county.
In 1692, nine year- after the province was divided
into counties, an act was passed to divide each county
into townships. The existence of town-, hamlets,
and divisions was recognized, but their bounds bad
never been legally fixed. It ua- necessary to do this
for the proper choosing of deputies, constables, the
levying of taxes, etc. Several settlements did not
seem to be included in any town. Some of these
town-, a- Woodbridge and Piscataway, already ex-
isted by independent charter-. The constable of Pis-
cataway took charge of the out-plantations on the
south side of the Karitan as far east as South River
(1G88, p. 30S), and to the recently-enacted bordt ra of
Somerset. Other constables took charge of neighbor-
ing out-plantations.
In 1693 an act was passed dividing the i'nur counties
of the province into townships. Somerset County,
being yet sparse in population, was not divided, but
the act provided that " The county of Somerset, as it
i- already bounded by a former acl of Assembly,"
shall be a town-hip. This included the whole county
according to the hounds of lilsx. The township of
Piscataway, in Middlesex, extended westward to the
bounds of Somerset County. Besides that part of it
on the t-a-t side of tin- Raritan, it took in nearly the
whole of Franklin, the southeastern corner of llill -
borough, and nearly one-hall' of Montgomery town-
ships; all of Mercer, east of Keith's line, down to the
bounds of Monmouth; and along the line of Monmouth
to the West Branch of South River, and down tin-
said river to its mouth. This included the town-hips
of North Brunswick, Bast Brunswick, South Bruns-
wick, and Cranberry, in Middlesex, and the town-hips
of Princeton, West Windsor, Bast Windsor, ami
Washington, in Mercer.
A- Somerset was not divided into township- in
1698, the act concludes, —
"Provided also that whan any county eheU hereafter come tube bettai
settle. I and Inhabited, this -lull not bo undeoTtood t.- hinder othi
bo made upon application to tin- General Assembly t<> that
I Uii. 1
564
SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
In 1695 (Laws, p. 359), when a tax was levied and
the proportion of each town was designated, Somerset
County was not yet divided into towns. Peter Van
Nest was the assessor for Somerset, and was charged
with the collection of four pounds sixteen shillings
six pence as Somerset's share.
In 169S (Laws, p. 371), while each town had its
number of representatives fixed at one or two, the
county of Somerset had yet only one. There was no
division into townships up to that time.
The boundaries of the county were defined in " An
act for dividing and ascertaining the boundaries of
all the counties in this province," passed Jan. 21,
1709, as follows :
" Sec. 3. The county of Somerset begins where Bound Brook empties
itself into Raritan River; thence down the stream of Raritan to the
mouth of the brook known by the name of Lawrence's Brook; thence
running up the said Lawrence's Brook to the great road that leads from
Iniau's ferry to Cranberry Brook ; from thence south forty-four degrees
â– westerly to Sani'inck Brook; thence down the said Sanpinck Brook to
the said division line of the eastern and western division aforesaid, and
so to follow the said division line to the limits of the above said county
of Essex ; thence east along the line of Essex County to Green Brook;
and thence running down ttie said Green Brook and Bound Brook to
where it began."*
The boundary line established by the above act
as between Somerset and Middlesex Counties was
changed and redefined by an act of the Legislature
passed March 15, 1713, which provided, —
"Sec. 1. That the boundary line between Somerset and Middlesex
Counties shall be and begin where the road crosseth the river Raritan, at
Inian's ferry, and run from thence along the said old road by Jedediah
Higgins' house, leading towards the falls of Delaware, so far as the eastern
division of this province extends.
"Sec 3. That the boundary lines between the said counties, settled by
act of General Assembly of this province, passed in January, 1709, so far
and no further as the same is altered by this act, shall be, and is hereby,
repealed, to all intents and purposes."!
It was not until more than a quarter of a century
after the erection of Somerset that it became organ-
ized as a separate county. During this period it had
no courts of its own, but was dependent for the ad-
ministration of justice upon those of Middlesex. The
precise date of its separate organization cannot be
given, but it was in or about 1713. On Feb. 28, 1713
-14,t an act was passed directing the manner of elect-
ing freeholders and their meeting with the justices as
a board for the transaction of public business ; among
which they were charged with the repairing of such
court-houses and jails as were already built, and the
erection of such buildings in counties which had none,
and they were empowered to appoint and pay man-
. agers to superintend the building of such court-houses
and jails.
The counties in which public buildings had already
been erected were named in the act, and Somerset
was not among them, but provision was made for the
location of a county-site " for the county of Somerset
at the most convenient place which shall be agreed
on by a major part of the freeholders who inhabit
there." It was under this authority that the public
buildings of Somerset County were erected soon after.
