Preface to Archives of New Jersey, First Series, Marriage Records Contributed to the USGenWeb Archives by David Tourison Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nj/njfiles.htm ********************************************************* Extracted from "Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, Volume XXII, Marriage Records, 1665-1800; Edited, with an Historical Introduction on the Early Marriage Laws of New Jersey, and the Precedents on which they were Founded; by William Nelson; Paterson, N.J. 1900. PREFACE It is not necesaary to expatiate on the interest and import- ance of the contents of this volume. The lawyer will often turn to these marriage records to solve obscure questions of title to land. The historian will find here much information throwing light on obsolete leaws and customs of the past. The student of sociology will discover many odd facts bearing on questions of race, heredity, social usages and other problems affecting the development of society. To the genealogist of course the book will be invaluable. This work had its beginning in a resolve to print the man- uscript index, in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, to the marriage bonds on file, and the records of marriage li- censes, in that office. The origin of these bonds and of these licenses seemed to deserve explanation, out which grew the Historical Indroduction on the Early Marriage Law of New Jersey, which follows. In order to expand the volume to a suitable size it was concluded to add the other marriage rec- ords which will be found succeeding those in the Secretary of State's office. These exhaust the extant marriage records prior to 1801, for the counties of Bergen, Hudson and Essex, so far as the editor has been able to learn. The early Dutch churches as a rule were scrupulously careful to keep and preserve in the church archives registers of baptisms and marriages. The churches of other denominations not only were not so particular, but when the records were made they were often regarded as the private property of the pastors, and were carried away by them on their removal to other charges. The first Reformed (Dutch) Church in New Jersey was that at Bergen, dating back to 1660. Its marriage records are well preserved, and are reproduced down to 1801, in vi Preface. this volume. This was in 1800 the only church within the present Hudson county. Bergen county had a number of churches in 1800, as fol- lows: Hackensack, established in 1686; its marriage records are well kep and are given herewith. Schraalenburgh, 1724; printed here. Ponds (Oakland), 1710; records destroyed about 1880, by fire. Paramus, 1725; no marriage records have been preserved before 1800. English Neighborhood (now Leonia), 1770; no records prior to 1812. There were two or three Lu- theran churches in the Saddle River valley, some of the dat- ing well back toward 1700, and there may be early marriage records kept by their pastors, but the editor has not been able to find them. There was a French Reformed church near Hackensack before 1700, but its records are not known to ex- ist. In Essex county there were thses churches previous to 1800, in the chronological order given: First Presbyterian, of New- ark, 1667; Reformed (Dutch), at Second River (Belleville), 1700; Orange Presbyterian, about 1719; Reformed (Dutch), at Fairfield, 1720; Trinity (Episcopal), of Newark, about 1743; Christ (Episcopal), Belleville, about 1755; Lyons Farms Baptist, 1769; Caldwell Presbyterian, about 1780; Bloomfield Presbyterian, 1798. The write has been unable to discover any marriage records of these churches except the in- complete registers of the Belleville Reformed church, and those of the Lyons Farms Baptist church. All the records of the First Presbyterian church existing at the time of the Revo- lution are understood to have been lost or destroyed in that troublous period, and the writer has been informed that the records of the Fairfield church are believed to have been de- stroyed in a fire which consumed the parsonage about 1875. The records of Trinity church in the eighteenth century were ex- amined some years since by the writer, who found them to be very fragmentary, with no marriage registers among them. The session records of the First Presbyterian church of Orange are understood to have been destroyed by fire in 1802. Those in existence begin January 30, 1803. It is a monotonous history of disaster to church records thus Preface. vii enumerated--"destroyed by fire," and emphasizes the import- ance of a work like this, which multiplies and so preserves such records beyond the chance of destruction. By a singular irony of fate, however, a large collection of copies of other church records, which had been procured during a long period of years by the editor with infinite labor and much expense, for a second volume like this, went the way of so many origin- als, in a single night, in the great Paterson fire, February 8--9, 1902. If