Glass _ 
 Book _ _ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 
 
PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND TAD" 
 READING THE SCRIPT URES—INU 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 IN 
 
 Cumberland County, New Jersey 
 
 1855-1865 
 
 POLITICAL AND WAR TIME 
 REMINISCENCES 
 
 BY 
 
 ISAAC T. NICHOLS 
 

 LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two CoDles Received 
 
 APS IT 1907 
 
 rF CopyrUht Entry 
 CLASS A XXc, No, 
 COPY B. ' 
 
 COPYRIGHTED, V'MI 
 
 ISAAC T. NICHOLS 
 
 i 
 
The story of the Civil War and the early days of a 
 great political movement in Cumberland County is a theme 
 t of interest to the descendants of the noble men who ga\e 
 
 their lives for the Union and those who stood at the cradle 
 of the party of human liberty at a crucial hour in our Na- 
 tional history. It appeared to the writer that it was worthy 
 of preservation. 
 
 To the memory of those who organized the Republican 
 Party in Cumberland County in 1855, and the heroic sons 
 of old Cumberland who \-olunteered in the war for the pres- 
 ervation of the Federal Union — 1861-1865 — many of 
 whom lie in nameless graves on battlefields once red with 
 patriotic blood, this volume is affectionately dedicated. 
 
 Is.^AC T. Nichols. 
 Bridgeton, Xew Jersey, January i, 1907. 
 
 \ 
 
THE PRIVATE. 
 
 Here is a song for the private, the gallant and true 
 Though others may plan, he is the one that must do 
 
 im. 
 ;inie. 
 
 Xieie lb a bUll^ lUl lllC ^llVtlLC, \.ii\- gtHiaiiL anu 
 
 Though others may plan, he is the one that mui 
 The world may the deeds of the leaders proclair 
 Here is a wreath for his brow, a song for his h 
 
 I learn from the telegraph, hear by the train, 
 Of the glory some general by valor has gained, 
 Of the ■■wing he's outflanked, " ■■the fort overthrown," 
 And the poem is sung to the leader alone. 
 
 Hut tell me, uh. tell me, where would he have been. 
 Had tlie private not been there the play to begin? 
 Had he sheltered his breast from the steel or the fire, 
 Or dared on the march to faint or to tire? 
 
 I have heard the debt the nation will owe 
 The heroes that over the despot shall throw, 
 And only petition that this be its care — 
 The private shall have a Benjamin's share. 
 
 Is a fort to be stormed, a charge to be made, 
 
 A mountain to climb, a river to wade, 
 
 A rampart to scale, a breach to repair, 
 
 'Ne.-ith the blaze of artillery — the private is there. 
 
 He might tell what he suffered in cold and in pain, 
 How he lay all night with the wounded and slain, 
 Or left with his blood his tracks on the snow. 
 But never from him the story you'll know. 
 
 He fights not for glory, for well does he know 
 The road to promotion is weary and slow ; 
 His liighcst anibition is for freedom to fight, 
 To conquer the foe or die for the right. 
 
 Should he fall, perchance, to-day and to-morrow 
 His messmates will sigh at evening in sorrow; 
 But onward they march, far, far from the spot, 
 -And the name of the private is lost or forgot. 
 
 But oh ! on his struggle the pale stars of even 
 Look down from the glittering pathways of heaven, 
 And angels descend to take his death sigh, 
 .'\nd the name of the brave is emblazoned on high. 
 
 Tlien here is a song for the brave and the true; 
 Though others may plan, it is he that must do ; 
 The world may the deeds of the leaders proclaim, 
 Here is a wreath for the private — a song for his faine. 
 
 Found on a dead Confederate officer at Hatcher's Run. Va., after 
 the battle, by J. I,. Smith, of the iiSth Pa. Inf. Vols. 
 
01 
 
 0100*^ 
 
 111". Kcpulilicaii i)artv liad organized in Xew York 
 State. Alicliigan and in Pittsburg, in the year 
 1S34. l)ut did ndt make much progress in New 
 Jersey prior to 1S55. In the Fall of the latter 
 year a number of citizens who had made the slavery ques- 
 tion a matter of conscience, but who had previously 
 been identified with the Whig. Democratic and Na- 
 tive American parties, resolved to inaugurate a move- 
 ment looking toward the organization of a new political 
 party in C'umberhuul County. They met at the courthouse 
 in Bridgeton, as near as can be ascertained, some time dur- 
 ing the month of September. The gathering was informal. 
 No resolutions were passed or ticket formed. It was a 
 conference of good men for the pur|)ose of talking o\'er 
 the situation of the country with a view to future action 
 when the hour should be ripe. 
 
 The fdllowing were present: — Dr. ^\'illiam Elmer, 
 James B. Potter, Jas. AI. Riley, Johnson Reeves, David P. 
 Mulford, of Bridgeton; Isaac B. Mulford, Aaron Westcott, 
 of Millville: Dr. Enoch Eithian, of Greenwich; Philip 
 Fithian, Lewis Mowell, Isaac Elwell, of Stow Creek; Robert 
 More, George W. J^Ioore, Isaac West. Isaac D. Titsworth, 
 Parnell Rainear. John S. Bonham, Archibald Minch, of 
 Hopewell; Ehvell Nichols, Philip Souder, of Deerfield; Dr. 
 B. Rush Bateman. of Fairfield. 
 
 Dr. Bateman was chosen chairman of the meeting, after 
 which there was a cjuiet, but firm discussion of the political 
 situation of the country because of the presence under our 
 flag of the growing and pernicious system of human slavery 
 then threatening the destruction of the Union. 
 
 This meeting- was the first Republican gathering held 
 in Cumberland County, and the forerunner of that which 
 was soon to follow in the building up in South Tersev of a 
 great political party which was hereafter to become famous 
 as the party of humanity and the people. 
 
IIISTI.IKIC DA'l'S 
 
 The fdlluwing- year. Augaist 16. 1856, the appended 
 notice appeared in the Bridgeton papers, at that time known 
 as tlie "Chronicle" and the "West Jersey Pioneer:" 
 
 "We are rei|uestetl to say that there will be a meeting 
 of tliose favorable tu the l\ei)ublican ])arty at the Session 
 Room at Shiloh. cm Alonday next. iKth inst. The object 
 of the meeting- is to organize, appoint committees, and make 
 arrangements for the Presidency campaign. A mass meet- 
 ing at an early date is talked of by the party." 
 
 The call for this meeting was signed hy thirty-five per- 
 sons of Shiloh and \icinity. As the pai)ers gave no pub- 
 lication of the names of those present it is impossible to learn 
 who were there beyond the fact that Lewis Howell was 
 elected chairman, and .Mliert R. Jones, secretary, with a 
 committee on resolutions consisting of W. B. Davis, G. H. 
 Leeds and A. R. Jones. 
 
 Hon. James Hampton, a former Rejjresentative in Con- 
 gress on the Whig ticket from the First District, then a resi- 
 dent of Bridgeton, was present and made a powerful speech. 
 Mr. Hampton was one of the most eloquent and convincing 
 speakers of his day, and his speech to the heroic men at 
 Shiloh was a very remarkable presentation of the evils of 
 liuman slavery with reasons why it should be eradicated. 
 His remarks aroused the meeting to a high plane of en- 
 thusiasm and were the o])ening gun of the party of libert}' 
 in Cumberland County. 
 
 The committee on resolutions reported the following 
 which were adopted as the views of the meeting: 
 
 "\Miereas. tlie monster, slaverv. has e\er been 
 stealthily coiling its slimy folds around the dearest insti- 
 tutions of our country, corrupting the verv fountain head, 
 and rendering every stream tliat em;inates from it foul and 
 impure; and that we view the passage of the Nebraska bill, 
 the consequent violation of a sacred compact — Missouri 
 Compromise — the brutal, barbarian and cowardly act of 
 knocking down a Senator in the Nati'in.il Legislature; the 
 border ruffian outrages in Kansas, murdering of the citi- 
 zens, violating their wi\es and daughters, burning their 
 
CUMBERLAND COUNTY COURT HOUSE 
 
 Bridgeton. New Jersey — lyi.'>-ls(;"» 
 
 (■) 
 
8 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 homes and printing presses: tiie unlawful closing up of a 
 highway (Missouri) against 'the citizens of the United 
 States ; the present cruel confinement of Free State men near 
 Lecompton. each so many aggressions of a slave oligarchy; 
 therefore. 
 
 "Resolved, that it is the duty of every good citizen to 
 resist by all just means the further extension of slavery. 
 
 "Resolved, that intriguing, unscrupulous demagogues, 
 among- wliom we regard Stephen A. Douglass as the leader, 
 have by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, involved 
 the Union in difficulty, arrayed one section against the 
 other, and thev thereby have rendered themselves unworthy 
 the confidence of honest men. 
 
 "Resolved, that the affairs of our country are appmach- 
 ing a crisis which has been hastened on by the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise; that the fate of Kansas and millions 
 of unborn freemen must be decided by the next administra- 
 tion it behooves every lover of his country to be on the alert, 
 and examine with jealous care the platform and past conduct 
 of the candidates, who are now before us for the highest 
 cyffice in the gift of the American people. 
 
 "Resolved, that the candidate. James Buchanan, in 
 swallowing the almminable platform of the Cincinnati Con- 
 \entii)n. thereby emlorsing sijuatter sovereignty, filibustering 
 and in fact everv act of the present administration, has for- 
 feiteil the support of ev'cry true ixitriot. 
 
 "Resolved, that in the Reiniblican platform and in the 
 people's candidates John C. Fremont and William L. Day- 
 ton, we have the guarantee that Freedom shall lie national 
 and ."^laNcry sectional, and as the evidence is clear and satis- 
 fact<iry that it was the design of the framers of our govern- 
 ment that Slavery should extend no farther, but they suf- 
 fered it where it was that it might in time be removed with 
 the least possible disadvantage to all. as all parties admit that 
 Slavery is a great evil, it is no injustice for tiic millions of 
 freemen to say to the few hundred thousand sla\'e holders, 
 'you may come and possess the public domain on equal 
 
IN CL'MBERLAND CdlNTY, NEW JERSEY 9 
 
 terms witli ourselves, but we cannot allow you to curse it 
 with Slavery.' 
 
 "kesdhed. that we pledge them our hearty support, 
 belie\int;' that they will carry out the original design of the 
 Constitution, and we earnesth- ask all to wisely reflect "ere 
 they cast another vote for a Slavery propagandist. 
 
 "Resolved, that it is the great doctrine of Jefferson that 
 we advocate the non-extension of Sla\ery. We wish to 
 be understood, that we do not interfere with Slavery in the 
 States where it already exists, but we do firmly insist upon 
 having no more Slave States from territory now free."' 
 
 These resolutions caused considerable debate among the 
 voters of the county and the men who took part in the 
 meeting were denounced as "woolly heads," "negro lovers,"" 
 etc. During the ensuing four years the doings of the 
 Abolitionists at Shiloh attracted great attention and as late 
 as the Fall of i860 when the country was excited because 
 of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency, 
 Caleb Henry Sheppard, of Stow Creek, afterwards a Alem- 
 ber of Assembly and Senator from Cumberland County, en- 
 gaged in a newspaper controversy with .several advocates 
 and defenders of the pro-slavery contention in the columns 
 of one of the Bridgeton jjapers. Mr. Sheppard was a 
 scholarlv writer and a man of intenseh- radical \iews. stand- 
 ing with \\'endell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison and 
 other early, out-spoken abolitionists. His pen was sharp and 
 he stirred up his opponents to the point of anger. Far in ad- 
 vance of the Republicans as a partv he did not hesitate to 
 declare bis opinion that they were timid in the presence 
 of the great overshadowing peril. Slavery. Joseph H. C. 
 Appelgate, then a resident of the Friesbtirg- neighborhood, 
 near Cohansey, took up the cudgel and lamjMoned the 
 Shiloh man with a sarcasm that tickled the Democrats im- 
 mensely. He was a gifted writer and in one of his com- 
 munications said : "You preach the abominable doctrine 
 of amalgamation, and urge free negro suffrage." Finally, 
 Mr. Appelgate declared that he was done and desired no 
 further debate as he believed he could not continue "with- 
 
UISTUKIC DAYS 
 
 out suffering further contact with a negro worshipper," 
 but desired in conclusion that Mr. Sheppard should answer 
 one question, to wit : "Did you. last Tuesday, November 6, 
 i860, vote for Abraham Ij'ncoln? Please answer yes or 
 
 no?" 
 
 This ended the writing, all of which grew out of the 
 fact that the radicals at Shiloh had promulgated certain 
 doctrines which were repugnant to the Democrats and many 
 Nati\e Americans. .Mr. Appelgate was a product of Salem 
 County and up to the election of Mr. Lincoln he had not 
 got away from his earlier training. Strange to say, how- 
 ever, within two years afterward he took his gun. enlisted 
 in the 24th New Jersey Regiment and went South, taking 
 part in several bloody battles for the preservation of the 
 Union and the freedom of the slave. He bore an honor- 
 able part in his country's service. 
 
 At the hour of 10 o'clock, Friday, October 24, 1856, 
 a number of gentlemen gathered in the Court House at 
 Bridgeton, and nominated a straight Republican ticket to 
 be voted for in No\-ember. No record of this convention 
 appears in the Bridgeton papers other than a paragraph 
 stating that a Republican ticket was nominated consisting 
 of the following: 
 
 For Senator — Benjamin Rusli Rateman. of Fairfield. 
 
 For Asseml;)ly — First District. Robert More, of Hope- 
 well ; Second District, Philip Souder, of Deerfield. 
 
 For Coroners — Jaines M. Riley, of Bridgeton; Syl- 
 vanus Tubman, of Downe ; Thomas Corson, of Millville. 
 
 The call for the conxention was signed by James 
 Hamptim, James M. Riley. G. H. Reeds. It is presumed 
 that the men who met in the court house in 1855 and those 
 wild met in the Sessimis Room at Shiloh. August 18. 1856, 
 were self-constituted delegates to this convention. The 
 editors of the two Bridgeton papers were on the fence, and 
 for fear that they might lose a little achertising or other 
 local patronage they carefully avoided publication of the 
 resolutions or proceedings of the convention. 
 
 In the afternoon at 2 o'clock, George William Curtis, 
 
 (10) 
 
GROUP OF FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 
 
 IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY-K.'^ 
 
 Hon. Benjamin Rush Kateman Dr. William Elmer David P. Mulford 
 
 Archibald Minch Isaac Elwell Dr. Enoch Fithian 
 
 John S. Bonham 
 (11) 
 
12 IIISTOHIC DAYS 
 
 of New York, afterward editor of Harper's Weekly, ad- 
 dressed a mass-meeting in behalf of the principles of the 
 newly organized party. He was an able speaker, and stirred. 
 the hearts of his iiearcrs l)y his pungent references to the 
 slave power. 
 
 Tlie campaign was short but enthusiastic, and the 
 Democrats were at their wits" end to circum\ent the argu- 
 ments of the "woolly heads" as they continued in term the 
 followers of h'remont and l)ayt(.in. 
 
 On the day the nominations were made a parade was 
 formed and marched through the streets of Bridgetou. It 
 contained a large wagon in which were thirty-two young 
 ladies dressed in white, one for each State of the L'nion and 
 one for the territory of Kansas, then struggling for admis- 
 sion and over which so much bitterness had appeared in 
 Congress. 
 
 Hugh Run_\'iin Merseilles, a man of note and ability in 
 Bridgeton, later on surrogate on the Republican ticket, 
 planted a pole in front of his office located in an old frame 
 building on Commerce street, near I'earl, ;inil hoistei] a 
 Fremont and Dayton flag. "Runyon" as he was termed, 
 was small in stature but a fighter for principle. The Dem- 
 ocrats made him a target, so much so that e\en the small 
 bo\- when passing his place wnuld yell. '"Woolly head."' On 
 the night of the election, when it was learned that James 
 Buchanan was chosen President, a prominent Democrat, 
 cabinet-maker by trade, manufactured a small coffin and 
 hoisted it to the tci|) of '■Runyon"s"' pole. When "Runyon" 
 came down to the office on the morning after election he 
 found the coftin swinging from the halyards, and of .course 
 was somewhat chagrined, but he li\ed to see the ]>arty which 
 the coffin was supposed to have buried rise to splendid 
 heights of national su])reniacy. 
 
 ^leetings to forward the cause of Ivepublicanism in 
 Cumberland County were held previous to election at the 
 following places: Millville, Port Elizabeth. Mauricetown, 
 Dividing Creek, Cedarville, addressed by E. H. Coates, of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND fOl'NTV, N'lCW JILRSEV I3 
 
 The new party made a gallant tight, and an especially 
 good one, when it is remembered, that the most talented 
 men in the county and the best politicians were battling in 
 the ranks of the Democratic and Nati\-e ,\merican parties, 
 jiihn T. Xixon, in a few brief years to be sent to Congress 
 on the tidal wave of the L'nion-Republican votes, was yet 
 a Native American and their ablest leader. He atl- 
 dressed a meeting- at Heisler\ille, for Millard I^'ilmore. 
 Providence Ludlani, soon to be the beloved Senator and 
 leader of the Republican party in Cumberland County, per- 
 haps the most popular man of his day in Southern New 
 Jersey, was a candidate on the Nati\e .Vmerican ticket for 
 Assembly and was defeated by his Democratic opponent. 
 
 The result of the election astounded even the Republi- 
 cans. By a fusion of the Republicans and Native Americans 
 on Governor and Congress, \\'illiam .\. Newell, of Mon- 
 mouth, and Isaiah D. Clawson, of Salem, carried the county 
 by 293 majority. The straight Republican ticket for Elec- 
 tors and the Legislature polled a vote as follows : 
 
 The Presidential electors, of whom Hon. Lewis Ho- 
 well, of Stow Creek, was one, 642; Benj. Rush Bateman, 
 for State Senator, 602 ; Robert More, Assembly, h'irst Dis- 
 trict, 471; Philip Souder, Assembly, Second District, 216. 
 
 Thus did the youthful Republicans, like David of old, 
 sling the shot which eventually felled the Goliath of Slavery. 
 
 The si.x hundred odd voters who faced the torrent of 
 abuse and went gallantly to the polls in a forlorn hope were 
 men of high character and principle. They were not par- 
 ticipants for the spoils of office or seekers of public applause. 
 On the contrary, they were men who loved their country 
 and hated human slavery. With Lincoln they believed that 
 this nation could no longer remain half slave and half free. 
 It must either be all slave or all free. And they faced to the 
 front, and took up a new march for liberty. 
 
 Previous to the November election of 1857. the Re- 
 publicans again met at the courthouse in Bridgeton and 
 nominated a ticket which was elected. Robert More, of 
 
HISTORIC HAYS 
 
 Hopewell, was successful for Assembly in the First Dis- 
 trict by a majority of 219 over Jonathan Richman, Dem- 
 ocrat. Jilwell Nichols, of Deertield, was chosen over Frank 
 F. Patterson, then cilit(jr of the Bridgeton Chronicle, Dem- 
 ocrat, Second District, by [4 majority. 
 
 This was the beginning of Republican victory in Cum- 
 berlaii'I County, which, with rare interval.s, has continued 
 to this day. 
 
 Hon. Robert More, the newly elected Assemblyman 
 from the First District, served five terms in the House of 
 Assembly at Trenton. He was present when Abraham Lin- 
 coln addressed the Legislature in 1861, when that great 
 President was on his way to take the chair as the nation's 
 Chief E.xecutive in \\'ashington. He afterward saw Mr. 
 Lincoln st.aniling in the presence of the two Houses. Tall, 
 homeh- in appearance, and of serious countenance, yet when 
 he warmed u]) in his speech Mr, Lincoln's eyes shone and his 
 face appeared positi\'ely beautiful. It was a picture never to 
 l)e forgotten. At the death of Mr. Lincoln, \lv. ]More was 
 tlie author of a series of resolutions wherebv the portrait 
 of i\braham Lincoln, which now hangs in the Assembly 
 Chamber at Trenton, became the property of the State. It 
 was purchased, and he was one of the committee that se- 
 cured it. On the ratification of the constitutional amend- 
 ntcnt prohibiting slavery j\lr. More delivered an able and 
 eloquent address in the Assembly in reply to remarks of 
 Leon Alibett, afterward Governor of the State, and other 
 Democrats, who were opposing the adoption of this impor- 
 tant measure. 
 
 Robert More came of distinguished ancestry. His 
 grandfather, John T. More, was a captain in the Army of 
 the American Revolution and fought in the battle of Red 
 P>ank. Flis lirother. Captain Enoch More ran a Government 
 transport during the Civil War, and carried the private dis- 
 patches of President Lincoln. Captain More brought Jef- 
 ferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, and Alexander 
 H. Stevens, Vice President, together with the Confederate 
 Cabinet to Fortress Monroe on his transport after their 
 
 (H) 
 
CUMBERLAND COUNTY NOTABLES-lS.M-lSf,.-, 
 
 Hon. Providence Ludlam, First Republican Senator 
 Hon. Elwell Nichols Hon. Robert More 
 
 First Republican Members of Assembly 
 Hon. Philip Souder, First Republican Assembly Candidate 
 
 (1.-,) 
 
l6 niSI'dKU DAYS 
 
 capture at the close of the war. This same brother also 
 served under Colonel John C. iM-emont during his journey- 
 ings through the heart of the Rocky Mountains and across 
 the continent in the '5o"s. His great ancestor John More, 
 came to t'nis country with Fenwick's colony from England 
 and the loo- house in which he lived with his family is shown 
 in a wood cut in Thomas Shourd's History of Lord Fen- 
 wick and the families which accompanied him to America. 
 
 From the small beginning in '55 he lived to see the 
 magnificent results of the great Republican policy, which 
 emancipated the slave, restored the Union, and made of 
 the United States of America the most enlightened and 
 prosperous nation of the earth. 
 
 Hon. Elwell Xichols, elected on the Republican ticket 
 with Mr. More, as Assemblyman from the Second District, 
 was also a scion of Revolutionary stock, and a man of strong 
 convictions of duty. He was quiet in his demeanor, but a 
 man of ability. At the election in 1857 he succeetled in se- 
 curing a majority in his native township of Deerfield, a 
 remarkable feat considering the rock-ribbed Jacksonian 
 Democracy of that community. Mr. Xichols was a Com- 
 mon Pleas Judge of the Cumberland Courts one term, and 
 for years previous to his tleath was annually chosen Assessor 
 of his township, and enjoyed a rare popularity. Judge 
 Nichols was a stalwart Republican to the end. and as one 
 of the founders of the jiarty in Cumberland County his 
 memory is highh' cherished b\- many relati\'es, among whom 
 is tlie writer. 
 
 The campaign of 1857, which closed with the election 
 of Robert More and Elwell Nichols to the House of Assem- 
 bly as the first persons ever chosen to office in Cumberland 
 County, on the Rci)ublican ticket, also witnessed the election 
 of Providence Ludlam as county clerk, H. R. Alerseilles as 
 surrogate and Jcinathan Fithian as sherifif. by a fusion of 
 the Native .\iuerican and Republican votes. Ludlam had 
 336 majority o\-er his Democratic opponent: Fithian had 
 313 majority, and Merseiiles 38 majority. 
 
IX cl'.\[i;ekla.ni) couxtv, ni-:\v jersey 17 
 
 W'lieii the can\ass of 1858 opened the young Repub- 
 lican party found itself [)racticall\- in possession of all the 
 county offices save that of State Senator. The native Amer- 
 icans were still in existence but the seeds of disintegration 
 were fast decimating their numbers. Few persons at this 
 da_\' are aware of the fact that the Xati\e American party 
 was at one time a \erv powerful political organization. It 
 carried several important States of the L'nion and was a 
 power to be reckoned with. Among its adherents were 
 man}- of the best and most intelligent citizens of tiie country 
 and especially was this true of Cumberland County. The 
 party stronghold was found in the secret meetings of lodges 
 known as the "Know Nothings," whose members were 
 bound b\- solemn oaths to support only native born Amer- 
 icans for public office. The Whig and Temperance parties 
 in the decade preceding the formation of the Native Amer- 
 ican party had dissoh-ed into chaos, remnants of the two 
 going back to the Democratic party, others halting between 
 opinions waiting for the dawn of that day when they could 
 unite with an organization which should take up the fight 
 against the further extension of slavery which thoughtful 
 men knew must soon occupy the field of political conten- 
 tion. Previous to its demise, however, the Native American 
 party made a final effort for success. By a fusion with the 
 Republicans in a convention held at the Court House in 
 Bridgeton, October 2d, 1858, Robert ]\Iore, of Hopewell, 
 was nominated for Assembly in the First District, and 
 .\aron S. \\'estcott, of Millville, for Assembly in the Second 
 District. Mr. i\Iore was re-elected Assemblyman bv a ma- 
 jority of 386 over D. H. Hawkins, Democrat. ^Ir. ^^'est- 
 cott was elected Assemblyman by a majority of 157 over 
 Benjamin F. Lee, Democrat. In this exciting campaign 
 John T. Nixon, of Bridgeton, became the Republican and 
 American candidate for Congress in the First District and 
 was chosen by 3300 majority. Cumberland County gave 
 Nixon 763 majority over George A. Walker, Democrat ; 
 John H. Jones, of Camden, polling 414 votes as a straight- 
 out Nati\e .American candidate in the countv. 
 
l8 lIlSniRK DAYS 
 
 Oil the niglit of the election of 1858 a great crowd of 
 men and boys paraded Comnierce street in honor of tlieir 
 fellow citizen whom the returns had decided was to sit in 
 the Congress of the United States. The procession halted 
 in front of Air. Nixon's residence at the corner of Commerce 
 and Orange streets, and sent up a series of cheers for the 
 RepubHcan party and its successful candidate for Congress. 
 Barrels of tar were rolled into the street in front of the 
 liouse w hich lit the skies with lurid flames, while the air was 
 redolent with martial music. Air. Nixon appeared upon 
 the veranda and tlelivered an elocjuent speech of thanks for 
 the honor conferred upon him. He defined the course he 
 should pursue. Pro\idence permitting, in the troubled arena 
 of legislation at Washington. His remarks were received 
 with tremendous cheering. The new Congressman was a 
 man of remarkable talents. Of distinguished personal ap- 
 pearance, learned and cultiuxd, he soon attained a high place 
 in the hall of the House <>i Representatives. Before him was 
 a great career to end as a member of our highest judiciary. 
 Judge of the United States District Court in Trenton by 
 appointment of President Grant. 
 
 The smoldering embers of Americanism were extin- 
 guished by the rising tide of popular opinion hostile to the 
 encroachments of the southern sla\e oligarchs, so that when 
 the hour for action in the campaign of 1859 arrived the Re- 
 publican party pure and simple began its work with an ardor 
 it had not as yet exhibited in the preceding incipient years. 
 
 Pursuant to call the Republicans of Cumberland 
 County met at the Court House in Bridgeton, Monday, Oc- 
 tober 17, 1859. Forty delegates were present. Benjamin 
 Ayars, of Greenwich, was made chairman, with Ephraim 
 Bateman, of Fairfield, and Charles \\'est, of Shiloh, secre- 
 taries. Hon. Robert More, of Hopewell, who had served 
 two years in the House of Assembly, was unanimously 
 nominated for State Senator. Ebenezer Hall, of Greenwich, 
 was nominated for Assembly, First District, and Aaron S. 
 Westcott, of Millville, for Assembly. Second District. Hon. 
 
IN Cl'MI'.l-.kl.ANI) lOL-NTY. XICW J ICKSEY IQ 
 
 James Hampton and Hon. John T. Xixon addressed the 
 convention, their speeches being enthusiastically applauded. 
 
 The resolutions were a bugle call for action, brief and 
 to the point, and are the first planks of straightout Republi- 
 can doctrine ever proniuli^aied by a convention in Cumlier- 
 land County. The}' read as follows : 
 
 "Whereas, the time has now arrived for the friends of 
 America to take a decided stand upon the great questions 
 of the day ; therefore 
 
 "Resolved, that we use all honorable means to carry 
 out our principles which are. Protection to American in- 
 dustr\-. Free Territory, tlie Bible in our public schools and 
 the alteration of our naturalization laws." 
 
 The con\-ention appointed what was in all probability 
 the first Republican Executive Committee ever named in 
 Cumberland County, to wit: 
 
 Providence Ludlam, Bridgeton ; Lawrence Woodruff, 
 Cohansey; Elwell Nichols, Deerfield; Jonathan Fithian, 
 Hopewell ; Isaac Elwell, Stow Creek ; Benjamin Ayars, 
 Greenwich; Richard D. Bateman, Fairfield; Jefferson Lore, 
 Downe; Asbury Chester, Millville; Dam'el Loper, Maurice 
 River. 
 
 Providence Ludlam, Bridgeton; Assembly candidate 
 on the American ticket in 1856, had now become the leader 
 of the Republican party in Cumberland, and as county clerk 
 exercised a large influence in the shaping of political affairs. 
 His efforts told in the canvass of '59. not so much in the 
 way of a successful result for the entire ticket, but in welding 
 and perfecting the new organization for the work which 
 was to come. Ludlam was a born leader, a man of fine per- 
 sonal appearance, with agreeable manners. Everybody liked 
 "Provie" and he lived to become a great power not only in 
 the countv but in the State. Id^e became State Senator for 
 two terms dying suddenly on the last year of the second 
 term, his funeral being attended by the Legislature in a 
 body at his home in Bridgeton amid the greatest public 
 demonstration of sympathy in crowded streets ever given 
 any citizen in Cumberland County. Had his life been spared 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 it is generally believed that lie would have been Governor 
 of the State. • 
 
 Charles S. Olden, Republican candidate for Governor, 
 carried the county by 172 majority o\er Wright. Democrat. 
 Mr. Olden was chosen Governor in the State at large by 
 about 1600 majority. Hon. Robert More who had ren- 
 dered such excellent service in the House of Assembly was 
 defeated for State Senator by Nathaniel Stratton, of Mill- 
 ville. Democrat. Senator-elect Stratton had previously 
 been Sheriff (in the Temperance ticket and was a ver}- popu- 
 lar man in the county, and by reason of his wide personal 
 acquaintance succeeded by the narrow margin of 16 \otes. 
 Ebenezer Hall, nf (ireenwich. Republican, was chosen As- 
 sembKinan in the hirst District over Sockwell, Democrat, 
 by 1O2 majority. Jnhn Carter, of Bridgeton, Democrat, 
 defeated Aaron S. ^^'estcott. of Millville, one of the original 
 founders of the Republican party, who had served the pre- 
 vious year as a member of the House, by a majority of 84 
 \-otes. Mr. Carter was popular in Bridgeton. He was an 
 honest man as the politicians afterward discovered at 
 Trenton, and with ime term of ser\'ice they had no furtlier 
 use for him. 
 
 Congress adjourned in the spring of i860 when Rep- 
 resentative John T. Nixon returning from Washington, 
 took the steamer "Patuxent" from Philadelphia by wav of 
 the Delaware river for his home in Bridgeton. By invitation 
 of Captain David Blew and the request of the passengers, of 
 whom there was a large number on the boat, Mr. Nixon 
 drew a striking [licture of ])olitical affairs in Washington 
 and the attitude of Southern representatives as to the slave 
 question in Congress. His speech was in a sense the open- 
 ing gun of the exciting campaign for the election of Abra- 
 ham Lincoln so far as the count\' of Cumberland was con- 
 cerned. It made a strong impression upon those who heard 
 it, and was highly complimented by Rev. Isaiah D. King, 
 then pastor of Trinity M. E. Church, Bridgeton, who made 
 the concluding remarks to the ])assengers. 
 
 cm 
 
LEADERS OF PUBLIC OPINION IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY— iMjl-lSCJ 
 
 Hon. Lewis Howell 
 Hon. John T. Nixon Hon. Benjamin F. Lee 
 
 Hon. L. Q. C. Elmer Hon. Charles E. Elmer 
 
 (-1) 
 
2.1 IIISTIIRIC DAYS 
 
 Tlie pulitical liorizon was filled with clouds — clouds 
 ready to break with excitement — <jn the e\e of that ever 
 memorable election in the year i860. Early in June the 
 Republicans of Bridgeton began to organize, and on Satur- 
 day evening, June i6th. a call for a meeting to establish a 
 Lincoln and Hamlin Club was responded to with en- 
 thusiasm. The meeting- was organized l)y the election of 
 Providence Ludlam as president, with the following officers: 
 Vice-presidents. Dr. N. R. Newkirk, Robert Jordan. John 
 Ware. Jonathan Da\is, Samuel Wilson, Richard Burch, 
 John Lupton, Dr. Henry Xeff. Secretaries, John S. Mit- 
 chell, H. R. Merseilles, Daniel B. Ginenback ; treasurer, 
 Joseph H. Elmer; Committee on Resolutions, Dr. N. R. 
 Newkirk. Rol^ert B. Potter. John S. Mitchell. 
 
 -Mr. Ludlam. on taking the chair, thanked the meeting 
 for the honor wdiich they had given him. and proceeded 
 to explain the doings of the Republican National Conven- 
 tion at Chicago which resulted in the nomination of Abra- 
 ham Lincoln for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for Vice- 
 President, of which convention he was a delegate from 
 New Jersey. He declared that the prairies of the West 
 were on fire for Lincoln, the rail-s])litter of Illinois. This 
 allusion was received by the large audience present w-ith 
 imbounded applause. While Mr. Ludlam was speaking 
 there was suddenly seen projecting itself through the open 
 <lo(ir\\av a small lianner fastened tn an enormous rail. On 
 this banner was inscribed the names of the candidates and 
 the name of the new organization — "The Rail Splitters' 
 Association." This was followed by a large body of men 
 bearing rails, liroad axes, grubbing hoes, beetles, wedges, 
 etc. As this procession came into the main hall the applause 
 was long and loud. At the conclusion of the business of 
 the evening Major James Hampton addressed the meet- 
 ing in a very entertaining speech. Thus opened the great 
 campaign in Bridgeton — a campaign which changed the cur- 
 rent of events throughout the nation and brought the people 
 face to face with a civil war soon to shake the very founda- 
 tions of the republic. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NKW JERSEY 23 
 
 On the brink of this treineiidous revolution how many 
 timid souls there were who had not yet sufficient courage 
 to stand for the right as against the grievous wrong. 
 The Bridgeton papers were yet on the fence fearful as to 
 the source from which might come official patronage. Here 
 is a specimen paragraph from a leading editorial of the issue 
 of one of them under date of June 30th, i860. After al- 
 lusion to Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Douglass, Mr. Bell, and Mr. 
 Breckinridge as Presidential candidates, the editor said: 
 "^^^^ich of the candidates will be elected we shall not under- 
 take to determine, but we have strong reasons for believing 
 that some of them will be defeated, and a private opinion 
 that one of the above will be the next President of the 
 United States." 
 
 There were many, hnwe\er, who had the courage of 
 tlieir convictions, and later on they met again in the Session 
 House at Shiloh, to consider the outrageous treatment which 
 one Robert Halford, a fugitive slave, had received at the 
 hands of the local authorities. Halford had fled from a 
 cruel master in the South and was struggling for life and 
 liberty. He made his way into South Jersey where he found 
 friends, only to be discovered by the minions of the law who 
 wore the livery of slavery in the free north. What was 
 then known as the fugitive slave law was an act of Congress 
 whereby slaves escaping from their owners should be re- 
 turned to their masters in the South. Under this act Jus- 
 tice Taney, of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 rendered the famous decision in the case of Dred Scott, a 
 colored man whose lilierty was in danger, that "a negro 
 had no rights which a white man was bound to respect." 
 
 Shiloh was the home of a cultured. God-fearing people, 
 fathers and mothers of princijile. They loved liberty and 
 abhorred slavery, ^^■hen they met on the evening of the 
 2d day of September, 1S60, a committee was appointed to 
 investigate the arrest of the fugitive slave, Robert Halford, 
 and report what information they could obtain, together 
 with some appropriate resolutions at a meeting to be held 
 on the 6th day of September. On the latter date the ap- 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 pended resolutions were reported by the committee, unan- 
 imously adopted as the voice of the meeting, and ordered 
 published in the Bridgeton papers: 
 
 "\Miereas. the fugitive slave law is an infamous en- 
 actment and diametrically opposed to the spirit of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence; therefore 
 
 "Resolved, that we consider the recent capture of a 
 fugiti\e slave, Robert Halford, in our vicinity, as an out- 
 rage upon the neighborhood from which he was summarily 
 dragged. 
 
 "Resohed, that in proportion as we sympathize with 
 the indi\i(lual who was deprived of his God-given liberty, 
 and thrust back into the hell of slavery, in the same pro- 
 portion do we execrate the conduct of those persons who 
 willingly ga\e their aid to such a disgraceful and under- 
 handed plot. 
 
 "Resolved, that we believe the County jail was erected 
 for the confinement of the guilty and not for the innocent, 
 and that every departure from that rule, similar to the re- 
 cent occurrence, is treachery to true Democracv and Re- 
 publicanism. 
 
 "Resolved, that the spectacle of four or h\e men, armed 
 and trembling with fear, capturing a boy who has no rights 
 which white men are bound to respect, shows the self-de- 
 stroying tendency of slavery and furnishes to the com- 
 munity food for thought." 
 
 Again had the Shiloh abolitionists attacked the monster 
 iniquity of the centurv, and through these resolutions con- 
 cerning the fugitive slave and their earlier resolutions to 
 which reference has been made, furnislied food for thought 
 inrlced. The "fugitive slave resolutions"' were gall and 
 wormwood to the many who still bowed down to the god 
 of slavery, so much so that one writer in a Bridgeton paper 
 the following week after their publication refers to them 
 as "the consummation of follv, ves, I niav sav ridiculous- 
 ness, exhibited in last week's issue in the form of some fan- 
 atical resolutions, etc." This writer signed himself "Con- 
 servator," and remains incognito to this day. 
 
 (24) 
 
FIRST SHERIFFS ELECTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY 
 
 Jonathan Fithian 
 Samuel Peacock 
 
 Charles L. Watson 
 
 Lewis H, Dowdney 
 
 Enoch Hanthorn 
 
 (25) 
 
26 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 The Republican County Convention of i860 met in the 
 Court House, Bridgeton, September 29th. There was much 
 interest manifested in the proceedings. The following ticket 
 was nominated: Assembly, First District, William Bacon, 
 of Downe; Assembly, Second District, Jonathan E. Shep- 
 pard, of Maurice River; Sheriff. Lewis H. Dowdney, of 
 Stow Creek. 
 
 This was the beginning of the wide-awake campaign 
 in Cumberland County, and in the evening of con\-ention 
 da}' the Bridgeton \Vide-.\wakes — some sixty strong — pa- 
 raded to the end of Elmer's mill dam where they met the 
 Alilhille W'ide-A wakes, thirty strong, and escorted them to 
 Grosscup's Hall, A\'Iien Hon. John C. Ten Eyck, United 
 States Senator, addressed the assembled multitude which 
 the papers said "filled the hall to its utmost capacity." The 
 Bridgeton W'ide-Awakes were commanded by Captain Wil- 
 liam Sliull and Lieutenants Charles Hetzell and Samuel 
 Wilson. They wore red caps and capes, and their ALU villa 
 guests wore black caps and capes. Each carried transpar- 
 encies with appropriate mottoes and torches which poured 
 forth a great stream of light, making Commerce street as 
 bright as day. The parade was led by a marshal and a 
 fine band of music. Hon. John T. Nixon also addressed 
 the meeting at the hrdl. 
 
 Further on in the campaign there w^as a greater parade 
 of the Wide-A wakes of Bridgeton and surrounding towns 
 through the streets of Bridgeton. In this procession many 
 transparencies appeared «ith the mottoes: "Free press, 
 free speech, free soil;" "Hurrah for Old Abe, the Rail Split- 
 ter of Illinois," "Elect Old Abe who is six foot and four, 
 and the cry of hard times will come no more." One of the 
 great attractions was a large wagiin nn which stood James 
 Bright, siilitting rails in imitatinn of the early occupation 
 of Mr. Lincoln, the Republican candidate for President, 
 liright was a muscular young man and a picturesque figure 
 for the vast throng who \'iewed his dextrous manipulation 
 of the rails. A year later he was a gallant soldier in the 
 Union .Armv, fighting in the ranks of the Third Regiment. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY. NEW JERSI-.V 27 
 
 New Jersey Infantry, afterward transferred to the V. S. 
 Navy wliere he rendered \-ahiable service during the con- 
 tinuance of the war. Wliile tiie parade was moving Demo- 
 crats stood upon tiie sidewalk and yelled "woolly heads," 
 "nigger lovers'" and other opprobrious epithets. Bricks 
 were thrown and some of the transparencies mashed. The 
 Shiloh Republicans on horseback were hissed every now and 
 then by persons along the line of march, who seemed to 
 ha\e special animosity to them, perhaps because they were 
 the nucleus and essence of the anti-slavery movement around 
 which the I^epublican party was finally organized in Cum- 
 berland County. 
 
 The Wide-Awake feature of the i860 campaign will 
 never be forgotten by those who witnessed the parades of 
 that year. They were called Wide-Awakes in contradis- 
 tinction to the Douglass Democratic parading clubs who 
 were known as "Eye-Shutters," meaning on the one hand 
 that the Republicans were ali\e to the great issue while the 
 Democrats of the Douglass stripe were deceivers and com- 
 promisers with the slave power. 
 
 The election took [ilace November 3d. and the entire 
 Republican ticket was chosen in Cumberland County. While 
 the returns were coming in an immense crowd gathered in 
 front of the County Clerk's Office. It was addressed by 
 John S. Mitchell, Esq., and Hon. James Hampton. 
 When the result was announced tlie cheering could be heard 
 two miles distant. 
 
 The Republican Presidential electors, of whom Charles 
 E. Elmer, of Bridgeton, was one, were elected by 608 ma- 
 jority. Mr. Elmer had the honor of being a member of the 
 Electoral College and casting his vote for the immortal 
 Lincoln. He was one of the three Republican electors 
 chosen by New Jersey, the other three going to Mr. Doug- 
 lass on a fusion. 
 
 Hon. John T. Nixon was re-elected to a seat in Con- 
 gress from the First District. Cumberland County giving 
 him 638 majority. \\'illiam Bacon, Assembly. First Dis- 
 trict, had 422 majority ; Jonathan E. Sheppard, Assembly, 
 
28 HISTORIC HAYS 
 
 Second District, had 113 majority. Lewis H. Dowdiiey 
 was elected the first straight-out Republican Sheriff by a 
 majorit}- of 344 o\er Benjamin Keen. Democrat. JMr. 
 Keen was a hig-lily-respected citizen of Bridgeton, un- 
 married, remaining a baciielor to the end of his life. Dur- 
 ing the campaign, however, a statement was made by one 
 of his political opponents tliat while he was a good man 
 he (Keen) had the unfortunate hal)it of beating his wife. 
 This yarn was believed by a number of voters, and had the 
 effect of decreasing Mr. Keen's vote. The Sheriff-elect^ 
 .Mr. Diiwdney. was also a popular man, and brought a large 
 personal foljuwing to the support of the Republican ticket. 
 He made a good Sheriff', and was in after years sent to 
 represent the First Assembly District of Cumberland County 
 in the Legislature two successi\e terms. 
 
 The ye.'U' 1861 opened in gloom. The great party 
 which was to save the LInion was about to come into pos- 
 session of the Government at Washington. In the South 
 there was derision and defiance of the victors in the cam- 
 paign of 1860, and the crv went up and out that as for 
 them, the Southern people, ne\'er would they submit to 
 Black Republican rule. Beginning with South Carolina 
 conventions were held in all of the States, south of Mason 
 and Dixon's line, antl ordinances of secession passed. There 
 was hurrying to and fro, a gathering of men and material 
 to force a dissolution of the Union. Treason reared its 
 odious head in high places, and the clouds of war hung low 
 and threatening. The patriotic North, out of whose homes 
 had come the freeman's verdict at the ballot-box, was torpid 
 in the face of the tempest which the slaveocracy had pre- 
 cipitated. Men spoke in hurried lircath and in whispers, 
 saying: "Can it be tliat nur lirethren of the South are so 
 far lost to reason as to be willing and determined that the 
 Republic of Washington, of Jeft'erson and of Jackson shall be 
 destroyed? Can it be that tliey have forgotten tlie glories 
 of the Revolution, and the battles won at Savannah, at 
 Cowpens, at ^'orktowii. where Southern blood and South- 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUXTV. XKW JERSEY 29 
 
 ern \alor lirought xictnry to the old flag- and laitl firm and 
 deep the foundations of civil and religious liberty in the land 
 of the free? Can it be that because of the traffic in human 
 flesh and the love of power, the brave men of the South are 
 ready to make good the fear of Daniel Webster, that the 
 land might be deluged with fraternal blood and the L'nion 
 rent by internecine strife?'' 
 
 Amid such luicertainties. and such gloom, all who loved 
 the Union of the States, turned with one accord to the colos- 
 sal figure of the coming man into whose bands had been com- 
 mitted the destinies of a great nation, whose very existence 
 was dependent upon the i)roper solution of the tremendous 
 problems then confronting the American people. Six feet. 
 four inches in height, of slender figure, homely countenance, 
 with firm tread, and tender eyes, out of which shone the 
 kindly disposition of a brainy, broad-minded man — sucii 
 was Abraham Lincoln, whose like the world had not liere- 
 tofore seen ; whose ecjual was not hereafter to appear. 
 
 The morning of the Fourth of Alarcb, 1861. dawned in 
 darkness and mist. Tlie light of the opening day was 
 barely discernible, but Washington awoke ne\'ertheless 
 under high tension and with fear and trembling. It was an 
 unpropitious day. vet thousands had gathered to see and 
 hear the new Executive. In front of the eastern portico of 
 the National Capitol, under the shadow of the dear old flag. 
 Mr. Lincoln appeared, accompanied by the great men of 
 the hour. .\t the hand of Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court, he took the Bible — his niotlier's Bible 
 — and the oath of office as the sixteenth President of the 
 United States of .\merica. Justice Taney was he who had 
 but recently rendered that heartrending opinion, liased upon 
 the Constitution, that the Fugiti\e Slave Statute was legal 
 and binding upon every citizen of the Republic. Face to 
 face thev stood, the one the representative of the declining 
 slave power, the other tlie great advocate of the people, soon 
 to be the emancipator of the black men and women who for 
 two centuries had prayed 'mid blood and tears for the com- 
 
JO 
 
 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 ing of that dav which God in his good time should almie re- 
 veal. 
 
 As the new President turned his face toward the audi- 
 ence which stretched away in the long distance with its 
 thousands of upturned faces, many of tliein covertly treacli- 
 erous, others upenK- Imstile. his countenance assumed a 
 more thoughtful mood than was his wont, and his eyes 
 shown with a gentle radiance which penetrated the hearts of 
 those who listened w itli a sentiment which seemed to say: 
 "Here stands a man the Creator has sent to do a great work 
 fcir a troubled people." Out of obscurity, out of poverty, 
 lie has been called, a star of the first magnitude, for a few 
 l:)rief years to be abused, to be misrepresented, Ijut in the 
 end to be lauded and loved by North and South as one of the 
 few immortal names that were not born to die. 
 
 With the introductory sentence, "Fellow Citizens of 
 the United States," the vast audience stood in silence while 
 Mr. Lincoln argued with those who sought to destroy the 
 nation, pleading as a father would to a wayward child to 
 refrain and return to the Union which the fathers had set 
 up at such C(>stlv sacrifice. Leaning his stalwart form and 
 kindly lineaments into the faces of his auditors so far as it 
 were possible he finished his splendid inaugural with the fol- 
 inwing ]);ithetic ])aragraph : 
 
 "In yiiur hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, 
 and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The 
 Go\-ernment will not assail you. You can have no conflict 
 withiiut being yourseh'es the aggressors. \nu ha\'e no 
 oath registered in heaven to destroy the Goxernment. while 
 I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and 
 defend it. I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but 
 friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may 
 have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." 
 
 Tears stiod in the eves of manv in the solemn hush 
 wliich rested upun the audience, for a moment transfixed, 
 then sli>\\l\' dispersing to wonder and to marxel on the 
 potent trutlis so wnndcrfnllv [jresented b\- the great Presi- 
 dent. 
 
IN CUMIUiKLAND COUNTY, NEW Jl'.l^^EY 3I 
 
 Histdry was made at rapid pace during- the notable 
 year of Tn. Fort Sumter, commanded by Alajor Anderson, 
 fell April i4tli. That insult to the flag woke the nation to 
 an intense excitement and patriotic activity. Governor 
 Olden, (if Xew Jersey, issued a proclamation April i7t]i, 
 calling- on the people of the State to rail}- to the support nf 
 the Union. It was headed: "To arms, to arnis. ye brave!" 
 
 One of the first volunteers from Cumberland County 
 to enlist in the L'nion Army for three years was George 
 W. Shute. of Greenwich Township. The fires of patrir)t- 
 ism were aroused within him bv the thunder of the Con- 
 federate guns at Sumter, and an anxiety to enter the volun- 
 teer service. George left Cumberland by stagecoach, reach- 
 ing Philadelphia and from thence to Trenton. The "Cum- 
 berland Greys" were at that time organizing- in Bridgeton, 
 but he tarried not, so anxious was he to enlist. Arriving 
 in Trenton, he was mustered in the First New Jersey Regi- 
 ment Infantry Volunteers, Company G. Captain .\lexander 
 M. ^^'ay, ser\-ing- with great credit in the battles of the 
 Army of the Potomac from Bull Run to Spottsylvania. 
 June 23d, 1864. he re-enlisted and was transferred to Gen- 
 eral Hancock's Veteran Corps, Company A, Third Regi- 
 ment A'eteran A'olunteers. Fron-i then on, through the re- 
 mainder of the war he gallantly ser\'ed until discharged, 
 February 14, 1866. at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 
 
 Saturday e\-ening-. April 20th, the largest and n-iost 
 enthusiastic n-ieeting ever held in Bridgeton took place at 
 Grosscup's Hall. It was a mass meeting of all citizens who 
 loved their country, irrespective of party. Hon. John T. 
 Nixon presided. The following- were chosen Vice Presi- 
 dents — Dr. William S. Bowen. Richard Lott, Robert C. 
 Nichols, George \\\ Claypoole, Daniel AI. Woodruff, Alor- 
 ton Alills, Dr. J. B. Potter. Joi-iathan Elmer, Charles D. 
 Burroughs, Dayton B. Whitaker, Alexander Stratton, Rob- 
 ert DuBois. Jas. Stiles, John Chee.sman. Sr. Secretaries — 
 Dr. Joseph Moore, Eden M. Hood, Alexander Robeson, 
 John S. McGear. Committee on Resolutions — Charles E. 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES- 
 
 Aaron Terry, Co. K. 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 Albert S. Enimell Charles Livingston 
 
 Co. H. ijth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. K, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 
 George W. Shutc, Co. G, ist Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Charles O. PoiAfell John J. Boone 
 
 Co. K. I2th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. A, I2th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Bloomfield Holmes Absalom Jordan Adam Jordan 
 
 Co. K,i2th Reg. N. J. Inf.Vols. Co. K 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. G. 12th Reg. N.J. Inf. Vols. 
 
 t3Ji 
 
HISTdKK' PAYS 
 
 Elmer, James R. Hoagland, John S. iMitchell, Dr. Joseph 
 C. Kirby, Col. David Potter. The committee reported a 
 series of stirring resolutions which were adopted with 
 enthusiasm. Patriotic speeches were made by Judge L. 
 Q. C. Elmer, Dr. William S. Bowen, Jolm S. Mitchell, Rev. 
 James Brown, pastor Baptist Church ; Rev. Joseph Hub- 
 bard, pastor Second Presbyterian Church, and Paul T. 
 Jones. j\Ir. Jones who was a verv fervent speaker, aroused 
 the meeting into repeated cheering ])y his denunciation of 
 treason and those who were giving the Sduthern leaders 
 aid and sympathy. 
 
 Tuesday morning, April 23d, a recruiting station for 
 volunteers was opened at Sheppard's Hall, near the Com- 
 merce street bridge. \\'ithin two days a company of loi 
 men were enlisted, and organized into what was afterward 
 known as the "Cumberland Greys." The company officers 
 were as follow' s : Captain, James W. H. Stickney ; First 
 Lieutenant, Samuel T. DuBois ; Second Lieutenant. George 
 \\'oodruff : Orclerh- Sergeant, Charles F. Salkeld ; Second 
 Sergeant, David \\". Fry; Third Sergeant, Sylvester W. 
 Randolph: Fourth Sergeant, Michael H. Swing; First 
 Corporal, Clarence J. Mulford ; Second Corporal, Samuel 
 Harris: Third Corporal, Jolui C. Garrison; Fourth Cor- 
 poral. Smith Dalrymple; Drummer. Francis Albin; Fifer, 
 Horace F. Loper. Enlisted men as follows: James Bright, 
 Bowman H. Buck, Daniel Doyle, Jonathan Fadley, James 
 \V. Murphy, Furman Cambloss, Joseph R. ^^'oodruff, 
 David B. Husted. Thomas ^L Woodruff, Joseph Clayton, 
 Josiah F. Sheppard, John Royal. Chas. L. Davis, David 
 Yearicks, William Painter, Adolph Bergen, Keuben Brooks. 
 David P. Clark, Thomas Cottrell, Jonathan H. Facemire, 
 Robert Gallaspie, Levi J. Harker, William G. Howell, 
 Charles T. Jordan. Davis B. Loder, Henry W. Marts, 
 Charles McCallister. John Mowers, William H. Naglee, 
 Daniel R. Parvin, Alexander Sayre, George Sleit, Walter S. 
 Williams, ^^■illiam H. Williams, James B. Woodruff, Dan- 
 iel J. Dillon, Daniel B. Ginenback, Barnett Burdsall, Aaron 
 M. Allen, Reuben F. Barrett, David S. Briod. Robert Burd- 
 
 (33) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 sail. Thomas E. Calverley. Thoiiias P. Coles, Edmund B. 
 Crozier, James Dailey, Thomas B. Davis. Eldorado H- 
 Grosscup, Ethan T. Harris, Charles H. Henderson, John 
 R. Hill, Josiah Hunter, William Mulford. Joshua R. Nich- 
 ols. Robert Potts, Philip Ritner. George Robinson, Ed- 
 ward D. Stanley, Alathias Taylor, William A. Thomas, 
 John Thompson, Benjamin F. Tyler, Alexander H. Webb, 
 Samuel \V. Wells, James G. Westcott. Joseph S. Layton, 
 Alexander M. Parvin, Joab C. Lore. Richard C. Levick, 
 William Moncrief, John Ogden, Samuel Patchell, Henry 
 L. Seymour, Robert M. Vansant, Enoch B. Pew, Charles 
 H. Bacon, Elias W. Blackson, Henry Clark, Raymond D. 
 Crandol. Smith J. I-'ogg-, Robert Jackson, Gideon W. John- 
 son. Thomas B. Keen, William F. Nichols, Josiah B. Shep- 
 pard, Henry B. Stockton, Joseph R. Thompson, J(ihn F. 
 Thornard, John M. Tyler, Geo. Wolf, Thomas Andrews, 
 George Fauver, John J. Matthews. Levi McDonald. 
 
