History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 105

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224

USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 105
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 105

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"Those from Everett and Fish's clay banks are mostly cherts and jaspers, and many, likely, from the Coniferons.

" The pebble with fish tooth is most likely Upper Helderberg. One other lot contained a curious pebble of sandstone, composed of a white matrix and rounded quartz, and on being broken open revealed a large fragment of Orthis hipparionyr, Vanuxem.

" Another lot reveals Atrypa reticularis, Spiriferæ (species?), and several fragments of Devonian brachi- opods and corals, and an impression of the dorsal side of a Gyroceras, or Cyrtoceras, very like C. - , Hall, from the Schoharie grit.

"There is no evidence of anything in the lot of more recent age than the Hamilton, and that only on two fragments, the others being Upper Helderberg, Oriskany, and perhaps some of the Favosites, Lower Helderberg, possibly though not probably."

The source from whence the materials for this formation originated must be looked for to the south- east of the present strata. Though bordering upon and overlying the red shale and sandstone which

431

EARLY ROADS.

lies to the northwest of it, there is not a frag- ment of these rocks to be found in any of these beds, nor any of their striking and characteristic red color to be perceived in them. On the contrary, the materials of these beds are white, gray, or blackish, and if at all tinged with the reddish color of oxide of iron, it is a yellowish red, and not a purplish red, like the red shale and red sandstone. The appearances all indicate that they have originated from the materials of disintegrated and partially decomposed feldspathic granite or gneiss. In some places these products of disintegration have been sorted by water, the fine particles of clay deposited by themselves to make the present clay-beds, in others the quartz has been de- posited as sand in beds by itself, and in still other places the finest of the sands, with a little mica al- most in powder, has been deposited to make the so- called kaolin heds. In other beds the materials are deposited in their original mixed condition, clay and quartz together constituting the so-called feldspar beds of this district.

There does not appear to have been any violent or irregular movements since the deposit of the clay- beds which has disturbed or distorted them. But there must have been high ground to the southeast and outside the present line of sea-coast, from which the materials for the clay and sand could have been washed and deposited on the lower ground, upon which they still lie. And this high ground, besides what wore away to make these beds, must have grad- ually settled down till it was hidden beneath the ocean, and the beds of the clay formation have risen along their northwestern border till they were above the sea-level, and till the beds had so altered their inclination as to slope down towards the southeast instead of towards the northwest, as they did when first deposited.

THICKNESS OF THE FORMATION .- The plastic clay formation here described consists of the following members, or sub-divisions, beginning at the top, viz. :

Fert.

Dark colored clay (with beds and laminæ of lignite) ...... 50

Samly clay, with sand in altervate layers .... 40

Stoneware clay-bed .... 30

Sund and sandy clay ( with lignite near the bottom). 50

South Amboy fire-clay bed . 20

Sandy clay (generally red or yellow) 3

Feldspar bed .....

Micarents snudd-brd ...

20 Laminated clay and sand.

Pipe-clay (top white ;..

Sauely clay (including Jeaf-bed)

Woodbridge fire-chuy led. 20

Fire-Band bed

Raritan clay-beds : Fire-clay

Sandy clay.

Putters' clay.

347

The columnar section here given shows the posi- tion and relative thickness of the several members of the clay formation. These several members of the plastic clay formation are not equally well defined and clearly marked by characteristic features, neither do they always appear of uniform thickness, corre- sponding to the figures as stated in the above general

section and order of superposition. The series here given represents the succession of the several sub- divisions or beds, and their average thickness, as ob- observed in localities where they appear fully de- veloped, and have not been subsequently eroded or otherwise diminished in thickness through the action of outside agencies. The order of succession or super- position is made up from a survey of the whole.

CHAPTER LXI.

