Hancock House | |
![]() Hancock House, in 2010 | |
Location | 3 Front St., Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°30′27″N75°27′38″W / 39.50750°N 75.46056°W |
Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) |
Built | 1734 |
NRHP reference No. | 70000393 [1] |
NJRHP No. | 2433 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 18, 1970 |
Designated NJRHP | September 11, 1970 |
The Hancock House is a historic structure in the Hancock's Bridge section of Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It was the site of the 1778 Hancock's Bridge massacre. [3] The site is on the National Register of Historic Places. [4]
The house was built in 1734 for Judge William and Sarah Hancock and features Flemish bond brickwork detailed with blue-glazed bricks, which gives the year of construction (1734) and the initials of the couple for whom it was built: W S for William and Sarah. [4] William died in 1762 and passed the house to his son William, also a judge.
On March 21, 1778, Major John Graves Simcoe led approximately 300 British soldiers and Queen's Rangers through a marsh and across Alloway Creek to surround Hancock House. At approximately 5 a.m., they entered the house and surprised 20 to 30 members of the local militia stationed there, along with Judge Hancock, a loyalist who was thought to be away for the night. Eight American men were killed during the melee, including Judge Hancock, who died the following day from 10 stab wounds. The rest were wounded at the scene or during a retreat, or captured as prisoners.
William Abbott and his son Samuel watched in the dawning light from the attic window of their home in Elsinboro, diagonally across the creek from the Hancock House, as the British and Tory soldiers pursued and killed the few American militiamen who had escaped the scene of the carnage at the house and surrounding yard. The next morning while driving to a meeting in Salem, several British and Tory troops surrounded the Abbott carriage, tormenting the occupants by thrusting their bayonets at them, then showed them blood on their steel weapons and exclaimed, "See the blood of your countrymen."
Other County Colonial lore states that, in the midst of the massacre, the pregnant wife of one of the local militia was sleeping in the Hancock House. She was awakened by the screams of the dying men and jumped from a second story window on the west side of the house to make her escape. Tradition says that, within twenty-four hours, the child was born and that descendants of that child are living in Lower Alloways Creek township today. The old Hancock House museum is said to still have actual massacre blood stains on its attic floor.
Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River and its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its county seat is Salem.
Route 49 is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It runs 53.80 mi (86.58 km) from an interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 295 (I-295), and U.S. Route 40 (US 40) in Deepwater, Salem County, southeast to Route 50 and County Route 557 in Tuckahoe, Cape May County. The route serves Salem, Cumberland, Atlantic, and Cape May counties, passing through rural areas and the communities of Salem, Bridgeton, and Millville along the way. It is a two-lane, undivided road for most of its length.
Lower Alloways Creek Township is a township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 1,717, a decrease of 53 (−3.0%) from the 2010 census count of 1,770, which in turn reflected a decline of 81 (−4.4%) from the 1,851 counted in the 2000 census.
Quinton Township is a township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 2,580, a decrease of 86 (−3.2%) from the 2010 census count of 2,666, which in turn reflected a decline of 120 (−4.3%) from the 2,786 counted in the 2000 census.
Salem is a city in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Salem County, the state's most rural county. The name Salem, for both the city and county, is derived from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning peace. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 5,296, an increase of 150 (+2.9%) from the 2010 census count of 5,146, which in turn reflected a decrease of 711 (−12.1%) from the 5,857 counted in the 2000 census. Salem is part of the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia greater metropolitan area.
Pluckemin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Bedminster Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was also known historically as Pluckamin. It was the site of several historic events during the American Revolutionary War.
Alloway Creek is a 23.2-mile-long (37.3 km) tributary of the Delaware River in Salem County, New Jersey in the United States. The name is a derivative of Allowas, an Indian chief. It has also been known by other names: Aloes River, Aloes Creek, Cotton River, Korten River, Short River, Monmouth River, Munmouth River, and Roiter's River.
The Battle of Quinton's Bridge was a minor battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on March 18, 1778, during the British occupation of Philadelphia. New Jersey militia companies defending a bridge across Alloway Creek in Salem County, New Jersey, were lured into a trap by British Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood and suffered significant casualties.
Thomas Jones Yorke was a US Whig Party politician.
Hancock House may refer to:
The Abel and Mary Nicholson House is brick house built in 1722 in Elsinboro Township, New Jersey, United States. It is an excellent example of a Delaware Valley patterned brick building. The vitrified bricks form geometric designs and highlight the year of construction. The building has not been significantly altered since it was built and has been receiving grants to help preserve it. It was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture in 2000
Hancock's Bridge is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lower Alloways Creek Township, in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 254. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08038.
The Lower Alloways Creek Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Lower Alloways Creek Township, in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house on Buttonwood Avenue, 150 feet west of Main Street in the Hancock's Bridge section of Lower Alloways Creek Township in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in 1756 and documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey. It was later added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 2003, for its significance in architecture.
Dickinson House is located in Alloway Township, Salem County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built in 1754 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 20, 1975.
William Hancock may refer to:
Judge William Hancock may refer to William Hancock Sr., or his son William Hancock Jr.
The Old Salem County Courthouse is a courthouse located in Salem, Salem County, New Jersey.
The Van Horne House is a historic building at 941 East Main Street near Bound Brook in Bridgewater Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The house was built c. 1750 and also known as Phil's Hill, after its owner, Philip Van Horne. It served as the headquarters for American General Benjamin Lincoln in 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, in particular the Battle of Bound Brook. Later, it served as the headquarters for American General William Alexander, Lord Stirling during the second Middlebrook encampment (1778–79). The house, on the early-18th-century Old York Road that connected Philadelphia to New York City, was a New Jersey landmark during the war. Since 2002, the Heritage Trail Association has used the house as its headquarters, including an exhibit space. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 2002, for its locally significant Colonial Revival architecture from 1937 to 1944.
The Joseph Ware House, also known as the Joshua Thompson House and the Ware–Shourds House, is a historic house located at 134 Poplar Street in the Hancock's Bridge section of Lower Alloways Creek Township in Salem County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 26, 1990, for its significance in architecture, exploration/settlement, literature, military history, and politics/government.
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