REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN OAKLAND, NEW JERSEY

Hendrick Van Allen House
Ramapo Valley Rd. (Rt. 202) and Franklin Ave.
Map / Directions to the Hendrick Van Allen House
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The Hendrick Van Allen House is operated by the Oakland Historical Society.
For information about the house, tours and events, see their website:www.oaklandhistoricalsociety.org

In July 1777, General George Washington and his troops traveled from Morristown through New Jersey towards an area known as the Clove in New York State. (Now called Suffern). On July 14th they arrived in this area, and Washington used the Hendrick Van Allen House (built in 1748) as his headquarters. [1] While at the Van Allen House, General Washington wrote a letter to the Congress, in which he described the difficult conditions of the army's march: [2]

"I arrived here this Afternoon with the Army after a very fatiguing March owing to the Roads which have become extremely deep and miry from the late Rains. I intend to proceed in the Morning towards the North River, if the Weather permits; At present it is cloudy and heavy and there is an Appearance of more Rain."

As it turned out, the conditions must have improved. The following day, Washington's troops left here and marched north on Ramapo Valley Road. They arrived the same day at their destination nine miles away in the Clove. Washington made his headquarters there until July 20 at Suffern's Tavern. The site of Suffern's Tavern, which is just half a mile over the New Jersey border, is marked by a boulder monument at the intersection of Washington and Lafayette Avenues in present day Suffern, New York. [3]

For a period of time during the Revolutionary War, Hendrick Van Allen's house served another important function. It was used as the Bergen County Court House in 1778 - 1779 [4]

Jacobus S. Demarest House
Ramapo Valley Rd. (Rt. 202) and Dogwood Dr.
Map / Directions to the Jacobus S. Demarest House
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This house is a private residence.
Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

This house was built circa 1789 by Revolutionary War veteran Jacobus S. Demarest. [5]

Source Notes:

1. ^ 1748 date from the website of the Oakland Historical Society.

2. ^ “From George Washington to John Hancock, 14 July 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-10-02-0270. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, 11 June 1777 – 18 August 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 277–278.]

• Another document exists from Washington's stay at the Hendrick Van Allen House - his General Orders for July 14, 1777, which are marked "Head Quarters, at Van Aulen's, July 14, 1777."
▸ “General Orders, 14 July 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-10-02-0269. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, 11 June 1777 – 18 August 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, p. 277.]

3. ^ Washington's letters from July 15 - 20, 1777 are marked as some variation of "Clove" or "Head-Quarters, at the Clove".
Beginning on July 21, his letters are marked "Eleven Miles in the Clove" and in a July 21 letter to Major General Putnam, he mentions having moved from the original location the day before.
▸ Some letters from this period are reprinted in:
George Washington; Edited by Jared Sparks, The Writings of George Washington Volume 4 (Boston: Russel, Odiorne and Metcalf; and Hilliard, Gray, and Co., 1834) p. 493 - 505        Available to be read at Google Books here

• A boulder plaque at the intersection of Washington and Lafayette Avenues in Suffern, New York reads:
Site of Suffern's Tavern
A noted Hostelry of the Revolution
Headquarters of General George Washington
July 15th to 20th, 1777
The plaque was erected by the Rockland County Society on October 4, 1924.

4. ^ For more about the use of Hendrick Allen's house as the courthouse, and the Revolutionary War events that factored into it, see:
Kevin Heffernan, A History of Oakland: The Story of Our Village (Charleston: The History Press, 2007 ) page 37-38

5. ^ Bergen County Historical Society sign