East Jersey
Encyclopedia
The Province of East Jersey and the Province of West Jersey
West Jersey
West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702...

 were two distinct, separately governed parts of the Province of New Jersey
Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland, but came under English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, becoming a...

 that existed as separate provinces for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. East Jersey's capital was located at Perth Amboy. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey
Border between West Jersey and East Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was formally separated into two provinces, West Jersey and East Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702.Determination of an exact location for a West Jersey/East Jersey borderline was often a matter of dispute...

 was often a matter of dispute.

The area comprising East Jersey was part of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...

. Early settlement (including today's Bergen and Hudson counties), by the Dutch included Pavonia
Pavonia, New Netherland
Pavonia was the first European settlement on the west bank of the North River that was part of the 17th century province of New Netherland in what would become today's Hudson County, New Jersey.-Hudson and the Hackensack:...

 (1633), Vriessendael (1640) and Achter Col (1642) These settlements were compromised in Kieft's War
Kieft's War
Kieft's War, also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between settlers of the nascent colony of New Netherland and the native Lenape population in what would later become the New York metropolitan area of the United States...

 (1643–1645) and the Peach Tree War
Peach Tree War
The Peach Tree War, also known as the "Peach War," is the name given to a large scale attack on the New Netherland colony of Pavonia, across from New Amsterdam, and surrounding settlements along the North River by the Susquehannock Nation and allied Native Americans on September 15,...

 (1655–1660). Settlers again returned to the western shores of the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 in the 1660 formation of Bergen, New Netherland
Bergen, New Netherland
Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties...

, which would become the first permanent European settlement in the territory of the modern state of New Jersey. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....

, on August 27, 1664, New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....

 surrendered to English forces.

Between 1664 and 1674 most settlement was from other parts of the Americas, especially New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, and the West Indies. Elizabethtown
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...

 and Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

 in particular had a strong Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 character. South of the Raritan River
Raritan River
The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.-Description:...

 the Monmouth
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...

 tract was developed primarily by Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 from Long Island. In 1675, East Jersey was partitioned into four counties for administrative purposes: Bergen County
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...

, Essex County
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...

, Middlesex County
Middlesex County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 750,162 people, 265,815 households, and 190,855 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,422 people per square mile . There were 273,637 housing units at an average density of 884 per square mile...

, and Monmouth County
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...

. There were seven established towns: Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury Township, New Jersey
Shrewsbury Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 1,141.-History:...

, Middleton
Middletown Township, New Jersey
Middletown Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 66,522...

, Piscataway
Piscataway Township, New Jersey
The township consists of the following historic villages and areas: New Market, known as Quibbletown in the 18th Century, Randolphville, Fieldville and North Stelton...

, Woodbridge
Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
-Communities:Many distinct communities exist within Woodbridge Township. Several of these communities have their own ZIP codes, and many are listed by the United States Census Bureau as census-designated places, but they are all unincorporated areas and neighborhoods within the Township that,...

, Elizabethtown
Elizabeth Township, New Jersey
Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a township that existed in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1664 until 1855.The area was initially part of the Elizabethtown Tract, purchased from the Lenape on October 28, 1664....

, Newark
History of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey, was founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony. The New Haven colonists had been forced out of power for sheltering the judges who had fled to the New Haven Colony after sentencing Charles I of England to death.They sought to establish...

, and Bergen. In a survey taken in 1684 the population was estimated to be 3500 individuals in about 700 families. (African slaves
History of slavery in New Jersey
Slavery in New Jersey began in the early 17th century shortly after Dutch settlement. After England took the colony in 1664, it continued the importation of slaves from Africa, and for a time imported enslaved Native Americans from the Carolinas and the West Indies...

 were not included).

Although a number of the East Jersey proprietors in England were Quakers and the governor through most of the 1680s was the leading Quaker Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was also governor of the East Jersey colony in North America through most of the 1680s, although he himself never resided in the...

, the Quaker influence on government was not significant. Even the immigration instigated by Barclay was oriented toward promoting Scottish influence more than Quaker influence. In 1682 Barclay and the other Scottish proprietors began the development of Perth Amboy
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...

 as the capital of the province.

Frequent disputes between the residents and the mostly-absentee proprietors over land ownership and quitrents plagued the province until its surrender to Queen Anne's government in 1702.

Governors of East Jersey (1674–1702)

See also: Lords Proprietor
Lords Proprietor
Lords Proprietor was the name for the chief or highest owners or proprietors of certain English proprietary colonies in America, such as Carolina, New Jersey and Barbados....

 (1665–1703) and Governors under the Proprietors (1665–1674)
Philip Carteret
Philip Carteret (Governor)
Philip Carteret was the first and fourth British colonial governor of New Jersey, from 1665 to 1672 and from 1674 to 1682.The English annexed the Dutch province of New Netherland in 1664, and lands west of the Hudson River were awarded to two Lords Proprietors, John Berkeley and George Carteret...

1674–1682
Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was also governor of the East Jersey colony in North America through most of the 1680s, although he himself never resided in the...

 
1682–1688
Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...

 
1688–1689 Governed as the Dominion of New England
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed was too large for a single governor to manage...

Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton (New Jersey)
Andrew Hamilton was the colonial governor of East and West New Jersey from 1692 to 1697 and again from 1699 to 1703.-Biography:Hamilton was born in Scotland. Originally a merchant in Edinburgh, he was sent to East Jersey to act as an agent to recruit men to settle there. His work brought him a...

1692–1697
Jeremiah Basse
Jeremiah Basse
Jeremiah Basse was a governor of both West and East Jersey. He became governor of West Jersey in 1697, and became governor of East Jersey in the following year....

 
1698–1699
Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton (New Jersey)
Andrew Hamilton was the colonial governor of East and West New Jersey from 1692 to 1697 and again from 1699 to 1703.-Biography:Hamilton was born in Scotland. Originally a merchant in Edinburgh, he was sent to East Jersey to act as an agent to recruit men to settle there. His work brought him a...

1699–1702

Other sources

  • Winfield, Charles H. History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey (New York: Kennard & Hay Printing Company, 1874)
  • Harvey, Cornelius B., ed. Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey (New York: The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Co., 1900)
  • John Fiske. The Dutch and Quaker Colonies of America. Vol. I (New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903)
  • Lovero, Joan D. Hudson County: The Left Bank (Sun Valley. CA: American Historical Press, 1999)

External links

  • Where was the West Jersey/East Jersey line?
  • Bergen Township, Past and Present
  • Jersey City's Colonial Background
  • Overview of Hudson County Heritage
  • Bergen County Historic Society
  • Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents (at "New Jersey"). The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy. Lillian Goldman Law Library (Yale Law School). Retrieved 2010-03-14. This website has links to the following documents:
    • 1664 – The Duke of York's Release to John Ford Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, 24 June
    • 1664 – The Concession and Agreement of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea, or New Jersey, to and With All and Every the Adventurers and All Such as Shall Settle or Plant There
    • 1672 – A Declaration of the True Intent and Meaning of us the Lords Proprietors, and Explanation of There Concessions Made to the Adventurers and Planters of New Caesarea or New Jersey
    • 1674 – His Royal Highness's Grant to the Lords Proprietors, Sir George Carteret, 29 July
    • 1676 – The Charter or Fundamental Laws, of West New Jersey, Agreed Upon
    • 1676 – Quintipartite Deed of Revision, Between E. and W Jersey: July 1
    • 1680 – Duke of York's Second Grant to William Penn, Gawn Lawry, Nicholas Lucas, John Eldridge, Edmund Warner, and Edward Byllynge, for the Soil and Government of West New Jersey-August 6
    • 1681 – Province of West New-Jersey, in America, The 25th of the Ninth Month Called November
    • 1682 – Duke of York's Confirmation to the 24 Proprietors: 14 March
    • 1683 – The Fundamental Constitutions for the Province of East New Jersey in America
    • 1683 – The King's Letter Recognizing the Proprietors' Right to the Soil and Government
    • 1702 – Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty
    • 1709 – The Queen's Acceptance of the Surrender of Government; April 17
    • 1712 – Charles II's Grant of New England to the Duke of York, 1676 – Exemplified by Queen Anne
    • 1776 – Constitution of New Jersey
  • The journall of the procedure of the governor and Councill of the province of East New Jersey : from and after the first day of December Anno Dmni 1682
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