One more in our Women's Heritage
Trail Series (and Number 59 in the NJ Women’s Heritage Trail
booklet), this cache is about Rebecca Stillwell who used quick
thinking and clever trickery to repel a British invasion of her
defenseless Beesley's Point home during the American
Revolution.
As the story goes, Stillwell lived with her sister, Sarah, in a
home on a knoll called Foxborough Hill near the former Beesley's
Point ferry. This is approximately where the Beesley's Point Bridge
stands today.
At the time, Beesley's Point was not defended by a garrison, but it
held valuable supplies such as salt and clothing for the
Continental Army. Some accounts of the event also mention stores of
ammunition.
With her father's spyglass, Stillwell spotted a British warship in
the Great Egg Harbor Bay. The warship lowered a longboat full of
British soldiers, who started rowing in the direction of what was
called Willett's Point at that time.
Stillwell ran down Foxborough Hill to a cannon positioned on the
bay by Continental Army officer Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary
War cavalry officer born in Poland, to repel just such a raid.
Stillwell fired the cannon full of grapeshot at the approaching
longboat and hollered to a boy named Rem Goldin to blow his
grandfather's hunting horn.
The ruse worked. The British retreated to their sloop, unfurled
their sails and quickly left the bay.
Some local residents have expressed a desire re-enact the Battle of
Beesleys Point, but the battle did not have enough action. Rebecca
Stillwell fired one shot, and the British rowed away.
The exact location of the original Stillwell homestead is not known
today, but this cache is located very near where most local
historians seem to agree the house was located. Upper Township
officials are considering placement of a sign or plaque here.
About the cache - Coordinates should be very
close. We averaged with two different GPSmap 60 Garmins. You are
looking for a small container about 3 inches long and 1 inch in
diameter. You will need to bushwhack the final several feet.
This is likely to be a high density muggle area all during the
summer, especially on weekends, but we placed the cache away from
the main concentrations of muggles. One particular tree plays an
important role with this cache. The tree is visible from the road,
but the cache is not.
Click User's Web Page at top for more information about
Stillwell.