USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Old times in old Monmouth > Part 12
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same instant of time, and shot him through the body, the bullet entering his back and passing out under his right breast ; that he fell upon his hands and knees, but recovered himself and arose and ran across a small field making for the woods ; that the deponent left his horse and dropped his gun and pursned with his drawn sword ; that the deponent overtook him in a bog, and as he wa passing, gave him a stroke across the face with his sword, upon which he fell and cried he was a dead man ; that the said William Borden several times called to him saying : " White, if you will give up you shall have good quarters yet ;" that notwithstanding he continued to run to the last moment, when he was cut down by this deponent as aforesaid ; and was within three or four paces of a fence, which if he had passed, he would in all probability have effected his escape, pro- vided the gunshot should not have proved fatal ; that Captain Joshua Huddy was not one of the guard, it being notoriously well known that he was then a prisoner with the enemy. That the above hap- pened between Daniel Grandin's and Samuel Leonard's in a small field ; that the brook nearest Leonard's runs through the field ; that it was on Saturday the thirtieth day of March last.
JOIN NORTHI.
Sworn before me this 15th April 1782. DAVID FORMAN, Justice C. C. Pleas Monmouth Co.
AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN RUSSELL.
County of Monmouth, ss : John Russell of full age, being duly sworn deposeth :
That he was one of the guard appointed to conduct Philip White and Aaron White to Freehold ; that the deponent was present at the time of the said Philip White's attempt to make his escape; that he has heard tlre affidavits of William Borden and John North and knows every circumstance therein mentioned to be true; and in addition informs that in course of their pursuit after the said White, he passed the said deponent, and he, the deponent, gave him a slight wound in the forehead, but he still continued to run, although frequently desired to give up and he should have good quarters ; that this was the first blow he received ; that it was entirely his own fault ; that he received a single stroke with a sword, he running and refusing to submit to the last minute; that Joshua Hnddy was then
a prisoner in New York ; that this hap- pened on Saturday the thirtieth of March last. JOHN RUSSELL.
Sworn before me this 15th April, 1782. DAVID FORMAN,
Justice of Peace Monmouth Co.
SECOND AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM BORDEN.
Four days after the foregoing affidavits were taken, it was thought advisable to take additional evidence, and William Borden was again sworn, and deposed as follows :
County of Monmouth, ss : William Borden, of full age, being duly sworn, saith :
That he, the deponent, was one of the guard appointed to conduct Philip White, a refugee prisoner, taken and killed as is at large set forth under oath of this de- ponent, taken the 15th of April instant ; and farther this deponent saith that the uforesaid Philip White receivedno other wounds to the knowledge or belief of this depo- nent than those set forth and described in this deponent's oath as aforesaid ; that the report said to be circulated in New York, viz : that the said Philip White had his arms ent off, and one of his (the said White's) eyes pulled out and both his legs broken, is false and without any the least foundation ; for that he, the aforesaid Philip White, did not to this de- ponent's knowledge or belief receive any the least wound or hurt on either his (the aforesaid Philip White's) arms or legs neither was either of his (the aforesaid Philip White's) eyes pulled out.
Lastly, this deponent saith, that he this deponent was present at the time the aforesaid Phihp White attempted to make his escape ; was in pursuit of him, the aforesaid Philip White, and was presentat the time that the aforesaid Philip White was killed ; that this deponent saw John Russell and Jobn North carry and put his (the aforesaid Philip White's) body in a wagon and attended the wagon up to the village of Freehold where his (the afore- said Philip White's) body was the same evening buried ; and further this depo- nent saith not.
WILLIAM BORDEN. Sworn before me this 19th April, 1782. DAVID FORMAN.
CERTIFICATE OF CAPTAIN JOHN WALTON.
This may certify that the within depo- nent, William Borden, has for several years last past, resided a near neighbor to me ; that .he was at the time the within men- I tioned Philip White was killed, a soldier
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in my troop of horse ; and that during my acquaintance with him, the deponent, William Borden, he has on all occasions been reputed a manof strict veracity and humanity.
Given under my hand this 19th April, 1782.
JOHN WALTON, Captain Light Dragoons.
CERTIFICATE OF JUDGE DAVID FORMAN.
