New Jersey as a Colony and as a State ADRIAEN VAN DER DONCK'S MAP. (ShowLDg New Jersey and adjacent country in 1656.) ^ NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY AND AS A STATE One of the O riginal T hir tee; BY FEANCIS BAZLEY LEE ASSOCIATE BOARD OF EDITORS WILLIAM S. STETKEE, LL.D.: WILLIAM NELSON, A.M. GAREET D. W. VEOOM : EENEST C. EICHARDSON, Ph.D. VOLUME ONE THE PUBLISHING SOCIETY OF NEW JERSEY NBW YORK MDCCCCII CoPTBioHT, 1902, By The Pdblishino Socnirs or New J«bb»y A /I Rights Rese-,-ved c. ; S4-, PUBLICATION OFFICE 136 LIBERTY STREET KEW YORK, N. Y., U. 8. A. DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY FOREWORDS 'TpHE history of the State of New Jersey has ¦*• been variously written by men of more than ordinary ability. In the prosecution of their la bors the authors of these general works have gath ered a vast collection of facts, and have succeeded in presenting their material in a spirit of personal honesty. But throughout all these histories the chronological and biographical treatment has been adopted. For the first time, probably, in the general his tory of any State, certainly in any history of New Jersey, a different method has been followed. Each chapter is a monograph, or a portion of a monograph. The characteristics of a dramatic period, or the special lines of development during an era, are presented, rather than the setting down of a series of facts selected solely for what ever intrinsic value they may possess. It is obvious that the so-called " local history " of large communities may be subordinated in this method of treatment. Sometimes seemingly im portant facts are omitted. Upon the other hand it may appear, superficially, as if less important communities have undue prominence. Yet in the 8 NBW JERSEY AS A COL historical perspective an attempt has been made to secure proportion without regarding, as final, present conditions. Particularly is this true con cerning the colonial period, when it is remembered that communities now scarcely risen to the dig nity of small cities were once important centers, and that three of New Jersey's largest cities — Jersey City, Paterson, and Camden — were abso lutely unknown by name in 1787, when the federal constitution was framed. The history of a State is but a part of the his tory of the nation; the history of counties, town ships, municipal corporations, even of the smallest villages, is a part of the history of the State. No crossroads hamlet there is that has not played some part in the development of the common wealth, or has not had among its residents at least one man who has aided in shaping the destinies of New Jersey. In short, the history of a State must be considered the history of its people. It is within these four volumes that an attempt has been made to delineate their daily lives, in brief what they did, and how, under religious, political, economic, or social impulses, they acted. To secure such a delineation as would give, in outline, the history of the people of New Jersey, recourse has been had to much available printed material, particularly contemporaneous newspa pers, and manuscripts. The desire has been to ONY AND AS A STATE avoid even the semblance of partisanship, particu larly of a political character. To this end the chapters dealing with the rise and continuance of political policies, expressed by partisan action, contain mainly the records of legislative proceed ings and abstracts of party platforms. The proofs of the four volumes have been care fully read by Messrs. Garret D. W. Vroom and William Nelson, of the Associate Board of Editors, while before the death of the late William S. Stryker he outlined the plan of the second volume and prepared therefor many useful notes. SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS CHAPTER I THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY 27-50 Status of Scientific Inquiry upon the Subject — Distri bution of the Traces of Man, and their Relation to the Natural History of the " Trenton Gravels " — Resem blance between the Dela'ware as a " Glacial Trench " and Rivers of France and England — Evidences of the Exist ence of Paleolithic Man in the Delaware Valley based upon exhumed Argillite Implements found in Undis turbed and Stratified Glacial Gravels; upon the Discovery of Remains of Extinct Quaternary Animals; and upon those of Man Himself— Comparison between Paleolithic Implements found in the United States and those Dis covered in Europe. CHAPTER II INDIANS OF NEW JERSEY 51-71 Diversified Views as to the Origin of the New Jersey Indian — The Lenni-Lenap^ or Delawares a Nation of the Algonkin Family — Their Physical Appearance — The Life in the Wigwam — Their Progress in the In dustrial Arts — Their Dress, Family Relations, System of Education, Administration of Justice, Medical Skill, Religious Cult, and Form of Government — The Relation the Lenni-Lenap6 bore to the White Settlers — Partial Success of Missionaries — Adjustment of Land Titles — The Dechne of the Indian — The First Reservation — The Subsequent History of the Remnant of the Lenni-Lenap6 and His Sentimental Place in State History. 12 NBW JERSBY AS A COL CHAPTER III THE STRANGE STORY OF NEW ALBION 73-84 Sir Edmund Plowden and His first Grant — Yong and Evelin explore the Delaware River in 1634 — The Troubles of the Earl Palatine — Beauchamp Plantage- net's " Description," and the " Order, Medall, and Riban of the Albion Knights of the Conversion of Twenty- three Kings " — A Mediaeval Plan of Government — Strange Sights that Master Evelin saw in New Jersey — The Failure of New Albion — The Interests of the Plowdens Revived in 1784 by Charles Varlo, and His Assertion of Claim to Title. CHAPTER IV NEW SWEDEN 85-101 Sweden's Colonization of the Delaware Valley due to three Causes : Jealousy of Holland's Growth as a World Power, Extension of the Nationalization Policy of Gustavus Adolphus, and Shrewdness of Willem Usselinx — The Securing of Religious Freedom Distinc tively Subsidiary — The History of the Commercial Com panies as Agencies of Colonization — Peter Minuit arrives in the Delaware in 1638, buys Land, and plants a Colony — The Quarrels with the Dutch and the New Englanders — New Expeditions and New Governors — The Colony becomes Neglected and the Dutch Conquer the Swedes in the " Bloodless War " of 1655 — The Habits and Customs of the Settlers — Swedish Place-Names in New Jersey, and the Effect of Swedish Mental and Physical Characteristics upon the Subsequent English Colonists. CHAPTER V NEW NETHERLAND 103-119 The Dutch West India Company and the Voyages of Hudson and Mey — The Settlement of Manhattan Island and the Attitude of the Hollanders toward the Indians — The Patroonship at Cape May and its Failure — Quarrels ONY AND AS A STATE 13 with Connecticut Settlers and the Swedes, and Internal Dissensions, lead to Retrogradation of the Colonization Scheme — New Life on Manhattan Island and Demand for Popular Government — Peter Stuyvesant and His Troubles — The Dutch Settle at Hoboken, Pavonia, Paulus Hook, and Bergen— The Indian War of 1643— The Fall of the Swedish Colonies on the Delaware — Holland's Settlement in the New World based largely upon Desire to obtain Economic Advantages in the Partition of an Unknown Continent — The Dutch Establish the Principle of Purchasing Indian Title to Land. CHAPTER VI THE ENGLISH CONQUEST AND OCCUPATION. .121-142 England's Plan to Destroy Holland's Influence in North America — Charles II, under the influence of Edward Hyde, the Royal Chancellor, Resorts to War — England's Title to Land Claimed by the Dutch — The Duke of York and His Commissioners — The Conquest of 1664 and its influence — Berkeley and Carteret and their Title to New Jersey — Preparations for Emigration and the Character of the New Settlers — The " Concessions and Agreements " — Arrival of the First Proprietary Governor, Philip Carteret — Newark and its Vicinity Settled — The Four Sources of Land Title to New Jersey, from the Indians, Dutch, Nicolls, and the Lord Proprietors, lead to Contro versy in the First Assembly — Some of the Colonists Rebel and Select a " President " — The " Triple Alliance " Dissolves in 1672, and the Dutch Recapture New Amster dam in 1673 — Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, Pis cataway, Middletown, Shrewsbury, and Bergen submit to Dutch Rule — Type of the New Government — The Treaty of Westminster, in 1674, restores New Jersey to the English Crown — The Arrival of Sir Edmund Andros. CHAPTER VII THE JERSEYS 143-171 John Fenwick and His Colony at Salem — William Penn and His Associates become Interested in the " New 14 NEW JERSEY AS A COL Experiment " — Fenwick Quarrels with the Duke of York and Sells His Interests — The Quintipartite Deed of 1676 creates the Colonies of East Jersey and West Jersey — Penn and His Influence in West Jersey — The Organic Law of the Colony an Expression of Advanced Ideas in Democratic Government — The Erection of " Tenths " and the Arrival of the Commissioners — Claims of the Duke of York — The Quarrel between Carteret and Sir Edmund Andros, and Subsequent Litigation — East Jersey Passes under the Control of Proprietors — The Governors and the New " Concessions " — Legislation in the two Provinces — The Troubles with the Duke of York and His Quo Warranto Proceedings — Dr. Daniel Coxe acquires land Interests in West Jersey — Books and Pamphlets Relating to East and West Jersey. CHAPTER VIII THE SETTLERS OF EAST JERSEY 173-181 The Early Elements mainly from Congregational Com munities in New England or Calvinistic Centers in England and Scotland — The Influences underlying Emigration and the Spirit of Theocracy — Puritan Christian Names among East Jersey Families — The Relation of Church to State — The Coming of the Huguenots and their Subjective Influ ence — Prominent Names among these French Settlers. CHAPTER IX THE SETTLERS OF WEST JERSEY 183-190 The Disappearance of Popular Superstitions concerning America — The Agricultural Advantages of West Jersey led to Development along the Lines of least Natural Resistance — The Development of a Plantation-owning Aristocracy, Sustained by the Religious Customs of the Society of Friends — The Plantation becomes the Unit of Social, as the Shire-town becomes the Unit of Political, Life — Differences between East Jersey and West Jersey as Shown in the Political and Religious Concepts of the Settlers — One Object in Common between the Quaker and the Calvinist, the Stamping upon the Individual the full force of their Religious Teaching. ONY' AND AS A STATE 15 CHAPTER X SOME PHASES OF EARLY LIFE 191-206 Laud, in Colonial New Jersey, the Basis of Material Wealth, Personal Advancement of the Settler, and Ulti mate Progress of the Pro'vince — The Farmer becomes the Dominant Figure — Holdings in East Jersey, Except among the Dutch, Small in Size — In West Jersey large Planta tions, with Interests in vast Tracts of Forest Land, Marked Individual Possession of Real Estate — Life upon the Farm — Character and Appointment of Homes — Educa tion of the Women — Food and Drinks — Industries on the Seacoast — Slaves, Redemptioners, and Apprentices, and the Relation they bore to their Masters — Sources from which Bond-labor was Obtained — Vessel Building and the Colonial Merchant Marine — Privateering — Whaling from Sandy Hook to Cape May. CHAPTER XI THE UNION OF THE JERSEYS 207-214 The Surrender of Proprietary Government of East and West Jersey — The Acceptance by Queen Anne and the " Union of 1702 " — Lord Cornbury arrives in New Jersey as the First Royal Govemor — Quarrels 'with the House of Assembly until 1708 — The Growth of a Spirit of Democracy — Cornbury Paves the Way for Spirit of Resist ance first Directed against the Governors of the Crcwn and then, in 1776, the Crown Itself — The E'vLls of his prof ligate Administration — ^Morris and Jenings. CHAPTER XII THE GOVERNOR, COUNCIL, AND ASSEMBLY. . .215-225 Governor Combury's " Instructions " and What they Contained — Liberty of Conscience allowed Everyone " Except Papists " — Organization of the CouncU and House of Assembly — Property Qualifications imposed upon Representatives of the People and upon Electors — For Seventy-five years there Exists more or less Friction between the Govemor and the House of Assembly — The 16 NEW JERSBY AS A COL Part played by Members of the Chuich of England, of the Society of Friends, aud of the Calvinistic Churches in the Struggle — The Poverty of the Colony — Local Con ditions, as well as the Stupid Economic Policy of the Crown, Foster a Spirit of Unorganized Resistance — Char acteristics of Parliamentary Legislation. CHAPTER XIII THE BEGINNINGS OF TRANSPORTATION 227-237 The Indian and his Canoe — The small River Craft of the English in East and West Jersey — Early Roads iu East Jersey united the small Towns ; those of West Jersey connected then Distant County Capitals — The Thirty mile " Waste " between the Heads of Tide on the Delaware and Raritan Rivers an Obstacle to rapid Communication between New York and Philadelphia — Early " Stage Waggons" from Trenton, Bordentown, and Burlington to Amboy — Promoters of these Enterprises — Systems of Roads throughout the Colony at the Opening of the Revolution — Highwaymen aud Horse Thieves. CHAPTER XIV CURRENCY AND COUNTERFEITING 239-259 The Lenni-Lenap^ and his Wampum — How it was Made and Its use among the Settlers — Legislation in East Jersey Regulating the Rate of Exchange — Names of Foreign Coins — West Jersey Legislates upon the Subject — Mark Newbie and his " Patrick's Pence " — The " Rosa Americana " Issue — The " Horse Head Coppers " of 1786- 1788 — Early Mints at Morristown and Elizabeth, and the Experiments of the Mint-Masters — The Experience of the Colony with "Paper Bills" from 1709 to 1787— Counterfeiting and its Punishments. CHAPTER XV THE GENESIS OF COUNTIES, CITIES, AND TOWNSHIPS 261-276 Earliest Counties set off in 1675, while Bergen, Middle sex, Essex, and Monmouth were Named and Defined in ONY AND AS A STATE 17 1682 — In East Jersey, with Towns as Centers, the County Name becomes a Generic Term — Somerset County set off in 1688 — In West Jersey the County results largely from the Consolidation of Plantations — The Es tablishment of " Tenths" as Original County Boundaries — Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, and Cape May come into Existence — Gloucester the only County deriving its Origin from the Direct Action of its own People — Early Disputes as to County Lines — The Act of 1710 Defining Boundaries, and the Establishment of Hunterdon, Morris, Cumberland, and Sussex before the Revolution — Sources from which the Names of the Thirteen Colonial Counties were Derived — Warren, Mercer, Hudson, Camden, Passaic, Atlantic, and Union established between 1824 and the Ci'vil War — Beginnings of Towns and Townships — Their Names and Characteristics — The Borough Charter of Trenton — Four Methods of Establishing Townships : by Order of the Court, by Act of the Legislature, by Royal Charter, and by Commissioners selected by the People. CHAPTER XVI THE SEA COAST AND THE " PINES " 277-288 The Character of the New Jersey Beaches on the Atlantic Coast — These Islands used as Grazing Grounds — The " WUd Cattle "—The Value of Hay and Wood to the Colo nists — The Paradise of the Huntsman — "The Pines," and the Waste of Timber — Restrictive Legislation — Early Ex ports of Beach and Upland Products — The West India Trade — Saw mUls, Tar kilns, Sumac, Pot and Pearl ashes, and Peltries — " Natural Privileges " and " Com mon Rights " — Later Development of the " Pines." CHAPTER XVII ORDINARIES, INNS, AND TAVERNS 289-303 Pleasant Days at the Colonial Inns and the Daily Life of the Landlord — The Drinks that were Served — The First Ordinaries — How Licenses to sell Liquor were first Granted — "The Penalty of a Drunkard" — Sumptuary [Vol. 1] 18 NEW JERSEY AS A COL Legislation, and the sad Fate of Peter Groom — Early Tavern Keepers — The Sunday Laws of 1704 — Later Colonial Legislation — The Tavern becomes a " Seminary of Vice, Irreligion, and Profaneness," According to a Presentment of a Hunterdon County Grand Jury. CHAPTER XVIII LAWYERS AND THE SUPREME COURT 305-317 The History of the Bar before 1702 Obscure — The Caustic Comment of Gabriel Thomas — Nevill's Obser vations on .Jury Trials — Legislation regarding the Practice of Law from 1676 to 1702 — Unsavory Character of some Early Practitioners — The " Lay " Element among the Colonial Supreme Court Justices and Attorney-Generals of New Jersey — The Establishment of the Supreme Court and the First Proclamation of 1704 — The Seal of the Court and its History. CHAPTER XIX MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 319-328 Marriage, to the Calvinist and the Quaker, was not a Di"vine Sacrament — " Common Law " Unions — The first Legislature in East Jersey regulates the Performance of the Marriage Ceremony — The Marriage Customs of the Society of Friends — Some References to the Matter from the Burlington "Court Book". — The Act for the "Pre vention of Clandestine Marriages " Remains the Law for Seventy-five Years — Terms of the Statute. CHAPTER XX RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE DAY 329-346 The Arrival in America of George Whitefield — His Ap pearance in New Jersey and the Effect of His Preaching — The Influence of Gilbert Tennent and the Era of Religious Controversy — The Newspapers and their Part — What ONY AND AS A STATE 19 Whitefield Accomplished — John Woolman, of Rancocas — His Early Lite as Reflected in his Journal — His Definition of " True Religion " — Becomes the Apostle of the Aboli tion Movement — The Doctrine of " Self Denial " — His " Journal " and its Literary Value — Statistics concerning the Strength of Religious Denominations in New Jersey in 1765 — Meeting Houses and Funerals. CHAPTER XXI THE STATUS OF EDUCATION 347-368 Schools among the Dutch and Swedes — Their System of Education. — The First School at Bergen — Early Schools in East Jersey — Burlington, in 1682, Establishes a Trust Fund, Probably the First in the United States, for the Purposes of Public Education — The Germ of the "Artist- Artisan " Idea — Low State of Education in the Colony after 1702 — The Private Schools and their Masters — The Foundation of the College of New Jersey and its Early History — Some of its Distinguished Colonial Graduates — The Beginnings of Rutgers College — The Character of Popular Literature — The Newspapers and Almanacs as Factors in Education. CHAPTER XXII NEW JERSEY IN ENGLAND'S WARS WITH SPAIN AND FRANCE 369-385 The War of the Spanish Succession — Privateering off Sandy Hook — The Anglo-Spanish War of 1739 — New Jersey Provincials in the West Indies — King George's War — The Siege of Louisburg — The Sufferings of the Jersey Soldiers at Albany — Some Familiar Comments upon the Conduct of the Quartermaster-General's Depart ment — The French and Indian War — New Jersey Loyally Responds to the Call for Money, Men, and Provisions — The Patriotic Devotion of Colonel Schuyler — Indian War fare in Sussex County — The Attack on Fort Ticonderoga — — The Lenni-Lenap^ Prove Traitorous — The Treaty at Crosswicks and the Capture of Oswego — The British 20 NBW JERSEY AS A OOL Disasters in the Lake George Region — The Bravery of the New Jersey Provincials — Honors heaped upon Colonel Schuyler — The first appearance of the " Jersey Blues " — Medals given by the Legislature to Gallant Jerseymen — The Building of the Barracks — The Close of the War and an Expedition Against the West Indies. CHAPTER XXIII FROM CORNBURY TO FRANKLIN 387-396 Lovelace Attempts to Pacify the Legislature and Correct Franklin's Mistakes — The Failures of Ingoldsby — Tur bulent Times for Himter and the Administration of the Scholarly Burnet — Montgomerie, Morris, Cosby, Ander son, and Hamilton, and their brief Tenures of Office — Reasons, advanced in 1736, why New Jersey should have a Government separate from New York — Morris, Hamilton, and Reading, and a Period of Disputes — The Puritanical Belcher and his Excellent Administration — Pownall, Reading, Bernard, Boone, and Hardy. CHAPTER XXIV THE LAST OF THE ROYAL GOVERNORS 397-411 The Pathos of Franklin's Position — His Endeavors to effect Reconciliation and to Lead the People of the Colony from the Rocks and Shoals of "Treason" — The Legis lature in 1774 Establishes a " Standing Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry " — The Members of the Coinmittee and their Duties — The Vehemence of Popular Discussions — Council in 1775 declares its Loyalty to the Crown — Franklin Addresses the House of Assembly and receives an Equivocal Answer — The Assembly in Febru ary, 1775, Declares its Loyalty to the " Royal Person " and sets forth the Grievances of the Colony — The Co lonial Council and Assembly Dissolve early in 1776, and Franklin is Assured of his Personal Safety — The Govern or in January, 1776, retires to Perth Amboy — His Per sonal Popularity — The Provincial Congress in June, 1776, refuses to obey the Governor's Proclamation, Declares he ONY' AND AS A STATE 21 has Acted in Contempt of Resolves of Congress, Discovers him to be an Enemy of the Liberties of his Country, and Refuses to allow Him his Salary — Under Orders, Colonel Nathaniel Heard arrests Franklin on June 17th, and upon the Governor's refusing to answer questions he is sent to Connecticut, to be Confined under the Authority of Governor Trumbull. CHAPTER XXV THE GATHERING STORM 413-422 The Effect of the French and Indian War upon the Social and Political Life of New Jersey — The Colonists held that it was England's duty to Protect her Dependencies from Indian Raids, and that such Wealth as had been Acquired had been Obtained in Spite of Objectionable Parliamentary Legislation — William Franklin, the last Royal Governor, finds Discontent in 1763 — The Stamp Act in New Jersey — The " Sons of Liberty " and the Lawyers — The Economic Aspect of the "Prayer" of the Assembly of 1768 — "Taxation without Representation" — No Spirit in New Jersey favoring Independence as late as 1772 — The Colony Loyal to the " British Constitution" — Attitude of the Religious Denominations — Two Factors working for Association and Preparation for the Coming Struggle : the Committees of Correspondence and the Continental Congresses. Adolphus, Gustavus 97 Albion Knights, medal ol... 79 Alexander, James 313 American House at Had- donfield 303 Amsterdam, Holland 112 Andros double seal 142 Anne, Queen 211 Argillite implements 33, 37, 40, 45, 50 A^tec coin 242 Basking Ridge, school house at 351 Battles with the Indians. .66, 71 Bellin's map of 1764 171 Bergen and Buyten Tuyn in 1660 225 Bergen, church at, in 1680.. 344 Bergen County in 1693 (map) 181 Berkeley and Carteret, seal 130 Berkeley. Lord John, auto graph 129 Bibles 321, 346 Boston Massacre 422 Boudinot arms 180 Bows and arrows 67 Bradford house at Plymouth 17S Bradford, William, auto graph 179 Burlington, first Friends meeting house in 333 Burnet, Governor William.. 391 Burr, Rev. Aaron 396 Canopied pew in Christ Churcli, Shrewsbury 341 Carr, Robert, autograph 127 Carteret and Berkeley, seal 130 Carteret arms 137 Carteret, Philip, autograph. 132 Carteret, Sir George, auto graph 129 Castle Point 113 Cedar swamp, an early 280 Charles 1 75 Charles II 125 Chatelaine, a colonial 324 Chri.st Church, Shrewsbury. 340 Church at Bergen in 1680 344 Church in Newark, flrst 343 City hall at The Hague 276 Coin, flrst 251 Coin ol 1652 248 Colonial horseshoes 201 Colonial jack, the 420 Colonial plow, a 195 Colonial tea set 274 Colve, Anthony, autograph.. 140 Condict, Ira 365 Conover house near Mata wan 152 Continental currency. 254, 257, 259 Copper tokens 250. 2.')S Cornbury in female attire.. 213 Cosby, William 392 Country church, a 33S Country tavern, a 2P3 Crane Tavern, the 294 Crosswicks, Friends meeting house at 339 Crown: George II 244 Crown: James II 246 Currency, continental 254, 256, 257, 259 Davies, Samuel 360 De "Vries's Journal, title- page cf 107 Dickinson, Jonathan 358 Dongan arms 162 Dongan's house on Staten Island 163 Duke of York, seal of ISS Dutch country people 177 24 NBW JERSEY AS A COL PAGE Dutch patroon 109 Dutch windmill 118 Early tavern yard 334 Bast aud West Jersey in 1677 (map) 154 East Jersey, seal of 148 Edwards, Jonathan 359 Farm scene, a 190 Finley, Samuel 362 First American paper money 257 First church in Newark 343 First map of New Tork City 214 First Methodist Church in America 334 First money coined by the United States 251 First view of New Amster dam 119 Flag of Holland 117 Flag of the thirteen colo nies 161 Flag ol the West India Company 03 "Floreat Rex" 247 Forest vista, a 283 Fort Christina and vicinity. 89 Fox, George 145 Franklin, William 399 Friends meeting house in Burlington 333 Friends meeting house at Crosswicks 339 George 1 390 George I, great seal of 400 George II, great seal of Ul George III, statue of 403 Great seal ol 1691 159 Green, Ashbel 363 Grinding corn 198 Guinea: George III 248 Haddonfield, American House at 303 "Half Moon," the 106 Holland, flag ol 117 Hornblend axe 46 Horseshoes, colonial 201 Hudson, scenes on the.. 157, 382 Hunter, Robert, arms and autograph 389 Indian ceremonial stone 55 Indian chieftain 385 Indian conflicts 66, 71 Indian mortar and pestle. . . 35 Indian specimens (polished flesher and semi-lunar knife) 59 PAGE Indian totemic signatures... 62 Indian vase 38 Indian vessel 42 Indian wigwam 57 Indians ,53, 56, 61, 63, 68, 80 Innkeeper's bill of 1795 298 James II 164 James II, seal of 165 Johnson, Sir William 380 Kieft's house and church 115 Liberty-cap cent 253 Liberty placard 419 Mammoth or mastodon tusk 49 Manhattan Island in the six teenth century 76 "Mayflower," the 175 Medal for Porto-Bello, Ad miral 'Vernon 372 Medal of the Albion Knights 79 Methodist Church, first, in America 334 Minuit, Peter, autograph 108 Monmouth Court House 308 Morris arms 394 Morris, Lewis 395 Nassau Hall: Princeton Col lege 361 New Amsterdam, first view of 119 New Amsterdam, seal ol 123 New Jersey gentleman, a 195 New Jersey stage coach 237 New Jersey village, a 266 "New Netherland," the 176 Ne"w Netherland, seal of 105 New Sweden, map 87 New Sweden, seal ol 98 New York City, first map of 214 New Tork in 1673 229 New York from New Jersey in 1732 265 New York in 1740 233 New York, seal ol, in 1686.. 168 New Tork, view ol 376 Newark, flrst church in 343 Nicolls, Richard, autograph. 135 North River, view across, in 1797 271 Original thirteen colonies, map ol 26 Palatines, relics of 82 Palisaded village 65 Paper money, flrst American 257 Patrick pence 247 Patroon, Dutch 109 Penn arras 185 ONY AND AS A STATE 25 FAGB Penn, William 147 Pew in Christ Church, Shrewsbury 311 "Pine-tree shilling" 255 "Pines," among the 284 Pistol 371 Plow, a colonial 196 Princeton College: Nassau Hall 361 Punch bowl 291 Relics of the Palatines 82 Residence of Lord Stirling.. 406 River scene, a 288 Rosa Americana farthing... 248 Rosa Americana halfpennies 249 Rosa Americana penny 250 Rutgers College In 1842 364 Scenes on the Hudson... 157, 382 School house at Basking Ridge 351 Schuyler arms 379 Seal, Andros, the 142 Seal of Berkeley and Car teret 130 Seal of the Duke of Tork... 138 Seal of East Jersey 148 Seal of George 1 400 Seal of George III 411 Seal ol James II 165 Seal ol New Amsterdam... 123 Seal ol New Netherland 105 Seal ol New Sweden 98 Seal ol New York In 16S6.... 168 Seal ol 1691 159 Seal ol the Society lor the Propagation ol the Gospel In Foreign Parts 351 Seal ol West Jersey 149 Shilling: George H 245 Shrewsbury, Christ Church 340 Silver dollar ol 1794 252 Sleigh ol 1788 231 Snuff boxes 202 Stage coach, a New Jersey. 237 Stamp-act stamps 417, 418 Stirling, Lord, residence of. 406 PAGE Stuyvesant, Peter, tablet... 123 Stuyvesant's Bowery house. Ill Stuyvesant's home, " The Whitehall" 95 Stuyvesant's pear tree 94 Tankard, an ancient 301 Tavern, a country 293 Tavern yard, an early 234 Tea set, colonial 274 Thirteen colonies, flag ol... ICl Thirteen colonies, map ol.. 26 Title-page of De Vries's Journal 107 Title-page of Van der Donck's Journal 368 Totemic signatures, Indian. 62 Tusk, mammoth or mastodon 49 Usselinx, Willem, autograph 88 Van der Donck's Journal, title-page of 363 Van Twiller, Wouter, auto graph no Van Vorst homestead at Ahasimus 114 Vase 381 Vernon, Admiral, medal for Porto-Bello 372 Views ....101, 186, 194, 205, 206, 269, 271, 283, 284, 287, 288, 376, 332 Wampum belt 241 West and East Jersey In 1677 (map) 154 West house near Matawan .. 152 West India Company's flag 93 West India Company's house 116 West India Company's store house 126 West Jersey, seal ol 149 "Whitehall," Stuyvesant's home 95 Wigwam, Indian 57 WUUam III 166 Winthrop, John, ol Connec ticut 139 Winthrop, John, ol Massa chusetts 91 THK ORIGINAL THIRTEEN COLONIES. CHAPTER I The Antiquity of Man in the Delaware Valley Contributed by Di. CbsrleB 0. Abbott THE claim of satisfactory evidence of the extreme antiquity of man in the valley of the Delaware Elver has been soberly discussed and intemperately ridiculed, but this is no valid reason why the truth should not be ascertained. If man in a paleolithic stage of culture did exist on the Atlantic seaboard of North America, then we have a basis upon which to build — a tangible starting point from which to date a history of human activities on this continent. Shutting out all offered evidence of paleolithic man, we have but an immense array of facts, largely unrelated, and the greater portion sadly distorted and mis leading because of the reckless theories set forth with them by their discoverers, and undoubtedly there never has been, in the whole range of scien tific agitation of a simple question, as great a vol ume of reckless assertion, illogical deduction, and disregard of exact statement. The main question was often wholly lost sight of, and the author's sole purpose that of demonstrating some one else in error. Predetermination on the part of many has been fatal to the value of their field work. Convinced on theoretical grounds, such are neces sarily blinded when on the spot where positive evidence occurs. There probably would not have been as much 30 NEW JERSEY AS A COL INWOOn STONK. attention paid to the subject of man's growth in culture on this continent had not the proposition of a sequence from paleolithic to Indian, with an intervening period, seemed to necessitate a dating back to the glacial epoch, which naturally brought geological erudition to bear upon the question, and since then, most surprisingly, there has been confusion worse confounded, rather than a flood of light. Much has been written, but we can not yet be confident which author is most nearly correct; and the latest report on the sur face geology of the Delaware Valley, showing sad evidences of haste, is vitiated by evident determi nation to modernize every trace of man, whether the facts warranted such procedure or not. What is held, primarily, to be an evidence of paleolithic man is a wrought stone implement that in Europe was characteristic of his handi work. In the valley of the Delaware this same form of implement has been confidently asserted to be a rejected piece of stone — usually argillite — that failed to lend itself to reduction to a fin ished blade or spear point. If this could be estab lished as of invariable application, however the supposed " reject " occurred, then the whole mat ter would be brought to a quick conclusion. But the " reject " theory has utterly failed of estab lishment. The typical paleolithic implement is not characteristic of the refuse of an arrow-mak- ONY AND AS A STATE 31 er's workshop site, and the familiar arrow points of small size, as well as the long, thin blades of sev eral times their length, were reduced from masses greatly larger than the desired form. The refuse of many a chipping site shows this conclusively; and, as hundreds of failures demonstrate, many an arrowhead was made from a pebble but a trifle larger than the flnished object. But admit, for argument's sake, the identity in shape of a " reject " and a " paleolithic " imple ment ; this does not prove their identity in age and origin, and it is not an unwarranted or illogical suggestion to draw a distinction between the two, where the conditions under which they occur sug gest a possibility of diverse history. Rather than demonstrating that all rudely chipped stones are " failures," it should be shown that paleolithic man, as we know of him in Europe, could not pos sibly have existed here. This has not only never been attempted, but the conditions during and immediately subsequent to the glaciation of the river valley have been asserted, time and again, to have been favorable for man's existence. Furthermore, it has not been shown that a typical paleolithic implement could not have been avail able on this continent, as it undoubtedly was in Europe, as an effective weapon, and it must be re membered that the fauna of the Delaware Valley was, in glacial times, very like that of parts of 32 NBW JERSEY AS A COL ORNAMENTAL POTTERY. Europe in what we may call the reindeer period. Like conditions may not have produced like re sults in the case of early man, but what was prac ticable in Europe was certainly so in America, and the question resolves itself into that of deter mining if any trace of man that has been discov ered in the valley of the Delaware can be dated back to a time preceding the Indian as he was when first he came in contact with the European. In other words, did the Indian bring his art with him from Europe or Asia, or did he experience a growth in culture from paleolithic simplicity to neolithic complexity? The whole subject hinges on the distribution of these traces of man. If from the first day of his occupancy until the European replaced the Indian the immediate valley of the Delaware River had undergone no change, then the imperishable relics of the first and last savage would remain asso ciated, and position alone would tell nothing con cerning any particular object's age or origin; but, at the present day, except the contents of graves, not a stone implement of the Delaware Indians rest where chance or the intention of its one-time owner placed it. Indeed, save a few bowlders of the largest size, few natural objects on the imme diate shores of the river are as first seen by Will iam Penn and his associates. This fact has not been duly considered, and unwarranted conclusions ONY AND AS A STATE 33 have been published as established truths — all, of course, eliminating antiquity from the Indian his tory of the region. The fact that a so-called pa leolithic implement was found lying on the sur face of the river's shore has resulted in a pen pic ture of a modern Indian attempting to fashion a '^'^'¦i- -f i-r-x blade and tossing the pebble aside in disgust. f.'^^ - Why, indeed, could not an Indian walk on ex posed gravel and pick up a pebble as well as we can to-day? There are two considerations to which we must f : ,, . J Ji t\ 1 ¦'\ ' ¦"» j«-*\aV give heed when this question is asked. We are, 1 ' ¦..' ^¦vf in the first place, tacitly informed that the Indian IIL' ^' '' v... ¦ 3 was given to chipping stone in this hap-hazard >^ ' * *' way to supply a sudden need upon the spot, all of which is not only not a reasonable assumption, but absolutely incorrect, as argillite bowlders and pebbles, which are not abundant in the gravels, (From quaternary gravel.5 at Tren were not habitually used, but, instead, the min- '""• 7 feet beneath the surface.) eral was systematically mined and selected with skill, so that failures were reduced to a minimum. Then, again, if the object as found has been lying undisturbed on the river shore for centuries, — two and one-half centuries at least,— why is it that the chips are not there also? These are never found under such circumstances. In fact, they are very rarely found at all in the gravel where the implement itself occurs, and in num bers they should exceed the " reject " or finished ARGILLITE IMPLEMK^'T. 34 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL object at least as ten to one. Furthermore, we are asked to believe that the river shore where we flnd rude implements is the same to-day as when the Indian wandered along it centuries ago. A very cursory glance at the Delaware Eiver shows clearly how the never-resting tidal flow wears away the shore, carrying sand and fine gravels from one point and spreading it elsewhere to form a sand bar, it may be, and turning the channel from one side of the stream to the other, and so exposing long reaches of the shore to wast ing, that for many a year had been fixed and ap parently secure. Often the mud is entirely re moved from the underlying gravel, and abundant traces of Indian occupation are brought to light; and, less frequently, so strong a current attacks a given point that even the gravel is moved and deep holes are formed, to be filled in time with the wasting shore from a point perhaps a mile away. This is the story of the Delaware River of to-day, and so it has been for centuries; and yet we are asked to believe that we can fill the moccasin prints of the Indian by walking now along the water's edge. It may be submitted that it is ask ing a great deal too much. It has been suggested that rudely chipped im plements, when found on the gravelly shore of the river, have fallen out from the bank and rolled down from where they had long been lying. This ONY AND AS A STATE 35 is not at all improbable; but how does this mod ernize the object, when the implement-bearing gravel extends quite to the surface? The pebbles and bowlders at the top of the bank are clearly as much a part of the deposit as are those at its base, and while the surface may be — is, in fact — less ancient than the deeper gravels, still they can not be dissociated and it is a significant fact that we find, on the gravel at the foot of the bluff or other exposure, only the rude argillite objects at the water's edge or on the flat laid bare at low tide, and not a general assortment of the Indian's handiwork, including pottery; and we must not overlook the fact that the " gravel-bed " imple ments bear evidence of all the conditions to which the gravel itself has been subjected — ^this one stained by manganese, that incrusted with limon- ite, this fresh as the day it was chipped, because lost in sand and water and not subsequently ex posed to the atmosphere; that buried and un earthed, rolled, scratched, and water-worn until much of its artificiality has disappeared. The his tory of almost every specimen is written upon it, and not one tells such a story as has been told about it by the advocates of the " Indian-reject " theory. Much has been written on the natural history of the gravel that is so marked a feature of the Delaware River Valley, particularly at the head INDIAN MORTAR ANI> PKSTLE. 36 NEW JERSEY AS A COL of tidewater, and almost every essay differs in more or less degree from its fellows in the mat ter of the gravel's age as a well-defined deposit. No one can question the agencies by which it was brought to where we now find it. Ice and water did the work, nor have they ceased entirely to add to the bulk transported in strictly glacial times — perhaps it were better to say in superlatively glacial time, as the river even now can be posi tively glacial upon occasion. The main channel has often been completely blocked with ice and the water forced into new directions and spread over the lowlands or flats, which it denudes of its surface soil, and once within recent years the stream found an old channel, deepened it, and for a time threatened to leave a flourishing riverside town an inland one. Ice accumulated in this way year after year must necessarily affect the river's banks, and yet the extent of " damage " is trifling usually in comparison with that of the water, par ticularly when agitated by passing steamboats or violent winds; and now, too, the ice of our present winters does not transport coarse pebbles to any significant extent. This is substantiated since the examination given acres of ice, when the river was gorged with it, some years ago. It was possible to walk for miles over the ice, and to see it under exceedingly favorable circumstances, and a most careful search failed to reveal a stone larger than ONY AND AS A STATE 37 a pigeon's egg incased in this ice, which was all gently floated from far up the stream and stranded here; and where piled up upon the shores it usually remains until melted, and really acts as armor plate, protecting the ground from abra sion when the floods incident to the " break-up " prevail. Such are the present-day considerations, and they have a direct bearing upon the question of man's antiquity here because, flrst, the river val ley has not varied for hundreds of years, except in becoming wider, the low shores receding, and the stream becoming broader and more shallow. In earliest Indian times the river was subject to freshets and ice gorges as now, but never did the water become so dammed up as to overflow the broad plateaus, areas of glacial gravel, that at the close of the glacial period were within the boundary of the river. The Delaware was a very different stream then — crescendo for thousands of years, and diminuendo for thousands since — until now it barely hints at what it once was. But not even in the height of its glacial activity was the climate so severe that the waters contained no fish, nor the forests of the high surrounding hills harbored no game. Never was it as bleak as the arctic region of to-day, and as man maintains a footing there, why should he not have done so ARGILLITE IMPLEMENT. {From quaternary gravels at Trenton, 16 feet beneath the surface. Side and edge views.) 38 NEW JERSEY AS A COL INDIAN VASE. here, where life was ever more easily sustained? True; but did he live here in glacial time? It has been stated in the most positive manner, which only positive evidence could warrant, that so-called paleolithic implements have not been found in situ in gravel deposits at a distance from the river, and all such as appeared to be in the gravel, were recent intrusions. This statement, in its several parts and its entirety, is absolutely incorrect and inexcusable. It is to be explained, however, because avowedly predetermined. Wherever the glacial gravel of the Delaware tide water region is found, there paleolithic imple ments occur, as they also do on and in the surface of areas beyond the gravel boundary. We accept the statement that post-glacial floods inhumed all traces of man found beneath the su perficial soils, and find that, if these traces are considered in that light, some mysterious power was behind the senseless flood and always buried paleolithic implements far down in the gravel, and then selected argillite artifacts of more spe cialized forms for the overlying sands, and re served the pottery and arrow points for the vege tation-sustaining soil. This, of course, is absurd; but such is the actual order of occurrence of the traces of early man in the upland fields, and these are to be considered carefully before a final conclusion can be reached. ONY AND AS A STATE 39 The broad, elevated plateau extending eastward from the present bank of the river offers facilities for studying the evidences of man's occupancy in this region such as are to be found in few locali ties. The principal reason for this is that almost no local disturbance has occurred since the orig inal deposition of the sand and clay that overlies the gravel and underlies the soil. The natural history of these underlying sands has recently received a good deal of attention, be cause, unlike the deeper gravels, there is perfect accord as to the occurrence therein of artificially chipped objects; and the suggestion that they are of intrusive origin being set aside as untenable, the geologists are now divided on the question whether the sand is wind-blown, a modified dune, and so not necessarily old even in years, or the re sult of intermitting overflow of water, usually carrying a considerable amount of sand and often heavy with washings from some distant clay bank. The objections to the " eolian " theory are that pebbles and bowlders, even of considerable weight, are scattered at all elevations through the sand, and these pebbles, as a rule, do not present any evidence of exposure to eroding sands, but are smooth and glassy, or the typical water- worn pebbles of a brook or the river bed; and more sig nificant is the fact that the sands themselves are of different degrees of fineness, layer upon layer. 40 NEW JEESEY AS A COL and are nowhere clean or free from clay; and fi nally the thin layers of clay are clearly continuous over such extensive areas that in no sense can they be called segregations of that material. On the other hand, a carefully instituted comparison of the sand from the surface of the field to its junction with the gravel proper shows its identity with a deposit made by water in comparatively re cent times. No difference whatever could be de tected. The sand dune, modified by rains and flnally leveled to a plain, presents, in section, no such appearance as the sands that overlie the gravels of glacial origin. Without a scintilla of reason, however, many geologists declare that no deposit of sand can be of any geological signifl- cance if it contains traces of man not clearly intrusive. By them, the modernity of man in this region is assumed and the facts are expected to conform to ARGILLITE IMPLEMENT. (From quaternary gravels at Trenton, the assumptlou. To dlscard a thcory aud accept '21 feet beiieiith the siirfa. o.) jix-j. j_j_ ,,.,. -, a fact is too great a tax upon their time and pa tience. The presence of these artificial flakes, blades, and other forms of simple implements can only be explained by considering them as a constituent part of the containing bed, having been brought hither by the same agency that brought the sand, pebbles, and clay. When standing before a new ly made section of this implement-bearing deposit it is easy to picture the slow progress of its accu- ONY AND AS A STATE 41 mulation. The broad plain has been subjected to overflow, now of water bearing only sand, and then of muddy water; now with current strong enough to roll small pebbles from some distant point, and then periods when the sun shone on the new deposit, dried it, and the loose sand was rippled by the wind. Floods of greater volume occasionally swept across the plain and ice-in cased pebbles were dropped upon its surface, and with this building up of the plateau to a higher level there were also brought to it traces of man's handiwork. Of this there can be no doubt now. Years ago I endeavored to show from the distribu tion of rude argillite implements of specialized forms, as arrow points and small blades, trimmed flakes and scrapers, that these objects were older, as a class, than jasper and quartz implements and weapons, and that pottery was made only in the rudest way before " flint " chipping — jasper and quartz — was established. The more exhaustively this subject was followed up the proposition be came more evidently true, and to-day it is unquali fiedly confirmed by the results obtained from sys tematically digging deeply over wide areas of country, and the systematic and truly scientific gathering of quite a half a million of objects fash ioned and used by early man in this river valley. The fact that argillite continued in use until the very last does not affect this conclusion. There is 42 NEW JEESEY AS A COL no clearer evidence in paleontology that one fos- siliferous stratum ante-dates another than that the maker of argillite artifacts of specialized shapes preceded the Indian as first known to Euro peans. As the high land, now forty or more feet above the river and beyond the reach of its floods of greatest magnitude, was once continually over flowed and gradually built up by the materials the water spread upon it, it is evident that the condi tions were materially different when such things happened from what now obtains, and the whole configuration of the country to-day points to but the one conclusion: that these plateau-building floods occurred so long ago as when the river flowed at a higher level and possessed a greater transporting power than at present. This, it is true, was long after the coarse gravel and huge bowlders were transported from the hillsides of the upper valley, but it was before the river was conflned to its present channel, and more signifi cantly before what may be called the soil-making period, itself of long duration, and the time of the Indian as such. Not an argillite chip from the Jfi/,'Z^,\ * sands beneath the soil but speaks of the distant ^5^^ jN ^^y when this plateau was an almost barren plain, ^/'Ti^^Sf''''^^"^''^^ man saw it, roamed over it, and perhaps dwelt -J-^^h upon it, when but the scantiest vegetation dotted AN IXIIIAN' VESSEL. ONY AND AS A STATE 43 its surface, and only upon the hills beyond its boundary were trees and herbage. Even if we consider the agency of the streams that now are but insignificant inflowing brooks in spreading, during their freshet stages, sand over level areas, we must still go back to a time when they were streams of infinitely greater magnitude than they have been for many centuries, and be fore, too, the Indian was a skilled chipper of jas per and a potter of taste, else why the absence of these products of his skill in the deeper sands? It matters not how we look at it, whether as geologists or archaeologists, or whether it is all post-glacial, or the starting point is still so dis tant as ice-age activities, the sequence of events is unaffected. We still have paleolithicity in the gravel, argillite and the discovery of pottery syn chronous with the deposition of the gravel-cap ping sand, and, lastly, the Indian, reaching far down into historic time. THE TRENTON GRAVELS^ The Trenton gravels have furnished much dis cussion and some evidence of the existence of man in America during a paleolithic age. The Dela ware Eiver having a relation to the glaciers of the northern United States, is the only one having a valley which, although filled with glacial ice. * Contributed by Tbomafl 'Wilson. 44 NBW JERSBY AS A COL served as a conduit or trench by which the drain age was collected and, passing under the glaciers through the moraines at the Delaware Water Gap and beyond, carried the sand and gravel and other eroded material to the mouth of the river (then at Trenton). Here the detritus was projected into the still water of the bay and deposited in strata of sand and gravel as found to-day. It is the only river of theNorthem Atlantic whose condition and geologic formation can be said to resemble the Somme, the Seine, the Marne, and other rivers in France, and the Ouse, Little Ouse, the Solent, and others in England, the valleys or terraces of which have furnished paleolithic implements associated with the bones of extinct animals. The gravels thus deposited form the plateau or valley in which the City of Trenton is situated. It extends to the eastward of the present channel between two and three miles in a horseshoe shaped deposit, with a corresponding narrower and longer extension on the west side. Some misunderstanding has oc curred over the Trenton gravels, and an endeavor will here be made to simplify the matter by re ducing it to its lowest terms. The embouchure of the river was a great saucer like cavity wherein the gravels were deepest in the center, about forty feet, gradually becoming less until they approach, and finally arrive at, the edge. On the southern edge of this saucer-like ONY AND AS A STATE 45 cavity where the river became part of the bay the glacial deposits ended in a ridge of gravel, now a bluff, which swept out into deep water. Much discussion has been had, which I think is largely irrelevant to the present question, over the deposits at the edge of this bluff, the principal seat, and that which has received the greatest at tention, being what is known as the Lalor farm. In this field, near the bluff and for many yards back, is a top deposit which at its deepest place is about thirty or more inches. It is sand and clay, colored red and yellow. The contention over this stratum has been whether it was part of the glacial gravels brought down by the river and so formed part of the original glacial deposit, or had been driven up over the bluff by the prevail ing southerly winds and so formed a layer over the glacial deposits. Long discussions have taken place in the deter mination of these two questions. The latest report is to be found in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the meeting held at Detroit in 1897. The discussion turned almost wholly upon the industry indicated by the objects found in this up per stratum. My opinion, expressed at that time, was that paleolithic man was not in issue durmg the investigation of that layer. Evidence conseSffifei ing his existence in that locality must be gathered \-ni ARGILLITE IMPLEMENT. (From quaternary gravels at Treuton, ti feet beneatli the aurface.) 