 Of the al)o\e list, all save six enrolled their names in 
 Bridgeton, the lialance being added on as recruits. Four 
 members of this magnificent company of young men, after- 
 ward known as Company F, Third New Jersey Infantry 
 Volunteers, proved derelict and basely deserted, a very small 
 percentage indeed. The rank and file of the "Greys" was 
 composed of the flower of the county of Cumberland, and 
 nowdiere in this broad land was a finer body of young men 
 enrolled under the flag. It became the company to whose 
 custody was committed the stars and stripes and the reg- 
 imental standards. As the color company of the gallant 
 Third New Jersey it carried the national flag through 
 forty-three bloody engagements. Beginning with tlie first 
 Bull Run. its service ended with the surrender of Lee at 
 Appomattox. 
 
 Company F lost the following members on Southern 
 battlefields, death coming by bayonet and bullet : Sylvester 
 W. Randolph, killed in action at Gaines Farm, Va., June 
 27, 1862; Enoch B. Pew, died of wounds received in action 
 at Spottsylvania, Va., May 8. 1864: Charles H. Bacon, 
 killed in action at Crampton's Pass, Md., September 14, 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— lMU-lS(;-> 
 Officers "Cumberland Greys." Company F. Third New Jersey Regirrent Inf. Vols. 
 
 Major James W. H. Stickney iFirst Capt. i 
 Lieut. Samuel T. DuBois 
 
 (35) 
 
 Capt. Charles F. Salkeld 
 Lieut. George Woodruff 
 
36 HIST(.)RIC DAYS 
 
 18O2; Elias Blackson, died of wounds received in action at 
 Gaines farm, Va., June 27, 1862; Henry Clark, died in 
 action at Salem Heights, Va., May 3, 1863; Gideon W. 
 Johnson, killed in action at Gaines farm, Va., June 27. 
 1862: Thomas B. Keen, killed in action at Crampton's Pass, 
 Md., September 14, 1862; William F. Nichols, killed in 
 action at Gaines farm, Va., June 27, 1862; Henry B. Stock- 
 ton, killed in action at Spottsylvania, Va., May 8, 1864; 
 Joseph R. Thompson, died of \vi;)unds recei\'ed in action at 
 Gaines farm, Va., June 27, 1862; John M. Tyler, died of 
 vv^unds recei\-ed in action at Gaines farm, Va.. June 27, 
 1862. 
 
 Besides tlie killed man}' members died from the etYects 
 of disease contracted in the field, and a large number were 
 discharged because of wounds and other disabilities so that 
 when the war closed a bare remnant of twenty veterans 
 retiumed to their hnmes in Bridgeton and \icinitv. 
 
 May 27, 1861, the Cumberland Greys left for the seat 
 of war. Business was suspended in Bridgeton. The side- 
 walks on Commerce street were packed with hundreds of 
 people, come to see the departing soldiers. This company 
 of noble young men, erect, handsome, in the first and best 
 years of early manhood, in double file stood in column on 
 the sidewalk in front of Elmer & Nixon's law office. A 
 farewell meeting which packed Cirosscup's Hall had just 
 been held, of wdiich Hon. John T. Nixon was chairman. 
 The ladies of Bridgeton had prepared with their own hands 
 a set of colors for the company, of the finest quality of red, 
 white and blue silk, 73^ feet in length by 4^ feet in width, 
 the stars set in the field being gold. Surmounting the stafif 
 to which the stars and stripes were attached was a golden 
 eagle with outstretched wings. It was a handsome flag in 
 every respect, and drew forth great applause as it was un- 
 folded to the gaze of the patriotic audience. Paul T. Jones, 
 a native of South Carolina, but for several years a resident 
 of Bridgeton. brother to Rev. Samuel Beach Jones, with 
 whom he resided in the home on Broad street, presented 
 
IN' CUMBERLAND COINTY, NKW JERSEY T^J 
 
 the flag to the company. Paul T. Jones was the antithesis of 
 his brother Samuel Beach in his views of the impending 
 national crisis. The scholarly pastor of the First Presby- 
 terian Church on Laurel street, was perhaps the ablest min- 
 ister who ever accepted a Bridgeton pastorate. Of splen- 
 did phvsii|ue and magnetic liearing, with resonant voice, 
 and magnificent delivery his reading of a hymn or a chap- 
 ter of the Scripture was ecjual to a sermon at the hands of 
 most other speakers. Doctor Jones, as he was familiarly 
 tenned by the community, was not only a great preacher, 
 but was loved by all who had the pleasure of his acquaint- 
 ance. His great talent — his popularity — his winning 
 presence — failed, however, to make amends for that 
 wherein his patriotic congregation and the people thought 
 him lacking. In those trying days the masses were de- 
 termined to know where prominent citizens stood on the 
 important issue then before the country. When it began 
 to be whispered that there was fear that the good doctor 
 was not loyal, trouble arose in the society over which he had 
 heretofore been the beloved pastor. People outside said 
 that the weather vane on the Laurel street church pointed 
 due South, and so between the differences within and the 
 talk outside the doctor resigned and retired to the privacy 
 of his home. Directly contrary to this position was that of 
 his brother Paul T. Jones. Loyal to the core his delight was 
 found in denouncing traitors and all in sympathy with them 
 with Ills powerful and eloquent tongue. His speech to the 
 "Grevs" was the most powerful patriotic address ever de- 
 livered in Cumberland County. Tt roused the war feeling 
 to a high state when Mr. Jones taking firm hold of the staff 
 and the flag struck the floor of the hall with it with such 
 tremendous force as to break one of the wings of the beauti- 
 ful eagle which adorned it. This scene, together with his 
 splendid apostrophe to the flag, in a peroration which was 
 well nigh sublime, raised a volume of cheers from the 
 audience which has not died out to this day in the memory 
 of those who heard that masterful presentation of the Union 
 cause and what its rise or fall in victory or defeat meant 
 for comino- grenerations. 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Prior to the start for the old wharf and the steamer 
 Patuxeiit which was to convey the young soldiers up the 
 Delaware to Philadelphia, a committee of ladies gave to 
 each memher of the company an elegantly bound copy of the 
 New Testament and Psalms with clasp and gilt edge. 
 Judge Elmer, austere and noble looking, then addressed 
 the company on their dut\- to the country and its cause, 
 which he said was just. "Lay to heart the precepts of the 
 Gospel. Remember your duty to God as well as to country. 
 As faithful SDJdiers act according to the Divine Word and 
 perform your part well. The duties of the professional 
 soldier were not inconsistent with those of the true Chris- 
 tian." With this jtarting admonition from tlie upright 
 Judge the company tiled into the street and proceeded down 
 Pearl street along the Fairton road to the steamboat land- 
 ing. Thousands lined the sidewalks. As the procession ad- 
 vanced lieaded bv the gravhaired \'eteran Marshal of the 
 Day, Daniel M. Woodruff, a salute was fired in honor of 
 the departing soldiery. The scene upon the wharf w-as be- 
 yond description. Weeping mothers, wives and children 
 were biildint;- farewell to lnved ones many of whom they 
 were never more to see. Marched upon the upper deck the 
 boys sent their last farewells to those upon the shore, an- 
 swered in the tears and cheers of those tm the wharf, and 
 amid music and thunder of cannon the staunch old steamer 
 sailed out on the Cohansey and was lost to \iew in the 
 distance. 
 
 Many of the good jieople of Cumlierland County are 
 not aware of the fact that in the patriotic township of Fair- 
 field the liell of the steamer Patuxent. which swung in the 
 pilot-house in 1861, hangs in the belfry of the village school- 
 house at Fairton. from which position it rings out clear and 
 full a res<inant call to the buys and girls that sclmol is about 
 to begin, therefore — hark, and hasten thither! Many preci- 
 ous memories cluster aroimd this old-time liell — relic of his- 
 toric days! In the autumnal twilight, the writer meditates, as 
 did his .Scriptural ruicestor "at e\'entide." hantastic figures 
 
 (38) 
 
Paul T. Jones 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES— I'-i.l 
 
 Major James Hampton. Ex-Member Congress 
 
 Dr. Samuel Beach |ones 
 
 Daniel M. "Woodruff 
 Marshal of the Day-Departure of the - Cumberland Greys," May L>7, lt.;l 
 
40 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 flit in the fire — coming and going as in the days of yore — 
 inuving pictures of scenes and personages of the long ago! 
 Kaleidoscopic — panoramic. On the Patuxent's deck we see 
 the forms of many familiar faces, long since numbered with 
 the dead. Dear old Captain Blew, with kindly countenance 
 and cheerful address, whose shadow lingers still. The boat 
 is at the wharf, steam is up, the last bell taps to warn late 
 comers that the "Patuxent" is off for a day upon the Co- 
 hansey and a moonlight return on the Delaware back to 
 Bridgeton in the evening. She is off — the town disappears 
 to view — the promenade begins on upper and lower decks. 
 The saloon is cheerful with music from the ancient piano, 
 and chorus of lusty voices of the young men and their best 
 girls. The old, the middle-aged, the young men, the young 
 women, the business men of the town, the boys and girls, sit 
 upon the chairs and stools, drinking in the soft breezes of tlie 
 summer t.lav, or parade with laughter and song from fore to 
 aft — happy, cheerful, jo_vous! Here is the best element 
 of the town and country out for a day of relaxation and re- 
 creation — here are the rank and file of the people, all on 
 pleasure bent. The centre of attraction is the forward deck, 
 where is gathered the cream of society. Overhead, the canvas 
 flapping gently in the breeze shields the gay company from 
 the sun. Beneath it, the fiddlers take position, and the dance 
 begins. The cotillion is on ! The mellow violin sends its 
 strains far out, and the passing breeze carries the music to 
 the farmer on shore, as he toils with the plow, causing the 
 lowing kine in the meadows to prick up their ears and re- 
 turn an answer in the gentle tinkling of their bells. Many 
 handsome couples appear, the young men in cool raiment 
 and straw hats, the young ladies in white dress and elaborate 
 hoops, as was the custom then. "Dart" and "Becky" open 
 the dance (and in all the country 'round no fairer couple 
 could be found), while, wooed by the lively music, others 
 follow in the mazy figures of the "light fantastic toe," 
 "Manners around." says the tnan with the leading fiddle. 
 Away they go. "Right and left," "Balance," "Ladies 
 change," "Promenade." Then the intermission, everybody 
 
IX CU.MUKKLAXU COUXTY, NEW JERSEY 4I 
 
 laughing, chatting. Second figure — "Forward,'" "Balance," 
 "four times around." Third figure — "Right Hands Across." 
 "Balance," "Swing opposite lady," "Forward." ami fuur 
 times around again. Fourth figure — "Balance all," "Ladies 
 to the right," "Swing corners," "Gents to the right." And 
 all went merry as a marriage bell. At Tyndall's, at Green- 
 wich. at Laning"s, the "Patuxent's" bell tapped at intervals, 
 while country man and country maiden passed the gang- 
 plank to become part of the happy throng in the festi\ities 
 on the boat. The blue waters on the bay appear with white 
 capped billows rolling far and near, glistening in the sun- 
 shine of a perfect day. But the dance goes on. Joy is un- 
 confined. How beautiful their faces are — the dancers of that 
 day, which seems so far away, and yet is still so near! The 
 day is over; the moonlight covers the waters of bay and 
 river with a silver sheen ; the boat returns, the excursionists 
 depart, the decks are silent. Never more will that happy 
 company be gathered on the staunch steamer. Out into the 
 great world they have gone — some to other cities — some to 
 foreign lands — some to the unknown future — home w^ith the 
 Master. 
 
 Good old "Patuxent," from whose decks Cumber- 
 land's first volunteers, the noble "Greys," waved their last 
 farewells to weeping kindred, and from whose pilot-house 
 the old bell rang such cheerful notes, reverberations of 
 which are full of pathos now. Adieu! Adieu! 
 
 The early Spring witnessetl many flag raisings 
 throughout the county to emphasize the spirit of the people 
 that the preservation of the Union was the immediate and 
 pressing emergency to be settled at the cannon's mouth with 
 all the means and power of the Go\-ernment. The largest 
 gathering of people was in the centre of Broad street, 
 Bridgeton, in front of the Court House where a pole had 
 been erected for the display of the National ensign. Hon. 
 John T. Nixon addressed the assembled throng, and in 
 his speech made the error of imderestimating the strength 
 of the enemy, intimating that the rebellion could easily be 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 put (If.iwii liy a few wnnien with broomsticks. Mr. Nixon, 
 adiiiiral)le patriot tliat he was. lived to see the great sacri- 
 fice of l)lood and money through four long years of terrible 
 war, and to acknowledge his mistake in the views expressed 
 in his patriotic speech on the Court House green. Many 
 other leading men committed sinn'lar errors of speech in 
 the opening days of the war, as likewise did the orators 
 of the South whn were then telling their audiences that the 
 war would be uvev in thirtv (la\-s and that mie Snuthern 
 man coidd whip twentv \'ankees. 
 
 The Fourth of Jnl\-. 1861, was patriotically celelirated in 
 Bridgeton, the exercises taking place in a grove on West 
 Commerce street. Paul T. Jones tleli\-ered an elo(|uent ad- 
 dress, patriotic and enthusiastic in character. The Declara- 
 tion of Independence was read b_\' Morton Mills. The day 
 opened bright and beautiful. Early in the morning the old- 
 time drum cor])S, Lot Loper, fifer; Le\-in Bond, kettle drum- 
 mer; Eddie Crozier with the big drum, proceeded down 
 Laurel hill to Edmund Davis' hotel, corner Laurel and Com- 
 merce, and took a position whicli was soon surrounded by 
 a crowd of men and boys. Idie music which these veterans 
 sent forth roused the crowd, the reveille was beat, and the 
 spirit of '76 held high carnival. Those who looked on can 
 never forget the appearance and enthusiasm of Lev., Lot 
 and Eddie as they made the welkin ring with "Yankee 
 Doodle," "Hail Columbia," "Red, White and Blue," "The 
 Girl I Left Behind Me," and an Irish jig or two. 
 
 The first battle of the Civil War was fought at Bull 
 Run. \'a., July _'[, 1861. General McDowell with 60,000 
 men, led tlie I'nion .-irmy to what was expected to be certain 
 victory, so cer^'ain that many members of Congress on horse- 
 back and in carriages followed the army to the scene of con- 
 flict believing that the rebels would run at the first sound of 
 the battle. Among the number was Hon. John T. Nixon, 
 then serving his second term in Congress. In company with 
 friends he took carriage for Bull Run onlv to see the Union 
 
 (42) 
 
DEPARTURE OF THE -'CUMBERLAND GREYS" 
 
 Company F, Third New Jersey Regiment Inf. Vols., by Steamer " Patuxent,' 
 From Bridgeton, May "_'7, Ixil. 
 John G. Keyser's Painting. 
 
 (43) 
 
44 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 army defeated, and join in the disastrous retreat to Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Men of all political parties forgot their differences of 
 opinion in this year of tremendous responsibility, and came 
 together f( ir the saving of the Union. Political parties, how- 
 ever, still went through the motions and made nominations. 
 Only two tickets were presented for the voters, the Republi- 
 can and Democratic. 
 
 Early in October, 1861. the patriotic citizens of Shiloh 
 began the organization of Company D, Tenth Regiment. 
 The drum beat to arms, the spirit of '76 was aroused, and 
 the home of the anti-slavery movement in Cumberland 
 Countv sent to the front the best blood of the best families. 
 The members of this gallant company of three-year men 
 were largely from Hopewell, Stow Creek and Deerfield. as 
 follows : 
 
 CoMP.v.xY D. — Captains, John Evans, William H. 
 Snowden ; First Lieutenants, Isaac T. Thackera. Benjamin 
 .\, Pine. James Smith: Second Lieutenants, George W. 
 Hummell, William J. Sutton; First Sergeant, Charles D. 
 Sheppard : Sergeants, Adoniram J. Sheppard. Helms V. 
 Linch. John B. Hoffman. Jacob H. Ott, Ceorge X. Subers; 
 Corporals, Isaac Kain, John G. Bowen. Henry V. Elwin, 
 Alexander Linch, Charles Robinson, Martin Hanley, Ed- 
 ward Fuller, John D. Avars, Edward Noble: Musician. 
 James M. West; \\'agoner, Henry C. Martin: Privates, 
 Alexander Aitken. A\'illiam H. Allen. Thomas E. Allen, 
 George Arp. John Armstrong. Tbeophilus P. Ayres, 
 Thomas B. Ayres. William Barry. Ephraim E. Buck. 
 George H. Bergen. Charles Beibighei.ser, Baptist Bernard, 
 Michael Blake. Thomas Benett. Levi Blakenstein. Xavier 
 Bovelier, Edward Brown, AA'illiam T. Browning, John 
 Corey, James Clafflin, Thomas Cohen, John Crater, Jacob 
 Conger. Morris Crater, Henry Corliss, Michael Crossin, 
 Lorenzo D. Davis, Isaac M. Dare, .Augustus H. Dorland. 
 Henry LI. Disbrow. John Day. George Dowd. Michael 
 Driscoll. \\'illiam H. luiimons. Lewis Escoar. lonathan B. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JEKSIIV 45 
 
 Evans. William W. Ellstoii, James M. Everett, Jonathan 
 Fisher, Joseph Fisher, William Frank, Antonio Flashen- 
 drew. Louis Greenland, Joseph (Junther, Thomas Hadtield, 
 Charles Headley, John J. Hamilton. Nils Herlin. Herman 
 Hoffman, Horace !•". Howell, John Hyer, Frederick Johns- 
 ton, Clement H. Ireland, Samuel D. Keen, Frederick B. 
 Kauffman, Charles Lanian, Charles Lott, George W. Loud, 
 Samuel A. Marryatt, Charles Miller, Louis Alixner, Frank- 
 lin S. Aloncrief, Patrick McGetrick, Joseph McGraw, Gar- 
 ret .Minton, James McLaughlin, Samuel Minton, James Mil- 
 ler, John Alogford, John Alonahan, Gabriel Mossee, Thomas 
 Alufphy, Charles Neisch, Robert R. Noble, Isaac H. 
 ll Nugent, Christopher Personic, Edgar C. Philbrick, Rhine- 
 
 hart Ragh, Lewis H. Rerig, John Richer, John Scarf, Peter 
 Sharp, James Strong, Cornelius Schellinger, Joseph Schel- 
 linger, Charles Smith, Francis Smith, Henry Steinland, 
 William Sullivan, Andrew Stenun, John Stewart, Frederick 
 Strongmeyer, James H. Turner, James Timons, Charles 
 Vallet, Arthur Will, James Williams, Charles Wilson, Wil- 
 liam 11. W'oliver, James P. Ward, John Williams. 
 
 Died in the service — John C. Perry, of disease, at Co- 
 lumbia U. S. Army General Hospital, Washington. D. C, 
 June 4, 1865 ; Samuel P. Garton, at Finley U. S. Army Gen- 
 eral Hospital, W'ashington, D. C, June 22, 1864, wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Cold Harbor, Va., June i, 1864; James 
 C. Sutton, of fever, at U. S. Army General Hospital, Wash- 
 ington. D. C, March 7, 1862; John Casper, Jr., of fever, at 
 U. S. Army General Hospital, Georgetown, D. C, August 
 12, 1862; Thomas J. Bivins, of fever, at LT. S. Army Gen- 
 eral Hospital, Hampton, Va., July i, 1863, buried at 
 National Cemetery, Hampton, Va., Row i. Section D, grave 
 14; William F. Rockerman, of disease, at Greenwich, N. J., 
 November 5, 1863; George W. Bedford, of disease, at First 
 Division. Sixth Corps Hospital, near Bailey's Cross Roads, 
 Va., June 23, 1865, buried at National Cemetery, Arling- 
 ton Heights, Va. ; W^illiam Bergen, of disease, at Libby 
 prison, Richmond, Va., February 21, 1865, buried at Na- 
 tional Cemetery, Richmond, Va. ; Benjamin H. Bitters, of 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 fever, at U. S. Army General Hospital. Washington. D. C. 
 June I, 1862; Benjamin F. Bivins, of disease, at Washing- 
 ton. D. C, September 8. 1862; William H. Burr, of scurvy, 
 at prison, Andersonville. Feljruary 12, 1865, buried at Na- 
 tional Cemetery. Andersonville. Ga.. grave 12.640; Edward 
 Cook, at New York City. July 31. 1864. wounds received 
 in action at Gait House, \'a.. May 14, 1864; Charles Dan- 
 ielly. killed in action at Gait House. Va., May 14. 1864: 
 Lewis H. Danzenbaker, at U. S. Army General Hospital, 
 Third Division. Alexandria. Va., wounds received in action 
 at Cold Harbor, Va., June i, 1864. buried at National Ceme- 
 tery, Alexandria. Va.. grave 2.102: Jacob E. Essig. of dis- 
 ease, at prison. Andersonville. Ga.. July 29. 1864. buried 
 at National Cemetery. Andersonville. Ga., grave 4,303; 
 Ebenezer Griffeth, of fever, at U. S. Army General Hos- 
 pital. Frederick City. Maryland. August 21. 1864; Charles 
 L. Hoffman, of fever, at U. S. Army General Hospital, 
 Washington. D. C, May 14, 1862: Francis Husted, of dis- 
 ease, at U. S. Army General Hospital, Division 2, Annapolis. 
 Maryland, March ", 1865, buried at Annapolis, Maryland; 
 James S. Husted, of disease, in cpiarters at Washington. D. 
 C, January 15, 1863: Lemuel A. Randolph, at U. S. Army 
 General Hospital, New York City, June 17, 1864, wounds 
 received in action at Cold Harbor, Va., June i, 1864, buried 
 in Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, Shiloh. N. J. ; Jacob So- 
 den. of fever, at Beverly. New Jersey, September 16. 1861 ; 
 William R. Soley. of disease, at Dan\ille. Va.. December 12, 
 1864. buried at National Cemetery. Danville. Va. 
 
 From Greenwich Township went. also, fifteen young 
 men, brave, patriotic, to join the Ninth New Jersey Regi- 
 ment in its rendezvous at Trenton. October 23d, 1861. En- 
 rolled in Company F were: Reuljen H. Leaming. Samuel 
 R. Mills, Lewis D. Sheppard. Charles M. Preston, Edward 
 Carlaw, James Bauer, Robert G. Sheppard. John E. French, 
 Augustus Aubick, Franklin Blizzard, Michael Boyle. Jona- 
 than Richman. Enrolled in Company I : !\Iark L. Carney. 
 Isaac Reeves, James W. Daniels. Of this number. Lewis D. 
 
 (4<;) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES- 1-..1 1-..'. 
 
 Isaac Kain 
 Isaac T. Garton f v„K Co. D, Tenth N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Co. K, S.xth N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols^.^^_ ^^^^^^ 
 
 Co. D. Tenth N.J. Reg. >"f- Vols„ g. g3,,„„ 
 
 CO K Tent'h^N.Vreg" Inf. Vols. Co. K. Twelfth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vo,s. 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Sheppard was promoted successively to First and Second 
 Lieutenancies, and finally Captain of Company F. Robert G. 
 Sheppard was promoted Second Lieutenant. JMichael Boyle 
 died at New Berne, North Carolina, March 15th, 1862, 
 wounds received in action at New Berne, N. C, buried at 
 New Berne National Cemetery, N. C, Section 12, grave 96; 
 Franklin Blizzard died at U. S. Army General Hospital, 
 ■\Iorehead Cit}-, North Carolina, November 29th, 1864, 
 buried at New Berne National Cemetery, N. C, Section 12, 
 grave 38; Jonathan Richman died of fever on board hos- 
 pital transport Dragon, at New Berne, N. C, March 23d, 
 1862, liuried at New Berne National Cemetery, N. C, 
 Section 12, grave 75. The Ninth Reg-iment, in which 
 tlie Greenwich young men enlisted, became famous in the 
 battles at Roanoke Island and New Berne, North Carolina ; 
 also before Petersburg, \'irginia, and at the surrender of 
 the Confederate. General Joe Johnston, at Goldsboro, N. C. 
 March 21st, 1865. In this regiment were such gallant 
 spirits as James Stewart, Jr., from Northern New Jersey, 
 who rose from the ranks to a Brigadier Generalship, be- 
 cause of meritorious conduct on the battlefield, when only 
 twenty-five years of age, and Fidelio B. Gillette, Assistant 
 Regimental Surgeon, Shiloh. one of the most popular of- 
 ficers in the army. Also Lucius C. Bonham, Shiloh, who 
 was promoted from the ranks for bravery until he arrived 
 at the Captaincy of Company A. From Downe Township, 
 there also enlisted in Company I, Ninth Regiment, John 
 Johnson, drummer: Robert Alcorn, bugler; George Lott, 
 Charles Messic. JoJin \\'arfield and Edward Chance. 
 
 In addition to the ten companies of men enlisting in the 
 County of Cumberland there was a large number of young 
 men desirous of service in the Union Army, anxious to take 
 active part in the war for the suppression of the rebellion, 
 who left their homes early in 1861 and enlisted in other 
 companies from other sections of the State then forming. 
 Among this patriotic number were a group of five young 
 men from Cedarville. Fairfield Township. They enrolled 
 tlicmselves in Company H, Seventh New Jersey Regiment 
 
^- 
 
 
 I^^^K^^ ^> 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 # 
 
 ■■' 
 
 A- 
 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES— 1S024865 
 Group Ninth New Jersey Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 Charles M. Preston John W. Hilyard Lieut Lucius Bonham 
 
 Lieut. Charles M. Pinkard Surgeon Fidelio B. Gillette Robert B. Craig 
 
 Samuel R. Mills Reuben H. Learning Edward Carlaw 
 
 (49) 
 
50 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Infantry. X'dlnnteers, Septeniljer 17. 1861, for the term of 
 three years. They were : Lorenzo D. Paynter, Benjamin 
 F. Ogden, Joseph Burt, Joseph H. Diver, Ehner B. Ogden. 
 Two of them gave their lives for the country, three re- 
 turned after brave service in many battles from the cam- 
 paign in the swamps of the Chickahominy to Boydton 
 Plank Road, Va.. October, 1864. Joseph Burt died at 
 camp near Falmouth, Virginia, of disease, February 10, 
 1863. Elmer B. Ogden, killed in action at Williamsburg, 
 Virginia, May 5, 1862; buried upon the field by his com- 
 rades, one of whom was Benjamin F. Ogden. 
 
 Tuesday, October 22d, the County Republican Con- 
 vention met at the Court House at 2 o'clock P. AI. Lewis 
 Howell was made chairman, with Benjamin F. Elmer and 
 Charles \\'est, secretaries. Alphonso \\'oodruff, of Bridge- 
 ton, was unanimously nominated for Surrogate. William 
 Bacon, of Downe, was nominated for Assembly in the First 
 District : J. Edmund Sheppard. of Maurice River, in tlie 
 Second District. For Coroners: Jolin Ware, of Cohansev ; 
 Alfred Holmes, of Hopewell : Charles Madden, of Maurice 
 Ri\er, were named. 
 
 Resolutions were read and adopted as follows : 
 
 "\Vhereas. within the last year e\'ents have happened 
 which call upon all the patriots to rally around our country's 
 flag, and to defend our Constitution from destruction by 
 men who once stood high in the confidence of the people 
 and of the country, but who are nmv traitors of the blackest 
 dye — therefore, be it 
 
 "Resolved, That we, the delegates of the people in con- 
 vention assembled, regard with the deepest interest and 
 an.xiety the present condition of our country, and tliat we 
 trace it to the continued pernicious teachings on the part 
 of tiiose who hold that the sovereignty of the State is be- 
 yond Federal control, and to the flagrant neglect of tlie late 
 administration in tlie vigorous enforcement of the laws. 
 
 "Resolved. That we do pledge ourselves to sustain the 
 
IX CrMIJKRLAND lOUNTV. XKW JEKSEY 5I 
 
 administration of Abraham Lincoln — in whom we have 
 full confidence — in all measures necessary to put down the 
 causeless, fratricidal and black-hearted rebellion and all its 
 aiders and abettors wherever found either at home or 
 abroad, though it may cost millions of money and oceans 
 of blood. 
 
 "Resolved, That we have the utmost confidence in the 
 patriotism and military skill of Generals Scott and Alc- 
 Clellan, and gi\e them and all our gallant ofiicers and the 
 armies they command our heartfelt sympathy and support. 
 "Resolved, That we extend to the volunteers from our 
 county, many of whom are near and dear friends, our best 
 wishes for their welfare and the welfare of their families. 
 and trust they may win for themselves a name that shall 
 be a praise and glory to them and their children after them. 
 
 "Resolved, That we have the utmost confidence in the 
 candidates for Assembly this day nominated by the conven- 
 tion, they having been tried in the last session of the Legis- 
 lature, and found to be true L'nion men — also in our candi- 
 date for Surrogate, whom we know to be a true and loj^al 
 patriot. 
 
 "Resolved. That we have the utmost confidence in our 
 whole ticket, knowing them to be honest men capable for 
 the respective offices for which they are presented, and citi- 
 zens who recognize no higher allegiance than that to the 
 General Government, and pledge ourselves to stand by the 
 ticket and use all honorable means to elect it." 
 
 At this con\-ention the party took upon itself the name 
 of the "Union Republican Party," and the ballot voted at 
 the election was headed "The LTnion Ticket." 
 
 The election was devoid of excitement, a light vote was 
 polled, and the returns came in early. .-Xlphonso Woodruff 
 was elected Surrogate over Morton Mills, Democrat, by 212 
 majority. \\'illiam Bacon was chosen to the Assembly in 
 the First District bv 321 majority over J. O. Lummi.>, 
 Democrat. In the Second Assembly District there was a 
 close contest. J. Edmund Sheppard was successful by the 
 narrow margin of three votes over Benjamin F. Lee, Demo- 
 
II l.-l'llRU. DAYS 
 
 crat. Air. Lee was then a resident of Port Elizabeth, the 
 home of his ancestors, and a very popular man in the terri- 
 tory bordering on the Maurice River. Unlike many others, 
 defeat with him was onl_\- the forerunner of future victory. 
 It was nut his fortune td l)e elected by the vox f'apiili, but 
 in later years because of his great capacity for leadership 
 Governor Joel I'arker took him out of the store at the 
 Port and made liim Clerk of the Xew Jersey Supreme Court. 
 In this exalted place he ser\-ed the State for a quarter of a 
 century with great satisfactirin to the people. 
 
 The year 1862 was perhaps the most momentous, the 
 most patriotic in the history of the nation. The clouds which 
 had gathered at Sumter in '61 were still further enlarged by 
 the disasters which had l.iefell the I'nion arms. The Presi- 
 dent's first call of 75,000 had been quickly responded to — 
 went to the front and returned to their home by reason of 
 the expiration of their three months' service. At last it be- 
 gan to dawn uprm the minds of those who had been slow to 
 comprehend the magnitude of the reliellion that it was to be 
 a war of Titans with the end far off. Three hundred thou- 
 sand men were summoned to the colors, another and another 
 300.000, until the song went up to the skies from every 
 valley and from every hillside, "We are coming, father .Abra- 
 ham, 300.000 more." This great war antliem was sung upon 
 the streets, in the schoolhouses. in the churches, in the public 
 halls, and wherever the people gathered. 
 
 Then it began to appear that the war was not only a war 
 for the preservation of the I'nion, but a war for the preser- 
 \-atii^n of the rights of man. In his message to the special 
 session of Congress July 4, 1861. Mr. Lincoln had said: 
 
 "This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of 
 the l^nion it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that 
 form and substance of government whose leading object is 
 to elevate tlie conrlitinn of men. I am most happv to believe 
 that the plain people understand and appreciate this. It is 
 worthy of note that while in this the Government's hour of 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— isr.l 
 
 Group Fairfield Boys, Co. H. Seventh N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Joseph H. Diver Benjamin F. Ogden 
 
 Joseph Burt Elmer B. Ogden Lorenzo D. Paynter 
 
 (5S) 
 
54 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 trial laryt numl)ers uf those in tlie army and navy who 
 ha\e been fa\ored witli the offices have resigned and proved 
 false to the hand wliich had pampered them, not one common 
 soldier or sailor is kn(T\vn to have deserted the flag. To the 
 last man so far as known they have successfully resisted the 
 traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an hour be- 
 fore thev obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic in- 
 stinct of ]ilain i)eci[)le. They understand without an argu- 
 ment that the destroying of the Government which was made 
 l)v Washington means no good to them." 
 
 The illustrious President never penned a greater truth. 
 It was essentiallv the people's contest. How Mr. Lincoln 
 loved the plain people, as he was wont to term them. Born 
 in a log cabin he knew by stern adversity what the destruc- 
 tio:i of a republican form of government meant for them. 
 He was one of them by birth, by association, by representa- 
 tii m. It was a favorite theme for him to dwell upon, for said 
 he. "the Lord must love the plain people, otherwise he would 
 not have made so many of them." 
 
 The plain people were, under God, to save the republic. 
 By their ballots, by their bullets, by their strong arms the 
 ark of the covenant of liberty was to be kept in the shekinah 
 of the temple whose foundations were laid in the blood of 
 the Revolutionarv fathers. 
 
 Cumberland Cnunty rose as one man in unison with the 
 peopk' (if iither States to aid the Government to the last man 
 and the last dollar for the suppression of the rebellion. No 
 countv in the republic furnished more volunteers for the 
 Union Arm\- in proportion to its jiopulation than did this 
 good old comniniiwcalth named in honor of the Duke of 
 Cumberland fur his heroic conduct on Cullodon field. The 
 county was on tire with patriotic zeal, so much so that from 
 the opening of hostilities to the close of the war. a full regi- 
 ment of a thousand men had volunteered and been sent to 
 Southern battlefields. 
 
 From the farm, from the factorv. from the store, from 
 
IX CUIIBERLAXU COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 55 
 
 the village, from the city, from the hamlet by the sea, came 
 the greatest armies the world had ever seen. Young men in 
 the bloom of manhood, mitldle-aged men ripe with maturity, 
 a vast concourse rank upon rank, file upon file, under the 
 shadow of the flag whose stars were of heaven w'hose stripes 
 were of God. For four years they were to fight and die. 
 In more than 600 battles and skirmishes blood was to flow 
 like water. Streaming over grassy plain, staining the rocks, 
 making red the undergrowth of the forest, so the blood of 
 patriots ran from the vitals of the mighty army wdiich with 
 majestic courage marched on from one conflict to another, 
 knowing that they were fighting the battles of the people and 
 of libertv. 
 
 Rumors of battles fought and reports of the killed and 
 wounded began to appear in the city papers. The "Cumber- 
 land Greys," now in the thickest of the fight in the campaign 
 on tlie Virginia peninsula, were losing some of the bravest 
 and best, news of which brought sadness to the hearts and 
 homes of many in the town of Bridgeton. June ist in the 
 seven days' fight in the Chickahominy swamps, Capt. Ros- 
 well S. Reynolds, of Co. F, 5th Regiment of N. J. Vols., 
 Inf., was badly wounded. A minnie ball entered and passed 
 through his thigh, striking the bone and glancing off. 
 Reynolds was brought home to his family in Bridgeton. 
 The captain had previously been principal of the Bank street 
 public school and was a gentleman of ability and scholarly 
 attainments. Of splendid personal appearance and charm- 
 ing manners., he made an excellent impression in the com- 
 munity. He was intensely loyal to the Union and radical 
 in his views concerning slavery. 
 
 A few days after his arrival home he appeared on 
 crutches near the corner of the Davis House, Commerce and 
 Laurel streets, engaged in conversation with a number of 
 friends, when a citizen whose sympatliies were said to be 
 with the South, appeared and accused Capt. Reynolds of 
 cowardice. Quick as a flash the Captain's crutch was raised 
 
56 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 in the air to strike the "secesh" as Reynolds labeled hini, but 
 liis accuser, believing discretion the better part of valor, dis- 
 appeared before the crutch had done its work. This little 
 episode added to the bitterness already existing about town 
 and gave zest to the zeal of those who favored the Union in 
 efforts A\hich made it very unpleasant for sundry citizens 
 who were suspected of disloyalty. 
 
 So high did the wave of patriotism run that several per- 
 sons were compelled to send communications to the local 
 papers certifying under their own signatures, that they were 
 Union men. .Schorslchildren took matters up in the yard of 
 Bank street school, where numerous fist-fights occurred 
 whene\er the ITnion boys suspected other boys of lack of 
 lo\e f(ir their country. The flag was hoisted over the school- 
 house with cheers, and the boys and girls sang patriotic 
 songs in the class rooms and upon the streets. One of the 
 favorite songs contained the following verse : 
 
 "Brave boys are they, gone at their Country's call ; 
 
 And >'et, and yet, we cannot forget, 
 That many lirave bo\s luust fall !" 
 
 About this time the word "copperhead," meaning 
 "snake in the grass," appeared, and was placed as a stigma 
 upon every male or female wIk^ failed to stand up for the 
 Union. 
 
 In the battle on the Chickahominy, in which Capt. 
 Reynolds rccei\c(l his woinid, William S. Cobb, of Maurice- 
 town, this county, distinguished himself as a marksman, kill- 
 ing fi\e rebels, on one of whom was a gold watch of which 
 he ti ink pi issession. 
 
 .Samuel 1 larris, |)ri\-ate in Company F, Third New Jer- 
 sey, the company known as "the Greys," came home with his 
 throat bandaged, because of a woimd received in one of the 
 liattles under (ieneral McClcllan. The bullet grazed his wind- 
 ])ipc and his life was sa\ed as by miracle. When the big war 
 meeting was held a few days later, Samuel Harris went upon 
 the ])Iatf()rm in Gmsscup's Hall, where he made a few re- 
 marks as to bis c.\]5ericncc in actual warfare. He was re- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY^ NEW JERSEY ^7 
 
 ceived with cheers, and afterward honored with the Cap- 
 taincy of Company F. Twenty-fourth Kegiment Xcw jersey 
 Volunteers, and returned to tlie seat of war. 
 
 One of the most pathetic reports from the battlefields 
 in Virginia came later in shape of a letter from Rev. G. R. 
 Darrow, chaplain of the Third New Jersey Regirnent, con- 
 cerning the death of one of Bridgeton's best young men, a 
 member of the famous Cumberland Greys, the first defenders 
 who barely a year previous had left their homes for the 
 scene of war. Comrade Bacon, a gallant soldier, Christian 
 gentleman, left a wife and five small children to sorrow be- 
 cause of his untmiely death. Chaplain Darrow sent the 
 widow the appended letter, afterward published in the 
 Bridgeton papers : 
 
 "Mrs. Charles Bacon — The papers, 'ere you receive this, 
 will have announced to you the sad intelligence of the death 
 of your husband. Amid the carnage of the battlefield he 
 fell, ha\ing with his regiment charged on tlie enemy and 
 while pursuing them in hot haste and pouring a deadly fire 
 upon a routed foe. He went into the fight with unusual 
 vigor, his health having greatly improved recently, faltering 
 not until a ball passing through bis Testament which he al- 
 ways carried with him, entered his abdomen and caused his 
 immediate death. His captain was wounded at the same 
 time and while I was assisting in gettng him to the rear 
 where a surgeon could be found, he told me of Bacon's fall 
 I went immediately in pursuit of him and found him dead. 
 His diary, Testament and purse, I took from his person and 
 handed them to Lieutenant Salkeld who will forward them 
 to vou the earliest opportunity. I buried him with eight of 
 his comrades who fell in the same fight, under an elm tree 
 in the same field where the regiment charged on the enemy, 
 on the estate of Jacob Goodman, north of the village of Btir- 
 kettsville, about half a mile distant. We had our funeral on 
 Monday afternoon — he was killed on Sunday — the drum 
 corps and comrades of the deceased assisting in the burial 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 (jf our brave dead. Bro. Bacon was a good man, a consist- 
 ent Christian, and I feel tliat his loss to me is very great. 
 I'.nt what an attliction to you, liis companion. May the God 
 (if all peace abundantly sustain you in your loneliness and 
 sorrow. Yours truly, 
 
 "G. E. Darrow." 
 
 The Lieut. Salkeld, to whom Chaplain Darrow refers, 
 was afterward Captain Charles F. Salkeld, the veteran officer 
 who led the "Cumberland Greys" in many engagements and 
 brought the remaining memljers of the company safely home 
 to Bridgeton amid the plaudits of the cunimunity. 
 
 Reminders of the sanguinary conflict at the front com- 
 ing to Bridgeton week after week aroused the people to 
 great heighths iif excitement and the determination to put 
 down treason, and all connected with it became more fixed 
 than ever. The generation of to-day cannot realize or 
 imagine the intensity of public feeling at that time. A case 
 in point will illustrate it, however, as one among thousands 
 North and South. There lived in Bridgeton the newly 
 elected surrogate of Cumberland County, chosen on the 
 L'nion Republican ticket in the Autumn of '6i. He was a 
 stalwart fur the Union. One of his sons, Joseph, enlisted in 
 tile "Cumberland Greys" and served bravely throughout tht 
 war. Another son, living in the South went into the Con- 
 federate army. This so enraged Mr. Woodruff, the father, 
 that he wrote to his boy in the Third New Jersey, and said: 
 "Joe, if you meet your brother, shoot him on the spot." This 
 was the spirit of General Dix who had advanced the same 
 sentiment in connection with the attempt of any rebel or 
 sympathizer to haul down the flag. It was commended to 
 tlie echo throughout the loyal North. 
 
 The ladies of Bridgeton organized for the patriotic 
 work of furnishing articles of clothing and delicacies for the 
 sick and wounded soldiers in field and hospital. With a 
 membership of uo they formed a "Soldiers" Relief Associa- 
 
 (5.S) 
 
w 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES— 1S(U 
 Group Company F r* Cumberland Greys "■ i. Third N. J. Inf. Vols., who Died on the Field 
 
 Charles H. Bacon 
 Enoch B. Pew 
 
 Joseph R. Thompson 
 David Yearicks 
 
 (59) 
 
6o HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 tion" meeting every Thursday in Carll's building near the 
 Commerce street bridge. The noble work they did brought 
 much comfort and jov to the sick and wounded soldiers, and 
 it is recorded in heaven. 
 
 One of the significant signs of this eventful period was 
 the attitude of the Bridgeton papers. Whereas heretofore 
 they had hesitated as to advocacy of the new political party 
 known as a Republican, they now came boldly to the front 
 with powerful editorials for the support of the Union cause. 
 One of the editors of the Chronicle, an able writer, Robert 
 B. Potter, not onlv expressed his opinions vigorously in the 
 columns of that journal, but enlisted as a soldier in the J4th 
 New Jersey Regiment, going to the front as a lieutenant. 
 
 The greatest meeting for the prosecution of the war 
 was held in Grosscup's Hall, Bridgeton. Jwly 26th, 1862. 
 Dr. ^^'illianl S. P.owen was chairman, with a long list of 
 \'ice-presidents and secretaries, made up principallv of the 
 men who had served in similar capacities in the war meeting 
 of 1861. 
 
 The Committee on Resolutions, consisting of Robert B. 
 Potter, James R. Hoagland, Joel Fithian, James Horton 
 and James B. Ferguson, reported a series which recom- 
 mended financial support for the volunteers of the country 
 and their dependent families, and declared for the vigorous 
 prosecution of the war. emphasizing the sentence "that there 
 could only be two divisions of the people — patriots and trait- 
 ors with their sympathizers." Eloquent speeches were made 
 at this meeting by Hon. John T. Nixon., Rev. Charles H. 
 W'hitecar, pastor of Commerce Street I\I. E. Church : Revs. 
 Messrs. jMargcrum, of Trinity M. E. Church : Dr. Challis, of 
 the Baptist Church, and Colhour, of the Laurel Street M. 
 P. Church. Rev. Mr. Whitecar made the speech of the meet- 
 ing. He urged with much fervor that it was not a contest 
 of the North against the South, but a struggle of the gov- 
 ernment against armed traitors to maintain its own exis- 
 tence. It was important that every man do his whole duty 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW J EKSEV 6l 
 
 in this crisis. Doctor Whitecar was a speai<er of wonder- 
 fully clear enunciation and eloquent periods. He roused the 
 immense audience to a furore of patriotism. Judge Elmer, 
 who was present, pronounced it one of tlie ablest and most 
 convincing speeches he had ever heard. On this occasion 
 William E. Potter, son of James B. Potter, President of the 
 Cumberland Bank, fresh from honors at Princeton Col- 
 lege, one of the finest looking young men of the town, of 
 great native talent, was introduced to the audience. The 
 summer previous he had received the colors from the hand 
 of Paul T. Jones on the part of the "Cumberland Greys" the 
 day of tlieir departure in a brief speech, but now the genius 
 exhibited itself which in future years was to prove him one 
 of the ablest barristers ever heard in the New Jersey Courts. 
 "This contest," said young Mr. Potter, "is a contest for 
 constitutional liberty. If a republican form of government 
 failed here, as it had everywhere else, it would be a death- 
 blow to our own liberties, and the hopes of the struggling 
 millions of the old world." He closed by announcing that he 
 was ready to enlist for the war. and urged the young men to 
 do likewise. The hall rang with cheers when this brave 
 utterance was made, the beginning as it were of his dis- 
 tinguished career in the Army of the Potomac which ter- 
 minated at the close of the war in the great honor of brevet- 
 lieutenant colonel, for gallant and meritorious conduct as a 
 staff officer on many battlefields. 
 
 The echoes of the second great war meeting had barely 
 died out when the drum began to beat for volunteers for a 
 new company for the Twelfth New Jersey Regiment then 
 forming. Recruiting quarters were opened in Carll's build- 
 ing, first floor, near the bridge. \\'it]iin a week the quota of 
 the companx' was full, more than one hundred young men 
 having em-oiled their names. It was a magnificent company, 
 composed of the best material, and of the best families. Capt. 
 Henry Crooks, who had seen service in the regular army, a 
 skillful drill master, having previously drilled the "Cumber- 
 land Greys." and organized the German military company 
 which formed an escort for the former the day of its depar- 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 ure frdin Briilgetnn, enlisted as a niemlier c)f the new contin- 
 gent and becoming its first sergeant, gave it the benefit of 
 his experience. In a few days it was ready for the field 
 under the command of Captain Richard S. Thompson, a 
 gentleman of fine militar\- bearing. 
 
 War meetings were held in all the towns and villages 
 of Cumberland County tluring the summer of 1S62. The 
 population was aroused to a high state of enthusiasm. It was 
 a wonderful year, and one never to be forgotten. Bridgeton, 
 the shire town, with barely 4,000 inhabitants, was the cen- 
 tre of interest. Here the people gathered to listen to patri- 
 otic speeches : here thev stood upon street corners discussing 
 the latest news from the army and the situation of the coun- 
 try. Boys and girls paraded the streets eager to hear what 
 was to be learned concerning the perilous condition of the 
 brave boys wlio had gone to the front to do battle i' <v the 
 homes and the land which they loved. The boys wore red, 
 white and blue neckties ; the girls wore dresses and ribbons 
 of the same materials. Work was suspended, while the 
 town teemed witli excitement. 
 
 On the morning of August 12th, 1862. Company K was 
 ready to depart for the war. The day was bright and balmy: 
 the stores and business places were decorated with bunting ; 
 the streets were lined with crowds of people. The company 
 left its quarters in the Carll building, and was drawn up in 
 column on the sidewalk. Paul T. Jones, Charles E. Elmer, 
 Hon. John T. Xixon, Rev. Joseph Hubbard, Lieutenant 
 William E. Potter, and Captain Richard S. Thompson made 
 patriotic speeches. A handsome set of colors was presented 
 to the company. In the afternoon Co. K took train at the 
 new West Jersey Railroad depot on Irving avenue, en route 
 to Camp Stockton, Woodbury, there to be mustered into the 
 Twelfth New Jersey Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers. Never 
 did a finer looking body of men pass through the streets of 
 
 (62 1 
 
PROMINENT CITIZENS— IM.I-I^ii. 
 Dr. William S. Bawen Charles Laning 
 
 Edmund R. Elmer John Cheesman.Jr. 
 
 Eden M. Hood John R. Graham 
 
 Hiram Harris 
 Robert M. Seeley 
 Hon. John Carter 
 
64 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Bridgeton. In the inarch to the depot several thousand 
 people followed to bid them God speed in the noble cause for 
 which they were to give the last full measure of devotion. 
 It was an imposing and an inspiring scene. At the depot 
 weeping wi\es. mothers and children bade sad farewells to 
 the departing young men, and many tears were shed. The 
 whistle was blown and the locomotive with the train of patri- 
 ots slowly receded from view, while the cheers of those 
 who remained made the air resound with an affectionate 
 adieu. Three years later this noble company was to return 
 with thirty men under a battle flag whose stars were riddled 
 with bullet holes and whose stripes were torn by shot and by 
 shell. A handful of brave hearts like Napoleon's Old Guard 
 black with the smoke of many engagements upon their faces 
 they marched proudly through Commerce street 'midst the 
 huzzahs of patriotic Bridgeton. 
 
 This gallant Company K took part in thirty-one engage- 
 ments, entering at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3d and 4th. 
 1863; in the glorious battle of Gettysburg. Pa., July ist, 
 2d and 3d, 1863 ; at the Wilderness, Va., May 5th to 7th, 
 1864: Spottsylvania, Va., May 8th to i8th, 1864; closing 
 its meritorious service at the capture of Petersburg, Va., Ap- 
 ril 2d. 1865, and witnessing Lee's surrender at Appomattox, 
 Va., April 9th. 1865. 
 
 The following is the roster of the company : Captain, 
 Richard S. Thompson; First Lieutenant, Daniel Dare; Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant, William E. Potter ; Sergeants, Edward M. 
 DuBois, Henry Crooks, Moses B. Holmes., Frank M. Riley, 
 William S. Ayres, Charles S. Padgett, Timothy Bateman, 
 Aaron Terry, Edwin M. Padgett, Benjamin F. Howell. 
 James P. Williams. John E. .Shuman. Willi.-un B, Hines; 
 Corporals: Charles M. Riley, Albert Walker. William F. 
 Moore. George Laws, Joseph B. Husted, William H. Ben- 
 nett, Justus H. Livingston, Horace B. Garton, Amos S. 
 Burt, Butler Xewcomb. George McHenrv : Privates : Henry 
 C. Lore. John Evans, Jonathan Borden. Henry W. Gaskill. 
 Henry H. Bradford, Henry Campbell, Albert F. Carll. Rob- 
 ert G. Clark, Reeves Coulter, Anderson Davis, W'illiam H. 
 
IX CUMnERr,A\D COUNTY, XEW JERSEY 65 
 
 Dickesoii, Abraham Facemire, Robert P. Fisher, Edgar M. 
 Fitliian, John Garrison, Thomas S. Green, Edward C. Hall, 
 Georg-e H. Horner, Jeremiah Husted, Absalom Jordan, John 
 Maxwell, Thomas H. Pancoast, Hiram Pew. Charles O. P. 
 Riley, James R. Rainear, William ]M. Seeley, Charles L. 
 Sockwell, Edward j\I. Steward, John G. Swinney, Samuel 
 Tomlinson, Daniel Tuliis, William H. B. Ward, John Yates, 
 John B. Bonham, Josiah Garrison, George A. Harris, Maritz 
 Isell, Isaac F. Jerrell, Thomas R. Kemp, Ja-col) Keyport, 
 Lorenzo D. Messic, Simon S. Swing, Samuel R. Payne, 
 Daniel Simpkins, Josiah F. Smith, Bloomfield Spencer. Wil- 
 liam) H. Vaughn, Elmer M. West, W'illiam H. Berry, Henry 
 D. Duffeld, Varney \\'. Gaskill. William H. Greenly, Dan- 
 iel B. Harris, Asa A. F. Randolph, Richard F. Randolph, 
 Jeremiah Roray, George S. Tindall, Henry \\'alker. 
 
 Company K. was afterward recruited by the addition of 
 substitutes during its term of ser\'ice to take the place of 
 those killed, discharged by disease and liecause of amputa- 
 tions and other serious wounds. Only six of its entire mem- 
 bership deserted, one of whom returned to duty later on. 
 
 Tlie following members of tiiis company died on the 
 field and in hospital : Aaron Terry, at Andersonville, Ga. 
 prison, March 24, 1864, of disease and hunger, buried at 
 National Cemetery, Andersonville, grave 133; Moses B. 
 Holmes, died at Field Hospital, June 4, 1864, wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3d, 1864; Hor- 
 ace B. Garton died at U. S. General Hospital, in Washing- 
 ton, D. C, June 3d, 1864, wounds received in action at 
 Spottsylvania Courthouse, Va.. buried at National Cemetery, 
 Arlington, Va. ; Charles E. Smith killed in action at North 
 Anna River, Va., May 26 1864; Samuel Carey, died at Field 
 Hospital., May 5th, 1864, wounds received in action at Wil- 
 derness, Va. : Daniel H. Carman, died at Field Hospital, July 
 3d, 1864, of wounds received in action at Gettysburg, Pa.; 
 Jacob W. Carter, killed in action at Chancellorsville, Va. 
 May 3d. 1863; Simon W. Creamer, killed in action at Get- 
 tysburg, Pa., July 3d, 1863, buried at National Cemetery, 
 Gettvsburg, Pa., Section A. Grave 20: Thomas C. Gallowav. 
 
HISTORIC DA^■S 
 
 died of scurv)' at Andersonville prison, Ga., August 28th, 
 1864, buried in National Cemetery. Andersonville, Grave 
 7,039; Joseph H. Gaunt, died of disease, at Ward U. S. 
 General Hospital, Newark, N. J., April 20th, 1865, buried 
 at Fairmount Cemetery, Newark; William D. Hendrickson, 
 died of fever, at Regular Hospital, Camp near Falmouth, 
 Va., January 23d, 1863, buried at National Cemetery, Fred- 
 ericksburg, Va., Division A. Section A. grave 137; Samuel 
 Hollenback, died of wounds received in action at Boydton 
 Plank Road, Va., Oct. 27th, 1864, buried at Poplar Grove 
 National Cemetery, Va., Division D, Section C. grave 164; 
 Nathaniel H. Horner, died June 4th, 1864, of wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Cold Harbor, Va. ; Henry Howell, died of 
 disease at Regular Hospital Camp near Falmouth, Va., 
 March 23d, 1863 ; Francis Husted, died of fever, at Patent 
 Office, U. S. General Hospital, Washington, D. C, Decem- 
 ber 19th, 1863, buried at Military Asylum Cemetery, Wash- 
 ington; Charles Livingston, died at Field Hospital, Spotts- 
 sylvania Courthouse, Va., May 14th, 1864, of wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Spottsylvania ; Matthias Maloney, killed 
 in action, at Boydton Plank Road, Va., October 27th, 1864; 
 John H. Mullica, died of disease, at U. S. General Hospital, 
 City Point, Va., June 30th, 1864; Charles O. Powell, killed 
 in action, at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3d, 1863; Charles H. 
 Simpkins, killed in action, at Wilderness, May 5th, 1864; 
 Flenry S. Sockwell, killed in action at Gettysburg. Pa., July 
 3d, 1863; Samuel S. Sutton, died at Field Hospital, White 
 House, Va., June 8th, 1864, of wounds received in action 
 at Cold Harbor, Va. ; Theophilus Sutton, died of scurvy, at 
 Andersonville prison, Ga., October 28, T864, buried at 
 National Cemeterv, ,\ndersonville, grave 11,615. 
 
 Such is the record of this splendid body of volunteers. 
 Of its officers — Lieut. -Colonel Edward M. DuBois, rose 
 from the ranks to high honors, a Bridgeton boy whose brav- 
 ery on many fields was nobly attested ; Captain ['"rank M. 
 Riley, who enlisted as second sergeant of Conipaiiv K, but 
 
 (66) 
 
Henry Campbell 
 William F. Moore 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES~18c;j-lSC,5 
 
 Group Company K, Twelfth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols 
 
 Daniel B. Harris 
 
 Capt. Henry Crooks 
 
 Edwin C. Hall 
 
 Butler Newcomb 
 Justus H. Livingston 
 
68 HISTdRlf ll.WS 
 
 returned as Captain of Co. F., was a brave and efficient 
 officer. In one of the battles around Petersburg, Va., Cap- 
 tain Riley was seriously wounded in the face, a niinnie ball 
 passing through it and dropping into his mouth. He was 
 taken prisoner by the Confederates, and during his confin*^- 
 ment his fine India rubber blanket and other valuables disap- 
 peared as he supposed at the time, by command of the Con- 
 federate General, M. C. Butler, of South Carolina. The theft 
 of Captain Riley's blanket afterwards figured in the e\idence 
 before the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the 
 United States Senate several years after the war, when the 
 seat of M. C. Butler was contested as a Senator from that 
 Sftate. It finally turned out that General Butler had no 
 knowledge of the theft. In 1904, to Captain Riley's sur- 
 prise, he received a telegram from the ex-Confederate, to 
 meet him at the Hotel Walton, in Philadelphia. He did so 
 and there met a handsome, dignified Southern gentleman, 
 who apologized for the robbery of forty years previous, say- 
 ing that he had no knowledge of it and that it was done by 
 one of his subordinates without authorit}', and would never 
 ha\'e occurred had he had the slightest intimation that such 
 an ungentlemanly act was contemplated. General Butler en- 
 tertained CajJtain Riley with old-time Southern hospitality, 
 and in\ ited bim t(i \isit his home and become his guest. Cap- 
 tain Riley participated in the three days' fight at Gettysburg, 
 July 1st, 2d, and 3d, 1863, the bloodiest engagement of the 
 war, where w itli buck and ball the Twelfth Regiment took 
 part in the charge upon the Bliss barn, and from behind a 
 stone fence, sent death and destruction into Pickett's men in 
 the historic advance of the Confederates on that eventful 
 third (lav. 
 
 The commander of the Twelfth Regiment was Colonel 
 J. Howard Willetts, of Port Elizabeth, Cumberland County. 
 Colonel Willetts had been transferred from the Seventh 
 Regiment, in which he had held command as captain of 
 Company H. Enlisting October 3, i86t. he had rendered 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NKW J EKSKY 69 
 
 valuable service in General McClellan's campaigns on the 
 peninsula and in Maryland. Promoted to lieutenant colonel 
 August IJ, 1862. for gallant and meritorious conduct in 
 the field, he entered upon a distinguished career as colonel 
 of the regiment soon after its formation, February 27, 
 
 1863. At the battle of Chancellorsvillc, Alay 3, 1862, 
 Colonel Willetts was badly wounded, several balls enter- 
 ing his body. He remained in the service until December 
 19, 1864, when he was discharged with high honors as a 
 patriotic officer and soldier. 
 
 Company K also furnished other notable men, among 
 the most prominent uf whom is Benjamin F. Howell who 
 servetl in Congress from the Xew Brunswick ilistrict for 
 many years. Congressman Howell was born in Fairfield 
 township, Cumberland County, serving his country faith- 
 fully as a soldier until July loth, 1865. Returning home he 
 changed his residence to Middlesex County, whose citizens 
 repeatedly honored him with exalted position. Captain 
 Richard S. Thompson closed a distinguished career in the 
 1 2th Regiment with the honors of Lieut. -Colonel. Charles 
 S. Padgett, so lung a prominent citizen of Bridgeton, was 
 another member of Company K. who distinguished himself 
 and left a limb on the field of battle ; likewise William F. 
 Moore, one of the color guard of the Twelfth Regiment, who 
 took active part in the assault upiui the Bliss barn, when 
 ninety reliels were captured by our boys; afterwards seri- 
 ously wounded in action at Spottsylvania ; also William H. 
 Bennett, who liore an honorable part as one of the color 
 bearers of this heroic regiment. 
 
 Edward C. Hall, of Fairfield townslu'p. private in Com- 
 pany K. Twelfth Regiment, was a soldier of heroic mould. 
 Serving from 1862 to 1863. he was twice seriously wounded 
 at the battle of Chancell()rsvi]le, Va., ]\lay 3rd, 1863, gun- 
 shot wounds of the head and left leg. Notwithstanding his 
 wounds, when the regiment was ordered to fall back he re- 
 fused, and, joining the io8th New York Vols., fired four- 
 teen rounds at the enemy. At Cold Harbor. Va., June y\, 
 
 1864. he was again hit, gunshot wound thrnngh the left 
 
mSTOKIC DAYS 
 
 slioulder. Caj)ture(I at Hatcher's Run, Va., October 27th, 
 1864, he was taken liy the C(in federates to Castle Thunder 
 and then to Libby prison. While in Libby he was ordered 
 l)y Major Turner, commander of the prison, to do some 
 blacksmithing- fi>r the Confederac}", as Hall was known to 
 be a blacksmith bv trade. Turner said he would allow him 
 e.xtra rations, and extra liberties if he would do the work. 
 Pri\ate Hall said "Xo," with a loud emphasis, thereby tak- 
 ing his life in his hand. But Turner rather admired his 
 spimk, and left liim unmolested. Once the Confederates 
 offered him a discharge cm parole, but his answer was — "not 
 while rebels remain in arms!" When captured he weighed 
 185 pounds: when exchanged, such were the rigors of starv- 
 ation in Libljy. he had become reduced to a skeleton of 92 
 pounds. Private Hall was in the famous charge on the 
 Bliss barn at Gettysburg, Pa.. July 3d. 1863, and during 
 his entire soldier career participated in twentv-seven battles. 
 
 But this remarkable year was to witness still further 
 excitement. Xo sooner had Company K departed than the 
 work of filling Cumberland County's quota was resumed. 
 Just here it may be well to make the statement, which is 
 indisputal)le, that no town in the country, save one — the town 
 of Haverhill, Mass., furnished so many volunteers for the 
 Union army as the town of Bridgeton, New Jersey. The 
 patriotic blood which led the fathers at Greenwich to destroy 
 the cargo of British tea on the public common, after it had 
 been taken from the deck of the Greyhound, in the mouth 
 of the Cohansey, November, 1774. had been transmitted to 
 the sons of those illustrious sires, and they rushed to the 
 defense of constitutional government and the sax'ing of the 
 Union. 
 
 The \eran(las of the Da\is House on Commerce street, 
 and the pavements in front, were daily crowded with patri- 
 otic citizens discussing the subject of enlistments. Jerry 
 Maul, with his fife: Charles Woodruff, with his kettle-drum; 
 Lou Clark with the big drum, appeared day by day and en- 
 livened the scene witli martial music. Excitement reached 
 
 (70) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— l»a-lS(!5 
 
 Group Company K, Twelfth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 William H. Bennett William B. Hines Charles M. Riley 
 
 Benjamin F. Howell 
 1 Now Member Congress Fourth N. J. District 
 Charles O. P. Riley Henry Howell Abram Facemire 
 
 (H) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 its greatest height about September ist, when quarters were 
 opened in the old brick store known as the J. B. Potter store, 
 at the corner of Commerce and Coliansey streets. In two 
 da3'S tliree hundred men had enhsted for the nine months' 
 service, under the new call of the President. The new com- 
 panies, three in number, were enrolled in tlie Twent}-fi)urra 
 New Jersey Regiment. The following is a roster : 
 
 Company F. : Captain, Samuel Harris; First Lieuten- 
 ant, Elijah Husted; Second Lieutenant. William B. Pepper; 
 First Sergeant, Benjamin Hancock ; Sergeant, Joseph S. 
 Glaspey, Isaac L. Moore, David Garrison ; Corporals, Wil- 
 iam F. Demaris, Theodore F. Buck, Alphonso Dunliam, 
 Cliarles Haley, Joseph Shimp, Benjamin S. Avars, Charles 
 N. Woodruff, David D. Sheppard ; Musician. Samuel Plum- 
 phries ; Privates, Jesse S. Adams, Charles F. Ackley, Charles 
 M. .\Ikire. William S. Ackley. Joseph H. C. Appelgate, 
 Judson P.ateman. Jonathan W. Bduham. Isaiah F. Boody, 
 I)a\id M. Pxiwen, Daniel Brooks. Dax'id G. Brooks. 
 Charles Brown. Edgar S. Brown. Thomas Campbell, Louis 
 G. Clark, Charles R. Coulter. James Craig. John D. Craig. 
 Roger S. Crosier, Albert Davis. William F. Duffield, Joseph 
 P. Fithian, Theodore .\. Felmy, John Finley, Enos Glaspell, 
 Simon J. Garrison, Samuel Colder. Jr.. Christopher Get- 
 singer. Jeremiah Hann. James Harding. Allen N. Harris, 
 Edward R. H'usted, Francis Husted, William M. Husted, 
 Henry F. Hutchinson, Samuel H. Jones, Joseph Jeffries. 
 Benjamin F. Laclow. Peter Ladow, Isaac Laning. Jr., Aaron 
 Leaming, Edwin J. Lee. James E. Logue. .\ndrew Maynes, 
 Clarence D. Mayhew. John Murphy. Jesse B. ]McBride. Ma- 
 jor McDaniels, Daniel McHenry. Jesse McKee. Thomas 
 McKuen. Isaac ]\IcPherson. John N. Middleton. John S. 
 Miller. Clement C. Moore. William Moore. Charles H. 
 Newcomb, John H. Orr., Oswald Patchell, Elihu R. Peter- 
 son. George Pierson, William Reddon, George G. Richmon, 
 Edgar J. Riley, James Stewart, Edgar Shute. Samuel P. 
 Trout. William B. Trout. Henry Vogel. Henry W. Warful. 
 Isaiah P. Warren. Thomas C. Welclou, Jrihn F. \\ heatnn. 
 Tinidth) Woi iilruff. John L. Wilfong. 
 
WAR.TIME PICTURES-l.MIJ.ls,;., 
 Benja^.n SAyZ '^"^ ^- Tw-ty-fo.rth N.J. Re,. ,„, vo, 
 
 Judson Bateman Charles M. Alkire 
 
 Isaac McPherson Samuel Humphries 
 
 Major McDaniels S^"'^ ^- Sheppard 
 
 Itieodore A. Felmy 
 
 (-3) 
 
 Joseph P. Fithian 
 Benjamin Hancock 
 Isaac Laning 
 Joseph S. Glaspey 
 
74 llISTdinC DAYS 
 
 Died in the ser\-ice : Cliarles F. Garrison, at Division 
 Hospital, near Falmouth, \'a., Dec. 21. 1862, wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862 ; Peter 
 German, missing in action at Fredericksliurg, Va., Dec. 13, 
 1862, never heard of afterward ; David A. Long, of fever at 
 U. S. Army Gen. Hospital, Newark, N. J., Jan. 11, 1863; 
 John McXichi>ls. missing in action at Fredericksburg, Va., 
 Dec. 13, 1862, never heard of afterward; William J. Orr, 
 missing in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862, 
 never lieartl oi afterward; William F. Richards, of fever at 
 Regimental Hospital, near Falmouth. Va., Jan. 15, 1863. 
 buried at Xat. Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Va., Div. A, Sec- 
 tion A, grave 407 ; William R. Vanmeter, missing in action 
 at Fredericksburg, Va.. Dec. 13, 1862. never heard of after- 
 ward. 
 
 Company G: Captain, James R. Hoagland ; First Lieu- 
 tenant, Charles M. Pease; Second Lieutenant, Robert B. 
 Potter : First Sergeants, Francis iVL DuBois. Henry R. Pier- 
 son ; Sergeants, Jesse C. Davis. George M. Chester. William 
 F. Brown, Thomas A. Harris ; Corporals, John DuBois, 
 Japhet Hann. Israel L. Fish. Charles McDaniels. Dallas T. 
 Haley: Musician. Benson Smith; Privates, William .\ckley, 
 Charles P. Bacon, Thomas M. Barracliff, James Boyle, 
 Aaron R. Broadway, W^illiam S. Brown, John W. Blizzard, 
 David M. Carman, Ephraim Carman, Joshua Clark, Caleb 
 Cobb, Joseph W. Col)b, John W. Cobb. James Ci)rnell. 
 Jacob P. Cobb. William C. Dare. Charles H. Dare, Jere- 
 miah A. Davis, Francis W. Gallagher, Samuel Gallagher, 
 William Garrow. Jonathan C. Garrison. James H. Gandy, 
 X'elson Haley. Franklin E. Hand. Henry Huster. Henry 
 Harris, Alfred Harris, Frederick Heintz, John F. Heintz. 
 Mathias Fox, Charles R. Hopkins, Isaac Hunter, Lorenzo 
 D. Hutton. Daniel Jaggers, Joseph L. Kincaid, Levi J. 
 Loper, \\"alter S. Leach, John McConnell, Jeremiah 
 P. Mills, Isaac Newcomb, Daniel K. 'Pearson, Nathan 
 Pennington, Jr., David F. Randolph. Benjamin R. Ra- 
 singer, William H. Rawley. Robert Robinson, ^\'illiam 
 Seaman. Levi Sharp. Isaac Sheppard. Andrew B. Shimp. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY. NEW JERSEY 75 
 
 Stacy Sloan. Albert Smith, George Steelman. Smith 
 Stites. Job T. Trout, Hiram Trueland, Daniel Turner, Wil- 
 liam H. H. West, Sheppard Wescott, William H. White, 
 George E. Wills, John Wines, Wallace Wriggins. 
 
 Died in the sevice: Albert B. Jones, at hospital near 
 Fredericksburg. Va., Dec. 22, 1862, wounds received in ac- 
 tion at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 ; Lot Bacon, of disease, 
 at Finley U. S. Army Gen. Hospital, Washington, D. C, 
 Jan. 2, 1863; Lorenzo Bailey, at hospital near Fredericks- 
 burg, Va., Dec. 22, 1862, wounds received in action at Fred- 
 ericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862; Alfred S. Cobb, of fever, at 
 Camp near Chain Bridge, Va., Nov. 14, 1862; William S. 
 Corson, at hospital near Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 22, 1862. 
 wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 
 1862; John Danelbeck, missing in action at Fredericksburg, 
 Va., Dec. 13, 1862, never heard of afterward; Nathan P. 
 Gerls, at Hospital, at Fredericksburg. Va., Dec. 14, 1862, 
 wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 
 1862: William C. Husted, killed in action at Fredericksburg, 
 Va., Dec. 13, 1862; Valentine Maxner, killed in action at 
 Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862; Jacob C. Shinn. missing 
 in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862. never heard 
 of afterward. 
 
 Company H: Captain. Henry Xeff; First Lieutenant, 
 Alexander L. Robeson ; Second Lieutenant. James J. 
 Reeves; First Sergeant, John H. Schreiner; Sergeants, Sam- 
 uel M. :\IcCall, James IMcCowan. William B. Smith, David 
 S. Pedrick; Corporals, Benjamin T. Bright, Daniel H. Xeip- 
 lin, James Ewing, Charles H. Atmore, Alexander AIcGraw. 
 Jesse D. Claypoole, Jacob Ernest, James R. Sellers; Musi- 
 cian, Ephraim R. Ayars ; Privates, Edward Ayars, Richard 
 R. Ayars, Samuel Ayars, William M. Barnes, Thomas Bo- 
 dine, William Howard Blew, William Bowers. William Bo- 
 dine, John D. Boone, Darius Bowen, Frederick Bowen, Isaac 
 H. Bowen, Harris Brooks, Joseph C. Brooks, Richard H. 
 Brooks, William E. Brooks, Ephraim E. Buck, John Cake. 
 Willianii Campbell, George Cawman, Samuel B. Carter. Wil- 
 liam S. Conklin. Tames R. Cheesman, Henry C. Dare. Henry 
 
HISTORIC DAVS 
 
 C. Deeiiier. Albert Dolton, David Edwards, Martin Ed- 
 wards. Jacob Elwell, Jobii S. Ernest, Benjamin Ford, Am- 
 brose Fox, Jacob Garton, Benjamin N. Gibson, James Gil- 
 len, ^^'illiam B. Gilman, Henry Griner, Francis M. Harris, 
 Robert 1\ Huntsinger, William G. Harris, Daniel Ireland, 
 William Ireland, Julin G. Keyser. Christoph Laich. Alartin 
 Loder, Reuben Aiarryott, Edward Alixner, Joseph L. Mul- 
 ford, Robert Aloncrief, Allen Mulford, Jacob Nagiee, James 
 Norton. John B. Xieukirk, Solomon Overdorf. William A. 
 Parvin, Charles (Juicksell, John Lenhart Rice, William 
 Riley. William E. Schuyler, Francis Seaman, Charles S. 
 Sellers. Elmer Shejipard, John Sheppard, Thomas W. Shep- 
 pard. Stephen Shimp, Edward B. Simpkins, Enos D. Simp- 
 kins, William Smith, James L. Stiles. Jehu Tumey, Charles 
 S. \\'allen, George H. Whipple, George J\L D. WoodruiT. 
 William Harrison \\'oodruft', Abram Woodruff. 
 
 Died in the service: William B. Elmer, at Division Hos- 
 pital, near Falmouth. Va.. Dec. 21. 1862, wounds received 
 in action at Fredericksburg. Va.. Dec. 13, 1862; Joseph M. 
 Elwell, of fever, at hospital. Windmill Point. Va., Jan. 27, 
 1863; George Fox, at Stanton L'. S. Army Gen. Hospital. 
 Washington, D. C, Jan. 7. 1863. wounds received in action 
 at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1S62; George W. Burch, 
 of consumption at Newton University Hospital, Baltimore, 
 Maryland. April 2. 1863; Charles Dayton, missing in action 
 at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863, never heard of after- 
 ward : Edward R. Gilman, of fever at Camp Kearney, Va., 
 Oct. 24. 1862: David McGear, of fever at Regimental Hos- 
 pital, near Ivalmouth, Va., Feb. 22, 1863 ; Alexander Riggan. 
 of fever at LI. S. Army Gen. Hospital, W'indmiil Point, Va., 
 Jan. 25, 1863 : Richard H. Rittig, at Harewood U. S. Army 
 Gen. Hospital, Washington, D. C. Dec. 28, 1862, wounds 
 received in action at Frederickslnn-g. Va., Dec. 13. 1862; 
 First Lieutenant. Alexander L. Robeson, killed in action at 
 Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862. 
 
 .\mong the distinguished men in tl;e Twenty-fourth 
 Regiment was Major Joel A. h'ithian. of Bridgeton. a 
 
 (7fi) 
 
WAR-TIME PICTURES— ls(VM^^tio 
 Group Company G, Twenty-fourth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 Sergeant Francis Marion DuBois William M. Husted 
 
 Sergeant Jesse C. Davis 
 
 Samuel Joslin 
 
 L-ieut. Henry R. Pierson 
 
 Thomas M. BarraclifF 
 
 (77) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 native of Cumberland County, descendant of one of the 
 best families, his ancestors being long resident of the fine 
 agricultural region known as Hopewell and Stow Creek 
 Townships. Major Fithian was a very handsome man, a 
 commanding figure, and tine looking soldier. He made an 
 admirable record as an officer. Once during his term of 
 service he was detailed to pay certain troops in the capacity 
 of paymaster, said contingent not having received compen- 
 sation for se\eral months owing to the exposed position 
 thev were occupying at the front. The Confederate Cav- 
 alryman Mosby was scouring the country making havoc 
 on all sides. It was dangerous work for the ]\Iajor. but he 
 started with the nmney chest full of greenbacks. When his 
 jrjurney was well nigh finished Mosby suddenly appeared, 
 captured his escort, and compelled Major Fithian to canter 
 for his life. He succeeded, however, to the great chagrin 
 of the Confederate, for the money was what Mosby was 
 after. The war closed, and years later Colonel Mosby and 
 Major Fithian met in a hotel in Los Angeles, California, 
 by accident. Recognizing the Confederate, as he had never 
 forgotten his appearance, the Major said : "Colonel I met 
 you before under very different circumstances." Mosby 
 repeated the Major's name several times, and finally replied, 
 "O, you are the fellow that got away from me, in that raid 
 in Virginia." Colonel Mosby had captured the roster of 
 the Major's escort, and had kept it. He said that "Fithian" 
 was a singular name, and he had never forgotten it. He 
 also thought that Fithian was a very slick as well as singular 
 fellow to get away so cleverly, when he (Mosby) thought 
 he had him. The recognition was mutual, and a pleasant 
 chat was had between the erstwhile enemies. After the as- 
 sassination of I-'resident Fincohi, Major I'ithian was one of 
 the party that buried John Wilkes Booth, a secret that he 
 kept to the end. The closing years of Maior Fithian's life 
 were spent in Southern California. 
 
 Another distinguished Bridgetonian in tlie Twenty- 
 fourth Regiment was Lieutenant Henry R. Pierson, of 
 
 (7S) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES- 
 Group Company H, Twenty-fourth N. J. 
 John Lenhart Rice Joseph G. Brooks 
 
 William M. Barnes Henry C. Dare 
 
 Christoph Laich William B. Gilman 
 
 Martin Loder Jehu Tumey 
 
 (791 
 
 Reg. 
 
 . Vols. 
 
 Joseph M. Elwell 
 William Smith 
 Allen Mulford 
 George H. Whipple 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Company D, afterward assistant quartermaster, with the 
 rank of captain, United States \'olunteers. Captain Pier- 
 son was very proud of a commission he held, dated May 
 i8, 1864, which bore tlie signature of Abraham Lincohi, 
 President ; and Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Com- 
 mission was signed May 24, 1864, approved by E. D. Town- 
 send. Assistant Adjutant General, and was handsomely en- 
 graved with the lieading "The President of the United 
 States of America to Henry R. Pierson, Greeting." 
 
 W'hen the wa\-e of patriotism was at its height in 
 Bridgeton and the townships adjacent thereto, the town of 
 Millville, ten miles away, was girding itself for the war. 
 Flag-raisings were attended by large crowds of citizens, 
 patriotic speeches by Hon. Edward Maylin. Dr. Win. L. 
 Newell, and other prominent citizens, stirred the hearts of 
 all who loved the Union and the Flag. Company B, com- 
 posed of young business men and glassworkers, was quickly 
 formed for the Twenty-fourth Regiment. Following is a 
 list of its officers and men : 
 
 Company B. — Captains, George E. Dunlap, James 
 Smith; First Lieutenant, B. Reed Brown; Second Lieuten- 
 ant, John Springer; First Sergeants, Henry S. Spalding, 
 Hiram B. Shaw; Sergeants, William H. Wills, Gilbert K. 
 Heritage, Francis Hankins. Thomas S. Simmons : Corpor- 
 als, Richard W. VanSant, George Madden, Jacob B. Kates, 
 Joseph Gerard, William D. Jackson, Franklin .A.pplcby, 
 Enoch Laird, Jabez Scholes. Joshua Corson ; Musicians, 
 Henry H. Meyhew, Isaiah E. Johnson; Privates, Alexander 
 Anderson, Samuel F. Bard, Francis L Batcheldor, Isaac H. 
 Beakley, Frederick Blint, John H. Boody, Edward C. 
 Champion, Jacob F. Cake, Joseph Camp, W' illiam J. Carlisle, 
 John W. Cawman, Benjamin Cossaboon, Jesse Cossaboon, 
 David Crawford, Isaac W. Downs, Oscar B. Eastlack, Ru- 
 dolph Edwards, Jesse Ford, Thomas H. Gifford, Allen S. 
 Garrison, John Gilliland, John Garrison, Jr., John M. Hen- 
 derson, Job Hess, John Hess, Samuel Hess, James Headley, 
 Nicholas Griner, George F. Headley, William F. Hogbin, 
 
 (SO) 
 
Capt. Samuel Harris 
 Company F 
 Capt. Henry Neff 
 Company H 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES— isif-' 
 Cumberland County Officers 
 '4th New Jersey Regiment Inf. Vols. 
 Dr William L. Newell, Surgeon Capt. George E. Dunlap 
 Major Joel A. Fithian Company B 
 
 er-Master Samuel R. Fithian Capt. James R. Hoagland 
 
 Company G 
 
 (81) 
 
 Quarter 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Joseph E. James, Samuel Kears, George B. Langley, Sam- 
 uel Maines, John Matticks, John McGill, Calvin J. McMa- 
 han, George W. IMesseck, John S. Orr, William W. Rob- 
 inson, John R. Sapp, William C. Shaw, Isaac S. Sheldon, 
 Job Sheppard, Harvey T. Shaw, John Sheppard, Albert L. 
 Singers, Jeremiah B. Shull, John W. Simmons, Edward 
 Spence, Lewis S. Sockwell, David D. Stites, Samuel 
 Stokley, John Stout, John D. Stout, Thomas C. Stout, Dare 
 Thompson, Andrew H. Tomlin, Zingles VanHook, John 
 Webb, William Weiser, Lemuel G. Welch, Levi Wilson, 
 William Young. 
 
 Died in the service — John Rounds, fever, at camp near 
 Falmouth, Va., January 20, 1863, buried at National Ceme- 
 tery, Fredericksburg, Va., Division A, Section A, grave 
 411; Loren Russ, at Fredericksburg, Va., December 14, 
 1862, wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., 
 December 13, 1862; Henry Adler, at Ascension U. S. Army 
 General Hospital, Washington, D. C, January 13, 1863, 
 wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., December 
 13, 1862, buried at Military Hospital Cemetery, D. C. ; 
 George Donnelly, of fever, at Division Hospital, near Fal- 
 mouth, Va., March 15, 1863, buried at National Cemetery, 
 Fredericksburg, Va., Division D, Section C, grave 16; James 
 Gibson, killed in action at Fredericksburg, Va., December 
 13, 1862; Samuel H. Jones, of fever, at Hospital, Windmill 
 Point, Va., February 9, 1863 ; Henry Reeves, killed in action 
 at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863; Ezekiel Simmons, 
 killed in action at Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862; 
 Anson Thompson, at Washington, D. C, December 18, 
 1862, wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., 
 December 13, 1862; Benajah Thompson, killed in action at 
 Fredericksburg. Va., December 13, 1862; William Tinker, 
 of disease, at camp near Falmouth, Va., February 8, 1863, 
 buried at National Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Va., Division 
 D, Section C, grave 66; Benjamin F. Vannaman, of disease, 
 at Emory IJ. S. Army General Hospital, Washington, D. 
 C, October 3, 1862. 
 
 (82) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES-IS'IJ 
 Group Company B, Twenty-fourth N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 Nicholas Griner Isaiah E. Johnson 
 
 John W. Simmons Thomas S. Simmons 
 
 Samuel F. Bard 
 
 Ezekiel Simmons 
 George B. Langley 
 
 (83) 
 
84 IIISTLIKIC DAYS 
 
 \\'hile \olunteers were forming the three Bridgetoii 
 companies for tlie Twenty-fourth Regiment, the young men 
 of Fairfield and Downe Townships were, with patriotic 
 ardor, rallying for the organization of Company D, of the 
 Twenty-fifth Regiment. This company was composed 
 largely of oystermen and farmers, young men of brain and 
 muscle. Amid the boom of cannon, the music of a drum 
 corps, and presentation of a beautiful flag at the hands of a 
 local committee, the ciimpany left its rendezvous in Fair- 
 field for the seat of war. Appended is a roster of its officers 
 and men : 
 
 CoMP.\NY D. — Captain. Fthan T. Garretson ; First 
 Lieutenant. Samuel Peacock ; Second Lieutenants. Joseph 
 Bateman, Charles J. Field, B. Frank Williams; First Ser- 
 geant, Nathaniel ^^^estcott: Sergeants, William \^^ Mes- 
 sick, James \\'. Trenchard, James B. Russell, Henry Jess; 
 Corporals, Rufus E. Bennett. George Crosier, Frank 
 Gandy, Francis P. Riley, James H. Stevens. Charles H. 
 Turner, David S. \\'. Steelman, Charles R. Conover; Musi- 
 cian, William P. Sink ; Privates. Wesley D. Barton, David 
 E. Bateman, John P. Applegate. Henry H. Beakley, Robert 
 M. Bennett, Charles Biddle, John Blizzard. Joseph C. Brad- 
 ford, Archibald Campbell, Philip Clark. Peter Campbell. 
 William M. Carter, Joseph L. Cassidy, William Cobb. John 
 Coleman, James G. D. Craig. David M. Craner. John 
 Dowdridge. Job Dilks, James Douthaday. Sylvanus Dough- 
 erty, Eli Earl. Peter Felts. Hugh Fowler. Benjamin F. 
 Ga.skill, Horatio 'SI. Gates. William L. Gray. Charles Gas- 
 kill. F.Idridge U.-iiid. Jnlm Hanes, George Harley, Charles 
 Henry. Henrv 1). llines. George W. Hall. Elmer E. Hog- 
 bin. Lewis P.. Holmes. Daniel W. Husted, Joseph E. Hus- 
 ted. John P. Jerrell, John B. Jones, Jr.. ^^'illiam T. C. 
 Jiirdan. R<ihert J. Kell, Charles Lloyd. Ciiarles .S. Lore. 
 Dallas Lore. George D. Ogden. John I\L Nicholson. John E. 
 Ogden. Willis .'\. Ogden. Lames W. Pettit. Benjamin Pine. 
 Martin V. B. Powell, Thomas B. Shaw. \\Mlliam B. Shaw. 
 William H. Shcppard. Charles P. Stewart, Thomas Sutton, 
 Edward H. Sheppard, Charles Swing, Leonard R. Swing, 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 85 
 
 Elijah Thompson, John Tliompson, William Tullis, Samuel 
 Vanaman, Robert O. W'allen, John B. W'estcott, Henry H. 
 Whitecar, Isaac S. W'hitecar, William T. Whitecar, Benja- 
 min F. Williams, Furnian R. \\'illis, Henry Wallen. 
 
 Died in the service — Ephraim F. Bateman, of fever, 
 at Armory Square, United States Army General Hospital, 
 Washington, D. C, February 19, 1863; Hiram B. Whitecar, 
 of fever, at camp near Julian's Creek, Va., May 21, 1863; 
 James P. Calloway, of disease, at Chesapeake U. S. .Army 
 General Hospital, Fortress Monroe, Va., May 25, 1863; 
 Henry Craven, of fever, at camp, near Falmouth, Va., Jan- 
 uary 22, 1863; Lewis M. Kates, killed in action at Freder- 
 icksburg, Va., December 13, 1862; James Nicholson, of 
 disease, at Emory U. S. Army General Hospital, Wash- 
 ington, D. C, November 5. 1862, buried at Military Asylum 
 Cemetery, D. C. ; Daniel B. Powell, at camp near Falmouth, 
 Va., December 22, 1862, wounds received in action at Fred- 
 ericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862; David Simpkins, of 
 disease, at camp near Fairfax Seminary, Va., November 19, 
 1862, buried at National Cemetery, Alexandria, Va., grave 
 1,600; Benjamin F. Sockwell, at Stanton U. S. Army Gen- 
 eral Hospital, Washington, D. C, February 5, 1863, 
 wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, Va., Decem- 
 ber 13, 1862; Ephraim L. Young, killed in action at Fred- 
 ericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862. 
 
 Job Dilks, of Company D, of Cedarville, because of 
 wounds received in action at Fredericksburg, had a leg am- 
 putated, and to the day of his death walked on crutches. 
 Second Lieutenant Joseph Bateman, of Company D, had a 
 remarkable experience at the battle of Fredericksburg, Vir- 
 ginia, December 13, 1862. About dusk the regiment was 
 ordered to take an advanced position in front of the fortifi- 
 cations on Marie's Heights. While lying on a little knoll 
 near the rebel works, in the midst of a heavy artillery fire 
 which opened on the Union troops very suddenly. Lieuten- 
 ant Bateman found that the two comrades who were with 
 him, Lewis Kates and Epliraim Young, had been killed by 
 
JIISTOUIC DAYS 
 
 his side, their bodies torn and mutilated by the Confederate 
 shot and shell. The slaughter was terrific, the surrounding 
 field being covered with wounded and dying men. 
 
 From Downe Township then extending from the Fair- 
 field line to Maurice River and the Cove, came First Lieu- 
 tenant Charles M. Pease with a delegation of stalwart young 
 men from Port Norris, Mauricetown and vicinity. They 
 enlisted in Company G, 24th New Jersey, Captain Hoag- 
 land and among the number was a fighting family of five 
 Ijrothers known as the Cobbs, as follows : Caleb Cobb, 
 Joseph W. Cobb, John W. Cobb, Jacob F. Cobb, Alfred S. 
 Cobb, the latter dying of fever at camp, near Chain Bridge, 
 Va., November 14th, 1862. The two McDaniels brothers 
 came with them, Charles McDaniels enlisting in Company 
 G, and Major McDaniels in Company F. Jacob C. Shinn, 
 of Company G, one of Port Norris's best citizens, after whom 
 "Shinn Post," Grand Army of the Republic was named, 
 was another patriot whom fate had willed should sleep in 
 an unknown grave. Missing in action at Fredericksburg, 
 Va., December 13th, 1862, is the record. Perhaps, in that 
 great cemetery on the heights of Marie by the side of the 
 Rappahannock, where the silent forms of 17,000 Union 
 soldiers slumber, 
 
 "On his grave the sunlight lingers. 
 
 And the silvery moonbeams fall, 
 There he sleeps far, far from kindred 
 
 Sleeps until the last great call." 
 
 From the eastern section of Downe came the Garrisons, 
 the Ladows, the Husteds, the Hines, the Orrs, the Trouts, 
 the Newcombs, the Gandys, the Blizzards, the Baileys, the 
 Corsons, and a host of others with brave Lieutenant William 
 B. Pepper. Several of these gallant sons of Downe left 
 their bones on Southern battlefields and returned not to 
 the families and the homes in which for many years there- 
 after loxing hearts liave waited and longed for a vision of 
 the departed. 
 
 (86) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— is'-.j 
 Group Company D, Twenty-fifth N. J. Reg. Ini. Vols. 
 Second Lieut. Joseph Bateman James W. Trenchard Henry Wallen 
 
 George A. Ogden Capt. Ethan T. Garretson Leonard R. Swing 
 
 Francis P. Riley William P. Sink Archibald Campbell 
 
 (S7J 
 
HISTORIC PAYS 
 
 Great days had preceded it in Eridgetoii, but Monday, 
 September 3d, 1862, surpassed all other days before or since 
 in the history of the town. Xever had such a patriotic out- 
 pouring of the people or such tremendous enthusiasm been 
 witnessed. It seemed as though every member of every fam- 
 ily was interested. The stars and stripes appeared on every 
 side, while the melody of the fife, stirring airs of the drums, 
 and the firing of cannon, woke Bridgeton at early dawn. 
 Stores were closed and business suspended while the volun- 
 teers were preparing for departure. Drawn up in double 
 column on the sidewalk in front of the famous old Davis 
 House, the companies presented a picture which it is un- 
 fortunate for posterity that the photographer's art has not 
 preserved. Splendidly officered were these bodies of fine 
 young men about to reinforce their fighting brothers in the 
 field. On the one hand was Lieutenant Robeson, handsome 
 and erect, a modest patriot, a model citizen, in a few 
 short weeks killed in action at Fredericksburg. Virginia, his 
 bones to be numbered among the unknown dead. On the 
 other hand stood stalwart Captain Hoagland, afterward to 
 be Judge of the Cumberland Courts ; lawyer Lieutenant 
 James J. Reeves ; editor Lieutenant Robert B. Potter ; Cap- 
 tain Samuel Harris fresh from the liattle of Caiiies' farm, 
 Virginia : Captain Henry Xef¥, scholar and patriot. Stand- 
 ing at rest each company received a stand of colors. Again 
 the tall form of Paul T. Jones arose and made a telling ad- 
 dress to the departing soldiery. Rev. James F. Brown, of 
 the First Baptist Church, and Hon. John T. Nixon made 
 earnest remarks, the latter presenting the flags. Responsive 
 speeches were made by Joel A. Fithian. in a short period to 
 be Major of the Twenty-fourth ; also by Captain James R. 
 Hoagland and Lieutenant James J. Reeves. How youthful 
 did the officers and men appear, mere boys as it were, going 
 at their country's call, brave and courageous. Especially did 
 this seem to be true of Lieutenant Alexander L. Robeson. 
 Mr. Robeson at the time of enlistment was a member of the 
 firm of Whitaker & Robeson, druggists, located on Com- 
 merce street, near Laurel, in an old-time brick building. He 
 
 (SS) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— IS ;ii 
 Five Patnot, c Cobb Brothers-Company G, Jlth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Johr, W. Cobb ^^^^^ p ^^^^ 
 
 Joseph W. Cobb ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^,f^^j S. Cobb 
 
 (f9) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 was a rising young business man, with a large circle of 
 friends, and much esteemed by his fellow-citizens. In a 
 word he was a gentleman "sans peur, et sans reproche," and 
 his untimely death at Fredericksburg brought sorrow to 
 many homes in Bridgeton. 
 
 The march from the Davis House to the West Jersey 
 Railroad depot on Irving avenue was an Ovation, and yet a 
 parade in sorrow. Wrapped in the arms of a mother, a 
 wife, a sister, it seemed as though the ties of afifection would 
 not be severed from the forms of those who w^ere taking 
 their last farewell of those so near and dear. The 
 scenes witnessed at the departure of the "Cumberland Greys" 
 and of "Company K" were being repeated, only on a larger 
 scale. Forebodings of disease, of wounds„ of death, were in 
 tlie minds of loved ones because of what had happened to 
 many of Cumberland County's sons in the battles so far 
 fought. Thus was the parting the more solemn, the more 
 tender, the more pathetic. 
 
 Time went on. The Twenty-fourth Regiment was 
 equipped, uniformed, and in the presence of the enemy be- 
 fore the heights of Marie on the Rappahannock. The battle 
 of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was fought December 13th and 
 14th, 1862. The weather was disagreeable. Early winter 
 had set in in gloom. General Ambrose E. Burnside, brave, 
 modest., but incompetent for great command was at the head 
 of the Army of the Potomac. Crossing the river on pon- 
 toons in the face of a murderous fire the three Bridgeton 
 companies advanced with their comrades and entered the 
 village of Fredericksburg. Inexperienced but heroic to the 
 core they fought from beginning to end. The roar of 
 cannon, the whistle of shell, the crash of musketry, the bay- 
 onet charge deterred them not. Through the blinding 
 smoke and the carnage of battle they followed the flag, bul- 
 let to bullet, steel against steel. Comrades fell around them 
 some dying instantly, others suffering with terrible wounds 
 while the life ])lood slowly ebbed away. In the lull of battle 
 the early moon hid its face behind the cloudy night as if 
 
 (90) 
 
THE DAVIS HOUSE, BRIDGETON 
 
 ls,v,— isi;.-, 
 
 Edmund Davis, Proprietor 
 
 (91) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 fearful of the bloody scenes on the earth below. Here and 
 there a soldier was praying for succor and help, and yet no 
 help save that alone which came from the Master whose pity- 
 ing eye and loving heart was ready to receive. If, per- 
 chance, some comrade 'mid the storm of grape and cannister 
 sought to rest the head of a dying friend upon his breast. 
 the forward, ever forward command prevented. The burial 
 of Sir Thomas Moore was re-enacted a thousand times on 
 Fredericksburg's fatal field. 
 
 "Slowly and sadly we laid them down ; 
 
 From the field of their fame fresh and gory, 
 We carved not a line ; we raised not a stone — 
 But left them alone in their glory." 
 
 From the field of death with its bloody repulse came 
 the retreat across the turbulent river. Safe on the other shore 
 the terrific cost of this unfortunate conflict was counted. The 
 aftermath of this and other battles is found in the cemetery 
 on Marie's heights where repose the bones of seventeen 
 thousand Union soldiers and among the known and un- 
 known dead are many members of the gallant companies 
 who left the dear old town of Bridgeton on that fair Sep- 
 tember morning. 
 
 Immediately after the battle on the Rappahannock Rob- 
 ert DuBois and Charles R. Elmer, together with Jeremiah 
 Dubois, full of interest and cliarity for those who were 
 baring their bosoms to the storm of death on Southern 
 fields, began inquiries in Washington and Virginia as to 
 the casualties occurring to our home companies. December 
 27, 1862, Robert DuBois and Charles R. Elmer returned to 
 Bridgeton with very sad news and a list of those killed and 
 wounded. In its issue of that date, the Chronicle said: 
 
 "At the time of going to press no news has been re- 
 ceived of Lieutenant Robeson who has been missing since 
 the battle of Fredericksburg. There is reason to suppose 
 that he has been taken prisoner and is now in the hands 
 of the rebels. The wound received by Lieutenant Reeves 
 is a flesh wound upon the left arm. painful though not dan- 
 
LIEUTENANTS IN BRIDGETON COMPANIES 
 
 Twenty-fourth New Jersey Inf. Vols. — isdj 
 
 Second Lieut. James J. Reeves, Co. H. First Lieut. Charles M. Pease. Co. G. 
 
 First Lieut. Alexander L. Robeson, Co. H. 
 Second Lieut. William B. Pepper, Co. F. Second Lieut. Robert B. Potter, Co. G, 
 
 (93) 
 
94 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 gerous. Captain Samuel Harris was severely shocked by 
 a shell. Lieutenant Robert B. Putter had a very narrow 
 escape. A ball striking- his watch glanced off and wadded 
 itself in a glove in his pocket. Tie was also knocked down 
 by a shell. Captain Hoagland is unhurt." 
 
 The town went wild mi the receipt of this news, 
 (ireat crowds gathered in fnmt of the Post Office, George 
 W. Johnson.^ Postmaster, office then located on Commerce 
 street, near the southeast corner of Laurel, listened to tele- 
 grams from Washington, clamored for letters from the ab- 
 sent soldiers, and packed the sidewalks, while some person 
 stood upon a dry goods box and read the lists of killed and 
 wounded from the columns oi the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 
 popular newspaper of war days. 
 
 The "Copperheads" were plentiful abnut this time with 
 their sneers and "I told you so"s," but the patriotic senti- 
 ment of the people soon asserted itself from bruised but 
 loyal hearts, and the war went on. 
 
 Then it was that the goofl President on his knees be- 
 fore God appealed for guidance in the nation's hour of bitter 
 Iroulile. 
 
 Air. Lincoln issued and concluded the Emancipation 
 Proclamation with the following eloquent passages: 
 
 "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves 
 within said designated States and parts of States are and 
 henceforth ^liall lie free. 
 
 ".\ud u])on this act, sincerely believed to be an act of 
 justice, warranted b\- the Constitution, upon military neces- 
 sity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the 
 gracious fa\or of Almightv God." 
 
 The wcH-ld wondered, and the black luau went free. 
 No more ;iuctiiin bl(H-k. no more separation of husband from 
 wife, ])arent from child, at the command of the brutal mas- 
 ter. The prayers of centuries which had gone up from the 
 humble cabins of the South were answered at last. "Halle- 
 lujah !" cried the manumiltcd freemen. "It is God and 
 Massa Lincoln. P.ress de Lord." 
 
IN CUMBERLAND CorNTV, NEW JERSEY 95 
 
 The Republican Congressional Convention met at 
 May's Landing, Atlantic County, and nominated John K. 
 Starr, of Camden, Hon. John T. Nixon, declining a re- 
 nomination. 
 
 Governor Charles S. Olden, who had endeared him- 
 self to the people of the State and the soldiers in the field. 
 was about to retire from office. The Republican State Con- 
 vention met at Trenton and named Marcus L. Ward as his 
 successor. The Democratic State Convention nominated 
 Joel Parker. The latter convention adopted a platform 
 which Governor Parker afterward told the writer, had two 
 meanings. Part of it read for a vigorous prosecution of 
 the war, the other portion read for peace. This was a di- 
 lemma, but "I straddled it," said the Governor, "and so 
 managed to please both the War and Peace Democrats that 
 I was elected all right." And as he said this there was a 
 twinkle in his eye and a broad snn'le on his handsome coun- 
 tenance. Joel Parker was elected, and proved an efficient 
 and loyal Governor for whom President Lincoln had great 
 respect. 
 
 Thursday, October 9, 1862, the Republican County 
 Convention met at the Court House, Bridgeton. Isaac 
 Sharpless was chosen chairman. Dr. Ephraim Bateman and 
 J. Edmund Sheppard were made secretaries. The conven- 
 tion proceeded immediately to business. Nominations being 
 declared in urder, Providence Ludlani, of Bridgeton, was 
 unanimously chosen as the candidate for State Senator. A 
 contest for the county clerkship which Mr. Ludlam was 
 about to vacate, developed. Theophilus G. Compton and J. 
 Edmund Sheppard were proposed. The ballot resulted in 
 35 votes for Compton, 14 votes for Sheppard. Mr. Comp- 
 ton was declared the unanimous choice of the convention 
 amid some excitement on the floor. Dr. B. Rush Bateman. 
 of Fairfield, was nominated for Assembly, First District ; 
 Edward \\'. iMaylin, of Millville, for .\ssembly. Second 
 District. For Coroners: James M. Riley, Cohansey; 
 
iiisrnKn nAVs 
 
 George W'oulfurd, Alilhille; Cliarles Madden, .Maurice 
 River. 
 
 Providence Ludlani. then in the prime of life, of fine 
 personal appearance, accepted the nomination in a brief 
 speecli. He was received with applause. Mr. Conipton 
 also appeared and accepted the nomination for County 
 Clerk, as did Dr. Eateman and RTr. Maylin for Assembly. 
 
 The Democratic Countv Ci;>nvention nominated 
 Ricliard Dott. of Bridg'eton, for Senator, and Dr. Joseph 
 C. Kirby. of Ilridgeton. for County Clerk. The canvass 
 was quiet, owing' to the great interest in the war. but there 
 was an occasional scrap between "Pro\ie" and the Demo- 
 cratic leaders. These debates generallv occurred in front 
 of the Da\'is House, and everv now and then were finished 
 before Edmund's bar where the "jack" went 'round, lend- 
 ing a mellow radiance to the asperities of the day. 
 
 The removal of General George B. McClellan from 
 the command nf the Arm\- of the Potomac occurred No- 
 vember lo, a few days after election, but the contemplation 
 of this act made the Democrats a little snappy, for they 
 loved "Little Mac" and looked upon him as the great 
 soldier of the war of wdiom the Republican administration 
 was jealous. Ludlam was always around to take up the 
 cudgel when Mr. Lincoln's conduct was attacked, and in 
 the verbal encounters with Ephraim Sheppard and 'Squire 
 Hughes whicli ensued, "Provie" usualh- came out on top. 
 
 The polls closed with the following result in the 
 county: For Governor, Marcus L. Ward, Republican, 322 
 majority over Joel Parker, Democrat; for Congress, John 
 F. Starr, Republican, 273 majority over Nathaniel Strat- 
 ton, Democrat ; for State Senator, Providence Ludlam, 
 Republican, 213 majorit)- o\-er Richard Lott. Democrat; 
 for County Clerk, Theophilus Compton, Republican, 299 
 majority over Joseph C. Kirby, Democrat; for Assembly 
 First District. Dr. B. Rush Bateman, Republican, 180 ma- 
 jority over Ezekiel M;iyhcw. Democrat; Second District, 
 
 (%) 
 
PROMINENT CITIZENS— lSi;l-lSi;5 
 Hon. Nathaniel Stratton Sherrard Sockwell Artis E. Hughes 
 
 Dr. Joseph C. Kirby Richard Lott 
 
 (97) 
 
98 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Edward W. Maylin, Republican, 74 majority over Andrew 
 H. McNeil, Democrat. The Republican Coroners were 
 elected by about 300 majority. 
 
 The victory was celebrated at the County Clerk's office 
 on Commerce street. "Provie" made a good speech, and 
 the boys tumbled over each other in the apple barrel and 
 made sad havoc with the crackers and cheese. 
 
 This was the campaign in which Richard Lott, the 
 Democratic candidate for State Senator, who kept the grist 
 mill near the Cumberlamd Iron Works, got rid of several 
 barrels of extra cjuality of flour famous as "Lett's Best." 
 Richard Lott was one of the leading citizens of Bridgeton, 
 and one of the best of men. He was a man of genial quali- 
 ties and good appearance, but had no knowledge of politics 
 and was completely outgeneraled by Ludlam from start 
 to finish. Mr. Lott in after years was wont to refer to the 
 contest with "Provie" as a campaign in which he seemed to 
 be doing well in his own neighborhood, but said he, "When 
 we got into Downe township it appeared as though every 
 other stump was a Republican." 
 
 In this canvass Nathaniel Stratton. of Millville, the 
 Democratic candidate for Congress, met his first defeat. 
 He had been Sheriff of Cumberland County and State Sena- 
 tor, filling both positions with credit. "Natty," as his fol- 
 lowers delighted to term him, was a man of impressive 
 appearance, dignified in bearing, and of genial manners. 
 His face smoothly shaven, he was a type of the good citizen 
 who fifty years ago was the .salt of the earth. The tem- 
 perance men made him Sheriff because of his ardent views 
 upon that great moral question, to which he adhered 
 through a long and useful life, his last honors terminating 
 with his career as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. 
 
 With the advent of Providence Ludlam to a seat in the 
 Senate of New Jersey, a great force was given to the leader- 
 ship of the Republican party in the Southern section of 
 the State. He rose rapidly, and by the end of his first ses- 
 sion was more influential than any member of the State 
 Senate previously sent from Cumberland County. 
 
IX cuMi;i;ui.A.\D couxiv, xi:\v iicKSKV 0') 
 
 The elections of 1862 were not encouraging to the 
 Union cause and the Republican Administration. New 
 York had elected Horatio Seymour, (loNcrnor: Ohio and 
 Indiana had gone back to the minority party which, through 
 its press and its public speakers, was ridiculing the party 
 in power and openly sympathizing with the enemy in the 
 field. The Vallandighams of the North were apparently 
 in the saddle. To crown the miseries of the situation Gen- 
 eral Burnside had fought and lost the battle of Fredericks- 
 burg. Not a rift appeared in the pall of darkness which 
 seemed to have settled over the country. In this hour of 
 national grief and depression, Mr. Lincoln, the devout 
 President, leaning upon the Higher Power, issued a procla- 
 mation setting apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, 
 as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. How 
 humble and yet how tender were the petitions set out in 
 that remarkable document. Never before in all history 
 had a great ruler so penitently placed himself and the fu- 
 ture of his country in the hands of his Lord and Master. It 
 rested upon the hearts of his countrymen with a gentle in- 
 fluence like unto the soft wind which, blowing upon the 
 land from the Pacific Ocean, is known as the "chinook" — a 
 breath from God. Said he : 
 
 "And inasmuch as we know that by His divine law 
 nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and 
 chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that 
 the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land 
 may be but a punishment upon us for our presumptuous 
 sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a 
 whole people ? We have been the recipients of the choicest 
 bounties of heaven ; we have been preserved these many 
 years in peace and prosperity ; we have grown in numbers, 
 wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But 
 we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious 
 hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and en- 
 riched and strengthened us, and we have vainlv imagined, 
 in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings 
 were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our 
 
 LOFC. 
 
lOO HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become 
 too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and 
 preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that 
 made us. 
 
 "It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the 
 offended power, to confess our national sins, and pray for 
 clemency and forgiveness." 
 
 The nation on its knees before God — such was Mr. 
 Lincoln's wish. It was answered from every hearth and 
 home in the land. The pulpit was eloquent with fervency — 
 the people prayed with tears, and as did Jacob of old, wres- 
 tled with the Lord until the break of day. 
 
 It was Peniel over again. Verily, the nation had seen 
 God face to face, and its life was preserv'ed. 
 
 Just a little more darkness, then there was to be light. 
 General Joe Hooker, successor to Burnside, fought the bat- 
 tle of Chancellorsville, May 3 and 4, 1863, and was re- 
 pulsed. The Confederates suffered a serious loss, however, 
 in the death of Stonewall Jackson, one of their best au'J 
 most skillful leaders. 
 
 The result at Chancellorsville so encouraged General 
 Robert E. Lee, the Confederate commander, that he began 
 an advance through Maryland into Pennsylvania with the 
 object of carrying the war into the North. 
 
 Early in June the Bridgeton companies enlisted in the 
 nine months regiments returned home because of expiration 
 of their temi of service. They had bravely fought in the 
 two great battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. 
 With depleted ranks they received a royal welcome and 
 the plaudits of the people. 
 
 July I, 2 and 3 the great decisive battle of Gettysburg, 
 Pa., was fought. For three days 160,000 men were en- 
 gaged in mortal combat. When the sun went down on the 
 evening of the third day 57,000 men lay upon the field, 
 killed and wounded, 39 per cent, of the two armies whose 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY lOI 
 
 Utmost strength liad been fully tested in that awful en- 
 counter. Six hundred cannon on the Union side alone vol- 
 lied and thundered. Campbell's description of Hohenlinden 
 was eclipsed — 
 
 "Then shook the hills with thunder riven. 
 Then rushed the steed to battle driven, 
 And louder than the bolts of heaven 
 Far trashed the red artillery." 
 
 Down the declivity from Seminary Ridge, through the 
 open fields, came Pickett's splendid division of brave Con- 
 federates. By double platoons, column upon column, as 
 numerous as the leaves of the forest. The glistening bay- 
 onets of the Confederate host shone brighth' in the Summer 
 sun. Flags flying, bands playing, bravely forward they 
 marched. Xot a sound stirred the air, while the column ad- 
 vanced nearer and nearer. Face to face with the Union 
 position, the solemn stillness was broken by the sound of 
 battle. From behind the stone wall rose the Union line, 
 and poured a deadly fire into the gray breasts of the oncom- 
 ing foe. Infantry and cavalry joined in the onslaught 
 — musketry and sabre crasherl, lunged and parried, while 
 "furious everv charger neighed to join the dreadful revelry." 
 
 The gallant columns melted away again and again, 
 immediately to return the charge, only to at last disappear 
 in the debris and carnage of that Satanic field. 
 
 With Schiller- 
 Nearer thev close — foes upon foes, 
 "Ready" — from square to square it goes, 
 Down on the knee they sank, 
 And the fire comes sharp from the foremost rank — 
 Many a man to the earth it sent. 
 Many a gap by the balls is rent — 
 O'er the corpse before springs the hinder-man. 
 That the line may not fail to the fearless van. 
 To the right, to the left, and wherever ye gaze. 
 Goes the Dance of Death in its whirling maze 
 God's sunlight is quenched in the fiery fight. 
 Over the hosts falls a broading Xight ! 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 T\vilig-ht deepened. The rain came duwn in a pitiless 
 shower upon the upturned faces of the countless dead and 
 their wounded comrades. Darkness fell with the Union 
 Anny resting upon its amis, uncertain as to with whose 
 eagles the victory rested, waiting patiently for the coming 
 day. 
 
 The morning dawns — it was the glorious Fourth of 
 July. Far away in the distance Lee's mutilated regiments 
 were disappearing through the mists of the South Moun- 
 tains. The Confederate prestige was broken, never to be 
 restored — the war for the Union was not a failure. 
 
 "The charge, the dreadful cannonade, 
 The din and shout are passed — " 
 
 The wheat field, the peach orchard. Cemetery Hill and 
 Round Top are red with the blood of patriots. Precious 
 blood ! Glorious victory ! Historic field — Mecca for the com- 
 ing generations. 
 
 On a sunny slope of the great battlefield at Gettys- 
 burg, Pa., stands a granite monument in memory of the 
 heroic deeds performed there on the 2d and 3d days of July, 
 1863, by the Twelfth New Jersey Regiment, Infantry, Vol- 
 unteers. This monument, located on the Gettysburg Road, 
 now called Round Top Avenue, is of durable stone, twelve 
 feet, six inches in height. It is in the centre of the position 
 of the regiment as occupied on those eventful days. The 
 base of the monument is four feet, eight inches square, and 
 two feet high. The suli-base is three feet, eight inches 
 square and eighteen inches high, and contains this inscrip- 
 tion : "Second Brigade, Third Division, Second Corps," on 
 three sides. The die is two feet, eight inches square, by four 
 feet, ten inches, in height, polished on the two faces fronting 
 Round Top Avenue, inscribed as follows : 
 
 'In memory of the men of the Twelfth Regiment New 
 Jersey Infantry, A'olunteers, who fell upon tliis field, July 
 
 (102) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES^l.'^l'..;-1^li'' 
 Offi;ers Twelfth Regiment New Jersey Inf. Vo's. 
 
 Col. J. Howard Willetts ^ „ .. 
 
 Lieut -Col R.chard S Thompson Majo^ W.mam E^ Potter 
 
 Lieut -Col Edward M DuBois ^ ^ Capt. hrank M. Kuey 
 
 Regimental Monument at Gettysburg. Pa. 
 
 (103) 
 
104 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 2d and 3, 1863, and who elsewhere died under the flag, this 
 nionument is dedicated by their surviving comrades as an 
 example to future generations." On the second face: 
 
 "Buck and Ball, 
 Calibre .69." 
 
 "This regiment made two separate charges on the Bliss 
 Barn, and captured it." 
 
 On the base there is also a picture in bronze of the 
 charge upon the Bliss Barn. The capstone is surmounted 
 by a pedestal, upon which is a representation of the missiles 
 so efifectively used by the regiment in repelling the charge of 
 the enemy — buck and ball. 
 
 In addition to this beautiful monument, the Twelfth 
 New Jersey Regiment also has a marker near the site of the 
 Bliss Barn. This marker is a massive piece of granite, ten 
 feet, three inches in height; three feet, nine inches wide, 
 and two feet tliick, extending intn the ground five feet, and 
 weighing about eight tons. On the top of this marker are 
 two carved crossed bayonets and corps badge, and "12th N. 
 J. Vols." in raised letters. On the front is the following in- 
 scription : 
 
 "Erected by the State of New Jersey. 1888, in honor 
 of the Twelfth Regiment of Volunteers, a detachment of 
 which, in the afternoon of July 2, 1863. charged the Bliss 
 house and barn here, capturing the enemy's reserve of seven 
 ofTicers and eighty-five men stationed therein." 
 
 On the rear of the tablet is the following: 
 
 "On the morning of July 3d, another detachment of 
 the regiment cliarged, capturing the buildings, one officer 
 and one man, and driving back the skimiish reserve. The 
 regiment lost in their charges sixty officers and men." 
 
 Thus, in enduring granite, is told the story of the gal- 
 lant work of one of the best New Jersey regiments, in the 
 most tremendous struggle of the Civil War. It was here 
 that it met the Confederate General Pettigrew"s onslaught 
 in the advance known as Pickett's charge, and stood like 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY IO5 
 
 a solid rock — a barrier for the Union. The strength of the 
 regiment, on the 2d day of July, was about four hundred 
 men. It was armed with the Springfield smooth-bore mus- 
 ket, calibre .69, a terrible weapon at close range. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel William E. Potter, in his address at Gettysburg, 
 on the dedication of the monument, May 26th, 1886, said' 
 that: "The men were young, well disciplined, of respectable 
 parentage, in comfortable circumstances, and almost solely 
 of native birth. In the entire regiment, as originally mus- 
 tered — one thousand strong — there were but seventy-two 
 men of foreign nativity, and these were, almost without ex- 
 ception, faithful soldiers. The men had the confidence of 
 their officers, who were, in turn, very generally trusted and 
 respected by their men. The usual cartridge of the bpring- 
 field musket carried a large ball and three buckshot, but 
 many of the men, while awaiting tlie enemy's advance, had 
 opened their boxes and prepared special cartridges of from 
 ten to twenty-five buckshot alone. It was the only regiment 
 in the division bearing the arms mentioned, and I doubt 
 whether anywhere upon that field a more destructive fire 
 was encountered than blazed forth from its front." 
 
 Part of this regiment, composed of such splendid native 
 fighting material, was Company K, enlisted at Bridgeton, 
 the shire town of Cumberland County, New Jersey. Be- 
 hind a stone wall, which in the Gettysburg country sepa- 
 rated the farms from the road, which ran a distance of about 
 three hundred and fifty yards, serving as a line fence. Gen- 
 eral Smvth's Brigade of tlie Second Corps lay, with the 
 Twelfth New Jersey on the right, the First Delaware to the 
 left, the Fourteenth Connecticut next. As Generals Petti- 
 grew and Armistead, of Pickett's Division, moved upon 
 the Union line with magnificent front. Company K, made 
 up of the honest yoemanry of Cumberland County, of whose 
 brilliant action on the historic field at Gettysburg history 
 has made no mistake, waited upon the ground for the word 
 of command to fire. When the order rang out, the boys 
 from Cumberland joined with their comrades in withering 
 
io6 TnsTr)Ric days 
 
 volleys of buck and ball into the faces of the advancing foe. 
 Three times did Pickett's Division advance, only to recede 
 with decimated ranks. Column on column of Confederates 
 had gone to their death before the deadly fusilade of shot 
 and shell from the Union line; the field ran red with blood, 
 the dead and dying lay in row upon row, as far as the eye 
 could reach when the lifted smoke gave opportunity to ob- 
 serve the dreadful scene. As the assault continued, one gal- 
 lant Confederate in the van of the assaulting column placed 
 his foot upon the stone wall, bravely carrying the Confeder- 
 ate colors. He was a niemlier of General Pettigrew's Divi- 
 sion, and a stalwart Xorth Carolinian, and it is the testimony 
 of the living remnant of Company K to-day — about thirty in 
 number, now, with whom the writer has long had personal 
 acquaintance — that to the soldiers of North Carolina, under 
 the gallant Pettigrew, belongs the honor and glory of hav- 
 ing gone farthest into the Union lines at Gettysburg — a 
 credit that has often been denied them by writers whose 
 hasty productions have done gross injustice to the brave men 
 from the old North State, who in many battles of the Civil 
 War brought victory to the Confederate arms on fields which 
 might otherwise have been lost. The New Jersev soldiers 
 who met the soldiers of North Carolina on that bloody 
 field, face to face, rememlier their sterling qualities as 
 American soldiers on the wroncj side of a erreat issue ; Imt, 
 nevertheless, .Americans still. 
 
 The afternoon of July 2d, 1863, at Gettysburg, brought 
 still greater honors to the Twelfth Regiment. Tlic five 
 centre companies were ordered to charge the Bliss bar';, 
 which stood in the open field, some distance from the stone 
 wall. The barn was occupied by Confederate sharpshoot- 
 ers, who were picking off the Union soldiers wherever a 
 head appeared. In this charge. Captain Frank M. Riley, 
 of Bridgeton, then in command of Company F, took an im- 
 portant part, bravely leading his men to the attack. The 
 assault was successful, the barn captured, and a large 
 number of prisoners taken. The companies were soon 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY lO/ 
 
 obliged to abandon tbe barn, and fall back with their prison- 
 ers to the stone wall again, owing to a heavy Confederate 
 fire. On the morning of July 3d, a second charge of the re- 
 maining five companies of the regiment was ordered. This 
 charge was gallantly led by Captain Richard S. Thompson, 
 of Company K, Bridgeton. The barn was again captured, 
 and a few more prisoners taken. The Confederates rallied 
 and began to surround the barn, when the companies fell 
 back to the stone wall. When the order to retire rang out, 
 Sergeant Aaron Teriy. of Company K, a native of Downe 
 Township, Cumberland County, a noble fellow, and Private 
 John J. Boone, of Company A, were engaged in firing from' 
 the main floor above the basement, in which they had got 
 comfortably fixed. They immediately returned to the base- 
 ment of the barn to rejoin their comrades, when they found 
 themselves alone. Their fellow-soldiers were nearly back 
 to their old position on the Emmettsburg Road. A line of 
 Confederates perhaps seventy-five yards long could be seen 
 behind a fence on each side of the field through which 
 Terry and Boone must pass to reach safety in the Union 
 lines. A glance disclosed the fact that they must run for 
 their lives or submit to capture. Accordingly, they started 
 for the Union position on a double-quick. The attention 
 of the Confederates being on the main body of Federals 
 which had just escaped them, they did not discover the two 
 Jerseymen until they were about two-thirds of the way 
 through their lines. Then suddenly came the challenge, 
 sharp and short: "Halt, you Yankees!" But the command 
 was not obeyed. It only added fleetness to the sprinters. 
 Bullets flew like hail 'round and about the runners, whist- 
 ling about their ears, striking the ground in every direction, 
 but neither Terry nor Boone were hit. Fortune had favored 
 them, and they arrived safely at the position occupied by 
 their comrades at the stone wall, very happy over their 
 close escape from death. That night, however, Sergeant 
 Terry was captured on the picket line, and his heroic soul 
 departed this life of disease and starvation at the Confeder- 
 ate prison, Andersonville, Georgia. The casualties in Com- 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 pany K during the two sanguinary days at Gettysburg 
 were: Killed — Simon W. Creamer, Henry S. Sockwell ; 
 wounded — Daniel H. Carman (wdio afterwards died at Field 
 Hospitrd), William 11. Dickson. Charles H. Simpkins, 
 Bloomfield Spencer, Samuel Tomlinson ; missing — Aaron 
 Terry, Thomas C. Galloway. Theophilus Sutton. 
 
 Many were the gallant deeds performed by members 
 of Company K at Gettysburg, and many were the hair- 
 breadth escapes from instant death. Each member took meri- 
 torious part in that fiercest contest of the war. and to each 
 and all belongs the meed of praise for patriotic service well 
 done — a recortl of which the Cduntv of Cumberland will be 
 verv proud thnnighciut the generations which are to come. 
 
 Late telegrams brought to the good people of the town 
 of Bridgeton great news in the early afternoon and even- 
 ing of July 4th, 1863. The telegrams posted in front of 
 the Post Office said that the rebel General Pemberton had 
 surrendered the fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Gen- 
 eral Grant, with 3-', 000 prisoners and 200 cannon, and thai 
 General Robert E. Lee, with the Confederate Army of 
 Northern Virginia, had been disastrously defeated in a three 
 days" fight at Gettysburg, Pa., and was on the retreat, 
 General George G. Meade, witli the Army of the Potomac, 
 having killed, wounded and taken ]jrisoners 35,000 of the 
 Confederates. 
 
 The first telegram read as follows : 
 
 "W.\R Dep.\rtment. 
 Washington, July 4, 1863, 10 A. M. 
 The President announces to the country that news from 
 the Army of the Potomac, up to 10 o'clock P. M. of the 3d, 
 is such as to cover th;it army with the highest honor, to 
 promise a great success in the cause of the Lhiion. and to 
 claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen ; and 
 that for this he specially desires that on this day He whose 
 will, not ours, should e\'er be done, be everywhere remem- 
 bered and e\er re\erenced w ith profoundest gratitude. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 (lOH) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— ISlH-l'Ifi 
 Group Company K. Twelfth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 Thomas S. Green 
 
 Serg. Charles S. Padgett 
 George Laws George McHenry Samuel H, Tomlinson 
 
 Thomas H. Conover 
 
 (109) 
 
no HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 No sooner liad the news arrived than the bell on Gross- 
 cup's Hall began to ring vigorously. The melodious bells 
 on the First Presbyterian Church Session House, the Second 
 Presbyterian Church, the West Jersey Academy, joined in 
 the tumult, and far and near rang out peals of victory. Hie 
 old six-pounder, which had done good service in celebra- 
 tions of by-gone years, was brought out and fired a salute 
 on the banks of the Cohansey. The fire engines "]\Iinerva" 
 and "Bridgeton." old-time hand vehicles, appeared from the 
 hose house on the Cumberland Xail and Iron Works- 
 grounds, near Lott's Mill, and, with a long line of men and 
 boys attached to the ropes, ran through Commerce Street 
 with a clatter of fire bells and a rattle of cheers which, 
 set the town wild. The local brass band came out. 
 and added to the hurrah by discoursing patriotic mu- 
 sic. The old-time drum corps. Lot Loper, Jerry 
 Maul, Jerry Roray, with the fife; and Lev. Bond, Eddie 
 Crozier, Crockett Loper. and every man of the town 
 who could handle drum sticks, came down Laurel Hill 
 with a "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia" that made 
 other forms of music pale into insignificance. Whistles and 
 horns screamed and tooted. Bands of citizens sang upon the 
 streets all the patriotic airs of the war time, chief among 
 which was the familiar "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys, 
 Rally Once Again, Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom !" 
 Thousands of men, women and children, paraded the streets 
 until the small hours. Stirring speeches were made from 
 dry goods boxes at the corner of Commerce and Laurel' 
 streets by excited patriots. In front of the old Davis House 
 the sidewalk was impassable. From the great crowds, aug- 
 mented every moment by large numbers of farmers from 
 the adjacent townships, who, having heard rumors of the 
 good news, hastened by horseback and every form of vehicle 
 to join in the festivities at the county seat, cheer upon cheer 
 went up to the heavens. At Edmund's bar the health of 
 Generals Grant and ^Meade was repeatedly drunk from brim- 
 ming glasses, and the bravery of the soldiers in the field 
 lauded in excited huzzahs. Flags and red fire flecorated and' 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NKW jr.RSEV III 
 
 illuminated the residences on every hand. He wiio did not 
 produce the Stars and Stripes was looked upon as a traitor. 
 Glorious night! Happy people! 
 
 Next day the Philadelphia papers arrived, with start- 
 ling headlines and graphic accounts of the great victories 
 secured on the anniversary of the American Fourth of July, 
 Gettysburg and Vicksburg, both on the same day. The par- 
 ticulars of the Vicksburg surrender, however, seemed to 
 cheer the nation even more than that at Gettysburg. One 
 of the papers — the Phila. Inquirer, which was the journal 
 that had a wide circulation in Bridgeton — gave pen-picture 
 sketches of the scenes attending the surrender of the rebels. 
 Among other things, it said that before noon of the preced- 
 ing day Grant and Sherman's armies, about 70,000 strong, 
 filed into the streets of the city and hoisted the Stars and 
 Stripes over the Court House. The soldiers made the wel- 
 kin ring with shouts and cheers, singing the battle cry of 
 freedom. One of the Wisconsin regiments, the Eighth, 
 famous for its fighting qualities, carried with it an eagle 
 which had been with the regiment in the thickest of the fight, 
 in many battles. The war-eagle was known as "Old-Abe." 
 Seated on the stai¥-head of the old flag, borne by the color 
 guard, in advance of Grant's columns, into the captured 
 city, "Old Abe" flapped his wings and screamed his joy to 
 the great delight of the marching soldiers. 
 
 July 15th, in the midst of the national rejoicing, the 
 great President, whose faith always rested in God, again 
 appealed to the nation, setting apart Thursday, the 6th day 
 of August, 1863, as a day for national thanksgiving, praise 
 and prayer "to the Divine Majesty, for the wonderful things 
 He has done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the influence 
 of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced 
 and so long sustained a needless and cruel I'ebellion, to 
 change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels 
 of the Government witli wisdom adequate to so great a 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 national emergency, and to visit with tender care and con- 
 solation, throughout the length and breadth of our land, all 
 those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, 
 battles and sieges, have been brought to suffer, in mind, 
 body or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation through 
 the paths of repentance and sulimission to the divine will 
 back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace." 
 The puissant arm of the nation had won great victories 
 on land and sea ; the eagles of the army shone with the re- 
 fulgence of the triumphs achieved on the soil of Pennsyl- 
 vania, red with the blood of heroes; by the banks of the 
 ^Mississippi, and on the waters of the rivers which ran to 
 the sea. Peans of earthly victories filled the air. Then, with 
 meekness and humility, Abraham Lincoln, colossal figure, 
 called the nation from festivity to duty. He pointed them to 
 God — that God without whose help nations must fall, with 
 whose favor nations stand, prosijerous. victorious. 
 
 The Democratic majority in the New jersey Legis- 
 lature, during the month of January, 1863, at a time when 
 the national horizon was depressed and disturbed because of 
 the failure of the Union commanders to bring the Confed- 
 erate armies to defeat, set on foot a scheme which they im- 
 agined would secure peace between the sections. Accord- 
 ingly, the Senator from Hudson County, Mr. Randolph, 
 introduced a document for the consideration of the State 
 Senate, afterward known as the "Peace Resolutions." The 
 substance of this treasonable proposition was : "That the 
 Legislature should appoint a Commission to go to Richmond 
 to see upon what terms the rebels will make peace, and ask- 
 ing President Lincoln to furnish them safeguards for the 
 journey." 
 
 Mr. Scudder. Chairman of the Committee on Federal 
 Relations, reported the resolutions favorably. 
 
 Mr. Ludlam, Senator froin Cumberland County, of- 
 fered a substitute, the third section of which read as fol- 
 lows: 
 
PROMINENT ClTIZENS-,^r,,-^s.. ^^^^_^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^ 
 George B. Cooper ^^^ ^ ^^^^^ Sheppard ^^^^^^ ^ j, ^ppelgate 
 Thomas Corson ^jj^j 
 
114 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 "Be it Resolved, That we are opposed to all proposi- 
 tions for peace as a cessation of hostilities or to compromise, 
 unless the rebels laj' down their arms, and acknowledge the 
 rightful government of the United States, and return to an 
 obedience of the laws, on a common level with all the States 
 under the Constitution as our forefathers made it. 
 
 "That we extend to our bra\"e Jerseymen who have left 
 their hdmes to battle for the Government, all praise and 
 honor for the noble manner in which they have upheld the 
 old flag, and promise that by no act of ours shall the blush 
 of shame be made to mantle their cheeks." 
 
 In the House of Assembly, Dr. Benjamin Rush Bate- 
 man, of Cumberland, offered a resolution bearing upon the 
 peace propositions and the objections which the Democrats 
 were then making to the use of colored men as volunteers 
 in the army and navy, to wit. : 
 
 "That, as General Washington did never disdain the 
 services of persons of color in the War of the Revolution, 
 and as Andrew Jackson, at the defence of New Orleans, like- 
 wise invited them to his standard, and after the battle had 
 been won did issue to them a splendid address, in which he 
 thanked them for their efficient services, therefore, the Presi- 
 dent has done well to follow the precedent established by 
 the Father of his Country, and by the idol of the Democracy, 
 in summoning to the help of tlie Union all who love their 
 country." 
 
 Mr. Ludlam's substitute was rejected by the Senate, as 
 was Dr. Bateman's resolutions in the House, by strict party 
 votes, the Democrats having majorities in both Houses. 
 
 Wednesday, the 25th day of February. 1863. the reso- 
 lutions were discussed by Mr. Randolph, Senator from Hud- 
 son ; Mr. Chandler, Senator from Morris ; Mr. Buckley, Sen- 
 ator from Passaic : ^Nlr. Ludlam. Senator from Cumberland. 
 
 In his remarks, among other excellent things. Senator 
 Ludlam said : 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY II5 
 
 "For nineteen months after their attack on Fort Sumter 
 we protected their slaves and other property. I am person- 
 ally acquainted with volunteers from my own county, who 
 went at the first call for three years' men, who stood in the 
 winter of 1862 shoe-top deep in mud night after night, pro- 
 tecting rebel property, and to keep their slaves from running 
 into our lines ; and all the thanks they got for it was to be 
 insulted in the morning as a return, or by information sent 
 by these scoundrels to the rebel pickets of their whereabouts, 
 then to be shot like dogs as they stood at their posts ; and 
 this, as I said before, for nineteen months, through summer's 
 heat and winter's cold, through hunger and thirst, sickness, 
 and the death of many a noble heart. * * * * 
 
 "The object of the war is the maintenance of the Gov- 
 ernment, tiie object of these resolutions is the restoration of 
 a party to power and to effect that object, it exposes the 
 Government to destruction, and declares that they prefer the 
 supremacy of a party to the supremacy of the Government. 
 
 "I expect to stand by the Government, let who will ad- 
 minister it, until this war is over, and all such resolutions as 
 these are illtimed and out of place. Our business now as 
 loyal citizens is the putting down armed rebellion, and giv- 
 ing the Government all the support in our power — not to as- 
 sist our enemies in striking it down by showing up every 
 aspect and gloating over every mishap or mistake in judg- 
 ment which the Government or the commanders of our 
 armies may make. That is not the way we want a true and 
 trustful friend to act towards us and it is not tlie way he 
 would act, if he was a true friend, and had our welfare at 
 heart. I cannot vote for these resolutions offered by the 
 (Democratic) majority of the committee; and I hope, for 
 the credit of the State of New Jersey and her 30,000 sons 
 who are now on the battlfield, that no Senator will vote for 
 them." 
 
 Brave Senator Ludlam ! Words fitly spoken at a proper 
 time, yet of no avail ! The resolutions passed, all the Demo- 
 crats voting for them. 
 
Il6 HISTORIC UAVS 
 
 When the news of the passage of the traitorous Peace 
 Resolutions reached the Army of the Potomac, the soldier? 
 of New Jersey were indignant. The Twenty-fourth New 
 Jersey Regiment, encamped not tar from the recent battle 
 field of Fredericksburg, prepared a protest. At a meeting 
 held Thursday, April 2d, the regiment, without arms, was 
 formed in Imlldw square on the plaza in front of the 
 Colonel's niar(|ue. After an appropriate prayer by the good 
 chaplain, W'illiam Stockton, the meeting organized by call- 
 ing Colonel William B. Robertson to the chair. Surgeon 
 Dr. William L. Newell was made secretary. On motion, the 
 following officers were named a committee to draft a set 
 of resolutions e.xpressing the sense of the meeting: Captain 
 Augustus Sailer, Surgeon William L. Newell, Lieutenant 
 Robert B. Potter, Lieutenant James J. Reeves, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Frank L. Knight. This committee reported a series 
 of patriotic and denunciatory resolutions of the action of the 
 New Jersey Legislature. 
 
 Surgeon Newell, Lieutenants Wilkins, Reeves. Potter 
 and Bartine, of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, addressed the 
 meeting in favor of the adoption of the resolutions. Captain 
 Richard S. Thompson, of Company K. Twelfth New Jersey 
 Regiment, and Lieutenant William E. Potter, of the same 
 company and regiment, then Ordnance Officer on the stafif 
 of General French, also spoke. Colonel Robertson ad- 
 dressed the meeting in an excellent speech. Chaplain Stock- 
 ton in his remarks touched the hearts of all present by an elo- 
 quent allusion to "the old Independence Bell" in Philadel- 
 phia, sending its voice as to these resolutions, to all the 
 land and the inhabitants thereof. 
 
 The speeches were patriotic and eloquent expressions 
 from the hearts of the loval Terseymen who wore the blue. 
 
 Doctor William L. Newell, surgeon of the regiment, of 
 Millville, Cumberland County, a man of distinguished per- 
 sonal appearance. Democratic by birth and training, deliv- 
 ered one of the most impressive speeches made on that mem- 
 orable dav. Standing on the soil of Virginia, made sacred 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY IIJ 
 
 by tlie blood of Lieutenant Robeson and thousands of his 
 comrades, who had come to early graves because of armed 
 treason now confronting tliem, with uncovered head, in the 
 presence of this splendid regiment, with the starry heavens 
 as a canopy, the Doctor said : 
 
 "It is an old story, and a true one, and I here repeat 
 it. that this is the best Government on God's earth; and, as 
 such, who is not proud of such a structure? But her flag 
 has been assailed, and we are here to avenge her honor. 
 This country is writhing in civil war, a condition greatly to 
 be deplored. But what is it to be, the inheritance of a free 
 and independent nation we are, or are not to leave our chil- 
 dren? If we are to be a free, united and happy people, there 
 is but one single, plain and comprehensive course to pursue, 
 and that is to stand by the Government in her offorts to 
 overthrow the most gigantic rebellion the world ever knew. 
 There is one effectual way to support the Government, and 
 I heartily recommend it to the misguided State from whence 
 we come. There is a doctrine, or maxim, rather, to which 
 the lamented Douglass gave force, that 'who is not for the 
 Government is against us,' and I now declare that such men 
 as are against us in this struggle have no business in our 
 midst, and were I a member of a legalized body, I would 
 vote for a law which would send every Southern sympathizer 
 inside the Southern lines, and appropriate their property for 
 Government use." 
 
 This, the substance of the Doctor's speech, was received 
 with great applause. 
 
 The youthful Lieutenant William E. Potter (to be 
 known later on as Colonel), with serious countenance and 
 impressive gestures, then addressed the regiment, a few brief 
 sentences of which are here appended : 
 
 "You wish, fellow-soldiers, if I understand the object 
 of this meeting, to stigmatize as traitors those men at home 
 who, while pretending to represent the sentiments of the 
 people, are endeavoring to commit our State to some act of 
 svmpathy towards the rebellion which is striving to over- 
 
Il8 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 throw the republic. And, standing where you do to-day, 
 by your voices and your votes, you proclaim, as with tones 
 of a clarion, unto the people of New Jersey that it is to you 
 a matter of regret and shame that, while you are enduring 
 the perils and sufferings of war, and while, alas! the ac- 
 cursed soil of Virginia is even now dotted with the nameless 
 graves of Jerseymen who have already fallen in defence of 
 our national life, that these traitors at home should be striv- 
 ing to outstrip each other in their haste to throw themselves 
 at the feet of the slave power, and to kiss the hands which 
 are stained with the blood of their brethren." 
 
 Enthusiastic was the applause at the conclusion of Lieu- 
 tenant Potter's eloquent periods. 
 
 Lieutenant James J. Reeves was loudly applauded in 
 the sentiment expressed in the following paragraph : 
 
 "I cannot let the occasion pass without saying a word 
 in favor of the resolutions. I think they will accomplish a 
 two-fold purpose in awakening a stronger sentiment of 
 loyalty among the friends of the Government at home, and 
 of striking terror to the hearts of the secret enemies who, 
 from partisan motives, are doing all that lies in their power 
 to embarrass and resist its efforts to suppress the rebellion 
 and restore the Union. The lips could not give utterance to 
 language too strong in denunciation of these contemptible 
 'Peace Resolutions' of our notorious Legislature. Though 
 they purported to be the voice and view of the people, they 
 were but the exponents of the sentiments of men in open 
 sympathy with traitors, and it is our duty as Jerseymen and 
 Jersey soldiers openly to rebuke such a spirit of disloyalty." 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted by a chorus 
 of ayes, and amid the cheers of the entire regiment. 
 
 April 25th, 1863, the attached item appeared in the col- 
 umns of the Bridgeton Chronicle : 
 
 "Charge of Kimball's Brigade at the Battle of Fred- 
 ericksburg." is the title of a handsome lithograph from a 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 1 19 
 
 sketch by John G. Keyser, of the Twenty-fourth New Jer- 
 sey Regiment, which took such an active part in the en- 
 gagement. This regiment being composed principally of 
 men from this section of the State will give additional in- 
 terest to the handsomely gotten up scene. Mr. G. W. John- 
 son, at the Bridgeton Post Office, and Mr. Jacob Kienzle 
 have copies of it for sale." 
 
 Artist John G. Keyser was a private in the Twenty- 
 fourth New Jersey Regiment, and made several sketches of 
 camp and battle scenes during his term of service. Born in 
 Germany, he was a typical son of the Rhine country, loving 
 his pipe and glass of Bock. Two of his sketches have be- 
 come historical. One, a painting of the "Departure of the 
 Cumberland Greys on the Steamer Patuxent," the other 
 known as "Campaign Sketches of the Twenty-fourth Regi- 
 ment, New Jersey Volunteers, 1862." Keyser was a brave 
 comrade and a good fellow. After fifty years of residence in 
 the United States, he returned to Germany, at the request of 
 a sister, and resided with her until his death. He deceased 
 at an advanced age, and, until within a few months of his 
 end, wrote to friends in Bridgeton, among whom was the 
 writer. His last letter breathed a prayer for America, which 
 he said he loved above all other lands, and he longed to re- 
 turn to it previous to death. His wish was not gratified, but 
 on the margin of the letter he said: "Isaac, my friend, here 
 is to the Star Spangled Banner; long may it wave," a pa- 
 thetic, patriotic farewell. 
 
 The Union men of the North began to organize them- 
 selves into societies for the promotion of the cause which 
 they had so much at heart. In all the large cities the move- 
 ment had made rapid progress. New York and Philadel- 
 phia organized Union Leagues, which survive to this day. 
 They did, and are still doing, a great work for the nation 
 whenever in moments of depression and peril the national 
 life and honor are assailed. 
 
 The Union League was a secret organization, which the 
 Democrats denounced as contrary to the spirit of our insti- 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 tutions, and the public speakers of that party made the 
 League the object of very bitter attacks, as did also the 
 Democratic press. 
 
 The initiatory ceremonies of the Union League were de- 
 void of ritualism, modest in form, and of a beautiful, patri- 
 otic character. Candidates were conducted to the altar, upon 
 which was draped the folds of the American flag, and. with 
 the crimson incense of red fire surrounding them, allegiance 
 to the Government was sworn in a simple oath dedicatory of 
 the life, honor and means of the candidate to the great work 
 of saving and preserving the Union — just such an obliga- 
 tion as the Revolutionary Fathers took when they attached 
 their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Saturday evening, Alarch 2ist, 1863, a meeting of 
 Union men was held in Grosscup's Hall, Bridgeton, and the 
 first League organized in Cumberland County. Adrian Bate- 
 man called the assemblage to order. Hon. John T. Xixon 
 was made President ; Charles E. Elmer, Adrian Bate- 
 man, Vice Presidents; John S. Mitchell, Secretary. David 
 McBride. Stephen G. Porch, Charles E. Elmer, Alphonso 
 Woodruff. Adrain Bateman were appointed by the chair a 
 committee to draft a constitution for the League. 
 
 The Committee reported a constitution setting forth 
 the objects of the League, providing for the manner of or- 
 ganization, etc. Second section of the constitution read: 
 "The primary object of this League is, and shall be, to bind 
 together all loyal men, of all trades and professions, in a 
 common union, to maintain the power, glory and integrity 
 of the nation, and to discountenance and rebuke by moral and 
 social influences all disloyalty." 
 
 Two hundred persons signed the roll of membership 
 at this meeting. Hon. John T. Xixon and Paul T. 
 Jones spoke eloquently on the merits and purposes of the or- 
 ganization, but the speech of the evening was made by Chas. 
 E. Elmer. Then in the prime of life, Mr. Elmer was a com- 
 manding figure, and few possessed the attractive personality 
 and gifts which nature had given him. In the presence of 
 the best element of the town, men in every department of 
 
 (120 1 
 

 
 PROMINENT CITIZENS— I*;;-l'^'v) 
 
 
 Charles S. 
 
 Fithian 
 
 Clement J. Lee 
 
 William Dare 
 
 Horatio J. 
 
 Mulford 
 
 James M. Riley 
 
 Dr. Joseph Moore 
 
 Dayton B 
 
 Whitaker 
 
 Stephen G. Porch 
 
 Isaac B. Mulford 
 
 (121) 
 
122 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 life, who had come together because of love of their country, 
 he exhibited traits of character which stamped his loyaUy 
 on the hearts of ah present. With flashing eye and erect 
 carriage, he drove conviction home with stalwart blows for 
 the flag and the Union. Said he : "I advocate the formation 
 of Union Leagues everywhere, and by this means strength- 
 ening the Government by every method within our power, 
 thereby making clear and distinct the line between the loyal 
 and the disloyal, so that the sheep may be distinguished from 
 the goats. Let those who are sincere in their devotion to 
 the disunion and destruction cause take their guns and go 
 South — let us have an end to this mock devotion, both 
 among the loyal and disloyal, and when we have rid our- 
 selves, or have been rid, of the enervating influence of the 
 disloyal and semi-loyal, and the true and patriotic see and 
 understand that they must depend alone upon their own 
 strong arms and brave hearts, then there will be a blow 
 struck to treason and the foes of democratic institutions 
 that will hurl from power the traitors who have first de- 
 luded, and then trampled upon, the rights and liberties of tiie 
 Southern people. The perjured traitors now wielding such 
 unlimited sway over the South have elevated themselves 
 to place and dominion upon the suffering, tears, human sac- 
 rifices and miseries of their downtrodden subjects. Let us 
 all unite, all who feel that they have a Government to love 
 and admire — all who feel that the institutions of their fathers 
 are worth preserving, and then with unbroken front and 
 'serried shields in thick array,' devote ourselves by words 
 and acts to the work that is given us of God to perform — 
 to the overthrowing and destroying this monstrous and 
 wicked rebellion." 
 
 The Union League of Bridgeton continued in existence 
 long after the close of the Civil War, and rendered valuable 
 ser\'ice to the Union cause and Mr. Lincoln's administra- 
 tion. 
 
 The Chronicle, in its issue of April 25th, 1863, had this 
 to say of the beautiful silk flag presented to the "Cum- 
 
IN CUMBERLAXD COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I23 
 
 berland Greys" the day of their departure, in 1861, by the 
 ladies of Bridgeton : 
 
 "We have been asked what has become of the flag 
 presented to the 'Cumberland Greys,' (Company F, Third 
 New Jersey Regiment, Volunteers). We would here state, 
 for the benefit of all who may feel an interest in the matter, 
 that it has been deposited in the County Clerk's Office of this 
 county, according to the following request : 
 
 'Camp, Near Fredericksburg, December 22, 1862. 
 
 Please deliver to Robert DuBois, Esq., the "Cumber- 
 land Greys" colors, to be deposited in the Clerk's Office. 
 
 JAMES W. H. STICKNEY. 
 Major, late Captain, Co. F., 3J A^. /. Vols. 
 
 SAMUEL T. Dubois, 
 
 Captain Co. C, late \st Lieutenant Co. F, 3J A^ /. Vols. 
 
 CHARLES F. SALKELD, 
 Captain Co. F, 2,d N. J. Vols. 
 
 MICHAEL H. SWING, BOWMAN H. BUCK, DANIEL 
 B. GINENBACK, CLARENCE MULFORD, 
 
 Sergeants Co. F., i,d N. J. Vols.' " 
 
 Robert DuBois, together with his brother Jeremiah, 
 were paying visits to the army every now and then, convey- 
 ing clothing and delicacies to the soldiers from Cumberland. 
 They were good Samaritans engaged in a work which will 
 long redound to the credit of themselves and their posterity. 
 Robert brought the flag to Bridgeton, and carried out the 
 instructions as per the request. 
 
 The "Cumberland Greys" did not carry this flag in 
 battle, because by the LTnited States Amiy Regulations they 
 were enrolled under their own regimental colors, now en- 
 closed in one of the glass cases in the corridors of the State 
 House, riddled with bullet holes, torn and tattered by the 
 battle and the breeze. 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 The appended notice appeared in the Bridgeton papers 
 the last week in June : 
 
 "To the Returned Volunteers of the County of Cum- 
 berland. 
 
 "Reception and Dinner at the Elmer Grove, near the 
 West Jersey Academy, July 9, 1863, at 2 o'clock. This in- 
 vitation includes not only the officers and privates of the 
 nine months' volunteers, but all soldiers now in the county 
 belonging to the three years' regiments who have been hon- 
 orably discharged from the service. 
 
 "By order of Ladies' Aid Society of Bridgeton." 
 
 The day of the reception, July 9th, dawned bright and 
 beautiful. The streets were alive with people. Rain the 
 previous day had laid the dust nicely, and the ground was 
 in fine marching order. The returned volunteers formed in 
 front of the Davis House on Commerce Street, and, under 
 command of Major Joel A. Fithian, of the Twenty-Fourth 
 Regiment, marched to the grove in perfect order and disci- 
 pline, which marked them as well-drilled soldiers and elicited 
 the applause of the people. At the Elmer Grove the ladies 
 had spread a magnificent repast under the large tent of the 
 Cumberland County Agricultural Society. The table 
 abounded with roast beef, chicken potpie, baked pig, vege- 
 tables of every kind, fruit, cake, pie, cream, and all the deli- 
 cacies of the season. The boys made merry 'round the 
 festive board, and in the intervals between eat and drink 
 fought the battles of the past over again, without fear of bul- 
 let or shell. 
 
 Hon. John T. Xixon addressed the veterans on behalf 
 of the ladies, and eulogized tlie eminent services they 
 had rendered the country in the campaigns in Virginia. 
 Franklin F. Westcott, a rising young attorney, of Bridge- 
 ton, was also present, and in a rousing speech stirred the 
 hearts of the returned soldiers to cheers. Lieutenant James 
 J. Reeves replied for the companies of the Twenty-Fourth 
 Regiment and the boys in blue generally, thanking the 
 ladies and citizens for the splendid reception. The festivi- 
 ties closed with cheers for the ladies and the singing of the 
 "Star .Spangled Banner" and other patriotic airs. 
 
PROMINENT CITIZENS— lS(il-lMi;.i 
 Hon. Uriah D. Woodruff Daniel Bacon 
 
 Hon. James H. Trenchard 
 Hon. Morton Mills Theophilus G. Compton 
 
 (125) 
 
126 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 On the 28th day of June, 1863, the first colored volun- 
 teers arrived in Bridgeton from the Townships of Hopewell 
 and Greenwich. They numbered 29 stout, healthy young 
 men, and among the number was Robert Gould, who did 
 good service in Company I, Third Regiment U. S. Colored 
 Troops. Accompanying him were Alexander Manley, John 
 W. Miller, Perry Sawyer, John Sewell, John Coursey, Jos- 
 eph R. Walker and others. They were taken to Philadel- 
 phia and enrolled there after their names had been registered 
 in the County Clerk's office. The regiment to which they 
 were attached took part in the engagements at Fort Wagner, 
 in the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, August 26th, 
 1863; Bryant's Plantation, Fla., October 21st, 1864; Marion 
 County, Fla., Marcii loth. 1865; Jacksonville. Fla., April 
 4th. 1865. A large number of colored men from Cumber- 
 land County enlisted in United States regiments later on in 
 the war. 
 
 At this time prejudice against the colored man both 
 as a soldier and citizen, was very bitter; but the men for 
 whom "John Brown's body lay mouldering in the grave" 
 went marching on, standing shoulder to shoulder, with 
 their white brothers, leaving their bodies and blood on the 
 field where death held high carnival amid the clash of 
 armies and the fearful onslaught of embittered foes. 
 
 Honor to the black man for his brave work and gallant 
 conduct in the service of the nation under whose flag for 
 more than a century he had toiled by command of the lash 
 of his Southern master, beaten and bruised until Abraham, 
 the gentle, liberty-loving Executive came. Then, sorrow 
 ceased — the humble cabin echoed with songs of jubilee and 
 the light of freedom streamed through the crevice in the 
 thatch, beneath which tlie humble prayer of the bereaved 
 slave had so often gone up to God. 
 
 New York City, having failed to secure the quota of 
 volunteers which the Government required at her hands, 
 the draft was resorted to. WHien the Provost-Marshal at- 
 tempted to put the draft in force rioting began in the city 
 streets and several men were killed. Only through the 
 presence of troops was the mob at last quelled into sub- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I27 
 
 mission. What a contrast in the conduct of certain citizens 
 of New Yorlv as compared with the volunteer service of the 
 patriotic colored men North and South offered the Govern- 
 ment so quickly, so generously. 
 
 News came from the front at several periods during 
 the summer of 1863, to the effect that William E. Potter, 
 (Bridgeton) of Company K, 12th New Jersey, had been 
 promoted to a First Lieutenancy, and made Judge Advo- 
 cate of the 3d Division, Second Army Corps, Army of the 
 Potomac, aid to Division General in action ; that Lieutenant 
 Daniel Dare, (Bridgeton,) Company K, had been trans- 
 ferred to and made Captain of Company E, 12th New Jer- 
 sey; that First Lieutenant Josiah Shaw, Millville, had been 
 honored with the captaincy of Company C, 4th New Jer- 
 sey, (and just here we note that at the close of hostilities 
 Major Shaw, which latter honor he attained for gallant 
 service in the field, was appointed to an important position 
 in the Bureau of Pensions, Washington, D. C, where for 
 forty years he rendered valuable seiwice to the Government, 
 in the adjustment of thousands of pension cases which 
 came under his supervision in that great department) ; that 
 Sergeant-Major Edward M. DuBois, of Bridgeton, had 
 been advanced to First Lieutenant, then captain of Com- 
 pany C, 1 2th New Jersey, concerning which gentleman the 
 Chronicle of August 15th, 1863, said: "Our townsman, 
 Sergeant-Major Edward M. DuBois, of the 12th Regiment, 
 New Jersey Volunteers, has been promoted to Lieutenant 
 and still later to a captaincy in Company C, of the same 
 regiment. The appointment is well deserved and popular. 
 Mr. DuBois was commended for gallantry in the battles of 
 Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and we are glad to know 
 that this braverv has been suitablv rewarded." 
 
 The Republican County Convention met at the Court 
 House, in Bridgeton, iMonday. October 12, 1863, at 2 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Senator Providence Ludlam was 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 elected chairman, and George B. Cooper, of Millville, sec- 
 retary. 
 
 The following persons were presented as candidates 
 for the Sheriffalty nomination : Lucius Moore, of Deer- 
 field; Ebenezer Hall and Charles L. Watson, of Green- 
 wich. Eden Hood and Daniel B. Ginenback were ap- 
 pointed tellers. 
 
 Charles L. Watson was nominated for the office of 
 Sheriff on the second ballot, and his nomination was im- 
 mediately made unanimous. 
 
 Hon. B. Rush Bateman, of Fairfield, was renominated 
 for Assembly, First District; Hon. Edward W. Maylin, of 
 Millville, for Assembly, Second District. 
 
 James M. Riley, of Cohansey; Charles P. Madden, of 
 Maurice River; Alfred Holmes, of Hopewell, were nomi- 
 nated for Coroners. 
 
 During the absence of the Committee on Resolutions 
 Hon. John T. Nixon addressed the convention in a patriotic 
 speech. 
 
 Resolutions were adopted as follows : 
 
 "Resolved, That we pledge ourselves anew to an un- 
 wavering and unconditional support of the National Gov- 
 ernment, in its efforts to suppress the wicked rebellion 
 against its authority. 
 
 "Resolved, That we return our hearty thanks to the 
 soldiers and sailors of the Union for their services ; we con- 
 gratulate them on their successes; rejoice with them in their 
 victories, and promise them our sympathy, encouragement 
 and support in their heroic hardships and sufferings. 
 
 "Resolved, That we are for the prosecution of the war 
 until the power and authoritv of the Government are estab- 
 lished; and, to this end, we greet as brothers the loyal men 
 of all parties who join heart and hand with us in this cause; 
 and we recognize as political enemies all who make this 
 paramount issue subordinate to personal interests or par- 
 tisan dogmas. 
 
 "Resolved. That we will sustain the Government in 
 the exercise of all measures which they may deem wise 
 
Richard Laning 
 Joel Fithian 
 Daniel Sharp 
 
 PROMINENT CITIZENS— IKOl-lSG.:. 
 Lucius Moore 
 Ethan L.ore 
 Albert R. Jones 
 
 Robert J Fithian 
 Robert Jordan 
 John L. Sharp 
 
130 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 and necessary for the overthrow of the rebellion, the sup- 
 pression of the conspiracy, and the extermination or com- 
 plete submission of the conspirators, whether it be by the 
 overthrow of their armies, tlie issuing of proclamations 
 of freedom, the arrest of sympathizers, aiders and abettors 
 of treason, the use of Greek fire or the hanging of traitors." 
 jNIr. Watson, in accepting the nomination for Sheriff, 
 after his introduction to the conxention thanked the dele- 
 gates for the honor, and "declared his purpose to so act, if 
 elected, that none should ever feel that their confidence in 
 him had been misplaced." 
 
 The Democratic County Convention met about a week 
 later. Richard Langley, of Millville, was named for 
 Sheriff'. L. W. Probasco, of Hopewell, was nominated for 
 Assembly, First District ; Charles Laning, of Deerfield, for 
 Assembly, Second District. 
 
 In its fifth resolution the convention said; "That the 
 total lack of sound policy and the sole reliance on jjhysical 
 force by the Administration is calculated to prolong the 
 war and defeat the object for which it was waged." This 
 resolution was a re-echo of the famous Peace policy en- 
 dorsed by the Democrats in the Legislature at Trenton the 
 winter previous. 
 
 John L. Sharp, of Millville, former State Senator, 
 urged the convention to "stand by their vested rights as 
 Democrats, and knowing them to be right to maintani them 
 at the sacrifice of life if necessary." 
 
 The convention was in bitter mood because of Mc- 
 Clellan's removal and Burnside's suspension of the writ 
 of habeas corpus in the arrest of the Ohio copperhead, Mr. 
 Vallandigham, which action was sustained by the Admin- 
 istration. Vallandigham was a secessionist pure and simple, 
 and his treacherous conduct was very properly punished. 
 
 The canvass was warm and the result narrow majori- 
 ties. Watson was chosen Sheriff by 156 majority. Bate- 
 
I.\ CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NKW JERSEY 131 
 
 man. Assembly, First District, 292 majority: Maylin, As- 
 sembly. Second District, 173 majority. 
 
 Charles Laning, Democratic candidate for Assembly- 
 man. Second District, was the father of Samuel A. Laning, 
 a former postmaster of Bridgeton. Laning, pere, was a 
 man of earnest conviction, a Democrat of the Jeffersonian 
 type. Quiet in demeanor, nevertheless firm. Apparently 
 not popular, yet at every test a vote-getter. When the polls 
 closed the first Tuesday in Xoveniber, "63, the \-()ie at the 
 county seat stood : "Maylin, 301 ; Laning, 264. Majority 
 for Maylin, ■},'] votes. In Cohansey township, now the Third 
 Ward of Bridgeton, Maylin's vote was 138; Laning"s, 106. 
 Majority for Maylin. 2,- \'<'tes. Big run in war times for a 
 Democrat in Cumberland County! 
 
 Election night the boys went wild. The Clerk's Office 
 was crowded with shouting Republicans. Senator Ludlam 
 occupied the chair and read the returns, now and then in- 
 terjecting some witty remark which convulsed the assem- 
 bly with laughter. Langley, Democratic candidate for 
 Sheriff, was popular, and ran well in his Millville home. 
 Not until a late hour was the result definitely known. News 
 came by carriage and horseback. The last township heard 
 from was Maurice River in the "wee sma' hours." Charles 
 L. Watson had won. Then the enthusiastic crowds outside 
 attempted to get into the office. Amid the tumult of strug- 
 gling Republicans the apple barrel upset and "Roman 
 stem" and "Turn-the-Lane" were trampled into mush upon 
 the floor. 
 
 The election proved a general Republican victory. 
 New York State, which had elected Seymour, Democrat, 
 Governor in 1862, bv 10,000 majority, reversed itself with 
 20.000 majority for the Republican ticket. New Jersey 
 remained Democratic, but there was a Republican gain of 
 10,000 on the popular vote in the State. 
 
 One of the Bridgeton papers announced November 21 
 that "The oath of office was administered to our new 
 
I^J HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Sheriff, Mr. C. L. Watson, on Tuesday, the loth inst. Mr. 
 Watson will doubtless make a very acceptable and efficient 
 officer. He is polite, gentlemanly and honorable, with all 
 with whom he has dealings. The profits of the office are 
 not sufficient to pay a man for his entire services." 
 
 The echoes of the election had barely died out when 
 the attention of the nation was directed to the dedicatory 
 ceremonies soon to be held on the historic battlefield of 
 Gettysburg, Pa. By act of Congress the village cemetery 
 of Gettysburg was purchased and prepared as a National 
 cemetery for the gallant men who fell in that bloody conflict. 
 Gettysburg was one of the five decisive battles that have set- 
 tled the fate of nations, and throttled the enemies of Chris- 
 tian civilization. It is a magnificent field of hill and valley, 
 the scenery connected therewith being one of nature's mas- 
 terpieces. The cemetery located on a rising knoll or knob 
 of the foothills which a little further to the east and south 
 rise into mountain ridges, overlooked the field upon which 
 but a few brief months preceding 
 
 "The battle shout and waving plume, 
 The drum's heart-stirring beat ■ 
 i The glittering pomp of war. 
 
