The colonial history of New Jersey

Front matter

HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF NOVA-CAESARiA, OR NEW JERSEY

NEW JERSEY

HERITASE SEIIES

Chap. II

An account jj the country on Delaware and the North-River, while the first was in possession of the Dutch and Swedes, p. 19

CHAP. in.

The particulars of the English conquest, in 1664 ; and the transactions afterwards, respecting the inhabilanls on Delaware; The arrival of Fmncis Lovelace, as governor ; part of his administration, and description of the Hoarkills. p. 35

Chap. IV

King Charles the second, and duke of York's grants, whence lord Berkeley and sir Oeorge Carteret became seized of New- Jersey : The ^rst constitution of government under them : The settlement of Bergen, Middletown, Shrewsbury, and Elizabeth- Town : Philip Carteret appointed governor of Jersey : The Indian purchase of Elizabeth- Town, by the settlers ; and the first general Indian purchase by the proprietors, &c. p. 59.

Chap. V

Major Andross appointed governor of New- York : Takes possession at Delaware: Arrival of the first English settlers to West-Jersey, under the duke of York^s title : Lord Berkeley assigns his moiety ef New- Jersey to Byllinge, and he in trust to others : Their letter and first commission : New-Jersey dirided into the provinces East and West Jersey ; and the declaration of the West-Jersey proprietors. p. 77.

Chap. VI

Arrival of more settlers to West- Jersey : Their difficulties: Their purchases from the Indians ; They lay out a town : Some of their first sentiments of the country ; and an account of the duke of York's two last grants, being for the provinces East and West New-Jersey separately. p. 92.

Chap. VII

Letters from some of the settlers of West- Jersey ; and arguments against the c:ustoms imposed at the tloarkill -by the governor of New- York. p. 111. 7 CHAP.

viii CONTENTS.

CHAP. VIII. The first form of gevemment in West-Jersey under the proprietors : The

first laws they made : The method of regulating land affairs ; and a

further account of the Indians found in the first settled parts of these

provinces. P- 126

Chap. IX

Another ship arrives at West-Jersey : Proceedings of the general assembly of West-Jersey : Sir George Carteret's death : Conveyances to the twelve Eastern proprietors : Their proposals and regulations in several respects; particularly in disposing of lands and building a town at Ambo point : The twelve proprietors each take a partner, and thence are called the twenty-four ; to whom the duke of York makes a third and last grant : The twenty-four establish the council of proprietors of East-Jersey, on the fooling it now is: A general view of the improvements in East- Jersey in 1682: A compendium of some of the first laws passed at Elizabeth- Town : Doubts started whether the government of West-Jersey was 'granted with the soil : Jenings continued governor of West-Jersey : And laws now passed there. p. 150

Chap. X

Robert Barclay appointed governor of East-Jersey, and T. Eudyard deputy: Letters from Rudyard, S. Groome, Lawrie, and others, concerned in that settlement. p. 166 CHAP. XI.

Manner of the West-Jersey government in 1684 ; their unsettled state and succession of governors : Danger of suffering for want of food in 1687 : The division line run by G. Keith ; an agreement between the governors Coxe and Barclay : Alteration in themanner of locating lands in West Jersey, and the method now in use fixed : No person in West-Jersey to purchase from the Indians, without the consent of the council of proprietors : And instructions respecting deeds and warrants for takinq up lands. P- 189

Chap. XII

A flood at Delaware falls : Death and character of Thomas Olive, Thomas Gardiner and John Woolston ; Commotions in East and West Jersey : Surrender of the two governments to queen Anne : Her acceptance thereof; and her commission to lord Cornbury. p. 208

Chap. XIV

Observations on lord Oornbury's instructions, and the privileges originally granted to the settlers ; with abstracts of some of them. p. 261

Chap. XV

Lord Cornbury convenes the first general assembly after the surrender^: His speech, their address, and other proceedings : Queen Anne's proclamation for ascertaining the rates of coin : Cornbury dissolves

the

CONTENTS. ix

the assembly, and meets a new one to Aw mind: Their proceedings and dissolution : A summary of the establishment and practice of the ■council of proprietors of We^t-Jer^ey : Another assembly called ; who remonstrate the grievances of the province. p. 275

Chap. XVII

The assembly's reply to lord Cornbury's answer to their remonstrance.

p. 311 CHAP. XVIII.

Memorial of the West-Jersey proprietors residing in England, to the lords commissioners for trade and plantations : The lieutenant governor, with some of the council, address the queen : The last meeting of assembly under Cornbury's administration : They continue their complaints : Samuel Jenings's death and character. p. 336

Chap. XIX

Lord Lovelace arrives governor : Convenes a new assembly ; they apply to him for a hearing on the subject of the lieutenant governor and council's application to the queen : His death ; is succeeded, by the lieutenant governor Ingoldsby : The first paper currency: Arrival of governor Hunter : A short account of the first expedition to Canada: A new assembly chosen: Their first sessioyi wi Hunter's time. p. 355

Chap. XX

Representation of the general assembly to governor Hunter and his answer. p. 375

Chap. XXI

A. session of general assembly : A second expedition to Canada : Electing of a new assembly : They quarrel : Some members designedly absent themselves: Expell'd the house: Several of them again returned, and refused seats : A fruitful session at Crosswicks : Last session in Hunter' s time : An act passed for running the division line between Easu and West-Jersey : William Burnet arrives governor : An un- ■common wet harvest : Governor Burnet meets a new assembly, p. 399

Appendix

Numb. i. The concessions and agreements of the lords proprietors of the province of New Ccesaria, or New- Jersey, io and with alt and every of the adventurers, and all such as shall settle or plant there. p. 512

Numb. ii. The concessions and agreements of the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of the province of West New Jersey, in America. p. 521

Numb. ni. A brief account of the province of East-Jersey, in America, published by the present proprietors, for information cf all such persons vtho are or may be inclined to settle themselves, families and servants, in that country, p. 539

Numb. IV. Governor Coxe's narrative relating to the division line, directed to the council of proprietors of West- Jersey.

Numb. v. The council of proprietors of West-Jersey to governor Burnet, p. 551

Numb. yi. Reasons and proposals for an amendment of the quintipartite line, and the act made for the confirmation thertof.

Numb. VII. Minute of the council of proprietors, held at the city of

Perth-Amboy, August 17, 1742. p. 555

Ncmb. VIII. Tiie remonstrance and humble petition of the inhabitants

of East New-Jersey. p. 558

Numb. ix. The memorial of the proprietors of East New- Jersey.

Numb. x. Opinion and answer to the lord commissioners, <&c. p. 562 Numb. xi. Memorial of the East Jersey proprietors to the lords of trade. p. 564

Numb. XU. The petition of the proprietors of East and West Jersey, to the lords justices. p- 565-

Numb. xiii. Representation of the lords of trade to the lords justices.

Numb. xiy. The memorial of the proprietors of East and West Jersey.

THE

THE

Preface

ALTHOUGH among the following Papers there are some of consequence in point of interest to most concerned in the province of New-Jersey, several of them were not to be found on record in the publick offices, severed were scattered in different provinces, others could not be easily obtained, some tho' in print formerly were in but few hands, some never made publick, and many in danger of being lost ; on this account whatever success may attend this undertaking as to the general design, or disposition of the facts. His some satisfaction, that the labour of collecting them cannot be altogether useless.

Whoever will be at the trouble of an enquii^y into the general inexperience and methods of colonizing formerly, especicdly at the time tlie settlements here were first attempted under grants, will find but little reason to doubt, that views of permanent stability to religious ami civil freedom, must have been the inducement to tJie original adventurers to think of such a voyage. The New- England governments had before been considerably settled from motives of a like kind ; these, tho' near forty year's Icder in their removal, were also protestant dissenters, and involved in the general insecurity, that such wiUi reason apprehended in the reign of king Charles tlie second ; and the actual sufferings of many, through the mistaken policy of that time, merely for a free exercise of their religious seati-

11 metits xu PEEFACE.

merits, with their own accounts of their removal, renders it as to them indisputable; and in this, as they do not appear to have been charg'd with any indii'ect violation of religious integrity, so no instance occurs of dissatisfaction among themselves, tho' many of them were remarkably lender on that head ; with the motives above, some of them had without doubt, a distant prospect also of improving their estates ; but this could not be the case so mu/ih at first as afterwards.

