\n\u201a\u00c4\u00faEbanezer Fisk, who died Nov. 12, 1852, aged 88 years and 8 months.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9
\n# 81650762
\nIsaac Godown, died 14 July 1857 age 69.
\nJ[acob] G[odown] – no dates
\nPermilia Godown, died 21 Oct 1879 age 78
\nS[arah] G[odown] dau. John and Ann Lake – no dates
\nStriker Godown, Mar. 2, 1864. 34th<\/sup> year
\nJ. G[ordon]
\nM. G[ordon]
\nMary Gordon, d. 4 March 1851, 74-2-10.<\/strong> # 81650630
\nOtheniel Gordon, died 14 May 1826 age 52-11-18. # 23215610
\nI[saac] Lake, son of John and Ann, Oct. 15, 1825
\nJane Lake, died 8 March 1827 age 62-6-2. # 23215710
\nL. W. Lake Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. \u201a\u00c4\u00ec Note: Mr. Deats listed this as W. Lake, but the first L is clearly visible.
\n<\/em>Mary Lake, died 22 October 1851 age 75-5-19
\nS. Lake, Jan. 2, 1831, 57 and \u00ac\u03a9 years
\nThomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810 age 52-5-20
\nPermelia LaRue, died 23 Oct 1851 age 75-8-5. # 81650520
\nSarah Ann La Rue, July 22, 1825, 0-8-1
\nThomas G[ordon] La Rue, Jan. 23, 1826, age 12-5-3. # 23216847
\nUriah LaRue, died 6 April 1814, age 40-0-11. # 81650499
\nCaroline Rake, 1834. # 81650918
\nLydia Rake, 1802. # 81650747
\n[L x R was not on the Deats list]
\nPhilip Rake Jr. died 19 Feb 1865 age 49-3-0. # 232157951<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Davis-Mary.jpg\")
<\/a>Mary Davis<\/h4>\nDied November, 18, 1825 age 53-1-18. Her birthdate calculates to September 30, 1772. I have been unable to identify Mary Davis. She died too early to show up in the first census records. She might have been the wife of John Davis, who witnessed the will of Peter Young in 1785. In 1830 he bordered property owned by David Johnes of Headquarters.2<\/a><\/sup> But I know nothing else about him. An examination of the deeds for John Davis did not provide an easy answer to his existence, and I have not found a marriage record for a John and Mary Davis. Obviously, Mary was not related to the later John Davis who owned the cemetery property, because he was an immigrant from Lithuania.<\/p>\nA search of the deed index shows that a Mary Davis sold many properties from 1803 to 1821, but none of the names are connected with the Sandbrook vicinity. And if she was the wife of John Davis, their marriage did not get recorded in Hunterdon County.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Fisk-Eben-copy-401x535.jpg\")
<\/a>Ebenezer Fisk<\/h4>\nIn his article, \u201a\u00c4\u00faSand Brook Once Had a Tavern Nearby,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 Egbert T. Bush wrote briefly about the Rake Cemetery. He was particularly taken with one of the men buried there, Ebenezer Fisk. He wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/strong><\/p>\nStrangely enough, a half hour after locating the stone last mentioned, I was asked: \u201a\u00c4\u00faDid you ever hear of \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk?\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 My interested reply brought forth a statement to the effect that \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 was quite a character here during most of the early half of the past century. He had no kith or kin, and nobody knew anything about him except that he drifted into this hamlet while helping to build \u201a\u00c4\u00fathe big bridge\u201a\u00c4\u00f9\u201a\u00c4\u00eeperhaps the one across the Delaware at Stockton\u201a\u00c4\u00eeand stuck close to the good old place, ending his long life at Sand Brook, and is now sleeping here in his lonely grave.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\nMr. Bush gave us a little information about Mr. Fisk, but not much. His gravestone states that he died on November 12, 1852 at the age of 88, which means he was born about 1764, making him just a little too young to take part in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n
In the 1850 census for Delaware Twp., Ebenezer Fiske was 86 and living with William Sergeant\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s family. There were others living with the Sergeants who were not related to them: Oliver H. Johnson 10, Elizabeth Dalrymple 15, Rachel Dalrymple 9, and Rebecca Rodenbock 27. The Sergeants may have been providing shelter for some of the town\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s poor.<\/p>\n
It is intriguing to think of Fisk coming to Hunterdon County as a young man to work on the new \u201a\u00c4\u00faCentre Bridge,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 which was built in 1812. Why \u201a\u00c4\u00f2Nezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 Fisk decided to spend the rest of his life in Delaware Township is a mystery. But he must have been someone that people were fond of because he was given a proper burial, and a very handsome stone, probably provided by William Sergeant.<\/p>\n
The Godown Family<\/h4>\n
Isaac Godown, died 14 July 1857 age 69.
