~ TIMELINE ~

This Timeline lists some of the Revolutionary War Era events associated with the New Jersey historic sites described throughout this website. Follow the links in the listings for more information about the events mentioned.

1765-1774 / Pre-War Years

• March 22, 1765 — Ten years before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which imposed a tax on a wide range of paper items in the thirteen British colonies in America. It went into effect on November 1.
  The Stamp Act was unpopular throughout the colonies. Groups calling themselves the Sons of Liberty formed to protest the Stamp Act.
  There are a number of historic sites in New Jersey associated with the Sons of Liberty:
  ~ Reynolds Tavern in Hampton.
  ~ Ringo's Tavern in Ringoes.
  ~ Bonnell's Tavern in Clinton.
  ~ Burrowes Mansion in Matawan.
• October 7-25, 1765 The Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York City in protest of the Stamp Act. It consists of delegates from nine of the thirteen colonies.
        There were three delegates representing New Jersey:
  ~ Joseph Borden — Whose house in Bordentown.
  ~ Hendrick Fisher — Whose house and gravesite are in Franklin Township.
  ~ Robert Ogden.
• 1765-1767 — Several Iron Works are founded in New Jersey which will later play a role in the Revolutionary War:
  ~ Long Pond Iron Works in West Milford.
  ~ Batsto Iron Works in Wharton.
  ~ Charlotteburg in Kinnelon.
  ~ Taunton Furnace and Forge in Medford.
• March 18, 1766 The Stamp Act is repealed by the British Parliament.
  ~ A Liberty Pole in Englewood is erected in 1766 to celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act.
  ~ Sycamore trees planted at the Maclean House in Princeton in 1766 may have been planted to honor the repeal of the Stamp Act.
  
• Early 1770's Several future Revolutionary War notables attend College of New Jersey (Now Princeton University), including:
  ~ Frederick Frelinghuysen (Class of 1771)
  ~ James Madison and Philip Freneau. (Class of 1771)
  ~ Aaron Burr, William Bradford, and Philip Vickers Fithian (Class of 1772)
  ~ Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee (Class of 1773)
• November 1771 The first classes of Queen's College (New Rutgers University) are held at the Sign of the Red Lion in New Brunswick.
  The first tutor is Frederick Frelinghuysen, who later serves as a Revolutionary War General.
• Summer 1773 Alexander Hamilton attends the Old Academy in Elizabeth, where he likely first encountered Aaron Burr.
• Summer 1773 Counterfeiting ring — David Reynolds captured / executed September 17.
  
• 1774 Royal Governor William Franklin (son of Benjamin Franklin) moves from Burlington to Perth Amboy.
• 1774 Ford Mansion is built in Morristown, later to be used as Washington's Headquarters in 1779-1780.
• August 27-28, 1774 John Adams stops at Princeton en route to the First Continental Congress, visits John Witherspoon.
• September 5 — October 26, 1774 The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.
  There were five delegates representing New Jersey:
  ~ Stephen Crane — Buried at First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth.
  ~ John De Hart — Buried at St. John's Episcopal Church in Elizabeth.
  ~ James Kinsey — Buried at Friends Burying Ground in Burlington.
  ~ William Livingston — Built and lived in Liberty Hall in Union. Also lived in the Livingston-Benedict house in Parsippany.
  ~ Richard Smith.
• December 22, 1774 The Greenwich Tea Burning.