This may certify that on Saturday the 30th of March, 1782, or thereabouts, I the subscriber, was present at the village of Freehold, when the body of Philip White was brought up ; that I went to the wagon and saw the corpse ; the guard attending showed me the gun shot wound on his breast, also the cuts of a sword on his face. At that time the corpse appeared to be laid with as much decency as could be, and without any appearance of wounds in either of his arms or legs ; neither did I ever hear that his (the aforesaid Philip White's) arms had been cut off or his legs broken, &c. until after the execution of Captain Joshua Huddy, viz .; on Saturday the 13th of April instant, and then I heard by a person from the British lines that a report prevailed there that the aforesaid Philip White had been most cruelly murdered by having his arms cut off, his legs broken, &c.
Given under my hand this 19th day of April, 1782. DAVID FORMAN.
The foregoing affidavits and certificates furnish a clear, satisfactory account of the cause and manner of Phil White's death, and completely exonerate his guard from the charge of wanton cruelty toward him. The probability is that Phil White sup- posed if he was taken to Freehold jail that he would be tried and hanged for his participation in the murder of the father of John Russel, one of his guards, and for other misdemeanors and so he determined to try to escape and he made the effort at a place where he thought the woods, marsh, and brook would favor him and impede the light horsemen.
remembered, was taken prisoner at the same time that Phil White was captured, and his affidavit while at Freehold, has already been given. It is probable that Aaron White was exchanged a few days after his first affidavit was taken, as we find by a copy of an order from the Board of Associated Loyalists that the officer in charge of prisoners at New York was. ordered to deliver up Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming, two Americans cap- tured at Toms River, with Captain Huddy, to be exchanged for the refugee, Captain Clayton Tilton and another refugee name not specified; but it is stated on the trial of Captain Richard Lippencott, that they were to be exchanged by Governor Frank- lin's order for Captain Clayton Tilton and Aaron White. A British military com- mission, of which Major General James Paterson was president, was organized in New York, to examine into the cir- cumstances of Captain Huddy's death and Captain Richard Lippe icott's respon- sibility therefore, and before this commis- sion Aaron White testified substantially as follows :
" That he was taken prisoner by the rebels at Long Branch; that one of the rebel militia named George Brindley told him if they did not take Phil White, that they would put him (deponent) to death ; that after Philip White was taken. he heard the said George Bridley swear by God that Phil White should not go alive to Freehold ; that the rebels stopped at Colts Neck and changed guard; that while at Colts Neck, Philip White told him he was afraid the rebels would mur- der him before they got to Freehold : that when they started from Colts Neck he (deponent) was taken on ahead and Philip White kept behind under a guard of three men ; that these three men were John Russell, John North and one Borden who he had heard called three of as bad persecuting fellows as any in the country ; that it was his opinion the rebels intended to murder Philip White ; that the sergeant of the guard that had charge of Philip White as far as Colts Neck, informed him in Freehold jail that if Phil White had not been removed from his caro he would not have been killed ; that General David Forman with a lawyer came to him while he was in jail at Freehold and wanted him to make affidavit that Phil White was killed while endeavoring to escape ; that he told General Forman that he
The accounts published in ancient pa- pers are substantially the same as given in these affidavits. A month or so afterward the British at New York made desperate efforts to trump up evidence of wanton cruelty against North, Borden and Russell, the three guards, but that it signally failed, will be seen by an abstract of the second affidavit of Aaron White, taken June 19th, about six weeks after Phil White's death. Aaron White, it will be l would die before he made such affidavit ;
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that after he escaped (was exchanged ?) from Freehold jail, his friends all unani- mously told him that their opinion was that Philip White was most cruelly and inhumanly murdered ; that he did make an affidavit before General Forman, re- lating the circumstances of his leaving New York, of the skirmish, of a light horseman leaping over a fence and that the people of Freehold told him that Philip White was killed fairly : that if General Forman sent in any other affidavit it must have been forged."
The foregoing was the strongest evi- dence the British and refugees could bring against Phil White's guard, and it will be seen that it amounts to but little and in no particular does it sustain the charge of wanton cruelty. It is a matter of pro found satisfaction that the evidence pre- served is so conclusive not only because it exonerates the guards from the malicious charges made against them, but also be- cause many descendants of these guards now live within the limits of old Mon- mouth, as do also multitudes of descen- dants of the four hundred citizens who assembled at Freehold, on the 14th of April, 1782, who inquired into and justi- fied the acts of the guard.
