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When Henry Hudson sailed up through
the Narrows between Long and Staten Islands in 1609 and anchored in the
upper bay almost opposite old Communipaw, and he looked over the surrounding
country and, as his gaze fell upon the green plains and pleasantly wooded
hills stretching away toward the setting sun, he declared his enthusiasm
that it was “as pleasant a land as one need tread upon. The three and a
half centuries, which have passed since then, have wrought a green change in
the beautiful scene, which drew this enthusiastic encomium from the great
navigator. The green plains have disappeared, and in their place stand huge
warehouses and busy manufacturing establishments, while handsome residences
and the tall spires of churches crown the hill beyond. Where Hudson’s men
fund “Grass and flowers and godly trees as ever they had seen,” now stands
Jersey City, one of the most important cities of the new world.
The history of Jersey City is one of
more than ordinary interest. Within its borders is the spot where the Dutch
planted the first settlement of New Jersey, and owing to its close proximity
to New York it was the scene of many stirring events during the war of
Independence. The Jersey City of today is made up of what were originally
small communities, and its history is the history of those settlements.
When in 1620 the condition of New Netherlands did not come up to the
expectations of its promoters, and tempting “freedoms and exemptions” were
offered to those who would establish colonies within its territory. Michael
Pauw, burgomaster of Amsterdam and Lord of Achienhoven near Utrecht, cast
his eye upon the west bank of the Hudson River, which had not then been
appropriated. In 1630, he purchased was that portion of Jersey City which
now lies south of Hoboken and east of the Heights. It included Harsimus,
Paulus Hook, and Communipaw. Pauw gave his purchase to the appellation of
Pavonia, which he obtained by Latinizing his own name. The name still
remains in Pavonia Avenue and Pavonia Ferry. Paulus Hook took its own name
from Michael Paulusen, or Poulaz, who was in charge of the settlement in
1633. Ahasimus or Harsimus, as it is known at the present day, is an Indian
name, and is spelled in historical documents no less than seventeen
different ways. Communipaw enjoys the distinction of having been written in
fifteen different ways, although its origin is in doubt.
Pauw’s purchase proved a most valuable
one. The shore it embraced was of considerable commercial value. It was a
favorite trading post with the Indians, and from it they carried their
peltries across the river to New Amsterdam. It was not long before its
value excited the envy of Pauw’s fellow directors of the Dutch West India
Company, which had a monopoly of trade in this section of the country, and
they made so much trouble over the matter for Pauw that he gladly
relinquished his acquisitions. In the latter part of 1633 the company cause
two houses to be erected in Pavonia, which were the first regular buildings
built on the west shore of the Hudson; one was located at Communipaw and the
other at Harsimus. In June 1634, Jan Evertse Bout succeeded Poulaz as
superintendent of the settlement, and he established his capital at
Communipaw. Cornelius Van Vorst, who transferred the official residence to
the house at Harsimus, succeeded him in 1636. Van Vorst was the founder of
one of the leading families of Jersey City. Many of his descendants are
residents of the cit today, and one of the principal thoroughfares and one
of the city’s parks still bears his name. Van Vorst has no sooner settled
himself in his official residence when a catastrophe occurred which has
become historical from the fact that it was the first conflagration in the
new colony of which any record is extant. Wouter Van Twiller, the head of
the New Netherlands State, and Dominic Everardus Bogardus, who then
represented the church, and who is famous as the husband of Aneke Jans
crossed over the river to pay Van Vorst a visit of state.
The latter had a well-stocked wine
cellar, and entertained the representatives of state and church in a manner
befitting their dignity. During the entertainment they became involved in a
hot dispute, which fortunately was drowned in generous flagons of Van
Vorst’s Burgundy. When the distinguished visitors departed for their homes.
Van Vorst determined to give them a farewell commensurate with their exalted
positions in the colony. So he fired a salute from a swivel, which was
mounted, in front of his house. A spark from the cannon lit upon the roof
and set fire to the dry thatch. In a short time the entire building was a
heap of ashes.
In March 1638, William Kieft arrived
in the colony as a director general, and the years following were marked by
bloodshed and suffering. Early in the settlement of the country the Dutch,
in the presence of his young nephew had murdered an Indian. The lad vowed
to avenge the cruel death of his uncle, and h had now become a man,
thirsting to fulfill his vow. Kieft knew nothing of the Indian character,
and was soon at swords’ point with the natives. He undertook to exact a
tribute from them, and to force its payment by arms. His exactions aroused
the animosity of the Indians, and they began to regard him as their enemy.
At this point the Indian who had seen his uncle murdered, waylaid and killed
one of the colonists. Kieft demanded the surrender of the young man, but as
he had only obeyed one of the unwritten laws of his race in avenging his
uncle’s death, the chiefs refused to give him up. Another white man was
soon afterward murdered by a drunken Indian, whom some of the colonists had
taunted with being unable to use his bow while in liquor. He killed the man
with his bow to prove that his tormentor lied. Thus matters went on from
bad to worse, until finally in 1634 Kieft issued an order for the massacre
of the Indians.
The natives had been attacked by their
enemies, the fierce Mohawks, of the north, and had fled to the Dutch for
protection. They were huddled together around their camp fries one cold
bleak night in February, thinking themselves secure under the protection of
the Dutch, when they were set upon a squad of soldiers, sent over from New
Amsterdam by Kieft, and massacred. The scenes that were there enacted are a
blot upon the history of the Dutch occupation of New Jersey.
This massacre led to a bitter and
relentless war between the Dutch and the Indians. Frequent attempts were
made to secure peace, but the efforts only resulted in short lived truces.
The entire blame was laid upon Kieft, and threats were made to depose him
from office and send him back to Holland. He in turn attempted to shift the
blame o the inhabitants of Pavonia, who, he declared, had urged him to
destroy the Indians. This war, which was the first Indian war of the colony
lasted 8 months, and spread poverty and misery throughout the settlement.
Finally in the spring of 1645, peace was brought about, which was celebrated
with “a grand salute of three guns,” during the firing of which one of the
cannons- a brass six-pounder – exploded, killing Jacobsen Roy, the gunner.
During May 1647, Petrus Stuyvesant
entered upon office of the director general of the colony of New Amsterdam.
Stuyvesant profited by the experience of his predecessor and adopted a
policy of conciliation toward the Indians. This resulted in and eight
years’ peace, during which the colony on the Jersey Shore grew and
prospered. In 1655 the war broke out again, and was brought about by that
luscious fruit, the peach. Henry Van Dyke had a farm on Manhattan Island,
which ran from what is now Broadway, just south of Trinity Church, to the
river. Along the water’s edge he planted a peach orchard. The fruit was
new to the Indians, and when they became acquainted with its deliciousness,
Van Dyke’s orchard became a sore temptation to them. They used to cross the
river from Pavonia in their canoes and rob Henry’s trees. This aroused the
righteous wrath of Henry's good frau and an effort was made to catch the
marauders, but the nimble son of the forest easily eluded the slow going
Dutchman, and all efforts to catch him were in vain. It was determined to
load with lead the next prowler found within the orchards. One night a
dusky form was seen stealing among the trees, and the guards fired upon it.
It was that of an Indian maiden, and when the watchers reached her side, she
was dead. This incensed the natives, and a band of eighty of them crossed
the river one night and attacked Van Dyke, who had taken refuge in a
neighbor’s house. Van Dyke was wounded in the breast with an arrow, and his
neighbor was cut down with a tomahawk. The guards, however soon pt the
Indians to flight. The natives fled back to Pavonia, resolved to avenge
themselves upon the inhabitants of that section. They began the attack as
soon as they landed, and in a short time, the entire settlement was laid
waste. With the exception of one family all who did not flee was murdered.
The cattle were all killed, and everything combustible was burned. The
Indians even crossed over to Staten Island and continued their depredations
there. The raid lasted three days. Every white man was driven from the
Jersey shore, and for the next five years, the country remained in the sole
possession of the natives.
The people who fled to New Amsterdam
to escape the Indians, as time went by began to long for the fruitful fields
and wooded slopes of Pavonia. Besides the occupations they were engaged in
on the island were not all congenial, and they began to importune Governor
Stuyvesant for permission to return. Thinking to reconcile the savages
further Stuyvesant purchased over again the land bought by Pauw and received
a deed signed, or rather marked, by nine of the chiefs, with appropriate
ceremonies. In order to guards against any further depredations by the
Indians, the council decreed that the village should be formed at a place
which could be easily defended. A place on the hill, now Jersey City
Heights, was selected for the village, and it was further decreed that the
land should be distributed by lot. Those who proposed to settle here were
obliged to make a beginning within six weeks after the drawing, and were to
provide for the common defense at least on person capable of bearing arms.
Some time between August and November 1660, the village was surveyed and
laid out the name Bergen bestowed upon it. There is much controversy among
historians as to the derivation of the name, whether it was taken from the
Dutch verb Bergen, meaning to save, or was bestowed in honor of the capital
of Norway, or came from Bergen op Zoom.
The village was laid out in a square,
800 feet on each side. Two roads or street at right angles crossed it, and
another ran around it. Palisades were erected about the outside street to
protect the village from the Indians. Where the two streets crossed in the
center of the square there was a public plot about one hundred and sixty by
two hundred and twenty-five feet. The plot remains today, and is Bergen
Square on Jersey City Heights, while Academy Street and Bergen Avenue cross
it at right angles almost as they did (though not by those names) over three
hundred years ago. The village prospered and grew so rapidly that every lot
inside the stockade was occupied by the next May and a local government was
formed. Tielman Van Flack was appointed sheriff, and a local court of
justice was erected, with the right of appeal to the director general and
council of New Amsterdam. Communipaw was made a village separate and
distinct from Bergen in September 1660. It was surveyed and laid out into
lots, and the work of fortifying it with palisades was commenced. But the
settlers did not enter into the work with any degree of enthusiasm, and
tried to shirk their duty. The work was not completed in 1663, when
commissioners were appointed to complete the palisades. This was necessary
for the Indians still lurked in the country and occasionally committed
outrages.
In March 1664, Charles II of England,
who claimed to own New Netherlands, gave the territory to his brother James,
Duke of York. In May and expedition sailed from England to enforce the gift
by taking formal possession of the country. The Dutch were informed of
their danger and took steps to fortify themselves against invasion. While
the English expedition was on its way across the Atlantic, James conveyed
his grant to Lord John Berkley and Sir George Cartaret, and the name of Nova
Caesarea or New Jersey was bestowed upon the land on the west bank of the
Hudson. The name was given in honor of Sir George, who was born on the
Island of Jersey. The Duke of York’s expedition, unaware of the transfer,
landed on New Amsterdam September, under the leadership of Colonel Nichols,
and by the articles of capitulation it was agree that the people should
continue free denizens and retain possession of their lands and goods and
dispose of them as they chose. They were also to enjoy their own customs
regarding inheritances. In February following Sir Phillip Cartaret, a
brother of Sir George, was appointed governor of New Jersey, and in the
latter part of July 1665, he assumed the government. He changed the courts
and local government so that they conformed more to the English form. On
September 22, 1668, Governor Cartaret granted the village a charter, and it
became the “Towne of Bergen.” The “Towne” grew rapidly, and was in a
prosperous condition in March 1672, when war broke out again between the
English and the Dutch. On July 30, 1673, the Dutch captured New York, as
New Amsterdam had been named by the English, three day afterward they sent a
summons to surrender to the inhabitants of Bergen. The Bergenites were more
Dutch than English, and they lost no time in taking another oath of
allegiance to their “High Mightiness the Lords States General of the United
General of the United Netherlands and His Highness the prince of Orange,”
and “the true Christian religion according to the word of God and the synod
of the Dordrecht taught in the Netherlands Church.”
The authorities of New Orange, as the
Dutch named New York after its recapture, anticipated the return of the
English and set to work to prepare for it. The fortifications were extended
and strengthened, and a sort of militia was formed of the inhabitants of New
Orange and Bergen. The services of the militia however were not required,
for in the peace made between the Dutch and the English in 1674 the
providence was restored to the English. Although there were dissensions
among the inhabitants of and quarrels with the governors, nothing happened
to mar the progress of the town of Bergen until the war of Independence
broke out. In 1714 it was found that the charter of 1668 was inadequate for
the needs of the large community the town had then become, and Queen Anne
gave it a new one, which is still known as Queen Anne’s Charter.
The epoch of the Revolutionary war was
an exciting one for the inhabitants of Bergen, Paulus Hook, and the other
settlements, which were the nucleus of Jersey City. During the period
extending from the final surrender of the providence b the Dutch to the
breaking out of the war, almost a century, the good colonists on the west
bank of the Hudson River peacefully passed their lives working their farms
and raising their children in the doctrines of the good old Dutch Church.
When the skirmish at Lexington and the bloody fight of Bunker Hill made it
plain that a desperate struggle had set in between England and the colonies
it at once became evident that territory which is now Jersey City would be
of the utmost importance to the side which held New York, Lord Sterling was
the commander of the American forces in that vicinity, and when it became
apparent that the British were about to evacuate Boston and sail for New
York, he began operations for the fortification of the Jersey territory. He
planned works on Paulus Hook and Bergen Neck, and named them with the Bergen
Militia. When Washington arrived at New York he ordered that the works on
Paulus hook should be constructed at once, as the were “of importance.” His
orders were quickly carried out, and in a short time the fortifications on
the Hook were completed and the troops laced behind them.
About this time, the Hickey conspiracy
was discovered. This was a plot among the Torries of New York and vicinity
to corrupt Washington’s bodyguard so that he could either be killed or
delivered up to the British upon their arrival, and the important
fortifications around the harbor seized. Of so much importance were the
works on Paulus Hook considered that the place was included in the
conspiracy. Thomas Hickey was on of the most active conspirators. He was a
tall fine looking Irishman who had deserted from the British service and
become one of Washington's guards. He was found guilty by a court martial
“of mutiny and sedition and treacherous correspondence with the enemy,” and
sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried out with much show an
solemnity in a field near the Bowery Lane, “in the presence,” Washington
Irving says, “of near twenty thousand persons.” The first approach of the
British against New York was on June 29, 1776, when the lookout on Staten
Island signaled that forty sail were in sight. They were the advance of the
fleet commanded by Admiral Howe, and carried a portion of Lord Howe’s
forces. Two days afterward, one hundred thirty men-of-war and transports
were anchored in the bay of the Kill Von Kull, and Staten Island was in
possession of the troops.
