The “Trenton in 1775” Mapping Project City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey 1714 1781
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE “TRENTON IN 1775” MAPPING PROJECT CITY OF TRENTON, MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY THE TRENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUNDED BY: THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL COMMISSION Prepared by: Hunter Research, Inc. 1781 1714 120 West State Street Trenton, NJ 08608 www.hunterresearch.com Cheryl Hendry, Historian Marjan Osman, Graphic Specialist Damon Tvaryanas, Principal Historian/Architectural Historian Richard Hunter, Principal THE “TRENTON IN 1775” MAPPING PROJECT, CITY OF TRENTON, MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY INTRODUCTION From the standpoint of geographic coverage, the County prior to the formation of Hunterdon County project focused on the historic core of the down- in 1714. The various deeds referenced in these A small cache of colonial manuscripts, includ- The purpose of this project, as expressed in a propos- town on the north side of the Assunpink Creek, an indexes are available on microfilm at the New ing several unrecorded deeds, was located in the al provided by Hunter Research, Inc. to the Trenton area bounded approximately by Petty’s Run on the Jersey State Archives. These documents, typically Trentoniana Collection of the Trenton Public Historical Society in August, 2006, is to develop “a west, the Trenton Battle Monument to the north referenced as “West Jersey Deeds,” were systemati- Library. These materials, totaling approximately detailed map of property ownership and land use for and Montgomery Street on the east. As described cally reviewed and copies printed for those proper- 25 documents of interest, were also systematically downtown Trenton north of the Assunpink Creek in greater detail below, the archival research con- ties within or close to the area of study. Out of a reviewed and helped clarify some critical land par- centered around the year of 1775.” Such a map is centrated on the systematic analysis of land records total of approximately 500 Trenton Township and cels along Petty’s Run and King (Warren) Street. viewed as a means of providing a cartographic and prior to 1775, selective use of other primary source other potentially relevant deeds identified in the The Ebenezer Cowell Papers, a manuscript collec- historical geographic context for understanding the materials (both before and after 1775) and care- colonial conveyances at the State Archives, approx- tion held by the New Jersey State Archives pertain- urban character of Trent’s Town on the eve of the ful reference to key secondary sources (notably: imately 300 were ultimately tagged as relating to ing to one of Trenton’s notable colonial families, American Revolution and the Battles of Trenton. Stryker 1878; THS 1929; Toothman 1977). Trenton’s historic downtown area. were likewise thoroughly reviewed and produced While many scholars have striven to characterize a few valuable items of information about specific Trenton during the late colonial and Revolutionary What is presented here is most emphatically a work Chains of title began to be pieced together for properties. A cursory examination of a group of War periods (e.g., Stryker 1878, 1898; Trenton in progress. While much new (and old) information individual properties with the goal being to track unrecorded deeds in the State Archives, classified Historical Society [THS] 1929; Toothman 1977; has been compiled and organized in tabular and car- transfers of land as closely as possible to 1775. In as “NJSA Deeds & Miscellaneous Land Records,” Burrow and Hunter 1996), no systematic attempt tographic form, there are many gaps in the research, some instances this proved relatively simple and resulted in the identification of a small number of has been made prior to this project to relate the his- many leads that can still be pursued, and these are ownership of specific properties could be pinned relevant documents. toric to the present-day landscape in a detailed or clearly reflected in the final map product. An espe- down during the 1760s and 1770s, and then picked town-wide fashion. cially valuable outcome of the project at this stage, up again post-1775; in most cases, however, the To a very limited extent, efforts were made to trace however, is that the map in its current form clearly trail would be more complex with land often pass- the passing down of real property through inheri- At the outset it was understood that this ambitious points the way for future research. ing from one owner to the next through inheritance tance, which necessarily required the compilation goal would likely prove to be an open-ended exer- (and thus frequently unrecorded through a deed) of some genealogical data concerning Trenton fam- cise in historical and archival research. A vast body or being progressively subdivided into smaller and ilies. Published indexes of wills were selectively of property-specific primary documentation exists APPROACH TO HISTORICAL AND smaller parcels. consulted as and when specific properties and land – land records, surrogates records, tax records, ARCHIVAL RESEARCH owners appeared to merit such treatment; no sys- newspaper advertisements, and more – spread As the jigsaw gradually filled in, key names were tematic scouring of surrogates records by property among numerous repositories, all of which ideally The main focus of primary archival research has pursued as grantors and grantees in the Hunterdon owner name was carried out. Similarly, notices of requires systematic and painstaking study before it been land records. As an initial step, printed index- County deed books, also available on microfilm properties for sale published in newspapers (includ- can be translated into a cartographic domain. When es at the New Jersey State Archives were consulted at the New Jersey State Archives, and in colonial ing sheriffs’ sales), again compiled in extract form looking at the history and geography of an entire to identify all colonial conveyances for Trenton conveyances post-dating 1775. Note, however, that in the New Jersey Archives Series, were only selec- town, archival research opportunities are literally Township, Hunterdon County, prior to 1775, as well the deed research was all primarily conducted pro- tively examined. Colonial-era surveys of Trenton limitless. As a result, efforts were made to contain as other deeds relating to Trenton area properties in ceeding forward in time, moving from the earlier roads were not rigorously studied, although they the scope of the project, both by limiting the area of Hopewell Township and Burlington colonial period toward 1775. No systematic and were researched cursorily in an effort to establish geographic coverage and by concentrating research comprehensive study of post-1775 land records was their approximate courses and widths. on certain classes of archival documents. conducted. 1 Primary archival research was conducted entirely guilty of errors of fact, yielded much valuable infor- ties were superimposed, appropriately scaled and in notes on individual properties, along with refer- in Trenton at the New Jersey State Archives with mation on individual landowners, their land hold- the closest approximation to their correct location, ences to pertinent secondary sources. At the rear of an occasional foray to other local repositories, such ings and patterns and details of land use. over a topographic base map of the City of Trenton this document, keyed to the tables, is the map itself, as the Trentoniana Collection at the Trenton Public imported from AutoCAD. As multiple matching a cartographic depiction of land ownership and land Library. Other potentially useful repositories in Within the past quarter century, cultural resources plots for the same property were identified over use in Trenton in 1775. the region, such as the Special Collections at the investigations conducted in compliance with state time, early versions were discarded, leaving only Alexander Library at Rutgers University, the New and federal historic preservation laws in connection those closest in time to 1775 (either before or after). As the inset on the map indicates, the downtown has Jersey Historical Society, the Historical Society of with publicly funded development and construction Painstakingly, a map showing historic property been divided into six sub-areas – western; southern; Pennsylvania, the New-York Historical Society and projects have resulted in some extremely detailed ownership in the downtown began to emerge, lot west central; central core; eastern; and northern. the Hunterdon County Historical Society, have not site-specific historical and archaeological studies by lot, although inevitably with many expanses of The tables follow this same organizing principle. been visited. of portions of downtown Trenton. These studies blank land where no deeds could be identified. have provided the current project with a “head The first series of six tables (one for each sub- Throughout the process of primary archival start,” so to speak, on some portions of the study Early on in this process it was recognized that area) focuses on property ownership and land use. research, repeated reference was made to historic area. Specifically, studies performed in connec- understanding both the routes and the widths of These tables detail the individual properties known maps and various published and unpublished sec- tion with the restoration and expansion of the New historic roadways would have an important bearing or strongly suspected to have existed in 1775, for ondary sources in search of background informa- Jersey State House (Hunter Research Associates on the pattern of land ownership being assembled which supporting primary archival documentation tion on specific people and places. While a survey 1989a), the restoration of the Old Barracks (Hunter using DeedMapper. Thus, road alignments and could be found. Property ID#s are keyed to the map survives that accompanied the sale of Mahlon Research Associates 1989b) and the redevelopment widths were adjusted on the base map to reflect sequence of smaller numbers with sub-area prefixes Stacy, Jr.’s lands to William Trent in 1714 (Basse’s of the Capital Center (former Dunhams) block their historic condition as understood from road that identify individual lots on the map.