Descendants of Founders of New Jersey

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George Pack, born in England, emigrated to America in the 1650’s, probably with his parents. It is likely that he settled first in the Milford area of Connecticut. In 1665 he was among the eighty Associates, who with a patent granted by the new English Governor of New York, Governor Richard Nicolls, purchased a large track of land west of the Hudson River from the Indian Sachems of Staten Island, and then settled the first English town in eastern New Jersey. With the coming of Sir George Carteret as Proprietary Governor, it was named Elizabethtown, after the governor’s wife. He took the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity in the town on 19 February 1665.

George and his wife Anna had six children; among them, Samuel, Hannah, Elizabeth, Abigail and Jeziah. Anna died around 1681, after her death, George moved to Rahway where he married Elizabeth Moore, the daughter of Samuel and Hannah Moore, in March 1683. They had four children: Bethiah, Thomas, Job and Benjamin. George died in Rahway on 2 October 1704. His will, the original of which is in the State House in Trenton, New Jersey, mentions his wife Elizabeth and his children.

On the 13th day of May in the year 1680, the record of the Quaker Men’s Monthly Meeting at Ugbrook, Northampton, England provided the following document to:

ye ffrds. And Brethren in New Jersey, in America, greetings. Whereas this friend John Panckhurst of Ashton having laid his intentions of transporting himself into New Jersey and desired a Certificate from this meeting. These many therefore let you understand that ye sd John Panckhurst hath lived soberly as becometh ye truth and yt he is clear from all women as to relative in marriage soe far as we understand. An that friends here have not anything against his transporting himself by reason yt we do not understand but that he hath left all things clear as to his debts: all we thought meet to signifie etc., in testimony thereunto we whose names are here written have set our hand by the direction of ye sd meeting I shall rest you ffrds and brethren.

Signed by _ Thomas Poole and eight others.

Shortly after securing this Certificate of Removal, John Pancoast left his home at Ashton, five miles from Northampton in Northamptonshire, England, and with his family of eight children ( two sons and six daughters), came into America on the ship Paradise, William Evelyn, Master, landing at Burlington on the fourth of October, 1680.

John Pancoast, as he came to be known in America, was the son of Joseph Panckhurst and the grandson of the Reverend Samuel Panckhurst of Ashton. It is believed that the Reverend Samuel Panckhurst, born in 1580, was a clergyman of the Church of England.

Within three weeks of his landing, John’s first survey was recorded for 100 acres of land in Burlington County on the north side of Assiscunk Creek against Mattacopenny Branch. Four days later, 18 October 1680, John Pancoast recorded a deed for 1/32 of a 10-90th share of the province of West Jersey.

Among the early Jersey Records, the name of John Pancoast is found in several places. As different surveys are made to him; as he signs as a Proprietor, business papers; and in the court of ear-marks for cattle made 8 August 1685, as follows: John Pancoast. Left ear slit, ye Right cur out.

John also took an active part in civil affairs of the province. He served as regulator of weights and measures in 1681 and was a Constable of Yorkshire Tenth in 1692. He served as member of the General Assembly of the Province of West New Jersey in 1685.

John Pancoast and his first wife, Elizabeth, had nine children who came to America, three sons and six daughters. However, Elizabeth died in England and John was a widower when he and eight children came over in 1680. One son, James, had preceded them, unknown to them at that time. It seems that James, who was a bound apprentice to a watchmaker in London, was kidnapped and brought to Maryland and sold by the Captain to some gentleman there. However, James worked out his time, bought a tract of land on the Potomac in 1687, acquired a nice estate, and became a leading citizen of Prince Georges County.

John Pancoast married as his second wife, Ann Snowden, the fall of 1682. Seven year later, in 1689, again a widower, he married his third wife, Jane Chapman. Jane, as the widow of Thomas Curtis, had married John Chapman, who died within a few months. When she married John Pancoast, less than five months later, they

were reproved for their haste by the Burlington Meeting of Friends. John Pancoast died in December of 1694 and his widow later married her fourth husband, Thomas Crosse.

Shortly after arriving in New Jersey, John’s daughter Ann Pancoast married Thomas Smith. Their marriage was recorded as having taken place the 14th of May 1681 and that Thomas Smith was of Cohansey in the Fenwick Colony. Thomas had bought 1000 acres from John Fenwick and located it in Shrowesburie Neck, south of the Cohansey. Of a later transaction is found this record of the land patent. Jan. 26, 1678/80 John Fenwick to Thomas Smith, late of Moseley, Parish of Chadleton, Co., of Stafford, now Shrowesburie Neck, Fenwick Colony, gentlemen, and William Johnson, for 500 acres at Shtowesburie Neck, here after to be called Moseleys Shield and Johnsons Cottage.

By 1684 Thomas Smith was a member of the General Assembly and one of the first to settle on a 16 acre town lot on Main Street, Greenwich, when it was laid out in 1681. Thomas and Ann Pancoast Smith were the progenitors of the Smith family who were early settlers of Frederick County, Virginia. It is through this line that the author of this article descends.

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Abraham Pierson was born in Yorkshire, England (christened in Guiseley Chapel, 22 September 1611), the son of Thomas and Grace Marshall Pierson. He graduated Trinity College, Cambridge in 1632 and came to America in 1639. He was in Boston and Lynn, MA in1640; Southampton, Long Island to 1647; Branford, CT to 1666; then he removed with the group led by Robert Treat to Newark, NJ where he died 9 August 1678. Around 1642, he married either Abigail Mitchell or Abigail Wheelwright (the record is not clear).

