Fullwidth – Page 81 – GOODSPEED HISTORIES

The Consequences of a Scam

August 6, 2016 By Marfy Goodspeed in Bray, Clinton, Families, Hunterdon, Taylor

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

The Ruin of A. S. Taylor

July 30, 2016 By Marfy Goodspeed in Clinton, Families, Hunterdon, Taylor Tags: crime, portraits

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.