History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 77

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 77
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 77

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THE READING FAMILY.

In 1712 and 1715, John Reading, Jr., surveyed tracts for parties in Burlington, securing for himself at the same time 600 acres on the South Branch. He soon afterwards removed here and built the Reading homestead, now occupied by Philip Brown. He be- came one of the prominent men of the State; was a member of the colonial council from 1728, and vice- president for ten or twelve years. Upon the death of Governor Hamilton, in 1747, the government devolved upon him until the arrival of Governor Belcher ; again, on the death of the latter official, in 1757, Mr. Reading became the chief magistrate of the colony, administering the office until the arrival of Governor Bernard, in 1758. John Reading was born at Glou- cester, N. J., June 6, 1686, and died Nov. 7, 1767, at the ripe age of eighty-one. Ile and his sister Elsie, when children, were taken to England by their mother, Elizabeth Reading, to be educated, the father remain- ing in this country. They were absent nine years. Upon their return it was found that John had es- chewed the principles of the Society of Friends and embraced the doctrines of the Presbyterians, to which he was ardently attached all his life, and so his de- scendants have continued. His influence, services, and money were freely bestowed to lay the foundation of religious privileges, educational advantages, and na- tional freedom. He succeeded to the greater part of his father's estate.

By way of parenthesis, a few words about John, the father of the Governor, and his wife, Elizabeth. He came from England. They were Quakers, and left their country on account of the persecution to which their seet were subjected. Hle settled at (Hloucester, N. J., prior to 1685, as he was that year a member of the Legislature, which met at Burlington. He was also recorder of the town of Gloucester from 1695 to 1701, inclusive. About 170] he purchased a large tract of land near Lambertville, to which he soon after removed with his family. He there resided until his death, following the business of surveying. He was one of the commissioners to define the boundary line between New York and New Jersey in 1719 .; He

· Traditions of our Ancestors.

t To which place they removed In lan6.

[ Smith's New Jersey, p. 412.

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

and his wife were buried in the ground of the Buck- ingham meeting-house, in Bucks Co., Pa., opposite to his own residence. Their son John put up head- stones at their graves, but they were subsequently broken down by the boys of the Quaker school near by, and have entirely disappeared.

" Governor" John Reading married Mary Ryerson,* sister of Col. P. Ryerson, then in the British service. They lived and died on the homestead farm in Read- ington. He is said to have planted the walnut-trees there. He owned three mill properties, beginning with Mettler's and running down the stream; also about 1600 acres of land, including the farms now owned by Barton, Stothoff, Deats, James Ewing, Clark, and Brown. His name heads the list of the first trus- tees of the College of New Jersey, in 1748. He had seven sons, of whom John, the eldest, died in 1776, Daniel in 1768, George in 1792, Joseph in 1806, and Thomas in 1814. Five of the seven sons (above named) of the Governor settled near him, and became con- spicuous in church and in civil and military affairs. Thomas lived on the Brown farm. He was a prom- inent man. He was one of the foremost in the effort to establish the Presbyterian Church, and was one of its first elders and trustees. He was captain of the sixth company of the Third Battalion of the Jersey brigade, mustered in 1774. He served until the bat- talion was discharged. A grandson, John, entered the company of his uncle as ensign ; in January, 1777, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and served until 1780. Another grandson, Samuel, was first lieutenant in Capt. Stout's company of the "Jersey Line," First Establishment, Dec. 18, 1775. He was taken prisoner June 8, 1776. He became captain, and in 1781 major, of the First Regiment, and served to the close of the war. Yet another, Charles, was lieutenant in the Third Regiment, Hunterdon, and afterwards captain.

The Governor's oldest daughter, Ann, married Rev. Charles Beatty, one of the first graduates of the Log College, and a prominent member of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. They had eleven children, nine of whom reached mature life. Their descendants are numerous; some of them were conspicuous in church and State. With few exceptions they have been Presbyterians, many of them ruling elders. On the female side eight have married Presbyterian minis- ters,-viz., Revs. Enoch Green, J. W. Moore, P. F. Fithian, Samuel Lawrence, Alexander Boyd, Robert Steel, D.D., Henry R. Wilson, D.D., B. Wilbur ; Rev. C. C. Beatty, D.D., of Steubenville, Ohio, a distin- guished and honored Presbyterian minister, is a grand- son. Miss Beatty, the well-known and now sainted missionary at Debra, India, was a great-grand- daughter. Gen. John Beatty, a son, was in the Revo- lution, and so was his brother, Col. Erkuries Beatty. John was for many years one of the most prominent citizens of Trenton.

