The Ghost of Cave Hollow

Mar 19, 1953 Newtown Enterprise

West of Woodhill stretches a strip of woodland, of several hundred acres, almost to Wrightstown, as wild as when Washington camped on Jericho Mountain and the band of tories watched him from the wooded hilltops west of Woodhill and north of Highland Road [Wrightstown Rd], in perfect security, for it would have taken a small army to dislodge them.

The branch of Jericho Creek runs south into this wooded area, crossing the Pineville Rd. by the Shannon buildings, then dividing into three branches on the Egypt farm to rise in the wooded area near the Highland Road. All these branches contained ravines 40 to 50 feet deep during their courses. The eastern branch, which passes about one-half mile from Woodhill, rises within a stone's throw of the intersection of Eagle or Highland (or Wrightstown-Washington Crossing) Road. This creek is known as "Cave" or "Cavey's Hollow" and, as its upper course is through Harold Lewis', his farm is known as the "Cave Hollow Farm". A branch of this Cave Hollow stream runs up to the buildings of John Wood's "Makefield Farm" and from an incident at a stone cottage along this branch, comes the story of the Cave Hollow Ghost.

At the time of Washington's camp on Jericho, the road to the Eagle (now Woodhill) ran from Ryan's Corner on the Durham Road, between Wrightstown and Newtown Township, and then straight across the woods and valleys in Upper Makefield, up the branch containing the stone cottage, passed the lane to the Hayhurst farmhouse, to the Eagle. General John Sullivan had his brigade at the Hayhurst farm building. An outpost was stationed at the stone cottage further west, then occupied by an unmarried carpenter named Jack Cave (or Cavey), who was reputed to have a considerable sum of money in hard cash, that is coin, not paper. After Washington left on his nation saving expedition to Trenton, the tories from the Egypt farm raided Jack Cave's cottage for they were now robbing and supporters of the revolution. They surrounded the house and boosted one of their number up to open a first story window. Jack Cave heard the noise and ran downstairs and grabbed his carpenter's hatchet. The Tory's right arm was just coming over the window sill. Jack chopped down, cutting the hand from the arm. The tory fell back and his hand fell inside the house. He was carried a short distance away by his companions and an effort was made to stanch the flow of blood but he died within a few minutes. Jack Cave used the diversion of the tory's death to escape from a back door. The tories surrounded the house again and set fire to it, intending to burn Jack Cave alive. The cut off hand of the dead tory, and the supposed hoard of Jack Cave fell into the ruins.

Marcus Doan, of Woodside, who lived on the Cave Hollow farm until well into manhood, said that about the beginning of the present century the mechanics and clerks of Woodhill, then a bustling business village would go down the lost road to the ruins and search for the treasure but, though they did find a few coins of small denomination, no sizable sum was ever recovered. It is said to this day that, on bright moonlight nights, the ghost of the dead tory will come out of the dark recesses of Cave Hollow and search in the ruins for the bones of his missing hand. 

The Lost Road to Woodhill

Local historian Harry W. Van Horn wrote many interesting columns in the Newtown Enterprise on various local history topics. One of his favorite to write about was the "Lost Road to Woodhill".

The Lost road to Woodhill Outlined. Washington's Supply Line While on Jericho Mountain Now Township Line. Nov 25, 1943 Newtown Enterprise

One Sunday last February, before the spring thaw made walking difficult, I set out to retrace the lost road to Woodhill (The Eagle) from Ryan's Corner, 3 miles above Newtown, and about 1 mile below Wrightstown, on Route 113, a section of the old Durham road.

This forgotten road was Washington's supply life line during his last stand camp on Jericho Mountain before the battle of Trenton, in December 1776. My quest was successful beyond my hopes for its course is as straight as an arrow and its first half, northeast from Ryan's Corner towards Woodhill, is the boundary line of Wrightstown Township, at the start with Newtown Township and later with Upper Makefield. Just north of the Highland road, however, where the Wrightsown-Upper Makefield line turns north at right angles, the road ceases to be a township boundary but continues on the same straight line to Woodhill, down the great gulch, just north of Mount Canaan, the high knob on the Highland road, just west of the present Eagle road, at Yates' corner. Thus, anyone with a map of Bucks County, such as put out by the County Commissioners by putting a ruler on a line from Ryan's Corner to Woodhill, at the angle indicated by the Wrightstown Township line can trace it as accurately as I did, with much less effort.

