USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Old times in old Monmouth > Part 11
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to the Church. And some days before at the house of John Read, Mr. Talbot .bap- tized the wife of Alexander Neaper and his three children. Both he and his wife had been Quakers, but were come over to the Church.
January 4th, 1703. I came to the house of Robert Ray, in Freehold, in East Jer- sey, accompanied with Thomas Boels, and lodged at his house that night. At his and his wife's desire, I baptized all his children, some boys and some girls, in number five. His wife is come over to the Church, but he was not then come thor- oughly out of Quakerism.
Mr. Keith after this proceeded to Bur- lington, Philadelphia, and so on to Mary- land, Virginia, and elsewhere ; in October, 1703, he returned to Monmouth, and of his services here he adds in his journal the following ;
" October 10th, 1703, Sunday. I preach- ed at Toponemes, in Freehold, in East Jer- sey, on Acts 24: 12, and had considerable auditory, divers of them late converts from Quakerism to the Church. Mr. Inness above mentioned, did read the Prayers .- Mr. Talbot stayed to preach in several places in Pennsylvania and West Jersey for some time.
October 17th. I preached at Shrews- bury, near the Quaker Meeting House there, on Psalms 103 : 17, 18.
October 24th. I preached again there, on Heb. 8 : 10, 11, and Mr. Inness baptized two men and a child.
On the 31st of October, Mr. Keith preached at Amboy, after which he pro- ceeded to New York and New England. On nis return he says :
January 9th, 1704. I preached at the house of Dr. Johnston, in Neverthesinks, on Psalms 119 : 5, 113, and had consider- able auditory.
January 16th. I preached at Mr. Mor- ris's house at the Falls of Shrewsbury, in East Jersey, on 2 Cor. 5 : 17.
January 23d. I preached again at Mr. Morris's house, on 2 Peter 1 : 5.
January 30th. I preached at the house of Mr. Thomas Boels, in Freehold, in East Jersey, ^n 1 Cor. 15 : 58.
February 6th. I preached at the house of Mr. John Read, in Freehold, East Jer- sey, on Psalms 119 : 96.
After this Mr. Keith went to Burlington, Philadelphia, and shortly sailed for Eng-
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OLD TIMES IN OLD MONMOUTH.
LIEUT. JAMES MOODY, THE REFU- GEE PARTISAN.
A Daring Renegade-Raid in Monmouth -Refugee Versions and Boasts-Death of Captain Chadwick and Lieutenant Hendrickson.
In the days of the Revolution, about the most shrewd and effective partisan leader in New Jersey, was James Moody. During the war we do not believe there was a sin- gle other Tory who was more noted througout the State for his daring opera- ations, than was he, and yet it is rare to find his name in any general or local his- tory of New Jersey.
In Howe's Historical Collections of New Jersey, mention is made of a certain refu- gee, said to have been named Bonnell Moody, as having been active against the whigs in Sussex county. We very much doubt if ever there was a prominent refu- gee of that name in our State; we have no doubt but James Moody was the man referred to; certain it is that some of the deeds attributed to Bonnell Moody were performed by James Moody. An interest- ing account of James Moody's career in New Jersey, was published shortly after the war in London ; though dictated by himself, and consequently more or less one sided, yet it contains many things of value to the historian and of interest to the general reader. At some future time we shall endeavor to give place to the sub- stance of his narrative with the high British endorsements it obtained, but for the present we can only copy the substance of so much of it as relates to one of his raids in Monmouth. It will be seen that where he strives to depreciate Americans and laud the Tories to the best of his abil- ity, yet he mentions some things worth recording in our local history.
"June 10th, 1779, Lieutenant James Moody requested a Tory friend named Hutchinson, with six men and some guides, to join him in a raid into Monmouth. - Moody had besides sixteen men. They started from Sandy Hook for Shrewsbury, and managed to elude the Rebel guard, and gained a place called the Falls (Tinton Falls.) There they surprised and took prisoners one Colonel, one Lieutenant Colonel, one Major and two Captains, with several other prisoners of lesser note, and without injury to private property, de- stroying a considerable magazine of pow-
der and arms. With these prisoners and such public stores as they were able to bring off, Mr. Hutchinson was charged, whilst Moody brought up the rear with his sixteen men to defend them. They were as they expected, soon pursued by double their number and soon overtaken. Moody kept up a smart fire on his assail- ants, checking and retarding them till Ilutchinson with his booty had got ahead to a considerable distance. He then also advanced for the next advantageous posi- tion, and thus proceeded from one good spot to another, still covering the prison- ers till they gained a situation on the shore at Black Point where the enemy could not flank him. But just at this time the enemy was reinforced by ten men, so they were near forty strong. Hutchinson with one man crossed the inlet, behind which he had taken shelter, and came to Moody's assistance ; and now a warm en- gagement ensued which lasted three quar- ters of an hour. By this time all their ammunition, amounting to 80 rounds was exhausted, and ten men, only three of whom were wounded, were in any capaci- ty to follow a charge.
