USA > New Jersey > New Jersey biographical and genealogical notes from the volumes of the New Jersey archives : with additions and supplements > Part 15
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2. James, the youngest son, married Martha Boyd, whose father came from the North of Ireland in 1772 and settled in Bridgeton, where he died the year after. James Ewing was a member of the famous "Tea Party" which, on the night of Thursday, December 22, 1774, de- stroyed a quantity of tea which had been landed at Greenwich, con- trary to the Articles of Association of the Continental Congress. He was elected to the Assembly from Cumberland County in 1778, and liked the atmosphere of Trenton so well that he took up his residence there the next year, 1779. He engaged in mercantile business, and for a short time was a partner of Isaac Collins, the printer of the New Jersey Gazette. For several years he was one of the Commissioners of the State Loan Office. He was the author of an ingenious "Colum- bian Alphabet," an attempt at a reformed system of spelling, which he explained in a pamphlet published at Trenton in 1798. He was Mayor of Trenton, 1797-1803. He died October 23, 1823. His only son, Charles Ewing, born in 1780, was Chief Justice of New Jersey, 1824-1832, dying in office .- Hall's Hist. Pres. Church in Trenton, 363; Genealogy of Early Settlers of Trenton and Ewing, by Rev. Eli F. Cooley, Trenton, 1883, 64; Elmer's Cumberland County; Elmo's Roniniscenes, 326; N. J. Archives, IX., 359; X., 532.
PETER FAUCONIER.
Peter Fauconier was a great favorite with young Lord Cornbury. and when the latter was commissioned Governor of New York and New Jersey, in 1702, he at once arranged with Fauconier to supply the troops with clothing. He came to America in the household of the newly appointed Governor, in 1702, and on that account was im- mediately made a freeman of the city of New York, by the corpora- tion, June 27, 1702. He is therein designated "Gentleman." The cloth-
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ing contract had been transferred to one J. Champante, but Fauconier was appointed one of the commissioners to examine the clothing sup- plied by Champante. It is not surprising to find that his opinion was unfavorable. This led Champante to write to the Lords of Trade, March 22, 1702-3, in self-defence, and in criticism of Lord Cornbury and Fauconier, the latter being characterized as "a Frenchman and a bankrupt here tho' now thought by his Lordship to be the properest manager of Her Majesty's revenue there." Lord Cornbury did indeed regard him as "an excellent accountant," and accordingly selected him, in 1704, to audit Lord Bellomont's accounts as Governor. In 1705 he recommended him for Collector and Receiver General of New York. "He is one of the best accomptants that ever I knew, he is a Man of very great application to and diligent in business, And I have by ex- perience found him a very honest Man, he has been Naval Officer ever since I came into this Province, which he has executed with the ut- most diligence, and has taken pains to acquaint himself very well with the Laws of Trade." Fauconier once rejected a bribe of £50 offered to influence his action as Naval Officer. He was regarded as the "Chief Manager of affairs" in New York, in 1707, by his and the Governor's enemies. There was some trouble between him and the Assembly over £500 which had been paid him for the erection of a fort on the Indian frontiers, but he boldly challenged an inquiry into his accounts, and produced vouchers showing that he had disbursed £2,000 on this account. Being Receiver General of New Jersey also, the Assembly demanded his accounts, in 1709, which he promptly presented, from December, 1704, to December, 1708; but he firmly declined to produce his vouchers, on the plea that they were under the control of the Governor. Gov. Robert Hunter did not have the same confidence in his accounts that Cornbury had expressed .- He was largely interested in real estate speculations, and it was charged that he was a patentee in "all the grants for lands that are good and valuable." He was concerned in extensive tracts in Ulster, Albany and Kings Counties. His familiarity with land patents, and his experience as a collector of revenue, led him to recommend in 1709 the survey of the line between New York and New Jersey. In that year he bought of William Davis a tract of 2,424 acres of land on the east of Hackensack River. Peter Sonmans having secured the Indian deed for the Ramapo tract, Nov. 18, 1709, took out a patent therefor, which on Dec. 10, 1709, he conveyed to Peter Fauconier, Lucas Kierstead, Andrew Fresneau, Elias Boudinot and others. On April 25, 1710, they caused the tract to be surveyed, foi 42,500 acres, beginning at the "Big Rock," four or five miles northwest of Paterson, and embracing most of the northwestern portion of the present Bergen County. It is probable that Fauconier settled on the "Ramapo Patent," as it was called, within a few years after the date of this deed, and in the neighborhood of Paramus. To encourage the establishment of a church there he made a written offer, Dec. 26, 1730, to give a site for a Reformed Dutch Church. When the people decided to build they voted that "Peter Fauconier shall have seats for himself and wife for a continual possession for themselves and their heirs." His earliest religious affiliations were naturally with the French Church, in New York. Madelaine Fauconier, his wife, was a witness at a baptism there, Nov. 21, 1703. He had three children (perhaps more), probably all born before his coming to America:
i. Madelaine, m. Pierre (or Peter) Valleau, and lived at or near Paramus, Bergen county. (For some account of her children, see Valleau.)
