifty bushels of wheat were exchanged for one bushel of salt; calico was sold at fifteen shillings a yard, while rye would only bring one shilling eight

pence a hushel. "Only one pair of shoes a year could be afforded, which were generally purchased about Christmas, and which the fair owners carefully preserved from dilapidation through the summer by going barefoot, like the enchanting goddesses that figure in ancient mythology."

The committee further ordered that the "colonels of each regiment and battalion in the county issue orders to the several captains to make strict inquiry into the state of their several companies, with regard to firearms, and make a return of all deficiencies." It was also ordered that a sum not exceeding forty pounds he applied to the purchase of ammunition for the battalion under the command of Col. John C. Symmes, and that said amount be immediately raised in "the three townships on the northwest side of the Pahaquala Mountain" and credited to them "in the quota of said towns of the money to be raised in the county agreeably to the directions of the Provincial Congress." On motion of Thomas Anderson, it was

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the committee of Knowlton to get the Association in their town signed as speedily as possible, and to suppress any riot there in its iofancy, as threats of a riot from that town have been reported."

It is said that in this township resided some trouble- some Tories, who at this early stage of affairs sought to organize their confederates in resistance to the Articles of Association. But these loyalists soon fled to the British lines, and their property was confiscated to the State.

On motion of John Cleves Symmes, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted by the Sussex County committee :

" WHEREAS, There are some men who, after having signed the Associa- tion, have basely turned their backs upon the sacred cause of liberty and vilely aspersed her true sons, and wickedly eodenvored, and do en- denvor, to sow sedition, create confusion, and fill the minds of the good people of the county with groundless fear and jealousy, to the great detriment of the public canse, therefore this Board take the same iuto consideration.

" Resolved, nem. con., That if any person or persons in any of the towns in this county shall herenfter asperse any of the friends of liberty in this county on account of their political sentiments, or shall speak contempt- nously or disrespectfully of the Continental or Provincial Congresses, or of any of the committees of and in this county, or of any mousures adopted or appointed to be pursued by the Congresses or committees for the public good and safety, on complaint being made thereof to one of the committee of the town where such person shall reside, the chairman shall, with the consent of the majority of suid committee, nt the next meeting, issne an order to the captain of the next company of militia to send a party of five or six men of his company to take such offender or offenders on proof being made of the fact luid to his or their charge, and forthwith bring him or them before the suid committee; and if such offender or offenders, on proof being made of the fact luid to his or their charge, shall refuse to retract or express sorrow and contrition for his or their offenses, and will not promise amendment in future, the suid chair- man shall, a day or two previous to the next meeting of the county coul- mittee, direct sald captain to send a party of his men, ns aforesaid, to take suid offender or offenders and bring him or them forthwith before the county committee, to be dealt with according to his or their dosorts."

This county committee was one of the most forward and active bodies of patriots in New Jersey.

On June 3, 1775, the Provincial Congress passed the following :

" The county's proportion was five hundred and ninety-three pounds five shillings four pence.

SUSSEX AND WARREN COUNTIES IN THE REVOLUTION.

" The Congress, taking into consideration the spirited exertions of the counties of Morris, Sussex, and Somerset in raising of minute-men, do approve of and thank them for their zeal in the common cause, and will Inke the sanse luto further consideration at the next meeting."

IV .- TICE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

The following are the names of members of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey from Sussex County :

Muy ant June, 1775 .- Archibald Stewart, Edward Dumont, William Max- well, Ephraim Martin.

August, 1775 .- Edward Dumont, William Maxwell, John B. Scott, Hugh Hughes, Mark Thompson, William Norcross.

October, 1775,-William Maxwell, Ephraim Martin, Thomas l'otts, Abia Brown, Mark Thompson.

Muy, 1776 .- Ephraim Martin, Casper Shafer, Thomas Potts, Isunc Van Campen, John Cleves Symines.

