History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 205

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 205
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 205


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Mr. Nevius was married on Jan. 10, 1849, to Eleanor Long- street, daughter of Samuel and Phebe Ann (Brokaw) Cruser, an old family of Hillsborough township. She was born Nov. 2, 1829. There have been no children.


P


AT.S


RES. OF FREDERICK V. L. NEVIUS, FRANKLIN TP., SOMERSET CO., N. J.


833


FRANKLIN.


who married Jacob Van Nostrand. The mother sub- sequently married Garret Nevius.


Joseph A. Suydam was born on the old homestead, Dec. 14, 1772. He married Mary, daughter of Mat- thew Brown, of Six-Mile Run, Sept. 25, 1797. She was born May 3, 1774. The issue of the marriage were Abraham J., born July 21, 1798; Matthew, born Feb. 22, 1801, died Feb. 26, 1824; Jane Voor- hees, born Oct. 2, 1803, died Dec. 26, 1820; Andrew, born Aug. 9, 1806, now deceased; Peter, born Dec. 13, 1808; John, born Oct. 18, 1810, died June 21, 1846; and Isaac, born Sept. 2, 1816, died Jan. 6, 1836. Joseph A. Suydam passed his life as a farmer where Peter J. Suydam now lives. Ile died Dec. 22, 1867, and his wife on May 21, 1851.


Abraham J. Suydam was born on his father's home- stead, at Pleasant Plains, on the date mentioned above. He enjoyed the benefits of a common-school education, and married, on May 3, 1826, Ida, daughter of John and Jane Williamson Pumyea, of Three-Mile Run. She was born Oct. 23, 1802. He then engaged in farming at Three-Mile Run, on a farm which he still owns. In the year 1850 he purchased his present farm, of the estate of Simon Van Liew, where he has since resided. The life of Mr. Suydam has been a quiet and unostentatious one, free from publie an- noyances and the strife and confusion of political life. In politics he is a Republican, and has served on the town committee of Franklin township, as collector, overseer of the poor, and as frecholder for three years. He bears an unblemished reputation, and enjoys the full confidence of his friends and acquaintances. He has contributed cheerfully to all worthy purposes throughout a long life, and is a member of the Re- formed Church of Six-Mile Run. His wife died Aug. 18, 1875.


The children of Mr. Suydam have been Jane, born April 27, 1827, died Feb. 16, 1864; John P., born Oct. 12, 1829, residing in Newark ; Mary, born June 15, 1831, died March 1, 1852; Matthew, born Jan. 27, 1833, living on the home farm; Agnes Ann, born Sept. 22, 1835, married Theodore Skillman, June 1, 1859; Isaac A., born April 9, 1837, died Sept. 11, 1863; Abraham A., born Dec. 23, 1838, died May 9, 1865; and Peter P., born Aug. 23, 1846, died Dec. 28, 18-16.


JOHN S. NEVIUS.


Johannes Nevius, from Solen (probably Solingen, in Westphalia), was the ancestor of the Nevius family in America. He was a trader by occupation, and through his traffic with the Dutch colony of New Am- sterdam finally settled at the latter place. The rec- ords of the Dutch Church show that on Nov. 18, 1653, the banns of marriage were declared between Johannes Nevins, from Solen, and Araientje Bleyck, from Batavia, isle of Java, East Indies, Johannes offered a loan of forty dollars to the city of New Am-


sterdam that same year for erecting the palisades, and in 1635 he was taxed twenty dollars to defray the expenses of constructing the city defenses. In this latter year he was also elected a city schepen, and in


John I Noves


1658 he succeeded to the office of " secretary of the court of burgomasters and schepens." While fill- ing this position he occupied the City Hall, on the present line of Pearl Street, opposite Coenties Slip, and was at one time granted permission to sow grain in the front yard of the hall. When New Amster- dam surrendered to the English, in 1665, he was su- perseded in office by Nicholas Bayard, after which he resided at the ferry-landing on Long Island, prob- ably until his death.