46 NBW JERSEY AS A COL HORNBLENII AXK, from the stratified glacial gravels which lie be neath this upper stratum. It was conceded by all the geologists who made any examination of the locus in quo that whatever might be their opinion as to the upper layer, whether it was deposited by wind and belonged to modem Indians, or depos ited by water and belonged to the glacial epoch, the various strata beneath this upper layer were glacial gravels which had been brought down by the river and deposited as they then appeared. The condition of this upper layer and the con tention which grew out of it is thus explained at length in order that it may be clearly understood that no claim is really made that it furnishes evi dence concerning the existence or non-existence of paleolithic man. The contention at Detroit was confined to the formation and character of the up per layer and the objects found therein. The ques tion concerning paleolithic man, so far as it re lates to Trenton, can only be decided by the imple ments and objects found in the glacial sand and gravel beneath the upper layer of red and yellow clay and sand. There are three sorts of evidence that have been claimed for the Ttenton gravels as testifying to the existence of paleolithic man in America: (1) the implements, principally of argillite, found in the undisturbed and stratified glacial gravels, which so greatly resemble the Chell6en imple- ont: and -\s a state ments of Europe as to produce conviction in the minds of many of the similarity of culture and in dustry of the man who made them; (2) the re mains of extinct animals in these gravels similar to those found in the like gravels of Europe; and (3) the remains of man himself. The first proposition has been argued many times, and conflicting and contrary opinions have been anno tme ed. The only possible way in which any determination could be had upon this branch of the argument is that persons who are ac quainted with the implements of Western Europe and with the stratified river gravels in which they occur should themselves see and inspect the im plements and the deposits, and from their expe rience and knowledge obtained in Europe make comparison and be able to determine the similari ties between them. MM. Albert Gaudry and Marcellin Boule. cele brated French paleontologists, who have always been interested in the relations of the ancient man to the animals of the quaternary period, visited Trenton during their visit to -America in attend ance upon the fifth Geologic International Con gress. They had visited and examined with a crit ical eye the gravels of Trenton, and reported their visit and conclusions in L'-Anthropologie. IV, No. 1 (Jan.-Feb.. 1S93\ 48 NBW JERSEY AS A COL From the geologic point of view the question appears to me still more clear. . . . We then went into a sand bank which had been exploited by and for the railroad, and there found ourselves in the presence of an alluvial formation of sand, gravel, rolled stone, and sometimes large blocks. We could easily have per suaded ourselves that we were in the valley of the Seine or the Marne as in that of the Delaware, for the lithologic elements were not different. There is the same similitude in America and in Europe in the deposits which contain the paleolithic implements as there is in the implements themselves. There can be no doubt as to the quaternary age of these deposits ; they reproduce exactly the stratigraphie dispositions of the paleolithic alluvial in the north of France and the south of England. The gravels of Trenton are intact, their beds are well defined, and they are covered with a bed of vegetable earth of which the separation is evident. The implements themselves found in these grav els by Dr. Abbott, by Professor Putnam, and by those working under them during their investiga tion of these gravels, are to be seen in the Pea body Museum of American Archaeology and Eth nology at Cambridge, Mass., where they can be compared with paleolithic implements from Europe, and the similarity of appearance will at once be manifest. Second, as to the bones of extinct quaternary animals, it has already been explained that these were rarely found in America, and such as had been found were under different conditions from those found in Europe. A fragment of a tusk (the outer end or point) of either mammoth or mastodon, two and one-half feet long and about four inches in diameter at the place of fracture. ONY AND AS A STATE 49 was found in the stratified glacial gravels at Tren ton by some students belonging to Eutgers Col lege in New Brunswick, N. J., and was carried by them to their alma mater, where it was deposited and where it is yet to be seen. It shows no human handiwork, and its only bearing on this point is that it shows that remains of these animals were present and deposited at the same time and in the same manner as were the paleolithic stone imple ments conceded to have been made by man. Third, the Trenton gravels for several years have been excavated by the Pennsylvania Eail road Company and the gravel carried away for use as ballast. During a portion of this time the Peabody Museum has kept a man on watch for any archaeological objects exposed. On December 1, 1899, this guardian, Ernest Volk, visiting the excavation, saw a bone in the gravels at a depth of seven feet beneath the surface and four feet into the stratified glacial gravels. After photographing it in place and making all neces sary preliminary examinations, he extracted it from its bed and reported it with all information to Professor Putnam. It was submitted to the anatomists for examination, who reported it part of a human femur. This report has not been pub lished, awaiting the result of investigations and analysis, but the conclusion as to the human char acter of the bone seems well established. FRAGMKNT OK MAMIVIOTH OR MASTODON TUSK. 50 NBW JEESEY AS A COLONY Implements have been found generally through out the United States which, in form, style, size, appearance, mode of manufacture, and probable use, have great resemblance to the paleolithic im plements of Europe. This question was argued with considerable elaboration and illustration be fore the Congr^s International des Am^ricanistes, Paris, 1890 (published in the Compte- Eendu de la Huitieme Session). It pointed out the similarity between these American and the European paleo lithic implements, and declared, because of this similarity, it might be assumed at least as a work ing hypothesis that they belonged to the same stage of culture. ARGILLITE IMl'LEMENT. (From quaternary t,'r:.velp at Trenton. tlS feet beiieatli the surface Side and edge views.) CHAPTER II Indians of New Jbksky I OST in the twilight of race-myth and of world-wide superstition, which . may forever hide the beginnings of „^^ the human race, the origin of the North American Indian remains an attractive mystery. The one great riddle of the ethnological sphynx has been held close; the very diversity of answers being proof rather of the in genuity of the processes of human reasoning than of any conclusive line of argument and satisfac tory deduction. It was the gold-seeking Spanish adventurer, bringing to the New World a strange admixture of religious fanaticism, chivalry, commercialism, and cruelty, who attributed to the Indian an ori' gin in the home of that of the Father of Lies.^ " From Hell they came," he said, " and they ^^ devils incarnate guarding the hidden treasures the earth," a view which tinctured much of the thought of the English colonists and found its ex pression in certain forms of later popular litera ture. Not that this was the usual standpoint of the missionaries, yet even such a man as the saint ly Brainerd as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, in New Jersey, cried aloud that the red- men would not hear the call of grace, and be lieved them to be children of evil. Sweeping aside such an hypothesis, it was early contended that the Indian was a descendant of the 54 NEW JEESEY AS A COL Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. For this view, which was largely theological, and had color of scien tific possibility, there were many advocates. It pleased the theologians of the colonies, whose knowledge of anthropology was radically less than their piety, to consider the redmen as lost or, at least, wandering sheep. There was something in the nature of a vast tribal romance, in the attempt to show, by comparisons of lan guage, customs, and personal appearance, that the Indian and the Hebrew had a common start ing point. Samuel Smith, the historian of the colony of New Jersey, was captivated by the possibilities of such a proposition, while the pa triotic Elias Boudinot, marshalling previous ar guments, in his " Star in the West," if he does not convince modern investigators, furnishes food for the curious in his attempt to settle the ques tion. Later, bolder spirits, by ingenious if not logical arguments, traced the redmen to such sources as Wales, China, Greece, and Eome. Then came Haeckel, with the sunken continent of Lemuria, and Donnelly, with his Atlantean em pire, each contending that the Indian came by way of the Pacific or the Atlantic to North America. But one scientific position remained, and that was occupied by Brinton, by Dorman, by Baldwin, by Abbott, and by Eeville, who held that American culture was home-bred — that it was wholly in- ONY AND AS A STATE ,55 digenous — a view constantly gaining adherents. This view, by the way, does not necessitate the origin of man on the American continent, for prior to race differentiation he might readily have reached its shores. Certainly his language was developed here, and this significant fact points to the arrival of an almost speechless man to our shores, when climate and land configuration were different from what they now are. From a mass of contradictory testimony and conclusions one fact remains undisputed. The ar rival of the Dutch on the banks of the Hudson and the Swedes on the Delaware brought into histor ical prominence a nation of the great Algonkin family, whose branches reached from the frozen shores of Hudson Bay to the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, and who occupied most of the territory of the present United States east of the Eocky Mountains. This nation, whose limitations were broadly marked by the boundaries of the State of New Jersey, was known as the Delaware or Lenni- Lenape, the latter name being variously spelled, but which has been translated " Our Men " or the " Original " or " Pure " Indian. The Lenni- Lenap6, moved by human wants and needs, lived along the river valleys, being more numerous in the southem and central than in the northern parts of New Jersey. The total number in the INDIAN CEREMONIAL STOXE. 56 NEW JEESEY AS A COL entire State probably never exceeded one thou sand. From divergent sources, stripped of prejudice, favorable or adverse, contemporary descriptions indicate that the Lenni-Lenap6 were of moderate stature, properly shaped, dark-eyed, black-haired, wearing the too familiar scalp-lock, their bodies usually annointed with animal oils or stained, symbolically, with vegetable or mineral dyes. Among the men there were many who approached physical perfection, the women, in youth, being statuesque rather than beautiful. Once a maid became a matron, say at the age of fifteen, hard work, exposure, and insufficient food soon de stroyed her attractiveness. At best the savage type manifested itself, and few were the white men who took Indian girls to wife. The Lenni-Lenap6 lived in villages, but the wig wam sites were frequently changed, the inhabit ants seeking new hunting and fishing grounds. Differing from the Indians of Central New York, ."iS^erwere no community houses. Bach Lenni- :Prenap^ family occupied its own home. The wig wams, being variously constructed, bore but little -, resemblance to the elaborate and often artistically ^conceived structures so familiar in conventional y historical paintings. William Penn, writing from Philadelphia in 1683, speaks of the houses of the Indians as being fashioned like English barns, and ONY AND AS A STATE 57 made of mats or tree bark. Pastorius, in his de scription of Pennsylvania, written about the time of Penn's letter, says that young trees were bent to a common center, and a shelter formed by inter laced branches which were covered with bark. Other writers allude to the circular wattled hut, thatched and lined with grasses or with leaves of the native maize. But the interior of these houses were usually in describably dirty. Little or no attention was paid to the most elementary laws of sanitation. The refuse of cooking, the litter of domesticated animals, waste of all kinds lay upon the dirt floor or without the wigwam entrance. A column of smoke from a smudge fire sought any exit. Yet in the midst of squalor the Lenni-Lenap^ exer cised that one trait which gained for him the praise of Europeans — an unselfish hospitality. It was the charity that covered the multitude of his sins. Whatever the Lenni-Lenap^ may have been, or to what depths of degradation he may have plunged after association with dominant white races, his open-handedness never forsook him. To the last day in New Jersey the mat, the seat of honor in the center of the wigwam, was reserved for the welcomed guest. His it was to partake of the ach-poan or boiled crushed maize, or the boiled \ ' , corn and beans, later known to the Europeans as *! " succotash," of roasted nuts, or of the haK^-cooked lA ?13*!^ 58 NEW JERSBY AS A COL flesh of bear, deer, opossum, or other smaller ani mals. Before the traveller were placed a variety of herbs, roots, and berries, or, if upon the " shore," there were wild fowl, crabs, oysters, and clams, the latter either fresh or dried. The sole stimulant of the Lenni-Lenap6, until the arrival of the Europeans, was tobacco. Vinous, malt, and spirituous liquors were unknown until intro duced by the whites. Although in a transition period between the hunter and the agricultural stages of development, the Lenni-Lenap6 had made progress in the use ful as well as in the ornamental arts. From the animals they secured hides which they success fully tanned and adorned with emblems and ideo graphic representations of tribal history. Large bones were used to scratch the earth's surface preparatory to planting crops; small bones were employed as needles, fish hooks, and as ornaments. Various stones, unfashioned or fashioned, became knives, chisels, net sinkers, pestles, drills, mor tars, fish spears, arrowheads, and other imple ments necessary in a community in constant war fare against nature and in occasional contest against other tribes. Flint, quartz, granite, slate, chard, and soap-stone were employed. Clays in the rough or mixed with mica were used in the making of bowls, jars, dishes, both domestic and ceremonial. This pottery was sun-baked and ONY AND AS A STATE 59 marked, conventionally, by hand. " Green " clay, when fashioned, was sometimes wrapped in a cover of grass or coarse cloth that the mark of the fibre should be pressed into the outer surface of the object as well as to hold the clay flrm. The Lenni-Lenap^ had the vanity of dress char acteristic of uncivilized man. Beads of wampum, from the white and black portions of shells, not ably the clam, were worn upon the arms and legs. With these were displayed pieces of native cop per brought from the hills of Essex or the valley of the Raritan, uncut semi-precious gems from the mountains of Sussex County, rose quartz, crys tals, and bits of micaceous schist. In their hair were stuck bright colored feathers, and over their bodies were thrown skins and dyed cloth. The family relation among the Lenni-Lenap6 gave much offense to the early missionaries. A form of marriage was recognized, with the usual primitive customs of bridal gifts and wedding feasts. But upon the testimony of such observers as Haskill and Heckewelder it may be said that these " marriages " were usually based upon con venience or inclination, and, consequently, were seldom lasting. Separations were naturally com mon, the children of such unions becoming the property of the mother. Polygamy was permitted, but owing to the trouble and annoyance of a plurality of women was but little practiced. Polislted Fl'-.sher. Lininr KiiW INDIAN SPECIMENS. 60 NEW JERSBY AS A COL In their education the boys were trained in all physical exercises, with ultra-Spartan severity. This process was discontinued when the lad reached the age of sixteen or eighteen, when, with due ceremonies, he was " initiated " into the tribe. Thence his life became most strenuous when at the chase or at war; of contemplation and serious ness when in council; or of laughter, song, and gambling when resting in his wigwam. For the women it was a miserable existence of toil, plant ing and gathering crops, and carrying burdens, to the end, says an observing historian, that wives might be true servants of their husbands. The administration of justice among the Lenni- Lenap6 was as simple as it was effective. Through out their system — if such it may be called — there was the trail of blood and of retaliation. The principle underlying the lex talionis was supreme. The thief was required to restore stolen property, and the relatives of a murdered man slew the murderer. Yet, as in some modern legislation, there was also the idea of pecuniary compensation for an injury, and a sufficiency of personal prop erty surrendered to the wronged individual satis fied the ends of savage justice. As private owner ship of property was unknown, the refinements and technicalities of European laws were no part of tribal regulations. The close relationship between a religious cult ONY AND AS A STATE 61 and the practice of the healing art of any primi tive people brings into prominence the one great figure of Indian life — the so-called " medicine man." Both priest and physician, both sorcerer and compounder of herbs, both " he who talks with spirits " and surgeon, the " medicine man " of the Lenni-Lenap^ embraced in himself elements of charlatanism, of mysticism, of native shrewd ness and debased superstition, of careful obser vation of the properties of roots and herbs, a of the principles of elementary surgery. At once revered and hated, he was the spectacular figure when, in the wigwam of sickness or death, he exorcised evil spirits by incantations, or at the council of war read signs in the clouds, in the pass ing wind, or upon the surface of the stream. His it was to drive away death and to bring peace to the tribe, and to prepare the warrior's journey adown the shining path of the Milky Way that led to the blessed land beyond. As to a belief in a future state, it is beyond ques tion that the Lenni-Lenap^ had a concept of life after death with a somewhat mercantile system of rewards and punishments. It is quite unneces sary to say that this after-death existence was in an indefinite region where physical wants and needs were immediately gratified. It was with difficulty that the Indian grasped the theological idea of Heaven, or in fact any essential element of 62 NEW JEESEY AS A OOL the Christian religion. To them a Christ was well nigh impossible, a redemption of the human race unnecessary. Lacking the mental capacity to un derstand so altruistic a faith, they were the more confused by the contentions of religious associa tions and the apparent complicated machinery necessary to sustain them. For this reason, possi bly, the Society of Friends, with their lack of out ward formalism in establishing and maintaining meeting houses, and the evident spirit of justice in their dealings with the Indians, made more permanent progress with the Lenni-Lenap^ than other denominations. But even such progress was largely of a negative character and lacked true permanency. It is known that the Indian venerated fire and light. Isolated instances of orientation, such as interments in certain burial mounds and in the construction of their wigwams, seem to prove the assertion. There was a recognition of a supreme spirit, a Manito or mysterious influence, in gen eral, for good or evil, manifesting itself through a thousand instrumentalities. In government both peace and war chiefs ruled the councils of the Lenni-Lenap^, in which the " initiated " men as well as women of ability took part. The nation, as such, was divided by the older writers into three sub-tribes or gentes, a designation of which the absolute historical cor- INDIAN TOTEMIC SIGNATURES. ONY AND AS A STATE 63 rectness has yet to be proved. In the upper val ley of the Delaware were the " Minsi," the Moun taineers, whose totem was the wolf. These were the real warriors of the Lenni-Lenap6, and were the most adverse to missionary influence. Further south were the " Unami," People down the River, whose totem, the tortoise, suggested that as it was the progenitor of mankind and bore the world upon its back, so were they entitled to lead in governmental affairs. In the region from the Rancocas to Cape May were the " Unalachtigo," People who live near the Ocean. Skilled in flsh ing, it was they who spoke with softness the ag glutinative language of the Lenni-Lenap^; it was they who were gentler than the more northern Minsi, and who, from their seldom fighting, gained for the Lenni-Lenap6 the contemptuous phrase "Women," which the Six Nations of New York hurled in the teeth of the New Jersey Indian. In their relation to the white settlers the In dians occupied an uncertain position. Their legal status was determined, usually, at the whim of the colonial Legislature — at one time treated as equals, at another as menials. Generally speak ing, the Dutch and Swedes were kindly disposed toward the redmen, although there was constantly the cloud of racial jealousy overshadowing all(j^ transactions. The missionary efforts of the Hol landers and Scandinavians bore little fruit. To -^- 64 NBW JERSEY AS A COL the Dutch, Indian trade in peltries and furs was of such importance that evangelization was an incident in their association with the Lenni- Lenap^. The Swedes were weak upon the banks of the Delaware, and missionary efforts were di rected toward saving the colonists rather than caring for the spiritual welfare of the savages. Whatever may have been the outcome of efforts to Christianize the Indian on the part of the Eng lish, the declarations of good intent under the early proprietary government had the ring of hon esty of purpose. In the instructions sent to Gov ernor Philip Carteret, in 1664, His Excellency was advised to " treat them with all Humanity and Kindness and not in any wise greive or oppress them; but endeavoring, by Christian Carriage, to manifest Piety, Justice, and Charity and in your Conversation with them, the manifestation where of will prove Beneficial to the Planters and like wise advantageous to the Propagation of the Gos pel." In 1702, upon the surrender of the proprietary government to the crown. Governor Cornbury was instructed to secure the passage of a, law estab lishing the death penalty for those who wilfully killed Indians or negroes, and proper punishment dealt out to those who maimed or abused them. In conjunction with the Legislature the governor was directed to inquire as to the best method of ONY AIJD AS A STATE 65 converting negroes and Indians, and to use his en deavors to encourage the Indians to trade with England, a smug soul saving policy, with a com mercial motive quite characteristic of the age. This period from 1664 to 1702, a quarter of a cen tury of colonization, embraces the era when the intercourse between the Europeans and the In dians was most marked. It was the time of set tlement when the " Indian problem " had not been solved, when men still thought the South Sea lay just beyond the Alleghenies, and when fancy peo pled unknown territory to the west with untold numbers of warlike savages. Mutual fear and distrust filled the minds of the colonists. The Lenni-Lenap^ and whites each cried " Peace," and called one another " Friend " and "Brother"; there was no real peace, nor friendship, nor fraternal feeling. Repressive leg islation, having as its mainspring of action an undisguised suspicion, together wth slavery based upon economic and police considerations, re strained the personal liberty of the Indian. Fortunately, in New Jersey, the situation never became acute, except a sporadic contest between the Dutch and Indians before the English con quest, and the Indian massacres in Sussex County during the French and Indian War. Nevertheless no real sympathy existed between the dominant and inferior peoples. Throughout the colonial 4^^ .\ I'.-iLI.SADED V'TLL.\G^.. 66 NEW JERSEY AS A COL history of the State there were few marriages of white men and Indian women, and those con tracted were looked upon in the light of mis cegenations. For this reason unions between negroes and Indians were common — so frequent, indeed, as to have left permanent impress upon many families of negroes of the present day. The governmental history of New Jersey in the matter of clearing land titles from all traces of Indian ownership is creditable. Following the precedents of the Dutch and Swedes, the proprie tors of New Jersey used every method to extin guish native title. In Berkeley's and Carteret's Directions dated December 7, 1672, it was directed that the governor and council purchase all In dian lands in the name of the proprietors. Sub sequent purchasers were directed to reimburse the proprietors and to pay necessary charges. After the establishment of East Jersey's government an act was passed, in 1682, providing that no one should purchase Indian land without a warrant from the governor or his deputy. In West Jersey, in the first chapter of that re markable document, the " Concessions and Agree ments," it was directed in 1676 that before the lands were surveyed the commissioners were to meet the natives and agree upon the price of land. A public register was also to be kept, while later legislation declared that titles founded on pur- FROM SMITH'8 ''GENERAL HISTORY. ONY AND AS A STATE 67 chases not in accordance with this method were null and void. Offenders were fined and declared to be enemies of the province. Again in 1703 similar provisions were enacted, and unlicensed or unwarranted vendees of Indian land were directed to secure confirmation of title. Resultant from such regulations nearly if not all the Indian title to New Jersey was extin guished before the Revolution. The deeds given by the Indians were carelessly drawn as to de scriptions and boundaries, and were signed by chiefs who were content with insignificant and in sufficient consideration, yet there appears a gener al desire to secure valid title. In a few cases Indian squaws signed, with their husbands, as squaw sachems — an artificial proceeding when it is remembered that none of the Lenni-Lenap^, when the Europeans came to New Jersey, had the slightest conception of the individual ownership of property, and that the whole plan of extin guishment of Indian title was transported bodily from European administrative methods. The social relation of the Indian and the white settlers presents a somewhat complex problem. Enslaved by both Swedes and Dutch, the English also fastened the shackles of bondage upon the na tives. At the same time, after the English con quest of 1664, the sachemic and tribal customs of the Lenni-Lenap^ were recognized by law. Both BOWS AND 68 NEW JERSEY AS A COL in East and West Jersey Indian treaty councils were held, yet the same Legislatures that sent representatives to confer with Indian tribes recog nized slavery and provided laws to regulate In dians in bondage. This was the inconsistency arising from conditions surrounding men in a new state of society, who, staking their all in a dis tant land, mingled diplomacy with physical force and recognition of natural rights with fear of a native population. At no time was the Indian incorporated into the whites' political system. He was regarded as be longing to a different nation — the system which has been followed by the United States. The Fundamental Laws of West Jersey recog nized, however, a mixed jury of Indians and white men, who were empowered to try cases where white men injured Indians, and further pro vided that if Indians wronged the inhabitants the authorities were directed to notify the sachems according to law and equity. ^r ^^t was in the matter of economic relations that the frue state of the relationship between the In- _dian and the whites becomes apparent. The ex- --f^ tinguishment of land titles for trifling considera te tions, the earnest pleas that the governors have tender consideration for the spiritual welfare of ,, the redman, and the high-sounding phrases of \- "" law and equity " were inexpensive methods of / \ i\ ONY AND AS A STATE 69 satisfying colonial consciences. But in the mat ter of industrial life the situation presented new phases. A mere glance at contemporary legisla tion shows that, in addition to slavery, a system atic attempt was made to crush out industrial life among the Indians. In 1668 the Legislature of East Jersey provided that no person should buy from the Lenni-Lenap^ any swine, neat cattle, or horses' skins or flesh, dead or alive, under a pen alty of £10. In 1679 all persons from without the province were prohibited from treating or trading with the Indians under a severe penalty. In West Jersey there was no restrictive legislation, yet there was little effort to stimulate industrial prog ress among the Indians, who were largely in a con dition of servitude. Weak in numbers, the object of suspicion and hatred, forced to associate with slaves if not them selves in bondage, unable to comprehend the com plexities of European civilization, the Indians fell an easy prey to the excessive use of alcoholic stimulants. This, in connection with smallpox and other loathsome diseases, decimated the In dian population of New Jersey. The sale of liquor became a crying evil in both East and West Jer sey. Fines and lashings were imposed upon of fenders in a long series of acts passed by the Leg islatures of both provinces, but to no avail. Idle ness followed excessive drinking, and crime sue- 70 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL ceeded debauchery. The harvest was gathered between 1700 and 1750, when the records of the New Jersey Supreme Court contain many indict ments for larceny, arson, rape, and murder com mitted by Indians and negroes having Indian blood in their veins. Missionaries led by Brainerd, philanthropists moved by the appeals of Woolman, urged reform, but to no permanent end. This condition of af fairs, frequently discussed in meetings of Assem bly and in Council, interest being stimulated by the terror caused by the massacres in Pennsyl vania during the French and Indian War, led to a flnal disposition of the matter. As an act of charity and as a matter of protec tion, the first Indian reservation ever established, as, such, within the limits of the United States, was located, in 1758, in Edgepelick or Brotherton, a town now known as Indian Mills. There, amid the " Pines " of Burlington County, the Indians of New Jersey, who largely resided south of the Raritan, were settled upon three thousand acres of land, where the descendants of the two hundred beneficiaries remained until 1802. Thence the Lenni-Lenap(5 removed to New York State, join ing the Mohegans, later to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and ultimately to Indian Territory. The final act in the drama was played in 1832, when upon the solicitation of the Indians the Legislature of ONY AND AS A STATE 71 the State of New Jersey appropriated two thou sand dollars to extinguish all the right, title, and interest which the Lenni-Lenap6 held or might have held against the colony or State. Except in the retention of place names, cor rupted by long usage, a varying and uncertain strain of blood in a few families, half forgotten village sites and graves, a few musty deeds, and scattered collections of stone, bone, and shell- work, no trace of the Lenni-Lenap6 remains in New Jersey. The Indian of New Jersey left but little impress upon State life, not sufficient, in deed, to create in the mind of the student or reader a more than sentimental interest, yet an interest which is apparently perennial, and which entitles the Lenni-Lenap6 to a permanent place in State history. A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. CHAPTER III The Stkaxce 8t<>ry of New Albion ^ MONG the romances of colonial his- / ^k tory stands the untimely but none ^"¦¦^k the less interesting attempt of a A _^^ brave adventurer in his effort to' plant a colony in New Jersey and adjacent territory. In 1632 there lived in Ireland a Roman Catholic member of an ancient Saxon family, Sir Edmund Plowden, who, in company with eight associates, petitioned King Charles I for a grant of land, " Manitie or Long Isle," and " thirty miles square of the coast next adjoining, to be erected into a County Palatine called Syon," to be held of the King without appeal or subjection to the govemor or company of Vir ginia. This prayer not receiving royal approval, it was soon renewed, the later petition designating Long Island as " Isle Plowden " and the county palatine " New Albion," " with forty leagues square of the adjoining continent," Plowden and his asso ciates agreeing to " settle five hundred inhabit ants for the planting and civilizing thereof." Upon this prayer a patent was granted, appoint ing Sir Edmund Plowden as first governor over a tract of land embracing New Jersey, Delawan Maryland, and Pennsylvania as well as Long land. This was in the face of the Baltimore of Maryland, bestowed two years previously! under a charter of similar import. Charlea I, b. Nov. 19, 1600: aacended the throne March 37, 1625, succeeding his father, .fameB I; eiecuted Jau 3K, 1649. CHARLES I. 76 NBW JERSBY AS A COL Sudden changes came among the patentees. In 1634, owing to deaths and abandonment of claims, the title of certain of the survivors vested in Francis, George, and Thomas Plowden, sons of Sir Edmund. A lease under the charter was im mediately made. Nearly ten thousand acres at Watsessett, presumably near Salem City, were thus transferred to Sir Thomas Danby, with " full liberty and jurisdiction of a court baron and court leet " for the " Town and Manor of Danby Fort," with the provision that one hundred resident planters be settled, excluding those who did not believe or profess the " three Christian Creeds, commonly called the Apostolical, Athanasian, and Nicene." In the meantime there had sailed from Fal mouth, England, in the early summer of 1634, one Captain Thomas Yong and his nephew and lieu tenant, Robert Evelin, who held commission to discover parts of America not " actually in the S^V^^^ Sea,"' by which tW mythicaXChpa paMa^^ight be found. To this end, duigng the month of Angur»^!Tong and Evelin explored the Delaware River, >Which they named Charles, but were stopped #1 the rocks at Trenton Palls. Evelin went doW^ the river and later explored the coa,St from Cape May ONY AND AS A STATE 77 to Manhattan Island, making a further abortive attempt to pass the rocks. Until 1641 the two adventurers remained in the valley of the Dela ware, where from time to time wonderful stories of the beauty and fertility of New Jersey were sent to England. According to the late Gregory B. Keen, the modern historiographer of this strange expedi tion, the Barl Palatine personally came to his vast domain, and in 1642 sailed up the Delaware River. It is said that the officers of the New Haven colo nists at Salem swore obedience to him as governor. Misfortune soon fell upon Plowden. Spending much of his time in Virginia, he apparently lost his estate as well as the people who came with him. In 1643, through treachery of a crew of a barque in which he was a passenger, he was ma rooned on Smith's Island, in company with two young retainers. They were later rescued by an English sloop. By a strange coincidence both the barque and the sloop appeared in Delaware Bay and fell under the custody of Governor John Printz, of New Sweden, who returned the barque to the Lord Palatine and permitted the sloop to go her way. In spite of free commissions to trade in the Dela ware, issued by Plowden, the Swedish authorities firmly refused to permit any English ships free passage through the Delaware. Being thus 78 NEW JERSEY AS A COL thwarted by Printz, Plowden went to New York, and to Kieft and Stuyvesant presented his claim of title to lands west of the Hudson River. By way of Boston, in 1648, Plowden returned to England. The years 1648-49 were apparently weighty with matters of import to the Barl Palatine, of New Albion. In December, 1648, there appeared Beauchamp Plantagenet's " A Description of the Province of New Albion. And a Direction for Ad venturers with small stock to get two for one and good land freely: And for Gentlemen and all Servants, Labourers and Artificers to live plenti fully," dedicated " To the Right Honorable and mighty Lord Edmund, by Divine Providence, Lord Proprietor, Earl Palatine, Governour and Cap tain GeneraU of the Province of New Albion," and to the Eight Honorable the Lord Vicount Monson of Castlemaine, the Lord Sherard, Baron of Lei- trim, and " to all other the Vicounts, Barons, Baronets, Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, Ad venturers, and Planters of the hopefull Company of New Albion, in all 44 undertakers and Sub scribers, bound by Indenture to bring and set tle 3000 able trained men in our said severall Plantations in the said Province." With all its hopefulness and grandiloquent ab surdities the " Description " contains what was de signed to be the " Order Medall and Eiban of the Albion Knights of the Conversion of 23 Kings, ONY AND AS A STATE 79 their support." The medal, according to Wind sor and Miekle, bears upon its face a coro- neted effigy of Sir Edmund Plowden, surrounded by the legend " Edmundus. Comes. Palatinus. et Guber. N. Albion." Upon the reverse two coats of arms are impaled. The dexter displays those of New Albion, an open Gospel, surmounted by a hand dexter, issuing from the parti line grasping a sword erect, surmounted by a crown. The sinis ter are those of Plowden, a fesse dancett^e, with two fleurs de lis on the upper points. The support ers are two bucks rampant gorged with crowns — the whole surmounted by the coronet of the Earl Palatine, encircled with the motto : " Sic Suos Virtus Beat." The order consists of this achieve ment encircled by twenty-two heads, couped and crowned, held up by a crowned savage kneeling. This motto surrounds the legend : " Docebo iniquos bias tuas et impii ad te convertentur." The institution of such heraldic devices was in accord with the spirit of the age, but even the romanticism of the " Order Medall and Eiban of the Albion Knights " was scarcely exceeded by a frame of government devised for the few adven turers. A lord " head governor," a deputy gov ernor, " Secretary of Estate," twelve members of Council, of the latter all or flve to be a court of chancery, were suggested. In addition there were to be selected thirty members of a lower house. MEDAL OK THE ALBION KNIGHTB. 80 NEW JEESEY AS A OOL chosen " at a free election and day prefixed." The consent of the lord head governor and up per and lower houses was required to all legisla tion. Eliminating the somewhat quixotic char acter of this plan, the " Description " breathes the spirit of religious toleration in the sentence : " For this argument or perswasion of Religion Ceremo nies or Church-Discipline should be acted in mildnesse, love, and charity and gentle language, not to disturb the peace or quietness of the In habitants but therein to obey the Civill Magis trate." It is in its portrayal of the advantages of New Jersey as a home for emigrants that the " Descrip tion " becomes vivid and intense. New Albion was likened unto Lombardy, with " a rich fat soil, plain and having 34 rivers on the main land, 17 great Isles, and partaketh of the healthiest aire and most excellent commodities of Europe." All kinds of woods were to be found in profusion, fish, fowl, corn, " silkgras," salt, good mines, and dyers' ware, " 5 sorts of deer, buffes and huge elks to plow and work, all bringing 3 young at once." In the uplands were " hogges and turkeys 500 in a flock, and having near the colony of Manteses 400.000 acres of plain mead land and meer levell to be flowed and fludded by that river for corn, rice, rapes, flax and hemp." Master Evelin, in his letter to " Madam " Plow- ONY AND AS A STATE 81 den, extols the fertility of this new-found land. " I saw there," says the entertaining, if not over careful, chronicler, " an inflnite quantity of bus tards, swans, geese and fowl," with turkeys, one of which weighed forty-six pounds. Whales and grampus swim the seas, while on the land are " cedars, cypresse, sassafras, * ? * pine ap ples, and the dainty parsemenas." Throughout New Albion were seats of Indian kings, that near Trenton being Kildorpy, " neer 200 miles up from the ocean, it hath clear flelds to plant and sow and neer it is sweet large meads of clover or hony- suckle * * * A ship of 140 tuns may come up to these fals which is the best seat for health, and a trading house to be built on the rocks and ten leagues higher up are lead mines in stony hills." Even more curious is the description of Mount Plowden, " the seat of the Rariton King, ? • • twenty miles from Sandhay sea and ninety from the ocean, next to Amara hill, the retired para dise of the children of the Ethiopian Emperour, a wonder, for it is a square rock, two miles com- passe, 150 foot high, a wall like precipice, a strait entrance easily made invincible, where he keeps two hundred for his guard, and under it is a flat valley all ready to plant and sow." In the " Description " are mentioned certain native tribes, the locations whereof are but ill de fined, and the nomenclature probably fanciful. 82 NEW JERSEY AS A COL RELICS OF THE PALATINES. Thus between Cape May and Trenton, along Dela ware Bay and River, were the Kechemeches above Cape May Point, the Manteses, who were prob ably in Salem County, the Sikonesses, Asomoches, Eriwonecks, Ramcocks, Axions, and Mosilians. In spite of the heroic efforts made to attract set tlers by means of such enticing literature emigra tion steadily refused to be led to the Promised Land of New Albion. Preparations were made to send about one hundred and fifty individuals to the Delaware Valley in 1650, but no proof exists that the adventurers ever reached America, much less sailed from England. The causes of the failure of the expedition can not be positively asserted. Every attempt to base the government of an American colony upon insti tutions whose outward forms were chivalric failed, but the probable reason for lack of success may be found in the political excitements of the day, and that Maryland already offered an asylum for Ro man Catholics. Furthermore, Sir Edmund had domestic difficulties. His eldest son, Francis, in the will of the Barl Palatine, is accused of " sin ister and undue practices," he having " damnified and injured " his father " these eighteene yeares." The wife of Sir Edmund is spoken of as a " muta ble woman," " perverted " by Francis. To the second son and his eldest male heir, Thomas, was given the " planting, fortifying, peopling, and ONY AND AS A STATE 83 stocking" of New Albion, with special direction that under his care and custody schools and churches be built, and that an effort be made to convert the Indian to Christianity. Sir Edmund died in 1659 and the son Thomas in 1698, his heir being Francis Plowden. In the meantime, according to the will of Thomas, it ap pears that Andrew Wall, his son-in-law, of Lud- shott, England, had wrongfully detained the pat ent during the space of several years. Even before the death of Sir Edmund the title of New Albion became hazy. In 1654, according to Lindstrom, Commandant Lloyd, of Virginia, urged the validity of the Plowden title in a con versation had with the Swedes concerning the jurisdiction of the Delaware River. In 1659 Philip Calvert, of Maryland, stated that Plowden never had title from the King, but had obtained his patent from the viceroy of Ireland, and it was consequently of no value. It is further claimed that Thomas and George Plowden, traditional grandsons of the Barl Pala tine, came to Maryland, where they resided in 1684, for the purpose of asserting claims to New Albion. From this date until the outbreak of the American Revolution little was heard of the Plow den claim. Interest was revived when it was known that a certain Charles Varlo, an English man, had purchased one-third part of the charter. 84 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY In 1784 Varlo with his family came to America, where, as he says, he was " invested with the proper power as Governor to the Province, * * * not doubting the enjoyment of his prop erty." He travelled through Long Island, New Jer sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, where he distributed a pamphlet giving documentary evidence of his claim to title, as well as the con ditions for letting or selling farms of eight hundred to four thousand acres each in Long Island. Ac cording to this pamphlet Varlo claimed from one hundred and twenty miles westward of Cape May to a certain rivulet there arising from a spring of Lord Baltimore's in Maryland, thence south (north?) by a right line 120 miles, thence east by a right line 120 miles to the Eiver and Point of Eeacher Cod, and descends to a Savannah or Meadow, " turning and in cluding the Top of Sandy Hook," thence to Cape May by the eastern shore of New Jersey. To further substantiate this claim Varlo issued, in 1785, " A Caution to the Good People of New Al bion alias, corruptly called, at present. The Jer seys," warning them against contracting for or buying any land in the province. Failing to ob tain redress by a suit in chancery, Varlo retumed to England, and with his departure from America the contentions of the Plowdens or of Varlo, and all others claiming under them, vanish forever. CHAPTEE IV New Sweden T HE advent of Sweden in the valley of the Delaware was due to three causes: jealousy of the growth of Holland as a commercial world- power, desire to establish colonies as a manifestation of Swedish nationalization un der the rule of Gustavus Adolphus, and the shrewdness of Willem Usselinx, merchant, of Ant werp and founder of the Dutch West India Com pany. In this movement colonization for the purpose of securing religious freedom played a dis tinctively subsidiary part. In its incipiency the effort of Sweden to secure a foothold in the New World took the form of a commercial company. Its animating spirit was Usselinx, who, having disagreed in a matter of salary with his patrons in Holland, offered his services as colonizer to the Swedish crown. Stimu lated by the prompt approval of Gustavus Adol phus, who, in 1624, issued a manifest creating a general commercial society, the plan to e:s[fe3^^e sphere of Swedish influence caught the ravoi' of the people. The Australian Company, ti|adinj;^rfiL Africa, Asia, and America, appeared as 9r-s4H«it — ^ ant for subscriptions, and, having receiv eral charter, was heartily supported by -coja^ty, the nobility, the army, the church, muni( i^l cers, and the commonalty. It was the united Sweden calling for a share in the 88 NEW JEESEY AS A COL the Indies, of China, of the Gold Coast, and of the far North, with the wide world, but half explored, from which to choose. Under such favorable au spices the Australian Company commenced a ca reer somewhat romantic and ultimately ill- starred. To further aid the project, the Ship Company, a corporation controlled by Swedish cities, was merged, in 1630, into the Australian Company, which gave to Sweden's cause of colonization and trade sixteen ships. The voyages of these vessels were generally disastrous, which, coupled with Sweden's wars on the continent and the death of Gustavus Adolphus on the battlefleld of Lutzen, cast a shadow upon the enterprise, so auspiciously inaugurated. But temporary embarrassment seemed to lend additional fire to the persistency of Usselinx. Shifting the base of operations from Sweden to the continent, unavailing appeals were made to men of wealth in Germany, France, Hanse Towns, States General, and even England. Failure to secure the support of these govern ments gave a wide latitude for the injection of distinctively personal elements into the future his tory of the Australian, or South, Company. There appear as actively interested in the project in 1635 the Swedish Chancellor, Oxenstjerna; Samuel Blommsert, of the Dutch West India Company, who, in 1630, had secured a patronship, Swaanen- Cih/Z^QiMj^^ iM/X. ONY AND AS A STATE 89 dale, at Cape May; Peter Spiring, a confidential representative; and Peter Minuit, director-general of New Netherland from 1626 to 1632, the latter, like Usselinx, a disgruntled employee of the Hol landers. After a period of delay this Swedish- Dutch company, a distinctively commercial enter prise, sent out its first venture to America, in De cember, 1637. It was not later than March, 1638, that Peter Minuit, with the man-of-war " Kalmar Nyckel " and the sloop " Gripen," entered Zuydt Eiviere — the Delaware. Dr. Gregory B. Keen, in Wind sor's " Narrative and Critical History of Amer ica," quoting from the Swedish historian, Cam panius, says that the founders of New Sweden landed at Murderkill Creek in the southern part of the State of Delaware. From the In dians the Swedes purchased, in 1638, all the land lying between Bombay Hook and the Schuylkill, no western limits being assigned. At Wilmington Minuit immediately built Fort Christina. He sent the " Gripen " to Jamestown, which led the Virginians to protest to the Eng lish crown that the Swedes were intruders. The " Gripen " then sailed up the river as far as Fort Nassau, a Dutch post at the mouth of Big Timber Creek, where the vessel was challenged and the actions of Minuit reported to the a.uthoritjQs New Netherland and in Holland. Careless or m^'iuT"" FORT CHRISTINA ,\ND VICINITY. 90 NEW JEESEY AS A COL different as to the claims of both nations, Minuit garrisoned and equipped his fort and accompanied the " Kalmar Nyckel " and the " Gripen " to the West Indies, where he lost his life in a storm. The vessels eventually returned to Sweden, in 1639, laden with tobacco and furs. Again, in 1640, the " Kalmar Nyckel " voyaged to the New World under a Dutch crew, in that, in spite of the efforts of Queen Christina, few Swedes would either go as men before the mast or as colonists. Even the second governor of New Sweden was probably a Hollander. In 1640 the northern boundary of New Sweden, as the colony was now generally called, was ex tended, by purchase from the Indians, to a point opposite Trenton, and thence, indefinitely, due west. Once again the gun of Fort Nassau was trained, without effect, upon the Swedish com mander. The fertility of the lower Delaware Val ley and the struggling for precedence between Sweden and Holland led the English to assert their claim to the river and the bay. In 1640 a cer tain Captain Nathaniel Turner, agent of the New Haven Colony, is mentioned as a purchaser from the Lenni-Lenap^ of lands on the east and west banks of the stream, while in 1641 George Lam berton also secured lands from the Indians. A part of the English purchase extending from Cape May to Eaccoon Creek (Narraticons Kil) had been but ONY AND AS A STATE 91 recently transferred to the Swedish by the same Indian sachem who sold the land to the English. To confirm the title sixty individuals settled at Salem Creek (Varken's Kil), and on August 30, 1641, the Salem " plantations " were declared to be a part and parcel of the New Haven govern ment. In 1642 the English erected a trading house on the Schuylkill. Under the instigation of the Dutch, to which movement the Swedes lent ready aid, the English were driven from the vicinity of Philadelphia, and it is said the Salem community was broken up. Some of the settlers were sent to New Amsterdam and thence to New Haven, Lamberton was arrested, and in 1642, according to the testimony of Governor Winthrop, of Massa chusetts, the New Haven colony was " dissolved " owing to summer " sickness and mortality." A truer reason may be found in the inability of the New Haven people to sustain themselves, in view of the distance from Connecticut, and the superior force of the Swedes and Dutch. While the English were asserting title to the Delaware a third expedition was in transit to the shores of that river. Receiving the support of the government, the Dutch interests were elimi nated by purchase, and, with a large proportion of Finns, the " Kalmar Nyckel " and a companion ship, the " Charitas," in 1641, led the third ven ( MASSACHUSETTS. ) 92 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ture to America. An awakened interest in New Sweden led to the formation of a new corporation variously called the West India, American, or New Sweden Company, to which the South Com pany, the crown, and leading merchants contribu ted. The fourth expedition, in 1642, took a new gov ernor, John Printz, the most conspicuous of all Sweden's governors in the New World. What the purposes of the crown were in the valley of the Delaware are best shown by his " Instructions," dated August 15, 1652, signed by the guardians of Queen Christina. The territory under his au thority extended on the west side of the Dela ware from Cape Henlopen to a point opposite Trenton, and on the New Jersey side of the river and bay from Cape May to Eaccoon Creek. Com mercially, Governor Printz was directed to pre serve the fur trade monopoly, to stimulate the cultivation of tobacco, to foster grazing, arbor iculture, viniculture, silk and salt production, and fishing. To his care was left the maintenance of the Swedish Lutheran religion, the education of the youth, and the christianization of the Indians. With the Dutch at New Netherland and Fort Nassau relations of an independent but friendly character were to be observed, but " force was to be repelled by force " should belligerent measures be necessary. Governor Printz arrived in the ONY AND AS A STATE 93 Delaware in January, 1643, sailed up the river as far as Trenton, and erected a house (Printz hof) on Tinicum Island, midway between Chester and Philadelphia. Upon the New Jersey side of the river, between Salem and Alloway's Creek, Fort Nya Elfsborg was constructed in 1643. Printz also took other means of strengthening his colony. In 1644 came the fifth expedition to New Sweden, bearing among other emigrants Johan Papegaja, who subsequently became lieutenant-governor of the colony and married Printz's daughter Arm- gott. Evil times now befell the colony of scarce two hundred souls. In 1645 the fort. New Gottenburg, on Tinicum Island, was destroyed by fire, while during the following year occurred an open rup ture between the Dutch and the Swedes. First, permission to trade was refused by Printz to a Dutch sloop, the Hollanders were restrained from hunting for minerals in the vicinity of Trenton, and the arms of the Dutch West India Company were pulled down by Swedish officials in the limits of Philadelphia. For a time the trouble was patched up, and in 1646 and 1647 the sixth and seventh expeditions reached the Delaware. Again the Dutch attempted to strengthen their position on the river. Doughty Peter Stuyvesant, succeeding Kieft at New Amsterdam, asserted the claims of Holland to the Delaware, which action H.AG OF THE WEST INDIA COMPANY. 