Their presences filled the Torries
with joy, and they lost no time in taking the oath of allegiance to King
George. The Whigs on the other hand, were depressed and apprehensive. Many
of them lost heart entirely, and thinking that the colonists would never
prevail against such an overwhelming force, joined the British and became
the unrelenting foes of their kindred and former friends. Among these were
the founders of some of the leading New Jersey families of today.
General Hugh Mercer, who had his
flying camp at Bergen, commanded the American forces in New Jersey at that
time. Washington had sent him over to Paulus Hook to arrange fro the
disposition of the Pennsylvania militia, as they should arrive. He was
ordered to place his men at Bergen Neck, and at the other places in the
vicinity, in order to guard against an attack from the enemy on Staten
Island, where there were then about nine thousand British troops. General
Mercer followed out his instructions, and, having received reinforcements at
Bergen, considered himself in a position to attack the enemy, who appeared
to have no intention of invading New Jersey. Bergen at this time was filled
with Torries, who secretly held communications with the British. For this
reason Mercer exercised the greatest caution in preparing for his attack,
which was fixed for the night of July 18. His plans were carefully laid, but
failed owing to the bad weather, which rendered it impossible for his troops
to cross the Kill Von Kull. While this was going on the British continued
to receive reinforcements, until no less than thirty thousand men were in
the harbor and on Staten Island in the early part of July. On the 12th
of that month the Phoenix and Rose, two of the English men-of-war, the
former carrying forty, and the latter twenty guns, weighed anchor, and
favored by both wind and tide, went flying up the river. The batteries of
Paulus Hook opened up the two vessels as they went suddenly by, but did
little damage, as sandbags protected the decks.
New York was captured by the British
September 15, and on the morning of that day the patriots of Paulus Hook had
another brush with the enemy, which did not redound to their honor. The
Roebuck, the Phoenix, and the Tartar, three of the British ships, started up
the Hudson, and as they sailed by Paulus Hook they “caused tremendous
firing.” The raw recruits that manned the fortifications were unable to
stand the storm of lead, and in the language of their commander, General
Mercer, “they behaved in a scandalous manner, running off from their posts
at the first cannonade from the ships of the enemy.” Paulus Hook remained
for some time in the possession of the Americans after the British had
captured New York. Colonel Durkie was in immediate command of the post.
General Green had succeeded General Mercer in command of the forces on the
Jersey shore, and Washington frequently crossed the river from his camp at
Harlem, and in Green’s company reconnoitered the territory. The two
generals frequently went as far south as Paulus Hook. It soon became
evident, however, that the Hook could not be maintained in the face of the
superior force of the enemy, and preparations were made for evacuating the
works. General Mercer ordered the withdrawal of all troops except a small
guard, who had orders to evacuate the place the place upon the first
approach of the enemy. On September 23, the British came up and opened fire
on the batteries on the Hook. After a half-hour’s cannonade they landed a
party from the ships and advanced upon the works. The Americans moved all
the stores and useful cannons, leaving behind only such guns as had been
rendered unfit for use, and retreated back to the Town of Bergen on the
hill. Their advance party took possession of Prior’s Mill, which stood on
the meadows below the spot, near the Point of Rocks, now occupied by the new
yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In the following November
Washington began his retreat to the Delaware, and Bergen was evacuated with
the other settlements East Jersey.
The British garrisoned Paulus Hook
with a large body of troops, and strengthened the fortifications. Lieutenant
Colonel Abraham Van Buskirk, of Saddle River, the renegade Jersey man, was
placed in command of the post. The garrison consisted mainly of those who
had espoused the King’s cause upon the first approach of the British, and
who called themselves “refugees.” They were very zealous partisans of the
king, and they demonstrated their zeal mainly by murdering their old
neighbors and robbing them of their possessions. The newspapers of the
periods are full of accounts of the depredations of these renegades and
their cowardice when they encountered the American troops.
During the dark days of 1777 bands of
the patriot forces made excursions into the country around Bergen, and often
ventured as far south as Paulus Hook and Bergen Neck. The history of the
time is replete with incidents of the heroism of the American forces and the
poltroonery of the renegade refugees.
Major Henry Lee, known and loved by
all Americans as “Light Horse Harry,” had often been detailed by Washington
to reconnoiter the west bank of the Hudson. From the knowledge of the
situation which he acquired in these excursions, he found that the garrison
of Paulus Hook as most negligent, and he proposed to Washington that he
should surprise and capture the place. Washington at first disapproved the
scheme. He considered that there was too much to lose by defeat and too
much to gain by success. But Major Lee had a personal interview with him and
finally gained his consent to make the attempt. Washington directed Lee
that in case he was successful he was to lose no time in bringing away what
cannon, ammunition and other stores he could without any unnecessary delay.
Paulus Hook was a strong position, and
yet its strength was its greatest weakness, as it rendered the garrison
reckless and unwatchful. It was almost entirely surrounded by water.
