USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Early Dutch Settlers of Monmouth County, New Jersey > Part 8
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We cannot now realize the deep anger and lasting resentment aroused among the friends and supporters of Leisler, particularly in Kings county, L. I., where he had a numerous follow- ing.
These men never forgot or forgave the aristocratic clique which with bit- ter malice and false pretenses had hunted these men to death. It affected and influenced the politics of New York down to the revolutionary war, when the "dangerous Democratic ideas," which Ingoldsby spoke of in one of his communications as being at the bottom of the Leisler troubles, were trium- phant. The whole case, however, came before the English government a few years later. In 1695 an act was passed by the House of Lords and Commons and approved by the King, righting this foul injustice so far as was possi- ble. This act is entitled 6 & 7 William III, Anno 1695. The following is the last section of the act.
"That said conviction, judgment and attainder of Jacob Leisler and Jacob Millbourne, deceased, and Abraham Governeur, and any of them, be and are repealed, revoked, made and declared null and void to all intents and con- structions whatsoever, as if never made."
This was a sweeping and full vindi- cation of those victims to partizan mal- ice and personal hate on the part of the government of Great Britain. . It restored to their families the property that had been confiscated. At about this time the celebrated Minister of New England, Rev. Increase Mather, writes under date of January 20, 1696:
"I am afraid that the guilt of inno- cent blood is still crying in the ears of the Lord against you. My Lord Bell- mont said to me that he was one of the committee of Parliament who ex- amined the matter, and those men. (Leisler and Millbourne) were not only murdered but barbariously murdered.' However, the murdered men have been cleared by the King, Lords and Com- mons, etc."
If such was the opinion of disinter- ested men, far removed from the scene of the troubles, the reader can judge how deep and bitter was the anger of the friends and supporters of Leisler and the relatives of the other men im-
prisoned and convicted with him. Many of these men were alarmed. If Leisler and Millbourne could thus be executed and their property seized what securi- ty is there for any of us? was a natural inquiry. The young men about to leave home and make a settlement elsewhere looked around to see if there was some place where they would be safe, where laws would be equitably administered and where there would be full liberty of conscience or religious worship. New Jersey was then governed by the proprietors. They had offered liberal terms to all persons who would settle on their lands, for without inhabitants their lands were worthless. Some of these proprietors, like the merchants in London, were influenced solely by mercenary considerations. Others, like William Penn and Rohert Barclay, by philanthropic and conscientious mo- tives. Robert Barclay of Aberdeen, Scotland, had been made governor of New Jersey. He was famous as a scholar and writer and for his philan- thropy. He was a son of Robert Bar- clay, who at one time had served as a soldier under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, but in after years became a convert to the Friends. He is cele- brated by John G. Whittier in his poem entitled Barclay of Ury. He had brought up his son in the tenets of the Quakers or Friends. It was through this son that many of the persecuted covenanters and Presbyterians had been released from prison and directed to New Jersey. These prominent Friends were for several years the managing or controlling men in the government of New Jersey. This fact was known far and wide, and it was a guarantee that full religious freedom would be allowed in New Jersey and fair laws enacted and equitably and justly enforced and construed. The Quakers themselves had suffered bitter persecution and their doctrine of peace and non resistance, etc., was an assur- ance to all that no persecution would occur under their government, as in- deed was the case. William Penn's name too, was a tower of strength. A Hollender, too, named Areut Sonmans, and his son, Peter Sonmans, after his death, was a proprietor and owned thousands of acres in Somerset and Monmouth counties. He was well known to his countrymen in New York and used his influence to direct the cur- rent of immigration to those counties. But it was the bitter discontent with the government of New York caused by the judicial murder of Leisler and Mill- hourne and the confidence in the men
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EARLY DUTCH SETTLERS OF MONMOUTH.
