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 36
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It was probably owing to these infirmities of body that his name ceases to be mentioned in connection with any public office after 1675, or thereabout. For several years he was placed on the Committee for assessing the town rates, an in- dication that he enjoyed a full share of the confidence of his neighbors. There is no record of his death.
John and Samuel Dennis were probably brothers of Robert.
JOHN SMITH, " Wheelright "-so designated to distinguish him from John Smith, " Scotchman," another of the settlers- was honored, immediately after the organization of the town, with the post of Constable ; was thence promoted to be a Deputy to the Assembly, an Assistant Judge, &c. The town meetings were at first held at his house, he acting as Modera- tor ; and, from various other offices conferred upon him, ap- pears to have been an esteemed citizen.19
There is no mention made in the records of his family. The Smiths, who subsequently became numerous in that vicinity, were probably descendants of Richard Smith whose name is mentioned not long after the settlement was made ; but what connection there was between him and John, if any, is not known.
JOHN BISHOP, SENR., was a carpenter by trade. Like many of his associates, he held several prominent offices in the town, but is not mentioned in the records in a way to throw
18 Another instance of this transfer of property by parents to their chil- dren occurred among the early settlers of Newark. In August, 1675, Jasper Crane transferred some lands to his two sons, Azaria and Jasper, “ on con- dition," said the grant, "that my said two sons, their heirs and assigns shall keep and maintain us as long as we both or either of us shall live with all things convenient according to our condition and quality." As in neither
case does a revocation of the grant ap- pear, we may presume the conditions to have been faithfully fulfilled.
19 " John Smith, Scotchman," had the compliment paid him in July, 1671, of being appointed " to size all half bush- els by his own," all those selling or buying by any other measures until other provisions should be made by law, should be " accounted willing to buy or sell by unjust measures."
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WOODBRIDGE.
any light upon his character. He had married in Newbury (October, 1647), Rebecca, widow of Samuel Scullard, daugh- ter of Richard Kent, by whom he had eight children, all born before his arrival at Woodbridge. He died in October, 1684.20
His sons, John, Jonathan and Noah, became freeholders and prominent citizens ; and the latter left several children. There are no births, deaths or marriages, recorded relating to the others.
HENRY JAQUES, SENR., was also a carpenter.21 He mar- ried in Newbury (October, 1648), Anna Knight, by whom he had several children, one of whom only (Henry, junior), it is thought, accompanied him to Woodbridge. The father, pro- bably, returned to Newbury. He died in February, 1687.
The son, Henry, was born in July, 1649 ; he married Hannah -- , and two sons, John and Jonathan, appear to have survived him ; the former of whom left children.
HUGH MARCH, also a carpenter, does not appear to have filled any prominent position in the young community, and subsequently returned to Newbury ; where in 1676 he com- menced keeping an "ordinary," and continued to do so for several years. He died in 1693. His son George March was admitted a freeholder of Woodbridge in August, 1669, but he also returned to Newbury, married and left descendants. It has been generally thought that the Marsh family were de- scendants of Hugh March, the orthography of the name having become changed in the course of time ; but such is not the fact, the two families were of different origin.22
20 Coffin's History of Newbury. To this interesting work, and to the MSS. in Newbury.
letters from Mr. Coffin, the author is indebted for many important items re- ferring to the immigrants from New- bury.
21 As such he in 1661 built a gallery and made for it " three payre of stayres and whatever else is requisite to com- pleate the said gallery," and also laid
a floor " all over the meeting-house "
22 In 1653, his wife, with two other good women of Newbury, was " pro- secuted for wearing a silk hood and scarfe," but was discharged on proof that her husband was worth two hun- dred pounds .- Coffin's History of New- bury.
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WOODBRIDGE.
STEPHEN KENT is presumed to have been an old man on his arrival in the province. He was one of the earliest settlers of Newbury, and came to Woodbridge by way of Haverhill. He was married three times, his third wife being Eleanor Scadlock, widow of Wm. Scadlock, whom he married in May, 1662. He had several children, but only one of them, Ste- phen, seems to have accompanied him to New Jersey.
In 1674-5 he was chosen one of the Assistants of the Township Court-the only office with which the name of Kent seems to have been associated in the early years of the settlement. His son (born March, 1648) married Jane Scott, Dec. 25th, 1683, and the births of two children are recorded.
