This is a continuation of my research into the history of the Pauch farm in Delaware Township. This was once the property of Samuel Green, which is why I am publishing it here on my website. It was Samuel Green who got me started on this blog, back in 2009. Apologies to those of my readers who were interested in what I wrote 4 and 5 years ago for taking so long to return to Samuel Green’s life.

The 30,000 Acres

To begin, I must go back to 1688, and the Governor of West New Jersey, Daniel Coxe.1 Coxe purchased shares of West New Jersey from the widow of Edward Byllinge, and planned to turn many of those shares into properties that he could then sell. But he had no intention of leaving England, so he chose an agent to act for him, one Adlord Bowde, draper of Hertford. By October 15, 1687, when Coxe filed his power of attorney, Bowde was already “now bound for Burlington as land agent.”2

I am guessing that Coxe made it very clear to Bowde that as many shares as possible should be used to get land surveys made in his name, but on his arrival, Bowde discovered that the proprietors had not made a sufficiently large Indian purchase to realize all of Coxe’s shares. So Mr. Bowde took it upon himself to make such a purchase, actually three separate purchases that together became known as the 30,000 acres (which I described it in a previous article, West NJ 1688 and Daniel Coxe).

Adlord Bowde died soon afterwards, about December 1688 in Burlington. His successor as agent was James Budd who made the survey for Coxe. Oddly enough, the northern boundary of that survey, a jagged and very distinctive line that now divides Hopewell Township from the Amwells, was well south of the northern line of the 30,000-acre purchase. This meant that the land that lay north of the Hopewell line and south of the northern line of the Indian purchase was available to other proprietors who had shares that qualified them for surveys. Perhaps the West Jersey Proprietors told Budd that the survey for Coxe must leave some land in the Indian Purchase for the other proprietors.3

It is in that area that I turn my attention, specifically to a survey made in 1701 for Richard Bull of 300 acres.4 I have previously written about Richard Bull’s life and relations, but now it is time to discover more about this particular piece of land.

As mentioned in the previous article, it is thought that Bull made a deathbed gift of the residue of his property to his sister Sarah, wife of Samuel Green. This may be true, as the Hammond map of proprietary tracts suggests that Green did come into possession of that property after Bull’s death. And this suggestion is reinforced by the fact that Samuel Green’s son Richard was the owner by 1737. Unfortunately, there is no deed recorded between Richard Bull’s widow and Samuel Green for this property.

But first, some words about Samuel Green, who I have written about before. (You can search my website on his name and get a confusing list of articles. Instead, please go to the end of this post to see a more useful list.)

Samuel Green in Amwell Township

Signature of Samuel Green Sr., from a mortgage of 1737
Signature of Samuel Green Sr., from a mortgage of 1737

As readers will know, I had no luck finding Samuel Green’s family in Gloucester County, even though we can be certain that he spent time there, since he married the sister of a prominent Gloucester County surveyor, Richard Bull. This marriage must have taken place not long before Samuel Green moved to Amwell Township, about the time it was created in 1708. And we know he was present there in 1709 when the Burlington Court named the first officers of the township. They were Samuel Green, Tax Collector, and John Reading Sr. and John Wilkinson, Assessors. There were no other officers. John Reading was a man of importance in Gloucester County. He had arrived in Amwell about 1705, and was instrumental in the establishment of the town by royal patent from Queen Anne. John Wilkinson, however, is one of those mystery men; I have no information on him.

Exactly where Samuel Green was living in Amwell cannot be said. He owned hundreds of acres there, and his house is probably long gone. One possibility is a tract of 250 acres he mortgaged in 1737, bordering son-in-law Benjamin Severns, son Richard Green, John VanVorst, the King’s road, Job Robins, James Ketchum, and son-in-law John Opdycke.”5

We know more about Samuel Green’s family once he settled in Amwell Township. It appears that all of the children of Samuel and Sarah Green were born there.

1) Sarah born about 1709, married Benjamin Severns May 28, 1730
2) Margaret, born 1711, married John Opdycke about 1737
3) Richard, born about 1712, married Elizabeth Wolverton about 1740
4) Ann, born about 1715, married Joshua Opdycke July 15, 1738.

The Wolvertons were present in Amwell almost as early as the Greens and Readings. The Opdyckes came from Maidenhead (Lawrenceville) where Samuel Green may have spent some time before moving to Amwell. Benjamin Severns’ father was probably John Severns, merchant of Trenton, who died in 1732.

