Who was Enoch Poor?

You may have seen a statue of him in Hackensack across the street from the Bergen County Courthouse and the Hackensack Green.  You may have stumbled across his burial stone at the First Reformed Dutch Church in Hackensack, but who is this American Revolution figure and why is he recognized in Bergen County?

Enoch Poor was born in Andover, Massachusetts on June 21, 1736.  Following his father’s footsteps as a soldier, Poor enlisted as a private in 1755 and followed Jeffery Amherst to retake Fortress Louisburg in Nova Scotia during the French and Indian War.

After the war ended, Enoch married Martha Osgood and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, making his living as a shipbuilder and merchant.

As early as 1765, he was a staunch patriot, supporting the Stamp Act protests and joining committees throughout the area during this time.  Known for his charisma, he was elected twice to the New Hampshire provincial Assembly.  After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first official battle of the American Revolution, he became a colonel of the 2^nd New Hampshire Regiment.

His regiment spent their time in New Hampshire and in Boston after the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill.  During that summer, his regiment was incorporated into the Northern Department of the Continental Line and joined General Richard Montgomery’s invasion of Canada. 

With a blow to the Continentals in Canada, they dragged their way south to Fort Ticonderoga, New York and recouped and refitted the men and joined George Washington’s army in Morristown, New Jersey for winter quarters during the winter of 1776-1777. 

In February, 1777, Congress gave Colonel Enoch Poor the commission of Brigadier General.  Throughout 1777, his brigade was sent up to Fort Ticonderoga and then joined Major General Horatio Gates just before the Battle of Saratoga that September.  

Over the next year, Poor saw action at Monmouth Battlefield and a victory at the Battle of Newtown with the Sullivan Expedition in 1779.  In 1780 he was assigned to Lafayette’s division and saw duty in New Jersey. 

There are some conflicting stories as to how Enoch Poor died.  The army surgeon stated he died from typhus.  Other sources say that Enoch Poor was shot in a duel near Hackensack and died two days later from his wounds on September 6, 1780.  Either way, Poor’s funeral procession was attended by George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette.  He was laid to rest at the First Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery in Hackensack, steps from the original Hackensack Green and the Bergen County Courthouse. 

George Washington wrote to Congress of Poor’s death; “he was an officer of distinguished merit, one who as a citizen and soldier had every claim to the esteem and regard of his country.”