The First Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer

Monmouth County’s courts ceased functioning in spring 1776 when the Royal government broke down. While courts were re-established under New Jersey’s Constitution of July 1776, there is no evidence that they met in Monmouth County—probably because so many of the officers of the court were Loyalists or disaffected. Monmouth County’s missing legal papers—taken during the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776—further hamstrung any attempt to re-convene the courts.

Historian Richard Haskett wrote that much of New Jersey did not have functioning courts under the new government until early 1778. Each county was expected to convene Courts of General Sessions quarterly for ordinary crimes and Courts of Oyer & Terminer as needed for particularly consequential and political crimes. Haskett noted many problems with these early courts: novice judges, poor records, rulings not enforced by civil officers, and war intrusions.

In lieu of courts, Loyalists and political criminals in Monmouth County were arrested by military units—such as those commanded by David Forman, Charles Read, Adam Stephen, and Francis Gurney—and sent to far-off prisons without trial. In 1777, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard a few cases regarding Monmouth County crimes and the New Jersey Council of Safety emerged as the primary vehicle for trying political prisoners. But punishments from the Council of Safety were often temporary until the courts could meet.

Convening the First Court of Oyer and Terminer

On December 7, the Council of Safety authorized a Court of Oyer and Terminer for Monmouth County to convene on January 20, 1778. The court was advertised in the state-supported newspaper, the New Jersey Gazette, on December 17. Local judges were assigned under Chief Justice Robert Morris of Middlesex County. There were three township magistrates: John Longstreet, Peter Schenck, Thomas Forman. Twenty grand jurors were also selected:

William Tapscott

David Forman*

Hendrick Smock

Henry Green,

Jonathan Pierce

Gilbert Van Mater

Garrett Hendrickson

Peter Covenhoven

Joseph Stillwell*

Cornelius Covenhoven

Jacob Van Dorn

Aucke Wikoff*

Thomas Hunn*

John Schenck*

Joshua Anderson

Elisha Walton*

John Holmes

Peter Imlay

Richard Crawford

Tobias Hendrickson

Only six of the grand jurors held military officer commissions (see asterisk above). The aversion to military officers was likely deliberate. State authorities likely wanted to ensure that the court would be perceived in a dispassionate civil court (in contrast to the impromptu military tribunals convened in 1777). The constables and coroners for each of the six townships were required to attend and give testimony. However, three constables (Zephaniah Morris, Peter Johnson and Edward Wilbur) and one coroner (Jonathan Brown) never appeared. Brown was fined £3 for not appearing.

The court convened at Freehold on January 20 and continued meeting until February 7. On January 23, the New Jersey Council of Safety ordered that the three Upper Freehold Loyalists it had jailed at Morristown—Thomas Fowler, Jesse Woodward, Richard Robins—should be transferred to Freehold for trial.

The Proceedings of the First Court of Oyer and Terminer

Fortunately, the docket and some other legal papers of the First Monmouth County Court of Oyer & Terminer have survived. There were 105 total indictments. The outcome of most of these indictments is unknown, but 22 men are documented as convicted. See Table 5.

Many defendants were charged with non-specific “misdemeanors.” Given the Court of Oyer & Terminer’s focus on political crimes, and corroborated by records from subsequent courts, it can be safely assumed that most misdemeanors brought before this court were for going behind enemy lines or illegally trading with the enemy. Riot & Trespass was the charge applied to many of the Loyalist insurrectionists who led “riotous” parties of men in breaking into the homes of Whigs and confiscating their guns, horses and wagons. Trespass was used to describe when a person was charged with going onto private property and taking or damaging something of value on that private property.

Two future Loyalists, Josiah Giberson and Guisebert Giberson were charged with “cattle stealing” but it is unknown if they were convicted. David Taylor was charged with Riot & Trespass; he pled not guilty, and then the docket notes that he "leaves home without trial." He likely fled behind British lines. Samuel Miers and Jacob Wardell were convicted of crimes, but they were permitted by the court to “invoke act of grace.” They took loyalty oaths and were released without future punishment.

Three local Revolutionary leaders were indicted. Captain John Burrowes and Estate Forfeiture Commissioner William Wikoff were both charged with trespass by Margaret Holmes; they were found not guilty. Captain Joshua Huddy, however, pled guilty to two separate assaults against Charles Gilmore and Benjamin Luffburrow; he was fined £15, less than Loyalists convicted on similar charges.

Eleven of the 105 indictments were issued against women. Of these eleven, the following women were convicted of misdemeanors: Christian Crowell fined £3], Catherine Farrow [fined £3], Sarah Grover [fined £10, Phoebe Johnson [fined £5], Sarah Roberts [fined s20], Deborah Taylor [fined £3], Huldah Van Mater fined £3]. One woman, Theodocia Grover, had her case dismissed. Christian Crowell was the wife of Thomas Crowell, who captained a Loyalist boat, and Deborah Taylor was the wife of Colonel George Taylor, who led Loyalist raids into Monmouth County in 1777. 

However, the majority of these women were not the wives of Loyalist combatants. Huldah Van Mater was the wife of a prominent Loyalist, but also the sister of Asher Holmes, Colonel of Monmouth County’s First Militia regiment.

In 1776 and 1777, hundreds of Monmouth County Loyalists participated in insurrections, raids, property confiscations, and acts of violence against their neighbors. The First Court of Oyer & Terminer for Monmouth County was the first in-county opportunity to exact justice (and revenge) against these perpetrators. Despite the increasing resentments against Loyalists and their disaffected allies, no individual was sentenced to more than one year in jail; the majority of fines were less than the cost of a reliable horse (roughly £20). Given the potential precedent set three months earlier by the extra-legal hanging of the Loyalist, Stephen Edwards, the court showed remarkable restraint—even leniency—in its sentencing. This would contrast significantly with the second Courts of Oyer & Terminer which meted out several death sentences.

Related Historic Site: Old Salem County Courthouse

Sources: Richard C. Haskett, “Prosecuting the Revolution,” in American Historical Review, vol. 49 (April 1954), pp. 580-1; Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004 (Monmouth County Archives); David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 59, 64; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 514; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Legal; Monmouth Courts; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Courts; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder -January 1778; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 195; State Auditor Acct Books, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Treasury, State Auditor's Account Book, Sheriff Fines, Monmouth County, reel 181, pp. 195-203.