History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 7

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974

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The capture of New York, which the Dutch then renamed " New Orange," gave to them, as a matter of course, the power of government over the settlements in New York and New Jersey, of which it had for more than sixty years been the capital. At first their government was (almost necessarily) a military one, by the com- manders of the fleet, who held a council of war in the fort (which they called "Fort Willem Hendrick ") immediately after its surrender to them. They then called a "Council of New Netherlands," which convened at the "City Hall of the city of New Orange," August 12th, 1673. Present: Commanders Evertse and Benckes, Captains Anthony Colve, Boes and Van Tyll, and deputies from Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge and Piscataway. There were no deputies present from Bergen or the two towns of Navesink (Middletown and Shrews- bury, which were then the only settlements within the territory of the county of Mon- mouth). Notices were at once sent to these towns to appear by their deputies, the sum- mons to the Navesink towns being as follows :

" The inhabitants of Middletown and Shrews- . bury are hereby charged and required to send

their deputys unto us on Tuesday morning next for to treat wth us upon articles of surrender- ing their said towns under the obedience of the High and Mighty Lords, the States-Generall of the united Provinces and his serene Highnesse, the Prince of Orange ; or by refusall wee shall be necessitated to subdue the said places there- unto by force of armes.

"Dated at New Orange this 12th day of August, Aº. 1673.

"CORNELIS EVERTSE, JUN'R. " JACOB BENCKES."

At a meeting of the Dutch commanders in council of war at "Fort Willem Hendrick," on the 18th of the same month, upon petition of the inhabitants of the villages of Elizabeth- town, Newark and Piscataway, the Council " ordered thereupon that all the inhabitants of those towns shall be granted the same privi- leges and freedom as will be accorded to native- born subjects and Dutch towns ; also, the pe- titioners and their heirs unmolested enjoy and possess their lawfully purchased and paid for lands, which shall afterwards be confirmed to them by the Governor in due form ; in regard to the bounds of each town, they shall here- after be fixed by the Governor and Council ; Further, the Deputies from the Towns of Woodbridge, Schrousbury and Mid- dletown, situate at Achter Coll, coming into court, the above privileges were, at their verbal request, in like manner granted and allowed to their towns; but all subject to further orders from their High Mightinesses, and his Serene Highness of Orange ;" but the Council refused to grant to any of the towns "the privileges obtained from their previous Patroons."

On the 23d of August Middletown and Shrewsbury, with other towns, sent in their nominations for magistrates, or "schepens," to the Dutch Council, which, on the following day, elected John Hance, Eliakim Wardell and Hugh Dyckman for Shrewsbury,1 and probably

1 An order by Governor Colve, dated September 29, 1673, sets forth that : "Whereas the late chosen Magistrates off Shrousburij are found to be Persons whose religion Will Not Suffer them to take anij oath or administer the same to others, wherefore they Can Nott be fit Persons for that office; I have, therefore, thought fitt to order that bij ye

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

with jurisdiction in Middletown also, as there is no record found of the election of any others at that time for Middletown. They were sworn into office on the 1st of September following.

"On the 6th of September, Aº. 1673.' Captain Kuyf and Captain Snell are this day commissioned and authorized by the Hon'ble Council of War [Dutch] to repair with the clerk, Abraham Varlet, to Elizabets Towne, Woodbridge, Shrousbury, Piscattaway, New Worke [Newark] and Middletowne, situate at

. Achter Coll, and to administer the Oath of allegiance to all the inhabitants of those Towns in the form as hereinbefore recorded, to which end orders and instructions in due form are also given them."

The officers named (Kuyf and Snell) pro- ceeded on their mission, and, returning on the 13th of September to Fort Willem Hendrick, "reported to the Dutch Council that they had administered the oath of allegiance in the several towns as follows :

" Elizabethtown, 80 men, 76 of whom have taken the oath, the remainder absent.

"New Worck, 86 men, 75 of whom have taken the oath, the remainder absent.

" Woodbridge, 54 men, all of whom have taken the oath except one, who was absent.

"Piscattaway, 43 men, all of whom have taken the oath.

, " Middletowne, 60 men, 52 of whom have taken the oath, the remainder absent.

"Schrousbury, 68 men, 38 of whom have taken the oath; 18 who are Quakers also promised allegiance, and the remainder were absent."