Johannes Nevius had eight children,-viz., Jo- hannes, born in 1634; Sara, born in 1656; Cornelis, born in 1657; Marie, born in 1658; Cornelis (sec- ond), born in 1661; Petrus, born in 1662; Sara Cath- arine, born in 1661; and Johanna, born in 1667 or 16GS.


Petrus was the one through whom comes the Som- erset County line. He was baptized in New Amster- dam on Feb. 1, 1663. In 1683 he was living at Flat Lands. In 1687 he took the onth of allegiance to the English, and was yet living at Flat Lands in 1698, with his wife, Janetje Roeloff Schenck ( whom he married June 22, 1681), seven children, and one slave. His son, David, was born in 1702, and was baptized at Brooklyn. He was the assessor of Franklin town- ship, Somerset Co., in 1745, and had six children,-


834


SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.


viz., Albert, William, Peter D., Neltje, Janetje, and Altje. Peter D. had five children,-Garret, David, Peter, John, and Albert.


.


John S. Nevius, the subject of this sketch, is the son of Garret, and was born Oct. 19, 1797, at Griggs- town, N. J., where his father was a blacksmith and farmer. His mother was Mary, daughter of John Staats, of Hillsborough township. Mr. Nevius passed the earlier years of his life at home, and en- joyed the benefits of a common-school education. In the year 1812 his father came into possession of the family homestead, at present occupied by our subject, and at his death, in 1819, it passed by will to the latter and his brother, Peter G., then comprising one hundred and fifty-three acres. Soon after, Mr. Nevius purchased the interest of his brother in the property, and resided there until 1845. He then purchased the farm of one hundred and fifty acres where Abraham V. Polhemus resides, and resided there twenty years, after which he


returned to the home farm, which, with his son, Garret, and his grandson, is now occupied hy the sixth genera- tion of the family. Mr. Nevius has confined his life- work to the cultivation of the soil, and by industry, fru- gality, and conscientious principles of life has accumu- lated a large estate and placed himself in the front rank of the agriculturists of his township. He is a Demo- crat of the Jacksonian school, but has held only minor offices. He is a liberal supporter of the various be- nevolent enterprises of his day, and a member of the Franklin Park Reformed Church.


His first wife was Mary, daughter of Andrew Brown, of Six-Mile Run, whom he married in 1819. The children were Garret, who occupies the old home- stead with his father, and Ann (deceased), wife of Frederick Disbrow, of Millstone. Their mother, who was born in 1796, died in 1830. In 1844, Mr. Nevius married a second wife, the widow of Jaques Voor- hees, who died in 1870, aged seventy-five.


MONTGOMERY.


LOCATION-AREA-BOUNDARY.


MONTGOMERY is the southernmost township of Somerset County. Hillsborough bounds it on the north ; on the east the Millstone River separates it from Franklin and Mercer Counties, while East Amwell township bonnds it on the west. In the " New Jersey State Gazetteer" of 1834 the township is described as being 8 miles long hy 8 wide, and as having an area of 36,500 acres. It should be remembered, however, that at the time this description was given the town- ship included a large tract of land subsequently taken off and annexed to the township of Princeton, in Mer- cer County.


An act of the Legislature passed Feb. 27, 1838, established the following as the boundaries of Mont- gomery :


" All that part of the township of Montgomery, in the county of Som- erset, which lies south of the following line-to wit : Beginning on the Millstone River, where the boundary line between the counties of Mid- dlesex and Somerset crosses the same, continuing down said river to the original southeasterly 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 saine course to the middle of the road called the Pennington Road, leading from the village of Rocky Hill to the village of Pennington, and thence westerly along the middle of said road to the boundary line of the county of Somerset-shall 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." *


The territory thus taken off' contained 16,910 acres, leaving the present arca of Montgomery 19,590 acres.


* Acts of the Assembly, 1838, p. 209.


NATURAL FEATURES.


The surface is hilly, the soil clay, sandy loam, and red shale. Along the water-courses there is a large amount of fine bottom-land, in which the red shale is predominant.


