History
of Nova Cæsarea
The Colonial History of New Jersey
by Samuel Smith
Published by Authority
of the State of New Jersey
Entered according to Act of
Congress, in the year 1890,
by WILLIAM S. SHARP,
In the Office of the Librarian of
Congress, at Washington.
Trenton, New Jersey
William S Sharp
1890
Intro
CONTENTS:
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR
PREFACE
CHAP. I.
A brief view of the discovery of
America, and of the present
prevailing opinion respecting the
manner it originally became peopled.
CHAP. II.
An account of the country on
Delaware and the North-River, while the
first was in possession of the
Dutch and Swedes.
CHAP. III.
The particulars of the English
conquest, in 1664; and the transactions
afterwards, respecting the
inhabitants on Delaware; The arrival of
Francis Lovelace, as governor;
part of his administration, and
description of the Hoarkills.
CHAP. IV.
King Charles the second, and duke
of York's grants, whence lord Berkeley
and Sir George Carteret became
seized of New-Jersey; The first
constitution of government under
them; The settlement of Bergen,
Middletown, Shrewsbury, and
Elizabeth-Town: Philip Carteret appointed
governor of Jersey; The Indian
purchase of Elizabeth-Town, by the
settlers; and the first general
Indian purchase by the proprietors, &c.
CHAP. V.
Major Andross appointed governor
of New-York; Takes possession at
Delaware; Arrival of the first
English settlers to West-Jersey, under
the duke of York's title; Lord
Berkeley assigns his moiety of New-Jersey
to Byllinge, and he in trust to
others; Their letter and first
commission; New-Jersey divided
into the provinces East and West Jersey;
and the declaration of the West-Jersey
proprietors.
CHAP. VI.
Arrival of more settlers to
West-Jersey; Their difficulties; Their
purchases from the Indians; They
lay out a town; Some of their first
sentiments of the country; and an
account of the duke of York's two last
grants, being for the provinces
East and West New-Jersey separately.
CHAP. VII.
Letters from some of the settlers
of West-Jersey; and arguments against
the customs imposed at the
Hoarkill by the governor of New-York.
CHAP. VIII.
The first form of government in
West-Jersey under the proprietors; The
first laws they made; The method
of regulating land affairs; and a
further account of the Indians
found in the first settled parts of these
provinces.
CHAP. IX.
Another ship arrives at
West-Jersey; Proceedings of the general assembly
of West-Jersey; Sir George
Carteret's death; Conveyances to the twelve
Eastern proprietors; Their
proposals and regulations in several
respects; particularly in
disposing of lands and building a town at Ambo
point; The twelve proprietors
each take a partner, and thence are called
the twenty-four; to whom the duke
of York makes a third and last grant;
The twenty-four establish the
council of proprietors of East-Jersey, on
the footing it now is; A general
view of the improvements in East-Jersey
in 1682; A compendium of some of
the first laws passed at
Elizabeth-Town; Doubts started
whether the government of West-Jersey was
granted with the soil; Jenings
continued governor of West-Jersey; and
laws now passed there.
CHAP. X.
Robert Barclay appointed governor
of East-Jersey, and T. Rudyard deputy;
Letters from Rudyard, S. Groome,
Lawrie, and others, concerned in that
settlement.
CHAP. XI.
Manner of the West-Jersey
government in 1684; Their unsettled state and
succession of governors; Danger
of suffering for want of food in 1687;
The division line run by G.
Keith; an agreement between the governors
Coxe and Barclay; Alteration in
the manner of locating lands in West
Jersey, and the method now in use
fixed; No person in West-Jersey to
purchase from the Indians,
without the consent of the council of
proprietors; and instructions
respecting deeds and warrants for taking
up lands.
CHAP. XII.
A flood at Delaware falls; Death
and character of Thomas Olive, Thomas
Gardiner and John Woolston;
Commotions in East and West Jersey;
Surrender of the two governments
to queen Anne; Her acceptance thereof;
and her commission to Lord
Cornbury.
CHAP. XIII.
Instructions from queen Anne to
Lord Cornbury.
CHAP. XIV.
Observations on Lord Cornbury's
instructions, and the privileges
originally granted to the
settlers; with abstracts of some of them.
CHAP. XV.
Lord Cornbury convenes the first general assembly after the surrender;
His speech, their address, and
other proceedings; Queen Anne's
proclamation for ascertaining the
rates of coin; Cornbury dissolves the
assembly, and meets a new one to
his mind; Their proceedings and
dissolution; A summary of the
establishment and practice of the council
of proprietors of West-Jersey;
Another assembly called; who remonstrate
the grievances of the province.
CHAP. XVI.
Lord Cornbury's answer to the
assembly's remonstrance.
CHAP. XVII.
The assembly's reply to lord
Cornbury's answer to their remonstrance.
CHAP. XVIII
Memorial of the West-Jersey
proprietors residing in England, to the
lords commissioners for trade and
plantations; The lieutenant governor,
with some of the council, address
the queen; The last meeting of
assembly under Cornbury's
administration; They continue their
complaints; Samuel Jenings's
death and character.
