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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
County 22 branches west from US 9 (see Tour 18) at FREEHOLD,
0 mile. (170 alt., 6,894 pop.) (see FREEHOLD), following Throckmorton
St. to MOLLY PITCHER'S WELL (L), 1.4 miles, between the railroad and the
road. The well is boarded over and shows few signs of care though it has
large historic marker. Three generations have venerated this boxed-in
wellhead of wood and stone, though there is much dispute over the location of the original well; some historians say it was buried when the rail-
road was graded. There is no question, however, that Molly, 23-year-old
wife of an artilleryman, carried water to men faint with thirst in the heat
of the Battle of Monmouth. The soldiers, hearing her called "Molly" by
her husband, called out: "Here comes Molly and her pitcher!" This they
shortened to Molly Pitcher, and thus she has lived in history.
She had come here to see her husband and, finding some of the gunners
near prostration from the 96-degree heat, had caught up one of the artillery buckets and carried water from a nearby well or spring. Finding her
husband disabled and another of the gun crew slain, she seized the swab
and worked the rest of the day sponging the gun, keeping up its fire, and
giving courage to the entire battery. After the battle Molly was thanked by
Gen. Nathanael Greene, speaking for the entire army. Next day, barefooted and in her powder-stained dress, she was presented to Washington.
Molly's husband, John Caspar Haye, recovered, and his wife remained
with the army until the end of the war. Afterward she lived in Carlisle, Pa.
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