USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 14
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chibald Mercer's position in later life, the fact that in 1794 he was judge of the court of Common Pleas for Somerset county, the fact that the men whose names we have al- ready mentioned were his bosom friends and considered that they were honored by being reckoned such, all goes to show that he must have played his part well and done his duty manfully, whatever it was, in those times that "tried men's souls." Mr. Mer- cer's children with the exception of the first born were all of them born in Millstone, New Jersey, so that between the years 1776 and 1794 that was probably his home. At some time between then and the beginning of the new century he removed to Newark, New Jersey, for in 1806 we find that he was chairman of the committee that made the contract for the construction of the Newark turnpike, his fellow committeemen being John N. Cumming, Jesse Gilbert, Ashbel Upson, David Lyman, Abraham Wooley, Archippus Priest and William Hillhouse. On March 10, 1811, he and George Scriba, Esquire, were sponsors in Trinity Church for Joseph Augustus, son of the Rev. Joseph Wheeler, the second rector of the parish. On September 29, 1812, about six weeks after his second marriage, Mr. Mer- cer wrote his will, which is recorded in the Essex Wills, book A, page 500, and is pre- served in the vaults at Trenton. In this, after the customary instructions, commit- ting his soul to God and his body to the earth "to be buried at the discretion of his executors," he divides his property, after certain legacies have been deducted, equally among his five surviving children. To sev- eral of his grandchildren he leaves legacies varying in amount ; to the rector, wardens and vestrymen of Trinity Church he be- queaths all the accounts he has against the church, and reserves his pew for the use of the members of his family and expresses the "hope that they will at least sometimes go there;" to his sister, Helen Highway, and to his "unfortunate brother, Robert," he leaves $10.000.00 eachi; he appoints as
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his executors his four children, Peter, Ar- chibald, Gertrude and Charlotte; his two sons-in-law, Dr. James Lee and Theodore Frelinghuysen, and his friend, James R. Smith, of New York; he concludes by say- ing that he desires "to be buried alongside of my deceased son, William, and that the remains of my dear wife be removed and laid in the same pit with me. And now farewell my beloved children, the best leg- acy I can leave you is to conjure you to live so as to merit the favour of your God." This will is witnessed by John N. Cum- ming, James Kearney and Elias E. Boudin- ot, and was proved June 18, 1814. The in- ventory of his estate made June 1, 1814, by General John N. Cumming and William Halsey, amounted to $120,609.88.
The first wife of the Hon. Archibald Mercer and the mother of all his children was Mary (Schenck) Mercer, of Somerset county, New Jersey, whom he married July 23, 1770. She died in Newark, January I, 1808, aged sixty years, after bearing him nine children, seven of whom survived her. Their names and birthdays are as follows: Maria, August 19, 1771; Peter Schenck, June 14, 1776; Louisa, August 5, 1778; Gertrude, October 25, 1781 ; Charlotte, February 5, 1784; William, March 2. 1786; Eliza, June 14, 1787; Archibald, December I, 1788; John, May 9, 1790. Two of these children died in infancy, Eliza, March 9, 1793; and John, July 1, 1794. Two more of them married and died before their fath- er, Louisa, who married John Frelinghuy- sen, son of the Hon. Frederick Frelinghuy- sen, who is considered elsewhere, and Wil- liam, who will be referred to later. Maria Mercer, the eldest child, married Dr. Peter T. Stryker, and died childless, July 8, 1841. Peter Schenck Mercer, the eldest son, died April 1, 1833, in New London, Connecticut, after being twice married ; by his first wife he had four children, Mary Schenck, Archi- bald, Jolın Frelinghuysen, and Frederick ; but all that remains of record of them or their mother is a gravestone in the "Red
brick grave yard" on the road leading from Millstone to Somerville, inscribed "Mar- garet .. Iercer, 1814, aged thirty-one years, wife of Peter Mercer and their infant chil- dren." By his second wife, Rebecca Starr, he had four more children, Peter, who died young ; Abigail, who married Captain John French; Margaret, who married a Win- throp; and Elizabeth, whose husband was Frederick Bidwell. Gertrude Mercer, the fourth child and third daughter, died Janu- ary 26, 1836, having married, July 22, 1808, Dr. James Lee, of New London, to whom she bore at least one daughter, who was afterwards Mrs. Robert A. McCurdy and the mother of Richard A. McCurdy, of Morristown. Charlotte Mercer, the next child to Gertrude, married Theodore, an- other son of the Hon. Frederick Freling- huysen, and will be referred to under that family. Archibald Mercer, junior, the next to the youngest child, died in New Lon- don, Connecticut, October 3, 1850. He was twice married; the first time to Abigail Starr, March II, 1812, who bore him two children, Charlotte Frelinghuysen, after- wards Mrs. James Morgan, and Sarah Is- ham, afterwards the wife of George S. Hazard. By his second marriage June 18, 1817, to Harriet Wheat, who died February 20, 1854, he had eight more children : Louisa Frelinghuysen and Helen Highway, who died in infancy ; Harriet, John Dishon and Abigail Starr, who died unmarried; William, who married Ellen C. Allen; Ger- trude Lee, who became Mrs. Adam F. Prentice ; and Maria Stryker, afterwards the wife of Samuel H. Grosvenor, whose only son is the Rev. William Mercer Grosvenor, D. D., the present rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, New York City. A little over four years after his wife's deatlı. Archibald Mercer, senior, married (second) July 5, 1812, Catharina Sophia Cuyler, widow of Jolin Van Court- landt, who survived him about nine years, dying March 25, 1823. Of this marriage there was no issue. By her first husband,
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Mrs. Mercer had one son, James Van Courtlandt, whom together with her moth- er, Martha Cuyler, she mentions in her will, written August 3, 1821, and proven August 9. 1823, her estate left wholly to these two. amounting to $6,737,961.
