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 31
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A Captain Harris was captured under the black flag off Sandy Hook, in 1723, by a ship of war, and the crew, consist- ing of 37 whites and six blacks, were all hung in one day on Long Island. A companion of Harris, one Lowe, in company with him at the time, escaped with his vessel, having, it was thought, £150,000 sterling on board. It is probable they had visited the waters of Amboy previous to this adventure, as it was announced just before that "two piratical vessels had looked in there." After 1725 the buccaneers were not heard of. 27
There is little doubt that considerable treasure was depos- ited by Kidd, and perhaps by others, on the shores of Long Island, but that Amboy was ever so favored is scarcely possi-
26 East Jersey, &c., p. 146.
27 Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. Mr. Watson gives the " Song of Cap- tain Kidd," current after his execu- tion, which has been frequently print- ed, commencing :-
"My name was Captain Kidd } Repeat. When I sailed, when I sailed, § My name was Captain Kidd, And so wickedly I did, God's laws I did forbid,
When I sailed, when I sailed." Repeat.
The song is evidently a parody of the " Soul's Knell " by Richard Ed-
wards (1561) the last verse of which is :-
"Toll on the passing bell Ring out the doleful knell Let the sound my deatlı tell For I must die, There is no remedy For now I die."
The concluding verse of Kidd's song is :-
" My name, &c., Farewell for I must die
Then to eternity In hideous misery 1 must lie, 1 must lic."
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ble. Searches, however, were often made in various places in olden time for the hidden gold, and even as late as fifty or sixty years ago there were credulous persons who believed in the existence of the buried wealth, although no attempt to obtain the least portion of it had ever been successful.
A boulder, lying on the shore in front of the property of late years occupied by Mr. William King, familiarly called " the big rock," 28 was overturned at one time, with the cer- tain expectation of finding "something " beneath it, and if sand and gravel answered the description, the gold hunters were not disappointed. Numerous pits among " The Cedars" also attested'at one period, the industry of these lovers of filthy lucre.
The spot last selected for "a digging " expedition was in the Episcopal church-yard-the undertaking ending rather ludicrously. The circumstances as narrated by a participator in the frolic were as follows :
A female domestic living with Mrs. Oliver, then residing in what in late years has been known as the Raritan House, was selected as the proper recipient of the astounding infor- mation, that an immense treasure was buried in the Church- yard, which could be procured only through the intervention of a man named Halsted, possessing enough credulity and none too much intellect, to fit him especially for the enter- prise.
This dream effectually turned the girl's head. She imme- diately communicated it to a male fellow-servant, and to Hal- sted, and the night was fixed upon for the commencement of their operations. On the afternoon of the day preceding, the fellow-servant of the girl presented himself at the store of Mr. M., the gentleman from whom the story was received, to pur- chase a spade, a Bible, and some flour ; this last article to be burnt and sprinkled as the digging progressed. The man was indebted to this gentleman a considerable sum already, and he therefore felt no inclination to increase the amount by furnish-
28 The progressive improvement of the age, which too often demolishes what cannot be reconstructed, has recently
shattered into fragments this remnant of other days-" the big rock " is no more.
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ing the articles desired. Assurances were given that in a very few days the whole amount should be paid-that money would be plenty, and other hints dropped of a nature to lead to the suspicion for what service the articles were required. After some time Mr. M. obtained possession of the secret, and to amuse himself at their expense asked, and, after some con- sultation, obtained leave to make one of the party.
The hour having been made known to him at which they were to set out upon their undertaking, Mr. M. had sufficient time to inform several young friends of what was going for- ward, and to give them instructions for the part he intended them to play in this farce of the " Night Walkers." Dressed in white, and furnished with powder and spirits which they were to ignite at the proper time, they preceded the digging party and stationed themselves behind the tomb stones to await their arrival.
Towards midnight the adventurers made their appearance, five in number, another auxiliary having been pressed into the service in addition to Mr. M. The Bible was deposited on the ground, a circle made, and an incantation, in a language incomprehensible and untranslatable, uttered for the benefit of the guardian spirits :
"For mighty words and signs have power O'er sprites in planetary hour."
