History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

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 51
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 51

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).

It will be seen by the above that in that early day one person filled several offices. But even so early as 1709 to be a freeholder involved the ownership of one hundred acres of land or the possession of fifty pounds current money. From 1725 until after the Revolu- tion the sheriff gave public notice of the day and place of election, and opened the polls, " between the hours of ten and twelve," by reading his writ. Voting was done by the holling up of bands, and there was but one place of election in the county. The polls were frequently kept open two or three days, and sometimes a week or longer. In 1789, when voting for the location of the general government,-to be temporarily at New York or Philadelphia,-it was said the polls were kept open three or four weeks. Voting by ballot does not appear to have been prac- ticedl until after the Revolution.

At that time, too, attendance upon an election involved both several days' time and considerable in- convenience, as many of the early settlers had a long distance to go to reach the county-seat, which they rode on horseback (the only mode of travel then in use) over rough roads or through the woods, fording streams, consuming nearly or quite a day in going and another in returning to their homes, But after 1790 the voting was done in the respective townships.

The first deed of which any record appears in the present county of Hunterdon is in vol. i. (p. 13), " Minutes of the Court of Hunterdon County," and bears the date of " 15th of January in the first year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George ve first, over England King,"-1714. It is " between Alex- ander Lockart, of Nottingham, in the county of Bur- lington, within the western division of Nova Cesaria,

194

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Esquire, on the one part, and Charles Clarke, of Hopewell, in the county of Hunterdon, in the western division aforesaid, Taylor, on the other part," etc. This was for two hundred and ninety acres lying in Hopewell, then, but not now, in this county.

The first deed on record in the county clerk's office, Flemington, is on page 1 of volume A, and bears date of Jan. 1, 1784. It was from George Beaty and wife, of Trenton, to Susannah Medford, of Philadelphia, widow, for land situated near Trenton, which was confiscated by the State from Isaac Allen " for offend- ing against the form of his allegiance to the said State of New Jersey," and sold at public vendue, March 25, 1779, to George Beaty.

One of the first recorded deeds for land situated in what is now Hunterdon County is that for the lot upon which the court-house is located.

On the 5th of March, 1722, it was

" Ordered by the court that All publique houses in this County shall pay obedience and deuly observe and keep All the Directions of prices of liquors And other things contained in sd order which ehall here After be exprest by the particulars, And that the clerks of the County shall record the same and give a copy to each publique house proprietor in the County. And they ehall hang upe the same in some publique place in their severall housee, so that all Travelere And others may have Recourse thereto. And that it shall so remain on the penalty of the forfiture of their licenses in case of default-viz., as follows, the prices all to he proc- lamation money :

d. q1.

To every Hott Dinor. 7

Dito cold as Breakfast And Supper 4

Madera wine per pint ... ..

Hott dito per pint .. 1

...

D: Hott Mamsey or white wine per pint ..

D: tealls wine per pint. 7

D: Claret wine per pint. 1

Methegliu per pint. ..

6 Rum per gill. .. 3

D: Hott per gill

D: Made of Duble refined Shewgar .. 1

Brandy per gill. . 21/2

Brandy punch per quart fower gills brandy made of Muskevado Shewgar.

3 D: made with Duble refined Shewgar ... 3

And so in proportion for n grouter or Lesser quan- tity of Brandy or Rum punch per quart.

Poor per quart ..

D: Bristoll or London beer per the bottle ... 1

Syder per quart.

Lodging per night. ..

Horse pasturage per night or twenty fower owrs. 41

Standing ditto all Ilay per night or twenty fower owre 417

Oats per peck 9

Indian Corn per peck 1

...

Bran per peck

In 1732, Abraham Lane petitioned for a license "to keep a publick house of entertainment in the town- ship of Reading"; the court ordered (October term) that it be granted. At the May term of 1738 the fol- lowing petitions for tavern license were granted: Benjamin Slecht, John Rouse, and Jonah Sherman, of Hopewell; Richard Loveland, James Neilson, William Hoff, William Yard, and Thomas Barns, of Trenton ; Abraham Hathaway and Jacob Hord, of Hanover; Joseph Inslee, Philip Ringo, and John Taylor, of Amwell; and Daniel Sebring, of Reading- ton. Each was required to enter into a recognizance of twenty pounds, and a surety to give ten pounds.

These were some of the earliest licensed innkeepers

of this county. A little later (1746) the records show quite a number in Amwell alone,-Philip Ringo, Na- thaniel Parker, George Van Buskirk, Andrew Pettit, Peter Kesler, and Samuel Fleming. The last named was licensed in subsequent years as late as 1763. But they soon grew to be very numerous all over the county ; "their name was Legion," and the amount of liquor sold by them almost taxes our credulity. The war of the Revolution brought rum and whisky into general use, and the manufacture of ardent spirits was largely carried on in this section. " In one town- ship along the Raritan, at the commencement of this century, eight distilleries were in operation. Custom required each hand, in hay or harvest, to be furnished with one pint of rum a day. Almost every farmer had his cellar stocked with barrels of cider, spirits, and rye whisky."*

" At a meeting of the assessors of the county of Hunterdon at the house of Philip Ringo, in Amwell, on the 12th day of June, 1753, pur- suant to an order from the justices and freeholdera of sd county to divide the quota for raising the sum of One Hundred and Thirty Pounds for røpairing the Gaol and Court-Honse and killing wolves and panthers, etc. The Quota of each Township is as follows,-viz. :

€

Kingwood

Bethlehem

Reading

Lebanon

Amwell

Hopewell.

Maidenhead

Trenton

(Signed by) " JOSEPH DEACON, GEORGE READING,

"CORNELIUS LARE,

CHARLES HOFF,

" WILLIAM BAY,

WILLIAM BATES,

" JOHN VAN CLEVE, AZARIAN HUNT,

" Assessors."

"Records of the Proceedings of the Justices and Freeholders of the County of Hunterdon on publick affairs Relating to said County Beginning Sept. 7, 1739,"-such is the inscription upon the outside cover of what is the earliest official record extant of the board of freeholders of this county. It is a leather- bound volume, and the inscription appears to have been written with a red-hot iron. It is possible that the records of their proceedings prior to 1739 were not preserved in any book, which supposition is rather strengthened by one of the first items entered in the above volume :

" Ordered that there shall be a Record Book provided for the said clerk of Teu Shillings Price at the expense of the county."

The following is the account of the proceedings of the first session of the board, as found in the above- mentioned volume :

" At a meeting of the Justices and Freeholders for the County of Hun- terdon on the Seventh Day of September, 1739, at the Court-House in Trenton, Its agreed, ordered, and directed as follows: first, That there be Twelve pounds allowed for the Chief Justice and the Expense of the Special Commission for the Tryall of James Fitzgerald, now in Prison for Murder. Secondly, that the Sheriff set Workmen at work to do What is Necessary to be done to the Prison, according to the Account of What is Wanting, this Day Rendered to us and hereunto annexed, hav- ing been Perused, he allowed and also to be paid. It is Lastly agreed by

* Hist. IIunterdon Co., G. S. Mott, D.D., p. 53.

D: Caneroy Mamsey or white wine per pint .. 1

Rume punch per quart fower gills of rum in it Made with Mnskevado Shewgar. 1

195

ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL HISTORY.

and Between the said Justice and Frecholders that they meet again at the Court-House In Trenton In order to adjust all the Accounts Relating to sald County on the first Monday in October next.

" RICHARD GREEN, MICHAEL HENRIE,

" NATHANIEL HART, PETER MONFORD, BENJAMIN STOUT,

" JOHN PRICE,

" ALEXANDER LOCKHART,

EDWARD ROCKHILL,

" DANIEL DOUGHTY,

W. MORRIS,

" JOHN ANDERSON,

JASPER SMITH,

" NATHANIEL MOORE,

CHARLES CLARK."

r" F. Bowes,

David Martin is mentioned as late sheriff, and his account of three pounds three shillings was pre- sented and audited, and his receipt for the full amount bears date of April 9, 1740.