1775

• January 17 A meeting takes place at Josiah Halstead's tavern (Allen House) in Shrewsbury, regarding a Committee of Observation.
• January 18 A Committee of Correspondence for Hunterdon County is formed at a meeting at Ringo's Tavern in Ringoes.
• April 19 The Revolutionary War begins at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
• May 10 The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia for their first session. Initially, the same five men who served as New Jersey delegates to the First Continental Congress serve in the Second Continental Congress. Over the ensuing years, others will serve as New Jersey delegates.
• May 23-August 17 The first session of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey begins in Trenton. The Provincial Congress of New Jersey functioned as a governing body while New Jersey made the transition from British Colony to one of the United States.
  Five sessions were held between May 1775 and August 1776. The first three sessions were held in Trenton, the fourth session was held in New Brunswick, and the fifth session was held in Burlington, Trenton and New Brunswick.
  There are a number of historical sites in New Jersey associated with some of the delegates of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey:
  ~ Abraham Bonnell — Tavern in Clinton; Gravesite at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.
  ~ Joseph Borden — House in Bordentown.
  ~ Silas Condict — Gravesite at the Presbyterian Church in Morristown.
  ~ John Cooper — Fled his Woodbury home when it was occupied by General Cornwallis. Grave at nearby Friends Meeting House.
  ~ Samuel Dick — Gravesite in St. John's Church in Salem.
  ~ Peter Dickerson — Gravesite at the Presbyterian Church in Morristown.
  ~ Hendrick Fisher — Home and gravesite in Franklin Township (Somerset County).
  ~ Frederick Frelinghuysen — Born in Somerville. First tutor at Queen's College. Gravesite in Hillsborough.
  ~ Jacob Green — Reverend at the Hanover Presbyterian Church in East Hanover. Buried in the church cemetery.
  ~ Abraham Kitchel — House in Denville.
  ~ Thomas Lowrey — Gravesite in Oak Summit Cemetery in Baptistown.
  ~ William Maxwell — Gravesite at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Stewartsville.
  ~ Isaac Pearson — House in Hamilton.
  ~ Charles Stewart — House in Franklin Township (Hunterdon County). Gravesite at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.
  ~ Isaac Van Campen — Van Campen Inn in Walpack.
  ~ John Witherspoon — House, statue, and gravesite in Princeton.
• June 15 George Washington is named commander of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
  
• June 23 Washington passes though Trenton en route to taking control of the Continental Army in Massachusetts.
• June 24 Washington passes though New Brunswick en route to taking control of the Continental Army in Massachusetts.
• Circa August or September A regiment of Minutemen is formed at Bonnell's Tavern in Clinton.
• September 20 First company of minutemen in Salem County is formed from members of the Old Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church.
• December 25, 1775 First edition of The Plain Dealer is published at Potter's Tavern in Bridgeton.
• December 31 Battle of Quebec — Daniel Morgan, born in Lebanon Township, is taken prisoner.
  
  

1776

• January 31-March 2 The Provincial Congress of New Jersey meets in New Brunswick.
• February 12, 1776 The eighth and final edition of The Plain Dealer is published at Potter's Tavern in Bridgeton.
• March 8 The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is attacked by militiamen.
• May 8 or 9 A cannonball from the British frigate Roebuck hits Helms Cove Tavern in Penns Grove.
• June 19 Royal Governor William Franklin (son of Benjamin Franklin) is arrested at Proprietary House in Perth Amboy.
• June 24 Loyalist raid on Jones Tavern in Annandale; the raiding Loyalists included John Vought.
• June 29 The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet in Wildwood Crest.
• July 4 The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Continental Congress in Independence Hall, Philadelphia.
      There were five signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey:
  ~ Abraham Clark. (Abraham Clark House in Roselle, gravesite in Rahway).
  ~ John Hart (John Hart House and gravesite in Hopewell, Baptized at Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville).
  ~ Francis Hopkinson (Francis Hopkinson House is in Bordentown).
  ~ Richard Stockton (Richard Stockton's home Morven, and his gravesite are both in Princeton).
  ~ John Witherspoon (John Witherspoon house, statue, and gravesite in Princeton).
      In addition:
  ~ George Clymer, who signed for Pennsylvania, is buried in the Quaker Meeting House cemetery in Trenton.
  ~ Joseph Hewes, who signed for North Carolina, was born in Princeton.
  
