To be continued...
Showing posts with label New Jersey Records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey Records. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Hackensack (NJ) Reformed Dutch Church Marriages
The initials "y. m." and "y.d." indicate the person was a "jonge man", young man or bachelor, or "jonge dochter", young maiden or spinster; "wid." or "wid'r" indicates the person was a widow or widower; "b.", born at [place name]; and "l.", living at [place name].
To be continued...
To be continued...
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Oaths of Allegiance, New Jersey, 1665-1668: Part 1
New Jersey was originally a part of New Netherland. As early as 1618, the Dutch had erected a trading post at Bergen and, up until the Dutch surrendered New Netherland to British control in 1664, settlers living in the area--regardless of their nationality--were subjects of the Dutch West India Company, the original proprietor. All now included in New Jersey was granted in 1664 by the Duke of York to the Lord John Berkely and Sir George Carteret. Carteret was once the governor of the island of Jersey in the English Channel and gave name to the new province.
On 18 Aug. 1664, four British frigates arrive at New Amsterdam and the Dutch reluctantly surrendered. Col. Richard Nicolls was established as the new governor of the Duke’s territories. New Amsterdam is renamed New York; New Jersey is called Albania by the local English. In late 1664, Gov. Nicolls issued conditions upon which plantations would be created. Gov. Nicolls granted patents for settlement on Achter Koll (Newark Bay) on 1 Dec. 1664, which had been purchased from the Indians on 28 Oct. by John Ogden, Luke Watson and others.
Berkeley and Carteret published concessions and agreements based on Carolina’s concessions in early 1665 and in April that year, Gov. Nicolls granted patents for the Navesink/Monmouth tract (Middletown and Shrewsbury settlements.) In August 1665, Capt. Philip Carteret, a cousin of Sir George, arrived as governor of the new colony. Elizabeth-Town was named in honor of Lady Elizabeth Carteret, the wife of Sir George.
As Dutch colonists, settlers in New Jersey were required to take an oath of allegiance to the king and the proprietors. But, after living under British control for eight years, the Dutch rebelled and, on 1 Aug. 1673, they recaptured their former colony of New Netherland and began to set up government at Achter Koll (New Jersey). Their gain, however, lasted only a few months and once more the Dutch were forced to give up New Netherland in February 1674.
In 1674, the province was divided into East and West Jersey, a distinction which is preserved to some extent to the present day. In mid-March, Lord Berkeley sold his joint but as yet undivided interest in West Jersey to John Fenwick in trust for Edward Byllynge. Berkeley had sold his proprietorship to a number of Quakers, some of whom settled near Burlington. Carteret sold his part to William Penn and eleven other Quakers.
In June 1674, King Charles II made a confirming grant of New Jersey to his brother James, Duke of York, reserving the right of customs and duties. Edmund Andros was commissioned governor of New York by Duke James on 1 July 1674.
The Oath of Allegiance was as follows:
"You doe Sweare upon the Holy Evangelist Contained in this Book to bare true faith and Allegeance to our Soveraine Lord King Charles the Second and his Lawfull Successors and to be true and faithfull to the Lord Proprietors their successors and the Government of this Province of New Jarsey as Long as you shall Continue an Inhabitant vnder the Same, without any Equivocation or Mentall Reservation whatsoever and so help you God."
==========
Sources:
Klett, Joseph R., Using the Records of the East and West Jersey Proprietors. (New Jersey State Archives, 2008). Retrieved from https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/New_Jersey_Land_and_Property, 28 June 2011.
Morris, Charles, L. L. D., A New History of the United States, The Greater Republic. (W. E. Scull, 1899).
Friday, May 13, 2011
Peter Sonmans' Conduct
Our New Jersey settlers did not always lead a quiet life! Apparently, Peter Sonmans expressed his displeasure with the state of electoral affairs on 1 Nov. 1710 in Middlesex Co., NJ. His words--and actions--caused his hearers to complain all the way to Gov. Robert Hunter.
