John Mott

John Mott (June 18, 1734 – January 31, 1804) was a captain in the 1st Hunterdon Regiment of the New Jersey militia during the American Revolutionary War. He served as a guide to General George Washington and the Continental Army during their march down along the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton.

Early life Captain Mott was born in Middletown Township Province of New Jersey. He was the son of William Mott of Middletown and Margaret Hartshorne. His father was a member of the New Jersey State Assembly from 1743 to 1754. John Mott had two brothers, Gershom and Asher, and a sister, Sarah. John Mott moved to the Trenton area and purchased two flour or grist mills located along the River Road several miles north of Trenton. He lived near his mills and was a neighbor of General Philemon Dickinson, a militia officer. David Laning, another guide at the Battle of Trenton, was a cooper who lived nearby and worked at one of Mott's mills. In March 1776, John Mott, along with other members of the New Jersey militia, were on the Committee of Correspondence for Trenton.

Early Revolutionary War During the Revolutionary War, John Mott was a member of the 1st Regiment of the Hunterdon County Militia, which was under the command of Colonel Isaac Smith. In June 1776, two companies of the 1st Hunterdon Militia were detached to become part of General Nathaniel Heard's Brigade. John Mott replaced Robert Hoops as a Captain of one of the companies that remained under Col. Isaac Smith in General Philemon Dickinson's Brigade. Captain Mott's company was at Perth Amboy, New Jersey in July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was read to the militia. Mott and his militia company participated in several skirmishes around the Perth Amboy and Elizabethtown area throughout the summer and early fall of 1776. This included a raid on Staten Island led by Adjutant Elias Phillips (a guide at the Battle of Trenton) that resulted in several British prisoners being captured. The 1st Hunterdon Militia Regiment was one of the few regiments of the New Jersey Militia to turn out and serve all of their tours of duty throughout the summer and fall of 1776. On December 1, 1776, their service expired. Soon afterwards, both divisions of the 1st Hunterdon, including Captain Mott and his company, were called out to serve as volunteers. On one of these excursions, Adjutant Elias Phillips captured three British soldiers in his deserted hometown of Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville). On another excursion, David Laning was caught by the British and taken to Trenton on around December 20, 1776. All of the guides except two were in the 1st Hunterdon Militia and all except one lived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The guides included Col. Joseph Phillips, Capt. Philip Phillips, and Adjutant Elias Phillips, of Maidenhead; John Muirheid, Joseph Inslee, Eden Burroughs, Stephen Burroughs, Ephraim Woolsey, and Henry Simmons, of Hopewell; and Capt. John Mott, David Laning, Amos Scudder, and William Green, of Trenton. John Guild of Hopewell and James Slack of Bucks County, PA were the other two guides. Capt. Mott then continued to guide Gen. Sullivan's Division down the River Road passing his own house and mills as well as passing Gen. Dickinson's house where some Hessian Jäger were posted. In June 1781, Capt. Mott became a recruiting officer for Hunterdon County.

After the war John Mott became a Justice of the Peace for Hunterdon County, New Jersey again in June 1782. He married Eleanor Johnson Alexander, the widow of Continental Navy Captain Charles Alexander, on June 7, 1784. Mott and his wife had two sons, Gershom (born 1785) and William (born 1790). Gershom Mott married Phebe Rose Scudder, the granddaughter of guide Amos Scudder, and was the father of Union Civil War General Gershom Mott. John Mott and his wife, Eleanor, joined the Quakers in Trenton after the war, as did Gen. Philemon Dickinson and his wife. All four were buried in the Quaker burial ground in Trenton.