GOODSPEED HISTORIES – Page 186 – New Jersey History and Genealogy

West New Jersey in 1681

October 12, 2009 By Marfy Goodspeed in Burlington County, Gloucester County, West New Jersey Tags: early settlers, legislation, proprietors, surveying

Well, it looks as if I can’t get more than one year’s worth of information in a single post. Can’t help it—the times were just too interesting.

Edmund Andros

In January 1680/81, Gov. Andros, who had been carrying out the wishes of his patron, James Duke of York, was recalled to England to answer charges of financial corruption. His heavy-handed tactics, especially in East New Jersey, had made him a liability to James, who was having problems of his own. Andros returned home in May 1681, but instead of imprisonment, he was knighted, after the charges were dropped in December 1681.

West New Jersey – 1680

September 29, 2009 By Marfy Goodspeed in Burlington County, Gloucester County, Green, West New Jersey Tags: early settlers, land titles, legislation, proprietors

Who Governs?

While Mahlon Stacy was enjoying the fruitful new land he and his fellow Quakers had settled in, a time bomb was ticking, set off by a poorly spelled letter written in Sept. 1679 by the Attorney General in England, Sir John Werden,¹, which concluded with this: Quaere?

Postscript to WNJ

September 28, 2009 By Marfy Goodspeed in Burlington County, West New Jersey Tags: legislation

Sorry for the delay. Got waylaid by a virus.

I was thinking about that cold winter when the ‘Shield’ arrived in the Delaware River and the passengers walked to land over ice, and then, thinking about how Mahlon Stacy wrote about the bountiful life in the Yorkshire Tenth. It was a little surprising that he did not mention the chilly weather. Of course, Stacy intended his letter to be reread to English Quakers who were debating whether or not to make the trip to America, so he put the best face of things.