Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

Gloucester county; thence down the said Branch and River to the Mouth thereof; thence to the next Inlet on the South side of Little Egg Harbour's most Southerly Inlet; thence along the Sea coast to the Line of Partition between East and West Jersey; thence along the said Line of Partition by Maidenhead and Hopewell to the Northermost and uttermost Bounds of the Township of Amwel; thence by the same to the River Delaware; thence by the River Delaware to the first mentioned station."

"Gloucester County begins at the Mouth of Pensauquin Creek; thence up the same to the Fork thereof; thence along the said Bounds of Burlington County to the Sea; thence along the Sea Coast to great Egg Harbor River; thence up the said River to the Fork thereof; thence up the Northermost and greatest Branch of the same to the Head thereof; thence upon a direct line to the Head of Oldman's Creek; thence down the same to Delaware River; thence up Delaware River to the Place of Beginning."

This Pensauquin Creek is now a part of the boundary line between Burlington and Camden; it still retains the same name with a slight change in the orthography, but not in its pronunciation. Oldman's Creek is a part of the division line between Gloucester and Salem. The name seems to be a favorite in West Jersey, as there is a township still called Oldman's, in Salem County.

"Salem County begins at the Mouth of a Creek on the West side of Stipson's Island, commonly called Jecak's Creek; thence up the same as high as the Tide floweth; thence upon a direct Line to the mouth of a small Creek at Tuckahoe, where it comes into the southermost Main Branch of the Fork of Great Egg Harbour River; thence up the said Branch to the Head thereof; thence along the Bounds of Gloucester County to Delaware River; thence down Delaware Bay and River to the Place of Beginning."

"Cape May County begins at the Mouth of a small Creek on the West side of Stipson's Island, called Jecak's Creek; thence up the said Creek as high as the Tide floweth; thence along the bounds of Salem County to the Southermost main Branch of Great Egg Harbour River; thence down the said River to the Sea; thence along the Sea Coast to Delaware Bay and so up the said Bay to the Place of Beginning" Jecak's Creek is now called West Creek and is a small stream running into the ocean, forming a part of the boundary line between Cape May and Cumberland

The same act which thus revised the boundaries of the several counties, also made provision for the administration of justice in Somerset. As that County was deemed to be too sparsely settled for independent courts of its own, it was placed under the jurisdiction of those of Middlesex, but jurors might be taken from either county "promiscuously" for the trial of any cause.

Every one of these nine counties was materially changed by subsequent legislation, as will hereafter appear. The descriptions as just given are the first, really definitely settled, by the Legislature—all of them were undoubtedly prepared with great care and were easily understood by those living at the time. The changes in the nomenclature of natural divisions may be traced by careful examination, but the lines between the farms of individuals must long since have been lost, and it will be exceedingly difficult to determine the bounds by refer ence to them.

The history, then, of the counties in New Jersey, at the time of the surrender, begins with nine counties; five in East Jersey and four in West Jersey. Although the whole colony was again, at that time, made one province and subject to the same Governor and Legislature, yet the division into East and West Jersey is still necessarily referred to, and has been constantly in dispute. Many of the counties impinged upon this boundary line and were dependent upon it for true descriptions. It was first established in the Quintipartite Deed dated July 1, 1676, and executed by Sir George Carteret, of the first part, William Penn, of the second part, Gawen Laury of the third part, Nicholas Lucas of the fourth part and Edward Billinge of the fifth part. These persons were then the owners, as tenants in common, of the whole colony, and by this deed they made a partition of it into East and West Jersey. This was the partition line which they settled, by the deed, should divide the two provinces; the description must be quoted entire so as to obtain its full significance: "From the East side of a certain Place or Harbour lying on Southern Part of the same Tract of Land and commonly called or known in a map of the said Tract of Land, by the Name of Little Egg Harbour, to that part of the said River called Hudson's River, which is in Forty-one Degrees of Lattitude being the furthermost part of the said Tract of Land and Premises which is bounded by the said River, and crossing over from thence in a strait Line extending from that part of Hudson's River aforesaid to the Northermost Branch or Part of the before mentioned River called Del

aware River, and to the most Northerly Point of Boundary of the said Tract of Land and Premises so granted by his Royal Highness James, Duke of York, unto the said Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, now by the Consent and Agreement of the said Parties to these Presents called and agreed to be called the North Partition Point, and from thence, that is to say from the said North Partition Point extending Southward by a strait and direct Line, drawn from the said North Partition Southward, thro' the said tract of land unto the most Southardly Point of the East side of Little Egg Harbour aforesaid; which said most Southardly Point of the East side of Little Egg Harbour is now by the Consent and Agreement of the said Parties to these Presents, called and agreed to be from henceforth called the South Partition Point: And which said strait and direct line drawn from the said North Partition Point thro' the said Tract of Land, unto the South Partition Point, is now by the Consent and Agreement of the said Parties to these Presents, called the line of Partition which is the Line hereinbefore mentioned to be intended by the said Consent and Agreement of the said Parties for the Dividing and making a Partition or Separation of the said Easterly Part, Share and Portion from the Westerly Part, Share and Portion of the said Tract of Land and Premises so conveyed by his said Royal Highness aforesaid." It would seem that there should have been no difficulty in determining this "Line of Partition "; there were two certain points designated between which the line was to be run, and it was to be a "strait and direct line."

Two Partition lines have been surveyed differing very materially; one by George Keith, in 1687, under the direction of the Proprietors of East Jersey. This was only extended to the Raritan River. On the 5th of September, 1688, an agreement was made between the Govern ors of the two provinces, Robert Barclay of East Jersey, and Daniel Coxe, of West Jersey, on the behalf of their respective Boards of Proprietors that "the line of partition run strait from little Egg Harbour to the most Westerly corner of John Dobie's plantation, as it stands on the south branch of Raritan River, shall be the bounds so far between East and West Jersey and shall not be altered." This was the line which George Keith ran, in 1687. The agreement then provided for a further continuation of the line in this manner: "From thence to run along the back of the adjoining plantations, until it comes to James Dundass, his plantation; and from thence, at the most north westerly part thereof, a line to lye down with a line on the back of these plant

ations and so to run North Eastward, till it touch the North branch of Rariton River as it is struck upon the map already; but saving the plantations already laid out, to be within the line, if they happen to stand a little more westerly than that line is marked. From the northward of the line, where it touches Rariton's north branch; thence forward the largest stream or current of water belonging to the said North branch, shall be the bound or partition; and so continuing along the same unto the north end thereof, for the bounds so far. From the said north end, a short straight line to touch the nearest point of Passaick River; and so following the course of that river, continuing Poquannick River so long as it runs Northerly or Northwesterly; these rivers still to be the bounds between both Provinces; and if Poquannick river do not run far enough to the latitude of forty one degrees, thence from the said river a strait line to be run northward to the latitude; and that to be the utmost north partition point, and from the said point in a strait line due East to the Partition point in Hudson's River between East Jersey and West Jersey." The line mentioned in this agreement was not at all in accordance with the Quintipartite deed, and much controversy originated between the Proprietors of the two divisions, which really, so far as can be judged by any records, was never settled. The Proprietors of West Jersey complained that by this line and the Keith line East Jersey would secure more than its due proportion of land, and that the part of the province which it obtained by the division was more valuable than the other, not only by reason of the richness and fertility of the soil, but by the fact that it contained larger towns and a greater number of inhabitants. A very serious question was raised as to the power of the Governors to bind the Proprietors of the province by the agreement.

On the 27th of March, 1719, an act was passed, the title to which fully explains its object. "An act for running and ascertaining the Line of Partition or Division between the Eastern and Western Divisions of the Province of New Jersey, and for preventing Disputes for the Future concerning the same; and for securing to the General Proprietors of the Soil of each of the Divisions, and Persons claiming under them, their several and respective Possessions, Rights and just Claims." This act is a long one, but is important in many respects and will aid greatly in settling the questions relative to the true line of Division. It declares by its first section: "That the said Line, that is to say, a strait and direct Line from the most Northerly Point or Boundary of

this Province of New Jersey on the northermost Branch on the River Delaware unto the most Southerly Point of a certain Beach or Island of sand, lying next and adjoining to the main Sea, on the North Side of the Mouth or Entrance of a certain Inlet, Bay or Harbour, commonly called and known by the name of Little Egg Harbour, is and shall forever hereafter remain and be the Line of Partition and Division betwixt the Eastern and Western Division of the Province." The law makes ample provision for establishing the rights of parties who may have located lands in such a manner as to be affected by a change of the line, so that if they have derived title from the wrong Board of Proprietors, their title shall nevertheless be assured to them. The Surveyors General of the two provinces were directed to keep public offices for their respective divisions, that for East Jersey, at Amboy and that for West Jersey, at Burlington. The Proprietors of each province were directed to raise the necessary funds to pay the expenses of running the line as fixed by this law. The obvious intent of the statute, apparent · all through its sections, was to establish a line of partition that would be satisfactory to all concerned and to make provision for any possible contingency that might arise, so that exact justice should be done to those interested in the settlement of the vexed question.

In 1743, a new line was run called the Lawrence line. But prior to that time, persons had located land in both provinces according to the Keith survey, and this led to difficulty and constant disputes. Much has been published on the subject of this partition line, but the well con sidered judgment of a competent court would tend more to settle the question than all the literature that could be written. In 1855, a suit was brought involving a large extent of land and in which the uncon troverted facts were such that the issue between the Keith and the Lawrence lines was fairly presented. Several thousand acres were claimed in an action of trespass; the Plaintiff claimed through a title derived from the East Jersey Proprietors, for land lying in the "Gore" between the two lines. The Defendant claimed through a title derived from the West Jersey Proprietors and also, through adverse possession for twenty years. The cause was tried at the Circuit before Justice Potts of the Supreme Court. He decided that the East Jersey title must prevail, but a verdict was rendered for the Defendant upon his claim of title arising from adverse possession. The Plaintiff brought at writ of error but, unfortunately, the question of the two titles could not be passed upon by the appellate court, as the Judge who tried the

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »