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East Hanover, New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN EAST HANOVER, NEW JERSEY

Revolutionary War New Jersey
HANOVER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY
Revolutionary War Soldiers Cemetery
East Hanover, New Jersey

East Hanover
Hanover Presbyterian Church

Hanover Presbyterian Church and Cemetery
Mt. Pleasant Ave. at Hanover Rd
Map / Directions to the Hanover Presbyterian Church
Map / Directions to all East Hanover Revolutionary War Sites


Hanover Presbyterian Church

The current Hanover Presbyterian Church was built in 1834. It replaced an earlier Presbyterian church building at this spot which was built in 1755 and was here during the Revolutionary War. [1]

In 1777, General George Washington and the Continental (American) Army were encamped about six miles from here at Morristown. When many of the soldiers took ill with smallpox, some of them were taken here and the church was used as a hospital. [2] The Presbyterian Church of Succasunna in Roxbury was used for the same purpose.

Reverend Jacob Green

The church's pastor during the Revolutionary War was Reverend Jacob Green, who was a strong supporter of American Independence. He served as a Morris County delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, which functioned as a governing body during 1775-1776 while New Jersey made the transition from British Colony to one of the United States.

Green served in the Provincial Congress from June 10, 1776 - August 21, 1776. During that time, two important events occurred:
  •   On June 14, the Provincial Congress voted to arrest William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey.
  •  Green served on the committee that drafted the Constitution of New Jersey, which was adopted on July 2, 1776, two days before United States declared Independence. [3]

Reverend Green was ardently anti-slavery. Church documents from his time as pastor refer to slavery as "an unnatural evil and one of the greatest injuries to mankind"  and state that the congregation "cannot admit into our church any that hold persons in slavery." [4]

The Old Parsonage of the church, where Green lived from 1757 until his death in 1790, is located a tenth of a mile from the church at 27 Hanover Road; it is now a private home. [5] He is buried in the church's cemetery.

The Cemetery

The following Revolutionary War veterans are known to be buried in the cemetery: [6]

Samuel Ball
(1734 or 1735 - 1810)
Captain - 1st Battalion, NJ Militia

Enoch Beach
(1737- 1814)
Captain - Continental Line

Justus Burnet
(1760-1826)

Ephraim Camp
(1735-1811)

William Canfield
(1752-1824)

Ellis Cook
(1731 or 1732 - 1797)
Lt. Colonel - Morris County Militia
• Also served during the Revolutionary War in the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, and then the New Jersey General Assembly.
See the Cook Halfway House entry below

Ellis Cook
(Died 1832)
Captain

Zebulon Cook
(1755-1810)
Morris County Militia

William Cosgrove
(1761-1821)
Private - Monmouth County Militia

John Darcy
(1760-1822)

Patrick Darcy
(1729-1805)

Isaac Fairchild
(1760-1815)
Private - Morris County Militia

Lent W. Fairchild
(1758-1802)
Captain - Continental Line

Thomas Fish
(1760-1840)
Continental Line

Benjamin Green
(1722 - 1796)
Private - Essex County Militia

Isaac Halsey
(1765-1844)

John Hamilton
(Died 1777)
Private - Continental Line

Aaron Kitchell
(1744 - 1820)
Morris County Militia
• Also served during the Revolutionary War in the New Jersey General Assembly
• Later served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate [7]

Benjamin Kitchell
(1762-1825)
Morris County Militia

Obadiah Kitchell
(1740-1798)
Captain - Morris County Militia

David Littell (or "Little")
(1749-1812)
Private - Essex County Militia

Samuel Merry
(1739-1799)

Christopher Mulford
(1748-1823)

Jeremiah Mulford
(1713 or 1714 -1791)

Timothy Mulford
(1741-1813)
Morris County Militia

William Muchmore
(1744-1822)
Private - Essex County Militia

John Rarity
(1751-1814)
Corporal - Morris County Militia

Ebenezer Sayre
(1747-1822)
Private, Morris County Militia

Elijah Squire (or Squier)
(1738-1808)
Captain

Nathaniel Squire (or Squier)
(1727-1789)
Captain - Continental Line

Caleb Tichenor
(1758-1834)
Continental Line

Robert Troup
(1708-1768)
Captain - Continental Line

Elias Tomkins
(1764-1825)
Essex County Militia

Caleb Tuttle
(1758-1832)
Private - Morris County Militia

Cornelius Voorheis
(1764-1835)
Morris County Militia

Noah Young
(1752-1816)
Private - Morris County Militia

Revolutionary War New Jersey
COOK HALFWAY HOUSE
Halfway House - East Hanover NJ
East Hanover New Jersey in the Revolutionary War

Cook Halfway House
174 Mt. Pleasant Ave
Map / Directions to the Cook Halfway House

Map / Directions to all East Hanover Revolutionary War Sites

This house, which was used as a tavern during the Revolutionary War era, was owned by Ellis Cook, who served as a Lt. Colonel in the Morris County Militia during the war. Cook was also active politically during the war years. He served in the Provincial Congress of New Jersey [8] and later in the New Jersey State Assembly. [9]

Colonel Cook died April 7, 1797, and is buried in the Hanover Presbyterian Church Cemetery. (See above entry) [10]

Revolutionary War New Jersey

Source Notes:

1. ^ Oliver W. Chapin, A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, 1718 - 1968 (1968 ) Pages 12 and 27-28

2. ^ Oliver W. Chapin, A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, 1718 - 1968 (1968 ) Page 18

3. ^ Biographical information about Reverend Green from the Biographical Note to the Guide to the Jacob Green Collection The New Jersey Historical Society. This collection of documents related to Reverend Green is available online here

Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879)
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here
  • Green listed among the delegates at the fifth session of the Provincial Congress; June 10, 1776 - August 21, 1776:  Page 445
  • Vote to arrest William Franklin; June 14, 1776:  Pages 454 - 458
  • Green appointed to the committee to draft the New Jersey Constitution; June 4, 1776:  Pages 474
  • Provincial Congress approves the New Jersey Constitution, including Green's vote to approve; July 2, 1776:  Pages 488

New Jersey's 1776 Constitution was later replaced by a new one in 1844, which was itself replaced by the current one in 1947.
For more information, see the New Jersey Constitution article on the New Jersey Department of State website.

4. ^ Oliver W. Chapin, A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, 1718 - 1968 (1968)
Reprints the following two documents:
   • Rules Adopted for the Regulation of Families, (September. 26th, 1782) - on Pages 80-82
   • Articles of Faith and practice adopted between Nov. 1781 and April. 1782 - on Page 84-85

5. ^ "Old Parsonage" historic sign in front of 27 Hanover Road. Erected by the Morris County Heritage Commission.

6. ^ Information about the Revolutionary War veterans graves was drawn from the following sources. There are several inconsistencies in the information and a few apparent errors in the Revolutionary War markers. An effort has been made to combine this information as accurately as possible.

• Oliver W. Chapin, A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, 1718 - 1968 (1968 ) Pages 94-95

• Gravestones and Revolutionary War markers in the church

7. ^ For the political career of Aaron Kitchell:

~  Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey, at a Session Begun at Trenton on the 23rd Day of October, 1781, and Continued by Adjournments (Trenton: Isaac Collins, 1782)
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here

~  Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey, at a Session Begun at Trenton on the 22nd Day of October, 1782, and Continued by Adjournments (Trenton: Isaac Collins, 1782)
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here

~  Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

8. ^ Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879)
  • Ellis Cook listed among the delegates at all five sessions of the Provincial Congress:  Pages 169, 183-184, 197, 325, 445
  • Record of the application made to commission Ellis Cook a Lt. Colonel, on January 13, 1776:  Pages 336 - 338
Available to be read at the Internet Archive here

9. ^ Ellis Cook is listed as a delegate from Morris County in the Votes and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey published for the following sessions during the Revolutionary War years.
Available to be read at the Internet Archive at these links:

First Session, Begun August 27, 1776

Second Session, Begun October 28, 1777

Fourth Session, Begun October 26, 1779

Sixth Session, Begun October 23, 1781

Seventh Session, Begun October 22, 1782

Cook continued to serve in the General Assembly after the Revolutionary War. He was a delegate from Morris County in every session from 1783 until 1790.

10. ^ Dates from Colonel Cook's grave at the Hanover Presbyterian Church Cemetery