Traders
NOTE:
Remember that Warren, Far Hills, and Bernardsville were part of Bernards Township, so these family stories also include those areas.
History showcases some of the greatest reminders of where we came from. Many people new to the area are unaware that the area’s rich history is tied to some of the founding families who chose this location in the early 1700s.
In 1701, East and West Jersey’s fourth governor, Col. Andrew Hamilton, and the Proprietors sought to settle the East Jersey province, appointing John Harrison for that purpose. Harrison made large purchases from the Lenni Lenape Indian tribe. As many have read, John Harrison, agent of King James II, purchased the area from Chief Nowenoik of the Lenapes, a real estate package of 3,000 acres for the equivalent of $50.
Note: A map of Harrison’s purchase is reportedly located at the New Jersey Historical Society. At the time of the signing, John Harrison had been living in Rocky Hill, New Jersey.
The 3,000 acres were then known as the Passaic Valley, bounded by the Passaic River on the east, Green Brook (a tributary of the Raritan River) on the west, the Dead River on the south, and Penn’s Brook on the north. The deed was dated June 24, 1717. After John’s death, his son, Benjamin Alexander, sold his father’s entire purchase to Daniel Hollingshead and George Risarick, who then sold it to Co. John Parker of Amboy and James Alexander from New York. Parker opened the Tavern in Bernardsville, and Alexander kept his land and willed it to his son William, Lord Stirling.
James Alexander, father of William Alexander (Lord Stirling), was a large landowner who had to deal with “squatters” on his land. James Pitney was noted as being on James’ land when he first arrived in the area. Research shows Cornelius Brees, from Staten Island, bought land in 1720 from James Alexander on the East side of the Dead River, which had been occupied by James Pitney. John Ayres’s son Obadiah also bought land from Alexander.
Harrison must have died, and the property passed through Hollingshead and Eisarick to John Parker (who owned the John Parker tavern in Vealtown) and Alexander as early as 1720. For in that year, Parker and Alexander sold a portion of the southeast corner of their purchase to Cornelius Brees of Staten Island. The four proprietors had the lands regularly surveyed in 1727 and laid out into farms of one hundred fifty to two hundred acres each. These were drawn by ballot by the four joint owners at the spring term of the Supreme Court for 1728, held at Perth Amboy. The respective proprietors were then left to dispose of their lots on their own terms.
James Alexander, father of William Alexander (Lord Stirling), appears to have acquired what is now known as the “Stirling Property.” He was also associated with John Budd, of Philadelphia, in lands that extended north into Morris County. The land was listed as No. 121, James Alexander, Sept. 17, 1741, 786 acres in six tracts in Harrison’s Neck. The second piece was No. 99, to James Alexander, March 28, 1728, 272 acres on the east side of the North Branch of Dead River. A third plot, No. 142, was bought by James on July 10, 1744, containing 65 acres at Basking Ridge, where son William built his Stirling Manor in 1761.
William Alexander, son of James Alexander, was born in New York City in 1726. Stirling led a brilliant military career and received praise from his colleagues and enemies. After his death on Jan. 15, 1783, his wife, Lady Stirling, received a letter of esteem from General Washington. The New Jersey Historical Society has a series of boxes of documented transactions.
About 1720, Cornelius Brees, of Staten Island, bought land from James Alexander, ” on the east side of the north branch of Dead River, at the southwest corner of the Parker and Alexander’s area. It appears that James Pitney remained in this vicinity and became a freeholder, notwithstanding that his first home was sold from under him to Brees, since he was one of the trustees to whom the church lot was deeded in 1731. So Pitney was actually a squatter on the land Brees purchased.
Three members of the Brees family gave the ultimate sacrifice during the war. John Brees Sr., John Brees Jr.( b. 8 Nov 1738 ) and Stephen Brees all fought for the new nation and are buried in the Presbyterian cemetery. Cornelius served as a Sergeant in the NJ Frontier Militia in 1757 and 1758. John’s son, Timothy (b.1758) Brees, married Elizabeth Doty.
James Pitney lived in New Brunswick, New Jersey, before 1722, and then moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey. He was a member of the First Company Militia Regiment in 1715. His will, dated April 13, 1750, lists his wife, Susannah, and son, Jonathan. Records indicate the Pitneys settled in the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township. James and his wife Susannah had three children: James Pitney, b. 1722, Liberty Corner, Somerset Co., and Benjamin Pitney, b. 1726, Liberty Corner. A third, Shubael Pitney, was born approximately in 1731.
John Ayres came from Woodbridge, New Jersey, and was born on March 02, 1663, in Newbury, MA. Son of Obadiah Ayres and Hannah Ayres (Pike), husband of Mary Ayers and Ruth Ayres. He had seven sons: John, Thomas, Obadiah, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Moses, and Aaron. He moved to Basking Ridge the same year Harrison bought the land from the Indian Chief Nowenwalk.
John Ayres, who settled on the Millstone in 1717, is mentioned as having lands in the eastern part of the township in 1727. John Ayres is noted for donating 1 ½ acres, including the land on which a log meeting house stood in 1730, but it was said that the meeting house had probably been there since at least 1725 (the BRPC states 1717).
A document dated February 8, 1731, was found, formally recognizing the donation of a “meeting house.” Basking Ridge was the first religious center in the area. It has been noted that, in addition to being a house of prayer, education was also key, and there is mention of schooling there as early as 1720-1725. John died on October 4, 1732, at the age of 69, yet no one knows where he’s buried. His son, John Ayers, is buried in the BRPC graveyard.
John’s son, Obadiah Ayres, purchased 153 acres from John Alexander. It’s stated he later left for Warren County in Hacketstown sometime before 1753.
Another family worthy of particular mention was that of Alexander Kirkpatrick (b.1697), who settled at Mine Brook in 1736, on the farm lately owned by Henry Baird. The Kirkpatricks belonged to a noble family in Scotland. Alexander, the family’s ancestor in this country, was born at Watties Neach, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He moved with his family to Belfast, Ireland, after the birth of his son, David, around 1725. In the spring of 1736, he embarked at Belfast for America. After a stormy voyage of thirteen weeks, they landed at New Castle, Del. Passing through Philadelphia, they wandered up through the State of New Jersey (which was then partially settled) till they reached Bound Brook, and thence went over the mountains to the place which they selected for a habitation. Without roads in the country, they followed an Indian path through the wilderness.
When they came to a spring of water at the side of what has since been called ” Mine Brook,” they settled down, built a log house, and went to work. The spot was well chosen, about two miles west of the present site of Basking Ridge. It embraced the southern slope of Round Mountain, in a well-timbered region, with unfailing springs of pure water, the rich meadowland through which Mine Brook runs. Alexander Kirkpatrick died on June 3, 1758. He is buried at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Henry Alward III was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey on March 29, 1697. His father, Henry, was from Scotland and settled in Woodbridge. Henry III settled between Liberty Corner and Basking Ridge, near a saw and grist mill once owned by Matthias Woodward (not Woodard as others quote). While historical documents mention Bullion’s Tavern (also known as the William Annin Hotel, Liberty Corner Hotel, Post Office, and currently an Exxon), we’ve narrowed it down to Woodward’s Mill, which was located near Grist Mill Park and Road in Basking Ridge, along Harrison’s Brook. So, the plot thickens regarding Henry III’s residence.
He was first married to Sara (Compton) Alward in 1715. After her death, he later married Anne Ford in 1721. We’re still looking for his original homestead area.
It can get confusing, but this is the first of many Henrys in the lineage, so it’s often challenging to follow. The Henrys in Liberty Corner had eight children: David, John, Henry IV, Samuel, Benjamin, Sarah, Mary, Mercy, and Henry V. and William.
Henry Alward IV married Mary Cox and had eight children. Henry’s fourth son, Samuel, married Caty King, sister of John King, of Liberty Corner. Benjamin, the third son, married Sarah Ayers (Ayers), daughter of Elisha Ayers and sister of Major John Ayers (Ayers) of Basking Ridge. William married Elizabeth, daughter of William Cross, and moved to New York. Henry III died in Basking Ridge in 1732 and is buried in the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Cemetery. There are twelve Alwards buried in the churchyard.
