USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 2
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1 Joseph Hoff-succeeded by his brother, Charles Hoff, in 1777-was agent for Lord Stirling in the management of the Hibernia Furnace. Robert and John Murray appear to have been the New York factors. The original letter-book of Charles Hoff, containing an account of the furnace and their success in casting cannon, &c., is in the possession of the Washington Association of New Jersey, in Morristown. See "Early History of Morris County," by Dr. J. F. Tuttle, in Proceedings of the N. J. Hist. Soc., vol. II., p. 44, et seq .- E. D. H.
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and rails enough now cut to keep the fences in repair for many years ; a good orchard and nursery of fruit trees, an excellent kitchen garden handsomely fenced with new pales last spring, a barn, sheds for cattle, two horse stables, a granary, wagon house, poultry house, all new except the barn, and a new draw-well of the best water in the neighborhood very convenient to the house and kitchen.
The dwelling-house, from the repairs lately given it, is , as good as new and made very convenient, and would suit remarkably any Gentleman with a small family who might incline to retire from either of the towns; it con- sists of two parlours and two bed chambers neatly fin- ished, with a fire place in each, and two more may be finished off above stairs at a small expence, a spacious piazza in front the whole length of the house, a kitchen and two cellars below, always dry and never freezes.
This plantation is situated in a well settled, healthy and plentiful country, 44 miles from Philadelphia, and 54 from New York ; 24 miles from New Brunswick, and the same distance from Trenton, from each of which there is water carriage to Philadelphia and New-York. A Stage-waggon goes and comes regularly once a week to Philadelphia in the summer season, and once a fort- night in the winter. Further particulars may be had by applying on the premises, to
THOMAS SKELTON.
-The Pennsylvania Packet, January 8, 1776.
TEN DOLLARS Reward. .
Run away, on the first inst. from the subscriber, living in Monmouth County, East-Jersey, an English servant man, named William Newman Loxley, a farmer, about 25 years of age, near 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, remarkably well set, full face, of a swarthy complexion, and has brown strait
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hair; had on when he went away a round wool hat, brown cloth coat, with many spots of tar about it, a light coloured laced jacket, and a cotton and linen red and white ditto, a white linen shirt, greasy buckskin breeches, black and white yarn stockings, and a pair of pale blue worsted ditto, a pair of strong shoes and a pair of pumps. Whoever secures the above servant, so as his master may have him again, shall have the above reward, and reasonable charges, by applying to ANDREW CRAIG, in Philadelphia, or to
ROBERT WRIGHT.
It is supposed he is gone towards Baltimore.
To be SOLD, on the 13th day of January instant, pur- suant to the power given to the subscriber, by the last will and testament of John Steelman, deceased.
Forty-two Acres of Cedar Swamp, in Greenwich in the county of Gloucester, in the Western Division of the province of New-Jersey ; which said swamp is about a mile from a good landing on Clemell Creek, and about half a mile from Delaware river; and what renders it conven- ient to get out rails and posts, &c. there is a ridge of land through the middle of it, and it will be either sold together, or in lots, as may best suit the purchasers. Any person inclining to view the premises, may be shewn the swamp, with a draft of the same, by applying to the subscriber, at her house, where attendance will be given, and the conditions made known by
MARY STEELMAN, Executrix. -The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 10, 1776.
TO BE LETT,
A FARM in Gloucester county, New-Jersey, whereon the late Peter Becket lived, containing about 400 acres, 200 of which is banked meadow, and the arable land in
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the best order. As the quantity of meadow will require a person of activity to bring and keep it in order, any one with a sufficient stock, and well recommended for his abilities in that way, may know the terms, by apply- ing to JOHN LARDNER, in Third-street Philadelphia. -The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 10, 1776.
For Sale, a neat elegant HOUSE lately built, with a small FARM, consisting of arable, meadow, and wood land, situate in New-Jersey, twenty miles from Philadel- phia, and six from the river Delaware, in a healthy and pleasant situation. A view of the estate sufficiently re- commends it. It might suit for a store, but was built for a country seat, and will be sold reasonable, the owner intending for England.
Inquire of WILLIAM COOPER, at his ferry opposite Philadelphia.
-The Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 11, 1776.