The Refugees were very profuse at all times in their charges against the Mon- mouth patrriots ; because the citizens of old Monmouth would not remain quiet and allow these precious scoundrels to roam at will throughout the county, rob- bing and murdering, they were denounced as guilty of inhumanity, wanton cruelty, persecution, &c.
The Refugees had a very simple way of avoiding trouble from Monmouth patrriots -they had only to refrain from attempt- ing to commit outrages among them.
ATTACK ON THE RUSSELL FAMILY.
As this outrage was an unusually aggra- vated one even for the Refugees, and as mention of some of the parties concerned in it is made in other chapters detailing other events during the Revolution, we give the particulars as derived from vari- ous sources. The first extract is from Col- lin's New Jersey Gazette :
had five balls shot through him, but is yet living. Captain Warner of the privateer brig Elizabeth, was made prisoner by these ruffians, but was released, by giving them two half joes. This banditti also took off several persons, among whom were.Captain James Greene, and Ensign John Morris of the militia."
The following statement is from Howe's Collections : " Mr. Russell was an elderly man, aged about 60 years ; as the party entered his dwelling, which was in the night, he fired and missed. William Gil- ian, a native of Shrewsbury, their leader, seized the old gentleman by the collar, and was in the act of stabbing him in the face and eyes with a bayonet, when the fire blazed up and shedding a momentary light upon the scene, enabled the younger Russell who lay wounded on the floor, to shoot Gilian. John Farnham, a native of Middletown, thereupon aimed his musket at the young man, but it was knocked up by Lippincott who had married into the family. The party then rent off. The child was accidentally wounded in the af- fray."
The Lippincott above referred to, we presume, was Captain Richard Lippincott, who had command of the party which ex- ecuted Captain Joshua Huddy. An out- line of his life will be given elsewhere. In regard to John Farnham, a refugee of this name was afterwards captured, tried and hung at Freehold-probably the same man.
In the extract from Howe's Collections, it will be noticed that a younger Russell is referred to as being wounded and lying on the floor. This was John Russell, at. this time belonging to the Continental army, at home on a furlough to see his wife and parents. After the war, John Russell removed to Cedar Creek. in Ocean county, where he lived to quite an advanced age. His account of the affair was substantially as follows :
There were seven refugees, and he (John) saw them through the window, and at one time they got so that he told his father he was sure they could kill four of them, and he wished to fire, as he believed the other three would run. His father persuaded him not to fire, but to do so when they broke into the house. When they broke in, the father fired first, but missed his aim ; he was then fired upon and killed. John Russell then fired and killed the man (Gilian ) who shot his father. Dur.
"On the 30th of April, 1780, a party of negroes and refugees from Sandy Hook, landed at Shrewsbury in order to plunder. During their excursion, a Mr. Russell, who attempted some resistance to their depre- dations, was killed, and his grandchild | ing the affray young Russell was shot in
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OLD TIMES IN OLD MONMOUTH.
the side, and the scars of the wound were visible until he die l. After being wound- ed he fell on the floor and pretended to be dead. The refugees then went to plunder- ing the house. The mother and wife of John were lying in a bed with the child ; the child awoke and asked, " Grandmoth- er, what's the matter ?" A refugee pointed h's gun at it and fired and said "that's what's the matter." Whether he really intended to wound the child, or only to frighten it, is uncertain, but the child, as before stated, was badly wounded but eventually recovered. As the refugees were preparing to leave, one of the num- ber pointed his musket at young Russell as lie lay on the floor, and was about firing, saying he didn't believe he was dead yet. whereupon another (Lippincott?) knocked up his musket, saying it was a shame to fire upon a dying man, and the load went into the ceiling. After the refugees were gone, John got up and had his wounds dressed and exclaimed to his wife, "Ducky! bring me a glass of whisky-I'll come out all right yet." He did come out all right and we have good reason to believe that before the war ended he aided in visiting merited retribution on the refugees for their doings at this time. Among the party was the notorious Phil White who was killed near two years later ( March 30th, 1782.)
