Jacob Gearhart was a farmer and New Jersey militia officer whose homestead occupied roughly 308 acres in Hunterdon County. The farmstead dates from about 1765, placing it within the rural landscape from which the county raised men, animals, wagons, food, and river expertise during the Revolution. Gearhart had immigrated with his family in 1753 and joined the 2nd Regiment of the Hunterdon County militia, advancing from private to ensign and eventually captain.

His best-known service concerns the Delaware River during Washington’s retreat across New Jersey in December 1776. American leaders needed to secure boats along the river so British forces could not follow easily and so the Continental Army retained the ability to recross. Gearhart and Captain Jacob Ten Eyck were entrusted with responsibility for boats used in the Christmas-night crossing, supervising the movement of infantry, cavalry, cannon, and howitzers toward Trenton.

The operation depended on many participants, including experienced Delaware River boatmen, militia guards, soldiers, and officers who gathered and protected craft over a long stretch of river. Gearhart’s role should not be turned into a claim that he alone collected every Durham boat. His assignment belonged to that larger system. Orders reportedly required the officers to destroy the boats if the attack failed, preventing them from becoming tools for a British pursuit.

Washington’s troops crossed through darkness, ice, wind, and sleet, attacked the Hessian garrison at Trenton on December 26, and returned with prisoners. The victory restored American morale after months of retreat. Gearhart is also commemorated for service during the winter at Valley Forge in 1777–1778. As with many militia biographies, later marker statements condense a service record that must be reconstructed from scattered rosters, pension testimony, family records, and local tradition.

After the war, Gearhart established a ferry, extending the river and transportation experience associated with his military service into civilian life. A ferry operator connected farms and markets while managing boats, currents, weather, animals, and travelers. That postwar work reinforces the practical skills behind the 1776 operation. Successful strategy on the Delaware depended on people who understood local craft and crossings, not only on decisions made at headquarters.

The marker at the farmstead commemorates an individual contribution rather than a battle fought on the property. The surviving landscape links militia service to the agricultural base that sustained it, while the boat story connects a local officer to one of Washington’s most consequential operations. Interpreted carefully, the site honors Gearhart without isolating him from the many unnamed laborers and soldiers who secured, moved, guarded, and rowed the vessels on which the Trenton campaign depended.