| The Besson Family of Kingwood |
| The Besson family were among the early settlers of Kingwood. Mrs. Margaret Kline, now over 80 years of age, living near Lebanon Station, says that her great grandparents, Francis and Lizzie Besson, came from Germany and brought with them ten children. They bought land and lived where Mr. Peartree now lives, about four miles west of Flemington. They came here about the year 1750, with a colony, among whom were Abraham Shurts, referred to in another chapter. Mrs. Kline says she remembers hearing her grandmother tell about the Indians, who lived close by them. They would come to the house with wooden ladles, bowls, trays &c., and want to exchange them for butter, milk, chickens, &c. Her grandmother would try to 'Jew them down;' if what she offered was not enough, they would answer 'pak moc.' When satisfied with the offer they would say 'tok ugh.' They would take live chickens, twist off their heads and put them in the ashes to roast, while they sucked the warm blood dripping from the necks. They would often get drunk, and quarrel and fight in a terrible manner. Mrs. Besson saw them, on more than one occasion, bury their dead. They washed the body and perfumed it with all the sweet odors at their command, and after painting the face, followed the body silently and in single file to the grave. The corpse was placed in a sitting posture, and money placed beside it, and the earth piled up in the form of a pyramid--a crude style of mausoleum that may have been the primitive form of those of probably the same race that proceeded the almost imperishable structures that now hold the sarcophagi of the Ptolemies, and are the wonder of the Nile. At the time of the Indian trouble these red neighbors of the Bessons painted their faces, went off and were seen no more. Mrs. Kline's father, William Yawger, was in the Revolutionary army. He was in the battle of Yorktown. He said the men were astonished when they heard that Cornwallis was captured, and the war was over. Mr. Yawger often went out to hunt Tories, of whom he had a particular dislike. Their defence was that 'All should fear God and honor the king.' From pp. 49-50 of "Traditions of Hunterdon," by John W. Lequear. Originally published 1869-70. |