The "Hopper House." Patriotism of the Owner. Interesting Relics. Burr's Head-quarters. York city was the grand object of the Americans. The allied armies had crossed the Delaware, and were far on their way toward the head of Elk, before the British commander was fully aware of their destination. About four miles south of the Ramapo Pass, and three from Suffern's Station, on the road to Morristown, is the "Hopper House," where Washington made his head-quarters from the 2d until the 18th of September, 1780. The mansion was owned by Hopper, one of the most active Whigs of the day. He was often employed by Washington in the secret service, and frequently visited his friends in New York city while the enemy had possession of it. On such occasions, he obtained much valuable information respecting the strength of the enemy, without incurring suspicion, as he never committed a word to paper. The re THE HOPPER HOUSE.' mains of the patriot rest beneath a small marble monument, in a family cemetery, upon a grassy knoll by the road side, not far from the mansion. This is the house wherein those letters of Washington, beginning with Head-quarters, Bergen county," were written; it being in New Jersey, about two miles from the New " York line. It was here that he received the news of the defeat of Gates at the disastrous battle near Camden, on the 16th of August, 1780; and from hence he set out on his journey to Hartford, on Monday, the 18th of September, to meet the French officers in council, the time when Arnold attempted to surrender West Point into the hands of the enemy. The venerable widow of Mr. Hopper resided there until her death in 1849, when she had reached the ninety-ninth year of her life. Her daughter, who was often dandled on the knee of Washington, is still living, but was absent on the day of my visit, and I was denied the gratification of viewing those relics of the Revolution which are preserved in the house with much care.' 1780. Close by Suffern's Station is an old building coeval with the original Hopper house. It was the head-quarters of Lieutenant-colonel Aaron Burr, while stationed there in command of Malcolm's regiment in September, 1777. It has been sometimes erroneously called the head-quarters of Washington. While encamped here for the purpose of guarding the Ram seized. When they appeared in Rivington's Gazette, the allied armies were far on their way to the Delaware. Montagnie admired the wisdom of Washington, but disliked himself to be the victim. Mr. Pierson, from whom I obtained the narrative, received it from the lips of Montagnie himself. Upon this incident Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith (who also received the narrative from Mr. P.) founded her interesting prize tale called the Ramapo Pass. She also mentions it in her introduction to The Salamander. 1 This view is from the road, looking northeast. The low part, on the left, is a portion of the old mansion of the Revolution, which contained the dining-hall. It was a long stone building. A part of it has been taken down, and the present more spacious edifice, of brick, was erected soon after the war. 2 Mrs. Smith, in her introduction to The Salamander, makes mention of the centenarian, and of these relics. "The ancient matron," she says, "has none of the garrulity of old age; on the contrary, as she adverted to past scenes, a quiet stateliness grew upon her, in beautiful harmony with the subject. Rarely will another behold the sight, so pleasing to ourselves, of five generations, each and all in perfect health and intelligence, under the same roof-tree. She spoke of this with evident satisfaction, and of the length of time her ancestors had been upon the soil; in truth, we had never felt more sensibly the honorableness of gray hairs. . . . . We were shown the bed and furniture, remaining as when he [Washington] used them; for the room is kept carefully locked, and only shown as a particular gratification to those interested in all that concerns the man of men. Here were the dark chintz hangings beneath which he had slept; the quaint furniture; old walnut cabinets, dark, massive, and richly carved; a Dutch Bible, mounted with silver, with clasps and chain of same material, each bearing the stamp of antiquity, yet all in perfect preservation; large China bowls; antique mugs; paintings upon glass of cherished members of the Orange family. These and other objects of interest remain as at that day." Colonel Aaron Burr at Sufferns's. Confusion of the Militia. into the woods, ordered them to sleep until he should awaken them, and then went alone to reconnoiter. A little before daylight he returned, aroused his men, and directed them to follow him, without speaking a word or firing a gun until ordered, on pain of death. Leading them unobserved between the sentinels, until within a few yards of the picketguard, he gave the word Fire! His men rushed Night Attack upon the British Pickets near Hackensack. apo Pass, Colonel Burr performed an exploit which was long remembered in the neighborhood. He received intelligence that the enemy were in considerable force at Hackensack, and advancing into the country. Leaving a guard to protect the camp, Burr marched with the remainder of his effective men to Paramus, a distance of sixteen miles, in the direction of Hackensack. They arrived there at sunset, and found the militia of the district gathered in great confusion. Having arranged them in order, Burr marched forward with thirty picked men, and at ten o'clock at night approached the pickets of the enemy. When within three miles of Hackensack, Burr led his men upon the enemy before they had time to take up their arms, and a greater portion of them were killed. A few prisoners and some spoil was carried off by the Americans, without the loss of a man on their part. Burr sent an order to Paramus by an express for all the troops to move, and to rally the country. This success inspirited the militia, and they flocked in great numbers to the standard of Burr. The enemy, thoroughly frightened, retreated in haste to Paulus's Hook (Jersey City), leaving behind them a greater portion of the plunder which they had collected. BURR'S HEAD-QUARTERS. We will now leave the Ramapo, and, saying farewell to the Hudson and its associations, wend our way toward the sunny South. N the 22d of November, 1848, I left New York to visit the Southern portions of the old Thirteen States, made memorable by the events of the War for Independence. Aware of the lack of public facilities for travel below the Potomac, and not doubting that many of the localities which I intended to visit were far distant from public highways, I resolved to journey with my own conveyance, with an independence and thoroughness not vouchsafed by steam or stage-drivers. I purchased a strong, good-natured horse, harnessed him to a light dearborn wagon, stowed my luggage under the seat, and, taking the reins, on a bright and balmy afternoon departed on a drive of nearly fourteen hundred miles. The wisdom of my resolve was a hundred times made manifest, for, in some portions of the South, horse, mule, or ox could not have been procured to convey me to places of interest, lying scores of miles apart, and scores of miles away from stage-routes. It was a lonely journey; sometimes among mountains, sometimes through swamps, sometimes through vast pine forests and over sandy plains, and sometimes amid the most interesting natural scenery, even in mid-winter. It was to me a journey of great interest; and the dreary days passed in riding from one hallowed locality to another, after leaving the Appomattox, were all forgotten when sitting down, pencil in hand, in the midst of some arena consecrated by patriotism and love of country. Then glorious associations would crowd thickly upon the memory, weariness and privations would be forgotten, and the truthful heart would chant, "Great God! we thank thee for this home This bounteous birth-land of the free; Still may her flowers untrampled spring, W. J. PABODIE. Perth Amboy. Its original Settlement and Prospects. Governor William Franklin. In succeeding pages I shall endeavor to impart to my readers some of the pleasures and profits of this Southern journey, extended, after leaving my horse and wagon at Camden, in South Carolina, to nearly fourteen hundred miles further. I left New York at three o'clock in the afternoon in the steam-boat Transport, of the Camden and Amboy Rail-road Company. We passed out at the Narrows at four o'clock between Forts Hamilton and La Fayette, and, traversing Raritan Bay, on the southeast side of Staten Island, reached South Amboy at twilight, where I remained until morning. This little village is situated upon the bay, at the mouth of the Raritan, and is the terminus of the rail-way from Philadelphia. On the north side of the Raritan is Perth Amboy,' a pleasant place, a port of entry, and a locality of considerable historic interest. It is about twenty-five miles from New York, and ten from New Brunswick; the latter lies at the head of steam-boat navigation on the Raritan. Upon this point the first proprietors of New Jersey intended to build a city. "If the Lord permit," they said, in their published account of the beauty and fertility of that region, "we intend, with all convenient speed, to erect and build our principal town, which, by reason of situation, must, in all probability, be the most considerable for merchandise, trade, and fishing in those parts. It is designed to be placed upon a neck or point of land called Ambo Point, lying on Raritan River, and pointing to Sandy Hook Bay, and near adjacent to the place where ships in that great harbor commonly ride at anchor." It was called "a sweet, wholesome, and delightful place;" and William Penn said, on taking a view of the land, "I have never seen such before in my life." The town was laid out into one hundred and fifty lots, many buildings were erected, and for a time it was the commercial rival of New York. A city charter was obtained for it in 1718. William Eier was the first mayor, and James Alexander-the father of Lord Stirling, of the Continental army-was the first recorder. Barracks for soldiers were built there in 1758-9, and were first occupied by the English troops on their return from Havana in 1761. Perth Amboy was the place of residence of Governor Franklin when the Revolution broke out, and was the scene of many stirring events during that war.' It was in posses This point, when first mentioned in the East Jersey records, bears the Indian name of Ompage, of which Ambo or Amboy is a corruption. The white settlement there was for some time called Perth, in honor of the Earl of Perth, one of the proprietors; but the name of Ambo was so often mentioned, that at last it was called Perth Amboy. 2 William Franklin, the royal governor of New Jersey, was the only son of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. He was born in 1731. He was postmaster of Philadelphia for a short time, and served as clerk of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania. He was a captain in the French and Indian war, and fought bravely, under Abercrombie, at Ticonderoga. He visited England, with his father, toward the close of the war. In Scotland he became acquainted with the Earl of Bute, who recommended him to Lord Fairfax. That nobleman appointed him governor of New Jersey, and for a time he was very popular with the people. He was a decided monarchist, and from the beginning of the disputes with Great Britain he took sides against his father. He involved himself in quarrels with the Legislature of New Jersey, and the people became very hostile to him before the close of his administration in 1776. On the 23d of May of that year, the first Provincial Congress of New Jersey commenced their session at Trenton, and the royal government soon afterward ceased to exist. A constitution was adopted in July, 1776. William Livingston was elected governor in place of Franklin, and that deposed servant of royalty, declared by the Congress of New Jersey to be an enemy to liberty, was seized in his own house at Perth Amboy, and conveyed a prisoner to Windham, Connecticut, at which place, and also in Litchfield jail, he was confined for some time. [See p. 436, volume i.] On the arrival of Sir Henry Clinton in America in 1778, Governor Franklin was exchanged for some American prisoners, and released. He went to New York, where he served, for a short period, as president of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists. In West's picture of the Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain, in the year 1783, Governor Franklin is a prominent personage represented. A copy of this picture will be found in another part of this work. Franklin went to England at the close of the war, where he resided until his death in November, 1813, enjoying a pension of $4000 per annum. He and his father were reconciled in 1784, after an alienation of ten years. The doctor, however, could not forget his political delinquency. In his will, after devising to his son all the books and papers of his in possession of the governor, and also all debts standing against him on his account-books, he says, "The part he acted against me in the late war, which is of public notoriety, will account for my leaving him no more of an estate he endeavored to deprive me of."* Governor Franklin's wife died in 1778, * Sparks's Life of Franklin, 599. Journey to Crosswicks. Dunlap's Recollection of military Affairs at Perth Amboy. Missionary Operations there. sion of the British much of the time; and one of the many pictures of life of varied hue there presented, is given by William Dunlap (who was born there), in his History of the Arts of Design. Here were centered," he says, "in addition to those cantoned in the place, all those [troops] drawn in from the Delaware, Princeton, and Brunswick; and the flower and pick of the army, English, Scotch, and German, who had at that time been brought in from Rhode Island. Here was to be seen a party of forty-second Highlanders, in national costume, and there a regiment of Hessians, their dress and arms a perfect contrast to the first. The slaves of Anspach and Waldeck were there-the first somber as night, the second gaudy as noon. Here dashed by a party of the seventeenth dragoons, and there scampered a party of Yagers. The trim, neat, and graceful English grenadier; the careless and half-savage Highlander, with his flowing robes and naked knees, and the immovably stiff German, could hardly be taken for parts of one army. Here might be seen soldiers driving in cattle, and others guarding wagons loaded with household furniture, instead of the hay and oats they had been sent for. 1848. "The landing of the grenadiers and light infantry from the ships which transplanted the troops from Rhode Island; their proud march into the hostile neighborhood, to gather the produce of the farmer for the garrison; the sound of the musketry, which soon rolled back upon us; the return of the disabled veterans who could retrace their steps, and the heavy march of the discomfited troops, with their wagons of groaning wounded, in the evening, are all impressed on my mind as pictures of the evils and the soul-stirring scenes of war. These lessons, and others more disgusting, were my sources of instruction in the winter of 1776–7.” November 23, I left Amboy for Trenton, by the way of Crosswicks, before sunrise the next morning. The air was clear and frosty; the pools by the road side were skimmed with ice, and fields and fences were white with hoar frost. The deep sand of the road made the traveling heavy, yet, before the sun was fairly up, my strong horse had taken me half the way to Spottswood, ten miles distant. I passed through Spottswood, Old Bridge, Hightstown, and Cranberry, to Allentown, twenty-eight miles from Amboy, where I dined. These villages have a neat and thrifty appearance. Over the level, sandy country through which the road passes, extensive peach orchards are spread out, covering hundreds of acres. Crosswicks, the scene of some stirring events in the Revolution, is situated upon a ridge on the left bank of Crosswicks Creek, four miles from Allentown, and the same distance from the Delaware River. The creek is in a deep ravine, here spanned by a fine latticed bridge, erected upon the site of the old one of the Revolution. It was settled by the Quakers in 1681, and was a place of sufficient importance in colonial times to be once a meeting-place of the Provincial Assembly. Among the Indians at Crossweek sung, Brainerd and Tennant labored successfully, and the influence of the Quakers upon that tribe was sensi 1748. bly felt. Here a small detachment of the American army was stationed after the first engagement at Trenton, where the Hessians were captured; and here one division of the British troops, marching from Philadelphia toward Monmouth, in June, 1778, were pretty severely handled by a party of Americans. The troops of the enemy marched in three divisions from Philadelphia: one by Mount Holly, one through Columbus, and the third by Bordentown, on the Delaware, near the mouth of Crosswicks Creek. Near the latter place was a draw-bridge, and as the British attempted to repair it for the purpose of crossing, the militia regiments of Colonels Frelinghuysen, Van Dyke, and Webster, stationed near, rushed 4 just before his release from imprisonment. On a monumental tablet in St. Paul's Church, New York, it is inscribed that, "compelled to part from the husband she loved, and at length despairing of the soothing hope of his return, she sunk of accumulated distresses," &c. His son, William Temple Franklin, who edited his grandfather's works, died at Paris in May, 1823. History of the Arts of Design, vol. ii. 2 This name is derived from the Indian appellation of the place, Crossweeksung, signifying a separation. The creek separates into two branches not far from the village. 3 In less than one year after Brainerd commenced preaching among them, he baptized no less than seventy-seven persons, of whom thirty-eight were adults.-Allen's Amer. Biog. Dictionary. Frederic Frelinghuysen was the son of Reverend John Frelinghuysen, of Raritan, New Jersey. He |