USA > New Jersey > New Jersey biographical and genealogical notes from the volumes of the New Jersey archives : with additions and supplements > Part 18
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building on my plantation, with the white house on Maidenhead Road; also to my son George Henry £250 in money and £250 in Quarter- masters liquidated certificates, to be paid him at 21. To each of my daughters, Frances and Mary Henry, daughters of the said Mary Ogle- bee, £500 in gold and silver money and £500 in liquidated certificates when they arrive at 18 years of age. To my son Samuel Henry, son of the said Mary Oglebee, the stone house and lot of land in Trenton at the corner near to the market house in which Jacob Bergen now keeps tavern; also that land known by the name of the old Iron Works, 271% acres of land adjoining on the creek in the Township of Nottingham, purchased from Robt. L. Hooper and Margaret his wife; also land on the Northwest side of the road leading from Trenton to my plantation, containing 81/2 acres, known by the name of Steel's lot; also 111/2 acres purchased from George Cottnam, being part of the estate of Abraham Cottnam, deceased, but if any dispute should arise whereby a title for the same should not obtain, then give to him all the debts due to me from the estate of the said Abraham Cottnam in lieu thereof. Also to the said Samuel Henry, all of those several tracts of land and plantations in the township of Alexandrea, which I purchased from Isaac De Cou, late High-Sheriff; also all my share of lands lying on the Leigh High in the State of Pennsylvania, which I hold in partnership with William and George Henry and Col. John Byard; also tract of land at the mouth of Mough Chunk Creek in Pennsylvania; together with the residue of my real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever the same may be, to have and to hold. If my son George should die under age, or [not] have issue lawfully begotten, I give and devise all the estate herein given him to my said son Samuel, his heirs forever, subject to the payment of £250 apiece to my daughters Mary and Frances when they are 18. Whereas, I have already an article of agreement and sold to Jacob Philips, Esq., land with a dwelling house and grist mill thereon, I empower my Executors to make conveyance of the same. Executors-Son Samuel, Abraham Hunt and Charles Axford. Witnesses-Obadiah Howell, Jacob Phillips, James Ledden. By a codicil dated the same day he gives unto Mary, daughter of William Yard, that stone house and land in Trenton, wherein Barnard Hanlon lately lived, to hold during the natural life of Nathan Wright; also the use and benefit of that lot of land herein first devised to my son Samuel Henry, beginning at the corner of James Chapman's lot, taking in the bounds as in the said will, to hold until my son Samuel will be 21; also household furniture as my executors see fit, until my son Samuel will be 21, upon the con- dition that she shall move into the aforesaid house and care for all my said children, to wit: Samuel, George, Frances and Mary, and provide meat, drink, washing, lodging, mending and clothing until Samuel and George he sent to Princeton Colledge for education and to receive them in at all vacancies [vacations], and other times when they may see fit to come. In consideration of which my Executors to pay her £15 a year for each. Mentions a lot of land at the corner of the road near to John Ricky. Witness-Joseph Inslee, jun. By another codicil he provides: If my son Samuel Henry should die under 21 or [not] have issue lawfully begotten, then I give out of his part of the estate before given him, to Alexander, son of my brother George Henry, £300; also to Frederick, son of my brother George, £300. If my son Samuel should die under 21, I give unto the Trustees of the English Church, Trenton, £300, 1/2 in gold and silver mone" 1/2 in liquidated certificates, to be put to interest for the support of an
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Orthodox minister, and in case he should die as aforesaid, I then give to George Johnson of Trenton, £200, 1/2 in gold and silver money, 1/2 in liquidated certificates, and in case of his death as aforesaid, the residue of all the estate given him shall be equally divided between my son George and my daughters Frances and Mary. Witnesses- Obadiah Howell, JacobPhilips, James Ledden. The will and codicils were proved May 17, 1784 .- N. J. Wills, Liber 26, f. 208. The peculiar phraseology of the will suggests a query as to his relationship with Mary Oglebee. Was she his wife? Was she the Mary who joined with him as his wife in the deed of 1759? Was she living at the time of his death? He leaves her nothing in his will, and provides for the care of his children by Mary, dau. of William Yard. Issue:
i. Samuel Henry, 3d, d. January 9, 1795, aged 24 yrs. 6 mos., according to his tombstone in St. Michael's churchyard, Trenton; he was apparently unmarried and at the time of his father's death he was an in- fant, 14 years, and accordingly chose Abraham Hunt and Charles Axford as his guardians. Witnesses- Maskell Ewing, junior, William Houston. A. Hunt, Charles Axford, junior, and Isaac D. Cou signed the bond. He was of Trenton when he made his will, Sept. 6, 1794, proved Feb. 21, 1795. He gives to his brother George in fee simple all his estate, subject to the payment of legacies as follows: to sisters Frances and Mary Henry £800 in gold and silver money on arriving at the age of 18 years; to Mary, dau. of Dr. Nicholas Belville, "my household goods and furniture"; negro Peter to be set free. Execu- tors-brother George Henry and Charles Axford. Witnesses-Benjamin Smith, Peter Howell and John Bellerjeau .- N. J. Wills, Liber 36, p. 144.
