“A Landmark case in New Jersey riparian and tidewater jurisprudence as well as American wildlife and public trust law (Lund 1980), even though it was more often ignored than followed (Jaffee 1971, 1974) …”

          “One day in 1818 Benjamin Mundy led a fleet of oyster skiffs on the Raritan River. Their destination was a spot marked by some slender willow twigs not far from the riverbank in Amboy Township. This was an area of once spectacular and still, at that time impressive shell fishing, especially for oysters… Mundy and his gang used their long-handled scissor like oyster tongs to take up this succulent, prized shellfish, but not for market. Their intent … was to “try the right,” to take a contested matter to court. Robert Arnold, the farmer who had put up the twigs and (he claimed) planted the oysters that Mundy and the others tonged, was also eager to try the right. This was one among many instances of trying the right, a tactic somewhere between nefarious lawbreaking and civil disobedience that had the intent or consequence of bringing hotly contested matters to court, where the contestants hoped and expected their problems would be resolved … Benjamin Mundy took the oysters in 1818 not as a lonely pirate but as the leader of a “fleet of skiffs.” This was a social action, intended not to grab a few oysters, but to get the attention of the courts. The Woodbridge Men [Mundy & Co.] claimed that they took the oysters “merely with a view of trying the plaintiff’s pretended right, and not with a view of injuring the bed or taking the oysters further than was necessary for the purpose … Arnold sued Mundy at a special Middlesex Court County Circuit in December 1819. Mundy pleaded not guilty. His defense was based on the argument that the site was a public navigable river, where oysters naturally grow, and that “all citizens of the state had a common right to take oysters therein” (Arnold v. Mundy 18212) … The court cases that ensued from the Mundy/Arnold confrontation led to the first major articulation of the public trust doctrine in America: not only do people have common rights of fishing and navigation on tidal and navigable waters, but the state, acting as trustee for the people, owns the tide-washed and submerged lands.” – McCay, Oyster Wars and the Public Trust; Property, Law, and Ecology in New Jersey.” pp. 45-57

       The above legal manuscript highlights the notes and arguments of Mundy’s defense counsel John G. Wood and J.W. Scott. By skillfully calling for a “nonsuit,” and declining the judge’s verdict for damages, Mundy’s defense lawyers were able to request the opinion of the court and move the case forward to its historic conclusion.