After he was ordained in Boston as a Congregational minister, he was pastor of the Southampton church, and led a group of dissidents to Branford, CT in 1647. There he learned the language of the Native Americans and prepared a catechism for them. He also united with John Davenport, founder of the New Haven colony, in opposing the union of the CT (Hartford) and New Haven colonies in 1665. He was said to be quite rigid and inflexible in his theology, and this led to the removal of the Branford congregation to Newark, NJ in 1666. He was the pastor of the First Church of Newark, where he preached for the remaining twelve years of his life.

He and Abigail had ten children. Daughter Abigail Pierson married John Davenport Jr., son of the founder of New Haven. Son Abraham Pierson also became a minister (Harvard 1668), succeeded his father as rector of the Newark church to 1692, and then returned to CT where he became the first President of Yale College. Daughter Rebecca Pieson (1654-1732) married Joseph Johnson (1651-1733) of Newark.

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John Pike son of John and Dorothy (Day) Pike was baptized 8 November 1613 at Whiteparish, Wiltshire, England. His first wife was Mary, perhaps Turrill or Tarville. He married second, in Woodbridge, New Jersey 30 June 1685 Elizabeth Blossom, widow of Edward Fitz-Randolph. His will was dated 24 January 1688/9 and proved 20 January 1689/90.

John Pike probably came from England in the ship "James" to Newbury, Massachusetts in 1635 with his father. All of his children were born in Newbury to his first wife, and all of his living children, except Joseph, moved with him to New Jersey about 1665. Before moving, John Pike lived for over 30 years in or near Newbury, where he was a town officer a number of times and was representative in 1657 and 1658.

Mr. John Pike was the first name on the list of those who took the "Oath of Alegeance and Fidelitie" in Woodbridge beginning 27 February 1667-68. In 1668 the Governor granted him 380 acres of land in New Jersey. At Woodbridge, he was its first "President" in 1671, "the prominent man of the town" and for some years a magistrate. In 1675 he was appointed captain of the militia. His will mentions "late wife Mary," children John , Thomas, Ruth wife of Abr. Toppin, Joseph and Hana.

Richard Pewtinger (Piewtinger, Pettinger, Pittinger) came to New Jersey in 1666 on the ship Philip with Philip Carteret as one of eighteen young men who were servants to Philip and his brother Sir George. The History of Elizabeth, New Jersey, states Carteret’s immigrants were adistinct class, in an inferior station, with whom the original planters had little congeniality and familiarity. However, Pittenger was given land next to Philip Carteret in 1665. According to historical records, Richard was a witness to the marriage of Mrs. Margarita Stuyvesant and Hendrick Droogestradt in 1678. Margarite was the half sister of Pieter Stuyvesant, who had been the Director-General of New Amsterdam, New Netherland, under the Dutch.

In 1700, according to the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam Church records, Richard married Annetje Anthony. The Pittengers had two sons, Richard II and Johnnes/John. It is probable that there were other children.

Marriages within the Dutch community abounded for at least four generations and their histories are recorded in New Jersey and New Harlem records. Richard Pittenger would have been proud of his descendants, which have included educators, theologians, patriots and one Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

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Robert Powell was a chandler who emigrated from Martin-le-Grand, London, England, to West Jersey in 1677 on the Kent, disembarking with his wife at the mouth of Raccon Creek. Most of Kent passengers remained for the winter in the Swedish settlement there. It is probable that Elizabeth was born at New Stockholm, the first English child born in Burlington County, New Jersey. She became known as Virginia Dare of Burlington.

Elizabeth's parents settled on a farm of 150 acres, on the north side of Assiscunck (Mill) Creek, West of Rancocus Village. Robert Powell was one of the Quakers who signed the Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Province of West Jersey in America.

Elizabeth Powell, daughter of Robert and Prudence Powell, was born 7 August 1677 in Burlington County, New Jersey. She married first, at age 18, on 16 November 1695, James Newbold, who was baptized 20 January 1669/70 at St. Peter's Church, Sheffield, England. Elizabeth and James Newbold had one daughter, Ann, before he died in 1697, in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, West Jersey. Elizabeth married second, on 21 Octoiber 1699, at Daniel Wills' house in Northampton Township, Jacob DeCou, who was born 7 Feb 1668 in Yorkshire, England. The DeCous had a pair of twin girls, four sons and two daughters. Elizabeth died in June 1714, at age 37. Jacob DeCou died in December 1735/36, in Burlington County, New Jersey.

Benjamin Price was born 1621 in England, probably at Olney, Buckinghamshire. He married Mary Sayre, daughter of Thomas Sayre of Southampton, Long Island, New York; died at Elizabethtown, New Jersey between 30 August 1705 and 7 October 1712, the dates of his will.

The first record of Benjamin Price in this country appears to be 10 March 1639, when he was a witness to a deed for an island off the eastern end of Long Island by the agent of Lord Sterling to Lion Gardner now known as Gardiner's Island. Benjamin was employed as an overseer, or head farmer, on the island.

The Prices removed to East Hampton where in 1650 Benjamin was Town Recorder. He held that position alternately for many years, evidently having had a good education. His land allotment totaled about 40 acres, including a town lot. In 1665 Benjamin and six other residents purchased the eastern tip of Long Island, now known as Montauk, from the Indians. This area was rented by other townsmen as a pasture for their cattle.