A number of militia officers elected in the several towns were sworn in by Kuyf and Snell, among whom were the following-named : For Middletown, Jonathan Holmes, captain ; John Smith, lieutenant ; and Thomas Whitlock, en- sign. For Shrewsbury, William Newman, cap- tain; John Williamson, lieutenant ; and Nicho- las Browne, ensign.

On the 29th of September " Notice is this day sent to the magistrates of the town situate at the

Nevesings, near the sea-coast, which they are ordered to publish to their inhabitants that they, on the first arrival of any ship from sea, shall give the Governor the earliest possible informa- tion thereof."

Captain Antony Colve was appointed Gover- nor or Director-General over the reconquered territory of New Netherlands. It does not ap- pear that the people of the Jersey settlements (excepting those holding offices by appointment under the proprietors, Berkeley and Carteret) were at all averse to yielding their allegiance to the Dutch government, and this was especially the case with the inhabitants of Newark, Eliza- beth and the " Navesink towns," by reason of property considerations, which will be more fully mentioned in another chapter. In the fall of 1673 a plan of government, intended to be per- manent, was devised by Governor Colve, and adopted without dissent, and a code of general laws was prepared, passed and promulgated (November 18th) " By the Schout and Schepens of Achter Kol Assembly, held at Elizabethtown to make Laws and Orders." These laws were mild and generally unobjectionable to the peo- ple, but it can hardly be said they ever went into actual operation, for within three months after their promulgation a treaty of peace was concluded (February 9, 1673-74) between Eng- land and Holland, by which it was provided " that whatever towns or forts have been recip- rocally taken since the beginning of the war shall be restored to their former possessors," un- der which provision the territory of New Neth- erlands, including what the Dutch called Ach- ter Kol (the settlements in East New Jersey), was surrendered by the States of Holland to the crown of England, under which it remained for more than a century, and until the royal rule was closed by the Declaration of Independence. The surrender was made November 10, 1674, by Governor Colve, to Sir Edmund Andros, whom the Duke of York had commissioned as Governor.

The reoccupation of New Netherlands by the Dutch in 1673 and 1674 raised the question whether the rights of the proprietors under the Duke of York's grant might not thereby have become extinct, and the territory again the prop-

sd inhabitants off ye s towne, a New Nomination shall be made off four Persons off the true Protestant Christian religion, out of which I shal Elect two and Continue one off ye former for Magestrates off yes towne."-Archives, 1st Series, vol. i. p. 134.

. 1 New Jersey Archives, 1st Series, i p. 130.

THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY.

erty of the crown by the subsequent surrender. To settle this question in the easiest and most satisfactory way, King Charles made (June 26, 1674) a new grant to the Duke of York of the same territory which had been granted by his letters patent in 1664. Prior to the making of this grant the King had issued his proclama- tion (June 13, 1674) recognizing Sir George Carteret as the sole original proprietor of New Jersey,1 and commanding all persons to yield obedience to the laws and government which had been or might be established by the said Sir George Carteret, "he being seized of the province and the jurisdiction thereof, and hav- ing sole power under us to settle and dispose of the said country as he shall think fit."

The Duke of York, having received the royal grant of 1674, seemed inclined to retain the territory in his own hands, but the King's pro- clamation, above mentioned, left him no choice in the matter, and on the 29th of July follow- ing he released to Sir George Carteret the eastern part of New Caesarea, in accordance with an arrangement and boundaries agreed on by Sir George and those who had become owners of the undivided half originally of Lord Berkeley. The part thus released by the duke to Sir George was from that time known as East New Jersey. The description of it in the duke's release is as follows :

". . . All that Tract of Land adjacent to New Eng- land, and lying and being to the Westward of Long Island and Manhitas Island, and bounded on the East part by the main Sea and Part by Hudson's River, and extends Southward as far as a certain Creek, called Barnegatt, being about the middle between Sandy Point and Cape May ; and Bounded on the West in a straight Line from the said Creek called Barnegat to a Certain Creek in Delaware River, next adjoining to and below a certain Creek in Delaware River called Renkokus Kill, and from thence up the said Delaware River to the Northernmost Branch thereof, which is in forty-one Degrees and forty Minutes of Latitude ; and on the North, crosseth over thence in a straight line to Hudson's River, in forty-one Degrees of Latitude, which said Tract of Land is hereafter to be called by the Name or Names of New Caesarea or New Jersey."

The proprietary Governor, Philip Carteret, had returned to England in the summer of

1672, and remained there during all of the Dutch occupation of 1673-74. He was com- missioned Governor of East Jersey by Sir George Carteret, July 31, 1674, only two days after the latter received the duke's release. Governor Carteret returned in the fall of the same year to New Jersey, where, on the 6th of November, he published his commission and in- structions as Governor, together with the duke's release, and the King's proclamation sustaining the proprietary government.

Sir Edmund Andros arrived at New York from England at about the same time, with a commission from the Duke of York as Governor over all the country " from Connecticut River to the Delaware," this bearing date July 1, 1674, only a week after the King's new grant to the duke, and four weeks before the date of the release of East Jersey by the duke to Sir George Carteret. These conflicting claims to the Gover- norship of New Jersey eventually resulted in a collision between Andros and Philip Carteret, of which the immediate cause was the question of collection of customs duties in New Jersey on goods intended for consumption within the prov- ince; Andros insisting on their payment in New York, and being sustained in it by his master, the Duke of York, who, though friendly to Sir George Carteret, was unwilling to yield anything which could inure to the advantage of his New York dominion.

The sale and transfer by Lord John Berkeley of his undivided half of New Jersey, to John Fenwick, on the 18th of March, 1673, has al- ready been mentioned. Edward Byllinge was associated with Fenwick in that purchase, al- though his name did not appear in the transac- tion. On the 10th of February, 1684, Fenwick and Byllinge sold the Berkeley interest to Wil- liam Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas, -Byllinge, however, still claiming an equitable interest in it after the transfer ; and on the 1st of July, 1676, these parties-viz., Penn, Lawrie, Lucas and Byllinge, together with Sir George Carteret-entered into an agreement which has since been known as the Quintipartite Agreement, and joined in a quintipartite deed, which was exe- cuted on the date above mentioned, and of which the declared object was " to make a Par-

1 Lord Berkeley having sold out his interest to John Fen- wick, March 18, 1673.

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tition between them of the said Traet of Land," that is to say, the province of New Caesarea, which, by this instrument and the running of the " Province line" named in it, became di- vided into East and West New Jersey.

By this deed Sir George Carteret released all his claim to the western part to Penn, Lawrie, Lucas and Byllinge, who, in turn, conveyed to him all their right in and claim to the eastern part, which is described in the quintipartite deed as " extending Eastward and Northward along the Sea-Coast and the said River called Hudson's River, from the East side of a certain Place or Harbour lying on the Southern Part .of the same Tract of Land, and commonly called or known in a Map of the said Tract of Land by the Name of Little Egg Harbour, to that part of the said River called Hudson's River, which is in Forty-One Degrees of Latitude, ' being the furthermost Part of the said Tract of Land and Premisses, which is bounded by the said River; and crossing over from thence in a strait Line, extending from that Part of Hudson's River, aforesaid, to the North- ernmost Branch or part of the before-mentioned River, called Delaware River, and to the most Northerly Point or Boundary of the said Tract of Land and Premises, so granted by his said Royal Highness, James, Duke of York, unto the said Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, now by the Consent and Agreement of the said Parties to these Presents, called, and agreed to be called, the North Partition Point; and from thence, that is to say, from the said North Par- tition Point, extending Southward by a strait and direct Line drawn from the said North Partition Southward through the said Tract of Land unto the most Southardly Point of the East side of Little Egg Harbour, aforesaid ; which said most Southardly Point of the East side of Little Egg Harbour is now, by the Con- sent and Agreement of the said Parties to these Presents, called, and agreed to be from hence- forth called, the South Partition Point ; and which said strait and direct Line, drawn from the said North Partition Point thro' the said Tract of Land unto the said South Partition Point, is now, by the Consent and Agreement · of the said Parties to these Presents, called,

and agreed to be called, the Line of Parti- tion." 1

Sir George Carteret died in England on the 13th of January, 1679-80, and this event re- moved the only consideration which checked Governor Andros in his determination to seize the government of New Jersey under color of his commission from the Duke of York. The Duke had been more than willing to sustain Andros in his schemes to obtain revenue from New Jersey by enforcing the payment of cus- toms duties at New York on cargoes intended for New Jersey, but the Duke and his Governor were compelled, on account of the King's espe- cial friendship for Sir George, to desist from the execution of this plan during the life of the latter. A very significant passage in reference to this matter is found in a letter from the duke's secretary, Sir John Werden, to Gover- nor Andros,2 dated August 31, 1676 : ". . . I add this much further in relation to Sir George Carteret's Colony of New Jersey ; it is that I have acquainted his Royal Highness with what Mr. Dyre (the collector of customs and revenues for the duke in New York) wrote to me about his little bickerings with Captain Carteret for not letting a present pass, &c. And though small matters are hardly worth notice, especially where Sir George Carteret himself is concerned (for whom the duke hath much es- teem and regard), I do not find that the duke is at all inclined to let go any part of his prerogative which you and your predeces- sors have all along constantly asserted on his behalf ; and so, though at present in regard to Sir George Carteret we soften things all we may not to disturb his choler (for, in truth, the passion of his inferior officers so far affects him as to put him on demands which he hath no color or right to), I verily believe that, should his foot chance to slip, those who succeed him must be content with less civility than we choose to show him on this point, since that we should ex- ercise that just authority His Royal Highness hath, without such reserves, as though but intend- ed as favors, now may, if confirmed, redound too

1 Leaming and Spicer, p. 67.

" Whitehead's " New Jersey."

THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY.

much to the prejudice of your colony." But the death of Sir George having removed this obstacle, the Duke and his Governor thought their path clear to the accomplishment of their plan for Andros to consolidate New Jersey with New York in one government under Andros.

On the 8th of March, 1679-80, Sir Edmund Andros addressed an official communication to Governor Carteret at Elizabethtown, sending copies of the royal letters patent and his com- mission from the Duke of York, and com- manding him (Carteret) to cease all attempts to exercise governmental power and jurisdiction in New Jersey, and added : "I do acquaint you that, it being necessary for the King's Ser- vice and Welfare of his Majesty's Subjects living or trading in these Parts, that Beacons for Land, or Sea-Marks for Shipping, Sailing in and out, and a Fortification be erected at Sandy Point, I have resolved it accordingly, but having due regard to all Rights or Properties of Land or Soil, shall be ready to pay or give just Satisfac- tion to Mr. Richard Hartshorn, or any assigned to or interested in said Sandy Point or Place, and not Doubting your observance of the above, remain," etc. On the 13th of the same month Andros issued a proclamation warning all officers under Carteret to desist from the attempt to exercise their functions in East Jersey, and promising oblivion for all past offenses.

Governor Carteret, in a letter dated March 20th, in reply to Andros' communication of the 8th, gave the latter his firm assurance that he should continue to exercise his proper authority as Governor of East New Jersey, and that he should by force, if necessary, oppose the erection of a fort at Sandy Hook, but entreating Andros at the same time to abstain from any act of hos- tility and to leave him undisturbed in the right- ful duties of his office.

Andros had issued a proclamation to convene the East Jersey Assembly on the 7th of April at Elizabethtown. Carteret issued a counter proclamation directing the deputies not to as- semble. At the same time he addressed a com- munication to Andros at New York, warning him to send no more of his emissaries to New Jersey, on penalty of having them arrested, tried and | curity to desist from further attempts to exer-

condemned as spies and disturbers of the public peace, and adding : " It was by his Majesty's command that this Government was established, and without the same command shall never be resigned but with our Lives and Fortunes, the people resolving to live and dye with the Name of true Subjects and not Traytors." Andros, however, was determined to convene the As- sembly, if possible, at the stated time, and on the 6th of April he left New York with a large retinue and proceeded to Elizabethtown, where, on the 7th, he read his commission to a large concourse of people who were gathered there; but as Governor Carteret was there with one hundred and fifty armed men to prevent the meeting by force, if necessary, Andros was obliged to con- tent himself for that time with the publication of his commission, and he went back to New York without having accomplished his object.

On the 30th of April a party of soldiers went from New York to Elizabethtown with- orders from Andros to take Governor Car- teret dead or alive and bring him to New York. These orders they executed in the night-time, and took Carteret to New York, where he was kept in prison five weeks. Concerning this outrage, Governor Carteret, in a letter addressed to Mr. Coustrier on the 9th of July following, said of Andros that " the Rancor and Malice of his Heart was such that on the 30th day of April last he sent a Party of Soldiers to fetch me away Dead or alive, so that in the Dead Time of the Night broke open my Doors and most barbarously and inhumanly and violently halled me out of my Bed, that I have not Words enough sufficiently to express the Cruelty of it ; and indeed I am so disabled by the Bruises and Hurts I then received that I fear I shall hardly be a perfect Man again."

