Stories of New Jersey

Part 1

STORIES OF NEW JERSEY

FRANK R. STOCKTON

New York--Cincinnati--Chicago American Book Company 1896

Copyright, 1896, by American Book Company.

STO. OF N. J. W. P. I

PREFACE.

This volume of stories, composed of historical incidents, or material connected with the history of New Jersey, is not intended to be a record, even in a condensed form, of the rise and progress of the State. The stories are arranged chronologically, but there has been no attempt to give a complete and continuous account of events or epochs. The material for the stories has been collected from many sources; and the selections have been made with regard to the interest, the instructiveness, and as far as possible the novelty, of the matter chosen. There has been a constant endeavor, however, to present a series of historical incidents in a panoramic form, so that the reading of the stories in their regular succession would give an impressive idea of the discovery and settlement of the State, of its people, manners, and customs, and of its progress and achievements, as it was gradually evolved from the Indian region of Scheyichbi into the State of New Jersey.

In these stories there is nothing imaginative or fanciful, except where a reference is made to the early imaginings and fancies of the aborigines. The stories are not founded on facts, but they are made up of facts carefully collected from the authorities referred to in the table of contents. Some of the stories are well known, but could not be omitted because of their representative character; but others, it is hoped, will be found familiar only to the professed student of history. The period of the stories extends from the earliest times of Indian tradition down to what may be called our own day; but as there was so much available matter, and so little space for it, and as there was no intention to give a comprehensive history of the State, it was deemed well to deal only with the incidents and people that have passed out of the boundaries of current history.

CONTENTS.

PAGE THE STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF SCHEYICHBI; or, The Aborigines of New Jersey. (Period, prior to 1600.) 9

Authorities: MSS. regarding Indians. Rev. John Heckewelder. "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford.

THE STORY OF A PEACEMAKER. An Indian Woman's Friendly Act. (Period, 1632.) 18

Authority: "History of New York." Brodhead.

THE WINNING OF THE PRIZE; or, The English Ownership of New Jersey. (Period, 1664.) 24

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon.

HOW SCHEYICHBI REALLY BECAME NEW JERSEY. (Period, 1609-1758.) 31

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon.

FINS, RATTLES, AND WINGS; or, The Wild Animals of Early Days. 42

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "The Burlington Smiths." R. M. Smith.

THE STORY OF A GIRL AND A HOGSHEAD. A Story of the Swedish Settlers. (Period, prior to 1655.) 51

Authority: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe.

THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT. (Period, prior to 1669.) 57

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." S. Smith. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Story of an Old Farm." A. C. Mellick.

THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE DOCTOR. (Period, from 1693.) 69

Authorities: "Colonial History of New Jersey." Grahame. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "History of Medicine in New Jersey." S. Wickes.

THE SLAVES OF NEW JERSEY. (Period, 1626-1860.) 83

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick.

A JERSEY TEA PARTY; or, The Burning of the Tea at Cohansey. (Period, 1774.) 93

Part 2

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." I. Mulford. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick.

THE STORY OF A SPY. (Period, 1758-80.) 102

Authority: "Our Home," published in Somerville, N.J., 1873.

A MAN WHO COVETED WASHINGTON'S SHOES; or, The Story of General Charles Lee. (Period, 1758-85.) 117

Authorities: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. "Life of Lord Stirling." W. Duer.

THE MAN IN THE "AUGER HOLE." From the Journal of Mrs. Margaret Hill Morris. (Period, 1776-82.) 130

Authorities: "The Burlington Smiths." R. M. Smith. "History of New Jersey." T. F. Gordon.

THE STORY OF TWO CAPTAINS. Captain Huddy and Captain Asgill. (Period, 1781.) 141

Authorities: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick.

THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK. (Period, 1780.) 155

Authorities: "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick. "Morris County History." W. W. Munsey. "Authors and Writers Associated with Morristown." J. K. Colles.

THE STORY OF FORT NONSENSE. (Period, 1776-80.) 163

Authorities: "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick.

AN AMERICAN LORD. Lord Stirling of Basking Ridge. (Period, 1726-83.) 177

Authorities: "Life of Lord Stirling." W. Duer. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Story of an Old Farm." A. D. Mellick.

MOLLY PITCHER. (Period, 1778.) 186

Authorities: "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe.

THE MORRISTOWN GHOSTS. A Story of 1788 193

Authorities: Pamphlet published in 1792. Anonymous. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe.

A JERSEYMAN AND HIS ROYAL CROWN. Joseph Bonaparte at Bordentown. (Period, 1815-39.) 204

Authorities: "Encyclopædia Britannica." "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe. "Bordentown and the Bonapartes." J. B. Gilder. "Joseph Bonaparte in Bordentown." F. M. Crawford. "New Jersey Newspaper Clippings."

THE DEY, THE BEY, AND SOME JERSEY SAILORS. The Barbary War. (Period, 1800-4) 214

Authorities: "History of the United States Navy." J. F. Cooper. "Historical Collections." Barber and Howe.

SEA FIGHTS WITH A NOBLER FOE. The War of 1812 230

Authorities: "History of the United States Navy." J. F. Cooper. "Field Book of the Revolution." B. J. Lossing.

THE STORY OF THE TELEGRAPH AND THE STEAMBOAT. (Period, 1787-1838.) 239

Authorities: "Appletons' Dictionary." "New Jersey Newspaper Clippings." "American Inventors of the Telegraph." F. L. Pope. "History of New Jersey." J. C. Raum.

NEW JERSEY AND THE LAND OF GOLD. The Conquest of California. (Period, 1816-66.) 246

Part 3

Authorities: "Appletons' Dictionary." "Biographical Encyclopædia of New Jersey."

STORIES OF NEW JERSEY.

THE STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF SCHEYICHBI.

The North American Indians, the earliest inhabitants of this country of whom we know anything definite, were great story-tellers; and their histories consist entirely of stories handed down from parents to children, or, more likely, from grandparents to grandchildren, for grandfathers and grandmothers are generally more willing to tell stories than fathers or mothers. And so these traditions, probably a good deal brightened by being passed along century after century, came down to the Indians who were first met by white people, and thus we have heard many of them.

The stories told by the Indians inhabiting the country which is now the Middle States, all agree that their remote forefathers came from some region beyond the Mississippi River. Like the traditions of most nations, these go so very far back that they are vague and misty; but, as this gave the Indians a great opportunity for their imaginations, it is not wonderful that they improved it. These Indians believed that in the very earliest stages of their existence they were all animals, and lived in caves under the earth. They were hunters; but their game consisted of mice, and creatures of that sort. One of them accidentally discovered a hole by which he got out on the surface of the ground; and, finding it so exceedingly pleasant, it was not long before the whole of his tribe came out, and began life in the light of day.

It may be supposed that these animals gradually changed to human beings, and built villages, and planted corn; but in one respect they did not change, nor have they changed at this present day. Many of them still call themselves after the names of animals; and now the greater part of the noted Indians of our country have such names as "Sitting Bull," "Black Bear," and "Red Horse." But the stories say that all of the animals did not come out of their underground homes. Among these were the hedgehog and the rabbit; and so some of the tribes will not eat these animals, because in so doing they may be eating their family connections.

Gradually the ancestors of the Indians who told their stories to the first settlers, and who afterwards called themselves the Lenni-Lenape, moved eastward, and after many years they reached the Mississippi River. By this time they had become a powerful body. But in the course of their journeys they discovered that they were not the earliest emigrants in this direction, for they met with a great tribe called the Mengwe, later known as the Iroquois, who had come from a country west of the Mississippi, but farther north than that of our Indians.

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