History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 139

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 139
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 139

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together en the first Tuesday in March annually et the usual and accus- tomed place for holding the town meetings er at such other place as they shall think proper and then sod there by plurality of Voicee to appoint euch and so many persone as they or the Major part of them shall think proper to jaspect the accounts orders minutes and transactions of the said Trustees er their successors. And in case of the death refusal er dieability of either er any of the said Trustees or they or any of them ceasing to be freeholders of the said Town of Woodbridge or resigning the trust in them reposed then and in such case we for us our heirs and successors will grant and ordain that other fit person or persons Free- holders of the said Town of Weedbridge be by the said Freeholders of the said Township of Woodbridge or the majority of them nominated elected and chosen in the place and stead of him er them so dying refusing or other- wise disabled as aforesaid. And further we have given and granted and by these presents do give and grant to the Said Freeholders ef eur Said Town of Woodbridge full power and authority to assesible and meet together once in three years but not oftener on the first Tuesday io March at the usual and accustomed place for holding ef the Town Meet- ings or at such other place as the Majority of theos shall from time to time appoint and then and there by plurality of voices alter change er continue all or any of the said trustees now appointed or that shall here- after be appointed elected or chosea by virtue of these presents to have and to hold all and cingular the privileges advantages liberties and all ether the premises to them the said Trustees of the free schools of ths Town of Woodbridge and their successors forever yielding rendering and paying therefor yearly and every year forever hereafter unte ne our heirs and successors at Perth Amboy in the county of Middlesex unto our receiver General of the said province on the Twenty-fifth of March one barley-corn if the same be legally demanded. And lastly our will and pleasure is that these our letters patent shall be of full force and efficacy to ell intents and purposes whatever as above mentioned ex- pressed and declared and that the same or the enrollment thereef chall in all courts of law and equity forever hereafter be construed and takeo most favorably and beneficially for the Trustees of the free schools of our Towo of Woodbridge according to our royal intention herein before declared notwithstanding that any unit er units of ad quod damnum hath or have not issued er is or are not returned before the making these presents. And netwithstanding the not recitiag misreciting or not rightly or certainly reciting the said rights privileges powere, an- thorities or any other the premises in and by these presents granted or meatt mentioned or intended to be granted or any part or parcel thereef. In testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be Diade patent and the Great Seal of our said Province of New Jersey to be hereto af- fixed. Witness our trusty and well beloved William Great Seal of the Province Franklin Esq eur Captain General and Governor in chief in and over our Province of New Jersey and Ter- ritories, thereon depending in America Chanceller and Vice Admiral in the Same etc. At the City of Bur- liogton the twenty-fourth day of June in the nioth year of our reiga Anno Domini 1769.

" Breaght to the office te he recorded June 13th 1803 and recorded the 14th following.

"Examined and agrees with the origiaal Liber A. V. Decds folie 136. " JOHN BEATTY, Secretary, " Secretary of State's Ofice."

In the year 1701 "a division of the common lands was publicly discussed and the school lands were or- dered to be laid out," and the committee to do it,-" be empowered to lay out the same in such place or places as they in their discression shall judge best, most con- venient and beneficiale for the town in general."

In the year 1715, George Brown, Benjamin Dunham, Willianı Ilslee, and John Jaquish were directed " to resurvey the school lands as well as the parsonage lands in addition to their other duties."

A school was regarded by the settlers as indispen- sable, was named in the charter, and provision was made for it in the settlement of the town. The school land (by order of the town Oct. 10, 1682) consisted of one hundred acres, twelve were to be marsh and the remaining eighty-eight to be upland.

567

WOODBRIDGE.

Although the allotment of a portion of the common lands for the benefit of schools is evidence of the in- terest in education felt by the first settlers, yet there was no action on the part of the town to effect the establishment of a school until March, 1689, when James Fullerton was, by a resolution in town-meeting, " to be entertained as schoolmaster."

In February, 1694, however, there was no school, and John Brown, of Amboy, or any other person that might be suitable for that employ, was to be "dis- coursed with" by a committee appointed for that purpose. The following month Mr. Brown was en- gaged at a salary of twenty-four pounds sterling to keep a free school for the next year. Against this proceeding a protest was entered by John Conger, to which dne weight will in all time to come be given when it is stated that on a subsequent page of the same record the gentleman saves himself the trouble of writing his name by substituting therefor " his mark."