EARLY ROADS.1

THE first highways in New Jersey of which there are any records or traditions were Indian paths. These are often referred to in early deeds and in the old records of commissioners for laying out roads. In a very old map which accompanies the edition of the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, published by James Parker in New York in 1747 (which map is reproduced from a still more ancient one, called " Popple's Large Map of the English Colonies in America"), there is a tracing of one of the most no- table of these Indian paths, known as the "Mini- sink Path," and which extended from the Navesink Highlands on the ocean to Minisink Island in the Delaware, a distance of abont seventy-five miles. This path started from Navesink, near the mouth of Shrewsbury River or Inlet, in Monmouth County, and ran northwesterly through Middletown to the Raritan River, in Middlesex County, crossing the river at Kent's Neck, near Crab Island, between Amboy and the mouth of South River. After cross- ing the Raritan the path ran north-northwest in its course, crossing the head of Rahway River, till it reached a point about six miles west of Elizabethtown Point, when it ran a short distance due north, and the remainder of its route north-northwest, passing over the mountains to the west of Springfield and Newark, and traversing the whole of Morris and Essex Counties in a north-northwest course to Min- isink Island in the Delaware, below Port Jervis, and near the point of intersection of Sussex County in New Jersey with Orange County in New York. This northerly limit of the Minisink path was a part of the favorite hunting-ground of the Minisink Indians, which extended throughout the entire valley lying north of the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania, stretch- ing from the Wind Gap in that State into New York near the Hudson. We may indulge the fancy that this path was devised to enable the "upper ten" among the aborigines to enjoy the " season" at Long Branch, and to lay up stores of shells and fish. At Amboy, and at intervals along the sea-coast from Shrewsbury to Barnegat, there still remain relics of

1 By Charles D. Deshler.

432

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

these periodical visits of the Indians, consisting of . Cornelius Jacobse Mey, the Dutch Governor under various-sized mounds of opened oyster-shells, many of which are from six to twenty feet in height, having a corresponding base, and built in a conical form. Some of these are now covered with alluvial, which has been in course of deposit upon them for centuries. There are also remains of shell-hanks, made up of other than oyster-shells, being of the shells of clams and periwinkles, out of the former of which the In- dians made their black (and most valuable) wampum. It is believed that the shell-banks or mounds of this kind are the refuse of Indian wampum manufac- tories.1

" Besides this extensive path there were many others. One of these ran from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick, where it crossed the Raritan, and from thence ran to Six-Mile Run, and through the State westward. The present road through Six-Mile Run, Kingston, and Princeton was laid out upon this path. Another of these paths ran from Shrewsbury through Monmouth County southerly, and was afterwards known as the 'Old Burlington Path.' Upon a part of this the road called the ' Lower Road' was laid out. " As in these cases so in many others, the Indian paths determined the location and course of the roads that were afterwards established by the early colo- nists; and it is worthy of notice that while many of the roads laid out by our ancestors were afterwards voided, by reason of the unfavorable character of the ground and other natural disadvantages, not a single instance is presented of a road or part of a road con- structed upon the site of an Indian path having been abandoned for any such cause. The American In- dian was a natural engineer, and the paths which he made were at once direct and skillfully selected for their combination of all the natural advantages that were required. If the Indian paths crossed a stream it was either at the easiest and safest fording-place or above or below the point which was most liable to interruption from freshets; if they traversed a swamp it was at the precise spot where permanent or solid ground was to be found; if they crossed a range of hills it was by an easy grade and where the height and breadth were least formidable. In whatever direction they tended the ground combined every essential which the highest civilization has since ascertained to be desirable in a road, whether direct- ness, economy of labor, or permanence be considered.

"The first roads traversing New Jersey that were made by European settlers were laid by the Dutch, with the purpose of connecting their settlements on the Noordt River (the Hudson), and especially at Nieuw Amsterdam (New York), with those of the Zuydt River (the Delaware) at Fort Casimir (New Castle, Del.). These must have been constructed in the period embraced between A.D. 1620 and 1660, certainly after 1623, when Fort Nassau was built by

the West India Company, and most probably after 1651, when Fort Casimir was built also by the Dutch. The intercourse between the settlements on the Hud- son and those on the Delaware was so infrequent, how- ever, that the only mode of communication at this time was by letters, which were dispatched across the bay to Elizabethtown, and from thence were carried for- ward from tribe to tribe by runners, who were some- times whites, but more commonly friendly Indians. Much light is thrown on the early history of these roads by the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, which supplies two maps defining the exact routes of these early Dutch roads with great particularity. Their course cannot be better illustrated than by referring to these maps, and by quoting from this old document as follows :

""The Town then (that is, in the ' Dutch Time,' A.D. 1620 to 1660) called New Amsterdam and Manndos, which is now (1745) the City of New York, was the first settlement and the chief Town of the Dutch upon Hudson's River, and the plan of Residence of the Director-General of New Netherland; and Fort Casimier, now called New Castle, on the West side of Delaware River, was their chief Town upon Dalaware River; and the roade from the one to the other of the said Towas past through the Landa in Question by this Bill, as is represented in the Map No. 1 annexed ; and more distinctly by the Map No. 2 annexed.