time and opportunity permit perhaps the effort to gather another volume of such material may be renewed. But vita brevis est! In this connection the work of the Holland Society, in New York, and of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania is wor- thy of commendation. The former has caused copies to be made of all the records of the old Reformed Dutch churches in New Jersey, and has published those of the Hackensack and Schraalenburgh churches to 1800. It is expected that others will follow. The latter Society, organized so late as 1892, has procured copies of the records of a large number of churches of various denominations in the southern part of New Jersey, and has them bound in stout quarto volumes, well indexed, which are preserved in the fireproof rooms of the Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. It is intended to pub- lish shortly the records of St. Mary's Church at Burlington, which dates back to 1704, and which numbered among its members many of the most prominent men in New Jersey, in the Provincial era. These records were copied for the New Jersey Historical Society, but for the purpose of publi- cation were placed at the disposal of the sister Pennsylvania Society. The following records of New Jersey churches have been published: Belleville Reformed (Dutch) -- baptisms, births, marriages and membership, 1794-1827, Proceedings N. J. Historical Society, Third Series, I., 178-196; II., 65-72, 131-144, 177- 185. Bergen Reformed (Dutch) -- marriages, baptisms, deaths, 1665-1850. Winfield's Land Titles of Hudson County, I., 329-419. 8º. New York, 1872 viii Preface. Elizabeth--Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monmuments in the Burying Grounds of the First Presbyterian Church and St. John's Church, 1664-1892. New Haven, Conn., 1893. 8º Pp 355. Hackensack Reformed (Dutch) -- marriages, baptisms, com- municants, officers, 1686-1801. Collections Holland Society, Vol. I., pp. 349. 8º New York, 1891. Hanover (now Whippany) Presbyterian Church -- com- municants, marriages and baptisms, 1746-1796. Morristown, 1893. 8º Pp. 32 Lyons Farms Baptist -- proceddings, baptisms, marriages, 1769-1801. Proceedings N. J. Historical Society, Third Series, I., 162-177; II., 57-64, 119-130, 158-168. Monmouth County -- Tombstone Inscriptions Presbyterian Burying Ground, Middletown; Hendrickson Burying Ground, Middletown; Tallman Burying Ground on Pumpkin Point, Shrewsbury; Baptist Church Burying Ground , Middletown; Topanemus Burying Ground, Marlboro; Christ Church (Epis- copal) Graveyard, Middletown; Golden Burying Ground, Middletown; the Ancient Lippit or Taylor Burying Ground, Middletown; the Hartshorne Burying Ground, Middletown-- in the Town Book of Old Middletown, 8º [Freehold, 1883], pp. 39-53. The Quaker Records of Shrewsbury, 1674-1731, pp. 55-66; some baptisms, 1659-1738, pp. 66-70. Old Tennet Church, Freehold--History of the Church, by the Rev. Frank R. Symmes. Freehold 1897. 8º Pp. 144. Baptismal records, 1735-1760, and early burials in neighboring cemeteries, pp. 118-143. Morristown--Bill of Mortality, being a register of all the deaths in the Presbyterian and Baptist congregations, 1768- 1806. Morristown, 1806. 8º Pp. 112 (actually 116). Record of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. History and Records of the Trustees and Session, 1742-1882, pp. 240. 192, 168. Combined Registers, of births, marriages, Preface. ix deaths and commincants, 1742-1885, pp. 328. Morristown, 1881- 1885. Large 8º. Newtown Township--Friends' records of Marriages at Burl- ington, Salem, Newton (now in Camden county), Haddon- field, Chester (Moorestown), Evesham, and Woodbury Creek-- particularly members of Newton families--are given in Sketches of the First Immigrant Settlers of Newton Town- ship, Old Gloucester County, West New Jersey, by John Clement. Camden, 1877, pp. 387-411. Orange Presbyterian--baptisms, 1756-62, 1765-1784. In History of the Oranges, by Stephen Wickes, M. D., Newark, 1892. Passaic Reformed (Dutch), formerly the Acquackanonk-- the records have been published in part in a parish periodical. Paterson--History of the Old Dutch Church at Totowa (now the First Reformed, Paterson), 1755-1827. By Wil- liam Nelson. Baptismal Register (in the original Dutch), 1756-1808. Paterson, 1892. 8º Pp. 170. Secondary Reformed--the registers, in substance, are given in a recent history of the church. Preakness Reformed (Dutch) -- the records of baptisms, 1831- 1902; marriages, 1842-1902, deaths, 1837-1902, and tombstone inscriptions in neighboring burying grounds, pp. 252-315, in a History of the Church, by the pastor, the Rev. George W. Labaw. New York, 1902. 8º Pp. 344. Schraalenburgh Reformed (Dutch) -- Records of baptisms, marriages, communicants and officers, 1724-1801. Collec- tions Holland Society, Vol. II., pp. 387. 