USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 52
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Is it not a strange coincidence that the enemy just six months later, June 26, 1777, under Howe and Cornwallis, forced our troops back from Scotch Plains, but at Westfield began a retreat which was "much to the disgrace and chagrin of the British leaders and the bitter disappointment of the whole Tory faction."
The year 1777 was a hard one for Westfield. The inhabitants were in a constant state of alarm. General Sullivan was in command below the range of hills on the west, while Maxwell held the town (Elizabeth.) Their troops were continually moving from Chatham and Springfield, or from Westfield and Scotch Plains, watching for opportunities to cut off the foraging parties or pick up the scouts of the enemy. Skirmishes, more or less severe, were of almost daily occurrence. Several actions took place, in January, February and March, in which the war was brought to our very doors, and necessitating constant vigilance. Every
* Vide Dr. Hatfield's Elizabeth, page 452.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
foraging party venturing but a few miles into the country, on either side of the lines, was sure to be attacked by some partisan leader, like Cap -. tain Littell, and his band, or by the brave Maxwell with his militia, and seldom returned to camp without loss. Washington says, January 20th : "Within a month past, in several engagements with the enemy, we have killed, wounded and taken prisoners between two and three thousand men."
RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM WESTFIELD.
The campaign in East Jersey was brought to a close on the 30th of June, 1777. The British evacuated New Brunswick on Sunday, the 22d of June, retiring to Perth Amboy. On Thursday morning, the 26th, they advanced in force from Amboy as far as Westfield, under the com-
OLD ROSS HOMESTEAD
mand of Sir William Howe and Lord Cornwallis. On the way the advance of the latter fell in with Colonel Daniel Morgan's corps of rangers, at Woodbridge, with whom a hot contest was kept up for half an hour, at the expense of a considerable number of men. At Scotch Plains a severe engagement ensued with the troops under Lord Stirling, who were obliged, being greatly inferior in numbers, to fall back to the heights in the rear, with the loss of a few men and three cannon.
At Westfield, perceiving the passes on the left of Washington's camp to be strongly guarded, and with 10 prospect of getting into his rear, as was comtemplated, the enemy encamped for the night, after a burning hot day. Here they remained until three o'clock, P. M., Friday, when they marched to Rahway, closely followed and assailed in the rear and on the flanks by Scott's light horse and Morgan's rangers. The next day they returned to Amboy, still followed as on the previous day. Here they rested on the Sabbath, and the next day, Monday, June 30th, they left-a part crossing over to Long Island on a bridge of boats, and
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
another part embarking on board of two hundred and seventy trans- ports, which filled the harbor, and sailed away on the 23d of July.
HARD WINTER OF 1780.
This memorable winter of the war proved to be the "severest on record. The cold set in early, and storm succeeded storm, piling up snow in every direction, until January 3, 1780, when one of the most terrific storms ever remembered set in, from which the army suffered dreadfully. Six feet of snow covered the earth, and the steady cold closed up the rivers, the Sound, Newark bay, and even the harbor of New York. The ice, even in the bay of New York, was of such solidity that an army, with all its artillery and baggage, could cross with greater facility than on the firm earth."
PREDATORY RAIDS.
Under such conditions the enemy made inany successful raids across the ice. On the night of January 25th a raid upon Elizabeth Town resulted in the burning of the historic Presbyterian church and the court house, with the capture of many of the inhabitants. From very many sources of information it would seem that Westfield citizens were more impoverished and kept in a greater state of constant aların by these midnight surprises and predatory forays than in any other way. I will mention only one instance-that of John Ross, mayor of Elizabetlı Town in 1748, and the father of Gideon Ross, yet remembered by our oldest inhabitants as one of the prominent citizens of Westfield. The following is a true copy, verbatim et literatim, of the list of articles taken by the British army, under General Howe, from Jolin Ross, June 26 and 27, 1777, at Westfield :
£ S. D.
£ S. D.