Harsimus Cove rendered it safe on the north, and the waters of the Hudson
guarded it on the east, while Communipaw Cove was at its south. To the west
was a marsh, through which a deep creek ran, which was connected to Harsimus
Cove by a ditch, which ran along about what is now Warren street. At a
point about half the distance of the ditch a drawbridge, at where Newark
Avenue now touches Warren Street runs crossed it. A barred gate, and about
thirty paces inside the ditch protected this bridge and creek was an abattis,
which ran out into the river. The fortifications were considered strong,
having first been built by the Americans and then strengthened when they
fell into the hands of the British. The main line extended along Sussex
Street from Green Street to about where St. Matthew’s church now stands,
while the barracks were at Essex and Warren Streets. On the southerly side
of Essex Street was a sort of semicircular fort, from which a redoubt ran
along Washington Street to the main fort. There were some blockhouses to
the north of the main works, and the burying ground of the post was on the
north side of Washington Street, running from Sussex Street almost to Morris
Street. When the city authorities graded Washington Street a number of
bones and the laborers dug up military relics. As had been said before, the
inhabitants of this part of New Jersey were in sympathy with the British and
fearing that they might betray him to the enemy, Major Lee caused it to be
announced that he was going on a foraging expedition. As such parties with
as large a force as he proposed taking against the Hook were frequent, this
announcement threw the Tories off their guard. About 4 o’clock in the
afternoon of August 18, 1779, Lee started from his encampment. He ha a force
of 40 infantry, and a troop of dragoons dismounted. Lord Sterling took up a
position at New Bridge, which was at about where Newark Ave now crosses the
Hackensack, and a force was stationed at Prior’s Mill to cover the retreat.
Horsemen were detailed to watch the Hudson River. And parties of infantry
were stationed on the various roads leading to Paulus Hook. The road
leading from the Hackensack, which joined the present Hackensack road near
the old church at the English neighborhood was followed, and when the
vicinity of union Hill was reached the party filed into the woods. There the
columns became lost through the treachery of the guide, and floundered about
for three hours, during which some of the rear detachments became separated
from the main body. Notwithstanding all their floundering in the woods, and
the fact that patrols were along the river and small bodies of troops were
stationed along the route, the expedition was not discovered. This is all
the more singular when it is remembered that Colonel Van Buskirk, with a
large body of men, was foraging in the vicinity of the English
neighborhood. In spite of all this delay Major Lee reached Prior’s Mill
about 3 o’clock on the morning of August 19. Day was rapidly approaching
and no time was to be lost. Lieutenant Rudolph, who had been detailed to
reconnoiter the port, reported that all was quiet in the works, and that it
was possible to pass the canal. The command to push forward was then given,
and the troops responded resolutely. The advance, under command of
Lieutenants Rudolph and McAllister pressed forward in silence with trailed
arms. The ditch at Warren Street and Railroad Ave was reached at half past
3 o’clock.
The Americans met with no resistance,
the guards evidently thought that they were Colonel Van Buskirk and his
foraging party returning, and did not discover their mistake until the
American van plunged into the ditch. Then the firing began. The troops in
the blockhouses rushed forth to see what the case of the alarm was and the
Americans promptly captured them. The advance, supported by Major Clark,
forced its way through all obstacles and was soon in possession of the main
works, with cannon and stores. So quickly did they do their work that they
had taken place before the enemy could fire a single piece of artillery. As
the Americans came pouring through the abattis flushed with victory, Major
Sutherland, who commanded the fort in the absence of Colonel Van Buskirk,
with two officers and thirty Hessians, made a stand in a small redoubt.
Daylight was beginning to streak to the east, and Major Lee saw that he had
no time either to dislodge Sutherland or destroy any of the cannon or stores
in the fort. He was concerned about the boats, which he had left at Dow’s
Ferry to facilitate his retreat. Then, too, the firing had been heard in
New York, and he was afraid that a boy of troops would be sent from there to
the aid of the post. He hastily dispatched Colonel Forsythe to Prior’s Mill
to gather together there the men who were be adapted for the service, an
take up a position on Bergen Hill to cover the retreat which was then
ordered. Major Clark was sent ahead with the prisoners and Lieutenants Reed
and Armstrong brought up the rear. Lee himself hurried forward ton Dow’s
Ferry in search of the boats. When he arrived there he was dismayed to find
them all gone. He faced his troops about and marched back to the Bergen Road
and sent couriers to New Bridge to notify Lord Sterling of his position.
