| |
Settlement. – The settlement of Ewing
was as early as that of any portion of the county. It was made about two hundred years ago by Daniel Howell, John Davis,
William Reed, Robert Lanning, Charles Clark, Ebenezer Prout, Nathaniel
Moore, Abiel Davis, Simon Sacket, Jacob Reeder, John Deane, John Burroughs,
Jonathan Davis, Richard Scudder, Thomas Hutchinson, and others from
Long Island and elsewhere. At
that time the terrritory now known as Ewing (in honor of Charles Ewing
LL.D., chief justice of New Jersey, who died in 1832, two years before
the organization of the township) was included in the old township of
Hopewell, in the history of which and of Lawrence (formerly Maidenhead)
will be found much of interest to residents of Ewing, which it has been
found impossible to treat specifically in this connection.
It is presumed that most of the Hutchinsons in this
county are descended from Thomas Hutchinson, who came from England and
settled in what is now Ewing township, in 1687 or 1689.
His plantation consisted of five thousand acres, and
his manor-house was on the farm on which the lunatic asylum is built. The Hutchinsons were at first Episcopalians,
and John Hutchinson, only heir of Thomas, gave a lot in 1703 for a place
of burial, and on this lot the first church ever built within the limits
of the present county of Mercer was built.
The Episcopalians used this until they built their church in
Trenton. The site of this church is a short distance
north of the asylum. The Hutchinsons
are very numerous in this vicinity at present.
Richard Scudder, of English descent, came from Long
Island in 1704, and established himself on a farm in Ewing, on the bank
of the Delaware, and about half a mile from Greensburg, which is still
in possession of his lineal descendants.
His children were Hannah, Mary, Richard, John, Abigail, Joseph,
Samuel, Rebecca, and Joanna. He
died March 14, 1754, aged eighty-three.
John Scudder, son of Richard, married a Miss Howell,
and had children, - Daniel, Amos, Prudence, Jemina, Jedediah, and Ephraim. He died May 10, 1748, aged forty-seven. Daniel, his eldest son, died June 5, 1811,
aged seventy-five. His children
were Rachel, Keziah, Abner, and Elias, of whom the latter died Feb.
20, 1811, aged forty-four. His
children were Daniel, John, Jasper, Smith, and Abner.
Amos Scudder, second son of John, married Phebe Rose, and located
a mile from Greensburg.
John Scudder, son of Amos, married Mary King and lived
on a part of the old homestead. His
children were named Amos, Phebe, John H., Morgan, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah,
and William. Amos married Abigail
Phillips and died soon after. Phebe
married Gershom Mott and lived in Lamberton. John H. removed to New York and is dead.
Morgan was married four times, first to Ellen Smith, second to
Sally Ann Hill, third to Lucinda Cooley, and fourth to Phebe Lavensitter.
His children were Hannah and Ellen, the latter of whom died unmarried. Hannah married Wilbur Price. Mary married Samuel Stryker and lived in Trenton.
Elizabeth married John S. Chamberlain, and later Thomas Stryker.
Hannah married Thomas Stryker after the death of his sister Elizabeth.
William married Mary M. Hay and settled on the old homestead
in 1829, He had children, -
John Morgan, William, Jonathan, James, Mary M., John H., M. Elizabeth,
L. Augusta, Cornelia, Wilhelmina, and Julia. Of these, John, Morgan, and William died in
infancy, James married Mary Savidge and lived and died in Trenton. Mary M. lives on the homestead in Ewing, as
does also John H., who married Martha Hutchinson, Jonathan died in Maryland,
M. Elizabeth married John W. Green and removed to Kansas, M. Augusta
married Wiliam E. Green and is dead, Cornelia died unmarried, Wilhelmina
married Scudder Hart and removed to Kansas, Julia lives on the homestead
unmarried.
One Charles Reed came from England to Burlington in
1678. A William Reed settled
in Ewing soon after 1700, and was one of the first trustees of the Ewing
Church.
Some of the Jones family came to Ewing about the middle
of the lasr century. The first
resident of the name there of whom any information is obtainable was
John Jones, who settled on the farm now occupied by Enoch Jones, and
whose children were named Enoch, Lydia, Joshua, and Scudder.
