I > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > I am looking for the STORY of Penelope Stout, the famous lady who had the > run > in with the Indians and mothered such a large family. Seems as though I > saw > her story in one of the sites on the net. Hope someone can direct me to the > site. Thanks.. > > Lyle Corder > Lyle, The children here in Monmouth County, NJ learn about Penelope Stout in school - 4th grade - at least at my son's school. Penelope is considered The First Lady of Monmouth. Most kids (and adults) if asked would have no idea who she is. Write to the following and request (free) "Monmouth a Page in History" and "Monmouth our Indian Heritage" both of which have a page on Penelope Stout: Department of Public Information/Tourism Hall of Records Annex Post Office Box 1255 Freehold, New Jersey 07728-1255 There are many versions about Penelope Stout but, they all have the same theme. Penelope and her first husband were shipwrecked off Sandy Hook, NJ on a Dutch vessel. Everyone made it to shore. Her husband was ill from the trip (some say hurt from the wreck) and could travel no further. The other passengers were afraid of the Indians and left for New Amsterdam (New York). Penelope stayed with her husband. They were attacked by Indians and her husband was killed. She was scalped (I like that part), her left arm badly cut and her abdomen laid open. The Indians left thinking they were both dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree (there are hollow buttonwood trees Middletown, NJ) she was found by friendly Indians who nursed her back to health. A rescue party found her and brought her back to New Amsterdam. There she married Richard Stout. Richard and Penelope returned to NJ and had 10 children. Some accounts say she lived to 110 and had 502 descendants when she died. All this and she was scalped. To get a feel of life in early Monmouth County, NJ read "Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North, African Americans in Monmouth County, New jersey 1665-1865", By Graham Russell Hodges. Madison House published book in 1997. Madison House Publishers - 800-604-1776. This book is well documented and shows another side of life in Monmouth County, NJ. Page 13 - Richard Stout did enumerate the adult salves in Monmouth. Stout's total of 536 included 158 blacks in Freehold, 165 in Middletown, 97 in Shrewsbury, 9 in Dover and 4 in Stafford. Stout counted only adult's males and females, omitting slaves under the age of sixteen or those unable to work, which customarily meant anybody above forty years of age. Page 105 - Another family's escape removed the hardship of separate owners. Aaron Jones, forty-two, escaped from Hendrick Smock in 1777 along with his wife, Sarah, forty-two, and their son, Isaac, both enslaved by Richard Stout of Monmouth. Happy Hunting, Kathleen Mirabella New Jersey