New Jersey,
One of the
middle Atlantic States of the
United States of America, lies between lat. 38° 56′ and 41° 21′ N., and long.
73° 53' 51″ and 75° 33′ W. It is bounded on the north by New York, east by New York and
Atlantic Ocean, south by
Delaware Bay, and west by
Delaware and
Pennsylvania, from which it is separated by the
Delaware River.
Area, 8,715 square miles, in twenty-one counties.
Population in 1890, 1,444,933; 1900, 1,883,669.
Capital,
Trenton.
Henry Hudson, in the ship
Half Moon, enters
Delaware Bay, Aug. 28, 1609, and coasts the eastern shore of
New Jersey on his way to
Sandy Hook, where he anchors......Sept. 3, 1609
First
Dutch settlement on the
Delaware is made near
Gloucester, N. J., where Fort Nassau is built......1623
Capt. Thomas Young, receiving a commission from Charles I., sails up the
Delaware River to
Trenton Falls......Sept. 1, 1634
Number of English families settle on
Salem Creek, at a place called by the
Indians Asamohaking......1640
Dutch acquire by deed a large tract of land in the eastern part of
New Jersey called
Bergen......Jan. 30, 1658
Royal charter executed by Charles II., in favor of the
Duke of
York, of the whole region between the
Connecticut and
Delaware rivers......March 20, 1664
Present
State of New Jersey granted by the
Duke of
York to
Lord John Berkeley and
Sir George Carteret by deed of lease and release, to be called Nova Caesaria, or
New Jersey......June 23-24, 1664
By license from
Colonel Nicholls, governor under the
Duke of
York, a company, the “
Elizabethtown associates,” purchase the site of
Elizabethtown from
Indians, and establish the first permanent settlement in
New Jersey......Oct. 28, 1664
Philip Carteret, appointed first English governor of
New Jersey, arrives at
Elizabethtown with thirty settlers......August, 1665
Newark settled by thirty families from
Connecticut......May 17, 1666
Grant of 276 acres issued for
Hoboken......May 12, 1668
Session of the first legislative Assembly of New Jersey held at
Elizabethtown......May 26, 1668
Bergen chartered......Sept. 22, 1668
Settlers under grants from
Governor Nicholls form an independent government whose deputies at
Elizabethtown elect
James Carteret governor......May 14, 1672
Gov. Philip Carteret returns to
England to lay the matter of the government of
New Jersey before the proprietors......1672
First Friends' meeting-house built at
Shrewsbury......1672
Lord Berkeley sells his half interest in the province to two English Quakers,
John Fenwick and
Edward Byllinge......March 18, 1673
New Netherlands, including
New Jersey, surrendered to the
Dutch......July, 1673
New Jersey again becomes an English province, under treaty of peace between
England and
Holland......Feb. 9, 1674
Edward Byllinge, becoming financially embarrassed, assigns his contract to
William Penn and others......Feb. 10, 1674
Philip Carteret returns and resumes authority in
New Jersey, meeting the General Assembly at
Bergen......Nov. 6, 1674
Fenwick, sailing from
London in the ship
Griffith, arrives with a small company of Quakers and settles at
Salem......June, 1675
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“Concessions and agreements” of the proprietors of the Fenwick and Byllinge purchase in
New Jersey issued;
Fenwick to have one-tenth interest, and the assignees of Byllinge nine-tenths, and a government established......March 3, 1676
Quintipartite deed executed between
William Penn and others, assignees of Byllinge, and
Sir George Carteret, for a division of
New Jersey into east and west, by a line drawn from
Little Egg Harbor to the most northerly point or boundary on the
Delaware,
Carteret retaining
east Jersey......July 1, 1676
Richard Hartshore and
Richard Guy, of
east Jersey, and
James Wasse sent from
England, authorized to establish a government for
west Jersey, by the proprietors......Aug. 18, 1676
Nine executive commissioners appointed by the proprietors of
west Jersey under a constitution promulgated March 3, 1676, accompanied by a large number of settlers, arrive from
England and purchase from the Indians a tract of land on the
Delaware between Assunpink and
Old Man's Creek......August, 1677
Burlington laid out by agents of the London Land Company......1677
Ship
Shields, from
Hull, the first ship to ascend the
Delaware to
Burlington, bringing settlers......Dec. 10, 1678
Sir George Carteret, proprietor of
east Jersey, dies......1679
Sir Edmund Andros claims the government of
New Jersey, which repudiates his authority......June 2, 1680
Duke of
York having submitted the claim of governmental power in
New Jersey to a commission, which decides against
Andros, he makes a second grant of
west Jersey to the proprietors, Aug. 6, and of
east Jersey......Sept. 6, 1680
Vicinity of
Trenton settled by
Phineas Pemberton......1680
First Assembly meets at
Burlington and organizes a government, with
Samuel Jennings as deputy governor......Nov. 25, 1681
Carteret's heirs sell
east Jersey to a company of proprietors, including
William Penn and eleven others......Feb. 1-2, 1682
Penn Company, now increased to twenty-four proprietors, secure a new conveyance of
east Jersey from the
Duke of
York, with full powers of government......March 14, 1682
Robert Barclay appointed for life first governor of
east Jersey under the new proprietary, with Thomas Rudyard as deputy......1682
Revenues of Matenicunk Island, in the
Delaware opposite
Burlington, set apart for education.
This is believed to be the first school fund in
America......1683
Perth Amboy laid out into lots......1683
First tavern or hotel in the province established at
Woodbridge......1683
Site of
Camden occupied by
Messrs. Cooper,
Runyon, and
Morris......1684
First Episcopal church in
New Jersey,
St. Peter's, founded at
Perth Amboy......1685
Byllinge dies, and
Dr. Samuel Coxe, of
London, purchases his interest in
west Jersey......1687
First Baptist church in
east Jersey built at
Middletown......1688
Governor Barclay dies......Oct. 3, 1690
Presbyterian churches established in
Freehold and
Woodbridge......1692
First school law of the
State enacted by the General Assembly of
east New Jersey at
Perth Amboy, to maintain a school-master within the town......Oct. 12, 1693
Burlington incorporated......1693
Salem incorporated......1695
Government of
New Jersey surrendered to the crown, and both provinces united......April 17, 1702
Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, appointed governor of New York and
New Jersey by Queen Anne......Nov. 16, 1702
General Assembly meets at
Perth Amboy......Nov. 10, 1703
First association of Seventh-day Baptists formed in
Piscataway......April, 1707
Lord Cornbury, removed from office by Queen Anne, is imprisoned for debt by his creditors......1709
Paper money first issued in
New Jersey......1709
Assembly votes to aid the English expedition against the
French in
Canada......July 16, 1711
Schuyler copper-mines near
Belleville discovered by
Arent Schuyler......1719
First freestone quarried in
New Jersey......1721
Law providing for triennial elections of deputies to Assembly and triennial sessions alternately at
Burlington and
Amboy......1727
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Governor Montgomery dies July 1, 1731
Executive of
New Jersey separated from New York, and
Lewis Morris appointed governor......1738
Weekly mail from
Philadelphia to New York, carried by post-boys through
New Jersey, established......1739
Rev. George Whitefield visits
Elizabethtown......1740
First iron run at furnace in
Oxford, Warren county......March 9, 1743
Governor Morris dies at
Kingsbury, near
Trenton......May 21, 1746
College of New Jersey, at
Elizabethtown, incorporated......1746
College of New Jersey removed to
Newark......1748
Trenton public library founded......1750
First
printing-press in the province established at
Woodbridge by
James Parker......1751
College of New Jersey finally located at
Princeton, and Nassau Hall erected......1756
Stage line established from New York to
Philadelphia by way of
Perth Amboy and
Trenton......November, 1756
Governor Jonathan Belcher dies, aged seventy-six......Aug. 31, 1757
New American magazine, published at
Woodbridge by
James Parker, and edited by
Samuel Nevil......January, 1758
Special conference with Indians at
Easton; the governor,
Francis Bernard, obtains from the chief of the united nations of the Minisinks, Wapings, and other tribes, for $1,000, a release of the
Indian title to every portion of
New Jersey......Oct. 18, 1758
William Franklin, natural son of
Benjamin Franklin, appointed governor (the last royal governor of
New Jersey)......1763
William Coxe, appointed stamp distributer in
New Jersey, voluntarily resigns his office......September, 1765
Joseph Borden,
Hendrick Fisher, and
Robert Ogden, delegates to a convention of nine colonies at New York, Oct. 7, 1765; it publishes a declaration of rights, and adjourns......Oct. 24, 1765
First medical society in the colonies organized in
New Jersey......July 23, 1766
Rutgers College, at
New Brunswick, chartered under the name of Queen's College by George III......1770
Isaac Collins, appointed public printer for
New Jersey, begins the publication of an almanac which continues twenty years......1771
Stephen Crane,
John de Hart,
James Kinsey,
William Livingston, and
Richard Smith chosen delegates to the
Congress at
Philadelphia by a convention at
New Brunswick......July 21, 1774
Assembly of New Jersey unanimously approves the proceedings of Congress as reported by the delegates......Jan. 11, 1775
Provincial Congress of New Jersey, at
Trenton, elects
Hendrick Fisher president, and assumes authority......May 23, 1775
Provincial legislature, convened by
Governor Franklin, Nov. 16, is prorogued......Dec. 6, 1775
Governor Franklin, sympathizing with the action of the
British government, is arrested and sent to East Windsor, Conn., where (until exchanged in 1778) he is held as a prisoner......1776
Provincial Congress convenes at
Burlington, June 10, 1776, appoints a committee to prepare a constitution, June 24, who report, June 26, a constitution, which is confirmed......July 2, 1776
Ordinance passed denouncing the penalty of treason upon all who should levy war against and within the
State, or be adherent to the
King of
Great Britain......July 18, 1776
Abraham Clark,
John Hart,
Francis Hopkins,
Richard Stockton, and
John Witherspoon, delegates from
New Jersey, sign the
Declaration of Independence......Aug. 2, 1776
Legislature chooses
William Livingston governor of the
State......Aug. 31, 1776
Washington retreats through
New Jersey.......November, 1776
Fort Washington being captured by the
British,
General Greene abandons
Fort Lee, Bergen county......Nov. 19, 1776
Washington crosses the
Delaware into
Pennsylvania......Dec. 8, 1776
Battle of Trenton......Dec. 26, 1776
Battle of Princeton......Jan. 3, 1777
Army under
Washington winters at
Morristown......1777
General Maxwell captures
Elizabethtown together with 100 British troops......Jan. 23, 1777
Five vessels, part of a fleet bringing supplies for the
British at
New Brunswick, are sunk near
Amboy......Feb. 26, 1777
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General Howe evacuates
New Jersey for the purpose of approaching
Philadelphia by water, crossing to
Staten Island......June 30, 1777
By act of Assembly the word “State” is substituted for “colony” in the constitution adopted in 1776......Sept. 20, 1777
Battle at Fort Mercer.
Colonel Greene repulses a force of Hessians under
Count Donop......Oct. 22, 1777
New Jersey Gazette, the first newspaper in the
State, is published at
Burlington by
Isaac Collins......Dec. 3, 1777
Battle of Monmouth Court-house......June 28, 1778
Isaac Collins prints 5,000 copies of a family Bible at
Trenton......1778
Assembly ratifies the
Articles of Confederation......Nov. 19, 1778
John Witherspoon and
Nathaniel Scudder, the delegates from
New Jersey, sign the
Articles of Confederation......Nov. 26, 1778
British at Paulus Hook surprised by
Maj. Henry Lee......Aug. 19, 1779
New Jersey Journal established by
Shepherd Kollock at
Chatham......1779
American army winters at
Morristown......December, 1779
Five thousand troops under
General Clinton drive back the
Americans under
General Greene at
Springfield, burn the town, and then retreat......June 23, 1780
Elias Boudinot, of
New Jersey, chosen president of the Continental Congress......Nov. 4, 1782
Continental Congress meets at
Princeton......June 30, 1783
New Brunswick incorporated......1784
Continental Congress meets at
Trenton......Nov. 1, 1784
William Livingston,
David Brearley,
William Patterson, and
Jonathan Dayton, delegates from
New Jersey, sign the
Constitution of the United States......Sept. 17, 1787
Constitution of the United States adopted unanimously without amendments by the Assembly of New Jersey......Dec. 18, 1787
General Washington is received by a committee of Congress at
Elizabethtown, April 23, and escorted to New York, where he is inaugurated
President of the
United States......April 30, 1789
Governor Livingston dies at
Elizabethtown......July 25, 1790
Trenton made the capital of the
State......Nov. 25, 1790
Trenton incorporated......Nov. 13, 1792
First factory at
Paterson built, and calico goods printed, the first in
New Jersey......1794
Inter-State traffic in slaves forbidden by the legislature......March 14, 1798
Women vote at the Elizabethtown municipal election......1800
[The constitution of 1776 permitted women to vote.]
Morris turnpike, from
Elizabethtown to the
Delaware River, chartered......March 1, 1801
Act for the gradual abolition of slavery, making free all persons born in the
State after July 4, 1804, passed......Feb. 15, 1804
Newark bank and insurance company chartered......1804
Act confining suffrage to white male citizens......Nov. 16, 1807
Princeton Theological Seminary established by the Presbyterian Church......1812
Act passed creating a fund for free schools......Feb. 12, 1817
Jersey City incorporated......Jan. 28, 1820
Samuel L. Southard, of
New Jersey,
Secretary of the Navy......Sept. 16, 1823
Morris Canal, from
Newark to
Phillipsburg, on the
Delaware, commenced......1825
Camden and Amboy Railroad incorporated......Feb. 4, 1830
Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, purchases an estate of 1,400 acres at
Bordentown, immediately after the downfall of his brother at
Waterloo, where he resides until......1832
Legislature appropriates $2,000 to extinguish all Indian titles to land in the
State......1832
Boundary between
New Jersey and New York settled by a board of joint commissioners is confirmed by legislatures of both States in February, and by act of Congress......June 28, 1834
Mahlon Dickerson appointed
Secretary of the Navy under
President Jackson......June 30, 1834
St. Mary's Hall, college for the superior instruction of women, chartered and opened at
Burlington......1837
John Stevens, engineer and inventor, petitions Congress for protection to
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inventors, which results in the patent laws of April 10, 1790.
He builds a steamboat propelled by twin screws that navigates the
Hudson River in 1804.
Establishes a steam ferry from
Hoboken to New York City, Oct. 11, 1811, and at the age of seventy-eight builds an experimental locomotive, which carries passengers at 12 miles an hour on his experimental track at
Hoboken, in 1826.
He dies at
Hoboken......March 6, 1838
At the
State election for members of the House of Representatives, the returns are contested, the
Democratic candidates claiming a majority of about 100 votes in a poll of 57,000.
The Whig candidates receive certificates of election under the “Broad” seal of the
State......Oct. 9, 10, 1838
A speaker of the
House was elected (
Robert M. T. Hunter) by compromise, but the five Democratic contestants are seated on the report of a committee declaring them elected by a vote of 111 to 81......July 16, 1839
Clerk of the House of Representatives,
H. A. Garland, of
Virginia, refuses to call the names of the
Whig delegates from
New Jersey, on the ground that the seats were disputed at the opening of Congress (as there were five contested seats, and as the
House stood, without
New Jersey, 118 Whigs to 119 Democrats, success to either party in this controversy meant a control of the
House; hence the controversy)......Dec. 2, 1839
[This governmental flurry is known as the “Broad seal War.” ]
New Jersey Historical Society founded at
Trenton......Feb. 27. 1840
Constitutional convention assembles at
Trenton, May 14, completes its labors, June 29, and the constitution is ratified by the people......Aug. 13, 1844
Town superintendent of schools first authorized......April 7, 1846
State union convention at
Trenton resolves in favor of a compromise between the
Northern and Southern States......Dec. 11, 1860
Committee on national affairs in the legislature report joint resolutions endorsing the Crittenden compromise, which were adopted......Jan. 25, 1861
Legislature appropriates $2,000,000, and an annual tax of $100,000 for military purposes......April 30, 1861
In response to a proclamation by
Governor Olden, April 17, four regiments of New Jersey volunteers, under
General Runyon, are despatched to
Annapolis......May 3, 1861
Rutgers Scientific School at
New Brunswick opened......September, 1865
State board of education established......1866
Legislature ratifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States......Sept. 11, 1866
Home for disabled soldiers established at
Mount Pleasant,
Newark......1866
Legislature, by resolution, withdraws its ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment......April, 1868
George M. Robeson, of
New Jersey,
Secretary of the Navy......June 25, 1869
Camden and Amboy Railroad and
Delaware and Raritan Canal surrender their reserved rights, after forty years of monopoly, opening the carrying-trade across the
State......1869
Governor of
New Jersey accepts the warvessel bequeathed to the
State by
Edwin A. Stevens, known as the “Stevens battery,” together with $1,000,000 for its completion, which is placed under the superintendence of
Gen. George B. McClellan and
Gen. John Newton......1869
Legislature refuses to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States......Feb. 15, 1870
Stevens Institute of Technology at
Hoboken opened......1871
Free school system inaugurated in
New Jersey......April, 1871
Legislature passes a “general railroad law,” providing that “no franchise heretofore granted to construct a railroad, or to build or establish bridges or ferries, or operate any line of travel shall hereafter continue to be or be construed to remain exclusive” ......1873
Compulsory education law passed......1874
By act of legislature, March 27, 1874, the Stevens Battery, in construction since 1843, which had cost over $2,500,000, still unfinished, is sold to United States government for $145,000......Nov. 2, 1874
People ratify twenty-eight amendments to the constitution, proposed by the legislatures of 1847 and 1875......Sept. 7, 1875
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Act passed creating a State board of health......1877
Centennial anniversary of the capture of
Princeton celebrated by a mock fight of
Newark and
Pennsylvania militia......Jan. 3, 1877
Convention of colored men held at
Princeton to consider the condition of their race, politically and socially......Aug. 22, 1877
Bureau of labor statistics created by act of legislature......1878
Liberal League of New Jersey, the outgrowth of the Citizens' Protective Association of
Newark, in State convention at
Newark, demand remodelling of the Sunday laws......September, 1879
Thomas Alva Edison establishes a laboratory at
Menlo Park, 1876; exhibits his newly invented system of electric lighting by incandescent carbon vacuum lamps......December, 1879
Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen appointed
Secretary of State under
President Arthur......Dec. 12, 1881
Act passed to create a council of State charities and correction, to consist of six persons appointed by the governor......March 28, 1883
Law enacted to abolish and prohibit the employment under contract of convicts and inmates of prisons, jails, penitentiaries, and all public reformatory institutions of the
State......1884
Gen. George B. McClellan, born 1826, dies at
Orange......Oct. 29, 1885
State board of agriculture established......1887
Act of legislature passed making Labor Day, the first Monday in September, a legal holiday, and giving women the right to vote at school-district meetings......1887
Local option and high license law, passed in 1888, is repealed, and a high license law enacted......1889
Horatio Allen, the first locomotive engineer in the
United States, dies at
Montrose, aged eighty-eight......Jan. 1, 1890
Governor's salary raised to $10,000 a year by law......Jan. 15, 1890
Australian ballot law adopted at session ending......May 23, 1890
Strike of over 3,000 employes in the Clark thread mills at
Newark and
Kearney begins......Dec. 10, 1890
Saturday half-holiday established, and Rutgers Scientific School awarded the funds granted by Congress in aid of colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts at session......Jan. 13–March 20, 1891
Spinners' strike in the Clark thread mills declared off......April 18, 1891
Smokeless powder used for the first time in this country at
Sandy Hook in an 8-inch rifled gun......July 25, 1891
Walt Whitman, poet, born 1819, dies at
Camden......March 26, 1892
United States practice cruiser
Bancroft, the first war-ship built in the
State, is launched at the yards of
Samuel L. Moore & Sons Co.
in
Elizabeth......April 30, 1892
City of
Paterson celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding......July 4, 1892
Horse-racing during December, January, and February forbidden......1893
Battle monument at
Trenton unveiled......Oct. 19, 1893
Democrats and Republicans organize separate Senates at
Trenton—the governor recognizing the Democratic Senate......Jan. 9, 1894
Republican
Senators force their way into the
Senate chamber......Jan. 10, 1894
Supreme Court of
New Jersey decides that the Republican Senate is lawful......March 21, 1894
Republican Senate recognized as the legal Senate......March 22, 1894
William Walter Phelps dies at
Englewood......June 17, 1894
Railroad accident near
Atlantic City, forty-seven killed and seventy injured......July 31, 1896
George M. Robeson,
ex-Secretary of the Navy, dies at
Trenton......Sept. 27, 1897
Vice-President Hobart dies at
Paterson, N. J.......Nov. 21, 1899
Andrew Carnegie gives $50,000 to
East Orange for a public library;
William M. Johnson $40,000 to
Hackensack,
Charles Danforth $20,000 to
Paterson;
Dr. William Sticker $100,000 to
Orange......1900
Carnegie Company incorporated with a capital of $160,000,000......March 24, 1900;
North German Lloyd's piers in
Hoboken burned (several hundred lives lost and property valued at $10,000,000 destroyed)......June 30, 1900
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New Mexico 
