Moses Campbell of the Revolutionary War

 In a recent post I described the family bible of Moses Campbell who lived near Newark Mountain, NJ during the Revolutionary War.  I described my relationship to him back in 2016.  More of the genealogy is here.

One of the greatest gifts to genealogists of this period was an overdue law in 1836 which allowed veterans or widows of the Revolutionary War to apply for a pension. To obtain the pension the applicant needed to appear before a justice and submit the details of service. By 1836, most participants in the War were dead, but even so, an amazing number of applications were filed.  Evidence submitted included depositions from friends, neighbors, relatives, and fellow soldiers, and even pages from family bibles. This has all been digitized and is available from many sources. (Fold3, Ancestry.com)

Moses died in 1808, but his wife Catharine was alive in 1836.  She was 80 years old and so feeble that she could not appear in person at the courthouse. To make a long story short, she was granted a pension in 1838.  She died the following year.

Moses' initial service in 1776 was as a private in the militia attached to Colonel Van Cortlands NJ regiment, stationed near Belleville, Newark, or Elizabethtown. According Catharine's testimony he was in the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield [in 1780].  These battles were literally in his backyard.  The road to Springfield, down which the British marched, led right through the ancestral property of Moses' great grandfather, Robert. She mentions that she was married in the home of Gabriel Ogden by a Pompton, NJ minister, Rev. Marenus.

Included in her pension file are copies of the pages from the family bible, a deposition from her son Benjamin, and a deposition from a contemporary of Moses, 87-year-old, Simon Van Ess. Simon stated that Moses was a millwright at the iron furnace of Gabriel Ogden in Pompton and resided with him. Another contemporary, 87-year-old, York Van Gelder, testified the same. 

Isaac Tichenor, 77, testified that he and Moses enlisted in 1781.  They were stationed at Morristown, NJ, then marched to Dobbs Ferry via Patterson, NJ. [Dobbs Ferry was the departure point for Washington's and Rochambeau's troops enroute to what would be the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.] They were then marched to Connecticut Farms [near his home in NJ] where they were discharged.

David Lyons, 80, recalled being with Moses in New Brunswick, NJ on their way to join the army [which was marching from Philadelphia towards Monmouth]. At that time they heard of the Battle of Monmouth [NJ, 1778] having been fought.

Caleb Davis, 70, stated that he was a neighbor of Moses during the War. He further stated that Moses was in a skirmish with the British at the Hackensack River [probably New Bridge Landing, a critical crossing where many skirmishes occurred] and "had a bullet shot threw his coat."  Moses Dodd, 82, was also deposed and "thinks he saw him under arms in a skirmish at Belleville."

Isaac Dodd testified that Moses was in the company of Captain Amos Dodd.

ALL OF THAT INFORMATION WAS THANKS TO THE PENSION FILES!

Now for some speculation.  If Moses was so close to Gabriel Ogden (owner of the Pompton Ironworks) that he lived and was married in Gabriel's home, wouldn't it make sense that Moses was working at the Pompton Ironworks during the months of the year when he was not with the army? Ogden had purchased the Ironworks in 1774.  During the winter of 1776-1777 the Ironworks was filling an order from General Knox for 7000 cannonballs. I bet Moses was there helping out.