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PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE.
VII.

ANCIENT FAMILIES

OF

BOHEMIA MANOR;

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAfES.

BY
REV. CHARLES PAYSON MALLERY,
AUTHOR OF "historical SKETCHES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;'* CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF
THE DELAWARE HISTORICAL SOCIETY; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF
THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE FOLLOWING PAPER WAS PREPARED AT THE REQUEST, AND
PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERVISION, OF THE
DELAWARE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE,
WILMINGTON. 1888.

Copyright, 1888, by Charles Payson Mallery.

1-^

CONTENTS.

I.
BOHEMIA MANOR AND AUGUSTINE HERMAN.
PAGE
Lord Baltimore's Territory — Stuyvesant's Claims — Augustine Herman's
Mission — His Journey, Map, Profession, Romances — Herman ob
tains a Manor — His Manor described — He and his Family remove
to it — His Manor- House — His Social and Domestic Habits . . 7
II.
HERMAN'S SONS AND OTHER HEIRS.
Herman's Famous Charger — His Celebrated Ride — The Death of Her
man — A Visit to his Grave — The Herman Portraits — The Succession
to the Title, etc. — Fruitless Litigations — The Ensors — The Lawsons
— Colonel Edward Oldham's Family  15
III.
HERMAN'S DAUGHTERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.
Anna Margaretta marries Matthias Vanderheyden — Their Beautiful
Ariana — Colonel John Thompson and his Family — " Old-One-Hun-
dred-and-Five" — Broad Creek Meeting-House — Bethel and Bishop
Asbury — Governor Clayton's Life, Death, and Burial — Herman's
Village — The Labadists settle on Bohemia Manor . . .25

4 CONTENTS. IV.
THE SLUYTER AND BOUCHELLE FAMILIES. PAGE
The Sluyter Family— The Labadist Bishop— He reserves and occupies
Third Neck— Hendrick, the Ancestor— The Ancestral Estate— The
Ancient Graveyard— The Labadie Mill— Solomon Hersey— St. Augus
tine Church and Graveyard— Lege de Bouchelle and his Descendants
—Dr. S. Bouchelle's Elaborate Tomb— The Old Family Graveyard . 34
V.
THE BAYARD FAMILY.
Their Origin — Arrival in America — Coat of Arms — Petrus Bayard — His
Son Samuel — Old Dutch Bible — Colonel Peter Bayard's Mansion —
Rev. Dr. Rodgers — Vandegrift — Local Celebrities — A Military Char
acter — Remarkable Dream — Bayard Souvenirs ..... 46-
VI.
JAMES BAYARD'S DESCENDANTS.
James Bayard married Mary Ashton — An Ancient and Noted Mansion —
An Aged Occupant's Description — " Whitefield's Room" — Old Mrs.
Bayard, a Mother in Israel — James's Twins — Colonel John Bayard —
His Last Visit — His Death and his Tomb  58
VII.
DR. J. A. BAYARD'S CHILDREN.
The First James Ashton Bayard — Jane, a Devout Christian— John Hodge
Bayard — An Interesting Letter — The Distinguished James A. Bayard
— Governor Richard Bassett — A Joint Burial-Service — Bayard Graves
— Farewell to Bohemia Manor  g-

INTRODUCTION.

On March 21, 1887, at the request and in the presence of
the Historical Society of Delaware, the Rev. Charles Payson
Mallery, of New York City, delivered an address on the
'' Ancient Families of Bohemia Manor; their Homes and
their Graves." There was present a large and intelligent
audience, including representatives of the professions of law,
medicine, and divinity. The address was listened to with
untiring interest to its close, when a vote of thanks was
tendered the author, and a copy of his paper requested for
publication by the Society.

ANCIENT FAMILIES
O F
BOHEMIA MANOR;
THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

I.
BOHEMIA MANOR AND AUGUSTINE HERMAN.
Lord Baltimore's Territory — -Stuyvesant's Claims — Augustine Herman's
Mission — His Journey, Map, Profession, Romances — Herman obtains a
Manor — His Manor described — He and his Family remove to it — His
Manor-House — His Social and Domestic Habits.
In the list of secular studies history is among the most
interesting and important. Indeed, there seems to be an
almost universal desire to lift the misty veil of the past and
note the changing scenes that mark the progress of Adam's
family through all the centuries past and gone. Not alone
to satisfy the cravings of a curiosity that is commendable,
but because the richest lessons of wisdom are drawn from
the experience of the past. Still more interesting and im
portant is the general, and especially the biographical,
history of our own locality. Here, with emotions of
7

8 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
strange delight, we trace the heroic lives of the pioneers,
and with ever- increasing interest watch the growing fields
succeed the forest, the pleasant home supplant the rude
log cabin, and the gradual development of society as it
joins the onward march to a higher civilization.
On the other hand, there is a desire no less universal to
be remembered by those who come after us. Prompted
by this desire men have sought out the most enduring
material by which to transmit their names and their
achievements down the ages. They have reared monu
ments of granite, carved the solid marble, and written their
names on the everlasting rocks. But all have yielded to
the corroding power of Time, and their mouldering frag
ments are but subjects of doubt and speculation to the
antiquarian. " Written history is the great conservator of the past, and
the. most enduring memorial for the ages to come. The
wondrous tower on the plains of Shinar is levelled with
the dust from which it rose, and the glory of Babylon is
shrouded in darkness. The pomp and pride of Pharaoh,
the armies of Amalek, the power of Moab, the Syrian, the
Chaldean, and all the heroes and nations of antiquity are
known only through the written chronicles kept by the
scribes of Israel, — chronicles that point the student to the
dim and broken fragments of crumbling monuments that
strew the track of finished centuries, and tell him what
they are. Written history will be faithful to its mission
when statues of bronze and columns of marble have
crumbled away. It will not perish from the earth. Its
universality, its capability of reproduction and translation

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. g
into all languages, insures its duration to the end of
time." *
But apart from the history of the world, apart from the
discovery, history, and growth of our country, apart from
the settlement of the territory now constituting the States
of Delaware and Maryland, apart from all this, Bohemia
Manor has a history all its own, a history of deep and
absorbing interest, not only to the descendants of the old
pioneers, but to all who have found a home within its
borders, or have become familiar with its traditions and the
names of those who in the long past made the wilderness
to blossom as the rose. May we not then with pleasure
and profit devote an hour to the more prominent features
in the history of Bohemia Manor ?
Charles the First, King of England, in 1632 granted to
George Calvert (a royal favorite), whose title was Lord
Baltimore, a charter for the territory that was called Mary
land in honor of Queen Mary. But Lord Baltimore died
before the title was perfected, and his son Cecil Calvert,
according to the laws of primogeniture, inherited the title
and the grant designed for his father. This son, and in
fact each succeeding proprietary, laid claim not only to
what is now the State of Maryland, but to all the land and
water east of it as far as to the present State of New
Jersey, including the settlements on the Delaware, claimed
and occupied by the Dutch.
Under these circumstances it became the duty of Petrus
Stuyvesant, the Director-General of Holland's interests in
* Dr. Brower, Danville, Pennsylvania.

jQ ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
America, to challenge these assumptions, and vindicate the
claims of his own government. He accordingly despatched
an embassy to the governor of Maryland to adjust, if possi
ble, the controversy. For this important business he ap
pointed Augustine Herman, a man of ability, with whom
was associated as secretary and interpreter, a person named
Resolved Waldron. This embassy reached the Peninsula
by way of the Delaware River, crossed it, and entered the
Chesapeake Bay, down which they sailed until they arrived
at St. Mary's, the seat of government.'^ Here they met
the governor of Maryland, with whom they conferred.
On his return voyage it is probable that Herman as
cended the Bohemia River and crossed the territory that
in the near future was to come into his possession. At all
events, he was anxious to own and occupy some of Lord
Baltimore's broad acres, and, therefore, wrote to the latter,
offering to prepare a map of Maryland in consideration of
a gift of a manor. The proposition was accepted. Lord
Baltimore got the map and Herman became the happy
possessor of more than twenty thousand acres of the most
attractive and fertile land in Cecil and New Castle Counties,
to which, in honor of his native land, he gave the name of
" Bohemia Manor."
But little is known concerning the early history of Au
gustine Herman. Born in the city of Prague, in the king
dom of Bohemia, about the year 1621, he came to New
York in 1633, in the employment of the West India Com
pany. Later he was in company with Arent Corssen, and
* See Schuyler's " Colonial New York," vol. i., p. 55.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. n
in June, 1644, he was with Laurens Cornelisson, an agent of
Peter Gabry & Son. Three years later, he was appointed by
the Director and Council of New Netherlands, one of the
" Nine Men," a body of citizens selected to assist the govern
ment by their counsel and advice.
Herman was a man of good education, a surveyor by pro
fession, skilled in sketching and drawing, an adventurous
and enterprising merchant, and, as some one has said, " the
first beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade." A friendly
notice of his speculative genius is given by Van der Donk,
who describes him as a curious man and a lover of the
country, who made an experiment in planting indigo-seed
near New Amsterdam, which " grew well and yielded much."
He engaged in mercantile pursuits and acquired a large
estate in New York. His residence embraced an orchard
and extensive garden, situated on the west side of the present
Pearl Street, covering the line of Pine Street.*
There are various traditionary stories about the causes
which constrained Herman to surrender the comfort and
convenience which the occupancy of these possessions
afforded for the then wilds of Delaware and Maryland, with
all their attendant discomforts. It is known that a serious
disagreement, perhaps of long standing, existed between
Herman and Stuyvesant, because, as some suppose, the
Director-General insisted upon having the map which Her
man had drawn for Lord Baltimore, and which, no doubt,
would have been serviceable in adjusting the long-disputed
boundaries; or because, as others suppose, a love-rivalry
* See "New York Genealogical and Biographical Record," 1878.

12 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
had once existed between Herman and the Dutch governor
for the affection of some charming Dutch Frau, in which
Herman was the successful suitor, and which so aroused the
hostility of Stuyvesant that he made New Amsterdam too
hot for Herman, who, poor man, as soon as possible, trans
ferred himself and his property to Calvert's country.
If the lady who was the bone of contention was Herman's
second wife, of whom we know a thing or two to her dis
credit, the contentious governor had much reason for grati
tude that he missed her, for traditionary testimony afifirms
that she became a miserable wife, neglecting her husband,
and making it so hot for him and his household that he was
no longer the master of his home, and his children were
compelled to find shelter elsewhere. But a more reasonable
cause can be suggested for Herman's leaving New York and
settling in the South.
Among the early settlers in this country very many, from
ambitious feelings and long contact with titled men and
monarchies, manifested a strong inclination to introduce the
custom of entailing their lands, and establishing " manors,"
for the purpose of erecting large hereditary estates, and thus,
as they hoped, titled families for their descendants. The
Livingstons in New York, and Calvert and Carroll in Mary
land, as well as others elsewhere, attempted it. But all these
cob houses fell in ruins before the clay bodies of their found
ers had returned to dust, and the evils which the law of
primogeniture inflicted upon the junior members of a family,
and especially the interruption to agricultural improvement,
and the settlement and prosperity of the community, induced
the American statesmen and legislators of the past century

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. i>
to set their faces against the continuance of the system, and
by estabhshing modes of legally destroying an entail, in
perhaps nearly all of the States, have greatly limited and
largely defeated these intentions.*
But that these intentions were among the principal mo
tives that induced Herman to desire and eventually to
establish a manor, no one familiar with his history can
doubt.. A. fevir facts will substantiate this statement.
The tract of land which, with the title and privileges of
a manor, was granted to Augustine Herman in 1660 con
sisted of more than twenty thousand acres of some of the
best land in Cecil and Ne% Castle Counties, and is de
scribed and bounded as follows : It commenced on the old
Choptank Road, near the present residence of Mr. Thomas
Murphy in the vicinity of Middletown, thence north to the
head of Back Creek, thence down its waters and those of
the Elk River to their confluence with Bohemia River, and
up that stream to the place of beginning. To this large
tract he gave the name of Bohemia Manor, in honor of his
native land, and to it, in 1 661, he transported from New
York his family and as many of his friends as he could
induce to accompany him. Under the above date Herman
himself, in writing of his colony on the river, says, " I am
now engaging settlers to unite together in a village." If
this village was ever established, all trace of it is obliterated,
unless, as I think probable, one or two very ancient struc
tures still standing on the Manor are remnants of it.
At the time Augustine Herman founded and seated
* Thomas C. Hambly, author of "The Legend of Moore's Run."

H

ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR,

Bohemia Manor, he was about forty years old, and his
family consisted of his wife, Jannetje, daughter of Caspar
and Judith Varleth, of New Netherlands, who was born in
Utrecht, and was married in New Amsterdam on Decem
ber 10, 165 1 ; and their five children, who.se names were
Ephraim George, Casparus, Anna Margaretta, Judith, and
Francina. Herman selected a beautiful building site on the banks
of the Bohemia River, commanding a view of a broad ex
panse of waters towards the setting sun, and here he
erected the manor-house, a large and substantial structure
that stood for about one hundred and twenty-five years.
A few bricks and the outlines of a large cellar alone remain
to indicate where the building once stood.
It would be interesting to know something of the do
mestic and social life of the distinguished owner and occu
pant of this manor-house. Even before he moved from
New York he was reputed to be wealthy, and, from all that
we know of him afterwards, we conclude that for years he
must have lived in baronial ease and opulence on his
Manor, enjoying an abundance of the good things of this
life, including a well-spread board, a rich wardrobe, as well
as wines, fish, fowl, horses, and cattle. The walls of his
house were adorned with beautiful and expensive portraits
of himself and several members of his family, and not far
from his door was a deer-park, the outline of whose enclo
sure may still be traced.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

15

IL
HERMAN'S SONS AND OTHER HEIRS.
Herman's Famous Charger — His Celebrated Ride — The Death of Herman —
A Visit to his Grave — The Herman Portraits — The Succession to the Title,
etc. — Fruitless Litigations — The Ensors — The Lawsons — Colonel Edward
Oldham's Family.
We have referred to Herman's horses. One of these has
immortalized himself and his lordly rider by a most ex
traordinary feat. Tradition says that Herman, during his
residence on the Manor, had occasion to visit New York
in the interest of his property there, and that he made the
journey on horseback. We can well imagine that no gal
lant knight, in the days of chivalry, ever bestrode a nobler
animal than the favorite horse that bore the lord of the
Manor through the almost pathless forest to the great
city. There he found his estate in the possession of squat
ters, who ignored his rights and imprisoned him in a large
stone warehouse, up the high steps of which, to the second
story, he bravely rode, refusing to part from the companion
of his journey.
During the night he remounted his horse, and, spurring
it into fury, forced an opening in one of the large windows,
when horse and rider alighted on the ground below. So
great was the shock that the blood gushed in a stream
from the nostrils of the horse ; but so little did that affect

1 6 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR ;
either horse or rider that they forthwith swam the Hudson
River, then traversed the unexplored forests, swamps, and
streams of New Jersey, until they reached the banks of the
Delaware River opposite the town of New Castle, where
they crossed the stream, and finally arrived in safety at the
manor-house. Other versions of the same tradition are extant, so that
it is difficult to decide which is accurate. Suffice it to say
that something of this general character occurred, for Her
man himself had the feat pictured on canvas, and when the
celebrated charger died gave him decent burial in his own
family graveyard. Other misfortunes overtook the lord of
the Manor. In a few years after his removal to Maryland
his first wife died, and she was the first, or certainly one of
the first, to find burial in the graveyard which he had laid
out in his vineyard on his home plantation. His older
children, now still older grown, had married, and moved
from under the parental roof to establish homes of their
own. Thus left alone, in course of time, Herman, that he
might have some one to assist him in the superintendence of
his large establishment, but especially that he might have
some one to care for him in his declining days, decided to
take to himself a second wife. This was a mistake and
misfortune that proved fatal to his peace and prosperity.
The new wife neglected him, and sorrow and sickness
became his portion. Finally, worn out in body and dis
quieted in soul, the once wealthy and influential lord of the
Manor breathed his last, and was buried beside his first
wife, and near the noble horse which had delivered its.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

17

owner from imprisonment. At the time of his death
Herman was about sixty-six years old, and had occupied
the Manor about a quarter of a century. Over his grave
was placed a large stone tablet, which Herman had ordered
previous to his death, and which bears the following in
scription : AVGVSTINE HERMEN, BOHEMIAN,
THE FIRST FOVNDER &
SEATER OF BOHEMIA MANNER.
ANNO i66i.*
This stone that has withstood the wear and tear of two
hundred winters I have frequently seen. It is about four
inches thick, three feet wide, and seven feet long. Years
ago it was removed from the spot it was intended to mark,
and now lies several hundred yards distant therefrom, and
the grave itself is entirely obliterated. I doubt whether
three persons, besides myself, are living to-day who could
tell just where Herman lies buried. I may remark in
passing that the grave is about five hundred feet due north
from the house, long ago destroyed by fire, which was the
Bohemia Manor home of Governor Richard Bassett, who,
by the way, became the possessor of the site of Herman's
grave and Herman's house, and of a portion of its fur
niture, including the portraits of Herman and his horse,
his wife, and one of his sons.
Just here let me quote a few lines, in simple language,
from the diary of a young girl who, as long ago as May,
* Evidently the inscription is the work of an unskilful and illiterate artisan.
2

1 8 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
1815, visited the spot I have just described. She says,
"We strayed all around Governor Bassett's garden, accom
panied by the gardener, who is a Swede. There was a
spacious orchard. Mrs. Hodgson asked me if I had ever
taken a walk to the old manor-house. I told her that I
had not, but that I would like to see where the old manor-
house once stood. She said I might also see where old
Herman was buried. His tomb is there yet. By this time
we had reached the end of the orchard. . . . Henry, the
gardener, opened the gate. We soon reached the spot
where Herman and his horse were buried. We found his
grave among the sumachs and elders. We saw the place
where the house and garden were once located.
" Mrs. H. told me that she had all their pictures in her
room. . . . When we returned to the house Mrs. Bassett
asked us to tea, and after tea we went in to see the pictures.
There was one of old Herman in life-size, one of his wife,
one of his son, and one of his son's wife."
Copies of the above-named pictures, or at least of those
of Herman and his horse and Herman's wife, are now in
the possession of Mr. James R. C. Oldham and Mrs. Dr. C.
H. B. Massey, both of whom are descendants of the brave
Bohemian. The features of the latter, as represented upon
the canvas, are decidedly German. His hair parts in the
middle and falls in thick locks to the shoulders. He has a
beardless face, prominent cheek-bones, firmly-set lips, and
piercing eyes. He wears a straight-breasted, red-colored
frock-coat, an ample white necktie that falls upon his
bosom, and ruffles that are so full and long that they half
cover his hands. One of his hands is besmeared with

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. jq
blood that flows from the nostrils of the panting charger at
his side.
The portrait of Madam Herman is probably the only
representation extant of that distinguished lady. Her hair
is black, her, forehead high, her nose sharp, and her mouth
small. Her skirt is of a light-colored material, while her
overskirt (which does not completely cover her dress) and
its body are of green, — the latter being pleated. Her arms
are bare from the wrists to the elbows. Her dress is cut
moderately low at the neck, where is a broad lace collar.
Of all the distinguished men of provincial and colonial
times I cannot recall one who so earnestly endeavored to
immortalize himself as Augustine Herman. He called his
Manor by the name of the land of his nativity and he gave
his own name to a cove, and a stream, and other natural
objects within his territory. He willed that his heirs
should adopt his name, and even provided that his name
and his title of " lord of the Manor" should be engraved
on the monumental stone that was to mark his grave.
But alas for the transitory character of terrestrial things,
to-day there does not live a man who bears his name ; the
streams that he named after himself are now called by
other titles; his grave is levelled with the adjacent ground
and is lost to view; and the substantial stone that was in
tended to mark the grave has been removed. The late
Richard Bassett Bayard, of Baltimore, on whose farm this
stone is located, requested the writer to arrange, at his ex
pense, for the re-erection and preservation of this tablet,
but before the work could be accomplished Mr. Bayard
died. It would be highly proper for the Delaware or

20 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
Maryland Historical Society to see that this stone is re-
erected in its appropriate place, or that it find lodgment
among the interesting relics of the Society.
Augustine Herman died in 1686, and his title and Manor
descended to his oldest son, Ephraim George, who at this
time was about thirty-five years old. He had accompanied
his father's family on their removal from New York, to
which city he returned, and held an office under the govern
ment. He moved to Delaware about 1676 and settled at
New Castle, and became an influential citizen. He was
married in New York on September 3, 1679, to Elizabeth
Van Rodenburg, a daughter of the governor of Curagoa,
and died in 1689, at which time his Manor passed into the
possession of his only brother.
This brother, whose name was Casparus Herman, pre
vious to the death of his father and brother, owned and
occupied a place on the Delaware River below where Port
Penn now stands, and called it Augustine, during which
time he was for several sessions a member of the General
Assembly from New Castle. In later years he represented
Cecil County in the Maryland Legislature. He inherited
from his father a large tract of land south of Bohemia
Manor, called Little Bohemia, or Bohemia Middle Neck,
which is to-day in part the property of the Crawford and
Flintham families and the heirs of the late Judge Edward
G. Bradford, of Wilmington.
Casparus Herman was married three times. First to
Susanna Huyberts; second, in New York, on August 23,
1682, to Anna Reyniers; and third, on August 31, 1696,
to Katharine Williams. He was associated with Colonel

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 2 1
Edward Cantwell in the erection of a mill on Drawyers
Creek, over which stream, at Odessa, Cantwell built a bridge,
which gave to the town the name of Cantwell's Bridge. It
was not until a later date that the place was called Odessa,
from a fancied resemblance to the great grain-shipping port
of that name on the Black Sea.
One can hardly believe that, but a few years since, the
now immense transportation of freight carried on by rail
roads, barges, and sailing vessels was formerly brought by
sloops only, up the Chesapeake Bay to Niedy's Wharf, on
Bohemia Manor, and thence, by a few country teams, trans
ported across the Peninsula through where Middletown now
stands to Cantwell's Bridge, or Odessa, as it is now called,
and thence reshipped to Philadelphia. Those were slow
times, but the opening of the Chesapeake and Delaware
Canal, which, by the way, nearly touches the northern boun
dary of Bohemia Manor, and finally the construction of the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, changed
and improved that state of trade into the pace and volume
of to-day.*
On June 3, 1690, his brother being dead, Casparus Her
man was formally granted, and he assumed possession of,
the manor-house. Here he resided for a number of years,
enjoying the honors and emoluments of the third lord of
the Manor, and then, with but little to signalize his last days,
he died at the age of fifty years, leaving his estate to his
only son, Colonel Ephraim Augustine Herman, who became
a man of affairs ; several times represented his county in the
* Thomas C. Hambly.

22 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
State Legislature, and wielded considerable influence in the
civil and social interests of the community. He leased, in
17 1 3, to Henry Linton a farm on his Manor, where may
still be seen the house and the room in which Doctor Bird
wrote the play entitled "The Gladiator," which became one
of the tragedies of the distinguished actor Edwin Forrest.
Colonel Ephraim Augustine Herman's first wife was
Isabella, daughter of Maurice Trent, of Pennsylvania, by
whom he had two daughters, Catharine and Mary. His
second wife was Ararainta, by whom he had one child, a son,
who survived his father only four years, dying previous to
1755, and with whose death the last male bearing the sur
name " Herman" passed from earth.
The children and grandchildren of this family were for
many years contending in the courts for their respective
rights in Bohemia Manor. It would be tedious to write, and
more tedious to read, of all the intricacies and ramifications
of these civil suits. Suffice it to say, that " the litigation
that had lasted for more than half a century ended about the
termination of the Revolutionary w^x, and at the same time
ended the legal existence of Bohemia Manor, that had con
tinued for a period of one hundred and twenty-eight years."*
I ought to have said that Colonel Ephraim Augustine
Herman's youngest daughter, Mary, married John Lawson,
whose share of Bohemia Manor was eventually owned by
Governor Richard Bassett, and that his eldest daughter,
Catharine Herman, married Peter Bouchelle, and had a

* See Johnston's " History of Cecil County, Maryland," page 185. This
history is an interesting and valuable work.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

23

daughter Mary. The latter, in the year 1757, became the
wife of Captain Joseph Ensor, of Baltimore County; Mary
land, and, subsequently, the mother of a family whose his
tory is replete with adventure and romance.
Of three members of this family special notice may here
be taken, — Augustine Herman Ensor, Joseph Ensor, and
Mary Ensor. The first named, Augustine Herman Ensor,
was born January 28, 1761. While yet in his minority he
was the acknowledged lord of the Manor, but, alas, on the
very day on which he, with several gay companions, was
celebrating the attainment of his majority, he was thrown
from his horse and killed.
The second named, Joseph Ensor, Jr., or " Josie Ensor,"
as he was familiarly called, was the next succeeding heir,
but, being an idiot, he was incapable of occupying and enjoy
ing his inheritance. Yet, after all, he was not so feeble, in
tellectually, as to forget that he was " lord of the Manor,"
as he was wont to style himself, in vindication of which
claim he would, with his cane, draw a circle about him in
the soil of his domain, and defy any one who disputed his
rights " to cross that circle."
The third named, Mary Ensor, on November 21, 1784,
was married to Colonel Edward Oldham, of the Revolution
ary army. The latter was engaged in almost every action
in the South, and, with the exception of Kirkwood, of Dela
ware, and Rudolph, of the Legion of Infantry, was probably
entitled to greater credit for fortitude and bravery than any
officer of his rank in Greene's army.* In the celebrated
* See " Memoirs of the War of 1776," by Henry Lee.

24 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
charge on the British at Eutaw, of thirty-six men, whom he
led, all but eight were killed or wounded, yet he forced the
enemy. At the North he was in the battles of Brandywine,
Germantown, and Monmouth. At his death he was buried
on his wife's inheritance on the Manor, which then was, and
still is, called " The Mansion Farm." His tombstone bears
this inscription : THIS MONUMENT
is erected in love and honor
to the memory of
COLONEL EDWARD OLDHAM
who departed this life
Nov. 4th, 1798,
in the 42d year of his age.
His wife, mentioned above as Mary Ensor, died in 1819,
aged fifty-four years, and lies buried near her husband.* His
children were Maria, Elizabeth, Ann, Edward, George Wash
ington, Charles Herman, and Harriet. George Washington
Oldham's grandson, Oldham Massey, is the only representa
tive of the family now residing on Bohemia Manor.
* The writer has, in his historical collections, many Interesting items rela
tive to the descendants of these noted personages. He has also a genealogical
chart of the Oldham family.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

25

III.
HERMAN'S DAUGHTERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.
Anna Margaretta marries Matthias Vanderheyden — Their Beautiful Ariana
— Colonel John Thompson and his Family — " Old-One-Hundred-and-
Five" — Broad Creek Meeting-House — Bethel and Bishop Asbury — Gov
ernor Clayton's Life, Death, and Burial — Herman's Village — The Laba
dists settle on Bohemia Manor.
Thus far we have followed the fortunes of the sons of
the first lord of the Manor and their descendants, but
have had nothing to say of his daughters. These were
three in number, and bore the names of Anna Margaretta
Herman, Judith Herman, and Francina Herman, to whom
their father bequeathed a large tract of land adjoining his
Manor, consisting of three contiguous necks, which tract
he entitled " The Three Bohemia Sisters."
The first-named daughter, Anna Margaretta Herman,
was married, about 1 680, to Matthias Vanderheyden, for
merly of Albany, who was related to the distinguished
Schuyler family of New York. Their daughter, Ariana
Vanderheyden, born in 1690, was noted for her beauty and
accomplishments. She became the wife of Hon. Thomas
Bordley, of Bordley Hall, Yorkshire, England, afterwards
Attorney-General of the Province of Maryland, whose son
John Beale Bordley, was the last of the admiralty judges of
Maryland under the provincial government, and, by the

26 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
way, the step-father of General Thomas Mifflin, governor
of Pennsylvania, and president of Congress when General
Washington resigned his commission.
On the death of her husband, Ariana married Edmund
Jennings, Esq., of Annapolis, the son of Sir Edmund Jen
nings, of Yorkshire, England, and in 1737 accompanied
him to England. She was there inoculated for the small
pox, of which she died in 174 1, leaving a daughter, who
became the wife of John Randolph, of Virginia, and the
mother of Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State during
the presidency of General Washington. A portrait of the
beautiful and accomplished Ariana was preserved by her
descendants* up to a recent date, when one of her great-
granddaughters declared it to be so defaced and decayed as
to appear worse than a skeleton, and had it destroyed.
The second daughter of Augustine Herman was Judith,
who became the wife of Colonel John Thompson, a pro
vincial judge, who was distinguished in the history of the
early treaties with the Indians on the Delaware. Through
his wife he became possessed of many acresf that had for
merly belonged to his father-in-law, the lord of the Manor.
But, besides these, he had large possessions elsewhere, in
cluding a house in New Castle and a farm in New York,
which he and Colonel Bayard held in partnership. He
* The writer has facts of interest relative to other descendants, namely,
the Griffiths, of Indianapolis, Gibsons, of Philadelphia, Cummins, of Wash
ington, D.C.
f Now possessed by his descendant, Mr. Samuel Thompson, and by
Colonel Fletcher Price, the Harbert family, and others, residing near Pivot
Bridge, Maryland.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 27
lived, as is supposed, to the advanced age of one hundred
and nine years, and then died, leaving his eldest son in pos
session of the property he had inherited from the first lord
of the Manor.
This eldest son was Richard Thompson, born November
I, 1667, who, like his father, became a centenarian several
years before his death. Indeed, he lived so long that his
neighbors began to think that he did not intend to die at
all. And when he passed his eightieth year without dying,
and his ninetieth, and his one hundredth, and then his one
hundred and fifth, and still did not die, either to distinguish
him from the paternal centenarian, or for some other reason
vulgar people called him " old-one-hundred-and-five."*
Many years before this, in 1723, this same Richard
Thompson leased for a term of twenty-one years, for one
ear of Indian corn, one acre of his land near, if not border
ing on, the present Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, near
Pivot Bridge, to the " Bohemia and Broad Creek Presby
terian congregation," who erected thereon a church edifice,
within and about whose walls, in the long ago, occurred a
proceeding which, in our day, would be considered unusual
in the extreme.
Alexander Hutchinson, a licentiate from Scotland, was
about to be ordained to the gospel ministry by the Pres
bytery then and there in session and installed pastor of the
church. Immediately preceding the solemn service, the
clerk of the body made proclamation three times at the

* For further historical, biographical, and genealogical data, see the author's
monograph of " The Thompson Family.''

28 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
door of the sanctuary that, " if any persons had anything
to object against the ordaining of the candidate, they should
make it known to the Presbytery now sitting." No ob
jection being offered, the said Mr. Hutchinson was solemnly
set apart to the work of the ministry by fasting, and the
imposition of the hands of the Presbytery. Every trace
of the existence of this old structure and of the graveyard
that surrounded it has long since disappeared, except sev
eral inscribed tombstones, the oldest of which is to the
memory of Gabriel Clark, who died on July 27, 1757.
Not far from this spot, at a much later date, was erected,
on ground given for the purpose by Ephraim Thompson, a
grandson of the above-named Richard Thompson, what
was long known as " Old Bethel Methodist Church," to
whose erection two governors of Delaware — Governor
Richard Bassett and Governor Joshua Clayton — made
pecuniary contributions. Bishop Asbury visited this
church, and his services so affected his hearers that they
sang and leaped for joy. In the same pulpit, in still later
times, appeared that zealous and eccentric preacher Lo
renzo Dow, whose preaching-appointments were so many,
and whose circuit was so large, that he was accustomed to
ride at the rate of thirty miles a day and preach in several
places between breakfast and bedtime.
On the occasion to which I refer, a great congregation
had gathered in old Bethel church, filling the pews and aisles.
When his sermon was ended, the eccentric preacher, rather
than waste time and strength in forcing his way through the
crowd to the door, deliberately jumped from the pulpit-win
dow to the ground, and hurried on to his next appointment.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 29
A graveyard now occupies the site of this old sanctuary,
and here rest the mortal remains of not a few who were
prominent in church and state a generation or two ago.
Among these may be mentioned the governor of Delaware
referred to a moment ago. He and his once beautiful wife
lie buried beneath one gravestone, whose inscription reads
as follows : Sacred
to the memory of
HON. JOSHUA CLAYTON, ESQ.,
who departed this life
Aug. nth, 1798, in the 54th year of his age.
Also of
RACHEL, wife of Hon. Joshua Clayton, and
mother of James L. Richard and Thomas Clayton.
She died Jany 7th, 1821, aged 70 years.
One of the above-named sons, Thomas Clayton, was
chief justice of the State of Delaware, and also represented
that State in the United States Senate.
Governor Joshua Clayton was a physician as well as a
statesman, and happened to be a member of Congress from
Delaware when that body held its sessions in Philadelphia,
and while the yellow fever scourged that city. He gave
medical treatment to persons afflicted with the fever, and
was very successful. When the fever began to abate he
returned to his Bohemia Manor home, where he died,
having contracted that malignant disease. His last will
and testament prescribed that his body should be buried
in the most convenient burying-ground in the neighbor
hood, and directed that neither sermon nor funeral-service
should be delivered at his burial.

30 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
It may be remarked, in passing, that not far from where
this distinguished man died was the home of Mary, the
daughter of Alexander Stuart, who became the wife of
Rev. Thomas Read, D.D., who at one time preached with
great eloquence to the Presbyterian congregation in Wil
mington, whose services were held in the ancient structure
now occupied by the Delaware Historical Society. The
remains of Dr. Read were, at his death, buried within
these walls, but subsequently were removed to the grave
yard adjacent. Some of his descendants may be found in
the family of Read Jennings McKay, M.D., of Wilmington.
The third and youngest daughter of the lord of the
Manor was Francina Herman, born about the year 1662.
In her girlhood she went from Maryland to Holland, but
soon returned to this country. She married Joseph Wood,
and inherited from her father several hundred acres of the
tract of land called "The Three Bohemia Sisters." On
her inheritance, and near the present homestead of Mr.
Thomas Mclntire, stood, until a few years ago, a sub
stantial brick mansion whos.e ornamentation, in carved
wood and chased cornice, was admired by many. The
history of the house is involved in obscurity, and at the
time of its demolition an atmosphere of " ghostly" mys
tery surrounded it. Francina had a son, grandson, and
great-grandson who bore her husband's name. The prop
erty passed out of the possession of the family one hun
dred and fifteen years ago.
Augustine Herman, immediately after estabhshing him
self upon Bohemia Manor, made several attempts to organ
ize a colony or village there, but only indifferent success

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. ,i
attended his efforts for more than twenty years. Dis
couraged and aged, he wellnigh abandoned all efforts in
that direction, when, in December, 1679, two travellers un
expectedly arrived at the manor-house, where, by letter,
they were introduced to Herman as Petrus Sluyter and
Jasper Dankers, representatives of a religious society called
Labadists, located at Wiewert in Friesland, who were
anxious to colonize in America, as soon as a suitable tract
of land could be obtained for that purpose.
The Labadists were a communistic body founded by a
French Jesuit named Jean de Labadie. He abandoned the
order of Loyola, and, in 1650, joined the Reformed church,
and entered the Protestant ministry. Finally he seems to
have lost all religious reckoning, and so found it necessary
to organize a new sect to suit his own distempered imagi
nation. Eloquent as a preacher, he soon aroused the en
thusiasm of those who indulged in golden dreams of
paradise on earth under the social system so eloquently
described and painted in the glowing colors of the finished
orator. He exerted himself to the utmost for the restora
tion of Apostolic religion on pietistic principles, and
gained many partisans.* But Labadie died in 1674, at
Altona, in Denmark, whither he had gone with his fol
lowers, who soon removed to Wiewert in Friesland, where,
gaining but few adherents, they resolved, as has already
been stated, upon colonization in America.
Their agents, Sluyter and Dankers, were well pleased
with a tract of land on Bohemia Manor, consisting of four
* Dr. Brower, Danville, Pennsylvania.

32 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
contiguous necks of land and comprising three thousand
seven hundred and fifty acres, for which a deed of convey
ance was executed by Augustine Herman on the nth of
August, 1684. Secure in the possession of this tract of
land, which has thenceforth borne the name of " The La
badie Tract," Sluyter and Dankers prepared immediately
to establish the community on it. A company of men and
women, including several families, arrived from Wiewert.
A few persons residing in New York also removed thither.
Sluyter declared himself bishop or abbot, and installed his
wife a kind of abbess over the female portion of the estab
lishment. Thus was formed not only a new colony but a
new church of Labadists in America.
The members belonging to this community did not at
any time greatly exceed a hundred men, women, and chil
dren. They had all their possessions in common, so that
none could claim any more right than another to any part
of the property. They worked at different employments
in the house or on the land, such as the manufacture of
linen and the cultivation of corn, tobacco, flax, and hemp.
The Labadists ate their meals in silence, the men by them
selves and the women by themselves, the former with their
heads covered, except during a short season spent in in
audible thanksgiving. They slept in the same or adjoin
ing buildings, one of which was designated " The Great
House," in the garden of which was the common grave
yard in which the members at their decease were buried.
The dress of the Labadists was plain and simple. Gold
and silver ornaments, jewelry, carpets, lace, and other fanqy
work, were prohibited. Eschewing all fashions of the

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 33
world, they confined themselves to the useful and neces
sary. But the seeds of dissolution were developing themselves
to such an extent that in so short a space of time as four
teen years it appeared certain that the perpetuity of such a
social system could not continue. Hence, in 1698, Petrus
Sluyter, who had become sole proprietor of the entire
lands, perhaps by the withdrawal of most of the others,
resolved to divide the property between the remaining
members. He conveyed three of the necks to Hendrick
Sluyter, Samuel Bayard, and others, while he retained one
of the necks himself, and became a wealthy man in his own
right. He died in 1722, after his wife, about which time
the Labadists seem to have disbanded. Certain it is that
nothing of them remained, as a religious community on
Bohemia Manor, five years after his death.*
This was, so far as we know, the first attempt of the
believers in this visionary scheme of social life in this
country, which has since been tried by the Shakers, the
settlers at Harmony on the Ohio, and in other places, but
always with nearly the same results as followed the scheme
of the Labadists, although often the end was farther post
poned and wealth more largely accumulated. The sole
memorial that survives to the present to tell us that the
Labadist body once lived is that the tract of land on which
it lived, died, and was buried, still bears the name of " The
Labadie Tract."