Some burnt flour was then sprinkled, and the digging commenced in profound silence.
Already was there a considerable excavation made and the hearts of the miners began to beat with an inexplicable sen- sation, when suddenly a light was observed, and then a flash, which notwithstanding the darkness of the night, made every object plainly perceptible. Their tools were at once dropped and some symptoms of desertion became apparent. Endea- vors were made by Mr. M. to detain them, but in doing so he un- fortunately spoke, which was thought to have inevitably de- stroyed the charm, at least for that night.
As it was evident, however, from the luminous appearance they had witnessed, that the money was there and guarded
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by unseen spirits, it was concluded to return the ensuing night ; but before any thing very definite could be fixed upon, the young men in ambush, no longer able to control them- selves, set fire to their liquor, and from the midst of the sul- phurous flames with a terrific yell made their appearance on the ground. It is almost needless to say what effect their white drapery had upon the already terrified gold-hunters. They separated, each one taking his own road, and, moving off with incredible velocity, left Mr. M. and his friends in posses- sion of the ground.
The joke was too good a one to be lost. The next day it was known throughout the town, and as a fitting climax to the mortification of those concerned, they had to fill up the cavity they had made.
SLAVERY.
Whether any slaves were brought to New Jersey directly from the old world, under the Concessions of Berkley and Car- teret, is uncertain. If there were, the number must have been small, for as late as 1680-fifteen years after the Concessions were issued-the number of negroes at the different settlements appears to have been only about one hundred and twenty, and many of these undoubtedly were brought into the province from other parts of the country.29 After the provinces passed into the hands of subsequent proprietors none probably were introduced.
The East Jersey records throughout do not designate any of the " servants " brought over as " slaves," and in all docu- ments referring to the distribution of land the word is no lon- ger made use of, which would not have been the case had there been slaves to receive a less quantity per head than other servants. It is evident, therefore, that the proprietors cannot be charged with encouraging, particularly, the importation of slaves at the period of settlement, although the existence of slavery in the province before it was transferred to the royal Governors, is undeniable. As early as 1696 the Quakers of
29 East Jersey, p. 34, note 271, &c.
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New Jersey united with those of Pennsylvania to recommend to their own sect the propriety of no longer employing slaves, or at least to cease from further importation of them ; but it does not appear that the example was followed by other classes or denominations of Christians.
The instructions to Lord Cornbury from her Majesty Queen Anne were of such a character that any disposition felt to put a stop to the traffic in slaves must have been effectually checked. ' The Royal African Company was particularly brought to the notice of the Governor as deserving his encour- agement, and the instructions then proceed : " And whereas we are willing to recommend unto the said company that the said province may have a constant and sufficient supply of mer- chantable negroes, at moderate rates, in money or commodi- ties ; so you are to take especial care that payment be duly made, and within a competent time, according to agreement." " And you are to take care that there be no trading from our said province to any place in Africa within the charter of the Royal African Company, otherwise than prescribed by an act of Parliament, entitled an act to settle the trade of Africa. And you are yearly to give unto us an account of what num- ber of negroes our said province is yearly supplied with, and at what rates." 30 The returns, here directed to be made, if they are yet preserved in the archives of England, can alone deter- mine to what extent the traffic was engaged in by the people of New Jersey.
Barracks of considerable size once stood in Perth Am- boy, near the junction of Smith and Water streets, in which the slaves were immured as imported ; and there, as in almost every place, the labor of families, with very few excep- tions, was exclusively performed by blacks for many years pre- vious to the Revolution. In 1776, Thomas Bartow's house is said to have been the only one in the place the inmates of which were served by hired free white domestics.31
In 1757, a young gentleman in England, writing to his father in Amboy, begs that he may be favored with a young negro boy to present to a brother of the then Duke of Grafton, to whom he
