USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 17
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
November ye 16th the Governor parted from New Yorke, and went to take his leave of Governor Carterett in New Jersey, & lay there all night ; the 17th went aboard neare Staten Island, weyed & went down in ye Bay neare Sandy point, whence hee sayled .*
Andros returned in August, 1678, having been thoroughly posted, in the meantime, as to the policy of the Duke. The colonists of West Jersey were speedily apprized of his pur- pose to press his claims of jurisdiction to the very letter of his commission. An opportunity soon presented itself for a similar interposition in East Jersey :
In the year 1679, Governour Carteret declares that all vessels that will come and trade to East New Jersey shall be free. One Mr. Hooper orders a Ketch from Barbadoes to goe thither upon that proclamation; the Ketch was brought up to New Yorke and made to enter here & pay the dutys before she could carry her rumm to New Jersey.
So says Graham, Lord Bellamont's Attorney General, at New York, in 1698, giving reasons against a free port in East Jersey.+
A meeting of the Assembly was held here, April 3, 1679, probably, on account of the above transaction, at which it was resolved, to raise "the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds for the security and encouragement of a ship or ves- sel to come into this Province for trade, by way of Sandy Hook, to enter and clear in his Majesty's Custom-House
* N. Y. Col. Docmts., III. 257. + N. Y. Col Docmts., IV. 882.
190
THE HISTORY OF
which is at the Governor's House in Elizabeth Town, where is the King's Customer and Collector of New Jersey ; " the money to be used to repair any damage accruing in case of any trouble from the authorities at New York .*
To be fully prepared for this conflict of jurisdiction, An- dros, having, possibly, heard, that Sir George Carteret is no longer among the living, writes, on Monday, March 8 [18, N. S.] 1679-80, to Gov. Philip, reminding him of his claim, and informing him, that he [Andros] had determined to take possession of Sandy Point and proceed to erect there a fort. Five days afterwards, 13th, he sent another message to Car- teret, commanding him to desist from all further exercise of authority, forbidding all persons exercising any authority under Carteret, and requiring all constables, whom he at the same time confirmed in office, to act under his commission.
To all this Carteret replied, on the 20th, as follows :
If you intend to set a fort at Sandy Hook, I shall be constrained to en- deavor to prevent the same; and shall be necessitated, if any force be used, to defend ourselves and families the best we can, which if any blood be shed it will be contrary to our desires, and the just and righteous God require it at your hands who are the causes thereof. And therefore we intreat you to forbear your threats or any other acts of hostility towards us, until his Majesty decides this controversy, which we shall endeavor to have effected as soon as possible may be. The occasion that hinders this from being sent you sooner, is the foulness of the weather hindering the Councils meeting, as also an alarm we had yesterday of your being come with your sloops and a considerable number of soldiers which con- strained us to put ourselves in a posture of defence.
A few days after, 29th, Carteret sent Andros another mes- sage, commanding that no more of his " Emissaries be sent or appear here, under penalty of being proceeded against by imprisonment, trial, condemnation and penalty, as his Majes- ty's laws direct to spies or disturbers of the peace, unless with particular message to" the Governor "and so return." The people appear to have been quite as much opposed to a change of rulers as Carteret himself, if his word is to be be- lieved :- " the people resolving to live and dye with the name of true subjects and not traytors." +
* Leaming and Spicer, pp. 131, 2.
t Leaming and Spicer, pp. 673-7.
.
191
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
The case had now assumed a serious aspect. Resolute as Carteret was, he had to do with a most determined and un- scrupulous autocrat, It was well that, at the sessions of the Assembly in November, they had made more stringent regu- lations for the calling out and exercising the militia, to guard against the evil designs of their savage neighbors.
They have more to fear from the wily Andros, than from the savage Sachem of Piscataqua, to whom, six months be- fore they had sent an embassy of peace, of which " old John Ogden," at that time a member of the Assembly, was one. Andros had sent his. writs to all the towns, demanding their subjection to his authority as the representative of the Duke of York. The answer sent by this town was, undoubtedly, similar to that sent by the people of Newark :
The town being met together the 29th of March, 1679-80, and give their positive Answer to the Governor of York's Writ, (viz) : That they have taken the Oath of Allegiance to the King and Fidelity to the pres- ent Government, and untill they have sufficient Order from his Majesty we will stand by the same .*
The next scene in the drama is well described by Gov. Carteret himself, in a letter to Sir George, of whose decease, Jan. 14th, 1679-80, he had not yet heard :
Sir Edmund Andross, came hither on Wednesday the 7th instant, ac- companied with several of his officers, councellors and merchants, to de- mand the government of this your Honour's Province, supposing to have gained it either by threats or flattery,-and having notice of it beforehand I had gotten together a matter of 150 men in arms to receive him, doubt- ing he would have brought some offensive forces along with him but did not, and having leave with his train to come a shore, he came up to my house where after the civilities past, he began to show by what authority he had to lay claim to the government.
Both parties presented their documents and pleas ; ending of course as they began :
His last answer was, that he had showed what authority he had and according to his duty did require it in behalf of his Master, and if we would not obey him, let it rest at our perils, for that we answered him we had sent away our Appeal to his Majesty, and should be ready to submit to
* Newark Town Records, p. TS.
192
THE HISTORY OF
what his Majesty should determine, and then we went to dinner, that done we accompanied him to his sloop and so parted .*
What Andros saw and heard, that Wednesday, was enough to convince him, that neither the court nor the people of this metropolis were at all disposed to favor his pretensions ; that, however much the two parties differed from each other, they were entirely of one accord in looking upon Andros as an im- pertinent usurper, to be resisted, if need be, by force of arms.
Dankers, who was in the country at this very time, and cognizant of the whole affair, says,-
He sent boats several times to Achter Kol to demand the submis- sion of the place to his authority, which the people of Achter Kol jeered at and disregarded, being ready to uphold the king and their own gov- ernor, whom they bound themselves to maintain. At night, and un- seasonable hours, and by surprise, he took from New Jersey all the staves of the constables out of their houses, which was as much as to deprive them of the power to act. Seeing he could accomplish nothing by force, he declared the inhabitants released from their oaths to the Heer Carteret ; they answered they could not acknowledge any release from their oaths, unless by the same authority which had required it of them or the exhibi- tion of a higher one, that of the king.
The sequel is thus related by Carteret. He says of Andros,-
After many debates and disputes, we concluded to decide it rather by arguments than arms, but the rancor and malice of his heart was such that on the 31st [30th] day of April last he sent a party of soldiers to fetch me away dead or alive, so that in the dead time of the night broke open my doors and most barbarously and inhumanly and violently halled me out of my bed, that I have not words enough sufficiently to express the cruelty of it; and indeed I am so disabled by the bruises and hurts I then received, that I fear I shall hardly be a perfect man again.
The testimony of Dankers is more full and explicit :
At length he corrupted one of Carteret's domestics, for Carteret had no soldiers or fortifications, but resided in a country house only. He then equipped some yachts and a ketch with soldiers, arms, and ammunition, and despatched them to Achter kol in order to abduct Carteret in any . manner it could be done. They entered his house, I know not how, at midnight, seized him naked, dragged him through the window, struck and kicked him terribly, and even injured him internally. They threw him,
* Leaming and Spicer, pp. 677-8.
193
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
all naked as he was, into a canoe, without any cap or hat on his head, and carried him in that condition to New York, where they furnished him clothes and shoes and stockings, and then conducted him to the fort and put him immediately in prison. When they seized him at Achter kol the armed boats had gone home, and the seizure was accomplished through treachery. Two of the head men of Carteret [Bollen and Vanquellin] immediately took possession of his papers, such as were of importance to him and travelled, one to Maryland, and the other, crossing the upper part of the North river, to Boston over land, and both to England, in order to remonstrate. The governor [Andros] sent immediately to Achter kol, took possession of the place, posted up orders, and caused inquiries to be made for the man who had set Carteret['s man, Bollen] over the river, but without success. While Carteret was in prison he was sick, very sick, they said, in regard to which there were various surmises .*
Carteret was kept a prisoner at New York, under the charge of Capt. John Collyer, until the 27th of May, when he was arraigned before a special Court of Assizes, and tried for presuming " to exercise jurisdiction and government over his Majesty's subjects within the bounds of his Majesty's Letters Patents granted to his Royal Highness," the Duke of York. Carteret presented his " Commission with other In- structions," in justification. The jury brought in a verdict of "Not Guilty."
" Upon which," says Carteret in a letter to Bollen, " he asked them questions and demanded their reasons, which I pleaded was contrary to law for a jury to give reasons after their verdict given in, nevertheless he sent them twice or thrice out, giving them new charges, which I pleaded as at first to be contrary to law, notwithstanding the last verdict of the jury being according to the first brought in by them, -' the prisoner at the bar not guilty,' upon which I was acquitted accordingly."
A singular order, however, was annexed to the record :
But the Court declare their opinion and give judgment, that if he the said Capt. Carteret shall go to New Jersey, he should give security or engagement not to assume any authority or jurisdiction there, civil or military.
* Leaming and Spicer, p. G78. Dankers' Journal, pp. 347-352.
13
194
THE HISTORY OF
The effect of this order was to give him his liberty on parole, but to deprive him of that very authority of which, by the verdict of the jury, he had been declared to be law- fully possessed.
The trial took place on Thursday; and, on Tuesday of the following week, June 1st [11th N. S.],
The governor [Andross] attended by his whole retinue of ladies and gentlemen, escorted Carteret, the governor of New Jersey, in great pomp, home to Achter kol; with all the magnificence he could.
Carteret drew up the necessary papers, and sent them, as he tells Bollen, July 9, 1680, by the hands of "Mr. George Heathcott for England," to be laid before the Home Govern- ment .*
In the mean time Andros had called a General Assembly to meet in this town, on the 2d of June, five days only after the conclusion of Carteret's trial, and the day after his return to the town; at which time he presented himself before the Deputies with " the King's Letters Patents," under the Great Seal of England, and claimed, contrary to the jury verdict, to be their right and lawful Governor. He brought with him, also, a copy of the Hempstead Code of Laws to be adopted and enacted by the Assembly.
True, however, to their oaths of fidelity, the Deputies re- turned for answer, that
As we are the Representatives of the Freeholders of this Province, we dare not grant his Majesty's Letters Patents, though under the Great Seal of England, to be our rule or joint safety for the Great Charter of England, alias Magna Charta, as [is] the only rule, privilege and joint safety of every freeborn Englishman.
At the same time, they presented Andros with a copy of their own Laws, as enacted by previous General Assemblies, declining to exchange them for the "Duke's Laws." Andros gained nothing by his visit here, but a tacit acquiescence, on the part of the people, in the existing state of things, until the authorities in England could be heard from.+
Carteret returned to his residence here, and devoted him-
* Leaming and Spicer, pp. 683, 4. Ib., p. 679. Dankers' Journal, pp. 346, 8.
t Leaming and Spieer, pp. 680-3.
195
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
self to the improvement of his estate, and the construction of his new house, for which he had been making preparation. He improved his leisure, also, in making some friendly visits. either to the city, or to Long Island, resulting in his marriage, April, 1681, to Elizabeth, the widow of Capt. William Law- rence, of Tew's Neck, L. I., who had died in 1680, in the 58th year of his age. Mrs. Carteret was the daughter of Richard Smith, patentee of Smithtown, L. I., and brought with her, to this town, seven children : Mary, Thomas, Joseph, Richard, Samuel, Sarah, and James. Samuel died Aug. 16, 1687, aged 15 years, and Thomas, Oct. 26, 1687, aged 19 years ; and both were buried in the rear of the meeting-house. Their ,graves are now covered by the First Presbyterian Church, and their monuments adorn the rear wall of the building, being the most ancient stones in the Cemetery. This was, in all probability, the Governor's first marriage, no allusion to any other having been discovered. He resumed office by proclamation, March 2, 1682 .*
The controversy with Andros had brought into prominence the fundamental constitutions of the government. Carteret, in his triumph over Andros, was disposed to stretch his pre- rogative to the utmost, as if in compensation for his recent expulsion from power. The town, as well as the other parts of the Province, was now agitated very considerably by this question. The Assembly met here, Oct. 19, 1681. At the very opening of their sessions, the Deputies determined to re-assert and establish their fundamental rights, according to the terms of the Concessions, as originally published in 1665.
A conflict ensued, which resulted in the dissolution of the Assembly by the Governor, a few days after they met.
Carteret had learned nothing by his troubles, and his long- continued association with the people. The breach between them must have been greatly widened by this transaction. It was the first time he had ventured to exercise this doubt- ful and dangerous prerogative.t
Scot's Model of E. Jersey, p. 135. Thompson's L. I., II. 864-5. Riker's Newtown, pp. 282. 3. N. York Marriages, pp. 6S, 225. Whitehead's E. J., p. 85. Leaming and Spicer, pp. 6S5-7. t N. Y. Col. Docmts., III. 293-800. Whitehead's E. Jersey, pp. 80, 192-5.
196
THE HISTORY OF
An unquiet time these humble pioneers had, it must be admitted. Seventeen years had passed since Baker and Bailey, Ogden and Watson had acquired, lawfully and hon- orably, a title to the soil, and entered into possession. Yet, year after year, almost from the beginning, they were coming into collision with the ruling powers of the territory, and compelled to resist what they could not but regard, as en- croachments on their vested and sacred rights. Some few of them, wearied with conflict, had parted with their interest to others, and removed. But by far the most of them remained, and manfully maintained the principles so dear to them.
Nor were these troubles without their use. They served to strengthen and develop character ; fostering and bringing into active exercise, in a remarkable degree, an intelligent love for freedom, for independence, for well-regulated self- rule, for constitutional principles, for popular rights ; pre- paring them, all the better, for the work of laying the foun- dations of the town, the state, the church. Their children, too, who were just coming to years, were thereby subjected to an admirable training, fitting them to occupy the place and do the work of the founders, when these sturdy yeomen should cease from their care and toil.
One by one, they were dropping into the grave. Seeley, Andris, Dickinson, Pope, Simpkin, Trotter, Hopkins, Parker, Wilson, Goodman Tomson, Bond, and possibly others, had gone the way of all the earth. And now "good old John Ogden," whose wanderings for forty years had justly entitled him to rank with the " Pilgrim Fathers,"-the acknowledged pioneer of the town, in whose house the first white child of the settlement was born, the accepted leader of the people, a pillar in the church and in the state, honored and trusted by all,-just as the year 1681 is expiring, lies down and dies ; leaving the impress of his political and religious principles, not only upon his children, but upon the community that he has so largely aided in founding. A man he was of more than ordinary mark -- a man of sterling worth; of whom the town, as well as his numerous posterity, should be gratefully mindful. He was called a "malcontent," and regarded as
.
197
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
" the leading malcontent of Elizabeth Town ; " but surely the man that was held in such high esteem by the accom- plished, sagacious and pious Winthrop,-the man who, both at Southampton and here, had been an honored magis- trate, loved and trusted by the people, and, during the Dutch rule, the virtual Governor of the English portion of the Province, is not to be ranked with restless agitators because of his persistent opposition to an arbitrary government. A true patriot, and a genuine Christian, he devoted himself while living to the best interests of the town, and dying be- queathed to his sons the work of completing what he had so fairly and effectually inaugurated-the establishment of a vigorous plantation founded on the principles of civil and religious liberty.
198
THE HISTORY OF
.
CHAPTER X.
A. D. 1664-1682.
ECCLESIASTICAL-Church early organized, of Puritan type-First Meeting-House and Grounds - Ministry - Rev. Thomas James-Rev. Jeremiah Peck -- Rev. Seth Fletcher.
THE early religious history of the town is involved in great uncertainty. But few memorials remain, from which any thing, respecting the ecclesiastical affairs of the town, during the first score of years, can be learned. It is known, that the greater part of the settlers, and especially the leading men, were professing Christians, God-fearing men, of Puri- tan principles, and religiously observant of the ordinances of Christianity ; that they were early organized as a Christian Church ; that this was the only church-organization in the town for forty years ; that, soon after their arrival, they erected a "meeting house," in which they were wont to worship on the Lord's Day, and hold their town-meetings. But, of the date of these events, and of the circumstances connected with the founding of the church, and the erection of the meeting-house, nothing is known.
Mention is made of " the town house," as early as June, 1671. Pardon, in his testimony relative to the Michell case, says, " that on the 19th of June, 1671, he was at a meeting of several inhabitants of this town who were met together at the town house." It was, in all probability, in this " town house," that the first General Assembly of the Province met, May 26, 1668, and subsequent Assemblies, also, met. In the Act of 1682 for the erection of County Courts, it is provided, that " the County of Essex Sessions " shall be held "in the publick Meeting House of Elizabeth Town," twice in the
199
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
year. The " town-house " and the "meeting-house " were · one. The Puritans did not believe in consecrated places, and so had no scruples in respect to the transaction of secu- lar business in their meeting-houses. As John Ogden had, more than a score of years before his coming here, erected the stone church in the fort at New Amsterdam, and had, soon after his coming, put up and operated a saw-mill at the bridge ; and as several of the original Associates were car- penters and joiners; it is more than probable, that one of their first public concerns was the building of their meeting- house. As early as Feb. 19, 1665, they held " a meeting court," at which the whole town was present, and sixty-five men took the oath of allegiance and fidelity. The house had, most likely, been built before this date .*
Nothing can now be determined as to its size, cost, arrange- ments, or general appearance. Something may be conjec- tured, by reference to the town house at Newark, built in 1669, which was to be erected "with a Lenter to it all the Length which will make it Thirty Six foot Square, with the doors, and Windows, and Flue Boards at the Gable Ends ;" to cost seventeen pounds, and the Town to furnish the timber. It was a frame building, and, probably, somewhat larger and more sightly than the one at Newark.t
The lot, on which the house was built, included the present burying-ground of the First Presbyterian Church, extended on the west to the river, and contained about eight acres. The earliest survey of the lot, now to be found, bears date, June 5, 1732, and was made by Joseph Man, Surveyor. It is recorded by Jefferys, the Town Clerk, in these words :
Surveyed for the Committee of the Freeholders of Elizabeth town the meeting house Lot belonging to ye sd Elizth town Begining at ye : n: E: Corner of mr willm williamsons house Lot thence Runing North 50 : deg : 7 : m : & a ! west 13 : Chanes : 75: Links to ye mil! River. thence Runing as ye sd River Runs : 2: Chanes & a ! to in'. Jewels Line. thence Runing Sonth. 88: degr. East fifteen Chanes &. 15: Links to a highway thence Runing South 15 deg. & a ! west. 9: Chanes : &. 70 Links to ye first mentioned place Bounded on yo South by Cap : william-
* Leaming and Spicer, pp. 77, 231. E. T Bill, p. 82. E. J. Records, III. 79.
t Newark Town Records, pp. 10, 11.
200
THE HISTORY OF
sons and west by ye mill River and north by mr. Jewels and East by ye highway. the Contents of : ye aboue. sd. peace of Land is Seuen acres and foure hundred parts of one acre which is but a Narey small mater a bout 6 Rod & all most a 2.
Another survey was made by Joseph Morss, May 22, 1766, including more ground on the South, and estimating the whole as containing about eight acres. The Trustees claimed " that the first Purchasers & Associates did give the afd Tract of Land, for the Use of a Presbyterian Church, the Record of which on or about, the year 1719 was either lost or destroyed." Whereupon the Committee of the Freeholders allowed " the above Lot of Land to the sª Trustees their Heirs & Succes- sors on the Right of Matthias Hatfield, one of the sd Asso- ciatęs." *
The meeting-house occupied the site of the present church ; but, as it was much smaller, it did not cover much, if any, more than the front half-the other half containing the graves of most of the first settlers. Graves were sometimes dug "in the church," as will appear on a subsequent page; so that nearly the whole area of the First Church, probably, is occu- pied with the remains of the first two or three generations of the people of the town.t
Provision was made, by the Associates, for a "Town Lott for the Minister; " who was to have "a third Lot Right in the prmisses ;" and reference is occasionally made, in the Records of Surveys, to " the parsonage lot ; " but the survey of the lot itself, and of the first and second divisions of the third-lot right, is not on record .;
The Rev. THOMAS JAMES, pastor of the Church of East Hampton, L. I., as already stated, had been chosen the first minister of the town, and had consented to cast in his lot with them ; but was persuaded, by those of his people who remained, to abandon the enterprise. Great must have been the disappointment, especially to the godly men and women who composed so large a part of the community, as, from the scarcity of worthy ministers of the gospel, it was
* E. Town Book, B., pp. 47, 170-1.
+ Trustees' Book, Mar. 24, 1766.
# E. Town Book, B. p. 2.
201
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
no easy matter to supply his place. That it was supplied, to some extent, can scarcely be questioned.
But whence their pulpit was supplied for the first two years is not known. Possibly some one of the ministers of Long Island, or Connecticut, may have made them an occa- sional visit. The venerable Pierson may have made them a visit, before he removed to Newark, Oct. 1, 1667. Daven- port, or Street, may have come on from New Haven, to look after the scattered sheep of their flock. Newton, from Mil- ford, or Eliot, from Guilford, or Bishop, from Stamford, may, for a like reason, have made them an occasional visit. The venerable John Young, of Southold, had two sons in the colony and several of his flock, whom he may have visited now and then. The same may have been true of James, of East Hampton, Fordham, of Southampton, Leverich, of Huntington, and Walker of Jamaica ; or some recent graduate of Harvard, or some probationer of more humble pretensions, may have here made trial of his gifts ; or they may have had to rely only on " deacon's meetings," as they were called.
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.