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GENEALOGY 974.9 N421D v.20
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION C
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01268 3568
GENEALOGY 974.9 N421D v.20
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ARCHIVES
OF THE
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
FIRST SERIES.
Vol. XX.
.
This volume was prepared and edited by authority of the State of New Jersey, at the request of the New Jersey Historical Society, and under the direc- tion of the following Committee of the Society :
WILLIAM NELSON, GARRET D. W. VROOM, WILLIAM S. STRYKER, AUSTIN SCOTT, FRANCIS B. LEE.
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DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO THE
COLONIAL HISTORY
OF THE
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
EDITED BY WILLIAM NELSON.
VOLUME XX.
EXTRACTS FROM AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS, RELATING TO NEW JERSEY.
VOL. IV. 1756-1761.
PATERSON, N. J .: THE CALL PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO.
- 1898.
PREFACE.
1136412
The predominant note in these pages is that of War. The Indian ravages begun in the fall of 1755 were continued well on into 1756, to the alarm and distress of the settlers in Sussex county, and even further inland, forts being thrown up as far south as Morris county, for the protection of the whites. The contemporary newspaper accounts here given are sickening in their horrid details of rapine and slaughter. These Indian forays were but a part of the formidable designs of the French on the northern and western British frontiers. The Earl of Loudoun wrote to Pitt, April 25, 1757, predicting that the Quakers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania would control the Assembly, so that "you will continue to have no assistance from them in money and will have very little in men, if they are wanted." The facts proved that he was as poor a prophet as he was a General. This little Province raised £40,000 in 1755-6, for the purposes of protection and counter-attack. A command was raised in the summer of 1756 for the defence of the Sussex frontier, two shillings per day being promised to those who enlisted in this service. (Page 52.) The Jersey Regiment, under the gallant Col. Peter Schuyler, set out in April, 1756, for the north, and its progress is detailed in the newspapers of the day until it arrived at Oswego. We have a graphic account of the unfortunate ambuscade of a part of the Regiment, in July, 1757, the bloody event giving its name to the charming Sabbath Day Point, on Lake George. (Page 122). In May, 1758, again, Colonel John Johnston left Perth Amboy with another New Jersey Regiment of one thousand men, "as jolly likely young fellows as were ever seen in these parts; they made a very handsome appearance, being genteely cloathed from head to foot. And both officers and soldiers went off with the highest spirits, cheerfulness and resolution." (Page 219.) In the attack on Fort Ticonderoga a few weeks
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PREFACE.
later nearly sixty of these men were killed and wounded. (Page 255.) In 1759 the Assembly again voted to raise one thousand men for the summer campaign against the French; a bounty of £12 was offered to each volunteer, and the men were to be "compleatly and uniformly cloathed from Head to Foot," their clothes, blanket and other necessaries being valued at £8 more. Col. Peter Schuyler's name and fame doubtless proved an attraction superior to any of the other inducements. (Pages 336-344.) For the campaign of 1760 the Province raised its usual quota of one thousand men, to whom the same bounty of £12 was promised, with other rewards, as in 1759. A com- pany of Rangers was also sent with the Regiment, and the troops did service at Oneida Lake. (Pages 425-7, 438, 470, 474.) Notwithstanding the great strain upon the resources of the Province caused by these efforts for four years in succession, the Assembly voted in 1761 to raise six hundred effective men for service on the Canadian border. (Pages 560, 574, 581 )
These "Jersey Blues" were thus clad: "Their Uniform blue, faced with red, grey Stockings and Buckskin Breeches." (Page 219.) The gallantry and bravery of these men, the skill of their noble commanders, Col. John Parker, Col. John Johnston, and particularly the chivalry and princely generosity of Colonel Peter Schuyler, spread abroad the fame of New Jersey's splen- did soldiery. Nor were these heroic sacrifices without a reflex action upon the citizens at home. The stirring events of those days, when the American people learned that they were able to protect themselves, by the prowess of their own arms, often in despite of blunders of British Generals and statesmen, make interesting reading, especially when gleaned from the contem- porary newspaper reports, with their inevitable errors. The varying fortunes of the war are indicated also in the proclama- tions of the Governors of New Jersey from time to time ap- pointing alternately days of fasting and then of thanksgiving: as Thursday, April 22, 1756-"A day of solemn humiliation and fasting and prayer in view of disaster and threatened dan- gers." (P. 20.) Friday, June 9, 1758-"as a day of fasting and publick prayer." (Page 214.) Thursday, December 7, 1758-"as a Day of publick Thanksgiving." (P. 298.) Friday, March 30, 1759-"a Day of Fasting and Humiliation." (P.
