USA > New Jersey > New Jersey as a colony and as a state; one of the original thirteen > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
William IV, the "sallor King," b. Aug. 21, 1765 ; third son of George III ; ascended to the throne Juue 26, 1830 ; d. June 20, 1837, and was succeeded by hi- niece, Queen Victoria.
WILLIAM IV.
334
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
the Revolution was stationed in Mount Holly with the Anglo-Hessian troops. Again Washington passed through New Jersey early in July, 1782, moving to Philadelphia from Newburg, and later in the month, July 26, while journeying from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Newburg, was enter- tained in the Moravian village of Hope, Warren County.
Thence until his occupation of the headquarters at Rocky Hill upon August 25, 1783, General Washington did not return to New Jersey.
From June 15, 1775, until December 23, 1783, a period of practically eight and one-half years, during which the duties of commander-in-chief fell upon General Washington, he spent two years and three months in New Jersey, either at can- tonments, in the field, or upon official visits. It may be very truthfully said that one-quarter of. his military life during the Revolution was passed in this State, his last public appearance at the close of the struggle being upon the 6th of Decem- ber, 1783, when on his way from New York City to Mount Vernon, when Governor Livingston and a committee of the House of Assembly met him at Trenton and presented him with an address. Aside from the mutiny in Philadelphia, which in the early summer of 1783 drove Congress from Philadelphia to seek safety in Princeton, the two most notable military revolts in the history of the
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURG
ONY AND AS A STATE
335
Revolution were those which occurred in Morris- town in the winter of 1781. New Year's Day of that year marked a mutiny among the Pennsyl- vania troops stationed at Kimball Hill. After killing a captain and inflicting mortal wounds upon another, thirteen hundred armed men marched to Princeton, vowing that they would either have money or blood from Congress. Through the services of General Wayne their com- plaints reached the council of Pennsylvania, whose president, Joseph Reed, in conjunction with a congressional committee, met the mutineers at Trenton. Upon this committee of Congress was Dr. John Witherspoon, whose efforts were largely instrumental in obtaining partial but satisfactory redress for the following grievances: detention of men beyond the terms of enlistment, lack of promptness in meeting arrearages of pay and de- preciation of the currency paid them, and extreme suffering on account of insufficient food, clothing, and shelter. Two emissaries sent from New York, with British promises of reward to those who de- serted, were promptly surrendered by the men, court-martialed, and executed. The complaints of the soldiers having been satisfied, many of the Pennsylvania troops were disbanded, and it was not until spring that the complement of the State was fully recruited.
Following the example set by the Pennsylvania
Jos . Reed
336
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
men, it was upon the 20th of January of the same year that one hundred and sixty soldiers of the New Jersey brigade left their huts at Pomp- ton and, according to a contemporary newspaper account, proceeded to Chatham under the direc- tion of their sergeants. Their demands were sim- ilar to those of the Pennsylvania troops. Instant- ly five hundred rank and file of the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire lines, under . command of Major-General Robert Howe, were sent in pursuit, with orders to " grant no terms while the revolted troops were with arms." Ac- cording to the same newspaper the New Jersey mutineers were unacquainted with a recent reso- lution of the New Jersey Legislature, appointing commissioners to inquire into their enlistments. Before the arrival of General Howe the legisla- tive commissioners had consulted with the muti- neers, resulting in an adjustment, and the men returned to their duty. Upon the 27th Gen- eral Howe arrived, and in consideration of the New Jersey brigade's "great penitence, and of their being unacquainted with the measures adopted for settling the disputes respecting the enlistments, promised full pardon to all who im- mediately returned to and continued in their duty. But upon the way to, and after their arrival at their huts, a few of the ringleaders, encouraged by emissaries from Sir Harry, and perhaps by the too
4
ONY AND AS A STATE
337
' great clemency of granting them a general par- don, again became insolent and mutinous." Thereupon, acting under specific orders, those who had forfeited the pardon by not performing the conditions were apprehended.
The military execution of several of the ring- leaders and the presence of General Washington effectually destroyed the spirit of mutiny. There- after every mark of penitence and respect for or- der was manifested by those who had offended, entire order and subordination taking place in the brigade.
