History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 9

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

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America, which we have thought fit to reunite in one Province, and settle under one entire Government."

Lord Cornbury, who had previously received the appointment and commission of Governor of New York, arrived there from England on the 3d of May, 1702. His commission as Gov- ernor of New Jersey, signed by the Queen in the following December, as before mentioned, reached him at New York on the 29th of July, 1703, and on the 10th of August following he went to New Jersey and assumed the govern- ment. His Council had previously been ap- pointed by the Queen, consisting of the follow- ing-named- persons, viz .: Edward Hunloke, Lewis Morris, Andrew Bowne, Samuel Jen- nings, Thomas Revell, Francis Davenport, William Pinhorne, Samuel Leonard, George Deacon, Samuel Walker, Daniel Leeds, Wil- liam Sandford and Robert Quary. The Lieu- tenant-Governor of New Jersey was Colonel Richard Ingoldsby, commissioned by the Queen, November 26, 1702.2

The first General Assembly under the royal Governor convened at Perth Amboy, November 10, 1703, nearly all the members being present. Those for the eastern division of the province were Obadiah Bowne, Jedediah Allen, Michael Howden, Peter Van Este, John Reid, John Harrison, Cornelius Tunison, Richard Harts- horne and Colonel Richard Townly. Of these, Messrs. Bowne, Reid and Hartshorne were of Monmouth County. At this session the Assem- bly appeared to be very humble and subservient to the will of the Governor. He, in his opening address, recommended the passage of certain meas- ures, which the Assembly passed with but little de- lay ; but all these bills, on presentation to the Gov- ernor, were disapproved by him, excepting one prohibiting the purchase of lands from Indians by any others than the proprietors ; and on the 13th of December he prorogued the house. The next session was held at Burlington, be- ginning on the 7th of September, 1704. The members for the eastern division were John Bowne, Richard Hartshorne, Richard Salter, Obadiah Bowne, Anthony Woodward, John

' Leaming and Spicer, p. 608.

2 Commission revoked by the Queen, October 20, 1709.

THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. .

Tunison, John Lawrence, Jasper Crane, Peter Van Este, Thomas Gordon, John Barclay and John Royce, the first-named four being from Monmouth County. One of the measures which the Governor pressed upon this Assembly was the raising of a militia force, on account of recent depredations upon the people about the Navesinks by the crew of a French priva- teer; and another was the raising of a large sum of money for support of the government, viz .: £2000 per year for twenty years. The Assembly, being unwilling to meet his views on these (particularly) and other measures rec- ommended, he promptly dissolved them on the 28th, after a session of three weeks, and issued writs for the election of a new Assem- bly.

cluded by them further than they are warranted by Law ; of which also they will be the judges ; and this is done by them (as we have all the reason in the world to believe) to encourage not only this Government, but also the rest of your Governments in America, to throw off your Majesties Royal Prerogative."

In the same year, Cornbury, in an address to the Assembly, May 12, 1707, said : "I am of opinion that nothing has hindered the Ven- geance of a just heaven from falling upon this province long agoe but the Infinite mercy, Goodness, long Suffering and forbearance of all-mighty God, who has been abundantly provoked by the Repeated Crying Sins of a perverse generation among us. . And more Especially by the dangerous & abominable Doc- trines and the wicked lives and practices of a Number of people, some of whome, under the pretended name of Christians, have dared to deny the very' Essence and being of the Saviour of the world."

