History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 149

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 149
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 149

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"This city of Amboy," says Bumaly, in 1759, " con- tained about one hundred houses." Mr. Burke, in his account of the "American Settlements," published in

1 E. J. Hist.

2 E. J. Recorda, Liber C.

8 Papers of Lewis Morris, pp. 69, 121.

4 Whitehead's East Jersey, p. 54.

609

CITY OF PERTH AMBOY.

1761, makes the number two hundred. It was at the time of the Revolution probably at the " pinnacle of its fame." But that struggle for independence cansed many of its inhabitants to remove, and when peace was proclaimed Amboy was but feebly prepared to vie with other communities less influenced by the changes the war had wrought. In 1784 an attempt was made to revive its importance by the renewal of its corporate powers through an act of the Legislature passed December 21st, which remained "the law of the land" unimpaired by any amendments until 1844. The title of the act was "An act for erecting the North Ward1 of Perth Amboy and a part of the township of Woodbridge, in the county of Middlesex, into a city, and for incorporating the same, by the name and title of the city of Perth Amboy." The author of the bill must have been a warm friend to the young city, judging from the preamble, which was as follows :

" WHEREAS, the improvementa of trade and navigation in this State is of the utmost importance to the well-being of the same; and whereas, the prosperity of trade requires the collection of merchants together in sufficient numbers, in order that tho union of their force may render them competent to great undertakings, and that the variety of their im- pertationa and their wants may alwaya furnish to the purchasera and to the aellers a secura and constaot market ; and whereas, it is necessary in the present unprovided and disadvantageous condition of this State to bestow on merchants peculiar immunities and privileges, in order to attract them to its harbours, and to secure te them for a sufficient and definite duration the entire profits of their commarce without burden, abatement, or uncertainty, in order to excite in them & spirit of useful adventure, and to encourage them to encounter the risks and expenses of a new situation, and of important and beneficial undertakings ; and in- asmuch as commercial cities require a peculiar mode of government for maintaining their internal police and commercial transactions ; require more expeditious and summary tribunals than others; and whereas, divera good citizena of this State residing in different parts thereof, by their humble petition presented to the Legislature, have set forth the great public utility of incorporating certaio towoa in the State, and of investing them with auch powers, privileges, jurisdictions, and immuni- tiea as alıall conduce to the encouragement of ita commerce, and have prayad that Perth Amboy aforesaid may be incorporated for the said pur- posa; and whereas ilivers of the inhabitants of the aaid North Ward of Perth Amboy, and others in the vicinity thereof, by their bumble peti- tien to the Legislature, have set forth that for many years previous to the late revolution the said North Ward of Perth Amboy, under and by virtue of charters to them granted for that purpose, did hold, enjoy. and exercise many powers, privilegea, and immunities, which they found greatly beneficial to the inhabitants thereof, and have prayed that the aaid charter, or one of them, ao far as may extend to the said North Ward and a part of Woodbridge, may be revised, corrected, and amended, or that a law for incorporating the said North Ward, together with a part of the township of Woodbridge, into a city and towa corporate may be enacted."

Mr. Whitehead says, "One would suppose the wealth of the Indies, if not the commerce of the world, would flow into the harbor after the obtainment of a charter which opened with so much promise, but however reasonable such expectations from the given premises might have been elsewhere, at Amboy they were not realized, and probably will not be until more innate energy is possessed." The genius of the płace might say to us, in the words of the renowned Dr. Syntax,-

" All these to whom I've long been known Must see I've habita of my own."

The present act of incorporation was approved Feb. 27, 1844, by which the government of the city is confined to the following officers: mayor, recorder, three aldermen, six councilmen, clerk, assessor, col- lector, and treasurer.

The statistics of the population can only be given since 1810, the enumerations prior to that year giving the number of inhabitants only by counties.

CENSUS REPORT.

1810.

1840.

White malea.

358

White males. 587

females.

372

females.

678

All the free persons.

36 |

Free colored

Slaves

49 1

Total

1303

Total

815

1820.

White males

346

females ...

918

females.

372

Frea colored.

All ether free persone ..

Slaves

Total ..

1865

Total

798

1860

1830.

Population, 2302; increase, 437.

White males ...

404

= females

400

Free colored ..

Slavea.

1880.

Tetal.

879

Population, 4812; increase, 1937.

1882.