The following account of "sundries of repairs on the Gaol" also appears :

" 1739. The Co, of Hunterdon to Thomus Clark, Dr. " To paid for writing 6 notices for the Justices and Freeholders to meet, at 18. each ... .. £0 6 0

" To expenses for a man and horao 2 days In putting up the notices in each township. 0 13 0

£0 19 0

The board met in October, pursuant to adjourn- ment, and there were present the following : Justices, Joseph Stout, William Morris, Charles Clark, James Gould, Andrew Smith; Freeholders: Alexander Lockart, Richard Green, Trenton ; Capt. John Ander- son, John Price, Maidenhead ; Nathaniel Moore, Na- thaniel Hart, Hopewell; John Garrison, Benjamin Stout, Amwell ; Michael Henry, Peter Monfort, Read- ing ; Daniel Doughty, Bethlehem.

At this meeting the accounts of Benjamin Smith and William Morris were examined and allowed. Joseph Yard was appointed clerk, with compensation of eight shillings per day. It was "agreed to adjourn for one hour to the house of William Yard, in Tren- ton." William Morris, Benjamin Smith, Alexander Lockart, John Anderson, Michael Henrie, and Daniel Doughty were appointed a committee to inspect the account of the county collector "and make a report thereon to the Justices and Frecholders to-morrow morning at Ten of the Clock at the Court-House, to which time and place they adjourn."

At this adjourned meeting, October 2d, " on motion being made by some of the Justices and Freeholders for the raising of money to pay off the Demands of sundry persons that are in arrears for the Publick, and also for the Defraying the charge of Killing of Wolves and Panthers, and also for other incidental charges of said County, the question being put, what sum should be raised, it was agreed by a majority of them that the sum of £100 be raised for the uses above mentioned,-that is to say, the sum of £40 towards Defraying the charge of killing wolves and panthers, and the sum of £60 for other Publiek pur- poses."

After some other unimportant business, the record says "the justices and frecholders broke up their meeting."

The expenditure for building the "Trenton gaol" is itemized in an account presented at the meet-

ing of Oct. 1 and 2, 1739. It is dated Aug. 17, 1737, and aggregates £332. 11. 2 .; Benjamin Smith builder. An itemized account of William Morris for the court-house ( £62. 15. 33.) also appears. In the general account is seen the following items:

Cash pd. for 72 grown wolves, at 20a. £72 00 0

44 16 44 panthers, at 15r. 12 00 0 4 15 0

" 19 young wolves, at 6 ...

The aggregate indebtedness of the county at this time, as shown by this book, was £706. 15. 5., many of the bills, however, dating back to 1734, the first item being "To bal. of ac't as per settlement, Feb. 26, 1734, £77.13.10}."

May 12, 1762, "and upon application for the rais- ing money for the repairing and cleaning the arms belonging to said county, the sd Justices and Freehold- ers do order that the sum of £20 be raised on the sd county for that service. Mansfield Hunt was ap- pointed armourer for the arms of the Upper Regi- ments of Hunterdon, and Timothy Maxwell to he armourer of the Lower Regiments of Hunterdon County."

May 13, 1772, the board requested Messrs. Grandin and Martin "to collect the gunns belonging to the Upper Regiment, and have them cleaned, and make report at the next meeting of the number."

Nov. 2, 1773, an account was presented by Furman & Hunt for repairing the stone bridge in Trenton, the jail, stocks, and pillory.

The amount of money received by the collector in 1773 was £1808. 17. 10. Abraham Hunt was al- lowed to make repairs on court-house and jail, and to get a new pair of stocks, post, and pillory. At the same time (13th May), James Martin reported as in his possession fifty-four guns, ten cartouche-boxes, six bayonets, and Mordecai MeKenney reported forty-five guns, fifty-five bayonets, eight cartouche- boxes, " and that he knows of a few more not yet col- lected together." Gershom Lee and Mordecai Mc- Kenney were instructed to sell them at public ven- due and produce the account at the next meeting. The next year (1774) they reported that the sales had realized about £139.