To 2 Mares and 2 sucking colts 0 0 " Io gallons Malasses at 47 I 7 6
" Two year old colts 40 0 0 " 9 Plates & 2 large platters 1 15 0
" I Beaf cow 7 0 0 " 4 Basens 0 12 0
" 3 Two Year old heffers . 15 0 O " 2 Milk Pales 0 8 0
" 3 yearling heffers 6
0
0 " 2 Shets & a pair of pillow cases 1 15 0
" 3 Spring calves 4 IO 0 " I Bed Blanket . I 0
0
" I Cubboard 7 10 0 " T pair of Buck skin Breches 7 O
" I Clock case of Cheritree .. 6 0 0 '5 Pair of stockings I 15
" 2 Dining Tables 3 10 0
" a set of Carpenters & Joiners
Tuels 15 0 0
" damage in the meadow to tlie
0 0 amount of 20 Tun of hay 25
" 400 of Poles of Seader 7 O 0
" 100 hups 2 10 O
" I-2 Barril of Matheglin 2 O O
" a pair of house to a saddle . 2 0
0
7 gallons of cider spirets . I 8 0
100 1b of Pork at 9 c . 3 15 0
100 1b of chees at 6 c 2 10 0
£200 4 6 Proved by John Ross, Esq., and Matthias Ludlum.
POWDER.
The greatest need of the young republic was not patriotismn, but powder. "But for this Bunker Hill would have been a greater triumph
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
(June 17, 1775). Powder was in demand in the army and everywhere. Hence, on the 17th of July, the citizens forwarded, via Dobbs Ferry, fifty-two quarter casks just received from Philadelphia." So great was the lack of powder by the army around Boston, August 13th, that there was "not more than nine rounds a man." The destitution con- tinued till our committee at Elizabethtown, "upon receiving the alarming news, sent out a few tons, which they were obliged to do with the greatest privacy, lest the fears of our own people, had it been known, should have stopt it for their own use in case of emergency." On the 20th of August Washington acknowledges the receipt of "six tons and a half of powder from the southward."
That the same provision was demanded for protection during the war of 1812, is shown in the action taken by the Westfield town com- mittee on the 12th day of April, 1813:
It was agreed, by a unaninious vote of Town Committee, that the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars be raised aud appropriated toward purchasing Powder, ball and Flints, for the purpose of repelling any attempt which may be made on our Rights and Liberties by our common enemy, which ammunition is to be put into the hands of the Captains of the different companies in the Township, to be by them distributed in equal proportion to such Individuals of their separate companies or other inhabitants of the Township as shall, on an alarm or an emergency, actually turn out and put them- selves under their command ; the men who receive it to be answerable to the Captain they receive it from, to return to hius all but what they expend against the enemy.
RESOLVED, That Doctor Joseph H. Quimby, David Osborn and Freeman Cole be a Committee to carry the above into immediate effect. I hereby certify the above to be the true proceedings of the above town meeting.
CAPT. CHARLES CLARK, Moderator.
REV. JAMES CALDWELL.
The history of Westfield and vicinity will not be complete without a brief reference to this Revolutionary lero and martyr. Here he often preached ; here, at the Badgley home on the inountains, and at New Providence, he often found an asylum for himself and family ; here, in the old Presbyterian church, Morgan, the ruthless murderer of Caldwell, was tried and court-martialed ; and here immediately he was hung, on Gallows Hill, about one mile east of the church .*
His prompt and spirited action in the sharp engagement at Spring- field is thus immortalized by Bret Harte :
Here's the spot-look around you ! Above on the height Lay the Hessians encamped. By that church on the right Stood the gaunt Jersey farmers, and here ran a wall,- You may dig anywhere, and you'll turn up a ball. Nothing more-grasses spring, waters run, flowers blow Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago. Nothing more, did I say ? Stay a moment-you've heard Of Caldwell, the parson, who once preached the Word
* It may interest some to learn that Rev. N. W. Cadwell, the writer of this sketch, and for the past fifteen years pastor of the Westfield church, belongs to the same family as that of the brave old chaplain.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
Down at Springfield ? What ! No? Come, that's bad ! Why, he had All the Jerseys aflame, and they gave him the name Of the " Rebel High Priest !" He stuck in their gorge, For he loved the Lord God, and he hated King George. He had cause, you might say ! When the Hessians that day Marched up with Knyphausen, they stopped on their way At the "Farms," where his wife, with a child in her arms, Sat alone in the house. How it happened none kuew But God, and that one of the hireling crew Who fired the first shot ! Enough ! There she lay, And Caldwell, the chaplain, her husband, away ! Did he preach ? Did he pray? Think of him as you stand By the old church to-day ; think of him and that band Of militant ploughboys ! See the smoke and the heat Of that reckless advance-of that straggling retreat ! Keep the ghost of that wife, foully slain, in your view, And what would you ! what would you ! what would you do ? Why, just what he did ! They were left in the lurch, For the want of more wadding. He ran to the church, Broke the door, stripped the pews, and dashed out in the road, With his arms full of hymn books, and threw down the load At their feet ! Then above all the shouting and shots Rang his voice : "Put Watts into 'em, boys, give 'em Watts !" Aud they did,-that's all. Grasses spring, flowers blow Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago.
You may dig anywhere, and you 'll turn up a ball ; But not always a hero like this, -and that's all.
TRIAL OF MORGAN AT WESTFIELD.
Morgan was imprisoned at Springfield, then at Burlington, and, in January, at Westfield, where on the 21st of January, 1782, he was arraigned for trial. The court sat in the Presbyterian church, Chief Justice John Cleves Symmes presiding, assisted by two associate judges, one of whom was Judge Barnet. Colonel William DeHart, of Morris- town, was Morgan's counsel. Ephraim Scudder, Benjamin Meeker, David Ross, Aaron Woodruff and Job (?) Ryno were members of the jury -all being Westfield men. Tradition says that Morgan was led into the ' church with a halter about his neck, a custom with a few noted criminals. He was found guilty of wilful murder, remanded to the custody of Noah Marsh, sheriff of the county, and was hung at Westfield, on Tuesday, January 29th. The place of execution was about half a mile northeast of the village, nearly opposite Captain John Scudder's (now Isaac Scudder's), on Gallows Hill, a heap of stones marking the place for years afterward. The day was intensely cold. Morgan was considerate. Turning to the sheriff, he said : "Do your duty quickly ; the people are suffering from the cold." *
Hatfield says that on the day of execution a sermon was preached by the Rev. Jonathan Elmer, from Jeremiah XLIV, 4,-" O ! do not this
* At an earlier point in this history there is accredited to Morgan a less worthy sentiment, as expressed at the time of his execution.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
abominable thing that I hate." He also says that, "Morgan was a Roman Catholic and of bad reputation. He seems not to have made any confession as to his intent in the act for which he suffered." Jacob Ludlum (Ludlow), grandfather of Gideon E. Ludlow, and his wife, Margaret, witnessed the execution of Morgan. Mr. Ludlow remembers well his grandmother's recollection of that eventful day. The snow was deep, and the weather bitter cold. The prisoner heard the sermon of Jonathan Elmer, and then was immediately taken to Gallows Hill, followed by a multitude of people. Morgan stood composedly in a wagon beneath the gallows, which was constructed with two upright posts, with a heavy piece of timber across the top. When the rope was fastened around his neck and over the gallows, the wagon was drawn from under him, and he soon was a dead man.
FURTHER REVOLUTIONARY DATA.
Gaines says, November 24, 1777 : " We liear of orders to a place called Westfield, a few miles from Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, for the inhabitants of that place to prepare quarters for a large body of inen, and to cut down five hundred cords of firewood. On Tuesday, Wednes- day, Thursday and Friday last (18-21) parties of rebels landed on Staten Island, from Elizabeth Town, but were as often beaten off." These "parties" were probably employed in this way to keep the British from learning the object of the encampment at Westfield.
Louis Thiess says there is a well founded tradition in his and the Chamberlain families, that, at the time of the retreat of the British from Westfield to Amboy, eleven soldiers were killed and nineteen wounded on his farm. Many musket and cannon balls, pieces of jewelry, money, etc., have been found on the place. The following is a list of Westfield men, mostly, who served under Captain Littell : Robert and Jolin Aken, Jr., Jacob and Joseph Badgley ; William, Henry and Daniel Baker; William, Jesse, Azariah, Charles and John C. Clark; Jacob Cole, Samuel Cory ; Stephen Corwin ; Daniel Connet ; Jolin, John, Jr., and Jacob Crane ; Moses De Camp ; Elias Darby ; John Dunham ; John Forster ; Moses and George Frazee; Abial Hayes; Samuel Halstead ; Richard Harris; Matthias Hetfield; Jolin High; Zebulon Jennings ; James Lambert ; Cornelius Ludlum ; Enoch Clark ; Noah and William Miller ; Ephraim and Abraham Marsh ; Jeremiah Pangborn ; Sylvantis (I) and William, Jr., Pierson ; Ebenezer Price ; -- Robinson ; Moses and Ezekiel Ross ; Epliraim and Richard Scudder ; David Smith ; Jolin Spinning ; Moses Swain ; Will Steward ; William Terry ; Nathaniel Willis; Matthias and James W. Wade; Benjamin, Jr., and Chiarles C. Williams ; Noalı and Jeremiah Woodruff. Many others served under Captain Scudder, Captain Matthias Clark, etc.
THE JERSEY BLUES.
This Westfield volunteer company should be fitted out with proper clothing,-and who could do it but the patriotic wives and daughters
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
whose heroism and devotion only made victory possible for the army of Washington ? A writer says: "These patriotic females furnished tow frocks and pantaloons dyed with blue, of their own spinning and manufacture: Many of them were trimmed with colored tapes, giving the company a singular appearance. They were known as the " Jersey Blues," and many of their company followed Washington and the regular army to Morristown."
It is a common tradition among the early Westfield residents that on the eventful day when the British passed by Ash swamp to Scotch Plains, and thence to Westfield, "Aunt Betty " Frazee had been baking bread all day for our hungry soldiers. When the British drove them back Lord Cornwallis rode up, dismounted and said to her: "I want the first loaf of bread that next comes from that oven." He then retired to the shade of a tree, and when the bread was done Aunt Betty came out and said to him: "Sir, I give you this bread through fear, not in love." Lord Cornwallis leaped to his feet, admiring her spirit and courage, and said to his men: . " Not a man of my command shall touch a single loaf." Lord Cornwallis was but another Stonewall Jackson, and Aunt Betty Frazee was Westfield's Barbara Fretchie, -. made famous by the poet Whittier. Among the officers and men who took active part in the capture of the British ship, "Blue Mountain Valley," January 22, 1776, are the names of many Westfield families: Baker, Clark, Craig, Hetfield, Marsh, Meeker, Pierson, Ross, Miller, Hendrix, Hinds, Woodruff, etc.
' GENERAL WASHINGTON IN WESTFIELD.
There are many traditions that the " Father of our Country " was often in Westfield, -in fact that it was his favorite stopping place on his way from Morristown to Philadelphia. It is positively certain that sections of both armies often stopped at the living spring back of the Presbyterian church, on the present Stitt place. Benjamin Downer, in his biography of Rev. Edwin Downer, who died in the pulpit of the above church, says: "The house now occupied by Dr. Frederick Kinch, in Westfield, is the old Downer homestead. Samuel Downer entertained General Washington there for a few days at the time of the battle of Trenton, and several of the service dishes are still in possession of various members of the family." *
Aunt Nancy (Mills) Baker, often called "Aunt Granny Baker," who died a few years since (1894,) at the age of one hundred and four, often told the writer that she remembered having seen General Wash- ington in Westfield. Granny Baker was strong and sprightly for her age, and often walked the two miles to town after she had passed the century mark. One day she had engaged a man to mow some grass
* Some members of the present Downer family have reason to believe that this entertainment took place in another house, across the street, where Samuel Downer lived at that time.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
and weeds about her place, but he began to do it in such a slow and slovenly manner that she promptly discharged him and, seizing the scythe, soon finished the task in a workmanlike manner.
FAMOUS OLD "ONE HORN."
This is a genuine relic of the Revolution, and none other is so highly prized by Westfield citizens. A noted writer says: "Time, which has woven a mantle of forgetfulness about so many curios of the Revolution, hiding the associations that give to tattered flags and rusty gun-barrels a value beyond price, has dealt kindly with the old cannon known as 'One Horn.'" This weapon stands on an eminence in Fair- view cemetery. Beside it is a soldiers' monument; yonder to the left are the Orange mountains; and above, on a lofty flag pole, perches the American eagle, symbol- ical of the liberty the cannon was so active in achieving. Compared with the ponderous artil- lery of our time, "One Horn " is but a plaything. It is less than five feet in length, and weighs five hundred pounds; but in its day the gun was re- garded as a formidable weapon, and its capture from the British, June 23, 1780, occasioned great re- OLD "ONE-HORN " CANNON .* joicing in the patriots' camp.
