Reconstructing Monmouth County's Government

As discussed in a prior article, the functions of the Monmouth County government—including law enforcement, courts, prison, county clerk, tax collection, etc.—ceased during the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776. Some of these functions, such as courts and tax collection, had not functioned effectively since the breakdown of the Royal government in early 1776. In February 1777, with the British in retreat and the Loyalist associations broken, supporters of the Revolution in Monmouth County now had the opportunity to rebuild their local government.

Locating the county’s records and legal papers was a foundational challenge. Even before the Loyalist insurrections, County Clerk Kenneth Anderson was unable to gather papers from the prior County Clerk, Joseph Leonard. In November 1776, Anderson wrote that Leonard “refused to give over an order of delivery of sd records.” Five months later, on March 24, 1777, Anderson was still seeking the county’s records. On that day, he wrote Governor William Livingston:

Since my return, have been with the Sheriff [Asher Holmes], constantly engaged in the militia for the defense of the county, so that I had not an opportunity to call on Mr. Leonard until a few days since. When I did, in the presence of the Sheriff, he [Leonard] informed me that the books, records & c. were removed by Lt. Col. Lawrence [Elisha Lawrence] - to what place he [Leonard] could not tell.

It is unknown if the county’s legal papers were ever recovered.

Lacking the resources and infrastructure to detain large numbers of people, state and Continental authorities declared a general amnesty for the disaffected. Those who would renounce their British oaths and take Continental oaths would be pardoned. Armed insurrectionists who menaced citizens were not permitted amnesty. But a policy needed to be improvised for Loyalist leaders who supported the insurrections without taking up arms. There were many such individuals in Monmouth County.

Disaffected Leaders Drop Out of Local Leadership

When Francis Gurney’s Pennsylvanians came through Middletown, they detained John Taylor. Taylor was the commissioner charged with administering British loyalty oaths in Middletown during the insurrection. General Israel Putnam asked George Washington if Taylor’s status as a British civil government official excluded him from the general amnesty. Washington responded on February 5:

I never Intended to exclude any from the benefit of my Proclamation who were not particularly Active in persecuting, and destroying the Property of the friends to our cause. The case of Mr. Taylor & any others that are brot [sic] to you, or confin’d, must therefore depend upon this—As to the Circumstance respecting the Families of those who went over to the Enemy, previous to the Proclamation, it is not my Intention that they should be under any necessity of withdrawing themselves—provided their future good behavior warrants such Lenity towards them.

Washington also advised that Loyalist leaders who wished to go behind British lines could do so as long as they left their valuables behind: “let no Property be convey’d with them.”

Samuel Breese, the former Committeeman and first militia colonel for Shrewsbury Townships, posed another challenge. On February 11, he wrote Governor William Livingston:

I am one among the number of conquered people in Monmouth County who have taken the benefit of Lord General Howe's proclamation and sworn allegiance, and alas, I cannot as yet get over my scruple for [taking] the oath to the States as required by General Washington, and the consequence of refusing is to me very terrible. If I may not have a dispensation, upon giving in good and sufficient security for my good behavior, then I will be obliged to ask your Excellency to favor me with a parole to remain on any farm or in the country unmolested with my family -- leading a quiet inoffensive life, which can be of no loss to the State.

It appears that Breese was allowed to retire on his farm.

At the same time that Taylor and Breese were negotiating their status. the New Jersey government sought to enforce that all officeholders, civil or military, take a loyalty oath. New Jersey required officeholders to take a two-part oath:

1. "I do sincerely profess and swear (or if one of the people called Quakers, affirm) that I do not hold myself bound to bear allegiance to the King of Great Britain, so help me God."

2. "I do sincerely profess or swear (or if one the people called Quakers, affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Government established in this State, under the authority of the people, so help me God."

Devout Quakers would not swear allegiance, so they were permitted to “affirm” their allegiance instead.

Refilling Local Government

March 1777 was the first month in which some civil government functions returned to Monmouth County. Elections for county and township officers were held on March 11. The Shrewsbury Township election certificate has survived. The voters of Shrewsbury elected 21 officeholders including four men who were disaffected or of wavering loyalty (called “trimmers” because they trimmed their sails and blew with the wind). Table 1 demonstrates the mixed record of Shrewsbury’s 1777 officeholders.

Over the course of the war, local elections appear to have been held regularly starting in 1777. However, disaffected individuals continued to serve in local government in Monmouth County’s three townships—Shrewsbury, Dover, and Stafford. This was a reflection of the disaffection of the voters themselves.

There was also a need to ensure that Monmouth’s senior militia officers were supporters of the Revolution and in compliance with state law. On March 15 and 18, Governor Livingston exchanged letters with the New Jersey Assembly regarding irregularities among Monmouth County’s senior militia officers. The following problems were identified regarding the Monmouth County militia’s field officers:

1st Militia Battalion (Freehold and Middletown townships)

• "Lt Colonel Thomas Seabrook is said to have refused taking oaths to this State; if so, has forfeited his commission”

• “The Major, Mr [Asher] Holmes, is High Sheriff of the County, which two offices are incompatible, as no sheriff may leave his County - he ought therefore make his election”

• “In this battalion there is no Second Major"

2nd Militia Battalion (Upper Freehold, Dover, and Stafford townships)

• "Mr. Brearley [David Brearley] is Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, but is engaged in the Continental service”

• “The first Major is Elisha Lawrence [cousin of Elisha Lawrence, the Loyalist], who I am informed has accepted the enemy's protection, and refused taking oaths to Government”

• “This battalion is also without a Second Major"

3rd Militia Battalion (Shrewsbury township)

• "Of the Third Battalion, Daniel Hendrickson is Colonel, but is very infirm and said to be removed to Upper Freehold, while the battalion consists of the inhabitants of Shrewsbury."

New militia elections were held on April 28 for captains and junior officers. These elections replaced officers who had joined the British and or refused to sign New Jersey’s loyalty oath. That same month, Asher Holmes, still in the role of sheriff, issued the first fines from the reconstituted Monmouth County government. The first general militia return was prepared on May 1. The return for the 1st Battalion has survived. It lists 484 rank and file as “fit & present”, 41 as captured by the enemy, and 126 as “absconded” (Loyalist refugees or in hiding). The controversial county-wide militia muster was a key element of David Forman’s (now a Brigadier General in the New Jersey militia) plan to expose the county’s remaining Loyalists and punish them under martial law. Both of these topics are discussed in other articles.

Related Historic Site: Liberty Hall (William Livingston’s home)

Sources: Kenneth Anderson to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, March 24, 1777; New Jersey Loyalty Oaths printed in Larry Gerlach, New Jersey in the American Revolution 1763-1783 A Documentary History (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 363-4; Kenneth Anderson to New Jersey Legislature, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #27; George Washington to Israel Putnam, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, p. 256; Samuel Breese to William Livingston, Massachusetts Historical Society, William Livingston Papers; Shrewsbury Township Election, Monmouth County Historical Association, Steen Collection, box 2, folder 11; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 15, 1777, pp, 108-9; William Livingston, report, in Carl Prince ed., Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 280-1; Militia Elections, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #1046-1058; Militia Return, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 6, folder 7; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Treasury, State Auditor's Account Book, Sheriff Fines, Monmouth County, reel 181, pp. 195-203