History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 138

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 138
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 138

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).

The counties in which public buildings had already been erected were named in the act, and Somerset was not among them, but provision was made for the location of a county-site " for the county of Somerset

* Rev. Stat., p. 198. + Ibid., pp. 200, 201.

# Allinson's Col. Laws, 1713, p. 15 ; Neville, 1703-78, p. 32.

at the most convenient place which shall be agreed on by a major part of the freeholders who inhabit there." It was under this authority that the public buildings of Somerset County were erected soon after. The tenor of the above-mentioned act implies that, before its passage, Somerset County had been sepa- rately organized, and the holding of its own courts (independent of those of Middlesex) provided for. It is certain that about three years later (1717) Som- erset had its own courts in operation,¿ as this fact is shown by the records.

The county of Morris, which forms the northern and part of the eastern boundary of Somerset, was set off and defined as a separate county by act of the Provincial Assembly, March 15, 1738-39. Two years later the territory of Somerset was increased by the operation of " An act to annex part of the county of Essex to the county of Somerset," passed Nov. 4, 1741, which provided,-

"SEC. 1. That from and after the publication hereof, the lines and bounde of the said county of Somerset shall be as follows,-vide licet, be- ginning at the South Branch of Raritan River, where the reputed divi- aion line between East and West Jersey strikes the same, along the rear of Raritan lots, until it meets with the North Branch of said river; thenca np the sama to a fall of water commonly called Allamatonck ; from thenca along the bonnde of Morris County to Passaick River; thance down the same to the lower corner of William Dockwrae'a two patents on the same river; and thence, on a straight line, aontheasterly, to the head of Green Brook ; and thence down the same brook to Bound Brook ; thence down said Bound Brook to the place where it empties itself into Raritan River; thance down Raritan River to the place where the road crosseth said river at Inian's ferry; from thence along said old road, which leads hy Jedediah Higgins' house, towards the falle of Delaware, until it intersects the division line aforesaid; thence along the aaid divi- sion line to the South Branch of Raritan River, aforesaid, where it first began; any act or acts of the General Assembly of this Province, or any article, clanse, or thing in them or any of them contained, to the contrary thereof, in any wisa, notwithstanding."[

On the 21st of March, 1749, an act affecting the boundary between Somerset and Morris Counties was passed by the Provincial Legislature, enacting as fol- lows :

"SEc. 1. That from and aftar tha publication heraof, the division lina between the counties of Somerset and Morris shall be ne followa,-vide licet, beginning at a fall of water commonly called Allamatonck falla, and also mentioned in the before-recited act; and from thence on a straight line, in a course east and by north, as the compass now points, to the Main Branch of Passaick River; and so down the said river, as the before- recited act directs, anything harein, or in any other act, to the contrary thereof notwithstanding."T

A survey and re-establishment of the line between Middlesex and Somerset Counties in 1765 is thus men- tioned in a historical paper from the pen of the late Hon. Ralph Voorhees ;**

" In 1713 the boundary line between Middlesex and Someraat Counties was changed from the first one, which ran up Lawrence'e Brook, to the one beginning where the old road crossed the river Raritan at Inian'a Ferry, and following said road until it crossed the ' Province Line.' In 1765 it was represented that the line running from the province line to tha Raritan River was very dubious, by reason of persons altering it from

¿ See " Conrts and County Buildinga."

| Rev. Stat., p. 201.

T Ibid., p. 200.

