NEW JERSEY STATE SOCIETY DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
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  • About Us
  • Membership
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    • Issac Watson House
    • New Jersey Room in Memorial Continental Hall
    • The Schuyler-Hamilton House
    • Van Bunschooten Museum
    • Additional Historic Properties
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Westfield Chapter DAR, NSDAR
Westfield Chapter, NSDAR, Patriots

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The members of the ​Westfield Chapter, NSDAR, welcome you to attend our meetings whether you are a visitor or a prospective member.
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Notable Event that Happened in Westfield, New Jersey

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JUNE 26, 1777
Westfield was occupied by British forces at the end of the Battle of the Short Hills.
They occupy and damage the church, and they stole the church bell.
 
The Battle of the Short Hills was fought on June 26, 1777.  At the end of the fighting, British forces were in Westfield, where they would stay encamped until the following morning. In 1777, the church building was occupied by British troops. They did a great deal of damage in Westfield, including damage done to the church.
Militiaman Jacob Ludlum, who fought at the Battle of the Short Hills, later recalled that "The British destroyed much private household property, killed vast numbers of sheep, hogs and cattle. They filled the church with a flock of sheep, placed an old Ram's head with a huge pair of horns in the pulpit and carried away the bell." 
Ludlum is buried in the church's cemetery. 
The following account of what happened with the bell is from an 1839 history of the church by its then-pastor, James M. Huntting: 
"The bell was thrown out of the steeple to the ground without injury, and carried to New York. It was peculiarly fine toned, and was often heard before it was carried away, by the inhabitants of Staten Island and Chatham Village. On the first Sabbath that it was in New York, as the bells of the city began to ring for church, William Clark Esq., who was then a prisoner in the city, heard it and immediately remarked to his fellow prisoners 'that the Westfield bell must have found its way to the city.' By others who had heard it here, its ringing there was noticed, and on the return of peace, it was sought and found. As it had the name of the Parish cast on it, it was readily given up and brought back, but before it was replaced in the belfry it was broken, and materially injured."
 In 1847, a new church bell was cast, using metal that had been melted down from the original bell. That 1847 bell still hangs in the current church's steeple. So although the current church bell is not the same one involved in the American Revolutionary War, it does contain the same metal.

Our Patriot Ancestors

Connecticut
Jonathan Birge
Jesse Gould
Samuel Gilbert
Ashbel Hollister
Ichabod Murray
James Webster

Delaware
Brittingham Ennis

Maryland
Asa Banning
Anthony Brown
Rasin Gale     
Stephen Keyes
Nicholas Slade          
Godfrey Stemple

Massachusetts
Daniel Ballard
John Capen
Lemuel Cleveland
Amariah Dana
Samuel Day, Sr.
Sherebiah Evans
Francis Faulkner
Zimri Hayward
Stephen Keyes
James Sampson
John Sibley

New Hampshire
George Fall
James Hill

New Jersey
Benjamin Chamberlain
Joseph Corwin
Samuel Dally
Henry Denny
James English
Isaac Harris
George Lance
Daniel Taylor
Peter Wikoff
Samuel Willett
Peter Wintermute

New York
Coenraedt Finger
Edward Houghton
Cornelius Van de Mark

North Carolina
Jesse Harris
Richard Wright, Sr.

Pennsylvania
Leonard Beck
Daniel Brodhead
George Buffington
John Dungan
Michael Heilman
Henry Horn
Jacob Housman
Jacob Huyett
Philip Kirk
Frederick Leiby
Andrew McElwaine
Casper Ritter
John Rowles
Charles Smith

Rhode Island
James Sheldon

South Carolina
Jacob Dantzler
James Darwin

​Virginia
William Butler
Samuel Chewning
James Mathes
John McConaughy
William Norris, Sr.


Where Does Your Revolutionary War Story Begin?
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 Westfield Chapter, NSDAR, chaplain, swearing in our new regent.
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Westfield Chapter, NSDAR, members met with Westfield Mayor  (center) to sign a Constitution Week Proclamation.
Do you have a Revolutionary War Patriot in your family tree? 
Accepted American Revolutionary War Service

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Guests and prospective members are warmly welcomed at our meetings. If you are interested in attending, please contact us.
Photos courtesy of chapter members.
The content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR. 
Hyperlinks to other sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters. 

Photos are courtesy of members and Patrice Hatcher Photography  

Webmaster | Update: June 4, 2025