The story behind the Godwin bust in Ridgewood
MAY 15, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JEFFREY PAGE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
THE RECORD
Who was Lee of Fort Lee, Votee of Votee Park and Merritt of Camp Merritt? The Name-Dropper gives you the lowdown on some of the people whose names you see on public statues, memorial plaques, park signs, highways and even some local streets around North Jersey.
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Among the youngest patriots in Revolutionary America were the Godwin brothers: Abraham, 13, a fifer, and David, 11, a drummer. In the fateful year of 1776, with their mother’s permission, they traveled to New York to enlist. They arrived about four months after the Colonies declared their independence from Britain and its king.
Their older brother Henry, a captain and company commander in a New York regiment, was stationed upstate at Fishkill, N.Y., overlooking the Hudson. The boys traveled north to be with him. For the next five years, Abraham would find himself at several of the places and events that changed history forever.
He was at the early Battle of White Plains late in 1776 and retreated with George Washington and his beaten army when all looked grim. He was also with Henry’s regiment, known as the Fifth of the Line, when it was ordered to Fort Montgomery, near Bear Mountain, to lay a chain across the river and thus prevent the easy movement of British troops and supplies.
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