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 6

Author: Whitehead, William A. (William Adee), 1810-1884
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton & Company
Number of Pages: 472

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 6

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Mr. Mudie selected his plantation on South River at a distance which took two hours to sail, and says of it in one of his letters, "I mind to settle some of my servants there against the middle of this month (March, 1685). I am provided with six coarse horses ; oxen and swine sufficiently in number for any plantation for the first year : the land I have settled on in my judgment is extraordinarily good."84 All this indi- cates the possession of pecuniary resources such as the majority of the settlers did not enjoy.

Scot gives also a letter from Mr. Mudie's son James (ap- parently dictated by him to an amanuensis), to a cousin of the same name in Montrose, who seems to be the owner of the " Lairdship of Arbikie." The writer says, "there is abundance of much better land here than ever Arbikie was, and an Earl- dom to be bought far below in price the value of what such petty Lairdships as Arbikie are sold for in Scotland, without purging of the lands of any incumbrances."

GARRET AND WALTER WALL

Came early to this section of the province, but whether

83 Town Records, Agreem't in Towne

84 East Jersey, &c. pp. 296, 317, 327. meeting, Aug. 24, 1670.

THE SETTLERS.

from England or from one of the eastern colonies is uncertain. They both removed to Middletown previous to 1685.

Garret had a son John, who was the father of James Wall, who became subsequently a resident of Amboy ; and of John Galen Wall, who practised as a physician for several years, both in Perth Amboy and Woodbridge. His tombstone is yet standing in the Presbyterian cemetery in the latter place, bearing the following inscription :

"In memory of Dr. John Galen Wall, 13 years physician in Wood- bridge and Perth Amboy, born at Middletown, Monmouth, 17th Decem- ber, 1759 ; died 14th January, 1798.

" If physic's aid or friendship's balm could save From death, thou still had'st lived."

Dr. Wall's residence in Amboy, was that now in the pos- session of Mr. Wm. King, on the bank south of Market street. After his removal to Woodbridge, he married Nancy, daughter of Dr. Bloomfield, who, after his death, resided for some time with a sister, in Burlington County ; but subsequently re- turned to Woodbridge and became the wife of Mr. James Paton.

The Hon. Garret D. Wall, who, for so long a period bore a distinguished part in the public affairs of New Jersey, was a son of James Wall.

With the exception of a few, who are noticed as heads of some of the old families, the foregoing are all the settlers of whom any information has been obtained. It would have been a pleasing task to have embodied here more particulars of the lives and characters of these pioneers, and to have pointed out the destination and fate of their descendants, but the materials are wanting. Meagre as is the record, however, it may serve to preserve from oblivion the names of some, who had the improvement of their "New Perth " much at heart ; more so perhaps, than most of their successors in occupancy at the present day.

Chapter III. - The City.

"More than I seem, and less than I was born to."

" I love to dwell among these shades, unfolding to my view The dreams of perish'd men and years, and by-gone glory too."

No special local government seems to have been established at first, for Perth Amboy ; for its simple appellation of Perth was soon lost from joining with it the name of the point, Ambo. The various county officers and courts preserved order and regulated its police ; and its existence as a town was soon recognized by admitting one or more representatives from it to the General Assembly, which held its first session in Amboy in 1686. In 1698 it was allowed two members, and that number continued to be its quota until the war of Independence.

The first charter was obtained from Governor Robert Hunter, August 24th, 1718 ;1 the title of the incorporation being "The Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Perth Amboy." The preamble to the grant is as follows :

"GEORGE, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all persons to whom these pres- ents shall come, greeting : Whereas our loving subjects, John Johnstone, Thomas Gordon, John Hamilton, George Willocks, John Barclay, William Eier, John Stevens, William Hodgson, William Frost, Henry Berry, John Sharp, Thomas Turnbull, Andrew Redford, and Alexander Walker, and many other inhabitants in our town of Perth Amboy, in our province of Nova Cesarea or New Jersey, by their humble petition presented unto our trusty and well beloved Robert Hunter, Esq., our Captain-general and Governor-in-chief of our said province of New Jersey, New York, and tracts of land depending thereon in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, &c., on behalf of themselves and others, the freeholders and inhab- itants of the said town, have set forth, that the said town of Perth Amboy

