County House, part 5

When researching history, I find that you can start off with a plan, but before long one thing will lead to another, or even several ‘anothers,’ that are completely unexpected. Which makes it challenging to stay on course. That was definitely the case while I was preparing this chapter.

As a reminder, the origin of this series was the west side of Flemington’s Main Street where once stood the old Mount’s Hotel as pictured in PART ONE. In PART FOUR in this series I got a little side-tracked by wondering where Samuel R. Stewart lived in Flemington. He was the young attorney who represented the widow of Joseph Smith, the first owner of the tavern lot.

I had expected that this post would return to the main plot and cover the boundaries of the original tavern lot and the changing route through Flemington of the old road to Howell’s ferry (today’s Route 523). But first I wanted to see who were the tavernkeepers in Flemington during the 1790s, the places where people gathered when they came to Flemington to do business in the new courthouse.

But that led to a very interesting side-track that I could not resist. The old tavern lot and the road to Howell’s Ferry will just have to wait.

Flemington’s Six Tavernkeepers

GEORGE ALEXANDER

George Alexander was the second owner of the original tavern lot. His only recorded tavern license was in 1777, shortly after Joseph Smith, the first owner, absconded. After then, deeds identified Alexander as an innkeeper or a tavernkeeper. I am certain that George Alexander’s tavern in the 1780s was the one that was later named the County House on Main Street. But his residence in the late 1790s is unclear.

“The Freeholders’ Surprise” (PART THREE  of the County House series) described how George Alexander, a widower after the birth of his third child, Thomas, probably came to live with Susanna Smith, widow of Joseph Smith, who had absconded to join the British in 1776, leaving Susanna with the tavern property of 6.25 acres. The sheriff sold it to George Alexander in 1779.

In 1791, Alexander conveyed a half-acre lot to the Board of Freeholders with the understanding that they would use it to construct a courthouse.

At that time, George Alexander was probably in his 40s. His eldest son James was about 21 years old; daughter Sarah was close to the same age, and youngest child Thomas was 17. Thomas Alexander appears on the list compiled by Joseph Atkinson of people who contributed labor and/or materials toward construction of the first courthouse in 1791-92.

James and Sarah probably married in the 1790s, James to wife Penelope and Sarah to (non-other-than) Joseph Atkinson. (More about him below.) Susannah Smith’s daughter Anna was about 20 years old by then and undoubtedly acquainted with Samuel R. Stewart (her mother’s attorney), who she would marry in 1799.

George’s son Thomas did not marry until 1805. His new wife was Mary Howe Lowrey (1783-1858), daughter of Sheriff William Lowrey and Martha Howe. Like Joseph Atkinson, William Lowrey will be appearing later on in this article.

There is little to be said about George Alexander between his purchase of the tavern lot on Main Street in 1779 and his sale in 1791 of a half-acre to the Hunterdon Freeholders. Apparently, the Revolution did not cause Alexander too much trouble, although a functioning newspaper in the Flemington area during those years would have made a huge difference to those of us curious to know what was happening then.

After Flemington became the location of the county courthouse, Alexander’s tavern on Main Street got a lot of competition. According to tavern licenses and deeds, there were six active tavernkeepers in Flemington in the 1790s. In addition to George Alexander, there was Alexander Bonnell, who purchased Alexander’s tavern in 1797, but had been keeping a tavern in Flemington before then.

Additional Flemington tavern keepers in the 1790s were Joseph Atkinson, Joseph Mattison, Samuel Taylor and John Anderson. (It is important to keep in mind that someone with a license to operate a tavern did not necessarily own the property where the tavern was located.)

JOSEPH ATKINSON

The County House tavern lot was George Alexander’s home in the 1790s (as the deed of 1791 to the Freeholders stated: “being part of a lot whereon the said George Alexander lives and on the southeast thereof . . .”). But he owned another lot in Flemington that was also used as a tavern. It was located at the point where Main Street divides into North Main and East Main Streets, a property that in 1818 was named the City Tavern, and in 1822 as Elnathan Moore’s Hotel, but I will designate here as the crossroads tavern lot. Its location can be seen on the 1822 map of Flemington.¹

Alexander acquired this lot of 3 acres and 29 perches from Joseph & Mary Robeson, sometime before 1800 when the Robesons sold their 350+acres to Charles Stewart (as described in Part Four of the series, ‘The Stewarts of Flemington’). That deed stated that the Robesons excepted out from the deed to Stewart “a lot owned by George Alexander in the possession of Joseph Atkinson of 3.19 acres.”² (The difference between 3.19 acres and 3 acres 29 perches is insignificant. 29 perches = 0.18+ acres.)

