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PIONEER SETTLERS OF PISCATAWAY

The first grant to new settlers was made by  Governor Carteret onDecember11, 1666 to DA N I E L PIERCE, JOHN PIKE and seven  associates from Newbury, Massachusetts to whom he transferred t he tract from the Raritan River to the Rahway River for the price of 80 pounds: it comprised over 100 square miles and had ill-defined western borders. One week later, December 18 , 1 6 6 6 Pierce and associates sold one-third of their tract to JOHN MARTIN, CHARLES GILMAN, HUGH DUNN and HOPEWELL HULL for the sum of30 pounds. This second sale was undoubtedly-prearranged, since one of the twelve stipulations of Pierce with Governor Carteretwas the establishment of at least two settlements of 40 families each. Pierce and associates founded Woodbridge : the four pioneers founded Piscatawav. Two years later, the four were joined as Associates bv Benjamin Hull. brother of Hopewell; John Gilman, brother of Charles; Robert  Dennis and John Smith. These 8 men with their families removed from the area of the Piscataqua river in New Hampshire. The Piscataqua river and its estuary meet the ocean at present day Ports mouth, New Hampshire. It presents one of the best deepwater harbors and thus attracted venture s o m e fishermen from England at an early period. The first grant for settlement was made i n 1 6 2 2 "for the purpose of rounding a plantation to cultivate the vine, discover mines and carry on fisheries and trade with natives." Settlements established after 1623 included Strawberry Bank, now the heart of Portsmouth; in1631, the name Pascattaway occurs, as well as New, Market and Durham,which reappear in Piscataway (and Strawberry Hill was the name of the old Sheep Common in Woodbridge). The area prospered greatly, mainly from lumbering, shipbuilding a n d fishing. Politically, it was a part of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Company) and sin c e t h e early settlers were mostly Baptists or Quakers, they did not escape the harassmen t o f a government that combined church and state. A few random notes illustrate the spiritof in tolera n ce that then prevailed. The venerable Governor Bradford in1648 discourses on the excommunication of a couple in Boston on account of the wife's pride in apparel: "She was a Godly woman but the Church's chiefest exceptions were against her wearing of some whalebone in the od ice and sleeves of the gown; he and she were willing reform the fashions of them, so far as might be without spoiling of their garment, yet it would not content (the Church) except they came full up to their size." In 1662 one Jonathan Dunham, 22 years old, was convicted a t Salem for slandering John Godfrey thus: "Is this witch on this syde of Boston gallows yet? " I n 1 6 64 laws against Baptists were passed, in 1654 four Quakers were put to death and the persecutions culminated in the Salem witch trials during which 32 persons were tortured and killed . Cotton Mather, the fierv preacher in Boston, advocated the way lay in of a ship carrying William Penn and some 100 Quakers. He proposed to sell "this lot of heretics and malignants" t o Barbadoes, "where slaves fetch good prices in rum and sugar." Puritans, Quakers and Baptists a l ike had suffered at the hand of the state church in England. but so intensely and obstinately were they concerned with life according to their interpretation of the Gospel, that the Puritans tolerated none but their own narrow path toward their goals. Heaven and Hell, salvation and damnation were very real and of vital concern. There is little doubt that one the ma i n springs for the migration to Piscatawav was the escape from Puritan rule. The founders we r e p i ous people to whom the promise of liberty of conscience in New Jersey was all-important . They were also enterprising, sturdy, pioneering families who were already experienced in  wilderness settlement.

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HISTORY OF PISCATAWAY TOWNSHIP1666-1976