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PREFACE.
337.) Thursday, November 22, 1759 -- "as a day of thanks- giving," on account of the capture of Quebec. (P. 388.) Fri- day, April 25, 1760 -- "a Day of Fasting and Humiliation." (P. 427.) Friday, October 24, 1760-"as a Day of Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the late glorious Successes of His Majesty's Arms in the Conquest of Canada." (P. 495.)
Nor was the war confined to the land. . French cruisers continually hovered off the New Jersey coast, committing dep- redations on British commerce. This stimulated privateering among the seafaring men and merchants, who occasionally captured worthy prizes. A privateer was built at Elizabeth- town, and probably the Monmouth and Burlington seaports fitted out others, and the hardy whalefishers at Cape May could scarcely have been behind in this alluring pursuit.
An instance of the demoralizing effect of the war is seen in the numerous advertisements of deserters -- young men who had been persuaded to "drink to His Majesty," and repented when sober. It is frequently conjectured, also, in the adver- tisements of runaway servants and apprentices, that they had enlisted, or "gone a-privateering," which was probably the fact.
Important changes in the government of the Province oc- curred in the six years (1756-1761) covered by this volume. The zealous and tactful Gov. Jonathan Belcher was succeeded on his death in 1758 by President John Reading, until the arrival of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Pownal, who was superseded in the same year by the appointment of Governor Francis Ber- nard, who being transferred to Massachusetts in 1760, gave way to Gov. Thomas Boone. The latter was in 1761 sent to South Carolina, and was succeeded in New Jersey by the amiable Gov. Josiah Hardy. In January of the same year George the Third was proclaimed King at Perth Amboy and at Elizabethtown. Both cities were ready to spurn his author- ity fifteen years later.
The Province received a new Chief Justice in the person of William Aynsley, in the spring of 1758, whose untimely demise in the following July made opportunity for the appointment of Nathaniel Jones, who by an ingenious legal quibble was deliberately excluded from an office which the leading men of
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PREFACE.
the Province concluded he could not dignify. The story- related in extenso in this volume, in text and notes-is one of the most curious episodes in the history of our Provincial Courts.
The College of New Jersey, now firmly established at Princeton, is attracting wide attention, the newspapers of the day chronicling details of the annual commencements, the deaths of Presidents Aaron Burr, Jonathan Edwards and Samuel Davies, and the choice of the Rev. Samuel Finley to succeed that illustrious trio. Much free advertising is given also to the lottery for the benefit of the College, "as tending to advance Religion and useful Learning."
Lotteries, indeed, seem to have experienced an extensive revival. We have advertisements of these schemes for a wide variety of objects, but principally in behalf of churches, as for the Lutheran church at Bedminster, the English church at New Brunswick, a new English church at Second River (now Belleville), the Morristown Presbyterian church, the Bound Brook Presbyterian church, St. John's church, Elizabethtown, the Lutheran church at Hackensack, the Parsippany Presby- terian church, and the Acquackanonk Reformed Dutch church. Also for the disposal of books and scientific apparatus, and for the relief of individuals. An important public object advanced by this questionable method was the erection of a lighthouse at Sandy Hook, by the merchants of New York.
Another lottery with a worthy motive was for the purpose of raising money to purchase the title of the Indians to lands in New Jersey. Interesting details are given in these pages of the treaty councils held by Gov. Bernard with the Indians at Easton, in 1758, when they relinquished their claims to the soil of New Jersey. Incidentally, light is thrown on the rela- tions of the whites and the Indians, a price being offered for the scalps of the latter at one time, when the white settle- ments were being ravaged by the aborigines, the result being that the inherent spirit of savagery in some of the palefaces was manifested in a manner to shock the authorities. It seems incongruous that the wild, free sons of the forest should ever have worn the shackles of slavery, and it is with satisfaction that we read of the escape of an Indian slave, "about 30 years
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PREFACE.
of age, a little slim fellow, about 4 feet 4 or 5 inches high, short thick hair, which was cut off last fall."
As is always the case where there is a class deprived of equal rights before the law, we read in these newspaper extracts of occasional rumors of threatened servile insurrec- tions, indicating the uneasiness accompanying the existence of slavery, even in the mild form in which that barbarous system prevailed in New Jersey. It was one of the penalties paid by the "superior" race as the price of its supremacy. There is but one instance mentioned of a slave who was branded. It is pleasant to learn that the branding was not done in New Jersey.
