MORRIS COUNTY REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS – AN OVERVIEW

In late 2022 the Morristown Chapter DAR’s project to database every soldier who was born, served from, died and/or is buried in Morris County is officially shifting gears from initial creation to ongoing maintenance. The database will continue to evolve as new information becomes available, but at this point of transition, it is a good time step back and assess what was found.

A total of 2159 soldiers/patriots connected to Morris County were identified. Of these, 913 are proven DAR patriot ancestors. Enough information about birth, death, or burial to create memorials on Find-a-Grave and honorary graphics for 1542 Morris County soldiers.

Here are some highlights about the information collected about our Morris County soldiers.

YOUNGEST SOLDIER:

The youngest soldier in our database is Private John D. Piatt. He was 9 years old when he began serving as a fifer under his father, Captain (later Major) Daniel Piatt. He marched with the army as far away as Quebec as part of the Canada Expedition. At one point John was taken prisoner by the British, but they released him after a short time because he was so young and under the care of his father. When his father died of disease at Jockey Hollow in the spring of 1780, John continued to serve under his uncle, Colonel Jacob Piatt of Somerset County. He applied for and was granted a pension for his service. An upcoming Soldier’s Story will provide more about John D. Piatt’s story and the stories of other young soldiers.

OLDEST SOLDIERS AND PATRIOTS:

The oldest person on our list is Daniel Cooper Sr. (DAR ancestor A025711), born on 1 May 1695. He was just short of 80 years old when the war first broke out. He is noted as a patriot because of his significant civil service during the war. He was Sheriff and Justice of the Peace in Morris County.

Also of note is Silas Halsey (DAR ancestor A049816), who died in 1777 of smallpox while nursing soldiers during the terrible epidemic that swept through town during their first Morristown winter encampment. He was born in 1704, making him 73 years old when he died in service to the army.

It’s challenging to get solid information about oldest men who served as a soldier in the army and saw active duty, but here is what our research tells us.

• The oldest confirmed man who saw military action was Jonas Goble (DAR ancestor A045835), who served as a Wagoner. He was born in 1707, making him 68 years old at the outbreak of the war.
• Daniel Lindsley (born ca 1700) served as a private in the militia, according to Barbara Hoskins’ book about Morris County Revolutionary War soldiers, and confirmed by Stryker. He was 75 years old when the war broke out.
• According to DAR records, Joseph Stiles (DAR ancestor A109961, born in 1706), signed the Association Test, meaning that he committed to serve if needed. Both Hoskins and Stryker identify him as a private in the militia, though DAR does not indicate this service. He was 69 years old when the war broke out.
• Hoskins and Stryker both list David Ward as a private in the militia. He was born 1706, making him 69 years old when the war broke out.

HIGHEST RANKING OFFICERS:

The highest-ranking officers in our database held the rank of Brigadier General. General William Winds is the one with the strongest Morris County connection. He is most notable for commanding the militia, but he also served in the Continental Army. He lived, died, and is buried in Rockaway.

Other Brigadier Generals with a Morris County connection include:

• Governor William Livingston Sr. held the military title of Brigadier General and Commander-in-Chief in New Jersey. While Gov. Livingston did not live permanently in Morris County, he holds a Morris County connection because he rented and stayed at a house in Morris County as a safe haven during the war. That house at 25 Old Parsippany Road in Parsippany is still standing.
• General William Maxwell lived and is buried at Greenwich, which is now part of Warren County. This area was carved from Morris County, which gives him a Morris County connection.
• General Matthias Ogden commanded many local Morris County troop companies, so we consider him strongly connected to our county, even though he was born and died in Elizabethtown.

Other high-ranking officers include:

• Colonels: Elias Boudinot, Abraham Brasher, Ellis Cook, Joseph Cowperthwait, Israel Day, William De Hart, Simeon Dickerson, Jacob Drake, Chilion Ford, Jacob Ford Jr., John Munson, Nussell (first name unknown), Sylvanus Seeley, John Seward, John Stark, John Cleves Symmes, Philip Van Cortland
• Lieutenant Colonels: Robert Gaston, Benoni Hathaway, Eleazer Lindsley, Nathan Luce, Cornelius Ludlow, Hiram Smith, Samuel Tuthill
• Majors: Henry Axtell, Daniel Cook, Mahlon Ford, Christopher Hoagland, Silas Howell, Richard Johnson, Joseph Lindsley, Joseph Morris, Nathaniel Pettit, Daniel Phoenix, Daniel Piatt, Samuel Sayre, Jacob Schuyler

