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PIRATES OF MONMOUTH COUNTY:Sandy Hook - Patriots and Pirates
A fortified and secure camp, Sandy Hook remained in British hands
throughout the Revolution. With Staten Island, it served as a jumping off
place for raids upon Monmouth County. Always garrisoned by regular British
troops and protected by their navy, the Hook harbored numerous Loyalists.
The closest strategic site continuously in Patriot hands was Black
Point, (now Rumson) separated from the Hook by perhaps half a mile of inlet,
shifting shoals and sedge. Black Point represented the apex of land, closely
tied to the remainder of the county, but protected by the Navesink and
Shrewsbury Rivers.
Just as the Hook was a Loyalist stronghold, Black Point was a point of
departure for the Patriot raiders, and a haven on their return. Captain Kidd
One legend says that Captain Kidd buried his treasure by a huge pine tree on Sandy Hook, but neither the treasure nor the tree has ever been found. Captain Kidd initially had the King's permission to arrest pirates, but in 1697, instead of hunting them down, he joined them and began to capture trading vessels. He was arrested in July of 1699, sent to England for trial, and found guilty of murder and piracy. On May 23, 1701, he was hanged. History relates that in 1736, William Leeds, reputedly a reformed follower of Captain Kidd, left a glebe (land yielding revenue to a church) to be shared by CHRIST CHURCH IN SHREWSBURY and CHRIST CHURCH IN MIDDLETOWN, then united as one church. The present Christ Episcopal Church, at the junction of Kings Highway and Middletown - Lincroft Road, was built in 1835, and in 1854 an act of the state legislature separated it from the Shrewsbury church. The Middletown church, which has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, preserves a romantic bit of history. In the plaster above the pulpit is a cross, said to have been inscribed there by Captain Kidd with the point of his sword. |
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Across the Navesink River from Highlands, lies Sandy Hook Peninsula, the
northern tip of a natural barrier beach reaching through the waters toward
New York.
Pirates, including the notorious Captain William Kidd, are said to
have roamed the lands of Monmouth County.