[398] --Other Fields
[399] ®61
_Thomas DUNHAM ______+
| (1622 - 1677) m 1646
_Jonathan DUNHAM ____|
| (1639 - 1706) m 1669|
| |_Martha KNOTT _______+
| (1633 - 1648) m 1646
|
|--Eunice DUNHAM
| (1667 - 1684)
| _Thomas BLOOMFIELD __+
| | (1617 - 1684) m 1640
|_Mary BLOOMFIELD ____|
(1642 - 1705) m 1669|
|_Mary WITHERS _______
(1620 - 1664) m 1640
_Jonathan MARSH ________+
| (1696 - 1779) m 1987
_John MARSH _________|
| (1738 - 1804) m 1762|
| |_Mary (Scudder) JEWELL _
| (1705 - 1805) m 1987
|
|--Nancy MARSH
| (1779 - 1830)
| ________________________
| |
|_Nancy SEARING ______|
(1738 - ....) m 1762|
|________________________
[584] --Other Fields
[585] SLGC: Date: 23 Jan 1991 Place: DENVE @03114859@ ®61
[284]
Through the use of material gathered from several libraries in New Jersey, the letters of Charles H. Meeker, Jr. and several history texts found available, the short historical sketch here presented was prepared. Dr. John E. Pomfret’s book
"The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702, (The Rebellious Proprietary)", written in 1962 was used primarily as a guide. Others used were: "The History of Elizabeth, New Jersey" by the Rev. Edwin Hatfield written in 1868;" As We Were, (The
Story of Old Elizabethtown)"", written in 1964 by Theodore Thayer; and "Newark" by the author John T. Cunningham, written in 1966.
[285]
In 1671, six years after the first settlement had been made, the people of Elizabeth, finding no satisfactory court in which to make an appeal, instituted the so called "Meaker Riot". The governor provided the opportunity by repeating for a
second time a highly questionable act of rewarding an indentured servant of his with a plot of ground which automatically bestowed upon the servant the status of an associate and freeman. The town membership held quite strongly to the notion
that they alone held that privilege, beside the land was evidently a part of the Indian Purchase of 1664. Hatfield in his History of Elizabeth, New Jersey states that "In the fundamental agreement of 1665/6 it had been agreed that none but the
people would determine who should be admitted as freeholders and Associates" and the the "governor had signed the agreement". Knowing that cattle and hogs pastured in the open so that none could farm without fences, several associates under
the leadership of Goodman William Meeker tore down part of the pole fence that surrounded a section of the gift. (Goodman was a title applied by the English to property owners). The event was highly emotional and violent. The owner was
supposed to have remonstrated and William Pardon, the disliked Justice of the Peace and the governor’s chief "toady" arrived on the scene to get in his provoking words of discord. That afternoon two other men, allegedly looking for a drink in
the neighborhood, ripped some of the shingles off of the servant’s house and pulled up a portion of the palisades that surrounded the garden letting in a drove of pigs that uprooted the vegetables.
[286]
The settlers and early residents of East New Jersey probably were the most obstinate and contentious of all the colonists in America. Although many troublesome issued did develop, it would seem that the primary course of conflict lay in the
high social tone of the settlers coupled with their peculiar land problem and the development of their democratic culture. Uniting as associates, and after clearing the matter with the ruling authorities in New York, they had bought their land
from the Indians prior to their entrance into the colony. The proprietors, on the other hand, in acquiring the rights as a gift from the (later) king of England laid claim to the same land and assumed over lordship even to the matter of the
government. Back in Connecticutt and on Long Island those same colonists had become accustomed to more or less governing themselves, electing their own governors and judges, but here in New Jersey they found themselves subjected to rich
absentee landlords. Governor Carteret, appointed by the proprietors, let the early Indian purchase stand but insisted that the proprietors must have part of the land and that all msut pay quitrents (half a cent an acre). To those freeborn
Englishmen, descendants of knights, gentlemen and property owners, this appearance of peonage must have been most degrading and humiliating. The proprietors had control of the course and acted accordingly, the colonists countered, as jurors,
by finding against the judge regardless of the justice involved; and in time jail breaks and violence were to occur openly and with the connivance of the population in general.
[287]
Nine months later, the eight rioters were brought to trial. Thayer in his history text, As We Were, asserts that "never before had Elizabethtown been in such an uproar". The judges were hand picked by the governor and not a jury man was from
Elizabeth or Newark. The defendants, intentionally in contempt of court walked out before the proceedings were over and refused to pay their fines. The Marshall of the Court who was assigned to levy on their household goods and livestock,
dared not do so in the presence of the angry populace and no effort was ever made to collect the fines.
[288]
At this time another event was developing which Pomfret in his history, The Province of East New Jersey, calls the "Rebellion of 1672", an affair in which Goodman Meeker, then constable, became a prominent participant. A Captain James
Carteret, son of the leading proprietor, on his way to filling an appointment as on of the "hereditary nobles" of Carolina, stopped to visit in New Jersey. According to Pomfret he was elected in an illegal and revolutionary meeting of the
general assembly of the colony to be the "president of the Province". Governor Carteret was forced to flee Elizabeth, the capital, but did send William Pardon, his staunchest supporter, back to read a proclamation of reprisal. As Captain
Carteret had issued a warrant for Pardon’s arrest, Constable Meeker put him in jail (one wonders what he used for a jail). Pardon escaped, but the constable caught and re-jailed him. Escaping again, perhaps allowed to do so, he got out of
town and the township. Using a warrant issued by John Ogden, a magistrate, attaching Pardon’s personal estate, Goodman Meeker aided by four deputies broke into Pardon’s home during his forced absence, confiscated his livestock, some of his
household goods and five acres of peas. Later someone ripped some of the shingles off of the side of his house. It was this episode that go Goodman Meeker into his most serious trouble.
[289]
This rebellion had lasted about six moths when the governor of New York received instruction from the Duke of York, back in England, to see that the folk of New Jersey got back in obedience and Captain Carteret received notice from his father
to move on to Carolina. Before Governor Carteret could get back from England where he had gone to plead his mistreatment, the acting governor, Berry, brought Goodman Meeker to trial in a court no doubt properly fixed for that purpose. In all,
Pardon received five hundred acres of land from the proprietors (likely questionable in the eyes of the associates as to whether it belonged to the proprietors to give), and in addition obtained the home, land, and personal belongings of
Goodman Meeker. ®20
_Isaac NOE __________
| (1705 - 1777) m 1987
_Marsh NOE __________|
| (1733 - 1793) m 1760|
| |_Sarah MARSH ________
| (1712 - 1777) m 1987
|
|--Ann NOE
| (1742 - ....)
| _____________________
| |
|_Ann FREEMAN ________|
(1728 - ....) m 1760|
|_____________________
[806] --Other Fields
[807] ®61
__
|
_Edward WILKINSON ___|
| (1657 - ....) |
| |__
|
|
|--Dr. James WILKINSON ®58
|
| __
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__