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Dutch and English settlers brought the first enslaved people to New Jersey in the seventeenth century. By the time of the Revolutionary War, slavery was an established practice on labor-intensive farms throughout what became known as the Garden State. The progenitor of the influential Morris family, Lewis Morris, brought Barbadian slaves to toil on his estate of Tinton Manor in Monmouth County. "Colonel Tye," an escaped slave from Shrewsbury, joined the British "Ethiopian Regiment" during the Revolutionary War and led raids throughout the towns and villages near his former home. Charles Reeves and Hannah Van Clief married soon after their emancipation in 1850 and became prominent citizens of Lincroft, as did their next four generations. Author Rick Geffken reveals stories from New Jersey's dark history of slavery.
"Historian, Kevin Wright, and his wife, Deborah Powell, moved into the eighteenth-century Steuben House at New Bridge Landing in 1981 as part of his employment in the NJDEP. They, together with other stakeholders, rejuvenated the Revolutionary War landmark and battleground into the historic gem it is today. Wright was writing A History of Bergen County, New Bridge and the Hackensack Valley when he passed away in 2016. Powell edited and illustrated the legacy project for publication and continues to be involved at the museum site. The layered narrative begins with the geography that greatly shapes the history of the valley and continues with the story of the native communities and the colonial settlements that followed. The turmoil of the American Revolution in Bergen is brought to life, including Thomas Paine's account of the retreat through the area as told in The American Crisis ("These are the times that try men's souls ... "). The book concludes with twentieth-century efforts to preserve the Jersey-Dutch homes and Historic New Bridge Landing. All royalties from the sale of the book benefit the Bergen County Historical Society."
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Bergen County saw much of the American Revolution from its own doorstep. Close to British-occupied New York City, this corner of New Jersey was divided by the Revolution. Some people were staunch Loyalists or Patriots, in disagreement with their families and neighbors; others wavered or remained neutral, while still others changed their minds as was expedient. In the end, the years of hostilities led to massive damage and upheaval within the community as men either left home or stayed nearby to fight for or against secession from Great Britain. After the war, their pension applications allow glimpses into their experiences. Compiled and edited by local historian and Revolutionary War expert Todd W. Braisted, these are the stories of the Revolutionary soldiers of Bergen County.
The Bergen Record reported that the remains of a Revolutionary War cavalry unit were unearthed in River Vale, NJ. This was the Third Continental Light Dragoons, nicknamed, Mrs. Washingtons Body Guard. The accompanying text read provided bayonet practice for the British in Old Tappan, NY. This has come down to us as the Baylor Massacre of September 28, 1778. Who were the officers and men of the Third Dragoons? Did they play more of a part in the American Revolution than provide bayonet practice? How did, and how could, a massacre take place? A military unit must have a history. Was the massacre the end of the dragoons? What was a Virginia unit doing in Bergen County, New Jersey in the first place? How could a cavalry unit be so surprised and then massacred with almost no shots fired in return? This is not a conventional history, in that there is little attempt to re-write history. History writes itself from letters, diaries, public records and newsprint.
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