The following is Delaware Township Post is about Grace Bennett, an eighth grader at Delaware Township School, recently wrote an essay on the crossing of the Delaware in 1776. It earned her an award from the Township Committee, and publication in the most recent issue of The Bridge.
I want to congratulate Grace for the inspiring essay she wrote, particularly for the imaginative way she described the effort it took to make that whole endeavor a success. As Grace points out, we all think we know this story so well that we lose sight of the details and the drama. The incident was beautifully brought to life by David Hackett Fischer in his recent book Washingtonâs Crossing, which I highly recommend.
At the end of her essay, Grace included a bibilographic note that referred to a poem by Joseph Folsom titled âThe Ballad of Daniel Bray.â I had never seen the poem before, so I took advantage of Google Scholar to look it up. It was taken from a book titled Patriotic Poems of New Jersey, compiled by William C. Armstrong in 1906. For Delaware Township residents, it is an entertaining poem to read because of the many references to local places. There is, for instance, the first stanzaâ
The Delaware, with stately sweep,
Flows seaward as when armies fought:
But they who struck for freedom sleep
Beneath the soil their valor bought.
At Rosemont, inland Daniel Bray,
In lonely grave, with rest hard won
Waits for his country’s voice to say:
“He brought the boats to Washington.”
As you can see, the poem is written in the stately, sing-song cadence of 19th century poetry. Corny, but sweet. After a messenger wakes Bray in the night, he races from his Kingwood home to meet Washington in Lambertvilleâ
Down Stony Batter Hill they sped,
Across Duck's Flat; then up the slopes
To Rittenhouse (where sleep the dead)
Their coursers climbed with steadier lopes;
The ten-mile creek is left behind,
Gilboa's slant is swiftly run;
At Coryell's the inn they find,
And waiting them, great Washington.
Duckâs Flat is the area between Strimples Mill Road and Sanford Road. The dead that sleep at âRittenhouseâ are in the Rosemont Cemetery. The ten-mile creek is the Wickecheoke, and Gilboa is the hill overlooking the Trap Rock Quarry. Finally, Coryellâs inn was in Lambertville. As we all know, Washington ordered Bray to secure enough boats to get his army across the Delaware. For this, Bray needed help, and this is where I have a problem. The poem reads:
Ere gray dawn paled o'er Hunterdon,
He ranged a circuit twelve miles wide,
For brave Gearheart of Flemington,
And Johnes of Amwell countryside [my emphasis].
To foil the Tory's cunningness
With squads in hunter's garb uncouth,
They pierced the Jersey wilderness,
From Ringoes to the Lehigh's mouth.
As Grace wrote in her essay, Bray was assisted in his task by Captains Jacob Gearheart and Thomas Jones. Perhaps she got the name Thomas Jones from the postscript written by the bookâs compiler, Mr. Armstrong. He wrote:
"Associated with Capt. Bray in this undertaking were Capt. Jacob Gearhart and Adj. Thomas Johnes; these three met at Baptistown, about three miles inland, to make their plans . . ."
Although the spellings of Jones and Johnes were used somewhat interchangeably in the 18th century, Thomas, who was an innkeeper at Clinton, usually spelled his name Jones. I think Mr. Folsom, the poet, had someone else in mind, namely David Johnes, not Thomas. As you can see from the highlighted portion of the poem, Mr. Folsom thought it was Johnes of Amwell, and I agree with him. To Grace and everyone else who loves Delaware Township (which once was a part of Amwell), we have a special reason to be proud, for it was our own Capt. David Johnes who helped Bray collect the boats that critical evening in 1776.
David Johnes lived near Headquarters on a farm accessed from Bowne Station Road. He was a captain in the Amwell militia who actively recruited members for the militia from an inn at the intersection of Route 604 and Lambertville-Headquarters Road. I believe that is how the area came to be known as Headquarters. The inn was called the White Hall, a large stone house that has since been demolished. It stood on the southwest corner of the intersection.
David Johnes was born on July 15, 1746 in Lawrenceville (then known as Maidenhead) Twp. and married Deborah Phillips about 1765. He probably acquired his large farm near Headquarters soon after marrying. David and Deborah had 14 children.
When the war came, David volunteered and was well-known to Daniel Bray (who did not become a general until after the war). Even though historians like George S. Mott and William S. Stryker have written that Thomas Jones was the one who assisted Bray, it was Daniel Brayâs own grandson, Stacy B. Bray, who wrote that it was really David Johnes. He wrote that after meeting with Washington, Bray first rode four miles inland to the home of Capt. David Johnes, and from there to Flemington where he roused up Capt. Gearhart.
Unfortunately, David H. Fischer in his book Washingtonâs Crossing, also concluded named Thomas Jones instead of David Johnes of Amwel. His source was Maj. James Wilkinsonâs Memoirs of My Own Time (Vol. 1 pg 128), published in 1816.The early date makes this an important source, but I am not convinced, especially since Wilkinson conspired with Aaron Burr to set up an empire along the Mississippi, but thatâs another story. I will try to find a copy of Wilkinsonâs Memoirs and write more about this.
David Johnes lived on in Delaware Township for many years, long enough to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He died on Dec. 26, 1828 at the age of 82, and is buried in the Mount Airy Presbyterian Cemetery, next to his wife.
No one should think less of Capt. Thomas Jones of Clinton. He too was a patriot and suffered greatly at the hands of a Tory mob that attacked his home at night. You can read more about that incident in Phyllis DâAutrechayâs Some Records of Old Hunterdon, 1701-1838.
And finally, I want to thank Grace Bennett for reminding us that important moments in the history of our nation can be important locally as well.