8º New York, 1891. Church records of baptisms and marriages have a quasi- public character, especially as they are required by statute, and in view of this fact there has been legislation in some quarters making it the duty of the churches to provide safe receptacles for such records, to protect them against loss by fire, damp or other exposure. In England, Ireland and Scotland the churches must either make such provisions, or deposit their rec- ords in the Public Record Office, at London, Dublin or Edin- burgh, respectively. In Massachusettes, the Public Record x Preface. Commissioner has been impressing on the church authorities the importance of protecting their records, with much success. A word as to the Index to Marriage Bonds and Licenses. The bonds were printed blanks, which were filled in by the officers of the locality where the parties lived, so that there is no standard of handwriting by which the names can be deci- phered, and as for the signatures, no man is compelled to write his name legibly. So there may easily be errors in the index. Moreover, the chirophraphy of the index itself is not exactly of the copperplate order, and so the difficulty of getting the names of the licenses correctly into print has been considera- ble. In cases of doubt reference was had to the originals, and the expert skill of Alexander H. Rickey, the former Assistant Secretary of State, or of John R. B. Smith, the present Assist- ant Secretary, was called into requisition, and always placed at the editor's service with unfailing readiness and courtesy. -------------- ERRATA. --- The names printed as Stiles, from Cape May county, on pages 359-360, and 384-385, should be Stites. There is an error in the foot-note on page 592. Susan Kean was a daughter of Philip Van Brugh Livingston, a broth- er of Governor William Livingston; she was born April 5, 1759; married John Kean, September 27, 1786; he died in 1795. Governor Livingston's daughter Susannah was born 1748 or 1749; married Judge John Cleves Symmes, Septem- ber 10, 1794. [[xi unpagenated]] CONTENTS. ------- Preface v THE EARLY MARRIAGE LAWS OF NEW JERSEY, AND THE PRECEDENTS ON WHICH THEY WERE FOUNDED: I. INTRODUCTION. Primitive Marriage Customs, ix. Roman Marriage Las, ix. Ecclesiastical Regulation of Marriages, xii. II. FORMATIVE INFLUENCES AS TO THE LAW OF MARRIAGE IN NEW JERSEY. I. The Dutch Law of Marriage, xviii. II. The Swedes, xxvii. III. Marriage Rites in England, xxxiv. IV. Scotish Marriages, ziviii. V. New England Marriage Customs, lvii. VI. Friends' Marrieage Customs, lxi. VII. Early New York and Pennsylvania Marriage Laws, lxix. III. MARRIAGE IN NEW JERSEY. The Sovereign Power in the Colony, lxxi. Marriage Licenses by Gov. Carteret, lxxvi. Earliest Marriage Laws in New Jersey, lxxviii. Some Early Divorces, lxxix. Second Marriages, lxxxi. More Colonial Marriage Laws, lxxxiii. Some Burlington Marriages, 1680-1684, lxxxv. Protecting Unwary Maid- ens, lxxxvii. An Ante-Nuptial Contract, 1686, lxxxviii. A Mar- riage that was a Failure, xc. The Colonial Practice as to Marriage Licenses, xci. A Marriage License in 1695, xciii. Lord Cornbury's Instructions, xciv. The Laws of England Applicable to the Colo- nies, xciv. Some Peculiar Marriage Customs, xcvi. A Word as to "Bundling," scviii. The Marriage Act of 1719, xcviii. The Prac- tice Regarding Marraige Licenses, cv. Prof. Kalm's Description of the Practice, cvi. A Swedish Criticism, cviii. Hostility to the Mar- riage License System, cx. Objections of the Episcopal Clergy of New Jersey, cxii. Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, on Marriage Licenses, cxiii. Decay of the Licenses System, cxvi. The Marriage Act of 1795, cxvi. Later Legislation, cxxi. Divorces by the Leg- islature, cxxiii. Divorces by the Court of Chancery, cxxiv. -------- INDEX TO MARRIAGE BONDS AND MARRIAGE RECORDS IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE AT TRENTON 1 HACKENSACK REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1695- 1800, 467 SCHRAALENBURGH REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1734-1801, 515 xii Contents. BERGEN COUNTY CLERK'S MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1795-1800, 553 BERGEN REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1664-1801 555 ESSEX COUNTY CLERK'S MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1795-1801, 582 LYONS FARMS BAPTIST CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1795-1800, 599 SECOND RIVER REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1730- 1774, 1794-1800, 605 CHRIST CHURCH, NEW BRUNSWICK, MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1758-1778, 620 NEW BRUNSWICK REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1794-1799, 625 MIDDLESEX COUNTY CLERK'S MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1795-1800, 629 SCOTCH PLAINS BAPTIST CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1758-1761 641 CHESTERFIELD (BURLINGTON COUNTY) FRIENDS' MONTHLY MEETING MARRIAGE RECORDS, 1686-1800 650 ---------- ILLUSTRATIONS ----- Fac simile of a Marriage Bond, 1768 Front Fac simile of a Marriage Bond, 1772 Opposite page 1