Of the seven refugees concerned in this outrage, at least three are known to have met with their just deserts, viz: Gilian. killed at the time, Farnham, hanged at Freehold, and Phil White, killed while at- temptmy to escape from his guards between Colts Neck and Freehold.
EXECUTION OF A SPY.
One affair which caused the most intense excitement throughout old Monmouth, and elsewhere during the war of the Rev olution, was the arrest, trial and execution of a young man named Stephen Edwards, on the charge of being a spy for the Brit- ish. Though reference to it is rarely met with in our histories, yet there were but few events in the county during the Rev- olution, that created a greater sensation than did this.
ugee leader, Captain Richard Lippincott, by a British Court Martial at New York. in the summer of 1782, for bis participa- tion in the hanging of Huddy, refugee wit- nesses testified that even while Huddy was a prisoner in their hands, and but a few days before his death, he boldly ac- knowledged his participation, and justified it on the ground that he was found with treasonable papers in his possession, which conclusively proved him to be a spy. On this trial, William Courlies, husbandman. late of Monmouth, then one of the Asso- ciated Loyalists ( as the refugees called themselves,) testified -
"That in regard to the death of Stephen Edwards, he ( Courlies ) then resided at Shrewsbury, in Monmouth county. Ed- wards was taken out of his bed at his own house and carried to Freehold ; the follow- ing day he was brought to some kind of a trial, and the day following executed. - The offense alleged against him was said to be his having some papers found in his pocket. Edwards bore an excellent good character. Deponent heard there was complaint made to General Washington or the Governor, about Edwards' death, but he cannot tell the result. General Forman was one of the Judges who pre- sided at Edwards' trial; Huddy was anoth- er of the judges; he had the information from Huddy himself; did not recollect hearing who the other judges were ; depo- nent was not present at the execution of Edwards, but was present at his burial .- Understood Edwards was tried for treason in consequence of papers found on his per- son.'
Captain Wm. Cunningham, who then was the British Provost Marshal at New York, and who by his own confession, (which has been given.) just previous to his execution in London, in 1791, wasas heart- less a wretch as ever lived, testified on this trial that he ( Cunningham ) told Huddy while he was a prisoner in the pro- vost, that he, the deponent, had heard that Huddy had hanged a refugee on a large oak near the Court House at Free- hold, and deponent asked Huddy concern- ing this report. Huddy avowed, it saying: " By God he did, and he slushed the rope well, and that Colonel Forman assisted in pulling the rope hand over hand "-that was the very expression Huddy used.
One of the officers who tried Edwards, and assisted at his execution, was Captain Joshua Huddy, and this furnished one of John Tilton, carpenter, a refugee from Monmonth, testified that when the refu- the excuses the refugees gave for his in- human murder near the Highlands some [ gee party was putting Captain Huddy in three years after. On the trial of the ref- / irons on board the sloop which conveyed
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OLD TIMES IN ODL MONMOUTH.
him to the Highlands, " he, the deponent, was present, and he asked Huddy if he thought it was good usage to iron him. --- Huddy replied that he did not think it was ; but as he expected to be exchanged in a day or two, he did not mind the irons; and Huddy also said he expected to have the killing of deponent and many more yet. Deponent then asked Huddy if he expected to hang deponent as he had done poor Stephen Edwards ? Huddy replied that he did not hang Stephen Edwards, he only tied the knot and greased the rope that it might slip easily."
The foregoing give the strongest points that we have been enabled to find against Captain Huddy for his participation in the trial and execution of Edwards. It will be seen that there was no attempt to dis- prove the charge that Edwards was a spy.
From all the information that we have been enabled to obtain, we are satisfied that the following account of Stephen Ed- wards arrest, trial and execution, from " Howe's Collections" is substantially cor- rect :
Stephen Edwards, a young man, in the latter part of the war, left his home in Shrewsbury and joined the loyalists ( ref- ugees ) in New York. From thence he was sent by Colonel Taylor of the refugees, a former resident of Middleiown, back to Monmouth county, with written instruc- tions to ascertain the force of the Ameri- cans there. Information having been con- veyed to the latter, Captain Jonathan For- man of the cavalry, was ordered to search for him. Suspecting he might be at his father's residence half a mile below Eaton- town, he entered at midnight with a party of men, and found him in bed with his wife, disguised in the night cap of a fe- male.
" Who have you here ?" said Forman.
