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 3
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(Benjamin), in 1683, and his wife followed in March, 1684. He secured headlands for eight others, besides himself and son.
It is presumed his house in Amboy stood on the south side of Market street, near its junction with Water street. His grant from the proprietaries stipulated that the building should be " thirty feet by sixteen ; eighteen feet high to the raising, with a window in each room to the front, three feet high, and three feet nine inches broad, and three lights, each light fifteen inches from rabit to rabit, uniform to the rest of the houses to be built."
Charles Gordon, writing to Edinburgh under date of March, 1685, says : " Neither are we altogther destitute of Books and Clergy, for George Keith,11 who arrived three weeks since, with others (they were all winter in Barbadoes), hath brought Mathematics, and Benjamin Clarke, a Library of Books to Ul ;se so that you may see New Perth begins to be founded upon Clergy ; " 12 and James Johnstone, in a letter to his bro- ther, alludes to the " good Stationer's shop of books at New Perth."
Clarke died in the latter part of 1689, leaving his son Benjamin heir to all his property ; and as he does not men- tion his wife in his will, she probably preceded him to the ragve. Nothing is known of any descendants.
GEORGE KEITH.
Among those selected by the proprietaries in England to serve them in East Jersey was George Keith, a native of Aberdeen, an eminent Quaker, although originally a Scotch Presbyterian ; and among all, whose names subsequently be- came widely known, his was one of those which obtained the greatest renown. Those who first welcomed him to the prov- ince as a fellow-helper in subduing the wilderness, could hard- ly have prefigured for him the course which events opened to him in this and the adjoining province of Pennsylvania. The circumstance, which probably led to his acquaintance with the leading Scotch proprietaries was his having under his charge12
11 See below. 13 " Collections, testimonials concern- 12 East Jersey, &c., p. 314. ing several ministers of the Gospel among the Quakers, 1760," p. 201.
.
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THE SETTLERS.
in 1683, at a school which he taught in Theobalds, a son of Robert Barclay. He was appointed surveyor-general on the 31st July, 1684, but did not reach the province until the spring of the following year. On the 9th April he presented his credentials to the Council of proprietors, but, as the office to which he had been appointed was already filled by Wil- liam Haige,14 under a commission emanating from Deputy- governor Rudyard, they found themselves delicately situated .. and postponed the consideration of Mr. Keith's commission until their next meeting. It was unanimously agreed, how- ever, that he should have one of their houses as directed by the proprietaries.15
The Council at the time appointed were urged by Keith to decide in his favor, and they finally desired both of the ap- plicants to appear before them on the 12th June, when the office, in consequence of the absence of Mr. Haige, and the inability, from some cause, of his deputy Miles Forster, was declared vacant, and Mr. Keith authorized to take the oaths and assume the duties.16
Besides performing the general duties of his office, for which he was well qualified, being "an excellent surveyor," he ran the division line between East and West Jersey in 1687 ; but in 1689 he left the province for Pennsylvania. Then residing in Freehold-of which settlement he was the founder, and where at the time of his removal he had a " fine plantation,"-he was induced, by the solicitation of the Qua- kers of Philadelphia to accept the superintendence of a school in that city, for which he received fifty pounds, a house for his family and whatever profits might accrue, with the promise of an increase to one hundred and twenty pounds after the first year,-the poor to be taught gratis. This is the first and only allusion to his family I have noticed. He did not long remain in this humble situation (vacating it the next year), and we are warranted in attributing its ac- ceptance to other inducements more likely to affect a man of
14 See page 14. East Jersey, &c., p. 99.
" clear out " of the one he inhabited, to make room for him.
15 Thomas Warne was directed to 16 Proprietary Minutes, A B, p. 6.
2
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his character than the pecuniary remuneration named. Hav- ing been eminent both as a preacher and writer among the Quakers for several years, he became a public speaker in their religious assemblies in Philadelphia. Possessing quick natu- ral talents improved by considerable literary attainments, he was acute in argument, ready and able in logical disputations and discussions of nice distinctions in theological matters ; but having great confidence in his own superior capacity he was apt to indulge in an overbearing disposition, not altogether in accordance with Christian moderation and charity.17
These peculiarities of mind and temperament naturally impelled him to assume the post of a leader, and he soon, through his talents and energy, gathered a party, inculcating increased attention to plainness of garb and language and other points of discipline : there being in his opinion " too great a slackness therein." Connected with these religious tenets were the political doctrines of the abandonment of all forcible measures to uphold secular or worldly government, and the emancipation of negroes after a reasonable term of service. 18 ".