Joseph Atkinson was the one who had ambitiously built a fancy new hotel on or near the crossroads lot in 1792 (described in Part Three). His marriage to Sarah Alexander took place about the same time.

Joseph’s first wife was Jemima Prall, daughter of Aaron Prall & Margaret Whitaker. Their son Asher Atkinson (1770-1857) m. c.1800 Agnes Mattison, daughter of Joseph Mattison. Jemima Prall died c.1783.

By 1787, Joseph Atkinson had moved to Philadelphia, where he married his 2^nd wife, Susanna Paul (1757-1792) [not Prall] in Philadelphia; they had no children. Atkinson was back in Flemington by 1792, and married Sarah Alexander soon afterwards. Sarah Alexander (c.1770-1844) and Joseph Atkinson had two children: Sarah Atkinson (1794-1888) and Henry A. Atkinson (c.1799-c.1840).

George Alexander died in 1800. His crossroads tavern lot was offered for sale in 1802, when Atkinson was still operating it. Once it was sold, Sarah & Joseph moved to Quakertown, where Joseph got a tavern license on April 21, 1803.

I cannot say when Joseph died; probably sometime before 1808 when Sarah’s brother James Alexander left her a bequest of $100 in his will dated Nov 16, 1808.

When Sarah died in 1844 at the age of 74, her obituary was published in the Hunterdon Democrat, stating that at the time of her death on January 25^th, she was living with her son-in-law Mr. A. Pearson [and daughter Sarah Pearson], near Quincy, Illinois. Joseph and Sarah’s son Henry A. Atkinson also moved to Illinois.

MATTISON & TAYLOR

Joseph Mattison (1742-1823) got a tavern license in 1790. His tavern was most likely the one-acre lot owned by his father Jacob Mattison, which later on came to be known as the UNION HOTEL. (Note that back in 1775, Joseph’s father, Jacob Mattison, had sued Joseph Smith, owner of the County House, for debt, which is why Sheriff Tucker described him as an “absconding debtor.”)

In 1793, Jacob Mattison sold his tavern property to Samuel Taylor, who was identified in the deed as a carpenter.³

SIDENOTE 1: Lt. Joseph Mattison (1742-1823), son of John Jacob Mattison & Anne Hankinson, married 1768 Catharine Bodine (1742-1810), daughter of Abraham Bodine and Marjtie Albertse Low. They had nine children, including Catharine (1770-1854) who married Alexander Bonnell in 1793, and Agnes, who married Asher Atkinson, son of Joseph.

SIDENOTE 2: Samuel Taylor (c.1768-c.1809) was the son of William Taylor, Jr. and Mary Swallow of Amwell. He never married and died intestate.

Samuel Taylor’s first recorded tavern license was not until 1796. He was granted licenses thereafter up through 1804. Joseph Mattison did not get another license until 1800.

I have previously written about Samuel Taylor in UNION HOTEL, PART ONE although I knew very little about him then, and not much more now. In 1802, Taylor bought a tract of 75 acres from Thomas Lowrey, located to the northeast of the County House property. If he located a tavern there, I cannot say where.

JOHN ANDERSON’S TAVERN

Or What Licenses can & cannot tell us.

The Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas (CCP) include tavern licenses granted by the court. Fortunately, the minutes are indexed and can be found in the Search Room of the County Clerk’s office in Flemington.

(Tavern license petitions are far more interesting, because they include a list of signatures by people supporting the application. Original signatures on original documents! Tavern license petitions for the years 1800-1907 are microfilmed and available at the State Archives and on Family Search. But that does not help with the licenses for the 1790’s.)

From what I can tell, not all of the tavern licenses appear in the CCP minute books. Why that is I cannot say, but as an example, the only tavern license granted in Flemington in 1781 was for Joseph Mattison. George Alexander did not appear, even though he was taxed as a tavernkeeper in 1780. For the years 1782 through 1792, there was no mention in the CCP Minutes of tavern licenses granted.

None of the tavernkeepers of Flemington had recorded licenses in 1794. No Anderson, Alexander, Atkinson, Mattison or Taylor. But Anderson’s tavern was open in 1794 when this notice appeared in The New Jersey State Gazette of Trenton on November 12, 1794:

John Phillips, Collector of the Revenue for the First [federal] Division of the District of New Jersey, informs the public that he will attend at times and places mentioned below to receive entries of all distilleries, entries on carriages and coaches subject to duties under a late act of Congress; and to grant licenses to retailers of foreign distilled spirits and wines, and to professional auctioneers. The times and places at which attendance will be given are as follows, viz. November 24^th at Hixson’s Tavern, in Hopewell; Nov. 25^th at Meldrum’s Tavern, Amwell; Nov. 26^th at Anderson’s Tavern, Flemington [my emphasis]; Nov. 27^th at Stillwell’s Tavern, Readington; Nov. 28^th at Buskirk’s Tavern, Bethlehem; Nov. 29^th at widow Hoff’s Tavern, Baptist-town; and December 2d at Hunt’s Tavern, Pennington. John Phillips, Collector, Office of Inspection, Maidenhead, November 6, 1794.⁴

The only Anderson’s Tavern that comes to my mind in the Flemington area was the one owned by John Anderson during the years 1773-1778, located south of Flemington on Route 31 (See ANDERSON’S TAVERN.) He closed his tavern before serving at Valley Forge during February and March 1778. Soon afterwards, he resigned his commission and returned to the Flemington area. In 1783 he was elected Sheriff of Hunterdon County and served through 1785. He was elected again in 1791 and served from 1792 to 1794.

As the notice above indicates, Anderson was also a tavernkeeper in 1794. I have a note from earlier research that there are notebooks at the NJ State Archives for tavern license petitions that include a petition by John Anderson dated May 7, 1793. Signers to his petition were Joseph Atkinson, Henry Bailie, Joseph Capner, Arthur Gray, John Gregg, Isaac Grey, Daniel Reading, Joseph Roberson and Gilbert Van Camp. These were all property owners in the Flemington area.

On February 24, 1795, Andrew Coejeman, Paymaster, 1^st Regt. of NJ. Cavalry and Abner Woodruff, Paymaster, 2^nd Regt. of N.J. Cavalry announced in The New Brunswick Advertiser that they would “meet the troops of horse which served on the late expedition to Fort Pitt to pay the money due them from the United States.” On February 23^rd, they would be at Anderson’s Tavern in Flemington for that purpose.⁵

The “troops of horse” had accompanied President George Washington, who was serving his second term, and Alexander Hamilton on an expedition to put down the uprising near Pittsburg known as the Whiskey Rebellion, which concluded in 1794. The rebellion was a consequence of that tax on distilleries that John Phillips was collecting in November 1794. The tax was Hamilton’s solution to paying down the enormous debt that had been incurred during the Revolution.⁶

On August 18, 1795, John Phillips, Collector of the Revenue for the First Division of the District of New Jersey, announced that “the duties on all carriages subject to such duties under a late act of Congress” were due. He warned distillers who were in arrears for duties to “pay the same immediately as no further indulgence can be given.” Phillips would “receive entries at Mr. Landis’s, innkeeper, in Amwell on Monday Sept 7^th next; at Flemington on the 9^th; at Pittstown on Friday the 11^th; and on Monday the following at Trenton. He will be at his office in Maidenhead the remainder of the month.”⁷

Exactly where in Flemington he did not say. But John Anderson petitioned for a tavern license again in 1795 (Alexander Reading & Patrick Nixon were sureties).

I cannot say where this Anderson’s Tavern was located in 1794 & 1795. There was no deed recorded in Hunterdon that would describe it. However, the following notice in The NJ State Gazette dated Aug 6, 1794 suggests that his tavern might have been located closer to Ringoes than to Flemington, closer to the location on Route 31 described in my previous article (ANDERSON’S TAVERN.)

 “Corshon & Anderson are now opening a general assortment of merchandize of the latest importation and suitable to the season, at Fair View in Amwell Twp within sight of Ringo’s old tavern, now Meldrum’s, which they will sell very low for cash–and will also take in country produce at the Trenton price in payment for the same. Fair View, Amwell Twp.,15 July 1794.⁸.

In 1796, Samuel Taylor got a tavern license, and John Anderson was one of his sureties. But there was no license for Anderson that year. There was nothing for Alexander, Atkinson or Bonnell either. In 1799, only Joseph Atkinson, Alexander Bonnell and Samuel Taylor at “Union House” were granted tavern licenses.

Politics in the 1790s

JACOB ANDERSON

While John Anderson was running his tavern in 1794, he was also serving as sheriff, at least up to the election held in October 1794. He did not run for reelection that year because instead he was running for the State Assembly. He was succeeded as Sheriff by one Jacob Anderson. It is easy to assume that the two Andersons were related, but in fact they were not.

John Anderson (c.1740-1799) was the son of Capt. John (c.1696-1783) and Anne Anderson of Maidenhead Township. His grandfather was Joshua Anderson (1667 -1731) and great grandfather was Joachim Anderson who immigrated to New Jersey from Amsterdam.

Jacob Anderson (1754-1837) was the son of John Scot Anderson (1725-1772) and Elizabeth Mattison of Lebanon Township. His grandparents were William (c.1705-1789) & Jannett Anderson, who immigrated to New Jersey from Scotland. Jacob Anderson’s mother Elizabeth Mattison was the sister of tavernkeeper Joseph Mattison of Flemington.

Jacob Anderson served in the Revolution as a private under Col. James Martin and Capt. David Frazier, then as a lieutenant under Frazier, and in 1777 as a captain. He also served as Assistant Commissary of Issues under Col. Charles Stewart.⁹

In 1785, Jacob Anderson married Catharine VanLieu (1757-1817), daughter of Hendrick VanLieu and Eleanor VanCleve. Catharine was the step-daughter of Daniel Hunt, Esq., whom Eleanor married in 1762. Although Daniel Hunt’s home was near Clinton, he was a presence in Flemington. In 1794, when his step-daughter’s husband decided to run for sheriff, Daniel Hunt was serving as a Judge on the Court of Common Pleas. On June 4, 1794, Daniel Hunt and Jacob Anderson, along with Robert Taylor, witnessed the will of Gen. William Maxwell.

SIDENOTE: Jacob and Catharine had seven children, but only son Daniel H. Anderson survived to have a family of his own, marrying first Anna M. Reading, daughter of Joseph Reading, and second Delia Cox, daughter of Isaac & Elizabeth Cox. Jacob and Catharine Anderson lived in Bethlehem Township and owned a large acreage there in the Allen & Turner Tract.

Today, sheriffs are elected for two-year terms. In the late 18^th century, sheriffs were elected every year. Elections were held in October, not in November as they are now. John Anderson was sheriff in 1792, 93 & most of 1794,¹⁰ but his elections occurred in October 1791, 92 and 93.

Even though the election for 1794 took place in October, Jacob Anderson was campaigning for the position as early as July 5, 1794:

“To the Electors of Hunterdon County. Gentlemen, As the present Sheriff’s time of office will expire in October next, I take the liberty to offer myself for said office and to solicit your votes at the next general election—In doing which you will confer an obligation which will be gratefully remembered by the public’s friend and humble servant. Jacob Anderson. Bethlehem, 5th July 1794.”¹¹

The “present Sheriff” was John Anderson. Campaigning for office in 1794 was nothing like it is today. Simply the act of putting oneself forward, the way Jacob Anderson did, was considered by many as unseemly. Generally, one’s candidacy would be announced by a supporter. Candidates themselves would be very discreet about their interest in public office, following the pattern set by George Washington. How things have changed!

Jacob Anderson’s Opponent

Jacob Anderson’s unnamed opponent was the former sheriff, William Lowrey, who was elected in 1789, and was still in office in 1791 when George Alexander conveyed a half-acre lot in Flemington to the Hunterdon Freeholders for construction of a courthouse. In 1794, Lowrey was acting as “late Sheriff of Hunterdon County” in the public sale of seized property, along with the current sheriff, John Anderson.¹²

SIDENOTE: William Lowrey (1759-1802) was the first son of Thomas Lowrey & Esther Fleming of Flemington. His brother Samuel died unmarried in 1791 age 26, making William the only surviving son of Thomas & Esther.

In 1779, William Lowrey married Martha Howe (c.1765-1835), probably the daughter of Micajah Howe and Mary Clayton. She had three children. Son Thomas died age 5 in 1790. Daughter Mary married Thomas Alexander, son of George the tavernkeeper, in 1805, and daughter Abigail married Wilson Housel.

As election day approached, a plea was published in The NJ State Gazette on October 6^th, submitted by “An Independent Elector,” calling attention to the importance of the civic duty to vote. He went on at length about the qualities needed in a sheriff.

The office of sheriff is also of great importance—Besides the necessary requisites to enable a man to do the duties of the office, with safety to himself and satisfaction to the public, the moral and exemplary character of the candidate is worthy of your serious consideration—a man who is universally known to be indolent, profane and intemperate in his conversation and conduct, ought to be rejected, however well qualified he may be in every other respect [my emphasis]—a sheriff, by the nature of his office, is constantly traveling the whole county. The injury done by the example of such a man is almost inconceivable, and seriously affecting to all sober minded people—and if a man of that description ought to be rejected, with how much more reason will you reject him who is not only an immoral and dangerous example, but totally inadequate to, and ignorant, of the duties of his office. . . ¹³

Was he referring to William Lowrey? One would think not, since Lowrey’s past experience as sheriff meant he was not “ignorant of the duties of the office.” Or could the writer be suggesting that despite Lowrey’s experience he remained ignorant of those duties? Writers in the newspapers of that period were very verbose and yet rarely named the people they were writing about. They implied a lot, assuming that the readers would know who they were referring to.

The writer in this case then went on to propose a ticket of candidates, without explicitly identifying them as members of the Democratic-Republican party, even though they were: For NJ Council [today’s State Senate], John Lambert. For Assembly, David Frazier, William S. Moore, and John Welling (NOT John Anderson). For Sheriff—Jacob Anderson.”

Negative campaigning is nothing new. It was already a common practice in the 18^th century. It was just a little more oblique. On the same day as this endorsement was published, Jacob Anderson felt compelled to explain himself to potential voters, which he did by writing to the same newspaper, The New Jersey State Gazette:

TO THE ELECTORS OF HUNTERDON COUNTY. When I presented myself as a candidate for the office of sheriff, it did not occur to me that any person could deviate so far from the truth as to report that I am not a freeholder and therefore voting for me would be nugatory. I have been a freeholder for more than seven years [1787] and drew my first breath in this county. If I am successful in my election, I shall conduct myself at all times as a plain undesigning man. JACOB ANDERSON. Bethlehem, October 6, 1794.¹⁴

To be a ‘freeholder’ you had to be more than just a resident of a place; you had to be a property owner. Jacob Anderson was taxed on 150 acres in Amwell in the 1780s. He inherited land from his grandfather William Anderson in 1789, which he and brother John S. Anderson sold to Elijah Carman in May 1795 ¹⁵

Election results for Hunterdon County were announced on October 22, 1794 in The N.J. State Gazette. John Lambert of Amwell was elected to the Council, John Anderson of Amwell (the tavernkeeper and lame duck Sheriff) was elected to the Assembly, and Jacob Anderson was elected Sheriff.¹⁶

The years 1794-1795 were remarkably busy. Not only was there an election for the State Legislature and the County Sheriff, there were two other matters that helped to consolidate the emerging political parties of the time: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.

First there was the tax collector making the rounds to collect the new, and very unpopular, tax on distilled spirits, described above. Also, there was considerable debate over a new treaty between the United States and Great Britain, supported by Federalists and opposed by the Democrat-Republicans.

And then there was the dispute between Sherriff Jacob Anderson and those who opposed him: not only William Lowrey, but also his father Thomas Lowrey, who was a member of the NJ State Assembly during the years 1791-1792, and Lucius W. Stockton.

All that will have to wait for my next article.

FOOTNOTES: