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THE 
 
 FIRST CENTURY 
 
 OF 
 
 HUNTERDON COUNTL 
 
 STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 GEORGE S. MOTT, D. D. 
 
 Rend he/ore the Neiv Jeraey Historical Societ/j, at Trenton, 
 January \lth, 187S. 
 
 FLEMINGTON, N. J. 
 
 K. VossELLER, Bookseller and Stationer. 
 1878. 
 
 (^Am 
 
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HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 In this sketcli of the " First C'eiitiuy of Hunterdon County," I 
 sliall restrict myself to the territory now comprised witliin tlie 
 boundiiry of the county. Because the history of that portion of 
 " Old Hunterdon," which is now included in Mercer County, has 
 been cared for by others.' 
 
 New Jersey held out two hands of welcome to those of Europe 
 who were seeking an asylum from evils which made their mother 
 (.•ouiitry no longei- endurable. The one hand was Delaware Ba}', 
 the t)ther was Raritan Bay. Through these openings to the sea 
 ready access was gained to the two rivers, which took their names 
 from these bays. These streams opened avenues for up among 
 fertile valleys until, in Hunterdon County, they approached at the 
 nearest points within twenty miles of each other, and there the 
 tributaries of each drain the same hills. The mild climate — less 
 bleak than New England, not so hot as A'irginia — the abundance 
 of game, fish and fruits,^ won to those shores the children of the 
 northern half of Europe, who were accustomed to the temperate 
 zone. Lord Berkle}'- and Sir George Carteret,^ prepared a constitu- 
 tion, which was almost as democratic as that which we now enjoy. 
 This assured civil and religious rights to all the settlers. Thus in- 
 vited by the country and its privileges, emigrants streamed in from 
 Europe, Long Island and New England. 
 
 ' Dr. Hale's History of Pennington. Dr. Hall's History of Trenton, and the 
 Histories of Princeton and the battle of Trenton. 
 
 "^ Smith's History of New Jersey, pp. 20, 105, 174-177. He speaks of 
 peaches, plums, and strawberries growing plentifnlly in the woods. 
 
 ' To them the proprietary right of the soil had been conveyed and they 
 divided the Province between them, into East and "West Jersey. Berkley had 
 West Jersey. 
 
4 HUNDERDON COUNTY. 
 
 The Quakers in England had become the objects of suspicion and 
 dislike to the government ; and they were assailed by penalty and 
 persecution, which led them to look over the ocean for some spot 
 that should furnish the toleration they could not secure in there 
 native land. John Fenwicke and Edward Byllinge, both Quakers, 
 bought out Berkley's shares. But Byllinge soon became so em- 
 barrassed in business, that he made an assignment to Trustees, of 
 whom William Penn was one. But before this he had sold a num- 
 ber shares. Thus Penn became one of the proprietors of West 
 Jersey, and the owner of large tracts of land in Hunterdon. Soon 
 after Fenwicke made a similar assignment. These Trustees, 
 under the pressure of circumstances, sold shares to .different pur- 
 chasers. As these Trustees were Quakers, the purchasers were 
 mostly members of that body. Two companies were formed for 
 that purpose in 1677, one in Yorkshire and the other in London. 
 Daniel Coxe was connected with the latter, and became the largest 
 holder of shares ; and by this means he eventually possessed exten- 
 sive tracts of land in Old Hunterdon. The tide of immigration now 
 set in rapidly. In the same year the companies were organized and 
 four hundred came over, most of them were persons of property. 
 Burlington was founded, and became the principal town. Here the 
 land office for all West Jersey was located, and deeds were re- 
 corded. 
 
 In 1696 an agreement was made between Barclay and the pro- 
 prietors of East Jersey, on the one side, and Byllinge and the pro- 
 prietors of West Jersey on the other, for running the partition line 
 so as to give as equal a division of the Province as was practicable 
 A straight line was directed to be surveyed from " Little Egg Har- 
 bor, to the most northerly branch of the Delaware." The line was ex- 
 tended as far as the south branch of the Earitan, at a point just east of 
 the Old York Road. This line was run by Keith, Surveyor General of 
 East Jersey. But it was deemed by the West Jersey proprietors 
 to be too far west, and thereby encroaching on their territory, and 
 they objected to its continuance. On September 5th, 1688, Gover- 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY 5 
 
 iiors Coxe and Barclay, representing each side, entered into an 
 agreement for terminating all differences, by stipulating that this line, 
 so far as rnn, sliould be the bounds, and directing the course by 
 which it should be extended, viz. : — " From that point (where it 
 touched the south branch), along the back of the adjoining planta- 
 tions, until it touched the north branch of the Raritan at the Iklls of 
 the Allamitung (now the Lamington Falls), thence running up that 
 stream northward to its rise near Succasunny. From that point, a 
 short straight line was to be run to touch the nearest part of the 
 Passaic River." Such a line would pass about five miles north of 
 Morristown. The course of the Passaic was to be continued as far 
 as the Paquanick, and up that branch to the forty-first degree north 
 latitude ; and from that point in ''a straight line due east to the par- 
 tition point on Hudson River, between East Jersey and New York.'" 
 'I'his line gave to the northern part of West Jersey, the present 
 counties of Warren, Sussex, all of Morris north of Morristown, and 
 those portions of Passaic and Bergen, which lie north of forty-first 
 parallel. Though this agreement was never carried into effect, this 
 division line constituted the western boundar}^ of Hunterdon, aud so 
 remahied until Morris was set off in 1738. And then all that port 
 of North Jersey, down as far as Musconetcong, was erected into the 
 new county. 
 
 The territory of West Jersey was divided into one hundred 
 shares or proprietaries. These were again divided into lots of one 
 hundred each; the inhabitants of which elected commissioners, 
 who were empowered, "To set forth and divide all the lands of the 
 Province as were taken up, or by themselves shall be takeu up and 
 contracted for with the natives, and the said lands to divide into one 
 hundred parts, as occasion shall require.'"' The first and second 
 division extended as far as the Assanpink (Trenton). 
 
 ' Smith's History, pp. 196-198. 
 
 '■^ Cliap. 1 of Concessious of " The Trustees." Quoted in Gordoii'.s History 
 of New Jersey, p. 68. 
 
6 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 At the close of the sevontoonth centur}^, West Jersey is said to 
 have contained 8.000 iiih:ibiLants.' These people began to look 
 with longing ey(;s upon the territory to the north, which was yet 
 held by the Indians. So that the proprietors urged the Council to 
 grant them a third dividend, or taking up of land. In compliance 
 with this request a committee was appointed, consisting of John 
 Wills, Wm. Biddle, Jr., and John Reading, to treat with the natives. 
 This committee reported at a meeting of the Council held June 
 '27th, 1 703, " That they had made a full agreement with Himhainmoe, 
 for one tract of land adjoining to the division line (i. e., between 
 East and West Jersey) and lying on both sides of the Raritan 
 river. * * * A.nd also with Coponiiockous for another tract 
 of land, lying between the purchase made by Adlord Boude' and 
 the boundaries of the land belonging to Himhammoe fronting on 
 the Delaware."' This purchase was computed to contain 150.000 
 acres, and the cost, with other incidental charges, was estimated at 
 £700. It was proposed to allow 5,000 acres for each dividend to a 
 proprietary.* At another meeting of the Council, held November 
 2d, 1703, the same committee was sent to those Indians, and 
 particularly to Coponnockous, to have the tract of land lately pur- 
 chased, " Marked forth and get them to sign a deed for the same. 
 * * * And that they go to Himharamoe's wigwam in order to 
 treat with them, and to see the bounds of the land lately purchased 
 of him." This purchase covered the Old Amwell township, or the 
 present townships of Raritan, Delaware, East and West Amwell. 
 
 The 150,000 acres were divided among the proprietors. But the 
 tract which extended north from the Assanpink and which was 
 within the original township of Hopewell, belonging to the West 
 Jersey Society, which was a company of proprietors living in 
 
 ' Gordon's History, p. 57. 
 
 ^ This Boude Tract extended southward from Lambertville. 
 ^ Smith's History of New Jersey, pp. 95, 97. 
 
 '' It IS probable that tracts of land had been bargained for previouslj% by 
 individuals with the Indians. 
 
HUNTKKDOM COUNTY. 7 
 
 England. To them Daniel Coxe conveyed this tract in 1691. He 
 obtained the title to it in 1685. He owned 22 proprietor}' shares. 
 Among the first wlio took up land out of this tract of 150,000 
 acres, was the estate of Benjamin Field.' lie had 3,000 acres 
 fronting on the river; the southern border of this touched the 
 Society's tract. He also had 2,000 acres near Ringos. Robert 
 Dinsdale had extensive tracts beginning about Lambertville and 
 embracing Mt. Airy. John Calow owned north of the cit)^ and 
 fronting on the river. Wm. Biddle held 5,000 acres immediatelj' 
 north of Calow, fronting on the river. John Reading took up land in 
 the vicinity or Prallsville and Barber's Station. He also owned land 
 about Centre Bridge which was called Reading's Ferry, 
 until 1770, when it went by the name of Howell's Ferry. "■' Other own 
 ers of tracts were Gilbert Wheeler, Richard Bull and John Clarke. 
 These large tracts soon passed into other hands. 1705 John HoL 
 combe of Arlington of Pa., bought lands from Wheeler and Bull, 
 and subsequently he made purchases out of the Biddle and Calow 
 tracts. He is the ancestor of the Holcombe families in Hunterdon 
 county. In 1709 Wm. Biles sold to Edward Kemp of Buck's 
 county, Pa., who the next year sold 200 acres to Ralph Brock, a 
 millwright. In 1716 Richard Mew sold one half a tract to John 
 Mumford of Newport, R. I. Joshua Opdyke purchased several 
 hundred acres of the heirs of Wm. Biles. He was the great-grand 
 lather of Hon. George Opdyke, at one time Mayor New York city. 
 In 1714 Wm. Biles, son of W. Biles, Sr., who was then deceased, 
 sold 1,665 acres to Charles Wolverton. The southwest corner of 
 this was on Reading's line ; 284 acres of this was sold to Geo. Fox, 
 who came from England. In 1729 this was conveyed to Thomas 
 Canby of Buck's county. In 1735 he sold to Henry Coat, and in 
 1741 he to Derrick Hoagland. Wm. Rittenhouse had a tract of 
 land east this. Wm. Biddle also sold 1,150 acres in 1732 to 
 
 ' See subsequent page. 
 
 * For these facts about Lambertville, I am indebted to mauu^^CI•ipts of P. A . 
 Studdiford, D. D. of Lambertville. N. J. 
 
8 HUNTKRDON COUNTV. 
 
 Peter Kralev of Mansfield, now Washington, Warren county. He 
 sold to Christopher Cornelius in 1750. And he sold to Daniel 
 PTowell, the same year, 400 acres. This was the Howell from 
 whom the Ferry took its nauie. His land joined Reading's at the 
 river. Howell conveyed a part of this land in 1754 to Francis 
 Tomlinson. In 1774 this came into possession of General Bray. 
 Yet further up the Delaware, adventurous settlers pressed, select- 
 ing tracts in Kingwood, Franklin and Alexandria townships, 
 checked only by the frowning hills of of the Schooley's range. 
 Among these we know of Warford, Bateman, Ellis, Gamer, A. Hunt, 
 Besson. About 1720' a Baptist Church was organized at Baptist- 
 town, known in its earliest days as the Bethlehem Baptist Church. 
 The Dalrymple family, numerous in Kingwood, are of Scotch origin. 
 There ancestor here, selected land by the advice of James Alexan- 
 der, Surveyor General of New Jersey, who was the agent of Sir 
 John Dalrymple, to whom Robert Barclay sold land in East Jersey. 
 Kingwood became more especially a Quaker settlement. The old 
 records of the Meeting at Quakertown date back to 1744, when the 
 first monthly meeting was held. In 1767, the minutes show that 
 they were busy building a new meeting house of stone, 39x27. 
 This was to take the place of one built of logs."^ This would indi- 
 cate a settlement ab^t 17 25." Among the first of whom we have 
 any knowledge as Imng in that neighborhood are King, Wilson, 
 Clifton, Rockhill, and Stevenson. They all belonged to the Bur- 
 lington Quarterly MeMing. Later on, Thomas Robeson settled in 
 that locality, the ancestor of the Secretary of the Navy during 
 President Grant's administration ; also Thomas Schooley was 
 another settler, who became the owner of large tracts of land on the 
 mountain, which is called after him. 
 
 ' So it has been stated. But I regard this date as too early by ten or fifteen 
 years. 
 
 ^ Kindlj' furnished by A. R. Vail, clerk of the meeting. 
 