Elizabeth, another daughter of the Governor, mar- ried John Hackett, of Hackettstown. Another daugh- ter, Mary, was married to Rev. William Mills, of Ja- maica, L. I.

The children of the Governor's oldest son, John, were Charles, who lived on the Risler farm, now owned by J. C. Hopewell; Alexander, who died at Rowland's Mills; Montgomery, who moved to Sussex County ; and John, whose son Joseph owned and died on the farm recently held by Mr. Bunn. Joseph was the father of Judge James N. Reading, long a promi- nent lawyer in Flemington, now residing at Morris, Ill. ;; also of John G. Reading, long a merchant of Flemington, now residing in Philadelphia, and of Philip G. Reading of Frenchtown.

Daniel, the third son of the Governor, had two sons, Daniel and John Reid, and several daughters. One married Mr. Wood and was the mother of George Wood, an eminent lawyer of New York; another married a Montgomery, and was the mother of Gen. Montgomery ; another married Rev. Mr. Grant, the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Fleming- ton. The son Daniel lived on James Ewing's farm, and had one son, Daniel K., and two daughters. This Daniel K. had but one child, and he is the Daniel Kennedy that left the money to build the academy, which is now the public school of Flemington. John Reid Reading had several children, of whom were Robert K., the father of Franklin Reading, of Williamsport, and a daughter who married Isaac G. Farlee.

The Governor and many of his descendants lie in the old Amwell churchyard, others in the Presby- terian burial-ground at Flemington.

Upon the subscription paper for the old Amwell (Presbyterian) church parsonage, 1753, appears the name of John Reading-the Governor-for fifty pounds.±

Joseph Reading was the youngest son and only child of John Reading,-known as " Valiant" John, to distinguish him from others of the name,-he being the grandson of Governor John Reading. Joseph Reading was a farmer, and, although favored with but limited educational advantages, was pos- sessed of good sound sense. He was a man of unim- peachable integrity, and had the confidence of all who knew him. He was generally esteemed. IIe transacted a great deal of public business, did much in the way of settling estates and in aiding his neigh- bors and friends, and was always ready to espouse the cause of the weak or oppose the encroachments of the strong. He was married, Nov. 6, 1804, to Eleanor, second daughter of Dr. John F. Grandin and Mary Newell. Their oldest son, James Newell Reading, -named after his Grandmother Grandin's father, Dr. James Newell,-is the present possessor of an ancient

* No doubt a daughter of Judge Martin Ryerson.

+ See sketch with the "Bench and Bar of Hunterdon County."

# Ilist. of the Presb. Church, Flemington, Rev. G. S. Mott, D.D.

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RARITAN.

silver tankard, an heirloom of the family. Upon it OH the Reading coat-of-arms are engraven, being three boars' heads, with bars N.READING and flame, on an embossed shield. A seal bearing this coat-of-arms is said to be in the possession of Frank- B. NOT. lin Reading, one of the de- ER.PI scendants of the Governor's PROWE son, Daniel,* now residing

at Williamsport, Pa.

Austin Gray Runyon was the first person buried in the Presbyterian graveyard. Col. Hugh Runyon, great-grandfather of Hugh Capner, was an officer in the Revolutionary army. He was a very bold and fearless man, and full of energy and action amid scenes of danger. He settled at Quakertown.

Francis Besson, with his wife, Lizzie, and ten chil- dren, came from Germany about 1750 with a colony, among whom was Abraham Shurts. Besson bought land and lived about four miles west of Flemington, near where Mr. Peartree now resides. Francis Bes- son's great-granddaughter, Mrs. Margaret Kline, was living in 1860 near Lebanon Station, Clinton town- ship, this county, over eighty years of age. She re- members hearing her grandmother tell about the Indians, who lived near. They often came to the house with wooden ladles and bowls to exchange for butter, milk, etc. She often saw them bury their dead : they washed the body, perfumed it, and painted the face, then followed silently and in single file to the grave, where it was placed in a sitting posture, and after placing money, etc., beside it, the earth was heaped up in the form of a pyramid.

The Capner family (originally "Capnerhurst") were quite early settlers. Thomas Capner purchased 170 acres, the homestead portion of the old Mine farm, from Mrs. White, the widow of Philip Kase, about 1810. (See a more extended account of the Capner family in the history of Flemington.)

Jacob R. Voorhees, living near Three. Bridges, occupies the old Nicholas Ott place. Ott soll to Abraham Wambaugh in 1809, and he to Jacob Voor- hees, father of Jacob R., in 1815. In the orchard are four fall pippin trees, still bearing fruit, that bore over seventy years ago, one of which measures It feet 4 inches in circumference.