Beeden's Brook flows through the southern part of the township. The north branch of Beeden's, and Black, Roaring, and No-Pike Brooks, are tributarics of Beeden's.


In the western portion of the township is the Sour- land Ridge, one of whose peaks rises to a height of several hundred feet. The "Roaring Rocks" are in this chain. They consist of a series of rocks and caves, beneath which is a constantly-flowing stream, the waters of which make a peculiar echo or roar as they dash from rock to rock. The "Devil's Half-Acre" is another point of interest in the Sour- land Ridge. It is a wild spot, and takes its name from a number of rocks thrown in great disorder over a space of about half an acre, as indicated in the name. Some of these rocks are of very curious con- formation. One is known as "Table Rock." The locality is nnfit for human habitation, and to onr superstitious forefathers it was a spot to be avoided, as if it was the veritable abode of the Evil One. Robbed of its superstitious terrors, it has become, in these latter days, a favorite resort for picnic-parties. The spot is now the property of David C. Voorhees,. who purchased it a few years ago.


835


MONTGOMERY.


EARLY TITLES AND SETTLEMENT.


Peter Sonmans,* son of Arent Sonmans, one of the twenty-four proprietors, in 1693 obtained a deed for a tract of about 36 square miles, embracing a large part of Montgomery. His line began near Clover HIill, and ran southeast along the present county line for 64 miles, to a point directly west of Blawen- burg, and thence cast and southeast, bordering on the land of Dr. Greenland, to the Millstone River, near Rocky Hill; thence down the river 1} miles to the previous river grants (Benthall, etc.), and so along the southerly and westerly sides of these and the lands of Royce until it struck the Raritan, following which and the South Branch, and winding around a couple of plantations previously ceded to Daniel Hooper and John Bennett (1683), his bounds returned to Clover Hill, the place of beginning. The southern portion of this tract, being 6800 acres in Montgomery town- ship, in 1706 came into the possession of William Dockwra, who sold it the next year to John Van Horne.


-


South of Sonmans' tract were the plots of Richard Stocking, on the west, and Dr. Henry Greenland, on the east, extending to the Millstone, both in this town- ship. That of Greenland was purchased prior to 1685, -nearly or quite ten years before Peter Sonmans be- came a land-owner here. Hle was away up the Mill- stone, "solitary and alone in the wilderness," in the vicinity of what, no doubt, is now Rocky IIill.+


In the north part of what is now Montgomery town- ship, on the east, were the lots of Thomas Hart and Walter Benthall (1690), and, on the west, the "Har- lingen tract," of 8939 acres, which was the central third part of the Sonmans possessions.


Thomas Hart, of London, one of the proprietors of East Jersey, by his attorney, Rip Van Dam, of New York, conveyed 4000 acres to Gerardus Beekman, Adrian Beekman, William Crood, John Aortson, Thomas Casdale, and Lanenster Symes; this transfer 5was consummated December 14th, in the sixth year of the reign of William III. October 26th, in the first year of the reign of George II., William Beek- man and Catharine, his wife, sold 1333 acres of the above-mentioned tract to Christopher Hoagland .;


The Harlingen tract was the purchase of seventeen Dutch settlers, in 1710, of Peter Sonmans; their names were Octavio Conrants, Ab. Wendell, merchant, Adrian Hooglandt, Isaac Governeur, of New York City, Anna Volkers, widow, of Kings Co., L. I., Henry Hegeman, Francis Van Lewen, William Beekman, of Queens


Co., L. I., Joseph Hegeman, Hendrick Veghte, Cor. Van Duyn, Wouten Van Felt, Ort Van Pelt, of Kings Co., L. I., Dirck Volkers, of New Jersey, Peter Cor- telyou, Jacob Van Dyke, and Claas Volkertse, of Kings Co., L. I. It was bounded as follows :


" Beginning at the south corner of land of Willlam Plumstend, being 116 miles nud 4 chains from Millstone Rivar (by what is now the Now Amwoll Road) ; thence south-southwest 234 miles and 8 chains, went- northwest 1 mile 18 chains, south-southwest 237 miles and 7 chalus, west 316 niles and 3 chalna to the partition line between East and West Jersey ; thenco north 14º west 30 chinins, north: 63º east 7 miles and 20 chains, cast I milo and 17 chains, to place of beginning, having Inods of Plumstead, Barker, Hart, and Benthall on the cast, and the division liue and other lands of Peter Sonmaus on the west."


