Cape May’s Forgotten Patriot: Colonel Elijah Hand

By J.P. Hand

In October 1908, a stone monument was erected along Rt. 49 at

Quinton’s Bridge in Salem County commemorating a Revolutionary

War skirmish there.1 Generations of Cape May residents have passed

the monument, unaware of its importance to Cape May County history.

The monument lists the principal American officers present:

Col. Benjamin Holme and Capt. William Smith of the Salem Co.

militia, and Col. Elijah Hand of the Cumberland Co. militia.

For over 200 hundred years, historians have recounted the heroics

of Col. Elijah Hand (1730-1789) at Quinton’s Bridge, but until now

no one has made the connection that Col. Elijah Hand of the

Cumberland militia, Captain Elijah Hand the privateer, and Cape

May County native and landowner Elijah Hand are one and the same.

 
In Lewis Stevens’ classic 1897 History of Cape May County, Elijah Hand isn’t mentioned, though his son Elijah Jr. is. Daniel and Zelophead Hand, authors of the 1920 Hand Genealogy, list him among notable family members as “a Col. Elijah Hand Cumberland Militia” but fail to connect him to their listing for Elijah Hand4 (Recompense3, Thomas2, and John1), a Cape May County native. Jeffrey Dorwart’s History of Cape May County (1992) omits him as well.2 

This oversight can be attributed to Elijah Hand’s dual residency in

both Cape May and Cumberland counties, and his service as a military

officer outside of Cape May County. Both the Lewis and Dorwart histories document in great detail the important contributions madeDorwart histories document in great detail the important contributions made
_________________
 

1 “Official Program: 150th Anniversary of the Skirmish at Quinton’s Bridge and

the Massacre at Hancock’s Bridge,” Quinton, NJ: May 19, 1928.

2 Lewis Townsend Stevens, History of Cape May County, New Jersey (Cape May

City, NJ: Lewis T. Stevens, 1897), p. 239; Daniel and Zelophead Hand, The Hand

Genealogy of Cape May County (privately printed, 1920), p.13, 68; Jeffrey M.

Dorwart, Cape May County, New Jersey: The Making of an American Resort

Community (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1992).

3 Lewis, p.184; Dorwart, 56-57.
 

by Cape May County-born Thomas Leaming, Jr. who resided in Philadelphia for most of the war and Stevens refers to him as “a patriot whose fame was wide in Philadelphia as at home.”3

However, this native son who as a military leader “saved the day” at

Quinton’s bridge and with his men took part in the American victory

at Red Bank and later in the war defended the South Jersey coast as

a privateer captain has been all but forgotten in his home county.

The author, with the help of local historians Carol Boyd of Cape

May, John Lore of Cumberland County, and researcher Ann H. Boldt

of Trenton, has pieced together the military record and life story of

this Cape May patriot.

“The Civilian”

Little is known of the early life of Elijah Hand . His father,

Recompence, was the son of whaler Thomas Hand, one of the original

Cape May whaler-yeoman settlers. Recompence was the youngest

of five sons and executor of his father’s estate.4

Elijah, born in 1730, most likely grew up on his father’s 200-acre

share of the original “home plantation.” This was located on the bay

front between Fishing Creek and Green Creek in the Middle Precinct

in the area now known as Del Haven.5

His father also purchased land near Goshen Creek, Middle precinct,

as well as 600 acres at Dividing Creek, in neighboring

Cumberland County. After his father Recompence died intestate in

1764, Elijah and his brothers, Jonathan and Recompence, received

the lands in both counties.6 Elijah’s sister, Deborah (1716/17-1784),

married Christopher Leaming (1714-1751) and after his death, Jacob

Spicer Jr. (1716-1765) His sister, Abiah (1721-1755), married James

Townsend Jr. (1715-1786).
______________________

4 Hand Genealogy, p.67.

5 Cape May Deeds, Book L, p.199.

6 Cumberland County Deeds, Liber 1, p.295.
 

Elijah almost didn’t live to see the Revolution. According to the muchquoted Lewis Cresse Diary: “On the 5th day of January 1757 as Elijah Hand was agoing to the marriage of Gideon Hand and riding very fast in a turn of the roade Elijahs Hors turned out which caused him to hit a tree with his head and hardly escapt death.”7

Five years later, Lewis Cresse records: “An account on time spent in settling and directing the affairs of the estate of Gideon Hand deceasedfor me Lewis Cresse. On the 26th day of May 1772 I paid Judg Youngs the sum of thirty pounds and Elijah Hand gave his bondfor thirty pounds more for the negrow man.”8

In 1758 Elijah Hand married Rachel Hand his second cousin once removed.