A person tracing on the map, however, will miss the weird picture that the historic highway presents, a straight avenue, down a deep gorge, lined with massive trees, apparently going nowhere. Not far from its shadowy course was the last home of the Delaware Indians, and another spot was the rendezvous of the Tories, who made the foray on Newtown in 1781, to capture the County Treasury. Farther along the old road towards Woodhill stands the ruins of the old stone cottage, which was burned by the Tories during the Revolution, after their attack had been repulsed, and which is the basis of the legend of the Handless Tory of Caves Hollow.

Confused yet? VanHorn calls Wrightstown Road the Highland Road, which has no relation to today's Highland Rd. You'd have to know which farm was known as Mount Canaan, and which of Yates' corners he was talking about to pinpoint the path of the road. The public apparently was still confused too, as Harry wrote about the subject again just 3 months later.

The Lost Road to Woodhill - Located by Local Landmarks (By Harry W. VanHorn) Feb 3, 1944

Many people have asked me to locate the Lost Road to Woodhill, Washington’s supply lifeline during his Jericho camp, by better known local landmarks than township lines.  It may be a common failing of those writing local history to use such academic directions as township lines.  MacReynolds, in his 1942 “Place Names of Bucks County” describes Hough’s Creek, sometimes known as the “Aqueduct Creek”, “A small stream wholly in Upper Makefield.  It rises in the angle formed by the lines of Newtown and Wrightstown”.

Now this description probably means very little to the average person but if the source of Hough’s Creek is described as just south of Highland Road, west of Mount Canaan, it would be more readily understandable.  This also happens to be the exact place where the Lost Road crosses the Highland Road.  At the recent sale of the Ellis farm, one-half a mile above Woodhill, I heard several groups discussing the course of the Lost Road to Woodhill.  Some of the new owners of estates were hopeful that it curved around to go through their places, but this is impossible in the case of the Lost Road because its main virtue was that it was straight, taking the hills and dales as they came in stride and some of the drops, going in and coming out of Mount Canaan gorge, are precipitous.  The old road started on the Durham Road, at Ryan’s Corner; it started right where now is the home of Fred and Eleanor Cope, for their house, built by William Ryan after the Civil War, did not exist when the road was in use.  Then the old road followed the present Stoopville Road, passed the residence of the late Abdon Lee to the first turn; there it left the present road, going through the field of the Worthington chicken farm (recently Adam Bennethum) and across the meadow of Walter Sanders and through the newer part of his house, and then between his house and barn, and up his back lane until it leaves his land just south of the Highland Road.  Here a piece of the old road is still extant; an open cut, with grown up hedge rows, running almost to the Highland Road.  After crossing the Highland Road it enters the right-of-way to the Collet farm and this first part is also the lane to the former Twining homestead, now Rose Sheer’s.  When the Collet right-of-way reaches the woods, at the edge of the great gorge, the Lost Road leaves it and runs across the upper edge of the ravine, on what was formerly the Mount Canaan place, then for about a mile, down through the edge of the wooded gorge, coming out in the open at the far end of the former Harry Doan place, now Lewis’, it crosses the VanHorn homestead, owned by the late Pemberton VanHorn (now Dr. Fischer’s), near the historic revolutionary out post of Cave’s Hollow.  It then goes straight over the Hayhurst place (now E. T. Buckman’s), east of the buildings, to the former Spread Eagle Hotel, at Woodhill. 

Got that? Abdon Lee, the Worthington chicken farm, Walter Sanders' meadow?  Maybe they were local landmarks in 1944, but today they mean little to most. Maybe some aerials will help piece it together. There's enough evidence of the road left in 1937 that we can see its path. The aerial is split in two sections.

Start of the Lost Road to Woodhill

End of the Lost Road to Woodhill

Still having trouble? Here's a modern aerial with the lost road outlined on it. 

Modern Aerial Lost Road to Woodhill

We start at Ryan's Corner (Stoopville and Durham Rd) and draw a straight line that follows the township line across Wrightstown Rd (which VanHorn called Highland Rd.) From the corner of the Wrightstown/Upper Makefield Township line we go straight through to the Eagle (at the corner of Woodhill and Eagle Roads).