Population supposed to be over 7000.

Prior to 1870 the increase, as above, was very slight. The ratio of increase from 1860 to 1870 was twenty per cent., while from 1870 to 1880 it exceeds sixty- eight per cent., and at the present time, 1882, the in- crease is a much greater percentage.

The following interesting description of Perth Am- boy is from one of the first newspapers published here, called the New Jersey Gazette, Ang. 5, 1819:

"The situation ef Perth Amboy rauke pre-eminent to almost any other in the United States. It stands on a peninsula, with high banka, a beld shore, surrounded with the pure ocean water free from marshes, swamps, or ponds, and consequently perfectly exempt from agnes, moschetoes, and all the other plaguea that interfere with health or comfort. In fact, in point of salubrity of sir and exemption from all other diseasea, ex- ceptions such as the frailties of human nature necessarily inflict, we may boldly assert that it is not exceeded by any place in the United States. The excessive heats of summer, which are everywhere so oppressive, are here moderated by the refreshing breezes that almost daily aat in from the ocean. It consequently constitutes a most desirable summer resi- dence, the more so as, in addition to the healthful practice of aes-bathing, which here can be enjoyed to perfection, ita vicinity abounds with mineral springs highly impregnated with those qualities that tend &s well to preserve health aa to cure many of those diseases to which the human frame is subject. Some of them possessea at least an equal degree all the qualities of the highly celebrated aprings at Schooley'a Mountain, which have within a few years become so fashionable a resort, and they are of course more accessible, and, in point of situation, much more con- venient."

John, a son of Dr. John Johnstone,2 was a colonel in the provincial forces, his commission bearing date March 10, 1758, and he was second in rank on the Oneida station in August of that year. He was

2 See Medical Profession.

1 South Amboy, now a separate township, was the South Ward.

1850

White males 885

1870.

Population, 2861 ; increase, 559.

610

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

killed by a cannon ball at Fort Niagara in the course of the war. He married his cousin Euphemia, daugh- ter of Andrew Johnstone.

David, who was the heir-at-law of his brother John, married Miss Walton, and lived and died at " Nine Partners," Dutchess Co., N. Y. Their eldest son, John, was for some years presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas for that county, and died Aug. 19, 1850. One of their daughters, " a young lady of great merit and beauty," married John Allen, Esq., of Philadelphia, April 6, 1775; another married the Hon. Gulian Verplank, M.C., etc .; a third became the wife of Dr. Upton, then a lieutenant in the Eng- lish army, and after his death married Thomas A. Cooper, the tragedian, leaving children by both hus- bands; another son, David, died unmarried.

Andrew Johnstone was born Dec. 20, 1694, and until 1717 or 1718 was engaged in business as a mer- chant in New York. In Amboy he resided for some time in an old house that stood back from the street, on the property belonging to Mr. George Merritt, which went by the lofty title of " Edenboro' Castle." This edifice was vacated and soon after destroyed on the erection of the brick edifice, now the residence of Mr. Merritt. Mr. Johnston (the children dropped the final e from their name) inherited the proprietary rights of his father, and at one time was president of the board of proprietors. He also succeeded his

from Amboy, and, like him, was speaker for several years. In January, 1748-49, he was chosen treasurer of the College of New Jersey, then located at Newark, and held during his life various other offices. The following obituary notice is found in the New York Mercury for July 5, 1762 : " Last Thursday se'ennight (June 24th) died at Perth Amboy in an advanced age the Hon. Andrew Johnston, Esq., one of his Ma- jesty's Council for the Province of New Jersey and Treasurer of the eastern division of the Province, A gentleman of so fair and worthy a character that truly to attempt to draw it would be throwing away words. He was really equal to what Pope means when he says, 'An honest man is the noblest work of God.'" " During the last fifteen years of his life," says the historian, Smith, "he was in the Council, and a dili- gent attender on the business there; he had great equality of temper, circumspection of conduct, an open, yet grave, engaging mien, much goodness of heart, and many virtues both public and private." A pencil sketch of him is in the possession of Mr. Whitehead. Mr. Johnston died in his sixty-seventh year. He married Catherine, daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, of New York, by whom he had two | sons and six daughters, viz. : John, who married Isa- bella, daughter of Robert Lettice Hooper, of Trenton, in February, 1768. Ile was a merchant in Amboy until 1775, in partnership with Peter Barberie. In 1767 he was a member of Assembly, and was ap- pointed one of the committee to correspond with the

agent of the colony in Great Britain, the other mem- bers being Cortlandt Skinner, John Lawrence, and David Cooper. He left several children, of whom little is now positively known.

Sonmans. The creek or brook which flows into the Raritan from the ravine at the western termination of Market Street is designated on the map of the town- ship as "Sonmans Creek," deriving its name from Peter Sonmans, who owned the adjoining lands. The father of Peter was Arent Sonmans, a Hol- lander, who resided at Rotterdam, but went to Wal- lingford, Scotland, and became one of the twenty- four proprietors of East Jersey. On becoming interested in the province, he made arrangements for visiting it, but on his way to Scotland from Lon- don in August, 1683, in company with his wife, Rob- ert Barclay, and one other person, when passing through Hunterdonshire he was shot by a highway- man in his thigh, which proved fatal. His wife's name was Frances Hancock, and they had three children,-Peter, Rachel, the wife of Joseph Orms- ton, and Joanna, wife of Joseph Wright.

Peter Sonmans inherited the greater part of his father's property, and came over to New Jersey as early as 1688. He probably returned to Enrope the same year, but came again to New Jersey in 1705 with the intention of remaining. He was a man of education, held several offices in England under King

father in the Provincial Assembly as a representative ' William, and, although his character was not above reproach, after he arrived here he filled important offices. He was one of the council, a member of Assembly, also receiver of the proprietary quit-rents, ranger of the forests, surveyor-general, and agent for some of the non-resident proprietors. Lord Corn- bury placed in his hands the records of the province, a circumstance londly complained of by the people, and the Assembly, in not very gentle terms, called in question the honesty of Mr. Sonmans in their "rep- resentations of grievances" handed to the Governor at various times, he retorting the accusation upon Thomas Gordon, from whom the records had been taken. And in an address to Governor Lovelace, March, 1708, they accuse him of malversation in office as one of the judges of the Conrt of Sessions, and a grand jury, aggrieved by some of his acts, did not hesitate to notify the Assembly in an official man- ner that he had been indicted at the preceding term of the Supreme Court for perjury and great immoral- ity. He was holding important positions in the prov- ince (a collector of their quit-rents), and Governor Burnet, in 1726, issued a proclamation pronouncing his conduct illegal and unwarranted.

Among the charges was that of his prohibiting Quakers from sitting as jurors. It seems that he (failing to vindicate his character) was obliged to leave the province, but it is now uncertain whence he removed. In 1712 it is stated that " he printed and dispersed his libels against the government, and Governor Hunter informed the board of trade that

611

CITY OF PERTH AMBOY.

he was in Pennsylvania." He died in March, 1734. An obituary notice of him in the Philadelphia Weekly Mercury of April 11, 1734, gives the follow- ing account :

" On Saturday, 29th of March, was here interr'd the Body of Peter Sonmaos, Esqr., one of the Chief Proprietors of East New Jersey. He was son of Arents Sonmans, late of one of the States of Holland, which government, after having finished bis stady at Leyden, he quitted and came to Eogland, where he bad the Ilonour to hold some considerable officee under his late Majesty King William, 1705. Coming a second time into this country where he had eo considerable an interest. He was appointed of her late Majesty's Hon. Council Agent to the Pro- prietors, Surveyor-General, General Receiver of the Quit-Rents, and Ranger of the Foreste as well as sea coasts. He was in two succeeding Elections chose Representative for the County of Bargain, in which Station he manifested himself a true Patriarch to his Country. He was justly esteemed for hie Charity and Clemency, his sincerity in Friend- elip, Patience in oppressions, and undaunted spirit in Dangers, mani- fested his first Merit of the Motto of his arms, Patientia est Fide. In Aut- gustus interpridus much more could be said, but for Brevity Sake is omitted."

Mr. Sonmans was twice married, his second wife being Sarah, daughter of John and Mary Neville, of Stafford, England, and a sister of Judge Neville, of Amboy, whom he married Oct. 17, 1723. He left her his sole heiress and executrix, although he had a son Peter, a practicing physician in Philadelphia.

