USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > Newton in Gloucester County > Sketches of the first emigrant settlers in Newton Township, old Gloucester County, West New Jersey > Part 3
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1681.
In eighty-one, in Salem we did arrive, At which time then the People began to thrive, And had in store for to supply our want, Which, otherwise, would have been rather scant. If to Burlington had gone, as we were bound, We should be lost and disadvantage found It would have been most surely unto us, And must have pinched and punished ye purse, Now being settled on this wise, I say, The winter mild, and nothing in the way, We had ye advantage for to try and find A place that was agreeing to our mind. After some time and labor spent, we agreed on The Creek, ye seat and place now called Newton. The persons yt thus had ye care to fix, Did, in ye whole, amount to number six. So in ye Spring we made our settlement,
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THOMAS SHARP.
And lived so as that we were content ;
Although somtimes we were hard bestead,
Yet the Lord in kindness did afford us bread.
In Newton then there did shine Some yt were zealous and divine ; They largely did with care provide For those yt come from ye true guide,
To direct their minds to stand in truth, They had received in they er youth ;
Yet in a while some youth did show That they in goodness did not grow.
But now poor Newton is decayed ;
The youth not zealous, I am afraid,
Nor don't endeavor with ye care
Their forfathers took a larger share.
I shall be glad I live to see
Their zeal increased and better be,
And they endeavour to remove
By real action in true love ;
Then I am in hopes ye case will mend,
And be far better in ye end ;
But, if they careless do remain,
Then will ensue both loss and pain.
The love I have yt they may come,
And with true drawings really won
And settle in ye lasting truth
Their forfathers set in their youth,
That in ye end they may obtain
That which will be their lasting gain,
And leave yt odour unto theirs,
As did their fathers who are in their.
-By T. S., the 14th of ye 12th mo., 1718."
To return to the practical regarding the subject of our sketch,-he may be again found in the discharge of a good work, the keeping of a town book, commenced in 1723. This contains the record of the proceedings of the town meetings of the people of Newton, the entries being made in his quaint, odd manner, with a style of penmanship peculiar to himself. This duty he continued until 1728, inclusive, when his son Samuel succeeded him. Thus, in every new undertaking, he was the pioneer, laying down the general outlines of pro- ceedings, and giving up the duties when the same went forward properly.
His map of the land in Newton township, made in 1700, and here given, is a paper that must interest every resident within its bounds, not only for the information therein contained, but also as showing the labor which he was willing to bestow upon a subject purely for the public good. This
IL
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
is but part of the valuable records of that nature which he has left,-records, extending over a large amount of territory in West New Jersey, in which he was commissioned as a deputy surveyor. The compass and protracting instruments used by him were of rude construction, compared with those of our day, now so nicely and accurately adjusted by machinery ; yet, laboring as he did under these disadvantages, his field work and maps are not behind the best of the present time. In 1689, he laid out the city of Gloucester, designed, no doubt, as a rival to Salem and Burlington, which were already villages of some pretension. These towns had even start with Philadelphia, but they have, many years since, lost all com- parison in present or prospective importance.
By appointment of the Legislature in 1684, with Henry Wood, Francis Collins and William Bates, he became one of the commission to lay out highways, which same appointment was continued the next year.
In 1685, he was returned as a member of the Assembly, the session of which commenced May 12th, and sat for one day.5 At the November session in the same year, his name does not appear, which would seem to imply that two elections, preceding each sitting of that body, were had in each year.
The trouble among the people settled about the Penisaukin creek, concerning the line between the counties of Burlington and Gloucester, appears to have existed for several years, and led to many wordy combats and considerable legislation. The Grand Jury of each county took action in the premises, and assumed a belligerent attitude toward each other, seeming to lay aside, for the time, the element of forbearance and non-resistance so prominent in the early days of Quakerism. In 1689, the courts of Gloucester county appointed a Com- mission to run and mark the said boundary line, and Thomas Sharp was the Surveyor.6 The people of Burlington county were notified, and, if they chose, could have appeared and seen the work performed. Three years after the Legislature appointed four of its number to report upon this difficulty, but, their decision being unsatisfactory, the law was repealed
5 Leaming & Spicer's Laws.
6 Minute Book, Woodbury.
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THOMAS SHARP.
