The 26 Days’ Tyranny: What Happened to Princeton’s Patriots, Tories, and Quakers During the British Occupation

By Virginia Kays Creesy

Published Dec. 6, 1976

9 min read

Quaker Meeting House. Near the Stony Brook clustered a group of Quaker families, descendants of original settlers who arrived there around 1696. Opposed to the war on religious grounds, they trusted that the occupying army would respect their neutrality. Instead, the British quartered troops in their Meeting House and pillaged their farms and homes. Joseph Olden, for example, lost a mare, five hogs, a ton of hay, fence rails, a side of beef, and a beaver hat, among other items. After the Americans recaptured Princeton, these same Quakers found themselves objects of suspicion, and many stood in danger of losing all they owned because their faith prohibited them from swearing a required oath of allegiance to the cause of independence. At this point, however, several influential townsmen came to their rescue, pledging their own fortunes as a bond for the good conduct of their Quaker neighbors.
Thomas Clark house. Following the battle, soldiers carried the wounded Mercer to this Quaker farmhouse to be nursed by Miss Sarah Clark and her black maidservant. That afternoon British soldiers are said to have invaded the sick room, ripped the cravat from the general’s neck, and insulted him as he lay unable to resist. He died there on January 12.
Worth’s Mills. During the battle an errant cannonball, probably from an American fieldpiece, entered a house near the mills and hit a woman, severing her leg at the ankle. Though these mills apparently were not damaged, American troops destroyed the nearby bridge to impede Cornwallis’s advance.
Jonson, Millette, and Stockton farms. In this vicinity, north of the Post Road, lived a number of prominent families. John Johnson, a large landowner, church elder, and distiller, favored the Revolutionary cause, but when American press gangs came for his horses and wagon in early December, he did not hesitate to hide them in the woods. As a result, with the help of Princeton student Joseph Clark, he was able to get some of his own goods away before the British arrived–fortunately for him, since the enemy did plunder his property. One of Johnson’s neighbors, a French-Canadian and Tory named William Millette, returned to Canada to wait out the war, but he and his wife seem to have missed Princeton. They sent £10 to help repair the Presbyterian Church, damaged by the British, and moved back after the war. A third neighbor was Princeton’s most notable Tory, Joseph Stockton. A cousin of Richard Stockton ‘48, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, Joseph joined a Loyalist regiment in August 1776. He escorted Colonel Mawhood to New Brunswick after his defeat at Princeton and was killed a few months later while guiding a foraging party. Joseph’s brother Richard Witham “Double Dick” Stockton also fought in the Loyalist cause.
Blacksmith’s home. This may be the site of the forge owned by a 59-year-old Quaker blacksmith who had the misfortune to run afoul of some of Cornwallis’s thwarted soldiers on January 3. They stole his shoes, marched him in his stocking feet to New Brunswick, and held him for a day and a night before allowing him to come limping home.
Constitution Hill. So-called because tradition says the Constitution of New Jersey was drafted there in the summer of 1776, this was the site of the house that served as Washington’s headquarters when the Americans were in retreat. It was the home of Major Robert Stockton, quartermaster in the American army and a cousin of Richard Stockson of Morven and Joseph Stockton the Tory. British soldiers did £655 damage to Robert’s house and farm, and looted his tannery business in town.
The Barracks. Reputedly the oldest building in Princeton, this early Stockton farmhouse probably housed troops during the French and Indian War as well as during the Revolution.
Morven. When he signed the Declaration of Independence, Princeton’s most eminent lawyer and landowner, Richard Stockton ‘48 pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. Within months, all three were in jeopardy. As the British advanced through New Jersey, the Stocktons made hasty preparations to leave Morven, where they had lived graciously in the manner of English squires. They were burying valuables in the garden when Annis Boudinot Stockton remembered that Whit Society members had left behind papers which would hang them all. She brought the documents to Morven and hid them, thereby earning the first feminine membership in the Whig Society. Leaving their property in the care of their 12-year-old son, the Stocktons fled to relatives in Monmouth County. There Richard was betrayed by local Tories, arrested, and, according to his son-in-law Benjamin Rush, subjected to the most brutal and inhumane treatment. While in captivity, his health failed and apparently to gain better treatment, he signed a pledge to “remain in peaceful obedience to his Majesty.” When released in 1777, he returned to find the British had left Morven in ruins. (Rush estimated his losses at £5,000.) Once renowned for his affability, Stockton withdrew from public life and died at the age of 51.
Home of Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant ‘62. On the site of today’s Nassau Club, Sergeant built a house for his bride Margaret Spencer in 1775. He was a lawyer, an officer in the Provincial Congress, and a member of the Continental Congress, whose sessions he was attending when the British advanced on Princeton in December 1776. Sergeant’s young wife delayed leaving their home until finally her husband’s Tory classmate, Dr. Absalom Bainbridge ‘62, took her firmly in hand and sent her off with her baby and sister to safety in Pennsylvania. In their absence, the house burned down, and rather than rebuild it, the family chose to settle in Philadelphia.
Home of Jonathan Deare. Another lawyer and active patriot, Deare served in both the Provincial Congress and the militia. During the occupation he lost 50 grafted trees from his orchard as well as furniture and household supplies. Despite his losses, he stood surety for some of Princeton’s Quakers the next fall. Deare’s house, moved from the site later occupied by Commons to Bayard Lane, is now the Peacock Inn.