Although his views and opinions met the approval of a large number of Friends, occasioning a serious division in that before united body-father and son, husband and wife, friends and relations who had usually worshipped together, though still professors of the same faith in the main, being seen going to different places of worship, "heats and bitterness " being engendered, occasioning "many labors and watchings, great circumspection and patience "19-yet, as they did not meet - with the general acceptation he expected, Keith became cap- tious, and indulged in censure and reproach ; accusing some of the most esteemed and approved ministers with promulgat- ing false doctrines,-although it is said the points he now condemned had been strongly advocated in his writings,-and declaring those only, who were associated with him, true Quakers.
17 Proud's Penna., I. pp. 345 365. nals of Phila., p. 90. Proud. S. Smith's MSS. in N. J. Hist. Soc. Library.
Saml. Smith's MSS. in N. J. Hist. Soc. Library.
18 Gabriel Thomas, in Watson's An-
S. Smith's MSS.
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He was charged with exercising an overbearing temper, and an unchristian disposition of mind in disparaging many of the society, and, at a meeting of ministers at Philadelphia in June, 1692, " a declaration or testimony of denial " was drawn up, in which both he and his conduct were publicly, denounced.2º
From this decision Keith appealed to the general meeting of Friends at Burlington, and, in the meanwhile, wrote an address to the Quakers, in which, as on different occasions verbally, he spoke in such a disparaging, if not calumnious, manner of the deputy-governor and other functionaries, as to bring upon him the ire of the civil magistrates (themselves Quakers), and he was in consequence proclaimed in the mar- ket-place, by the common crier, a seditious person and an enemy to the king and queen's government.21 The general meeting confirming the declaration of the ministers, the sepa- ration became complete, but Keith continued preaching and writing in support of his views and for the establishment of his followers until early in 1694, when he appealed to the yearly meeting in London, and appeared there in person : but his behavior was such as led to the approval of the proceed- ings against him, and his authority and influence were at an end.
This controversy occasioned much disturbance in the pro- vince of Pennsylvania, and many of the pamphlets to which it gave birth are yet extant.22
" The following is an extract from this declaration :- " With mourning and lamentation do we say, How is this mighty man fallen? How is his shield cast away, as though he had not known the oil of the holy ointment? How shall it be told in Gath, and published in the streets of Askalon? Will not the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph, when they hear that he is fallen upon the soaring mountains, and from the high places of Israel? While thou walkedst in the counsel of God, and wert little in thine own eyes, thy bow did abide in strength, thy sword returned not back. His enemies were then vile unto thee, and His followers honorable in thy esteem. Oh! how lovely wert thou in that day, when His
.
beauty was upon thee, and when His comeliness covered thee ! Why should His ornaments exalt thee, which were given to humble thee before him ! And how art thou fallen from thy first loves, and art become treacherous to the spouse of thy youth," &c. Proud, I. p. 365.
21 Watson's Annals, p. 522.
22 I would refer particularly to one, by Keith, entitled " A Further Discov- ery of the Spirit of Falsehood and Per- secution in Sam. Jennings and his party that joined with him in Penna; and some abettors that cloak and defend him here in England : In answer to his scanda- lous Book called The State of the Case," pp. 52. London, 1694- and another containing "An account of the
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THE SETTLERS.
Excited, it would seem, by the opposition he had met with, although for a time he retained a considerable number of adherents in England, and disgusted with the society from which he had received so little sympathy while aiming at its advancement in what he conceived essentials to true religion, Keith abjured the doctrines of the Quakers and became a zealous clergyman of the established church of England.
