USA > New Jersey > Historical collections of the state of New Jersey : containing a general collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc. relating to its history and antiquities, with geographical desciptions of every township in the state. > Part 6
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" By the Governor's command.
"JOHN BARCLAY, Dep. Sec'y & Reg'r."
" Thanksgiving and Fast-days .- Although it does not appear that the de- scendants of the Puritans introduced an annual festival of thanksgiving into New Jersey at as early a date as did the gead people of New England into their section of the country, yet special days were appointed, from time to time, on which to render homage to the Most High, for his overruling provi- dence and goodness, soon after the government became firmly established.
" In 1676 the General Assembly designated the 2d Wednesday of Novem- ber to be observed as a day of thanksgiving, for 'the signal demonstration of God's mercy and favor towards us in this colony, in the preserving and continuing our peace in the midst of wars round about us, together with many other mercies, which we are sensible of.'
" Nov. 26th, 1679, was appointed a day of thanksgiving, ' in considera- tion of the great deliverance of our nation from that horrid plot of the pa- pists to murder the king and destroy all the protestants ! and for the mercies of God to us in our province, delivering us from that infectious disease the small-pox, and other diseases, and from the trouble of the Indians, and all other of his mercies which we have received in the year past.'
"June 11th, 1696, was a day of thanksgiving, by a proclamation of the governor, ' for the discovering of a most horrid and barbarous conspiracy of papists, and other traitorous persons, against the life of his most sacred Majesty,' William III.
" These are all the thanksgiving days on record, but there are grounds for believing that others were kept prior to the surrender of the government by the proprietors. Under the royal governors the writer has observed no notice of a thanksgiving day before 28th Nov. 1750, and then not again un- til 24th Oct. 1760, ' for successes in Canada,' and on 25th Aug. 1763.
" The only fast-day that has been noticed previous to the Revolution was 25th April, 1760."
SLAVERY.
" The introduction of slavery into New Jersey was coeval with its settle- ment. At least. no preventive measures were adopted, and it is doubtful, with the then prevailing views relative to the slave-trade, and the support extended to it by the British government, that any measures could have been devised for its prohibition within the limits of the province, the legality of which could not have been questioned. But where were slaves not then found ? The mother country, for a century and more, had formally recog. nized their existence as property-the adjoining provinces possessed them- even New England was not exempt.
" When, therefore, we consider what public sentiment was at that time in relation to slavery, there seems to be unauthorized harshness in the re- buke of Lords Berkeley and Carteret in Bancroft's History, (2d vol. p. 316.
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9th edition,) where he says, they, ' more true to the prince, (the Duke of York, President of the Royal African Company,) than to humanity, offered a bounty of seventy-five acres for the importation of each able slave ;' particu- larly as, by separating this bounty from the others with which it is connect- ed in the Concessions, an erroneous impression is conveyed ; the proprietors being impliedly charged with encouraging a direct traffic in slaves. But that such was their intention is very doubtful.
N
" The Concessions were dated February, 1664-5, and offered as an induce- ment to each freeman who would go with Gov. Carteret, then soon-to em- bark, or meet him at such place in the province as he might appoint, 150 acres of land for himself, and the same quantity for each able man-servant, and 75 acres for every weaker servant or slave, over 14 years, carried with him or sent. Similar phraseology is used in specifying the respective do- nations for the emigrant during the ensuing three years, the quantity de- creasing each year, so that each ' weaker servant or slave, carried or sent,' the third year entitled his or her master to only 30 acres, instead of 75. This decrease alone is an indication that subserviency to the duke was less their object, than to encourage the rapid translation of settlers and la- borers to their province. The grants of land promised for those servants or slaves, taken at once, certainly could not have applied to such of the latter as were not then actually held to service in England or Scotland, and there is nothing to prove that the grants for subsequent years had reference to any other, but rather to the reverse .*
" Whether any slaves were actually brought to New Jersey under these Concessions, is uncertain ; but if so, they must have been few in number, and after the provinces passed into the hands of subsequent proprietors, it is very doubtful that any were introduced. The East Jersey records through- out do not designate any of the ' servants' brought over as ' slaves,' and in all documents referring to the distribution of land, the word is no longer made use of, which would not have been the case had there been slaves to receive a less quantity per head than other servants. It is evident, there- fore, that the proprietors cannot with any certainty be charged with encourag- ing, particularly, the importation of slaves at the period of settlement, al- though there can be no doubt of the existence of slavery in the province before it was transferred to the royal governors, for as early as 1696, the Quakers of New Jersey united with those of Pennsylvania to recommend to their own sect, the propriety of no longer employing slaves, or at least, to cease from further importation of them ; but it does not appear that the ex- ample was followed by other classes or denominations of Christians .- (Gor. don's New Jersey.)