ii. George, m. Mary, dau. of Col. Thomas Lowry, of Hunterdon county; d. Oct. 23, 1846, aged 76 yrs .; she d. Jan. 23, 1804, aged 29 yrs. Says a newspaper of the day: "She was sitting by the fire, no other per- son in the room but an old helpless domestic, the former was seized with a violent fit and in her con- vulsion fell into the fire, from which she was not rescued until her clothes were almost entirely con- sumed and herself so shockingly burned that her life is despaired of." She died the same evening.
iii. Frances.
iv. Mary.
ARCHIBALD HOME.
Archibald Home was distinguished in his immediate circle as a man of much literary ability, but modest and retiring, and probably deli- cate in frame. He was in America as early as 1733, and mingled in the best society in New York. The first official mention of him is his presentation of a bill to the Council of New Jersey, in September, 1736, for "two pounds ten Shillings due to him for his Charges in bringing Down the Commission Seal &c from New York to Amboy after Col: Cosbys Death."-N. J. Archives, XIV., 534. The office of Secretary of the Province of New Jersey was held about this time by one Burnet, in England, who farmed it out to a Deputy in New Jersey. Home succeeded Lawrence Smyth, of Perth Amboy, as Deputy Secretary,
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HOME
sometime between June 23, 1738, and March 23, 1739 .- Papers of Lewis Morris, 132; N. J. Archives, XIV., 555; XV., 92. In this capacity he also acted as Secretary of the Council. Under date of October 18, 1740. Governor Morris recommended Home for a seat in the Council, to succeed Robert Lettice Hooper, deceased, although, he says, Home was "not expecting or desiring" such elevation .- Papers of Lewis Morris, 122; N. J. Archives, VI., 109. The recommendation was approved by the King in Council. April 23. 1741, his commission was dated May 29, 1741, and he took his seat as a member of the New Jersey Council, October 31, 1741 .- Papers of Lewis Morris, 127, 122, note; N. J. Archives, XV., 220-221. The Journal of the Council shows that he was very faithful in his attendance on the sessions of that body. He was one of the earliest members of the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia, in 1743-4 .- Sparks's Franklin, VI., 14, 29. He appears to have resided at Trenton, and died in the latter part of March, 1744, his funeral sermon being preached on Sunday, April 1, 1744. He was buried in a vault under the broad aisle of the First Presbyterian church in that city; this vault was revealed when the church was taken down in 1805. His will was dated February 24, 1743, proved October 5, 1744; the executors were Robert Hunter Morris, Thomas Cadwallader and his brother, James Home, of Charleston, South Caro- lina, to whom he bequeathed all his property. The testator's device on his seal was an adder holding a rose, the crest of a prominent Home family in Scotland .- Hall's First Prcs. Church in Trenton, 150-152. A curious and interesting memento of his literary ability turned up in London in June, 1890, when a London bookseller offered for sale a manuscript volume entitled:
POEMS on Several Occasions By Archibald Homc, Esqr. late Secretary, and One of His MAJESTIES Council for the province of New Jersey, North America.