" A laboring woman," replied Mrs. Ed- wirds.
The captain detected the disguise, and on looking under the bed, saw Edwards' clothing, which he examined, and in which he found the papers given him by Colonel Taylor.
He then said "Edwards, I am sorry to find you ! You see these papers ? You have brought yourself into a very disagree- able situation-you know the fateof spies!"
Edwards denied the allegation, remark- ing that he was not suchi and could not so be considered.
tried by a Court Martial next day, and ex- ecuted at 10 o'clock on Monday morning. Edwards' father and mother had come up that morning to ascertain the fate of their son, and returned with the corpse. Ed- wards was an amiable young man. The Forman and Edwards families had been on terms of intimate friendship, and the agency of the members of the former in the transaction, excited their deepest sym- pathies for the fate of the unfortunate prisoner.
The guilt of Edwards was conclusively proven ; deep sympathy was felt for his parents and wife, but the perils of the pa- triots at this time were so great that prompt and decisive action was necessary for their own preservation.
The foolhardiness of Edwards in keep- ing treasonable papers about him was re- markable. Some features of this affair will remind the reader of the unfortunate Ma jor Andre. It is probable that Edwards was executed about September, 1778.
PRIVATEERING ON OUR COAST.
TOMS RIVER DURING THE REVOLUTION.
Prizes taken-Americans captured-An enemy searching for.water loses his rum -Old Cranberry Inlet, &c.
Toms River appears to have been occu- pied by the Americans as a military post during the greater part of the Revolution. The soldiers stationed here were generally twelve months men, commanded by dif- ferent officers, among whom may be men- tioned, Captains Bigelow, Ephraim Jen- kins, James Mott, John Stout and Joshua Huddy. Captain Mott had command of a company called the " Sixth company " of Dover, and Captain Stout of the Seventh company. The Fifth company was from Stafford, and commanded by Capt. Reu- ben F. Randolph. These companies all belonged to the militia organization of old Monmouth.
The duties of the militia stationed at Toms River, appear to have been to guard the inhabitants against depredations from the refugees ; to check contraband trade by way of old Cranberry Inlet to New York, and to aid our privateers who brought prizes into the Inlet, which was a favorite resort for New Jersey, New England and other American privateers.
By the following extracts, it will be seen that old Dover township was the scene of
This occurred on Saturday night. The prisoner was taken to the Court House, many stirring incidents during the war.
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OLD TIMES IN OLD MONMOUTH.
About the 1st of April, 1778, the govern- ment salt works near Toms River, were de- stroyed by a detachment of British under Captain Robertson. One building they alleged belonged to Congress and cost £6,000 The salt works on our coast at Manasquan, Shark River, Toms River, Ba 'negat and other places, were so impor- tant to the Americans during the war that we propose to notice them in a separate article.
May 22d, 1778, it is announced that a British vessel with a cargo of fresh beef and pork, was taken by Captain Anderson and sixteen men in an armed boat, and brought into Toms River.
In the early part of August following, the British ship " Love and Unity." with a valuable cargo was brought into the In- let ; the cargo was saved but the ship was subsequently retaken by a large British fo.'ce ; the particulars of the capture and recapture are as follows from ancient let. te's :
"August 12th, 1778. We learn that on Thursday night, the British ship " Love and Unity" tron Bristol, with 80 hhds of loaf sugar, several thousand bottles London porter, and a large quantity of Bristol beer and ale, besides many other valuable ar- ticles, was designedly run ashore near Toms River. Since which, by the assist- arce of some of our militia, she has been bro 18qi into a safe port and her cargo pro perly taken care of."
The cargo of this ship was advertised to be sold at Manasquan, on the 26th of Au- gust, by John Stokes, U. S. Marshal. The articles enumerated in the advertisement show that the cargo must have been a very valuable one. The Americans were not quite so lucky with the ship as with the cargo, as will be seen by the following ex- tract.
" Friday, September 18th, 1778. Two British armed ships and two brigs, came close to the bar off Toms River (Cranbury) Inlet, where they lay all night. Next morning between seven and eight o'clock, they sent seven armed boats into the In. let, and re-took the ship Washington for- merly "Love and Unity " which had been taken by the Americans; they also took two sloops near the bar and captured most of the crews.
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