The eastern and southern line of this tract ran from the present farm of Adrian Merrill, west of Millstone, along the present road, which is on that line, to the present farm of Theodore Wyckoff, thence to the old Harlingen cemetery, and thence southwest and west to Rock Mills.


Not quite two-thirds of the Harlingen tract lay within this township, all north of the church lot and William Beekman's land being in Hillsborough .¿


John Harrison was an early settler, residing at Rocky Hill in 1717, or possibly some years earlier. He was engaged in 1701, by the Governor and pro- prietors of East Jersey, to extinguish the Indian title to lands in their province. In a deed obtained from Nowenock, an Indian chief, dated June 24, 1717, he is called " John Harrison, of Rockie Hill." HIe is accredited with owning the first mills on the Millstone, which were built previous to 1716, with purchasing large tracts of land still earlier, and is known to have been a member of Assembly from Somerset County in 1703, and again in 1707; it is therefore not unlikely that he settled here about the beginning of the eighteenth century .!


Hendrick Polhemus" settled in Harlingen at an unknown date (probably about 1730), upon a large tract of land said to contain 708 acres, and extend- ing from the Millstone River to Harlingen, which was purchased by his father, Daniel, in 1728, jointly with Cornelius Cornell, of Rip Van Dam and Lan- caster Symes, for £1775. Daniel did not occupy this land, but, dying soon after the purchase (just prior to 1730), his son, Ilendrick, came into possession, Cor-


¿ Seo map of land titles, In this work.


| Seo, further, sketch of the Harrison family In Franklin township history.


" The original name was Polheem, the Latin terminal wa being affixed as a mark of eminence, according to n custom onco prevalent in Holland among men of distinction. Anciently momo members of this family on- Joyod celebrity in the cities of Antwerp and Ghent. Elonzer Polhemus was a learned jurist and burgomaster of Antwerp In 1310, Johannes Theodorus l'olhomus, the progenitor of all the families of the name In Amerien, was a minister of the Reformed t'hurch of Holland ; he came In 1654, was pastor of the church at Flatbush from 1654 to 1665, and of that at Brooklyn until his death, Junn 9, 1676. His wife was Catharine Van Werven ; his children were Theodorus, Daniel, Elizabeth, Adriann, Auna, nul Margaret. Daniel left sons,-Cornelius, Daniel, Hendrick (the pioneer of Harliogon), and Jacob, All left families. See " Hiker's Anaals of New Town" (Long Island), for further particulars of theso families,


* Mr. Sonmane wwan nativo of Holland, educated at Leyden, and hold Important offices under King William Hil. Ho was surveyor-general of Journey four years, a member of the Council, a judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, and ropresented Bergen County in the General Assembly. Although a churchman by profession, he gave land for a dieventing church at Hopewell aud for a Dutch church at what Is nuw Harlingen .- Colonial Hist. New York, vol. v. pp. 204, 328, et ..


+ Dr. Corwin's " Centennial Memorial of Millstone D. R. Church," 1866.


I From a deed In possession of Henry V. Hongland, of Griggstown, N. J.


836


SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.


nell releasing to him his half-interest. Hendrick very soon after removed to and settled upon it; there he built a log house. He was succeeded on the home- stead by his son Hendrick ; Hendrick by his son Dan- iel (the father of Hendrick Polhemus, for some time pastor of the churches of Harlingen and Neshanic, who died in 1813) ; Daniel by his son Isaac; and Isaac by his son Isaac, lately deceased, brother of Bernard Pol- hemus, now of Somerville, and Peter G. Polhemus, now of New Brunswick. The old homestead is now owned by William Williamson, who resides thereon. It was in the possession of the Polhemus family for nearly five generations. The farm is the northern strip of the original patent of Mr. Hart.


