Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Union and Middlesex Counties. p. 470-492.

CHAPTER LXVI.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION.

From a historical paper by Charles D. Deshler.

Condition of Affairs in 1778.- The latter part of the year 1776 which witnessed the occupation of New Brunswick and the country adjoining by the British, was the darkest hour of the war of the Revolution. No aid had been received as yet from France, and a yet was scarcely hoped for. A portion of the people sympathized with the invaders; and the patriots were everywhere exposed to their bitter hatred or despicable cupidity, and were kept in constant dread of their treachery. Neighbor suspected neighbor, friend distrusted friend, and even fathers and sons ranged on opposite sides. Trade and industry were paralyzed. The husbandman hesitated to plow his fields or plant a crop, or, if he did so confined his labors to the production merely of what was absolutely necessary for the bare subsistence of his family. The precious metals had vanished from the land as the armies of the king swept triumphantly along; and the paper money had little more value than the brown forest-leaves of that bitter autumn. The means of the patriots were almost exhausted, and their hope was well-nigh extinguished. They had responded again and again to the calls for men and other material aid, until none but old men and women and children remained at home, and their houses and garners were gleaned of every superfluity, and even of the necessaries of life.

An illustration is furnished of the doubt and suspicion which prevailed, and of the summary methods that were resorted by the patriots to intimidate the disaffected Tories, in a letter written at the time by a British officer to a friend in England. "Everything," he says, "is transacted by the Committee,* which is composed of barbers, tailors, cordwainers, etc., whose pertness and insolence would raise any Englishman’s indignation, for the better sort endeavor to keep their own necks out of the halter, and make use of these fellows only as catspaws. One of our friends had got several thousand in the back country brought over to our interests; but about a month ago a mob of about 100 dissolute fellows surrounded his house, with an intention to tar and feather him, upon which he came out armed, and while he was reasoning the case with them at the door he was, knocked down with the butt end of a musket, then laid like a calf across a horse, and tied to a tree, while yet insensible, and tarred and feathered." **

Another instance is related by another British correspondent, who quotes from a "rebel newspaper," ,as follows:
     "At Quibbletown, Middlesex Co., N.J., Thomas, Randolph, cooper, who had publicly proved himself an enemy to his country by reviling and using his utmost endeavors to oppose the proceedings of the Continental and Provincial conventions and committees in defense of their rights and liberties, and he being judged a person of not consequence enough for a severer punishment, was ordered to be stripped naked, well coated with tar and feathers, and carried in a wagon publicly round the town, which punishment was accordingly inflicted; and as he soon became duly sensible of his offence, for which he earnestly begged pardon, and promised to atone as, far as he was able by a contrary behavior for the future, he was released and suffered to return to his house in less than half an hour. The whole was conducted with that regularity and decorum that ought to be observed in all public punishment."***

A glimpse is afforded of a still different form of "public punishment" inflicted by the patriots on their Tory neighbors in a letter from an officer in the British army to his friends in England, to whom he writes under date of Aug. 17, 1776: "The persecution of the loyalists continues unremitting. Donald Maclean, Theophilus Hardenbrook, Young Feuter, the Silversmith, and Rem Rappalge have been cruelly rode on rails, a practice most painful, dangerous, and peculiar."(4*) Even the boys shared the sympathies and antipathies of their fathers, forming themselves into bands for "liberty" on the one side and the "king" on the other, resulting in innumerable blackened eyes and broken heads. I have heard my grandfather, the late Jacob Dunham, M.D., of New Brunswick, relate that when he was a lad eight or ten years old and went to school in that city, his preceptor, much to the disgust of the great body of the scholars, was an ardent loyalist, and outspoken in, his disapproval of the "irregular" proceedings of the Whigs. The boys determined upon a "public punishment" suitable to school-boy ideas. Oyerawing into silence a few of their comrades who sympathized with the teacher, they prepared, a large foolscap placard, on which they printed in huge letters the obnoxious word "TORY!!!" Seizing the opportunity of the dismissal of school at noon, they stealthily pinned this upon the masters back, who, unobservant of the trick, walked down the street to his house, followed by the boys marching in procession behind him at a safe distance from his cane, and furtively pointing out to the passers-by, the label with which they had adorned him. This school-boy trick led to the dismissal of the preceptor from his position and the breaking up of the school, to the great satisfaction, doubtless, of the youthful patriots.

Unquestionably the Tories had hard lines measured out to them by the Whigs. If persons were known or suspected to be "disaffected," to have "spoken disrespectfully" of the Provincial or Continental Congress or of the Committee of Safety, to have encouraged opposition to the laws and regulations that were put forth by either of these bodies, or to be engaged in stimulating gatherings or uprisings against the revolutionary authorities, they were promptly reported to the Provincial Congress, or in its recess, to the Committee or Council of Safety, when they were speedily arrested, examined, confronted with their accusers (who oftentimes were of their own kin), and if specially malignant or obstinate were confined in jail, or if repentant were required to take the oath of allegiance, and to give bonds for their, behavior. In numerous instances they and their families were summarily driven into the lines of the enemy with whom they sympathized, and their property was either confiscated or suffered to run to waste. I have not discovered an instance, however, where any one of the Tories was deprived of his life, or suffered any further violence than either a " whipping," a coat of tar and feathers, or an unpleasant ride upon a rail. Although an innocent man may have occasionally suffered through the accusations of vindictive personal enemies, in the main there was ample confirmation of the charges brought against them, and they were afforded a fair and full hearing before men who were carefully observant of the rights of others, and of the forms and safeguards of law, and whose decisions appear to have been singularly dispassionate, deliberate, and equitable.

The Tories, on the other hand, retaliated with alacrity whenever they had the opportunity. When the British army made its appearance in a neighborhood they industriously pointed out those who were directly or remotely identified with the party of liberty. They maliciously led them to the spots where the patriots had concealed their property and valuables, and aided them to pillage or destroy them. The most of the foraging parties of the enemy were accompanied or guided by such as these, and nothing escaped the keen scent of their hatred. As was naturally to have been expected, they exhibited intense bitterness, and many of their acts were marked by meanness, cupidity, cowardice, despicable treachery, and relentless barbarity.

Immediately after the battle of Brooklyn, which was followed by the evacuation of Long Island and the city of New York, the storming of Fort Washington with the loss of its valuable stores and over two thousand men, and the evacuation of Fort Lee (which last event occurred Nov. 18, 1776), the American army retreated across New Jersey, too weak to make a stand at any point, and so completely bereft of all means of defense as to be "without a single in-trenching tool."(5*) They were rapidly followed by the British so closely that the music of one army was often heard by the other, who spread themselves over the entire central, wealthiest, and most populous portion of the State. On the 28th of November, 1776, Washington retreated, says Marshall,(6*) to Brunswick, a small village on the Raritan," and on the same day the enemy entered Newark. During the few days that Washington lay a New Brunswick before he was again forced to retire before the invaders a large portion of his army became entitled to their discharge, and it was impossible by any remonstrance to detain them. They abandoned the cause of their country at the hour of its supremest need, and left Washington powerless of all means of offense or defense, and almost so of the ability to flee. He could offer no resistance, and on the 2d of December, 1776, as the British advanced guards showed themselves at the opposite side of the bridge he evacuated New Brunswick, retreating through Princeton to Trenton, and the British occupied the place.(7*)

The gloom which hung over the patriot army, and which in a special manner enveloped all this part of New Jersey, was now at the blackest. No ray of hope penetrated the darkness. The protracted campaign had been marked by rapidly successive disasters. The whole country was in possession of the British soldiery, who insulted and preyed upon the people. The British army was large, well supplied with all the effective means for waging war, and presented a splendid appearance, while the fugitive American army (of whom one-third were Jersey militia) consisted of less than three thousand men, shortly afterward diminished to fifteen hundred, was almost destitute of the commonest munitions of war, was obliged to rely for its bullets upon the lead that could be gleaned from "in and about houses," from "the leaden weights from windows and clocks," and from those used "in shops, stores, and mills," and its men were tentless, shoeless, ragged, squalid, hungry, and lacking even the utensils for dressing their food. At this supreme crisis it was reported, and the report seemed so probable as to be generally believed, that the Continental Congress was about to disperse and to abdicate its powers. Everything seemed lost.

At this juncture Lord Howe, the British commander, issued a proclamation commanding all persons assembled in arm against the British government to disband and return to their homes, ordering all civil officers to relinquish their usurped authority, and offering a FULL PARDON to every person who would within sixty days subscribe a declaration of submission to the royal authority. The proclamation completed the apparent ruin of the patriot cause. Timed, as it was, when everything seemed lost, it was taken advantage of by thousands throughout the State who had hitherto espoused the side of independence more or less warmly, and who now flocked daily to make their peace with the successful representatives of the crown, and to obtain their protection. For ten days after the publication of this proclamation two or three hundred persons a day came in to Lord Howe at New Brunswick to renounce their adhesion to the patriots, and to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown. Among these were Samuel Galloway, a member of the first Continental Congress; Col. George Taylor, of Monmouth, successively colonel of the battalion of "Detached" Militia of Monmouth County and colonel of the First Regiment of Monmouth; and Col. John Duyckinck; of Midd1esex, successively first major of the Second Regiment of Middlesex, major of Col. Samuel Formans battalion of "Detached" Militia, lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment of Middlesex, and colonel of the Third Regiment of Middlesex. These were all gentlemen of consequence and influence, and their desertion to the enemy produced great despondency. But among all those prominent and influential persons who abandoned the cause at this dark hour the one whose weakness or treachery provoked the profoundest dejection was Samuel Tucker, of Trenton. Representing the body Of the people,- he was a cordwainer,— he had early embraced the cause of independence; had been a delegate to the Provincial Congress in the sessions of May, June, August, and October, 1775; was elected its vice-president in May, 1775, and its president in October, 1775, and acted in this latter capacity so near the period of his defection as August, 1776. He had also been one of the Committee of Safety, appointed to act, with extraordinary powers, in the recess of the Provincial Congress, and one of the treasurers of the colony. His defection was a cruel almost a stupefying, blow. The people felt that their earliest and most trusted leaders were abandoning them, and they knew not who next would follow.

Not only was the gloom impenetrable from these and other causes, but the suffering of the people of Middlesex County was intense and their destitution deplorable. A cold and boisterous winter had set it early and with unusual rigor. Numbers had beer forced, to flee from their homes at this inclement season, leaving their families without protection and support, and were either in hiding or were wanderer in desolated country. A hostile army occupied their towns and villages, and harried their farms with oppressive exactions. Their horses and cattle were stolen; their stores of hay, flour, corn, bacon, and provisions were plundered; their houses, churches,(8*) stores, mills, barns, and fences were burned or devastated; their household goods were spoliated and carried away; their wives and children were maltreated and insulted, and despoiled of their clothing, rings, trinkets, and even the cradles in which the helpless infant was rocked to sleep. Nowhere was any alleviation of the distress to be found, nor could any prospect of its termination be descried. And yet amid all this desolation, rapine, and insult,— and perhaps because of them,— the people of Middlesex and of the town of Brunswick remained steadfast to their apparently rained cause. Here and there a few whose names are preserved but need not now be repeated became "adherents of the enemy," as they were then styled; but the great body, almost the entire population of the county, continued unfaltering in their devotion to freedom and independence. The journals of the "Committee of Safety," and of its successor, the "Council of Safety," give the names of over one thousand persons in New Jersey who were disaffected and were required to give bonds and take the oath of allegiance to the Revolutionary authorities; and of this number, notwithstanding the overshadowing influence of the British army, which was quartered on the county nearly seven months, only twenty-six were inhabitants of Middlesex County. Besides it furnished over fifteen hundred soldiers for the State and Continental military establishments. And on a subsequent occasion, when Sir Henry Clinton was about to march through the State, just before the battle of Monmouth, and needed guides for his army, he applied for them to Col. Simcoe, whose "Rangers" were largely made up of refugee Jersey-men. But although that dashing partisan had a book in which he says "was inserted the names of every soldier in his corps, the counties in which they were born, and where they had lived, so that he was seldom at a loss for guides in his own corps," and although he "had also," as he tells us, "many refugees with him" outside of those who belonged to his corps, "who served as guides," he was obliged to reply to Sir Henry that "he had none who knew any of the roads to New Brunswick," which could not have been the case if he had had any from Middlesex County in his corps.(9*) In addition to this unintentional tribute to the patriotism of the people of Middlesex, on two other occasions Col. Simcoe refers, in his journal,(10*) to the "vindictive spirit" uniformly exhibited by them towards the British troops, and describes them as
     "most virulent in their principles," and as "attacking from their coverts the British foraging parties in 1776, and insulting their very outposts," adding that they had thus "acquired a great degree of self-confidence and activity."

The British occupied New Brunswick and its vicinity, including Six-Mile Run, Middlebrush, Piscataway, Woodbridge, and Bonhamton, from Dec. 2, 1776, till June 22, 1777. On the morning of the day last named they retreated by way of Piscataway to Perth Amboy,— "burning many houses as they passed along."(11*)

During their stay they levied severe contributions upon all who espoused or were connected with those who espoused the side of independence, and their outposts and foraging parties pillaged the people without mercy. In retaliation for their vindictive spirit, the "virulence of the principles," and "their activity in attacking the British foraging parties," to which Col. Simcoe bears testimony, their property was ruthlessly destroyed. Within the brief period of six and a half months the British spoliated over six hundred and fifty persons and burned more than one hundred dwellings, mills, and other buildings within the present limits of Middlesex County, valued at £86 21s. 4d.; and counting eight shillings to the dollar, and considering that one dollar in 1776 was equivalent in purchasing power to three dollars at this day, the loss was equal to $646,605 of our present currency. The proportional loss may be more clearly understood if it is borne in mind that the total population of the county in 1775 was about twelve thousand. If from this number are deducted thirteen hundred negroes and seven hundred adult white males who were not heads of families, the population among whom all this devastation was distributed did not exceed ten thousand, of whom, if we adopt the established average, only one-fifth, or two thousand, were householders. If this estimate be correct one in every three was pillaged, and one in every twenty had a house burned.

