4. | Col. Nathaniel Scudder, M.D. 10 May 1733 Huntington, Suffolk, New York, USA (son of Jacob Scudder and Abia Rowe); 16 Oct 1781Black Point, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA; Tennent, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA. Notes:
From https://www.venividiscripto.com/nathaniel-scudder-revolutionary-war/
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Nathaniel married Isabella Anderson, the only daughter of Colonel Kenneth Anderson, the year after his college graduation, and following a charming and whirlwind romance.
The History of NJ Medicine records the courtship and romance as told a century later by Dr. Scudder’s granddaughter, Maria.
Seems the beautiful Isabella, a member of an old Scottish family that came to the colonies during the Scottish troubles of 1715, came to church services on horseback, and was quickly seen and appreciated by a young college graduate, Nathaniel Scudder. She alighted from her horse and fastened him to a tree before walking up to and into the church. The daring young medical student went up to the horse, disarranged the equipment and entangled the bridle before he, too, went into church. When service was over, and young Isabella went back to her horse, only to be chagrined by the entanglement, Nathaniel suddenly appeared, quite dignified and graceful, and offered to come to her assistance. He righted all the reins he had entangled, then assisted the young lady into the saddle. He mentioned to her that since they were both traveling in the same direction, a distance of some four miles or more, he felt the need to travel with her and offer her protection. She acquiesced to his gallantry, Nathaniel mounted his own horse, and the two rode off together, the beginning of a courtship that culminated in a marriage in 1752 and ultimately the birth of three sons and two daughters.
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From book
Calvin's Crusaders in the Wars That Made America:
The Story of Nathaniel and Isabella Scudder-Princeton Patriots of the Revolutionary Era
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Nathaniel Scudder, a well-educated Presbyterian physician, was an idealistic early advocate of the rebellion. Like many of his fellow graduates of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) he believed in the Calvinist vision of a pious republic. His wife, Isabella Anderson Scudder, a wealthy heiress and granddaughter of a royal governor, reluctantly accepted her husband's radical political inclinations while fearing the tragic consequences that might result.
After a brilliant career as a physician and elder of the Presbyterian Church, he was elected to represent New Jersey in the Continental Congress, where he became one of the signatories of the Articles of Confederation. He eventually grew so frustrated by the blatant corruption he experienced that he abandoned politics and helped form an extra-legal vigilante organization, the Retaliators.
Nathaniel's inner journey to the abandonment of his congressional mandate in favor of participation in violent retaliation was driven by his friendship and admiration for David Forman, the main architect of the retribution strategy.
On October 16, 1781, Nathaniel Scudder became the only person who served in the Continental Congress to die in action in the War of American Independence. In a skirmish between Retaliators and Loyalists, he was struck by a bullet meant for David Forman.
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From Wikipedia:
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Scudder was born in Monmouth Court House, Province of New Jersey, which later became Freehold Borough, New Jersey. He attended the College Of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and graduated in 1751. He then studied medicine before setting up a practice in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Dr. Scudder was active in civic and militia affairs. When the revolution split the colonies, he supported the rebel cause. He was a member of the county's committee of safety and represented it in the Provincial Congress held in 1774. That same year he was named lieutenant colonel in the county's first regiment of militia. In 1776 he was elected to a one-year term as Monmouth County's first member of the newly constituted New Jersey Legislative Council, and in 1780 he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly.[2]
In 1777, Scudder became the colonel of his militia regiment and was sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress. During the summer of 1778, he was particularly busy and abandoned his medical practice. He split his time between the Congress and militia activities. He led his regiment in the Battle of Monmouth in June. He wrote a series of impassioned letters to local and state leaders urging the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, and when New Jersey's legislature approved them in November, he endorsed them for the state at the Congress.
Scudder continued both forms of service for several years. On October 17, 1781, he led a part of his regiment to offer resistance to a British Army foraging party and was killed in a skirmish near Shrewsbury, New Jersey. He is buried in the Tennent Church Graveyard in Manalapan Township. Dr. Scudder was the only member of the Continental Congress to die in battle during the Revolutionary War and the last colonel to die in battle.
Died:
Age: 48
Nathaniel Isabella Anderson 23 Mar 1752Monmouth Co., New Jersey, USA. Isabella (daughter of Colonel Kenneth Anderson and Hannah Hankinson) 06 Jul 1737 Monmouth Co., New Jersey, USA; 24 Dec 1782Princeton, Mercer, New Jersey, USA; Tennent, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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