The story of an old farm : or, Life in New Jersey in the eighteenth century

Front matter

KASTKIIX (iA15Li: OF THE OLD STONE HOUSE From a photograph by Percy Moran.

THE

STORY OF AN OLD FARM

Chapter I

The Peapack Stage — Sunday Morning at Bedminster Church — A Retired Hamlet. 1-11.

From Somerville to Bedminster — Scenes on the Way — A Loquacious Stagedriver — An Ancient Tavern — The Blue Hills— The Revolutionary Village of Pluckamin — A Picturesque Ford — Van der Veer's Mills — The Venerable Church of Bedminster — Incidents of a Morning Service — The Foot-Path through the Graveyard — A Motley Array of Vehicles — The Small Boy and the Delightful Old Lady — The Village of the Lesser Cross Eoads — Rusty Houses and Old- Fashioned Gardens — A Queer Little Shop — Wiseacres at the Village Store — The Old Schoolhouse — Boyish Reminiscences — The Admonitory Gad — The Mine Brook Swimming Hole — Over the Hills to the Old Farm.

CHAPTER n.

The Old Farm — Its Upland Acres, Broad Meadows, and Ancient Stone Homestead. 12-21.

Walking North Fi-om the Village — Observations by the Way — The Charms of a Country Road — A Neglected God's-acre — The Confines of the Old Farm — A Royal Grove — The Landscape Full of Sentiment and Beauty — A Buoyant Country, and Grassy Cascades — The Outlook From the Long Hill — Summer Vegetation and the Lovely Mystery of Color — The Brawling Peapack Brook — A Grand Old Maple — The Old Stone House Rests on a Sunny Bank of Turf — Its Comely, Quaint Presence, and Wealth of Old-fashioned Accessories — A Charming Rural Picture — The Interior a Bit of the Old World — The Outer Kitchen and Dutch Oven — The Founders of This Old Homestead in 1752 — Why Their Story is Told in These Pages.

Chapter III

Bendorf on t^he Rhine — Johannes Moelich Emigrates to America — The Condition of Germany in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 22-34.

Coblentz and its Ancient Town Wall— The Vast Fortification of Erhenbriet-

stein — Terraced Vineyards and Valleys Stored with Legend and Romance — viii The Story of an Old Farm.

Bendorf Surrounded by Apple Orchards — The Aspect and Architecture of the Town — One of the Oldest Churches in Germany — The Home of Johannes Moe-

lick and His Wife Mariah Katrina — He Sets Sail for America The Great

German Exodus and its Cause — German Happiness Before the Thirty Years' War — The Miseries of that Contest — The Country People Fly From Their Dismantled Villages and Wasted Lands — Peace Banquets are Spread in 1648 — But Little Comfort Comes to the Rhine Valley — Subsequent Continental Wars — Louis XIV. Devastates the Palatinate — Despotic Princes, Petty Persecutions and Cruel Conscriptions — The German Turns His Back on Fatherland — The Great Flootl of Emigration to America.

Chapter IV

German Expatriation— The Distribution of Teuton Emigrants in the American Colonies. 35-49.

First Movement to America — William Penn and Pennsylvania — Pastorious Settles Germantown — Neuwied — Settlement of the German Valley in New Jersey — Newburgh Founded by Kockerthal — The Great Hegira to England in 1709 — Cause of the Movement — Camping on Blackheath — Thirty Eight Hundred Palatines Remove to Ireland — The Sufferings of Heidelberg — Emigrants from Heidelberg Found Newbern, North Carolina — Governor Robert Hunter — Ten Ship Loads of Palatines Brought by Him to New York — Settlement at Livingston Manor on the Hudson, and in Scoharie, Montgomery, and Herkimer Counties, New York — Disatisfaction of the Colonists with Their Treatment by the New York Authorities — Pennsylvania Grows in Favor with Emigrants — Arrivals between 1700 and the Revolution.

Chapter V

Johannes Moelich Reaches Pennsylvania in 1735 — His Experiences In Philadelphia And Germantown. 50-64.

The Crooked Billet Wharf — Arrival of the Ship Mercury with Johannes Moelich — The Aspect and Area of the City — Johann Peter Moelich — Impressions on Landing — A Walk on Chestnut Street — A Gang of Newly Imported Negroes — The Slave Auction — Colonial Houses — Quaint Interiors — Dogs as Meat Roasters — Whipped at a Cart's Tail — Stocks and Pillory — Flinging Eggs at Malefiictors — The New State House — Visits of Savages to the City — Indian King Tavern — Christ Cliurch — Odd Costumes — Quakers and Gallants — Old Gentlemen and Servants — Penn's House — His Second Visit to Pennsylvania — William Trent — The Founding of Trenton in 1719 — The Blue Anchor Tavern — Philadelphia Equipage in 1735 — Pack Horses — Introduction of Wagons — Johannes Starts for Germantown — The Ride Through the Woods — The Aspect of the Settlement.

Chapter VI

Letters From The Old Country — Bendorf Comes Under The Dominion Of The Murdering Margrave of Anspach. 66-73. Job. Georg Hager, the Village Prscceptor Writes in 1745, Giving all the

Contents

IK

Bendorf Gossip- - A Great Fire Burns all the Houses Between the Stein-Gate and the Bach-Gate — Who Have Died, Who Have Married, Who Grown Rich and Poor — Bendorf Transferred to Anspach — The Many Separate Kingdoms of Germany — Frederick and Maria Theresa — Despotic German Princes —Their Taxes and Oppressions — The Idiosyncracies and Wickednesses of Bendorfs New Ruler — German Lawyers — A Letter from Cousin Joh. Anton Kirberger in 1749 — How the Second Silesian War Distressed the Inhabitants of Bendorf — The Banks of the Rhine a Highway for Troops Marching between Holland and Austra — Billets and Forages Impoverish the People — More German History.

Chapter VII

Johannes Moelich Appears in New Jersey in 1747 — His Brother Godfrey — Echoes from the Ancient Walls of Zion Lutheran Church AT New Germantown In Hunterdon County. 74-96. Johannes and Godfrey Moelich in Sussex County, N. J. — In 1750 Johannes Is Living on 400 Acres in Readington Tp., Hunterdon County — He and His Son-in-law, Jacob Kline, there Establish a Tannery — Our Ancestor Is a Warden and Trustee of Zion Lutheran Church — Ralph Smith Conveys the Church Property to Johannes Moelich and His Co-Trustees in 1749 — Balthazar Pickel^David, Jonas and Tunis Melick — The Religious Fervor of Early German Emigrants — " Father Muhlenberg" Comes from Germany to Take Charge of the American Churches — ^His Saintly Character and Life Labors — An Old Time Missionary Who Could Fight the Devil But Was in Terror of Women — The First Permanent Pastor of the Church Is Joh. Albert Weygand — A Pastoral Message from the Last Century — Reverend John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, Afterwards the Revolutionary General — Interesting Information Regarding Zion's Successive Pastors — The Worthies of the Congregation — A Letter from Father Muhlenberg to Johannes' Son Aaron and His Co-Trustees — William Graft's Long and Useful Pastorate — A Methodist Missionary Makes a Schism in Zion — Henry Miller and His Devout Wife — How Johannes Signs His Name to Church Documents — St. Paul's Church in Pluckamin, Somerset County — George III. Grants a Royal Charter to Zion and St. Paul's — Aaron Moelich, One of the Petitioners — The Varied Spelling of the Family Name — In 1751 Johannes Decides Where to Plant the Permanent Homestead — A Survey of His P'amily in That Year.

Chapter VIII

Purchase of the "Old Farm" in 1751 — The Title and Early New Jersey History. 97-111.