• July 5 One day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Congress of the United States of America makes its first land purchase: a one hundred acre plot of land located in what is now the Billingsport section of Paulsboro.
• Early July General Hugh Mercer is at Bergen Neck Fort, in what is now Bayonne.
• July 8 The first three public readings of the Declaration of Independence take place in Trenton, Philadelphia, and Easton, PA.
• July 9 A public reading of the Declaration of Independence takes place at Christ Church in New Brunswick.
• July 12 British fleet arrive at Staten Island, New York.
• July 20 Loyalist Jonathan Odell, who preaches at Old St. Mary's church in Burlington, is ordered to sign a Loyalty oath and to remain within eight miles of the Burlington County Courthouse.
• July 25 Exchange of cannon fire at Perth Amboy.
• August 7 A public reading of the Declaration of Independence takes place at the Cumberland County Courthouse. The courthouse's "Liberty Bell" is rung.
• August 27 Continental Army troops defeated by the British at Long Island, New York.
• September 9 En route to Perth Amboy, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams share a room at the Indian Queen Tavern.
• September 11 Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge embark from Perth Amboy to meet with British Admiral Richard Howe in Staten Island.
• September 23 American forces abandon their fort at Paulus Hook (Jersey City) and it is taken over by British forces.
• October 5 American troops abandon the Bergen Neck Fort. It is later taken over by Loyalists and renamed Fort Delancey.
• November 13-21 George Washington headquarters at Hackensack.
• November 20 British and Hessian forces cross Hudson River from New York to invade New Jersey, disembark at Lower Closter Landing.
  American troops abandon Fort Lee and begin their retreat across New Jersey.
  They pass by Van Horne's Grist Mill in Leonia, and then cross the New Bridge over the Hackensack River.
• November 21 The retreating Continental Army cross over the Passaic River, destroying the Acquackanonk Bridge behind them.
• November 22 The retreating Continental Army reaches Belleville (then known as Second River).
• November 23-28 The retreating Continental Army encamp at Newark.
  
• November 26 British and Hessian troops cross the Passaic River at Post Ford in Garfield, in pursuit of the Continental Army.
• November 29-December 1 The retreating Continental Army encamp at New Brunswick; Washington headquarters at Cochrane's Tavern.
• December 1776-June 1777 St. James Church in Edison used as a British barracks and hospital.
• December 11 Hessians at Burlington.
• December 11-12 General Horatio Gates and several regiments encamp at Van Campen Inn in Walpack.
• December 13 General Charles Lee is captured by British troops at Widow White's tavern in Basking Ridge.
• December 14 Flemington raid.
• December 19 Thomas Paine's The American Crisis is published.
• December 23 Petticoat Bridge Skirmish.
• December 23 Battle of Iron Works Hill in Mount Holly.
• December 24 Aaron Burr entertained in Paramus.
• December 25 Hessian Commander Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall entertained at the home of Abraham Hunt in Trenton.
• December 25/26 General Washington and 2400 American troops cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to attack Hessians at Trenton. An unsuccessful attempt by a different portion of the army to cross the Delaware River is made at Dunk's Ferry.
• December 26 American troops surprise the Hessian troops in Trenton, resulting in the American victory at The First Battle of Trenton.
• December 27 Hessian Commander Colonel Rall dies at his Trenton headquarters from wounds suffered at the First Battle of Trenton.

1777

• January 1-2 Skirmishes at Five Mile Run and Shabakunk Creek in Lawrence before the Second Battle of Trenton.
• January 2 Second Battle of Trenton.
  That evening, following the battle, Washington calls a council of war at the home of Alexander Douglas.
  A plan is made at the council of war to march to Princeton and attack the British forces there.
  
