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MCHA's Primary Source Workshop Previous Page Download Workshop Packet The Importance of Primary Sources Primary source documents are firsthand accounts of a topic or event from someone who had a direct relationship with it. They are invaluable pieces of information because they represent the closest connection to the focus of study. Examples of primary sources include letters, journals, account books, photographs and newspapers. Sometimes primary sources tell us exactly what we need to know. Other times they give clues that point us in the right direction, or generate more questions that lead us to a deeper focus of study we had not considered when we began. This workshop will teach you to analyze the world of primary sources to extract their hidden information. Archival Documents These documents were used to research the material presented in the Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved exhibit. This is a farm account book entry made by John Taylor that tells us Matilda, daughter of Clarisse, was born in 1806. We know Clarisse was enslaved by the Taylors at this time, so this is why we believe Matilda was very likely born at Marlpit Hall. This is called deductive reasoning - it is a logical conclusion based on the available information that we have. Matilda would eventually be free, but was required to work for Clarisse's owner for a term of 21 years due to the Gradual Abolition Act of 1804. May the 5th 1806 - Negro woman Clarissy had a Molato Child born a girl female named Matilda Making Connections Comparing and Contrasting Perspectives 1. First consider the type of record this is. Look at the wording carefully. How do you think John Taylor viewed the birth of Matilda? How might Clarisse have felt about Matilda's birth? Explain your reasoning. 2. Why might John have replaced the word "girl" with "female" instead? Next > Runaway Ads Runaway ads were placed in newspapers when an enslaved person made a break from their enslaver. These small notices were shrewdly crafted 18th-century tracking devices that used a variety of important identifying details. Activity Using the chart in your student packet , extract the details in each ad that could be used for identification and tracking. Next > An Important Note about Historical Language: You will be analyzing actual ads found in 18th and 19th century newspapers. We cannot change the words in the historic documents, nor should we hide or ignore them. Instead, it is best to understand where they came from and why we no longer use them. Negro means "black" in the Portuguese and Spanish languages. The Portuguese were the first enslavers of Africans, so their word became the common term. The term was used into the 1960s, but was so closely tied to the tragedy of slavery that it was decided the terms Black or African American were more updated and respectful. "Mulatto" also came from the Portuguese, used to describe a person who was biracial or mixed race. Finally, "colored" is a word that has no substitute, because "colored" meant anyone who was not white. Today, we know that it is wrong to say that white is the standard and everything else is either "different" or less. Sale Ads These ads were placed in the newspapers when an enslaver was looking to sell off one of their enslaved persons. Monmouth County papers are full of ads trying to make profits from human bondage. Making Connections Analysis 1. Note the language of these ads. How are they different from the runaway ads? 2. What might be considered "selling points" and why? 3. Does anything strike you about some of the information provided? The Subscriber will dispose of one very likely active NEGRO fellow, twenty years old, for $150 in specie, and two likely active NEGRO girls, fifteen years old, for $120 aforesaid, or the value thereof in current money. They are not to be sold for any fault, but the want of business: They are all country born, and understand most kinds of business... TO BE SOLD, Or put out for a term of years, A NEGRO GIRL, about four years old. Inquire of Wm. TINDALL Trenton, December 10, 1793. 1 2 Next > Deep Down in My Heart... The Influence of African Music Then and Now African rhythms came overseas with the first slave ship, and were passed down through generations of enslaved persons. Music was used for communication, celebration, in rituals and expressions of self. The most common type of African song was known as "call and response." A singer would call out a line and a response was called back. This style can still be heard in the music of today. Listen to the following audio clip to hear an authentic African call and response example, and then listen to the modern examples the follow. Can you think of any other examples of call and response songs today? Next Analyzing Art Visual imagery can be a powerful source of information, expressing emotions and ideas that can be hard to convey with words. Artwork can be analyzed in the same way that documents are. Attention must be paid to even the smallest elements, and sometimes what we find can be open to interpretation. There is often sensitivity and sometimes criticism of images depicting "happy slaves." However, spending recreational time together was as much a human need for the enslaved as for any other. They incorporated their ancestral traditions of African music, dance, and cooking. In doing so, the enslaved celebrated their culture and took back their joy during these times. This in itself could be looked at as resistance in their refusal to have their spirit be broken . What elements do you see in this image, and why are they important? Next > Previous Page Educators: Please email MCHAeducation@gmail.com to request supplemental material

