History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men, Part 21

Author: Woodward, E. M. (Evan Morrison) cn; Hageman, John Frelinghuysen
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 21
USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 21

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" That a copy of these resolutions, duly attested, be presented to the family of the deceased, and be published also in the Mount Holly news- papers.

"ALLEN FENNIMORE, President. "HARBIS Cox, Secretary and Treasurer."

RICHARD BUZBY.

His grandfather, Amos Buzby, resided in Willing- borough township, was a farmer, a member of the Or- thodox Friends' Meeting, and had children, -Nich- olas, Amos, Hannah, wife of Richard Heaton ; Mary, wife of Robert Middleton; Joseph, and Hudson. The latter, father of Richard Buzby, was born in Wil- lingborough township, Feb. 7, 1777, married Rachel, daughter of Asher and Rachel Woolman, who was born Aug. 8, 1782. and lived to the age of sixty-six years. Their children were Anne, born Aug. 19, 1801; Edith, July 7, 1803, wife of Arthur Engle; Elizabeth, March 9, 1806, wife of Joseph Deacon ; Mary Aun, Jan. 3, 1808, wife of Allen K. Pharo; Martha (deceased), born April 27, 1810, was the wife of Thomas Taylor; Evan, Oct. 15, 1812 (deceased) ; Granville W., Jan. 1, 1815, died at Warsaw, Ind .; Richard; Nathan H., Oct. 18. 1819; Rebecca S., March 9, 1822, wife of Stokes Haines ; Hudson, June 27, 1824, of South Bend, Ind .; Samuel W., Aug. 12, 1829, a commission merchant in Philadelphia. All grew to maturity but two, and were married. Only Hudson, Richard, Samuel, and Rebecca survive in 1882. Hudson Buzby carried on the Ferry House

and a farm on Long Beach for twelve years, and was well known among the gunners, hunters, and tourists who spent their leisure time there for his geniality, frankness, and hospitality. For seven years following he resided near Centreton, in Evesham, and about 1844 he purchased the Governor Franklin property of Mr. Me Vaugh, in Willingborough township, where he kept the Franklin Boarding-House, and resided until his death in his eighty-ciglith year. This property was formerly the home of Governor Frank- lin, was afterward owned by Maberry Me Vaugh, who built the present brick structure of two stories, and carried on what was known as the " Franklin Park Boarding-School." Hudson Buzby's wife, Rachel Woolman, was a lineal descendant on her father's side from John Woolman the Quaker preacher. Richard, son of Hudson Buzby, was born on the homestead in Willingborough township April 3, 1817, and first mar- ried Miriam E., daughter of Benjamin Middleton, of Crosswicks, N. J., who died about one year after her marriage. His second wife, Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Taylor, of Springfield, N. J., died in 1865, leaving children,-Miriam E., wife of William M. Winner, of Philadelphia; Martha T., wife of Ezra C. Engle, of Easton, N. J .; Adelaide, wife of Walter S. Reeve, of Medford, N. J .; and Thomas T. Buzby, at home. Mr. Buzby's present wife, whom he mar- . ried Dec. 19, 1866, is Deborah, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Borton, of Rancocas, N. J. After his marriage Mr. Buzby resided with his father at Frank- lin Park for a time, afterward for seven years on the farm of his father-in-law, Thomas Taylor, which he purchased, and then bought the Franklin Park farm, where he has since carried on general farming and stock-raising. Like his ancestors he is a strict ad- herent of the Orthodox Friends' Meeting, no seeker after public place, but a man of correct habits, sterling integrity, and a good citizen.

Richard Bugly

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CHAPTER XLVI.

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES, AREA, AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.

THE county of Mereer may be regarded as the most central county in the State of New Jersey. In a straight line drawn from Carpenter's Point, the northernmost point of the State, to Cape May, the · southernmost point of the same, the city of Trenton, the capital of this eounty, as also of the State, will be found to stand on such line about midway be- tween those extreme points. So, too, the old Keith provinee line, which divided the province of East and West Jersey, passes through Mereer County, and about seven miles east of the eity of Trenton. Again, in a line drawn aeross the State, marking its natural boundaries on the geological map between those northern counties which have a rocky formation, with high hills, rapid streams, handsome valleys, with a variety of soils and valuable minerals, and those counties which lie to the south of such line, where we find extensive plains, sluggish streams, and a clayey and sandy soil, it will be seen that Mereer County will be divided by this line, whose western termiuus is at Bloomsbury, on the Delaware River just below Trenton, and whose eastern terminus is where Lawrence's Brook empties into the Raritan River just below New Brunswiek.

