• Ringoes Blacksmith

    19th century Accidents

    A good way to learn about what life was like in the 19th century is to study the way people got into accidents. It was a dangerous time.

  • Reading-Wolverton Farm, part two

    The last of the old Wolverton family to live on the ancient John Reading farm near Stockton, along with part of the history of John Prall’s Mansion on Woolverton Road.

  • D51 5a

    Reading-Wolverton Farm

    One of the oldest farms in Hunterdon County, home of John Reading, Sr. and his grandson Richard.

  • Scarborough Map icon

    Howell House, part three

    The last chapter of the Howell house, with the bonus of two wonderful maps.

  • Howell House, part two

    The old house on Worman Road has been something of a mystery house for many years. Who built the house and when? These are the classic questions asked when starting work on a house history. In this case, finding the answer took some digging.

  • 1744Reading icon1

    Howell House, part one

    Identifying the builder of an old house can be quite a challenge. Clues must be found in many sources.

  • Tavern icon

    Rittenhouse Tavern, continued

    The last days of the tavern in the 19th century, and how Rosemont got its name.

  • I R 1754

    The Rittenhouse Tavern

    Isaac Rittenhouse and son William ran the tavern in Rosemont from 1754 to 1834.

Goodspeed Welcome to Goodspeed Histories, a website for Hunterdon County history, early West Jersey history, and the history of my home town, Delaware Township. I began the website in 2009 as a way to discover the history of my ancestor Samuel Green, one of the early settlers in West New Jersey. In the process I became fascinated with the political history of that place, which led to many posts on the West Jersey Proprietors. I hope to do more. When my home town celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2013, I had to pay attention to all the stories that can be told about it, and the same thing happened the next year when Hunterdon County celebrated its 300th anniversary. There is so much more to write about all these places, so much more to learn. In the process, I hope to encourage readers who know even more about these places and the people who have lived here to share their knowledge with me here on Goodspeed Histories.

—Marfy Goodspeed

Regarding the Top Menu

“About” provides some background on the website and the kind of articles to be found here.

“List of Posts” used to be called “My Latest Posts.” It is actually a chronological list of all the articles published, starting with the most recent. Which is why I changed the name.

“Families.” Clicking on this will bring you to a page that lists some of the most frequently discussed families. Clicking on a family name will give you a page listing all the articles linked to that particular family. This year I will be adding an extra article to these family pages–a family tree. Readers are encouraged to make additions and corrections in the comments section of the family tree pages.

“Localities.” Like Families, certain locations get studied more than others, and this link will also take you to a listing of those places, and clicking each name will take you to a page of articles where those places are discussed.

“Index of Articles.” The above “List of Posts” is not helpful if you want to see a list of articles on various subjects. The Index is arranged to show articles about West New Jersey, Hunterdon County, Delaware Township, and articles by local historians.

The GH Newsletter

I send out an email newsletter with information about my most recent article and other history and research items every other week. If you would like to receive these notices from Goodspeed Histories, click on the link at the top of the page.