142 
 H9 V9 
 opy 2 
 
 The 
 
 Hunterdon County 
 
 Historical Society. 
 
HISTOKY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HUNTERDON COUNTY 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 By Klin«s Vosseller. 
 
 
 
 FLEMINGTON, N. J., 
 
 Printed for the Society. 
 
 1894. 
 
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 . 
 
qn3 
 
 'OS 
 
 (I. W. BURROUGHS, 
 
 Book and Jon Printkk. 
 
 CRANBURY, N. J. 
 
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 4HE Hunterdon County Historical Soci- 
 ^ ety was organized September nth, 
 1SS5, by Doctors Henry Race, Geo. H. Lari- 
 son, N. B. Boileau, Geo. N. Best and Rev. 
 Dr. Geo. S. Mott, Rev. C. S. Conkling and 
 William T. Srope, E. M. Heath, John W. 
 Lequear, Jacob Servis, Richard H. Wilson, 
 Walter F. Hayhurst, Jos. C. Exton, E. T. 
 Bush, Asher W T . Carroll and Elias Vosselkr. 
 
 Doctors G. H. Larison, Henry Race and 
 Rev. C. vS. Conkling were appointed a com- 
 mittee to draft a Constitution and By-Laws. 
 In the Constitution the object of the Society 
 is declared to be "to discover, procure and 
 preserve whatever relates to any department 
 
of the History of Hunterdon County, natural, 
 civil, genealogical, literary or ecclesiastical : 
 and generally of other parts of the State." 
 
 "It shall also act in auxiliary relations 
 with the New Jersey Historical Society ac- 
 cording to the plan adopted by that Society." 
 
 Doctor George H. Larison was elected its 
 first President. The yearly business meet- 
 ing is held on the third Saturday of October, 
 in the chapel of the Presbyterian church of 
 Flemington, at which time officers are elected 
 for the coming year, reports of the officers 
 made, the more important items that have 
 been added to our Collections during the 
 year, exhibited, one or more papers of his- 
 torical value read, and plans for the good of 
 the Society discussed. 
 
 During the summer at such time and place 
 as the Executive Committee may select, a 
 more general meeting is held, and often 
 largely attended. Such meetings have been 
 held in the M. E. Church, of Frenchtown, in 
 the grove of W. F. Holcombe, at Mt. Airy, 
 in connection with the Holcombe Re-union, 
 
terization of a would-be Reformer. 
 
 .- Day bv day he gave the Almighty advice, 
 Which he deemed of great woith. 
 And his wife took in sewing, 
 To keep things going, 
 While he superintended the earth 
 
 From Miss Kate Taylor. "Shuster's Hol- 
 low School and its Teachers." 
 
 From Dr. Havhurst "A Memorial of Jacob 
 Servis " one of our most enthusiastic mem- 
 bers From our Corresponding Secretary, 
 Mr. Elias Yosseller, "A Sketch of the Copper 
 Mining Enterprises near Flemington. 1 Ins 
 also was published in pamphlet form by Mr. 
 
 H. E. Deats. . 
 
 From Mrs. Mary C. Vail '"A Historical 
 Sketch of the Friends Meeting at Quaker- 
 town." From Walter F. Havhurst an 
 appreciative Sketch of the Life of George H. 
 prison, M- I)- our first President, whose 
 death was greatly deplored. 
 
 One of our members discovered that k, 
 , ()hn Atkinson, the founder ol the M. B. 
 Church of Flemington was living in Benton 
 Harbor Mich. Through his daughter, Mrs. 
 
Sarah Wirians, a considerable correspondence 
 was carried on with him and many interest- 
 ing items relating to the early history of 
 Flemington and snch families as the Alex- 
 anders, Flemings, Lowreys and Atkinsons 
 were secured. He died in the spring of 189 1 
 of La Grippe in his ninety-fourth year. 
 
 Our Society sent the following Communi- 
 cation to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 
 which explains itself. 
 
 The members of the Hunterdon County 
 (New Jersey) Historical Society desire to call 
 your attention to the Bill now pending 
 before your legislature relating to the pur- 
 chase by your state of Valley Forge. We 
 hope you will pass this, or a similar Bill, so 
 that this historic spot, dedicated to the spirit 
 of Liberty, may be preserved. We are of 
 opinion that Valley Forge stands for a crisis 
 in our Country's history of no less magni- 
 tude than Gettysburg. At Gettysburg amid 
 the roar and flame of battle, our brave troops 
 showed that our country was able to conquer 
 the Military power of the Rebellion. At 
 
ill the Baptist Church at Baptisttovvn, at 
 Deer Park, Perm, in connection with the 
 Buck's county Historical Society, in the 
 room of the W. C. T. U. in Clinton, in the 
 Baptist Church of Sandy Ridge, in the home 
 of Jacob Servis, in Lambertville, in the Pres- 
 byterian Church of xMilford and in the Hall 
 at Pittstown. 
 
 The first paper read before the Society was 
 by George N. Best, M. D., on the "Duties of 
 the Historian." Other papers of importance 
 have been prepared and read by the following 
 members ; — By Henry Race, M. D., on "Jane 
 Mc Crea," who at one time lived in Hunter- 
 don County, and who was brutally murdered 
 near Fort Edward, N. Y., in 1777. This 
 paper was afterward read before the New 
 Jersey Historical Society and incorporated 
 by them in their "Proceedings." He also 
 prepared and read a "Historical and Genea- 
 logical Account of Col. Thomas Lowrey and 
 Esther Fleming, his wife," and showed their 
 photographs. This article has been pub- 
 lished in pamphlet form, by Mr. M. E. Deats. 
 
of Flemington, including the pictures, and 
 has been of great interest to the numerous 
 branches of those families. Also "A His- 
 torical Sketch of the Rockhill Family," and 
 other shorter papers. 
 
 From Geo. H. Larison, M. D,, we have 
 had "A Genealogical History of the Hol- 
 combe Family," "The dead in Barber's 
 Burying Ground," "The mode of life in our 
 Karly Settlements," "Elnathan Stevenson 
 Family," including the "Sharps" and the 
 "Fields," "A History of the Sandy Ridge 
 Baptist Church," "A Sketch of the Life of 
 Dr. Gershom Craven," who practiced medi- 
 cine in Ringoes and vicinity from 1771 to 
 fSiq. 
 
 From our Recording Secretary, Mr. John 
 W. Lequear we have had "The Early Settle- 
 ment and History of the Baptists in Hunter- 
 don County," " History and Settlement of 
 the Rittenhouse Family in Hunterdon 
 County," "History of the branch of the Ing- 
 ham Family in Hunterdon County," "The 
 Culture of Flax, and making of Flax seed 
 
Oil ; their labor and importance in the early 
 wealth of Hunterdon County," with samples 
 of home-spun and home-made linen, ging- 
 ham, and calico. Also, "Biography of 
 Robert Rittenhouse," "Some Recollections 
 of Lambertville over fifty years ago," "The 
 Rodman Tract" once owned by Col. Thos. 
 Lowrey, The "Rio Grande Mills," "Rem- 
 iniscences of the Border between Kingwood 
 and Delaware Townships," and "Recollec- 
 tions of Pittstown General Training of 
 Militia." 
 
 From Mr. Stacy B. Bray, we have had an 
 important paper on "The Life and Times of 
 General Robert Hunter," the Colonial Gover- 
 nor after whom Hunterdon County was 
 named, showing an oil painting on wood of 
 his Excellency. Also " Some accounts of 
 General Daniel Bray's Efforts in procuring 
 the Boats for Washington's Crossing the 
 Delaware" bringing to our minds an impor- 
 tant act in our National History, of which 
 every Jerseyman is proud, as it was the 
 turning point of the Revolution. 
 
From Rev. George S. Mott. D. D., we 
 have had "The old churches, more particu- 
 larly the Presb}^terian Churches of Hunter- 
 don Count}'." 
 
 From Mr. Jacob Servis, "The Early Mar- 
 riages in old Amwell Township from Official 
 Records of Rev. William Frazer from 1769 to 
 1793." Also an account of a "Visit to the 
 Mc Neely Farm and Grave Yard, near New 
 Hope." Here a number of Revolutionary 
 soldiers were buried. 
 
 From Mr. W. T. Srope, "Baptisttown and 
 Kingwood History," " The Sheriffs of Hun- 
 terdon County," and obituaries of Hugh E. 
 Warford and Rev. C. S. Conkling, deceased 
 members of our society. 
 
 From Rev. W. W. Bullock, "The Founda- 
 tions on which our Fathers Built" and "The 
 Rittenhouse Manual Labor School." This 
 school was established by Robt. Rittenhouse 
 in 1830 near Locktown. It was not a finan- 
 cial success and Mrs. Rittenhouse soon 
 complained that all the manual labor came 
 on her. It reminds one of this clever charac- 
 
 i 
 
Valley Forge our forefathers by heroic endur- 
 ance, amid manifold discouragements, even 
 the elements of nature seeming to augment 
 and protract their misery, proved their abil- 
 ity to maintain their war for Independence. 
 
 We cherish their memory. We would 
 honor them by preserving, as nearly intact 
 as possible, this spot the very mention of 
 which recalls such worthy deeds." 
 
 The Bill passed both Houses and was 
 signed by Governor Pattison on last Memor- 
 ial Da}*, an act appropriate to the day and 
 the day worth}' of the deed. 
 
 The Columbian Liberty Bell Committee 
 appealed to Historical Societies and Mu- 
 seums for filings from objects of Historical 
 value, especially those that had any bearing 
 on the struggle for Freedom, to be cast in 
 the Bell. Our Society responded as below ; 
 "On the 14th of December, 1776, Cornet 
 Francis (xeary with about twenty picked 
 men of the 16th Regiment (Queen's Light 
 Dragoons, the pet Cavalry Regiment of the 
 British Army, led a raid from Trenton, New 
 
Jersey, on the village of Flemington, Hun- 
 terdon County, New Jersey. 
 
 ' ' By a clever ruse on the part of Col. Thom- 
 as Lowrey he was frightened out of the vil- 
 lage without doing much harm. 
 
 1 ' On his retreat he was ambushed by Capt. 
 John Schenck, home on a furlough from the 
 Patriot Army, who hastily collected a half 
 dozen farmers for that purpose. In the skir- 
 mish Geary was killed and was buried near 
 the spot where he fell. 
 
 "A committee of the Hunterdon County 
 Historical Society opened his grave in May, 
 1891, and took from it the silver buttons 
 from which these filings were taken." 
 
 Our Society has stirred up a new interest 
 in local history and in genealogical research 
 and we receive many inquiries relating to 
 families that were prominent in the earlj' 
 history of the County. In some cases we 
 are able to furnish the information desired, 
 in others, are able to suggest probable sources 
 of information. 
 
 We are making a Collection of Books, 
 
Pamphlets, Newspapers, old Deeds &c relat- 
 ing especially to Hunterdon Count}'. We 
 invite all to co-operate with us in this. We 
 have even undertaken to collect complete 
 files of all the newspapers ever published in 
 our County. Stray numbers of any of these 
 that precede 1880 will be welcomed by our 
 Librarian Mr. H. E. Deats. We have the 
 nucleus of a very interesting Historical Col- 
 lection which some day will be an honor to 
 our County, and of sufficient interest to at- 
 tract the attention of visitors. 
 
 At present we have fifty-four Resident 
 members, and eleven Corresponding and 
 Honorary Members. 
 
 Elias Vosseller, 
 
 Corresponding See'y. 
 
 LofC 
 
OFFICERS 
 OF THE 
 
 Hunterdon County Historical Society 
 
 President, E). T. Bush, Stockton, N. J. 
 
 i st Vice-Pres., I\. Thomas, Milford, N. J. 
 
 2d Vice-Pres., A. W. Carroll, Tocktown. N. J. 
 
 3d Vice-Pres., W. F. Hayhurst, L,ambertville, N. J. 
 
 Kec. Sec, J. W. I^equear, Frenchtown, N. J. 
 
 Cor. Sec, K. Vosseller, Flemingtou, N. J. 
 
 Librarian. H. R. Deats, Fleniington, N. J. 
 
 Treasurer, X. 15. BoiLEAU, M.D., Jutland. N. J. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 III 
 
 ■ 014 224 971 6 
 
 The Jerseyman 
 
 Is a Quarterly Magazine of Local History 
 contributed to by members of the Hunter- 
 don County Historical Society and others, 
 and contains all the papers read at the 
 meetings of that vSociety. 
 
 Now in its Third Volume. 
 
 Subscription, 50 cents a year. 
 
 H E. DEATS, 
 
 Kditor aii(i Rul>li«lier, 
 
 FLEMINGTON, N. J.