"The life of Samuel Sutphen might qualify as a quintessential American profile in courage -- if only anyone knew who he was.

A young slave living in Branchburg, Sutphen fought bravely in some of the most famous battles of the Revolutionary War, spent many nights on patrol in frozen fields and was injured by gunfire, all for a promise of freedom if he fought in his master's place and returned to him after the war.

Though Sutphen lived up to his part of the bargain, freedom would elude him. Considering him too valuable to be let free, his master, a Readington tavern owner, reneged on his promise and sold Sutphen to another."

Timeline

Born: 1746-7
1776 - Sutphen was sold to Readington tavern owner Casper Berger.
1776 - Agreed to go to war in his (Berger's) stead.
1776 - Battle of Long Island
1777 - Battle of Princeton, where he helped carry an injured officer home.
1777 - At the Battle of Millstone, Sutphen led his fellow militiamen in crossing the
 freezing, waist-deep Millstone River to defeat a foraging party of British soldiers
1778 - Battle of Monmouth
1777 - Survived an ambush of 800 Loyalists, Tories and Iroquois Indians near Elmira, N.Y. 
1777 - West Point, where a hand-to-hand combat resulted in two shots to his right leg,
   an injury that left him scarred and lame for life. 
1781 - At the war's end, Berger renounced his pledge of freedom and instead sold Sutphen
 to Peter Ten Eyck of North Branch.
     - Samuel was sold several more times before he was purchased by Peter Sutphen 
     --  whose surname he adopted.
1805 - Samuel (59) paid for his own freedom with money he earned selling fur and the skins
 of rabbits, raccoons and muskrats. Moved his family to the Liberty Corner section
 of Bernards Township, bought a 7- acre farm and attended Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church,
  where Sutphen became known as a "professor of religion.  One reason he moved there was 
because of the Pastor, Rev. Robert Finley, a founder of the American Colonization Society,
 an organization dedicated to the establishment of a homeland in Africa for freed American slaves. 
1833 -  (Age 87) Begins a battle with the US government over his right to receive a war pension. 
 After five appeals, and five rejections (the government reasoned that since he was serving for
 someone else he was not entitled to a pension), the New Jersey Legislature took matters into
 its own hands -- requesting all of Sutphen's pension appeals from Washington and
 passing an act "For the Relief of Samuel Sutphen of Somerset." 
1838 - Samuel and Catherine transfer to Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church.
1841 - (Age 95) Died. (May be buried in Liberty Corner Church Cemetery, but register does
      not specify.  No headstone could be found.)
 

Articles:
New Jersey Heritage Magazine Vol. 1 Num. 1 Winter 2002
Courier News Feb. 10, 2003
Freedom fighter - Star Ledger Feb. 26, 2003