1 E. J. Records, Liber C.

THE CITY.

is not only the best situation for a place of trade in our said province of New Jersey, and has a harbour for shipping preferable to those in the provinces adjoining, but that it is also the only port appointed for the collecting of our customs in the eastern division of our said province of New Jersey : that the said town hath many years languished under de- signed and unjust impositions to prevent its growth, to the loss and detri- ment of the province, until the government happily fell under the care of our said governor's just administration. The petitioners with a due sense of gratitude, thankfully acknowledging its new life and present prospects of becoming a place is to be wholly attributed to our said governor's expensive encouragement and favorable countenance, as also the repeated instances of his benignity during the course of his mild administration, is what gives the petitioners hope their present supplication may prove suc- cessful, tho' their request is not to be granted of right, but grace ; there- fore humbly pray for our royal grant by letters patent, under our great seal of our said province of New Jersey, to incorporate the freeholders, inhabitants of the said town of Perth Amboy, into a Body Corporate and politic, with perpetual succession by what name our said governor shall think fit; as also to grant such immunities and privileges as may be thought requisite for the well ordering and ruling thereof, &c. We, being willing to promote all trade, industry, rule, and good order amongst all our loving subjects, in granting their reasonable request in that behalf : Therefore, know ye, &c."

There is nothing particularly deserving notice in the pro- visions of the document, requiring its insertion at length.

The officers were to be a mayor, recorder, four aldermen, a town-clerk, four assistants, a sheriff, a chamberlain or treas- urer, a coroner, a marshal, a sergeant at mace,2 three consta- bles, and two overseers of the poor.

The common council, of which the mayor and three alder- men constituted a quorum, were to hold their meetings in the court-house, or city hall, and their laws or ordinances were to be submitted to the Governor for approval within six months after their passage ; but he does not seem to have been invested with any authority to veto them, their operation being limited to six months if they did not receive his appro- bation.

The mayor, clerk of the market, sheriff, and water-bailiff were to be appointed by the Governor ; the recorder and town-clerk held their offices according to the tenor of their commissions, no particular term being specified. The alder- men, assistants, chamberlain, coroner, overseers of the poor,

? " The present and succeeding may- a mace borne before him and them," ors of the said city shall, and may have said the charter.

THE CITY.

and constables were elected by a majority of the freeholders ; the assistants not to be chosen until it was known who were to be aldermen. The sergeant was to be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the common council, and, toge- ther with all the other officers, was required to be "of good capacity." The overseers of the poor and constables who should refuse to take the oath of office and enter upon their respective duties were to be fined five pounds, and others were to be elected in their stead, who should be held similarly liable should they decline the honors conferred. The mayor, re- corder, and aldermen constituted the city court, and held a term once a month for actions of debt. None but free citi- zens were allowed to exercise "any trade, art, or mystery," saving during the times of fairs, which, with market days, were duly authorized.

A common seal was to be used, the device on which was prescribed : "On the dexter a hunting-horn, and over it Arte non Impetu ; on the sinister a ship riding at anchor in the harbor, under it Portus Optimus." Such continues to be the seal at the present day, and a fac-simile of it is here inserted.

TIS

PERT

CIV

ARTE.NON.IMPETU

SIGILLUM

MBOYENSIS .

PORTVS · OPTIMUS

THE SEAL OF PERTH AMBOY.

The connection between the hunting-horn and its motto, and the past history or future destinies of the city, might afford matter for discussion to a whole college of heraldry, were not a clue presented in the Governor's own escutcheon. The

THE CITY.

well-turned compliments paid that functionary in the petition which preceded the granting of the charter, it appears, were not thought sufficient to insure his favorable consideration, but, in addition, the arms of his family were placed upon the seal of the corporation in testimony of its distinguished pa- rentage.

