SOURCE: “History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men” by Major E. M. Woodward & John F. Hageman, 1883.

CHAPTER LXVII.

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP. 1

1 From material furnished by Joseph H. West.

Situation and Boundaries. - Hamilton, the most southerly township of Mercer County, is bounded on the north by Trenton, Millham, and Lawrence; on the east by West Windsor and Washington and Upper Freehold (Monmouth County); south by Chesterfield and Bordentown (Burlington County) and Falls (Bucks County, Pa.); and west by Trenton and Chambersburg.

Physical Features. - The northern, southern, and a portion of the western boundaries of this township are natural, and such as would of themselves suggest a division of municipal interests. At the north Assanpink Creek divides Hamilton from Millham and Lawrence; Crosswicks Creek cuts it off from its neighboring townships in Burlington County, and the Delaware River on the west separates it from adjacent portions of Pennsylvania. These streams and Miry Run and Pond Run, in the northern part, which flow into the Assanpink, and Back Creek and Doctor's Creek, in the southern part, emptying their waters into Crosswicks Creek, furnish ample drainage.

The Pennsylvania Railroad crosses the northern border of the township from the northeast corner in a soatbwesterly direction to Trenton, and the Amboy Division of the great network of railways so known runs in a course nearly parallel with the main line across the southern part, with a station at Yardville.

Settlement. - The settlement of the territory now known as Hamilton began in the southern part of the present township, along the bluff southeast of Chambersburg and farther southeast on Crosswicks Creek. Religious and sectarian lines marked different periods of settlement to a degree. A few of the earliest inhabitants were Episcopalians, but the Quaker element predominated. Later came some Presbyterians, and still later Baptists, the latter from East Jersey, whence they had emigrated from Long Island and the New England States.

The Lees are descended from one David Lee, who owned a large tract along the south side of the Assanpink Creek, near its junction with Miry Run and the Shabakonk. He had two sons, Joseph and William.

The Hill family are probably of Scotch descent, and they settled near Trenton. Smith Hill, who owned the tract east of Trenton on Assanpink, had several children, among whom were William, who lived at Hamilton Square, and whose descendants are scattered over the country; Samuel, who lived on the homestead and whose descendants are numerous; Nathan, who lived at Yardville, and Howell, of Hamilton Square. There were also daughters, - Jane, Hannah and Christiana, who married into the families of Welling, Anderson, and Hutchinson.

The Hughes family were among the settlers of Hamilton township in the last century. James Hughes, a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton Square in its early days, with his brothers, William, Richard, John, and Joseph, made a large family, and from them nearly all bearing the name in this locality are descended.

The family name of Butcher is almost lost in this locality, but the Butchers were formerly quite numerous in Hamilton. They were early residents at Burlington, and some of them settled in Pennsylvania, whence came Thomas Butcher, Sr., the old cabinet-maker and undertaker of Hamilton Square, whose descendants are scattered all over the country.

Old Nottingham. - The first name given to the section which was bounded on the north by the Assanpink Creek, on the south by the Rancocas Creek, on the east by the province line, and on the west by the Delaware, was “Yorkshire Tenth.” This name was given to it by the purchasers, they having divided their purchase into tenths. In 1692, perhaps earlier, the township of Nottingham was formed of part of Yorkshire Tenths. It then included all of the present Hamilton township, and all of Trenton south of the Assanpink Creek. In 1694 the Provincial Legislature enacted that all who resided above this creek in the province should belong to Burlington County, and it was known as Hopewell township as early as 1695. It is said the name of Nottingham was given to this township by Isaac Watson, who was from Nottingham, in Old England.

The first charter of the borough and town of Trenton, granted by King George II. in 1746, included nearly the whole of the present county. Many of the citizens of Nottingham were burgesses of the borough. This charter was surrendered in 1750, the people not experiencing the benefits they had expected. The boundaries of Trenton under the next charter included nothing south of the creek. It was not until 1851 that Trenton proper included anything south of the Assanpink. The township bore the name of Nottingham from 1692 to 1842.

SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.‑In November, 1677, two ships, the “Willing Mind,” from London, and the fly-boat “Martha,” from Hull, arrived with one hundred and fourteen passengers, who settled in Yorkshire Tenth.

On the 10th of December, 1678, the ship “Shield” arrived from Hull. This ship anchored where Burlington was afterwards built, and the morning after their arrival the passengers went ashore on the ice. On this ship came most of the first inhabitants of the section soon afterwards known as Nottingham township. Among them were Mahlon Stacy, who built the first mill at Trenton on the Aasanpink ; Thomas Lambert, from whom Lamberton was named; Thomas Potts, Thomas Newell, Thomas Wood, with their families; also Godfrey Newbold, John Newbold, Richard Green, John Hyers, and a merchant from Hull named Barnes. About this time came also Isaac Watson, Robert Pearson, and others.

The old minute-book of the proceedings of Nottingham township from 1692 to 1710 discloses many interesting things relating to this locality. The minutes of 1695 contain all the names of the taxable persons in the township at that date as follows:

Mahlon Stacy, Thomas Lambert, William Embly, Ann Pharo, John Lambert, Jr., Robert Pearson, Samuel Overton, Thomas Gillenthorp, William Quicksall, William Watson, Sarah Scholey, William Biddle, Matthew Clayton, Nathaniel Petit, Moses Petit, Jonathan Davis, Ralph Hunt, Theophilus Phillips, John Lambert, Sr., Joshua Wright, Martin Scott, John Rodgers, John Abbot, Ann Warson, William Hixson, Anthony Woodward, Thomas Tindall, Isaac Watson, Benjamin Maxle, Joshua Ely, John Lees, John Brearley, Richard Ridgway, Thomas Green, Samuel Hunt, Charles Biles, Thomas Smith, Thomas Coleman, and John Richardson.

The minutes for 1703 contain the names of the taxable persons and the number of acres each possessed. In addition to the above-named persons there appear the names of Caleb Wheatley, John Tantum, William Warson, Matthew Grange, William Stevens, Gervas Hall, Thomas Silverthorp, Sylvanus King, Henry Scott, Abraham Marshall, Francis Davenport, and Matthew Watson. These persons owned from thirty to thirteen hundred and fifty acres each, but most of them had from two hundred and fiftv to six hundred acres. The two largest land-owners were Robert Pearson and William Stevens, each having thirteen hundred and fifty acres. The whole number of acres these men possessed in 1703 amounted to eleven thousand and ten, which shows that most of the land was taken up at that date, except, perhaps, some not worth owning. After 1703 there came many to Nottingham and Hopewell townships from Long Island and East Jersey. Among these may be mentioned the Stouts, Cubberleys, Howells, Mounts, Burroughs, Clarks, Scudders, Lannings, Reeds, and Appletons. Later there came the Wests, Hammells, and many others. The Hammells came from Holland originally to Ulster County, N. Y., then settled in the lower part of this State; thence to Mansfield, where John Hammell came from to Washington township in the middle of the last century.

The Hutchinsons came, some of them at least, from Ewing township (then Hopewell), where they had first settled. There came also to this township from Burlington and other places the families of Eldridge, Nelson, Butcher, and Hughes. The families of Vannest, Dey, Flock, and others came in from Middlesex County. Probably nine-tenths of the first inhabitants of this section were English, but there were some Scotch and some Hollanders. There were probably a few Swedes from the settlements in Delaware, and some of other nationalities not mentioned above.

SOME OF THE PIONEER FAMILIES. - Tradition says that three families of the name of Cubberley came from France to America. They were probably Huguenots. Two of them settled on Long Island, and the third came to these parts. They must have settled in this township since 1720, as the record-book to that date does not contain the name. James Cubberley, who died in 1754, and his wife Mary, who died in 1772 aged eighty-two, are buried in the Pearson burying-ground, and headstones mark their graves. They were probably the first of the family to settle in the township. The headstone at James Cubberley's grave is marked J. Cubberley. By the will of James Cubberley, made in 1753, we find that he had six children, - Thomas, William, James, John, Isaac, and Mary. His residence was on the place now owned by Joel Taylor, near Hamilton Square, and his large estate extended into what is now Washington township. He gave to his grandson William, son of his son Thomas, tract No. 3, now in Washington. Part of the Cubberleys of Washington township are descended from this line. William, the second son, was born in 1720, died 1774. He married Lydia Rulon, who was of French descent. His descendants are very numerous. He had three children, - William W., Hannah, and Achsah. Hannah married John Hammell; Achsah married Richard Appleton; and William W. married Ann Hammell. His children were Elisha, Eli, Isaac, Ann, Theodosia, and others, and their children and grandchildren bring us down to date.

John Cubberley, the fourth child of James the first, also married a Rulon, and his descendants are numerous. His son David was one of the founders of the Hamilton Square Presbyterian Church, and his children were John C., Athaliah, David, and others. The late James Cubberley, of Newtown, and his offspring, and Francis, John H., and others of that line, and George W. and that line, are descended from one of the other sons of the first James; and in fact all the ancestry of the name of Cubberley in this part of New Jersey can be traced back to James and Mary Cubberley.

The Watsons are of English origin. They came to this section from Nottingham, in England, and when the township of Nottingham was formed it was named “Nottingham” by Isaac Watson, in honor of his native place. In the old minute-book of Nottingham township, under date of 1695, appear the names of Isaac Watson, as the possessor of four hundred end forty acres; William Watson, of one hundred and fifty acres; and, at a later date, Matthew Watson, of thirty acres. From these persons have descended most of the Watsons of this locality. They are not very numerous at present in this section, but are scattered in various directions.

In 1708, Isaac Watson built the house, which is still standing, on the bluff between White Horse and Trenton, and lately occupied by Andrew K. Rowan. The old house on the bank of the creek below White Horse, now occupied by Norman Stevens, was built two years earlier by the second Robert Pearson. The house on the B. F. Stewart estate, near Yardville, was built in 1754, and the house of John A. Beck, in that vicinity, in 1759. These are the oldest dwellings in the township.

In the old Nottingham minute-book it is recorded that Thomas Tindall owned four hundred and sixty acres of land in 1695. His farm was where part of Trenton has since been built. The Tindalls are quite numerous, and it is supposed are descendants from Thomas Tindall, who was English by birth or descent.

Among the early settlers of “Yorkshire Tenth” were some of the Butchers, whose descendants were years ago quite numerous in this township and vicinity. They were of English origin. The family is now much scattered.

Robert Pearson settled in what is now Hamilton township, and was one of the two largest land-owners in old Nottingham. In 1695, according to the minutes of Nottingham, he possessed thirteen hundred and fifty acres. This tract lay on the north bank of Crosswicks Creek, to the north and west of Back Creek. A few years later, one William Stevens owned the same number of acres. The old graveyard at White Horse was laid out by the Pearsons as early as 1722, and perhaps many years before. The locality was called by them “South Hill.”

They are believed to have been Episcopalians, and it has been said that the Pearsons and Hutchinsons came to America together. The name of Pearson is almost lost in this locality at present, though the Pearsons have many descendants in the prominent families of the township. Most of the Pearsons favored the king during the Revolution, though few of them took any active part in the struggle; but the third Robert Pearson befriended Samuel Tucker, the treasurer of the State, when he was captured by the Tories, and gave his parole that Tucker should stay with him until called for, thus saving him much rough treatment. Isaac Pearson, an active Tory, was shot at Hightstown by a party who were pursuing him. A stone marks his grave in the old Pearson burying-ground.

Sarah How (or “Sallie Howe,” as her name has appeared in history), a sister of the wife of William Pearson, who was a son of Isaac Pearson above mentioned, was one of the six little girls who sang and strewed flowers before Washington as he passed through Trenton on his way to New York to be inaugurated as President of the United States. She lived for a long time with her sister Susan (Mrs. Pearson), and died unmarried in 1841, and is buried in the Pearson family lot. Sheriff Micajah How was her father, and Robert How was her brother.

Mary Pearson, daughter of William Pearson and niece of Sarah How, married Thomas Hopkinson, a grandson of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The most of the Reed family in Hamilton are descended from the Reeds of Ewing and Lawrence; others came from East Jersey. Jeremiah Reed, the ancestor of the Reeds of Hamilton Square, was one of the founders of the Methodist Church there.

The Fords were among the Scotch Covenanters, and settled early in the township. Their descendants are plentiful, but not many bear the name which was formerly spelled “Foord.”

The Quigleys were among those who settled here in the early part of the eighteenth century. Some of them were noted deer hunters. They kept many dogs for hunting purposes, and the cluster of houses on the road from White Horse to Sandtown, called “Dogtown,” was so named on account of the large number of dogs kept by the Quigleys resident there.

Cornelius Appleton came from Germany, and settled near Hamilton Square before 1730. A part of the original Appleton tract is now in possession of the Pryors, and adjoins land of William H. West, W. H. Hughes, and Albert Hooper, and others in their neighborhood. The old Appleton house was built to front to the south, as the old road ran on that side. The oldest part of this house, the east ends was originally only one story high, and was built, tradition says, about 1730. In 1772 the west end was built; in the early part of this century the east end was raised to the height of the rest of the house.

Cornelius Appleton married Mary Cox Nov. 10, 1726, and had children, as follows: Joseph, born, Aug. 8, 1727; Richard, born Nov. 28, 1728; and Josiah, born in 1735. He died in 1779, aged seventy-eight; and his wife, five-years earlier, aged eighty-eight.

George Appleton, who lives near Mercerville, is a descendant of Cornelius Appleton, as are many others of the name, and of other families with which the Appletons have intermarried in this section.

WEST FAMILY.‑The first of the West family in what is now Hamilton was William West, who was born in 1750, and died about 1830. His residence was the dwelling now of Samuel Hughes, near Hamilton Square, which he built. His estate consisted of three hundred acres, perhaps more, adjacent to the dwelling, which is now cut up into numerous farms. Two of his grandchildren reside on parts of the original tract.

The progenitor of the somewhat numerous West of this section was Bartholomew West, whose homestead was near the present village of Allentown (Monmouth County), on the farm now of William Hulse. He had five children, - John, Mahew, Jane, Mary, and the William above mentioned. John lost the bulk of his property during the Revolution. He was engaged in buying and shipping produce to the army, and at one time, having sent a large quantity, it was captured by the enemy, proving a total loss to him. He afterwards removed to Pennsylvania. Some of the Wests about Trenton are descended from him. Mahew was childless. His residence was near the present dwelling of S. P. Nicholson, in Hamilton township. Jane never married. Mary married a Stelle, and her descendants are numerous in this vicinity. One John West lived in Shrewsbury as early as 1687.

William West was impressed into the British service during the Revolution, but escaped from his captors at New Brunswick. He caught the smallpox from some of them, which broke out upon him on his arrival at Trenton the morning after his escape. He went home, and his father took the disease from him and died of it. William West married Anna Stout, who was born October, 1754, and died Jan. 25, 1814, and had issue as follows:

I. Susanna, born March 1, 1779, died May, 1851; married Joseph Watson, born 1773, died April 12, 1837, and had issue as follows: 1, Ruth, born Nov. 6, 1795; 2, John, born July 1, 1797; 3, Anna, born June 1, 1800; 4, Margaret, born July 24, 1802; 5, William, born Jan. 22, 1804; 6, Samuel, born Feb. 5, 1806; 7, Naomi, born April 23, 1808; 8, Mary, born May 17, 1810; 9, Susanna, born Aug. 10, 1812; 10, Joseph, born Jan. 30, 1815; 11, Elizabeth, born May 11, 1817; 12, Henry, born April 17, 1819; 13, Hope, born Nov. 6, 1821. After the death of Joseph Watson his widow married David Silver, whom she survived.

II. Margaret West, born Feb. 25, 1781, died in 1849 ; married April 15, 1804, David Gordon, who was born March 3, 1780, and had issue as follows: 1, William W., born March 1, 1805; 2, Sarah A., born Dec. 7, 1806; 3, James, born Dec. 19, 1808; 4, Lucy, born Sept. 10, 1810; 5, David, born Sept. 26, 1812; 6, Benjamin S., born Nov. 26, 1817.

III. John West, born March 21, 1783, died Aug. 13, 1856; married Feb. 4, 1808, Lydia Hammell, who was born April 4, 1788, died April 5, 1876, and had issue as follows: 1, Lucy, born Jan. 9, 1809; 2, Hannah H., born Oct. 3, 1810; 3, William H., born Dec. 16, 1812; 4, Anna, born June 3, 1815; 5, Louisa C., born March 26, 1818; 6, John S., born Dec. 22, 1820; 7, Lydia A., born Jan. 5, 1824; 8, Margaret G., born June 5, 1827; 9, Lizzie Y., born Oct. 29, 1829.

IV. Lucia West, born March 30, 1785, died in childhood, April 27, 1793.

V. Mary West, born Oct. 12, 1787, died April 2, 1810.

VI. Zimri West, born Feb. 22, 1790, died March 10,1828; married Mary Hammell, who was born Aug. 24, 1791, and had issue as follows: 1, Henry Paxon, born Nov. 18, 1814; 2, Mary Ann, born March 13, 1816, died Oct. 29, 1852; 3, Elizabeth, born September, 1817; 4, Mayhew, born Oct. 24, 1819, died June 22, 1848 ; 5, Zimri, born March 28, 1821; 6, Mercy, born March, 1823, died in childhood.

VII. Hope West, born Aug. 30, 1792, died Sept. 26, 1863, married William Hammell, which see.

VIII. William Stout West, born Feb. 5,1795, married Mary Appleget, March 27, 1817, who was born Oct. 4, 1799; and had issue as follows: 1, Hope, born Dec. 23, 1817;. 2, George, born June 28, 1820; 3, Susanna, born Nov. 27, 1822 ; 4 and 5, Sarah Ann and Mary, twins, born March 1, 1826; 6, William, born Aug. 7, 1828; 7, Charles, born Oct. 22, 1830; 8, Phebe, born June 12, 1833; 9, Henry, born Oct. 17, 1836; 10, Edward, born Dec. 5, 1843.

IX. Joseph Lippet West, born Nov. 14, 1798, died Feb. 11, 1876; married, in 1823, Ann Pearson, who was born April 6, 1804, died 1835, and had issue as follows: 1, John W. P., born Oct. 18, 1823; 2, James G., born Sept. 12, 1825; 3, Ann, born March 6, 1828; 4, Joseph P., born Feb. 7, 1830, died in childhood; 5, Samuel N., born March 21, 1834. After the death of his wife, in 1835, Joseph married Hannah Forman, widow of Randolph Forman, Nov. 10, 1839, and had issue as follows: 1, Randolph Forman, Dec. 20, 1840; 2, Joseph H., born Nov. 5, 1845.

The Scotts were among the earliest settlers of the township.

Christopher Van Nest, son of John Van Nest, settled at Quaker Bridge, in Hamilton township. He married Catherine Voorhies, and had nine children. His brother John, a settler in West Windsor, had the same number, and from these two are descended the Van Nests in Hamilton and elsewhere in the county. The old Van Nest Bible, printed in Holland in 1640, is in the possession of William C. Van Nest, of Hamilton Square.

Those in Hamilton bearing the name of Dye are descended from Henry Dye, who lived on the farm now owned by Joseph Bowers.

The De Cous were among the early settlers.

Nearly all, if not quite all, of the Taylors of Mercer, County seem to be descended from one John Taylor, who settled near Yardville, in the early part, or towards the middle, of the last century. He owned a large tract of land. In 1759 he built the house now, owned by John Beck, of Yardville. .He married a Quixsy, or Quicksall, and had a son Joel, and a daughter, who married a De Cou. Joel married a Vanderbeck, and it was through this marriage that the Taylors came to be numbered among the numerous heirs of the Trinity Church property in New York City.

Joel Taylor had numerous children. Among them were Benjamin, Joel, and Israel (who bought land near Hamilton Square), and Stacy (who lived between Yardville and Allentown), and several daughters. Their descendants are numerous in the county.

Hon. John Taylor, Esq., now senator for Mercer County, is a descendant of Joel Taylor. The old stock of Taylors were Quakers.

Richard Howell was born in Delaware. He commanded a New Jersey regiment from 1776 till 1779; was clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and Governor of New Jersey from 1794 till 1802, when he died. He was one of the young men who burned the tea landed at Greenwich, N. J., Nov. 22, 1774. He was the author of the ode to Washington, commencing “Welcome, mighty chief, once more,” and had a brother, Rednap Howell, who settled in the South, and was also somewhat of a poet. Richard Howell, after the war, moved to the vicinity of Trenton. He had a son, Arthur, who lived near Trenton, in Hamilton, and two other sons, who lived above Trenton. One of his daughters married Jesse Coleman, of Hamilton, and another, Thomas Riall, of Trenton. Arthur Howell had a son, Richard, who lived on the farm now of the William G. Cook estate in Hamilton, and he was the father of Arthur Howell, of Hamilton Square.

Three brothers, John, William, and Joshua Norton, came from England near the middle of the last century. John was born Dec. 20, 1725, and settled in East Windsor township. He married Grace Gilham, and had seven children, the most of whom died unmarried. One son, Joshua, born in 1752, married Lydia Combs, daughter of Thomas Combs, and John Norton, Jr., born 1761, married Mary Ely, daughter of Richard Ely. Joshua, who married Lydia Combs, settled in Hamilton, near White Horse. He had children, of whom Joshua married Hannah Condit and settled in Hopewell; John married Ann Van Schoick and lived on his father's place; William married Sarah Hughes first, and secondly Henrietta Hill, and lived on a part of the homestead now owned by Caleb Pitman, of Hamilton; Sarah married Joseph Anderson, of Pennsylvania; Ann married Joseph Hill, of Trenton; and Hannah married Charles Hunt, of Hopewell. The descendants of all are numerous. William Norton had thirteen children, and they married into the families of Hutchinson, Lee, Clark, Coleman, Tilton, Hendrickson, and Beecroft, and many of their descendants live in Hamilton and other parts of the county. The other branch of the Nortons, of East Windsor, and their connections are also very numerous.

The descendants of John Norton, who had four children, are not numerous.

The Colemans, were early settlers of the northern portion of Hamilton and Lawrence. The different branches could probably be traced to one family originally. J. B. Coleman, of Mercerville, is descended from Timothy Coleman, who settled near what is now Baker's Basin, in Lawrence. J. B. Coleman represent the fourth generation of Colemans of this line. The other Colemans, of Hamilton, represented by Benjamin, Elijah, David, and others are of Jesse Coleman, who married a daughter of Governor Howell. The family and their connections are numerous.

One Abram Eldridge, in the last century, owned a tract of land extending northeast from Hamilton Square, and including a part of the village. It was nearly a mile square, and extended beyond the township-line into East Jersey.

The homestead house was in the centre of the farm now owned by James C. Robbins. Abram Eldridge was one of the founders of the Baptist Church in Hamilton Square. The descendants of the family are numerous but much scattered. Two of the descendants of Abram Eldridge live on parts of the old tract.

It is family tradition, but not verified, that some of the Hutchinsons are descended from Thomas Hutchinson, an early settler in Ewing, and others from George Hutchinson, who settled at Burlington about 1678. There were two branches, but their connection is not proved. One John Hutchinson married Elizabeth Pearson, daughter of the second Robert Pearson, who was born in 1710, and from them the Hutchinsons of Yardville and many others are descended. One Amos Hutchinson, who was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton Square, owned a large tract of land north of Miry Run, in Hamilton and West Windsor. He had a large family, and his descendants live at Windsor, in the vicinity of Trenton, and elsewhere in this section. His daughter Betsey was the first person buried in the Presbyterian churchyard at Hamilton Square.

There was another branch that settled about the locality of James I. Hutchinson's mills. The house now owned by J. I. Hutchinson, a descendant, was built by one of this family in 1785. The descendants of this branch are numerous, and many of them live in Hamilton, Washington, and East Windsor. One Daniel Hutchinson, of this branch, married Deborah Hammell, daughter of John and Mercy Hammell who was born in 1755. Their descendants live about Edinburg, in Washington township, and at Hamilton Square and elsewhere.

Those bearing the name of Ivens in Hamilton are descended from one Daniel Ivens, who married Theodosia, daughter of John and Mercy Hammell.

Those bearing the name of Steele are descended from one of this family who married Mary, daughter of Bartholomew West, who was born prior to 1750.

William and Matthias Mount lived in this township in the last century. Both were connected with the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton Square in its infancy. Matthias Mount owned a large tract, of which the part containing the homestead house is now owned by Jasper Mount. Matthias had children - Richard, Robert, Matthias, Samuel, Elijah, and others, and from them almost all bearing the name in this section are descended. A daughter of Matthias Mount married Elisha Jewell, of Penn's Neck.

Thomas Tindall owned land in Nottingham in 1692. He was a native of England. It is supposed that all of this family are descended from him. He lived in the neighborhood of Trenton. The Tindalls of West Windsor township are descended from John Tindall, who married Amy Hammell, daughter of John and Mercy Hammell, who was born in 1761. The first graves made in the Baptist churchyard at Hamilton Square were those of this branch of the Tindalls, and in all probability were the parents of the above John Tindall. The homestead of the above family was the house now owned by Alexis Rainear, near Edinburg.

The Scholey family were among the English Quakers that came to Burlington about 1678. In 1695 one Sarah Scholey owned land in this township. She was probably the widow of one of the emigrants of that name. In the last century one Samuel Scholey bought the Scholey's mountain tract in Morris County. He had a brother, Joseph Scholey, who lived in Burlington County, and who had several children, one of whom was James, who bought of David Cale the large tract of land lying to the north and west of Hamilton Square, joining the Appletons, Mounts, Eldridges, and others. James Scholey had a large family, and his children married into the Hughes, Ivens, and Wainwright families, and others.

The Wainwright family are descended from one Daniel Wainwright, who was an early settler of Monmouth County. He had a son who was a prominent official of Monmouth County during the Revolution, and was killed by the Price brothers, who were notorious refugees. The Wainwrights of Hamilton township represent the fourth and fifth generations of this family.

There are several branches of the Robbins family, all of which descended from early settlers of the name in Monmouth County. The progenitors of Dr. G. R. Robbins, of Hamilton Square, and others of that branch, formerly lived in the vicinity of Allentown. Some of the Robbins were among the soldiers who saw service in the Revolution.

The Johnsons, Nutts, Middletons, Asays, Fagans, Andersons, Savidges, Chambers, Hendricksons, Conovers, Scattergoods, Souths, Cales, Applegates, Gordons, Williamses, Bowerses, Coxes, Ginglens, Woods, Naptons, Curtises, Woodmancys, Allens, Gaskills, Tasstums, Nelsons, Butchers, Rossells, Seeds, Abbotts, Stewarts, Wilkinsons, and others are descended from families who lived in the township in the last century.

Revolutionary Incidents. - During the dark days of 1776-77, when the British were encamped at Trenton, at Princeton, and at Bordentown, this township was sometimes overrun by foraging, scouting, and plundering parties of troops.

The night before the battle of Princeton, Washington and his troops passed through Mercerville en route for Princeton, and there are yet living some who have heard their parents tell of being awakened on the morning of Jan. 3, 1777, by the booming of the cannon at Princeton. Less than twenty years ago a lady named Lanning died at Hamilton Square, aged ninety-six, who lived near Princeton at the time of the battle, and who stated that her father sent her with the rest of the family into the cellar during the action.

The barn on the old Eldridge homestead was struck by a cannon-ball during the Revolution. This shot is thought to have been fired by a prowling party of the enemy with a field-piece, as no action took place in that vicinity. The British officers forbade their men to fire at buildings thus, but their orders were sometimes disobeyed.

“When the British troops marched from Philadelphia, on their way to Monmouth, in June, 1778, they came through this part of the country in three detachments, - one by Mount Holly, one through Columbus, and the third by Bordentown. The latter attempted to cross Crosswicks Creek over a draw-bridge near the latter place. The Continental troops and a great part of the militia stationed in that vicinity under Gen. Dickinson had been withdrawn, excepting those of Cols. Phillips and Shreve, who had been previously detached to guard a ford one mile farther up the creek, and only the three regiments of Cols. Frelinghuysen, Van Dike, and Webster remained when a party of the enemy appeared, and with great zeal began to repair the bridge, the planks of which had been pulled up and the draw raised. For this purpose they ripped off the planks from an adjoining hay-house. Upon their approach the troops rushed down with the greatest impetuosity, and a small party from one of the regiments happening to be considerably advanced, caused them to retire with the loss of four killed and several wounded. This detachment then united with the other two at Crosswicks, and in the course of the same day attempted crossing the bridge there, which had also been destroyed by the Americans. Another skirmish occurred, in which a British officer and two or three men were shot. The wounded officer was conveyed to the dwelling now occupied by Mr. Thomas Newell. An American named Clevenger was killed. He had cut away the last sleeper of the bridge, and while retreating was shot in the back of the head, fell among the high grass, and was discovered a few days after by the stench of his decomposing body. The next day the enemy repaired the bridge and proceeded on their march. During this skirmish the Americans, who were stationed on the Woodwardville side of the creek, fired several cannonballs, one of which lodged in the Friends' meeting-house, and there remained until the house was repaired a few years since. Soon after the battle of Trenton, the American troops for a time occupied the Friends' meeting-house for barracks. On Sunday the benches were arranged and worship held as usual.” 1

1 Barber and Howe's Collections, 1844.

A gentleman with the troops during these skirmishes expressed his opinion of the importance of these encounters in a publication of the day, as follows:

“The conduct of the militia saved, in my opinion, Trenton and the country adjacent from rapine and desolation. In short, their conduct during the whole time gave me the most pleasing ideas of the strong love of liberty which is natural to the human soul. Surely while the farmers of the country are induced by the mere fondness of freedom to leave all their domestic concerns at this season of the year and undergo the hardships of a soldier's life, to suffer the severest fatigues, and with pleasure face every danger, I say, while this continues, Americans must and will be free!”

There were some royalists in this township. Some were doubtless royalists from choice. Some had not sufficient faith to foresee the victory so long delayed, and were royalists from policy.

In the list of the names of New Jersey soldiers who served in the Revolution, published some years ago, are those of men from Hamilton.

In the early part of the present century, Joseph L. West plowed up a six-pound ball on the farm now of the Samuel Hughes estate, near Hamilton Square. How it came there is not known. Two cannon-ball have been found on the Hunt farm, south of the draw-bridge, which were fired by the Americans during the skirmish there previously referred to.

Organization. - Hamilton was taken from the now extinct township of Nottingham, and erected into a separate township by an act of Assembly passed March 11, 1842.

Civil List.

CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS.

TOWNSHIP CLERKS.

ASSESSORS.

COLLECTORS.

CONSTABLES.

TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS.

Roads. - The roads at first were nothing more than paths through the woods marked out by common consent, and in various directions so as to come as near as possible to each house. The road running east and west through Hamilton Square was one of these crooked paths leading from Trenton to Allentown (Monmouth County), or in that direction, and was probably used as early as 1725. The road through Hamilton Square is the original road, but on leaving that village at each end it veered to the southeast of Hamilton Square, passed to the south of R. F. West's shop, and continued in that direction until near George S. Cubberley's, when it veered to the north, entering Newtown where the present road is. West of the village it passed south of Hooper's and Pryor's, and south of John S. West's, when it deviated to Mercerville, and continued to Trenton in a crooked manner on the line of the present Hamilton Avenue. This was the only road to Trenton from this part of the township until about 1808, when the present straight road was surveyed, four rods wide, and forking to the west of Mercerville, making two roads leading into Trenton, which are known as the “Millham” and “Millhill” roads.

Villages and Hamlets. - HAMILTON SQUARE. - Among the early settlers at Hamilton Square and its immediate vicinity were the Scholeys, the Appletons, the Cubberleys, the Hutchinsons, the Eldredges, and others. The families of Wilgus, Hughes, Nelson, Butcher, Taylor, Hill, Chambers, and Reed were residents there in the last century, and many of their descendants are to be found there. This village is in the eastern part of the township north of the centre, on the road from Trenton easterly. In 1750 there were probably not more than three or four farm-houses on its site. Among the oldest houses standing there during late years may be mentioned some buildings on the farm of C. L. Rogers, on a beam in one of which is the date 1764, the year in which it is supposed to have been erected; the old Nelson house torn down a few years ago by Jacob Snediker; the old Ivens' house, removed still earlier; the house on the southeast corner of Main and Mercer Streets; and the Wainwright farm-house. The Nelson house is probably the oldest house in the village. The house on the southeast corner of Main and Mercer Streets was built about 1766. The Sinclair house is also an old one. The Wainwright farm-house, out of the village, was built by the Scholeys, and took the place of a log house on the same spot.

At the time of the Revolution the settlement probably consisted of six or eight houses and a blacksmith-shop. In 1835 there were about twenty dwellings, two churches, a tavern, two stores, a chair-factory, some cabinet-shops, and brick-yards. The number of dwellings had increased to about twenty-five in 1848, when there were ninety inhabitants, and to thirty-nine in 1851. In 1876 there were seventy-one dwellings (counting double houses as two each), and two hundred and ninety-seven inhabitants. In 1882 the number of domiciles is seventy-three, and the population is three hundred and twenty-five.

It is deemed probable that a tavern of some sort was kept in the place during the Revolution, but there is no reasonable tradition to that effect. The present public-house was built by William Nutt about 1790, but was not occupied as such until about 1805. A descendant of Nutt's states that when the latter sold the house he bound his successor to entertain all preachers who might hold meetings in the village free of expense if they chose to avail themselves of his hospitality. About 1800 an inn was kept in the old Nelson house, on the northeast corner of Main and Mercer Streets. Among those who have done the honors of these hostelries since 1800 have been Samuel Gordon, William Napton, William Nutt, David Gordon, Benjamin South, Isaac Barber, Sylvanus Hutchinson, Thomas Butcher, Sr., Hannah Jackson, William Butcher, Thomas Butcher, Jr. (1828), William Ogborn, Aaron Eldredge, William Ginglen, David Ginglen, George Nauness, John Anderson, 1848; Joseph West, 1849; F. M. Hall, 1852; Mary Hall, 1854; Elijah Hughes, 1856; Israel Pearson, 1866; R. W. Taylor, 1868; William Hall, 1870.

Christopher Harrer kept a store in the place as early as 1800, and for many years thereafter, at first in the old house mentioned as having been demolished by Jacob Snediker, afterwards in various places about the village. The next merchant was John R. Combs, about 1832, in the old house at the corner where the White Horse road enters the village. The next was Simeon Reed, first in a building where Hooper's store now is, later on the southeast corner of Main and Mercer Streets until 1849. In 1834, Marmaduke Earle kept a store on the corner of Main Street and the White Horse road, and for some years there were two stores in the village. In 1849 Amos Lee had a store on the southeast corner of Main and Mercer Streets.

In 1850, G. W. Norton built the store on the corner east of the hotel, and traded there some time. He was succeeded by James Lee, and Lee by Lee & Brock. Charles H. Hughes succeeded this firm. In 1855, H. J. Smith bought this store and kept it till 1864, enlarging it considerably during his time of possession.

Under the firm-name of Reed & Cubberley, S. R. Reed and Azariah Cubberley kept the store just mentioned from 1864 to 1866, when they were succeeded by Smith & Reed, the new member of the firm having been H. I. Smith. In 1868 this firm built the brick store on the southwest corner of Main and Mercer Streets. In 1873, S. R. Reed retired from the firm and engaged in the clothing trade in company with James Smyth, under the firm-name of Reed & Smyth. The mercantile business was continued by H. I. Smith until he was succeeded by C. Smith, whose successor is Alfred Fagans. Alfred Cubberley erected a store in 1879, and has since occupied it.

Moses A. Hooper opened a store about 1854, and did a gradually increasing business until his death a few years ago, latterly in partnership with his son Alfred, under the firm-name of Hooper & Son. Alfred Hooper is now proprietor of the establishment.

A tobacco and ice cream store was established in 1869 in the old store east of the hotel by J. T. Reed, which closed in 1872. The store was reopened in 1877 by John E. Cubberley, who was succeeded by Samuel M. Robbins in 1879.

Blacksmithing was done here during the Revolution and long afterward by David Cubberley, Sr., Jesse Hutchinson, James Danser, Samuel Danser, Theodore Hill, Israel Taylor, Isaiah Silvers, John Hutchinson, David Cubberley, Jr., Maj. Hooper, Charles D. Cubberley, William H. Forman, John Lewis, Thomas Wood, and Charles McCabe have been the village Vulcans since. Elijah Ridgway, Jonathan Appleton, William I. Robbins, John Hutchinson, George Middleton, John Anderson, Cornelius Voorhies, John Scudder, William Walton, A. A. Campbell, and R. F. West have been wheelwrights in the village since 1812. The village Crispins since 1846 have been William Hughes, William Nelson, Joseph Hughes, Aaron Prevo, and D. C. Wilgus.

The post-office was established some time between 1840 and 1850. The following, and perhaps others, have served as postmasters: William Tindall, Simeon Reed, Rev. Searing Stites, James Lee, M. A. Hooper, 1854-61; Howard I. Smith, 1861-72; William C. Vannest, 1872-79; and E. R. Good, since 1879.

Unsuccessful attempts to establish bakeries were made by Rev. Searing Stites about 1852, William H. Nelson in 1861, and William H. Cubberley in 1870.

The Patrons' Fire Insurance Company was organized at Hamilton Square in 1881. It is conducted on the mutual plan, and its benefits are confined to the members of the order of Patrons of Husbandry. The officers are John Hammell, president; John C. Cubberley, treasurer; and Theodore Cubberley, secretary.

This village contains three churches, a school-house, two general stores, a tailoring establishment, an extensive rubber-works, 1 an undertaking establishment, two blacksmith-shops, a wheelwright-shop, a hotel, and several small enterprises of different kinds.

1 For sketch of this and other manufactures, see industrial history of the township.

YARDVILLE, on Doctor's Creek, near its junction with Crosswicks Creek, on the southern border of the township, is a station on the Amboy Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and, though comparatively small, has long been a place of some local importance. It was formerly known as Sandville, and received its present name from John Yard, the first postmaster there, who was succeeded in 1858 by Robert C. Hutchinson. Clark Hutchinson, the present postmaster, was commissioned in 1859.

The first hotel was opened many years ago by John Nelson, as is supposed. After occupying it four years, Nelson rented the building to John Longstreet. In 1833, John Ginglen bought the house, and in 1848 sold it to Moses Johnson, who has since kept it. A few years ago there were two hotels, the second that of E. King, at the station.

Among the merchants of Yardville have been Hill & Hutchinson, C. & S. Hutchinson, and S. Hutchinson. A lumber-yard was established by Clark Hutchinson a few years ago, and a coal-yard by Amos H. Cole in 1877.

A business in pressing and dealing in hay was begun about 1857 by Joshua Taylor, who, after a few years, sold out to Jacob Hornord, who, probably twenty years later, sold to the present proprietor, John Kiffcart.

The first blacksmith to open a shop here was John Taylor, about 1825. Some time before 1845 be sold out to Stephen West; who continued the business about five years, when he was succeeded by John Furman, whose successor was H. Tantum. The present blacksmith, John Hart, succeeded Tantum in 1878. George McCabe built a blacksmith-shop in 1860, and occupied it some years, after which it was for some time closed until reopened by John Mitchell in 1881.

George W. Middleton opened the first wheelwright shop in 1831. In 1835 be sold out to George H. Steward. In 1845, Steward gave place to Lewis Thorne who died in 1850. The shop was unoccupied until 1880, when it was purchased by Amos H. Cole.

The elder Robert C. Hutchinson at one time carried on quite an extensive trade here in wood and lime, buying wood, and shipping it by sloops from navigation on Crosswicks Creek to Philadelphia, where he purchased limestone, which he burned, selling the lime throughout the surrounding country.

When the Camden and Amboy Railroad was first put in operation, passengers for Trenton left the cars at Yardville, and were conveyed thence to the State capital by stage.

Yardville contains a general store, a saw-mill, a grist-mill, a Presbyterian Church, and thirty-four dwellings. It has the usual variety of shops and business enterprises, and ample hotel accommodations. The population is about two hundred.

NORTH CROSSWICKS.‑Crosswicks is a village on the creek of the same name, partially in Burlington County. It was the scene of the labors of Brainerd among the aborigines, and of a short and sharp encounter between the patriots and the British during the Revolutionary war, both of which events are elsewhere referred to. That portion of the village lying within the township of Hamilton was early known as Woodwardsville, in honor of Samuel Woodward, who was once prominent there. Its later appellation is North Crosswicks, given in contradistinction from South Crosswicks, on the opposite side of the creek.

The nucleus around which North Crosswicks grew up was the old grist-mill, which stood there from far back in the last century until some time during the Revolution, and its successor built after peace was established.

A tannery was established by Samuel Fowler about 1800. It subsequently passed into other hands, and was abandoned about twenty years ago. William Potts opened a blacksmith-shop in 1842, which has since been in the possession of H. Chaffee and the present proprietor, John Hampton. In 1852 a wheelwright-shop was established by Alexander Wood. He was succeeded by Albert Hendrickson. The present wheelwright is Morgan Perrine.

Frazer & Johnston had a store in North Crosswicks from 1860 to 1862. There has been no store since.

North Crosswicks contains a grist-mill, a saw-mill, a plaster-mill, a turning-mill, a blacksmith-shop, a wheelwright-shop, and about thirty dwellings. South Crosswicks contains two Quaker Churches, an Episcopal Church, a Methodist Episcopal Church, an African Methodist Episcopal Church, a post-office (Mrs. English, postmistress), two stores (kept by J. J. Woolman and Edgar Brick), a hotel, a carriage-shop, a wheelwright-shop, a blacksmith-shop, a saloon, and about one hundred and seventy-five dwellings.

WHITE HORSE.‑White Horse is a cross-roads settlement in the southern part of the township, on the elevation overlooking Crosswicks Creek. It contains only four dwellings and a public-house, to which was long ago given the name by which the locality is known.

John Satterly kept an inn there during and probably prior to the Revolution, and from the fact that Washington one day passed by mounted on his historical white horse, Satterly gave the name “White Horse” to the house, procuring a sign on which was painted the representation of a white horse, which, or one similar to it, has been conspicuously before the tavern since.

Satterly kept the house many years, and finally sold it to Benjamin South, who enlarged the building and remained there about forty years. In 1830 he was succeeded by James Hollinshead, who was sheriff of Burlington County before the erection of Mercer, and hung Joel Clow, at Mount Holly, for the murder of Mrs. Hamilton, of Bordentown, about fifty years ago.

The successor of Hollinshead as “mine host” of the White Horse was James Risdon. He was followed in turn by George Vannest, S. King, Patrick McCann, John Taylor, William King, J. H. Hendrickson, and the present landlord, Thomas J. Parent, in 1878.

The pioneer blacksmith was John Satterly, the tavern-keeper above mentioned. A man named Dunn had a shop as early as 1820. Joseph Scott was the first wheelwright, about 1820. Alfred Nutt now combines the trades of blacksmith and wheelwright.

Fifty years ago or more there was a store at White Horse, kept a few years by James Risdon.

EXTONVILLE. - The old establishment which was successively a grist-mill, a woolen- and cotton-mill, and a carpet-warp manufactory was the centre of the growth which resulted in Extonville, which contains eight dwellings all told.

About 1837, William Gibson opened a store here, but abandoned the enterprise as unprofitable in two or three years. There was once a blacksmith whose name was Brown.

MERCERVILLE (SANDTOWN).‑For many years this place was known as “the Corners,” on account of its location at the intersection of five roads in the north part of the township. This fact also at one time led some one to call the place “Five Roads,” a name which never was popularized. The latest name for the place is Mercerville, which it will probably bear in time by common consent, but the old name Sandtown, given in description of the soil thereabouts, will doubtless cling to it many years to come.

This hamlet contains a grocery-store, kept by Mrs. James Van Camp; a hotel, kept by Lewis Anderson, and owned by Spafford Sutton, of Trenton; the blacksmith-shop of Peter P. Anderson, the wagon-shop of David H. Anderson, a school-house, and twelve dwellings.

GROVEVILLE. - Settlements were made at a comparatively early date south of Doctor's Creek, about half a mile from the central portion of Yardville. This place is now known as Groveville. In 1821 there were here a small woolen- and grist-mill, a saw-mill, and a store, all the property of John Longstreet, and fifteen dwellings.

At the date mentioned George S. Green and Churchill Houston purchased of Longstreet all of this hamlet except two or three houses, and built new manufacturing establishments elsewhere referred to, and the place entered upon an era of growth.

The hotel here has been kept open most of the time for many years. The present occupant is Mrs. Elizabeth Allen.

There are two stores in the village, which were formerly kept by the successive proprietors of the mills. The merchants at this time are E. A. Beaumont and Randolph Rider.

The first blacksmith was William Chitty, who opened his shop about 1845. He had several successors, the last of whom was John Gamble, who, in company with William Gamble, manufactured augers about two years.

Groveville consists of two stores, a hotel, a school-house, a warp-factory, a Methodist Episcopal Church, and sixty dwellings, a good share of the population depending on the manufactory mentioned for employment.

Educational. - The history of the public schools of Hamilton does not differ materially from that of other townships in New Jersey similarly circumstanced. The early schools were select schools, kept in log houses. These were followed by pay schools, very little different in organization or operation, in houses which were no great improvement on the first ones.

The public school law of the State brought about a systematization of the educational facilities of the township, and school districts were formed, and one after another better school-houses were built. There are now nine school districts, known as Washington District, No. 26; Mercerville District, No. 27; Hamilton Square District, No. 28; Edge Brook District, No. 29; Groveville District, No. 30; Yardville District, No. 31; White Horse District, No. 32; Friendship District, No. 33; and Farmingdale District, No. 35.

In 1880 the school statistics of Hamilton were as follows:

Amount of appropriation from the State fund, $2950.27; total amount received from all sources for school purposes, $3025.27; value of school property, $9650; number of children of the school age, 817; number enrolled in the school registers, 540; estimated number who attended private schools, 57; estimated number who attended no school, 248; number of teachers employed, three males, seven females, average monthly salary, males, $36.60, females, $29.77.