No complete list of battles and minor engage- ments fought upon the soil of New Jersey has yet been compiled. Drawn from a great variety of sources, such an attempt is herewith made, al- though it is not claimed that absolute perfection as to place and date has been secured. The con- stant raiding in Bergen, Essex, Monmouth, and Morris Counties enhances the difficulties of pre- senting such a record, inasmuch as these engage- ments are forgotten except those culled from the columns of contemporaneous newspapers. In the main, however, it is correct as verified by unques- tioned historical sources:
Assanpink (see Trenton) . January 2, 1777
Amboy (Perth) .March 8, 1777
Amboy, skirmish near
July, 1777
Acquackanonk Bridge.
September 27, 1778 [Vol. 2]
THE BILLOP HOUSE ON STATEN ISLAND ( Residence of Christopher Billop. Headquarters of General Howe in the Revolution. )
338
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
Ash Swamp. . May, 1777
Ash Swamp June, 1779
-
Belleville (Second River) .September 27, 1778
Bergen July 19, 1780
Block house (Bergen County) July 10, 1780
Bordentown .May 8, 1778
Bound Brook. . April 13, 1777
Brunswick (New)
December 1, 1776
Brunswick (New)
October 26, 1779
Bulls Ferry
July 21, 1780
Big Bridge.
January, 1778
Blackwell's Lane.
January, 1778
Bridgetown.
December, 1776
Burrowes Mills
.May, 1778
Bonhamtown
.September, 1777
Beaver Brook
July 14, 1778
Bennett's Island.
1777
Bloomfield
Crosswicks Creek or Bridge June 23, 1779
Connecticut Farms June 7 and 23, 1780
Chestnut Creek October 6, 1778
Cedar Creek
December 12-17, 1792
Crippletown
June 26, 1777
Colts Neck.
Cooper's Ferry (Camden)
Elizabethtown.
December, 1775
Elizabethtown. .January 25-30, 1780
Elizabethtown June 6, 1780
Elizabethtown Point. July 21, 1778
Elizabethtown Point.
.June 8, 1780
Egg Harbor
October 15, 1773
Fort Lee (evacuation)
November 18, 1776
Fort Mercer (Red Bank)
October 22, 1777
ONY AND AS A STATE
339
Hancock's Bridge. March 21, 1778 Hackensack. .September 27, 1778
Halstead's Point
.April, 1781
Haddonfield November 25, 1777
Jersey City (Paulus Hook) August 19, 1779 Jumping Point.
Little Bridge January, 1778
Monmouth (Freehold) June 28, 1778
Middletown. .February 13, 1777
Middletown April 27, 1779
Middletown. .May 24, 1781
Middletown June 21, 1781
Middletown .June 12, 1780
Millstone January 20-22, 1777
Millstone. .June 17, 1777
Mincock Island. October 15, 1778
Minnisink
1776
Navesink. February 13, 1777
Newark. January 25, 1778
New Bridge
. April 15, 1780
Princeton January 3, 1777
Paramus March 22 and April 16, 1780
Paulus Hook (Jersey City) August 19, 1779
Piscataway May 8, 1777
Piscataway .June, 1777
Polifly
September 27, 1778
Punk Hill March 8, 1777
Quinton's Bridge
March 18, 1778
Quibbletown February 8 and April 4, 1777
Rahway Meadows. June 26, 178]
Rahway Creek. September 30, 1777
Red Bank (Fort Mercer)
October 22, 1777
340 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY
Second River (Belleville) .September 27, 1778
Springfield. December 17, 1776
Springfield.
February, 1777
Springfield
October, 1779
Springfield.
.June 23, 1780
Short Hills . June 26, 1777
Somerset Court House. January 20, 1777
Spanktown (Rahway) . 1777
Strawberry Hill (near Amboy) .
1777
Salt Meadows, Squan Bridge or Inlet.
1782
Toms River March 24, 1782
Tinton Falls. June 11, 1779 -
Thompson's Bridge (Alloways Bridge) March, 1778
Trimbley's Point. August or September, 1777
Trenton .December 26, 1776
Trenton (See Assanpink) January 2, 1777
Weehawken August 19, 1779
Woodbridge . April 19, 1777
Woodbridge .July 1, 1779
Woodbridge. .September, 1782
Westfield. March 8 and June, 1777
From an unfinished picture by Benjamin West, the full title of which is: "The United States Commissioners in 1782 to sign the Treaty of Independence. Be- sides the portraits of John Jay, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin there appear those of William Temple Franklin ( son of Benjamin) and Henry Laurens, both of whom were present at the signing.