• January 3 American victory at the Battle of Princeton.
  Afterwards, at a "Conference on Horseback" in Kingston, Washington decides his troops will go to Morristown for winter quarters.
• January 6-May Continental Army's first winter encampment in Morristown; General Washington headquarters at Arnold Tavern.
  Churches in nearby Roxbury and East Hanover are used as hospitals for soldiers with smallpox.
• January 19 Adonijah Peacock dies in an explosion while manufacturing gun powder for the Continental Army. He is buried in Medford.
• May 14 Washington orders the construction of a guard house at the Upper Redoubt in Morristown.
• May 28-July 2 First Middlebrook Encampment of the Continental Army.
  There is tradition that the first time the Continental Army flew the stars and stripes was at Middlebrook.
• April British raid the home of Hendrick Fisher in Franklin Township.
• April 13 The Battle of Bound Brook.
  Mount Pleasant Church in Matawan is burned in a Loyalist Raid; Reverend Charles McKnight is captured.
• June 14-19 British and Hessian forces occupy the area of Millstone and Franklin Township.
• June 26 The Battle of the Short Hills.
  British forces encamp in Westfield overnight after the battle, damaging the church and stealing the church bell.
• July General Washington stops at the house of Colonel John Mehelm in Tewksbury.
• July 11-14 General Washington and the Continental Army at Pompton.
• July 14-15 General Washington stays at the Hendrick Van Allen house in Oakland.
• July 30-31 General Washington stays at the John Holcombe house in Lambertville.
• September John Penn and Benjamin Chew are imprisoned at Solitude House in High Bridge.
• September 12-14 Battle of Second River, in what is now Belleville.
• September 13 During the Battle of Second River, a skirmish takes place at Watsessing, in what is now Bloomfield.
• September 26 British and Hessian forces occupy Philadelphia. They will remain in Philadelphia until June 18, 1778.
• September 20 The New Jersey Legislature, meeting at the Indian King Tavern in Haddonfield, votes unanimously to substitute the word "State" for "Colony" in all public writs and commissions.
• October 21 Hessian troops under Colonel von Donop cross the Delaware River from Philadelphia into Cooper's Ferry (now Camden) en route to an attack on Fort Mercer. They camp that night in Haddonfield.
• October 22 Hessian troops under Colonel von Donop leave Haddonfield and march towards Fort Mercer.
  They find a bridge over Big Timber Creek has been dismantled, and they are forced to take a longer path to the nearest bridge.
  They reach Fort Mercer and are defeated at the Battle of Red Bank. Colonel von Donop is fatally wounded.
  The Hessians retreat and that night camp again in Haddonfield.
• October 23 The Hessian troops who were defeated at the Battle of Red Bank cross back into Philadelphia from Cooper's Ferry.
• November 21-24 Cornwallis headquarters at Woodbury.
• November 25 The Battle of Gloucester, the first field command of the Marquis de Lafayette.
• December 15 Jersey militia captured twenty British sailors at Cooper's Ferry.
• December 19 The Continental Army arrives at Valley Forge for the winter.
• December 26-January 1 Meeting of the Council of Safety at Ringo's Tavern in Ringoes.
  

1778

• January 15 Andover mines, forges, and furnaces confiscated by an Act of the Continental Congress, because its owners were Loyalists.
• Early February General Lafayette at Ringo's Tavern in Ringoes to meet William Duir, who does not show up.
• March 2 Gen. Anthony Wayne and Count Casimir Pulaski skirmish with British Major John Simcoe at Cooper's Ferry.
• March 17 Battle of Quinton's Bridge in Quinton.
• March 21 Hancock House Massacre in Hancock's Bridge.
• May 8 British raid in Bordentown. Buildings, American military stores, and American ships are destroyed.
• May 27 A raid at the Burrowes Mansion in Matawan; "Corn King" John Burrowes Sr. is taken prisoner.
• June 18 British and Hessian troops abandon Philadelphia.
  They cross the Delaware River into New Jersey at Cooper's Ferry and begin a march across New Jersey to New York City.
  they encamp that night in Haddonfield.
• June 19 General Washington and the Continental Army leave Valley Forge, beginning a march in pursuit of the British troops.
  British and Hessians continue their march across New Jersey. They march on Old Salem Road and then split into two columns:
  British troops spend the night at Mt. Laurel.
  Hession troops stay in Moorestown.
• June 20-22 British and Hessian forces at Mount Holly.
• June 20-22 Continental Army arrives at Coryell's Ferry at the Delaware River.
  They cross the river into New Jersey  in pursuit of British forces.
  General Washington makes his headquarters at the John Holcombe house in Lambertville.
• June 23 Continental Army pass through Mount Airy en route to Hopewell.
  At Hopewell troops encamp near the home of Declaration of Independence signer John Hart.
  British troops march through Bordentown, destroying a valuable mill.
  British then march through Crosswicks. Friends Meeting House is hit by cannonballs during a skirmish. One cannonball is still there.
  
