REVOLUTIONARY WAR SITES IN READINGTON TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY

Taylor's Mill Historic District Marker / Colonel Taylor's Gristmill
Potterstown Rd. and Rockaway Rd. (Marker)
Rockaway Rd. and Taylors Mill Rd. (Mill)
Map / Directions to Taylor's Mill Historic District and Colonel Taylor's Gristmill
Map / Directions to all Readington Township Revolutionary War Sites

The Taylor's Hill Historic District marker is located at the bridge over Rockaway Creek. The district takes its name from Colonel John Taylor. Taylor was born in Bath, England circa 1744 and emigrated to New Jersey. He served in the 4th Regiment of the Hunterdon County Militia during the Revolutionary War, where he rose from the rank of Captain to Colonel. After the end of the war, he was promoted to Brigadier General of the Hunterdon Brigade in 1793. He resigned from the Hunterdon Brigade in 1796, and moved to Bath, New York, where he died December 4, 1811. So by an interesting coincidence, Taylor was born and died in towns that were both called Bath, an ocean apart. [1]

The remains of his grist mill (shown below) are located about .7 miles from the marker, at the intersection of Rockaway Road and Taylor's Mill Road. The grist mill, which was built circa 1760, provided grain for American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. This is the last surviving mill in eastern Hunterdon County that was built before the Revolutionary War. [2]

D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) Memorial Park
Washington Dr., near Rte. 22
Map / Directions to D.A.R. Memorial Park
Map / Directions to all Readington Township Revolutionary War Sites

This cemetery is located in the Whitehouse section of Readington Township. Whitehouse took its name from the White House Tavern, which was owned by Abraham Van Horne who served in the Revolutionary War as Issuing Forage Master of the Commissary Department. His White House Tavern was located by what is now Route 22 where it crosses Rockaway Creek.  Abraham Van Horne is one of at least nine Revolutionary War veterans buried here, and the D.A.R. plaque at his grave states that he paid "Host to General Washington at the Old White House." The nine Revolutionary War veterans known to be buried here are: [3]

Source Notes:

1. ^ Taylor's biographical and military information were drawn from several sources:

• William S. Stryker Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., 1872) page 343                Available to be read at Google Books here
▸ Lists John Taylor as having served as Captain, Second Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in the 4th Regiment of the Hunterdon County Militia.

• The DAR Genealogical Research System lists Taylor as Ancestor A112870, and gives his birth as circa 1744 in Bath England and his death as December 4, 1811, in Bath, New York.

• A gravestone was placed at Taylor's grave in Bath, New York, on October 20, 2012, by the Corning-Baron Steuben Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. The stone reads:
In Honor Of John Taylor
Brigadier General
c. 1744 - 1811
Revolutionary War Soldier

Colonel
4th Hunterdon Reg.
N.J. Militia
Emigrated from Hunterdon Co., N.J. 1797

A 28-minute video of the dedication ceremony for the gravestone can be viewed here. The research team for the John Taylor gravestone project presents information about Taylor's life during the ceremony, including his promotion to Brigadier General after the war and his move to New York.
The video presents the entire dedication ceremony. Note that the portion specifically about Taylor's military history begins at 13:39

2. ^ Information about the mill is drawn from the Readington Museums section of the Township of Readington website, and the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission marker for the Taylor's Mill Historic District.

3. ^ Names, birth/ death dates, and military information drawn from gravestones and markers in the cemetery.

I would like to acknowledge Stephanie B. Stevens, Historian for the County of Hunterdon, and Margaret Smith, Program Director for Readington Museums. Each helped to clarify some things about Readington and directed me to information that went into the entries on this page.
I thank them both for taking the time to correspond with me.

Revolutionary War New Jersey

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Readington Township New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites • Readington Township New Jersey Historic Sites
Taylor's Mill Historic District • Colonel John Taylor's Grist Mill

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