Shippen Manor News

Shippen Manor

1 day ago

#FromTheArchives The Furnace

In 1936, Mr. Leonard Peckitt (sp) of Warren Foundry & Pipe Corp. wrote a letter to Rev. Yount (Oxford 2nd Presbyterian Church) regarding Bulletin 286 and the Oxford Furnace.

Rev. Yount's Bulletins were Sunday church bulletins that told stories of Oxford history-- of the furnace(s), railroad, Manor and more.

I am working to get some of the church bulletins posted at our website (Warren200.com), but it will take some time to sort through them (there are almost 1000 or more!). I'll post when I have some up for you to see.

On the inside of Bulletin 286, it references the old furnace being deeded to the State of NJ (that's Furnace #1 on Cinder & Washington, next to the Oxford Colonial Methodist church) by the Warren Foundry & Pipe Corporation, which owned the Empire Steel & Iron holdings.

"The old Oxford Blast Furnace in Oxford, Warren County, where cannon balls were cast during the Revolutionary War, and which, in 1839, passed into the hands of George and Selden Scranton, for whom the city of Scranton, Pa. was named, will be restored as the only historic industrial plant owned and preserved by the State of New Jersey. Old military headquarters inns mansions and birthplaces publicly owned and maintained, dot New Jersey from the Delaware River to the Hudson. 'The furnace, however, will be unique as it will be a memorial to the rise and development of American industry.' … Thus after more than three years of effort to have the old furnace recognised as an important historic object, and to have it properly cared for in the future, we have resched the final stage with confidence that it will be properly restored and maintained as a national shrine."

In the bulletin, Rev. Yount discussed plans to restore the Furnace, but I am unsure if they were able to do so at the time. The County of Warren acquired the Furnace and Manor in 1984 and restoration of the Manor began a few years later (1990s into the early 2000s). The furnace, on the other hand, was restored and stabilized in the 1980s (the back wall of the furnace was collapsing).

See Warren200.com for more information about the stabilization of the Furnace.

#OxfordFurnace #OxfordNJ #WarrenFoundry #RevYount #Oxford2ndPresbyterian #Restoration #ShippenManor #WarrenCoNJ ... See MoreSee Less

Shippen Manor

7 days ago

#TODAYINHISTORY “Damn torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

In naval history, there are three famous sayings uttered in battle:

1. “I have not yet begun to fight”, by John Paul Jones during the American Revolution (1779)

2. “Don’t give up the ship”, on the flag of Oliver Hazard Perry’s ship (originally spoken by Captain James Lawrence onboard the frigate Chesapeake, 1 June 1813)

3. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” by the US Navy’s first Rear, Admiral David G. Farragut (August 1864)

Mobile Bay (Alabama) was heavily defended during the Civil War by two forts that protected its entrance, each with heavy guns. The battle that ensued on 5 August 1864 was one that occurred on both water and land. The Union fleet, commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, along with a contingent of soldiers attacked a smaller Confederate fleet led by Admiral Franklin Buchanan (who was aboard the CSS ironclad, Tennessee) and three forts guarding the entrance to the bay (Morgan, Gaines and Powell).

• Fort Morgan is a pentagonal bastion fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay that was built in 1834.It is at the tip of Mobile Point at the western terminus of State Route 180 in Alabama.

• Fort Gaines is located on Dauphin Island in Alabama was named for Edmund Pendleton Gaines. It was created in 1821 and most known for its role in the Battle of Mobile Bay.

• Fort Powell was a sand fortification constructed by the Confederacy to guard the entrance into Mobile Bay from the Mississippi Sound. It was located slightly northwest of Fort Morgan and north of Fort Gaines. It was an artificial half-acre island made of oyster shells and sand. It was the only fortification of the three to be built by the Confederacy and the only in the lower bay defenses using sand with wooden reinforcements instead of brick.

During the battle, when the USS Brooklyn slowed as the USS Tecumseh crossed her path, Farragut asked why she wasn’t moving ahead. The reply he received was “torpedoes” (or naval mines) were blocking her path. Allegedly, he responded with, “Damn the torpedoes!” Others heard him shout to the USS Brooklyn, “Damn the torpedoes! Go ahead!” He could have also yelled it to the captain of the USS Hartford, “Damn the torpedoes. Four bells, Captain Drayton.” Then, it was believed that Farragut shouted to the commander of the USS Metacomet, which was lashed to the Hartford’s side, to “Go ahead, Jouett, full speed.” So, the saying was altered in time to the more familiar phrase.

• The US fleet fell into confusion when the USS Tecumseh was immediately sunk upon entry of Farragut’s fleet into the bay.

• During the Civil War, the term “torpedo” was used to describe a contact mine that floated on or just below the surface and used an air-filled demijohn (or floating device).

With New Orleans captured and the Mississippi River secured by the Union, Mobile Bay was a significant location for the Confederacy—particularly useful as a port to receive goods and military supplies from Europe.

The casualties of Farragut’s fleet included 150 killed and about 170 wounded. The Confederates on the other hand suffered 13 dead and 26 wounded.

#DavidFarragut #MobileBayAL #CivilWar #ShippenManor

RESOURCES

“Battle of Mobile Bay.” Naval History and Heritage Command. The Navy Department Library. www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-of-m....

“Mobile Bay.” Battlefields. www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/mobile-bay.

