USA > New Jersey > A civil and political history of New Jersey: embracing a compendious history of the state, from its early discover and settlement by Europeans, brought down to the present time > Part 13
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On the same day that the instrument of government was signed, Philip Carteret, a brother of one of the Proprietors, received a commission as Governor of New Jersey .¿ He made immediate preparations for departure, and in company with a number of persons who were disposed to adventure as planters, he sailed from England and arrived in the province in August, 1665. They landed at a place to which they gave the name of Elizabeth, in honor of the lady of Sir George Carteret.5
But previous to the arrival of the Governor, circumstances had occurred in the province, which offered an obstruction to the pur- suance of the proprietary measures, and which proved in the end a source of serious embarrassment to the government.
As already stated, a commission had been given to Colonel Nicholls, by which he was authorized, on behalf of the Duke of York, to assume the direction of affairs throughout the whole of the country that had been granted to the Duke.
Nicholls had not been informed of the grant which was made to Berkely and Carteret, and therefore supposed himself to be in authority' in the portion of country belonging to them, as fully as in other places, and had proceeded to exercise his powers therein. After the conclusion of his military duties; he had turned his at- tention to civil affairs ; for the purpose of promoting the settlement of the country he published "conditions for new plantations,"
. Although the number of deputies was limited at first, yet an increase of numbers must have occurred from the erection of new divisions in the province, and as the Assembly, according to the obvious intent of the scheme, would have formed but a single house, the numerical strength of the popular branch would have given it virtual control in the body.
> Whitehead's History of East Jersey, p. 36.
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which conditions were supposed to be applicable to the entire extent of his province.6 The terms that were offered were re- garded as liberal in their character, and were embraced by a number of persons, some of whom selected lands within the limits of New Jersey. Governor Nicholls held this portion of territory in high estimation, and had conferred upon it the name of " Albania," from one of the titles of the Duke'of York. Hc had expected that much advantage would arise to his master, and perhaps to himself, from the settlement of " Albania," and became much dissatisfied at learning that a full conveyance of the country had been made to others. He expressed his disappointment in decided terms; he represented to the Duke of York the impolicy of dividing the province, and particularly of parting with the most desirable portion, and finally proposed that the grant should be recalled, or a composition be made with the holders by, assigning to them a different portion of country.7
' The terms proposed by Nicholls for acquiring lands within the territories of the Duke of York, were these. Purchases were to be made from the Indian Sachems, and recorded by the Governor. The purchasers were not to pay the Governor for the liberty of purchasing. The purchasers were to set out a town and inhabit together; no one should at any time contract for himself with any Sachem, without the consent of his associates, or special warrant from the Governor. The settlers were to be free from all manner of assessment or rates for five years after their town plat was set out, and when this time had expired, they were only to be liable to the public rates and payments according to tlie custom of other inhabitants, both English and Dutch. All lands thus purchased and possessed, were to remain with the purchasers and their heirs, as free lands . w dispose of as they pleased. Liberty of conscience was to be allowed, provided such liberty was not converted to licentiousness, or the disturbance of others. The several townships were to have liberty to make their own particular laws, and to decide all small causes within themselves. Every township should be obliged to pay their minister according to such agreement as should be made, and no man to refuse his proportion, the minister being elected by the major part of the householders inhabitants of the town. Every township should have the choice of their officers, civil and military, and all men who should take the oath of allegiance, and were not servants or day laborers, but were admitted to enjoy a town lot, should be esteemed as free men of the jurisdiction, and could not forfeit the same without due process of law. Grunts and Concessions, p. 667. "[A portion of a letter from Colonel Nicholls to the Duke of York.]