" The instructions to Lord Cornbury from her majesty Queen Anne, were of such a character, that any disposition felt to put a stop to the traffic in slaves must have been effectually checked. The Royal African Company was particularly brought to the notice of the governor as deserving his en- couragement, and the instructions then proceed : 'And whereas we are willing to recommend unto the said company, that the said province may have a constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes, at moderate rates, in money or commodities ; so you are to take especial care that pay- ment be duly made, and within a competent time, according to agreement.'
* " The Concessions of the West Jersey proprietors were very similarly worded, but 'or slaves' were omitted."
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' And you are to take care that there be no trading from our said province to any place in Africa within the charter of the Royal African Company, otherwise than prescribed by an act of parliament, entitled an act to settle the trade of Africa. And you are yearly to give unto us an account of what number of negroes our said province is yearly supplied with, and at what rates.'-(Smith's New Jersey, p. 254.)
" The returns, here directed to be made, if they are yet preserved in the archives of England, can alone determine to what extent the traffic was en- gaged in by the people of New Jersey. The writer has heard of barracks of considerable size that once stood in Perth Amboy, in which the slaves were immured as imported ; and there, as in almost every place, the labor of families, with very few exceptions, was exclusively performed by blacks for many years previous to the revolution. In 1757, a young gentleman in England, writing to his father in New Jersey, begs that he may be favored with a young negro boy to present to a brother of the then Duke of Grafton, to whom he was under obligations, as ' a present of that kind' would be very acceptable.
"There are notices to be found of two or three ' risings' that disturbed the peace of the province. One occurred in the eastern division, in the vi- cinity of the Raritan, early in the year 1734, in consequence of which one negro (if not more) was hung. The design of the insurrection was to ob- tain their freedom, (kept from them they believed contrary to the express directions of the king,) by a general massacre, and then join the Indians in the interest of the French. That they were at that time numerous in the province is pretty evident, as is also the fact that, although generally treated with kindness and humanity, there was a severity of discipline and rigor of law exercised towards them which must ever exist to a greater or less de- gree wherever slavery is found. The newspapers contain frequent allusions to crimes and punishments in which the offence and its consequence are brought into astonishing proximity, burning alive being a punishment fre- quently resorted to .* Perth Amboy was the scene of one of these judicial murders on the 5th July, 1750, the victims, two in number, suffering in two weeks after the commission of their offence, which was the murder of their mistress. The negroes were all summoned from their several homes to wit- ness the execution, in order that they might be deterred from similar enor. mities, and the day was long remembered.
" The act under which these and other negroes were tried and condemned was passed in March, 1714, which provided for trials for murder and other capital offences before three or more justices and five principal freeholders of the county, the pains of death to be suffered ' in such manner as the ag- gravation or enormity of their crimes (in the judgment of the said justices and freeholders) shall merit and require ;' (Neville's Laws, I. p. 19:) and although the mode of trial was changed in 1768, even then the manner in which death should be inflicted was not specified.
" In 1772 an insurrection was anticipated, but was prevented by due pre- cautionary measures. In connection with this ' rising,' a sort of colonization abolitionist made his appearance in the public prints, urging the passage
* " An instance of this is recorded in the New York Gazette of 28th January, 1733. A negro attempted an assault upon a white woman on Friday 20th ; he was tried, con- victed by summary process, and was burnt alive on Thursday 26th. In 1741, the " ne- gro plot," which had its existence only in the panic-stricken minds of the people of New York, caused many executions both by hanging and burning.