There may have been some canse for Mr. Conger's objection, for we find that in November of the same year the town was in treaty with John Backer (Baker) to teach six monthis on trial, he to keep “ye school this winter time until nine o'clock at night," says the record. He was in the discharge of the dnties of the office in June following, but thereafter no mention is made of the schoolmaster for several years; but in December, 1701, a piece of land, "about ten rods," was allowed for a school-honse, "provided it did not prejudice the highway." This is presumed to have been the renowned edifice on what is known as Strawberry Hill.

Thereafter nothing appears on the records respect- ing the school until March, 1735, when measures were taken to make the school lands more productive by the appointment of a special committee to lease mode of administration down to the present century. The first statement made of the amount of the funds which had accumulated for the use of schools appears in March, 1761, when the sum of £321 11s. 11}d. is reported to be in the hands of the committee; and from its rapid increase it is probable more attention was bestowed upon amassing the means than upon disseminating the blessings of education. In March, 1764, the fund was £434 78. 9d .; in March, 1765, £465 58. 3d .; in March, 1766, £533 88. 2d.

At this time a vote was taken "whether or not it was best to take part of the money that was arisen from ye nse and Profits of the School Lands and make use of it for ye Schooling of Poor People's chil- dren, and the Votes passed in the negative." In September, 1769, the fund had increased to £740; in September, 1770, to £794; in September, 1771, to ₺850; in March, 1773, to £900; in March, 1774, to £985 48. 10d .; in March, 1775, to £1063 148. 11d .; and in November, 1775, to £1062 12x. 6d.1

The inhabitants appear to have learned something from experience, and after 1789 the interest of the school fund, in connection with the amount of tax assessed npon dogs, was appropriated for the schooling of poor children.

Woodbridge Academy .- In 1793 subscriptions were obtained for money to build the far-famed Woodbridge Academy. It was built by Jonathan Freeman, at a total cost of £342 2s. 4d. The site is now occupied by the down-town district school- house, which was erected in the fall of 1851. "The old academy was sold, and removed to a lot immedi- ately adjoining Mr. George Lasslett's residence, where it stands to this day."

A school-house is mentioned upon Strawberry Hill, and during the Revolutionary war, when the country was overrun by the British soldiers, large herds of cattle were kept by them in the commons around this school-house.

" March ye 12th, 1776. At a regular town-meeting of the inhabitants of Woodbridge the following was passed :

"That Samnel Jaquish, Benjamin Thornal, Moses Bloomfield, Nathaniel Heard, Robert Clarkson, and Joseph Shotwell be continned as trustees to the Scool Land & Money for thee year Insuing. The Report made by thee aforesd trustees is that thee Total, Principal, Interest, &c., of Schooal Land Money amounts to £1162 158. 6d.

" Jnne 1, 1669. Among other specific doings of the township it was so recorded in their charter that the school lands should always be free from paying the Lord's rent of a half-penny per acre, or any other rate or taxes whatsoever forever."

The Elm Tree Institute (formerly known as the Elm Tree Inn) was opened as a high school by Prof. the school was supported by the inhabitants, and many from a distance sending their children. After Prof. Stryker relinquished it Mr. Marshall took it in charge, but in a short time it was sold, and Mr. George Clinch purchased the property, and immedi- ately raised the building and made it more desirable for the purposes of a school. He afterwards sold it to Thomas H. Morris, Esq., and it was then changed to the name of Elm Tree Institute.

The following interesting statistics by districts for this township gives the number of schools and amounts of expenses :

Name.

No. District.

Appro- priated.

Total amount received for schools.

Locust Grove ...

$300.00

Washington ...

300.00

Rahway Neck

300 00

500.00

Blazing Star

300.00

Uniontown

300.00

463 00

Woodbridge ..

2101.10

5641.10

Fairfield Union.

727.38

1727.38

$4328.48

$9231.48

The number of teachers is: male, three; female, · eleven.

1 Town Record.

and manage them; and such continued to be the | James Stryker in the year 1822, and for many years

568

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

The school-houses in this township are generally kept in a neat way, and have a sufficient amount of grounds surrounding them for the children's play- grounds.

The number of children in the township between five and eighteen years of age is twelve hundred and three. Number enrolled on the school list, seven hundred and ninety-nine.

