USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 5
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Ph Carteret
Sir-If you please to doe me the favour to let mee heare from you direct your Letter to Cap" James Bullaigne in New Yorke.
This letter reached Winthrop, July 4, and was answered, July 18. In his reply, he says,
I knew nothing of any intention of Mr. Hutchinson to set up such works [salt works] in these parts of the world. He mentions now New Jarsy, which is a place I know not nor have ever heard where it is-it would be good to consider the convenience of the place for that commo- dity and for the vending of it before expenses be laid out. (He adds,) Salt is brought in by ships for ballast, &c .- from Turtugas .*
That last sentence, probably, put an end to the scheme for erecting salt-works in the new plantation, and to the Gov- ernor's dream of large profits. Whether the ship that bore the freight ever arrived at Piscataway, or not, is not known. Carteret himself did not reach New York until July 29.+
Some few days, probably, are occupied in arranging with Gov. Nicolls the question of jurisdiction ; the latter being not at all pleased with the partition of the territory. Car- teret now learns, for the first time, that Nicolls, by virtue of his unrepealed commission from the Duke of York, has given land patents already for two extensive plantations,-one be- tween the Raritan and the Passaic Rivers, and the other below Sandy Hook and the Raritan, afterwards Middletown and Shrewsbury. Carteret seems not to have entered any protest against these grants, nor to have objected to them at all, but rather to have been gratified at the speedy prospect of peopling his new colony. He determines to locate him- self with the Ogden company, and to make their plantation the seat of his government.
At that time, the thought had not, apparently, entered his mind, that the Indian purchase and Nicolls' Grant were of
* 3 Mass. His. Soc. Coll., X. 52-3.
t " Yr Lps of the 20th of Jan. came to my hands the 22d of June ; 'twas sent from Capt. Carteret then at Virginia, but is here arrived the 29th of July." Gov. Nicolls, in N. Y. Col. Doc., III. 103.
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY. 51
no validity. It does not occur to him, that he can locate himself where he pleases, and appropriate to himself and the Lords whatever lands he chooses. He enters not into conflict with the planters, but sets himself to acquire, by purchase, an interest in their lands. Learning that Baily, of Jamaica, is willing to part with his rights in the town, he enters into a negotiation with him, soon after his arrival, and buys him out. The deed given him by Baily bears date, September 8, 1665. Its connection with subsequent events . makes it important to place much of it on record in these pages. It is as follows :
Indenture between John Bayles of Jamaica in Yorkshire upon Long Island of the one part and Philip Carteret, Esq', Gov- ernor of the Province of New Jersey upon the main land of America of the other part. For and in consideration of a valuable sum to bim in hand paid by the said Philip Carteret, the said Bayles hath sold to Philip Car- teret, all and every my Lott or Lotts part or parts of a certaine peice of land scituate lying and being on the Maine Continent of America common- ly called or known by the Name of Arthur Cull or Emboyle, or what other Name or Names soever It hath been or now is Called by which said Parcell of Land he the said John Bayles with severall others did Lawfully purchase from the Natives or Indians as by his said Bill of Sayle from the Indians bearing date the 28th day of October 1664 will more at large appear which was confirmed by The Right Hon. Col. Richard Nicholl Governor of His Royal Highness Territoryes in America his Grant bear- ing date the first day of December, 1664. To have and to hold, &c .*
What Baily sold to Gov. Carteret was not one fourth part of the patent, but simply his lot, or lots, part or parts, of the land, his rights as one of the Associates,-a third lot right ;- sold, February 10, 1663, by Carteret, to a new comer, William Pyles, of Piscataway in New England ; "lying and being on the South side of the Creek." So, also, in Nov. 1668, he purchases the third lot right of Capt. Robert Sealey, de- ceased, for £45. By these, and several other similar trans- actions on record, Carteret becomes a party to the Indian purchase ; admits that the land is "lawfully purchased from the natives ;" and confesses that the Grant by Gov. Nicolls conveys a valid title. The settlers, therefore, had every
* E. J. Book of Surveys A. 1, 2 II. 2, 152.
.
.
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THE HISTORY OF
reason to be satisfied with their titles, confirmed, as they had so fully been, by the two Governors, Nicolls and Carteret.
The name of the town had evidently not been determined at the date of Baily's deed, or it would have been specified. It is, therefore, quite probable, that, in this case, tradition re- ports truly, when it affirms, that the town took its name from the Lady Elizabeth, the wife of Sir George Carteret. Of this lady, Samuel Pepys, one of her familiar friends, bears . this testimony, during the following year, Oct. 15, 1666 : " She cries out of the vices of the Court, and how they are going to set up plays already. She do much cry out upon these things, and that which she believes will undo the whole nation." It is well to know something of her, from whom is derived the honored name of ELIZABETH-TOWN .*
* E. T. Bill, p. 28. Per contra, see Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 20.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER IV.
A. D. 1666.
The " Concessions " - New Immigrants - Loss of Town Book -- Extracts from it -- Oath of Allegiance - By whom taken - Names of the Associate Found- ers - Also of Carteret's Servants -- Notices of Strickland and the six Peti- tioners-Bailey, Daniel and Nathaniel Denton, Benedict, Foster and Watson - Also of the Patentecs, Baker and Ogden.
THE town has now entered upon its work of subduing the wilderness, and planting the institutions of religion and civ- ilization. The people are, at least, reconciled to the change in their government, believing that their rights will be as carefully guarded by Berkeley and Carteret, as they would have been by the Duke of York. "The Concessions," with which they now, for the first time, become acquainted, were well fitted to attract a large immigration from the puritan towns of New England, and the neighboring colony of New York. This instrument accorded the utmost freedom of con- science, consistent with the preservation of the public peace and order, in matters pertaining to religion ; provided every practicable safeguard for political freedom ; and offered the most liberal terms to immigrants. It committed the work of legislation and taxation to a Legislature, of which the popular branch were to be chosen directly by the people ; and thus early established, in this favored colony, the doc- trine, for which, a century later, the colonies so strenuously and successfully contended, that representation is not to be separated from taxation-that the people must have a voice in determining the expenses of government .*
* Leaming and Spicer, pp. 12-26. Smith's History of N. J., pp. 512-21. E. T. Bill, pp. 12-16. E. J. Records, III. 66-74.
54
THE HISTORY OF
Care was taken to give publicity to these Concessions. The Associates, with whom Carteret had wisely identified himself, found the document, doubtless, of considerable use, in overcoming the hesitancy of some of their former friends and neighbors to embark in the new enterprise. Some few others, who had not, probably, thought previously of re- moving, but were somewhat unsettled, were thereby led to take up their abode in this new "El Dorado," the "Great West " of 1665. But the settlers of the first two or three years were mainly of one class, and of the same general origin-almost wholly New Englanders from Long Island and Connecticut. Very few of the planters, for the first five years, came over directly from the mother coun- try. This will appear from an examination of the names of these pioneers, recorded as early as February 1665, and to be found on subsequent pages.
Very soon after the commencement of their undertaking, various meetings for consultation and agreement, in rela- tion to the division or allotment of the lands, and other regulations for the orderly transaction of the business of the town, were held, a record of which was made in a book provided for the purpose, by one of their number, appointed to this service, and known as the Town Clerk. The character of this Town Book, and the nature of the record, may be seen by reference to the Town Book of New- ark, published in 1864 by the N. Jersey Historical Society. This book, so necessary for a proper understanding of the early history of the town, was safely kept, and records con- tinued to be made in it, until the year 1718, when, during the troubles of that period, the book disappeared, having been purloined or destroyed, or both, and has not since been forthcoming. The loss is irreparable. Extracts from this book have been preserved, the particularity of which deep- ens the regret felt at the loss of so much invaluable material. The earliest record, of which we have now any knowledge, is the following :
At a Meeting Court held at Elizabeth Town in the Province of New Jersey, the 19th of February 1665, by the Freeholders and Inhabitants
55
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
thereof, James Bollen, Esq., President, by the approbation of the Gov- ernor Philip Carteret, Esq. ; it was concluded and agreed, that the afore- said town shall consist of fourscore families for the present, and that if hereafter more shall present, they may make an addition of twenty more, according to their discretion for the good and benefit of the town [as to them] shall seein fit.
