The Rental of Loyalist Estates

In August 1776, Monmouth County became the first county in New Jersey to inventory the estates of Loyalists who had left to join the British. New Jersey law established a multi-step process through which Loyalists forfeited their estates to the state for resale. First, state-appointed commissioners (in Monmouth County—Kenneth Hankinson, Samuel Forman, and Jacob Wikoff) inventoried the estate; next, a formal inquisition was posted and citizens could make statements regarding the status of the inventoried estate owner; finally, the Forfeiture Commissioners could confiscate and re-sell the estates.

While the cash-strapped New Jersey government desperately needed money, land confiscation in an agricultural community was the ultimate penalty; land was the primary route to acquiring wealth. Estate confiscation was tantamount to a final and irreversible break with the Loyalist. In 1777, most Americans clung to a belief that a short war and reconciliation was still possible and were not ready to confiscate estates. Renting Loyalist estates was a way to bring in revenue without the finality of confiscation.

Renting Loyalist Estates in Monmouth County

According to surviving records, the Forfeiture Commissioners—Hankinson, Forman and Wikoff—rented 34 Loyalist estates in July 1777 and would ultimately rent out 89 estates. Estates rentals raised an impressive £21,000. Monthly rents ranged from £1 to £87 (the estate of Daniel Van Mater, who had purchased a new farm in New York). Estates were rented across Monmouth County’s four northern counties—Freehold, Middletown, Shrewsbury and Upper Freehold. Dover and Stafford township Loyalists were not included in this process.

The Loyalists whose estates were rented were a combination of wealthy and modest landholders. While several of the most prominent Loyalists had their estates rented—Colonel John Morris, Colonel George Taylor, Rev. Samuel Cooke—others had their estates temporarily spared—Colonel Elisha Lawrence, Major John Antill. Three families were particularly prone to estate rentals—such as:

• Van Mater: Daniel Van Mater, Chrineyonce Van Mater, and Henry Van Mater;

• Taylor: George Taylor, Morford Taylor, John Taylor, and William Taylor;

• Leonard: John Leonard, Joseph Leonard, and Thomas Leonard.

Other families, including those that headed the Loyalist insurrections, such as the Woodwards of Upper Freehold, were conspicuously not included on the list of rented estates. The criteria for estate rental is not easily explained from surviving documents.

Determining exactly who was subject to an estate rental was controversial. At the highwater mark of Loyalism in New Jersey, December 1776, many Monmouth Countans lined up behind the British. Many of these fickle Loyalists did not become Loyalist refugees when the British quit New Jersey in January. Authorities were generally lenient toward these fickle men, as long as they were not leaders and were not violent. Still, the dividing line was controversial. On June 2, 1778, the New Jersey Council of Safety received a petition from Monmouth County:

Setting forth that a number of persons who had been in the enemy's lines, aiding & assisting them, and who plundered a number of inhabitants when the enemy were last in Trenton, and had returned to their respective homes & being bailed by the Justices & suffered to go at large.

The petition was delivered by militia Colonel Asher Holmes along with a list of the "delinquents" and the magistrates who dropped charges against them. The estates of these delinquents would presumably be subject to inventory and rental.

The rental of Loyalist estates could become complicated. One case specific to estate rentals rose to the New Jersey Supreme Court in January 1781. In this case, Daniel Randolph, acting as a subcontractor to the Forfeiture Commissioners, charged William Grover with reneging on rents owed. Grover had rented two farms, and later a third farm, from Randolph for £150 a month which "he faithfully did promise to pay." Grover promised to pay the Commissioners £98 of the fees owed. The indictment claimed Grover “has not paid for that one either despite being summoned to pay.” Grover was charged with "not regarding his several promises... contriving to fraud." Grover’s defense and the outcome of the case are unknown.

Whatever the complications, the rentals of Loyalist estates raised significant and much-needed cash for the New Jersey government. On October 10, 1778, the New Jersey Assembly recorded receiving £3680 from Samuel Forman, on behalf of Monmouth County’s Forfeiture Commissioners. This was the approximate value of two mid-sized estates if sold at auction, and a larger sum than any county forwarded to the Legislature at that time.

Other Loyalist estates were not rented until April 1779 or later, after Loyalist estates were being confiscated and sold at public auction. Later account books demonstrate that well over one hundred Loyalist estates were sold in Monmouth County (different sources have differing totals), so several confiscated Loyalist estates were never rented. Perhaps the Forfeiture Commissioners showed mercy on certain families by delaying or not renting their family estates.

After the war, Loyalists applied to the British government for compensation for their lost property. In these applications, virtually every Loyalist discussed and estimated the value of their lost estates. Only one Monmouth Countians, Dr. James Boggs, additionally discussed losses to his family related to the rental of his estate prior to confiscation. Boggs took a British loyalty oath on December 7, 1776 and joined the New Jersey Volunteers as a surgeon. His family stayed behind in Shrewsbury. Despite this, his 111-acre farm in Shrewsbury was rented out in July 1777 (and then confiscated in May 1779). The Boggs family was presumably evicted.

The rental of Loyalist estates was an important intermediate step toward confiscating and re-selling Loyalist property. While it aroused some controversies and displaced some Loyalist families, the impacts of estate rentals were small in comparison to what would come later.

Caption: Dr. James Boggs lived in Shrewsbury before the war. In December 1776, he became a surgeon in the British Army. His family stayed behind. Despite this, his estate was seized and rented in 1777.

Related Historic Sites: Nassau Hall

Sources: New Jersey State Archives, Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, box 5, folder 4.1; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 42; Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, James Boggs, D96, AO 13/17; Auditor’s Book, New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Treasury, Auditor's Account Books, reel 181, pp. 469-72; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 245; NJ State Archives: NJ Supreme Court Records, case #32076; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 245; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 245; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 10, 1778, p 192-194.