by AnneMarie Hornyak
President, Ralston Historical Association
Almost 250 years ago during the American Revolution, the people of Mendham were involved in various ways in our country’s fight for independence from England. How did this struggle effect this quiet, quaint, farming community?
Many of the men and boys of Mendham joined the militia of Morris County under the direction of Colonel Jacob Ford. Some were as young as sixteen years. In June of 1775, the Provincial Congress declared that the people of New Jersey were to arm for defense.
Mendhamites between the ages of sixteen and fifty years were required to enroll in militia companies, and each were expected “to furnish himself with a musket or firelock, and bayonet, sword or tomahawk, a steel ram-rod, worm, priming wire and brush fitted there-to, a cartridge box to contain twenty-three rounds of cartridge, twelve flints, and a knapsack.”1 These recruits trained in Morristown on the Green and were joined in the fall of 1776 by soldiers from the Continental Army who came to Morris County by way of the Hudson Highlands. Many of these men originated from the Massachusetts Colony. By January of 1776 sixty men from Mendham had enlisted in a company led by Captain Nodiah Wade.
One of these men was Henry Clark Jr., who served 16 months as a private in the Morris County militia despite the reported lameness in his left wrist. Some other Mendhamites who served as part of the militia included Caleb Baldwin, a gun manufacturer and David Thompson, a Revolutionary War officer and organizer of the Mendham Company of Minutemen.
Lebbeus Dodd House
One name well known in Mendham history was Lebbeus Dodd. He was a clockmaker who after joining the militia served as a captain of the artillery, but by order of General Washington was removed from active duty to establish an armory on his Mendham farm. Here muskets were manufactured and repaired in a shed in his yard. All was done in great secrecy and was well guarded since there were frequent raids by soldiers from the British camps.
During the first winter encampment at Jockey Hollow, supplies were very scarce, and hunting was impossible. The soldiers would go for days without any food. They would chew on tiny morsels of black birch bark gnawed from a stick of wood. One story told of a soldier who cooked his shoe to have something to eat.
The people of Mendham were a target of pilfering and ravaging by the troops, not always British soldiers but our own desperate men at Jockey Hollow. They fought for survival by stealing. Records at the State Library in Trenton revealed many small claims were filed during this period by Mendhamites for the theft of such things as geese, heads of cabbage, bushels of potatoes, sheep, and calves. Horse thievery was also very prevalent.
Widespread illnesses such as typhoid, dysentery, sore throats, and fevers spread quickly during these early years of the war effecting both the soldiers and the people of Mendham. A program of inoculation was established for the both the army and the civilians. Some Mendham farmhouses served as inoculation centers. Most of those who were inoculated survived, but those who were not died.
Drake Barn
Several churches in Mendham took in those with smallpox to isolate them. Even General Washington became dangerously ill with this disease. A hospital was established in a barn on the Drake property. So many people died from this disease that the coffins were lined up against the stone foundation of the barn. At the Hilltop Church the pews were removed so it could be used as a hospital for the soldiers. Twenty-seven unknown soldiers lie in the churchyard with a single stone to mark their final resting place. In the same churchyard one can view a gravestone in memory of Reverend Thomas Lewis who passed away on August 20, 1777. According to the church records, he died “because of overwork in his parish and the hospital.”2
Rev. Thomas Lewis Gravestone
In Memoriam Twenty Seven Soldiers
Throughout the war years Mendham’s forges and blacksmith shops produced guns and ammunition for the troops. While the men were off to war, the women took over the heavy work on the farms as best they could. They cleared the land, planted the crops, and reaped the harvest. They kept hearth and home together. “A boiling mush pot swung from the crane of many a Mendham kitchen to give cheer to a passing wayfarer or hungry soldier – a pot of soup was always a-simmer.”3 One citizen of Mendham, David Babbit, for ninety days sledded to Morristown to work in his blacksmith shop to condition the soldiers’ guns, and his sled was always full of food and other goods for the army. “All that a small village could do in a situation involving an army of some thousands of men, Mendham did.”4
Many Mendhamites actively supported the war effort in different ways. The second encampment at Jockey Hollow during the severe winter of 1779-1780 brought much hardship not only to the soldiers but to the people of Mendham. There was so much snow that the roads were impassable with snow drifts of ten to fifteen feet high. Many of the farm animals were buried in the snow and needed to be dug out. With teams of oxen, Mendham men worked for many hours to help clear the roads.
Sutton House on Corey Lane
The homes in Mendham, though very drafty and cold, served as shelters for the army. Two soldiers had an argument at the Sutton House on Corey Lane, and one was badly wounded. He was cared for and nursed back to health by Mrs. Sutton. “[She] refused to take money for caring for the man. He purchased in New York City enough chintz to drape her bed and sent to her as a token of appreciation.”5 French soldiers were quartered in the Drake House, and Abner Condit also provided shelter for four soldiers. These patriots prevailed upon families from Mendham time and time again.
Leddell Mill
Mendhamites provided an essential service of supplies throughout the war. Their streams formed the headwaters of two rivers of North Jersey where grist and sawmills were located. Two brothers operated mills, Samuel Leddel on the Raritan River at Roxiticus and William Leddel, one of Mendham’s early doctors, operated a sawmill along the Passaic River at Jockey Hollow. Dr. William Leddel married Phebe Wick, the daughter of Henry Wick, on whose farm the Continental Army stayed the winter of 1779-1780. He served as a lieutenant during the Revolutionary War, providing medical care. His mill ground grain and flour for the army.
Logan Grist Mill
John Logan’s mill in Ralston served as a commissary for Washington’s army. His store provided food and basic household items for those in Jockey Hollow. Payment for such goods was so delayed and the Continental currency so inflated that Logan went into debt, and soon after the war was forced to sell his mill to John Ralston. “Logan’s consequent fall into bankruptcy and sale of his estate and the mill property for the benefit of his creditors makes it very clear that John Logan was indeed an unfortunate casualty of the war.”6
This quaint, farming community did indeed play an important role during the years of the American Revolution and our country’s fight for independence. As summed up by Janet Timms in Neighbors to the Winter Camp, “Illustrious deeds have not been claimed by Mendham’s families of the Revolution. Their names do not lie among those prominently displayed in history, however, born of necessity, they faced great difficulties and crisis with fortitude and courage, which would have destined a less energetic people to despair.”7
Footnotes:
1. Neighbors to the Winter Camp, p39
2. Our Mendham, p. 56.
3. Ibid., p. 58.
4. Ibid., p. 61.
5. Ibid., p. 62.
6. Neighbors to the Winter Camp, p. 17.
7. Ibid., p. 86.
Photo Credits:
Lebbeus Dodd House, Our Mendham, p. 59
Reverend Thomas Lewis Gravestone, Our Mendham, p. 57
Drake Barn, Our Mendham, p. 57
Sutton House, Legacy Through the Lens, p. 30
Leddell Mill on the road local to Jockey Hollow (now called Tempe Wick Road), Historic American Buildings Survey
Logan Grist and saw mill built ca. 1742, later owned by John Logan, The Mendhams, p. 109
Bibliography
Brookside Woman’s Club, Neighbors to the Winter Camp, 1977. Second printing 1979.
Foster, Janet W. Legacy Through the Lens, A Study of Mendham Architecture. Scott Printing Corporation. Copyright by the Mendham Free Public Library, 1986.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Liddell Mill, Jockey Hollow, Morristown, Morris County, NJ. Documentation Compiled After 1933. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.nj0683.photos/?sp=3
Mayor’s Tercentenary Committee, The Mendhams. The Mendham Township Committee Brookside, New Jersey, 1964.
Mockridge, Ella, Our Mendham, copyright Sarah T. Lamken, 1961.
The Ralston Historical Association is planning to reprint
Neighbors to the Winter Camp.