Sometime around 1737, Samuel Green conveyed 450 acres in Amwell to John and Margaret Opdycke in the vicinity of Headquarters and 495 acres to Benjamin and Sarah Severns, adjacent to the Opdycke tract.6 Joshua and Ann Opdycke, who lived in Kingwood Township, just north of Amwell, were given 298 acres.7

As for Samuel’s son Richard, a mortgage made by Richard Green in 1737 shows that he owned 400 acres in Amwell bordering the Medcalf tract, John Wright, Dimsdale’s tract, John Vanvorst, Samuel Green, and land formerly Daniel Robins.8 I have tried to plot the metes and bounds for this property and failed miserably. The courses simply do not come together. This is very disappointing, because the Pauch farm is located on this very tract of land.

Surveys in the Lotting Purchase

The Lotting Purchase Line, detail of Hammond Map F
The Lotting Purchase Line, detail of Hammond Map F. Click to enlarge.

From 1711 to 1718, most of Delaware Township was surveyed as part of a huge tract called the “Lotting Purchase,” land that had been acquired from the resident Indians in 1703. These 150,000 acres were intended to be used as dividends to owners of proprietary shares in the Province of West New Jersey.9 The northern boundary of the Lotting Purchase ran through Delaware Township, from east to west, and was the old northern line of Bowde’s 30,000 acres. It also ran north of the 300 acres of Richard Bull, although there is some reason to think the line ran further north than shown on the Hammond map.

One of the surveys in the Lotting Purchase was made by Richard Bull for Dorothy Medcalf, widow of Mathew Medcalf, in 1712.10 It was for 437 acres and bordered on the northwest the 300 acres that Bull had acquired for himself, and that later came to Richard Green. That survey suggests that the Purchase line was not quite as Hammond showed it on his maps. In fact, that line between Bull and Medcalf and a tract of 147 acres surveyed to John Reading in 1715 is a confusing one when deeds and mortgages are compared.11

Samuel Green’s Life in Amwell

In 1714, the County of Hunterdon was created, being set off from Burlington County. Once again John Reading was involved in the legislation. And Samuel Green was again one of the earliest officeholders. He attended the first session of the court of Hunterdon County on the second Tuesday of June, 1714 in Maidenhead.12 In 1716, Samuel Green was named a Justice of the Peace for Hunterdon County. This position was renewed in 1721 and 1722.

Samuel Green, like Richard Bull, was a surveyor. They were about the same age, both being born around 1675. John Reading Sr., born in 1657, and his son John Reading Jr., born 1686, were also surveyors. By 1715, they were turning their attention to lands in the northern reaches of Hunterdon County. Today that area is Sussex and Warren Counties, but those counties were not created until later (Sussex in 1753 and Warren in 1824). In 1715, Samuel Green and John Reading Jr. were exploring the Johnsonburg area.13 Not long afterward, in 1717, John Reading Sr. died without writing a will. His son John Reading Jr. administered the estate, and Samuel Green acted as one of his bondsmen or securities.

Samuel Green continued to be a leader in his community. In 1721, Green was elected Freeholder from Amwell Township; he was also elected in 1723, 1726-28 and 1734-35. In 1723, he was named Tax Assessor for Amwell Township, and also in 1726-28.14

On November 24, 1732, John Wright, blacksmith of Amwell twp., wrote his will, naming his wife Orka his sole executor. Samuel Green and Daniel and Ruth Woolverton witnessed the will. John Wright probably died soon afterwards, for on December 29, 1732, Samuel Green and John Holcombe, also an early resident of Amwell Township, made the inventory of his estate. Wright’s will named his children: Harmanus, John, Hannah, William, Elizabeth, Katherine and Affea. Daughter Hannah Wright would have been about 20 years old at the time. About six years later, Hannah Wright married Samuel Green, becoming his third wife.

The first Town Meeting of Amwell Township took place in 1734 (previously, officers were appointed by the Burlington and Hunterdon County Courts). Samuel Green was again appointed Justice of the Peace. He was also chosen to be Assessor that year, and succeeding years until 1738.15

The Death of Sarah Bull Green

Sarah Green witnessed a Hunterdon County deed with her husband Samuel on May 28, 1726.16 Although there is no record of her death, Sarah Green must have died between 1726 and 1737. Her burial place is unknown.

A deed of 1738 sheds some light on Sarah’s family. It was dated October 23, in which “Samuel Green of Hunterdon County and Samuel Green, jr., his eldest son, {conveyed} to Samuel Harrison of Gloucester County, lots of land in Gloucester County, part of the property being lots that went to Sarah Green, heretofore wife of Samuel Green, the elder, and formerly Sarah Bull, coming to her from her father, Thomas Bull, Gentlemen, Deceased.”17.

Samuel Green Leaves Amwell

By 1738, Samuel Green had left Amwell Township and moved north to the town of Greenwich. He left the children from his second marriage behind in Amwell. They all had properties and were raising their families there. His son Samuel Jr., from his first marriage with Margaret Kemp, accompanied him to Greenwich Township in what was Hunterdon County, but was about to become Morris County. One other person accompanied him—his new wife, Hannah Wright. They probably married shortly before departing Amwell. Hannah was about 24 years old, but Samuel Green was about 63. He must have been a man of great stamina to head into the wilderness with a very much younger wife, to start all over again and to raise a family of seven more children. He became as prominent in his new home as he had been in his old one.

We know that Samuel Green was present in Greenwich in 1738 because he was listed among the voters there that year. He voted for Daniel Coxe for Assembly.18 Voting the same way, but living in Amwell, were his son Richard Green, his wife’s brother Jno. Wright (Jr.), and Green’s sons-in-law John Opdycke and Benjamin Severns. Coxe was the candidate opposed to the West Jersey Proprietors, and he lost the election. The fact that Green and his adult son and sons-in-law favored Coxe does say something about their views.

Another record shows that Samuel Green was chosen to represent Greenwich Township in the Assembly that year, along with Henry Stewart, and John and Thomas Anderson.19 Interesting that he could be elected in one town and allowed to vote in a different one.

Samuel Green’s Life After Amwell

The next chapter in the history of the Pauch farm concerns Richard Green and his family. But before moving on, I must write about the rest of Samuel Green’s life.

Samuel and Hannah Green settled in the town that became known as Greenwich in what was then Morris County. It had that name in 1738 when Green voted from there. The New Brunswick Presbytery, which was set off from Philadelphia in 1738, had a series of names for this town—first “Mr. Green’s,” then “Green’s Ridge,” then “Green-ridge,” “Grenage,” and finally “Greenwich.” Now that is a nice demonstration of the evolution of a town’s name.20 Greenwich was incorporated on October 12, 1739.

In 1750, Greenwich Township was divided to create old Greenwich and new Hardwick Townships. Samuel Green’s home was now in Hardwick. In 1753, when Sussex County was created out of Morris County, Hardwick and Greenwich became part of the new county. In 1754, a meeting of the Board of Justice & Freeholders of Sussex County met at the home of Samuel Green. The question was where to build a county court house and jail. The voters met and decided on a place near Pettit’s tavern. The land was donated by Samuel Green.21 Later, in 1760, Green would petition for a tavern license near the house of Jonathan Pettit, Esq.

In the 1740s, Samuel Green was still surveying, often in the company of John Reading Jr., who kept a journal of his work and mentioned Green several times. Not only was Green surveying for customers, he was also acquiring large tracts of land for himself. In 1747, the sons of Daniel Coxe conveyed 2,100 acres to him, “in fulfillment of an agreement made by their father as compensation for trouble, expense and pains in discovering and looking up the boundaries of Coxe’s 6,230-acre tract.”22

During the French and Indian War, Sussex County was exposed to Indian attacks. It was so unsafe that the Green family moved to Pennsylvania temporarily, taking shelter with the Moravians. This was appropriate because in previous years, the Greens had given land and support to the Moravians in New Jersey when they established a settlement at Hope, now in Warren County. Before the war was concluded, Samuel and Hannah Green and their children returned to their New Jersey home. They were there on September 3, 1760, when Samuel Green of Hardwick, Sussex Co., wrote his will. It was a lengthy one because he had a large family and a large estate. But to his children left behind in Amwell Township, he left only 5 shillings each. He had already provided for them, and they were now independent.

The other child to receive only 5 shillings was the eldest son, Samuel Green Jr., born about 1695. His mother was probably Green’s first wife Margaret Kemp, as indicated in a deed dated December 1, 1755, in which Samuel Green Sr. conveyed 500 acres that had been sold to Edward Kemp in 1718 to “Samuel Green Jr., heir apparent of said Edward Kemp.”23

Samuel Green died sometime before November 22, 1760 when his will was recorded. He left behind a large and prosperous family. However, the Revolution was not kind to the children of his third wife, as they were mostly Loyalists and were forced to emigrate to Canada. Meanwhile, his Amwell and Kingwood children and grandchildren thrived in Hunterdon County.

Links to Stories About Samuel Green

I am disappointed with the way Word Press delivers results on a name search on my website. A search for “Samuel Green” turned up a lot of irrelevant articles. So here is my own list of links for articles on his early life in Gloucester County—a life that appears to be completely undocumented.

Samuel Green of West New Jersey

Postscript to Samuel Green, part 1

Samuel Green and West New Jersey, part 2

West New Jersey 1674-1680

West New Jersey 1680

West New Jersey 1686

West New Jersey 1687, part 2

The Thomas Green(e)s of West New Jersey

How I Descend From Samuel Green

Hannah Wright had seven children. Her daughter Mary, born January 1749, married Levi Howell (1746-1825). Levi Howell served as Freeholder from Hardwick Twp., and also as Tax Collector. In his will of 1825, he left a farm to son Jonah. Mary Green Howell died on January 30, 1836.

Levi and Mary Howell had eleven children, including son Jonah (1781-1855) who married Mary Pierson in 1804. She is supposed to have been born in 1777 and died 1852, but I have not identified her parents, and wonder about her birth date. They had seven children, including:

Samuel Green Howell (1822-1866). Samuel is the ancestor of mine who moved from New Jersey to Michigan with his wife Esther Bailey Edmonson (1827-1899). They married in 1845, and made the trip in 1855 by way of the Erie Canal. They settled in Oakland County and had four children, including Mary Matilda (Tillie) Howell (1845-1926) who married Harrison Walter (1840-1921) in 1864. Of their five children, Agnes Emma Walter was my great grandmother. She married John W. Goodspeed in 1892.

Footnotes:

  1. I have published many articles on this interesting character. Here is a list; unfortunately, Word Press gives it to you backwards. ↩
  2. William Nelson, Patents and Deeds and Other Early Records of New Jersey, p. 421, referring to Lib. B part 1,  p. 173. ↩
  3. Coxe himself declared that James Budd had made the survey for him: “30,000 acres above the falls of the Delaware, bo’t of the Indians of Adlord Bowde and surveyed by James Budd;” Indenture of Daniel Coxe, Governor and Chief Proprietor of West New Jersey, in Nelson’s Patents & Deeds, p. 316; from East Jersey Deeds, etc. Lib. G, p. 174. ↩
  4. N.J. Archives. West Jersey Proprietors. Deeds and Surveys, Book A, p. 48. ↩
  5. Hunterdon County Loan Office Records, NJ State Archives (hereafter HCLO) 1737, D 74. It was leased to one Robert Ray, about whom I know nothing. The mortgage’s metes and bounds are too vague to plot. ↩
  6. HCLO 1737 D 75, 76. ↩
  7. Charles Wilson Opdyke et al, The Op Dyck Genealogy, p. 225. This is interesting because when Samuel Green was living in Hunterdon, Kingwood Township had not yet been established. ↩
  8. HCLO 1737, D 77. ↩
  9. The Lotting Purchase deserves at least one article all its own, so I will postpone explanation of it until later. ↩
  10. N.J. Archives, West Jersey Proprietors, Survey Book A p.138, 1712. ↩
  11. For a discussion of the misaligned route of the Lotting Purchase, see to my article in the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, Winter, 1983, pp. 371-73. ↩
  12. James P. Snell, History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, 1881, p. 196. ↩
  13. A. Van Doren Honeyman. Northwestern New Jersey: A History of Somerset, Morris, Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex Counties. 5 vols. New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1927, vol. 2, p. 596; “Journal of John Reading, 1745.” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society 10 (1-3): 34–46, 90–110, 128–133. ↩
  14. Snell’s History of Hunterdon County. Green may have held office in others years besides these mentioned; it’s a matter of what records were saved. ↩
  15. James P. Snell. History of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. Philadelphia, PA. 1881, pp. 258, 347. ↩
  16. Grantors Henry Kitchen and wife Ann Wheeler, daughter of Gilbert Wheeler, from June D. Brown, Abstracts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania Land Records, 1711-1749, pp. 153-54. John David Davis, in his book Bucks County, Pennsylvania Deed Records, 1684-1763, mistakenly identified the grantors as Ann Wheeler and husband Henry Hutchinson. The grantee was John Clarke of Hunterdon County. ↩
  17. Gloucester Deeds Bk 10 p.5 ↩
  18. James P. Snell, History of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. pp. 193. ↩
  19. Snell, James P. History of Sussex & Warren Counties, New Jersey. Vol. vol. 2, Warren County. 2 vols. Philadelphia, PA, 1881, pp. 474, 596. ↩
  20. Henry Race, M.D., “Greenland in New Jersey,” A Historical Sketch of the Moravian Settlement in Sussex County, 1768 to 1808, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ: Advertiser Printing House, 1892, Vol. XI, 1890-1891. ↩
  21. Snell, History of Warren Co., pp. 658-668, 685. ↩
  22. Henry Race, “Greenland in New Jersey.” ↩
  23. Race, “Greenland in NJ.” ↩