 ' For furLlier particulars respecting Kingwood see quotations from old deeds 
 in a .series of articles ou " Traditions of our Ancestors," publisliei in the 
 Hunterdon Republican, Feb. 17 and 24, May 5 and 12. 1870. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 9 
 
 While the tide of immigration was setting up the Delaware, a 
 similar flow advanced along the Raritan. The persecutions of the 
 Covenanters drove large numbers of them, in 1638 and the following 
 years, to Bast Jersey, many of whom settled at Plainfield, Scotch 
 Plains and Westfield. They were Presbyterians, and men of virtue, 
 education and courage. The opposition of the people and the 
 proprietors to au}' arbitarj' imposition from England, and freedom 
 of conscience, allured these people to New Jersey. And, as Ban- 
 croft says, they gave to "the rising commonwealth a character, 
 which a century and a half has not effaced." The Quakers also set- 
 tled among them, through the influence of Robert Barcla.y. Some 
 of these settlers, and many of their children found their way to the 
 richer lands of Hunterdon. 
 
 So early as 1685, Dutch Huguenots came to the north branch of 
 the Raritan. In 1699 the Dutch Church of Somerville was formed. 
 Readington township, which lies between the north and south 
 branches, was taken up by four proprietors. George Willocks of 
 Perth Amboy, owned the northeast, i. e., all northward of Holland's 
 Brook and eastward of the White House, to the Lamington river. 
 John Budd and James Logan held the portion northwest of Willocks. 
 Joseph Kirkbride had the southerly part, and Colonel Daniel Coxe, ' 
 of Philadelphia, the southwest. These two were proprietors of 
 West Jersey. Their lines came to the south branch. On the 
 west of that stream they both had tracts ; extending to Flemington.' 
 They had their lands surveyed in the year 1712, in which year 
 Kirkbride sold five hundred acres to Emanuel Van Etta ; having 
 previously disposed of two hundred acres, west of Van Etta's pur- 
 chase, to Daniel Seabring and Jerome Van Est. This tract extend- 
 ed from the south brancli to the road now leading from Pleasant run 
 to Branch ville. On this tract, near Campbell's Brook, was an In- 
 dian village. Other settlers from 1710 to 1720 were Stoll, Lott, 
 Biggs, Schoraps, Smith, Van Horn, Wyckoff, Cole, Klein, Jennings, 
 Stevens, Johnson, Hoagland, Fisher, Probasco, LeQueer, Schenck; 
 
 ' See subsequent page. 
 
10 HUNTKRPON COUNTY. 
 
 Voorhees ; some of whom came from Long Island. Frederick Van 
 Fleet came from Esopus, New York, in 1725, and bought lands of 
 Van Etta. Me shortly after became owner 6i' many acres at Van 
 Fleet's Corner. His son, Thomas, was the great-grandfather of A. 
 V. Van Fleet, the present Vice-Chancellor of the State. Lord 
 Niel Campbell had obtained a deed for land at the forks of the north 
 and south branches, January 9th, 1685. John Dobie, John Camp- 
 bell, John Drummond and Andrew Hamilton purchased all south 
 of Holland's Brook and west of the south branch. November 9th, 
 1685. Campbell's Brook was named after that John Campbell.' 
 
 This district, lying between the confluence of the branches of the 
 Raritan and the Delaware river, soon became known ; and its natur- 
 al advantages attracted the attention of both the Jerseys. A tribe 
 of Indians living near the site of Hartsville, Pa., had a path to and 
 across the Delaware at Lambertville, and thence to Newark, by way 
 of Mt. Air}', Ringos and Reaville. The "Old York Road " was 
 laid on the bed of that path, or rather this path became that road, 
 for the road itself was never surveyed. In a deed for land at Rin- 
 gos, dated August 25th, 1726, this is described as "The King's 
 Highway that is called the York Road." Another Indian came in 
 ^rom the north, through the valley- at Clarksville, the gateway for all 
 their tribes who threaded their way down the great valley of theWal. 
 kill, or crossed over from Pennsylvania at the forks of the Delaware. 
 This Indian highway led down to the wigwams on the Assanpink. 
 These roads crossed at Ringos. This whole region was heavily 
 wooded with oak, hickory, beach and maple. The forests abounded 
 with game. The streams were alive with fish, and the most deli, 
 cious shad made annual visitations along the borders. That fish was 
 caught higher up than Flemington, before mill dams obstructed the 
 branch. The hauls of them in the Delaware have been enormous 
 within the memory of old people. Also the Indians were peaceable 
 
 ' Historical .\ppendix to the Dedication Sermon of the Readmgton Church, 
 by the Rev. John Van Liew. Appendix by John B. Thompson. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 11 
 
 and friendly. The Raritan was navigable up to the union of the 
 north and south branches. Long afterward, much of the heavy 
 produce was carried to market on these streams, In seasons of 
 freshets the farmers up the river conveyed their grain to New Bruns- 
 wick in fiat bottomed boats, floating them down and pulling them 
 back. Old persons tell us that fifty years ago, brooks were double 
 their present volume. No wonder, then, that East and West Jer. 
 sey joined hands over Hunterdon County, and that their children 
 were attracted away from their old homesteads at an early day. 
 For that same eagerness to occupy the frontier and push further 
 West, which has been the ruling passion for the last half century, 
 possessed and animated the sons of the settlers in the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 In addition, the political institutions were so liberal in their char 
 acter, that those who appreciated civil and religious liberty were at- 
 tracted. And thus it came to pass, that no county in the State had 
 so mixed a population, composed, as it was, of Huguenots, Hol- 
 lands, Germans, Scotch, Irish, English, and native Americans. 
 
 The^P^^e estate extended to the present village of Clinton, and 
 joined the Kirkbride tract, the two covering an area of four miles. 
 One of the oldest and most distinguished settlers in that part of the 
 county was Phillip Grandin, His father emigrated from France, 
 and settled in Monmouth County. Phillip and his brother John 
 bought one thousand acres on the the south branch, including Hamp- 
 ton. He built a grist mill and a fulling mill. Afterward this was 
 called Johnston's Mills. It was in a ruined condition one hundred 
 years ago. Cloth was made there for all this region. He \vas the 
 grandfather of Dr. John Grandin, who was the most noted physi- 
 cian of the county in his day.' 
 
 On tlie present site of Clinton were early located mills, called 
 Hunt's Mills. During the revolution large quantities of flour were 
 ground in them. Among the early settlers were James Wilson, 
 
 ' For further, seo History of the District Medical Society of Hunterdon, by 
 John Blane, M. D., and Hunterdon County Republic, March 13st, 1870. 
 
12 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 Hope, Foster, Apgar, Bonnell. The most distinguished was Judge 
 Johnston, who came about 1740. He owned ,a tract of one thous- 
 and two hundred acres. His house was the most stately mansion 
 in the northern part of West Jersey. Being chief magistrate for this 
 section of the county, on Monday of each week court was held in 
 his broad hall. His house became the resort of culture and talent ; 
 and his daughter, who afterwards married Charles Stewart, is said to 
 have been the best read woman in the province. 
 
 A tract of five thousand and eighty-eight acres, from Asbury to 
 Hampton Junction, was purchased by John Bowl by about 1740. 
 When he was running the boundaries of this land, Col. Daniel Coxe 
 (v?ho was the oldest son of the proprietor, deceased about 1739). 
 was lying out a tract to the east of him. There was a great strife, 
 who should get his survey first on record, so as to secure as much 
 of the Musconetcong Creek as possible. Bowlby was successful. 
 John W. Bray, a descendant of one of the .first settlers in connection 
 with A. Taylor, commenced improving Clinton about the time that 
 Governor Clinton of New York died ; and they named the place 
 after him. 
 
 Returning now toward the north branch, from a deed in the 
 possession of A. E. Sanderson, Esq., of Plemington, it appears that 
 about the year 1711, the West Jersey Society had surveyed for 
 them a section known as " The Societ3^'s Great Tract." Of this, 
 James Alexander purchased ten thousand acres in 1744, taking in 
 the whole of the Round Valley and surrounding mountains, and al 
 the land from Bray's hill on the west nearly to the White House, 
 and reaching north to the brow of the hill north of Lambertville. 
 The Lebanon part contained two thousand acres, which were 
 conveyed to Anthony White by Alexander's heirs, September 7th, 
 1782. This, however, had been held in Trust by Alexander since 
 1755. These lieirs were his son William Lord Sterling, and the 
 wives of Peter Van Brug Livingston (whose sister Sterling had 
 married), Walter Rutherford, John Stevens, and Susanna Alex- 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 13 
 
 ander, who afterwards married Col. Reid. "Walter Rutherfurd was 
 the owner of large tracts of land in Sussex County. Livingston 
 was a son of Philip Livingston of Livingston Manor, on the 
 Hudson, and a brother of Governor Livingston. All these took a 
 very active part in the Revolutionary struggle. Lord Stirling* was 
 the Colonel of the First Battalion formed in New Jersey, November 
 7th, 1775. The next March (11th), he was made Brigadier-General 
 of the Continental army; Major-General, February 19th, 1777. 
 He twice received the thanks of Congress, January 29th, 1776, 
 and September 24th, 1779. He died of gout at Albany, N. Y., 
 January 15th, 1783, while in command of the Nortliern Department. 
 Mr. Livingston was a merchant in New York, and contributed 
 largely of his money for the service of his country. The sisters 
 found the old mansion a safe retreat, when their own houses were 
 no longer protected from the incursions of the enemy. John 
 Stevens settled in Round Valley. He was the grandfather of 
 Edward, John, and Robert Livingston Stevens, who became the 
 pioneers in the railroad and steamboat enterprises of our State. 
 Robert when only twenty years old, took the Phoenix, a steamboat 
 built by his father, and one of the first ever constructed, from New 
 York around to Philadelphia, by sea, which is indisputably the 
 first instance of ocean steam navigation. This was in 1808. 
 Tradition says that Livingston, the associate of Robert Fulton, was 
 a frequent visitor at Round Yalley. 
 
 One of the first settlers in the neighborhood of White House 
 was Bakes Pickel, who bought one thousand acres from the Budd 
 and Logan tract, at the foot of Cushetunk Mt., now Pickles Mt. 
 Abrani Van Horn came from Monmouth to White House about 
 1749, he lookup four hundred acres, south of the railroad and on 
 both sides of the creek, along the turnpike. On the stream he 
 built a mill. When Washington's army lay at Morristown, he was 
 appointed forage master. In his mill he ground flour for the army 
 and hauled it over. His barn was used as a storehouse for forage. 
 
 'See life of Stirling, publiahed by N. J. Historicsal Society. 
 
14 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 In this barn, a company of Hessians, taken prisoners at Trenton, 
 were lodo;ed and fed, while on their way to Easton, Pa. This same 
 barn afterwards was used as a house of worship for fifteen years, by 
 the congregation of the Reformed Church.' 
 
 The settlement of Lebanon, at one time called Jacksonville, and 
 Germantown, is connected with the settlement of German Valley. 
 In 1707 a number of German Reformed people, who had been 
 driven bv persecution to Rhenish Prussia, and thence had gone to 
 Holland, embarked for New York. But adverse winds carried 
 their ship into Delaware Bay. Determined, however, to go to the 
 place for which they set out, the banks of the Hudson, they 
 started from Philadelphia and went up to New Hope ; there crossing 
 the river they took the Old York Road. Precisely where this 
 band came to the mountainous region is not known. But their 
 vision was charmed with the tempting nature of the soil, and the 
 streams. They found this whole region astir with pioneers, who 
 were prospecting and settling. Abandoning therefore their original 
 intention, they resolved to establish themselves on the good land 
 around them. From them and tlieir descendants, Germantown and 
 German Valley derived their names. The names of these pioneers 
 are yet found on the church record of Lebanon. Probably at New 
 Germantown a few English people had already settled, and this 
 was the first point occupied in Tewksbury township. Among 
 these names are Johnson, Thompson, Cole. Plat, Ireland, Carlisle 
 and Smith. Smith was a large land owner, and ambitious of 
 founding a town. The first street was called Smith's lane, and the 
 first name by which the settlement was known was Smithfield. 
 About 1753 the village began to be called New Germantown. All 
 the land which Smith sold was conveyed in the form of leases, 
 running for one hundred years. Most of the land in and around 
 the village, was bequeathed to Zion's Church, and was rented to 
 
 "Oa "White House, see an article by Rev. William Bailey, iu " Our Home," a 
 magazine published in Somerville, N. J., in 1873. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 15 
 
 tenants on long leases. The greater part of these were bought in, 
 fifty years ago. This is now a Lutheran Society, but the probability 
 is that a religious organization of the Church of England preceded 
 this, and at an early date, probably under Lord Cornbury. For in 
 1749 an instrument conveys seven acres of ground, and the church 
 building then erected, to the Trustees of the Lutheran Society for a 
 period of one hundred and three years. But the Germans who 
 came in before the Kevolution predominated. Among these were 
 Jacob Kline, Mellick, one of whose sons went to New York, 
 became a merchant and was the first President of the Chemical 
 Bank ; Honeyman, John Bergen, George Wilcox, Adam Ten Eyck 
 who owned a large tract in the southern part of the township.* 
 Frederic Bartles was another, who was in the cavalry of Frederic 
 the Great. He was captured by the French, but escaped to 
 Amsterdam, Thence he made his way to London. He came over 
 to Philadelphia and then to New Gerraantown. He was the grand- 
 father of Charles Bartles, Esq., of Flemington. 
 