However smooth the passage may look now, it must be a reasonable supposition, that persons and families, who lived well {which was the circumstance of many of the settlers of this province) found it no inconsiderable trial, to unsettle and remove 3000 miles ; besides parting with the usual connections of friendship and neighbourhood, it was in a great measure an unprov'd experiment ; and then much out of the common course of things : The navigation also to this paii of the continent, for want of experience, looked diJicuU, and the wilderness formidable ; but whatever were their motives, they successively encountered the hazards and hardships to which the enterprize was eccposed; and, at their own expense, by the blessing of divine providence on their labour, fnigality and industry, laid the foundation for the present improvement of territory to the mother country; which, tho' not in many respects to be compared to colonies of greater extent and growth, is nevertheless a link in the chain of some considerable importance.

That a century should pass, ana very little appear abroad of what the settlers here have been dovng, is not 80 much to be wondered at, when their difUculties in

proom-ing

PREFACE. xiii

procuring the conveniencies of living are considered; but this will Jiardly be allowed, when the too general negligence as to particular rights of indimduals, and the reputation of civil policy comes in question : Till jery lately, a variety of matters of that kind, were as much secrets to most of the inhabitants, as they commonly are to strangers ; and yet in many parts of the province, are justly made the subject of general complaint.

Whether the endeavours here used for bringing these into one historical view, will sufficiently answer the purposes of a more general information, must now be submitted to experience ; they were undertaken with hopes of service to the province, and if found but in a small degree contributing to that, the end is so far answered : With this view, they were several years since designed for the publick, and nearly prepared ; but other occasions interfering, necessarily delayed, their appearar^ce, much longer than was expected. Being sent to the press sometime in the last spring, no transaction that hath happened since,, could be included, or is in any respect alluded to : On a continuation, these will of course follow in their places.

To a collection principally intended to consist of a plain state of facts, much need not be premised ; this may with justice be said, that through the whole, the strictest impartiality has been attended to, and if in other respects executed according to intention, they are offered to the publick, with as few material omissions, as the present opportunities of collecting would allow ; yet the diffidence attending an attempt from papers in great part not used before on the like occasion, ivould plead for some allowances as a few mistakes, especially in dates, and other minutice,

among xiv PREFACE.

ainong the smaller facts, may have escap'd, notwithstanding an assiduous care to avoid them ; but these it is hoped will not be found so considerable, as to obstruct the service intended.

As nothing is aim'd at, more than a fair and candid representation ; any friendly hints, or materials necessary either for correction or improvement, will be thankfully received, and Uie first opportunity embrac'd to apply them nccordingly.

»> Burlington, 1

oth October, 1765. J

THE

HISTORY

O F

New-Jersey.

Chap. I

A brief view of the discovery of America, and of the present 'prevailing opinion rcspjccting the manner it originally became peopled.

^§^^1^%^ HE first effectual discoverers of j^gg."

(^ ^ America among the moderns, were

f ^ and Araerico Vespucci, or Vesputius ;

«^s!? B^ of these the former is supposed to

#f!i^||l^^^ have been a Genoese by birth, the other a native of Florence: From him the new world took its name, yet his history in other particulars is too intricate to afford much satisfaction.**

That

a. He made two voyages in 1497 and 1498, in the service of Spain: Another in 1501, in the service of Portugal: In the first he fell in among the Caribbee islands ; and the last with three ships arrived to and discovered the eastern continent of America, in

five degrees of south latitude.

"America is a more common than fitting name, seeing Americas " Vespucias the Florentine, from whom this name is derived, was "not the first finder nor author of that discovery: Columbus will "challenge that, and more justly, with whom and under whom " Americus made his first voyage; howsoever after that he coasted "a great part of the continent which Columbus had not seen, at " the charges of the Castilian and Portugal kings; but so it might "more rightly be termed Cabotia or Sebastiana, of Sebastian Caltot,

A "a

2 TfiE HISTOKY

A. p. That of the first under the well-known name of Columbus Christopher Columbus, is readily traced; with him therefore we begin, as the person principally concerned in the discovery.

He had applied himself to the study of astronomy and geography, and very early appeared to have a more than common desire to understand the state of all countries upon the face of the globe, and to make new discoveries ; which probably was his reason for settling at Lisbon, no nation having push'd their discoveries further than the Portuguese at that time; here he employed himself in drawing maps and charts, and preparing himself for future enterprizes. He married and settled in Lisbon, was of a good family, a grave and temperate man, b. of competent learning, studious in the mathematicks, and from his youth bred to navigation.

What the particular motives were that induced

him to search after this new world, are not certainly

, known ; some attribute it to informations he had

received, others to his skill in the nature of the globe ;

that this made him conclude it probable there must

.be a great tract of land to the ^vestward of Spain,

V that it was not to be imagined the sun when it set in

that

"a Venetian, which discovered more of the continent than they "both, about the same time, first employed by king Henry the "seventh of England. — Columbus yet as the first discoverer deser- "veth the name, both of the country for the first finding, and of "modesty,, for not naming it by himself, seeking rather efiects "than names of his exploits." Purchas's Pilgrim, p. 792.

h. His son who wrote his history, says, he was moderately tall and long visaged, his complexion a good red and white, that he had light eyes, and cheeks somewhat full, but neither too fat nor too lean; that in his youth he had fair hair, which turned grey before he was thirty years of age ; that he was moderate in eating and drinking, affected a plain modest garb or dress ; that he was naturally grave, but affable to strangers, and pleasant frequently among his domestics, strict and devout in religious matters, and tho' a seaman, was never heard to swear or curse.

Of NEW-JERSEY. I

that horizon gave light to nobody : Whatever gave A. D. rise to the project, a discovery he resolved to attempt, and Deing unable to do it at his own charge, he first oftered his service to the Genoese, next to the king of Portugal; not meeting with encouragement from either, h« sent his brother Bartholomew to England, sends his to jffer his service to Henry the seventh : King Henry Bartholoapproved his proposals; but the brother on his return I?l^^^ ^^ .. being taken by pirates, and Columbus receiving no answer, left Portugal and went to Spain : On his application to Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Castile and Arragon, he succeeded so well, that in the year 1492, they provided him with money, and entrusted him with three small ships for the expedition ; he also obtain'd a grant from them to be admiral of tlie western seas; all civil employments as well as governments in the continent or world to be discovered were to be wholly at his disposal ; and besides the revenues of the posts of admiral and vice-roy, he was to enjoy a tenth of all the profits arising by future sails with conquests; his little squadron manned only with ninety men set sail from Palos for the Canaries the third of the month called August, 1492, and arriving at those islands the twelfth, sailed from thence the first of September, upon his grand design : he had not sailed a fortnight to the westward before his men began to murmur at the enterprize; they observed the wind constantly set from east to west, and apprehended there would be no possibility of returning if they missed the land they were made to expect ; on the nineteenth observing birds to fly over their ships, and on the twenty-second weeds driving by them, they began to be better satisfied, concluding they were not far from land : they continued their course several days farther westward, and meeting with no land, the seamen mutinied to that degree, that they were almost

ready

A. D. ready to throw the admiral overboard, and return 1492. . .

home, when happily for him they saw more birds,

weeds, pieces of boards, canas, and a shrub with the berries upon it, swim by them, which made them conjecture there must be islands thereabouts: It was on the eleventh of October, about ten at night, that the admiral first discovered a light upon the island of His first Guanahani,c- or Si. Salvador, as he named it, in consideration that the sight of it delivered him and his men from the fear of perishing: It is one of the Bahama islands, about fifteen leagues long, in the north latitude of 15 degrees.^- Day appearing, the ships came to anchor very near the island ; the natives crowded the shore, and beheld the ships of these new comers with astonishment, takifig them for -living creatures.^- The admiral believing there was no great danger to be apprehended from them, went ashore in his boat, with the royal standard, as did the other two ■captains, with their colours flying, and took possession

of

.c. A bay or harbour of sea or water.

