HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY (Published 1903-1904)
WILLIAMS FAMILY
It is a family tradition, that Matthew Williams, progenitor of the Williams family came from Wales, about 1630,
that he sailed from Glasgow that he made the acquaintance of a Scottish girl on shipboard, and that she became
his wife.
He settled in Weatherfield, Conn., as stated in Savages Genealogical Dictionary. He had a son, Amos born in
1645; Matthew, born in 1647, and died young; another son, Matthew born in 1651; and Samuel,born in 1653.
This son Matthew came to Newark and was admitted a planter by a vote of the town, -Nov.29, 1680, fourteen
years after the first settlement of Newark, when he was twenty-nine years old; he had no trade, and was written
down as "yeoman." It is probable that his brothers Amos and Samuel, one or both, came to Newark also about
the same time, but there is no record on this point except that the name of Amos appears among the grand
jurors of Essex County in 1700 and among the signers to the agreement to the third Indian purchase of over
mountain lands in 1701, on which lands he may have ,settled and became the progenitor of the Williams' of the
Northfield region (now Livingston). He may have been the father of David Williams, lieutenant in a troop of
horse, who purchased half of the Anthony Olive farm May 18, 1726 (of Jonathan Lindsley who bought the
same of Peleg Shores), and in 1730 bought the other half.
According to the records, Matthew received the customary allotment of land in Newark, in the neighborhood of
High and Hill Streets (see town map of 1806) and outlands at the mountain bounded probably by a line
beginning on Wigwam Brook, at the mill dam, running west up the ravine to the mountaintop; thence north
along the crest to a fault or off-set a little south of Eagle Rock; thence east to Wigwam Brook and south to place
of beginning, containing forty or fifty acres In 1685 the heirs of George Day had set off to them by W. Camp
surveyor sixty acres bounded with the mountain, west; Matthew Williams, south Wigwam Brook east and the
Common, north provided they pay the purchase for their lands as others have done."
In 1688-89 George Day exchanged lands with Matthew Williams the latter parting with a dwelling house, shop,
other edifices and orchard and lands near Newark, and receiving two tracts at the mountain one bounded east
by Wigwam Brook and the other on Parrow's Brook. For some reason the lands near Eagle Rock so acquired
were known to the later descendants as the David Day fields.
Matthew had four sons, Amos, born 1690 Matthew, born 1695; Gershom, born (about) 1698 and Thomas, born
1701, the last, said to be the first white child born in Orange. Also daughters; Joanna, born 1680, married John
Condit (their wedding is said to be the first in Orange) ; Jemima, born 1686, married Samuel Harrison; Rebecca,
born (?)-, married Joseph Hedden; Ruth, born 1708, died 1724.
Some time previous to the birth of Thomas (1701) and after the birth of Matthew, Jr., (1695), the elder Matthew
moved to his mountain lands, and built a dwelling on the south side of' Eagle Rock road, near where the
mountain stream unites with Wigwam Brook, at that time a dense wilderness, inhabited only by bears, wolves
and panther (alias cougar or puma for whose destruction bounties were offered as late as 1751. )
Garven Lawrie writes to the proprietors in 1684 from Elizabethtown:
"Here wants nothing but people. There is not a poor body in the provinces nor that wants. Here is abundance
of provisions, pork and beef at two pence per pound fish and fowl plenty, oysters, I think, would serve all
England. Indian wheat (maize) two and six pence per bushel; it is exceeding good for food every way and two
or three hundred fold increase; cider good and plenty for one penny per quart, good venison plenty brought its
for eighteen pence per quarter, eggs at three pence per dozen, land very good as ever I saw, vines, walnuts,
peaches, strawberries and many other things plenty in the woods."
And yet with all this abundance and cheapness of beef, the story goes that the tract of land bounded by
Washington Street, Harrison A venue, Bloomfield road and Dodd Street, on which Rosedale Cemetery is
located, say four miles around it, and containing six hundred and forty acres was sold for ten cows and a bull,
which would indicate that land was plenty
and cheap also. Lawrie describes the mode of building thus: " They build with cloven timber, eight or ten inches
broad like planks, one end on the ground and the other nailed to the raising, which they plaster within."