 North of the village, a large tract was owned by James Parker 
 of Amboy, one of the proprietors of East Jersey. The land on 
 which the Presbyterian Church at Fairmount stands, was given bv 
 him before 1760, at which date a church edifice was on the ground. 
 The place was originally called Parkersville. It is probable that 
 the first settlers came about 1740. For Michael Schlatter speaks 
 of preaching in the church of Fox Hill in 1747. The hill was then 
 called Foxenburg, from a man by the name of Fox, who was a very 
 enterprising farmer, and introduced a new and superior kind of 
 wheat. People came from a great distance to buy this wheat for 
 seed. In 1768 the churches of Fox Hill and German Valley, with 
 those of Rockaway and Alexandria, were united under one charge. 
 In 1782 Casper Wack was settled over Lebanon^ German Valle}^, 
 Fox Hill and Ringos,^ 
 
 ' An Article in "Our Home," New Germantown, March, 1873. 
 
 "History of Presbyterian Church, Fairmount, by Rev. Wm. 0. Ruston, 1876. 
 
16 HaNTKRDON COONTY. 
 
 As far as can be ascertained, after the occupation of the land on 
 the eastern and western borders of the county, very soon land was 
 taken up along the great Indian paths already described, especially 
 on the Old York road. Prom parchment deeds now in possession 
 of Mr. A. S. Laning of Pennington, it appears that in the year 
 1702, Benjamin Field, one of the proprietors living in Burlington, 
 agreed to sell to Nathan Allen, of Allentown, 1,650 acres, com- 
 prising the land in and around Ringos. Field seems to have died 
 suddenly before this was consummated, making his wife, Experience, 
 his sole executrix, by a will dated 13th May, 1702. She conveyed 
 this tract to Allen, by deed dated May 29th, 1702. This, which 
 seems to have been before the purchase from the Indians by the 
 Council, was probably allotted to Field's estate at the time of the 
 dividend in 1703. By a deed bearing date 6th December, 1721, 
 Allen conveyed to Rudolph Harley, of Somerset county, for £75 
 New York money, 176 acres. The deed conveys all the minerals, 
 mines, fishing, hunting and woods on the tract. Harley removed 
 from Somerset and settled here. On August 25th, 1726, he sold 
 25 acres of his tract to Theophilus Ketcham, innholder, for £15 
 English.^ May 22d, 1720, Allen conveyed 150 acres to Philip 
 Peter. This whole tract of Allen's in a few years was divided into 
 small portions. For, by a release executed June 26th, 1758, the fol- 
 lowing persons are enumerated as being possessed of parts of the 
 original tract. Ichabod Leigh, 118 acres, Henry Landis, 80, Wm 
 Schenck, 280, Jacob Sutphin, 150, Tunis Hoppock, 100, Jacob 
 Moore, 138, Obadiah Howsell, 8, Justus Ransel, 30, Rudolph Har- 
 ley, 142, John Howsell, 3, G-ershom Mott, 2, Philip Ringo, 40 
 James Baird, 18, Anna Lequear, 80, George Thompson, 100, 
 
 Jeremiah Trout, 3, Barrack, 100, George Trout. 17, John 
 
 Hoagland, 200, Derrick Hoagland, 180, John Williamson, 180. In 
 1724 Francis Moore, of Amwell, bought 100 acres from Allen, which 
 afterward he conveyed to John Dagworthy, of Trenton. Dagworthy 
 
 ' To me the evidence favors the supposition that he kept the first tavern, and 
 not Ringo, as has generally been held. 
 
HUJSTERDON COUNTY. 17 
 
 sold, on August 6th, 1736, to Philip Ringo, inriholder, five acres for 
 £30. On this plot the present tavern stands. On April 18th. 
 1744, he let him have eight acres more for £50 of the Province, 
 Tradition declares that a log cabin was kept here, which became a 
 famous stopping place known as Ringo's Old Tavern. The son and 
 the grandson, John, continued the business until his death in 1781, 
 when the property was purchased by Joseph Robeson. For many 
 years Ringos was the most important village in the wliole Amwell 
 valley. A store was kept here to which the Indians resorted from 
 as far as Somerville. Here public meetings were held to petition 
 the king for the removal of grievances. Later on, celebrations for 
 the whole county centered at this point. It was also a place of con- 
 siderable trade. Henry Landis who came in 1737, carried on the 
 saddlery business, in which he secured a reputation that extended 
 from Trenton to Sussex. In the prosecution of this business he 
 made money, and became owner of several hundred acres of land. 
 In the old stone house which he built and which is now standing, it 
 is said that Lafayette was confined by sickness for more than a week; 
 and that he was attended by Dr. Gershom Craven, who practiced 
 more than forty years in that part of the county. 
 
 Land was loosely surveyed. John Dagworthy, of Trenton, so 
 states one of the deeds already referred to, bought 100 acres. He 
 sold several portions of it, and then suspected that his original 
 purchase was larger than was stated ; so he obtained from the Coun- 
 cil of the Proprietors of West Jersey a warrant ofresurve}^ which 
 was done by order of the Surveyor-General, dated Nov. 10th, 1753. 
 It was found to contain seventeen acres overplus. To secure him- 
 self he purchased the right to this overplus, as unappropriated lands, 
 from John Reading. 
 
 So early as 1725 an Episcopal church was in existence at Ringos. 
 It was built of logs, and was located just beyond the railroad 
 station. It was organized under a charter from the crown, by a 
 missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
 Foreign Parts. Several of these were establislied about this time 
 
18 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 in the Province, under the auspices of Queen Anne, who instructed 
 Lord Cornbury to see that new churches were erected as need 
 required.' Boss settled east of Ringos, and Howsel west by 1725, 
 Schenckin 1726. Other settlers were Jacob Fisher, Lumraix, who 
 donated the burial ground to the Episcopal Church, Stevenson, Suy- 
 dam, Dilts, Shepherd, Larison, Wurts. Peter Young settled at 
 Wurtsville in 1726. 
 
 The colony of Germans who passed over the York Road in 1707 
 was the beginning of a large and continued migration. Some settled 
 at Mt. Airy and around Ringos, others near Round Valley, some 
 at length pressed over to Stillwater and Newton in Sussex county. 
 By the year 1 747 a German Reformed congregation was worship- 
 ping in a log church which stood in the old grave yard at Larison's 
 Corner, a mile from Ringos. The first pastor was John Conrad 
 Wurts, who for ten years, until 1751, had charge of that and the 
 churches of Lebanon, German Valley and Fox Hill. He was 
 probably the ancester of Alexander Wurts, Esq., of Flemington _ 
 One of the first and prominent men connected with that church was 
 Adam Bellis, who came from Holland about 1740, and bought 250 
 acres two miles south of Flemington, next to the Kuhls. This 
 was a part of the old Stevenson tract of 1,400 acres. His descend- 
 ants are yet numerous in and around Flemington. The mill which 
 stands on the stream, near Copper Hill, was built at an early date by 
 Cornelius Stout. The second mill was built in 1812. 
 
 At Flemington the tracts of three proprietors touched. Penn 
 had one of 5,000 acres, and Daniel Coxe one of 4,170, which were 
 surveyed by John Reading in 1712. The dividing line ran from 
 east to west, by the lamp post in front of the Presbyterian church. 
 A high stone just over the brook east of the South Branch Railroad 
 is where this line touched the stream. South of this line belonged 
 to Penn ; north of it to Coxe. Coxe's was commonly called the 
 Mt. Carmel tract, and the high hill on the top of which is Cherry- 
 
 ' Smith's N. J., pp. 252-3. 
 
HUNTEKDON COUNTY, 19 
 
 ville Still bears the name of Coxe's Hill. On March '24th, 1712, 
 Joseph Kirkbride bought a quarter section or 1,250 acres from John 
 Budd, son and heir of Thomas Budd of Philadelphia, which was 
 taken up as Budd's dividend of one quarter of a propriety, which he 
 purchased of Edward Byllinge, March, 1676. On the same date 
 (1712), Kirkbride also bought 1,250 acres adjacent to this, belonging 
 to Wm. Biddle of Mt. Hope, Burlington county, which was his 
 dividend of a part of a propriety purchased of Byllinge in January, 
 1676. These two tracts, together 2,500 acres, lay next to Penn's, 
 and extended west and northwest along John Reading's and Ed- 
 ward Rockhill's lines ; eastward and nortli eastward to the South 
 Branch and, on^the southerly side, John Kays had a tract borderino- 
 on Kirkbride's, and reaching to the Stevenson tract and John Woll- 
 man's. November 12th, 1737, this tract was sold to Benjamin 
 Stout for £90. Stout seems already to have occupied 89^ acres of 
 this tract. His deed speaks of the tract bordering at one part on 
 unappropriated land.' Prom other old deeds it appears that settlers 
 did not occupy land in Flemington earlier than 1731." In that year 
 Coxe sold to Wm. Johnson 210 acres. He came from Ireland. 
 His son Samuel was a distinguished teacher and mathematician. 
 His son, Thomas Potts, was an eloquent and learned lawj'er of New 
 Jersey. He married a daughter of Robert Stockton. His portrait 
 may now be seen over the judge's chair in the court room at Flem- 
 ington. Other settlers, in and around the village, were Johannes 
 Bursenbergh, Philip Kase, Robert Burgess, Wm. Norcross, Johr 
 Hairling, Geo. Alexander, Joseph Smith, James Earrar, Thos. 
 Hunt, Dr. George Creed. Of Dr. Creed nothing is known except 
 that he was practicing at Flemington in 1765, The early settlers 
 were German, Irish and English. In 1756 Samuel Fleming pur- 
 chased land. The old house where he lived and which was the 
 lirst built in the village is yet standing. Samuel Southard owned 
 
 ' In 1736 a laveru was built at Cherry ville, which last year yielded to the 
 elemeuis and fell. 
 
 - The above facts are taken from old deeds held by Aaron Griggs. 
 
20 HDNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 and occupied il while he resided in Flemington, where he began the 
 practice of law in 1814, at which time he was an active member of 
 the Presbyterian congregation. He was the first President of the 
 Hunterdon County Bible Societ3^ Fleming kept a tavern in this 
 house, and as other houses were built the settlement which grew up 
 was called Flemings — so it is named on the old maps — and finally, 
 Flemington.^ 
 
 Fleming brought with him from Ireland a boy, Thomas Lowry, 
 who afterwards married his daughter Esther. Lowry became the 
 most prominent man of the village, and acquired much property. 
 He was one of the founders of the Baptist Church in 1765. which 
 was the first Baptist Church in Amwell township. He was a 
 shrewd, sagacious man, who generally succeeded in his under- 
 takings. He was a member from Hunterdon of the Provincial 
 Congress in 1775. After the war, for several years, he was a member 
 of the Legislature. He bought about 1,000 acres of land, taking 
 in nearly all the beautiful and fertile plain where Frenchtown is 
 situated. He purchased a tract of the same extent at Milford. 
 This was probably before the revolution. The Frenchtown tract he 
 sold to Provost for £8,000. Lowry then commenced the improve- 
 ment of the Milford property, and put up the old red mill and the 
 saw mill at the river. These were completed by 1800. The place 
 was first called Lowrytown. Before the bridge was built across the 
 Delaware there was a ferry above the mill, and hence the name 
 Mill- ford. Lowry was the founder of Frenchtown, where he 
 built a house and mill, and resided until his death in 1809. He 
 was buried in the graveyard of the Kingwood Presbyterian Church. 
 One of his daughters married Dr. Wm. McG-ill, a prominent physi- 
 cian in that part of the county, Lowry and his wife were very 
 active patriots during the revolution. At the first call he enlisted 
 in the army, being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Regi- 
 
 ' For further information about the settlement and history of Flemington, 
 see Discourse by Rev. G. IS. Mott, 1876. 
 
 5 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 21 
 
 ment in Hunterdon County, June, 1776, of which he afterward be- 
 came Colonel. 
 
 The torritor}' extending from Three Bridges, on the south branch, 
 along the Old York Road to Ringos, was settled at an early day ; 
 for in 1738 the Presbyterian Church of First Amwell, near 
 Reaville, is found upon the records of the Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick. Some circumstances lead to the supposition that a 
 congregation existed by 1730. Whitelield preached there in 1739, 
 and says in his diary, " Some thousands of people had gathered 
 here by noon, expecting me." This was the only Presbyterian 
 church in the Amwell Valley, from the branch to the Delaware. 
 In 1753 a parsonage was purchased, and the following names 
 appear on the subscription list : John Smith, Jacob Sutphin, Bejaja- 
 min_jJius£ll,_John Steel, Jacob Mattison, Eliab Byram (the pastor), 
 Garret Schenck, Abraham Prall, Peter Prall, paiii^]. finrew, Thomas 
 Hardin, Benjamin Johnson, David Barham, John Reading (Gov.), 
 John Reading, Jr., Jacob Gray, Daniel Reading, Martin Ryerson- 
 (greatgrandfather of the late Hon. Martin Ryerson of Newton, 
 N. J.), Daniel Griggs, George Reading, James Stout, Richard 
 Philips, John Anderson, William Anderson, Samuel Carman, 
 Samuel Furman, Thomas Hunt, Jonathan Hill, Samuel Fleming, 
 Richard Reading, Joseph Reading, Samuel Hill, Derrick Sutphen, 
 John Cox, John Francis, William Davison, John Wood, Henry 
 Dildine. Nathaniel Bogert, Abram Larew . 
 
 In the year 1754, the population had so increased, that Presby- 
 tery was petitioned, " by the people bordering on the Delaware, to 
 give them the privilege of building a meeting-house of their own.'' 
 This was granted, and the ciiurch at Mt. Airy was erected. The 
 frame of this remained until 1874, when a new building was put 
 up. 
 
 In 1732 John Emanuel Coryell came to Lambertville. The 
 family left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and 
 settled near Plainfield. John purchased a tract of two hundred 
 acres. In this was the ferry lot, for whicli he obtained a patent, 
 January 7th, 1733. In this patent the ferry is mentioned as 
 
22 HTJNTRRPON COUNTY. 
 
 formerly known as Goat's Ferry. It was more generally called 
 Wells' Forry, down to the year 1770. It was so named because it 
 was leased to John Wells in 1719. Whether he and Coryell were 
 rival ferrymen, or had a joint interest, is not known. Wells bought 
 a tract of one hundred acres in 1734, on the Pennsylvania side, 
 near the ferry ; and from him the rapids below Lambertville obtain 
 their name, " Wells' Falls." Four brothers, Lambert, came to 
 New Jersey between 1735 and 1746. Two of these, Gershom and 
 John, settled about three miles from Lambertville, having bought 
 tracts of land near each other, John a son of Gershom, born 1846, 
 became a prominent man. He was intelligent, sagacious and 
 energetic. For many years he was a member of the State Council. 
 From 1795 to 1800 he was Vice-President of the Council. From 
 1800 to 1802 he was President. In 1802 and 1803, he was acting 
 Governor of New Jersey. From 1805 to 1809 he was a member of 
 the House of Representatives of the United States. From 1709 to 
 1715 he represented this State in the United States Senate. From 
 him the town took its name. His cousin Gershom, a son of 
 John, was an active patriot. He sent two substitutes to the Revo- 
 lutionary arm3^ He aided the American troops in crossing the 
 river at Lambertville ; and when the army laid at Morristown he 
 had barrels made and carried them thither.^ 
 
 At an early day, Allen and Turner, of Philadelphia, bought from 
 the proprietors ten thousand acres north and west of Clinton. The 
 tract extended from VanSyckle's to German Valley, including 
 High Bridge and Clarkesville. Furnaces were in operation at 
 Exton's, near the High Bridge ; these were the most extensive^ 
 Another was west of VanSyckle's. The Cokesburg furnace was 
 built in 1754, as appears by a stone upon the wall of a part of the 
 old building at that place. There was also the Hackelbarney Forge 
 near the falls of Lamington. These mines were discovered verv 
 
 ' For these facts J am indebted to Dr. Studdiford of Lambertville, who 
 permitted me to peruse his History of Lambertville, now in mannscript, 
 but to be published. It will be a valuable local history. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 23 
 
 early in the last century. This led to the settlement of this remote 
 part of the country, and probably secured for it gentlemen like 
 Johnston, SteAvart and Grandin, whose families became noted for 
 education, refinement and that generous and charming hospitality 
 which wealth and culture can furnish. Their mansions still tell 
 of the grandeur of the past. These mines also determined the 
 character of a large class of settlers, who were hands employed 
 about the furnaces and forges, many of whom, as their names 
 indicate, were Welsh. Germans and Irish. In 1762 Col. Hackett 
 was the superintendent and Mr. Taylor, bookkeeper. In 1775 the 
 superintendent died, and Mr. Taylor was appointed in his place. He 
 remained all through the Revolution. At this furnace balls were 
 cast for the use of the army. Some of the old moulds have been 
 dug up within a few years. After the war the large tract was 
 sold, probabl}' as confiscated property,' and Mr. Taylor was selected 
 as one of the commissioners to divide the land. He was allowed 
 the privilege of selecting such a portion as he desired to buy. He 
 chose that around the forge. The surveyor asked him if he should 
 include the mines. Mr. Taylor replied he did not care whether he 
 had them. They were, however, included in the survey, and the 
 price paid was £800 for three hundred and sixty-six acres.* This 
 shows that little value was attached to the mines. They were not 
 worked again until the Central Railroad enabled the owners to 
 secure coal at a reasonable price. 
 
 Having taken this general survey of the settlement of the 
 county, we must now turn to other portions of its history. In 
 March, 1713, all the territory of "West Jersey, north of the Assan- 
 pink, was erected into the county of Hunterdon. This was 
 granted at the request of tlio inhabitants, who stated in their 
 petition, that "their frequent attending the several Courts of Bur. 
 lington, being at a very great distance from their habitations, has 
 
 ' See subsequent page. 
 
 * For furtlier; Hunterdon Republic, January 20th, 1870. 
 
24 huntp:rdon county. 
 
 been inconv'^enient and troublesome, as well as chargeable to the 
 inhabitants of the said upper parts of the said division." And yet 
 it seems that most of the business continued' to be done at Burling- 
 ton. So late as 1726, Trenton, which was the County seat, "had 
 hardly more than one house." In 1748 it had only a hundred.' The 
 county was named in honor of Brigadier-General Hunter, who at 
 that time was Governor General of the Provinces of New York 
 and New Jersey, to which he was appointed, June 14th, 1710. 
 Gordon in his history of New Jersey, says he " Was a native of 
 Scotland, and when a boy, was put an apprentice to an apothecary. 
 But he deserted his master and entered the army ; and being a man of 
 wit and personal beauty, acquired the affections of Lady Hay, whom 
 he afterwards married. He had been nominated in the year 1707 
 Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, under George, Earl of Orkney ; 
 but having been captured by the French, in his voyage to that 
 colony, was carried into France. He was unquestionably a man of 
 merit, since he enjoyed the intimacy of Swift, Addison and others, 
 distinguished for sense and learning. He mingled freely with the 
 world, and was somewhat tainted by its follies ; had engaging 
 manners, blended, perhaps, not unhappily for his success in the 
 Province, with a dash of original vulgarity. His administration, 
 of ten years' duration, was one of almost unbroken harmony." He 
 was the most popular Governor the Crown had appointed, and 
 hence the respect shown him, in calling by his name the only 
 county formed during his administration. By 1722 the county had 
 grown to live townships, of which only one, Amwell, was north of 
 the Sourland range and within the present bounds of the county. 
 In 1726 the population was 3,236. 
 
 The Indians who inhabited this State when it was discovered, 
 belonged to the Delawares, who were a part of the great Leni 
 Lenape family, whose different branches roamed the country east of 
 the Alleghenies. They occupied the territory which extended from 
 the Hudson River to and beyond the Potomac. These Delawares 
 
 ' Gordon's Gazetteer of New Jersey, 253. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 25 
 
 had divided themselves into three tribes, two of these calling them- 
 selves Menarais and Unalachtgo, or the Turtle and the Turkey, had 
 settled on those lands which lay between the coast and the moun- 
 tains. The third tribe, the Wolf, or, as they called themselves, the 
 Minsi, orMonseys, possessed the mountains and the land beyond. 
 They extended their settlements from the Minisinl\, a place where 
 they held tlieir councils, to the Hudson on the east, and beyond th^ 
 Susquehanna on the south-west. They were a very war-like race, 
 as their name indicated. Their southern boundary, in this direction, 
 was that range of hills which stretches along the upper line of 
 Hunterdon and the branches of the Raritan. Thus the coast- tribes 
 and the mountaineers came together in this county. Many families 
 of these chose to live by themselves, fixing their abode in villages, 
 and taking a name from their location. Each of these had a chief, 
 who, however, was in a measure subordinate to a head chief.' A 
 family was situated on the Neshanic, called the Neshanic Indians. 
 There was another settlement a mile from Fleminglon, on a brook 
 called the Minisi. One was near the Branch at Three Bridges. There 
 they had a burying ground. Another, one and a half miles south- 
 west from Ringos, along a creek on Jacob Thatcher's farm. Traces 
 of their village can yet be seen there. Yet another was near Mt. 
 Airy station on the Alexsocken. There was quite a large settle- 
 ment of them at Rocktown. Indeed, the Am well Valley was 
 populated with them. As already stated, in 1703 the proprietors 
 purchased of Heinhammoo, a large tract of land in Hunterdon, lying 
 west of the south branch, and they also bought the title to all other 
 lands of the Indians who were supposed to have any right to 
 them. These seem to have been contented, and lived in their 
 villages on the mostly friendly terms with the whites. But the 
 game diminished as the country was settled, so that the Indians 
 were constrained to resort to trade, in order to procure the neces- 
 saries of life. They made wooden ladles, bowls, trays, etc.. which 
 
 ' Heckewelder's Indian Nations. Memoirs of Historical Society of Penn- 
 sylvania, vol. 12 pp. 48-52. 
 
26 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 they exchanged for butter, milk, chickens and meat. They soon 
 acquired a fondness for intoxicating liquors, and, when under their 
 influence, would quarrel and fight in a terrible manner. This 
 became so great an evil, that the Legislature in 1757, laid a penalty 
 upon persons selling strong drink to the Indians, so as to intoxicate 
 them, and declaring all Indian sales and pawns for drink void. 
 
 The defeat of General Braddock in the Summer of 1775, 
 produced great consternation throughout all the colonies, and led to 
 disastrous consequences. A hatred of the whites had for years 
 been growing in the hearts of the Indians, who saw themselveg 
 becoming more and more helpless, under the steadil}^ increasing 
 encroachments of the settlers. The wrongs which were inflicted 
 upon them, by designing men, aggravated their dislike. So that it 
 was an easy matter for the French, and the Indians already leagued 
 with them in hostilities, to persuade those tribes which had 
 remained nominally at peace with the inhabitants, to join them in 
 a general uprising and onslaught upon the settlers. The Shawnees 
 and Delawares were drawn into this defection also ; bands of Indians 
 joined them, many going from the Pines to the Blue Ridge, under 
 this impulse. Numbers who had roamed around the countrj'-, 
 much like the tramps of to-day, went off to join the Indian troops 
 and never returned. The people of this section and to the north, 
 were greatly alarmed at this state of things. 
 
 The first inroads of the savages were down the Susquehanna 
 through Berks and Northampton Counties, across the Delaware 
 into New Jersey. Some of the scalping parties penetrated 
 within thirty miles of Philadelphia. A letter from Easton, dated 
 December 25th, 1755, states that the "country all above this town 
 for fifty miles is mostly evacuated and ruined. The people have 
 mostly fled into the Jerseys. * * The enemy 
 
 made but few prisoners, murdering almost all that fell into 
 their hands, of all ages and both sexes." The inhabitants of New 
 Jersey, roused by these sufferings of their neighbors, and fearing 
 for their own towns, prepared to resist the foe. Governor Belcher 
 despatched troops promptly from all parts of the province, to 
 
SUNTERDON COUNTY. 27 
 
 the defence of the western frontier. Col. John Anderson, 
 of Sussex County, collected four hundred men, and secured the 
 upper part of the State. During the winter of 1755 and 1756 
 marauding parties of French and Indians hung around this 
 western border. To guard against their incursions, a chain of forts 
 and block houses was erected along the mountain and at favorable 
 points on the east bank of the Delaware. Although the inroads of 
 the savages were infrequent, and consisted of small bands, yet the 
 fear which all felt that their mid-night slumber might be broken by 
 the war-whoop, was sufficient to keep them in a constant terror. 
 Many left their homes.' A loud call was made upon the Assembly 
 for increased means of defence. This was done, and the force was 
 placed under the command of Col. DeHart.^ 
 
 As an additional measure of protection a treaty was made with 
 Teedyuscung, wliereby the Delaware and Shawnees on the Susque- 
 hanna were reconciled. The Legislature appointed a committee, 
 who met the Indians of this State at Crosswicks, in the winter of 
 1756. Their grievances were heard patiently, and then reported to 
 the Legislature, which passed acts in 1757 to relieve them. One 
 of these grievances was, tliat the Indians had not been paid for 
 certain tracts of land, wliich had been taken from them. The only 
 portion of Hunterdon, which came within these claims, was a tract 
 of twenty-five hundred acres claimed by Teedyuscung himself, 
 " beginning at Ringos, and extending along the Brunswick road to 
 Neshannock Creek, thence up the same to George Hattens, thence 
 in a straight course to Petit's place, and so on to a hill called 
 Paatquacktung, tJience in a straight line to the place of the begin- 
 ing, which tract was reserved at the sale." i. e., between Ringos and 
 Copper Hill. The Legislature gave the commissioners power to appro- 
 priate £1,600 to purchase a general release of all these claims, one- 
 half of which was to be devoted to paying the Indians residing to the 
 
 ' Tradition says that people hid tliemselves in the openings of tlie mines, at 
 Union. 
 " Gordon's New Jersey, pp. 122 and 124. 
 
