[1] His marker reads "In memory of Captain John Schenck, who departed this life August 22, 1823, aged 73 years, 2 months and 27 days."
Captain Schenck is best remembered by the residents of Hunterdon County for a small skirmish (the Ambush of Geary, as it is called locally) that took place there on December 14, 1776.
Arriving home on leave from Washington's army across the Delaware, Schenck was informed by a cousin that a scouting party of British dragoons were in the area.
Schenck quickly assembled a party of irregulars from family members and neighbors and set an ambush for the British as they returned from their mission.
Schenck and his party successfully took the dragoons by surprise and with their first volley killed the troop's officer, Cornet Francis Geary.