A People Harassed and Exhausted: The NJ Militia in the Revolution

Next date: Wednesday, July 08, 2026 | 07:00 PM to 08:00 PM

Historial researcher, author, and speaker, Larry Kidder, will share the story of the men in the First Hunterdon County Regiment of the New Jersey militia during the Revolution. His research produced a unit history that serves as case study of New Jersey militia activities; it is also the story of individual men and their experiences that affected their families. Larry drew much of tonight's information out of detailed primary sources, yet his presentation will appeal to the general listener. There will be time for questions.

This is a hybrid program. You may attend in-person (no registration required) or via Zoom (registration required to receive the Zoom link).

Click here to register for the Zoom link

This program is presented in partnership with the County College of Morris.

About Larry Kidder: William L. (Larry) Kidder received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania and is a retired high school history teacher who taught forty years in both public and private schools. He served four years of active duty in the US Navy and was assigned to the US Navy Research and Development Unit, Vietnam and then the destroyer USS Brownson (DD868) home ported in Newport, Rhode Island.

For more than thirty-five years, Larry has been a volunteer at the Howell Living History Farm, part of the Mercer County Park System, in Hopewell, New Jersey where he has served as an historian, interpreter, and draft horse teamster. It was investigating the Revolutionary War activities of the residents of that 18^th century farm and its immediate area that drew Larry into his research and writing on the Revolution.

Active in historical societies in Ewing (past president) and Hopewell (also a past president), Larry has given many talks to a variety of groups in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He continues to be a consultant to various historic sites in central New Jersey including The William Trent House, the Old Barracks, Washington Crossing Historic Park (PA), and Washington Crossing State Park (NJ). He is also a consultant and battlefield tour guide for the Princeton Battlefield Society. As a founding member of the non-profit TenCrucialDays.org he helps narrate full-day bus tours of Ten Crucial Days sites.

Larry is the author of six books focusing on the American Revolution in the central New Jersey region that includes Trenton and Princeton. His most recent book Defending Fort Stanwix was released by Cornell University Press in November 2024. He has a special family connection to the story of the 1777 siege and parts of the Mohawk River Valley. His current book on the almost daily crossings of the Delaware River by elements of George Washington’s army throughout the month of December 1776 is due for publication in 2027.