Johannes Buys 367 Acres of Land in Bedminster, Somerset Co. — Bedminster Indians — The Algonquins and Naraticongs — Present Traces of the Red Men — First and Last Indian Purchases — Fair Dealings with the Natives by New Jersey People — Early New Jersey History — Charles II.'s Grant to the Duke of York — He Presents New Jersey to Sir George Carteret and Lord John Berkeley — Origin of the Name — Governor Philip Carteret at Elizabethtown — Pepys' Testimony As to the Virtue of Lady Elizabeth for Whom the Town Was Named — The Claim of the Elizabethtown Associates Under the Nicolls Grant — Concessions and Agreements Published in New England Increase the Popula-

"x The Story of an Old Farm.

tion — Settlement of Pisciitaway, Woodbridge and Newark — The Province Divided into East and West Jersey — Tiie Sale of West Jersey.

CHAPTER IX. The Twenty-four Proprietors of East New Jersey — George Wil

LOCKS AND THE PeAPACK PaTENT. 112-128.

Carteret Dies, and His Executors Sell East New Jersey — The Twenty-four Proprietors — Their Manner of Alienating the Whole or a Portion of Individual Interests — Perth Amboy, the Capital — The Origin of the Name — Population Under the Proprietors — Settlement of Monmouth County — Interesting Information Regarding the Morris and Stout Families — Ancient Dutch Settlers of Bergen — Governors Under the Proprietors — Surrender of the Government to the Crown — John Heywood, Robert Burnett and James Willocks — In 1683 Burnett Conveys One-eighth of Ilis Right to James Willocks — Doctor George Willocks Inherits from His Brother James — He Emigrates to East Jersey — His Posses-sions and Important Offices — Willocks's Ferries to Perth Amboy — Saint Peter's Church at Amboy and Its Benefactors — Thomas Gordon Settles near Plaintield — The Proprietors Convey to George Willocks and John Johnstone the Peapack Patent — Andrew Hamilton and John Johnstone — Scotch Emigration to East New Jersey.

CHAPTER X. The Story of the Title Completed — Early .Somerset Land Grants

129-144.

The Peapack Patent Includes Nearly all of Bedminster Township — Distinguished People As.sociated with Somerset Freeholds — Interesting Facts Concerning Gouverneur Morris and the Duchess of Gordon — The First Real Estate Purchase in Bedminster — Daniel Axtell, a Son of the English Regicide Buys a Large Slice of the Peapack Patent — Some Corrections as to Generally Accepted Beliefs in the History of Somerset Land Titles— The Value of Bedminstef Acres in 1726 — William Axtell, Patriot and Royalist— George Willocks' Death — His Will and its Benefactions — It Directs Partition and Sale of Peapack Patent — No Record of Such Proceedings Can be Found— Disagreements Between the Proprietors and the Willocks Heirs — John Johnstone's Will — Authorizes a Compromise as to Peapack Patent — George Leslie, in 1744, Receives a Grant of 2,000 Acres Out of the Patent — Its Area Includes the Present Site of Bedminster and the Old Farm — the Deed from George Leslie to Johannes Moelich — Thomas Bartow, Secretary of the Province — Judge Samuel Nevill and His Laws — The " New American Magazine" — James Parker, New Jersey's First Printer— The Bonds Johannes Gave in Buying the Farm — His Signature and Handwriting — The Pleasures of a Manuscript Lover.

Chapter XI

The Building of the "Old Stone House "—Redemptioners — Whxte Slavery in the Colonies, 145-155.

Johannes Occupies the Bedminster Land — A Temporary I>og House is

Contents.

XI

Erected — Scenes at its Building — The Raising Dinner — The Old Stone House is Built in 1752 — Preparing for the Work — Caspar Berger, a Redemptioner Stone Mason, Lays its Walls — His Advent in the Colony and Sale — He Obtains His Freedom by Building Stone Houses — All About Redemptioners — Indented Servants and Freewillers — Fraud Practised on them in the Old Countries — Inhumanities of Ship Captains — Colonial Laws as to Redemptioners^ — How this Class of Emigrants Thrived in the Province — The Walls of the "Stone House" go up Apace — Mariah Katrina Carries Mortar on Her Head — The Good Wife Objects to so Many Windows — The Completion of House and its Appearance — The Hanging of the Crane — The First Supper in the Living Room — A Home at Last on this Peaceful Bedminster Hillside.