The State eentrality of Trenton, which is situated . ealled small mountain ridges. "Rocky Hill" Moun- on the Delaware River, which forms the western ' boundary of the State, separating it from Pennsyl- vania, will appear to be a paradoxieal idea until we reeur to the map of New Jersey, and note the diver- gence of the river from a straight line southward after leaving the county of Warren, wlience it trends in a southeasterly eourse till it reaches Trenton, and thenee in a southwesterly course till it flows into Delaware Bay. Except for this divergenee the site of Trenton would have been nearly twenty-five miles east of the Delaware, about the same distance that it is from New Brunswick. This horseshoe territory of Pennsylvania, as it is ealled, eaused by the Dela- ware flowing into the eentre of New Jersey and then out, does not make Trenton any less the centre of the territory which is within the bounds of this State.

The situation of Mercer County is enhanced by

the beautiful Delaware, which flows rapidly along the townships of Hopewell, Ewing, Trenton, and Hamilton. Trenton is at the head of tide-water. Here the series of falls in the river from Lambert- ville down terminate, and here navigation begins. The numerous falls in the river afford a valuable water-power, which has not yet been half developed, but which has been profitably ntilized in the interest of manufactures at Trenton, and in supplying the Delaware and Raritan Canal with water. The shad fisheries, especially those below Trenton, are of value to the county, and may be regarded as a natural trib- utary to its wealth.

This eounty is bounded on the north by Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, on the east by Middlesex and. Monmouth, on the south by Monmouth and Burling- ton, and on the west and southwest by the Delaware River, which separates it from the State of Pennsyl- vania.

In its area it may be elassed among the smaller eounties of the State, but not so small as those which are almost limited to the large eities which they com- prise. It contains 141, 844 acres of land, with no wet meadows or tide marshes, except an insignificant pareel in Hamilton township.

It presents no extraordinary physical or natural features. It contains no lofty mountains. The town- ships of Princeton and Hopewell have what may be

tain, in the former, is about two hundred and fifty feet above the sea, and extends from the Millstone River to Cedar Grove, and to Mount Rose. in Hopewell, and is about half a mile in width. The northern part of Hopewell is quite hilly and slightly mountainous. There is a mountainous locality a little south of Marshall's Corner and Harbortown ealled "Benning- ton Mountain," and at the extreme northwest end of the township along the Delaware may be seen a peak ealled " Belle Mount," which seems to belong to the range of "Goat Mountain," in Hunterdon County. There is very little uncultivated land on these little mountains, and very little wood left growing on them. The land in Hopewell is hilly, but not extremely so. The same may be said of Princeton, while that of Lawrence and Ewing is undulating and not at all mountainous. The Windsors, Hamilton, and Wash- ington townships may be described as level, slightly undulating, and quite free from stones.

523

1 By John F. Hageman.

· 34

524

HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

We have referred to the Delaware River as the The whole county is well adapted to agricultural labor and products, and it is difficult to decide which portion of the county pos-esses the greater possibili- ties. Some kinds of grain and fruits may succeed best in the upper townships, while the warmer and sandy soil of the lower townships are preferable for vegetables and early fruits. But the whole is adapted to wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes, apples, peaches, cherries, etc. boundary line of the county on the west. In addi- tion to this, the county is quite well watered with small interior streams, though it is hardly traversed by any river. The Millstone River, which rises in Monmouth, flows through a portion of East Wind- sor, passing through Hightstown, and then forming the boundary between West Windsor and Middlesex County till it receives the Stony Brook at the Aqueduct Mills, formerly Seudder's mills, thence flowing in a northerly course on the line between Princeton and the county of Middlesex to Kingston, and thence on the line of Princeton and Somerset to the township of Montgomery in Somer-et, and so on into the Raritan at Bound Brook. This river is sluggish and of small volume until it receives the Stony Brook. It turns . of wealth. A large amount of this stone is exported several grist- and saw-mills in Mercer County.

