USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the city of Trenton, New Jersey : embracing a period of nearly two hundred years, commencing in 1676, the first settlement of the town, and extending up to the present time, with official records of the population, extent of the town at different periods, its manufactories, church history, and fire department > Part 3
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
with the letter T, and make full satisfaction of the goods stolen, or the damages that are done; and for the second time of offending in the like nature, besides the making of restitution, to be branded in the forehead with the letter R. And for the third offence to be put to death as incorrigible.
"And for stealing goods, money, or cattle, or any other beast of what kind soever, to make treble restitution for the first offence, and the like for the second and third offence, with such further increase of punishment as the court shall see cause; and if incorrigible to be punished with death. And in case they are not able to make restitution for the first, second, and third offences, they shall be sold, that satisfaction may be made.
"If any person be found to be a witch, either male or female, they shall be put to death.
"If any child or children above sixteen years of age, and of · sufficient understanding, shall smite or curse' their natural father or mother, except provoked thereunto, and forced for their safe preservation from death or maiming, upon the complaint or proof of the said father or mother, or either of them, (and not otherwise) they shall be put to death.
"If any person or persons shall be abroad from the usual place of their abode, and found in night-walking, drinking in any tap-house, or any other house or place at unseasonable times, after nine of the clock at night, and not about their lawful occasions, or cannot give a good account of their being absent from their own place of abode at that time of the night, if required of them, he or they shall be secured by the constable or some other officer, till the morning, to be brought before a justice of the peace or magistrate, to be examined, and if they cannot give them a satisfactory account of their being out at such " unseasonable times, he or they shall be bound over to the next court, and receive such punishment as the justices upon the bench shall see cause to inflict upon them.
"That a rate of thirty pounds be levied upon the country for the defraying of public charges, and this rate equally propor- tioned to each town. That is to say, five pounds for each town, to be paid in manner as followeth : winter wheat at five shillings a bushel; summer wheat at four shillings and six-pence; peas at
B*
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
three shillings and six-pence ; Indian corn at three shillings; rye at four shillings ; barley at four shillings ; beef at two-pence half- penny ; pork at three-pence half-penny a pound ; and this rate to be paid at or before the next general court, into the hands and custody of Mr. Jacob Mollins, of Elizabeth Town, which we desire of him to take into his hands for the use of the province, and when received, to disburse and pay to Capt. Bollen the sum of twenty pounds, and the rest as he shall have order to improve for our use."
In order to prevent unlawful marriages, it was ordered that " no person or persons, son, daughter, maid or servant, shall be married without the consent of his or her parents, masters, or overseers, and three times published in and at some public meet- ing or kirk, where the party or parties have their most usual abode, or set up in writing their purposes of marriage on some public house where they live, and there at least to abide for the space of fourteen days before marriage, which is to be performed in some public place, if possible may be, and none but some · approved minister or justice of the peace within this province, or some chief officer, where such are not, shall be allowed to marry or admit of any to join in marriage, in their presence, and under the penalty of twenty pounds for acting contrary hereunto, and to be put out of their office, according to the liberty of conscience granted by the lords proprietors in their concessions."
The governor had power to grant his license, under his hand and seal, " to any person or persons that are at their own dispos- ing, or to any other under the tuition of their parents, masters, or overseers, to join in matrimony ; provided that the parents, masters, or overseers are present and consenting thereunto, or that their consent be attested by some public officer and presented to the governor before the granting thereof, and the others to clear themselves by oath or certificate.
"That every apprentice and servant that shall depart and absent themselves from their masters or dames, without leave first obtained, shall be judged by the court to double the time of such their absence, by future service over and above other damages and costs which master and dame shall sustain by such unlawful departure.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
"Any one having been proved to have transported, or to have contrived the transportation of any such apprentice or servant, shall be fined five pounds, and all such damages as the court shall judge, and that the master or dame can make appear, and if not able, to be left to the judgment of the court.
"Every inhabitant that shall harbor or entertain any such apprentice or servant, and knowing that he hath absented himself from his service, upon proof thereof, shall forfeit to the master or dame, ten shillings for every day's entertainment or concealment, and if not able to satisfy, then to be liable to the judgment of the court.
