THE TOWNSHIP OF BEDMINSTER BY FREDERICK WALTER 1664 1964 N.J. TERCENTENARY CONTENTS New Jersey Page 1 Somerset Page 7 Bedminster Page Page Peapack Patent 13 Prominent Citizens 73 Charter 15 Doctors 79 Village Names 17 Inns & Taverns 83 Government 19 Shops & Stores 89 Early Settlement 23 Industry & Services 93 Growth 29 Roads 101 Wars 33 Railroads 105 Churches & Cemet~ries 39 Airport 107 Schools 53 Post Offices 107 Public Library 61 Water Supply & Disposal 109 Recreational 63 Master Plan 109 Native Sons 67 Closing 111 with many illustrations and inserts The terms "Bedminster Township", and "the Township" are used interchangeably to indicate the Township of Bedminster. The term "Bedminster Village" is used to indicate the former Lesser Crossroads, now the principal village where the Township Hall is located. Except where circumstances require the original spelling "Pl uckamin ", ,the present spelling is used, viz: "Pluckemin". Except when quoting, the North Branch of the Raritan River is referred to simply as_ the "North Branch". ' '\ \ \ \ \ \ '' '\ ' \, '' ... The original dividing line between East and West Jersey was set by the Quintipartite Deed in 1676. The line was named after Keith the surveyer. He began at the southern end but stopped at the South Branch of the Raritan River. This point is sti II the westernmost point of Somerset County. NEW JERSEY Under English law, discovery and conquest secured to the Crown the title to heathen and uncivilized countries. New Jersey was claimed on the grounds of both discovery and conquest. On March 12, 1664 King Charles II granted to his brother, James, Duke of York, the territory lying between the Connecti~ut and Delaware Rivers, and on June 23-24, 1664 t~e Duke of York granted that portion lying between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers to Sir George Carteret and J oho, Lord Berkel y. Carteret had been Seigneur (Governor) of the English Channel Island of Jersey (the Isle of Caesar), which he stoutly defended when King Charles was there in exile during the regime of Cromwell. The new grant was named "Nova Caesaria" or Kew Jersey. Before these grants by the King and the Duke, small scatt.ered settlements had been made in New Jersey by the Dutch along the North River (the ~udson) and by the Swedes along the South River (t~e Delaware). Lord Berkeley promptly disposed of his half interest in New Jersey to Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick for £1,000. Byllinge's share was trusteed to William Penn and two other Quakers (G. Lawrie and N•. Lucas). ·In 1674, after a temporary reoccupation by the Dutch, to remove any do_ubts, -the land was officially regranted to George Carteret and the four successors in title to Lord Berkeley. In 1676 a formal division between the owners was made by a conveyance known as the "Quintipartite Deed", by which George Carteret received East Jersey and the four others received West Jersey. Part of the original dividing line, ,which ran from Little Egg Harbor to a point near Delaware Water Gap and was known as the Keith Line, still separates Somerset County on its southwesterly side from Hunterdon and Mercer. 2 1664 The Duke of York (later King James II) granted what is now the State of New Jersey to John, Lord Berkeley~ and Sir George Carteret Lord Berke! ey sold to Edward Byllings and John Fenwick Byllinge' s share was trusteed to three Quakers: G. Lawrie N. Lucas W. Penn 1676 Formal di vision agreed upon by the five-party deed and dividing line set. West Jersey East Jersey 3 trustees and Fenwick Sir George Carteret Carteret died in 1679 and in 1682 his holdings came into the hands of "The 24 Proprietors of East New Jersey" 1702 The proprietors of both Jerseys surrendered their rights to Queen Anne 3 To attract seeders, "Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors ... , ' were promulgated in Ease Jersey in 1665 and in West Jersey in 1676. These may be considered the Magna Carta of New Jersey. William Penn, who was one of the four principals of West Jersey and became one of the twenty four proprietors of East Jersey, greatly influenced this situation and may be considered the prototype of Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declarati.on of Independence and the Virginia Bill of Rights a century later. In furt}J.erance of clear titles, Indian lands were purchased in the name of the proprietors. The considerati.ons,_ however, often were trifling. On the whole, New Jersey had few problems with th.e Indians and the sett.lers tr.aded freely with them. There were no Indian wars such as those in upstate-New York and nearby Pennsylvania. The seat of government of East Jersey was established at _Elizabet})town in 1665 and the first Governor was Philip Carteret, a cousin o'f George Carteret. The first Assembly met in 1668. Government in West.Jersey began in 1676 with a Board of Commissioners. Edward Byllinge became the first _governor in 1680. The first Assembly met at Burlington in 1681. In 1679 George Carteret died and in 1682 his executqrs sold his half interest in New Jersey for £3,400 to 12 parties, who each immediat~ly sold one-half th,eir interest to another party, making 24 associates, ,who became known as the "24 proprietors of East New Jersey". Their ownership was in common and transfers of their shares were made in quantities such as, ½ of I/24th., ·½ of ½ of 1/24, ·¾ of 1/8 of I/24th, -etc. Voting rights were in proporti_on to ownership. In 1702 the proprietors of both East and West Jersey surrendered the right of gover~ment to Queen Anne, ,who united both Jerseys into one province with the same governor as New York. Edward Hyde, ·Lord Cornbury was the first Royal 4 New Jersey was one of the thirteen states which declared their independence in 1776. At that time when the first State Constitution was adopted, there were thirteen counties: Bergen, established 1682 by East Jersey Essex, J ' 16~ J ' Middlesex, J ' 1682 ' J ,, Monmouth, " 1682 ,, Somerset, 1688 " (from Middlesex) Cape May, ' ' 1692 by West Jersey ,, Burlington, ' , 1694 ,, Gloucester, " 1694 Salem, ' ' 1694 '' Hunterdon, " 1714 by United New Jersey , , Morris, 1739 , ' (from Hunterdon) , , Cumberland, " 1748 (from Salem) ,, Sussex, , ' 1753 (from Morris) The counties listed above included the entire state area. There was no change until the State legislature erected eight additional counties in the period 1824-1857 by dividing and otherwise changing the lines of existing counties. Warren 1824 Hudson 1840 Atlantic 1837 Camden 1844 Passaic 1837 Ocean 1850 Mercer 1838 Union 1857 5 Governor of both colonies together and met with the New Jersey legislature at Perth Amboy in 1703. He served 5 years. In 1738 Lewis Morris became the first sole governor of New Jersey. He served 8 years and was succeeded by Jonathan Belcher who served 10 years. The last of the Royal Governors was William Franklin, a son of Benjamin Franklin. He was removed in 1776 after serving 13 years. He remained loyal to the King and died in England in 1813. The first Constitution of New Jersey was drawn at a convention held in 1776, and under it William Livingston was elected Governor each year until his death in 1790. In that year Trenton became the state capital. The total population of the state by the census of 1790 was 184,000 of which 11,400 were slaves. There were 13 counties at the time. Three West Jersey Counties, Hunterdon, Sussex, and Burlington, ranked first, second, and third. They had a combined total of 58,000 inhabitants. Somerset then had 12,300 and Cape May had the fewest, only 2,600. ·Among the leading nien of Somerset in the Revolutionary period, not mentioned elsewhere, were John Witherspoon and Richard Stockton who were signers of th~ Declaration of Independence; Joseph Hewes, born in Somerset, who signed it for North Carolina; Captain John Stryker, and William Patterson, who became the second governor of the state in 1790. · 1664 1964 6 COLONIAL .,VU.LT~' Q{Btft,l~1LL!) SOMERSET , ,, "4:- BASK' RD; ,, ~ COUNTY ~ 't­ ftt WESTf RN PRECINCT (MONTGONE~Y 1162) DlVl.510N LINE l6Br DIVIDED EA 1 AND Wt5T JER5EY r H.H. HE tN 5r. SOMERSET In 1682, for governmental convenience, all of East Jersey was divided into four counties - Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth. The boundaries followed natural lines where possible and each county included one or more existing courts, some of which had been established as early as 1675. In 1688 Somerset County was created by severing from Middlesex its western part. The reason given at the time was that the farmers and the inhabitants of the upper Raritan Valley in their husbandry and the manuring of their lands were forced upon quite different ways and methods and had different interests from those of other parts of Middlesex County. The name, Somerset, was taken from Somerset County in England where Lord Berkeley had won the battle of Scratton in 1658. · Although a separate county, Somerset continued under the jurisdiction of the Middlesex courts and did not have a separate court until 1714. The first Somerset court house and jail was ouilt at Six Mile Run (Franklin Park) where court was held as early as 1714. · This building was destroyed by fire in 1737 wit:h all early court records. A new court house and jail was then erected at what is now Millstone and then became known as Somerset Court House.. The British raiders, under Colonel Simcoe, burned the second building in 1779 and again all but a few records were lost.