USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 63
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The house is still pointed out, near the boundary of this township, where General Charles Lee was taken pris- oner by a party of British cavalry, December 13th 1776. The " Mr. Mackelwraith " who has been accused of be- traying General Lee to the British was Elder Samuel McIlrath, of Mendham. He was himself surprised and taken prisoner while walking along the road. He did not reside in the neighborhood and was ignorant of General Lee's movements, and whatever he did to point out any house where officers were quartered, or in any way to act as a guide to the British, he did under compulsion and to save his own life, and not as a traitor. Elder McIlrath was as well known as any man in Mendham, and it was known and read of all men that he was not a tory.
Five years subsequent to this (January Ist 1781) a more sombre event occurred in this vicinity. Two thou- sand old soldiers, veterans of over three years' service, were in open revolt .. The whole Pennsylvania line were mutineers; Captain Billings was killed by his own men and other officers were wounded. General "mad An- thony " Wayne was pushed aside as a boy, and told that if he attempted violence he would be instantly put to death. These troops were full of courage and patriotism, but their manhood had been outraged. They believed that their term of enlistment had expired, and they were refused their discharge. They claimed their rights and were willing to die fighting to defend them. Let not the benefit of this example be overlooked or lost. It will ever be found dangerous to trifle with the rights of a patriotic soldiery. These troops marched to Princeton; their demands were acceeded to, they were honorably discharged, and thus disastrously were the camp fires of the Revolution forever extinguished in Morris county.
PEQUANNOCK TOWNSHIP.
BY HON. JOHN L. KANOUSE.
HIS is one of the oldest townships in Morris county; it has existed since 1740, though now greatly reduced in extent by the forma- tion of other townships. From 1790 to 1844 it included more territory than any other township in the county, and in area was nearly equal to the whole of Essex county. Rockaway was set off in 1844. From that time to 1867 Pequannock included all the territory embraced in the present town- ships of Pequannock, Montville and Boonton.
Pequannock township contained in 1830 a total popu- lation of 4,355, and in 1840 5,227. Rockaway township being set off from it in 1844, in 1850 Pequannock had a population of 4,118, which in 1855 had increased to 4,919, and in 1860 to 5,440, including 5,306 white and 134 colored. In 1865 the total population was 5,611, in- cluding 80 colored. In 1867 Pequannock was made into three townships, Boonton, Montville and Pequannock. In 1870 the census showed that Pequannock had a total population of 1,539, including 37 colored. In 1875 the total population was 1,693, including 44 colored; and in 1880 the population had run up to 2,239, showing an in- crease in ten years of 700, and in the last five years of 546. This increase of population is the result mainly of two causes, an increase of manufacturing industry and railroad facilities.
polls, 476; State school tax, $1,820; county tax, $1,699; bounty tax, $1,983.61; road tax, $1,500.
FIRST PURCHASES AND SETTLEMENT.
The English claim to the soil of New Jersey, and the acquisition of title by the " proprietors," are elsewhere treated of. The proprietors had a common seal, and under that seal they issued to individual purchasers war- rants to locate lands, which were in effect simply written permissions to locate'a stated number of acres of unap- The formation of Pequannock township, in 1740, is referred to on page 21. From the bounds as there given it is evident that Pequannock township in the beginning included territory afterward set off to Jefferson. It ap- pears from the records that in the beginning our county court exercised the authority not only of subdividing the county into townships, but also at first of appointing propriated land wherever they saw fit in their section of the province. Under these warrants lands were taken up and sold to some for actual settlement, and to others for investment. It was in this way that the first pur- chases of land were made in this and other townships throughout the State; subject, however, to the Indian right of possession, which was always obtained by pur- constables and other township officers, and that the chase from them, either by individuals or by the pro- court continued to exercise authority in setting off new townships as late as 1751; for we find entered in the minutes in that year a petition from the people in that part of the county now included in Sussex, asking to have a township set off, to be called "New- town."
prietors. The greater part of all tillable land in Pequan- nock, as it was when it included territory now in Mont- ville and Boonton townships, was covered by several large tracts taken up at a very early date, and a few at a period fifty years later.
As to the beginning of settlement in this township by the whites, we have evidence found in the county records, the records of the proprietors, kept at Amboy and at Burlington, and also in old documents-such as deeds, wills, agreements, etc .- some of which date back as far as 1695, 1696, 1712 and 1714. The southeastern por- tion of Pequannock township was first settled by the whites about the year 1700. The settlement was com- menced by a few families of Hollanders, who came from Bergen and New York and from the early settlements at Kingston and Albany on the Hudson River, and pur- chased from the proprietors of the eastern division of New Jersey a tract of land lying in the vicinity of what is now called the Pompton Iron Works, and extending down toward the Passaic River. This whole region was a wilderness and the home of the Indians, who were nu- merous here at that time and claimed the whole of this valley. As a preparatory step to the purchase from the proprietors it was doubtless deemed advisable to first se-
The assessors in 1881 reported the valuation, taxes, etc., as follows: Acres, 20,942; valuation of real estate, $632,604; personal property, $108,220; debt, $25,825; cure the Indian right, which was done by purchase made
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
by Arent Schuyler on June 6th 1695. This deed is men- tioned in the Morris county record of deeds, and on the part of the Indians was signed by "Onageponck," "Hielawith of Pequannock," and "Sajapogh, sachem of Minising." As stated in the deed this Indian purchase began at the mouth of a small brook, in the Indian lan- guage called "Singeck," "which falls into the Passaic River;" it extended north and east to the hills, and was on the easterly side of the Pequannock River.
In the description of the location of this tract given in the deed from the Indians to Schuyler it is stated that there was an Indian path that led from the brook called "Singeck " toward Pompton, called the " Minising path;" this path, it is believed, led from Pompton to the Dela- ware River, which was the headquarters of the Minsi Indians. The Indians here at the time were called the Pompton tribe. From the nature of the adjoining lands it is altogether probable that this Indian path mentioned in the deed led up along the valley of the Pequannock River. One of the signatures to that deed on the part of the Indians is stated as "Hielawith of Pequannock," which would seem to justify the inference that the tribe of Indians having their hunting grounds up through the valley of the Pequannock River, and on the adjoining hills, were called " Pequannocks," and that from them the name of the river was derived. The tribe called Pomptons had their hunting grounds about the junction of the Pompton River, as then called (which is now known as the Ramapo), with the Pequannock, and thence up the valley of the Pompton River.
In 1695 Arent Schuyler, Anthony Brockholst, Samuel Bayard, George Ryerson, John Mead, Samuel Berrie and David Mandeville entered into an agreement to purchase from the proprietors of the eastern division of New Jer- sey 5,500 acres of land just east of and bordering on the Pequannock River, a tract covered by the Indian pur- chase made in June of that year. Accordingly Schuyler and Brockholst obtained a patent, as it was called, or an agreement of bargain and sale, from the proprietors on the 11th of November 1695 for such tract.
The next movement made by Schuyler and Brockholst in the further purchase of land bears date December 2nd 1696. It appears from recitals in deeds afterward given by them to others, and which are found in the records of Morris county, that Schuyler and Brockholst became legally possessed, by reason of a deed of patent from the proprietors of East New Jersey, under the public seal of the province, dated December 2nd 1696, as also by virtue of a certain indenture of bargain and sale from William
turn in Pequannock River in length to where the river comes out of the hills, and fifteen chains back to the hills in breadth, 1,500 acres more or less." This purchase covered all of Pompton Plains and down to the Passaic at or near the Two Bridges, and also all that tract of black soil then called the bog valley, from which its present name "Bog and Fly " was derived; as well as a strip of land extending up the slope of the hills on the west. This was the first purchase of land for a settle- ment in Pequannock township, and such settlement was commenced at Pompton and Pompton Plains about the year 1700; possibly a few families may have settled on the east side of the Pequannock River as early as 1697 or 1698. It would seem that the purchasers, to make sure of an undisputed title to their land, procured an indenture of bargain and sale from the proprietors of both East and West Jersey, and that they had previously secured by purchase the Indian right. Schuyler and Brockholst were probably at the time residents of New Barbadoes, which was on the east side of the Passaic River, just above the present town of Belleville. It is believed that they were among the pioneers in the settlement in this region, and that they settled near each other, but on the east side of the Pequannock River, near where the late Dr. William Colfax lived, and that they settled there possibly about 1698 or 1700. It appears from the records that by a writing of bargain and sale, dated March 20th 1696, they had agreed, in anticipation of their contem- plated purchase, to dispose of one-third of the tract on the west side of Pequannock River to Nicholas Bayard; and also that by a writing dated March 5th 1702 they agreed to sell a part of this tract (the lower end, next the Passaic River) to Maurice Mourison. The bounds are stated as follows: "On the south by the Passaic River, east by the Pequannock, north to the hill or mountain lying over or against the lowermost part of the lowlands of Pequannock, and to the west upon the meadows along the Passaic." It appears that on the 15th of April 1710, in the ninth year of Queen Anne, Arent Schuyler deeded to "Symon Vanness," Isaac Le Maitre and John Comelytse a portion of this land; and that on the 27th of May 1717 Arent Schuyler con- veyed one-third part of the lands bought by Schuyler and Brockholst, and lying west of the Pequannock River (excepting that part sold to Maurice Mourison and the bog valley), to Simon Vanness and John Le Maitre for £210, equal to $525. This last conveyance was recorded September 11th 1815.