• June 24 While Continental Army is encamped in Hopewell, General Washington holds a council of war at the Hunt House.
  Hessian troops pass by Walnford, repairing a bridge destroyed by American troops.
• June 25 Continental Army continues their march across New Jersey; encamps in Kingston.
  Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton arrive at the Dr. Hezekiah Stites house in Cranbury. Hamilton leaves that night.
• June 26 Encampment of Continental Army in Cranbury.
  While in Cranbury, General Washington meets with Lafayette at the Dr. Hezekiah Stites house in Cranbury.
  British encamp at Monmouth Courthouse (Freehold). They will remain here until the 28th, when the Battle of Monmouth is fought.
  British General Clinton makes his headquarters at the Covenhoven House.
• June 28 Battle of Monmouth, the longest continuous battle of the Revolutionary War.
• June 29 British retreat after the Battle of Monmouth to Middletown, where they wait until July 5 for transport from Sandy Hook to New York City.
• June 30 At Village Inn in Englishtown, Washington orders the court-martial of General Charles Lee for his conduct at the Battle of Monmouth.
• July 2-6 Court-martial of General Charles Lee meets at New Brunswick.
• July 5 British troops evacuate New Jersey at Sandy Hook, from where they are transported by ship to New York City.
• July 9 Washington stops at the Lt. Col. Thomas Cadmus house in Bloomfield.
• July 10 George Washington, Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton picnic at the Great Falls in Paterson.
• July 10-15 After leaving the Great Falls, Washington headquarters at The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus.
• Circa September 28 Aaron Burr meets his future wife Theodosia Prevost at The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus.
• September 28 Baylor Massacre in River Vale.
• October 6 The Battle of Chestnut Neck.
• October 15 The Affair at Little Egg Harbor.
• Late October General Lafayette is ill and treated by Dr. Gershom Craven in Ringoes.
• November General Casimir Pulaski and his cavalry encamp near Van Campen Inn in Walpack.
• December Continental soldiers camp in Baptistown, while escorting British and Hessian prisoners from the Battle of Saratoga to Virginia.
• December 1778-June 1779 Second Middlebrook Encampment.
     During this time, five American generals stay at houses in Somerset County:
  ~ General Washington headquarters at the Wallace House in Somerville (December 11, 1778 — June 3, 1779).
  ~ General Knox headquarters at Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster.
  ~ General von Steuben headquarters at the Abraham Staats House in South Bound Brook (March-June 1780).
  ~ Lord Stirling headquarters at the Van Horne house in Bridgewater.
  ~ Quartermaster General Nathanael Greene headquarters at the Van Veghten house in Bridgewater..
  

1779

• February 16 Shepard Kollock publishes the first edition of the New Jersey Journal in Chatham.
• May 9 Loyalists raid on Closter and Demarest results in deaths of locals, including 89-year-old Douwe Talema.
• May 11 Declaration of Independence signer John Hart dies and is buried in Hopewell.
• May 18 As part of a military incursion by British troops into Bergen County, a skirmish occurs at New Bridge.
• Summer The Allen House Massacre in Shrewsbury,
• August 14 Hendrick Fisher dies and is buried in Franklin Township (Somerset County).
• August 19 American troops under Major Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee attack British fort at Paulus Hook (Jersey City).
• October 11, 1779 General Casimir Pulaski dies from wounds suffered at the Battle of Savannah, Georgia.
  There are four statues of Pulaski in New Jersey: in Garfield, Paterson, Pennsauken, and Wallington.
• October 28 The court house of Somerset County in Millstone burned by Tory raiders under Lt. Col. Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers.
• November 1779- June 23, 1780 General Washington and Continental Army at Morristown during the coldest winter of the war.
  Washington headquarters at Ford Mansion.
  Troops encamped at Jockey Hollow.
• December 23, 1779-January 26, 1780 Court Martial of Benedict Arnold at Norris Tavern in Morristown.