The tenor of the above-mentioned act implies that,
before its passage, Somerset County had been sepa-
rately organized, and the holding of its own courts
(independent of those of Middlesex) provided for.
It is certain that about three years later (1717) Som-
erset had its own courts in operation, \ as this fact is
shown by the records.
The county of Morris, which forms the northern
and part of the eastern boundary of Somerset, was
set off and defined as a separate county by act of the
Provincial Assembly, March 15, 1738-39. Two years
later the territory of Somerset was increased by the
operation of " An act to annex part of the county of
Essex to the county of Somerset," passed Nov. 4,
1741, which provided, —
"Sec. 1. That from and after the publication hereof, the lines and
bounds of the said county of Somerset shall be as follows, — vide licet, be-
ginning at the South Branch of Raritan River, where the reputed divi-
sion line between East and West Jersey strikes the same, along the rear
of Raritan lots, until it meets with the North Branch of said river;
thence up the same to a fall of water commonly called Allamatonck;
from thence along the bounds of Morris County to Passaick River; thence
down the same to the lower corner of William Dockwrae's two patents
on the same river; and thence, on a straight line, southeasterly, to the
head of Green Brook ; and thence down the same brook to Bound Brook ;
thence down said Bound Brook to the place where it empties itself into
Raritan River ; thence down Raritan River to the place where the road
crosseth said river at Inian's ferry; from thence along said old road,
which leads by Jedediah Higgins' house, towards the falls of Delaware,
until it intersects the division line aforesaid ; thence along tire said divi-
sion line to the South Branch of Raritan River, aforesaid, where it first
began ; any act or acta of the General Assembly of this Provi nee, or any
article, clause, or thing in them or any of them contained, to the contrary
thereof, in anywise, notwithstanding."!
On the 21st of March, 1749, an act affecting the
boundary between Somerset and Morris Counties was
passed by the Provincial Legislature, enacting as fol-
lows:
"Sec. 1. That from and after the publication hereof, the division line
between the counties of Somerset and Morris shall be as follows, — vide
licet, beginning at a fall of water commonly called Allamatonck falls, and
also mentioned in the before-recited act; and from thence on a straight
line, in a course east and by north, as the compass now points, to the
Main Branch of Passaick River ; and so down the said rivor, as the before-
recited act directs, anything herein, or in any other act, to the contrary
thereof notwithstanding."^
A survey and re-establishment of the line between
Middlesex and Somerset Counties in 1765 is thus men-
tioned in a historical paper from the pen of the late
Hon. Ralph Voorhees :**
" In 1713 the boundary line between Middlesex and Somerset Counties
was changed from the first one, which ran up Lawrence's Brook, to tho
one beginning whoro the old road crossed tho rivor Raritan at Inian's
Forry, and following said road until it crossed tho ' Province Line.' In
1705 it was represented that the lino running from the province lino to
the Raritan River was very dubious, by reason of persons altoring it from
* Rev. Stat., p. 198. t Ibid., pp. 200, 201.
% Allinson's Col. Laws, 1713, p. 15 ; Neville, 1703-76, p. 32.
g See " Courts and County Buildings."
I Rov. Stat., p. 201.
U Ibid., p. 200.
** One of a series publishod in 1873 in tho Fredonian, of New Bruns-
wick.
ERECTION, ORGANIZATION, AND BOUNDARIES OF SOMERSET COUNTY. 565
the old rood, which run in general upon the lino of the counties; and com-
missioners were tln'PMii»>n appointed — A/Jtriah Dunham one of them — to
run the lin»- ami permanently mark It, which had never been <!• -no before,
as it appeared that tin' old road, following the old Indian path, had been
considered ns the division line Azarlah Dunham waa â– i >i ^ - n . i n*- nt Mir-
vi-v't, a good scholar, and .1 man ol publl< notoriety, officiating In various
j in i-iii capacities. IK- ran the line as directed, and made a complete map
of the survey, irhlcfa i* "till i" existence, ami in ag i -tit. of preserva- ]
tion. Tin- limp ron tains all th*- ft roots, and the location of all the houses
standing near the old road, with the names of their owners, to the prov- j
f rice, or Hunterdon county lino, a short distance beyond Princeton."*
On the 24th of November, 1790, the Legislature of i
the State of New Jersey passed " An act for altering
and resettling part of the boundary line between the
Counties of Somerset and Middlesex. "f By the terms
of that act it was provided, —
"Sec. 1. That the middle of thy main six-rod road, as established by
law, from the forry tit the city of New Brunswick, formerly called Inlau'fl
ferry, to the boundary lino of the county of Hunterdon, on the road to
Trenton, nlmll be the boundary lino of tuoso parts of the counties of
Middlesex and Somerset which are on the south side of the river
Kuiihui.