who controlled the government of New Jersey, which induced so many of the young men to remove from the towns and villages of New York and settle in Monmouth, Middlesex and Somerset counties. This chapter in the colonial history of New York has never had the attention and consideration it deserved. It led to serious and far reaching re- sults. Bayard and VanCortland, who had been so active in this injustice and outrage, were connected by blood with the patroons of New York. The wealth, influence and power of these men were used to suppress and smother as far as they could this disgraceful deed. They then controlled public matters almost as completely as Bill Tweed did in his day. Therefore, men were afraid to speak out and call things by their real names. Like the railroad corporations and Standard oil corporation and others of like character they had patronage and power. They could reward or punish. Thus ambitious men who
wanted office, selfish men who wanted money, society men who wanted intro- duction and timid or cowardly men afraid of injury, and all the rest who were governed by self interest and cool calculation, did not speak out, but wound. turned and twisted their way so as to keep in with both factions or parties. Right, too, on the heels of the Leisler difficulty came the interference of Lord Cornbury with the church. His arbitrary efforts to establish Episco- pacy and his assumption of power over other denominations deepened the dis- content with the government of New York. The quarrels and contention and troubles in the Dutch churches of Kings county, L. I., from 1705 to 1714 and the government interference with them also disgusted the Smocks, Van- Brunts, Luysters and other Dutch people and sent the young men over to New Jersey where they at least could worship as they pleased.
CONFLICT BETWEEN LEWIS MORRIS AND THE PEOPLE OF MIDDLETOWN.
Jacob VanDorn, as the name is now spelled, with his brother-in-law, Arie (Adrian) Bennett, removed from what is now a part of Brooklyn, then known as Gowanus, to Monmouth county in the year 1697 or 98, just two centuries ago. He married about 1694 Marytje, (Maria or Mary) a daughter of Arian Williamse Bennett and Angenietje VanDyke, his wife, who then resided at Gowanus. Jacob VanDorn became a communicant in the Dutch church of Brooklyn in 1695. Our records in the Monmouth County Clerk's Office show that John Reid, a Scotchman, who was quite prominent in public affairs of this county between 1690 and 1720, and who was a faithful agent for some of the Scotch proprietors, conveyed to Richard Salter, by deed dated Decem- ber 23, 1689, recorded in Book H of Deeds, page 325, part of his land called Hortencia, lying principally in what is now Marlboro township and likely run- ning over into what is now Holmdel township. for Freehold township in 1689 had not been set off from Middle- town township. In this deed it is stated that the lands conveyed begin where "West Branch comes into Hop brook at a place called Promontoria." John Reid, who was an intelligent and pru- dent man, had doubtless satisfied the
Indians and also procured a legal title from the proprietors of East Jersey for this tract of land prior to his transfer to Salter.
Under date of April 2, 1697. Salter assigns this deed to "Adrian Bennett and Jacob VanDorn of Gowanus, Kings county, Island of Nassau," (Long Is- land). This assignment is recorded in Book H of Deeds, page 327, and was a very singular method to convey real estate. The number of acres is not stated. It appears that Bennett, Van- Dorn and Salter were thrown together by this business transaction and that Salter must have gained the good will and friendship of those two men by his fair and kind treatment of them; for only a year or two later we find Ben- nett and VanDorn resisting the sheriff of the county, John Stewart, and pre- venting him from arresting Salter. Our court records show that for their ac- tion in this matter they brought upon themselves the vengeance of the notor- ious Lewis Morris of "Tintern Manor." as he or his uncle, the first Lewis Mor- ris, had named it. This place is now known as Tinton Falls, in Monmouth county.
The minutes of the courts of Mon- mouth county in clerk's office, for the year 1700, shows the following record
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EARLY DUTCH SETTLERS OF MONMOUTH.
entered at the instance of, and no doubt dictated by, Lewis Morris himself, for a new clerk, Drummond, also a Scotch- man, had just been appointed and he had no experience in making up the court records. The following is a cor- rect copy of this record:
"A Court of Inquiry held at Shrewsbury for the county of Monmouth, the 27th day of August, 1700.
Lewis Morris, President.
Samuel Leonard, Jedediah Allen, Samuel Dennis,
Justices.
Anthony Pintard,
The Grand Jury of Inquiry for present ser- vice were these :
John Reid, (a Scotchman).
Jeremiah Stillwell, Alexander Adams,
John Slocum,
Thomas Webley,
Thomas Hewett, Patrick Cannon, +
Abiah Edwards, James Melven, \
John West, Peter Embley,
John Leonard Samuel Hopenge,
William Layton, William Hoge.
Those marked with star (*) are Scotchmen.
After taking the oath Lewis Morris charged them. We have no record of what he said, but judging by his other writings, when angered, it was a vio- lent harangue for the jury to indict Jacob VanDorn, Arie Bennett and the other persons who had resisted his pet sheriff, John Stewart, also a Scotchman. The jury were almost, outside of John Reid, the foreman, and the other Scotchman, made up of his retainers and henchmen in Shrewsbury township. The justices, also, who set with him had all been lately appointed at his suggestion by the Scotch governor, An- drew Hamilton. In plain words this jury was packed by Lewis Morris for the express purpose of indicting Jacob VanDorn, Adrian (Arie) Bennett and others of the Middletown people. They soon returned the following indictment, which had probably been drawn up by Lewis Morris himself and given to some of his agents on this grand jury. The following is a true copy of this in- dietment:
"August ye 27th, 1700 .- We, jurors present Richard Salter, John Bray, James Stout, David Stout, Benjamin Stout, Cornelius Compton. William Bowne, Thomas Hankinson, Jacob VanDorn, Arian Bennett, Thomas Sharp, Ben- jamin Cook, Robert James, Thomas Estill and Samuel, a servant of Salter, for riotously as- sembling on the 17th of July and assaulting John Stewart, High Sheriff, and Henry Leon- ard, in the path near house of Alexander Adams and beat and greviously wounded these said persons, took their swords from them, carried them away and kept them to the value
of five pounds, money of this province, in breach of the peace and terror of the king's liege people. Signed in behalf of the rest by JOHN REID, Foreman."
We have an account written by two of the most respected and honest citi- zens of Middletown township at the time of this occurrence which throws a different light on this subject. There is nothing in our early records to throw the least smirch upon the characters of Andrew Bowne and Richard Harts- horne. They were straightforward, honest men, who tried to do their duty in a plain unostentatious manner. They commanded the respect of all the peo- ple of Middletown, Even Lewis Morris with his abusive tongue and malicious heart, could say nothing worse of them than that one was an Anabaptist and the other a Quaker and that they had defeated a bill to tax the people for the maintenance of the Episcopal priests and prelates, as in England.
True copy of Andrew Bowne and Richard Hartshorne account of this trouble from pages 327-8-9 of Vol. II, New Jersey Archives.
"East Jersey, Middletown ye 23d July, 1700, &c .- Yours of 6th of April last come to our hands, it being the first we received from you, for which we thank you ; but could have wish- ed you had sent us a more certain account of the settlement of the government, which, never so much as now, wants to be settled Since the departure of Mr. Slater, Col. Hamilton [the usurping Governor at that date] hath put Mr. Morris [Lewis Morris of Tinton Falls] into commission of his council and justice, believ- ing him to be the only man that can make the province submit to him as governor, with- out the king's approbation, and in order to effect it they turned out an Englishman who was sheriff and put in a Scotchman. |John Stewart, who resided in what is now Eaton- town township], who they thought would obey them without reserve. And it is said Morris has given out that he will carry his point in making the people submit to Col. Hamilton or he will embrue the province in blood. In order to which they seized upon several per- sons intending to force them to give security for their good behaviour, which one of them refused to do, and so continued in the sheriff's custody. This the people took greveiously, it being harvest time, and they had given out warrants to seize Richard Salter and others. And the sheriff [ John Stewart with warrant issued by Lewis Morris, Justice] had like to have taken him. Which some of his neigh- bors understanding went and met the sheriff { John Stewart with his deputy, Henry Leon- ard], banged him, broke his head and sent him packing, upon which, as we are informed. the people resolved to meet on Friday, the 19th day of July, in order to go and fetch home him that was in the sheriff's hands, upon which Morris and Leonard, [Lewis Morris and Samuel Leonard] dispatched an express [man on horseback to ride fast] for Governor Ham-
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EARLY DUTCH SETTLERS OF MONMOUTH.
ilton [he then resided at Burlington City] who immediately came to them, [at Tinton Falls]. They pressed about fifty men [Morris' hench- men in Shrewsbury township and his Scotch contingent around Freehold, likely] and came on 19th of July [only two days after Sheriff John Stewart and Henry Leonard had been thrashed] in arms {with guns and other wea- pons] to Middletown [the village] and came to the ordinary [the tavern or public house, which then stood where George Bowne's dwell- ing now, 1898, stands] and there inquired for said Salter and one Bray [John Bray]. Then they marched off [went back to Tinton Falls]. The people of Middletown [township] were as- sembled to the number of about 100 [another account says about 150 men] but without arms, only sticks [mild term for clubs] yet had it not been for the persuasion of some much in the public favor there would have been broken heads if not further mischief, the said justices having persuaded the person in the sheriff's hands to give security for his good behavior the day before this meeting. In this position things stand in this county and we believe that throughout the province, including the Scotch, there is six to one against owning Col. Ham- ilton Governor, and almost all bitterly against Morris, whom they look upon as the first man [as indeed he was] that opposed government.