d. All that is commonly remembered of the sailor who first ■discovered land, is, that expecting some great reward from the king of Spain, and disappointed, he took it in his head in a rage to renounce Christianity, and turn'd Mahometan.

e. One of the River Indians, in his speech at the treaty of Albany, 1754, relates the surprize of their forefathers at tlie sight of the first ship that came up the North river in the same manner; his speech so far as relates to this subject was as foil o wet h : 'Fathers, we are greatly rejoiced to see you all here; it is by 'the will of heaven that we are met here, and we thank you for 'this opportunity of seeing you altogether, as it is a long while ''since we had such a one: Fathers who sit present here, we will 'just give you a short relation of the long friendship which hath "'subsisted between the white people of this country and us: our ■'forefathers had a castle on this river; as one of them walked out ■'he saw something on the river, but was at a loss to know what ■^ it was ; he took it at first for a great fish ; he ran into the castle, 'and gave notice to the other Indians; two of our forefather* ' went to see what it was, and found it a vessel with men in it ; ■* they immediately joined hands with the people in the vessel, and ■* became friends.'

Of new- jersey.

of the country in the name of the kinsr and queen of A. D.

Spain with great solemnity ; the Indians mean while

stood gazing at the Spaniards without attempting to ■oppose them. The admiral ordered strings of glass beads, ■caps and toys to be distributed among the natives, with which they seemed much pleased : The principal ornament about them was a thin gold plate in the form of a crescent, hanging from the nose over the upper lip ; the admiral demanding by signs, whence they had their gold plates, they pointed to the south and south-west; he rowed in his boats about the island, to discover if there was any thing worth his settling there, followed by the natives every where, who seem'd to admire him and his people as something more than human : From this island coasting southward 180 leagues, he arrived at another, which he called Hispaniola, where discovers his own ship striking on a hidden rock was lost; he ^i^'P^'^oand his crew were taken on board one of the other vessels ; landing here, the natives, instead of behaving as the others had done, fled from him ; but taking one of their women, treating her kindly, and then letting her go back among them, she brought numbers to traffick, who seem'd very peaceably dispos'd; and by some means, or other finding there were gold mines in this island, Columbus, aided by the natives, built a fort, left thirty-nine men, with provisions for a year, seeds to sow, and trinkets to trade with the natives : After discovering a good part of the north and east coast of Hispaniola, trading with the Indians in diverse place, and near three months stay in the island, he bent his course homewards, and arrived at reiurns. Palos, in Andalusia, early in the spring 1492, 3 ; 1493. having perform'd the voyage in seven months and eleven days: Here the people received him with a solemn procession and thanksgiving for his return, most of his seamen belonging to that port; ti .ving

and

A. D.

Cabot's

1497. adrenture.

finds Greenland and Newfoundland and queen of Spain being at Barcelona, wlien the admiral drew near the city, the court went out to meet him ; he was receiv'd with the honors due to a sovereign prince: Having given an account of his voyage, he begged to be equipped according to the dignity of his character of admiral and viceroy, that he might plant colonies in the places he had thu& discovered, which was readily granted ; and he afterwards made diverse other voyages to America./-

The fame of the discovery, and of the rich cargoes brought to Old Spain at several times from thence, being spread through &ther nations, gave rise to other adventurers. The next attempt was made by Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian by extraction, but born in England, and being much given to the study of navigation, and well skill'd in cosmography, he believed there might be a passage found by the north-west to the East Indies shorter than that lately discovered by the Cape of Goodhope ; he made Interest with Henry the seventh of England, who fitted out two ships to make the discovery.

In 1497, Cabot sailed from Lisbon, in the beginning of summer, and steering his course north-west, came up with land about 60 degrees north latitude, supposed to have been Greenland ; 9- but perceivingthe land still run north, he changed his course, in hopes of finding a passage in less latitude. About the 50th degree, he saw that which is now well known by the name of Newfoundland : Here he took three of the natives, and coasted southward to the latitude of

/. He died in the city of Validolid in Spain, in the spring 1506, and was buried in the cathedral of Seville, with this inscription on his tomb, that Columbus had given a new world to Castile and Leon.

g. This country is considered as part of the American continent,, both by Hornins and Grotius. Grotius apud Horn, de orig. Gent, American, Lib. iii. c. 5, 6, pa. 149, 162. ut et ipse Horn. ibid.