Whether Matthew built in this way or with logs we have no knowledge, but timber was plenty for any style of
architecture. His son "Matthew was a mason by trade, and it is probable that the stone house, erected about
1720, on the north side of the road and stream (where Mr. Bramhall now owns), was built by him or with his
assistance, as he was then about twenty-five years of age.
This house was built of quarried stone, disposed to crumble, say twenty-five feet front and twenty-eight fleet
deep, one and a half stories high; a clumsy chimney, like a stone fence, set on end; a roomy garret, containing a
large grain bin, with a spout at the bottom to draw off the contents; two small windows in the front of the
house, and an entry eight feet wide across the eastern end,-a cavernous and gloomy house, but comfortable and
secure. It was demolished about 1822, and at that time looked as though it was one hundred years old. It was
then replaced by a frame structure, still standing, by Zenas, a great grandson of the elder Matthew.
The headstone of Matthew, in the old burying ground at Orange, shows that be died Nov. 12, 1732, aged
eighty-one years. The memorial of his wife, Ruth, is also to be seen. She died July, 1724, in her sixty-seventh
year.
The following is a copy of a paper explanatory of itself:
"TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
Be it known that, Whereas:
Gershom Williams, Amos Williams, Matthew Williams and Thomas Williams of Newark &c., am under
obligation mutually and joyntly to stand by and for each other in the maintaining securing and defending such
right and property of lands as they and each of them have and hold, of, by, from and under their Hon'rd father
Matthew Williams of Newark, &c., deceased, &c. These presents now show and declare that Amos Williams his
heirs and executors and administrators, above said, is hereby released and discharged from the obligation above
said, so far as it may concern or
have respect unto the right, interest and property of the above said Gershom Williams, his heirs executors and
administrators over or above the mountain.
In witness whereof the said Gershom Williams hath hereunto met his hand and seal, this thirteenth day of
March, In the eleventh year of his Majesties Reign, Anno Dom. 1738.
GERSHOM WILLIAMS. [L. S.]
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of
JOHN DOD,
her
JEMIMA X DOD."
mark.
After the death of Matthew, in 1732, Amos reigned in his (home) stead. Thomas seems to have occupied the
lands south side of Eagle Rock road, where some of his descendants live to this day. Gershom and descendants
occupied lands from the corner of Valley and Washington Streets, with some intervals, down to the corner of
North Park Street, and Matthew, Jr., from Day Street to Park Street, both families remaining to this day.
Amos was a cooper by trade, also a justice of the peace. He married Mary Nutman, daughter of James Nutman,
whose name appears in Newark in
1695. James Nutman came from Edinburgh, Scotland. His second wife was Sarah daughter of Rev. John Pruden,
of First Church, Newark. This James Nutman seems to have been concerned in the third Indian purchase of
over-the-mountain lands in 1701, and for love and affection, deeded one
hundred acres of it to his son-in-law, Amos Williams (see old deed). He
died March 8, 1731, aged seventy-seven years. His will names John,
Samuel, James, Isaac, Ephraim, Abigail. Mary Williams and Hannah Sargeant. His son, Rev. John Nutman
married Mehetable Mitchell; was pastor of the church at Whippany, and died September, 1751, aged forty-
eight years. His will names (no children of his own) Nathaniel, James, Benjamin and Sarah, children of his
sister, Mary Williams; Phebe, child of sister Abigail Tuttle; Rachel, child of sister, Rachel Eagles the children of
his brother Isaac, (deceased), and of his sister Hannah Sargeant,
(deceased), and gives ten pounds to Hanover Church. The name of Amos
Williams appears in Newark town records as surveyor of highways in 1737-38; assessor in 1741-42. He died in
1754, aged sixty-four years. His children were -Nathaniel, 1733; Benjamin, 1740; and Sarah, second wife of
Joseph Dodd, born in 1742. Enos, James and another Sarah died young.