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But Mercer is unlike the counties north of it in respect to minerals. It has no limestone, or iron, or copper, or coal, or slate within its borders. On the margin of the Delaware, in Ewing and Hopewell, there are valuable quarries of red sandstone, afford- ing the best of building material, and this is a source yearly. There are also beds of clay from which brick are manufactured near Trenton and in other parts of the county. Our State geologist says, "There is a small outcrop of Azoie rocks about Trenton. It extends along the Delaware from the mouth of the Assanpink about two miles up the river, and occupies a triangle whose apex is on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, six miles east of Trenton. The rocks are gneiss, and their strata are almost vertical. They are chiefly covered by a cultivated soil. In some places they have been decomposed, and the feldspar is changed into a fire-clay." The trap rock erops out on Rocky Hill, and in Princeton and West Windsor, on the highlands of the Stony Brook, quarries of a light brown sandstone have been opened. Many of the college buildings have been built with stone from these quarries, and also several palatial residences in Princeton.

The climate of Mercer County is the medium cli- mate of the State. The geographical situation of New Jersey between the 39th and 42d parallels of north latitude gives it a temperate climate. The State is so limited iu extent, and so free from surface variations. that there are scarcely any perceptible gradations in the temperature between its extreme limits, though it is estimated that there are five degrees between the extreme northern and southeru points. Local causes, such as elevation above the sea, prox- imity of mountains or ocean, have some, though an unascertained, disturbing influence. The greater al- titude of the northern part lowers the annual mean temperature of those parts two or three degrees, or about one degree for every three hundred feet of alti- tude.1

The annual mean temperature of the southern end of the State is between 53' and 50° ; that of the north- ern end 482 and 50°. As the climate of the State is conceded to be salubrious, so it is in the county of Mercer. Destructive cyclones are unknown in this region ; a small tornado passing through Hopewell and Lawrence about twenty years ago, from west to

1 Professor John C. Stock.

The Stony Brook rises up in Hunterdon County, and flows down through the central part of Hopewell township, then flows eastwardly into Princeton in a circuitous direction, and unites with the Millstone at the Aqueduct Mills. This is one of the most valu- able interior streams in the county, and it supports four or five mills in its progress. One of the most ancient and historic of these mills is the one near Princeton, known as Worth's mills, on the old road from Princeton to Lawrenceville, of Revolutionary story.

The Assanpink Creek rises in Monmouth County and flows northwardly through Washington, West Windsor, and on the line between Lawrence and Hamilton townships, and empties into the Delaware at Trenton. This stream is hardly less valnable than the Stony Brook. It is utilized for mills as well as for watering the lands through which it flows. As it approaches the Delaware it has a good deal of fall, and has been employed in supplying power to manu- facturing enterprises. It, too, has a memorable Revo- lutionary interest.

The Shabakunk Creck flows southwardly and waters Ewing and Lawrence townships, and empties into the Assanpink at Baker's Basin.

Hamilton is further watered by Doctor's Creek, which rises far down in Monmouth County, flows up by Allentown, and empties into the Crosswicks Creek near Yardville, and thence on the Burlington and Mercer line to the Delaware at Bordentown. There are other small streams in Hamilton, such as Pond Run, Miry Run, and Buck Creek, the latter flowing into the Crosswicks, and the other two into the As- sanpink. There are other small creeks in Hopewell and Lawrence. .

The soil of Mercer County is diverse. The upper townships exhibit the red sandstone, the red shale, and the loam, somewhat like that of the more north- ern counties of the State, but without their limestone. The lower townships are sandy, with a mixture of soft clay, more in the nature of alluvial soil, but not quite extending to the marl region.

525

ABORIGINAL HISTORY.

east, and breaking down trees and fences, was the only one of the kind that is remembered to have. visited this eounty. Princeton and parts of Hope- well are cooler in summer than Trenton and the lower townships, for the reason that Princeton is on an elevation of two hundred and twenty-one feet above the ocean level, and the Rocky Hill Mountain is still higher,-perhaps nearly four hundred feet higher at Hassler's triangle signal-post near Mount Rose.

CHAPTER XLVII.

ABORIGINAL HISTORY-LAND TITLES AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

THE county of Mercer having been erected so re- cently as 1838, from portions of four other counties, . but principally from two, namely, Hunterdon and Bnr- lington, the early history of those old counties is sup- posed to embrace the aboriginal history of such parts of them as are now incorporated within the territorial limits of this new one. But Burlington County orig- inally embraced Innterdon, so that the strictly abo- riginal history of the great portion of Mercer may be sought in the history of Burlington. Instead, there- fore, of repeating or reproducing what we may find in the history of Burlington County, which is incor- porated in this volume, or what we may find in the history of Hunterdon County, which has been pub- lished with that of Somerset in one volume, touching the Indian title and occupancy, and the more general development of title under the proprietors and subse- quently under the British erown, about which so much has been written and published in our several State : as well as in many local histories, we shall deen it more satisfactory and quite sufficient to state with brevity so much of that history as pertains legiti- mately to the county of Mercer, and refer to sources of information of more general and ancient history, which probably some of our readers may desire to obtain.

Not to dwell upon the original occupancy and title of the Indians, we pass to the grant of Charles II., king of Great Britain, March 20, 1664, to his brother James, the Duke of York, of territory in America, embracing what is now New Jersey, and the convey- ance in the same year from the duke to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of what was then named New Jersey for the first time. We note that Sir George "Carteret afterwards sold his right in what subse- quently bore the name of West Jersey to John Fen- wicke, as trustee for Edward Billinge and others. This section having been divided into parts and dis- tributed among the proprietors, the tract called the "thirty-thousand-acre tract," above the Falls of the Delaware, now the city of Trenton, fell to Thomas

terest and title to Dr. Daniel Coxe,1 of London, Oct. 20, 1685.

This thirty-thousand-acre tract almost covered the original township of Hopewell, and a re-survey of it is contained in the Secretary of State's office in Tren- ton, in the Book of Surveys, page 103, and designated in the margin, "Re-survey of Hopewell tract for Col. Cox, 31,000." This survey was made by Daniel Leeds, in September, 1707. A copy may be found in the local history of Hopewell township. hereinafter given.

Daniel Coxe was Governor of West Jersey from 1687 to 1690, and he owned twenty-two shares of pro- priety. While Governor he obtained through his agent, Adlord Bowde, a deed for a tract of land which seems to cover the whole of Hopewell town- ship, executed by eleven Indian chiefs, dated March 30, 1688. The consideration was a variety of goods and chattels, including wampum, kettles, knives, shirts, stockings, needles, lead, shot, powder, guns, pipes, tobacco, rum, and beer. It was addressed " To all people to whom this present writing shall come," : and was signed by Hoham, Teplagpaman, Meroppe, Weweenoling, Lammusecon, Pleeze, Meheekissue, Copenakoniskow, Nehuoing, Nehcekan, Shawsuna, ; as Indian Sachimachers and owners of the said tract of land. The witnesses were Thomas Budd, Henry Greenland,“ Thomas Bowman, William Biddle, Jr., John Wells, interpreter.

This Indian deed is a bright page in the history of this locality and of the State, for it shows that the lands of the aborigines were not wrested irom them by force, under the proprietors, in the name of the crown of England. We see here Daniel Coxe, the Governor of West Jersey, holding a title derived from the grant of Charles II., king of Great Britain, a tit !.. acquired by eonquest, but not by conquest over these Indians, yet purchasing a title from the latter who were the original and rightful occupants of the soil.

The early settlers of Hopewell acquired title to their lands directly or indirectly from this Col. Daniel Cox. Nearly five thousand acres of this thirty thon- sand-acre tract were taken by about fourteen pur- chasers from Thomas Revell, agent of the West Jer- sey Society, between 1688 and 1696. Their title from Revell was of questionable validity, and some of the purchasers under that title were evicted in ejectment suits brought against them. The title of Daniel Cox was established in those suits by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Previous to March 15, 1713-14, Bur- lington County included Maidenhead, Hopewell, and Amwell, but at that date Hunterdon County was set off' by act of the Provincial Assembly, making the Assanpink Creek the southern boundary, including

1 This name Coxe is writteni sometimes with and sometimes without the e.

" This is probably Dr. Henry Greenland, the first settler in the vicinity of Princeton, who lived on the Castle-Howard farm as early as 1681, and Sadler and Edward Billinge, who conveyed their in- " is mentioned in the deed of Penn to Stockton, in I701.

526

HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

what are now Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, Hopewell, teenth century the most of the land had- been sold in Mercer, with Morris, Sussex, Warren, and Hunter- , and subdivided, and was in possession of its owners, don Counties.

That portion of Mercer County which lay south of the Assanpink and belonged to the county of Bur- lington, bounded on the south by the Rancocas, on the west by the Delaware, on the east by the province line, and on the north by the Assanpink, comprised what was known as "Yorkshire Tenth," so called because the purchasers of that part of the State had divided their land into "tenths." The township of Nottingham, which was formed near the close of the | seventeenth century, about 1692, was made up of a portion of the "Yorkshire Tenth" tract. That old township of Nottingham comprised all of Hamilton township, including South Trenton and Chambers- burg. The title to these lands was derived from the West Jersey proprietors.

was also one of the proprietors, sold and conveyed twelve hundred acres to Benjamin Clarke in 1696, and Dr. Gordon was at an earlier date the owner of eight hundred acres between the main street of Princeton and Stony Brook, on the southeast of the village. This would cover all the township except the corner about Kingston Mills, including the plan- tation of Dr. Henry Greenland, occupied as early as 1681, and the ancient lands of David Brinson, and that land which lies between the Penn-Stockton tract and the Van Horn tract, which may contain about two thousand five hundred acres; so that the title was all well established, the land purchased, and oceupied by permanent settlers at the beginning of A.D. 1700.

The early settlers within the boundaries of Mercer County comprised immigrants of various nationalities and of various religious faith. The land was chiefly taken up by purchasers, with a view of settlement, - between 1680 and 1710. The first settlements were made along the Delaware on both sides, advancing from below Philadelphia as high up as Trenton. There had been a few settlements made by Swedes before the arrival of the Quakers whom Penn had induced to seek homes in West Jersey. But it was upon the arrival of the vessels filled with immi- grants from England, almost entirely Quakers, who came up the Delaware and settled in what then was Burlington County, extending to the "Yorkshire Tenth" and to Trenton Falls, that the early settle- ment began, and this was not earlier than 1680. Froin this date the settlers began to increase in num- ber, and by the close of the first decade in the eigh-

though many of the farms contained from five hun- dred to one thousand acres. While lower West Jersey : was settled by a majority of Quakers, the upper por- tion was not so settled. There were Quakers among the early settlers of old Hopewell and Maidenhead, north of the Assanpink; but Episcopalians, and es- pecially Presbyterians, came into those townships from East Jersey and from New England, as well as directly from the mother-country. There was a mixed population from England, Scotland, Holland, and France, of Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Quakers, and Baptists, and this mixed population occupied a considerable portion of old Nottingham and the Windsors also.

The first settlers of Princeton were principally Quakers, and there were at first only a few families who did not belong to that society; but from 1710 other religious denominations began to multiply, and in time the Quakers lost the ascendency in the town- ship.

The early title to most of the lands in Princeton . township was derived directly from William Penn, one of the proprictors. He conveyed by deed to Richard Stockton a tract of five thousand five hun- dred acres, excepting therefrom fifteen hundred The nanies of some of the early settlers, with a sketch of their families, though necessarily very im- acres, which he had probably sold to others, along the province line, and which would take in the , perfect, will be found in the local history of each neighborhood of Cedar Grove. Thomas Warne, who ' township, in their order, hereinafter given.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

ORGANIZATION : TOWNSHIPS, CITIES, VILLAGES, AND POPULATION.

THE county of Mercer was created by two several acts of the Legislature, and thereby securing votes enough to carry both acts separately, which could not have been done if the measure had been proposed in one bill. The members from Somerset County were willing to vote for the new county provided no portion of Somerset County should be annexed to such new county.

The first bill, which was passed Feb. 22, 1838, took parts of Hunterdon, Burlington, and Middlesex Counties, but none of Somerset. Its first section de- fined its boundaries as follows :

" That all these parts of the counties of Hunterdon, Burlington, and Middlesex contained within the following boundaries, viz .: Beginning on the river Delaware, at the mouth of Crosswicks Creek, and at the extreme western point of the division line between the townships of Nottingham and Chesterfield, in the county of Burlington, and running thence up suid creek and along the middle of the same, and as the antie runs its several courses to the boundary line of Monmouth County; theace northwestwardly along said line until it strikes the boundary line of the township of East Windsor, In the county of Middlesex, which divides said towwhip from the county of Monmonth; theure down the middle of said brook to a new road leading to Milford; thence along wild road eastwarily to the westerty line of Lonis Riggs' Loud; thence along said line northwardly to the middle of Milistony River; thence down the said river along the middle thereof, the several concord of the same, to the line dividing the conuties of Someret and Mitile. I sex ; thence southwest wardly along said dividing line to the live of the

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History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men, Part 21

Author: Woodward, E. M. (Evan Morrison) cn; Hageman, John Frelinghuysen Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Woodward, E. M. (Evan Morrison) cn; Hageman, John Frelinghuysen
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1096