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of a law, by parliament, obliging the owners of slaves to send them all back to Africa at their own expense.
" In 1713 an act was passed, for a limited period, levying a duty upon every negro imported, which was permitted to expire, and no attempt was made to renew the duty until September, 1762. ' An act was then passed, but, having a suspending clause, was, for certain reasons, never laid before the king by the lords of trade. The duty it imposed was forty shillings in the eastern, and six pounds in the western division-an inequality obviated in subsequent laws passed in June, 1767, and November, 1769 ;- the for -. mer was limited to two years, the latter to ten, and it consequently remained in force until the revolution severed the connection with Great Britain. The amount of duty laid by these acts was fifteen pounds proclamation money, to be paid by the purchaser of every slave.
"On the 24 February, 1820, the act was passed which gave freedom to every child born of slave parents subsequent to 4th of July, 1804, the males on arriving at twenty-five years, and the females at twenty-one years of age ; and under the operation of this act slavery has almost disappeared from the state of New Jersey. Previous to its passage the number of slaves had materially diminished. There were in the state in
1790
11,428 12,422 | 1 1829. 1830.
. 7,557
1800
2,254
1810.
10,851
1840 674"
BOUNTIES ON WILD BEASTS.
" In June, 1682, a bounty of fifteen shillings per head for wolves was offered by each county, and fifteen shillings additional were paid by the town within whose limits the animals might be killed ; excepting the towns in Somerset, where seven shillings were paid. In 1695 these bounties were repealed, and it was left to the discretion of each town to adopt such measures as might be necessary to exterminate the wolves.
" General legislation, however, was again resorted to, in March, 1714, and the bounty was extended to panthers and red foxes. A certificate for the heads of three of the latter is in the possession of the writer, worded as follows :
" These are to Certifie That Thomas Warn hath brought unto me the heads of two Red Foxes, and William Carhart one, from which the eares were Cutt off as the Law Requires, for which you are to pay to them as by Law appointed. Witness my hand this twelfth day of February Anno Domini 1714 5. THOMAS GORDON, Just. & Quo.
"'To Col. Parker, Collector of the County of Middlesex, these.'
" In July, 1730, another law was passed repealing this, so far as the foxes were concerned, and fixing the bounty for a full-grown wolf at twen- ty shillings ; for a 'whelp not able to prey,' five ; and for panthers, fifteen shillings. But these being found insufficient, they were increased, in 1751, to sixty shillings for wolves, and ten shillings for whelps."
THE FISHERIES.
"The advantages afforded by the fisheries of the province were always dwelt upon, in the various publications of the proprietors ; and whaling es- pecially was expected to prove exceedingly profitable. Samuel Groome,
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in order to effect the establishment of this branch of commerce, was very anxious for a speedy arrangement with the Indians, whereby the lands near Barnegat might be secured ; and along the whole coast whales and seals were frequently seen, the latter venturing even into the harbor of Amboy. Vanderdonck, in his 'Description of the New Netherlands,' says the whales would not compare in fatness with those of Greenland, but they 'are nu- merous in the winter on the coast and in the bay, where they frequently ground on the shoals and bars.' De Vries, however, who engaged in the whale-fishery during one of his voyages on the coast, in 1632-33, pro- nounced the business an unprofitable one.
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" Previous to the purchase by the twenty-four proprietors, attempts were made to establish the whale-fishery on a permanent footing ; but with what success is uncertain. On the 15th February, 1668, a commission was granted to a company in Elizabethtown to take whales, &c., for three years, and all other persons prohibited from doing so, for one-twentieth part of the oil in casks ; and should Staten Island fall within the province, a town for twenty-four families was to be granted the company, at some convenient place. While this grant was in force, a whale was cast ashore at Never- sink, and delivered up to the company. On the 14th February, 1678, a similar commission was granted to another company at the same place.
" In 1684, we are told that some persons were engaged in 'whaling upon the coast,' and that large quantities of fish were caught in all the rivers with long sives, or nets; and that one sive would secure from one to two barrels of fish, which the inhabitants salted for their own use. Gawen Laurie was instructed to encourage the whale-fishery ; and, for fear that fishermen might be drawn elsewhere, he was authorized to make use of the proprietors' effects in furthering the object. We have no information, how- ever, of any particular movement toward its establishment at that time ; and it appears subsequently to have ceased being regarded as a business spe- cially adapted to the inhabitants of the province. The writer has in his possession, however, a letter dated at Amboy, July 4th, 1755, in which the arrival of a sloop, with one whale, is alluded to, in terms that indicate her having been out on a regular whaling voyage."
ROADS, TRAVELLING, ETC.
" Previous to 1675 and 1676, when the legislature adopted some general regulations for the opening of roads, the only road laid out by Europeans, within the limits of New Jersey, appears to have been that by which the Dutch at New Amsterdam communicated with the settlements on the Dela- ware. It ran from Elizabethtown Point, or its neighborhood, to where New Brunswick now stands ; and was probably the same as that now (widened and improved) known as the 'old road' between those places. At New Brunswick, the river was forded at low water, and the road thence ran al- most in a straight line to the Delaware, (above where Trenton is now situ- ated,) which was also forded. This. was called the ' upper road,' to distin- guish it from the 'lower road,' which branched off about five or six miles from the Raritan, took a sweep toward the east, and arrived at the Delaware at the site of the present Burlington. These roads, however, were very little more than foot-paths, and so continued for many years, affording facil- ities to horsemen and pedestrians principally. Even as late as 1716, when a ferry had been established at New Brunswick for twenty years, provision was only made, in the rates allowed by the assembly, for ' horse and man,'
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and 'single person. Previous to that time, however, the road had been im. proved, and was considered the main thoroughfare to Pennsylvania ; for, in 1695, the innkeepers at Piscataway, Woodbridge, and Elizabethtown, were made subject to taxation, for five years, to prevent its ' falling into decay.' The sum required annually to keep this road in repair, at that time, was only ten pounds. An opposition road was opened by the proprietaries, in the hope of drawing the principal travelling to their seat of government ; but without success. They express a wish to Deputy-governor Laurie, in July, 1683, that ' it might be discovered whether there may not a convenient road be found betwixt Perthtown (Perth Amboy) and Burlington, for the en- tertaining of a land conveyance that way.' This was done by Laurie the ensuing year, and he connected with the road a ferry-boat, to run between Amboy and New York, ' to entertain travellers.' Finding however that the other road continued to be preferred, Gov. Basse, in 1698, was directed to bring the matter before the assembly, and have an act passed that would ' cause the public road to pass through the port-town of Perth Amboy, from New York and New England to West Jersey and Pennsylvania ;' but Basse's authority was of such limited duration that nothing was done.
"Such were the two routes travelled between New York and Philadelphia, under the proprietary government; but no public conveyance for the, trans- portation of either goods or passengers existed on either. One Dellaman was permitted by Gov. Hamilton to drive a wagon on the Amboy road, but had no regular prices or set time for his trips.
"In April, 1707, the assembly, enumerating their grievances to Lord Cornbury, complained that patents had been granted to individuals to trans- port goods on the road from Burlington to Amboy, for a certain number of years, to the exclusion of others; which was deemed not only contrary to the statute respecting monopolies, but also 'destructive to that freedom which trade and commerce ought to have.' The governor, in his reply, gives us an insight into the facilities afforded by this wagon. After stating the difficulties which had previously attended the carriage of goods upon the road, he says, ' At present, everybody is sure, once a fortnight, to have an opportunity of sending any quantity of goods, great or small, at reason- able rates, without being in danger of imposition ; and the settling of this * wagon is so far from being a grievance or a monopoly, that by this means, and no other, a trade has been carried on between Philadelphia, Burlington, Am- boy, and New York, which was never known before, and in all probability never would have been.' As none of the grievances suffered under Lord Cornbury's administration were removed until his recall, in 1710, it is prob- able this wagon continued to perform its journey 'once a fortnight' till then, if no longer. Soon after, however, the road seems to have been more open · to competition.
" The first advertisement respecting the transportation on this route, which I have met with, is in Andrew Bradford's Philadelphia ' Mercury,' of March, 1732-33. It is as follows :
"' This is to give notice unto Gentlemen, Merchants, Tradesmen, Travellers, and others, that Solomon Smith and James Moore of Burlington : keepeth two Stage Wagons intending to go from Burlington to Amboy, and back from Amboy to Burling- ton again, Once every Week or offt'er if that Business presents. They have also a very good store house, very Commodious for the Storing of any sort of Merchants Goods free from any Charges, where good Care will be taken of all sorts of Goods.'
" About this time, also, a line ran by the way of New Brunswick, and in 1734 the first line via Bordentown was established, running from South
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river, the proprietor of which would be at New York ' once a week, if wind and weather permit, and come to the Old-slip.'
" In 1744, the stage-wagons between New Brunswick and Trenton ran twice a week.
" In October, 1750, a new line was established, the owner of which re. sided at Perth Amboy. He informed all gentlemen and ladies ' who have occasion to transport themselves, goods, wares, or merchandise, from New York to Philadelphia,' that he had a 'stage-boat' well fitted for the purpose, which, 'wind and weather permitting,' (that never-forgotten proviso, ) would leave New York every Wednesday for the ferry at Amboy on Thursday, where, on Friday, a stage- wagon would be ready to proceed immediately to Bor- dentown ; where they would take another stage-boat to Philadelphia-nothing being said (very wisely) of the time when they might expect to arrive there. He states, however, that the passages are made in forty-eight hours less time than by any other line. This was probably the case, for the route was so well patronized that, in 1752, they carried passengers twice a week instead of once, endeavoring 'to use people in the best manner ;' keeping them, be . it observed, from five to seven days on the way !
"The success of this line seems to have led to an opposition, in 1751, originating in Philadelphia ; which professed to go through in twenty-four or thirty hours, but which nevertheless appears to have required the same num- ber of days as the other. Great dependence was placed upon the attrac- tions of the passage-boat between Amboy and New York, described as hav. ing a fine commodious cabin, fitted up with a tea-table, and sundry other articles. " In 1756, a stage line between Philadelphia and New York, via Tren- ton and Perth Amboy, was established, intended to run through in three days. This was followed, in 1765, by another to start twice a week ; but nine years had worked no increase of speed. The following year a third line of 'good stage-wagons, with the seats set on springs,' was set up, to go through in two days in summer, and three in winter. These wagons were modestly called 'Flying Machines,' and the title soon became a favorite with all the stage proprietors. These lines ran, I believe, by the way of Blazing Star ferry, and put an end to the transportation of passengers on the old Amboy route.
" From 1765 to 1768, attempts were made by the legislature to raise funds, by lottery, for shortening and improving the great thoroughfares ; but without success. Gov. Franklin, alluding to them, in a speech to the as- sembly, in 1768, states that 'even those which lie between the two principal trading cities in North America are seldom passable, without danger or dif- ficulty.' Such being the condition of the roads, it was a great improvement to have John Mersereau's 'flying machine,' in 1772, leave Paulus Hook three times a week, with a reasonable expectation that passengers would arrive in Philadelphia in one day and a half. This time, however, was probably found too short, for two days were required by him in 1773-74. "The mails, being carried on horseback, moved at this time with rather great. er speed than passengers ; but they had been a long time acquiring it. To Col. John Hamilton, son of Gov. Andrew Hamilton, of New Jersey, (him- self at one time acting governor, as president of the council,) were the colo- nies indebted for devising the scheme by which the post-office was established. This was about the year 1694. He obtained a patent for it, and afterward sold his right to the crown. It is presumed that an attempt was soon made to carry the mails regularly ; but speed was little regarded.
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" In 1704, ' in the pleasant month of May,' a New York paper says, 'the last storm put our Pennsylvania post a week behind, and is not yet com'd in.'
" In 1717, ' advices from Boston to Williamsburg, in Virginia, were com- pleted in four weeks, from March to December, and in double that time in the other months of the year ;' but there is some probability that the mails south of Philadelphia did not continue to be carried regularly some time thereafter.
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