80 Smith's New Jersey, p. 254.
31 MS. Letter of Wm. Dunlap.
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was under obligations, as "a present of that kind " would be very acceptable. 32
There are notices to be found of two or three "risings" that disturbed the peace of the Province. One occurred in the eastern division in the vicinity of the Raritan early in the year 1734,33 in consequence of which one negro (if not more) was hung. The design of the insurrection was to obtain their free- dom (kept from them, they believed, contrary to the express directions of the King) by a general massacre, and then join the Indians in the interests of the French. That they were at that time numerous in the province is pretty evident, as is also the fact that, although generally treated with kindness and humanity, there was a severity of discipline and rigor of law exercised towards them which must ever exist to a greater or less degree wherever slavery is found. The newspapers contain frequent allusions to crimes and punishments in which the offence and its consequence are brought into astonishing proximity, burning alive being a punishment frequently resort- ed to.34 Perth Amboy was the scene of one of those judicial murders on the 5th July, 1750, the victims, two in number, suffering in two weeks after the commission of their offence. The circumstances were these :- The wife of Mr. Obadiah Ayres was shot through the window while seated in her own house, and her murderer was soon discovered to be one of her own negroes, actuated by revenge for some trifling censure of his mistress. He prevailed upon "a new negro "-as those recently imported were called-who also belonged to Mr. Ayres, to procure for him his master's gun, and with it committed the fatal deed. He then induced the new negro, who was a mere boy, pining for his home and willing to do any thing that would be likely to bring about his return to it, to run into the woods and shoot the first man he encountered, assuring him that the shedding of blood in that way would certainly bring
32 MS. Letter of Capt. Wm. Skinner.
33 N. Y. Gazette, March 25, 1733-4.
34 An instance of this is recorded in the New York Gazette of 28th January 1733. A negro attempted an assault upon a white woman on Friday , 20th ; he was tried, convicted by summary
process, and was burnt alive on Thurs- day, 26th. In 1741 the " negro plot," which had its existence only in the panic- stricken minds of the people of New York, caused many executions both by hang- ing and burning.
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about the result he so ardently wished. The boy followed his directions, but, from his unskilfulness or through a providen- tial interference, his gun missed fire, and he was safely secured before a second attempt could be made.
The object of the wily negro, it was presumed, was to en- sure the execution of the boy for the crime urged upon him, or as the suspected murderer of his mistress, before an expla- nation could be obtained that would designate him as the crimi- nal. Nothwithstanding the boy's imperfect acquaintance with the language, means were found to make his confession avail- able, and in connection with other facts elicited at the trial, sufficient proof was obtained fully to convict the elder negro of the murder ; and, notwithstanding his evident ignorance of consequences, or indeed of the nature of the offence in which he had acted the part of an accessory, it was deemed proper that the boy also should suffer. They were both condemned to be burnt alive.
The site of this barbarous execution was the ravine on the north side of the town, which, from that circumstance, has been known as "Negro Gully." The negroes were all summoned from their homes, and obliged to be present, in order that they might be deterred from the commission of like offences, and the day was long remembered with awe.
At a later period a negro was hung at the junction of the New Brunswick and Woodbridge roads-a short distance out of town-for theft. 35
The act under which these and other negroes were tried and condemned was passed in March, 1714, which provided for trials for murder and other capital offences before three or more justices and five principal freeholders of the county, the
35 A negro was hung for murder on the 6th May, 1791, in front of the old Court House and Jail in Newark. According to custom, he was taken to the first Presbyterian Church, to hear his funeral sermon, and, much to the discomfiture of the younger members of the family, was seated in the pew of one of the author's ancestors. The preacher was Dr. Uzal Ogden ;! the church was crowded, and in allusion
to the fact of the criminal's sincere re- pentance, the Doctor thoughtlessly ended his sermon by hoping the ' latter end of his numerous hearers might be like his,' which naturally enough ex- cited much comment at the time.
Subsequently, early in the present century, another negro was hung in Newark, on the Common, for poisoning his wife, who lived with the family of Caleb Sayrs.
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pains of death to be suffered "in such manner as the aggrava- tion or enormity of their crimes (in the judgment of the said justices and freeholders) shall merit and require ; " 36 and al- though the mode of trial was changed in 1768, even then the manner in which death should be inflicted was not specified.
In 1772 an insurrection was anticipated, but was prevent- ed by due precautionary measures. In connection with this "rising," a sort of colonizationist made his appearance in the public prints, urging the passage of a law by parliament, obli- ging the owners of slaves to send them all back to Africa at their own expense.