The above is taken directly from Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the state of New Jersey, Vol. IV: The Administration of Governor Robert Hunter and President Lewis Morris 1709-1720. (Newark, NJ.: Daily Advertiser Printing House, 1882) pp. 15-16.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Holland, The Dutch West India Company and New Jersey
Between the Reformation sweeping throughout Europe and the Thirty Years' War, Holland--of all the circle of nations--had guaranteed safety to people of every religious belief and enforced, within her own borders at least, respect for civil liberty. As a result, she became the harbor of refuge and the temporary home of thousands of the persecuted of almost every country; The Brownists from England, the Waldenses from Italy, the Labadists and Picards from France, the Walloons from Germany and Flanders, and many other Protestant sects, all flocked into Holland.
Across her borders flowed a continual stream of refugees and outcasts. This influx of foreigners, augmented by the natural increase of her own people, caused Holland to suffer seriously from overcrowding, particularly in her large cities....In the few years preceding 1621, several voyages of discovery and adventure had been made by the Dutch to New Netherland, but no colonies had been founded. Letters from these voyagers declared that New Netherland was a veritable paradise--traversed by numerous great and beautiful rivers, plentifully stocked with fish; great valleys and plains, covered with luxuriant verdure; extensive forests, teeming with fruits, game, and wild animals; and an exceedingly fertile and prolific soil....
In 1621, the "States-General" took steps looking toward relief from the situation and on 3 June 1621 granted a charter to "The Dutch West India Company" to organize and govern a colony in New Netherland. Thirty Dutch families braved the weeks-long sea voyage to New Amsterdam and began a settlement on the lower end of Manhattan Island. Capt. Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, leader of the first expedition, decided he did not like the job of being director of the new colony and soon returned to Holland, leaving matters first in the hands of William Verhuist and then finally with Peter Minuit in 1626.
The first colony was not a success. The colonists were "on the make." Aside from building a few rude bark huts and a fort, they busied themselves dickering with the savages for skins and furs. They tilled no ground and, for three years, were non-supporting. In June 1629, the "States-General" granted a bill of "Freedoms and Exemptions" to any and all private persons who would plant colonies in any part of New Netherland, except the island of Manhattan.
Special privileges were also granted to members of the West India Company. Whoever of its members should plant a colony of fifty {50} persons should be a feudal lord, or Patroon, of a tract "sixteen {16} miles in length, fronting on a navigable river and reaching back eight {8} miles." And yet, only a few exploring parties bent on trade with the savages traversed Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey. No one had ventured to "take up" any lands there until Michael Pauw--then burgomaster of Amsterdam--received grants in 1630 of two large tracts, one called Hoboken Hacking and the other Ahasimus.
But Pauw failed to live up to conditions set forth in his deeds and was obliged, after three years, to convey his "plantations" back to the West India Company. His lands went to Michael Paulesen, an official of the company, who oversaw them as superintendent. It is said Paulesen built and occupied a hut at Paulus Hook early in 1633; if so, it was the first building of any kind erected in either Bergen or Hudson County.
Later that same year, the company built two more houses: one at Communipaw (afterward purchased by Jan Evertse Bout), the other at Ahasimus--now Jersey City, east of the Hill--(purchased by Cornelius Van Vorst).
Paulus, Bout and Van Vorst were each in succession superintendents of the Pauw plantation, which then kept its headquarters at Communipaw. During his tenure, Van Vorst kept "open house" and entertained the New Amsterdam officials in great style.
Early in 1638, William Kieft became the Director-General of New Netherland and, on 1 May 1639, granted to Abraham Isaacszen Planck (Verplanck) a patent for Paulus Hook (now lower Jersey City). Myndert Myndertse of Amsterdam--bearing the ponderous title of "Van der Heer Nedderhorst"--obtained an enormous grant in 1641 of all the country west of Achter Kull {Newark Bay} and from there north to Tappaen {Tappan}, including what is now Bergen and Hudson Counties. Accompanied by a number of soldiers, Myndertse occupied his purchase, established a camp, and proceeded to civilize the Indians by military methods. It is needless to say that he failed. He soon abandoned the perilous undertaking of founding a colony, returned to Holland, and forfeited the title to this grant.