at the next session. In 1694, an act was again passed, defining the boundaries of Gloucester county, but still leaving the cause of the difficulty an open question, by not fixing upon which branch of Cropwell river, or Penisaukin creek, the said boundary was to run. In 1709, however, an end was put to these differences by a law clearly naming the south branch ; and this has remained as then fixed to the present time.7
In 1700, Thomas Sharp was appointed one of the judges of the several courts of Gloucester county, and, if practical knowledge has any merit, he was eminently qualified for that position. That he took an interest in the advancement and prosperity of the religious denomination of which he was a member, may be seen from the frequency with which his name occurs among the proceedings of that society. He was one of the trustees of the Newton Meeting, and, no doubt, assisted in the erection of the first house that was set apart for religious worship. With Elizabeth Estaugh he selected the site for the meeting house at Haddonfield, surveyed the lot, wrote the deed, and put the same on record in his private book, after she returned from England with it, having the signature of her father thereunto attached. In this paper he has again shown his odd style of description. It reads thus :
" As they shall see convenient to lay out from the tract of land settled by John Estaugh, lying in ye township of Newton, any where on ye north side of ye road yt leads out of ye King's road to Newton, as far from ye west corner of John Gill's fence as where ye said road intersects the same."
Upon the deed he placed a map of the lot conveyed, by which all vagueness and uncertainty of description are cor- rected. This remarkable man has left other interesting memorials and writings-generally of a religious character- not here copied for want of room. He participated in every political movement in and about the colony, and his name will be oftener found among the records at Burlington, Trenton or Woodbury, than that of any other man of those early times.
7. Leaming & Spicer's Laws.
3
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
In the division of the original survey as jointly held under the location, he says : "I took the forks or lower end of the land next toward the river." There he settled, cleared a farm and improved some meadow. He owned property in other parts of the county, although not the holder of much real estate.
Thomas Sharp was also appointed ranger for Gloucester county. The duties of this office cannot be better understood than by copying in full the commission and instructions to the appointee.
" PROVINCE OF
SEAL
NEW JERSEY,
To Thomas Sharp, of ye county of Gloucester, greeting :
Thou art hereby authorized by ye WESTERN DIVISION. power and order of ye Councill of Proprietors to be Ranger for Gloucester County. In all things well and faithfully discharging thy said office, and ye trust in thee reposed, according to ye instructions herewith sent. And from time to time and at all times, to give an account of thy proceedings in ye said office to ye President of ye Councill for ye time being, when, and so often as thou shalt by him be thereunto required, and make good to him ye effects due to ye Proprietors forth of ye Royalty of rangeing.
"Given under my hand and seal, ye fifth day of November, Anno Dom., 1708."
Attached to the commission is a copy of instructions to rangers, explaining at once the purposes of the office, their duties and authority. These instructions are as follows :
." INSTRUCTIONS FOR RANGERS.
" Ist. All unmarked horses and mares above ye age of thirty months shall be accounted wild, and none others.
" 2nd. It shall be lawful for ye several rangers within their respective limmitts to take up such horses and mares, and shall give notice thereof, by fixing of papers ffor discovery of ye same in three of ye most publick places in ye County where they shall happen to be taken up.
8 Revel's Book, 50,
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1573230
THOMAS SHARP.
"3rd. After such publication ye same not being owned within ye space of four weeks, they shall be appraised by two honest men, indifferently to be appointed by ye Constable of that jurisdiction, and after that exposed to sale by public vendue, ye one half part of ye price thereof to be paid into ye hands of ye President of ye said Councill for ye time being, and ye other halfe to ye ranger.
" 4th. Any such horses, mares or other cattle which shall be found unmarked and taken up, being claimed by any person, and its appearing by ye oaths or affirmations of two witnesses taken before one justice of ye peace within ye time above limited, that ye said creatures do belong to ye persons claiming ye same, and it happening yt ye owners and ranger cannot agree about ye reward, they shall choose, each of them, one indifferent and substantial man of ye same County to allot and award ye said ranger his fees and reward, ffor taking up ye same."
His first wife and the mother of his children was Elizabeth Winn, whom he married in 1701. In 1729, he departed this life, and was, no doubt, buried in the old Newton grave yard. He left a will, executed in the year of his death, in which he named his children and disposed of his property.9
Five years before his death, he probably married Judith Potts, the widow of Thomas, and daughter of - , Smith. From this marriage there was no issue. His children were Thomas, who married Catharine Hollingham ; Isaac, who married Margaret Brathwill; Samuel, who married Martha Hall; Joseph, an idiot; John, who married Elizabeth Paine; Elizabeth, who married John Hallowell; Mary, who married Smith; and Sarah, who married - Pearce.
In 1723, Thomas Sharp gave by deed part of the homestead property to his son Samuel, who settled thereon; and in the. same year, he conveyed another part to his son John, who, in 1731, sold to his brother Samuel. At that time John resided in the parish of Christ's Church, London, and carried on the business of a weaver.10 He was the youngest son ; but why he
9 Lib. No. 3, 56.
10 Lib. DD, 358, O. S. G.
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
took up his home in the mother country does not appear. Seven years after the death of his father, Samuel sold his land to Tobias Halloway, and probably removed from the neigh- borhood. In these latter days this estate is known as the "Burrough Farm," now part of the property of Samuel C. Champion, deceased.11 As the holders of any land, none of the name have been residents hereabout for many years. John Hallowell, who married Elizabeth, was a resident of Darby, Pennsylvania, and the ancestor of a large and respect- able family in that section of the state. Mary and Sarah may also have left this part of the country after their marriages, as they cannot be traced with any certainty at this date. It is remarkable that the descendants of a man who played so prominent a part in the first settlement of Gloucester county, and who, more than any other, was careful to have the history of his time preserved to coming generations, should so soon be lost sight of, and not known among the families of the present day.
II John Burrough's Re-survey, IS10, O. S. G.
MARK NEWBIE.
T HIS man was an Englishman, a resident of the city of London, and a tallow chandler. He was a member of a Friends' Meeting, whose house of worship was in a street of that city, called "Barbican." Some of the antiquarians say that it derived its name as follows :
"Barbican is a street near Smithfield, London.1 The Barbican, originally a Roman watch tower, lay little north of this street ; it was an appendage to most fortified places, and from it the street took its name." Another says : "Bar- bican is a good, broad street, well inhabited by tradesmen."2
In 1681, the persecutions that were carried on towards the religious society of which he was a member, led many Friends to remove to Ireland, where the rigor of abused law was not so keenly felt, and where for several years this class of citizens enjoyed comparative peace and quiet. Among them was Mark Newbie, who disposed of his property in London, and had a temporary residence in Dublin, with a view to settling in America and making it his permanent home.
The question of removal, was, at that time, and for the reasons before stated, very gravely considered among Friends, and, in fact, with some communities had already assumed a practical shape. The movements of William Penn in this matter were watched with interest, for he had a controlling influence in the Society, and his steps therein were ready to be
1 Smith's Antiquarian Rambles, Vol. 2, 170, &c.
2 Murry's Hand Book, 31.
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
followed. His opinions soon became known, and these influenced others accordingly. In this movement Mark Newbie saw an opportunity to assist in carrying out his previously settled purpose, for, in the same year, he joined with William Bates and a few others, to make the adventure which ended in their settlement at Newton.3 The history of this has been well related by Thomas Sharp; it combines the reasons, facts and incidents thereof, better than any other account given, or that could be gathered at this late day. There are many reasons for supposing that Mark Newbie was a man or considerable estate, and, although he lived but a short time after his arrival, yet he became the owner of several tracts of land, and had valuable personal property. The situation of his house in the settlement (which was an humble and unpretending habitation,) is a question of more than ordinary interest to antiquarians, and to all such as care to preserve the history of the times in which lived these brave men, who planted the seed of civil and religious liberty now enjoyed by the millions occupying the soil. +
Upon an old map left by Thomas Sharp, designed to show the several tracts of land owned by Robert Turner, within the bounds of Newton township, this faithful historian has marked the position of several houses, as they were placed the year after the arrival of the settlers, and after their separation. This map fixes it near the north side of the main, or middle branch of Newton creek, opposite to where William Bates had placed his cabin, a short distance below the old grave yard, but above the late residence of Samuel C. Champion, deceased. Upon consulting a later map made by Friend Sharp, in 1700, much change may be seen as to the situation of the dwellings of the inhabitants ; but the house designated as Mark Newbie's has the same position as on the first paper showing its locality. At the last date, Stephen Newbie owned that part of his father's land extending from the main branch to fork branch, and occupied the old homestead ; while his brother Edward had erected buildings upon the part of the paternal estate that lay