CHAPTER Xri.

Johannes Goes to the Post Office — Bedminster and the Adjacent Townships in 1752, 156-168.

Perth Amboy the Nearest Post Office — But two Post Offices in the Colony — Johannes Starts in the Capital of the Province — Bedminster Still a Wilderness — The Settlement of Morristown and Mendham — Lamington Church and Jane McCrea — Basking Ridge and its Flourishing Presbyterian Community — Lord Stirling's Residence — .Jacobus Van der Veer's Log House — Establishing Van der Veer's Mills — Ephraim McDowell's Homestead — .Johannes Dismounts at Eoff's Tavern at Pluckamin — Christian Eofl as Innkeeper — The Origin of the Name of Pluckamin — Aspect of the Village and its P'irst Storekeeper John Boylan — Early Families of the Neighborhood — Colonel McDaniel's Saw Mill — •Somerville Not Yet in Existence — The First Court-Houses of Somerset County — William McDonald's Grist Mill — Johannes Smokes his Pipe as He Follows the Trail Over Pluckamin Hills — Wild Beasts and Bounties for Their Extirpation — Our Traveller Descends to the "Great Raritan Road" and Reaches Bound Brook.

CHAPTER Xni.

Bound Brook in the Olden Time— The Raritan Valley in 1752,

169-181.

Somerset's Oldest Settlement — Indian Corn Grounds — How Bound Brook Derived its Name — The First Land Purchase in the County — Thomas Codrington's Homestead, Racawackhana — The Houses of George Cussart and Samuel Thompson — Lord Neil Campbell and his Plantation — The Presbyterian Church of Bound Brook is Founded in 1700— Michael Field's Bequests to the Congregation — Colonial Lads and the Pedagogues — William Harris' Tavern — Van Norden's Folly — Citizens of Bound Brook at the Time of Johannes' Visit — Preva - lence of Lotteries — Johannes Rides Down the Raritan Valley — Country More Thickly Settled — English and Dutch Residents — Raritan Landing and its Industries — Mills in Franklin Township — Cornelius Lowe, Jr's., Stone Mansion — Johannes Reaches New Brunswick.

CHAPTER XIV.

From an Indian Path to The King's Highway — New Brunswick and Historic Piscatawav. 182-199.

xii The Story of an Old Farm.

The Oldest Highway in New Jersey — The Lenni-I.enape Path From tlie Hudson to the Dehiware — An Indian Thonmglifare From Minisink to the Sea —The Path up the Raritan— The Indian Patli Becomes tiie Dutcli Trail— The English Make it Their Road Across the Jerseys — Tlie CJrowth of Settlements Along the Path — Inians Ferry Established — The Founding of New Hrunswick — Its First Church in 1717 — The Aspect of the King's Highway in 1748 — New Bnmswick's First Charter — Its Early Citizens — The Appearance of the City at the Time of Johannes' Visit— Our Traveller Continues His Journey — Historic Piscataway — Its Ancient Importance and Present Torpor — Interesting Fragments of Antiquity From Its Town Records— The Baptists Build a"Meetinge- House" in 1685 — P^dmimd Dunham, in 1707, Forms the First Seventh-Day Baptist Church in New Jersey — St. James J4)iscopal Church is Established in 1704 — Early Missionary Work in New Jersey — A Graveyard Two Centuries Old — Johannes Rides Along the King's Highway Through Bonhamtown.

CHAPTER XV.

The Ancient Capita!, of The Province— Perth Amboy In 1752. 200-214.

