This article by Egbert T. Bush describes a particular neighborhood, not far northwest of Flemington, at the intersection of today’s Thatcher’s Hill Road and Sand Hill Road.
In preparing to publish Mr. Bush’s article on the Klinesville neighborhood, I found so many interesting people and places that it became too difficult to add all my comments as asides to the Bush article. So, I’ve collected some of them in a separate article. They are listed here in the order in which Mr. Bush mentioned them in Klinesville Once Had A Tavern.
Today I am returning to the buildings on the east side of Flemington’s Main Street that feature an arch along the front of their roofs, in particular, the two buildings constructed by John C. Hopewell, one on either side of the bank building that he put up in 1866 (See Flemington’s First Bank).
(1) Thomas Tomlinson (~1690 – ) & Joan Walsley
It is thought that the Tomlinsons came to Kingwood Township in Hunterdon County from Byberry in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
In my research I have often come across references to Johnson’s Tavern as a landmark. Deeds refer to it when identifying roads, like “the road from Swamp Meeting House (Locktown) to Johnson’s Tavern” or “the road from Rittenhouse Tavern (Rosemont) to Johnson’s Tavern.” And sometimes it is just “the great road to Johnson’s Tavern,” which is today’s Route 519 through Kingwood Township.
I think this is the first time I’ve prepared a tree and not found any second marriages. Given the mortality of young women in the 19th century, this is quite a surprise, and I suspect I am missing someone.
By the time of the Civil War, Flemington had grown considerably, but the war had dampened commercial spirits and citizens were eager for a comeback. This was demonstrated by an item from the editor of the Hunterdon Republican, on Nov. 1, 1865:
I have written about Locktown’s tavern before—in my article on the life of Daniel Rittenhouse. At the time that I wrote it, I thought he had established the original tavern. That turns out to be not true.