circa 1740 - Captain Richard Skinner born, according to his age at death. (GS-1, VEM-2, epitaph-11)
sometime previous to January, 1760 - Richard Skinner married Sarah (Crowell) Britton. (petition-4)
December 24, 1761 - Richard Skinner, Sr., Richard Skinner, Jr., and wife Sarah petitioned the courts to appoint Abraham Clark, Jr., as the guardian of Richard and Sarah, to manage their estate until they reached the age of 21. Sarah's father, William Britton, had died leaving a 'valuable' estate, with Sarah being the sole heir. At the time of their petition, Richard and Sarah were recorded as being married and "under age". Richard's father, Richard "the elder", was said to be "old and infirm", thus the need for a guardian. The court agreed, and on that same day, Sarah and guardian Abraham Clark filed a complaint to the court saying that Sarah Britton and Samuel Moore, Administrators of the estate of William Britton, had failed to render an accounting of the estate.
At some point in time, Sarah Britton and Samuel Moore did render an accounting of the estate "for the support of two children", Benjamin (deceased) and Sarah (age 11 months). The relationship of the children to the deceased William Britton is unclear. William Britton had no living children at his death other than Sarah, Richard's wife. It is possible that William Britton's widow, Sarah Britton, was seeking a share of the estate to support her children of other marriages, children who may not have had a living father. After the death of William Britton, she was said to have married Lewis Merritt, and after his death, Thomas Bloomfield. The name, Sarah Bloomfield, appears in the documentation, though I am unable to interpret its context. (VEM-2, petition-4).
Captain Richard and his wife lived at what is now Colonia in Woodbridge Township. (MKT-1d)
Aug. 4, 1772 - Richard Skinner and Thomas Bloomfield posted 500 pounds with the Governor of NJ to obtain a marriage license for Bloomfield and Elizabeth Morris. (exhibit-20b)
1777 - Captain, First Regiment, Middlesex Co., NJ Militia. Commanded a company of 56 men in service at Elizabethtown under Major John Dunn prior to Nov 19, 1777. (record-7a, record-8, NJB-9)
1777 - Two years before he was killed, Captain Skinner was plundered by the enemy of horses and household goods valued at L54. (AMW-6). [KDS note - I have not come across a verifying source of this.]
January, March, May 1778 - in military service at Woodbridge. (NJB-9)
March 5, 1778 - Officer Skinner's signature appears on a petition with other names. (NJB-9)
July, August 1778 - served at Woodbridge under Brigadier General Winds. (record-8)
July 1, 1779 - Captain Richard Skinner was killed by a sniper, one of a small group of British and locals who came over from Staten Island and surprised Skinner and others who were holding a 'Public Safety Committee' meeting at the Crossroads Tavern, also called the Six Roads Tavern, about one mile south of Rahway between Rahway and Woodbridge, on what was then called King's Highway (now St. Georges Avenue). The site now faces the Penn. railroad. The group of about four British soldiers and four "refugees' succeeded in killing Skinner, the commanding officer of a troop of light horse. One other person was killed and thirteen taken as prisoners. (news-8)
Captain Richard Skinner was buried beside his father, Richard Skinner, in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery (Church of Christ Cemetery), St. Georges St., Rahway, NJ. (AMW-1e) His tombstone reads (epitaph-11):
In memory of
Captain Richard Skinner
who died June ye 29th 1779
in the 39th year of his age
Behold me here as you pass by
Who Bled and Died for Liberty
From British tirants now care free
My friends - prepare to follow me
August 10, 1779 - Inventory of Captain Richard's estate, worth L824.5.0, was made by Cornelius Baker and William Moore. August 25, 1779 - Sarah Skinner made Administrix of Richard's estate. (will-10)
Widow Sarah Skinner was granted an allowance of half pay from July, 1779 until she remarried, as a widow's pension. The military record indicates she remarried September 9, 1783 to Cornelius Baker. (service record-9).
It was his second marriage as well. (VEM-2).
Cornelius Baker had served in Captain Richard's company and was also a Woodbridge resident. (GRS-1)
- - - - - - - - - -
JOHN SKINNER
John Skinner, possible son of Captain Richard, had a service record as follows - Private, Middlesex County Militia, from June 1779 to December 15, 1779. He received a certificate dated June 10, 1784 for L3.3.9 "for the depreciation of continental pay in the Middlesex County Militia, during the Revolutionary War." (record-18)
- - - - - - - - - -
CORNELIUS BAKER
May 14, 1783 - Cornelius Baker identified as a Middlesex Co. resident and Fellowbondsman in the Will of Asa Hubbell. (will-15)
November 18, 1784 - Cornelius Baker identified as a Middlesex Co. resident and Fellowbondsman in the Will of Thomas Alwood. (will-15)
August 8, 1783 - Sarah Skinner, widow of Captain Richard, deeded fourty acres of land with a house and barn to Cornelius Baker for four hundred pounds. (deed-15)
The document contains her signature.
September 9, 1783 - Sarah Skinner marries Cornelius Baker, second marriages for both of them. (VEM-2)
March 24, 1802 - Cornelius Baker named guardian of three children of William Lee in Middlesex Co. (will-15).
Note that Susannah Lee was the first wife of Cornelius.
December 29, 1802 - land owned by Cornelius Baker in Woodbridge-Rahway meadows mentioned in the will of Henry Marsh. (will-15)
January 23, 1808 - Cornelius Baker writes his Will. The Will indicates he owns and is living in a residence in Woodbridge Township, Middlesex Co. (will-15)
November 10, 1808 - Cornelius and Sarah deed land in Woodbridge to Sarah's son Richard Skinner (the Third, III). (NJB-17)
May 26, 1809 - Cornelius Baker mentioned in Will of Joseph D'Camp of Rahway, Middlesex Co. (will-10)
1815 - Cornelius Baker passed away. Inventory made November 15. Will proved November 20, 1815. (will-15)
April 24, 1823 - Sarah (Britton) (Skinner) Baker enters her Will on record identifying herself as a resident of Woodbridge Township. (will-16)
October 3, 1829 - Sarah Baker passed away. (VEM-2). Will proved October 15, 1829. (will-16)
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
WILLIAM BRITTON SKINNER
July 16 1787 - W. Britton Skinner, son of Captain Richard, died at age 26. August 2, 1787 - inventory, L69.16.0, made by William Moores and Icebod Thorp. (cem. rec.-14c)
August 14, 1787 - Anne Skinner, who was originally the administrix of Britton Skinner's estate, permitted Cornelius Baker, Britton's step-father, to become the administrator. (will-14b)
Anne was probably the wife of Britton Skinner, given that she was the original administrix.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
KDS COMMENTARY, CAPTAIN RICHARD:
Per family geneaologist Laurel Steffes, the inventory record of Richard's estate is on file. I have not seen it.
The records show disagreement over the birth date of Richard Skinner. Richard and his wife Sarah were both under the age of 21 years on December 24, 1761 according to (exhibit-4). This is at odds with his tombstone record, as recorded in "The New Jersey Browns" (epitaph-11), that indicates Richard died at age 39 in mid-1779.