A portion of their lands lay on the Raritan, and the loca- tion is yet known as Kent's Neck.
SAMUEL MOORE, who for twenty years, from 1668 to 1688, held the office of Town Clerk, seems to have more completely severed his connection with Massachusetts than most of the other immigrants. He and his brother Matthew regarding New Jersey as their permanent abode from the time of their arrival, and leaving several children whose descendants "remain with us to this day."
Samuel's first wife was Hannah Plumer, but she having died in December, 1654, about eighteen months after mar- riage, he took for his second companion (Sept., 1656) Mary Ilsley, who accompanied him to Woodbridge, and the births of two children by her are recorded. It is probable he was married a third time (Dec., 1678), to Ann Jaques. He died May 27th, 1688.
MATTHEW MOORE married Sara Savory in March, 1662. They brought two children with them to the province, and three others are mentioned. He died in March, 1691.
23 In 1652, while a resident of Ha-
suffering five Indians to be drunk in verhill, he was fined ten pounds for his house.
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WOODBRIDGE.
JOHN CROMWELL, SAMUEL HALE, JONATHAN HAYNES, OBADIAH AYRES, GEORGE LITTLE, ROBERT ROGERS, JOHN SMYTH, the ILSLEYS and the TAPPANS were all Newbury men .? Haynes and Little did not remain in the province.
GEORGE LOCKHART, "practitioner of physic," is mentioned in 1679 as residing in Woodbridge ; and in 1683, then being in England, the proprietaries mention him as possessing, ac- cording to his own statement, "a considerable plantation in the province," and " desirous to have the Marshal's place ; " he offering, in case they would grant him the commission and a lot of ten acres in "Perth town," to build them a prison and town house.25
It was left to Deputy-governor Lawrie to perfect this arrangement, or not, as he might think proper ; and, although it is asserted by one historian 26 that he was appointed Mar- shal, there appears to be no reason for supposing it to have been done : there is no record of the commission or of the grant of ten acres, and it is certain that neither prison nor town house was built by him. A son, Gawen, is mentioned several years thereafter in the Woodbridge books as a resident, and the births of several children are recorded.
PETER DESSIGNY, another practitioner of physic, or " Chirurgeon," also resided at Woodbridge. He married Ann, widow of Robert Rogers, in August, 1685, and was yet living there in 1692. The birth of a daughter (Mary) is recorded in May, 1690-one of the same name having died previously.
REV. ARCHIBALD RIDDELL. This zealous and pious preacher was brother to Sir John Riddell, 27 and, as has been before stated, cousin to the wife of George Scot, and a passenger
24 Coffin's History of Newbury.
25 Grants and Concessions, p 175.
26 Wynne's British Empire in Ame-
ca.
Sir John was himself a sufferer
from persecution, and a garrison was stationed at his house in 1675 more effectually to guard against the keep- ing of conventicles in the neighbor hood .- Wodrow II. p. 282, III. 470.
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WOODBRIDGE.
with them in the "Henry and Francis."28 He and the Rev. Thomas Pattersone-who also intended emigration, but was subsequently induced to remain in Scotland-are described by the proprietaries as "two Persones who have been in Prisone in Scotland for Nonconformity and are greatly esteemed among the People who are of their Perswasions in Matters of Reli- gion ;" and, as they were willing to " transport themselves to East Jersey and settle there, which will be the Occasion of Inviting a great number to follow them," the necessary direc- tions were given to have two hundred acres of land allotted to each immediately on their arrival, in such place as might best accommodate them, provided they built houses and continued their own or some other families therein for three years.29 Although the name of Mr. Riddell appears among those of other preachers who had drawn upon them the attention of government by attending conventicles as early as 1674, yet the first serious proceedings against him seem to have been prompted by his connection in some way with the rising of Bothwell in 1679, the Privy Council ordering, on the 25th June, that he should be sought for, and offering a reward for his arrest. He was arrested in September by the laird of Gra- den, a relative of his wife, and sent to the tolbooth of Jedburgh, whence he was removed to the prison in Edinburgh. 30
On the 1st October, and again on the 9th December, Mr. Riddell was called before the Committee for public affairs, and so conducted himself as evidently to secure the respect of his examiners, and to excite in them a disposition to extend to- wards him more than ordinary clemency. The authority of the civil magistrates-allegiance to the King and submission to the lords of the council, as well as to the Committee before whom he was arranged, were by him duly acknowledged." "My lord," he-said to Lord Linlithgow, "I do own authority, as knowing that the same Lord Jesus who commanded us to fear God doth also command to honor the King; and as I judge it my duty to give God what is God's, so to give Cæsar what is Cæsar's "-but he would not clear himself from the