94 NEW JERSEY AS A COL met with equal show of right on the part of Printz. Stuyvesant, among other matters, had granted to a Dutch colonist the privilege of settling near Mantua Creek, whereupon Printz demanded the allegiance of the settler, purchased from the Lenni-Lenape all lands between Raccoon and Man tua Creeks, and endeavored to secure Indian title to soil around Fort Nassau. In this Printz was frustrated by the Dutch, who secured title around Fort Nassau in 1649. By this time the failure of a new expedition sent from Sweden, and the activity of the Dutch, made the situation of New Sweden more precari ous. Needed articles of husbandry, ammunition and guns were required to prevent the encroach ments of Holland. In May, 1651, an armed Dutch ship appeared off Cape May, and in June of that year Stuyvesant came with one hundred and twenty men over the wildemess of New Jersey from New Amsterdam and met a small naval force at Fort Nassau. He built Fort Casimir, near New stle, Delaware, razed Fort Nassau, and prac- ticaOy took command of the bay and river. FrW this date the fortunes of Sweden in the ^«W World slowly waned. New Haven renewed its interest, the Dutch were continually aggressive, and flnally, in August, 1655, the crisis came. Stuyvesant in command of a war vessel, with a allot, flyboat, and two yachts reached the Dela- stuyvesant's pear trek. ONY AND AS A STATE 95 ware. Sailing northward, the Swedish com mander, Captain Schulte, owing to desertions and recognizing the inadequacy of his force, surren dered," and after further negotiations the territory of New Sweden passed under the domination of Holland, remaining under its jurisdiction until 1664. A change of masters changed but little the character of the settlement, the alterations be ing of a purely political character. So far as the limits of the State of New Jersey are concerned the political influence of New Swe den was of a negative character. Few if any per manent settlements were made during this period, the Swedes in West Jersey being descendants of those adventurers who settled in Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania. The town of Swedesboro is the most striking evidence of the occupancy of the Scandinavians. Upon a map made by Gregory B. Keen there are preserved some curious place names given by the small farmers and peltry traders to points in West Jersey. Some of these place names are of Indian derivation. Thus, Maurice River was known as the Assveticons, while Sepa Hackingh was immediate ly south of Bridgefbn, Alloway's Creek was known as Korten/Revier (Short River), while the land between Alloway's and Salem Creeks was called Oitsessingl . Here stood Fort Nya Elfsborg ^- (Elsingboro Poirt), while ^alem was kijowff^^^^^ ^ stuyvesant S HOMF, " TIIF \\niTI'IT\LL 96 NEW JEESEY AS A COL Asamo Hackingh. Between Salem Creek and the Delaware was Obissquasoit. In Oldman's Creek the easy transformation from Alderman's Kil is seen. Narraticon (Eaccoon), Mantees (Mantua), Eode Udden (Red Bank), and Timmer (Big Tim ber) Creeks are easily recognizable. East of Big Timber Creek lay Arwames and Tekoke, while be tween Big Timber and Cooper Creeks, the latter called Hjorte, lay Sassae Kon. Pensauken Creek was called Strut's Creek, its headwaters rising in the regions of Sinsessingh and Poenpissingh. Ran cocas is apparently of Swedish origin, while Bev erly and its vicinity was known as Marachonsicka. Tinneconck Island, directly above Burlington City, retains its name, while in the vicinity of White Hill the Swedes claim to have found silver. This was probably mica, which led to a like error of the English settlers of Virginia, who mistook iron pyrites for gold. The meadows between Bor dentown and Trenton were known as Alummingh, and Tl-enton Falls as the Falls of the Assunpink. Of these various places the Swedes were to be found nearest Tinicum Island and Wilmington. These points were Salem and the creeks of Cam den and Gloucester Counties. Traders unques tionably went to the sites of Burlington and Tren ton, and possibly made settlements at both places. At best New Jersey, in the history of New Sweden, played a subordinate part. Few if any ONY AND AS A STATE 97 traces of occupancy remain, and except for the occasional visit of the hunter and trader no at tempt was made to occupy the territory, much less to cultivate the soil, to establish a permanent gov ernment, or to civilize the Lenni-Lenap^. But it fell to the lot of the Swedes to demonstrate the possibilities of the Delaware Valley as a place for permanent settlement, and to prove, by their own misfortunes, that no northwest passage lay be tween the site of Trenton and China and that no winning of the wilderness could be accomplished except by unremitting toil and unity of action. The Swedish settlements on the east bank of the Delaware were too remote one from another, as well as from a common center, to geographically impress the later history of the State. The ef fects of Swedish life and character appear in physical and mental constitutions of individuals rather than in any general political or social move ments. From their incipiency the generous but Utopian projects of Gustavus Adolphus had been ill-starred. The varying fortunes of the Swedish crown early left its colony upon the Delaware to its own devices, or to be the prey in turn of semi- hostile Indians, of Holland, and of England. Be neath the royal enthusiasm concerning the settle ment, the earnestness of the clergy, the brave j, hopes of the emigrants, there was a vein of sad- 98 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL SEAL OF NEW SWEDEN. ness, and over all hung the pall of ultimate de feat. The closest ties bound the mother country and her colony — ties of language, of blood relation ship, of religious faith; and while Sweden had her power the far cry of her little band over sea never fell upon neglectful ears. But when the meteoric light of the Csesar of the North was plunged into the gloom of war, internal strife, and dismember ment of empire. New Sweden had none to succor and to save. Disheartened, indifferent either to their own future or the future of old Sweden, the colonists on the Delaware became worse than static. Even the clergy, who tried to rekindle the waning flres of patriotism and awaken the flame of industry, education, and love for their church, found their efforts but ill repaid. Small wonder was it that the Swedish settle ments made so feeble a resistance to the Dutch in 1655, for a change of masters meant but little to colonists, whose past had been blasted by the failure of paternalism, whose present was but a political existence — almost a chimera, — and whose future was well nigh hopeless. The transition from Swedish to Dutch rule was so easily accomplished as to excite but little inter est except to the nations concerned, and had no di rect bearing of any moment upon European poli tics. The outward form of the political institutions ONY AND AS A STATE 99 of the Dutch and Swedes in America were suffi ciently similar to occasion no need of drastic re form, and Holland was entirely content to permit the Swedes to continue the establishment of the Lutheran faith. In fact the idea of the Dutch was not so much the gratiflcation of lust for war as it was the control of the Delaware and the com mercial subjugation of territory, which, from its natural fertility and its Indian trade, promised an increase in revenue and the economic advance ment of Holland. True, both the Hudson and Delaware Valleys passed under the administra tion of the Dutch, and Holland was the better en abled to strike north at New England or south at Maryland and Virginia, or to protect herself in homogeneous territory in case of attack. But her American relations to England were of less importance to her than the development of agri cultural and commercial enterprises upon the Delaware. This at once secured the Swedes, so long as they paid taxes and acknowledged the authority of the Dutch officials, liberty of action. The Swedes in New Jersey early amalgamated with both the Dutch and the English, particularly with the latter. Unlike the Hollanders in East Jersey, who married and intermarried, preserving racial traits and language beyond the Revolution ary period, the Swede almost immediately merged into the dominant race. After 1725, in such church 100 NEW JEESEY AS A COL records as have been preserved, it is quite rare to find the union of Swedish men and women of the pure stock. While in 1700 there were many in West Jersey who spoke Swedish; by the middle of the century the tongue was almost forgotten; and by 1800, except for the retention of a few words, Swedish was a dead language upon the New Jer sey shore of the Delaware. The decline of the mission churches in West Jersey, the shifting of the Swedes to the Society of Friends or to Bpiscopalianism, was the effect rather than a cause of their loss of nationality. With their language, their literature, and their church eradicated from West Jersey, and but weakly sustained in Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania, racial pride was scarce a name even among themselves. But the physical impress of the Scandinavian was more enduring, and remains to this day a fact as visibly evident as it is genealogically prov able. In Salem City, in Swedesboro, and among old settled families in the Maurice Eiver Valley the course of this blood has held its way for over two centuries as permanent as the Lenni-Lenap^ strain of equal antiquity, if not always of equal value. Mentally, the Swedes gave to the English set tlers additional strength. The range of this par ticular influence was never broader than Burling- ONY AND AS A STATE 101 ton on the north and Maurice Eiver on the south, and was practically centered in Western Glouces ter and Salem Counties. But from this section came men famous in colonial merchant marine, men who had to a large degree Swedish blood in their veins, and who went down to the sea in their ships, driven by impulses which sent their Viking ancestors into the unknown ocean from the cold shores of the old home under the midnight sun. Small wonder is it that the early vessel cap tains of the Delaware were a hardy, honest race of men who commanded the respect of opulent Philadelphia merchants, and amassed for their patrons and themselves fortunes in adventures projected from Labrador to the Indies. In colonial politics Swedish names are of as in frequent occurrence as those of the French Hugue not of Monmouth. Neither, apparently, had polit ical ambitions, or, if such were possessed, lacked the adaptability necessary to secure recognition^ Fortunately both Swedes and French recognized the futility of the injection of racial characteris tics into administrative affairs, and left to the English the management of their own province. Of all the settlements within the limits of the United States by nations other than England no one attempt possesses a more curious and less rec ognized field for historical investigation than that of the Swedes upon the banks dif the ^ela^caite. CHAPTEE V New Netherland IN COMMON with other maritime nations of Western Europe, the upbuilding of Spain, by reason of her West India trade, led Holland to seek in the New World equal if not greater commercial prestige. The cause was one that appealed to the Dutch. Hating Spain with deadly hatred, ambitious to test her influence as a world power, limitless in her resources, a proposition made by William Usselinx, an exiled Antwerp merchant, led, in 1606, to the formation of a deflnite plan for a West India Company. The corporation was to have a life of thirty-six years, and to receive for a time the support of the United Provinces. Owing to jealousies of these provinces, the possibilities of the ships of the company preying upon Spanish commerce, and jeopardizing a possible peace with Spain, the idea was temporarily abandoned. The year 1609 is made memorable by the ap pearance upon the shores of America of Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the employ of tfie East India Company, who, abandoning at sea his plan to find a northeast passage to India, pro posed to seek at 40 N. latitude a northwest pas sage. Failing to find an inlet to the Westem Ocean at Newfoundland, Penobscot Bay, or Cape Cod, he sailed for a week in Delaware Bay and Eiver, and early in September, after landing upon Sandy Hook, took his yacht, " Half Moon," one SEAL OF NEW NETHER LAND. 106 NEW JEESEY AS A COL hundred and fifty miles toward the headwaters of the " Great North Eiver of New Netherland." Upon his return to Europe the excitement caused in Holland by the discovery of Hudson was un bounded, says Berthold Fernow in his chapter on " New Netherland " in Winsor's " Narrative and Critical History of America," particularly because " the newly discovered country abounded in fur- bearing animals," an important consideration to a people compelled " to resort to very warm cloth ing in winter." The voyage of Hudson was followed by a num ber of private ventures, and, under authority, the Dutch established themselves on Manhattan Is land in 1614. In 1623 more formal possession was taken of the territory by the West India Company, which had been finally chartered in 1621 by the States General. In the former year Captain Cor nelis Jacobsen Mey entered the Prince Hendrick or South Eiver, built Fort Nassau near Red Bank, and named the north cape of Delaware Bay in his honor, while Adrian Joresson Tienpont, in the Prince Mauritius or North River, strengthened the defenses on the point of Manhattan Island. Near the fort at Albany, which had been erected in 1618, he built a new structure which he called Fort Orange. Preparations were made for colonizing and gov erning the settlements of the Hudson River Val- THE " HALT MOON. HENRY HUDSON, ONY AND AS A STATE 107 ley. Director Peter Minuit, in 1626, for the value of twenty-four dollars, secured the Indian title to Manhattan Island, and a new " charter of freedom and exemptions," strongly tinctured with the faults of the feudal system, was secured from the government of Holland. But while this charter was under discussion some of the directors of the West India Company, between April, 1630, and July, 1631, " took advantage of their position and secured for themselves a share in the new priv ileges by purchasing from the Indians, as the charter required, the most conveniently located and fertile tracts of land." This policy of pur chase, instituted by the Dutch and adopted by the Quakers, was a recognition that the Indian had rights of life, liberty, opinion, and property. It was the acknowledgment of those rights that won for the Dutch the friendship of the Indian, who, by holding back the French in Canada, made Hol land's province in America a possibility and thus permitted united action of the colonies in the French and Indian War. Of the patroonships established along the upper Hudson and in New Jersey but one, Rensselaers- pam of the" w?rid, namely, etoope, " ' AJI1IC4, Abia, and Ajouut*, wyck, at Fort Orange, was successful. An as- «'» sociation of merchants, among whom was Cap- ^ i^^.lS^^^Jt^J^^^H ' tain David Pietersen de Vries, the cartographer, ''°"si°J:'Vw«'i°r«i:^d'i°dl'"""° had purchased the two lower counties of the pres- to,,„einatt&rcrib^tDtiat Battles ent State of Delaware, to which region were sent ht ijob iiab bp toatn; «ati) Countip its Animals. )3iiiis, kinb of jTiBhcs anil ~ SaDOflc inen, — tountttffiltii lo l^t CiCi,— anb 11)1 CDaobB aol) Qiorb oiiti thtit Srobiua. 8H0BT HISTORICAL lournal notes Of several Voyages made in the four TITLE-PAGE OF DE VKtES'S -JOURNAL. 108 NEW JERSEY AS A COL two vessels filled with colony-planters, designed to cultivate grain and tobacco and to conduct the whale fishery. The plan proving partially suc cessful, a second attempt was made, this time in New Jersey. Upon the 3d of June, 1631, Director Peter Min uit issued a patent to Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blcemmsert, under the " jurisdiction of Their Noble High Mightinesses, the Lords States-General of the United Netherlands and the Incorporated West India Company, Department of New Amsterdam." It is one of two documents found in Holland which have come down from the times of the Dutch West India Company, the rest hav ing been sold as waste paper. The Indians, " lawful owners, proprietors, and inhabitants of the East side of Goddyn's East bay called Cape de Maye," through Peter Heyssen, skipper of the " Walvis," and Gillis Hosset, commissary of the vessel, evidently agents of Godyn and Blcem msert, conveyed to the patroons a tract of land em bracing sixteen square miles. The estate, which is loosely described, but which included the south ern portion of Cape May County, is designated as being upon " the east side of Godyn's bay or Cape de May, reaching 4 miles from the said cape to wards the bay, and 4 miles along the coast south ward, and another 4 miles inland." In May, 1632, a second expedition came to the jjitir- ^hi/iAHr ^ir-ec/^U^i ONY AND AS A STATE 109 South River, but the Indians having killed the thirty-two settlers at Zwanendale in the State of Delaware, the attempts toward colonization in Delaware and Cape May were abandoned. Two years later the title to these tracts was once more, by sale, vested in the West India Company. The creation of the patroonship in America is one of those interesting features of colonial life almost forgotten. Claiming manorial rights, with power to hold courts, the " patroon " was granted a tract of land, if on a river, sixteen miles upon one bank or eight miles upon both banks, extend ing into the back country as far " as the situation of the occupiers will permit." In consideration of such a grant of land, of which the patroon was judge as well as owner, he bound himself to transport to the Hudson or the Delaware fifty set tlers above the age of flfteen, provide each at his own expense with a stocked farm, furnish a pas tor and schoolmaster, and to charge a low rent. The emigrants bound themselves to cultivate the land for ten years, to use only Holland cloth, to have their grain ground at the patroon's mill, and to offer the sale of the grain first to the patroon. Under the administration of Wouter Van Twil ler, who as director succeeded Peter Minuit, the affairs of New Netherland came to an unhappy pass. An Indian purchase of lands in Connecticut in 1633 and the erection of Fort Hope, near Hart- DUTCH PATROON. 110 NEW JEESEY AS A COL ford, led to a quarrel with the English, and the erection of Fort Beversrede on the Schuylkill, with additions made to Fort Nassau, implied a bold assertion of Holland's claims to all the lands in the valleys of the Hudson and the Delaware. The revenues of the Dutch West India Company were used in building up New Amsterdam (New York City) and Fort Orange (Albany), while the director granted to himself and his friends the best lands in the colony. Quarrels between the patroon of Rensselaers- wyck and the West India Company over the inter pretation of the privileges granted in 1629, the fail ure of the company to send colonists to America, and Van Twiller's maladministration, as pointed out by Berthold Fernow, were the causes leading to a general retrogression of the colony. But as the charter of the company was the fundamental evil it was decided to overthrow the monopoly and to open the colony, in trade and agriculture, " to ev ery immigrant denizen or foreigner." Into New Amsterdam poured a new population, — ^New Eng landers, escaping religious persecution, freed servants from the tobacco plantations of Vir ginia and Maryland, wealthy planters, and peas ant farmers of Continental Europe, — so that in 1643 eighteen nationalities were represented in a population early cosmopolitan. The administration of William Kieft, who suc- J^^fJi^i^U^ MhM^ ONY A^jy AS A STATE 111 ceeded Van Twiller in 1637 and remained in office until 1647, was largely marked by a demand for popular representation in the government of the colony. The first representative body upon the shores of the Hudson was an advisory board elected in 1643 by the people to consult with the director and his council upon the expediency of an Indian war. This board the director abol ished, although the small towns in the colony en joyed as large a share of self-governing as those in the mother country. New Amsterdam, how ever, was still ruled through the company by the director and his council. The arrival of Peter Stuyvesant as director of New Netherland meant a certain political change. Under his instructions the colony was to be governed by the director-general, and a coun cil composed of the vice-director and the fiscal, an officer appointed to give his opinion upon fi nancial and judicial questions and, if required, to act as public prosecutor, while the people were given the right to be heard by the provincial gov ernment on the general conditions of the province. But in spite of an evident desire to do justice, al though obstinate in tenaciously holding to the rights and privileges of his office, Stuyvesant was compelled to witness the decline and ultimate fall of Holland's power iki^'Am&d^^.. Hampered by^ lack of funds, he could not provide for the pro- . 1 m _ \ !>;>:. ¦, t*^ ^la. %'? NT's BOWERY HOUSE. ' { 112 NEW JERSEY AS A COL tection of New Amsterdam, which was almost destroyed by an attack of the Indians from the surrounding country in 1655, while the military force of New Netherland was rooting out Sweden on the Delaware. This disaster was avenged in 1663, when, for the murder of several Esopus set tlers, the Indian tribe of that name was obliter ated. In a treaty with Connecticut in 1650 the director had been compelled to relinquish Holland's claims to the soil of that colony. The principal towns of Long Island were in the hands of the English. Stuyvesant had assumed some of the quarrels of Kieft — enough to create a popular party crying for liberty, which obtained his consent, reluctant ly given, for the meeting of a General Assembly to consider the state of the province. Upon the Delaware affairs were in little better shape. From 1655 to 1657 both the Swedish and Dutch settlers were treated to a display of ad ministrative incompetence, while in May of the latter year the West India Company ceded a part of the Delaware region to the City of Amsterdam, and in consequence the name of Fort Casimir was changed to New Amstel and Christina to Altena. The Ee3^jBti5Sg^ylfrs7jgB|il^ when the Dutch posessions passed into t£e^^^(|8 of the English, were occupigdwithinterhlilqliar^ls between the a'uthqrlfle^^^ff 'e5rt«rii^|iro3jte& :#ith 'Maryland AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND ONY AND AS A STATE 113 conceming the Indian question. During the dec ade of Dutch rule the colony on the Delaware made little or no progress. Its very helplessness was almost pathetic. Of the settlements made upon the New Jersey shore of the Hudson River and intimately asso ciated with the early history of the Dutch in New York was the locality known as Hobo- can-hackingh, where the Indians and fur traders crossed to trade gewgaws for peltries. Here in 1609, upon the voyage of the " Half Moon," Henry Hudson and Juet, his mate and historiographer, saw the " cliff that looked of the color of white green " — now the Castle Point estate of the Stev ens faniily, and which the Dutch navigators sup posed to be formed of copper or silver ore. In the year 1630 was created the patroonship of Pavonia, derived from pavo, the Latin equivalent of the Dutch paaun, peacock, which appears in the surname of Michiel Pauw, Burger of Amster dam and Baron of Achtienhoven, in South Hol land. His patroonship embraced the Hudson River front opposite New York City, thus includ ing Hobocan-hackingh, from which the locative " hackingh " was later dropped. He made little progress in settling the tract, in compliance with the conditions of his grant, and the West India Company brought him to gtecount in 1634, seeking to revoke their concessio^.^He resisted, and the CASTLE POINT. 'From no otd print.) 114 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL company bought him out for twenty-six thousand florins. In 1633 the company had erected two houses in Pavonia — one at Communipaw and -one at Ahasimus, the former later occupied by Jan Evertsen Bout (1634) and the latter by Cornells Van Vorst (1636), who died in 1638. During the Dutch occupancy of New York but little development was made at Hobocan-hack ingh — " the place of the tobacco pipe." In 1643 Aert Teunissen Van Putten occupied a farmhouse and brewhouse which had been erected north of Hoboken, and attempts were made to promote agriculture. But the somewhat inaccessible river front and the superior advantages of the lower land to the southward led to the later but more active growth of Hoboken's neighbor — Jersey City. From the unsuccessful patroonship of Michiel Pauw sprung another settlement, that of Michael Paulusen, who, in 1633, at Paulus Hook, erected a hut where he purchased peltries from the In dians. The site of this trading hut lies nearly one thousand feet to the westward of the ferry house, the river having been filled in to that ex tent. For many years the little colony at Jersey City remained a trading and small agricultural community, nor was it until 1660 that the town ol- Bergen,-now^eEsey City Beights, was estab- ion df the inhabitants THE VAN VORST HOMESTEAD AT AHASIMUS. (Jersey City.) ONY AND AS A STATE 115 a palisaded fort was erected at Bergen Square. A Reformed Dutch Ohurch was organized imme diately, the people worshiping for nearly twenty years in the log schoolhouse, until a substantial church edifice was erected in 1682. The congre gation is the oldest in New Jersey. Here the Dutch settlers could look far to the eastward over the island-dotted swamps, where Jersey City was some day to arise, and down its long road, often tide-swept, as late as the Revolutionary War, to the sand-spit at Paulus Hook. Beyond lay the Hudson and the tree-girt shores of Manhattan Island, and in the blue haze the lowlands of Brooklyn. Through the ignorance and stupidity of Govern or William Kieft the early annals of Jersey City were " stained by a most atrocious tragedy." The Tappan Indians of the vicinity were most peace ably disposed, and, being harassed by a northern tribe, fled for protection to the settlers of Com munipaw, now the village of Lafayette. Moved by the arguments and wine of those greedy for Indian lands, Kieft gave an order for the extirpation of the members of this tribe, who had thrown them selves upon the hospitality of the settlers. Ac cording to William L. Stone, in his study of the suburbs of New York, printed in th^Ji-Memfmstt History " of that city, eighty Lhlfch soldiers, on the night of February 27, 1643{ under command (.OVtRNOR kieft's ROUSE AND CHURCH. 116 NBW JERSEY AS A COL of a Sergeant Rodolf, attacked the sleeping In dians, who were encamped at Jan de Lacher's Hook in Lafayette, and, regardless of sex, with brutal atrocity, massacred eighty aborigines, young and old. The bodies of the dead were thrown indiscriminately into trenches. Believing that they had been attacked by the Mohawks, some of the refugees fled to New Amsterdam, begging from the inhuman governor a protection to which they were so well entitled. The natural result was an Indian war, waged with unrelenting fury from the Raritan to the Connecticut. Farms were laid waste, women and children dragged into captivity, and " not a white person was safe except, indeed, those who sought and found refuge within the palisades of Fort Amsterdam." Thereafter the history of the settle ments in Hoboken and Jersey City is without espe cial interest until the arrival of the English con querors. During the period of political control of Hol land over the territory embraced within the limits of the State of New Jersey her occupancy of the soil west of the Hudson River was of a distinctive ly tentative character. Over a vast portion of the State the foot of the white man had never trod. Toward the Swedes the position of Holland was that of armed neutrality, and in spite of occasional assurances of friendship the Dutch awaited the OKK or THE WEST INDIA COMPANY'S MOUSES ONY AND AS A STATE 117 time when Swedish politics had become so shaped that the Delaware settlements would fall an easy prey. At last, flnding them unprotected, Holland struck the blow and assimilated the trading posts and the farms in the Delaware and Schuylkill Valleys. Other than this, the attention of the Dutch was devoted almost exclusively to the up building of Albany and New York and the estab lishment of communities upon the lower Hudson. In short, the political power of Holland was due more to physical than to artificial causes, and to the fact that England, during the Cromwellian period, had first civil war and then European com plications to occupy her attention. In holding the mouth of the Hudson and adjacent territory, and later the Delaware, the Dutch separated the New England colonies from the possessions of the Eng lish crown in Maryland and Virginia, and were in a sense placed in a position to dictate terms to an intruder. Such would, indeed, have been the case had not the Dutch West India Company been at the first so unwieldy a corporation. Its assumptiveness fostered jealousies, and its power, exercised through more or less obstinate and inefficient governors, bore heavily upon the colonists. When the superior force of England came at last the conquerors found a community which, through misgovernment, was quite ready LAG OF HOLLAND. 118 NEW JERSEY AS A COL DUTCH WINDMILL. to change masters, provided the newcomers per mitted them the liberty of ancient speech, do mestic customs, and social and religious freedom. These privileges being granted, it is later that the ^ue Dutch influence which has been of a most enduring character appears in New Jersey. - A Tecent historian very properly observes that -in su|Qniing up the question of the occupancy of New Jersey by the Dutch and Swedes the fact re mains undisputed that, while vast claims were miade by both nations, neither regarded their set tlements, in the State, as anything more than mere outlying dependencies. The Dutch interests were centered in New York and Albany, the Swedish in Wilmington and Tinicum Island, while but little effort was made to colonize New Jersey. Un%.W'-''%alaj2S «« ' -Jl -_ FIRST VIEW OF NEW AMSTERDAM. CHAPTER \' 1 The English Conquest and Oocui'ation IN a memorable critique entitled " The Eng lish in New York " John Austin Stevens says : " The trading spirit is not itself sufficient to establish successful settle ment, and monopolies cannot safely be in trusted with the government of colonies." In this enunciation may be found the true reason of the failure of Holland to sustain New Netherland in America, where, during an equal period of occu pancy, there were seven thousand residents as opposed to one hundred thousand English upon the north and south. In the contest with France for the control of the Indian fur trade Holland had neglected practically every political and economic consideration underlying the growth seal of new Amsterdam. and development of a transatlantic dependency. For some years England had looked upon New Netherland with longing eyes. From time to time her right to the soil had been asserted in a des ultory manner, but it was in the passage of the Navigation Act in 1660 that the flrst blow against Holland's commercial supremacy was struck. In avoidance of the act an illicit trade had sprung up along the Atlantic seaboard be tween the English and the Dutch, and the royal revenues had been deprived of £10,000 per annum. Charles II, who needed money more than aught else, resolved that the English settlements upon the Atlantic coast from northernmost Massachu- 124 NEW JERSEY AS A COL setts to the most southern point of the Carolinas, must be homogeneous, and thus be placed in a position to contribute to the funds lavished in England upon courtiers, charlatans, and courte sans. Lightly upon the King sat Cromwell's rec ognition, in 1654, of Holland's title to lands in the New World, so lightly, indeed, that when the States-General in 1664 demanded that the bounda ries of Holland's and England's possessions in America be adjusted, Charles, rather than ac knowledge any claim of the Dutch, met the de mand with a declaration of war. Both in England and in the New World condi tions favored such an attitude on the part of the crown. Foremost in the movement to Anglicize all the seaboard settlements was Edward Hyde, the royal chancellor, whose daughter had married James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II and heir to the throne. Under the view taken by the crown lawyers, who were strenuous in support of the personal rule of the Stuarts, it was held that a title from the King to his brother would merge in the crown, creating a centralized form of government, and indirectly put a quietus upon the tendency of the New England colonies to drift into republicanism. The movement for control of this domain began with legal proceedings as a precedent for military conquest. In 1621 Sir William Alexander, a cour- ONY AND AS A STATE 125 tier, and at the time secretary of state of James I, obtained a grant for Nova Scotia; in 1628 Charles II granted him the province of Canada; and in 1635, at the request of the King, the Plym outh Company issued a patent to Alexander (who in 1630 had been raised to the peerage as Vis count of Stirling, and in 1633 had been advanced to the dignity of Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada) for Long Island. About 1662 Henry, third Barl of Stirling, conveyed his title to Long Island to the Duke of York, and upon March 12, 1663-64, Charles II issued a patent to James, Duke of York, for all the islands between Cape Cod, the Narrows, and Hudson River, in cluding Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, as well as all the lands between the Connecticut River and the east side of Delaware Bay. The conti nental boundary was a line from the head of the Connecticut to the head of the Hudson, thence to the source of the Mohawk, and finally to the east side of Delaware Bay. Excepting that the government of this royal do main should be consistent with the statutes of England, the patent gave to the Duke of York ab solute power to govern within this dominion. To four commissioners. Colonel Richard Nicolls, Colo nel George Cartwright, Sir Robert Carr, royal army officers, and Samuel Maverick, selected by the Duke of York, were given instructions to sub- en arles II Cliarlea II. , b. Mav 2K, 16'Ki; was crovvnt-d .Ian. 1. Feb. 6, 1686. 126 NEW JERSBY AS A COL due the Dutch and " increase the prerogatives of the Crown in the New England Colonies," which colonies the Duke of York desired most heartily to add to the great estate patented to him by his brother. To these Commissioners was dele gated the administration of civil and military af fairs in New England. Particularly to Colonel Nicolls, a man of good education and devotedly attached to the wavering fortunes of the house of Stuart during the Cromwellian period, were granted plenary powers as deputy governor over the domain covered by the King's patent. Immediate preparations were made for a mili tary invasion. In May, 1664, there sailed from Portsmouth a small fleet, with three companies of the King's veterans, bound for New England. Securing reinforcements, the squadron later an chored off Coney Island and invested New Amster dam. The Dutch town, neglected by the States- General and the impotent Dutch West India Com pany, with Director Stuyvesant in Albany attend ing to Indian affairs, was totally unprepared for such an unequal contest. Stuyvesant hastened to New Amsterdam, and for a time, demanding that the town be put in a state of defense, stubbornly refused to yield. Discretion at last overcoming his willful valor, Stuyvesant agreed to capitula tion, protesting against the cowardice of the peo ple, who preferred a change of masters rather THE west INDIA COMPANT 8 8T0REH0U8K. ONY AND AS A STATE 127 than the destruction of their property by bom bardment. Upon the 29th of August, 1664, without blood shed, the articles of surrender were ratified and the English colors, by order of Nicolls, were raised over the fort at New Amsterdam, there after to be known as New York in honor of the duke. To Cartwright, Albany and Esopus on the Hudson capitulated, while the settlements on the Delaware surrendered quietly to Sir Robert Carr. Thus within two months the political supremacy of Holland in America became obliterated. In the conquest New Jersey, as yet undesignated ex cept as a part of New Netherland, was formally recognized for the first time in colonial history as a dependency of the British crown. In the administration of the newly acquired ter ritory Deputy Govemor Nicolls pursued a policy as just as it was beneficial. The changes made were purely of a political character. The ad ministration of justice was conducted practically under the old forms and existing officials were continued in place. A code, known as the " Duke's Laws," permitting jury trials, equal tax ation, and assurances of perfect land title from the Duke of York, was established in 1665, limited first to Long Island, but in the course of twenty years gradually extended throughout New York and to the settlements on the Delaware. Rights of "^d&irtr (M?r 128 NEW JERSEY AS A COL property, both private and those of the Dutch West India Company, were guaranteed, while free passage of individuals and trading ships be tween New Netherland and Holland was per mitted. To the inhabitants freedom of religion to all professing Christianity and the recognition of the Dutch doctrine and discipline in ecclesiastical matters were assured. In view of the establish ment of good government, and of non-interference in local language, customs, and manners, most of the inhabitants of New Amsterdam, including Di rector Stuyvesant, subscribed to the oath of alle giance. In New Jersey the few inhabitants also accepted, without question, the supremacy of the conquerors. By the treaty of Breda, in 1667, the English title to New Netherland was confirmed after a short but sharp European contest between Holland and England, which in no way affected New York and New Jersey. While the squadron of conquest was upon the high seas James, Duke of York, executed deeds of lease and release for a part of his American terri tory. With the signing of these deeds upon June 23 and 24, 1664, the separate history of New Jer sey asc^^olony begins. ^^«^were in the Stuart court two men of in- ffu€ftee%nd power who, like Nicolls, had attached •"PETRUS STUYVESANT a4a.tcJ.M4i'.Ctn.cTftrJ Govrrno nfi, Jaf flti-tgrotli ¦^5i^i!jS .InafiwDu.tckWCSllnd aM«. i Bitof Wl 1^ hqti 8° y«^'-s PETER STUYVESANT Last Butch governor oi* director- genera^l of New York 1647-64; called "Peter the Headstrong"; born Holland 1602. Asserted vice-regaJ authority in New Netherland; arranged boundary lines be tween English and Dutch possessions 1650; subjugated New Sweden 1655; surrendered to the English Sept. 8, 1664. Died on his " Great Bouwerie" farm, Manhattan, Aug., 1682; buried in Saint Mark's churchyard, New York City. ¦^ECV/iUi.ims^BmNY ONY AND AS A STATE 129 themselves to Charles II and James during the years preceding the Restoration. One was Lord John Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, the other Sir yj -^ / y George Carteret, of Saltrum, who had interests in C ^fo3-^^f^C^'Ul{) the Carolina venture and were associated with G ^y the Duke of York in the Admiralty Board. To these faithful adherents James granted all that portion of his acquisition bounded on the east by the main sea and the Hudson River, extending southward as far as Cape May, on the westward by Delaware Bay and River and " as far as the Northermost Branch of the said Bay or River of Delaware which is forty-one Degrees and forty Minutes of Latitude," and thence in a straight line to the Hudson River in forty-one degrees of lati tude, " to be called by the Name or Names of New Caesarea or New Jersey." The designation was in honor of Sir George Carteret's defense in 1649, of his native Isle of Jersey, when attacked by the army and navy of the parliamentarians. The duke reserved a yearly rental of " Twenty 'Nobles of lawful money of England," payable at Inner Temple Hall, London, at the feast of Saint Michael the Arch- Angel. The grant conveyed all the powers conferred upon the duke, which, al though not expressly stated, included the right of government, thus, as was conceived, "transfer ring with the land the allegiance and obedience of the inhabitants." Thus it was that the two noble- 130 NEW JERSEY AS A COL men, " true and absolute Lords Proprietors of all the province of New Caesarea or New Jersey," found themselves owners of a vast tract of land, its great river fronts sparsely occupied by Dutch and Swedes and nomadic bands of Indians, and the proposition regarding colonization as yet un solved. The conditions surrounding emigration to a practically new and unexplored land were favor able. As shown by a contemporary writer, there were in the British Isles, at the close of the Com monwealth, a large body of yeomanry who ex tended to Charles II little more than a half hearted welcome. Puritans and Independents in England, and descendants of the old Covenanters in Scotland, with many members of the rapidly growing sect of Quakers, represented an element fearful of the return of Roman Catholicism and of autocracy. Added to this were soldiers of for tune, who had possibly fought with Cavaliers and Round Heads, men of no religious convictions, but who were willing to seek a new home, younger sons of the country gentry with no hope of patri mony, and a scattering representation from the submerged class of London and the smaller cities. It was from these social factors that Berkeley and Carteret sought their settlers. For the securing of these people Berkeley and arteret, upon February 10, 1664-65, signed and seal of BERKELEY AND CARTERET. ONY AND AS A STATE 131 published " Tlw Concessions and Agreements of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea or New Jersey to and with all and every the Ad venturers and all such as shall settle or plant there." As a declaration of organic law of the colony " the Magna Charter of New Jersey," the Concession and Agreements were liberal in their terms, although the instrument was theoretically devised, as neither Berkeley nor Carteret, as sug gested by the late William A. Whitehead, had communicated in any way with the inhabitants or had even personally inspected the peculiarities of the country. Under its terms the government of the province was lodged in a governor, a coun cil, to be chosen by the chief executive, to consist of not less than six nor more than twelve mem bers; and an assembly of twelve members chosen annually by the " freemen." The appointment of all officers was delegated to the governor and council, who were to execute the laws and to exer cise a general supervision over all courts to be created by the Assembly. To the Assembly was given the right of passing all laws, not inconsist ent with the statutes of England or the interest of the Lords Proprietors; these laws to "receive publication from the governor and council," re maining in force for one year, during which time they were to be submitted to the Lords Proprie tors. 132 NEW JERSEY AS A COL To every freeman embarking with the first gov ernor one hundred and fifty acres of land was promised, provided the immigrant equipped him self with " a good musket, ? * ? bandiliers, and match convenient," a similar provision being made for every able man servant so equipped. To slaves over fourteen seventy-five acres of land were promised, and a similar acreage to every Christian servant upon the expiration of his or her "time." In towns and boroughs to be laid out under direction of the governor and council one-seventh was reserved for the Lords Proprie tors. Occupation of land was secured by a war rant from the governor directing the surveyor to lay out the tract, whereupon a grant or patent signed by the governor and a majority of the coun cil was issued. After 1670 such land was sub jected to a quit-rent of not less than half a penny per acre. Liberty of conscience was guaranteed, and each parish was allowed two hundred acres for its ministers, whose maintenance was to be provided for by the Assembly. In April, 1665, Philip Carteret, a relative of Sir George Carteret, sailed from England bearing his commission as the first governor of New Jersey, reaching New York on July 29th. Here for the first time Deputy Governor Nicolls was informed of the alienation of New Jersey by his royal mas ter, while Govemor Carteret was advised that ONY AND AS A STATE 133 Nicolls, in ignorance of the transfer, had con firmed an Indian land sale, the grantees being from Long Island. Already four families were settled upon this tract, lying opposite Staten Is land. Deputy Governor Nicolls had also con firmed an Indian sale of lands lying west of Sandy Hook, later known as the "Monmouth Patent," from which sprang the settlements of Middletown and Shrewsbury. Thus in spite of the efforts made by Nicolls to perfect his New York government to provide for the wellbeing of his people, and to hold back the French in Canada by the support of Indian allies, he found his authority threatened by the dismemberment of the domain under his control and the establishment of a rival, if not antagonistic, government. In the meantime Governor Carteret landed at a point which he called Elizabethtown in honor of the wife of Sir George Carteret. Furthermore the inhabitants of New Jersey were required to take an oath of allegiance to the King and the Lords Proprietors. To this end thirty-three settlers of Bergen, sixty-five inhabitants of Elizabethtown, thirteen residents of Woodbridge, twenty-four men of Navesink, two of Middletown, and two upon the Delaware River subscribed to the oath during the next two years. The year 1666 was notable not only in the his tory of the colony but of the State. The " Con- 134 NEW JERSBY AS A COL cessions and Agreements " having been published in New England, and receiving the attention of members of the Congregational Churches in Mil ford, Guilford, Branford, and New Haven, a com mittee of these Puritans, led by Robert Treat, was sent to Governor Carteret to examine the advan tages offered by the Lords Proprietors. Rejecting Burlington as a possible location, decision was made upon the present site of the town of Newark. In May, 1666, the New Englanders with "their families, their beloved pastor, their church rec ords and communion service, their deacons, and their household goods " reached their destination. After some trouble with the Indians a purchase was made including Newark, Belleville, Bloom field, and the Oranges. In the settlement were some thirty families who in " our Town upon the River Passaick " desired " to be of one heart and consent, through God's blessing with one hand they may endeavor the carrying on of spiritual concernments as also civil and town affairs ac cording to God and a Godly government." To aid in their local affairs " Fundamental Agreements " were signed, which were as perfectly in keeping with the spirit of Puritan theocracy as could be devised. Their tenor was the limitation of polit ical and religious activity, through the agency of town meeting, to those who maintained " the Pu rity of Religion professed in the Congregational ONY AND AS A STATE 135 Churches," yet so well did the system of intoler ance succeed that by 1685 Milford, alias Newark, was spoken of as the most compact town in the province, with a population of about five hundred. From the beginnings of colonial life in New Jersey the attention of the settlers was mainly directed toward the adjustment of land titles and the settlement of conflicting claims. To the soil of New Jersey, as elucidated by John Whitehead, there were four great sources of title: first through the Indian; then through the Dutch; thirdly, those from Governor Nicolls; and lastly those from the Lords Proprietors. Behind all was the grant from Charles II claiming para mount title by virtue of discovery and his un doubted estate in the later colonies and parts of colonies originally granted as " Crown lands." Such were the conditions that presented them selves to the first Assembly ever convened in New Jersey, which met in Elizabethtown, May 26-30, 1668. To this Assembly came " Burgesses " from Bergen, Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, Middletown, and Shrewsbury. Among the legisla tion of the body twelve capital laws were passed, most of which breathe the lex talionis of the He braic dispensation. The members reassembled upon the 3d of November, when the famous Indian traders and interpreters, Peter Jegou and Fabrus Outout, represented the settlements on the Dela- ^lyOna^. io Dr»7*0Tit. Kifflg.: July, 1634; began hie work as an ifiiaeraat pre...:^jju 1647; visited the American colonies, including" Ne'e Jersey, shortly after his marriage to J 5»r!t :' i , ¦¦/. in London. Nov. 13, I f.iW. 146 NEW JERSEY AS A COL 10, 1674-75, were assigned in trust, for the benefit of creditors, to William Penn, Gawen Lawry, and Nicholas Lucas, also members of the Society. Subsequently Fenwick's tenth passed under their control. Based upon the transfer of Lord Berkeley to Fenwick the Duke of York, upon July 28-29, 1674, released to Sir George Carteret individually his moiety of the province. This second grant in cluded all of New Jersey north of a line drawn from Barnegat Creek, " aboute the middle be- tweene Sandy point and Cape May," to another creek " next adjoyneing to and below a certaine Creeke in Delaware River called Rankokus Kill." This attempt at adjustment served merely to further complicate matters, and upon the request of the duke it was soon relinquished. •John P'enwick, purposeful if not masterful, ar rived in the Delaware during the month of June, 1675, bringing with him, on the ship " Griffin," his children, relatives, settlers, and servants. Landing at a place to which he gave the name Salem — ¦" peace," — Fenwick immediately came under the watchful eye of Governor Andros, who saw in the coming of Fenwick an opportunity to extend the influence of the Duke of York over the reign alienated by Berkeley. At a council held in New York, December 5, 1675, an order was issued that Fenwick be not received as owner of lands ONY AND AS A STATE 147 upon the Delaware, and that no privilege or free dom of custom or trading on the eastem shore of the bay or river be permitted. In the warrant from Governor Andros to the English sheriff on the Delaware it was charged that Fenwick had granted land, dispossessed owners, sold their real property, assumed power of judicature in the es tablishment of a manorial court, and granted dis tilling licenses. Advances made to the obdurate proprietor that he peaceably submit to the New York government were met with peremptory re fusals. A warrant was issued for Fenwick's ar rest by the Duke of York's officers at New Castle, Delaware. In spite of his claims of title Fenwick was de tained by order of Governor Andros during the latter part of December, 1676. In January, 1676- 77, Fenwick appeared before a special court in New York, where he was held in £500 bail not to act in a public capacity, and further gave a bond of £500 to prosecute an appeal to the King. Re leased on parole, Fenwick returned to Salem, called " Swamptown " in derision by the Duke of York's officers, where he resumed the exercise his proprietorship, appointed officials, and madi preparations for defense. Early in 1676 he ha* laid out the liberties of Cohansey and All<^wa; and had provided for the planting of Salem. Mat ters reached a crisis in 1678, when Go-\%rnor Villiun Fenn, son of Sir WQIlam Fenn, rioe.«dnural of Ireland and England; b. in London. Oct. 14, 1644; d. July 30, 1718. 148 NEW JERSEY AS A COL iEi\L OF EAST .JERSEY. dros appointed six " Overseers, selectmen, or Com missioners," who were to be under the general jurisdiction of New Castle in keeping a court as " Town or Corporation att Blenburgh, and In Verckens kill or Hogg Creek." From this time until Fenwick sold his interest in his Salem colony the history of the settlement is clouded with charges and countercharges, so that the good designs of the Lord Proprietor came to naught. The actual separation between the colonies of East and West Jersey took place upon the 1st day of July, 1676, when a quintipartite deed defined the interests of Sir George Carteret for himself and William Penn, of Rickmansworth, Gawen Lawry, of London, merchant, Nicholas Lucas, of Hertford, maltster, and Edward Byllynge, of Westminster, gentlemen, tenants in common of New Jersey. The line of partition, long known in boundary disputes as the " Prov ince Line," extended from Little Egg Harbor to 41°. 