History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 8

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148

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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 :

" 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 misolanious mob were of his party .. . . That party of Basse's 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 Ld reed 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 JJustice of New York, since dead, they raised the severall sums mentioned in the affidavits1 and many more that we cannot vet 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.

2 .lohn Bowne (son of that John who was one of the first five settlers within the limits of Monmouth County) was expelled from the Ilouse 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 Honse, 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 proeure 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 Justiees 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 depont 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 depont 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 Lneas (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 depont 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 depont cannot tell, yt 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, yt 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 Lipineot, 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 depont 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 Stont 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 depont 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 depont 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. Ile 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 reimbursment 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 neting 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 vears, 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 aeting 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 sneceeded 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 Goy- 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 Monmonth 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.

secure 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 hokl 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- tinned 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 Lonisbourg, 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,

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

the little craft spread her sails to it and began to move northward, nearing the shore. There were some among them, too, who believed that it was the floating house of their great Manito, who had come to visit them from his home in the mysterious land beyond the mighty waters, and messengers were dispatched to warn all the neighboring people, and bring them to the shore to see the strange sight and give the mysterious visitor-whether Manito or demon1-such a reception as circumstances might demand.

Steadily, before the fresh sontherly brecze, the little vessel moved on, coming nearer and nearer to the shore, until, about the middle of the afternoon, the savage crowd gathered on the Navesink Highlands saw her pass the northern extremity of Sandy Hook and enter the bay, where, after a while, she became stationary at a point distant from the shore, and remained there in quiet until the shadows of night settled down over bay and highland, leaving the alarmed and wondering natives to pass the

1 " When some of them first saw the ship approaching afar off they did not know what to think about her, but stood in deep and solemn amazement, wondering whether it was a spook or apparition, and whether it came from heaven or hell. Others of them supposed that it might be a strange fish or sea-monster. They supposed those on board to be rather devils than human beings. Thus they differed among each other in opinion. A strange report soon spread through their country about the visit, and ere- ated great talk and comment among all the Indians. This we have heard several Indians testify."- Van Der Donck's Description of New Netherland.

The missionary, lleekewelder, mentions in his writings that one of the principal traditions which he found among the Indians was this having reference to the coming of the first European vessel-that of Captain Henry Hudson- which many of them firmly believed to be the house or great eanoe of the Manito, who was coming to visit them, but whether the visit portended good or evil to them, they re- mained in doubt and fear. In this belief, they sent out runners to notify all the' Indians within reach to come to the shore at onee to give him as good a reception as possi- ble, and so appease his wrath, if it was in wrath that he was coming. Afterwards, when the vessel came near the shore, and they saw her commander dressed in bright scarlet, with slashings and bands of gold lace, they were confirmed in their belief that it was in reality the Manito. Such is the tradition found by Heckewelder. But it was not long before they discovered that the captain and crew of the little vessel were not the Manito and his attendants, but mortal men, and they soon eame to regard them as enemies.

night with unsatisfied curiosity, waiting for the morning light, which, when it came, showed them the same mysterious object (but now wingless), still quietly floating on the waters of the bay.

This was the first vessel (other than the canoes of the Indians) which ever entered the lower Bay of New York or the adjacent ocean waters.2 She was of Dutch build, high-pooped after the ancient style, of a burden of abont forty lasts or eighty tons, and carrying a rig something similar to that of the modern brig- antine. Her name, "The Half-Moon," in Dutch, was painted on her stern, and high above it floated the Dutch colors-orange,3 white and blue. She was, in fact, one of the vessels of the Dutch East India Company, which they had put in commission under command of Captain Henry Hudson, an Englishman, with Robert Juet, also an Englishman, as mate, clerk or supercargo, and with a crew of twenty sailors, partly Dutch and partly English, and had dis-

" In the spring of 1524, John Verrazano, sailing under the auspices of the King of France, coasted along the shores of Carolina, and sailed thence northeast as far as Newfoundland. On the 8th of July, in that year, he wrote to the King, and in the letter stated that he had " found a very pleasant situation among some steep hills, through which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forces its way to the sea. From the sea to the estuary of the river any ship heavily laden might pass, with the help of the tide, which rises eight feet." He also added that he found In- dians, who were delighted to see him, and that the " hills show many indications of minerals."

Some writers have endeavored to convince themselves and their renders that the place referred to by Verrazano was the mouth of the Hudson River, and that consequently he, and not llenry Hudson, was the first navigator who ever entered the Bay of Sandy llook. But there is nothing to sustain such a supposition. No vessel ever built at that day, or for at least two centuries afterwards, would have had any dithi- culty in entering New York Bay without waiting for " the help of the tide ;" nor do the other particulars noticed by Verrazano correspond with those of the mouth of the Ind- son, while they do with those at the month of the Penob- scot, with the lofty and rugged hills of Camden aust Roek- land, and of Monhegan Island, opposite the mouth. On that island an attempt was afterwards made to plant a French colony (resulting, perhaps, from Verrazano's ac- count), and there is scarcely a doubt that it was the Penobscot River and hills to which he referred in his letter to the King. 3 At that time the flag of Holland was formed by three horizontal bars,-orange, white and blue,-but in or about the year 1650 the orange bar gave place to one of red.

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 8

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co. Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148