These men and their associates from the other coun- ties, neting in the Provincial Congress, changed the government of New Jersey from the colonial form to a constitutional government, or State. From _August, 1775, the Provincial Congress became a legislative body, and soon superseded the regularly-appointed Legislature under the king. Probably the fact that Governor William Franklin was a royalist and sided against the cause of the patriots hastened these meas- ures sooner in New Jersey than elsewhere. The colo- nial Governor had not only the power of proroguing the Legislature, but the members of Assembly were elected upon writs issued by him and his council to the sheriff' of each county ; and, as these officers were appointed by the Governor and hell during his plea- sure, it became necessary to provide a different mode of elections. Hence, on Aug. 12, 1775, the Provincial Congress passed an ordinance that the inhabitants of each county qualified to vote for representative- to the General Assembly (who were persons worth fifty pounds in personal and real estate) should meet at their respective court-houses, on the 21st day of Sep- tember then next, and by a plurality of votes elect any number, not exceeding five, with full power to represent each county in a Provincial Congress to be held at Trenton on the 3d day of October then next. The chairman of the meeting chosen by the voters present and any five or more frecholders were required to sign certificates of election. The persons elected in pursuance of this ordinance, for Sussex County, at the court-house in Newton, were those whose names are given above under the date of October, 1775.

The Provincial Congress met at the time and place appointed, and so continued to meet, according to the exigencies of public business, till August, 1776. Many ordinances were enacted by this body,-ordinances for organizing the militia, for raising money by taxation, for issuing New Jersey serip, for arresting and pun- ishing Tories, for dealing with contraband vessels upon the coast; in short, for everything necessary to carry on the machinery of the provincial government during those trying and perilous times. Too much credit cannot be given to the intelligence, patriotism, firmness, and wisdom of the men who guided the bark

of State through those boisterous waves and anchored her safely in the harbor of assured and triumphant republicanism. They were men of great capacity as well as of great courage and determination.

The regular Legislature met for the last time in Burlington, Nov. 15, 1775, the members from Sussex being Nathaniel Pettit and Joseph Barton. They enacted two or three laws, but made no attempt to in- terfere with the Provincial Congress. The regular Legislature was prorogued by Governor Franklin until the 3d of January, but it failed to meet on that day, and Franklin then summoned it, by a proclama- tion in the name of the king, to meet on the ensuing 20th of June. But the Provincial Congress, on the 4th of June, by a vote of thirty-eight to eleven, resolved that the proclamation ought not to be obeyed. On the 16th of June the Provincial Congress ordered the ar- rest of the Governor by a still more decisive vote, there being forty-two ayes to ten nays. He was taken into custody, and afterwards, by order of the Conti- mental Congress, sent as a prisoner to Connecticut, where he remained till regularly exchanged. We give from the minutes of the Provincial Congress the resolution and the votes in this famous case of guber- natorial impeachment :

" Resolred, That, in the opinion of this Congress, the said William Franklin, Esquite, has discovered himself to be an enemy to the liberties of this contitry ; and that meusnes ought to be immediately takou for securing the person of the sald William Franklin, Esquire.

"The said resolution pursed us follows:

" Yras: Mr. A. Clark, Camp, Condict, Drake, Cook, Woodhull, Green, Frelinghuysen, Paterson, Witherspoon, Hardenbergh, Linn, Ihurt, Me- lulu, Covenhoven, Mott, Josiah Holmes, Sparks, Cooper, E. Clark, Hugg Ellis, Kluer, Harris, Bowen, Hand, Lenming, Savage, Hathorn, Bloom- field, Wetherill, Dann, Sergeant, Combe, Femorest, Quarkenbush, Mar- Un, Shafer, Van Campen, Synomnes, Siuuickeon, John Holmne.

" Nays: Mr. Drummond, Dickinson, Alleu, Taylor, Joseph Holmes, Hughes, Pust, Van Buskirk, Brown, Potty."

V .- ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1776.

