The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-03-12
Great wolf" Swamp
Around Freehold in 1000.

Very little is known about that Sec
ton of the vicinity OF Freehold that
was called "The Great Wolf Swamp
other than in old deeds in the very
early days Of the settlement of Mon
mouth County that it was used as
boundary, too worthless to be owned
by anyone and vast swamp sur
rounded by woods into which few, If
any, attempted to go, and wilderness
inhabited solely by wolves, bears, Wild
cats, foxes, snakes and other reptiles,
in the impossible morases, while in the
air eagles, wild turkeys, owls and vul-
lures lowered in search of their prey.
The location Of this great swamp was
from what is now Freeh old borough
on the southerly side across South street
thence easterly across e. Main street
and thence norfherly it traversed the
now meadow land and so on beyond,
the old New Brunswick road" and
then northerly and westerly. This
swamp land has now mostly been re-
claimed and is good tillable farms and
the meadows as they now exist was
probably the densist and most impen-I
etrable Of this jungle, known as the
Great Wolf swamp by the early English
and Dutch settlers and well known by
them long before there was place
in this county by the name Of Free
hold, the homes of the Freeholders as
then designated, being series of farm
houses on free land purchased direct
from the Indians, mostly located to the
north of the present site Of Freehold,
and interspersed with stores, taverns
and blacksmith shops, mostly 10.
Gated on the roads between now the
Englishtown road and the old Middle
townroad and extending to Roberts
vile and beyond Wickatunck.
The name Great Wolf Swamp then
almost entirely surrounding the pres
emit Borough of Freehold is sugges-
tive of the great number Of voracious
wolves inhabiting it. Strong and auda-
cious in their .undisputed hahitation
for years they could not become accus-
toned to any interference and as some
of them were killed the beasts became
more savage than ever. The pack, led
by a large powerful wolf, were the ter
ror Of the settlers and one of their first
tasks was to try and rid themselves Of
these pests, after the subjucation of the
Indians by the Dutch 1904. The set.
tiers OF Mot mouth after this peace took
it npon themselves to cxterminate these
fierce foes, who killed ard devoured
horses. oxen, COWS and sheep, and
whom hungry, attacked men, women
and children. Prizes for the pelts
were offered but with little effect soon
the settlers were forced to act more Wig
orously. A little girl while playing in
q field near the swamp was attacked by
one of these fierce brutes, and but for
timely arrival of some men working
near by, who heard her screams, she
would have been killed.
This aroused the settlers to the me-
cessity of hunting down and killing
these voracious brutes in a systematic
manner, so one day they met and sur
rounded this vast swamp as well as they
could and advancing made short work
of wolves they found. The largest wolf,
the leader, was not among those killed
and the settlers devised other means to
kill him but without success.
One night few years later a settler
was awakened by q great commotion
among the animals in his barn, and
seizing his blunderbus, ran out and
as he opened the barn door a great
wolf came leaping out. The settler
was eady and fired and with a terrific
yelp the huge beast toppled over dead,
and his existence and dread passed in
to the traditional past.