During the American Revolutionary War, everyone played a part. Men carried on patriotic activity, whether military, political, financial or material. This was only possible because the women maintained households, managed resources, and produced goods that sustained both the family and the army. Some women followed their husbands and sons through the war taking care of the wounded and supporting the daily needs of the soldiers. Other women became involved in political activism. The Ladies of Trenton were one such group.
The Ladies of Trenton was organized on July 4, 1780, for the purpose of raising funds for the relief and encouragement of the brave men of the Continental Army. This group appointed ladies in every county in New Jersey to collect and forward donations. The ladies selected for this noble work were among the most respectable and influential in their communities. While other groups of ladies took part in this type of patriotic work, what makes the Ladies of Trenton special is that they publicized and included their names and locales in newspapers. English troops could have ran-sacked their houses, but these ladies had the bravery to call themselves Revolutionaries. Although any final accounts of the New Jersey group have evidently failed to survive, in mid-July the sum of nearly $15,500 was forwarded to Commander-in-Chief George Washington as an initial contribution.
There were four ladies selected from Sussex County were: Mrs. Thomas Anderson (Letitia) of Newton; Mrs. Robert Ogden Jr. (Phebe) of Hardyston; Mrs. Mark Thomson (Anne) of Hardwick; and Mrs. Robert Hoops (Martha) of Oxford.
Letitia Anderson was born in 1740 in the Newton and died there in 1784. She had five children, three living to adulthood: William Thornton; Margaretta; and Thomas Oakley. Her husband, Thomas, was a pioneer patriot of the area who served as Chairman of the delegation to the Convention in New Brunswick in 1774 to protest unlawful taxation. During the war, Thomas first served as a private in the local militia, and then as an assistant quartermaster, forwarding supplies to Trenton, New Windsor, N.Y., and Morristown. He was also responsible for procuring care for cavalry horses worn down in the war. Thomas was a lawyer by trade. He served locally as a member of the Sussex County Committee of Correspondence in 1774; a member of the Provincial Committee of Safety in 1777; a member of the Board of Freeholders beginning in 1795; acting Clerk of Sussex County 1770-1777; and the first Surrogate of Sussex County from 1785 until his death in 1805. Thomas was also among the first to incorporate Christ Church in 1769; appointed Justice of the Peace in 1773; a founding member of Harmony Lodge #8 F&AM in 1788, serving as the first Master from 1789-1791; and one of the 7 original Trustees of the Newton Academy. Both Letitia and Thomas are buried in the Old Newton Burial Ground.
Ann Breckenridge Thomson was born in 1750 in Sussex County and died in 1809. The wife of Mark Thomson, they had nine children. Mark was a miller by trade. He publicly served as a member of the Provincial Convention in 1774, and as a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775. During the American Revolution, Mark served first as a lieutenantcolonel in Stewarts’s Battalion of Minutemen and then was promoted to colonel of the First Regiment of the Sussex County Militia. Following the war, he served as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1779, and as a member of the New Jersey State Legislature Council from Sussex County from 1786 to 1788. Mark returned to military service as an aide-de-camp on the staff on New Jersey Governor Rich Howell in 1793. Mark was elected and served as a Federalist in the United States House of Representative from 1795-1799. He was also a member of Harmony Lodge #8 A&FM, serving as a senior warden in 1793 and Master in 1794. He died in 1803 in Marksboro. Ann and Mark are buried at the Hughesville Cemetery in Warren County. (Remember: at the time of the American Revolution, the land that is now Warren County was part of Sussex County)
Phebe Hatfield Ogden was born in Elizabethtown and died in Sparta in 1796. She and her husband Robert Ogden, Jr. (the 2nd) had 22 children – eight of whom were stillborn – nine who lived to adulthood. During the American Revolution, Robert served as a patriot. He was the chairman of the Elizabethtown Committee of Safely in 1776; and held the positions of clerk of the chancer; a justice; a judge; and speaker of the New Jersey Assembly in Essex County. Moving the family to Sussex County in 1776, Robert became a large landowner along the Wallkill in Ogdensburg. Phebe is credited with naming this area “Sparta”. Robert was a founding member of the Hardyston Presbyterian Church, now called Sparta Presbyterian Church. Both Phebe and Robert are buried in the Sparta Cemetery, right behind this church building.
Martha Cottman Hoops was born about 1746 in Trenton. She was the wife of Robert Hoops and they had one daughter, Martha. During the American Revolution, Robert commanded regiments of the Sussex County Militia, being promoted to brigade major to major. Robert owned land along the Pequest River, where he built mills and a slaughterhouse that supplied beef and pork to Gen. George Washington’s troops. After the war, he served on the Legislative Council in 1784, 85, 89, and 90. He was also a member of Harmony Lodge #8 A&FM. Following the death of Martha in 1797, Robert fell on hard times. He moved with his brother to Western New York in 1804 and purchased 20,000 acres, founding a settlement called Olean. The brothers defaulted on the loan and Robert died penniless in 1818 and was buried in the town burial ground. The Olean DAR Chapter marked the vicinity of his first cabin. Martha is buried in the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford Churchyard, Warren County.
On April 21, 1789, The Ladies of Trenton hosted a reception for the then President-elect George Washing when he traveled through Trenton on his way to New York City for his first inauguration. Large crowds greeted Washington as he crossed the bridge at Assunpink Creek that he had used 12 years earlier at the Battle of Trenton. A triumphal arch at the entrance of the bridge was decorated with greenery and flowers. This reception is depicted in N.C. Wyeth’s painting titled: “Reception to Washington on April 21, 1789, at Trenton on his way to New York to Assume the duties of the President of the United States.” This painting was donated to the Thomas Edison State University, Trenton, NJ by Wells Fargo in 2019.
Wendy Wyman is president of the Sussex County Historical Society