40' north latitude to the Delaware River. To Carteret was awarded East Jersey; to Penn and his associates West Jersey. To the Society of Friends in England West Jer sey offered many inducements as a new home. At the front of the movement stood Penn, the most noted convert of the Society and one of the most farsighted men of his age. His influence in the Society was unbounded, his energy and en- ONY AND AS A STATE 149 thusiasm unlimited. Under his impulses two land purchasing and colonizing associations were formed in England, one composed of Friends in Y'orkshire, the other of members of the Society in London. To emigrants the trustees of Byllynge offered an abundance of land, not only to freemen,^ but to servants. A letter signed by Penn, Lawr, and Lucas, and addressed to those proposing settle in West Jersey, was circulated with gre effect. Commissioners to govern the provinc' were sent forward, but the crowning glory of the" movement was that document of liberty known as " The Concessions and Agreements of the Pro prietors, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of West New Jersey in America." The Concessions and Agreements unquestion ably gave to the spirit of democracy a wider range than had any like expression of Anglo-Saxon or ganic law. While the authorship is unknown, it may well be credited to William Penn, who, if he was not the Thomas Jefferson of this earlier Declaration, was unquestionably its inspiration. To the people was left the settlement of all mat ters of a local character, the proprietors reserving to themselves merely the shadow of government. At the outset it was provided that the proprie tors, freeholders, and inhabitants, assembling yearly upon the 25th day of March, — the new year according to the then prevailing form of reckon- SEAL OF WEST JERSEY. 150 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ing time under the Julian calendar, and still ob served in West Jersey as the date upon which tenants' farm leases expire, — should elect " of and amongst themselves Ten honest and able Men " for the office of commissioners. On and after the 25th of March, 1680, the elections were to be held in " some Publick place," each ten of the hundred proprietors selecting a commissioner. To avoid noise and confusion the elections were to be con ducted by " ballating Trunks." General Assem blies were to be elected in like manner, the elec tions to be held upon the 1st of October. The Legislature could appoint its own time of meeting and of adjournment to such time and places as it saw fit, and of establishing a quorum. Full liberty of speech was granted the Assembly, with the right of entering and recording protest as sured to members, the people being permitted " to have liberty to come in and hear and be witnesses of the votes and inclinations " of their representa tives. The organization of the judiciary, the number of courts, their officers, salaries, and determina tion of breaches of judicial trust were matters entirely within legislative control, the people di rectly electing their justices and constables. Equal assessment and taxation were also guaran teed, but, above all, absolute religious toleration was assured upon the fundamental assertion of ONY AND AS A STATE 151 the Concessions and Agreements that " No Men nor number of Men upon Barth hath Power or Authority to rule over Men's Consciences in re ligious Matters." In the various chapters of this remarkable docu ment may be found the elementary principles un derlying the " Bill of Rights," which formed so prominent a part of the later Federal and State constitutions. To a " Proprietor, Freeholder, Free-denizon, or Inhabitant of the Province " was guaranteed the privilege of being served with process in suits of a civil nature. The right of trial by jury composed of " Twelve good and law ful Men of his Neighborhood " was assured before any inhabitant of West Jersey should be deprived of " Life, Limb, Liberty, Estate, Property, or any ways hurt in his or their Privileges, Freedoms, or Franchises." Perjury was severely punished, land transfers were to be made a matter of com plete record, while in disputes with the natives a jury of six Indians and six settlers was to be chosen. The sentence and its execution in cases of murder and treason were to be left to the Gen eral Assembly " to determine as they in the Wis dom of the Lord shall judge meet and expedient." If any person gave, bestowed, or promised to vot ers for members of the General Assembly " any Meat, Drink, Money, or Money's worth for pro curement of their Choice and Consent " the briber 152 NBW JERSEY AS A COL i^ was incapable of ever after being elected a mem ber of that body. These Concessions were di rected to be recorded " in a fair table in the As sembly House," to be read at the beginning and dissolving of every session, to be also displayed " in every common hall of justice within this prov ince," and to be read four times a year before the people. From the date of the Concessions (1676) until the meeting of the first Legislature, November 25, 1681, West Jersey was governed by proprietary commissioners, who were clothed with ample powers of administration. The ship " Kent," with two hundred and thirty passengers, among whom were the commissioners, arrived at Sandy Hook and later entered the Delaware, proceeding slow ly northward to the site of Burlington, at which place settlement was made in the autumn of 1677. Governor Andros, in New York, while claiming a tentative supervision over the West Jersey colony, promised aid in securing the acknowledg ment of the rights of the colonists. In 1677 and 1678 new shiploads of emigrants arrived, occupying the "1st" and "2d" "Tenths" between the Rancocas River and the Assanpink Creek — substantially the river front of the old County pf Burlington. So intent were the mem- T)ersQt ^e-SocietyLupoh^thpijc- immediate affairs THE OLD CONOVER OR WEST HOUSl- NEAP. MATAWAN. (Built about 1700.) ONY AND AS A STATE 153 that no attention was paid to John Fenwick and his efforts to colonize Salem. Unquestionably the most noteworthy event of the period of the commissioners' government was a second grant made by the Duke of York, con veying the soil and government of West Jersey to William Penn, Edward Byllynge, Gawen Lawry, Nicholas Lucas, John Eldridge, of St. Paul's, Shad- well, in the County of Middlesex, tanner, and Ed mond Warner, citizen, of London. The date of this grant was August 6, 1680. Eldridge and Warner had by this time become possessed of the Fenwick interest, thus making them parties to the deed. This grant conveyed the free use of all bays, riv ers, and waters for navigation, fishing, free trade, or otherwise. For some time, in spite of the protestations of the New Jersey commissioners, the agents of the Duke of York had endeavored to collect duties upon the Delaware. That his claim to govern ment in West Jersey was partially recognized is shown by a lease executed for Matiniconk Island, near Burlington, from the duke to Robert Stacy, one of the commissioners. In 1679 certain Eng lish settlers petitioned for lands near Trenton, " willing to become Tennants to his Highness the Duke of Yourke," while two years previously com missions for the magistrates of West Jersey had been issued from New York, both for the " upper 154 NBW JERSEY AS A OOL plantations " at Burlington and the " lower plan tations " at Salem. By the grant, however, the Duke of York formally disallowed his pretensions, particularly as the eminent lawyer. Sir William Jones, to whom the matter had been referred, ad vised that the duke had no right to make demands upon the inhabitants in question. In the meantime affairs in Carteret's portion of the province. East Jersey, were tending toward a peaceful settlement of the agrarian troubles. By 1675 the Legislature had passed an act pro viding that all actions brought to recover the price of goods or labor employed in provincial de fense, from 1670 to 1673, should be abolished. A free pardon was extended to those taking part in the rebellion, while heavy punishments were di rected to be imposed upon those who reviled or Tupbraided their opponents. It was recommended Ln the statute that the past " be buried in obliv ion." This was followed in 1675 by the prescrip tion of the oath of fidelity to the Lord Proprietor and an oath of allegiance to the King, the sub- criber forswearing the temporal power, actual or assumed, of the Church of Rome. Until the III establishment of the West Jersey Legislature the lEast Jersey Assembly met at various times in Elizabethtown, New Piscataqua, and Middletown. rhe sessions of the body were mainly devoted to EAST AND WEST JERSEY IN 1677. ONY AND AS A STATE 155 the passing of laws relative to the social and economic conditions of the whole province. The struggle of the Duke of York for power in America and the forceful attitude of Bast Jersey were the immediate causes of a political struggle between Governor Andros and Governor Car teret. Filled with zeal for his ducal master, An dros upon the 13th of March, 1679-80, addressed a proclamation commanding Philip Carteret and his " pretended " provincial officials to forbear as suming or exercising any jurisdiction in East Jer sey. To this Carteret at once replied that he and the country were prepared to defend themselves, " which if any Blood be shed, it wUl be contrary to our desires, and the just and righteous God require it at your Hands, who are the Causes thereof." Upon the 7th of April Govemor Andros with his council appeared in Elizabethtown, where, aft er the exchange of formal compliments, many of the respective adherents being armed, both sides presented their claims to jurisdiction. Upon the 1st of May Governor Andros issued a warrant for Governor Carteret's arrest, which was exe cuted by an armed posse of soldiers, who took the chief executive of East Jersey to New York, where he was imprisoned until May 27. Charged with persistently, riotously, and routously endeavoring to maintain the exercise of jurisdiction within 156 NBW JERSEY AS A COL the bounds of the Duke of York's grant, Carteret maintained his right in refusing to submit to ar rest or to surrender his govemment without the King's command, and protested against the jurisdiction of a court where the accuser and im- prisoner was also his judge. The jury refused to convict, after several reconsiderations, and Car teret retumed to New Jersey under pledge not to exercise his jurisdiction until the whole mat ter had been submitted to the King. The early days of the month of June were spent by Govemor Andros in consultation with the New Jersey Assembly, delegates being present from Newark, Elizabethtown, Bergen, Middletown, Shrewsbury, Piscataway, and Woodbridge. The assemblymen were civil but firm, and in a manner bowed to the will of the governor of New York, submitting to him the laws in force, with an ex pression of hopefulness that the beneficial terms of the fundamental law of the province would not be altered. It was further claimed that no con firmation was required as to previous acts, be cause such were done under lawful authority. After some further show of right, the case of Gov ernor Carteret having been kept in suspense in England, the Duke of York released to Sir George Carteret, grandson and heir of the original pro prietor, all of the duke's claim or title to East Jersey. A letter from the Duke of York further ONY AND AS A STATE 157 denied that he had given Andros any authority over the Carteret province, whereupon Governor Andros departed for England. For a year there followed discussion and bitterness between Gov ernor Carteret and Anthony Brockholst, acting governor of New York in the place and stead of Governor Andros. Acting under the direction of Lady Elizabeth Carteret, widow and executrix of Sir George Car teret, who had died in 1680, Governor Carteret, on July 22, 1681, laid claim to Staten Island as with in the jurisdiction of New Jersey, and demanded possession thereof from the governor of New York. He also issued a proclamation to the in habitants of Staten Island directing them to for bear yielding obedience to the government of Brockholst. Each governor in turn then denied the authority of the other. From this quarrel Philip Carteret tumed to his Assembly, which convened at Elizabeth in October. A bitter con test ensued, some idea of which may be gained from this message sent to the governor and the council by the house : It is the Opinion of this House that wee are -wsfw- about oais^ and the Countreys businesse. everything is ^eautifull m his season. this house expects those Acts already befofe you should be passed and returned back to this house. To this the governor and council made reply True wisdome would teach you better manners than to Still A StBNE ON THB Hil ti.l'in 158 NEW JERSBY AS A COL Yo'selves the Generall Assembly. Doubtlesse there was no want of Ignorance and Disloyalty where this Bratt had its educac'on inso much as that the generall assembly consists of the Governor Councell and Deputies, ergo, the Deputies no generall assembly. It was Lucifer's Pride that putt him upon settling himselfe where God never intended to sett him and his Presumption produced or was forerunner of his fall. . . . Everything being beautifull in its season and soe we bid you farewell. Thus was dissolved the last Assembly under the administration of Govemor Carteret. The death of Sir George Carteret threw upon Lady Elizabeth Carteret the administration of the province of Bast Jersey. The proprietors' inter est, however, under his will was devised to eight trustees, acting for the benefit of his creditors, who attempted a sale of the province either pri vately or publicly. The extension of the plan to establish a wider American influence for the Society of Friends led William Penn and eleven associates to purchase East Jersey for £3,400, the indenture being dated February 1, 1681-82. The grantors were Lady Carteret and eight trustees. The twelve grantees, most of whom were of Quaker yeoman stock, were William Penn, of Warminghurst, Sussex; Robert West, of Middle Temple, London; Thomas Rudyard, of London; Samuel G roome, of Stepney Parish, Middlesex, mariner; Thomas Hart, of Enfield, Middlesex, merchant; Richard Mew, of Stepney Parish, mer chant; Thomas Wilcox, of London, goldsmith; ONY AND AS A STATE 159 Ambrose Rigg, of Catton Place, Surrey; John Heywood, of London, skinner; Hugh Hartshorn, of London, skinner; Clement Plumstead, of Lon don, draper; and Thomas Cooper, of London, mer chant tailor. On the 1st of June, 1682, the twelve proprietors executed a deed to prevent the beneflt of survivor ship, while early in March of the same year Will iam Penn purchased all of Major John Fenwick's claims to any right, title, and interest in West Jer sey. A secretary and receiver-general of the prov ince were selected, while Robert Barclay of the proprietors was commissioned govemor for life. The twelve proprietors immediately associated with themselves twelve others, creating twenty- four shares. Thomas Wilcox disposed of his en tire interest. The new associates were James, Earl of Perth; John Drummond, of Lundy; Robert Barclay, of Urie; David Barclay, Jr., of Urie; Robert Gordon, of Cluny; Arent Sonmans, of Wallingford, all of the Kingdom of Scotland; Gawen Lawry, of Lon don, merchant; Edward Byllynge, of Westmins ter; James Braine, of London, merchant; William Gibson, of London, haberdasher; Thomas Barker, of London, merchant; and Robert Turner and Thomas Warne, of Dublin, merchants. To these twenty-four proprietors the Duke of York, upon the 14th of March, 1682-83, conflrmed the sale GREAT SEAL OF 1691. 160 NEW JERSEY AS A COL the province by a grant of the most explicit terms, while upon the 23d of November, 1683, King Charles II formally recognized the proprietors' right to soil and government. The interest reawakened in the British Isles over the New Jersey project was highly stimulated by the diverse interests of the men composing the board. There were members of the Society of Friends, Dissenters, and Papists, " a strange com mingling of religious professions and characters," a small but highly influential Scotch minority exercising potential influence in the upbuilding of Bast Jersey, particularly in Monmouth County. Although Governor Barclay did not come to America, he sent in his place Thomas Rudyard, a lawyer of prominence, who, arriving in the prov ince in November, 1682, assembled his council and in March, 1683, met his Assembly. Owing to dif ferences with the proprietors as to the laying out of land he gave place to Gawen Lawry, who brought to East Jersey the " Fundamental Con stitutions " adopted by the proprietors in 1683. The " Fundamental Concessions " were far from being a model frame of government, although they met with much approval from the pro prietary board. The administration of public affairs was to be vested in the twenty-four proprie tors or their proxies, with one hundred and forty- four representatives of the people. An elector ONY AND AS A STATE 161 was required to hold fifty acres of ground, of which ten should be cultivated, or, if living in " Boroughs," a house and three acres, or, if he hired his house and land, to have fifty pounds in stock. Names of candidates were to be written on parchment, and flfty drawn from a box " by a Boy under Ten years of Age," further selection being made by lot. Persons guilty of sexual immorality, and drunkenness, or one " who is Insolvent or a Fool " were ineligible for nomination. Of the great council four committees were de signed to be chosen : on " Publick Policy and to look to Manners, Education, and Arts," on " Trade and Management of the publick Treasury," on " Plantations and regulating of all Things, as well as deciding all Controversies relating to them," and on " the Preservation of the Publick Peace." The latter committee was designed, undoubtedly, to meet the situation of many of the proprietors and some of the settlers, who " for conscience sake " were debarred from bearing arms, a large proportion of these being members of the Society of Friends. Various provisions were made for the police affairs of the province, as well as for the ad justment of proprietary interests, while religious liberty was allowed. All officers were required to "profess Faith in Christ-Jesns," but liberty was not to permit such license as atheism, cursing. TLAG OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. 162 NEW JERSEY AS A COL DONOAN ARMS. murder, " or indulging themselves in Stage Plays, Mask§, Revells, or such like abuses." But the ''Fundamental Constitutions" were lim ited in their operation to those who would submit to a resurvey and approval of their several grants, arrange for the payment of quit-rents, and agree to pass an act for the permanent support of the government. All others were to be ruled by the " Concessions," a dual form of govemment, the futility of which Governor Lawry recognized, and, discreetly restraining the publication of the " Fundamental Constitutions," the remarkable production became a mere documentary curiosity. Lawry under his " Instructions " performed two duties of far greater service to the province: by winning the good will of the Indians and culti vating the friendship of Governor Dongan, of New York. Nor was the govemor less solicitous con cerning the establishment of Perth Town, so- called in honor of the Earl of Perth, at Amboy Point. Already a few of the twenty-four houses of the proprietors were in course of erection while he directed that the seat of government be re moved there at once. The subdivision of proprietary rights and the arrival in America of those having landed inter ests led to the creation of the East Jersey " Board of Proprietors " upon August 1, 1684. To this board, acting for all the proprietors, was granted ONY AND AS A STATE 163 the power of approving the acts of the Assembly, adjusting quit-rent disputes between early settlers and the proprietors, advancing the interests of the town of Perth, clearing Indian titles, to " sett out Land upon rent," defining the East and West Jersey boundary line, and securing funds to pay certain current debts. The beginnings of West Jersey, following the session of the first Legislature in 1681, were marred by but few disturbances, the most note worthy being between West Jersey and the new Pennsylvania government concerning the owner ship of islands in the Delaware River. Burlington was made the capital of the province, with courts there established and at Salem. Deputy Govemor Samuel Jenings, representing Edward Byllynge, the proprietary governor, arrived in September, 1681, and with his council and Assembly formed the General Assembly of West Jersey. The old question of title and government having been pre sented to the Assembly in May, 1683, it was de cided that both were purchased by William Penn and his associates, whereupon the Assembly, fear ing that Byllynge might remove his deputy gov ernor, elected Jenings to that position, renewing the assertion of popular rights. To confirm his election and consult with Byllynge GQ^jn»r .Tpu ings and associates were sent to ^Sgland, while Thomas Ollive, speaker of the first H GOVERNOR DONGAN'S HOUSE ON STATEN ISLAND. 164 NEW JERSEY AS A COL sembly, was temporarily chosen as deputy gov ernor. In accordance with the methods of arbi tration employed by the Society of Friends the Byllynge-Jenings dispute was submitted to the " judgment and determination " of George Fox and other Friends of great influence. The award of October, 1684, by eight of the fourteen referees, was to the effect that Byllynge was governor, and that no authority existed for the General Assem bly to choose a chief executive. Charles II, King of England, died in the month of May, 1685, his successor to the throne being his brother James, Duke of York, under the title of James II. From the flrst it had been the pur pose of James II to concentrate his power in America, to eliminate as far as possible popular government, and to make the colonies absolute dependencies. While this policy had been has tened by the revocation by Charles II of the Massachusetts charter, it had for the time been re tarded by the risings in Scotland and the rebellion in Monmouth, England. Instituting quo war ranto proceedings in the English courts to cancel the charters of East Jersey, West Jersey, Dela ware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, he assigned to Sir Edmund Andros the difficult duty of uniting these colonies and establishing a centralized gov ernment. A vice-regalty was to be established in America, and upon the 11th of August, 1688, in James II, b. Oct. 15, 1633, the second surviving aon of Charles I; recognized as Duke of York in 1660; ascended the throne in 1685; d. Sept. 6, 1701. ONY^ AND AS A STATE 165 New York, Andros entered upon his task, as bold ly conceived as it was hopelessly unsuccessful. The contention of New York in urging the an nexation of East Jersey was the refusal of the province to pay customs duties, that merchants were attracted thither by good land and Indian trade, that privateers found safe anchorage and good market within Sandy Hook, and that, unless under the government of New York, both prov inces would be unprotected in case of war. The East Jersey proprietors, in June, 1687, replied that their land had been purchased from Sir George Carteret and from the Indians, and that the duties levied in New York were based upon the acts of the Legislature of that province, in which body East Jersey was not represented and consequently not bound. In conclusion the pro prietors, to avoid further difficulties, prayed to be annexed to West Jersey, that the King select a governor from among the proprietors, and that an officer be appointed in the province to collect cus toms. Tlie conflicting proprietary interests, and the persistence of King James II in attempting to annex the Jerseys to New York, led the pro prietors of both provinces in April, 1688, to offer a surrender of their rights of govern ment with the view of obtaining from the King a reconflrmation of the soil. The GREAT SEAL OF JAMES n. 166 NEW JERSEY AS A COL WILLIAM IU. provinces were annexed to New York, and a new commission was issued to Governor Andros, who proclaimed his government in Burlington and Perth Amboy. But his official tenure was as lim ited as it was nominal. Following the short ad ministration of Lord Neill Campbell, Andrew Hamilton, agent of the proprietors and a mer chant of London, was commissioned deputy gov ernor, his commission being confirmed by Govern or Barclay in August, 1687. Between Hamilton and the New York authorities there was friction, growing out of religious dissension as well as po litical and territorial quarrels. The abrogation of the test oath in America, proclaimed by Governor Andros, created a vast stir among the Scotch Cal vinists, New England Congregationalists, and French Huguenots, particularly in East Jersey. The liberty of conscience meant advancement of Roman Catholics; that in turn meant collusion with the French in Canada, and finally the de struction of England's power in America — a non sequitur as common in colonial as in modern po litical argument. Suddenly William of Orange appeared in Devon at the head of his secretly ar ranged expedition, and under Whig inspiration. King James II having fled, championed the cause of English liberty and became King William III. During the short administration of Governor Andros, or until he was driven from New York, William III, poathumoua soQ of Williani II, of Orange ; b. Nov. 4, 1650 ; proclaimed, witli Mary, King, Feb. 13, 1689 ; d. March 8, 1T03. - " ?5rR EDMUND 'A^TOft^ ^ I'.tiin LmihIoii, Dec. 6, 1637; succeeded fl'.Uhi'i as bailitl' of (Juernsev Ibland 1674. ..^ jVppo,int;6d goNt'i-noi- of |)r()\iLi('e of New j^^j^t'k 1674 and:;p,ciquircd {'\{]r of " tyrant";' i^4p*fei*^l PUilip^trtercr .iv uov('rT»o|;,^|JEa»t ^.tersey 1680; r; -Ntw-. Toik illld New .[pt',s*%''*- '•^fli^ lo liip jurisdicliuii 1688; iipprisoued ^4^"lf. L(;>*);-'^i!»vernor of Virginia lti'.)2- K'rnscv 170-^P>. ,'Ffeb 21, IJll.' ^ii\ ernor of>. ./=^- .'"^¦'•''L.,^i^ii ^^^^^^HRpKlUlli v\ ¦ * V,-*X.-i ^^1 'I^w . ¦'- :V-:^H&«iL\ -^"'''' -| :^'^^ ^l^A.ln»\ 1 1 , ^'^lii.^ ^nn' Ji^H^Q^nH^^I^^B 1 '., \^^^k' wB^^^M^d^^ }^^^i- . jw^^i^^^^^^^l^H -Mmm.^-'imMsi'^mx- i '^jSMK;, mm^^%'i^'^}mi¥^^^^^^m 'YJl^BJi,! m^mmPJiWxmM^^^^^^ Engl>lji^£.G.V/illiam-i atro/l ONY AND AS A STATE 167 Governor Hamilton was in frequent consultation with the New York authorities. The conferences ending in doubt, Governor Hamilton repaired to England, but on the high seas was captured by the French. From this period until 1692 East Jersey was governed largely by her local officers. After 1685 the political history of West Jersey was uneventful, a new deputy governor, John Skene, exercising his authority according to popu lar will. Byllynge dying in 1687, his interests be came vested by his heirs in Dr. Daniel Coxe, court physician and a large proprietor. Assuming the title to land and power to govern in West Jer sey, Dr. Coxe, upon March 4, 1691, transferred to the West Jersey Society — a land purchasing cor poration — all his rights to his American lands. This included a vast acreage in East Jersey, West Jersey, two hundred thousand acres in Minnisink, Merrimack lands in New Hampshire, and ten thousand acres in Pennsylvania, the deed also mentioning a " pottery house " in Burlington, town lots in Perth Amboy, Gloucester, and Egg Harbor, and lands in Cape May and Maurice Riv er. He also conveyed to the West Jersey Society the right of government, which effectually settled, in name at least, the long contest concerning the matter. In 1692 the society made an agreement to further the interests of its project in colonization and fostering trade, although little was done, and 168 NEW JEESEY AS A COL the subsequent surrender of the provinces to the crown put a quietus upon all future efforts. In 1688 the Council of Proprietors of West Jersey, similar to the board in East Jersey, was flnally organized. Owing to uncertain descriptions, faulty survey ing, and conflicting claims the disputed boundary lines between East Jersey and New York and East Jersey and West Jersey received official attention. In 1686 a council was held to determine the East Jersey-New York line, but no settlement was reached beyond locating the terminal points on the Hudson and Delaware. The question was not settled for a century. The East and West Jersey governments agreed in 1686 to submit their line to arbitration, after a failure of George Keith, surveyor of East Jersey, to locate the line accord ing to the quintipartite deed of 1676. Keith ran the line from Egg Harbor to the Raritan, when the loud protests of West Jersey, claiming that East Jersey received too much land, caused him to de sist. Later consultations were held on the mat ter, until in 1718 an act was passed by the Legis lature establishing the line. In the settlement of the Jerseys tracts and monographs played an important part in inducing emigration. Of these, relating distinctively to East and West Jersey, the flrst and one of the arest — for they are all rare in the originals — is a SEAL OF NEW YORK IN 1686. ONY AND AS A STATE 169 single folio leaf issued by John Fenwick in 1675. In 1682 the East Jersey proprietors published a small quarto of eight pages, and in 1683 the Scotch proprietors printed a quarto of double the size, each giving a similar description of East Jer sey. These are known as the •" Brief Accounts," from the introductory words of their title pages. In 1684 appeared " The Planters' Speech," ad dressed to friends in East Jersey, West Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which was more of a moral disser tation than a description of the provinces. The author is unknown. In rapid succession followed George Scot's " Model of the Government of the Province of East New Jersey in America " and Thomas Budd's " Good Order Established in Penn sylvania and New Jersey in America," both of which were printed in 1685. As descriptions of the economic conditions of the provinces the " Model " and " Good Order " are of the highest value. In 1698 there was published Gabriel Thomas's entertaining " An Historical Descrip tion of the Province and Country of West New Jersey in America," while in 1699 two pamphlets dealing with the Byllynge-Jenings controversy were printed in Philadelphia. From time to time letters from the settlers and documents dealing with the Fenwick controversy were issued in London. It was not until the eighteenth century that 170 NEW JERSEY AS -\ COL the most valuable works relating to East and West Jersey came from the press. In 1747 the so-called Elizabethtown " BUl in Chancery,'" pre pared by the famous James Alexander, was pub lished. This was the suit instituted by the East Jersey proprietors against the Nicolls claimants, known as the " CUnker Lot Eight Men." The title page of the " BUl " justly says : " These Papers will give a better Light into the History and Con stitution of New Jersey than any Thing hitherto published."' An " Answer" prepared by William Livingston, afterward the Revolutionary War governor of New Jersey, and William Smith, after ward chief justice of Canada, published in 1752, gives " a Great Deal of the Controversy, Though Much Less of the History and Constitution of New Jersey than the said Bill." The matter was never flnally determined. During the progress of the French and Indian War the various " original constitutions,'' acts of Assembly under proprietary Legislatures, and many state papers were printed under the direc tion of a legislative committee. The work was issued in 1758, and is known as the " Grants and Concessions," the compilation being ascribed to Aaron Leaming and Jacob Spicer, of Cape May, who were members of the committee. As a refer ence book the " Grants and Concessions " is only exceeded in value by Samuel Smith's " History of ONY AND AS A STATE 171 the Colony of Nova Caesarea or New Jersey," giv ing a particular account of the settlement of the Jerseys from the beginning ifntil 1721. Smith's history was published in 1765. s. BkllqTs ba£S u!ap oir ITU. OHAPTg^ «^^Kl ¦.,..'v '¦ ^^HB^ The Settlers of'Ra.st|Jbrset T O THB provinoe of |5ast Jersey the settlers brou8^l||||(rr4trong spirit of political and^ ."^itglous independ- Whetbtf-they came from ence. Massachusetts^.v the Connecticut Valley, from the " shore " commnities of Long Is land, or from the Calvinistic ignters of England and Scotland, they were filleclwith that mighty purpose to create in the neva!ad-'a government where political righteousnesshould guide the course of the State. In this fort, as in all at tempts to establish a commui^ Upon the teach ings of a given creed, there was tendency toward political dogmatism. In near'all the East Jer sey towns poUtical prefermenwas based upon strict adherence to the teachii of a particular religious society, while the itlers of Newark went so far as to provide thfttfy those who were members of a Congregaticiii/^hurch should be allowed to hold office an(f v^ While this restrictive ae^iiiay be subjected to criticism, it was quite in >rd with the spirit of the age. Most of the iiaiial men of East Jersey had experienced thev& of religious en thusiasm which had swejter England and Scotland, upon the comipf Cromwell and which flooded New EnglaX^i^ high resolve and concomitant austerity, had 6e^"^^g^ of religious controversy, art 'thf'^establish- niK "MAYFLOWER." 176 neW-^ersby as a col ment of new forms of religious beUef. Nor was the spirit less noticeable in West Jersey, where the Society of Friends did not outwardly declare the union of church and State, but where the pow er of the meeting to make the careers of men was equally potent. The English speaking colonists of Bast Jersey, in the main, were of yeoman stock. Various motives underlay the action of the settlers. The return of the House of Stu art to power, with the reestablishment of a dissolute court and the general popular reaction from the social, political, and ecclesiastical se verities of the Cromwellian movement, gave to the majority of the new comers sufficient excuse for leaving England. Others from New England hoped to find in Bast Jersey a land more hospita ble, where the power of the church might be further extended. Some were moved by an evan gelical spirit, wishing to convert the Indian and to establish their faith in a land beyond the sea; others dimly saw that there might grow up power ful dependencies of the crown in which a certain religious faith would be dominant, while a small moved by a restlessness, and gave religious pm ecutaons as an excuse for a life of ad- ^re ani, mayhap, of profit. ^j^er £ 11 and under all ran the spirit of wlict/ entered into the daily acts of the i^- ? THE "NEW NETHERL.\ND." ONY AND AS A ST ^TE 177 entire body of emigration. The rigidity of the local laws, the strictness of church discipline, the slowness of assimilation with the Dutch, who, in creed, were with them but not of them, the intense striving for a theocratic commonwealth, gave a harshness to life, but it likewise gave a stability to East Jersey that has been permanent through out all the modifications of government and the later injection of cosmopolitan social elements. But one instance need be cited to show the distinctively Calvinistic type of early East Jer sey life. It is in the matter of personal nomen clature. To Bast Jersey the settlers from New and Old England brought Christian names indic ative of a Puritan and in some cases Quaker an cestry. Among ancient deeds and wills are to be found some curiosities of " given names " which descendants have carried down to dis tant generations. Thus in the family of Lippin- cotts, of Shrewsbury, in 1683, were living Free dom, Remembrance, and Restore. Jedediah Allen, who lived near by, in Neversink, had among his children Experience, Ephraim, Judah, and Pa tience, while in 1688, in that portion of Monmouth Oounty, resided Exercis, probably a corrupt spell ing of Exercise, and Elisone Coale, daughters of Jacob. Among the names of women appear Sy- biah Dennis, Faith Hewitt, in 1691, and Safty (Safety) Grover, the latter a daughter of James, DUTCH COUNTRY PEOPLE. 178 NEW JERSBY AS A COL of Middletown. In 1697 there was Hope Bloom field, of Woodbridge; in 1701, Eupham, wife of John Johnston, of Monmouth Oounty, and Bethiah Kitchell, daughter of William, whose home, in 1683, was in Newark. In 1694 Hephziabiah Man- nin, of Piscataway, was the widow of one of the plantation owners, and in 1697 Tidey buried her husband, George Warren, of Elizabethtown. Com fort was the wife of Samuel Marsh, of Rahway, while Deliverance is mentioned as a daughter of John Throgmorton, of Middletown. Among the children of Thomas Thomson, of Elizabeth, in 1675, were Aaron, Moses, and Hur. In 1669 Hopewell Hull was a settler in Wood- bridge; Dishtumer Ward appears in Newark in 1696; and in 1694 Barefoot Brynson is alluded to as a son of Daniel. In 1682, or shortly thereafter, occurred the marriage of Nidemiah Sanford, daughter of William, to Richard Berry, son of John Berry. The respective fathers presented to the young couple as wedding gifts several slaves. John Berry had, among other children, Peregrine and Grace. An examination of Christian names throughout this period shows the strong influence of Biblical nomenclature. Aside from these somewhat ec centric designations appear a host of names still ept in a few cases, those of distinct- THE BRADTORD HOUeE AT PLYMOUTH. ONY AND AS A STATE 179 ively Norman-French origin, and not found in the Old and New Testaments, are extremely rare. Toward the close of the seventeenth century there came into East Jersey, and to a limited de gree in West Jersey, particularly in Salem, a new and valuable racial element. This was the French Huguenot, who, bringing to the eastern division the faith of Calvin, found, at least, a community of religious interest among the English and Scotch. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, in 1685, drove from France no less than half a million Protestants, who, under the name of Huguenots, sought in other lands that freedom of conscience denied them in their own country. So bitter was the persecution that by 1705, it is said, there was not an organized Huguenot con gregation in all France. To these people, many of whom were of the an cient nobility and nearly all of eminent respecta bility, the English colonies in America opened an avenue of escape from the rigors of the govern mental inquiry and persecution. To nearly every seaport between Nova Scotia and Florida they came, many selecting New York and some Phila delphia as their new homes. From these centers the movements of population carried certain of these French families to New Jersey. By 1686, and even earlier. Huguenot family names appear %mM.*W' 180 NBW JERSEY AS A COL BOUDINOT ARMS. in the towns of the Monmouth shore. With their coming a new element appeared in the provinces — an element which was so distinctively Romance as to make its presence among settlers of Ger manic stock as picturesque as it was valuable. With but few exceptions the Huguenot had no political ambitions, or at least had not in the early years of the eighteenth century. He spoke not the language of his new home. Around him lay restraints in his advancement in the political state, which a new generation did not overcome. Yet the Huguenot social and moral influence was early patent and has remained a power until the present day. To New Jersey came Antoine Pintard, Peter Bard, Pierre le Conte, Joseph Ray, Ives Ballinger, Elias Boudinot, and Hyppolite le Fever, names with which one could conjure in either East or West Jersey. There, too, were the De la Fon taines, the Stelles, Monsieur Hance, Jaques la Rue, the De Cous, John de la Valle, and the Demarests, some of whom, forgotten, some remem bered, have impressed themselves and their fam ilies upon the history of New Jersey. Too few in number, too weak to sustain racial customs or language, the children of the original emigrants contracted marriages among those not of distinctively French ancestry. In a few in stances the Huguenot blood remained unmixed ONY^ AND AS A STATE 181 until the Revolution, yet in the general breaking down of social lines following the war even this characteristic became lost. No trace of any French words which may have been contributed to the English language, as used in New Jersey, remains. The influence of the Huguenots in New Jersey is subjective rather than objective. They stimulated the growth of the Protestant, particularly the Presbyterian churches in East Jersey, most of the Huguenots in West Jersey attaching themselves to Saint Mary's at Burlington or joining the So ciety of Friends. As large landowners, possessed of personal estate embracing objects of value, with artistic taste, they brought new reflnements to America, and gave to their children a love for the beautiful — a sentiment in which the; English were often lacking, by reason of environment, or which, if present, was suppressed on account of the severity of religious discipline. But standing clear and distinct against the early colonial hori zon, the Huguenot star shines brightly, but under the later glow of the sun of English influence it merges into the greater glory. Yet the star dimmed remains in its courses, even while the sun *^ stands in meridian. M^ CHAPTER IX The Settlers of West Jersey THE close of the seventeenth century in England was marked, in one re spect, by a widespread interest con cerning colonial affairs. The age of fable touching the mother country's transatlantic possessions, when effort was made to find the palm-crowned isles of the Indies at the headwaters of the Hudson, Delaware, Susque hanna, and James Rivers, or to seek for gold in Virginia or silver in Massachusetts, had given place to a period when sober, common sense was asserting itself. Peace reigned in England, and rural and municipal industries were thriving to the degree that the problem of congestion of popu lation in great centers was a factor in social life. Charles II as prodigal with his favors of land grants to his adherents as he was of money to the beauties of his court, had already granted New Jersey to Carteret and Berkeley, as well as Penn sylvania to William Penn. Having thus dis charged his debts, he left to the proprietors the burden of peopling their domains, and of provid ing fit and proper governments for their lands oversea. To accomplish these ends the owners of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were most active. Although Carteret and Berkeley's interests be came lodged in proprietary boards, and Penn's estate was managed by agents, the British Isles, and indeed most of Eastern Europe, rang with the PENN ARMS. 186 NEW JERSEY AS A COL advantages of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys as a place where man could find health and liberty and the enjoyment of perfect happiness. Pam phlets, tracts, circulars, broadsides, and volumes of merit spread the gospel of colonization. But it was West Jersey that offered to the prospective settler the rarest advantages. The Delaware, open to the sea, and suitable for the largest ships and the upbuilding of trade, received many tributary streams, sluggish and shallow, whose banks were loamy and fertile. Undeniably was it true that the low and easily tilled plains which swept eastward and southward from the Delaware, the short winters and long, hot sum mers, and the supply of timber made life less rig orous along the Delaware than it was on the banks of the rivers emptying into New York Bay. To the southward were the tidal meadows covered with sea fowl, in the forests game in such abun dance that no man need starve. To the settler were such alluring prospects held out, coupled with the assurance of a stable, democratic form of govern ment. The towns upon the Delaware and its streams sprang into being under the advent of a body of settlers whose customs, modes of life, and desires were directed toward a common object. The Quaker brought to West Jersey a steadfast pur pose, a^pe, niiaybe a dream, that the new colony ONY AND AS A STATE 187 would be a model for the world, but, in a land of plenty and under the influence of an equitable climate, a natural tendency asserted itself. As compared with East Jersey, the unconscious but constant tendency was to develop along the lines of least natural resistance, to use what was pres ent rather than create for the future, and to drift into a state of existence of which the motto was laissez faire. The most characteristic feature of the economic development of West Jersey was the establish ment of a land-owning class. Whether or not this was designed will probably never be known, but certain it is that those who had money or ready credit invested heavily, as the records show, in real estate. As the ownership of land was, at the time, an indication of wealth, the men of the lar gest acreages were given a prominence which nat urally brought with it the best and most profit able relationships in the commercial, political, and religious life of the period. The result was the formation of a plantation-owning aristocracy, which was perpetuated by a certain religious tenet. It was the rule of the Society of Friends to "marry in meeting"; that is the union of a Quaker and a Presbyterian or Episcopalian was not only discountenanced, but was absolutely forbidden, to the degree of religious and social ostracism. Thus 188 NEW JERSEY AS A COL it was that a wealthy member of the Society, hav ing a daughter, sought to unite her in marriage to some worthy young man of another land-owning family, and join the two estates. The result was that thousands of acres came into the possession of comparatively few families. There grew up a social condition not unlike that of tidewater Vir ginia and Maryland, differing, however, in the fact that amusements, diversions, and laxities per mitted in the South were absolutely prohibited in West Jersey. But in so far that the men became wealthy farmers, and owners of saw and grist mills, content to secure the luxuries of life from city merchants, and to use up at home the prod ucts of their farms, the similarity between West Jersey and Virginia or Maryland is perfect. Not only were the two Jerseys different in nat ural advantages, but in the political and religious concepts of the settlers, although the dominant spirit was English, there was marked variation. In East Jersey the small towns became stirring entities, with an intense individuality. In West Jersey the county capitals were surrounded by small satellites. The rigors of stern New England justice spread terror among offenders of Newark, Amboy, and Shrewsbury. In Burlington and Salem no public execution, so far as is known, ever took place. In the one colony the Calvinistic min isters echoed the thunders from Sinai; the other ONY AND AS A STATE 189 repeated again and again the Sermon on the Mount. While the Calvinists cried aloud that there should be some who would forever endure torment, cursed by original sin, the Quakers bent in silent prayer, in the belief that no one who re pented would be lost. One kept the sacred ordi nances; the other threw them all aside. The Cal vinist too often preached the doctrine of lex talionis, the Quaker the doctrine of non-resistance. One had its paid ministry, with glebe and a highly developed organization of its congregations; the other had its " accepted ministers," who received no pay, and with the elders govemed the Society. Among the Calvinists there was a democratic sentiment, naturally engendered by the virility of the faith; among the Quakers a constant bent to ward conservatism, which ultimately served to weaken the Society, but which was its earliest and greatest source of strength. But the religion of neither the Calvinist nor the Quaker was an outward garb. With all the fanati cism and uplifting of a dogma there was an in tensity and earnestness about both that made their denominational fervor something more than a convenience and a mere outward show. At least, Calvinist and Quaker had one object in common, the stamping upon the individual the full force of their religious teaching. This applied equally to his domestic or to his political affairs, in which 190 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY latter phase both faiths tended to strengthen the doctrine that the hope of a nation lies in the establishment and perpetuation of a Christian state. AN EARLY FARM SCENE. CHAPTER X Some Phases of Early Life UPON land which, according to the economic dictum of the time, was mainly, if not entirely, the source of material wealth, the settler of New Jersey based his hopes of per sonal advancement and the ultimate progress of the colony. Thus from the farm sprang the activi ties of the provinces, while toward the fostering of agriculture economic legislation, to a limited degree, was directed. The farmer early became the dominant figure in the provinces. Even the town merchants, the coastwise traders, or those who made bold but limited efforts to transport goods and passengers between Philadelphia and New York were farm owners or were directly interested in the success of crops. Everyone had a knowledge, more or less intimate, of agricultural life, while even in such towns as Salem, Burlington, Newark, Elizabeth- town, and Perth Amboy markets were established by law, and the daughters of the aristocracy were skilled, if not in farming, at least in a knowledge of the products of the fields and the current prices for produce. But from the beginning a difference between the farms of East and West Jersey is noticeable. In the eastern division the holdings were smaller, except probably among the Dutch, the land being more intensely cultivated. This was due some- 194 NEW JERSEY AS A COL what to the nature of the soil, and the fact that a commercial spirit was more prevalent than in West Jersey. In the western division the settlers took up large tracts, and through the consolidation of estates, owing to intermarriages of members of the Society of Friends and a general observance of the rule of primogeniture, acre was laid to acre, until West Jersey passed under the control of compara tively few families. Consequently the growth of a landed aristocracy was a logical conclusion. While many of West Jersey's landed proprietors, by their interests in timber and in trade, were enabled to maintain their estates, others were plunged hope lessly in debt, as the result of improvident and ex pensive methods of cultivation. This condition be came apparent long before theoutbreakof the Revo lutionary War, and caused young men in such fam ilies to "clear "less desirable but cheaper land in the " Pines," or to engage in business in Philadelphia. But either in East or West Jersey life upon the colonial plantation presented hardships of which the modem farmer has no realization. In West Jersey, along the sea shore, the houses were built entirely of wood. Along the shores of Delaware Bay and River the homes were frequently of brick, most of which were made in America, some, how ever, being imported from England in ship bal last. In the region of the Dutch settlements, in fact generally throughout East Jersey, beyond the ONY AND AS A STATE 195 limits of tidewater, stone was used in house con struction, although brick was sometimes em ployed. But in all cases the houses were without conveniences. Open fires, with wood for fuel, roared up vast chimneys, but little heat being re flected into the room. As a consequence the aver age temperature in homes was colder, but the air was purer, than to-day. In the kitchen the cook stove, the range, or a sanitary system of plumbing were unknown. Boiling, frying, and stewing were done over or in front of the yawning fireplace. In the summer time the kitchen heat was in tense, particularly as the doors and windows of rooms were small. To add to the discomfort flies and other winged insects had free passage to rooms, as screens were not used. At night taUow dip and wax candles supplied illumination in the homes of the better class, while among the poor) pine-knots served as agencies of artificial light. Nor were the remaining portions of the hous no matter how attractively described in the let ters and newspaper advertisements of the time^ ^,5,.,^ jersey gentleman. attractive in the modern sense. But few homes in all New Jersey could boast carpets, and fewer still had wall paper or curtains. In all New Jer sey there was probably not a bathtub. In most of the fann houses one room, the " best " or parlor, was set aside in stately gloom as a domestic holy of holies, to be opened upon occasion of funerals, 196 NEW JERSEY AS A COL weddings, and the arrival of notable guests. The remaining portions of the house were generally used, domestic duties being performed by " re demptioners," slaves, or apprentices, under the direction of the mistress or her daughters. The education of women was distinctively of a domestic character. Rare indeed was the young woman of the period who had ever seen a novel; had heard music other than the wail of the violin at a dance or the high pitched nasal twang of the itinerant teacher of singing; or had seen the belles of PhUadelphia upon Second Street or the beaux of New York upon lower Broadway. The life upon the farm, as seen from the modern view point, was little more than mere existence. For men and women, alike, hours of activity were regulated largely by the " forwardness " of the crops, the longest working hours being during the time of planting Indian corn, in May, and the har vesting of grain in June and July. Winter brought relief from hard work, but the practice of early rising was observed by many throughout the year. Benjamin Franklin later collected the aphorisms of the farm within the pages of Poor Richard's Almanac, a book but little less revered than the Bible, but among all the sayings none had wider credit than Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. .