1780

• January 25 British troops raid Elizabethtown, burning the Presbyterian church, the Academy, and courthouse.
  The same night, other British troops raid Newark, burning the Newark Academy.
  
• March 23 British and Hessian troops raid Hackensack, burning the courthouse and jail.
• May 27 A group of Loyalists led by Jason Moody make a raid on the Sussex County Courthouse in Newton and free prisoners held there.
• May 30 300 British troops attempt to raid New Bridge but mistakenly attack each other.
• June 6 British and Hessian troops land in Elizabethtown from Staten Island on the evening of June 6.
  Their goal is to attack the Continental Army camp at Morristown.
  
• June 7 Fighting occurs in Elizabethtown in the morning. British General Stirling is wounded.
  with the goal of attacking the Continental Army camp at Morristown, British and Hessian forces head west across New Jersey.
  WashingtonThe Battle of Connecticut Farms is fought in what is now Union. That evening the British and Hessians withdraw to Elizabethtown.
• June 23 Another attempt is made by British and Hessian troops to reach the Continental Army camp at Morristown.
  They reach Springfield, where the Battle of Springfield is fought; this was the last large battle fought in the North.
• June 23-25 After the Battle of Springfield, General Washington headquarters in Whippany.
• June 25-27 Washington and Hamilton stay at Henry Doremus House in Montville.
• July 1-29 Washington headquarters at Dey Mansion in Wayne.
  Lafayette headquarters at the Van Saun House in Wayne.
  Continental Army soldiers encamp over the surrounding area throughout what are now Totowa, Little Falls, and Woodland Park.
• July 20-21 2000 American troops under General Anthony Wayne march from New Bridge to attack a British blockhouse at Bull's Ferry.
• August 22-September 3 Continental Army Encampment at Teaneck
• August 23-September 20 Lafayette encampment in Oradell.
• September 1 Captain Joshua Huddy is captured at Colts Neck by a band of Tories. He escapes while being transported by boat at Rumson.
  
• September 4-20 About 14,000 Continental Troops encamp at Kinderkamack Ridge, Paramus.
  Washington makes his headquarters at New Bridge.
• September 8 General Enoch Poor dies near Hackensack.
  He is soon buried in the Reformed Church Cemetery; his funeral is attended by Generals Washington and Lafayette.
• October 2 Washington's mapmaker, Robert Erskine, dies at home in Ringwood and is buried there.
• October 9-November 27 Washington returns to Dey Mansion in Wayne.
  Continental Army soldiers encamp over the surrounding area throughout what are now Totowa, Little Falls, and Woodland Park.
  Lafayette's light infantry encamp at Hawthorne; from October 23-29, they moved to Cranetown (now Montclair)
• November George and Martha Washington are entertained at the Robert Wilson House in Hackettstown.
  &Washington stops at the Sussex County Courthouse in Newton.

1781

• January 1 Pennsylvania Line mutiny occurs at Morristown (at present day Harding Township).
• January 20 Two hundred New Jersey troops mutiny in the Pompton Mutiny.
• March 2 Articles of Confederation adopted.
      There were two signers of the Articles of Confederation representing New Jersey:
  ~ John Witherspoon, whose house, statue, and gravesite are in Princeton
  ~ Nathaniel Scudder, whose gravesite is in Manalapan.
• Mid-August 15 Skirmish on the Lower Maurice River in Port Norris.
• August 25 Mahwah River in Mahwah is forded by French troops under Rochambeau who are en route to Yorktown.
• August 27 French troops under Rochambeau march past the Henry Doremus House in Montville.
• August 27-28 French troops under Rochambeau encamp at Whippany, en route to Yorktown.
• August 27-29 Washington headquarters at Chatham, where troops are massed prior to march on Yorktown.
• August 29 French troops under Rochambeau encamp at Liberty Corner, en route to Yorktown.
• August 30-31 Troops cross over Millstone River en route to Yorktown.
• August 31-September 1 French and American troops encamp in Princeton en route to Yorktown.
• October 19 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown (A monument to the American Victory at Yorktown stands in Orange).
• December 31 Manahawkin Skirmish involving local Militia and Captain John Bacon's party of Loyalist raiders.
  