Perth Amboy in the Olden-Time — A Chartered City in 1718 — Governors under the Crown — The Pomp of the Advent of Royal Governors — The Early Beauty of Amboy — Love Grove — Old English Fairs — George Willocks's Long Ferry — The Town Green and the Royal Cross of St. George — The Town Hall, and the Scenes it Has Witnessed^Thomas Bartow, his House and Garden — The Homes of Doctor John Johnstone, and His Son Andrew — John Watson, The First American Painter — His House and Collection of Paintings — The Dwelling in which John Nevill Wrote the Laws of the Province — The Parker Homestead, Built in 1720 — George Willocks and the Old Parsonage — The Eflectiveness of Colonial Roofs — The City's Churches in 1752 — Gilbert Tennent and His Severe Text — The Religious Atmosphere of the Last Century.

CHAPTER XVI.

SociaIj Aspect of Perth Amboy in 1752 — The Gentry — Slavery' — Travelling. 215-232.

The Picturesqueness of Colonial Times — Local Color of Civilization at New Jersey's Capital — Indians, Soldiers, Hunters and Redemptioners — The Sturdy German Yeomanry — Society Distinctions — The Magnificence of the Gentry — We Are Introduced to a King's Councillor — His Vain Hopes for Amboy's Commercial (irreatness — The Ladies of the Last Century — Hallam's Theatre Company at the Town Hall — Sunday Morning at St. Peter's Church — Pomp and Parade at the Capital — The Mayor's Mace Bearer — Judicial Wigs and Robes of Office — The Flouxish and Ceremony upon Opening Court — The Stately Minuet, and Royal Governor's Balls — The Many Negroes To Be Seen at Amboy — A Short History of Slavery in New Jersey — The British Government Fosters the Slave Trade — Extent of the Traffic in the Colonies — Cruel Punishments in N. J. — Burning, Maiming and Hanging Negroes — Somerset County Farmers and Their Slaves — Abolition of Slavery in New Jersey— Johannes' Choice of a Tavern — Travel Between New York and Philadelphia — The Miseries of the Journey — Clumsy Sloops, Springless Wagons, and Bad Roads.

Contents. xiii

CHAPTER XVII.

Clearing the Bedminster Land — Life on the " Old Farm " From 1752 TO 1763. 233-246.

German Farmers in New Jersey — Johannes Attacks his Timbered Hillsides — Manner of Clearing Land — Primitive Agriculture — Richness of the Soil — The Land Exhausted Ultimately for Want of Nourishment — Lime First Used as a Fertilizer — Natural Meadows the Only Grass Land — Introduction of Clover Seed into Somerset — Homemade Ploughs and Other Implements — Wheat, Rye, and Buckwheat are Cut with a Sickle — Establishing the Tannery — Horticulture in the Olden Time — Living, in the " Old Stone House " — What Colonial Farmers Had to Eat — Some Extraordinary Dishes — The Beverages of That Time — The Industries of Farm Families — Old-Fashioned Frolics and Amusements — A Visit to the Bedrooms and Garret— Picturesque Garb and Curious Fabrics — Mariah Katrina as a House- Wife — A Vipw of the Farm Kitchen — Flax and its Uses — Delicate Girls at a Discount — The Tribulations of Washing Day — Aaron Malick Marries Charlotte Miller — Changes in the Family — Another Letter from the Old Country.

CHAPTER XVni.

The Death of Johannes and Mariah in 1763— Changes in the Township — The Dutch Congregations of the Raritan Valley — The Building of Bedminster Church. 247-265.

Johannes in his Old Age — He and His Wife Die in 1763 — Aaron Succeeds Him in the " Stone House " — Changes in Bedminster — Settlement on the Axtell Tract — Jacobus Van Doren and Captain Joseph Nevius — The Dutch Reformed Churches in Somerset — The Log Church at North Branch — Raritan Church at Van Veghten's Bridge — Three Mile Run, Six Mile Run, and New Brunswick Churches — The Reverend Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen as Pastor of the United Congregations — His Son John Succeeds Him in 1750 — Dinah Van Bergh Marries Dominie Frelinghuysen — The Young Divinity Student, Jacob R. Hardenbergh— He succeeds His Pastor, and Marries His Widow — Disparity of their Ages — The Religious Character and Attainments of the Juffrouw Hardenbergh — Reformed Dutch Congregation of Bedminster Organized in 1758 — The Building of the New Church — Donations of Jacobus Van der Veer, and Guisbert Sutphen — Description of the Edifice — The First Service.