Some of the descendants of Derrick Hoagland, one of the early settlers of okl Amwell, reside in Raritan. His great-grandson, Aaron C. Hoagland, lives about one mile from Copper Hill; his grandfather Amos settled on the Neshanie, near Reaville, and there Andrew, the father of Aaron C., was born. Andrew married Mary Carmen, a native of this township, she being born near Copper Hill. Her father, Elijah

Carmen, owned a farm and saw-mill on the Walnut Brook; the latter was erected about 1790, is still in operation, and is owned by A. C. Hoagland.

John Manners was another early settler of Raritan. One of his sons, James S., was sheriff about 1815; another, Dr. John Manners, studied medicine and practiced for a time in Flemington, then moved to near Clinton, where he followed his profession. The emigrant ancestor of the Manners family, John Man- ners (from whom the above-named John was de- scended), was born in England in 1679, and settled in Amwell in 1718. He married a Stout, a daughter of Richard. (For a more full account of the Manners family see the history of East Amwell township, else- where in this volume. A sketch of Dr. John Mau- ners may also be seen in the chapter on the "Medical Profession of Hunterdon County.")

The Quicks were also early settlers, on the place now occupied by N. Higgins, near Pleasant Corner.

Dr. Jacob Rutsen Schenck, who lived at Neshanic, on the Brunswick road, in the early day traveled all over the eastern part of Raritan township for Am- well, as it was then called) in the practice of his pro- fession. His brother, John F., also a physician, was located at Flemington, and his father, likewise a dis- ciple of _Esculapius, lived over the line, in Hills- borough, Somerset Co.

Philip Kase was one of the first settlers. He was from Germany, and was probably the ancestor of many of the Case family now living in the county. By a deed of the date of March 9, 1738, t was conveyed to him a portion of the William Penn tract, now known as the Mine farm, by Thomas Penn, for him- self, and as attorney for his brothers John and Rich- ard. Philip had two sons, John and Philip, the last named being called the "half-bushel-maker." He used to tell about his mother getting lost in the woods. She went to hunt her cow, and wandered around for several hours. She finally saw a column of smoke curling above the tree-tops. Going in that direction, she came to a house, and after knocking at the door discovered it to be her own dwelling. The wolves wonld often howl about this house. On one occasion a wolf came on to the door-step and attacked the dog, when Mrs. Case valiantly charged him with a stick and drove him off. The old original Case house was built of stone cemented with mud; not- withstanding which fact, when Hugh Capner tore it down several years ago he found the walls solid and strong. Abbey C'ase, a descendant of Philip, lived and died in Flemington, and her sister, the late Mrs. Joseph Brown, lived with her son Philip on the old Governor Reading farm, near Mettler's Mills, until her death. A grandson, John Case, is still living, a resident of Flemington.

An old settler in the north part of the township was Jonas Moore, who came quite early in this century.

* Daniel died April 0, 1834, agod seventy-one years; his wife, Jano Kennedy, died July 30, 1840, aged over seventy years.

+ Now, or recently, in the possession of Hugh Capnor, Esq.

304

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Forty-three years ago (1838) came also to the same neighborhood, north of Flemington, George B. Stot- hoff and George F. Crater. They were both from Peapack, Somerset Co. The first named purchased of Charles Bartles the property formerly owned by Joseph Hampton. Mr. Crater subsequently removed to Flemington, where for many years he kept public- house, and died about a year since.

PHYSICIANS.

The first to practice the healing art in Raritan town- ship was George Creed, in 1765, at Flemington. How long he continued is not known, but he was followed by John Gregg and William Prall, at Flemington and Reaville respectively. The latter commenced in 1793, and continued until his death, in 1825; the for- mer, likewise, until his demise, in 1808. Others who have practiced here in former years, but are since de- ceased, are the following (the dates given are the years they were engaged in practice) : William Geary, 1808-34; John Manners, 1818-19; Henry B. Poole, 1819-23; Henry Southard, 1846-47 ; and Willard F. Combs, 1852-54. The latter died in 1854; a son and daughter now reside here. Of the living practition- ers John F. Schenck is the oldest, he having com- menced in 1823, and his son, William H. Schenck, in 1848. G. P. Rex, of Reaville, dates from 1854. At the last-named place William* and Zaccur Prall* were early physicians, 1793 and 1816 being the re- spective dates of their medical advent. C. R. Prall, - Johnson, and 1. R. Glen also practiced there, but Dr. Rex is now (1880) the only one there resi- dent. In Flemington, Richard Mershon practiced in the years 1843-44, but removed from the county, and Justice Lessey commenced in 1854, but in 1858 went to Philadelphia. Other and later physicians engaged in Flemington are J. A. Gray, George R. Sullivan, Henry B. Nightingale, - Parrish, and J. H. Ewing.