Now we've found the Lost Road to Woodhill. There's other interesting lore about the area, such as a forgotten graveyard and the ghost of Cavey's Hollow.

Locating A Lost Grave

In August of 2021 I was asked by members of the Bucks County Historical Society and Mercer Museum to help with an amazing project on the Doan Gang. They were seeking information on the whereabouts of a certain grave site. I had previously come across a few references to this in my research, so I figured why not, I'll give it a shot. It was the start of a fruitful relationship, and many fun adventures continue to come out of it. Here's the research.

BCHS Papers Volume 2  “Newtown Prior to 1800” J. Pemberton Hutchinson, July 21, 1896 

As an outcome of these confessions, John Tomlinson, of Wrightstown, at whose house the robbery was planned, was arrested, tried, convicted, hung at Newtown, and buried on his own farm; the stones marking the grave are still to be seen. (p. 399)

BCHS Papers Volume 3  “Reminisces of Pineville and Vicinity” Mathias Hall, January 19, 1904

There is also a family graveyard on the Hettie Ann Williams farm in Upper Makefield, where a number of graves were one time marked, at present however only two are marked. The farmer’s plow is encroaching and probably in a short time this graveyard will be known only in history. (p. 336)

He [John Tomlinson] was hanged October 17, 1782 and was buried on the hill overlooking Cavey Hollow and a few feet north of the east corner of my farm. (p. 340)

History of Bucks County Davis (1905 Edition)  Chapter 29 “Upper Makefield”

http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/bucks/history/local/davis/davis29.txt

On the old Tomlinson farm, now owned by Hettie Ann Williams, near the Eagle, and a few feet north of Mathias Hall’s line, is a head stone said to mark the grave of John Tomlinson, who assisted the Doanes ... It is said that the walnut tree near his grave has been frequently struck by lightning, and that flowers that bloom but once in a century have bloomed over Tomlinson’s grave. Other members of the family are said to be buried at the same place. Two graves only, are marked.

Upper Makefield Speaks...Bucks County Recollections an Oral History UM Historical Society 1981

Interview with Marge Reeve, owner of Egypt Farm, May 21, 1980

John Tomlinson, having harbored and fed them, received 140 hard dollars and a quantity of state money for which he was tried in Newtown, found guilty and hanged on October 17th, 1782. He was buried in a corner of his farm near the boundary with Wiggins’ land. (p. 65)

Locating the Grave Site

On the 1891 EP Noll map of Upper Makefield, the owners of the relevant properties match up with Mathias Hall’s 1904 description of the grave location. Hall owned the property adjacent to Egypt farm, then owned by Hettie Ann Williams. From the descriptions in the source articles, one can narrow down the approximate location of the grave.

Hall says that Tomlinson is buried on the hill “a few feet north of the east corner of my farm.”

The 1891 atlas shows where the east corner of his 106 acre farm meets the property of Hettie Ann Williams, right above the 2nd t in Hettie.

Comparing this to a current tax parcel map, we find that the corner of Hall’s farm is now the corner of parcel #47-004-0072-010.

This corner is bounded to the north by 47-004-074-008 and to the east by 47-004-074-010. Both houses were built by Toll Brothers in 2008. 

A modern Google Map aerial shows the current view, with the location of the corner in the center of the image:

Given the above information, we can conclude that the location of the Tomlinson family burial ground where John Tomlinson is buried now lies in the rear yard of 47-004-074-008. Note that the house has a basement and a swimming pool — one wonders how close they were dug to the graves. 

Clarification of Marge Reeve’s quote:

Marge Reeve’s 1980 interview states that Tomlinson was buried near the boundary with Wiggins’ land. At the time of the event, the Tomlinson farm didn’t border any Wiggins land. By 1876, we can see that there were 3 Wiggins properties bordering Egypt Farm, which was owned by John Eastburn.

Since Benjamin Wiggins owned the adjacent property that Mathias Hall would later own, we can assume that Reeves was simply naming an earlier owner of the property to describe the location. More attention should be paid to the sources from eighty to one hundred years prior, as they were closer to the time of the actual event. Had this been the only source, then we would need to explore the other corners that border Wiggins’ property. Mathias Hall specified the east corner of his property, which eliminates that necessity.  

Family Burial Ground or Single Grave?

Mathias Hall’s 1904 BCHS paper makes separate mention of a “family graveyard” on the property and the location where John Tomlinson was buried. He doesn’t note a connection between the two, leading to the question of whether he’s referencing the same location. A farm of two hundred plus acres could contain more than one burial ground, and Tomlinson could have been buried separately from the family, especially given the circumstances of his death. 

The Upper Makefield chapter in Davis’ History of Bucks County helps to clarify; “Other member of the family are said to be buried at the same place. Two graves only, are marked.” This information was not included the first edition (1876) of the book, it was added in the 1905 revision. It is likely that Davis used the info from Hall’s paper from the prior year; making the connection that Hall didn’t spell out. 

From the available evidence, it seems most likely that there was one burial ground on the property, consisting of multiple graves. J. Pemberton Hutchinson’s 1896 BCHS paper references “stones” being visible at the site, which is consistent with the later descriptions. 

Evidence of the Burial Ground

https://datacommons.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=10af5f75f9f94f01866359ba398cb6a9

The earliest aerial photo available from PennPilot is dated January 5th, 1938. Although there is no visible evidence of any graves, there is the shadow of a larger tree which could be the walnut tree described by Davis. 

In 1904, Mathias Hall said The farmer’s plow is encroaching and probably in a short time this graveyard will be known only in history. The aerial photo from October 27, 1950 shows that his prediction was a prescient one. We can see crops growing where the burial ground would be, and no evidence that any special attention was being paid to avoid it.

An image from a real estate listing for 47-004-074-010 gives another view of what the area looks like today:

Remember, this is private property and they do not want people coming to their backyards to dig up graves. Please don't do that. Who knows, you may have somebody buried in your backyard too.

I wrote another blog about a forgotten graveyard in the same general location that was likely the Tomlinson family plot, and not Continental Soldiers. Who knows? 

https://buckshistory.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-forgotten-graveyard-in-caveys-hollow.html

A Forgotten Graveyard in Cavey's Hollow

Newtown Enterprise - April 23, 1881 

“Cavey’s Hollow. – Our country is too new for many old historical legends, but still, having a few we must take the best uses of them.  Start out on the road from Newtown to Brownsburg, and on reaching the crossing of the one from Wrightstown to Taylorsville, we find ourselves on high ground, where there is quite an extensive view.  At this season of the year the range of hills commencing at the river and running off into New Jersey above Titusville is plainly to be seen, also the hills about Lambertville.  Nearer is the curving line of the Jericho hill, and under its shadow is the camping ground of the little Continental army, led by George Washington, in 1776, and the houses wherein he and Gen. Greene lived during the eventful winter of 1776-7.  Just at that cross road above mentioned, cast your eye to the left, and a ravine or hollow will be noticed, down which flows a small stream.  It is a cleft between wooded hills, though now it is partially cleared.  It must have been partially cleared before the revolution, for in this hollow lived Cavey, a man who was murdered.  Many a man has been killed and left no sign, but Cavey’s soul would not rest, and he came back again, came back without a head!  He was seen many times and oft.  It appears that a road once led down through this valley or “hollow”, and in the early years of the century, many a young man who at a late hour at night had reluctantly broke himself away from the arms of his dearest, encountered the headless form of Cavey.  Whether Cavey yet appears we cannot now learn, for the road is now blocked up, and the young men now go home around by Canaan in spar-spring buggies.

In the hollow, on the farm occupied by Peter Hogeland, is an old grave yard, where are buried the bodies of Washington’s soldiers.  Some upright pieces of red shale rock mark a number of the graves, and the plow has not molested the sacred ground.  This is one of the few places where, without doubt, still rest the remains of the noble martyrs of ’76.  Considering what our country is now, and what we owe to these men who voluntarily took up arms to achieve its independence, should there not be some public recognition of them, something at least to mark their last resting place?  Let there be a wall built around this sacred spot, and a plain monument erected with a suitable inscription, in this Cavey Hollow Cemetery.” 

1876 Atlas Showing Cavey's Hollow