Ilitherto the Provincial Congress had taken no measures to form a State constitution, but, on June 21, 1776, agreeably to the recommendation of Conti- nental Congress that each colony should ndopt a pro- visional form of government, it was resolved, by a vote of fifty-four affirmatives to one negative, "that a government be formed for regulating the internal police of this colony, pursnant to the recommenda- tions of the Continental Congress of the fifteenth of May last." The members from Sussex County in the C'ongress at this time were John Cleves Symmes, I-aac Van Campen, Thomas Potts, Ephraim Martin, and Casper Shafer. A committee of ten members, of which Rev. Jacob Green, of Morris County, was chairman, was appointed to prepare a draft of a con- stitution. John Cleves Symmes was a member of this committee, with another eminent Inwyer,-Jonathan Dickinson ; so, also, was Dr. John Witherspoon, presi- dent of Princeton College; and probably these men had the most to do in preparing the draft which was submitted and adopted as the first constitution of New Jersey.

SUSSEX AND WARREN COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

VI .- THE PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.

The Committee of Safety of the Province of New Jersey was organized in October, 1775, and convened at Princeton, Samuel Tucker, Hendrick Fisher, Lewis Ogden, Joseph Holmes, Isaac Pearson, John Pope, Abraham Clark, Azariah Dunham, John Den- nis, Augustine Stevenson, Ruloff Van Dyke, John Cleves Symmes, John Hart, John Mehelm, Samuel Dick, John Combs, Caleb Camp, Edmund Wetherby, and Benjamin Manning were members, Samuel Tricker president, and Abraham Clark secretary. Little of local interest appears in the minutes of this body, excepting a few commitments for Toryism, treason, etc., until July 5, 1777, when, upon the rec- ommendation of a letter from John Cleves Symmes, the committee began its sittings in Newton, Sussex Co. The board met in the court-house on Saturday evening at nine o'clock, and adjourned till Monday morning, July 7th. It was "agreed that letters be written to Majs. Samuel Meeker and Samuel Kuy- kendal, Isaac Martin, Jacob McCollom, and George Allen, Esqs., to appear before the board and give a list of persons in this county who are disaffected or dangerous to the present government." The com- mittee made their report on the 9th of July, present- ing a list of twenty-eight names, sixteen of whom were in the township of Hardwick, eight in Knowl- ton, one in Wantage, three in Newton, and one in Oxford. This number was considerably reduced when it appeared, upon examination, that six or seven of the accused parties were Quakers, who had refused to take the oath on religious ground, but were " willing to be bound by surety ;" and they were so bound, in the sum of three hundred pounds.

On July 12, 1777, Thomas Anderson, Esq., of Newton, was made a member of the board. At this time John Troop, Peter Saunders, and James Moody (the latter the notorious Lient. James Moody, of whom we shall give an account hereafter) were re- cruiting for the British in the State. The board ordered Col. John Munson (and some other officer, whose name is left blank in the minutes) forthwith to apprehend them. It appears from the minutes of August 11th that John Troop and Peter Saunders were apprehended and brought before the board :

" Lient. John Troop, of the 3d Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, in the enemy's service, having been apprehended by order of the Governor and Council of Safety as a spy or recruiting for the enemy, was brought before the Council and examined.

" Ordered, That the said Lient. John Troop, with his examination, be sent to Gen. Washington.

" Ordered, That Henry Shoope and Peter Saunders, suspected as spics from the enemy, taken with Lieut. Troop, be remanded to prison in order to determine whether they will take their trial or go on board the Nuvy of the United States."

" Angust 16, 1777 .- Ordered, That Mr. Camp pay Col. Morgan the sum of £26 18%. 3d. for apprebending and securing John Troop amd others."

The Council of Safety held regular sessions at Newton till Aug. 21, 1777, when they adjourned to meet in Princeton.

During the early part of the Revolution many prisoners were confined in the Sussex County jail. On Oct. 12, 1777, the council agreed "That His Ex- cellency the Governor be advised to write Maj. Samuel Meeker, of Sussex, directing him to raise a party of twenty men, two sergeants, and two cor- porals, to do guard-duty over the prisoners, dis- affected persons, etc., at New Town, in Sussex County."