In 1713 an act was passed, for a limited period, levying a duty upon every negro imported, which was permitted to ex- pire, and no attempt was made to renew the duty until Sep- tember, 1762. An act was then passed, but, having a sus- pending clause, was for certain reasons never laid before the King by the Lords of Trade. The duty it imposed was forty shillings in the eastern, and six pounds in the western division -an inequality obviated in subsequent laws passed in June, 1767, and November, 1769 :- the former was limited to two years, the latter to ten, and it consequently remained in force until the Revolution severed the connection with Great Britain. The amount of duty laid by these acts was fifteen pounds pro- clamation money to be paid by the purchaser of every slave.
On the 24th February, 1820, the act was passed which gave freedom to every child born of slave parents subsequent to 4th July, 1804, the males on arriving at twenty-five years, and the females at twenty-one years of age ; and under the operation of this act slavery has almost disappeared from the State of New Jersey. Previous to its passage the number of slaves had materially diminished. There were in the State in
1790 - -
11,423
1830 -
- 2,254
1800
- 12,422
1840
674
1810
-
- 10,851
1850
- - 236
1820
7,557
35 Nevill's Laws, I., p. 19.
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LOTTERIES.
" No debts, no cares, no party ties, An honest heart, a head that's wise, A good estate, a prudent wife; All these are prizes in this life. If blessed with these, give Fortune thanks, Tho' all your tickets come up blanks." Lines " On the many Lotteries now on foot; " in Nevill's " New American Magazine." 1759.
Lotteries, though for several years comparatively few, have become subject to notice by grand juries, and public opinion is every where arrayed against them. Their day is over, and much of the revolution which has worked their destruction has taken place in late years ; yet, without recurring to a period, 90 or 100 years ago, the full magnitude of the change can hardly be realized. They were early resorted to in most of the colonies to raise funds for particular objects, which were frequently of great public utility. Such, in the infancy of enterprise and wealth, were calculated to receive the favor of the several governments, and the practice, fostering as it did the love of gain, and furnishing excitement to the multitude, became soon the most popular system for " raising the wind," as well for individual benefit as for public enterprises.
Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia, states that the ear- liest mention of a lottery there occurs in 1720, and soon after- wards schemes appear to have been introduced into New Jer- sey ; for in the year 1730, an act was passed prohibiting both lotteries and raffling, their frequency having "given opportunity to ill-minded persons to cheat and defraud divers of the honest in- habitants" of the province. As this act referred more particularly to lotteries for the disposal of " goods, wares and merchandise," those who were inimical to its provisions, or who were blind to their deleterious influences, appear to have thought lotteries for money not affected by it, so that by 1748 there was hardly a town that had not some scheme on foot. The following are some of them, noticed in the New York papers of the time, having in most instances the names of the most respectable citizens annexed as managers :
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Elizabethtown Lottery, for building a parsonage-£1,050 to be raised, 1500 tickets at 14 shillings ; 304 prizes only, the highest being £60.
One in New Brunswick to relieve Peter Cochran from imprisonment for debt ; and another at the same place for completing the church and building a parsonage-£337 10s. to be raised, the highest prize being £100. The managers of this were Peter Kemble, James Lyne, John Beman and John Broughton.
One at Raritan Landing in Piscataway township, adver- tised by Johannes Ten Brook, the prizes being real estate ; and another of the same kind advertised by Peter Bodine, the prizes being 195 lots, "some of them in the heart of that growing place known by the name of Raritan Landing, which is a market for the most plentiful wheat country of its bigness in America." This is something like a real-estate scheme of 1836 or '37, Raritan Landing being now about as much im- proved as some of the embryo cities of those years will be one hundred years hence !
One at Turkey (now New Providence), for a parsonage, the sum to be raised £152 5s.
One at Hanover to buy a parsonage house and land, the sum to be raised £200.
One at Amwell for finishing the Presbyterian meeting house-the sum required £630.
One at Newark for completing the church-the sum to be raised £337 10s. The managers of this were Col. Peter Schuyler, Col. Wiliam Ricketts, Col. Jacob Ford, Messrs. Frind, Lucas, and Uzal Ogden.
