USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time : including a brief historical account of the first discoveries and settlement of the country, Vol. II > Part 33
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On Friday, the 21st of October, 1803, at two o'clock in the morning, occurred the third robbery of the State Treasury. It was at this time kept at Trenton.
Upon the announcement of the robbery being communicated to the two Houses, the Assembly appointed Messrs. Joseph Cooper, of Gloucester County, William Coxe, of Burlington, and Ezra Darby, of Essex; the Council appointed Messrs. Wil- liam Parret, of Salem, and Peter D. Vroom, of Somerset, a com- mittee to examine into the particulars relating to the same, at once commenced their investigations, summoniing various .
parties before them.
The following was the affidavit of Mr. Salter, made before the committees of the two Houses on the 2d day of November, 1803:
James Salter, Esquire, Treasurer of the State, maketh oath, that on the morning of Friday, the 21st of October, 1803, about two o'clock, he heard a noise in the yard at the back part of the house; when he first heard it, he was doubtful whether it proceeded from rats, with which the house is much infested, or from his mare in the stable; after a few minutes he got up and dressed himself; he lighted the candle by a lamp which was usually kept burning in his chamber, and went down stairs with an intention of discovering the cause of the noise.
He was prevented from awakening Mrs. Salter, from an apprehension of alarming her, as she had been frightened the night before; on descending the stairs, and proceeding to the back door, he observed the door of the southwest back room (which was usually kept shut) to be open; on entering this room he perceived a small window on the south side to be up, and the shutter open. He was then alarmed by an apprehen- sion of thieves having entered the house, and at the same moment hearing a rustling noise behind him, he turned around and discovered four men, who were within three feet of him.
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After a momentary pause one of them addressed him in a low tone of voice, cautioned him against making a noise, said the money was their object, and unless he opened the iron chest, they would immediately put him to death, or words to that effect.
Seeing no means of resistance or escape, he opened the office door and the iron chest, the keys of both being in his pocket, except one of the padlock keys of the chest, which was in a case in the office.
At this time, the man who appeared to be the leader of the gang, cautioned him against making a noise in opening the chest which might awaken any of the family, under pain of immediate death.
The same man then waved his hand for him to retire from the chest; he moved back and sat down ; one of the men stood near him with a drawn weapon, and three others were employed, with their backs towards him, in examining the contents of the chest.
In a short time the leader came to him, and asked him if a ยท bag which he held in his hand, together with a number of bun- dles of bank notes, contained all that description of money that was in the treasury. He told him it did, and by way of account- ing for there being no more notes in the chest, told him that most persons preferred receiving payment in notes, from their being more convenient of carriage. The man then returned to the chest, and took out several bags, apparently five or six, con- taining from four to seven hundred dollars each, and placed them on the floor near the chest. After this, the same leader, turning to his comrades, demanded of them what ought to be . done with him (the deponent), to prevent him from telling tales, as he expressed himself ; the man who stood as guard over the deponent turned towards a trunk cord which hung on a nail over the chimney, and took it down and handed it to the leader, who cut it into several pieces ; he then tied the deponent around the ankles, and hands, with his arms behind him, and gagged him by putting the key-stick used in opening the chest, through his mouth, with the ends tied by strings, which were fastened around his neck.
They then laid the deponent on the floor on his side, with his face towards the back part of the room.
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The deponent then heard them take up several of the bags of silver, with which they left the room, locking the door which communicated with the entry, and went out through the back door, which the deponent thought he heard close after them. From the time the thieves first entered the house until they left - it, the deponent thinks was about a quarter of an hour. They left the candle near the door, on a chest.
After struggling nearly an hour, the deponent managed to change his position, and with difficulty got to the door, which he kicked some time with his stocking feet, until the noise awakened his family.
When Mrs. Salter came to the door he was very much ex- hausted, and found great difficulty in conveying to her a know- ledge of his situation, from the impossibility of articulating with the gag in his mouth.
Mrs. Salter not finding the key in the door, went back to her chamber, the window of which she opened, and by loud and repeated screams, alarmed Mr. Hunt, the next neighbor, who came to his assistance, and broke open the door by knocking the lower panel out.
