The Craig House is the name of a restored colonial era farmhouse in western Monmouth County, that was at the site of the Battle of Monmouth during the Revolutionary War in June 1778. Utilized by the British Army as a hospital during the battle, this is one of many 18th century farmhouses that have been preserved at Monmouth Battlefield State Park. The Craig House is located in Freehold Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Monmouth Battlefield is administered by the New Jersey State Park Service.
History
Colonial history
In 1664, the Duke of York (later James II & VII) granted the Monmouth Tract to Sir George Carteret and various Scottish Presbyterian and English Quaker settlers, fleeing religious persecution at home. In 1693, along with Middletown and Shrewsbury, Freehold was established by act of legislature as one of the three original townships in Monmouth County.
Among the first Scottish settlers in modern-day western Monmouth County was John Craig Sr. (ca. 1650–1724) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, who settled with his family in 1685. He acquired in 1695 a plot of land named by locals as "Topinemes".
John Sr.'s son Archibald Craig (1678-1751) bought the premises of what would be the Craig Farmstead in 1720. His son Samuel (1708–1746) inherited the farm in 1744 and set out to construct what would be the Craig House in 1746.
Samuel unfortunately died later in 1746, with the ownership of the farm reverting to his father Archibald. When Archibald died in 1751, he bequeathed the estate to his grandson (and Samuel's son) John Jr. (1737-1824), however he was not of adult age to take claim his inheritance. The farm had to been rented out to tenants until John Jr. turned 21 in 1758.
Sometime around 1770, John Jr., now married to his wife Ann Craig (1739-1824) with a child, had added an addition to the house. He added a two-story Georgian style section adjacent to the older single-story Dutch style section of the house. This brought the house to its modern proportions and to what it would've looked like at the time of the Battle of Monmouth, roughly seven years later.
American Revolutionary War
During the Revolutionary War, John Craig was in the Continental Army. This left his wife Ann as the sole protector of their property during the battle. Once it became clear that the British were heading towards Monmouth, she escaped with her child, two slaves, and her household goods to Upper Freehold, New Jersey. Ann decided not to take her prized possessions of silver and gold, out of fears that it would weigh her down on that treacherous journey. She instead placed them underneath the open well. She hid her buckets and chain in the hay mow in the barn. These efforts ended up in no avail, as the British shortly after reaching the farmstead were able to find the mineral wealth at the bottom of the well. This was mainly due to the fact of how severely hot it was on the day of that fated battle, the soldiers' first priority would have been to get fresh water from the well. During that battle, the abandoned Craig House was quartered by the British and utilized as a hospital.
As the family returned after the battle, they were stunned to see that the house was miraculously still standing but also equally saddened that their hidden prized possessions had vanished. Thankfully, the iron kettle that the jewelry were placed in to hide under the well has been preserved.
British soldiers were buried at the Craig House's premises.
Later history
With the house left intact, the family were able to continue farming for 50 years after the battle. John Craig, Jr. died in 1824, his inheritance was divided amongst his children, Jonathan (who received a half of the share) and his daughters Amelia and Mary (whom both inherited one-quarter share each). When Mary died in 1839, Jonathan and his brother Samuel (who inherited property in New York) legally granted full ownership of the property to Amelia and her husband Peter Bowne. Amelia and Peter birthed a daughter, Anna Maria Bowne. Anna married Enoch L. Cowart, birthed a son named Samuel Craig Cowart in 1854, and inherited the property upon her mother's death in 1855.