The numerous advertisements of runaway servants show the increasing restlessness of that class, and their natural desire to better their condition As already intimated, the constant calls for volunteers for the expeditions against the French in Canada, and the excitement caused by the wars, had much to do with inducing the breaking of their indentures by many of the adventurers who had made their way to the new country as bound servants That they were not ill- treated, at least in the matter of raiment, appears from the descriptions given of some of the fugitives. Witness the runaway servant (page 73) who was attired in "a linsey wool- sey coat, and brown jacket, a pair of duckbill shoes, square brass buckles, and a good felt hat." Or the apprentice lad who had on "a blue Broad cloth Coat and Jacket, fustian Breeches, and a Pair of wide Checked Trousers over them, and a Beaver Hat." Fancy the picture of the fellow with "red duffel watchcoat, with brass buttons, halfworn sheepskin breeches, grey woollen stockings " Or the Dutch (German is probably meant) servant man wearing "a pair of Indian mock- osens with buckles in them." Or the runaway negro garbed in a "plain made bearskin coat, with flat metal buttons, a white woollen vest ; wool hat and cap, brown tow shirt, buckskin breeches, wool stockings, a pair of pumps with large brass buck- les: he was branded when a boy, in Jamaica, in the West Indies, on his left shoulder blade, plays on the fiddle." (P. 23.) They were a careless lot-"a great taker of snuff, and very apt to get drunk," describes one of them ; "a prodigal like fellow,"
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PREFACE.
was another : "a very impertinent talkative fellow, very apt to get drunk, when he can get liquor" (p. 342); "somewhat down looking;" "wears a bearskin camblet made sailor fashion." They had a love of adventure, which made ordinary toil irksome, and so we frequently read of runaway servants, and especially of apprentices, that they were "supposed to have gone a privateering." Here is a whole volume of adventure compressed in the description of another runaway servant: "Was bred in Cork, served his time in Philadelphia to a ship carpenter; pretends to know something of sawing with a whip saw ; has been a privateering and in the army; taught school, in the Highlands of York, ran away, taught school again in Salem county, ran away from his bail, took a horse with him, forged an order on Capt. Coxe in Philadelphia, and got some money, was put in York Goal, then in Salem goal, and then became an indentured servant, and ran away again, can play the flute, and is supposed to have gone to New York." (Page 132.) There must have been a story about Redmond Magre, who might have came from the ball room rather than the Trenton "Goal." He was "about 22 Years of Age, fair Com- plexion, down Look, with light Hair: had on a blue Coat and Breeches, the Coat trimmed with Gold Cord, and the Breeches with Gold Lace at the Knees, a Buff colored Jacket, with Gold Button holes, black or blue Stockings, and a halfworn Hat." (P. 409.)
The women had the fondness of their sex for finery, which sometimes resulted in such incongruities as a black silk bonnet on a barefooted runaway servant girl, who also had on a "blue calimanco gown and striped linsey petticoat." Less attractive was the garb of another sixteen-year-old girl: "a short striped blue and white Linen Gown, a striped Lincey. Petticoat, a coarse Tow Apron, a Pair of old blue Stockings, an old Pair of Pumps, and an old white Bermuda Hat," (P. 466.) It is not to be wondered at that she ran away. A young Irish woman who made off with her lover was clad in "a striped linsey gown and petticoat, a straw hat, homespun linen shift and a pair of old damask shoes." (P. 61.) Another who fled with a young man wore a " bluish flower'd silk gown."
The descriptions of lands and buildings for sale seem to
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PREFACE.
indicate even in these early days a disposition to forsake the farm for the town, and to engage in trade : an adventurous spirit leading men to seek new locations and new pursuits. They throw light, too, upon the increasing prosperity of the people, shown by the improved character of the farms, with good dwelling houses, and excellent orchards of apple, cherry and peach trees. Sometimes we read of "a good log house," but more frequently it is a "large two story stone house, with two rooms on the lower floor and three rooms on the upper floor;" "an exceeding good dwelling house, with a piazza of twelve feet wide, around the house, also four large rooms on a floor, with a commodious and spacious entry of twelve foot wide, with eight fire places, about Soo apple trees thereon of exceeding good fruit for cider ;" or "a good dwelling house with three fireplaces, sash windows "
More attention is paid to the wants of travelers, who now have two routes between Philadelphia and New York in con- venient "Flying Stages" and "Stage Boats." The taverns on the way are more numerous, and some of them have such pic- turesque signs as the " Highlander on Horseback," "Nag's Head," "Sign of Hudibras," "Death of the Fox," and the "White Hart."