" Concerning that beastly vice, drunkenness, it is hereby enacted, that if any person be found to be drunk, he shall pay one shilling fine for the first time, two shillings for the second, and for the third time, and for every time after two shillings, and · six- pence ; and such as have nothing to pay, shall suffer corporal pun- ishment, and for those that are unruly and disturbers of the peace, they shall be put in the stocks until they are sober, or during the pleasure of the officer-in-chief in the place where he is drunk."
This session of the assembly was commenced on the 26th and ended on the 30th of May, 1668.
The next session was held at Elizabethtown, on Tuesday, the 3d of November, 1668, at which an act was passed requiring " all the soldiers in every town of the province, from sixteen years old to sixty, to train or be mustered at least four days in the year, and oftener if the chief military officer in the place see it needful, viz., two days in the spring and two days in the autumn, and that there shall be at least ten days between each training day; any chief officer constituted and commissioned for that purpose, wittingly or willfully neglecting the same, shall forfeit for every day's neglect, twenty shillings to the public, and every soldier five shillings, and for half a day, two shillings and six- pence, and for late coming, one shilling."
Every town within the province was to have a brand-mark for their horses, to distinguish the horses of one town from another ; besides which every one was to have and mark his horse or horses with his own particular brand-mark ; also, that every town shall have a horn brand-mark, for all cattle from three years old and
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
upward. It was required that there should be an officer appointed by the governor in each town to brand and record every particu- lar man's brand, and the age of each of them, as near as he could, with the color and all observable marks it had before the brand- ing, whether on the ear or elsewhere, with the year and day of the month when branded, and to receive from the owner six- pence for each horse, mare, or colt so branded and recorded ; and every one neglecting to have them branded was to be fined ten shillings for every default.
The horses and cattle were to be branded with the same letter in each town; that of Bergen, with the letter B; Newark, with N; Elizabethtown, with E; Woodbridge, with W; Middletown, with M; Shrewsbury, with S .; Delaware, with D; Piscataqua, with P.
The brand was to be fixed on the right buttock of horses, and on the right horn of cattle ; the brander to have for cattle, two- pence per head. The sale of horses of all kinds was to be recorded in the town book within ten days after the sale, and the recorder was to receive three-pence per head for every such sale, under a penalty of forty shillings for every default.
Every town was required to provide an ordinary for the relief and entertainment of strangers, the keeper of which was to have a license from the secretary, and oblige himself to make sufficient provision of meat, drink, and lodging for strangers ; and for neglect in any of the towns, they were to forfeit forty shillings fine to the country for every month's default after publication hereof.
All persons were prohibited receiving or buying any cattle whatsoever of any Indian or Indians, whether swine, neat cattle, or horses, under the penalty of ten pounds.
December 2d, 1675, it was enacted "that whosoever shall profane the Lord's Day, otherwise called Sunday, by any kind of servile work, unlawful recreations, or unnecessary travels on that day, not falling within the compass of works of mercy or necessity, either willfully or through careless neglect, shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or corporally, according to the nature of the offence, at the judgment of the court, justice, or justices where the offence is committed."
. Any person falling under the fine of a penal law, no officer
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
was allowed to lay destraint upon his or their arms or ammuni- tions, plow-irons or chains, horses or cattle, as being so necessary to their livelihood.
Blacksmiths, locksmiths, or any other persons were forbidden to make, mend, or any way repair any Indian gun or guns, upon the penalty of paying for the first offence, after conviction, the sum of twenty shillings, and for the second offence, forty shillings, and for the third offence, to double the whole, and so to continue, which fines to be one-half to the informer, and the other half to the public use.
April 6th, 1676, an act was passed requiring all weights and measures to be sealed, according to the standard of England, and for dry measure, according to Winchester measure.
It was also ordered that the freeholders in every town choose a packer, to see that all meat in barrels for sale be good and merchantable, and well packed and salted, and to contain thirty- two gallons, and put his mark upon the cask or barrel, and to have for his pains of packing and marking of every such barrel, eight-pence.
All leather was to pass under the hand of a sealer, and be approved by him, under a penalty of four-pence per hide.
