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The parsonage farmstead dates back to approximately 1706. In 1735 it was purchased by the Freehold Presbyterian Congregation
for use by their pastor, Reverend William Tennent, Jr. The site consisted of a house, barn, privy, well, and several smaller
outbuildings.
The Battle of Monmouth stormed onto this peaceful farm, turning the parsonage into the epicenter of
the battle between General Anthony Wayne's three Continental Regiments and British Grenadiers along with the 33rd Regiment
of Foot. The home and outbuildings were used by the Continentals as field fortifications during the battle, and afterwards
these buildings became field hospitals for both Continental and British wounded.
At the time of the battle, the farmstead
was occupied by another tenant, as Reverend Tennent had died earlier in 1778. From late 1778 through 1824, Dr. John Woodhull,
the congregation's new minister, lived at the parsonage. The minister that followed Dr. Woodhull was a bachelor, and his replacement,
Reverend Robert Roy, built a new parsonage closer to the meeting house in 1829. The parsonage farm was leased out for a few
years, then sold in 1835 to an owner who used it for storage. By 1860 the abandoned house and barn were in severe disrepair,
whereupon they were torn down and dismantled in an effort to salvage their timbers.
WHAT WE'VE FOUND: For several
years, BRAVO and Deep Search Metal Detecting Club have conducted metal detector surveys and surface collections of the parsonage
site. The numerous military artifacts (mostly musket balls) that we have found show evidence of the battle. A concentration
of chewed musket balls on a slope to the west of the house indicates the use of the site as a field hospital. Also, large
quantities of dark green bottle glass sherds found every year after plowing suggest the possibility of a shallow trash pit
to the rear of the house.
BRAVO is currently conducting an archaeological excavation of the site with 5'x5' squares,
aided by the use of Surface Penentrating Radar equipment. BRAVO's long-range plan is to reconstruct the farmstead using ghost
frame buildings for interpretive use and for public viewing.
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