28 See pages 26 and
29 E. J. Records, A., p. 385.
30 Wodrow I., pp. 114, 197 ; III., p. 196.
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accusation of having preached in the fields, by taking an oath to that effect-oaths being "tender things and not rashly to be meddled with, or upon every occasion "-although declar- ing upon the word of a gentleman that he had not preached out of a house since the prohibition-neither would he engage to refrain from field preaching in future ; "there is," said he, "a great difference betwixt the forbearance of an action, when inconvenient, and an engagement never to do such an action, not knowing what necessity there may be for such an action afterwards." On being reminded that the law construed an assemblage, when some of the hearers were out of doors, to be a field conventicle, and asked if such had been the case at any time when he had preached, he acknowledged that it had been ; but, with an independence worthy of admiration, he told the committee, " poor people are so dogged and distressed, that preaching can hardly be had in ten miles of way ; and when I am called to preach, and scarce a house can be had that will contain thirty or forty persons, and all the rest must be without, shall the people who come ten miles or more to hear sermons be thrust away as they come ? Surely, if I be called to preach at all, I may not decline it in any case." * "I know not but he who has called me to preach this while bygone in houses, may, before I go out of the world, call me to preach upon tops of mountains, yea, upon the seas ; and I dare not come under any engagements to disobey his calls."
Although his examiners were convinced of his moderation and loyalty, yet his refusal to enter into the engagements re- quired caused him to be remitted to prison ; and not being able, or willing, to give security "not to keep conventicles," he was kept in confinement until released on the application of the laird of Pitlochie, with the view of emigrating to New Jersey. 31
31 The whole of his interesting ex- amination, from his own notes, is in Wodrow I., pp. 197-202. During this period, in April, 1681, he was allowed to visit his dying mother ; and in the fol- lowing June he was charged with hav-
ing broken his confinement, keeping conventicles, and baptizing children, and, in consequence, the place of his imprisonment was changed-he being sent to the Bass .- Wodrow III., p. 264.
24
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WOODBRIDGE.
On board of the ill-fated " Henry and Francis" we are not permitted to follow him, save in imagination. But though there be no account extant of his own trials and sufferings, except that his wife is named among those who died, we can- not greatly err in considering him as the source of comfort and consolation to his afflicted fellow passengers : inspiring hope and confidence, while by precept and example he enforced that faith and patience of which they stood so much in need ; and that thus called "to preach upon the seas," he was found the same unswerving disciple of his Master he had ever been upon the land.
It is thought that, besides his wife, four children accom- panied him, who were spared to contribute to his happiness in his new home in Woodbridge, where his two hundred acres were allotted to him, and where also he purchased other lands. 32 The inhabitants were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by his presence among them to secure the services of a minister of the Gospel so distinguished and well tried ; for during the month following his arrival an arrangement was entered into with him, 33 and he probably re- tained the charge of the congregation until his return to Europe in 1689 : for his native land possessed charms for him which New Jersey had not, and political changes having re- moved the obstacles to the enjoyment of life and liberty by the nonconformists within its borders, he determined to return to Scotland.
He set sail with a son ten years of age in June, 1689,34 but was doomed to further trials and disappointments before arriving at the end of his voyage. Favorable weather attended him, but on the 2d August, when off the coast of England, the vessel was captured by a French man-of-war, and the passen- gers sent to the common jail of Rochefort, whence they were subsequently marched to Toulon, chained two and two by their arms, and, at first, each ten pair tied to a rope, but this
32 E. J. Records, D., p. 57.
34 Probably on board the same ves-
33 Woodbridge Town Book. He s 1 with Governor Andrew Hamilton. also received a call to Long Island, See East Jersey, &c., pp. 123, 129.
which he declined .- Wodrow IV., 335.
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being found an impediment to their travelling was abandoned after the second day. Mr. Riddell was chained to his son, whose slender frame gave their captors no little trouble, three different chains having to be forged before one was got small enough to confine his wrists.