There were now two plantations at Bergen, those of Planck and Van Vorst, with parts of these lands leased to and occupied by twelve {12} settlers. All these, with their families and servants, now constituted a thriving settlement.
From the Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, ed. Cornelius Burnham Harvey (New York: The New Jersey Genealogical Society. 1900)
Across her borders flowed a continual stream of refugees and outcasts. This influx of foreigners, augmented by the natural increase of her own people, caused Holland to suffer seriously from overcrowding, particularly in her large cities....In the few years preceding 1621, several voyages of discovery and adventure had been made by the Dutch to New Netherland, but no colonies had been founded. Letters from these voyagers declared that New Netherland was a veritable paradise--traversed by numerous great and beautiful rivers, plentifully stocked with fish; great valleys and plains, covered with luxuriant verdure; extensive forests, teeming with fruits, game, and wild animals; and an exceedingly fertile and prolific soil....
In 1621, the "States-General" took steps looking toward relief from the situation and on 3 June 1621 granted a charter to "The Dutch West India Company" to organize and govern a colony in New Netherland. Thirty Dutch families braved the weeks-long sea voyage to New Amsterdam and began a settlement on the lower end of Manhattan Island. Capt. Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, leader of the first expedition, decided he did not like the job of being director of the new colony and soon returned to Holland, leaving matters first in the hands of William Verhuist and then finally with Peter Minuit in 1626.
The first colony was not a success. The colonists were "on the make." Aside from building a few rude bark huts and a fort, they busied themselves dickering with the savages for skins and furs. They tilled no ground and, for three years, were non-supporting. In June 1629, the "States-General" granted a bill of "Freedoms and Exemptions" to any and all private persons who would plant colonies in any part of New Netherland, except the island of Manhattan.
Special privileges were also granted to members of the West India Company. Whoever of its members should plant a colony of fifty {50} persons should be a feudal lord, or Patroon, of a tract "sixteen {16} miles in length, fronting on a navigable river and reaching back eight {8} miles." And yet, only a few exploring parties bent on trade with the savages traversed Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey. No one had ventured to "take up" any lands there until Michael Pauw--then burgomaster of Amsterdam--received grants in 1630 of two large tracts, one called Hoboken Hacking and the other Ahasimus.
But Pauw failed to live up to conditions set forth in his deeds and was obliged, after three years, to convey his "plantations" back to the West India Company. His lands went to Michael Paulesen, an official of the company, who oversaw them as superintendent. It is said Paulesen built and occupied a hut at Paulus Hook early in 1633; if so, it was the first building of any kind erected in either Bergen or Hudson County.
Later that same year, the company built two more houses: one at Communipaw (afterward purchased by Jan Evertse Bout), the other at Ahasimus--now Jersey City, east of the Hill--(purchased by Cornelius Van Vorst).
Paulus, Bout and Van Vorst were each in succession superintendents of the Pauw plantation, which then kept its headquarters at Communipaw. During his tenure, Van Vorst kept "open house" and entertained the New Amsterdam officials in great style.
Early in 1638, William Kieft became the Director-General of New Netherland and, on 1 May 1639, granted to Abraham Isaacszen Planck (Verplanck) a patent for Paulus Hook (now lower Jersey City). Myndert Myndertse of Amsterdam--bearing the ponderous title of "Van der Heer Nedderhorst"--obtained an enormous grant in 1641 of all the country west of Achter Kull {Newark Bay} and from there north to Tappaen {Tappan}, including what is now Bergen and Hudson Counties. Accompanied by a number of soldiers, Myndertse occupied his purchase, established a camp, and proceeded to civilize the Indians by military methods. It is needless to say that he failed. He soon abandoned the perilous undertaking of founding a colony, returned to Holland, and forfeited the title to this grant.
There were now two plantations at Bergen, those of Planck and Van Vorst, with parts of these lands leased to and occupied by twelve {12} settlers. All these, with their families and servants, now constituted a thriving settlement.
From the Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, ed. Cornelius Burnham Harvey (New York: The New Jersey Genealogical Society. 1900)
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