* See publications of " The Long Island Historical Society," vol. i.. Intro
duction. 3

34 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR,

IV.
THE SLUYTER AND BOUCHELLE FAMILIES.
The Sluyter Family — The Labadist Bishop — He reserves and occupies Third
Neck — Hendrick, the Ancestor — The Ancestral Estate — The Ancient Grave
yard — The Labadie Mill — Solomon Hersey — St. Augustine Church and
Graveyard — Lege de Bouchelle and his Descendants — Dr. S. Bouchelle's
Elaborate Tomb— The Old Family Graveyard.
I SHOULD not do justice to the history of Bohemia Manor
did I not refer at some length to the more prominent families
who descended from the Labadists, and who inherited the
so-called Labadie Tract, some of whom still have represen
tatives on that historic ground. I refer to the Sluyters, the
Bouchelles, and the Bayards.
Of the first-named family, the most distinguished member
was Dr. Petrus Sluyter, formerly of Wesel, in Germany,
but more recently from Amsterdam, in Holland. His first
appearance in America was in 1679, when, as has already
been stated, he was commissioned by the Labadists of Fries
land, of whose society he was an influential member, to find
in the New World a suitable territory to which they might
move. He and his wife, whose name was De Vries, settled
on Bohemia Manor about the year 1683. On the death of
the latter, Petrus Sluyter married Anna Margaretta Couda,
who was the widow of Lege de Bouchelle, and the mother
of Dr. Petrus Bouchelle, and also of Susanna Bouchelle
who became the second wife of Samuel Bayard. Petrus

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 35
Sluyter spent his last days on the Third Neck of the Labadie
Tract, whicli he had renamed Providence, and from it, unat
tended by wife or children, all of whom he had survived,
his mortal remains were in 1722 borne (as he expressed it
in his will), " to be buried after our own humble way in the
garden of the so-called Great House, where several of my
brethren and sisters in Christ repose." His papers and
books were bequeathed to his brother Johannes, and his
watch to his kinsman, Hendrick Sluyter.
Hendrick Sluyter,* just named, was probably the ancestor
of all the Sluyters who have lived on Bohemia Manor since
1722, and his plantation, which has descended from father
to son from his day to the present generation, may be con
sidered the ancestral seat of the family. It is located at
the confluence of the Bohemia River and the Labadie Mill
Creek, and was occupied by him in 17 17, when, it is sup
posed, he built thereon a residence long since gone to
decay, near which may still be seen the old Sluyter grave
yard. The spot, which is overgrown with weeds and
wholly neglected, reveals but two inscribed gravestones, on
one of which are the characters " H. S." In this obscure
and unsightly spot lie buried nearly all who bore the name
of Sluyter.
Hendrick Sluyter died in 1722, and was succeeded in
the possession and occupancy of this large estate by his son
Benjamin, excepting from it, of course, the widow's legal
dower. The latter has been adversely immortalized in her

* The author has in his possession a genealogical chart of the Sluyter
family, and many interesting facts relating thereto.

36 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
husband's last will and testament, which declares, "as my
wife, to my sorrow, had always some difference with my
friends, it is my desire that she retire to her former home in
Philadelphia, or elsewhere." Y^o matter what may be said
disparagingly of this woman's disposition, she could not
have been devoid of some redeeming qualities, else she
would not have succeeded, as she did, in winning to herSelf
the heart and hand not only of such a prominent gentleman
as Hendrick Sluyter, but also of a second husband, named
Jawert, and a third husband, named Lawson, and even a
fourth husband, named Boom.
Her first husband, Hendrick Sluyter, died on February
4, 1722, when his son Benjamin took possession of his
inheritance, and probably occupied the house his father had
erected. Here he resided for about thirty years, enjoying
the heritage of lands and slaves and other wealth which his
ancestors had accumulated. In 1754 he sells to Solomon
Hersey the historic Labadie Mill, which for nearly seventy
years had gj-ound the grain of the industrious and frugal
Labadists. The old mill was located in a picturesque and
romantic region, and a tale or two might be told, if its
crumbling walls could speak, of the joys and sorrows, the
hopes and disappointments experienced there. With little
stretch of imagination we can picture a handsome and ven
erable man, whose name we will not give, returning to the
scene of other days and early joys, and soliloquizing thus ;
" Here, from the brow of the hill, I look.
Through a lattice of boughs and leaves,
On the old gray mil], with its gambrel roof,
And the moss on its rotting eves.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. y
I hear the clatter that jars its wall,
And the rushing water's sound,
And I see the black floats rise and fall
As the wheel goes slowly round.
" I rode there often, when I was young,
With my grist on the horse before.
And talked with Nelly, the miller's girl,
As I waited my turn at the door.
And while she tossed her ringlets brown.
And flirted and chatted so free.
The wheel might stop, or the wheel might go.
It was all the same to me.
" 'Tis twenty years since last I stood
On the spot where I stand to-day ;
And Nelly is wed, and the miller is dead,
And the mill and I are gray.
But both, till we fall into ruin and wreck,
To our fortune of toil are bound;
And the man goes, and the stream flows,
And the wheel moves slowly round."*
While Solomon Hersey was in possession of this mill-
property, the pioneer preachers of the Methodist church
often slept and conducted religious services beneath his
hospitable roof, including Bishop Asbury himself, and it is
said that beneath that same roof the first Methodist Society
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland was organized in 1771.
The same Benjamin Sluyter, who sold to Solomon Hersey
the mill-property, parted with another acre or two of his
plantation, but for a very different purpose. On August
* Lines by T. Dunn English, in Harper's Magazine. "Into ruin and
wreck" the old mill has at last fallen, and but little remains to mark its site.

38 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
6, 175 1, he sells for "four hundred pounds of good mer
chantable tobacco," to the vestry of Augustine Parish, so
much of his land as was at that time used and occupied by
the St. Augustine church. As the early records of this
church, when it was yet a chapel of St. Stephen's, on Sassa
fras Neck, were long ago destroyed by fire, the date of its
erection is lost. Suffice it to say that it was an ancient
structure when the great-grandparents of the present gener
ation were little children sporting around its crumbling
walls, or playing hide-and-seek behind and beneath its time-
worn tombstones.
This old Manor church was held in veneration, not only
for its antiquity, but also because it had been the Sabbath-
home of so many of the early settlers, and because that,
under its shadow, scores, if not hundreds, of them had found
sepulture. " Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile;
Thou art hastening to thy fall;
And round thee, in thy loneliness.
Clings the ivy to the wall.
The worshippers are scattered now
Who knelt before thy shrine.
And silence reigns where anthems rose
In days of ' Auld Lang Syne.'
" And sadly sighs the wandering wind
Where oft, in years gone by.
Prayer rose from many hearts to Him
The Highest of the High.
The tread of many a noiseless foot
That sought thy aisles is o'er,
And many a weary heart, around.
Is still for evermore.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 30
"How doth ambition's hope take wing !
How drops the spirit now !
We hear the distant city's din;
The dead are mute below.
The sun that shone upon their paths
Now guilds their lowly graves ;
The zephyr which once fanned their brows
The grass above them waves.
" Oh ! could we call the many back
Who've gathered here in vain ;
Who've careless roved where we do now.
Who'll never meet again :
How would our very hearts be stirred
To meet the earnest gaze
Of the lovely and the beautiful, —
The lights of other days."*
A structure that had been so long historic as this old
Manor church is worthy of description, which fortunately
I am able to furnish in the language of a distinguished
gentleman, who, by the way, had large landed interests
on the Manor. I refer to the Hon. Richard H. Bayard,
who, writing under date of May 7, i860, says, "The old
Manor church was a brick quadrangular building with a
circular projection on the eastern side. It had a hipped-roof
with a heavy wooden cornice round the four sides. The
entrance was on the western side, and I think there were
two large windows on each of the other sides. There was a
gallery along the western side, a board floor, and the body
of the church was divided into the old-fashioned box pews.
* The above lines were found, written anonymously, on the wall of the old
Blandford church, Virginia.

40 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
" I recollect it," continues Mr. Bayard, " while it was yet
in a decent state of preservation. But as most of the inhab
itants of the Manor at the period I refer to, in the early
part of the present century, had embraced the discipline
and form of worship of the Methodist church, there was
no Episcopal congregation to repair the ravages of time,
and these were hastened by the depredations of obscure
persons living in its immediate neighborhood. Its gallery,
its pews, and its floors were carried off piece-meal for fuel,
and finally its brick walls were demolished and used in the
domestic architecture of its despoilers. . . . The lot on
which the old church stood is still enclosed, and a frame
building was some years since erected on it, in which
divine service is occasionally performed."
It may be observed that the recent improvement of the
building, and especially of the graveyard surrounding it,
is due, in large part, to the generosity of Colonel Alfred
Nowland, of New Castle, whose parents worshipped in
the ancient structure, and of the late Augustus Nowland
(father of the Hon. Henry A. Nowland), whose remains, ac
cording to his request, and in indulgence of his poetic and
romantic fancy, were buried in a certain previously desig
nated spot, on the site of the old sanctuary, under whose
shadow, seventy years ago, he played with schoolmates
who now lie near him in death.
But I must return to mention again the Benjamin Sluy
ter who parted with the ground that was devoted to these
religious purposes. He died about the year 1752, leaving
his large estate to be equally divided among his sons
Henry and Peter. The last named took possession of the

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 41
lower half, which bordered on Bohemia River, and occupied
the old mansion, which is said to have been a building of
considerable proportions and pretensions, while the other
son, Henry Sluyter, took the upper half, and built thereon
a strong, substantial, and attractive brick building, which
may be considered the home of each successive generation
of Sluyters from that day to this ; and, surprising as it
may seem, though this old structure has twice been tried
by fire, its walls appear as strong as when first erected,
more than one hundred and thirty years ago.
In course of time Peter Sluyter died, and his inheritance,
which, as already stated, included the old homestead and
the old family graveyard, became the possession of his
brother Henry, from which time until the present the two
farms have been considered as one, and were, at Henry's
death, inherited by his only son, Benjamin Sluyter, who
had already married Francina Thompson, a descendant ot
Augustine Herman, the first lord of the Manor. In this
family is instanced a widower with a son, marrying a
widow with a daughter. But not only did the widower
marry the widow, but the widower's son married the
widow's daughter, and thus was<begun a series of relation
ships that are intricate and perplexing in the extreme.
Think of it, a man has a wife, and cousin, and step-sister,
all in one. The father of this family died in 18 12, and
during an April hail- and snow-storm his lifeless form was
buried ; and his son, Henry Thompson Sluyter, succeeded
to the pos.session of the property and the occupancy of
the brick mansion which his father and grandfather had
owned before him.

42

ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;

Here he enjoyed the luxuries and conveniences that
wealth affords, and here he dispensed a generous hospi
tality until, in the very midst of his days and enjoyments, he
was unexpectedly stricken with a fatal disease. On Valen
tine eve, in the year 1821, having invited his friends from
near and far, he expected to enjoy festivities with them be
neath his own roof, but while awaiting the appointed hour
and the promised pleasure, he was attacked with sickness,
and lay agonizing in the arms of death. The next night he
who was known as "the gallant" Henry Sluyter breathed his
last. He left several children, one of whom became the
wife of the late Augustus Nowland, and another, Benjamin
F. Sluyter, became the inheritor of his father's estate,* the
possession of which he enjoyed for many years, and then
died at a good old age. Long before his decease he ex
pressed a desire to be buried beside his father and his
father's father, in the old family graveyard, but the spot
had become so utterly neglected and forsaken that his
friends decided to bury him in the beautiful Bethel Ceme
tery, where many of his kindred are interred. There,
to-day, a beautiful and substantial granite monument marks
his last resting-place. It maybe added that in the death of
Benjamin F. Sluyter became extinct a family that for the
previous two hundred years had been prominent on Bo
hemia Manor, — a family that had in several alternate gen
erations of father and son transmitted the Christian names
" Henry" and " Benjamin" to their descendants. So far as is
known, the last named was the last of his name in America.

* This estate is now the property of Mr. H. H. Brady, of Chesapeake City, Md.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 43
Another noteworthy Bohemia Manor family bears the
name Bouchelle. Its first representative, so far as we are
informed, was Lege de Bouchelle, who had married Anna
Margaretta Couda (subsequently the second wife of the
Labadist bishop, Petrus Sluyter), and whose children were
Susanna Bouchelle, who became the second wife of Sam
uel Bayard, and Dr. Petrus Bouchelle, who became the
sole heir of his step-father, Petrus Sluyter, on whose prop
erty, which consisted of the third neck of the Labadie
Tract, he settled, and which, by the way, became the an
cestral homestead of the Bouchelle family, in the posses
sion of which family it has remained until within a com
paratively recent date. Dr. Petrus Bouchelle was promi
nent in his day, and, as a Presbyterian elder, was instru
mental in the organization or sustentation of churches at
St. George's and Middletown, Delaware, as well as at one
or two points in Maryland. He was the father of three
sons, Peter, Sluyter, and Thomas, whose names are promi
nently associated with the history of Bohemia Manor.
The first son, Peter Bouchelle, married Catharine Herman,
one of the co-heiresses of Colonel Ephraim Augustine
Herman, a grandson of the founder of the Manor. The
parties to this marriage, conformably to the express wish
of their eminent ancestor, adopted his name, and thence
forth respectively subscribed themselves Peter Augustine
Bouchelle and Catharine Augustine Bouchelle. They had
but one child, a daughter, who became the ancestor of the
Ensors and Oldhams, — families whose history has already
been noticed.
The second son of Dr. Petrus Bouchelle was Sluyter,

44 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
who became a physician of extensive practice on Bohemia
Manor and in New Castle County. Besides inheriting one-
half of his father's farm, he received the contents of his
father's apothecary-shop, including, it is thought, a now
well-worn and antique mortar and pestle, which have come
down through many generations to his descendant of to
day, the venerable Anthony M. Higgins, of St. George's,
Delaware. Dr. Sluyter Bouchelle owned property in other
States, and was considered a man of wealth. When ad
vanced in years he moved to North Carolina, where he
died, providing in his will for the erection of his burial-
vault near the residence of Colonel Waight Still Avery.
The vault was to be an imposing structure, consisting, in
part, of ten marble slabs and six marble columns, with
capitals in the Doric order of architecture. For some un
explained reason the vault was never erected, and though
the doctor's remains were buried on the spot he had desig
nated, yet afterwards they were disinterred and deposited
elsewhere. He died in 1799.
It should have been stated that there accompanied him
to North Carolina his nephew, Thomas Bouchelle, who
remained in the South, establishing himself as a practising
physician, and became the father of a large family of
children, only one of whom is now living, namely, Mrs.
Ellena Bouchelle Jones,* of Columbia, Missouri. Her

* In the possession of this family is a finger-ring once the property of old
Dr. Sluyter Bouchelle. On it is engraved his monogram, and in its locket is
a braid of his snow-white hair. The writer has the genealogical chart of this
family and copies of interesting documents.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 45
sister, the late Mrs. Sarah Bouchelle Lenoir, to whom
I have been indebted for interesting facts concering her
father's family, died in 1877* in the seventy-ninth year of
her age, remarkable for her mental and physical vigor.
She left five children and many grandchildren to mourn
their loss.
Another son of Dr. Petrus Bouchelle was Thomas, who
married Sarah Price, and became the father of Peter A.
Bouchelle, whose descendants may be found on the Manor
at the present time. The latter and his brother, John
Bouchelle, divided between them the old homestead that
for so many generations had been in the Bouchelle family,
and that still holds the dust of their buried dead. The
graveyard is a low mound the shape of an inverted saucer,
fifty or sixty feet in circumference. The oldest representa
tive of this family still remaining is my venerable friend Mr.
John W. Bouchelle, whose hospitality I have frequently en
joyed, several of whose children I have married, and some
of whose grandchildren I have baptized and buried.*

* A genealogical chart of the Bouchelles from their arrival on Bohemia
Manor is among my papers. Through the kindness of Mr. Duncan Cannon
and Mrs. Emma Bouchelle Craig, of Baltimore, I am in possession of copies
of the Bouchelle coat of arms.
The name Craig, just mentioned, has been well known on Bohemia Manor
ever since the year 1769, when William Craig purchased and occupied on
Town Point an estate which is known as "The Lone Tree Farm." It still
is, and has been for the past one hundred and nineteen years, in the posses
sion of the Craig family.

46 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR ;

V.

THE BAYARD FAMILY.

Their Origin — Arrival in America — Coat of Arms— Petrus Bayard— His Son
Samuel — Old Dutch Bible— Colonel Peter Bayard's Mansion — Rev. Dr.
Rodgers — Vandegrift — Local Celebrities — A Military Character — Remark
able Dream — Bayard Souvenirs.
The Bayard family, originally from France, derived the
surname of Bayard from their chateau in Dauphiny, six
miles from Grenoble. The family name was Du Terrail,
and the celebrated knight of that family bore the name of
Pierre du Terrail Seigneur de Bayard. He died April 30,
1524, at the age of forty-eight years, unmarried and without
issue. The members of the Terrail family, his collateral
kinsmen, adopted his arms, and, being Seigneurs de Bayard,
bore that surname. During the religious trouble which
distracted France in the sixteenth century some of the
family emigrated to Holland, and one of them married
Anna Stuyvesant, sister of the last Dutch governor of New
York. Madam Anna Bayard, her husband being dead,
accompanied her brother, Peter Stuyvesant, to New York,
then called New Amsterdam, with her three sons, Balthazar,
Nicholas, and Petrus, where they landed in 1647.
While this theory of the origin of the Bayard family has
been generally accepted, it has not gone altogether un
challenged. There are some genealogists who believe that

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 47
there has always existed a mistake as to the origin of the
family who came to America in 1647, which, though with
out doubt emigrated from France into Holland, were, as they
say, from Languedoc instead of Dauphiny, where the
family of Terrail de Bayard resided ; and by a comparison
of the coat of arms, to be found upon the various pieces
of old silver in the possession of different members of the
family, one cannot but remark the exact resemblance to
the arms of the Languedoc family, while it totally differs
from that of the Terrails.
I do not know of any authority stating whence came
the Rev. Balthazar Bayard (the grandfather of Balthazar,
Nicholas, and Petrus, who accompanied their mother, in
1647, to this country), but he must have passed into Hol
land early in the seventeenth century when the persecution
of the Huguenots was so bitter, and as there appears the
name of a Bayard among the names of the professors of
the University of Paris, who was compelled to leave on
account of his religious sentiments, it is not unlikely that
the two were identical.* The family in its numerous rami
fications has spread all over the United States, with many
representatives in Nova Scotia and England ; therefore it
would be an undertaking involving a great deal of trouble
to hunt up authentic data: Our task, however, is com
paratively easy, as we propose to limit our researches to
the descendants of but one of the three brothers, Petrus
Bayard, who landed in New York in 1647.

* Mr. H. R. Sadler, of New York, a relative of the Bayards, has furnished
me with interesting and valuable historical items.

48 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
The Petrus Bayard* just named was for a time one of
the deacons of the old Dutch church in New York, but, as
would seem, becoming dissatisfied with his own religious
attainments, and grieved at the worldliness that surrounded
him, he decided to seek opportunities for continued and
uninterrupted meditation and prayer in the seclusion of
Bombay Hook, an island of six hundred acres in the Dela
ware River, which Governor Andros had granted him in
1675, and which four years afterwards he purchased from
the Indians. But just previous to his proposed removal to
this island he became acquainted with the religious colo
nists called Labadists, already referred to, who were about
to settle on Bohemia Manor, with whom he cast in his lot,
assisting them in the purchase and occupancy of four
necks of land which have ever since borne the name of
The Labadie Tract.
For some unaccountable reason he shortly afterwards
disposed of his share of this property and returned to New
York, where he died in 1699, being survived by his wife,
Blandina Kierstede, whom he had married in New York on
November 28, 1674. The issue of this marriage was three
children, of the eldest of whom only we care now to speak.
His name was Samuel Bayard, and he was born in the year
:675. While yet a young man he was married to Elizabeth
Sluyter, and came into possession of a portion of territory

* The author has prepared, at considerable expense, complete and accurate
genealogical charts of the descendants of Petrus Bayard, and possesses very
many interesting facts concerning the family, which could not be introdueed
into these pages.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRA VES. ^g
on Bohemia Manor that had belonged to his father. On the
death of his first wife Samuel Bayard was married to Miss
Susanna Bouchelle, the daughter of Lege de Bouchelle and
Anna Margaretta Couda. The mother, at this time being
a widow, had married for her second husband the Labadist
bishop, Petrus Sluyter.
Samuel Bayard was twenty-four and Susanna Bouchelle
twenty-two years old at the time of their marriage, and
they lived together for twenty-two years, when, in 1721,
death claimed him, and he was laid to rest among his
kindred and friends. The wife, who mourned her loss, was
a woman of fine talents, many accomplishments, and deep
piety. She could write and speak the Latin, French,
Dutch, and English languages. Her family record, kept
by her own hand, niay still be seen, though faded under
the influence of more than one hundred and seventy years,
in an old Dutch Bible now in the possession of her de
scendant, Mrs. General James Grant Wilson, of New York
City. Besides the Bible, she left voluminous manuscripts,
which were lost during the Revolutionary war. She was
a lady of spirit, and exerted considerable influence. At
seventy years of age she mounted her horse with agility,
and controlled it with the dexterity of a skilful rider.
This remarkable woman, Mrs. Susanna Bayard, was a
warm friend of the celebrated Rev. George Whitefield,
whose preaching so electrified the people of the American
colonies one hundred and thirty years ago. She enter
tained him at her mansion whenever he visited the Manor,
and Whitefield himself refers to her in his diary when he
speaks of being " kindly received by old Mrs. Bayard, a
4

CO ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
true mother in Israel." This mother in Israel, who had
been the widow of Samuel Bayard for thirty years, died on
November 2, 1750, leaving four children, all of whom were
adults, and between whom the large estate was divided.
The eldest of these four children, afterwards known as
Colonel Peter Bayard, who was born about the year 1705,
was married to Miss Susanna Richardson, whose parents
resided on the banks of the Christiana Creek, near Wil
mington, in an old mansion that was standing as late as
1833. On its site now stands a house built in part of the
material of the former structure, and containing among
other things a relic of the furniture of its predecessor in
the shape of an antique corner cupboard, of late years the
property of Henry Latimer, a relative of the Richardsons.
The above-named Colonel Peter Bayard and his wife,
Susanna Richardson, occupied a large brick mansion on
Bohemia Manor, which is so elevated that it commands a
beautiful and extensive view of the surrounding country.
It is a very ancient structure, and its heavy walls and
strong foundations bear indications of the wear and tear
of time. To this old home* there used to come, in the
long ago, the then young and eloquent pastor of the St.
George's Presbyterian church, in Delaware, who afterwards,
when a pastor in New York City, was known as the dis
tinguished Rev. John Rodgers, D.D., the intimate friend
and confidential adviser of General Washington. In this
old home he found his wife, the Colonel's daughter, Eliza-
* Recently purchased by Mr. Joseph H. Steele, of Chesapeake City, whose
wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Bouchelle, owned and occupied it for
many years.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. ¦ 51
beth Bayard.* She was a woman of excellent understand
ing, of eminent piety and prudence, and proved truly a
helpmeet for him. By her he had four children, two of
whom reached adult age, namely. Dr. John R. Bayard
Rodgers, an eminent physician of New York, and for a
number of years one of the medical professors of Co
lumbia College; and Mrs. Susanna Tennent, wife of the
Rev. Dr. William M. Tennent, of Abington, Pennsylvania.
(See the " Life of Dr. Rodgers," by Samuel Miller, D.D.)
Mrs. Rodgers, at her death, was buried near the pulpit of
the old St. George's church, where her husband so long and
so eloquently preached the gospel. Though the church
edifice was demolished many years ago, her tombstone may
still be seen. It bears this inscription :
" Here lieth the body of
MRS. ELIZABETH BAYARD,
wife of
the Rev. Mr. John Rodgers, AM.,
who departed this life
January 20th, 1763,
in the 28th year of her age."
Colonel Peter Bayard's brother, the second son of
Samuel, bore his father's name. He married Francina
Maulden on July 3, 1729, and became the father of twelve
children, to three or four of whom we will refer. The
eldest, whose name was Samuel, was b-orn on May 30,
* Colonel Peter Bayard had two other daughters, — Ann, who married
William Scott, and Susanna, who married Jonathan Smith. The latter's
son, Samuel Harrison Smith, married a daughter of Colonel John Bayard,
and had a son Bayard Smith, of Baltimore, whose family record and other
papers he kindly loaned to the writer.

1-2 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
1730, and forty-eight years afterwards was married to Mrs.
Ann Lawrenson, the daughter of Nicholas Vandegrift,*
and granddaughter of a titled woman. Lady Barnchy Van
Kirk Perry. Samuel and Ann had three children,— Ann
Bayard, Francina Bayard, and Sarah A. Bayard, three
worthy daughters, who became local celebrities, and lived,
died, and were buried on Bohemia Manor. They were
pious and intelligent women, and each for many years kept
a diary of her doings, as well as a record of the history
and traditions of her ancestors.
The eldest of these three daughters, Ann Bayard, was
born January i, 1781, and was married in 1804 to Levi G.
Foard, whose children were Samuel B., Richard J., Edward
L., and Mary Foard. The last named became the wife
of Captain Lambert D. Nowland. The next of the three
daughters was Francina Bayard. She married Samuel Wirt,
and had a son, Dr. John Wesley Wirt, whose children still
have property on Bohemia Manor. The youngest of the
three daughters was Sarah A. Bayard. She was born on
November 22, 1788, and subsequently was married to John
T. Wirt, whose children and grandchildren continue to
reside in the vicinity of the old Bayard homestead.
But we must return to the children of Samuel and Fran
cina Bayard. Susanna was born June 24, 1741, and died
* Nicholas Vandegrift was on Bohemia Manor as early as 1725. Every
vestige of his dwelling-house has disappeared, and only the faintest outline
of the family graveyard remains. His descendants intermarried with the
Pughs, Chicks, Biddies, Costens, and others. Lewis C. Vandegrift, Esq.,
a member of the Delaware Historical Society, is collaterally related to this
family.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

S3

unmarried, aged seventy-eight years, — the last of the Bay
ards descending from the second Samuel, and the last of
the fourth generation since the arrival of the Bayards on
Bohemia Manor. She was a devout Christian, greatly es
teemed by those who knew her. A remembrance of her,
appropriately inscribed by her own hand, is a volume of
Whitefield's sermons, now in the possession of her relative,
Miss Mary Higgins, of McDonough, Delaware.
Susanna Bayard had a brother Peter, who, by virtue of
the law of entail then in force, became possessed of Bom
bay Hook Island, which had been inherited by the eldest
living son of the family in each generation since the death
of his great-grandfather, in 1699. To this island he used
to repair at least once a year to collect from his tenants
their rent, which frequently consisted of nothing but musk-
rat skins. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-five
years, and, though he died a long time ago, he is still re
membered by a few survivors as a patriarchal man, with
snow-white locks, whose attire consisted in part of short-
clothes, long hose, and knee- and shoe-buckles.
This Peter Bayard had a brother Stephen, who, at the age
of thirty-one years, raised a company in Philadelphia and re
ceived his commission as captain, dated January 5, 1776, and
was assigned to St. Clair's Pennsylvania battalion. He was
subsequently commissioned colonel, and served faithfully
and honorably from the beginning to the close of the Revo
lutionary war, participating in many of its battles, hard
ships, and privations. At the termination of the war he
settled in Pittsburg, where, in 1783, he formed a partner
ship with a brother officer. Major Isaac Craig, with whom

54

ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;

he purchased from the Penns the first ground that was
sold within the limits of Pittsburg, on a portion of which
stood old Fort Duquesne.
In the spring of 1788, Colonel Stephen Bayard retired
from Pittsburg and settled on a large tract of land on the
Monongahela River, fourteen miles distant, and immedi
ately proceeded to lay out a town, which he named " Eliza
beth," in honor of his wife, who, by the way, was a daughter
of Colonel .^neas MacKay, an officer of the British army.
Shortly after the declaration of war, in 1812, Colonel Stephen
Bayard's services were again sought by the government. A
maj or- general's commission was tendered him by President
Madison, but age and bodily infirmities constrained him to
decline its acceptance. A zealous patriot and a fervent
Christian, he spent the best years of his life in the service of
his country and his God. He died on December 13, 1815,
aged seventy-one years, and was buried in the graveyard of
the First Presbyterian church of Pittsburg.
The present writer has enjoyed, in the latter city, the
hospitality of a very aged gentleman,* a son of the mili
tary character just named, and heard him relate many in
teresting reminiscences of his father. Among other things
related was a remarkable dream which Colonel Bayard
once had concerning his more distinguished cousin, Colonel
John Bayard, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. We here
give the dream in the language of the son, who says : " I,
with my elder brother, George Bayard, occupied a room

* John B. Bayard. His son, David E. Bayard, of Pittsburg, was a mem
ber of the Legislature of Pennsylvania some years ago.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 55
adjoining that of my father. On a certain night (and I
remember it well, for it made an indelible impression on
my memory) we awoke, hearing our father walking up and
down his room, — a thing so unusual that we concluded that
he was sick, and we arose from our bed to inquire. Our
father informed us that in a dream his cousin, Colonel
John Bayard, had appeared to him as distinctly as he had
ever done and announced to him that he had just died.
My father was an intelligent gentleman and by no means
superstitious, yet I saw him take down his memorandum-
book and make a note of the dream. Some days after,
while in the presence of his family, a letter bearing a black
seal was handed to him. Before breaking the seal he ex
claimed, ' Did I not tell you that John Bayard was dead !'
The letter, on being opened, was found to contain the full
particulars of his cousin's death, which sad event occurred
on the very night of the dream."
Colonel Stephen Bayard had a brother, Benjamin, whose
descendants alone, of all the many members of the Bayard
family, continue the name on Bohemia Manor; and it is a
remarkable fact that of these descendants now on the
Manor only one is a male. This one lays claim to Bom
bay Hook Island, and some years ago exhibited, in sub
stantiation of that claim, a. very large parchment deed for
the island given by Governor Andros, more than two hun
dred years ago, to his great-great-great-grandfather, Petrus
Bayard. One of the sweetest, saddest sights I ever witnessed while
engaged in pastoral work on Bohemia Manor was furnished
by one of the many descendants referred to above. A fair

56 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR ;
young lady lay dying, and from her couch she could see
the white marble monuments that marked the last resting-
place of her ancestors and more immediate kindred, and
also the green sod that was soon to be upturned on her
account. Her home was a very humble one, and yet there
were numbered among her paternal and maternal ances
tors the rich and the influential of long ago, and had she
but received her due, a larger share of earth's bounties
would have contributed to her comfort in her last days.
She had enjoyed the advantages of an education, and on
account of her personal charms was admired by a large
circle of acquaintances. Her affectionate disposition, win
ning manners, and choice conversation easily won all
hearts. But the hectic flush made even handsomer her
already handsome face, and the peculiar brightness of the
eye that often foretokens speedy death was hers. She soon
faded, and, as I have just intimated, died within sight of the
quiet country graveyard that held so many of her precious
buried dead, and that to-day holds her lifeless form.
The home of her great-great-grandfather, Samuel Bayard,
who was the head of this branch of the family still stands,
and has stood for one hundred and forty years. It is a
frame structure, and the winds and storms of all these
years have dealt severely with it. This, together with the
repairs and additions that each successive generation of oc
cupants deemed desirable and necessary, has not only marred
the original symmetry of the ancient structure, but has
made it one of the most unique if not grotesque specimens
of architecture observable for many miles around. Be
neath its ample roof General Kniphausen made his head-

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. t^>j
quarters when, in 1777, he and his Hessian troops en
camped upon the Manor. Upon the walls of this old man
sion might have been seen many years ago an elaborate
and artistic military display, — the work of a soldier's pencil.
Thoughtless hands long since obliterated the picture.
I have already said that the first Samuel Bayard who
settled on Bohemia Manor in 1698 was the father of three
sons and one daughter, namely, Peter, the ancestor of the
Bayard, Smith, and Rodgers families ; Samuel, the ancestor
of the few Bayards who still remain on Bohemia Manor,
as well as of the Bayards who may be found in Pennsyl
vania; James, the ancestor of the Delaware and New
Jersey Bayards ; and Mary Ann or Anna Maria, who mar
ried Dr. Sluyter Bouchelle, and was the ancestor of the
Bouchelles of the South as well as of the late Anthony
M. Higgins and Caesar A. Rodney.
The latter gentleman possessed and greatly prized a
souvenir that had descended to him from his Bayard an
cestors. It is a diminutive French prayer-book printed in
1648. Its cover is made of tortoise shell and its back is
of steel. On the back is a complicated monogram which
neither Mr. Rodney nor his friends have been able to de
cipher. The book contains the following quaint inscription :
" 1790, Polly Higgins, her book.
Mary Higgins, her book.
It was brought from France by her
great-grandmother Madame Bayard in 1660.
This is a piece of antiquity.
Mary Higgins' book.
Wilmington, Sept. 15th, 1810."

58 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;

VL
JAMES BAYARD'S DESCENDANTS.
James Bayard married Mary Ashton — An Ancient and Noted Mansion —
An Aged Occupant's Description — "Whitefield's Room" — Old Mrs. Bay
ard, a Mother in Israel — James's Twins — Colonel John Bayard — His Last
Visit — His Death and his Tomb.
The Mary Ann or Anna Maria Bayard who married
Dr. Sluyter Bouchelle had, as I have already stated, a
brother James. The latter married Mary Ashton, whom
he brought to the Bohemia Manor residence of his wid
owed mother, whose interests he proposed to superintend
during her declining days. The residence itself demands
more than a passing notice, as it is probably the most in
teresting structure, historically considered, now standing
on Bohemia Manor, being, as it is, the ancestral seat and
the birthplace of the more distinguished branch of the
Bayard family. The writer hasi frequently visited this old
mansion, has wandered around its castle-like walls, awed
by their solidity and gloom, has been hospitably enter
tained beneath its spacious roof, and has been permitted to
wander from cellar to attic while engaged in antiquarian
research. The mansion is a large, two-storied, brick building, and
has a front portico along its entire length, also large fold
ing-doors, on one of which is found a heavy brass knocker.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

59

There are four front windows in the second story, each of
which has very deep sills and the old-time diminutive
window-panes set in heavy sashes. The front door admits
you to a large vestibule, furnished with a fire-place. Im
mediately facing you is the dining-hall, while at your right
hand is a reception-room, and at your left a spacious parlor.
The apartments in the second story, reached by a
broad, winding staircase, for the most part correspond in
size with the rooms already described, and one of them,
that in the northwest corner of the house, is even to this
day called " Whitefield's room," in honor of the great
preacher whose name it bears, who often occupied it when
he labored on the Manor, though his feet crossed its
threshold for the last time one hundred and thirty years
ago. As the peaked roof of the mansion is very deep,
room is found for two attics between it and the ceiling of
the second story, so that the house is much more ample
than an outside view would suggest. Besides the ordinary
cellar, there is a sub-cellar, or wine vault, deep and long.*
I must not neglect to describe the parlor, which, with the
exception of the so-called " Whitefield's room," is the most
interesting and attractive apartment of the house. It is a
large room, whose walls are wainscoted from floor to ceil
ing, whose mantel-piece is ponderous, and whose ample
fireplace in the long, long past, was the spot about which
gathered many of the great and good of earlier generations.

* I have in my collection of Bayard relics and mementos a remnant of a
Bayard wine-bottle, bearing on its glass seal the date 1740 and the mono
gram of the original owner.

6o ANCIENT FAMILIES OF. BOHEMIA MANOR;
A relic of great historic interest and antiquarian worth
once ornamented this parlor, but now is numbered among
my own collection of relics, through the kindness of the
present owner,* of this Bayard mansion. The relic is an
iron fire-plate about three feet wide and four feet high, in
the centre of which is a representation of a scriptural
scene, Christ and the woman at the well, with the ap
proaching disciples seen in the distance. Beneath the
picture are the characters "C. D. ANNO 1667."
It is surprising that the Bayard family could lose sight of
this interesting object, on which, probably, have rested the
eyes of representatives of each successive generation since
the arrival of the first of the name on Bohemia Manor.
The writer received, ten years ago, from a venerable
friend, who in childhood had been an inmate of this ancient
mansion, a letter describing it, in which these words occur :
"At what time it was built I have no knowledge. The
iron fire-plate which stood in the parlor fireplace I remem
ber seeing many a time and oft. It represented the meet
ing of our Saviour with the woman of Samaria, to whom
he so freely offered the water, to drink of which she would
not thirst again. And I also remember a pair of quaint
andirons in the same fireplace, but what has become of
these relics I know not. . . . Some one hundred or two
hundred yards southwest from the dwelling-house was a
family burying-ground, where the Bayards, I believe, are
* Colonel Richard C. Johnson, of Massey's, Maryland.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 6 1
buried. There used to be, when I was a child, in the top
loft of the dwelling-house, a barrel or two of old papers
and documents, and, no doubt, if they could be found* they
would assist your researches greatly. In my juvenile days
the house laid claim to some distinction, the rooms were
large, the ceilings high, wainscoted, and corniced. A
knocker of brass upon the front folding-doors was suffi
cient to be heard at the top of the building. The brick
was of superior quality and, as I have often heard said,
had been imported. Sixty years have passed since I left
the place, and thirty since I have seen it. I should hardly
recognize anything now.
' The meadow, the fountain, the deep-tangled wildwood.
And all the loved scenes which my infancy knew,'
alas, are gone, and gone forever."
It has already been remarked that the celebrated Rev.
George Whitefield was a guest at the Bayard mansion. In
his Journal he thus refers to his first visit there. Under
date of November 24, 1740, he says: "I arrived on Bo
hemia Manor about eleven o'clock last night and was most
kindly received by old Mrs. Bayard, a true mother in Israel,
many of whose family are under good impressions. I
preached in the afternoon to about two thousand, and have
not seen a more solid melting, I think, since my arrival.
... I parted from good old Mrs. Bayard in tears and
rode with my friends about ten miles to a place called St.
* Inquiry was made as to the whereabouts of these barrels and their con
tents. An occupant of the house, now dead, destroyed them by fire, because
mice had made their nests in them.

62 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
George's, where a kind and courteous Quaker received us
into his house." Whitefield's second visit to Bohemia Manor
occurred in April, 1747. Here he spent four weeks, during
which he wrote as follows in reply to a request to labor
elsewhere : " Here are thousands in these southern parts
who scarce ever heard of redeeming grace. Is it not my
duty as an itinerant to go where the gospel has not been
named ? I am willing to hunt in the woods after sinners,
and could be content that the name of George White-
field shall rot if thereby the name of my dear Redeemer
could be exalted." Whitefield's third visit to Bohemia
Manor occurred in December, 1754, at which time he was
just forty years old. It ought to be observed that this
eminently pious and useful gospel minister exerted a won
derful influence for good upon the inhabitants of Bohemia
Manor, which was felt even up to within a comparatively
recent date.
The old Mrs. Bayard, from whom Whitefield parted in
tears, was Susanna, the daughter of Lege de Bouchelle
and sister of Dr. Petrus Bouchelle. At this time she was
sixty-three years old and a widow. She lived about ten
years longer, and was succeeded in the possession and
occupancy of her old home by her son, James Bayard, who
by this time had married Miss Mary Ashton. By adding
commercial enterprise and industry to the cultivation of
his large farm he, in a few years, accumulated what at that
time was considered a handsome fortune. This, however,
he did not long live to enjoy. Both he and his wife died
young, leaving two sons, twins, named John Bubenheim
Bayard and James Ashton Bayard. It may be remarked

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 63
that the latter was the first James Ashton Bayard, and be
came the father of the distinguished statesman of that
name who was United States commissioner to Ghent. The
former, early in life, dropped his middle name, Bubenheim,
and thereafter subscribed himself simply John Bayard.
These twin brothers received their classical education
under the direction of the Rev. Samuel Finley, D.D., after
wards president of Princeton College, and then removed
to Philadelphia, John to engage in mercantile pursuits and
James to devote himself to the medical profession. Sub
sequently they married sisters, Margaret and Ann Hodge,
the aunts of the late Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D.
About this time the seeds of grace which had been sown
in the young heart of John Bayard began to develop in him
those Christian virtues which in after years made him so
distinguished for piety and benevolence.* He united with
the Presbyterian church, of which the Rev. Gilbert Ten
nent was pastor, and subsequently was made an elder,
which office he filled acceptably for many years. He be
came intimately acquainted with the Rev. George White-
field, who had been the guest of his father and aged grand
mother at their Bohemia Manor home, and occasionally
accompanied him on his preaching-tours through the then
American colonies. At the commencement of the Revo
lutionary war John Bayard took an active and decided
part in favor of his country. He was at first chosen cap
tain, then major, and, finally, colonel of the Second Bat-

* From an extended notice of Colonel John Bayard in the Evangelical
Intelligencir, vol. i.. No. I.

64 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
talion of the Philadelphia militia, at the head of which he
marched to the assistance of General Washington at the
battle of Trenton.
Colonel John Bayard was thrice married : first to Mar
garet Hodge, then to Mrs. Mary Hodgden, the daughter
of Mrs. Mary Grant (who became the second wife of the
Rev. Dr. John Rodgers), and, thirdly, to Johannah, the
daughter of Colonel Anthony White, with whom in 1788
he removed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, as the place
of his permanent residence, where a few years later he
built a handsome and commodious dwelling-house. Here
he was elected mayor of the city, and judge of the Court
of Common Pleas, and here, on January 7, 1807, he died,
and two days later his remains were deposited in the bury
ing-ground of the First Presbyterian church. From the
late venerable Judge John Terhune, of New Brunswick, a
copy of the inscription on the monument has been pro
cured, which is, in part, as follows :
" The Tomb of
JOHN BAYARD
Benevolent, liberal, patriotic. He was chosen
by his country to fill her first offices, his
integrity and zeal justified the choice.
Generous in his temper, sincere in
his friendship, eminent for every
social virtue, he possessed
the esteem of all who knew him.
He enjoyed the confidence and love of
a numerous family who erect this
monument to his revered memory.
He departed hence in triumph on the
7th day of January, 1807, in the 69th year of his age."

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

65

It should be noted that Colonel Bayard, in the year
1788, sold the historic house* on Bohemia Manor, in
which he and some of his children were born. Though
he thus and forever parted with this possession that was
bound to his memory and affection by so many sacred
ties, he never forgot these scenes of his childhood. His
last visit to this dear old spot was made in June, 1805,
when he had become an old man and was within two
years of his death. A handsome barouche that had been
driven from Wilmington, if not from his home in New
Brunswick, appeared, and its erect, stately, and aristocratic
occupant, Colonel John Bayard, alighted. At his feet
flowed the waters of the beautiful, blue Bohemia, at his
left stood the old ancestral mansion in which he had, in
his boyhood and early manhood, witnessed scenes of joy
and sorrow, while at his right hand were the graves of his
father and his father's fathers for many generations. At
those graves he no doubt lingered long, shed a tear, and
then turned away and departed, never to return. This is
the graveyard that Whitefield used to look upon from his
window in the Bayard mansion, and which, at one time,
* The purchaser was Edward Foard, who occupied it until January 24,
1822, when he died at the advanced age of seventy-nine years. His wife,
Sarah Mansfield, survived him about three years. They had two children, —
Jemima Foard, who married James Blackiston, and Mary Foard, who mar
ried Dennis James Nowland. The above-named Edward Foard had a
brother, Richard Boulding Foard, from whom descended the Foards now
owning property on Bohemia Manor, through his son and their grandfather,
Levi G. Foard, who married Ann Bayard. Edward Foard had other
brothers, Jeremiah, Hezekiah, and Josiah, but they have no descendants of
their name now residing on Bohemia Manor. S

66 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
he desired might eventually become the place of his
burial. Nobody would care to be buried there now. It
is a lonely, neglected, and forsaken spot, and, if my mem
ory serves me, not an inscribed stone remains to mark a
single grave. And yet,
" Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire ;
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre."

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. Qy

VII.
The First James Ashton Bayard — Jane, a Devout Christian — John Hodge
Bayard — An Interesting Letter — The Distinguished James A. Bayard —
Governor Richard Bassett — A Joint Burial-Service — Bayard Graves —
Farewell to Bohemia Manor.
Colonel John Bayard's twin brother, who, as has been
stated, was the first James Ashton Bayard, was born on
Bohemia Manor August ii, 1738. He became a surgeon
in the Revolutionary army. He died on the 8th of Jan
uary, 17" , in Charleston, South Carolina. His property-
was diminished by various vicissitudes, and his family was
left mainly to the care of his brother. This family con
sisted of a wife, who, in about four years, followed her
husband to the grave, and three children, John Hodge,
James Ashton, and Jane. The last named, Jane Bayard,
was born on February 13, 1765, and was baptized on
March 16 of that year by the Rev. John Rodgers.* In
a letter written to the author by the late Dr. Charles
Hodge, of Princeton, I learn that she never married, be
came a strict Methodist, and was always dressed as a
Quaker lady.
* Dr. Rodgers was highly esteemed by the Bayard family, and frequently
officiated at their baptisms and marriages.

68 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
Her brother, John Hodge Bayard, was born January ii,
1762. He went to Western Maryland, and seems to have
been almost wholly lost sight of by his friends, who sup
posed that he had died unmarried and childless. But a
single clue enabled me to discover that the tradition was
altogether unfounded, and that he not only married, but
left many descendants.* From one of these I have re
ceived several interesting papers refei-ring to his family.
One is a letter written to John Hodge Bayard by his
brother, the Hon. James A. Bayard, United States com
missioner to Ghent. As it refers to matters military and
political, as well as social and domestic, I hesitated to
reproduce it until, in response to a note of inquiry ad
dressed to the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, Secretary of State
of the United States, I received the following :
" Washington, D. C, March 5, 1887.
" Reverend Sir, — I am very glad to know that you are to deliver before
the Delaware Historical Society an address on Bohemia Manor, and can see no
reason why the interesting letter of Mr. James A. Bayard (my grandfather)
to his brother John, written in 1800, should not be published. It breathes
the spirit of a patriot and but confirms the reputation the writer left. . . .
" Very respectfully,
"Your Obt. Servt., "T. F. Bayard."
The letter referred to is dated April 27, 1800, and says :
" My dear Brother, — It was a great satisfaction to me to find that your
confidence in me was restored, and that you ceased to think me so unworthy

* His daughter married, and left many children and grandchildren. I
have not space even to name them, nor to relate interesting circumstances con
nected with the last days, and the death and burial, of John Hodge Bayard.

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRA VES.

69

as to have forgotten an only brother, to whom I owed obligations, and who
had ever behaved to me with affection. Nature has not been so unkind to
me as to have robbed me of her best feelings, though she has not disposed
me to give unavailing proofs of their existence. I never did, nor could,
attach much importance to literary correspondence. There is no person to
whom I make it a point to write except to my wife, and even as to her I
should often probably be remiss, had I not some apprehensions that neglect
might endanger the peace of the family. You will probably not hear from
me after the adjournment of Congress, till we meet again at the city of
Washington. But I beg you not to suppose that I forget or am indifferent to
you. The day of adjournment has been fixed on the second Tuesday in May ;
after that I shall be occupied in the courts. I heard lately from our sister,
who is in as good health and spirits as she ever possessed. She is now a
plain Methodist, who has discarded, and despises, the pomp, the show, and
the vanities of the world, and given herself up to a holy £eal for the cause of
religion. ...
" There is little new on the subjectof politics to communicate. . . . The
event of .the mission to France cannot be known for several months. I have
no doubt of a treaty of peace being concluded, though I have little con
fidence in the observance of it after it is made. The French rulers, through
all these successive changes, have demonstrated by their actions that they
consider a treaty binding no longer than it is the interest of the nation to
keep it. Our only assurance of peace can be derived from allowing war to
offer no advantage. This we accomplish by being prepared for hostilities.
" It is impossible to say what effect peace with France will produce in rela
tion to Great Britain. Peace with this country is very valuable to Britain,
and yet if Sweden and' Denmark should join the coalition, and the United
States be -left the only neutral maritime power, England would have a great
interest' to go to war, in order to prevent the great accession to our carrying
trade, which our neutral situation would necessarily attract. The event is to
be deprecated, but I hope the nation would be found as ready to resist the
aggressions of England as of France. For myself, I can say that the dread
of no war would induce me to submit to any acts of a foreign government
which tended to degrade the character of the nation. ¦ I love peace, but I
love ' still more the honor of my country. There certainly will be another
campaign in Europe, and from the vast preparations which both parties are

70

ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;

making, it will probably be as fierce and bloody as any which has happened
in the war. . . . " I remain " Affectionately yours, "J, A. Bayard."
The writer of the above letter was born July 28, 1767.
He commenced the practice of law in Wilmington, Dela
ware, in 1787, and nine years afterwards was elected to the
national House of Representatives. In 1804 he was
chosen United States Senator as successor of his father-in-
law Governor Bassett, which position he retained until he
was selected by President Madison as a commissioner, with
Gallatin, Clay, and others, to negotiate a peace with Great
Britain. He returned to this country, and died in Wilming
ton, Delaware, August 6, 1815. His mortal remains were
borne to Bohemia Manor for burial in a vault which his
father-in-law, Governor Bassett, had erected near his coun
try residence.
As Governor Bassett died about the same time, a joint
funeral service was held, conducted by his life-long friend,
the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, but because of the large con
course of people and consequent confusion no religious
exercises were observed at the vault. This vault was
broken into many years ago, and some of the coffins
despoiled of their rich adornments. Afterwards the late
Richard Bassett Bayard, of Baltimore, had the contents of
the vault removed to the Wilmington and Brandywine
Cemetery, and deposited in a vault, which has since re
ceived his own remains. In the late residence of the latter
may be seen many interesting souvenirs of the Hon.
James A. Bayard, including the inkstand used by him

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES.

71

and his co-commissioners at the signing of the treaty of
Ghent. I have already referred to James A. Bayard's father-in-
law, Richard Bassett. He was born April 2, 1745. He
became an eminent lawyer, a judge, governor of Delaware,
member of the old Congress, and a senator of the United
States. He was a delegate from Delaware to the conven
tion 1;hat formed the Constitution of the United States, and
his name is enrolled, on that account, with the names of
Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin,
Robert Morris, and other distinguished patriots and states
men. His personal friend, the Rev. Henry Boehm, says that
at one time Governor Bassett was a very fashionable man,
and, being rich, had his good things in this life. But
after his conversion he was as humble and teachable as
a little child. At this remote period it is impossible to
have a correct idea of the position he once occupied,
and the influence he exerted in favor of the church of
his choice, in whose annals he should ever have a promi
nent place.
In person Governor Bassett was a stout-built man, of
medium height, and looked as if he was made for service.
His countenance was full of benignity, his eye was very
expressive, and his voice strong and musical. He was dis
tinguished for benevolence, and was given to hospitality. He
had three homes, residing part of the time in Dover, then
on Bohemia Manor, and then in Wilmington. He has
entertained over one hundred persons at one time. His
heart was as large as his mansion.

72 ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR;
This mansion, let it be remarked, which was distinguished
for its antiquity, for the splendid paintings that adorned its
walls, for the hospitality that reigned there, and as the
home of Bishop Asbury when he preached on Bohemia
Manor, was burned down many years ago.* The present
owner of the site of this noted mansion, and of the site of
the mansion of the first lord of the Manor and his grave,
is Governor Bassett's great-great-grandson, Richard )
Bayard , of Baltimore.
The author has endeavored to sketch the history of
Bohemia Manor from its establishment, in 1660, up to the
present time, and to describe its ancient families and their
homes and their graves. From the commencement to the
conclusion of his task he has been embarrassed with the
abundance of material at his disposal. For years he has
been collecting facts, figures, names, traditions, genealogi
cal records, descriptions of persons, houses, and graves.
There is scarcely an object of historic interest on Bohemia
Manor, no matter how comparatively trivial, that he has
not examined, nor an aged resident with whom he has not
" compared notes." The result of all this he has collected
into a large manuscript volume, whose five hundred pages
it fills. Only a tithe of this has been introduced into this
little work. Whether the rest will ever appear in print the
author cannot say. He can conclude the present effort no
more appropriately than by quoting a local poet, who long
since removed, and is probably now dead. His name is
withheld because of the personal and sentimental char-
* See " Reminiscences of Rev. Henry Boehm."

THEIR HOMES AND THEIR GRAVES. 73
acter of his poem. More than threescore years ago he
wrote, and now I transcribe a
FAREWELL TO BOHEMIA.
" No more along thy silver stream,
Bohemia, shall I stray
Beneath the pale moon's gentle gleam
Or brighter beams of day :
While youth and beauty grace thy shore
To mark thy bosom's swell,
I fondly all thy charms adore,
And breathe my last Farewell.
" The willow, bending o'er the tide,
Shall oft its branches lave ;
The sea-birds on thy bosom ride
And grace thy polished wave ;
Thy verdant banks, with blossoms crowned.
Shall breathe their odors still.
And music float in air around.
From valley, lake, and hill.
" The feathered songsters of the wood
Shall on thy margin sing.
Or gently hovering o'er thy flood
Tune all the notes of Spring ;
While echo, from her sweet defile.
Repeats the sailor's song.
Or answers, with her sweetest smile,
To beauty's 'witching tongue.
" Flow, lovely stream, forever flow
Along thy laughing vale ;
When sportive beauty oft shall throw
Her wild-flowers on the gale ;

ANCIENT FAMILIES OF BOHEMIA MANOR
And, oh, if Mary chance to stray
Beside thy lambent stream,
Murmur thy softest, sweetest lay
And shed thjji mildest gleam.
" Though many a graceful form is seen
To tread thy lily side ;
She moves a modest, peerless queen,
Of beauty's self the pride :
And may she never, never know
The heart's corroding ills,
The pangs that oft from memory flow,
The flood that quick distils.
" But, lo ! yon murky clouds obscure
The waning orb of night.
And chilling blasts bid me retire
From all that can delight;
Yet when in foreign climes I roam
Shall memory fondly tell
Of lovely scenes of Mary's home,^
Bohemia, fare thee well."

THE END.

PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE
VIII.

DIARY

OF

Captain Thomas Rodney,
1776-1777.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION.

BY
C^SAR A. RODNEY,
HIS GREA-f-GRANDSON.

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE.
WILMINGTON: 1888.

PREFACE.

This paper was read before the Historical Society of
Delaware by the late Caesar A. Rodney, on January 2, 1877.
His brother, Mr. John M. C. Rodney, at the request of the
society, has kindly permitted its publication.
At a stated meeting of the Historical Society of Delaware,
held at its rooms in the city of Wilmington, on Monday,
the 15th day of September, 1884, the following minute of
the death of Caesar A. Rodney, submitted by Judge Wales,
was adopted and ordered to be entered on the journal:
" Since the last meeting of this society it has lost one of
its most valued and active members by the death of Caesar
A. Rodney, which occurred on the 23d day of June, in the
present year.
" By this sad event we have been deprived of the com
panionship and assistance of one who always took a zealous
interest in the welfare of the society, and was ever ready by
his personal services and contributions to promote its aims.
He bore a name that has long been honorably associated
with the history of Delaware, and he felt a just and worthy
pride in the fame and distinction achieved by his ancestors.
The occasional selections made by him from family papers 3

4 PREFACE.
in his possession, and read before us, will not be forgotten
at this moment.
" At the time of his decease Mr. Rodney had not passed
the meridian of life. His youth and manhood had been
spent in this city, where he was well known both in business
and social circles. As a man of business he was intelli
gent, industrious, practical, and upright. Public-spirited and
capable, he was at different times intrusted by his fellow-
citizens with official duties, which he faithfully and efficiently
performed. The bent of his mind was toward the study of
chemistry and the natural sciences, in which he had made
considerable progress. Nor did he confine himself to only
a theoretical investigation of these subjects. He was in
genious as well as studious, and became, to a very creditable
extent, a successful inventor. While at the head of a large
and important manufacturing establishment, his scientific
acquirements and practical knowledge enabled him to man
age its affairs with so much skill and judgment as to change
an unsuccessful concern into a most profitable investment
for its owners.
" In domestic and social life Mr. Rodney was beloved
and esteemed by his kindred and friends for his unselfish
and generous nature. Well informed, an instructive com
panion, kindly attentive and helpful to young and old, and
regardful of the ' small, sweet courtesies of life,' his death
— untimely as it appears to us — has left a wide and painful
void, not only in his own home and in the membership of
this society, but also in the many households where his
genial disposition and cordial manner made him always a
welcome guest."

INTRODUCTION.

Mr. President, Members of the Historical Society,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The sinking of the sun behind the western hills to
night completes the century that has elapsed since the
close of the second battle of Trenton, or, as the writers
of that period frequently called it, the cannonade at Trent
Town. And as the first rays of the rising sun break forth to
morrow morning, they will mark the passage of an hundred
years since the glorious battle of Princeton was fought and
won ; a battle that, in the short space of one-half hour, de
cided the fate of the United States, and assured the world
that they would maintain their position among the nations
of the earth.
It therefore seems appropriate, at this centennial anni
versary of so important an event, that we should recall
to mind the history of that period, and that any addi
tional information that exists concerning it should be made
public. Our historians have told us of the dreadful condition of
public affairs on the ist of December, 1776, when the cause
5

6 INTRODUCTION.
of American Independence seemed lost forever, and have
fully informed us how that brilliant campaign, which began
on the night of Christmas, 1776, and ended when our army
encamped at Morristown, rolled back the dark cloud that
threatened our national existence.
I shall not, therefore, attempt to present a compilation of
what has already been written and re-written so often, but
will at once make known to you the facts in regard to the
remarkable narrative that I shall bring to your notice this
evening. The papers and correspondence of my great-grandfather,
Thomas Rodney, and his brother, Caesar Rodney, having
come by descent into my possession, I find among them a
vast amount of interesting matter, correspondence, and offi
cial documents relating to the early history of our nation,
and especially of our own Diamond State ; and none exceed
in interest those which relate to the Princeton campaign of
1776 and 1777. The historical material in my hands bear
ing upon this period is so voluminous that it might, with
slight amplification, be readily extended into a bulky vol
ume, but want of time will, in this paper, compel me to
exclude much I would gladly introduce and confine myself
to the main facts, without commenting at all upon many
points which require further explanation.
The history of General Caesar Rodney, the signer of the
Declaration of Independence, is too well known to require
repetition here, but of his youngest brother it may be neces
sary to say that he was born on the 4th of June, 1744, near
Dover, and during his life filled many positions of trust and
honor.

INTRODUCTION. y
I find that he was register and judge of the Probate of
Wills and clerk of the Orphans' Court. Member of the
General Assembly many times, member of the Council of
Safety, and member and president of the Committee of In
spection of Kent County. He was judge of the Admi
ralty Court and of the Court of Common Pleas of the
Delaware State ; twice a delegate to the Continental Con
gress, which he entered for the first time in 1781, and in
1803 was appointed chief-justice of the Mississippi Terri
tory, and died at Natchez in 1811. The town of Rodney,
on the Mississippi, was named for him.
During the war Thomas Rodney was captain of a militia
company known as the Dover Light Infantry, and was
afterwards colonel of the Eighth Regiment of Delaware
militia. Early in September, 1775, the Council of Safety of the
Three Lower Counties, a body composed of seven members
from each county, and charged by the General Assembly
with the safety of the colony, organized the militia of the
counties by causing lists to be made of all the able-bodied
male inhabitants, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years,
and enrolling them into companies. From these companies
eight regiments were formed, — three from New Castle, two
from Kent, and three from Sussex Counties, — and John
McKinly, Caesar Rodney, and John Dagworthy were ap
pointed brigadier-generals. Caesar Rodney was subse
quently made major-general and commander-in-chief of
the State forces. In this capacity he twice led a portion
of the State troops into active service, once during the
Princeton campaign, during which he was placed in com-

¦8 INTRODUCTION.
mand of the post at Trenton, where he remained nearly
two months, and again during the invasion of the State
previous to the battle of Brandywine.
The general's star indicating the military rank of Caesar
Rodney, and worn by him during the war, is now in my
possession. It is rather rudely cut from a thin sheet of
silver, and closely resembles a policeman's badge of the
present day. It was worn upon the left breast instead of
upon the shoulder-strap, as is the custom of the present
time. Under the authority of the Council of Safety the regi
ment of Colonel Haslet was raised, he having been previ
ously appointed colonel of one of the militia regiments from
Kent County; but its glorious deeds, its trials and its suffer
ings, have been so ably described by Colonel Whiteley in a
recent paper as to leave but little more to be said concern
ing it.
But the time for which Colonel Haslet's regiment enlisted
expired on the 1st of January, 1777, and another, a Conti
nental regiment, was being organized at home, in Delaware,
to replace it.
These facts induced most of the officers and men of the
small remaining portion of this regiment to overlook the
necessities of the situation, and return home in the hope of
obtaining positions in the permanent organization, so that
at the battle of Trenton the First Delaware Regiment
was represented by only four officers. Colonel Haslet,
Captain Holland, Doctor Gilder, and Ensign Wilson, and
two privates, according to Colonel Haslet's own state
ment, and when the army reached Morristown, the ad-

INTRODUCTION. g
jutant. Captain Holland, was the only member of the regi
ment left.
In September, 1776, a regiment of militia, under com
mand of Colonel Samuel Patterson, left this State to join the
"Flying Camp." They were to serve for three months, and
left the army promptly on the expiration of their term of
service, on the ist of December following, just when their
aid was most needed.
In the alarming crisis which arose at this time. Congress,
then sitting at Philadelphia, made the most urgent appeal to
the militia of the neighboring States to turn out and sup
port General Washington until the Continental army could
be reorganized, and under this ^appeal three companies of
New Castle County militia left W^ilmington on the l6th
day of December, 1776, under command of Major Thomas
Duff. It appears from a note of General Mifflin that Major
Duff, through a mistake of orders, did not join him on the
march to Trenton, and therefore the troops under his com
mand were not in the engagements at either Trenton or
Princeton, and I can find no evidence that there were any
Delaware troops engaged in those battles except the few
that remained of Colonel Haslet's First Delaware, and one
company of Kent County militia under command of Captain
Thomas Rodney.
When the militia of the colony was organized, Thomas
Rodney was elected captain of the Dover company.
Acting under the dictates of patriotism, and in obedience
to the appeal of the Continental Congress, a portion of this
company marched from Dover on the 14th of December,

lO INTRODUCTION.
1776, under command of their captain, who, during the
whole time they were in service, kept an accurate daily
record of every occurrence of any importance. This journal
I now propose to read to you as it was written one hundred
years ago.

DIARY OF
CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY,

The Journal begins:
In December 1776 the British army had driven General
Washington with the shattered remains of the American
Army over the Delaware, and he encamped in Bucks
County; and at this time about 1200 of the Citizens of
Philadelphia turned out and took post at Bristol.
Part of the British Army were encamped at Trenton,
Bordentown, and Burlington and the British were in pos
session of all Jersey as well as York.
Only Gen. Lee, with a few men, was still on the
mountains east of the Raritan.
Congress had determined to move from Philadelphia
to Baltimore.
The ruling council of our own state had met twice and
seperated without doing anything, and a general dismay
seemed spread over the Country.
At this time and seeing our ruling council seperate
the second time, without coming to any resolution, I felt
my mind anxious and uneasy, and went over to my brother

12 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
[Caesar Rodney] and he was much concerned ; said every
thing appeared gloomy and unfortunate, that he was very
apprehensive for the safety of our cause.
When I left him, I consulted the officers and several
of the company, and they voluntarily agreed to turn out,
and then I set up a paper inviting all those who would go
to be prepared by a certain day.
And thirty-five of the infantry, including several others,
entered into the association to go, and this company
marched from Dover the 14th of December 1776, at 3
o'clock in the afternoon, for camp, the ground being
covered with snow several inches deep.
That night they reached the Cross Roads [Duck Creek,
now Smyrna] but as I could not get the baggage wagon
off in time, I did not set off until next morning.
December i^th lyjS
This morning I took my leave of my wife and children
and reached the Cross Roads about lO o'clock, and found
that the company had marched. I stayed there to get
breakfast and was detained there until 2 o'clock before I
got off the Baggage wagon. I overtook the company at
the Trap, [now McDonough] and pushed them on to the
Red Lion that night, but the baggage wagon did not get
up until 12 o'clock, and the men were a little uneasy
about their blankets but continued in high spirits.
December i6th i'jj6
This day we reached Wilmington, where we encamped
all night. On our way we called at Col. Pattersons near

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 13
Christeen and were fitted out with knapsacks, can
teens &c.
From Christiana Bridge we saw the road full of the
citizens of Philadelphia who had fled with their families
and effects, expecting the British army would be there in
a few days. We had the pleasure of receiving the good
wishes of thousands on our way and of seeing our example
enspirit the people to follow it. We passed one company
on the road, and two had left Wilmington this morning.
[The New Castle County militia under Major Thomas Duff.]
At Christiana Bridge I met with Mr. McKean, Chief Justice
of Pennsylvania, and several other members of Congress
on their way from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and spent the
evening with them, and Mr. McKean sat late with me and
gave me an account of all the information Congress had
received, and observed that everything was very gloomy and
doubtful and that the chief hope that remained, was, that
Gen. Lee, who was on the mountains in the rear of the
enemy, would be able to effect some lucky stroke that
would prevent the enemy's crossing the Delaware, but if
nothing of this sort happened. Congress would be obliged
to authorize the Commander in Chief to obtain the best
terms that could be had from the enemy. I desired him
not to dispair, and urged, that the members might not say
anything on their way that would discourage the people,
but would endeavor by all means in their power to animate
them, and to make use of what we were doing as an ex
ample ; — that the spirited exertion of a few men at such a
time would have great weight, and assured him that he
would soon hear of a favorable turn in our affairs.

14

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

December lyth lyjd
This day we travelled from Wilmington to Chester where
we put up all night. All of our men continue in high spirits
and good health. We are told that Gen. Lee is taken
prisoner. December i8th 17^6
To-day we reached the City of Philadelphia and were
quartered in the house of Samuel Emllens at the corner of
Walnut Street and the Dock. All the company are in good
health and spirits but some have blistered feet.
When we arrived at Philadelphia it made a horrid appear
ance, more than half the houses appeared deserted, and the
families that remained were shut up in their houses, and
nobody appeared in the streets.
There was no military of any kind in the City, only Gen.
Putnam, who was there to give orders to any militia that
might come in. I had a sentinel placed at the General's
door, and others to guard the City that night, and then
went to the Coffee house, but there was no one there.
After sometime I found Bradford and made him bring a
bowl of punch and some biscuit, and I sat in a box alone.
I asked Bradford what was the reason no one appeared, and
he said that they expected the British in every moment
and were afraid.
I told them they need not be afraid, I would engage to
guard the City that night, but he soon ran out again, seem
ing afraid to stay, and I sat in a box alone; but afterwhile
Capt. Fortner came to peep in, and seeing an officer in the
Coffee house, took me to be a British officer, and went
round secretly to Bradford, who told him who it was, and

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

15

then they both came in; I asked them where all the whigs
were, and they said there were but few in town, and they
expected the British in town every moment and were afraid
to be out. I told them again they need not be afraid.
They then went out and brought in a good deal of company
and we stayed about an hour and then broke up.
December igth 1776
This morning I waited on Gen. Putnam, who commands
here, and received orders to get ready immediately and
march to join Gen. Washington.
To-day we began to draw rations and live as soldiers.
The remainder of the day was spent in getting ready to
march to headquarters. This evening I was notified by
general orders, that all the militia must appear at the Gen
eral's at 9 o'clock to-morrow morning.
This morning I went to see Joshua Fisher's family, who
is uncle to my wife but are quakers and very great tories.
They seemed glad to see me, were all extremely cheerful,
said that the contest would soon be over now ; that the
British would be in town in a day or two and invited me to
sup at Thomas Fisher's that evening, which I accepted, and
accordingly went.
Thomas, Samuel, and Miers Fisher all supped there with
me. The entertainment was exceedingly clever, and they
were all particularly friendly to me. After supper several
kinds of good wine were placed on the table and I drank,
what was usual with me, about three glasses of Madeira.
They then began on the times; they informed me, I
believe very truly, of the situation of the British and Ameri-

1 6 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
can armies; told me Gen. Lee was certainly taken prisoner;
that there was no prospfect that America could make any
further exertions.
That it was, therefore, in vain for me to attempt anything
more ; that now was a favorable time to relinquish all further
opposition. — That they would engage, that neither myself
nor my brother nor any of my friends should be injured,
and that I might expect on the contrary any favor I would
ask, as they expected the British in town in a few days and
would interest themselves in every degree in my favor;
and that it was necessary for myself, my family and friends
that I should embrace this favorable occasion and much
more to the same effect.
I answered them. by pointing out those circumstances that
were still favorable to America, and concluded by assuring
them that I should not change my determination, that I
knew my business and should not return until the British
were beaten, but they treated this as levity and concluded
that I was an obstinate man, and must be left to take my
own way. I told them I was perhaps better informed than
they were, and should most certainly proceed in my enter
prise ; and then as it was now pretty late parted from them
and went to my quarters. December 20th 1776
At 9 o'clock this morning we appeared at the General's
door but found no other companies paraded. The General
was not up, but his aid appeared, and I requested that the
general would dismiss us as we were under marching orders,
which he immediately did.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 17
A continual snow fell last night and cleared up with rain
and sleet and the weather is very cold. To-day in getting
ready to march I went through the City and found it almost
deserted by the inhabitants, and looking as if it had been
plundered, and scarcely a chair can be had at a public house
to sit down in ; or a meal of vituals to be had, but to our
great joy we saw the streets full of militia and hundreds
pouring in every hour.
In the evening I sent the company to the mustermaster
with the Lieutenant, who not carrying the muster rolls, the
drunken Mustermaster cursed them and sent them back,
which vexed them very much.
, I gave orders that the company should be ready to march
next morning by daylight. December 21st 1776
This morning early the company paraded and I carried
them to the mustermaster and had them mustered, and
marched immediately. The roads being very deep we only
got to the Red Lion on the Bristol road 13 miles from
Philadelphia where we stayed all night.
{Sunday) December 22d 1776
About 2 o'clock to-day we reached Bristol, where the
Philadelphia volunteers are encamped. I waited on Gen.
Cadwalader, who commands here, to show him my orders,
but he was engaged, and upon waiting on the Quartermaster
found that there were no quarters in Bristol, but Col. Morris
the quartermaster immediately sent us out to William Coxe's
and Andrew Aliens on the banks of the Neshaminy creek

1 8 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
where he appointed our quarters, about 2 miles from Bristol.
The Lieutenant and half the company were placed at Mr.
Coxes and the other half at Mrs. Aliens, who prepared a
room for me, and requested that I would stay at her house
to prevent her being insulted, as her husband and brothers
had fled to the enemy, and she therefore had been insulted
some days before. But nothing of this sort happened after
wards, as I would scorn to insult a woman or permit it to
be done, for the offence of her husband : we turned out to
protect and defend the innocent not to insult them. Our
cause is a just one and should be maintained with Justice.
Both families treat myself and the whole company with the
greatest kindness and politeness.
[Let me here mention that these families were people of
wealth and importance in their day. Andrew Allen had
been a member of the Continental Congress and was the
son of William Allen, formerly chief-justicfe of Penn.syl-
vania and mayor of Philadelphia. One of William Allen's
daughters had married John Penn, proprietor and governor
of Pennsylvania.]
This evening I received an order from Gen. Cadwalader
to wait on him immediately.
I waited on him, and he asked me what number of men I
had brought, I told him 35. He asked me if that was all.
I told him it was, and I thought they were enough, and
asked him how many he had there, and how many General
Washington had left. He said he had had 1200 but many
had gone off one way or another, but he supposed there
was still 800 left; that General Washington had about 1500
and there was some more, that had been under Gen. Lee,

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. iq
who was taken prisoner. That his capture had damped
the spirit of the army very much, and everything looked
very gloomy.
I told him I was sorry for Gen. Lee because I knew him
personally and had a regard for him, but I did not view his
capture as unfavorable but as an advantage ; that too much
confidence had been put in General Lee, that this must have
greatly embarrassed the commander in chief, as he was
afraid to do anything without consulting Gen. Lee, but now
he would be at liberty to exert his own talents.
He asked what could be done. I answered, that in an
enterprise a small number was best, that 500 men was
enough to surprise any of the British Posts on the Dela
ware, he then said that General Washington intended some
enterprise of that sort but was waiting for men to make him
strong enough, and that Gen. Reed had gone down to Phila
delphia to see what militia had come in, and on his return,
if there was any prospect of success something would be
done. I replied that there was no occasion for more men, that
there was enough for any enterprise, and the measure ought
not to be delayed a moment on that account, for now was a
favorable time, and I had not the least doubt of success, but
if men were wanting, there would soon be enough, for the
roads were full from Virginia and Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
Upon this, Gen. Cadwalader's countenance began to flame
and he asked me if I would stay there. I told him I was
ordered to headquarters and wanted to get there to urge
expedition. He said the Commander in Chief had directed
him to stop all militia there, and if I would stay he would

20 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
send an express to him. I told him if he would send an
express and write what I had said, to the General, and he
said I might stay, then I would do so. So Gen. Cadwalader
sent an express immediately to the General and I returned
to my quarters at Mrs. Aliens.
In the night the express returned with orders from General
Washington that I might stay at this post and Gen. Cad
walader sent the express out to my quarters and I accord
ingly appeared at Bristol, where Gen. Cadwalader informed
me that he wanted us to join a party of Philadelphia militia
that night, to make a tour into the Jersey and harrass the
enemy, and asked me if the men were fit to go. I told him
that a number of them were, and would willingly go, but
as we had marched a hundred and odd miles, some few of
them were too much jaded, which I begged he would
permit me to leave. However,' when he heard they had
marched so far he would not permit any of us to go.
The rest of the troops paraded at 2 o'clock that night,
but an express from Col. Griffin informing them he was not
prepared to join them stopped the expedition.
December 2jd 1776
This morning at 9 o'clock I waited on tTie General and
just as I reached there he received a second express from
Gen. Washington countermanding our going over the River,
and informing him that he had determined on his plan of
attacking the British posts on Christmas night, and would not
have any of the troops harrassed in the meantime, but that
they should be prepared against that time for the enterprise,
and he would send his plan in a day or two; this was com-

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 2 1
municated to me by Gen. Cadwalader and I was rejoiced
and assured hirri we should certainly be successful.
The General pressed me much to be with him, and seemed
much animated with my decided sentiments.
December 2^th 1776
We continued in our quarters this day and refreshed our
selves a little from the fatigue of a long march.
I waited on the General this morning and he privately
communicated to me all the important information, and
spoke with the utmost openness, when we were alone, his
own sentiments.
He requested me to dine with him, but I could not take
the time and he then asked that I would dine with him to
morrow [Christmas day].
December 2^th 1776
I waited on the General this morning and was informed
by him that he had obtained leave of General Washington
to join my company to his Brigade and ordered that the
company should be ready to receive marching orders to
night. Yesterday the Quartermaster General, at Bristol, sent
wagons down to Coxes and Aliens to take all their grain
and forage but I would not permit them to touch it unless
they bought it, so they left it and went away.
To-day a Brigade of New England Continental troops
were sent down to quarter here, and the Quartermaster
came down to turn out both families, but I would not allow

22 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
them to be disturbed and wrote to Gen. Cadwalader for in
structions. When Gen. Hitchcock, the commander, was informed of
the matter, he politely replied he would not attempt to
disturb them nor would he put the families to any incon
venience. Mr. Cox, thereupon, offered the field officers one
of his rooms and Mrs. Aliens house for the rest of his offi
cers, upon my agreeing to move to his house, and Mrs.
Allen, in consideration of such civilities, consented to do
the same.
About dark I received orders to march immediately to
Neshaminy ferry and await orders.
We march off immediately without the knowledge of
the families where we were staying and met Col. Matlack
at the ferry, he being the advance party of the brigade from
Bristol. We soon received orders to march to Dunkers
ferry on the Delaware, and after we arrived there the whole
brigade came up, and also Col. Hitchcock Brigade of New
England Regulars.
Our light Infantry Battalion [the Dover company and
four companies of Philadelphia militia under Capt. George
Henry] were embarked in boats to cover the landing of the
Brigade. When we reached the Jersey shore we were obliged to
land on the ice, 150 yards from the shore; the River was
also very full of floating ice, and the wind was blowing very
hard, and the night was very dark and cold, and we had
great difficulty in crossing but the night was very favorable
to the enterprise. We advanced about two hundred yards
from the shore and formed in four columns of double files.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 177(i—1777. 23
About 600 of the light troops got over, but the boats
with the artillery were carried away in the ice and could not
be got over.
After waiting about 3 hours we were informed that Gens.
Cadwalader and Hitchcock had given up the expedition,
and that the troops that were over were ordered back.
This greatly irritated the troops that had crossed the River
and they proposed making the attack without both the Gen
erals and the artillery but it was urged, that if Gen. Washing
ton should be unsuccessful and we also, the cause would be
lost, but if our force remained intact it would still keep up
the spirit of America; therefor this course was abandoned.
We had to wait about three hours more to cover the
retreat, by which time the wind blew very hard and there
was much rain and sleet, and there was so much floating ice
in the River that we had the greatest difficulty to get over
again, and some of our men did not get over that night.
As soon as I reached the Pennsylvania shore I received
orders to march to our quarters, where I arrived a little
before daylight very wet and cold.
Decem.ber 26th 1776
About 12 o'clock the remainder of my company came
in and in the evening we heard of General Washingtons
success at Trenton and that he had captured goo Hessians.
The previous disposition of the Commander in Chief was
for attacking Trenton, Bordentown and Burlington all on
Christmas night. That against Trenton was to be conducted
by himself; that against Bordentown by Gen. Ewing and
that against Burlington by Gens. Cadwalader Reed and

24

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

Hitchcock. The expedition against Bordentown has also
faild, and I am inclined to think that General Washington
meant these only as feints, for if our Generals had been in
earnest, we could have taken Burlington with the light
troops alone.
About dark notwithstanding our fatigue I received orders
to appear at Bristol before Daybreak to-morrow morning.
December 27th 1776
We got down to Bristol about Daylight, and the whole
army under General Cadwalader began crossing about 10
o'clock, about one mile above Bristol.
The light Infantry covered the landing as before and
about 3 o'clock the whole army got in motion towards
Burlington. The Order of march was, first Col. Matlacks Rifle Battal
llon on the Right and Left in single file, advanced about
200 yards before the Infantry ; Next the Light Infantry in
four columns of double files. Next the Artillery, and then
the main column following in platoons, flanked at 200
yards by single files in the Woods.
In this order we reached Burlington about 9 o'clock, and
took possession of the town, and when we had done this we
found that the enemy had fled from there and all the adja
cent parts in great precipitation. The General therefore
gave orders that our light troops should march at 4 o'clock
to-morrow morning. The troops were quartered in houses,
but it being now 1 1 o'clock they had but about 4 hours to
sleep. This town is opposite Bristol on the River Delaware and

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 25
most of the houses are brick, but as it was dark when I
went in and we left it before day I can give no description
of it. December 28th 1776
We left Burlington at 4 o'clock this morning and passed
on the Great Road to Bordentown.
Along the road we saw many Hessian posts at Bridges
and Cross Roads ; they were chiefly made with rails and
covered with straw, all deserted. The whole country as
we passed appeared one scene of devastation and ruin.
Neither Hay, Straw, Grain, or any live stock or poultry
to be seen.
We got to within half a mile of Bordentown about 9
o'clock, and made a halt just at the foot of a bridge, where
we heard that the enemy had deserted the town and were
about five miles off but were disposed to return, and that
some of their light horse were expected every minute.
We then posted ourselves in a cornfield, so as to be
convenient to surround the town ; and set posts on all the
roads, but after waiting thus about an hour were informed
that the enemy were flying with all speed.
We then marched into the town, in several detachments
and took possession of a large quantity of stores which the
enemy had left, then went into quarters and refreshed our
selves and in about 2 hours the main body of the army
came up.
This little town is pleasantly situated on the River Dela
ware about 10 miles above Burlington, the houses are chiefly
brick, and several of them large elegant and neat, but they
all look like barns and stables, full of Hay, Straw, dirt and

26 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
nastiness, and everything valuable about them distroyed and
carried off, and all the inhabitants fled. Here had been the
headquarters of Lord or Count Donop, one of the Hessian
Generals, but it looked more like the headquarters of a
swine herd. Mr. Bordens house had some hundred pounds
worth of goods, and valuable furniture ruined and broken to
pieces. In the afternoon the General was informed that the enemy
were at Allentown about 8 miles off, upon which, about
dusk, he ordered the light troops to push forward and two
battallions to follow. We went on about 4 miles to a little
town called Crosswicks, chiefly, or all wooden houses built
at the crossing of several roads. When we arrived there
we received information that the enemy had left Allentown
that morning and had gone forward about 8 miles further to
a place called Hide town.
Some of the militia Colonels applied to our infantry to
make a forced march that night and overhaul them. We
had then been on duty four Days and nights, making forced
marches without six hours sleep in the whole time; Where
upon the Infantry officers of all the companies unanimously
declared it was madness to attempt it ; for it would use up
all our brave men not one of whom had yet given out but
were dreadfully fatigued. However a few Riflemen and
fresh men were sent off, and the Light troops were to rein
force them in the morning. Here we got good comfortable
quarters, and something refreshing to eat and drink, and
several prisoners were picked up in the neighborhood that
night, One of them a member of the Kings foot guard, a
very tall, likely fellow, said that he had been sent on Christ-

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 27
mas day from Brunswick to Mount Holly with orders for
the troops to retreat.

Decem,ber zgth 1776
This morning about sunrise we set out to reinforce the
troops that went forward last night, we marched on through
Allentown without our stopping, and about half a mile
beyond met the troops returning, with about 30 Bullocks
and five tories.
They had been forward about 10 miles to a place called
Cranberry, but the enemy having information that our army
was pursuing them closely, left that place about 10 o'clock
at night in great precipitation, whereupon we all returned
to Allentown and went into quarters.
This is a little village of wooden houses, but indifferently
built on both sides of the road at a mill about 4 miles from
Crosswicks. In the afternoon was brought in the body of Isaac Pear
son, who being found in the house with the other tories that
were taken, fled off They shot two balls over his head to
stop him, but as he persisted in rriaking off, the next two
were ordered to fire at him and one of their balls passed
thro' his breast and he fell dead on the spot. He is said to
have been very active in favor of the enemy.
Allentown December ^oth 1776
We sent out several parties to-day to press horses and
wagons and bring in provisions in which they succeded
very well, and the Light troops had the Day to rest here.

28 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
the main army being now at Crosswicks, having reached
there yesterday.
To-day a circumstance happened that seems to have at
tached the Philadelphia officers of the Light infantry Regi
ment to me very much.
Capt. Francis Wade a vain blustering man of one of the
city Battallions was appointed quartermaster General. Each
Company of the Light Infantry have a neat light wagon for
their baggage, and Capt. Wade ordered his wagon master
to take these wagons to go and bring in forage, the Light
Infantry officers refused them, but the quartermaster General
sending back a peremtory order to seize them, Capt. George
Henry the superior officer of the Philadelphia Light In
fantry, submitted to the requisition, but all the other officers
offended at this, came to me and I therefore went out and
ordered the wagon master, who was putting in the horses to
desist, and to inform the Q. M. G. that he should not have
one of them, that we were subject, every moment, to be
ordered out on parties and should not part with our wagons.
The Q. M. G. was much offended, but could not help him
self, and the officers were much pleased with my conduct.

December 2 ist 1776
Last night Gen. Cadwalader received information that
General Lee was a prisoner in Brunswick under a guard of
250 men and this morning by day light our Light Troops
were ordered to make a forced march to-day, and surprise
the town in the dead of night, and bring him off.
We accordingly set off, and pushed on to Cranberry from

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 29
whence we were to go on horseback after night and execute
the plan.
This is a little village scattered on both sides of the road,
about 12 miles from Allentown. We stayed here and re
freshed ourselves until dark, waiting the return of two spies,
who had been sent to reconoitre Brunswick and the British
troops that were on their way from Amboy.
On their return they brought accounts that these troops
had become alarmed and had gone to reinforce Brunswick
with 1500 men, which rendered our plan abortive, and being
but five miles from the enemy we held a council of war and
concluded it best to return. This sudden change alarmed
the people very much at Cranberry, they expected the
enemy were coming and Two very beautiful young ladies
who had been very kind and polite at my quarters, being a
whig family, were exceedingly distressed and hung around
me in tears until I was obliged to tell them the true reason
of our departure.
We accordingly marched back to Allentown through a
very dark night and roads half leg deep which worried the
troops exceedingly.
When we returned to Allentown my quarters were full of
militia and there was no place to sit or lie down. I went to
the door of my room, which was now occupied by three
Penn.sylvania field officers and politely requested them to
let us go in and sit by the fire, but they sternly refused. I
told them we had no other place to go and if they would
not admit us willingly they must defend themselves, and
thereupon drew my sword and opened the door. They
then begged me to wait until they could light a candle, and

30

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

upon seeing our dress very politely invited us in and then
spread the table, and covered it with good wine and ready
dressed provisions of which they had great variety, and we
spent the rest of the night in great festivity.
January ist 1777
During this day at Allentown the troops were allowed to
rest. [Colonel Haslet, who was with General Washington at
Trenton, writes this day to General Rodney, at Dover, the
following letter, which was the last he wrote : (Letter A.)]
Allentown January 2d 1777
[This day one hundred years ago.]
This morning we were called up at 2 o'clock under a pre
tended alarm that we were to be attacked by the enemy but
by daylight we were ordered to march for Trenton, and
when we reached Crosswicks found that the brigade had
gone. We reached Trenton about 1 1 o'clock and found all
the troops from our different posts in Jersey, collected and
collecting there under Gen. Washington himself; and the
regular troops were already properly disposed to receive
the enemy, whose main body was then within a few miles
and determined to dispossess us.
Trenton stands upon the River Delaware, with a creek
called the Assanpink passing through the town across which
there is a bridge.
The enemy came down on the upper side of this creek,
through the town, and a number of our troops were posted
with Riflemen and artillery to oppose their approach.
The main body of our army was drawn up on a plain

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 31
below, or on the lower side of the Assanpink, near the
bridge, and the main force of our Artillery was posted on
the banks and high ground along the creek in front of them.
Gen. Mercers brigade was posted about 2 miles up the
creek, and the troops under Gen. Cadwalader were stationed
in a field on the right about a mile from the town, on the
main road, to prevent the enemy from flanking. We had
five pieces of Artillery with our division and about 20 more
in the field, near, and at the town. Our numbers were about
five thousand and the enemy's about seven Thousand.
The attack began about 2 o'clock and a heavy fire upon
both sides, chiefly from the artillery continued until dark.
At this time the enemy were left in possession of the
upper part of the town, but we kept possession of the
bridge, altho' the enemy attempted several times to carry it
but were repulsed each time with great slaughter.
After sunset this afternoon the enemy came down in a
very heavy column to force the bridge. The fire was very
heavy and the Light troops were ordered to fly to the sup
port of that important post, and as we drew near, I stepped
out of the front to order my men to close up ; at this time
Martinas Sipple was about 10 steps behind the man next in
front of him ; I at once drew my sword and threatened to
cut his head off if he did not keep close, he then sprang
forward and I returned to the front. The enemy were soon
defeated and retired and the American army also retired to
the woods, where they encamped and built up fires.
I then had the roll called to see if any of our men were
missing and Martinas was not to be found, but Leut. Mark
McCall informed me, that immediately on my returning to

,2 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776-1777.
the head of the column, after making him close up, he fled
out of the field."'
We lost but few men ; the enemy considerably more. It
is thought Gen. Washington did not intend to hold the
upper part of the town. January jd 1777
At two o'clock this morning the ground having been
frozen firm by a keen N. West wind secret orders were
issued to each department and the whole army was at once
put in motion, but no one knew what the Gen. meant to do.
Some thought that we were going to attack the enemy in
the rear; some that we were going to Princeton ; the latter
proved to be right. We went by a bye road on the right
hand which made it about 16 miles; During this nocturnal
march I, with the Dover Company and the Red Feather
Company of Philadelphia Light Infantry led the van of the
army and Capt. Henry with the other three companies of
Philadelphia light Infantry brought up the rear.
The Van moved on all night in the most cool and deter
mined order but on the march great confusion happened in
the rear. There was a cry that they were surrounded by
the Hessians and several corps of Militia broke and fled
towards Bordentown but the rest of the column remained
firm and pursued their march without disorder, but those
who were frightened and fled did not recover from their
panic until they reached Burlington.
* In justice to Martinas I must add that he afterwards joined the Delaware
Regiment under Col. David Hall and became a brave and faithful soldier.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 33
When we had proceeded to within a mile and a half of
Princeton and the van had crossed Stony Brook, Gen.
Washington ordered our Infantry to file off to one side of
the road and halt. Gen. Sullivan was ordered to wheel to
the right and flank the town on that side, and two Brigades
were ordered to wheel to the Left, to make a circuit and sur
round the town on that side and as they went to break down
the Bridge and post a party at the mill on the main road, to
oppose the enemy's main army if they should pursue us
from Trenton.
The third Division was composed of Gen. Mercers brigade
of Continental troops, about 300 men, and Cadwaladers
brigade of Philadelphia militia to which brigade the whole
of our light Infantry Regiment was again annexed.
Mercers brigade marched in front and another corp of
infantry brought up the rear.
My company flanked the whole brigade on the right in
an Indian file so that my men were very much extended and
distant from each other ; I marched in front and was fol
lowed by sargeant McKnatt and next to him was Nehemiah
Tilton [afterwards Lieut.-Col. Tilton].
Mercers brigade which was headed by Col. Haslet of
Delaware on foot and Gen. Mercer on horseback was to
march straight on to Princeton without Turning to the right
or left.
It so happened that two Regiments of British troops that
were on their march to Trenton to reinforce their army
there, received intelligence of the movements of the Ameri
can army (for the sun rose as we passed over Stony brook)
and about a mile from Princeton they turned off from the
3

34 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
main road and posted themselves behind a long string of
buildings and an orchard, on the straight road to Princeton.
The first two Divisions of our army therefore passed wide
to the right and left and leaving them undiscovered went on
to Princeton.
Gen. Mercers' Brigade owing to some delay in arranging
Cadwaladers men had advanced several hundred yards ahead
and never discovered the enemy until he was turning the
buildings they were posted behind, and then they were not
more than fifty yards off.
He immediately formed his men, with great courage, and
poured a heavy fire in upon the enemy, but they being
greatly superior in number returned the fire and charged
bayonets, and their onset was so fierce that Gen. Mercer fell
mortally wounded and many of his officers were killed, and
the brigade being effectually broken, began a disorderly
flight. Col. Haslet retired some small distance behind the build
ings and endeavored to rally them, but receiving a bullet
through his head, dropt dead on the spot and the whole
brigade fled in confusion. At this instant Gen. Cadwalader's
Philadelphia Brigade came up and the enemy checked by
their appearance took post behind a fence and a ditch in
front of the buildings before mentioned, and so extended
themselves that every man could load and fire incessantly ;
the fence stood on low ground between two hills ; on the
hill behind the British line they had eight pieces of artillery
which played incessantly with round and grape shot on our
brigade, and the fire was extremely hot. Yet Gen. Cadwal
ader led up the head of the column with the greatest

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 35
bravery to within 50 yards of the enemy, but this was rashly
done, for he was obliged to recoil ; and leaving one piece of
his artillery, he fell back about 40 yards and endeavored to
form the brigade, and some companies did form and gave' a
few vollies but the fire of the enemy was so hot, that, at the
sight of the regular troops running to the rear, the militia
gave way and the whole brigade broke and most of them
retired to a woods about 150 yards in the rear; but two
pieces of artillery stood their ground and were served with
great skill and bravery.
At this time a field officer was sent to order me to take
post on the left of the artillery until the brigade should form
again, and, with the Philadelphia Infantry keep up a fire
from some stacks and buildings, and to assist the artillery
in preventing the enemy from advancing.
We now crossed the enemies fire from right to left and
took position behind some stacks just on the left of the
artillery ; and about 30 of the Philadelphia Infantry were
under cover of a house on our left and a little in the rear.
About 15 of my men came to this post, but I could not
keep them all there, for the enemies fire was dreadful and
three balls, for they were very thick, had grazed me; one
passed within my elbow nicking my great coat and carried
away the breech of Sargeant McKnatts gun, he being close
behind me, another carried away the inside edge of one of
my shoesoles, another had niched my hat and indeed they
seemed as thick as hail.
From these stacks and buildings we, with the two pieces
of artillery kept up a continuous fire on the enemy, and in
all probability it was this circumstance that prevented the

36

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

enemy from advancing, for they could not tell the number
we had posted behind these covers and were afraid t© at
tempt passing them ; but if they had known how few they
were they might easily have advanced while the two bri
gades were in confusion and routed the whole body for it
was a long time before they could be reorganized again, and
indeed many, that were panic struck, ran quite off.
Gen. Washington having rallied both Gen. Mercers and
Gen. Cadwaladers brigade they moved forward and when
they came to where the artillery stood began a very heavy
platoon fire on the march. This the enemy bore but a few
minutes and then threw down their arms and ran.
We then pushed forward towards the town spreading
over the fields and through the woods to enclose the enemy
and take prisoners.
The fields were covered with baggage which the Gen.
ordered to be taken care of
Our whole force met at the Court House and took there
about 200 prisoners and about 200 others pushed off and
were pursued by advance parties who took about 50 more.
In this engagement we lost about 20 killed, the enemy
about 100 men killed and lost the field.
This is a very pretty little town on the York road 12
miles from Trenton ; the houses are built of brick and are
very elegant especially the College which has 52 rooms in
it ; but the whole town has been ravaged and ruined by the
enemy. As soon as the enemy's main army heard our cannon at
Princeton (and not 'til then) they discovered our manoeuvre
and pushed after us with all speed and we had not been

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 37
above an hour in possession of the town before the enemy's
light horse and advanced parties attacked our party at the
bridge but our people by a very heavy fire kept the pass
until our whole army left the town.
Just as our army began our march through Princeton
with all their prisoners and spoils the van of the British
army we had left at Trenton came in sight, and entered the
town about an hour after we left it, but made no stay and
pushed on towards Brunswick for fear we should get there
before him, which was indeed the course our General in
tended to pursue had he not been detained too long in col
lecting the Baggage and Artillery which the enemy had left
behind him.
Our army marched on to Kingston then wheeled to the
left and went down the Millstone, keeping that River on
our left; the main body of the British army followed, but
kept on through Kingston to Brunswick : but one division
or a strong party of horse took the road to the left of the
Millstone and arrived on the hill, at the bridge on that road
just as the van of the American Army arrived on the op
posite side.
I was again commanding the van of our army, and
General Washington seeing the enemy, rode forward and
ordered me to halt and take down a number of carpen
ters which he had ordered forward and break up the
bridge, which was done and the enemy were obliged to
return. We then marched on to a little village called Stone brook
or Summerset Court House about 15 miles from Princeton
where we arrived just at dusk. About an hour before we

38 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
arrived here 150 of the enemy from Princeton and 50 which
were stationed in this town went off with 20 wagons laden
with Clothing and Linen, and 400 of the Jersey militia who
surrounded them were afraid to fire on them and let them
go off unmolested and there were no troops in our army
fresh enough to pursue them, or the whole might have been
taken in a few hours.
Our army was now extremely fatigued not having had
any refreshment since yesterday morning, and our baggage
had all been sent away the morning of the action at Trenton,
yet they are in good health and in high spirits.
January 4.th 1777
At daylight this morning our army was put in motion
and passed on towards Brunswick and crossed the Raritan
over a bridge 6 miles above that Town, but the General
found the army was too much fatigued to attempt Bruns
wick as the enemy's main body were so close after us, he
therefore changed his course and went on to a place called
Pluckemin situated among the mountains of Jersey about
10 miles from the last place. Here he was obliged to
encamp and await the coming up of nearly looo men who
were not able through fatigue and hunger to keep up with
the main body, for they had not had any refreshment for two
days past and as all our baggage had been left at Trenton
the army in this situation was obliged to encamp on the
bleak mountains whose tops were covered with snow, with
out even blankets to cover them. Most of this army were
militia and they bore all this with a spirit becoming Free
men and Americans.