At a meeting of the general assembly, held at Woodbridge, October 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, 1676, it was enacted that there be a "day of public thanksgiving, set apart throughout the whole province, to give God the glory and praise for the signal demonstration of His mercy and favor towards us in this colony, in the preserving and continuing our peace in the midst of wars round about us, together with many other mercies which we are sensible of, which call aloud for our acknowledg- ment and thanksgiving to the Lord, and oblige us to live to His praise, and in His fear always."
The laws of the general assembly were in force only one year, and consequently at each yearly session the same laws were re-enacted.
The salary of the governor was fixed, in the year 1675, at fifty pounds per year, and five shillings were allowed him for a seal. In 1676, the governor was allowed four shillings a day for traveling expenses, the council and deputies, three shillings
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
each per day, traveling expenses, and to continue during the time of their sitting.
In 1679, the salary of the governor was fixed at two shillings per head for every male within the province from fourteen years old and upwards.
A day of thanksgiving was appointed for "next Wednesday come three weeks: that will be the 26th of this instant, November."
In 1681, a law was passed forbidding the sale of rum, brandy, wine, cider, strong beer, or any other intoxicating liquor to the Indians, under the penalty of twenty pounds for the first offence, and to be double for every offence after.
Robert Barclay was appointed governor of East New Jersey for life, July 17th, 1683, and Gawn Lawrie, deputy governor, not exceeding seven years, commission dated July 27th, 1683.
Jeremiah Basse was appointed governor, April 14th, 1698.
At a session of the general assembly, held at Elizabethtown, on the first day of the month called March, 1682, the province was divided into four counties :
"BERGEN COUNTY, containing all the settlements between Hudson's river and Hackensack river, beginning at Constables- Hook, and so extended to the uppermost bounds of the province northward between the said rivers.
"ESSEX, and the county thereof, to contain all the settlements between the west side of Hackensack river and the parting line between Woodbridge and Elizabeth Town, and so to extend westward and northward, to the utmost bounds of the province.
"MIDDLESEX COUNTY, to begin from the parting line between Essex county and Woodbridge line, containing Woodbridge and Piscataway, and all the plantations on both sides of the Raritan river, as far as Chesquake harbor eastward, extending south- west to the division line of the province, and northwest to the utmost bounds of the province.
" MONMOUTH COUNTY, to begin at the westward bounds of Middlesex county, containing Middletown and Shrewsbury, and to extend westward, southward, and northward, to the extreme bounds of the province ; provided, this distinction of the province
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
into counties do not extend to the infringement of any liberty in any court already granted."
The sessions of the general assembly and the courts were held at Elizabethtown up to the 6th day of April, 1686, and all the public records were kept there up to that time, when they were, by act of the general assembly, removed to the town of Amboy Perth, in the county of Middlesex, afterwards called New Perth. The courts were afterwards ordered to be held alternately at the town of Amboy Perth, Piscataway, and Woodbridge.
: Somerset county was set off from Middlesex, May 14th, 1688.
On the 28th of September, 1692, the legislature finding the act imposing a fine on persons selling liquors to the Indians was inef- fectual to prevent that traffic, enacted that the penalty should be " for the first offence five lashes on the bare back, for the second offence ten lashes on the bare back, for the third, fifteen, for the fourth, twenty, and so many and no more for every such offence thereafter, to be inflicted by order of the court."
In 1692, an act was passed authorizing the division of the several counties into townships, tribes, or divisions.
In 1693, an act was passed to establish schoolmasters within the province, "for the cultivation of learning and good manners, and for the good and benefit of mankind, which hath hitherto been much neglected within this province."
In 1695, an act was passed regulating schools, in which each town was to choose three men yearly, who were "to appoint and agree with a schoolmaster, and to nominate and appoint the most convenient place or places where the school shall be kept from time to time, that as near as may be the whole inhabitants may have the benefit thereof."
Concessions and agreements of the proprietors, freeholders, and inhabitants of the province of West New Jersey were made on the 25th day of March, 1680, confirming the contract and agreement made on the 2d day of March, 1676, by William Penn, Gawn Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas, unto Thomas Hutch- inson, Thomas Pearson,. Joseph Helmsley, George Hutchinson, and Mahlon Stacy.