The day that Richard was killed is also in dispute. Some news stories indicate Richard was killed July 1, 1779. (news-8). However, the majority of the stories, plus his military records (record-9) and epitaph (epitaph-11) mention June 29, 1779 (Tuesday).
Abraham Clark, Jr. was appointed to be the legal guardian of Richard Skinner and his wife in 1761. Note that Abraham would later go down in history as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Note also that Jane Clark, who married a son of Captain Richard, was a distant cousin of Abraham Clark. Ref. the Clark Family genealogy under "Allied Families" . Also ref. (exhibit-19).
Franklin Skinner, in his series of articles that appeared in the Glassboro Enterprise in 1921 (FS-1c), assumed that Captain Richard Skinner descended from the Perth Amboy Skinners. One of Franklin's peers, genealogist Fernald, disagreed saying that there was no proof of such and indicating frustration in her conversations with Franklin on the subject (Fernald-1c1).
I agree with Fernald. The Perth Amboy Skinners were a well-known family of Loyalists whose off-spring have been widely documented. There is no Richard Skinner in that family line - reference the Family Record of the Perth Amboy Skinners included elsewhere.
The connection of Captain Richard to the Woodbridge/Rahway Skinner family line is clear. Numerous documents connect Richard to his father, to his wife and to his military service. In addition, Captain Richard's childhood guardian - Abraham Clark, Jr., as well as Captain Richard's father-in-law - William Britton, appear in the records with the previous generation of the Woodbridge Skinner family.
The only persons proven to be children of Captain Richard and Sarah Britton are Anna Skinner, William Britton Skinner, and Richard Skinner (the Third). I have shown Daniel and Abraham as also being potential children of Captain Richard:
1) Daniel's birth date, source unknown, places him at the right time to be a child of Captain Richard. In fact, Daniel's birth would help to fill the eight year time span between the birth of two of Captain Richard's other children - Anna and Richard III.
2) Both Daniel and Abraham migrated to Ohio, the same as Richard III - a known child of Captain Richard.
3) Abraham married into the D'Camp family. This family name is mentioned several times in Will records associated with Amos Skinner, brother to Captain Richard, and also once in records associated with Richard, Sr. - father of Captain Richard.
Note that the source of the birth and death dates for Daniel and Abraham is not known. Without seeing those sources of information, it is difficult to tell what is really known about these two persons. For example, there is probably no proof that the Daniel born in 1766 is the same Daniel who married Isabel Todd, especially since the Todd family was not of the Woodbridge area. However, Isabel's father was born in 1731, making Isabel of the right generation to have been this Daniel's husband.
Per (AMBW-1e) - "Two years before he was killed in the skirmish at Woodbridge, NJ, Captain Richard Skinner was plundered by the enemy of horses and household goods valued at L54. ... Owing to the destruction of St. Peter's Church (Perth Amboy) and its records by the British Army during their occupation of Staten Island, complete certified data concerning the family ... is not obtainable. However, it is almost certain that he and his sons were born in or about Woodbridge, NJ. The family moved from that vicinity to the vicinity of Woodbury, NJ shortly after his death."
I have never come across a record of the above military skirmish in relationship to any Skinner. In addition, the comment that Skinner records may have disappeared with St. Peter's Church would only apply to the unrelated Perth Amboy Skinner line. The movement of the Skinners to Woodbury, NJ is a disproven theory of Franklin Skinner repeated by AMBW.
Thomas Bloomfield's name surfaces several times in connection with the Skinner family, particularly Captain Richard. Thomas Bloomfield was supposedly the third husband of Captain Richard's mother-in-law - Sarah Britton. (exhibit-2a, ). As a result, there is a reference to Sarah Bloomfield in (exhibit-4), though the meaning of the exhibit is unclear. In 1772, Thomas Bloomfield (probably a generation later than the previously-mentioned Thomas) and Richard Skinner bound money to the Governor of NJ for the marriage license of Thomas Bloomfield to Elizabeth Morris (exhibit-20b). The relationship of these two Thomas Bloomfields is unknown. The connection of these two Bloomfields to the earlier Bloomfield generations mapped out in "Allied Families" (elsewhere) is also not clear. The Thomas Bloomfield who married Elizabeth Morris was said to be a son of a Andrew Bloomfield (exhibit-20)
Thomas Bloomfield and Richard Skinner served together during the War. Bloomfield apparently served under Captain Richard and was taken prisoner in the same incident in which Captain Richard was killed (exhibit-8). Bloomfield's Service Record (referred to in exhibit-7b) makes reference to Captain Richard Skinner. I am guessing that Bloomfield's service record indicates that Skinner was his commanding officer and may make mention of Bloomfield's capture.
There is one final Bloomfield/Skinner interrelationship that occurs in 1783 (exhibit-15). Thomas Bloomfield witnessed a deed transferring land from Richard Skinner's widow (Sarah Skinner) to Cornelius Baker. Sarah married Cornelius Baker one month later. There is also a confusing and probably erroneous mention of Thomas Bloomfield in (VEM-2).
There are additional references to the Bloomfields in the files of other Skinners, including the marriage of a daughter of Wright Skinner to Ezekial Bloomfield - Wright's daughter being one generation previous to Captain Richard. The Thomas Bloomfield who married Elizabeth Morris was said to be the son of Andrew Bloomfield. That leaves in question the identity of the Thomas Bloomfield who married Captain Richard Skinner's mother-in-law. And I have not been able to connect either of these two Thomas Bloomfields to the earlier Bloomfield generations mapped out in the web pages entitled "Allied Families".
There are numerous references to the Moore family, including Samuel Moore (exhibit-4), Jotham Moore (exhibit-8), William Moore (exhibits-10, 14b, 15), Daniel Moore (exhibit-15), Henry Moore (exhibit-15) and Isaac Moore (exhbit-16), though I could not detect any family ties to the Skinners. The Moore family appears in relationship to earlier generations of the Skinner family. For example, Samuel Moore and Captain John Moore served in the Woodbridge regiment of Thomas Ffarmer's 1715 militia with John Skinner, Jr., Richard Skinner, Jr. and Wright Skinner, those Skinners being of the same generation as the father of Captain Richard Skinner.
The Moore references are also interesting in that John Skinner, Esq. of South Brunswick, whose ancestry is unknown, had some business dealings with a Nathaniel and Reuben Moore. Note also that the unknown John Skinner Esq. married Mary Elizabeth Morris and that Thomas Bloomfield, associate of Captain Richard, married Elizabeth Morris.
Review the Freeman and Clark families in the files called "Allied Families" for additional information on the Skinners.
COMMENTARY, SARAH & CORNELIUS BAKER
Sarah Skinner's husband, Captain Richard Skinner, was killed in 1779. She remarried to Cornelius Baker in 1783. One month before the marriage, Cornelius purhased a Woodbridge plantation from her - 40 acres of land with a house and barn. This was the property she had inherited as the sole heir of her father, William Britton.
This was the second marriage for Cornelius as well as Sarah. He had previously married Susannah Lee. And his sister, Sarah (or Susannah) Baker married Abraham Lee, brother of his wife. He likely had several children as a result of this first marriage. His 1808 Will mentions daughter Susannah and son Abraham. They were no doubt from his first marriage and named for his wife and wife's brother.
The Will of Cornelius also mentions son Stephen and daughters Catharine and Mary. Of Stephen, nothing more is known. Sarah's Will of 1823 also mentions the two daughters Catharine and Mary, as well as daughters Lavinia and Sarah. Since her Will mentions none of her children by first husband Richard Skinner, I assume all to be children of second husband Cornelius Baker. Note that daughter Sarah married into the Freeman family. Another of Sarah's daughters - Anna, by her previous marriage to Captain Skinner, married Isaac Payne, whose mother was also of the Freeman family. Ref. the Freeman Family in "ALLIED FAMILIES".
The Wills of Sarah and Cornelius make no mention of Sarah's three known children with first husband, Captain Richard Skinner. The three children were William Britton Skinner, Anna Skinner and Richard Skinner (the Third). However, William Britton had died in 1787, prior to their Wills. Anna had died in 1821, prior to her Mother's 1823 Will. Cornelius did not mention Anna in his Will, but he also did not mention Richard (the Third), the other living child. In 1808, after making out his Will, Cornelius and Sarah gave Woodbridge property to her son Richard (the Third), for only 50 cents, so Sarah's son was taken care of outside of any Wills.
In 1801, Cornelius was made guardian of three children of William Lee, deceased, a brother of his wife Susannah who had married Anna Harveson. The children were John, William and Sussanah Lee and do not appear in any of the Wills of Cornelius and Sarah.
COMMENTARY, PRIVATE JOHN SKINNER - possible son of Captain Richard:
Private John Skinner's military service is the only known record of his existence. Assuming John lived beyond the War years, he may have joined the migration of the many Skinners who left NJ.
Captain Richard and Private John both served in the Middlesex County militia. There is no proof that they were father and son, though the similar military service makes such a connection likely. It is conceivable that Private John Skinner could have been a John Skinner who was later documented in Rahway in the early 1800's. As discussed elsewhere, this Rahway John Skinner was a son of Benjamin Skinner Sr. (or Jr.) and a distant cousin of Captain Richard.
Several John Skinners appear in Gloucester County, South Jersey during the latter half of the 1700's. One of these Skinners lived in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County. This John Skinner was a husband to Patience Hennessey and the progenitor of hundreds of Skinners in the South Jersey area today. Family geneaologist Franklin Skinner was a grandson of John and Patience. I also descend from this family line.
Franklin believed that the Gloucester Co. Skinners descend from the Middlesex Co. Skinners of North Jersey. In particular, Franklin believed that his Gloucester County grandfather was the same John Skinner who had served as a Private in the Middlesex County militia and that Private John was, in turn, a son of Captain Richard. Franklin offered no proof to back up his beliefs. His notes and family records were destroyed some years after his death.
Per the research of Laurel Steffes, who descends from the Glou. Co. Skinners, there is zero evidence and very little possibilty that Private John Skinner of Middlesex County was the same person as Franklin's grandfather of Gloucester County. The two John Skinners lived simultaneously in the two different sections of Jersey.
Note that Franklin shows specific dates of military service for Private John Skinner (franklin-1c), that I have never seen in the records (see service record-18). Franklin also shows a specific birth date for his Glou. Co. grandfather that I have never seen in the records as well.
FURTHER RESEARCH:
Archives, Exhibit 1 - letter from George Stevens to his family, Sep 18, 1957.
"John's son on John, Jr. studied under his uncle Richard ("Deacon") and became himself a Presbyterian minister. John's son Richard joined the Woodbridge militia in 1715 and fought in some local Indian Wars. He lived to a ripe old age (d. 1770) and also had seven children- Richard, John, Catherine, Rebecca, Daniel, Mary, and Amos. His son Richard (b. 1740, d. 1779) is the one who joined the Patriot Army and was killed at Woodbridge during the Revolution. (This is the one that somebody got mixed up with the Perth Amboy Skinners, which is a different family).
Richard, the one who was killed in the war, married Sarah Britton. They had 3 children: John, Richard and Benjamin. After the war, Sarah remarried to Cornelius Baker, a soldier who was in her husband's company and a Woodbridge resident. Baker was given some land in Gloucester County - near Woodbury, and in 1789 he moved his family there. Richard's son John who had joined the army at 16 and served with his father's company until his death, moved with the Bakers and was given a farm by his step-father. ..... This John married Patience Hennessey. . .."
[KDS note - I have found nothing to corroborate the work of GRS. The details of John Skinner's relocation from North Jersey to South Jersey is mistaken speculation. I found no information to suggest that Cornelius Baker owned or was given land in Gloucester Co. or that Baker, in turn, gave land to his step-son John. GRS seems to have confused Baker with Thomas Taber, a Gloucester Co. resident who Willed land to a John Skinner of Glou. Co. The Wills of both Cornelius Baker and wife Sarah Skinner Baker indicate no land holdings in South Jersey - they both lived and died in Middlesex County, North Jersey. The 1789 date is also an incorrect reference by GRS. 1789 is simply a year in which a Glou. Co. John Skinner made a land purchase. Note also that Captain Richard's son - John, did not serve "with his father's company until his death". He started service in the month his presumed father was killed.]
Exhibit 1c - Newspaper Articles written by Franklin Skinner, appearing in a column called "Our History Club, Compiled by John R. Downer", The Glassboro Enterprise, 1921:
November 11, 1921
"Reverend William Skinner was born in Scotland in 1687 and left England for America in 1721; he was a MacGregor, one of the Scottish clan proscribed for supporting the Old Pretender in 1715. He took the name of Skinner, probably his mother's maiden name, and was sent as a missionary by the Church of England to America and became the first rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where he remained until his death in 1758.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen and Catherine VanCortlandt of Cortlandt Manor, who was born May 24, 1694, by whom he had seven sons and a daughter named Gertrude Cordlandt, Stephen, William, Elisha, John, Richard, Benjamin and Gertrude Skinner.
.....
All of the sons except Richard adhered to the Royalist Cause.
.....
Richard Skinner, sixth son, cast his lot with the Patriots and was made Captain in the Middlesex County Militia of New Jersey. He was killed in an engagement at Cross Roads Tavern between Rahway and Woodbridge, N.J. on July 1, 1779.
Benjamin Skinner was Colonel of the 1st Regiment of his brother's corps. He survived the War and as I find by an old deed was living in Rahway in 1799. By an old letter in my possession he was living in 1801 and had two sons, Benjamin and John, and still further on by an old will I find he had a daughter Catharine. Researches of Manning Skinner, great grandson of Cortlandt Skinner.
References: Biographical Records of N.Y., Volume 5, page 72; History of Middlesex County, page 570; Biographical Sketches of the Royalists of the American Revolution by Lorenzo Sabine; Contributions to New Jersey History by Whitehead.
November 11, 1921 (Continued next week)."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
November 18, 1921
"Richard Skinner, son of Captain Richard Skinner, died in 1796 and his estate was administered at Woodbury, Gloucester County, New Jersey, March 17, 1696.