The foregoing is a sketch of the municipal machinery intended and expected to work a great revolution in the cir- cumstances of the city, improve its commerce, add to its population, and increase its dimensions ; but it need scarcely be added, the results fell far short of those anticipated.3

The " designed and unjust impositions," which are alluded to by the petitioners, as preventing the growth of the place, were probably those that a mistaken policy, as to the measures most likely to conduce to the advancement of the commercial interests of the province, had led previous assemblies to adopt. They will be more particularly referred to hereafter. The want of documentary evidence, which has already been alluded to, prevents any thing like a connected account of the events of this period. No attempt will therefore be made to con- struct a narrative out of the desultory gleanings of the past upon the various topics to which the author's researches have been directed.

There are very few notices of the place to be found, and none at all, having any pretensions to accuracy, upon which any estimate can be based of its growth, either in population or wealth : some improvement, however, was the result of the privileges secured to it by its charter, but from that time to the present, writers have been obliged, uniformly, to deplore

3 The persons intrusted with the first official stations, are named in the charter to hold their offices until the annual election. They were as fol- lows :

William Eier, Mayor and Clerk of Market. James Alexander, Recorder.

Aldermen .- John Parker, John Rudyard, Sam'l Leonard, Wm. Hodgson.

Assistant Aldermen .- John Brown, An- drew Redford, Michael Henry, Jacob Isleton.

John Stevens .- Chamberlain and Treasu- rer.

John Barclay, Town Clerk. John Harrison, Sheriff and Water Bailiff. William Harrison, Coroner.

William Frost, Marshal or Sergeant at Mace.

Overseers of the poor .- John Ireland, Henry Berry.

Constables .- John Herriott, Fred. Bucka- lo0, Alex'r Cairns.

There is no register of the city offi- cers existing, from which a perfect list could be made out of those who subse- quently held these stations.

THE CITY.

he disappointment which has attended the plans projected for its prosperity.

In 1738, it is stated, "planters had not resorted to it as was expected, notwithstanding its commodious situation,"4 and the lapse of years brought no change.

In 1739-40, Governor Morris, although he expressed an opinion that the harbor is preferable to that of New York- " easier to be entered or departed from, and of the two, more safe,"-yet finds an argument for the establishment of another seat of government, upon the fact that it was "a poor incon- siderable place."" Hopes were still entertained, however, that in some way its peculiar advantages might be turned to better account, and at various times legislative action was put in requisition to enlarge its commerce, but the plans, which will be noticed in a following chapter, were attended by few bene- ficial results.

In August, 1747, on the arrival of Governor Belcher, the city authorities, in their address to him, say, "the city of Perth Amboy is not only most commodiously situated for a place of trade, but it has one of the best harbors for shipping upon the continent, and yet hath hitherto struggled with many difficulties :- nevertheless, by your excellency's favor and kind protection (which we humbly pray for), we hope trade will flourish amongst us."

In his answer the Governor said, "I have hardly ever seen a place more pleasantly situated for health, and more commo- diously for trade, and you may depend on every thing on my part, to render it a flourishing city."6 He disappointed the good citizens, however, by taking up his residence at Eliza- bethtown ; but his successors, who resided at Amboy, gave convincing evidence that the patronage of royal governors could not alone make a "flourishing city."

In 1759, Burnaby says Amboy had about one hundred houses (Mr. Burke, in his account of the American settle- ments" published in 1761, makes the number two hundred) ;

4 Salmon's Modern Hist. 6 Virginia Gazette, Oct. 1st, 1747.

5 Papers of Lewis Morris, pp. 69, 121.

THE CITY.

but, says Douglas, "notwithstanding its good deep water har- bor and promising country-its being the capital of the prov- ince, &c., it has only the appearance of a mean village." And Oldmixon, in 1770, was sufficiently callous to the misfortunes and trials of the Earl of Perth to compare his city with his Dukedom, as being about alike valuable.

