The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-29
FALL on A GIANT cHEsTNuT.
On 1t Pagan, Chief of the Jersey Pine
Robbers, swung a Century Ago.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York sun
Freehold, n. J.. Dec. 26.-The historic
Pagan tree, a colossal chestnut on the
Dutch Lane road. about "A quarter of a
mile from the town limits, has been cut
down. From the giant chestnut the body
of Jacob Pagan, one of the chiefs of the
notorious Pine robbers, who was shot in
Eastern Monmouth during the revolution,
was hung as warning to evildoers
The stump of the tree measured TWEEN
ty-eight feet in circumference The in
terror of the trunk had decayed until there
was formed cavity large enough to adj
init the body OF man. In 1t some boys
recently kindled fire and killed the Old
tree, and neceSsitated its being cut down.
For all the years of this century The
chestnut had been prolific bearer OF
limbs of one side of the tree. The barren
SIDE OF II was said to be that from which
Jacob Fagan's body was suspended. Mean
this tree, it is said, was located the gall
lows where thirteen of Fagan's fellow
rut1ans met their death at various times
previous to the killing of Pagan. Past
when on its retreat after the battle of
Monmouth, and in it's shade died young
Lieut.. the Hon. Harry Courtayne, who
was wounded in that engagement
The Pine robbers fiour.s during the
revolutionary war and terrorized all this
section of New Jersey; They were sen
CT any AinGIltdHSs Cnl6uy lOTleS. lHt
county was sparsely settled and primitive
forests covered this section, which coulA
be traversed only by circuitous saddle
paths. Hence it was chosen by refugees
and tories as an asylum. From Their re-
treats here they conducted marauding eX>
petitions against patriots. When har0
pursued the Pine robbers would hide in
caves burrowed in the side of sad hills
in the most remote recesses of the forest,
the entrances to which would be concealed
with brush and wild vines. Such a cave,
ealf rah have hos
bers, was discovered not long ago near
the old Our House tavern on the road
from Farmingdale to this place. A Ions
time ago another cave was found in the
Hominy hills near Colts Neck. The BAN
dts of the pines ranged over a wide eX-
tent of territory, having regular stations
at various points in the forest From the
facility with which they moved about and
eluded the armed posses that sought their
capture, it is believed that they were aided
and abetted by the tories and English
These robbers instituted a reign of ter
ror. Whole families of defenceless Amer
leans We're murdered, houses and barns
were plundered and burned, ana crops or
cattle were destroyed or stolen. Ultimate
ly it became unsafe to go unarmed and
farmers carried their muskets to the
fields and even to the place of worship on
Sundays. These victims of the Pine rob-
bensEwho were not murdered were carried
to the British prison ships in New York
bay and there confined as prisoners OF
upon the heads of the outlaws, and like
wild beasts they We're hunted to their
lairs and slain until, at the end OF the war,
they had been totally eradicated.
BY reason of his deeds of violence and
bloodshed Jacob Pagan was the most no
torious of all these robbers. One Mon
day late in September, IT'S, he made his
last raid. 1t was upon the house OF Mai
Dennis, on the south bank of the ManaS-
guam river, about four miles below How
ellis Mills. where was concealed some ne
Americans. Pagan was accompanied by
an old accomplice, Bill Burke, ana by a
new member of his band, named Henry
Smith. The latter was a respected cltl-
zen stanch American and Jealous adj
herent of the revolutionary cause, who
had Joined Pagan and Burke for the sole
purpose of betraying them into the hands
or tire law. When near Maj Dennis
Smith persuaded the two ruftians to re-
main concealed in the bushes While ne
went forward to reconnoitre. Al the
house he found that Maj. Dennis was
away and his wife and two children We're
alone there. Upon being informed OF then
danger the daughter, Amelia, VINO a1ter-
wards became Mrs. Coryeli OF Phlladephia
secreted a purse of money in bedtick
and, with her little brother, sought con
| cealment in a nearby swamp, from Wnich
she could see all that went on near the
| house. where Mrs. Dennis remained alone
Scarcely had Amelia left than the two
robbers entered the house and ransacked
it without finding much of value, In DIS
proposed numbering Mrs. Dennis, but the
other objected, and so she was finally led
out and bound to a young cedar tree hen
catching sight of Amelia, Pagan fred a
shot at her that missed the mark Then
the robbers fled.
on the following day Maj Dennis re-
moved his family, under a strong mill
tary guard, TO a place of safety near
Shrewsbury Smith contrived soon to in
form Maj. Dennis of ANOTHER raid plan
ned on his house by Pagan and Burke. AS
/ a result a squad of militia lay in ambush
along the bride path and killed both ruff
fans. The bodies were buried where they
fell. but the next Sunday crowd OF pa-
triots disintsrred Fagan's body, and, after
wrapping it in tarred cloth, hung 1t in
chains from the chestnut tree, near this
place There 1t swung to and FRO untll
buzzards tore the flesh from the bones,
which fell piece by piece to the ground
Than the skull was placed against the
treE with a pipe between the jaws, and
long remained there.
.