Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 69

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698

USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey > Part 69

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Judge Grover married (first), in 1845, Cor- nelia Leonard, of Mt. Vernon, Indiana, who died in 1885, leaving no children. He married (sec- ond), April, 1891, Mary Louisa Wells Berrien,

aforementioned. Judge Grover died August 25, 1899. His widow resides in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Commodore John M. Berrien, United States Navy, son of Thomas and Rachel (Freeman) Berrien, was born December 28, 1804. He re- ceived his early education at Princeton, New Jersey, and after continuing it in the city of New York, it was completed in Georgia, from which state he received his appointment to the navy. His service extended from the year 1825, March I, when he was appointed a midshipman from Georgia, until September 2, 1868. He married, at Norfolk, Virginia, April 18, 1837, Mary A. Grice, a niece of Francis Grice, for many years the naval constructor at the Gosport, Virginia, Brooklyn, New York, and Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, navy yards. One child was born to them-a daughter, Margaret E .- who married Rev. J. B. H. Janeway in June, 1863. She died the following June, leaving one daughter, Mar- garet, who married H. Eugene Mitchell, and is now deceased. A daughter, Dorothy Berrien Mitchell, survives. Commodore Berrien died in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 21, 1883. Funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Charles H. Tucker, and the remains were interred at Princeton, New Jersey.

Of the other children of Thomas and Rachel ( Freeman) Berrien, Margaret E., the only daughter, died in carly womanhood while visit- ing at the home of her cousin, Judge John Mac- pherson Berrien, of Savannalı, Georgia. William married Delilah Wilson. Their children were: Margaret, Lydia, John Macpherson, Isaac Scud- der, Matilda Frances, Ursula Maria, Alexander, Mary Elizabeth and Charles Henry.

Alexander Montgomery married Phebe Van Hise. Children : Scott, Sarah and Freeman.

Nathaniel Lawrence married Ellen Elizabeth Sansbury. Children: Horatio, Ellen and Mary Montgomery. Horatio and Ellen died in in- fancy. Mary M. is the widow of Caleb Shreve Mershon and resides in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

In the old Berrien mansion at Rocky Hill, Somerset county, New Jersey, General Wash- ington remained while congress mnet at Prince- ton, using the same for official residence and headquarters, and from the doorstep he made his memorable farewell address, November 2, 1783. The old mansion is now owned by the D. A. R.,

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who have furnished it with all the Colonial furni- ture obtainable, a few of the pieces being the identical ones formerly owned and used by the Judge. 3 There are many visitors to the old homestead, and a small entrance fee is exacted from each. A care-taker shows the room in which the address was written, and the very table that was used by Washington in writing the famous document.

FRANK CLIFFORD DANSER, promi- nent among the farmers of East Windsor town- ship, was born June 5, 1868, on the homestead, son of Peter Hooper Danser, and grandson of Wesley Danser.

Hon. Wesley Danser, grandfather of Frank Clifford Danser, at one time represented his as- sembly district in the legislature. .

He married Sarah Hooper, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Hooper of Dutch Neck, N. J., both of whom were prominent in social and re- ligious circles in the community in which they resided. There were born to them the follow- ing children: Emily, deceased; Peter Hooper, of whom later; Phoebe A., born 1838, wife of William A. Vescelius; Addison A., of Yardley, Pa., died suddenly Sept. 9, 1904; and Alfred C., of Chicago, 111., born 1847, died Oct. 30, 1906.

Peter Hooper Danser, son of Hon. Wesley Danser, was born November 20, 1834, in Wind- sor, Mercer county, and early in life was engaged in agriculture and milling in Illinois. On re- turning to New Jersey he devoted himself to farming, and subsequently engaged in the manu- facture of mineral waters in Trenton. He af- terward removed to Pennsylvania, where he gave his entire attention to the lumber business, ulti- mately returning to his farm in East Windsor township, which he had always retained. In 1902 he removed to Hightstown, where his remaining years were passed. He served as president of the election board. and in politics was a staunch Democrat, but never an office-seeker.