From this time the remaining four years of . Cornbury's administration in New Jersey was a period of continual discord and of quarrel be- tween him and the Assembly. Two of the leading members of his Council had been sus- pended by him on account of their antagonism On the other hand, it was charged by Lewis Morris and the party of which he was the leader that, in addition to Cornbury's general unfitness for the position of Governor and the fact that his supporters were of the most un- principled and characterless people in the prov- ince, he was also exceedingly corrupt, and had been led by his avarice to the acceptance of bribes, given in consideration of his dissolving the Assembly and for " having Officers appointed to the good liking of the people, and to be freed of their Quit-Rents." Morris, in a letter to the British Secretary of State, dated February 9, 1707, mentions these matters (beginning with Cornbury's arrival in New Jersey as Governor) as follows : to his views and measures. These were Lewis Morris and Samuel Jennings, between whom, especially Morris, and the Governor there arose feelings of the most intense animosity and hatred. His opinion of these two men is very plainly expressed in an address of the Lieu- tenant-Governor and Council of Nova Caesarea, or New Jersey, to the Queen in 1707, a document emanating, in fact, from the Governor, though not signed by him. The " Address," in refer- ring to several causes which had brought about the state of disorder which had ruled in New Jersey for several years, proceeds : "The first is wholly owing to the Turbulent, Factious, Uneasy and Disloyal Principles of two Men in that Assembly, M' Lewis Morris and Samuel " When he arrived there he found it divided into two parties, the one called Hamilton's and the other Basse's party ; not to trouble your Honor from whence they rose, Hamilton's party in East New Jersey consisted of the gentlemen of the best figure and fortune and majority of the people. Basse being for- merly an Anabaptist Minister, those of that religion, some Quakers and a miselanious mob were of his party .. . . That party of Basse's Jennings, a Quaker ; Men notoriously known to be uneasie under all Government ; Men never known to be consistent with themselves ; Men to whom all the Factions and Confusions in the Governments of New Jersey and Penn- sylvania for many years are wholly owing ; Men. that have had the Confidence to declare in open Council That your Majesties Instruc- tions to your Governours in these Provinces shall not oblige or bind them, nor will they be con- | having most of them being in ye Assembly, and

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

having made some endeavours to procure an Act of Indempnity which proved ineffectuall, had recourse to other measures, and it having got wind that his La reca money of Doctor John- stone, and guessing the sum much bigger than really 'twas, began to entertain some hopes, very justly conceiving that he that was not proofe against one sum would not withstand another, and since he was to be purchas'd, resolved to bid for him, and being encourag'd by his confident, D' Bridges, Chiefe Justice of New York, since dead, they raised the severall sums mentioned in the affidavits1 and many more that we cannot yet get accounts of, as we judge to ye value of about fifteen hundred pounds. This money was paid to one Richard Salter (who had been presented by a Grand Jury for fellony under the former administration; and to one Capt. John Bowne; both which persons travailed through the Province, and by untrue insinua- tions perswaded the raising of this. money. They are both protected and honored by my Lord, and what places he can bestow given them. Bowne was a member of the Assembly, and by them expelled for refusing to tell what he did with the money.2 Salter kept out of the way and could not be got, but while he kept out of the Serjeant's way, my Lord admitted him to his company, and sent for a boat and had him Shiped over into Pensilvania government. . .. It can be proved (without Bowne and t'other) that 'twas [the money raised as alleged] given to D' Bridges in my Lord's house, and there is all the reason in ye world to believe his .Lordship had it."

With this letter from Morris to the Secre-

1 See affidavit following.

" John Bowne (son of that John who was one of the first five settlers within the limits of Monmouth County) was expelled from the House of Assembly, April 30, 1707, for his complicity in the raising of money for the bribing of Lord Cornbury.

On the 5th of May, 1707, the Assembly " Resolved that this House, from the Evidence of Several Persons, taken by the Committee of the Whole House, and Several Petitions Sent to this House, are fully satisfied that there have been Considerable Sums of Money privately raysed in this Prov- ince by the perswasiveness of Richard Saltar, to procure the dissolution of the Assembly to get cleare of the proprie- tors' Quitt rent, and procure such men to be put in office as the Contributors Should approve of."

tary of State was forwarded the following, being a part of " A. Collection of Affidavits, Depositions and Petitions to the Assembly of New Jersey, to support the accusation of the said Assembly against Lord Cornbury's Admin- istration of that Province. Inclosed in Mr. Morris's 9th Feb'ry, 1707-8:"

"Joseph Meaker, aged fifty-nine years, being Sworn, saith that Mr. Richard Salter told this depont that he thought the then Assembly would be dissolved and that the Countrey had not a free choice of their Rep- resentatives in that Assembly, and that if a sum of money cou'd be raised, which he, the s'd Salter per- swaded to : He, sd Salter, said he knew he could pro- cure from my Ld Cornbury that they should have a free choice of their Representatives, their Quit rents cleared and new Justices made such as the People had a mind to; this depont further saith that Richard Salter, in a great company where himself, Jonas Wood, Joseph Lyon, Benjamine Meaker and severall others were, Salter told them that the money raised was to be given to my Ld Cornbury to obtain the ends aforesd, that this depon paid four pounds himself with intent to be given to my Ld Cornbury for to ob- tain the Ends aforesaid, and that most of the Con- tributors in Elizabeth Towne told this depont that they had given the money to be given to my Ld Corn- bury to obtain a dissolution of the then Assembly and other the ends before named. This depon' says he does not know whether the money was given to my Lord Cornbury or not; but he believes it was." "Apr. 28, 1707. Sworn as before.3

"LEWIS MORRIS, Chairman."