Nathaniel married Sarah Pierson, and lived in the old homestead. He learned the cooper's trade of his father
who desired him in his will to instruct his brother Benjamin, then fourteen years of age, in the same trade,
which he did. Township records say he was overseer of highways in 1756. His children were Zenas, Amos,
James, John, Uzal and Nathaniel.
After Benjamin became of age he took, by his father's will the upper part of the farm, then a wilderness, and
commenced clearing and building a home. The brothers built a dam and erected a saw-mill on Wigwam Brook
about 1760 or '70. Benjamin married, first, Elizabeth Condit, who soon died, leaving a daughter Elizabeth. He
then married Phebe, daughter of Caleb Crane, Esq.
When the Revolutionary war broke out, the brother together with their uncle, James Nutman, for good and
sufficient reason thereunto them moving, espoused the unpopular English side. James Nutman was imprisoned
in Morristown and Sussex County jails by the Committee of Safety. Nathaniel went to New York. His wife
petitioned the Committee of Safety not to be sent to her husband, but asked to be allowed to remain with her
children at home. He died there in 1782, of smallpox. His property was confiscated but as his action was the
result of an honest opinion, there was no personal ill-will against him by his former neighbors, but rather
sympathy for his family and at the sale no one would bid against the widow. His son Amos went to
Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, where he ended his days, leaving children.
Benjamin took out a written protection from a British officer, which, owing to the situation of the opposing
armies, could have been of but little value.
At the last moment by law allowed he was induced by his father-in-law to take the oath of allegiance to the new
government and save his property, but he never surrendered his convictions. He always said that "the
Declaration of Independence was as big a lie as was ever written" and would never accept an office under the
new government, although
prominent as a business man.
After the war of the Revolution he acquired considerable real estate, started a tan-yard, built a bark mill, carding
mill, distillery currying-shop and cider mill. Among other lands, he purchased the Co!. Peter Schuyler farm
(Schuyler's daughter, Catherine, married Capt. Kennedy). This farm was next north above Gen. Philip Kearny's
place, over the river, above Newark, at what was then known as Barbadoes Neck.
The old man finished his last barrel while a grandchild held the candle, for the day was too short, and It I will
never make another" he said. Now and then his stooping form may be seen, walking with feeble step over the
fields, leaning on his cane, and followed by his faithful dog, Ponto, or he reads the New York Spectator and
New Jersey Eagle
He has made half a dozen mills and outlived them all. He makes a social call on his cousin, son of Matthew Jr.,
who is about the same age. Their children have intermarried-Capt. Tom, the patriot; Governor Ben, the
loyalist,-a busy stormy life of over eighty years; each has exhausted his energies. and they live their eventful
lives over again; they differ, the dim eyes flash, the indomitable old Welsh blood is up; ah! but it is all blown
over; blood is thicker than water; they part with mutual respect.
Another scene. A winter night; the hospitable kitchen fire-place piled high with blazing logs; one by one the
neighbors drop in, till the semicircle is full. Among them sits the Governor,
"His head all silvered o'er with age, And long experience made him sage."
A cloud of smoke rolling up from white clay pipes and hissing backlog goes mingling, flaming, roaring up the
huge-throated chimney. They talk of observation days, l11th 12th, 13th of November o. S. ; that new cider mill
and press the Harrisons, Baldwins, and Dodds are introducing will never do; the Morris Canal, some day we
will be taxed to fill up the big ditch; some folks are trying to use stoves to cook with; they are trying to banish
liquors from the sideboard, forming temperance societies, going to quit making cider, abolish distilleries, cut
down orchards; the Methodists are going crazy with revivals, -the Presbyterians, too; they say -New York is
going to sink; Gen. Lafayette is
coming: " bury me plainly," says the old man. He died in September, 1826 aged eighty-seven years. The
following children lived, married and had children: Caleb. Enos, Josiah, Phebe, Benjamin, Samuel, Amos,
Alethea, Philip, James and Mary Elizabeth.