¦!OLO>riAL PLOW WITH WOorir.N MOLDBOARD (1706). ONY AND AS A STATE 197 Among the most cultivated the standard of liv ing had by no means reached the point of modern refinement. Throughout both East and West Jer sey the food for every one, masters and servants alike, was coarse and limited in variety. Many of the vegetables and fruits were either not raised or only found upon the tables of the rich. Salted meats, fish, and meats, — particularly pork, — with fresh deer or bear, plenty of rye bread and milk, beans, potatoes, turnips, carrots, and cabbage were the staple articles of diet. Butter was rare. As a luxury some few families preserved apples and peaches in stone jugs, otherwise fruits and vegetables were enjoyed only " in season." Rum, gin, small beer, metheglin, tea, coffee, and choco late were favorite and in some instances expensive drinks. Immediately previous to the Revolution one meets a reference to an ice house, but such a lux ury was reserved only for the most luxurious. The well, which usually supplied the home with water, which was much less used, outwardly or inwardly, than at present, served as the refrigera tor. For the family the plantation supplied all the wood necessary for fuel. Amid so prosaic surroundings there were some who revolted. Here and there a young girl must needs be disciplined, because she preferred the in dependency of elderly maidenhood, which came at 198 NEW JERSEY AS A COL GRINDING CORN. twenty-five, rather than marry at sixteen or seven teen and become a matron. In the newspapers of the middle of the eighteenth century an occa sional letter from some well meaning plantation owner appeared, wherein a Jersey farmer com plains that the young women seek fashion and ease rather than the charms of butter making, weaving, spinning, and cooking. Some even went so far as to be neglectful in preparing with their own hands their linen sheets, woolen blankets, and flowered counterpanes against their marriage — a state of affairs for which the writer was devoutly thankful, because no such lapses occurred in his day. Then, as now, the young men sought careers in jthe merchant marine or in the counting houses of the nearby cities. Once more, said the sages of the press, by such a course would the province suffer in a decrease in population and the best blood be drained away from the farms. In view of such facts modem argument along the same lines presents no novelty. Upon the farms local industries came into exist ence, dependent, in their character, upon environ ment. Along the sea coast fish and sea weed were used for fertilizing purposes by the more progress ive, while lime was obtained by burning oyster and clam shells. The advantages of marl were known to the earlier settlers, and small pits were ONY AND AS A STATE 199 opened in Monmouth and BurUngton Counties, al though it was not until after the Revolution that marl came into general favor. Work upon the farm was conducted largely by three classes of laborers. There were the slaves — both negro and Indian, — the redemptioners, and the apprentices. Of these classes the slaves occu pied the lowest social status. Although in New Jersey legislation concerning the slaves was less rigorous than in the Southern States, the attitude of the law makers, representing the trend of popu lar thought, was sufficiently severe to stamp upon the negro and Indian peoples all the characteris tics of the peculiar institution. The early slave districts can be deflned by means of wills and newspaper advertisements with some degree of accuracy. Among the Dutch settlements, and throughout the South Jersey plantations, slave owning was more prevalent than among the Calvinistic towns of East Jersey. Members of the Society of Friends, in spite of the uncompromising attitude of John Woolman and the protests of the meetings, continued to own slaves during the colonial period. The impulse to utilize such labor in a region where land was fer tile and easily tilled overrode a moral view. It may be said that the members of the Society treated their bondmen with consideration, and 200 NEW JERSEY AS A COL that manumissions, not only during the lifetime of the owner, but by will, were frequent. The redemptioner was, to a degree, a social anomaly. As indicated by the name, the redemp tioner was an immigrant who, seeking a new home on the Western Continent, practically agreed to sell himself or herself before leaving a European port, the actual sale being made to some purchaser upon arrival in America and the money utilized to pay for the immigrant's passage over-sea. All strata of society were represented among the redemptioners, most of whom, in New Jersey, were Palatinate Germans, Scotch, English, Irish, and Scotch-Irish. Sons of good families, street waifs, soldiers of fortune, young girls fresh from farms, dissolute women from the purlieus of Lon don and the great cities, some in search of a new home, some desiring to reform wayward lives, some seeking adventure, were huddled upon ships and brought to Philadelphia, New York, Salem, Burlington, and Amboy. Once landed, they were offered to the highest bidder, placed on show like cattle, and hurried off to nearby farms, to become assimilated in a population which was yet shifting and heterogeneous. The advertisements of these sales crowd the columns of the newspapers of the day. The boys were " likely " and " willing," the girls " hearty " and used to " country work." Here and there was one who could serve as a school- ONY' AND AS A STATE 201 master, as a " taylor," or as a shoemaker. Others there were who had trades, and many were " pock- fretten." Once in the hands of a new master the life of the redemptioner was more distasteful than that of the slave. Some owners recognized that their tenure over the life and liberty of the redemption er was brief and uncertain, and, moved by selfish impulses, cruelly overworked their bondmen. As a result the redemptioner often performed more degrading labor than the slave, and was treated with greater severity. Under such circumstances escapes were frequent, the advertisements in the newspapers described with great particularity the personal appearance and dress of the fugitive. Rewards, usually proportioned to the length of years the redemptioner had to serve, were offered, and from time to time notices appeared in the public prints advising those interested that re demptioners had been " taken up " and were held in the common jails awaiting proper proofs of ownership. In the mutations of fortune the positions of mas ter and redemptioner were occasionally reversed. Upon completing his time a redemptioner would obtain possession of land, and, by successful ventures, become a proprietor. His sons would marry the daughters of his former master, and families in the State trace their genealogies to JOLONIAL HORSKSHOEh. 202 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ¦.>«.!;> 3NUFF BOXES. such alliances. Nor was it uncommon for the re demptioner to secure a position in after life as one of His Majesty's justices, although he seldom aspired to a seat in the House of Assembly or hoped for a place in council. The indentured servant was sometimes from abroad, but usually from the locality in which his or her master or mistress lived. Bound under agreement to learn a given art, trade, or mystery, the bound boy or girl entered a family, occupied a better position than that of the slave or redemptioner, and, under certain conditions of social life, became one of the family. Among the Society of Friends many of the sons of the wealthy plantation owners were indentured, under an economic phase of the religious teachings of the Society, to the effect that every man should ossess and practice a trade or occupation. Thus it was that trained artisans were to be found throughout the Quaker settlements of the west ern portion of the province. The same rule to a more limited degree was observed in the eastern division. A map of the early settlements of New Jersey would show that few towns were located beyond the head of tidewater. Those clustering along the banks of the rivers emptying ultimately into New York Bay, those on the northem and eastern shores of old Monmouth, as well as Cape May, ONY AND AS A STATE 203 Salem, Newton, Burlington, Bordentown, and Trenton, were identified to a greater or less degree with maritime interests. In every community of colonial importance there were ship carpenters. Vessel building, at first for the whaling and coasting trade and later for West India service, was prosecuted with success in spite of acts of Parliament restraining trade and navigation. An abundance of ship timber, particularly oak and pine, and a population accustomed to the sea — ex cept the Huguenots and the German Palatines, — made the colonial merchant marine of the Jerseys famous along the Atlantic Coast. From Amboy and Salem, the main ports of East and West Jer sey, yachts, snows, schooners, and larger craft en tered and cleared for every sea-coast town from Boston to Charleston. Many of the vessels built in the Jerseys were registered in New York or Philadelphia, inasmuch as capital in those cities was largely interested in their construction. Seafaring life, however, in colonia] times possessed dangers far beyond those encountered at the present day. The wild coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May was uninhabited save by isolated and often temporary settlements of beach-men. It was not until 1764 that the first lighthouse at Sandy Hook was erected, nor until the middle of the nineteenth century that an or ganized lifesaving service was established, after 204 NBW JERSEY AS A COL years of agitation on the part of the late Governor William A. Newell, a member of Congress from New Jersey in 1847-49 and governor of the State in 1856-59. The coasting vessels were ill-equipped and ill- provisioned, but lacked nothing in the fearless ness and the hardihood of their crews. Every captain of standing in his profession was a pilot, had served " before the mast," and had attained position through sheer merit. It was also neces sary that he should be skilled in the use of arms, and every coastwise craft, no matter how large or small, was prepared to meet the " free traders," whose cabins contained the flags of all nations, but particularly the sinister banner of piracy. Of the latter gentry much has been written, the very romance of the subject leading to a strange confusion of fact and fancy. In spite of the efforts of the home govemment to break up piracy on the American coast, the life itself, and the hope of great reward, led the authorities to wink at " expeditions " of various kinds and to even share in the proflts, if some of the earlier writers are worthy of credence. Until well into the eighteenth century pirates lay at the entrance to Delaware Bay and stood outside Sandy Hook. To young men seeking adventure cruising in pirate craft gave opportunities for " seeing the world " and taking part in a contest which was ONY AND AS A STATE 205 as much a trial of seamanship as it was an effort to secure ill-gotten gain. It is believed that dur ing these wars of England with Continental pow ers, for a period of one hundred years previous to the Revolution, letters under the authority of the custom officers of New Jersey were issued under specious devices, but which practically au thorized piratical voyages. The spirit of piracy actuated much colonial trading, particularly in the West Indies. Freedom from capture was nat urally of greater merit than more ethical consider ations. Upon the high seas human life and the rights of property were of less worth than upon land, both because of the difficulty of enforcing admiralty law and the greater freedom of a ship where the crew was often changed and the mas ter's will was the sole source of power. An industry, now abandoned, but once so ac tively prosecuted as to be extremely profltable, led to the settlement of the seashore fronts of Cape May, Atlantic, and Ocean Counties. The pres ence of whales upon the coast of New Jersey caused Long Island and New England whalers to send fishermen to the southward. Settling tem porarily, and lastly permanently, near Cape May and Tuckerton, the whalers in their small but stanch boats ranged the coast from Sandy Hook to the eastern shore. That the industry was of importance is shown by the instructions to Gov- 206 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY ernor Gawen Lawry, given at London, July 20, 1683, which provide that he should " take particu lar inspection into the conveniency of fishing * * * especially as to the whale fishing, which we [the Proprietors] desire may be encouraged," * * * lest the fishermen should be drawn else where for want of due encouragement." In West Jersey Chapter IX of the Acts of October, 1693, provided that all persons not resident of the province or Pennsylvania " who shall kill or bring to shore any whale or whales in Delaware Bay, * * * shall pay one full and entire tenth of all the oyl and bone made out of the said whale or whales unto the present Govemor of this Province for the time being." In 1685 the whalers of Cape May, some of whom were French servants in the employ of the Coxe interest, became involved in litigation, which threatened the well being of the little settlement. Record is made of the appearance of whales in New York and Delaware Bays during the colonial period, and as late as 1830 one of the whaling families on Long Beach was still engaged in a des- ^^mtory manner in the capture of the whale. With the introduction of mineral oils, and the substitu tion of steel and celluloid for whalebone, as well as on account of the extermination of the whales, Jthe industry was in time abandoned. ~^-f^^X^ ^^tS' CHAPTER XI The Union of the Jee.seys THE transfer of the rights of proprie tary government of the Jerseys to the crown was the culmination of a short but effective period of polit ical agitation. Upon the one side the proprietors of both divisions were involved in constant expense and trouble; upon the other the people were restive and clamorous for some per manent form of govemment in which responsi bUity was lodged. Action in the matter was first taken by the East Jersey board, which presented to the " Council of Trade and Foreign Planta tions " a " Memorial," which was prepared in the latter part of 1698 or the early months of 1699. The East Jersey proprietors claimed vested title to the soil under the grant from Charles II to James, Duke of York, and subsequent mesne con veyances, with powers of government, which pow ers they offered to surrender in toto. This action would be taken by them provided the crown would confirm the title to the soil and lands of the prov ince, and the quit-rents reserved upon the grants made or to be made; Perth Amboy made a port of entry and export; free trade with the In dians continued; and a judicial system, with a superior court, separate from New York be estab lished. It was also desired that Perth Amboy should be the place of public record for the colony aswell as for the board, that county representation 210 NEW JERSEY AS A COL similar to that of New York in the Assembly be guaranteed, and that the council should contain a proportionate number of East Jerseymen. The proprietors further requested that they might " hold courts for the lands in their propriety- ships," that religious freedom be preserved, that the proprietors retain the right to grant licenses for fairs and markets, and that all lands, goods, and chattels of traitors, felons, deodands, fugitives, persons outlawed and put in exigent, waifs, estrays, treasure trove, mines and minerals, royal mines, wrecks, royal fish that shall be forfeited, found, or taken within East Jersey remain with the proprietors. To this the council made answer practically accepting the fundamental proposi tions, saving the establishment of Perth Amboy as a port and the equality of New Jersey with New York in Assembly representation. West Jersey, apparently, took no separate ac tion, except through her proprietors signing with the East Jersey board a united " humble " memo rial presented to the Lords Justices of England. This petition is undated, but was probably writ ten about 1699. Between the council and the pro prietors a compromise was effected. In consider ation of the acceptance of the surrender the pro prietors withdrew their claim that Perth Amboy should be made a port of entry, and the discussion of the basis of representation was obviated. A com- ONY AND AS A STATE 211 promise grew out of a second " Memorial " signed by both the Bast and West Jersey boards and pre sented to the King in August, 1701. The matter being referred to the Board of Trade, the opinion was handed down by that body that as there was no right of government existing in the proprie tors it was expedient for the crown to assume the government of the provinces, and to appoint a suitable governor under instruction. One of the first official acts of Queen Anne, who came to the English throne early in 1702, was the acceptance of the full and unconditional sur render of the right of govemment by deed of the West Jersey and East Jersey proprietors. The governmental change, so auspiciously insti tuted, was threatened with dire disaster through the stupid personality of the appointing power and the weakness and cupidity of the appoint^ Queen Anne was but ill advised, and this, c bined with her wilfulness, led to the selecti Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, whose manif< faults, in charity, may be charged to degeneracy. Lord Cornbury, bearing his governor's commis sion, arrived in New Jersey in 1703, and met the colonial Legislature in Perth Amboy in November of that year. In accordance with ancient custom, but unquestionably as a test concerning the gov ernor's policy, its members made four demands to the effect that they with their servants be free Anne, second daughter of James II ; b. Feb. 6, 1665 ; succeeded William III, Marcli 8, 170a ; d. Aug. 1, 1714. 212 NEW JERSEY AS A COL from arrest or molestation during the session, that they have free access to the governor's pres ence when occasion required, that liberty of speech in debate be allowed, and that the house and coun cil reconcile, through their committees, all differences arising between them. To the last demand the govemor refused to comply, althous'h assenting to the rest. Under the rebuke the As sembly smarted, but proceeded with their duties. Cornbury had proved himself inimical to the rights of the people, which position he intensified by attempting to sit in judgment upon the quali fications of three West Jersey members of the house for the purpose of declaring their seats va cant while he had passed certain personal legis lation. The influence of this disturbance went abroad throughout the colony. Popular sentiment against Cornbury was aroused, the opponents of the governor centering around Samuel Jenings, speaker of the house, and Lewis Morris. After a display of bitterness, occasioned by the governor's appointing a favorite as secretary of the Legislature, the house, in May, 1707, resolved itself into a " grand " committee, resolving to lay their grievances " and the Arbitrary and Corrupt Practices of his ExcelF The lord Cornbury at her Maj'ts Royall feet." To this end a petition to the Queen, a letter to one of Her Majesty's secretaries ONY AND AS A STATE 213 of state, and an address to the governor were pre pared. In the address the charges against Corn bury show not only his willful disregard for the terms of his instructions, but evince his spirit of political corruption that ever followed this profli gate lord. He had, according to the Assembly, foisted upon public office " mean and mercenary men," had failed to attend to his office in New Jersey, had allowed murderers under sentence of death to go at large, had undertaken to establish court fees without legislative consent, and, among other matters, had refused members of the Legis lature the right to take their seats. To this the governor made an inconsequent and vaporous re ply, pouring out his spleen upon Jenings and Mor ris, the popular leaders. No action being taken, the breach grew wider and wider and owing at last to remonstrances from the Assembly of New Jersey Cornbury, in 1708, was removed from his position as governor of New Jersey. A like action was later taken in New York, although in the meantime his creditors had confined him in jail. Cornbury retumed to England, where he became third Earl of Clare: don, and died in 1723. Although with the departure of Comb colony became outwardly quiescent, the the governor did lived after him. In it^ ^sSUrse it was far-reaching as affecting the destinies GOVERNOR CORNBURY IN FEMALE ATTIRE. 214 NBW JERSEY AS A COLONY the colony. It lay in the power of the first royal governor to correct abuses of the past, strengthen the loyalty of the present, and lay broad plans for the future. But Cornbury had no aspirations be yond the gratification of his selfish lusts. While engaged in attaining his own ends he sacrificed the hopes of an empire and paved the way for a spirit of resistance, first directed toward the gov ernors of the crown and then against the crown itself. The Assembly first learned its power; the peo ple recognized that no divinity hedged in a gov ernor, although he represented in himself the per son of his sovereign. It was but the first uncon scious step toward that which even in dreams would have been treason — the independence of the colonv. %iii fli '"III 'll l"ii THE FIRST MAP OP NEW YORK CITY. CHAPTER XII The GovepvNor, Council, and Assembly WITH the acceptance, on AprU 17, 1702, of the surrender of gov ernment, by deed of the proprie tors of East Jersey and the pro prietors of West Jersey, Queen Anne in her " Instructions," given, on the 16th day of November, 1702, to Governor Cornbury, pro vided for the government of the colony. These " Instructions," although in no sense organic law, were an unmistakable exposition of the attitude of the crown toward Her Majesty's colony of New Jersey. As these " Instructions " were repeated, in sub stance if not in form, for the guidance of succeed ing royal gov^ernors, and as the frame of govern ment depended upon their observance, their plan and scope, as affecting the executive and legis lative departments of the colony, are worthy of examination. The governor's duties under the " Instructions " were to see that all laws be en acted in the name and style " by the Governor, Council, and Assembly," and that the titles of all statutes conform to the subject matter, before being sent to England for approval. Upon the governor was laid the duty of providing for the levying of money or imposing fines and penalties, to raise money necessary for the provision of gov ernment and his own salary as well as that of his successors, and to levy customs duties and imposi- 218 NEW JERSEY AS A COL tions on all exports and imports of the province. The governor was also directed to prevent the purchase of Indian lands, as well as to suppress piracy, nor was he to erect any court, not before established, without special order. Lord Cornbury was further directed to have i>versight that no man's life, member, freehold, or goods be taken away or harmed otherwise than by due process of law; that liberty of conscience be allowed to every one "except Papists"; that Quakers be allowed to affirm; and that the Book of Common Prayer be read and the sacraments of the Church of England be properly administered. The liberty of the press was restrained to the ex tent that no press be set up in the province unless by the governor's order. For the organization of the council twelve members were provided, to whom the " Suprem acy " oath, guaranteeing the succession of the Protestant line, and the " Test " oath, " for pre venting dangers which may happen from Popish recusants," were to be administered. These coun cillors were to be chosen equally between Bast and West Jersey. The council and governor were to act as a court of errors, under certain specified conditions, appeals lying thence to the Privy Council in England. The Assembly was directed to be composed of twenty-four representatives, two from Perth Am- ONY AND AS A STATE 219 boy, two from Burlington, ten from East Jersey, and ten from West Jersey. A property qualifica tion required that every member of the Assembly should have one thousand acres of an estate in freehold, and every elector have one hundred acres in a similar estate. Allowing for certain local conditions, the simi larity between this frame of government and that of other royal colonies is apparent. The govern or represented in his person the might, dominion, majesty, and power of his sovereign. Around him was his council, composed of men favorable to the administration, individuals of influence and wealth. The council and governor selected the justices of the Supreme Court, the judges of the county court, justices of the peace, the sheriffs and certain minor county officers, to whom com missions were issued under the great seal of the colony. The governor was also chancellor, and commander-in-chief of the land and naval forces of the colony. The elective franchise was granted to but a por tion of the people, and was confined to their choice of representatives to sit in the General Assembly. Property qualifications limited the number ot voters as well as restrained the list of those who could sit in the lower house. Under such a poUt ical atmosphere, with the crown " as the fountain of all justice," and the interests of the colonists 220 NEW JERSEY AS A COL subservient thereto, there arose an early spirit of unrest that, growing with the years, finally broke into organized opposition. From the intrusion of Govemor Cornbury until the expulsion of Governor Franklin there appear certain distinctive features in the political history of the colony. Certain conditions occur and recur with modifications of time and circumstances. For seventy-five years there was friction between the governor and his council upon one side and the House of Assembly upon the other. The chief executive was usually a member of the Church of England, which, struggling for general recognition in the colony, made head largely by reason of royal pro tection. The governors surrounded themselves with representatives of the landed interests of West Jersey, or wealthy merchants and men of estate in East Jersey. Except in a few instances the governors had the support of the Society of Friends, whose property required protection and who were adherents of constituted authority. In the house the restive spirit was often led by men in whose veins flowed the blood of the Cove nanters, for all through the long quarrels be tween the governor and the Assembly it was East Jerseymen who were most active in the defense of their political rights. The points of difference which tended to dis- ONY AND AS A STATE 221 turb the relations between the govemor, his coun cil, and the Assembly were mainly of an economic character. The poverty of New Jersey, whether pretended or real, was constantly before the eyes of the governors. Although the words of welcome extended to the Assembly by the governor might be complimentary, and the reply couched in re spectful if not admiring language, the salary list soon brought a drop of venom to the surface of the smiling waters in the cup of peace. Then would the Assembly refuse to grant moneys for the gov ernor's stipend, followed by the demand for a flat money, the issuance of such paper currency being first allowed by the crown as a war measure. Throughout the years the undercurrent of re sistance grew stronger and stronger. It ran so deep that few realized its importance. The royal governors, basking in the light of royal favor and hoping for preferment, were apparently totally in different to its existence. It was an unorganized movement, but in the light of history its course can be readily discerned. A recent writer has shown that many of the emigrants, who earlier were homeless and friendless, had become tenants of the large landowners or had acquired small holdings, but not enough to entitle them to suf frage. Lying as it did between New York and Philadelphia, both of which cities were growing in importance. New Jersey was crossed and re- 222 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL crossed by a drifting class of adventurers, men who seized upon an outcry to disturb the public peace, held forth to ill-informed audiences in way side taverns, or encouraged redemptioners and other short-term slaves to run away from their masters. These elements and the small farmer, urged on by the adventurers, were the first to pro test against the limitations of the franchise, the severity of the criminal laws, the method of ap pointing judges, and the general static conditions prevalent in the colony. As early as 1710 there are traces of the sentiment, " taxation without representation," in the expressions of opinion by members of the Assembly, while the unpublished records of the Supreme Court show several trials and convictions for treasonable utterances public ly made by more than one unfortunate agitator. Added to the local conditions was the stupid, stultifying policy of the home government. Al though not personally responsible, the governor, charged with the execution of the acts of Parlia ment, was compelled to bear the odium of enforc ing objectionable legislation. Briefly it may be stated that England regarded New Jersey and her other transatlantic colonies merely as sources of revenue, whence could be drawn money and food. " Crushed competition " was the cry of the Eng Ush and Scottish workingman, and in the process of destroying the economic life of her dependen- ONY AND AS A STATE 223 cies she lost them forever. One of the State his torians has tersely stated that in New Jersey, by legislation England throttled the bog-iron forges for the benefit of her home laborers; prohibited the exportation of American woolen goods; restricted the sale of wooden staves and hoops, sought to confine the trade in beaver hats, and refused, as a crowning exhibition of economic weakness, to permit a free circulation of money. The colony was placed upon the weakest possible economic basis. With a paper currency, which depreciated with every adverse wind that blew. New Jersey relied upon so frail a medium of ex change. There was also a congested circulation of European gold, silver, and copper. The minted coin quickly fell into the hands of the merchants and landowners, who contracted and expanded the circulating medium, either unintentionally or otherwise. With poor roads, ineffective mail service, and other instruments of association blunted or neg lected, the condition of the colony was unques tionably in need of relief. Although the legislation passed by Parliament to thus hamper economic growth was copious, it may be resolved, according to John Bach McMas ter, into four distinct elements: 1. It was required that colonial trade should be carried on in ships built and owned in Eng- 224 NEW JERSEY AS A COL land or in the colonies, two-thirds of the crew to consist of English subjects. 2. Most of the products of the colonies could be sent only to England. Certain products could be shipped to any port in the world, but these products were few in number. 3. Intercolonial commerce was prohibited to the extent that, if a given article which went from one colony to another was of a kind that might have been supplied from England, it must either go to England and be transshipped to the purchas ing colony, or pay an export duty, where it was shipped, equal to the import duty it would have to pay in England. 4. All goods forwarded from Europe to Amer ica must first be sent to England. To enforce these regulations there grew up in New Jersey a spy-system, which affected every merchant, every vessel owner, and every trader. Naturally there was much violation of the law, although many of the most active smugglers were never brought to justice. The crown officials, col lectors of customs, revenue inspectors, and the like were often men who held their offices as re wards for services rendered the home government, and, as they were practically autocrats in their little spheres, they profited accordingly. The moral effect upon the business sense of the com munity was bad, and the most enterprising smug- ONY AND AS A STATE 225 gler — provided he was successful — was duly ad mired by the masses, not only for his boldness, but because he had outwitted the crown officers, or had purchased their silence. It was under such conditions as these that even an intense loyalty became shaken, and that men of affairs, whose careers had been made possible through royal recognition, were willing at last to cast the fateful die, and in a revolution be willing to risk their lives, fortunes, and devotion to their sovereign for the sake of right and for the sake of a principle. Jf. fO(f. Jf.tos: /sy. ISS. ISA. >4 JO IS6. /6S. ISZ /J 9. Jf.tf^. jr.ns. J'.ZZi^. 166. 5 m. 16a. lU OD 16a ZSJ - n>3. IS3. /<.# 1/6 "-y- ISO. 161. ISI. % 16',. zes. ,67. S^. ZS6. BERaEN ANO BUYTKK TOYN IN 1660. CHAPTER XIII The Beginnings of Transportation THE Indian, who in his " dugout " canoe paddled his way fearlessly through the rifts and rapids of the Delaware, or, unmindful of its ma jestic beauty, fished in the silent waters at the mouth of the Hudson, gave to the Swedish and Dutch settlers their first method of transportation upon the internal waterways of a new land. Although slow to adopt most devices of the redmen, the immigrants took kindly to the canoe, and found in it a safer and much swifter method of reaching sparsely settled communities than in the employment of their sturdy but cum bersome rowboats and yawls. Nor were the Eng lish less impressed by the canoe. With them, somewhat modified in lines and improved in com fort, the canoe came into general use. Such a method of transportation was a prime necessity. Only by such means could association be had among those widely scattered settlements which dotted the mouths of creeks emptying into tide water in the eastern and western divisions. In letters of the time reference is made to the canoe, and, when occasion arises, with sufficient praise. With the growth of population the demand came for better methods. The yacht and schooner appear, and shipyards dot the shores of the rivers and streams in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia. The Swedes and Dutch had already VIEW OF NEW YORK IN 1673. 230 NEW JERSEY AS A COL built some vessels of size, and the English under took the construction of larger craft. Along the Monmouth shore, at EUzabeth and at Newark, there was a growing trade and an increasing com munity of interests. In West Jersey, owing to the wide, shallow streams, marshes, and heavy forests, association among the river-front towns was al most impossible except by water. The conditions demanded serviceable river craft, strong enough, indeed, to undertake the voyage along the sea coast between New York and Philadelphia. Following the establishment of this form of communication came the construction of roads — mere trails, indeed, following the wanderings of the Indian paths and along the lines of least nat ural resistance, but roads sufficient for all pur poses. In East Jersey most of the roads were established by orders of the court or by direction of the town authorities. In general terms these roads extended northward and westward along the river valleys, projected to the settlements sit uated upon the Hackensack and Passaic, and reaching Newark. Thence a road ran to Elizabeth- town and to Elizabethport, thence to Amboy and to Inian's Ferry (now New Brunswick). A series of roads and paths connected the towns on the north Monmouth shore. In West Jersey a road extended from the Falls of the Delaware (Trenton) to Crosswicks, thence ONY AND AS A STATE 231 to Burlington, to Newton, to Salem, and later to Cohanzy Bridge (Bridgeton). In Burlington and Gloucester Counties side roads connected thia main highway with the settlements in the " back country." A road extended from Portsmouth (Cape May Town) to Somer's Point and thence by trail to Tuckerton. At best these roads were little more than paths, yet over them rode the members of the Assembly and council, judges of the court, and merchants. In the carrying of goods both packhorses and the sturdy backs of Indian and negro slaves were em ployed. The latter were usually sent in the care of some competent supervisor, although the cus tom early disappeared, the horse remaining until a much later day. But while the two divisions of the State were en abled to sustain local relations there was, for the time, a barrier which separated East and West Jersey and rendered association between the two provinces most difficult. Between New Brunswick and Trenton lies a narrow waste of land, about thirty miles in width, which for many years prevented communication. Through this wilderness there was an Indian trail, along or near which, in 1695, the Legislature of East Jer sey provided for the reconstruction of an existing public road. The earliest evidences of a direct and perma- SLEIGH OF 1788. 232 NEW JERSEY AS A COL nent association between the Delaware and Rari tan Rivers appear in the announcement made in the American Weekly Mercury, January, 1737-38, when to " Accommodate the Public " it was an nounced that a " stage waggon " would run on Mondays and Thursdays from Trenton to New Brunswick, returning from New Brunswick on Tuesdays and Fridays. The rates were 2s.6d. each passenger. A summer stage was " fitted up with Benches and Cover'd over, so that Passengers may sit Easy and Dry." As early as 1723 a stage ran twice a week be tween Trenton (presumably from Morrisville) and Philadelphia. Later, in 1728, a stage was in readi ness at Bedford's Ferry, opposite Amboy, to trans port goods and passengers to Burlington " when ever Freight presents," and in 1733 two wagons were announced as " intending to go from Burling ton to Amboy and back from Amboy to Burling ton again. Once every Week or offt'er if that Business presents." These latter ventures prob ably proved unprofitable, as no further reference to them appears. In 1740 the Trenton- Amboy line again appears, which soon had a formidable rival in the line suc cessfully projected and for many years sustained by Joseph Borden, founder of Bordentown. In the spring of 1740 he announced a " stage wag on " to run from Bordentown to Perth Amboy, ONY AND AS A STATE 233 and what was evidently another line from Amboy to Crosswicks Bridge and thence " if Lading pre sents " to Burlington. In 1750 Daniel O'Brien, who, according to the New York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post Boy, " put up at Mr. John Thompson's at the Thistle and Crown known by the Name of ' Scotch John- ney's,' " gives notice to " Gentlemen and Ladies " that he conducts a " Stage boat ? » * if Wind and Weather permit," from New York to Amboy, and thence by stage to Bordentown, where another stage boat runs to Philadelphia. The rates are the same as between New Bruns wick and Trenton and " the Roads generally drier." In 1752, from an advertisement of Joseph Borden, Jr., it is learned that the trip from Phila delphia to New Y''ork consumed from thirty to forty hours, which under the same management in 1753 was cut down to twenty-four hours, the wag on route consuming a day. In the same year a wagon from New Brunswick to Trenton was run with a " stage boat " from Trenton Ferry to Phila delphia. A contemporaneous Burlington com pany, to promote " the general good of mankind in increasing and facilitating trade and com merce," offered " stage waggons " and " stage boats " between Philadelphia and New York, claiming that Borden's twenty-four trip is hyper- 234 NEW JERSEY AS A COL bole, and that his stage boat is " frequently three tides upon the water." For several years the Burlington-Bordentown competition raged furiously, and finally died out as travel was diverted to the land route from Philadelphia. On June 16, 1757, appears an ad vertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette to the ef fect that on Tuesdays a stage would run from Philadelphia to Trenton Ferry and thence on Wednesdays to New Brunswick and the Blazing Star Tavern kept by Jacob Randolph, where pas sengers and goods will reach New York that night. In 1759 a new route from Philadelphia to New York was opened from Daniel Cooper's Ferry (Camden) to Mount Holly, thence to Mid dletown and Sandy Hook, and by boat to New York, with a branch line to Shrewsbury. In 1759 a four-horse stage was projected between Stirling Iron Works and the Landing. The growth of these " stage waggon " and " stage boat " routes is indicative of a develop ment, not only of the colony itself, but of con stantly increasing association between Philadel phia and New York. Nor was this all. Philadel phia was the center of the young settlements that lined the frontier (the Allegheny Mountains) as well as the rapidly growing territory which lay alongthe vatleyoftTre Schuylkill and its tributary streams. Into J^lUailgJphia came merchants from - h^-i\ AN EABLY TAVERN YARD. ONY AND AS A STATE 235 Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland, and even the Carolinas. New York drew from the valley of the Hudson and all the settled portions of New England. There were signs of united action, not only political, but commercial, in the colonial sky. The two cities were slowly becoming associated, and were reaching out across New Jersey, through the Bordens, O'Brien, and the Burlington Com pany, for a better and more permanent acquaint anceship. The pioneers in this primitive system of transportation have been forgotten, but their efforts and the efforts of others like them, in many places through the colonies, were agencies in making national unity a possibility. By the opening of the Revolutionary War there were several systems of roads in New Jersey. One reached southward from Cooper's Ferry (Camden) to Gloucester, Woodbury, Raccoon, Penn's Neck, Salem, Greenwich, Cohanzy, and thence by Maurice River to Cape May. From Cape May a road skirted the shore until it reached the main road leading from Burlington to the vicinity of Tuckerton. From Burlington roads radiated to Moorestown, Mount Holly, and Bayrestown, while the road from Camden paralleled the river to Bordentown and Trenton. This embraced the main arteries of travel in Southern New Jersey. From Bordentown and Trenton to the Raritan 236 NEW^ JERSEY AS A COL River two roads, one direct to New Brunswick, the other a few miles to the eastward — the old stage roads, — were well defined. On the north shore of Monmouth County Freehold was con nected with Shrewsbury and Cranbury, and Crosswicks with Middletown and New Brunswick. The Raritan Valley was a network of roads con necting the towns of the Dutch settlements, not only with the villages on the Delaware as far west as Phillipsburg, but with Trenton and the South. From Phillipsburg a great road extended north east through Oxford to Walpack. Here a branch ran to the tri-States line, while a fork extended along the drowned lands to Goshen, N. Y., and thence to the Hudson. At Oxford was the west ern end of a road leading through Hackettstown, Sucassunny, and Mendham, to Morristown. From Morristown there were roads to Hackensack and to Woodbridge. From what is now Jersey City a road ran along the Palisades to Haverstraw, and thence north, while another highway extended through Schraalenburg and Ringwood. The con gested centers north of the Raritan and east of the hill country, including Metuchen, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Elizabethtown, Rahway, New ark, and the region now known as Paterson, were thoroughly united. Upon the public highways there were some highwaymen and not a few horse thieves. Of the ONY AND AS A STATE 237 latter Tom Bell, a noted character in his day and the hero of many exploits, is best remembered. But the State appears to have been singularly free from depredations of this class of crim inals, although the opportunities offered them were abundant. The prompt and efficacious ad ministration of criminal law, and the severe pen alties prescribed for such offenses, acted as a re straint upon this element and led to few but thor oughly effective convictions. A NEW .IBRSEY STAGE COACH. CHAPTER XIV Currency and Counterfeiting To THE Algonkain Indian must be credited the establishment of the first medium of exchange within the boundaries of the State of New Jersey. When the Dutch and Swedes came to the valleys of the Hudson and Delaware they found the Lenni-Lenap^ and kin dred peoples possessed of a money which, while crude, was satisfactory^so satisfactory, indeed, that the settlers provided, by custom and law, for its use among themselves and in their trading relations with neighboring tribes. This money was the wampum, — ^the shell money of the peltry dealer and of the signers of treaties. In such esteem were these belts held that early in the set tlement of Burlington a negro woman was brought before the Court " for stealing and facing ye Indian Belt p'sented by ye Sachem ye Gov'nor." Made from shells of bivalves, usually t mon clam, wampum-mints embraced any regr which the shells abounded. To the Indian the clam served a double purpose, as he used the e- ble portion and dried it against the winter, and made his money from the polished covering. The manufacture of wampum was most extensively conducted in New Jersey. A full description of the manufacture and uses of wampum is given in William Nelson's " Indians of New Jersey," pp. A BELT OF WAMPUM. 242 NEW JERSEY AS A COL AZTEC COIN. 35-39. It was made in the form of beads, ground down to the thickness of a large straw, about a third of an inch in length, smoothly polished, bored longitudinally with sharp stones, and strung upon thongs or the sinews of animals. The white beads were called wampum, and the blue, purple, or violet beads were called suckhanock, or black wampum. The latter, being less plenti ful, and perhaps preferred for its color, was rated at twice the value of the former. The strings of wampum were of different lengths, and their value increased in proportion to the quantity of black. Besides being " money," the arrangement of the pieces in strings, and these made into a belt, were records. Treaties were also made with such shell documents. Probably both men and women made wampum, the process of manufacture consisting in cutting it out in the rough with a flint flake, probably serrated, or in other words a flint saw. The pieces were perforated with a stone drill. Both forms of these mintstone implements are common in col lections, as inter-tribal commerce was very widely carried on, and wampum was unquestionably ex changed very extensively. The clam occurs only on our Atlantic seaboard, and the wampum has been found far inland. Nor indeed was it until comparatively recent years that the manufacture of wampum was abandoned in New Jersey, for it ONY AND AS A STATE 243 was made in Franklin Township, Bergen Coun ty, as late as 1860. The manufacture was con ducted by white women, the product being sold to Indian traders in the then far West. In the beginnings of English colonial life in East and West Jersey specie, gold, silver, or cop per were scarce. The economic policy of the crown practically prevented its circulation, and in obedience to its own law the metals sought a common center, either New York or Philadelphia. How small was the amount the inventories of es tates taken before 1725 disclose, even in cases of men possessed of vast landed interests. But there was sufficient silver money in East Jersey by 1686 to justify the Legislature in pass ing an act regulating the rate of exchange — a statute which throws a clear light upon the mone- tai-y condition of the day. " For the public weal of the Province " it was enacted that, " Foras much as it is daily found by experience, the growth and prosperity of this Province is much obstructed by the continual draining the silver money, that is most valuable, by persons that come only to trade and carry away the money in specie, without either tuming or trading the same amongst the inhab itants of this Province, whereby whatever money persons bring in hither from England or Scot land, or any other part, not knowing the value 244 NEW JERSEY AS A COL thereof, it is presently exhausted out of their hands by non-residents, so that the country is not at all beneflted by such silver money, neither is the growth or produce of the Province at all wast ed or made use of by such traders, which is a griev ance much prejudicial to the inhabitants, and re dounds much to the impoverishment of the Prov ince, so that the commodities arising by the growth and produce of the place are not estemable by persons bringing commodities from foreign parts, but the best of the coin is carried away for England and other places, as returns, or else pay'd away to neighboring Provinces for their commodities." The money then in circulation in East Jersey embraces in its nomenclature a quaint catalogue of coins. There were the Mexican and Seville pil lar pieces of eight, Peru pieces of eight, double, single, and half bits, English crowns, shillings, and gold guineas. New England shillings, dollars from the realm of the Prince Electors of Germany, ducatoons, Scots four-mark pieces, and French crown pieces. But the act was subsequently re pealed, as it was found " by experience that many in Conveniences " attended its successful execu tion. In West Jersey, where the racial elements in economic life were homogeneous, the intensely English character of the settlement is shown by CROWN : GEORGE II. ONY AND AS A STATE 245 the fact that in the rate of exchange only English coins are mentioned. Under the proceedings of the commissioners. May 3, 1681, it was ordered by the court having jurisdiction over the liberties and precincts of Burlington that English coin should pass at the following rates : 1 Shilling, @, 1.6. (other pieces in proportion). King's Copper Farthing, @ ^ penny. % pence, @ 1 penny. Moreover no one was compelled to take above " six pounds of y^ said Copper Coyne in one payment." In the general free Assembly held at Burling ton, November 21-28, 1681, Chapter XXVI of a general act provided that an Old England shilling should pass at eighteen pence and other coin pro portionately, while a New England shilling was legalized at fourteen pence and lesser denomina tions in a like ratio. This act was made void after May 18, 1682, by the Assembly of the latter year. Exactly two years after, or in 1684, it was ordered that " three farthings of the King's Coin shall be accounted and go current for one penny within this Province, and so proportionately to greater sums; provided none shall be constrained to take more than five shillings thereof at one payment." In 1693 was passed an act by the West Jersey Legislature regulating the rates of coins, conform ing the same to the current rates in Pennsylvania. The Spanish influence appears, as in East Jersey, SHILLING : GEORGE II. 246 NEW JERSEY AS A COL in the mention of " pillar, Mexico, and Sivil pieces of eight ", " ryalls or bits ", dog dollars, Peru pieces of eight, and Peru ryalls. No French coins are named. It Avas, moreover, provided that " all person and persons whatsoever resident in this Province, or that shall come from remote parts to trade amongst us, shall and are hereby obliged to receive and pay the same " according to the values specified in the act, except they plainly bargain to the contrary. In May, 1682, an attempt was made by the Leg islature to secure for West Jersey a separate coin age, and there appears to the world Mark Newbie, a member of the Society of Friends and one of the earliest settlers of the site of Gloucester. The ne cessity for a coin of small denomination was se verely felt, and Newbie, who evidently had in his possession a quantity of copper coins, ' was em powered to supply the demand. The act provides : That Mark Newbies half-pence called Patricks half-pence, shall, from and after the said Eighteenth Instant pass for half -pence Cur rent pay of this Province, provided he, the said Mark, give suffi cient security to the Speaker of this House for the use of the General Assembly from time to time being, that he the said Mark, his ex ecutors and administrators, shall and will change the said half pence for pay equivalent upon demand ; and provided also that no Person or Persons be hereby obliged to take more than five shillings in one payment. The coins were immediately placed in circula tion, Newbie gave security for the issuance of his CROWS : .JAMES II. ONY AND AS A STATE 247 pence, and to this day the coppers may be found lodged in private hands in parts of West Jersey. From over-sea the transplantation, practically in bulk, of a considerable quantity of cop per coins suggests the inquiry as to the nature of the coins themselves, and as to the manner in which they came into the possession of Mark Newbie. Unfortunately the origin of the coins is still open to controversy. Among the views taken by numismatists one flnds that the Newbie or Patrick pence were medals of Papist origin of the time of Charles I, upon the occasion of the Protestant massacre, that they were Dublin tokens, or that they were authorized by the Kil kenny Assembly, prototypes in silver having been minted on the Continent and brought into Ireland, when money was scarce, for use by the con federated army. That there were several varieties is well known, two most common being : on the ob verse a kneeling, crowned king — ^David, probably, or even Charles, who was fond of music — playing a harp. Above is a crown in brass with the leg end " Floreat Rex." The reverse shows Saint Patrick, with a trefoil in his right and a crozier in his left hand, surrounded by people; at his left is a shield charged with three castles and the leg end " Ecce Grex." Another reverse represents Saint Patrick stretching his right hand, driving away reptiles and serpents, whilst in his left hand A PATRICK PENCE. 248 NEW JERSEY^ AS A COL GUINEA : GEORGE HI. ROSA AMERICANA FARTHING. is a metropolitan cross and on the extreme right a church. The legend of the latter is " Quiescat Plebs." That Mark Newbie secured these coins in Ire land is probably true, as it was from Ireland, on the 19th of September, 1681, that he embarked in a narrow sterned pink called " Y'e Owner's Ad venture," commanded by Mate Dagget. After a voyage of two months he arrived, by the grace of God, within " ye Capes of ye De La Ware," and after spending the winter in the vicinity of Salem finally took up a twentieth share of land, nearly midway between Cooper's Creek and Newton Creek in what was known as the Irish Tenth. Oc cupying positions of trust in the Society and in the Assembly, Newbie became one of the most prom inent men in the colony. He did not live to see the outcome of his project to circulate Patrick's pence, dying early in 1683, and leaving a balance of £30 due West New Jersey. With his death the story of the Newbie coppers closed forever. The instructions to Governor Cornbury forbade the exercise of executive power in assenting to any law altering the price or value of the current coin, without particular leave or direction. Although a wide scope for exercising gubernatorial power had been left to Cornbury, this question of money rates was jealously guarded by the home govern ment, and for this reason, in June, 1704, came the ONY^ AND AS A STATE 249 proclamation of Queen Anne regarding the rates at which foreign moneys should pass in the col onies, soon succeeded by an act of Parliament en forcing the proclamation. To public spirited men of influence in England projects concerning an independent coinage for America were most attractive. Possibly William Wood's " Rosa Americana " coins are the longest remembered. Wood, incurring the enmity of Dean Swift, owing to a plan for an Irish coinage, turned his attention to the transatlantic colonies. Upon the 21st of June, 1738, Wood laid a proposi tion before the Lords of Trade and Plantations relative to the issuing of paper money and the raising of the coin. He proposed a gold, silver, and copper coinage which should have " America " stamped on its face. The scheme for its distribu tion, passing, and use in the colonies was elabo rate, but unsatisfactory, insomuch that the subject was abandoned. In the meantime the proclama tion of Queen Anne was more honored in the breach than in the observance, so much so, indeed, that in 1740 Govemor Morris, owing to open and notorious violations, proclaimed anew the rates established under Queen Anne relative to the passing and accepting of sevil pieces of eight, cross dollars,' ducatoons of Flanders, ecus of France, crusadoes of Portugal, old rex dollars, dog dollars, and gilder pieces of Holland. ROSA AMERICANA HALFPENNIES. 250 NBW JERSEY AS A COL COPPER TOKEN. The close of the Revolution found the State of New Jersey greatly in need of a small cop per coin. This fact, joined with a declaration of State sovereignty, led to the issuance of certain coins familiarly known as " Jersey " or " Horse Head " coppers. The abundance of copper in New Jersey, the ease with which it could be minted, and the demand occasioned by the partial revival of trade after the war led the General Assembly on May 23, 1786, to consider the proposals of Wal ter Mould, Thomas Goadsby, and Albion Cox " for striking a Copper Coin for the State of New Jer sey." A committee was appointed to confer with the minters. The next day the committee re ported that Mould and his associates should be permitted to coin £10,000 or less of coppers, the State to receive a seigniorage of one-eleventh, or, if a greater sum than £10,000, " to as large an amount as will pass current without Depreci ation," then the State was to receive one-tenth. The 25th of May found another applicant for authority to become State coiner. This was Will iam Leddle, who in a memorial stated that as he was possessed of considerable quantities of cop per, as well as iron factories suitable for minting, he desired to be empowered with privileges of coining. He guaranteed the coppers to be of full weight, that the Legislature should devise the im pression, that he should acknowledge a State ROSA AMERICANA PENNY. ONY AND AS A STATE 251 seigniorage of one-ninth, and that he was willing to accept paper money emitted by the State in exchange for the coppers. He asked for five days to prove his skill. But Leddle was unsuccessful, his memorial was ignored, and upon the 1st of June, 1786, there was passed " An Act for the Establishment of a Coin age of Copper in this State," of which the follow ing was the preamble: Whereas, The Copper Coin now current and passing in this State consists mostly of base Metal, and of Coppers so small and light as to be of very little real Value, whereby the Citizens of this State are subjected to manifest Loss and Inconvenience and are liable to be greatly defrauded. The act set forth that Walter Mould, Thomas Goadsby, and Albion Cox, their survivor or sur vivors, were empowered to coin £10,000 at fifteen coppers to the shilling. Bach copper was to weigh 6 dwt. and 6 grs., manufactured and coined in New Jersey, with the obverse and reverse to be designed by the justices of the Supreme Court or any one of them. At any time Congress could alter the value of the coins. The coiners were also to enter into a bond to the governor of the State in the sum of £10,000 conditioned that the £10,000 in coppers be struck off within two years, rendering unto the treasurer of the State the seigniorage of one-tenth, and account to the Legis lature for the said seigniorage. Finally any one THE FIR.ST MONEY COINED BY THE UNITED STATES. 252 NEW JERSEY AS A COL who should be guilty of coining coppers without leave of the Legislature first had and obtained should forfeit the sum of £12, recoverable by the county collector in an act of debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. Upon the 17th of Novem ber, 1786, a petition from Thomas Goadsby and Albion Cox prayed that they be made independent of Walter Mould, and that they coin only two- thirds of the said £10,000. A bill to that effect was passed on the 22d day of November, 1786. In this act Walter Mould was empowered separately to coin his one-third, viz., £3333. 6. 8. Why the triple partnership was broken is unknown ex cept that, in the wording of the act, " Delays have been occasioned and the good intentions of the Act is likely to be defeated by the Circumstances of the parties being jointly bound to execute the contract." The " mints " in which the " Horse Head " cop pers were struck off were in Morristown and Eliza bethtown, according to the best authorities. During the three years of coinage, 1786, 1787, and 1788, there was but a single type employed, of which, however, there are many varieties. On the obverse one finds the horse's head, beneath which is a plow, the legend " Nova Csesarea " and date, on the reverse a shield, which, if emblazoned, would be argent, six pales, gules, a chief, azure, and the motto "E Pluribus Unum." It will be SILVER DOLLAR OF 1791. ONY AND AS A STATE 253 noted that the justices who, according to the act, originated the design followed closely the State coat of arms, drawings for which were made in the fall of 1776 and which were adopted in May, 1777. In this the horse's head serves for a crest, while three plows occupy the shield. The introduction of the Federal system of coin age under the constitutional provisions led to the[ immediate abandonment of copper coinage on the part of the State of New Jersey. Of all outward causes for political contention no one subject excited greater popular interest than did the issuance of paper money in the col ony and State of New Jersey. The scarcity of specie, the ability of colonial merchants to " cor ner " gold, silver, and copper, the growth of trade in spite of Parliamentary restrictions were among the underlying causes which led to the first emis sion of New Jersey's paper money in the year 1709. Ostensibly the reason was to be found in the needs of govemment for money during the Canadian expedition, some £3,000 being demanded. This, however, is but one of a number of elements in the financial problem of the day. In the scarcity of an available circulating medium the people tumed to paper money for relief. This, according to the colonist idea, accomplished the correction of all financial difficulties, for with an abundance LIBERTY-CAP CENT. 254 NEW JERSEY AS A COL of paper money everyone would bask in the sun light of economic prosperity. The situation found its clearest expression in the attitude of the Assembly. Between the gov ernors and the lower house there was much ill feeling, even bitterness, the Assembly boldly de claring that it would not support govemment un less bills of credit were authorized. In 1723 a compromise was effected, the house agreeing to sustain the civil and military list for ten years provided a stock of paper money was placed in circulation. Forty thousand pounds in bills of various denominations was emitted from the press, four thousand pounds being paid to the East and West Jersey treasurers for the redemp tion of old bills. The remainder was placed in the hands of county loan commissioners, who lent the money on real estate mortgage and on deposits of plate, for a period not exceeding twelve years, at five per cent, per annum. With this act came a temporary relief, particularly as the taxpayers had previously placed in the collectors' hands jewels and plate in payment of assessments. Sim ilar legislation increased the issues, by 1776, to the amount of about £600,000. The natural effect of overproduction of paper money was in a depreciated currency. The bills circulating in East Jersey were affected by New York rates, where, according to the German trav- OONTINBNTAL CURRENCY. ONY AND AS A STATE 255 eller, Ebelin, the guinea was valued at £1.15, while in West Jersey Philadelphia rates of the guinea at £1.14 caused still another standard of exchange. Nor was this effect merely local. Its international aspect is reflected in the statement of Governor Morris that New Jersey bills of ex change for £100 sold at sixty per cent, in London during 1741, and according to other authorities had little or no market upon the Continent. With a depreciated paper currency and a paucity of specie New Jersey entered upon the Revolution. During that period the pamphlet laws teem with legislation designed to sustain, by acts establishing rates, the constant issues of bills of credit. Both the paper money of Congress and of New Jersey went upon a downward course of depreciation. The operations of the laws of sup ply and demand, rising above all considerations of patriotism, of devotion, of self-sacriflce, could not stem the current. New Jersey suffered bitter ly, in spite of an earnest effort in 1779, when the/ most vicious element of the paper currency wasi withdrawn by a law of June 8th. By this act, m accordance with a resolve of the Continental Con gress?, all bills struck on or before April 19, 1775, were continued as legal tender, except for taxes, only until September 1, 1779, and after the 1st of January, 1780, were declared to be irredeemable. The utter hopelessness of any redemption of THE " PINE-TREE SHILLING. 256 NEW JERSEY AS A COL continental currency appeared early in 1781, when the bills of the United States ceased to circulate. Recognizing this fact, the Legislature of New Jersey on January 5, 1781, declared that conti nental currency should be a legal tender only at current rates. In June, and frequently thereafter, a scale of depreciation was established for the ad justment of debts previously contracted. The pe riod of the confederation was passed by New Jer sey in an heroic endeavor to raise revenues for the payment of the debts of the United States. Closely associated with the subject of money in New Jersey is the question of counterfeiting. Before 1709 the operations of counterfeiters were limited. There was little chance of imitating for eign coin then in circulation, inasmuch as metal and alloy were extremely difficult to obtain by those likely to commit crime; moreover, when money was used it was subjected to test, owing to its comparative infrequency. An examination of court records shows but few indictments for this crime, although a few cases occurred in Bur lington for the lesser offenses of " clipping " and " sweating." Nevertheless as early as 1683 the West Jersey Assembly recognized by the passing of a statute that illegal practices, to a degree, were prevalent. The act in its preamble states that : " Forasmuch '%^^ji^^^3W^^}^^'^ ^""^ complaints of late have ^'iO N F P E N N r.^^ i%One ) ?.iai^.getl [ f'""^^ ONY AND AS A STATE 257 been made of a suspicion of new money being coined, stamped or counterfleted of the Spanish and New England coin or of its being spread with in this Province to the injury and abuse thereof and of the neighbour Provinces," it was enacted " that strict and diligent enquiry be made for the finding out such person or persons who have been guilty thereof, and to apprehend such offender and offenders, and that a grand inquest shall be there upon impannelled for the searching into the same, that so such person and persons as shall be found guilty thereof may receive such punishment as by the court shall be adjudged." The introduction, in 1709, of poorly printed bills of credit, the ease with which they could be coun terfeited, the secret recesses of the hill country of Northem New Jersey, the wildemess of the " Pines," the nearness of New York and Philadel phia, where counterfeit bills of credit could be passed, made New Jersey a locality pecu^ fitted for counterfeiting operations. Tha, bills, printed from type, were counterfeited is ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^(J proven by many indictments in the records of M-S'I'ulcnt^iBaLc.f Tj^tnntj^^ Supreme Court and from the reports of hangi^tSn/utke-PoniirorfiialUe-vn valued for the offense, printed in contemporaneous neW^'\'''jrT>T^?'^^^"^"%'^^'^^^'" ' '- '¦ T : >ptedby the. irealirrer a/ndKeceiveTX papers. There was also legislation upon the ni'd!fe--(lmite.tokim,mallPutlickpay^? ter, an actof March 1, 1774, enforceable for sef^n'rA''*/V:'^°'^^"^p"-t^ years, being typical. Ktmiry iLtlurcLji^oc^By Ordero! The statute provided for the punishment "* ^^' 'Omto FIRST AMERICAN PAPER MONEY. (Reduced.) 258 NEW JERSEY AS A COL COPPER TOKEN. " Counterfeiters of foreign Gold or Silver Coin cur rent within the Colony of New Jersey." The of fender was to be " whipped, branded with the let ter R in the brawn of the left thumb, by an Iron sufficiently hot to make a lasting mark, fined, im prisoned, pilloried or cropped, or shall have one or more of these Punishments at the Discretion of the Court." For the second offense he was ad judged guilty of felony without benefit of clergy, and sent to a future home where counterfeiting was not a necessary means of livelihood. For the illegal reproduction and passing of paper money the phrase " To Counterfeit is Death " is so fa miliar as to scarcely need repetition. The minting of the " Horse Head " coppers was the cause for legislation in 1787, which had for its object the prevention of " Circulation of bad and light Coppers " in New Jersey. By its terms any one who passed or offered to pass any coppers other than those made by the State coiners was to forfeit ten times the value of the copper so issued. This act did not apply to coppers stmck by order of the Congress of the United States. Of the money current in New Jersey previous to the opening of the nineteenth century but few specimens, either of bills of credit or coins, re main outside the limits of private and public col lections. Much of the paper money was destroyed by redemption, more by fire, decay, and the rav- ONY AND AS A STATE 259 ages of rats and moths, while of the specie, thou sands of foreign coins were melted and converted into federal currency when the United States mint was opened in Philadelphia. TWO POUNDS. Na. (pJ£S \ J>YA 11 aW of ttie Cobny af!^ ^ Nivt-Tork, tljffif Bitt feaK&e- received in. all PaymeiUr in lb* fitafinyf fbr TWO POUNDS. NtW-rOKK, _ TT r Eetmaiy 16* 1771. ^^^ *a,iu. 4ar. r -Kf .^ M^i Ti^Dearh to codkKiiliir. COLONIAL CURRENCY. CHAPTER XV The Genesis of Counties, Cities, ..ind Townships UPON the 13th of November, 1675, the first counties within the limits of the State were created by act of the Legislature of East Jersey, upon the plea of the necessity for erect ing county courts. The statute, although indefi nite in its description of boundaries, clearly states that two such courts should be held each year in Bergen and its adjacent plantations, in Elizabeth- town and Newark, in Woodbridge and Piscata way, and in the two towns of Navesink. To these four counties no names were given, nor were their limits defined until March, 1682, when Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth were set off by name. In the act of the East Jersey Legislature creat ing these territorial subdivisions, Bergen was de fined as embracing all of what is now Hudson (east of the Hackensack River) and a portion of modem Bergen County. Essex comprised modern Essex, Union, part of Passaic, part of Hudson, a greater part of Bergen, and a portion of Somerset County. Middlesex is not concisely bounded, but included more territory than the present county of that name, while the limits of Monmouth were largely identical with the present Counties of Mon mouth and Ocean. The result of this lack of legislative perspicuity was immediate confusion. To the New England 264 NEW JERSEY AS A COL element in Bast Jersey the county was not a polit ical unit, their activities as citizens centering in the villages and towns. As these communities were widely separated, the county became largely a generic term, comprehending those places whose judicial interests were similar, or which were in political relationship. In May, 1688, the settlers in Middlesex, on the " uppermost Part of the Raritan River," were set off into the county called Somerset, a loosely bounded body politic. The reason assigned was because of different methods of husbandry and of the " frequent Floods that carry away their Fences on their Meadows, the only arable Land they have, and so by consequence their interest is divided from the other Inhabitants of said County." In West Jersey the organization of the county was upon a somewhat different basis. While the East Jersey county system sought primarily to bring together towns having common interests in judicial matters, the West Jersey county had so cial and economic causes for its creation. The county of West Jersey was a distinct political unit; all its towns drew their inspirations from the shire town, and individuals associated them selves politically with their counties rather than with their villages. The plantation, as in Vir ginia, was the nucleus, the county the consolida- 3^ ^ t' IS-lc X). Js 2S- ¦jo 4i >" :^^>fO > I' it- 10 1^ p.if 4« *^ i'" ""^ 'J *¦ MAP OF NEW JERSEY IN 1680. ONY AND AS A STATE 265 tion, of plantations, and Burlington, the capital, the representative municipality of the entire prov ince. The counties of West Jersey grew out of a somewhat curious sub-division of the province, au thorized by the commissioners during the month of February, 1681. The provincial surveyor was directed to divide the river front between the Assanpink Creek and Cape May into Tenths, each containing ten proprietaries. This was accordingly done, but upon examination it was found that the surveyor, having located his sixth Tenth within the area of the present County of Cumberland, was unable to survey the remaining four Tenths with in the limited peninsula of Cape May. But as the territory was unoccupied the plan met all necessi ties of the case among the up-river settlements, which sent representatives to the Assembly from the various Tenths for several years. The First and Second Tenths, known respectively as the Yorkshire and London Tenths, became the Coun ty of Burlington, the Third and Fourth Tenths the County of Gloucester, and the Fifth and Sixth Tenths the County of Salem, also including the present County of Cumberland. But the erection of Tenths did not entirely meet with the approval of the people of the third and fourth divisions of West Jersey. In May, 1686, the residents between Pensauken and OidmaA's.^Qteek assembled and,^ yag the4nrtiafe&>Ss" ?iJp^Qf i£6tl^ TKIW Uf\lJ NEW YORK FROM JERSEY CITY IN 1732. 266 NEW JERSEY AS A COL wealth," declared themselves to be a county, es tablished courts at Axwamus and Red Bank, and provided for the establishment of a local judiciary. This was the only county in New Jersey deriving its existence from the direct action of its own people. In November, 1692, Cape May was erected into a county, " being a place well situate for trade," its boundaries including Maurice River Township in the present County of Cumberland and the southwest portion of the modern County of At lantic. From this period until the surrender of proprie tary govemment the adjustment of county lines occupied the attention of the West Jersey Legis lature. In 1692 the line between Burlington and Gloucester was in dispute. In 1694 the bounda ries of Burlington were defined, embracing the territory between the Assanpink or Derwent Creek on the north and the Pensauken or Crop- well Creek on the south, including two Tenths. Gloucester extended from the Pensauken to Old- man's or Berkeley Creek, also including two Tenths, while Salem extended from Oldman's Creek to Back or Tweed Creek. The inhabitants above the Assanpink Creek, in the vicinity of " ye ffalles of ye De La Ware," were annexed to Bur lington County, and the inhabitants of Great Egg Harbor region were placed under the jurisdiction AN OLD NEW JERSEY VILLAGE. ONY AND AS A STATE 267 of Gloucester County, they formerly having been within the limits of Cape May. But such organization of counties was, at best, a makeshift. What with the uncertainties of I legislative descriptions, the fact that much of the colony had never been settled, much less sur veyed, and in view of the changes in government, the legislature on the 21st of January, 1709-10, redefined the boundaries of the counties. There were then in East .Jersey Bergen, Essex, Somer set, Middlesex, and Monmouth, and in West Jer sey Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, and Cape May. During the subsequent portion of the colonial period Hunterdon County, embracing the settle ments above Burlington, was created March 11, 1713-14 ; Morris County was set off from " the upper parts of" Hunterdon on March 15, 1738-39; Cum berland County was organized from Salem Janu ary 19, 1747-48; while Sussex was taken away from Morris June 8, 1753, Morris, Hunterdon, and Sus sex lying in both East and West Jersey. Boundary disputes were also settled between Somerset, Mid dlesex, and Monmouth in March, 1713-14, between Essex and Somerset in 1741, and between Morris and Somerset in 1749. In the naming of the colonial counties of New Jersey their nomenclature was largely derived from English sources. But Bergen, meaning " hills," and Cape May, in honor of the navigator 268 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, are of Dutch origin. Middlesex, Monmouth, Essex, Somerset, Sussex, Burlington, and Gloucester revive recollections of the homes over sea and serve as illustrations of the intense English influence which so dominated New Jersey's development. Two colonial govern ors of New Jersey, Robert Hunter and Lewis Mor ris, have been commemorated in Hunterdon and Morris Counties, while the atrocities of the Duke of Cumberland, at Culloden, are recalled by the county named in his honor. To the fertile land of the Fenwick grant members of the Society of Friends gave the name Salem, meaning " Peace," a word of Hebraic stock, but which has become permanently incorporated among Anglo-Saxon place names. Of the subsequent county names but little need be said. In 1824 Warren and in 1838 Mercer Coun ties were erected and named in honor of Generals Warren and Mercer, famous in the American Revolution. Hudson, in 1840, commemorates the adventurous discoverer. Camden, in 1844, recalled the name of the Earl of Camden, while Passaic, set off in 1837, is the only territorial sub-division whose name was taken from Indian sources. At lantic, also created in 1837, and Ocean, established in 1850, are indicative of that seeming lack of dis tinctive material in place-naming so characteristic . of many parts of the United States. The patriotic ONY AND AS A STATE 269 spirit prevalent in the eastern part of New Jersey toward the opening of the Civil War led to the choice of the name Union for a new county erected in 1857. It will be noticed that the creation of counties in New Jersey occurred sporadically. Thus from 1692, the date of the erection of Cape May Coun ty, until the establishment of Hunterdon Coun ty, in 1713-14, was a period of twenty-two years. Another quarter of a century elapsed ere a new county was created, Morris, in 1738-39. Inside of fourteen years both Cumberland and Sussex were added to the list. From 1753 to 1824 no counties were set off, although during the period of seventy-one years several applications were made to the Legislature to accomplish this end. Warren, in 1824, was the flrst of the post-Revolu tionary counties. The twenty years from 1837 to 1857 saw seven counties come into existence and five of these within seven years, so rapid was the growth of the State. Since 1857 no counties have been added to the complement of twenty-one. In the years following the restoration of the House of Stuart great things were expected con cerning His Majesty's colonies in North America, and from none more than from New Jersey. Vague but fairly well authenticated rum^trs had reached London that New Jersey was exceedingly fertile, and a most pleasant land to I6«3[k upon. 270 NEW JERSEY AS A COL It was the province of Nova Csesarea, it was said, whose broad acres would fill England's granaries, whose forests would furnish timber and the skins of wild beasts, whose mines would yield copper, iron, and mayhap gold and silver, whose harbors would be havens where ships trading from Green land to the Spanish Main would find safe anchor age and a good market. In these dreams of the future it was not beyond the range of possibility that, in the attractive though unexplored wilder ness, cities would arise rivaling in importance those of the Hanseatic League. To prepare for such conditions the Lords Proprietors in their " Concessions and Agreements " directed the As sembly, in 1664, that, for the future well ordering of towns and their trade, that body should " cre ate and appoint such and so many Ports, Har bours, Creeks, and other Places for the convenient lading and unlading of Goods and Merchandizes * * * With such Jurisdictions, Privileges, and Franchises to such Ports, &c., belonging as they shall judge most conducing to the General good of the said Plantation or Province," and to incor porate with charters and privileges " Forts, Fort resses, Castles, Cities, Corporations, Boroughs, Towns, Villages, and other Places of Strength and Defense." Charged as these directions were with the spirit of a decadent feudalism, the necessity for such a ONY AND AS A STATE 271 course became later apparent. " Forts, Fort resses, Castles " there were none, nor did the " other Places of Strength and Defense " appear to exist worthy the attention of the Legislature. The municipal government of Bergen had been organized upon the 5th of September, 1661, and a schout, an officer holding in part the position of sheriff, judge, and district-attorney, had been se lected by the Dutch authorities at New Amster dam. One of the earliest acts of the proprietors was to confirm the existing town government in 1665, and to grant to its inhabitants a charter of more than usual liberality. The towns, or more properly villages, then settled in New Jersey, lay in the vicinity of New York Harbor, and were Elizabethtown, Newark, Woodbridge, and Mid dletown. Piscataway and Shrewsbury were mere settlements. In 1683 Deputy Governor Lawry was directed to secure a charter for the town of Perth Amboy for the purpose of stimulating local trade and the prevention of the custom of sendi goods to the New York market — a very early ;g^*1^ pertinent illustration of the centralizing inflWei^fif'*"' ^ J — • ~-T^- ^ — _^ -^^.^.f^ of the m itE^oliSi_ InOctober, 169^5 the to'wn'm ;^^'^ Burlingt )n wassgranted^aTcliarter, "not Any^T^ing ^'te£_efficacy to pronapte. Trade an(Jw, being of Business &4h;e said^Ow-U than the ihdult of sU^I%' Priviledj es aamajSr invite active and ingenio]is Men to resort nd coinhabit therein and adven VIEW ACROSS THE NORTH RIVEB -j^:^: 272 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ture their Stocks and Estates upon the issue of Providence in the way of Trade." With such a practical and pious admixture of dollars and dog ma in the way of a legislative invocation, Bur lington City grew apace and became a formidable rival of Perth Amboy. Salem in the meantime had become a place of commercial importance, had been created a port of entry in 1682, and in the same year had been allowed a market. During the period following the establishment of direct government by the crown Perth Amboy grew in importance so much that on May 22, 1718, a new charter was granted the town, a like favor being extended to Newark on April 27, 1713, when John Treat, Joseph Harrison, James Nut- man, Eliphalet Johnson, John Cooper, John Mor ris, Joseph Craine, Thomas Davis, Nathaniel Wheeler, and George Harrison were named as in corporators. The growth of the river trade, and the fact that the city was the meeting place of the Legislature and the Supreme Court, led to the granting of a new charter for Burlington, May 7, 1734. Trenton was next chartered in 1745, but in 1750 the very generous provisions of the docu ment were surrendered, and the village became once more a part of the township of the same name. But in all instances the elaborate provisions of these colonial charters, based upon English prec- ONY AND AS A STATE 273 edents and designed for English needs, were not well fitted for the communities for which they were formulated. The largest towns of New Jer sey were villa'ges at best, in nearly every case sur rounded or partially surrounded by meadow and waste land. The communal form of town-building characterized them all — a small centralized popu lation, the nearby meadows, a pasturage for cattle, often in common, and the outlying plantations. It was but a step from the city to the country, when the members of Assembly could leave the capital at Burlington or Perth Amboy, and in an hour's horseback ride hunt over new cleared fields or through the deepest woods. The colonial charter of the city of Ttenton is typical. The underlying purpose of these docu ments was unquestionably to give certain privi leges to market towns and divert trade to common centers. The officials were usually appointed by the representative of the crown, only the minor offlcers of the city or borough being popularly selected, the voters being a class of citizens pos sessing property qualifications. To East Jersey the settlers brought the con cept of the town or township as a political unit. But the methods of accurately defining these towns gave rise to much confusion. Practically nothing was done to remedy this fault until the Legislature, in September, 1692, provided that the 274 NEW JERSEY AS A COL inhabitants of each of the four counties, under a warrant of two justices of the peace, were em powered to ascertain and set the limits and bounds of the towns (townships), and to make re turn thereof. In an act, also passed in 1692, pro viding for the " raising of Money for their Ma jesty's Service," the following are mentioned as towns : Piscataway and the out plantations on the south side of the Raritan from South River to Somerset; Perth Amboy and the out plantations from Chesquakes to the South River; Woodbridge and all out plantations in Middlesex not before named; Elizabethtown and its out plantations; Newark and its out plantations; " Acquickana- nick," New Barbadoes, and the west side of Hack ensack; Hackensack and its out plantations; Ber gen and its out plantations; Middletown and its out plantations, and Shrewsbury and its out plan tations. In October, 1693, was passed " An Act for di viding Each County into Townships," supplanting the legislation of the previous year. The bounds of the townships are more or less clearly set out. In Bergen County were the townships of Hacken sack and the corporate town of Bergen; in Essex County " Acquickananick " and New Barbadoes as one township, Newark, and BUzabethtown; in Middlesex County, the corporate town of Wood- |cataway, and Perth Amboy; in Mon- A COLONIAL TEA SET. ONY AND AS A STATE 275 mouth County Middletown, Shrewsbury, and Freehold. The County of Somerset was also con sidered as a township for constabulary purposes. But while the Legislature thus defined these sub-divisions it must be remembered that they were practically established, by custom, as con stabularies. Indeed, in West Jersey this method of creating townships from constabularies was early practiced. The manuscript pages of the court book of Burlington contain, among other matters, the record of the courts of quarter ses sions. At such a court held at Burlington Novem ber 6, 1688, these respective constabularies or townships in the county were retumed by the Grand Inquest and conflrmed by the court: Not tingham, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Springfield, Wil- lingboro, Northampton, Chester, and Evesham. In 1723, according to Beesley's " Sketch of the Early History of Cape May Oounty," the court di vided Cape May into upper, middle, and lower precincts or townships. From time to time the Legislature, after the union of 1702, declared what should constitute a township, particularly in the act creating the County of Cumberland, although in the statute whereby the County of Sussex was erected seven commissioners, chosen by the people, were em powered to divide the county into precincts. To the methods of creating townships by legis- 276 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY lative action, by order of the court, and by com missioners there was a fourth plan — that of estab lishment by royal charter and patent, under the great seal and approval of the governor. Two conspicuous cases, the charters for Springfield and Chester Townships, Burlington County, both dated January, 1712-13, are practically conflrma tory of the court order of 1688. An examination of the records of the office of the secretary of state discloses a number of these townships erected by royal authority, among them being June 8, 1708, Township of Amwell; July 15, 1730, Township of Reading, Hunterdon County; April 4, 1749, Township of Bridgewater, Somerset Coun ty; April 4, 1749, Township of Bedminster, Somer set County; March 9, 1750-1, Township of Wind sor, Middlesex County; March 11, 1755, Township of Hopewell; May 24, 1760, Township of Bernards- ton, Somerset County; May 24, 1764, Township of New Pile's Grove, Salem County, cancelled and new patent issued October 29, 1765; June 17, 1767, J^qwnship of Upper Alloway's Creek, Salem Coun ty; March i] 1767, Township of Woolwich between Homan's Oreek and Raccoon Creek, being the ., lower part of Greenwich Township. THE CITY HALL AT THE HAGUE. CHAPTER XVI The Sea Coast and the " Pines " To THE settler in New Jersey seeking a home in a land whose very bound aries were unknown the vast and barren wilderness of island, beach, and marsh, which forms a barrier against the ravages of the sea, possessed neither artistic interest nor intrinsic worth. From the be ginnings of State life until well beyond the middle of the nineteenth century the sea coast of New Jersey was a terra incognita to the residents of the cities, a hopeless waste to the dweller upon the upland, and a grave to the imagination of the captains of sailing craft. The beaches, as such, composed the shore lines of the old Counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Gloucester, and Cape May; the mainland extend ing to the sea only in that portion of the present County of Monmouth lying between Deal and Point Pleasant. South thereof the long, narrow islands, separated from the firm ground by end less acres of marsh, bays, and lagoons, stretched to Cape May, broken only by shifting inlets through which the ebbing and flooding tides raced with terriflc velocity. The problem of securing some profit from the beaches was early presented to the settler. Cov ered with coarse herbage, the farmers upon the mainland, seeking opportunities for the pasturage for cattle, sent them in flat-bottomed scows across 280 NEW JERSEY AS A COL the lagoons, and, after branding their cattle, turned them loose to roam at will over the wind swept dunes. While the beaches soon passed into private ownership, under the principle that no land was too poor to be without a proprietor, there was but slight recognition of individual metes and bounds. Faulty surveying, changes in natural monuments, alterations in contour caused by tides and subsidence, threw proprietary lines into the greatest confusion. Practically the beaches were commons, and the doctrine became prevalent that any colonist had the natural right to pasture his cattle on an adjacent beach although he might not own a foot of soil where his animals fed. In the " round up " of the cattle there were frequent " strays," whence sprang the " wild cattle," the subject of so many romantic tales. The beaches furnished a coarse kind of grass, useful for bedding in stables, while from the marshes were obtained " black grass " and other kinds of graminae whose habitat is adjacent to salt water. Along the " shore " the salt grasses furnished practically the only food of the farm ani mals during the winter months. Except, however, for local consumption, the natural products of the beaches and marshes had but little value, owing to the expense and trouble of transportation. Upon Long Beach, in the present Oounty of Oceau^and upon Seven and Five Mile Beaches, in AN EARLY CEDAR SWAMP. ONY AND AS A STATE 281 the Oounty of Cape May, there was a luxuriant growth of red cedar, the Cape May beaches also being cropped with oak, gum, holly, and other woods characteristic of the southern portion of the State. This standing timber had commercial value, small indeed, when like trees were abun dant upon the mainland, but increased as the growth upon the firm ground was cut for market. Utilized for shipbuilding, the beach oaks, famous for their endurance, were sought by naval con structors, while the fragrant red cedar was con verted into chests and casks and employed for other domestic purposes. Yet during the colonial period the beaches, owing to their remoteness, in accessibility, and dreariness, were considered rather as hindrances to a man's estate, no one dreaming of the day when a city population should demand them for summer playgrounds to gratify human needs and human pleasures. To the hunter, accompanied by the half-breed Indian or negro, the beaches were a paradise. Wild fowl were in such abundance that even the apparently excessive statements of the early writ ers fall short of the truth. In the waters of the bays were fish " in prodigious shoals," says quaint old Gabriel Thomas, while oysters, clams, and Crustacea were to be had at all seasons. Although a man might be poor along the sea coast, the very prodigality of nature prevented him from starv- 282. NEW JERSEY AS A COL ing — a prodigality woefully abused, and even yet marvelled at by the casual visitor. Upon the mainland lay the " Pines," a vast irregular shaped tract of land clothed with pines, oak, isolated clumps of chestnut, and embracing tracts of white cedar, gum, and other woods. Cov ering the southeastern portion of the County of Monmouth, practically all of Ocean and Atlantic Counties, the larger half of Burlington County, the eastern parts of Camden, Salem, Gloucester, and Cumberland Counties, and the upper portion of Cape May County, this wooded area stood as a wall between the settlements on the Delaware and the sea. In the almost imperial holdings of the boards of proprietors of East and West Jersey the " Pines " were considered as being of com paratively little value. A generation elapsed be fore the forests in the immediate vicinage of the first settlements were cleared, and before any de mand was made upon the timbered area in the in terior. Tbe very abundance of wood led to its waste. From the Indian the settler leamed the method of the quickest extermination of the forests — the use of fire. Particularly was this true in West New Jersey, and so great were the disasters re sulting from conflagration that the Legislature as early as 1683 prohibited any one, under penalty, from " firing the woods to the prejudice of the in- ONY AND AS A STATE 283 habitants of this Province " on or before the 20th of March. The act permitted owners to " fire within their own bounds, for their own conven iency, who are also to take care that the fire run not out of their own bounds, nor prejudice any other person." Two years before, the Legislature had passed an act providing a punishment for timber thieving from surveyed land. By 1700 the " Pines " had been crossed by sur veyors, and much of the timber had been pur chased from the proprietors. Thousands of acres still remained in the hands of the boards of East and West Jersey, but the work of destruction had commenced. It was the story of devastation and of criminal waste. Constant fires during the spring and summer ranged across the colony until fuel was exhausted or rains put out the flames. Forest economics was an unknown science, the purchaser seeing in his tract simply an opportu nity to secure a yield of useful materials. Modern forestry, embracing such elements as an appeal to the artistic sense, a resort of health-value to in valids, and a regulator of water flow, was beyond the comprehension of those who purchased pgo- prietary rights. The greed of owners and the thieving of lawless persons became so great as to lead to legislative interference. In March, 1713-14, an act was passed prohibiting the common practices of stealin A FOREST VISTA. 284 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ber, cedar, pine staves, and poles, and of boring for and extracting turpentine. The statute also for bade the exportation of pipe and hogshead staves to neighboring provinces, owing to the rapid de struction of the forests, — legislation which re mained in force practically throughout the colo nial period. In 1743 an act was passed, applicable to the eastern division of the province, laying duties upon logs, timber, planks, vessel supplies, staves, and heading, except firewood, " exported to any of His Majesty's Colonies upon the Conti nent of America," which act was also made ap plicable to the common lands within the limits of the charter of Bergen Township. To further pro tect the forests, in 1772 a statute provided that cullers should be appointed to inspect staves, heading, hoops, shingles, boards, and plank " ex ported beyond sea," — legislation necessitated by the development of the West India trade, where cedar and pine were exchanged for rum, sugar, and molasses. Throughout the " Pines " the sawmills heralded the advent of permanent settlement. These mills were erected as early as 1700-1725, and furnished the beginnings of some colonial fortunes. Mainly they were operated by agents of owners, the pro prietors living on the plantations facing the Dela ware and its tributary streams. Narrow, wind ing roads, laid out along the lines of the least nat- AMONG THK " PINES. ONY AND AS A STATE 285 ural resistance, penetrated the forests and, start ing from larger arteries of travel, ended in cul-de- sacs surrounded by timber. From these roads many of the highways of South Jersey have been evolved. Alongside of the large lumbering industry stood smaller attempts to create wealth. In Gloucester County, before 1700, one Robert Styles, a worker in pitch tar and rosin, was accounted by a con temporaneous writer " an Excellent Artist in that sort of Work, for he delivers it as clear as any Gum Arabic." There was a considerable trade in " fat pine knots " for fuel and illumination, the latter use passing away upon the general introduc tion of cheap candles and illuminating fluids. Others followed Styles in tar making, but later the industry languished, to be revived during the Civil War, when the tar kilns partially supplied a portion of the demand caused by cutting off the Southern product. For the old-fashioned spin ning wheels persimmon wood was used, while to bacco pipes were and are still made from the butts of the laurel, commonly known as " nigger heads." The irregularly grained and proverbially tough wood of the sour gum was employed for wagon hubs, blocks for the manufacture of beaver hats, for mauls and other utensils on the farms and for appliances on coastwise vessels. Sumac leaves were ground and used for their 286 NEW JERSEY AS A COL tannin-possessing properties. Both red cedar and sassafras oils were extracted along the coast, while the wild cherry was extensively employed as a medicinal agent. Among the colonists furniture made of native wood was common, it being a custom to employ white holly in inlaying mahogany and rosewood desks and card tables. Throughout the southern section of the State the old-fashioned desks, or " secretaries " as they were called, were frequent ly ornamented with the names of the owner and dates of possession. The manufacture of pot and pearl ashes was also attempted in the colony. John Keble, of West Jersey, asked the assistance of the British govemment, in 1708, in the stimulation of his potash industry in New Jersey, hoping thereby to secure a valuable trade and drive the Russian product from the English market; but little or nothing came of the appeal or of Keble's venture. Shortly before the Revolution attempts were made to revive this industry on an extensive scale in Northern New Jersey. The " Pines " also constituted a vast game pre serve during the colonial period, both birds and beasts surviving the constant fires and the de structive slaughter of gunners. Wolves were so abundant that a reward of 10s. was offered by the Legislature of West Jersey in May, 1682, for every ONY AND AS A STATE 287 head of that animal, similar legislation having been enacted in East Jersey in 1675. The com bined efforts of the Indians and the peltry traders slowly but effectually exterminated most of the smaller mammalia having commercial value. Bear disappeared, then beaver, and lastly deer. Strin gent legislation early protected the latter animal, but greed and a demand for food supply rose su perior to the acts of the House of Assembly and council. Throughout the colonial period other small animals were abundant, some of those par ticularly destructive or obnoxious remaining un til the present day. Among the settlers in the " Pines " and those along the sea coast there has been a contention concerning the enjoyment of what are known as " natural privileges," — the right to fish in the waters of the State and to hunt on untenanted land. This contention has given rise to litigation, and has influenced the spirit of much of the so- called " fish and game " legislation. There was a color of right in the claim so far as West Jer sey was concerned. Under the " Concessions and Agreements " of 1676 to the inhabitants was given the Uberty of fishing in the Delaware or on the sea coast, as well as of hunting and killing deer, wild beasts, or fowl upon any lands unsurveyed, unenclosed, or unplanted. It was an easy tran sition to a contention that the liberty extended to 288 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY untenanted land, the mind of the uneducated hunter not drawing any fine distinctions in use of terms. To him, if no one lived upon the land it had no owner who had any interest in the preser vation of game, and any right to secure food, once granted, was inalienable through all periods of time. The natural conditions of the beaches and the " Pines " remained practically unaltered until the advent of the raUroads. Since the construction of the railroads the beaches have acquired new uses and a value far out of proportion to their intrinsic worth. The " Pines " have changed in appearance owing to the constant presence of fires and the axe. Already there have arisen in the " Pines " Lakewood, furnishing health and pleasure during the winter months; Vineland, the center of a small fruit industry; Millville, a manu facturing city; and Woodbine and Alliance, homes of the Russian Hebrew colonist. With the con gestion of metropolitan populations that must be .,- j^ed, the clearing of the woods, and the demand for " "accessible land, the solution of the problei the " Pines " will eventually be reached; but solutiQnm^t^,e lefi :¦¦ rniiii- indii'-iii.il di-veit mentt">' CHAPTER XVII Ordinaries, Inns, and Taverns OF ALL structures, of a distinctively secular character, around which cling the traditions of colonial life in New Jersey, there are none which are more replete with association than the ordinaries, inns, and taverns. Critics have drawn sad pictures of the convivial habits of the colonists, yet the excesses once committed by no means rob these biuldings of their senti mental interest nor of their historical value. During the colonial period of New Jersey the inn became a social and political center. Not only were these houses designed for the entertain ment of man and the baiting of beast, but they served as meeting places for Council and Assem bly, as the temporary executive mansions for the governors, as county court houses, polling places, school houses, regimental headquarters on train ing days, termini for post and passenger stages, and even for the travelling ministers of various denominations. Here met the boards of proprie tors of East and West Jersey, here gathered the yeomanry to listen to such " news " as the fugitive copies of New York and Philadelphia papers con tained, while the county freeholders and town ship officers frequently had no other buildings in which business could be transacted. The chief and associate justices of the Supreme Court, with a retinue of lawyers, in circuit " lodged " in the PUNCH BOWL. 292 NEW JERSEY AS A COL best rooms of the taverns, travellers were wel comed by the host in person, and in the yard were to be found prosperous small farmers, artisans, laborers, and slaves. As late as the Revolution that unhappy and much abused body, the Conti nental Congress, met in public houses, waiting for delayed quorums and grandiloquently discussing state affairs over which it had no practical con trol. Whatever public life there was in the colony found its expression in the tavern, and its keeper became a man of more than common influence. It was he who first had information concerning the actions of the Legislature or the board of freeholders; it was he who stood on terms of re spectful intimacy with the lawyers and knew that the decision of a tender point in law could only be effected after the punch had been well circu lated. To him were referred disputes in cards, the price of lottery tickets, or the value of a " like ly " heifer at fair time. He could give information either as to the condition of the governor's health or where the bills were posted announcing a sher iff's sale of wood lots. His it was to judge human nature, to keep an eye for runaway slaves, to care fully watch the travelling mountebank who sped away in the darkness without paying his reckon ing, and to pay respectful attention to the ladies, who took far less journeys than their descendants ONY AND AS A STATE 293 are now wont to take. As he was the general source of information, so was his tavern the resort of epicures. The standard of living, as then under stood, found its perfection in the tavern. The best was none too good for his guests. Venison, bear, wild fowl, and edible domesti cated animals were abundant, and although com mon vegetables and fruits were few, butter a rarity, and ice in summer unknown, these deficien cies were supplied by an elaborate list of bever ages now unrecognized by taste or name. That reverend author, good old Israel Acrelius, in his " History of New Sweden," mentions in 1758 a half hundred used in New Jersey, New York, and Penn sylvania. A partial catalogue discloses no less than eight wines, together with cherry and cur rant wine of domestic manufacture. Plain, royal mulled, and damasked cider, rum, egg nog, apple and peach brandy, whisky, mo lasses beer, spruce beer, persimmon beer, mead, many varieties of cordials, hot rum for funerals, tiff, sillibub, Sampson, and hotch potch are a few of the drinks of the time, not to mention that famous beverage of the day, metheglin or " perfect love." And when one con siders that, in the olden days, few men " quali fied " or " sophisticated " their liquors, their pow ers of endurance appear all the more nCPtB^ort^ The importance of the tavern is^^owlC &y'jEhe- A COUNTRY TAVERN. 294 NBW JERSEY AS A COL THK CRANE TAVERN. fact that the regulation of the business of supply ing food and Uquors to the public early attracted the attention of the Legislature. Contemporane ous with the organization of civil government in the province of New Jersey the Assembly of No vember, 1668, " in consideration of the inconven iences that do arise for the want of an ordinary in every town," ordered that Bergen, Elizabeth- town, Newark, Woodbridge, Middletown, Piscata way, Shrewsbury, and the Delaware River settle ments provide each an inn for the relief and enter tainment of strangers. License from the provincial secretary was re quired ere the ordinary-keeper could provide meat, drink, and lodging, and none was permitted to tail drink under the quantity of two gallons ex- ept such licensed proprietor. HPfee need of such general and restrictive legisla- had become apparent, owing to the lack of any control over those who had previously sold malt, spirituous, and vinous liquors. In May, 1668, the Legislature had endeavored to correct " that beastly vice, drunkenness," by imposing a flne, or corporal punishment for the offense, and in case of " those unruly and disturbers of the peace " the malefactor was to be placed in the stocks until sober. " Night walking " after nine o'clock or " drinking in any tapp house " were also declared to be offenses. The culprit was held for examina- From tlua tavern, owned by Colonel Williain Crane, at BltzftbethtowTi Point, President-elect Washington embarked •in kis way to N'ew York for hia inauguration. ONY' AND AS A STATE 295 tion " till the morning," and if unable to give a good account of himself was " bound over to the next court." But these enactments failed to correct the evils, and in 1675 the statute " concerning that beastly vice, drunkenness," was reenacted. Intoxication increased in the province. Particularly was this true as affecting the desecration of Sunday, more commonly called in the statutes the Sabbath or Lord's Day. Constables, under the act of October, 1677, if informed, were required to seek out persons misbehaving themselves, " namely by staggering, realing, drinking, cursing, swearing, quarreling, or singing any vain songs or tunes of the same," and set the offenders " in the stocks for two whole hours without relief." Those who kept places where such disorders oc curred were subjected to fines. The sale of drink in private houses, occasioning " great exorbitances and drunkenness » ? * to the dishonor of God, impoverishing the com monwealth, and wrong to several poor persons," led to an act of October, 1677, which forbade all persons to sell liquors under the quantity of one gallon except such person kept a legal ordinary. A fine of ten shillings for each offense was dis tributed, when collected, between the informer and the poor of the town. At the same session the Legislature also regulated the price of liquors and 296 NBW JERSEY AS A COL set the following rates upon all ordinary-keepers in the matter of food for man and beast : " for strong liquors by the gill, ^10.8 the gallon, by the quart ^2.6; good wine ^7 the gallon; cyder ^4 the quart; a meal for victuals "^8; natural pasture for a horse in summer and the like for winter "*6; a peck of oats "^9," the proprietor " to be left at lib erty for such as will bespeak their own provision." " The Penalty of A Drunkard " is the somewhat startling title of the thirteenth chapter of the laws passed during a legislative session held in Eliza bethtown in March, 1682. The penalty for the offense was placed at five shillings, to be imposed on conviction, and the flne was to be devoted to the poor fund. If the offender did not pay he or she — there were evidently female dipsomaniacs in East Jersey — was put in the stocks. The same session laws provided against " drinking in any ordinary," hunting, and gambling on the Lord's Day, while in the same year ( 1682) " An Act to prevent Tipling and other Disorders in Ordinary's by Town Dwellers " provided that any innkeepers who " trusted " an inhabitant or town dweller to small quantities of liquor, above the sum of five shillings, should be estopped from recovering the debt by suit at law. Contemporaneous legisla tion placed in the hands of two justices of the peace the right to grant licenses to inns and tav erns. ONY^ AND AS A STATE 297 By degrees public sentiment in this matter crystallized into general legislation which may be found in Chapter VIII of the acts of September- October, 1692. By this law all persons were pro hibited from selling vinous or spirituous liquors under the quantity of one gallon and malt liquors under the quantity of one barrel, unless they were licensed by the county justices to keep an ordi nary. The penalty for offending was £5. Per sons licensed gave a bond of £20 " for their orderly house keeping." Not only did the county justices " appoint the number of retailers sufficient for every town," but they were likewise " impowered to set the prices upon all sorts of liquors retailed." An excise tax of four shillings upon each barrel of malt and twelve pence upon each gallon of spirits retailed was also provided by the act. In October, 1693, the excise was removed by Chapter VII of the acts, and the governor in place of the justices was authorized to license all ordinary-keepers. In the western province the Legislature found less occasion to deal with the Uquor traffic or to regulate the ordinaries. These matters were largely relegated to the county courts, those of Salem, Gloucester, and Burlington regulating the rates at which liquor should be sold and pro visions and lodging furnished. The widespread influence of the Society of Friends and their early 298 NEW JERSEY AS A COL declarations by their meetings upon the subject of the immoderate use of intoxicating liquors were restraining influences throughout West Jer sey. If such a course of a dominant religious so ciety did not create a prohibitive sentiment it at least led to peace and good order, which East Jer sey endeavored to secure by sumptuary legisla tion. One statute in West Jersey deals with the sub ject. This is Chapter VII of the laws of 1683, which provides that the drunkard shall pay a flne of three shillings four pence for his offense, or sit in the stocks for a period not exceeding five hours. But even this legislation did not restrain one Peter Groom, who, upon a May day, 1694, stood before the justices of Burlington court " with his Hatt on w'h other Contemptuous behaviour " and was therefor fined five shillings. Peter contritely ac knowledged that " hee had gott over much strong drink," whereupon the court remitted the five shil lings fine and mulcted him fifty pence " for his appearing before ye Cort drunk." In the records of the colony between 1664 and 1703 are preserved the names of a number of inn holders. Peter Jegou kept a tavern on Burling ton Island before the settlement of the town, while somewhat later one of the most famous buildings '^"^"^Zil^jS^eoi-^ ^fe«~'.g>^n Bjurlington, in fact in West Jersey, was Richard ett's brew house, title to which was vested in AN SNNKtECKR's BILL OF 179.5 ONY AND AS A STATE 299 his widow and executrix, Elizabeth, by act of the Assembly, in May, 1697. In Salem among the early innkeepers were Benjamin Acton, Hyppolite Lefever, and Michael Hackett; in Woodbridge, Richard Powell; and in Perth Amboy, Samuel Gibson. The change of government occasioned by the " surrender " on the part of the proprietors led to new legislation upon the regulation of traffic in liquors. In December, 1704, an act was passed having for its object the suppression of immo rality. One of the provisions of the statute im posed a fine of six shillings upon those convicted of drunkenness or breaking the Lord's Day. Con finement in the stocks for two hours was provided if the offender could not pay the flne. Innkeepers were prohibited from allowing tippling or drink ing in their houses " on the Lord's Day, especially during time of Divine Worship," to which was added the extremely liberal qualification " ex cepting for necessary refreshment." There was subsequent legislation of a similar character, but throughout the later colonial pe riod the most noteworthy act dealing with the regulating of ordinaries, inns, and taverns was that passed March 15, 1738-39. Under this statute it was provided that all licenses should be granted only in justices' sessions, held where the tavern was designed to be kept. The licensees were to 300 NEW JERSEY AS A COL come well recommended by letters signed by their neighbors, the prospective public householder en tering into recognizance to keep an orderly house under penalty of £20. The license remained in force for one year. Under-sheriffs and goalkeepers were prohibited from becoming innkeepers, or from selling liquors, simple or mixed, to prisoners under their care. The act further provided that clerks of the courts, where licenses were granted, should give a Ust of licensees to the county constables, who were di rected to search, four times a year, for evidence concerning " enormities, irregularities, and evil practices" committed in the taverns. Ten shillings was the limit placed upon " trust " accounts, while all innkeepers were assessed from forty shillings to three pounds for the use of the poor. Various modifications were made in this act, which, moreover, by the statute of May 10, 1768, underwent several important changes. In virtue of the latter statute six freeholders of the neigh borhood were required to recommend the licensee, certifying to his honesty and temperance. The innholder was required to be provided with " two good spare Feather Beds more than is necessary for the Family's Use," and to have good house room, stabling, and pasture. The justices' rates for Uquors, meat, entertainment, provender, stabling, and pasturage were required to be ONY AND AS A STATE 301 posted in the tavern for ten days after spring and fall sessions. From the two acts herewith cited the legal status of the tavern in the later colonial period may be ascertained. The preamble of the act of 1738-39 calls attention to the true purposes of inns and taverns. These purposes were the accommo dation of strangers and travellers, the dispatch of business, and the entertainment and refresh ment of mankind. They were not for the encour agement of gaming, tippling, drunkenness, and other vices. The act of 1768 also prohibited county justices from granting licenses to shop keepers to keep taverns except in the Coun ty of Cape May. Persons holding vendues, " except civil officers making vendues at pub lick Houses," were prohibited from giving or sell ing strong Uquors at such sales under a penalty of £6. That the taverns were the scenes of rioting and debauchery is not only a matter of tradition but of proof. In the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey is an unrecorded and undated manuscript, probably written about 1750, containing testimony concerning a wine drinking frolic, which terminated a hunting expe dition. The young men who were participants were sons of prominent citizens of Hunterdon County, and in their orgy it was shown that nej AN ANCIENT TANKARD. 302 NEW JERSEY AS A COL and Indian dances, singing of psalms, and preach ing formed a part of an elaborate ceremony which scandalized the community. The witnesses stated that the roysterers, after drinking wine, mourned the loss of two of their hounds and baptized an other dog which they called their child. It was probably this incident or others of a similar character that led the grand jury of Hunt erdon County upon the 13th of May, 1754, to make a presentment touching disorder in taverns. The grand jurors " expressed a particular abhorrence and detestation of those public receptacles and seminaries of vice, irreligion, and profaness, li censed under color of taverns or houses for the reception and entertainment of travellers. The number, if your Honors please, are almost as un bounded as unnecessary for the good and honest purposes they were at first and ought still to be designed. Instead of these, they are most of them no other than the private retreat of children, serv ants, and the sink of ye town and country assem bled and congregated together for the more secure indulgence of the several fashionable, and without your Honors interposition, legal diversions of cards, dice, drinking, cursing, swearing and the whole train of debaucheries incident to such in famous places." The taverns continued to multiply and, it is feared, remained "receptacles and seminaries of ONY AND AS A STATE 303 vice, irreligion, and profaneness " until long after this remarkable presentment of the grand jury. That evils crept in, that dissipation was common, might well be expected at a day when the general tone of the community was much less refined than it is to-day. THE OLD AMERICAN HOUSE AT HADDONFIELD. (In this hotel the Continental Congress held many eeeBionfi. and here " DoUy " Madison once held sway.) CHAPTER XVIII Lawyers and the Supreme Court THERE have come down from the ear liest days but few allusions to the lawyers who practiced their profes sion in the Jerseys before the union of 1702. In all the varied occupa tions disclosed by an examination of public docu ments in the secretary of state's office between 1664 and 1703 but one man is distinctively men tioned as an attorney-at-law: James Emott, of Perth Amboy, deputy surveyor of Bast Jersey. In West Jersey here and there a name appears. In May, 1696, the Legislature selected as King's at torney (prosecutor of the pleas) George Deacon for Burlington, and Joseph Tomlinson for Gloucester, with no appointments for Salem or Cape May. In 1697 in this office Benjamin Wheat served for Burlington, Tomlinson was continued for Gloucester, and Joseph Woodrofe was ap pointed for Salem. In 1699 Thomas Gardner suc ceeded Benjamin Wheat, remaining in office dur ing 1700. The other officials remained as ap pointed, John Crawford, in 1700, acting for Cape May County, which for the first time received such recognition. In 1701 John Wood became King's attorney for Gloucester, after which period the government became vested in the crown. These men were respectable citizens of their counties, and so far as is known were not ad mitted to the bar in the sense in which the term is 308 NEW JERSEY AS A COL now used. The organization of both the Bast and West Jersey courts was simplicity itself, so far as the intricacies of practice were concerned. There was little or no difficult litigation, and the lawyer was held in so little estimation that Gabriel Thomas, in his " Historical and Geographical Ac count of the Province and Country of Pensilvania and of West-New-Jersey in America," written at the close of the seventeenth century, thus assails the professional class : Of Lawyers and Physicians I shall say nothing, because this Countrey is very Peaceable and Healthy : long may it so continue and never have occasion for the Tongue of the one, nor the Pen of the other, both equally destructive to Mens Estates and Lives ; besides forsooth, they. Hangman like, have a License to Murder and make Mischief. There was, however, in West Jersey at this period a man of excellent parts, a certain James Nevill, clerk of Salem court, who in his manu script book of surveys, under date of 1687, leaves for posterity his impressions concerning trials by jury. Though written in the stilted language of the time, his comments show a clear and ready appreciation of the value of an ancient English institution. Of jury trials Nevill says : The fairest flower that now grows in ye garden of English men's liberties is a fair tryall by peers or twelve men of his neighborhood, which so much artifice is used by some of this age to pluck up by the roots. Justice ought to be measured by the straight meta-wand laws of England, and not by the crooked lines of OLD MONMOUTH COURT HOUSE. ONY AND AS A STATE 309 discretion. . . . It is my opinion that a jury of twelve good and honest men of the neighborhood are as good judges of the equitable sense of the law and the intent and meaning of the law makers as they are of the letter of the law. There is a touch of Blackstone in this critique, a flavor of sturdy independence in a desire to sub mit to one's peers the question at issue and a will ing determination to abide by the decision. Scarcely had Thomas's " Account " been given to the world ere there arrived in New Jersey Roger Mompesson, first colonial chief justice, who in spite of his political complications with the infa mous Lord Cornbury merited Logan's praise that " Mompesson is ingenious, able, and honest." Whatever may have been the uncertain status of lawyers, it is true that the Legislature took cognizance of the actual or future presence of members of the profession. As early as October, 1676, the question of ad mission to the bar was made the subject of legis lation by the East Jersey Assembly. The first restriction excluded justices of the peace, who were prohibited from appearing as attorneys or advocates. They were further estopped from drawing declarations except for the King, the Lord Proprietor, their own cases, or in suits previously instituted. In 1677 these exceptions were enlarged by permitting the justices to ap pear as attorneys in " foreign negotiations." 310 NEW JERSEY AS A COL An act of 1694 extended the provisions of the statute of 1677, embracing sheriffs, sub-sheriffs, courc clerks, commissioners, and messengers of the courts of small causes, and heavy penalties were provided for violations of the act. The whole matter of admission to the bar, so far as East Jersey was concerned, was reached finally in the eleventh instruction to the erratic Governor Jeremiah Basse, who, under date of April 14, 1698, was directed to consent to the passage of an act prohibiting any attorney from practicing unless admitted by His Excellency's license. In West Jersey lawyers were mentioned in the twenty-second chapter of the Concessions and Agreements of March 3, 1676. It is therein pro vided that no person or persons should be com pelled to fee any attorney or counsellor to plead his or their cause. All persons should have free liberty to plead their own causes if they so de sire. This provision from the fundamental charter of the province was confirmed later by an act of Assembly approved January 15, 1681. The Fundamental Constitution of East Jersey, in 1683, contained a similar clause. It will be noticed that these provisions are lim ited in scope and apply only to a litigant who de sired to appear in court per se, but that in all other cases the retaining of counsel was recognized as a part of the legal system of the two colonies. ONY AND AS A STATE 311 The union of 1702 brought system out of judi cial chaos. The bar of New Jersey became estab lished upon a sure foundation, reinforced by able men from Pennsylvania and New York. Attor neys were first admitted upon motion, then a plan of examinations in open court before the justices of the Supreme Court in banc was formulated, ap plicants were recommended to the governor for license, and finally, a half century before the Revo lution, these methods of admission were so firmly fixed that subsequent changes have been few and infrequent. Often practicing at the early colonial courts were men of unsavory reputations. Like all new settled communities, the Jerseys were in a con dition of unrest. Then no person of local influence had been born upon this side of the Atlantic. Re ligious and economic considerations had moved men to leave their homes over sea, and in the tide of immigration the foam and froth came to the surface. Men of bubble reputation danced upon the wave, sought and often secured place and pre ferment. Quit-rent contests, suits growing out of proprietary grants, litigation arising by reason of more extended domestic and foreign trade were some of the reasons that made the Jerseys attract ive to those who hoped to gain prominence by ex treme partisanship. Men of this calibre appeared, at times, before 312 NEW JERSEY AS A COL the East and West Jersey courts, whose jurisdic tions and powers were loosely defined. Such recognition, when received, was used as a basis for personal advancement. Without education or position necessary to admit them to the English or Scottish bar, America offered a fertile field for all such adventurers. Nor can it be denied that such self-styled lawyers were the direct cause of the legislation already mentioned. Following this formative period there appeared worthy men in the community, men of more than ordinary parts, who, by reason of merit, rose to distinction. Some indeed occupied places upon the bench, although they had never read law nor been admitted to the bar. An examination of the " Rules of the Supreme Court " covering the colo nial period discloses the remarkable fact that from 1704 to 1776 only two chief justices of New Jersey, of eight persons who held that office, were licensed attorneys by the courts of the province. A notable illustration of the lay element in the chief justiceship is to be found in the person of William Trent, a merchant, who moved from PhUadelphia to the highland south of the Assan pink Creek and gave his name shortly before his death, in 1724, to the city of Trenton. The associate justiceships during that period were occupied by twenty-two individuals, of whom only three had been admitted to the bar of ONY AND AS A STATE 313 New Jersey. Of the three Charles Read and Rich ard Saltar were both admitted, each upon the day he was elevated to the bench. Richard Stockton, of all the associate justices between 1704 and 1776, appears to have been the only enrolled New Jer sey practitioner of law. The lay element also ap peared during and after the Revolution, prom inent among the non-professional associate jus tices being Samuel Tucker, elected in 1776, Isaac Smith in 1777, John Cleves Symmes in 1777, John Ohetwood in 1778, and WilUam Rossell in 1804. During the colonial period, of the attorney-gen erals holding office in New Jersey several were laymen. It was not until 1723 that James Alex ander, the first New Jersey lawyer, was appointed, he being admitted to practice upon the day he received his commission as attorney-general, the same being true of his successor, Lawrence Smith. Joseph Warrell and Cortlandt Skinner, who com plete the list, were both members of the New Jer sey bar. During the eighteenth century much of the his tory of New Jersey is interwoven in the records of her Supreme Court, which had its actual begin nings in the Ordinance of Lord Cornbury. The partial failure of the courts of the proprietary governments to administer justice, the uncer tainty of correct practice, the undefined jurisdic- James Alexander, b. in Scotland; fled to America with William Smith, the jurist and historian ; was surveyor- general of New Jersey and New Tork; one oi the founders of the American Philosophical Society; d. in New Tork, April 2, 1756 ; father of Lord Stirling. .JAMES ALEXANDER. 314 NEW JERSEY AS A COL tion of the earlier tribunals, led to popular dis content and contempt. To alter such a situation, to show the colonist that the sceptre was held in flrm hands, the Su preme Court of the Province of New Jersey was estabUshed in 1704, with far reaching power over the lives and liberties of those within its jurisdic tion. Modeled upon the Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or Exchequer, its practice con formed to existing English standards, and thereby secured the right of trial by jury, except in con fession or in non-appearance. It was provided that the court should sit with two sessions yearly, alternately at Burlington and Perth Amboy, with circuits, held once a year in each county, by one of the justices of the main court, assisted by two or more justices of the peace in the county where the circuit was held. Inferior courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace were or ganized in each county. Nor was the matter of appeal from the flnding of the Supreme Court neg lected, for under the Queen's instructions to Lord Cornbury any judgment for over £100 could be carried to the governor and his council, who sat as a court of final resort. Appeals lay from the governor and his council, in judgments of over £200, to the Queen and her Privy Council. The colonial Supreme Court of New Jersey was the embodiment of an aristocratic sentiment. Dig- ONY AND AS A STATE 315 nified and stately, no haste characterized its pro ceedings, its grand jurors were selected from the most worthy citizens, its constables stood in prop er awe, its justices sat in state, and its attorneys paid it respect. There was no lack of impressive- ness in the sessions of this tribunal. In the old court houses of the former provincial capitals, behind the oak bench, sat the chief justice and his associates, bewigged and stern. Below them stood the clerk, holding in his hand the vellum- bound minutes stamped in gold with the royal arms. Constables, carrying their staves of office, passed among the audience or bowed to the law yers, who, tradition says, wore gowns while in the judicial presence. The hour is eight in the morning in Burlington as the crier, upon the 6th day of November, 1704, in deep bass makes this first proclamation : Her majesty's judges and justices of her Supream Court holden for this her province of New Jersey doe charge and command all manner of persons to keep sylence and heare her majestys eom'oons openly read on paine of imprisonment. All manner of persons that will sue or complaine or have any thing here to doe at this Supream Court holden here this day before her majesty's judges and justices for this Province of New Jersey draw neare and give your attend ance and you shall be heard. God save the Qukene. Occasionally, however, the sessions of the court were interrupted by matters beyond the regula tion of the tribunal. Thus in the latter part of 316 NEW JERSEY AS A COL 1731 the smallpox raged in Burlington. Upon the minutes of the court is spread at large an entry to the effect that, hoping to prevent a spread of the epidemic, and " for divers other Considerations tending to the Good and publick weal," all pleas, writs, bills, processes, and pre cepts returnable in November term be adjourned to the following February term. Again, upon the 15th of March, 1747-48, the Supreme Court sat in the house of James Willson, on the south side of the Raritan River, for the reason that the chief justice could not cross to Perth Amboy, "the Wind being so boisterous." Still later the court was moved to places of security owing to the exigen cies of the Revolutionary War, having no perma nent habitation until it was finally lodged in Trenton when that city was made the capital of the State. In August, 1762, owing to a variety of seals of the Supreme Court being in use, a rule was en tered making uniform practice in the matter. As the replica of the original seal is still in use the rule possesses a particular interest : Whereas, Several Seals have been lodged in different Counties of this Province, as Seals of this Court, the same being of Differeut Sizes and making Different Impressions, whereby great Confusion may arise by the Uncertainty as to the Process of this Court and Difficulty will Attend the Detection of Fraud in the Issuing of Contempt in the Misapplication thereof; and whereas such Seals have been intrusted in the hands of Particular Persons without any ONY AND AS A STATE 317 Regular Appointment for that Purpose, or even an account taken how many Seals were given out or in whose hands they were Lodged, for Preventing all which for the future, it is ordered that the Seals, the Impression whereof is in the margin [being a Port CuUis with the following words Round it " The Seal of the Supreme Court"] be for the future the Seal of this Court, and that no Seal with any other Impression be used as such, and it is further ordered that no Person do Presume to Use the Seal of this Court, forthe Sealing of any Writ, Process or other Instrument, but only such who shall be appointed by Instrument under the hand and seal of the Chief Justice for the time being. Upon the 18th of March, 1762, the Supreme Court had estabUshed a precedent for such a rule in the adoption of an order to the effect " that all persons Posses'd of the Seal of the Supreme Court of this Province do deliver the same to the Chief Justice by the First day of Term," which order was obeyed upon the 15th of May by several mem bers of the bar. It was further ordered that all who had seals undelivered should show cause why attachment should not issue for contempt. CHAPTER XIX Marri.'^<;e AND Divorce THAT holy and solemn estate wherein man taketh woman to be his lawful wedded wife until death them do part — or otherwise — was the sub ject of due concern on the part of the colonists of New Jersey. Neither the Calvinist nor the Quaker looked upon marriage as a divine sacrament, yet both were rigid in contending that such an important civil contract should not be entered into lightly, nor should neglect be made in preserving the record of so momentous an event. Superficialists have brought the charge against some of the settlers of East Jersey that the Scotch emigrants regarded leniently those " common law " marriages sometimes contracted among servants aboard ships destined for Perth Amboy and Elizabethtown. An examination of the facts relating to the eastern division shows the unfair ness of such a charge. In 1669 a certain marriage in East Jersey was declared unlawful by order, the parties being well known in the province; while during the year 1675, to properly regu late marriage, a legislative act directed each town clerk, under penalty, to provide a record book for registering all marriages, together with births and deaths, a like plan being provided by the " Funda mental Constitutions " of 1683. The Legislature of May, 1668, — the first to as- 322 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL semble in East Jersey, — contained men who were earnest in their endeavor to give proper sanction to the marital affairs of the colonists. The act passed at that session is a direct refutation of any laxness in the matter, the statute directing that no person or persons, son, daughter, maid, or serv ant, should be married without the consent of parents or masters. The intent of the parties to marry was directed to be three times published in some public meeting or " kirk," or set up in writ ing for fourteen days on some public house. Minis ters, justices of the peace, " or some chief offi cer " were authorized to perform the ceremony, or the governor could grant a license to persons " at their own disposing," or to minors when their parents or masters had given consent. In Novem ber, 1675, this law was reenacted. The careful attention paid to the publishing of the banns and the necessity for a license did not sit lightly upon the minds of the members of the Society of Friends, who possessed influence in the eastern board of proprietors, and who demanded a more liberal marriage act, particularly as to the provisions regarding any solemnization in a " kirk." To that end the twentieth chapter of the " Fundamental Constitutions " of 1683 enlarged the act, making the new statute " agreeable to men's different perswasions in religion." This chapter provided that all marriages not forbidden ONY AND AS A STATE 323 in the law of God should be esteemed lawful, when solemnized before credible witnesses, by taking one another as husband and wife, and a certiflcate thereof being properly registered. Exceptions made in the case of the Society of Friends, and the simplicity of their marriages, led to irregularities among some not members of that faith. The right was claimed by individuals that they were not amenable to the law, and that if the Quakers had neither banns nor licenses they, too, were exempt. To remedy this certain evil an act of October, 1693, imposed a penalty of £10 upon ministers and justices who joined parties without publishing the banns or securing the gov ernor's license. Nor were the authorities in East Jersey less careful in punishment of those who violated mari tal rights and obligations. The Legislature in May, 1668, enacted that adultery should be pun ished by divorce, whipping, or banishment. In the restrictions precluding a man from becoming a member of the " Great council " under the " Fundamental Constitutions " of 1683 adultery, among other crimes, disqualified a candidate for such an honor. Divorces were granted in a few instances in East Jersey, but the record is incom plete as to statement of operative causes. The Society of Friends in West Jersey appar ently made no provisions relative to the legisla- 324 NEW JERSBY AS A COL A colonial chatelaine. tive regulation of marriages. The peculiar cus toms of their faith left little room for law-making where a population was religiously homogeneous. As a natural conclusion divorces were practi cally unknown in the western province, the courts seeking to unite man and wife at variance rather than permanently to separate them. The Burlington court book supports this state ment in an entry showing that some time before 1694 Thomas Peachee and Mary, his wife, had agreed upon a separation. To effect a reconcilia tion the Quaker justices at Burlington summoned them into court, asking them if they were not willing to live together. Mary agreed, and so did Thomas, he stipulating that Mary " will acknowl edge shee hath scandalized him wrongfully." To this the woman consented, adding an expression eternally feminine : " But saith shee will not owne that she hath told lies of him to her knowl edge." At this point the negotiations naturally came to a standstill. " But after some good ad monitions from ye Bench," says the record, " They both p'mise they wUl forgett and never mention what unkind speeches or Actions have formerly past betweene them or Conceming each other. * * * Hee, s"^ Thomas p'mises, shee behaving herselfe, with tenderness and love to him, hee will remaine as a Loveing and a CarefuU Husband to ONY AND AS A STATE 325 her and make ye best p'vision for her and ye Child that hee can." For the crime of adultery, however, even the forgiving Quakers were by no means lenient. Upon the 14th day of March, 1682, there appeared before Justice Cripps at Burlington one John Car ter and a certain Lydia, who claimed that they were married at the house of Samuel Groome, of Elizabethtown, " before ye people called Quak ers." It appears upon the examination of an other witness that Lydia was the wife of one Tod, of that town, and, probably tiring of the company of her true and lawful spouse, had eloped with Carter. In the meantime Carter, flnding that the weight of testimony was piling upon him, — adopted a policy sanctioned by the greatest an tiquity, confessed his fault, and " wishes that the said Lydia was at home with her said husband." Such lack of gallantry cost Carter dear, for upon the 22d of March Governor Jenings, with Justices Stacy and Cripps, ordered that, " by the tenth hower in ye morning," the culprits " be whip*^ on their naked bodies," Carter to receive thirty stripes and Lydia thirty-flve stripes, that Lydia be sent back home and Carter be kept in jail one day after the woman left and then be " dismist, paying ye ffees." After the union of 1702 the instructions to Gov ernor Cornbury, given at the Court of Saint 326 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL James, November 16, 1702, vested in that person age the granting of marriage licenses as well as the collating of beneflces and the probating of wills. All other ecclesiastical jurisdiction con cerning the state establishment of the Church of England in the colony was lodged in the Lord Bishop of London. Lord Cornbury was further di rected to take especial care that a table of mar riages, established by the canons of the Church of England, be hung up in every orthodox church and duly observed. The governor was also en joined to secure the passage of an act for the ob servance of this table — a matter never accom plished, owing to the strenuous opposition of the nonconforming members of the Assembly during his administration. By far the most important statute regulating marriages in New Jersey was that passed upon the 27th of March, 1719, an act remaining unal tered for over eight decades. This law was aimed at the prevention of clandestine marriages, and found its reason for existence in the fact that " young persons have been * * » enticed, in veigled, led away and clandestinely married " to the ruin of the parties and the great grief of their parents and relations. The act provided that no persons under the age of twenty-one should be married without the writ ten consent of parents or guardians, which con- ONY AND AS A STATE 327 sent was to be duly filed and registered in the of fice of the provincial secretary. Heavy penalties were imposed upon license-issuing officers depu tized by the governor when licenses were issued without such parental consent. A forfeit of £200 was placed upon ministers and justices who united persons in marriage without having first viewed the consent. Any person under age applying for a license and offering the certificate of consent was required to prove the same on oath or affirma tion. A bond was given to the govemor in the penal sum of £500, conditioned upon a full ob servance of all the requirements of the statute. The bond could be prosecuted by parents or guard ians upon their giving security for costs. The statute further provided that persons could marry by advertisement of intention, in which case a license was not required. Upon production to the county clerk of a proper certificate signed by parents or guardians, and giving bond, the clerk was directed to post at three public places in the county such intention, setting forth the names and abode of the parties desirous of entering the nup tial state. Parents or guardians could enter dis sent during the space of twenty-one days, and a penalty of £500 was imposed upon clerks giving certificates while cognizant of such dissent. The statutes of Great Britain regulated the de- 328 NEW JERSBY AS A COLONY grees of affinity or consanguinity observable in New Jersey. Members of religious societies were permitted to marry according to the rules and customs of their societies, provided the consent of parents or guardians was first obtained. The effect of this legislation was extremely salutary, as the long period of its unchanged oper ation shows. While the law-making body could not prevent all clandestine marriages, the heavy penalties of the statute restrained men from carry ing away young girls from both East and West Jersey, a practice which, owing to the nearness of settlements to the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, had early become quite common. CHAPTER XX Religious Life of the Day IN MAY, 1738, there arrived in America, from England, a young man, scarcely twenty-four years of age, who was des tined to play a most conspicuous part in the religious history of the colonies, par ticularly in New Jersey. A religious enthusiast, an associate of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, this remarkable evangel ist has left an imperishable name — George White- field — upon the annals of Christianity. Whitefield's first work was in the establishment, in Georgia, of an orphan house, " Bethesda," un der the direction of Oglethorpe and the Wesleys, who were then working out the philanthropic ideals upon which the colony of Georgia was founded. Returning to England, he secured funds for his institution, and in a short time appeared again in America. Fired with his purpose to preach the gospel, he rushed like a whirlwind through the colonies, not only once but many times. In November, 1739, he appeared in Phila delphia, where, from the court house gallery, he preached to six thousand people, " who stood in awful Silence to hear him." In a few days he ap peared in Burlington and New Brunswick on his way to New York, where a concourse of three thousand people assembled such as was never be fore known. Retuming to Philadelphia, he again addressed the people at Elizabethown, New 332 NEW JERSBY AS A COL Brunswick, and Maidenhead, and thence to Georgia, where in March, 1740, he laid the corner stone of " Bethesda." George Whitefield at once returned to New Jer sey. During April he collected seven thousand people in New Brunswick, where there were " great Meetings in the Congregations." Of this meeting Whitefield says in his journal : " God's power was so much amongst us in the Afternoon Sermon that had I proceeded the Cries and Groans of the Congregation would have drowned my voice. One Woman was struck down." During the preceding week Whitefield had preached at Greenwich, Gloucester, and Amwell in West Jer sey, and during the same week he addressed vast audiences at Woodbridge and Elizabethtown. Associated with George Whitefield was the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, eldest son of the Rev. Will iam Tennent, founder of the famous " Log Col lege." Attracted by the boldness of Whitefield's style and greatly impressed by the intensity of his religious life, Tennent accompanied Whitefield to Boston. Following their passage through the colonies swept a wave of intense religious excite ment. At the same time Gilbert Tennent had preached a sermon, " The Danger of the Uncov- eted Ministry," which was so abusive that the Presbyterian Church divided, and the old and new side parties came into existence. ONY AND AS A STATE 333 Around Whitefield, Tennent, and their asso ciates the thunders of religious controversy rolled. Hated and revered, defied and worshiped, these remarkable men gave to the church in the colo nies a new impulse. Whitefield himself, in the height of his enthusiasm, disagreed with Wesley on doctrinal points and placed himself without the pale of the discipline of any denomination. Tennent, however, remained with the Presbyte rian Church. He soon established a congregation at New Brunswick, from which many disciples went abroad throughout the country. The contributors to the Boston, Philadelphia, and New York newspapers of the period were either intensely bitter or filled with admiration concern ing the propagandists. In language far from re spectful or even decent the vials of wrath were poured upon the heads of these two men, upon their converts, and particularly upon "Bethesda." In reply were printed letters filled with un stinted praise, of earnest hope for a further re vival in religious affairs, and of the possible glory of a regenerated popular life. Doctrinal issues, personal malice, rumor, and abuse were thrown into the controversy. The colonies never had such an experience, nor were they destined to have another. In the wake of the revivals went up the shouts of the. con- I— r-r n verted, the cries of those who had not availed FRIENDS MEETING HOUSK IN BURLINGTON. (Built in 1682.) 334 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL themselves of present opportunities. Men dreamed and saw visions, after they had fallen upon the ground, so powerfully had they been moved by the preaching of the associates. Thus for nearly if not quite a decade the spirit of the new movement seized the people. Whitefield con tinued his ministry, crossed and recrossed the At lantic, spoke in many places and at many times in New Jersey, ultimately dying in 1769. In the colony and State of New Jersey the in fluence of the preaching of Whitefleld long af fected the current of religious thought. It breathed new life into Presbyterianism and pre pared the way for the establishment of the Metho dist Episcopal Church. To education it gave an impulse and led to the furtherance of a plan for a trained ministry. The subtle influences which ex ist between freedom of religious and political thought found expression, and showed men that the meeting house must be vitalized as well as the State. Stripped of some of its doctrinal absurdi ties and all of its unfortunate quarrels, the White- field movement remains the most striking in the religious history of colonial times. Of the eminent members of the Society of Friends, whose public ministrations formed so im portant a part of the religious life of the colony, none enjoyed a more distinguished position than did John Woolman. Of him memorials are few, ft*. &^^tk the first METHODIST CHURCH IN AMERICA. ONY AND AS A STATE 335 chief among them being in a quiet comer of Bish op's Hill burying ground, in the ancient city of York, Old England, where stands a plain sand stone slab, about two feet in height. Carved thereon in letters darkened by age are these sim ple words : Near this Place John Woolman of Mount Holly New Jersey, North America Died 7th of Tenth Month 1772 Aged 52 Years. Born of emigrant Quaker parentage, who had settled in the Rancocas Valley, John Woolman in herited intense religious impulses, which he early and assiduously cultivated. Drawn toward the teachings of the meeting as a chUd and young man, he was much impressed by the faith of his fathers. It was a day of dogmatic assertion, of narrowness in belief, yet such was the breadth and nobility of his mind that, although he was a strict member of the Society of Friends, he was free from the self-righteousness so characteristic of the age. In his journal he shows himself singu larly clear from the assumptions of creed when he says : " I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions; but believed that sincere upright- hearted people, in every society who truly love God, were accepted by Him." 336 NEW JERSEY AS A COL The life of this remarkable man, as told by him self, — a life so far reaching in its influences, — shows that as a boy he " wrought on his father's plantation " until 1741, when he became a book keeper and clerk in a store in Mount Holly. Hiere, in accordance with the customs of the Society of Friends, John Woolman learned the tailoring trade, opening a school for poor, neglected chil dren in conformity to his often expressed senti ment : " It is a lovely sight to behold innocent children," and that " to labor for their help against that which would mar the beauty of their minds is a debt we owe them." From the expression of such sentiments, with the widely accepted view in the Society that the preacher is himself a teacher, John Woolman, at the age of twenty-three, entered on his public ministry. He flrst visited East Jersey. In 1746, in accordance with the customs of travelling Friends, he went among the meetings of Virginia, and in 1763 established himself as a preacher of power to Indians of the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania. In the meantime John Woolman continued his work in West Jersey and in Phila delphia, while in 1772 he embarked for England, dying in York, from that dread disease, the small pox. Thus ended the brief career of a man whose name throughout the colonies was a household ; word.y — A COUNTRY CHURCH. ONY AND AS A STATE 337 So far as the routine of his life was concemed it was simplicity itself. Born on a plantation, he became a merchant and school teacher in a pro vincial village, entered the ministry, traveled through the colonies, and died in England. There is scarcely a dramatic incident, scarcely an event of striking importance. But John Woolman's power consisted not only in preaching the doc trines of the Society in their original purity, but in exemplifying in his own life that which he taught and believed. This may be illustrated in a single instance. In a community where the art of writing was less practiced than it is to-day John Woolman drew the wills of his associates. Proflt came to such scriveners, yet he steadfastly refused to write any will in which the right of holding human be ings as personal property was acknowledged. And this was at a time when slave owning, although discountenanced by the meetings of the Society, was common among the most influential members of the sect. To understand properly the type of mind of John Woolman one must revert to his writings. John Woolman made no novel declaration of faith, yet so clear, so logical, were his statements, crystallizing the best of Quakerism, that his jour nal, breathing the spirit of the nobility of his char acter, reads like a new dispensation. Woolman 338 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL believed that true religion consists of an in ward life, wherein the heart loves and reverences God the Creator, and learns to exercise true jus tice and goodness, not only toward all men, but also toward the brute creatures; that as the mind is moved by an inward principle to love God as an invisible, incomprehensible Being, by the same principle it is moved to love Him in all His mani festations in the visible world; that as by His breath the flame of life is kindled in all animate sensible creatures, to say we love God as unseen, and, at the same time, exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by His life, or by life de rived from Him, is a contradiction in itself. Such an enunciation, free as it was from theolog ical sophistries, John Woolman sought to apply to certain evils then existent. His was an ob jective as well as a subjective life, and, recogniz ing needed reforms, he strove to apply these eth ical principles to the betterment of social condi tions. Of all these reforms the wrongs inflicted upon slaves — even slavery itself — were closest to his heart. In this regard John Woolman may in deed be said to be the apostle of the abolition ist movement in America. Taking for his text that, in accordance with the Divine Plan, all abuse and oppression of human and brute cre ation must cease, he fearlessly preached this doc trine, not only in New Jersey, where slave own- ONY AND AS A STATE 3o9 AT CROSSWICKS. ing was recognized, but in Virginia, where the in stitution was the very basis of the social and eco nomic life of the commonwealth. In New Jersey, while slave owning was not particularly proflt able, the keeping of human beings in bondage was recognized by the law and practiced by members of the Society in common with adherents of othe:^» religious denominations. To relieve these men inf^ bondage, to give them personal freedom, was th^^ aim of this man, who paved the way for Benezetj|l Garrison, and Brown, and furnished to the abou**" tionists and free soilers of later days arguments, the truth or falsity of which were tried in the fur- ^3^, ^^.j^^jy^ meeting house nace of civil war. Another subject upon which John Woolman often gave testimony was the matter of liquor drinking among those of wealth, who drank, as he said, in accordance with social customs, and among the poor, who were driven thereto by im moderate labor. Although not a prohibitionist, for he says there is " too liberal use of spirituous liquors ? » * the greater part of which we should have no use of," he urged the greatest moderation; portraying the disasters of those who become enslaved to ardent spirits. In his own life John Woolman was the model of that self-denial which he so earnestly besought others to adopt. He wore plain clothing, the woolen white, the linen flax, avoided the use of 340 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL plate and costly fumiture, believing luxury and superfluity to be the ground of much human suffering and of untold evUs. He argued that such things tended to effeminate the mind, and that thereby the strength of the body was weak' ened. John Woolman's mercantUe career gave him an opportunity to examine with care the current credit system in store keeping, a practice which gave him much concern. To aid the poor, who were the most greatly affected by the extension of credit, John Woolman sold his goods at small profit and urged his buyers to purchase only what they needed and to " keep within their means." This striking instance of his devotion to prin ciple appertains to yet another subject close to his mind during his ministry. The French and In dian War brought a new problem to John Wool- man. He believed, with other members of the So ciety, that war was inconsistent with the purity of the Christian religion. He, in 1758, was di rected to quarter two soldiers, which in obedience to civil authority he did. But when pay for the soldiers' board was offered he refused the stipend on the ground of passive submission to the law of the land. Turning to the man himself, tradition says that he was an orator of unusual power, yet such was his modesty a^aij. desire to tedch pure wisdom with- OLD CHRIST CHURCH, SHREWSBURY. ONY AND AS A STATE 341 out recourse to human arts that he stifled his gift. He says upon one occasion that he saw more than was required of him, which " taught him to feel that rise which prepares the creature to stand like a trumpet, through which the Lord speaks to His flock." Bnt whatever may have been his manner of speech the testimony of the Burlington Month ly Meeting says " his ministry was sound, very deep, and penetrating," both in exhortation and admonition. No portrait of John Woolman is extant, so far as known, and it is likely none was ever painted, as portraiture was not only almost unknown in the colonies, but was held in disfavor among the members of the Society in that day. Tradition has it that he was of an attractive personality and of excellent presence. To the world John Woolman is best known through his journal, first printed in Philadelphia in 1775, many times reprinted in Dublin, Lon don, and elsewhere abroad, the edition of 1871 containing an appreciative biography by the poet Whittier. Not only as a theologian but as a styl ist John Woolman deserves the highest rank among American writers. In " Ella " Charles Lamb — ^that lovable soul who was surely at tracted by such a man as John Woolman — says: " Get the writings of John Woolman by heart and love the early Quakers." Channing^s'elifnusiagm canopied pew in old CHRIST CHURCH, SHREWSBURY. 