Scanned and OCR'ed by L. H_iler
The principal purchase made on August 13, 1713, by the West Jersey Proprietors took in all the land from the Whippany River southward to the Passaic below the Great Swamp. Westward it extended to the region of Mendham and Succasunna. This was approximately the land previously purchased by the New Britain men. Unlike the other deeds, only one sachem, Naweenake, who was presumably a Passaik, is named in the document. This important deed begins with these words: "To all Persons to whom these presents Shall Come, I Naweenake, an Indian Sachem and Owner of Land in the western Division of the province of New Jersey, Send Greetings."
For the boundaries of the purchase the wording reads, "I Naweenake - have given, bargained, Sold, aleined, Enfeoffed, and by these presents, Confirmed All that Tract or parcel of Land belonging to the said Naweenake being in the western Division of New Jersey Situate or adjoining to or Lying near Pesiak River as well as both Sides thereof as up arnongst between and about the branches of the same, the parts adjacent bounded northward with the Lands Taphaw and his relations, Eastwardly by the Lands formerly Sold to the inhabitants of Weepaniny and Southward with the said River."
The deed, like the others made at this time, left no rights or privileges to the Indians. On this point it reads, "Together with all and Singular Mines, Minerals, Woods, Waters, fishing, Hunting, and fowling, Rivers, Rivulets, Isles, islands, Brooks, Swamps, Savanahs, and all Liberties, profits, Commodities, heriditaments and appurtanances Whatsoever."
For this land with all that it held, Naweenake and his people received, as is stated in the deed, "four Guns, four Kettles, one large Kettle, forty Shillings in Silver money, four blankets, four shirts, five match Coats, Ten Quarts of powder, forty bars of Lead, two Drawing knives, ten hatchets, ten hilling hoes, forty Awls, One hundred flints, and Six gallons of Rum."
Why Naweenake and his tribe did not receive more for their property may seem strange. The price appears small even though there were large swamps and much hilly, rocky ground worth little at the time. The fact that the Indians had previously sold the same land to the New Britain patentees apparently had no bearing on the price. It may be that the price was small because there were so few Indians in the area.
Another purchase of land in Morris County, made on August 18, 1713, was presumably for land in the region of Lake Hopatcong. This sale was made by the Indian sachems, Quenemaha and Telakonis. As the deed states, the land extended from the Delaware eastward to the area owned by Taphaw and his relatives, who lived within Morris County.
A third purchase, which appears to have taken in what is now Washington and Mount Olive townships, was made with sachems named Menawhakihon, Mattamiska, and Lapparomra. The deed states that the boundaries on the boundaries were the lands of Quenemaha and on the cast, those of Taphaw.
The purchase of Morris County was rounded out by a large transaction made by the West Jersey Proprietors on November 1, 1714. This purchase took in all the land bounded by the Pequannock River on the north, the Passaic on the east, and the Whippany River on the south. Westward it extended as far as the western sources of the Rockaway River beyond Dover. In the latter region it excluded land purchased by Humphrey Davenport on the Rockaway River. It also excluded the land purchased earlier by Arent Schuyler and his Dutch associates in the region of Pompton Plains, as well as the area owned by the settlers of Whippany.
The deed fixing the boundaries is worded, "All that tract or Parcel of Land Situate and lying within the said Western Division of New Jersey on the southerly and Westerly Sides on the Rivers Pesaick, Pequanake bounded northwards & Eastwards with the rivers Kahkaunaugh and Pequanake and Southerly with the River Pesaick, Southwesterly with the Lands wheepanniny inhabitants and the Lands Lately of Naweenake and Queenemenha (Now also Sold to the said Proprietors), and on the Westerly Side with a Straight Line to Run from Megotanung by Succalamoning to a Mountain Called Lalingokakong to the Said River Kahanauehke [Kahkaunaugh]." The exclusion of the land sold to Schuyler and his associates and to Humphrey Davenport is worded, "Excepting . . . of the Said Tract Some Lands Lying upon Pequanake River by the Indian Sachem called Taphoued formerly Sold to Anthony Brockholst and Arinat Schuyler and also a Parcel of Land Lying on Rockaway River by the said Indian and sold to Humphry Davenport.".