Among the early teachers was Master William Creamer, who taught a school for a number of years at Uniontown (1817-19). He had a son John, who lived in that neighborhood. He is well remembered by the older inhabitants as a " learned man and well fitted for teaching." From "Record of Marriages," etc., is the following :

School District No. 24 was formed by the consoli- dation of Districts Nos. 24 and 25 for the purpose of a graded school. The present fine school edifice, with tower, clock, and fine-toned bell, was built at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars, the mason- work being done by William B. Van Voast, of New Brunswick, and the carpenter - work by Messrs. Manning & Randolph, of Plainfield, C. Graham & Son, of Elizabeth, N. J., architects. Many improve- ments since it was completed have been made in finishing of rooms and in furniture, so that the present value of the building is thirty-five thousand dollars. The building was dedicated to free school Jan. 20, 1877.

Trustees in 1876-77, William H. Berry, Charles A. Campbell, and Howard Valentine; 1882, Joseph H. J. Martin, Howard Valentine, and Charles W. Drummond.

Teachers, 1876-77, Mr. Henry Anderson, Miss Helen R. Williams, Miss Kate A. Moore, Miss Laura E. Miller, Miss Helen A. Ensign, and Miss Ida A. Ayres; 1881-82, Mr. Edward L. Anderson, Miss Mattie J. Thomas, Miss Helen A. Ensign, Miss May A. Moore, Miss Sarah McEwen, Miss Edith Scott, Miss Carrie I. Dally, Miss Clara Acker.

Number of scholars on the roll, 347; average at- tendance, 181.

The situation of the almshouse (poor-house) of Woodbridge is upon the free school lands, which were surveyed in the year 1701.

Barron Library .- Thomas Barron, a native of Woodbridge, and for many years a resident of New York, left by his will fifty thousand dollars for the establishment of a free public reading-room and library in Woodbridge. By his will Dr. Ellis B. Freeman, Rev. George C. Lucas, former pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, and Dr. John C. Barron, of the city of New York, were the trus- tees appointed. The ground on which the Barron Library stands, on the corner of Rahway Avenue and Freeman Street, was donated by Dr. Barron, it being a part of the original Barron homestead. The archi- tect of building is J. Cleveland Cady, of New York, and the contractor and builder John E. Sidman. The

original contract for building, including the laying out of grounds and beautifying them, $17,998.53, and five hundred dollars of which sum was donated by Dr. Barron in the embellishment of the vestibule, and all this exclusive of amounts spent for books, etc.

The library was dedicated and opened to the public on Sept. 11, 1877. In the month of April, 1877, Anthony Schisler, Esq., was elected librarian, and at the same time made secretary of the board of trus- tees, Dr. John C. Barron at the same time having re- signed the secretaryship. The present board of trus- tees, viz .: Rev. George C. Lucas, chairman ; Dr. John C. Barron, treasurer, and Hon. Albert D. Brown. Anthony Schisler is librarian and secre- tary.

It contains about three thousand volumes of books very carefully selected, covering most points in Eng- lish literature, to which additions are being made constantly. The reading-room is furnished with daily and weekly papers, together with the illustrated papers.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

WOODBRIDGE .- (Continued.)

Presbyterian Church .- The history of this church dates back to the year 1669. The settlers who came, many from the towns of Branford, New Haven, Guil- ford, Milford, and Hartford, Conn., were accustomed to a government in which their civil and religious duties were closely commingled, and naturally gave their early attention to the establishment of ministers in all their communities. The people of Woodbridge were not exceptions, although great difficulty seems to have been experienced in giving permanency to the residence among them of those called to the town.

The first record made is an account of a committee who were appointed to go to Newark, N. J., and se- cure, if possible, the services of a minister, June 8, 1669, " as messengers from the town to declare to Mr. Pierson junior that the inhabitants were all willing and desirous that he would be pleased to come up to them and help them in the work of the ministry ;" and anticipating an acceptance, Robert Dennis was appointed to entertain him with "meat, drink, and lodgings ;" and when on the west side of the creek, called in the records Papiack Creek, similar accom- modations were to be afforded by John Smith, the constable.