The numerous mentions of iron mines and iron works show that there has been a remarkable development of that indus- try, especially in Northern New Jersey, in the present Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties.
There is an increasing demand for schools and schoolmas- ters, and the career of the drunken, ignorant wielder of the ferule, who moreover was apt to run away, is about to be checked by the new requirement that schoolmasters must be examined and licensed.
It is creditable to the prevalent state of society that the reports of crimes are so comparatively few. Horse stealing and jail breaking are by far the most numerous offences. Perhaps the horse races at Elizabethtown and Perth Amboy excited an undue emulation on the part of some of the impe- cunious spectators to possess fast steeds of their own.
A glance through the forty-six pages of index at the end of the book will show that there is an exceeding variety of
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PREFACE.
subjects not touched upon in this preface, but which are full of interest.
The biographical and genealogical notes are more nume- rous and much fuller than in some of the preceding volumes of this series.
A History of Printing and Printers in New Jersey, prior to 1801, intended for this volume, is necessarily deferred, but will probably appear with Volume XXIII., the next in the series of Newspaper Extracts relating to New Jersey.
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Newspaper Extracts.
Custom-House, Philadelphia. Cleared, Schooner Sparrow, Zachariah Marston to Salem.
Philadelphia, January 15, 1756.
By virtue of a writ to me directed will be exposed to sale, by publick vendue, about ten o'clock, on the seven- teenth of March next, A plantation, containing about 225 acres (part thereof will make good meadow) with a good dwelling-house and barn, and a young orchard, about two miles from Mount Holly, in West-New-Jer- sey, now in possession of Daniel Packer, taken in execu- tion by
William Smith, Sheriff.
N. B. The sale to be held on the premises, and one year's credit given, provided the purchaser gives good security, and pays lawful interest for the same. - The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1412, January 15, 1756.
To be SOLD.
The several tracts of land and premises, lying and being in the western division of the province of New Jersey, viz. One plantation in Kingswood, in the county of Hunterdon, at the south branch of Rariton river, containing 800 and odd acres of good land, well watered and timbered, upwards of 200 cleared, near 70 acres of good meadow under clover and timothy and other valuable grass; there are about 20 acres more may be cleared and watered with ease; a thriving orchard and
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS. [1756
inclines to purchase the same, may apply to Mr. John Van Nordy, in New-Brunswick, or to the owner, Peter Pra Van Zandt, in New-York, by whom an undisput- able title will be given.
To be SOLD.
A plantation, at Hanover, in Morris County, New- Jersey, belonging to the estate of the late Capt. Samuel Lum, containing 80 acres of land and meadow, extra- ordinary good for mowing and pasturage, and a suffi- ciency of wood-Land: There is on said plantation a good dwelling-house, with three fire-places, a good barn, and some orchard. Whoever inclines to purchase the same, may apply to Benjamin Howel, near the prem- ises, or Mathew Lum, executor to the estate of the de- ceased, at Morris-Town, who will give a good title for the same .- The New York Mercury, February 23, 1756.
Philad'a, Feb. 26, 1756
Run away on the 14th. instant from Josiah Halstead of Shrewsbury, in the county of Monmouth, and prov- ince of New-Jersey, a German servant-man, named Jo- han Jeremiah Myah, about five feet, four inches high, well set, a little pitted with the small-pox, speaks very broken English, pretends to know something of the blacksmith's trade, and is about 21 years of age; Had on, when he went away, a felt hat, an old curled wig, or a white cap, a garlix or flannel shirt, a napt half worn bearskin coat, with metal buttons, and a long brown vest, with cuffs on the sleves, and had with him a new striped holland vest, a pair of black plush breeches, a pair of buckskin ditto, and a pair of white demity ditto, a pair of grey worsted stockings, and a pair of coarse yarn ditto, a pair of old shoes, with buckles in them. It
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NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS.
1756]
is thought he has plenty of cash. Whoever secures said servant, so that his master may have him again, shall have Forty Shillings reward, if taken up in the county of Monmouth, and if out of the said county Three Pounds reward, and reasonable charges, paid by me.
Josiah Halstead.
The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1418, February 26. 1756.
To be sold by THOMAS ATKINSON, miller, in Mount- holly, Seven-eighth parts of an extraordinary good grist mill, with two pair of stones, two boulting mills for country work. Also the whole of a good large con- venient merchants boulting house, with two good boulting mills, which go by water.