Adjoining the southern part of the Schuyler and Biddle and George Huchison, of Burlington, dated Brockholst purchase on the west, and bordering on and September 22nd 1696, of a certain tract of land on the west side of Pequannock River, beginning where the Ramapo runs into it, and thence up the Pequannock "to the great turn in said river;" thence west six chains, and thence to the Passaic River, and thence down the same to the Pequannock River, and up the Pequannock to the place of beginning; and also all that tract of bog valley on the west of the first mentioned tract, and up to the foot of the hills; " and all that strip of land from the great
extending up the Passaic River, a tract of 2,000 acres was taken up by George Willocks on the 6th of October 1699; this tract lay between the Hook Mountain range and the Passaic, and took in a considerable part of what is now known as Passaic Valley. About 1712 William Penn took up a large tract, covering the Pine Brook neighborhood and nearly the whole of the southern part of what is now Montville township and extending over into Hanover township.
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OLD FAMILIES OF PEQUANNOCK.
Who first explored this section of country and brought the desirability of the land to the notice of the whites settled east of the Passaic River is not certainly known; but there is some reason to believe that it was Arent Schuyler, who had been sent from New York on some business with the Indians up at Minisink. Tradition, and the fact that mention is made of this journey in the historical documents of the State of New York, go to warrant this belief; and it is still farther strengthened by the fact that in the deed from the Indians to Schuyler June 6th 1695, in describing the location of the tract, mention is made of an old Indian path leading froni the settlement east of the Passaic at New Barbadoes, through the Notch, to Pompton, and thence up the Pequannock Valley to Minisink on the Delaware, and the country on either hand renders impossible the existence of any other direct route. It is believed that Schuyler in pass- ing through this valley-where he found a few cleared spots used by the Indians in raising corn and tobacco, and also an Indian orchard near what is now called Pacquanack-was so impressed with the idea of its natural advantages that he soon took measures to secure the title to a large portion of it. Such is substantially the statement made some years ago by the Rev. Garret C. Schanck, who for years was pastor of the Pompton Plains church, while many of the old people were living, and when he had a better opportunity of tracing out the truth of traditions. Prominent among the names of those who first settled on Pompton Plains and in the vi- cinity are Brockholst, Schuyler, Vanderbeck, Vanness, Ryerson, Bayard, Berry, Mandeville, Rycker, Mead, Roome, Vangelder, Slingerland, De Bow, De Mott, and Jones,
The following is taken from a statement furnished by Rev. Garret C. Schanck above mentioned to the Rev. John Van Nest Schenck, pastor in 1871, who was prepar- ing an historical discourse to be delivered on the occa- sion of reopening and dedicating the church there, which had been undergoing extensive repairs and alterations in that year. He says:
" It may be well to notice the fact why it was that cer- tain families were of those who first settled at Pacquanack and at the Plains. The larger number of these were re- lated to each other by marriage; thus the wife of Samuel Berry was Catharine Ryerson, sister of Josis, who on the death of her first husband, in 1702, married Paulus Van- derbeck, in 1703. The mother of the Jones family who first settled here was a sister to Susanna Schriek, the wife of Anthony Brockholst. Ann Schouten, the wife of Josis Ryerson, was the widow of Tunis Dey, and Sarah Schouten (probably sister of Ann) married Jan Ricker. Jan Mead, the first of the name who settled here, married Margaret Mandeville, sister of Hendrick, one of the first settlers. The wife of Peter Roome, the first of that family who settled here, was Anna Berry, daughter of Samuel Berry and Catharine Ryerson; this Peter Roome was a son of Peter Williamse Roome and Hester Van Gelder, thus allying these two families.
