Text from the Jonas Cattell Marker, placed at Gibbs' Tavern & Smithy in Haddonfield, New Jersey: 1758 Jonas Cattell 1849 With four cannon and 1600 Hessian troops, Count von Donop camped 300 yards east of here en route to Fort Mercer at Red Bank. A prisoner that night, Jonas Cattell, 18 years old, was released before the enemy marched out before daylight. He ran to warn the fort ten miles distant. Colonel Christopher Greene ordered that the cannon commanding the Delaware be repositioned to meet the landmark attack. Thanks to the timely warning that day, October 22, 1777, three hundred Colonists defeated the Hessian forces. Count Von Donop was mortally wounded in the attack. (Plaque placed by the Francis Hopkinson Chapter, NSDAR, and, the Society, Sons of the American Revolution, in the State of New Jersey)
Jonas Cattell was born in 1758, on a farm called Lavender Hills. The farm was located just outside Woodbury, New Jersey, in what is now the town of Deptford, New Jersey. While growing up, Jonas loved the outdoors and exploring the woods and trails in the area. He was known as a fast runner; in more recent times, he was listed in Ripley's Believe It or Not for hand-delivering a letter from Woodbury to Cape May and back, 160 miles, on foot, in two days. And at the age of 18, in October 1777, Jonas became a hero.
At that time, a force of Hessian troops was camped in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Jonas was said to have been apprenticed to a blacksmith in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Jonas had stayed there too late and was arrested by the soldiers for violating curfew. His punishment was to spend the night in jail until first light. During the night, Jonas overheard the Hessian and British soldiers discussing a surprise, early morning attack they were planning for the following day. They planned to march to Fort Mercer on the Delaware River and overthrow the American Patriots who were stationed there. Jonas Cattell was familiar with all of the back trails in the area. In fact, he was known to have created a number of the trails. When he was released the following morning, Jonas used those back trails and ran the ten miles from Haddonfield, New Jersey to Fort Mercer so he could warn the Patriots. Thanks to his knowledge of the area, he arrived well before the Hessians. This warning allowed the Americans to strategically position themselves to defend their fort. Even though the American Patriots were outnumbered by three to one, because they were able to prepare for the battle against the Hessians, they were able to defeat the Hessian and British soldiers, and to inflict massive casualties while suffering minimal losses within their own ranks.
Soon after the battle, Jonas Cattell enlisted in the American forces and served throughout the Revolutionary War. Following the war, he returned to Deptford Township, New Jersey, and the outdoor life he loved. By the turn of the century, he served as master of the hounds for the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, the first fox hunting club in North America. Jonas was well-known in the area throughout his life. He was said to wear a red flannel shirt, a heavy overcoat, fisherman's boots, and canvas leggings, and to always carry a gun and a tomahawk. Jonas Cattell died on September 18, 1849, at the age of 91. He is buried in the Cattell Family Burial Ground, a tiny wooded grove in Deptford, New Jersey. The grave is located on Melvin Avenue, one block south of Caulfield Avenue. The Jonas Cattell Run was started in 1969 to honor this great American hero and takes place each year during October. The Jonas Cattell Run starts at King's Court in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and finishes at Fort Mercer in National Park, New Jersey. The Haddonfield Chapter, NSDAR, presents a plaque to the first teenage runner to reach the finish line at Fort Mercer.
Haddonfield Chapter, NSDAR, Patriots, A-L
A Benjamin Adams
George Amy
Jacob Arndt
Conrad Arnold
John Arnold
Samuel Arnold
B Thomas Babb
John Ward Bates
Elijah Bacon
John Gideon Bailey
Frederick Beard
Joseph Beaver
William Bradley
Seth Bradley
George Ludwig Breinig
William Britt, Sr.
J. William Britt, Sr.
Andrew Bucknam
C Archibald Campbell
John Carrington
Thomas Cates
John Carmichael
Thomas Clark
James Cooper
John Crane
Jonah Crosby
D George Darden, Sr.
Anthony Deck
Simon Jacob Diehl
John Dodson
E John Eastwick
George Edelman
William Ellis
F John Flory
G George Geassarr
John Gehringer
James Gibbons
William Gibbons
Christian Gudknecht
H Henry Haas
Thomas Hamlin
James Hannum
John Hart
Mary Ludwig Hayes
John Haynes
Nathan Haynes
Levi Hayward
Benjamin Hendricks
Job Hinton
Aaron Hosmer
Samuel Howel, Jr.
Consider Howland
Friedrick Humbert
Edward Hunt
J Michael Jack
Joshua Jackson
Edward Joines
K Nathaniel Kennard, Sr.
Michael Kimmel
Anthony Kintz
Jacob King
Thomas King
Ditrich Kesling
L Samuel Lamberson
John Lawson
Frederick Leader
John Lear
Anthony Lerch, Sr.
Zachariah Linthicum
Andrew Long
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