Who really found the Delaware River boats in December 1776? the boats that Gen. Washington was supposed to rely on to carry his army across the river on Christmas Eve? For a long time I was certain it was David Johnes of Amwell, working with Daniel Bray and Jacob Gearhart. Now I’m not so sure. In fact, I now have serious doubts.
Taylor and Bray, continued.
This is the third in a series of articles about the founding of the town of Clinton in 1828. The two men who made this happen, Archibald S. Taylor and John W. Bray, Jr., came to grief in a fairly short time. The Town succeeded, but the founders failed miserably, and their original friendship turned into a deep hostility. This article focuses on what happened to them after Bray’s misdeeds were discovered.1
In my last post I wrote about how the town of Clinton came to be. The man who made it happen was John W. Bray, with the financial backing of his brother-in-law Archibald S. Taylor. Building lots were laid out and sold, merchants and residents moved in and a new town came to life. In 1832 The Newark Daily Advertiser referred to Clinton as “a flourishing manufacturing village.”
However, Bray took some shortcuts that had dire consequences for his financial backer, and for himself.
The history of the town of Clinton is a fascinating one. The borough has so much character and charm, but it had a rocky start.
While working on a history of the Sergeantsville Inn, I realized that this would be a good time to publish Egbert T. Bush’s article about the places that made Sergeantsville such an interesting little town. Mr. Bush did not have the advantage of adding photographs the way I do. These pictures come from the postcard collection of Paul Kurzenberger. (Note that Mr. Bush’s article is in italics; my comments are not.)
Recently I got a chance to look through Paul Kurzenberger’s postcard collection and found this gem:
It was too funny not to scan and save. As you see, the caption reads “Three of a kind, from Croton, N.J.” After my chuckles subsided, I began to wonder who in Croton sent this postcard, and who received it.
Part one of this story was published last year in March 2015 (The Sergeantsville Inn). It was written quickly, and covered the time period from the original proprietary deed to the end of the 19th century. Part Two goes back to 1830 to add more information to the story.
Bill Hartman was one of those people whose loss is deeply felt by anyone who knew him, including me. I have not yet seen an obituary for him in the Hunterdon County Democrat, which seems odd considering how important he was to so many of us.