New-York, January 15th. On the 30th Ultimo, at Newark, in New-Jersey, Mrs. OGDEN, the Wife of the Hon. DAVID OGDEN,1 Esq., departed this Life in the 60th Year of her Age, after a painful and lingering Illness ; which she bore with that Fortitude and Resignation which truly Characterize the good Christian, patiently waiting for that happy period which would end her Sorrows, Complaisance with strict Sincerity,-Humility without Meaness,-Beneficence without Ostentation,-Devoutness without Superstition,-and in the several Duties of Wife and Parent. Tenderness and Affection, were amiable
1 Mrs. David Ogden was Gertrude, daughter of Isaac Governeur. Her husband was the most eminent lawyer in the State ; was counsel for the Board of Proprietors, and, in 1772, appointed Justice of the Supreme Court. He espoused the royal side with his sons, Nicholas and Isaac, the latter becoming a distinguished man in Canada. His other sons, Abraham (the first United States District Attorney for New Jersey) and Col. Samuel Ogden, were ardent patriots. For a sketch of his life, see The Green Bag, August, 1891 .- E. D. H.
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Qualities which rendered her worthy of the Regard and Esteem of her Husband, Children and Acquaintance, and justly implanted in each one a lasting Reverence to her Memory.
FORTY SHILLINGS Reward
R UN AWAY from Col. John Reid, on Wednesday the 10th day of January, inst. a negro man named SAM, born in New-Jersey, formerly lived in Doctor Mercer's family. He is about 21 years of age, about 5 feet 5 inches high, slender made, small featured ; he car- ried with him a blue cloth surtout coat, with yellow metal buttons, a tight-bodied blue cloth livery coat, with red cuffs and collar, and also red lining, a blue cloth coatee, with red lining, cuffs, and collar, and white metal buttons, two white linen vests, a red cloth and a blue cloth vest, two pair of leather breeches, a pair of red everlasting breeches, two pair of mixed blue and white stockings, one pair of brown and one pair of blue worsted stockings, and some silk stockings, a pair of fashionable plated shoe and knee buckles, a new castor hat, some white stockings, with a pinchbeck stock buckle. Whoever apprehends the said run-away and secures him, so that his master may have him again, shall be paid the above reward, and all reasonable charges, by JOHN REID, near the Fort.
To be SOLD or LET, And may be entered upon immediately,
A Large convenient house in Elizabeth-Town, with a small farm, about three quarters of a mile from the court-house. If any person should chuse to hire, the house will be let with or without the land, as may suit the best. Enquire of the subscriber at Newark.
WILLIAM BURNET.1 -New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, January 15, 1776.
1 Dr. William Burnet, son of Dr. Ichabod Burnet (born at Southampton, L. I., died at Elizabethtown, July 13th, 1774, aged 90 years), was born at Elizabethtown,
2
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Burlington, January 12, 1776. To Be Sold.
A Commodious dwelling house and lot, fronting High- street, containing 109 feet in front, a good garden well stored with fruits, an excellent well of water in the mid- dle of the garden, beside a pump near the kitchen and a brick milk-house; a clover lot with stables, cow houses, and chair-house. Any person inclining to purchase said house and lot, may know the terms by applying to the subscriber on the premises.
COLIN CAMPBELL.
-The Pennsylvania Packet, January 15, 1776.
December 2d, 1730, O. S. (The statement in the History of Essex and Hudson Counties, I., 224, that Dr. William Burnet was a son of Goy. William Burnet, and grandson of Bishop Burnet, is erroneous. His grandfather was Dan, son of Thomas. -Hatfield's Elizabethtown, 411.) He was graduated at Princeton in 1749, studied medicine with Dr. Staats, of New York, and settled in Newark, where he had built up a large practice at the breaking out of the war. This he relinquished, devoting his whole time and talents to the service of his country .- Princeton College During the Eighteenth Century, 5. He was chairman of the Newark meeting, May 4th, 1775, to take steps to co-operate with the Continental Congress, and was chosen Deputy Chairman of the General Committee then appointed, and a member of the Com- mittee on Correspondence -Minutes of Provincial Congress, 112. The Provincial Congress on February 17th, 1776, appointed him surgeon for the Second Regiment of foot militia in the county of Essex .- Ib., 375. On July 16th, 1776, he was appointed one of the Commissioners to buy arms, &c., for the army .- Ib, 508. The enemy carried off his large and valuable library and fifty head of cattle .- A Collec- tion of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions, with Occasional Notes, by Rev. Timothy Alden, A.M., New York, 1814, IV., 271. The Legislature on November 23d, 1780, appointed him one of the State's five representatives in the Continental Congress .- Minutes, passim. On March 5th, 1781, the Continental Congress commissioned him Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Hospital Department of the Eastern District .- Journals of Congress, passim. At the close of the war he returned to Newark, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was one of the original members of the New Jersey Medical Society in 1766, of which he was elected President in 1767 and in 1786 .- History of Medicine in New Jersey, and of its Medical Men, by Stephen Wickes, A.M., M.D., Newark, 1879, p. 187. He was appointed one of the Judges of the Essex Court of Common Pleas .- Ib., 186. "Dr. Burnet was a gentleman, a scholar, and a Christian. In all the walks of domestick and social life his char- acter was very endearing, and his death was sensibly felt by an extensive circle of relatives and friends, and by none more than by the poor, whose unwearied and liberal friend he ever was."-Alden, ut supra, 273. In January, 1754, he married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Camp, who bore him eleven children, among them Dr. William Burnet, Jr., and Jacob, the distinguished lawyer and statesman of Ohio. Mrs. Burnet died February 1st, 1781. He married, second, the daughter of Nicholas Gouverneur, and widow of Anthony Rutgers, who bore him three children .- Alden, 271-3. An excellent sketch of Dr. Burnet was published some years ago by the late Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court .- W. N.