In 1665 Benjamin joined with many other "East Enders", including his son Benjamin, Jr., in the Elizabethtown purchase where he took the oath of allegiance 19 February 1665, having agreed to the sale of his property in East Hampton. There was a total of 80 Associates in this purchase: Benjamin received 270 acres.

Many problems arose in East New Jersey between the proprietors and the inhabitants over land and quitrent arrears. On 13 May 1699 Justice Benjamin Price, along with many other townsmen, attacked the Woodbridge jail with clubs and staves, to free two prisoners who had been jailed for stirring up opposition in the towns against the revenue act of March 1699. Benjamin had seven children, and outlived his wife, and most of the Elizabethtown founders.

John Pridmore (Predmore) was born at Dorsetshire, England in 1661. When he immigrated to the New World is not known; however, he is recorded as among the first settlers of Piscataway and Woodbridge, New Jersey.

John Pridmore married Anne Higgins in 1682, at Piscataway, New Jersey. Anne Higgins was born in 1663 in Eastham, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Richard Higgins and his second wife, Mary Yates of Plymouth. Richard Higgins was a resident and pioneer settler of Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, as well as a settler of Piscataway, New Jersey.

Not much is known of the Higgins-Pridmore family, except that they were land owners, operated their own farms and performed services for the community. Among their holdings was land along the Raritan River (Predmore Swamp) reported to have become the site of Rutgers College.

South of Piscataway, in the center of the colony of New Jersey, by Cranbury Creek, a mill town began to be developed along an old Indian trail much used by colonial travelers. In 1697 Cranbury Towne received its charter from the King. Responding to the needs of travelers for a place to eat and drink, get fresh horses and spend the night, John Predmore Jr ,. operated a post house as early as 1730, on the site of the present Cranbury Inn. He also ran a stage from Philadelphia to New York in the 1750’s. His house was replaced in 1780 by the Perrine House.

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Edward Fitz-Randolph was baptized 5 July 1607 at Sutton-on-Ashfleld, Nottinghamshire, England; married on 10 May 1637 Elizabeth Blossom, daughter of Elder Thomas and Ann (Heilson) Blossom, born in Leyden in 1620. Edward died between 1675 and 1676 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Elizabeth married on 30 June 1685 Captain John Pike. She died in her 93rd year and is buried beside Edward Fitz-Randolph in the west corner of St. James Churchyard in Piscataway.

Edward Fitz-Randolph and his widowed mother came to America in 1630 in the Winthrop Fleet, settling first in Situate, Massachusetts. He was yeoman and does not appear to have held any public office. He moved his family to Barnstable in 1639 where he was a juryman in 1641 and his name appears on the list of those able to bear arms in 1641.

In 1669 Edward sold his Massachusetts property and moved most of his family to Piscataway, New Jersey because New England patriotism and religion were too restrictive. After his death and about four days after her second marriage, Elizabeth deeded 300 acres of their father's land to sons Joseph, John, Thomas and Benjamin Fitz-Randolph.

John Reading was born 14 Sep.1657 in Pipe Hill, Staffordshire England, the son of John Reading and his wife Mary. He was evidently an educated wealthy Quaker and in 1677 he purchased a 1/6 share of proprietary from Edward Byllynge, who held the patent to the West Jersey territory. He married Elizabeth in England on 22 Feb.1682 and emigrated from London prior to 1684. The family established a homestead in the area that would become Gloucester County. John was a surveyor and became active in civil administration; he was elected a member of the Burlington County Assembly in 1685. When Gloucester County was formed in 1688, was chosen Clerk and Recorder of Gloucester County in 1688, an office he held until 1702.

On 6 Sep. 1688 the resident proprietors organized a Council of West Jersey Proprietors to record proprietor rights to the soil, supervise the distribution of dividends, issue warrants of survey, and have charge of un- appropriated lands, John Reading was appointed one of the five commissioners from Gloucester County and was elected Secretary, a position he held for virtually the next 28 years. John Reading was a Captain of Militia in 1695, 1702, 1713, 1714, and Lieutenant Colonel in the Hunterdon County New Jersey Militia in 1715.

In 1703, the Council of Proprietors appointed John Reading, William Biddle and John Mills to survey and purchase from the Lenape-Delaware Indians the great tract of 150,000 acres between the Raritan and Delaware Rivers. In 1709, Col. Reading relocated from Gloucester County to the part of Burlington County that later became Amwell Township, Hunterdon County. His first purchase of land there was in 1704; in a deed dated 12 Nov. 1709 he calls his home Mount Amwell in the county of Burlington. The estate was located on the Delaware River near present day Stockton.

In 1711, Governor Hunter commissioned John Reading as one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the colony. In 1713, Queen Anne confirmed Governor Hunter’s nomination of John Reading and he was sworn in as a member of the Royal Council of New Jersey on 5 Dec. 1713. Shortly after he became a member of the Royal Council a bill was presented for the organization of Hunterdon County. The minutes from the council for February 1713/14 indicate that it was John Reading, Esq. who reported the bill out of committee. It is believed that it was the work of Colonel Reading, and that he is entitled to be called the father of Hunterdon County.

John and Elizabeth had at least two children. Their son John Reading Jr. became the first native born governor of the New Jersey colony. John Reading Sr. died 30 Oct. 1717 in Amwell Township, Hunterdon Township, New Jersey at the age of 60.

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Walter Reeve was probably born between 1650 and 1657, either in England or Wales. He married first, Susanna (-) about 1670 and after her death he married Ann Howell on 11 November (December), 1682. He died between 16 May 1698 and 18 June 1698, the dates of his will.

Although records show that several Reeves migrated from Long Island and settled in West Jersey, it is believed that Walter Reeve came to Burlington County either from England or the West Indies, some time prior to 1673. He settled on 70 acres of land on the south side of the north branch of Rancocas Creek, midway between the present town of Rancocas and Mount Holly. He later acquired 350 acres by survey and 160 acres by purchase, plus the 70 acres to which he never took title. From his Rancocas property he engaged in export trade with foreign ports.

Walter Reeve followed the Church of England while most of his neighbors were Friends. This difference in religion may have contributed to some of the difficulties with his neighbors, mainly over property boundaries. In 1685 he cut logs on land that was in dispute. In 1693 he secured an attachment for a haystack, placed by others on a "peece of marrish" which he claimed.

The inventory of Reeve's estate amounted to £ 242.19 of which £ 98 was for real property which was listed as consisting of a house and plantation of 160 acres, a dwelling house by the creek side and 200 acres.

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Edward Riggs, son of Edward Riggs, may have been born in Yorkshire, England c. 1614; married 5 April 1635 Elizabeth Roosa of Boston, Massachusetts; died in Newark, New Jersey 1668.

Edward Riggs was 19 or 20 years old when he came to New England with his parents and siblings and settled with them at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1633. He was a Sergeant in the Pequot War of 1637 then settled in Milford, Connecticut, where he remained until 1666.

Riggs was on the committee to select the site for the new settlement to be made in New Jersey. His name is included among those who signed the Fundamental Agreements of the settlers on 24 June 1667 and the first Tax Board in 1667 gave him a valuation of £3,200. When the move was made to the site at Newark, New Jersey, his wife Elizabeth Roosa Riggs was the only woman on the site during the first summer; some of their children came with them. After Edward died in 1668, his widow married Caleb Carwithe prior to 1671.

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Joseph Robins was born in 1670/71; he married Anna Pack from Elizabethtown in 1692. Robins owned land conveyed to him by his grandfather Daniel Robins in 1696, in Crosswicks, Upper Freehold in what was then Monmouth County and which is now Burlington County. Joseph’s will was dated 8 June 1709.

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Moses Rolfe was born in the Arlington section of Cambridge, Massachusetts on the 14th day of October, 1681, a son of John and Mary Scullard Rolfe. Moses married Mary Hale, a Woodbridge, New Jersey native, born November 28, 1678, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Isley Hale, on 4 June, 1702 at Woodbridge. Eleven children were born to them in Woodbridge, namely: Samuel, Elizabeth, Easter, Appiah, Richard, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Richard, Robert and Henry.

According to sources, the Rolfe family (brothers and sisters of Moses, with the exception of sister, Rebecca Rolfe Whittemore, who stayed in Massachusetts), went to New Jersey in the year, 1685. Moses’ brother, John, died intestate on 11 June 1696 and his estate papers show Moses as an heir and resident of Woodbridge, in 1696/97.

Moses was a member of the New Jersey Assembly from (1721-1727); Town Clerk of Woodbridge (1712- 1731); Freeholders Clerk, Woodbridge (1712-1731); Justice of the Peace, Woodbridge (1718); Tax Collector of the County of Middlesex (1727); and lastly, Justice of the Peace of Middlesex and Somerset Counties (1713-1721).

In 1711, in the building of the Meeting House in Woodbridge, Moses contributed to the building of this place of worship whereby he paid for some supplies and let his slave help by drawing water for the builders.

Moses Rolfe died on 1 March 1746, at the age of 64, having left a sizable estate. He owned property in New York, as well as in New Jersey.

George Ross was probably born in Scotland about 1629. Nothing is known of his early years,
but he was captured by Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army at Dunbar on 3 Sept 1650. As one of
the 1400 prisoners that survived the march to London, Ross sailed on the ship Unity with
another 150 prisoners from Gravesend on 11 Nov 1650, and it arrived in Boston in mid-
December. He was one of 36 indentured servants (5-8 year period, usually) that was sent to
the iron works in Saugus, MA. John Winthrop, Jr managed the enterprise, and later took many
of the indentured servants to New Haven, CT where George Ross later appears in town records.

On 7 Dec 1658, George Ross married Constance Little.

“Geo: Rawse & Constance Little were married by ye Governor [Francis Newman], Decembr 7.
1658"

The following year, he purchased land in New Haven, and his first son, John, was born on 23
Feb 1660. Son Daniel, born 10 Oct 1663; Daughter Elizabeth, born 16 Dec 1665. Daughter
Hannah, born 14 Aug 1668. George was appointed Corporal of the Connecticut “Trayne Band”
militia in 1667. That same year, his name appeared in a letter from Rev Thomas James to Gov
John Winthrop that identified men of puritan beliefs.

The Ross family moved to Elizabethtown in 1770 where their son, George, was born. In 1676,
George Ross was granted a land patent for 132 acres in six parcels via a Second-Lot-Right, which
was the middle tier of three. That year he also became a judge for minor court. After the
Dutch overthrew the British in New York on 2 Sept 1673, they administered a census and
requested allegiance. George Ross signed the oath of allegiance on 11 Sept 1673 along with 75
other citizens of Elizabethtown. He began inventorying estates, became a tax assessor in 1683,
and was appointed to be a judge of small causes in 1686. For the last 18 years of his life,
George Ross was a deacon at the ElizabethTown church. He died on 1 Jan 1705.

Richard Rounsavell was born on 12 Mar 1658 and christened on 22 Mar 1658, in the village of Padstow in Cornwall, England. He emigrated from England about 1680 to Stratford, in the Colony of Connecticut, where he had a half acre home-lot and other lands. He married Hannah (last name unknown) between 1688 and 1690. About 1690 the family moved to Wickapogue, Southampton, Long Island.

About 1700 the family moved from Long Island, and became among the first settlers of Hopewell Township, Burlington County (now Hunterdon County) New Jersey. The couple had three children: Martha and Richard born before 1698, probably on Long Island, and Benjamin born in 1700 in Hopewell, New Jersey. It was in New Jersey that he signed his will on 5 Feb 1703 and probated 28 April 1704.

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Thomas Scattergood was born in England, date unknown, where he married Elizabeth Jarvis, probably at Stepney Parish, London. He died between 8 and 11 November 1697, the dates of his will, at Burlington, New Jersey.

Thomas Scattergood probably arrived at Burlington, New Jersey, about 1677 with his wife and seven children. Tradition has it that the family lived for a number of years in a cave located on Craft's Creek, about one mile west of Columbus, New Jersey. This area was later included in the family plantation. This may be truth, which is stranger than fiction, or a myth which has arisen from the fact that the first mention of Thomas in the New Jersey Archives is dated 9th mo. 1685 (November), where he is cited as a neighbor bordering on land received in another man's deed. There has been speculation that some early pages of the original records have been lost and they could have mentioned a purchase by Thomas that took place much earlier.

A carpenter, Thomas and his wife Elizabeth came from the Parish of Stepney, London and were Quakers, raising their children in that faith also. He signed the testimony against George Keith which was issued by the Quakers in 1692. Little else is known concerning the Scattergood family. Sons Thomas, Joseph and Benjamin outlived their father, as did daughters Sarah, Hannah and Tomsin, but daughter Elizabeth predeceased her father, as did Thomas' wife Elizabeth, who died before his will was written. The inventory of his personal estate amounted to £125 5s 6p.

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Roelof Schenck was born in 1619 at Amersfoort, Utrecht, Holland. He emigrated to New Amsterdam with his brother, Jan, and sister, Annetje, in 1650. John Schenck, the son of Roelof Schenck and Neeltje Van Couwenhoven, was born on March 1, 1670 at Flatlands, Kings County, New York.

He married his cousin, Sarah Willemse Van Kouwenhoven on October 1, 1692. She was born on December 20/27, 1674 at Kings County, New York, She was the daughter of William Kouwenhoven and Jannetije Monfoort. John and Sarah shared the same great grandfather, Gerret Wolphertse Van Kouwenhoven, who emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam around 1625 and was one of the head farmers for the Dutch West Indies Company.

Land deeds demonstrate that John Schenck settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey as early as March 30, 1697. On this date, he purchased land in Monmouth County from Peter Wickof. John and his wife, Sarah, had eleven children: Roelof, Sarah, Altje, Rachel, Maria, Leah, William, Jannetje, John, Antje, and Peter.

John Schenck died on January 30, 1753 and Sarah died on January 31, 1761, in Pleasant Valley, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Both John and his wife are buried at the Holmdel Cemetery in Holmdel, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Thomas Scholey, son of John Scholey and his first wife Elizabeth Fletcher, was born at Aston cum Aughton, Yorkshire, England in 1650. Elizabeth Fletcher was a daughter of Richard and Alice (-) Fletcher. Thomas married Sarah Parker, daughter of George and Sarah ( -) Parker of Northampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, on 8 October 1686 at Burlington, New Jersey. Thomas died at Chesterfield, Burlington County, between 6 February and 21 April 1724, the dates of his will.

The family name was originally spelled "Scholey", but the local pronunciation was "Schooley", so the modem spelling is now "Schooley". Thomas was a signer of the "Concessions and Agreements" in London in 1676 which provided for the settlement of parts of New Jersey. As a result of religious convictions, Thomas was the first of his family to depart for America. He was one of the second group of Quakers who came as heads of families on the File-Boat "Martha" from Hull, to settle at Burlington County in West Jersey in November 1677. He was 27 years old. His brother, Robert Scholey, was next of the family to arrive, followed by their father, John, whose first wife had died. John had married his second wife, Isabel Hancock, in England, and brought her along, with their son John, Jr. and perhaps daughters. There was much confusion concerning these various branches of the Scholey family in some early records.

Thomas lived most of his life at Onea Nickon in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County with his wife Sarah, who outlived him. Their six children were baptized at the Burlington Monthly Meeting of Quakers: Samuel, John, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary and Alice.

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Anders Sinnickson was born in Sweden c. 1651, and was among 92 Finns aboard the Mercurius, bound for the colony of New Sweden. He arrived as part of a group of five which included his father Sinnick Broer, his mother, a sister and a brother, Broer Sinnickson.

When the ship arrived in the Delaware, in March 1656, New Sweden did not exist any more. The colony had been surrendered to the Dutch the preceding September. Even worse, the Dutch commander at Fort Casimir (New Castle) forbid the ship to dock and unload its cargoes and passengers. Under directions from Governor Peter Stuyvesant, the Mercurius was ordered back to Sweden.

The potentially deadly impasse was broken by local Swedish leaders and their Indian friends. Secretly during the night, Indians "in great numbers" boarded the Mercurius and defiantly ordered the ship’s lieutenant to take the ship past the fort to Tinicum Island, where both passengers and cargo were unloaded. The Dutch did not dare to fire upon the ship with so many Indians aboard.

In 1677 Anders was residing at Feren Hook on the south side of Christina River, and by 1678 he had married Margaret Poulson. On 7 January 1678/9 he was sued for medicines supplied to his wife and child. Later in the same year he moved to Chestnut Neck in Salem County, where he was granted 260 acres north of Parting Creek. This would remain his home for the rest of his life.

After giving birth to two children (Ingrid and John), Anders' wife Margaret died. His second wife, Sarah GillJohnson, was the mother of his other five children. Anders Sinnickson wrote his will on 17 June 1696, but it was not proved until 4 April 1700. He had given two and one-half pounds for Holy Trinity Church but had probably died before 24 June 1699, when only his wife was assigned a pew in the new church. His widow, Sarah Sinnickson, was buried at the Penn's Neck church on 27 February 1719. All seven of his children married:

Ingrid Sinnickson, born c. 1678, married by 1696 Peter Bilderback and, after his death, John Hendrickson, Jr.
John Sinnickson, born c. 1682, married Ann Philpot Gilljohnson, 28 January 1725, and had three children: John, Sarah and Sinnick.
Andrew Sinnickson, born c. 1691, married Maria Weinam c. 1712.
Sinnick Sinnickson, born c. 1693, married Maria Philpot, 31 October 1717. He died in Penns Neck in 1750, survived by a son Andrew Sinnickson, who was later described by Pastor Nicholas Colin as the wealthiest Finn in West New Jersey.
Margaret Sinnickson, born c. 1695, married [1] Thomas Vickery, [2] Albert Bilderback, and [3] William Mecum.
Catharina Sinnickson, born c. 1697, married Christiern Peterson on 10 May 1716.
Dorothea Sinnickson, born c. 1699, married Oney Stanley, 27 November 1718

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Giles Slocum was baptized 28 Sep. 1623 at Somerset, England, and came to America prior to 1638. He married Joan Cook around 1640. The couple had nine children, probably all born in Portsmouth, RI: Joanna (m. Jacob Mott), John, Giles (m. Anne Lawton), Ebenezer (m. Mary Thurston), Nathaniel, Peleg (m. Mary Holder), Samuel, Mary (m. Abraham Tucker), Eliezer (m. Elephel Fitzgerald).

Giles Slocum was allotted thirty acres of land in Portsmouth, RI in 1648. In the same year he purchased from William Benton his homestead farm, which adjoined his brother-in-law John Cook’s land. In 1655 Giles was on the roll of freeman. In 1668 his “ear mark” was recorded as a crop in the right eare, with a slitt in the left eare and a hapeny under, of thirty years standing. He acquired considerable land in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He also purchased land near the northern part of what is now Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey in 1697 and again in 1670. He gave his sons large tracts of land in Rhode Island, New Plymouth and New Jersey.

Giles Slocum and his wife were early members of the Society of Friends, and Giles remembered them with a bequest in his will. Giles died in Portsmouth, RI in 1681.

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John Smalley, a tailor by trade, sailed with Edward Winslow and others on the William and Francis in 1632; departing London, March 9 and arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, June 5. By 1637/38, John is recorded through land grants as having settled in the Plymouth Colony, where he continued to acquire and trade small parcels. In 1638, he married Ann Walden; they had four children who grew to adulthood: Hannah, John Jr., and twins Isaac and Mary. John was admitted as a freeman to the Plymouth Colony in 1641.

In 1644, John joined with seven other Plymouth families in negotiating a land purchase from the Native Americans on Cape Cod; where they founded the town of Nauset (later Eastham). He served in various public capacities, including as Constable in 1647, Surveyor of Highways in 1649, and Juror of the “Grand Inquest” several times between 1654 and 1667. Yet John chafed under the Plymouth authorities, whether due to his ownership of a tavern or their disapproval of his newly-discovered Baptist faith. Around 1669, John joined with neighbor Richard Higgins and others in moving to the Saconnet settlement (now Little Compton, Rhode Island); and then to Piscataway, New Jersey, approximately four years after its first settlers had arrived. He was accompanied by wife Ann and sons John Jr. and Isaac (Hannah and Mary remained in Eastham.)

Several years after obtaining his first land grant in Piscataway, John had it surveyed in 1677. In 1685, he took up another land grant―by 1690, owning 118-1/2 acres. John Jr. owned an additional 215 acres adjacent; Isaac would accumulate sizable holdings nearby. Their land was proximate to the Raritan Landing inland port, site of present-day Johnson Park. John was appointed Magistrate by the Dutch in 1673-74; commissioned Justice of the Peace in 1675; and appointed Justice of the Court of Sessions, serving for several years. John died in Piscataway in 1692; Ann’s death followed in 1693/94. In 1689, John Jr. had helped to found the First Baptist Church of Piscataway, the second-oldest Baptist church in New Jersey and the 10th- oldest Baptist church in America. Ann is buried in its cemetery; John’s gravesite is unknown.

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John Somers was born 1623/24 in Worchester, England. He left the birthplace of his forefathers for conscience sake as he was fully persuaded of the principles of George Fox. Much has been written about John’s ancestors, among which were several knights with fascinating stores surrounding their lives. One such tale is about Sir George Somers, born 1554, whose ship the “Sea Venture” bound for Jamestown, Virginia, with supplies for the famishing Colony, sprang a leak, forcing them to land on the “Isles of Devils.” Shakespeare’s “Tempest” is believed to have been about this adventure of the Somer’s family.

