At the first town meeting, the Township Committee voted that $1,000 was to be raised for making and repairing roads. Municipalities were responsible for their roads, while the county took responsibility for the bridges. Generally, it was the landowners along the roads who maintained them, so you can imagine what condition they were in: dust in the summer, mud in the spring and downright impassible in the winter, unless you had a sleigh. The township named many people to be Overseers of Roads. It\u2019s hard to say exactly what their responsibilities were. Most likely, they managed the work that was ordered by the Surveyors of Highways.<\/p>\n
In my previous post, I described how Amwell Township decided on how to select the Overseers in 1825. They were chosen at a meeting of all those in a road district who paid road taxes. Exactly what those road districts were in 1838 would be interesting to know. Nineteen Overseers were appointed in 1838, which presumably means nineteen road districts. I have attempted to identify (not always successfully) where each of the following Overseers lived at the time, as a way to identify which roads were getting attention.<\/p>\n
Gabriel W. Aller (c.1804-1873) might have been the son of Peter Aller and Mary Wolverton. I find the Aller family very confusing. Gabriel Aller had a small farm in the Croton neighborhood, which had once been known as Allertown. His first wife was named Mary Ann, but she died childless in 1841. In 1842 he married his wife Elizabeth Brittain, daughter of John Britton and Grace Holcombe Bellis, and they had a daughter Caroline in 1845. Gabriel Aller ran into trouble in 1844 when he had to assign his property to John Higgins and attorney James N. Reading, who put his personal property (livestock, harvested grain, farm equipment) up for sale in October 1844. And in December 1844, his farm in the Croton neighborhood (bordering Elisha Warford, John Cowdrick and Joseph Robbins) was sold. Gabriel Aller gave up farming and became a carpenter. He moved his family to Frenchtown where he lived for the rest of his life. He died in 1873 age 69; his wife Eliza died sometime after 1878.<\/p>\n
Possible Roads:\u00a0 Old Route 12, Route 579<\/p>\n
[Addendum, 5\/11\/2013: Pamelyn Bush helped me get this family straightened out, along with reference to an article published in the Hunterdon Republican<\/em> in 1896, written by Egbert T. Bush. Gabriel W. Aller was indeed the son of Peter Aller, but his wife\u2019s name was Amy Wolverton, not Mary. And Amy was almost certainly the daughter of Gabriel Wolverton and Catharine McMurphy. When Peter Aller died in 1828, his sons John and Gabriel were named administrators of his estate. He did not die in Croton. The Allers did not move there until 1829, when the widow Amy and her son John bought a tract of land there. Gabriel W. Aller bought a farm in Croton in 1835 but sold it in 1844 after going into debt. That was the same year that his mother Amy died.]<\/p>\n James Barcroft (1796-1875) was a farmer who lived at the corner of Route 519 and Strimples Mill Road. His house is still there but it is now a fascinating old stone ruin. He was the son of Ambrose Barcroft and Frances Opdycke, and on March 2, 1822, married Nancy Opdycke (1802-1881), daughter of Thomas Opdycke and Anna Cowell. They had four children, but only two survived to adulthood, William (1822-1876) and Aaron (c.1834-1880). In the 1860 census, James Barcroft was listed as a 63-year-old farmer with property worth $7000, which was a high figure for the time. But by 1870, when he was 73, he only had $1000 worth of property. According to the Barcroft Genealogy, his sons inherited his farm, and it stayed in the family for several generations.<\/p>\n Possible Roads: Route 519, Sanford Road, and Strimples Mill Road<\/p>\n Like Gabriel Aller, Jacob Bodine (1806-1867) was a farmer and a carpenter; he was also a cabinet maker. His wife was Catharine Fauss (1806-1884) and they had seven children.\u00a0 In the 1860 census, he was listed as a 58-year-old farmer with property worth $3100. After 1867, his widow moved in with son Henry Bodine, who became a well-known auctioneer. The Cornell Map of 1851 shows a \u201cJ. Bodine\u201d along Ferry road, and deeds mention Jacob Bodine as a bordering owner to Samuel Carrell, who also lived on Ferry Road.<\/p>\n Possible Roads: Ferry Road.<\/p>\n Robert Bonham (1779-after 1850) was a wheelwright who might have been the son of Elijah and Margaret Bonham. His wife was Sarah Ann Wolverton (1779-1865), daughter of Gabriel and Catharine Wolverton. I do not know if they had any children. Robert Bonham bought a house and lot of land from Evan Godown in 1813. That is where he lived and ran his wheelright shop until it was sold in 1851. This was the old Maresca farm on Route 523. The Cornell Map of 1851 mistakenly showed \u201cR. Bowman\u201d at that location. Robert Bonham must have died about the time his house and shop were sold, in 1851, to John D. Bowne, wheelwright. [see deed 100-638]<\/p>\n Possible Roads:\u00a0 Route 523 south of Sergeantsville<\/p>\n Nicholas Britton Higgins (1787-1851) was the son of Nathaniel Higgins and Martha Perrine. He married Hannah Hill (c.1789-1846), daughter of Samuel Hill and Sarah Trout, in 1809. He lived on a farm south of Headquarters on the Lambertville-Headquarters Road, but he also owned property on the west end of Sergeantsville. He was overseer of roads in 1840, and in 1849 served as a Trustee of the Sandy Ridge Baptist Church. One would expect him to be buried there, but his grave is located in the cemetery of the Flemington Baptist Church. His wife Hannah is also there, and several of their children. Fred Higgins, well-known chicken farmer of Sergeantsville, was their great grandson.<\/p>\n Possible Roads: The Lambertville-Headquarters Road.<\/p>\n John Closson Holcombe (1793-1882) was the son of Richard Holcombe and Elizabeth Closson. He married his wife Rebecca Fisher in 1817. They only had two children, Louisa and Edwin. Holcombe was a miller and a farmer. He moved about some; in 1850 he had left Delaware Township to live in East or West Amwell, but from 1860 through 1880 was back in Delaware Township. By 1870 he was very well-to-do, with a farm worth $10,000 and personal property of $10,000. As for where he was living in 1838, I would guess near Lambertville.<\/p>\n Rebecca Holcombe died in 1873, age 79, and was buried in the Barber Cemetery. John C. died in 1882, age 89, and was buried in the Holcombe-Riverview Cemetery near Lambertville.<\/p>\n Possible Roads: Seabrook Rd, Lambertville-Headquarters Rd and Alexauken Creek Rd.<\/p>\nJames Barcroft<\/h3>\n
Jacob Bodine<\/h3>\n
Robert Bonham<\/h3>\n
Nicholas B. Higgins<\/h3>\n
John C. Holcombe<\/h3>\n
Nelson Holcombe<\/h3>\n