This volume was purchased by the writer of this note, but was lost in the great fire at Paterson in 1902. It was a small quarto volume, neatly bound in old calf, containing 15 pages of preliminary matter, 130 pages of Poems by Home, and 16 pages of Appendix, poems by Home and some of his friends. the whole beautifully engrossed, evi- dently after the death of Mr. Home, by a professional penman. Vari- ous bards emulated each other in singing the praise of their departed friend, but none in more tuneful numbers than a lady, A. Coxe:
Great Judge of Numbers! when He struck the Lyre, 'Twas Attic Harmony, and Roman Fire;
Anaacreon's Ease; Gay Horace's sprightly Art: And Ovid's melting Language of the Heart; But (like Roscommon) Chaste; He scorn'd to use The pert, low Turn, and prostitute the Muse; His happy Thought with Elegance express'd. Yet not for Gifts like these, esteem'd alone, In social Life the bright Companion shone; The candid Friend, Ingenious, Firm and Kind Who polish'd Sense to Faultless manners joined And ev'ry manly Virtue of the Mind.
Mr. Home's poems consisted of translations from Ovid, Horace, and the French; epigrams from the classics; Latin verses; "Elegy: On the much to be lamented Death of George Fraser of Elizabeth Town," a
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humorous bit in Scotch dialect; "Prologue: intended for the second opening of the Theatre at New-York, Anno 1739;" verses addressed to various ladies; "On a Dispute, between two Scotchmen [Dr. Archi- bald Ramsay and Quinton Malcolm], at a S. Andrews Feast in New- York Anno 1733;" "On killing a Book-Worm"; and occasional verses, of various degrees of merit. In an Imitation of the "First Satyr" of Horace he thus philosophizes:
Life's Golden Mean who steadily pursues Will Fortune's Gift by no Extreme abuse: Ten, or Ten Thousand Acres let her give In due Proportion still that Man will live: And whether Roots or Ragouts are his Diet, Alike will dine, alike will sleep in Quiet. In Time be wise, & give your Labour o'er Enough acquir'd, why should you toil for more? Has Heaven been pleased your industry to bless To Heav'n by use your Gratitude express.
The more you have, the Risk of Want's the less. His Elegy on George Fraser begins:
Jersey! lament in briny tears, Your Dawty's gane to his Forbears:
Wae worth him! Death has clos'd the Sheers, And clip'd his Thread: Just in the Prime of a' his Years George Fraser's dead.
Sure Heav'n beheld our Courses thrawn,
And him in Anger has withdrawn;
This Tide o' Grief, poor Parson Vaughan Can never stem it: Nae mair the Blythesome day shall dawn, On thee. George Emmott!
The Elegy concludes:
Weel, since from weeping us he's riv'n Just at the Age of Forty Seven, May to his Hands the Staff be given Which he on Earth · Refus'd, and Constable in Heav'n Be George's Berth!
The Prologue above referred to, on the second opening of the Theatre in New-York, Anno 1739, was printed from this copy, in the Collections of the Dunlap Society, Second Series, New York. 1899.
CHRISTOPHER HOOGLANDT.
Christopher Hooglandt (son of Christoffel Hooglandt, the progen- itor of the family in America) was baptised in New York, Nov. 24, 1669; he married 1st, Sarah Tellet or Teller, Feb. 15, 1695; 2d, Helena, daughter of John and Adrianna Middagh, prior to Aug. 6, 1696. He lived at Flatlands, L. I., but in 1711 he bought from Cornelius Powell a tract of land in Piscataway, Middlesex county, on the east side of the Raritan river, and in 1727 bought 250 acres on the Millstone river. He died in 1748, and was interred in the family burying ground, where his remains still repose .- The Hoagland Family in America, by Daniel Hoogland Carpenter, 1897, pp. 63-64. A notice for settling the estate of Christopher Hooglandt is advertised in N. J. Archires, 24: 233.
FRANCIS HOPKINSON.
Francis Hopkinson, afterwards one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a son of Thomas Hopkinson, an Englishman of brilliant accomplishments. who married, in 1736, Mary Johnson, a niece of the Bishop of Worcester. Thomas was Deputy Clerk of the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia for several years under Charles Read, and on the death of the latter, in 1736, was appointed to fill the vacancy. It
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was a singular coincidence that thirty-six years later his son, Francis, should have been named to succeed in an important station his own former patron's son, Charles Read, the younger. Francis was bap- tized in Christ church, Philadelphia, November 12, 1737, being at the time seven weeks old .- Hist. Burlington and Mercer Counties, 468; Records Christ Church. He was liberally educated, and so far departed from the ordinary curriculum of the time as to familiarize himself with the Dutch language, utilizing his knowledge in making a translation of the Psalms, etc., for the Dutch church at New York, in 1765, for which he received £145. With the money thus earned he sailed for England in 1766, remaining abroad more than a year, being the guest of his rela- tive, the Bishop of Worcester. On September 1, 1768, he became iden- tified with New Jersey thus, in the eloquent language of a Bordentown correspordent of the Pennsylvania Chronicle of the day:
"On Thursday last Francis Hopkinson, Esq., of Philadelphia, was joined in the Velvet Bands of HYMEN, to Miss Nancy Borden, of this place, a lady amiable both for her internal as well as external Accom- plishments, and in the words of a celebrated poet:
" 'Without all shining, and within all white,
Pure to the sense, and pleasing to the sight.' "
Ann Borden was a daughter of Judge Joseph Borden, the son of the founder of Bordentown. Probably about the time of his marriage, Mr. Hopkinson took up his residence at Bordentown, where he remained for several years .- Hist. Burlington and Mereer Counties, 468-9. He still retained his connection with Pennsylvania, however, being a vestry- man and acting as organist at times for Christ church, Philadelphia .- Dorr's Hist. Christ Church, 298. On May 1. 1772, he was appointed Col- lector of Customs at New Castle, on the Delaware .- Penn. Archives, IV., 451. He was licensed as an attorney and counsellor of New Jersey, May 8, 1775 .- Troom's Sup. Ct. Rules, 60, 94. On June 22, 1776, he was appointed by the Provincial Congress as one of the delegates from New Jersey to the Continental Congress .- Minutes Provincial Congress, etc., 473. The journals of the latter body show that Mr. Hopkinson pre- sented the instructions under which he and his colleagues were to act. He signed the Declaration of Independence. The Legislature in joint meeting on September 4, 1776, appointed him one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, but he declined the office .- Troom's Sup. Ct. Rules, 47. The Continental Congress appointed him, November 6, 1776, one of three persons to constitute the Continental Navy Board .- Journals of Congress; Penn. Col. Records, XI., 260. Some account of a quarrel he had at Bordentown in this capacity, in 1778, will be found in the Hist. Mag., III., 202-3. The Pennsylvania Legislature appointed him, July 16, 1779, Judge of Admiralty, which office he held by suc- cessive appointments until the court was superseded in 1789 by the Federal Courts .- Penn. Col. Records, XII., 49, 307, 567-73-84; XV., 191; XVI., 99. Mr. Hopkinson's connection with New Jersey, slight as it had been, appears to have ceased from 1779, and he became identified exclusively with his native State. Shortly after the accession of Wash- ington to the Presidency, he appointed Mr. Hopkinson Judge of the United States District Court for Pennsylvania; he continued in that office until his death, May 9, 1791. Mr. Hopkinson was more famous as a clever, ingenious and witty political writer, essayist and poet. than as a statesman or judge. He was something of an artist and musician as well. One of the fullest sketches of his life and varied accomplishments is to be found in the History of Burlington aud Mer- cer Counties, 468-9. Duyckinck's Cyclopedia of American Literatur? (I., 209) dwells more upon the literary side of his character .- V. J. Archives, X., 426-8.
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AZARIAH HORTON.
