ON the north side of the Sussex
Turnpike Road, leading to the
town, there stood until recently
a two-story hip-roofed house
very similar to the Campfield
dwelling. During the Revolution and up to the dawn of the
nineteenth century it was the home of Counsellor Condict, a noted Morristown patriot.
The Condict family is one of the oldest in Morristown,
having settled there when it was known as New Hanover.
Silas Condict, the Counsellor, as he is always called,
was born in 1737, in a house on what is now Mills
Street. At the age of twenty-two he began the
study of surveying, and shortly afterwards married his
first wife, Phoebe Day. Upon her decease he espoused
Abigail Bryam. She was a true colonial dame, and
by her services to the cause won the regard of Governor Livingston and the love of many a brave soldier
while the army was encamped at Morristown. The
gallant Colonel Ebenezer Condict, who succumbed
to the dread scourge of smallpox in the winter of 1777, was a brother of the Counsellor. (The Rev. Timothy Johns, famous for having administered the
Sacrament to General Washington when in Morristown, lost sixty-eight
of his flock by the sourge of smallpox in that year.) Early in
life he married Abigail Alden, a descendant of John
Alden, of "Mayflower" fame, and they often visited at
the Condict House.
Mrs. Silas Condict was present when Martha Wash-
ington delivered her famous rebuke to the Morristown
ladies in the Ford Mansion ; but she did not feel ashamed
of herself, as some of the others declared they were. She
was a tireless knitter, and early in 1779 she organized the
knitting-bees which were held at the Condict House for
the benefit of the stockingless soldiers. It is a tradition
that the knitting-needles flew so fast on these occasions
that Governor Livingston praised their owners for their
industry and noble work.
Silas Condict became a member of the legislature of
the province of New Jersey in 1776. Later he was
elected a member of the Provincial Congress and also
president of the Committee of Safety. Many of the
meetings of the latter organization were held at his
homestead, and several were attended by General
Washington. He was a notable surveyor and mapped
out thousands of acres of New Jersey land.
The Counsellor was a violent Whig and warmly
championed his country's welfare. There is a story
told of his capturing some Tories, at the beginning of
the war, for minor offences. In the old jail at the north
corner of the village green they were incarcerated for
many weeks. When at last set free, they planned to revenge themselves on their captor. Not far from the
Condict House was a large meadow swamp, and there
they lay in wait for a considerable time, hoping to take
him dead or alive. Becoming weary of watching for
him, one of their number went to his house to make
inquiries as to his whereabouts. The Counsellor was
really at home, but his wife, suspicious of the man's
appearance, told him that her husband was in Trenton.
The news was carried to his comrades in the swamp,
and the disheartened band left the region with their
threats of vengeance unfulfilled.
Silas Condict, like his rebel governor, vowed he would
never be taken alive by the enemy, and his home was
fortified to withstand sudden attacks. After the battle of
Princeton several British officers, with their serving-men,
in charge of Americans, were quartered on the Condict
household until their exchange could be effected. According to one account, the British occupied one side of
the house and the Americans the other, and a most uncomfortable time the family had with the altercations
constantly arising.
One young officer of impetuous temper owned a
vicious dog, which created great consternation among
the household and slaves. The Britisher, when approached on the subject, haughtily refused to part with
it. Finally, Condict took the matter in hand and ordered
it to be put out; and out it went, although the youth
drew his sword and the eye-witnesses expected the Counsellor to be instantly run through.
Many famous American generals shared the Condict
hospitality during the war; and there was a saying among the officers encamped at Morristown "that victuals were
always waiting at Dame Condict's."
In 1799 Silas Condict left his house on the Sussex
Road, and moved with his family to a larger one he
had erected on the present Cutter Street. There he died
soon afterwards.
He had no sons, and therefore adopted Colonel
Ebenezer's son Silas the second, who became one of
his heirs and inherited much of his property. Silas
Condict the second, on coming of age, married Char-
lotte Ford, a daughter of Jonathan Ford, and a great-
granddaughter of Jonathan Dickinson, famous as the
founder of the College of New Jersey and the author
of that quaint volume, "Familiar Letters to a Gentleman,
by a Minister of the Gospel at Elizabeth-Town."
Charlotte Condict was worthy of her illustrious parent-
age, and started the first Sunday-school in New Jersey
at her small home at Littleton in 1810.
The old Condict House was called the Hyndshaw
House for many years, as it was owned and occupied by
Rev. James Hyndshaw, whose wife was a great-grand-daughter of Silas Condict. Although of plain exterior,
the mantels and wood-carvings in its rooms were quite
elaborate with handwork. It was destroyed a short
time ago, much to the sorrow of many of Morristown's
old citizens, for it was regarded as one of the venerable
links connecting the present Morristown with the
village of long ago.
