New Jersey witnessed much of the American Revolution. Essex County was the site of skirmishes and battles as well as visits from George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. The historical record documents and highlights a multitude of contributions from local men, but not many women are known to have aided in the Revolution and few accounts of their observations remain. Here at The Montclair Girl, we have looked to the history books and archives to learn about Essex County’s Women of the American Revolution and share them with our readers.

What Essex County Looked Like During the Revolution

At the time of the American Revolution, Essex County was double the size of what it is now. It contained today’s Essex County, all of what is now Union County, and nearly all of Passaic County. The portions of Passaic County included all of what is now Clifton, Passaic, Little Falls, Woodland Park, and most of Paterson. Essex County was bounded by the Passaic River going North, West, and East. Today it is just West and East. The colonial governing communities in Essex County were Acquackanonk (present-day Clifton), Newark, and Elizabethtown (present-day Elizabeth). Aside from these three, other communities from the Colonial Period in present-day Essex County included the Mountain Society, Wardsesson, Pleasantdale, Cranetown, Speertown, Second River, Stone House Plains, Horseneck, and Williamstown.

Read More: Essex County Is Home to These Revolutionary War Historical Sites

For the purpose of our research, we have selected to include women who called Essex County home, based on today’s borders. However, we would be remiss if we did not tell our readers about Hannah Ogden Caldwell (1733-1780). She lived in Elizabethtown (present-day Elizabeth in Union County), after moving from Newark to marry her husband, the Reverend James Caldwell. The war forced her and her family to move around Northern New Jersey for safety. On June 7th, 1780, during the Battles of Springfield and Connecticut Farms, Hannah and her two children were inside their homes when it is believed that a British soldier passed by and fired two shots through the window, killing Hannah, but sparing her children. The British burnt down the Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church, as well as the parsonage in which Hannah died. The home located at 909 Caldwell Avenue in Union, was rebuilt two years later on its original foundation. Today, the building serves as the headquarters for the Union Township Historical Society. Essex County’s Caldwell, West Caldwell, and James Caldwell High School are named after her husband who was killed in 1781.

Who + How Many People Lived in Essex County During the American Revolution?

A 1745 Census of NJ shows 6,988 residents, 454 of whom were enslaved. By 1790, this number had risen and 17,785 people lived in Essex County (historic borders). A total of 1,171 of these individuals were enslaved and 160 were free Blacks. Most of the European inhabitants of present-day Essex County during the colonial period were of either English or Dutch ancestry with some French Huguenots. There were enslaved people too, who lived in both Dutch and English settlements. During the Revolution at least 35 (20 from present-day Essex County) enslaved people escaped to Canada as Black Loyalists in hopes of freedom. There were most likely no Native Americans in Essex County during the revolution. Most, if not all the Lenape had left the area by 1761, but other accounts believe it to be 1801 with the death of Chief Tuscan.

 

Essex County’s Women of the American Revolution

Annetje “Ann” Van Wagenen Plume (1752-1816)

Annetje “Ann” Van Wagenen Plume was born in 1752 to a Dutch family. She married Isaac Plume and the couple lived at his childhood home. That home, located at 407 Broad Street, is still standing today and is one of Newark’s oldest extant homes. This building is also where Reverend Hannibal Goodwin invented celluloid film while attempting to illustrate his weekly Bible lessons.

During the Revolutionary War, it is believed that George Washington marched past the house and, by some accounts, entered it. In 1777, legend says that Ann single-handedly captured a Hessian soldier while her husband was away serving in the Continental Army. She caught several soldiers inside her home breaking up furniture for firewood and they became engaged in a heated argument and thus left her home. The following day, Ann caught a Hessian soldier who was in her ice house. She locked him in and waited until Continental soldiers journeyed by. She turned the soldier over to them and was given the Hessian’s hat. She removed the brass from it and used it to make a front door knocker. There are indeed several iterations to this story, but all follow the same narrative that Ann encountered soldiers in her home, drove them off, found another one later on, trapped him, and then turned him over to the Continental Army.

When Anne died in 1816, she was buried in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark. At the time of her death, she was the wealthiest woman in Newark with an estate valued to be $106,985.36. Upon her death, Sukey, whom Ann enslaved, was set free.

The Plume House was built around 1725 with a rear addition constructed in 1874. The home served as a private residence until 1849, when it was sold to the House of Prayer church which converted it into a rectory for the church. The home has survived the mass development of Newark, surviving along with the Sydenham House as the city’s only colonial-era home. The home nearly fell victim to the construction of I-280 when an overpass for the major route was built just four feet away from the home. While the home has survived, the heavy traffic and proximity to one of the state’s busiest roads have caused cracks and plaster damage due to nearly constant vibration. In 2010, the home was placed on Preservation New Jersey’s list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in the state.

Elizabeth Kingsland Hornblower (1734-1808)

Elizabeth Kingsland Hornblower was born in 1734 to William Kingsland and possibly Margaretta Coerten in New Barbadoes Neck (present-day Kearny). She married Josiah Hornblower, an English-born engineer, who immigrated to the American colonies at the invitation of William Schyler. Josiah built a steam-driven pump for William’s copper mine in the Meadowlands. He also created the first stamp mill in the Americas in what is now Belleville. The couple were parishioners of the Belleville Dutch Reformed Church in Belleville near the Passaic River.

The Revolutionary War years brought both triumph and tragedy for Elizabeth. In 1780, she joined a state-wide Women’s Committee to receive subscriptions for the aid of New Jersey troops. These items included uniforms and a variety of supplies. Elizabeth was one of the four women from Essex County serving in the organization. Her sorrows included the loss of their son, who was killed in action in 1777, and bitter division within her family. Her brother was among those who remained loyal to the Crown, while Elizabeth was a Patriot. Her husband Josiah was seen as quite valuable due to his skillset and leadership and was vulnerable to potential kidnapping by the British.

Kingsland might be a familiar name, especially to those in the Nutley area. Kingsland Manor is one of the town’s oldest homes and was once occupied by several of her cousins. Elizabeth passed in her 74th year on the morning of April 24th, 1808, and was buried at the churchyard of Belleville Dutch Reformed Church in Belleville.

Jemima Condit (1754-1779)

Jemima Condit was born in 1754 to Ruth Condit and Daniel Williams Condit. She grew up in what is the Pleasantdale section of present-day West Orange. Her grandfather Samuel Condit purchased land between the First and Second Watchung Mountains from the Lenape in about 1720. This land was a valley and came to be known as Pleasant Valley. Samuel provided each of his sons, including Jemima’s father Daniel, with 50 acres of land in this valley to farm and live on. The farm she grew up on was located on the eastern slope of the Second Watchung Mountain. It was most likely south of Eagle Rock Avenue and north of I-280.

She kept a diary of her teenage years, much of which detailed the war and included passages about Reverend Jedediah Chapman, the Battle of Second River, the Boston Tea Party, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Elizabethtown, and more. In 1779, she married her first cousin Aaron Harrison and bore a son named Ira. This was a short-lived marriage as Jemima died on November 14th, 1779, and was buried in the Old Burying Ground at the First Presbyterian Church of Orange. The Jemima Cundict Chapter of DAR erected a plaque on her gravestone in 1938. You can read the diary here or in person at the Montclair History Center. 

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Mary Pierson Williams (1736-1816)

Mary Pierson Williams was born in 1736 to Henry Pierson and Jemima Odgen. She was the second cousin of Issac Plume who married the previously mentioned Annetje “Ann” Van Wagenen Plume. Mary lived with her husband Nathaniel, and their six children in the Williamstown area of present-day West Orange. This section of town is called Tory’s Corner, pointing toward Mary’s husband and two sons’ desire to remain loyal to Great Britain.

In 1777, Nathaniel and his two oldest sons Amos and James joined the British army in New York, but Mary could not betray her conscience and stayed in Williamstown. She never saw her husband or Amos again, but fortunately was reunited with James. Her husband died from smallpox and was buried in an unmarked grave in Manhattan. In 1816 Mary died and was buried in the Old Burying Ground at the First Presbyterian Church of Orange. The Mistress Mary Williams Chapter of DAR erected a plaque on her gravestone in 1934.