USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > Perth Amboy > Contributions to the early history of Perth Amboy and adjoining country : with sketches of men and events in New Jersey during the provincial era > Part 26
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" To Mr. Andrew Hay the Sum of Twenty Shillings per Week for the Use of a Room, &c., for the Gentlemen of the Council during this present Ses- sion."
In October, 1741, and December, 1743, the executors of John Parker re- ceived twenty shillings per week from the Assembly, and Mrs. Sargant (in .
2 Coupled with this tradition is a romantic story of his having fired the building out of chagrin at having as- sisted in erecting it-he being a mason -but as it had stood about fifty years we may reasonably doubt that part of the statement. Indeed, from a letter in my · possession, dated September, 1769, it is doubtful if the story applied at all to the building referred to. Philip Kearny writes, " It is thought by some that Martin has set the jail on fire, but I cannot hear of any positive proof-there are some circumstances on his side which look bad." This date refers of course to the jail subse- quently built.
3 John Johnston became, subse- quently, one of the managers, and his account, as such, is in my possession.
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tion required was not given, it is presumed, for the building erected is the one now standing, and of which a representation is here given as it appeared in 1832. Some change has since
WA W 133
THE OLD COURT-HOUSE.
been made in the shape of the cupola or belfry. The act par- ticularly described the kind of building to be erected, but the directions were not followed. It was to have "one large room in the middle or centre, for holding the courts of the said county and province in general ; also two sufficient and fit rooms, one in each end of the said court-house, for the jury or juries of said county and province ;" instructions which, if car- ried out, would have resulted in an edifice of only one story erected on stilts.
As it now stands was the Court-house finished in 1767, and from that time till 1775 it was occupied by the courts and provincial assembly ; from beneath its roof came forth some of the patriotic resolutions and addresses by which that body warmed the hearts of Jerseymen and prepared them for the struggle to which events were impelling them; and there too did the Thespians of the Ante-revolutionary period delight select but appreciating auditories.4
4 Dunlap's American Theatre, p. 22.
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
Since the War of Independence and the transfer of the county seat to New Brunswick, the court-house has been used as a school-house and for public meetings. It was thoroughly repaired in 1826 and at different periods since, and will pro- bably remain a monument of the days of "good King George III." until another generation shall have looked upon it. It has recently, however, ceased to be a public building, having passed into private hands.
JAILS.
It is probable that Jails did not commonly exist in the different counties before 1684, although laws requiring their erection had been enacted previously. The first one built at Amboy, of which any information has been obtained, was erect- ed in conformity with an Act passed in 1713, and stood until 1765 or 1766, when it was destroyed by fire, together with the court-house which was under the same roof, as stated on a preceding page.
The erection of another was authorized by Act of Assem-
THE OLD JAIL.
bly June 28th, 1766, and it was finished in 1767 at an expense of more than two hundred pounds. It contained rooms for the keeper's family in addition to those for prisoners, and its general appearance may be realized from the above sketch, representing it as it stood at the time of being torn down. It
. All the bills for its erection are in my possession.
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was located in Back now State street, adjoining the old burial ground, and at one time an alley-way led to it from High street, to facilitate the passage of criminals and officers between it and the Court-house.
In consequence of having no attention paid to its preserva- tion, from the little need of such a building after the transfer of the county seat to New Brunswick, it had been for some years prior to its destruction in a most dilapidated condition, a receptacle for the most wretched and depraved class of in- habitants, in common with what was usually termed "the yellow house " in its vicinity, which continued a depository of misery and want for several years after its companion had dis- appeared ; but which at a later period was repaired and res- cued from its desecration, to become comparatively a respectable residence.
A quarrel having arisen within the precincts of the jail on New Year's Eve, 1825-6, which resulted in the receipt of some very severe wounds by two individuals engaged in the affray, the city authorities in the course of the year sold it with the condition that it should be destroyed ; which was done.6
This was the jail in which Richard Stockton was confined in December, 1776, when on his way to New York a prisoner to the refugee royalists, in company with his friend John Covenhoven, at whose house in Monmouth he was residing at the time of his capture. The severe weather to which Mr. Stockton was exposed while in the jail, and the subsequent harsh treatment of the English in New York, laid the founda- tion of disease that terminated his existence in 1781.