Willocks. James Willocks, "Doctor of Medicine in Kenny, Scotland," became possessed of a proprie- tary right to East Jersey in 1683, but died soon after, and his property was inherited by George Willocks, his brother. This gentleman arrived in the province with two servants in I684, and after remaining here for some years, during which no particular mention of him or of his pursuits is made in the early records, he returned to England, and in 1697 was appointed attorney for his brother proprietaries to collect the quit-rents due to them from the settlers, which the dis- turbed state of the province had caused to accumulate. In furtherance of this arrangement he sailed from England about April, 1698, in the " Dispatch Wil- liam Fidler, master," and arrived at Amboy. After his arrival he was appointed chief ranger, an office of which Whitehead, the historian, says there is no ac- count. He became one of the commissioners for the Court of Small Causes. In 1701 he was appointed deputy-surveyor of the province under John Reid, and March, 1719, was one of the commissioners for settling the boundary between the province and New York, in which offices he showed considerable business tact. He died about February, 1729, after a long and distressing illness, his wife dying some five years before.

Neville. Peter Sonmans, we have stated, married Sarah Neville, and upon her death her property be- came vested in "Samuel Nevill, of London Gent." He was her eldest brother and heir-at-law. Her other brother, John Neville, was then in New Jersey, of whom, although it seems he was a resident of Perth Amboy, but little is known save that he held various offices under the provincial government, and lessee of the ferry across the Raritan. His brother, however, |

occupied a more important station in society. Sam- uel Neville, as soon as he heard of his sister's death, embarked for East Jersey, reached the province to- wards the end of May, 1736, and established himself at the capital. He had received a liberal education, and was a lawyer by profession. He had been editor of the London Morning Post, and even the few memo- rials of him that are now to be found indicate the possession of character and talents much above me- diocrity. He became judge of the Court of Common Pleas, mayor of Perth Amboy (then no trifling sta- tion), also second judge of the Supreme Court of the province, and filled several other important offices to the credit of himself, and it is believed to the satis- faction of the government. In 1752, while holding the office of second judge of Supreme Court, Mr. Neville published the first volume of an edition of the laws of the province in two vols., folio, and the second volume not appearing until 1761. He was also the writer of various articles, and edited a monthly periodical pub- lished at Woodbridge, by James Parker, called the "New American Magazine," and it was the first peri- odical of any kind printed in New Jersey, and only the second monthly magazine on the continent. Each number contained about forty pages octavo, and in variety and interest it will compare with many modern publications in good repute. A history of America and a traveler's diary were published in connection with each number, paged separately, in order to form distinct volumes at the end of each year.

On the death of Chief Justice Morris, in January, 1764, Neville would probably have been raised to the vacant bencb, but the infirmities of age rendered the performance of its duties impracticable. He died soon after, Oct. 27, 1764, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a name unsullied, it is believed, by the slightest stain. His wife preceded him to the grave, dying in 1755, and their simple headstones yet mark their places of sepulture in the graveyard of St. Peter's Church. They left no children. Mr. White- head, the historian, out of respect to the memory of one whom he conceived worthy of a place among the most eminent of other days, he had repaired the spot where this eminent and distinguished Neville was buried, which had long been neglected.

Barberie. A plain stone in the burial-ground of St. Peter's bears this inscription :

" John Barberie Aged 50 years died July 23d 1770."

He was a French Huguenot. The name is first seen upon the records of 1702, in a petition to the proprietors for a house-lot, and which was granted that the house should be built within a year. The petitioner is pre- sumed to have been the father of John Barberie. There is a statement that he was the eldest of four brothers, and that but two names were shared among them. The first was called John, the second Peter, the third John Peter, and the fourth Peter John.

612

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

It is said he was a gentleman of pleasing manners and address, occasionally marred by exhibitions of temper, and extremely proud of his birth and family connections. At the time of his death he was collec- tor of customs for the port. He married Gertrude, daughter of Andrew Johnston, elsewhere mentioned in these pages ; they had nine children, five sons and four daughters.

Peter was a merchant in Amboy, in partnership with his uncle John Johnstone, and afterwards re- moved to New York, where he died, leaving a widow and children.

John was a captain in the Second Battalion of Cort- landt Skinner's brigade, raised during the Revolution, and after the war retired to St. Johns in the province of New Brunswick, where he died in 1818, aged sixty- seven. He was colonel of militia and a magistrate of the county. A son, Andrew, became a member of the Provincial Assembly.

Oliver commenced the study of law in the office of Cortlandt Skinner, subsequently entered the British army, and became a lieutenant in the Loyal American Regiment. He married a daughter of his legal pre- ceptor, and one of his sons now holds an honorable post in the army or navy of England. He died in the province of New Brunswick.

Lambert, died unmarried.

Andrew was placed in the navy, and was shot on board of an English vessel of war during the Revo- lution.

Susannah, married her cousin John L. Johnston, of Spotswood, and had several children.

Francis married James Throckmorton, of Mon- mouth County. Catherine becamethe wife of Henry Cuyler. Mr. Cuyler died in Newark in May, 1774, aged twenty-eight, and was buried under a pear-tree in what was afterward the orchard of Col. Samuel Ogden, north of what is technically known as " the Stone Bridge." Mrs. Cuyler is thought to have died at Amboy. They left several children. Gertrude died young and unmarried.

Parker. There were a number of the name of Parker residing in this province of East Jersey be- tween the years 1670 and 1680. Among them was Elisha Parker, of Woodbridge, the ancestor of the present Amboy family by that name. The first grant of land to " Elisha Parker, senior, Yeoman of Wood- bridge," was for one hundred and eighty-two acres on the highway leading to Piscataway, under date of April 19, 1675. Ile appears to have been married three times and had several children. Those by his first wife (Elizabeth) were as follows :

I. Thomas, who resided in Woodbridge early in life, and in October, 1680, his father gave him sixty acres of upland and fifteen acres of Raritan meadow. It is supposed that for a time he resided on Staten Island (in 1687). His children by his wife Mary were-David, born May 1, 1676 ; Thomas, horn March 9, 1682-83; Elisha, born August 20, 1684; Joseph,

born Sept. 18, 1690 ; Benjamin, born Jan. 4, 1692-93 ; and George and Elisha, twins, born March 30, 1695.

2. Elisha, who in 1681 was styled " Weaver," and afterwards in 1701 " Merchant of Woodbridge," was in 1709 captain of the provincial forces and attached to the commissariat, being charged with the duty of furnishing supplies to the troops then engaged on the Canadian frontier. About 1712 or 1715 he re- moved to Perth Amboy, and died April 16, 1727, un- married and much regretted, being eminent for his piety. He left his property in equal proportions to his three half-sisters, Elizabeth, Ursula, and Mary.

3. Samuel, born March 1, 1669, died Dec. 27, 1672.

4. Mary, born Dec. 3, 1672, married Daniel Rob- ins Nov. 27, 1691.

5. Samuel, born June 1, 1674.

And by his second wife, Hannah Rolph (died Oct. 14, 1696), whom he married March 26, 1691, he had :

1. Elizabeth, born Dec. 23, 1691, died March 13, 1692.

2. John, born Nov. 11, 1693. He was the grand- father of the families of Amboy. He married, Sept. 16, 1721, Janet, daughter of Dr. John Johnstone. He held the rank of colonel in the provincial forces the same year. From 1726 to 1728 he was engaged in business in New York, but must have at the time resided in the city, as he is spoken of then as a valued citizen. The stone part of the old Parker mansion, familiarly termed "The Castle," was built by him. He held many minor offices, as well as one of the Council, being appointed by Governor Burnet in Oc- toher, 1719, and continued as such until his death in 1732. In his will he left two hundred pounds “ for extraordinary schooling and teaching one or more of my sons the Latin and French tongue, regard being chiefly and in the first place had to the eldest." His widow lived until Feb. 16, 1741. Their children besides one son, who died in infancy, were: Elisha, who was bred to the profession of the law under James Alexander, was licensed May 3, 1745, and at- tained to some eminence. He married Catharine, daughter of James Alexander, and died of consump- tion March 14, 1751, in his forty-seventh year. He left no children. His widow married Walter Ruther- ford, then an officer in the army, and was the mother of the late John Rutherford, of Belleville.

James will be mentioned more particularly on a subsequent page. Mary died unmarried Feb. 25, 1813, in her eighty-sixth year, and was buried in St. Peter's cemetery, where most of the family were interred, although no monument marks their graves as in her case.

John also will be mentioned more particularly farther on. Lewis Johnston, born Dec. 9, 1731, died Feb. 2, 1760, in his twenty-ninth year, of consump- tion, while preparing himself for the bar, having sought in vain for health by a sea voyage and resi- dence in another climate.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 149

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