ANDREW BOWNE.
RICHARD HARTSHORNE, One of ye Council."
Some of our local Newark historians have in their one-sided efforts to eulo- gize Lewis Morris, spoken in a slight- ing way of Captain Andrew Bowne. There is no evidence to justify this in our early records. He was a plain, out - spoken, sincere man who always stood four square in his tracks. He could not cajole or flatter like Lewis Morris when he wanted favors, neither could he abuse in bitter fashion his oppon- ents, like Morris. He had no such com- mand of vituperative language, but what he said he meant, and he was al- ways consistent. Those who knew him best (his neighbors of Monmouth coun- ty) respected him, while Lewis Morris was detested for his arbitrary and un- scrupulous efforts to further his own interests even when he sat as judge of our county courts. He was constantly in law suits, during the years running
from 1692 to 1698, and his influence and that of his cousin, Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, who was also a justice, gave him a decided advantage over the people he sued. The attempt of Gov- ernor Hamilton and Lewis Morris to overawe and intimidate the people of Middletown by an armed body of men failed. It ought to have been evident to them that the people of Middletown would not submit. They were dis-
tinctly informed to this effect and had Warning of what would happen and what did happen at Middletown village on the 25th of March, 1701.
This record of that court as it stands on the minutes in the clerk's office was evidently entered at the dictation of Lewis Morris, who was then presiding judge of the county courts. This rec- ord represents the people of Middle- town as breaking up this court, taking Governor Hamilton and the county officials prisoners, out of sympathy with a self confessed pirate, who bad served under the notorious Capt. Kidd, and in order to rescue him from the officers of the law. This was a grave and serious charge and one very likely to be noticed and punished by the Eng- lish government. Piracy, however, was an offense outside of the jurisdiction of the Monmouth courts as it occurs on the high seas and it is cognizable only in Admiralty courts. So Lewis Morris failed to bring upon the people of Mid- dletown the vengeance of the home government. He however, sent a cer- tified copy of the court record to the English government backed up by a long communication. He also wrote about the same time to the Bishop of London saying that the people of Mid- dletown were the "most ignorant and wicked people on earth and have no such thing as church or religion among them." He also, a short time after his captivity at Middletown, went to Eng- land, in order to accomplish his vindic- tive or ambitious designs.
Jacob VanDorn and Arie Bennett, al- though indicted and harassed for some time by the officers, were never brought to trial, for the proprietors of New Jersey surrendered the next year (1702) their right of government to the Eng- lish crown. Lord Cornbury and other new officials came into power who ig- nored entirely all the old disputes and quarrels.
This old record, while unexplained, throws a dark shadow on the charac- ters of Jacob VanDorn and Arie (Adrian) Bennett, but when real facts are understood, it appears that they stood up manfully without regard to consequences to protect their friend, Richard Salter, and resist the tyran- nical and illegal acts of a usurping governor and his pretended officers of the law. It speaks well for their res- olution, courage and intelligence.
JACOB VAN DORN AND HIS DESCENDANTS.
Between 1697 and 1701. Jacob Van- Dorn became the sole owner in fee of 675 acres of land in what is now Holm- del and Marlboro townships. This tract lies west of Pleasant Valley, and was joined on the east by lands of Jan Schenck and on the west by part of lands of Albert Couwenhoven. It runs from the southwest corner of Pleasant Valley over to what is now called Hillsdale, near Bradevelt station and the Brick church. This is a small val- ley running west from Pleasant Valley. Jacob VanDorn's land included all this valley and ran up into the hills on each side. It was covered with the prim- eval forests and undrained swamps when he settled there. At the north- west corner of the original 675 acres is a tract of woodland now (1898) owned by Hon. Daniel P. VanDorn of Free- hold, which has come down to him by descent from the first Jacob VanDorn, the pioneer settler.