Some remains of the old jail's foundation yet mark the spot where it stood.
" The nett proceeds of the jail were $252.92. The head of the family that then were the miserable inmates of the place was nearly related to one occu- pying a station in society in West
Jersey as high as his was low. An instance of the wide difference that vice and intemperance can work in the destinies of men starting from the same point.
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
THE STOCKS.
"An ancient castle,
all of wood ; by powerful spell
Of magic, made impregnable,
There's neither iron bar nor gate,
Portcullis, chain, nor bolt nor grate,
And yet men durance there abide
In dungeons scarce three inches wide."-Hudibras.
It is only a few years since the remains of this formidable instrument of the law's vengeance,
"Such as basest and contemnedst wretches
For pilferings and most common trespasses Were punished with-"
vanished from the ancient capital. The lower piece and the uprights, serving in some measure as a warning to the ill- behaved, stood in the square a few feet south of the Market until 1827, when on making some reparation to that building they were removed as "encumbering the ground." The author remembers gazing, when a boy, with wonder and doubt at the semi-circular receptacles to be seen in the portion that remained. No one with whom he has conversed recollects their being used.
Whitney & gocety fo
THE OLD MARKET.
This memorial of the days when the good citizens of Perth Amboy called themselves "the most dutiful and loyal
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
subjects " of the King of Great Britain, was taken down in 1842, having for a long while been untenanted, and for many years only used on special occasions.
It was several times repaired within the memory of the writer, but the corporation conceiving it to be useless, or un- deserving the expense of repairs called for in the year above mentioned, sold it to the highest bidder. The subjoined sketch gives a correct idea of its appearance at the time of its demolition.
When it was erected is not known, but it is mentioned as in existence as early as 1766. It was then double or twice the length of the building represented in the sketch, a passage being left across the square from east to west through, or be- tween the two lengths of, the building. When the southern half was taken down is not known ; each half was about fifty feet long by twenty broad.
During the revolution this Market-house was closely boarded up and transformed into a barrack for the troops.
Whitney & Jocelyn Sc
THE BARRACKS.
The erection of these buildings was authorized in 1758, at the same time with others at Trenton, New Brunswick and Elizabethtown. They were intended to accommodate three hundred men, but, as planned, probably received a greater number.
Twenty-six hundred pounds were appropriated by the Province for their construction, and they were erected and fur-
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nished under the superintendence of Samuel Nevill, Thomas Bartow and John Smyth. Andrew Johnston, James Hude and John Johnston were appointed trustees for the province, to re- ceive the title deeds for the land, which was not to exceed one acre in quantity,7 and on the completion of the buildings, in 1759, they were placed in charge of Samuel Sargant and Thomas Skinner, who received each £20 per annum for their services.
The barracks were first occupied by the troops returning from the capture of Havana, in 1762, and from that time until the evacuation of New Jersey by the British, they were seldom unoccupied for any length of time,-a regiment being generally quartered at the different posts in East Jersey. The " 47th foot" was the last that occupied them previous to the Revolution, and left New Jersey to participate in the perils of Bunker Hill and Saratoga.
A high close fence surrounded the grounds, from a line forty or fifty feet in the rear of the buildings, to the road, leaving a considerable space on each side. A portion of the area on the west side was occupied as a wood-yard, and the re- mainder used for the morning and evening parades. The regular reviews, and drillings for inspection, took place on what are now the lands of Mr. John R. Watson, towards Sandy Point.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the Barracks were taken possession of by Captain Conway's company of militia, who marched down and paraded on the old race-course with the air of an invading army ; this, too, while all the British colonial officers were yet nominally in possession of their re- spective offices. Captain Conway's official report is among the Stirling Papers in the New York Historical Society Li- brary, as well as an inventory of the furniture, &c., he found in the buildings. The minuteness with which he details the vari- ous articles, when the worthlessness of some of them is consid- ered, is somewhat amusing. From the quantity of bedding found, it would seem that provision only existed then for about eighty men.