John Skinner, son of Captain Richard Skinner, was born January 15, 1760, and died February 9, 1824. He served as a Private in the Middlesex County Militia from June, 1779 to December 15, 1779. John married Patience Hanisey, October 27, 1785. She was born April 15, 1764, died April 30, 1840. They settled in Gloucester County, New Jersey, near what is now known as Pitman Grove. Patience was a woman of education and quite a poetess, although none of her writings are extant.
.....
References: Records of Surrogate's Office, Woodbury, N.J.; Family Bible; Family Records in possession of Franklin Skinner.
November 18, 1821 (Continued Next Week)"
[KDS note - the Bible records mentioned above detail the descendants of John and Patience; Excerpts are in the files of VEM. VEM's files show that Richard III, son of Captain Richard, is not the Richard who died in Gloucester Co. in 1796. As far as I know, the Glouc. Co. Richard has never been researched.]
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"November 25, 1921
....."
[KDS note- this article contains information about the children of John and Patience; not relevant here, and available from many other sources.]
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
December 2, 1921 - [this one written by John Downer based upon information he received from Franklin Skinner]:
"Reverend Richard Skinner
He was born on the old homestead, near now Alcyon Park, July 11, 1797, dying at Glassboro, March 12, 1882, aged nearly eighty-five years. He was a great grandson of Rev. William Skinner, who emigrated from Scotland to East New Jersey, in 1721, and grandson of Captain Richard Skinner, who was the only one of Rev. William Skinner's sons who served in the Revolutionary War, on the American side, according to Mr. Franklin Skinner's data.
.....[KDS note - jumps to a discussion of the children of John and Patience not relevant here.]
December 2, 1921 (To be continued next week)"
Exhibit 1c1 - Letter from Genealogist Natalie R. Fernald to John R. Downer, per files of VEM:
"November 16, 1921
To Mr. John R. Downer,
Will you please have Mr. Franklin Skinner give proof that Capt. Richard Skinner, who was killed at Woodbridge was the son of Rev. William?
I had some correspondence with him some years ago, when he refused to give me proof, but merely wrote that he was satisfied. That does not do especially when one has data showing that the statement is wrong.
Why doesn't he put dates? I will give what I have on these families, if I am wrong submit your proof.
Rev. William Skinner was of the Clan MacGregor, he had to flee from Scotland after the battle of Preston, 1715. He was born 1687, married first Mary, daughter of Capt. Christopher Billop and widow of the Rev. Mr. Brooks, who was lost at sea, 1707. He married second Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen and Gertrude (Schuyler) Van Cortland. She was born May 24, 1694. He died 1758.
References:
Other Skinner family continued next page.
page 2
Mr. Charles S. Myers, 704 Wells Fargo Bldg., Portland, Oregon, sent me some of this data.
Mr. Frank Sewell Skinner, 62 Seaman Ave., Inwood on Hudson, N.Y.C. is also a descendant of Capt. Richard, born 1740, killed by the British.
I am going to subscribe to your paper, (Glassboro Enterprise). Dr. Iszard sent me a copy, which I received this morning and I have set right down to send what I have collected, which at least puts a questioin mark after the date of Franklin.
He, no doubt, has valuable material but he has arranged it to please himself and when facts throw out his way, he ignores facts.
In one of the latest N. J. Hist. Col. there are facts that prove some of my statements.
Very Truly Yours,
Natalie R. Fernald"
Exhibit 1c2 - letter from Mary Leigh Beeson to 1960's family geneaologist Norman Skinner, dated 22 Nov 1966, in files of VEM:
Dear Mr. Skinner: -
I just received your letter, and I'm afraid I'm going to be a great disappointment to you.
For years, I had a truck full of genealogical date acquired by my grandmother, Mrs. Frank Skinner, and my aunt, Mrs. Laura P. Skinner.
However, ten years ago, we sold our home and came into the Foreign Service. At this time, I simply got rid of everything I didn't need, or want.
For the twenty years I had all this data, I never did anything with it, except to try to find a place to store it. It finally had to "go".
I'm dreadfully sorry, as, what I had would probably have soved all your problems.
Grandpa had three daughters - one Leone, died in childhood. My aunt, Laura Patten Skinner died some years ago. My mother maiden name, Nadine Converse Skinner, will be 94 in July and is in a nursing House in Penna. I know my grandmother was very proud of the fact that she was a Colonial Dame. This of course would be on her side, not Grandpa's.
I don't know of anything I can add except to wish you luck!
Sincerely,
Mary Leigh (Beeson)"
Exhibit 1d - "Jersey Genealogy", Mary K. Thurston, Newark Evening News, April 27, 1918, per copy in files of VEM:
"Captain Richard Skinner and his wife, Sarah Britten (sic), lived at what is now Colonia, in Woodbridge Township. After the death of the captain his widow married Cornelius Baker. William Britten, father of Sarah, was the father of an ancestor of mine, her mother, Sarah Crowell, sister of another, and her second husband the brother of another.
There is a possibility that you may find among the early deeds in the office of the county clerk at New Brunswick, data which may help you in your search in locating the Skinner property. The records contain many deeds filed after 1800 which were executed long before that date and which were not filed at Trenton; also many mortgages."
Exhibit 1e - Letter to Norman E. Skinner from Ann Magill Bailey Wallin, Feb 24, 1965, per copy in files of VEM:
:Pennywise, Edgartown, Massachusetts
February 24, 1965
Dear Mr. Skinner:
It has been two years since you wrote to my cousin, Isabelle Skinner, and she sent your papers on to me, and I am chagrined that I have been so long in sending you an answer. .....
I am afraid I can't be much help to you, but I will give you the data I have, and I know in research work, that often one small item can form a link. It seems that there were two Richard Skinners, and for years our records showed that Captain Richard Skinner, who married Sarah Tabor, was my father's great-great-grandfather, but when my cousin filed her papers for membership in the D.A.R. her papers were returned with a letter saying this was a mistake, and subsequent search revealed that "our" Richard Skinner probably married Sarah Brittin. The data I have on this subject is in bits and pieces of letters signed by a Mrs. Moses, who was doing the research for Mrs. Armstrong, my cousin. I will copy, for you, the pertinent references in her letters:
"Cornelius Baker, grand-son of Jacobus Baker and Margaret Stuyvesant, his wife, marred for his second wife - Sarah Brittin, a widow of Captain Richard Skinner." Then she goes on and gives the ancestry of Sarah Brrittin, and later: "Sarah (Brittin) Skinner married as above stated Captain Richard Skinner, who was in the Revolution. He was born 1740, died June 29, 1779."
The Registrar-General of the D.A.R. wrote in 1918; "We fine that the Captain, whose service you have claimed, did not marry Sarah Tabor and we must therefore ask that you make further research for the correct service of your Richard Skinner, also the correct date of his death, as the date given belonged to the Captain."
In another letter, Mrs. Moses wrote: "Could Richard Skinner have been a descendant of Thomas Skinner who married a grand-daughter of Isaac Allerton of the Mayflower?" Most of those Woodbridge settlers came own from New England."