For over one hundred years history and tradition have agreed as to the story of "One Horn," but lest some upstart iconoclast, of that peculiar order of the genus homo who deny that Moses and Shakespeare and Napoleon ever lived, may rise up in after years and deny the authenticity of this, the only valuable relic which connects Westfield with the Revolution, the following facts are published. There are many witnesses alive to-day who well remember Deacon William Clark (Captain Billy), whose family residence was once appropriated as the headquarters of General Howe. He entered the Revolutionary service at the age of seventeen; he himself helped capture old "One Horn;" he was taken prisoner and confined in the old Sugar House, New York city, a sketch of which is here shown, while his "sugar-house cane," which he carried for years, is depicted in the illustration of Westfield curios. He did not die until 1853, being then in his ninety-eighth
* The above drag-rope, rammer and wormer are now in possession of the writer of this article.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
year, and no one would have dared to question the authenticity of " One Horn" while this stanch old patriot was living, since he helped capture it with his own hands. Moreover, such worthy citizens as Gideon Ross, Isaac French, Andrew H. Clark, Squier Pierson, Isaac H. Pier- son, Ephraim Clark, John High, Jacob Baker, Samuel Downer, Benja- min Cory and Henry Baker, -all Westfield men of probity, honor and position,-declared that "One Horn" was captured from the British. For fifteen years the writer has been collecting historical data of West- field. He lias questioned, among a host of others, "Aunt Phebe " Ross, who died in 1882, at the advanced age of ninety-six; "Aunt Ann " Scudder, ninety-fifth year; "Aunt Granny" (Mills) Baker, one hun- dred and fourth year; and "Betsy" Clark, who was born in 1800, being the daughter of "Captain Billy" Clark, above mentioned, -all competent witnesses, with splendid memories,-and not one of them had ever doubted the history of "One Horn." Moreover, Cornelius Leveridge, who for half a century has been gather- ing historical material in this immediate vicinity, says he never knew one of the old Westfield families who had the least doubt as to the authenticity of this historic fieldpiece. It is not claimed that the gun carriage is the same as in 1780,-it is not. At least two have been made for it since that date. It is not claimed that it is of British manufacture, but OLD PIERSON HOMESTEAD simply that it was cap- tured from the British by Westfield citizens, led by Captain Littell and Captain William Clark, at the old Baker homestead (vide cut) on that eventful day when the bell was thrown from the steeple and the troops were gathering for the battle of Springfield, four miles away. The thrilling story of its capture has often been told in the old "general training" days; told again by eloquent speakers in many presidential campaigns; told again in 1861-2-3, when Westfield volun- teers gathered around it on the village green,-and thus the reader will perceive that among the old families the story of old "One Horn" has naturally made a greater impression than even the engagement at Springfield.
The accepted story of the capture of old "One Horn" is as follows : Early in the morning of June 23, 1780, the citizens of Westfield were
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
called out by the warning peals of the old church bell. The clouds of war began to thicken and spread, and the patriotic sons of the old families-the Bakers, Conants, Clarks, Cranes, Kembles, Kytes, Millers, Piersons, Scudders and others-sprang to arms and thronged the high- ways. Somne had been under arms since the previous unsuccessful raid, only two weeks before. The British troops, composed of five thousand men, besides dragoons and fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery, advanced in two divisions from Elizabeth Town, under Sir Henry Clinton. One column reached Connecticut Farms about sunrise. A small detachment took the Westfield road, capturing citizens and plundering farm houses as they advanced. The family of William Pierson, grandfather of the present Benjamin Pierson, was on the alert. The mother, standing on a pile of wood, suddenly saw them, and shouted : "The Redcoats are coming," and the husband ran out and hid in the orchard. Soon the house was surrounded by and filled with the British. "Where is that
damned old rebel ?" they demanded. But, failing to find him or elicit any in- formation, they contented themselves by taking. a fine horse from the barn, leaving a young colt.
Hastening forward they next stopped at the old Baker homestead, then occupied by Henry Baker, grandfather of Deacon Henry Baker, and now OLD BAKER HOMESTEAD owned by J. H. Vail. The framework of this house is doubtless over one hundred and forty years old, and Deacon Baker, who died in 1885, aged eighty-seven, often said that the old trees in front were seemingly of the same size when, as a boy, he played among their branches. The officer in command asked for a drink of cider, and promised protection to the family if the wants of himself and his men were supplied. Finding themselves unmolested, they became boisterous and insulting. A " minute man," by the name of Captain Littell, hid himself in the bushes, close to the house, to watchi and, if necessary, to render the family assistance, and when one of the men approached Mrs. Baker and forced her, at the point of the bayonet, to the wall of one of the rooms of the old farm house, he fired and seriously wounded the officer in command. The British sprang to their saddles, but in the quick turn one of the cannon was thrown over against a large rock and one of its arıns or "horns," broken off, for which reason it has ever since been called old "One Horn." It was immediately captured, with
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
all the trappings. The British soon rallied, and, although "their advance was contested foot by foot, the citizens were finally compelled to retreat." For some minutes the church bell had been furiously ringing, alarming the whole country, and now the enraged British enter the church, throw the bell from the steeple and, finding it uninjured, carry it away with them and set it up on Staten Island. "In the conflict the enemy cap- tured William and Azariah Clark, two brothers, and Noah Miller. They were taken to New York and confined for some time in what was called the 'Old Sugar-House Prison.' This prison is located well back from the docks, has a railing around its high roof, and the great mortality among our prisoners there will forever rank it with the more modern rebel prisons, Libby and Andersonville."
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