A true copy from Elizabeth Town Book of Records, No. A, fol. 14, per Samuel Whitehead, Town Clerk .*
Another record of the same date has, in like manner, been rescued from oblivion :
It is further ordered and agreed, by the consent as aforesaid, that all persons that have taken, or shall take lots, shall come and settle and in- habit the same, by the fifteenth day of April next ; otherwise that the said lots shall be disposed of to any other persons that will come and settle thereon : and that every person that shall take up a home-lot, shall be obliged to continue upon the same, or in the town, for the space of three years, either by himself in person, or by his servants, or some other per- son that he shall bring into the town, that shall be approved of ; and not to imploy any for that purpose, that are already belonging to the town ; and that he shall not make any sale of the said lot, for any time during the space of three years to come ; but first shall make proffer to the in- habitants thereof, October 28th, 1667 ; and it's further ordered That who- soever shall break this order, shall pay four pounds a month, and propor- tionably during the time of their so Entertainment.t
A similar regulation was adopted by the Newark people, in the year following.# Some division of the town plot into lots convenient for the settlers must have been made on their first coming. At this same meeting, or possibly at an carlier date,
It was agreed, That small parcels of land should be laid out to every inhabitant who came, in part of what he was intitled to. To wit, To every inhabitant in the Town Plat of Elizabeth Town, a home lot con- taining about four acres, and a pittle or addition to it containing about two acres.§
Every settler, whatever proportion he may have con- tributed to the general expense, was put upon the same foot- ing as regarded his homestead, the only difference being in
* E. Town Bill, p. 32. Ans. to do., p. 23.
i E. Town Bill, p. 32. Ans. to E. T. B., p. 24.
* Newark Town Records, p. 6.
§ E. Town Bill, p. 33.
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THE HISTORY OF
the choice of a location ; and this, probably, was determined, as at Newark, by lot.
They agreed amongst themselves to go over and fix the Lotts, which was before by the whole Committee agreed upon to be Six acres ; and after the Lotts prepared, and how they should begin and Succeed, the matter was solemnly submitted to the Lord for his Guidance .*
The lots were laid out on both sides of the Creek, begin- ning with the first upland above the salt meadows, and ex- tending up the Creek some two miles. The ordinary dimen- sions of these lots were 4 chains in breadth, and 10 chains in length ; making a front, on the street, of 264 feet, and ex- tending back 660 feet. In some cases, owing to the irregular course of the River and highways, the shape of the lots, which was ordinarily a parallelogram, varied from the regular form and size ; but, as well as might be, equal privileges were se- cured. Owing to the indefiniteness of the surveys as recorded, and for vant of every thing like a map or diagram of the town platt, it is quite impossible to determine the locality of each settler.
At the town meeting just mentioned, the male inhabitants of the town were required to take the oath of allegiance, of which and the names subscribed, a record has been pre- served as follows :
The Oath of A Leagance and Fidelity taken by the Inhabitants of Eliza- beth Town and the Jurisdiction thereof beginning the 19th February 1665.
You doe sware upon the Holy Evangelist contained in this book to bare true faith and Alegiance to our Soveraing Lord King Charles the Second and his Successors and to be true and faithfull to the Lords propryetors their Successors and the Government of this Province of New Jarsey as long as you shall Continue an Inhabitant under the same without any Equivocation or Mentall Reservation whatsoever and so help you God.
Mr John Ogden sen' Thomas Leonards
Joakim Andris
Capt Thomas Young Michaell Simpkin
Jonas Wood
John Waynes Waynes
Jacob Clais
Jacob Moullains
Abraham Shotwell Thomas Skillman
Rodrick Powell
William Johnson
Luke Watson
John Gray
John Woodrofe
Stephen Crane
Nicolas Carter
* Newark Town Records.
57
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Thomas Pope
Humphry Spinago
Robert Bond
William Cramer
Joseph phrasie
Joseph Bond
Barnabas Wines
Zackery Graues
Moses Tomson
Thomas Tomson
Peter Wooluerson
Joseph Osburne
Nathaniel Tuttle
Charles Tucker
John Brackett sen'
Robert Mosse
Benjamin Homan
William Meacker
- Peter Mosse
Jeffry Joanes
Isaack Whitehead
William Trotter
Christopher Young
Nathaniel Bunnell
Euan Salsbury
Jerremy Osbourne
Mathias Heathfield
George Packe
John Dickenson-
Jonathan Ogden
Thomas More
Dennis denis White
Leonard Headley
Samuel Marsh
John Ogden Jun'
John Parker
Moses Peterson
Dauid Ogdden
Daniel Harris
John Haynes Robert Vauquellin
Richard Paynter
Caleb Carwithy
Benjamin Price
Francis Barber *
William Oliuer Ben. Concklin
The whole number is sixty-five. Capt. John Baker's name is wanting, on account of his absence in the service of Gov. Nicolls, at Albany. Some names are found in this list, not included in the list of Associates. They were the names, probably, of temporary residents, employed as laborers or helpers. Baily and Denton had sold out; the former to Carteret, and the latter to Ogden.
The most reliable statement of the names of the original ASSOCIATES is found in Elizabeth Town Book, B, some fifty years after the settlement of the town, and is thus expressed :
Richard Nicolls, by virtue of the Power and Authority vested in him by . .... James (then) Duke of York &c Did thereby Grant Bargain Sell and Confirm unto Cap' John Baker (then) of New York, John Ogden (then) of North-Hampton, and . .... John Baily and Luke Watson, and their Associates the Premises aforesd-,In ffee-simple, which same Associates (together with them the sª Baker, Ogden, Baily, and Watson (equally seised each to a Third Lot-Right in the pmisses) were, the said John Baker, John Ogden, Jnº Baily, and Luke Watson, and with them Thomas Young, Benjamin Price, John Woodruff, Philip Carteret, Two Third lotts, Robert Bond, Sealy Champain (Transfer'd to Benjamin Parkhurst,) William Mecker, Thomas Thompson, Samuel Marsh, Town Lott for the Minister, Will™ Piles, Peter Couenhoven, John Brocket (Transfer'd to Same! Hopkins) James Bollen, Jacob Melyen, Nicholas Carter, and Jeremiah Peck. . Ind, To each a Second Lot-Right in the same Premisses, Isaac Whitehead, Joseph Meeker, Humphry Spinning, Jeoffry
* E. J. Records, III. other end, 7.
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THE HISTORY OF
Jones, George Ross, Joseph Bond, Matthias Hetfield, Barnabas Winds, Robert White, Peter Morss, John Winans, Joseph Sayre, Richard Beach, Moses Thompson, John Gray, William Johnson, John Brocket Ju", Simon Rouse, William Trotter, John Ogden Jun', Jonas Wood, Robert Morss, M' Leprary, Caleb Carwithe, William Pardon, and Stephen Osborne .- sind to each a first lot Right in the same Premises, Jonathan Ogden, Abraham Shotwell, David Ogden, Nathanael Tuttell, Benjamin Price Ju", Roger Lambert, Abraham Lawrence, John Hindes, Thomas Moor, Joseph ffrazey, Yokam Andross, Denis White, Nathanael Norton, (since Trans- fer'd to Henry Norris,) Great John Willson, Hur Thompson, Benjamin Oman, Evan Salsburry, Little John Willson, Stephen Crane, Henry Lyon, John Parker, John Ogden for John Dickinson, Leonard Headley, Nathanael Bonnel, George Morris, Joseph Osborn, Pardey, (Transfer'd to Henry Norris,) George Pack, John Pope, ffrancis Barber, William Oliver, Richard Painter, and Charles Tooker .*
The number is eighty ; of whom twenty one had third lot- rights, twenty six had second lot-rights, and thirty three had first lot-rights. Carteret had, in addition to his own third lot-right, the third lot-right of Baily, of whom he had pur- chased it. Twenty six had been admitted subsequently to the taking of the oath of allegiance in February, 1665: of whom some were sons of the first settlers.
Carteret brought over with him, in the ship Philip, eighteen male servants, belonging to Sir George and himself, a portion of whom were Frenchmen, probably from the Island of Jersey :-
John Dejardin Wm Hill
Claude Barbour
Doct' Rowland
Henry Hill Chas Seggin
Claude Vallot
Erasmus House. Dan Perrin
Richd Pewtinger John Tayler John Mittins
Richard Michell John Clarck Robert Wallis
Richard Skinner Wm
John alias Peter
besides severall others the same time imported, and many others since .?
In the first importation must have been included some female servants,-Mariah Thorell, Susannah Poulain, and Ellen Prou (all French) being of the number. Of the male servants, two were subsequently admitted as Associates : Claude Vallot and William Hill. Richard Michell had land given him by the Governor, but was not admitted as an .
* E. Town Book, B, pp. 2-3.
t E. J. Records, III. o. e. 30,
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Associate. Carteret's immigrants were a distinct class, in an inferior station, with whom the original planters had but little congeniality and familiarity.
Whence came these Associates, and what were they ? It is not to be supposed, that men of such plain habits, and of such humble stations, so unpretending, and so unknown to fame, should have left, on the historic page, any thing like full and distinct memorials of their origin and migrations. Their records have mostly perished. Of many of them almost nothing of their previous history can be learned. Of none of them can any thing very remarkable be related.
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learned to stray ; Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
It is proper to inquire, first, into the antecedents of the men who were prominent in procuring, from Gov. Nicolls and the Indians, permission to found the settlement.
JOHN STRICKLAND's name occupies tlie first place among those who sought here a home. He was, as already seen, a resident of Huntington, L. I. His application was in behalf of "a Company of the inglish nasion." He was simply their agent. The names of the " Company " have not been preserved. Strickland was an Englishman. He came over, in 1630, with Winthrop's company, and was admitted a freeman, in the Bay Colony, May, 1631. He was a member of the church of Watertown, Mass., from which he, Jonas Wood, and others, were dismissed, May 29, 1635, to form a new church on the borders of the Connecticut river. Soon after he removed to Wethersfield, Ct. His son, Thwait, settled there ; but the father, after a short sojourn, removed to Uncowah [Fairfield], Ct. Subsequently he took part in a bloody fight, at Greenwich, between the Dutch and Indians at a spot, since known as " Strickland's Plain." In 1644, he sold his estate at Uncowah to William Frost, and united with the Rev. Robert Fordham, John Ogden, John Karman, John Lawrence, and Jonas Wood, in settling on " the Great Plains
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THE HISTORY OF
on Long Island," to which they gave the name of Heemstede. In the patent, obtained, Nov. 16, 1644, he is called, "Stick- lan." In 1661, it appears, that he resided at Huntington, whence he sought to remove to this place. He was induced, however, to settle at Jamaica, L. I., and, in 1663, was one of the freeholders of that town. Yet he was a patentee of Huntington, in 1666, and still later a resident of Hempstead. The names of at least four of his associates at Fairfield and Hempstead are found among the E. Town Associates. It is quite likely that they were interested in the petition of 1661. The petitioners of 1664 were all of them his neighbors at Jamaica, as some of them had been at Watertown, Wethers- field, Fairfield, and Hempstead .*
JOHN BAILIES [BAYLIE, BAILY], the first signer of the peti- tion of 1664, was, probably, the same who resided at Guil- ford, Ct., in 1642. A John Baily was admitted a freeman of Ct., May 21, 1657, and was chosen constable at Hartford March 16, 1656. This may have been his son. Previous to 1662, he had removed to Jamaica, L. I., where he was fami- liarly called "Goodman Baylie," and was licensed to keep an Ordinary for the town. He was one of the four patentees of this town, but, probably, did not become a resident, as he dis- posed of his interest here, Sep. 8, 1665, to Gov. Carteret, for "a valuable sum." He was still living at Jamaica, in 1683.+
DANIEL DENTON, the next in order of the petitioners of 1664, and his brother NATHANIEL, the fourth in order, were sons of the Rev. Richard Denton, " a Yorkshire man," first settled at Halifax in England, who came to Watertown, Mass., in 1634, then to Wethersfield, Ct., in 1635, whence he re- moved to Stamford, in 1641, and thence to Hempstead, L. I., in 1644, having been the first minister of each of the last three towns. He returned to England, in 1658, and died, in 1662, at Essex. His two sons, Daniel and Nathaniel, were among the first patentees of Jamaica, L. I., in 1656. Daniel
* Trumbull's Connecticut, I. 163, 4. Brodhead's N. York, I. 391, note. Ct. Col. Records, I. 2, 465-6. Thompson's L. Isld., II. 4-5. Macdonald's Jamaica, p. 38.
t Ib. p. 33. Ct. Col. Records, I. 297, 326. Thompson's L. I., I. 468. N. Y. Doc. History, II. 521.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
was the first Clerk of the town, taught school, practised medi- cine, and served as Justice of the Peace. He wrote "A Brief Description of New York," which was published at London, in 1670, and was the first printed work on the subject in the English language. In 1673, he was a resident of Piscataway, and a magistrate. Nathaniel continued at Jamaica, and was living in 1683. The two brothers sold their rights in the E. Town purchase, in 1665, to Capt. John Baker and John Og- den. Another brother, Samuel, as appears from the depo- sitions on a previous page, was also interested in the pur- chase .*
THOMAS BENEDICT [BENYDICK], the third of the petitioners of 1664, was a native of Nottingham, Eng., where he was born, in the year 1617. He was bred a weaver, and mi- grated to New England, in 1638, with his step-sister, Mary Dreng Bridgum, whom, shortly after, he married. She was the mother of the numerous American family of Benedicts. Not long afterwards, they removed to Southold, L. I., where their five sons and four daughters were born. In June, 1656, they were residents of Huntington, L. I., and were neighbors of the Stricklands. In 1662, "Goodman Benedick " was one of the leading men of Jamaica. With Daniel Denton, his townsman, he represented Jamaica in the Hempstead Con- vention, March 1, 1664. The same year, instead of carrying out his original design of removing with his neighbors to Achter Kol, he became a resident of Norwalk, Ct., which henceforth became the home of the family.t
JOHN FOSTER, the fifth of the petitioners of 1664, was a resident of Jamaica. His father, Thomas, was of the Hemp- stead company, whither he came from Fairfield, Ct., as carly as 1644. The family were dwelling at Jamaica in 1663. Foster was still a citizen of Jamaica in 16SS. His interest in the new purchase was disposed of to another, but to whom, and for what cause, does not appear .;
* Macdonald's Jamaica, p. 46. N. Y. Col. Docmts., II. 557. Chapin's Glastenbury, p. 31. Mather's Magnalia, B. III. c. 9. vol. I. 300. N. Y. Doc. IIis. II. 521.
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