KIRKPATRICK, Andrew, Lawyer, Jurist, Legislator.
The Kirkpatricks of New Jersey come of an honorable and noteworthy Scottish lin- eage, having from their first appearance in lristory showed the forcible characteristics and qualities which by the end of the eighteenth century had numbered them among the families of principal importance and worth in New Jersey. Originally a Cel- tic family, they settled in Scotland in early times and by the ninth century had estab- lished themselves in various parts of Dum- friesshire, especially in Nithsdale, where in 1232 the estate of Closeburn was granted by King Alexander II., to Ivon Kirkpatrick, the ancestor of the Lords of Closeburn. In 1280 Duncan Kirkpatrick, of Closeburn, married the daughter of Sir David Carlisle, of Torthorwald, who was nearly related to William Wallace, and their son, Ivon Kirk- patrick, was one of the witnesses to the charter of Robert Bruce. In 1600 the Kirk- patricks of Closeburn were appointed by de- cree of the Lords in Council among the chieftains charged with the care of the bor- der. Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick in the reign of James VI. of Scotland, one of the gentle- men of the privy chamber, obtained a patent of the freedom of the whole kingdom and his great-grandson, also Sir Thomas, was created in 1686 baron of Nova Scotia. The modern baronetcy dates from 1685, when the following arms were registered: Arms : Argent, a saltire and chief azure, the last charged with three cushions or; Crest: a hand holding a dagger in pale, distilling drops of blood; Motto: I mak sicker ("I make sure"). Among the noteworthy de- cendants in this line of the Kirkpatricks is
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the Empress Eugenie, whose maternal grandfather was William Kirkpatrick, of Malaga, Snain, whose ancestor was Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, eighth baron of Kylos- bern or Closeburn.
Alexander Kirkpatrick, the American progenitor of the family, was one of the scions of the Closeburn family, and was born at Watties Neach, County Dumfries, and died at Mine Brook, Somerset county, New Jersey, June 3, 1758. He was a Pres- byterian, but was warmly devoted to the cause of the Stuarts, and took part in the rising under the Earl of Mar for the old pretender. On account of this falling un- der the disfavor of the English government, he emigrated first to Belfast, Ireland, and in the spring of 1736 came over to Ameri- ca, landed in Delaware, and went to Philadelphia, but finally settled in Somer- set county, New Jersey, building his home on the southern slope of Round Mountain, about two miles from the present village of Basking Ridge. He was accompanied to this country by his brother, Andrew Kirk- patrick, and the latter's two sons and two daughters, and this branch settled in Sus- sex county, New Jersey. By his wife Elizabeth, whom he married in Scotland, Alexander Kirkpatrick had five children : I. Andrew, who married Margaret, daugh- ter of Joseph Gaston, who emigrated to New Jersey about 1720. They had one son, Alexander, and seven daughters. He inherited the homestead at Mine Brook, but sold it soon after his father's death to his brother David and removed to what was then called the "Redstone country" in Pennsylvania. 2. David, who is referred to below. 3. Alexander, who was a survey- or and also a merchant at Peapack, Warren county ; married Margaret Anderson, of Bound Brook, and had Martha, who mar- ried John Stevenson. 4. Jennet, wlio mar- ried Duncan McEowen and removed to Maryland. 5. Mary, who married John Bigger and removed from New Jersey.
David, second child and son of Alex-
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ander and Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, was born at Watties Neach, county Dumfries, Scot- land, February 17, 1724, and died at Mine Brook, New Jersey, March 19, 1814. Com- ing to America with his father, he bought from his brother Andrew the paternal homestead at Mine Brook, and lived there, "greatly esteemed and loved." In his habits he was plain and simple, while he was not- ed for his strict integrity, his sterling com- mon sense, and his great energy and self- reliance. In 1765 he was a member of the legislature of New Jersey. He built at Mine Brook the stone mansion, still stand- ing, over the doors of which he carved the initials "D. M. K." David Kirkpatrick married, March 31, 1748, Mary McEowen, born in Argyleshire, August 1, 1728, died at Mine Brook, New Jersey, November 2, 1795. Their seven children were: I. Eliz- abeth, born September 27, 1749, died 1829; married (first) a Mr. Sloan and became the mother of the Rev. William B. Sloan, pastor of the Presbyterian church at Green- wich, Warren county, New Jersey; she married (second) William Maxwell. 2. Alexander, born September 3, 1751, died September 24, 1827; married Sarah Carle, daughter of Judge John Carle, of Long Hill, Morris county, and had thirteen chil- dren, the fourth of whom was the Rev. Ja- cob Kirkpatrick, D. D., of Ringoes, New Jersey, whose son, the Rev. Jacob Kirkpat- rick, D. D., was for many years a clergy- man at Trenton, New Jersey. 3. Andrew, who is referred to below. 5. David, born November 1, 1758. 6. Mary, born Novem- ber 23, 1761, died July 1. 1842; married Hugh Gaston, of Peapack, New Jersey, the son of John or Robert, and the grand- son of Joseph Gaston, the emigrant. 7. Anne, born March 10, 1769, married Dick- inson Miller, of Somerville, New Jersey.
The Hon. Andrew Kirkpatrick, third child and second son of David and Mary (McEowen) Kirkpatrick, Chief Justice of New Jersey, was born at Mine Brook, Feb- ruary 17, 1756; died in New Brunswick,
New Jersey, in 1831. In 1775 he graduated from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, and later received fro. that institution and also from Queens, now Rutgers College, the degree of M. A. He was for many years one of the trustees of his alma mater. His father, who was an ardent Presbyterian, wished him to become a minister, and for several months after his graduation he studied divinity with the Rev. Dr. Kennedy; but his preference lay in the direction of the law, and he, owing to his father's anger at his stopping his theological studies, accepted a tutor's position in a Vir- ginia family, and somewhat later a similar one with a family at Esopus, New York. He then went to New Brunswick, where he tutored men for college, and entered the law office of the Hon. William Paterson, at one time governor of New Jersey, and later justice of the United States Supreme Court, and one of the most eminent lawyers of New Jersey of his day.
In 1785 Mr. Kirkpatrick was admitted to the New Jersey bar, and for a short time he practiced in Morristown, but his office and library having been destroyed by fire, he removed again to New Brunswick, where he became noted for his great native ability, untiring industry and stern integ- rity.
In 1797 he was elected to the New Jer- sey Assembly from Middlesex county, and sat for the first part of the term, but re- signed in January, 1798, in order to assume the office of Associate Justice of the Su- preme Court of New Jersey, which office he held for the ensuing six years, when he became Chief Justice, succeeding Chief- Justice Kinsey. To this post he was twice re-elected, and in this capacity he served continuously for twenty-one years. His decisions were marked by extensive learn- ing, great acumen, and power of logical an- alysis, and his strictly logical mind and great personal dignity coupled with his oth- er qualities made him one of the great his- torical characters of the New Jersey bencli.
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Among other things he created the office of reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court. He was eminently public spirited, and was the founder of the Theological Sem- inary at Princeton, and for many years the first president of its board of directors. He was in politics an anti-Federalist or Repub- lican, the party now known as the Demo- cratic, and at one time was its candidate for governor of New Jersey. Among his many excellent qualities he was especially esteemed and admired for his keen sense of justice, his considerateness and loyalty.
November 1, 1792, Judge Andrew Kirk- patrick married Jane, born July 12, 1772, died February 16, 1851, seventh child of Colonel John Bubenheim Bayard, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Andrew Hodge. She was widely known for her ac- complishments, her benevolence, and beauti- ful Christian character, and was the author of "The Light of Other Days," edited by her daughter, Mrs. Jane E. Cogswell. The children of Andrew and Jane (Bayard) Kirkpatrick were: I. Mary Ann Margaret, died March 17, 1882; married the Rev. Samuel B. Howe, pastor of the First Re- formed Church at New Brunswick. 2. John Bayard. 3. Littleton, born October 19, 1797; died August 15, 1859; graduated at Princeton, 1815 ; a leader of the New Jersey bar, prominent in public life; attorney-gen- eral of New Jersey, and a member of con- gress from New Jersey. 4. Jane Eudora, died March, 1864; married the Rev. Jona- than Cogswell, D. D., professor of ecclesias- tical history at the East Windsor Theologi- cal Seminary. 5. Elizabeth. 6. Sarah. 7. Charles Martel.
BAIRD, Captain David,
Soldier in Revolution.
Piedmont, and from there to Normandy, finally settling in Scotland. In 1178 Henry de Barde was a witness to a charter of lands made by King William the Lion, of Scot- land. In 1191 Ugone di Bard, of the val- ley of d'Aosta, made allegiance to Francis I., of Savoy. He owned a castle on Bard Rock, a natural defence, and after bravely defending the place was finally driven out. He had two sons, Marco and Aymone. In 1194 Hugo de Baird was one of the sub- scribing witnesses to a safe conduct granted by King Richard I., of England, to King William the Lion, and it is said that a gentleman by the name of Baird saved Wil- Jiam the Lion from a wild beast, and he re- ceiveri for this deed large tracts of land and coat-of-arms, viz: A boar passant, with the motto Dominus fecit. During the Scotch war for independence the Bards were able supporters of the cause with Bruce and Wallace. Robert Bard was captured by the English, held a prisoner at Nottingham, and an order was issued January, 1317, for his removal to the castle of Summerton. His fate is unknown. A William Bard was routed and taken prisoner with Sir William Douglass in 1333, in a skirmish with Sir Anthony Lacy on the English border. Jordan Baird was a constant companion with the brave William Wallace from 1297 to 1305. General Sir David Baird was a contemporary of Captain David Baird, and held command under Sir John Moore in the Peninsular campaign, and after the death and burial of Sir John succeeded to the command and reported the victory at Cor- runna. He was the son of Sir William Baird, the son of Sir Robert, the son of James, the son of George, who was living in 1588. That John Baird, of Topenemus neighborhood, New Jersey, was of this stock there seems little doubt.
The name Bard, Barde and Baird appears John Baird came from Aberdeen, Scot- land, as a passenger in the good ship "Ex- change," Captain James Peacock, master, and landed at Staten Island in New York in records in various parts of Europe as early as the tenth and extending to the fourteenth century. They appear to have migrated from Lorraine to d'Aosta in harbour, about December 19, 1683. The
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State Archives at Trenton, New Jersey, in a list of persons deported from Scotland to America, and duly registered Decem- ber 5, 1684, the names of John King, four years' service ; John Nesmith, four years' service; John Baird, four years' service, etc., etc., occur. There were forty-seven thus deported. After John Baird had ful- filled his term of service he acquired tracts of lands at New Aberdeen, Topenemus, and on Millstone brook in East Jersey and other places. It is said that John Baird dwelt in a cave with an Indian for a time before he built a house on the Topenemus tract. Traces of the cave are said to be visible on the banks of Topenemus brook, a little back and to the side of the present Baird home- stead, built by James Baird, son of Zebulon, and grandson of John Baird, the immi- grant. He was a Quaker, and the Friends' church was built near his homestead, where George Keith and his followers worship- ped, and where he preached. When Keith, who was originally a Presbyterian, changed to the Society of Friends, it is probable that John Baird changed with him as he did to the Episcopal faith when Keith took or- ders in that church and carried many mem- bers of the Friends meeting with him. Tra- dition has the story of his courtship and marriage as follows: "One day he met in the woods Mary Hall, whom he afterward married. As both were bashful, they halted at some distance from each other under a tree. It was love at first sight. John, who was a Quaker, broke the silence by saying 'If thou wilt marry me say 'yea,' if thou wilt not, say 'nay.' Mary said 'yea' and proved a noble wife and mother." This tradition equals that of the courtship of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. The four children of John and Mary (Hall) Baird were as follows, and it is probable there were others: 1. John (2), 1707; probably married Avis, the story of his gaining her for a wife being as follows: He had heard of a shipwreck on the coast, and that on board the ship were several
comely women. He hurried to the scene on horseback, and there selected his wife in the woman of his choice. It is said he saw her, wooed her, won her, and was comforted. In his will & .ted February 5, 1747, probated July 5, 1749, he names his sons, Andrew and Zebulon; his wife, Avis, and Peter Bowne, executors of the will, and directs that after his debts are paid the residue of his estate be given to his wife, Avis Baird, during her widowhood, and in case of her re-marriage, to be divided equally between his wife and children and family, without naming them. The children of John (2) and Avis Baird, included three sons, An- drew, Bedent and Zebulon, of whom An- drew and Zebulon, named for their two uncles, sons of their grandfather, John, the Scottish immigrant, and with whom they are often confused by genealogists. After the probating of their father's will, July 5, 1749, at which time they must have been of legal age, as Andrew and Zebulon were with their mother executors of the will, they migrated to North Carolina, making the journey across the Blue Ridge in a wag- on, and when they reached Buncombe coun- ty, North Carolina, they exhibited the wagon as a curiosity, the first vehicle of the kind seen in that mountain district. They approached the house of Mr. George Swain, a native of Roxbury, Massachu- setts, where he was born in 1763, through the washed-out channel of the creek, there being no roads, and the future governor of North Carolina, David Lowrie Swain, then a mere lad, when he saw the wondrous ve- hicle thus approaching his home was standing in his father's orchard, planted with apple trees, raised from cuttings, brought from New England by his father, and waited the approach of the thundering chariot with wonder and awe as it rolled over the rocky bed of the creek. At its nearer approach he took to his heels and hid behind his father's house, but was brought out by the command of his father to welcome and care for the visitors who
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were from New Jersey. They probably were at the time prospecting as they came to Burke county, North Carolina, as early as 1760, where Andrew married Anna, daughter of Mathew Locke, whose relative, Colonel Francis Locke, commanded three hundred militia men from Burke, Lincoln and Rowan counties, North Carolina, and gained the victory at Ramsoor's Mills, May 29, 1780, of Lieutenant George Locke, kill- ed in battle, September 26, 1780. The de- scendants of Andrew and Anna (Locke) Baird are numerous throughout the south. Zebulon also married and among his de- scendants was Zebulon Baird Vance ( 1830- 1894), governor of North Carolina, and United States senator. John Baird (2), the father of these North Carolina pioneers, died in Topenemus, Millstone township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, February 6, 1747, and was buried in the Topenemus burial ground, where his father was buried. 2. David (q. v.). 3. Andrew, who deeded his property to his brother Zebulon, June 15, 1755. 4. Zebulon, born 1720; died Jan- uary 28, 1804, aged eighty-eight years, three months and fifteen days, and his wife, Anna, died December 28, 1794, aged sixty- three years, four months and eleven days, and both are buried in the burial ground at Topenemus, New Jersey. John Baird, the immigrant. was buried at Topenemus, New Jersey, and on his tombstone is the following inscription :
"JOHN BAIRD who came from Scotland in 18th year of his age, A. D. 1683 died April , 1755 aged about 90 years, and of an honest character."
Mary Baird was admitted to the Lord's table at White Hill meeting house in 1736.
David, second son of John and Mary (Hall) Baird, was born October 19, 1710; married October 27, 1744, to Sarah Comp- ton. David Baird died June 20, 1801. By this marriage there were born four children
in Topenemus as follows: 1. Jacob, No- vember, 1745; lived on a farm in Morris county, New Jersey, owned by his father, and on the death of his father it descended to him by his will. 2. Mary, September 30, 1747 ; married John, son of James and Di- nah Tillyer Dey ( 1747-1829), and they had children : James, John, David, Elias, Mary B. and David B. Dey. Mary (Baird) Dey died 1836. 3. John, October 27, 1750; married (first) Phebe Ely, who died June 17, 1817, and (second) Elizabeth Edwards. He was an elder of the old Tennent Church, and had no children by either of his wives. 4. Captain David.
Captain David Baird, youngest child of David (1) and Sarah (Compton) Baird, was born in Topenemus, New Jersey, July 16, 1754; died December 24, 1839. He was a private in the first regiment from New Jersey to join American forces at the time of the rebellion against Great Britian, be- came sergeant in 1776, and was promoted ensign, lieutenant and quartermaster. He was captain of militia in 1777, and also captain of light horse in Mon- mouth county militia. He was in the New Jersey line at the battle of Germantown, was called with his company to protect the salt works at Tom's River several times, and to the protection of Navesink High- lands. He also served with General Dick- erson's forces during the British march across New Jersey, and was in several skir- mishes and at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. He married (first ) Rebecca Ely, and in 1684 married Rachel Firman. Thus it married William Ely. Rebecca (Ely) Baird died January 6, 1778, and Captain David Baird married (second) Lydia (Topscott) Gaston, a widow, and by her he had six children. Lydia (Topscott) (Gas- ton) Baird, died February 5, 1791, and Captain David Baird married (third) Mary, daughter of Lieutenant Thomas and Elizabeth (Vaughn) Edwards, November 25, 1795, and by her had eleven children.
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