The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1911-03-07
REVOLUTIONARY REL
ICS IN OLD HOUSE
The Hathaway House Gives Up
MuSket and Cannon Balls.

Interesting relics of by-gone days
have been found by laborers engaged
in moving the old Benoni Hathaway
house from its old location to new
site on Nicholas avenue. This old
house is one of Morristown's many
Revolutionary dwellings and was the
home during the Revolution of Col.
Hathaway. who was soldier in Wash
ington's army.
Between the walls was found the
barrel and part of the stock of a
musket of Revolutionary time togethe
with two rusted cannon balls. The
gun is of the flint-lock type) and
is muzzle loader. In digging about
the place several coins were found.
A half-penny of 1907 and pennies of
1902, 1907, 1927, 1887 and 1853 of this
country, being among them
Felice Vignola, its owner, has lined
the old house up with other buildings
on the street and has shingled it on
the exterior, the old weather boards
being no longer able to resist the
elements. The relics were found by
Vignola's son-in-law, Antonio Forenze,
who is the contractor for the moving
of the house.
That the old musket may be one
used by Col Hathaway is believed to
be possible and it, together with the
cannon balls, will be offered to the
Washington Association of New Jer-
sey for exhibition at Washington's
headquarters. During the war Wash
ington had one of the principle sources
of powder supply located on the
Whippany river at Morristown, known
as Ford's powder mill and directly in
front of the Hathaway house which
is on knoll quarter of a mile away
and overlooking the site of the pow
der mill were mounted cannon as
protection to the mill. They were
to be used to drive off any sortie
of the enemy to gain possession of
tue powder depot.
But it is not only as the home of
Col Hathaway that this old house
has its claim to fame but as Being,
too, the home of Ransford Rogers, tn
creator of the Morristown ghost
phis 1aasNlls bit of local historyswas
ed{ttsd after the Revolutionary,
fwstfs II was a common opinionE ~
that time that large sums of money
had Been buried during the war by
Tories Asd others in Schooley's mount
aims. 1t was supposed to be con-
cealed to protect it ON one hand from
confiscation by the colonies and on
the other from the demands of war.
Many of these Tories never re-
turned to their homes and many died
during the conflict, their treasures
being, so it was believed, still under
ground Moreover, it was believed
that these treasures were guarded by
the spirits of their owners so that no
one could obtain them without pus-
sessing the art of dispelling spirits.
1t was in the summer of 1888 that
two Morristown men travelled through
Smiths Cove, New York, where they
fell in with a Yankee school teacher
named Ransford Rogers. The latter
professed to have n deep knowledge
of chemistry and all sciences which
gave him, he asserted, the power 20
raise or dispell good or evil spirits.
Visions of speedy fortunes rose be-
fore the two travellers and they per-
suaded Rogers to accompany them to
Morristown. He made his abode, SO
tradition has it, in the house of Col.
Benoni Hathaway. and was installed
as the school teacher in little coun-
try school lPuse about three miles
from the town, in the Mendham road.