It is my honor to have Jennie Sweetman again contribute a guest article. She has very interesting and heretofore unpublished research on a local Revolutionary War spy.
I look forward to reading this, and I hope you do too.
- Bill Truran
Sussex County boasted a female spy dubbed the most notorious malefactor imaginable
By Jennie E. Sweetman
The term Underground Railroad generally tends to be associated with the Civil War. But here in Sussex County, an Underground Railroad appears to have been quite active during the Revolutionary War.
Sadly to say, historians credit the Loyalists with creating an Underground Railroad through Sussex County for fleeing Loyalists, who were provided with a list of “safe houses” to hide while traveling to reach behind British lines or fleeing from zealous Patriots.
One of those spies who helped the Loyalists to escape was a Sussex County woman, Nancy Nevil, a person who remains a mystery to this day.
The Loyalists appear to have been especially actively involved in helping Gen. John Burgoyne’s men, especially the Hessian soldiers, as they traveled on their way to their final destination of Charlottesville, Va.
And Nevil, in signed documents, claimed to have assisted them.The story dates to Oct. 17, 1777, when Burgoyne surrendered to Gen. Horatio Gates at Saratoga, N.Y.
Burgoyne’s army consisted of British, Hessians and Canadians as well as Native Americans. Accompanying the troops were an assortment of wives, girlfriends, children, servants etc.
The initial plan involved marching the defeated British troops to Boston, where they were to be shipped back to Europe.
As Loyalist historian Stephen Davidson explains, “Gen. Burgoyne’s troops marched from Saratoga to Boston, where they expected to board ships bound for England. However, the Continental Congress was loath to honor the Convention of Saratoga and held the defeated soldiers in prison camps near Cambridge and Rutland, Mass., until the fall of 1778. During that year of captivity, hundreds of men were able to escape, making their way back to British headquarters in New York City and Newport, R.I.”
On Nov. 9, 1778, in what must have appeared as a motley group, the prisoners left Massachusetts to commence their 700-mile journey to Virginia. The first contingent crossed over into what is now Vernon Township from Warwick, N.Y., on Dec. 4. Although the journey through Sussex County took two weeks, for some unknown reason, local historians left us in suspense as to what transpired.
It was the late Sussex County resident Ted Brush who uncovered a document concerning Nevil’s action during this march. Dated 7 July 1779, it was a certificate testifying that the bearer, Nancy Nevil, had been of great service in conducting Burgoyne’s men from Sussex to safety behind British lines.
Davidson provided additional information concerning Nevil’s actions uncovered in Canadian records. His research shows that while in Staten Island, Nevil petitioned British Gen. Henry Clinton for financial aid. Hearing no response, Sussex County Loyalist Joseph Barton interceded on her behalf and attested to her loyalty to the British cause.
Davidson advises that “in her petition, Nevil wrote that for some time (she) was suspected by the rebels to be the most notorious malefactor imaginable.” Shortly after she returned home, she was informed of the rebels’ malignant intention to arrest her.
“They made a close scrutiny for her” but she was able to “escape from place to place for sanctuary” during the next two months. She could not evade capture forever, at last being apprehended by them and committed to (the) Sussex gaol, where several other loyal men (were) in company with her.”
She was “confined in irons.” After two months of imprisonment, Nevil managed to escape the Sussex gaol in April 1779 and escaped to Staten Island. On June 6, 1779, she submitted her petition and she did obtain relief from the British for her services.
But questions remain. Who was Nancy Nevil? Why did she become such an ardent Loyalist?
She was educated as she could read and write.
What routes did she take that she successfully accomplished her goal of leading the men to safety?
Two-hundred fifty-five years have lapsed and mystery remains about the woman spy, Nancy Nevill, that “most notorious malefactor imaginable” who successfully piloted men to safety on Sussex County’s Loyalist Underground Railroad.
Contact Bill Truran, Sussex County historian, at billt1425@gmail.com