CHAPTER XIX.

More Changes in Bedminster— The Mills on Peapack Brook — Boyish Reminiscences — Marriages and Deaths. 266-279. Aaron Improves the Farm, and Enlarges the Tannery — A Saw and Grist Mill Established on Peapack Brook in 1751— William Allen, the First Miller— His Sons Sell the Mill to Stephen Hunt in 1767— The Building of the '• Folley" — A Famous Rendezvous for Bedminster Boys — Penetrating the Hogback — A Picture of the Old Grist Mill with Its Pond and Rock-paved Stream— Youthful Remembrances— Fishing and Swimming in the "Jinny-Hole"— Miss Jane Bailey, Bedminster's Meg Merriles— Rural Sights and Sounds— The Loss of Water in Bedminster Streams — Aaron's Family Increases— lattle Elizabeth Is Killed in xiv The Story of an Old Farm.

the Bark Mill — Philip and Peter Moelich Marry Sisters — Borrowing Money for Bedminster Church — The Ancient Bond of Jacobus Van der Veer, Marcus King and Aaron Malick — John Van der Veer Has Five Different Ways of Spelling^ His Surname — Mariah Moslich Marries Simon Ludewig Himroth, and Removes to Pennsylvania — More News from Bendorf — Another Interesting Letter from the Herr Prajceptor.

CHAPTER XX.

The Muttering That Preceded the Storm of the Revolution — Stamp Acts, Revenue Bills and Other Unjust Imposts Weaken the Loyalty of the New Jersey People — Arming for the Fray. 280-292.

The Approach of the Heroic Period of New Jersey's History — The Stamp Act and Its Repeal — New Jersey's Attitude bf Hostility to Great Britain — The First Revolutionary Newspaper Is Printed at Burlington — The Boston Post Bill and Tea Duties — ^The British Government Applies the Torch of Coercion — Organizing for Defence — The Province Sends Deputies to the Continental Congress in September, 1774 — Formation of Committees of Correspondence — The Meetings of the Provincial Congress — An Historic Journey — Minutes of the First Meetings of the Bedminster Committee of Observation and Inspection — Among the Members are Aaron Malick, Cornelius Lane, John Wortman — An Express- Rider Flies Through New Jersey Announcing the Battle of Lexington — Hudrick Fisher as President of the Second Provincial Congress — Three Other of Its Officers are from Somerset County — John Wortman and Guisbert Sutphen of the Bedminster Committee Are Sent to the Congress at Trenton on May 25, 1775 — Bedminster Proceeds to Arm for Defence — A New Brunswick Man Employed to Drill the Men — Stephen Hunt Is Sent to New York to Buy Arms — The Difficulty of Obtaining Munitions of War — Leaden Window and Clock Weights and Pewter Dishes Are Run into Bullets — Treating the Men When Training — The Third Session of Provincial Congress Convenes on the Fifth of August, 1775 — A Committee of Safety Is Appointed — Among the Members Are Five from Somerset.

CHAPTER XXI.

The Declaration of Independence and the Overthrow of the Provincial Government — The Arrest of the Royal Governor, William Franklin. 293-303.

The Third Session of New Jersey's Provincial Congress — The Agitations and Excitements that Ruled the Hour— Complaints of the People — Strengthening the Militia — Meeting, of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia — Declaration of Independence Submitted by Jefferson — The Appeal for the Document Made by John Witherspoon, of Somerset, Insures its Acceptance by the Members — The Most Important of all of New Jersey's Provincial Congresses Meets on June 10, 1776 — On July 18 it Assumes the Title of the Convention of the State of New Jersey — All the Ckjlonial Governors Adhere to the Crown Except Jonathan Trumbull of Conn. — Governor William Franklin is Arrested at Perth Amboy — His Character, Origin and History — William Livingston, the State's First Governor — He Holds the Position Owing to Repeated Re-elections

Contents.