His son Benjamin inherited the homestead, and married Joanna, daughter of his cousin Zenas, and died in 1842,
aged sixty-six years. The
homestead of 1680-1700 is part of it, still in the Williams family, and
three generations left for future record. The whole family history in all
its branches would spread out to such an extent as to be
unsuited for this volume; hence the necessity of following it by a single thread in its later details. Will some
future historian "gather up the fragments that nothing be lost," before it is too late?
In a record of two hundred years we find very few instances of official life in the family. One colonel, one
captain, three lawyer, an occasional justice of the peace, two doctors, two clergymen, some few deacons, some
mechanics (good ones). Mostly the Williams' occupy the post of honor known as private citizens.
" He that holds fast the golden mean,
And lives contentedly between
The little and the great,
Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Embittering all his state."
Within the family were several blacks, always well treated, sharing with the family its hardships and comforts,
never punished, but treated like men and brothers. If one ventured to run away and seek his fortune by his
own efforts, he was not pursued and brought back, but counted as among the foolish ones. Elsewhere in this
chapter is a receipt from
Schuyler Colfax for" $200 in part payment of negro man Charles." Notice that he is not called a slave; neither
was he considered so. The Schuyler Colfax mentioned lived near Pompton Plains, and was the grandfather of
our late Vice-President of same name. Abraham Williams, who took the money to New York and brought back
the receipt, married a daughter of Mr. Colfax; hence his appearance in the transaction.
One striking feature, apparent at a glance, is the number of men in the family. This enabled the fathers to secure,
clear up and cultivate much land, build houses, and carry on the different industries mentioned. Time has
effaced nearly every evidence of the busy shops which clustered in the Comer along the banks of the Wigwam
Brook. They exist to-day only in the memories of the sexagenarians.
Much of the, real estate, though divided among the children, and subdivided among the children's children, and
less some sold, still remains in the family.
The first coach that ever came to Orange was said to have belonged to Benjamin Williams, the" Old Governor,"
as he was familiarly called. This was used by him and his family many years in attending Trinity Church,
Newark.
The First Episcopal Church services in this vicinity were held in his house, and many of his children and
children of the neighbors were there baptized. When St. Mark's Church, Orange, was organized his children
took an active part, and contributed largely, as will-be seen by a perusal of St. Mark's, history.
Essex County's Last Slave.
Anthony Thompson, the oldest and best-known colored man in the Oranges, died at his residence, at the
junction of Washington Street and Eagle Rock Avenue, Tory Corner. West Orange,--on Tuesday night, Aug.
1884. He was the last of the old slaves of Essex County, and died of old age and a complication of troubles.
Uncle Anthony, as all his neighbors called him. was a tall, powerfully built ma_ of great strength and
endurance. His great- grandmother was the queen of an African tribe and his grandmother, when
a young girl, was stolen, with a number of others, by a slave trader and brought to this country. Uncle
Anthony was born in Raritan, Somerset Co., in 1798, his mother being a slave in the family of Rev. Dr. Philip
Duryee, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of that place. Two of Dominie Duryee's grandsons, John G. and
Joseph D. Harrison, are now living and carry on the flour and feed business at No. 502 Broad Street, Newark.
While Uncle Anthony was a baby, Dominie Duryee sold out and removed to Little Falls (now Passaic County),
and Anthony's mother was sold to one David Still, Anthony being sold with her. About a year after Anthony
and his mother were sold to Samuel M. Ward, of Crane town (now Montclair.) They lived with Mr. Ward until
the latter's death, in 1822. In his will Mr. Ward gave Anthony his freedom, but requested he should remain
with Mrs. Ward until her death. She died in September, 1828, and Anthony, being then twenty-four years of
age, was his own master. His mother was too old to begin life anew, and was a town charge. In those days the
poor were sold off to whoever bid the lowest price for taking care of them.
Anthony, though he was just starting out in life bought his mother for one hundred dollars, took her home
and cared for her until her death in a most filial and kindly manner. In 1828 he moved to Orange and bought a
little place on Washington Street, East Orange. He lived there till 1833, when he bought the place where he
ended his days.