3. Lib. A, 98, Gloucester Records.
+ File T, O. S. G.
ยท
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MARK NEWBIE.
north of the last named stream, and there lived. This division of the original property of Mark Newbie has been the cause of some doubt as to the true position of his residence, but the comparing of the two maps aforesaid places it beyond cavil.
In one of the accounts of this colony left by Thomas Sharp, in his quaint manner he says : "And immediately there was a meeting set up and kept at the house of Mark Newbie, and in a short time it grew and increased, unto which William Cooper and family that lived at the Point resorted." This clearly proves not only where the house was situated, but also that within its walls was established the first Friend's Meeting in Gloucester county, and, after Salem and Burlington, the first in West New Jersey. In this dwelling, built of logs, with the earth for a floor and a bark roof for a ceiling, were the doctrines of a revealed religion first proclaimed upon our shores by those who had left their homes and friends, to enjoy this privilege that was denied them there.
The lapse of time has swept away from us every appreciation of this privilege, for no attempt has since been made to abridge the rights of citizens in the enjoyment of religious opinions. No change of government or political excitement, for the last one hundred and ninety years, (save the abortive attempt by Lord Cornbury,) has sought to infringe this fundamental principle, so plainly and broadly laid down in the conces- sions. and agreements of 1676. In this building assembled the families, in all not more than twenty persons, (attended, perhaps, by a few friendly Indians, who must have observed the similarity of these silent sittings to their own dignified and quiet assemblages, ) who had come to take up their abode in the wilderness, and build for themselves and their posterity a government free from intolerance and persecution.
Who among them, no matter how enlarged their views or speculative their notions, could foresee the nation which was to rise out of such imperfect beginnings ? That the latent powers embodied in their simple form of government should spread to the limits of a continent, and be the pride of a free and independent people ? That these elements, based in justice and founded in right, would be the centre whence would
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
radiate civil and religious liberty, to be enjoyed and appre- ciated by all who should come within its influence ?
This was the initial point whence originated the many religious communities according to the order of Friends that are known in various parts of the country, some of which have gone to decay, and to the present generation are unknown.
Mark Newbie was also the founder of the first bank in the State of New Jersey, having a charter granted to him by the Legislature,-the words of the act running in this wise :
"And for the more convenient Payment of small Sums, be it enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that Mark Newbie's half- pence called Patrick's half-pence shall, from and after the said Eighteenth Instant, pass for half-pence Current pay of this Province ; provided, he, the said Mark, give sufficient Security to the Speaker of the House, for the use of the General Assembly from Time to Time being. That he, the said Mark, his Executors and Administrators, shall and will change the said half-pence for pay Equivalent upon demand ; and provided also, that no Person or Persons be hereby obliged to take more than five shillings in one Payment." 5
This law was passed at the session of May, 1682, and doubtless went into effect as soon as the said Mark had entered the proper security as required under the act.
The history of this bank may be readily followed through the records of those days, and enough gathered to show its beginning, progress and end. As security to the people of the Province, and as required by law, Mark Newbie conveyed to Samuel Jennings and Thomas Budd, as commissioners, a tract of land in Newton township containing three hundred acres, located by the said Mark.
When a settlement was made between the administratrix and the commissioners, a deficiency of thirty pounds was discovered in the banking operations, which was, however, made good out of his personal estate, thus releasing the land before named. By request of the widow, Hannah, Samuel Jennings and
5 Leaming & Spicer's Laws.
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MARK NEWBIE.
