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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/goodspeedhist/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114There is something fascinating about old roads, especially when their routes differ from the ones we know today. One of the very oldest roads in Hunterdon County was “layed out”\u00ac\u2020in December 1721 and recorded in January 1721\/22.<\/p>\n
Here is the full text, as transcribed in Snell\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s History of Hunterdon County (p. 347), which I will follow with my attempt to decipher what route was being described.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00ac\u2020\u201a\u00c4\u00faA draught of the Amwell Road that leads from Malayehik into the Road that cums from Greens plantation to Cornelius Anderson.<\/p>\n Mount Amwell, December ye 13th<\/sup>\u00ac\u2020 1721. Then layed out A Road fower Rods in Breadth According to An Act of Assembly Made And provided for that purpose<\/p>\n Beginning in ye said townshyp by ye Readington paith that leads from MR. Readings old plantation to wher John reading now Lives Att two Black oaks trees marked by sd paith\u00ac\u2020 Thence along As Markt to A white oake tree Marked To the sutherd of Nathaniel petits plantation\u00ac\u2020 thence Along As Marked to A hickory tree Markt by nishianing kricke\u00ac\u2020 thence over sd krick As direct As may be to the school howse on the west seid of ye sd schoole howse\u00ac\u2020 thence Along straight As marked to A Black oake tree on the west side of the paith that Leads from James Stouts to Joseph Hicksons\u00ac\u2020 then along as marked Betweixt the palatins Land And John Warforts\u00ac\u2020 thence Along As Marked by the east side of the old Indian towne to A red oake tree Marked in or near the Line Betwixt Benjamin Hicksons Land and Ruckmans\u00ac\u2020 Thence Along ye sd line till it passeth the house of ye sd Ruckman\u00ac\u2020 then through the corner of ye sd Ruckman field to A white oake tree\u00ac\u2020 thence Along As marked to A Blacke oake tree Marked on ye east side of the old Road that Leads from George Greens old plantation to Cornelius Andersons plantation<\/p>\n Layed out By us Commissioners the day and year Above written\u00ac\u2020 Philip Ringo, John Burroughs, Charles Clark, George Green, John Holcomb, Chas. I Burroughs, Commissioners.\u00ac\u2020 Entered the above Draught January 26th<\/sup>\u00ac\u2020 1721\/22. Alexander Lockhart, Recorder<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note that George Green, whose plantation is near the route, is one of the Commissioners of Highways. Philip Ringo and John Holcomb are other well-known early settlers of Amwell Township.<\/p>\n Following the unification of East and West New Jersey, the legislature passed a law establishing the position of Commissioner of Highways, to be appointed for each county. In 1716, the law was modified by eliminating that position and replacing it with Surveyors of Highways (though they were still called Commissioners in 1721), responsible for designing and laying out the roads, and then recording these designs in a county road book. An additional position was created called Overseers of Roads. These were the people whose job it was to build and maintain the roads. They were supposed to be named by two Justices of the Peace, and were responsible for calling out individuals to do the work.2<\/a><\/sup> This was the law that governed\u00ac\u2020creation of the Amwell Road of 1721.<\/p>\n Let\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s follow this road, step by step:<\/p>\n 1)\u00ac\u2020 \u201a\u00c4\u00faA draught of the Amwell Road that leads from Malayehik into the Road that cums from Greens plantation to Cornelius Anderson.\u00ac\u2020<\/strong><\/p>\n The Malayehik (sometimes spelled Malayelick) is the name of an old Indian path that ran from the villages on the Assunpinck (Trenton) to the Forks of the Delaware (Easton, PA). Today it is simply Route 579. The Amwell Road therefore\u00ac\u2020comes from Route 579 to a road that connects George Green\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s plantation with land belonging to Cornelius Anderson. What road is that? Green\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s plantation is southeast of Mt. Airy, as shown on Hammond Map G, but where was Cornelius Anderson?<\/p>\n According to the Op Dyke Genealogy, Cornelius Anderson owned a mill in the southwest corner of Hopewell Township, which would put him close to the Delaware River near Ewing Township. Unfortunately, D. Stanton Hammond did not map the proprietary tracts in this area. Hopewell Valley Heritage <\/em>by Alice Blackwell Lewis suggests (p. 7) that Anderson\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s mill was located on Jacob\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s Creek, which is somewhat southwest of Titusville.<\/p>\n\n