          Elijah and Nathan Hand, both of Cape May County,
          Gentlemen…(bound to)…John Reading, President of his
          majesty’s Council and commander in Chief…500
          pounds…24 Jan 1758. …Elijah Hand…obtained license of
          marriage for himself and for Rachel Hand of Cape May
          County…[witness] Jesse Hand, Christopher Leaming.9

His wife’s father, Nathan Hand Sr., died a few months after the wedding and Elijah became the guardian of his brother-in-law, Nathan Hand Jr., who served as quartermaster in the Cape May Militia during
the Revolution.10

Rachel and Elijah had three children: Recompence, Rachel (who married Philip Stites), and Elijah Jr.
______________________

7 Lewis Cresse, “Whaler’s Diary,” Cape May County Magazine of History and
Genealogy, Vol. 6, p.278-279.
8 Ibid., p.286.
9 William Nelson, ed., Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of
New Jersey: New Jersey Marriages, 1684-1800, p.194.
10 New Jersey Colonial Documents, Vol. IV (1761-1770), p.176; William Stryker,
Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War
(Trenton, NJ: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., 1872), p.340.

Elijah’s father and grandfather were whaler/yeomen and it is likelythat he went “awhaling” with his father as a young man.” The declinein coastal whaling on the Delaware Bay and along the coast of southernNew Jersey by the mid-18th century brought an end to this career choice for Cape May men.

Fortunately, his family’s extensive land holdings and interests in thecattle and timber industries provided many opportunities for Elijahand his brothers. Cape May and Cumberland County tax recordsand deeds show that Elijah owned plantations in both counties. His brother Jonathan remained in Cape May, while brother Recompence received most of their father’s 600-acre tract in Dividing Creek and moved to Cumberland County, where he died in 1769.11Tax records from 1773 to 1789 suggest that while Elijah continuedto own a plantation in Cape May (Middle Precinct), he spent most of his time in Dividing Creek, Cumberland County.

1773 Tax Records12

Elijah Hand/Middle Precinct/                                        Jonathan Hand/Middle Precinct/
Cape May                                                                   Cape May
160 acres of land                                                         232 acres of land
£17-10 value of land                                                    £27-10 value of land
4 horse and cattle                                                        20 horses and cattle
                                                                                  1 slave/servant
                                                                                  1 mill

Elijah Hand/Down Township/Cumberland County
                100 acres of land
                £12 value of land
                18 cattle
                1 slave/servant
_____________________

11 Cumberland County Deeds, Liber 1, p.295
12 1773 Cumberland County Tax Ratables, Book 430, p.2; Sept. 1773 Cape May
County Tax Ratables, Book 355, p.2.
13 May 1784 Cape May County Tax Ratables, Book 364, p.3.

1784 Tax Records13

Elijah Hand/Middle Precinct/                                        Jonathan Hand/Middle Precinct/
Cape May                                                                   Cape May
160 acres of improved land                                           200 acres improved land
£18 value of land                                                         £30 value of land
60 acres of unimproved land                                         100 acres of unimproved land
1 horse                                                                        2 horses
13 horned cattle                                                           27 horned cattle
                                                                                  1 slave

Note that Elijah has most of his assets in Cumberland County. Thismay explain why this Cape May County landowner was electedCaptain of the Cumberland Militia and later commissioned Lt. Col and Colonel of the same.

Back in Cape May, brother Jonathan represented Cape May in the colonial legislature from 1771 to 1776 and with the adoption of the state constitution served on the first Legislative Council from 1776-1778.14

“The Soldier”

The Revolutionary War years were a busy time in the life of Elijah Hand. Early records report “Captain Hand” training his men at Dividing Creek. He also served as Justice of the Peace in CumberlandCounty from 1776-1778.15 On Feb. 4, 1777 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel in both the state troops and the Cumberland militia. Four months later, he was commissioned colonel.16

In September 1777, Elijah and his men took part in the successfuldefense of Fort Mercer during “The Battle of Red Bank.” This battle, fought on the banks of the Delaware River in Gloucester County,
______________________

14 Stevens, p.184-185.
15 Dr. Roy Hand, “Early West Creek Settlers,” Cape May County Magazine of
History and Genealogy, June 1958, p.147.
16 Stryker, p.352

was a rare victory for the American cause at this stage of the war.The attacking Hessian force sustained over 500 casualties while theAmerican defenders had 14 killed and 23 wounded.17

Col. Hand’s most famous exploit occurred on March 18, 1778 during the skirmish at Quinton’s Bridge, Salem County, when a force of British troops and local Tories attacked the Salem County Militia defending the bridge.

