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Mount Royal, New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN MOUNT ROYAL,NEW JERSEY

Revolutionary War New Jersey
DEATH OF THE FOX INN
Death of the Fox Inn
Mount Royal New Jersey in the Revolutionary War

Death Of The Fox Inn
217 Kings Highway
Map / Directions to the Death Of The Fox Inn

This house is a private residence.
Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.

This building, which is now a private home, was built in 1727. It was originally used as an inn/tavern.  It acquired the name "Death of the Fox" because it was used as a meeting place for the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club from 1766-1818.

Many of the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club's members at the time of the Revolutionary War became officers in the American Army. One of these officers was Bodo Otto, Jr., whose house is in nearby Mickleton.

During the Revolutionary War, the Death of the Fox tavern was used for military recruitment, and was also used to quarter soldiers. According to one account, the hanging of a Tory took place on a walnut tree that stood in front of the tavern.

In the years after the end of the war, at some time before 1800, Jonas Cattell, known for his having warned Colonel Christopher Greene before the Battle of Red Bank, became the master of hounds for the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club. [1]

Revolutionary War New Jersey

Source Notes:

1. ^  Information about the Death of the Fox tavern was drawn from several sources, including:

"The Fox Hunting Club" Gloucester County Historical Society - Quarterly Bulletin, Volume 9, Number 2. (December 1963) p. 7
▸ Copies of this newsletter (and of all newsletters that have been published by the Society since 1947) can be ordered from the Gloucester County Historical Society.

Death of the Fox page of the History and Genealogy / Township of East Greenwich, New Jersey / Gloucester County website
▸ One of the documents shown on this website is Henry Rowe's May 7, 1833, "sworn declaration made before the Inferior Court of Gloucester Co. NJ, in a claim for benefits for serving in the Revolutionary War."
A copy of the original hand-written transcription of Rowe's sworn declaration appears on the website. It includes the following:
"when we moved down to Swedesborough, whilst at Haddonfield, we were attached to Col Joseph Ellis Regiment - and when at Swedesborough to Col Bodo Otto Regt. We quartered at Swedesborough and remained there for several months, cannot say exactly how long, was there as appears from papers now in his possession in the fall of the year 1777, in the winter and spring of 1778 and until July 16th 1778, that is Swedesborough was our head quarters, but during this period we were at Woodbury part of the time & at the Death of the Fox between Woodbury and Swedesborough in both of which places we quartered and remained a few weeks."
▸ Henry Rowe is listed in the Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Research System, where he is Ancestor # A099100
It states that he served as a Second Lieutenant, and that he lived May 20,1754 - November 26, 1834.

The historic sign in front of the building

Jonas Cattell article, on the website of the Haddonfield Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

A note about Bodo Otto Jr.: some articles have stated that Otto died at the Death of the Fox, because he was staying here while his home was being rebuilt after being burned by Tories in 1778. However, the Reverend Nicholas Collin wrote in his journal that he "preached a funeral service for the Med. Doctor Bodo Otto in his house." (Emphasis added). So presumably, Otto's house had been sufficiently repaired by the time of his death, which occurred four years after the burning.
Collin also states that he had regularly visited Otto's during the moths of his illness before his death. He gives no indication that he was visiting him anywhere other than his home, and he makes no mention of the Death of the Fox anywhere in his journal:
Nicholas Collin, Amandus Johnson, Journal and Biography of Nicholas Collin 1746 -1831 (Philadelphia: The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania, 1936) pages 259-260
 ▸ For more about Doctor Bodo Otto, Jr. and Reverend Nicholas Collin, see the Mickleton and Swedesboro pages of this website.