DIARY. OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. og
Pluckemin Jan. .^th 1777
To-day we continued here and our troops were pretty
well supphed with provisions and in the evening most of
those who had laged behind came up. Here Sergeant
McKnatt was accidentally shot through the arm by one of
our own people, who fired off his musket to light a fire and
as there was not one surgeon in the whole army I was forced
to dress it myself and the next day got one of the prisoners
to do it. The surgeons not being informed of the move
ment of the army at Trenton did not hear of it until day
light and then were so frightened that they fled towards
Philadelphia for their liyes.
Pluckemin January ^th 1777
The General continued here to-day to refresh the army.
Capt. Henry [the senior captain of the Philadelphia Light
Infantry, who has had command of this regiment] has been
sent to carry the news of the victory at Princeton to Con
gress and I as the next captain in seniority have the com
mand. This morning the General ordered 40 of our light In
fantry to attend the funeral of Col. Leslie one of the enemy,
to bury him with the honors of war. They readily obeyed
in paying due respect to bravery, though in an enemy, but
as I had not paid any attention to Military Funeral Cere
monies I requested Capt. Humpries to conduct it.
I had nothing to cover me here but my great coat but
luckily got into a house near the mountains where I fared
very comfortably while we stayed here.
[On the retreat of the British, leaving their wounded on

40

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.

the field, General Washington, accompanied by Benjamin
Rush, M.D., surgeon-in-chief, saw a handsome young offi
cer wounded and inquired his name, and was told it was
Captain Leslie. Dr. Rush immediately dismounted, and with
the aid of a servant had him placed on a suitable vehicle
and brought him with the American army.
I will state in corroboration of the statement of the
burial of Captain Leslie by the Delaware troops, that the
Hon. Ronald Leslie Melville, brother of the Earl of Leven
and Melville, and Mr. Hugh McCulloch's partner, men
tioned, when he visited this country last year, that one of
his ancestors, a young British officer, had fallen here during
the Revolution, and that the family had never been able to
learn where he was buried. An American friend of Mr.
Melville has just found the grave, well preserved, in the
graveyard at Pluckemin, N.J. Over it was a monument
erected by Dr. Benjamin Rush, to whom the young Captain
Leslie's father had been kind in Edinburgh.
The following is the inscription upon this monument :
" In memory of the Hon. Captain William Leslie, of the
17th British Regiment, son of the Earl of Leven, in Scot
land. " He fell January 3d, 1777, aged twenty-six years, at the
battle of Princeton. His friend, Benjamin Rush, M.D., of
Philadelphia, hath caused this stone to be erected as a
mark of esteem for his worth and of his respect for his
noble family. Wounded on the 3d, brought to Pluck
emin, twenty miles from Princeton, on the 4th died within
sight of the village, buried on the 5th with military
honors."]

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 41
Morristown Jan. 6th 1777
We left Pluckemin this morning and arrived at Morris
town just before sunset. The order of march, was first a
small advance guard, next the officers who were prisoners,
next my Light Infantry Regiment in column of four deep ;
next the prisoners flanked by the riflemen, next the head of
the main column, with the artillery in front.
Our whole Light Infantry are quartered in a very large
house belonging to Col. Ford having 4 Rooms on a floor
and Two stories high.
This town is situated among the mountains of Morris
county, about 18 miles from Elizabethtown, 28 from Bruns
wick and 50 from Carrolls Ferry.
Morristown January 7th 1777
This morning General Washington appointed my Infantry
Regiment to be his own guard (for the reason I suppose
that they had distinguished themselves at Princeton and
were the only Regiment in the army that were in complete
uniform which was green faced with red).
This day I was myself officer of the Guard whose duties
consist in mounting 26 of the infantry every day, and for
this service we are excused from all other camp duties.
Here a circumstance happened that commenced the down
fall of Gen. Mifflin.
When I waited on the General to fix his guards, there
was no guard house prepared, and he referred me to M. G.
Mifflin who was then acting as Q. M. G. and with whom I
had long been acquainted, but upon my application Mifflin
said that there was no house and that he had all the busi-

42 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
ness of the army to do ; I answered if that was the case I
would return his answer to the General and bade him adieu,
but he sent one of his aides after me to procure a house, but
now there was none to be had, excepting one that had been
used as a hospital ; I told the aid that all the volunteers
under my command were gentlemen and should not lodge
in such a house and then returned to the General and in
formed him that if he thought it necessary, the guards
having no house, should encamp near his quarters, but he
politely requested, that I would let our own quarters be the
guard house, which was about a mile from him ; so the
guards were relieved at that distance.
January 8th 1777
We received information to-day that the Enemy were at
Brunswick and were so much frightened that they did not
take time to inspect- either Trenton or Princetown.
January gth 1777
We are informed to-day that General Maxwell has taken
a number of wagons and prisoners near Elizabethtown and
that General Putnam has crossed the Delaware with 2000
men. The Philadelphia officers of the Regiment applied to me
to-day, to represent to the General the propriety of the offi
cer of the Day, on guard, dining at his table, — but I replied
that such an invitation should come from the General him
self, and, if he was not courtly enough to confer that honor
on the officer of the guard, he would feel it as a censure on
his want of Etiquet if it was pressed upon him, and there-

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 43
fore advised them, in case the General omitted this compli
ment, to consider their own tables as pleasant and honorable
as his, that true honor consisted in acts of virtue and that
the merit of their patriotism would not be lessened by the
General omitting the required compliment.
January loth 1777
The time that my men enrolled for expired to-day and
most of theni seemed determined to go home, upon which
I went to Gen. Cadwalader and brought him to our quarters
and he informed them of the necessity of their staying a few
days longer which they all agreed to do except Millis,
Dawson, Pennington, Croket and Maxwell who said they
would go but none of them went but Millis.
January nth 1777
Col. Ford the owner of the house where we are quartered
died to-day.
We heard to-day that General Maxwell with 1500 men
has taken Elizabethtown with 20 wagons of baggage, one
schooner loaded with stores and 120 prisoners, and that
Gen. Putnam has left Trenton with 2000 men.
January 12th 1777
This day Leut. McCall, who was left or lagged behind us
at Trenton rejoined us. By his story he came with the rear
of the army to the battle of Princeton, but was not in the
action and meeting with the body of Col. Haslet was about
to bury him when a number of our officers who he took to
be Light Horse appeared on the hill which frightened him

44 DIARY. OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
SO that he did not stop until he had crossed the Delaware
where he got Mr. McGermotts horse at Mr. Coxes and came
to us here.
But 8 or lo of the Light Infantry, of the 2d Battallion of
Philadelphia, say he came on the ground with them, and as
soon as the bullets began to fly he ran as hard as he could
for the woods.
Robert McGermot also returned to-day from Bristol with
my clothes. January ijth 1777
The Infantry were called on to-day to bury Col. Ford
with the honors of war and I appointed Capt. Nezbitt to
command. General Mercer is likely to recover altho' we had num
bered him with the dead. January i/f-th 1777
This day the Infantry were ordered to bury General
Hitchcock with the honors of war and as he was a conti
nental officer I took the command myself
[Here follows a long description of the funeral ceremonies
of General Hitchcock, which I omit.]
This day most all my company set off home though I
tried all in my power to prevail on them to stay until the
brigade went. January 15th 1777
To-day Lieut. McCall, Tilton and Bullen who- thought it
was not worth while to stay as the rest were gone set off for
home too, and left no one with me but Robert McGermot.
I dined to-day with Gens. Cadwalader and Dickinson.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 45
January i6th
Hearing that my brother had crossed the Delaware with
a number of troops, I determined to set off to-day to meet
him but was prevailed upon by Dr. Miller to wait for him
until to-morrow. January 17th 1777
We received information this morning, that Gen. Heath
is in possession of Fort Washington and is moving towards
New York with 8000 men.
I remained here to-day in Morristown waiting for Dr.
Miller, who cannot get a horse to go with.
January i8t.h 1777
This morning about 10 o'clock I left Morristown with
Robert McGermot, who stayed with me, and took our route
through Vealtown and Pluckemin to Summerset Court
House; we had not left Morristown many miles before we
met sundry persons who had heard much canonade towards
New York ; and all the way to the Raritan most of the
people we met had heard it, but just after we reached the
Court House, a man came in, who had left Elizabeth at 9
o'clock in the morning, and said, that a canonade began at
York at 2 o'clock in the morning and continued until he
came 10 or 15 miles on his way: From this information we
conclude that a general attack has been made on New York
by General Heath.
As there was nothing to be had in the Tavern at this
place we put up at the house of a man who had just ob-

46 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
tained some rum and said he could make us a drink ; he
found hay and a stable for our horses, and we sent out and
got some corn. Here we fell in with a gentlemen from
New York who invited us to lodge with him at a Dutch
Doctors, just by, and we accepted the offer and were very
agreeably entertained by the Doctor. He told us that Col.
Mawhood who afterwards commanded the British forces at
the battle of Princeton and Major Moyney boarded at his
house; that they were both exceedingly clever, especially
the Colonel, who often expressed himself very freely,
lamenting the American contest very much, and pronounc
ing lord North a villian for being the cause of it. They
were both at his house when Gen. Lee was brought there,
a prisoner, by the Light Horse, that Major Moyney im
mediately ran out and kissed Gen. Lee with tears in his
eyes, and the General told him he never expected to see
him in America. They all dined there together and Gen.
Lee requested that the man who had betrayed him should
be brought in, and when the General saw him he abused
him as a villian worthy the punishment of the most base
and inhuman traitor.
The Doctor could not remember the villians name but
said that he was a continental officer dressed in blue faced
with red and wore a brown cloak, lined with blue baize;
that he heard him tell the Colonel, that he had been in
the Continental service but that he had got tired of it,
and had lately given the British army all the information
in his power, and now that he had informed the light
horse of Gen. Lee, and had gone with them, and shown
them where he was so that they now had him in their

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. 47
possession, he hoped they would remember and reward
him. The Doctor says that he took such particular notice of
the villian that tho' he forgot his name he will never forget
his face.
He also told us that Col. Mahood, on the evening of
Christmas day, was blaming the English Generals for dis
persing their army so much, and said that if he was in Gen.
Washingtons place he would make an attack on several of
the principle posts at the same time ; — that they were all so
weak that he could certainly cut them off, and be in posses
sion of all Jersey in a few days.
It so happened that about 10 o'clock next day, a light
horseman came express, and informed the major who ran
out, that Gen. Washington had taken Trenton with 1200
prisoners, upon which the major rushed in and said " well
Col. Gen. Washington has executed your last night's plan
already for he has taken Trenton with 1200 prisoners this
morning." January igth 1777
We went on from Summerset Court House to Princeton
and rode out to see the Battle field and then went on
towards Trenton intending to see one Mr. Steenes on the
road but falling in with Mr. Tucker, a member of Congress,
who lives in Trenton, he informed me that my brother, with
his brigade, was there and I came on with him to Trenton
where I met my brother and- his troops. — I found them all
well and had the pleasure of hearing that my family were
well when they left Dover.

48 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
January 20th 1777
When I came here I had thoughts of going on home, but
my brother insisted on my acting as Brigade major for him,
as he could not find a suitable person to perform that duty.
January 21st 1777
This morning Col. Collins and the Delaware Militia
marched from this place for Princeton.
We are informed that 400 Militia attacked 800 Regulars
at Millstone and took 17 Prisoners, 100 horses, 35 loaded
wagons and a great number of cattle.
January 22d 1777
Another battalion marched from here to join Gen. Putnam
at Princeton, and another came in the afternoon and the
troops about Mt. Holly are we are informed to march
to-morrow. We also have certain information that Gen.
Heath has taken fort Independence.
January 2jd 1777
This morning the body of Col. Haslet left here, having
been taken up at Princeton and is to be sent to Philadelphia
to be buried with the honors of war.
The second troop of Virginia light horse passed thro'
this town for headquarters.
A hessian who is Capt. of artillery in our service informed
us to-day that he went with a flag of truce to Brunswick on
Monday last, and saw the enemy's foraging party come in
with 60 wagons as hard as they could drive, and with but a
handful of hay in each, not amounting in all to two loads.

DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777. aq
An English officer taking him to be a hessian officer in their
own service rode up and asked him if he had heard how
the rebels had beaten them, and that he answered that he
knew nothing about it, that he belonged to that army they
called rebel, upon which the officer asked his pardon and
rode off. He says their army at Brunswick does not exceed
5000 men. January 24.111 1777
One of the light Horse who was present informs us that
Gen. Dickerson on Monday took 106 horses, 44 loaded
wagons, 90 head of Cattle and 80 head of sheep.
Putnams party took 17 wagons the same day.
That last night a small party advanced and fired 3 rounds
upon the guards at Brunswick and put the whole army
under arms, created the greatest disorder and then retired
unhurt. January 2§th 1777
This morning about 10 o'clock I left Trenton and my
brother, who was to march to Princeton next morning.
Though horses and wagons crossed the River on the ice
yesterday the great rain that fell last night has broken it up
and this morning I crossed over in a boat, a little above the
island, opposite the town, and at the same time the last
troop of Virginia Light Horse were passing over to the
camp. I called at Mr. Wm. Coxes on the Neshaminy where I
had left my baggage. The family were exceedingly polite
and friendly in consideration of my guardianship while sta
tioned there. I then went on to Philadelphia and called at
4

50 DIARY OF CAPTAIN THOMAS RODNEY, 1776—1777.
old Mr. William Aliens to see Mrs. Andrew Allen and
deliver to her a letter from her father and was received by
her and the old gentlemen with great affection, in consider
ation of my care of Mrs. Allen and her family while there.
I then went to see the Fishers, but they were all gloomy, I
reminded them that they were mistaken and that all was
accomplished that I had foretold them but they affected not
to believe it and I left them and from Philadelphia came on
home where I found all well on the 28th of January 1777.

APPENDIX.

LETTER A.
COL. haslet to MR. RODNEY.
Dr. and Worthy Sir: When I last wrote you God
knows, I do not : this I can affirm — that I have received no
answer. After a long retreat, from a full conviction of the enemy's
superior numbers, but performed in order, with a firm deter
mined countenance, we at last stopt on ye banks of Dela
ware — there we were stationed. Thank you, says Genl.
Rodney. On Christmas, at 3 o'clock [on Christmas night, — that is,
really, the early morning of December 26th. — Ed.] we re-
crossed the river ; a party of Virginians formed the van
guard and did most of the fighting. Lord Stirling's brigade
had the honor of fighting 1000 Hessians to a surrender.
We should have gone on, and panic-struck they would have
fled before us, but the inclemency of the weather rendered
it impossible. We repassed the river, rested one day, and
then were ordered back. I'm sorry to inform the Genl.
[General Rodney is meant, of course] that Capt. Holland, 51

52

APPENDIX.

Ensign Wilson, Dr. Gilder, and myself are all [of the Dela
ware battalion] who have followed the American cause to
Trenton, two privates excepted. On Genl. Washington
being informed of this, he declared his intention of having
officers and men bound neck and heels and brought back
as an example to the army. I told the Genl. the truth, but
not the whole truth ; the last I reserved for you, and you
will blush with me.
Seven Philadelphia light-horse yesterday brought in nine
light-horsemen, with one horse, who were sent to impress
wagons. We just now hear that the bridge on this side
Princeton is cut down, and the enemy retiring — a sufficient
number of troops are ready to drive them out of Jersey.
We hope to greet you well.
On our victorious return from Trenton, I fell into the
Delaware, at 3 o'clock, in the morning, up to my middle —
have had .... and swelled legs ever since. But no mat
ter, if we drive them to New York. If I return it will be
to salute you ; if not we shall meet in Heaven. Your good
ness will give Mrs. Haslet such news as you think proper.
I have Gen'l. Washington's leave to return and superin
tend the recruiting service at home, but cannot go for a few
days longer; hope soon to lay myself at your feet, and am,
with great esteem and sincerity yours, John Haslet.
P.S. — The four Aliens, we hear, are with Genl. Howe,
Galloway, &c. — the former fled, his brother the General in
pursuit. Mr. Tilghman informed the General in my hearing
that the Dover hght-horse were coming up. Is it so ? I

APPENDIX. r 3
shall believe, like Thomas, when I .see it. Genl. Wash
ington is Dictator. [By resolution of Congress, passed
December 27.]
I mentioned to Lord Stirling t'other day that I thought
myself dismissed from the s.ervice, on Col. Smallwood's
being favored before me. What made the case in point
was the dispute of rank between us [mentioned in a former
letter. — Ed.] determined by the General himself in my
favour. The preference was, as in General Wooster's case,
a modest hint to retire. They both remonstrated. I shall
not take my resolution till I see you, nor can I give the
reasoning, pro and con, at large. I hope you rec'd my last;
it was a sort of journal, closed at Brunswick one day with
" God bless you I we shall certainly drive them off."
The hand of Ishmael was here, meaning Dr. Miller, a
very important part of the Delaware regiment at present.
Gilder is sick ; he is to serve with me at the head of Lord
Stirling's brigade and insists on his compliments to Misses
Wilson, Nixon, Killens, and the General himself, if he
pleases to accept them.
[The address on the foregoing letter is gone, but it is
endorsed as follows :]
" 1st Jany., 1777, Trenton."
" From Col. Haslet to Caesar Rodney, a few days before
he fell at Trenton."
" Will meet him in Heaven."

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