The Salem militia had suffered heavy casualties and were abandoning their positions, when Elijah and his Cumberland militia arrived on the scene with two cannons and forced the British to retreat. In 1844, this historic moment was described as follows:

Col. Hand, of the Cumberland militia, being informed by Col. Holmes that the enemy were in Salem, put his regiment in motion, and was hastening to join Holmes at Quinton’s Bridge, and by an unforeseen Providence, as designed, he arrived there at the very moment when the enemy was dealing death and destruction among our people. Immediately on his arrival, he placed his men in the trenches which our soldiers had but a little while before left, and opened upon the pursuing enemy such a continued and well-directed fire, as soon put a stop to their career, and saved our people from being cut to pieces.
Hand had with him two pieces of artillery, which, when they opened, soon obliged the enemy to face about.18

After the British defeat at Quinton’s Bridge, British Commander Col.Charles Mawhood wrote a letter to Col. Hand demanding that theAmericans lay down their arms and return to their homes. Why theBritish Commander chose to correspond with Elijah Hand and not
_____________________

17 Trenton Times, June 26, 1906 as compiled by Col. C. E. Godfrey and posted at
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njdar/redbank/history.html.
18 John Barber and Henry Howe, Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey
(NY: S. Tuttle, 1844), p.418-419.

the local Salem County Commander, Col. Benjamin Holme, is unknown. Col. Hand’s eloquent reply has been published in many histories and is included here.

Below is the letter of the British commander to Col. Elijah Hand, written a day or two after the affair at Quintin’s Bridge, together with Hand’s reply:

Colonel Mahwood, commanding a detachment of the British army at Salem, induced by motives of humanity, proposes to the militia at Quintin’s Bridge and the neighborhood, as well officers as private men, to lay down their arms and depart, each man to his own home. On that condition, he solemnly promises to re-embark his troops without delay, doing no further damage  to the country; and he will cause his commissaries to pay for the cattle, hay, and corn that have been taken, in sterling money.

If, on the contrary, the militia should be so far deluded, and blind to their true interest and happiness, he will put the arms which he has brought with him into the hands of inhabitants well affected, called tories; and will attack all such of the militia as remain in arms, burn and destroy their houses and other property, and reduce them, their unfortunate wives and children, to beggary and distress. And, to convince them that these are not vain threats, he has subjoined a list of the names of such as will be the first objects to feed the vengeance of the British nation.19

Given under my hand, at head-quarters, at Salem, the twenty-first day of March, 1778.
 
                                                       C. Mawhood, Colonel

______________________

19 The names given are: Edmund Keasby, Thomas Sinnickson, Samual Dick,
Whitten Cripps, Ebenezer Howell, Edward Hall, John Rowen, Thomas Thompson,
George Trenchard, Elisha Cattel, Andrew Sinnickson, Nicholas Kean, Jacob Hufty,
Benjamin Holmes, William Shute, Anthony Sharp and Abner Penton.

Colonel Hand’s Reply

Sir: I have been favored with what you say humanity has induced you to propose. It would have given me much pleasure to have found that humanity had been the line of conduct to your troops, since you came to Salem. Not denying quarters, but butchering our men who surrendered themselves prisoners, in the skirmish at Quintin’s Bridge, last Thursday; and bayoneting, yesterday morning, at Hancock’s Bridge, in the most cruel manner, in cold blood, men who were taken by surprise, in a situation in which they neither could nor did attempt to make any resistance, and some of whom were not fighting men,—are instances too shocking for me to relate, and I hope for you to hear. The brave are ever generous and humane. After expressing your sentiments of humanity, you proceed to make a request, which I think you would despise us if complied with. Your proposal that we should lay down our arms, we absolutely reject. We have taken them up to maintain rights which are dearer to us than our lives; and will not lay them down till either success has crowned our arms with victory, or, like many ancient worthies contending for liberty, we meet with an honorable death. You mention that, if we reject your proposal, you will put arms in the hands of the tories against us. We have no objection to the measure, for it would be a very good one to fill our arsenals with arms. Your threats to wantonly burn and destroy our houses and other property, and reduce our wives and children to beggary and distress, is a sentiment which my humanity almost forbids me only to recite; and induces me to imagine that I am reading the cruel order of a barbarous Attila, and not of a gentleman, brave, generous, and polished, with a genteel European education. To wantonly destroy will injure your cause more than ours; it will increase your enemies and our army. To destine to destruction the property of our most distinguished men, as you