In the forays of the enemy the dinner prepared by the family was often ravished from the table by the Hessians, whose avidity for plunder and brutal outrage drew upon them the execrations of the people. No respect was paid to age or sex, and even articles of female wear, indeed everything, however minute, which had any value were swept into the capacious maw of these rapacious mercenaries. Again and again our ancestors were required to furnish provisions for large parties of Hessians and forage for their horses, and the demand was enforced at the point of the bayonet. On one occasion thirty Hessians imposed themselves upon a single family at Woodbridge(12*) and demanded breakfast and supper; the cowardly plunderers usurped the seats of the family at the table, forced them to wait upon them, and not content with this indignity drank or stole twenty gallons of rum, five gallons of brandy, and a barrel of cider, which the good man of the house had stored in his cellar in brighter days, and when they decamped they robbed his wife of her stockings and the blankets from their beds, broke his doors and windows, and drove off three cows and his "fine 8 year old Mare." Nor was this a solitary instance. Such outrages were of daily occurrence among the people of Middlesex, who were thus welded by fire and rapine into "vindictive" patriots, whom no adversity could subdue and no disasters could entirely dishearten.

Damages by the British.— The foregoing view of the condition of affairs in Middlesex County in 1776 is presented as a suitable introduction to a description of an interesting relic of the Revolutionary war, from which many of the facts related have been drawn, to which public attention has never been directed hitherto, and which affords us a close view of the social surroundings of our ancestors. This relic is a record of the "Damages done by the British and their Adherents to the Inhabitants of Middlesex County" during the Revolutionary war, and is preserved in the State Library at Trenton. It is in the form of a bound folio manuscript volume, of between three and four hundred pages, and contains the inventories of over six hundred and fifty persons whose property was plundered or destroyed by the British between 1776 and 1782, but mainly in 1776 and 1777. Each inventory is entered in detail in this volume, with the valuation of every article, and is certified to under oath or affirmation by the person damaged or his representative before one of the appraisers appointed by the State for the purpose.

The authority for these inventories is to be found in an act of the Legislature, originally offered March 8, 1780, when it was lost, which was finally passed Dec. 20, 1781, and they were made, as the preamble recites, in the expectation that the losses would be reimbursed by the State, as they were afterwards in some of the other colonies. In New Jersey they never were reimbursed, and the only fruit of the labor has been to preserve a record of the injuries sustained by our ancestors, and to present a vivid picture of their sufferings, their social surroundings, furniture, dress, etc. 

This act provided that two separate registers of inventories should be made, the one being of the property damaged or destroyed by the "enemy and their adherents," and the other of the property damaged or destroyed by the "Continental army, or by the militia of this or of the neighboring States;" that the appraisers were to value and appraise the articles inventoried at the prices current at the opening of the war in 1775; that the inventories were to be certified to by oath or affirmation; that nothing was to be admitted in the inventories for which any restitution had been made or satisfaction received; that no inventory was to be received from persons who were of a suspicious character, or who failed to substantiate of the government established under the authority of the people; that forged or feigned inventories would render the utterers liable to severe penalties; that the losses sustained by privateers or vessels of war, merchant ships or trading vessels, their tackle, furniture, or cargo from the enemy were not to be admitted to be inventoried; and that the appraisers were each to receive as compensation for their services "seven shillings and sixpence by the day," and "nine pence per sheet" of ninety words for registering the inventories and vouchers.

The volume of records now under consideration is the one which relates to the damages done by the "enemy and their adherents,"(13*) and the appraisers appointed by the act for Middlesex (Benjamin Manning, Joseph Olden, and Nathaniel Hunt) faithfully performed the duties assigned to them. They were all gentlemen of consideration, and noted for probity and patriotism. Benjamin Manning resided in Piscataway, and was one of the delegates to the Assembly from Middlesex from 1778 till 1785. Joseph Olden resided in Windsor township, near Princeton, and was a grand-uncle of ex-Governor Charles S. Olden. Nathaniel Hunt also resided in one of the Windsors, and early in the war served as colonel of the Second Regiment of militia of Hunterdon County.

In conformity with the act the inventories that were presented were sworn to by the claimants before one of the appraisers, the usual form of the affidavit being as follows: "Edward Van Harlingen declares on oath that the above inventory is just and true to the best of his Knowledge. That he has not received any satisfaction for any of the articles therein contained. And that he bath good reason to believe that the above articles were taken, carried off, and destroyed by the enemy." When personal property only had been plundered or destroyed, the oath of the party injured alone, or of his representatives if dead, was taken in the above form. When a claim was made for real property burnt or damaged, in addition to the oath of the claimant, an additional oath was required from one or more carpenters who had "viewed" the premises and estimated the loss, and was commonly in this form: "Joseph Vickers and John Voorhees, being carpenters, declare on their oaths, that they knew the buildings of Gette Voorhees, widow, which were destroyed by the Enemy, and also do adjudge the damages to the amount of £235 to the best of their knowledge. Ordinarily, when several buildings were destroyed, the affidavit of the experts contained a detailed valuation, as follows: "Isaac Cotheal, being a Carpenter, declares on Oath that he Knew the buildings, of James Colyer as destroyed by the Enemy, and Judge the value of them as follows, to wit,— Grist-Mill, £200; Saw-Mill, £50; House, S1aughter-do, & Smith Shop, £30; and ye other House and Barn, £110." If a, building was only partially, damaged the form varied as follows: Joseph Vickers being sworn saith that he in conjunction with John Voorhees, being called upon to view the damages done the buildings of the Revd Johannes Light, and having viewed the same, do adjudge the said damages done to aid buildings to ye amt of £19.0. to the best of their Knowledge." Where woodland was destroyed a third person was called upon to estimate the loss, and his affidavit was annexed in this form: "John French being sworn saith that he Knew the Timber land of James Richmond as above mentioned, which was destroyed by the Enemy, and do judge the said damages was worth £160.0. to the best of his Knowledge." When valuable horses were inventoried, the oath of the claimant was supplemented by the affidavit of a neighbor, which was almost invariably in the curious form following: "John Bennet declares on oath that he was knowing to the Enemies taking and destroying the articles contained in the above inventory of Barent Stryker. And that he personally Knew the said horse (or mare), and do adjudge he was worth £15."

Some of the affidavits annexed to these inventories reveal very interesting facts illustrating the events of that period, and afford glimpses of the personal fortunes of our ancestors, showing the straits to which they were often reduced, and presenting brief but vivid pictures of the dismay which attended the inroads of the British marauders. For example: On the approach of: the British to New Brunswick in 1776, John Dennis, who was a wealthy merchant and an active patriot(having been a delegate to the Provincial Congress for Middlesex County in 1775, a member of the first Committee of Safety, and one of the commissioners for emitting and signing the colonial bills of credit), distributed a large part of his property among various persons in the town and country adjacent, in the hope that it might thus escape the notice of the enemy. Among other things, he sent "sundry trunks, barrels," etc., containing valuable goods, to the farm-houses of Jeremiah and John Field in Piscataway township, who secreted a part in their cellars and barns, and a part they buried under a stack of buckwheat; but the enemy, guided by some sure intelligencer, discovered and plundered or destroyed the whole. Mr. Dennis presented ten different inventories of as many separate lots, recording very heavy. damages to his property left in the town as well as to that stored in different places. He was also the owner, or part owner of a number of vessels which were carried off by the enemy. One of these was a sloop named the "Cluster Valle" another was the sloop "Mary and Elizabeth," and another the schooner "General Lee." They all had considerable cargoes, which shared the fate of the vessels. Each of these ten inventories has a separate affidavit annexed. In one of these Mr. Dennis "and his wife Mary" make oath that they left their house in New Brunswick on the 1st day of December, 1776, "when the enemy was on the other side of the river." In another she declares that he "locked up his storehouse" in New Brunswick at 8 o’clock on the morning of the 1st of December," and that the enemy "took possession of said store-house at near twelve o’clock the next day." In this inventory Mr. Dennis records the loss of a great quantity of wine; and Joseph Robinson (of whom a further record appears elsewhere in this paper) certifies as a witness that he "knew numbers of pipes" were in the store-house, and farther, that "he was in the Store-house when the wine was almost over his shoes on the floor, when he saw the Enemy take some of the hoggs’ fat" (of which Mr. Dennis had left a considerable stock in the same store-house) "to stop the holes in the pipes," thus "robbing Peter to pay Paul." Mr. Dennis had also stored eighteen tierces of flaxseed in the barn of Dr. Jaques, near New Brunswick; and John Whitlock testifies to its wanton destruction by "a party of the Enemy." He says that in March, 1777, he saw these tierces, "some with all and some with a part of: the heads knocked out and the flaxseed laying all over the yard," that "a rain fell a few days after and the flaxseed lay matted or caked together between two and three feet high." Concerning the sloop "Mary and Elizabeth," Mr. Dennis and John Lyle, Jr., testify that she was a new sloop, and when the enemy occupied the town she "lay at the dock of Capt. Gibbs(14*), near his garden fence, in the slip before his door." (This is the slip between Agnew’s & Rolfe’s saw-mill.) Concerning the "General Lee," George Leach testifies that "she was built on Gano’s dock," that she was seized by the British when they entered the town, and that he (George Leach) "was compelled by the Enemy to carry the said schooner to New York." Mr. Dennis own affidavit concerning the loss of this vessel contains a touch of grim humor, as follows: "John Dennis declareth on oath that the above schooner was taken by the Enemy and their Adherents, and that he this deponent saw sail schooner in the hands of the Enemy, in Perth Amboy harbour, when he was put on board a boat as a prisoner to be conveyed to the Provost gaol in New York. He further declareth that he never hath received one farthing as a recompence for no part of the same, excepting one year’s close confinement in a loathsome Gaol, and further saith not."

John Fisher, of New Brunswick, was convinced that he had "just reason" to believe "that his goods were taken by the enemy, as stated in his inventory, because all the above articles was left in New Brunswick when the British troops took possession of that place, and they was all gone after they left there." Peter Obert, of South River, in presenting his damages, declares that "he was at a small distance and see the Enemy take, carry off, and destroy the abovesaid articles," which must have been very tantalizing to Peter, although he contrived to save himself from being carried off also. Samuel Sayre, of Woodbridge, who was robbed of three fine horses, testified that he had "since seen some of the horses in the enemy’s possession when he was a prisoner among them." "When I was a prisoner" is a not infrequent record in these inventories. John Mercerau, of Woodbridge, testifies that among other things the British took from him a Stage Coach, for which he had been offered £60 without the wheels. John Ward, also of Woodbridge, swears that his "two likely cows 5 years old and forward with calf" were "taken by a party of the enemy under ye command of Col. Simco, a British officer," and his affidavit is corroborated by Adolph Jones, who makes oath that he "saw Col. Simcoe and his men drive away the two cows" of said Ward. We have several other glimpses of this active and daring partisan leader. Cornelius Van Duyn(15*) deposes that in December, 1776, "he was in Bound-brook with a horse, when he was surprised by the British Light Horsemen in the night, and fled a few hundred yards out Of the town and on his return the horse was gone, and he verily believes the said Horsemen took him." As Col. Simcoe states in his journal that he was with the British army while it was in winter-quarters at New Brunswick in 1776, it is probable that he commanded this party, especially since it appears by another affidavit, given in connection with inventory of Ennis Graham, that the "Queens Rangers," of which Simcoe was colonel, were at Bound Brook on the 19th of December, 1776. Two weeks earlier than this a body of "German troops" made a foray upon Bound Brook, and among others whom they plundered was Elias Van Court. His affidavit gives a graphic description of the rapacious character of these hated mercenaries. He states that he was absent from home at the time, and that on his return a few hours after their departure, "he found his wife in great distress, who is since dead. She told this Deponent that about forty Hessians had the night before quartered in their house and gone away very early in the morning, which was December, 7, 1776, and that all her bedding and sundry other things had been plundered and taken away by them."

In October, 1779, Col. Simcoe made his famous raid from Perth Amboy through Woodbridge, Quibbletown, and Bound Brook, his ostensible object being to destroy the boats belonging to our army which had been collected at Van Vechten’s bridge, but his real aim being to take Governor Livingston prisoner. The early part of the march was prosecuted very quietly, and without any depredations beyond seizing all the good horses he could find; and his party gave out that they were a detachment from Washington’s army in order to prevent any alarm from spreading. They thoroughly succeeded in keeping up this delusion until after they had left Quibbletown, when their real character was discovered by a man who knew Col. Simcoe. After this they began to plunder without stint, and from Bound Brook to Somerset Court-House, and on their return from thence to New Brunswick, they left behind them a trail of burning hay-stacks, barns, and houses. Rachel Ladner testifies to their firing a hut and some stacks in which property of Archibald Van Norden was destroyed. William Cock also deposes that " a party of Horsemen under the command of Col. Simcoe of the British Army put fire to the Courthouse at Hi1lsborough, and that the said Cock’s house kecht fire from the same and burnt "down." Nelly Smock substantiated this recital. In singular requital for the out rages committed by his men, it was the previous burning of a house by the British which led to the capture of Simcoe and a portion of his command, a the finale of this expedition, by throwing them out of their way into an ambuscade, at the precise spot he had aimed to avoid. Col. Simcoe himself tells the story. In his "Journal:(pp. 117,118) he says,:" His guide misled him; nor was the reason of his error the least uncommon of the sinister events which attendee this incursion. When the British troops quitted the camp at Hillsborough and marched to Brunswick among other houses which were unwarrantably burnt was the one which the guide relied upon as marking the private road the party was to take. He knew no of its being burnt, and that every vestige had been destroyed, so that he unintentionally led them into the ambuscade . . . on the high grounds beyond the barracks at Brunswick."

The march of the British forces through Woodbridge and Piscataway to New Brunswick in November, 1776, and their retreat through the two former in June, 1777, were marked by devastated and burned dwellings and other buildings, two hundred an forty-four persons having been plundered, and fort houses, mills, barns, etc., having been burned in Woodbridge, and one hundred and thirty-one per sons plundered and thirty-one houses, mills, barns etc., burned in Piscataway. The affidavits accompanying many of these inventories fairly place us in the light of these burning dwellings. Thus Thomas Edgar bears witness "that on or about the last of June, 1777, he saw the House late of Samuel Parker, as above mentioned, in flames, a-burning, immediately after the enemy past it, and that he verily believes they set it on fire, and that he believes the said house was worth £200 as money went in the year 1775." Hiram Frazee also testifies "that he saw the house of Thomas Force on fire, and see at the same time a number of people at the said house which he took to be British troops, as they then (in November, 1776) was a-passing along the road." And, again, Phineas Randolph testifies that in December, 1776, he saw the new, two-story, well-finished house of Justus Dunn "a-burning, and at the same time a number of the Enemy around it, and have good reason to believe they set it, on fire and burnt it." Instances of this kind might be cited in great numbers, but these will serve for examples. One notable circumstance runs through them all, namely, that those whose property was the most mercilessly pillaged or devastated were the most confirmed and obnoxious patriots.

The plundering of their horses and cattle entailed severe losses upon the people of Middlesex, the number carried away or killed within its limits having been nearly eighteen hundred; and the affidavits accompanying the inventories reveal that in many cases this particular business was inspired or conducted by "refugees" and "Tories," who knew just where to lay their hands on the most valuable and serviceable animals, and who could thus wreak their revenge or retaliate their wrongs on their old neighbors or acquaintances. The enormous destruction of fencing and of growing or gathered crops was another noteworthy feature. In numerous cases not a panel of fence was left, the grain and hay were all carried off or destroyed, fruit-trees and orchards were hacked down, woodland was ravaged, and the most thrifty farm converted into a ruin of desolation. To aggravate the indignities which were heaped upon them, our people were often "pressed" by the British into the work of carting away the property and valuables of their friends and neighbors. Numerous cases of this kind are interspersed over the old record we are considering. It sometimes happened that plundered articles and even captives were "held to ransom" by the British, or more probably by the mercenaries in their employment, though it generally happened that they contrived to carry away both the plunder and the money also by which it might have been redeemed. Thus John Ross, of Woodbridge, was robbed of "1 new Oyster craft and 3 oyster tongs by a British armed boat," but he was afterwards allowed to ransom it by the payment of six pounds. Daniel Dunn, of Piscataway, whose mare was taken Dec. 1, 1776, and kept till Aug. 1, 1777, was allowed to redeem her on paying two pounds five shillings. And John Noe, of Woodbridge, who besides having his horse stolen was, himself stolen, records that "he gave £6 ransom money for to let him go when taken a prisoner in January, 1777."

A clear notion of the character of these inventories, their exhibition of the honest exactitude of our ancestors, and their illustration of the food, dress, household goods, and manner of life of the times can be best gained from an inspection of their curious and precise details. As specimens I have made a literal transcript in the appendix(16*) to this paper of five different inventories, exhibiting the losses sustained by as many different and representative classes, of a prosperous mechanic, a well-to-do farmer, a wealthy merchant, a "lone woman," who was either a widow or a spinster, and of a gentleman of the old school. The last mentioned is the inventory of Mr. Ennis Graham, who lived near Bound Brook. He was not living when the appraisement was made, and his inventory was presented by his sister, who was his executrix. Her affidavit is so characteristic of the sex, and affords so graphic a picture of the time, that I repeat it in this place, as follows:
     "MIDDLESEX COUNTY, ss. Personally appeared before us the appraisers Elizabeth Graham and being duly Sworn deposeth and Saith that the Articles innumerated in this Inventory was taken from Ennis Graham to the best of this Deponent’s Knowledge and behalf, in the following manner, that is to say: On the 2d of December 1776 their came to the house of the said Ennis Graham, then living near Boundbrook in the County of Middlesex, three British Soldiers, in appearance, And demanded of the said En Graham his watch which they took and rode off with, in the presence of this Deponent.
     "That on or about the fifth of said month being the day a large body of Hessians marched through Boundbrook on their way to Trenton or Pennyton A negro Fellow named Oliver the property of d En Graham either went off to or was carried off by the Enemy or their Adherents.
     "That on the Evening of the 19th of said December thar came to the house of the Said Ens Graham, A party of British Soldiers called the Queens Rangers, and Sundry Tory Refugees, commanded as they informed this deponent by one George H. Fisher, where besides abusing Sundries of the Family to the great endangering of their lives, they dug up in the Barn of the said En Graham (where the said Ennis Gram and this deponent had buried it) a Chest or Box in which was contained the Cash, Plate, Watches and Jewelry &c mentioned In this said Inventory under the date of the 19th of December. That this deponent Saw them take Some of the things out of the box and put some in their pockets. And upon this Deponents importuning them not to take the things away, the above named George H. Fisher Damnd the British Soldiers and ordered them to run this Deponent thro with their Bayonets if She did not go into the House; upon which two of the Said Soldiers came and pushed with their Bayonets the said Deponent out of the Barn, and drove the said Deponent and the said Ennis Graham into the House, and there stood with their Bayonets fixed close to the breast of this Deponent and of the Said Ennis Graham for a considerable time, till there was a Gun fired by the party at the Barn, upon which the said Soldiers went out of the house, and the party at the Barn also went away. And when they were out of sight this deponent and the said Ennis Graham wont to the barn and found the box which contained the Articles mentioned under the 19th of Decr, entirely emptied and the property taken away. That on or about the 23d of the said December the sd Ennis Graham went from borne to go to Brunswick to try if he could not recover some of his property, and as he was passing the Street there came up to him a British Soldier and Demanded his horse saying an Officer had sent him for It. Mr. Graham went with the Soldier to the Officer who insisted upon having the Horse, Saying it looked like a good Strong Horse, and they wanted it for his Majesty’s Service. Mr. Graham remonstrated that he was a good way from borne and could not walk it, he replied his Majesties Service could riot be retarded for any excuses, and then pointed to an old worn out Horse (a mere Skeleton) and told him he might take that, perhaps It might carry him home. Mr. Graham finding there was no alternative took him, but as soon as he got on his back the horse fell down with him, he however brought him home, where he died soon after. This account this deponent had from the Said Ennis Grahan at his return, and verily believes it to be true.
     "And this Deponent further declares that neither she nor the said Ennis Graham to her Knowledge or belief never received any Kind of satisfaction fur any of the Articles Mentioned in this Said Inventory (excepting as herein excepted) and further this Deponent saith not
     "Sworn the 4th of Octr 1782 "ELIZ GRAHAM
     before me BENJN MANNING Appr." 

A large proportion of those whose inventories are preserved in this record of damages served as officers or soldiers in the patriot armies during the Revolutionary war, and with their relatives and friends seem to have been specially selected for spoliation by the British. In order that this may be made apparent, that the substantial character of the men who composed the Revolutionary armies may be seen, and that the names of these patriotic men may be preserved, together with some record of their services and losses, I present a list of nearly two hundred of those whose inventories are given in this old manuscript and who served in a military capacity, with such brief particulars of their services and references to their losses as I have been able to gather which are noteworthy for their peculiarity.

William Applegate, of New Brunswick, was a private in the Middlesex militia early in the war, and afterward in Capt. Voorhees company of the Third Regiment of State troops. Notable among the things of which he was despoiled were "2 Barrels of Bohea tea, about 100 pounds each," and 1/2 Bbl. of Sugar, 100 lb.," besides damages to his house and fence. Mr. Applegate was an active officer of the Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick.

Samuel Ayres and Jacob Ayres, both of Woodbridge, were privates in the Middlesex militia. They escaped quite lightly, the losses of the former being chiefly cattle, sheep, and hay, and of the latter various articles of female apparel, prominent among which were "1 black Calamanco Cloak lined, new," and "1 Scarlet Cloak, part worn."

Reuben Ayres, of Woodbridge, served as a private in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s Company of State troops. His barn was destroyed, his horses carried off, also a "good Gun," and other considerable losses.

Simon Addis, of New Brunswick, was first a lieutenant and afterward a captain in the Middlesex militia. The enemy rewarded his patriotism by running off his "three Milch Cows."

John Arnold, of Piscataway, was a private in the Middlesex militia. Apparently he was not in active service when he was pillaged, since the enemy carried off his "Gun, Cartouch Box, and Bayonet," together with a "pair of holsters and a sword," besides a fine "bur year old Sorrel Mare," valued at £30.

Robert Armstrong, of South Brunswick, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and also records the loss of "a good gun, worth £4."

Joseph Brown, of Piscataway, was a private in Capt. Reuben Randolph’s company of Middlesex militia. He was robbed of a number of small articles, mostly clothing and household utensils. Also "1 Small Bible, six shillings."

James Bishop, of Piscataway, served first as a private in the Middlesex militia, and afterward in the same capacity in the Continental army. Among his losings he records "2 Guns and accoutrements."

John Brown, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia. The enemy visited him six times, and plundered him at each visit. Among his losses he recites thirty-one cattle, three horses, and a large number of sheep. In his inventory he states that the enemy killed "1 calf of yr old & past & wounded 2," evincing that their destruction of his property was to a certain extent wanton.

Solomon Brecount, of Woodbridge, who was a private in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company of State troops, was plundered on three separate occasions. The enemy stole his horses, destroyed his apple or chard of fifty trees, and burnt his fencing.

Daniel Brecount, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, was visited twice, and each time robbed of a horse.

Moses Bloomfield, of Woodbridge, was a private in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company of State troops who was greatly harassed by the enemy. He was plundered at five different times, robbed of ten cattle and seven horses, and his property laid waste. Among his losses he recounts the astounding item of "3 shirts, part homespun and part bought linen," together with such articles of finery as "2 pr. of Silver Shoe Buckles, a pair of Silver Knee buckles, a Silver Stock buckle, and 3 large new Silver Spoons." The enemy also despoiled his neighbor, James Bonny, who was a captain in the Middlesex militia, of "4 Silver tea-spoons."

Ezekiel Bloomfield, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and was twice visited by the British and their adherents, when he was pillaged o his horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry; his windows and doors were broken, the weather-boards stripped of his house, his fencing and hay were destroyed, and his trusty "gun" appropriated.

Cornelius Baker, of Woodbridge, was another long suffering private in the Middlesex militia. Beside his horses, hogs, sheep, and poultry, he chronic1e among numerous other things the loss of "A new pair of Velvet Breeches," and "a pair of boots almost new," "3 Large Silver Shoe Buckles and 1 do. Knee buckle," together with "40 Galls, of Rum, Brandy and Gin," and "£10 in cash, greatest part hard."

Jonathan Bloomfield, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, as was also Thomas Bloom field, of the same place. They were plundered on several different occasions, of horses, cattle, crops and household goods.

Alexander Cotheal, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia. The enemy carried off his cattle, sheep, and hogs, robbed him even of his "2 beds and bedding," and burned his dwelling-house and barn.

Isaac Cotheal, of Woodbridge, was a private in Capt. Marsh’s company of light-horse, and a much aggrieved patriot. He was not only himself taken prisoner near his home, April 19, 1777, but in July of that year his schooner of "about 42 tons burthen, loaded with pork, flower, and butter," with his "negro boy 12 years of age £50," were carried off; and the rapacious marauders also stole his silver watch, which he assures us was "good and cost £8 lOs.," a "new pare of Leather Britches," and "6 pare of Ankeen and Drillin De new," "a dozen of Shirts new," "6 Wastcoats Ankeen and Striped Silk, good," and "2 Coats, 1 Ankeen and 1 Cloth." From all which it would seem that this worthy patriot was careful of his personal appearance, at least in the matter of his attire.

Ephraim Compton, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and paid dearly for it. He was literally despoiled of everything. His inventory consists of dyer one hundred entries, and comprises his crops, horses, and cattle, his household and farming utensils, his bedding, and his own and his wife’s clothing. Among the items are "2 Common Bibles, 1 Testament, and 1 Psalm Book." So that he was bereft of even these sources of consolation. Only his buildings were spared.

Gabriel Compton, of Woodbridge, was a still greater sufferer. He was a private in the Middlesex militia. His dwelling-house, "Large Dutch Barn," corn-crib, and cider-mill were burned to ashes, and a clean sweep made of his crops, cattle, horses, fencing, wagons, clothing, and household and farming utensils. He seems to have been literally stripped of everything. He makes special mention of "A silver hilted sword, musket, and bayonet," of "1 worked pocketbook with £9 cash in it," and of "1 ditto with 20/ hard money and 8 Dollars paper in it."

Samuel Crow, of Woodbridge, was successively a captain in the First Regiment of Middlesex, first major and lieutenant-colonel in the same. His property was twice visited by the enemy and relieved of a number of articles of little value.

Joseph Crowell, of Woodbridge, was first a private in the Middlesex troop of light-horse and then in the Continental army. He was plundered on three different occasions, principally of horses and cattle.

Edward Crowell, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and came off with comparatively light loss, having been plundered of a horse only.

Jeremiah Clarkson, of Woodbridge, was first a private in the Middlesex militia, then in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company of State troops, and lastly in the Continental army. He laments the loss of "a fine mare 6 years old, near 15 hands high."

Stephen Cutler, of Woodbridge, a private in the Middlesex militia, was plundered twice, each time of articles of small value.

David Chambers, of South Brunswick, captain in the Third Middlesex Regiment, was plundered of articles of slight value.

John Chamberlain, of Windsor, is one of the few who are dignified in the "Record of Damages" by the title "Esquire." Nevertheless he was only a private in the Middlesex militia. He was twice plundered, the first time of "£8 1. in hard money, 1 Silver Watch good," and "1 good 4 Horse Wagon." The second time he chronicled the loss of "£1000 Continental Money," appraised at £15 13s. 4d., "3 Silver Shoe Buckles, & 8 do. Stock do," 9 doz. Teaspoons & 3 pr. do Sleeve-buttons," besides" 1 Gun and Bayonet & 1 lb. of powder, and 1 or 2 lbs. of shot and 2 powder horns." He also reports the loss of twenty-one shirts, and hence, possibly, his appellative of "Esquire."

John Conger, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and was several times a victim to British rapacity or thirst. He is another of those upon whom was conferred the rare title "Esquire," although there is no evidence that he was the distinguished owner of as many shirts as his brother patriot Chamberlain. Evidently he was a well-to-do person, since he had stored in his cellar "4 Hhds. of Cider, Pipe Madeira Wine, 10 Galls. Brandy, 7 Galls. Jamaica Spirits, Barrel of Cherry Rum, and 1/3 of a Barrel of Porter." These were sufficiently patrician belongings, certainly, to cause him to be dubbed "Esquire," unless he derived the title from the exercise of the then important and highly respectable function of an inn-keeper. Be this as it may, the enemy imbibed or carried away his liquors, and then gave evidence of their potency by destroying his barn, damaging his house, tearing down and burning the fencing on his garden and farm, and finally by smashing fifty panes of glass in his windows. There can be little doubt that his liquors were good, judging by their effect upon his unwelcome visitors.

Dugal Campbell, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia. Among the articles of which he was plundered were his hay and cattle, and "1 Gun and bayonet and Cartridge-box, 2 Knapsacks, and 2 Canteens."

Samuel Compton, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and suffered severely from the enemy. They burned his "Grist-mill, Dwelling-House & Barn, worth £355," together with 1022 panels of fence, and cut down "8 acres of good Wood and Timber; also 50 bearing Apple-trees."

There were ten of the Drake family in the military service of their country in various capacities. They all escaped the ravages of the enemy with the exception of George and Ephraim, both of Piscataway, who were robbed of their horses, cattle, and household goods generally.

Elijah Disbrow, of South Amboy, was a private in Capt. Morgan’s company, Second Regiment, of Middlesex. He lost, "Two Skiffs, one a new large Skiff; the other a small one."

The Dunn family seem to have been specially selected by the enemy for their attentions, no less than eleven of them having been plundered out of fifteen who were soldiers in the patriot army. Among these were the following:

Daniel Dunn, of Piscataway, a private in the Middlesex militia, presents a long list of sundries stolen, including the rare luxury for those times of "1 Set of China Tea-Cups and Saucers, & a large China bowl, £10."

Benjamin Dunn, of Piscataway, a private in the Middlesex militia, was a heavy sufferer, his inventory footing up over £700. Besides his horses, many head of cattle, and a great store of grain and hay carried off, "650 Trees and Saplings cut down," "200 acres of land mowed and pastured," "Firewood cut and drawed for 2 large fires and one small one for 5 months," and 5378 rails and stakes destroyed, he recounts the loss of "1 Stout Negro Man, 30 years of age, £100," "1 Large Looking-Glass, 3 by 2 feet, broke, £8," his "Gun, Cartouch box, Bayonet, and 3 Cutlasses," and his valuable library, consisting of two books, "Salman’s Gazetteer and Harry."

Hugh Dunn, of Piscataway, was a captain in the First Middlesex Regiment, and was twice spoliated, principally of his "stock," grain, and household goods. Though he was not despoiled of his stout negro man, as was the case with Benjamin, he pathetically bewails the loss of a "New Coat for my Negro," as doubtless also did that sable chattel. Besides he has an item of "Wood for One fire for a picket of 25 men for 5 months £5," showing that his farm was the point at or near which the British outposts were quartered.

John Dunn, of Piscataway, was first a major in Col. Heard’s battalion of "minute-men," afterwards a major in Col. Samuel Forman’s battalion of "Detached Militia," and subsequently first major of the First Middlesex Regiment. He was plundered of his horses, grain, farming utensils, household goods, etc., to the extent of £313 5s. 5d. Among his losses he enumerates "£18 in Continental Cash," "1 Clock without the case, of the best kind, £30," and "1 Do. with the Case £16."

Jeremiah Dunn, of Piscataway, a private in the Middlesex militia, was robbed of his horses, cattle, crops, etc., to the amount of £113 3d. But Micajah Dunn, of the same place, who was a lieutenant-colonel in the First Middlesex Regiment, did not suffer in proportion to his superior rank, his entire loss being a horse, two guns, one great-coat, and a pair of shoes.

The Dunhams were generous contributors to the cause of independence, fifteen of their number having served in the army in various capacities, and nine having been spoliated by the enemy. Among these last were the following:

Azariah Dunham, of New Brunswick. Before the war he was a civil engineer, and was largely employed in that capacity by private parties, the Legislature, and other public bodies. In May, 1775, he was elected a member of the Colonial Assembly, and during that year proceeded to the city of New York to confer with other patriotic delegates from the sister colonies as to the measures to be adopted for the preservation of their menaced liberties. He was a member of the first Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1775—76, and was appointed by that body one of the "Committee of Safety," which exercised extraordinary powers in its recess. As a member of the Provincial Congress he served on numerous important committees, and drafted and reported various weighty measures. Among these were "a resolution respecting apprehending deserters from the Continental troops," an "ordinance to compel payment of a tax of £10,000 from such persons as have refused to pay the same," an ordinance permitting £30,000 of credit," and an ordinance for the "manufacture and purchase of saltpetre." In 1775—76 he was appointed to review and muster in the troops raised in the province, and was made one of the committee to adjust and settle the accounts of powder furnished to Earl Stirling by Somerset, Brunswick, Woodbridge, and Elizabethtown. In 1776 he was lieutenant-colonel of the Second Battalion Middlesex militia, but resigned from it to devote himself to the duties of "superintendent of purchases" for the province, of commissioner to raise troops, and a commissioner to sign bills of credit for the Eastern Department of New Jersey, positions to which he had been elected by the Provincial Congress, and which he filled till the close of the war. Before the enemy occupied New Brunswick he had been able to remove his plate and valuables to the Ford mansion at Morristown (his wife was Mary Ford); but one of the British officers was quartered in his house, and he was plundered of household goods to the value of £218. His father, Rev, Jonathan Dunham, a venerable man of eighty, residing in Piscataway, was also plundered to the amount of £80.

Elisha, Jonathan, Josiah, and John Dunham, of Woodbridge, and David, David, Jr., and Samuel Dunham, of Piscataway, were all of them privates in the Middlesex militia, and experienced the tender mercies of the British. The three last named had their houses and barns burned after having been first pillaged, their grain, etc., carried off, and twenty-five thousand rails and stakes destroyed, footing up for the three an aggregate loss of about £1000.

William Davison, of South Brunswick, was a sergeant in Capt. Morgan’s company of the Second Middlesex Militia, and was plundered of two horses and a wagon, the latter of which he assures us was "as good as new."

Cornelius Dehart, Of South Brunswick, was a private in the Middlesex militia. He was visited by a foraging party of the enemy, who stole his "seed wheat and rye," and after their virtuous performances warmed themselves over a good fire made of his "rail fence."

James Debow, of South Brunswick, was a captain in the Middlesex militia. His losses were not heavy, but still comprised his cattle, swine, and clothing, besides a general destruction of his windows and shutters.

Jonathan Deare, of Princeton, at the outset was first major of the First Middlesex Regiment and subsequently its lieutenant-colonel. He resigned in March, 1778, having been elected collector of customs for the Eastern District of New Jersey. He was a prominent lawyer. The enemy made a full sweep of his household goods and his orchards and cellars. Among the former were a "number of law and other books value of £40," and among the latter

"1 hamper of wine in bottles, 6 Dozen," some of his pillagers evidently having been of a studious and others of a convivial turn of mind.

William Evans, of New Brunswick, a private in the Middlesex militia, was twice visited and relieved of sundry luxuries, among which were "1 Set of Cups and Saucers best quality," "Cash in silver 12/6, and in Continental money 40/," a "pair of gold locket sleeve-buttons and a gold finger-ring," and "several fine books," the authors not named.

James Edgar, of Woodbridge, a private in the Middlesex militia, was visited three times and very effectually pillaged. Among his losses he records that of a fine five-year-old mare and a number of cattle, "taken by Col. Simcoe."

Isaac Furman and John Fisher, of New, Brunswick, and John Flatt, of Woodbridge, all were privates in the Middlesex militia, and were thoroughly despoiled of their cattle and household goods, special attention having been paid to their ample stores of women’s clothing and bedding. Among the multitude of caps, aprons, gowns, kerchiefs, and other articles of female wear of which the last-named was robbed he laments "1 pair of Stays as good as new," which some uxorious British or Hessian soldier appropriated for the wardrobe of his better half. Mr. Flatt also records in one item the loss of "1 Common Bible, 1 good Rifle, and a Bullet-mould," an odd admixture of weapons, spiritual and carnal.

Jonathan Freeman, of Woodbridge, was first a private in Capt. Morgan’s company of the Second Middlesex Regiment, and afterwards in Capt. Nixon’s

troop of light-horse. He was robbed of his household goods, and had a fine horse shot. Besides him eleven, others of the Freeman family were privates in the Middlesex militia, but two only of them, Israel and Samuel, both of Woodbridge, were molested. The latter suffered the loss of four fine horses, and among other things "6 Silver teaspoons and a set of china."

There were nine of the Fields of Middlesex in the patriot service, and of these three were pillaged. Benjamin and Richard, both of Piscataway, were privates, and Jeremiah, also of Piscataway, was first a private, then sergeant, and finally a lieutenant in the First Regiment of Middlesex. Their inventories amount to a total of £414.

William French, of Piscataway, a private in the Middlesex militia, to use an expressive colloquialism was thoroughly "cleaned out." The enemy burned his "Dwelling-House large, and a Store-House ad joining the same," "1 other Dwelling-House," " Barns and a Smoke-House," valued by William Hon and John Shippey, carpenters, at £316. They carried off his horses, cattle, sheep, wagons, sleds, pleasure sleighs, grain and hay, and robbed him of his house hold goods and farming utensils. From the character of many of the articles, which could only have proved useless impediments to the marauders, it is evident that they must have been wantonly consumed with his buildings. In his inventory we find mentioned that favorite article of furniture with our ancestors "3 Cupboards of Dutch make equal to new." Also "3 Swords & 1 Gun and Bayonet good," and "3 bibles 1 large dutch ye other English, worth £2.11.6." Wilham had a Bible for each sword, and, doubtless, was equally a man of war and of prayer.

Henry Fouratt, of Piscataway, was a private in the Middlesex militia. It is evident from his inventor that he combined the occupation of an oysterman with that of a farmer. Besides his "green grain it the ground" he recites the loss of a "Skiff 17 fee long, 2 Oyster Rakes, 1 pr. of Tongs, 1 Anchor, and a New Cable."

Moses Guest, of New Brunswick, the author of at odd compound entitled "Guests Poems and Journal," was first an ensign in Capt. Voorhees’ company in the Third Middlesex Regiment, and afterwards a captain in the Second Regiment. While in the former capacity he had the good fortune to capture the daring partisan, Col. Simcoe, the incidents attending which he himself relates as follows(17*) "Simcoe was not discovered to be an enemy until he had got several miles north of N. Brunswick at Quibble town, from which place an express was dispatched to Col. John Neilson, at N. Brunswick, who immediately ordered out his regiment. We were soon marched to the bridge at Raritan Landing. From Quibble town Col. Simco proceeded rapidly to Col. Van Horne’s house at Middlebrook. He was much disappointed in not finding the Governor there (Governor Livingston was then at N. Brunswick.) He then went on to Van Vechten’s bridge on the Raritan river, and set fire some forage and flat-bottom boats; from which h went to Millstone, a small town 8 miles N.W. of Brunswick; here he set fire to the court-house an jail. While we were at the landing bridge we discovered the smoke of those buildings. It was then thought probable that the enemy would endeavor to pass this bridge in their retreat. Col. Neilson therefore continued there, being in hopes of cutting off their retreat, and dispatched me with thirty-five men with orders to endeavor to fall in with them, and to annoy them as much as possible. Soon after getting on the road leading from Millstone village to the bridge I was informed by an express that the enemy was within a few hundred yards of me; I had just time to get to an open piece of woods when they made their appearance. We attacked them as they came up, but they came on so rapidly that we could only give them one discharge. Col. Simcos horse received three balls, fell on him and bruised him very badly; there was one man killed and several rounded. I left a physician with Simco, and proceeded on. We soon found his party had halted on the heights west of Brunswick. They sent a doctor and his servant to us bearing a flag. The doctor requested permission to attend Col. Simco, which was granted, but as the enemy was proceeding on their retreat whilst the flag was negotiating, which is contrary to the rules of war, the doctor and his servant were considered as prisoners. After Simco fell, Major-Stuart (a refugee, who had piloted him) took the command. Soon after we dismissed the doctor, we witnessed a scene that was truly distressing. We found Captain Peter Voorhies lying in the road mortally wounded, and to all appearance nearly breathing his last breath.(18*) He had just returned from General Sullivan’s army, and with a few militia horsemen was pursuing so close on the enemy’s rear as to cause a detachment to sally out. They soon came up with him and cut him with their broadswords in a most shocking manner, which caused his death in a few hours. We pursued them until we got to South river bridge, 8 miles south of Brunswick, at which place we received information that 500 men had been landed at South Amboy to cover their retreat, and that they were embarking for Staten Island.

So far as the "Record of Damages" shows, Capt. Guest was not despoiled of any property; but his relatives, Henry and John Guest, also of New Brunswick, and who were privates in the Middlesex militia, did not fare so well. Henry was a tanner, and was well curried by the enemy. In his inventory he enumerates, among other things, "122 Slaughter Hides from Fort Lee," which had just before capitulated to the British. This item suggests an incident which I have heard my grandfather (Dr. Jacob Dunham, late of New Brunswick) describe with great animation. The British during the Revolution had a fort opposite New Brunswick on the east side of the Raritan, near the present residence of Mr. Augustus T. Stout. At one period they expected the approach of a body of American troops by way of the road from Trenton, and were vigilant on the lookout. One night Mr. Guest, whose tannery was just above New Street on Livingston Avenue, put out a large number of hides to dry, possibly the identical "122" above named, hanging them on his fences. When the sun rose the British mistook the hides for the long expected American troops, and set up a brisk cannonade from the fort. But fire as furiously as they might they could make no impression on the foe, who held their position firmly without manifesting the least disorder. They were as unflinching as any veterans, and the thing began to grow serious. It was not until field-glasses were brought into use that the enemy discovered they had been training their batteries for several hours on a lot of "recreant" hides. When this had been ascertained there was a sudden cessation of hostilities; and the joke becoming widely known caused great merriment among all good patriots in the town at the expense of the redcoats.

David Gilliland, of New Brunswick, was a lieutenant in the Third Middlesex Regiment. He had his wagon and pleasure-sleigh confiscated, and these comprised all his losses.

Richard Gibson, of Woodbridge, and James Griggs and John Gronendike, of South Brunswick, were privates in the Middlesex militia. Their loses were chiefly of horses and cattle. But John Gillman, of Piscataway, another private, records a sweeping destruction of his fencing, cattle, grain, and household articles.

George Harriott, of Woodbridge, was first a captain in the Third Middlesex Regiment, and afterwards in the First. In one of their forays the enemy robbed him of his horses, cattle, and numerous other valuables. But David Harriott, also of Woodbridge, who was only a private in the Middlesex militia, was literally stripped of everything "when the enemy passed through in November, 1776, and some time after." They confiscated his household finery, consisting among other things of a "Set of Homespun curtains wove damask flowers, 1 do. of White in large damask flowers, and 1 do. of double dimons;" his abundant store of napkins, quilts, bedspreads, sheets, "large flowered damask tablecloths," and sundry linen articles. They plundered his wife of her "long gowns," and "short gowns of chintz, of calico, of striped Holland and homespun," of her forty-two "bed sheets of 3k-hundred linen," and "1 do. of 5hundred linen," of her "28 yards of new whitened diaper-wove Huckabuck," of her Shifts of 5 hundred linen," of her six "petticoats, 1 of them of flannel," and "1 of damask, new;" of her handkerchiefs of "lawn, gause, and silk;" of her aprons of "new flowered lawn," of "striped muslin," of "fine linen," and of homespun;" and of her "8 caps, cambric and lawn, all new," comprising a complete female outfit, even including "2 diaper bibs for a child." Finally, they stole his boots, his "broad-cloth coat," his "velvet Jacket & breeches," and other unmentionables innumerable; besides "Cash £6.4., his silver teaspoons, silver stock-buckle, and silver sleeve-buttons. They smashed in his windows and doors, tore up his floors, broke down his partitions, destroyed his grain and fencing, stampeded his cattle, and did not leave him so much as a bed, a trammel, or a gridiron. His neighbor, James Hampton, also of Woodbridge, and a private in the Middlesex militia, lost " a cow and calf."

William Hoagland, of New Brunswick, a private in the Middlesex militia, met with a "mixed" loss, among the articles of which he as despoiled being "1 Gun, bayonet, Cartouch box & Cutlass, 2 pair of Stays, 100 lbs. of Tobacco, and a linen wheel."

His townsman, John Halfpenny, was a private in Capt. Voorhees company, Third Middlesex Regiment, and afterwards in the State troops. He seems to have followed the same occupation as Hortwick, and lost "1 Scow of ten tons burthen valued at £80, & 4 Oyster Rakes."

Thomas Hadden, of Woodbridge, was first a captain, then major, and at length lieutenant-colonel of the First Middlesex Regiment. He escaped fortunately with the loss of three fine horses only.

Nathaniel Heard, of Woodbridge, was one of the first of our patriotic ancestors to take the field. In 1775 he raised a body of troops which he placed at the, disposition of the Provincial Congress and the Committee of Safety. At first he was colonel of the First Middlesex Regiment, then colonel of a battalion of "minute-men," then colonel of a battalion named after himself "Heard’s Battalion," then brigadier-general commanding the same, and finally brigadier-general of militia. He suffered a heavy penalty for his patriotism, his inventory of losses amounting to £2186 17s.6d. His grain (over one thousand bushels) was carried away, together with seventy tons of hay, one thousand panels of fence, twenty-two hogsheads of cider, and two splendid horses. And, in addition, his "two dwelling-houses, 4 rooms on a floor, 2 stories high, well furnished, and 50 feet in length," were burned to the ground, as also were his "Boalting House, Hatters Shop, Weavers Shop, Chair House, & 2 Barns."

James Jones, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and suffered only the loss of some fencing, sheep, and cattle.

John Jordan, of New Brunswick, was a private in the Middlesex militia. Before the war he, like other heroes, pursued the peaceful avocation of a tanner, with the difference that it was diversified by that of a fisherman. He recounts the loss of fifty-two kegs of lampblack, a lot of calf-skins and sides of leather, a fishing-boat, and two oyster-rakes.

Peter Keenan, of New Brunswick, was first a private in the Second Middlesex Regiment, then in the State troops, and afterwards in the Continental army. His loss was limited to a few articles of clothing.

Robert Kip, of Raritan Landing, a private in the Middlesex militia, was thoroughly despoiled. It is evident from some phrases in his inventory that he had attempted to secrete a portion of his valuable from the enemy, but their scent was too keen or their information too sure for anything to escape. Among the numerous items in his inventory are "2 Hogs. heads of Rum, nigh half full," "Barrel of Metheglin," and "2 Sets of coopers tools." He also records the loss of "1 Hogs of good Tobacco," and the frequent recurrence of entries of similar large lots of the "weed" in the "Record of Damages" provoke the inquiry whether it was raised in Middlesex County or brought from one of the other colonies.

Barnet Hagaman and William Hillyer, both of South Brunswick, were privates in Capt. Morgan’s company in the Second Regiment of Middlesex. Besides a wagon and other articles, the former was plundered of his sword-belt, while in the inventory of the latter such things figure as "bobben," "luten, "millenet" and "white gause," and "790 sewing-needles," indicating that he was in the dry goods line. Among his other entries appear the following: "60 shilling in hard cash" and "600 Dolls, in Continental currency," the last named being appraised at £2 14s 6d.

John Hampton, of Woodbridge, an ensign in the First Middlesex Regiment, was another heavy sufferer. Apparently he was an inn-keeper, since among his losses are "60 Galls. Spirits," "40 Galls. Rum, "30 Do. Cherry Rum," "30 Do. Brandy," "15 Do Cherry Brandy," "60 Do. Madeira Wine," "40 Do Teneriffe Wine," "40 Do. Country Gin," and "20 lbs. of Tobacco." He was pillaged on three several occasions, and his total losses exceeded six hundred pounds. His bedding, clothing, furniture, crockery (which was unusually plentiful and good), and house hold stores were mercilessly ransacked and appropriated. He records the loss of "Cash £20, taker at Quibbletown," and "400 Continental Dollars," the latter of which, however, were worth little more than a "continental darn," their appraised value being £6 18s. 8d. He also inventories a "Sloop of 32 tom taken at Paulus Hook in Dec. 1776, when the British first came to New York," and" 2 pipes of Wine taken out of Col. John Neilson’s store at New Brunswick paid him for it £200 York money, Octr. 1776."

Jacob Hyer, of Princeton, was first lieutenant colonel of the Third Middlesex Regiment, and afterward became its colonel. He, too, must have been either an inn-keeper or a "fine old gentleman of the olden time," since he notes (and if he were an inn keeper doubtless his guests sorely bemoaned) the loss of "60 Galls. Madeira Wine," "65 do. best Claret, "8 Barrels Hores best porter," "30 Galls. Cherry Whiskey," "6 Groce Black Bottles," "20 Gin Case and flasks," besides spits, saucepans, pie-pans, bake ovens, etc., innumerable. That he was an inn-keeper is made further probable by such items as "5 flute brass candle-sticks, best kind," "2 pr. Comon do., "1 Doz. Iron Do. and 10 pr. of Snuffers," "11 feather beds with bolsters and pillows," "6 pair hew Slippers," and a great variety of other things betokening a well-to-do and amply furnished household. The enemy left him literally nothing, carrying away even his "Iron Chain for Smoke Jack" and the trammels appertaining. Like Gen. Heard, Col. Hyer appears to have exercised a care for the outer man. He was a hatter as well as a landlord and a soldier, there being recited among his losses "50 lb. of Hatters wool carded, 14 Caster, and 20 Wool Hats and a new hat press."

Francis Letts, of South Amboy, was a corporal, and Elisha, Elijah, and John Letts, of the same place, were privates in Capt. Morgan’s company of Middlesex militia. Francis and Elisha had their dwelling-houses and barns burned, besides experiencing other losses, and Elisha’s mother, the widow Hannah Letts, was plundered of her cattle.

William Lake, of South Amboy, Benjamin Luker, and Aaron Longstreet, of South Brunswick, and John Langstaff of Piscataway, were all privates in the Middlesex militia. They were plundered lightly, Lake, of his cattle; Luker, of forage and provisions; Langstaff of timber, clothing, and provisions; and Lougstreet, who was a blacksmith apparently, of "300 Bushels of Coal," "200 lb. of Iron and Steel, and a Vice," "all the small tools belonging to a Smiths Shop," and sundry other things.

John Lyle, of New Brunswick, was first a captain and then a major in the Third Middlesex Regiment. Evidently he was another patriotic tanner, as he speaks of "1 shed and 3 platforms destroyed in ye Tan-Yard," together with "30 Sides of Upper leather and a lot of bark." He also lost, or the contraband lost himself, "1 Negro Man, aged 20 yrs., £100." Mr. Lyle was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick.

The Martin family had nineteen of their number in the patriot army, and twenty of that name were more or less severely pillaged. Of those who were in the army, David, Benajah, and Nathaniel lived in Piscataway, and were privates in the Middlesex militia, David having also served in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company of State troops. Daniel, Eliakim, James, William, and John were privates in the State troops, James having afterwards served in the Continental army. William was the severest sufferer of them all. He was visited five times by the enemy between February, 1777, and April, 1781. Each time they carried off two or three horses, besides, at their several calls, seven geese, ten fowls, four ducks, three Guinea fowls, fifty-five sheep and lambs, and eight cows. He makes special mention in one entry of two of the luxuries of which they rifled him, namely, "6 lbs. of Tobacco and 6 lbs. of Sassages." The losses of the others comprised horses, cattle, provisions, sheep, grain, hay, and household goods. Among the numerous entries there are none worthy of special mention except "5 lb. of Spanish Tobacco," and "1 pr. of black Everlasting Breeches," recorded by James, and by John his literary collection, consisting of" 1 Book calld the London Art, 1716."

The Mundays of Middlesex were also good patriots, eleven of them having served in the Revolutionary armies. Of these, Martin, Reuben, Samuel, and Benjamin lived at Woodbridge, and Nicholas and Peter at Piscataway. They were all privates in the Middlesex militia, and were plundered of sundries which caused their inventories to range from £6 to £60 each.

James Morgan, of South Amboy, was first an ensign and then a captain in the Second Middlesex Regiment. He was afterward a captain in the State troops, and was very active. Of course he was not overlooked by the enemy. They destroyed his "kiln of stone ware not burned," broke open his desk and rifled it of a "Silver Watch and 300 Continental dollars," took off his wife’s entire wardrobe (including that good lady’s "velvet hood"), dashed in 23 of his window-panes, made free with his "4 pr. of Silver shoe buckles & 1 pair of silver knee buckles," besides carrying off such of his military trappings as they found, consisting of "1 Appalet," "1 Silver Hilted Sword," "1 Gun Good & 1 Gold lase & hat band."

Ephraim and John Morris and Samuel Moores, of Woodbridge; Andrew and David Manning and Richard Merrill, of Piscataway; John Messerol, of South Brunswick; and John and Humphrey Mount, of Windsor, all were privates in the Middlesex militia, and suffered for amounts varying from two to sixty pounds, except Merrill, whose loss exceeded £160.

William and Jeremiah Manning, of Woodbridge, both were captains in the First Middlesex Regiment, and were severely scourged by the enemy, especially Jeremiah, whose store-house, chair-house, stable, and barn were burned, his fine orchard containing "223 apple trees, 23 cherry trees, and a quantity of peach do.," were wantonly cut down, his fences leveled and burned, and scarcely an article left him for wear or use.

