Thomas Cadmus (1736–1821) was a businessman, Revolutionary War officer and community leader in early Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey.

Early life

Cadmus was born about 1736, and was baptized at the Reformed Church of Second River in Newark Township (now Belleville), New Jersey, the sixth child of Geertie Bras (1699-) and third child of her second husband, Abraham Cadmus (1708-1759), a lumber and stone merchant and storekeeper.

Pre-Revolutionary Life

Unlike most 18th century northern New Jersey colonists of Dutch descent, Cadmus lived in the midst of an area primarily populated by settlers of Puritan (English) heritage in what is now the Watsessing neighborhood of Bloomfield. His business interests included farming, grist milling, real estate, and possibly quarrying. On June 29, 1760, Thomas married his cousin, Pieterje Cadmus (1740-), daughter of Thomas Cadmus (1707-) and Cornelia Jeralemon (1711-); they had eleven children. Cadmus built his residence in 1763, as indicated on the datestone. It replaced a logging cabin erected by Thomas’ grandfather Johannes Cadmus (1666-1759). The house was built of locally quarried

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

, with four rooms on the first floor; a gable-ended loft; fireplaces on both ends; a cedar shingle roof; and a small entry stoop. The extant foundation consists of a

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

basement, massive hand-hewn joists, and flooring planks, some of which exceed 16 inches in width. A detached kitchen in the rear of the house contained a kitchen with a Dutch oven on one wall and slave quarters in the loft. Cadmus House from the northwest

Revolutionary War

Cadmus served in the Revolutionary War as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

of Essex

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. He led a contingent of New Jersey troops in the fortification of New York City and commanded a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

in the Battle of Long Island. Suffering from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

, he resigned his line unit command, but continued to serve in logistics, notably during the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

’s encampment at

Jockey Hollow Jockey Hollow is the name for an area in southern Morris County, New Jersey farmed in the 18th century by the Wick, Guerin and Kemble families. The origin of the name is still uncertain, but was used as such at the time of the American Revolution ...

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. Cadmus reportedly housed General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's headquarters at his home during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Washington held a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for Captain Ambrose Lipscomb and Lieutenant Ebenezer West.General Orders, 12 July 1778
" ''Founders Online,'' National Archives and Records Administration. The nature and extent of any other military planning conducted at the Cadmus House are not known. Cadmus also supported the Revolution financially, and his house was ransacked by British troops.

Later life and death

In 1793, Cadmus was appointed as an Overseer of the Highways for Newark Township. He served as an elder of the

Reformed Dutch Church of Second River The Belleville Dutch Reformed Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Reformed Dutch Church of Second River, is a historic church located in Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Founded as a Dutch Reforme ...

from 1794 to 1797, and donated fourteen acres of land as a parsonage. He was also involved in the founding of the Presbyterian Society of Bloomfield (now th
Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green
. He presided over its foundation-laying ceremony in 1796, reportedly placing a silver dollar into the mortar. He also led local farmers in the procession at the Society’s dedication ceremony the following year. Thomas Cadmus died November 2, 1821. His remains, along with his wife’s and those of several of their children, were relocated from a family graveyard to

Bloomfield Cemetery Bloomfield Cemetery, designated a New Jersey Historic Site, is located at 383 Belleville Avenue, Bloomfield in Essex County, New Jersey. Bloomfield Cemetery is one of New Jersey’s most significant rural cemeteries, and the only such landscap ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadmus, Thomas American revolutionaries People from Essex County, New Jersey 1736 births 1821 deaths