History, Mystery, and Local Lore

First off, thanks to those of you who checked out, watched or bid on my ebay auction for the benefit of the Artist Preservation Group. While it wasn't exactly a monetary triumph, I think we generated a little PR for the group.

Sometimes the most intriguing history is right there, swirling around you, and you don't even know it. In the process of doing some research for a magazine article I intend to write, I uncovered a bit of a mystery in my own back yard. It started with an historic building near my hometown in New Jersey which I pass by many times a week.

Though the building is now run as a museum, I've haven't been in it since my cub scout troop took a tour. I won't mention specific numbers but that was a few moons ago, ok? One thing I did remember about that tour was that the home operated as a tavern during the American Revolution. Local lore said that at some point, local Tories (or Loyalists) fiercely attacked some Continental soldiers from Virginia who were stationed there and killed a number of them. Some of their blood, so the story goes, still stains the stairs of the tavern. Sounds a little like Hollywood, doesn't it? I wanted to base my article on the facts surrounding that incident. Turns out, the facts are even more interesting.

Once I knew the name of the owner of the tavern at the time of the incident, it was easy to find out that he had originally come from Rhode Island. My search also turned up the description to antique auction item apparently connected to the man's father. It was a piece counterfeit Rhode Island currency. Dear old dad was accused, tried and convicted of counterfeiting! Hmmmm. No wonder he left the state! Counterfeiting was a serious crime in those days.

Next I wanted to find out the date of the massacre. I located a list of all the actions that took place in New Jersey during the war and narrowed it down to a specific date in 1780. Then I started checking out the skirmishes that happened in the area around that time. About a month and a half earlier, there was a raid on a Tory camp(or Refugee camp as it was known then). That raid was led by a Captain in the Continental line who, my research showed, was from Virginia. Ah ha! Not only that, the result of that raid was a sizable sum of counterfeit currency! Total geek moment!

For a little added spice, the likely leader of the raid on the tavern was a famous, or infamous, Tory who was an escaped slave and led a band of black soldiers still loyal to King George. His owner had lived in the same town where the tavern is so the escaped-slave-turned-partisan knew the area well. And, the tavern keeper had family who were soldiers; The father was in the Loyalist ranks and the son served in the Patriot cause.

Was the raid on the tavern perpetrated in reprisal for the captured counterfeit currency? Was the tavern keeper engaged in financial warfare? Which side was he on? How much did the ex-slave know? Was that Virginia captain at the tavern the night of the massacre? Is it all just coincidence?

I will dig some more but I may never know all the answers. But, that's half the fun isn't it?

If you have some local lore you'd like to share here, please send me your story! I'd be happy to post your article.