28 HUNTERDON COUNTY, 
 
 south of the Raritan. This offer was accepted, and a treaty 
 concluded at Easton, October 26th, 1758, and thus ended all 
 difficulties with the Indians in New Jersey.^ This pacification 
 was greatly aided and quickened by an association founded in 
 Philadelphia in 1755, called "The Friendly Association, for 
 regaining and preserving peace with the Indians by pacific meas- 
 ures." Another cause which contributed to this happy result, was 
 that Teedyescunk, who was King of the Delawares and a chief of 
 very wide influence, was a Christian. He became such in 1749, and 
 was baptized by the name of Gideon.' Also we may suppose that 
 the influence of John Reading, from 1757 to June, 1758, the acting 
 Governor, while most of these negotiations were in progress, would 
 be exerted, in behalf of liberal measures toward the Indians, inas- 
 much as his early experience as surveyor in Hunterdon County 
 when it was yet a wilderness, and his subsequent residence in this 
 frontier region, would well qualify him to know their wrongs and 
 their needs, while the piety which adorned his life, would lead him 
 to that charity which overlooks ignorance. 
 
 Governor Reading had then entered his seventy-third year ; and the 
 fact that, at such an advanced age, he occupied so important and prom- 
 inent position is of itself evidence of the estimation in which he was 
 held. He was a true Jersey man, from boyhood identified with the 
 interests of the State, and particularly with the growth of Old 
 Hunterdon, by the side of whose ancient thoroughfare, the Old 
 York Road, in the graveyard of the old Amwell Church, his ashes 
 lie. 
 
 John Reading and Elizabeth his wife, the father and mother of 
 the Governor, emigrated from England with their two children, 
 John and Elsie. They were Quakers, and left their country on 
 account of the persecution to which the Quakers were subjected 
 They settled in the town of Gloucester, New Jersey, previous to 
 
 ' Smith's New Jersey, chap. 23, which contains all the particulars. 
 
 ' This fact of his being a Christian is obtained from the manuscripts of Dr. 
 Studdiford, already mentioned. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 29 
 
 the year 1683, as he was that year a member of the Council, 
 meeting in Burlington. He was a landholder in and about 
 Gloucester, of which town he ^vas Recorder from 1693 to 1701, 
 inclusive. He was one of the proprietors of West Jersey and a 
 prominent member of the Council, being often appointed on 
 important committeess. I [e, with William Biddle, Jr., and John 
 Mills, was sent to purchase in 1703, the great tract of one hundred 
 and fifty thousand acres, between the Raritan and the Delaware. 
 He was a surveyor and appointed one of the commissioners to 
 define the boundary line between New York and North Jersey, in 
 1719.1 He removed to his tract of land above Lambertville, where 
 he died, and was buried in the ground of the Buckingham Meeting 
 House in Buck's County, Pa. 
 
 John, the son, was born June 6th, 1686, and died November 7th, 
 1 767. He and his sister, when children, were taken to England by 
 their mother to be educated. She remained with them nine years, 
 attending to their education ; the father living in this country. On 
 the return of the son, it was found that he had embraced the 
 doctrines of the Presbyterians, to which he was ardently attached 
 all his life ; and so his descendnnts have continued. He married 
 Mary Ryerson, a sister of Col. P. Ryerson, then in the British 
 service. He succeeded to the greater part of his father's estate, 
 and followed his father's occupation. In 1712 to 1715 he surve3'^ed 
 tracts for parties in Burlington, who were locating lands through 
 the Amwell Valley, under the grants of the dividend of 1703. At 
 the same time, with an eye to a valuable purchase, which a 
 surveyor would be supposed to have, he secured for himself six 
 hundred acres along the south branch, two miles from Flemington; 
 where afterwards, on a beautiful site, he built the Reading home- 
 stead, now occupied by Philip Brown. He is said to have planted 
 the walnut trees growing there. He owned three mill properties, 
 including the farms now in possession of Barton, StothofF, Deats, 
 
 ' Smith's New Jersey, p. 412. 
 
30 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 Ewing, Clark and Brown. He was a member of " His Majesty's 
 Council,'' from 1728 to death, and Vice President for ten or twelve 
 years. On the death of Governor Hamilton in 1747, the govera- 
 ment devolved on him, until the arrival of Governor Belcher, with 
 whom he had the most friendly and intimate connection. He was 
 one of the first Trustees of Princeton College. His name is at the 
 head of the list in 1 748. On the death of Governor Belcher, in 
 August, 1757, he succeeded a second time to the administration, in 
 which he continued until June, 1758, when he was superseded by 
 the arrival of Governor Bernard. His influence and services and 
 money were freely bestowed to lay the foundation of religious 
 privileges, educational advantages and national freedom, upon 
 which we are now building. At the ripe age of eighty-one his 
 long, useful and honored career ended, amid the quiet of that 
 beautiful spot, which, under his cultivation, had emerged from a 
 forest into a garden. 
 
 He had a large family of seven sons and three daughters. Five 
 of the sons settled near him, and perpetuated the moral and 
 religious influences of their sire. They were prominent in church 
 matters, and took a lively interest in the Revolution ar}^ struggle. 
 The youngest son, Thomas, was Captain of the 6th Company of 
 the 3d Battalion of the Jersey Brigade, who were mustered m 
 during February, 1774. He served until the Battalion was 
 discharged. A grandson, John, entered the company of his uncle, 
 as Ensign. In Januarj^^ 1777, he was promoted to First Lieuten- 
 ant in a Company of another Battalion in which he continued until 
 September, 1780. Another grandson, Samuel, was appointed First 
 Lieutenant in Captain Stout's Company of the "Jersey Line," 
 first establishment, December 18th, 1775. He was taken prisoner 
 at Three Rivers, June 8th, 1776. He became Captain, February 
 5th, 1777, and Major of the First Regiment, December 29th, 1781, 
 and served until the close of the war.' Yet another, Charles, was 
 
 * Officers and Men of New Jersey in Revolutionary War, pp. 69, 86, 97. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 31 
 
 Lieutenant of the Third Regiment, Hunterdon, and afterwards 
 Captain. 
 
 The Governor's oldest daughter, Ann, married Rev. Charles 
 Beatty, one of the first graduates of the Old Log College of 
 Neshaminy, Pa. lie was a co-worker with the Tetinants in this 
 State, and a prominent clergyman all his life. They were the 
 progenitors of a numerous line of descendants, some of whom 
 have been conspicuous in Church and State. On the female side, 
 eight married Presbyterian ministers. One of the sons. General 
 John Beatty, was in the Revolutionary war, and so was his brother, 
 Colonel Erkuries Beatty. For many years John was one of the 
 prominent citizens of Trenton, being the first President of the 
 Bridge Company, and of the Trenton Bank. Elizabeth, another 
 daughter of Governor Reading, married John Hackett, from whom 
 Hackettstown derived its name. 
 
 By the year 1738 the upper part of the county had become 
 so filled with settlers that they petitioned the General Assembly 
 to erect a new county, because the distance to Trenton, where the 
 courts were held, was inconvenient, and to reach it, expensive. 
 Yielding to this petition, a new county was set ofi", comprising all 
 the upper part of the old above the present boundaries between 
 Hunterdon and Morris and Warren. The new county was called 
 Morris. Although thus shorn of more than half its territory, 
 Hunterdon soon became the wealthiest and most populous of all the 
 counties. Monmouth came next and Burlington third. Somerset 
 was fourth and Middlesex fifth. Wheat was the principal produc- 
 tion. The flour was sent to Philadelphia and New York. The 
 State was remarkable for mill-seats even at an early day. And in 
 no part were they so numerous as in this county. Along the 
 north and south branches, they were situated only a few miles apart. 
 
 These were of great importance during the Revolution, in 
 supplying with flour that part of the army which hovered between 
 New York and Philadelphia. The iron interest about Union 
 contributed largely to its prosperity. The soil was better adapted 
 
32 HUNTKRDON COCNTY. 
 
 to grazing and wheat than w^as the country to the south. In 1748 
 the Raritan Landing was described as a " Market for the most 
 plentiful wheat country for its bigness in America." In 1765 there 
 were within the county, nine Presbyterian churches, Low Dutch, 
 one ; German, one ; Episcopal, three ; Quaker, two ; Baptist, 
 two. 
 
 We now approach the great struggle with the mother country. 
 The Provincial Congress of New Jersey, in August, 1775, directed 
 fifty-four Companies, each of sixty-four minute men, to be 
 organized, allotting to each county a specific number. Hunterdon's 
 quota was from twenty-five to fifty per cent, above the other 
 counties. The members of this Congress from Hunterdon, were 
 Samuel Tucker, John Mehelm of New Germantown, John Hart and 
 John Stout of Hopewell. Jasper Smith and Thomas Lowry of 
 Flemington, Charles Stewart and Daniel Hunt of Bethlehem, 
 Ralph Hart, Jacob Jennings, Richard Stevens and John Stevens, 
 Jr., of Round Valley, Thomas Stout, Thomas Jones, and John 
 Bassett. 
 
 Charles Stewart resided at Landsdown near Clinton. On his 
 return home, he called a meeting at Abram Bonnel's Tavern, and a 
 Regiment of minute-men was raised, probably the first it the State.' 
 He was a leading spirit in this movement, and rendered important 
 services, from the commencement of the struggle to its final 
 triumph. Many distinguished loyalists were among his friends, 
 who made ever}^ effort to retain him on the King's side, but in vain. 
 He was Colonel of the First Regiment of minute men in this 
 State ; then Colonel of the Regiment of the line. By commission 
 from Congress in 1776, he became one of Washington's Staff, as 
 Commissary General, which position he occupied until the close of 
 the war. General Washington and his wife were frequently at his 
 house. His grand daughter; Mrs. Bower, who, after the war, in 
 Philadelphia , received marked attention from Mrs. Washington, 
 
 ' The first Company of Volunteers offered to the Governor, under the first 
 call of President Lincoln, was from this county — from Flemington. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY, 33 
 
 relates the following, respecting the economy practiced by Mrs. 
 Washington : " She ravelled a set of old satin chair covers, 
 inherited by her. She had the material carded and spun, and with 
 the addition of cotton yarn, woven in alternate broad and narrow- 
 stripes, the broad being of white cotton and the narrow of crimson 
 silk. Out of this fabric, she had two morning dresses made for 
 herself." His daughter, Martha, married Robert Wilson, a young 
 Irishman of education, who came to this country and volunteered in 
 the continental army, soon after the battle of Lexington. He was 
 wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Germantown. Captain 
 Wilson died at his home in Hackettstown, in 1779, at the early 
 age of twenty-eight. Mrs Wilson was distinguished for beauty 
 and for a brilliant and cultured mind.' 
 
 After the war, General Stewart moved to Flemington, where he 
 occupied a house near the residence of John C. Hopewell, and 
 owned a large farm which extended to Coxe's Hill. He held a 
 leading position in his adopted State, and was her representative in 
 the Congress of 1784 and 1785. After much important public 
 service, he died in Flemington, June 24th, 1800. aged seventy-one 
 years. General Stewart was the son of Robert Stewart, and was 
 born at Gortlea, Donegal County, Ireland, in 1729. His grandfather, 
 Charles, was a Scotch Puritan, and an officer of dragoons in the 
 army of William of Orange, and fought bravely at the battle of 
 the Boyne, for which services he received a handsome domain in 
 the north of Ireland, called Gortlea. Puritan ideas and a love of 
 liberty impelled the grandson to emigrate to America, before he 
 was twenty-one years of age, in 1750. He became a favorite at 
 the house of Judge Johnson, whose daughter, Mary, he married. 
 His enterprise, industry and education, enabled him to acquire a 
 large propert} ; and at Landsdown, near Hampden, where the 
 south branch makes one of its loveliest windings, he erected a 
 mansion, which yet stands to call forth the admiration of the 
 
 ' Mrs Ellet in " Women of the Araorican Revolution," devotes a chapter to 
 Marllia Wilson. 
 3 
 
34 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 traveler. The estate remains in the possession of his descendants. 
 He was of medium height, spare in flesh, with a keen blue eye, 
 expressing intelligence, kindness, bravery and firmness. His portrait, 
 executed by Peale, is still preserved. 
 
 He became Surveyor General of the Province of Pennsylvania. 
 At the outset of the difficulties with the mother country, he 
 earnestly espoused the cause of the colonies, and took the active 
 part already stated. He was buried in the family ground of 
 Bethlehem Presbyterian Church. His life-long friend, Chief 
 Justice Smith of Trenton, wrote his epitaph in these lines : 
 
 HE WAS AN EARLY AND DECIDED FRIEND 
 
 TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 AND BORE THE IMPORTANT OFFICE OF 
 
 COMMISSARY GENERAL OF ISSUES 
 
 TO UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE. 
 