Pursuant to a resolution of Congress recommend- ing to the executive authorities of each State the appointment of proper persons in each district to recruit men, apprehend deserters, etc., Isaac Martin, Benjamin Kuykendal, Capt. Emanuel Hover, and William Carr were appointed for said purpose for Sussex County. Nov. 17, 1777, "His Excellency was pleased to lay before the board a letter from Maj. Meeker respecting the prisoners in Sussex gaol, and the provisions necessary for their support. The board, being of the opinion that there is no necessity of keeping a guard for securing the prisoners above mentioned, agreed that Col. Symmes he desired to direct Maj. Meeker to discharge the guard now kept for that purpose, and to settle with Maj. Meeker as to the cattle and flour he has purchased for their support. That as to the British prisoners confined in said gaol, Col. Symmes will acquaint the commis- sary of provisions with their confinement, and pro- cure his directions concerning them. As to the de- serters from the Continental army, he will inform the magistrates and endeavor to have them carried to their respective corps."

The following order shows that Sussex County was a good place for taking care of Tories, even within one mile of the jail at Newton :

"The board being informed that His Excellency Gen, Washington, by a letter of the 20th instant, that he considers Capt. Archibald Kennedy as a state prisoner, and that therefore he does not think that he has any right to interfere in the matter; and the board conceiving the said Capt. Kennedy disaffected to the present goverment, and his residence at his present place of abode dangerons to the State :

" Ordered, That he remove within eight days of the date hereof into the County of Sussex, and there remain withiu one mile of the court- honse at Newtown till the further order of the board respecting him."

VII .- INDIAN RAIDS DURING THE REVOLUTION.

The Minisink country, which had suffered severely from Indian hostilities during the French war, was not less exposed during the war of the Revolution to the merciless sway of the tomahawk and scalping- knife. The same savage foes lurked upon the fron- tiers, familiar with all the old war-paths from the Niagara to the Delaware, and ever ready to renew their bloody work at the instigation of their British allies.

In 1777 a party of savages slaughtered two or three families north of the Neversink and then crossed into Montague, where they tomahawked a family named Jobs, and next attacked the dwelling of Capt. Abra- ham Shimer, who, with the assistance of three or four negro servants and by his own indomitable resistance,

SUSSEX AND WARREN COUNTIES IN THE REVOLUTION.

compelled them to retire. In a few days they re- turned and captured a Mr. Patterson and his two small boys; the narrative of the father's sufferings and of the fate of his sons is thus given in the "New Jersey Historical Collections :"

" Mr. Patterson, being carelessly guarded while a prisoner, had several opportunities of eseaping; but, as he hoped to save his sons, he continued with the Indians until within one day's journey of the Niagara frontier, where he was confident a cruel death awaited him. In the night, while the Indians were asleep, he took two horses which they had stolen 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. Patterson, 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 traveled on by the sun five days without any food except buds and roots and a snake and a toad which he killed, when he arrived at the head-waters of the Susque- hanna. There he crooked a pin for a hook, and, at- taching it, with a worm, to 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 In- dians, became domesticated among them and thor- oughly savage in their habits. Elias, the younger, when a man, returned to Montague and married, still retaining many of his Indian customs. Here he re- sided until 1838, when he and his wife left for the Tuscarora reservation."

These acts made it necessary to call out the Sussex militia and to man again the block-houses in the "three river townships," stretching from the Water Gap to Carpenter's Point. This region was for two years the scene of active military operations, and was so well defended by the Sussex militia as to confine the atrocities of the savages almost exclusively to the adjacent territory of New York and Pennsylvania. Among the officers who commanded in this region were Cols. Hankinson and Seward, Majs. Meeker and Westbrook, and Capts. Cortright, Harker, Shafer, Beckwith, Rosenkrans, Bockover, Hover, and Winter. These men not only had charge of the garrisons, but commanded scouting-parties, which were kept con- stantly active along the frontier, sometimes penetrat: ing into New York and Pennsylvania.

In the autumn of 1778, Brant, the famous Mohawk chief, made a descent from the borders of Canada into the Minisink valley, at the head of about a hundred Indians and Tories. "They confined their atrocities chiefly to the settlements north of the Jersey bound- ary." They first fell upon the family of Mr. Westfall, and killed one man. Then they attacked the house of Mr. Swartwout, who was at home with his sons,

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 13

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1140

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140