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Gloucester Gaol, January 8, 1776 .- Was committed to my custody, on suspicion of being run-aways, the follow- ing persons.
ELIAZER TRAESEY who says he belongs to Peter Leathermount, of Tullpahocka Township, in the County of Lancaster. ABRAHAM DORCHESTER, belonging to Thomas Carmichael. JOHN M'FARLONG belong- ing to Thomas Iwins. Their masters, if any they have, are desired to come and pay charges, and take them away, otherwise they will be sold for the same.
RICHARD JOHNSON Gaoler.
-The Pennsylvania Packet, January 15, 1776.
ONE DOLLAR REWARD.
Went away on the 12th of the Twelfth Month, 1775, from the subscriber, living in Waterford, Gloucester county, an Irish servant fellow, named Thomas Hendrick, about 20 or 21 years of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, brown hair, thick lips, had on, or took with him, a pair of shoes, a pair of stockings, Deerskin breeches, check shirt, two jackets, one light coloured, a broad cloth coatee, almost new, and a felt hat. Whoever takes up said servant and secures him, so as his master may have him again, shall have the above reward paid by JOSEPH BURROUGH. -The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 17, 1776.
Messieurs HALL and SELLERS.
As the following decision of the Supreme Court of New Jersey on the Act of the 12th and 13th of Anne, directing the mode of manumitting slaves, was given after great delibera- tion, and settles a point of importance to the inhabitants, you will much oblige a number of your readers by the publication of it in your paper.
A freeholder of New Jersey was possessed of two Negroe slaves, a man and his wife. The master, in his life time,
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gave to both their freedom, declared in his last will that he had done so, and died about the year 1756-The Negroes, after this manumission, had several children, who all enjoyed a state of freedom until last winter, when one of the daughters and residuary legatees of the former master seized and detained one of the young Negroes, and insisted that the manumission of the parents was void, because the master had not given security pursuant to the act above mentioned, which, reciting "that free Negroes are an idle, slothful people, and prove very often a charge to the place where they are, enacts, "That any master or mistress, setting at liberty any slave, shall enter into sufficient security to her Majesty, her heirs and successors, to pay "yearly to such slave Twenty Pounds during life, and if such slave shall be made free by any will, the executors shall enter into the security, which, if refused to be given, the said manumission to be void and of none effect."
On a Habeas Corpus, issued for the purpose, the Negroe was brought before the Court in May last, and the case was argued by council on both sides ; but, as it appears to be a case of the first impression, and of considerable importance, the Judges took time to consider of it, and ordered another argument.
In November last the case was again argued, and on the day following the two Judges1 who attended the court gave their opinion, that the young Negroe was entitled to her freedom, and ordered her to be set at liberty from the illegal detention of the claimant ; because the manumis- sion of the old Negroes was good, as to the late master and the claimant under him, altho' security was not given as directed by the act. On this occasion it was declared from the Bench that the evident intention of the legisla- ture was not to prevent Negroes from being set free, but