They were six weeks on the way to Toulon, the hardships of the journey causing the death of many, and on their arrival were consigned to the hold of an old hulk in the harbor ; but after the detention of a month Mr. Riddell and his son, with others, were taken back again to Rochefort,'and thence to Denain, near St. Malo, where for more than a year they were kept prisoners in a vault of an old castle. At last, after hav- ing been prisoners nearly two years, they were exchanged for two Romish priests, and allowed to return to Scotland.35 Mr. Riddell settled at Kirkaldie, but of his subsequent career I am ignorant.36
A daughter of Mr. Riddell (Janet) was married January 26th, 1686, shortly after their arrival in the province, to JAMES DUNDAS, who may have been a fellow passenger. He was the son of Sir James Dundas, of Armestown, and became a resident of Perth Amboy, his house lot being located on Smith street. He was selected by William Dockwra in 1688 for one of his deputy Receivers-General, but would not accept the office ; however, on being appointed by the Proprietaries in January, 1694, Receiver-General, he consented to serve, and held the office till his death. He was appointed Adminis- trator on Lord Neil Campbell's estate in January, 1693, and was a Commissioner of the Court of Small Causes for Amboy from' May 4th, 1696, to the close of 1698, when he died.
Mrs. Dundas survived her husband, and administered on his estate, but what became of her or of their children, if they had any, does not appear. It is probable that she or they re- turned to Scotland, together with the other children of Mr. Riddell, as Wodrow states that the losses of that worthy man
35 Wodrow, IV., p. 335.
36 In 1700 he sold his Woodbridge lands to Thomas Gordon, and in the
deed is called " Minister of the Gospel at Kirkaldie, in the county of Fife, Scotland."
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" were all made up, and he and his four children were in bet- ter circumstances than if he had conformed to prelacy." 37
ROBERT MCLELLAN, " of Barmagechan in Kirkcudbright- shire," was a passenger in Scot's vessel. He suffered greatly from sickness on the voyage, and was so reduced that he was brought on shore in the arms of men. His three children who were with him also escaped the pestilence. The son of Pres- byterian parents, and brought up in the principles of the church of Scotland, he, with others of his parish, disowned the episcopal clergyman placed there "as neither called of God nor invited by them." Fined heavily for his nonconformity, and burdened with the keeping of parties of soldiers billeted upon him, his property destroyed, and his personal liberty endangered, he engaged in the Pentland rising, and on being defeated fled to England, and resided there quietly for four years. The forfeiture of his estate which ensued was com- pounded for two thousand merks, and he ventured to return to his own house ; but the constant oppression under which he suffered from those in authority induced him to engage in the Bothwell affair, which led to a second flight to England, and a second forfeiture.
He was seized in England in 1684, and sent, with others, a prisoner to Dumfries, thence to Leith and Edinburgh, and finally to Dunottar, and into banishment : during most of this time being in irons.
Mr. Mclellan bought a plantation in Woodbridge, and resid- ed there until June, 1689, having for an inmate with his fami- ly the Reverend Mr. Riddell. They sailed for Europe together, and Mr. McLellan participated in all the hardships which have been referred to, growing out of their capture by the French. He had one son with him (what became of the other two chil- dren I have not learned), and both being sick, they were sepa-' rated from Mr. Riddell at Toulon, remaining until an exchange of prisoners took place. Having been put on board of a vessel for Genoa, he sailed thence for Cadiz, where they embarked
37 IV., p. 335.
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for Amsterdam, was wrecked on the coast of Ireland, subjected to much ill-treatment from the Irish, and eventually reached his own house in Scotland on the last day of October, 1691. His whole career was one of romantic interest. Much distress would he have avoided had he been contented with his Ameri- can home, and probably a greater degree of prosperity and happiness secured, for Wodrow, to whose book I am indebted for these items respecting him, closes his narrative with the remark that, "after all, this excellent person had no repara- tion after the Revolution, only he possessed his own lands again." 38
THE HUDE FAMILY. Among the passengers in the " Henry and Francis " who were induced to regard America as their future home, was ADAM HOOD, or HUDE, as the name was spelt by himself. Where he at first established himself does not appear, but in June, 1686, we find him among the others brought before the Court of Common Right at the in- stance of Captain Hutton, and in 1695 he resided on Staten Island. During that year he purchased some land in Wood- bridge, removed thither, and built a farm house for his own residence, which, in an altered condition, is yet standing about a mile north of the church on the road to Rahway.
