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By Frank R. Stockton
Originally published in 1896
Honeyman had made himself so conspicuous in
that part of the country as a Tory who was. working
as hard as he could for the benefit of the British by
supplying them with beef, that all news about him
was received with great interest. It was not long
before this story of how he had been captured by
the American pickets, and afterwards escaped from
the log prison, became generally known; and the
people of Griggstown, where his wife and family
lived, were greatly excited, believing that Honeyman
had come there, and had concealed himself in his
house. A mob collected in the neighborhood late
one night, surrounded the house, and woke up the
family with shouts and banging on the door. Mrs.
Honeyman appeared, nearly frightened to death ; and
some of the ringleaders told her that they knew
that her Tory husband had come back, and was concealed
inside; and they vowed, that, if he did not
come out and deliver himself up, they would burn
the house and everything in it.
She declared that he was not there, and that it
had been a long time since she had seen him. But
this was of no use. They persisted that he was
inside, and that, if he did not come out very quickly,
they would set fire to the house. It was of no use
to reason with an excited mob, and, although Mrs.
Honeyman said that they might come in and search
the house for her husband, they would not listen to
her. Perhaps one reason of this was, that Honeyman
was a dangerous man to look for, inside of his own
house and in dark rooms. Mrs. Honeyman saw that
she must act quickly, or her home would be lost to her.
She ran inside, and soon appeared with a paper,
which she gave to a man in the crowd with whom
she was acquainted, and asked him to read it so that
every one could hear.
It was not to be supposed that Mrs. Honeyman
possessed a private riot act, which might be read in
order to disperse a disorderly assembly ; but even the
most disorderly people are generally possessed of
great curiosity in regard to anything out of the common, and they consented to put off the bonfire a few
minutes, and hear what was to be read. What the
angry crowd heard was as follows:– GEO. WASHINGTON.
When the crowd heard the communication from the
commander in chief of the American army, ordering
them to refrain from violence to Mrs. Honeyman and
her family, they could not understand why it had been
written ; but they understood very well what it commanded,
and so, grumbling a good deal, but not daring
to disobey, they dispersed, and left the wife of
the spy in peace.
This paper, of course, was cherished as a great prize
by the Honeyman family, and remained in their possession
for many years ; and it was indeed an heir-
loom worth preserving. But, although it proved a
safeguard for Mrs. Honeyman, it did not remove the
prejudices against her husband, and for a long time
after that it would have been a very unwise thing for
Tory Honeyman to come to Griggstown. Of course,
it would have been an easy thing for Washington to
have publicly exonerated Honeyman from all charges
of treason and Toryism, but this would not have served
his purpose. There was still need of a competent spy
in the British lines; and there Honeyman remained
during the rest of the war, always ready to give
information to the commander whenever he could
obtain it.
When peace was proclaimed, Washington did not
forget Honeyman, and he himself told the story of
how this brave man became a Tory butcher for the
sake of American independence, and of the great
services he had rendered to the cause. Then, of
course, Honeyman went home to his wife and family,
and the people of Griggstown received him as if he
had been a great hero. And in fact, looking at the
matter from a war point of view, he deserved all
the honors they could give him, for without his aid
the battle of Trenton could never have been won ; and
in fact he was more useful in that engagement than if
he had been a regiment of soldiers.
Honeyman was no doubt a great man in Griggstown.
The people who had once threatened to burn
down his house could not do enough for him. Those
who once would not speak to his wife when they met
her, now implored her to let them know what they
could do for her, and it was not long before the popularity
of the family increased to a wonderful degree.
Several officers of rank who had heard of what
Honeyman had done, came to see and talk with him;
and, more than that, Washington himself came to
Griggstown, and paid a visit to his former spy. Such
an honor was enough to make the once denounced
Tory butcher the leading citizen of the town. Honeyman
now became a prosperous man, and bought a
large farm and reared a family of seven children, who
grew up and prospered; and their descendants are now
scattered all over the State. He himself lived to the
good old age of ninety-five, and died respected and
honored by all, – never thought of as a spy, but only
as a patriotic hero.
It would appear, from the stories of those early
days, that whenever a man or woman acted a good
part, and was truly of service to New Jersey, he or
she always lived to be very old, and left behind a
vast number of descendants.
Authority:
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
This paper, which it is said Washington not only
signed, but wrote with his own hand, had been given
to Honeyman some time before, and he sent it to
his wife in order that it might protect her in case
of danger such as now threatened her. It was
thought very likely that the people of Griggstown
would become so incensed against the Tory butcher,
that they might offer harm to his wife and family;
and Washington was, no doubt, glad to give what
protection he could to the home of the man who,
no matter how much he might have deceived other
people, was always true to him and to the American
cause.
AMERICAN CAMP, NEW JERSEY, 1776.
To the good people of New Jersey, and all others whom it may
concern: It is hereby ordered that the wife and children of John
Honeyman of Griggstown, the notorious Tory, now within the
British lines and probably acting the part of a spy, shall be, and
are hereby protected from all harm and annoyance from every
quarter until further orders. But this furnishes no protection to
Honeyman himself.
Com.-in-Chief.
"Our Home," published in Somerville, N.J., 1873.
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