A Loyalist Bayonet

Today in New Jersey history:

May 9, 1779: Eighty-nine-year-old Douwe Talema (aka Tallman) was mortally wounded by bayonet wielding Loyalists during a raid from New York into Bergen County. He died two days later. Talema’s grave marker, in the Sautjes Begraven Ground Cemetery in Demarest, reads: “Here lies the remains of Douwe Talema, who died on the 11th day of May 1779 in his Ninetieth Year. This aged Man at his Residence near this Place was wilfully and barbarously murdered by a Party of Tories. Traitors to their country who had taken refuge with the Troops of Britain then in New York and came thence to murder and plunder. To pay a Tribute of Respect to his memory and also to commemorate the manner of his death, several of his relatives have erected this Stone."