Of new -jersey.

S8 degrees; (about Maryland) his provisions growing A. p. scarce, and no supplies there to be expected, he return'd to England, where the natives he brought lived a considerable time.'^- From this voyage and discovery made by Cabot, the English have claimed the country ever since, from the well known Jus Gentium, Law OF Nations, that whatever waste or uncultivated country is discovered, it is the right of that prince

who

h. ' King Henry vii. comnaissloned John Cabot (5th of March, ^ in tlie eleventh year of his reign) and his three sons, to sail in 'quest of unknown lands, and to annex them to the crown of ■'England; with this clause, which before this time have been un- ' hi own to all christians. His first essay as related by sir Humphry ■* Gilbert, who was employed in the like service afterwards by 'queen Elizabeth, was to discover a north west passage to Cathay "' or China ; in which voyage he sailed very far eastward, with a ' quarter of the north, on the north side of Terra de Labrador, ■^ till he came into the north latitude of sixty seven degrees and a ■'half In his next voyage, which was made with his son Sebastian, ^in the year 1497; he steered to the south side of Labrador, and 'fell in with the island of Baccalaos, which is Newfoundland, and 'took possession both of that island and all the coast of the north 'east part of America, as far as Cape Florida; which he also by ■•landing in several parts of it, claimf>d in the name of his master, ■' the king of England.

'In the memory of this discovery, and by way of eviaence, there ' was a map or chart of the whole coast of North-America drawn ■'by Sebastian Cabot himself, with his picture and this title. Effigies ''Seb. Caboti Angli, Filii Jo. Caboti, Venetiani, Militis Aurati, ■^&c. and with the following account of the discovery above men- ' tioned,

"In the year of our Lord 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian, and "his son Sebastian (with an English fleet) set out from Bristol, "and discovered that land, whicli no man had before attempted. " This discovery was made on the 24th of June about five o'clock "in the morning. This land he called Prima Vista (or the first "seen) because it was that part, of which they had the first sight "from the sea. It is now callcvl Bonavista. The island, which lies "out before the land, he called the island of St. John, probably " because it was discovered on the festival of St. John Baptist."

'This map was hung up in his Majesty's privy-gallery at White- 'hall; and, it is to be feared, the nation was deprived of such a 'valuable testimonial of their American title to the whole coast of 'North- America, by the fire which destroyed that gallery in the 'late King \Villiam"'8 reign". Entick's Gen. Hist, of the late war. Vol. I. p. 168, &c.

A.D.

Phenicians.

Egyptians and Carthaginians.

who had been at the charge of the discovery .'"• Thisfrom universal suffrage gives at least a right of preemption, and undoubtedly must be good against all but the Indian proprietors.^-

We have seen that in the discovery of North and South- America, inhabitants were found at the places touch'd at ; in all probability they were as plentifully dispersed throughout the different countries of America; but how these people originally came there, is a question not easily solved ; tho' it has for above two centuries, been the sul^ect of much enquiry, it is not yet arrived at a decision.'- All therefore that can be done, is to give a short view of the most probableconjectures that have been hitherto offered.

It is not unlikely the new world was known to the Phenicians, even a considerable time before the daysof Plato; who in all likelihood found but few (if any) inhabitants there ; that they contributed towardsthe planting of it, we have some reason to believe, as they are supposed to have made three voyages thither ;; however that colonies from other nations crossed the Atlantick, and landed in America, cannot be well denied ; neither the Egyptians nor Carthaginians are supposed void of some traditional knowledge of America, since they are believed"*- to have communicated

such.

i. Grotius de jure belliac pacis, Lib. 2. Cap. 2. Sect. 17. Molloy de jure Mar. 422, 423. Justinian Inst. Lib. 2. Tit. ]. Sect. 12 & 22.