Jacob VanDorn erected his first dwelling, probably a log cabin, on the rising ground or knoll where the resi- dence of the late Thomas Ely stands, just west of the mill pond and on the north side of the road from Holmdel to the Brick church. Over this road the VanDorns. Schencks. Couwen- hovens and Hendricksons, of Pleasant Valley and vicinity, travelled every Sunday to attend services at the First Dutch church for over one hundred years. After a few years the log house gave way to a more substantial and convenient dwelling, erected on the same site. Here Jacob VanDorn lived and died. On the stream which flows down from the hills, only a stone's throw east from his residence. Jacob VanDorn built a dam and erected a grist mill as early as 1714, if not earlier. This mill was a great con- venience to the settlers for four or five miles around, and it shows that Jacob VanDorn was a practical, energetic man, who understood the needs of that community. This mill remained on the same site until 1829, when Sheriff John J. Ely, who was then the owner, erect- ed a new mill about 200 yards further down the stream, where it still re- mains and is now known as Ely's mills near Holmdel village. Jacob VanDorn
died between April 24, 1719, and March 21. 1720. I do not know where he is buried, unless on his farm, as was then the custom. He was quite young at the time of his death, and most of his children were minors. His wife, Mary- tje Bennett, survived him many years, and is said to have been an excellent woman and a most devoted mother. Jacob VanDorn left a last will executed in 1719. He devised half of his lands and half of his mill to his eldest son, Aure, or Arie, and the other half to his fourth son, Jacob. He also directs them to pay £75 to each of his other children except Isaac, his youngest son, who is to have £37 more than the others. Aure and Jacob VanDorn mar- ried sisters, daughters of their nearest neighbor, Jan Schenck, and run the mill together. After Aure's death in 1748 or '49. his only son, Jacob, occupied his part of the mill and the lands. He died unmarried September 9, 1785, and then Jacob Couwenhoven, son of his sister, Mary VanDorn* who married John Jacobse Couwenhoven of Middle- town village, came into the ownership of it. Jacob Couwenhoven erected a large and commodious dwelling on the site where Jacob VanDorn had erected his log house and his second dwelling. This house, although remodeled and latered, is still standing and bids fair to outlast the showy and flimsy build- ings of today. Jacob Couwenhoven died April 28, 1815, and left the real property to his sons, Aaron, Ruliph and Isaac, who lost it, and in the year 1822, it was bought by Sheriff John J. Ely, and has been since occupied by his two sons, William and Thomas Ely, and their heirs. Under the first Jacob VanDorn's will, the western half of the 675 acres adjacent to Hillsdale was as-
Mary VanDorn and John Jacobse Couwen- hoven had the following children:
Jacob, baptized January 19, 1752.
Antje, baptized January 18, 1753: died young,
Saartje, baptized June 15, 1755, married May 1, 1779, Joris Smock, who was born Nov- ember 24, 1754, and died December 7, 1834. His wife died March 30, 1794.
Arie, baptized April 13, 1760.
Catrena, baptized April 30, 1764.
Antje, baptized September 5, 1773.
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EARLY DUTCH SETTLERS OF MONMOUTH.
signed to and occupied by his fourth son, Jacob VanDorn, and on this he lived and brought up his family.
The eldest son, Jacob, who afterward owned and resided on the eastern half of the VanDorn homestead and ran the mills, married three times and had fif- teen children. His first wife, Arriantje Couwenhoven, was baptized September 25, 1746, and was the daughter of Jacob Jacobse Couwenhoven, and Margaret Couwenhoven, his wife, who was a daughter of William Couwenhoven and Arriantje Bennett. By this wife Jacob Couwenhoven had the following chil- dren:
John, married November 25, 1789, Ann Van- Brunt.
Jacob, married September 26, 1799, Cathar- ine Schenck.
Margaret, married February 18, 1798, Schuyler Schenck.
Mary, who died unmarried, and always re- tained a room in the dwelling house where Thomas Ely lived, and where her father died.
By his second wife, Eleanor Smoek, whom he married December 29, 1782, he had:
Elizabeth, married February 9, 1803, Daniel. a son of Dominie DuBois.
Anne, married November 18, 1806, Sidney Denise, who was baptized January 30. 1788, and was a son of Judge Denyse Denyse and Catharine Schenck, his wife, a sister of Capt. John Schenck, the famous patriot soldier of Pleasant Valley.
By his third wife, Nelly Schenck, whom he married December 10, 1788, he had:
Ellen, married April 3, 1811, Peter Schenck. Ruliph, married first, Ellen VanCleaf, sec- ond, Maria VanCleaf, daughters of Joseph VanCleaf and Nelly Schenck, his wife.
Aaron, married a Miss Bray.
Jane, married February 3, 1820, Peter Gar- retson.
Isaac, married Alche Bennett, daughter of John W. Bennett and Elizabeth VanMater, his wife.
Sarah, married John French.
Caty, married John Frost.
Arinthia, died unmarried.
Peter, died when a little child.
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