have done in your proposals, is, in my opinion, unworthy a generous foe; and more like a rancorous feud, between two contending barons, than a war carried on, by one of the greatest powers on earth, against a people nobly struggling for liberty. A line of honor would mark out that these men should share the fate of their country. If your arms should be crowned with victory, (which God forbid!) they and their property will be tirely at the disposal of your sovereign. The loss of their property, while their persons are out of your power, will only render them desperate; and, as I said before, increase your foes and our army. And retaliation upon tories, and their property, is not entirely out of our power. Be assured that these are the sentiments, and determined resolution, not of myself only, but of all the officers and privates under me.

My prayer is, sir, that this answer may reach you in health and great happiness.

Given at head-quarters, at Quinton’s Bridge, the 22d day of  March, 1778

                                                             Elijah Hand, Colonel20

Many of South Jersey’s militia officers fought at sea as well as on land. In this capacity they could defend their country and also increase their fortunes.

According to historian Robert L. Scheina in “A Matter of Definition; a New Jersey Navy 1777-1783,”

An act authorizing the maritime endeavors of the New Jersey militia was passed on 29 December 1781, three years after the militia had been operating in a maritime environment. Perhaps the purpose of this act was to legitimize the

______________________

20 Barber and Howe, p.420-421

previous actions of the militia and to again extend the activityto South Jersey. The act specified that: For the County of Salem, Cumberland and Cape May…be permitted to perform their duties either on the land or water, as shall be most likely to protect the inhabitants thereof and shall cruise, when on the water, between Cape and Reedy-Islands, and as far Eastward as the mouth of Little Egg-Harbor, and no further,unless in case of pursing the enemy.

At least two of the units authorized in December 1781 werein service by the following spring, one being the Friendship, captained by Elijah Hand. The companies of boatmen stationed on the frontiers of Cumberland and Cape May…were carried on the New Jersey militia payrolls until 30 April 1784.

Friendship was actively employed during her first season. She captured a schooner loaded with corn in Shrewsbury Inlet and carried her into Toms River. Shortly afterward, Friendship captured a fishing boat and brought her into Middle Township. Following these successes, the gunboat  had a running fight with Tory boats off Barnegat Inlet, without either side obtaining advantage. Friendship returned to headquarters and her principal rendezvous, JonathanLebman’s salt works, was inactive for the remainder of theseason. The boat was secured for winter quarters, and the crew discharged.

The crew reassembled in the spring of 1783 and resumed cruising. Friendship captured a sloop and schooner loaded with lumber from Tory forces. The gunboat “served out this season until peace was finally ratified and a separation of service was verbally discharged by Capt. E. Hand, as were all the hands.”21

Elijah served the last two years of the war fighting at sea with his son Recompence and young cousin Jeremiah Hand among his crew.

Almost 50 years after the war, Congress passed an act providing pensions for veterans of the Revolution. Long after Elijah’s death, three of his crew men applied for this war pension. They were Jeremiah Hand, Henry Iszard, and Elijah’s son, Recompence. Fortunately for modern historians these pension applications provide detailed information concerning the privateer service in New
Jersey.22

After the war ended, Elijah and Rachel moved back to Cape May. In 1789, just 6 years after his last wartime service, Elijah died intestateat the age of 60. His wife Rachel filed letters of administration for his estate in 1790. Rachel died in 1795 leaving behind their three children and 13 grandchildren.23
______________________

21 Robert Scheina, “A Matter of Definition: A New Jersey Navy 1777-1783,”
American Neptune 39, July 1979, p.209-217.
22 Pension Records, National Archives.
23 NJ State Archives, Liber 32, p.106, Liber 36, p.189.

Teel, first gunner Alexander Ballard, 2^nd Gunner John Daniels.  We were out and on a cruise, standing up the river when the Hyde??? Capt. Barney brought the Monk to action, the ships lay so close together we could but for a minute see them, after the action commenced, which lasted but a few minutes, the smoke cleared away and we had the pleasure to see the prize go up the delaware.  We stuck to our cruising ground which prevented the refugees from committing many depredations on the inhabitants and coasting vessels _ at one time fell in with a sloop and schooner both had been taken by the refugees loaded with Lumber the property of Citizens of Delaware – we retook them both, secured the prisoners by sending them to Goal, the vessels and Cargo’s were given up to the owners, they paying something, such as was the custom in such cases of recapture. ____we continued our cruising on the eastern station, where we had information of the refugee Boats making their appearance and frustrated their intentions. ____we served out this season until peace was finally ratified and a cessation of w??. was verbally discharged by Capt. E. Hand, as were all the hands.  Have never received any pension from the state or United States.  While engaged in the service as above described, was not engaged in any civil pursuit.  Do hereby relinquish all claim to any pension, except, the one under the act of Congress, passed June 7^th 1832.  The reason for my wishing to be inscribed on the Pennsylvania agency is, it will save 120 miles a year and other expenses.____

Sworn and subscribed}                                                                                          his

The day and year aforesaid}                                                                    Jeremiah  X  Hand

Fred Saybold                                                                                                       mark

Cape May County Earmarks

by J.P. Hand and Michael Shaw

yeo·man (yō’ mən), n. (1) a man of small estate in land; a farmer; a gentleman farmer1
ear·mark (êr’märk),  n. (1) a mark on the ear of a domestic animal by which it is known2

By the time immigrants were leaving Britain for the New World in the early 17th century, English yeomen had been marking or "signing" their livestock for centuries.3  In Britain, where animals were often grazed in common, earmarks helped avoid disputes over ownership and also discouraged theft. 

This system of earmarks became extremely important in the New World where in many regions vast amounts of "waste" or undeveloped land was used in common for grazing livestock.  This was a very important economic factor in the lives of early yeomen in colonial America.  Free-ranging livestock found their own food sources, thus increasing the profits and worth of farmers.

It should be noted that allowing livestock to roam free caused friction between early colonists and neighboring “Indian” tribes.   Seventeenth and eighteenth-century New England and Long Island town records show many incidents of damage done to Native American crops by free-ranging European livestock and cases of “Indian dogs”

----------------------------------------------

killing sheep.4 In the early 1700’s, East Hampton, Long Island town

records show anglicized Native Americans recording their own earmarks:

Pharouh Indian of Montauk did on said 16th day declare

that his ear mark for swine is the end of each ear cropped

off. April 1708.5

Gefferies Squaw declareth said 16th of April 1708 that her mark for

swine is a hole in the right ear and a halfpenny on each side of the left

ear.6

Many of Cape May’s earliest settlers, their fathers, and grandfathers,

had recorded earmarks back in eastern and western Long

Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. New England and Long

Island town records are full of entries such as:

Jonathan Smith sun of the fore sd Smith one mare colored

dune with a whit star in the for head too holes in the near

aere the opparmust is rant oute branded one the of bottack

with G adged 2 yaers. [Hempstead, Long Island, 1665]7

Abraham Scallenger his eare marke is a halfe penie on ye fore part

of ye right eare & ye mark hee giveth to his Cask yt he maketh &

other things is A.S.8 [Easthampton, Long Island,1686]

John Hand ye son of Thomas Hand his mark is a hapeny on ye

forepart of ye left eare this was formerly his grandmothers marke.9

[Eastampton, Long Island,1686]

----------------------------------------------
5 Records: Town of East-Hampton, Vol. I, p.187.
6 Ibid.
7 Hempstead Town Records, Vol. I, p.171
8 Records: Town of East-Hampton, Vol. I, p.183.
9 Ibid., p.184.
 

when we brought them away in October 1727, we swam over at that was then ____ Spicer’s Landing now Thomas Ludlam landing28  [Aaron Leaming, Jr. Diary]

9-4-1755:  went to look for cattle & lodged at Jos. Savage’s at Stipson’s [Stimpson’s] Island.29 [diary of Jacob Spicer, 1755]

Debtor:  Persons Leaming
By wintering 138 cattle on Beach from 1813 to 1816 inclusive 2/11^th of which by 2/11 Gunning Beach Jo. Ludlam $8.0030[Aaron Leaming III Journal, 1818]
 

In 1840, county clerk Jonathan Hand Jr. closed the original earmark book with this entry:  

end of book A This book appearing to be pretty well worn out I have commenced in book B31  

Hand later records in 1847: 

the supply of earmarks hath become exhausted-it is deemed necessary and advisable-an earmark should extend only to the bounds of the township in which the owner resides.32 

He continues to record earmarks by township with the bulk of them recorded before 1865; the last earmark in Cape May County was recorded to George H. Cresse in 1873.33

----------------------------------------------

28 Aaron Leaming, Jr. Diary, Vol. IV. [Historical Society of PA, call # Am. 0923]
29 “Diary of Jacob Spicer 1755-1756,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical
Society, Vol. 63, (1945), p.108.
30 Aaron Leaming Ledger 1809-1827, p.23. [vault, Cape May County Historical &
Genealogical Society]
31 Earmark Book Vol. A, p.271.
32 Earmark Book Vol. B (1840-1870), p.27.
33 Ibid., p.431.
 

VOLUME XII                                                                   NUMBER 1

CAPE MAY COUNTY

MAGAZINE

HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

Mrs. Wm. Cummings, Mrs. Ella Hall,
Mrs. James Eldredge (cousin Mil),
sisters of Reuben, son of Downs
 

Foster House, 1923

iv

Howard Aaronson                                               Alice McGuigan 
Carol Boyd                                              Robert “Budd” Springer
Donna Matalucci                                                         John Turner
Robert McCullion                                                 James H. Waltz

Emeritus

Editor’s Note: The 1937 and 1938 CMCH&GS “Blue Books”
contain transcriptions of some of the earliest court records of Cape May
County. The following court records were inadvertantly omitted, but
were transcribed and bound in a hard cover volume that has been in
our Genealogical Library since 1940. Now almost seventy years later,
we have included these records in this years book, to give a more
complete “picture” of this period of Cape May County history. Please
note that this group of records is not in chronological order.

vi

2 THE CAPE MAY COUNTY MAGAZ1INE OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

The Grand Jury called and appeared they being sworn and having their charges go forth about the Queens Business. They returned we find no defect as to the Queens Business.

  The Court chuses William Johnson and Thomas Leaming to be overseers of the highways that are laid out already for a year the court of sessions adjourned till the third Tuesday in April. The overseers bounds is ye middle of John Cresses Creek.

  The Court of Common Pleas called and adjourned till 8 0’clock
tomorrow morning. The Court called again makes an order that every
juryman that has warning to appear and appears not he shall be fined
at the discreson of the court.

  An action called Thomas Mathews as Attorney for Mr. Samuel Mulford
of Long Island plant [plaintiff] Richard Downs defendant they appear.
The jury sworned the declaration being read ye defendant craves a nonsute. Ye court sees caus not to grant it Mr. Mulford. Accounts read ye said Downes oned he had the things but there was errors in the accounts
and he declared he had payd by accounts and credits. The Jurey went forth they to bring in a verdict we the petey jury find for the plant. The Court  grants judgement according to the verdict.

The court ajourned till ye third Tuesday in April next.

Att a court of Sesions called at ye house of William Shaw the 19th of
April 1709.
Justises being present.                    Humphrey Hughes Sheriff
Mss. Samuel Mathews                    John Taylor Clerk.
William Mason
Thomas Hand

The Grand Jurey called

Ephram Edwards - Forman
             Shamgar Hand Jr.

John Cresse                              Henry Stites
John Hand                                Joseph Huit
Samuel Crowell                       John Richardson
Cornelius Schelinger                Edmond Howill
Arthur Cresse Senor                 John Stillwell
Abraham Smith                         William Segrave

The grand jurey sworne their charges given then they go forth about
Queens business they return to find no Queens business. The court of
Sesions adjourned till further orders -

The Court of Common Please called

The action called Ephram Allen Salem County Plant. Peter Erickson Morris River Defendant no plant appears. The defent craves a nonsute. The court grants the same. The Court adjourned while the next sessions doath end.

At a Court of Sesions held for the county at the hous of William Shaw the 18th day of October 1709.