WALTER C. MEULY1976

HULL FAMILY The Reverend Joseph Hull 1594-1665 came from England to Piscataqua in 1635 w h e r e he was a prominent Quaker preacher. Of his three sons. HOPEWELL HULL 1636-1693 and CAP T A I N BENJAMINHULL1639-1713migrated to Piscataway in 1664-1666. While Samuel Hull1643-172 0 settled in Woodbridge. Benjamin was a colorful and enterprising man who started an inn as e a r l y as 1677.MARTIN FAMILY Amember of this family was a passenger on the Mayflower in se a r c h of freedom of worship. JOHN MARTIN became one of the most important settlers in Piscata w a y . He isknown tohave lived in Piscataqua as early as 1647One of his children, James was b o r n in Piscataway in 1669 where he died in 1687. His linealdescendent. Luther Martin 1744-1 8 2 6 , was a great lawyer and statesman; he was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention. GILMAN FAMILY -- Edward Gilman had settled at Piscataqua in 1638, a non-conformist dissident from the Church of England. He was probably a descendent of English nobility. In1651, he was a prosperous man and master of a fifty ton vessel. His sons CHARLESand JOHN (1642-1695) migrated to Piscataway, Johnprobably asearl y as 1 66 3. They were "especially' venturesome with unimpaired reputations," A Nicholas Gilman from New Hampshire was a signer of the Constitution in 1787.DUNN FAMILY-- HUGH DUNN was prominent in Piscataqua where he was a land owner in 1663. He was a devoutly religious man who encouraged the early settlers to holy living. He was most instrumental in organizing the Baptist Churc h of Piscataway in1689. In 1670 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Francis Drak e w h o had just settled in Piscataway. They had nine children who played a conspicuous role i n Piscataway. Three of his sons are listed as early landowners: Hugh Jr. .Joseph and Daniel. He  died in 1694.DENNIS FAMILY -ROBERT DENNIS had accompanied Governor Winthrop to Massachusetts and settled on Cape Cod. whence he migrated to Piscataway in 1668. His will gave his house to his two sons. but "two cows, five yearlings and all the movables in the house "went to his daughter and the children had to provide the mother with "meat, drink. washing, lodging and app are l."Samuel Dennis was the President or Judge of the first Middlesex  County Court held in Piscataway in 1683.SMITH FAMILY - In addition to the founder JOHN SMITH. Richard Smith was granted land in 1678 and he is listed as a free holder in 1689. as were Thomas Smith in 1688 and William Smith in 1748.Hezekiah Smith 1714-1801bought 333 acres of land in 177 9 .His grandson Samuel Smith was Town Clerk 1830-1850.

EARLIEST PISCATAWAY

The four pioneers and associates had acquired a tract of wilderness, the western and southern borders of which were quite indefinite. The heartland was the northern bank of the Raritan from its border with Woodbridge in the area of Piscataway town (on Woodbridge Avenue beyond Route 1, now part of Edison Township) at least as far as Bound Brook. But since the sout h e r n bank contained no settlements, Piscataway also included the future Middlesex County ac r o s s the Raritanas well as most of Somerset County. In 1693 it extended as far as Somerville and Princeton, an area of some 300 square miles (see the MapofPiscataway1666-1966 by J o h n E . Brush, 1965). In 1685, Piscataway itself and the out plantations were reported to be 4 0 , 00 0 acres, some 66squaremilesof land at least sparsely settled, as compared with today ' s1 9squaremiles. The Indians who inhabited the area numbered only a few thousand; they belonged to the Lenni Lenape, a tribe of the Algonkian group, who lived along the Middle Atlantic and were far less hostile to the whites than the warlike Iroquois of upper New York. Their cont act with the whites proved disastrous to them. Already in 1670, Daniel Denton, the early land promoter writes, not a little sanctimoniously: "How strangely the Indians have been decreast bv the hand of God, for since my time where there were six towns they are reduced to two small villages. "Their settlements were semi-permanent and while they cultivated some plants such as corn, pumpkins, beans and tobacco, they lived chiefly by hunting and fishing an d , i n sp ring, they migrated to the seashore where the summer was spent gathering oysters, clam s , mussels and fish which were smoked and carried back inland. Due to these migrations the Indians established primitive but well defined trails which became originally the sole means f o r t h e white settlers to travel through the wilderness, first on foot, later in the saddle. The Piscataway area was crossed by the Minisink path, which connected Minisink Island in the u p p er Delaware below Port Jervis with the coast. It entered Piscataway from the direction of W e s t field and crossed the Raritan River (by canoe) at Kent's Neck, near Crab Island between Amboy and the South River; it then went past Middletown to the Shrewsbury River and the Navesink (Indian: Nauvessing) inlet. Another path later used by the Dutch started near Elizabeth p o r t and after penetrating through the forest wilderness of the future Woodbridge and Piscatawa y townships, it crossed the Raritan on a ford above present Albany Street in New Brunswick. T hen it went through today's Princeton in an almost straight line to the Falls of the Del a w are just above Trenton. From the Raritan ford an Indian trail branched off along the east side of the Raritan to Bound Brook and Somerville, the forerunner of River Road. The Dutch of New York had established small settlements on the mouth of the Delaware, including Amstel , now New Castle. In order to connect their settlements ,they improved the path from Elizabethtown to Trenton and extended it as far as the Delaware Bay. This path was called the High R o a d and later became the King's Highway. Neither New Brunswick nor Princeton, Trenton or Philadelphia existed at the time. The path along the Raritan was surveyed andwidened in 1684. I t b e ca me the access road to the western part of Piscataway and to the upper Raritan Valley. T h e p re sent River Road then became known as the Great Road. Located at the hub of a network of t rails, it is small wonder that the white settlers found an Indian Village already established i n Piscataway. A Dutch map of New Jersey by A.Vanderdonck dating from 1656 shows the Village of Rariton. The name of the river and the village is believed to be derived from the name of the local tribe, the Raritangs. The dwellings were of the simplest; they were not pointed tepees but wigwams or huts, the sides and domed top made of bark.The pioneer settlers d i d n o t arrive exactly on December 18,1666the day of the purchase. Some members had come ear l i e r to establish a foothold and scout the wilderness for a future settlement, the Gilmans possibly as early as 1663. A Dutch party from Staten Island in 1663 sailed up the "Raritan Kil " a n d found the English already there. Bythe purchase theTownship of Piscataway was legally rounded, andin1666-1668 it consisted of some eight families. The location chosen was near  the Raritan and the crossings of the early trails, along today's Woodbridge Avenue in the neighborhood of St. James Episcopal Church; until recently it was called Piscataway town an disnow part of Edison Township. The early town was laid out as a compact village, around a "Com mo n " on the New England model. The outlying lands used forgrazing and cultivation were called plantations and they soon began to stretchup-river through Highland Park to present Piscatawa y and on the opposite shore to New Brunswick.

