Delaware Township in Hunterdon County, NJ is my hometown, and so, as you might expect, I know more about this town than any other that I write about. Prior to 1838, Delaware Township was a part of Amwell Township, created in 1708–which means that Amwell’s history is also very familiar to me. There is no end to the stories that can be written about this place, so expect many additions to this list in the coming years.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Dilts, Featured, Fisher, Gordon, Green, Lake, Moore, Sergeantsville 1 Comment Tags: railroads
This is part three of my series on the proposed rail line to run from Prallsville to Flemington in 1873.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Dilts, Featured, Higgins, Johnson, Lawshe 5 Comments Tags: land titles, railroads
This is part two of the history of the landowners living along the proposed railroad route that was surveyed for the Delaware Flemington Railroad Company in 1873 and was intended to run from Prallsville to Flemington. (And here is part one.)
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Featured, Fisher, Hunt, Rake No Comments Tags: railroads
This is part three of my series on the Delaware Flemington Railroad Company. Part One was an article by Egbert T. Bush describing the birth and death of the company. Part Two described the reasons for the company’s failure and how its directors fared afterwards. This article will focus on the route that was planned for the new rail line.1
By Marfy Goodspeed in Brookville, Delaware Township, Featured 8 Comments Tags: cemeteries
Last April, I received an email from a reader, Pamela Milam, describing a tragic incident in her family’s history. I was struck by how unusual and dramatic it was and encouraged her to write it up. But she knew it needed more research, so she set to work. Each version she sent me was better than the previous one, and in time she finished the story, as it is presented here. I hope Pamela’s experience will encourage others to consider writing up a chapter of their own family history. It can be very rewarding.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Higgins, Sandbrook 6 Comments Tags: crime and punishment
My next article on the proposed route of the Delaware Flemington Railroad is not ready for publication. However, a few years after the railroad company collapsed, one of the company’s directors found himself confronted by an angry man.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Case, Delaware Township, Featured 2 Comments Tags: railroads
This is part two of my series on the Delaware Flemington Railroad Company. Part One was Egbert T. Bush’s history of how this company failed. He provided us with lots of information derived from the company papers that had been saved. But so many questions were raised, and not addressed, starting with the people who thought up the idea and promoted the company.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, Featured, Flemington, Historians Revisited, Prallsville 1 Comment Tags: railroads
This article by Egbert T. Bush caught my attention because it is reminiscent of PennEast’s attempt to dig a pipeline across Delaware Township and other parts of Hunterdon and Mercer Counties. The big difference here is that many landowners along the proposed route of this railroad supported it because they expected real benefits, whereas PennEast’s pipeline is likely to do more harm than good.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Deremer, Sandy Ridge, Wilson No Comments Tags: architecture, Daniel Coxe, early settlers, houses, land titles, maps, portraits, proprietors
Part one focused on the family of Judson Rittenhouse and Martha Bodine, who lived on the farm now known as the Sarah Dilts Farm Park in Delaware Township for most of their lives. The farm was purchased by Judson’s father, Wilson Bray Rittenhouse, in 1844. This article will first describe Wilson and his family, and then will trace the history of this property back to the first European owner.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Dilts, Dilts Corner, Rittenhouse 7 Comments Tags: farming, Going, houses, portraits, roads
This is a return to an article I wrote in 2012 about the family that used to own what is known today as the Sarah Dilts Farm Park. Some wonderful photographs have come my way that have inspired me to take a second look.
By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, East Amwell, Hunterdon County No Comments Tags: early legislation, land titles, local government, politics, roads
In my previous post (A Shrinking Township, part one), I wrote about a petition in 1896 to take a large chunk out of Delaware Township and give it to East Amwell Township. That petition was signed by two East Amwell residents, William H. Manners and Simpson Sked Stout. This post will describe these two, as well as the journey the bill took through the legislature, and the property owners who were affected by it.