Enoch married Margaret Hay and located on the homestead. He had a son Lawrence, who married Mary Williams
and lives with his father, and a daughter, named Cornelia M., who became
the wife of Alfred Reeder.
John Reeder, from England, first settled on Long Island,
but remained there only a short time.
In 1700 he came to Ewing, accompanied by his son Isaac, and purchased
six hundred acres of land. Isaac
married and located where Birmingham now is.
He had quite a family. One
of his sons, John, married Hannah Merson and located on the old homestead
at “Rose Hill,” as its neighborhood was early called.
His children were Isaac, Andrew, John, Jr., Abner, Absalom, Amos,
Benjamin, Fanny, Abigail, Letitia, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Martha.
Isaac married a Miss Scudder, and settled in Lawrence.
His son Charles married Martha Howell, and lived on the homestead,
rearing a large family.
Andrew married Sally Burroughs, and removed to Lawrence.
He had no children.
Of John, Jr., no information has been obtained.
Abner married Hannah Wilkinson, and lived in Trenton,
where he died childless.
Absalom removed to Easton, Pa.
Amos married Mary Stillwell, and for his second wife,
Rachel Humple. He lived on the
homestead, and had children, named Christiana, Stillwell, Mary, Hannah,
Amos, Caroline, Matilda, William, Sarah Ann, Virginia, and Amanda. Christiana, Stillwell, and William died unmarried.
Mary married Joshua Scudder, and removed to Trenton.
Hannah married Abner Scudder, and lived in Ewing.
Amos married Catherine Anderson, and reared a large family. Caroline married Dr. N. W. Folwell, and removed
to the State of New York. Matild
married Henry W. Lefferts, and located in Philadelphia. Sarah Ann married George Deane, and Virginia,
Henry P. Green, both of Ewing. Amanda
became the wife of Oliver Bond, of Trenton.
Benjamin and Abigail died unmarried.
Fanny married Robert Chambers, and located in Trenton.
Letitia married Henry Crusen, and removed to Bucks
County, Pa.
Elizabeth married Solomon Landers, and located in Lamberton.
Hannah married Amos Hartley, of Trenton.
Martha married Dr. William Praull.
Three brothers named Hendrickson came to America from
Switzerland, locating on Long Island.
Thence one of them emigrated to Pennsylvania, one to Monmouth
County, and the third, John Hendrickson, to what is now Ewing, about
1670. The latter married and had two children named
Thomas and Rhoda.
Thomas Hendrickson married Ruth Bash, and located in
Ewing, near the Hopewell line. His
children were Hannah, John, Keziah, Richard, Sarah, Timothy, Phebe,
Moses, Huldah, Mary, and Jemina.
Hannah married John Reeder, and lived at Ewingville.
She had four children.
John and Richard died young.
Keziah married Philip Burroughs.
Sarah married Joshua Furman, and located near Ewingville.
Timothy married Eunice Lanning, and settled near the
township line, on the Hopewell and Ewing turnpike. He had three sons, named Elijah, John, and James. Elijah married Louisa C. Hunt, and lived on
the homestead and had daughters, Cornelia, Frances, and Anna. John espoused Rebecca Hart, and located on
a portion of the old homestead. He
had one son, Charles, who died young.
James, unmarried, lives with Elijah.
Phebe married Joseph Tindall, of Ewingville; Moses,
Moses, Huldah, and Mary died unmarried; Jemina married Joseph Burroughs,
located near the Ewing Church, and had three sons and two daughters.
Richard Hunt, of one of the old Hopewell families of
that name, came into the northeast part of Ewing in 1797, locating on
the road leading from Ewingville to Lawrenceville.
His children were Cornelia, Abijah, E. Scudder, Randolph S.,
Joab W., Charles, Mary, and Jane. Cornelia
died unmarried; Abijah was accidentally killed.
E. Scudder was twice married. His first wife was Margaret F. Hunt; his second,
Hannah Beekman. He located near
the family homestead, and had sons, - Edward A., who died young; and
Richard, who married Mary Scott, and removed from the township; Randolph
S. is living in Ewing, unmarried; Joab W. became a physician, and located
in Vicksburg, Miss., where he died; Charles died in infancy; Mary lives
in Trenton, unmarried; Jane married James G. Cook, of Trenton, and both
are dead. They had two children, named Ephraim R. and Mary L. cook. The former married Letitia Neely, and lives
in Trenton. His daughter, Minnie
L., died unmarried. Mary L.
married Professor William Bruce, of Trenton.