The white men paid a good price for this area which contained some excellent land, especially near Parsippany. In all, Namaliskont, Nawishawan, Paquashakoppawa, and Walloghpehoman (who ostensibly were Pequannocks, Parsippanongs and Whippanongs) received three pounds in black and white wampum, fifty pounds in saver money and a quantity of powder. In addition they were given twelve kettles; one hundred bars of lead; one hundred flints; fifty strouds, blankets and duffles; ten yards of red and ten yards of white cotton cloth; fifteen shirts; six coats, twelve looking-glasses; fifty knives; twenty boxes and twenty pounds of tobacco; fifteen hatchets; fifteen hoes, five hats; four handsaws; one hundred pipes; three razors; three files; two buckskins, eleven gallons of rum; one barrel of cider; and fifteen gallons of wine.
With the purchasing of Morris County completed by 1714...
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In 1702, Arent Schuyler and his associates sold the lower part of Pequannock to Maurice Mourison (This may have been the Morris Morrison who later became a town official). Later, in 1711, another section was sold to Simon Van Ness and John Le Laitre, all of whom at the time were speculators rather than settlers. The first settler west of the Pompton River is thought to have been Gerbrand Claessen who came to Pequannock as early as 1699. By 1710, Peter Young, a German immigrant, had also settled at Pequannock. Another early settler, Paulus Vanderbeck, who came in 1712, may have been the first settler at Pompton Plains. Two years later, Michael De Mott, a blacksmith from Bergen, also settled at Pompton Plains. In 1715, John Reading mentioned George Ryerson (one of the original proprietors of 1696) and, in 1719, Philip Schuyler as living in Pequannock - which could have been almost anywhere in the area west of the Pompton River. As time went on, more and more settlers, mostly Dutch purchased land in the area and began farming. Almost all were related in some way and included such names as Brockholst, Schuyler, Ryerson, Vanderbeck, Van Riper, Van Ness, Terhune, Bayard, De Bow, Mandeville, De Mott, Roome, Van Gilder, and Van Dyne {Van Duyne, Van Duyn}.
Like the English, most of the early Dutch settlers built small log houses in which they lived until they had the time and means to erect more commodious houses. Many of these latter homes were of stone, and some still remain. The first Dutch church, doubtlessly built of logs, was erected in 1736 at the Ponds outside of Morris County, near the present-day Oakland.
As time passed, the Dutch and other settlers spread westward into Towaco, Montville, and beyond. Humphrey Davenport, one of the proprietors and owner of much land throughout the county, was probably the first settler at Uylekill, as Montville was called. The Parlamans were another early family in Montville. As early as 1709, members of the Parlaman family migrated from Paltz, Germany, and settled at Hackensack. It was not until 1736, however, that a member of the family acquired land in the lower part of Montville along the Rockaway River, land which had once belonged to John Reading, the surveyor. The solid stone house still standing was the second dwelling on the property; it was built by Johannes Parlaman. Michael Cook, another early settler had a grist mill at Montville by 1745. Nearby, Cornelius Doremus settled in the Towaco Valley in the 1740's. The site was sometimes called Doremustown or Tewechauw, its Indian name.
In the 1750's, two Germans, Jacob Knauss {Kanouse} and his brother, settled farther to the west near Powerville after working off their indenture held by a Dutchman named Luke Ryerson. Still farther west in the pleasant Rockaway Valley, Frederick Miller, of English descent, bought nearly eight hundred acres in the 1740's and built a house. Later in the 1760's, two stone houses, still standing today, were built on the property by his sons Adam and Aaron. About this time the Millers dammed a stream and built a grist mill near Aaron's house. To the south of the Millers, another grist mill was erected in Rockaway by Gilbert Hedden, who migrated from North Carolina. In the Rockaway area, John Davenport, one of the original proprietors, was no doubt the first settler. When he settled there is not known, but it was probably about 1715.
In the area of Morristown, first known as West Hanover, 5711 acres were acquired by proprietors John Kay, Thomas Stevenson, John Helby, Hannah Scott, and Thomas Lambert, as a result of the Indian purchase of 1713. Kay's tract, two thousand acres, included what is now the Village Green and Washington's Headquarters. Helby and Stevenson each obtained the usual 1250 acres, while joint owners Scott and Lambert received 1211 acres.
Nearby in the areas of Convent Station and Washington Valley, William Penn had several thousand acres. In Washington Valley, Joseph Kirkbride, Thomas Stevenson, and Joseph Helby each recycled the customary division of 1250 acres. Some of the surveys of the Morristown area were made by John Reading; others were made by Richard Bull, another proprietary surveyor. At the time of the surveys in 1715, John Cramer, a West Jersey Proprietor, lived near Convent. He was probably the only white man living in the area.
West Hanover remained vacant for many years after it was surveyed.
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