7 More must subsequently have been obtained.
17
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
Being public property, these buildings were confiscated to the United States ; and by a resolution of Assembly, June 19th, 1783, they were placed in the charge of John Griggs, who was authorized to put them in "tenantable repair." They were subsequently sold to a Mr. Lloyd, who, in expecta- tion of realizing considerable profit from the sale of the bricks -at the time commanding a high price-commenced tearing them down, but finding the expense greater than he had anti- cipated he desisted after demolishing part of the centre. The property afterward went into the possession of the Parker family, and some years since it was purchased for a Manufac- turing Company. For several years prior to 1832, a large number of poplar trees stood about the premises,-planted after the Revolution, when a rage for that species of tree pre- vailed very extensively-but they were then cut down.
It is not probable that the " pomp and circumstance of glorious war " will ever again enliven these 'buildings, or with- draw them from private uses. Within a few years they have become occupied for various purposes by Mr. Solomon Andrews, previous to which time they were in a ruinous state ; the habitation of the poor and destitute.
THE OFFICE OF PROVINCIAL RECORDS.
& Jocelyn fc
THE OFFICE OF PROVINCIAL RECORDS
The building, of which a represen- tation is annexed, standing on the south-east corner of Gordon (formerly Gully) street and High street (at present the proper-
ty of the Sunday School Society of St. Peter's Church), was erected by order of the Provincial Assembly in the year 1761, as a place of deposit for the records of the Eastern division of the province, a fire-proof apartment occupying one end o the building.
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
The act under which it was built was passed December 5th, 1760, and appropriated six hundred pounds for the erection of two edifices, one at Amboy and one at Burlington ; Messrs. Thomas Bartow, John Smyth and Andrew Smyth, being the commissioners appointed to superintend the erection of the one at Amboy.
How long it was occupied for the purposes for which it was built, and why vacated, I have not learned.
BRIGHTON HOUSE.
JOCELYN
Miss C. S. Brinley
The first government house was erected on ground near the public square, in pursuance of orders from the proprieta- ries in England, in 1684. What its appearance and dimen- sions were, are not known. It was occupied by Governor An- drew Hamilton, but probably ceased to be the residence of the officials of the province when the government was transferred to the crown. The royal governors who preceded Governor Franklin, took up their abode wherever their convenience prompted.
The Board of Proprietors in March, 1762, adopted a plan, and gave the necessary directions for building a proprietary house where the present Brighton stands. It was completed
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
about the year 1764-5, and comprised only a part of what is now the main edifice. From May 1766 to May 1771, it was occupied by Chief Justice Smyth, at an annual rent of twenty-five pounds New York currency, and in October, 1774, it became the residence of Governor Franklin.
While Amboy was in the possession of the British troops, their commanders' head-quarters were at this house ; but some time after the Revolution its interior was destroyed by fire, and in 1785, it was sold by the Board of Proprietors It was subsequently rebuilt and enlarged by Mr. John Rat- toone.
The appearance and dimensions of the building as it is at present, were given to it while in the possession of a firm who, in the year 1809, established it as a public house by the name it now bears. It was kept in the style of the best houses at the watering places ; servants abounded, bands of music were in constant attendance, and every arrangement made about the premises to accommodate the public on the most extensive and agreeable scale. For a year or two it was much frequented, and the proprietors had collected all the materials for con- structing another wing, similar to that on the south of the main building, to enable them to entertain a still greater num- ber of visitors, but the progress of the war with Great Britain put a stop to all their proceedings ;- their prospects were blighted, they became insolvent, gave up the business, and the property was sold.
Soon afterwards it was purchased by the late Matthias Bruen, Esq., and was for several years, until his death, his resi- dence, but is now a place of summer resort.
INNS AND TAVERNS.