"I must now descend to the particular occasion of giving your Royal High-
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But if the Duke had any disposition to comply with such a proposal, he could not fail to perceive, that the season had passed ; Nicholls was obliged to acquiesce in the loss of a portion of
ness this trouble, wherein my Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret are con- cerned; who I know also will be so just to me, as to have me excused for manifesting clearly my knowledge to your Royal Highness. About ten days past Captain Bollen shewed me a letter from my Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret, and therewith a grant from your Royal Highness to them for all the lands on the west of Hudson River, as more fully may appear in the said grant; wherein is comprehended all the improveable part of your Royal Highness' patent, and capable to receive twenty times more people than Long Island, and all the remaining tracts, in respect not only to the quantity of the land, but to the sea coast and Delaware River, and lastly, the fair hopes of rich mines, to the utter discouragement of any that shall desire to live under your Royal Highness' protection. In short, I hold myself obliged to give your Royal Highness this account upon certain knowledge, having exactly considered and preferred the advance of your Royal Highness' reputation in these parts above all considerations or obligations whatsoever; and for my boldness, I can at least but beg pardon. Neither can I suppose, that my Lord Berkely or Sir George Carteret knew how prejudicial such a grant would prove to your Royal High- ness, but must charge it upon Captain Scot, who was born to work mischief, as far as he is credited or his parts serve him. This Scot, it seems, aimed at the same patent which your Royal Highness hath, and has given out words that he had injury done him by your Royal Highness; whereupon he contrived and betrayed my Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret into a design (contrary to their knowledge,) of ruining all the hopes of increase in this territory, which he hath fully completed, unless your Royal Highness take farther order therein. Upon this tract of land several new purchases are made from the Indians since my coming, and three towns beginning. I gave it the name of Albania, lying to the west of Hudson's River, and to Long Island the name of Yorkshire, as to this place the name of New York, to comprehend all the titles of your Royal Highness. Far be it from me to aggravate any thing beyond the bounds of a faithful servant; for, when it may conduce most for your Royal Highness' service, I shall as freely surrender up all parts to your Royal Highness' pleasure as it becomes me to do. I presume farther to propose a better and more entire tract of land, worthy of great consideration, to my Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret, which is that part of Delaware River which is reduced from the Dutch, if it is not already disposed; if so, then that my Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret may have a hundred thousand acres along the sea coast, which is a most noble tract of land ; but this will cost them £20,000 before it will yield them a penny, and their children's children may reap the benefit."
Some time afterwards in a letter to Lord Arlington, Nicholls farther remarks:
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authority and to surrender New Jersey into the hands of Carteret. But in the action already taken, the foundation was laid for no little difficulty in future.8
Upon the arrival of Governor Carteret, he entered at once upon the discharge of the duties of his place. He adopted measures to invite attention to the province; messengers were sent abroad to publish the "Concessions," and to set forth the advantages that were offered, both in the government, and in the fortunate situa- tion of the country. A rapid accession to the number of settlers rewarded the Governor's efforts; numerous emigrants entered from the neighboring settlements, and the population was farther increased by frequent arrivals from England. At an early period the executive authority of the province was fully established by the appointment of a Council; the Governor selected for this situation Captain . Nicholas Verlett, Daniel Pierce, Robert Bond, Samuel Edsall, Robert Vanquellen and William Pardon. James Bollen was appointed Secretary of the province.9
One of the first and most important objects requiring the atten- tion of government, was that relating to the apportionment, and the titles of lands. Lands were granted out in accordance with the provisions made in the concessions. These regulations, which were farther confirmed by instructions to the Governor, required
" My humble conception and certain knowledge direct me to inform your Lord- ship, that by the unskilfulness of the informers, the west side of Delaware River, now seated with Swedes, Finns and Dutch, is crushed between the Lord Balti- more's patent on the west side, and the Lord Berkely's indenture on the east, that the present inhabitants cannot possibly subsist in so narrow a compass." He therefore suggests "that twenty miles on each side of the River Delaware, should be given to Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret instead of the land granted to them."
Note in Whitehead's East Jersey, p. 181.
. Large grants had already been obtained in accordance with the "Condi- tions" proposed by Nicholls. On the 30th of September, 1664, John Bailey, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, under permission from Governor Nicholls, had obtained from the Indians a deed for land which afterwards came to be known as the Elizabethtown tract. On the 8th of April, 1665, Nicholls confirmed another purchase to several individuals. This grant which is sometimes called the Monmouth patent, was the foundation of the settlement of Middletown and Shrewsbury.
See Grants and Concessions, p. 663.
' The precise date of the appointment of these officers is not determined.
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that the general divisions of land should be made by the Governor and Council and General Assembly, (if any be;) they were to divide all lands into general lots, one seventh part of each to be reserved to the Proprietors, and the remainder to be granted to individuals, or companies. Particular grants were to be made by the Governor or his Deputy; he should give to all applicants a warrant signed and sealed by himself and the major part of the Council, directed to the Surveyor General or his Deputy, com- manding him to lay out and limit the grant. The Surveyor General was required by certificate to inform the Chief Secretary or Register of the name of the grantee, the date of the warrant, the number of acres, and the situation of land, which certificate was to be entered by the Register in a book prepared for the pur- pose. All lands were to be held in free and common socage. But for every acre thus granted there should be reserved a yearly rent of one penny or one-half penny, (according to the value of lands,) to be paid to the Proprietors, their heirs and assigns for- ever, the payment to be made on the five and twentieth day of March, of each year, to begin in the year 1670.
If lands thus granted should be neglected, and not planted with a sufficient number of persons, within the space of three years, they might be disposed of anew, but lands quietly held, planted - and possessed for seven years after being duly surveyed, should not be subject to any review or resurvey. .