** One of a seriea published in 1873 in the Fredonian, of New Bruns- wick.

565

ERECTION, ORGANIZATION, AND BOUNDARIES OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

the old road, which ran in general upon the line ef the counties ; ond com- missioners were thereupon appointed-Azariah Dunham one of them-to run the line ond permanently mark It, which hud never been done before, as it appeared that the old rood, following the old Iodian path, had been considered es the division line. Azariah Dunham wos a prominent sor- veyor, a goed scholar, and a man of public notoriety, officiating In various public capacities. Ile ran the line as directed, and made a complete map of the survey, which is atill in existence, and in a good stato of preserva- tion. The map contains all the streets, and the location of all the housea standing near the old rood, with the names of their owners, to the prov- ince, er lonterden county line, a short distance beyond Princeton.">

On the 24th of November, 1790, the Legislature of the State of New Jersey passed " An act for altering and resettling part of the boundary line between the counties of Somerset and Middlesex."+ By the terms of that act it was provided,-

"Scc. 1. That the middle of the main six-rod roud, as established by law, from the ferry at the city of New Brunswick, formerly called Iniau's ferry, to the boundary line of the county of Hunterdon, on the road to Trenton, shall be the boundary line of those parts of the counties of Middlesex and Somerset which are on the south side of the river Raritan.

" Scc. 2. That all the lands and tenements lying to the northward of the line hereinbefore established, and heretofore belonging to the county of Middlesex, shall be, and ore hereby, annexed to the county of Somer- set; and all the lands and tenements on the southword of said line, here- tofore belonging to the county of Somerset, shall be, and are hereby, annexed to the said county of Middlesex."

In the ercetion of the county of Merecer (by act of the Legislature approved Feb. 27, 1838) a small portion of the southernmost territory of Somerset was taken off' and made a part of the new county. Fol- lowing is given that part of the act by which the change was effected :

" . . . All that part of the township of Montgomery, in the county of Somerset, which lica south of the following line,-to wit, Beginning on the Millstone River where the boundary line between the counties of Middlesex and Somerset crosses the same, continuing down said river to the original southeastorly corner of a tract of land called the Van Horn tract, and thence running westerly along the original south boundary of said tract, and continuing on in the same course to the middle of the rond called the Pennington rond, lending from the village of Rocky Hill to the village of l'onnington ; and thence westerly along the middle of said road to the boundary line of the county of Somerset,-sboll be, and the same is hereby, attached to and made a part of the county of Mercer; ... and said line shall hereafter be the boundary line between the county of Mercer and the county of Somerset.";

In 18442 the township of Tewksbury, in Hunterdon County, was annexed to Somerset County hy legisla- tive aet, and in the following year the same township was in the same manner taken from Somerset and re- annexed to Hunterdon.||

Again, Feb. 1, 1850, the limits of Somerset were contracted, and a fraction of its territory given to Middlesex County, by an act (approved on the above- mentioned date) which provided and declared,-

" That all that part of the township of Franklin, in the county of Somerset, lying within the bound, of the city of New Brunswick, and contained within the limits following-viz., Beginning in the Raritan River, in the now boundary line of the counties of Middlesex and Son- orset, and running westerly by zuid Ino along the old stage-road leading

* The survey is recorded in Liber B. 3 of Deeds. page 342, et sey., Secre- tary's office of Now Jersey, nt Burlington.

+ Revised Statutes Stato N. J., p. 201.

Į Il hil., p. 205.

¿ Ibid., p. 253.

[ Ibid., 18.45, p. 15.

to Trenton until it strikes the Mille-Run brook ; thence down sald brook the several coorses theroof to Raritan River ; thence down sald Raritan River to the place of beginning-shall be, and the same is heroby, set off and made a part of the county of Middlesex, and shall be annexed to, and made a part of, the township of North Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex; and the boundary line between the township of North Brunswick, as by this oct constituted, and the odjoining township of Franklin, in the county of Somerset, shall be the boundary line between the county of Middlesex and the county of Somerset," etc."

Subsequent changes in the boundary between Mid- dlesex and Somerset Counties were made by two acts of the State Legislature, passed in 1855 and 1858 re- speetively. The act defining the south line of Som- erset, between Kingston Bridge and Little Rocky Hill, approved March 29, 1855, was as follows :

"SEC. 1. A line cominiencing at a point in the centre of the Kingston bridge where the same crosses the Millstone River, and running casterly, along the centre of the Princeton and Kingston branch turnpike, to tho forke of the old road leading to New Brunswick, and said turnpike; thence along the centre of the eld road leading to New Brunswick, the several corners thereof, os the road now runs, until it strikes the present division line at the top of Little Rocky Ilill, be and is hereby constituted the division line between the said counties" of Somerset and Middlesex.

The other enactment, approved Feb. 6, 1858, was in these terms :

"SEC. 1. From and after the passage of this act, that the boundary line between the counties of Somerset and Middlesex shall commence in the centre of the Franklin and Georgetown turnpike road, at the point where the said road intersects and forms the boundary line of the city of New Brunswick, and runs thence along the centro of said turnpike road to William E. Barker's Ton-Mile Ron."

This alteration of the boundary line set some of the inhabitants of North Brunswick and South Brunswick over to the township of Franklin, in Somerset, and changed some of the people of the last-named town- ship into North and South Brunswick, in Middlesex County.

Finally, in 1876, the Legislature passed " An act to straighten the county-line brook dividing Union and Somerset Counties, in the city of Plainfield" (ap- proved March 16th in that year), which, after reciting in its preamble, " Whereas a certain stream of water known as Green Brook (the same being the county line between U'nion and Somerset Counties), at a point in the city of Plainfield where the same crosses a street known as Elm Place, because of its present course before crossing said Elm Place being nearly at right angles with the general course of the stream, eauses the roadway and adjoining properties to over- flow in time of high water," enacted

"That the boards of chosen frecholders of the counties of Union and Somerset shall so change the course of Green Brook, crossing Elin Place in the city of l'ininfiehl, as that it shall cross snid street in a line parallel with the general course of the stream north of Elmi Place. . . . That the county line shall be so changed as that Green Brook, when so straightened, shall continue to be the dividing line between the conuties of Union and Somerset the same as before the passage of this act."

This was the last of the changes in the boundary lines of Somerset County, leaving them as at present established.

· Ibid , p. 1200.

566

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

CHAPTER IV.

COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

Early Courts-Grand Jury of 1717-Precept to the Coroner, 1729-Early Trials, etc .- Orphaus' Court-Marriage Bends-Public Buildings- Court-House, Jail, etc.

IN 1675, under Berkeley and Carteret, provision was made by law for the holding of courts in the four counties of New Jersey, as follows : two courts to be held in Bergen, two in Essex, two in Monmouth, and two in Middlesex. The Supreme Court met once a year at a place appointed by the Governor.

While Somerset County was included in Middlesex the courts were held, according to act of 1682 (chap. vi. p. 231), on the third Tuesdays of March and Sep- tember in the public meeting-house in Woodbridge, and on the third Tuesdays of June and December in the public meeting-house in Piscataway. In this same year an act was passed (chap. v. pp. 229, 230) for the holding of a court once a month in each town in East Jersey, on the first Wednesday of every month, for the determining of small causes and cases of debt to the value of forty shillings or under. Thus towns were recognized, but their limits were not defined. In 1686 the County Courts of Middlesex were directed to be held on the third Tuesdays of December and September at Perth Amboy; on the third Tuesdays of March and June respectively at Piscataway and Woodbridge.

In 1694 an act was passed which provided

" That the county of Somerset shall be subject and liable unto the officers and jurisdiction of the county of Middlesex until there he a eufficient number of inhabitants to constitute officers and jurisdiction within the said county. Anything herstofore made and enncted to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding."*

The county remained within the jurisdiction of Mid- dlesex until 1714, at which time an act was passed pro- viding for the erection of a court-house in Somerset County. In 1717 "the grand jury of Somerset came into court, reported nothing offered, and were dis- charged."+ In 1720, at a session of court, the grand jury returned an indictment against Hannah Taylor. A precept dated April 3, 1729, directed to the coroner of the county, which has been preserved, is as follows:

" NEW JERSEY SOMERSET SS.

George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the faith, &c.

"To the Ceroner of the County of Somerset Greeting :

" We command you, that you of the Goods and Chattelsof Adrian Ben- nett, Late of the County of Somerset, Innholder in your Bailiwick, You cause to be made fourteen pounds, fourteen shillings and four pence, which Daniel Hollingshend, the judge and justice of our County Court for helding of pleas for the County of Somerset, in the said Court, Recovered against him the said Adrian Bennett, By reason of a Certain Trespass upon the case Lately done to him the said Hollingshead, &c., &c.

" Witness Thomas Leonard, Esq., judge of our said Court, at ye house aforesaid, ye third Day of April, in ye Second year of our reign.

" WILL. HOLLINGSHEAD, CU.

" Vera Copia.

"FRANCIS HARRISON, Coroner."

* Leaming and Splcer, p. 348.

+ Hon. Ralph Voorhees in " Our Home," p. 5.

The records of the court were destroyed by fire at the burning of the court-house in 1737. The next year an act was passed for building a court-house in place of one "accidentally burnt down." This was followed by the erection of a court-house and jail at Millstone.

In 1752 a negro servant of Jacob Van Neste's was convicted at Millstone, under English laws, of mur- dering his master, and condemned to be burned.

"Sheriff Van Doren enferced the penalty. It is said that many of the negroes of the surrounding country were present, forming the inner, while the whites fermed the onter, circle around the fire. During the burning the sheriff mounted his horse, with a drawn sword in hand, and rode between the spectators and the fire, to keep the former at a proper distance. Sheriff Van Doren is said to have heen a man of se great pop- ularity as to have held his office for twenty years.";

A case was brought before Jacob Van Ostrand, justice of the peace, bearing date Dec. 18, 1769, entitled an action in regard to "J. Castner's Harry, and Jeronimus Van Nest complainant for breaking his negro Jupiter's head." Harry confessed that he had hit him with a stand-block a foot square, weigh- ing five or six pounds. He was ordered to be con- fined in jail, Dec. 22, 1769. Justice Van Ostrand associated with himself two other justices of the peace, Mr. Van Horne and Benjamin Morgan, and five free- holders,-viz., William Crook, John Vroom, John Baptist Dumont, Samuel Staats Coejeman, and Mat- thew Ten Eyck, Sr. Several witnesses were examined after having been duly sworn. The three justices and the freeholders found him guilty of murder, and ordered him to be executed on the 31st of December.

The Board of Freeholders audited the following account en Dec. 3, 1779: " Agreed that the sum of £224 14s. be paid unte Peter Dumont, Late Sheriff of said county, for executing the sentence of death on a negro convicted of murder."

The records of the court were burned at the destruc- tion of the court-house by Col. Simcoe in October, 1779, and it is not known what negro the above has reference to or the particulars. Mr. Dumont was sheriff in 1774-76.

The first record of court after the destruction of the court-house dates Hillsborough, January term, 1778. The judges at this term were Peter Schenck, Jacob Bergen, Abram Van Neste, and Enos Kelsey. Twenty- two cases were brought against the State, "on appeal from, etc., for not going out in the militia in April last." The court did not remit the fine in twelve cases. Richard Stockton's was the first case. He made allegation that he was not within the meaning of the several militia laws of the State, and upon heavy proofs the court ordered him discharged. The fines were remitted in eleven cases. The grand jury, being called, appeared and answered as follows: Garret Voorhees, Martin Hoagland, Abram Low, Richard Hall, Jacobus Van Huys, Bernardus Garret- son, Wim8 Van Cleefe, Albert Voorhees, Daniel Perrine, John Stryker, Mindert Wilson, Frederick Probasco, Isaac Brown, Lawrence Van Cleefe, Lucas

# "Our Home," 1873, p. 6.

567

COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

Neffus, Peter Wyckoff, Ryneer Veghte, John Brokaw, Garret Garretson, John Wyckoff, and Benjamin Bro- kaw. Two indictments were brought in.

In June, 1778, the grand jury presented indictments against Jupiter, negro of Col. McDonald, and Jove, negro of John Phenix, for petty larceny. They were tried and convicted at the October term, and it was ordered that the negroes be whipped with twenty lashes on the same afternoon, and twenty more on the following Monday at Pluckamin. In the January term of Quarter Sessions the next year, David Henry's negro Cæsar was indicted, tried, and convicted of theft. It was ordered that he receive thirty-nine stripes on the bare back at Hillsborough, and thirty-nine stripes on "Monday next se'n-night at the cross-roads."

The following deserves preservation as an account of a trial in 1780. It was held in some private house in Millstone:

" At a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the peace holders at Hills- borough, in and for the County of Somerset, June Term, 1780.

" TUESDAY, June 20, 1780.

" The State

Indictment for Felony.

Toblo, Negro Slave of Mary Middagh.

" The Defendant being Charged, plead not guilty, and put himself on his Goil, and the Country.

" WEDNESDAY, JuDO 21, 1780.

" The said negro, Tobio, being sent to the Bar, on motion of Mr. At- torney-General for trial, It is ordered that the Sheriff make return of his Vonire, &c., whereupon he made return accordingly, when the following persons appeared and were sworn as Jurors :

" John Schureman, Foreman.

" John Messoroll, Peter Van Gelder.

" Josinh Clawson, Jacob Wyckoff.

" Benjamin Hegemon, William Post.

" l'eter l'umyen,

John Y. Arsdalen,

" Henry Cock, Aaron Ten Eyck, " George Van Nest.

" Then evidences wore sworn in behalf of the State.

" The Jury withdrew to consider of their verdict, having Hugh Walker, a Coustablo, sworn to attend them.

" The Jury returned Into court, and, being called over, appear and say, that they oro agreed upon their verdict, and by John Schureman, their foreman, suy that they find the suid negro Tobie Guilty of the said F'olony whereof he stands charged, in manner and form, etc.

" The said negro Toble, being sent to the bar, on motion of Mr. At- tornoy-General for Judgment, the sald Tobie was asked by the Court what he had to say or offer why Judgment should not be given against him, and the said Tobio not saying anything in Bar theroof, It is ordered that the suid negro Tobie be taken to the place froor whence he came, and from theuco, on Saturday the twenty-fourth day of June instant, to the place of Execution, and there between the hours of ton in the fore- noon and three In the afternoon of the same day, be banged by the neck until he bo dend."

Thus it appears that "Tobie" was charged with an indictment on June 20th, was tried the 21st, and was executed on the 24th !

After the burning of the court-house in Millstone (1779), an act passed the General Assembly of New Jersey, June 5, 1780, "declaring that all cases hereto- fore brought before the court of Somerset County should be brought to such place as the frechoklers of the county may direct as the place for holding court." The last term of court in Hillsborough was held in January, 1783. The April term of the same year was

hekì at Bridgewater, in a small building known as the "Court-Martial House," then standing on Mount Pleasant east of Somerville. Upon the completion of the court-house (then standing east of the present one), the same year, courts were held therein for six- teen years. The October term of court, 1799, was held in the present court-house, sinee which time the courts of Somerset County have been regularly held there.

The records show that while the courts were held in the old court-house, between the years 1783 to 1799, three negroes were indicted for arson, as follows: Oet. 9, 1788, indictments were found against "Dine, a female negro slave," and "Sam the elder and Sam the younger," both negroes. Dine and Sanı the elder were sentenced to be hung on Oct. 17, 1788, and Sam the younger on the 14th of November in the same year. The records also show that at the January term of court, 1786, an indictment was presented against Samuel McDonald for felony, but there is no account of the case coming to trial.

By an act approved April 18, 1846, it was ordered that

"The Circuit Courts, the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and the Orphans' Conrt shall hold anoually three statod terms at the times and places following, and not otherwise, that is to say. . . . In the conuty of Somerset, at Bridgewater, on the Third Tnosdoy in April, September, and December, respectively."#

ORPHANS' COURT.

For many years the Governor of the State was also surrogate-general and granted letters of administra- tion and letters testamentary, the affidavits of proofs of wills being obtained by the surrogate of the county where the deceased resided. All papers recorded prior to 1804 are in the office of the Governor at Trenton. From that time a record is on file in the Surrogate's office at Somerville. Many statements of accounts and other papers of which no other record is kept are in the vaults of this office. Among them is a package of marriage bonds, a copy of one of which is here given, followed by a list of the names :

" KNOW ALL MEN DY THESE PRESENTS:

" That we, Gisbert Lane and Jolin Bonnet, are held and firmly bonud onto His Excellency William Livingston, Governor and Commander-in- Chief of New Jersey, etc, in the sum of Five Hundred Pounds, current Lawful Money of New Jersey, to be paid to the sald William Livingstoo, Governor, etc., his successors or aseigus; for which payment well and truly to be made we bind ourselves, our Heirs, Executors, and Admin- istrators, and every of them, jointly and severally, firmly by these pro- senta, sealed with our Seals, dated the seventh day of August, Anno Domint One Thousand Seven Hundred and eighty-five.

" The condition of this oldigation is such that, whereas there is a mu- tual contract of marriage between Gisbert Lano of the one party and Libby Bonnet of the other party, and the parties have coniplied with the termy prescribed in an Act of the General Assembly of New Jersey, Dinde In the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and nine- teen, entitled ' An Art to prevent Clandestino Marriages,' Now, If it shall hereafter appear that the certificates produced, or either of them, have been fraudulent, ur that either the aforesnid Gisbert Lane or the sail Libby Bennett, en richer of theni, had sumo lawful let or impediment of

· Revised Statutes State of New Jersey, p. 222.

568

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

pre-contract, affinity, or consanguinity to hinder them being joined in the boly bonds of matrimony, and afterwards of living together ae man and wife, theo this obligation to stand and remain in full force and virtue, otherwise to be void and of none effect.

" Sealed and delivered in presence of

"GISBERT LANE, [SEAL] " JOHN BENNET. [SEAL]"

The names of parties to other similar bonds in the same file are as follows :

Hendrick Bennet, Jinney Bennet; Gisbert Lane, Libby Bennet, Aug. 7, 1785; Roeleff Voorhees, Mary Van Cleef, Ang. 9, 1785; Jobn Lim- burger, Molly Ross, Ang. 9, 1785 ; Abraham Van Horu, Anne Covea- boven, Oct. 10, 1785; Jacob Van Noordstrandt, Frances Nevill, Nov. 18, 1785; Peter Quick, Jenny Cornell, Nov. 20, 1785; Daniel Am- merman, Lanah Brokaw, Dec. 7, 1785; Barent Cornell, Catharine Stoothoff, Dec. 12, 1785 ; Jobn McDowell, Catharine Parkinson, Dec. 16, 1785; John Brokaw, Catharine Deforest, Dec. 26, 1785; Hugh Logan, Aeltje Van Doren, Feb. 6, 1786; William Willett, Nellie Wyckoff, Feb. 16, 1786; Joha Dnyckinck, Jr., Elizabeth Riviogston, March 4, 1786; Abrabam Tunison, Abagail Wortman, April 1, 1786; Isaac Brokaw, Marie Boice. April 10, 1786; Isaac Deforest, Keneertje Wortman, April 10, 1786 ; Jobu Christopher, Polley Van Lien, May 3, 1786; Guisbert Sutphin, Mary W. Eoff, Sept. 2, 1786; Matthew Lane, Marie Johnson, Sept. 27, 1786; Cornelius Van Ilergelen, Elizabeth Wyckoff, Oct. 2, 1786 : Jacob Debow, Caty Lake, Dec. 16, 1786; Minna Fisher, Mary Blane, Jan. 19, 1787; Benjamin Coddington, Anne Teeple, Sept. 1, 1787.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 138

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170