In connection with the ferry across the Raritan, established by Deputy-Governor Lawrie in 1684, was erected what has been long known as the " Long Ferry Tavern "-and the au- thor has ofter heard it spoken of by his seniors as the custom- ary resort of the gentlemen of the town previous to the Revo- lution :- the spot
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
" Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired, And village statesmen talked with looks profound."
It was the first public house opened in Amboy. One hundred and seventy years and more have much altered the appearance of the grounds around it. There was a beautiful grove of lo- custs on the bank of the river westward of the house, which, in addition to the advantages of a delightful situation, com- manding an extensive and agreeable prospect, possessed ano- ther attraction in its name ;- it was called "Love-Grove," and was a favorite and much frequented walk, the resort of the population generally on a summer's afternoon ; the sea breeze invigorating the failing limbs of age, and bringing on its wings additional life and energy to youth.
.
Although it is probable that the house sustained a good name - generally the consequence of good qualities in the host-but little information can be gathered of its occupants. Previous to the Revolution it was kept for a long period by a man of large stature named Carnes,8 but of his predecessors nothing is known. Probably " mine host " of Lawrie's time was James Emott.
There was an opposition establishment on the other side of the street, which, for several years previous to 1765, was kept by Isaac Iseltine, but in that year it was sold, and ap- pears to have been bought by Elias Bland, and occupied as a private residence.
The buildings on the north side of Smith Street at its junc- tion with High Street, were kept as taverns for some years pre- vious to 1776. One of them for some years has been closed, and it is not probable that the wants of the place will require it to be re-opened. The present City Hotel was occupied at the time of the Revolution by Whitehead Hicks-a connection of the New York family of that name, who had seen better
8 " When I asked my earliest friend and instructor (after my parents), Thomas Bartow, for the meaning of ' Giant,' his' answer, was 'such a man as Carnes ;' and I remember when looking over the pictures in Milton's Paradise Lost before I could read, I
remarked to the old gentleman, point- ing to the head of the figure of Sin- . that is like Tom Carnes.' " Wm. Dunlap-in a letter to the author. A son of Carnes was Steward and Quar- termaster to the General Hospital in New York, in 1776.
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
days. Rivington's paper was " to be had at Hicks' tavern in Amboy." Among the names of inn-keepers we find Andrew Hay, in 1730, Elijah Dunham, John Thompson and Robert Rattoone about the period of the Revolution, and John Hooks, in 1692. The public houses under the hill, on the Sound, were in the olden time mere ferry houses.
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THE LONG FERRY TAVERN.
The Long Ferry tavern as it now stands, bears evident marks of having received additions since first erected. It is supposed that the portion with the high stoop and dormer windows was all that was built in the time of Lawrie. The sketch annexed was taken in 1832, and the single tree intro- duced, may assist the imagination in forming an idea of the appearance of the place previous to the destruction of the locust grove which extended westward.
The encroachments upon the bank, which caused the de- struction of the grove, do not seem to have been serious until after the Revolution, but they had commenced in 1761. In November of that year the vestry of St. Peter's Church, to
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
whom the property belonged, being of opinion that a wharf was necessary for the preservation of the bank as well as for the advantage of the ferry, appropriated funds for its construc- tion. Nothing, however, was done until July, 1765, when a Committee was appointed "to inspect the building of a low wharf to be immediately constructed, and if the sums appro- propriated be sufficient, a block at the end to protect the boats."
This block and wharf do not appear to have been very substantially built, for in May, 1770, it was considered neces- sary to raise the wharf, and " the remains " of the block at the end were to be made use of in the work. It was completed in August.9 For many years the wharf has ceased to exist.
THE SPA.