" The Mandeville family is descended from Giles Jan- sen Mandeville, who fled from Normandy, in France, to Holland, and there married a Dutch woman, Elsje Hen- dricks, and came from Guelderland to New York in
1647. His son Hendrick married first, on July 18th 1680, Anetje Pierterse School, and lived some time at Hempstead, L. I .; and on her death married, the second time, April 21st 1699, Elizabeth Jane Berry, and about that time removed to and settled at Pacquanack. He died between 1709 and 1714 and left sons, by the first marriage David, and by the second, Hendrick, Johannis, and Giles. The second wife after his death married Brand Jacobus and had two sons, James and Abraham, the forefathers of the Jacobus family in this section.
" The first of the Slingerland family, Nicholas, it is said, came from up the North River and became con- nected with the Roome family by marrying Catalyntje, daughter of Peter Roome and Anna Berry.
"The Vanness family of this section of country are descended from Simon Vanness. His first wife was probably Rachel Van Densen and they were living in Schenectady in 1689-90, when that place was destroyed by the Indians; and that child had a child born, Annetje, who subsequently married James Jacobus, and lived to the age of ninety-eight years and nine months. On the death of his first wife Mr Vanness married (on Decem- ber 19th 1700) Hester De Lachater, and about the date of his second marriage he settled at Fairfield, Essex county, New Jersey. He had sons-Hendrick, who settled on Pompton Plains, Isaac at Fairfield, Evert at Little Falls, N. J., and Simon, who settled at Pompton, or that part of the upper end of the plains called Pomp- ton. It is probable that this Simon Vanness is the same person to whom, with Isaac Le Maitre and John Com- elytse, Arent Schuyler on the 15th of April 1710 sold a tract of land, and the same who with John Le Maitre on May 27th 1717 bought a tract of land situated on the west side of Pequannock River at the upper end of Pompton Plains.
" The De Bow family came from New York at a later day; probably about 1727, as in that year, on the 23d of May, Garret De Bow married Maria, the second daughter of Paulus Van Derbeck, and probably soon after settled on the upper end of Pompton Plains.
"The De Mott family came from Bergen, and at a later date still; in 1740 Hendrick De Mott or his father Michael purchased land on the plains, and soon after that settled there.
" The Doremus family were not among the original settlers here, and what was the name of the forefather in this country we cannot state; but as far as we can ascertain they came from Middlebury, on the island of Zealand, in Holland, about the year 1685, and settled at Acquackanonk. There appear to have been four broth- ers-Johannis, Thomas, Hendrick, and Josis; Johannis was born in Holland, and the others in this country at Acquackanonk. Johannis married (August 9th 1710) Elizabeth Ackerman; Thomas (October 4th 1712) mar- ried Anneke Abrahamse Ackerman; Hendrick (April 14th 1714) married Annete Essels; Josis (March 16th 1717) married Maritze Berdan. Johannis lived at Preakness, and died between 1754-8, leaving a son Cornelius, who is probably the one who lived at Parsippany, Morris county, and from whom probably the greater part of that name in this valley are descended."
The foregoing statement presents the names of those who took the lead in opening and clearing this vast region, once an unbroken wilderness and the home of the savage.
There are but few men now living in Pequannock whose memory covers events more than seventy years ago. To Paul B. De Bow, aged 84, a descendant of one of the oldest families that settled in this town-
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268
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
ship, we are indebted for some items of information em- braced in the history of Pequannock. Mr. De Bow was born and has always lived in Pequannock; has for many years been one of its leading citizens; has been honored by the people with positions of trust; has always pursued the calling of a farmer; has acquired a comfortable com- petence, and now at an advanced age is living in the en- joyment of health and the merited esteem of his fellow citizens.
Benjamin Roome, also a descendant of one of the old- est families, and who for many years has followed sur- veying, has been one of the deputy surveyors of the pro- prietors, and has surveyed much for the Rutherfords and other holders of large landed estates, which has enabled him so collect many important data as to old locations, ancient maps, deeds, etc. He is still in the possession of health and strength and has recently assisted in some surveying, although aged 83 years. His son William succeeds to the active business of surveying, having the aid not only of the valuable stock of papers, maps, etc., collected by his father, but a large addition which he has been industriously engaged in obtaining for himself. To him we are indebted for valuable information concerning the location of the first purchases of land in Pequannock.
Prominent among those who first settled on the lower part of this valley-what is known as Beaver- town, and thence to the Passaic River-were men named De Hart, Dod, Post, Mourison, Cook, Vanness, Young, Mead, Mandeville, Terhune and Van Riper. The moun- tain range just back of what is known as Passaic Valley, bordering on the Passaic, was early in the settlement of this region known as Mourison Mountain, because Mau- rice Mourison at an early date (1702) bought and owned a large tract here, and some of his descendants by name have until within a few years owned land on this range. Hartman Vreeland also owned a tract of land on this mountain. In those early days lands were frequently changing hands, some buying for speculation and others for settlement. The records show. at a period much later, in 1798, that Johannis and Simon Vrooman, res- idents of Schenectady, N. Y., conveyed to Cornelius P. Doremus, of Pequannock, for £160 ($415), 8234 acres of land at what is known as Beavertown, adjoining land of Casparus Dodd, James Jacobus and John De Hart, and next to the Passaic River on the south.
The valley along the Passaic River as far up as Pine Brook was in the beginning taken up principally by families of the names of Mandeville, Mead, Vreeland, Vanduyne, Young, Vanness, Kerris, Van Riper and Low, and has continued to the present day mainly in the pos- session of the descendants of these first families, with the exception of the names of Low and Kerris, which have disappeared.
The early settlers in the neighborhood of Pine Brook were of the names of Vanduyne, Vreeland, Sisco, Van- ness, Miller, Young, and at a later date Baldwin, Sand- ford, Stagg, Crane, Gaines and Dod.
name of Baldwin, Courter, Jacobus and Stiles. Indeed, there were so many in this vicinity of the name of Stiles that the neighborhood was called Stiles Town, which name it retained for many years; and even now it is so called by some old persons, although among the present families living there that name has disappeared, with the exception of one Levi Stiles, aged 85 years. Those of the names of Crane, Dod, Baldwin, Gaines and Stiles were of English descent, and came originally from Connecticut; the others were of Dutch descent, and came mostly from Bergen, New York city and the early Dutch settlements on the Hudson River.
The neighborhood next north of this, known as Lower Montville, was first settled by families of the names of Davenport, Hyler, Parlaman, Gould, Kool, Eelsler (or Estler as it is now called), Millege and Dod. Among the first of those settling in this neighborhood was Humphrey Davenport, who came from Kingston on the Hudson River and bought through Thomas Stevenson from the proprietors of West Jersey a tract of 750 acres of land; the allowance made in those days of ten acres to the hundred for roads would really make this tract con- tain 825 acres. The deed bears date October 2nd 1714, and the survey as stated was made by virtue of a warrant in favor of Thomas Stevenson, approved by the council of proprietors in 1712. This tract commenced at a white oak tree standing on the east bank of the Rocka- way River about where the southeast corner of Zabris- kie's grist-mill now stands, and ran in a straight course easterly 382 perches, to or near the top of the mountain; then southerly 300 perches, and thence westerly 444 perches, to the Rockaway River, and thence up the same to the place of beginning. Humphrey Davenport built on this tract, nearly opposite the present residence of Dr. Richard S. Farrand. He must have brought with him from Kingston quite a family of children, and some of them pretty well grown; as we find by the church records at Acquackanonk (now Passaic) that on the 31st of October 1728 his daughter Sarah married Jacob Kool; and that another daughter, Helena, on July 4th 1729 married James Millege; and that June 14th 1733 Nicho- las Hyler married Rachel Davenport, another daughter. The Davenport and Hyler families became further con - nected by intermarriage, as Humphrey Davenport jr., July 3d 1731, married Elizabeth Hyler, a sister of Nicho- las. John Parlaman married Mary Hyler, a sister of Nicholas. The Hyler, Davenport, and Parlaman fami- lies were probably of those who first settled in this vicin- ity.
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