Mr. Danser married Mary E. McKnight, of Schenectady, N. Y., daughter of James and Elizabeth McKnight.

Peter Hooper and Mary E. ( McKnight) Dan- ser were the parents of two sons: James Wes- ley, of Freehold, N. J., born February 4, 1862, married Lillie Weart, of Yardley, Pennsylvania. Children, Harold, Bessie and Stanley : and Frank Clifford, of whom later.

After the death of Mrs. Danser, which oc-

curred while these children were quite young, Mr. Danser married Joanna A., daughter of the late William R. Conover, and niece of the late Sheriff Samuel Conover, of Monmouth county. By this marriage there was no issue. William R. Conover was a native of Monmouth county, where he spent his entire life as a pros- perous farmer. He married Eliza McKnight, and their children were: Millard F., Joanna A., born March 25, 1854, in Monmouth county, mar- ried Peter Hooper Danser, December 20, 1892. Adelaide, wife of Elv Hutchinson. Alcha, died in childhood. Frank W., on homestead. Arthur, died in infancy. The mother of these children is deceased.

The death of Mr. Danser, which occurred Oc- tober 5. 1905, was widely mourned as that of an honored citizen and an estimable man. The fu- neral was largely attended, all classes of the community vying with each other in paying tributes of respect to one who was regretted by all.

Frank Clifford Danser, son of Peter Hooper and Mary E. ( McKnight) Danser, received his primary education in the public schools of East Windsor township, afterward taking two years' courses at the Model School of Trenton, the grammar school of Yardley, Pennsylvania, and the Peddic Institute, Hightstown. After con- pleting his studies he accepted a position with the Union Publishing Company of New York, and then became clerk at the Hotel Newton, Woodbury, New Jersey, remaining one year. At the end of that time he assumed the management of the Hotel Wenonah, at Weno- nah, New Jersey, for one season, and afterward for the same length of time managed the Hotel Kenderton, Atlantic City. He then engaged with the Mershon Publishing Company, of Rah- way, New Jersey, as a mechanical expert, re- maining in their service three years. During the last year of this period he was engaged, in connection with Dr. F. W. Oliver, inf the retail bicycle and sporting goods business, the name of the firm being Danser & Oliver, and their place of business in Rahway. In 1894 Dr. Oliver died, and the business was merged into the Danser Cycle Company, Mr. Danser purchasing Dr. Oliver's interest. In 1895 Mr. Danser disposed of this business and accepted a position with the Overman Wheel Company, of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in the capacity of general United

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States agent. He remained with this firm three years, and then returned to New Jersey, taking up his abode on the homestead, which he pur- chased from his father in 1903. Since his re- turn to New Jersey Mr. Danser has devoted his entire attention to farming and the handling of apple wood lumber. His estate consists of one hundred acres, ten acres of this being meadow and ten acres woodland. The high .cultivation of the land and also the dwelling and outbuildings, bespeak the thrift and in- clustry of the owner. He is president of the East Windsor Board of Education, also be- longs to the Masonic fraternity, being past mas- ter and also present master of Hightstown lodge, No. 41, F. and A. M. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church in which he holds the office of trustec.

Mr. Danser married, January 9, 1891, at Me- tuehen, New Jersey, Lydia L. Hetfield, and their family consists of the following children: Vera Kathleen, born December 14, 1892; Clifford Stanley, born January 14, 1894; and Cecil Fred- erick, born July 30, 1899. Mrs. Danser is a daughter of Daniel Hetfield, who was born Feb- ruary 8, 1833, in Westfield, New Jersey, and for many years conducted an extensive carriage- building business in Rahway, under the firm name of Hetfield & Jackson. In 1886 their place of business was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Het- field rebuilt on the site of the old factory, engag- ing in the manufacture of trotting sulkies. To him belongs the distinction of having been the first builder of the pneumatie tire trotting sulkies in New Jersey. He is now retired but still a resident of Rahway.

HENDRICKSON FAMILY. The will and inventory of Guisbert Hendrickson, made in 1776: In the name of God, amen, I, Guisbert Hendrickson, of the county of Burlington, in the Western Division of the Province of New Jer- sey, being weak in body but of Sound Mind and Memory Blessed be God, do this Eleventh day of November, in the year of Our Lord one thou- sand seven hundred and Seventy Six I do make and publish this my last Will and Testament in manner and as followeth that is to say FIRST I give and Bequeath unto my beloved Wife Eliza- beth the sum of fifteen pounds Yearly during her natural Life and to have any one of the rooms in the house where I now live that she shall Choose with every necessary thereunto be-

longing with the use of one Negro Wench with all other necessaries of life found her as long as she shall remain my widow, and it is my will that all the Estate that my Wife shall have at her death shall be equally divided between my six sons hereafter mentioned or the Survivors of them.

ITEM I give and bequeath unto my Son Wil- liam the sum of One hundred pounds Besides his Equal part with the Rest of my Sons that is to say with himself & John & Daniel & Tobias and Cornelius & Jacob and it is my desire that he may be Contented with the proportion of my Estate with what he already had.

ITEM I give & Bequeath unto my son David all the Plantation thereon I now dwell which I purchased by Sundry Surveays now adjoining to- gether to him his Heirs and Assigns forever together with four horses three cows twelve sheep Waggon plows Harrows Gears He paying to my Six sons above named three hundred piunds in three Years after my Decease and fif- teen pounds Yearly unto my Widow as above said during her Natural Life and make such pro- visions for her as is Bequeathed her in this Will.

ITEM It is my will and due Bequeath to Mar- garet Enley my Granddaughter one hundred pounds four years after my decease to be paid by my Son David.

ITEM It is my Will and I do Order that that Lot of Land lying at North East Corner of thr Plantation formerly Abraham Tiltons lying upin Doctors Creek to be sold by my Executors And the Money arising from the sale thereof to be Equally Divided amongst my Six Sons above mentioned to them their heirs and Assigns for ever.

ITEM It is my will & I do Order that if either of my said sons should die without issue that his part and portion herein bequeathed him shall be equally divided amongst the Survivors that have issue to them their heirs and Assigns for ever.

ITEM It is my Will and I do order that all my Movable Estate be sold Except what is already Bequeathed in this Will and after all my just debts and funeral Charges are paid that then the Overplush be Equally Divided amongst my Six Sons above mentioned that is William, John, Daniel, Tobias, Cornelius, & Jacob all as aforesaid to them their Heirs and Assigns for ever. And I do hereby ordain and appoint my two Sons William Hendrickson and Tobias Hen-

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drickson to be my true & lawful Executors to this my last Will & Testament. Item it is my WVill and I do Order that my Executors first of all do pay to the Elder of the Presbyterian Church of Allentown ten pounds for the use of said church I do hereby revoke all other Wills by me heretofore made. IN WITNESS Whereof the said Guisbert Hendrickson have to his my last Will and Testament set my hand and Seal the day and year above written.

GUISBERT HENDRICKSON (SEAL)

Signed Sealed and Delivered by the said Gutisbert Hendrickson as and for his last Will and Testament in the presents of us who were present at the signing & Sealing thereof.

TOBIAS POLHEMUS

MARGARET MAGALIARD (w) her mark WILLIAM REYNOLDS.

Tobias Polhemus one of the witnesses to the within will being first sworn on the Holy Evan- gelist of Almighty God doth declare and say that he was present and saw Guisbert Hendrick- son the Testator in the within will named Sign and Seal the same & Heard him Publish pro- nounce and declare the within Writing to be his last Will & Testament And at the doing thereof he was of sound and disposing mind and Mem- ory as far as he knows and as he Verily believes and that Margaret Magaliard and William Rey- nolds were also present at the same time and Signed their Names as Witnesses to the Will together with this Deponent in the presence of each other and in the presence of the Testator.

Sworn the 28th day of April 1777 at Burling- ton before Robt Burcham .*

The foregoing Will being prov'd probate was Granted by his Excellency Govr. Livingston tinto William Hendrickson and Tobias Hendrick- son Executors in the sd. Will named being first sworn duly to perform the same exhibit a true Inventory and render a true Accot. when thereto lawfully required Given under the Prerogative Seal the day and Year aforesaid.

CHA. PETTIT, REGRR.

I. William, eldest son of Guisbert, married according to license granted February 22, 1768, Rachel Longstreet.

In book I of deeds, page 496, Monmouth clerk's office, is record of a deed dated February 2, 1778, from William Hendrickson and Rachel his wife, of Upper Freehold, to Gilbert Long- street of the same township. The grantors con- vey for £4,000 a tract of land in that township which Stoffel Longstreet had deeded to William Hendrickson ; and "Peter Wecoff's" land, Al- bert Cittwenhoven's lands, and Doctor's Creek are called for as monuments.

2. John, second son, married November 14, 1763, Anna Cox, and resided in what is now Ew- ing township, Mercer county.

3. Daniel, third son, was born about 1737; married Ann Stewart, and settled somewhere near what is now Hamilton Square. He was a zealous patriot and soldier of the Revolution.

4. Tobias, fourth son, married according to li- cense dated March 21, 1762, Rebecca Coward, and died May 23, 1811, aged 70 years, 10 months and 2 days according to his headstone in Old Yellow Meeting House cemetery. His will is recorded at Freehold as heretofore mentioned with some of his descendants in Barkalow gen- ealogy.

5. Cornelius, fifth son, is supposed to be the same person named in marriage license granted January 28, 1767, to Cornelius Hendrickson and Mary Thorn of Monmouth county. No other knowledge.

6. Jacob, the sixth son, married according to license dated May 2, 1771, Elizabeth Mount, and dated July 24, 1831, aged 72 years, 6 months, 12 days, according to the headstone in the Old Yel- low Meeting House cemetery. His wife is buried by him.

7. David, the seventh and youngest son, to whom his father left the homestead, which lay, the writer thinks, in what was then Nottingham township, Burlington county, but now part of Mercer county, lived and died on this farm, but we have no dates of his marriage or death.

One of the maternal uncles of these seven sons was John Polhemus, who lived in Upper Free- hold township and died there without children. His will is dated June 7, 1788, proved 1793, and recorded at Trenton, New Jersey in liber 33 of wills, p. 234. This John Polhemus married Alice, daughter of Joseph Holmes and Elizabeth

*The old wills now on record in secretary of state's office at Trenton, N. J., were originally recorded at Burlington, for West Jersey, and numbered, while in East Jersey they were recorded at Perth Amboy and books lettered. Thus there are two sets of books cov- ering the same period of time. Some of the Monmouth county wills, although in East Jersey, are recorded at Burlington, as is shown in this article.

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Ashton* his wife, of Upper Freehold. She died April, 1788, according to hier headstone in Yel- low Meeting House cemetery, aged 61 years, 10 months. Her husband died September 15, 1793, aged 72 years, and is buried by her. In his will he named his wife's cousins, Elizabeth and Sarah, daughters of Jonathan Holmes, and Eliza- beth, daughter of John Holmes, and Elizabeth Wyckoff, daughter of Peter Imlay. He also mentions his own sister, Catherine, who married Matthias Laen (Lane). (They are named as members of Dutch church in 1750.) If she is dead he orders legacy paid to her children. He mentions children of his brothers Daniel Pohl- hemus, Tobias Polhemus, and Cornelius Polhe- mus, and children of his sisters Nelly Couwenho- ven and of Elizabeth Hendrickson. "My broth- ers' and sisters' children," are his words. His nephew, Jacob Hendrickson of Upper Freehold, and his brother, John Polhemus, of Middletown, are appointed executors. The will is witnessed by Garret Wyckoff, Robert Imlay, and Samuel Imlay. It thus appears that the Polhemutses, Hendricksons, Longstreets, and Wyckoffs, set- tlers in Upper Freehold, were closely connected by blood or marriage.

