early settlers – GOODSPEED HISTORIES

The Haines Farm

June 1, 2019 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, East Amwell, Featured, Haines, Historians Revisited, Moore No Comments Tags: early settlers, land titles

This post returns to an article by Egbert T. Bush titled “Old Farms in Old Hunterdon,” published in 1931. I published large parts of this article before, in “The Moore Family,” in 2016. As the introduction to that article mentioned, two families were discussed in Bush’s article, the Moores and the Haines. Having discussed the Moore family at length, it is time to focus on the Haines family and their farm on the east side of Haines Road in East Amwell. This will conclude my study of some (but not all) of the farms located in the original proprietary tract of John Dennis.

Owners of the Hart-Taylor Cemetery

May 4, 2019 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Featured, Fisher, Headquarters, Moore 1 Comment Tags: early settlers, land titles, proprietors

There are two ways of writing about a cemetery. One is to portray the people buried there, which I attempted to do in my previous article. The other is to relate how the cemetery came to be—in other words, the history of the property where the cemetery is located. It usually makes sense to focus on the place since many of its early owners were buried in the cemetery. At first I thought that in this case, none of them were. But, research has changed my mind.

The Lawshe House

April 6, 2019 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Hunt, Lawshe, Williamson 1 Comment Tags: early settlers, Going, houses, land titles

Quite some time ago, I wrote an article called “Going-Going- Gone” about houses that are disappearing or have disappeared. One of them was a mystery to me. But finally I have figured out who it belonged to.

Sandy Ridge, part four

January 26, 2019 By Marfy Goodspeed in Bodine Family, Butterfoss, Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, Ent Family, Historians Revisited, Sandy Ridge, Sharp 2 Comments Tags: early settlers, houses, land titles, proprietors

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.

Sandy Ridge, part two

December 29, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Dilts, E. T. Bush, Historians Revisited, Hunt, Larison, Sandy Ridge, Vandolah, Wolverton 3 Comments Tags: cemeteries, churches, early settlers

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.

Howell House, part one

September 22, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Howell, Prallsville, Reading, Rittenhouse, Rosemont, Stockton 4 Comments Tags: architecture, early settlers, ferries, houses, land titles, maps, proprietors

Not long ago, Dennis Bertland inquired about an old house that might have been located on the William Rittenhouse tract that I recently wrote about (“The Rittenhouse Tavern.” Dennis’ inquiry can be found in the comments section.) It is located in a blank space on the Hammond Map between the Wickecheoke Creek and Shoppons Run. Who did that space belong to?

The Rittenhouse Tavern

August 10, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Families, Howell, Lair, Rittenhouse, Rosemont 8 Comments Tags: architecture, early settlers, land titles, maps, taverns

History of Rosemont, part two

This is a sequel to the article by Egbert T. Bush titled “Crosskeys Tavern,” about the history of the village of Rosemont, which was published in its entiretylai last week. Here I will break it down to provide more information.

The Cook Proprietary Tract

March 24, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, Moore, Rounsavell, Sandbrook, Sutton, Taylor 7 Comments Tags: early settlers, proprietors

The Hammond Maps of Hunterdon County proprietary tracts are a wonderful resource for county historians. Many of the property owners shown on these maps drawn by D. Stanton Hammond in 1963 were the first Europeans to claim title to this part of the state of New Jersey. What happened to those properties in succeeding years has always fascinated me and provided wonderful material for my articles.

The Sine Farm

March 10, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Dalrymple, Delaware Township, Holcombe, Kitchen, Moore, Rounsavell, Sandbrook, Sine, Sutton No Comments Tags: early settlers, Haddon Tract, land titles

For the final installment of my study of the Haddon Tract,¹ I am turning to the remainder of the property that was left to Nicholas Sine. As a reminder, Nicholas Signe/Sayn/Sine was a partner with another German immigrant, Jacob Sniter, in the 1748 purchase of 1300 acres of the Haddon Tract, a 2,000-acre plot that was surveyed for John Haddon in 1711. Daniel Robins had purchased the other 700 acres.

Hoppock Farm Over 600 Acres

February 17, 2018 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Township, E. T. Bush, Hoppock 2 Comments Tags: early settlers, Haddon Tract, land titles, roads

Not long ago I published some articles about properties located in what was once known as The Haddon Tract (The Haddon Tract, part one). Today’s article by Egbert T. Bush concerns a very large farm located in that tract that I have not yet written about. It was sold by Jacob Sniter and Nicholas Sayn to John Peter Foxe of Amwell, who subsequently sold it to Jost Hoppock in 1749.