Mr. Hunt and a negro woman (a servant in the house of the deponent) then untied and cut the ropes and strings which had been used to bind and gag him. His great weakness from the violence of his treatment, added to the impaired state of his health, obliged him to go to bed immediately after. Mr. Hunt, at his request, put a bag of silver which the thieves had left on the floor, into the chest, which he locked, and the keys of which he took with him.
The deponent has no knowledge of any one of the thieves, they having kept their faces hid by their round black hats and by their great coats; they uniformly spoke in a low, whispering tone of voice ..
He fancied their leader's voice to denote him to be of German extraction, but. of this he can form but an imperfect idea, from their extreme caution in speaking low. The deponent recollects that three of the men had on dark-colored great coats, and the other was without one. The person who acted as the leader appeared to be about five feet nine inches high, two about five
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feet eight inches, and the fourth about five feet six inches ; one of them had on half boots, and the others shoes.
About ten o'clock on the day of the robbery, the deponent recollecting that a large sum, amounting to about sixteen thou- sand dollars in bank notes, and about one thousand dollars in gold, was deposited in the bottom of the till of the chest, requested Mr. Hunt that the chest might be examined, which was accordingly done, as he was informed, in the presence of General Beatty, Mr. Peter Gordon, and Mr. James Ewing, when the bag containing the notes was found under the bags of silver at the bottom of the till.
The committee reported the evidence to the House, having examined several other persons in reference to the matter, where- upon the House offered a reward of two thousand five hundred dollars for the apprehension and conviction of one or more of the robbers, in addition to the reward of five hundred dollars previously offered by Mr. Salter.
On the 8th of November, 1803, James Salter resigned the office, and Peter Gordon was appointed by the joint meeting to fill the vacancy.
But although strenuous efforts were made to find out the perpetrators, no clue was ever obtained as to who they were, although suspicion pointed very strongly to parties residing in Trenton, who suddenly came into possession of means, from what source, no one knew, but sufficient evidence could never be obtained against them to bring them to justice, and thus the robbers of the treasury, and the murderers of a worthy man (for Mr. Salter did not live long after his rough treatment at their hands), could never be brought to justice.
In 1719 an act was passed for running the partition line be- tween East and West Jersey. This line was to run from the most northerly point or boundary of the Province of New Jersey, on the most northerly branch of the river Delaware, into the most southerly point of the east side of a certain inlet, harbor, or bay on the coast of the Province of New Jersey, commonly called and known by the name of Little Egg Harbor ; all on the east of which line was to be called East New Jersey, and all on the west to be called West New Jersey.
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Lawrence's line was run in 1743, commencing at the north branch of the Delaware River, in the County of Sussex, and forming the dividing line between the Townships of Walpack and Sandiston, in said County ; running thence directly south, through the Counties of Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, and Mon- mouth, to Little Egg Harbor.
Keith's line, run in 1687, commenced at Mattison's Corner, in the county of Hunterdon, and run direct south, dividing Hunterdon from Middlesex County, and Burlington from Mon- mouth County, and terminated in Little Egg Harbor Bay, or, as it was then called, Flat Bay, about three-fourths of a mile west of Lawrence's line. At its starting-point, on the south branch of the Raritan River, it varied about ten miles.
Governor Franklin, in his message to the House under date of October 11, 1769, thus speaks of the conference to settle the boundary-line between the British and Indians, held at Fort Stanwix :*
" Having received advice from the Honorable Sir William Johnson, Baronet, his Majesty's Superintendent for Indian Affairs, that a treaty was to be held with the Six Nations, by his Majesty's order, for settling a boundary-line between them and the British Northern Colonies; and it being the opinion of the Council (for the reasons set forth in their minutes) that my pre- sence at the treaty would be likely to answer a very good purpose to the Province, I accordingly attended the conference at Fort Stanwix accompanied by Mr. Chief Justice, who, at my request, willingly undertook the service. An account of the transac- tions there, so far as they particularly relate to New Jersey, will be laid before you, and I hope will prove satisfactory. The Six Nations, at that grand meeting, besides having agreed on a gen- cral boundary between them and the Northern Colonies, have publicly acknowledged the repeated instances of our justice in bringing the murderers of Indians to condign punishment, de-
* Rome, in the State of New York, occupies the site of old Fort Stanwix, which, with Fort Bull, also within its limits, is celebrated in the early history of the State as among the strongest and most successfully defended fortifica- tions on their northern frontier. Rome is the seat of justice of Oneida County, and numbered in 1870 eleven thousand inhabitants.