The lands that were granted prior to the coming of Governor Carteret, comprehending the beginning of " three towns," were held by a title directly adverse to the proprietary provisions. 10 They had been made by different authorities, and upon other terms; they were founded upon a purchase from the Indians, and a confirma- tion or license from Nicholls. The former of these in itself was of no value as an element of title, it could only remove an obstruction to the perfect establishment and enjoyment of title. The right to the territory was supposed to have been vested in the English King, and only he, or his grantees, could make a valid con- weyance to others. The confirmation or permission from Nicholls
1º The grants that had been confirmed by Nicholls were the foundation of the settlements of Elizabethtown, and Middletown and Shrewsbury.
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would probably have stood, had the country at the time been within his jurisdiction, but it had previously been conveyed, and all ownership and all proper authority were in other hands.
No immediate interruption of harmony resulted from the con- trariety of interests and of claims, that thus arose in the province ; the consequences may not have been fully foreseen. At subse- quent periods various expedients were resorted to in order to re- move the evil, or prevent the injury. Some of the grantees of Nicholls received new patents from the Proprietary government, and others disposed of their claims.11 .. But the difficulty continued to exist; many of these claimants insisted that they had already obtained a sufficient title, and resolved to hold to the rights that had thus been acquired, without any regard to the proprietary regulations and demands.
At the same time that they obtained their lands, the settlers in the province received grants authorizing the exercise of particular privileges and powers. Nicholls had required, that settlements should be made in companies, that the planters "should set out a town and inhabit together," and to these "towns" certain corporate privileges were allowed. Similar grants were also made by Go- vernor Carteret. These grants, which may properly be termed charters, formed instruments of government by which the people of the several places were enabled to make such regulations as their particular situation required, and also to supply any lack that might have existed at this early period, from the imperfect organization of the provincial government. The local charters were some- what different in their conditions. That which was granted by · Nicholls to the people of Middletown and Shrewsbury, and which was allowed to continue in force under the proprietary government, and which was finally confirmed, gave to the people important pri- vileges. It gave full authority to dispose of the lands conveyed in their patent as to them should seem meet. To exercise their own
" Governor Carteret himself became concerned in a purchase from some of the holders of the Elizabethtown tract. He may have designed by the measure to lessen the difficulty from conflicting claims, but it was afterwards used as an argument against him, it being represented as an acknowledgment of the title Asined through Nicholls.
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discretion as to the employment and maintainance of minis- ters. That all cases not criminal in their nature, should first have a hearing within their cognizance, and that no appeal should be taken to a higher court when the sum in issue did not exceed ten pounds. That criminal cases and matters above ten pounds were to be determined in higher courts, and appeals to his Majesty were not to be hindered. That the people should have the liberty to nomi- nate two persons to fill each commissioned office, whether civil, or military, of whom one should be selected and commissioned by the Governor. Finally, they were to be allowed to make such peculiar prudential laws amongst themselves, as might be deemed necessary. 12
An association which was formed in 1666, received a charter from Governor Carteret, in which they were allowed to choose their own magistrates for the government of the corporation ; to select their own minister ; to nominate their military officers and justices of the peace for the approval of the Governor, and to have courts to try all causes actionable within their own jurisdic- tion, from which no appeal should be taken when under the sum of five pounds. Liberty of conscience was guarantied short of licentiousness, and disturbance of the public peace. No tax or custom to be imposed, save such as should be approved by the provincial government, together with other particulars agreeing with the provisions of the proprietary concessions. 13
In the same year (1666,) an association was formed by a com- pany of persons in New England, for the purpose of forming a settlement in the province of New Jersey, and previous to their removal they adopted "two fundamental agreements touching their intended design," and these agreements exhibit a new feature of civil polity. The company resolved "that none should be ad- mitted freemen or free burgesses within our town upon Passick River, in the province of New Jersey, but such planters as are members of some or other of the congregational churches; nor
" Grants and Concessions, p. 664.
" The settlers under this charter were to settle one or two townships, con- sisting of fron forty to one hundred families, between Rahway and Raritan See note in Whiteheud's Eust Jersey, p. 183.
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shall any but such be chosen to magistracy, or to carry on any part of-civil judicature, or as deputies or assistants to have power to vote in establishing laws, or making or repealing them, or to any chief military trust or office. Nor shall any but such church members have any vote in any such elections; though all others admitted to be planters shall have the right to their proper inheri- tances, and do, and shall enjoy all other civil liberties and privileges, according to laws, orders, or grants, which are or hereafter shall be made for this town."
That "we shall with care and diligence provide for the main- tainance of the purity of religion professed in the congregational churches."
A portion of this body upon their arrival in the province, held a meeting "near to Elizabethtown and the Town Plots, on Pas- saick River," on the 21st of May, 1666, and resolved that at the arrival of their associates they would endeavor to settle together, and form one township, and be of one heart and consent with God's blessing in endeavoring. to carry on their spiritual concern- ments, as well as their civil and town affairs, according to God and a godly government. 14 .