John Somers emigrated from England, with his first wife (who died on the voyage), in 1681/82 and settled in Upper Dublin, now Somerton, Pennsylvania. He married for a second time, Hannah Hodgkin. The marriage is recorded in the Abington Friends Meeting records “ye 2nd of 1st mo. 1684.” Hannah was born in Worchester, England in 1667. John and Hannah were both ministers, so their house was used as a Meeting House for the Friends. In 1691/93 the family moved to Greater Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Records indicate that John purchased 3000 acres in New Jersey, in what became known as Somers Point, on 11 Mar 1695. As shown by the Journal and Votes of the House of Representatives of New Jersey he was appointed supervisor of roads at the first court held in Cape May County, Justice of the Peace 1698, assessor for Egg Harbor 1708, and a member of the fourth Assembly of the Province Assembly of 1709.

John and Hannah Somers had eight children, all of whom led productive lives in Somers Point. John died October 1723, and Hannah died in October 1738 at the Somers Plantation, Somers Point, New Jersey; both were buried in the family cemetery on the estate.

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James Mansson (Steelman) was the son of Hans Mansson, a Swedish cavalryman from Skara, Sweden. In 1641, Hans Mansson was arrested for damaging several apple and cherry trees in the Royal Garden in Varnhem, and was given the option of being sentenced to death or emigrating to New Sweden. Upon arrival to the New Sweden colony in November 1641, Hnas served as an indentured laborer cultivating tobacco at the “Plantation at Upland” till 1648. Finally he was able to settle on the west side of the Schuykill at Aronameck, now West Philadelphia, PA. In 1654 he married Ella Stille, affectionately known as “Mrs. Ella” within the Swedish community. In 1667 Hans Mansson settled his family in present day Cinnaminson Twp., Burlington County, New Jersey, on 100 acres on the east side of Pennsauken Creek, where he was buried in 1691. Captain Hans Mansson is listed in the Burlington County Records of freeholders and inhabitants in the “ye Cort of Burlington” on 3 August 1680. Upon the death of Captain Hans Mansson, his children and “Mrs. Ella” took the last name Steelman (Stilleman), anglicizing their name while establishing their family lineage from Hans Mansson and Ella Stille.

James Mansson Steelman (a.k.a. Jons Hansson), the son of Captain Hans and “Ella” Mansson was born in Aronameck PA, between 1660-1670. He married Susannah Toy in 1690 in Gloucester, New Jersey and was recorded living in Sinamensing (Cinnaminson Twp.), Burlington County, New Jersey in 1693. On 12 June 1700, at the consecration of the Gloria Day Church at Wicaco (present day Philadelphia), James Steelmen and his wife along with several other church members represented the Sinammensing District (Pennsauken Creek area that included the Great & Little Egg Harbor. On 10 November 1695, James purchased several land parcels totaling 500 acres near Great Egg Harbor from Thomas Budd and moved his wife and family, along with his brother Peter and his wife Gertrude Keen, to this area. During James Steelman’s lifetime in what is now the present day Absecon Beach, Somers Point area, he and his wife had six sons and two daughters. James became a prominent citizen and held various positions within the County of Gloucester. On 1 June 1696 he was elected “Overseer” of highway from Egg Harbor towards Gloucester, and again on 2 September 1700 “Overseer” of the road from Township Weymouth to a place called Penny Post.” In 1718 James was appointed as one of the Trustees of Egg Harbor. From 1694 to 1734, James purchased and traded many large parcels of property around the Somers Point area, and upon his death he held over 600 acres and had an inventoried wealth of approximately 328£ listed in his will.

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Robert Stiles was born about 1655 in Staffordshire, England and came to Philadelphia in 1680 with his sister Lucy Stiles. He married Priscilla Howell, daughter of Thomas and Catherine Howell, also of Staffordshire, England and another early settler of New Jersey. Robert Stiles soon moved from Philadelphia to Gloucester, New Jersey where he practiced the trade of rosin maker. Gabriel Thomas one of the first historians of New Jersey, he said of Robert Stiles, The trade of Gloucester County consists chiefly of Pitch, Tar and Rosin, the latter of which is made by Robert Styles, an excellent Artisan in that sort of work, for he delivers it as clear as any Gum Arabick.

In 1695 Robert Stiles bought 425 acres on Pennsauken Creek near Moorestown, Burlington County. His son Robert Stiles Jr. later lived on this land. Other children included Johns, who died young, and Martha, who married Thomas Cole. Robert Stiles’ sister Lucy married John Rudderow, Crown Surveyor who helped William Penn plan early Philadelphia and who later served as Judge of the Court of Commons Pleas Quarterly of Burlington County, New Jersey.

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Richard Stout came to New Netherlands from Nottinghamshire England, after seven years in the British Navy, which he joined reputedly after friction with his father over love affairs.

Richard married Penelope Van Princis in 1644, who had been shipwrecked on Sandy Hook, New Jersey with her first husband who was killed. Her life has been written about many times because of her “constitution” and will to live after being mutilated and left for dead by local Indians. Eventually she was rescued and nursed to health by other local Indians and ultimately ransomed to the Dutch in New Netherlands, where she met and married Richard Stout. They became the parents of a very large family which included at least ten children: John , Richard, James , Mary , Alice , Peter , Sarah Jonathan , David , Benjamin .

Richard Stout became one of the first settlers of Gravesend, (New York) New Netherlands in 1643 and was allotted plantation-lot No. 18, in 1646. In 1661 he bought the adjoining farm, plantation-lot No.26. After spending almost 20 years in Gravesend, he and his family, with a number of his neighbors, left Gravesend and settled Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey as one of the original Monmouth Patentees. In 1667 he held lot No.6 in Middletown. In 1675 he deeded 1800 acres to his heirs, and in 1677 received 745 additional acres by patent.