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clared that they have no claims or demands on this Province whatever; and in the most solemn manner conferred on the Government of New Jersey the distinguished name of Sagorih- wiyogstba, or the great arbiter or doer of justice-a name which, at the same time that it reflects high honor on the Pro- vince, may prove a singular advantage to the inhabitants on our frontiers, should a misunderstanding arise between the Indians and any of the neighboring colonies."
The action taken by Governor Franklin in this matter was highly complimented by the two Houses, and the amount of expenses in attending the conference was cheerfully voted by them for him and Chief Justice Smyth.
The State of Pennsylvania appointed George Bryan, George Gray, and William Bingham, and the State of New Jersey, on the 27th of May, 1783, appointed Abraham Clark, Joseph Cooper, and Thomas Henderson, commissioners for the pur- pose of settling the jurisdiction of the river Delaware and the islands within the same, and to remedy the inconveniences and mischiefs which had arisen, and to prevent those that might hereafter arise, from the uncertainty of jurisdiction within and on said river; who established, that the river Delaware, from the station-point or northwest corner of New Jersey, northerly, to the place upon said river where the circular boundary of the State of Delaware toucheth upon the same, in the whole length and breadth thereof, is and shall continue to be and remain a common highway, equally free and open for the use, benefit, and advantage of the said contracting parties, each of the Legislatures of said States to hold and exercise the right of regulating and guarding the fisheries on the river annexed to their respective shores in such manner that said fisheries may not be unnecessarily interrupted during the season for catching shad by vessels riding at anchor, or by persons fishing under claim of a common right on said river.
Each State to enjoy and exercise a concurrent jurisdiction within and upon the water, and not upon the dry land, between the shores of said river.
All islands, islets, and dry land within the bed and between the shores of said river, and between the station-point, north-
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erly, and the Falls of Trenton, southerly, shall, as to jurisdic- tion, be deemed and considered as part and parcel of the State to which such insulated dry land lies nearest at the time of mak- ing and executing this agreement ; and that from said Falls of Trenton to the State of Delaware, southerly, Biles's Island, near Trenton, Windmill Island, opposite to Philadelphia, League Island, Mud or Fort Island, Hog Island, and Little Tinicum Islands, shall be annexed to the State of Pennsylvania, and con- sidered as parts and parcels thereof ; and that Biddle's or New- bold's Island, Burlington Island, Petty's Island, Red Bank Island, Hermanus Helm's Island, Chester Island, and Shiverse's Island, were annexed to the State of New Jersey ; and all other islands within the river, between the Falls of Trenton and the State of Delaware, not particularly enumerated, were to be deemed and considered parts and parcels of the State to which such island lies nearest, and those formed afterwards were to be classed and annexed to the jurisdiction of either State according to the same principle.
This agreement was made and signed by the commissioners of the two States the 26th day of April, 1783, confirmed by New Jersey May 27th, and ratified by Pennsylvania September 27th, 1783.
George Wall, John Okely, and Jonas Hartzell, were appointed on the part of Pennsylvania, and Moore Furman on the part of New Jersey, for the purpose of dividing the islands in the Dela- ware River, between the Falls of Trenton and the station point, or northwest corner of the State, who agreed upon the following, which were confirmed by Legislative enactment, March 16th, 1786, and ratified by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, September 25th, 1786.