Then he went back to rear guard at Prior’s Mill. He was in a most
precarious position. In crossing the ditch in the attack on the fort all
the ammunition had been destroyed. His troops were worn out with the
night’s work and encumbered with prisoners, and it seemed impossible to
cover the fourteen miles of retreat which lay before him, open as he was to
attacks by the troops sent over from New York. But relying on the
patriotism and unconquerable courage of his men, he pressed forward. When
the Heights opposite Weehawken were reached, the first ray of hope appeared
in the person of Captain Cartlett, who joined him with fifty men and a
supply of good ammunition. In order to guard against a sudden attack by the
enemy one detachment to the rear of Major Clarke on the Bergen Road, and
another was ordered to proceed along the river. When the Fort Lee road was
reached, Major Lee was two hundred men under Colonel Ball, who had been sent
to his assistance, further reinforced further reinforced Major Lee. A large
body of the enemy about this time opened fire on the right of the retreating
column. Lieutenant Reed faced about and returned their fire, while
Lieutenant Rudolph seized a stone house, which commanded the road. This
held the enemy in check until the main body with the prisoners crossed the
English Neighborhood creek at Liberty Pole, which is now the town of
Englewood. No sooner were they safely across when major Sutherland came up,
but seeing the Americans on the other side of the creek he turned away
without attempting to give battle.
It was 1 o’clock in the afternoon when
Major Lee safely arrived at New Bridge, bringing with him one hundred and
fifty prisoners, without further loss to himself than two men killed and
three wounded. The failure of the Americans to meet with Colonel Van
Buskirk was one of the greatest disappointments of the expedition. In the
report of the affair which Major Lee sent to headquarters he said: “Among
the many unfortunate circumstances which crossed our wishes none was more so
than accidental absence of Colonel Van Buskirk and the greater part of his
regiment. A company of vigilant Hessians had taken their place in the fort,
which rendered the secrecy of the approach more precarious, and at the same
time diminished the object of the enterprise by a reduction of the number of
the garrison. Major Sutherland fortunately saved himself by a soldier’s
counterfeiting his person. This imposition was not discovered until too
late. I intended to have burned the barracks; but upon finding a number of
sick soldiers and women with young children in them, humanity forbade the
execution of my intention. The key of the magazine could not be found, nor
could it be broken open in the little time we had to spare, many attempts
having been made to that purpose by the lieutenants, McCallister and Reed.”
The capture of Paulus Hook under the
very guns of the fortifications in New York was very humiliating to the
British, while it filled the Americans with joy, and had a wonderful effect
in bracing up the wavering. Washington congratulated Lord Sterling, and in
writing to Congress in reference to Major Lee, said: “The Major displayed a
wonderful degree of prudence, address and bravery upon this occasion, which
does the highest honor to himself and to all the officers and men under his
command. The situation of the post rendered the attempt critical and the
success brilliant.” Major Lee was the hero of the hour. Congress passed
resolutions thanking Washington for ordering with so much wisdom the late
attack upon the enemy’s works and fort at Paulus Hook;” to lord Sterling
“for the judicious manner taken by him to forward the enterprise and secure
the retreat of the party;” and to Major Lee “for the remarkable prudence,
address and bravery displayed by him on the occasion.”
“The discipline, fortitude and spirit
manifested by the officers and soldiers under the command of Major” were
also highly commended by Congress. A gold medal emblematic of the affair
was ordered to be struck by the treasury department and presented to Major
Lee, while Lieutenants McAllister and Rudolph were made captains. On August
19 1879, the citizens of Jersey City celebrated the centennial of the battle
of Paulus Hook with appropriate ceremonies.
From the capture of Paulus Hook until
the opening of the spring campaign in 1780, nothing of importance happened
in Bergen and that vicinity. In December 1779, General Wayne marched down
from Tappan and pitched his camp in the “Towne”. He kept his eye on the
enemy at Paulus Hook for a while and then went into winter quarters at
Westfield, Union County. The inhabitants of Bergen suffered considerably
from the raids on both sides. They buried their money and their valuables,
but often their hiding places were revealed to the enemy by the renegade
Tories. There are on record many interesting incidents of the strategy the
Americans resorted to, to save their goods and chattels from the enemy.
The winter of 1779-80 was an unusually
severe one. The river between New York and Paulus Hook was frozen over, and
the people crossed from one place to another on the ice. Wood was
exceedingly scarce in New York, and sold as high as £4 a cord. This tempted
the Tories to cut down the fine growth of timber, which covered the Bergen
Hill, except where it had been cleared away for farms, and sell it to the
British across the river. In order to pursue that business unmolested by
the Americans they constructed a number of blockhouses. One of these bock
houses were held by refugees and a lot of murdering and thieving marauders
whose depredations extended as far inland as Elizabethtown and New Barbadoes.
General Wayne was ordered by
Washington to destroy one of these blockhouses, which was located near
Guttenberg, and drive off a number of cattle, which were on Bergen Neck.
The block house, however, was strongly built so that Wayne’s cannon made no
impression upon the logs; and seventy Tories, under command of Captain Tom
Ward, one of the worst villains and thieves of that time, were able to
defeat the superior forces of the Americans brought against them. General
Wayne managed to drive off the cattle, but was unable to destroy the
blockhouse. He lost fifteen men wounded, and it is said that he wept when
he saw so many of his men killed. The refugees received much fulsome praise
for their part in the affair. Sir Henry Clinton, the commander in chief
thanked them, and directed that they should be supplied with uniforms,
clothing and hats from the inspector general’s office. King George patted
them on the back and ordered that “ the survivors of the brave seventy” be
informed that the sovereign approved their behavior.