Dec. 8, 1778, Rensselaer Williams, Esq., was ordered to insert an advertisement in the New Jersey Gazette re- questing the chairman and clerks of county and town- ship committees and the several captains of militia to present their several accounts, vouchers, etc., to the board of frecholders on the second Wednesday of May next, agreeable to a law of this State " entitled an act for recovering the arrearages of the ten thousand pounds tax, and for other proposes therein men- tioned."

Prior to 1791 most of the sessions of the board were held at Trenton, either at the court-honse or the houses of Richard Furman (1757), Rachel Horten (1759), Isaac Yard (1767, 1768, 1776), Richard Ten- ant (1769, 1770, 1771, 1775), ete. They met in Am- well in June, 1748, at Philip Ringo's ; in September,

196

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

1766, at John Ringo's ; in 1782 at William Ringo's; and in 1783 at John Snyder's. They met at Mer- shon's tavern in 1780, in Readington, at Mathias Sharp's in 1774, at John Dally's, August, 1779, at Richard Stillwell's in 1788, and at Mahlon Taylor's, Bethlehem, in 1781. Of the session at Tenant's, Dec. 26, 1771, the record states parenthetically, " hav- ing not met in May last occasioned by the smallpox." They met in May, 1789 and 1790, at Robeson's and Meldrum's taverns, respectively.

The following is an account of the first meeting of the board held at Flemington :

" FLEMINGTON, January 3d, 1791.

" The Board of Justices and Freeholders met at this place agreeable to a notice given by order of Joseph Reading, Joseph Beavers, and Thomas Reading, Esqrs.

" Present, Justices : John Smith, Benjamin Smith, Oliver Barnet, Elias Wicoff, Jacob Anderson, Francis McShane, Jona. Wolverton, Charles Cox, Ezekiel Cole, Thomas Stout, John Lambert, Thomas Reading, Abraham Vandyke, David Frazer.

"Present, Freeholders: Conrad Kotts, John Mott, Trenton ; Joseph Briarly, Ralph Philips, Maidenhead; John P. Hunk, Henry Baker, Hopewell ; William Chamberlain, Joseph Lambert, Amwell; Joseph King, John Londer, Kingwood; Thomas Lowery, John Brink, Alexan- dria; John Crawford, Peter Case, Bethlehem ; Daniel Hunt, Wm. Haz- lett, Lebanon; Tunis Melick, Simeon Fleet, Tewksbury; John Taylor, John Emmons, Readington.

"The Board then proceeded to business, and the question was put whether it was legal to go into business at this place, or illegal ; it was carried by a majority to be legal.

" The question being put what sum should be raised for building court-house, gaol, etc., it was carried for the sum of Twenty-five hundred pounds."

Col. John Taylor, Col. William Chamberlain, and John Snyder were appointed a committee to " make a draught of a plan of Court-House, Gaol, &c., to be presented at the next meeting of this Board." Ad- journed to meet the 17th of January, at the house of George Alexander, in Flemington.

The last record in this old freeholders' book was of a meeting, Aug. 14, 1797, held at the house of Thomas Reading, "in order to view the repairs necessary to be made to a bridge over the South Branch of the Raritan near Mr. Reading's."

CHAPTER IV. COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

First Courts-First Judges, Magistrates, and Grand Jury-Court-house and Jail at Trenton-First Record of the "Cort of General Quarter Sessions"-Extraets from " Minutes of the Hunterdon County Court" -Notable Early Trials-Orphane' Courts-Trials for Murder-The County Buildings.

THE courts were held at Burlington and at Mount Holly until 1714, when the Assembly enacted that the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions should be held alternately at Maidenhead (Lawrence- ville) and Hopewell "until a court-house and gaol for the county shall be built."* And in pursuance of

the act passed April 6, 1676, "that the county courts should be held at one time in one town, and at an- other time in another town,"t the courts of Hunter- don County were held, from June, 1714, to Septem- ber, 1719, at Maidenhead in June and December, and at Hopewell in March and September, of those years.

The first session convened at Maidenhead on the second Tuesday of June, 1714, but at what house is not known. They were afterwards held "at the houses of Theophilus Phillips, William Osborne, Mr. Hornor, and Daniel Bailey. In Hopewell they were held at the houses of Andrew Heath and Robert Lan- ning,-the place afterwards owned by the heirs of Na- thaniel Lanning."¿ At the first court held in the county-at Maidenhead-the magistrates present were John Bainbridge,¿ Jacob Bellerjeau, Philip Phillips, William Green, John Holcombe, Samuel Green, and Samuel Fitch.

In 1719 (September) the courts were first held at Trenton, at the house of William Yard, now No. 24 East Front Street. | "It having been represented to the Governor that the holding of the courts alter- nately in Maidenhead and Hopewell was attended with inconvenience, in March, 1719, he recommended that the courts should be held and kept in Trenton from the month of September next ensuing."T

The first grand jury of Hunterdon County was com- posed of William Hixson, Daniel Howell, Robert Lanning, Henry Marshon, Richard Compton, George Woolsey, Joseph Reeder, Jr., Thomas Standling, Richard Scudder, Timothy Baker, John Burroughs, John Titus, Samuel Everett, John Ely, and Richard Lanning.

" At this time" (1719), says Raum, in his " History of Trenton," "it does not appear that the court-house was built, but probably was about a year after, or it might have been in course of erection at that time." It stood on the lot on which is now located the bank - ing-house of the Trenton Banking Company, and is said to have been given to the county by Col. (after- wards Judge) William Trent. It was sold by the board of chosen freeholders of Hunterdon County to the Trenton Banking Company in 1814, just one hun- dred years after Trent purchased it. It is described by Raum as being a two-story building, of gray sand- stone, with stuccoed front. The cells were in the lower story. The upper story was used as a court- room, ** the entrance to which was by a number of stone steps, erected on the outside of the building and

* Laws and Ordinances, vol. i. p. 100, State library, Trenton.

+ Leaming and Spicer, p. 116.

Į Raum's Trenton, p. 60.

¿ The ancestor of Com. Bainbridgo. He died in 1732, aged seventy- five years, and was buried in the Presbyterian church-yard at Trenton, where a tablet honors hie memory.

|| Raum's Trenton, p. 61.

" Laws and Ordinances, p. 223, State library, Trenton.

*** In this court-room the Baptist denomination held their first meetinge in Trenton, and there the Rev. Peter Wilson, of Hightstown, delivered his ever-memorable discourses .- Rutan.

197

COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

surmounted by an iron railing. The steps extended over the pavement, commencing from the gutter, and persons going into the court-room were compelled to ascend from the street. Pedestrians going up and down the street passed directly under these steps. The steps were afterwards removed from the street and placed crosswise upon the front of the building, commencing from either corner, on the north and south sides of it, and meeting at the top, in the centre of the buikling. Subsequently these steps were taken away and placed inside the building.

The jail was kept for many years by Jacob Wrighter. The following was one of the carly orders of the court to constables: "to find themselves with constables' staves, painted upon the upper end with the King's coat-of-arms, and to have them by next court, on penalty of being fined."

A log jail was built very early, but what year is not known,* at the forks of the roads leading from Tren- ton to l'ennington, and from Peunington to the Eight-Mile Ferry, nearly opposite the residence of the late Jesse Moore, Esq. There was no jail from 1714 until after March, 1720, as the high sheriff, John Muirhead, complained to the court, at that time, " that there was no gaol for the county ;" and that it was built between 1720 and 1728 appears from the fact that in the latter year John Dagworthy, his suc- cessor, complained to the court that it was so out of repair that escapes took place daily. "Ordered to be repaired."+ This is not saying much for the jail, and, notwithstanding the inferences that might be drawn therefrom, the record does not show many criminal cases to have been presented by the grand jury.

Among other old parchment commissions from the English Crown, to be found in the county clerk's office at Flemington, are the following :

"GEORGE by the graco of God of great Britain, Franco, and Ireland King defender of the Faith : To our well beloved aud faithful Duniel Cure, Thomas Leonard, and James Trent, Esquires, KNOWYE that we have Assigned constituted and appointed and by these presents do assign, con- stitute and nppoint you the suid Daniel Coxe, Thomas Leonard and Jumes Trent to be Judges or any one of you to he Judge of our County Court for holding of pleas for our County of Hunterdon in our province of New Jersey in America, with authority to use and exercise all powers and jurisdictions belonging to the sald court ; and you the sald Daniel Cuxe, Thomas Leonard and James Trent assisted with Joseph Stout, Ja- col Doughty, Jasper Smith, John Budd, Isanc Herring, Nathaniel Moore, John Daggworthy, and Joshua Andersou, Justices of the Peace in our wahl County or any two of them to hear try & determine all causes and mutters Civil, by Law cognizable In the said Court and to award execu- tion thereon accordingly. IN TESTIMONY whereof wo have caused the great sent of our said Province of New Jersey to be hereunte affixed. Witness our trusty and well beloved WILLIAM BERNET, Esquire, our C'ap- tain General and Governor lu chief of our provinces of New Jersey, New York, and territories thereon depending in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, &o, at Fort George, In New York, this Twentieth day of Septem- ber, in the Twelfth year of our Reign, zt ; nud in the year of our Lord One Thousand seven hundred and Twenty five."

* Barber's list. Coll. New Jersey (p. 284) says about the year 1721, but this Is evidently an error : it must have been many years earlier. The stone court-house, with jall it basement, was erected about 1720, and it does not appear plausible that a log one should be built su soon after.

+ Minutes of the Court, vol. I.

This is countersigned "Smith,"# and has the great seal of the province attached.

The commission of some of the earliest justices, in nearly the same language, is from "George the Ser- ond, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith,-To our trusty and well-beloved Theophilus Severns and Ben- jamin Bilex, John Hackett, and Nicholas Wycoff, Esqr. Know ye that we have assigned you and each of you with our other Justices joyntly and severally, our justices to keep Our Peace in Our county of Hun- terdon," dated " 18th May in the 24th year of our Reign."?

The following extracts from the earliest court records now extant, must be of historic value and general interest to the present generation, illustra- tive, as they are, of the manner of administering the affairs of a century and a half ago.

In what is called the first volume of " Minutes of the Court of Hunterdon County," the first entry is of the laying out of a road near Trenton. This bears date of June 5, 1721. The items are all numbered, the above being 488, implying that this record-book is not the first docket, although the oldest on file in the county clerk's office at Flemington.

The first of court proceedings commences as follows: " June ye 6th, 1721, The Cort of Generall quarter ses- sions cald And opened, present upon the Beuch, Tim- othy Baker, Jasper Smith, Jacob Bellerjeau, Thomas Leonard, Charles Wolverton, Ralph Heart, John Por- terfield." Constables were called from the townships of Trenton, Hopewell, Amwell, and Maidenhead. All appeared except Abram Temple, from Hopewell, who was " fined thirty shillings, proclamation money, for neglect of his duty as constable." It was ordered " that William Lawrason be appointed in the roome of Abram Temple the remainder of the year for Hope- well." The officers of the townships are also recited.| "The Grand Jury came into Court cald over And dis- mist. The Court adjurned till to-morrow morning att right of the clock in the forenoon." The court con- vened agreeable to adjournment and organized. The only business before them was "The presentment Against the Barke mill and Lento" continowd till next court. Proclamation made And the quarter sessions of the pleas Adjurned According to ordi- nance. ... (Signed by the judges.) ... God save the King "

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

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