The application to Rev. Mr. Pierson was, however, not favorably considered by him. The advanced age of his father, who was the pastor of the Newark con- gregation, rendered the services of an assistant neces- sary, and measures were in progress to secure the son in that capacity. The application from Woodbridge probably brought the matter to a conchision, as the ensuing month Mr. Pierson was regularly employed

569

WOODBRIDGE.

as an assistant minister. This was a great disap- pointment to the Woodbridge people. A Mr. Peck, of Elizabethtown, was in July, 1670, to be applied to. or to secure a Mr. Samuel Treat " to preach six or seven months." Mr. Treat sent a letter on the 6th of November, which was laid before the town-meeting, and twenty-one pounds sterling was voted that gentleman " for six months' preaching." But no authentic account is given of his ever having per- manently settled in Woodbridge. No further pro- ceedings were had on the subject until July 2, 1674, when the town resolved to agree with Mr. Benjamin Salsbury to serve as minister for the space of - mouths on trial. The agreement was entered into, but on the 27th of October the connection was sum- marily broken.

A committee was appointed to agree with carpenters for erecting "a meeting-house 30 feet square and 15, 16, or 17 feet between joints ;" and on 30th of No- vember a table, room, and other necessaries were directed to be provided for the comfortable enter- tainment of a minister when he should come on trial in the spring ensuing. At this time Samuel Dennis was selected to go North to procure a clergyman, and to defray his expenses three thousand pipe-staves were furnished by Robert Dennis, John Bloomfield, and John Pike, Jr. In May following (1675) negotiations were resumed with " Mr. Jeremiah Peck," the same, it is supposed, who declined their overtures iu 1670. Again was the proposition unsuccessful, and another year passed away with the vacancy unsupplied and apparently without further efforts on the part of the inhabitants. In April, 1676, an application was di- rected to Revs. Richard Ball (or Hall), Sr. and Jr., residing in New England, but they declined, and January, 1677, a definite call was made to Rev. Ezekiel Fogg, he being assured for his encourage- ment the privileges of freeholder and fifty pounds a year, " to be paid in meat, peas, pork, and (not above one-fourth part in) Indian corn and beef at country prices." The record contains no entries until June, 1679; we have no information of Rev. Mr. Fogg's acceptance, or of his ever being a supply. Though discouraged, the settlers were not in despair; disap- pointed in every quarter of America, they next turned their attention towards England, and addressed letters to Dr. Bums and Mr. Richard Baxter in July, 1679, desiring them to be instrumental in obtaining a min- ister for them, aud "Captain Bound, an early trader between the two continents, was requested to deliver the letters, and to aid, if necessary, in securing him a passage to America." These exertions appear to have been successful, for in September, 1680, Mr. John Allen commenced preaching among them. Fifty pounds was granted to him, and in November following voluntary subscriptions were directed to be taken for his permanent >upport.

The meeting-house which it was resolved to build in October, 1674, was by the 27th of May, 1675, raised,

and the frame approved by the town, although not thirty feet square as originally contemplated, and a committee was appointed to make the necessary ar- rangements, to have it shingled and clapboarded and a floor laid. But the want of a minister seems to have prevented the observance of dispatch in the complete execution of these plans, and it was not until December, 1680, or January, 1681, after Mr. Allen's arrival, that the house was actually floored. In October following it was directed to be plastered, "all but the south side, over the clapboards." In June, 1682, the process of completion was continued " by lathing and daubing the building substantially within as high as the plate beams ;" and the " daub- ing" appears to have been made the employment of all in the town having suitable tools. Nails and hinges for two doors, yet wanting, were also provided, and a lock for a third. These for the time finished the additions to the edifice.

On the Ist January, 1681, the following entry ap- pears on the records: "We, the freeholders and in- habitants of Woodbridge, having sent to England to have an honest, able, godly minister to come over us, to preach the word of God sincerely and faithfully, and Mr. John Alin (Allen), by the providence of God, being for that End Come amongst us, and we having had Sum Experience of his good Abilities, are will- ing, and doe hereby make choise of him to be our minister, and desire to put ourselfs under his ministry According to the Rules of the gospel."

The satisfaction thus expressed was further mani- fested by admitting Mr. Allen on the 13th February as a freeholder, and by granting him a house-lot of ten acres, and in September, 1682, a request was di- rected to be presented to the Governor and Council to induct him formally as their minister, in order that all the immunities of the station might devolve upon him. From this time until January, 1686, we find no allusion to Mr. Allen or the meeting-house. But at the annual gathering of the freeholders in that month a committee was appointed to negotiate with Mr. Archibald Riddell to preach for them, which argues a dissolution of the connection between the town and Mr. Allen, although the name of that gentleman ap- pears in the records subsequently as still a resident. Mr. Riddell probably officiated until he left the country, in 1689.