The foregoing are all found advertised the same year ; but, in the estimation of the Legislature, " the ends did not sanctify the means," and towards the close of 1748, and act was passed deprecating the increase of lotteries and their attendant vices " playing of cards and dice, and other gaming for lucre of gain," and prohibiting the erection of any lottery within the province under heavy penalties. As this, however, did not affect those already advertised, James Parker, the printer, advised the proprietors to take up their schemes in rotation, for while the
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public attention was drawn to "so many at once they were like cabbages too thickly planted, which never suffer one an- other to come to a head !" This act was evaded by having the lotteries drawn out of the province, and the first infringement noticed appears to have been in the very next year in a lottery for the benefit of the "New Jersey College" (now Nassau Hall, Princeton), one for £1,500 being " set up " at Philadel- phia. Another for finishing the church at Trenton was drawn the same year on the other side of the Delaware River, and in 1753, another for the benefit of the college was drawn in Connecticut.
In 1758, the provincial government authorized a public lottery to raise money to purchase certain lands from the In- dians, and this bad example was immediately seized upon as giving a license to the practice again to an unlimited extent. The year 1759 gave birth to the following schemes :-
One for making an addition to, and repairing St. John's Church, Elizabethtown. "Tickets to be had of Rev. Mr. Chandler."
One for building Trinity Church, Newark, the highest prize $1,000 : the managers of which were John Schuyler, Josiah Hornblower, Josiah Ogden, Daniel Pierson and Gabriel Ogden.
One to raise £1,500 for the benefit of the Church in New Brunswick. The managers made the following appeal to the benevolent-" The people of the Church of England in and near the city of New Brunswick, having long uneffectually en- deavored to finish and complete their church, find themselves reduced to the necessity of thus soliciting the charitable as- sistance of well-disposed persons, in emulation of many of their pious neighbors in this and the adjacent provinces. They hope, therefore, their attempt will not be thought singular, but as it is wholly for the promotion and honor of religion that it will meet with such encouragement as will enable them to effect their purpose." This lottery was to be drawn on " Biles' Island," and the highest prize was £1,000. It was under the superintendence of Edward Antill, Peter Kemble, Bernardus Legrange, Wm. Mercer, Francis Brazier, John Berrien, Sam'l Kemble and Wm. Harrison.
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In 1760, there was a Parsippany lottery for purchasing ground and building a parsonage, and another at Bound Brook for finishing the Presbyterian church :- the sum to be raised, $750. The legislature again interposed this year by an " Act to prevent the sale of tickets in lotteries erected out of this province and more effectully to prevent gaming ; " but with great inconsistency by the same act revived three public lot- teries for the same object as that of 1758. Schemes appear to have decreased in some measure for a few years, but not- withstanding legislative enactments means were found to evade the designs of the law-makers, and lotteries continued to exist more or less numerous until the Revolution.
In 1773, the College of Princeton again adopted this mode to raise 5,626 pounds, in connection with the Presby- terian congregation of Princeton and the united Presbyterian congregations at New Castle and Christiana Bridge.
Among others immediately after the Revolution are noticed one granted by the Legislature to the Borough of Elizabeth " to raise a sum of money for building the Court House and Jail, and finishing the Academy in Elizabethtown, which dur- ing the late war were occupied by the United States, and burnt by the enemy." "Tickets sold at the Printing Office, and by the Post Rider." Managers Jona. H. Lawrence, and Elias B. Dayton. Highest prize $500. Tickets $1 ;- and an- other " to raise £750 for repairing the Episcopal Church in New Brunswick :" the drawing to take place "under the in- spection of James Parker, Esq., Mayor of the city of Amboy, and Archibald Mercer, Esq., Deputy Governor of the Manu- facturing Society of N. Jersey." Tickets $3. Highest prize $2,000.
Amboy did not escape the contagion, as has already been noticed in the account given in a previous chapter of the Epis- copal and Presbyterian churches, and doubtless in many places the system was productive of most beneficial results, however much we may deprecate it now, means being realized through the agency of lotteries which in no other way could have been obtained.
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