"The bayonet was Moody's only resource, anl this the enemy could not withstand ; they fled, leaving eleven of their number killed or wounded. Unfortunately for Moody, his small but gallant party could not follow up the blow, being in a manner utterly exhausted by a long harassed march in hot weather. They found the rebel Captain dead, and their Lientenant also expiring on the field. There was something peculiarly shocking and awful in the death of the rebel captain. He was shot by Moody whilst with the most bitter oaths and threats of vengeance, after hav- ing missed fire once, he was again leveling his piece at him. Soon after the engage- ment, one of the rebels came forward with a handkerchief on a stick, and demanded a parley. His signal was returned and a truce agreed upon, the conditions of which were, that they should have leave to take care of their dead and wounded, while Moody and his party were permitted to return unmolested to the British lines,- None of Moody's men were mortally wounded. The public stores which they brought away, besides those destroyed, sold for upwards of £500, every shilling of which was given by Moody to his men, as a reward for meritorious."
From asubsequent paragraph in Moody's narrative, it appears that the names of the
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officers killed were Captain Chadwick and The irons upon his wrists were ragged on . Lieutenant Hendrickson.
Moody was afterwards captured by the Americans, and was to have been hung for the murder of Captain Chadwick, but he managed almost miraculously to escape.
Some circumstances mentioned in dif- ferent accounts of this raid, lead to a sus- picion that Moody placed Captain Chad- wick and Lieutenant Hendrickson in the rear of their company to prevent the firing of the Americans upon them, and that Chadwick and Hendrickson were shot in attempting to escape or after escaping.
The following is an American version of this raid from an ancient paper :
" A party of about fifty refugees landed in Monmouth and marched to Tinton Falls undiscovered, where they surprised and carried off Colonel Hendrickson, Col- onel Wyckoff, Captain Chadwick and Cap- tain MeKnight, with several privates of the militia, and drove off sheep and horned cattle. About thirty of our militia hastily collected and made some resistance, but were repulsed with the loss of two men killed, and ten wounded, the loss of the enemy unknown,"
MOODY'S CAPTURE AND ESCAPE.
The following is Moody's own account of his capture, imprisonment for the kill- ing of Captain Chadwick and Lieutenant Hendrickson, and escape. After referring to a raid in which he had been engaged, his narrative states that while he was re tracing his steps with thirteen men to- wards New York, on the 21st of July, 1780, Moody and the greater part of his men fell into the hands of General Wayne, much to the joy of his captors, and to the whigs of New Jersey. "Moody is in the toils at last," was the word far and near. He was first sent to a place called the Slote, thence to Stony Point, thence to West Point, thence to Esopus, and thence back to West Point. Arnold who was then plotting to surrender the latter post, treated Moody with absolute barbarity, fer by his order he was placed in a dun- geon excavated in a rock, the bottom of which was ankle deep in water, mud and filth. In this dismal hole the wretched prisoner was fettered hand and foot, and compelled to sleep on a door raised on four stones above the disgusting mixture and proffered food at which he revolted which was brought to him in a wooden bowl that was never washed, and that was encrusted with dough, dirt and grease .-
the inner side and caused sores which gave him great pain, while his legs became ir- ritated and swollen. He implored Arnold for relief, declaring that he preferred death to sufferings so intense. Some days after his second petition to be treated as a prisoner of war, an officer came into his prison and asked, "are you Moody, whose name is a terror to all good men ?" When answered, the officer pointed to a gallows near by, and said : "A swing upon that you have long merited." Moody replied that he hoped to live to see him and a thousand other villains like him hanged for being rebels. The fetters were exam- ined but not removed. His case was at last reported to General Washington, who ordered the irons to be taken off, and the serving of wholesome provisions, with leave to purchase milk, vegetables, &c .- Soon the prisoner was transferred to the Chief's own camp, where the Adjutant General examined his limbs and shocked at their condition, gave instant orders for humane treatment. While Moody was re- covering he felt himself much at ease, ex- pecting soon to be exchanged, when he was unexpectedly told that in two days, by order of Dr. Livingston, he was to be brought to trial ; the court-martial was to be composed of picked men, and that Moody was sure of conviction-that he was charged with assassinating a Captain Chadwick, and a Lieut. Hendrickson .- These were the two officers who had fall- en fairly in battle, near Black Point, in Monmouth county, as elsewhere related. The Ensign replied that he felt himself much at ease on that account, as it could be sufficiently cleared up by their own people who had been in and survived the action, as well as by some of their officers, who were at that time prisoners. He was told that this would be of little avail, as he had been so obnoxious to the whigs, and besides he had enlisted men in the State for the King's service, and this, by their laws, was death.
