Descendants of Founders of New Jersey

​

​

​

​

​

​

John Throckmorton of Providence, Rhode Island, traditionally son of Bassingboume and Mary Hill Throckmorton, of Norwick, England, was baptized 8 May 1601 at Herts, England. He married, place and date unknown, Rebecca Covill, and died between 17 March 1683/4 and 25 April 1684 at Middletown, New Jersey while visiting his sons Job and John and was interred in a plot set aside there by, and mentioned in the 1690 will of his son John Throckmorton.

John Throckmorton was one of the original proprietors of Providence Plantation, Rhode Island, a Deputy there 1664 - 1674. During the visitation of John Fox he was converted to The Society of Friends at Newport, Rhode Island. He had been one of the syndicators of the Mayflower voyage to Plymouth and came to Massachusetts to determine why there had been no financial return on their investment in ten years. He became active in the development of coastwise shipping among the colonies which probably was not what the Crown wanted. He founded in 1643 in Eastchester, New York, a colony on land which bore his name Throgmorton Neck, eventually shortened to Throg's Neck.

He was an unusually outspoken immigrant and left a trail of paper, much of it against various religious sects or people. By 1664 he was restless again and he became one of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Patentees. He remained a resident of Rhode Island and his trading ships plied the eastern waters. He deeded land in Middletown to his sons and "died an octogenarian while visiting" them there.

Rebecca Covill (possibly Comell), Mrs. Throckmorton, was cited in Providence as being a midwife. She is said to have predeceased her husband, but her place of interment is not known.

​

Martin Tichenor was probably born in Sussex County, England, where the Tichenor surname flourished. He married at New Haven, Connecticut, on 16 May 1651, Mary Charles, daughter of John and Mary (Moss?) Charles. Mary died at Newark, New Jersey before 1673. Martin Tichenor died there in October 1681 and was buried with his wife in the churchyard of the First Church.

Martin Tichenor was a Puritan and first appears of record at the New Haven colony, taking the oath of allegiance on 5 August 1655. He married Mary Charles in 1651 and they were listed as members of the Congregational Church in 1655/6 and 1661/2. They moved about 1665 to Branford, where he purchased land from his father-in-law.

Tichenor was in the group of Milford settlers who removed to Newark in 1666. He and his son Daniel signed the Fundamental Agreements on 24 June 1667. Martin received home lot #20 between William Camp, Ephraim Pennington and Seth Tomkins. The location of this lot is marked by the present intersection of Tichenor Street and Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. The southwest corner of the land lay at the extreme end of the town, along the road leading to the salt meadow, known as "Tichenor's Gate", and evidently a position of some vulnerability in the early days. We read that Martin received among several other grants of land a special one of one and a half acres "for his Staying so much on his place when the Town was first Settled", that is, "the first Summer."

He and his sons were active in the community. He was chosen a Heyward, and in 1673 was the Warner of Town Meetings. His eldest daughter, Hannah, married Ensign John Treat, son of Governor Robert Treat.

Martin's will was written 19 October 1681 and letters of administration issued to his son John, on an inventory of 27 October showing an estate of realty and personalty of Pounds 230.11. Martin and Mary had six children who survived infancy: John, Hannah, Daniel, Abigail, Samuel and Jonathan.

​

John Tilton was born in Wolston, Warwickshire, England on 4 March, 1613. He emigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts prior to 1640 and then moved to Scituate in Plymouth Colony in 1643. Sometime later the Tiltons moved to Gravesend in Dutch New Netherlands, likely with the followers of Lady Deborah Moody; probably as a result of religious unrest against Quakers in English Massachusetts.

On 10 January 1661, John Tilton and his wife Mary (also known as Goody) were arrested and imprisoned “for being at the Quaker meeting 9 January, and at a Quaker meeting at Gravesend January 10.” John was sentenced to banishment from the Province, but through the influence of Lady Moody, he was pardoned. The Tilton’s problems were not over. On 19 September 1662, the Director and Council notified the magistrates of all English towns on Long Island to assist Resolved Waldon in arresting “all persons who attend unlawful or prohibited meetings.” At the same time complaint was made against John Tilton for attending meetings of Quakers and harboring persons of that persuasion, and against Mary, his wife, for “attending meetings of that abominable sect called Quakers.” They were both imprisoned, and on 6 Oct, were banished from the Province. The sentence was postponed until 7 May 1663, due to the rigors of approaching winter. Anthony Wright and others Friends offered them a home at Oyster Bay, which was outside the Dutch jurisdiction.

New Netherlands fell to the English in 1664; and on 1 January 1664, John Tilton Sr. and his son John Jr. were among those to whom land was deeded by the Indians at Shrewsbury, New Jersey (the Monmouth Purchase). It is not clear whether John Tilton Sr. actually resided in Shrewsbury; after his banishment from Gravesend for attending Quaker meetings, he had found refuge at Oyster Bay. In 1667, John and his wife moved back to Gravesend, and in 1668, he was again made Town Clerk. Mary “Goody” Tilton died 23 May, 1683 in Gravesend. John Tilton died in 1688, also at Gravesend; his will recorded on 3 April of that year divided his land among his children:

John Tilton born 1640, married Mary Coates and secondly, Rebecca Terry
Peter Tilton born 1641, married Rebecca Brazier
Sarah Tilton born 1644, married John Painter
Ester Tilton born 1647, married Samuel Spleer
Abigail Tilton born 1650, married Ralph Warner and secondly, William Scot
Thomas Tilton born 1652
Mary Tilton born 1654, married Henry Bowman

The Tilton’s son Peter and his wife Rebecca Brazier lived and died in New Jersey. On 1 June 1697, Peter conveyed one hundred acres of land to this daughter Rebecca, wife of Daniel Applegate, between Hop and Swimming Rivers, in Middletown, New Jersey. Peter Tilton died in Middletown, 6 October 1700

​

​

Robert Treat was born 1622/24 at Pitminster Parish, near Taunton, Somersetshire, England. He was the son of Richard Treat and Alice, daughter of Hugh Gaylord (Gaillard), also of Pitminster. He came first to Massachusetts in 1635 and removed shortly to Weathersfield, Connecticut where his father was a town founder. He married at Milford, Connecticut, 1647 Jane Tapp, daughter of Edmond and Anna (-) Tapp. He died at Milford 12 July 1710.

Treat interested himself in military affairs, joined the local Train Band at Milford and later became its Captain. On 24 May 1666 he, with ten others from Milford, Guilford and Branford entered into an agreement to take up lots on the Passaic River in the Province of East Jersey, which they named New Ark or Newark. Newark Town Records record that "Only Capt. Treat was allowed to have Eight Acres in his Town lot." Fundamental Agreements were signed in June 1667 at Newark with Treat as Recorder. He was deputy from Newark to the General Assembly of East Jersey 1667-1672. Now about fifty years of age, he returned to Milford, Connecticut.

On 18 September 1675 it was said that his arrival at Bloody Brook, in command of Connecticut troops turned the tide in the Indian battle. On 19 December 1675 with Treat as Major and Commanding Officer of Connecticut forces, King Philip was defeated at the Great Swamp Fight in what is now southern Rhode Island. Treat was chosen Deputy Governor of Connecticut 1676-1682, when he succeeded to the office of Governor which he held until 1698, with an interim during the regime of Sir Edmond Andros, Governor of New England. He was appointed Colonel of Connecticut forces in 1687. It is said that while being forced to entertain Sir Edmond Andros that Robert Treat's associates hid the Connecticut Charter in the famous Charter Oak.

​

Cornelius (Theunissen) Tunison, Sr. was born 10 Jan 1694 in Brooklyn, New York, one of eight children of Teunis Nyssen (Denyse) and Phebe (Femmetje) Seals. He married Neeltje Bogaet, the daughter of Tunis Gysbert Tunisons, Aug 28 1687. A deed dated 20 Jan 1687-8 conveyed to Cornelius Tinnisonne and his brother Jan (and others) a farm at Roysefield, Middlesex County., NJ, from John Royse. Cornelius Teunissen’s name also appears on a deed dated Oct 14, 1689, from John and Elizabeth White for a tract of land, in what is now the center of the village of Somerville.

In 1717 he married Rebecca Folkerson from Brushwick, New York. Their son Cornelius Tunison Jr , was baptized on 8 Mar 1699, one of the first entered in Dutch, in the records of the newly established First Reformed Church of Raritan.

The couple had ten children. Cornelius died in Raritan 25 Aug 1775, and Rebecca died the same year.

Johannes Updike (Opdyke) was born in 1651, probably in Beverwyck/Albany, New York, where his parents, Laurens Janszen Updike and Stijntje (Christina) Pieters, first settled after their immigration to New Netherlands in about 1650. On 23 Dec. 1653, Laurens Janszen testified at the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck that he was 48 years old and was born at Hoesem (Holland). On January 14, 1650, Stijntje Pieters, his wife, gave her age as about 40 years. While he was at Beverwyck, Laurens Jansz was engaged in the fur trade. By 1653 Laurens had purchased land and moved his family to Gravesend, Long Island, where he died in 1659. On March 16, 1660, prior to her second marriage to Norwegian Laurens Petersen, Stijntje had guardians appointed for her children, Peter, Otto and Johannes (Opdyke).

Johannes grew up on Long Island, where about 1674 he married Catherine whose surname is unknown. Besides farming, Johannes actively bought and sold land in New York. However, in April 1697 he bought 250 acres in West Jersey above the falls of the Delaware River (near Trenton). The entire extended family moved from Dutch Kills to West Jersey, with their household goods and farm animals. There is a well preserved tradition among descendants that the carts of the Updike settlers were turned up at night to shelter the women and children, until a few days’ work with axes and stout arms had prepared the first log homes.

By 1714, Johannes had moved to Hopewell, Hunterdon County, New Jersey where a Dutch clergyman from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, baptized six of his grandchildren in 1710 and 1712, which indicates that the family still maintained the Dutch religion and language. On February 12, 1729, at the age of 78 years, Johannes Opdyck made his will, leaving his estate to be equally divided among his eight living children. The next generation shifted the surname from Opdyck to Updike. When the executors of Johannes’ estate, son Lawrence and grandson Eliakim Anderson, submitted their final bills on April 7, 1731, they listed the refreshments for the funeral; rum, sugar and spice, a barrel of cider and biskakes, all good food and drink in true Dutch fashion.

​

​

​

​

Lubbert Gysbertsen, wheel-wright and wagon maker, was born c. 1601 in Blaricum, District of Gooiland in the Netherlands. He married there Divertje Cornelis. He died c. 1655 in Bergen Neck, New Jersey, probably killed in an Indian raid.

On 15 April 1634 Lubbert signed a contract with Killaen VanRensselaer, the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck in New Netherland near Fort Orange (now Albany, New York). He and his wife and their three children sailed on the ship de Eendracht which sailed from the Texel in May 1634. The Patroon advanced the expense of his passage to the West India Company, for which Lubbert would reimburse him over a three year period by working for him. Lubbert's account was opened in Rensselaerwyck on 20 July 1634, indicating that the trip took about two and a half months. His account with the Patroon was cleared in 1647. In 1648 his wife Divertje witnessed a baptism in New Amsterdam.

On 5 December 1654 Lubbert was given a Dutch patent for 50 morgens (100 acres) in Bergen Neck, New Jersey, below Cavan Point, in the area south of present Jersey Cityr. His son-in-law, Jan Cornelis Buys, had 25 morgens just south of his land and beyond that his son, Jan Lubbertsen, also had 25 morgens. Farther south, his sons Lubbert and Gysbert Lubbertsen, each had 25-morgen farms. It is not known when these farms were first occupied, but Lubbert's granddaughter, Tryntje Oosteroom, according to her marriage record, was born in New Jersey. She was baptized in New Amsterdam 16 August 1654.

In September 1655 an Indian was killed for stealing fruit from an orchard in New Amsterdam. In retaliation, a large Indian war party terrified the residents of New Amsterdam and then crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey, burned the Dutch bouweries and plantations, killed or captured anyone who had not fled. Lubbert may have been killed in this raid. An entry in the Minutes of the Court of Schepens and Burgomasters of New Amsterdam dated 1 May 1656 shows that Jan Corns. Buys, alias Jan Damen and Lubbert Gystertse's widow requested permission to trap as they "have been driven from their houses by the last trouble with the Indians." The request was granted.

​

​

Jacob VanDoorn was born in Gowanus, Long Island, NY, before 1655. In 1690 he married Maria Bennet. Between 1697 and 1701 he became the sole owner of 675 acres in what is now Holmdel and Marlboro Townships; and in about 1698 he moved the family from Long Island to the Monmouth County, New Jersey. Jacob Van Dorn built his first house, probably initially a log cabin, on a knoll on the property, near the families Schencks, Couwenhovens and Hendricksons. The family traveled every Sunday to attend services at the first Dutch Church.

As early as 1714, Jacob built a dam and erected a grist mill, a great convenience to the settlers within four or five miles around. Jacob died abt. 1720; his will divided his estate between his oldest and fourth sons, directing that they pay £75 to each the other children, with an additional £37 to the youngest. His wife Mary survived him by many years.

​

​

​

​

​

​

Baltus Barents VanKleeck was baptized on 6 Aug. 1645 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. His father was Barent Baltus who was from Lipstadt in Westphalia, and who on 18 May, 1631, had married Sara Peters in Haarlem. Less than five years later, on 29 January, 1636, Barents now a widower married Mayken Quiters of Haarlem. They had seven children, including Baltus and Elsie.

Barents Baltus emigrated to America; he first appears in the New Netherland records in Flatbush on 8 July, 1654. He married the first time a woman whose name is unknown and who was buried in 1676 in Flatbush. He married second Tryntje Jans Buys daughter of Jan Cornelis Buys (alias Damen) and Ybetje Lubberts (daughter of Lubbert Guybertsen) in 1657 or 1658.

Baltus Van Kleeck moved first to Albany to be near his sister Elsie who had married the large landholder Robert Sanders. This is where their daughter Sara was born.

In about 1683, Baltus Van Kleeck purchased land in Bergen. The three tracts, known as lot No. 49, lot No. 67 and lot No. 156 and so marked on the map of the “Bergen Common Lands” in the County Clerk’s Office at Hackensack, N.J. Lot No. 49 was a tract of upland. Lot No. 67 was a piece of meadow. Lot No. 156 was a lot in the town of Bergen. In total they comprised 36 and a half acres of farmland and a lot in the village. The family then moved to Bergen where his wife’s relatives had returned after the Indian uprising in 1655. On 2 July 1683, Baltus Barens and wife Tryntie Jans joined the Bergen Dutch Church. Their son Peter was baptized there on 2 April 1688.

Baltus sold the Bergen property 8 May, 1697 and on 3 June, 1697 bought a large parcel of land at Poughkeepsie, where the family settled permanently. Baltus Van Kleek is considered to be the founder of Poughkeepsie and in turn Dutchess County. In 1702 he built the first stone house there with a lintel stone that contained the initials of Baltus and Tryntie. Baltus VanKleeck also donated land for the building of the first church. . In later years Baltus VanKleeck was very prominent in the affairs of Poughkeepsie. He was a Captain of the Militia of Ulster and Dutchess County in 1700, and in the 16th Colonial Assembly in 1715, he represented Dutchess County. He died between 1 Sept. 1716 and 9 April 1717. His stone house remained standing in Poughkeepsie until well into the Nineteenth Century with an adjacent family graveyard.

​

​

Peter Van Nest was born c. 1625 in the Netherlands; he emigrated from Utrecht, arriving in the colonies in 1647 and settling in Brooklyn. He married about 1652 Judith Jorise Rapalje, born 5 July 1635. She was the daughter of Joris Jansen Rapalje and Caralyna Trico Rapalje; first settlers of New Amsterdam. Peter and Judith were the parents of eight children: Catalyna, Pieter, Sitje, Jeronimus, Jacomyntje, Sara, Joris and Marritie. Peter was a carpenter by trade.

The second land title in Somerset County, New Jersey was dated 12 December 1681; and signed by four Indians in consideration of 120 pounds. Among the earliest permanent settlers in this section of East Jersey was Peter Van Nest, who purchased land there in 1681/2. He added to his land holdings on 26 Oct 1693, when James Graham, conveyed to him a large track of land. In 1693 VanNest was appointed by Somerset for the purpose of raising soldiers to “defend the Province” and in 1694, he was appointed along with J. Tunison, Commissioner of Highways.

One of their daughters, Catalina, married Derrick Middagh and on 1 May 1709, Peter VanNest of Somerset County, yeoman, and his wife, conveyed to Derrick Middagh, of the same place, yeoman; land originally purchased from James Graham in 1693.

Penelope VanPrincis is considered the first white woman in New Jersey. The daughter of Baron VanPrincis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen), she was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1622. After her marriage to John Kent c.1640, bride and groom set sail for New Amsterdam; near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now Highlands in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Penelope, with her husband and others made it to shore; however, her husband was too ill to travel with the rest of the survivors who headed on foot toward New Amsterdam. Penelope and her husband stayed behind in the Navasink woods and it was not long before they were attacked by hostile Indians. John was killed and Penelope, partially scalped, horribly cut and left for dead. She survived for a week before she was found by two friendly Indians. She begged to be put out of her misery and the younger one was willing to oblige but the elder one stopped him. He threw her over his shoulder and took her to their camp. There he sewed her up with fish bone needles and vegetable fiber. She lived with the Indian until she recovered and eventually made it to New Amsterdam.

In 1642, Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, to serve in the British navy. At the end of his seven year enlistment, he had left his ship in New Amsterdam. Penelope married the English-born colonist, in 1644, when she was 22 and he was 40. They settled at Gravesend, Long Island on a plantation, which he had been allowed to purchase from the Dutch. Stout prospered and became a large landowner.

After the English took over the rule of New Amsterdam in 1664, Penelope persuaded her husband and a number of their neighbors at Gravesend to move across the Lower Bay to what is now eastern New Jersey, near the village of the Indian chief who had saved her life. John Stout became one of the original Monmouth Patent purchasers. After their move to Middletown in Monmouth, the elderly Indian who had rescued her was a frequent visitor to the Stout home. Penelope is considered the “mother of Middletown.