Justises being present.
Mss. Shamgar Hand Judge                   Humphrey Hughes Sheriff
              William Mason                      John Taylor Clerke
              Thomas Hand                         John Townsend

The Grand Jurey called
Ephram Edwards - Forman
Shamgar Hand Jr.
John Cresse                                          Henry Stites
John Hand                                            Joseph Huit
Samuel Crowell                                   John Richardson
Cornelius Schelinger                           Edmond Howill
Arthur Cresse Senor                            John Stillwell
Abraham Smith                                    William Segrave

4 THE CAPE MAY COUNTY MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

The grand jurey sworne their charges given then they go forth about
Queens business they return to find no Queens business. The court of
Sesions adjourned till further orders -

The Court of Common Please called

The action called Ephram Allen Salem County Plant. Peter Erickson Morris River Defendant no plant appears. The defent craves a nonsute. The court grants the same. The Court adjourned while the next sessions doath end.

At a Court of Sesions held for the county at the hous of William Shaw the 18th day of October 1709.

Justises being present.
Mss.     Shamgar Han Judge      Humphrey Hughes Sheriff
             William Mason            John Taylor Clerke
             Thomas Hand               John Townsend
 

The Grand Jurey called
John Cresse Foreman                                John Crowell
Arthur Cresse                                            John Stillwell
Samuel Crowell                                        John Page
Jedidiah Hughes                                        Cornelius Hand
Edmond Howill                                         Jonathan Osborn
Richard Downes                                        Abraham Smith
Randall Huit                                              Joseph Huit

  The Grand Jury called and sworn their charge given them they go forth
about Queens Busess They return we find no Queens Busness nor
nothing to present to the bench the session adjourned till ye next term.

Cornelius Scelinger called before the court for giving abusive words to
Mr John Townsend one of her majestys Judges for this county the said
Scllinger acknowledged his fault and craves the courts pardon and
promises to pay charges or a writ served upon the sessions adjourned
till the first Tuesday in January next.

Att a Court of Sesions heuld for the County of Cape May at the house of
William Shaw the first day of Janurary 1711.
Justises being present
John Townsend Judge
Mr. Thomas Hand
Joseph Whilden

1710 April ye third
William Goldin Junr entered an action upon the case against Elisha Allen
Withdrawn

Mr Jacob Spicer entered an axson of debt on behalf of Mr Benjiman Right of Phila against John Taylor as executor to Mr John Stubbs deised this 2 day of March 1705/6 Left to ye bench

June 25th day 1706
Edmon Howell entered an action against John Shaw for beter Security
for 200 acres of land     Withdrawn

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Click Here To Return To CAPE MAY COUNTY HISTORY

Page Stites, a Delaware River pilot and veteran of the War of 1812, was
born in Cape May County on 1 Jan 1791. In that year America had just
emerged from the Revolution, George Washington was President and
Congress had ratified the Bill of Rights. Page became a licensed First
Rate Delaware River pilot and purchased a share of the Schooner
Robert Adams. In 1818 he married Eliza Eldridge (1800-1873) of Lower Township who was a direct descendant of the Mayflower pilgrim, John Howland. Over the next 20 years they had 7 children, three of whom lived to adulthood. Page died in 1867 at the age of 76 in his house on Mechanic St. in West Cape May. He is buried with Eliza and several children in Cold Spring Cemetery. This is the story of a man descended from many of the original families of old maritime Cape May and whose life spanned the late 18^th and 19^th centuries^.

Eliza E. Stites and Page Stites in about 1865

      Page Stites was my paternal great-great-grandfather but his parentage
has been in question for over 200 years. Growing up as a child in Margate, Atlantic County, I would frequently visit my paternal grandmother, Mary Holmes Stites Weaver, in South Dennis, Cape May County. We would talk for hours about the Stites family genealogy sitting in rocking chairs on her screened porch. Her house was across the road from the old Blake and Holmes country store run by Grandma and her brother Uncle Tommy Holmes. Lots of tales about my father, Edgar, III, grandfather, Edgar, Jr., and great grandfather, Edgar, Sr. were detailed and vivid, but when we discussed great-great grandfather, Page Stites, all she knew was, "He was an illegitimate child of a Hand and later took his name Stites." My disappointment of not knowing more about Page Stites’ ancestry later led to 20 years of genealogical research. I, now know, that Page Stites was actually the son of Matthew Hand, the renowned Cape May pilot, and Sarah Hand Stites. Sarah and Benjamin Stites, III were married in 1779 according the following marriage bond¹