Likewise one quarter part of a good saw-mill, with two saws, both situated in Mount-holly aforesaid, on a very constant and plentiful stream of water, and at- tended with very good business. And also a piece of very good clover meadow, adjoining the said grist mill. containing between three and four acres entirely in- closed by water-courses. And likewise a piece of good timber land, lying about half a mile from Mount-holly. The titles are indisputable; for further particulars en- quire of
Thomas Atkinson. - The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1418, February 26, 1756.
By Sir JOHN ST. CLAIR, Baronet, Deputy Quarter Master General to his Majesty's forces in North-Amer- ica: Notice is hereby given to all the Captains who are enlisting Men for the Battoe Service, in the Prov-
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
[1756
the date hereof, otherwise they will be discharged, pay- ing their charges.
Samuel Smith, Goaler.
To be SOLD.
By the subscriber, living in Morris Town, in the coun- ty of Burlington, in West-Jersey,
A commodious new brick house, two story high, with three rooms on a floor, a good kitchen, stable and other conveniences; the whole well finished, with a large yard, and a good wharff at the end thereof, where flats or other vessels of burthen may load or unload their car- goes, situate in the most populous part of Bridge-town, commonly called Mount holly, in the county aforesaid, very convenient for a merchant or shop-keeper, and has been used in that way ever since it was built. Also about three acres of good clover meadow, near said premises, belonging to the estate of Benjamin Bispham, deceased. The title is indisputable. For terms, enquire of
Joshua Bispham, Executor -- The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1415, Feb. 5, 1756.
NEW-YORK, February 9.
Saturday last his Majesty's Ship the Nightingale, Dudley Diggs, Esq; Commander, sailed from Sandy- Hook for England; with whom the Hon. Thomas Pow- nall, Esq; Lieutenant-Governor of the Jerseys, went Passenger .- The New York Mercury, February 9, 1756.
We hear that his Excellency, General Shirley has gen- erously made a present of Fifty Pounds to the New- Jersey Colledge.
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NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS.
1756]
Just published and to be sold by the Printer.
A Treaty between the Government of New Jersey and the Indians, Inhabiting the several Parts of the said Province, held at Croswicks, in the County of Burling- ton on Thursday and Friday the eighth and ninth Day of January, 1756 .- The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 688, February 12, 1756.
Whereas some time in the month of September, in the year 1753, Elizabeth Matrar, of Penn's neck, Salem county, in New Jersey, obtained an obligation of me the subscriber of the same place, for the sum of Two Hun- dred Pounds, conditioned for the payment of One Hun- dred Pounds, and has since assigned the same over to one Casper Little, with whom she afterwards intermar- ried; but long before the assignment and intermarriage, I have fully paid off the said obligation, of which I give the publick this notice that they may not be imposed upon by a further assignment of the said obligation, which I am informed they have already attempted, for I will not pay any money upon it.
Feb. 10, 1756. John Redstreake. -The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1417, February 19, 1756.
To be SOLD.
A tract of land, about four miles from New-Bruns- wick, being the first landing on South River, containing 1,000 acres, 150 of which is fresh meadow, with two dwelling-houses, one barn, and two orchards; one of which contains 200 apple trees, and the other 150, all choice fruit, and many other conveniences. Whoever
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS. [1756
buildings; the dwelling house is pleasantly situated by the river, with a fine prospect of a large meadow on each side; there are several other buildings on the prem- ises at a very publick place, where two great roads di- vide, one leading to Trenton and the several ferries into Pennsylvania, the other to Rariton landing and New York; there are rents issuing out of that place of about Thirty Pounds per annum, and capable of great im- provements: The said plantation and meadows may be conveniently divided into two very good farms. One other tract of land in the county of Sussex, containing about thirteen hundred acres situated and lying at Po- hatkonk creek, with a great quantity of meadow ground; there are four tenements and plantations there- on, now in the tenure of Joseph Hornbecker and others.
One other tract about 300 acres of land, lying be- tween the Oxford furnace and the river Delaware, about three miles from the said river; and also the one undivided fourth part of the Oxford furnace, with all the lands, plantations and improvements thereunto be- longing, containing upwards of 4000 acres, together with the several Negroes, horses, oxen, cattle, teams, stock and utensils whatsoever thereunto belonging; the furnace and ore are known to be very good, as also the two third parts of the change water forge, with about fourteen hundred acres of land, very well timbered; the forge stands on Muskoneckonk creek, a large and con- stant stream, not subject to frost or drouth (the works are allowed by the forge men, who have been much amongst iron-works, to be the best they have seen) with a saw-mill and several other Buildings to accom- modate the workmen, together with horses, carriages, stock and utensils thereunto belonging; the forge is
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