USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 4
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
No other Christian person whatsoever was settled upon any part of the lands in question, than John Ogden and Luke Watson aforesaid; and certainly no more than four families settled (if so many) by virtue or on pretence of the said Indian purchase, or grant from Gov. Nicolls, nor at
* N. Y. Col. Documents, III. 106. t Ib., III. 105.
.
39
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
any other place within the bounds of the lands in question. To suppose that none of the Associates, who were interested in the said purchase and grant, and had contributed their proportions to the consideration-money, should, during all that time, have settled on the said land, with the said four grantees, is conceived to be a very unlikely and strange supposition .*
It was not an unoccupied land. A savage tribe had made it their home, long years previously, and still dwelt in the immediate neighborhood of the plot selected for a town. The Minisink path, leading from the sea at Shrewsbury Inlet, and crossing the Raritan River two or three miles above its mouth, the principal track of the Indians in the northern and eastern portion of New Jersey, leading to Minisink Island in the Delaware River, passed up the country just back of the Rahway River, directly through the new purchase, and within four or five miles of this locality. The Dutch had pursued a policy which served to irritate and exasperate these natives of the forest. So late as October, 1655, Pen- nekek, one of the Sachems in Achter Kol, brought in to Pavonia [Paulus Hook] not less than 28 Dutch captives, men and women, and delivered them to the agents of Stuy- vesant, informing them that more than 20 others remained to be redeemed. It was not safe, and had not been to the time of the conquest by the English in 1664, to venture far into the interior. It would have been exceedingly hazardous for three or four families to plant themselves on these out- skirts of civilization, as residents and occupants of the land, unprotected. +
It was well said, more than a century since, that
As the country, at their first coming, was inhabited by no other than the native Indians, who were then in great numbers ; the said purchasers and associates agreed, at first, to make small divisions of their lands, according to the usage and custom then in New England ; to the end that they might settle and plant near together; so that, in case any attempt was made by the Indians, they might mutually aid and assist each other The circumstances of the inhabitants at that day, being so dangerous and troublesome, that we, at this time, ean have no adequate ideas of the hardships of.#
* E. T. Bill in Chancery, pp. 28-66. Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 29.
t Valentine's N. Y. Manual for 1863, pp. 557, S.
Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 22.
40
THE HISTORY OF
On this account it was expressly provided that other "peo- ple be carried thither," besides the four purchasers, "to set out a town, and inhabit together." The tradition, that but four families were found in occupancy of the town, so late as August, 1665, grew out of the fact, most probably, that but four names are recorded as purchasers in Gov. Nicolls' Grant. It seems to have been erroneously supposed, that these four were the sole proprietors of the purchase; whereas the Indian Deed expressly conveys the land, as also does Nicolls' Grant, to the Associates of these grantees as well. The whole transaction was a concerted enterprise ; thought of, and talked over, and agreed upon, by a considerable number of persons, like-minded, and of like origin, residents of the same neighborhood on Long Island. Denton, one of the projectors of the undertaking, writes, four or five years afterwards,
That the usual way, is for a Company of people to joyn together, either enough to make a Town, or a lesser number; these go with the consent of the Governor, and view a Tract of Land, there being choice enough, and finding a place convenient for a Town, they return to the Governor, who upon their desire admits them into the Colony, and gives them a Grant or Patent for the said Land, for themselves and Associates. These persons being thus qualified, settle the place, and take in what inhabitants to themselves they shall see cause to admit of, till their Town be full .*
This is, doubtless, just what occurred in this instance-a number of persons combining and contributing to the acqui- sition, as is expressly stated in their behalf in a legal docu- ment of a later date :
True it is, that, on the first settlement of the said first purchases and associates, it was agreed and understood, that the lands so purchased, should be divided, in proportion to the money paid for the purchase, to wit, into first-lot, second-lot, and third-lot rights, the second-lot to be double, and the third lot treble what was divided to those called first .rights.t
*: Denton's Description of N. Y .. &c., Ed. of 1845, p. 17.
+ Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 22. The following attestations, given about 20 years after the set- tlement, fully establish these conjectures : "The testimony off Timothy Holstead, off Hemstead, in Queens County who declareth yt ye purchasers off Affter Kull (viz.) Daniell Denton, John Baylies & Luke Watson did admit off my selff & my brother alsoe vpon ye disbursement off ffour pounds a peece in bever pay to bee Associates wtym in ye purchass
41
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
That the movement was thus undertaken in concert by a considerable number of persons, who were interested in it from the beginning, and not several distinct, disconnected, and individual undertakings, appears still more fully from a letter, which has happily been preserved among the "Win- throp Papers," written by the Rev. Thomas James, pastor of the church of East Hampton, L. I. It is dated, Nov. 25, 1667, and is addressed to Gov. Winthrop, at New London, Ct., as follows :
I can say lesse then formerly, in respect of my vnsetlednesse : for I was intended to haue remoued, with severall of my brethren who are gone, as Mr. Bond and others, who are remoued beyond N. Yorke ; who were ex- ceeding desirous to haue me gone with them, and settled a plantation in those parts ; and my resolution was once so to haue done, but God, who hath the hearts and ways of all in his own hands, hath ordered it other- wise, so that I am still here. When it came too, the people here by no meanes could be perswaded to be willing to part with me vpon that ac-
in case wee liked which mony wee disbursed ffor indean trade which sayd indean goods went to the purchass of ye sd land at Affter Kull at ye request off ye afforesd purchasers wee dis- liking ye place vpon a view off it. And they ingaging wee should bee payd ffor our goods & wee acknowledge yt weo have Received satisffaction off Dan1 Denton afforesd one off ye purchasers the whole sum payd by selff and brother was four pounds a peeco and two & six pence. Sworn beffore vs, ye 17th off Novemr 1685, Elias Doughty, Richard Cornwell, Jus- tices in Quorum."
"Samuel Denton off Hemstead doth alsoe testiffy yt ye above written purchasers did agree alsoe wt him vpon ye disbursment off four pounds to bee an equal Associate wt them in case hee liked which four pounds hee payd in bever for goods yt went to ye purchass off ye sd land at Affter Kull att ye desire off ye purchasers they promising to Repay mee. And I acknowledge yt I have deceived satisfaction off Daniell Denton one off ye su purchasers ffor ye sd ffour pounds ;
" Ffor ye ffour pounds above mentioned Sam" doth testiffy yt exactly to ye sum hee can- not so well remember. But is positive in this that hee payd equall wt ye purchasers Timothy lolstead & Sam! Denton on the other side mentioned doe ffurther testify that ye mony on ye other side mentioned was payd to ye indeans ffor all such lands contained in ye purchass made by ye purchasers on ye otherside mentioned, as well ffor Elizabethtown as ye Rest & ffurther yt wee layd doun our mony for ye purchas at Daniel Dentons, cominending off y. place to rs as severall others did vpon incouragement ffrom ye other purchasers. And never Received a ffarthin but ffrom Daniel Denton. And yt Ambross Sutten also was one off our Company. December ye 3ª 1685. Attested before mco Richard Cornwell, Justice in Quorum."
" Josiah Settin off Oisterbay in Queens County testifieth that when Dan" Denton, John Baylies & Luke Watson did purchase Affter Kull so called off ye indeans that I went wt Dan11 Denton when hee carried ye goods to pay ye purchass off ye land And y' Samuel Denton & Timothy Holstead & Ambross Sutton was off ye Company & payd mony towards ye purchass & I payd my mony alsoo towards ye purchass to Luke Watson wco being all off vs to have land iff wee likd ffor our mony yt wee disbursd. But never received any satisfaction of Luke Watson nor any other off ye purchasers ffor my sd mony that I layd out ffer ye sd purchass nor ever had any consideration in land or any other way taken vpon oath ye last day off March Annoq. Domini 16SC. Beforo Mee John Townsend, Sen' Justice off ye peace" Alb. Records, XXXII. 118.
42
THE HISTORY OF
count, so that I am here still, but by reason thereof, lesse hath beene done then otherwise might haue been .*
Mr. Bond, and his neighbors from East Hampton, were here, (and probably had been for some time previous) as early as February 1665, nearly two years before the writing of this letter.
In the absence, then, of every thing like documentary evi- dence to the contrary, it is safe to conclude, that ground was broken, for the settlement of the town, as early as in Novem- ber, 1664, and that, in the spring of the year 1665, a consid- erable number of the Associates, for whom the land had been purchased, arrived, with their wives and children, and took possession of their new homes in Achter Kol.
* 4 Mass. His. Soc. Coll., VII. 485.
,
43
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER III.