"Sefty Grover, Aged forty-nine years, being Sworn, saith that the saw severall Billes in Salter's hands for several sums of money, Particularly one from M' John Royce for a sum above thirty pounds, one from one Lucas (but whether the younger or older he knows not) for forty pounds, and from one Dunham or some such Name for five pounds ; that the sd Salter wou'd have had this depont sign a Bond to Capt. Bowne, and accordingly produced a blank Bond ready drawn, which this depont refused to sign until he knew what it was for; Salter reply'd, it was for the good of the country and t' would prove so, and this depont urged very hard to know what it was for; he, the sd Salter, told this depont, He should never know more than he did know; this depont saith further, that he saw a parcell of Papers in Salter's hands, which Salter told him were Billes, and read severall of them to him, but he does not remember the Persons' Names or Sums, but that they were most or all taken in Capt. John Bowne's Name; he, the sd depont, also saith, that James Grover told him he gave ten pounds on

3 N. J. Col. Doc., Series 1, vol. iii. pp. 210-211.

THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY.

the account; James Cox told him six or seven times that he had given ten pounds; James Bowne told the depon' he had given six pounds; George Allen told this depont he had given twelve pounds; Ger- shom Mott told this depont, it had cost him twenty pounds, but whether it was for the Lawyers or upon the other account, which generally obtained the name of the Blind Tack [tax], this depon' cannot tell, y' William Winter told this deponent, he had given four pounds upon that blind tack; John Bray told this depont he had given six pounds and that he was straitened to procure the money, y' this deponent „heard Salter read a Bill from himself to Bowne, but remembered not the sum; this depon' further saith that by Common fame the Persons hereafter namd were supposed to contribute to the blind tack as fol- lows, viz .: Widow Reape, twenty pounds; Steven Cook, six pounds; Joseph Cox, twelve pounds ; Garet Wall, thirty pounds, he told this depon' it had cost him forty pounds; Nathaniel Parker, Eight pounds; John Lipincot, six pounds; Joseph Parker, six pounds; Elisha Lawrence, twenty pounds; and that all the Lawrences, except Benjamine, gave money ; Richard Hartshorne, thirty pounds; Capt. Andrew Bowne, thirty-six pounds, this depon' thinks Salter shew'd him Cap Andrew Bowne's Bond for that sum; Edward Woolly, seven or eight pounds; John Woolly, eight pounds; John Stout, six pounds ; W" Winter told this Depont he was by when Lipet and Stout gave it; Joseph William, Eighteen shil- lings; Joseph Wardell, Eight pounds; John Scot, five pounds and upwards; John Lawrence, seven pounds; William Hartshorne, six pounds; Richard Lipincot, five pounds and upwards; Thomas White, eight pounds; James Ashton, seven or Eight pounds; George Hulet, six pounds; Old Robins, forty shil- lings; Richard James, Six pounds; that it was generally believed one man had all the money afore- s'd. William Winter told this depon' Salter promised to get his Quitrents off and that Cap' Stillwell should be put out of office, and this depont saith that it was Salter generally went about to perswade the raising the above sd money ; this depont further saith it was some little time after he, the sd Salter, had taken the Oaths for to be a Justice of the Peace that this de- pon' had this discourse with him, and that some time before that the sd Salter had desir'd this depont to send severall persons to meet him at Middletown, at an appointed time, which this depon' did do, and some of the persons afterwards told him they had given him, the sd Salter, Bills on account of the Blind Tack aforesd, and further this depon' saith not.

" Apr: 26th, 1707. Sworne as before,1

" LEWIS MORRIS, Chairman."

