EARTHBOUND
West New Jersey
The history of West New Jersey is deeply intertwined with the early colonial development and the Quaker influence that shaped much of the region.
The GRANT of 1680-WESTERN NEW JERSEY The Duke of York's Second Grant to William Penn, Gawn Lawry, Nicholas Lucas, John Eldridge, Edmund Warner, and Edward Byllynge, for the Soil and Government of West New Jersey -- August 6, 1680.] THIS INDENTURE made the sixth day of August, Anno Domini, 1680, and in the two and thirtieth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, over England, &c. between his Royal Highness, James Duke of York, and Albany, Earl of Ulster, &c. and brother to our Sovereign Lord the King, of the one part; Edward Byllynge of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, gentleman; William Penn, late of Rickmansworth, in the county of Hertford, and now of Warminghurst, in the county Sussex, Esq; Gawen Lawry, of London, merchant; Nicholas Lucas, of Hartford, in the said county of Hertford, maulster, John Eldridge, of St. Pauls Shadwell, in the County of Middlesex, tanner, and Edmond Warner, citizen of London, of the other part. For the consideration therein mentioned, grant and convey the said tract of land unto John Lord Berkley, Baron of Stratton, and the remainder of the same unto the said John Lord Berkley, and Sir George Carteret, and convey all his full and undivided moiety unto John Fenwick, Esq; and by the said John Fenwick owned to be in trust for the said Edward Byllynge, his heirs and assigns for ever. Edward Byllynge did convey the said undivided moiety of the premises, unto William Penn, Gawen Lawry, and Nicholas Lucas to the uses following, (that is to say) as to ten equal and undivided hundred parts thereof .
- 1664 - King Charles II grants lands from the Hudson River to the Delaware River to his brother James, the Duke of York. The Duke of York names as proprietors of his lands John, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, who each had served as Royalist military leaders to restore the monarchy under Charles II.
- England seizes New Netherland, which surrenders after James, the Duke of York, orders Colonel Richard Nicolls to lead 300 soldiers from four warships to invade Long Island and Brooklyn. Peter Stuyvesant signs articles of surrender under which Dutch settlers are promised fair treatment and protection of their property under British rule. In the following year, Nieuw Amsterdam is reincorporated under British law and renamed New York City.
- Without knowledge of the grant to Berkeley and Carteret, Colonel Nicolls grants lands to settlers, creating a cloud on New Jersey land titles which would continue well into the next century.
- Philip Carteret, a cousin of George Carteret, named first proprietary governor.
- Lands known as Elizabethtown Tract, site of future settlement of Elizabethtown (Elizabeth), purchased from Lenapes by Englishmen Daniel Denton, John Baily, and Luke Watson.
- 1665 - Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret sign Concessions and Agreement establishing government for the colony of New Jersey and promising religious freedom and right to elect an assembly to encourage settlement.
- 1666 - Robert Treat, a former governor of the Connecticut colony, leads a group of other Puritans from Connecticut to found Newark, a name adapted from the Bible's reference to the "New Ark of the Covenant." The town continues to be governed under Puritan religious rules into the next century.
- 1668 - First Assembly meeting held in Elizabethtown, but townships of Middletown and Shrewsbury reject its resolution to order payment of quitrents to the proprietors and declare their independence, electing James Carteret as their leader.
- 1672 - James Carteret, son of Sir George Carteret, arrives in New Jersey and is elected governor by rebellious townships of Middletown and Shrewsbury. Philip Carteret departs for England, to consult Sir George Carteret and seek support from the English government.
- 1674 - Philip Carteret returns from England with "Declarations" of British government reaffirming rights of proprietors to collect quitrents; restricting rights of settlers to self-government; and denying recognition of land titles claimed through grants from Colonel Nicolls.
- 1673 - Dutch reconquer New York and New Jersey, but British regain control pursuant to a treaty between the two countries signed in February 1674.
- 1674 - Quakers Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick buy West Jersey from Lord Berkeley.
- 1675 - John Fenwick establishes a Quaker colony at New Salem in West Jersey
- 1676 - A group of Quakers led by William Penn, Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick execute a deed with Sir George Carteret known as the “Quintipartite Deed,” in which New Jersey was divided into two parts, the Province of East Jersey being taken by Carteret and the Province of West Jersey by the Quakers . The boundary line runs diagonally from the Atlantic coast at Little Egg Harbor northwest to the Delaware Water Gap.
- 1680 - New Jersey's first slaves bought for a plantation in Shrewsbury.
- Sir George Carteret dies. Following his death, New York Governor Edmund Andros attempts to assert authority over East Jersey, seizes Governor Phillip Carteret and brings him to trial in New York, but Carteret is acquitted.
- 1687 - Edward Byllinge dies, and his heirs sell his interest in West New Jersey, including the right of government, to Daniel Coxe, a physician to the Queen of Charles II and afterward to Queen Anne.
- 1692 - Dr. Daniel Coxe, West Jersey's largest landowner, sells certain land rights including the right to govern 577,000 acres to the the West Jersey Society, a land speculation company with most of its shareholders in Britain.
- 1697 - Sixty-five residents of Elizabethtown petition the Crown to abolish the proprietary government and unite East Jersey with West Jersey.