John Wick died on January 16, 1719 and at his own request was buried on his own land. His burial stone stood about forty rods north of the country road, and about the same distance west of Lumber Lane, in the center of a six or eight acre lot in Bridgehampton, and bears the inscription:
The tradition is that he gave direction to have his body laid here, but his friends disregarded it and attempted to dig a grave in the graveyard, but the ants (in January!) came out in such swarms and filled the grave as they dug, that they were compelled to abandon their purpose. Another tradition says that the heirs, not liking the disposition of the property made in his will, read a summons over his grave, calling him to appear in court and show cause why the will should not be broken. CHILDREN OF JOHN & TEMPERANCE WICK
HENRY WICK
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COOPER FAMILY |
In 1737 they were living near Bridgehampton, on the way to Sagg.
In 1746 Nathan Cooper, of Roxbury (Chester) township, and Henry Wick, of “Suffolk County, Long Island,” jointly bought 1,114 acres on the Passaic River. It’s unknown if this Nathan was Mary’s father or younger brother. Two years later, in 1748, Cooper released his half to Henry Wick, who by then was of “Morristown, New Jersey”. So he doubtless went to New Jersey between those two dates. With later purchases the “Wick tract” came to measure over 1,400 acres, consisting of timber land and open fields, and, like other farmers in the area, they grew various crops including wheat, corn, rye, oats, buckwheat, apples and flax. And the years rolled by.
The Wick farm is located in what is called Jockey Hollow, about four miles southwest of Morristown, New Jersey, near the intersection of Tempe Wick Road and Jockey Hollow Road. The farm became an important historical monument in the famous 1779-80 encampment of General George Washington and his troops there.
The Wicks had hosted prominent officers before. The army had wintered there in 1776-77 following Washington’s Christmas Delaware crossing and victories at Trenton and Princeton. Although far fewer troops accompanied Washington in ‘76, their presence among the citizenry was devastating. One fourth of the population died from small pox or dysentery. During that winter, the Wicks hosted Captain Joseph Bloomfield.
Later, in 1779-80, Mr. Wick opened his house as quarters for Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then commander of the Pennsylvania Line encamped in Jockey Hollow on his, and a couple of adjacent, farms. Portions of the Continental Army used the Hollow for a total of 24 months during the American Revolution.
Nine hundred acres of Jockey Hollow timber, notched together and chinked with clay, made the army’s winter quarters – 12 soldiers in each of 1,000, 14’ x 16’ huts – where the men made do with a trickle of rations and beds of loose straw. A thousand soldiers deserted; but most remained. There was no great turning point reached here. A battle was waged here, however, to keep the Continental Army intact. If it had been lost, then Yorktown – the battle where the Continental Army gained final advantage in the War – would have a far different meaning in our lives.
By Spring of 1780, due to the encampment in Jockey Hollow, made Morristown one of the ten largest cities in the Colonies. Even so, it was only one element of the small village’s eight year involvement in the conflict. There was a nonending military quest there for munitions and supplies, a constant procession of refugees, and a host of Loyalist trials, jailings, and hangings. This produced a war-weary atmosphere in the area, and it can have been nothing short of depressing.
Henry Wick was Captain of a company of Morris County cavalry that did good service in the war, and engaged in at least one sharp fight, though he was frequently detailed as guard for Gov. Livingston and the Privy Council.
The best explanation to get a sense of what was going on in Jockey Hollow is presented in a website called New Jersey Skylands. The webpage is called “The Great Story”. Below is an excerpt from that website.
To understand why its a great story, walk to the top of the hill in Jockey Hollow that held 200 soldier huts for the Pennsylvania Brigade. Walk up one day in January and imagine staying there until it gets warm enough sometime in April to take off your down jacket. Imagine standing there without your shoes on, without even one of the huts on top of the hill for retreat from the incessant cold. Try to conceive of something important enough to keep you on that hill for the rest of the winter. When you get home, imagine what it would be like if 13,000 ragged, homeless men with guns marched into your town. How would you feel if someone in your family caught small pox from the men and died? Would you have sympathy for the soldiers as they foraged in your barnyard, or for the General who headquartered on the other side of the village at Ford’s Mansion?
Ask most people what happened in Morristown during the American Revolution and they’ll undoubtedly mention Washington’s Headquarters. But the untold stories of thousands of Continental soldiers and a few hundred townspeople magnify the American legend at Morristown. Perhaps it is because there were no great battles at Morristown that historical texts often gloss over the events here and focus on more catastrophic circumstances such as those at Valley Forge. The Jockey Hollow encampment of 1779-80 endured a winter more severe, including seven blizzards in December alone, than that at Valley Forge, where thousands died. Yet only about a hundred soldiers at Morristown did not see the spring of 1780. |
Henry Wick died on December 21, 1780 at Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey. Mary Cooper Wick died there on July 7, 1787.
BLACHLY FAMILY |
Aunt Tempe’s rescue of her pet saddle horse has added interest to the old house. Click here to read this most interesting story about her and her horse.
Francis E. Woodruff. The Woodruffs of New Jersey: Who Came from Fordwich, Kent, England, by way of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Southampton, Long Island. New York: The Grafton Press, 1909. This book is a revision and enlargement of the book, “A Branch of the Woodruff Stock”.
George R. Howell. The Early History of Southampton, Long Island, New York, with Genealogies. 2nd ed. Albany, NY: Weed Parsons & Co., 1887. Pgs. 405-6. SLC FLC 974.725/S3 ltzh.
See William Smith Pelletreau S. T. R., Vol. III, pg. 27.
History of Morris County, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent citizens and pioneers. New York : W.W. Munsell and Co., 1882. See pg. 35 (Henry Wick). SLC FHL Microfiche 6052113.
“Wick House”. See Harper Magazine (1859).
“The Great Story” – a fabulous synopsis of Jockey Hollow and Morristown in the American Revolution. New Jersey’s Great Northwest Skylands Internet Website.
Morristown National Historical Park
The Revolutionary War in New Jersey – in North Jersey’s Internet Magazine. This is a great resource. Also contains a Wick House Photo Gallery.
NPS Museum Collections – American Revolutionary War
Morristown National Historical Park, Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County Visitors Center.
Official Website of the
River-Hopkins and Related Families
This is the Wick Family Page
Joann Saemann
Presentation © 2007
Last Updated - 11 November 2009
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