NOTE: Cemetery hours are 9 AM to 5 PM daily. Logging requirements are near the bottom of cache description.
The small hamlet of Samptown, located at the point where the Old Raritan Road crossed the Bound Brook, no longer exists, but in 1776-1777 it played a part in the establishment of our nation.
The land that included Samptown was included in the “Elizabethtown Purchase” of 1664. Europeans began to settle along the Bound Brook near its junction with the Cedar Brook in the year 1682. Benjamin Clarke and Daniel McDaniel were engaged in operating a sawmill by 1683. By 1690, two mills were said to be operating near Samptown, probably a sawmill and a gristmill. The story goes that the town received its name when a wagon load of ground corn meal, known as samp to the Native Americans, broke down and spilled its cargo while passing through the town.
Samptown grew in the mid 1700’s at the junction of what is now Sampton and Clinton Avenues, which was the main road between Elizabeth and New Brunswick. In the late 1700’s, a tavern was established to serve travelers at what is now 746 Sampton Avenue (the Drake house, now a private residence).
By the year 1776, Samptown contained around eight to ten houses, a cemetery, and the tavern. It was a regular rest stop on the route of the Swift-Sure Stage Line running between Elizabeth and New Brunswick.
War came to Samptown on a cold, rainy day on November 30, 1776 when the defeated American army retreated across New Jersey through Samptown. The next day, British forces marched into town. Shortly after that they left to join the main body of the British army at New Brunswick.
After surprising the British at Trenton, Washington saw the need to establish a defensive line along the Bound Brook and Green Brook. The only bridges between Metuchen and Bound Brook along these streams were at Samptown and its neighboring village of Quibbletown to the west. Whoever controlled these bridges, controlled all movement through the area. Patrols from both armies moved through the area daily, exchanging gunfire. The Americans were successful in gathering supplies from local farms, however they were unable to transport all the supplies and began to stockpile them in and near Samptown and Quibbletown.
On Jan. 27 1777, the British returned with orders to seize supplies stored in the vicinity of Samptown. The Americans put up a strong defense but the British took the supplies. On Feb. 8, 6000 British attacked Quibbletown to capture the supplies stored there. Under the command of Lord Cornwallis, these troops fought their way into the village against heavy American resistance. Two British regiments attacked Samptown to prevent help coming from that flank. Although the American troops fought bravely, the British destroyed or carried off all the supplies that the Americans had managed to gather. 30 British Soldiers were killed and 30 were wounded. Six Americans were killed, 20 wounded and six captured.
With the farms in the area stripped bare by both sides, American forces left the area May 16, 1777. A British patrol entered Samptown on June 1, 1777 only to find the village deserted. Around June 10, the British again occupied Samptown to protect their flank from attack as they pushed westward. Washington issued orders to retake the area, and on the 21st of June, occupying forces came under fire from riflemen in the surrounding fields and woods. The next day, the Americans attacked, and the British received orders for a withdrawal to Perth Amboy. In the days that followed, the American forces moved into camp north of Quibbletown while some 8,000 soldiers moved through Samptown to take up positions in the eastern part of what is now South Plainfield and in Perth Amboy.
On June 28, 1777, 16,000 British soldiers headed out from Perth Amboy and began marching toward Samptown. Orders were given for an American retreat to the safety of the mountains near Bound Brook. All through that afternoon American units marched west through Samptown to new positions at Middlebrook. Although the war would go on for another six years, the armies would never again fight over Samptown. Residents returned, repaired the damage to their property, and life went on.
By 1834 Samptown consisted of ten or twelve houses, a Baptist church, a tavern, and a general store. Samptown School had over 100 students. Girls could only attend “at such hours as would not interrupt the boys studies.”
Samptown eventually began to decline. The stage line stopped running in the early 1800's and the tavern and general store closed before the middle of the century. In 1872, the railroad by-passed Samptown and built its station in the neighboring village of New Brooklyn. In 1879, the Baptists moved their church following a fire. Today, all that remains of Samptown is the old tavern building, the cemetery, and the occasional musket ball found on one of the old battlefields. Even Samptown Road has had its name corrupted to Sampton Avenue.
The Samptown cemetery may have started as a public burial ground or family plot. Many of the graves were marked by simple wooden markers that eventually disintegrated. The oldest legible gravestone is that of Benjamin Hull, a judge who lived from 1693 to 1745. Among those at rest are: 39 veterans of the Revolutionary War; 4 from the Pennsylvania Insurrection of 1794 (Whiskey Rebellion); 4 from the War of 1812; 49 from the Civil War; and 1 from the Spanish-American War. Notable burials include: Sgt. John LaTourette whose unit was called to active duty by President George Washington; Private William Harris, a member of Capt. Carle’s Troop of Light Horses which helped to locate and secure the boats that were used by George Washington in his famous crossing of the Delaware River; Dr. Lewis Dunham who served 3 tours of duty as surgeon to the Third Battalion of the New Jersey Line (Rev. War); Private William Ryno who helped cover the retreat of the beaten Union Army after the first Battle of Bull Run; a memorial stone to local resident, Private Hugh Downey of the 11th New Jersey, who was captured during the Wilderness Campaign and died of the effects of exposure and starvation at Andersonville; 1 slave and 1 modern-day native-American Indian (James Revy).The cemetery also contains the graves of many families and individuals who were prominent in the area. The northern boundary of this property marks the position held by Hessian Troops under the command of Captain Johann Ewald. He was defending the Samptown Bridge from attack by American forces advancing south from the direction of Plainfield, during the Revolutionary War, June 21-23, 1777.
To log this cache, visit any one of the 5 additional waypoints listed and post a photo in the log with the object at the coordinates. You may hold a paper with your geocaching handle or your GPS showing coordinates next to the object if you do not want to be in the photo.
To see the old tavern, visit GC9PADV Samptown Tavern.
Congratulations to avgraphics on the FTF!
References:
http://www.southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Community/Who%20We%20Are/Our%20History/Samptown%20-%20A%20Piece%20of%20South%20Plainfield%20History/
http://www.geocities.ws/sphistoricalsociety/ARTICLE3.html
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=93988
https://m.facebook.com/264439776909976/posts/revolutionary-times-at-samptown-100-lashes-and-a-death-sentencethis-is-the-earli/3202884609732130/
https://i2.wp.com/www.gsnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/GSNJ–Raser-New-Jersey-Graveyard-and-Gravestone-Inscriptions-Locator-Middlesex-County-2018-Pages-016-SQ-1.jpg?ssl=1
http://www.southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Community/Who%20We%20Are/Our%20History/
https://cemetery.fbcsouthplainfield.com
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.