Azariah Horton was the son of Rev. Azariah Horton, of South Han- over (Madison), New Jersey. In his will his father gave to him his "whole library of books and pamphlets, except Flavel's works, Henry's and Dickinson's, and several hereinafter named. My two walking canes, and a silver spoon marked I. T. M;" "and my further wish is that my negro wench Phillis, and her two sons Pompey and Pizarro, be sold, the money arising from the sale to be equally divided between my wife and son Foster, and daughter Hannah." Azariah received no share of the sale of the negroes. The son graduated at Princeton Col- lege in 1770. In 1779 he entered the American army, and was com- missioned Lieutenant Colonel Deputy Commissary-General of Musters, April 6, 1779. He d. in 1793.
REV. MICHAEL HOUDIN.
The Rev. Michael Houdin was born in France in 1705. He was edu- cated for the priesthood, and became Superior of a Franciscan Convent at Montreal. Leaving the Church of Rome, he entered the Church of England in New York in 1747. In June, 1750, he says, "having my residence in New York, I heard of repeated complaints made by gentle- men and principal inhabitants of this place [Trenton], Allen's Town and Borden's Town, it being for many years destitute of a Church of England minister; and without any sort of application of mine. . . some of them were pleased to press me by letter to come amongst them." This led to the organization of St. Michael's Church, of Tren- ton, in 1755-the name being probably an unintentional compliment to the first Rector. In 1759 he was ordered by Lord Loudon to accom- pany General Wolfe to Quebec, as his guide, on account of his famil- iarity with the country, and he was retained in the army some time. From Canada he was sent as missionary to New Rochelle, Westchester county, N. Y., where he died, in October, 1766.
WILLIAM CHURCHILL HOUSTON.
William Churchill Houston was born about 1746 in Sumter county, South Carolina, son of a prominent and wealthy planter, who was a member of the Society of Friends. His father, in deference to the views of the Society, refused to give his son a liberal education, but at last consented to furnish him a horse, equipments, clothes and fifty pounds in money, to do with as he pleased. The young man gladly accepted the compromise and made his way to Princeton, where he entered the College of New Jersy in the freshman year. In order to defray his expenses he also took charge of the grammar school connected with the college, and taught it while keeping up with his classes in college. He graduated in 1768 with distinguished honor, receiving from the authorities a silver medal. On graduating, he was continued as tutor1 until 1771, when he was appointed the first professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, the duties of which chair he discharged for twelve years with fidelity and signal ability. From his orders on the treasurer of the College, in 1770, and a receipt to that officer in 1773, both in the Dreer Collection, in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
1Writing from Nassau Hall, September 30, 1769, James Madison men- tions that the trustees "have chosen for tutors for the ensuing year, for the junior class, Mr. Houston from North Carolina, in the room of Mr. Peream." -Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, New York, 1884, I., 3.
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it would appear that his yearly salary was something like £40 Jersey money, or about $100. Young as he was, the Continental Congress selected him to serve as Deputy Secretary of that body, and he offici- ated as such during a part of 1775 and 1776. Two documents in his handwriting, and signed by him as Deputy Secretary, one of 22 Decem- ber, 1775, and another of 1 May (1776 ?), are in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He was treasurer of the College, 1779-1783, and acted as librarian also for a time. When the institution was suspended, in 1776, he was appointed by the Provincial Congress, Feb. 28, 1776, Cap- tain in the 2d Regiment of foot milltia in the county of Somerset, serv- ing in that capacity until Aug. 17, 1777, when he wrote the Provincial Congress "that, from his connexion with the college in the absence of Dr. Witherspoon, & other circumstances, he cannot pay the due atten- tion to his company, & begging leave to resign his commission." His resignation was accordingly accepted. He was elected to the second Assembly, from Somerset county, taking his seat Oct. 28, 1777, and was re-elected a year later, but vacated his office June 11, 1779, on his election (May 25) as a delegate to the Continental Congress. As just stated, the New Jersey Legislature in joint meeting on May 25, 1779, elected Mr. Houston to be one of the delegates of New Jersey to the Continental Congress. He was re-elected to that body Nov. 17, 1779, Nov. 23, 