Jonathan Holmes, the soldier of the Revolu- tion, by his wife Lydia Throckmorton, had a son Joseph, born 1772, married Mary Bruere, and died July 16, 1815. His youngest son Jo- seph, born November 24, 1816, married Martha

*Joseph Holmes was the second son of Obadialı Holmes and Alice Ashton, his wife, and their son named in his will to whom he devised his lands at Crosswicks (Upper Freehold vicinity). Joseph Holmes was born in 1699; married Elizabeth, daughter of John Ashton, and lived on his farm, in Upper Freehold, and died in July. 1777. He is buried in Ashton graveyard. His will is recorded in Liber. 19, page 7. He had the following seven children: Allis (Alice), born June 10, 1726, married John Polhemus, died without issue April 1, 1788, buried by her husband in Yellow Meet- ing House cemetery; Obadiah, born October 13, 1728; James, born March 6, 1732, died young; Mary, born September 17. 1733, married Peter Imlay ; Joseph, born December 3, 1736, married Phoebe Wardell, died Au- gust 31, 1800, leaving only one child, a daughter (his will was proved September 16, 1809, and recorded at Freehold in A of Wills, page 317. He leaves 300 pounds to Baptist church of Upper Freehold) ; Jonathan, born December 4, 1738, married Lydia Throckmorton, died August 4, 1777, from exposure and hardships in Ameri- can army during the war (he was a captain or lieu- tenant), buried in Yellow Meeting House cemetery by his wife: John. born March 29, 1744, married Deborah Leonard. died August 10, 1783 (his wife died May 6, 1811. also buried in Yellow Meeting House cemetery).

Ann Miers, and died August, 1897. They were the parents of Joseph Holmes, our present chosen freeholder from Upper Freehold town- ship, and who still ( 1901) owns and resides on old Holmes homestead in that township. The Joseph Holmes, who died July, 1777, and the progenitor of the Upper Freehold Holmes family, was a delegate to the provincial congress of New Jersey and a member of the council of safety in 1775-76. He was one of the most energetic and trusted of the patriot leaders of Monmouth county, and his death at the very beginning of the war was a great loss. Col. Elisha Lawrence, who raised a battalion of Jerseymen to serve in the English army and who was very active on the royal side, was a near neighbor to Joseph Holmes. There were other very bitter and malig- nant Tories among his near neighbors. His dwelling on one occasion was attacked by the Refugees and plundered.

William Hendricks and Williamptje Laen, his wife, and their children: Geesye or Gezina, as spelled on page 87 of Wells' address at Brick church, where she and her husband are put down as members of the Dutch church in 1743, mar- ried Matthias Peterzon (or Pietersen) and was the second child of William Hendricks. In the record of the baptism of his children her name is sometimes entered as "Geesye Williamse," meaning Geesye, the daughter of William. Mat- thias Pieterson, her husband, was a son of Peter Thys Laen Van Pelt and Barbara Houlton his wife. He was known as Matthias, son of Peter, and so Pieterson became his surname. Some of his descendants, it is said, removed to Hunter- don and Somerset counties in this state, and others over into Bucks and Chester counties, Pennsylvania.

Matthias Pieterson and Geesye Hendricks had the following children: Barbara, baptized May 26, 1717. Peter, baptized November 23, 1718. William, baptized January 13, 1723. Mary, bap- tized January 10, 1733. Daniel, baptized June 17. 1738.