The "agreements" entered into by these settlers, manifested a disposition to make the enjoyment of civil privileges dependent upon a certain religious profession and belief; a rule of action which had been generally adopted, and acted upon, in New England. It was fortunate perhaps that no such principle was recognized in the form of government which the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey had devised; had it -been otherwise, the religious intolerance and oppression that had been witnessed in New Eng- land, might have been revived, to the injury and affliction of this new province.
A period of three years elapsed before the government projected by the Proprietors was brought fully into action. Earlier than this, the population and condition of the province were not sup- posed to be such as to require, that a general representative body should be chosen.
" These settlers were from several different towns in Connecticut. They established themselves at Newark. Whitehead, p. 45.
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But on the 7th of April, 1668, Governor Carteret issued a pro- clamation requiring the freeholders of each town to make choice of two able men that were freeholders and dwellers within their limits, to be their Burgesses and Representatives in a General Assembly, to be held at Elizabethtown, on the 25th of May. 15 In accordance with the Governor's direction, deputies were elected in the several towns, and met together, and on the 26th of May, 1668, the first Legislative Assembly in the history of New Jer- sey commenced its proceedings.
" Whitehead, p. 52.
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CHAPTER IX.
FIRST LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS .- OPPOSITION OF THE PEOPLE TO THE GOVERNMENT .- RETURN OF THE DUTCH, AND RESTORATION OF THE ENGLISH AUTHORITY.
AT the first meeting of the legislative body, all the principal towns in the province were found to be represented.1 The ses- sion seems to have passed with a good degree of harmony, and was brief in its duration : it continued but four days. A principal measure was the enactment of a bill of pains and penalties which was somewhat remarkable for its extreme severity. In many particulars, it followed the Levitical law; twelve crimes were enumerated for which, under certain circumstances, the punish- ment of death would be incurred. But it was prescribed " that no man's life shall be taken away under any pretence, but by virtue of some law established in the province, that it be proved by the mouth of two or three sufficient witnesses."
An enactment was passed providing for the expenses of govern- ment, ordering that the sum of thirty pounds should be raised, by a levy of five pounds on each of the towns represented at the time. It was also enacted that the Assembly should meet on the first Tuesday in November of every year, until they should see cause to alter the said time of meeting, and that the deputies of cach town should be chosen on the first of January according to the concessions ; and for the absence of any deputy, he should be liable to pay forty shillings for every day's absence, as a fine to the county, unless the Assembly should see cause to remit the
: The following Burgesses appeared, for Bergen, Gasper Steenmetts and Balthazar Bayard; for Newark upon Pishawack River, Captain Robert Treat and Samuel Swarne; for Elizabethtown, John Ogden, Sen'r. and John Brack- eu; for Woodbridge, John Bishop and Robert Dennis; for Middletown, James Grover and John Bound, the last named also represented Shrewsbury.
Grants and Concessions, p. 77.
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same. Extraordinary meetings of the Assembly might. be called * at the discretion of the Governor and Council,. "as the necessity and weighty affairs of the province should require." Some other enactments were made and several. matters were deferred for future consideration. The deputies informed the Governor and Council, that they had perused the contents of the several acts presented to them, and they thought it needful that laws should be made, "but by reason of the week so near spent and the resolution of some of our company to depart, and the meeting to surcease for the present, they were necessitated to refer the full consideration of them, until the next session of the Assembly."
The Assembly then adjourned to the 3d of November next ensuing.
. The second meeting of the General Assembly, took place ac- eording to previous adjournment, on the 3d of November of the same year (1668.) At an early period of the session the defects in the government of the province began to be manifested. The powers to be exercised by the different departments were suffi- ciently determined; the authority assigned to the General Assembly was fully defined, and it was such as properly belonged to the body ; the general aim was just. But the body was so constituted as to render harmonious action in the pursuit of the aims proposed, extremely uncertain and difficult. The two branches of which the Assembly was composed, were entirely different in origin, one being chosen by the people, and the other, appointed by the Lords Proprietors, or by the Governor. The points of agreement be- tween these divisions, were not sufficient in number or strength to secure accordance in action, and yet the respective forces were balanced so nearly as to prevent the decided preponderance of either. The number of members in the proprietary branch, was nearly equal to the whole of the deputies. But in this particular a change would have gradually occurred from the increase of population, and the consequent addition to the representative body.2
"The number of representatives in this Assembly was increased by the ad- dition of two deputies from Delaware River, they were Peter Jegon and Fa- brus Outout. The whole number elected at this time, was fourteen, but the representatives from Middletown and Shrewsbury being dismissed, the number sitting was the same as at the former session.
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But this advantage to the popular interest was entirely prevented ~ by the separate meeting of the branches, a mode of procedure which would render numerical force of no effect; in separate chambers, the smaller body might effectually control the larger.
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