County Commissioners Inventory Loyalist Estates

By early August 1776, at least 150 Monmouth Countians had become active Loyalists by leaving their homes to join the British Army; hundreds more were engaging in activities that bordered on active Loyalism such as illegally trading with the British and refusing to participate in the militia. Monmouth County’s Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) sought a countermeasure that would punish their active enemies and deter potential enemies from going down the same path. Confiscating the estates of Loyalists was that measure.

On August 7, Monmouth County became the first New Jersey county to begin the process for confiscating Loyalist estates (under the legal argument that an individual “forfeited” his property by joining with the enemy and fighting against his country). The first step toward confiscation was inventorying the estates of suspected traitors. After that, inquisitions would be held to determine that the Loyalist in question was in fact a traitor deserving of estate confiscation. The final step would be selling the estate at public auction.

Three commissioners were appointed oversee this high-stakes process—Samuel Forman (Colonel of the Upper Freehold militia), Kenneth Hankinson (a captain in the Freehold militia and future Chairman of the vigilante group called the Retaliators), and Jacob Wikoff of Freehold (who would become the county tax collector and paymaster for Monmouth County’s State Troops).

The first estates were inventoried on August 7. They belonged to two Freehold Loyalists, Thomas Leonard (now a major in the New Jersey Volunteers) and John Longstreet (now a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers). The primary inventoried assets are listed below:

• Thomas Leonard – total value of inventoried assets £1909

  • 3 slaves (named one named male slave, Paris, valued at £50),

  • 300 acre farm (L800),

  • 10 acre property near Court House (£500),

  • 30 acre lot (£100),

  • Other movable property.

• John Longstreet Jr – total value of inventoried assets £2887

  • 4 slaves (including one named male slave, Prince, 2 women, 1 child),

  • 1 servant,

  • 2.5 acre lot in town "where William Taylor, Esq., lives" (£500),

  • 2nd "town lot, where Israel Britton lives" (£200),

  • 5 acre lot "house & lot where Adam Shaw lives" (£700),

  • additional town lot "where John Combs lives" (£50),

  • 8 acre lot (L50), farm "wherein Mr. Longstreet lived" (£1000),

  • Other movable property.

Inventorying estates did not displace the families of Loyalists who remained at home. In fact, the inventory of Thomas Leonard’s estate included a note from his wife, Mary Leonard: "I, the subscriber, take charge of the estate of my husband and oblige myself to be accountable to sd Commissioners." In a male-dominated era, the rights of wives who stayed on the family estate of a Loyalist husband was an open question. The status and welfare of the Loyalist families that remained at home would greatly complicate the confiscation of those estates.

Other estates were inventoried shortly after. On August 10, the New Jersey Convention requested "inventories of the Estates of Anthony Woodward and William Guisebertson [William Giberson], of Monmouth County, persons who have absconded from their homes, and joined the enemy."

The Estate Forfeiture Commissioners continued their work through August. On August 12, they inventoried the estates of a handful of Upper Freehold Loyalists (including Woodward and Giberson):

• James Grover - 250 acre farm (£1000), slave boy, 30 hogs, horses & cattle and other items -- total value £1281;

• William Giberson - 40 acre farm w/ corn £351 and 2 slaves: male Ike (£60), girl Rachel (£35);

• James Nealon - 1 gristmill, 1 sawmill, 11 acres (£600), bills and bonds (£600), 2 "little Negro girls" (£50), other items – total value £1321; and

• Anthony Woodward - 150 acre farm (£800), 250 acre farm (£1500), 250 acre farm (£500), salt meadow (£35), 60 hogs (£48), 30 sheep (£15), other items – total value £3317.

For Grover, it was noted that he shared his estate with three of brothers, none of whom had left for the British Army. Therefore, the commissioners noted that they could only confiscate one fourth of the estate.

Finally, on August 14, the Commissioners inventoried the estates of two Shrewsbury Loyalists:

• Robert Morris - 50 acres, sawmill £120), £73 in other items;

• Jeremiah North - no land, items worth £19 s11.

Parallel to this process, other Loyalists had parts of the estates “applied to public use” – meaning that the new government commandeered their property and provided compensation. Brothers John Taylor and Morford Taylor of Shrewsbury, for example, had their estates "applied to public use" in 1777. For this, they were compensated with $373 of nearly worthless Continental money. John Morris, who had become a Colonel of New Jersey Volunteers, also had his property “applied to public use.” Dozens of smaller property confiscations and livestock impressments occurred without being documented.

These first actions of the Forfeiture Commissioners were only an opening salvo – ultimately, more than 100 Monmouth County Loyalists had their estates confiscated and sold at public auction. However, this did not occur until 1779, when it occurred in a scandal-riddled process that generated New Jersey Legislature investigations and several lawsuits.

Caption: Many Loyalist women stayed behind when their husbands went off to the British and some had property “applied to public use.” This sketch depicts a Loyalist woman having property taken.

Related Historic Site: National Guard Museum of New Jersey

Sources: Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as a Colony and as a State (New York: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902), vol 2, pp. 93-4; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #10122; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1661; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1661; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #10122; Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 847.