Moody says he affected an air of uncon- cern at this information, but at the same time he believed it was too serious and important to him to disregard. He re- solved therefore, from that moment, to escape or perish in the attempt. His place of confinement was near the centre of the rebel camp. A sentinel was placed with- in the doors of his prison, and another without, besides four others close around and within a few yards of the place. The
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OLD TIMES IN OLD MONMOUTH.
time now came on when he must either make his attempt or forever lose the op- portunity. On the night of September 17th, busy in ruminating on his project, he had under pretence of being cold, got a watch coat thrown across his shoulders, that he might better conceal from his un- pleasant companion the operations he meditated against his hand cuffs. While he was racking his invention to find some possible means of extricating himself from his fetters, he happened to cast his eye on a post fastened to the ground, through which a hole had been bored by an auger, and it occurred to him that it might be possible, with the aid of this hole, to break the bolt of his hand cuffs. Watching the opportunity therefore from time to time of the sentinel's looking another way, he thrust the point of the bolt into the above mentioned hole, and by cautiously exert- ing his strength and gradually bending the iron backwards and forwards he at length broke it. Let the reader imagine what his sensations were when he found the manacles drop from his hands. He sprang instantly past the inside sentinel, and rushing on the next, with one hand he seized his musket, and with the other struck him to the ground. The sentinel within and the four others who had been placed by the fence surrounding the place of his confinement, immediately gave the alarm, and in a moment the cry was gen- eral, "Moody is escaped from the provost!" It is impossible to describe the uproar which now took place throughout the camp. In a few minutes every man was in a bustle, every man was looking for Moo- dy, and multitudes passed by him on all sides-little suspecting that the man they saw deliberately marching along with a musket on his shoulder, could be the fugi- tive they were in quest of. The darkness of the night which was also blustering and drizzly, prevented any discrimination of his person, and was indeed the great cir- cumstance that rendered his escape possi- ble. But no small difficulty still remained to be surmounted. To prevent desertion, which at that time was very frequent, Washington had surrounded his camp with a chain of sentinels, posted at about forty or fifty yards from each other ; Moo- dy was unacquainted with their stations ; to pass there undiscovered would certain- ly:be fatal. In this dilemna Providence again befriended him. He had gained their station without knowing it, when luckily he heard their watchword, "Look
sharp to the chain-Moody is escaped from the Provost." From the sound of . their voices he ascertained the respective situations of the sentinels, and throwing himself on his hands and knees, he was happy enough to crawl through the vacant space between two of them, unseen by either. Judging that their line of qursuit would be towards the British army, he made a detour into the woods on the op- posite side. Through the woods he made his way with as much speed as the dark- ness of the night would permit, steering bis course after the Indian manner by oc- casional groping and feeling the white oak ; on the south side the bark of this tree is rough and unpleasant to the touch, but on the north side is smooth ; hence it serves the sagacious traveller of the woods by night as well as by day, for his compass. Through the dismal woods and swamps he wandered until the night of the 21st, a space of 56 hours, during which time he had no other sustenance than a few beach leaves, ( which of all the woods afforded. were the least unpleasant to the taste, and least pernicious to the health ), which he chewed and swallowed to abate the crav- ings of hunger. In every inhabited dis- trict he knew there were friends of the British, and he had learned where and how to find them out, without endanger- ing their safety, which was always the first object of his concern. From some of their good men he received minute information how the pursuit was directed, and where every guard was posted. Thus assisted he eluded their keenest vigilance, and at. length by God's blessings, to his unspeak- able joy, he arrived safe at Paulus Hook ( Jersey City )."