Presbyterian Church. A two-story brick structure with 57 pews, the Church was the spiritual home for many of the town’s leading patriots, including Robert and Richard Stockton, Richard Longstreet, Enos Kelsey, James Moore, William Scudder, John Johnson, and, of course, its pastor, the Rev. John Witherspoon. When Cornwallis’s troops were quartered here, they stripped the interior, inflicting £160 damage. The Church remained a hollow shell until after the war.
President’s House. The commander of the occupation troops, General Leslie, used today’s Maclean House as his headquarters, but on January 3 it was occupied by officers of the 40th regiment, who were preparing for breakfast when they were called away by sounds of gunfire. Their breakfast was eaten with great relish an hour later by victorious American officers. Nearly opposite was the store of merchant Enos Kelsey ‘60, a member of the Provincial Congress who, as a major in the militia, was one of the few New Jerseyites to come to Washington’s aid in the black days of November 1776.
Nassau Hall. In addition to serving as quarters for troops (and as a stable for their horses), Nassau Hall was a hospital and a prison for about 30 local Whigs during the occupation. While the British did not treat the college gently, the Americans damaged it even more when they reoccupied it.
Road to Tusculum. Today’s Witherspoon Street leads to Tusculum, a farm owned by John Witherspoon. Although occupied by British troops, his home suffered less than that of his fellow signer, Richard Stockton. The college’s president lost sheep and cattle, but only a few household items, and he evidently never bothered to file a claim for damages.
Prospect Farm. Jonathan Baldwin ‘55, the owner of Prospect Farm, was also a steward of the college, and if undergraduate complaints are to be believed, he was responsible for some of the worst meals ever served up at Old Nassau. He married Sally Sergeant, a daughter of Jonathan Sergeant and half-sister of Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant. Baldwin served in the Provincial Congress and in 1778 was put in charge of distributing balls and cartridges to the army, in which connection he was accused–apparently falsely–of profiteering.
Hudibras Tavern. Situated halfway between New York and Philadelphia on the main stage road, Princeton was early known for its inns. The most prominent in Revolutionary annals was the Hudibras, owned by Colonel Jacob Hyer, who kept a horse in his barn for the use of express riders carrying messages between the Continental Congress and General Washington. Hyer fought at the Battle of Princeton at the head of his militia unit, whose ranks included his older son, a veteran of the siege of Boston and the Canadian campaign of 1776. Although the British drank up Hyer’s wines, whiskey, and gin without payment, and stole or damaged his table ware and 11 of his featherbeds, he was open for business again on January 9, hosting a meeting of the Committee of Safety. The tavern proprietor posted bond for several of his Quaker neighbors when they refused to swear allegiance to the American cause.
Bainbridge House. Dr. Absalom Bainbridge ‘62 rented this Georgian house from Robert Stockton around 1774. A Loyalist, Bainbridge was married to a daughter of Sheriff John Taylor, whom Howe selected as His Majesty’s High Commissioner of New Jersey, and their home served as Howe’s headquarters in early December 1776. After the Americans recaptured Princeton, Bainbridge moved to New York behind British lines rather than take the oath of abjuration and allegiance. His political sentiments, however, were not stronger than his humanitarian instincts. Not only was he largely responsible for Margaret Sergeant’s safe escape from Princeton, he later was able to get Major John Polhemus of Hopewell paroled from British prison. The doctor died in New York, but some of his family returned to Princeton and one of his grandsons, John Maclean, became the college’s 10th president. Bainbridge’s home now houses the Historical Society of Princeton; its former garden is the site of the Garden Theater.
Farm of Jonathan Sergeant. Treasurer of the college, Sergeant bought this farm from his son-in-law Jonathan Baldwin ‘55 and died there of smallpox during the British occupation. The farm, which was pillaged by the enemy, included the land on which Palmer Stadium now stands.
Moore’s Tannery. James Moore, the militia captain who led the charge on Nassau Hall, had a personal grievance against the British: they had looted over £600 worth of hides from his tannery. Moore Street is named after him.
Farm of Richard Longstreet. The year 1776 brought much tragedy to the Longstreet family and their connections. In October, their relation by marriage, Philip Vickers Fithian ‘72, died of camp fever while serving as a chaplain in the Continental army. In November, Longstreet’s son-in-law Dr. John Beatty and his brother Reading Beatty, both Continental soldiers, were captured by the enemy. In December, Longstreet’s other son-in-law, Lemuel Scudder, had his mills destroyed by the British. In early January, Hessian jaegers are believed to have been quartered in Longstreet’s house. The farmer’s two sons joined the militia, but he himself seems not to have held any Revolutionary office.
Castle Howard. Although a retired British officer, Captain William Howard was a good patriot who painted on his mantelpiece “No Tory Talk Here” as a warning to his ardently Loyal wife. But as soon as Sarah Howard’s gouty husband died in 1776, she married Lieutenant Ibbetson Hamer, an English soldier who shared her views, and she frequently entertained his fellow officers during the occupation. As a result, she and her new husband had to leave Princeton; their property was confiscated and eventually sold to John Witherspoon.
To Scudder’s Mills. Major William Scudder owned fulling and grist mills at the juncture of the Stony Brook and the Millstone River (now under Lake Carnegie). British troops were quartered there, and Scudder’s house and mills were burned on December 31. (Among his losses was his new regimental uniform.) Further along the Millstone, where it crossed the Post Road near Kingston, Scudder’s brother Lemuel owned mills which were also destroyed by the British. A third brother, Nathaniel Scudder ‘51, was a physician who became a colonel in the militia.