Observers of Hunterdon history on Facebook have called our attention to the anniversary of the fire that destroyed the Hunterdon County Courthouse on February 13, 1828. This inspired me to look at the Hunterdon Gazette for 1828 to see how people reacted to this disaster.
Last Sunday, I gave a talk to the Lambertville Historical Society about how to research one’s property in Hunterdon County, with a special focus on Lambertville. It was a great group of people, and I got a chance to appreciate how awesome old photos look when projected on an enormous screen. It was also nice to show many more pictures than I can reasonably do on this blog.
This article continues my exploration of the neighborhood of Sandy Ridge by presenting the first half of Egbert T. Bush’s article “Sandy Ridge Long a Farm Community.” There could be no better expert on the subject than Mr. Bush, who lived in Sandy Ridge for many years and taught at the old Vandolah School.
Robert Sharp immigrated from Deal, Kent County England to Philadelphia prior to the Revolution. He moved to Princeton and apprenticed as a shoemaker before settling in Hunterdon County. He married Rachel Ent, one of the twelve children of Valentine Ent and Susannah Moore about 1778, while the Revolution was in progress. The family is discussed in Egbert T. Bush’s article “Sandy Ridge Long a Farm Community,” published as Sandy Ridge, part four.
This is a continuation of Egbert T. Bush’s article, “Old Headstones and Headlines,” which focused on the neighborhood of Sandy Ridge.1
As far as I am concerned, the Fauss family in Hunterdon County begins with Rev. Jacob Fauss and his wife Margaret Space, who settled in Amwell Township before the Revolution. His parents may have been living in Amwell township when he was born, I cannot say. He probably had a sister Catharine (c.1746 – 1821) who married a Yawger.
This is my second article on the neighborhood of Sandy Ridge in Delaware Township. The previous article was written by Jonathan M. Hoppock in 1905 (and heavily annotated by me.) Today’s article was written by Egbert T. Bush, over 25 years later.
The Dilts family in Hunterdon County is abundant and always has been. However, I have not been able to attach William Dilts of Sandy Ridge to the larger Dilts family. His list of descendants will stand on its own until I can link him with the other Hunterdon County Dilts family.
One of the earliest Dilts in New Jersey was Wilhelm Dils, who died in Knowlton, Sussex County in 1794, age 83. His wife Rachel died in 1793, age 72. Other early settlers were Johann Wilhelm Dils and Henrich Dils who were present in Lebanon Township in the 1730s.
Larison or Larason. It all depends. There doesn’t seem to be too much of a hard and fast rule. And as often happens with other names having alternate spellings, the same person would sometimes use both spellings, or else a clerk would make his own choice of spelling. I tend to use the spelling most commonly used by each individual.