\nJ[acob] G[odown] – no dates
\nPermilia Godown, died 21 Oct 1879 age 78
\nS[arah] G[odown] dau. John and Ann Lake – no dates
\nStriker Godown,. Mar. 2, 1864. 34th<\/sup> year<\/p>\nThe earliest members of the Godown family to take up residence in Hunterdon county are not easy to research. They left very little record behind. The Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s buried in the Rake Cemetery were Jacob Godown, probably his wife Sarah Lake, their son Isaac Godown, and Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife Permelia Myers Godown. (See The Godown Family Tree<\/a>.)<\/p>\nThe first of the family to settle in Amwell Township was Jacob Godown, who bought property near the Alexauken (\u201a\u00c4\u00faAllishoking\u201a\u00c4\u00f9) Creek, north of Lambertville. It was inherited by his son Jacob and grandson Evans Godown, who sold it in 1797. It is infuriating to me that neither Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr. or Evans Godown wrote a will. And because their real estate transactions took place in the 18th<\/sup> century, their deeds are mostly missing. Also, I have no information on the wives of Jacob Sr., and Jacob, Jr.<\/p>\nHowever, Evans Godown and wife Mary Thatcher had eleven children, and several of them married into families connected with the Sandbrook neighborhood, including Rounsavells, Thatchers, and Lakes. This suggests that Evans Godown (or Evan, depending on what record you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4re looking at) was the one who moved to that area.<\/p>\n
Of all the children of Evan and Mary Godown, their son Jacob appears to have been the one most connected to the Sandbrook area. In 1783 he married Sarah Lake, the daughter of John Lake and Sarah Robins, whose farm was on the east side of Sandbrook-Headquarters Road, south of Sandbrook. Some years later, Jacob Godown acquired a farm straddling Yard Road, on property once owned by the Rounsavel family, and therefore a part of the old Cook proprietary tract. It was conveyed to Richard Rounsavel\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son-in-law Isaac Stout in the 1790s. Stout sold a farm of 55 acres to Jacob Godown in 1798. Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown remained there for the rest of their lives. The farm of 55 acres was sold by Jacob Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s heirs to William Hice on April 28, 1832.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nJacob Godown appeared in the 1830 census as a man in his 60s living with a woman in her 60s, also a woman in her 30s, a boy aged 15 to 19, a boy & a girl aged 10-14, and a girl under 5. This woman in her 30s was most likely Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widowed daughter and her children, but I cannot identify her.<\/p>\n
Sarah Lake Godown died on September 16, 1831.5<\/a><\/sup> Her husband Jacob Godown died two months later, on November 11th<\/sup>. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery. It is not certain whether Sarah was or not. There is an “S. Lake” buried there who died in 1831. She most likely was Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife, but it is odd that the name on the stone was Lake instead of Godown.<\/p>\nSurprisingly, only one of Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s children is buried in the Rake Cemetery. They had seven altogether, including John A. Godown (1787-c.1848) who married Abigail Robins, daughter of Jonathan Robbins, Jr. and Mary Huff, and moved to Alexandria Township. There was a daughter Polly, about whom I have no information, and a daughter Sarah, born 1792, who married John Hice (1758-1832) as his second wife.6<\/a><\/sup> John and Sarah Godown Hice had a daughter Amy who married Thomas Gordon in 1828. Thomas Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents, Othniel and Mary Heath Gordon were buried in the Rake Cemetery. More about them below.<\/p>\nGetting back to the children of Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown, they had a son Evan, named after Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s father, who died sometime after 1870, a bachelor. He had been living and working on the farm of Simon Myres, even at the age of 77, along with Simon Myres\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 son Peter Myres, also age 77. Daughter Rhoda Godown, born 1796, married Jonathan Reading Higgins in 1818; the couple moved away to Cayuga County, New York.<\/p>\n
The one child buried in the Rake cemetery was Isaac Godown, born about 1788. He married Parmelia Myers (1792-1879), daughter of Albertus Myers and Anna Hann, on April 30, 1814.7<\/a><\/sup> Parmelia was not related to the Myers family that Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Evan was working for.<\/p>\nIn the 1850 census for Delaware Township, Isaac Godown was 64 years old and retired. Living with him were wife Permelia age 57, son Stryker Godown age 21 who was doing the farming, and daughter Matilda age 14.<\/p>\n
Isaac Godown died on July 14, 1857 age 69. His wife Permilia [Myers] Godown survived him by several years, dying on October 21, 1870 at age 77.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nOf the four Godown children (Pierson, Elizabeth, Striker\/Stryer and Matilda), only son Stryker was buried in the Rake Cemetery. He died on March 2, 1864 age 34. The age and date strongly suggest that Stryker Godown had served in the Civil War. However, in the 1860 census, Stryker Godown, age 29, was living in the household of Jacob and Sarah Lake, without an occupation, suggesting he had health problems. There were also six non-family residents in the Godown household, three of them in their 70s. It is likely that the Godowns operated a poorhouse.<\/p>\n
The Gordon Family<\/h4>\n
Mary Gordon, d. 4 March 1851, 74-2-10.
\nOtheniel Gordon, died 14 May 1826 age 52-11-18.
\nJ. G[ordon]
\nM. G[ordon]<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Gordon-Oth.jpg\")
<\/a>When I visited the cemetery, I only found two gravestones for the Gordons, one for Otheniel [sic] Gordon and one for his wife Mary. Othniel Gordon, born in 1774, was the youngest son of Franklin and Ann Gordon.9<\/a><\/sup> Othniel Gordon owned a farm of 119 acres on Locktown-Sergeantsville Road and Reading Road which he got from his father, Franklin Gordon. (See Gordon Family Tree.<\/a>)<\/p>\nOthniel Gordon married Mary Heath, daughter of Capt. John Heath and Jane Lake, in 1797. And there\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s another connection with the Sandbrook area. Jane Lake was the daughter of Garret Lake (c.1720 NY – 1787) and wife Sarah. She was the brother of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) who married Catharine Larew, and whose son Othniel Lake married Permelia Holcombe. They had a son William Lake who married Mary Jane Rounsavel and daughter Micah who married Hezekiah Larew.\u00ac\u2020If you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4ve lost track of all these interconnections you are not alone.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Gordon-Mary.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201a\u00c4\u00faOtheniel\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 Gordon, died on May 14, 1826 age 52-11-18. His wife Mary Gordon, died on March 4, 1851 age 74-2-10. It is hard to see what this couple\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s connection was to the Rake cemetery, since their home was located to the northwest of Sergeantsville, not close to Sandbrook at all. Mary Heath Gordon, who survived her husband, was living with her son-in-law John German in 1850, and that family also did not live near Sandbrook.<\/p>\nHere\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s a possible answer: The son of Othniel and Mary Gordon was Thomas Gordon who married Amy Hice. This couple was buried in the Milford Cemetery. But Amy\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents were John Hice and Sarah Godown, who did have connections with Sandbrook. But a more compelling argument is the fact that Othniel Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister was Permelia Gordon Larew, wife of Uriah Larew, and both of them were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n
So, the next question is who did the J.G. and M.G. stones belong to? Deats attributed them to the Gordon family. But since there were no dates on those stones, it\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s pretty impossible to say, especially since the Gordons did not live near the cemetery. Your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n
The Lake Family<\/h4>\n
I[saac] Lake, son of John and Ann. Oct. 15, 1825
\nJane Lake, died 8 March 1827 age 62-6-2. # 23215710
\nL. W. Lake Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. \u201a\u00c4\u00ec Note: Mr. Deats listed this as W. Lake, but the first L is clearly visible.<\/em>
\nMary Lake, died 22 October 1851 age 75-5-19
\nS. Lake, Jan. 2, 1831, 57 and \u00ac\u03a9 years
\nThomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810 age 52-5-20<\/p>\nI should note here that in 1931, Egbert T. Bush called the Rake Cemetery the \u201a\u00c4\u00faLake Burying Ground,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 and identified only three Lake gravestones: Thomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810, age 52; Jane Lake, died 1 March 1827 age 62; and Mary Lake, died 27 October 1857 age 75. Two of the other Lakes buried here were connected with the Godown family (above)\u201a\u00c4\u00eeIsaac, who married Elizabeth Godown in 1783, and S[arah] who married Elizabeth\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Jacob Godown.<\/p>\n
Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stone has disappeared, also the stone for I. Lake.<\/p>\n
Lakes and Rakes were neighbors, owning property on either side of the Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. That must have made for a few neighborhood jokes. It also explains why Lake family members were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n
A little background on the Lake family: John Lake was the brother of Garret Lake, mentioned above. They were sons of John Lake (c.1654-1729) and Neltje Claessen (c.16530c.1699). He married Sarah Ann Robins, daughter of Isaac Robins and Azubah Thatcher in 1756. They had ten children, two of whom married into the Godown family, Isaac who married Elizabeth and Sarah who married Jacob. Two others married into the Sergeant family: Cornelius who married Mary and Mary who married Charles. There was also Azubah who married John Buchanan of Buchanan\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s Tavern, Ann who married Henry Shepherd, Margaret who married Henry Trimmer and John who married Ann Dilts.(See the Lake Family Tree<\/a>)<\/p>\nJohn Lake inherited land from his father Thomas in 1765, which, according to the will, Thomas Lake had purchased from Adam Aller. This was the Lake farm that bordered Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. John Lake lived to a very old age, dying in 1809 age 81. His wife Sarah Ann lived on until 1823 when she died at the age of 86.10<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nIt is not known where they were buried, but the Rake Cemetery seems the most likely place. If they were buried there, their stones are lost, just as John Rake, Sr. and his first wife\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stones were lost.<\/p>\n
Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son Thomas died soon afterwards, on Dec. 23, 1810 at the age of 52. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery, and his stone counted by Hiram Deats, although I could not find it when I visited in 1994.<\/p>\n
John Lake died without writing a will. Administrators of his estate were his sons-in-law Cornelius Lake and Henry Trimmer. Nothing was done to divide up the estate until after Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widow Sarah died. Unlike his father, Thomas Lake did write a will, ordering that his \u201a\u00c4\u00fanegro man\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 be freed \u201a\u00c4\u00faupon paying a compensation of 50 cents to my estate.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 This was carried out in 1812, when the executor manumitted a slave named Jube.11<\/a><\/sup> Thomas Lake ordered proceeds from the sale of his personal property to be divided equally between his mother Anna Lake and sisters Jane and Mary Lake.<\/p>\nJane Lake is buried in the Rake Cemetery. Her stone says she died on March 1, 1827, age 62. The Lake Family Bible says she was born on Oct. 6, 1784 and died on May 8, 1827.<\/p>\n
Like her brother, Jane Lake never married, and like her brother, she also wrote a will. She left property to a niece Jane Lake, daughter of John Lake, and to nephew William Sergeant, son of Mary Lake. Philip Rake was one of those who witnessed her will, which she signed with a mark rather than a signature. I have not located her burial stone.<\/p>\n
Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister Mary became the wife of Charles Sergeant. She died in October 1851. Presumably, she is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery next to her husband, although her stone has been lost.<\/p>\n
There is a Mary Lake buried in the Rake Cemetery, who death is given as October 27, 1857, age 75. It is unlikely that this was Thomas\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 sister Mary, who would have been identified as Mary Sergeant. Using the rule of proximity, one would expect the mother of William Sergeant to be buried here. But the dates are just a little too off.<\/p>\n
The only Mary who seems to fit is the daughter of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) and Catharine Larew (c1760-?), granddaughter of Garret & Sarah Lake. Garret Lake did not live near Sand Brook. His property was near Reading Road and Locktown-Sergeantsville Road. His son Thomas also did not live at Sandbrook. However, they both owned land in the neighborhood of the Larews and the Gordons, and both of those families have members buried in the Rake cemetery.<\/p>\n
Mary Lake, granddaughter of Garret Lake, died unmarried as far as I know, without writing a will. As far as I can tell, her father Thomas did not write a will either.<\/p>\n
Getting back to the 1810 will of Thomas Lake of Sandbrook, he left his share of his father\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s plantation to his nephew William Sergeant (son of Charles Sergeant and Mary Lake). He also had a share in a lot of land where a different John Lake lived, which he gave to his nephew Thomas, son of his brother Isaac Lake. Then he made his friend (and brother-in-law) Henry Trimmer his executor.<\/p>\n
In 1826, William Sergeant, son of John Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s daughter Mary Lake Sergeant, acquired the old Lake farm from his various heirs.12<\/a><\/sup> The deed, dated April 7, 1826, described the property this way:<\/p>\n“Whereas John Lake Sr. deceased was seized of a plantation in Amwell bordered on the north by Philip Rake, on the east by Robert Holcombe deceased and John Hice, on the south by Israel Poulson, on the west by a road that separates it from lands of Samuel Fauss and Isaac Fox and part by Cornelius Hoppock, of 100 acres, and having died intestate, his property descended by law to his sons & daughters, the sons getting two shares and the daughters one . . .\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Lake-S-copy-401x535.jpg\")
<\/a>There are many unanswered questions about the Lake family. For instance: there is an S. Lake buried here, with the S carved backwards, and a death date of January 2nd<\/sup>, 1831.\u00ac\u2020You can\u201a\u00c4\u00f4t tell from the picture, but the gravestone is quite large. She might be the daughter of Thomas Lake and Catharine Larew; or the daughter of Isaac Lake (1757-1825) and Elizabeth Godown.<\/p>\nI have speculated above that she might have been the Sarah Lake (born June 2, 1760, died September 16, 1831) who married Jacob Godown, and was another sister of Thomas Lake who died in 1810. Her birth and death dates were recorded in the John Lake Bible. If there was another Sarah Lake who died in 1831, I do not know who she could have been.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Lake-I-W-copy-535x401.jpg\")
<\/a>One mysterious stone belonging to a member of the Lake family seems to read: \u201a\u00c4\u00faL. [?] W. Lake, died September 16, 18L6, age 16 years.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 At least, that\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s the way I read it on the gravestone. But Mr. Deats saw it differently. He wrote \u201a\u00c4\u00faW. Lake, Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. Whether it was L. W. Lake or just W. Lake, I cannot identify him or her.<\/p>\nThe La Rue Family<\/h4>\n
Permelia LaRue, died 23 Oct 1851 age 75-8-5. # 81650520
\nSarah Ann La Rue, July 22, 1825, 0-8-1
\nThomas G[ordon] La Rue, Jan. 23, 1826, age 12-5-3. # 23216847
\nUriah LaRue, died 6 April 1814, age 40-0-11. # 81650499<\/p>\n
A search of the deed index shows that a Mary Davis sold many properties from 1803 to 1821, but none of the names are connected with the Sandbrook vicinity. And if she was the wife of John Davis, their marriage did not get recorded in Hunterdon County.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Ebenezer Fisk<\/h4>\nIn his article, \u201a\u00c4\u00faSand Brook Once Had a Tavern Nearby,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 Egbert T. Bush wrote briefly about the Rake Cemetery. He was particularly taken with one of the men buried there, Ebenezer Fisk. He wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/strong><\/p>\nStrangely enough, a half hour after locating the stone last mentioned, I was asked: \u201a\u00c4\u00faDid you ever hear of \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk?\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 My interested reply brought forth a statement to the effect that \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 was quite a character here during most of the early half of the past century. He had no kith or kin, and nobody knew anything about him except that he drifted into this hamlet while helping to build \u201a\u00c4\u00fathe big bridge\u201a\u00c4\u00f9\u201a\u00c4\u00eeperhaps the one across the Delaware at Stockton\u201a\u00c4\u00eeand stuck close to the good old place, ending his long life at Sand Brook, and is now sleeping here in his lonely grave.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\nMr. Bush gave us a little information about Mr. Fisk, but not much. His gravestone states that he died on November 12, 1852 at the age of 88, which means he was born about 1764, making him just a little too young to take part in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n
In the 1850 census for Delaware Twp., Ebenezer Fiske was 86 and living with William Sergeant\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s family. There were others living with the Sergeants who were not related to them: Oliver H. Johnson 10, Elizabeth Dalrymple 15, Rachel Dalrymple 9, and Rebecca Rodenbock 27. The Sergeants may have been providing shelter for some of the town\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s poor.<\/p>\n
It is intriguing to think of Fisk coming to Hunterdon County as a young man to work on the new \u201a\u00c4\u00faCentre Bridge,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 which was built in 1812. Why \u201a\u00c4\u00f2Nezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 Fisk decided to spend the rest of his life in Delaware Township is a mystery. But he must have been someone that people were fond of because he was given a proper burial, and a very handsome stone, probably provided by William Sergeant.<\/p>\n
The Godown Family<\/h4>\n
Isaac Godown, died 14 July 1857 age 69.
\nJ[acob] G[odown] – no dates
\nPermilia Godown, died 21 Oct 1879 age 78
\nS[arah] G[odown] dau. John and Ann Lake – no dates
\nStriker Godown,. Mar. 2, 1864. 34th<\/sup> year<\/p>\nThe earliest members of the Godown family to take up residence in Hunterdon county are not easy to research. They left very little record behind. The Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s buried in the Rake Cemetery were Jacob Godown, probably his wife Sarah Lake, their son Isaac Godown, and Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife Permelia Myers Godown. (See The Godown Family Tree<\/a>.)<\/p>\nThe first of the family to settle in Amwell Township was Jacob Godown, who bought property near the Alexauken (\u201a\u00c4\u00faAllishoking\u201a\u00c4\u00f9) Creek, north of Lambertville. It was inherited by his son Jacob and grandson Evans Godown, who sold it in 1797. It is infuriating to me that neither Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr. or Evans Godown wrote a will. And because their real estate transactions took place in the 18th<\/sup> century, their deeds are mostly missing. Also, I have no information on the wives of Jacob Sr., and Jacob, Jr.<\/p>\nHowever, Evans Godown and wife Mary Thatcher had eleven children, and several of them married into families connected with the Sandbrook neighborhood, including Rounsavells, Thatchers, and Lakes. This suggests that Evans Godown (or Evan, depending on what record you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4re looking at) was the one who moved to that area.<\/p>\n
Of all the children of Evan and Mary Godown, their son Jacob appears to have been the one most connected to the Sandbrook area. In 1783 he married Sarah Lake, the daughter of John Lake and Sarah Robins, whose farm was on the east side of Sandbrook-Headquarters Road, south of Sandbrook. Some years later, Jacob Godown acquired a farm straddling Yard Road, on property once owned by the Rounsavel family, and therefore a part of the old Cook proprietary tract. It was conveyed to Richard Rounsavel\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son-in-law Isaac Stout in the 1790s. Stout sold a farm of 55 acres to Jacob Godown in 1798. Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown remained there for the rest of their lives. The farm of 55 acres was sold by Jacob Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s heirs to William Hice on April 28, 1832.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nJacob Godown appeared in the 1830 census as a man in his 60s living with a woman in her 60s, also a woman in her 30s, a boy aged 15 to 19, a boy & a girl aged 10-14, and a girl under 5. This woman in her 30s was most likely Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widowed daughter and her children, but I cannot identify her.<\/p>\n
Sarah Lake Godown died on September 16, 1831.5<\/a><\/sup> Her husband Jacob Godown died two months later, on November 11th<\/sup>. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery. It is not certain whether Sarah was or not. There is an “S. Lake” buried there who died in 1831. She most likely was Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife, but it is odd that the name on the stone was Lake instead of Godown.<\/p>\nSurprisingly, only one of Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s children is buried in the Rake Cemetery. They had seven altogether, including John A. Godown (1787-c.1848) who married Abigail Robins, daughter of Jonathan Robbins, Jr. and Mary Huff, and moved to Alexandria Township. There was a daughter Polly, about whom I have no information, and a daughter Sarah, born 1792, who married John Hice (1758-1832) as his second wife.6<\/a><\/sup> John and Sarah Godown Hice had a daughter Amy who married Thomas Gordon in 1828. Thomas Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents, Othniel and Mary Heath Gordon were buried in the Rake Cemetery. More about them below.<\/p>\nGetting back to the children of Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown, they had a son Evan, named after Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s father, who died sometime after 1870, a bachelor. He had been living and working on the farm of Simon Myres, even at the age of 77, along with Simon Myres\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 son Peter Myres, also age 77. Daughter Rhoda Godown, born 1796, married Jonathan Reading Higgins in 1818; the couple moved away to Cayuga County, New York.<\/p>\n
The one child buried in the Rake cemetery was Isaac Godown, born about 1788. He married Parmelia Myers (1792-1879), daughter of Albertus Myers and Anna Hann, on April 30, 1814.7<\/a><\/sup> Parmelia was not related to the Myers family that Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Evan was working for.<\/p>\nIn the 1850 census for Delaware Township, Isaac Godown was 64 years old and retired. Living with him were wife Permelia age 57, son Stryker Godown age 21 who was doing the farming, and daughter Matilda age 14.<\/p>\n
Isaac Godown died on July 14, 1857 age 69. His wife Permilia [Myers] Godown survived him by several years, dying on October 21, 1870 at age 77.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nOf the four Godown children (Pierson, Elizabeth, Striker\/Stryer and Matilda), only son Stryker was buried in the Rake Cemetery. He died on March 2, 1864 age 34. The age and date strongly suggest that Stryker Godown had served in the Civil War. However, in the 1860 census, Stryker Godown, age 29, was living in the household of Jacob and Sarah Lake, without an occupation, suggesting he had health problems. There were also six non-family residents in the Godown household, three of them in their 70s. It is likely that the Godowns operated a poorhouse.<\/p>\n
The Gordon Family<\/h4>\n
Mary Gordon, d. 4 March 1851, 74-2-10.
\nOtheniel Gordon, died 14 May 1826 age 52-11-18.
\nJ. G[ordon]
\nM. G[ordon]<\/p>\n
<\/a>When I visited the cemetery, I only found two gravestones for the Gordons, one for Otheniel [sic] Gordon and one for his wife Mary. Othniel Gordon, born in 1774, was the youngest son of Franklin and Ann Gordon.9<\/a><\/sup> Othniel Gordon owned a farm of 119 acres on Locktown-Sergeantsville Road and Reading Road which he got from his father, Franklin Gordon. (See Gordon Family Tree.<\/a>)<\/p>\nOthniel Gordon married Mary Heath, daughter of Capt. John Heath and Jane Lake, in 1797. And there\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s another connection with the Sandbrook area. Jane Lake was the daughter of Garret Lake (c.1720 NY – 1787) and wife Sarah. She was the brother of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) who married Catharine Larew, and whose son Othniel Lake married Permelia Holcombe. They had a son William Lake who married Mary Jane Rounsavel and daughter Micah who married Hezekiah Larew.\u00ac\u2020If you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4ve lost track of all these interconnections you are not alone.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\u201a\u00c4\u00faOtheniel\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 Gordon, died on May 14, 1826 age 52-11-18. His wife Mary Gordon, died on March 4, 1851 age 74-2-10. It is hard to see what this couple\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s connection was to the Rake cemetery, since their home was located to the northwest of Sergeantsville, not close to Sandbrook at all. Mary Heath Gordon, who survived her husband, was living with her son-in-law John German in 1850, and that family also did not live near Sandbrook.<\/p>\nHere\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s a possible answer: The son of Othniel and Mary Gordon was Thomas Gordon who married Amy Hice. This couple was buried in the Milford Cemetery. But Amy\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents were John Hice and Sarah Godown, who did have connections with Sandbrook. But a more compelling argument is the fact that Othniel Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister was Permelia Gordon Larew, wife of Uriah Larew, and both of them were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n
So, the next question is who did the J.G. and M.G. stones belong to? Deats attributed them to the Gordon family. But since there were no dates on those stones, it\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s pretty impossible to say, especially since the Gordons did not live near the cemetery. Your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n
The Lake Family<\/h4>\n
I[saac] Lake, son of John and Ann. Oct. 15, 1825
\nJane Lake, died 8 March 1827 age 62-6-2. # 23215710
\nL. W. Lake Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. \u201a\u00c4\u00ec Note: Mr. Deats listed this as W. Lake, but the first L is clearly visible.<\/em>
\nMary Lake, died 22 October 1851 age 75-5-19
\nS. Lake, Jan. 2, 1831, 57 and \u00ac\u03a9 years
\nThomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810 age 52-5-20<\/p>\nI should note here that in 1931, Egbert T. Bush called the Rake Cemetery the \u201a\u00c4\u00faLake Burying Ground,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 and identified only three Lake gravestones: Thomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810, age 52; Jane Lake, died 1 March 1827 age 62; and Mary Lake, died 27 October 1857 age 75. Two of the other Lakes buried here were connected with the Godown family (above)\u201a\u00c4\u00eeIsaac, who married Elizabeth Godown in 1783, and S[arah] who married Elizabeth\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Jacob Godown.<\/p>\n
Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stone has disappeared, also the stone for I. Lake.<\/p>\n
Lakes and Rakes were neighbors, owning property on either side of the Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. That must have made for a few neighborhood jokes. It also explains why Lake family members were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n
A little background on the Lake family: John Lake was the brother of Garret Lake, mentioned above. They were sons of John Lake (c.1654-1729) and Neltje Claessen (c.16530c.1699). He married Sarah Ann Robins, daughter of Isaac Robins and Azubah Thatcher in 1756. They had ten children, two of whom married into the Godown family, Isaac who married Elizabeth and Sarah who married Jacob. Two others married into the Sergeant family: Cornelius who married Mary and Mary who married Charles. There was also Azubah who married John Buchanan of Buchanan\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s Tavern, Ann who married Henry Shepherd, Margaret who married Henry Trimmer and John who married Ann Dilts.(See the Lake Family Tree<\/a>)<\/p>\nJohn Lake inherited land from his father Thomas in 1765, which, according to the will, Thomas Lake had purchased from Adam Aller. This was the Lake farm that bordered Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. John Lake lived to a very old age, dying in 1809 age 81. His wife Sarah Ann lived on until 1823 when she died at the age of 86.10<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\nIt is not known where they were buried, but the Rake Cemetery seems the most likely place. If they were buried there, their stones are lost, just as John Rake, Sr. and his first wife\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stones were lost.<\/p>\n
Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son Thomas died soon afterwards, on Dec. 23, 1810 at the age of 52. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery, and his stone counted by Hiram Deats, although I could not find it when I visited in 1994.<\/p>\n
John Lake died without writing a will. Administrators of his estate were his sons-in-law Cornelius Lake and Henry Trimmer. Nothing was done to divide up the estate until after Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widow Sarah died. Unlike his father, Thomas Lake did write a will, ordering that his \u201a\u00c4\u00fanegro man\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 be freed \u201a\u00c4\u00faupon paying a compensation of 50 cents to my estate.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 This was carried out in 1812, when the executor manumitted a slave named Jube.11<\/a><\/sup> Thomas Lake ordered proceeds from the sale of his personal property to be divided equally between his mother Anna Lake and sisters Jane and Mary Lake.<\/p>\nJane Lake is buried in the Rake Cemetery. Her stone says she died on March 1, 1827, age 62. The Lake Family Bible says she was born on Oct. 6, 1784 and died on May 8, 1827.<\/p>\n
Like her brother, Jane Lake never married, and like her brother, she also wrote a will. She left property to a niece Jane Lake, daughter of John Lake, and to nephew William Sergeant, son of Mary Lake. Philip Rake was one of those who witnessed her will, which she signed with a mark rather than a signature. I have not located her burial stone.<\/p>\n
Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister Mary became the wife of Charles Sergeant. She died in October 1851. Presumably, she is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery next to her husband, although her stone has been lost.<\/p>\n
There is a Mary Lake buried in the Rake Cemetery, who death is given as October 27, 1857, age 75. It is unlikely that this was Thomas\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 sister Mary, who would have been identified as Mary Sergeant. Using the rule of proximity, one would expect the mother of William Sergeant to be buried here. But the dates are just a little too off.<\/p>\n
The only Mary who seems to fit is the daughter of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) and Catharine Larew (c1760-?), granddaughter of Garret & Sarah Lake. Garret Lake did not live near Sand Brook. His property was near Reading Road and Locktown-Sergeantsville Road. His son Thomas also did not live at Sandbrook. However, they both owned land in the neighborhood of the Larews and the Gordons, and both of those families have members buried in the Rake cemetery.<\/p>\n
Mary Lake, granddaughter of Garret Lake, died unmarried as far as I know, without writing a will. As far as I can tell, her father Thomas did not write a will either.<\/p>\n
Getting back to the 1810 will of Thomas Lake of Sandbrook, he left his share of his father\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s plantation to his nephew William Sergeant (son of Charles Sergeant and Mary Lake). He also had a share in a lot of land where a different John Lake lived, which he gave to his nephew Thomas, son of his brother Isaac Lake. Then he made his friend (and brother-in-law) Henry Trimmer his executor.<\/p>\n
In 1826, William Sergeant, son of John Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s daughter Mary Lake Sergeant, acquired the old Lake farm from his various heirs.12<\/a><\/sup> The deed, dated April 7, 1826, described the property this way:<\/p>\n“Whereas John Lake Sr. deceased was seized of a plantation in Amwell bordered on the north by Philip Rake, on the east by Robert Holcombe deceased and John Hice, on the south by Israel Poulson, on the west by a road that separates it from lands of Samuel Fauss and Isaac Fox and part by Cornelius Hoppock, of 100 acres, and having died intestate, his property descended by law to his sons & daughters, the sons getting two shares and the daughters one . . .\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/a>There are many unanswered questions about the Lake family. For instance: there is an S. Lake buried here, with the S carved backwards, and a death date of January 2nd<\/sup>, 1831.\u00ac\u2020You can\u201a\u00c4\u00f4t tell from the picture, but the gravestone is quite large. She might be the daughter of Thomas Lake and Catharine Larew; or the daughter of Isaac Lake (1757-1825) and Elizabeth Godown.<\/p>\nI have speculated above that she might have been the Sarah Lake (born June 2, 1760, died September 16, 1831) who married Jacob Godown, and was another sister of Thomas Lake who died in 1810. Her birth and death dates were recorded in the John Lake Bible. If there was another Sarah Lake who died in 1831, I do not know who she could have been.<\/p>\n
<\/a>One mysterious stone belonging to a member of the Lake family seems to read: \u201a\u00c4\u00faL. [?] W. Lake, died September 16, 18L6, age 16 years.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 At least, that\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s the way I read it on the gravestone. But Mr. Deats saw it differently. He wrote \u201a\u00c4\u00faW. Lake, Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. Whether it was L. W. Lake or just W. Lake, I cannot identify him or her.<\/p>\nThe La Rue Family<\/h4>\n
Permelia LaRue, died 23 Oct 1851 age 75-8-5. # 81650520
\nSarah Ann La Rue, July 22, 1825, 0-8-1
\nThomas G[ordon] La Rue, Jan. 23, 1826, age 12-5-3. # 23216847
\nUriah LaRue, died 6 April 1814, age 40-0-11. # 81650499<\/p>\n
\u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/strong><\/p>\n Strangely enough, a half hour after locating the stone last mentioned, I was asked: \u201a\u00c4\u00faDid you ever hear of \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer Fisk?\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 My interested reply brought forth a statement to the effect that \u201a\u00c4\u00faNezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 was quite a character here during most of the early half of the past century. He had no kith or kin, and nobody knew anything about him except that he drifted into this hamlet while helping to build \u201a\u00c4\u00fathe big bridge\u201a\u00c4\u00f9\u201a\u00c4\u00eeperhaps the one across the Delaware at Stockton\u201a\u00c4\u00eeand stuck close to the good old place, ending his long life at Sand Brook, and is now sleeping here in his lonely grave.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mr. Bush gave us a little information about Mr. Fisk, but not much. His gravestone states that he died on November 12, 1852 at the age of 88, which means he was born about 1764, making him just a little too young to take part in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n In the 1850 census for Delaware Twp., Ebenezer Fiske was 86 and living with William Sergeant\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s family. There were others living with the Sergeants who were not related to them: Oliver H. Johnson 10, Elizabeth Dalrymple 15, Rachel Dalrymple 9, and Rebecca Rodenbock 27. The Sergeants may have been providing shelter for some of the town\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s poor.<\/p>\n It is intriguing to think of Fisk coming to Hunterdon County as a young man to work on the new \u201a\u00c4\u00faCentre Bridge,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 which was built in 1812. Why \u201a\u00c4\u00f2Nezer\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 Fisk decided to spend the rest of his life in Delaware Township is a mystery. But he must have been someone that people were fond of because he was given a proper burial, and a very handsome stone, probably provided by William Sergeant.<\/p>\n Isaac Godown, died 14 July 1857 age 69. The earliest members of the Godown family to take up residence in Hunterdon county are not easy to research. They left very little record behind. The Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s buried in the Rake Cemetery were Jacob Godown, probably his wife Sarah Lake, their son Isaac Godown, and Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife Permelia Myers Godown. (See The Godown Family Tree<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The first of the family to settle in Amwell Township was Jacob Godown, who bought property near the Alexauken (\u201a\u00c4\u00faAllishoking\u201a\u00c4\u00f9) Creek, north of Lambertville. It was inherited by his son Jacob and grandson Evans Godown, who sold it in 1797. It is infuriating to me that neither Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr. or Evans Godown wrote a will. And because their real estate transactions took place in the 18th<\/sup> century, their deeds are mostly missing. Also, I have no information on the wives of Jacob Sr., and Jacob, Jr.<\/p>\n However, Evans Godown and wife Mary Thatcher had eleven children, and several of them married into families connected with the Sandbrook neighborhood, including Rounsavells, Thatchers, and Lakes. This suggests that Evans Godown (or Evan, depending on what record you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4re looking at) was the one who moved to that area.<\/p>\n Of all the children of Evan and Mary Godown, their son Jacob appears to have been the one most connected to the Sandbrook area. In 1783 he married Sarah Lake, the daughter of John Lake and Sarah Robins, whose farm was on the east side of Sandbrook-Headquarters Road, south of Sandbrook. Some years later, Jacob Godown acquired a farm straddling Yard Road, on property once owned by the Rounsavel family, and therefore a part of the old Cook proprietary tract. It was conveyed to Richard Rounsavel\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son-in-law Isaac Stout in the 1790s. Stout sold a farm of 55 acres to Jacob Godown in 1798. Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown remained there for the rest of their lives. The farm of 55 acres was sold by Jacob Godown\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s heirs to William Hice on April 28, 1832.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Jacob Godown appeared in the 1830 census as a man in his 60s living with a woman in her 60s, also a woman in her 30s, a boy aged 15 to 19, a boy & a girl aged 10-14, and a girl under 5. This woman in her 30s was most likely Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widowed daughter and her children, but I cannot identify her.<\/p>\n Sarah Lake Godown died on September 16, 1831.5<\/a><\/sup> Her husband Jacob Godown died two months later, on November 11th<\/sup>. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery. It is not certain whether Sarah was or not. There is an “S. Lake” buried there who died in 1831. She most likely was Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s wife, but it is odd that the name on the stone was Lake instead of Godown.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, only one of Jacob and Sarah\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s children is buried in the Rake Cemetery. They had seven altogether, including John A. Godown (1787-c.1848) who married Abigail Robins, daughter of Jonathan Robbins, Jr. and Mary Huff, and moved to Alexandria Township. There was a daughter Polly, about whom I have no information, and a daughter Sarah, born 1792, who married John Hice (1758-1832) as his second wife.6<\/a><\/sup> John and Sarah Godown Hice had a daughter Amy who married Thomas Gordon in 1828. Thomas Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents, Othniel and Mary Heath Gordon were buried in the Rake Cemetery. More about them below.<\/p>\n Getting back to the children of Jacob and Sarah Lake Godown, they had a son Evan, named after Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s father, who died sometime after 1870, a bachelor. He had been living and working on the farm of Simon Myres, even at the age of 77, along with Simon Myres\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 son Peter Myres, also age 77. Daughter Rhoda Godown, born 1796, married Jonathan Reading Higgins in 1818; the couple moved away to Cayuga County, New York.<\/p>\n The one child buried in the Rake cemetery was Isaac Godown, born about 1788. He married Parmelia Myers (1792-1879), daughter of Albertus Myers and Anna Hann, on April 30, 1814.7<\/a><\/sup> Parmelia was not related to the Myers family that Isaac\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Evan was working for.<\/p>\n In the 1850 census for Delaware Township, Isaac Godown was 64 years old and retired. Living with him were wife Permelia age 57, son Stryker Godown age 21 who was doing the farming, and daughter Matilda age 14.<\/p>\n Isaac Godown died on July 14, 1857 age 69. His wife Permilia [Myers] Godown survived him by several years, dying on October 21, 1870 at age 77.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Of the four Godown children (Pierson, Elizabeth, Striker\/Stryer and Matilda), only son Stryker was buried in the Rake Cemetery. He died on March 2, 1864 age 34. The age and date strongly suggest that Stryker Godown had served in the Civil War. However, in the 1860 census, Stryker Godown, age 29, was living in the household of Jacob and Sarah Lake, without an occupation, suggesting he had health problems. There were also six non-family residents in the Godown household, three of them in their 70s. It is likely that the Godowns operated a poorhouse.<\/p>\n Mary Gordon, d. 4 March 1851, 74-2-10. Othniel Gordon married Mary Heath, daughter of Capt. John Heath and Jane Lake, in 1797. And there\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s another connection with the Sandbrook area. Jane Lake was the daughter of Garret Lake (c.1720 NY – 1787) and wife Sarah. She was the brother of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) who married Catharine Larew, and whose son Othniel Lake married Permelia Holcombe. They had a son William Lake who married Mary Jane Rounsavel and daughter Micah who married Hezekiah Larew.\u00ac\u2020If you\u201a\u00c4\u00f4ve lost track of all these interconnections you are not alone.<\/p>\n Here\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s a possible answer: The son of Othniel and Mary Gordon was Thomas Gordon who married Amy Hice. This couple was buried in the Milford Cemetery. But Amy\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s parents were John Hice and Sarah Godown, who did have connections with Sandbrook. But a more compelling argument is the fact that Othniel Gordon\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister was Permelia Gordon Larew, wife of Uriah Larew, and both of them were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n So, the next question is who did the J.G. and M.G. stones belong to? Deats attributed them to the Gordon family. But since there were no dates on those stones, it\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s pretty impossible to say, especially since the Gordons did not live near the cemetery. Your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n I[saac] Lake, son of John and Ann. Oct. 15, 1825 I should note here that in 1931, Egbert T. Bush called the Rake Cemetery the \u201a\u00c4\u00faLake Burying Ground,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 and identified only three Lake gravestones: Thomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810, age 52; Jane Lake, died 1 March 1827 age 62; and Mary Lake, died 27 October 1857 age 75. Two of the other Lakes buried here were connected with the Godown family (above)\u201a\u00c4\u00eeIsaac, who married Elizabeth Godown in 1783, and S[arah] who married Elizabeth\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s brother Jacob Godown.<\/p>\n Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stone has disappeared, also the stone for I. Lake.<\/p>\n Lakes and Rakes were neighbors, owning property on either side of the Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. That must have made for a few neighborhood jokes. It also explains why Lake family members were buried in the Rake Cemetery.<\/p>\n A little background on the Lake family: John Lake was the brother of Garret Lake, mentioned above. They were sons of John Lake (c.1654-1729) and Neltje Claessen (c.16530c.1699). He married Sarah Ann Robins, daughter of Isaac Robins and Azubah Thatcher in 1756. They had ten children, two of whom married into the Godown family, Isaac who married Elizabeth and Sarah who married Jacob. Two others married into the Sergeant family: Cornelius who married Mary and Mary who married Charles. There was also Azubah who married John Buchanan of Buchanan\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s Tavern, Ann who married Henry Shepherd, Margaret who married Henry Trimmer and John who married Ann Dilts.(See the Lake Family Tree<\/a>)<\/p>\n John Lake inherited land from his father Thomas in 1765, which, according to the will, Thomas Lake had purchased from Adam Aller. This was the Lake farm that bordered Sandbrook-Headquarters Road. John Lake lived to a very old age, dying in 1809 age 81. His wife Sarah Ann lived on until 1823 when she died at the age of 86.10<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n It is not known where they were buried, but the Rake Cemetery seems the most likely place. If they were buried there, their stones are lost, just as John Rake, Sr. and his first wife\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s stones were lost.