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A Scandal in Baptistown

March 1, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Baptistown, Bray, Families, Hunterdon, Kingwood Twp, Lair, Locktown, Rittenhouse Tags: churches

“Repeated Rascalities” Create
Embarrassment for a New Church

A continuation of the Kingwood Baptist division of 1839

The Missionary Baptists of Kingwood got off to a very rough start. After a promising beginning, they turned their backs on the pastor who led them through the creation a new church, and chose instead a newcomer who proved to be a scoundrel. (You can see the first installment of this story here.)

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Baptists Divided, or

February 21, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Bray, Families, Hunterdon, Kingwood Twp, Lair, Locktown, Rittenhouse Tags: architecture, churches

Who Put the Lock in Locktown?

The Kingwood Baptist Church and the Second Great Awakening

This article is based on an article published many years ago in “Friends Report,” the newsletter of the Friends of the Locktown Stone Church. I have added information and made some major corrections.

The Swamp Meeting House

Pediment over a door to the Locktown Stone Church
Pediment over a door to the Locktown Stone Church

In the village of Locktown, in Delaware Township, there is a handsome stone church constructed in 1819 in the federal style.

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Richard and Elizabeth Green

February 14, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Twp, Delaware Twp, Families, Green, Hunterdon, Opdycke Tags: early settlers, houses, land titles, Pauch Farm, proprietors, slavery, surveying

This is a continuation of a series of articles on the history of the Pauch Farm in Delaware Township. To see the previous articles, click on the topic “Pauch Farm” on the right.

Signature of Richard Green, 1737, on Hunterdon County Loan Office application
Signature of Richard Green, 1737, on Hunterdon County Loan Office application

Richard Green was born about 1712 in Amwell Township. He was the only son of Samuel Green and Sarah Bull, and the third of four children. Around the time he reached adulthood, his mother had died and his father was exploring the unsettled lands in the north of New Jersey. By the late 1730s, Samuel Green was preparing to relocate to Sussex County (still part of Morris County), despite his high standing in Hunterdon County.

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Old Records Throw Light on the Ways of Past Ages

February 7, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Twp, E. T. Bush, Hopewell Twp, Reading Tags: crime, early settlers, Indians, legislation

Law Once Compelled Every Town
to Have a Drinking Place

How “Amwell” Originated

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, May 7, 1931

Sundry notes from old histories and other sources though jotted down in a haphazard way may serve to awaken thought or to throw light upon the ways of the past.

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The Greens of Amwell

February 1, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Twp, Bull, Delaware Twp, Families, Green, Hunterdon, Opdycke Tags: Daniel Coxe, early settlers, land titles, local government, Pauch Farm, proprietors, surveying

This is a continuation of my research into the history of the Pauch farm in Delaware Township. This was once the property of Samuel Green, which is why I am publishing it here on my website. It was Samuel Green who got me started on this blog, back in 2009. Apologies to those of my readers who were interested in what I wrote 4 and 5 years ago for taking so long to return to Samuel Green’s life.

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How New Jersey Began

January 26, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in West New Jersey Tags: early settlers, England, Indians, land titles, legislation

It is already January 26, in this 350th year of the existence of New Jersey. I think it is time to publish a short history of New Jersey, the sort of preamble I generally use for my house histories. It glides breezily over some very complicated proceedings, but sometimes a shorthand version is useful. (This little essay is not meant for those who make a study of New Jersey’s convoluted history.)

So—without more ado—How New Jersey Began.

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“I done it for a pastime”

January 22, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Twp, Hunterdon Tags: crime

Whilst paging through the abstracts of the Hunterdon Republican by Bill Hartman, I came across this wonderful bit of news from the February 18, 1869 issue:

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Anderson’s Tavern

January 18, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Twp, Anderson, Hunterdon, Larison Tags: early settlers, land titles, taverns, The Revolution

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the old John Anderson tavern on Route 31 south of Ringoes. The building is inconspicuous with its tall evergreen hedge along the road, but inside one can see it was once a fine 18th century building.

The owners (New Jersey Barn Co.) are lovingly and very carefully restoring it to the period of John Anderson’s tenure as innkeeper during the Revolutionary War. He did not build the house, however. There is reason to think it might have been built around 1740 or earlier.1

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