DeVoe, Joshua
John M. McDonald interview — 1847-09-04
Joshua DeVoe of Greenburgh was 90 years old when he was interviewed by John Macdonald. He begins by describing an incident during which a contingent of American troops went from Peekskill to Yonkers where they fired into the house of Frederick Rich while a ball was taking place. DeVoe was among those wounded by the shots, and he showed Macdonald his scar. He then notes that he and Charles Dusenbury witnessed the “Marks (Mertz) affair,” which is the Battle of Edgar’s Lane. The account of this battle is interspersed with mention of the hanging of a man named Strang.
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Transcription
62 490 11. Sept. 4th Joshua DeVoe of Greenburgh, aged ninety. May last: "Immediately after Champanvis' death, Major Thomas Strang of Peekskill, with 200 or 300 men went down to Mile square at Frederick Riche's where there was a ball, and fired in at the windows while the company were on the floor. I was wounded in the right heel. (He showed the scar) Musket balls passed through the petticoats of two women present – one, Elvin Hutfeld's wife and the other, the widow Rich. This was always considered a very cowardly act. I and Charles Dusenbury were present and saw the Marks (Mertz) affair. Dusenbury said "it was like blacksmith's hammering a bar of iron." Emmerick lay among the cat rocks. Strang was hung a little south of Gilbert Underhill's house on the Sealy farm, without judge or jury. Capt. Marks (Lt. Mertz?) was very badly cut across the face but recovered. Saw
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491 63 12. four men lying dead side by side – Hessian horsemen, I do not know how many, were killed. The Edgar lane fight was in the afternoon. The Hessians sheep skins over their saddles. I remember when Col. Philips was taken off to New England. Major Strang said he thought and was informed that the room at Frederick Rich.'s was full of Refugees.
Sept. 4th Mrs. Hannah DeVoe, wife of Joshua; aged 90 in May last; living within a few days of the same age with her husband: " Vincent, Smith and Barton went from Thomas Laurence's barn the morning they were killed, about a mile south of where the British horse overtook them. At the Rich ball six