<\/p>\n Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s son Thomas died soon afterwards, on Dec. 23, 1810 at the age of 52. He was buried in the Rake Cemetery, and his stone counted by Hiram Deats, although I could not find it when I visited in 1994.<\/p>\n John Lake died without writing a will. Administrators of his estate were his sons-in-law Cornelius Lake and Henry Trimmer. Nothing was done to divide up the estate until after Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s widow Sarah died. Unlike his father, Thomas Lake did write a will, ordering that his \u201a\u00c4\u00fanegro man\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 be freed \u201a\u00c4\u00faupon paying a compensation of 50 cents to my estate.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 This was carried out in 1812, when the executor manumitted a slave named Jube.11<\/a><\/sup> Thomas Lake ordered proceeds from the sale of his personal property to be divided equally between his mother Anna Lake and sisters Jane and Mary Lake.<\/p>\n Jane Lake is buried in the Rake Cemetery. Her stone says she died on March 1, 1827, age 62. The Lake Family Bible says she was born on Oct. 6, 1784 and died on May 8, 1827.<\/p>\n Like her brother, Jane Lake never married, and like her brother, she also wrote a will. She left property to a niece Jane Lake, daughter of John Lake, and to nephew William Sergeant, son of Mary Lake. Philip Rake was one of those who witnessed her will, which she signed with a mark rather than a signature. I have not located her burial stone.<\/p>\n Thomas Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s sister Mary became the wife of Charles Sergeant. She died in October 1851. Presumably, she is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery next to her husband, although her stone has been lost.<\/p>\n There is a Mary Lake buried in the Rake Cemetery, who death is given as October 27, 1857, age 75. It is unlikely that this was Thomas\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 sister Mary, who would have been identified as Mary Sergeant. Using the rule of proximity, one would expect the mother of William Sergeant to be buried here. But the dates are just a little too off.<\/p>\n The only Mary who seems to fit is the daughter of Thomas Lake (1758-c.1821) and Catharine Larew (c1760-?), granddaughter of Garret & Sarah Lake. Garret Lake did not live near Sand Brook. His property was near Reading Road and Locktown-Sergeantsville Road. His son Thomas also did not live at Sandbrook. However, they both owned land in the neighborhood of the Larews and the Gordons, and both of those families have members buried in the Rake cemetery.<\/p>\n Mary Lake, granddaughter of Garret Lake, died unmarried as far as I know, without writing a will. As far as I can tell, her father Thomas did not write a will either.<\/p>\n Getting back to the 1810 will of Thomas Lake of Sandbrook, he left his share of his father\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s plantation to his nephew William Sergeant (son of Charles Sergeant and Mary Lake). He also had a share in a lot of land where a different John Lake lived, which he gave to his nephew Thomas, son of his brother Isaac Lake. Then he made his friend (and brother-in-law) Henry Trimmer his executor.<\/p>\n In 1826, William Sergeant, son of John Lake\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s daughter Mary Lake Sergeant, acquired the old Lake farm from his various heirs.12<\/a><\/sup> The deed, dated April 7, 1826, described the property this way:<\/p>\n “Whereas John Lake Sr. deceased was seized of a plantation in Amwell bordered on the north by Philip Rake, on the east by Robert Holcombe deceased and John Hice, on the south by Israel Poulson, on the west by a road that separates it from lands of Samuel Fauss and Isaac Fox and part by Cornelius Hoppock, of 100 acres, and having died intestate, his property descended by law to his sons & daughters, the sons getting two shares and the daughters one . . .\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I have speculated above that she might have been the Sarah Lake (born June 2, 1760, died September 16, 1831) who married Jacob Godown, and was another sister of Thomas Lake who died in 1810. Her birth and death dates were recorded in the John Lake Bible. If there was another Sarah Lake who died in 1831, I do not know who she could have been.<\/p>\n Permelia LaRue, died 23 Oct 1851 age 75-8-5. # 81650520The Godown Family<\/h4>\n
\nJ[acob] G[odown] – no dates
\nPermilia Godown, died 21 Oct 1879 age 78
\nS[arah] G[odown] dau. John and Ann Lake – no dates
\nStriker Godown,. Mar. 2, 1864. 34th<\/sup> year<\/p>\nThe Gordon Family<\/h4>\n
\nOtheniel Gordon, died 14 May 1826 age 52-11-18.
\nJ. G[ordon]
\nM. G[ordon]<\/p>\n<\/a>When I visited the cemetery, I only found two gravestones for the Gordons, one for Otheniel [sic] Gordon and one for his wife Mary. Othniel Gordon, born in 1774, was the youngest son of Franklin and Ann Gordon.9<\/a><\/sup> Othniel Gordon owned a farm of 119 acres on Locktown-Sergeantsville Road and Reading Road which he got from his father, Franklin Gordon. (See Gordon Family Tree.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/a>\u201a\u00c4\u00faOtheniel\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 Gordon, died on May 14, 1826 age 52-11-18. His wife Mary Gordon, died on March 4, 1851 age 74-2-10. It is hard to see what this couple\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s connection was to the Rake cemetery, since their home was located to the northwest of Sergeantsville, not close to Sandbrook at all. Mary Heath Gordon, who survived her husband, was living with her son-in-law John German in 1850, and that family also did not live near Sandbrook.<\/p>\nThe Lake Family<\/h4>\n
\nJane Lake, died 8 March 1827 age 62-6-2. # 23215710
\nL. W. Lake Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. \u201a\u00c4\u00ec Note: Mr. Deats listed this as W. Lake, but the first L is clearly visible.<\/em>
\nMary Lake, died 22 October 1851 age 75-5-19
\nS. Lake, Jan. 2, 1831, 57 and \u00ac\u03a9 years
\nThomas Lake, died 23 Dec 1810 age 52-5-20<\/p>\n<\/a>There are many unanswered questions about the Lake family. For instance: there is an S. Lake buried here, with the S carved backwards, and a death date of January 2nd<\/sup>, 1831.\u00ac\u2020You can\u201a\u00c4\u00f4t tell from the picture, but the gravestone is quite large. She might be the daughter of Thomas Lake and Catharine Larew; or the daughter of Isaac Lake (1757-1825) and Elizabeth Godown.<\/p>\n<\/a>One mysterious stone belonging to a member of the Lake family seems to read: \u201a\u00c4\u00faL. [?] W. Lake, died September 16, 18L6, age 16 years.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 At least, that\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s the way I read it on the gravestone. But Mr. Deats saw it differently. He wrote \u201a\u00c4\u00faW. Lake, Sept. 16, 1846, 16 years. Whether it was L. W. Lake or just W. Lake, I cannot identify him or her.<\/p>\nThe La Rue Family<\/h4>\n
\nSarah Ann La Rue, July 22, 1825, 0-8-1
\nThomas G[ordon] La Rue, Jan. 23, 1826, age 12-5-3. # 23216847
\nUriah LaRue, died 6 April 1814, age 40-0-11. # 81650499<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Larew-Uriah.jpg\")
<\/a>Permelia LaRue (176-1851) was the sister of Othniel Gordon (above), daughter of Franklin & Ann Gordon. She married Uriah LaRue in 1798 and had five or six children from 1799 to about 1812 or 1813. Uriah LaRue\/Larew (1774-1814) was the son of Abraham Larew (1727-1806) and Mary Thatcher (1733-c1821). He grew up on a large farm to the west of Sergeantsville, which Uriah Larew inherited, along with his brother Isaac Larew, in 1806.<\/p>\n