The name Piscataway was undoubtedly bestowed on the new settlement by the pioneers from Piscataqua. The Woodbridge charter of 1669mentions"NewPiscataway." In 1673 quit rents were in arrears from "Piscatawuay."In1675, representatives for "New Piscataqua" took the oath at the General Assembly. In turn the name "Pascattaway" had appeared earlier in New Hampshi r e . The meaning of the name is not established with certainty. It is derived from the Lenni Lenape language and hasbeeninterpreted tomean "great deer river" or "dark" or "getting da r k "referring, possibly,to the color of the soil.Prior to the landpurchase,the pioneer s h a d signed 12 Articles of Agreement with GovernorCarteret,which served as thelegal basi s f o r th e government ofPiscataway andWoodbridge and whichshaped the democratic developme n t o fself-government. They are importantand read in part as follows:"1. Itisagreed that t h e a forem entionedpersons and their associated havelibertyto settle one or twoplantation s o r to wnsh ips consisting each offortyor one hundredfamelies more or less between a creek e o r riv er calledRawawack (Rahway)River and Raritan River... and each towne toconsist ofsi x o r ei gh tmiles square... and they shall have libertywithinthemselves to lay outevery mans pro port i on of land.2. That eachtowneshall have a chartergranted them to be a corporation w her e i ntheirprivileges and limits oftheir bounds is to be inserted, as to thechusingof th e i r o wneMagistrates for the Government of theirCorporation, tochuse their ownMinister a n d t o n ominate their MilitaryOfficers...3.That in matters ofGod's Worship there shall be l i ber t y 0bConsciencegranted them evervman to enjoy his ownejudgment and oppinion... and th a t i n every townethere shall be allowed 200 acres of land forthemaintenance of theMinis t r y .. . there shall likewise land be allowedforthe building of achurch - churchyard whic h a r e t o be exemptedfrompaying any tax or theLord's (Proprietors) Rent of a halfpenny ye a c refor ever.4. There shallbe no tax of custom or excise imposed ontheFreeholders and the i n h abitants of the said Towne, but such as shallbelevved bv the Governor,Councell and Gene r a l Ass embly for thedefrayingof the Public Charges..5. For the Halfpenny ye acre per ann u m due t othe Lords Proprietors thepayment is to begin the 25th March 1670and thateveryma n s ha ll p ayyearly.6. In case of any invasion bv theIndians orany others they aremutually t o j oy n e with all other townesandPlantations in the saidProvince for the defence and safet y o f t hesame...7. That every townshipshall chuse and send their deputies tojoynewith the Ge ne r a l Assemblyfor the making of such laws as shall bethoung(thought) necessary forthe we l l G o vernment of the Province andallFreeholders to have a freevoice in election.8. That t h e y w illsubmitthemselves to the lawes andGovernment of this Province and sweareorsubscr i b e t o the oaths ofalegience to the King and Fidellitty totheLords Proprietors.9. That in c a s e that they shall have a desiretoremove and transport themselves toany otherplace the y s h a llhaveliberty so to doe...10. That in cases criminal and misdemeanor not reaching to t h e taking of life or member but shall be adjudged to receive corporal punishment as by Sto cki n g ,Ducking, Pilloring and Whipping not exceeding twenty stripes, they shall have a power w it h in their jurisdiction to inflict the same according to J ustice, Wisdom and good discretion , o r to take the same by fine not exceeding the sum often pounds sterling.I 1. That all la n d s Surveyed, Pettented and Recorded is to remain to them and their heires forever...12. T h a t i t is to be understood by these Articles that theMajor part of the Freeholders shall have th e power to admit of their owne Inhabitants and to carrie all other matters within the Jurisdiction of the said Townes and to make all such orders as shall be thought necessary fo r t h e Pr udentialorderingand Governing of the said Towne..."

Thus the pioneers swore allegiance to the distant King inEnglandandfidelity to the Lo r d s P roprietors (landlords who were togetonehalfpenny per acre quit rent forever) and othe r w is ethefreeholders(persons who held [and by a patent from the Proprietors)wereencourag e d t o organize their own political and religious life.Thedocument wassigned by Philip Carte r e t , Daniel Pierce, John Pike andA.Toppan on May21, 1666, and in view of the sale to t h e m e nofPiscataway, it wassubscribed to by the original four owners and thefourassociat e s af t erthe division of the original tract betweenWoodbridgeand Piscataway onMay 11, 1668.

The position of Piscataway in the order of settlement of NewJerseyappearsfrom the Chron o l o gical List below.

1660 BERGEN (Jersey City) settled by Dutch from Nieuw Amsterdam;chartered by Governor Car t e r et 1668.1665 ELIZABETHTOWN (Elizabeth) Governor Philip Carteret arrived August 1665 wit h retinue of thirty.1665 MIDDLETOWN and Shrewsbury chartered (Monmouth Grant). In Middletown m os t ly  Baptists from Rhode Island, in Shrewsbury mostly Quakers from Long Island.1666WOODBR I D G E purchase December 11, 1666.Puritan dissidents from Newbury, Massachusetts. Named in h o n o r of their old pastor John Woodbridge. Became a township and corporation in 1669.1666PIS C A T AWAY purchase December 18, 1666; settled about 1664 by Gilman and Hull, Baptists from Pisc a t a qua, New Hampshire. 1666 NEWARK first settledbyPuritans.1675 NEW SALEM (Salem) by Jo h n Fenwick, West JerseyProprietorandQuaker.1677 BURLINGTON by Quakers from England.1680 TRENTON Mahlon Stacy, Quaker from Burlington erects a grist mill; 1685smallsettlementby th e " F a lls of the Delaware;" 1714 sold toWilliamTrent.1681 BOUNDBROOK land bought from Indi a n s M ay 4, 1681under the Council Oak, still standing. Name probably corrupted from Bowne'sbrook .John Bowne from Middletown was earliest settler.1683 PERTH AMBOY developed by the Propr i e t ors who had reserved the area. Settled in 1685byScottishPresbyterians. Name from Indian " Ambo" meaning point or hill and Earl of Perth, Scotland. Became 1686 the seat of the Prop r iet arygovernment ofEast Jersey and later Colonial capital.1691METUCHENprobably settled1 6 9 1 . Will of a Piscataway man mentions land in Mettuchinge; 1695 deed to John Aires of Matuch i n g .1695 PRINCETON William Penn, chief Proprietor of West New Jersey settled a half dozen Qua k e r families. 1696 Nathaniel Fitz Randolph and 1715 Henry Prince, both from Piscataway, the l a t ter probably giving the name of Prince Town. Princeton University begun in1754, when "Jo s e p h Morrow set a man first to begin to dig the college celler." Benjamin Fitz Randolph don a t ed four and a half acres of land for the college.1724 NEW BRUNSWICK named, but settled 5 0 y e a rs earlier from Piscataway. Chartered 1730.

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Children of HUGH O'DUNN and CATHERINE DRAKE are:

Children of BENJAMIN DUNN and SARAH are:

Children of JOSIAH DUNN and SARAH are:

| Names of heads of families || White males over 21 | White malesunder21| White females over 21 | White females under 21 || Total of white inhabitants | Total of free people of c o lo u r | Total of slaves| Total of inhabitants |

Benjamin Dunn 1 5 2 1 9 0 0 9

List of the census of Wilcox County in 1820. October 4th 1820 --

Seeking information on my ancestor Benjamin Dunn(c1770/80-1844) who married Susannah (ma i d e n name unknown) and settled first in Wilcox County. Alabama and later in Autauga County, Alabama. He was presumably from outside of Augusta and possibly Columbia County. Hoping he fits into one of the Dunn families in Columbia County (Georgia) .Will exchange information. Thanks !

DUNNS in Columbia County Author: David Sanders Date: 11 Jul 20022:49PMGMT Surnames : D u n n Classification: Query

 I am researching my ancestor Benjamin Dunn, probably born 1770/80 and died between 1820 and 1830 in Wilcox County, Alabam a. He married presumably in Georgia and came to Wilcox County, Alabama where he was one of the founders of the town of Camden. His wife's name has not been located. He had the following children: Thomas William Luman (various spellings) Elizabeth "Betty"  Mary  Benjamin Franklin  John Wesley > and possibly others. I have considerable information on Benjamin's descendants but nothing on his ancestors. He arrived in Alabama with a family named Hobbs who ma y or may not have been related and they presumably came from near the Augusta, Ga. area. Both families were strong Methodists. I suspect they had earlier been in S Cor NC. Anyone have any idea s? David Sandersdsand39689@aol.com

From: SamHarrison<sharriso@mindspring.com><mailto:sharriso@mindspring.com>  Re: Wilcox County Alabama Dunns Content-Type:text/plain;charset="us-ascii" David, W h e r e did you find SUSANNAH or "SUSAN? As youcan see from my website, I still have Benjamin 's wife listed as unknown. What info have you acquired? At 11:04 AM 8/27/99EDT,you wrote: > New recent information I have acquired indicates that BENJAMIN DUNN, and wife>SUSANNAH or "S U SAN " Dunn were in Wilcox County, Alabama as early as1816. >They were both probably born btween 17 70 and 1780 and married circa 1796. >They came to Wilcox County from "40 miles outside Augusta Georgia" - in which direction, I don't know. Their children were: Thomas Dunn, Lumon Dunn , Mary Dunn Richards, John Wesley Dunn, Stephen Dunn, William Dunn, Elizabeth Dunn Burson , Benjamin Franklin Dunn and Martin Dunn. These children produced considerable descendants through southwest Alabama. Would be particularly >interested in locating more information on Benjamin 's ancestors. I suspect >they were in SC or NC prior to coming to Georgia. >>W ill be happy to exchange information.>David Sanders>(dsand39689@aol.com)

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would someone going to Wilcox Co. courthouse be willing to do a look-up for me? i need a look -up in Wilcox co. will book, vol. 3-jan1850-sept1858 for Dunn, george (will) page 41 6 . i n e ed contents of his will, or would pay for a copy. I believe him to be the son of Benjamin  Dunn, builder of the Dunn-Bonner-Fairley home under reconstruction. he was my gr.grandfather. I would appreciate it very much. patsy frazier.

Was Benjamin Dunn the builder of the Dunn-Bonner-Fairley home? Was he the founder of Camden as these queries indicate?

Children of BENJAMIN DUNN and SUSANNAH are:

Notes for JOSEPH (JACKSON) BURSON:

Old Place behind which cemetery is located is on the rod thatrunsfromtheSnow Hill dep o t a n d Furman road to Barge's mill. The OldPlaceis ontheEast side of the Barge mill roa d a n d s outh of the houseatpresentisoccupied by the widow of the late Elkanah Burson, son o fJa ckso nBurson."

Sketches of Alabama Towns and Counties: a Collection. Vol I,A-F.AHistoryof Furman, Ala b a m a by Dr. W.B. Palmer, 1916.BiographyinMoore's Historyof Alabama, 1927, Vol 2. p. 144.

Methodist Faith

Religion remained important to the Wilcox County Bursons. JosephJacksonBurson and his s o n , Elkanah, helped build the Furman MethodistChurch.Joseph Burson, son of the Quaker immig r a nts had moved to SouthCarolinaand became a Methodist minister. Descendants Joseph Jeffer s o nBurson,Joseph Jackson Burson, Elkanah Burson, and Dr. Elkanah GeorgeBursonremained i n t h at new land in the Black Belt of Alabama thatJosephJefferson first pioneered. Joseph Je ffe r son Burson was buriedbehind thelog cabin that he built and in which he raised his famil y . Those earlyBursons were dirt farmers who never owned slaves.

Old Place behind which cemetery is located is on the rod that runsfromtheSnow Hill depo t a n d Furman road to Barge's mill. The Old Placeis ontheEast side of the Barge mill road a n d s outh of the house atpresentisoccupied by the widow of the late Elkanah Burson, son ofJa c kso nBurson."

Sketches of Alabama Towns and Counties: a Collection. Vol I,A-F.AHistory of Furman, Alab a m a by Dr. W.B. Palmer, 1916.BiographyinMoore's History of Alabama, 1927, Vol 2. p. 144.

Children of ELIZABETH DUNN and JOSEPH BURSON are: