History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 108

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 466

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When Washington broke camp on June 18, 1778, after the long and dreary sojourn at Valley Forge, it was his original intention to send the Ist, 3d and 5th Divisions, un- der Gen. Charles Lee, the Marquis Lafayette and Lord Stirling, respectively, via Morristown, Pompton Bridge, Sufferns, etc., to Newburgh;3 but the enemy's evacuation of Philadelphia, and retreat across Jersey, prompted him to pursue and engage the British, with the Battle of Mon- mouth, June 28, 1778, as the result. On Sunday, July 5, his army left Brunswick, to carry out his first plan of marching to the North River, 4 proceeding by easy stages: "Ist, to Scotch Plains; 2d, Springfield; 3d, Wardiston [Watsessing]; 4th, Aquackanonk; 5th, Paramus; 6th, Cakaryatt [Kakeat]; 7th, King's Ferry, where the army

crossed."1 The weather was excessively hot all the way from Monmouth Court House, July I, until July II, which made short marches advisable. Washington was at New- aik on July 8,2 and had his headquarters at Acquackanonk on July 9.3 He probably marched the next day to Paramus, where he halted until the 15th, with two of his divisions, the court martial for the trial of Gen. Charles Lee (for his extraordinary behavior at Monmouth) meanwhile sitting in the Paramus church. 4

On September 22 a large body of the enemy came across the North River from New York, on an extensive foraging expedition, and marched to New Bridge, where they forti- fied, while sending out parties in all directions for forage and fresh provisions.5 Another party came down to Polifly, where they also threw up entrenchments.6 A number of vessels were sent up the Hackensack and Passaic rivers at the same time, to facilitate the carrying away of the plun- der. Gen. William Winds's brigade took post at Paramus, convenient to the enemy's redoubt at New Bridge, but presently fell down to Acquackanonk, 7 whence they marched to Hackensack on the morning of Sept. 27 with upwards of one thousand men, in high spirits.8 The fort at Polifly was captured after a brief skirmish. Upon reaching Hacken- sack he found the enemy had retired to New Bridge, whither he followed, and offered them battle, which they declined. Having cleared the country of the invaders, Gen. Winds returned with his men in fine feather to Ac- quackanonk. He chased another party of the enemy down the road toward Second River, having a sharp encounter with them on the way.9

In order the more readily to check other forays of this kind, Lord Stirling established his headquarters at Ac- quackanonk for some weeks, his troops being located at convenient intervals between Wesel and Second River. Some of his men were stationed on the farms of Henry Garritse, Peter Peterse, and others, along the west side of the Wesel road, near Clifton, between that road and the present Erie railroad. The stoue floors of their huts, and their rude bake-ovens, were plainly discernible thirty or forty years ago. The following order was issued at this time:

1 Diary of Joseph Clark, Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., VII., 107.

2 Letter of Tench Tilghman, in Davis's Burr, I., 130. The original is in the writer's collection.

3 Journals of Captain Jobn Montresor (British), N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1881, 502-4.

4 Sparks's Washington, V., 435, 441; Kemble's Journal, I., 155; Lee's Court Martial (ed. 1864), 94.

5 Kemble's Journal, I., 162-3.

6 It was probably at this time (although he gives the date as Novem- ber) that John Post, of Slooterdam, lost "one hundred & forty pounds of Continental money New York curensy, £4, os., I1}{d .; one Blader with twelve lb. of Snuff, {2, 8s .; one Black Silk handkerchief New, 7s .; one great Coat Couten half worn, 18s .; one pistol and Sword, {I, Ios .; one piller Case, 3s., 9d."

7 Diary of Josepb Clark, N. J. Hist. Soc. Proc., VII., 108.

8 N. J. Gazette, Sept. 30, 1778.

9 Ib .; N. J. Hist. Soc. MSS .; Penn. Evening Post, Oct. 9, 1778; N. Y. Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Oct. 19, 1778.

1 Davis's Burr, I., 118.

2 Minutes Council of Safety, 185. The character of these beacons is thus described : "Near Morris Town, a Beacon 40 Feet higb bas been erected in form of a Block House (with a 6 Pounder on the Top) filled with Dry Wood and other Combustible Stuff, for the Purpose of catch- ing fire soon, in order to the more quick discharge of the Cannon, on the Report of which, and the Light from the Building, the Country is to take the Alarm."-N. Y. Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Feb. 2, 1778.

3 Lee Papers, II., 408-9 ; Sparks's Wasbington, V., 409, 431.

4 Sparks, 434-5 ; Lee Papers, II., 471.

425

MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN 1778-1779.

HEAD-QUARTERS AQUACKANONCK in NEW-JERSEY, October 11th, 1778.

WHEREAS it has been found that illicit and illegal uses have been made of Flags coming into various parts of this State. It is ordered that no Flag from the enemy shall be received at any post or place within this State, except at Elizabethtown-Point, without a special permission for that purpose from the Governor or Commanding Officer of the troops of the United States in New Jersey ; and all Officers within this State are to use their hest endeavours to prevent their coming in, or he- · ing received at any other place. Tbe Officer commanding at tbe said Point, is to see that the laws and usages of Flags are strictly observed in every instance.

By order of Major-General Lord Stirling, commanding the army in New-Jersey.

W. BARBER, A. D. Camp.1

Another raid of the British in October having been re- pulsed, Lord Stirling wrote from "Aquakanoc," Oct. 13, ordering Col. Elias Dayton to move with two regiments from Second River to Elizabethtown;2 and he removed his own headquarters two days later to the latter town.3 Gen. Woodford's brigade marched from Paramus, Oct. 16, to Newark, doubtless via Acquackanonk. On Oct. 29 they left Newark again and "set out for Pompton, where they took quarters and detached parties to repair the road between Morristown and King's Ferry" on the Hudson. 4 About the end of November the American army left the Hudson river on the way to winter quarters at Middlebrook, New Jersey. Washington set out for that place on Nov. 28, and on Dec. 3 reached Elizabethtown.5 He doubtless passed through Acquackanonk on Dec. 2 or Dec. 3. In his narrative of this march, Surgeon James Thacher gives this pleasing picture of the people and the country:

December rst and 2d, passed through Paramus and Aquackanock, twenty six miles. These towns are inhabited chiefly hy Dutch people ; their churches and dwelling houses are built mostly of rough stone, one story higb. There is a peculiar neatness in the appearance of their dwell- ings, having an airy piazza supported hy pillars in front, and their kitch- ens connected at the ends in the form of wings. The land is remarkably level, and the soil fertile, and being generally advantageously cultivated, the people appear to enjoy ease and happy competency. The furniture in their houses is of the most ordinary kind, and such as might he sup- posed to accord with the fashion of the days of Queen Ann. They des- pise the superfluities of life, and are ambitious to appear always neat and cleanly, and never to complain of an empty purse.6

On December 5 Washington made a hasty trip from Eliza- bethtown to Paramus, whence he returned in a few days to Middlebrook, where the army went into Winter quarters.

1 N. J. Gazette, Oct. 14, 1778.

2 N. J. Hist. Soc. Proc., IX., 190.

3 Duer's Life of Lord Stirling, 204.

4 Joseph Clark's Diary, as cited, 109.

5 Ih .; Sparks, VI., 124-8 ; Official Letters . . . hy George Wasb- ington, London, 1795, II., 376. "Elizahetbtown, December 5, 1778. . . . His Excellency went from this place at four o'clock this morning . . . . He proposed to make his first stage at Acquakenunk, and to proceed as bis future intelligence might require. . . . One hrigade of the Virginia troops is at Pompton, and the other two were expected to reach Spring- field yesterday. The Pennsylvania troops, it is supposed, would be at Acquakenunk or in the neighborhood of Paramus."-Official Letters, etc., as cited, II., 377-8.

6 A Military Journal during the American Revolutionary War, from 1775 to 1783, etc., by James Thacher, M. D., Boston, 1823, 187.

He undoubtedly passed through Acquackanonk on his way to Paramus, on December 5, and probably on December 8, also, on the return to Middlebrook,1 although the lat- ter journey may have been taken via Pompton, Pacquanac and Morristown. The Pennsylvania Line, under Gen. All- thony Wayne, left Paramus on Dec. 9, and doubtless camped that night at "Aquackanack Bridge," where they remained Dec. 10 and II. Perhaps it was from a desire to make a specially good impression on the fair maidens of Totowa and Acquackanonk that before leaving Paramus this division was ordered out on parade "in the most Sol- dierly manner Possible, their arms and a Coutrements in the Best order. The Quartermaster will draw flour for the men to Clean tlieir Jacoots & Breches and to Powder their hair."2

The American army having gone into winter quarters at Middlebrook, and the British forces being principally oc- cupied in other parts of the land, this region had rest from war's alarums for nearly half a year.

1779.

It was not until May, 1779, that the march of hostile bands again disturbed the peace of Old Acquackanonk. On the 17th of that month a considerable body of British troops (a detachment of the 7Ist, and 100 men from the 17th and 57th regiments each), under Capt. Ferguson, crossed tlie Hudson river, intending to march to Paramus and cut off a party of Americans there, while the 63d and 64th regiments marched to New Bridge, to support the movement. The troops got separated in the night, how- ever, and the expedition was unsuccessful.3 Some of the detachments appear to have taken the road below Paramus, which brought them into the present Paterson, probably by the ford at the foot of Willis street. They followed this road to Vreeland avenue, where, at the corner, they picked up two horses of Abraham C. Vreeland, worth £18, on May 19. Going down Vreeland avenue to Twentieth avenue they carried off five horses of Michael Vreeland, worth &72. Taking the Wesel road, they relieved Elias Vreeland, the same day, of "One black Mare 15 hands high, 5 years old," worth &25, and Henry Garritse of two wagon horses, valued at &40.

On May 29 Washington's army broke camp at Middle- brook and started with all speed for West Point, to check a British advance in that direction. The Pennsylvania divis- ion, commanded by Gen. St. Clair, marchied first, reaching Springfield by May 30, Troy on June I, Pompton Plains on June 2, Pompton on June 4, Ringwood on June 5, and Gal- loway's the next day. The Virginia division, commanded by Lord Stirling, started on June 2 for Pompton, and the

1 Sparks's Washington, VI., 129-30.

2 Penn. Archives, 2d Series, XI., 389-90. The late Henry P. Simmons, of Passaic, said he had always heard that Gen. Wayne encamped on the heights where the Passaic city hall now is, which height was hence called "Anthony's Nose."-Conversation, Nov. 14, 1873.

3 Kemble's Journal, I., 177-8; Gordon's Hist. N. J., 303; Penn. Packet, Aug. 3, 1779.

426

HISTORY OF PATERSON.

Maryland division, under Baron de Kalb, on June 3.1 The strictest discipline was enjoined on the march. "No Horses must be put into any Incloser, But such as the for- rage Master Provides, and, in Genl, every spesies of Injury to the Inhabitants Must be Carefully avoyded. . [Pompton, June 4:] All the Flour that is Drawn this day to be Cooked Imediatly, and the Beef, likewise, with the Greatest Dispatch. . [Ringwood, June 5:] No Rails to be Burned on any Pretence. The Grass Guard must be very alert to Prevent the horses to exceed the Bounds al- lowed them. Soldiers are Positively forbidden Stragling or leaving the Camp."2 Gen. St. Clair was at Pompton on June 3,3 and Gen. Nathaniel Greene, then Quartermaster General, on the evening of the 4th, who found the troops entirely without provisions, although they were to march early the next morning.4 Washington followed without de- lay, on June 3, and on June 6 wrote from Ringwood Iron- Works to the President of Congress, imparting his latest intelligence regarding the enemy's movements. 5

The army remained in the vicinity of West Point until November, when Washington ordered them into New Jer- sey, for winter quarters, intending to locate the main body- in the neighborhood of Scotch Plains.6 The Maryland Line started from West Point on Nov. 26, says Capt. William Beatty, who adds: "On Which day We march'd as far as Smith's Clove through a heavy Snow that Was falling on our rout to Winter Qrs, We Continued our march by the Way of Ramapaugh Clove Pumpton Bottle Hill," etc. Washington followed by the same route, arriving at Morris- town by Dec. 4,7 and there had his headquarters during the winter in the handsome residence erected by Col. Jacob Ford, and now maintained, in honor of the General's occu- pancy, by the Washington Association of New Jersey. Sur- geon Thacher, whose brigade marched to Pompton on Dec. 9, and on the 14th to their camp near Morristown, gives a sad picture of the men's condition: "Our baggage is left in the rear, for want of wagons to transport it," he writes. "The snow on the ground is about two feet deep, and the

weather extremely cold; the soldiers are destitute of both tents and blankets, and some of them are actually bare- footed and almost naked. Our only defence against the in- clemency of the weather, consists of brush wood thrown to- gether."1

Surely the priceless heritage of Liberty so dearly pur- chased by the patriot Fathers should be forever cherished and jealously preserved by their children!

1780.

Washington's main army, half-frozen and half-starved, remained in their winter quarters about Morristown until summer, and there was little to disturb the welcome peace within the present Passaic county. The first military move- ment through Totowa and Acquackanonk this year is indi- cated in a letter from Washington, at Morristown, Jan. 14: "I have directed Lieutenant Colonel Dehart," he says, "with a detachment of two hundred and fifty men, to move from Paramus to Newark," etc. A more interesting event was the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette, who upon landing in America hastened from New England with all speed, to tender to Washington in person the assurances of his royal master's support. The commander in chief wrote him, May 8, from Morristown: "Major Gibbs2 will go as far as Pompton, where the roads unite, to meet you, and will proceed from thence as circumstances may direct." We may be sure that the patriotic people of Pompton and vicinity gave an enthusiastic greeting to the gallant young Frenchman as he passed through the village a day or two later. On June 21, Washington broke camp, and marched slowly toward Pompton, arriving there probably on June 26, and at Ramapo the next day, where he remained until June 30.3 The movements of the army were greatly hampered by the lack of transportation facilities. "We have at Pompton, and Mount Hope furnaces," writes Col. John Lamb, June 29, 1780, "between five and six thousand eighteen pound balls, and three thousand shells, for the French 9 inch mor- tars, but I have not been able to have them transported to West Point, by reason of the utter inability of the Quarter Master General's department."4

1 Penn. Archives, VII., 452; Sparks's Washington, VI., 268; 2 Penn. Archives, XI., 445-6 ; Thacher's Journal, 196; Duer's Stirling, 204; Beatty's Journal, Hist. Mag., Feh. 1867, 84.

2 Penn. Archives, 2d Series, XI., 445-6.

3 Davis's Burr, I., 172-3 ; Sparks's Washington, VI., 268.

4 N. J. Hist. Soc. Proc., 2d Series, I., 71.

5 Sparks, VI., 269.

6 Ih., 409. It was conjectured hy the British that the Americans would "hut this winter either in Morristown, the Notch helow Passaic Falls, or the mountain in the rear of Mr. Kemhle's."-Gaine's N. Y. Mercury, Dec. 6, 1779.

7 Memoirs of Major General Heath, etc., Boston, 1798, 231 ; Hist. Mag., Feh. 1867, 84; Penn. Archives, VIII., 35. Gen. John Sullivan's troops, returning from their victorious expedition against the hostile Indians in the West, marched through Pompton ahout the ist of No- vember, on the way to winter quarters at Scotch Plains. Some of the soldiers, who had douhtless contracted the hahit from their Indian foes, "lifted" a two-year-old heifer of Martin I. Ryerson's; from John Hennion they carried off "one homespun tite Bodyed Coat New," val- ued (hy him) at {1, Ios .; a homespun short-gown, four beehives, with honey, worth £4, and a few other articles.

1 Thacher's Journal, 215. While Gen. Gates was at Pompton, on his way southward, the notorious partisan, Ensign James Moody, of the First New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalists), with his usual daring ven- tured into his camp, and, he says, "gained the exactest information, not only of the amount of the force then with him, hut of the numbers that were expected to join him."-Moody's Narrative, 2d ed., London, 1783, 13. This is the only occasion when it is reasonably certain (assuming his Narrative to he correct) that Moody visited this immediate vicinity.

2 Commandant of Washington's Life Guards.

3 Sparks's Washington, VI., 446 ; VII., 29, 30, 85-6, 91, 97, 501.

4 Life of John Lamh, 241. It was two weeks later ere they were for- warded. Major Samuel Shaw wrote, July 14, 1780, from "Camp at Pracaness," to Col. John Lamb : "A number of carcases [shells] go on to-day from Pompton to the commanding officer of artillery at Stoney or Verplank's Point, who has orders to forward them to you at West Point, where the General [Knox] wishes to have them filled as soon as possible." Lieut. W. Price, at Stony Point, July 16, writes: "I have just received 65 Carcesses from Pompton Furnace . . . and there Is more a Comeing tonight."-Lamb Papers, N. Y. Hist. Soc.

427

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT PREAKNESS.

WASHINGTON'S FIRST ENCAMPMENT AT PREAKNESS.

On July 4, 1780, Washington had arrived from Ramapo with his army at Totowa, where he spread out his troops, while he established his headquarters in the handsome and spacious residence of Col. Theunis Dey, at Lower Preak- ness. Two brigades, which he had left at Morristown, un- der Gen. Greene, to protect the country, marched thence on June 25, and reached Preakness on July I. The main body of the army was encamped along the Totowa heights, near the Great Falls, the centre on the high ground back of the present Laurel Grove cemetery, the right toward Little Falls, and the left at or near Oldham (Haledon). Col. Stephen Moylan's Pennsylvania dragoons occupied an advanced po- sition, at Little Falls, southeast of the river, toward the Notch. The Marquis de Lafayette had his headquarters at the grist-mill of Samuel Van Saun, near the present race track at Lower Preakness, about a mile and a half north of Washington's headquarters. 1

The Dey house is on the road leading from Laurel Grove cemetery westerly and northwesterly toward Lower Preak- ness and Mountain View, being about four miles west of the Paterson city hall, and about two and a half miles from the Passaic river at the cemetery mentioned, and is one hundred yards north of the road, which it faces. When Washington honored it with his presence the dwelling must have been one of the finest in New Jersey, for it is yet remarkable for its architectural symmetry and the artistic finish of its ma- sonry. It is two stories in height, with a double pitch roof, through which dormer windows were thrust about 1875, giv- ing it the appearance of a mansard. The building is about fifty-two feet long and thirty feet deep. The front is of brick, the doorway and windows framed in polished brown sandstone, squared and set in the most accurate manner; the sides and rear are of rubble work, the windows and doors trimmed with brick, the end walls above the eaves being also carried up in brick. All the masonry is laid up in yellow clay, pointed on the outside with mortar, yet the walls are perfectly firm, and are apparently good for another hundred years. The timbers, where exposed, in the cellar and attic, are of hewn oak, of the most massive description, and all morticed and fastened together with wooden pins. Through the centre, from south to north, runs a hall twelve feet wide, on either side of which are two rooms, a fireplace faced with rubbed sandstone in each. The arrangement of the second floor is the same, so that there are eight large apartments, besides a large open attic. The ceilings on the first floor are about nine feet, and on the upper floor eight feet high. Nearly all the rooms are decorated with neat wooden cornices, fluted in the colonial style. According to the Marquis de Chastellux, Washington occupied four of the rooms-probably two on each floor. Tradition has mainly preserved reminiscences of one room-in the southeast cor- ner of the first floor; this is pointed out as "Washington's

room." It was his audience chamber and dining room; the family dined in the spacious hall. The wall above the fire- place in the General's office is ornamented with elaborate wooden paneling and pilasters, rayed and fluted, to corres- pond with the cornices. Washington is said to have pa- pered the walls at his own expense, and the paper was not removed until about 1870.1