He officiated for some time in the mother country, and in 1702 returned to America as a Missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel :- sent out to travel through the different provinces, for the purpose of inquiring into their true condition, their wants in regard to their spiritual inter- ests, and to arouse in the people "a sense of the duties of religion." 23 He preached in all the colonies from Massachu- setts to North Carolina : and Amboy, among other places in New Jersey, profited by his ministrations. 24
His labors are said to have been very successful, particu- larly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York,-to which he devoted more of his time than he did to the other provinces, -from his previous acquaintance with the people. In the first two especially, a large number of those Quakers who had adopted his views in the dissensions of 1691 and 1692, became converts to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England. 25
Keith published his Journal during this period, which,
Proceedings since and advice of the people called Quakers at the Yearly meeting begun in London, 28th of 3d month, 1694 : with the proceedings of the Yearly meeting at Burlington and some queries to that party of the Yearly meeting at London who gave the afore- said judgment, by Robert Hannay," pp. 16. London, 1694. There are many others that throw light upon the controversy, but all are exceedingly rare.
23 He came passenger in the " Cen- turion," on board of which were, also, Governor Dudley, of Massachusetts, and Colonel Morris, of New Jersey. They sailed from England on April 24th, and arrived at Boston on June 11th. The Rev. John Talbot was chap- lain of the ship, and associated with Mr. Keith in his missionary labors.
Talbot rendered himself particularly acceptable to the people of Burlington, where he was for a long time stationed. Keith's allowance from the society was £200 a year. Humphries' Hist. Acc't of Society for Prop'g the Gospel. See chapter VI.
24 Humphries. N. Y. Church Re- cord, March 20th, 1841.
25 So says Humphries, but compare Watson's Annals, p. 488. A letter from Isaac Norris, dated Nov. 8th, 1702, there given, says: " George Keithhath been twice here, but has not disturbed our meeting as hath been his custom at the eastward. He is now the talk and news of the town; but has little to boast of in all his progress hitherto. His own party here is like to fall with him. All his sermons are railings against the Friends."
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THE SETTLERS.
however, contains little else than a statement of the texts preached from. Copies are still to be seen in some of the public libraries. He returned to England by way of Virginia, and received a benefice in Sussex, worth one hundred and twenty pounds per annum,26 where he continued until his death to write against the doctrines of the Quakers.27
The importation of six servants by Keith, in 1685, is recorded, for whom he received headlands, and on reference to the map it will be seen he owned a lot of ground on Smith street, in Amboy. Acc Na. Archives. 1702. pr. 150
p116-20 285-21
THE CAMPBELLS.
In consequence of the unfortunate termination of the Earl of Argyle's expedition in 1685, the Campbells-already a family obnoxious to the government and all its branches, from their relationship to that nobleman and their political sentiments and affinities-became subject to much severity and persecu- tion. The Earl's brother, Lord Neil Campbell, a gentleman universally esteemed, was especially the object of jealous supervision.
He had been cited before the council on the 1st August, 1684, but nothing save his relationship to the Earl of Argyle being brought against him, he was released on giving bonds for the sum of five thousand pounds that he would " confine himself to Edinburgh and six miles about, and compear be- fore the council on a charge of six hours." But when, in 1685, animosity to the name was at such a height as to lead to the consideration of measures for its extinguishment, and when, by act of parliament, all protestant heritors were re- quired to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, Lord Neil's only resource was flight.28
Leaving his wife and family he embarked alone for East Jersey in the autumn of 1685, having in August purchased the proprietary right of Viscount Tarbet, bringing with him,
26 Sewall's Hist. of Quakers, pp. 659, 660.
27 Proud says, from a well authenti- cated account it is asserted, he thus expressed himself on his death bed : " I
wish I had died when I was a Quaker for then I am sure it would have been well with my soul."
28 Wodrow IV. 48, 311.
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or causing to be sent out immediately afterwards, a large number of settlers, for whom, subsequently, headlands were granted to him.29
The precise date of Lord Neil's arrival is not known, but he is mentioned in the proprietary minutes of November 27th, 1685, as having " newly come out.30 " His presence in the province led the proprietaries to avail themselves of his ser- vices as their deputy-governor, circumstances inducing them to remove Lawrie from that post ; he was commissioned on the 4th June, 1686, and entered upon his duties the ensuing October.31 The change that occurred in the political condi- tion of Scotland enabled him to return to his family, and he left East Jersey in March, 1687.
