The Revolution

White Hall Recruiting Station, 1775-1781

By in Amwell Township, Delaware Township, Families, Headquarters, Historians Revisited, Hunterdon County, J. M. Hoppock, Opdycke No Comments Tags: ,

by Jonathan M. Hoppock

Democrat-Advertiser, 24 October 1901

The White Hall Tavern in Headquarters, NJ

This old building, erected in 1758 at Head Quarters, now Grover, standing on the corner of the road on the farm at present owned by Smith Skinner, was, between the dates given above, used as a recruiting station.1  As shown by papers in possession of the writer, Captain David Jones, of the Continental line, was the recruiting officer, and at this point, when the alarm was given that the then hated minions of King George had made a landing at Paulus Hook (Jersey City) or Amboy, would assemble the patriotic old citizen-soldiery, armed with the flint-locks, home-made bullets and powder horns, and from thence hasten to the front to assist the great Washington in beating back the invaders.2 Continue reading »

The Magic of Myths

By in Headquarters, Hunterdon County, J. M. Hoppock 1 Comment Tags: , ,

In my last post I wrote about the durable story that George Washington visited with John Opdycke and that, as a result, the village where Opdycke lived took on the name of Headquarters. Some people will read that sentence and conclude that it happened and is not a myth. They will ignore that phrase “durable story.” Continue reading »

Tyson’s Mill at Headquarters

By in Amwell Township, Delaware Township, Families, Headquarters, Howell, Hunterdon County, Opdycke, Reading 1 Comment Tags: , , ,

Modified from part of an article first published in The Delaware Township Post, July 21, 2006, as “A History of Headquarters Mill.”

John Opdycke sold Headquarters Mill to Joseph Howell in 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War. This was probably a shrewd decision on Opdycke’s part, since demand for flour would certainly drop off with the end of the war.
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Who Saw George Washington?

By in Carrell, Delaware Township, Families, Headquarters, Opdycke 1 Comment Tags:

The question of whether Washington actually visited Headquarters has bedeviled local historians for decades. The source of the controversy was Fanny Carrell, who was interviewed by Charles W. Opdycke, for his well-known Opdyke Genealogy sometime around 1880 [pg 218-19]. Frances ‘Fanny’ Opdycke was the wife of James Carrell, and he was the grandson of Elizabeth Opdycke Arnwine, daughter of old John Opdycke Esq. Continue reading »

“Headquarters” Has Two Buildings of Historic Interest

By in Carrell, Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, Families, Headquarters, Historians Revisited, Opdycke 2 Comments Tags: , ,

Mill and Mansion Built at Time of French and Indian War
Name “Grover” Never Stuck

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, November 7, 1929

While the mother countries and their colonies were scouring rifles and picking flints in preparation for that spectacular game in the Noble Sport of kings, known to us as the French and Indian War, humble workers whose names are all forgotten were quietly engaged in shaping stones, pouring mortar and cutting “B. 1754” into the date stone for a gristmill six miles west of Flemington. Four years later the mansion house bearing a date stone “B. 1758” was erected. Some say the builder’s name was Opdyke but that lacks confirmation. The stone does not bear out that statement. But by whosoever built, it was a good job then, and still gives promise of standing for another hundred years. 1

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