 HIS FRIENDSHIPS WERE FERVID 
 
 AND LASTING, 
 
 AND COMMANDED BOTH HIS PURSE 
 
 AND HIS SERVICES. 
 
 HIS HOSPITALITY 
 
 WAS EXTENSIVE AND BOUNTIFUL ; 
 
 THE FRIEND AND THE STRANGER 
 
 WERE ALMOST COMPELLED TO 
 
 COME IN.' 
 
 Some of his descendants have continued in the service of their 
 country to this day. One of his grandsons, Charles Stewart, son of 
 Samuel Stewart, was born in Plemington, where his father lived, 
 
 ' For this sketch of General Stewart, I am indebted to his grand-daughter, 
 Mrs. Hoyt of Landsdown, widow of the late Captain Hoyt. It is taken from 
 a family record. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 35 
 
 near the Presbyterian Church. He was a class-mate, at Princeton, 
 of Dr. Hodge and Alexander Wurts, ^sq., and graduated in 1815. 
 He first studied law and then afterwards theology, and went as a 
 missionary to the Sandwich Islands, from which he returned in 
 1825, on account of the failure of his wife's health. In 1828 he 
 received the appointment of Chaplain in the Navy, in which office 
 he continued until 1862, visiting all parts of the world. He wrote 
 several books on foreign travel which were received with great 
 favor. He died in 1870 at Cooperstown, New York, at the age of 
 seventy-five. A son of his was graduated with General McClellan 
 at West Point. He served the countr}^ faithfully during the war, 
 having had charge, for the greater part of the time, of the engineers' 
 department at Fortress Monroe, for which important post he was 
 selected on account of his peculiar fitness. Since the war, he has 
 been put in command of the United States Engineer Corps at San 
 Francisco. 
 
 In the work of raising troops, Colonel Maxwell was also very 
 active and efficient. He lived about a mile east of Clinton. After 
 the war he removed to Warren County. He commanded the 
 battalion which was sent to Canada, and, with Morgan and Colonel 
 Philip Johnson, both natives of this county, was engaged in the 
 siege of Quebec. He also took a conspicuous part in the battles 
 of Gorman town. Brandy wine, Trenton and Monmouth. As a 
 soldier and patriot he had few superiors. He served his country 
 faithfulh" all tlu'ough the war, and died at Colonel Stewart's house 
 at Landsdown in 1796, where he was taken suddenly ill, while on a 
 visit, and expired in a few hours. 
 
 Another member of this Provincial Congress of 1775, who 
 represented this county, and who afterwards took an active part in 
 the Revolution, was John Mehelm. He emigrated to tliis 
 country from Ireland. We first hear of him as a schoolmaster in 
 Berk's County. Pa. He was a handsome writer and a fine scholar. 
 He purchased one hundred acres of land and a mill, on the north 
 brancli near Pluckamin, since known as [fall's Mills. Here during 
 
36 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 the Revolutionary war he manufactured flour, which was used by 
 the army while lying at Pluckamin, and encamped at Morristown. 
 He was Colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Hunterdon, and was on 
 the staff of Major General Dickerson. He was also Quartermaster 
 General and continued a pure and able patriot. He was often 
 associated with John Hart. He was also the friend and companion 
 of Washington, whom he often met that winter, when Washington 
 passed through Pluckamin on his way to the headquarters at Mor- 
 ristown. Colonel Mehelm was a member of the Provincial Con- 
 gress, which met at Burlington June 10, 1776. This was a revolu- 
 tionary body, and was in full sympathy with that spirit of independ- 
 ence, which in less than a month renounced allegiance to the British 
 crown. A committee was appointed, consisting of Livingston, 
 Witherspoon, Mehelm and Patterson, who boldly defied the Gov- 
 ernor, and summoned him to appear before the Assembly. For his 
 refusal to submit to the orders of the bod}^ Governor Franklin was 
 sent a prisoner to Connecticut, and William Livingston was appointed 
 in his stead, who served the State in that capacity from 1776 to 
 1790. By him Colonel Mehelm was appointed Surrogate for the 
 counties of Hunterdon and Somerset, which office he held until 1801, 
 when he was removed.' 
 
 1 think Hunterdon county may claim General Morgan as one of 
 her sons. Tradition states that he was born on the farm owned by 
 Major Dusenberry, near New Hampton. There are still visible the 
 remains of an old fire place, which is said to belong to the log house 
 in which Morgan was born. Dr. John Blaine, of Perryville, who 
 has devoted much attention to the early history of this neighbor- 
 hood, was told this by persons whose mother and aunts lived less 
 than a mile from the residence of the Morgan family. They 
 further stated that when he became large enough to drive a team he 
 went to Pittstown, where he drove a pair of oxen for the proprietors 
 
 'From an article in "Our Home," October, 1773, entitled "Pluckamin One 
 Hundred Year.s Agjo," by A. W. McDowell. 
 
L 
 
 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 37 
 
 of ij, business there. About 1750 he went to Virginia. Rogers in 
 his "Heroes and Statesmen of America," puts his birthplace in 
 Durham, Pa. This.mistake might easily arise from the fact that the 
 flimily appears to have been connected with the iron companies of 
 the day, and may have lived for a time in Durham. In Appletou's 
 Encyclopaedia, edition of 1861, his birth is stated to be in New 
 Jersey in 1736. He was in Braddock's expedition in 1755. At 
 the outbreak of the Revolution he was living in Frederic, now 
 Clarke county, Virginia. Immediately he started for Boston, in 
 command of a company of riflemen, all of whom, like himself, were 
 expert marksmen. He accompanied the expedition of Arnold to 
 Quebec, where he was captured. During that captivity he declined 
 the offer of a Colonelcy in the British army. On his release, toward 
 the close of 1776, he was appointed Colonel of a rifle regiment 
 This was just in season for him to render those valuable services 
 during Washington's retreat through New Jersey, which endeared 
 him to that commander. His corps of riflemen was the terror of 
 the enemy, and the pride of the Continental army all through the 
 war. Few names are more distinguished during that struggle than / 
 Generaj^J}auiel Morgan. '' 
 
 Associated with Colonel Stewart in his patriotic measures, and 
 conspicuous too, was Colonel Philip Johnston, his brother-in-law. 
 Johnston was the oldest of seven children, and was born in 1741. 
 His father. Judge Samuel Johnston, was a Colonial magistrate 
 thirty years before the Revolution. The family were from Scot- 
 land, and belonged to an ancient barony in Anandule. The}' were 
 a warlike clan and a great terror to the border thieves. Philip 
 left his class in Princeton College to serve in the French war in 
 Canada, from which he returned with military honor and reputation. 
 This fact drew many to his standard, when he called for volunteers 
 in 1776. He was appointed by the Provincial Congress of New 
 Jersey to the command of the First Regiment. At the head of 
 this regiment lie went into the battle of Long Island. He was one 
 of the bravest in that hotly contested fight. Force's Revolutionary 
 
38 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 Archives gives the following extract from a Philadelphia journal of 
 the day: "We liear that in the late action on Long Island, Col. 
 Philip Johnston, of New Jersey, behaved with remarkable in- 
 trepidity and fortitude. By the well-directed lire of his battalion 
 the enemy were several times repulsed, and lanes were made 
 through them, until he received a ball in his breast, which put an 
 end to as brave an officer as ever commanded. General Sullivan, 
 who was close to him wlien he fell, says that no man could behave 
 with more firmness during the whole action." Just as he was 
 leaving home for the seat of war, he went into the room where his 
 little children were in bed, and, kissing them, he kneeled down and 
 commended his family to God in prayer. One of those three 
 daughters, Mary, became the wife of Joseph Scudder, and was the 
 mother of Dr. John Scudder, the world-renowned missionary to 
 India." 
 
 Another prominent patriot in that neighborhood was Captain 
 Adam Hope, who commanded a company of New Jersey Militia 
 (Second Regiment), in the battle of Monmouth. After General 
 Lee's capture, forty of his army on their way to Easton came 
 through Clinton. They stopped at Captain Hope's house and his 
 wife got breakfast for them. 
 
 Another was Colonel Bonnell, who established his tavern in 1767 
 near Clinton. It became a centre for resort to all that section. 
 The first meeting to raise minute-men was held there. 
 
 In the neighborhood of Plemington was Colonel Hugh Runyon, 
 who was a bold and fearless officer, full of energy and action amid 
 scenes of danger. Joseph Capner, ancestor of the Capners in 
 Flemington, married one of his daughters. 
 
 Captain Joseph Stout commanded a Company of Regulars, in 
 which Samuel Reading, a grandson of the Governor, and Aaron 
 
 ' These facts are taken from an article in the "Christian Intelligencer," by 
 Rev. Wm. Hall, January 25, 1877. The correctness of them is asserted by 
 Mrs. Hoyt, grand-daughter of Col. Stewart. 
 
HUNTKRDON COUNTY. 39 
 
 Lane were Lieutenants. Stout was killed at the battle of Brandy- 
 wine, September 11th, 1777, When the men went into service in 
 1776, we find Captain William Chamberlain's Company from Amwell. 
 Soon after this, he was promoted to Major, and Nathan Stout was 
 Captain ; and Philip Service and Christopher Fisher, Lieutenants. 
 Beside these two Stouts, were two other, James and Samuel, who 
 were Captains. David Schomp of Reading, was a Captain in 
 Washington's Secret Service for years, and as such traversed 
 swamp and hill, from the Delaware to the Hudson. 
 
 But the zealous proceedings of these patriots do not present the 
 whole picture. Public opinion was divided, especially among the 
 masses. When Lord Cornwallis entered the Jerseys, he issued a 
 proclamation, offering protection to all who would take the oath of 
 allegiance within sixty days, and containing assurances that the 
 obnoxious laws which had occasioned the war would be revised. 
 This produced a wide-spread dissatisfaction toward the patriots. 
 Memorials came to the Provincial Congress from the counties of 
 Monmouth, Hunterdon, Bergen and Sussex, complaining of the 
 hostile intentions and proceedings of the disaffected. "Authentic 
 information was received that other disaffected persons in the 
 county of Hunterdon, had confederated for the purpose of opposing 
 the measures of Congress, and had even proceeded to acts of open 
 and daring violence, having plundered the house of a Captain 
 Jones, beaten, wounded and otherwise abused the friends of 
 freedom in the county, and publicly declared that they would take 
 up arms in behalf of the King of Great Britain. In order to 
 check a combination so hostile and dangerous, Lieutenant Colonel 
 Abrara Ton Eick and Major Berry were directed, with tlie militia 
 of Hunterdon and Somerset, to apprehend these insurgents. On 
 the 1st of July, 1776, the Provincial Congress resolved that the 
 several colonels of the counties, should, without delay, proceed to 
 disarm all persons within their districts who refused to bear arms."' 
 
 ' Gordon's New Jersey, p. 195. 
 
40 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 la October, 1777, Governor Livingston remonstrated with the 
 President of Continental Congress, against the order of the Board 
 of War, for sending, Governor Penn of Pennsylvania, and others 
 to Union in Hunterdon County. He says "that region, has always 
 been considerably disaffected, and still continues so, notwithstanding 
 all our efforts ; owing, we imagine, in part, to the interest, connec- 
 tions and influence of Mr. John Allen, brother-in-law of Mr. Penn, 
 who is now with the enemy." This Union was the iron works, 
 within a few miles of the home of Colonels Stewart and Johnston. 
 Near the furnaces was the house occupied by Mr. Taylor, the 
 superintendent. He was a patriot. In this house, which now 
 forms a part of the residence of Lewis H. Taylor, Penn and the 
 Attorney General Chew were conhaed six months as prison, 
 ers of war, in charge of Mr. Taylor. Tradition reports that 
 tliey brought their servants with them, and an Indian fiddler to 
 beguile the hours of their captivity. Governor Penn presented Mr. 
 Taylor with a copy of Dalrymple's Memoirs, with his autograph 
 upon the title page. 
 
 At this time the feeling between the two sides was intense and 
 often bitter. Eev. William Prazer was then Rector of the Epis- 
 copal Church at Ringos. Being supported by a British Missionary 
 Societ)'', he would not omit tlie prayers for the royal family. This 
 rendered him obnoxious to the patriots. One Sunday, when he 
 entered his church, a rope was hanging over the pulpit. Public 
 sentiment grew so violent that he was compelled to suspend 
 worship in liis church. But so prudent was his conduct and so 
 lovely his character, that soon after peace was declared, he 
 re-opened his church and resumed his ministry, with general 
 acceptance.' 
 
 During the war, large farms belonging to these tories were 
 confiscated. But they proved of little value to the public treasury, 
 because the sales were generally on credit ; and by the progressive 
 
 ' New Jersey Rev. Cor., pp. 101 and 102. 
 