1780, Nov. 2, 1781, and after an interval of three years was again elected to Congress on Oct. 29, 1784. In the deliberations and measures of that body he took an active and prominent part. Several of his letters, while in Congress, to Governor Livingston, show that he possessed a clear and intelligent perception of the critical situation of the country, and of the measures best calculated to improve its con- dition. In the meantime he studied law with Richard Stockton, of Princeton, and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar at the April term. 1781. Determined to address himself exclusively to the practice of his chosen profession, he resigned his professorship, and also his office as treasurer of the College, in 1783, and removed to Trenton, where he soon acquired a considerable practice, notwithstanding his rigid deter- mination that he would never undertake a cause which he did not believe to be just. He received the appointment of Clerk of the Supreme Court, Sept. 28, 1781. He resigned this office March 17, 1786, but was re-elected the same day, and continued in that position until his death. He was Receiver of Continental Taxes, 1782-1785. It has been stated that he held the office of Surrogate of Hunterdon county, but no evidence has been found in support of that assertion. He was one of the five commissioners appointed by Congress to adjust the dis- pute between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, in relation to the Wyoming lands. They met at Trenton, November 12-December 30, 1782, and their award, though acceptable to neither side, did avoid a very threatening situation. The New Jersey Legislature appointed Mr. Houston, on March 21, 1786, to represent New Jersey at the Annapolis Convention, giving the delegates larger powers than those vested in the representa- tives from other states, thus paving the way for the Federal Conven- tion a year and a half later. On Nov. 23, 1786, the Legislature ap- pointed Mr. Houston, together with David Brearly, William Paterson and John Neilson, to represent New Jersey in the Federal Convention, which met at Philadelphia in 1787, and framed the National Constitu- tion. William Livingston and Abraham Clark were added to the dele- tion, May 18, 1787, and Jonathan Dayton on June 5, 1787. Mr. Houston had been detained at home by illness, but was present to help form the quorum which was obtained on May 25, 1787. On June 6 he was absent. (Madison to Jefferson, June 6, 1787.) On July 17, 1787, when
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the Convention had under consideration the clause relating to the Presidency, Mr. Houston moved to strike out the paragraph making the President of the United States ineligible for a second term, and his motion was carried. (Mr. Bancroft, however, says this motion was made by Mr. William Houston, of Georgia. The published reports of the Convention merely mention "Mr. Houston" as taking part in the proceedings that day; but in the indices to Gilpin's ed. of Madison's Papers, II., 1124; Elliot's Debates, V., 325, and to the Documentary History of the Constitution, published by Congress in 1900, the motion in question is attributed to William Churchill Houston.) His name does not appear among those who signed the Constitution, probably because of his absence on account of declining health, which had ren- dered him unable to remain in the Convention after July 23. He signed the report made to the Legislature by the New Jersey delegates to the Convention. In order, if possible, to regain his former strength, he resolved to go South, but was stricken down suddenly at Frankford, near Philadelphia, and died there on August 12, 1788.1 The Pennsyl- vania Packet, and Daily Advertiser, No. 2973, August 13, 1788, contains this brief announcement of his death and of the funeral services: "Yesterday morning died on his way to this city, the Hon. William Churchill Houston, Esq. late of Trenton, formerly one of the Repre- sentatives in Congress from the State of New-Jersey .- The citizens are respectfully requested to attend his funeral from the house of Mr. Sergeant, in Arch-street, This Morning, at Eight o'clock." The Penn- sylvania Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal make no mention of Mr. Churchill's decease. He was buried in the yard of the Second Presbyterian church, which then stood at the northwest corner of Arch and Third streets, Philadelphia. Mr. Churchill married Jane, daughter of the Rev. Caleb Smith, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Orange, New Jersey. His wife's mother was Martha (m. Sept. 7, 1748, d. Aug. 10, 1757), youngest daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson. the first President of Princeton College. Mrs. Houston died in 1796, aged forty-one, and is buried in Lawrenceville cemetery.
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