"' And your Orators to shew your Excellency, That the Tide flows up Raritan River to New Brunswick ; represented on the Map No. 2, where, in the Dutch time, and yet, the Road to Delaware River from New Amsterdam did cross; and at New Brunswick the said Raritan River, about Low-water theu was aud as yet is fordable and usually crossed on Horseback; and that the Tide of Delaware River runs up to or near Delaware Falls ; and at Low-water and when there are no Land-Floods, is fordable at said Falla, and was and is usually crossed a Horseback ; and at no place below New Brunswick and Delaware Falls are or ever were the said Rivera Raritan and Delaware fordable." 2

"The same old document states that in the years 1668 and 1670 'one Peter Jegow had License for and kept an House of Entertainment, for Accommo- dation of Passengers, Travellers and Strangers over against Mattinicunk Island,' at Lazy Point, 'which Island is said to be eight or nine miles below Dela- ware Falls,' and ' is between Burlington and Bristol,' . . . 'by which Point the Lower Road from New Am- sterdam to Delaware or the Zuydt River, in the Dutch Time, and as yet doth cross by a Ferry there; which two Roads are represented on the Map No. 2 annexed.' 'And,' it goes on to say, 'your Orators Charge there were no settlements in the Dutch Time (1620 to 1664) nor long after at Perth Amboy, nor near to it on Staten Island over against it; nor on the South Side of Raritan over against it, nor no Ferry then kept there; nor was there any Road in the Dutch Time that Way used, nor at any place lower down the Raritan River than where New Brunswick now stands, which was formerly called Inian's Ferry ; and which road still continues the principal and most frequented Road, notwithstanding many Endeavors to make it pass through Perth Amboy.' 3

1 Brodhead.

2 Elizabeth Bill in Chancery, p. 4.

3 Ibid., pp. 4, 5.

433

EARLY ROADS.

" There can be no doubt that the first road which traversed New Jersey passed from New York (then New Amsterdam) through the bay and the kills by means of a ferry to the point afterwards Elizabeth- town, and from thence through the towns afterwards known as Woodbridge and Piscataway to Inian's Ferry. At or very near this latter point two roads were formed. One of these, originally called the 'Upper Road,' afterwards known as the 'King's Highway,' passed on through the present sites of Kingston and Princeton to Trenton (or Delaware Falls, as it was then called), where it crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania, continuing to Bristol, and from thence to Fort Casimir, or New Castle, and subsequently to Philadelphia. .. . A detailed out- line of that portion of this road lying between New Brunswick and the province line as it existed in 1765 has been preserved in a field-book of Col. Azariah Dunham, who was appointed to run the line between Middlesex and Somerset in that year by the justices and freeholders of the connty. This map has peculiar interest for the reason that it sup- plies the names and residences of those who lived along the road in 1765.

" The other road, known in the early times as the ' Lower Road,' diverged from the ' Upper Road' near Inian's Ferry, at George's road. Originally the point of divergence was several miles west of New Bruns- wick, but in after-times it was shifted within the present limits of the corporation. Leaving the ' Upper Road,' the 'Lower Road' trended southerly and westerly through Cranbury to Burlington, where it crossed the Delaware and rejoined the 'Upper Road' at Bristol. The 'Lower Road' was far less ancient than the 'Upper,' as appears from an act passed in 1695, entitled 'An act for repairing the new road from Mr. John Inian's to Burlington,' the preamble of which is as follows: 'Whereas the new road from Mr. John Inians, his house upon Raritan River, to the limits of this province towards Burling- ton is a part of the great thoroughfare of this province from New England, New York, etc., to the westward, which yet being unsettled may fall to decay to the great inconveniency of travellers, who may pass and repass that way, unless care be taken to maintain the same nntil such time as it may be main- ' tained by those who may hereafter inhabit it, etc.' The act then goes on to provide that the road shall be kept up by the innholders of the towns of Piscat- away, Woodbridge, and Elizabethtown, who were re- spectively assessed three pounds fifty shillings and four pounds ten shillings annnally for five years for that purpose. The duty of the oversight and repairs of the road was intrusted to George Drake, an inn- keeper of Piscataway, who was empowered to receive the above tax and to employ laborers."1

" Periodically for many years, beginning as early as

I683-85 and continuing till 1740, efforts had been made to divert travel from the established old road through Inian's Ferry to Perth Amboy, and by a ferry across the Raritan at Radford's, now South Amboy, to extend another road through Spotswood to Burlington. The first intimation of a purpose of this kind is found in the 'Instructions' of the pro- prietors to Governor Gawen Lawrie on the 20th of July, 1683, in which they say, 'We could wish it might be discovered whether there may not a conve- nient road be found betwixt Perth Town and Bur- lington, for the entertaining a land commerce that way.' 2 And in obedience to these instructions Gov- ernor Lawrie laid out a road and established a ferry, with a boat to run between Amboy and New York, to 'entertain travellers' during his term of office, which closed in 1686.3 But the effort to divert the travel from the old road proved ineffectual, for on the 14th of April, 1698, the proprietors in their in- structions to Governor Basse again press the matter, urging him to 'lay before the Assembly the great advantage that will redound to the Trade of the Province in General to cause the publick road to pass through the Post Town of Perth Amboy from New York, &c., to West Jersey and Pennsylvania, to which good end' Governor Basse was further in- structed to ' endeavor to get an Act passed to lay a Tax on the County to bear the charge of a Work tending so much to the Publick Benefit of the Province.' +

" In connection with these efforts for the diversion of the public travel and traffic to Perth Amboy, it should be borne in mind that it was a place of ' great expectations.' It was a seaport, and was to be the London of the Western Hemisphere. It was the place where the reflected light of royalty shone in the persons of the proprietors and their representa- tives. It was the home of the Colonial Governors, and they held their mimic court there. It was the appointed place for the meeting of the General As- sembly, and for the sessions of the courts. It was perceived that it was destined to become the great maritime centre of America, and perhaps of the world, a fantasy which has never been eradicated, and is soberly entertained by some of their descend- auts in that sprightly city even to this day. Their pride, their interest, and doubtless to a great extent their convictions led the proprietors and those who held under them to concentrate upon the infant me- tropolis every influence that could contribute to its welfare.

" The earliest public record I have been able to discover of the positive existence of a ferry at Perth

1 Leaming and Spicer, pp. 359, 361.

2 Ibid., p. 173.

3 This road appears on a map io Whitehead's " East Jersey" as " Law. rie's Road." It is located south of the " Lower Road," and runs from South Amboy through Spotswood, possibly intersecting the " Lower Road" before reaching Burlington, but of that the map gives oo evi- dence, being too small to show the road the whole distance. 4 Leaming and Spicer, p. 221.

434

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

Amboy in connection with a road leading from thence to intersect the 'Lower Road' to Burlington is contained in an entry in the venerable manuscript volume of ' Minutes of the Middlesex County Conrts,' comprising the period between 1683 and 1720, which is preserved in the clerk's office of the county of Mid- dlesex. The last eleven leaves of this ancient muni- ment are devoted to a record of the acts of the com- missioners of roads for Middlesex County, and under date of June 14, 1705, it is therein stated that the commissioners-John Bishop, George Drake, and John Matthews-laid ont 'our common Road of six Rod wide, Beginning at the County line between Elizabethtown and Woodbridge, near Robison's Branch, thence extending along through Wood- bridge to Perth Amboy, the same that was laid out in the last Governor Lowry's time, and from Amboy ferry leading to Burlington, as it now lies, by South River Bridge to Cranbury brook, and so forward.' So that in obedience to the instructions of the pro- prietors above recited in 1683 to Governor Lawrie, and repeated in 1698 to Governor Basse, a ferry had been established at Perth Amboy, and a road had been laid out from thence connecting with the 'Lower Road' by way of South River Bridge and Cranbury, certainly at some time after 1698, and prior to 1705. The ferry at Perth Amboy is also spoken of in an act of the General Assembly passed Jan. 26, 1716-17, and the rates charged for ferriage are given. By this act, however, it appears that the business of the ferry at that date was chiefly between Perth Amboy and New York, Perth Amboy and Staten Island, and Perth Amboy and Wehauk, though men- tion is made of a ferry from Amboy to Radford's, the latter being on the south side of the Raritan, at the present site of South Amboy. It seems that at this time the ferry from Amboy to Radford's was used rather for the private convenience of the owners of plantations there than for any public purposes.