HUNTEBDON COUNTY 41 
 
 depreciation of money when the time of payment came, the real 
 value of the money was very small. Public notice was given, 
 February 11th, 1779, that two of the Judges of Hunterdon County 
 would attend at the house of John Ringo, in Amwell, " For the 
 purpose of hearing the claims against the estate of certain fugitives 
 and offenders." These parties were a long list of wealthy men, 
 who did not sympathize with the patriot cause. Thousand of acres 
 were advertised for sale, under these judgments entered by the 
 State. ' 
 
 And yet as a whole, Hunterdon County was strong for the war. 
 In March, 1776, the Committee of Safety, of which Captain 
 Mehelm and John Hart were members, resolved that three battal- 
 ions of militia be draughted out of the militia of the State, for the 
 help of New York. The quota of Hunterdon was four hundred 
 and fort}'', which was just double that of any other county.' Colo- 
 nel Frelinghuyseii, of Raritan, wrote to Governor Livingston, August 
 15th, 1777 : "I must not forget to congratulate your Excellency, on 
 the great loyal t}^ of Hunterdon County." 
 
 The lukewarmness and disaffection already described, were 
 caused by the uncertainties of the incipient struggle, and the 
 disasters of the year 1776. New York was captured, and about 
 the middle of November, Cornwallis entered New Jersey. Gover- 
 nor Livingston made the most strenuous exertions to have the militia 
 who were in the field, oppose the invading force. But the panic 
 which had seized upon the mass of the population could not be 
 controlled. The bare-footed and almost naked Continental army, 
 scantily supplied with ammunition, was retreating before the strong, 
 well equipped battalions of the enemy. The contest seemed hope- 
 less. Those who visited the army brought home an unfavorable 
 report. They secretl}'' or openl)'- advised others to do nothing that 
 would involve them in disloyalty, and thus jeopardized their 
 possessions. Old people tell us that such was the talk witli many. 
 The Legislature, itself defenceless, had removed from Princeton to 
 
 ' New Jersey Rev. Cor., pp. 5, 95. 
 
42 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 Burlington, and there on the second of December they adjourned, 
 each man going home to look after, his own affairs. Until the 
 battle of Trenton, on the twenty-fifth of that month, New Jersey 
 might have been considered a conquered province. Even Samuel 
 Tucker, Chairman of the Committee of Safety, Treasurer, and 
 Judge of the Supreme Court, took a protection of the British, and 
 thus renounced allegiance to this State and vacated his offices.' 
 
 But a reaction, decided and permanent, was close at hand. The 
 dispiriting retreat through the State, was accomplished, and 
 Washington was safely on the other side of the Delaware. As the 
 American rear guard crossed the river, the flags of the British 
 danced in the distance. If the enemy had brought boats with 
 them, as was reported, it would have been impossible for the 
 patriots to have hindered their passing over. This was on the third 
 of December. Washington sent four brigades under Generals 
 Mercer, Stephens, DeFermoy and Lord Sterling, who were posted 
 from Yardleys to Coryell's Ferry, in such a way as to guard every 
 point of the river, where a crossing might be attempted. General 
 Sterling was stationed with his troops opposite Larabertville, at 
 Beaumont's, about three miles below New Hope. Redoubts were 
 cast up, one on the top of the hill back of the school house at 
 New Hope. General Washington rode up to inspect these, prob- 
 ably returning the same day. He ordered a stockade intrenchment 
 to be made, and batteries to be posted. As it was important that 
 he should have command of all the boats on the river. General 
 Green was charged with the duty. He ordered General Ewing to 
 send sixteen Durham boats and four flats down to McKonkey's 
 (Washington's crossing). These Durham boats were large, flat and 
 pointed at each end, being used for conveying iron from Dunham 
 to Philadelphia. General Maxwell was directed to collect the boats 
 high up the river, as there was danger of the enemy seizing 
 them, and to place them under strong guard. This service was 
 
 ' Gordon's New Jersey, p. 237. 
 
HUNTKRDON COUNTY. 43 
 
 assigned to Captain Daniel Bray, afterwards General Bray, of the 
 New Jersey Militia, Captain Jacob Gearheart and Captain Thomas 
 Jones, who collected all the boats on the upper waters of the 
 Delaware and Lehigh, and brought them down to Coryell's Ferry. 
 The boats were hid behind Malta Island, just below what is known 
 as " The Mills, " on the Pennsylvania side. The island was 
 densely wooded, so that the boats could not be seen by a reconnoi- 
 tering party of the enemy, as it looked down from the New Jersey 
 heights. These boats were thus secured for the famous crossing of 
 Christmas night.i Captain Biay was a native of Kingwood, and 
 was familiar with every boat andcrossin'^ along the river. Captain 
 G^hart was from Fleraington. To procure these boats, to conceal 
 their plan from the tories who were lurking about, and who would 
 betray them at the first opportunity, to cut out these flat boats in 
 the darkness of those cold winter nights, to float them down amid 
 the rocks and thi-ough the rapids, to keep them from being crushed 
 or swamped, was a task most difficult and hazardous. But it was 
 successfully accomplished. Cornwallis was informed of this enter- 
 prise, and sent a detachment to seize these boats, but they could not 
 find them, or were afraid to venture across the river in the face of 
 those frowning batteries. 
 
 Probably while engaged in this search the British learned that a 
 lot of guns was stored in Flemington. A part of Cornwallis' army 
 was then encamped just below Pennington. Five hundred cavalry 
 were detailed to seize these arms. At that time, near the Presby- 
 terian Church, was a long, low, frame building. For many years 
 afterward it was a store, famous throughout that part of the county. 
 It afforded a market for wheat to a wide section. The store was 
 kept in connection with a mill, on the site of John Rockafellow's 
 mill. In this building a quantity of muskets had been stored by 
 the Continentals. The cavalry reached the village early in the 
 morning and found in the street a man in a cart, whom they pressed 
 
 ' Dr. Studdiford's Manuscripts. Also History of Berk's County, by W. W. 
 Davis. 
 
44 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 into their service. The chests, with the guns packed in them, were 
 taken out of the building and put into the cart, and then the whole 
 troop hastened away. But when they reached Tattersall's Lane, 
 where the tile kiln now is, they became alarmed, and concluded it 
 would be better to destroy the muskets than attempt to carry them 
 away. So they broke the guns by striking them upon the posts of 
 the fence. In the meantime Captain John Schenck had collected 
 a band of men and secreted them in a piece of woods between 
 Copper Hill and Larasons. As the horsemen filed through this, 
 they were fired upon. Captain Geary, the commander of the 
 British, ordered his troops to halt and face the spot whence the 
 firing proceeded, when he was almost immediately shot through the 
 head. His men wheeled and fled. Afraid that they might meet 
 more opposition if they returned the same road they came, the 
 British turned and went toward New Brunswick. Captain Geary's 
 body was buried in the woods. 
 
 This Captain Schenck, afterwards Colonel, was a brave officer. 
 With Colonel Charles Stewart he rallied the minute-men in 1775, 
 and was active during the whole conflict, in various ways. 
 
 The success of Washington at Trenton and Princeton was not 
 the only cause of turning the tide toward the patriots. Neither the 
 proclamation of Cornwallis nor protection papers saved the people 
 from plunder. Discontent and murraurs at the outrages perpetrated 
 by British and Hessians increased on every side. Infants, children, 
 old men and women were left without a blanket to protect them- 
 selves from the inclemency of winter. The most brutal outrages 
 Avere perpetrated by a licentious soldiery. The whole countrv be- 
 came hostile to the invaders. Sufferers of all parties arose, as with 
 one accord, to revenge their personal injuries.' 
 
 "When General Washington was retreating through the Jerseys 
 almost forsaken by all others, her militia were at all times obedient 
 to his orders ; and for a considerable length of time composed the 
 strength of his army.'' And of this praise Hunterdon county 
 
 ' Gordon's American War, Vol. 2., p. 178, 180, 
 
 ^ Winterbotham's History of America, Vol. 2, p. 303. 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 45 
 
 deserves a large share, because she furnished more soldiers than 
 any other county. Her scouts and guides were of priceless value. 
 
 After the battle of Trenton the American army went into Winter 
 quarters, part at Morristown and part at Valley Forge. The direct road 
 between these lay through Aniwell Valley and over Coryell's Ferry. 
 
 The Spring of 1777 revealed this state of things, for which 
 Washington must provide. General Burgoyne, with a superior 
 force of the British, was moving from Canada southward. General 
 Howe was at New York. He would either endeavor, by moving 
 up the Hudson, to possess himself of the forts and high grounds 
 occupied by the Americans, and thus open the southern part of the 
 wa}' to New York for Burgoyne, and separate New England from 
 the rest of the Colonies ; or he would attempt Philadelphia. Wash- 
 ington was uncertain which of these courses would be adopted ; 
 hence he must be prepared for both. To do this, he determined to 
 occupy the high grounds of New Jersey, north of New Brunswick. 
 About ten miles in that direction, at Middlebrook, a low range of 
 mountains forms the apex of a triangle, the sides of which extend 
 toward the northeast and northwest. These heights could be 
 rendered almost impregnable against the enemy, while they would 
 serve as a watch tower to command the course of the Raritan, the 
 road to Philadelphia, the hills about New Brunswick, and a con 
 siderable part of the country between that place and Amboy, thus 
 affording a full view of any important movement on the part of the 
 enemy. Washington directed the troops from Jersey to South Caro- 
 lina to assemble in this State, and, breaking up his camp at Morris- 
 town, he made Middlebrook his headquarters. May 28, 1777. Gen. 
 Plowe was preparing to attack Philadelphia, but first he wanted to 
 draw the American General from his strong position. Leaving 2,000 
 troops at Brunswick, he advanced, June 14, with two columns 
 from different directions, which arrived about the same hour. 
 Washington had posted his army in order of battle, on the 
 heights in front of the camp, and refused to come down. General 
 Howe, finding he could not be drawn from his strong position, 
 retired. But this movement of General Howe toward Philadelphia 
 
46 HUNTKRDON COUNTY. 
 
 roused the militia of this part of the State, and with great alacrity 
 they took tlie field, principally joining General Sullivan, who had 
 retired from Princeton behind the southern hills towards Fleming- 
 ton, where a considerable array was forming to oppose the enemy, 
 should he attempt to cross Corj'-ell's Perry, which seemed to be his 
 object. Influenced, no doubt, by this gathering of forces, Howe 
 ceased to threaten Philadelphia by land, and determined to embark 
 his troops for the Delaware. Indeed, it would have been an act of 
 unpardonable military recklessness to have proceeded, when the 
 enemy was combining in his front, and was ready with an army to 
 follow in his rear. By this planning, the Am well Valley was saved 
 from the ravages of an invading host; and also, perhaps, lost the 
 glory of becoming one of the famous battle-fields of the Revolu- 
 tion. Probably this is the time when the Baptist church at 
 Flemington, was occupied as barracks by American soldiers. Marks 
 of their muskets were visible on the floor of the old church. A 
 panic prevailed along the Old York Road in that region. Farmers 
 drove their cattle to hiding places. Household valuables were 
 buried, or carried to the houses of friends at a distance. The 
 women and children were prepared to flee at a moment's warning. 
 
 The county for several years previous to the war, was quite evenly 
 populated, so that it must have been inconvenient and expensive to 
 the many residing about Flemington and northward, to go to 
 Trenton for the transaction of business; that county-seat being at 
 the extreme southern corner. The unsettled state of the country, 
 Avhich diverted public attention from local necessities, and the 
 general disturbance arising from the fact that the county was a 
 thoroughfare for both armies, prevented a change in the county 
 town. But we find that in 1785, two years after the treaty of 
 peace, as soon, therefore, ;is the matter could be attended to, the 
 county-seat was removed to Flemington, which was nearly in the 
 centre. The village at that time consisted of probably not more than 
 twelve or fifteen houses. For in 1809, there were only sixteen 
 houses between the Baptist and Presbyterian churches, which 
 comprised most of the village. However, it was important as a 
 
HUNTERDON CODNTY. 47 
 
 centre of trade. There was also living there a lawyer and judge, 
 Jasper Smith, a gentleman of great energy and public spirit; who 
 was afterward prominent in the formation of the Presbyterian 
 church in that village. Indeed, he may be called its founder. I 
 believe that he had a great deal to do in securing the location of 
 the county-seat. Because two miles further toward Clinton, on the 
 south branch, was another point called Readings, the focus of 
 several roads leading to all parts of the county. This also was a 
 centre of trade. And there the county-seat should have been 
 located. It is in many respects a more desirable site. The bank 
 of the Branch is high, the drainage would have been excellent 
 and the land is beautifully situated for building lots. Besides, the 
 water power is such that the town by this day would have become 
 the seat of flourishing manufacturts. The Court House was not 
 built until the Summer of 1791. It was on the site of the present 
 buildings, and was constructed of stone brought " from Large's 
 land in Kingwood." This edifice was destroyed by tire in February, 
 1828. This delay in building was probably caused by the poverty 
 of the county, and the fluctuating value of money. In 1780 a 
 continental paper dollar was worth one copper. In 1779 linen was 
 one hundred and forty shillings a yard, shoes one hundred and 
 twenty shillings a pair, pocket handkerchiefs seventy shillings a 
 piece.' All other clothing in proportion. After the war, and even 
 to the opening of the century, wages were fifty cents a day, and 
 corn eighty cents a bushel. 
 