ii. Theodorus.
iii. Jeanne Elizabeth, b. 1699; m. 1st, August 12, 1725, in
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Christ church, Philadelphia, Robert Assheton, of a Lancashire (England) family; he was a Supreme Court Judge and Provincial Councillor of Pennsyl- vania; he d. suddenly, in 1727. She m. 2d, April 8, 1729, the Rev. Archibald Cummings, Rector of Christ church, Philadelphia, who d. in April, 1741. She m. 3d, his successor in that Rectorship, the Rev. Robert Jenny, who d. January 5, 1762, aged 75; she d. six days later, in her 64th year, and is buried with her third husband in Christ church.
JOHN FELL.
John Fell was the senior member of the firm of John Fell & Co., mer- chants in New York, at least as early as 1759, when they had several armed merchant vessels plying the seas. He continued in New York for some years thereafter. Subsequently-just when is not known- he purchased a tract of 220 acres, being 32×69 chains in area, at or near Paramus, in Bergen county. He called the place Petersfield, probably in imitation of Colonel Philip Schuyler's Petersboro, opposite to Belleville. The name Petersfield was doubtless, however, suggested in honor of some relative of John .Fell, perhaps his father .. From the beginning of the Revolution he took a most positive stand in favor of his country, serving with great energy as Chairman of the Bergen County Committee, in which capacity he gained the reputation of being "a great Tory hunter." He was a member of the Provincial Congress which met at Trenton in May, June and August, 1775, and of the Council in the first State Legislature, in 1776. On the night of April 22d, 1777, he was taken prisoner at his house by twenty-five armed men, who hurried him to Bergen Point, where Colonel Abraham Van Buskirk was in command of the British forces. The two men had been well acquainted before the war, and when Fell was brought be- fore Van Buskirk the latter remarked: "Times have changed since we last met." "So I perceive," replied the prisoner. Van Buskirk, however, assured him that on account of their previous acquaintance he would give him a letter to General Robertson, in New York, with whom he was well acquainted, and this letter would doubtless insure him proper treatment. Fell was sent to New York and confined in the provost jail, where he was treated with such severity that the New Jersey Committee of Safety offered to release James Parker and Walter Rutherford in exchange for John Fell and Wynant Van Zandt, on Oc- tober 16th, 1777. This proposition not being acceded to, the committee, on November 17th. 1777, ordered that Parker and Rutherford be com- mitted to the Morris county jail until Fell and Van Zandt should be released. General Robertson does not appear to have seen Fell until December 8th following, when he called upon him at the jail. Fell gave him the letter of Colonel Van Buskirk, which he read and then handed back, with a curious smile, to the prisoner, who found that the purport of the letter was that "John Fell was a great rebel and a notorious rascal." But it happened that General Robertson and Fell had made each other's acquaintance years before, after the capture of Quebec, during the French .War. "You must be changed, indeed, John Fell," said the General, "if you are as great a rascal as this Colonel Van Buskirk." He assured the prisoner that he would secure him good treatment, but he afterwards declared that owing to various cir- cumstances he was unable to show him the favor he desired. How- ever, on January 7th. 1778, he secured his release on parole, and in the following May Fell was allowed to go home. The New Jersey Leg- Islature elected him, November 6th, 1778, one of the State's delegates
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to Congress. in which capacity he served two years. He was evidently a man of considerable means and accustomed to live in good style, and was frequently the guest of John Adams and other distinguished mem- bers of that notable body. A diary kept by him while in Congress was formerly owned by Gen. Wm. S. Stryker. Fell was elected a mem- ber of the Legislative Council from Bergen county in 1782 and 1783. The Legislature appointed him, September 6th. 1776, one of the Com- mon Pleas Judges of Bergen county, and at the expiration of his term he was reappointed, September 28th. 1781. He sold his Petersfield estate, November 1st, 1793 to John H. Thompson, a merchant of New York City, for £2,000. In the deed he is described as "John Fell of Petersfield, Bergen County, Esq." He then removed to New York, Dutchess county, taking up his residence with his son, Peter, and died at Coldenham. He m. Susanna Marschalk, wid. of McIntosh.