In this agreement the following islands, opposite the County of Bucks, and the following townships, viz. : Bird's Island, opposite Falls Township ; Slack's three islands, Duer's Islands, and Harvey's lower island, opposite to Lower Makefield Town- ship; Harvey's upper island, and Lowne's Island, opposite Upper Makefield; Smith's Island and bar, and Paxton's Island and bar, opposite to Solebury ; Pratt's two islands; Wall's Island ; Resolution Island; Marshall's Island; Wall's two
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islands ; Fishing Island, and Pennington's Island, opposite to Tinicum ; Loughley's Island, opposite to Nockamixon Township, and opposite the County of Northampton, and the following townships; Pohatcung Island ; Shoemaker's Island, and Loor's Island, opposite William's Township; Easton Island, opposite Fork's Township; Mason's Island and bar; Mason's Island ; Foulrift Island ; McElhany's Island, and Attin's two islands, opposite to Mount Bethel ; Handy's Island and bar ; Goodwin's two islands; Shawanagh, or I. and B. Van Campen's Island; N. Depew's Island and two bars; Chamber's Island and Van Oken's Island, opposite to Lower Smithfield; Swartwout's Island and Isaac Van Campen's Island, opposite to Delaware Township; Punkey's Island and five bars, opposite Smithfield Township, were annexed to Pennsylvania.
And those islands opposite to the County of Hunterdon, in the State of New Jersey, and the following townships, viz. : Yard's Island; Mott's two islands, and Gould's two islands, opposite the City of Trenton; Stout's Island, opposite the Township of Hopewell; Smith's Mill Island ; Coryell's Island ; Holcombe's two islands; Eagle Island, and Bull's Island, opposite the Township of Amwell; Rush Island; Ridge's Island ; Shyhawk's three islands ; Pinkerton's Island, and Man-of-War Island, opposite the Township of Kingwood; Stull's Island ; Lowery's Island, and Loughley's Island and bar, opposite to Alexandria Township, and opposite to the County of Sussex and its townships; Rope's Island ; Chapman's Island ; Stout's Island and bar, and Bar Island, opposite the Township of Greenwich ; Capush Island ; Foulrift Island, and Mack's Island, opposite the town of Oxford ; Mack's Island and three bars, and Gap Island, opposite the Township of Knowlton; Hoop's two islands ; Chamber's Island ; A. Van Campen's Fishing Island ; Opaughanaugh Island, and Necesseas Island, opposite Walpack Township; Nomivack Island, and Westfall's Island, opposite to Sandyston Township; Minisink Island ; Quick's two islands and bar; Shabbacung Great Island and bar, and Westfall's two islands, opposite Montague Township, were annexed to New Jersey ; and all other islands formed within the river, were to be deemed and considered parts and parcels of the State to which such islands may be nearest.
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Benjamin F. Butler, Peter Augustus Jay, and Henry Seymour, were appointed commissioners by the State of New York, on the 18th of January 1833, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, James Parker, and Lucius Q. C Elmer, were appointed by this State, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature approved February 6th, 1833, for the purpose of agreeing upon and settling the jurisdiction and territorial limits of the two States, and on the 16th day of September, 1833, they agreed upon the boundaries and the same was confirmed by the State of New York, February 5th, 1834, and by the State of New Jersey, February 26th, 1834, and approved by Congress, June 28th, 1834.
They provide that the boundary line between the two States shall commence, at a point in the middle of the Hudson River, opposite to the point on the west shore, in the forty-first degree of north latitude, as heretofore ascertained and marked, to the main sea, shall be the middle of the said river of the Bay of New York, of the water between Staten Island and New Jersey, and of Raritan Bay to the main sea, except as hereinafter other- wsie particularly mentioned.
New York, to retain its present jurisdiction of and over Bedlow's and Ellis's Islands, and over the other islands lying in the waters above mentioned, and to have and enjoy exclusive jurisdiction of and over all the waters of the bay of New York, and over all the waters of the Hudson River, lying west of Man- hattan Island, and to the south of the mouth of Spuytenduyvel Creek, and of and over the lands covered by the said waters to the low water mark on the westerly or New Jersey side, subject to the following rights of property and jurisdiction of the State of New Jersey ; who was to have the exclusive right of property in and to the land under water, lying west of the middle of the bay of New York and west of the middle of that part of the Hudson River which lies between Manhattan Island and New Jersey.
Also exclusive jurisdiction of and over the wharves, docks, and improvements made and to be made on the shore of the said State of New Jersey, and of and over all vessels aground on said shore, or fastened to any such wharf or dock, except that the said vessels shall be subject to the quarantine or health
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laws, and laws in relation to passengers of the State of New York, which existed at the time or which might thereafter be passed.
