July 4 History: The Declaration of Independence Comes To New Jersey

NEW JERSEY —Days after the Declaration of Independence signing in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, people in New Jersey became some of the first commoners to hear what America’s Founding Fathers had written.

North Jersey native Al Frazza, who spent seven years immersed in the state’s Revolutionary War history, shared with Patch some notable sites related to the July 4 holiday.

Frazza spent those years visiting more than 600 historic sites for his website, Revolutionary War New Jersey.

He also self-published "State of Revolution: My Seven-and-a-Half-Year Journey Through Revolutionary War New Jersey" earlier in 2022. Frazza calls the book “part memoir, part history, part travelogue, part love letter to the state of New Jersey."

Read More: New Jersey's Revolutionary War History Honored In Website, Book

This article will offer a brief historical overview of some of these sites based on Frazza’s work, but there is much more to explore in person, on his website, and through historical records online and in local libraries.

Hearing The Declaration

One of the first public readings of the newly written Declaration of Independence took place on the steps of the county courthouse in Trenton on July 8. A post rider brought a copy in, freshly printed from Philadelphia, according to the Trenton Historical Society. Members of the Provincial Congress, committee members, military officers and residents “attended on this great and solemn occasion,” according to an article in the Maryland Gazette.

“In the field, we hope, as well as in council, the inhabitants of New Jersey will be found ever ready to support the freedom and independence of America,” the article says.

The “Winds of Change” mural at 23 S. Warren St. imagines how the crowd might have looked that day, as they became some of the first common people to hear the famous pronouncement, four days after it was adopted in Philadelphia.

In his book, Frazza said the mural is one of his favorite public art pieces related to the war.

On July 9, 1776, there was another public reading in New Brunswick, at Christ Church on Paterson Street. A plaque at the church, founded in 1942, commemorates the date.

And in Cumberland County, the courthouse bell tolled on Aug. 7 as county officials, residents and soldiers proceeded to Bridgeton to hear the reading. After, there was a “spirited address” by a local doctor and revolutionary, Ebenezer Elmer. Then, as a local newspaper reported, the attendees burned anything with the British royal seal on it in the street.

“The whole was conducted with the greatest decency and regularity,” the article in the “Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser,” says.

The courthouse bell that rang that day is displayed in the current Cumberland County courthouse, according to Frazza’s website.

New Jersey’s Declaration Signers

Five Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on behalf of New Jersey: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon.

Abraham Clark served in the Continental Congress on two separate occasions, according to Frazza’s site. He was in the United States House of Representatives while George Washington was president, during the Second and Third Congresses.

The Abraham Clark House in Roselle is a replica of Clark’s original home, which burned down in a 1900 fire. As Frazza notes on his site, this area was part of Elizabethtown at the time.

“Elizabethtown was originally much larger than modern-day Elizabeth, encompassing all of what is now Union County,” Frazza writes.

Clark is buried at the Rahway Cemetery with his wife and three of his sons, who fought in the war.

John Hart represented New Jersey in the Colonial Assembly from 1761-1771, when it was still a British colony. He represented his state in the Second Continental Congress and served as the first speaker of the General Assembly when New Jersey became a state.

Hart’s home and gravesite are in Hopewell. He and his family were forced to flee in November 1776 when British forces invaded New Jersey and Washington’s army retreated across the state.

“During this time, John Hart and his family were forced to flee from their property because his political prominence made him a target of British forces. Hart is believed to have hidden out on Sourland Mountain in a rock formation known as the Rock House,” Frazza writes on his website.

The Hart farmstead is a private residence now; a plaque outside the home pays tribute to the Founding Father who lived there. The surrounding property was part of his farmstead.

Another site connected to John Hart is in Lawrenceville: the church where he was baptized when the area was known as Maidenhead. At least five Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here, according to Frazza’s website.

Francis Hopkinson’s home in Bordentown was built in 1750. Hopkinson lived there with his wife, Ann, from 1774 until he died in 1791, Frazza’s website says. The building on Farnsworth Avenue is now used for business.

A plaque at the house lists Hopkinson as a “member of Congress, a statesman, scientist, artist, musician and great satirist.” Hopkinson was a delegate to the Continental Congress and an active member of the Constitutional Convention, according to his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.

As UPenn writes, “Hopkinson designed the original Orrery Seal of the University of Pennsylvania, and helped design the seal of the state of New Jersey and the Great Seal of the United States. There has been a claim that he designed the official flag of the United States.”

Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon both have homes and gravesites in Princeton.

John Witherspoon was a Scottish immigrant who came to New Jersey in 1768, according to Frazza. Witherspoon was a preacher and political activist in his home country. He was an instrumental figure at Princeton University before he arrived, according to school history: the trustees elected him president in 1766, before he even got there.

“Witherspoon began a series of highly successful trips throughout the colonies to preach, recruit students, and gather funds. While traveling through Virginia, he encouraged the Madisons of Montpelier to enroll their son James, who later graduated with the Class of 1771; later, he persuaded his friend George Washington to give 50 gold guineas to the College.”

He was president of the university from 1768-1794 and lived in the Maclean House.

There is also a statue to him at Princeton. According to the plaque at his statue, Witherspoon was “the only minister and the only college president among the fifty-six signers.”

In his book, Frazza lists the Witherspoon statue and the "Winds of Change" mural in Trenton among his top 10 favorite pieces of Revolutionary War-related public art in New Jersey.

Witherspoon is buried in Princeton Cemetery along with several other notable figures of the time, including Aaron Burr.

Richard Stockton built his home, which he called Morven, in the 1750s, according to Frazza’s website. Family members lived at Morven, which means “big mountain” in Gaelic, until the early 1900s, Frazza writes.

The house was used as the New Jersey Governor’s Mansion from 1945-1981. It is now a museum and garden on 5 acres of land in the heart of Princeton. Stockton’s wife, Annis Boudinot Stockton, is one of America’s earliest published female poets, “immortalizing heroes of the Revolution such as George Washington, who called her “the elegant Muse of Morven.”

Stockton is buried at the Stoney Book Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, which is still an active meeting house.

Other Revolutionary New Jersey connections

As Frazza visited close to 650 Revolutionary War sites around New Jersey, there is plenty more to see and experience in the Garden State. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin both spent time in Jersey and have sites scattered throughout: People can trace Franklin's path in Perth Amboy and Burlington, and find Washington on the Morristown page and Englishtown.

There is a trove of information on Frazza's site and his book, which is available for purchase online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.