Club members to dedicate
project at historic spring
By linda denicola
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — A community improvement project at the Molly Pitcher Spring is complete and will be dedicated on April 27 from 2-4 p.m.
Louise Smith, chairwoman of the improvement project, said Molly Pitcher Woman’s Club of Freehold members and community volunteers constructed an overlook deck, a natural wood chip pathway and a wayside exhibit at the site from where Molly Pitcher is supposed to have carried water to the troops during the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778.
Smith explained that a wayside exhibit is a low-profile case board that describes what is in the area.
Club members in colonial dress will escort visitors to the spring site which is off Route 522 west near the Monmouth Battlefield office adjacent to the Old Tennent cemetery.
According to Smith, the club raised funds that were used to install the natural walkway and overlook deck at the site.
"We’re pleased with the generosity of our business establishments throughout the area," she said.
Smith and Dr. Garry Stone, the Monmouth Battlefield State Park historian who is also an historic preservation specialist, checked out the site last Oct. 18. While visiting the site, both felt a strong connection to the past.
"As we were walking, we were thinking that we were walking on the same soil as Molly and the troops walked at the time of the battle," Stone said.
The Molly Pitcher Woman’s Club is part of the state’s General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Club members had investigated the possibility of constructing a path to the spring on the Perrine farm — the spring from which Molly Pitcher may have carried water during the 1778 battle. Because of the steep ravine, constructing a handicapped accessible path would have been very difficult, said Gertrude Whitaker when the project began.
She explained that the solution was to build on the east side of the spring where there is a high bank that provides a view of the spring, with a giant beech tree in the center.
"If an overlook platform were constructed on the top of the bank with a platform, a bench and railings, it would create a peaceful, forest bower from which to enjoy the view and to contemplate Molly’s heroism," Whitaker said, adding that the overlook would be very accessible, as it would be less than 250 feet from the cleared field and the future battlefield tour road.
The legend of Molly Pitcher goes back to the Battle of Monmouth, which was fought 225 years ago this June. According to the book, Freehold Township, The First 300 Years, the temperature on that day was 97 degrees and the legendary Molly Pitcher, whose real name was Mary "Mollie" Hays, was carrying water to thirsty troops when her husband, "William" was wounded. She took over the firing of his cannon.
According to Stone, no one really knows which of seven springs Hays took the water from.
"In the 19th century people couldn’t remember Molly Hays very well. When this idea that there was a heroine that fought for American freedom was first suggested, people asked local farmers where she had gotten the water. Every one said she had gotten water from their well. There are seven different places where it’s been claimed that Molly Hays got water. The one that’s plausible is behind her husband’s gun position," he said.
He explained that William’s gun position was east of old Tennent Church, off Spotswood North Brook, a brook that runs along the north side of the state park.
Stone said members of the women’s club came to him asking if there was a project they could get involved with in the park. The club had raised $1,400.
The rain date for the dedication ceremony will be May 3.