2. Feter Renaudet2 (John1) Fell raised a regiment of militia, and was elected by the New York Legislature to be Lieutenant Colonel of the First Regiment of Bergen County Militia, March 27, 1778. He de- voted himself so zealously to the service, and exposed himself so reck- lessly that he became hopelessly crippled with rheumatism, and re- joined his command Oct. 5, 1779. He subsequently, however, acted as aid to Gov. Clinton, of New York, during the last two years of the war. Being sent on some duty from West Point, where Gov. Clinton was, he had the good fortune to be present at the taking of Stony Point, where he acted as a volunteer in the assault. After the war he settled in New York, following his father's mercantile pursuits, but on account of failing health withdrew from that occupation, and re- tired to Coldenham. There he spent his time overseeing his estate. causing himself to be carried about in a chair. He m. in 1781 Mar- garet, dau. of Cadwallader Colden, 2d, of Coldenham, and grand- daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden. He d. at Col- denham, Oct. 6, 1789, aged 37, and was buried in the Colden family vault at that place. His wife survived him, and m. 2d, Gallatin, by whom she had one son, D. P. Gallatin, who removed to Michigan. Col. Peter R. Fell and Margaret his wife had issue:
i. Elizabeth, b. in New York; m. her cousin, William Colden, and for many years lived on the old place, built by her father. She became the mother of six children.
ii. John, b. in New York; m. - -, and left several chil- dren. He resided for the last years of his life at the cottage at Coldenham.
iii. Susan, b. at Paramus; m. at the age of 22 Charles Rhind, of New York, she became the mother of ten children, one of whom was the late Admiral Alex- ander Colden Rhind, U. S. N.
HENDRICK FISHER.
Hendrick Fisher was b. in 1697. in the Palatinate, and came to this country when young, taking up his residence near Bound Brook. He was received into the Reformed Dutch church of that place in 1721, and held various offices in the church thereafter, being also a lay preacher. By an act of the Legislature, passed 1733, he was natural- ized. The next year he was elected to the Assembly from Somerset, but was declared ineligible, on the ground that not enough time had elapsed since his naturalization, which had taken place only the pre- ceding session. He stated that he had been informed he had a right
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to, sit as a member of the Assembly, by virtue of an act of Parliament passed in Queen Anne's reign, which naturalized other Germans, the provisions of the same act being thought to include him. Thomas Leon- ard, however, was chosen in his place, and took his seat May 28, 1740. Mr. Fisher was again elected in 1745, and qualified without objection. He was re-elected in 1746, 1749, 1751, 1754, 1761, 1769 and 1772, repre- senting his county continuously for thirty years. He was manager of the Bound Brook bridge lottery in 1762, and in 1764 of the lottery for the benefit of the New Jersey College. In 1765 he was designated by act of the Legislature to pay the New Jersey Regiment which had served in 1764. When the Colonies agreed to send delegates to meet in a Continental Congress, in New York, in September, 1765, Hendrick Fisher was one of the three delegates chosen by the Legislature to rep- resent New Jersey, and he signed the resolutions adopted, and the ad- dress to the King and Parliament, urging the repeal of the Stamp Act; he also made the report to the Legislature in behalf of his colleagues. In 1775 he was elected a member of the first Provincial Congress of New Jersey, of which body he was chosen President at the sitting in May of that year. At the session in October, 1775, when Samuel Tucker was chosen President, Fisher was elected Vice-President. He was also a member of the Committee of Safety, appointed by the Provincial Con- gress, Oct. 28, 1775. He proved himself an ardent, able and courageous friend of his country. He died Aug. 16, 1779, and was buried on his farm .- Messler's Hist. Somerset County, 56; Assembly Minutes. passim; Raritan Church Records; Session Laws, etc .; N. J. Archives, XIX., 390-391 The fullest sketch of Mr. Fisher that has appeared is by the Rev. Theodore Davis, read before the N. J. Historical Society at the annual meeting in January, 1839, and published in the Proceedings of the Society, Third Series, IV, p. 129.
PHILIP VICARS FITHIAN.
Philip Vicars Fithian was born in Cumberland County, New Jersey. In connection with his classmate, Andrew Hunter, and about forty other young patriots, he assisted in the destruction of a cargo of tea at Greenwich, New Jersey, on the evening of November 22, 1774. Mr. Fithian was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1775. For some time he labored as a missionary under the direction of the Presbytery, and then entered the army as Chaplain. At the battle of White Plains he fought in the ranks. He died in 1776 from disease contracted in camp. Mr. Fithian was never ordained. A volume of his "Journal and Letters, 1767-1774," was published by the Princeton Historical Association in 1900.
JACOB FORD, First and Second.
Col. Jacob Ford, senior, was a son of John Ford (son of William and Sarah Dingley Ford, b. at Duxbury or Marshfield, Mass., 1659; settled at Woodbridge, N. J., in 1700 or earlier; deacon of the Presbyterian church there in 1708, and elder in 1710; removed to Morris county; d. before May, 1724. John Ford m. at Woodbridge, Dec. 13, 1701, Eliza - beth Freeman, who was b. in March, 1681, "in the city of Axford, Old England, came to Philadelphia when there was but one house in it- and iuto this province when she was but one year and a half old: de- ceased April 21, 1772, aged 91 years and one month." Jacob Ford, senior, the son of John Ford, was born at Woodbridge, April 13, 1704. He was one of the pioneers in the iron business of New Jersey, and for nearly half a century was interested in mines and forges in Morris
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county and vicinity. In 1738 he applied for a license to keep an inn at "New Hanover" (now Morristown). When Morris county was created, in 1739, the first courts were held at Jacob Ford's house, and in 1740 he was appointed collector of Morris township. In 1748 he located the land on both sides of the river at Rockaway, and the tract was said to include Job Allen's iron works, which are believed to have been built in 1730. He was Judge of the Morris county courts in 1740, and most of the time for the next forty years; was a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian church of Morristown from 1747. In 1755 he had com- mand of a detachment of 300 men to protect the frontiers against threatened invasion of French and Indians. He m., in 1742, Hannah Baldwin (dau. of Jonathan Baldwin and Susanna Kitchell, b. Nov., 1701; d. July 31, 1777); he d. Jan. 19, 1777. It is believed that he built (in 1774) the house afterwards occupied by his son, Col. Jacob Ford, junior (b. Feb. 10, 1738; m. Jan. 27, 1762, Theodosia Johnes, and d. Jan. 11, 1777), and which was occupied by Washington in 1779-80, and is now owned by the Washington Association .- Hist. of Morris County, New Jersey, New York, 1882, passim; Centennial Collections of Morris County, passim; The Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, N. J., I., 19; II., 76; Woodbridge and Vicinity, by J. W. Dally, New Brunswick. 1873, 167, 169; N. J. Archives, XII., 665-666.
Jacob Ford, junior, was the Colonel of the Eastern Battalion of the Morris County, New Jersey, Militia. He was also in commission as Colonel of a battalion of New Jersey State Troops, organized in the counties of Bergen, Essex and Morris. He died of pneumonia, at Mor- ristown, N. J., Jan. 10, 1777. brought on by exposure in repelling the incursions of the British the month previous, and was buried with mil- itary honors by order of General Washington. His residence in Mor- ristown is now the historic building known as "Washington Headquar- ters." He built a powder mill for the use of the American Army .- N. J. Archives, 2d Series, I., 121.
EBENEZER FOSTER.
Ebenezer Foster was a prominent citizen of Woodbridge some years before the Revolution. He was already one of the trustees of the Free Schools of the Township when Governor Franklin granted a charter of incorporation to the trustces, June 24, 1769, naming Mr. Foster as one of them. He was a vestryman of the Church of England of Wood- bridge, and was named as such in the charter incorporating the church, December 6, 1769. He was appointed a justice of the peace of Middlesex County, June 9, 1770. He was commissioned a Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer of the same county, July 10, 1773, and on December 14, 1773. was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of that county. His sympathies were evidently with the British, and perhaps it was because this fact was well understood, that at a meeting of the freeholders of the county, on January 3, 1775, held pur- suant to the recommendations of the Continental Congress, he was appointed on a committee of observation for Woodbridge, apparently with the purpose of getting him committed to the American cause. A few days later, at a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, he was appointed on the committee of observation, and with two others was authorized, in case the Assembly failed to appoint delegates to the Continental Congress in the May following, to meet with the commit- tees from the other counties of the province in Provincial Congress. and appoint such delegates. On January 16, 1775, at a general meeting of the committee of observation and inspection, Mr. Foster was appointed on the committee of correspondence for the County of Middlesex. Subsequently, just when we have no record, Mr. Foster
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FOSTER : FRASER, JR. :
was arrested as a sympathizer with the British. At a meeting of the Convention of the State of New Jersey, July 19, 1776, he "asked and was given leave on his parole, and security in the sum of £1000, to remove to the public house of Mr. White, in Barnardstown, in the county of Somerset. and not to go more than six miles from thence, unless with the leave of the Convention, or the future Legislature of this state." His confinement naturally was irksome, and on August 2, he prayed that he might be permitted to return to his farm at Woodbridge, but the petition was ordered to lie on the table. When the British overian New Jersey, in December, 1776, he was released. and returned home. He remained there but a short time, where he was employed, according to his own statement made some years later. "in taking (by virtue of a special commission for that purpose) the Submission of such of the Inhabitants of his Neighbourhood as wished for British Protection." until the surprise and capture of the Hessians at Trenton, wher, on January 2, 1777, he "crossed over to Staten Island, where he was frequently hunted by small Parties of Jersey Militia," inquisition was found against him and many other persons of Middlesex county, "who had either joined the army of the King of Great Britain, or had otherwise offended against the form of their allegiance to the State," and he was advertised August 15, 1778. Judg- ment final was entered against him in due course, and his property was advertised to be sold on March 22, 1779. While on Staten Island he witnessed the will of Oswald Ford, September 22, 1777, another refugee from Woodbridge. His family were sent to him, and after three years he removed to New York, where he remained until April 27, 1783, when he sailed for Nova Scotia. While in the British lines he "attempted every service required of him" by the British con- manders. In a communication to the printer of the Royal Gazette, of New York, of August 5, 1780, he says he did not join the army, but accompanied it into New Jersey on the occasion of the raid upon Con- recticut Farms, and saw the body of Parson Caldwill's wife immedi- ately after she had been shot by a British soldier. In just what capacity he was with the army he does not state, but presumably as a guide. His account of the shooting of Mrs. Caldwell entirely lacks any expression of horror or even regret which the shocking tragedy would naturally excite in any humane breast. He claimed compensa- tion from the British Government for his losses, in a statement dated at St. John, New Brunswick, March 14. 1786, in which he listed a farm of 149 acres, with buildings, &c., in Woodbridge, valued at £1788; and a farm of 52 acres in Bergen county, valued at £156; and personal estate valued at £1500, in New York currency, or £843. 15, or £1937. 5 in all. Of his Woodbridge lands 72 acres came to him by descent from his mother, Margaret Heddon, who died about 1767; 22 acres by deed from Charles Wright, in 1753; 22 acres by deed from David Wright, in 1754; 10 acres from Joseph Shotwell, in 1755; 19 acres from Silas Walker. His Bergen county lands were bought from George Sly, 11 1771. Stephen Foster and Lawrence Foster, his sons, made oath in support of their father's claim, as did Joseph Thorne and William Bears, two of his neighbors. He was allowed £906. He resided at Kingston, King county, New Brunswick, Canada.
.
GEORGE FRASER, JUN.
George Fraser, junior, was commissioned an Ensign in the 60th (Royal American) Regiment, June 23, 1760; and lieutenant in the 78th Regiment, April 24, 1761. The 60th (known as the 62d, prior to 1758) served in America from 1756 to 1773; and the 78th from 1758 to 1763.
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FRAZER : FRELINGHUYSEN : FURGLER (or PHYLE)
REV. WILLIAM FRAZER.
The Rev. William Frazer took charge, in 1768, of St. Thomas' church, at Kingwood, and St. Andrew's church, of Amwell, and a third at Mosconetcong, twenty-eight miles north of Kingwood. He labored in these several charges until the breaking out of the Revo- lution. "Being supported by a British Missionary Society, he would not omit the prayers for the royal family. This rendered him ob- noxious to the patriots. One Sunday, when he entered his church, a rope was hanging over the pulpit. Public sentiment grew so violent that he was compelled to suspend worship in his church. But so prudent was his conduct and so lovely his character, that soon after peace was declared he reopened his church and resumed his ministry, with general acceptance." He died in 1795, aged 52 years. He m., July 13, 1768, Rebecca (bap. March, 1750), dau. of the hev. Colin Campbell, missionary in St. Mary's church, Burlington, and Mary Martha Bard, his wife. Issue: 1. Colin, b. May 24, 1769; 2. Elizabeth, d. Aug. 21, 1774, aged three months; and perhaps others.
GENERAL FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN.
Frederick Frelinghuysen was a son of the Rev. John Frelinghuy- sen, of New Jersey. He was sent as a delegate to the Continental Con- gress from New Jersey in 1775, when but twenty-one years of age. He resigned in 1777. He entered the Revolutionary Army as Captain of a corps of artillery, and was at the battles of Trenton and Mon- mouth. He was afterwards engaged actively as a Colonel of the militia of his native State. He also served in the Western Expedition as Major-General of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops. In 1793 he was elected to the Senate of the United States, and continued in that station until domestic bereavements, and the claims of his family, constrained him to resign in 1796. General Frelinghuysen stood also among the first at the Bar of New Jersey. He was the father of the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen. He died April 13, 1804 .- N. J. Archives, XXVII., 266-267.
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