To George Washington from Isaac Woodruff, 7 May 1780
From Isaac Woodruff
Eliza. Town [N.J.] May 7th 1780
May it please your Exclcy
Early this Morning a Quantity of Goods seized under the Law of this State by Capt. Harriman & Doctr Halstead of Eliza. Town1 & Liut. Thomas Farmer of the Connecticut Line,2 were brought before me for Condemnation; I Informed the Captors, it would be illegal to do Business of that kind on the Sabbath, but would order a Trial for the Condemnation of the Goods tomorrow I had an Inventory of the Goods taken & ordered them put up in Cask, that they might be kept in a Place of Safety, untill the Time of Trial, When Major Troop3 ordered a Guard of Men take the Goods & put them into a Waggon which he had provided, I asked him what he meant to do with the Goods, he alledged he had Genl Huntingtons Orders to remove them to Springfield; as I did not conceive that either Major Troop, or even Genl Huntington had any Right to interpose in this Matter, I forbid his taking the Goods upon his Peril, Nevertheless he persisted in his Design & with Guard of about twenty Men with fixed Bayonets, wrested the Goods from me, & drove them of[f], where the Goods are taken I know not, I flatter myself your Excellency will not countenance Officers acting in violation of the Law, but will give support to the Civil Magistrate. I must therefore beg your Excellency’s Interference in this Matter, that proper Notice may be taken of Major Troop for his Contempt & Abuse of the Civil Authority of the State.4 I am Your Exclys most humle Servt
Isaac Woodruff
LS, DLC:GW.
1. Samuel Harriman (1752–1824) lived in Elizabeth and served as a militia captain in Essex County, New Jersey.
Caleb Halstead (1752–1827) became a physician in 1774 and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth.
2. Thomas Farmer (born c.1753) served as an ensign in the 6th Connecticut Regiment from February 1777 until his promotion to lieutenant in August 1780. He transferred to the 4th Connecticut Regiment in January 1781 and resigned from the army that November.
3. Woodruff is referring to Maj. Benjamin Throop.
4. GW replied to Woodruff from Morristown on 8 May: “I have received your letter of yesterday, and have transmitted a copy of it to General Huntington directing him to inquire into the affair. When I receive his report, I shall take such steps as the circumstances of the case seem to require. In the mean time you may be assured that I shall not countenance any infringement of the rights of the civil authority; but shall be always ready to support the Magistrates in the execution of their duty and suppress all attempts to counter act them” (Df, in Alexander Hamilton’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW).
GW also wrote Brig. Gen. Jedediah Huntington from Morristown on the same date: “Inclosed I send you the copy of a letter of yesterday which I have just received from Mr Woodruff. As he states the facts Major Troupe’s conduct seems to have been exceptionable. But before I take any definitive part in the affair, I shall be glad you will make inquiry into the circumstances, and let me hear from you as speedily as possible. … The goods in the mean time are not to be disposed of” (Df, in Alexander Hamilton’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW).
Huntington replied to GW from Springfield, N.J., on the same date: “When the seized Goods mentioned in Your Excellencys Letter of this day were carried to Elisabeth Town, Major Troope tells me he found so many Persons taking Side with the Proprietors, that he apprehended the Goods were not safe there, and thinking himself justified by a Paragraph in his standing Instructions he ordered the Goods under Guard to Connecticut Farms, and ’tis probable he told the People he had my Orders for so doing, he immediately came to me & related the Matter, when I convinced him he had deviated from his Orders and that he must attend in every Point to the Laws of the State—I doubt not he has actd accordingly—but will make Enquiry & inform Your Excellency.
“There is no Exception that I have ever heard to the Character of Justice Woodruff as an upright Judge & an honest Man—but there is Reason to fear there are many Abettors (if not partners) of the London Traders as they are called—which is very discouraging to the Guards—the Permit from the Police of N. York, taken with these Goods, mentions the three persons by Name were allowd to carry out certain Articles because they had brought a large Quantity of Provisions into the City.
“the persons are under Bond of 6000 to answer at Court—the Goods were taken at the House of a Man (John Hendricks) who was carried in by the Enemy some Time ago & let out on Parole—for wise Purposes, no Doubt. …
“Evening The Seizure of the said Goods has been tryed by Justice Woodruff & Part of them condemned, the Remainder by Subtlety of Law escape—& Lt Palmer, as a Reward for his Vigilance and Pains, is held under Bonds to answer to the next superior Court for breaking the House where the Goods were found” (ALS, DLC:GW).
For the involvement of John Hendricks in earlier espionage activities, see GW to John Clark, Jr., 29 Sept. 1777, and Francis Barber to GW, 13 July 1778, and n.2 to that document. Hendricks subsequently claimed to have worked as a spy under Col. Elias Dayton (see Hendricks to GW, 17 Oct. 1780, DLC:GW; see also Tench Tilghman to Hendricks, 3 Nov. 1780, DLC:GW).
Edward Palmer (died c.1818) served as a lieutenant in the 5th Connecticut Regiment from January 1777 until his resignation from the army in July 1780. Palmer explained his reasons for resigning when he wrote GW from Stonington, Conn., on 30 June: “When I arrived home on the recruiting service I found my domestick affairs in such a Situation that I wuld not leave home to Join the Army again without making a greater sacrifice of my intrest than I think myself in duty bound to do—on that account I am reduced to the disagreable necessity to ask for a discharge from the service of the United States” (ALS, DNA: RG 93, manuscript no. 734).