On the back of another letter is this note: Two years before he was killed in the skirmish at Woodbridge, NJ, Captain Richard Skinner was plundered by the enemy of horses and household goods valued at L54.
The names of his brothers and sons are found on the records as having served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War. Miss Sarah Taber, later the wife of Captain Richard Skinner was a descendant of the West, Wright and Taber families who claimed to have been members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Ancestors of Captain Richard Skinner were forced to flee form England, leaving their possessions and fortunes in England. They landed in America before 1700. One of them evidently received money from England after his arrival for in a short time he purchased some land and together with a claim of 150 acres from Sir George and Philip Carteret, he became a recognized colonist."
Owing to the destruction of St. Peter's Church (Perth Amboy) and its records by the British Army during their occupation of Staten Island, complete certified data concerning the family ... is not obtainable. However, it is almost certain that he and his sons were born in or about Woodbridge, NJ. The family moved from that vicinity to the vicinity of Woodbury, NJ shortly after his death."
(The above is written as a quotation in a hand writing I do not recognize.)
In another note: "I have just learned that Richard Skinner died December 7, 1771, in his 64th year and is buried beside his son, Captain Richard Skinner, in the old Presbyterian Cemetery in Rahway, N.J."
The dates I have for John Skinner and Patience Hennesay are the same as yours, and if Thomas Taber was an uncle then it would seem that John Skinner's mother was, in fact. Sarah Taber, as we have always believed. If this is so you have been a great help to me, Mr. Skinner. Can you tell me where I can find a copy of Thomas Taber's will? I will greatly appreciate this information.
I will type my Father's genealogy in another sheet, and please forgive my very poor, two-finger typing. If you can tell me where to find any additional data about Sarah Tabor that would substantiate our claim, I would appreciate it more than I can tell you.
Sincerely,
Ann Wallin"
[KDS note - I have not found the reference to being 'plundered' in regards to any Skinner war records. Based upon the comments concerning Perth Amboy, it sounds as though there is confusion with the Perth Amboy Skinners. She may simply have expanded upon the Perth Amboy reference given in exhibit 11, which sounds very similar. Her references to Woodbury, NJ sound like a quote from GRS-1 above.]
Exhibit 2 - Children of Captain Richard Skinner and wife Sarah (Crowell) Britton per notes of VEM:
VEM's notes show several conflicting lists of children for Richard and Sarah Britton. These lists are filled with mistakes and should be disregarded. However, these lists do provide spouse information not seen elsewhere, probably taken from the files of the 1920's genealogist Fernald, whose work I have not seen first-hand.
List #1 -
"Captain Richard Skinner was b. Woodbridge, NJ about 1740, married 1760/1 Sarah Britton, dau. of William and Sarah Britton and granddaughter of Daniel & Elizabeth Britton. She was great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Britton, who came to Manhattan Island in 1660.
Children:
1. Anna (b. Mar
11 Sep 19, 1761;
married Jan 9, 1780 to Isaac Payne, b. Mar 11, 1760)
2. Wm. B. (b. 1762/3;
married Sarah Crowell)
[KDS note - William
Britton, father of Sarah Britton Skinner, married Sarah Crowell, not
grandson William B. Skinner shown here.]
3. Katherine (married
Isaac Martin; she died first; both bur. Shotwell Bishop Farm Cemetery)
[KDS note - Captain
Richard has no known daughter Katherine. This may be a reference to
Katherine Skinner of the previous generation - sister to Captain
Richard. There is also a Catherine mentioned in the Wills of both
Cornelius Baker and Sarah Baker. She would logically be Catherine
Baker. I have seen on rootsweb the existence of an Isaac Martin, part
of the large Piscataway Martin family, with a wife Katreen, and a
second, with a wife Catherine. It would help to know where the
Shotwell Bishop Farm Cemetery is located, and the date of death.]
4. Nancy (married Thomas Bloomfield)
[KDS note - I have no
idea where this reference to the existence of a Nancy Skinner comes
from, but Thomas Bloomfield was closely associated with Captain
Richard Skinner and served in the War with him. Per exhibit 2a -
Thomas Bloomfield married Sarah Crowell, the widow of William Britton
and mother of Captain Richard Skinner's wife. Perhaps Nancy was a
daughter of Sarah Crowell and Thomas Bloomfield, thus being Nancy
Bloomfield. I would like to see the original files of Fernald, where
this may have originated from.]
5. Richard, Jr. (b. Oct 18, 1769; married Jane Clark)
Perhaps the two following were his children too, but there is no proof of same
? 6. Mary
[KDS note - Mary is
mentioned in the Wills of both Sarah Baker and Cornelius Baker;
Mary's father is probably Cornelius Baker, not Captain Skinner,
making her Mary Baker.]
? 7. Daniel (b. 1766 - m. Isabel Todd, see Descendants of Daniel & Isabel (Todd) Skinner.
She married for her (2nd) husband, Cornelius Baker, and had by him, two children:
Sarah Baker (married Henry Freeman)
Cornelius Baker (married Jennet Edgar, dau. Major of Revolutionary War)
Sarah (Britton) (Skinner) Baker died Oct 3, 1829."
List #2 -
"1. John Skinner (b.
Jan 15, 1760, Middlesex Co.; d. Feb 9, 1824, Glo. Co.; md. Oct 27,
1785 Patience Hennesse at Gloria Dei Church, Phila, PA)
[KDS note - this refers
to an unrelated John Skinner of South Jersey.]
2. Anna Skinner (b. Mar 11, 1761 or Sep 9, 1761; d. May 4, 1821; md. Jan 9, 1780, Isaac Payne)
3. William Britton
Skinner (b. 1762; d. Jul 16, 1787 in 26th yr.; md. Sarah Crowell)
[KDS note - Sarah Crowell
married a William Britton, not the William Britton Skinner listed above.]
4. Sarah Freeman (md. Henry Freeman)
5. Richard Skinner, Jr. (b. Oct 18, 1769; d. Apr 10, 1850, Oxford, Butler Co. OH; md. Jane Clark, Westfield, NJ; 7 children all moved to Cincinnati)
Children mentioned in
Will of Sarah Britton Skinner Baker, April 24,1823:
1. Sarah, wife of Henry
Freeman; 2. Catherine; 3. Lavinia; 4. Mary
Children mentioned in
Will of Cornelius Baker, Jan 23, 1808:
1. Susannah; 2. Abraham;
3. Catherine; 4. Mary; 5. Stephen listed in Codicil Mar 24, 1813"
[KDS Note - Source of above information, other than the Wills of Cornelius and Sarah Baker - none given in notes of DSW/VEM. A general reference is made to "The New Jersey Browns", a source referemce that I procured and have included as a later exhibit below.]
Exhibit 2a - Also in the notes of VEM, this explanation of Sarah Crowell from, I believe, Frances L. Elliott, Burbank, CA, April, 1982:
"Sarah Crowell was a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Vail) Crowell and granddaughter of Edward and Mary (Lothrop) Crowell. After the death of William Britton, his widow Sarah married Lewis Merritt (?) and after his death Thomas Bloomfield. Sarah, the daughter of William and Sarah Britton, was granddaughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Britton, great-granddaughter of Nathaniel and Anna (Stillwell) Britton of Gravesend, L.I. Her mother was Sarah Crowell."
