New Jersey, A History of the Garden State

By in In My Library

I don’t do book reviews, so this is not that. But I just got my copy of New Jersey, A History of the Garden State, edited by Maxine N. Lurie and Richard Veit, with an introduction by Marc Mappen, and I’ve got to say—run out and get this book! It’s a terrific collection of articles on the different periods in New Jersey’s history, starting with Richard Veit’s excellent first chapter on Native Americans who lived here, as far back as 12,000 years ago and into the colonial period. Thank you Rich. It came just in time to help me sort out this confusing history for my own blog.

I’m really looking forward to reading the next chapters, because they are all written by the top people in the field: Michael Birkner, John Fea, Howard Gillete Jr., Brian Greenberg, Larry Greene, Graham Russell Gao Hodges, Paul Israel, Maxine N. Lurie, G. Kurt Piehler and Richard Viet.

No doubt about it. If you love New Jersey, you’ll love this book.

John Lambert’s Letters, 2/1/1808

By in Delaware Twp, Families, Hunterdon, Lambert Tags:

beginning in 1807 when Lambert was a member of Congress
ending in 1815 when Lambert was in his last year as a U. S. Senator

The original letters can be found in the Emma Finney Welch Collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I have transcribed the letters as Lambert wrote them, which is why there is an absence of commas and periods, and many misspelled words. My only change is the addition of paragraph breaks to make the letters easier to follow and letters in brackets where they are needed. For cumulative information on the people mentioned in Lambert’s letters, see the Lambert Glossary.

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A John Lambert Glossary

By in Barber, Delaware Twp, Families, Hoppock, Hunterdon, Lambert, Larison, Sources Tags:

People Mentioned in the Letters of John Lambert to Susan M. Hoppock, arranged alphabetically first by given names that have no surnames, then by surname (married women are listed under their maiden names).

I have begun to realize that it is a challenge to keep track of all the people mentioned by John Lambert, mostly family but also friends and neighbors. So here is a list of them all so far, which I will add to whenever someone new is mentioned. This is most definitely a work in progress, and any help that readers can lend me for some of my mysteries will be most appreciated. I will include a link to this post with each subsequent letter published. To view those letters, click on the topic “John Lambert” in the right-hand column.

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Letters of John Lambert, 12/28/1807

By in Delaware Twp, Families, Hunterdon, Lambert Tags: ,

beginning in 1807 when Lambert was a member of Congress
ending in 1815 when Lambert was in his last year as a U. S. Senator

The original letters can be found in the Emma Finney Welch Collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I have transcribed the letters as Lambert wrote them, which is why there is an absence of commas and periods. My only change is the addition of paragraph breaks to make the letters easier to follow.

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The Lenape of Central New Jersey

By in Delaware Twp, Hunterdon, West New Jersey Tags: ,

This is the beginning of a series of articles on the Lenape people who eventually came to live in southern Hunterdon County, before moving further west into Pennsylvania.

By Their Names You Shall Know Them

In the late 17th century, a Lenape Sachem named Caponokonickon walked the paths of “Scheyechbi.” His name was spelled many ways, such as Coponnockous, Capenokanickon, Kapanockanickon, Caponeaoconeacon, Caponakonikikkon or Caponokon. He was a Lenape Sachema or Sarkemaker or Sachamaker, and walked the paths of central New Jersey, known as “Scheyechbi” or Lënape Ehendawikihtit.”

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Letters of John Lambert, 12/11/1807

By in Barber, Delaware Twp, Families, Hunterdon, Lambert Tags: , ,

beginning in 1807 when Lambert was a member of Congress 
ending in 1815 when Lambert was in his last year as a U. S. Senator

It has been nine months since Lambert’s last letter to his granddaughter. The last one was shortly before the Ninth Congress adjourned on March 4, 1807. A very unsatisfactory treaty with Great Britain had arrived the day before, but President Jefferson declined to order the Congress to remain in Washington to consider it, for he was too dissatisfied with it to present it to them. So Congress adjourned, and Lambert spent his time back at home tending to his farm and his library, as well as his extensive family, which was increased on July 28, 1807 when his grandson, James Larison, was born.

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John Lambert’s Letters, 1/16/1807

By in Delaware Twp, Families, Hoppock, Hunterdon, Lambert Tags:

Letters from John Lambert to his nine-year-old granddaughter Susan Hoppock when Lambert was a member of the Ninth Congress

In January 1807, John Lambert was a member of the House of Representatives. He and all the representatives from New Jersey were  members of Thomas Jefferson’s party, the Democratic Republicans or Jeffersonian Republicans, as they were later known. And they were all elected at large. These were the final days of the Ninth Congress, which had come into session on March 4, 1805, and would end on March 4, 1807.

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