THE AMERICAN PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
CHAPTER HAT
THE CLOSE OF THE TAP
W HILE the practical cessation of war, in the siege of Yorktown and its surrender upon the 19th of October, 1781, closed forever the possibilities of the renewal of strife upon the soil of New Jersey, peace and its blessings came in a somewhat negative guise. The State had borne much of the burden of the campaigns for the control of the Hudson and the Delaware, and had been the theater of guerrilla warfare in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, in the " Pines," and along the coast. From these physical evils New Jersey plunged into those of equally dangerous a character-recognition of the existence and the attempt to regulate a trade with those in Philadelphia, and particularly in New York, who, having failed to conquer by force of arms, were endeavoring to sap by " clandestine trafficking " the life of the young industries of the State.
Under the dominant hand of Governor Living- ston New Jersey had in a manner adjusted her question of " What shall we do with the Tory?" In her acts defining high treason, in her regulations concerning the confiscation and sale of their estates, in the facilities she later offered for their emigration to the British provinces, not to men- tion the winked-at measures of retaliation, rang- ing from an insulting remark in a tavern to a mid-
344
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
.
night ride on a cedar rail in a coat of tar and buzzard feathers, New Jersey had but partially solved the problem. Even after the war, as be- fore, the Tory spirit was not dead; nor did it die, neither within its own generation, nor within more than one generation succeeding. It became, as in New York City, less virile, more circumspect, more secretive, indeed, but not extinct. Though this fact has later been forgotten it lost none of its force to those who were within the sphere of its influence.
As early as July 10, 1782, General Washington recognized the tendency of the new policy of the crown. To Colonel John Laurens, from New- burgh on the Hudson, he writes: "Sir Guy Car- leton is using every art to soothe and lull our people into a sense of security," while but a few days before there appeared in the New Jersey Gazette a letter signed " A Plain Farmer " under the caption "Look About Ye." Whereupon the attention of every man of influence in the State was attracted by its homely but direct presenta- tion of a most important economic problem. "What is become of our money?" cried the " Plain Farmer," .who continues:
A few months ago we had plenty to pay our taxes and to answer other necessary purposes. * * * It is gone; and I will tell you where: It is gone to New York to buy goods, and goods of those John Adaszkinds which are not only useless, but ruinous to any people and
@ Franklin
Johni Sarp
SIGNATURES OF THE AMERICAN PEACE COMMISSIONERS.
345
ONY AND AS A STATE
particularly to a plain frugal people. It is computed that no less than forty or fifty thousand pounds have gone in a few weeks. The infamous trade grows fast, for sham seizures and condem- nations now spread the cover of law over it. You fair traders must either shut up your shops, or turn rogues too! These moon- light pedlars can undersell you! Sir Guy Carleton is come over with the plan. Powder and ball, musquets and bayonets, cannot conquer us, but we are to be subdued with British gewgaws. Rather than fail they will come at first cost. The Delaware is watched; our coasts are watched, that we may not be able to get goods elsewhere, or to have any market for our produce. Our money is to be drawn away, and then we can do nothing, all must stop. *
* * Can those who have any concern in bringing along those New York goods be whigs? They are the worst of tories, mean, underhanded, skulking wretches.
Bursting with an indignation as righteous as it was vehement, " The Plain Farmer " rises to a furious pitch :
We can deal with an open enemy; but now, like worms, they are eating through the bottom of the vessel, and down we go with- out seeing of our destruction.
Rouse brother Jerseymen! Let us teach these puny schemers that if they do find means to evade the laws, we have however the same elements in our power as in the days of the stamp-act, as in the days of the tea-act. Their goods are not proof against fire or water. We are able to help ourselves in a short hand way when it becomes necessary. The state is not to be ruined, our independence is not to be defeated by a tribe of dodgers, and their paltry goods. In a word, my countrymen awake to your danger. There is no half- way. Break up this trade root and branch, or it will break up you.
The call of the "Plain Farmer" fell upon awakened ears. During the summer the citizens of Trenton, Amwell, Somerset County, Princeton, Nottingham, and Monmouth County met to con-
346
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
sider plans of association to prevent trade and intercourse with the Tories. In Trenton on July. 11, 1782, one hundred and fifty-three inhabitants of the village and its vicinity subscribed to an agreement which was substantially that adopted by the other towns. Charging the King and min- istry, as well as their agents and adherents, with despairing of conquering the States by force, the British resorted to duplicity and intrigue. Among the devices practiced by Jerseymen opposed to in- dependence or devoted to sordid gain was the in- troduction into the country of large quantities of British goods, drawing off money in necessary payment. Thus it was expected that the people of the State would be disabled from meeting their taxes and robbed of a medium of business, and an end would be put to an opposition, in the support of which money was indispensably necessary.
