Author: Kevin K. Alcott
John Whitlock, son of Thomas Whitlock, was born 23 May 1733 and baptized in Old Tennent Presbyterian Church in Manalapan, NJ on 17 March 1734, being presented by his mother. He was killed at the Battle of Navesink on 13 Feb 1777. He was at the time of his death a 1st Lieutenant in the Continental Army as well as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 1st Battalion/Regiment Monmouth Militia. He was buried in what is now the Holmdel Baptist Church Cemetery, Main Street, Holmdel, NJ. His widow Lydia was buried beside him in 1832; she died at the age of 94.

A transcription from Lydia Whitlock widow's pension application showing John Whitlock's service in American Revolution is shown below – it is a letter from 1780, found in Monmouth County Historical Archives, Miscellaneous Book B, page 4 (reprinted in part in John E. Stillwell's "Historical & Genealogical Miscellany, Vol. V," 1932):

"New Jersey, Monmouth Co., October 27, 1779.
"These do certify that John Whitlock was appointed 2d Lieut. of my company militia belonging to the 1st Battalion Monmouth Militia, Col. Nathaniel Scudder and that the sd John Whitlock was acting as sutch[sic] in the battle with the enemies of the U.S. on the High Lands of Neversinks [i.e., Navesink] on the 13 day of February 1777 and that he was killed in the engagement and left a widow named Lydia with seven children and the sd Lydia had a child born five months after her husband's death.

"Witness my hand the day and year above written. Thos. Hunn, Capt."