“The Battle of Mobile Bay and the Medal of Honor.” National Medal of Honor Museum. mohmuseum.org/battleofmobilebay/. ... See MoreSee Less

Shippen Manor

1 week ago

#DidYouKnow Rev War Remains Found in NJ Field

Recently, Rowan University History and Social Sciences departments uncovered the remains of about 13 Hessian soldiers who died fighting in the Battle of Red Bank (National Park) during the Revolutionary War. The battle occurred at the site of Fort Mercer (Gloucester Co.). Also uncovered were musket balls, brass and pewter buttons and a rare 1766 King George III gold Guinea (equivalent to a soldier’s pay for one month). After 245 years, a human femur was found in June during an archaeological dig of a trench system that surrounded the fort.

Officials believe the remains were a part of a mass grave of Hessians (German forces hired as mercenary soldiers by the British to supplement their forces) were a part of a British force killed during the battle (the Americans lost 14 men). This victory permitted the Continentals at the fort to keep the British from moving supplies up the Delaware River.

The scientists will try to identify the remains and locate their descendants. According to University public historian, Jennifer Janofsky, “If we can extract their stories, and if we can tell their stories, it lets us put a name to a face. And that, to me, is a very powerful moment in public history" (Rourke & Marsh).

After the study is complete, the remains will be interred elsewhere, the trench refilled and land will then be merged into a park on the bluff overlooking the Delaware.

BATTLE OF RED BANK (FORT MIFFLIN)

The fort was one of a series of defenses built on the Delaware River to protect Philadelphia from the British. When the British learned of these defenses and the “cheaveaux de fries” (large boxes with long spikes to prevent ships from sailing up the river), they chose to invade the city from another route. They sailed up the Chesapeake to a point where they could disembark and marched 50 miles overland to Philadelphia. The route was longer, but it allowed them to take Philadelphia on 26 Sept 1777.

British General William Howe took action against the American forts on the river and two days after they occupied Philadelphia, Howe sent troops to attack Fort Binngsport, forcing the Americans to evacuate.

On 22 Oct 1777, Howe sent 1207 Hessians (under the leadership of Colonel Von Donop) from Philadelphia to attack Fort Mercer. They crossed the Delaware from Philadelphia into New Jersey, landing in Cooper’s Ferry (Camden). Once in New Jersey, they marched to Haddonfield and camped for the night. The next morning, they marched southwest to Fort Mercer, crossing Big Timber Creek. They marked to a bridge (Brooklawn) but discovered that the American forces dismantled it. This caused them to march an additional 8 to 10 miles and cross Big Timber Creek at Clement’s Road Bridge. From there, the Hessians marched to Fort Mercer along what is now Almonesson and Caufield Roads, and Deptford and Hessian Avenues.

The Hessians attacked the fort around 4 p.m. in the Battle of Red Bank. The Hessians, which numbered 1207, greatly outnumbered the 614 Americans in the fort who were commanded by Colonel Christopher Greene. Having knowledge of the pending attack, Greene and his men were prepared. The battle, which lasted about 40 minutes, resulted in the defeat of the Hessians who suffered 514 casualties, including their commanding officer, Col. Von Donop, who was treated for his battlefield wounds in the house of James and Ann Whitall—but died a short while later. The Americans, on the other hand, lost 14 and suffered 23 wounded. The defeated Hessians retreated to Haddonfield and the next morning, they crossed the Delaware at Cooper’s Ferry and returned to Philadelphia.

• The James and Ann Cooper Whitall House, built in 1748, is
currently a museum (www.gloucestercountynj.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Whitall-House-Museum-15). The Whitalls were wealthy Quakers who had a 400-acre plantation in Red Bank along the Delaware River. They raised 9 children who worked on the plantation alongside dozens of Irish, Dutch and German indentured servants. (Indentures were usually prisoners or poor who were given passage to North America in return for their “servitude” under contract for usually 4 to 7 years. They were primarily male and most did not survive their indenture.) The Pennsylvania militia commandeered the farm and built Fort Mercer in April 1777 in the northern apple orchard. Job Whitall, their son, wrote in his journal that the Americans “turned us out of our kitchens ye largest room upstairs and ye shop and took our hay to feed the horses” (www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=13439). When the attack on the fort began on 22 Oct 1777, most of the family fled to Woodbury, but Ann refused to leave her home. When a cannonball broke through the north wall she calmly carried her spinning wheel to the cellar and continued to spin. The house was left intact and used as a hospital following the battle and Ann remained at the house to tend to all wounded Hessian and American soldiers. Americans destroyed the fort and left the property on 24 Nov 1777.

House is located on Hessian Road on the Red Bank Battlefield.

#BattleofRedBank #FortMifflin #GloucesterCoNJ #AmericanRev #Hessians #NJ #ShippenManor

Source:

Jennings, Rob. “Remains of Revolutionary War soldiers killed in 1777 found in NJ Field.” NJ Advance Media. NJ.com 2 Aug 2022. www.nj.com/news/2022/08/remains-of-revolutionary-war-soldiers-killed-in-1777-found-in-nj-field.html.

Rourke, Matt and Shawn Marsh. “Soldiers’ Remains Unearthed at Revolutionary War Battle Site in NJ.” NBC Philadelphia. 2 Aug 2022; updated 3 Aug 2022. www.nj.com/news/2022/08/remains-of-revolutionary-war-soldiers-killed-in-1777-found-in-nj-field.html. ... See MoreSee Less