Hans (John) the third child of William Hen- dricks, married Sarah Mosier, and died March 25, 1789, aged 89 years, according to his head- stone in yard of Marlboro brick church. His wife is interred by him, and date of her death given as March 31, 1782, aged 80 years, 24 days. On page 86 of Wells' address her name is spelled "Sarah Meser," and she became a communicant in 1731. John Hendricks, as he wrote his name,

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made his will May 18, 1785, proved April 15. 1789, and is on record in Trenton in book 30 of wills, page 178, etc. He orders his execu- tors to sell his land at Imlaystown, Upper Free- hold township, and one-half of his mill where his son Abraham Hendricks, now lives in that town- ship, and all other lands owned by him. He gives his old Dutch Bible and fio to his son Abraham. He mentions his granddaughter Charlotte and four children of his deceased son William. He also mentions his grandsons Jacob and John Vanderbilt, children of his deceased daughter Elizabeth. He speaks of two children of his son Conradt, appoints his son Abraham Hendricks and his two grandsons, Jacob and John Vanderbilt, executors. The will is wit- nessed by Mary Vanderbilt and Lewis Forman. Seven of the children of Jolin Hendricks and Sarah Mosier his wife are buried in the yard of the old Brick church at Marlboro. All have the Hendricks surname. Some of his descendants removed to Easton, Pennsylvania, and to Rock- ingham and other counties in Virginia. By Saralı Mosier he had the following children :

Johannes, baptized April 8. 1733, married, ac- cording to the license granted October 31, 1759, Phoebe Smith, and died, according to his head- stone, July 13, 1760, aged 28 years, 5 months, I day. His will is dated July 2, 1760, proved July 26, 1760, and recorded at Trenton in book 9 of wills, page 258, etc. He described himself as a resident of Middlesex county, New Jersey, thought to be in that part of Middlesex county taken off in 1838 to form Mercer county. He mentions his wife Phoebe, but had no children. He gives his brother William six shirts and two beaver hats, and to his brother Guisbert (Gil- bert) the remainder of his wearing apparel. He also mentions his brother-in-law, John Vander- bilt. The will is witnessed by John Hendricks, Andrew Forman and Lewis Forman. This John Hendricks, the witness, we think, was a son of Gilbert Hendrickson and Elizabeth Polhemus, his wife, already mentioned, and residing in what was Nottingham township, Burlington county, but now Ewing township, Mercer county.

Elizabeth, baptized August 25, 1734, married according to license dated May 20. 1754, and re- corded in office of secretary of state at Trenton, New Jersey, John Vanderbilt of Staten Island, New York, and died August 13, 1760, aged 26 years, I month, 13 days, according to her head- stone in Brick church cemetery. She left two

sons, who are the executors named in her fath- er's will made 25 years later, or in 1785. Under this will they sold and conveyed away his real estate, as appears from deeds recorded in Mon- mouth clerk's office.

William, baptized December 25, 1736, mar- ried, according to license granted December 21, v 1756, Charity Robinson, of Monmouth county, and died before his father, leaving four children surviving. One child named Charity died De- cember 23, 1761, and is buried in Brick church cemetery, with a headstone giving her name and age. He also had a son John, baptized Novem- ber 19, 1757, who was his first born. As 110 others are buried in Brick church yard it is likely that they removed to some other place or col- ony.

Conradt, baptized August 27, 1738, married first, according to license dated June 18, 1759, Mary English. She died October 26, 1762, aged 27 years, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth, bap- tized at Tennent church, November 22, 1761. He married for his second wife Mary Knott. This license is dated June 17. 1763. During the Revolution he sided with the King, and enlisted in the company raised by Capt. Thomas Crowell, which served in the battalion under Col. Elisha Lawrence, the ex-sheriff or last of the King's sheriffs in Monmouth county. This battalion was in Skinner's Brigade, and was stationed much of the time on Staten Island. On page 12 of book A of executions in the Monmouth clerk's office is record of an execution issued May I, 1779, against Thomas Crowell, of Middletown township, who had been found guilty under an inquisition of joining the King's army. On the next page, No. 13, is record of an execution against Conradt Hendricks, who had also joined the King's army. The real estate of these men were sold under these executions. They, how- ever, never returned to this country, so far as can be learned. They may have removed to Nova Scotia.

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Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 69

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 698

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698