" Sec 2. That all the hinds ami t'<m<im'>nt* Kin;; to the northward of
the liim hereinbefore established, and heretofore bolonging to the county
of Middlesex, shall be, and ure hereby, annexed to the county of Somer-
set; and all the la ml- and tenements on tho southward of said line, here-
tofore belonging to the county of Somerset, shall be, and aro hereby,
annexed to the sold county of Middlesex."
In the erection of the county of Mercer (by act
of the Legislature approved Feb. *27, 1838) a small
portion of the southernmost territory of Somerset was
taken oil' and made a part of the new county. Fol-
lowing is given that part of the act by which the
change was effected :
"... All that part of tho township of Montgomery, in the county of
Somerset, which lies south of the following line,— to wit, Beginning on
tone KlTer where the boundary line between the nmnties of
Middlesex and Somerset crosses tli«- same, continuing down -aid river to
the original southeasterly cornoi of a tract of land i ailed ti..- Van Horn
tract, and theme running westerly along the original smith boundary
of said tract, and continuing on In the same course to the middle of tho
rond called the Pennlugton road, leading from the village of Rocky Hill
to tho village of Pennington; and thence westerly along t lie middle of
said road to the boundary line of the county of Somers e t , shall he, and
the same Is hereby, attached to and made n pari ol the oountyof Morcer;
. . , and said line shall hereafter be the boundary Hue between the
eounty of Horcer and the county "i Boma set.")
In is ! I. ih r township of Tewksbury, in Hunterdon
County, was annexed to Somerset County by Legisla-
tive act, and in the following year the same township
was in the same manner taken from Sum rset and re-
annexed t«» Eunterdon.
Again, Feb. 1. 1850, the limits of Somerset were
contracted, and a fraction of its territory given to
Middlesex ( kranty, by an act approved on the above-
mentioned date) whieh provided and declared, —
"That nil thai pari of the township ol Franklin, in the
it, lying within tho bounds of tho city ol Now Brut
contained within the limits following— Tit, Beginning in the Haitian
Stiver, in the now boundary lino of tfa unties ol U
exeat, and running westerly by said line along the old stage-m
•Thesnrvej Is recorded In LI I erB.3of
tjirvs oflD ■■. »t Burlington.
t Reviled Statutee Btate n. J., p. 20L
1 Ibid , |
glbld, p, 268.
| Ibid., IWO, p t â–
to Trenton until It strikes the Mile-Run brook; thence down said brook
the several counted thereof to Raritan River; thenco down said Raritan
River to the place of beginning — shall be, and the same Is herel
and mode a part of the county of Middlesex, and shall be annexed to,
and made a part of, the township of North Brunswick, in the county of
Middlesex; and the boundary line between the township of North
Brunswick, as by this act constituted, nnd the adjoining township of
Franklin, in the county of Somerset, shall be the boundary line between
the county of Middlesex and tho county of Somerset," etc.f
Subsequent changes in the boundary between Mid-
dlesex and Somerset Counties were made by two acts
of the State Legislature, passed in 1855 and 1858 re-
spectively. The act defining the south line of Som-
erset, between Kingston Bridge and Little Rocky
Hill, approved March 29, 1855, was as follows :
" Sec. 1. A lino commencing at a point in the centre of the Kingston
bridge where tho same crosses the Millstone River, and running easterly,
along the centro of tlio Princeton and Kingston branch turnpike, to tho
forks of tho old road leading to New Brunswick, and said turnpike;
thence along the centre of tho old road leading to Now Brunswick, tho
several corners thereof, as tho rood now runs, until it strikes the present
division line at the top of Little Bocky Bill, be and is hereby constituted
the division lino between the said counties" of Somerset and Middlesex.
The other enactment, approved Feb. 6, 1858, was in
these terms:
"Sue. 1. From and after the passage of this act, that the boundary line
between tho counties of Somerset and Middlesex shall commence in the
centra of the Franklin and Georgetown turnpike road, at the point where
the said road intersects and forms tho boundary line of tho city of New
Brunswick, and rutin thenco along tho contra of said turnpike road to
William E. Barker's Ten-Mile Bun."
This alteration of the boundary line set some of the
inhabitants iif North llrunswiek and South Brunswick
over to the township of Franklin, in Somerset, and
changed some of the people of the last-named town-
ship into North and South Brunswick, in Middlesex
County.
Finally, in 1876, the Legislature passed " An act to
straighten the county-line brook dividing Union and
Somerset Counties, in the city of PlainJSeld" ap-
proved March Pith in that year), which, after reciting
in it- preamble, " Whereas a certain stream of water
known as (Ireen Brook I the same being the county
line between Union and Somerset Counties), at a
point in the city of Plainfield where the same crosses
a street known as Kim l'laee, beeause of ii^ present
course before crossing said Elm l'laee being nearly at
right angles with the genera] course of the stream,
eauses the roadway and adjoining properties to over-
flow in time of high water," enacted
" That tho boards of chosen freeholders of the counties of Union and
; Somerset shall so chango tho course* of Green Brook, aTOMlng Elm PUoe
in the its of Pleinfleld, as that It shall cross snld street In aline parallel
with the general courn of Iho stream north t.f Kim Place. . . . That
i- Hue shall be so cbanj Ireen Brook, when n
straightened) shall continue to be the dlrldlng line between tin
• ■i Union and Somerset the lame u before the poasago of this act"
This was the lasl of the changes in the boundary
lines of Bomersel County, leaving them as at present
established.
I ii.id .p. iwo.
566
SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER IV.
COURTS AKTD COUNTY BUILDINGS.
Early Courts— Grand Jury of 1717— Precept to the Coroner, 1729— Early
Trials, etc. — Orphans' Court — Marriage Bonds — Public Buildings —
Conrt-House, Jail, etc.
In 1675, under Berkeley and Carteret, provision was
made by law for the holding of courts in the four
counties of New Jersey, as follows : two courts to be
held in Bergen, two in Essex, two in Monmouth, and
two in Middlesex. The Supreme Court met once a
year at a place appointed by the Governor.
While Somerset County was included in Middlesex
the courts were held, according to act of 1682 (chap,
vi. p. 231), on the third Tuesdays of March and Sep-
tember in the public meeting-house in Woodbridge,
and on the third Tuesdays of June and December in
the public meeting-house in Piscataway. In this
same year an act was passed (chap. v. pp. 229, 230)
for the holding of a court once a month in each town
in East Jersey, on the first Wednesday of every month,
for the determining of small causes and cases of debt
to the value of forty shillings or under. Thus towns
were recognized, but their limits were not defined. In
1686 the County Courts of Middlesex were directed
to be held on the third Tuesdays of December and
September at Perth Amboy ; on the third Tuesdays
of March and June respectively at Piscataway and
Woodbridge.
In 1694 an act was passed which provided
" That the county of Somerset shall bo subject and liable unto the
officers and jurisdiction of the county of Middlesex until there be a
sufficient number of inhabitants to constitute officers and jurisdiction
within the said county. Anything heretofore made and enacted to the
contrary in any wise notwithstanding."*
The county remained within the jurisdiction of Mid-
dlesex until 1714, at which time an act was passed pro-
viding for the erection of a court-house in Somerset
County. In 1717 "the grand jury of Somerset came
into court, reported nothing offered, and were dis-
charged."! In 1720, at a session of court, the grand
jury returned an indictment against Hannah Taylor.
A precept dated April 3, 1729, directed to the coroner
of the county, which has been preserved, is as follows :
"New Jersey] George the Second by the Grace of God of Great
[• SS. Brittain, Franco, and Ireland King, Defender
Somerset j of the faith, &c.
"To the Coroner of the County of Somerset Greeting:
" We command you, that you of the Goods and Cbattelsof Adrian Ben-
nett, Late of the County of Somerset, Innholder in your Bailiwick, You
cause to bo made fourteen pounds, fourteen shillings and four ponce,
which Daniel llollingshcad, the judge and justice of our County Court for
holdingof pleas for the County of Somerset, in tbo said Court, Recovered
against him the said Adrian Bennett, By reason of a Certain Trespass
upon the case Lately done to him the said Hollingshead, &c, &c.
" Witness Thomas Leonard, Esq., judge of our said Court, at ye house
aforesaid, ye third Day of April, in yo Second yoar of our reign.
" WlU,. IIoi.LINUSIIKAD, OVt.
" Vera Copia.
"Francis Harrison, Coroner"
* Learning and Spicer, p. 348.
f Hon. Ralph Voorhees in " Our Home," p. 0.
The records of the court were destroyed by fire at
the burning of the court-house in 1737. The next
year an act was passed for building a court-house in
place of one "accidentally burnt down." This was
followed by the erection of a court-house and jail at
Millstone.
In 1752 a negro servant of Jacob Van Neste's was
convicted at Millstone, under English laws, of mur-
dering his master, and condemned to be burned.
" Sheriff Van Doren enforced the penalty. It is said that many of the
negroes of the surrounding country were present, forming the inner,
while the whites formed the outer, circle around the fire. During the
burning the sheriff mounted bis horse, with a drawn sword in hand, and
rode between the spectators and the fire, to keep the former at a proper
distance. Shei'ilf Van Duren is said to have been a man of so greal pop-
ularity as to have held bis office for twenty years. "J
A case was brought before Jacob Van Ostrand,
justice of the peace, bearing date Dec. 18, 1769,
entitled an action in regard to " J. Castner's Harry,
and Jeronimus Van Nest complainant for breaking
his negro Jupiter's head." Harry confessed that he
had hit him with a stand-block a foot square, weigh-
ing five or six pounds. He was ordered to be con-
fined in jail, Dec. 22, 1769. Justice Van Ostrand
associated with himself two other justices of the peace,
Mr. Van Home and Benjamin Morgan, and five free-
holders, — viz., William Crook, John Vroom, John
Baptist Dumont, Samuel Staats Coej email, and Mat-
thew Ten Eyck, Sr. Several witnesses were examined
after having been duly sworn. The three justices and
the freeholders found him guilty of murder, and
ordered him to be executed on the 31st of December.
The Board of Freeholders audited the following account on Dec. 3,
1779: "Agreed that the sum of £224 14s. be paid unto Peter Dumont,
Late Sheriff" of said county, for executing the sentence of death on a
negro convicted of murder."
The records of the court were burned at the destruc-
tion of the court-house by Col. Simcoe in October,
1779, and it is not known what negro the above has
reference to or the particulars. Mr. Dumont was
sheriff in 1774-76.
The first record of court after the destruction of the
court-house dates Hillsborough, January term, 1778.
The judges at this term were Peter Schenck, Jacob
Bergen, Abram Van Neste, and Enos Kelsey. Twenty-
two cases were brought against the State, " on appeal
from, etc., for not going out in the militia in April
last." The court did not remit the fine in twelve
cases. Richard Stockton's was the first case. He
made allegation that he was not within the meaning
of the several militia laws of the State, and upon
heavy proofs the court ordered him discharged. The
fines were remitted in eleven cases. The grand jury,
being called, appeared and answered as follows :
Garret Voorhecs, Martin Hoagland, Abram Low,
Richard Hall, Jacobus Van Huys, Bernardus Garret-
son, Wim 8 Van Cleefe, Albert Voorhees, Daniel
Perrine, John Stryker, Mindert Wilson, Frederick
Probasco, Isaac Brown, Lawrence Van Cleefe, Lucas
X " Our Homo," 1873, p. 0.
COURTS AND' COUNTY BUILDINGS.
567
NcfFus, Peter Wyckoff, Rynecr Veghte, John Brokaw,
Garret Garretson, John Wyckoff, and Benjamin Bro-
kaw. Two indictments were brought in.
In June, 1778, the grand jury presented indictments
against Jupiter, negro of (.'ol. McDonald, and Jove,
negro of .John I'lieuix, for petty larceny. They were
tried and convicted at the October term, ami il was
ordered thai the negroes he whipped with twenty
lashes on the same afternoon, and twenty more on the
following Monday at Pluckamin. In the January
term of (Quarter Sessions the next year, David 1 [enry's
negro Ca-sar was indieted, tried, and convicted of theft.
Jt was ordered that lie n ive thirty-nine stripes on
the bare hack al Hillsborough, and thirty-nine stripes
on "Monday next Be'n-night at the cross-roads."
The following deserves preservation as an account
of a trial in 17-NO. It was held in some private house
in Millstone :
" At u Court of General Ouarter Sessions of tho poaco holtlcra at Hills-
borough, In and Ibr the County at Somerset, Jane Term, 1780.
" Tuesday, Judo 20, 1780.
" The State -\
Toblo, Negro Slavo I
,.f Vary Hiddagb. )
'•Tho DofoDdnnt being Charged, plead not guilty, and put himself on
lii- God, and the Country.
•• Wednesday, June 21, 1780.
"The wild negro, Tobte, being sent t - the Bar, on motion of Mr. At-
I ;. i: in i ,1 |..| 1 1 ml. il I- . .i -l<r -â– . L Unit llu- SI,., i ill mill..- r.-iurii of liis
Vonln
ponion
fcc , whereupi
appeared and
li,. i
ade retw a accordingly, « hen the folio
v ■• t j i as Jnrora :