Exhibit 3 - removed.
Exhibit 4 - Richard Skinner, Will Abstracts:
"1761, Dec. 24.
Skinner, Richard, Jr., and Sarah, Wards. Petition of Richard Skinner,
Richard Skinner, Jr., and Sarah Skinner, states that William Britton,
formerly of Woodbridge, deceased, died intestate, leaving one son and
one daughter, the said Sarah Skinner; that the said son of said
Britton has since deceased, whereby the said Sarah hath become the
sole heir to all the estate of her said father, both personal and
real; that the said Sarah hath married the said Richard Skinner, Jr.,
both of whom are under age, and the said Britton has left a very
valuable estate, and it is necessary that some person should take
charge thereof, and the said Richard Skinner, the elder, father to
said Richard Skinner, Jr., being old and infirm, therefore, the
petitioners desire that Abraham Clark, Jr., may be made Guardian of
the estate of Richard Skinner, Jr., and Sarah his wife, till they
come of age.
1761, Dec. 24, Abraham
Clark, Jr. of Elizabeth Town, appointed Guardian of Richard Skinner,
Jr., and Sarah Skinner. Fellowbondsman - Robert Ogden, of said town.
Lib. H., p62."
per "Abstracts of
Wills", NJ Archives, Vol. XXXIII, First Series, p388, per notes
of VEM.
"The New Jersey Browns", by Charlotte (Cowdrey) Brown and Margaret Julia (Brown) Linday, 1931, pp66-67, 3/16/1996/KDS:
Actual Document - "To his Excellency Josiah Hardy Esq. Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of New Jersey, Chancellor & Vice Admiral in the same & "The Humble Petition of Richard Skinner, Richard Skinner Junr. And Sarah Skinner,
"Humbly Sheweth,
"That William Britton, formerly of Woodbridge, Dec'd, died intestate. leaving one son & one daughter, the sd. Sarah Skinner, That the sd. Son of sd. Britton has since Decsd. whereby the said Sarah hath become the Sole Heir to all the Estate of her sd. Father, both Real & personal, That the sd. Sarah hath Married the sd. Richard Skinner Junr. both of whom are under Age, and the sd. Britton leaving a very Valuable Estate and it being Necessary that some person should be authorized to take the Charge thereof, and the sd. Richard Skinner the Elder Father to sd. Richard Skinner, Junr. being aged & infirm, Therefore the Petitioners humbly desire that Abraham Clark Junr. may be appointed Guardian to the Estate of sd. Richard Skinner Junr. and Sarah his wife until such time as they shall come of Age. Decr. 24, 1761.
"The New Jersey Browns", by Charlotte (Cowdrey) Brown and Margaret Julia (Brown) Linday, 1931, p67, 3/16/1996/KDS:
"A bond is given by Abraham Clark to perform well his duties, the reading of which holds our interest.
"Know all men by these presents that We, Abraham Clark Junr. and Robert Ogden Esqr. both of Elisabethtown in the county of Essex are held and firmly bound unto his excellency Josah Hardy Esqr. Govr. of New Jersey in the sum of five hundred pounds, proclamation money to be paid to the said Govr. Hardy his Successors or assigns, for the which payment well & truely to be made we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and Admrs. Jointly and severally firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals dated this twenty fourth day of December one thousand seven hundred and sixty one.
"The condition of the above obligation is, that if the above bounden Abraham Clark Junr. who is appointed guardian of the persons and estates of Richard Skinner Junr. and Sarah Skinner until they shall be respectively twenty one years old shall in all things well and truely perform the said office of guardian and shall render just and true accts. of his transactions when thereunto required then the above obligation to be void or else to remain in full force.
("Sealed & Delivered in presence of John Smyth)
Abra. Clark Junr.
Robert Ogden."
"1761, Dec. 24.
Richard Skinner, Jr. (son of Richard Skinner of Essex Co.) and Sarah
Skinner (dau. of Wm. Brittain late of Essex Co.) being upwards of 14
years of age, filed petition in prerogative office at Perth Amboy,
praying that Abraham Clark, Jr. of Essex Co. be guardian of their
person and estates until they are of age
of 21."
per "Ref. Card
File", NJ Historical Society, 232 Broadway, Newark, NJ; C.C.
Gardner; NJ Hist. Soc. B6-137-H62 from the notes of VEM. [KDS note -
I do not know where Gardner got the "upwards of 14 years of
age" from. Is not in original document.]
"1761, Dec. 24.
Sarah Skinner - Abraham Clark, Jr., guardian of Sarah Skinner, lately
Sarah Britain (sic), daughter of Wm. Britton, late of Middlesex Co.,
dec'd complained that Sarah Britton and Samuel Moore Administrators
of said estate of Wm. Britton neglected to file an Inventory and
render an account, etc."
per "Ref. Card
File", NJ Historical Society, 232 Broadway, Newark, NJ; C.C.
Gardner; NJ Hist. Soc. B6-138-H62, all per notes of VEM.
"Account of Estate
of Wm. Britton of Rahway dec'd by Sarah
Bloomfield, late and Sarah
Britton and Samuel Moore for support of children: Benjamin - 4 yrs,
died of small pox, Sarah - eleven months."
"Ref. Card
File", NJ Historical Society, 232 Broadway, Newark, NJ, copied
6/25/1967 by VEM. [KDS note - need date of this record; locate
original record to help decipher the meaning of this confusing record.]
Exhibits 5 & 6 - removed.
Exhibit 7 - "Official Register of the Officers & Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War", William S. Stryker, 1872, p410, 9/24/1995/KDS:
Exhibit 7a - "Revolutionary War Card Index", microfilm #568724/1592/roll 27, Trenton State library, 12/7/1995/KDS:
"Skinner, Richard
Exhibit 7b - Military Record
Exhibit 7c - "Revolutionary Census of New Jersey", by Kenn Stryker-Rodda, 1972, 10/2/1995/KDS:
Exhibit 7d - New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772 - 1822, Vol. 5, edited by Ronald Vern Jackson, computer print-out, Trenton State Library, 10/27/1995/KDS:
Exhibit 8 - Circumstances of Death
"Capt. Skinner, of troop of American Light Horse - killed June 26 in a tavern at Woodbridge, NJ, by soldiers of H.M.'s 37th Regt. [Ref: New York Gazette-Mercury July 5, 1779]"
per members.aol.com/clarkweb, 2002.