XV until 1792 — A Tribute to His Services and Ability — William Patterson One of New Jersey's Great Men— His Residence on the Raritan — The Beginning of Things for the United States of America — The Condition, Area and Population of the Country in 1776.

CHAPTER XXII.

The Turbulent Sea of the Revolution — The Soldiers of Somerset — William Alexander, Lord Stirling ; Captain Andrew Malick ; AND Private John Malick. 304-318.

Notwithstanding the War the Industries at the Old Farm Continue — Peter Malick Inherits from his Father Land Fronting on the Lamington Road — He Builds a House and Settles Where is now the Village of Bedminster — Aaron Retains the Tannery, Homestead and the Rest of the Farm — His Brother Andrew Settles in Sussex County — In 1770 he Aids in Founding St. James Lutheran Church Near Phillipsburg — Andrew is Commissioned as Captain in the First Battalion, Sussex Militia, and Serves During the W^ar — Aaron's Son, John, Enlists in Jacob Ten Eyck's Company of the First Battalion — Somerset Militia — Lord Stirling is its First Colonel — His Home in Bernard Township and His Military Record — The Noble Services of New Jersey Militiamen — John Malick as a Minute Man — The March of Colonel Nathan Heard on Long Island — The Tories of Kings and Queens Counties — a Special Regiment of Hunterdon and Somerset Militia is Organized to Re-inforce Washington's Army — It marches to New York Under Colonel Stephen Hunt with John Malick in its Ranks — The Battle of Long Island — The Death of Col. Philip Johnston — The Capture of John Malick by the Enemy — He is Thrown into a New York Sugar House — The Inhumanities of his Jailor, Provost-Marshall Cunningham — The Brutality of the Provost in Conducting the Execution of Nathan Hale — John Malick is Exchanged and Re-enlists in the Continental Line — Washington's Army Enters New Jersey.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The British In New Jersey — Washington's Retreat To The Delaware — General Lee In Somerset County. 319-334.

Cornwallis Enters New Jersey — The Garrison at Fort Lee Joins tlie Main Body at Hackensack — Retreat and Pursuit — Tories and Whigs Alike Plundered by the Enemy — Washington Driven from New Brunswick — His Army Melts Away with Each Mile of the March — What Is Left of the Army Cross the Delaware on the Eighth of December — The British go into Winter Quarters at Bordentown, Trenton, New Brunswick, and Other Towns — The Rapine, Violence and Cruelty of the English Forces — Individual Instances of Sufferings in Somerset and Middlesex Counties — The Ayres, Dunns and Dunhams in the Revolution — The Ferocity Exhibited by Tories— Cavalry Raids on Pluckamin — Amnesty and Protection Ofi'ered by the Enemy — Many Become Disaffected — Aaron, Andrew, and Philip Melick Do not Waver in Their Colonial Sympathies — Peter Melick Accepts a Protection Paper from the British — His Disaffection Fostered by Frequent Visits to Perth Amboy — The Royal Sentiment Openly Displayed at That Provincial Capital— The Attitude of the Church of England During the Revolution— Methodists Considered Enemies to the Public Weal— xvi The Stoky of an Old Fakm.

Quakers as non-Combatants — General Charles Lee's Army Reaches Bedminster on December 12— The Appearance His Troops Presented — Hunting-Shirts for Uniforms and Fowling Pieces for Guns — The Jersey Blues are Uniformed by Patriotic Women.

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Capture of General Charles Lee — His Army Encamps on Peter Melick's Land in Bedminster Township — The Battle of Trenton. 335-351.