During the Revolution there was an officer rank of Surgeon which no longer exists. I don’t know where to place this rank in the hierarchy, so will just note it separately. Dr. Jabez Campfield, owner of the Morristown Chapter’s historic house, served in this rank. Besides Dr. Campfield, other Surgeons connected to Morris County include Dr. Ebenezer Blachley, Dr. Barnabas Budd, Dr. Jonathan Horton, Dr. Timothy Johnes Jr., and Dr. Jonathan Ford Morris. Notable local doctor William Leddel, husband of Tempe Wick’s sister Phebe, also served in the Revolution, but at the time he was a Private. Also, John Darcy became a notable doctor in Hanover after the war, but during the war he was a Surgeon’s Mate (trained by and working for Dr. Campfield).

WHERE WERE THEY BORN?

Our Morris County soldiers and patriots were born in 8 different colonies/states, which is quite significant considering that the whole country only had 13. Most of our soldiers and patriots, 908, were born in New Jersey. In second place is New York, where 84 of our soldiers and patriots were born, mostly on Long Island. Many patriotic families fled Long Island when the British took over the area. Being on the west side of the Watchung Mountains, Morristown was a relatively safe haven and popular place for these refugees. Connecticut holds third place with 36 births. Smaller numbers were born in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Delaware, and Massachusetts. Our database also includes immigrants who were born in Germany, Scotland, Holland, Switzerland, England, Wales, Ireland, and the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

OUR SOLDIERS SPREAD FAR AND WIDE

Not surprising, most of the burials we found were in New Jersey, totaling 698. But it is very interesting to see how far our soldiers spread out after the war. We found deaths and burials in an astounding 21 states outside of New Jersey, as well as two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec). This is even more remarkable when you consider that the only means of travel back then was by foot or on horseback, and in many places there were no roads to travel on. It was no small feat just to reach these far away places, let alone settle and make a life there. No doubt many of these people settled on bounty land that they received as compensation for their military service. Even though they left New Jersey, some of them took a little bit of home with them. They named their new homes places such as Amwell Township, Washington County Pennsylvania, Jersey, Licking County Ohio, and Morris, Greene County Pennsylvania.

While our soldiers spread out far and wide, outside of New Jersey three specific areas became concentrated populations of our Revolutionary veterans. They include Cincinnati, Hamilton County Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania (mostly Washington, Greene, Fayette, and Westmoreland Counties), and Bridport, Addison County Vermont.

Here is a list of all the states that hold burials of our Revolutionary veterans:

• West of NJ: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan
• South of NJ: Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Georgia. In addition, deaths without identified burial locations were identified in Delaware, Alabama, and Mississippi.
• North of NJ: Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts

THE FAMILY THAT SERVES TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

A few family surnames appear repeatedly in the database. These concentrations perhaps indicate the significant local presence of these families as well as their level of patriotic fervor. Many were brothers, fathers and sons, uncles, cousins, and other close relatives. This is a list of some of the most frequent surnames, and the number of local soldiers/patriots found for each:

Allen 11
Baldwin 20
Ball 12
Beach 16
Bonnell 11
Brown 13
Burnett 17
Carter 12
Clark 14
Condict 11
Cook 20
Cooper 13
Cory 11
Crane 19
Day 15
Dickerson 11
Drake 11
Fairchild 14
Ford 12
Gardner/Garner 15
Halsey 17
Hathaway 14
Hayward 11
Headdy/Headley 10
Horton 14
Howell 14 (plus 1 Howe, same family?)
Johnson/Johnston 28
Kitchell 14
Lacey/Lesse/Losey/Luce 25
Lindsley 18
Lyon 10
Miller 15
Morris 11
Munson 12
Ogden 10
Osborn 10 (plus 1 Osmun, same family?)
Pierson 17
Price 11
Smith 23
Stiles 12 (plus 1 Stites, same family?)
Thompson 13
Tuthill/Tuttle 23
Ward 14
Wood 13
Young 17

IN MEMORY AND GRATEFUL APPRECIATION

As a special memorial to the men who were taken prisoner, wounded, or died during the war, please see attached graphic commemorations.

The relatively large number of deaths compared to the number of wounded soldiers is perhaps a testament to the rudimentary medical practices of the time, more so than the lethality of the muskets and cannonballs themselves. Note that many deaths were not inflicted by the enemy, but rather were caused by disease.

We honor every one of our 2159 local soldiers and patriots.