Lewis Jolley

My name is Lewis Jolley and I am going to take you back to the Revolutionary War.  Anybody else out there remember the Revolutionary War??? I didn’t think so, so listen up!!!!  I was born in 1755 in South Amboy…or really just Amboy, as it was known then.  I chose to go to the war in 1775 and was enlisted as a Private in the Middlesex County Militia. A militia is a group of private citizens who volunteer to be soldiers during time of war. And war it was!

To refresh your memories, we came to America to secure our freedom. But we were still oppressed by British rule. In an effort to truly secure our independence, war began. But we in the colonies were sorely unprepared for war. We were a new nation and had no centralized government, no training, no money and no resources. But despite all this, we prevailed. The turning point of the war was really a guy by the name of George Washington, who led our army through the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and beat back the British in the face of the horrible conditions faced by the Continental Army at the time. As Thomas Paine said of the wartime, “These are the times that try men’s souls”. 

Despite this mammoth victory, the war raged on. I was captured by the British in 1781 and sent to Sugar House Prison in New York City. The only way I can describe this place is that it was  …pardon me folks…a hellhole. Listen to this description of the prison by a fellow inmate who was captured from a ship in New York harbor…..

  About the 25th of Jan., 1778 we were taken from the ships to the Sugar House... We left the floating Hell with joy, but alas, our joy was of short duration. Cold and famine were now our destiny. Not a pane of glass, nor even a board to a single window in the house, and no fire but once in three days to cook our small allowance of provision. Old shoes were bought and eaten with as much relish as a pig or a turkey; a beef bone of four or five ounces, after it was picked clean, was sold by the British guard for as many coppers. In the spring our misery increased; frozen feet began to mortify...Death stared the living in the face; we were now attacked by a fever which threatened to clear our walls of its miserable inhabitants."

So I guess you can figure it was not a good place to be. I eventually gained my freedom from the prison and returned home. In 1832 Congress passed an act granting pensions to the soldiers. I went to Middlesex County Superior Court in July of 1833 to ask for my rightful pension. When granted I settled in Spotswood for a short time, a very viable and active borough (I made the settling in Spotswood up!!)

Soon I ended up in the Old Soldiers Home of Middlesex County where I died on April 23 of 1834.  I was buried in St. Peter’s cemetery, but the history books and records do not explain how I ended up here. I know…but it’s a mystery for you all to figure out someday!! And I am confident that you will!! And I’ll tell you why.

Over the years my headstone almost disappeared from sight.  It became a part of the Earth, so to speak. Just a few years ago, my great (several greats here!!) grandson learned of me and decided to come to Spotswood from Michigan to see if he could find me. Paul Washelesky came out here and gathered the local Jolley’s around him and replaced my splintered tombstone with an authentic bronze “Son of the American Revolution” grave marker!! Made me proud, I can tell you!!

Paul had no problem finding Jolley’s in the area!!!  There’s Roger in East Brunswick, James of South River and a host of others…just walk around this cemetery and you will see them. In fact, the church records here have recorded a George Washington Jolley in their records!!!

I understand that Paul has continued his study of the war and the times and I am proud of him for that. This time in American History is an important one not to forget.  It declared our independence from Britain and maybe more importantly, involved the common folk in establishing our fine country and land. Thanks to the kind people of St Peter’s Parish for helping Paul in his quest and highlighting the significance of having a Revolutionary War Veteran resting right here among the people he helped to liberate!!!

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