General Lee's Army on the Night of December 12, 1776, Encamps on Peter Melick's Farm — Because of His Disaffection tlie Troops Damage His Property — Peter's Daughter, Catherine, Lives until 1863 — Her Written Statement as to what Transpired on that Night — The "Old Stone House" Entertains a Number of Mounted Officers — Fresh Details as to the Capture of Lee at Basking Ridge — The Generally Accepted Belief that His Array Lay at Vealtown an Error — Lee's Cliaracter and Military Achievements — The Ridiculous Appearance Presented by Colonel Sheldon's Connecticut Light Horse— All about the Sixteenth British Light Dragoons, which made the Capture — Aaron Malick is Suspected of Having Notified the Enemy of Lee's Whereabouts— He is Forced to go to New Germantown to Prove His Innocence — Sullivan Marches to Pennsylvania by Way of Jjamington and Clinton — The Effect on tlie Country of Lee's Capture — -The Darkest Days of the Revolution are those of December, 1776 — Washington Undaunted — By the Tenth of December His Array is Reduced to Seventeen Hundred Men — In Less than Two Weeks He Increases His Force to 6,000 — He Crosses the Delaware and Captures the Hessians at Trenton^The Effect of the Victory Upon the Country.

CHAPTER XXV.

The Hessians in New Jersey — Just a Little in Their Favor — A Correction OF Some False Traditions That Have Been Fostered by Prejudiced Historians. 352-370.

How the News of the Battle of Trenton Was Received at the "Old Stone House" — Some of the Hessian Prisioners Have Probably Been Fellow Townsmen of Aaron Malick at Bendorf — Sympathy for the Germans — Prince Charles Alexander of Anspach, Bendorf 's Ruler, Furnishes George III. with Two Regiments — Detailed Accounts of the British Army's German Auxiliaries — Repugnance of tlie Hessians to Come to Araerica-IIow Germany's Despotic Princes Justified the Mercenary Traffic — Schiller's Protest Against His Countrymen's Lives and Services Being Bartered for Gold — The Hatred of the Americans for the Mercenaries — The Terror They Inspired Dissipated by Better Acquaintance — Many of the Barbarities of the British Unjustly Charged to the Hessians — Count Donop's Troops Treat the People of Mount Holly with Great Civility — Uniforms and Equipments of Hessians — General De Heister's Treatment of Lord Stirling— Tlie Courtesy and Good Breeding of Hessian Officers— Abundant Testimony That the Memory of the German Troops Has Been Held in Undeserved Obloquy — Many Desert and Settle in America — Some of Their Descendants Rank Among the Leading Men of the Country — How Christopher Ludwick Entertained Eight Hessians Captured at Germantown — Ludwick's Wise Policy

Contents. xvii

Eesulted in Many Desertions — President George "Washington's Coachman an Ex-Hessian Soldier.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Washington's March From Trenton To Morristown — The Battles Op AssuNPiNK And Princeton — The American Army Encamped At Plvckamin — Death And Bttrial of Captain William Leslie. 371- , 389.

Cornwallis Marches his Army to the Delaware — The Americans Hold the British in Check on the Banks of Assunpink Creek — Washington's Army Steals Away under Cover of the Night of January 2 — Some Description of the Commands Forming this Little Army — The Battle of Princeton — Why so Many Commisssioned Officers Were Killed — Captain William Leslie of the Seventeenth British Regiment Fatally Wounded — John Witherspoon, the President of Princeton College and the Earl of Leven — Surgeon Benjamin Rush takes Charge of the Wounded Leslie — His Previous Acquaintance with That Officer's Family — The Exhausted Condition of the American Army Prevents an Attack on Howe's Base of Supplies at New Brunswick — Washington Marches Up the Valley of the Millstone Seeking the Protection of the Hill Country — The Encampment at Millstone on the Night of January 3 — The Army Reaches Pluckamin on the Afternoon of Saturday the 4 — Leslie Dies on Entering the Village — Incidents of the Encampment — One Thousand Laggards Rejoin the Army— The Troops Spent Sunday, at Pluckamin — The Country-People Flock to the Village — 230 Prisoners in the Lutheran Church — Aaron Malick Visits the Camp — Leslie Is buried With the Honors of War — Captain Stryker's Troop of Light-horse Captures Cornwallis' Baggage Wagons — The Army Breaks Camp on the Morning of the 6th, and Reaches Morristown that Evening — Formation of the Column and Line of March.