This Mineral Spring in the road which divides the town- ships of Woodbridge and Perth Amboy, though of less strength, is similar in character to the water of Schooley's Mountain. It does not appear to have attracted any special attention at an early period, and is not alluded to in any papers or documents which have come under my notice prior to 1772. In the New York Journal of July 9th, in that year, it is referred to in con- nection with the advertisement of a " new and convenient Bath lately erected at Amboy." The bath is said to be highly beneficial " from being about two miles distant from mineral water similar to the German Spaw," which had been of great efficacy in many disorders ; its distance, it is said, " procuring moderate exercise after bathing, has proved in many instances very assistant to the medicinal quality of the waters, which with great success have been directed after bathing in sea water. The qualities of this Spaw have been well examined by several physicians of ability, and frequently recommended by them, particularly by the present Doctor Johnston and his father." Whether a walk of four miles, which a visit to the spring rendered necessary, could be termed "moderate exer- cise," some may be allowed to doubt. No name is affixed to
9 The contractor was James Morgan ; the contract price 35l.
1
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PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES.
the advertisement, so that the originator of this public im- provement 10-such as the city even at the present day cannot boast of-remains unknown.
The spring, within the recollection of the writer, has sev- eral times been fitted up with seats, a roof, and other appli- ances, at the cost of such inhabitants of the two towns as have been accustomed to visiting it, but the waters have never been of sufficient repute to attract attention from abroad.
THE COVE.
A considerable inlet existed at the time of the settle- ment, at the foot of Tower Hill. Gawen Lawrie, in one of his letters, describes the spot as resembling the keys in London ; and supposing it to be particularly applicable to commercial purposes, he laid out the adjoining lots ac- cordingly, as will be seen on reference to the map at page nine. The high ground around was to be occupied by stores and warehouses, while a canal dug around the low ground in the centre would permit small vessels to come up to their doors ; and it was from the great protection from the winds and waves which it was supposed they would thus se- cure, that it had its name. The alterations of late years have so changed the topography of this part of the city, that the spot will no longer be recognized as the one set apart by Lawrie for the use of shipping. We can hardly realize the fact that such plans were formed with reference to its peculiar capabilities, but one hundred and seventy years have done much towards filling up and rendering firm ground what was once a marsh. Within the recollection of old inhabitants, boats large enough to carry several cords of wood, deposited their freight some distance inside the bridge which crosses the basin of what a few years since was the coal-yard of the Lehigh Company, and the miniature ships of even the present resi- dents-" when life with them was new "-were here set afloat
10 This Bath was "near the wharf opposite the bay." It had a dressing- room with a staircase leading into the
bathing apartment, whence egress could be had by a door, by those who wished to swim out into deep water.
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on quite an extensive surface of water, and their canvas trim- med to the breeze.
Previous to the commencement of the filling up, which preceded the occupation of the Coal Company, a considerable portion of this low ground was overflowed at high water.
TOWER HILL.
This elevation of ground, west of the Cove and in front of the Baptist and Methodist Churches, was so designated many years before the Revolution. The name was conferred in con- sequence of its having been the place where on some few occa- sions criminals were executed.
THE WRECK OF THE CALEDONIA.
Lying in shoal water, nearly in front of the brick-yard of Mr. Hall, are the remains of a vessel which used to be much resorted to, and may be still, in consequence of their harboring numbers of fine fish.
The vessel was the " Caledonia," and her name has become very generally known, and-it may be said-reverentially spoken of, from her having borne to New Jersey many Scotch families, immigrating from Scotland during the troubles that agitated that country in 1715. She was commanded by Robert Drummond, and, for some cause not now known, the captain and crew deserted her while lying at the wharf at Amboy, and, a storm arising, she broke from her moorings and drifted to the spot above mentioned. It is probable that she was an old vessel and unseaworthy, which will account for no measures being adopted for her preservation.
This view of the case is confirmed by the fact that in a despatch of Lord Bellamont to the Board of Trade, in the New York Colonial Papers, dated October 20th, 1699, a ship named Caledonia is mentioned as having made voyages between Scotland and America ; 11 and if she was the same vessel, of
11 He says, " When the two Scotch in a miserable condition, having lost ships, called the Caledonia and the Unicorn, came to New York, they were
great number of people on their voyage from Caledonia by famine and sickness:
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which there is every probability, it is not surprising the lapse of sixteen years should have rendered her no longer serviceable. There are several relics of the old vessel in different parts of the State, in the possession of those who claim descent from those she brought to our shores.12
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