The army at this time was still suffering the same depriv- ations it had been obliged to endure through the long win- ter at Morristown. There was a deplorable lack of cloth - ing and provisions. But then, as now, the women of the land were ready to show their appreciation of heroic self- sacrifice, and while the army was at Preakness a number of ladies of New Jersey met at Trenton, July 4, 1780, "to pro- mote a subscription for the relief and encouragement of those brave men in the Continental army, who, stimulated by example, and regardless of danger, have so repeatedly suffered, fought and struggled in the cause of virtue and their oppressed country." They appointed committees in

1 The author described the Dey house in a paper published, with ac- companying map and illustration, in the Magazine of American History, III., 490 (August, 1879). Family tradition says this house was erected by Dirck Dey, about 1720 .- Ib., IV., 160. From various circumstances the writer inclines to the belief that it could not have been built more than twenty years before the Revolution, and that it was erected by Col. Theunis Dey, son of Dirck Dey, and father of Major Richard Dey. Dirck Dey, son of Teunis Dey and Anneken Schouten, was bap. March 27, 1687. His mother having married George Reyerson, of Pacquanac, he lived with her until he grew up. On October 9, 1717, he bought from the heirs of Thomas Hart a tract of 600 acres on the "Singhack Brook," and in 1730 bought 200 acres more in the same neighborhood. He mar- ried Jannetje Blanshar, and died about 1764. His son, Theunis, b. Oct. 18, 1726, married Hester Dey. He was a Colonel of the Bergen county militia in the early part of 1776, and for some years thereafter; he was a member of the Assembly in 1776, and represented Bergen county in the Council in 1779-80-81, and was again in the Assembly in 1783. His son, Richard Dey, was a Captain and afterwards Major of the Bergen county militia; after the War he was sheriff, county collect- or, General of militia, etc. He sold his homestead, with 355 acres of land, June 21, 1801, to Garret Neafie and John Neafie, of New York city, for £3,000, N. Y. money, and removed to New York city, where he died in 18Ir; his widow and children-among the latter being Anthony, after- wards prominent in the founding of Jersey City-then removed to Sene- ca county, N. Y. The Deys have disappeared from the vicinity of Preakness and Singack for three-quarters of a century. Garret Neafie conveyed his interest in the old Dey Homestead "at Bloomsbury other- wise called Preakness," to John J. Neafie, or John Neafie, jun., May 1, 1802, Garret being then of Franklin township, Bergen county, and Jobn being of Saddle River, probably living on the place. Jobn Neafie, sen., and John Neafie, jun., the former a farmer, of Saddle River, and the lat- ter of Orange county, cabinet maker, conveyed the premises, 352 acres, to Martynus J. Hogencamp, of Rockland county, April 10, 1813, for $8,750. By will dated Nov. 29, 1832, proved June 2, 1853, Martynus Ho- gencamp devised the homestead farm, containing about 150 acres, to his son, William S. Hogencamp, who conveyed the homestead, with about 200 acres, to Isaac Yoemans, of Franklin township, March 4, 1861, for $10,000. Yoemans conveyed, May 10, 1864, to Anthony Gilland, of New York, who occupied the place a short time, and on Sept. 2, 1865, sold it to Sarah Matilda, wife of Horace B. Taintor, of New York; Mr. Taintor was in the dry-goods business, in Paterson, some years, living on the Preakness place about a year; Mrs. Taintor sold it, Aug. 13, 1866, to Maria, wife of Aaron Millington, of Preakness, from whom the property passed, Jan. 30, 1875, to Dr. John M. Howe, of Passaic, who conveyed the same, July 10, 1883, to Henry Heeseman, of Paterson. He conveyed the homestead, with 56.31 acres, Feb. 3, 1892, to Ellen Petry, wife of Cornelius L. Petry, who now occupies it as a dairy farm.

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History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 108

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914 Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 466

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 466