USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
* E. T. Bill, p. 29.
t E. T. Bill, p. 11S. Whitehead's E. Jersey, pp. 42-6. Newark Town Records, pp. vi vii., 1-3. Stearns' First Chh., Newark, pp. 10-14.
120
THE HISTORY OF
and Piscataway, the Milford people arrived in boats, and held their first town-meeting on the Western bank of the Passaic river, and thus laid the foundations of another town- ship-since the flourishing City of Newark. The limits of Elizabeth Town, North and South, were, in this manner, con- siderably reduced, the town thus extending only to Rahway river on the South, and to Bound Brook on the North .*
The following document, one of the very few now accessi- ble of this period, serves to bring before us, in some particu- lars, the circumstances of the people, (the early distribution of land, and the traffic in white oak pipe staves), during the second year of the plantation :
Whereas I am informed by way of complaint, from divers of the In- habitants of this Town, that there are several persons that do presume to fell and cut down the best of timber-trees in and about this Town, with- out any license or leave from those that are or may come to be the true owners thereof, converting them to their own private advantage and profit, to the great destruction of timber for building, and the Lords Pro- prietors woods, and to the great discouragement of all those that are al- ready and that are to come to inhabit this Town : For the preventing thereof, and to avoid so great an inconveniency and destruction of this plantation, as may ensue by permitting such disorderly proceedings, I have thought fit, and do by these presents, together with the advice of my Council, will and command, that no person or persons whatsoever, shall presume to cut down or fell any timber trees that are useful either for building, fencing, or the making of pipe staves, in any home lots not properly belonging to themselves, nor within the compass of three miles of any home lot belonging to this Town, without license first obtained from the Governor, or leave from the owners of the land ; upon the pen- alty of forfeiting the sum of Five Pounds sterl. for every such tree so fallen or cut down ; provided, that it may and shall be lawful for any of the inhabitants of this Town to clear their own lots, and other lands to plant upon, according to the Act made the 30th day of April last past, and in so doing it shall and may be lawful for any of them, to convert the wood and timber growing upon the same to their best use and advantage, and not otherwise. Given under my hand at Elizabeth Town, the 13th of June, 1666. Ph Carterett
James Bollen, John Ogden.t
+ E. J. Records, III. 9, 10. E. T. Bill, p. 34. The act of Ap. 30 is not to be found. It was probably an Act passed at a town-meeting, respecting the first and second divisions of land, and other such matters, and so was recorded in the Town Book, A., unhappily lost, or destroyed" * Stearns' Newark, pp. 10, 11.
121
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
The second winter of the settlement appears to have been attended with excessive cold, and heavy snows. Col. Nicolls writes, from New York, Jan. 11, 1666, to Van Curler, then at Albany, as follows :-
Mons' fountaine hath kept his christmas with Capt Carterett in New- Jersey and cannot stir thence this moneth but if he could 'tis impossible for him to march from hence to Canada through the snow a foot.
Writing to Capt. Baker, of this town, also then at Albany, he says,-" Wee have no late newes from any Parts being shut up with a hard winter."
Mons. Fountaine, or " La Fountaine," was a young French- man of Quebec "who unfortunately fell into the barbarous hands of his enemies, and by the meanes of Mons' Curler ob- taind his liberty," and in the following summer was restored to his home .*
This incident confirms the supposition, that Carteret and his employees were quite as much French as English, probably more so, as was the case with his kinsmen and the other inhabitants of the Isle of Jersey. Young Foun- taine could, doubtless, understand nothing of the English language, and so, he is sent by Gov. Nicolls to sojourn with Gov. Carteret, at whose house he could converse in his native tongue.
The affairs of the town, so far as can be discovered, moved on very quietly and harmoniously during the first two years after Carteret's arrival. Large accessions were made to the sister town of Newark, from Branford and Guilford, Ct., in the course of the summer and autumn of 1667, and the vene- rable Abm. Pierson, the old pastor of some of the people of this town, had now, Oct. 1, 1667, taken up his residence, with many of their kinsmen, also, within six miles of their new home in the wilderness. This, doubtless, served, to reconcile them still more to the hardships incident to the settlement of a new plantation, in the midst of savage tribes, on whose friendship but little reliance could be placed. It made their position vastly more secure, as well as pleasant.
* N. Y. Col. Docmts., III. 147, 8, 156.
122
THE HISTORY OF
It is not unreasonable to suppose, that, until they had secured a minister for their own town, some of them occasionally were found, wending their way through the wilderness to Newark, on the morning of the Lord's Day, to enjoy the privilege of hearing the gospel preached once more by the pastor of their earlier days. They were sturdy men, and not unaccustomed to such journeys .*
The work of surveying the house-lots and planting lands, had been performed very imperfectly ; possibly by Wol- phertsen, who had been the City Surveyor of New Amster- dam. The description of these lots is so imperfect, as re- corded in the books of the province, that their location and the bearing of their boundary lines cannot now be deter- mined. This would indicate that the lots had been laid out before the arrival of the Surveyor General, Vauquellin, with the Governor. Circumstances had occurred that made it necessary that Vauquellin should be "sent on business to England by the Governor ; " and no one else was authorized to act in the matter of laying out lands. A few of the in- habitants, in consequence, were put to some inconvenience, and drew up the following paper :-
We, whose names are under-written, do humbly petition unto the Gov- ernor and his Council, that we may have our lands laid out unto us, ac- cording to the Agreements made by the inhabitants and consent of the Governor with them, as may more fully appear in the Town Records ; which if it cannot be granted, we do not see how we can possibly subsist in the Town, but shall be forced to look out somewhere else for a liveli- hood. Nathaniel Bonnell, Joseph Bond, Leonard Headley, Ben- jamin Homan, Joseph Meeker, Benjamin Meeker, Jonathan Ogden, Joseph Ogden, Joseph Osborn, Stephen Osborn, Benjamin Price, Benjamin Price, Jr., Joseph Seers, Thomas Tomson, Hurr Tomson, Moses Tomson, and Isaac Whitehead.t
The signers were seventeen in number, and most of them, either of the second generation, or new-comers. The others were, probably, in difficulty about their boundary lines. The petition is without date, but as the commission, given to John Brackett, noticed on a previous page, is thought to have been
* Stearns' Newark, p. 26. Newark Town
Records, p. 10.
t E. T. Bill, pp. 33, 102-9.
123
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
issued in response to this petition, it must have been presented in the early part of December, 1667. The services of Brackett were only temporary, and confined, most likely, to the few cases of difficulty which gave rise to the petition. It is not to be concluded, from this occurrence, that no surveys had thus far been made, nor that the difficulty was at all general, or extensive. The earliest records of surveys were made in the lost town book, as was frequently attested in subsequent years, and as was provided for by the people of Newark in their own case .*
The boundary line between this town and Newark needed adjustment ; and John Ogden, sen., Luke Watson, Robert Bond, and Jeffry Jones were deputed to arrange the matter with the commissioners from Newark. They met together for this purpose, May 20, 1668. It appears from an affidavit of Joseph Woodruff of this town, made, July 26, 1743, be- fore Jndge Joseph Bonnel, also of this town, that, being at Milford, Ct., about the year 1699, he heard Gov. Treat say,-
That the inhabitants of Newark did first settle under the Elizabeth Town Purchase ; and did allow the Newark river to be the bounds of the said Purchase; and said, that the Elizabeth Town people was so kind to the Newark people, that they could never reward them enough. And further this deponent saith, That he, at that time, heard the said Gov- ernor tell after what manner the Line was settled between the two towns ; and that it was done in so loving and solemn a manner that he thought it ought never to be removed; for he (the said Governor) himself being among them at that time, prayed with them on Dividend-Hill, (so called) that there might be a good agreement between them; and that it was agreed upon, by the settlers of each town, that the Line between them should stand and remain from Dividend-Hill, to run a north-west course ; and the Governor said, that, after the agreement, Mr. John Ogden (being one of the first purchasers) prayed among the people, and returned thanks for their loving agreement.
It was thus, that the founders of these two towns sought the blessing of the Almighty, and his guidance, in all their transactions. They were, the most of them, men of faith and prayer. t
* E. J. Records, III. 12.
t Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 47. Newark Town Records, p. 10. Stearns' Newark, pp. 40, 1. :
124
THE HISTORY OF
In the autumn of the same year, there was " great sickness in New York and over the land in general. Some persons were daily swept away, and many more lying on their lan- guishing beds, expecting each hour their dissolution." In view of it, Gov. Lovelace, of New York, proclaimed a day of humiliation, and called attention to the "swearing, the in- temperate way of drinking, and all manner of impieties, as being prevalent in the Province." *
The Concessions of the Lords Proprietors made provision for a General Assembly, to meet annually ;- the members of the popular branch, the "Body of Representatives," to be chosen on the first day of every January, by writ from the Governor; "to appoint their own time of meeting and to adjourn their sessions, from time to time, to such times and places as they shall think convenient." In accordance with this provision, Gov. Carteret concluding, that, " by the infinite goodness, providence, and blessing of Al- mighty God, the province of New Jersey was in a probable way of being populated," issued a Proclamation, April 7, 1668, requiring the freeholders in each of the several towns of the province, to make choice of two of their number, to meet in a General Assembly, at Elizabeth Town, May 25, 1668,
For the making and constituting such wholesome laws as shall be most needful and necessary for the good government of the said province, and the maintaining of a religious communion, and civil society, one with the other, as becometh Christians, without which it is impossible for any Body Politic to prosper or subsist.t
Three years had passed since the pioneers of the settlement had planted themselves on this soil, during which they had lived under an orderly administration of law, with Justices of the Peace to adjudicate in all litigated cases. It is not possible, now, to determine positively, in the absence of all documentary information, under what code of laws they had hitherto lived. But it is almost certain, that the Laws of his
* Valentine's N. Y. Manual for 1856, p. 514.
t Leaming and Spicer's Grants, &c., p. 15. E. J. Records, II. Lib. 3. Whitehead's E. Jersey, pp. 51, 2, 188, 9.
125
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Royal Highness, the Duke of York, or " the Duke's Laws," as they were commonly called, were in force here, as well as in the neighboring province, so far as they were applicable. This code had been enacted by an Assembly, convened, Feb. 28, 1664, at Hempstead, L. I., by warrant from Gov. Nicolls, and had been "collected out of the several laws then in force in his Majesties American Colonyes and Plantations." They were mainly such as were of authority in Connecticut, some of them being in the very words of the Connecticut Code of 1650 .*
The first General Assembly of New Jersey, convened, in accordance with the Governor's warrant, at Elizabeth Town, and was constituted, May 26th, 1668. Three of the six mem- bers of the Council were residents of this town : Robert Bond, Robert Vauquellin, and William Pardon; Bond and Pardon having been appointed, Jan. 2, 1663 ; and James Bollen, also, of this town, being the Secretary. The town had chosen John Ogden, sen., and John Brackett, to represent them in the House of Burgesses. The Legislature remained in ses- sion five days, and passed several Acts, or Laws, by some denominated " the Elizabeth Town Code of Laws ; " of which it has been said, that " Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system." The laws were few and simple, scarcely worthy the name of a "Code," and were taken, in almost every instance, and nearly verbatim, from the Hempstead Code, or the Connecticut Code of 1650. The Puritan laws, as well as the Puritan manners and customs, prevailed in the new settlement. Every possible precaution was taken to preserve the rights of property ; to secure the orderly ad- ministration of justice; to regulate the intercourse of the sexes ; to restrain the vicious within proper bounds ; to make human life as sacred as possible ; to prevent disrespect to pa- rents, drunkenness, and profanity ; and to enforce obedience to the constituted authorities.t
* 1 N. York Hls. Soc. Coll., I. 307-42S. Thompson's L. I., I. 131-5. Hildreth's U. States, II. 44-51.
* Leaming and Spicer's Grants, &c., pp. 77-S1. Bancroft's U. States, II. 819.
126
THE HISTORY OF
As an illustration of the strictness, with which, at that early day, they watched over the morals of the rising genera- tion, the following enactment is cited at length :
For the better preventing disorders and misdemeanors in young persons and others, Be it also enacted by this present General Assembly, that if any person or persons shall be abroad from the usual place of their abode, and found in night-walking, Drinking in any tapp-house, or any other house or place at unreasonable times, after nine of the clock at night, and not about their lawful occasions, or cannot give a good account of their being absent from their own place of abode at that time of the night, if required of them, shall be secured by the Constable or some other officer, till the morning to be brought before a Justice of the Peace, or Magistrate, to be examined, and if they cannot give them a satisfactory account of their being out, at such unreasonable times, he or they shall be bound over to the next Court, and receive such punishment as the Justices upon the Bench shall see cause to inflict upon them .*
Provision was made for an annual meeting of the General Assembly on the first Tuesday in November, and for the election of Deputies on the first of January. The rates for the support of government were to be five pounds for each of the towns, to be paid, into the hands of Jacob Mollins [Melyen] of E. Town, in country-produce at the following prices :
Winter wheat at five shillings a bushell, summer wheat at four shil- lings and six-pence ; pease at three shillings and six-pence; indian corn at three shillings; rye at four shillings; barley at four shillings; beef at two pence half-penny ; pork at three pence half-penny a pound.