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 Governor Lord Cornsburg, 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. Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110. While the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, both she and her husband were buried in Middletown Monmouth County.

Children of Richard and Penelope Van Princis (Kent) Stout:

John Stout (1645 - 1724)*
James Stout (1648 - 1715)*
Mary Stout Bowne (1650 - 1675)*
Alice Stout Throckmorton (1652 - 1703)*
Sarah Elizabeth Stout Pike (1656 - 1714)*
Jonathan Stout (1665 - 1722)*
David Stout (1667 - 1732)*
Benjamin Stout (1669 - 1734)*

Claes Jansen VanPurmerent was born in Holland, probably at Purmerend, date unknown. He first appears in the records as the purchaser on 20 August 1655 of a tract called Pembrepock, along the side of the Hudson River, which he subsequently sold in 1658. On 11 November 1656, Claes Jansen married at the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam, Annetje , daughter of Cornelis VanVoorst and Vrouwtje Ides.

Claes Jansen VanPurmerent (Cuyper) purchased on Aug 20, 1655, a tract called Pembrepock, along the Hudson River. On Nov 11, 1656, Claes Jansen married at the Dutch Church in New York, Annetje, daughter of Cornelis VanVoorst and Vrouwtje Ides. In 1659, Claes Jansen VanPurmerent, wheelwright, wife, servant and child returned to Holland on the Beaver.

It is not known how long he remained in Holland; however, on Jan 31, 1662, he obtained a patent for land at or near Horsimus, now a part of Jersey City. Annetje was listed in 1664 as belonging to the Bergen Church. Claes Jansen was elected schepen for Ahasymus in the Bergen Court, Aug 31, 1674, and was appointed a surveyor of highways in 1682. The couple had twelve children. The name of at least one son appears in the records as Cornelis Claessen Cuyper.

Claes Jansen died intestate Nov. 30, 1688, at Ahasymus. His wife, according to Bergen church records, died July 12, 1725, as Annatje Stoffels, listed as widow of Claes Jansen Kuyer.

​

​

Cornelis (Cornelius) Van Voorst, son of Hendrick van Voorst and his wife Anna Cornelis Frans de Bure, was born about 1580; married 1) on 15 June 1607 in a civil ceremony at Utrecht, Holland, Beatrix van der Laen, daughter of Cornelis Thijsz van der Laen. She died before 1628 when he married Vrouwtje Ides, who died in Ahasymus (Pavonia, New Jersey) in 1641. He died 1 July 1638 during a visit to his sister and her husband in Holland.

Cornelius was a woodcarver and cabinet maker who was banished from the Netherlands as the result of his participation in an aborted uprising in 1610 over the local government of Utrecht. He went to Italy and learned the language. In 1619 as part of a general amnesty he was free to return to Holland, but did not do so immediately. On 26 April 1626 he made a statement before a Notary that he had been "engaged by the Directors of the West India Company to go to New Amsterdam" for the collection of certain debts owed him. He sailed soon after on The Amsterdam Arms.

In New Netherlands the family lived in Ahasymus (Pavonia), in the southern part of present Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1632 Cornelius was appointed superintendent of the colony, the civil and judicial head. He was acting as the agent for Michael Pauw.

By 1662 one of Cornelius’ two surviving children, son Ide Cornelissen van Voorst, received deeds for about 150 acres of land at Ahasymus that probably had been his father's. Annken, the other child by Vrouwtje, married Claes Jansen van Pumersand.

​

Waling Jacobse VanWinkle, son of Jacob Waling VanWinkle and Tryntie Jacobs was baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam on 10 October with no sponsors, only his father present. He was married 15 March 1671, by the court at Bergen, New Jersey, to Catharyna Michielse, with banns published 26 February and recorded with the marriage date and place at the Bergen Reformed Dutch Church. Catharyna was a daughter of Michael Jansen Vreeland baptized at the New Amsterdam church 24 October 1649. On 15 August 1674 Waling Jacobse was nominated to the office of Schepen (judge) of the "Court of Justice at Bergen" and received his commission on 31 August 1674.

Waling Jacobse was one of fourteen purchasers of the Acquackanonk Patent, acquired from the Indians in 1679 and ratified by the Lord Proprietors of New Jersey in 1684. The area includes present-day Passaic, Paterson and vicinity.

As early as 1682, Waling Jacobse had an extensive farm at Barbadoes Neck, now Rutherford. On 2 March 1692, and again on 30 June 1695, he was elected a member of the General Assembly of New Jersey, representing first Acquackanonk and then Barbadoes Neck. A founder of the Acquackanonk Church, he was elected elder in May 1696 and re-elected in May 1701.

Eight children were born between 1672 and 1690 to the VanWinkles: Annetje, Jacob, Michael, Trintje who died in infancy, Johannis, Trintje Sarah and Abraham. Waling died between 1 November 1727 and 12 September 1729, at Acquackanonk, then in Essex County, New Jersey. His wife Catharyna was the sole executrix.

​

​

​

Hartman Mickeilsen Vreeland (later the name was changed to Vreeland from Mickeilsen) was baptized Oct 1, 1651 and married Matje Braecke in 1672. He was a wheel wright by trade, and lived first at Rechpokus on part of his wife’s inheritance. He then purchased 270 acres of land including “Stoffel’s Point”, and an island in the Passaic River near Aquackanonck called Hartman’s Island (Dundee Island). He died on January 18, 1707 in Bergen County.

He made the first land transaction in the area known as Acquackanock, when he purchased from an Indian chief Dundee Island in the Passaic River, later called Hatman Island. Michielsen then induced others from Bergen to join in the purchase of a large tract of land (5500 acres) along the river up to the falls, from the Indians paying coats, blanketrs, kettles, powder and other goods. On March 28 1679, the associates received a patent from the Proprietors of East Jersey

Hartman and Matje had 13 children, his first-born was Claus who married Annetje Harmanse; (2) Aeltje; (3); Michael, who died at the age of 14; (4) Dirck, who married Margrietje Diedricks Banta; (5) Fitje, who married Dirck Paulusen; (6) Syntje; (7) Aagtje, who married Cornelis Blinkerhoff; (8)Dedricksje; (9) Marietyje, who married Thomas Fredericks; (10) Jannetje, who married, Gerrit Van Ripen; (11) Michael, who married Elysabet Van Ripen; (12) Arriantje, who married Zacharias Sickles; and lastly (13) Enoch, who married Jannetje Van Blerkum. Subsequent generations changed the name from Mickeilsen to Vreeland.

​

​

​

John Ward, a turner (dish turner, his trade) was born in England and came to New England in the 1630's. He married Sarah Lyman, date and place unknown. John Ward, Turner, as he was known to differentiate between him and the other John Wards, became active in affairs of Newark where he was chosen cattle brander 1668-77, Constable 1670, Townsman 1675/6, Warner of Town Meeting 1676 and 1684,Grand Juryman 1677,and fence viewer 1678. In 1673 he and his cousin John Catlin were on a committee to agree on money to send a messenger to England and also to go to New Orange (New York City) to a part of the Neck, as cheaply as possible.

In 1679, John Ward, Turner was granted the remainder of the Elder's Lot on which one of his sons could build. He received 44 acres beyond Second River, which was bounded by property of his aunt, Widow Ward, wife of Lawrence Ward. His land is now the center of Bloomfield. It is uncertain whether he moved to this land or stayed in Newark until his death and that of his wife in 1684.

John Ward, Sergeant (or Senior) son of Richard and Joyce ___ Ward, was born in England. In a sworn affidavit in 1661 he stated his age as about 36 years which means he was born c. 1625.

John Ward, was brought to New England, after 1635, when his father died in Stretton, England. He was apparently in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1640 when his mother's will was probated. In 1646 he moved from Wethersfield to Branford, where he married, Sarah, last name unknown, in 1646. . Their first child was born in Branford in 1647.

On 30 October 1666, John signed the Fundamental Agreements of the new colony of Newark, New Jersey and moved there in the spring of 1667. His wife Sarah died prior to 1690, when he married second, Hannah Crane Huntington, the widow of Thomas Huntington

John's name appeared frequently in the Newark town records. He was chosen to arbitrate disputes, elected surveyor of the highways and drew several lots of land. In 1673 he was chosen one of a group to negotiate with the new Dutch rulers. That same year he was elected lieutenant of the militia. From 1676 to 1680 he was a magistrate. He was on a committee in 1679 to curtail travel to New York City on account of a smallpox epidemic in that city. Finally, in 1692 he was on a committee formed to encourage John Prudden to become the new minister. John died in Newark, New Jersey, his will dated 31 October 1694, was proved 5 December 1694.

​

​

Thomas Warne, son of Stephen Warne of Plymouth, England, was born c. 1652. Thomas Warne was one of the twenty-four Proprietors of East Jersey, after the death of Sir George Carteret, and the sale of New Jersey by the trustees of the estate. In 1682 John Heywood, citizen and skinner of London, one of the original twelve Proprietors purchasers of the state, sold half of his share to Thomas Warne, merchant of Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many Proprietors, Thomas actually came to the new province with his father in his 31st year, in March 1683, bringing with them 11 servants.

Thomas was unmarried when he arrived in New Jersey and remained a bachelor until he was about 50 years of age. He married Mary Lord Carhart, between 1698 and 1700, she was the widow of Thomas Carhart of Woodbridge. Mary was a daughter of Robert Lord of Cambridge, Massachusetts and the grand-daughter of Thomas Lord, an original proprietor of Hartford. Mary brought with her into the marriage three sons by her former husband, who were brought up by their step-father. Mary and Thomas Warne had five sons and one daughter.

In a grant of land to the new Proprietors in 1686, Thomas received land on the south side of Mittevang Creek (Matawan Creek) containing 400 acres and called Warne's Neck, now part of Matawan Borough. He owned 1000 acres on the north side of the creek, most of it in what is now Old Bridge Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey. He is reported to have had a wigwam in that area about 1685, while he was surveying his land. He also owned land on what became the Princeton Battlefield.

Frequently mentioned in the public records of the time in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties, he attended at least 88 meetings of the Board of Proprietors between 1685 and 1705; was commissioned a Justice of the Court of Common Right, now Court of Chancery; member of the Governor's Council 1683-1699; and member of the Council for the Management of Public Affairs for the Province of East Jersey in all Debates, Consultations, Resolutions and Procedures.

Thomas Warne's will dated 1722, listed his personal estate at his plantation as 2 negro men, 2 negro boys, 1 negro woman and 2 children. He died in 1722 and was buried in the Topanemus Burying Ground at Marlboro, New Jersey, with his wife.

​

Bartholomew West was probably the son of Matthew West, who first appeared in Lynn, Massachusetts as early as 1636 and removed to Newport, Rhode Island about 1646. Bartholomew married there Catharine Almy, daughter of William and Audrey (Barlow) Almy.

While living in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Bartholomew West purchased 70 acres of land on 23 February 1661. He was one of the original purchasers from Rhode Island of land in Monmouth County, East Jersey, in 1665. He was one of the Deputies from Shrewsbury to the General Assembly of East Jersey 14 December 1667. The family lived on land on the corner opposite Christ Church in Shrewsbury.

Bartholomew West died in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, before 1675. His widow Catharine married second, Nicholas Brown, Jr.; she died in Shark River, New Jersey in 1703.

​

​

​

​

​

​

John Winans was born in Watertown, Holland in 1640. He was the son of famous Dutch landscape painter Jan Wynants, by his first wife. After his father’s second marriage, he left home to become an apprentice to Gobelin a weaver. In 1653 he came to New Netherlands to live with a relative.

He married his first wife, Susannah Melyn in 1664 at New haven, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Cornelius Melyn, the legendary Patroon of Staten Island, New Amsterdam from 1640 to 1660. The Winans had nine children (John, Susannah, Elizabeth, Samuel, John II, Joanna, Conrad, Jacob, Isaac). His second wife was Ann Robertson, they had three children (William, Phebe, Experience).

John Winans was one of the original “80 Associates” who founded and settled Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1664-65, after the English took the Dutch colony. He was Burgess in 1668. In 1673, when the Dutch had reclaimed the colony, he was a delegate to negotiate with the authorities for the submission of the town to the Dutch. He was well educated, as was indicated by the books that he owned and his use of a Coat-of-Arms with origins back to the 1100’s.

John Winans died in Elizabethtown, New Jersey in December 1694. The family plot is in the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth.

Barnabas Wines, son of Barnabas and Anne (Eddy) Wines, was baptized 15 May 1628, St. Clemens Church, Ipswich, County Suffolk, England and died in the fall of 1715 in Southold, Long Island, his will proved 29 September of that year. He married Mary, probably daughter of John Mapes, who survived him, dying 13 June 1717 at 89.

Barnabas' parents, his sister Anna and he came to Watertown, Massachusetts, where his father was made a freeman 6 May 1635. The family moved to Southold, Long Island, where, by 1659 young Barnabas is recorded as owning extensive property. In May 1659 he appeared as a witness against the Quaker, Arthur Smith, in New Haven court. He was admitted a freeman of the Connecticut Colony 12 May 1664, Southold having gone under the jurisdiction of New Haven two years before.

In 1663 he started selling off his Southold property, the last being his home lot and home after he had become one of the 80 founders of Elizabethtown, where he took "The Oath of Alleagance and Fidelity" on 19 February 1665. He was a member of the first jury drawn there in May 1671. His application for a survey for 240 acres was filed 9 May 1676, but the patent issued 22 October 1678 was for only 164 acres.

It is not known when he left Elizabethtown; we merely know that in 1683 he was assessed on Pounds 122 at Mattituck, Southold Township, Long Island. He had not disposed of his Elizabeth property, however, for on 21 April 1708 he sold, for ten shillings "together with the reall love, good will and effection I have for my daughter Sary ye wife of 1 Eliazar Luce...for the more comfortable support of them and their children" 200 acres of woodland in Elizabethtown "entered in ye sd Town Book of Records Number B p.20." Later, Barnabas's widow and his son Barnabas sold other property there.

​

Joseph Woodruff was born in 1676 in Southampton, L.I. He migrated to New Jersey as a young man, leaving behind, his parents, John and Hannah Newton Woodruff and siblings, John, Samuel, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Isaac, Sarah, Hannah, Abigail and Elizabeth.

Just before 1700 Joseph Woodruff married Hannah (surname unknown) and as a newly married couple, they arrived in New Jersey and settled on 100 acres of land in Essex County, a cros Rahway river at a great bend a mile below stream from Crane’s fod” (now Cranford, three miles south of Westfield). They lived on the border of civilization … in 1665 land sold for 10 acres for a penny… wolves and Indians were in abundance… they took muskets to church (Woodruff 1908). Court records show that their land deed was called into question in 1718.

Joseph and Hannah were the parents of thirteen children. On 15 January 1742 Joseph Woodruff made his will and died 2 February of the same year. He named his wife Hannah as executor, along with son Thomas and friend, William Miller. To his widow he left "the best room in my dwelling house, one third of improvements of all my land and one third of all movable estate". All of his children were named in his will: John, Jonathan, William, Samuel, Abigail Woodruff Gold, Thomas, Hezekiah, Joseph, Nathaniel, Isaac, Benjamin, Sarah and Joanna. From the named children in the will, it is clear he and his wife named their children after the siblings of Joseph that were left behind on Long Island when they moved to New Jersey.

Joseph Woodruff and his wife Hannah are buried in Westfield, New Jersey. His tombstone reads, Departed this life 2 February Anno Domini 1741 in the 65th year of age.. Hannah Woodruff’s tombstone reads, Hannah Y wife of Joseph Woodruff Died August the 14th. Anno Domini 1742 in ye 58th year of her age.

​

​

​

William Woolman was born in the British Isles c. 1625. He left Gloucester England, in the early fall of 1678 on the English ship, "Shield", with his only son, John. The ship made landfall at the mouth of the Delaware River and William made his way upstream to the Burlington settlement.

By March 1681 Woolman was settled on "Rankokus alias Northampton River" where the neighboring farms were held by Waiter Humphrey and Bernard Devonish. His son John had given his father 150 acres in Northampton in settlement of an arbitration between them. Seventy-five of these acres were left in appreciation to George Elkinton with whom William Woolman had lived during the latter years of his life.

This early settler is best remembered as the great-grandfather of the Reverend John Woolman, the famous Quaker preacher, sometimes known as the Quaker Saint of the eighteenth century, forever pleading the cause of abolition with the inherent evils of slavery and the plight of the American Indians. Reverend Woolman was born on October 19, 1720 at Rancocas, West Jersey, married on October 18, 1749 to Sarah Ellis, and died of small pox on 7 October 1772 at York, England, where he had gone to attend the quarterly meeting of the Society of Friends.

​

​

​

Joshua Wright, Sr. was born in East Riding, Yorkshire, England and baptized 4 October 1633. He married Elizabeth Empson, daughter of William Empson of Gowlefield House on “ the 10 day of ye four month 1669.” The marriage was “contrary to discipline” of the Quaker faith. Joshua Wright died “ye 10th of ye 8 mo. 1695 and Elizabeth Wright died the 12th day of 1 mo. 1705/06.

In England in 1677 he acquired a one-sixth share of the Province of West Jersey. He was one of three brothers who emigrated to West Jersey from England. The family, including daughter Elizabeth and sons Robert and Joshua, left their home in Ashford-in-the-Water, Blakewell Parish, Derbyshire. They sailed from Hull ye 24 day of ye 6 mo. And came to ye fall of the Delaware River about ye 20 day of ye 10 mo. 1679. They settled on a tract of 400 acres in Nottingham Township, Burlington County (now Hamilton Township, Mercer County). Three sons were born in West Jersey: Thomas, Joseph and “Samll.” There may also have been a fourth son, Richard.

Joshua Wright was one of the five original owners of the Trenton Area. He was a member of the West Jersey General Assembly from 1683 to 1685 and was a signer of the Concessions and Agreements of Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Province of West Jersey in 1676. This document, executed in London and attributed to William Penn, predates the Bill of Rights by 113 years. According to former Governor Edward C. Stokes, Neither the Great Charter of Virginia nor the Mayflower Compact compare with them in liberality, tolerance and protection of individual rights.

​