The following are some of my notes from the book Chester New Jersey A Scrapbook of History by Frances Greenidge, 1974, Chester Historical Society. In my opinion, a "must read" book if you are researching the Chester area. The notes that you find here do not even begin to touch on the amount of information that is contained in this book.
| Seward's Hill | now Bell Laboratories |
| Daniel Dickerson | b. 1809
had son - C.S. Dickerson |
| Mrs. William Young | 99 yr old grandmother of Reginald Rinehart & Verna (Rinehart) Allen
d. 1955 |
| Philip Stone | daughters, Ida (Stone) Walker & Sarah Stone |
| Roxiticus | Indian name for the Mendham, Ralston, Chester area |
| Tracts of Land in the Chester area | --Bickley 1713
John Budd 1850acres 1714
Thomas Budd 312acres 1716
Francis Davenport 958acres 1713
Peter Fretwell 200acres 1714
Peter Fretwell & Jonathan Wright 1000acres 1713
Isaac Pearson 360acres 1713
Hannah Scot 833acres 1713
Jacob Shinn 343acres 1737
John Snowden 468acres 1713
John Wills 862acres 1713
All recorded at Burlington, West Jersey |
| Names of Chester | Roxberry
Roxbury
Black River, part of Lebanon
Black River, part of Roxbury Township
Black River in Hunterdon County
Black River
Chester Township in 1799 |
| John Shinn, a Quaker | had sons - William, Caleb |
| Benjamin Luse | of Southold, Long Island
brother to David Luse
built the first tavern where the post office now stands
children were: Abigail, Mary, Joseph, Benjamin, Matthias & Eleazer |
| David Luse | a Freeholder from 1741
appointed Justice of the Peace in 1743
iron works known as Justus Luse's Iron Works
will probated in 1771 at Perth Amboy
wife - Mary Brown, sister of Walter & David Brown
children were: Benjamin, Shubal, Henry, Nathan, Israel, David, Walter, Jemima, Sarah, Mercy, Mary, Ezekiel, Bethia, & Zephaniah |
| Walter Brown | removed to "Union Brick" (a community near Mt. Hermon, Warren County, today just a cemetery)
kept his land in Black River |
| David Brown | brother to Walter Brown
children were: David Jr., Peter, Stephen & 3 daughters un-named in his will
came from Southold |
| John Sweazy (Swayze) | cousin to Samuel Swayze |
| Samuel Swayze | purchased land from John Shinn
lived at Milltown
- There is still a "Swayze Cemetery" on the road between Hope and Bridgeville
1747 was Justice of the Peace
buried in the Congregational Cemetery
b. March 20 1689, Southold Long Island
d. May 11 1759, aged 70 yrs 1 mo 11 days
wife - Penelope Wines
b. Feb 14 1690 Southold Long Island
d. Dec 1 1746, aged 55 yrs 9 mo 17 days
-children were: Penelope, Samuel Jr., Barnabas, Richard, Israel, Caleb, Johanna, Mehetabel, Lydia, & Mary
-Samuel & Penelope Swayze were great-grandparents of President Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward, through their daughter Mary |
| Samuel Swayze Jr. | son of Samuel Swayze of Milltown
1st pastor of "First Congregational Church of Roxbury"
installed in 1753 & served for about 20 years
14 miles south of Natchez Mississippi, there is a roadside marker commemorating the "Jersey Settlers" a group of families from Black River and nearby, mostly members of the Congregational Church, who journeyed there in 1772, led by their pastor Samuel Swayze Jr to establish a new settlement |
| Milltown | also called Milldale |
| Obadiah Seward | from Brookhaven, Long Island
Roxbury Twp. 1st Collector in 1741
later moved to Berkshire Valley
wife - Isabella
Letter of Administration granted June 3 1751
children were: John, Elicaum, Mehitable, Lydia, Isaac & probably the Daniel born in 1738.
Obadiah was a great-grandfather of William H. Seward. His son John married Mary, daughter of Samuel Swayze, and their son Samuel Swayzey Seward was William H.'s father. |
| John Budd | of Rye, New York
great-great-grandson was Col. Enos G. Budd
his daughter Mary, wife of Caleb Horton |
| David Ogden | from between Rye and White Plains, NY about 1740
said to have had 5 wives & 13 children
children were: Gabriel, Garrabrant, Joseph, Justus Swayze, Stephen, Elizabeth, Amos, Mary, Reuben, Amy, Catharine, Benjamin & Peter |
| William Larasen | son of William, constable of Hopewell Twp, & grandson of John
wife - Patience
children were: Thomas, Andrew, James, Elisabeth, Mary, Nancy & David |
| Caleb Horton | from Southold in 1748
b. Dec 22 1687 Southold Long Island
d. Aug 6 1772
wife - Phebe Terry
d. 1767 age 78 who lived 58 years as the wife of Caleb Horton
children were: Caleb, Hanna, Nathaniel, Nathan, Phebe, Elijah, Rhoda, Mary, Richard, Sarah, & David
Hiram Horton - great grandson of Caleb |
| Nathan Cooper | from East Hampton, Long Island
married Mary Miller in 1717
2 children, Mary & Nathan, were baptized in East Hampton
uncle to Gen. Nathan A. Cooper and Beulah Ann Cooper |
| Beulah Ann Cooper | married Henry Seward from Goshen, NY
their son - William Henry Seward |
| John Bell | witnessd John Collver's will in 1732
went with the Collverites to Schooley's Mountain, then later returned to Black River
children were: Onesimus, Jabesh & John |
| Aaron Stark | Overseer of the Poor in 1741
came with the Rogerenes |
| William Griffing | Roxbury's 1st Township Clerk, 1741 |
| Robert Robinson Jr. | came in 1740
had son - Jonah |
| Samuel Coleman | 1st Accessor of Roxbury Twp 1741 |
| Morris Crater | prominent Chester family
children were: Jacob 9an imbecile), Morris, Philip & Esther |
| Constant King | came before 1753
1771, a Judge, refered to as Justice or Justus King
hatter by trade
wife - Phebe Horton
children were: Joseph, Frederick, Catherine, John, George, Justus, Caleb, Mary, Elizabeth, Constant Victor, Hannan, & 2 whose names are unknown
Mar 3 1761 home of Constant King burned |
| Eliab Bryam | 1st regular minister in 1744 |
| German Valley | renamed Long Valley during World War I |
| Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church | originally called the Hill Church and later the Old Hill Church |
| Isiah Younglove | serving in 1760 as a county judge
had the gristmill at Milltown |
| Thomas Fairclo | came from German Valley about 1760 |
| Robert Carlile (Carlisle) | came about 1760
built a tannery
native of Ireland who had 1st gone to Bridgehampton Long Island
wife - Mary Stark, dau. of John Stark
children were: Margaret, john, Robert, Reuben, Mary & Lydia |
| Nathan Howell | came from Southampton
purchased property in 1760 at Hacklebarney | | Elias Howell | from Southampton, died on way to Black River
his son, Elias purchased property at Milltown |
| Thomas Topping | came from Southampton
d. 1777 |
| William Topping | distant relative of Thomas Topping
came from Long Island in 1768
father of 4 daughters & 3 sons, including James and William J. |
| James Heaton | 1760 operated a forge probably at Four Bridges |
| William Corwin | came from Southold before 1767
his sons, William & Joshua Goldsmith Corwin |
| Trustum Hull | b. 1720 in Piscataway
his father was an innkeeper there
his grandfather had come in 1679 from Piscataqua Maine
1760 purchased land in Black River |
| Rachael Hull | daughter of Trustum Hull
married David Brown Jr. (will dated Feb 2 1823)
children were: Aaron, David Jr., Arnold, Catherine, Adah, Trustrum Hull (d. 1829), Mahlon, Lewis, & Robert |
| Adah Brown | daughter of David & Rachael Brown
married 1805 William Ming, from Philadelphia
had son - Charles |
| Caroline & Rebecca Ming | daughters of Charles Ming
Caroline married Stephen Budd
Rebecca never married |
| Isabella Ming | married Charles Skellenger |
| William Woodhull | arrived before 1771 with his wife and baby son, probably from Long Island
d. 1824
children were: Wiliam Jr., Jeremiah, John, Henry Hedges, Elizabeth Hedges (her husband Dr. Joseph Hedges), Temperance, Mary Sophia Hunt (her husband Richard Hunt) & Mehitable Woodhull.
his grandson was Caleb Gilbert (1816-1898) son of John & Mary (Larison) Woodhull |
| John Emmons | still in his teens, served as a Minute Man from Somerset Co. during the Rev. War.
his granddaughter - Ruth (Emmons) Lamerson |
| Charles Wager | married Hannah Sayer in 1778, she was 17 & he 10 or 11 years older
d. 6 Sep 1820 Chester |
| John Budd | son of Capt. Daniel Budd
b. 1762 in Black River
married Julianor Dickerson
d. 1845 |
| Nicholas Emans (Emmons) | known as Squire Emmons
from Readington in Hunterdon Co. by 1777 |
| Daniel Skellenger | grandson of Long Island whaler Jacobus Schillinger
of Bridgehampton, Long Island
came to Black River in 1777
shoemaker by trade |
| James Haines | came from Bridgehampton in 1783 |
| Dr. Joseph Hedges | came from East Hampton, Long Island
was a Justice of the Peace
wife - Elizabeth Woodhull, daughter of Rev. William Woodhull |
| Dr. Jeremiah Hedges | recorded as having removed to Long Island by 1787 |
| David Youngs | 27 years old, installed as Congregational Minister in June 1785
d. 1790 |
| Lemuel Fordham | 32 years old Long Island born, minister of the Hill Church & the Succasunna Church, began in 1786 |
| Daniel Horton | Deacon of the Congregational Church
Overseer of the Poor
Justice of the PeaceDaniel Horton's Ledger Family Record:
Daniel Horton b. August 23d 1752 (old style)
Martha Horton b. Oct 24th 1756 (new style)
Daniel & Martha married 29 June 1777
Son Stephen Horton b. May 10 1778
Dau. Eunice Horton b. Oct 17 1782
Dau. Lydia Horton b. May 18 1788
Dau. Esther Horton b. Sept 8 1793
Mother Mehitable Horton d. Dec 10 1801, aged 84 years 3 months 1 day Perhaps slaves:
Dunmore b. Nov 7 1793 Simone b. 8 Jan 1817
Nathan b. Feb 12 1798 Nance b. 18 May 1819
Cuffe b. 30 May 1811 Jam Sobez b. 15 Jan 1822
Nick b. 11 Feb 1813 Harvey b. 12 May 1824
Dine b. 14 Apr 1815 Marget b. 11 Jun 1826
|
| Nathan Cooper | will dated Dec 28 1797, left to his wife Mehitable ... and his son Nathan ... |
| Joseph Corwin | apprenticed his son Nathaniel to James Larison, May 1798 |
| Bryant Robinson | apprentice to Constant King, ran away in 1799 |
| Alexander Grey | apprenticed his son Jonathan (age 11) with Jared Haines, Sept 8 1806 |
| Malcolm McCourry | married Rachel Freeman in Morristown in 1766
served in the Revolutionary War
six children: 1 son 5 daughters |
| Benjamin McCourry | son of Malcom McCourry
married 1799 Catherine Brown, dau. of David Brown Jr |
| Nathan A. Cooper | known as "General Cooper"
b. 1802
married at age 40
d. July 5 1879 age 77
son of Abram Cooper
children were: Abram W., Nathan Jr., & others |
| Daniel Budd | son of Capt. Joseph Budd
great-grandson of Chester's earliest settlers
b. 1809
married at age 38
d. 1873, age 64 |
| Mines of Chester | Hacklebarney Mines - 1740/60
Rarick Farm Rxploration - 1873
Pitney Mine - 1873
Budd Mine
Gulick Mine
Gulick Farm Mine
Woodhull Mine - 1870
Quimby Mine
Tiger Mine
Harden (Hardin) Mine - 1869
Childs Mine
Wortman Mine - 1873
Budd (or Langdon) Mine
Peach Orchard (or Creager) Mine
Hedges Mine
Dickerson Farm Mine
Topping Mine
Blauvelt Mine
Skellenger Mine
Cromwell (or Chester Highland) Mine
Hotel Mine
Hedges Farm Exploration
Creamer (or Cramer) Mine
Collis Farm Exploration
Sweayze Mine
Cooper Mine
Kean Mine
Leake (Leek) Mine - 1866
Squier Mine - 1880
Beemer Mine - 1886
Skellenger Mine - originally part of Leake Mine
Chester Mine (or George Shaft)
Decamp Mine
Daniel Horton Mine
Barnes Mine
Thorpe Mine |
| Early Forges | Weldon
Luse
Swayze
New Britain
Two More
Heaton
Beekman
Hacklebarney
Chester Furnace |
Black River Patriots Officers:
Daniel Budd, Capt
John Budd, Capt
Caleb Horton, Capt
Nathaniel Horton, Capt
Nathan Luse, Capt
Walter Luse, serjeant & Capt
Obadiah Seward, Capt
Nathaniel Terry, Lieut. & Capt
Robert Young, Capt
Constant Victor King, Ensign, lieut, & adjutant
Eleazer Luse, Lieut
Israel Luse, Ensign & Lieut
William Corwin, Lieut
Privates:
Jabez Bell
John Emmons
Malcolm McCourry
Nicholas Emmons
Thomas Fairclo (son Isaiah was a Tory who went to Canada, returned after his father's death in 1794)
Nathan Howell
Amos Leek
Benjamin Ogden (ran away at 12, & again at 17, to join the army)
James Skinner
Timothy Southard
Charles Wager |