Richard Stout’s public life shows him as a member of the first New Jersey General Assembly composed of deputies and patentees in 1671, as an overseer in 1669 and 1675, and as Indian Commissioner.

The Stout’s were Baptists and in 1668 Richard and others met to organize the first Baptist Church in New Jersey. Richard and his son John were among the eighteen male charter members and for twenty years they met at the homes of the members until a log church could be built.

Richard Stout’s will was written on 9 June 1703 and proved before Lord Cornsburg, Governor, Captain General & Etc., on 23 October 1705 at Perth Amboy. In it he left his orchard, all the land he owned and home to his wife and left one shilling each to his sons and daughters. He also left one shilling each to his daughter-in-law, Mary Stout and her son John.

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The manifest of the ship Elizabeth and Anne, bound for Boston in May 1635, lists William Swayne (Swaine) as a gentleman from London, age fifty years. His son Samuel was about 16 at the time of sailing. The family first settled in Watertown where William had a grant of 60 acres. In 1637 he moved his family (including sons Samuel and Daniel and daughter Mary) to the new colony of Wethersfield, where he had acquired adventure lands. It was from here that Mary was kidnapped by Indians. She was rescued by a Dutch ship, and Lyon Gardner paid for her return. Preferring the theocratic constitution of New Haven, William Swaine purchased a plantation of 435 acres in Branford in 1644 and the family moved again, joining with the congregation of Rev. .Abraham Pierson, who had moved there from Southampton Long Island.

Samuel Swaine married Joannah Ward c. 1645. Samuel, like all land owning settlers was a farmer. He also constructed mills; was active in the militia, being appointed chief military officer in Branford; was a deputy to the New Haven legislature; and served as a judge. When New Haven was united with the Connecticut Colony in 1662, the leaders of Branford, Milford and Guilford were dismayed that their pure government by the church would be corrupted.

When in 1664, the Lord Proprietors of New Jersey offered inducements to settle New Jersey, Robert Treat and John Gregory were sent to explore the area and confer with Phillip Carteret in Elizabeth Town. They were favorably impressed with an area on the south side of the Passaic River, with wide expanses of salt hay marshes, a high plateau with few trees, crisscrossed with streams and backed by the Watchung Mountains covered with hardwoods. An agreement was quickly reached with Carteret to plant a colony.

Joanna and Samuel Swaine, with their seven daughters (an eighth daughter died in 1655) were among the first thirty families that arrived in Newark on 18 May, 1666. It is said that Elizabeth, the Swaines’ seventeen year old eldest daughter, was the first to land on the shore, having been merrily handed up the bank by her gallant fiancé, Josiah Ward, in his ambition to secure for her the mark of priority.

Local Lenni Lenape, who were on their annual trip from the Delaware to fish, met the settlers, and claimed that Carteret did not have title to the land (the original Elizabeth Town purchase from the Indians on Staten Island included the Newark area). Samuel Swaine was left in charge while Robert Treat went up the river to the headquarters of the Hackensacks. It was agreed that the land would be purchased for gunpowder, lead, axes, coats, guns, swords, kettles, blankets, knives, hoes, breeches, and trooper coats (value $750). While Treat was gone, Samuel Swaine, with others, drew up a compact to ensure that the new colony would be a strict theocracy settled by families from Branford, Guilford, and Milford. The principles of the church were to govern the spiritual and civil life of the citizens. Only church members could become freeman of the town and participate in any vote.

Samuel Swaine was active in community affairs of the new colony. He represented Newark at the settlement of the boundary with Elizabeth Town; was a member of the first General Assembly of the Province Elizabethtown called by Governor Carteret in 1668 and again in 1672; was a member of judiciary; and was contracted to build a mill in the town. In his will dated 17 Mar. 1682, he left all of his estate to his beloved wife Joanna. He died prior to 1685. Joanna’s will dated 1692 left her estate of the home lot in Newark, land at the Mountain beyond the great swamp, and a silver teabox, to five of her daughters (Elizabeth, Abigail, Joanna, Christiana, and Sarah) and son-in-laws (Phoebe and Mary (2) may have predeceased her). The Settler’s Monument in Fairmount Cemetery marks the final resting place of the founders of Newark. A brass plaque depicts the landing of the settlers with Elizabeth Swaine stepping ashore. The children of Samuel Swain and Joanna Ward were:

Elizabeth Swaine b. 1 May 1649 - d. 1706 Newark m. Josiah Ward b. c. 1645 m. 1666 d. bef. 1676 (Newark)
m. David Ogden (from Elizabeth Town) b. 11 Jan 1639; m. c. 1676 ; d. will proved 27 Feb. 1692 (Newark)
Mary Swaine b. 1 May, 1649 d. 10 Nov.1655 (Branford)
Joanna Swaine b. 1651 d. 16 Sept., 1729 (Newark) m. Jasper Crane Jr. b. 2 Apr, 1651 d. 6 Mar., 1711/12
Phoebe Swaine b. 7 May 1654 -
Mary Swaine (2) b. 12 June, 1656 -
Christiana Swaine b. 25 April 1659 - d. Jan 1731/32 m. Nathaniel Ward b. 2 Nov. 1656
Sarah Swaine b. 7 Oct 1661 d.__ m. Thomas Johnson
Abigail Swaine d. __ m. Eleazer Lampson

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