Samuel Jennings was deputy governor in 1681, from the 25th
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
of September, and was appointed governor the 14th of Novem- ber, 1681.
The laws of the province of West Jersey were almost precisely the same as those of East Jersey.
The general assembly held their sessions at Burlington. .
The courts were held alternately at Burlington and Salem, they being the most populous towns in the province.
In 1682, the legislature granted authority for the erection of public markets for the accommodation of the people ; the first market day was to be held at Burlington, to begin and take place the seventh day of the eighth month next ensuing, and at Salem, the seventeenth day of the same month.
"The Seventh day, commonly called Saturday, weekly and every week, shall be the market day at Burlington, to be held there in the place formerly set forth for the market place ; and that the market for corn shall begin at the eleventh hour in the morning.
" That the third day, called Tuesday, weekly and every week, shall be the market at Salem, to -be held before the town landing, formerly appointed there for the market place, and that the market for corn shall begin at the eleventh hour in the morning."
For the encouraging, learning, and for the better education of youth, it was enacted that the island called Matininuck, late in the possession of Robert Stacy, with all and every the appurten- ances, was given to remain for the use of the town of Burlington for the maintaining of a school for the education of youth within the said town.
In 1683, the assembly gave to Thomas Budd and Francis Collins one thousand acres of land (parts of the land to be purchased of the Indians above the falls), for the building of a market-house and court-house at Burlington.
Samuel Jennings was, by the free election and vote of the assembly sitting at Burlington, chosen governor of the province on the 11th of March, 1683. His previous appointment was by the lords proprietors. The assembly gave him six hundred acres of land, to be had and taken up above the falls, (after the
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
purchase thereof was made from the Indians) with three years' time to settle the same. *
The first representatives of West Jersey were Thomas Ollive, (speaker), Mahlon Stacy, Joshua Wright, John Lambert, Thomas Lambert,; William Emley, Godfrey Hancock, Daniel Leeds, Thomas Wright, Samuel Borden,¿ Robert Stacy, Thomas Budd, Daniel Wills, Thomas Gardner, John Cripps, John White, John Chaffen, Bernard Devenish, Isaac Merriott, William Peachee, William Cooper, Mark Newbie, Thomas Chackeray, Robert Zame, Samuel Nevill, Richard Guy, Marke Reeves, Richard Hancock, John Smith, John Pledger, Edward Wade, George Deacon, Samuel Hedge, Andrew Thompson, Thomas Revell, (clerk).
At the session held at Burlington, July 7th, 1683, it was resolved and unanimously agreed upon by the assembly, that the governor be chairman or speaker, and that he sit as one of the assembly, together with the council, and the chairman to have two votes, or a double vote.
On the 20th day of March, 1684, Thomas Ollive was chosen governor.
September 25th, 1685, John Skene was chosen deputy governor.
November 3d, 1692, Andrew Hamilton was chosen governor.
Previous to 1693, West Jersey had been divided into three counties, Burlington, Salem, and Falls, and these were sub- divided into ten-tenths. By an act of the assembly of that year Cape May county was formed.
Gloucester county was formed in 1694, and at the same session the boundaries of Salem county were more particularly set forth. At the same session an act was passed for the inhabitants above St. Pink or the River Derwent to belong to Burlington county ; they had previously belonged to Monmouth county.
At the session of May 12th, 1696, a bill was passed, called a
. * All the lands in New Jersey were purchased from the Indians, and none. were taken except by purchase.
+ From whom Lamberton was named.
į From whom Bordentown took its name.
C
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HISTORY OF TRENTON. .
qualifying bill, requiring officers who were not free to take an! oath to sign the following declaration of fidelity and profession: of the Christian faith :
"I, A B, do sincerely promise and solemnly declare, that I. will be true and faithful to William, King of England, and the government of this province of West New Jersey; and I do. solemnly profess and declare, that I do from my heart abhor,. detest, and renounce, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that princes ex-communicated or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be- deprived or murdered by their subjects, or any other what- soever. And I also declare, that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any power,. * jurisdiction, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesias- tical or spiritual, within this realm."
THE CHRISTIAN BELIEF.
"I, A B, profess faith in GOD, the Father, and in JESUS. CHRIST, his Eternal Son, the true God, and in the Holy Spirit, one GOD blessed forever more ; and do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by Divine Inspiration."
The tax ordered at this session to be raised for the payment and discharge of the provincial debt was one penny per acre of land cleared, improved, and fenced, meadow only excepted ; six -- pence upon every hundred acres surveyed and unimproved land ; six-pence per head upon all neat cattle from one year old and. upwards ; twelve-pence per head upon every horse and mare one year old and upwards ; six-pence per head for every hog or swine that any person should sell, convey, or dispose of, living or dead ; one penny per head for every sheep ; and also all persons. keeping or owning negroes should pay for every negro of ten. years of age and upwards, two shillings and six-pence. Those refusing to pay, or giving in a false account, or concealing and. not giving in a negro, were to be fined six shillings; for every head of such beast not given in, ten shillings ; for every acre of land improved, two-pence; and for every hundred acres of land unimproved, nine-pence.
·
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
Previous to 1694, each tenth chose ten representatives for the provincial assembly, making one hundred representatives in all, which was according to the concessions of the lords proprietors. After the year 1694 they were divided into counties. Burlington county comprised two-tenths; Gloucester county, two-tenths ; .and Salem county, one-tenth. Burlington county had twenty members; Gloucester county, twenty ; Salem, ten; and Cape May, five.
In the year 1696 this number was considered superfluous, and the representation was made, for Burlington, ten ; Gloucester, ten ; Salem, five; and Cape May, three; making in all, twenty- ·eight members.
In the year 1700, the assembly enacted, " that any person or persons that shall break into any house, out-house, or barn, in the day-time or in the night, and shall steal any goods or merchandise to the value of one shilling or upwards, upon being convicted thereof, shall (besides making the restitution of four- fold) for the first offence receive thirty-nine stripes upon the bare back, and being convicted a second time, shall have burnt with a hot iron upon his, her, or their forehead a Roman T, added to the above punishment, and being convicted a third time, shall be burned with a hot iron in the cheek with the Roman letter T, suffer a twelve months' close imprisonment, and be kept to hard labor, only having a sufficiency of diet, and corrected by being whipt with thirty-nine stripes on the bare back once in every month during the said term of one year."
After the first offence, if the offender begged transportation, the judge or justice of the Supreme Court was to allow it to him or her. After being transported, in case they returned within seven years, they were to be apprehended, and not only make restitu- tion four-fold, but to receive thirty-nine stripes, and be branded with the Roman letter T on the forehead.
At the session of May 12th, 1701, the law reducing the repre- .sentatives to twenty-eight was repealed, and the old law allowing them fifty-five, re-enacted.
On the 15th day of April 1702, the proprietors of the provinces of East and West Jersey surrendered to Queen Anne .all the powers and authorities in them vested in said provinces,
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
previous application having been made to that end August 12th, 1701.
This surrender was signed by twenty-five of the proprietors of East Jersey, and by thirty-two of West Jersey. The surrender was accepted by the Queen, at the Court of St. James, the 17th day of April, 1702, before the final articles of surrender could have reached England.
On the 16th day of November, 1702, Edward Lord Cornbury (Edward Hyde) was appointed governor of the consolidated province. *
The assembly was ordered to sit alternately at Perth Amboy and Burlington, and to consist of twenty-four representatives, to be chosen, two by the inhabitants, householders of the city or town of Perth Amboy; two by the inhabitants, householders of the city and town of Burlington;' ten by the freeholders of East New Jersey, and ten by the freeholders of West New Jersey.
* His commission bears date December 5th, 1702.
1
CHAPTER III.
First patent-When granted-Extent of land contained therein- Reservations made by the Crown-Pretended claim of the Dutch and Swedes-New Jersey-When set off from New York- Extent of East and West Jersey-First purchases-Considera- tion paid for lands-First settlement at Burlington-Flood at Delaware falls-Littleworth, the original name of Trenton.
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