Table Of ContentSKETCHES
OP
ORDER
ADVENTURli;S,
r>
IN
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
MAJOR MOSES VAN
CAMPEN,^^^'^
A SURVIVING SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION.
BV HIS GRANDSON,
JOHN N.^IIUBBARD, A. B. \%\'^" '^ *
-
-^
BATH, N. Y:
U. L. UNDE RHILL & CO,
1842.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
!»- i1r-5 'O.> wO iU\ Hh
i
ASTOR, LENOXAND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
R 1931 L
Entered according toact ofCongress, in the year 1811, by J. N.
HcDBARD, in the Office of the Clerk of the NoiUiori) District »f
Now-York.
Fi-inted by Georgk W. Utrvess,
Dansvillc, N. Y.
• i ••
FKEFACE.
It may, perhaps,be due to the reader, to state some
of the reasons why another book should make its ap-
pearance in pubHc, to claim a share of the attention,
which is paid to whateveris new.
The author will render his excuse in due form and
present also the authority, upon which, rests most of
the facts recorded in tiiis work.
Moses Van Campkn, the subjectofthis memoir, has
long been known by many in this part of the State,
and by many also in the State of Pennsylvania, as
one who took an active part in the struggles which
gave birth to our national independence. Especially
is he known for the severe encount(;rs he has had with
the Indians, and for the hardships which he has endu- .
red in watching for this wary foe, as he made his
IV PREFACE.
sudden and fearful incursions upon what were caiieti
the border settlements.
The service which hehas thus rendered his country
as a soldier, entitle his name to some remembrance
among afree and grateful people. But this claim is
not presented as a reason for making this offering to
the public. It is iuther in com.pliancewith the wishes
of friends, who have been desirous to preserve some
record of the events which are here recorded.
Some apology for this work might be gathered too
ifrom considering thefactthat, while theloadingevents
' ofthe revolutionhave been recorded in their properor-
der, anddue credithas been given tothose whoseoffice
gave tliem aprominent place in the eye of the public,.
; slight notices only have been made of the services
rendered by minor officers, wdio have held posts of
' extreme danger and have acquitted themselves in such
a manner as to impart dignity to American arms. It
i
is but just, that these also, should receive the honor
which is their due, while our countrymen shall hold
in sacred remembrance the deeds ofthose, who, fired \
with the holy zeal of liberty, have perilled their all in /
the decision of the single question which has resulted
in one of the freest and happiest nations that ourearth
PREFACE.
has ever beheld. So far as the following pages may
accomplish this design, the author hopes that it will
receive the approbation of the public.
Another reason, for submitting these pages to the
press, arises from the hope that they may give some
new interestto the history of ourborder warfare, and
thus prove to be of permanent benefit, by adding one
more chapter, to those that have already been writ-
ten, which shall exhibit, in a slight degree, a few of
\
the hardships and suflerings which were undergone
by those, who were engaged in the struggles of the
revolution.
The materials of this memoir have been gathered
almost entirely from him who is its subject, and the
<3redibility of those facts which rest entirely upon his
own authority none will question, who are acquainted
in the least with his character.
One word inthis place about the chapter whichhas
been introduced, giving a brief sketch of the causes
which led to thj war of the revolution. Some may
think it ahogethar unnecessary, and others, perhaps,
presumptuous that a youth should undertake a task to
which, the knowledge and experience, which belongs
to the age, is only equal. The author would say, in
1*
VI PREFACE.
reference to this, and indeed to the whole work, that
it is given to the pubhc with a feeling ofunaffected
diffidence, and it is only from the encouraTCment of
thosev7ho have examined parts ofhismanuscript, that
he dares submit it to the press.
Dannnlk, Jliigiist, 184L
«*
gISIEi!?(S!H]lg, ^^4©-
CHAPTER
I.
— —
Introdi—Lciion hirth—and parentage rem—ovalof hufa-
ther -desc—ription story of a relative—character of
—hismother school-boy days—^anecdot—e employments
an advent—ure—^another adventure kis father re^
mooesagain Phinket's expedition.
The veterans of the revolution are, one by one, fa-
ding from our view, and the scenes, which, to them,
are but as the things ofyesterday, are receding with
them beyond the limits of recollection, and will soon
be known only by the page ofthe historian. It were
well if we could make their memories our mentors of
the past, and be ever able to catch from their lips,
the kindling of that flame, w^hich sent its purity and
brightness from so many bosoms, in the earlier parts
of our history. But time, which has lingered long
over the heads of a few hallowed relics of that most
sacred era, regardless of its victims, stays not from a
work which seems like one of sacrilege, but threatens
to sweep from usevery livingvestige, thatwouldstand
as amemorial of our national pride and glor}'.
