Full – 2 Column – Page 33 – GOODSPEED HISTORIES

The Daybooks of Dr. Bowne

November 20, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Township, Barber, Bowne Station, Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, Historians Revisited, Hunterdon County Tags: early occupations, early settlers, maps, old ways

Recently I attended a workshop given by archivist Don Cornelius on the holdings of the Hunterdon County Historical Society. They are extensive, far more than I realized. Among them are the original daybooks of Dr. John Bowne of old Amwell Township, filled with the names of his patients and their treatment. These Daybooks are so important to genealogists that someone at the Historical Society has gone to the considerable effort of indexing the names into a card catalog, and—primitive as it may seem to be today—it’s a very useful genealogical tool for the time period of 1791 through 1857.

The ‘Wickcheoche’ Tribe of Red Men

November 13, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Flemington, Hunterdon County, Kitchen, Larison, Sergeantsville Tags: Indians, The Revolution

Many years ago, Bob Dilts wrote an article entitled “Sergeantsville’s a Nicer Name.”¹ While describing George Fisher’s harness shop (pictured below), on the southeast corner of the main intersection, Dilts wrote a paragraph that really caught my attention:

The Two John Barbers

November 7, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Barber, Bowne Station, Delaware Township Tags: Civil War, politics

In the early 1860s, two men named John Barber got involved on opposite sides of the question – should the country support Lincoln’s prosecution of the Civil War, or should it not?¹

Ellicott’s Diary, August 1863

October 29, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Croton, Delaware Township, Families, Warford Tags: Civil War

This is the last month of Benjamin H. Ellicott’s Diary. He continues to report on war news from his home in Baltimore, but, on August 18th he describes a visit to Croton, New Jersey on August 11th that leads him and wife Mary Ann Warford to decide to relocate there. But he does not explain why that decision was made. Perhaps they felt that the war was getting too close to them. Or maybe Mary Ann’s father, Elisha Warford, was asking them to come live with him.

Much Mischief Was Blamed on a Witch

October 28, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in E. T. Bush, Historians Revisited Tags: old ways

The Good Old People Could Identify Her and Tell of Her Doings
She Rode on a Broomstick

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J.
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, May 1, 1930

Democrats & Union Men, continued

October 27, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Barber, Buchanan, Delaware Township, Fisher, Fulper, Hockenbury, Larison, Moore, Risler, Rittenhouse, Williamson, Wolverton Tags: Civil War

Here are some more of the Delaware Township gentlemen who took sides during the early years of the Civil War—men who joined the Democratic Club of Delaware Township in 1863, and also men living in the same vicinity who supported the Administration.¹

Ellicott’s Diary, July ’63 continued

October 23, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Warford Tags: Civil War, Ellicott's Diary

This is a continuation of the diary of Benjamin H. Ellicott of Baltimore during the events of the Civil War in 1863. During the latter half of July, the famous draft riots broke out in New York City, and later in the month, Ellicott describes a scene of violence in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Lee and his army become elusive, and the second blockade of Charleston is begun.¹

Ellicott’s Diary, July 1863, part one

October 16, 2015 By Marfy Goodspeed in Warford Tags: Civil War, Ellicott's Diary

The Civil War Diary of Benjamin H. Ellicott continued

As the weather heated up in the summer of 1863, so did the Civil War, with the siege of Vicksburg finally completed, and then the momentous Battle(s) at Gettysburg. Benjamin Ellicott, writing from his home in Baltimore, struggled to make sense of what was happening, in an age when communications were still quite primitive, compared to our instant access to events. Despite telegrams and the telegraph, news was hard to get, and reliable news even harder. Ellicott’s journal shows us how different life is for civilians in a civil war compared to a war fought overseas, on someone else’s territory.¹

«‹ 32 33 34 35 ›»