1782

• February 8 Garret Hendrickson is captured at his house in Holmdel by Loyalist raiders.
• March 24 Toms River Blockhouse Fight. Joshua Huddy is captured.
• March 30-31 George and Martha Washington at Pompton.
• April 12 Hanging of Joshua Huddy in Highlands.
• July Washington stops at the Sussex County Courthouse in Newton.
• July 2 Aaron Burr marries Theodosia Prevost at The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus.
• October 25 Captain Andrew Steelman and others are killed on the beach at Long Beach Island by a party of Loyalists led by John Bacon.
• December 27 The Affair at Cedar Bridge in Barnegat which involves an attempted capture of John Bacon.

1783

• April 3 John Bacon is captured and killed between West Creek and Tuckerton.
• August 23 General Washington arrives at Rockingham, which he then uses as his final headquarters of the war for two and a half months.
• September 3 The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the Revolutionary War.
• Late October General Washington writes his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States while at Rockingham.
• October 31 News of the signing of the Treaty of Paris reaches the Congress, who are meeting at Nassau Hall in Princeton, and General Washington, who is headquartered at Rockingham.
• November 2 General Washington's Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States delivered to soldiers at West Point.
• Circa December 5 or 6 General Washington is honored at a dinner at the Indian Queen Tavern.
• December 23, 1783 The state of New Jersey gives the Zabriskie House to General von Steuben in recognition of his service during the war.
• December 31 A crew of fourteen British sailors, under the command of Hamilton Douglas Halyburton, freeze to death on Sandy Hook.
  

1784-1804 / Post-War Years

• 1784 The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) commissions Charles Willson Peale's portrait of George Washington at the Battle of Princeton. It is now displayed in the Princeton Art Museum.
• November 1-December 24 Congress meets in Trenton.
• December 11 General Lafayette makes his final farewell to Congress at Trenton.
• 1786 The Horsehead Copper, the first coin in the nation to use the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "Out of many one"), is minted in Rahway.
• September 17, 1787 The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.
      There were four signers representing New Jersey:
  ~ William Livingston (Built and lived in Liberty Hall Union. Also lived in the Livingston-Benedict house in Parsippany.)
  ~ David Brearly (Buried at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Trenton.)
  ~ William Paterson (Paterson is named in his honor.)
  ~ Jonathan Dayton (Lived at Boxwood Hall in Elizabeth and is buried nearby at St. John's Episcopal Church.)
• December 18,1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the Constitution, in Trenton.
• December 15, 1788 — January 10, 1789 First United States Presidential Election
• February 4, 1789 The Electoral College officially elects George Washington the first President of the United States.
• April 21 Washington travels through Trenton on his way to his Presidential inauguration in New York City, greeted with a ceremony as he passes through a triumphal arch.
• April 22, 1789 Washington stays the night at the Cross Keys Tavern in Woodbridge en route to his Presidential inauguration in New York City.
• April 23, 1789 Washington stops in Rahway en route to New York City, and then to Elizabethtown, where he was taken by barge into New York City.
  
• April 30, 1789 Washington is inaugurated first President of the United States in New York City.
• November 20, 1789 The New Jersey Legislature, meeting in Perth Amboy, ratifies the Bill of Rights, making New Jersey the first state to do so.
• July 11, 1804 Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel at Weehawken. Hamilton is mortally wounded and dies the next day.
• July 22, 1804 Fearing prosecution, Aaron Burr flees from New York City. His first stop is at Perth Amboy.