Thomas Budd conveyed the same to Thomas Holmes, William Bates and Thomas Jenney in trust for Edward Newbie, the second son of Mark, in 1685 ; " but, if Edward die before he attain his majority, then to his brother and sister, Stephen and Rachel."6
Edward, however, lived to become the owner in fee, and by his will gave said land to his two sons, Nathan and Gabriel. Nathan died single and intestate, and his estate was merged into that of his brother Gabriel, who devised the same to his son John.7
On March 14th, 1764, John Newbie conveyed all the unsold parts of said tract to Isaac Cooper, in whose name and family the larger portion remains to this day.
The deficiency before named was doubtless caused by the death of the banker, the time being too short for him to perfect his arrangements in relation thereto. Had he lived, its useful- ness might have been much enlarged, accommodating the com- munity around him, and proving a profitable and commendable enterprise.
This half-penny was a copper coin struck by the Roman Catholics after the massacre in Ireland in 1641, and was generally known as St. Patrick's half-penny; it had the legend FLOREAT REX on the obverse, and on the reverse, ECCE GREX.8 In 1680, half-pence and farthings were coined by royal authority, with the national symbol (the harp) and the date.9 The worth of the half-penny was about one cent of our currency, but, on account of the unsettled standard of values, varied from that according to circumstances.
Struck without the authority of law, and, perhaps, only to commemorate some event in the history of that unfortunate people, this coin never obtained circulation in the old country. Through the foresight of Mark Newbie, it was bought in quan- tities at a slight discount, brought to West New Jersey, and made to answer the wants of the settlers, which wants were recognized by the Legislature in the act before named, and it answered their purposes for several years.
6 Lib. B, 126.
7 Lib. Y, 78.
8 Humphrey on Coins, Vol. 2, 511.
9 Vol. 2, 686.
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
In these latter days this coin is not in circulation, and can only be found in the cabinets of those that are curious in such matters, and fond of studying the progress of artistic mechanism in this particular line. Numismatics has, for many years, attracted the attention of persons of taste and leisure, by whom large sums of money have been paid for rare specimens of coin. Their interest and enthusiasm has done much to develop the progress of art through the various ages of the world as connected with civilization, with the advance of commerce and the spread of the human race.
As a legal tender among the colonists, the act made a strange provision, if the value was as before stated ; for, by that act, no person was required to receive more than a certain number of pieces toward the discharge of a debt. As a matter of con- venience, this part of the law was perhaps a nullity, since the settling of accounts and all other ordinary money transactions would necessitate the use of various amounts.
10 Previously to the passage of the act regulating the value of Mark Newbie's money, the Legislature established the standard of Old England shillings and New England shillings, and also in 1693, did the same thing in regard to the Spanish coin, which by that time had come to be in circulation. For many years after the first settlements in New Jersey, there was much trouble among the people concerning the standard value of the various coins as established in the several Provinces .. The colonial government attempted to remove this trouble, but it seems to have utterly failed. Paper money, the first of which was issued in New Jersey in 1709, had a double value, that in East Jersey, regulated by the worth of a guinea in New York, and that in West Jersey controlled by the worth of a guinea in Pennsylvania, thus leading to confusion and loss among the inhabitants.
The chapter styled "Currency of New Jersey," attached by Judge Elmer to his history of Cumberland county, is interesting and instructive, being an exhaustive dissertation upon that subject, and showing great labor and research.
It is not to be supposed that Mark Newbie had any authority under the law, to make this coin for the purpose of keeping
Io Leaming & Spicer's Laws.
43
MARK NEWBIE.
up the circulation, and to enlarge his credit, whereby to get gain and establish his name as a successful financier ; but he was careful to keep the amount circulated within proper bounds, for the very cogent reason that part of his estate was pledged, to make good any short-coming in this regard. Without these restraints, the influence of the church of which "he was a member, and the watchful care of those around him to prevent a hazard of his credit, made him what in these days would be called a careful banker, too slow to make money and altogether behind the age.
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