Old St. Mary Episcopal Church

Old St. Mary's Church
West Broad St. and Wood St.
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At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the reverend at Old St. Mary's Church was Jonathan Odell. When the Revolutionary War began, Odell remained loyal to Britain and King George III. He was also known for writing poetry that was pro-British and anti-Independence..

Odell's outspoken Loyalism did not go unnoticed by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, who referred to Odell as "a person suspected of being inimical to American liberty." The Provincial Congress was the governing body of New Jersey during the early period of the Revolutionary War as the transition was made from British colony to a state of the United States of America.

On July 20, 1776, the Provincial Congress ordered Odell to sign a parole agreement that he would remain within eight miles of the Burlington County courthouse. Odell requested that he be given a different parole agreement; the Provincial Congress denied his request and ordered him to sign the original parole agreement.

When Hessians marched into Burlington in December 1776 (as described in the Margaret Morris section above), Odell acted as an interpreter with the Hessian commander, Colonel Carl von Donop. The Hessian officers did not speak English and Odell did not speak German, but both spoke French, so they were able to communicate in French. Margaret Morris noted in her diary that "The [Hessian] commandant seemed highly pleased to find a person with whom he could converse with ease and precision."

After the Hessians left Burlington, American troops came into the town and searched for locals who had collaborated with the Hessians, including Odell. Margaret Morris hid Odell in her house, and he escaped detection. Afterwards, Odell fled to New York City, which was occupied by the British.

Although Odell was able to briefly return to Burlington in January 1777, he spent most of the rest of the war behind British lines, where he continued to write pro-British poetry. After the Revolutionary War ended, he spent several months in London, before settling in New Brunswick, Canada, along with thousands of other Loyalists who settled there after the war. [9]

Services were held at Old St. Mary's Church until the construction of New St. Mary's Church in 1854. [10] New St. Mary's stands about 200 feet to the west of Old St. Mary's. The church cemetery, which contains the graves of several notable Revolutionary War figures, is located between the two buildings.