It was further declared that care was taken to send out such species of goods as were not only useless, but were likely to have the greatest effect in corrupting the manners of the people. The better to insure success, the highest encourage- ment was offered to such as would engage in the traffic, either personally or by connection in in- terest. Importing channels used during the war were closed as far as possible, while those favor- ing the trade either " from the malignity of prin- ciple or the inordinate love of gain " resorted to
347
ONY AND AS A STATE
the " feigned appearance and cover of the law " to accomplish their purpose. By propagating an opinion that legislative interference was mean and dishonorable, restraining an apparently legiti- mate trade, the evil became so dangerous and in- veterate that it was not in the power of the mag- istrates to correct and remove it.
What is desired, said the plan of association, is a general exertion on the part of Whig citizens to bring offenders to justice. Such traffic, it was argued, "is not only unworthy the character of men of principle, but a mark of disrespect and ingratitude to a nation from which we have de- rived the most seasonable and effectual aid in the progress of this revolution. It is also a discour- agement and injury "to the fair and upright trader, and has a baneful tendency to lead away others by the example."
The subscribers bound themselves by six dec- larations of intent. In the first they agreed to detect and bring to justice all concerned in this traffic, and to use every lawful means to prevent and suppress it. This was to be accomplished by strengthening the hands of civil and military offi- cers, and supporting the full and vigorous execu- tion of the laws.
Furthermore, said the subscribers, "We will give every assistance to those who are vested with authority to restrain and punish all suspi- NEVER DESPAIR .
12 CENTS.
122 CENTS.
T & W. Mercer Primit 93 Gold St .
348
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
cious persons, travelling without proper passes or certificates, or carrying British goods or other property made seizable by law," while for them- selves they agreed individually to avoid, as far as possible, all intercourse, communication, and dealings with such as have been or may be con- cerned in trading with the enemy, or who have been or may be justly suspected of being so concerned.
The associators went still further. They prom- ised support to others who should exert them- selves in detecting or bringing to justice " moon- light pedlars," treating as " mean, false, and de- signing every insinuation that such endeavors are in the least degree inconsistent with honour and good citizenship, or that they are not highly becoming and praise worthy," discountenancing and opposing in the prosecution of these objects " all acts of oppression and violence, and what- ever may be inconsistent with the peace and good order of the community, being determined not to resort to force, except where the same may be- come indispensably necessary."
Following the organization and subsequent resolutions came an " Address," which received, in the Gazette, wide publicity. Though somewhat platitudinous, it sufficed to generally arouse the people of the State. The principles of the as- sociation, said the " Address," lie at the founda-
349
ONY AND AS A STATE
tion of liberty. " A traffic has arisen destroying that simplicity of manners which is the glory of a republican government, and thus poisoning the principles and morals of the community." Drain- ing away money which should be used to pay taxes, increasing the number of secret enemies, the " system of the war is changed from force to cunning. * In times of peace it is com- paratively easy to support good order; in times of public commotion the exertions of every individ- ual are more necessary. Every one can do some- thing; and every one ought to do all he can."
Enforce the vagrant laws, the statutes to pre- vent illicit intercourse and trade, and the " pass- port " act, said the " Address," and in so doing " leave nothing else undone. The labor is great, but the object is greater. The safety of our coun- try calls loudly upon us. Let us recollect who we are. Let us recollect what we contend for; perseverance, prudence and resolution, will in- sure us success."
This decisive position had a direct effect in the restimulation of patriotism. That the illicit trade was restrained is unquestioned; it remained greatly restricted, but naturally was never entire- ly abolished. While directly the value of such a course of action was not apparent, yet it was an agency in stimulating in the people of New Jer- sey a sentiment favoring economic self-reliance;
350
NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY
it increased that desire, always expressed in New Jersey, which leaned toward the development of higher forms of industrial life; it taught the people of the State that they had the capacity for economic development, and that the creation of local markets necessarily preceded attempts to deal in the markets of the world, or what then stood for the world-England.