John Noe, of Woodbridge, was only a private in the Middlesex militia, but nevertheless he was as ruthlessly harried as if he were a brigadier. The enemy pillaged him on twelve different occasions, taking him away as a prisoner at one of their visits, and carrying off literally every article of clothing belonging to himself and family, besides "1 negro man named Fenox" (Phoenix?), and all his household goods, farm implements, provisions, horses, and cattle to the value of over £400.

Robert Nixon, of South Brunswick, suffered lightly. He was first a captain in a troop of light-horse, to which he was afterwards breveted major, and finally was first major of the Third Middlesex Regiment. He was another patriotic tanner, and the enemy appropriated from his establishment "75 Sides of Sole Leather, 17 Kip Skins, and 19 Calf Skins."

John Neilson, of New Brunswick, was first the colonel of a battalion of "minute-men," the colonel of the Second Middlesex Regiment, then colonel of a regiment of State troops, then brigadier-general of militia, and finally deputy quartermaster-general. He was pillaged of his household goods, of "2111 lb. of pork purchased that fall," and of a number of things from his store and warehouse, among which are mentioned as exhibiting the heavy stock of certain goods required at that day as compared with the present, "25 dozen New England Scythes." His total loss somewhat exceeded £220.

Frederick Outgelt, Peter Obert, and Benjamin Ogden, of South River, and John Olden, of Windsor, were privates in the Middlesex militia, and were severally plundered to the extent of from £21 to £95. Obert’s loss was the heaviest, being largely of cattle, besides "50 dollars in Cash." Ogden’s loss was also of cattle mainly, ten head having been carried off in one swoop. Among his other losings were "1 fishing-net 65. fathom long," "2 skiffs and 1. good firelock." But among the items in his inventory the one on which he lingers the most regretfully perhaps of any is "1 Iron bound Cask containing 4 Barrels of very good cider."

Samuel Parker, of Woodbridge, I believe to be identical with the Samuel F. Parker who was first a captain in Col. Forman’s battalion, "Heard’s Brigade," and afterwards a major in the same. He was a printer, as was his father, James Parker, also of Woodbridge, who printed the "Votes and Proceedings" of Assembly from 1768, and perhaps earlier, until 1770. Early in the session of the Twenty-first Assembly, on Sept. 28, 1770, "a petition was presented to the House from Samuel F. Parker, setting forth that his late father, James Parker dec’d, was employed as printer to the Ho. of Assembly, and that the printing-office in Woodbridge has devolved on him, praying the House to appoint him their printer." On September 29th Isaac Collins presented a similar petition, and on October 1st the printing was awarded to Collins. That Samuel F. Parker and the Samuel Parker of the "Record of Damages" are identical is rendered probable by the circumstance that in the inventory of the latter, exhibited by his widow, one of the items is "Part of a printing office" and various articles of furniture for the same. His "dwelling house, well furnished," appraised at £200, was burnt, and a number of articles of unusual elegance for the time were destroyed or stolen. Among these were "1 large Silver Bowl would hold two quarts £20," "1 Large Silver Tankerd £20," "1 pair of gold sleeve bottons," "1 do. garnet, ring. 208.," "Cash 20 Dolls.," "1 Silver Nitten Sheath,", and "1 Silver Whistle for a child to play with 78. 6d."

John Pane, of Woodbridge, was successively a lieutenant and a captain in the Middlesex militia. He was killed Sept. 25, 1781, at Spanktown (Rahway), and his widow presents an inventory of their other losses, principally of clothing, household goods, and horses.

The Randolph family were conspicuous for their patriotism, three of them having been officers and twenty-seven privates in the Revolutionary armies. One of the foremost of these patriotic men, Capt. Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, fortunately escaped any destruction of his property. Originally a captain in the Middlesex militia, he was elected naval officer for the Eastern District of New Jersey, Dec. 12, 1778; a sword was voted to be presented to him by Council on the 11th of that month "for his patriotism, vigilance, and bravery during the war," he was taken from his bed by Tories in January, 1779, and imprisoned in New York, from whence he was exchanged May 26, 1780; and he died at Woodbridge, July 23, 1781, of wounds received in action.

Asher Fitz Randolph, of Woodbridge, was a spirited and valuable officer, and extremely popular among his neighbors, many of whom enlisted in his company. He was successively an ensign in Capt. Freeman’s company of State troops, lieutenant in the same, major in Hayes battalion of State troops, and captain of a company of Middlesex troops. Although conspicuous and energetic, his losses were light, being principally of cattle, clothing, provisions, and a few household goods.

Samuel Randolph, of Piscataway, was first a captain and then a major in the First Middlesex Regiment. He escaped with slight loss, the chief item in his inventory being a fine stallion valued at £50.

Eseck and Malichi Randolph were first privates in the Middlesex militia and afterwards in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company. Eseck was plundered at five different times of everything in the form of apparel that was at that time to be found in the house of a comfortable farmer, if; indeed, he were a farmer, which I am led to doubt from the items in his inventory of "70 gallons of rum" and "6 case bottles full of cherry and plain rum." Malichi was plundered twice only, but yet very effectually. The enemy burned his capacious barn, thirty-six by twenty-four feet in dimensions; destroyed his shed, cider-mill, and over five thousand rails and posts; damaged his dwelling-house, and wantonly laid waste his orchards, one of which, he says regretfully, was "in its perfection."

Phineas and Ephraim Randolph, of Piscataway, and Joseph Randolph, of Woodbridge, were privates in the Middlesex militia. Joseph’s loss was small, but among the articles was a "ferry scow and canoe," from which the avocation of a ferryman may be inferred., Ephraim was pillaged four times, and on one of their visits the enemy must have made a long stay, since one of the items in his inventory is "for the use of my house 3 months £3." They seem to have made themselves entirely at home during their stay, all his grain, cattle, poultry, clothing, wood, household goods, and even his wife’s "cotton petticoat" having been appropriated, to their use by the marauders. Phineas, however, was the greatest sufferer of the three. The enemy burned up his fences, consisting of twelve thousand rails and stakes; fed up over four hundred bushels of his grain and thirty-six tons of hay; destroyed nine hundred and eighty-one trees and saplings, and carried off one horse and sixteen cows, with hogs, turkeys, and other edibles innumerable. They made free with his bedding and apparel, ate his "2 hives of honey" and a flock of sheep, and drove off with his pleasure-sleigh and his wife’s "good red short cloak." His loss exceeded £440.

John Ross and James Rowland, of Woodbridge, and Joseph Robison, of New Brunswick, were privates in the Middlesex militia. Ross’ loss was trivial. Among Robinson’s losses were "1 pair of pockets with £6 in cash." It would seem that he was a cooper from the large quantity of" hogshead staves and headings" that he records. Rowland’s losses were very serious. The enemy burned his "dwelling-house, 49 feet by 31," "barn, 35 by 32 feet," "cider-house, 36 by 26," etc., and carried away his fine "half-blooded mares," his sheep, grain, hay, furniture, clothing, and "£14 in cash," to the total sum of £475.

William Scudder, of Windsor, at first was first major of the Third Middlesex Regiment, and afterwards lieutenant-colonel of the same. He was a miller, as his ancestors were and as many of his descendants continued to be to a late day, at Scudder’s Mills. These consisted in the Revolution of a grist- and fulling-mill, which were totally destroyed by the enemy. The grist-mill is described in the inventory as "in good repair, with 2 pr. Stones and all the apparatus for carrying on the business in the most extensive manner, £900; and the fueling-mill consisted of "1 Fulling House & Mill, Press House, and all the apparatus for finishing Cloth, £200." Col. Scudders entire loss amounted to £1188.

John Schenck, of Windsor, was a captain successively in the Second and Third Middlesex Regiments. His loss was a little over £45, and among the articles enumerated were "150 Rations of Hay, £7 in cash, and 3 Regimental coats."

Richard Skinner, of Woodbridge, was a captain in the First Middlesex Regiment, and was killed in a skirmish near Woodbridge, July 1, 1779. Two years before he head been plundered by the enemy of horses, cattle, clothing, and household goods, £54.

Thomson Stelle, of Piscataway, was a captain, and afterwards paymaster of the Middlesex militia. Among other things he was robbed of his horses, one of which he describes as a "half-blooded Mare with fold by true Britain." His hay, wheat, and household goods were all thoroughly plundered. The marauding party which visited him were truly catholic in their attentions, and stickled at nothing from an ox chain to a pair of silver shoe-buckles. Some of their number must have been of a literary turn of mind, since they carried off from his library "Phillipses Dictionary, Harris Do. in 2 Vollumes, and 1 Bound Book of New Jersey Laws."

Joseph Skelton, of Princeton, was successively lieutenant in the Middlesex militia, in Heard’s brigade, and in the Continental army. His losses were quite large, and consisted principally of horses, cattle, and grain. In his inventory are several item which are suggestive of the peculiar hardships attending the visitations of the enemy, among which we in stance "Hay and corn for 24 horses," "Team prest at sundry times," "The Dragoons 1 Night fed hay & corn till morning."

Hendrick Smock, of Piscataway, was a private in the Middlesex militia and a heavy sufferer. His dwelling-house, kitchen, and barn, worth £250, were burned, together with twenty-three thousand rails posts, and stakes. His horses, sheep, cattle, hogs, grain, and hay were carried off, besides almost everything that can be conceived of as forming the stock of household goods, clothing, and utensils of a prosperous farmer of that day. Undoubtedly wealthy a he was, the only articles in his very lengthy and minute inventory that might be deemed luxuries were "1 Quart China Bowl & 4 China Cups and Saucers, "1 pair of Silver Knee-buckles," and "1 Small: Chest with 65 yds. of 7 Hud linen." Noteworthy among the other articles are "3 Spanish Dollars," "1 leather pocket-book with 1 Dolr and 1 Guinea,",and "1 Able-bodied Negro Man 29 yrs of age, £90." His losses exceeded £833.

William and Samuel Stone, of Woodbridge, were privates in the Middlesex militia. William was three times pillaged, and Samuel twice. Their losses were large of horses and cattle, of which they had a great stock, besides grain, hay, etc.

George Soder, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia. His losses, or more properly the losses of his wife, were mostly of female clothing and bedding.

David Stewart, of Woodbridge, was a private in the Middlesex militia. The enemy robbed him of his shirts and trowsers, but his wife was a great sufferer, all her wardrobe having been relentlessly spirited away, including her "Silk Bonnet," "Short Gownd," and even her "petticoat and 2 Shifts."

John Shippey, of Raritan Landing, was a private in the Middlesex militia. The enemy burned his dwelling-house; shop, and store-house, appraised at £320, together with several thousand rails and posts. They carried off his grain, hay, and "1 fish-net, 8 fathoms long, with land and sea warp;" also quite at armory, consisting of "1 Gun & Bayonet, 1 Sword, Pistol, 2 powder-horns, and 1 Rifle frock."

Peter T. Schenck, of Raritan Landing, was a private in the Middlesex militia. His dwelling-house and fences were consumed.

Charles Suydam, of Raritan Landing, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and one of the heaviest sufferers from the enemy, his inventory amounting to £2033 8s. 8d. They spared his dwelling-house, but burned his barn, hovels, cider-mill and house, and wagon-house, and carried off a large amount of grain, hay, clothing, household goods; sheep, cattle, and horses. There are several noticeable items in his list, some of which betray wealth and, for the times, luxurious surroundings. Among these are "£650 in Cash," "2 Silver Tablespoons & Do. Teaspoons," "1 Quart China Bowl," "1 pr. new buckskin breeches & 10 Silver buttons," "1 Silver Watch," "1 1/2 Baris of Metheglin & Bar Rum."

John Smalley, Joseph Stelle, Henry Sutton, and Jonathan Sharp, all of Piscataway, were privates in the Middlesex militia. The three first named were robbed of clothing and household goods in considerable quantities. Suttons barn and over twelve thousand rails and stakes were burned, and his grain, hay, and cattle carried away. Sharp also had his dwelling-house and barn destroyed, and a number of household and farming utensils pillaged.

Peter Stults, Jacob Skillman, John Sunderland, and Isaac Snediker, of South Brunswick, were privates in the Middlesex militia; and John Storey, also of South Brunswick was a private in Capt. Morgan’s company, Second Regiment. They were each pillaged of small amounts, apparently by foraging parties.

Garret Schenck, of Penn’s Neck, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and lost quite largely, among other items "1 Negro Boy, 16 years old, cost £75."

Peter Stoothoof, near New Brunswick, was a private in the Middlesex militia, and was plundered of his horses, cattle, sheep, clothing, and. household goods.

Jonathan Thorp and Isaac Tappen, of Woodbridge, were privates in the Middlesex militia, and Thorp also served in Capt. Asher F. Randolph’s company of State troops. Thorp was robbed of stock, clothing, and household goods to an inconvenient amount, and Tappen was visited eight different times, and each time pillaged of valuable horses and cattle.

John Thomson, of New Brunswick, was a first lieutenant in Capt. John Lyle’s company, Third Regiment. The enemy carried off his sloop of 30 tons burden and sundry other, things.

Daniel Turner, John Van Harlingen, Richard Van Arsdalen, Isaac Van Arsdalen, Ephraim Vantine, and William Van Deursen, of New Brunswick, were privates in the Middlesex militia. Their losses were chiefly of horses, fencing, cattle, household goods, and damages to buildings. Van Harlingen’s barn and Van Deursen’s store-house were burnt by the enemy. Van Deursen was an influential member of the Dutch Church at New Brunswick, and acting in its behalf exhibited the inventory of the damages which it suffered from the British.