The provincial historian, Smith, whose work was printed in 1765, speaks of the pleasant situation and commodiousness of the harbor, but "by a fatality " attending such attempts, all endeavors to make it a place of extensive trade had been unavailing. It is convenient, at least, to place upon "the Fates" the burthen of our own mistakes in policy or legisla- tion, or our own remissness in energy and enterprise.7

It is probable the city was at the "pinnacle of its fame" about the time the revolution commenced.8 Its foreign com- merce and domestic trade had perhaps both been greater in previous years, but it had then, doubtless, a larger population than at any time before ; and, as the seat of government, it held a rank far above what it has since possessed. The result of the struggle for Independence caused many of the inhabit- ants to remove-the operation of other systems of government drew off most of its little remaining commerce-and the resto- ration of peace found Amboy but feebly prepared to vie with other communities less unfavorably influenced by the changes the war had wrought.

An attempt to revive its importance and prosperity was made in 1784, by the renewal of its corporate powers, through an act of the Legislature, passed December 21st, which re- mained " the law of the land " unimpaired by any amend- ments until 1844 ; the fear of making it worse possibly deter- ring the good people from taking any steps to make it better

7 " Alas !" says a modern writer, tfve pursuits, is doubtless true ; but " clams and oysters and fish are quite as the cheapness spoken of has never existed, its consequence, as stated, may be questioned. too cheap at Ambo-point, and that is the reason that Ambo-point has not fulfilled the promise of its early pros- 8 Russell gives the number of houses at the commencement of the revolution at about three hundred, but that was probably an over-estimate. Vol. II. p. 272. perity."-(Paulding in Atlantic Sou- venir for 1829.) That the fisheries may have interfered with the regular prosecution of other and more produc-

THE CITY.

or more comformable to their situation, after the changes of half a century. The title of the act was "an act for erecting the north ward9 of Perth Amboy and a part of the township of Woodbridge, in the county of Middlesex, into a city, and for incorporating the same, by the name and title of the city of Perth Amboy." The author of the bill must have been a warm friend to the young city, judging from the preamble, which was as follows.

" Whereas the improvement of trade and navigation in this State, is of the utmost importance to the well-being of the same : and whereas the prosperity of trade requires the collection of merchants together in suffi- cient numbers, in order that the union of their force may render them competent to great undertakings, and that the variety of their importa- tions and their wants may always furnish to the purchasers and to the sellers a secure and constant market : and whereas, it is necessary in the present unprovided and disadvantageous condition of this State, to bestow on merchants, peculiar immunities and privileges, in order to attract them to its harbours, and to secure to them, for a sufficient and definite duration the entire profits of their commerce, without burden, abatement, or uncer- tainty, in order to excite in them a spirit of useful adventure, and to en- courage them to encounter the risks and expenses of a new situation, and of important and beneficial undertakings : and inasmuch as commercial cities require a peculiar mode of government, for maintaining their inter- nal police and commercial transactions; require more expeditious and summary tribunals than others : and whereas, divers good citizens of this State, residing in different parts thereof, by their humble petition pre- sented to the Legislature, have set forth the great public utility of incor- porating certain towns in the State, and of investing them with such powers, privileges, jurisdictions, and immunities, as shall conduce to the encouragement of its commerce ; and have prayed that Perth Amboy aforesaid may be incorporated for the said purposes : and whereas, divers of the inhabitants of the said north ward of Perth Amboy, and others in the vicinity thereof, by their humble petition to the Legislature, have set forth, that for many years previous to the late revolution, the said north ward of Perth Amboy, under and by virtue of charters to them granted for that purpose, did hold, enjoy, and exercise, many powers, privileges, and immunities, which they found greatly beneficial to the inhabitants thereof, and have prayed that the said charter, or one of them so far as may extend to the said north ward and a part of Woodbridge, may be revised, corrected, and amended ; or that a law for incorporating the said north ward, together with a part of the township of Woodbridge into a city and town corporate may be enacted : BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED, &c."