Henry Polhemus, for years pastor of the Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church, was a native of Montgomery township, Harlingen being his birthplace. He was a great-great-grandson of the Daniel Polhemus who was a captain of the troops in Kings County, super- visor of Flatbush in 1705, afterwards county judge, the purchaser of the 708-acre tract in Montgomery, Som- erset Co., and who died in 1728 or 1729. He was also a great-grandson of the first of the name in Harlin- gen, the Hendrick mentioned in the preceding para- graph.


The Beekmans* were among the earliest settlers in this township. Gerardus was a physician at Flatbush, L. I., a member of Leisler's council, and afterwards of the council of New York from Cornbury's time until his death, in 1723. One of his sons, William, was a purchaser in the Harlingen tract of 1710, and several of his descendants settled between 1700 and 1722 on the Millstone River. From one of these ultimately sprang Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman, who was born on the Ten Broeck homestead, near Harlingen. He died April 23, 1875. His son, Judge George C., is a prominent lawyer and jurist of Monmouth County.


Samuel Beekman (oldest son of Samuel, who was the second son of Martin)-generally known as " Capt."-was born Sept. 21, 1767. After his mar- riage to Helena Ten Broeck, of Montgomery, he sold the old Beekman homestead, on the south bank of the Raritan, which he had inherited, to his sister Cornelia, and lived the remainder of his days on the Ten Broeck homestead, near Harlingen. His wife was the daughter of Cornelius Ten Broeck, originally from Ulster Co., N. Y. Capt. Beekman died in 1851; he was one of the most active members of the Harlingen Dutch Reformed Church. His son, Cornelius T. B., born October, 1789, resided the latter part of his life at Harlingen ; another son, Peter T. (born April 21, 1796, married Eliza Carpenter, who died in May, 1833), owned and conducted Corle's Mills for some years, and was a member of the State Legislature.


Christopher Beekman, son of Gerardus, and a de- scendant of Col. Gerardus, the early settler and mem- ber of the Provincial Council, "lived on the rear of


the old homestead near Harlingen, and died about 1820, ninety-six years of age."+ One of the descend- ants, John A., was killed by a falling tree at Griggs- town, Sept. 21, 1829.


In 1710, Hendrick Hageman, probably a son of Aaron, the emigrant, was one of the owners of the Harlingen tract, purchased of Peter Sonmans. Aaron and his wife, Catharine, settled at Flatbush, N. Y., in 1661. He had seven children,-Joseph, Hendrick, Jacobus, Abram, Denice, Benjamin, and Elizabeth .¿


Joost Duryee was a native of France. In 1753 he purchased 2643 acres, in Montgomery township, of Abraham Van Horn, merchant, of New York, for £1058, current money of the colony of New York. Joost Duryee was the great-great-grandfather of Al- exander D., who now lives on the old homestead. The cottage erected by him remained standing on this land until twenty-four years ago. It was of the Dutch style of architecture,-high-pointed gables, and the eaves so low that they could be reached by a man of ordinary stature. It was torn down in 1856, and the residence of Garret Vreeland erected on the site. William Duryee was his son, and the grand- father of Alexander D. He married Anna Berrien, and had one child,-Henry,-who was father of the following: William (deceased), Ann (deceased), Catharine, Abraham, Mary, Henry, Sarah Emma, Augustus (deceased), and Alexander D. The father )Henry) died in 1870, at the age of eighty-four; his wife died in 1854. Of his children five married, -- viz., William, Eveline Barnum, in Illinois; Ann, Peter N. Beekman, of Millstone, who (1880) survives her ; Catharine, Jacob S. Williamson, of Clover Hill; Henry, Mary Baker, of New Brunswick ; Alexander, Elizabeth C. Vreeland, of Bergen, a suburb of New Brunswick. The homestead is occupied by Alexander and his sisters, Misses Mary and Emma.


Ann Duryea, of Blawenburg, married James Barcalow, a son of Col. Farrington Barcalow, of Millstone.


Rynear Staats, son of Abram (?), purchased of Cor- nelius Wyckoff some 350 acres, located on the Mill- stone about a mile below Griggstown. Seytje Van Nest, his wife, was born, it is thought, in Hillsborough township, as was her husband, whose father was one of its early settlers. He had two sons, of whom Abram was the oldest, and three daughters. Abram had five sons-John, Henry, Abram, Rynear, and Gerret- and four daughters,-Maria, Martha, Phoebe, and Petrunella. All are deceased except Rynear and Abram ; the latter has been a resident of Cayuga Co., N. Y., since 1836. Rynear is living upon a part of the old homestead ; his wife was Mary Van Derveer.


+ Ralph Voorhees, " The Raritan," etc., p. 494.


# See further mention of this family in the history of Hillsborough township.


¿ See a general sketch of the Hageman family in Franklin township history ; also mention of Andrew, Rev. Chas. S., and John F. Hageman, Esq., on pp. 501-02, 610-20, and 041; and of Dr. A. P. Hageman, on page 840.


* This was Bockmun in German.


RES. OF DAVID G. VOORHEES, BLAWENBURG, SOMERSET CO., N. J.


837


MONTGOMERY.


Of the old family of Maj. John Baird, formerly re- siding at the river bridge near Griggstown, none now remain in the township; one son, Benjamin, is living at Ten-Mile Run.


THE VOORHEES FAMILY.


John Stevens Van Voorhees came from Flatbush (or Flatlands), L. I., to Montgomery township in 1738, purchasing a farm of 345 acres southeast of Blawenburg, on the road to Princeton. An old parchment deed shows that he purchased this land of Nicholas Lake, of New Brunswick, for £427. IIe lived there for sixteen years, and in 1754 purchased what is now known as the Voorhees homestead. " The deed bears date of "the first day of May, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the second, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four," and is between " Abra- ham Van Horne, of the city of New York, merchant, and Catharine, his wife, of the one part, and John Van Voorhees, of the county of Somerset and Eastern division of the Province of New Jersey, yeoman, of the other part." For the 201} aeres of land therein mentioned he gave £806, "current money of the colony of New York,"-about $20 per acre. | This was located on the north branch of Beden's Brook, in the township of Montgomery.


Both John Van Voorhees and his wife lived to a good old age, the former being nearly one hundred, the latter eighty-nine, when they died. Their young- est sons, Abram and Jeremiah, who were both at home when the father died, purchased the interest of the other three brothers in the estate, and lived to- gether until the latter died. He was fourteen years older than Abraham, and had never married; Abram married at the age of thirty-nine. John Stevens Van Voorhees married Jeanetta Kirshaw, at Long Island, in 1730. They had five children. Abraham Voorhees (here " Van" is dropped from the name), son of John Stevens Van Voorhees, was born May 19, 1753, and married Leah Nevius Voorhees, May 5, 1792; they had three children,-viz., John A., Sarah, and Jennie. His wife, Leah, died in 1803, and in 1805 he married Jane Kirshaw, who bore him no children. Ile died Sept. 14, 1828; his wife survived him twenty-four years, His son John A. married Elizabeth Skillman ; died in 1821; had eight children,-viz., Abraham (deceased), llenry Skillman, Peter (decensed), John 1. (deceased ), Martin (deceased), William (deceased ), Sarah P., and David C. Henry S. enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, and served as orderly sergeant in the Sixth New York Cavalry ; he was afterwards quartermaster in the same regiment. Sarah P. mar- ried Peter Q. Staats, and had two children,-John and Elizabeth Skillman. David C. married Mary Sortor, and has four children,-Annetta Stanley, May, George Edwin (deceased), and Hugh Russell .* " Maplewood" is the residence, at Blawenburg, of


David C. Voorhees, previously mentioned as one of the sons of John A., and great-grandson of John Stevens Van Voorhees, the first of this family at Blawenburg. The children of David C. are the fifth generation who have lived on the place. There four generations have been born and three died during the one hundred and twenty-six years that have elapsed since its pur- chase, in 1754. A view of this homestead may be seen on the opposite page.




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