John Van Emburgh, of New Brunswick, was successively second and. first major of the Second Middlesex Regiment. He was taken prisoner by the enemy at Toms River, May 14, 1780, but had the good fortune to effect his escape soon after. He was plundered of various household articles, provisions, etc. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick, and was one of its Trustees in 1785.

William Taylor, John Thaxton, and Israel Thornal, of Woodbridge, were privates in the Middlesex militia. The losses of the two first named were light, but Thornal was a heavy loser. He was plundered at four different times of a large number of fine cattle and horses worth £245.

Jacob Van Deventer, of Piscataway, was a captain in the First Middlesex Regiment. He was visited three times by the enemy, and pillaged of household goods, grain, and clothing.

Simon Van Nortvick, James Wooden, Samuel Walker, Thomas Webster, and Samuel Whitehead, of Piscataway, were privates in the Middlesex militia, and were all preyed upon by the enemy. Walker apparently was in the tobacco trade, as among his losses were "1 Hogshead of Tobacco of 1000 lb. weight," and "1 Barrel of Cut Do 100 lb." Wooden’s loss was large, of cattle, horses, timber, grain, sheep, and a great number of rails.

John Wetherill, of South Brunswick, at the commencement of the war was colonel of the Second Middlesex Regiment. He was plundered lightly.

John Webster, of Piscataway, was first a captain in the First Middlesex Regiment, and afterward successively its lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He was a farmer on a large scale, and was heavily robbed of hay, grain, cattle, flax, and household goods.

The examination of these inventories reveals many characteristics of the people of those times, and affords numerous glimpses of their social life. It is evident that they were thrifty, provident house-keepers and good livers; frugal, careful in the sense that Martha was, and believers in the maxims then current, "Many a little makes a muckle," and "A penny saved is two pence clear." As to wealth, theirs was a day of small things, and the solicitude which they showed for articles of little intrinsic value according to our standards was due to the fact that their means were largely composed of such. We are not surprised, therefore, at the frequent record of articles damaged, destroyed, or stolen, the worth of which was measured by a sixpence, a nine-pence, or a shilling. A paper of pins, a delft bowl, a pewter dish or platter, and the like were prime necessities, not easily replaced, the value of which to our ancestors we can scarcely duly estimate in our day of lavish and cheap comforts and conveniences. Still a silver thread of honesty and simple integrity and truthfulness runs conspicuously through all the tokens of their provident solicitude. This is apparent in their precise descriptions of their losses, and their evident anxiety that while their goods should be appraised at their full worth they should not be estimated above their value. Hence the frequent recurrence of such qualifying phrases as "new," "most new," "nearly new," "half-worn," " three-quarters worn," "part worn," "little worn," and "much worn," "the worse for wear," "but little the worse for wear," and "none the worse for wear," etc. If a horse or a cow was "valuable" they said so; if old or of inferior value they as frankly stated the fact. Nowhere can there be discerned any purpose to trick a bargain at the public expense; but their aim seems to have been to exhibit the exact loss they had suffered and to secure that they should be made whole. Their careful exactitude and honest truthfulness are marked features of all their inventories, and are in refreshing contrast with the reckless disregard or those cardinal virtues which distinguish kindred documents of our own times.

The men of "Seventy-six" were liberal "providers" so far as the creature comforts, food and drink and clothing, were concerned. Barrels of pork and beef, sides of beef, flitches and sides of bacon, carcases of venison and mutton, and multitudes of gammons and shoulders frequently appear in these inventories in quantities of which we have no experience in these days of abundant shops and markets. The great number of roasting pigs, ducks, fowls, turkeys, and geese which the inventories show to have been carried off by the enemy at their advent in November and December, 1776, indicates not only the lavish store of these maintained by our forefathers, but also that they must have been put on "short allowance" for their Christmas and New-Year dinners in that calamitous year. Beside the meats already mentioned, they had pickled and smoked beef and pork, veal, sausages, wild fowl in abundance, and luscious tit-bits of coon and bear. Shad and herring were plentiful in their season, and were laid down by the barrel and even, hogshead for winter use. Every household was supplied with butter, lard, molasses, sugar, and honey, the last mentioned being so common that almost every farmer had his hive or more of bees. Wheat, rye, buckwheat, Indian corn, potatoes, beans, turnips, and beets abounded, and there was a great wealth of apples, cherries, peaches, and pears. For beverage they had tea, coffee, cocoa, and chocolate, also cider and metheglin, the former by the barrel, and even by one, two, and ten hogs-heads, and the latter by the keg and barrel, while for those who were not content with these there were brandy, cider, spirits, gin, and rum in all their variety, aniseed cordial, cherry brandy, and wines of all kinds. Almost every gentleman kept in his, cellar a liberal supply of these, wine especially being stored by the barrel, or in cases each containing six or twelve large square flasks. Tobacco and snuff too were in quite general use, the last named being greatly affected by the gentility., Tobacco was smoked in pipes or chewed, but was not manufactured generally if at all into cigars, not a solitary instance appearing in all these inventories of a cigar as forming part of any of the losses.

The people of those times were respectably and comfortably clad. Their store of clothing was abundant and good; many of the fabrics used were elegant, and the fashion of their dress was frequently very stately. Pantaloons, it is true, were not yet in vogue, but instead there were breeches of leather, buckskin, worsted, homespun, stockinett, black and brown broadcloth, plush, and velvet for winter, and for summer of linen, cotton, nankin, white dimity, and drilling. Dress-coats, surtouts, and great-coats were made of bearskin, buckskin, homespun, denin, wilton, broadcloth, velvet, and sagatha. Cloaks were of camlet, broadcloth, and velvet; vests of linen, twilled cotton, diaper, white dimity, serge, broadcloth, and velvet; gloves of leather; hats of felt, castor, and velvet; shirts of linen, cotton, homespun, and tow; stockings of woolen, cotton, linen, and yarn. For boots and shoes almost every householder had in his house whole calf-skins dressed, and sides of sole and other leather. Such were the materials of which ,the garments of the men of "Seventy-six" were made, and they bespeak comfort in every case and dignified respectability in most.

The apparel of the ladies was still more varied, and exhibits their characteristic love of gay colors and beautiful fabrics. The assortment is almost endless, combining the useful and the ornamental. Judging from the inventories presented by their husbands, the ladies of those times must all have considered caps and aprons indispensable to their toilet, the humblest among them having been the possessors of an indefinite number of each, the former being made for the most part of cambric, taffety, millinet, gauze, and linen, and the latter of lawn, Holland linen, taffety, muslin, millinet, check, homespun, and even tow. Their bonnets and hoods were of beaver, satin, and bright-colored silks and velvets; their cloaks of worsted, broadcloth, camlet, flannel, gay-colored silks, white and black satin, purple and black and blue velvet, and brilliant scarlet cloth. Their dresses formed a boundless variety of material. The common short gown, which seems to have been a great favorite with the ladies when they were not in full toilet, was of kersey, Holland linen, worsted, wilton, calamanco,(19*)check, homespun, and linsey-woolsey. Their gowns were of check, striped cotton, worsted, striped homespun calico, "boughten calico," muslin, chintz, outside chintz lined with calico, white Holland, blue and striped Holland, black and blue Durant,(20*) groset,(20*) bombazine, blue and black russel,(20*) moreen, poplin, velvet, French tabby, and of lutestring and white, crimson, and other colored silks and satins. For the hands they wore gloves of knit stuff; silk, and leather; their stockings were of thread, cotton, muslin, yarn, linen, worsted, and silk; and their shoes of cloth, prunella, calamanco, silk, and leather. Shawls were of cloth, cashmere, and taffety. Handkerchiefs and kerchiefs abounded in their wardrobe, and were of linen, cambric, taffety, muslin, gauze, and Barcelona silk. Of shifts and petticoats their supply seems to have been well-nigh inexhaustible, some ladies recounting as many as twelve or fifteen of each, the former being made of homespun and muslin at times, but chiefly of fine five- and six-hundred linen, and the latter of linsey, tow, flannel, kersey, dimity, bombazine, and calamanco.

Equally abundant and various were the articles of household wear. The bed and all that appertained to it was the special pride of the mistress of the house. It was almost invariably of sweet, soft, and downy feathers. Its sheets were of the finest "homespun" five- or six-hundred linen. The bedspreads were of calico, and of "blue and white stuff;" the quilts of calico, calamanco, black and blue durant, green and blue "Persian" and of lutestring; the blankets and rug of homespun and imported spotted woolen and flannel, and especially the famous Rose blanket; and the towering posts at either corner suspended "testers" of cloth, and were garnished with valances and showy curtains of dimity, damask, calico, chintz, diaper, blue and white stuff, homespun striped and wove with damask flowers, or silk. For table use they had napkins of linen, and tablecloths of diaper, diaper-wove huckabuck, kersey, or damask plain and flowered.

The household furniture of those simple times was a strange contrast to the kinds now in use. China was as rare as gold; most commonly three china cups and saucers comprised the entire holiday outfit of a respectable family, though the number rose sometimes, to six, but seldom to a dozen. These and bowls were usually of delft or queensware. Plates were equally seldom of china, but, together with servers, dishes, platters, spoons, tea-pots, coffee-pots, and tankards, were of pewter, brilliantly polished, and rivaling the richest silver in lustre. Pewter and copper were the ornamental, and iron was then as now the serviceable metal. Of the two former were also made basins,, ewers, pint and quart mugs, porringers, ladles, and tea-and coffee-kettles. There was but little white glassware in use, and the few jelly-glasses, wine-glasses, half-pint and gill glasses, salt-cellars, tumblers, and punch-goblets of glass that are enumerated were evidently highly prized. Looking-glasses and clocks embellished the houses of the wealthy or highly genteel, and the size of the former seems to have corresponded with the degree of their owners social standing. Stoves were not in general use, and coal was unknown except for blacksmithing purposes. Wood, turf and charcoal were the only fuels. The two former were beginning to be burned in "Franklins," and in cast-iron stoves, known as "ten-plate stoves," but were most commonly used in fireplaces, provided with dogs and andirons, and which in the kitchens were huge caverns, garnished with a forest of chains, hooks, pots and trammels, swinging on iron cranes, or "smoke-jacks," over fires that were fed by great logs from four to six feet in length.

The principal articles of furniture, even in the best ordered household, were not numerous. Mahogany was the most costly and the most aristocratic material, and of it were made their choice chairs, straight and high-backed, bedsteads, chests, drawers, stands, tables, and buffets. Few families were without a "dresser" and a "corner cupboard;" and the wealthier ones adorned their houses with the stately "Dutch cupboard," made of costly wood in Holland, and almost capacious enough for a town-meeting. The ordinary household furniture was usually made of busted, gum, pine, walnut, cherry, or red cedar. This last was the favorite, and being indigenous to the State it was within reach of all, and applied to almost every possible use,— for pails, tubs, piggons, lye-casks, tables, stands, cupboards, slawbanks(21*), churns, and because of its fragrant odor and indestructibility, as well as from the belief that it was never infested by vermin, was especially appropriated to bureaus, clothes-presses, and the like. If few families were without a cupboard, full as few were without the large and small wheel for spinning wool, linen, and cotton, and the loom for weaving these into the cloth for the varied uses of the household. It is rarely that these are absent from any extended inventory.

The men and women of the Revolution had few books, but what they had they mastered thoroughly and exhaustively. Out of the six or seven hundred whose losses are inventoried in the old record we are considering, only forty-three present any claims for books pillaged or destroyed. This may be due in part to the fact that the British and Hessian marauders attached slight value to books, especially the kind which formed the literary treasures of our ancestors, or that they considered them too cumbersome to carry off. Still they were not so cumbersome but that they might have been destroyed. The chief reason for the small losses of our ancestors in this line is doubtless that books were as rare as rubies, and were possessed by a few only. Wherever there were collections of them a Bible or a psalm-book were found in the number, and, indeed, most commonly constituted the entire library. As a matter of curiosity and historical record, I append the names of those who owned books, together with the titles of the latter and their value, as follows:

Applegate, Josiah, New Brunswick, "1 Bound Book of John Milton’s Work, 10/."

Ayres, Reuben, of Woodbridge, "2 Bibles & 10 other Books, £2.10."

Ayres, Joseph, of Woodbridge, "1 Bible, 1 hymn-book, and some other books, 12/."

Allfoard, Benjamin, of Woodbridge, "1 Small new Bible, I Psalm. Book, 8/."

Bray, John, of Raritan Landing, "The whole volumes of the Spectator, £3; Barket on the New Testament, £2."

Bishop, James, of Woodbridge, "2 Bibles & 1 new Dictionary, 15/."

Brown, Joseph, of Piscataway, "1 Small Bible, 6/."

Brown, George, of Woodbridge, "1 Bible and some other Books, 15/."

Boice, Cornelius, of Piscataway, "1 Book bound with Silver and Silver Clasps, & a Silver Chain, £3.15."

Crawford, John, of Woodbridge, "1 Bible, 6/; 2 Sermon-Books, I large, 7/."

Compton, Samuel, of Woodbridge, "2 Common bibles, 10/; 1 Testament, 3/; 1 psalm-book, 2/6."

Dunn, Benjamin, Piscataway, "2 Books, Salman’s Gazetteer & Harvy, £1.4."

Dally, Samuel, Woodbridge, "1 Bible & Sermon Book, 9/."

Deare, Jonathan, Princeton, "A number of Law & other books value of £40."

Evans, William, New Brunswick, "Several fine books worth 35/."

Flatt, John, Woodbridge, "1 Common Bible, 6/."

Field, Michel, Piscataway, " 1 Small Bible. 4/6; 1 psalm-book, & 3 other books, 10/."

French, William, Piscataway, "3 bibles, 1 large dutch, ye other English, £2.66."

Folkerson, Philip, Middlebush, "1 Large note-book, 3/; 1 Testament, 1 Spelling-Book, 6/6."

Freeman, Henry, Woodbridge, "2 Wolloms of Laws Bound, £3."

Griggs, Benjamin, South Brunswick, "1 dutch Bible, Silver Mounted, £3.15."

Hyer, Jacob, Princeton, "1 large chest of Valuable Books of different kinds, £10."

Lester, Joseph, Woodbridge, "1 large new Bible, 30/."

Matcher, Mary, New Brunswick, "1 new Bible, 6/."

Moores, Samuel, Woodbridge, "Several Valuable books, worth 20/."

Martin, John, Woodbridge, "1 Book called the London Art, 17. 6."

Neilson, James, New Brunswick, "1 Case of Books, worth £60."

Pound, Isaac, Piscataway, "1 Bible 2 Small Books, 12/."

Roe, Rev. Azel, Woodbridge, "1 Very Elegant Bible, 4 to £3."

Randolph Ruth, Piscataway, "1 Large Bible, 30/."

Read, Rev. Israel, Piscataway, "Considerable part of my Library which contained upwards of 150 volumes, £18.15."

Schenck, Peter T., Raritan Landing, "4 Vollems of Josephes Works, £1.10; 1 Silver Bound dutch Psalm Book, 15/."

Stivers, Randolph, Woodbridge, "1 Small Bible, 6/."

Stelle, Thomson, Piscataway, "Phillipse’s Dictionary, Harris Do in 2 Vols., £1.4; I Bound Book of New Jersey Laws, £1.10."

Stewart, David, Woodbridge, "1 Bible, 5/."

Tombs, Michel, Woodbridge, "1 Bible, 1 Testament & Spelling Book, 9/."

Van Ardala, Isaac, New Brunswick, "2 dutch books, 1 davds psalms ye other a prayer, 10/."

Van Deventer, Jacob, Piscataway, "1 Selait, 3/.; 1 Small bible, 6/.; 1 book ye yg mans Corn", 3/.; 1 Psalter & Psalm book, 3/."

Voorhees, John (Shoemaker), New Brunswick, "2 English Bibles, 5 Testaments, and 1 Psalm Book, 11. A large quantity of books worth £7."

Voorhees, Gette, New Brunswick," I Psalm Book with Silver hooks and clasps, 15/."

Voorhees, John (carpenter), New Brunswick, "1 large Dutch Bible, 1 Testament, Silver Bound, £4.10. Harris’s Travels, Builders Dictiony, 2 Vole., £110."

Van Heursen, William, New Brunswick, "a parcel of dutch & English Books."

Vantilburg, William, Kingston, "5 Maps of 4 Quarters of World & Globe, £7.10."

Williamson, Samuel, Raritan Landing, 1 Bible."

The precious metals, and articles for ornament or use made of them, were almost as scarce as books. Silver teaspoons were very rare, and the old record shows that not more than three or six were possessed by substantial and mechanics, and more commonly they could boast of one only. Silver table spoons were yet more rare. It was seldom that comparatively wealthy families owned them, or any other household articles made of that precious material. Occasionally, however, in these inventories we come across families who counted among their valuables a huge tankard, or a quart bowl, or a pint mug, or salt-cellars of silver. In one instance a silver server weighing fifty-nine and a half ounces is mentioned, and a dozen silver-handled knives and forks. Silver knee-buckles, shoe-buckles, and stock-buckles were largely worn by our ancestors when equipped in their best breeches of broadcloth, plush, nankeen, or velvet, as also silver vest and breeches buttons. Sleeve-buttons of gold and silver adorned their shirts, and frequently had lockets attached containing relics or miniatures. Watches and snuff-boxes of gold and silver formed an essential part of every well-bred gentleman’s outfit, and the ladies wore finger- and ear- rings of gold, chains of gold, with pendants, trinkets, and lockets, and in some cases necklaces, solitaires, stars, and other ornaments of garnet and gold or gold and brilliants. But beyond the possession of a plain gold ring, these were rare and exceptional cases.

The modes of locomotion were widely different in those days from those which now prevail. There were then no turnpikes, macadamized roads, or railroads. The travel was tedious, and the country roads few and rugged. Journeys were mostly undertaken on horseback, and it was thus the men and women went to church, to mill, and "to town." Side-saddles and riding-coats and habits for women were therefore a universal necessity. The vehicles outside of the heavy lumbering wagon were riding-chairs, chaises, and gigs, the bodies sunk down between two high wheels and swung on wooden springs. In the winter sleds were used as now, and besides these nearly every man had his pleasure-sleigh for family use. It must have been a pleasant sight to see these when laden with ladies clad in their many-colored silks, satins, and velvets, and especially pleasant must have been the contrast of their brilliant scarlet cloaks with the snow-white mantle which covered the earth.

It is an interesting inquiry to compare with present prices those that then prevailed for such articles as constituted the necessaries of life. And in prosecuting it we should bear in mind that our ancestors followed "York" currency, as indeed we continued to do until a recent, period. A "pound" was twenty "York" shillings, and the "York" shilling was equivalent to twelve and one-half cents. A pound was therefore two dollars and fifty cents. If wheat be taken as the standard for arriving at the purchasing power of money, it will be found that one dollar would then. buy as much as three dollars will now buy. It follows that a man who was then worth one dollar was as well, off as one who to-day is worth three dollars, and this is the relative difference in the purchasing power of money at the two periods.

The men of those times studied brevity. This is apparent in all their writings, not so much perhaps in the expression of their ideas concisely as in their economy of letters. Their abbreviations of words, which was the fashion of that aid much earlier days, were very numerous and perplexing from their peculiarity. Some of them require as , much patience for their interpretation as a rebus. They were not confined to particular and much used technical words or to final syllables, but were applied indiscriminately. "The" was abbreviated to "ye," "your" to "companion" to "comp"," "hundred" to "young" to "ye," "Fitz" to "Fz," and so on indefinitely. When two consonants came together one was usually dropped, and a circumflex over the one that was retained denoted the elision. Thus "wagon," according to the established usage of those days, was correctly spelled with two "gs," and when it was spelled with one only the writer signified that he knew better by resorting to the circumflex. So also with such words as common, trammel, cellar, pillow, committee, etc., one of the doublets was uniformly dropped, and the writers knowledge of its absence indicated by the circumflex. Their capitalization was equally peculiar, and was as systematic as that now in use if less correct. The leading and emphatic words, or, in the language of a writer of that day, "all the more eminent words in a sentence," were written with capitals, and also all such as derived a certain stateliness or solemnity from their forming parts of legal phrases or doctrinal formulas, "all names of arts, sciences, and trades," and "all noun substantives." In this, however, they followed a usage which had prevailed or many years even among elegant writers in the mother-country, and which continued here some years after it had become obsolete there. As having some relation to their style in composition, I am tempted to note here some very odd collocations that occur in these inventories, by which the most incongruous things are frequently jumbled together in strange companionship in one entry. They are very quaint, and their simplicity will provoke a smile. For instance, among the entries are such as these: "2 fine white Shirts and a pepper-mill; "15 lbs. of Butter and pot and 6 Shifts;" "1 pillow-case with 7 lbs. of Sugar;" "1 Silk camlet Vest, 2 pewter plates;" "24 lbs. of cheese and 1 pr. of common Gloves;" "1 large Hog and 1 good Teakettle;" "1 Tankard and 1 pr. of new Sheets;" "1 Large Bible and 1 new Silk Bonnet;" "1 pr. of Striped Trowsers and 1 pewter teapot;" "1 looking Glass, 1 Bible, 1 hand-saw and 25 fowls;" "1 Heifer, 3 years old, and 2 new Shirts;" "1 Cradle and a large Bake Trough," "1 good bedstead and 16 Bus. Turnips;" "1 new fine Shirt, 1 sheep;" "1 Tea-kettle and Grindstone;" "Sett Chaney and good Bible;" "1 English Bible and 1 Smoothing Iron;" "1 Musket and 1 Mair, 7 years old;" "1 yearling Calf and 1 Iron pot;" "1 psalm book and 2 bus. hard salt."

It is impossible to make even a cursory examination of these old inventories without remarking the great number of guns that were in the possession of our ancestors. The abundance of deer, bears, foxes, and wolves will partly but not entirely explain this. It is probable that their nearly universal distribution was largely due to the policy of the proprietors who originally owned and governed the State, and who made the ownership of a musket one of the conditions of their grants of lands to settlers. In their "Grants and Concessions," in order that "the planting of the province may be more speedily promoted," they stipulate to grant as follows: "Unto all persons who had already adventured to the province, or who shall transport themselves or servants before Jan. 1, 1665: To every Freeman who shall go with the first Governor" etc., "armed with a good Musket, bore twelve bullets to the pound, with ten pounds of Powder & 20 pounds of Bullets, with Bandeliers & Match convenient," etc., "150 acres; and for every able servant that he shall carry with him, armed and provided as aforesaid, 150 acres." The same stipulations were extended to those who should go in two successive years thereafter. And the policy was kept up by the proprietors to a much later date. Whatever was the cause of the general supply which was found to exist in 1775, it was most fortunate for our ancestors and their cause, since all soldiers of the State establishment or of the Continental army were required to furnish themselves with arms, the resolution of Congress: being "that each of the privates be allowed, instead of a bounty, one felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, and a pair of shoes, the men to find their own arms."(22*)

The study of our ancestors in Middlesex County, which we have now concluded, has been a prolonged and quite close one, and the views we have been enabled to take of their social condition have been clear and minute. We have crossed their thresholds and inspected the interiors of their households. We have seen their few comforts, elegancies, and luxuries, and have grown familiar with that which made up the sum of their common necessaries. Their food, raiment, furniture, utensils, and industries have been inspected in more or less close detail. We have had near observations of their manners, customs, and peculiarities. We have been witnesses of their prevalent substantial well-being at the opening of the war of the Revolution, and of the privations which they endured and the indignities and outrages to which they were subjected when the British soldiery occupied their farms, villages, and towns and burned their dwellings and crops. Their patient endurance, their zealous patriotism, their unconquerable devotion to the cause of liberty and independence, their thrift, frugality. simplicity, rectitude, and fortitude have all passed before us like the scenes of a diorama, and the result has been to lift these men to a higher level. In all the qualities which constitute genuine manhood they were rich beyond precedent, and they remain at this day the best models for our imitation in all those solid and unobtrusive virtues which make a vigorous and great people. Their entire record may be scanned by those of us who are their descendants and inheritors with praiseworthy pride and reverential gratitude. May their memory remain green among us so long as liberty is worth sacrifices, sufferings, privations, wounds, and death!(23*)

* Referring to the Committee of Safety.

** Scots Magazine, 1776.

*** Ibid., for February, 1776.

(4*) Ibid., October, 1776.

(5*) Marshall, vol. i. p. 119.

(6*) Ibid., vol.1. p. 121.

(7*) Ibid., vol. 1. p. 121.

(8*) The British spoliated six churches in Middlesex County, viz.; "The Dutch Reformed Church at New Brunswick, £300; Christ Church of New Brunswick, £40 158.; St. James Church in Piscataway, £110 16s. 9d.; the Presbyterian Meeting-House at New Brunswick, £400; the Princeton Meeting-House, £160 4s. 2d.; and the Congregation of Metuching, £14 5s."

(9*) Simcoes Journal, p. 66.

(10*) Pp. 109and 316.

(11*) Marshall, vol. 1.

(12*) See inventory of damages in Middlesex, p. 248.

(13*) I have examined the record of the "property damaged or destroyed by the Continental army or by the militia," etc., in New Jersey. The entire record is contained in one small volume, which Is preserved in the State Library. The counties from which there are returns are Bergen, Morris, Essex, Somerset, and Burlington. No damages seem to have been committed in Middlesex by our armies, for the reason probably that their operations were principally confined to the hilly portion of the Stare lying to the north, and also because the British had so completely stripped the people of Middlesex as to leave nothing worth taking fur the patriot troops.

(14*) Capt. Richard Gibb resided in New Brunswick In the house lately known as John Hicks, 143 Barnet Street, and had a farm near by which the old inventory says was called Longfield’s farm. This was at or near the present site of Weston’s mills. His houses at both places were pillaged, and the one at Loigfle1d’s, which he says in his inventory was three-quarters of a mile from town, was totally destroyed. His losses are inventoried at over £440.

(15*) This and the four following affidavits are to be found in the "Records of Damages" in Somerset County.

(16*) Omitted here on account of lack of space.

(17*) Guest’s Poems and Journal, pp.- 144, 145, 146.

(18*) My grandfather pointed out to me when a lad the place of Voorhees death. It was on the road between the Potters Field and Town Lane, that ran from the Trenton turnpike to Georges road, now within the city limits of New Brunswick.

(19*) A kind of serge.

(20*) Durant is the fabric known as "everlasting;" russel was a kind of linsey-woolsey. I have not been able to ascertain what groset was. Calamanco was a stuff resembling prunella.

(21*) A "slawbank," or "slabank," was an indispensable article to every housekeeper in the olden times. The name is derived from the Dutch "sloap bauck," or sleeping-bench. It was sometimes constructed in the shape of a cupboard, with closing doors, and contained a bed. More commonly it was a box holding the bedding, which was attached to the wall by hinges. It was folded up against the wall by day, and at night was let down to the floor to serve as a bed. Occasionally it took the shape of a bench or sofa to sit on during the day, opening by hinges to form a bed by night.

(22*) Journal of Congress, Oct. 9, 1775.

(23*) Paper by Charles D. Deshler.