WILLIAMS FAMILY
It is a family tradition, that Matthew Williams, progenitor of the Williams family came from Wales, about 1630,
that he sailed from Glasgow that he made the acquaintance of a Scottish girl on shipboard, and that she became
his wife.
He settled in Weatherfield, Conn., as stated in Savages Genealogical Dictionary. He had a son, Amos born in
1645; Matthew, born in 1647, and died young; another son, Matthew born in 1651; and Samuel,born in 1653.
This son Matthew came to Newark and was admitted a planter by a vote of the town, -Nov.29, 1680, fourteen
years after the first settlement of Newark, when he was twenty-nine years old; he had no trade, and was written
down as "yeoman." It is probable that his brothers Amos and Samuel, one or both, came to Newark also about
the same time, but there is no record on this point except that the name of Amos appears among the grand
jurors of Essex County in 1700 and among the signers to the agreement to the third Indian purchase of over
mountain lands in 1701, on which lands he may have ,settled and became the progenitor of the Williams' of the
Northfield region (now Livingston). He may have been the father of David Williams, lieutenant in a troop of
horse, who purchased half of the Anthony Olive farm May 18, 1726 (of Jonathan Lindsley who bought the
same of Peleg Shores), and in 1730 bought the other half.
According to the records, Matthew received the customary allotment of land in Newark, in the neighborhood of
High and Hill Streets (see town map of 1806) and outlands at the mountain bounded probably by a line
beginning on Wigwam Brook, at the mill dam, running west up the ravine to the mountaintop; thence north
along the crest to a fault or off-set a little south of Eagle Rock; thence east to Wigwam Brook and south to place
of beginning, containing forty or fifty acres In 1685 the heirs of George Day had set off to them by W. Camp
surveyor sixty acres bounded with the mountain, west; Matthew Williams, south Wigwam Brook east and the
Common, north provided they pay the purchase for their lands as others have done."
In 1688-89 George Day exchanged lands with Matthew Williams the latter parting with a dwelling house, shop,
other edifices and orchard and lands near Newark, and receiving two tracts at the mountain one bounded east
by Wigwam Brook and the other on Parrow's Brook. For some reason the lands near Eagle Rock so acquired
were known to the later descendants as the David Day fields.
Matthew had four sons, Amos, born 1690 Matthew, born 1695; Gershom, born (about) 1698 and Thomas, born
1701, the last, said to be the first white child born in Orange. Also daughters; Joanna, born 1680, married John
Condit (their wedding is said to be the first in Orange) ; Jemima, born 1686, married Samuel Harrison; Rebecca,
born (?)-, married Joseph Hedden; Ruth, born 1708, died 1724.
Some time previous to the birth of Thomas (1701) and after the birth of Matthew, Jr., (1695), the elder Matthew
moved to his mountain lands, and built a dwelling on the south side of' Eagle Rock road, near where the
mountain stream unites with Wigwam Brook, at that time a dense wilderness, inhabited only by bears, wolves
and panther (alias cougar or puma for whose destruction bounties were offered as late as 1751. )
Garven Lawrie writes to the proprietors in 1684 from Elizabethtown:
"Here wants nothing but people. There is not a poor body in the provinces nor that wants. Here is abundance
of provisions, pork and beef at two pence per pound fish and fowl plenty, oysters, I think, would serve all
England. Indian wheat (maize) two and six pence per bushel; it is exceeding good for food every way and two
or three hundred fold increase; cider good and plenty for one penny per quart, good venison plenty brought its
for eighteen pence per quarter, eggs at three pence per dozen, land very good as ever I saw, vines, walnuts,
peaches, strawberries and many other things plenty in the woods."
And yet with all this abundance and cheapness of beef, the story goes that the tract of land bounded by
Washington Street, Harrison A venue, Bloomfield road and Dodd Street, on which Rosedale Cemetery is
located, say four miles around it, and containing six hundred and forty acres was sold for ten cows and a bull,
which would indicate that land was plenty
and cheap also. Lawrie describes the mode of building thus: " They build with cloven timber, eight or ten inches
broad like planks, one end on the ground and the other nailed to the raising, which they plaster within."
Whether Matthew built in this way or with logs we have no knowledge, but timber was plenty for any style of
architecture. His son "Matthew was a mason by trade, and it is probable that the stone house, erected about
1720, on the north side of the road and stream (where Mr. Bramhall now owns), was built by him or with his
assistance, as he was then about twenty-five years of age.
This house was built of quarried stone, disposed to crumble, say twenty-five feet front and twenty-eight fleet
deep, one and a half stories high; a clumsy chimney, like a stone fence, set on end; a roomy garret, containing a
large grain bin, with a spout at the bottom to draw off the contents; two small windows in the front of the
house, and an entry eight feet wide across the eastern end,-a cavernous and gloomy house, but comfortable and
secure. It was demolished about 1822, and at that time looked as though it was one hundred years old. It was
then replaced by a frame structure, still standing, by Zenas, a great grandson of the elder Matthew.
The headstone of Matthew, in the old burying ground at Orange, shows that be died Nov. 12, 1732, aged
eighty-one years. The memorial of his wife, Ruth, is also to be seen. She died July, 1724, in her sixty-seventh
year.
The following is a copy of a paper explanatory of itself:
"TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
Be it known that, Whereas:
Gershom Williams, Amos Williams, Matthew Williams and Thomas Williams of Newark &c., am under
obligation mutually and joyntly to stand by and for each other in the maintaining securing and defending such
right and property of lands as they and each of them have and hold, of, by, from and under their Hon'rd father
Matthew Williams of Newark, &c., deceased, &c. These presents now show and declare that Amos Williams his
heirs and executors and administrators, above said, is hereby released and discharged from the obligation above
said, so far as it may concern or
have respect unto the right, interest and property of the above said Gershom Williams, his heirs executors and
administrators over or above the mountain.
In witness whereof the said Gershom Williams hath hereunto met his hand and seal, this thirteenth day of
March, In the eleventh year of his Majesties Reign, Anno Dom. 1738.
GERSHOM WILLIAMS. [L. S.]
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of
JOHN DOD,
her
JEMIMA X DOD."
mark.
After the death of Matthew, in 1732, Amos reigned in his (home) stead. Thomas seems to have occupied the
lands south side of Eagle Rock road, where some of his descendants live to this day. Gershom and descendants
occupied lands from the corner of Valley and Washington Streets, with some intervals, down to the corner of
North Park Street, and Matthew, Jr., from Day Street to Park Street, both families remaining to this day.
Amos was a cooper by trade, also a justice of the peace. He married Mary Nutman, daughter of James Nutman,
whose name appears in Newark in
1695. James Nutman came from Edinburgh, Scotland. His second wife was Sarah daughter of Rev. John Pruden,
of First Church, Newark. This James Nutman seems to have been concerned in the third Indian purchase of
over-the-mountain lands in 1701, and for love and affection, deeded one
hundred acres of it to his son-in-law, Amos Williams (see old deed). He
died March 8, 1731, aged seventy-seven years. His will names John,
Samuel, James, Isaac, Ephraim, Abigail. Mary Williams and Hannah Sargeant. His son, Rev. John Nutman
married Mehetable Mitchell; was pastor of the church at Whippany, and died September, 1751, aged forty-
eight years. His will names (no children of his own) Nathaniel, James, Benjamin and Sarah, children of his
sister, Mary Williams; Phebe, child of sister Abigail Tuttle; Rachel, child of sister, Rachel Eagles the children of
his brother Isaac, (deceased), and of his sister Hannah Sargeant,
(deceased), and gives ten pounds to Hanover Church. The name of Amos
Williams appears in Newark town records as surveyor of highways in 1737-38; assessor in 1741-42. He died in
1754, aged sixty-four years. His children were -Nathaniel, 1733; Benjamin, 1740; and Sarah, second wife of
Joseph Dodd, born in 1742. Enos, James and another Sarah died young.
Nathaniel married Sarah Pierson, and lived in the old homestead. He learned the cooper's trade of his father
who desired him in his will to instruct his brother Benjamin, then fourteen years of age, in the same trade,
which he did. Township records say he was overseer of highways in 1756. His children were Zenas, Amos,
James, John, Uzal and Nathaniel.
After Benjamin became of age he took, by his father's will the upper part of the farm, then a wilderness, and
commenced clearing and building a home. The brothers built a dam and erected a saw-mill on Wigwam Brook
about 1760 or '70. Benjamin married, first, Elizabeth Condit, who soon died, leaving a daughter Elizabeth. He
then married Phebe, daughter of Caleb Crane, Esq.
When the Revolutionary war broke out, the brother together with their uncle, James Nutman, for good and
sufficient reason thereunto them moving, espoused the unpopular English side. James Nutman was imprisoned
in Morristown and Sussex County jails by the Committee of Safety. Nathaniel went to New York. His wife
petitioned the Committee of Safety not to be sent to her husband, but asked to be allowed to remain with her
children at home. He died there in 1782, of smallpox. His property was confiscated but as his action was the
result of an honest opinion, there was no personal ill-will against him by his former neighbors, but rather
sympathy for his family and at the sale no one would bid against the widow. His son Amos went to
Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, where he ended his days, leaving children.
Benjamin took out a written protection from a British officer, which, owing to the situation of the opposing
armies, could have been of but little value.
At the last moment by law allowed he was induced by his father-in-law to take the oath of allegiance to the new
government and save his property, but he never surrendered his convictions. He always said that "the
Declaration of Independence was as big a lie as was ever written" and would never accept an office under the
new government, although
prominent as a business man.
After the war of the Revolution he acquired considerable real estate, started a tan-yard, built a bark mill, carding
mill, distillery currying-shop and cider mill. Among other lands, he purchased the Co!. Peter Schuyler farm
(Schuyler's daughter, Catherine, married Capt. Kennedy). This farm was next north above Gen. Philip Kearny's
place, over the river, above Newark, at what was then known as Barbadoes Neck.
The old man finished his last barrel while a grandchild held the candle, for the day was too short, and It I will
never make another" he said. Now and then his stooping form may be seen, walking with feeble step over the
fields, leaning on his cane, and followed by his faithful dog, Ponto, or he reads the New York Spectator and
New Jersey Eagle
He has made half a dozen mills and outlived them all. He makes a social call on his cousin, son of Matthew Jr.,
who is about the same age. Their children have intermarried-Capt. Tom, the patriot; Governor Ben, the
loyalist,-a busy stormy life of over eighty years; each has exhausted his energies. and they live their eventful
lives over again; they differ, the dim eyes flash, the indomitable old Welsh blood is up; ah! but it is all blown
over; blood is thicker than water; they part with mutual respect.
Another scene. A winter night; the hospitable kitchen fire-place piled high with blazing logs; one by one the
neighbors drop in, till the semicircle is full. Among them sits the Governor,
"His head all silvered o'er with age, And long experience made him sage."
A cloud of smoke rolling up from white clay pipes and hissing backlog goes mingling, flaming, roaring up the
huge-throated chimney. They talk of observation days, l11th 12th, 13th of November o. S. ; that new cider mill
and press the Harrisons, Baldwins, and Dodds are introducing will never do; the Morris Canal, some day we
will be taxed to fill up the big ditch; some folks are trying to use stoves to cook with; they are trying to banish
liquors from the sideboard, forming temperance societies, going to quit making cider, abolish distilleries, cut
down orchards; the Methodists are going crazy with revivals, -the Presbyterians, too; they say -New York is
going to sink; Gen. Lafayette is
coming: " bury me plainly," says the old man. He died in September, 1826 aged eighty-seven years. The
following children lived, married and had children: Caleb. Enos, Josiah, Phebe, Benjamin, Samuel, Amos,
Alethea, Philip, James and Mary Elizabeth.
