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Hardyston, New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN HARDYSTON, NEW JERSEY

Revolutionary War New Jersey
NORTH HARDYSTON CEMETERY
North Hardyston Cemetery
Hardyston in the Revolutionary War

Hardyston NJ
Hardyston in the Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War Soldiers Graves
Hardyston New Jersey in the Revolutionary War

Hardyston New Jersey
Hardyston NJ in the Revolutionary War

North Hardyston Cemetery
Rt. 94 near the intersection of North Church Rd.
Map / Directions to the North Hardyston Cemetery
Map / Directions to all Hardyston Revolutionary War Sites

The North Hardyston Cemetery, which dates to 1774, contains the graves of six known Revolutionary War soldiers: [1]

Charles Beardsley (May 28, 1739 - Nov. 20, 1803) Captain of Warwick Company of Col. John Hathorn’s Regiment, Orange County Militia


Ashman Carpenter - (Dec. 26, 1762 - Oct. 5, 1839) Private in Captain Ward's Company, Morris County NJ Militia


John Linn (Dec. 3, 1763 - Jan. 5, 1821) Private, then Sergeant, in Capt. Manning's Co., Sussex County (Served in U. S. Congress 1817-1821)


James Scott (1755 - Nov. 19, 1828) Private in Captain Beckwith's Company, 2nd Regiment, Sussex County NJ Militia


Ebenezer Tuttle (Nov. 17, 1750 - Jan. 15, 1834) Private, Morris County Militia - NJ Line


Simon Wade (Sept. 15, 1749 - Sept. 21, 1817) Private in Captain Hill's Company, Sussex County Militia

Also buried here is Isaac Cary (1742 -1791). Cary was not a soldier, but he loaned money to the government to help finance the war.

Revolutionary War New Jersey
GEORGE WASHINGTON / CONTINENTAL ARMY ENCAMPMENT MONUMENT
Lt. John Kays
Continental Army Encampment Site
Hardyston, New Jersey

George Washington / Continental Army Encampment Monument
Rte. 94 and Beaver Run Rd.
In front of the Wallkill Valley Regional High School
Map / Directions to the Continental Army Encampment Monument
Map / Directions to all Hardyston Revolutionary War Sites

In front of the Wallkill Valley Regional High School is a monument to a November 1779 army encampment. The monument bears the following inscription, "In this field General George Washington encamped for a night on a march From Newburg to Morristown in 1779 to meet General Lafayette. With him was an aide lieutenant John Kays, of Sussex County, a soldier of the American Revolution." [2] However, the wording of the monument is a bit misleading; it makes it sound as if Washington was going to Morristown for the purpose of meeting with Lafayette. In reality, Washington was heading to Morristown for the army to take up winter quarters there. Lafayette did not arrive in Morristown until half a year later on May 10, 1780, when he arrived from France to inform Washington that the French were about to dispatch more than 5,000 soldiers to fight for the American cause. (This event is dramatically depicted as a sculpture on the Morristown Green). [3]

John Kays was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 9, 1739. He immigrated to America in 1750 with his parents and a younger brother and settled in Philadelphia. The parents soon died and the two sons and were sent to a school for orphans. As an adult, he settled in Newton NJ.

There is a story related to this march to Morristown that Lt. Kays is said to have recounted to his children. This is the story, as it appeared in the Cyclopedia of American Biography:

"In just what capacity [Lt. Kays] served on this march is not known. He was a mounted officer, and, judging from his familiarity with General Washington and his closeness to the commander, was probably one of that general's aides-de-camp. The army, as described by Lieutenant Kays, came by way of Warwick, N.Y., Vernon and Hamburg, crossing the mountains at Sparta to Woodport, Morris County and thence to Morristown, where it joined General Lafayette. When the march was resumed toward Morristown, and as Washington was about to descend the Sparta Mountain near Woodport, he discovered he had lost his watch and Kays was ordered to go back and search for it. He mounted his horse and went back to the camp site. This duty was probably imposed on him because he was a native of the county and familiar with the country and its people. Kays searched in the straw and debris and on the site of the general's tent found his open-faced watch and fob, and, returning, overtook the army near Woodport."

Lt. Kays died July 13, 1829, and is buried in the Old Newton Burial Ground in Newton, NJ. [4]

Revolutionary War New Jersey

Source Notes:

1. ^ Names, dates, and military information was drawn from:
 • Gravestones and markers in North Hardyston Cemetery, and from
 • Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Research System
 • Information provided to me by Ashley Ziccardi of the Chinkchewunska Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in phone and email communications in December 2014. The Chinkchewunska Chapter is responsible for the modern markers at the Revolutionary War gravesites in the cemetery.
I would like to thank Ashley Ziccardi for taking the time to speak with me, and for locating and sending me information.

 • Additional Information about John Linn was drawn from:
       • Alanson A. Haines, Hardyston Memorial, a History of the Township and the North Presbyterian Church (Newton, NJ: New Jersey Herald, 1888) p. 39-40         Available to be read at the Internet Archive here
       • John Linn bio at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

2. ^ Monument erected by Marchioness Ellen Kays McLaughlin, a member of the Newton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a granddaughter of John Kays.

3. ^ For more details about Washington and the army at Morristown in the winter of 1779/1780, and accompanying source notes, see the entries on the Morristown page of this website.

 • For a detailed account of Washington's choosing Morristown as the spot to winter in, while he was in upstate New York, see:
John T. Cunningham, The Uncertain Revolution - Washington & the Continental Army at Morristown (West Creek, NJ: Cormorant Publishing, 2007) p.76-85

4. ^ All biographical information about John Kays, and the quoted text from:
James Homans, editor, The Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume III (New York: The Press Association Compliers Inc. 1918) p. 548.   Available to be read at Google Books here