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Favorite Posts of 2014

December 31, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Uncategorized Tags: thoughts

The Writing Master by Thomas Eakins, 1882

What is it about lists? Especially lists that get made at the end of the year? It’s that thing we like to do—look back before we look forward. So, in the spirit of the season, I am copying my son the science writer, Carl Zimmer, who has collected his favorite articles here: 2014: A Storyful Year – Phenomena: The Loom

Choosing favorites should not imply that I am not happy with all my articles. It’s just that some of them did grab me more than others. So, here’s my list, for those of you who feel like some reading during this long weekend.

Indians Thought Lightning Would Not Strike A Beech

December 27, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in E. T. Bush, Historians Revisited, Stockton Tags: flora and fauna, weather

Writer Has Never Found a Beech Tree That Had Been Struck
Other Facts and Queries

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ
published in the Hunterdon Co. Democrat, December 11, 1930

This article, with which I end the year 2014, can be seen as a follow up to Bush’s article previously published here called “Gathering Nuts Was Once an Industry.” There is nothing in the way of genealogy in this article, but it is full of the usual Bush charm.

Asa Romine’s Beloved Farm

December 19, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Fulper, Romine, Servis Tags: Going, houses

Last June, I was reading the minutes of the Delaware Township Planning Board when I noticed an interesting item. Harry Brelsford, owner of a house at 80 Locktown-Sergeantsville Road (Block 20 lot 6) had presented his plan to tear down and rebuild the older section of the existing house. Apparently, that older section was in such bad repair it wasn’t worth saving. Normally, I notice when there is talk of demolition of old houses, but I forgot about this until a friend called it to my attention.

The Creation of Hunterdon County, part three

December 12, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Burlington County, Hunterdon County, Reading Tags: early legislation, early settlers, politics

This is the third and final part of a speech delivered on Nov. 16, 2014 for the Hunterdon County Tercentennial. You can find the first two installments here and here.

Petitioning for a New County

With so many surveys being made in the new Indian purchases, it was clear that people would be settling in this area very rapidly. And it was also clear that this new area was going to be hard to manage from far-away Burlington City. The residents of the northern townships in Burlington County were becoming frustrated by the need to travel 20 to 35 miles by horseback to the county seat to record their deeds, probate wills and attend court.¹

John Reading and the Creation of Hunterdon Co., part two

December 5, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, Reading Tags: early legislation, early settlers, surveying

This is part two of a speech delivered on Nov. 16, 2014 for the Hunterdon County Tercentennial. You can find the first installment here.

Moving to Hunterdon

I ended the last post with the statement that in 1704, John Reading had a tract of 1440 acres surveyed in the far northwestern corner of the Adlord Bowde purchase. It was an excellent location—superior agricultural soil and access to the river. At this point, the river runs east-west, so Reading’s house could face south as well as face the river, and he had an excellent view of traffic going both ways. He named it Mount Amwell, after his family’s ancestral home in England.

Gathering Nuts Was Once An Industry

November 28, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Croton, E. T. Bush, Historians Revisited, Hockenbury, Raritan Township Tags: flora and fauna, maps, old ways

A Boy Could Make From 30 to 40 cents a Day by Hard Work
Pegg Family Conserved Acres

by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J.
published by the Hunterdon Co. Democrat, November 21, 1929

This is another in a series of articles by Egbert T. Bush Paying attention to the wonderful trees of old Hunterdon County. A complete list of Bush’s tree articles can be found at the end.

John Reading & the Creation of Hunterdon County (part 1)

November 21, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Township, Burlington County, Hopewell Township, Hunterdon County, Reading, West New Jersey Tags: Daniel Coxe, early legislation, early settlers, Indians, land titles, maps, politics, proprietors, roads, surveying

On November 16, I gave a speech about John Reading and the Creation of Hunterdon County. There was quite a lot of information in that speech, covering the years 1664 to 1718. In fact, it was probably a bit too much.

For example, the beginning of the speech covered the conquest of New Netherland by the English in 1664, the Third Anglo-Dutch War of 1672-74, the Quintipartite Deed of 1676, and John Reading’s settlement in Gloucester County in 1684; also Edward Byllinge and the early settlement of West New Jersey. Rather than rehash material that I have already written about, you can see a list of pertinent articles at the end of this one. They cover the settlement of West New Jersey, its political history, its infamous governor Daniel Coxe, and the early career of John Reading.

For the history of Hunterdon County, it is best to start with 1694. What follows is the first part of a somewhat amended version of the speech.

The Conklings, Father and Son

November 8, 2014 By Marfy Goodspeed in E. T. Bush, Hunterdon County, Stockton Tags: debt, land titles, mills

This is a continuation of the story by Egbert T. Bush of the “Biggest Log Ever Brought to Stockton,” in which he wrote about the owners of the Stockton Sawmill and the Stockton Spoke Works. These Hunterdon industrialists took risks to build their businesses, and sometimes failed badly. Here are two more examples of failure and success.

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Writer Has Never Found a Beech Tree That Had Been Struck Other Facts and Queries

Petitioning for a New County

Moving to Hunterdon

A Boy Could Make From 30 to 40 cents a Day by Hard Work Pegg Family Conserved Acres

Writer Has Never Found a Beech Tree That Had Been Struck
Other Facts and Queries

A Boy Could Make From 30 to 40 cents a Day by Hard Work
Pegg Family Conserved Acres