PHIL WHITE, HIS CAPTURE AND DEATH.
A correct version of the affair-Refugee slanders refuted and vindicated -Affi- davits of Aaron White and of Philip White, guards-Statement of General Forman, &c.
Though the death of the refugee Philip White, generally called Phil White, is oc- casionally referred to in modern historical works, there are none which give complete or correct accounts of the affair. In the brief statement given in Howe's Collec- tions unjust imputations are cast upon his guard, as will hereafter be seen. When Captain Huddy was so brutally murdered by the Refugees near the Highlands, it
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will be remembered that a label was fast- ened to his breast, the last sentence of which was
Up goes Huddy for Philip White.
Though the Refugees at one time assert- ed that Captain Huddy had an agency in the death of Phil White, yet this prepos- terous charge was at once shown to be án infamous falsehood, as when White was killed, Captain Huddy was a prisoner, con- fined in New York in the old Sugar House ( Duane's sugar house.) The British as- serted that " he had taken a certain Philip White, cut off both his arms, broke his legs, pulled out one of his eyes, damned him and then bid him run."
How much of this was true will be seen by the conclusive evidence hereafter given, before quoting which we will copy the version of the affair given in Howe's Col- lections, derived in 1842, from a tradition- ary source :
" White, the Refugee, was a carpenter and served his time in Shrewsbury. Six days after Huddy was taken, he was sur- prised by a party of militia light-horse. near Snag Swamp, in the eastern part of the township. After laying down his arms in token of surrender, he took up his musket and killed a Mr. Hendrickson .- He was however, secured, and while being taken to Freehold, was killed at Pyle's Corner, three or four miles from there .- He was under a guard of three men, the father of one of whom was murdered at Shrewsbury the year previous, by a band of refugees, among whom was White, and he was therefore highly exasperated against the prisoner. Some accounts state that he was killed while attempting to escape ; others with more probability that they pricked him with their swords and thus forcing him to run, cruelly murdered him."
There are several errors in the foregoing and it is to be regretted that the untrue charge of wanton cruelty, should have found its way into so use:ul a book. Cor- rect versions of this affair are found in an- cient papers, but for the present we will give several affidavits taken at the time as being the most conclusive evidence. These affidavits were forwarded to General Washington, and by him transmitted to Congress, April 20th, 1782.
These affidavits are of Aaron White, taken prisoner with Phil White, and of each of Phil White's guards. Before quot- ing them, we will say in regard to the statement in the extract from Howe's Col-
lections that after Phil White had surren- dered, " he took up his musket and killed a Mr. Hendrickson," that as no allusion is made to it in these affidavits, it may have occurred at some previous time, and this murder as well as his participation in the murder of John Russell, and in other out- rages, undoubtedly caused the patriots to be anxious to capture him.
DEPOSITION OF AARON WHITE.
County of Monmouth, ss : Aaron White being duly sworn“ deposeth :
That he was taken prisoner with Philip White; that the deponent left New York in company with Philip White, Jeremiah Bell, negro Moses, John Fennimore and Robert Howell, on Thursday night, the twenty-eighth of March last; that they sailed from New York to the Hook, where they remained till next morning, being Friday, the twenty-ninth ; that Philip White and negro Moses were landed at Long Branch that morning; that the de- ponent understood that Captain Joshua Huddy was then a prisoner ; that on the day following, being Saturday the thirtieth, the deponent being off in a boat with Fennimore, and having observed that the said Philip White and Moses had an en- gagement with some of the troops on shore, he ( the deponent ) went in a boat to their relief, meaning to take them off; that when he came on shore he joined the said Philip White and negro Moses, and pursued one Thomas Berkley, with whom they had been engaged ; that in their pur- suit, the light horse came down, and the deponent with the said Philip White were made prisoners; that they were put under guard to be sent to Freehold for confinement ; that on the way from Colt's Neck to Freehold, between Daniel Grand- in's and Samuel Leonard's, the deponent was told by one of his guard, that Philip White was running away ; that the depo- nent looked back and saw the horsemen in pursuit of something, but being about half a mile distant, could not distinguish after whom or what the pursuit was; that the field in which they were pursuing was near the brook next to Mr. Leonard's, ad- joining a wood; that Lieutenant Rhea and George Brindley left the deponent under guard of two men, and ran their norses back towards the place the other men were pursuing ; that the deponent afterwards understood that it was Philip White they were pursuing, and that he was killed in the pursuit; that Captain
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Joshua Huddy was not one of the guard or party, and the deponent understood and verily believes, that he was then a prisoner in New York ; and the deponent further and lastly declares, that the above is the truth as related without any fear, threats or compulsion whatever.
AARON WHITE.
Sworn before me this 15th day of April, 1782.
DAVID FORMAN, Justice of Peace, Monmouth County
That a clear idea of the order of the principal events referred to in these affi- davits may be obtained, we will here state that Captain Joshua Huddy was taken prisoner at Toms River, on Sunday, March 24th, 1782; on Saturday, the 30th of March, six days after, Phil White and Aaron were taken prisoners by the Mon- mouth militia; the same day (March 30th), Philip White was killed, at which time Captain Huddy was confined in the sugar house prison in New York, where he had been put on Tuesday, March 26th, and remained here and in provost jail, until Monday, April 8th, when he was taken on board a sloop and put in irons, and four days later, April 12th, 1782, he was hanged near the Highlands; his body was delivered to the Americans, sent to Free- hold and buried with the honors of war .- Three days after his death-on the 15th of April, these affidavits were taken while the recollections of all the circumstances referred to, were fresh in the minds of the witnesses.
STATEMENTS OF PRIL WHITE'S GUARDS.
Phil White's guards were William Bor- den, John North and John Russell. They were probably at the time attached to Captain John Walton's'troop of light horse, but Russell and perhaps the other two had been in the regular Continental army previously. Their statement of the de- tails of Phil White's death are undoubted- ly [correct. We shall hereafter, in the court martial trial at New York, of the Refugee captain, Richard Lippincott, give the Tory evidence, and it will be seen that there was nothing offered to invalidate the affidavits of the guards. The first statement we give is the
AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM BORDEN.
County of Monmouth, ss : William Bor- den, of full age, being duly sworn, depos- eth :
That he with a certain John North, and John Russell, were ordered to guard a cer- tain Philip White, mentioned in an ad-
dress to his excellency, General Washing. ton, to Freehold. That the guard was ordered to shoot him if he attempted to escape, of which the said Philip was in- formed ; that on their way the said Philip jumped off his horse, and on passing a fence next to the woods, the deponent fired and shot him through the body, the bullet entering his back and coming out of his right breast ; that the said Philip at first fell, but recovered again, and at- tempted to get into the woods about two hundred yards distant ; that the deponent having leaped the fence on horseback, in- tercepted him in the way to the woods ; upon which he turned and threw himself into a bog, where the said John North met him and gave him a stroke with his sword ; that as the said Philip White turn- ed, the deponent struck him with the butt end of his carbine, and he still continued to run till he was struck by the said John North as aforesaid ; that this deponent, three or four times called to him, " White give up and you shall have quarters yet." That Captain Joshua Huddy was not one of the guard nor in company, but the deponent understood, and has no reason to doubt, that he was then a prisoner in New York. That the above happened between Daniel Grandin's and Samuel Leonard's in a field adjoining the woods, and through which the brook next to said Leonard's did run. On Saturday, the 30th of March last.
WILLIAM BORDEN.
Sworn before me this 15th day of April, 1782. DAVID FORMAN, Judge of Court of Common Pleas Monmouth Co. AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN NORTH.
County of Monmouth, ss : John North being duly sworn, deposeth and saith : That he, the deponent, was one of a cer- tain guard that had custody of Philip White mentioned in the memoriat to his excellency General Washington ; that the said guard was ordered to conduct the said Philip White from Long Branch (the place at which he with one Aaron White was taken prisoner,) to Freehold ; that the said guard was ordered, if he at- tempted to make his escape, to kill him ; that they were both informed that if they attempted to run they would be killed ; that on the way to Freehold. the said Philip White went sideways off his horse and ran to the fence next to the wood ; that the deponent fired at him but be- lieves the ball did not take place upon him; that William Borden, another of the guard, fired at him also, about the
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