There were a number of individuals of the name of Camp- bell, more or less intimately related to the deputy-governor, who arrived in the province during the years. 1684 and 1685. I have only succeeded, however, in identifying two with the settlement of "New Perth,"-John and Archibald, sons of Lord Neil, both obliged to seek in America a refuge from the hostility of the government. JOHN arrived in 1684, bringing his wife, three children and eleven servants to swell the popu- lation of the province. . He died in December, 1689, leaving two daughters (Anne and Garraetta), and one son (John), of whose descendants I have no knowledge.32
29 Their names are here given as correctly as James Emott's wonderful chirography in the old records will ad- mit of. The list appears on the record in December 1685, and several of them were passengers on board the ship Henry and Francis, hereafter men- tioned.
David Symson,
David Alexander, John Campbell,
Archibald
Wm. Sharpe,
Bessie Richardson, Wm. Toish,
Wm. Dunlop, Wm. Thompson,
Janet Thomson,
Bessie Pollorse,
Margary Thompson, George Korrie,
Arfella Grizzel Hog,
Margarett Robertson, John · halmers, Wm. Dunlop,
Agnes Dunlop,
Andrew Grantt,
Alexander Lermont,
Agnes Lawson, Alexr. Wilson,
Tivella Lawson, Margaret Edgar, Robert Currey, John Duncan, John Chalmers, Robert Chalmers, Wm. Thompson, Agnes Marshall,
David Herriott, John Campbell, Patrick Symson, John Boyd,
Gyles Duncan, Janett Cunningham, Marion Chalmers, John Dunlop,
Alexander Thompson, Magdalen Kattmaber, Patrick Tait,
Robert Campbell,
Dougald Symson, James Craige,
John Hog,
John Wilkey, Thomas Theoron, John Stonler,
James Sonzdone,
John Pollorse,
Sivella Sonzdone, Michael Marshall,
Making, with Lord Neil and Archibald Campbell, fifty-six persons: but it will be seen that several names are repeat- ed.
. 30 It is erroneously stated in East Jersey under the Proprietors (p. 117), that he did not reach the province un- til October, 1686.
East Jersey, &c., p. 117.
32 In Book B., p. 493 of the Propri- etary Records is a memorandum of an agreement, to be extended in form
John Craige,
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ARCHIBALD appears to have been in greater jeopardy than his father, having been taken prisoner and held captive for some time after the ill-fated expedition of his uncle was terminated-a reward of one thousand merks having been offered for his arrest. On the 1st August, 1685, he was brought before the Justices under sentence of death, but de- claring himself willing to renounce all " rebellious principles," he was reprieved until December ; but on the 18th August the capital part of his sentence was remitted by the king, and he was condemned to banishment and forfeiture of his estates. 33
He seems to have arrived at the same time with his fa- ther, but no mention is made of any family. Both he and his brother held lots in the new settlement, and the first ra- vine north of the town was known at one time as " Camp- bell's Gully." Archibald died in May 1702, but whether or not he left children I have not ascertained.
In December, 1685, an arrival of more than ordinary in- terest added to the busy animation of the new settlement. A vessel freighted with Scots,-men, upon whom persecution had wrought its work of purification, and whose souls had been tempered for patient endurance by sore trials and mis- fortunes-anchored in the harbor after a long and disastrous voyage of fifteen weeks ; the circumstances of which, with the events attending the embarkation of the emigrants, are de- serving of special notice. For most of the facts the prolix narrative of Wodrow 34 has been taken as authority, for al-
afterwards, between John Campbell and Moneybaird, Laird of Toshach, by which, in consideration of Campbell's sending "a footman in velvet, to wait on Moneybaird as a proprietor when at Parliament in East Jersey * * * and to hold his stirrup during the fore- said time of Parliament * * * the li- very to be the Campbell's livery," Moneybaird is to dispose of his interest in Amboy to John Campbell, and his heirs bearing the name and arms of Campbell. The meaning of the docu- ment can scarcely be conjectured so
lamely is it worded, but footmen in velvet and Parliaments were such no- velties in East Jersey at that period, that we might presume it to have been written in Scotland by some one igno- rant of the state of the province, did it not bear date " At Amboy, the 16th Dec. 1684."
33 Wodrow IV., pp. 311, 320. Fox's James II, p. 153.
34 Wodrow's "History of the suffer- ings of the Church of Scotland." Glasgow, 4 vols., Svo.
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. though his judgment of men and measures was ever influenced by his theological opinions, yet it is thought his statements of events are fairly made from such materials as he had in his possession, their deficiencies not being properly chargeable to him ; and if disposed to present too prominently the darker shades of the picture, an excuse for him can readily be found in the fact that those were the shades which, alas for hu- manity ! were entirely too predominant.