1 Probably Chief Justice Frederick Smyth and Associate Judge Richard Stockton. David Ogden was also Associate Judge.
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to prevent the parish from suffering by their being made so, and that the law would receive its full operation by a construction, which indemnifies the parish from the manumitted slaves. That to construe the act in such a manner as to make the manumission void, as to the per- son manumitting, because the law directed such security to be given, or the manumission to be void and of none effect, would be, to prefer a literal construction to the clear intention of the legislature, and that nothing was more common than for the Judges to construe an act according to the spirit of it, where the letter and spirit did disagree-That to prefer a literal construction of the act, so as to render the manumission void as to the master, for his neglect of entering into the security re- quired, would be, to permit him to illude the spirit, by resorting to so unjust and iniquitous a principle, as that of punishing another person for the fault he himself had committed, and would promote deceit and imposition, for, by the manumission itself, the Negroe supposes himself to be perfectly freed, the master by that act intends to make him believe the fact to be so, and to put it in the power of the master, after the Negroe had exerted his industry, and had procured something considerable for his children, begotten in this supposed state of freedom, to say the Negroe was not free, because the master, either through design or neglect, had omitted to give the security directed by the law, would be a construction too absurd for a Court of Justice to make of any act of the legisla- ture ; and that it was a solid distinction, that an act may be good as to one person, and void as to another.
It may not be improper to add, that by a late act, passed in the 10th Geo. III. the clause, upon which this decision was made, is repealed, and a master or mistress, manumitting a slave, is directed to enter into a bond, to indemnify the township from any charge or incumbrance,
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which may happen by any manumission made after the publication of that act, in failure whereof, such manu- mission is (as in the old act) declared to be void, and of none effect.
By a subsequent section it is declared, that every master or mistress of a slave, not manumitted according to this act, shall always be obliged to support such slave ; so that the determination on the clause of the former act, so repealed, will very clearly be a rule of construction of the one at present in force.
-The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 17, 1776.
New-York, January 22. The 11th Instant, Mr. Ste- phen Tinker, of Connecticut, was robbed at the House of Minne Van Voorhies,1 at Brunswick, in New-Jersey, of 38 Half Johannesses, 21 Guineas and a Half, 8 Moidores, one Doubloon, 72 Dollars in Silver, and about 50 Dollars in Connecticut Bills, a Bill of Exchange for 90 1. a Silver Watch, &c. by a young Man that lodged in the same Bed with him. The Fellow made his Escape immediately after he committed the Robbery, and got to this City, where he was apprehended, and most of the Cash found upon him : He was sent to Brunswick last Friday.
To be LETT,
MTHE Farm at Paquanock, now in possession of Mr.
T" Janeway, in Morris county, New-Jersey, and lately occupied by Mr. Lewis Stewart: There is a good house and barn on the premises, and the farm consists of 55 acres, most part of which is meadow. For par- ticulars apply to Mrs. Van Dyck, at John Woods, Esq. in New-York.
1 Minne Van Voorhees, a resident of New Brunswick, N. J., was a Commissary in General Hospital, Continental Army, and afterwards a Captain and Quartermaster in the State service. He died August 3d, 1794, and is buried in the Dutch church- yard of New Brunswick.
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S TOLEN from the subscriber, on the 30th day of No- vember, 1775, a dark brown horse, about 13 hands and three inches high, ten years old, has a small star in his forehead, his near hind foot white, has some white spots on his sides, trots and paces slow. The thief went by the name of William Gill, and had on when he went away a light coloured surtout coat, with black horn buttons, a black velvelt waistcoat, and buck skin breeches. The horse was sold to Israel Knap, son of Capt. Knap, at Horseneck. Whoever takes up the said horse, and deliverers him to Mr. Verean, at the sign of the Bull's- Head, New-York, shall have TEN DOLLARS reward, and also paid for leading and keeping.
BENJAMIN SKILLMAN.
Dated at East New-Jersey, Grigg's-Town, Somerset County, Dec. 30, 1775.
-New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, January 22, 1776.
To be LET, for one year from the first day of April next, a PLEASANT SITUATION, near Mount-Holly in New Jersey, consisting of a good Brick House with two rooms on a floor, and fire places therein, two good cellars under the house, a large kitchen adjoining, a pump of excel- lent water before the door and garden, stabling for horses, and some pasture land if wanted, with many other con- veniences not here mentioned. For farther particulars inquire of Abraham Huwlings Esq; in Burlington, Thomas Cooper near Mount-Holly, or Joseph Mulling in Mount-Holly. January 23, 1776. -The Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 23, 1776.
Salem January 15, 1776 .- To be SOLD or LETT to the Shares, The unexpired Term of Six Years to come (from the 25th of March next) of, and in, a plantation, situate in the county of Salem, and township of Maning-
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ton, adjoining lands of Edward Keasby Esq; containing 70 acres upland, newly cleared, of an excellent soil, and capable of producing all sorts of grain, equal to any in these parts ; also 90 acres drained meadow, and 20 acres more may be made; there are on the premises, a good dwelling-house, with several out-houses, and a well of good water at the door : It may be entered on the 25th of March next. For further particulars, enquire of the subscriber, on the premises
Isaac Ambler. -The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 24, 1776.