Exhibit 9 -"The New Jersey Browns", by Charlotte (Cowdrey) Brown and Margaret Julia (Brown) Linday, pp65-66, 1931, 3/16/1996/KDS:
Exhibit 10 - Richard Skinner, Will Abstract
Exhibit 11 - Captain Richard Skinner Epitaph, per Baker family genealogical history (exact source not identified), copied by VEM/2/1965:
In memory of
Captain Richard Skinner
who died June ye 29th 1779
in the 39th year of his age
Behold me here as you pass by
Who Bled and Died for Liberty
From British tirants now care free
My friends - prepare to follow me
ANNA SKINNER
Exhibit 12 -"The New Jersey Browns", by Charlotte (Cowdrey) Brown and Margaret Julia (Brown) Linday, 1931, 3/16/1996/KDS:
Exhibit 12b - Records of the Church of Latter Day Saints Library System, IGI Batch #7220903, sheet 49, per copy in files of VEM:
WILLIAM BRITTON SKINNER
Exhibit 14 - ref. Appendix - Britton Genealogy (removed)
Exhibit 14a - "Revolutionary War Card Index", microfilm #568724/1592/roll 27, Trenton State library, 12/7/1995/KDS (the cards summarize more detailed information that would be available by utilizing the MSS #'s)
Exhibit 14b - "Abstracts of Wills - 1786-1790", NJ Archives, Vol. XXXVI, p205, 9/24/1995/KDS:
"1787, Aug. 14. Skinner, Britton, of Middlesex Co. Int. Adm'r - Cornelius Baker. Fellowbondsman - Henry Marsh; both of said Co.
1787, Aug 14. Renunciation by Anne Skinner, in favor of Cornelius Baker. Witness - Henry Marsh.
1787, Aug. 2. Inventory, L69.16.0, made by William Moores and Icebod Thorp. Lib. 29, p363."
Exhibit 14c - Cemetery Record, Old Presbyterian Cemetery, Church of Christ Cemetery, 1670 St. Georges Ave., Rahway, NJ, 6/25/1967/VEM:
"IN MEMORY OF
W. BRITTON SKINNER
WHO DIED JULY THE
16th 1787
In ye 26th year of
his age"
Exhibit 14d - New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772-1822, Vol. 5, edited by Ronald Vern Jackson, computer print-out, Trenton State Library, 10/27/1995/KDS:
CORNELIUS BAKER
Exhibit 15 -, Will and Deed Abstracts
Exhibit 15a - Monnette, p765, 10/19/1995/KDS:
SARAH BAKER
Exhibit 16 - Will of
Sarah Baker, on file at the Trenton State Library, Middlesex Co. Will
#11323L, 1/5/1996/KDS
[I did not copy a related
inventory record or inventory date.]:
RICHARD SKINNER (the Third)
Exhibit 17 - "The New Jersey Browns", by Charlotte (Cowdrey) Brown and Margaret Julia (Brown) Linday, 1931, 3/16/1996/KDS:
PRIVATE JOHN SKINNER
Exhibit 18 - "Revolutionary War Index", microfilm #568724/1592/roll 27, Trenton State library, 12/7/1995/KDS:
"Skinner, John
Private, Midlesex County Militia; received certificate No. 1443, dated June 10, 1784, amounting to L3:3:9, for the depreciation of his continental pay in the Middlesex County Militia during the Revolutionary War.
FML - 2-18-30.
KMW - 5-12-33."
ABRAHAM CLARK JR.
Exhibit 19 - Genealogy of Abraham Clark Jr. per users.AOL.com/clarkweb, 1/2003:
"Abraham Clark
Birth 2/15/1726 Elizabethtown, Essex County, NJ [Ref# 32]
Death 9/15/1794 Rahway, NJ [Ref# 38]Also listed as Abraham Clark, Jr. to distinguish him from his uncle of the same name
Signer of the Declaration of Independencefather: Thomas Clark 3, Thomas 2, Richard & Elizabeth Clarke 1
mother: Hannah Winansm. Sarah Hatfield abt. 1749
1. Aaron Clark b. abt 1750 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 12/1811 PA
2. Thomas Clark b. abt 1752/53 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 5/13/1789 NJ
3. Abraham Clark b. abt 1755 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 7/26/1758 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ
4. Hannah Clark b. abt 1755/56 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 11/8/1830
5. Andrew Clark b. abt 1759 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. ?
6. Elizabeth Clark b. abt 1762 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 1776 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ
7. Sarah Clark b. abt 1761 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 10/2/1817
8. Cavalier Clark b. 1763 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 11/4/1764, buried Rahway Presbyterian Cemetery, NJ
9. Abraham Clark b. 10/2/1767 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 7/28/1854 NY
10. Abigail Clark b. abt 1773 Elizabeth Borough, Essex County, NJ, d. 10/25/1811Notes
5/15/1793 Abraham Clark Sr. of the Borough of Elizabeth, Essex Co.; will of. Wife, Sarah, silver teapot, also use of real and personal, while widow. Daughters, Hannah Miller, Sarah Edgar and Abigail Clark, homestead plantation adjoining lands of John Robinson and Robert Clark, to be divided between them after wife's marriage or decease; also Hannah £45, and Abigail £125 and the residue of personal. Son, Aaron, salt meadow in Rahway Meadows joining to Parson's Island commonly called Cherry Island and by meadow of Dr. Isaac Morss. Son, Abraham, residue of real. Two negro men with their mother, to be set free, at wife's marriage or decease. Executor - son, Abraham, and my brother-in-law, Andrew Hetfield. Witnesses - John Terrill, Phebe Marsh and Isaac Marsh. Proved 1/18/1800. Lib. 38, p. 545. 6/6/1804 - Inventory, £345.8.6; made by Robert Clark and Charles H. Hughes. File 9723-9725G, 10336G. [Ref# 12]
10/5/1770 Sarah Hetfield of Elizabeth Borough, Essex Co., widow of Isaac; will of. Daughters, Sarah and Phebe, my moveable estate. Son, Moses, my lands. Sons, Isaac and Andrew, £50 each. Executors - son, Andrew Hetfield, and Abraham Clark. Witnesses - Aaron Clark, Thomas Clark, Mary Huffell [Hubbell?]. Proved 3/19/1784. 3/20/1784 - Inventory, made by Aaron Hetfield and William Halsted. Lib. 26, p. 425 [Ref# 9]
Sarah Hatfield b. 1728 (eldest daughter of Isaac Hatfield & Sarah Price), d. 6/2/1804. She survived her husband by nearly ten years, and lived at the Clark homestead until her death at age 77.