In beholding, then, the retiring footsteps of these
asfcd worthies, we can but feel desirous that theV
should leave behind them some traces of theirevent-
8 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF
ful lives, that we may not be left without the means
of refreshing our minds with the tales, that used to
astonish and delight us in the days of our childhood.
To those w^ho have ever listened to any ofthe stories,
as they came, pictured to the Hfe, from the lips ofhim
who is the subject of this narrative, these pages will
not be without their interest. For such they are
written.
Moses Van Campen, the son of Cornelius Van
Campen, a respectable farmer of New Jersey, was
born in Hunterdon County of that State, January 21,
1757. His paternal ancestors came from Holland to
this country, and settled in New Jersey, where they
established for themselves the character of industri-
ous and worthy citizens. His mother's name was
originally Depeeor Depue. She was descended from
a family of French Protestants, w^hich fled from the
persecutions of the Roman Catholics during the eigh-
teenth century, to this landof religious freedom, and
found ahome in the State of Pennsylvania.
Her father was a wealthy farmer, who lived on the
Delaware river, and was distinguished for an exem-
plary religious character, as well as for kindness and
liberality to the poor. He acted foranumber ofyears
as Justice of the Peace, and, in the discharge of his
office, he seemed more like afatherconsultingand set-
tling the differences of a large family, than like the
generality of thosewhoadminister justice. Henever
would allow a suit, between any of his neighbors, to
<jome to issue before him, butinalmostevery instance
effected a reconciliation between the parties, without
MOSES VAX CAMPEN. 9
goingthrough the expensive, andin toomany instances^
pai.ilul steps of a law-suit.
Concorhing the other near relatives, from whom
Mr. Van Campen might claim his descent not much is
ivnown, since no record has been kept hut the one in
the old family Bible, and all th—at is there related of
them may be summed up in this they lived and died.
We
will ])ass directly therefore to what more imme-
diately concerns our narrative.
8oon after the birth of his son Moses, Mr. Corne-
lius A\an Campen removed to Pennsylvania, and pur-
chased land in Northampton County, on the Delaware
river. ]i was situated a little above whvd was called
the Water Gap. Here Moses spent the years of his
childhood, and it may occasion some surpri*se to say
that he can look back to this period, even at the dis-
tance of more thai three fourths of a century, and
gath:;r adistinct and vivid picture from the im;)ressions
that were then made on his mind. These scenes are
still his familiar friendF: ; they remain, like the ever-
green, to enliven and beautify the winter of his age.
Thereader mayhave adescriptionofthem verynearly
in his own lan<ruaf]:e.
*' The scenesofmv boyhoodhave made a strouf^im-
pression upon my mind. The old fanu house with its
grave looking w\alls, and the barn, where myself and
brothersused to play 'hid^ andgoseek,' with the thou-
sand little things, that rush in to fill out tlie picture of
my childhood, are so clearly defined in my memory
thit it sometimes seems almost as though they were
ia reality before me. A beautifid flat stretched its
10 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF
broadgreen apron formiles to the northand south. It
had probably b^en unJar Indian culture years before,
for thare wara no wharo to be found upon it, any de-
j caved remainsof theforesttree. The Delawareriver
l
bounded it on the east, as it camegracefully winding
its course aroundthebaseof the Blue mountains which
arose in many places very abruptly and pleased the
eye with a great variety of scenery; while it was
skirted on the west by arange of hillsthat rosegently
from the plain and marked out an undulating Kne on
the distant horizon. Here my father lived in the im-
mediate vicinity of my mother's relations, many of
whom aiv' still fresh in my recollection. If the
reader will listen, Iwill relate the story of one whom
I love to remember, and one to whom my heart re-
turns with a gratitude that wishes to perpetuate his
name. It is of Nicholas Depue, Esq., a cousin to my
mother, and who, in h's day, was extensively known
as a man of large estateand of greatcapacity for bu-
siness. I love to remember him for the happy influ-
ence which he threwaround my boyish days. I never
^
entered his house w'ithout meeting a smile, that smile
seems to meet me yet whenever I think of the man;
and the pleasant tones of his voice callingmehis 'little
Moses' still linger around me like th3 floating sounds
of distant music. So uniform w^as his disposition that
I never recollect to have seen him otherwise than in
the most pleasant mood. Yet to this he added the
still higher gra^^es of a christian character. He was
a man whose piety could never he questioned. This
seemed to be the main-spring to all his actions; and