" I have not been able to discover any public act of the Assembly or other body establishing or con- firming the main highway traversing the State and crossing the Raritan at Inian's Ferry. It is doubtful if there ever were such an enactment. . . . The earliest enactment relative to any road which I have been able to discover under the English rule is an act of the Assembly passed April 6, 1676, as follows: 'Be it enacted by this Assembly that for the more safe and orderly Passage of the aforesaid Deputies (of Middle- town and Shrewsbury to the meetings of the General Assembly) for the future that care be taken by the Inhabitants of the town of Middletown to make choice of two or more Men out of the said Town, them to join with two or more also chosen out of Piscataqna, to make out the nearest and most conve- nient Way that may be found between the said Towns upon the Country charge; and this to be done between this and the tenth of May next, upon the penalty of what Damages may ensue for the

want thereof.'' This was followed six years later by an Act of Assembly passed March 1, 1682,2 which is the first one of a general character of which any rec- ord is preserved, and is entitled ' An Act for making and settling Highways, Passages, Landings, Bridges, and Ferries within this Province.' This act assigned the work prescribed to commissioners in each county, of whom the following were appointed ' for the County of Middlesex and parts adjacent, The Governor, or Deputy Governor for the time being, the surveyor- general, Capt. John Palmer, Thomas Worne, Stephen Worne, Samnel Dennis, Samuel Moore, Edward Sla- ter, John Gilman, Hopewell Hull. . . .

" Before the passage of this act the roads in New Jersey, with the exception of the great highways al- ready described, were mere Indian tracks, cartways, bridle- and foot-paths, and it was under the anthority of this law in East Jersey that the various roads pene- trating the province were laid out. . .. In Governor Lawrie's time, from 1684 to 1686, numerous roads were opened, several of them of considerable importance, and which remain in use until this day. . . . During the period from 1705 to 1713 no less than thirty-five different roads were viewed, opened, and established within the limits of Middlesex County.

" Prior to the passage of the general law, . . . and as late as 1686, the roads which have been above de- scribed were the only ones stretching over any con- siderable portion of the State, or linking together its scattered plantations, settlements, and embryo towns. The next road of public and general importance was the one familiarly spoken of as 'the Road up Raritan.' This branched from the main highway that ran across the State, starting ont from it at Piscataway, and rno- Ding to Bound Brook, and so through Somerset County to the North and South Branches. There is no official record in existence, so far as I have been able to dis- cover, of the first opening of this road, and its exact date is difficult to arrive at. In the course of my in- vestigation, however, some facts have come to light which enable me to fix the date with tolerable pre- cision. And as this road was an important one to our own county, at the same time that it was one of the earliest results of the pioneer plantations along the Raritan in Somerset County, and as it after- wards became a leading contributor to its settle- ment and development, it has a strong claim upon our interest.

" Among the other roads laid out in 1705 by John Bishop, George Drake, and John Matthews, commis- sioners of roads for the county of Middlesex, the record of which throws light upon still earlier roads, is one which is described as follows : 'And also for one other public, common, and General Highway, to extend from Woodbridge to Piscataway, and also from Amboy to Piscataway, and from thence along the Road to and through Somerset County to the North Branch, as it

1 Leaming and Spicer, p. 118.

: Ibid., pp. 256-58.

435

EARLY ROADS.

was formerly laid out in the late Governor Lowery's time.' So that, if this record be accurate, this road was first laid out during the administration of Gov- ernor Lawrie, which extended from 1684 to 1686. That it must have been laid out in 1686 appears from the following affidavits, which were made in 1720, when some difficulties had arisen about the true course of the ' road up Raritan,' and which are preserved in the old book of records of Middlesex County : 1

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 105

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts Number of Pages: 1224

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224