A. D. 1665-1666.
Arrival of the ship Philip, with Gov. Carteret - Explanations - Lord John Berkeley -Sir Geo. Carteret - Adherents of Royalty in the Civil War - Their Services to the Crown - Rewarded with Offices and Land Grants - Purchase of N. Jersey from the Duke of York - Letters of Hutchinson - Capt. Carteret arrives at New York with laborers - Acquiesces in Nicolls' Grant - Purchases rights in the new Town - Origin of its Name.
SCARCELY has the new settlement got fairly under way, the ground about the Creek been cleared, and the soil made ready for the sowing of the winter grain, when tidings reach them from New York of a serious change in their prospects. Word is brought, that the Duke of York has sold the territory west of Hudson's River to two of the Lords of the Council, who have sent over a Deputy to arrange the matter with Gov. Nicolls, and take possession, in their name, of the newly- created province. As a matter of course the coming of the new Governor is awaited with no little anxiety.
Early in the month of August, 1665, the town is stirred by the first exciting event in its history. The ship "Philip," having arrived at New York, July 29th, now makes her ap- pearance at the Point, or entrance of the Creek on which the town is laid out. She brings Capt. Philip Carteret, a sprightly youth of six and twenty, with a company of emi- grants from the old world. Among them, is a French gen- "tleman, Robert Vanquellin,-a surveyor by profession,-with his wife. Capt. James Bollen, of New York, also, is of the number. With these come, also, eighteen men of menial character, of the laboring class ; possibly a few others, fc
44
THE HISTORY OF
males, probably, of whom no special mention is made,-some thirty in all .*
The settlers gather about the landing, to receive the new comers, to learn who they are, and why their steps are di- rected hither. Capt. Carteret presently submits his creden- tials to Ogden and his townsmen. He comes accredited with papers from Gov. Nicolls, and a Governor's commission from Lord John Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, Somerset Co., Eng., and Sir George Carteret, Knight and Baronet, of Saltrum in Devon (both of the Privy Council), to whom the Duke of York had granted the Territory lying to the west of Hudson's River, and east of the Delaware, to be known, henceforward, as Nova Cæsarea, or New Jersey. Mutual explanations fol- low. The Indian Deed is produced and well considered. Gov. Nicolls' Grant is brought forward and explained.
The settlers appear to have had a fair understanding with Carteret and his company, and to have procured a concession of their rights and titles as proprietors of the territory de- scribed in their deed. Tradition tells us,-not a very relia- ble authority when not supported by collateral evidence as it is in the present case,-that Carteret, being informed of their right to the lands, "approved of the same, and readily and willingly consented to become an Associate with them; and went up from the place of his landing, with them, carrying a hoe on his shoulder, thereby intimating his inten- tion of becoming a planter with them; " glad, no doubt, to find so promising a beginning in the settlement of the unoc- cupied and unexplored territory over which he was to exer- cise authority.+
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret were of the court of Charles II., a monarch, of whom Bancroft truly says, that his reign " was not less remarkable for the rapacity of the courtiers, than for the debauchery of the monarch." ¿ In the conflict with the Parliamentarians, they had both, being then in the full vigor of their faculties, adhered to the fortunes of. their king, Charles 1., and laid their royal master and his
* E. T. Bill, p. 28.
t Leaming and Spicer, pp. 8-11, 26-7. Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 20.
# Bancroft's U. States, II. 129.
45
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
profligate sons, Charles and James, under no small obligations to them.
BERKELEY was the youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley. He was born in 1607, joined the army in the operations against the Scots in 1638, and was knighted (June 27) the same year. In the Parliamentary war he served as Commis- sary General for the king, as Governor of Exeter, and Gen- eral of the royal forces in Devon. After the king's death he went abroad with the royal family, and, in 1652, was made Governor of the Duke of York's household. May 19, 1658, he was created, by royal favor, Baron Berkeley, of Stratton ; and, at the Restoration in 1660, he was sworn of the Privy Council .*
CARTERET was the eldest son of Helier Carteret, Deputy Governor of the Isle of Jersey, a descendent of the Lords of Carteret in the Duchy of Normandy, a family of great re- spectability, dating back to the time of William, the Con- queror. Philip, eldest son of IIelier Carteret, married Rachel Paulet, and had six children : Philip, Helier, Amice, Gideon, Rachel and Judith. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and lived to a great age. Sir Philip, the eldest son of Sir Philip, married Ann Dowse, and had eleven children : Philip, Peyton, Zouch, Gideon, Francis, Thomas, Edward, Marga- ret, Anne, Elizabeth, Dowse. Philip, the first-born, died in 1662. Elizabeth (for whom this town was named) married her cousin, George Carteret. Her father, Philip, had (as above) three brothers. Helier, the second son of the first Sir Philip, married Elizabeth Dumaresque, and had two chil- dren, George and Philip. The latter was born in 1610, and died in 1665.
George Carteret was born in 1599, married (as above) his cousin, Elizabeth, and had three sons and five daughters. His sons were Philip, James and George. The latter died un- married in 1656. Philip, his eldest son, was knighted, June 4, 1670, and killed in a naval battle, May 28, 1672. George, the father, entered the navy at an early age. In 1626, he was appointed joint governor of Jersey, and, in 1640, comp-
* N. Y. Colonial Doc., II. 532. Collins' Peerago, (Ed. of 1735,) III. 270-281.
46
THE HISTORY OF
troller of the royal navy. In 1642, the post of Vice Admiral was offered him by Parliament, but declined in obedience to his royal master. He was knighted May 9, 1646, having rendered the king great service in the supply of ammunition. Withdrawing to his home in Jersey, his house, which he bravely defended as the last stronghold of the monarchy, be- came an asylum to the Prince of Wales and others of the party. He followed his sovereign to France in 1652, was imprisoned, in the Bastile, at the instance of Cromwell, in 1657, and subsequently banished the kingdom. He repaired to Charles at Brussels in 1659, and was one of his escort when received by the city of London in 1660. He was appointed Vice Chamberlain, and Treasurer of the Navy ; was sworn of the Privy Council, and in 1661 elected to Parliament for Portsmouth. As early as 1650, when the royal cause ap- peared quite hopeless, he is said to have obtained the grant of an island in Virginia, and to have fitted out a ship with all sorts of goods and tools, with many passengers, for the settlement of a plantation in the new world. It is thought, that the project was abandoned on account of the vigilance of the Cromwellian party .*
The trials, through which the two Lords had passed during the civil wars, in which circumstances had brought them into great familiarity with the royal brothers, Charles and James, gave them great influence at court, after the Res- toration. Lucrative offices were awarded them in and about the royal household, and frequent opportunities given of pro- moting their purposes of wealth and aggrandizement. The new world beyond the flood was attracting numerous adven- turers, and offering large inducements to colonists. The gifted Winthrop, on the occasion of his visit to England in 1661-2, to procure a new Charter for Connecticut, had been received with great consideration at court, and, by his representations of what had already been accomplished in New England, had unwittingly excited the greed of many of the corrupt and wily parasites of the crown. Clarendon, Albemarle, Ashley, Colleton, Carteret, Craven, and the two
* N. Y. Colonial Doc., II. 410. Collins' Pecrage (Ed. of 1735), IV. 321-8.
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY. 47
Berkeleys, Lord John and Sir William, banded together, and readily obtained, in 1663, from the pleasure-loving monarch, a grant of the vast territory in America, extending from the 36th degree of north latitude, to the river Saint Matheo, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as proprietors and lords, with almost absolute authority, and the right of assignment or sale,-a most extraordinary grant of power; and all this, on the plea of " being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the gospel " among a " barbarous peo- ple, who have no knowledge of God "-hypocrites that they were! " Avarice," says Bancroft, "is the vice of declining years ; most of the proprietaries were past middle life. They begged the country under pretence of a 'pious zeal for the propagation of the gospel,' and their sole object was the in- crease of their own wealth and dignity." *
Not satisfied with their share in the lordship of such a vast domain, Berkeley and Carteret were eager to secure for themselves an investment in western lands still more prom- ising, if possible. The notorious Capt. Scott, who had created so much disturbance on Long Island and the Main, and of whom Gov. Nicolls wrote, that he "was borne to work mischeife as farre as hee is credited or his parts serve him," had sought of the crown a patent for Long Island ; but, not succeeding in his design, and conceiving that he had been wronged by the Duke of York, is reported to have induced Berkeley and Carteret to secure New Jersey for themselves, knowing, as Nicolls, also, declared, that it was the most valu- able portion of the Duke's territory. +
The two Lords readily caught the bait, and the Duke, "for a competent sum of money," having, by his patent from the king, the right of sale, as well as possession and rule, con- veyed, June 24, 1664, the territory, now known as New Jersey, to Berkeley and Carteret, " in as full and ample manner " as it had been conveyed to himself,-transferring to these court favorites all his rights, titles, and authority to and over the land in question.
* Bancroft's U. States, II. 130. t N. Y. Colonial Doc., III. 105. Thompson's Long Island, II. 320-3.
.
48
THE HISTORY OF
In the course of the summer, as has been seen, the Dutch were dispossessed, and the country brought under the sway of the English crown. As soon as tidings came, in the latter part of October, that the conquest was complete, the two Lords began their preparations for colonizing their new ac- quisitions. Guided, probably, by the terms of Winthrop's Charter, and the Concessions subsequently drawn up for the Carolinas, they prepared a Plan for the government of the territory (that Carteret had honored with the name of his island home), which was completed and signed, February 10, 1664, and which they denominated, "The Concessions and agreement of the Lords Proprietors of New-Caesarea, or New- Jersey. to and with all and every of the adventurers, and all such as shall settle or plant there ; " a document, of which it must be admitted, that, while much may be said against it and properly, it, nevertheless, contained principles and con- veyed privileges far in advance of the age, and much more' accordant with democracy than with the imperialism of the Stuarts .*
Capt. Philip Carteret, a distant relative of Sir George, was more than content to emigrate to the new world, and become the Governor of the new territory for the Proprietors. His commission and letters of instruction bear the same date as the Concessions. Mr. Robert Vauquellin, Sieur des Prairie, of the city of Caen, in France, receives the same day an ap- pointment as Surveyor General of the Province. The ship Philip is, also, put in commission, and furnished with men and supplies for the new colony.
Some allusions to the ship and the undertaking of the two Carterets, that serve to shed light on the character and pur- poses of the enterprise, are found in the " Winthrop Papers." Samuel Hutchinson, Merchant of London, writes, February 14, 1664, " to John Wintrop Esqr att New Londo In New England : "
Sir-Having this opertunyty by way of New Yorke, in a ship of S. George Cartrets bound for New Jersy how carys Capt. Cartret the
* See Smith's N. Jersey, pp. 512-521. Grants, Concessions, &c., pp. 12-25.
.
49
ELIZABETII, NEW JERSEY.
Governor. I know yor wonted costom to all strangers, not to let them lacke any Asistance or Advice you cane give them, Yor expery- ance in those parts being much, may doe him servis and yor selfe noe predgedis. Butt as you will heare, thar will be a greater obligatyon then ordinary, to the Honerab" Sir Georg Cartrett and Capt Phillip Car- tret now Governer of New Jersy
Some particulars about the shipping of machinery for cer- tain salt-works follow, and then he adds,-
The ffrenes of S' Georg and the Capt. in the same is worth taking notes of. If Capt. Cartrett mislickes after he coms into the contry I will tacke them of at the same rate.
He writes again, February 20,-
Capt Cartret hath brought over sondry ffrench men that know the making of salt in ffrance .* If you goe yor self to New Jersy, I desier you to view the plantatyons and if you pich upon a good track of Land send me word how it leyes, for Sir George promasis me what in reson I can desier thare, and advise the salt worke to be set up in that place if convenyant, if you provide wht ocke pip staves I doe conseve thay may be a comodety in New England sondry ships will com to Lode stave for Canarys and other Ilands.t
The Philip is detained (probably on account of the war with the Dutch that rendered navigation hazardous), until the last of April ; and then sets sail, just as "the Great Plague " is beginning to gather up its more than threescore thousand victims in London. The next we hear from the ship is on her arrival in Virginia, whence Carteret writes to Gov. Winthrop as follows :
Newportes newes, Virginia, 13º Junii 1665. Honord Sir-Findeing the opportunity by this vessell bound for New Yorke, to send you some letters which I brought out of England, I thought it convenient to send them to you knoweing the sooner they come to your hands the better. I suppose that by them you will understand that Mr. Hutchinson hath sould unto Sir George Carteret and myselfe §ds of a salt worke and pottash worke which was formerly contrived by you. Also it is agreed by Mr. Hutchinson and us that for the care you tooke then and the advice you will please to lend us for the future, that you shall [have] the 1's parte of the proffitt, for I hope they are arrived ere this time being shipt aboard of
* " We take notice that you desire to have French men sent you that might be experienced in making of salt." Instructions of Mass. Day Co. to Gov. Endicott. Young's Chroni- cles of Mass. Bay, p. 152. t 3 Mass. His. Soc. Coll., X. 49, 51.
4
50
THE HISTORY OF
a shipp that was to come to Pescadoe for masts for the King. This being all at present hopeing (winde and weather permitting) to be at New Yorke in 5 or six days hence, I am Sir, your humble servant
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.