There were many more depositions produced, all being of nearly the same tenor ; and there

1N. J. Col, Doc., Series 1, vol. iii. pp. 211-213.

can be no doubt of the truth, in the main, of the allegations brought by Lewis Morris against Cornbury, who was the most detested of all the royal Governors, except, perhaps, Sir Ed- mund Andros ; and, indeed, in the matter of private character, the latter was far the better of the two. In an address by the Assembly to Governor Hunter, in 1710, they said, with reference to the administration of Corn- bury, that he had "sacrificed his own reputa- tion, the laws and our liberties, to his avarice," and that he had treated her Majesty's subjects rather as slaves, whose persons and estates he might control, than as freemen, who were to be governed by the laws. And he was not more detested and disliked in New Jersey than in New York, where, in fact, his private character ap- peared in even a more unfavorable light. " It was not uncommon for him to dress himself in a wo- man's habit, and then to patrol the fort in which he resided; such freaks of low humour exposed him to the universal contempt of the people ; but their indignation was kindled by his despotick rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarice and injustice, not only to the publick, but even to his private creditors; for he left some of the lowest tradesmen in his employment unsatisfied in their just demands."-History of New York.

Finally, the complaints against Cornbury became so loud and frequent that the Queen was forced to the conviction of his unfitness for the position he held, and although he was her near kinsman, she revoked his commission and appointed John, Lord Lovelace, his successor as Governor of the provinces of New York and New Jersey.

Lord Lovelace was commissioned Governor of the two provinces in April, 1708. He ar- rived at New York on the 18th of December following, and on the 20th he met the Council of New Jersey at Bergen, and assumed the government of the province, but his adminis- tration was of less than five months' duration, for he died at New York on the 6th of May, 1709, having never recovered from a sickness resulting from the exposure and hardship of the voyage from England. One of his sons died at New York before him, and another (the eldest) died a fortnight after his father. The

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

widowed Lady Lovelace returned to England, heart-broken and in poverty, having failed to secure a reimbursement of her husband's outlay in coming to America.

The successor of Lord Lovelace at the head of the governments of New Jersey and New York was Lieutenant-Governor Richard In- goldsby, who had held that office since his appointment by the Queen, in 1702. He had been in full sympathy with Cornbury, and was almost as much detested by the people as his superior had been. Both provinces memorial- ized the Queen, protesting against his continu- ance in office, which resulted in the revocation of his commission (October 20, 1709). William Pinhorne then (as senior member of the Council) became acting Governor, until the arrival at New York (June 14. 1710) of Brigadier-General Robert Hunter, who had been commissioned as Governor of New York and New Jersey in the preceding December.

Governor Hunter favored the interests and measures of what was called the "country party" -which included the Quaker element-and was vigorously opposed by those who had been ad- herents of Lord Cornbury. But he gained the good-will and respect of a majority of the people, and his administration, which continued ten years, was far more successful than any which had preceded it in New Jersey. In 1719, when writing to Secretary Popple, notifying him of his intention of returning soon to England, he said : " I shall leave both provinces in perfect peace, to which both had been long strangers." Upon his departure, Lewis Morris, being president of the Council, became for the time acting Governor of New Jersey.

When Governor Hunter left for England, in 1719, it was with the expectation of returning to New York, but not long after his arrival in London an arrangement was made, with the King's sanction, by which he exchanged offices with William Burnet, Esq., he receiving that of comptroller of the customs, in London, and Burnet being commissioned Governor of New York and New Jersey, April 19, 1720. He arrived at New York in the following Sep- tember.

Governor Burnet's administration was marked

by disagreements between himself and the As- sembly, chiefly arising from differences of opinion in the matter of raising revenue for the support of government. He remained Governor of the two provinces until the latter part of the year 1727, when he was appointed to the gov- ernment of Massachusetts Bay, and removed to Boston. He was succeeded in the Governorship of the two provinces by John Montgomerie, Esq., who arrived at New York and assumed the government on the 15th of April, 1728. He remained in office three years, and until his death, July 1, 1731. During his administration (in 1728) the first step was taken, by a resolu- tion of the General Assembly, and afterwards a petition to the King, for making the govern- ment of New Jersey separate from and inde- pendent of that of New York. The measure was unsuccessful at this time, but was adopted ten years later.