One would suppose the wealth of the Indies, if not the commerce of the world, would flow into the harbor after the obtainment of a charter which opened with so much promise.

9 South Amboy, now a separate township, was the south ward.

THE CITY.

One would suppose the wealth of the Indies, if not the commerce of the world, would flow into the harbor after the obtainment of a charter which opened with so much promise.

9 South Amboy, now a separate township, was the south ward.

References

I Andrew Bett

A Presbyterian Burial Ground

2.36120 Bruen Bright House' 18 Arvold City Hotel

J Abner Woodruff 19 Phermix Inn 20 Friah Badge

4 Fynscopal Ch & firme Yard

S DP - Personage

21 Baptist Church

6 Old parsonage fire Walled) James L'orker

7.Prestyterian Charch.

23 Brurus Storess What

ô D Forsmage

24 Stram beat wharf

9.Vn John Patrick

25 Mixa Parker

NAF.C M.Kearny

26 Joseph Moral's stars

Il Market

21 Benjanun Maurire

& Commercial Bank

28 Huy press

13 School House , old l'art lis) 29 May scales

K Rantan House

30 Marsh& wharf

15.Joseph Marah

JI Patrulh wharf

16MM Watson

REDUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL SURVEY

· DE

FW Brinley . WAW. Delt

RARITAN RIVER.

Gully Street

Gordon Street .

Cross Street

Rector Street

South Dock Street

Payetle Street .

North Dock Sheet

Coumierce Street

Back Surret

State Street .

North Back Sheet

Washington Street .

Street

Back

Street

Centre

Broad

Street

trer1

Street

Hièh

Street

Dock

Back

€

LTOSS

Dock

Surth

North

Water

Streel

Sall Marsh

r Murk

ARTHUR

SO UN D

Scale 12 chs. to an mch

MAP of the

CITY OF PERTH®

AMBOY

AS IT WAS IN 1823.

The dotted lines mark new or projected Streets since 1823

Every House standing in 1823 + marked on the map

Road In Woodbridge

Old

Barracks

Lont Ferry

South

MAP

of the

CITY OF PERTH

AS IT WAS IN 1823.

REDUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL

F.W Brinley .

WAW. Delt

RARITAN RIVER

Gully Street is now (1855)

Cross Street

South Dock Street

North Dock Street =

Back Street

North Back Street

Long Ferry 5696 Ft to the Ambos

High Water

Low Wal

Malt Marsh

Scale 12 chs. to an inch .

792.1-4

6 2 8 9 10 11 12

Ferences

17 Presbyterian Burial Ground House) 18 Arnolds "City Hotel 19 Phoenix Inn. c Loard. 20.Uriah Burdge 21. Baptist Church Willoch 22.James Parker ch. 23 Brueus Stores & Wharf 24. Steamboat wharf

25 Miss Parker

26 Joseph Monsh's stores 27. Benjamin Maurice

28. Hay press . urt h's:) 29. Hay scales 30. Marsh's wharf 31.Patrick's wharf

THE CITY.

But, however reasonable such expectations from the given premises might have been elsewhere, at Amboy they were not realized, and probably will not be until more innate energy is possessed. The genius of the place might say to us in the words of the renowned Dr. Syntax :

" All those to whom I've long been known Must see I've habits of my own."

The map here inserted, shows the number and position of the dwellings standing in 1823. It was preferred thus to ex- hibit the place as it was, rather than as it is. The dwell- ings now are probably twice as numerous, and it will be seen from the tables below that the population has more than doubled.

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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 6

Author: Whitehead, William A. (William Adee), 1810-1884 Publication date: 1856 Publisher: New York : D. Appleton & Company Number of Pages: 472

Author: Whitehead, William A. (William Adee), 1810-1884
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton & Company
Number of Pages: 472