 The rush of million feet," 
 
 had roused the passions of men to fever heat in a supreme 
 effort for and against the supremacy of the Union, was sur- 
 rounded by the debris of the great struggle not yet re- 
 moved. Fresh graves appeared on every hand; marks of 
 the battle were everywhere visible. The mountains and 
 hills still retained a portion of the autumnal beauty which 
 was tlieif heritage at this, the closing of the year. The foli- 
 age of many trees tinted the landscape with sombre colors, 
 and the cedar and pine were green and bright in the midst 
 of the picturesque scenery which, like a great panorama, 
 opened to the eye from Round Top to Seminary Ridge, 
 from the clump ef *.rees on the north where gallant Rey- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW J EKSF.Y I33 
 
 nolds fell to the distant hills in the south through which the 
 shattered army of the Confederates vani.«hed in despon- 
 dency and in gloom. The hush of the dying year had set 
 its imprint on the field, on the forest, on the mountain. 
 It was the 19th day of November, 1863. Propitious season 
 for such solemn, touching and impressive ceremonies. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln and his Cabinet, Governors of States, officers 
 of the army and navy, foreign officials, soldiers upon whose 
 bodies scars of the conflict were visible, together with a 
 vast concourse of citizens, had gathered to witness the pro- 
 ceedings. Edward Everett, Senator from the State of 
 Massachusetts, a polished orator, who ranked second only 
 to Webster in the forum of the world's great debates, had 
 been selected to deliver the oration. The theme was great; 
 and it was in worthy hands. Mr. Everett's speech was one 
 of the finest specimens of oratorical skill a great audience 
 had ever listened to. It had been carefully prepared and 
 memorized, and may be classed with the productions of 
 Demosthenes or Cicero on great State occasions. At its 
 conclusion it was encored by repeated cheers, so great was 
 the admiration of Senator Everett's gifts as a classical 
 speaker. While in the cars on his way from the White 
 House to the battlefield, President Lincoln was notified that 
 he would be expected to make some remarks at the con- 
 clusion of Mr. Everett's oration. He had made no prepara- 
 tion, but asking for some paper, a sheet of foolscap was 
 handed to him, and in a seat by himself he took a pencil and 
 wrote the address, which Arnold has said "for appropriate- 
 ness and eloquence, for pathos and beauty, for sublimity in 
 sentiment and expression, has hardly its equal in English 
 or American literature." Mr. Everett had finished and 
 turned aside to take his seat, when an earnest call for Lin- 
 coln was heard through the vast crowd. Then rose the tall, 
 homely form of Abraham Lincoln. His careworn face 
 glowed with intense feeling. Slowly and deliberately he 
 adjusted his spectacles, and began to read. With the utter- 
 ance of the first sentence he appeared to be unconscious of 
 himself, absorbed onlv with recollections of the heroic dead. 
 
134 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 As he proceeded his countenance seemed timclied with the 
 sunshine of lieaven, and liis voice rang- far out upon the field 
 "with bloody corpses strewn" with a resonance and a 
 rhythm which bound the assemblage with a magician's spell. 
 With bated breath, listening ear and eager eye, they waited 
 upon the sentences which fell from the great man's lips. 
 
 In the newly erected rostrum, upon the historic field 
 hereafter to be celebrated in song and stf)ry, there he stood — 
 that al:>le, lovable, tender-hearted, illustrious President. 
 Listen ! 
 
 "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought 
 forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty 
 and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created 
 equal. 
 
 "Now we are engaged in a great civil war. testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedi- 
 cated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield 
 of that war. \\'e are met t(.i dedicate a [lortion of it as the 
 final resting-place of those who here ga\-e their lives that 
 that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper 
 that we should do this. 
 
 "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate — we cannot 
 consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brax'e men, 
 living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it 
 far above our power to add or detract. The world will little 
 note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never 
 forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to 
 be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus 
 far so nolily carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedi- 
 cated to the great task remaining before us, that from these 
 honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for 
 which they here gave the last full measure of devotion, that 
 we here liighly resolve that the dead shall not have died 
 in vain ; that the nation shall, under ( iiul, have a new birth of 
 freedom: and that government of the people, bv the people 
 and for the people shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 The audience seemed to realize that the greatest actor 
 in the world's greatest drama was before it. When the last 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 135 
 
 sentence was uttered and the magnificent address ended, 
 silence, deep and intense, rested upon all present, while their 
 hearts were wonderfully stirred. There was no applause ; 
 no cheers. Afterward JNIr. Lincoln in an hour of medita- 
 tion thought his speech was a failure, inasmuch as there was 
 no applause. Later on he lived to learn that the highest 
 honors ever paid a public speaker were his — the "silence 
 which is golden" had placed the stamp of commendation 
 upon its immortal sentences, henceforth to be the precious 
 heirloom of posterity to remotest history. 
 
 Turnino; to President Lincoln, Air. Everett said : "Mr. 
 President, your speech will live when mine is forgotten." 
 Prophetic sentence ! Edward Everett's polished periods 
 were long since forgotten — Air. Lincoln's will live forever! 
 
 The nation was stirred with an intense excitement in 
 July, 1863, because of the news from Richmond, the Con- 
 federate Capital, that death sentence had been imposed upon 
 Captain Henry W. Sawyer, a resident of Cape May. New 
 Jersey. The Captain was well known in Cumberland 
 County, and especially in Bridgeton, the county seat, where 
 he had a number of personal friends, among whom was the 
 Hon. John T. Nixon, Representative in Congress from the 
 First New Jersey District. Alany hearts were made sorrow- 
 ful by the news of the sad position in which the gallant 
 soldier was placed. Captain Henry W. Sawyer, afterwards 
 Major, and Colonel by brevet, on account of meritorious 
 conduct on the battlefield, then in command of Company K, 
 First Regiment New Jersey Cavalry, was badly wounded 
 in the first great cavalry action of the war, which occurred 
 at Brandy Station. Virginia, June 9th, 1863. Captain Saw- 
 yer was gallantly leading his company when he fell, and was 
 left on the field, being overlooked when his regiment retired. 
 He was captured by the Confederates and taken to Libby 
 Prison. General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, a son of Gen- 
 eral Robert E. Lee. commander of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, was seriously wounded in the same engagement. 
 He was conveved bv his Confederate friends to a farm house 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 in Hanover County, within a few miles of Richmond. Here 
 a Federal raiding party under Colonel Spears, found young 
 Lee. and carried him off as a prisoner of war to Fortress 
 Monroe. 
 
 Among the officers confined in Libby Prison was Cap- 
 tain John W. Flinn. of an Indiana regiment. The two cap- 
 tains became great friends, little thinking that they Vi'cre to 
 figure so conspicuously in Civil War history. Sawyer was 
 a large, handsome man, while Flinn was spare and of me- 
 dium stature. Prison fare dealt hard with Sawyer, and he 
 grew thinner day by day. Likewise Flinn, whose flesh with- 
 ered away until he was a skeleton. Both were in rags, both 
 despondent, hoping against hope for release from their un- 
 fortunate condition. What was their surprise when, on the 
 morning of July 6th, all the Federal captains in the prison 
 were summoned to appear before Captain T. P. Turner, 
 commander of Libby. All appeared on the lower floor in 
 good humor, supposing they were to be exchanged. Instead 
 of receiving the news of their release they w"ere informed 
 that a special order had been issued from the Confederate 
 War Department, directing that two captains should be 
 selected by lot to be executed, in retaliation for the execu- 
 tion of two Confederate officers by General Burnside. 
 
 The order created great excitement in the prison. The 
 Confederate commander desired to know how he should 
 make the selection, when Captain Sawyer suggested that a 
 number of white and black beans should be placed in a hat, 
 while the captains advanced and drew out a bean. The first 
 black bean was to be the first death prize, and the second 
 black bean tlie second death prize. Captain Sawyer stepped 
 forward, put his hand in the hat, and drew the first black 
 bean. Captain Flinn then came up. thrust his hand in the 
 hat. and drew the second black bean. Deathly stillness pre- 
 vailed during the drawing. In a few moments the matter 
 of life and death had been decided, and Sawyer and Flinn 
 were marked for execution. 
 
 (laii) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES~l>ni-l>r,:. 
 Major Henry W. Sawyer. First Reg. N. J. Cav 
 kLibby Prison Fame 
 Capt. Roswill S. Reynolds 
 Co. F. Fifth Reg. N.J. Inf. Vols. 
 First Lieut. Henry W. Gaskill 
 Co. K. Twelfth Reg. N.J. Inf. Vols. 
 
 (1371 
 
 Vols. 
 
 Major Josiah Shaw/ 
 Fourth Reg. N.J. Inf. Vols. 
 Dr. John B. Bowen 
 Surgeon Thirty-fourth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. 
 
IJiS HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Lieutenant James W. Stradling, a comrade of Captain 
 Sawyer, serving in tlie same company with him, in an article 
 written for McClure's Magazine, in 1905, gives the state- 
 ment of what followed, as he afterward received it 
 from Sawyer's lips. The captain was of German descent, and 
 his speech retained the quaint expression which he had in- 
 herited from his ancestors, known as "Pennsylvania 
 Dutch :" 
 
 "Mine G<itt! Jim, I never felt so weak in all my life as 
 I did when I found I had drawn a 'death prize." ^Nly kind 
 friend. Captain Flinn, was very pale and much weaker than 
 I ; but \\ e did mn ha\e much time to think about it. for a 
 Confederate officer told us that his \-erhal instructions were 
 to have us executed before noon, and that he would return 
 in an hour, so we asked permission to have a few moments 
 to write letters to our homes and to our friends before being 
 executed. We were remo\ed to a room by our.selves, and 
 furnished with writing material, but we could not compose 
 our nerves or our thoughts sufficiently to write. The Con- 
 federate officer was as humane as he could be under the 
 circumstances, and. instead of returning in an hour, did not 
 return for two hours. In the meantime, we bade our com- 
 panions farewell, and distributed a few trinkets we had on 
 our persons, and then, after confiding to our warmest friends 
 a few messages for our families, we waited as quietly as we 
 could for the coming of tlie death summons. We did not 
 have long to wait, for soon a Confederate officer appeared 
 with a guard, and Flinn and I were marched to the street, 
 where we found a cart waiting for us. We took our seats 
 in the cart, and the Confederate officer and the guard of 
 ca\-;dry esc<irted us through the streets of Richmontl. The 
 cart, if I remember rightly, was drawn by oxen, and it did 
 not move very fast, but a thousand times too fast for us. 
 W'e had almost reached the city limits, when we met a prom- 
 inent Roman Catholic Bishop, who stopped to inquire tlie 
 cause of the intended execution. While the Bishop was in- 
 quiring of the Confederate officer about us. Captain Flinn. 
 who was a Catholic, said he was being executed without the 
 'rites of clergy." The Bishop, who was a great friend and 
 
IX t I'.MHIIKI.AXD COLWTV, XEW JERSEY I39 
 
 admirer of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Con- 
 federacy, exclaimed, 'that would never do,' and he re- 
 quested the Confederate otificer to mo\e slowly and he 
 would hasten to see President Davis, and, if possible, get 
 a delay for a short time. The cart moved on, and the 
 Bishop hurried at a rapid pace to interview President Davis. 
 The Bishop was mounted on a full-blooded and a very 
 spirited horse, and he seemed to us to go like the wind when 
 he started for the residence of his friend. We moved on to 
 a small hill on which was a single tree, and to this tree the 
 cart took its way. When the tree was reached, ropes were 
 placed around our necks, and we were doomed to be hanged. 
 This would ha\e been an ignominious death, if we had 
 been guilty of any crime punishable bv death ; but we had 
 committed no crime, and yet we did not want to die in that 
 way. We had a slight ray of hope in the Bishop's interces- 
 sion for us, but it was too slight to allay our fears for the 
 worst. I was very weak. Mine Gott! Jim, I had never felt 
 so badly in all my life before. I was so weak that the tree 
 and the guards seemed to Ije moving in a circle around me. 
 W'e stood up in the cart, so when it nimed we would dangle 
 between the earth and sky, and in this way our existence was 
 to end. No courier from the Bishop was in sight, and, Mine 
 Gott! Jim. the suspense was terrible for us to bear. The 
 Confederate officer took out his watch, and informed us that, 
 while his instructions were to have us executed before noon, 
 he would wait until one minute of twelve, and then, if there 
 was no sign of a courier, the cart would be driven away, and 
 the arbitrary orders of the War Department of the Southern 
 Confederacy would be obeyed. 
 
 "Half-past eleven arrived, and yet no signs of any 
 courier from the Bishop. Mine Gott! Jim, our legs became 
 so weak that we could not stand any longer, so we re- 
 quested that we might be permitted to sit down in the cart 
 until the time for us to be executed arrived. Then we would 
 stand up and the ropes could be adjusted to our necks and 
 the execution concluded. The ropes were then untied, and 
 we were permitted to sit down on the side of the cart. Ten 
 
140 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 minutes more passed in dead silence, and yet no eye could 
 detect any signs of a courier. At the end of another ten 
 mintites we stood up and the ropes were adjusted to our 
 necks, and tlie Confederate of^cer was raising his sword 
 as a sign to tlie driver to move away, when a cloud of dust 
 was observed in the distance. The Confederate officer hesi- 
 tated for a few moments, when a horseman covered with 
 dust and liis horse covered with foam, dashed up. and 
 handed him a dispatch. He opened it quickly, and read; 
 'Captains Sawyer and Flinn are reprieved for ten days.' 
 Mine Gott! Jim, I never felt so happy in my life; and Flinn 
 and I emliraced each other, and cried like babies. The ropes 
 were untied, and the cart started slowly back for Libby 
 Prison. W'e never learned the name of the officer who was 
 detailed to execute us. Our comrades were greatly rejoiced 
 to see us return alive, and made many inquiries concern- 
 ing the postponement of the execution. 
 
 "On our return, we were taken to the headquarters of 
 General \^'inder, where we were warned not to delude our- 
 selves with any hope of escape, as retaliation must and 
 would be inflicted ; and it was added that the execution 
 would positively take place on the i6th, ten days hence. We 
 were then conducted back to Libby Prison, and taken to the 
 second story, to our old place on the floor. We were not 
 permitted to remain there very long, when we were taken 
 to the cellar and placed in a dungeon and isolated from the 
 world and our companions ; and the only company we now 
 had were the rats and vermin, which swarmed over us in 
 great numbers. 
 
 "After resting for a short time to compose my thoughts. 
 I asked for writing material, which was furnished me. with 
 a candle, and tlien on an old board for a writing desk. I 
 wrote the following letter to my wife, which I started on 
 July 6th. but did not finish until the next day : 
 
 "Provost General's Office. 
 "Libby Prison, Richmond. Va., July 6th, 1863. 
 "My Dear Wife:— 
 
 "I am under the necessitv of informing you that my 
 
IX CUMBERLAXD COUXTV, NEW JERSEY 14I 
 
 prospects look dark. Tliis morning;, all the captains in 
 Libby Prison drew lots, for two to be executed. It fell to 
 my lot and Captain Flinn's to be executed, in retaliation 
 for two captains executed by General Burnside. in Tennes- 
 see. The Provost General assures nie that the Secretary of 
 War will permit you and my dear children to visit me before 
 I am executed. Captain W'hilden or Uncle W. W. Ware, 
 or Brother Dan. had better come with you; you will be al- 
 lowed to return without molestation to your home. I am 
 resigned to whatever is in store for me. with the consola- 
 tion that I die without having committed any crime. My 
 situation is hard to be borne, and I cannot think of dying 
 without seeing you and the children. 
 
 'T have no trial, no jury, nor am I charged with any 
 crime, but it fell to my lot. Proceed at once to Washing- 
 ton, Government will give you transportation to Fortress 
 Monroe, and come here by flag of truce, and return same 
 way. Bring with you a shirt and some clothing for me. It 
 will be necessary for you to bring evidence of my condi- 
 tion, at Washington. This letter is sufficient. 
 
 "My pay is due from March the ist, which you are en- 
 titled to. Captain B. owes me fifty dollars, loaned him 
 when we went on leave of absence; write him. and he will 
 send it to you. 
 
 "My dear wife, the fortunes of war have put me in 
 this position. If I must die a sacrifice to my country, being 
 God's will, I must submit ; I will die becoming a man and 
 an ofticer. Write me as soon as you get this, and go to 
 Captain Whilden ; he will advise you what to do. I have 
 done nothing to deserve this penalty. But you must submit 
 to your fate. It will be no disgrace to me, to you, or to my 
 children ; but you may point with pride and say, T give my 
 husband.' My children will have the consolation to say, 
 'I have been made an orphan for my country.' God will 
 provide for you, never fear. Oh ! it is hard to leave you 
 thus. I wish that the ball that pierced through the back part 
 of my head in this last battle had done its work; but it was 
 
.r42 HISTORIC n.\YS 
 
 not to be so. My mind is somewhat influenced, for this 
 has come so suddenly upon me. 
 
 "Write me as soon as you get this. Leave your letter 
 open : I will get it. Direct name and rank, via P'ort Monroe. 
 "P'arewell I harewell ! Let us hope it is all fur the best. 
 "I remain y(.)urs until death. 
 
 H. W. SAWYER. 
 Captaht 1st N. J. Cav. 
 
 "The Confederate officer read it thrdugh, and then sent 
 it through the lines under a flag of truce, with a lot of other 
 mail from my fellow-ofBcers. 
 
 "I calculated that it would require some four or fi\e 
 days for the letter to reach its destination, and then I knew 
 that my wife woukl make superhuman efforts to save me ; 
 and this was the only bright ray of hope that lighted up that 
 dark dungeon cell in which I was placed. The letter reached 
 my wife on the 13th. and she was greatly shocked and 
 almost overcome, and when she read it again and compre- 
 hended the full meaning of it. she collapsed : but, realizing 
 that any delay might prove fatal to me, she rallied, and as 
 soon as she could make the necessary preparations, she. 
 in com])any with Captain Whilden, started for Washing- 
 ton, where she arrived on the night of the 14th of July. 
 After eating a lunch, they proceeded to the \\'hite House, 
 and secured an inter\iew with President Lincoln, before 
 ten o'clock. The President was greatly startled, as vvell as 
 shocked and agitated, by the recital of the way L her 
 husband, was treated in the Confederate prison at Rich- 
 mond, and, after encouraging her to be brave, he said : 
 'Mrs. Sawyer, I do not know whether I can save your 
 husband and Captain Flinn from the gallows, but I will do 
 all that is in my power. Thev are two brave men, and T 
 will make extraordinary efforts to save them. If you and 
 your friend will call before noon to-morrow, I will be 
 pleased to inform you what action I have taken.' " 
 
IN CU.MIiERI.AND C'OIXI^-, \K\V JERSEY I43 
 
 I'he tender heart of President Lincoln was deeply 
 touched when Airs. Sawyer had finished her recital of her 
 husband's condition, and he immediately set about finding 
 a way by which the li\'cs uf Minn and Sawyer might be 
 saved. He sat up late that night conferring with Genera! 
 Halleck and Secretary Stanton as to what was the best 
 course to pursue. It was a delicate question, wdiich must 
 be settled in such a manner as would not establish a prece- 
 dent. Retaliation for the two spies whom General Burnside 
 had executed was not justifiable, in any view of the case, 
 and Mr. Lincoln was loath to beliexe that the Confederate 
 Government could approve such summary action in dealing 
 with prisoners of war. Such a course was dishonorable in 
 the extreme, and he felt that the Confederates must recede 
 from the position taken after the matter had had due reflec- 
 tion. In the meantime, the day of execution was approach- 
 ing, and action must be prompt and decisive if Captains 
 Sawyer and Flinn were to be saved. 
 
 The next luorning, when Mrs. Sawyer again called. 
 the President said : "I did not make up my mind, and did 
 not arrive at a final decision in the case until three o'clock 
 this morning. After that time I slept peacefully and felt 
 greatly refreshed, for I believed my plan would save the two 
 gallant men who were at that moment fighting the rats and 
 vermin in Libby Prison." 
 
 This is the way in which Mr. Lincoln solved the per- 
 plexing question: General \\illiam Henry Fitzhugh Lee 
 was still a prisoner, subject to the commands of the Presi- 
 dent. If Sawyer and Flinn were to die for no cause, why 
 should not the son of Robert E. Lee die in retaliation? Ac- 
 cordingly, he issued the following order : 
 
 Washington, July 15th, 1863. 
 Colonel W. H. Ludlow. Agent for the Exchange of Prison- 
 ers of War : 
 
 The President directs that you immediately place Gen- 
 eral W. H. F. Lee. and another ofificer selected by you. not 
 below the rank of captain, prisoners of war, in close confine- 
 ment, and under guard, and that you notify Mr. Robert 
 
144 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Ould, Confederate Agent for the Exchange of Prisoners of 
 War, that if Captain H. W. Sawyer and Captain John AI. 
 Flinn, or any other officers or men in the service of the 
 United States, not guilty of crimes punishable with death 
 by the laws of war, shall be executed by the enemy, the afore- 
 mentioned persons will be immediately hung in retaliation. 
 It is also ordered that immediately on receiving official or 
 other authoritative information of the execution of Captain 
 Henry W. Sawyer and Captain John M. Flinn, you will 
 proceed to hang General W. H. F. Lee and the other officer, 
 designated as hereinabove directed, and that you notify 
 Robert Ould, Esq., of said proceeding, and assure him that 
 the Government of the United States will proceed to retal- 
 iate for every similar barbarous violation of the laws of 
 civilized war. 
 
 H. W. HALLECK, 
 
 Gencral-in-Chicf. 
 
 Colonel Ludlow immediately communicated to Hon. 
 Robert Oukl, Confederate Agent for Exchange of Prisoners 
 of War at Richmond, the order of President Lincoln in full, 
 for the benefit of the Confederate authorities. As was ex- 
 pected, the order produced great excitement in the Confed- 
 erate Capital. It would never do to have the son of General 
 Lee hung on the gallows, so the end came, as Mr. Lincoln 
 thought it would, in the final release of Captains Sawyer 
 and Flinn, and restoration to their families and homes. 
 
 Mrs. Sawyer was not permitted to land at City Point, 
 and visit her husband in the prison at Richmond, as an order 
 of the Confederate Agent, Robert Ould, prevented it. She 
 returned to New Jersey in a sorrowful mood, but feeling 
 sure that the Captain's life had been saved. 
 
 Pending the release of the prisoners, and while still 
 in a state of suspense, Captain Sawyer wrote the appended 
 letter to Hon. John T. Nixon, then at his home in Bridge- 
 ton: 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I45 
 
 "LiBBV Prison, Richmond, Va., Nov. ist, 1863. 
 
 "Hon. John T. Nixon, 
 
 "Dear Sir: I am still about, and hope soon to be re- 
 leased and restored to my family, friends and comman'J. 
 My health is good, my hopes for the future never higher, 
 and my confidence unshaken. It is not worth while for n:^: 
 to speak of my experience as a prisoner, for you are fully 
 posted : but allow me to explain how I was captured, June 
 9th, at the cavalry action, Brandy Station. In a charge 
 for the possession of an elevated position, and upon a Con- 
 federate States battery, leading my squadron to the charge, 
 I fell, with a ball through the back part of my head and 
 one in the fleshy part of my leg. The charge was mutual on 
 both sides, and was hand-to-hand ; indeed, so close that my 
 own face was blackened with the powder of my opponent's 
 revolver, and is still remaining, to a considerable extent, in 
 my face. The effect of this charge was dreadful on both 
 sides, for here the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Virgil 
 Broderick and brave Major John H. Shelmire fell dead from 
 their horses, both gentlemen belonging to the First New 
 Jersey Cavalry. There, too, were lying Confederate States 
 officers and men, who one-half hour before were in the 
 bloom of life. 
 
 "Notwithstanding this sad sight, I shall always remem- 
 ber that action with pride, for nobly did our regiment push 
 on. Here I fell wounded, senseless, and in this condition 
 remained, cannot say how long. When I came to my senses, 
 I was discovered. Our forces had pushed on, and I was 
 picked up by three Confederate States soldiers, lifted on a 
 horse, and taken to a hospital at Culpepper. 
 
 "Of the prize drawn by me, July 6th, I have at this time 
 nothing to say, only that, as yet, I have not been released 
 from the sentence ; at least. I have not been notified that I 
 have ; yet it has always been my endeavor to show an un- 
 flinching front under all circumstances, and even in that ex- 
 treme case. I was deternn'ned to show no other. 
 
 "A soldier works not for gain; glon', and the welfare 
 of his country is his aim; and, even in my situation, T 
 
146 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 found that pricle was what upheld me, and that it was suffi- 
 cient to nerve me for my fate. Still, I fervently hope it is 
 past: for, really, it was an awful situation to be in. I enjoy 
 the same treatment as my unfortunate brother officers here 
 at Libby ; but let me assure you that we all hope for a speedy 
 release. Se\eral special exchanges have been made. Have 
 I not as much right to e.xpect this consideration as any 
 one? I leave that question for my friends. 
 
 "Can you not do something to effect an exchange? I 
 do not think there is any grand principle in the way ; nothing 
 but policy. But, sir, here are twelve thousand men and nine 
 hundred officers. Have they not the right to expect that 
 their own Government will release them from this imprison- 
 ment, if they can without detriment to their country? Really, 
 sir, we think it is hard if it don't. We all have great hopes 
 that an exchange will be effected before a great while. We 
 do not think (at least, we drive the thought from us) that 
 we shall remain here all winter. 
 
 "I hope you will not think me a fault iinder. If you can 
 imagine your situation as prisoner, it will certainly be an 
 excuse for using the above language. 
 
 "I hope you and your family are well, and in the en- 
 joyment of a peaceful home with happy surroundings, and, 
 with mv best wishes, I sincerely remain, 
 
 "^'our most oliedient servant, 
 
 "H. W. SAWYER. 
 "Caff. First A^'tc Jersey Cavalry. U. S. A. 
 
 While tlie movements, leading up to freedom for the 
 heroic men in Libby Prison were being made, Captains 
 Sawyer and Flinn were confined in the dungeon, fed upon 
 corn-bread and water. The cell was so damp tliat their 
 clothes mildewed. TJiey remained twenty days in the dun- 
 geon. The day of their supposed execution came at last. 
 July 1 6th. The long day passed in terrible suspense, as they 
 waited each moment for the coming of the executioners. 
 But they came not. Finally, an order arrived restoring them 
 to their comrades on the upper floor of the prison, where 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW .TEKSEY 147 
 
 they remained until Alarcli, 1864, when the prison doors 
 opened, and they were conducted by wagon to a boat on the 
 James River. The boat steamed to City Point, and, as they 
 passed down the river, they rejoiced to discover that they 
 were on the way to be exchanged, fearful when starting that 
 they were going to a place of execution. Emaciated and too 
 weak to walk, they were assisted from the boat, as General 
 ^^'illiam Henry Fitzhugh Lee and Captain Robert H. Tyler, 
 the two Confederates for whom they were exchanged, 
 stepped on board. As the Federals and Confederates met 
 face to face, General Lee and Captain Sawyer exchanged 
 greetings, congratulating each other on their escape from 
 ignominious death. President Lincoln's plan had worked 
 splendidly, and. as Sawyer and Flinn passed from boat to 
 shore, never had liberty seemed so precious : never had the 
 old flag appeared so beautiful, to the returning veterans just 
 out of the jaws of death. 
 
 Early in the autumn of 1863 Ethan T. Harris, of 
 Bridgeton, who rendered splendid service in the "Cumber- 
 land Greys," returned from Virginia with authority to or- 
 ganize a company of volunteer cavalry. Quarters were 
 opened on Commerce Street in the old Potter store, and 
 in the course of a few weeks a hundred young men were 
 enrolled in what was afterward to be known in the military 
 roster, as Company H, Third Regiment, New Jersey Cav- 
 alry. Ethan T. Harris was made captain, with Barnet Burd- 
 sall, of the "Greys," as first lieutenant. Previous to the 
 company's departure both Captain Harris and Lieutenant 
 Burdsall were presented with handsome swords, gifts of 
 admiring friends. This company was sometimes called 
 "the Hussars," but its members were nicknamed by the 
 boys around town as "the butterflies," and it stuck to them 
 until long after the war. The uniform of the company was 
 modeled after a troop of Austrian army hussars, very gay 
 colors, hence "the butterfly." Privates wore pantaloons of 
 sky-blue cloth, with yellow stripes. Jackets were of dark 
 blue, with a profusion of yellow cords across the breast and 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 on the front of the collar on an orange-colored ground. 
 Three rows of large, burnished bell buttons adorned the 
 breast with a braiding of cord. On the seams of the back 
 and on the sleeves there was an elegant braiding of cord. 
 Officers' uniforms were still gayer with gold cord and trap- 
 pings. The boys were handsome in their gorgeous uniforms 
 and many a maiden looked after them from afar. Leaving 
 home amid the plaudits of the people, many of them returned 
 no more to the homes of their boyhood, dying in the valley 
 of the Shenandoah at Five Forks, at Sailor's Creek, at Win- 
 chester, and in the closing battles around Petersburg and 
 Richmond. Gallant company of splendid soldiers, forty 
 years has not yet dimmed the lustre of your achievements. 
 
 Following is a roster of its officers and men : 
 Company H. — Captain. Ethan T. Harris; First Lieu- 
 tenants, Barnet Binlsall, John Bamford. \\illiam M. Xi>r- 
 toii; Second Lieutenant, Sylvanus Murphy; First Sergeant, 
 Charles S. Wallen ; Sergeants, Joseph H. Fithian, Lewis 
 Schaible, Theodore A. Dare, Richard J. Herring, William C. 
 Lore, Jacob Spahr, \\'illiam E. Schuyler, Burris Plummer, 
 Sheppard F. Stewart; Corporals, Howard Minot, Charles 
 Clark, Robert Potts, Franklin W. Buzby, Andrew R. Sny- 
 der, John L. Smith, Theodore F. Sheppard, Elani Crozier, 
 Lewis R. Finley; Buglers, John Louderman, Theodore F. 
 Strang; Farriers, John E. Carton, Jacob H. Brown, Robert 
 Bell ; Privates, Henry Allinson, Levi B. Ayars, George F. 
 Baker, George R. Baker, Benjamin F. Barraclifif, Henry C. 
 Beebe, Jonathan Berger, Caleb Blake, Peter Boyle, Enoch 
 Brooks. William E. Brooks, Charles B. Buck, George S. 
 Buck, William Clark, Robert G. Clymer, Charles H. 
 Coombs, James M. Clark. Benjamin Cousins, Edward Cun- 
 ningham, Charles F. Doran, John G. Davis, James Drum- 
 mond, Charles G. Edwards. George Edwards, Ed- 
 ward Flynn. Jacob Fritz, Enoch B. Garrison, Thomas 
 Grady, James Garrison, Lewis T. Helmbold, Levi 
 J. Harker, Samuel Harris. Gustavus Hartman, Helms 
 Heritage, Francis Onnhoff, James Jobes, Alexander 
 K. Jolmsdn, John B. Johnson, Elias I\I. Keller, 
 
 (148) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— 18C3.1sr>-. 
 Group Company H, ;'.d N. J. Reg. Cav. Vols. 
 John G. Davis Capt. Ethan T. Harris First-Lieut. Barnet Birdsall 
 
 Samuel T. Strang Louis D. Schaible Enoch Brooks 
 
 Jonathan McCowan Leonard Roray Benjamin F. Barracliff 
 
 Howard Minot Charles S. Wallen 
 
 Theodore F. Strang 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 William Keller, Alfred Lamarie, John L. Longcore. 
 William C. Loder, George Master, John McAdoo. 
 Franklin McCandless, Samuel A. ^IcClintock, Jona- 
 than McCowan, John Miller, Edward AIcGuire, Harrison 
 McNeely, Edward McQuillan, Joseph McWilliams, Bar- 
 tholomew Meder, Joseph Mills, Matthias Murphy, Daniel 
 Newcombe, Isaiah Palmer, John Phillips, George E. Par- 
 rish, Daniel Robinson, George W. Robinson, Leonard L. 
 Roray, Aaron Schellenger, Henry Schneider, George Scott, 
 Daniel R. Seeds, John Sharp, Samuel T. Strang, James 
 Sherin, Michael Sligar, William Stetson, Andrew Sullivan, 
 James L. Stiles, John Sullivan, Isaac Swing, James 
 Rynear, John Trimble, Frederick Thresh, William 
 Tullis, John Valentine, John Walker, Walter G. West, 
 William A. Wright, William W' irts ; Colored Cooks, 
 Thomas Herbert, Henry Johnson, William Nichols. 
 
 Died in the service. — Barnet Birdsall, killed in skirmish 
 with guerrillas at Warwick Bridge, Virginia, July 5, 1864, 
 buried in Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, Shiloh, New Jer- 
 sey; Azor E. Swinney, killed in action at Winchester, Vir- 
 ginia, September 19, 1864; Isaiah Weeks, killed in action 
 at Winchester, Virginia, September 19, 1864; Theodore W^ 
 Elmer, died at Salisbury prison. North Carolina, January 
 13, 1865; James Bradford, killed in action at Winchester, 
 Virginia, September 19, 1864; Samuel V. Davis, of fever, 
 at Camp Bayard, Trenton, New Jersey, February 10, 1864; 
 Daniel Heaton, of fever, at U. S. Army General Hospital, 
 Cumberland, Maryland, April 30, 1865, buried in National 
 Cemetery, Antietam, Maryland, Section 11, Lot C, grave 
 69; Edward Jones, of disease, at Salisbury prison. North 
 Carolina, January 10, 1865, buried at National Cemetery, 
 Salisbury, N. C. ; Samuel H. Jones, missing in action at 
 Fisher's Hill, Virginia, September 22, 1864, died of dis- 
 ease, at Danville, Va., January 20, 1865, buried at National 
 Cemetery, Danville, Va. ; Stephen Monroe, of consumption, 
 at Hoboken, New Jersey, April 6, 1865 : Charles Morris, 
 killed in action at Cupp's Mills, Virginia, October 13, 1864; 
 Henry Peterson, of disease, at Andersonville prison, Geor- 
 
 (150) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— lSr.3-lS6. 
 Group Company G. Third N. J. Reg. Cav. Vols 
 Charles Bartlett Charles Clunn 
 
 Avery S. Messec William E. Clunn 
 
 Jacob Adams Joseph Messec 
 
 Charles \Vebb John Lutes 
 
 Captain Thomas G. McClong 
 Levi Messec 
 Benjamin F. Buck 
 Thomas Sharp 
 
152 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 gia, September lo, 1864, buried at National Cemetery, An- 
 dersonville, Ga., grave 5,206. 
 
 The "butterfly" regiment was the favorite of the hour, 
 and in quick succession came another gallant company froiii 
 Millville to become a part of the Third Cavalry. The roster 
 follows : 
 
 Company G. — Captains, Thomas G. McClong, Henry 
 C. Warner; First Lieutenants, William M. Scott, Michael 
 T. Dwyer; Second Lieutenants. Gilbert Tice, James D. 
 Comstock; First Sergeants, James F. Long, William 
 F. Rocap; Quartermaster-Sergeants, Henry Lippincott, 
 Joseph T. Rose; Commissary Sergeant, William E. Clunn; 
 Sergeants, Charles P. Clunn, Avery S. Messic, William 
 Baitzell, David Key ; Corporals, Irvin ]\Iarts, Lemuel G. 
 Welch, James Beebe. Alfred J. Brooke, Henry R. Grif- 
 feth, William Carey, Thaddeus W. Oxford ; Saddler, Hosea 
 Sithens ; Farrier, Jonathan M. Davis ; Privates, Jacob Ad- 
 ams, William M. Andrews. Ervin Armstrong, Charles Bart- 
 lett, Joseph Bareford, William H. Beebe, Samuel F. Ben- 
 nett, \\'illiam Bercan, George Biggs, John H. Boody, Cor- 
 nelius Brannin. Benjamin P. Buck, Jonathan D. Buck, 
 Nathan Buck. John \\'. Cawman. James M. Chamberlain, 
 Ezra Champion. Richard Cummings, Joseph T. Donnelly, 
 William F. Finley. Ehvood Fisher, George Fitzpatrick, An- 
 drew J. Fox. John S. Gardner, Charles P. Garrison, William 
 Garrison. Israel Garran. Samuel Getsinger, Clement Grand- 
 ingham, John Griner, \\'illiam Hand, James Harper, James 
 Hindley, David Harris, Charles Hankins, Amos T. Hub- 
 bard, John Headley, Benjamin F. Hewlings, Andrew Hiles, 
 George Hillnian, George Hogan, John W. Horn, Joshua 
 C. Howell, James P. Hughes, John Lnpsson, William Jones, 
 Mark C. Jordan, James D. Kendle, Lewis Kramer, Henry 
 M. Lee, Joel Madden, William Morse, Joseph Martin, Ed- 
 ward McGloan, Henry H. Mead, Joseph A. Messic, Andrew 
 Mosher, Joseph B. Meyers, Charles F. Miller, Tilghann W. 
 Mills, Lewis Mixsell, Thomas Morgan, Henry Morris, 
 Samuel Morris, Jacob Neiplin, John Owens, Thomas W. 
 Pettit. Lewis R. Payne. Charles R.PIiilli]is, Andrew H. Post, 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 153 
 
 William V. B. Pierce, Rufus Rand, Joseph D. Richardson, 
 Edward B. Shaw, Oliver Smith, William E. Smith. Thomas 
 B. Sneathen, John G. Stout, George W. Strong, William H. 
 Sutton, Lawrence V. Toy, Josiah H. Tice, Charles P. Tyler, 
 Thomas Tyler. Henry Ward, Charles A. Webb, Joseph 
 Weiner, William Wilfong, Joseph Williams, Levi Woolston, 
 George Wright, John F. Redding, colored cook. 
 
 Died in the service — Gideon Biggs, killed in action on 
 Berryville Turnpike, near Winchester, Va., September 13, 
 1864; John Lutes, of smallpox, at U. S. Army General Hos- 
 pital. White House. Va.. June nth, 1864: George J. Bard, 
 of smallpox, at L^. S. Army General Hospital, Fortress 
 Monroe, Va., August 31. 1864, buried at National 
 Cemetery, Hampton, Va., Row ^i. Section A, grave 24; 
 James B. Kerlin, of disease, at Camp Parole. -\n- 
 napolis, Maryland, March 7, 1865, buried at Annapolis, 
 Maryland ; Alexander Anderson, of disease, at U. S. Amiy 
 General Hospital, Division No. i. Camp Parole. Annapo- 
 lis, Maryland. December 24, 1864, buried at Annapolis, 
 Md. ; George K. Bennett, missing in action at Wayneshore, 
 Virginia. September 28, 1864, died of disease at Salisbury, 
 North Carolina, January 19. 1865, buried at National Ceme- 
 tery, Salisbury, N. C. ; William M. Corson, of fever, at U. S. 
 Army General Hospital, Alexandria, Virginia, August 23, 
 1864, buried at National Cemetery, Alexandria, Va., grave 
 2.607 '• Enoch F. Doughty, killed in action at Summit Point, 
 Virginia, August 21, 1864; John L. Doughty, of smallpox, 
 at Camp Bayard, Trenton, New Jersey, February 26, 1864; 
 Abraham T. Kean. missing in action at Bridgewater, Vir- 
 ginia. October 2. 1864, died of disease at Salisbury prison, 
 North Carolina, January 13. 1865, buried at National Ceme- 
 tery. Salisbury, N. C. : Samuel B. Lewis, of disease, at 
 prison. Andersonville, Georgia, July 20, 1864; buried at 
 National Cemetery, Andersonville, Ga., grave 3,622; 
 Charles Loder, of fever, at Jarvis U. S. Army General Hos- 
 pital, Baltimore, Maryland, October 19, 1864, buried at 
 Louden Park National Cemetery. Baltimore. Md. : James 
 McGill. of disease, at Mower U. S. General Hospital. Phila- 
 delphia. Pa.. December 28th, 1864. buried at Philadel- 
 
154 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 phia, Pa. ; Levi S. Messic, died at Sandy Hook, Maryland, 
 August 31. 1864, of wounds received in action at Summit 
 Point, Virginia, buried at National Cemetery, Antietam, 
 Maryland, Section 25, Lot E, grave 504; George W. Penn, 
 killed in action at Summit Point, Virginia, August 21, 
 1864; Benjamin C. Robbins, of fever, at Giesboro Point. 
 Maryland, September 16, 1864. buried at National Ceme- 
 tery, Arlington Heights, Virginia; Thomas Sharp, killed in 
 action at Winchester, Virginia, August 17, 1864; John 
 Sheppard, of disease, at Division No. i, U. S. Army Gen- 
 eral Hospital, Annapolis, Maryland, March 21, 1865. 
 
 Never was a day of thanksgiving and praise more de- 
 voutly or more joyously observed than was the last Thurs- 
 day in November, A. D. 1863. \'ictories on land and sea 
 had cheered the heart of the nation and given it renewed con- 
 fidence in the final triumph of a just and righteous cause. 
 The crops were Ijountiful, prosperity appeared (ju every 
 hand, and but for the scourge of war the people would have 
 been in the full enjoyment of happiness and contentment. 
 How beautiful then, and how appropriate, were the appended 
 paragraphs from Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of that ever 
 memorable year : 
 
 "The year that is drawing toward its close has been 
 filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. 
 To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we 
 are prone to forget the source from which they come, others 
 have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that 
 they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is 
 habituallv insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Al- 
 mighty God. 
 
 "No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal 
 hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious 
 gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in 
 anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." 
 
 And so the curtain fell on the old year, as the incense 
 from the altar went up to the Throne. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I55 
 
 The year 1864 opened auspiciously for the Union cause. 
 It was the year of the Presidential election, and both great 
 political parties were soon to engage in an exciting struggle 
 for the control of the National Government. During the 
 campaign of i860 Mr. I.incoln had said that he was a be- 
 liever in one term in the Presidency, and that he would 
 not be a candidate for re-election. As time went on, how- 
 ever, a great demand for the renomination of the President 
 began on the part of the people and the Union press. Dis- 
 cerning men in all sections of the country who sought the 
 success of the National arms and the preservation of the 
 Union were strongly of opinion that it would be extremely 
 unfortunate for the nation were Mr. Lincoln refused a re- 
 nomination. In the homely language of that great man "it 
 was no time to swap horses in crossing a stream." How 
 to get over the difficulties of the situation was a serious 
 problem to honest Abraham, who believed in the good, old- 
 fashioned doctrine that a man's word should be equal to 
 his bond. Personally the good President would have been 
 glad to have been relieved of the cares and responsibilities 
 of the great office, but in his heart there was a wish that 
 he might be allowed to finish the work which the American 
 people had entrusted to his hands. In the dilemma as to what 
 course he should pursue, Mr. Lincoln sent for Simon Cam- 
 eron, Senator of the United States from Pennsylvania. Cam- 
 eron went to the White House and in a lengthy conference 
 with the President he suggested a plan whereby Mr. Lin- 
 coln's compunctions of conscience as to the propriety of his 
 candidacy for re-election might be overcome. Senator Cam- 
 eron's plan was, first, that the Pennsylvania Legislature, 
 then in session, should pass complimentary resolutions of the 
 Lincoln administration, and the necessity for its continuance 
 in office with the request tliat the President waive his 
 objections because the people demanded his renomina- 
 tion. Cameron controlled the Legislature, and in 
 the course of a few days the resolutions were passed, pub- 
 lished in the newspapers and telegraphed to the National 
 Capital. Every loyal State Legislature followed with simi- 
 
156 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 lar resolutions, until the call for another term was heard ia 
 the home of every lover of his country throughout the land. 
 Mr. Lincoln took great delight in tlie action of the several 
 States as cleverly brought about by Senator Cameron's gen- 
 eralship, and was inclined to joke over the success of the 
 scheme. One day at a White House reception, in the midst 
 of the celebrities of the day, generals, admirals, cabinet 
 ministers, senators, representatives and foreign ambassa- 
 dors, their wives and many of the fairest women of the land, 
 who had come to the East Room to do honor to the Nation's 
 Chief, the President's jocularity broke out unexpectedly to- 
 the great astonishment of the creme de la creme. It seem? 
 that during tlie day of the reception the President had re- 
 ceived a telegram announcing that the Ohio Legislature had 
 passed a resolution calling on him to again become a candi^ 
 date for the office which he had so highly honored. When' 
 the festivities were at their height Senator Cameron ap- 
 peared at the end of the line of callers with whom Mr. Lin- 
 coln was busily shaking hands. As soon as the President 
 discovered Cameron's presence he adtiressed him in a voice 
 that was audible to the extreme end of the chamber, with a 
 merry twinkle in his eye, exclaiming: "Simon, another 
 State heard from to-day!" This remarkable sentence was 
 not understood by the majority of the guests, but to those 
 who knew what it meant it was a source of merriment for 
 many years thereafter. The resolutions accomplished the 
 purpose for which they were intended. The country be- 
 came wildly enthusiastic for the nomination of the President 
 at the hands of the National Republican Convention to meet 
 in the city of Baltimore in the month of June, at which con- 
 vention he was renominated unanimously with tremendous 
 cheers. 
 
 In New Jersey the Legislature was controlled by the 
 Democratic party, so that the only way to formulate a re- 
 quest to the President that he again consent to be a candi- 
 date was for the Republican memhers to write him a letter. 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY I57 
 
 Accordingly at Trenton, February i8, 1864, twenty-one 
 members signed a communication on the subject addressed 
 "To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States." 
 Among the signers was Providence Ludlam, the patriotic 
 Senator from Cumberland County. The letter concluded 
 with the following paragraph: 
 
 "With feelings akin to affection we regard the patience 
 with which you have endured tlie anxieties and burdens of 
 your position ; the courage which has always risen with 
 every danger that threatened us. We admire the fidelity 
 with which you have sustained and proclaimed those princi- 
 ples whicli underlie every free government, and which alone 
 can make this nation again what it was but now the admira- 
 tion of men and wonder of the world. Without any 
 disparagement of the true men who surround you and whose 
 counsel you have shared: believing that you are the choice 
 of the people whose servants we are; and firmly satisfied 
 that they desire and intend to give you four years for a 
 policy of peace, we present your name as the man for Presi- 
 dent of the American people of 1S64." 
 
 Upon the convening of our State Legislature early in 
 January, Hon. Edward JMaylin, of iMillville, was honored 
 with the vote of the Republican members of the House of 
 Assembly as their candidate for Speaker. The House was 
 strongly Democratic, consequently the nomination was 
 merely complimentary. It was given, however, to a worthy 
 man, for Edward Maylin was an able, patriotic, representa- 
 tive citizen, an honor to his party, to Cumberland County, 
 and his country. 
 
 Early in March, after extended debate, the Democratic 
 majority in the Legislature passed a concurrent resolution 
 to the effect that the soldiers of New Jersey then in the 
 service of their country fighting on Southern battlefields 
 should have the privilege of the elective franchise only in 
 case thev were permitted to return home on furlough at 
 the time of the coming Presidential election. This, of 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 course, prevented the New Jersey soldiers from votint^' in 
 the field, as it was impossible for them to be furloughed as 
 a body to go to their respective voting precincts at home. 
 To save themselves from too much criticism of their dis- 
 graceful action in the passage of these resolutions, they pre- 
 fixed them with a preamble declaring it to be unconstitu- 
 tional to allow an absent elector to cast his vote. And thus 
 it came to pass that while the soldiers of other States were 
 casting their ballots in tlie field at the Presidential election, 
 the 50.000 sons of New Jersey who were baring their 
 breasts to the shot and shell of the Confederates were denied 
 the privilege of a choice as to who should govern the land 
 for which they were offering their l)lood and their li\-es. 
 
 .An illustration of the notorious character of the Legis- 
 lature of 1864 was given the very day of its organization 
 when William Kelley, of Essex Count)', a pot-house Demo- 
 cratic politician, was chosen doorkeeper of the Ladies' Gal- 
 lery of the House of Assembly over John Lawrence, of 
 Gloucester County, by a strict party vote of 39 to 20. Law- 
 rence was a brave New Jersey soldier who had lost both legs 
 at the battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, in 1862, 
 while a private in Company B, Ninth New Jersey. He 
 had borne his sufferings heroically, this good Union soldier 
 and Jersey Blue, but the Democrats had no use for him. 
 So on his two artificial limbs he hobbled back to his home 
 in Gloucester County, to tell the story of the unpatriotic 
 conduct of the partisans at Trenton, who, out of love for 
 the spoils of office, refused the paltry place of doorkeeper 
 to a man who had periled life and limbs in order that they 
 might enjoy the blessings of liberty. 
 
 The first number of a straight-out Republican news- 
 paper in the town of Millville was issued January 9, 1864. 
 In speaking of the new journal the Bridgeton Chronicle 
 said: "We have received the first number of the Millville 
 Republican, pul)lished at Millville by John W. Newlin & 
 Co. It is a very neat paper, especially devoted to the advo- 
 
 (l.'iH) 
 
PROMINENT ClTIZENS-ls.;i-l 
 
 (;.'» 
 
 Percival Nichols 
 
 Adrian Bateman 
 
 Charles R. Elmer Hon. Edward Maylm 
 
 Robert DuBois 
 
 Dr. Robert W. Elmer Hon. Ebenezer Hall 
 
 David McBride 
 
 Henry B. Lupton 
 
 (l.VJ) 
 
 James B. Ferguson 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 cacy of the Union cause. We wish it abundant success and 
 welcome its editors into the fraternity." 
 
 Mr. Newlin had come to Cumberland County from 
 West Chester, Pennsylvania, to edit the new paper, which 
 was to thereafter strike sturdy blows for the Union cause, 
 and the Republican party. In the vigor of early manhood, 
 with fine personal appearance, and unusual talent as a writer 
 and public speaker, Mr. Newlin at once took a leading part 
 in the political movements of the Republicans of Cumberland 
 County. His editorials were crisp ; his speeches went to 
 the core of the opposition, so much so that his services on 
 the stump were in demand at each recurring election for 
 many years. 
 
 About the middle of June a letter was received in 
 Bridgeton from the pen of Lieutenant Edward M. DuBois, 
 with particulars of the death of M. Bloomfield Holmes, be- 
 loved son of Alfred Holmes, of Hopewell Township. The 
 letter said: "He was gallantly leailing his company (K, 
 Twelfth New Jersey), in the crossing of the Chickahominy 
 at Mechanicsville by our army on the third day of June, 
 when he was struck on the leg by a shell. I'pon consulta- 
 tion by the surgeons amputation was pronounced impracti- 
 cable. He lingered until next day, being able in an interval 
 of consciousness to give direction as to his effects, and send 
 messages of love to his family. The boys of the company 
 buried him with more care than any colonel has received 
 who has died here. Sergeant Holmes commanded Company 
 K since the 6th of May and led it into all the fights with the 
 greatest coolness and bravery. In one thing he was con- 
 spicuous, that amid all the temptations of camp life he never 
 swerved from the strict path of a consistent Christianity." 
 
 The crowning glory of the soldier's life was told in the 
 last sentence of the letter, and it is to this day a precious 
 legacy to the relatives and friends who remember the splen- 
 did Christian soldier, the young, manly, brave officer, Bloom- 
 field Holmes, whose early death brought sorrow and tears 
 
 (ICO) 
 
r- 
 
 PROMINENT CITIZENS— ISiil-lSi.:. 
 
 _ T- M- lohn W. Newlin 
 
 George F. Nixon jv^i". 
 
 Hon. James H. Nixon 
 Franklin F. Westcott J°hn S. Mitchell 
 
 (lul) 
 
l62 HISTORIC UAVS 
 
 to tlie country folk of his boyhood home, in the loyal town- 
 ship of Hopewell. 
 
 The body of David Yearicks, Corporal Company F, 
 Third New Jersey (Cumberland Greys), was brought to 
 Bridgeton, June 13, and buried the next day. Corporal 
 Yearicks was wounded on the 8th day of May in action 
 near Spottsylvania. His arm was amputated, but he died 
 a few days later, only a brief season previous to the ex- 
 piration of his term of enlistment. Mr. Yearicks was a 
 young man highly esteemed, with a large circle of friends. 
 He was a good soldier. His death brought great grief to 
 a devoted wife. Mrs. Kate Yearicks, and many relatives 
 and friends. 
 
 Great preparations were on foot in Bridgeton early 
 in May with a view of furnishing articles and supplies 
 for a fair to be held in Philadelphia in June, the proceeds 
 of which were for the aid of the soldiers and sailors, the 
 wounded and suffering of the army and na\y. Governor 
 Parker appointed the following as a committee to look after 
 the representation of Cumberland County at the fair : Dr. 
 William S. Bowen, Robert C. Nichols, Miss Harriet F. 
 Stratton and ]\Iiss Anna Brewster. 
 
 Th.e committee met and selected the following as aids: 
 Dr. Joseph C. Kirby, Captain James R. Hoagland, Lieuten- 
 ant James J. Reeves, Miss Hannah S. Elmer, Miss Belle 
 Howey, Miss Carrie Buck, Miss Sallie H. Buck. 
 
 Later the homes of the ladies whose names are attached 
 were selected as depositories for articles to be sent to the 
 fair from Bridgeton and other towns of the county: Miss 
 Harriet F. Stratton. Commerce and Atlantic streets ; Miss 
 Anna Brewster, West Commerce street : Miss Carrie Buck, 
 foot Laurel street: Miss Sallie H. Buck, \\'est Commerce 
 street; Miss Belle Howey, Commerce and Atlantic streets. 
 
 Aids to these committees were appointed in Millville 
 and the townships, and when May 25th had arrived, the date 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 163 
 
 when contributions should be ah in, Cumberhmd County 
 had made a great record for patriotism, which the United 
 States Sanitary Commission in Philadelpliia acknowledged 
 with thanks. 
 
 Fair hands indeed were those wiiicii gathered Cum- 
 berland's offerings for the relief of tlie heroic soldiery at 
 the front. Notable in this good work with her patriotic 
 sisters was Miss Belle Howey, stately, beautiful, with a 
 soul replete with tenderness for the work to which she gave 
 a willing heart and hand. Miss Howey came of one of 
 the best New Jersey families. Captain Frank Howey, a 
 brother, served in the war for the Union, and was after- 
 ward elected to Congress. 
 
 During the year "64 two drafts for soldiers were made 
 to fill the county's quota under the President's last call of 
 500,000 men to close the gaps in the depleted columns of 
 the Army of the Potomac and the other national armies 
 because of the death, wounds, disability and termination of 
 enlistments of many three-year regiments. The men who 
 were drafted, as a rule, either went themselves or promptly 
 furnishd substitutes. Persons who desired to escape army 
 service all at once became decrepit and unfit, putting up all 
 sorts of physical ailments for exemptions. Among the 
 drafted men were several persons of prominence in the 
 community, notably Hon. John T. Nixon, Charles C. Gross- 
 cup, of Grosscup Hall fame : Dr. Oliver S. Belden and 
 others. 
 
 Previous to the adjournment of the Legislature in the 
 spring of 1864 an act for the incorporation of the townships 
 of Bridgeton and Cohansey into a municipality to be known 
 as the city of Bridgeton, passed both Houses of the Legis- 
 lature, was signed by Governor Parker and became a law. 
 The enacting clause of the bill declared that it should take 
 effect the following year, March i, 1865. This was a great 
 forward movement for the people of the town of Bridgeton^ 
 
364 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 but it was accomplished in the face of much prejudice, even 
 so g"Ood a citizen as Judg-e Elmer deeming it unnecessary 
 and unwise. The Judge's opinion was that it would be bet- 
 ter to keep the town in borough form rather than take a 
 step which in the end meant increased expenditures and 
 increased ta.xes. Public sentiment, however, was favorable 
 to the act of incorporation on the ground that the separate 
 townshijj government on the twi:) banks of the Cohansey 
 was not up to the spirit of the times, and that consolidation 
 and a t;reater Bridcreton was needed. 
 
 June 7, 1S64, at Baltimore, .\braham Lincoln, of Illi- 
 nois, was renominated for President of the United States, 
 with Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as \'ice-President. 
 The National Republican Convention did wisely in again 
 selecting j\lr. Lincoln as its Presidential candidate, but the 
 nomination of Andrew Johnson for the Vice-Presidency was 
 a political error which the lamented death of the President 
 brought prominentlv to view. Johnson retarded the work 
 of reconstruction and was a failure at a critical period of the 
 nation's history. 
 
 The Democratic National Con\ention met in Chicago, 
 and nominated General George B. McClellan. of New York, 
 for President, with George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, for Vice- 
 President. 
 
 With the making of the nominations the great Presi- 
 dential campaign of 1864, the most exciting, momentous 
 and decisive political campaign in American history, opened 
 — a canvass of bitterness unparalleled, fought with that 
 "weapon firmer set, and better than the bayonet, the bal- 
 lot!" While the contest waged the battalions in the field 
 rested on their arms — the Confederates hoping for a re- 
 versal of Mr. Lincoln's policy — the Federals trusting in 
 the patriotic North for a reindorsement of the administra- 
 tion at Washington and a vote of confidence in the officers 
 and soldiers of the republic who had by their heroism and 
 sufferings brought victory to the flag nn many bloody fields. 
 
IX CUMBERI-AXD CnUNTV, NEW JERSEY 165 
 
 At a meeting of citizens of Bridgeton great prepara- 
 tions were made for the celebration of the Fourth of July, 
 1864. An elaborate program was mapped out. and the 
 following gentlemen appointed a committee of arrange- 
 ments : Joseph H. Elmer. Robert DuBois. James R. Hoag- 
 land, Edmund R. Elmer, Eden ^I. Hood. Charles D. Bur- 
 roughs. Providence Ludlam, Robert W. Elmer. Charles E. 
 Mulford, Edwin Ware, Robert B. Potter. 
 
 The members of Company F, "Cumberland Greys," 
 Third New Jersey, who had served three years, but did not 
 re-enlist, had returned home a few days previous to the 
 Fourth, so it was decided that in addition to the other pa- 
 triotic exercises a reception and dinner should be given to 
 the returned soldiers. 
 
 At sunrise on the morning of the Fourth the old cannon 
 which had figured in so many previous celebrations was 
 brought out and a National salute fired. The day was fair 
 — the sun shone brightly — the sidewalks were packed with 
 thousands of men. women and children. Farmers from the 
 country districts came to town in large numbers to take 
 part in the festivities. Business places and private resi- 
 dences were gay with bunting. The old wooden bridge 
 over the Cohansev River at Commerce Street, was beauti- 
 fully decorated with evergreen. A triumphal arch erected 
 above the roadway of the structure was adorned with fiags 
 and flowers, forming a beautiful design in the words "Wel- 
 come Home." 
 
 At 10 o'clock a parade formed in front of the Davis 
 House on Commerce Street, headed by Lewis H. Dowdney, 
 marshal : James R. Hoagland and Samuel T. DuBois, as- 
 sistant marshals. The Bridgeton Cornet Band and the 
 Laurel Hill Fife and Drum Corps furnished music, patriotic 
 and inspiring. A remnant of the "Greys." two officers and 
 twenty-eight muskets strong, occupied the place of honor 
 in the procession, under command of Captain Charles F. 
 Salkeld. The veterans marched splendidly to the great ad- 
 miration of the vast crowds of onlookers. Preceding the 
 "Grevs" was an omnibus containing members of the com- 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 pany who were unable to march because of wounds and 
 other disabihties. 
 
 Corporal John Royal, at the head of the veteran sol- 
 diers, stood erect and manly, holding with a firm grip the 
 beautiful silk colors which the ladies of Bridgeton had pre- 
 sented to the "Greys" that bright May day in '6i the eve 
 of their departure for the seat of war. John Royal was 
 tlie senior color corporal of the gallant Third New Jersey. 
 He had carried the regimental colors through many bloody 
 engagements, and was a proud man that glorious Fourth of 
 July, 1864, when the original flag of the "Cumberland 
 Greys" was given to his hands. It was a splendid flag, 
 bright with the tri-colors, glorious with its canopy of stars. 
 On its broad stripes the names of the principal battles in 
 which the company had been engaged from Bull Run to 
 Cold Harbor were emblazoned in letters of shining gold. 
 As the returned soldiers passed, the fair sex, of whom the 
 local papers said there had never before been such a turn- 
 out, waved their handkerchiefs in salute, while the citizens 
 rent the air with round after round of cheers. 
 
 Appended is a list of the brave soldiers who partici- 
 pated in the celebration and reception that day : 
 
 Charles F. Salkeld, captain ; former Lieutenant Samuel 
 T. DuBois. then a captain ; Joseph R. Woodrufif, Michael 
 H. Swing, James W. Murphy, Thomas M. Woodruff. 
 James B. \\'oodruff, John Royal, Charles L. Davis, William 
 H. Williams, Clarence J. Mulford, Jonathan H. Facemn-e, 
 David W. Fry, Robert Glaspey. John C. Garrison, Horace 
 E. Loper, Reuben Brooks, Charles T. Jordan, Davis B. 
 Loder, Daniel R. Parvin, Alexander Sayre, Walter S. \\'il- 
 liams, Robert M. Vansant, Levi J. Harker, Furman Cam- 
 bloss, Joab C. Lore, Daniel Doyle, David P. Clark, Charles 
 McAllister, Henry Marts. 
 
 The following members of the "Greys" were not pres- 
 ent at the reception because of their ha\ing re-enlisted for 
 another term of three years. They served the country with 
 great loyalty, returning after the surrender at Appomattox, 
 in 1865 : 
 
 (106) 
 

 FLAG OF THE " CUMBERLAND GREYS " 
 
 Company F, Third New Jersey Regiment Inf. Vols. 
 
 John Royal, Color Bearer 
 
 1m;i— isiii 
 
 (II'.T) 
 
HISTORIC UAVS 
 
 Bowman H. Buck, David E'. Husted, Alexander M. 
 Parvin. Joseph Clayton, William Painter, Adolph Bergen, 
 Thomas Cottrell. William H. Nagle, Jonathan Fadely, Rich- 
 ard C. Levick, Henr\' L. Seymour, Henry B. Stockton. The 
 latter. Comrade Stockton, was killed in action near Spott- 
 sylvania, Va., after re-enlistment. 
 
 Twelve members had been transferred to Hancock's 
 Veteran Reserve Corps and to other regiments, in which 
 they finished their three years" enlistment. Thirty-two mem- 
 bers were discharged from service prior to the termination 
 of their enlistment period, owing to wounds and disabilities. 
 Seventeen members were killed on the field, and died of 
 wounds and disease. 
 
 Captain James W. H. Stickney. who commanded the 
 company at its organization in Bridgeton. was later pro- 
 moted to the position of major, which he filled with distin- 
 guished ability. 
 
 Magnificent record of a gallant hundred who, going 
 at the first call of an imperiled country, rendered invalu- 
 able ser\-ice, to the great honor of the patriotic county of 
 Cumberland. 
 
 As the veterans marched amid applause and cheers 
 the vacant [ilaces in the depleted ranks of the splendid com- 
 pany were more and more apparent. The erect forms of 
 Randolph, Pew. Bacon, Clark, Crandol, Fogg, Jackson, 
 Johnson, Keen, Nichols, Sheppard, Stockton. Thompson, 
 Thornard, Tyler, Yearicks and Wolf, were not in the visible 
 line. They had joined the invisible. The blood and tears 
 of earthly suft'ering had been exchanged for the peace of 
 that glorious land in the house not made with hands eternal 
 in the heavens. 
 
 "Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight. 
 Nor time's remorseless doom. 
 Can dim one ray of holy light 
 That gilds your glorious tomb." 
 
 At the Grove on West Commerce street the exercises 
 were opened by an eloquent prayer from the lips of Rev. 
 
 (168) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— 1m;1-1n;'. 
 
 Group Company F "Cumberland Greys '"i. Third N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Francis Albin Reuben Brooks Joab C. Lore 
 
 Bowman H. Buck 
 
 William G. Howell 
 
 Levi J. Marker 
 
 David B. Husted 
 
 Thomas P. Coles 
 
 1189) 
 
17c HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Henry M. Stuart, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. 
 
 Hon. Jolm T. Nixon addressed the large assemblage 
 which had gathered in his usual magnetic maimer. The 
 oration by Paul T. Jones was a masterpiece. He welcomed 
 the braves to whom he had presented the flag in the early 
 spring of '61, in one of the most patriotic, pathetic and 
 eloquent speeches ever delivered in South Jersey. At one 
 moment the eyes of his auditors would be dim with tears; 
 at another the trees of the grove reverberated with the 
 plaudits of his hearers, to whom he recounted the story of 
 the heroic deeds of the veterans who had added new glory 
 to the flag and the republican institutions which treason had 
 sought to destroy. 
 
 Captain Charles F. Salkeld, of stalwart, soldierly ap- 
 pearance, whose bravery had been tested on many hotly 
 contested fields, whom the men loved as they loved their 
 own souls, addressed the audience in an exhaustive and elo- 
 quent review of the company's history as follows : 
 
 Fclloiv Citizens. Ladies and Gentle men : 
 
 "In the name and on the behalf of this organization, 
 lately designated as Company F, Third New Jersey Regi- 
 ment Volunteers, but more familiarly known to you as the 
 'Cumberland Greys," I return vou their sincere and heart- 
 felt thanks for this welcome greeting, which you have this 
 day extended them, upon their arrival among you after an 
 absence of over three years at the seat of war, most of which 
 time has been spent 'mid scenes of danger, toil, hardship and 
 privation. 
 
 "Your efforts, ladies of the Aid Society, to conduce to 
 our comfort, pleasure and gratification, upon this memorable 
 occasion, previous to our departure from home, and during 
 our absence, are deeply and thoroughly appreciated, and will 
 ever be gratefully remembered and cherished by the recipi- 
 ents; never for an instant have the many favors so grate- 
 fully bestowed upon us by you been forgotten. e\en amid 
 scenes of the utmost peril. On the contrary, we know from 
 our own observation that many an arm has been nerved to 
 strike a heavier blew in defence of those rights and privi- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUXTV, NEW JERSEY I7I 
 
 leges bequested us by our ancestors and for which we have 
 been battling when thoughts of home, friends and all those 
 who were there laboring to minister to our comfort while 
 in camp, upon the battlefield, or in the hospitals — would rise 
 prominently before us. 
 
 "The soldier, when about to engage in a hand-to-hand 
 ■conflict with the enemy, very naturally reverts his thoughts 
 to scenes far distant, and very different from those by which 
 he is at the moment surrounded, and as visions of the happy 
 home, and the dear ones he has left behind, present them- 
 selves before him, he is animated to more daring and valor- 
 ous deeds, that he may perform his part in subduing the 
 enemy, so that he may sooner be enabled to return to enjoy 
 those benefits and blessings so dearly prized by him. While 
 in active campaign he is peculiarly situated. ?Iis lot compels 
 him for the time to withdraw himself from all gentle society, 
 or from all that tends to refine or elevate him in the social 
 scale. His constant and daily comrades are the rougher, 
 sterner sex, therefore some degree of allowance should be 
 made if his manners are not as cultivated or polished as some 
 of the male devotees of fashion, who enamour cities and 
 towns. His heart is warm, impulsive, generous and easily 
 impressed by kindness: a letter, a gift, or a kind message 
 makes a deep and sensible effect upon him, and if his emula- 
 tion be excited and his ambition rewarded, he will smile at 
 danger, and shrink from no foe. 
 
 "During the prevalence of this present unhappy Civil 
 War the Federal soldier has established a reputation which 
 is world-wide. No troops have ever been compelled to make 
 greater sacrifices, undergo more se\-ere and trying eft'orts, 
 than those composing the rank and file of the Army of the 
 Potomac. Yet they willingly, gladly, aye cheerfully sub- 
 mit to all these discomforts, face danger and death in every 
 form, for the preservation of our Union and Constitution, 
 as they were handed down to them by their forefathers. 
 You ladies have done much to ameliorate their condition, 
 and you have a powerful influence, w-hich, if rightly exer- 
 cised, tends greatlv towards developing those characteristics 
 
HISTUKIC Ll.WS 
 
 which should, and if you will but foster, cherish and assist to 
 develop these traits, you will learn of still more glorious 
 achie\enients being performed by our amiies. 
 
 "All of us from the day of lea\-ing- this place, followed 
 by your prayers and blessings, have been looking forward, 
 eagerly and anxiously, to the time when we should be per- 
 mitted, if spared, to return again to the county which sent 
 us forth as her first representatives in the Army of our Na- 
 tion. Alany of us this day see our fond wishes consum- 
 mated, but alas, these sable Ijadgcs we see. remind us that 
 our circle has been narrowed, and that death has been busy 
 among us. W'e would that all our comrades, who, three 
 years since, left their homes and friends to obey their coun- 
 try's call, were with us to participate in the festivities of 
 to-day. but an all-wise Providence has deemed proper that 
 it should be otherwise, and while we have been preserved, 
 we must not forget the fact that the remains of nearly a 
 score of our former companions in arms lie mouldering 
 near the banks of the Potomac, the Chickahominy, the 
 James, the Antietam, the Rappahannock and the Po. The 
 so-called sacred soil of Virginia should seem doubly sacred 
 now by reason of the blood of our heroes, who rest in their 
 silent graves beneath it. 
 
 "The record described on this banner will tell you how 
 well, how nobly, those fleparted ones, as well as their sur- 
 vivors, performed their obligations to their country; upon 
 all those bloody fields have they faithfully defended the flag 
 of their nation, never once allowing it to fall into the enemy's 
 hands. A sacred and important trust assigned to them. 
 but one honestly and trul}- performed. 
 
 "Attired in these same soiled and tattered uniforms in 
 which you behold them, with the others of their regiment, 
 have they gallantly confronted their foes face to face, caus- 
 ing them during the last three days even of their service 
 to {\y from their cold and glistening bayonets, and though 
 the air was hot and thick with screaming shells, and whist- 
 ling bullets, bravely did they a.scend the heights of Cold 
 Harbor, the enemy retreating from their steady firm ad- 
 
 (172) 
 
Group Company F 
 James B. Woodruff 
 
 James G. Westcott 
 
 WAR TIME PICTURES-l^r.MM.l 
 
 CumberlandGreys".,ThirdN.J. Reg. Inf. Vols^ 
 
 Joseph R. Woodruff W.lham Mulford 
 
 Charles T. Jordan 
 Clarence J. Mulford Aaron Allen 
 
 (173) 
 
174 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 vance ; and in all the engagements now recorded as a portion! 
 of our national history have they courageously performed 
 their part, as the transcripts of the company will readily 
 show. The fields of Gaines' Hill, Bull Run, Fredericksburg- 
 Salem Heights, South Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg. 
 Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania and others will attest 
 to their coolness, bra\-ery and intrepidity. ]\Iany (if them 
 bear about their persons the best and most convincing proofs 
 confirming a soldier's undaunted courage, scars received in 
 battle while in line of their duty. Proud, indeed, should you 
 be, mv comrades, of these wounds, those maimed, disfigured 
 limbs : you came by them honorably and risked your life 
 for them, and they will be the boast and pride of your chil- 
 dren and your children's children, in after years, when re- 
 ferring to you, mentioning the services you rendered in 
 endeavoring to suppress this gigantic rebellion. And it will 
 be your own boast as time shall come upon you apace to- 
 exhibit those blemishes and relate portions of your own 
 experience, which occurred while yi^ii were connected with 
 the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 "It may not be inappropriate at this time to gi\e a sum- 
 mary of the history of this company from the date of its 
 muster into the United States service, three years ago, 
 to the present time. It left this place IMay 27th, 1861, fully 
 officered and with ninety-eight enlisted men. Two other 
 officers and four recruits were afterwards added, making 
 the total number belonging to the company one hundred 
 and seven; of that number, two officers have been jiromoted 
 to other commands, two discharged and one mustered out 
 with the company. Eighteen men have died and been killed 
 in action, thirty-two ha\e been discharged, the majority 
 from wounds, the others from disability. Eighteen have 
 been transferred, a portion to the Veteran Reserve Corps, 
 others to the Navy, some to other regiments from New Jer- 
 sey, by reason of re-enlistments. Four have been dropped 
 from the company rolls as deserters, and thirty mustered 
 out on account of e.xpiration of their term of service. At 
 Gaines' Hill, two years since, the company went into action? 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY l/S 
 
 numbering sixty men, and supporting regimental colors, and 
 withdrew at the close of that fearful engagement with but 
 thirty-one, the remainder having been killed, wounded or 
 captured. At Alanassas, two months after, two were killed 
 and three captured. At South Mountain, during the first 
 Maryland campaign, the company numbered twenty-two, 
 two were killed and three wounded. At Antietam. three 
 days later, five were wounded ; at Salem Heights, after the 
 occupation of Fredericksburg, Va., May, 1863, one was 
 killed and six wounded, and during the campaign under 
 General Grant, inaugurated May 4, 1864, up to the time 
 of their leaving the front, three were killed and died of 
 their wounds, eight were wounded and four captured, the 
 last mentioned were soon retaken by our ca\alry and re- 
 turned. 
 
 "The casualties attending the companv ha\'e not been 
 so great as many persons might suppose, from the amount 
 of service rendered, having taken part in all the general en- 
 gagements the Army of the Potomac ever participated in, 
 with the exception of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks. It 
 seems as if a special Providence watched over us and pre- 
 served us, when we think of the danger and exposure we 
 have been subjected to. Let us reverently hope tliat we are 
 sufficiently thankful for the great mercies which have been 
 extended to us. 
 
 "And now, my comrades, the most painful task of all 
 devolves upon me. The hour of separation has nearly 
 arrived, and we are in future to go forth into the world, 
 each of us to follow that career in ci\il life to which choice, 
 circumstances or inclinations may call us. For the last 
 three years we have been co-laborers in one common cause, 
 we have shared together the arduous and difficult duties 
 of the camp, the bivouac, the battlefield. We have seen 
 our comrades fall dead, dying and wounded, around and 
 about us, have heard their groans, dying exclamations, and 
 piercing, heartrending shrieks, have followed to their last 
 resting-place beneath Virginia sod several of our number, 
 but have ourselves been graciously spared to return to our 
 
HISTtlUIC DAYS 
 
 Iia])|jy liomes and dear friends, whose familiar faces we see 
 before us to-day. Ne\er in all human probability will we 
 be assembled together again after the exercises of to-day 
 are concluded. Our duties we obligated ourselves to per- 
 form have been executed, and our contract cancelled. You 
 have jjeen battling these many months with open enemies 
 in your front. fr(im whom you are now removed, but you 
 will find it necessary still to be vigilant, or enemies will 
 appear upon your front, your rear, and on both flanks, e\en 
 here in your native State. Be wary, watchful, cautious, 
 keep your outposts well guarded and supported, lest they 
 take you by surprise. Repel them when attacked, force 
 them either to evacuate or capitulate, and all will be well, 
 but ne\er surrender one inch to them. Remember the sacred 
 cause you have so long been contending for. Remember 
 the leaders you have followed, whose names are now his- 
 toric — Kearney. Taylor. Slocum, Smith. Sedgwick and 
 Wright, three of whom have sealed their devoti(3n to their 
 country with their lives. Remember the blood shed by 
 your own comrades, and consider it as a solemn duty you 
 owe to their memory to be true to your country now in 
 the hour of her great peril, and let us hope that tyrants or 
 usurpers may never point to the sepulchre of her liberty and 
 mock lier degraded and suffering children. Let us each 
 rather once more lend a helping hand, if necessary, to as- 
 sist in wresting back our land from those rebel hordes who 
 would destroy the best government the world ever saw. 
 Let us transmit it unimpaired to posterity, and though we 
 may not be honored with the helm, let us be content to cheer- 
 fully unfurl a sail, splice a rope, or clear the deck for action. 
 Let us look back one year from to-day at the horrible field 
 of Gettysburg, and as the memory of that spot and the 
 scenes there enacted come visibly before us. and we contrast 
 them with those we witness here, let us renew our obliga- 
 tions to bear true and faithful allegiance to our Government. 
 But I am warned that I have exceeded the time allowed me, 
 and must conclude. In doing this let me assure each and 
 every one of my imbounded friendship and interest in you. 
 
 (176) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— ISC.l-l.SMo 
 Group Company F i," Cumberland Greysi." Third N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 Michael Swing W. Scott Williams William H. Negley 
 
 Thomas M. Woodruft 
 Jonathan Fadely Eldorado H. Grosscup 
 
 John C. Garrison 
 (177) 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Wherever in tlie future your lots may be cast, remember 
 you have no firmer friend, or no one who will always feel 
 more interested in your welfare than he who lately had the 
 honor of commanding you. That prosperity may attend 
 you is my earnest desire, and wWle taking leave of our kind 
 friends here, who have so kindly welcomed us home, I will 
 also bid you adieu." 
 
 Franklin F. W'estcott, Esq., then addressed the veterans 
 in a brief, patriotic speech, laudatory of the service they 
 had rendered the county and the nation. 
 
 The exercises closed with a feeling benediction by Rev. 
 John \\'. Hickman, the beloved pastor of Commerce Street 
 M. E. Church, after which the soldiers sang "Rally 'Round 
 the Flag, Boys, Rallv Once Again ! Shouting the Battle Cry 
 of Freedom !" 
 
 Counter-marching back to Grosscup's Hall, the "Greys" 
 were received by the Ladies' Aid Society of Bridgeton, and 
 tendered an elegant dinner prepared by E. Davis & Son, 
 of the Davis House. It was a festive occasion around the 
 feast of delicious viands, waited upon by the hands of 
 Bridgeton's fairest young ladies, surrounded by a wealth of 
 floral decorations, and in the presence of the best citizenship. 
 Memories of the war, still fresh from the tented fields — the 
 fallen comrades — the dreatlful scenes of battles lost and won 
 — the advance — the retreat — the defeat and final victory 
 were before them. But home with its joyous environments 
 was theirs at last ! Victors of many well-fought fields, well 
 done ! well done ! 
 
 Many were the interesting stories told of the days by- 
 gone in march and l)ivouac, when the pigs and poultry of 
 some rebel farmer were appropriated for the use of the boys 
 of Companv F. One of the best was that which concerned 
 Comrade John C. Garrison. John was a Christian, and a 
 strong believer in honesty, but once while the Third New 
 Jersev lav encamped near Ciaines' Mill, \'irginia. it was dis- 
 covered that the miller who ground the grist was very bitter 
 in his talk against the Yankees. He furnished a good qual- 
 
 (ITS) 
 
DRUM CORPS ■CUMBERLAND GREYS" 
 Company F, Third New Jersey Regiment Inf. Vols— lS(il 
 Horace E. Loper, Fifer 
 William Painter. Drummer 
 
 (179) 
 
l8o HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 ity of flour, but under General McClellan's orders neither 
 the miller's property nor his flour could be tDUched. The 
 boys were anxious for a little of that flour, nevertheless, 
 and so it was arranged that while a squad of comrades en- 
 gaged the rebel miller in conversation Garrison was to slip 
 in back of the mill and get away w ith a bag. The scheme 
 worked like a charm, and so it came to pass that while the 
 bovs talked with the "reb." John took the flour. 
 
 Among the first to enlist in the "Cumberland Greys" 
 were Horace E. Loper, fifer ; h'rancis Albin ("Dart") ancl 
 William ("Billy") Painter, drummers. No musician in 
 the Army of the Potomac could handle a fife more melodi- 
 ously than Horace, and none were more skillful with the 
 drum sticks than "Frank" and "Billy." The former re- 
 turned with his comrades at the end of his three-year term 
 of enlistment with the honors of fife major. Horace Loper 
 was one of three brothers who had local fame as "Crockett 
 the First." Frank Loper was "Crockett the Second." 
 Johnny Loper was "Crockett the Third." All were gifted 
 as musicians. On his return from the war Fife Major Loper 
 gave some \-ivid descriptions of scenes of service, but said 
 he, "The saddest and most heartrending were those of the 
 battle of Cold Harbor, fought just previous to the discharge 
 of the three-year men, when so many of the Third Regi- 
 ment were killed and wounded. Such sights were terrible 
 to witness, and brought tears to many eyes." Drummer 
 Francis Albin, who had gone into the Regimental Band, 
 was discharged August lo, 1862, bv an act of Congress 
 which repealed the act under which the Third Regiment 
 Band was organized. Drummer William Painter went in 
 at the beginning and remained to the end. He re-enlisted 
 December 30, 1863, and was honorablv discharged June 29, 
 1865. The echoes of your martial notes have long since 
 died away, noble drum corjis of the sixties : the last reveille 
 has sounded — "No braying horn or screaming fife, at dawn 
 shall call to arms." 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY l8l 
 
 Fife Major Leper, of the "Greys," had talent as a poet. 
 After the Third Regiment had arrived in Virginia he com- 
 posed and printed a patriotic song, which he distributed 
 among his comrades and sent to his friends at home. Ap- 
 pended is tlie song as Horace wrote it : 
 
 THE NEW JERSEY THIRD. 
 
 BY H. E. LOPER, COMPANY F. 
 
 Come all ye true Americans, I pray you lend an ear, 
 I'll tell you as true a tale as ever you did hear ; 
 'Tis of the New Jersey Third, as you will understand, 
 It is a famous regiment, Col. Taylor in command. 
 
 'Twas in the year of sixty-one, and in the month of May, 
 
 We left our wives and sweethearts, in a lamenting way ; 
 
 To go and fight Secession, and the traitor's flag pull down, 
 
 .\nd tliose we left may rest assured we'll strike it to the ground. 
 
 We struck gur tents at Trenton on the 28th of June — 
 The fields and flowery gardens and meadows were in bloom; 
 Whilst on our way to Washington the pretty girls would say, 
 There goes a gallant regiment from the State of New Jers-a. 
 
 When we arrived at Washington, the people looked amazed. 
 To hear the yells of us Jerseymen — they really thought us crazed; 
 Whilst jumping from the cars you could hear their voices loud. 
 Crying "Vengeance to Secession," as we passed the eager crowd. 
 
 We had not been at Washington more than three weeks or four, 
 When w-e received an order to cross to Virginia's sacred shore ; 
 Through woods and mud we traveled, whilst hungry, tired and dry. 
 We never shall forget that night until the day we die. 
 
 We arrived at Camp Trenton about ten o'clock that night — • 
 I'm sure t'would rend the hardest heart to witness such a sight ; 
 We lay upon the cold, damp gmund until tlie brr.ik of day: 
 When we arose we found ourselves in a bed of mud and clay. 
 
 We pitched our tents, in short, on top of Roach's hill ; 
 We soon had all things fixed, and then remained quite still, 
 Until the i6th of July, a skirmish we heard say 
 Had taken place at Springfield, and we must march that way. 
 
 When we arrived at Springfield, the rebels they had fled. 
 Unto that sad, ill-fated field, where many brave hearts bled ; 
 Then to building up the bridges we impatiently did go, 
 That were torn down and burned by otir rebel foe. 
 
 Then next to Fairfax Station, our steps we did repair, 
 But little did we think how we were going to fare ; 
 Hard crackers, without water, we were obliged to eat. 
 And to add to our misfortunes, we were ordered to retreat. 
 
 Those orders were obeyed, although against the grain, 
 
 To leave them in possession, and go from whence we came; 
 
 Rut we'll show them hereafter, we can stand before a gun, 
 
 .And they never shall experience another R\ill Rim. " 
 
lS.2 IIISTIIKIC D.WS 
 
 Although 10 tlicm a victory, to us it has been more, 
 Ahhough many a true soldier lies in that field of gore ; 
 The time is fast approaching — how soon we do not care — 
 For the Third is waiting patiently to gain of praise her share. 
 
 Here's health to Col. Taylor and Lieut. Col. Brown, 
 Also to Major Collett, for their betters can't be found; 
 And to Capt. Stickney, and Company F success — 
 For 'tis as brave a company as the regiment does possess. 
 
 My song cannot be ended until our hopes and fears are told ; 
 The time is fast approaching, which will a tale unfold; 
 The final blow will soon be struck, and traitors get their due ; 
 And soon we will return to those, whose love for us is true. 
 
 We anticipate a glorious time, when again on Jersey shore. 
 
 If God in His boundless mercy should protect us through this war; 
 
 But if it be His will that on the field we lie. 
 
 Our friends at home will full well know that at our post we die. 
 
 Among the gallant men in tlie ranks of the "Cumber- 
 land Greys" was Smith Dalryniple, of Bridgeton. Tall in 
 stature, of fine physique, patriarchal beard, and genial man- 
 ners, intelligent soldier was comrade Dalrymple. A printer 
 by trade, previous to the war compositor and editor of the 
 Bridgeton Chronicle. He was a writer of more than ordi- 
 nary ability. His life was replete with strange experiences 
 and remarkable escapes from death. In 1856 he was one 
 of the few who escaped with their lives from the decks 
 of the burning ferryboat "New Jersey," destroyed by fire 
 while crossing the Delaware River from Philadelphia to 
 Camden. Serving throughout the Civil War meritoriously. 
 he seemed to bear a charmed life, coming to the end after 
 many close calls unscathed. Immediately on taking posses- 
 sion of Petersburg, Virginia, by the Union Anny, under 
 General Grant, Smith Dalrymple discovered a printing 
 ofifice from which the Confederates had fled in great haste. 
 Going into the composing room of the defunct sheet, Smith 
 took to the case, and in a few hours after the Union occupa- 
 tion of the city there issued from the Confederate press 
 under date of April 8, 1865, a spirited Yankee newspaper, 
 five cohimns in width, with the title "Grant's Progress." 
 The type was set and the paper worked off in connection 
 with Comrade Dalrymple by soldiers of different regiments 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 183 
 
 who had not forgotten their trade as printers. The lead- 
 ing- editorial in this novel journal said : "We believe in the 
 United States, now and indivisible, in Abraham Lincoln, 
 our adopted father ; in U. S. Grant, Captain of the Host, 
 and in ourselves as the principal sojourners in the Army of 
 the Potomac, and the freedom of the contrabands, and the 
 speedy extinction of tiie rebellion, and the perdition of 
 Jeff. Davis here and hereafter." 
 
 The pastors of the Bridgeton churches were outspoken 
 for the Union during the trying days of the great war. From 
 every pulpit rang an appeal for loyalty, and many were the 
 eloquent sermons delivered and stirring prayers offered to 
 the God of battles that victory might crown the Union arms. 
 Among this splendid corps of Christian ministers was Rev. 
 James M. Challis. Dr. Challis was a retired Baptist clergy- 
 man, resident of Bridgeton, who was an enthusiastic Union 
 man and great admirer of President Lincoln. At one time 
 during the war while the pulpit of the First Presbyterian 
 Church in Bridgeton was vacant pending a successor to 
 the Rev. Dr. Samuel Beach Jones, Dr. Callis preached 
 several sermons. One Sunday morning when the national 
 horizon was shadowed with gloom because of repeated re- 
 verses to the Union arms, the doctor entered the pulpit 
 brimful of patriotic earnestness, giving utterance to one 
 of the most remarkable prayers ever heard in any church 
 After praying for the success of the. Union armies in the 
 field and the navy upon the sea, he fervently exclaimed 
 "God bless the soldiers and sailors. God bless the President 
 of the LTnited States," and here the doctor paused. "And, 
 Lord, I mean Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 Congress adjourned in the spring of 1863, when the 
 term of H'on. John T. Nixon expired and that gentleman 
 returned to his home in Bridgeton. A service of four years 
 in the exciting days immediately preceding, and the open- 
 ing days of the great civil conflict in the Congress of the 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 United States, had ripened Mr. Nixon's great abili- 
 ties. Going to Washington a novice, so far as national 
 affairs were concerned, he returned a statesman. Those 
 who knew him will never forget him. The author of this 
 volume can see him even now, standing in the forum of the 
 Cumberland Court House, addressing the jury as to the 
 merits of the cause entrusted to his hands by plaintiff or 
 defendant. And the cause which he defended or argued 
 was always meritorious, because it was a cardinal principle 
 of Mr. Nixon's life that he would not appear as an advocate 
 of any action whicii he knew to be wrong. The client who 
 desired his service must first give him a truthful statement 
 of the case, otherwise he would not agree even to listen to 
 it. If the client was in the right, then he was sure that 
 the great talent of tlie former Congressman would be ex- 
 erted to its utmost limit. John T. Nixon's sole and only 
 standard was "thrice armed is he whose cause is just." 
 Discouraging litigation instead of creating it, as is too often 
 the rule by lawyers of modern days, he lived to the end a 
 goodly and upright life. His silver gray head and flowing 
 side whiskers could say yes or no, with significant em- 
 phasis, while his sincere argument and eloquent sentences 
 touched the hearts of many juries for the righteous verdict 
 which he desired should be based upon the truth and the 
 evidence. The sterling principles of his life were exem- 
 plified not only before the bar of the Court, but upon the 
 stump, when in hot campaigns of excited partisans he was 
 always the same courteous, argumentive. polished speaker. 
 The Nixon family of which the illustrious jurist- 
 statesman came was of Fail-field growth. On a small farm 
 near the village of Cedarville, in what was then a part of 
 the good old township of Fairfield, named after a county 
 which the early settlers had left in Connecticut for a home 
 in New Jersey, Jeremiah Nixon reared a remarkable fam- 
 ily. Besides Judge Nixon, he had other distinguished sons, 
 none of whom are now living. Rev. J. Howard Nixon 
 became a minister of the Gospel of the Presbyterian faith, 
 at one time pastor of the clnirch in Indianapolis. Tnd., of 
 
 (IsJi 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— IsiV.MSiJo 
 Group Tenth New Jersey Regiment Inf. Vols. 
 Lieut. John B. Hoffman Capt. George W. Hummell 
 
 Lieut. William J. Sutton Capt Isaac T. Thackara John Fawnsbury 
 
 Lieut. James Nieukirk Joseph Simkins C. Henry Seeley 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
I 86 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 which President Benjamin Harrison was an elder. An- 
 other son, James Nixon, went South, became editor of the 
 New Orleans Crescent, and led a regiment as colonel in the 
 Confederate Army. The remaining brother, William G. 
 Nixon, long president of the Cumberland National Bank. 
 Bridgeton's oldest financial institution, a financier of great 
 ability, amassed a fortune in the keen pursuit of wealth. 
 Two sisters became the wives of leading men — one the wife 
 of David P. Elmer, the nther the wife of General J'>hn H. 
 Sanborn, of the United States Army. Two other sisters 
 became wives of Samuel Bodine, a Philadelphia manufac- 
 turer, and Henry Sheppard, of Missouri. 
 
 During Governor Olden's administration Cumberland 
 County had furnished a thousand men for military service. 
 In addition to the "Cumberland Greys," of the Third New 
 Jersey ; Company K, of the Twelfth New Jersey, and Com- 
 panies F, G and H of the Twenty-fourth New Jersey, two 
 companies of volunteers had gone from Millville, Maurice 
 River, Fairfield and other townships. Company B, of Mill- 
 ville, Captain George E. Dunlap, Lieutenants James Smith 
 and B. Reed Brown, joined the Twenty-fourth. Company 
 D. Captain Ethan T. Garretson, of Fairfield; Lieutenants 
 Samuel Peacock and Joseph Bateman, joined the Twenty- 
 fifth Regiment. Company D, Tenth New Jersey, Captain 
 John Evans, Lieutenants Isaac T. Thackara and George W. 
 Hummell. William J. Sutton. Sergeant, was largely re- 
 cruited at Shiloh and in the western section of the county. 
 Lieutenant Hummell afterwards became captain, for gallant 
 conduct in the field. Sergeant William J. Sutton was pro- 
 moted to a first lieutenancy because of meritorious conduct. 
 This company of the Tenth Regiment did valorous service 
 throughout the war. many of its members serving the full 
 three years and re-enlisting. The Third New Jersey Cav- 
 alry also contained a large number of volunteers from Cum- 
 berland County. Cnmpanv G. Cai^tain Thomas G. Mc- 
 Clong. of Millville. coming from eastern parts of the county, 
 
IK CUMBERLAND COINTY, NEW JERSEY 1 87 
 
 and Company H, Captain Ethan T. Harris, of Bridgeton, 
 from the county seat and tlie townships inmietliately sur- 
 rounding it. First Lieutenant Rarnet Burdsall, of Company 
 H, a splendid officer, whose remains rest in the Shiloh Bap- 
 tist Cemetery, was kiUed in a skirmish with guerrillas at 
 Warwick Bridge, Virginia, July 5, 1864. The men who 
 went into the Third, Tenth and Twelfth Regiments en- 
 listed for three years, as did tlmse who enlisted in the Third 
 Cavalry, but those who served in the Twenty-fourth and 
 Twentv-fifth Regiments were enrolled for nine months only. 
 
 There were two families in Bridgeton of humble origin 
 whose patriotism sent them into the ranks of the Union 
 army almost in their entirety. Elizabeth Ayars, widow, re- 
 sided on Laurel street. Of her six sons, four of them 
 enlisted in Company H, Twenty-fourth Regiment, as fol- 
 lows : Edward Ayars, Samuel Ayars, Richard B. Ayars, 
 Ephraim R. Ayars. Jeremiah Ayars enlisted in the First 
 Delaware Regiment. Beside her five volunteer soldier sons 
 Mrs. Ayars had a son-in-law, Bowman H. Buck, in the 
 "Cumberland Greys." He had a remarkable career as a 
 soldier. When a young man Mr. Buck served with Gen- 
 eral Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, and was present 
 at the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Cerro 
 Gorda. Vera Cruz, Cherubusco, and witnessed the surren- 
 der of Santa Anna in the city of IMexico. During the War 
 of the Rebellion he fought from 1861 to the close of hos- 
 tilities in 1865. This veteran of two wars was enrolled as 
 sergeant and came out a sergeant. By reason of his heroic 
 conduct on many battlefields Hon. John T. Nixon secured 
 a lieutenant's commission for Mr. Buck, but he would not 
 have it, preferring to remain in the ranks with the boys. 
 Few men have such a splendid recr)rd as Bowman H. Buck 
 and few were so modest when epaulets were to be had. 
 Robert G. Clark, Company K, Twelfth Regiment, was also 
 a son-in-law of Mrs. Ayars, who served his country honor- 
 ably. Widow Avars could well be proud of her sons and 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 her sons-in-law, for in the hands of families like hers the 
 priceless jewel of our liberties was doubly safe from the foe- 
 man's treacherous steel. 
 
 Another loyal family was that of Richard D. Pemi, 
 resident of North Bridgeton. Four sons enlisted for the 
 war : Isaac and Jesse Penn in Company B, Tenth Regi- 
 ment; Amos Penn in Company G, Thirty-eighth Regiment; 
 George Penn in Company G, Third New Jersey Regiment, 
 Cavalry, the latter killed in action at Summit Point, Va., 
 August 21, 1864. 
 
 Then there was the Xieukirk family, which sent three 
 brothers : William R. Nieukirk, United States Navy ; 
 James P. Xieukirk. first lieutenant. Company H, Tenth 
 New Jersey Regiment; John B. Xieukirk, Company H, 
 Twenty-fourth New Jersey Regiment. 
 
 And the Croziers, consisting of three brothers : Ed- 
 mund Crozier, Company F. Third New Jersey Regiment ; 
 Elam Crozier. Company F, Third New Jersey Regiment, 
 Cavalry; Roger Crozier. Company J^", Twenty-fourth Xew 
 Jersey Regiment. 
 
 Also the three sons of Phebe Robinson : George W. 
 Robinson, Company H, Third New Jersey Regiment, Cav- 
 alry; Hosea Robinson, Company F, Thirty-seventh New 
 Jersey Regiment, who died in the service and was buried 
 at City Point, Virginia, September 10, 1864; William Rob- 
 inson, United States Navy. 
 
 In Company Ft. of the Twenty-fourth New Jersey 
 Regiment, there was also enlisted a Bridgeton family of 
 three brothers, Thomas W. Sheppard, Elmer Sheppard, 
 John Sheppard. 
 
 The Swinneys, of Shiloh, were another family who 
 did much for the land they loved. Azor E. Swinney enhsted 
 in Company H, Third New Jersey Cavalry, and was killed 
 in action at Winchester, Virginia, September 19, 1864, 
 while gallantly fighting under the command of General 
 Pliil. Slieridan, in the famous Shenandoah ^'allev cam- 
 
FIVE PATRIOTIC AVARS BROTHERS-ImC 
 Ephraim R. Ayars Edward Ayars 
 
 Musician Co. H, ::ith N. J. 
 
 Reg. Inf. Vols. Jeremiah Ayars 
 
 Richard R. Ayars 1st Del. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Co. H, Jtth N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 (ISil) 
 
 Co. H, JUh N. J. Reg. 
 Inf. Vols. 
 Samuel Ayars 
 Co. H, JIth N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 paign. John G. Swinney, a brother, served a term of three 
 years in Company K, Twelfth New Jersey, with merit and 
 honors. 
 
 The Brooks family, of Bridgeton, was another loyal 
 contingent for the Union cause. Reuben Brooks went 
 among the first defenders in Company F, Third New Jersey 
 Infantry (Cumberland Greys); Joseph C. Brooks, enrolled 
 in Company H, Twenty-fourth New Jersey, afterward serv- 
 ing in the United States Navy; Enoch Brooks enlisted in 
 Company H, Third New Jersey Cavalr}-. 
 
 Still another Cumberland County family of three 
 brothers gave much and suffered much for the land and na- 
 tion. Horace Garton, Company K, Twelfth New Jersey 
 Regiment, died June 3, 1864, of wounds received in action 
 at Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia ; Samuel P. Gar- 
 ton, Company D, Tenth New Jersey Regiment, died of 
 wounds received in action at Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 
 I, 1864; Isaac T. Garton, Company K, Sixth Regiment, 
 transferred to Company G, Eighth Regiment, re-enlisted 
 June 4, 1864, served throughout the war. 
 
 Patriotic records indeed., yet there was another family 
 in Cumberland County, which gave more than any other to 
 the Government which they loved. Near the village of 
 Shiloh there resided a family of sterling qualities of mind 
 and body. Born upon a farm in one of the most productive 
 and peaceful sections of the State, rising with the birds nt 
 the early dawn, laboring in the fields by day, in the evening 
 participating with the good men and women of the neigh- 
 borhood in the intellectual and religious work of the noble 
 Seventh Day Baptist communion at Shiloh, of such were 
 the Randolphs. The young men had heard the story of 
 Robert Halford, the fugitive slave, and listened to the 
 resolutions of protest passed by the earnest company as- 
 sembled in the Session House. In the night time they drew 
 inspiration from the starrv heavens, and, believing in the 
 great .Architect who rules and overrules, they became stal- 
 warts for the righteous cause of the down-trodden and op- 
 
 (190) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— lSi;i-lSiVJ 
 
 The Brave Randolph and Swinney Brothers 
 
 Azor E. Swinney 
 
 Co. H. ;M N. J. Reg. Cav. Vol: 
 
 Alfred T. Randolph Sylvester W. F. Randolph 
 
 Inf. Vols. 
 
 Second-Lieut. Co. B, luth 
 N.J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 John G. Swinney 
 Co. K, IJth N. J. Reg. 
 Inf. Vols. 
 
 Lemuel A. Randolph 
 Co. D, lllth N. J. Reg, Inf. Vols. 
 
 (liU) 
 
IC)2 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 pressed. At the first sound of the cannon they came for- 
 ward with tile spirit of the Greeks at Tliermopylae. First 
 went Sylvester W. F. Randolph with the "Cumberland 
 Greys." in a few brief months to die in action at Gaines 
 Farm, Va., June 27, 1862. Torn by shot and shell, his life 
 blood quickly ebbed away, and when comrades sought 
 to carry him from the field he protested that they 
 should leave him to his fate and succor those for whom 
 there was yet hope. With streaming eyes and bruised 
 hearts they buried him where he fell. Then went Alfred 
 T. Randolph in Company D, Tenth Regiment, to leave his 
 good right arm on the amputation table, the result of a 
 rebel bullet in the final struggle before Petersburg, Then 
 followed Lemuel A, Randolph in the same company and 
 same regiment. The record says : "Died of wounds re- 
 ceived in action at Cold Harbor, Va,, June l, 1864. Buried 
 at Baptist Cemetery., Shiloh, New Jersey." Three noble 
 brothers — two gave their lives that the nation might live, 
 falling with their faces to the foe. The other gave an arm, 
 and returned to tell the story of the battles fought and vic- 
 tories won on Southern fields. What more could one family 
 do? What greater service has any family rendered? 
 
 Of such material were the soldiers of Cumberland 
 County. The boys in our public schools may read the his- 
 toric page from remote ages, but thev will never find the 
 superiors of the young manhood who fought under our 
 flag in the potential armies that saved the Union in the 
 tremendous conflict of '61, '62, '63, '64, '65. They did not 
 fight for aggrandizement of territory, for glory, or for the 
 perpetuation of monarchy. Neither were they forced to 
 fight because of the mailed hand of arbitrary rulers. Vol- 
 unteers, not conscripts, they fought for humanity and the 
 preservation of civil and religious liberty. Caesar or Char- 
 lemagne, Hannibal or Henry of Navarre, Napoleon or 
 Wellington never commanded such intrepid, such brave, 
 such invincible legions. The nation looked on and won- 
 dered while patriotic .Americans changed the course of his- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COIjNTV, NKW .1 I-:RSKV 193 
 
 tory and out of the carnage of many bloody fields lirought 
 forth a new nation dedicated to humanity and a new birth 
 of liberty. No more was the starry banner to be called a 
 flaunting- lie. The brave volunteers were to put a new 
 brightness to its stripes and add a new glory to its stars. 
 
 It may have been forgotten by even the oldest citizen, 
 but it is a fact, that Bridgeton was represented in the famous 
 sea fight in Hampton Roads, Virginia, fought Saturday and 
 Sunday, ]\Iarch 8th and 9th, 1862. This battle changed the 
 character of naval architecture, and from it dates the era of 
 armor-plated ships of war. The Merrimac was a wooden 
 vessel, built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, not yet completed by 
 the United States Government, when the Confederates 
 seized the yard and naval stores at that port. The latter 
 utilized the ship by plating her with railroad iron, thereby 
 making a sheath impenetrable by shot or shell from the small 
 calibre guns with w^hich war vessels of the day were armed. 
 In the roadstead, March 8th, lay the U. S. war vessels Cum- 
 berland, Congress and Minnesota, old-time frigates, with 
 deck upon deck, and row upon row of cannon — formidable, 
 as naval warfare had heretofore been conducted, but there- 
 after to become obsolete through and by the appearance of 
 armored ships. They were noble-looking craft, of the type 
 of those upon whose decks John Paul Jones carried the first 
 American flag to victory off Flamborough Head, in the 
 North Sea, in the autumn of 1779, during the merhorable en- 
 gagement with the Serapis, the finest ship in the service of 
 his Britannic Majesty, George III. 
 
 But with the advent of the Monitor and the Merrimac, 
 the days of wooden ships were over. On the morning of 
 March 8th, the Merrimac appeared and, making direct for 
 the Cumberland, opened a terrific hail of iron on that ves- 
 sel. The crew of the Cumberland, loyal, brave, worked the 
 ship's batteries with rapidity, sending broadside after broad- 
 side into the iron monster before them. Blood ran down 
 the decks in torrents, and hundreds of gallant tars fell to 
 rise no more. The defence was unequal to the attack; so, in 
 
194 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 blood and carnage, tlie Cumberland went down to a watery 
 grave. On the deck of the doomed ship were tw-o former 
 citizens of Bridgeton. One of them, Rev. John L. Lenhart, 
 Chaplain in the Navy, pastor of the Commerce Street ]\Ieth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, 1840-1841, was last seen going into 
 the cabin. Who knows but what his feet were turned theuce 
 because of the habit of prayer which had been his custom 
 from early childhood ? While the beloved Lenhart prayed, 
 the Master took him home. The gate of heaven, to which 
 he had so often pointed the fathers and mothers in good, old 
 Commerce Street Church, had ushered in his gentle spirit. 
 \\'ith him it — 
 
 '"Twere sweet, indeed, to close our eyes, w'ith those we cher- 
 ish near, 
 
 And, wafted upwards by their sighs, soar to some calmer 
 sphere ; 
 
 But, whether on the scaffold high or in the battle's van. 
 
 The fittest place where man can die is where he dies for 
 man!" 
 
 The blood-dyed waters of Hampton Roads were his 
 winding sheet, and there he sleeps, waiting the Resurrection 
 of the dead. 
 
 Some there w'ere of the crew of the Cumberland who 
 escaped death when the ship went down. Among the few 
 in a crew of more than 300 men, was William Clark, of 
 Bridgeton, who jumped overboard, was picked up by a boat 
 and saved. He lived to serve in 1864-65 as a private 
 soldier in Co. H, Third New Jersey Cavalry, and was 
 honorably discharged. The great conflict of the Monitor, 
 with the Merrimac, occurred the following day after tne 
 wreck of the Cumberland. Sunday morning, March 9th, 
 1862. a puff of smoke seaward, announced the coming of 
 John Erricsson's battery known as the "Alonitor." The 
 latter looked like a cheese-box mounted on a raft — -the deck 
 being freeboard and almost Ie\-el with the sea, upon which 
 was an iron-clad turret containing two cannon from which 
 could be hurled 200-pound projectiles. The Merrimac came 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NKW JliRSEV I95 
 
 gayly out to meet the stranger seeming to say with jaunty 
 air, "I have destroyed the Cumberland, rammed the Con- 
 gress and sent the Minnesota high and dry upon the shore, 
 who are you to dispute with me the supremacy of the sea?" 
 The battle opened with fierce attack on either side — it ended 
 in victory for the little Monitor, which at an opportune 
 moment had appeared and restored the prestige of the old 
 flag never previously lost on land or sea. 
 
 The Bridgeton ladies having organized early in i86r 
 their jMillville sisters took up the work of assistance Sep- 
 tember 14th, 1862. Most of their efforts were devoted to 
 the needy and suft'ering soldiers in the various hospitals. 
 Six pieces of muslin were given by the Millville merchants 
 for this purpose. One hundred yards of muslin and twelve 
 pounds of yarn were contributed by Richard D. Wood, cot- 
 ton goods manufacturer. The yarn was speedily fashioned 
 by the ladies into substantial socks. One good mother in 
 Israel, in her 72d year, whose health would not permit her 
 to attend the meetings of the society, knit sixteen pairs of 
 socks, besides making eighteen shirts. Pity 'tis that her 
 name has been lost, the local papers failing to chronicle it. 
 While the Jilillville ladies were industriously engaged in 
 this manner, the Bridgeton ladies were sending box after 
 box of clothing and eatables to the front. The dying 
 soldier upon the cot in hospital or on the battlefield wet 
 with tears the pillow which the patriotic mothers and sisters 
 had shaped in the sewing societies at home. Visions of 
 angelic faces were his as he passed from time to eternity. 
 Who can measure the value of the noble service rendered 
 by the splendid women of Cumberland County in that great 
 epoch of the war for the Union? In that accounting day 
 before the Throne the story will be fully told. Then and 
 not till then will their glorious work and its glorious re- 
 sults receive the reward of those who "in His Name gave 
 the cup of water, and who visited Him when sick and in 
 prison." 
 