" He set sail with a son ten years of age in June, 1689, but was doomed to further trials and disap- pointments before arriving at the end of his voyage. Favorable weather attended him, but on the 2d of August, when off' the coast of England, the vessel was captured by a French man-of-war, and the passengers sent to the common jail of Rochefort, whence they were subsequently marched to Toulon, chained two and two by their arms, and at first each ten pair tied to a rope, but this being found an impediment to their traveling was abandoned after the second day. Mr. Riddell was chained to his son. They were six

570

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

weeks on their journey before they arrived at Toulon, and after a short time were taken back to Rochefort and to Denain, and for over two years kept prisoners in a vault of an old castle. At last they were ex- changed for two Romish priests, and allowed to return to Scotland." 1

A committee was appointed "to write for a min- ister," and in March, 1694, a messenger was dispatched to New England to obtain one in the person of Eph- raim Andrews, who consented to go "provided the town doe furnish him with money sufficient for his journey and a horse to ride on." Ten pounds were raised for the purpose.

These measures, however, do not appear to have been successful, and not until October, 1695, do we find the town supplied. Mr. Samuel Shepard then appears as their minister, at a salary of £50, and in May following thirty acres of land and a house was granted to him, provided he should return from New England, whither he was about to go, possibly for his family, and permanently settle among them, conditions which he complied with. The spiritual affairs of the town seem to have prospered under Mr. Shepard's care, if we may judge from the improve- ments made in the temporalities, the meeting-house galleries, which in May, 1686, were directed to be con- structed, and were finished in 1697. £60 were allowed the minister instead of £50, he having been "at the charge of his diet the year past ;" and in July, 1698, the walls of the meeting-house were to be white- washed, and a new pulpit built " forthwith."

In March, 1696, it is recorded that William Web- ster " pretending that it was contrary to his con- science to pay anything towards ye maintenance of a minister," Capt. John Bishop agreed to pay for him as long as he shall live. Kind Capt. Bishop was far more considerate of the spiritual interests of Mr. Webster than of the temporal interests of Mr. Shep- ard, for we find the following year that the successful pleading of Webster led others to try a similar pro- cedure, and the town found it necessary to ordain that those refusing to pay Mr. Shepard's rate should have a distraining warrant issued against them. This may have checked the evil, but in February, 1670, it was found necessary to change the mode of raising Mr. Shepard's salary, making it depend upon voluntary subscriptions, it having been previously provided for in the common rate levied for the gen- eral purposes of the town. At this time, too, a com- mittee was appointed to settle all differences with their " dissenting neighbors, the Quakers," in refer- erence to their refusal to contribute towards the sup- port of "the publique ministry." More than five years had elapsed since Mr. Shephard had entered upon his ministerial functions in Woodbridge, and on April 10, 1701, a committee were directed to con- fer with him upon the propriety of his being " or-

dained" as the minister of the town. What necessity existed for this I do not know, but apparently to the surprise and regret of the people difficulties arose in consequence, which, increased by the pertinacity with which female influence and prejudices will be some- times exercised, resulted in Mr. Shepard's separation from the congregation.

The committee appointed to confer with their pas- tor reported on the 24th June " that his wife is so advers to his settling here, that tho' he is otherwise willing to be ordained, he cannot admit of ordination to settle as a minister in this town ; and it being moved to him that his wife upon second thought might be per- suaded, Mr. Shepard replyed, there is no hope of my wife's complyance with my settling here, and there- fore I would advise you to look out for another." Unwilling to relinquish the benefits of his ministry, another committee were authorized to negotiate farther with him, but a month later (July 23d) they too reported that "his wife is utterly adverse to his settling here, and he concludes shee will so remaine if we should still wait longer for a change of her mind, and therefore adviseth us to have no farther dependance on him." Whereupon the necessary steps were taken to dissolve the connection and obtain another, but for many years there is no indica- tion on the records of their being supplied. How long Mr. Shepard remained an inhabitant is not known, but in January, 1702, he was requested to preach for the town until another minister should be obtained. He died in the year 1722 or 1723.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 139

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