The following is an update of a speech I delivered at the Locktown Stone Church in May 1997. I thought it would be a good idea to archive the speech here on my website, especially since it makes a nice short history of Delaware Township. When I gave the speech, I had two large maps showing locations of mills, taverns, ferries, the oldest roads. One map showed the 18th century version of Delaware Township, and one showed the 19th century version. Whatever happened to those maps? If I find them, I’ll turn them over to Marilyn Cummings who has been working hard on just such a map project, one that can be seen on Google Earth.
land titles
Nathaniel Saxton, Esq.
Nathaniel Saxton Esq. is one of the more intriguing characters to appear in Hunterdon County history. I have been looking forward to writing about him for a long time.
Cooper & Curry, Aftermath
What Became of Mahlon Cooper?
It is too bad that Cooper and Curry could not hang on long enough to enjoy the short-lived prosperity caused by the War of 1812. But perhaps that surge in economic activity helped them to recover from their losses in Hunterdon County. I do not know how their creditors recovered, since the sales of the mill property brought in so little ($7 and $50). I gather that Cooper and Curry were not expected to make up the difference, having lost everything in the lawsuit.
Cooper and Curry
It has been a long time since I published my last installment in the saga of Raven Rock. The last post described Moses Quinby’s purchase of the 75 acres adjoining Bull’s Island. This one will discuss the millers Mahlon Cooper and Robert Curry, whose 10-acre mill lot was adjacent to the 75 acres and to Bull’s Island.
Raven Rock (Saxtonville) & Bull’s Island, continued
John Ladd
John Ladd was one of the Quaker immigrants who came to West New Jersey in 1678. He was also on hand when William Penn was designing the layout of his new town of Philadelphia. Family tradition says that Penn offered him a choice of one of the best squares in the city or £30, and that Ladd chose the money, whereupon Penn said: “John thou art a ladd by name and a lad by nature, doesn’t thee know that Philadelphia will be a great city?” (Ah, Penn—such a joker.)
The Burlington Waterlots
The latest issue of the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey is out (vol. 86, no. 1), and the first article, “Burlington Waterlots Surveyed,” is just amazing. C. Miller Biddle, a descendant of the original Biddle family, has written a detailed description of the ownership of the water lots in the town of Burlington when they were first laid out.
He has also given us succeeding owners, sometimes into the early 19th century. He begins with the London side of town, west of High Street, and I gather he will eventually treat the Yorkshire side as well. Dr. Biddle’s research is truly impressive, and I expect these articles will be the last word on the subject, so be sure to look out for future installments.
West New Jersey, 1691
It has been awhile since I’ve written anything about the chronology of early West Jersey, but I’m glad I waited, for I just recently got my hands on a PhD. Dissertation by Frederick R. Black that has opened my eyes to events in the 1690s and solved some mysteries for me. It is entitled The Last Lords Proprietors of West Jersey; The West Jersey Society, 1692-1702, and is available from Rutgers Library, Special Collections, through inter-library loan. I can’t recommend it enough.
The Thomas Green(e)s of West New Jersey
The original post on Thomas Greene included a story about his appearance as a witness in a disturbing court case. It came at the end of a long post, and I realized afterwards that it deserved its own space. You can read it here.
It’s been a long time since I wrote anything about the Green family. It was Samuel Green who got me started on this series of posts about early West New Jersey. Now that I’m up to 1690, it’s time to take another look at the Greens.
John Reading’s Diary
This past Saturday, a group of Reading descendants, who have joined together as “The Mount Amwell Project,” gathered in Sergeantsville for one of their regular meetings. I was honored to be asked to speak to the group, and took the opportunity to try out on them a first chapter to a history of Delaware Township that focused on John Reading and his discovery of “Mount Amwell.”
West New Jersey, 1689, Part Two
The Council of Proprietors’ Other Business
During their meetings held in 1688 and 1689, the Council of Proprietors was setting up rules for how surveys would be obtained, and naming registrars for Burlington and Gloucester counties, who were Samuel Jennings and John Reading, respectively. They did not act for Salem County because it was still under John Fenwick’s control. But there were other matters to attend to.