John’s birth year, 1688, figures prominently in Scottish history. It marked the end of the 50 Years’ Rebellion, a bloody religious conflict. The rebels were the Covenanters, who were persecuted for challenging the King’s belief that he, not God, was the spiritual head of the Scottish church. “
Rather than give his son John up to be killed by King Charles I, John’s father, James Johnston, sent him and his family to America. John landed in the colonies in 1722 with his wife, Elizabeth Van Dorn, and three children: John Jr., William, and a daughter. The family was seeking religious freedom as they had married outside the church and did not want to be found in the New World, so they adopted an alias in the name of Annan. It later evolved into “Annin” and remained unchanged thereafter. The area over time became known as “Annin’s Corner.
John (Johnston) Annan initially purchased 270 acres of land from William Penn, where the family settled. It is rumored that John Johnston knew James Alexander, a fellow Scotsman, whose son was later referred to as Lord Stirling. Lord Stirling’s father, Alexander, had purchased large chunks of property in the Basking Ridge area. The homestead originally spanned 270 acres but expanded to over 2,700 acres, encompassing present-day Lyons Road and the entire community of Liberty Corner, extending north to the location where the William Annin Middle School stands today.
The Mr. Local History Project has written additional research about the Annins of Liberty Corner
The Boylan family, originally from Coleraine, Londonderry, Ireland, emigrated to America in the early 18th century, with patriarch Aaron Boylan settling in Pluckemin, New Jersey, around 1750. Aaron and his wife Eleanor Hodge had 15 children, and their descendants became prominent landowners, merchants, and tavernkeepers in the Somerset Hills region. The family played a key role in the local economy and Revolutionary War-era community life, most notably through Captain John “Bullion” Boylan’s taverns in Liberty Corner and Bernardsville.
Aaron Boylan is believed to have purchased his 150 acres in the Pluckemin area (then part of Bedminster Township) between 1749 and 1751. However, the exact seller is not definitively recorded in surviving documents. However, land transactions in that region during the mid-1700s were often conducted through or traced back to John Johnstone or his heirs, large-scale proprietors of East Jersey lands. We posted a new story about them. Details are at the bottom of this story.
In Baskingridge, some Scotch Presbyterian families who had settled there were worshipping in a log meeting house which they had erected a year or two previously.” The church can make a case for having been founded in 1716, but it was settled in 1717. The Basking Ridge congregation was recognized by the first Presbytery in the U.S., located in Philadelphia, in 1729.
The Trustees of the Presbyterian Congregation included James Pitney, Henry Rolfe (Newbury, MA), Mordecai McKeene, George Pack, Samuel Rolfe (Henry’s son), Daniel Morris, Thomas Riggs, and Obadiah Ayres (John’s son). That log cabin structure lasted until 1747, when a better structure was built. The Ayres lived in the area for over 100 years. The deed was not recorded until 1763.
Building on John Ayrer’s donation, in 1728, John Budd of Philadelphia (he was from Phia) donated 100 acres to the Basking Ridge congregation for the continued use of the”meeting house.”
The Presbyterian congregation of New Brunswick was later founded in 1738, and Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church became a part of it. John Cross was the first Moderator. The congregation believes John Cross is buried adjacent to the church, but his grave has not been found. There are 35 of Cross’s descendants buried here. He had one son, Robert (who had 11 children: 8 sons and 3 daughters) and two daughters.
In 1750, Dr. Samuel Kennedy, fourth pastor of the Presbyterian Church, established a classical school in Basking Ridge to prepare young men for college. His successor, Dr. Robert Finley, later ran the school.
In 1732, the area began to gain traction. The names are honored, as many have street names across the town. The Conkling, Alward, McCollum, Dayton, Doty, Boylan, Heath, Hall, Lindsey, Rickey, Lewis, Anderson, Whitaker, and Hand families landed in Basking Ridge. William Annin landed in Annin’s Corner (Liberty Corner) and built his stone home in about 1760.
Abraham Southard migrated to Basking Ridge in 1735, with his eight children from Hempstead, Long Island. His son, Henry Southard, was born in 1747 in Basking Ridge and lived to be 95 years old. He had thirteen children. His son, Samuel, became a United States Senator.