 The Presbj^terian congregations of the two Amwell churches, 
 finding that the salary was insuflScient on account of the deprecia- 
 tion of the paper money, a joint meeting, held January 21st, 1779, 
 agreed that the salary should be paid in produce at the old prices, 
 or as much money as would purchase it. Some paid in monev, 
 some in produce, some in both, as the salary lists show. It was 
 determined to purchase a new parsonage, and a subscription was 
 
 ' New Jersey Rev. Cor., p. 184. 
 
48 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 made, but when they came to buy, the price of land had risen 
 beyond the amount supposed to be necessary. And then the 
 trustees hired " a plantation adjoining the parsonage for one hundred 
 and fifty pounds, in order the better to support the ministers." In 
 1790 both paper money and coin were in circulation From an 
 old paper labelled "Account of Supplies," of the First Amwell 
 Church, it appears that the sum paid for one Sunday's services was 
 one pound and ten shillings ; for preaching and administrating the 
 Lord's Supper, three pounds. This was the amount in " hard 
 money," as the account has it. Sometimes the supplies were paid 
 in paper money, sometimes in coin and sometimes in both. There 
 is this N. B. : " The law is lately altered in not making paper 
 money equal to hard money, in hard money engagements. One- 
 half is now (1790, April 4th), the current exchange." A collection 
 for a poor student in divinity gives this amount: paper money, 
 twenty-five shillings ; silver, seventeen shillings ; copper, twelve 
 shillings and two pence. 
 
 According to the census of 1790, the population of Hunterdon 
 was twenty thousand, one hundred and fifty-three. This made it 
 the first county in numbers ; but close to it pressed Sussex with 
 nineteen thousand, five hundred ; and Burlington with eighteen 
 thousand and ninety-five. Then came Essex, Monmouth, Morris 
 and Middlesex, each about one thousand less in the order named. 
 Gloucester, thirteen thousand, three hundred and three ; Bergen, 
 twelve thousand, six hundred and one ; Somerset, twelve thousand, 
 two hundred and ninety-six; Salem, ten thousand, four hundred 
 and thirty-seven ; while Cumberland and Cape May came in at the 
 foot, the former with eight thousand, two hundred and fort3^-eight, 
 and the latter with only two thousand, five hundred and seventy-one. 
 The total population of the State was one hundred and eighty-four 
 thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine. The population of the 
 townships of Hunterdon was — Amwell, five thousand, two hundred 
 and one, which was more than double that of any other township. 
 Kingwood, two thousand, four hundred and forty; Hopewell, two 
 thousand, three hundred and twenty ; Trenton, one thousand, nine 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 49 
 
 hundred and forty-six , Alexandria, one thousand, five hundred 
 and three; Bethlehem, one thousand, three hundred and thirty- 
 five ; Maidenhead, one thousand, and thirty-two, Lebanon, Reading- 
 ton and Tewksbury, are combined, four thousand, three hundred and 
 seventy. The number of slaves, one thousand, three hundred and 
 one, and of free blacks, one hundred and ninety-one. But in the 
 next ten j^ears the increase was very small in this part of the State, 
 both in Hunterdon and Somerset ; the former adding to her popu- 
 lation one thousand one hundred and eight, and the latter, five 
 hundred and nineteen. The cause of this was that the young people 
 were drawn to the great west of that day — central New York 
 and western Pennsylvania*. Indeed, the whole State has been a 
 hive of States — constantly sending out swarms, whose labors have 
 tended to subdue and fertilize western wilds — so that the State is 
 remarkable for the paucity of the increase of its population, until with- 
 in a recent period. In this same decade of which I am speaking, 1790 
 to 1800, the increase in the whole State was only twenty-seven 
 thousand, eight hundred and ten. The ratio of increase from 
 1790 to 1820 was thirteen and a half per cent, for each decennial 
 term. But in the first half of the last century, the rate of increase 
 was about thirty per cent, in eight years. Hunterdon, by the year 
 1800, had dropped down to the fourth county in population ; and 
 yet the difference between it and Sussex, which was the highest, 
 was only one thousand two hundred and seventy-three. In 1810, 
 Hunterdon held the same relative position to the other counties, 
 but Essex had now risen to the head, which it has since maintained. 
 The population of Hunterdon then was twenty-four thousand, five 
 hundred and fifty-six. 
 
 Let us recall the fact, that across the present territory of Hun- i 
 terdon passed several important highways. One ran through Newi 
 Hampton, via Pittstown, Quakertown, Ringos on to Pennington and 
 
 ' An old record, 1797, of Flemington Presbyterian church, states, that collec- 
 tions were made by order of Presbytery to support missionaries on those 
 frontiers. 
 
50 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 Trenton. The great east and west line was the Old York Koad, 
 running the length of the Amwell valley, and passing out of the 
 State at Lambertville. The third, of less importance than the 
 other two, and yet a great road in its day, was the Somerville and 
 Baston Turnpike, which entered the county at Lambertville and 
 passed out at Bloomsbury ; furnishing the outlet from the southern 
 part of Warren, and from Easton to New York, via New Brunswick 
 Although this was not chartered as a turnpike until 1812, the road 
 itself was laid out prior to the Revolution. Produce was carried 
 along this road to New Brunswick, which at the beginning of this 
 century was the most thriving mart of trade in the State. To the 
 same city large wagons from Pennsylvania and from the Amwell 
 valley, drawn by six horses, heavily laden with flour, flax-seed, 
 ; flax and other kinds of produce, went over the Old York Road. 
 
 The iron spring at Schooleys Mt., like most of those of any 
 value on the continent, was known to the Indians, generations 
 probably before the European advent. It was their tales of these 
 waters of life, as they poetically called them, which led to the belief 
 of the " Fountain of Youth," which the old Spanish explorer, 
 Ponce de Leon, so ardently desired. Almost from the settlement 
 of the State, the ailing resorted to this iron spring. Its virtue 
 attracted the valetudinarian, while the high altitude, 1,100 feet above 
 the ocean, and the beauty of its surroundings rendered it a favorite 
 place of resort. Thither went for many years after the Revolution, 
 the old aristocrac}'' of Philadelphia, who traveled in their own 
 conveyances, which were large coaches, drawn by four or six horses 
 and with the family coat of arms emblazoned on the sides. Their 
 route was the first da}^ to New Hope, the second day across the 
 river and along the Old York Road to Pluckamin, and the third day 
 reaching the mountain. None of those which came over this route 
 attracted as much attention as Judge Coxe. He was a grandson of 
 Daniel Coxe, one of the first proprietors of West Jersey, whose 
 large proprietary tracts made his descendants immensely wealthy. 
 In the latter part of the century, Charles Coxe bought the farm 
 of one thousand two hundred acres that was owned by Judge 
 
HUNTKRDON COUNTY. 51 
 
 Johnston at Sidney, and afterwards the residence of Judge Wilson. 
 Ill the old mansion Judge Coxe spent his Summers, extending a 
 princely hospitality to the first families of Philadelphia, who were 
 his guests weeks at a time.' He was a man of enterprise, and 
 sought to turn the splendid water power on his land to account, by 
 establishing a large woolen factory. He also was impressed with 
 the unrivalled advantages that region possessed, in its streams of 
 water, for large manufacturing enterprises. For at that day, before 
 the steam engine displaced the water wheel, capitalists were eager 
 to secure water power. About this period it was, 1793, that a 
 company obtained the water-rights at Paterson. In order, however, 
 to render the water power of this region available, better means of 
 transportation must be obtained than was furnished b}"^ a turnpike. 
 He applied, therefore, to the Legislature for a charter, to build a 
 canal from the Delaware at Easton, to some point on the south 
 branch above Clinton, and thence by the best practicable route to 
 Trenton. This was about 1706. The application, however, was 
 unsuccessful. Another project was to make slack water navigation 
 up the south branch, thus securing an outlet through the Raritan. 
 At that time these streams were larger than they are now. 
 
 Winterbotham, in 1796, describes the people of New Jersey 
 thus : " The Presbyterian, the Quaker, the Episcopalian, the 
 Baptist, the German and Low Dutch Calvinist, the Methodist and 
 the Moravian, have each their distinguishing characteristics, either 
 in their worship, their discipline or their dress. There is still 
 another characteristical difference, distinct from either of the others, 
 which arises from the intercourse of the inhabitants with different 
 States. The people in West Jersey trade to Philadelphia, and of 
 course, imitate the fashions and imbibe their manners. The inhab- 
 itants of East Jersey, trade to New York, and regulate their 
 
 ' One of his daughters married Lucius Stockton, who was the first clerk of 
 Hunterdon. He built a part of the house now occupied b}- Charles Bartles, 
 Esq., in Fleraington. There he had his office. 
 
52 HUNTKEDON COUNTY. 
 
 fashions and manners according to those in New York ; so that the 
 difference in fashions and manners between East and West Jersey, 
 is nearly as great as between New York and Philadelphia." In 
 this county the two influences were blended, because communication 
 was divided; the eastern part trading with New Brunswick and 
 New York, and the western with Trenton and Philadelphia. And 
 all the religious denominations mentioned, except the Moravian, had 
 congregations within the bounds of Hunterdon. 
 
 The people generally were distinguished for industry. The 
 children when not put to trades, or not migrating to the new 
 country, remained with their parents working on the farm. This 
 was especially the case with the oldest son. For the European 
 idea of primogeniture had not yielded to the more equal distribution 
 of ail estate. To that son, the homestead was willed. When he 
 married, he remained at home with his parents. And an addition 
 was built on the old house for his accommodation. Where the 
 father owned several hundred acres, he set off a portion to his 
 sons as they married. This subdivision kept on, until the farms 
 reached their present size. 
 
 Religion generally had declined, during and after the war. French 
 infidelity poisoned the minds of too many of the prominent men of 
 the county ; and its effect was felt upon the people. Intemperance 
 prevailed at the opening of this century to a frightful extent. The 
 early settlers in Hunterdon, like all the Dutch and Germans, and 
 indeed English of that age, used malt liquors as a beverage. The 
 war of the Revolution brought rum and whiskey into general use. 
 The use of these, acquired in the army, was continued by the 
 soldiers on their return home'. More liquor was drunk, per capita, 
 in this country for the two or three decades after the war than by 
 any other nation on the face of the earth. Its manufacture made 
 extensive progress in the States." Thirteen hundred retail licenses 
 were issued in the year 1800, and intemperance grew, so that we 
 
 'Winterbotham, Vol. I, 351, 
 
HUNTERDON COUNTY. 53 
 
 were denominated over the civilized world as a nation of drunkards. 
 In one township along the Raritan, at the commencement of this 
 century, eight distilleries were in operation. Custom required each 
 hand, in hay or harvest, to be furnished with one pint of rum a day. 
 Almost every farmer had his cellar stocked with barrels of cider, 
 spirits and rye whiskey. The county was full of taverns. The 
 education of poor children was neglected. In prominent villages, 
 like Pennington and Flemington, academies were established, which 
 were under the care of trustees. There were also private schools, 
 kept mostly by clergymen. Such places were centres of intelli- 
 gence and refinement. In 1802 several libraries were in existence. 
 At Trenton, Elliott Howell, Librarian ; Pennington, Achilles Wil- 
 son, Librarian ; Ringos, David Bishop, Librarian ; Flemington, 
 Asher Atkinson, Librarian.' 
 
 The genera] training days were scenes of frightful disorder. 
 Fighting, to decide who was champion, or as the result of quarrels 
 engendered by rum, was common ; indeed it was almost the neces- 
 sary attendant of trainings and elections. 
 
 There were few wagons. People went to meeting afoot for four 
 to six miles, wearing thick shoes, sometimes none at all, until near 
 the church, and then they put on Sunday shoes. It was common 
 for the men to sit in church without coats. 
 
 Whipping was the penalty for small offences. This seems to 
 have been inflicted upon the slaves, more frequently than on other 
 classes of offenders. A slave, if found five miles from home was 
 arrested and whipped by the constable ; for which five shillint^s 
 were received, to be paid by the master or mistress. The whip was 
 made of thongs of raw hide, plaited sometimes with fine wire. 
 
 Only one newspaper was published in the county. That was a 
 weekly in Trenton. The mails slowly proceeded to the principal 
 villages, and at intervals found their way to remote parts. So late 
 as 1822 one mail came up from Trenton to Flemington on Tuesday, 
 
 'From Collector's book of 1802 in possession of Peter Young at Ringos. 
 
64 HUNTERDON COUNTY. 
 
 and thence to the other parts of the county, returning on Saturday. 
 We speak of those times as distinguished for simplicity, good- 
 ness, honor — as better days than our own. We do " not inquire 
 wisely concerning this." In all that render morals, education and 
 religion, an acquaintance with current events, and facility in travel, 
 superior to mere physical enjoyment, the advantage is greatly 
 with us. 
 
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