Philadelphia, January 24, 1776.
All persons indebted to the estate of Thomas Patterson, late of Gloucester county, West-New-Jersey, deceased, are requested to pay, and those that have any just demands on said estate, are desired to leave them, properly proved, with the subscriber, in order for adjustment. HENRY LISLE, Administrator.
The indentures of a bound girl, about 9 years of age, to be disposed of for a small premium, to a good place.
To be lett, two plantations, adjoining each other, in West-New-Jersey, Gloucester county, about twenty miles from the town of Gloucester, on one of which is a good bearing orchard, both have convenient dwelling-houses, with out-houses, and about 30 acres cleared land ; any person inclining to rent, by applying to said Henry Lisle, in Second street, below the Bridge, may know the terms. Security for the payment of the rent will be required.
N. B. Sundry household furniture, and childrens clothes, with other wearing apparel, have been clandes- tinely taken from the plantation, on which said Thomas Patterson lately lived, since his death; a handsome reward will be given, to the person that will furnish suf- ficient proof of the fact, to convict the offender.
-The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 24, 1776.
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TO BE SOLD.
A Small Plantation of sixteen acres, situate in West New Jersey, on a public road, in a healthy, pleasant spot, twenty miles from Philadelphia, to which there is con- stant communication by stages, vessels, &c. It is five miles from the River Delaware and one from a Creek navigable for small shallops. The premises consist of a neat and elegant house built two years since, a con- venient kitchen for servants, with stables, gardens, &c. a competent share of meadow for pasture, upland for cul- ture, and wood for fuel. It is well planted with fruit trees of the best kinds, might suit for a store, but was purposely built for the residence of a genteel family, for which it is well calculated, or for a country seat or family retiring from town. Enquire of WILLIAM COOPER, at his Ferry opposite Philadelphia.
-The Pennsylvania Packet, January 24, 1776.
Was left at the subscriber's (Inn keeper) in the town of Gloucester, West New Jersey, in June last, by a person unknown, a roan HORSE, with bridle and saddle, the owner is desired to come and prove his property, pay charges and take him away or he will be sold to pay the same by
WILLIAM HUGG.
-The Pennsylvania Packet, January 29, 1776.
New-York, January 29. We hear from New-Jersey, that on Monday last, the people in the sea port towns, having notice that a store ship with coals, porter, cheese, &c. for the ministerial army in Boston, was arrived at the Hook, a number of men in a small vessel at night boarded, took and brought her into port, where they have unloaded her. The cargo consists of 120 chaldron of coals, 100 barrels of porter, 300 sacks of potatoes, 10
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pipes of sour crout, 4 four pounders, some powder and arms, and sundry other goods: They brought 80 hogs from London, but many of them died on the voyage.1
We hear from Long Island, that Col. Heard, with a detachment of Minute-men from the Jerseys ; pursuant to an order of the Continental Congress, has taken a few of the principal Tories in Queens County, that others are fled and that all the rest had delivered up their arms, to the number of near a thousand.
To be Sold
The House where the subscriber lives, in Elizabeth-Town, being 2 stories high, with two rooms and a large hall on the lower floor, and three rooms above, with a convenient kitchen, stable, chair-house, and garden well stock'd with a variety of fruit trees &c. Whoever inclines to purchase the same, will apply to the subscriber, who will give a. good title.
GEORGE ROSS.2
Elizabeth-Town, Jan. 29, 1776.
To Be Sold .-
A House and lot of land in Raway, containing about 17 acres (3 of which is good mowing ground) pleasantly
1 This was the capture of the "Blue Mountain Valley," a feat that gave great encouragement to the patriots of the day The cargo consisted of 10714 chaldrons of coal, 30 bundles of hoops, 100 butts of porter, 225 bags of beans, 156 sacks of potatoes, 10 casks sauer-kraut, 80 live hogs and 35 empty puncheons Lord Stirling seized a pilot boat at Perth Amboy, and with forty men was just pushing out at two o'clock on the morning of January 23d, when he was joined by three other boats from Elizabethtown, with about forty men each. Full details of the gallant exploit, for which Congress gave a vote of thanks, will be found in the Journals of Congress, passim ; in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, IV., 987-9 ; Duer's Life of Lord Stirling, 124, and in Hatfield's History of Elizabethtown, 421-5.
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