His son Benjamin inherited the homestead, and married Joanna, daughter of his cousin Zenas, and died in 1842,
aged sixty-six years. The
homestead of 1680-1700 is part of it, still in the Williams family, and
three generations left for future record. The whole family history in all
its branches would spread out to such an extent as to be
unsuited for this volume; hence the necessity of following it by a single thread in its later details. Will some
future historian "gather up the fragments that nothing be lost," before it is too late?
In a record of two hundred years we find very few instances of official life in the family. One colonel, one
captain, three lawyer, an occasional justice of the peace, two doctors, two clergymen, some few deacons, some
mechanics (good ones). Mostly the Williams' occupy the post of honor known as private citizens.
" He that holds fast the golden mean,
And lives contentedly between
The little and the great,
Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Embittering all his state."
Within the family were several blacks, always well treated, sharing with the family its hardships and comforts,
never punished, but treated like men and brothers. If one ventured to run away and seek his fortune by his
own efforts, he was not pursued and brought back, but counted as among the foolish ones. Elsewhere in this
chapter is a receipt from
Schuyler Colfax for" $200 in part payment of negro man Charles." Notice that he is not called a slave; neither
was he considered so. The Schuyler Colfax mentioned lived near Pompton Plains, and was the grandfather of
our late Vice-President of same name. Abraham Williams, who took the money to New York and brought back
the receipt, married a daughter of Mr. Colfax; hence his appearance in the transaction.
One striking feature, apparent at a glance, is the number of men in the family. This enabled the fathers to secure,
clear up and cultivate much land, build houses, and carry on the different industries mentioned. Time has
effaced nearly every evidence of the busy shops which clustered in the Comer along the banks of the Wigwam
Brook. They exist to-day only in the memories of the sexagenarians.
Much of the, real estate, though divided among the children, and subdivided among the children's children, and
less some sold, still remains in the family.
The first coach that ever came to Orange was said to have belonged to Benjamin Williams, the" Old Governor,"
as he was familiarly called. This was used by him and his family many years in attending Trinity Church,
Newark.
The First Episcopal Church services in this vicinity were held in his house, and many of his children and
children of the neighbors were there baptized. When St. Mark's Church, Orange, was organized his children
took an active part, and contributed largely, as will-be seen by a perusal of St. Mark's, history.
Essex County's Last Slave.
Anthony Thompson, the oldest and best-known colored man in the Oranges, died at his residence, at the
junction of Washington Street and Eagle Rock Avenue, Tory Corner. West Orange,--on Tuesday night, Aug.
1884. He was the last of the old slaves of Essex County, and died of old age and a complication of troubles.
Uncle Anthony, as all his neighbors called him. was a tall, powerfully built ma_ of great strength and
endurance. His great- grandmother was the queen of an African tribe and his grandmother, when
a young girl, was stolen, with a number of others, by a slave trader and brought to this country. Uncle
Anthony was born in Raritan, Somerset Co., in 1798, his mother being a slave in the family of Rev. Dr. Philip
Duryee, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of that place. Two of Dominie Duryee's grandsons, John G. and
Joseph D. Harrison, are now living and carry on the flour and feed business at No. 502 Broad Street, Newark.
While Uncle Anthony was a baby, Dominie Duryee sold out and removed to Little Falls (now Passaic County),
and Anthony's mother was sold to one David Still, Anthony being sold with her. About a year after Anthony
and his mother were sold to Samuel M. Ward, of Crane town (now Montclair.) They lived with Mr. Ward until
the latter's death, in 1822. In his will Mr. Ward gave Anthony his freedom, but requested he should remain
with Mrs. Ward until her death. She died in September, 1828, and Anthony, being then twenty-four years of
age, was his own master. His mother was too old to begin life anew, and was a town charge. In those days the
poor were sold off to whoever bid the lowest price for taking care of them.
Anthony, though he was just starting out in life bought his mother for one hundred dollars, took her home
and cared for her until her death in a most filial and kindly manner. In 1828 he moved to Orange and bought a
little place on Washington Street, East Orange. He lived there till 1833, when he bought the place where he
ended his days.
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