The grantee (buyer) is Joseph Howell of Philadelphia, carpenter, who paid \u00ac\u00a350 current silver money for 147 acres in Amwell Township. Here is an abstract (not a quote and omitting the boilerplate) of the recital found in the Release dated November 9th, as best I can transcribe it:<\/p>\n
Samuell Robeson Son & heir of Andrew Robeson late of Philadelphia Gent. Deceased, had one full proprietary share, which Andrew\u00ac\u2020Robinson bought from Edw.\u00ac\u2020Byline & trustees in 1676, and<\/p>\n
Samuel Robeson agreed to sell to John Reading the full propriety, but he died before the transaction could be completed. And sd Samuel Robeson made a will on 1 Sept. 1699, naming as executors Patrick Robeson and Andrew Robeson, and ordered them to make Sale of his Estate both Real & personal,\u00ac\u2020And Patrick Robeson also died before this conveyance could be completed,<\/p>\n
And the surviving executor, Andrew Robeson did on November 1 & 2, 1701, sell the whole propriety to sd John Reading ye Elder, who died intestate ,\u00ac\u2020whereby ye Rights in Law to ye Same became Invested in John Reading party to these presents his only Son & Survivor<\/p>\n
Now, the sd John Reading, for \u00ac\u00a350, conveyed to sd Joseph Howell 147 acres, minus allowances for highways, in Amwell twp., being surveyed out of the 4th Dividend of the sd Propriety<\/p>\n
Beginning at a Hickory tree, near the Quachechioke [Wickecheoke] Brook, corner to other lands of John Reading, thence by his line<\/p>\n
1) \u00ac\u2020South 11 degrees East, 38 1\/2 chains, to a corner to Dimsdale\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s land, thence by same<\/p>\n
2) \u00ac\u2020East, 40 chains, to a corner, thence along land of Samuel Green<\/p>\n
3) \u00ac\u2020North 10 degrees West, 24 chains, to another of Samuel Green\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s corners, thence<\/p>\n
4) \u00ac\u2020North 70 degrees East, 22.00 chains, to a corner in line of land commonly called ye Lotting Purchase, by sd line<\/p>\n
5) \u00ac\u2020North 80 degrees West, 65 chains, to the beginning<\/p>\n
[Signed by] \u00ac\u2020Jno. Reading,<\/p>\n
Witnessed by Daniel Howell, Mary Howell, Joseph Wood (his mark)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This deed clarifies that the property was in the possession of John Reading, Sr. at the time of his death in 1717, and that it was conveyed to Joseph Howell by his son John Reading, Jr., acting as administrator of the estate. It also means that Howell may have been living on the property from 1719 to 1727 when he sold it to John Wright. Since the deed also contains this very early description, we can verify that it is the same property that was eventually sold to Gershom Lambert in 1815.<\/p>\n
Most of the recital concerns the ownership of the proprietary rights that allowed John Reading to have the property surveyed to him. The recital goes back to the original purchase of one full proprietary share which Andrew Robeson had purchased from Edward Bylling and the Quaker trustees in 1676. To be in a position to make this sort of purchase shows that Robeson was very well-to-do. The cost of a full share was \u00ac\u00a3350.<\/p>\n
Unlike some of the proprietary purchasers, Robeson intended to move to America. He appears in Gloucester County, New Jersey as early as 1685. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to figure out who had the prominent positions in West New Jersey, Andrew Sr. or his nephew Andrew Jr., since they came to the Province together, and they are not always distinguished between each other. Since Andrew Sr. was the holder of the proprietary share, it makes sense that he was the one who was among the first members of the Council of West Jersey Proprietors when it was formed in 1688.<\/p>\n
But which Andrew was named Surveyor General of the Province in 1686? It appears to have been Andrew Jr., as he was still recognized as such after the death in 1694 of Andrew Sr. In 1686, Robeson met with the other Surveyor Generals of East New Jersey and New York to settle on the northwestern boundary point of New Jersey, and thereby the border with New York. Although the surveyors met frequently, their report was ignored.