Major Andre, the unfortunate young
English Officer who was afterwards hung by the Americans as a spy and who
was in New York at the time, write a clever satire upon the affair, which he
named “The Cow Chase”
The next taste of war, which Bergen
receive, was in October 1780, when General Lafayette moved with the light
camp from Fort Lee down toward the town. On the morning of the 25th
pickets and patrols were thrown out and Colonel Stuart’s regiment was
stationed within range of the soldier’s muskets at Paulus Hook. As the day
advanced the entire American force was on the brow of the hill- about where
the Jersey City Cemetery id today- in full view of the English. The enemy,
however, did not attack them, and the whole day was spent in foraging as far
down as Bergen Point. They help themselves to the grain and supplies of the
inhabitants, who were given certificates for the same. If any complained,
as many of the thrifty descendants of the more thrifty Dutchmen did, no
notice was taken of their protestations further than to tell them that they
had contributed little enough to the support of the war, and what had been
taken from them was in the way of tax. The Americans considered this bold
appearance in the face of the enemy a challenge to battle, and were well
pleased with their valor when the British allowed them to depart without
firing a shot.
Bergen figured conspicuously in a
plan, which Washington formed for the capture of the traitor, Benedict
Arnold. John Champe, of London County, Virginia, a sergeant of Major Lee’s
dragoons, was chosen for the principal part of the task. He was apparently
to desert from the army, make his way to New York, and the endeavor to bring
Arnold to the Jersey shore where the Americans would be read to seize him.
Champe’s mission was a dangerous one, as the country was covered with
patrols. He begged Major Lee to delay pursuit as long as possible and then
started. He had been gone only half an hour when Captain Carnes reported to
Major Lee that one of his patrol had encountered a dragon who, when
challenged, urged his horse forward and escaped. Lee pretended to believe
that the man could not be one of his commands, and finally when he was shown
indisputable evidence that the fugitive was on of his own petty officers he
ordered a pursuit. He delayed the pursuing party as long as possible but
they managed to catch up with the fugitive near Union Hill. From there
Champe rushed across the county through Bergen, toward Brown’s Ferry, off
which, in the Newark Bay, were anchored a number of English galleys. He
threw away his unnecessary luggage as he ran, and reaching the water he
plunged in. The British on the galleys fired at hi pursuers and sent a boat
to meet him. The manner in which Champe reached the enemy’s lines convinced
them of the genuineness of his desertion. His mission, however, was
unsuccessful. He enlisted in Arnold’s American Legion, and soon discovered
that there was no foundation for the suspicious that other American generals
were connected with Arnold’s treachery.
It was a long time before Champe saw
an opportunity to fulfill his mission. Finally, he sent word to Major Lee
that if he would meet him with a party of dragoons at Hoboken, he would have
Arnold there. When the day named arrived, Lee was at the rendezvous with
three dragoons and as many led horses. The hours sped on, but neither
Arnold nor Champe appeared. The scheme had failed as Arnold moved his
headquarters the day before. It was a long time before Champe could get
back to the American army. He underwent many hardships, and finally escaped
while serving in Virginia under Lord Cornwallis.
Prince William Henry, the third son of
George III, afterward William IV, visited New York in September 1781. He
was a midshipman under Admiral Digby, and the British and Torries made a
lion of him. The renegade Jerseymen on Bergen Neck sent him a very
sycophantic address, and received an appropriate reply.
Petty raids and depredations by both
side continued in the vicinity of Bergen until September 1782, when the fort
at Bergen Neck was evacuated and destroyed by fire. In the following month,
Ward and his detestable band of refugees sailed for Nova Scotia. Paulus
Hook was the only place the British held in New Jersey from that time until
November 22, 1783, when they evacuated the works. Three days afterward the
British sailed away from New York, and a few days later the inhabitants of
Bergen and the Hook cheered Washington as he passed through on his way to
Mount Vernon. The war was over; and peace reigned throughout the land.
On the shores of the New York Bay, at
the foot of Danforth Ave, Jersey City, there stands alone by itself an old
brick mansion with a double porch or veranda in front facing the water.
This was a famous place during the revolution, and was known as Retirement
Hall. It belonged to Captain Thomas Brown, who was one of the few citizens
of Bergen who espoused the patriots’ cause. His home was famous for the
entertainment it afforded the American officers. In his early days, Captain
Brown had been a slaver, and it is said he used to keep slaves chained up in
the cellar of his house. Even to this day, old rusty hooks and rings in the
cellar are pointed out as the laces where the captain chained up his
Negroes. Strange sounds often pervaded the house, which the lovers of the
supernatural declared were the sighs of the spirits of Captain Brown’s
Negroes, mingled with the clanking and creaking of their chains. The house
was said to be haunted, and an air of romance hovered about old Retirement
Hall. In its latter days, it fell into decay, and was inhabited by the
poorest lass of tenants. It was recently repaired and now is the home of the
Greenville Yacht Club.