He is styled in the old records "weaver," but in 1718 he was appointed one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex, soon became the Presiding Judge, and still acted in that capacity as late as 1733-the records of the Court exhibiting a marked regularity in his attendance upon its sittings. At one time he was also Master of Chan- cery and a Member of the Provincial Assembly. Nothing is known of his character, but he seems to have enjoyed in a great degree the confidence of his fellow citizens.
The tombstone of himself and wife are yet to be seen in the Presbyterian cemetery at Woodbridge. The latter bear- ing the following inscription :-
38 Wodrow, IV., pp. 334-336.
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" Here Lyes ye Body of Mrs Marion Hude, Wife of Adam Hude Esqr For ye Spase of 46 years dearly beloved in Life and lamented in death. She lived a Patern of Piety, Patience, meekness and affability, and after she had served her generation in ye love and fear of God in ye 71 year of her Age fell asleep in Jesus Nov. ye 30, 1732,"
Mr. Hude's death occurred on the 17th June, 1746, in his 85th year-having for many years been a communicant in the Presbyterian church. Two sons and one daughter survived the parents : 39
Of ROBERT little is known. He was born Sept. 5th, 1691; was a member of the Assembly in 1740-42, and in April of the latter year was appointed a Judge of Middlesex Pleas. He resided in New Brunswick, and died January 30th, 1748-9. The other son, JAMES, was a gentleman of considerable note in New Brunswick, much respected and esteemed. He was a merchant there in 1726; was appointed one of the Judges of the Pleas in 1732, and continued in the exercise of his duties as such till 1743. He was elected a member of the Assembly in 1738; on the accession of Governor Morris, in 1745, was taken into the Council, continued his con- sistent supporter throughout his administration, and was one of his attend- ants to the grave. He was also a member of subsequent Councils, a Master in Chancery, &c. He had several children :-
James died young.
Robert lived and died in New Brunswick, marrying just before his death.
Ann married Ravaud Kearny, and is noticed elsewhere.
Susan married Mr. Wm. Neilson of New York, who left children. Mary married a Mr. Livingston of New York.
Catherine married Cornelius Lowe of New Brunswick. A daugh- ter of theirs married Mr. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, and another Mr. Hugh Wallace of New York.
One daughter died young and unmarried.
The following obituary notice of Mr. Hude is from the New York Mercury of Nov. 8th, 1762 :-
" On Monday last (Nov. 1st) between the hours of eleven and twelve in the forenoon, departed this life in an advanced age, after a long and tedious indisposition, the Hon. Colonel James Hude, of New Brunswick, Esq., a gentleman who, for his great probity, justice, affability, moral and political virtues, was universally esteemed and beloved by those who knew him. He passed through almost all the honorable offices and em- ployments in the government where he lived, as well as those in the voice of the people. At the time of his death he was one of His Majesty's Council, Mayor of the Corporation of New Brunswick, &c., &c. His death is not only an irreparable loss to the poor, who had at all times free access to his person, and his advice and assistance without fee or re- ward, but to the public is a subject of great regret. He was a most ten- der and loving husband, an indulgent father and kind master. He has left a disconsolate and weeping widow and children. 'Blessed are the dead, &c.' "
39 One son, John, died an infant in 1687, and one daughter, Agnes, was born October, 1689.
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The daughter of Adam Hude (Mary) was the wife of one of the numerous family of Bloomfield, in Woodbridge, and died July 21, 1773, aged 77.
JAMES PARKER was the son of Samuel Parker of Wood- bridge, and was born in that town in 1714. In 1725 he was apprenticed to Wm. Bradford, the first printer in New York, who in that year commenced the publication of the "New York Gazette." From some cause not now known, Parker ran away from his employer in May, 1733, and was advertised in the Gazette of the 21st of that month ; but we find him again in New York, in good credit, and at the head of an establish- ment himself in less than nine years thereafter ; fostering no ill-will towards Bradford, to whom, at his death in 1752,4º he gives an excellent character in an editorial article published in his paper.
The New York Gazette having been discontinued by Brad- ford, it was "revived in the Weekly Post Boy," by Mr. Parker, in 1742-3. Where he had resided previously is not known. This weekly sheet of large foolscap " containing the freshest ad- vices, foreign and domestic," advertisements, &c., issued from his press for many years, and is now a most valuable source of original information for the antiquary and historian.
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