HIS'IOKIC DAYS 
 
 The Bridgeton papers editorially were speaking out 
 strong and emphatic for the Union in the year 1863. The 
 C'linmicle. pulilislied l)v (Jeorge F. Xixun, and Robert B. 
 Potter, was dealing sturdy blows each and every week in 
 behalf of the L'nion cause, and was ably edited. Its com- 
 ments on the actions of New Jersey Regiments in the field 
 and the indi\i(lual bra\-ery of the soldiers from Cumberland 
 County, were especially reliable because editors Nixon and 
 Potter had official knowledge of the mo\-ements (editor 
 Potter being a lieutenant in the 24th Regiment) and per- 
 sonal acquaintance with most of the men who had gone from 
 our midst to face the perils of death on ensanguined fields. 
 The Chronicle, just after the battle at Chancellorsville, had 
 this to say concerning the condu-ct of two of the Jersey 
 Regiments which were more largely than others composed 
 of sons of the county of Cumberland : 
 
 "At Chancellorsville the 24th New Jersey did not 
 lose as heavily as some other regiments. It behaved beauti- 
 fully, led b}' Colonel Roliertsun. Major Fithian, acting as 
 aid to General French, beha\-ed in a most gallant and 
 soldierly manner through the whole fight." 
 
 "The conduct of the 25th New Jersey- in the recent 
 conflict on the Nansemond, near Suffolk, \'irginia, is 
 spoken of in high terms of praise. They formed in con- 
 nection with the 103d New York, the right wing- of the at- 
 tack, and are described as doing their work splendidly, 
 driving the enemy back slowly but surely. 
 
 "It gives us special pleasure to make this statemen*:, 
 inasmuch as the Fairfield Company from this county, Cap- 
 tain Garretson's, belongs to this regiment. There are many 
 other Cumberland and Cape Alay boys in the 25th." 
 
 While the town of Bridgeton and the western town- 
 ships of Cumberland County produced remarkable families 
 of citizen-soldiers to whom reference has been already 
 made, the Townships of Fairfield and Downe to the south 
 along the Cobansey and by the Delaware Bay were pro- 
 
 (IW) ■ 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES— IMil-l'-iii 
 Five Brave Young Men from Fairfield Killed in Battle 
 
 William B. Elmer ^ ,. ^"l^T,'",^c'''''"l"f v„u 
 
 Co. H, ■J4th N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. Co. D. L'..th N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Albert Jones, Co. G. JIth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 I Rwis S Flmer Theodore W. Elmer 
 
 Co. G. IJtr N. J. R^g Inf Vols. Co. H, :M N. J. Reg. Cav. Vols. 
 
 (197) 
 
igS HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 purtiunately patriotic. When the flag at Sumter was in- 
 suhed the fanner boys and oystermen came boldy, bravely 
 forward. 
 
 In the g-allant contingent from h'airfield came the Elmer 
 family to take a leading part in the great battles for human 
 liberty. I heodore and Ann Elmer ga\'e three sons, as fol- 
 lows: To Company E, 12th Regiment, Lucius Q. C. Elmer, 
 who served honorably and was transferred to Hancock's 
 Veteran Reserve Corps — to Company H, 24th New Jersey, 
 William B. Elmer, Corporal, who died at Division Hospital, 
 near Ealmouth. \'irginia, of wounds received in action at 
 Fredericksburg, December 13th, 1862 — to Company H, 
 3d New Jersey Cavalry, Theodore W^ Elmer, Corporal, 
 died in the prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, January 
 13th, 1865, a prisoner of war. To this list of loyal Elmers 
 may be added the name of Lewis S. Elmer, son of Owen 
 Elmer, Company G, 12th New Jersey, killed in action at 
 Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 3, 1863. 
 
 Then came the Williams family! Daniel Williams was 
 a leading farmer and business man of the county. He re- 
 sided on a farm just below Herring Row schoolhouse, upon 
 which he raised a large and interesting family. For several 
 years he was President of the Bridgeton and Philadelphia 
 Steamboat Company, the corporation which built the swift, 
 beautiful steamer City of Bridgeton, placing that boat upon 
 the Cohansey River in tri-weekly trips to and from Phila- 
 delphia. Mr. Williams was a robust defender of the Union, 
 and his heart beat strong for the success of the great cause. 
 Erecting- a tall pole on his farm he hoisted the Stars and 
 Stripes, declaring that the colors should never come down 
 from that pole until his three boys, who had enlisted for 
 the war, returned to him dead or alive. His was the spirit 
 of the Spartan mother when she said: "My son (handing 
 him the shield), return with it or upon it." First, went 
 William H. Williams in Company F, 3d New Jersey, the 
 favorite Cumberland Greys, early in '61, participating in 
 the many battles in which that company and regiment took 
 heroic part. James P. Williams followed, enlisting in Com- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 1 99 
 
 pany K, 12th New Jersey, becoming Corporal, Sergeant 
 and First Lieutenant by rapid promotion. James was on 
 the firing line at Gettysburg and served meritoriously until 
 the close of the war. Later Benjamin Frank Williams 
 joined Company D, 25th New Jersey, rising from Sergeant 
 to Second Lieutenant prexious to the expiration of his term 
 of enlistment. 
 
 From Fairfield also went a son of Sherrard Sockwell. 
 veteran Democrat, who loved his country above and beyond 
 his party. Benjamin F. Sockwell, Company D, 25th New 
 Jersey, died at Stanton United States Army General 
 Hospital, Washington. D. C, February 5th, 1863, wounds 
 recei\'ed in action at Fredericksburg, Va. ; leg amputated. 
 Many were the patriotic addresses made on Decoration 
 Days in later years by Mr. Sockwell, in remembrance of 
 his soldier son. 
 
 Albert B. Jones, Company G, 24th New Jersey, another 
 Fairfield boy, sealed his devotion to his country, dying at 
 the hiis]iital near Fredericksliurg, \"a., of wounds received in 
 action at Fredericksburg. December 13th. 1862. 
 
 The Union fleet fought the battle of Mobile Bay, Au- 
 gust 5, 1864. Admiral David Farragut, a naval hero of 
 the John Paul Jones stripe, captured the fortifications in the 
 harbor of IMobile known as Morgan. Powell and Gaines, 
 after running through a field of torpedoes and a terrific 
 storm of shot and shell. During the height of the battle 
 Farragut directed operations of the fleet from the masthead 
 of his flagship, the "Hartford." to which he had been lashed. 
 The night previous to the engagement the Admiral sent a 
 telegram to the authorities at Washington which read : "I 
 am going into Mobile in the morning, if God is my leader, 
 as T hope He is." Early the following day he appeared upon 
 the quarter-deck and said to his flag officer: "What direc- 
 tion is the wind blowing?" The officer answered by saying 
 that it was from a favorable quarter. "Will it blow our 
 smoke in the face of the enemy?" The reply was: "It will." 
 "Then." said Admiral Farragut, "T think we had better go 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 in.'" This was the word of command from the veteran leader 
 and the fleet went in, its decks sHppery with the blood of 
 patriots, l)ut \\'ith colors flying to the great glory of the 
 American Navy and the crushing defeat of the Confederates. 
 The news of the successful issue of the conflict in Mo- 
 bile Bay roused the loyal North with a great wave of en- 
 thusiasm, and Farragut and his men were the heroes of the 
 hour. Two families in the town of Bridgeton were repre- 
 sented in tliat great, naval battle, and intensely interested in 
 the news which might bring jov or sadness to their homes. 
 Ezbon C. Lambert, son of William Lambert, was an officer 
 on the gunboat "Itasca" of the West Gulf Squadron. Wil- 
 liam T. DuBois was aboard the dispatch Ijoat "Glasgow." 
 Fortunately both were alive anl unscathed. Ezbon was 
 enrolled in 1861 with his brother, William S. Lambert, as 
 a musician in the regimental band of the Third New Jer- 
 sey, serving in that position until 1863. Re-enlisting in 
 the United States Navy, he remained to the close of the war. 
 While the fleet lay in Mobile Bay, one day the Admiral's 
 gig came alongside the "Itasca," and up the ladder came 
 Farragut. A man of medium stature, with round, smooth 
 face, fatherly in appearance, he stepped upon the ship's 
 deck with a familiarity which made him a favorite with 
 both officers and men. With a glance at the twenty-pounder 
 on the forward deck, he turned to the commander of the 
 "Itasca" and said : "Captain Brown, don't }'Ou think that 
 gim is a little too light, and hadn't you better go over to 
 Pensacola and get a thirty-pounder?" The kindly question 
 was a command which Captain Brown acted upon promptly. 
 How beautifully the dear old Admiral put the orders of the 
 day and the hour none but those who served under him can 
 ever know. Ever mindful of the wants of his subordinates, 
 ever solicitous for their proper care and treatment, the men 
 loved him. Modest, unassuming, all heart, all soul, was 
 David Farragut. The Russian Admiral who thirty years 
 later deposited a wreath of flowers on Farragut's tomb in 
 Greenwood Cemetery, said while standing o'er his grave: 
 
 (200) 
 
WAR TIME PICTURES-]S.;i.l.«<i5 
 B. Fran. WMHan,^"''' '^"'"'"^' ^^''''"'"'' '"' "^ ^Cd.er Sons 
 Second-Lieut. Co. D, r.thN.J. . D^n'el Williams William H. Williams 
 
 Reg. Inf. Vols. -' Co. Fc- Cumberland Greys ■■■■Id N I 
 
 James P. W.ll.ams, Firs.-Lieut. Co. G. I.th N. J. Reg. fn? Vo" s."""'" 
 
202 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 "Admiral Farragut was the noblest, the bravest, the best 
 naval commander the world has known." 
 
 The memory of that noble commander is a sweet fra- 
 grance which will linger with the American people so long 
 as the Republic shall endure or the historic page shall remain 
 to tell the story of the victory won on the waters of Mobile 
 Bay. 
 
 The Union League removed its quarters from Gross- 
 cup's Hall and took rooms in Sheppard's building, just 
 beyond the Commerce street bridge. An executive commit- 
 tee composed of the following members was named : Alex- 
 ander Stratton, Providence Ludlam, Robert C. Nichols, 
 Stephen G. Porch, Alphonso Woodrufif, Theophilus G. 
 Compton, Paul T. Jones. Hon. John T. Nixon, president; 
 Morton Mills, vice-president, with Charles D. Burroughs as 
 treasurer. 
 
 The rooms were vei-y comfortably furnished and in 
 them much zealous work was done during the campaign 
 of 1864 for the strengthening of the Union cause — -and the 
 re-election of Mr. Lincoln so far as Cumberland County 
 was concerned. The efforts of that patriotic body of citi- 
 zens, irrespective of political party, brought splendid re- 
 sults. 
 
 Bridgeton was the pivot on which great political move- 
 ments revolved in the autumn of '64. The first to open the 
 ball were the Democrats of the First Congressional District. 
 Delegates from every county in the district came to the 
 county seat on the morning of Wednesday, September 14, 
 to take part in the proceedings of a convention to be held at 
 the Court House. Samuel J. Bayard, of Gloucester County, 
 was selected chairman. L V. Dickinson, of Salem County, 
 was unanimously nominated for Congress, M. R. Hamilton 
 and Abram Browning, of Camden, declining. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson addressed the convention in a very radi- 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 203 
 
 cal speech, which was loudly applauded. One of his para- 
 graphs was as follows : 
 
 "But let us patiently wait a little longer ; a change will 
 surely come. Our chosen chief, the great and good Mc- 
 Clellan, will soon be President, and directed by Him whose 
 aid he has invoked, establish peace, restore the Union, and 
 give each State a full guarantee of all its constitutional 
 rights. Let us not be deceived by those who would stir up 
 strife and create divisions. There is but one issue before 
 the people, and this is distinct and clear. The Democratic 
 party is in favor of a speedy peace, the condition of which 
 is the restoration of the Union. This is clearly expressed in 
 the Chicago platform. General McClellan in his letter of 
 acceptance endorses this doctrine in most emphatic lan- 
 guage. Mr. Lincoln in his letter 'to all to whom it may 
 concern,' makes the abandonment of slavery the doctrine 
 of peace. This is the issue before the people, and there can 
 be no other. If we triumph there will be peace; if we are 
 defeated this war will still continue." 
 
 In the same issue of the local paper which published 
 the action of the Democratic Convention the following edi- 
 torial appeared : 
 
 "General Sheridan has won a great victory in the 
 Shenandoah Valley over Early, the rebel general. Win- 
 chester is in our possession ; 2,500 prisoners, five guns, and 
 nine battle flags were captured; 5,000 rebel dead and 
 wounded left on the field. Truly the God of battles is smil- 
 ing upon us. ]\IobiIe, Atlanta and Winchester are on all 
 tongues and gladden all loyal hearts." 
 
 And yet in the face of these great Union victories the 
 Democratic party of 1864 was ready to make peace with 
 rebels in the field with the assurance that sla\ery should be 
 retained. 
 
 In contradiction of the ignominious peace proposals of 
 the Democrats were the noble sentiments expressed by Mr. 
 Lincoln in the closing sentences of his message to Congress, 
 December 6, 1864. The magnificent character of Abraham 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Lincoln was never more beautifully illustrated than when 
 he said : 
 
 "In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance 
 to the national authority on the part of the insurgents as 
 the only indispensable condition to ending the war on the 
 part of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said 
 as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that 
 while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt 
 to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor 
 shall I return t<> slavery an}' person who is free by the terms 
 of that proclamation or by any of the acts of Congress. If 
 the people shall by whatever mode or means, make it an 
 executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not 
 I, must be their instrument to perform it. 
 
 "In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply 
 to say that the war will cease on the part of the Govern- 
 ment whenever it shall have ceased on the part nf those who 
 began it." 
 
 The Republicans of the First Congressional District 
 met in convention at the Court House in Bridgeton, Tues- 
 day, October 3, 1864. It was the most enthusiastic political 
 convention ever held in South Jersey. None of its prede- 
 cessors could hold a candle to it — none of its successors have 
 equaled it. At half-past 9 o'clock in the morning a pro- 
 cession formed in front of the National Union Republican 
 headquarters in Sheppard's Hall. Commerce Street, headed 
 by the Bridgeton Brass Band. It marched by way of Com- 
 merce and Laurel Streets to the West Jersey Railroad depot 
 on Irving Avenue to meet the delegations from .\tlantic, 
 Camden, Salem. Cape May and Gloucester Counties, then 
 en route for the convention. Special trains from Camden, 
 Salem and Cape May arrived at the depot about twenty min- 
 utes past 10 o'clock, with some three thousand shouting Re- 
 publicans, consisting largely of marching clubs. With a 
 dozen bands of music, flags and banners flying, the proces- 
 sion began a triumphal march out Church Street to Com- 
 
 (204) 
 
Rev. Isaiah D. King 
 Pastor Trinity M. E. Church 
 
 Rev. Joseph Hubbard 
 Pastor Second Pres. Church 
 
 Rev. Charles H. Whitecar 
 Presiding Elder M. E. Church 
 
 Rev. Henry M. Stuart 
 Recto St. Andrew's P. E. Church 
 
 PATRIOTIC PREACHERS OF BRIDGETON— ISn-LStW 
 
 Rev. James M. ChalHs Rev. James Brown 
 
 Retired-Baptist Church Pastor First Baptist Church 
 
 Rev. Charles E. Hill Rev. Gasper R. Gregory 
 
 Pastor Commerce Street Pastor First Pres Church 
 
 M. E. Church Rev. J°h"W. Hickman 
 
 Fastor Commerce St. M. E. Church 
 
 Rev. Richard Thorn 
 
 Pastor Trinity M. E. Church 
 
 (205) 
 
2o6 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 merce Street, down Commerce to the bridge, up Commerce 
 Street liill to Franklin, and tlience to the Court House. 
 Paraders from Bridgeton joined the visiting delegations, to- 
 gether with hundreds of persons from the townships of 
 Deerfield, Hopewell, Stow Creek, Downe, Fairfield, farmers 
 in wagons wreathed with evergreens and bearing banners 
 with inscriptions. One of the transparencies from Stow 
 Creek bore the following bit of rural poetry: 
 
 "Stow Creek is all right. 
 You need not be afraid ; 
 We will all go down to Jericho, 
 And vote for Uncle Abe." 
 
 The march of the cheering Republicans was an ova- 
 tion. From balcony and every window along the route 
 ladies sigiialed and waved it onward with handkerchiefs and 
 flags. The Chronicle, in referring to the enthusiasm of the 
 ladies, said: "Especially pleasing was the greeting extended 
 at the Female Seminary, known as Ivy Hall, every window 
 of whose ample front literally burst with patriotic beauty." 
 When the parade arrived at Commerce Street bridge the 
 rear was yet at the depot on Irving .\\-enue ; and so long was 
 the line that it took one hour for it to pass the Davis House. 
 It was acknowledged that no such spectacle of popular en- 
 thusiasm had ever before been witnessed in Bridgeton. As 
 the marching column passed, the various clubs sang war- 
 time songs, placing especial stress on the clause of "Rally 
 'Round the Flag," which ended in the lines — "Down with 
 the Copperheads, up with the Stars." This particularly 
 irritated the Democrats, who now and then appeared on the 
 sidewalks to watch the procession, and the result was that 
 several hand-to-hand fights and scrimmages took place, in 
 which the local Democrats were badly used up by the rough- 
 and-ready element from Camden. Whisky from Edmund's 
 bar added to the hilarity, and a land office business was done 
 at the hotel. By evening the Republicans had cleared up 
 the town and not a Democrat was in sight. The town mar- 
 shal and his specials were powerless, and in an attempt to 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 20/ 
 
 restore order tlie marshal himself was rolled in the gutter. 
 It was a day of tremendous excitement. To crown the tur- 
 moil of excited partisans Uncle Eph's omnibus was seized 
 and packed full of cheering Republicans who made a tour of 
 the town without compensation, by sheer force of numbers. 
 
 ^\'hile the convention was in session James M. Scovel, 
 then a prominent leader in the Republican politics of West 
 Jersey addressed a great mass meeting in the open lot in 
 the rear of Grosscup's Hall. It was a iiery speech, replete 
 to the brim with satire of the Democrats and eulogy of Mr. 
 Lincoln and his Administration. Scovel was of impressive 
 ap]iearance and splendid voice. Then in his prime, he com- 
 manded the applause of his audience with encore after en- 
 core. As a member of the New Jersey Senate he had be- 
 come unusually prominent with men of affairs, and was 
 personally acquainted with President Lincoln and a frequent 
 visitor to the White House. It was said that the President 
 had great respect for Colonel Scovel, because of his zeal and 
 loyalty for the L'nion when so many others from Jersey 
 were lacking in those qualities. Of this friendship on the 
 part of the immortal Lincoln, Scovel was always very 
 proud. 
 
 The evening of the convention was a gala night. An 
 immense torchlight parade, led by the Fort Delaware Band 
 made the streets over which it passed as light as day. Com- 
 merce Street was on fire with Roman candles, rockets and 
 glittering torches. Transparencies carried in this proces- 
 sion stared the onlookers in the face with sentences like the 
 following: "We are Coming, Father Abraham!" "The 
 Rebellion can only be ended by a hard fight, and we will 
 make it!" "Ballots for L'nion men, bullets for traitors!" 
 "We do not belong to the Left Wing of Jefif Davis' Army !" 
 "McClellan is tough, but who can stand Pendleton ?" On 
 the sides of one of the transparencies were pictures of Mc- 
 Clellan on horseback, smoking the pipe of peace, and Pen- 
 dleton alongside of him. riding a donkey. It was the Wide- 
 Awake campaign of i860 over again, more spectacular, 
 more demonstrative because of the critical national situa- 
 
208 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 tion pending the settlement of the great issue of compromise 
 with rehelHon, or the continuance of the war and the ulti- 
 mate triumph of the Union cause. 
 
 Hon. Frederic T. Frelinghuysen. the most gifted public 
 speaker New Jersey had produced since tlie days of Samuel 
 L. Southard, delivered one of the most charming, eloquent 
 and convincing speeches to the multitude in Grosscup's 
 Hall that had ever been heard in Cumberland County. 
 The audience listened spell-bound, to break into patriotic 
 cheers at its conclusion. Freylinghuysen was afterward 
 United States Senator, and Secretary of State in President 
 Arthur's Cabinet. 
 
 Hon. John T. Nixon was given an ovation at the con- 
 vention when he rose to speak. Alexander G. Cattell, of 
 Salem, later United States Senator from New Jersey, and 
 Colonel A. B. Woodruff, of Paterson, also addressed the 
 people during the day and evening. 
 
 The Congressional Convention met at the Court fbuisc 
 about noon. Re\'. Charles E. Hill, of Salem, late chaplain 
 of the Corn Exchange Regiment of Pennsylvania, and a 
 former pastor of Commerce Street M. E. Church, offered 
 an intensely loyal and s<:)ul-stirring prayer. 
 
 General George M. Robeson, of Camden, was elected 
 chairman of the convention, with George B. Cooper, of 
 Millville, and John S. Mitchell, of Bridgeton, secretaries. 
 General Robeson, a very able and eloquent speaker, aroused 
 the convention to a high pitch of enthusiasm in a memorable 
 speech. Then at the beginning of a distinguished career he 
 was afterward Secretary of the Navy in General Grant's 
 Cabinet, and for four years the ablest Representative in 
 Congress ever .sent from the First District. 
 
 John F. Starr, James M. Scovel and Paul C. Brinck, 
 of Camden ; William Moore, of Atlantic, were presented 
 as candidates for the Congressional nomination. The vote 
 by counties resulted as follows: Starr, 39; Scovel. 7; 
 Moore, 7; Brinck, i. 
 
 John F. Starr's nomination was then made unanimous 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NIJVV JERSEY 209 
 
 amid clieers. Starr was a successful iron master of Cam- 
 den, wlio served the district two terms with credit. 
 
 Committee on Resolutions reported the following, 
 which were unanimously adopted. Vastly different in senti- 
 ment were the utterances of this convention in comparison 
 with tliose adopted by the Democratic Convention when I. 
 V. Dickinson was nominated for Congress a few days pre- 
 vious : 
 
 "Resolved, That the friends of Union and Liberty of 
 the First Congressional District of New Jersey, in conx'en- 
 tion assembled, do cordially endorse the nomination of those 
 true and tried patriots and statesmen, Abraham Lincoln and 
 Andrew Johnson, for President and Vice-President of the 
 United States ; that we accept the resolutions adopted by the 
 Convention which nominated those candidates as our plat- 
 form of principles, and as an earnest enunciation of patri- 
 otic sentiments of no doubtful meaning. 
 
 "Resolved. That we recognize as the only true basis of 
 a speedy and permanent peace, no compromise with traitors 
 until they shall first lay down their arms and submit to the 
 Constitution and laws of the LTnion ; that we have implicit 
 reliance in our Peace Commissioners. Grant, Sherman, Sher- 
 idan. Farragut. and their brave comrades, to command nego- 
 tiations for a permanent peace. 
 
 "Resohed, That an armistice at this time means, as it 
 was intended by the Chicago Convention, a cowardly and 
 disgraceful surrentler to a beaten foe ; an insult to the heroic 
 dead who ha\'e fallen in defence of our countrv. and a 
 slander upon those still battling for its prosperity and in- 
 tegrit}-. 
 
 "Resolved. That we ha\e no unmeaning words of 
 'sympathy' for the brave heroes fighting our battles at the 
 front, but tender them our heartfelt thanks for what they 
 have done in behalf of the Union, and our prayers for their 
 continued success." 
 
 The Republicans of Cumberland County completed the 
 ticket at a convention held in the court house. October 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 10th, at lo o'clock. Hon. Providence Ludlam called the 
 convention to order. On motion, Seeley Shute, of Green- 
 wich, was made chairman, and John Kandle, of Landis, 
 secretary. Rev. James M. Challis, an ardent patriot, offered 
 a feeling prayer in behalf of the Union, appealing to God 
 for succor and help with heartfelt thanks to Him for vic- 
 tories won. 
 
 John S. Mitchell, chairman of the Committee on Reso- 
 lutions, reported a series of resolutions which were signili- 
 cant of the political situation of the hour largely upon the 
 lines of those adopted at the Congressional Convention, 
 which were adopted amid applause. 
 
 Nominations being in order, Hon. Robert More, a 
 former Assemblyman, was nominated by a unanimous vote 
 as the Republican candidate for Assembly in the First Dis- 
 trict. In the Second District Convention James H. Nixon, 
 a rising young lawyer, was selected as the nominee on the 
 first ballot. The vote stood — Nixon, 21; Dr. Samuel G. 
 Cattell, of Deerfield, 9. Mr. Nixon was then a citizen of 
 Bridgeton. He was four times elected a member of the 
 House of Assembly, and with this, his first nomination, be- 
 gan a distinguished career which ended as a Circuit Judge 
 of tlie New Jersey courts. 
 
 James M. Riley, of Cohansey ; Jeremiah F. Zane, of 
 Maurice River; Levi K. Moore, of Hopewell, were nomi- 
 nated for Coroners. 
 
 Charles L. Watson was renominated for Sheriff, it 
 being the custom then to give the Sheriff three annual elec- 
 tions after his first success, without opposition from either 
 political party. 
 
 The Democ'-ats of Cumberland County convened at the 
 Court House, October 19th, at 10 o'clock. Thomas Ware, 
 of Stow Creek, was made chairman, and John S. McGear, 
 of Bridgeton, secretary. 
 
 Jonathan Wood, of Fairfield, was nominated for As- 
 sembly. First District ; Samuel Foster, Maurice River, for 
 Assembly, Second District. 
 
 The Convention was perfunctory in its proceedings, 
 
 (210) 
 
WARTIME PICTURES ,m.I-I-i,, 
 
 Isaac Edwin West William T. DuBois Elias P. Seeley 
 
 Band, Third N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. U. S. Navy Co. F, Fifth Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Ezbon C. Lambert and William S. Lambert 
 
 U. S. Navy— Band, Third N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 William V. Robinson Jonathan Husted 
 
 Co. G, Eighth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. Co. F, Fifth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 Elbert Bradford Joseph W. Henderson 
 
 Co. F, Thirty-seventh N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. Co. G, Eighth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. 
 
 (•211) 
 
212 HISTORIC 1).\^■S 
 
 and little enthusiasm manifested itself save when the name 
 of General McClellan was mentioned. 
 
 One of the local papers under date of October 15th. 
 said: 
 
 "The numerous friends of Lieutenant Frank M. Riley, 
 of this town, will be gratified to learn that he has returned 
 home after imprisonment in Richmond. He was fortunate 
 in being exchanged so soon. The fare there was very hard, 
 but by sending out by 'contrabands' engaged in the prison, 
 he was enabled to procure several dollars in Confederate 
 monev for every one in greenbacks, and thus procure some 
 of the necessaries and luxuries of life. Lieutenant Riley 
 handed us a copy of the Richmond Enquirer of the ^rd inst., 
 which cost fifty cents. It is printed on a balf-slieet of poor 
 paper and makes a miserable api)earance." 
 
 The Richmond Whig, of October 24th, contained the 
 following paragraph : "A Yankee raiding party visited Fort 
 Gibson. Miss., last week, and carried oft some of the prom- 
 inent citizens, among the number the Hon. Henry T. Ellett." 
 
 This was delightful reading for Bridgetonians, who 
 were conversant with Ellett's life and character. A native 
 of South Jersey, Henry T. F.llett came to Bridgeton in 
 early life and took up the study of law with ex-Governor 
 Elias P. Seelev, a noted lawyer of this State who had won 
 high honors in politics and at the bar. Ellett was a man of 
 ability, and Bridgeton was too small a field for him. He 
 married Miss Rebecca Seeley. daughter of his preceptor 
 Governor Seeley, and went South. The people of his 
 adopted State honored him with a seat in the Legislature 
 and other important places. A believer in human slavery 
 and an extremist as converts from one faith to another are 
 apt to be, it is said of Ellett that he made a speech in the city 
 of New Orleans in 1861, in which he declared that "the 
 North would not fight, and lie (Ellett) would take a con- 
 tract to drink all tlie blood that would be spilt." 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 21^^ 
 
 He lived to see the land drenched with fraternal blood, 
 and learned that the North would not only fight, but that it 
 would fight to the end no matter what the cost or what the 
 sacrifice. Two of Ellett's sons enlisted in the Confederate 
 army, one of them being severely wounded by a Northern 
 bullet, the family suffering much at the hands of the North- 
 ern men whom the father had so boastfully denounced as 
 cowards. 
 
 Wednesdav night, X(i\ember 2d. the Democrats '>t 
 Cumberland County joined in a torchlight jjarade through 
 the streets of Bridgeton. A large number of men and boys 
 took part, but there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. It 
 was declared by the local press to have been "a sad affair." 
 Several inscriptions on transparencies read: "No Nigger in 
 our Woodpile!" "Little Mac's the boy!" "Do you want 
 your daughter to Marry a Nigger?" "Give us Back our Old 
 Commander!" 
 
 \\'hen the procession passed beneath the large flag 
 stretched across Commerce street from Sheppard's build- 
 ing, containing the names of "Abraham Lincoln, Andrew 
 Johnson and Victory," it hooted and howled, which salu- 
 tation was answered from the windows of the Republican 
 headquarters with cries of "Copperheads," "Traitors." 
 
 It was a night of political bitterness rarely, if ever, sur- 
 passed in any Presidential campaign in the history of the 
 country. The generation of to-day cannot in the remotest 
 degree realize the feeling which pervaded all ranks of so- 
 ciety from the highest to the lowest during the contest for 
 the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in the year 1864. Look- 
 ing back to that historic election, even the men who still 
 survive, who were a part of the McClellan contingent, must 
 regret that they ever allowed theinselves to advocate and 
 sustain a policv which, had it prevailed at the polls, woidd 
 have restored slaverv and destroved the L'^nion. 
 
214 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Cumberland County was thoroughly canvassed by the 
 Republicans of 1864. Meetings and parades were held 
 nightly during the month of October at every town-hall and 
 every schoolhouse and in every township. Able speakers 
 were brought from a distance to enlighten the voters as to 
 the political duty of the day. The bulk of the speaking, 
 however, was placed upon local talent. Assembly candi- 
 dates More and Nixon addressed meetings in every section 
 of their districts, but there was no better or more effective 
 speaker in the county than John S. Mitchell, a young law- 
 yer then but recently graduated from the law office of Elmer 
 & Nixon. Tutored by the learned Jurist Hon. L. Q. C. 
 ( ■- Elmer, Mr. Mitchell had a knowledge of law rarely pos- 
 sessed. In addition he had the gift of oratory, and was a 
 power in the courts and upon the stump. His polished 
 sentences rang with unswerving loyalty for the Union and 
 made a lasting impression upon the electorate who gathered 
 to hear him in the various meetings which he addressed. 
 For his excellent work in this and other campaigns Mr. Mit- 
 chel cniild have had high honors had he so aspired, but he 
 never sought office, being content with the practice of law. 
 Strong in his likes and dislikes, he was an ardent friend or 
 an unrelenting opponent. Intensely loyal to his client he 
 prepared his cases with great care and fought them to a suc- 
 cessful finish. Few lawyers were so strong with a jury, 
 and few so argumentative or so eloquent. 
 
 « 
 
 The Bridgeton Chronicle was in the height of its power 
 and influence in the campaign of 1864. For forty-seven 
 years it had flourished as a weekly newspaper, going into 
 the homes of the best families of Cumberland and adjacent 
 counties. It had existed under Whig and Democratic leader- 
 ship, it was now the leading exponent of Republicanism in 
 Southern New Jersey. During this eventful campaign it 
 rendered splendid serxice in support of the Lincoln adminis- 
 tration, and the war for the preservation of the Union. Its 
 editorial pages bristled with keen yet eloquent paragraphs 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NIIW JERSEY 2I5 
 
 for the cause on whose success depended the future of our 
 repubhcaii form of government and civihzation in the United 
 States. Its shibboleth was — "The war nuist continue until 
 traitors are made to bite the dust, and victory rests upon the 
 Union arms in a permanent peace." The war for the Union 
 must not be a failure, and so believing the Chronicle held up 
 the hands of the great leader in the day of battle, adding 
 strength and courage to the voters in the county of Cumber- 
 land. George F. Nixon, was editor and proprietor. The 
 writer, who was an apprentice in his employ, learning the 
 art preservative in early life, will always remember his kind 
 disposition, quiet demeanor, and inflexible integrity for right. 
 Mr. Nixon was the offspring of one of the best families in 
 Cumberland County, a cousin to Hon. John T. Nixon, mem- 
 ber of Congress and Federal Judge. He was a native of 
 Fairfield township. 
 
 The National election excited the country from length 
 to breadth. When the voters went to the ballot-box, Tues- 
 day, November 8th, 1864. the nation seemed almost in the 
 throes of dissolution so deep was the chasm between the 
 opposing political forces. As the shades of night gathered, 
 and the last ballot had been deposited, the people waited 
 with bated breath for the great result which was to follow. 
 
 The count in Cumberland County gave the Union Re- 
 publican Electors for President 636 majority. John F. 
 Starr, for Congress, 631 majority; Robert More, Assembly, 
 First District, 331 majority; James H. Nixon, Assembly, 
 Second District, 318 majority. 
 
 The returns from the First Congressional District 
 gave Starr, Union-Republican, 1849 majority, but the other 
 three Congressional districts elected Democratic Congress- 
 men, famous among whom was the notorious Copperhead 
 Jack Rogers, of the Third District, by 887 majority. 
 
 General McClellan carried the New Jersey Electors by 
 a little over 5,000 majority, and also succeeded in Delaware 
 and Kentuckv bv small margins. 
 
Jl6 HISTOItlC DAYS 
 
 Had the soldiers in tlie field from New Jersey been al- 
 lowed to vote the result would have been different, but while 
 their comrades on either hand were casting their ballots, the 
 Jersey Blues looked on disfranchised by act of a Democratic 
 Legislature. 
 
 The balance of the Union, East and West, New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio inclusive, gave Mr. Lincoln hand- 
 some majorities. 
 
 Election night was turned into a carni\'al of joy. Dis- 
 patches from every section of the country kept the wires hot, 
 and the crowded rooms of the Union League in Sheppard's 
 Hall and the shouting hundreds upon the sidewalks, added 
 to the flash of red lights, the music of bands, the boom of 
 cannon, the blowing of horns, and rattle of musketry, kept 
 the old town in a quiver of excitement until early dawn of 
 the following morning. 
 
 The Union armies on distant battlefields listenefl for 
 the good news of the election. To them it was the incentive 
 to triumphant results, and so beneath the folds of the old 
 flag they took up a new march to victory. 
 
 Confederates in arms heard the news in the valleys of 
 the South and trembled. It was the Omega of their strug- 
 gles and their hopes for the preservation of human slavery 
 through long years of blood and tears — the edict by the 
 hand of God in punishment of their sins and their treason. 
 
 To the black man it was the \oice of liberty calling him 
 from centuries of bondage. Standing in his cabin door he 
 heard the news and rejoiced. 
 
 The year 1865 opened gloriously. The Presidential 
 election of 1864 had settled the question as to who should 
 control and what policy was to be pursued in the adminis- 
 tration of the Government. Victory was in the air — the 
 national skies were propitious. On the 4th of March Mr. 
 Lincoln again assumed the sceptre in the presence of a 
 vast concourse of American citizens. Escorted down Penn- 
 sylvania avenue by a matjnificent civic and military pageant 
 
IN CUMBKRr.AXD COUNTY, NEW JERSF.V 2I7 
 
 he again faced the people from the eastern portico of the Na- 
 tional Capitol. But, under what vastly different conditions 
 from those that existed in Y)t-2. Then, all was doubt and 
 gloom — now all was sunshine and presage of coming success 
 in the final surrender of the Confederate armies. .\mid the 
 enthusiastic greetings of thousands, the beauty and wealth of 
 W'ashington, and the loyal support of every true .American 
 in the land, he stood with bared head at the hour of noon on 
 that early March day. a jncture in silhouette with the land- 
 scape and sky as a background, the cyni;sure of all eyes, 
 the beloved President of a great nation. The echoes of the 
 Presidential oath were yet whispers on the passing breeze 
 when with great impressiveness he proceeded to deli\er the 
 following address, acknowledged by the greatest scholars 
 to be the most chaste, tender, Inimble and convincing in- 
 augural that ever fell from the lijjs of prince, potentate, or 
 statesman in any country or any clime : 
 
 "Fellow Countrymen : At this second appearing to 
 take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion 
 for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a 
 statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued 
 seemed fitting antl proper. Now at the expiration of four 
 years, during which public declarations have been constantly 
 called forth on every point and phase of the great contest 
 which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies 
 of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The prog- 
 ress of our arms, upon which all else chieflv depends, is as 
 well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust rea- 
 sonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With hope for 
 the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 
 
 "On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago 
 all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil 
 war. .\11 dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the in- 
 augural address was being delivered from this place, de- 
 voted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent 
 agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — 
 seeking to dissoh'e the Union and divide effects bv negotia- 
 tion. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would 
 
2l8 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other 
 would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 
 "One eighth of the whole population were colored sla\es 
 not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in 
 the southern part of it. These -slaves constituted a peculiar 
 and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was some- 
 how the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and 
 extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents 
 would rend the Union even by war, while the Government 
 claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial 
 enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the 
 magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. 
 Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease 
 with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Eacii 
 looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental 
 and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the 
 same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It 
 may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just 
 God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of 
 other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not 
 judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That 
 of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His 
 own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses ; for 
 it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by 
 whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that Ameri- 
 can slavery is one of those offenses which in the providence 
 of God must needs come, but which, having continued 
 through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and 
 that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as 
 the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we 
 discern therein any departure from those divine attributes 
 which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? 
 Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
 scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills 
 that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's 
 two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, 
 and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be 
 paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW J KKSEV 219 
 
 thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the Judgments 
 of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' 
 
 "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
 firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let 
 us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the na- 
 tion's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the bat- 
 tle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may 
 achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves 
 and with all nations. 
 
 "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 "March 4, 1S65." 
 
 Few in that vast multitude would have believed it, 
 had the statement been then and there made, that within a 
 few weeks hence, the form of Abraham Lincoln stricken by 
 the hand of an assassin, would lie cold and silent on a cata- 
 falque in the rotunda of the building from the marble por- 
 tico of which he had just enunciated that memorable address. 
 Yet so it was to be. The curtain of the new administration 
 lifted in brightness and joy was soon to be drawn in sorrow 
 and tears. 
 
 Strange indeed is the web of human life. Fate had 
 willed that "General Orders No. 50" should be Mr. Lin- 
 coln's last official act. In the stormy days of his first ad- 
 ministration the stars and stripes were lowered at Sumter 
 by the hand of Major Anderson because of overpowering 
 force. With the beginning of his second administration the 
 tide of war had restored the fortress to its rightful owner- 
 ship, and in the hour of his departure he submitted to the 
 nation the appended document for the unfurling of the flag 
 in the honored place it had occupied just four years previous. 
 Then, that very day, like Enoch he walked with God, and 
 was not, for the Lord took him. 
 
 "War Department, 
 Adjutant-General's Office, 
 Washington, March 27, 1865. 
 
 Ordered, first. That at the hour of noon on the 14th 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 day of April, 1865, Brevet Major-General Anderson wilt 
 raise and plant upon the ruins of Fort Sumter, in Charles- 
 ton Harbor, the same United States flag which floated over 
 tlie battlements of that fort during the rebel assault, and 
 which was lowered and saluted by him and the small force 
 of his command when the works were evacuated on the 14th 
 dav of April, 1 861. 
 
 Second. That the flag, when raised, be saluted by one 
 hundred guns from Fort Sumter and by a national salute 
 from every fort and rebel battery that fired upon Fort Sum- 
 ter. 
 
 Third. That suitable ceremonies be had upon the oc- 
 casion, under tlie direction of Major-General W'illiaiu T. 
 Sherman whose military operations compelled the rebels 
 to evacuate Charleston, or, in his absence, under the charge 
 of Major-General O. A. Gilmore. commanding the depart- 
 ment. .\niong the ceremonies will be the tlelivery of a 
 public address by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 
 
 Fourth. That the naval forces at Charleston and their 
 commander on that station be united to participate in the 
 ceremonies of the occasion. 
 
 E'.y order of tlie Frcsi loU if V.:v I'nited .States. 
 
 Iu)wix M. St.\nton, 
 
 Secretary of War." 
 
 I'ncler the prox'isions of an act of the Legislature 
 passed in 1864 the first municipal election was held on 
 Tuesday, March nth. 1865. The act divided the town into 
 three wards, with a Mayor. City Recorder. Treasurer. IMar- 
 shal. Solicitor, School Superintendent, and a Common 
 Council ciimposed of two members froiu each ward, and the 
 usual ward officers. The community had been very much 
 di\-ided as to the question of incorporation, so much so that 
 voters were not enthused over the election. A fair vote 
 was, however, polled, the result being a Repul)lican victory. 
 In the division of the city. Commerce street was made the 
 line between the First and Second wards, all north and east 
 
 (22(1) 
 
EARLY MAYORS. CITY OF BRIDGETON 
 James Hood 
 Isaac B. Dare Ephraim E. Sheppard 
 
 C-'il) 
 
222 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 being the First ward, all south and east being the Second 
 ward, taking the Cohansey river for the western boundary. 
 The two wards were composed exactly of the territory in- 
 cluded in the old Township of Bridgeton. The Third ward 
 occupied the territorial limits of the former Township of 
 Cohansey bounded on the east by the Cohansey. the west 
 and south, by Hopewell Township. 
 
 James Hood, Republican, was elected the first mayor 
 by a majority of 29 votes over Adrian Bateman, Democrat. 
 Daniel Bacon was chosen City Recorder by 55 majority; 
 Uriah D. Woodruff, City Treasurer, by 61 majority; Dr. 
 James M. Chaliss, City School Superintendent, by 58 ma- 
 jority. Wallace Taylor was elected Marshal without op- 
 position, as was John T. Nixon, to the office of City Soli- 
 citor. 
 
 Members of City Council selected at this election were 
 all Republicans. First ward — Thomas U. Harris. Charles 
 S. Fithian; Second ward — David P. Mulford, Samuel Ap- 
 plegit; Third ward — Robert C. Nichols, Robert J. Fithian, 
 the two latter having no opposition. 
 
 The Mayor. James Hood, was a man of considerable 
 ability, strong in his opinions of right and wrong. Be- 
 cause of the latter quality his administration was not as 
 popular as it might have been. When the new municipal 
 government was inaugurated the Mayor by a provision of 
 the city charter became the President of Council. In that 
 position as Executive and President of the city local legis- 
 lature Mayor Hood pursued a courageous course, which had 
 a salutary effect upon evil doers in the municipality of the 
 city of Bridgeton during its early days. 
 
 With the passing of the Township system, the char- 
 acter of municipal elections was entirely changed. The 
 town meeting which had existed since Colonial days was no 
 more. Thereafter the old-time gatherings at the taverns 
 in the respective townships of Bridgeton and Cohansey 
 in the spring of the year were to become a matter of history 
 only. For the viva voce vote was substituted the ballot. 
 
IN CUiMRERLAND COfNTV, NEW JERSEY 223 
 
 Epliraim Sheppard. Democrat, who because of his fitness 
 for the place, was generally selected by the unanimous con- 
 sent of all parties was to act as Mr. Moderator no more. 
 John Cheesman, Detuocrat. whose clerical abilities were 
 recognized by the public in repeated elections, woidd no 
 longer act as Tcjwnship Clerk, and record the suffrages of 
 the citizens of the good old town of Bridgeton. Town 
 Meeting days, how they loom up in the shadows of the 
 past! The l(jng line iif good citizens — here they come to 
 tell the Clerk by voice what their judgment is as to the ap- 
 propriation for roads, for pohce, for light, for salaries, and 
 for township officers. ]\Iemory pictures the faces as they 
 pass in the long ago. First the Moderator, Uncle Ephraim, 
 declares in the shrill voice and clearing of the throat once 
 so familiar: "( ientlenicn. we are ready to vote! and on the 
 motion just made I vote 'No'! as it appears to me that if 
 there was a little less extravagance in our town affairs it 
 would be considerable better for the tax-payers." Then 
 the Clerk votes — then the rank and file pass. Reader, note 
 these worthies of the good old days ; I'rovidence Ludlam, 
 James B. Potter, James Stiles, Ephraim Sheppard,Jr., Lot 
 Loper, Edmund Crozier, John Carter. L. Q. C. Elmer, 
 John T, Nixon, E<lmund Roork, David Potter, James 
 Hood, Nathaniel Fish, William McGear, Sr.. John S. Mc- 
 Gear, Hugh McGear. Nathan McGear. John Salkeld, Alfred 
 Maul, Henry Knerr, Joseph Gibson, Sr., Franklin Dare, 
 Isaac Pedrick. Daniel B. Thompson. David P. Mulford, 
 Elam Ouicksell, Allen Mulford, Moses Mulford, Joseph 
 Allen, Robert Jordan, Charles S. Fithian, Nathaniel Strat- 
 ton, Alexander Stratton, Samuel Ward Seeley, William 
 Alkire, Johnson Reeves, Joseph Reeves. Elmer Camm, Isaac 
 Nichols, Isaac Laning, Jonathan Loper, Ner Allen, John 
 R. Graham, Dayton B. Whitaker, John Cheesman, H. R. 
 Merseilles, Henry B, Lupton, Lewis M'Bride. J. Barron 
 Potter, Samuel Hider, Henry Nordyke, Joel Fithian, 
 Joseph Borden. Artis E. Hughes. Charles C. Grosscup. 
 Robert Poole, Samuel B. Poole, William Pogue, Richard 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Burch, Levi Wood. Charles Iletzell, Jeremiah DuBois, 
 Jonathan Ehner, William S. DuBois, James Whitaker, 
 Samuel L. Fithian, Jonathan Paynter, James B. Ferguson. 
 Thomas Comae, Francis G. Brewster, Alexander Robeson, 
 Lot Harris, Thomas LT. Harris, James Woodruff. Abram 
 Woodruff, Charles Laning, Daniel Fithian, and a host of 
 others. 
 
 Honest citizens of the past were they — good men and 
 true. The world has not vet seen their superiors in qual- 
 ities of head and heart. 
 
 Commenting upon the result of the first election under 
 the new charter, the "Chronicle" said : "Let it be handed 
 down to posteritv and recorded in letters of gold on the 
 pages of history that the first election for city of^cers in 
 Bridgeton resulted in electing candidates favorable to the 
 Constitution, the Union, the .\dministration, Liberty, Free- 
 dom and Sound Democracv." 
 
 Early in March the announcement came from Wash- 
 ington that Joseph S. Miner had Ijeen named by President 
 Lincoln for the Postmastership of Bridgeton. vice George 
 W. Johnson resigned. 
 
 Quite a lively contest developed pre\'ious to the mak- 
 ing of this appointment. Daniel B. Thompson aimounced 
 himself a candidate, and made an earnest effort to secure 
 the office. Mr. Thompson had been postmaster of Bridge- 
 ton under the administration of President James K. Polk, 
 1845 to 1849. being then identified with the Democratic 
 party. When the war for tlie L'nion opened Daniel B. 
 Thompson became a War Democrat, and finally a Republi- 
 can. .\ man of strong convictions, prominent in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, he had many warm friends 
 who zealously contributed time and influence toward his suc- 
 cess. Among his friends was Charles E. Elmer, at that time 
 •one of the most influential citizens of Bridgeton. Joseph S. 
 Miner was a young man of fine business capacitv. and an ac- 
 ti\-e advocate of l\ei)ulilic;ui principles .-ind the I'nion cause. 
 
Daniel B. Thompson 
 Jeremiah DuBois 
 
 PROMINENT CITIZENS— lsr,1.18G5 
 Joseph S. Miner 
 Benjamin T. Bright 
 Joseph H. Elmer 
 
 Robert C. NichoU 
 Jonathan Elmer 
 
226 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 He also had many friends who labored earnestly for him. His 
 petition addressed to "His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, 
 President of the United States," was headed by the names 
 of Providence Ludlam, Lewis H. Dowdney, Jonathan El- 
 mer, Robert C. Nichols, George W. Johnson, Henry B. 
 Lupton, Jeremiah DuBois and many other leading citizens, 
 to the number of 283. It was a powerful petition and car- 
 ried much weight, composed as it was of representatives of 
 the manufacturing and business interests of Bridgeton. 
 But, the iniluence of Hon. Providence Ludlam, Senator 
 from Cumberland County, was paramount in the fight, and 
 through his efforts largely Mr. Miner became postmaster. 
 The appointment was one of Mr, Lincoln's last official 
 acts; and had not been sent to the Senate at the hour of his 
 assassination, but Mr. Miner took possession of the office 
 by authority of Postmaster General Dennison. Andrew 
 Johnson, on becoming President, refused to issue a com- 
 mission to him, and for two years there was a prolonged 
 contention over the place. Pending the difficulties which 
 arose between President Johnson and the Republican ma- 
 jority in Congress, Johnson appointed Samuel R. Fithian, 
 postmaster. Mr. Fithian was not ■confirmed, and did not 
 get possession of the office. Time went on, the contro- 
 versy between Executive and Congress grew so bitter that 
 the Republican majority passed a measure known as the 
 "Tenure of office act," which the President vetoed. Passed 
 over his veto it became a law. Under that statute there 
 was therefore nothing for Mr. Johnson to do but issue com- 
 missions to Mr. Lincoln's appointees. The commission was 
 issued to Mr. Miner, March 28th. 1867, for four years. At 
 one time during the long contest for the Bridgeton post- 
 office, Mr. Miner received a letter from Hon. Henry Wil- 
 son, Senator from Massachusetts, in which that famous 
 statesman said : "You will either be appointed by Presi- 
 dent Johnson or no other man will ever be confirmed by 
 the Ignited States Senate." Re-appointed bv President 
 Grant, March 13th, 187 1. and February 2fith, 1875. also 
 by President Hayes, March 3d. 1879. Postmaster Miner 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 227 
 
 served the long period of nearl_v eighteen years. Joseph S. 
 Miner proved a model officer, and brought the postal ser- 
 vice in Bridgeton to a high state of efficiency. It was a max- 
 im of Thomas Jefferson that in the line of office holding, 
 "few die, and none resign." In Mr. Miner's case it was 
 slightly different. The Johnsonites wanted him to either 
 die or resign out of spite, but he dici neither. After almost 
 a score of years of honorable service he could have con- 
 tinued in office, but did what few others have done, volun- 
 tarily announced through the press, under date of February 
 I, 1883, in a card to the public that: "Whereas my commis- 
 sion will soon expire, I deem it proper to give public notice 
 that I am not an applicant for reappointment. With many 
 thanks to the citizens of Bridgeton and vicinity for their 
 courtesy and kindness to myself, as an official during my 
 years of public sen-ice. I remain, yours truly." 
 
 Appointed five times, always the free-will offering of 
 his party and fellow citizens, Mr. Miner left a record 
 which is parallel to that of the good and faithful servant 
 who received the highest compliment ever paid to man in 
 the Biblical "Well Done!'' 
 
 March iSth, 1865, Captain Ethan T. Harris, a Bridge- 
 ton boy, who hail served in the "Cumberland Greys," been 
 wounded in the seven days' fight before Richmond, Mc- 
 Clellan's peninsula campaign, afterward organizing Com- 
 pany H, Third New Jersey Cavalry, "the Butterflies," and re- 
 turning to the seat of war, again found himself in his na- 
 tive town. He was now a paroled prisoner of war, after 
 seven months of torture, privations, and imprisonment in 
 the prisons of the Confederacy. Incidents connected with 
 his capture were interesting. Out with a scouting party of 
 his regiment on the 29th of September. 1864, he was cap- 
 tured by a large force of guerrillas coming upon him sud- 
 denly. The Captain was separated from his command in 
 the excitement of the rush and endeavored to escape. 
 Meeting a farmer on a road which he had turned into he 
 
228 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 inquired the road to Staunton. The man gave him the 
 wrong direction, which soon led him in sight of a body of 
 the enemy. A young girl informed him lliat they were 
 Confederates. He then spurred his horse in another di- 
 rection. A shot was soon fired at him which whizzed close 
 to his head. He was finally surrounded and taken prisoner. 
 His captors robbed him of his watch, boots and other valu- 
 ables. They told him that they had followed him three 
 miles, and one of them said he had raised his rifle several 
 times to shoot the captain, Init feeling certain of his capture 
 he refrained. Captain Harris was taken to Libby prison, 
 thence to Danville, Virginia, then to Salisbury, North 
 Carolina. Eight thousand Union soldiers were at Salis- 
 bury, three thousand of whom perished miserably between 
 the middle of October and the first of January. Deaths 
 still continued after the latter date at the rate of thirty a 
 day. Poor fellows without blankets or shelter were com- 
 pelled to burrow holes in the ground, and from the holes 
 numerous bodies were taken e\cry morning. Terrible trials, 
 terrible scenes did the brave boys in blue pass through and 
 witness in the Inferno at Salisbury. 
 
 Captain Harris was fortunate in retaining a fair meas- 
 ure of health, and returned to receive the congratulations 
 of his family and friends. He was a stern disciplinarian 
 some of his men thought, but a good, true, patriotic soldier. 
 During his terms of service he was three times severely 
 wounded and was breveted maior for meritorious conduct. 
 
 Monday, .April 3(1, 1S65, Bridgeton became wildly en- 
 thusiastic over the news recei\ed by telegraph from Wash- 
 ington that the Union .Army had captured Richmond. 
 When the full particulars were confirmed by the evening 
 papers, business was at once suspended. Professor Dor- 
 ville's Band appeared upon the streets, and began a sere- 
 nade of city officials and the people generally with the 
 finest band music that had ever been furnished by local 
 musicians. Prof. Dorville was a gifted band master — a 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COl'NTY, NEW JERSEY 22() 
 
 Frenchman by birtli, full to the brim with the musical en- 
 dowments of his native land. The way he handled the ba- 
 ton that famous night, won the patriotic admiration of the 
 town. The cannon fired, llags flung to the breeze, windows 
 and residences decorated, torchlight parades, streets filled 
 with people, deafening cheers was the order of the night. 
 "Richmond is Ours!'' was the shout from every throat, and 
 each citizen appeared to be trying to outdo his neighbor 
 with noise. The procession passed the Female Seminai^y 
 in a blaze of red light. Plaiting there the young lady 
 students appeared upon the veranda, sat upon the window 
 sills of the building to the topmost story, singing the great 
 National song — the "Star Spangled Banner." One young 
 lady of spendid voice led the singing, and as she rang out 
 the verse — 
 
 "What is that wliich the breeze o'er the towering steep, 
 As it fitfully blows, lialf conceals, half discloses? 
 Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. 
 In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream! 
 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner. long may it wave. 
 O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave — " 
 
 the procession joined in the song with such a \im that it set 
 the old courthouse bell on edge to join in the general re- 
 joicing over the downfall of the Confederate Capital. 
 
 April gth. ii'^f'),^. again the news of victory electrified 
 the patriotic North. General Robert E. Lee had surren- 
 dered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant 
 with 20.000 stands of arms, many guns, and many battle 
 flags. When the news arrived in Bridgeton there was 
 another season of rejoicing, and the tnwn went wild again 
 in preparation for a great celebratio'n. 
 
 But this \-erv dav, when all was so bi'iglit for the 
 Union cause, the assassin Booth was to destroy the gentle 
 life of the sweetest and best ruler the nation had had. 
 And, so the festivities were brought to a sudden end by th.e 
 telegrams from Washington that President Lincoln had 
 been assassinated while in attendance at the opera house 
 on the night of April 14th. 
 
2.-\0 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Bridgeton was never so sad and solemn as on Wednes- 
 day, the 19th day of April, 1865, the day of President Lin- 
 coln's fnneral obsequies. Mayor Hood had issued a 
 proclamation calling upon the people to assemble in due 
 observance of the memory of the illustrious Lincoln, ask- 
 ing that business be suspended, and the day set apart as a 
 day of sermon and prayer. In accordance therewith the 
 churches were filled to overflowing with citizens who had 
 come to pay their last respects to a great man, the nation's 
 fallen chief. While the church bells tolled hundreds of 
 people joined in procession, marching from Sheppard's Hall 
 to the First Presbyterian Church, where obsequial services 
 were held, the band playing funeral dirges. At the church 
 a feeling invocation was offered by Rev. James M. Chaliss. 
 The Scriptures were read by Rev. John W. Hickman, pas- 
 tor of Commerce Street M. E. Church, followed by a solemn 
 hymn by the choir. Prayer was again offered by Dr. C. R. 
 Gregory. Hon. John T. Nixon delivered a splendid eulogy 
 of the dead President to the immense audience which filled 
 the church. Rev. Richard Thorn, pastor of Trinity M. E. 
 Church, read an appropriate selection in his usual eloquent 
 manner: Dr. James Brown, of the Baptist Church, closing 
 the exercises with a fervent prayer. 
 
 The Sunday previous the pulpits of all the churches of 
 Bridgeton rang with heroic utterances denunciative of the 
 treacherous act which had brought the nation to such in- 
 tense grief. Especially strong was the sermon of Re\-. 
 Richard Thorn, in the Trinity M. E. Church, who declared 
 those who sympathized with rebellion in the North to be 
 equally guilty of the foul crime of assassination with the 
 wretch who did it — John W^ilkes Booth. 
 
 Great excitement prevailed in Bridgeton during the 
 days imnicdiatel_v following the President's assassination. 
 Several persons were accused of sympathy with Mr. Lin- 
 coln's murderers, because of their indiscreet talk. To add 
 to the bad feeling some unknown person carried of¥ the drap- 
 ery from tlie altar nf the Baptist church, which had, like 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COCXTV, XICW J l•;l<.SF.^■ 23 1 
 
 the otiier houses of worship, beeii placed in mourning habili- 
 ments. Who the person was, was never accurately ascer- 
 tained, but many were the suspicions which for a long time 
 filled the public mind. 
 
 A few days previous to the assassination a gentleman, 
 so said one of the Bridgeton papers, visited Washington on 
 business with President Lincoln. Previous to leaving home 
 a friend requested him to ask Mr. Lincoln whether he (Lin- 
 coln) loved Jesus. The l)usiness being completed, the ques- 
 tion was kindly asked, whereupon the good President buried 
 his face in his handkerchief, turned away and wept. He 
 then turned to his visitor, and said : "When I left home to 
 take the chair of State I requested my countrymen to pray 
 for me. I was not then a Christian. When my son died, 
 (Willie Lincoln who deceased at the \\'hite House,) the 
 se\-erest trial of my life. I was not a Christian. But, when 
 I went to Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our 
 dead heroes wdio had fallen in defence of their country I 
 then and there, consecrated myself to Christ; / do love 
 Jesus!" Like Edward Mote he was ready to exclaim: 
 
 His oath, his covenant and blood, 
 Support me in the whelming flood; 
 ^\'hen all around my soul gives way, 
 He then is all my hope and stay, 
 _ On Christ the solid rock I stand, 
 
 All other ground is sinking sand. 
 
 Martyred President! Noble spirit! The bugles of the 
 Union had not yet ceased their \-ictorious notes in the Shen- 
 andoah and on the Appomattox when the gates of Heaven 
 opened wide for the soul of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Saturday, May 6th, 1865, the Bridgeton Chronicle 
 said : 
 
 "The war is \irtually ended." But it seems to the 
 writer that the final chapter in the great drama of the civil 
 
HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 war was enacted in the closing hours of ]Mr. Lincohi's Presi- 
 dency. X'ictorv was in the air, and the flag floated in 
 triumph o'er all the Southern country so lately in rebellion. 
 The soft winds of the early Spring bore tidings of great joy 
 to the mansion and the tenement in imperial cities; to the 
 humble home in the forest, on the prairie, on broad acres 
 throughout the national domain ; to the sailor upon the sea, 
 to the American in foreign lands. They also brought tidings 
 of sorrow to the citizens of the great Republic everywhere 
 because of the death of the great man, who under God had 
 accomplished so much for the American people. He had 
 lived to the hour of triumph, but he was not to see the 
 columns of veterans who had won the fight in the grand 
 march thev were to soon take up on Pennsylvania avenue. 
 God had willed otherwise. That great statesman Charles 
 Sumner, of Massachusetts, knew the dead President well 
 and loved him. He voiced the sentiment of the nation when 
 he presented the following resolutions in the Senate of the 
 United States : 
 
 1. That in testimony of their veneration and affection 
 for the illustrious dead, who has been permitted, under 
 Providence, to do so much for his country and for liberty, 
 the Congress of the United States will unite in the funeral 
 services and by an appropriate committee accompany his 
 remains to their place of burial in the State from which he 
 was taken for the national service. 
 
 2. That in the life of Abraham Lincoln, who by the 
 benignant favor of republican institutions rose from humble 
 beginnings to the heights of power and fame they recognize 
 an example of purity, simplicity, and virtue which should be 
 a lesson to mankind, while in his death they recognize a 
 martyr whose memory will become more precious as men 
 learn to prize those principles of constitutional order and 
 those rights — civil, political, and hinnan — for which he was 
 made a sacrifice. 
 
 It is remarkalile how many sons of Cumberland county 
 distinguished thcmsehes in the course of the civil war. Cap- 
 
 (232) 
 
PROMINENT CITIZENS— l^<il-l>i;:> 
 David P. Elmer Alphonso WoodrufI 
 
 Capt. Enoch More 
 Robert S. Buck Charles D. Burroughs 
 
 (233) 
 
234 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 tin Enoch More, of Bridgeton, was one of our citizens who 
 took an important part in the final scenes connected with the 
 capture of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Con- 
 federacy. As commander of the steamer WilHam P. Clyde, 
 by orders of the War Department, he brought "Jeff" and 
 his Cabinet from Hilton Head, South Carolina, to Fortress 
 Monroe, at Hampton Roads, Virginia. The following let- 
 ter from Captain More to a relative in Cumberland County, 
 at that time, explains itself: 
 
 'Fortress Monroe, Mav 19. 1S65. 
 
 'We arrixed here fifty-two hours from Hilton Head, 
 having been expressly detailed by General Gilmore to be 
 the bearer of Ciesar and his fortunes, under convey of tlie 
 U. S. S. Tuscarora, and carrying the following valuable 
 freight: Jeff Davis and family, consisting of his wife, four 
 children and four servants, with part of his late Cabinet, 
 composed of Alexander H. Stephens. Vice President, Con- 
 federacy ; Postmaster General Reagan, Colonels Johnston 
 and Lubliick, Aids-de-Canip ; Colonel Harrisiin, Private 
 Secretary ; Lieutenant Hathway. Major Maurand. Captain 
 Moody, A/Iajor Howell and sister, the latter brother and sis- 
 ter to Mrs. Davis: General Wheeler and staff; Clement C. 
 Clay and wife, with all their plunder, all under the care of 
 their gentlemanly captor (Colonel D. B. Pritchard, of the 
 Fourth Michigan Cavalry) and guard consisting of seventy 
 men of the party who surprised and captured the last re- 
 mains of the bogus Confederacy. They were encamped in 
 the bushes when captured, and finding themselves beset by 
 the cavalry, the indomitable "Jeff" dressed himself in 
 woman's clothes, and taking a bucket on his arm. accom- 
 panied by his wife attempted to skedaddle a 1a Richmond. 
 At this time Corporal Munger, of the Fourth Michigan 
 Cavalry, appeared at the tent door and inquired of a lady 
 standing at the entrance vi^ho those persons were that he 
 saw moving off. He was informed that the lady with tlie 
 bucket was her mother going to the creek after a pail of 
 water : but the uncommon tallness of the figure attracted 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW .1 KUSI-.V 235 
 
 Corporal IMunger's attention, and as Mr. Davis was step- 
 ping off pretty lively through the long grass, and his dress 
 being rather short, the sharp eye of the corporal discovered 
 what he thought were boots instead of slippers on the Ijogus 
 lady's feet. Spurring his horse, he came up with the pair, 
 and lowering the point of his sabre, it must be confessed 
 very indelicately, raised slightly the back part of the pre- 
 tended tall woman's dress, when the previous suspicions of 
 the corporal were fully confirmed, for instead of ladies' 
 slippers, lo ! and behold, he saw a pair of cavalry boots, and 
 leveling his carbine, he demanded the party to halt. At 
 this time, "Jeff" seeing that further disguise was useless, 
 threw the shawl which covered his head to the ground, and 
 turning to the corporal told him to "fire as he was ready 
 to die," but Mrs. Davis threw her arms around him and 
 begged him to be quiet, at the same time putting her hand 
 over his mouth to stop him and prevent him from speaking. 
 Here was "the last ditch, the last man. and the last dollar.'' 
 W^e have them fast and allow them no communication 
 with the outside world. Some of them on the voyage have 
 been badly seasick. INIr. Stephens is very feeble, and I think 
 failing. 'Jeff" is terribly down, and Clement C. Clay is on 
 the an.xious stool. On the j)assage u|) tliey scanned the hori- 
 zon with anxious eyes in the hopes of seeing the rebel ram 
 "Stonewall." It was reported at Hilton Head that she was 
 in the offing watching for us, but they looked in vain. 
 
 ENOCH MORE.' 
 
 Tuesday, May 23. 1865, was the greatest day in the 
 history of the National Capital. The war was over and the 
 returning soldiers were to pass in review before the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and the generals of the army. 
 
 The morning broke bright and beautiful — the city of 
 Washington was in gala dress — thousands of visitors were 
 in attendance from every section of the country to witness 
 the great parade of veterans 'ere their departure for their 
 homes and the peaceful avocations of life. Just a few days 
 
236 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 previous to his death, Mr. Lincoln liad discussed the question 
 of tlie disbandnient (if the tro«ips witli Air. Stanti)!!, Secre- 
 tary of War. Alarmists had predicted that the injection of 
 such large bodies of men so long- used to war into the indus- 
 trial centres would prove a menace to the public safety. 
 President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton both agreed that 
 there need be no alarm and no trouble, because, said the 
 President, "the men who saved the Union are patriotic and 
 law-abiding — they love their homes and families, and in 
 their hands, whether at home or upon the field of battle, 
 our liberties will be preserved." Lincoln did not live to 
 see the magnificent procession of veterans — he did not sur- 
 vive to the hour when they should return to peaceful pur- 
 suits, but his view of the American soldier was correct. 
 Secretary Stanton when requested by several leading men to 
 provide troops to maintain order, l)ecause (if the apprehen- 
 sion that so great a force suddenly released from military 
 restraint would become turbulent, replied that "if we could 
 not trust the soldiers who had subdued the rebellion we 
 might as well yield the life of the Republic." He also was 
 right. When the war closed the volunteer army of the 
 United States numbered a total of 1,045.064 men. Lord 
 Macaulay said that the English people were fearful that 
 Oliver Cromwell's army when disbanded would produce 
 much misery and crime when once thrown on the world 
 after being so long accustomed to the profession of arms. 
 No such result followed. But, while alarm was felt over the 
 discharge of Cromwell's soldiery numbering barelv 50,000, 
 what the feeling of the timid was as to our own great forces 
 is not difficult to imagine. 
 
 Battles and skirmishes to the number of 625 had been 
 fought. Blood bad flowed as water — the land was full of 
 sorrow. The people were tired of war; the soldiers were 
 tired of war; and happy day it was for them when they 
 should begin the homeward march. 
 
 See them as they proudly mark time on the stately 
 Pennsylvania avenue! Notice that' serious gentleman, with 
 the quiet face, on his charger at the head of the Army of 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 2J,~ 
 
 the Potomac? It is General George G. Meade, the victor- 
 ious leader of Gettysburg! The bugle sounds, and as it 
 ■echoes on the air of that balmy May day, the command 
 "Forward" is heard along the long line of veteran soldiers 
 as they begin a parade of victory compared with which that 
 of Napoleon and his legions beneath the "Arc de Triomphe" 
 pales into insignificance. "Tramp, tramp, the boys are 
 marching" by platoons, sixty abreast. loo.ooo strong. How 
 .splendidly they line up, gallant veterans of iMalvern Hill, of 
 Fredericksburg, of Antietam, of Gettysburg, of Spottsyl- 
 vania, of the \\'ilderness, of Petersburg, of Appomattox! 
 How the sunlight glistens on the hundred thousand bayonets 
 at the command of "right shoulder, shift!" How the mu- 
 sic floats upon the breeze with the good old strains of the 
 National airs that so often revived the drooping spirits in 
 days when despondency and gloom seemed to permeate the 
 very marrow of the soldiers" bones — and so often spurred 
 the boys in blue to triumphant victory! How the great 
 populace cheered the passing soldiers! How the ladies 
 tossed their handkerchiefs and waved salutes from eyes and 
 lips! How the old flag scarred by the battle and the breeze 
 floated its folds o'er the heads of the marching columns as 
 mucli as to sav — "This is the stars and strips under which 
 \\'ashington and Jackson fought — it is the flag of Lincoln 
 — it is the flag which through four long years of bloody 
 civil strife maintained its proud position — the representa- 
 tive symbol of human liberty. No longer stained with the 
 blemish of slaverv it has come from out the fire and smoke 
 of many battles without spot, without wrinkle — the flag of 
 hope to all posterity !" 
 
 The grand old Army of the Potomac was seven hours 
 in passing the reviewing stand, and its line extended a dis- 
 tance of twenty-one miles. In that splendid line comes the 
 gallant Second Corps under command of that great soldier, 
 General W'infield Scott Hancock. Superb officer — see him 
 as he sits his horse, erect, stalwart — a handsome figure with 
 his noble face and huge mustache. The boys rend the air 
 with cheers, and among the number are the remnants of the 
 
?3S HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Terser Blues. prniKlly advancing- by the double platoon in 
 the shadow of the tattered, bullet-ridden colors under which 
 they fought so bravely on many bloody fields. Looming up 
 in the distance appears Sheridan with the Army of the Shen- 
 andoah. Clatter-clatter go the hoofs on the pavement, thou- 
 sands of horses, thousands of cavalrymen. Steeds tightly 
 reined, sabres at shoulder, this is the division which swept 
 Early out of Winchester — that ended the Rebellion at Five 
 Forks and Sailor's Creek. Philip Sheridan, hero of many 
 battles, look at him as he takes his place on the reviewing 
 stand. Typical American soldier! Magnificent leader! Who 
 is that that follows? It is Custer — dashing, heroic Custer, 
 with his long hair, flowing backward, falling upon his 
 shoulders like a lion's mane, (iallant cavalry commander, 
 his like we shall not see again ! Little thought the cheering 
 multitude that in a few brief years that splendid leader of 
 the Nation's Horse should fall by the hand of the American 
 Indian in the duel to the death on the Little-Big Horn in the 
 far-away wilds of the great ^^'est. 
 
 The second day — May 24th — came Sherman's army 
 fresh from its famous tour through the South singing as it 
 marched — "Hurrali ! hurrah ! the flag that made you free ! 
 Hurrah! hurrah! we'll sing the Jubilee! So we sang the 
 chorus from Atlanta to the Sea, as we were ]\Iarching 
 Through Georgia!" What a remarkable exhibition of the 
 spoils of war did LIncle Billy's soldiers present to the massed 
 thousands on the sidewalks, h^irst appeared a regiment 
 with a live coon at the head of the column — then another 
 with a corps of pickaninnies dancing in bare feet — then a 
 donkey upon which was mounted an octogenarian darkey 
 singing "Massa's gone away — don't know how long he 
 stay. Throwed the key down de smoke house cellar — 'den 
 I run away!" Martial music — -colors flying, the steady 
 tramp went on one hundred thousand more, until the shades 
 of evening closed the scenes of the two days' march of the 
 invincible legions to which the soldiers of neither Caesar 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 239 
 
 nor Napoleon could compare in the days of Roman glory 
 or France's imperial conquest of continental Europe. 
 
 On the reviewing stand at the White House were Presi- 
 dent Johnson, Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and 
 Admiral Farragut. But the colossus of American history 
 — the great, the gentle, the true heart, Abraham Lincoln, 
 who had home the National burden of secession and of war 
 — wept because of defeats which filled the land with widows 
 and orphans, and rejoiced in humility o'er victories won, 
 was no more. His place on the grand stand, in the presence 
 of the soldiers whom he loved, was vacant. The veteran 
 as he marched looked in vain for the homely President, and 
 as he glanced upward at the flag, still in crepe, his hat was 
 unconsciously lifted to heaven, in memory of the fallen Chief 
 no longer in the quick, but present with the Lord. "Why 
 Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud" was the favorite 
 poem of the deceased President, and he was wont to quote: 
 
 "The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne; 
 The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn ; 
 The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave, 
 Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave." 
 
 Yet, not lost! \'anquished by the assassin's bullet! 
 Victor bv the blaster's crown! 
 
 The review was ended. The boys had recrossed the 
 long bridge into Virginia to await the general mustering 
 out. Washington had resumed its accustomed quiet. The 
 war was over — peace had come. No more bloodshed; no 
 more widows' tears; no more wounds; no more disease; 
 no more sorrow borne of the battlefield. The trumpet 
 sounds — Taps! Lights out. The soldier sleeps and dreams 
 of home. 
 
 Regiments of the Army of the Potomac commenced 
 leaving, 161.851 officers and men, present and absent from 
 the camp near Washington on May 29th, and by July 19th, 
 
2^0 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 1865, the last regiment had started for home. Regiments of 
 Sherman's Army in camp near Washington, numbering 
 present and absent, 116,183 officers and men, began leav- 
 ing May 29th. and August ist,. 1865, the last regiment had 
 left for home. Rapid was the discharge! Of the entire 
 armies of the Union 640,806 officers and men had been 
 mustered out by August 7th; by November 15th, 800,963; 
 by January 20th, 1866, 918,733; by May ist, 986,782; by 
 June 30th, I, 010,670; by November ist, 1866, 1,023,021 — • 
 the entire volunteer force lea\'ing in service only 11,043 
 soldiers, colored and white, to guard the National interests 
 after the most stupendous war in history. 
 
 The world had never looked upon such a spectacle — 
 it never will again! From the rough life of the soldier, 
 hardened by scenes of blood and death, the soldiers of the 
 Union went back to industrial paths to take up the avoca- 
 tions and professions which they had left off at the com- 
 mand of an im|)t'rik'(l government. It was to the everlast- 
 ing credit of the noble men who made up the rank and file 
 of the National armies that they came back to civil life, the 
 great majority better citizens than when at the first call 
 they pledged their li\es. their all. that the nation might live. 
 Peace with her gentle influence melted the cohorts of liberty 
 like the snow before the sunshine. Clasped in the arms of 
 loved ones the tired soldier was home at last! 
 
 With his peaceful ad\-ent entered also the shadow of 
 death to other homes. Victory was tinged with sadness, 
 for — 
 
 "Many hearts and Ijlades were broken. 
 Thousands of the noblest 'braves'. 
 
 Wrapped in jackets blue were sleeping 
 Coldlv in their unknown graves." 
 
 Monday, June 19th. 1865, news came to the town of 
 Bridgeton, very unexpectedly that the heroic remnant of 
 Company K, gallant 12th New Jersey Regiment, would ar- 
 rive home that day. Great preparations were made at short 
 
IX Cr.MBEKI.AND COU.NTV, XEW 1 EKSKY 2^1 
 
 notice. Every bell in Uridgelun began to ring; whistles 
 blew an enthusiastic toot-toot-toot ! Flags appeared from 
 every loyal window. Dorville's band, at the head of a pro- 
 cession of citizens, (the Union League starting from Shep- 
 pard's Hall in a body) marched to the West Jersey Rail- 
 road depot on Ir\-ing a\enue. 
 
 As the train passed into the station, what a hurrah went 
 up — what vociferous cheers rent the air — how wives and 
 mothers, relatives and friends, crowded the station! The 
 car doors open ; out they step to receive the greeting "Wel- 
 come Home!" Sergeant William B. Hines in command. 
 "Fall in boys," and line up for your last parade. "File 
 Right," "Halt," "Right Dress," "Front Face," "By 
 Fours," (platoon); "F"orward !" Do you see them? 
 
 \\'illiam B. Hines, George Laws, Timothy Bateman, 
 William H. Bennett, Edwin M. Padgett, Justus H. Living- 
 ston, Amos S. Burt, Butler Newcomb, George McHenry, 
 John Evans, Henry Clay Lore, Jonathan Borden, Henry 
 Bradford. Henry Campbell, Robert G. Clark, Reeves 
 Coulter, Abraham Facemire, Edward C. Hall, Thomas S. 
 Green, Absalom Jordan, Thomas H. Pancoast. John Max- 
 well. Hiram Pew, Charles O. P. Riley, James R. Rainear, 
 William 'M. Seeley, Edward J\L Steward, Samuel Tomlin- 
 son, Daniel Tullis, William F. Moore, Charles M. Riley, 
 William S. Ayars, Anderson Davis, William H. Dickeson, 
 Edgar M. Fithian. Jeremiah Husted. Simon S. Swing, 
 William H. B. Ward. 
 
 From one hundred strong men the company had 
 dwindled to thirty-eight muskets, several of those in line 
 meeting their comrades at the depot joined them there, hav- 
 ing arrived home pre\'iously Ijccause of wounds. Green- 
 horns in '62, thev were veterans now, bronzed by the sum- 
 mers and winters of many campaigns! 
 
 Chancellorsville to Appomattox was a long way — can- 
 non to the right of them : cannon to the left of them ! 
 
 Comrades Terry. Holmes. Garton. Smith. Carey. Car- 
 man. Carter. Creamer. Galloway. Gaunt. Hendrickson, Hol- 
 lenback. Horner. Howell. Husted. Livingston (Charles) ; 
 
2iJ2 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Maloney, Alullica, Powell, Sutton (Theophilus) ; Simp- 
 kins, Sockwell, Sutton (Samuel S.), liad answered the last 
 roll-call, by disease and the bullet. 
 
 Eighteen had been discharged by reason of disability 
 and wounds. Sixteen had been transferred to the Veteran 
 Reserve Corps and other departments of the service. 
 
 Few officers of the company were present on this 
 propitious day. owing to the failure of accounting officials 
 in Trenton to adjust the settlement with line and staff. 
 
 The brave men who had survived the storms of war 
 and the privations of army life still in the vigor of early 
 manhood, bearing the muskets with which they had rendered 
 the country such efficient service, were in line to receive the 
 plaudits of their fellow-citizens. 
 
 Marching down Pearl to Commerce street the comrades 
 proceeded to Sheppard's Hall, near the bridge (West Side) 
 where Hon. John T. Nixon received them on behalf of the 
 people of Cumberland in a speech eulogistic of their pa- 
 triotic service, warm with congratulations on their safe re- 
 turn to the old home. Major William E. Potter returned 
 the thanks of the members of Company K. to the good 
 people of Bridgeton, for the sympathy extended to the 
 soldiers in the field and for the earnest welcome this hour 
 extended. 
 
 An elaborate dinner prepared by E. Davis & Son, was 
 given the returned soldiers at the expense of the Ladies' 
 Aid Society. Fair hands decorated the tables and presided 
 over the repast w^hich was one of the finest e\er spread in 
 Bridgeton. And, so ended another historic dav. 
 
 The victorious conclusion of the civil war, and the re- 
 turn of tlie veteran soldiers of Cuml")erland county after four 
 years of patriotic service, called for a great celebration of 
 the glorious Fourth of July. Accordingly at a preliminary 
 meeting of citizens the following were selected a committee 
 to jirepare a program and make the necessary arrange- 
 ments: Providence Ludlam, fames ]\I. Cliallis, Jeremiah 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 243 
 
 DuBois, Robert B. Potter, Edmund R. Elmer, Maskell W. 
 Applegate, Robert DuBois, George W. Finlaw, Joseph H. 
 Elmer, Percival Nichols. 
 
 The committee went about the matter vig-orously, and 
 prepared an elaborate celebration whicli should have a 
 double purpose, to wit : A rousing celebration and en- 
 thusiastic reception to all the soldiers of whatever company 
 or regiment who had had a part in the suppression of the 
 rebellion and restoration of the Union. The program was 
 carried out with an enthusiasm never pre\'iously manifested 
 on a Fourth of July, in Bridgeton. 
 
 At daybreak, a National salute was fired — at 9 o'clock 
 thirteen guns announced the number of States forming the 
 original Union, followed by the ringing of all the bells of 
 the town. 
 
 The procession formed in front of the Davis House 
 on Commerce street. My, what a crowd was there to see 
 it start ! The population of Cumberland County, in its en- 
 tiret}- appeared to ha\e turned out to take a hand in the 
 glorious festivities. Nc\'er h.ad the sun shone brighter — 
 never had the good old town looked handsomer, than this 
 splendid Fourth of July morning. 
 
 The parade moves! Who is that at the head of the 
 column on the black horse? It is the veteran marshal, 
 Daniel M. Woodruff, the same who led the farewell march 
 in honor of the departing "Cumberland Greys" in '61. See 
 him as he sits on his horse as straight as an arrow, patting 
 the mane and talking in his old-time way to the good steed 
 — "Haw, there! be careful Billy! do you hear, old fellow?" 
 What a portrait is that of the ancient landmark, typical 
 American with his silver hair, tall silk hat marked with the 
 word "Marshal ;" the "red, white and blue sash" around his 
 waist, with the gaily caparisoned horse on which he sits 
 so proudly ! Reminiscent of the olden time indeed, was 
 Uncle Dan, once sheriff, once clerk of Cumberland County, 
 quaintest and best auctioneer since the Revolution, pic- 
 turesque and patriotic. 
 
 Then came the assistant marshals. Uncle Dan's staff — - 
 
244 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 Ex-Sheriff Lewis H. Dowdney; Colonel Edward M. Du- 
 Bois ; JMajor William E. Potter: Captain Samuel T. Du- 
 Bois. 
 
 With a large body of veterans in line, an ambulance 
 with crippled soldiers, section of artillery and great con- 
 course of citizens with bands of music and drum corps, the 
 procession moved to the Gi"ove on West Commerce street, 
 where the exercises of the day occurred. At the grove Rev. 
 Casper R. Gregory, pastor of the First Presbyterian 
 Churcli. invoked the divine blessing. The Declaration of 
 Independence was read by James J. Reeves, Esq., followed 
 by prayer by Rev. James M. Chaliss, of the Baptist Church. 
 A choir of young ladies and gentlemen sang very patrioti- 
 cally the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." and the "Battle 
 Cry of Freedom." Robert B. Potter read "Our ^lartyred 
 President's Last Inaugural." Hon. Alexander G. C^ttell 
 then (leli\ered an eloquent oration which enthused the great 
 audience with patriotic applause, many times repeated as 
 he told the story of the war and the sacrifice of blood and 
 money in order that the L'nion of the Fathers might endure. 
 After music by the band, the singing of the doxology, and 
 benediction by Rev. John W. Hickman, former pastor of 
 Commerce Street M. E. Church, the exercises ended and the 
 procession reformed and proceeded to Grosscup's Hall. 
 
 The Ladies' Aid Society had charge of the program 
 at the hall, and many were the fair faces that greeted the 
 returned soldiers as they took their places at the well-filled 
 table which extended from one end of the floor to the other. 
 The word "Peace" in evergreen appeared over the rostrum 
 of the hall, with " '76 — Fourth of July — '65" encircling it — 
 Washington and Lincoln's portraits on either side. On the 
 centre panel of the gallery a picture of General Grant — 
 over the entrance to the hall the sentence "Welcome Vet- 
 erans" — at the western end of the gallery 'A'ictory at Last!" 
 Rev. James Brown, of the Baptist Church, oft'ered in- 
 vocation, ^lusic followed while the soldiers enjoyed the 
 sumptuous dinner. Hon. ]nhn T. XixDu, announced toasts 
 as follows: 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 245 
 
 "Our Returned Soldiers," responded to by Major 
 William E. Potter. 
 
 "Washington and Lincoln," by Rev. James M. Chaliss. 
 
 "The Spirit of Slavery," l)y Lieutenant James J. 
 Reeves. 
 
 "The Man Who Stood by the Soldiers," by Hon. A. G. 
 Cattell. 
 
 "'Jhe Clergy," by Rev. C. R. Gregory. 
 
 "The City of Bridgeton," by George \\'. Finlaw. 
 
 "The Women of America," by Rev. Henry M. Stuart. 
 
 Complimentary toast to Hon. John T. Nixon, "who 
 had done more with voice and means to suppress the re- 
 bellion than any other man in the First District," was of- 
 fered by Mr. Cattell. Mr. Nixon responded in a very 
 felicitous speech. 
 
 After benediction by Rev. Hammill Davis, of Deer- 
 field, the celebration and reception ended with cheers for 
 the nation and the old soldiers. 
 
 Fourth of July night the town was brilliantly illumi- 
 nated. The word "Victory" appeared in blazing letters on 
 the front of the Union League room in Sheppard's Hall. No- 
 table among the decorations were the handsome windows 
 of the stores of Robert J. Fithian, West Bridgeton, and 
 Mrs. Caroline Dare, Commerce street. Captain Joseph 
 Wescott's residence on the Fairton road, attracted great at- 
 tention by its decoration and display of light. 
 
 The illumination was so extensive and so bright that 
 it lit the heavens with a lurid glare, and could be seen for a 
 long distance. A great torch-light parade with ascending 
 rockets, red, white and blue lights, was the spectacular 
 feature of the closing day. 
 
 The Union Republicans of New Jersey gathered in 
 State convention in Trenton, July 20th, 1865. Hon. John 
 T. Nixon, of Bridgeton, was unanimously elected chair- 
 man. It was an enthusiastic body of delegates, among 
 whom were many returned soldiers the most prominent 
 
246 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 being the famous Cavalry Commander General Judson 
 Kilpatrick, of Sussex County. There was good-natured 
 rivalry over the nomination, and several prominent men 
 were anxious because it was generally believed that the 
 choice of the convention would prove the choice of the 
 people. South Jersey presented a candidate in Alexander 
 G. Cattell, one of the leading business men of Philadelphia, 
 but a Jerseyman by birth and residence. Mr. Cattell had 
 done much for the Union cause, and was largely instru- 
 mental in the enlistment and equipment of the Ii8th Penn- 
 sylvania Regiment, known as the Corn Exchange Regiment. 
 He was earnestly supported by his South Jersey friends. 
 General Kilpatrick was named as the choice of his soldier 
 friends. Marcus L. Ward, who, as the Republican can- 
 didate for Governor in 1862, had met defeat, his opponent 
 being Governor Joel Parker, was again presented by dele- 
 gations, from various sections of the State. He was a 
 business man of the city of Newark, who had done much 
 for the Union soldiers and their families during the war 
 just closed. Making repeated trips to the camps in Vir- 
 ginia, and the hospitals where the sick and wounded lay, 
 his generous hand and kindly disposition earned him the 
 title of the "Soldiers' Friend." There was a well developed 
 sentiment in the State that Marcus L. Ward would prove 
 the strongest candidate the convention could name. It was 
 also felt that his splendid character and upright life would 
 strengthen the ticket, and those who look at his benevolent 
 face in the portrait gallery of Governor? in the State House 
 at Trenton, will see at a glance that the record of such a 
 man was a tower of strength for the party as it proved to 
 be in the strenuous campaign which followed his nomina- 
 tion. In the long line of Governors New Jersey has had 
 no jjurer or better Executive. 
 
 The nomination was made on the fourth ballot, the 
 vote standing: Ward, 349: Kilpatrick, 173; Cattell. 148. 
 It was made unanimous amid tremendous cheering, Mr. 
 Cattell and General Kilpatrick seconding and heartily en- 
 dorsing the selection. 
 
IN CUilBEKLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 247 
 
 The convention adjourned after adopting a platform 
 of thanks to the soldiers who had saved the Union, advoca- 
 ting the ratification of the amendment abolishing slavery 
 in the United States, and declaring the National debt in- 
 curred by the Government in suppression of the rebellion 
 a sacred contract never to be repudiated. 
 
 July 26th, 1865, the Third New Jersey Cavalry re- 
 turned to Trenton and was mustered out. Recruited early 
 in January, it left the State April 5th. 1864, and marched 
 overland to Annapolis, Maryland, where it was assigned 
 to the Ninth Army Corps. It remained at this point but a 
 short time when under orders it proceeded to Alexandria, 
 Virginia, where it joined the Army of the Potomac. On 
 leaving Trenton, the strength of the regiment was 47 of- 
 ficers. 1,131 non-commissioned ofiicers and privates, a 
 total of 1,178 men, under command of Colonel Andrew J. 
 Morrison. It was designated by the authorities as the "First 
 Regiment United States Hussars." On account of its hand- 
 some uniform it attracted general attention and admiration, 
 wlierever it appeared. It was a patriotic regiment and in 
 the remaining months of the war it did gallant service for 
 the Union, participating in nearly all the cavalry engage- 
 ments under General Phil. Sheridan in the brilliant cam- 
 paign in the Shenandoah valley. 
 
 Company H, composed principally of Cumberland 
 County boys, returned to Bridgeton, quietly August ist, 
 and was given a warm welcome by families and friends. 
 
 Eleven of this splendid company either died of disease 
 or were killed in action. Seven were transferred to other 
 companies, and seven discharged because of wounds and 
 disability. 
 
 The following is a list of those who arrived in Bridge- 
 ton safe and sound : Sylvanus Murphy, William M. Nor- 
 ton. Charles S. Wallen, Joseph H. Fithian, Louis Schaible, 
 Theodore A. Dare, William C. Lore, Howard Minot, 
 Charles Clark, Robert Potts, Franklin W. Buzby, Benja- 
 
24S HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 min Barracliff. Andrew R. Snyder. John L. Smith. Theo- 
 dore F. Sheppard, Elam Crozier. Tlieodore F. Strang, John 
 E. Garten, Henry AlUson, George F. Baker, Henry C. 
 Beebe, Jonathan Berger, George P. Baker, Peter Boyle, 
 Enoch Brooks, William E. Brooks, Charles B. Buck, George 
 S. Buck, William Clark, Roliert G. Clymer, Charles G. Ed- 
 wards, Edward Flynn, Jacob Fritz, James Garrison, Enoch 
 B. Garrison. Thomas Herbert, Levi J. Harker, Samuel 
 Harris, Joseph Johnson, Henry Johnson, Elias M. Keeler, 
 William Keeler, George Master, Jonathan McCowan, Har- 
 rison McXeeley, Edward jNIcOuillan, Joseph Mills, Matthias 
 Murphy, Daniel Newcomb, William Nichols, Isaiah Palmer, 
 Daniel Robinson, George W. Robinson, Leonard L. Roray, 
 Aaron Schellenger, Samuel Strang, Henry Snyder, Daniel 
 R. Seeds, Michael Sliger, W'illiam Stetson, James Sheerin, 
 Isaac Swing, James Rynear, John Trimble, William Tullis, 
 John Valentine, Walter G. West. Several other members 
 of Company H, returned at a later date being detained in 
 Washington and Trenton, on special duties. 
 
 Company H took part in thirty-four engagements all 
 in the space of one year. Few organizations had done bet- 
 ter in the entire course of the war. 
 
 Captain Ethan T. Harris, the company's first com- 
 mander, returned with the honors of Major. 
 
 The Union Republican County Convention met in the 
 Town Hall, Millville, at 10 o'clock A. M., October 4th, 
 1865. Charles K. Landis, founder of Vineland, was elected 
 chairman, with John S. Mitchell, of Bridgeton, and John 
 W. Newlin, editor of the Millville Republican, as secretaries. 
 
 Hon. John T. Nixon and Colonel Hawkins, of Tennes- 
 see, the latter having commanded a regiment in the civil 
 war, addressed the convention, and were loudly applauded. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the Republican party 
 in Cumberland County, the names of all the delegates were 
 read and printed in the papers. The following is a com- 
 plete list of the delegates: 
 
IN CrjIBKKr.AXI) (IHNIV. XI-.W TKKSKY 249 
 
 Bridgeton — First ward — Robert M. Seeley, George 
 W. Johnson. John R. Graham, Edward R. Broomall, 
 George W. Finlaw. Second ward — Isaac B. Dare, Samuel 
 B. Poole. Wallace Taylor, Henry B. Marker, Samuel S. 
 Sparks. Third ward — Daniel M. Woodruff, Enoch Han- 
 thorn, John S. Mitchell, David Sithens, Lawrence Wood- 
 ruff. 
 
 Millville— Lewis Mulford, Isaac B. Mulford, E. G. 
 McClong. Samuel F. Freas, John W. Newlin. 
 
 Downe — Allen Sheppard, Jefferson Lore, Charles 
 Sharp, Fithian S. Parvin. George Sloan. 
 
 Deerfield — Elwell Nichols. Enoch Riley, John Han- 
 non, Lucius Moore. Jesse Finley. 
 
 Fairfield — Richard Stanton. Richard D. Bateman. 
 Theophilns Trenchard, James Campbell, Jr., Richard Lan- 
 ing. 
 
 Greenwich — Charles L. Watson. Morris Bacon, Job 
 Bacon. Seeley Shute. Elmer Ogden. 
 
 Hopewell — Richard Minch. C. Henry Sheppard. 
 Theophilns P. Davis. John S. Bonham. Ellis A. Davis. 
 
 Stow Creek — Lewis Howell, Isaac W. Elwell, William 
 Ogden, Richard West, George Bonham. 
 
 Landis — Charles K, Landis, John Kandle, J. S. Hoard, 
 John Tompkins, William A. House. 
 
 Maurice River — Daniel Harris, Theodore Rogers, 
 Ephraim Sharp, Nathan Baner, Franklin Allen. 
 
 The personnel of this convention was high. Among 
 the number were many of the most prominent citizens of 
 the countv, men of character and standing in the com- 
 munities they had come to represent. The Republican party 
 had been in existence barely a decade, yet under its banner 
 a large portion of the best element had enlisted in behalf of 
 political principles the success of which they deemed to be 
 of the highest importance for the welfare of the nation. 
 There was no taint of corruption in that remarkable con- 
 vention of the early days. Each delegate expressed his 
 choice free and untrammeled. 
 
 Editor John W. Xewlin from the Committee on Res- 
 
250 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 nlutirms. reported the following which were unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 Resol\-ed, That we rejoice over the successful issue 
 which has crowned the efforts of the Union arms; that an 
 honorable peace has been established; that the authority of 
 the Government has been vindicated, and the stability and 
 permanency of our institutions forever assured. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender our thanks to the brave 
 soldiers and sailors of the Republic, who have proved the 
 ability of the Government, to meet domestic foes with as 
 much success as it has met foreign enemies, and that we 
 offer them not merely "lip service" to catch votes, but the 
 warm affection of grateful hearts. 
 
 Resolved, That we endorse the policy inaugurated by 
 our late lamented President, and which has been so faith- 
 fully and successfully carried out by his successor. 
 
 Resolved, That we endorse the nomination of Marcus 
 L. Ward, for Governor of New Jersey, and pledge our mcst 
 earnest efforts for his election; that we also endorse the 
 nominations this day made by this convention, and hereby 
 pledge all honorable means to secure the election of the en- 
 tire ticket. 
 
 Convention proceeded to nominations. The names of 
 Hon. Providence Ludlam, Hon. B. Rush Bateman and 
 Jonathan Elmer were presented. A ballot was taken with 
 the following result : Ludlam, 46 ; Bateman 7 ; Elmer, 7 ; 
 Senator Ludlam's renomination was then made unanimous 
 amid cheers. 
 
 Hon. Robert More, was unanimously renominated for 
 Assembly, First District ; Hon. James H. Nixon for As- 
 sembly, Second District. 
 
 Dayton Wallen, of Millville; James M. Riley, of 
 Bridgeton ; Elmer Y. Robinson, of Maurice River, were 
 nominated for Coroners. 
 
 The Democrats of Cumberland County, met in con- 
 vention at the Court House in Bridgeton, October 19th, 
 
IX CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 25 1 
 
 1S65, and made out a strung ticket in opposition to tliat 
 presented by the Union-Republican Convention. Sherrard 
 Sockwell, of Fairfield township, was nominated for Slate 
 Senator, Samuel Rammell, of Deerfield, was named for 
 Assembly, First District ; George \V. Dummett, of Millville. 
 Second District; Ephraim E. Johnson, of Bridgeton; 
 Charles L. Parker, of ^^laurice River, and Benoni M. 
 Chance, of Downe, were selected as candidates for Coroner. 
 The resolutions were patterned after those adopted in the 
 State Democratic Convention and were strongly Bourbon 
 Sherrard Sockwell, the nominee for Senator, was a Union 
 man, strong in his convictions of duty, but warmly attached 
 to the Democratic party as the faith of his fathers. He was 
 a man of considerable ability, could make a good speech, 
 being forcible and vigorous in the expression of his opinions. 
 He was one of a type of good men who have long since 
 disappeared from local politics — quaint, honest characters, 
 whom all respected, though widely divergent in political 
 views. "Uncle Sherrard" had lost a son in one of the great 
 battles in ^'irginia, an only son, whose maimed body he 
 had personally brought from the South to be interred in the 
 cemetery at the old home. His heart was sore because of 
 the loss of the boy whom he loved, and he made an affecting 
 appeal to the voters of the county from the stump, specially 
 effective for its sorrowful patriotism. One of the common 
 people all his life his candidacy strongly appealed to the 
 farmer and oysterman. Added to this was the rumor of 
 friction in the Republican ranks over the renomination of 
 Senator Ludlam. "Provie" had made an excellent Senator; 
 his course had been patriotic and creditable. But, as the 
 special advocate of labor, introducing bills for the abolition 
 of orders on factory stores, he had incurrerl the enmity of 
 certain manufacturers. For this reason the Democrats 
 thought him weak and had hopes. Labor, however, rallied 
 to his support both in the primaries and at the election, and 
 he won by a large plurality, the heaviest up to that day, that 
 had been given a Republican candidate for Senator in 
 Cumberland County, and returned to Trenton with flying 
 colors. 
 
2S2 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 In the series uf gatherings held throughout the State, 
 in the famous Kilpatrick-Rogers debate, the greatest po- 
 Htical colloquy ever heard in New Jersey, the meeting for 
 Cumberland County was set down for October ii, 1865. 
 In the early evening thousands of people blocked Laurel 
 street and the \acant square liack of Grosscup's Hall. 
 A large platform had been erected immediately in 
 the rear of the hall from which the speakers had a splen- 
 did view of the audience and an excellent reach of voice. 
 It was decided by the local leaders of the two great political 
 parties that each should be represented in the government 
 of the meeting. Hon. John T. Nixon was selected to rep- 
 resent the Republicans, and Doctor Joseph C. Kirby, the 
 Democrats, both representative gentlemen of their respec- 
 tive parties. 
 
 The two orators stepped upon the platform on time. 
 The band discoursed several lively airs.' and the gladiators 
 prepared for the struggle. Andrew Jackson Rogers, who 
 was to open the debate in the first half hour, was a man of 
 stalwart frame, able, affable and splendid voice. As a mem- 
 ber of Congress from the Fourth Congressional District of 
 the State, he had distinguished himself in the House of 
 Representatives as an exponent of Northern Democracy. A 
 fiery talker was "Jfick" and at times bitter, the latter at- 
 tribute obtaining for him the label "Copperhead" at the 
 mouths and pens of his political opponents. Democratic 
 chairman Kirby arose, introduced the Honorable "Jack," 
 and the fun began. His theme was "equal taxation," with a 
 vindictive attack on what he believed to be an outrage and 
 a crime, the exemption from tax of the income from gov- 
 ernment bonds. Congress had a right, in his judgment, to 
 repeal the act exempting government bonds from taxa- 
 tion. There is "nothing in the Federal Constitution." said 
 "Jack," "to prevent repudiation of the National debt saddled 
 upon the people by an unjust and uncalled for war." Dur- 
 ing the second half-hour allotted him in the closing of the 
 debate Rogers attacked the proposition looking toward 
 negro suffrage, ridiculed its advocates and exalted the vir- 
 
IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JICRSEY 253 
 
 tues of the Democratic party, w liich he claimed w as the party 
 of the people, and the party which beliexcd in a white 
 man's goxernment. 
 
 Congressman Rogers was loudly cheered by his friends 
 in the audience at the conclusion of his opening and closing 
 argument. Many persons present while disagreeing with 
 the speaker's sentiments, warmly complimented the delivery 
 and diction of the orator. 
 
 One hour was given to Kilpatrick to present the Re- 
 publican view of the political situation. General Judson 
 Kiljiatrick was one of the lieroic figures of the great civil 
 war. Of medium height, good face, and long flowing side 
 whiskers playing havoc in the breeze as he excitedly tra- 
 versed the platform, General Kilpatrick was a picture which 
 the rostrum has rarely produced in our great national dis- 
 cussions of political questions and issues. Fresh from vic- 
 tories won by the army of the Potomac and the glories of 
 Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea, the form of the 
 doughty General loomed in the eye of the patriotic Ameri- 
 can in a halo of splendor reflectixe of many bloody fields. 
 Hence, his soldier history carried much weight with the 
 audience, and "Little Kil" was the hero of the hour in the 
 many debates of the Marcus L. Ward campaign. 
 
 Republican chairman Xi.xon introduced the General 
 in a few well-timed remarks, and the reply began which 
 never ceased in voluiue until the umpires ann(_)unced "time," 
 and tlieii it seemed as though the orator had just cleverly 
 touched his subject. 
 
 "There are other things more important than the sub- 
 ject of equal taxation," said the General. "The Demo- 
 cratic ]iarty is responsible for the war, and the taxes of 
 which mv learned friend Rogers complains. Last Fall — 
 1S64 — we were trying to prove the war not a failure, and 
 to hand down the Go\ernment as it was received from the 
 Fathers. Had IMcClellan been elected, the fourth of March 
 would have brought a cessation of hostilities, and a dis- 
 
254 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 t> 
 
 graceful peace. All this to be brought about at a time when 
 victory was crowning our arms. We are trying this Fall 
 — 1865 — to reap the rich fruits of victory over rebellion, to 
 unite the Union, and to vindicate the principles for which 
 the soldiers fought, and in whose behalf we are willing to 
 again draw the sword. In regard to equal taxation the 
 Democratic platform says that that party is in favor of tax- 
 ing government bonds. Does it say anything about taxing 
 State and railroad bonds? Do you know, hearer, that there 
 are nearly four millions of dollars' worth of State bonds 
 untaxed by a "Copperhead Legislature," and frfty-six mil- 
 lion dollars of railroad bonds untaxed by the State? If 
 the latter were reached by taxation the people of New Jer- 
 sey would ha\'e no other taxes to pay. Government bonds 
 cannot be taxed, because it would be unconstitutional. The 
 Constitution of the United States expressly declares that 
 Congress shall pass no law impairing the validity of con- 
 tracts. The Democrats are dishonest in their stateiiients 
 as they know it cannot be done." 
 
 In a brilliant peroration General Kilpatrick declared 
 that he favored the emancipation of tlie black man, but that 
 he was opposed to negro suffrage. Paying a glowing trib- 
 ute to the ^alor and sacrifices of the soldiers of New Jer- 
 se}' now returned from the war, he appealed to them to aid 
 by their votes the restoration of the grand old State to the 
 hands of the party which saved the Union. 
 
 Enthusiastic were the clicers that went upward from 
 a thousand throats when Kilpatrick had concluded, an au- 
 gury of coming victory at the polls in Cumberland County. 
 
 In his conclusive remarks "Jack" Rogers was fre- 
 quentl}- interrupted by General Kilpatrick, with pertinent 
 questions, all of which the former answered with courtesy. 
 As Rogers finished Kilpatrick brought out a furore of ap- 
 plause from the audience by the ironical exclamation: 
 "Jack, meet me at the depot in the morning!" 
 
 Thus ended the great debate — the next morning Kil- 
 patrick and Rogers went to the depot arm-in-ann. ap- 
 
I.\ ClMI'.KRI.A.Ml lOlNTV, NKW J l-.KSI-.Y -'35 
 
 parently the best of friends, to the great astonishment of 
 fierce partisans who presumed that they were personal 
 enemies, because perchance they had politically differed. 
 
 The canvass for the election of a Republican Gov- 
 ernor in New Jersey was productive of great excitement 
 and effort in Cumberland County. Political meetings were 
 held in every school district of the county, a majority of 
 them being addressed by former Congressman John T. 
 Nixon. One of the greatest rallies was held in the school- 
 house at Dividing Creek, where Mr. Nixon delivered the 
 closing speech of the campaign on the night of November 
 5th. It was a fruitful year for orators and public speakers, 
 as the State was turned upside down and inside out by both 
 political parties. Among the youthful speakers was the 
 writer of this work, and the place was the Baptist Ses- 
 sion House on the main street of the village of Green- 
 wich, where the boys and men of that staid old borough, 
 whooped things up for Marcus L. Ward, and the whole 
 Republican ticket. It was a delightful meeting. The 
 young ladies had formed a patriotic singing club and they 
 sang war songs with a vim. It was the occasion of our 
 first political speech, a never to be forgotten year with sev- 
 eral of us who are still in Cumberland County, and remem- 
 ber the good, old-fashioned politics which prevailed when 
 men, not money, won seats in Congress and the Legisla- 
 ture. 
 
 A rousing result was that of the glorious campaign 
 of 1865. The State House passed from the control of the 
 Democrats, both Executive and Legislative departments be- 
 coming Republican. Marcus L. \\'ar(l was elected Governor 
 by a majoritv of 2.789 votes in the State over General 
 Theodore Runyon, the Democratic candidate. The Legis- 
 lature stood eleven Republicans and ten Democrats in the 
 Senate : the House had twelve Republican majority, a Re- 
 
256 HISTORIC DAYS 
 
 publican majorit)' of tliirteen \otes on joint ballot. In Cum- 
 berland County, Ward had 887 majority. Providence Lud- 
 1am was re-elected Senator by S70 majority : Robert More, 
 Assembly, First District, 369 majority; James H. Xixon, 
 Second District, 493 majority. 
 
 The Union League headquarters in Sheppard's Hall, 
 election night, November 6th. was the centre of excitement. 
 Great crowds gathered in front of the building on West 
 Commerce street, and as the results came pouring in of 
 Union Repul)lican majorities in the townships tremendous 
 was the cheering. Telegrams from up .State at a late hour 
 brought the final good news that New Jersey had reversed 
 her Democratic allegiance, when with cheers for the success- 
 ful candidates the elated Republicans departed for their 
 homes. 
 
 In its issue following the election an editorial appeared 
 in the Chronicle, and it read : 
 
 "The result is mainly due to the soldiers. Being denied 
 the privilege of voting while in the field, when they were 
 battling for the life of the nati<)n. they promised themseh-es 
 that as soon as the rebels were subdued anrl conquered, they 
 would return and vindicate tlieir rights at home. Brave 
 boys — they ha\e nobly done so — they have openly rebuked 
 the wrongs done them, ami ])ro\-ed in o\-erwhelming num- 
 bers their gratitude and esteem for the soldiers' friend — 
 Marcus L. Ward. " 
 
 i'"ri>m Roliert Ilalfi.ird to the close of the Civil War 
 was only a decade, Init what wonders had God wrought! 
 
 No more would black "Tom" and black "Joe" bare 
 their backs to the sla\e driver's whip! No more would 
 "Chioe" and "Phyllis" be separated from bone of their bone, 
 flesh of their flesh, b'rom tlic new made graves of a half 
 million human souls that had jierished in the blood and car- 
 nage of the greatest war in liistorv the smoke of holocaust 
 went up to Heaven. I .ike the gentle dew upon the sum- 
 mit of Hermon it sparkled and scintillated before the Throne 
 in the crucible of the ^Master's refining fire! 
 
tN CUMBERT.ANU COUNTY, MCW .TKRSKY 
 
 257 
 
 Two liundrecl years of oppression had sped its course, 
 and the end iiad come. Before tiie omniscient eye the pano- 
 rama of cruelties and its gory finish was curtained forever, 
 and they w ho iiad defied the laws of God had paid the pen- 
 alty in ruint'd Immes, bloody gTa\-es, and wrecked hf)[)es. 
 
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