Isaac Hatfield b. abt 1695 (son of Isaac Hatfield), l m. Sarah Price (daughter of Benjamin Price) before 1727 [Ref# 59]. The will of Sarah Price's brother, Benjamin Price, dated 11/24/1759 mentions "homestead of 10 acres given by father, Benjamin Price" and names "Executors and Guardians of children - the wife, son George and kinsman Abraham Clark, Jr. Proved 10/27/1760. Lib. G, p. 345." [Ref# 6]
Abraham & Sarah Clark's headstones at Rahway Presbyterian Cemetery, on St. George Avenue (near the corner of Westfield Avenue), Rahway, Union County, NJ, were reset by the Rebecca Cornell Chapter of the D.A.R. "
THOMAS BLOOMFIELD
Exhibit 20 - Thomas Bloomfield Genealogy per genforum.genealogy.com, 2002:
"Re: Thomas Bloomfield, b.23 Nov 1746 NJ
Posted by: Tom Woodard Date: July 06, 1999 at 15:30:04
In Reply to: Thomas Bloomfield, b.23Nov1746 NJ by Lynn Kappelman 100 of 540Hi Lynn I have a Thomas Bloomfield in my research that Married Elizabeth Morris. he was born 1746 and I have that he died 1830? and also have his wife being born 1758 and died 1829. alist of kids I have on them: Catherine,Isaac,Robert,Lewis Morris I have that he married Susanna Kirk and birth date 1781 died 1864. Anna,Stephen,Andrew,Thomas,Elizabeth. I have Thomas being born to Andrew 1716-1753 and Anna Hude 1698-1775. If any of this sounds familiar to you I can go back to 1639 John Bloomfield. I traced this line while looking for mine,I haven't been able to link the two yet. "
Exhibit 20a - Thomas Bloomfield Genealogy per Genforum.com 2002:
"Re: Thomas Bloomfield, b.23 Nov 1746 NJ
Posted by: Patty Myers Date: January 05, 2000 at 10:01:55
In Reply to: Thomas Bloomfield, b.23Nov1746 NJ by Lynn Kappelman 147 of 569I have line of Andrew-5 Bloomfield back to Thomas-1, d. Newbury, Mass., 1639. This is from my book "Ancestors and Descendants of Lewis Ross Freeman with related families..." The related families include Ayers, Barron, Bloomfield, Frazee, Harned, Moore(s), Pike, Read, Bloodgood, Brown, Carman, Clarkson, Coddington, Crowell, Cutter, Dennis, Drake, Dunham, Edgar, FitzRandolph, Force, Ford, Hadden, Inslee/Ilsley, Jaques, Marsh, Martin, Mundy, Potter, Ross, Rowland, Runyon, Shotwell, Tappen, Thornall & more. Your line includes Moores, which I have back to immigrant. "
Exhibit 20aa - Thomas Bloomfield Genealogy per Bloomfield Forum at www.genealogy.com, 2002:
Re: Thomas Bloomfield,
b.23Nov1746 NJ
Posted by: James Russell
Gordley (ID *****9943) Date: November 30, 2002 at 15:10:59
In Reply to: Re: Thomas
Bloomfield, b.23Nov1746 NJ by Tom Woodard 586 of 594
I am descended from Thomas Bloomfield and Elizabeth Morris. Their son Lewis married Susanna Kirk whose son William married Hester (or Ester Ann)Burns whose son Robert married Mary Bower whose daughter Hallie married my grandfather Dayton Gordley.
Elizabeth Morris, according to a family tradition, was the niece of Robert Morris, financier and signer of the Declaration of Independence. That story is also told by a Civil War soldier named Walker who married another of their Bloomfield descendants. You can find it at www.ohiocivilwar.com/stori/walker.html.
Thomas Bloomfield was the son of Andrew Bloomfield and Anna Hude who was the daughter of Adam Hude and Marion Renwick. According to our family tradition, Marion Renwick (born 1660)came to Amboy New Jersey with other "Cameronians," members of a Presbyterian group who were being killed and imprisoned by the government. There was a ship of these people who had been taken prisoner and were sent to Amboy New Jersey during the "Killing Time" (1684-85) described in Sir Walter Scott's novel "Old Mortality." It was the "Henry & Francis" which may have carried Adam Hude. For a description of the voyage see www.tartans.com/articles/cov6.html. But the family tradition is that she arrived at Amboy on the ship Caledonia. The narrative of the Civil War soldier has that same story and some information about how horrible the ship was which confirms our family story that it was unseaworthy.
I am curious whether Marion Renwick was any relation to the head of the Cammeronians, James Renwick, executed 1688.
Exhibit 20b - " Early New Jersey Marriages - Extracts, 1711-1797", www.rootsweb.com, 2000:
"FHLC 0888701; Vol. B (1711 - 1797) [total of 873 bonds]
[#501 - #550]
#544; Thomas BLOOMFIELD and Richard SKINNER, both of the Township of Woodbridge in
the County of Middlesex... [bound to]... William FRANKLIN, Governor... 500 pounds... 4 Aug
1772. ... Thomas BLOOMFIELD... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Elizabeth
MORRIS of the same place...[w] John THOMSON"
[KDS note - witness?]
Exhibit 20bb - " Early New Jersey Marriages - Extracts, 1711-1797", www.rootsweb.com, 2000:
"FHLC 0888705; Vol. L; 1739-1794 (420 bonds) #001-#050
#008; John LEE and Andrew BLOOMFIELD, both of Woodbridge... [bound to]... Lewis MORRIS, Gove'r... 500 pounds... 21 July 1741. ... John LEE... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Hannah ARVINE of Staten Island, spinster... [w] Tho:s BARTOW Sec'y [on the back: Hannah ARVIN]"
Exhibit 21 - per www.alltel.net/~yoset/CCo/history/1885/Bloomfield.html, 2003 Google Cache (refers to Bloomfield Township, Fayette County, PA:
One of the earliest permanent settlers was Thomas Bloomfield, whose name has been transmitted to the township. He was born in New Jersey November 23, 1746; at the age of twenty-three he married Elizabeth Morris, the niece of Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Being a man of considerable means, engaged extensively in the coast trade, and in 1797 came from Fayette County to French Creek. The following year, with his family of nine children, one of whom was married, he removed to Bloomfield, settling one tract for himself, and one for his son Lewis, then under age, while his son Isaac and his son-in-law, James Bryan, each settled a tract. Thomas Bloomfield died January 15, 1814; his widow survived until 1829, when she passed away at the age of seventy-six years. Of their children, Catherine, the eldest, born in 1772, had married James Bryan, and they came to Bloomfield slightly in advance of her parents. She was the first white woman in the township, and after a residence here of about thirty-five years removed with her husband to the West. Isaac, born in 1776, married Lettus Titus, and after his settlement in Bloomfield, moved to Waterford, Erie County, whence in 1833 he emigrated to near Toledo, Ohio. Lewis married Susannah Kirk, daughter of a pioneer, and in 1829 removed to Stark County, Ohio, where be died in 1864. Anna married Calvin Frisbee, and settled in Le Boeuf Township, Erie County, Stephen died at Riceville in 1863. Sarah died at the age of eighteen years. Andrew died in this township in 1850. Thomas was a Justice of the Peace, and died in this county in 1866. Elizabeth, the youngest, married Israel Shreve, and died in Bloomfield in 1879.
Exhibit 22 - per http://little.gcinet.net/Book/, 2003:
Thomas Bloomfield 1765-1849 married Ann Bullus Ellis, the widow of Joseph, and lived in Woodbridge until about 1786 when they moved to Burlington. Thomas, with the help of Governor Joseph Bloomfield, formed a partnership with JOHN LITTLE in the manufacture of iron. When the partnership was dissolved in 1788 John owed the Governor the modern equivalent of between fifteen hundred and two thousand dollars.
SOURCE: NJ Biographical and Genealogical Notes From The Volumes Of The NJ Archives (1665-1800) Trenton NJ: New Jersey Historical Society 1916.