As early as 1662, we find among those who suffered for conscience' sake in submitting to the authority of Cromwell, Sir John Scot of Scotstarbet in Edinburghshire : Middleton, the lord-commissioner, inflicting upon him a fine of six thou- sand pounds. Such a parentage renders it less remarkable that, when on the 25th June, 1674, a decree passed against those who "kept conventicles," we should find the son of Scotstarbet among those who were amenable to its provisions.35 Among those who appeared before the Council, and acknow- ledged that they had frequented the conventicles of Mr. John Welsh, Mr. Samuel Arnot and others, and who scorned to secure their liberty by taking the oath of supremacy, was GEORGE SCOT of Pitlochie, who was not only fined, in com- mon with his companions, for the offence of which they were alike guilty-his penalty being no less than a thousand pounds-but for his "alleged impertinent and extravagant carriage before the Council " was further fined five hundred merks ; and not until these fines were paid was he liberated from prison ; and on the 23d July he was again fined a thou- sand pounds "for harbouring and resetting" the same John Welsh. 36
35 The bearing of these provisions may be gathered from the following. No "outed ministers or others," were allowed to preach or expound scripture, or pray any where but in their own families. A contrary course subjected both ministers and hearers to impri- sonment or fines, even wives and chil- dren being made subject to the latter, and to imprisonment also, were the fines not paid; the master or mistress of the house where the conventicle was held being fined double the rates of the others. The " Field Conventicles,"
which were peculiarly obnoxious, were specified to be not merely meetings in the open fields, but "meetings in a house for prayer and preaching, where more meet than the house contains, and some are without doors." The minister and convocator of such a meeting " shall be punished "-so read the act, " with death and confiscation of goods" -and the fines imposed upon the hearers were double in amount to those named for attendants on house conven- ticles.
86 Wodrow, I. p. 271. II. p. 238, 244.
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THE SETTLERS.
On the 8th February, 1677, Scot was summoned before the Council, and sent to the Bass prison a second time, for, notwithstanding the experience he had already of the conse- quences, he again had been "at conventicles ;" and on the 7th August following, his wife Margaret Rigg 37 (Lady Pitlochie), not appearing before the Council when cited for the same offence, was fined a thousand merks.38 In October the Com- mittee for public affairs advised the Council to liberate Scot and others from the Bass, upon their giving bonds to " com- pear " when called, and it appears that Scot did give bonds in the sum of ten thousand merks "to confine himself within his own lands, and not to keep conventicles," and was there- upon released.
On the 14th May, 1679, Scot was again brought before the Council, and having refused to depose as to his attend- ance or non-attendance at conventicles, the lords held him as having confessed, and directed his securities to pay three thousand merks, leaving the balance of the ten thousand to abide his future behavior, allowing him the next day to re- turn to his estate. In February, 1680, he was fined seven hundred pounds for " absence from the King's host," and sub- sequently-but at what time, or for what special offence, has not been ascertained-was again, for the third time, impris- oned in the Bass. 39
Well might he say, as he did afterwards, that there were " several in the kingdom, who, upon account of their not go-
37 Margaret Rigg was grand-daugh- ter of William Rigg, bailie of Aithernie, a very good, religious man, and weal- thy merchant, who purchased the estate of Aithernie, in Fife, and other lands, her father being his second son Thomas. One of her aunts, Janet, mar- ried Sir Walter Riddell, and her chil- dren were Sir John and Archibald, who are elsewhere mentioned. Her sister, Catherine Rigg, became the wife of Sir William Douglas, of Cavers. Her bro- ther, William Rigg, the last laird of Aithernie, had two children, William and Eupham, who with their mother were among the ill-fated passengers in the vessel referred to in the text.
It was thought that " women were
the chief fomenters of these disorders, and that nothing could restrain them except making husbands liable for their fines," -- but the Council, in Janu- ary, 1684, petitioned the King that they might be authorized " to dispense with the fines of loyal husbands, as are no ways to be suspected of conniv- ance with their obstinate wives, but are content to deliver them up to be punished."-Letter in Wodrow, vol. iv. p. 3. The application was made in consequence of a fine of £46,000 hav- ing been laid upon Sir William Scot, of Harden, for the nonconformity of his wife, p. 41.
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