Taylor Butler House Interactive Experience Take the full audio tour, or focus on your areas of interest! Explore our digital gallery for more insight into what life was like at Taylor Butler House. Enjoy your visit! FULL TOUR Station One Mary's New Home Station Two History of the Structure Station Three Lives of the Enslaved Station Four The Last Descendant Saves Marlpit Digital Gallery Explore Our Collections Continue your tour with nearby historic sites Marlpit Hall This house was filled with many generations of Taylors descended from Edward Taylor the 1st. His grandson, also Edward, was a loyalist during the American Revolution. Both the structure and the site are rich in historical significance. It is one of the oldest surviving structures in New Jersey. Old First Church The congregation began in 1688 as the Middletown Baptist Church. This structure was built in 1832, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

18. Monmouth County Petitions Against Independence < Back June 1776 The Declaration of Independence forced Americans to take sides. Monmouth Countians authored and signed nine petitions against independence. By June 1776, Americans were hotly debating whether or not to declare independence from Great Britain. While a consensus for independence was emerging in large parts of the Thirteen Colonies, there were regions where significant minorities, and even local majorities, opposed independence. Monmouth County was one of those regions. In a time period before public polling, the best tool available for sensing public opinion were petitions to the state legislature (in June 1776, New Jersey’s legislature was the Provincial Congress). Different records of the Provincial Congress convey slightly different totals, but the most comprehensive source suggests that Monmouth Countians authored roughly half of New Jersey’s anti-independence petitions that were sent to the Provincial Congress. We can infer that the question of independence was well-settled in the counties that sent zero petitions. The large number of Monmouth County petitions suggests a deeply divided population in which individuals felt compelled to go on record with their opinions. In total, it appears that Monmouth Countians authored seventeen petitions to the Provincial Congress over a five week period—eight favoring independence and nine opposed. The sentiment of these petitions by township is in the table below: Township Pro-Independence Anti-Independence Freehold 2 0 Middletown 3 4 Shrewsbury 2 4 Upper Freehold 1 1 Dover & Stafford 0 0 Unfortunately, the contents of most of these petitions are lost. The minutes of the Provincial Congress briefly summarizes the contents of the petitions. The brief petition summaries contain information on additional topics beyond independence. For example, a June 12 petition from Monmouth County opposing independence also asked "that none of the militia may be taken out of that county, as it lies so exposed to hostile invasion." This brief statement tells us that Monmouth Countians felt vulnerable to being on the front lines of the expected British invasion, with little to defend them but their own militia. For these petitioners, their vulnerability was a motivation to oppose independence. It appears that only one of the June 1776 anti-independence petitions still exists. In this petition, the petitioners acknowledged: "We daily experience and sincerely lament in common with our fellow inhabitants, the calamitous consequences of the present unhappy controversies with Great Britain.” However, the petitioners suggested that destruction from the coming war would outweigh any potential benefit of independence: We trust, Gentlemen, that you will have the honor, the interest, safety, and welfare of your native country too much at heart to subject this once flourishing and happy province to the reproachful and calamitous consequences of an avowed separation... We are convinced that settlements of separation and independence must not only be highly impolitic, but may be of the most dangerous and destructive consequences. The 47 petition signers are an interesting mix. Several would become Loyalists—including John Taylor —who would serve as a county commissioner for administering loyalty oaths during the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776. Two signers, Morford Taylor and John Van Mater , would flee to the British in the coming weeks. One signer, Timothy Scoby , would become a Loyalist partisan who would be sentenced to death by a Monmouth County court later in the war. Other signers, such as Revaud Kearney , would weather the war at home, but remain disaffected from the new American government. And most interesting, two of the signers, Thomas Wainwright and Hendrick Vanderveer , would become leaders in the Revolutionary movement. In 1777, when the Monmouth militia was re-organized and purged of its Loyalist-leaning officers, they would become a captain and lieutenant respectively. The Monmouth Countians who were most vocal in composing and gathering signatures for the anti-independence petitions eventually paid a price for doing so. When New Jersey’s Provincial Congress adopted a new constitution free of British control on July 2 and the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, these men were now effectively enemies of their country. John Wardell of Shrewsbury gathered signatures for one petition. The former judge of the courts would be arrested in November 1776, appointed a commissioner for administering British loyalty oaths during the Loyalist insurrection of December, and then arrested again in 1777. The case of William Taylor , as summarized in his postwar Loyalist Compensation Application, provides an even better example of the fate of the men who led anti-independence petitions. Taylor was the son of John Taylor of Middletown, one of the county’s wealthiest men, and the county sheriff through the 1760s. Under Royal Governor William Franklin , William Taylor was the Surrogate of the Monmouth County Courts, a patronage position from which he drew a salary and prestige. As the votes for independence drew closer, Taylor "prevailed upon a great majority of the inhabitants of the Country to sign a counter petition [against independence] and William Taylor, himself, delivered them to a member of Congress." Shortly after the Declaration of Independence, Taylor was confronted and summoned to sign a Loyalty oath, which he refused to do. Taylor would lay low in Middletown for the next few months where he quietly organized a Loyalist association and waited for the right opportunity to support the British Army. His association was broken up in November and Taylor had to flee to the British at Sandy Hook ahead of a party of Monmouth County Continentals led by David Forman . Many of Taylor’s followers were captured and ultimately jailed in far-off Frederick, Maryland. Taylor became an officeholder in Royal Governor William Franklin’s government-in-exile in British-held New York City . He was captured in May 1778. Taylor moved to England at war’s end. Related Historic Site : National Archives (Washington, DC) Sources : Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 215. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 851; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) pp. 470-4; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p135-8; Larry Gerlach, Prologue to Independence: New Jersey in the Coming of the American Revolution (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1976) p 335; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 451; 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 1618; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Local Facts about the American Revolution Made Public"; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 241. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 906. Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/112, reel 12. Previous Next

46. The First Battle of Monmouth Fought Outside of Freehold < Back January 1777 Previous Next

17. Sandy Hook Becomes Haven for Loyalists < Back May 1776 With the British Navy in possession of Sandy Hook, on the northeast tip of Monmouth County, it is not surprising that this British base became a magnet for active Loyalists and those disaffected from the Continental movement. Even before the Declaration of Independence, Sandy Hook was becoming a haven for New York and New Jersey Loyalists. The earliest documentation of local Loyalists heading to Sandy Hook is a May 7 letter to the New York Committee of Safety from Joseph Blanchard , a merchant from New York City. Blanchard was summoned by the Committee “under an accusation of carrying on a communication with some of the seamen on board the ships lying near Sandy-Hook.” Blanchard admitted to going on board the British ship, Asia , but claimed it was only to settle debts with a New York Loyalist already on board that ship. He swore that he exchanged no intelligence with the Loyalist or Royal Governor William Tryon , who was also at Sandy Hook: Not one word of news, or anything about politicks, was ever hinted either from him to me, or me to him, in any letter that passed between us. As to the Governour, I never wrote him one word, nor ever received any kind of message from him of any kind whatsoever. Interestingly, Blanchard sought to offer military intelligence on the British forces at Sandy Hook to “the Jersey officers” under Lord Stirling that he saw when leaving the Hook. “I knew the contents, and went several times to my Lord's on purpose to deliver him the letter, but could not see him.” In essence, Blanchard’s testimony suggests that he went to the British navy and offered no intelligence, then he attempted to pass intelligence to Continental officers, but they would not see him. This strains the credibility of Blanchard’s testimony. He would become a Loyalist. While Joseph Blanchard may have been the first Loyalist lured to Sandy Hook, Moses Kirkland was the most extraordinary case. Kirkland was a South Carolinian who was “confined in the said jail by order of the Honorable Congress, for practices inimical to this country.” Kirkland escaped and headed for Sandy Hook. A May 15 Virginia Gazette report on Kirkland noted: “he crossed over Delaware at Cooper's ferry last night” and was heading for the British squadron, now at Sandy Hook. A number of newspapers from Virginia to New York printed advertisements that described Kirkland’s appearance and offered rewards for his capture. The New York’s Constitutional Gazette , for example, offered the headline: “Stop a Tory, One Hundred Dollars Reward.” The report suggested that Kirkland had escaped confinement in South Carolina and Philadelphia, and concluded that "he will either endeavor to get on board one of the men of war in the [Hudson] river or at Sandy Hook." It is probable that women were among the New York Loyalists visiting the British ships at Sandy Hook. On June 2, the New York Provincial Congress heard testimony that a Ms. Hill and Mrs. Hatch were in “correspondence” with Governor Tryon’s ship at Sandy Hook. They appointed a committee to examine the two women and anyone else necessary to determine if the women were secretly visiting the British or passing written intelligence. After conducting several interviews, the Committee informed the Provincial Congress that they were “of the opinion that the suspicions against those persons [Hill and Hatch] are not well-founded." Major Robert Bayard was the East India Tea Company's agent in New York City. He was one of the first New York City Loyalists to join the British at Sandy Hook. The trickle of Loyalists soon increased. On June 19, three of New York’s leading Loyalists-- Oliver DeLancey , Charles Apthorpe , and Major Robert Bayard -- left New York City in a canoe and paddled down to Sandy Hook to seek protection on British naval vessels. According to DeLancey, the escape was to avoid a summons to appear before the New York Provincial Congress on the 20th. In a few weeks, the influx of Loyalists from Monmouth County would dwarf the trickle of Loyalists from New York; other New York Loyalists would seek refuge among Monmouth County’s disaffected in Shrewsbury township. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 5, p1230; Virginia Gazette, May 17, 1776; Constitutional Gazette (New York), May 15, 1776; Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 6, P1359 and 1363; Bruce Bliven, Under the Guns, New York 1775-1776 (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) p 320; Sabine, W.H.W., Suppressed History of General Nathaniel Woodhull (NewYork: Colburn& Tegg,1954) p 167.. Previous Next

89. Nathaniel Scudder Elected and Serves in the Continental Congress < Back November 1777 Previous Next

61. Captain John Walton Captures Loyalist Boat < Back March 1777 Previous Next

65. David Forman's Continental Army Red Coats < Back April 1777 Previous Next

June 1774 Committees Form to Resist British Policies < Back June 1774 To punish the people of Boston for their “Tea Party” and other defiant acts , the British Parliament passed the so-called Intolerable Acts in early 1774. Colonists across the Thirteen Colonies reacted by boycotting British goods. Americans started forming committees to enforce the boycott and coordinate dissent across localities. The citizens of Freehold Township met at Monmouth Court House on June 6, 1774 to consider the state of affairs. According to minutes of the meeting, they agreed “that the cause for which the inhabitants of Boston are now suffering is the common cause of the whole Continent.” They also endorsed "an entire stoppage of importation and exportation from and to Great Britain and the West Indies.” Finally, they appointed a standing committee to “join an association with the several other counties in this province in any measures that may appear best to the weal and safety of North America." The Continental Association, October 1774, created a national template for resisting British policies—county and township committees were responsible for enforcing it. The Committee would be comprised of John Anderson , Hendrick Smock , Asher Holmes , Peter Forman , John Forman , John Covenhoven , Nathaniel Scudder – each of whom would go on to hold important leadership positions in the fledgling American government. While the committees that would soon form in other Monmouth townships contained a mix of men who would support and oppose the Revolution, the Freehold committee was full of ardent patriots (they called themselves Whigs). This would distinguish Freehold from the other Monmouth County townships in the years to come . A week later, on June 13, Josiah Holmes , one of Shrewsbury’s leading citizens, received a letter from the Essex County Committee. He responded by meeting with some other leading citizens in Shrewsbury and putting up a public notice which began: The deplorable state of the inhabitants of the great and (until now) flourishing town of Boston is reduced to by means of the late cruel and inhumane act of the British Parliament, for the blocking up their port, is the fatal occasion that thousands are now destitute of employment, and are also destitute of bread; now they have only to depend on the charity of well-disposed Christians. It is therefore proposed to load a vessel with grain and other provisions from this County of Monmouth, to be sent immediately for their relief. Meanwhile, the people of Monmouth County were called on to participate in the selection of delegates for a Provincial Congress, a state body that would operate outside the influence of New Jersey’s Royal Governor. On July 19, citizens from four of Monmouth County’s six townships met at Freehold to establish a county committee (attending: Freehold, Upper Freehold, Middletown, and Dover; Shrewsbury and Stafford did not attend). In addition to selecting delegates to this new Congress, the attendees agreed to raise foodstuffs for the suffering in Boston and establish a county committee. The new Monmouth County committee declared that British taxes were “altogether unprecedented and unconstitutional” but they also declared loyalty to the King: “they do highly esteem and prize the happiness of being governed by so excellent a system of laws as that of Great Britain, doubtless the best in the universe.” The County Committee quickly became the quasi-government of Monmouth County—with help from the township committees of Freehold, Upper Freehold, Middletown and Dover. Shrewsbury and Stafford townships did not establish township committees until 1775. Over the next few months, the committees of Monmouth County enforced the boycott of British goods by advertising boycott violators. They also raised and shipped “1200 bushels of rye, and 50 barrels of rye flour” for the suffering people in Boston. And they resolved to establish a new militia outside of the control of the Royal Governor. Soon, the County Committee would take action against some of the county’s most public Loyalists. All of this was set in motion before the first Continental Congress established the Continental Association in October 1774—calling on all Americans to take the actions that had already occurred in Monmouth County. Caption : The Continental Association, October 1774, created a national template for resisting British policies—county and township committees were responsible for enforcing it. Related Historical Sites : Monmouth County Historical Association Sources : Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 43-50; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety , 1775-1770 (Trenton: Naar, Day and Naar, 1879) pp. 4-5; Allan Nevins, The American States During and After the Revolution , 1775-1 789 (New York: MacMillan Company, 1 922), p 44; Monmouth County Historical Association, Genealogical Files, folder - Revolutionary War Records of Monmouth County Soldiers ; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 186-8; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p119-20; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 301-2; Pennsylvania Gazette , November 2, 1774 Previous Next

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