Capt. Bollen was to receive twenty pounds for his services as Secretary. Little time, however, could be given, especially in the planting season, to matters of legislation. The full consideration of these enactments was referred by the Gov- ernor to the November sessions, "by reason of the week so near spent, and the resolution of some of the company to de -. part." The Assembly met here again, by adjournment, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1668. Jacob Mollins [Melyen] appeared among the Burgesses, in place of John Brackett, who had, probably, returned to New Haven. Mr. Ogden was ap- pointed "to take cognizance of the country's charge and
* Leaming and Spicer's Grants, &c., p. 80.
.
127
ELIZABETHI, NEW JERSEY.
rates; " and Mr. Watson, of this town, was appointed, with Mr. Samuel Moore of Woodbridge, to go to Middletown and Shrewsbury to collect their proportion of the rates levied on the towns. Mr. Melyen was to be one of a committee to treat with the Indians, " for the preventing of future dama- ges and wrongs that otherwise may accrue to the towns or in- habitants, in reference to horses or cattle that may range up into the country, to the indangering the peace in respect to the Indians." Two men, also, were appointed, " and sent to the Sachem of the Indians that killed the Indian boy at Elizabeth Town, to demand the murtherer to be surrendered to the Governor." A few other acts, of not much import- ance, were passed, and the Assembly was brought, abruptly, to an end .*
A radical difference of opinion, which must have been fore- seen, between the Governor and the people, in respect to the rights of the people, and the power of the legislature, was very soon, in the course of the session, developed. The Dep- uties were disposed to exercise the right of originating meas- ures for the good of the people, without previous consultation with the Governor. The latter was jealous of his own pre- rogative, and sought to prescribe the course to be pursued by the Deputies, as he was accustomed to do with the Council, who were creatures of his own will. On the fourth day of the sessions, the Deputies, therefore, sent a message "to the Governor and his Council," to this effect :
Honored Gentlemen, We finding so many and great inconveniences by our not setting together, and your apprehensions so different to ours, and your expectations that things must go according to your opinions, though we see no reason for, much less warrant from the Concessions, wherefore we think it vain to spend much time of returning answers by writings that are so exceeding dilatory, if not fruitless and endless, and therefore we think our way rather to break up our meeting, seeing the order of the concessions cannot be attended unto.t
Carteret received the message on Friday evening, and, on the plea that it was " too late to night to entertain so long a debate," asked them to send two of their number, to discuss
* Leaming and Spicer's Grants, &c., pp. 81, 53-9. t Ibid. p. 90.
128
THE HISTORY OF
their differences on Saturday morning; "if not," he added, " you may do what you please, only we advise you to con- sider well of your resolutions before you break up." They did consider well, and so broke up, on Saturday, the fifth day of their sessions .*
These matters properly belong to the history of the Prov- ince. But they are so intimately connected with the particu- lar annals of the town, and have so much to do with the subsequent difficulties into which the town was brought by the exactions of the Governor, that they could not well be omitted. . Carteret disregarded the express provisions of the Concessions, and refused to call an Assembly for the next two years, preferring to rule the province, at his own pleasure, by means of his complaisant Council.
In the course of the following winter, a company was organized among the people of this town, for whaling pur- poses. They obtained a charter from the Governor, Feb. 15, 1668, granting to "John Ogden, sen'., Caleb Carwithy, Jacob Moleing [Melyen], Wm. Johnson, and Jeffry Jones, all of Elizabeth Town and their companie consisting of 21 persons," the exclusive right, for three years, of taking whales, &c., along the coast from Barnegat to the Eastern part of the province, one twentieth part of the oil in casks to be given to the Lords Proprietors. The charter also granted them,
In case Statten Island falls within this Government, some convenient place or Tract of land upon the said Island, near unto the water side for the Settlement of a Town or Society to consist of 24 Famelies, and that they shall have a competent proportion of Land allotted to each Family or Lott with Meadow Ground as well as planting Land and free com- monage upon the Island.t
Whales were then abundant on all the coast. Maverick writes, July 5, 1669, to Col. Nicolls, from New York, “On ye East end of Long Island there were 12 or 13 whales taken
* Leaming and Spicer's Grants, &c., pp. 90-1.
t E. J. Records, III. 22. Whitehead's E. Jersey, p. 173. Staten Island was claimed by Carteret, as included in the Duke's grant to the two Lords. Nine days after the date of this charter, Maverick, at New York, wrote to Gov. Winthrop, of Connecticut, that Gov. Love- lace had just received a letter from Col. Nicolls at London, announcing that "Staten Island is adjudged to belong to N. Yorke." By whom or how " adjudged " is not stated. 4 Mass. His. Soc. Coll., X. 315.
129
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
before ye end of March, and what since wee heare not ; here are dayly some seen in the very harbour, sometimes within Nutt [Governor's] Island. It is not possible to describe [1679] how this bay swarms with fish, both large and small, whales, tunnies and porpoises," &c. The E. Town Whaling Co., it is likely, having most of them followed the business on Long Island, found the fishery a lucrative business .*
Much uncertainty attended the matter of jurisdiction during the year 1669. Both Berkeley and Carteret were in trouble at home. The former had " been detected in the basest cor- ruption," and had been deprived of office. Carteret had long been under accusation, by Parliament, of being a de- faulter, as Treasurer of the Navy, to a large amount ; and his accounts were subjected to a rigid investigation by a Parlia- mentary Committee, of which the result was his expulsion, in the autumn of 1669, from the House of Commons. Gov. Nicolls had, in 1665, early remonstrated with the Duke of York against the grant of New Jersey to Berkeley and Car- teret. He had now returned to England, and renewed, with still greater earnestness, his remonstrance. Measures were accordingly taken, by the Duke, for the recovery of the lost territory. Late in the year 1668, Col. Nicolls wrote from London to Gov. Lovelace at New York, (as we learn by a let- ter from the Royal Commissioner, Samuel Maverick to Gov. Winthrop, dated Feb. 24, 1668), that
The Lord Barkley is vnder a cloud, and out of all his offices, and offers to surrender vp the Patent for N. Jarsey. Sir G. Carterett, his partner, is in Ireland, but it is thought he will likewise surrender, and then N. Yorke will be inlarged.
In a subsequent letter, Maverick writes, June 29, 1669, to Gov. Winthrop, that
New Jarsey is returned to his Royall Highnes, by exchange for Delawar, as Sir George Carterett writs to his cosen, the present Gouernor : some tract of land, on this side of the river & on the other side, to reach to Maryland bounds.t
* N. Y. Col. Docmts., III. 183, 197. Dankers and Sluyter's Journal p. 100.
t Pepys' Diary, IV. 97, 114, 115. N. Y. Col. Docmts., II. 410. III. 105, 113, 114, 174. White head's E. Jersey, pp. 30-1. 4 Mass. Ilis. Soc. Coll., VII. 315, 819.
9
130
THE HISTORY OF
Gov. Carteret, of course, having received such an announce- ment, from so high a source,-one of the Lords Proprietors himself,-must have regarded his tenure of office as soon to be terminated, and have been, in consequence, not at all dis- posed to prolong his controversy with the people. While the latter, expecting shortly to come under the jurisdiction of Gov. Lovelace, of New York, must have been quite will- ing to let the matter pass without further trouble. So the matter rested for a season.
The Newark people were evidently in perplexity on the same account.
At a Town Meeting, 28th July 1669-the Town made choice of Mr. Crane and Mr. Treat, to take the first opportunity to Goe over to York, to advise with Col. Lovelace Concerning our Standing, Whether we are de- signed to be Part of the Duke's Colony, or Not .*
The autumn of this year was made memorable, as well as that of the previous year, for the prevalence of fatal dis- orders. Maverick, writing from "N. Yorke, 15th Octor 69, to Col. Nicolls, in London," says :
The flux, agues, and fevers, have much rained, both in cittie and coun- try, & many dead, but not yett soe many as last yeare. The like is all N. Englª over, espetially about Boston.t
* Newark Town Records, p. 21.
+ N. Y. Col. Docmts., III. 1S5.
131
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER VII.
A. D. 1670-1673.
Quit Rent Controversy - Gov. Carteret's Usurpations - Claude Vallot - Arbi- trary Edicts - Watson not to drill the Militia - First Jury Trial in the Town - Case of Capt. Hacket - Court illegally held - Case of Richar'l Michel- His House destroyed. - Carteret overawed by the People - Capt. James Car- teret arrives from England -- Legislature convenes at E. T. - A lawful Court - Trial of Meeker and others - Newark people take the Alarm - Other Ses- sions of the Legislature - Capt. James Carteret chosen President - Arrest and Escape of Wm. Pardon - Gov. Carteret removes to Bergen - Re-arrest of Pardon, and Seizure of his Goods - Memorial of the Council to the Lords Proprietaries - Gov. Carteret and Officials return to England -- Capt. Berry, Dep. Governor - Marriage of Capt. Carteret - The Officials return - Conflict renewed - Patents to be taken out - Appeal to the Lords Proprietors - Gov. Winthrop's Endorsement of the People.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.