CANALS AND RAILROADS.

The inhabitants of this township were early inter- ested in matters of canal and railroad communication. They were from the first earnest supporters and advo- cates of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and were also among the first agitators for railroad advantages. Although other meetings had been previously held in Flemington, the most notable gathering of the kind was held in that village, Oct. 8, 1831, at the court- house, at which it was

" Resolved, That the middle and upper part of Ilunterdon County, which may be considered among the most populous and fertile districts of the State, labors nnder peculiar disadvantages from its distance from market and the want of communlentione to encourage the improvement of its natural advantages ; that it would be greatly benefited by the cou- structlan of a railroad from Somerville to the neighborhood of Fleming- ton, and thence to Lambertville, or any point on the Delaware below the head of the Delaware and Raritan Canal feeder, so as to intersect that improvement and secure to this section of country a communication to the markets af both Philadelphia and New York.

" Resolved, That from our knowledge of the country from the valley of the Raritan to Flemington, and thence through the Amwell valley to the Delaware, we are satisfied that a railroad can be constructed on this route at as small an expense as over any other route of the same extent in this State.

" Resolved, That the decided advantages of the route for the construc- tion of a railroad over any other ronte through thie county above or be- low, the importance of public places through which it will pass as places of business, the state of improvement and the fertility of eoil of this re- gion of country, the value and importance of the water-power on the Raritan between Somerville and Flemington, the great extent of water- power on the Delaware at and pear Lambertville, with the advantages which may be derived from a spur extending from the main line of this road at some suitable point between Somerville and Flemington, to Clin- ton, are such as to warrant the construction of the railroad and spur as above contemplated, afford a satisfactory assurance that the produce of the road will yield to the stockholders an adequate remuneration for the capital invested.

" Resolved, That in our opinion it is proper that an application should be made to the Legislature at the next sessiou to anthorize the construc- tion of the railroad and spur as above proposed."

A strong committeet was then and there appointed to circulate petitions for the above purpose, with a further committee (John Mann, of Somerset, and Isaac G. Farlee, John W. Bray and Philip Marshall, of Hunterdon) to forward the same to the Legisla- ture.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

The township of Raritan was organized in 1838 by a special act of the Legislature, } along with the town- ships of Amwell and Delaware, out of the territory of old Amwell, which previously embraced fully one- third of the area of the county.

We quote from the organic law, which not only framed this township, but which has defined its boundaries through the intervening years : ¿

"An Act to establish two new townships in the county of Hunterdon, to be called the townships of Delaware and Raritan.

"SEO. I. BE IT ENACTED by the Council and General Assembly of this State, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That all that part of the township of Amwell, in the county of Hunterdon, which lies within the boundaries and descriptione following-to wit: Beginning in the Delaware River, in the western boundary line of the county of Hun- terdon, at the division line between the townships of Kingwood and Amwell; thence down the eaid river Delaware, along said boundary line, to the mouth of Alexsockin Creek ; thence up the middle of the said creek, the several courses thereof, to the middle of the Old York Road, leading from Lambertville to the village of Ringos; thence north- easterly up the middle of said road until it intersecte the road leading from Trenton to Quakertown, by the way of Ringos and Buchanan's. tavern, at the village of Ringos; thence northwardly, following the middle of the euid road leading frum Trenton to Quakertown, until it intersects the division line between the townships of Kingwood and Am- well ; thence southwestwardly following the said division line to the place of beginning-shall be, and hereby ie, set off from the said township of Amwell, in the county of Hunterdon, into a separate township, to be

t The committee was John B. Mattison, William Taylor, Robert K. Rending, Esq., Joseph Reading, William P. Youug, Daniel Kinney, Jacob M. Kline, Richard Coxe, Eeq., Alexander V. Bonnell, James W. Hope, Elnathan Moore, Stephen Albro, Thomas Alexander, Gen. Nathan Price, George Trimmer, Richard Williamson, Elias Conover, Richard Lowe, Elisha E. Holcombe, Johnson Barber, Rensselaer Johnson, Philip Mar- shall, Esq., Jacob B. Smith, Samuel D. Stryker, and Lemuel Howell, of Hunterdon, and John Maun, Esq., John Wyckoff, Eeq., Charles Corle, aud Dr. Itutser G. Schenck, of Somereet.

# Passed Feb. 23, 1838.

¿ The only change in its boundaries eince 1838 was an insignificant one, in 1854, when a few acres in its oxtreme southern portion, a part of the village of Ringos, was set off to East Amwell by act of the Legislature.

* Deceased,

305

RARITAN.

called and known by the name of the township of Delaware; and that all that part of the township of Amwell, in the conoty of Inuterdon, which lies within the boundaries und descriptions following-lo wit: Begluning at n cornor In the division lino between the townships of Lebanon, Kingwood, and Amwell, on the South Brauch of tho Haritan Hiver; thenco down the said South Branch of Raritan River until It it- tersects tho division line between the countice of Somerset and Hunter- don, commonly called tho province line; thonce southeastwardly nlong said division Hoe between the countice of Somerset and Hunterdon to the middle of the road lending from Clover Hill to Manner's tavern, now called Greonvillo ; thenco southwardly along the middle of the sidd road to sall Manner's tavern, now called Greenville, where it Intersects tho Old York Rond, leading to the village of Bingos; thence, still south- westwardly, nlong the middle of tho said Old York Itond until it Inter- sects the road leading from Trenton to Quakertown at the village of Ringos; thenco northwardly along the middle of said last-mentioned rend, by way of Buchanan's tavern, until it intersects the division line between the townships of Kingwood and Amwell; thonce northeast- wardly along tho said division line between the townships of Kingwood and Amwell to the place of beginning Inst aforesaid-shall be, and hereby la, set off from the anld township of Amwell, in the county of Hunterdon, into a separato township, to be called and known by the name of the towuship of Raritan."

THE FIRST TOWN-MEETING

of Raritan township pursuant to the above enaetment was hell April 9, 1838. Its proceedings are thus recorded in the clerk's book :

" At the first annual town-moeting of the Inhabitants of tho township of Itnritan, hold at the house of Mahlon C. Hart, in Flemington, on Mon- duy, the 9th day of April, A.D. 1838, tho following officers were elected, to- wit: Modorutor, Joseph Case; Town Clerk, Joseph Besson ; Assessor, Jesse C. Reed; Collector, Poter Ewing; Choson Freeholdors, Joseph Case und Jacob Voorhees ; Surveyors of Highways, John W. Larason and Asa Jones ; Commissioners of Appeals, Petor Ewing, Androw Beardor, and Jurub Rockafellow; Overseers of the Poor, Jesso C. Reed and Peter Ewing; Poundkeepor, Mahlon C. Ilart; Constable, Henry S. Stryker; Judge of Election, John B. Mattison ; Town Committee, John B. Matti- sun, William Kuhl, Georgo Trimmor, John Kuhl, and Samuel llill ; School Committee, Androw C. Davis, Aaron C. Hogeland, and George Tritomor; and Ovorseers of Ronda, 1, Androw Lair ; 2, John Barton ; 3, Joseph West ; 4, Andrew Bearder; 5, Peter Ewing; G, Albert S. Coxe; 7, John Hoff; 8, Poter J. Caso; 9, Mahlon Pettit ; 10, Oliver Littlo ; 11, William Higgins ; 12. Lambert Bosenbury ; 13, Enoch Hoffman.

"Six linndred dollars to be raised for support of poor; $1100 for open- ing and repairing roads. Interest of surplus revonuo to be added to township school money. Dog-tax to pay for sheep killed hy dogs.

" Election to be held both days at Flemington, at the honso of Mahlon C. Ilnrt ; lown-meeting to [be] held at the court-honse In Flemington.

" John Marlow appointed to meet a person appointed by the township of Amwell to divide the roads between said townships of Raritan and Amiwell. Isnac Hoffman appointed lo meet a person appointed by tho townshlp of Delaware, to divide the roads between sald townships uf Raritan and Delaware.

"Carried that town-meoting bo held next spring by bullet ; also that nominations be mado any timo before pull opened.

" Resolved, That In tho opinion of this town-meeting public sentiment and public convonienco havo both, for many years past, luuilly called for and demanded a division of the old township of Amwell, and that we do cordially approvo of the Inte art of the Legislature, by which the town- ships of Raritan and Delaware nro sot off from the said township of Am- well, and that this resolution ho recorded by tho clerk with the other proceedings of this town-meoting.

" The above resolution unanimously agreed in.

" JOSEPH CASE, " Moderator.

".Ittest : JON. BESSON, " Clerk."

EXTRACTS FROM THE TOWNSHIP RECORDS.

Jun. 5, 1839-" Question was put whether said township should, or should not, purchase a farm to keep their paupers on. Carried to pur- chase a farm."

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 77

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