A Guest Post by Pamela Jean Milam
Great Granddaughter of Jane Bell Lockerbie Wilson
Last April, I received an email from a reader, Pamela Milam, describing a tragic incident in her family’s history. I was struck by how unusual and dramatic it was and encouraged her to write it up. But she knew it needed more research, so she set to work. Each version she sent me was better than the previous one, and in time she finished the story, as it is presented here. I hope Pamela’s experience will encourage others to consider writing up a chapter of their own family history. It can be very rewarding.
Recently, my son, Ben Zimmer, sent me a clipping that a friend of his had found in the Trenton True American for March 7, 1803. This friend, Barry Popik, was researching the expression “Uncle Sam,” (see “New Light on “Uncle Sam”), and had found an instance of its use in this letter to the editor:
This example of a Stockton family tree is very tentative. I have not done a lot of research on this family and expect to be making additions and corrections over time. My purpose in compiling this tree is to show how the family of Richard and Annis Stockton of Princeton, featured in my article “Aristocratical Stocktons,” connected with the rest of the Stockton family. I have underlined the names of those mentioned in that article.
My next article on the proposed route of the Delaware Flemington Railroad is not ready for publication. However, a few years after the railroad company collapsed, one of the company’s directors found himself confronted by an angry man.
This family tree should be considered a work in progress, as the Higgins family of Raritan Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey is large and complex, more than enough to work on without including Higgins family members who migrated west. They are for the most part left out.
This is part two of my series on the Delaware Flemington Railroad Company. Part One was Egbert T. Bush’s history of how this company failed. He provided us with lots of information derived from the company papers that had been saved. But so many questions were raised, and not addressed, starting with the people who thought up the idea and promoted the company.
The next presidential debate for Democratic candidates is coming up on September 12th. In light of that and also with thoughts about the kind of discourse Americans are having these days, it seemed appropriate to publish Mr. Bush’s article on a practice that went out of fashion long ago—local debating societies. Somehow it was possible for 19th-century neighbors to dispute current issues without making enemies of each other.
This article by Egbert T. Bush caught my attention because it is reminiscent of PennEast’s attempt to dig a pipeline across Delaware Township and other parts of Hunterdon and Mercer Counties. The big difference here is that many landowners along the proposed route of this railroad supported it because they expected real benefits, whereas PennEast’s pipeline is likely to do more harm than good.
Part one focused on the family of Judson Rittenhouse and Martha Bodine, who lived on the farm now known as the Sarah Dilts Farm Park in Delaware Township for most of their lives. The farm was purchased by Judson’s father, Wilson Bray Rittenhouse, in 1844. This article will first describe Wilson and his family, and then will trace the history of this property back to the first European owner.
This is a return to an article I wrote in 2012 about the family that used to own what is known today as the Sarah Dilts Farm Park. Some wonderful photographs have come my way that have inspired me to take a second look.