342 NEW JERSEY AS A COL concerning the journal is even more pronounced when he calls it " the purest and sweetest of all autobiographies." To Henry Crabb Robinson Woolman was a " Christian all love " with " a style of the most exquisite purity and grace." It is said at one time the journal was used as a text book at Princeton College. Nor was the journal the only product of this master mind. The width of John Woolman's in terests may be judged from the titles of but three of his other published works. Thus in Philadel phia there came from the press in two parts ( 1753- 1762) " Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes," which in 1768 was followed by " Con siderations on Pure Wisdom and Human Policy, on Labor, on Schools, and on the Right Use of the Lord's Outward Gift." Two years later there ap peared " Considerations on the True Harmony of Mankind; and how it is to be maintained." This remarkable collection of " Considerations " was succeeded by " An Epistle to the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings of Friends," published in 1772. Appearing, as it did, during the intensity of the poUtical discussions of the time, neither it nor a posthumous work, " Serious Considerations on various Subjects of Importance, with Some of His Dying Expressions," printed at London in 1773, attracted as much attention as some of his earlier works. ONY AND AS A STATE 343 The reputation enjoyed by John Woolman among the members of his Society has been endur ing. In becoming the exemplar of the doctrines of the Quakers, in " living the life," he strove for the betterment of his fellowmen, not only by his example, but by precept. By a somewhat strange coincidence the minis terial labors of Whitefield and Woolman, both working toward a common end by such radically different methods, came to a close about 1770. An inquiry as to the relative strength of the various religious denominations in New Jersey during this period may be profitably made. From Samuel Smith's " History of the Colony of Nova Csesarea or New Jersey," published in 1765, a tabulation has been prepared which shows the distribution of denominations throughout the colony. The Presbyterians in East Jersey, including Hunterdon and Morris Counties, had forty-one churches, and fourteen in West Jersey, though their influence in the western division was largely conflned to limited areas in Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May Counties. The Society of Friends had in West Jer^ thirty meeting houses, one in Sussex, Monmouth, and four in Middlesex. meeting houses in Essex County, in THE FIRST CHURCH IN NEWARK. 344 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL in Plainfield, but in Somerset and Bergen Coun ties they had no houses for worship. The Episcopalians had twelve churches in East Jersey and nine in West Jersey, being unrepre sented in the Counties of Somerset, Bergen, Cape May, Morris, and Sussex. Of the other faiths the Baptists had nineteen meeting houses, evenly distributed throughout the province, possessing strength in Monmouth County, but having no congregation in Morris or Bergen. The Seventh Day Baptists had two churches in Middlesex and Cumberland, while the Anabaptists sustained a congregation in Morris County, as did the Separatists and Rogerines. The Low Dutch Church had seven meeting houses in Bergen, five in Sussex, flve in Somerset, CHURCH AT BERGEN IN 1680. two lu Esscx, ouo lu Huntcrdou, and one in Mid dlesex; while the Dutch and German Lutherans had six congregations in Somerset, Bergen, Hun terdon, Sussex, and Salem Counties. There was also a congregation of German Presbyterians in Hunterdon County, while in Gloucester there ex isted a Swedish church and a Moravian mission. There were thus in New Jersey about one hun dred and sixty meeting houses, distributed among a dozen denominations. Of these about thirty- three per cent, were in the possession of the Pres byterians, about twenty per cent, in the hands of the Society of Friends, thirteen per cent, were ONY Ai^D AS A STATE 345 owned by the Episcopalians, and about twelve per cent, under the control of the Baptists. The re mainder, about twenty-five per cent, of the one hundred and sixty houses of worship, were largely owned by the Low Dutch and the Dutch Calvinists. The Dutch church at Bergen, organized in 1660, is the oldest in the State. The Old Tennent Church, near Freehold, claims to be the mother church of the Presbyterian denomination in America. The first Universalist Church in Amer ica was formed in Monmouth (now Ocean) County. The meeting houses of all the denominations were plain, substantial buildings, erected of what ever material was commonly used in the communi ties where they stood. Little or no attention was paid to adornment; austerity was truly as much an architectural as a religious merit. All had benches of relative hardness, all were fireless in winter, and all provided sheds for the care of the horses of the congregations. Most meeting houses were located at points central to farming commu nities, which placed them upon well travelled roads. Services were conducted with the greatest decorum, although before and after the sermon, which was usually doctrinal and was consequent ly the momentous event of the day, the congrega tions assembled to discuss matters of interest to themselves and to their neighborhoods. 346 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY Whatever may have been the differences among the faiths as to forms of worship, this custom was general among them, even among the Society of Friends, where the men and women were sepa rated during the hours of meeting. Nor did music play any prominent part in the Sunday services, except in the Episcopalian churches. Among many of the Calvinists, and particularly among the Quakers, music was not permitted. Around all the churches were the graveyards, where were buried those faithful to their religious vows. Throughout the colony plantation grave yards were common, many preferring to be laid away near their homes than under the shadow of the meeting houses. The graveyards were, how ever, as in all new communities, neglected. CHAPTER XXI The Status of Education THE origin of schools within the State of New Jersey may be traced, with a great degree of certainty, to the advent of the Hollanders and the Swedes. In the development of the settlements of these two nationalities a familiar, almost necessary, relationship existed between the schools and that other agency of civiUzation, the churches. In communities where the struggle for existence was bitter there were few, if any, who had either time, experience, or inclination to teach the young. To the minister, in the discharge of his duties, this task naturally fell, not only on ac count of his superior mental advantages, but be cause the current view of education itself was that it was religious rather than secular. As early as 1633 there was founded in New Amsterdam the Collegiate Church School, which gave secular instruction to the youth of the town, and may have had among its students youths from the western shore of the Hudson. In 1647 Director Stuyvesant wrote to Holland asking that there be sent to his colony a " pious, well quali fied, and diligent Schoolmaster," while in 1658 a Latin school in New York had among its pupils young men from the Hudson River settlements as far as Albany and from distant Virginia. But it was in 1664, in the village of Bergen, that the first school of which authentic record exists 350 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL was established within the limits of New Jersey. Of this institution of leaming Engelbert Steen huysen, church clerk, was master. From eight o'clock in the morning until eleven in the fore noon, and from one o'clock until four o'clock in the afternoon, he taught reading, writing, and spelling, and even arithmetic when the maturity of the child-mind permitted such an intellectual pursuit. Upon the Delaware the Swedes made brave at tempts toward the proper instruction of the chil dren of the community. In their churches at Tinicum, New Castle, Christina, and Wecaco, upon the west bank of the Delaware, tradition and record show that the minister was also a school master, or had an assistant who performed such duties while acting as clerk, reader, and comforter of the sick. Such was the custom in Sweden, and, as Wickersham points out, this educational policy was undoubtedly transferred to the Zuydt Riviere. That the ministers of the Swedish church visited the scattered settlements on the New Jer sey shore of the Delaware is known, and that secu lar instruction was then given is extremely prob able. But in the hopelessness of Sweden's at tempts to colonize New Jersey these efforts to teach were necessarily abandoned, and the younger generations were left, in New Jersey, to secure instruction as best they could. ONY AND AS A STATE 351 In both New Netherland and New Sweden the range of instruction was necessarUy limited. Un der direction from the home governments, and un der natural impulse, the ministers sought to pre serve the use of the language and church customs of their respective nations. In this the Dutch were as singularly successful as the Swedes were unsuccessful. Instruction by means of the cate chisms and the Bible was a common method of teaching, while the rudiments, a little Latin, and, mayhap, Greek, completed the curriculum. Such scientific knowledge as the Old World possessed did not reach the shores of New Jersey except in a diluted form. In such instruction there was danger of witchcraft. When the Scotch and English Calvinists came to Bast Jersey there came into the colony that type of school famous in the early annals of New England. While not so highly intensified as in the more northern colonies, the East Jersey school was distinctively a part of town life, and, as among the Swedes and Dutch, was made a part of the work of the local church. But in addition to this influence government rendered aid. In 1664 Governor Carteret's charter, granted to Bergen, provided for a church and " free school," sup ported by a tract of land exempt from taxes or other charges. Woodbridge, in 1669, in her char ter, was empowered to susit^Jn|4=«?hool "fi'om the , THE FAMOUS OLD SCHOOL HOUSE AT BASKING RIDGE. I Built about 1800.) 352 NEW JERSEY AS A COL proceeds of certain land " set apart for education," while in 1676 Newark rejoiced in a well-qualifled schoolmaster. In 1693 the East Jersey Legislature provided general legislation upon this subject in a statute which stated, in its preamble, that " the cultiva tion of learning and good manners tends greatly to the good and beneflt of mankind." A town election was permitted whereby three men were to make a rate and establish a schoolmaster's salary. Under this and a subsequent law schools were established, according to collateral evidence, although the records of the institutions are lost. Instruction in the East Jersey schools was largely of a religious nature. The Bible and the catechism were used as text-books, and these were studied with thoroughness. But little attention was paid to the higher branches of learning, ex cept possibly mathematics and a superflcial read ing of the classics. In West Jersey the Society of Friends di rected especial attention to the subject of education. Burlington had scarce more than a name before the Assembly, in 1682, passed an act whose design was to encourage " leam ing for the better education of youth." It provided that a valuable tract of land situated in the Delaware, above Burlington, and known as Matinicunk Island, " remain to and for the use ONY AND AS A STATE 353 of the town of Burlington * * * for the maintaining of a school for the education of youth." The revenues, managed by trustees, de rived from a part of this island are still devoted to the purpose intended. This is probably the oldest trust fund of an educational character now existing within the limits of the United States. Possibly the clearest exponent of the Quaker system of education in that early day was Thomas Budd, the author of " Good Order Established in Pennsylvania and West-New-Jersey in America." His plan of instruction, for the time, was compre hensive and, in part, was adopted. Compulsory education, during a period of seven years, at " the publick school," was urged. Such schools, he said, should be set up in all towns and cities, while " persons of known honesty, skill, and understand ing be yearly chosen by the Govemor and General Assembly to teach and instruct boys and girls." The curriculum embraced reading and writing " true English and Latin ? * » and fair writ ing, arithmetick, and bookkeeping." The artist-artisan idea appears in embryo. The boys were to be instructed in " some mystery or trade, as the making of mathematical instru ments, joynery, turnery, the making of clocks and watches, weaving, and shoemaking." The girls were to be taught " spinning in flax and wool, the knitting of gloves and stockings, sewing and mak- 354 NBW JERSEY AS A OOL (SEAL OF THE SOCIETT 'l\>B H'l!; PROPAGATION OF THE iiOCrf.i. IN FO'RIilCM fART*. ing of all sorts of needle work, and the making of straw work, as hats, baskets, etc." Budd also recommended that upon seventh day afternoon (Saturday) religious meetings be held for boys and girls, but with the sexes separate and apart, that the " children will be hindered of running into that excess of riot and wickedness that youth is incident to, and they will be a comfort to their tender parents." The period following the establishment of royal government, in 1702, was marked by no striking advance in the status of educational life. From the letters of the missionaries sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts the undeniable fact is presented that there were many people in New Jersey who were ignorant. The schools established under the influences of the various churches reached out only to the chil dren of members of those creeds. The outward stimuli, which would lead to a desire for mental improvement, were largely wanting in colonial life. No public libraries existed in New Jersey until practically the middle of the eighteenth cen tury, and these were few and feeble. Such books as had been brought over sea were lodged in the hands of the ministry or the landed proprietors, and thus were inaccessible to the mass of the peo ple. Mails were infrequent, the New York and Philadelphia newspapers were of narrow circula- ONY AND AS A STATE 355 tion, and were expensive. Even the Bible was not to be found in every house. Children were early taught household duties or made to work at trades or upon the farm. With night came physical tire and lack of artiflcial illumination. But above and beyond all there was no uniform, permanent sys tem of public instruction stimulated by public aid. Such education as was obtained was usually by observation, by listening to conversations in the public rooms of inns, in attendance upon the trial of causes in court, or " sitting under " the local minister. Early in the century there grew up the practice of establishing private schools. These were usual ly held in the house of some prominent citizen, or, it may be, in some crude building erected for the purpose. Here assembled the children of the neighborhood, who received instruction from an itinerant schoolmaster, and who, in rare cases, became a part of the family of his patron, as was customary in the tidewater district of Virginia. Sometimes he " boarded " from house to house. Occasionally the teacher was a college bred man from Harvard, Yale, or later, Princeton; some times he was a clever young fellow, seeking a liv ing, and not infrequently he was a Scotch or Irish redemptioner, who, qualified to teach, sold his " time " to some public spirited man that the 356 NEW JERSEY AS A COL cause of " learning and polite manners " might thereby be advanced. Shifting through the tangled threads of the fabric of colonial life there ever appears the class of men who are to be found in every community. These are the adventurers, glib of tongue, easy mannered, and impecunious. That men of this type taught school in the province is unquestion ably true. Outwardly they were genteel, but what with drinking, gambling, dueling, and runaway marriages their course was so corrupt that danger lay in their thoroughly corrupting the morals of the youth. To correct this evil, what was prob ably the flrst attempt in New Jersey to formu late a policy of instruction by restrictive action on the part of the general government was adopted. In 1758 Governor Bernard was instructed by the home authorities to prohibit any Englishman from teaching school in the province of New Jersey, except the applicant show license from the Bishop of London. All other persons were re quired to secure the governor's license — ^a regula tion more honored in the breach than in the ob servance. Yet the life of the schoolmaster had its hardships, as is shown by an unpublished record of the Supreme Court to the effect that upon the 22d of November, 1773, the justices and freehold ers of " Acquackanock," " in the County of Essex," presented a petition to " His Excellency, William ONY AND AS A STATE 357 Franklin, Esqr, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of New Jersey and Territories thereon Depending in America, Chan cellor and Vice-Admiral of the Same," etc. This formal presentation set forth the facts that David Campbell had for a considerable time re sided in Acquackanock while engaged in teaching school, behaving himself as a sober man and dili gent in his calling. " But the Conflnement of schoolkeeping," say the petitioners, " proving of Late hurtful to his health, and having no Trade to procure himself a living and he being Desirous and we the Subscribers Considering him A person properly qualified for following the Business of A Hawker Pedlar or Petty Chapman, most Humbly Recommend him Beseeching your Excellency to grant him a License for to follow the above Busi ness." The schools of the period were replicas of the earlier type. The schoolmaster — rarely one hears of a schoolmistress— was monarch of his educa tional kingdom. Tardiness, failures in recitation, slight insubordinations were met with a liberal application of the rod. Blackboards, maps, refer ence books, and pictures were unknown. Paper was costly, ink was made on the farm from vege table products, while the teacher instructed the children in the making of quill pens. In winter the rooms were cold and cheerless, in summer hot 358 NBW JERSEY AS A COL (/O^yi/^y o'^.'h-'i-yz ,•: 'tryhy and usually ill-ventilated. Much of the instruc tion was given by questions and answers, and woe betide the boy who did not learn verbatim his Bible verses, although the master might be redolent with gin when he heard the recitation. While probably sufficient for ordinary needs, the education of the young men was largely of an intensely practical character. Stress was laid upon what would now be termed a " business course," and as few of the sons of Jerseymen studied abroad, or prepared in England for the bar or the ministry, there was but little call for advanced methods of instruction. But the fate of the daughters was even worse. It may be said that the instruction of females was Umited to a bare understanding of the rudiments. Much regret is expressed in late years that the letters of colonial women, of the middle and upper classes, have not been preserved. The reason may be found not in the lack of preservation, but be cause such letters did not exist. While women were taught to write, few availed themselves, to any extent, of their opportunities. Such letters as have been preserved are largely of a domestic or religious character. Indeed the sentiment was abroad that too much education was not beneficial for women, that a knowledge of books weaned them from the domestic circle, and that their place was in the kitchen or caring for the children. The Joiiathau Dickiat l ui - sjn. Jersey 17-16-47; h. in Hatfi )ld, »ti of the First Presbyt* < j 07er forty yeara; ^- Oot .1 ihc College of New \.^xi\ -1% IfJSS; pastor <^;!izabethtowii N. J., ONY AND AS A STATE 359 selfishness of this view, and the generally subordi nate place occupied by women, according to the custom of the time, retarded any great intellectual development. Only among the Society of Friends were women given public position — and then only as approved ministers. Through the darkness of this period one bright gleam pierces the gloom. This was the charter ing of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) upon the 22d day of October, 1746. Briefly stated, the organization of the college was due to the intense religious excitement marking the progress of George Whitefield through the American colonies, as well as the crystallization of years of thought, stimulated largely by the atti tude of the Presbyterian Church. In Bucks Coun ty, Pennsylvania, some years previous to the char tering of the college, the Rev. William Tennent had erected a building called partly in derision and wholly in truth " Log College." Thence went out to the world some who afterward became lead ers in the secular and religious life of the colo nies. Tennent and Whitefield united in furthering that remarkable movement which revived, in 1740, the spirit of the Calvinist movement in New Jer sey. Already the Presbyterian Church in the colony had divided itself into two elements. Three questions were at issue. These points of differ- ^*":ame to Philadelphia 1734; ordained at Ne.* Bc^n.i"p'.,k 1748, d. July 17, 1766. ONY AND AS A STATE 363 which were Princetonians, was founded by Joseph Alexander. Nor were the early graduates of the college less famous in secular life. Dr. William Burnet, an early president of the New Jersey Medical So ciety; Colonel Nathaniel Scudder, of Monmouth County, the only member of Congress killed in the Revolution; Jonathan Odell, rector of Saint Mary's, Burlington, the Tory satirist; the distinguished patriot of Newark, Alexander Macwhorter; the Rev. William Tennent, Jr.; Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia; Rev. Jonathan Edwards, Jr.; Luther Martin, attorney-general of Maryland during the Revolution; Colonel Francis Barber, of Elizabeth, New Jersey; William Churchill Houston, five times member of Congress from New Jersey; Senator Frederick Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey; Gunning Bedford, govemor of Delaware; Philip Freneau, the poet of the Revolution; President James Madison; United States Attorney-General William Bradford; Vice-President Aaron Burr; Rev. Philip Vicars Fithian, of Cumberland Coun ty, New Jersey; "Light Horse Harry" Lee, of Revolutionary fame; Governor Aaron Ogden, of New Jersey; and Chief Justice Andrew Kirkpat rick, of New Jersey, embrace but a part of the names of men who, between 1748 and 1775, re ceived their degrees from the college. In the exciting times marking the opening of Ajhbsi Green, eigiith .president of the tJt-U't', i.-' i^tw ¦Inner 1812-22; i. in Hanover, K. J., July 6, 1762 ; Bfcne B 3>$mant(Te en ongliemepne tpstntttiappm ¦ banttcnailtinKifcc^atutcilmtNmtitnXantt. 4Snl>t JEcn byfonder vcrhad vandcn wonderliicfceo A«*t oule bet VCeeToi dci B E VC R S , Dair Kocb BiGevoeobt I> *m;6ilJ(Du«(oteclicoeJtgtiufaptl»nNieira/Nederiandt, niHc^ tni NedertinJts Patriot , OlM Cm • Nieuw Nedcrlander. ^efeinvm ioir A P B. I A E N vander D O N C 'K, Beyder lUchten DoOoor, die teghenwoto> dighiii>chinNioi»Nc'^,.' leiBey r^up'-nor Court, 1692 ; meiiil»er ..,. Council and A.- sembly: ,^iiiei justice o: ^t-f: York and Sew .Jeice;," : -^tat' councillor ";7K'"-o ^738, acting gOTeruor of \e\v -ler^r'" 173' :ili n- dt.:'-th r'^y il, :74i:. ONY AND AS A STATE 395 John Hamilton. Two noteworthy events occurred during Hamilton's short occupancy — the granting of the first charter to the College of New Jersey, and the aid the colony gave toward the Canada expedition in the French and Indian War. The administration of John Reading, who as president of council succeeded John Hamilton, was marked by riots in Perth Amboy — the cul mination of agitation which commenced as early as 1670. The dispute grew out of titles derived from proprietary boards, in which an intense feel ing had been generated, owing to the demands for quit-rents made by the proprietors. In Govemor Jonathan Belcher, scholar, man of affairs, and for several years chief executive of Massachusetts, New Jersey had a man of intelli gence, but severely puritanical in his views. Pub lishing his commission as governor in Amboy, August 10, 1747, Governor Belcher removed to Burlington, where he resided for several years, de voting his time to statecraft and the advancement of the doctrines of George Whitefield. Dissatis fied with the laxity of the observance of Sunday in Burlington, he drove frequently to Philadelphia, with coach and four, there to worship in the Pres byterian churches. But even this act was apparent desecration of the Sabbath " to one of his "conscientious scruples," says John White head, entertainingly, in his "CivU and Judicial Mrrr^ 396 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY History of New Jersey," and the practice was abandoned. While attending the commencement exercises of the College of New Jersey in 1756 Governor Belcher was seized with a paralytic stroke, and, in spite of some relief afforded by an electrical apparatus sent him by Benjamin Frank lin, he died in August, 1757. His friend, the Bev. Aaron Burr, president of the College of New Jersey, who died in September of the same year, preached a funeral sermon upon the occa sion of the governor's burial. While he had some disputes with the Assembly concerning the ques tion of the support of the government Belcher's devoted services to the colony caused him to be remembered with a sincere affection. In rapid succession Thomas Pownall, lieutenant- governor, and John Reading, president of coun cil, assumed the duties of the office pending the arrival, upon the 15th of June, 1758, of Francis Bernard. The most distinguishing act of his ad ministration was the treaty with the Indians, con cluded at Easton during the month of October, 1758. Governor Bernard two years later was re moved to Massachusetts, his successor being Thomas Boone, who held office for the space of one year. Last before the advent of William Franklin was Josiah Hardy, who after a few months was recalled to England, being tendered an appointment as consul at Cadiz, Spain. , : New .Taifir^y u-,-.>4."., , 6, inFairfieJ'i. Conii , l. llj ;.>7,'.u. Ya!e 17-:." ¦ loui; pastor of th--' fr.£iljy»:t , Jhirch at fJ'- I'M k- ¦.-. 'ke..- bio '-^oti Anroa '¦-'">-¦ ^^¦^¦'U i '« i'l CHAPTER XXIV The Last of thk Royat. Covii^rnoes I Wa^^ N THE closing years of the administration of William Franklin, the last Royal gov ernor of the colony of New Jersey there is something akin_to pathos in the gallant Jbut^Qpelfiss lMttIi~"wEch Tie in suBjaojt-oi the crown. Accused as he has been of shifting from side to side, hjs seem- __ing compromi^jes_were, as expressed in his own words, too evidently in the intjerest of possible reconciliation to be charged to a baser purpose. Before all~else~he ^placed his duty to his sovereign, and no clearer vision came to him than the belief that any measures other than petitions to the throne were in themselves treasonable. To warn the people of New Jersey that anarchy and con fusion would destroy the blessings of civil society, if any course other than obedience to the law be followed, was the maxim of his administrative pol icy. He saw not beyond his own time; by the Tory standards of his day should he be judged. The first anti-climax of his administration came upon the 8th of February, 1774. Since the 10th of November of the preceding year he had held the Assembly in check by personal interference and the exercise of his official power. The colo nies were ringing with the disasters of Massachu setts and the boldness of the Virginians, who had secured the appointment of committees of corre spondence in every other Assembly from Massa- WILLIAM FRANKLFN-. (From a Medallion bv V.i.itui:.. Willtain Franklii), iliegitimate sou of Ht^.ijauatJi Fjaiikliu; i ID Philadelphia 1729; comptroller o th'- geu ral popt- .ft f '7.'i4-.'J6: ''.in England, Not, 17, 181^; ather of ^Vill- au. te.iiple Franklin. 400 NEW JERSEY AS A COL chusetts to Georgia. Throughout the session the House of Assembly of New Jersey had received let ters and resolutions from various assemblies which dealt with the all-absorbing question of the common rights and liberties of the colonies. From the action of the house, taken as a commit tee of the whole, it is leamed that a resolution was adopted by the Assembly heartily accepting " of the Invitation of a mutual Correspondence and Intercourse with our Sister Colonies," and that in furtherance of the plan a " Standing Com mittee of Correspondence and Inquiry " was ap pointed. This action was the first declaration by the representatives of the people of the colony that New Jersey had a vital interest in the approach ing contest. The decision had been reached after a careful consideration, instituted against the ad vice of Franklin. But, influential as he then was, his efforts to prevent the passage of the resolu tion were unavailing, and the following citizens were selected upon the new committee: James Kinsey, of the City of Burlington; Ste phen Crane, of Essex; Hendrick Fisher, of Somer set; Samuel Tucker, of Hunterdon; John Wether- ill, of Middlesex; Robert Freind Price, of Glouces ter; John Hinchman, of GloucestCT^John Mehelm, of Hunterdon; and Edward Tayloir, of l^wimouth. The duties of this eonunittee were closely de- ONY AND AS A STATE 401 fined, the plan and scope of the inquiries clearly indicating the trend of public opinion and the nature of the subjects uppermost in popular dis cussion. The members were directed to obtain the " most early and authentick Intelligence of all Acts and Resolutions of the Parliament of Great Britain, or the Proceedings of Administra tion that may have any Relation to, or may affect the Liberties and Privileges of. His Majesty's Sub jects in the British Colonies in America, and to keep up and maintain a Correspondence and Com munication with our Sister Colonies, respecting these important Considerations." The commit tee was also enjoined to furnish a statement of the action of New Jersey to the " speakers of the Assemblies on the Continent of America " and that "they do return the Thanks of the House to the Burgesses of Virginia, for their early atten tion to the Liberties of America." In a letter to the Barl of Dartmouth, written upon the 31st of May, Governor Franklin offers an explanation for the action of the New Jersey Assembly when he says that the colony " did not choose to appear singular " after New York had adopted a simUar course. To this statement may be added that of a member of the committee, who gave the reason that New Jersey might eventually be placed in the " same predicament with Bos- 402 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ton," and boldly adds : " Our Committee is well disposed in the cause of American Freedom." The selection of a committee, composed of men whose homes were in various parts of the colony, lent to the idea of " Correspondence and Inquiry " not only the superior weight of action of an offi cial character, but gave to local movements a dis tinctive claim for strength and stability. It was the centralization of social and political forces which, in New Jersey, had been slowly moving to a common center. While the great questions involved were still in the stage of argument and constitutional dis cussion, the arguments and the discussions lost none of their effectiveness nor vehemence. The breach between friends was slowly widening. Whig and Tory, under the candles of the taproom of the inns, in the furrows of newly-plowed fields, in the cabins of coastwise craft, before the doors of the meeting houses, in court rooms, and at the dusty crossroads, laid out those courses of future action which made the flickering spark of hope spring into the fire of national life, or brought sorrow and disaster to those adherents of the crown who were driven, at last, into political and social ostracism. But while the govemor was slowly losing his power over the Assembly his council, a more conservative body, still held close to the doctrine of the divinity of kingship. Late ONY AND AS A STATE 403 in January, 1775, the members of council as sured the governor of their zealous attachment to the interests of Great Britain and her colonies, their sincere loyalty to George III, and of their earnest desire, both in their public and private capacities, to preserve peace, good order, and a dutiful submission to the laws. To the Council and Assembly which met in January of that year Governor Frank lin spoke fairly and without evident bitter ness. Disclaiming the capacity to decide the dispute, he said it was a duty for those who conceived themselves aggrieved to aim for redress. But it was to be remembered that every breach of the constitution, " whether it proceeds from the Crown or the People," was in its effects equally destructive to the rights of both. The re ply of the house was to a degree equivocal. As serting the loyalty of the members and of their assurance to support the crown, the members de clared they were resolved to preserve their con stitutional liberties by every means within their power. The governor in turn parried this ill cealed thrust and said that his advice " came an heart sincerely devoted to my native country, whose welfare and happiness depend, as I ceive, upon a plan of conduct very different what has been hitherto adopted." So far as the Assembly represented the sept STATUE OF GEORGE III. 404 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ment of the people of New Jersey a petition to the King adopted by the house February 13, 1775, gives in detail the list of grievances of which New Jersey as well as the other colonies complained. These complaints did not arise, said the petition, " from a want of loyalty to your royal person, or a disposition to withdraw ourselves from a con stitutional dependence on the British crown, but from well grounded apprehensions that our rights and liberties are intimately affected by the late measures, in their consequences pernicious to the welfare and happiness both of Great Britain and your Majesty's Colonies." The causes for complaint were the subordina tion of civil to military government, in the use of a standing army and naval armament to enforce the collection of taxes, and the appointment of the commander-in-chief as governor of a colony. Admiralty judges had been empowered to re ceive their salaries and fees from effects con demned by themselves, while customs officers had been empowered to break open houses without authority of civil magistrates. New, expensive, and oppressive offices, the dissolution of assem blies, acts in restraint of commerce, the abolition of trial by jury, as well as the several acts directed against Massachusetts and affecting Quebec, were sufficient for the people of New Jersey to " fly to ONY AND AS A STATE 405 the foot of his Throne " and implore the sover eign's protection. That New Jersey made the cause of the more deeply aggrieved colonies her own is suggested by the petition. " Although all the grievances above enumerated," says that document, " do not immediately aftect the people of this Colony, yet as in their consequences they will be deeply in volved we cannot remain silent and unconcerned." In support of the loyalty of the colony the atti tude of New Jersey in aiding the crown and the more exposed colonies during the French and In dian War was suggested. This evidence of affec tion, as well as the willingness of the members to sustain the government, led the Assembly to de clare that it abhorred the idea of a state of in dependency, and that it had no knowledge of such design in others. The chasm between the governor and the As sembly, which assembled for a few days in May, grew wider. The members rejected the plan of conciliation proposed in Parliament upon the 20th of February, and in a long answer to Governor Franklin's still longer message refused to take action. Nor was the Assembly which met upon the 15th of November in much better humor. While it would not listen to the appeals of the governor, the house, in answer to a peace petition signed by certain inhabit- 406 NEW JERSEY AS A COL ants of the County of Burlington, declared that the " reports of Independency * * * the delegates ' are groundless," and directed to the Continental Congress to use their en deavors to obtain a redress of grievances, restore union upon constitutional principles, and to reject propositions leading to independency or alteration in the form of government. In the meantime the governor's council had re mained in a quiescent state, as that body was more directly under his control. Upon the 6th of De cember the governor prorogued the Assembly to meet upon the 3rd of January, 1776, but it never reassembled, and with it died the council. Throughout the contest, which had been con ducted with every evidence of honesty of purpose on either side, the person of the governor had been kept inviolate. He had been assured by the Assembly that he need not seek the protection of the King's ships; indeed that for him, individual ly, New Jersey had the highest respect. Had he espoused the cause of liberty he would have been, in all probability, the first governor of the State of New Jersey under the new constitution. The political crisis in the life of William Frank lin was reached during the middle of the month of June, 1776 Since his arrest in January, by Lord Stirling, who had but recently been a member of the governor's comi«UJ although later deposed, UE.SIDEXCE OF LORD STIRLiNli. ONY AND AS A STATE 407 William Franklin had been living in the proprie tors' house at Perth Amboy. Nominally governor of New Jersey, neither his aft'able manners nor his personal popularity, stimulated by excellent address and a fund of humor and anecdote, nor his father's reputation, nor his undoubted quali ties as a statesman could save him from the im pending doom. He had advanced the interests of the colony at court and had urged beneficial legis lation at home, while he and his amiable wife had entertained with vice-regal elegance and had es tablished a model farm on the banks of the Ran cocas, for all of which the people of New Jersey were grateful; nevertheless the hour had come when neither the person of a royal governor was secure nor the office he held was sacred. Follow ing the advice of Benjamin Franklin, the govern or had made a choice. He had selected the cause of the Eang. And for his loyalty the governor paid a price little short of death. The attitude of the Provincial Congress toward William Franklin, while resolute, was neverthe less respectful. In the Congress were men who had sat in the colonial Assemblies and who had been his offlcial beneficiaries. While the hands that stripped him of power were firm, they were tender. To some of them, at least, he was still Govemor Franklin, at whose board they had sat in Perth Amboy and Burlington, and whose 408 NEW JERSEY AS A COL stories of his army life in the French and Indian War; of his law student days at the inns of court, and of his marriage in London they had heard with pleasure. While independence meant a new order of things political, the putting aside of the old brought a touch of sorrow and, for some, a pang of regret. But the path lay open. So long as the royal governor exercised the semblance of power so long was the Provincial Congress hampered in its preparations for a resort to force. With the re moval of the substance the shadow passed away. For this reason June 14th was a momentous day in the session of the Provincial Congress. The thirteen counties, in conformity with a resolution, had each returned five delegates, and of the sixty- five, there were forty-nine who voted upon a mem orable resolution to the effect that the proclama tion of William Franklin, " late governor of New Jersey," appointing a meeting of the Legislature for June 20th, " ought not to be obeyed." An af firmative vote stood thirty-eight to eleven. Of the latter, Bergen delegates cast four. Cape May and Hunterdon each two, with one each to the credit of Sussex, Essex, and Monmouth. This was followed on the succeeding day by the passage of another resolution that, in the opinion of the Provincial Congress, Governor Franklin, by such proclamation, had acted in. contempt and ONY AND AS A STATE 409 violation of the resolution of Congress directing New Jersey and the other colonies to frame for themselves independent governments. This was passed by a vote of forty-one to eight. In the negative Bergen cast three votes, Cape May, Mon mouth, and Hunterdon each cast two votes, with one vote from Sussex. A third resolution declaring that William Franklin " has discovered himself an enemy to the liberties of his country," and that measures should be taken for securing his person, brought forty- two votes in the afflrmative and ten in the nega tive. Three votes were cast by Bergen, two each by Monmouth and Hunterdon, and one each by Essex, Sussex, and Cape May, all in the negative. The fourth and final resolution declared that henceforth the salary of William Franklin should cease. In favor of this resolution forty-seven votes were cast in the afflrmative, Sussex, Bergen, and Hunterdon each casting one vote in the negative. TO arrest the govemor an order was issued to Colonel Nathaniel Heard, of whom, on the occa sion of a raid on Long Island, the Tories had re cently sung: Col. Heard has come to town, In all tis pride and glory; And when he dies he'll go to Hell For robbing of the Tory. The gallant militiaman was directed to conduct 410 NEW JERSEY AS A COL the affair " with all the delicacy and tenderness which the nature of the business can possibly ad mit.'' To William Franklin was given the option of paroling himself at Princeton, Bordentown, or his own farm at Rancocas — his large plantation called " Franklin Park," upon the north bank of the Rancocas River, near the site of the first mill erected in West Jersey, and within a few miles of Burlington. Colonel Heard departed upon his mission, and upon the 17th of June, with Major Deare, visited the late governor, who not only refused to comply with the order of the Provincial Congress, but forbade Colonel Heard, at his peril, to carry the order into execution. A guard of sixty militia was placed around the late gov ernor's house. The Provincial Congress, appar ently hesitating about taking action, immediately referred the whole matter to the Continental Con gress, with the suggestion that William Franklin be removed from the colony, as he would be capa ble " of doing less mischief in Connecticut or Penn sylvania than in New Jersey." Upon the 21st of June William Franklin was brought before the Provincial Congress to be questioned " touching such parts of his conduct as were deemed inim ical to the liberties of America." The late gov ernor, stoutly refusing to answer the inquiries and denying the authority of Congress, was di rected to be confined in such place and manner ONY AND AS A STATE 411 as the Continental Congress should direct, in the meantime to be under the guard of Lieutenant- Colonel Bowes Reed. While yet the Provincial Congress vacillated the authorities of the united colonies directed him to be sent to Connecticut, to be placed under the authority of Governor Trumbull, the only chief executive of any one of the thirteen colonies who did not adhere to the Tory cause. Upon his ar rival in Connecticut Governor Franklin was placed under strict surveillance in East Windsor, where he remained for two years, and upon being exchanged sought, in New York City, protection within the British lines. GREAT dKAL Ol GBOEGF. II. C H A P T E R XXV Tme CiATHEiaxi^ .Stok.m EXCEPT upon the desolated frontiers of New York, Pennsylvania, and Vir ginia England's wars with France and Spain left no permanent physical impress, and in those colonies even the path of destruction and death was soon ob literated by the constant pressure of a western- moving mass of emigrants. But in New Jersey, and in the other northern and middle colonies, the effect of the war upon the social and political life of those communities was vast and far reaching. Although unrecognized by the colonists the close of the struggle made the Revolution an almost immediate possibility. In its failure to teach an evident lesson to the ministry of the British King it made a gigantic contest for colonial rights a necessity. To the officers of the crown the results of the French and Indian War were objective. At a vast expense of lives and treasure, by the home government, France had been driven from North America, and a natural foe had been humiliated. To this end New Jersey as well as the other colo nies had contributed, not only as a matter of nat ural affection for the crown, but for their own glory. The display of power and wealth, such as the English officers saw in America, was but a new illustration of the principle actuating the course of officials of the home government — that 416 NEW JERSEY AS A COL Americans enjoying the rights of colonists under the £egis of the English constitution, being bene ficiaries of good government, should consent to taxation without complaint, and should consider it a bounden duty to supply the British Isles with those products which contribute to the pleasure and profit of a goveming people. But to the colonists the results of the war were subjective. It is no more than right, they said, that England should have saved our homes and firesides from the merciless savages in a contest that was not so much for territorial acquisition and for the destruction of French power as it was for self-preservation. The wealth that had been acquired in New Jersey had been gathered in the face of the most objectionable parliamentary leg islation of a social and economic character. Ev ery claim of right of freedom in trade had been met with repulse by the Lords of Trade and Plan tations, by His Majesty's ministers, and by Par liament. To taxation, as loyal subjects, the colo nies did not object, but, accustomed in all royal charters to representation in some form in their Assemblies, they could not tolerate taxation in Parliament without sending members to that body. Furthermore by teaching the English offl cers the manner of fighting Indians, not by move ments of platoons as on continental battlefields, but by the tactics of those bred in the woods and ONY^ AND AS A STATE 417 fields, human lives and expenses in maintaining troops had been greatly saved. And still further they contended that, as they were Englishmen, they were entitled as such to all the poUtical rights and economic privUeges of Englishmen, whether in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, or in London, Bristol, and Oxford. The advent of William Franklin, last royal gov ernor of New Jersey at the close of the French and Indian War, in 1763, marked the gathering of the storm. In New Jersey there was an open fefiliog _of^ discontent. True, nearly all men were loyal, all were patriotic with that nervous form of pat riotism marking the close of every successful struggle, but beneath the surface were uncer tainty, doubt, and even dread. The matter soon came to an issue. Although unaffected, except sentimentally, by the Navigation Act which so seriously compli cated the situation for Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, New Jersey was directly moved by the passage by Parliament of the Stamp Act upon March 22, 1765. Benjamin Franklin, father of Governor William Franklin, had warned Parlia ment that the colony would resent any attempt to impose " taxation without representation." In it self the stamp duty was light, but the question was purely one of principle. When the news of the passage of the bill reached New Jersey the [Vol. n h^ ' V I i XJIQ.MII5J STAMP-ACT STAMP. 418 NEW JERSEY AS A COL conservatism of the colony showed itself. In that no outward show of la^wlessness was^nade. Gov- ^eninr.£ra^iklin assumed that the opposition, while present, was temporaiy, and so advised the crOwn daLs. But the conservative action, was an evi- NtW5^ >TAMP-ACT ST.VMl' dence of determination to meet tha-sititfltiAn, not by physical Jorce, but by the exercise of mqraLgur- pose. William Coxe, chief stamp offlcer in New Jersey, resigned; John Hatton, local stamp offi cer for Salem, was forced out of office. To op pose the stamp act, which was designed to go into effect November 1, 1765, the lawyers of New Jersey organized, and upon the 19th of September, in that year, at a meeting in Perth Amboy, re solved that they would not make use of the stamps for any purpose or under any circumstances. As the stamps were designed largely for use upon legal papers this meant a cessation of legal busi ness and a consequent prevention of any revenue to England from the sale of stamps. To this end, " protesting against all riotous proceedings," the lawyers resolved not to practice their profession until April 1, 1766. By Febru ary, 1766, the Sons of Liberty had been organ ized and had sworn to " support the British Constitution," a euphemistic term for resistance to the stamp act. Members and delegates repre senting the eastern and western divisions of the province requested the lawyers "to proceed to ONY AND AS A STATE 419 business as usual without stamps," and to use their infiuence " to open the courts of justice as soon as possible," to which the lawyers replied that if no accounts were received from Parlia ment they would commence practice April 1, and if the Stamp Act was not suspended or repealed they would join the Sons of Liberty in opposition to it. The stamps designed for New Jersey were never landed from the hold of the vessel which lay that winter in the Delaware, and upon March 18, 1766, the act was repealed. But the repeal of the stamp tax act which was accompanied by a " declaratory act " insisting that Parliament had the right to tax the colonies in all cases, was but a new manifestation of the senti ment of the British ministry. The economic phase of the contest came squarely to the front. Asserting the right to tax, there was passed in Parliament in June, 1767, a law providing for a nominal impost upon glass, paper, pasteboard, white and red lead, painters' colors, and tea, with the provision that the crown could establish a civil list in every American colony, with salaries, pensions, and emoluments to the entire amount of the duties. In May, 1768, the Assembly of New Jersey, in emphatic but highly respectful lan guage, prayed to the King for relief from acts of Parliament imposing a duty on them for the pur pose of raising a revenue. A right and liberty. ^ksbUd' cMc^nicU- Jim— A LIBERTY PLACARD. 420 NEW JERSEY AS A COL it was said, vested in the people of New Jersey, " is the Privilege of being exempt from any Taxa tion but such as is imposed on them by themselves or by their Representatives, and this they esteem so invaluable, that they are fully persuaded no other can exist without it." Before the resort to force, and the organization of that machinery of correspondence and espion age which marks the real advent of the Revolu tion, the state of public sentiment in the colony of New Jersey may be well considered. While in neighboring colonies recourse was had to violence, it is noticeable that in New Jersey, during the agitation concerning the tax legisla tion, no display of force occurred. This assertion may be limited to two riots, which were incidental to agitation over the Stamp Act, but which were directed against the lawyers. For several years there had existed a bitter feeling against members of the bar owing to claims made that extortionate fees drove clients into debt to their attorneys. In a pamphlet entitled " Liberty and Property without Oppression," printed in 1769, the Stamp Act was designated as the first " Wounding and Devouring Serpent," but lawyers were declared to be " Ser pents seven times more devouring than the first, who in their daily Practice are as Public Leaches, sucking out our very Heart's Blood." Unavailing petitions were sent to the Assembly, and finally ONY AND AS A STATE 421 in July, 1769, an attempt by an armed mob was made to prevent lawyers from entering the Mon mouth County court house. Again in January, 1770, the attorneys were driven from the hall of justice amid great confusion. In Essex County similar disturbances took place, and the stables and outhouses of David Ogden, a prominent mem ber of the bar, were burned. But in spite of all the discussion and even the rioting against the lawyers there was little or no spirit favoring independence among Jerseymen as late as 1772. A close distinction must be made between the discussion as to rights under the British constitution and the contention for actual separation of the colonies from the crown. Even among the most active partisans of the claims of the colonists few there were who would have even considered favorably the idea of independence; most men would have rejected the plan as treason able. Although three short years made vast changes in the current of popular thought, the doctrine of independence, so far as New Jersey was concerned, may be said to have been either in the minds of dreamers or surreptitiously advo cated by men of uncertain social status, who hoped thereby to benefit their fortunes. The time was ripe for a change, riper than men of the day thought; but the conservatism of the colony was strong. Throughout the westem division the So- 422 NEW JERSEY AS A COLONY ciety of Friends were loyal to the crown, prefer ring peace and not deeply affected by the tax. Episcopalians were naturally favorable to the ex isting government. In the eastern division the Calvinistic elements, both English Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed, were unprepared for the exercise of force, although they were soon to be come the most active of Whig partisans. The restive Scotch-Irish leaned strongly toward re form, but independence was a last resort. The close of the colonial period in New Jersey finds two factors working for independence, com mittees of correspondence and the Continental Congresses, bringing the minds of men into closer association, centralizing views, and unconscious ly preparing them for the struggle, and the des ultory displays of force, as illustrated in the Greenwich tea party and the earliest organiza tion of the local militia. These factors mark the transition from the colony to the State, are di rectly associated with the Declaration of Inde pendence, and,"jbeing distinctively Revolutionary in their character, their discussion is reserved for the nextJgolam^ END OF VOLUME ONE) THE BOSTON MASSACRE.