The State of New Jersey was to have the exclusive right of regulating the fisheries on the westerly side of the middle of said waters, provided they do not obstruct or hinder the navi- gation of the river.
The State of New York was to have exclusive jurisdiction of d over the waters of the Kill Van Kull, between Staten Island and New Jersey, to the westermost end of Shuter's Island, in respect to the existing quarantine laws, or those that might thereafter be passed by the State, and for executing the same, as well as over the waters of the Sound from the westermost end of Shuter's Island to Woodbridge Creek, as to all vessels bound to any port in the State of New York.
The State of New Jersey was to have and enjoy exclusive jurisdiction of and over all the waters of the Sound between Staten Island and New Jersey, lying south of Woodbridge .Creek, and of and over all the waters of Raritan Bay, lying westward of a line drawn from the light-house at Prince's Bay to the mouth of Matawan Creek, subject to the following rights of property and jurisdiction of the State of New York, who were to have the exclusive right of property in and to the land under water lying between the middle of the said waters and Staten Island. .
The State of New York was also to have exclusive jurisdiction of and over the wharves, docks, and improvements, made and to be made on the shore of Staten Island, and of and over all vessels aground on said shore or fastened to any such wharf or dock, except that the said vessel shall be subject to the quaran- tine or health laws in relation to passengers of the State of New Jersey, which now exist or which may hereafter be passed.
The State of New York to have the exclusive right of regula- ting the fisheries between the shore of Staten Island and the middle of the said waters; provided that the navigation be not obstructed or hindered.
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CHAPTER XXXVI.
1805-1848.
War of 1812-Proclamation of War by President Monroe- Battle between the Chesapeake and Leopard-The Leander fires upon a coasting vessel-Commodore Barron cashiered- Indignation of the People-Treaty of Peace-Day of Thanks- giving recommended-New Jersey Broad Seal War-War with Mexico-General Phil. Kearney.
T HE causes which led to the War of 1812 between this country and Great Britain had their origin in the year 1805, when Jefferson had just entered upon his second term of office, and at a time when Napoleon was aspiring to universal dominion, and England, the most formidable of his enemies, claimed supremacy on the ocean. The policy adopted by this mistress of the seas was vexatious and unjust in the extreme to neutral nations. The United States, profiting by the position of affairs in Europe, had greatly enlarged their commerce, and were reaping a rich harvest from the present golden opportunity. But .Great Britain looked with no favorable eye upon these ad- vantages which neutrals enjoyed from commercial intercouse with France and her allies; and she determined to interpose her power in order to put a stop to all trade of the kind, and to substitute a forced commerce between her own subjects and their enemies.
For two years or more she had suffered neutral navigation to have the benefit of principles in the law of nations, formerly recognized by herself in the correspondance between Mr. King and Lord Hawkesbury, shortly before the close of the pre- vious war. But now, "suddenly, as if by a concerted signal, throughout the world of waters which encompass the globe, our hardy and peaceful, though intrepid, mariners, found them- selves arrested in their career of industry and skill; seized by British cruisers; their vessels and cargoes conducted into British ports, and by the spontaneous and sympathetic illumination
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of British courts of vice admiralty, adjudicated to the captors, because they were engaged in a trade with the enemies of Britain, to which they had not usually been admitted in time of peace. Mr. Monroe had scarcely reached London, when he received a report from the Consul of the United States at that place, announcing that about twenty of their vessels had, within a few weeks, been brought into the British ports on the channel, and that by the condemnation of more than one of them the admiralty court had settled the principle."*
It was not only with respect to the carrying trade, however, that serious difficulties existed between our country and Eng- land. There was another, and a very galling one to Americans, which England pressed or relaxed as she saw fit ; it was by John Quincy Adams forcibly called the claim to the "right of man- stealing from the vessels of the United States." Officers of the British navy boarded American ships, and, down to the beard- less midshipman, seized upon any seaman whom they chose to take for a British subject. In this high-handed manner, not less than three thousand American sailors had been forced to serve in the British navy. No independent nation could possi- bly submit to such outrages; and the United States uniformly protested against the course adopted by England, and denied totally any and every claim of right to impress seamen from their vessels, or within their jurisdiction.
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