Had this movement, instituted by the citizens of Trenton and the nearby towns, received the earnest and sincere cooperation of the people of the entire State, with the possible assistance of small portions of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, the Revolution would the sooner have been brought to a close. New York, the actual base of supplies, would have been starved out, with nothing but the upper Hudson Valley upon which she could rely. And when starvation came then would have come surrender.
9 June vy94- Rtee? of B Dans dridge The hundredand seventy nine dollars twenty three Can't to purchase Samircer & hay scurry billy 21 MenDere'S In accorother day when el leave the
179
73
100 Sam! Fraunce
( Samuel Fraunce was proprietor of the tavern in New York where General Washington bade farewell to his officers.)
CHAPTER XXII
TRENTON AS THE FEDERAL CAPITAL
T HE dallying with disastrous financial legislation, impotency in securing State consent to ordinances, and whimsical devices to obtain popu- lar support and retain its own self- respect is the history made by the Continental Congress in its attempt to locate the federal cap- ital in New Jersey. Drifting between Philadel- phia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, and Annapolis, tolerated, abused, threatened, scoffed at, and insulted, the unfortunate body, torn by internal dissensions, and State prejudices, became truly a fugitive political camp. Without real power to accomplish its purposes, its heavy ma- chinery ran ungoverned and threatened its own destruction.
During the Revolution the exigencies of war had kept the body in Philadelphia, or in its vicinity, but at the close of the struggle men who foresaw the necessity of a permanent capital de- manded action. True to its custom of introducing new business, and seldom finishing that on hand, Congress in June, 1783, prepared to select what was called a " permanent residence," taking into consideration such offers as might be made from aspiring towns. At once the Legislature of New Jersey agreed to offer to yield to the United States jurisdiction over any district to the extent of twenty miles square, and to grant thirty thousand
[Vol. 2]
354
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
Boudincto
BOUDINOT ARMS.
pounds in specie for the purchase of lands and the erection of buildings. The attitude of New Jer- sey precipitated a contest far reaching in its con- sequences, and one that threatened to disrupt the body. Helpless in reaching a decision, with New England and the Southern States at odds, Mr. Gerry, member of Congress from Massachusetts, on the 7th of October, 1783, moved "that build- ings for the use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton, or of Potomack near George Town." Amendments left only the names of the rivers, and a final resolution that the site should be "near the Falls "-that is, near Trenton on the New Jersey side, or in Pennsylvania on the opposite bank. A committee of five was appointed to view the respective situa- tions and report to Congress.
To this the Southern members promptly object- ed, declared that their interests were being sacri- ficed to New England's commercialism, opposed Trenton or any nearby point, and supported a motion made to reconsider the proceedings, “in order to fix on some other place that shall be more central, more favorable to the Union, and shall approach nearer to that justice which is due to the Southern States." This failed of its purpose, whereupon the situation so impressed Madison that he wrote to Randolph, on October 13th, 1783: " Trenton was next proposed, on which
355
ONY AND AS A STATE
question the votes were divided by the river Dela- ware. The vicinity of its falls is to become the future seat of the Federal Government unless a conversion of some of the Eastern States can be effected."
The opposition on the part of the South, and the intense bitterness generated in Congress and which spread to every State in the confederation, led to the usual resort among weak lawmaking bodies-a compromise, based upon pure exigency. Until suitable accommodations were provided it was directed that Congress should meet alternate- ly at Trenton and Annapolis. Upon November 26, 1783, in obedience to the resolution, Congress met at Annapolis, where the question concerning a federal city was again discussed. Francis Hop- kinson, of Bordentown, in his " Intelligence Ex- traordinary," described the new mechanism of government as a pendulum vibrating between Annapolis and Trenton, and, as a Jerseyman, treated with scorn so senseless a proposition.
In New Jersey there was much enthusiasm shown concerning the prospect of having the capital of the United States located at Trenton or its vicinity. The patriotic Dr. David Cowell, who died December 18, 1783, left one hundred pounds to Congress " if they settle themselves at Lam- berton," which the New Jersey Gazette of that period announces as probably the first legacy ever
356
NEW JERSEY AS A COL
given to the United States. On August 22, 1784, to the New Jersey Council was presented a memo- rial from John Cox and associates, citizens of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, praying ten miles square might be laid out on the Delaware. Land in and near Trenton increased in value, and the eyes of the nation were turned to the future cap- ital city of the United States.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.