At New York, Carteret was brought before the Assizes for trial on the charge that he, " with Force and Arms, riotously and routously, with Captain John Berry, Captain William Sandford and several other persons, hath presumed to ex- ercise Jurisdiction, etc., though forewarned not to do so." The trial, which was held on the 27th and 28th of May resulted in his acquittal, but he was compelled to give his parole and se-

HISTORY OF MONMOUTHI COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

cise jurisdiction in New Jersey until able to pro- duce proper warrant for so doing.

Andros issued a second proclamation calling the Assembly of East Jersey to convene at Elizabethtown on the 2d of June, 1680. His journey from New York to that place, on the 1st of June, is thus narrated by his secretary, who was one of the party : " The Governour with the Councill and several of the gents of the Towne to attend him, came from New York about noone in his Sloope, to come to N. Jersey to the Assembly of Deputys to be held the next day at Elizabeth Towne. My Lady Andros came in company, attended with 9 or 10 gentle- women, my wife for one. Coming by C. Palmer's, my lady and Comp'y landed at C. Palmer's and stayed there all night. My Lady &c. came in the morning to Eliz. Towne." 1

The Assembly met on the 2d. The deputies from the Navesink towns were John Bowne (Speaker) and Jonathan Holmes for Middle- town, and Judeth (?) Allen and John Hance for Shrewsbury. Andros addressed the deputies, assuming the powers of Governor, and asking them to remodel the laws of East New Jersey to correspond with those which had been enacted for New York. The Assembly responded by enacting (June 3d), " That all former Laws and acts of Assembly that was made and confirmed by the General Assembly sitting at Elizabeth- town, in the province of New Jersey, in No- vember last, be confirmed for this present year." Andros and his party returned to New York on Saturday, June 5th, came back to Elizabeth- town on Thursday, the 10th, and Andros, hav- ing failed to mould the Assembly to his wishes, dissolved that body on the 12th.

It is unnecessary to enter further into the de- tails of this conflict between Andros and the proprietary government. The matter was sent to England for decision by the Crown, and it was favorable to the Carteret interest. The Duke could not, of course, oppose the wishes of the King, and, therefore, with apparent willing- ness, he (in September, 1680) executed a re- lease of East New Jersey, with all his rights of

property and of government in it, to Sir George Carteret, the grandson and heir of Sir George, the original proprietor. The fact of the execu- tion of this release, and of the Duke's disavowal and disapproval of the proceedings of An- dros in New Jersey, was officially communicated to him at New York, and on the 2d of March, 1680-81, Philip Carteret made proclamation at Elizabethtown of his resumption of the duties and functions of Governor of East New Jersey. Andros was called to England, and on his de- parture left Anthony Brockholst (president of the Council) in charge of affairs at New York. He, on the 26th of July, 1681, addressed a com- munication to Governor Carteret, in which he ignored the right of the latter to exercise author- ity in New Jersey, and required him to desist from doing so until he should exhibit proper warrant, according to his parole, and the orders of the court in New York. To this, Carteret replied that his power and authority to act as Governor were sufficient, and that there was no more reason why he should account to the New York authorities than they to him. This closed the controversy, and Carteret held the Gover- norship of East Jersey until his death, in 1682, during which year an entire change was made in the proprietorship of New Jersey, of which the following account is found in Leam- ing and Spicer's "Grants and Concessions," page 73.

"December 5, 1678, Sir George Carteret made his Will, and Devised to Edward, Earl of Sand- wich, John, Earl of Bath, Bernard Greenville, Sir Thomas Crew, Sir Robert Atkins and Ed- ward Atkins, Esqrs., and their Heirs, among other Lands, all his Plantation of New Jersey. upon Trust and Confidence that they, and the Survivers and Surviver of them, and the Heirs and Executors of the Surviver of them, should make Sale of all the said Premises, and out of the Moneys that should upon such Sale arise pay and discharge Debts, &c., as therein men- tioned.

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 7

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 974

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974