Paulus Hook was incorporated jersey
City January 20, 1820, but continued to be a part of the Town of Bergen.
The Jersey City of that time comprised but a small fraction of its present
extensive territory, and lay between Warren Street and the river, and First
Street and the Communipaw Cove. Abraham Isaacsen Plank, May 1 1638, brought
the territory from the Dutch West Indian Company, who became its owners when
Pauw gave it up. The Plank family remained in possession until August 2,
1699, when they sold the property to Cornelius Van Vorst for £300. It was
tilled as a farm from that time until 1764, and the greater part of it
continued to be used down to 1804.
In that year, a body of capitalists,
foreseeing the future importance of Paulus Hook, commissioned Lawyer Anthony
Dey to negotiate with Cornelius Van Vorst for its purchase. Alexander
Hamilton examined the title, and acted as counsel with Anthony Dey. On
February 22, 1804, Van Vorst conveyed the title to Dey, in consideration of
an annuity of $6,000, equivalent to the sum of $100,000.
The sale was made subject to a lease
of Paulus Hook, which Van Vorst had made to Major Hunt, the keeper of the
tavern where the stage put up, which lease expired May 1, 1805.
One month after the apportionment of
the share of Paulus Hook property, November 10, 1804, the shareholders
received a perpetual charter as “The associates of the Jersey Company.”
Alexander Hamilton drew it up. It allowed them to elect their own trustees
to carry out the covenant in regard to paying Van Vorst his annuity and to
lay out and make all streets and squares, an to regulate the building of all
docks, piers, and wharves. The company was further given the right to build
docks, piers, and wharves and appropriate the same to their use. In 1882,
when Jersey City, which had then become a flourishing city, undertook to
extend its streets to the water’s edge over the made over the made ground
east of Hudson Street, the successors often East Jersey associates built
fences across the streets and claimed that they owned the land along the
river by virtue of these provisions of their charter. The matter was taken
to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the claim of the associates
was upheld.
By the act of incorporation of 1820,
Jersey City was governed by five freeholders, who constituted the board of
selectmen. Dr. John Seaman composed the first board. On Washington’s
Birthday 1838 the incorporate name was changed to Mayor and Common Council
of Jersey City. Dudley S. Gregory was the first mayor, and served five
years, though not in succession. In march 1839, the boundaries were
extended Van Vorst Township, which included old Harsimus, was annexed March
1851, by a vote of the inhabitants of the two towns. The whole number of
votes cast in Jersey City was 495, and Van Vorst Township 416. At the same
time, the city received a new charter, which divided it into four wards.
The fifth and sixth wards were erected in February 1861 and in March 1867,
the seventh was added, and in 1870 the eighth.
Old Bergen lost much of its territory
by the erection of the cities and townships around it, so that all that was
left when it was incorporated as the city of Bergen in 1868, was bounded by
the railroad cut on the north; Newark Bay and the Hackensack on the west;
the canal on the south, and Mill Creek on the east.
In February 1843, all that portion of
the country north of the railroad cut and Mill Creek was taken from the
Township of Bergen and named North Bergen. In March 1855, all that portion
of North Bergen between the railroad cut and what are now known as the North
Hudson townships was incorporated as the City of Hudson or Hudson City.
This was made the county seat of the new county of Hudson, which was set off
from Bergen county February 22, 1844. On October 5, 1869 under an act of
the legislature, an election was held in the several cities and townships of
Hudson County east of the Hackensack River, to determine whether those
municipalities should be consolidated into one under the name of Jersey
City. Jersey City became the second largest city in the state in point of
population. Since then, it has grown rapidly. The ditch and swamp, which
bounded old Paulus Hook, are filled in and covered with large buildings.
Harsimus Cove has been reclaimed, and is now the freight yard of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Much of Communipaw Bay is solid ground, and
is covered by the immense depots and yards of the New Jersey Central and
Lehigh Valley Railroads. Jersey City is one of the greatest railroad
terminals of the country, no less than ten district railways and trunk lines
terminating at its riverfront, opposite New York. The largest railway
passenger shed in the world that of Pennsylvania is within its borders and
the largest tobacco company in the world Lorillard’s give employment to
hundreds of its inhabitants. One of the largest of the American Sugar
Refining Company’s branches stands near the sot occupied by the old Paulus
Hook fort; while steel, iron, and zinc works and silk manufactories add to
its commercial value. Two ocean steamship lines sail from her wharves, and
great inland water runs through a section of her territory.
Jersey City is most advantageously
situated for residential as well as manufacturing and commercial purposes.
The Heights back of Old Harsimus and Paulus Hook, overlooking as they do the
river and harbor, and in the southern section affording a view down through
the Narrows make a most desirable place of residence. Its future is most
promising. Already extensive plans are under consideration for covering its
entire southern shorefront with immense docks, basin, wharves, and
warehouses; and it would be an extravagance to predict for Jersey City the
commercial supremacy of the harbor.
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