CHAP. XIX.
Lord Lovelace arrives governor;
Convenes a new assembly; they apply to
him for a hearing on the subject
of the lieutenant governor and
council's application to the
queen; His death; is succeeded by the
lieutenant governor Ingoldsby;
The first paper currency; Arrival of
governor Hunter; A short account
of the first expedition to Canada;
A new assembly chosen; Their
first session in Hunter's time.
CHAP. XX.
Representation of the general
assembly to governor Hunter and his
answer.
CHAP. XXI.
A session of general assembly; A
second expedition to Canada; Meeting of
a new assembly; They quarrel;
Some members designedly absent themselves;
Expell'd the house; Several of
them again returnd, and refused seats; A
fruitful session at Crosswicks;
Last session in Hunter's time; An act
passed for running the division
line between East and West-Jersey;
William Burnet arrives governor;
An uncommon wet harvest; Governor
Burnet meets a new assembly.
CHAP. XXII
Occurrences since the year 1721.
CHAP. XXIII.
The present state of Indian
affairs in New-Jersey.
CHAP. XXIV.
A short geographical description
of the province; and additional view of
its present state.
APPENDIX.
NUMB. I.
The concessions and agreements of
the lords proprietors of the province
of New Caesaria, or New-Jersey,
to and with all and every of the
adventurers, and all such as
shall settle or plant there.
NUMB. II.
The concessions and agreements of
the proprietors, freeholders and
inhabitants of the province of
West New Jersey, in America.
NUMB. III.
A brief account of the province
of East-Jersey, in America, published by
the present proprietors, for
information of all such persons who are or
may be inclined to settle themselves,
families and servants, in that
country.
NUMB. IV.
Governor Coxe's narrative
relating to the division line, directed to the
council of proprietors of
West-Jersey.
NUMB. V.
The council of proprietors of
West-Jersey to governor Burnet.
NUMB. VI.
Reasons and proposals for an
amendment of the quintipartite line, and
the act made for the confirmation
thereof.
NUMB. VII.
Minute of the council of
proprietors, held at the city of Perth Amboy,
August 17, 1742.
NUMB. VIII.
The remonstrance and humble
petition of the inhabitants of East
New-Jersey.
NUMB. IX.
The memorial of the proprietors
of East New-Jersey.
NUMB. X.
Opinion and answer to the lord
commissioners, &c.
NUMB. XI.
Memorial of the East Jersey
proprietors to the lords of trade.
NUMB. XII.
The petition of the proprietors
of East and West Jersey, to the lords
justices.
NUMB. XIII.
Representation of the lords of
trade to the lords justices.
NUMB. XIV.
The memorial of the proprietors
of East and West Jersey.
APPENDIX II.
John Tatham, New Jersey's Missing
Governor by John D. Mccormick
SKETCH OF THE
AUTHOR
Samuel Smith,
author of the "History of New Jersey," was eldest son of
Richard Smith, esquire,
of Burlington, member for twenty years of the
Assembly of West
Jersey, and a flourishing merchant in Burlington and
Philadelphia.
Richard Smith was the only son of Samuel Smith the elder, of
Bramham, West
Riding of Yorkshire, England, who came to New Jersey in
1694, and was for
several years a member of the Assembly. The father of
the first Samuel
Smith, Richard Smith of Bramham, Yorkshire, was one of
the original
proprietaries of West Jersey, and he and his two eldest sons,
John and Daniel,
brothers of the elder Samuel Smith, signed as
proprietaries the
"Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors and
People of West
Jersey," the fundamental constitution of the province.
To the
above-mentioned John Smith was allotted one of the ten original
town lots of the
"London Proprietors," in Burlington, with its annexed
wood or forest
lot.
Our author, who
was born "12th mo., 13th, A.D. 1720," engaged, as a young
man, in his
father's business as a West India merchant, and, for a time,
removed to
Philadelphia. He finally settled at Burlington, where his town-
house was the one
since known as the "Coleman" house. The fine estate of
"Hickory
Grove," a little beyond the "London Bridge," was his
country-seat
or
"plantation." He married in the "eleventh" month, 1741,
Jane, daughter
of Joseph
Kirkbride, and by her had several children.
He was a man of
most benevolent heart, and of a conscientious uprightness
and exactness in
the discharge of duty. His reading was extensive and
accurate; the several
historical works composed by him, showing the fruits
of careful
research, and a clear and agreeable style. He was the
originator of the
benevolent efforts which resulted in the colonization of
the remnant of
the New Jersey Indians at the "Brotherton" settlement; drew
up, in 1757, the
constitution of the "New Jersey Society for Helping the
Indians,"
and signed its subscription list with twenty pounds. In all the
family relations,
as son, brother, husband and father, Samuel Smith was
most exemplary, and
was besides a prominent and useful member of his
religious
community, "The Friends."
In 1765, Samuel
Smith had the press of the "King's Printer" moved to
Burlington for
the purpose of printing his "History of New Jersey," as
appears by the
following extract:
"In 1764,
James Parker, printer to the King for the Province of New
Jersey, compiled
and printed a Conductor Generalis for Justices of the
Peace, he then
holding that office in Middlesex county, and the following
year moved his
press from Woodbridge to Burlington for the accommodation
of the author of
the History of New Jersey, (Smith), but on the completion
of the work it
was returned to the former place." (Whitehead's
Contributions to
East Jersey History, p. 376.)
Samuel Smith
filled some of the most important public offices in the
Province of New
Jersey. He was, for many years, a member and Secretary of
the King's
Council, Treasurer of the Province, &c., &c. He died in 1776.
His brother
Richard was a member of the Continental Congress.
PREFACE
Although among
the following Papers there are some of consequence in point
of interest to
most concerned in the province of New-Jersey, several of
them were not to
be found on record in the publick offices, several were
scattered in
different provinces, others could not be easily obtained,
some tho' in
print formerly were in but few hands, some never made
publick, and many
in danger of being lost; on this account whatever
success may
attend this undertaking as to the general design, or
disposition of
the facts, 'tis some satisfaction, that the labour of
collecting them
cannot be altogether useless.
Whoever will be
at the trouble of an enquiry into the general inexperience
and methods of
colonizing formerly, especially at the time the settlements
here were first
attempted under grants, will find but little reason to
doubt, that views
of permanent stability to religious and civil freedom,
must have been
the inducement to the original adventurers to think of such
a voyage. The
New-England governments had before been considerably settled
from motives of a
like kind; these, tho' near forty years later in their
removal, were
also protestant dissenters, and involved in the general
insecurity, that
such with reason apprehended in the reign of king Charles
the second; and
the actual sufferings of many, through the mistaken policy
of that time,
merely for a free exercise of their religious sentiments,
with their own
accounts of their removal, renters it as to them
indisputable; and
in this, as they do not appear to have been charg'd with
any indirect
violation of religious integrity, so no instance occurs of
dissatisfaction
among themselves, tho' many of them were remarkably tender
on that head;
with the motives above, some of them had without doubt, a
distant prospect also
of improving their estates; but this could not be
the case so much
at first as afterwards.
However smooth
the passage may look now, it must be a reasonable
supposition, that
persons and families, who lived well (which was the
circumstance of
many of the settlers of this province) found it no
inconsiderable
trial, to unsettle and remove 3000 miles; besides parting
with the usual
connections of friendship and neighbourhood, it was in a
great measure an
unprov'd experiment; and then much out of the common
course of things;
the navigation also to this part of the continent, for
want of
experience, look'd difficult, and the wilderness formidable; but
whatever were
their motives, they successively encountered the hazards and
hardships to
which the enterprize was exposed; and, at their own expense,
by the blessing
of divine providence on their labour, frugality and
industry, laid
the foundation for the present improvement of territory to
the mother
country; which, tho' not in many respects to be compared to
colonies of
greater extent and growth, is nevertheless a link in the chain
of some
considerable importance.
That a century
should pass, and very little appear abroad of what the
settlers here
have been doing, is not so much to be wondered at, when
their difficulties
in procuring the conveniences of living are consider'd;
but this will
hardy be allow'd, when the too general negligence as to
particular rights
of individuals, and the reputation of civil policy comes
in question:
'till very lately, a variety of matters of that kind, were as
much secrets to
most of the inhabitants, as they commonly are to
strangers; and
yet in many parts of the province, are justly made the
subject of
general complaint.
Whether the endeavours
here used for bringing these into one historical
view, will
sufficiently answer the purposes of a more general information,
must now be
submitted to experience; they were undertaken with hopes of
service to the
province, and if found but in a small degree contributing
to that, the end
is so far answered: With this view, they were several
years since
designed for the publick, and nearly prepared; but other
occasions
interfering, necessarily delayed their appearance much longer
than was
expected. Being sent to the press sometime in the last spring, no
transaction that
hath happened since, could be included, or is in any
respect alluded
to: On a continuation, these will of course follow in
their places.
To a collection
principally intended to consist of a plain state of facts,
much need not be
premised; this may with justice be said, that through the
whole, the
strictest impartiality has been attended to, and if in other
respects executed
according to intention, they are offered to the publick,
with as few
material omissions, as the present opportunities of collecting
would allow; yet
the diffidence attending an attempt from papers in great
part not used
before on the like occasion, would plead for some allowances
as a few
mistakes, especially in dates, and other minutiae among the
smaller facts,
may have escap'd, notwithstanding an assiduous care to
avoid them; but
these it is hoped will not be found so considerable, as to
obstruct the
service intended.
As nothing is
aim'd at, more than a fair and candid representation; any
friendly hints,
or materials necessary either for correction or
improvement, will
be thankfully received, and the first opportunity
embrac'd to apply
them accordingly.
BURLINGTON,
5th October,