By the death of Governor Montgomerie, the president of the Council, Lewis Morris, became and continued Acting Governor until 1732, when Colonel William Cosby was commissioned Governor (February 4th), and arrived in New York in September of that year. He continued in office until his death, March 10, 1736. John Anderson, president of the Council, then admin- istered the government until his death (which occurred about two weeks afterwards), when it devolved on the next member of the Council, John Hamilton, Esq. (son of the former Gov- ernor, Andrew Hamilton), who continued to act as Governor for about two years.

In 1736, about two months after the death of Governor Cosby, a petition from the Council and the Speaker and a number of members of the Assembly, and another petition from the grand jury of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (both dated May 11, 1736), praying for a sepa- ration of the government of New Jersey from that of New York, were forwarded to England and presented to the King, by whom they were referred to the Lords of Trade for their consid- eration and advice. The Lords having reported favorably (August 5, 1736), Colonel Lewis Morris, of Monmouth County, who had been a prominent man in the affairs of the province for forty-six years, and a leader in the efforts to

THE INDIAN OCCUPATION.

weare the separation of the provinces, was appointed and commissioned, in 1738, Governor of New Jersey, independent of the government of New York.

The administration of Governor Morris was a complete surprise and disappointment to the people, who had based their expectations on his previous official record. In the office of Gov- ernor he ever manifested a disposition rather to uphold the arbitrary demands and preten- sions of the crown than to promote and defend the interests of the colonists. The Assembly welcomed his appointment to the Governorship with enthusiasm, but they soon found that their expectations were to be disappointed. Great dissatisfaction was felt at his attitude towards the Assembly, especially on account of his con- tinual and pressing demands for the appropria- tion of money. The course pursued by him subjected him to reproachful imputations, and entirely eradicated the sentiment of gratitude which had previously (particularly in Cornbury's time) existed towards him, and created in its place a feeling of strong and bitter resentment. Under such conditions he continued to hold the office of Governor of New Jersey until his death, in May, 1746.

The successor of Governor Morris was John Hamilton, president of the Council, who con- tinued as Acting Governor until his death, in 1747. During his administration the province voted to raise five hundred men, and to appro- priate the amount of interest in the treasury and £10,000 in bills of credit in aid of the expedi- tion against the French fortress of Louisbourg, at Cape Breton. At the death of President Hamilton the government of the province devolved on the eldest member of the Council, John Reading Esq., who held till the arrival of Jonathan Belcher as Governor.

Governor Belcher was commissioned on the 13th of February, 1747, and on the 8th of August arrived at Sandy Hook, where he left his vessel and proceeded in his barge to Perth Amboy. His administration, which was of ten years' duration, embracing most of the period of the " French and Indian War," was regarded as a successful one. He died at Elizabethtown, August 31, 1757. At his death the govern-

ment again devolved on John Reading until the arrival of Governor Francis Bernard, in June, 1758. In 1760, Governor Bernard was trans- ferred to the government of the Massachusetts colony, being succeeded in the Governorship of New Jersey by Thomas Boone, who arrived in the province on the 3d of July. In 1761 he was transferred to South Carolina, and was succeeded in the same year as Governor of New Jersey by Josiah Hardy, who, in 1762, was removed from the Governorship and appointed consul at Cadiz, in Spain. His successor was the last of the royal Governors of New Jersey, William Franklin, son of Dr. Benjamin Frank- lin. He was commissioned in September, 1762, and remained Governor of the province until 1776, when the Provincial Congress of New Jersey deposed him from office, and he was sent under military guard to Connecticut, where he remained for a long time a prisoner. On being liberated he joined the British in New York, where he became president of the Board of Associated Loyalists, and so continued until 1782, when the board was dissolved by order of the British commander, Sir Guy Carleton. Soon afterwards the war closed, and Franklin went to England and lived there until his death.

CHAPTER IV.

THE INDIAN OCCUPATION.

IN the year 1609, on a mild September day, when the morning fog was lifted from the ocean, off the land that is now the Monmouth County sea-shore, a sight was disclosed such as the Indian natives of the region had never be- fore seen, and which, as was afterwards told in their traditions, excited in them feelings of wonder, anxiety and dread. Far out on the ocean, to the southeast, floated a strange object (really a little Dutch brigantine, the first Euro- pean vessel ever seen in these waters), which some of the savages believed to be a sea monster, while others thought it an enormous bird, which latter belief was strengthened when, with the coming of the breeze from the southeast,

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 9

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