Ezekiel Howell settled on a farm of one hundred and
nineteen acres, now embraced wholly or in part in that of the State
Lunatic Asylum. He married Charity
Stout, and had children, - Vincent, Letitia, Richard L., Mary, Huldah,
and Charles.
Vincent removed to Pennsylvania, and there married,
and had children named Matthias, Letitia, and Eliza Ann. Matthias married Phebe Hunt, and located in
Philadelphia; Letitia married Aaron Doble, and lived in Pennsylvania;
Eliza Ann died unmarried.
Letitia married Benjamin Howell, and lived on the Scotch
road. Her children were named
Chatta Ann, Timothy, Lambert, and Letitia.
Chatta Ann married Gershom Sargent, lived near Flemington, and
had five children. Timothy married
Jane Green, and lived on the Scotch road.
His sons, John G. and Lambert L. Howell, are lawyers of Trenton. The former married Hannah Reeder, the latter
Maggie Howell. Their sister,
Carrie, lives at home, unmarried. Lambert
married and located in Philadelphia.
Letitia (now dead) married John Titus, and lived in Trenton.
Richard L. espoused Susan Baker, and located on the
old homestead. He had children,
- Ezekial, Mary, Theodore, Francis, Ellen, and Armitage. Ezekiel died unmarried. Mary was twice married, first to Heber Beldon,
second to Asher Schenck. Theodore
married Elizabeth Hughes, and remained on the homestead. His children were Elijah, Mary, Julia, George
L., and Maggie. Elijah died
unmarried; Mary married Dr. Herman Shafer; Julia, William T. West; and
Maggie, Lambert Howell, all of Trenton; George L. married Anna Hendrickson,
and lives at Birmingham.
Mary married a Glosson and lived in Trenton. Huldah married William Mooney and located in
Philadelphia. Charles married
a Miss Van Zandt, and after living in Lawrence for a time removed to
Pennsylvania.
The name of Daniel Howell was known in Ewing as early
as 1709. John Howell was as
early as the beginning of the Revolution a resident of Ewing. He married a Miss Guild, and had children,
- John, Letitia, Abigail, and Phoebe.
Obediah Howell was a resident, in the latter half of
the last century, on a farm on the Scotch road on the border of Trenton,
which is yet in the possession of his descendants.
The family of Howell has by intermarriage become so
numerous that it is impossible to enter more in detail concerning it.
What has been remarked concerning the Howell family
is even more notable in that of the Greens.
It is said there were no less than four early settlers named
William Green. Their families
intermarried, and it is now a hopeless task to attempt to trace the
descent of any of the Greens of Ewing of the present time from either
of them. The family is quite numerous, and some members of it are prominent
citizens. George Green, of this
family, removed to Lawrence in 1768.
One of his grandsons, Hon. Henry W. Green, deceased, became in
time a member of the State Constitutional Convention, chief justice
of the Supreme Court, and Chancellor of the State of New Jersey.
John and David Lanning settled at Ewingville as early
as 1725. Robert Lanning was
a pioneer.
The Furmans were early, and in successive generations
some of them have been prominent residents of the township.
The Eldridges were among the very early settlers of
Jersey. In 1678 Jonathan Eldridge
came to Burlington. He owned
land, now in Ewing, in 1695.
|
|
| |
Villages
and Hamlets.
– EWINGVILLE is located in the northeast part of the township, at the
crossing of the Hopewell and Ewing turnpike and the highway which crosses
the township in an east and west course, about midway between the centre
and the northern boundary, and contains a hotel, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith-shop,
and seven dwellings. Near here
is the Ewingville Driving Park.
The Park House was built many years
ago, and was formerly called the “Cross-Keys Tavern.” In 1851 it was purchased by Lott Howell, who kept it until 1860,
when he was succeeded by the present proprietor, William H. Howell,
who remodeled and improved it in 1877.
The post-office was established in
1857, with Lott Howell as postmaster.
In 1860, William H. Howell, the present postmaster, succeeded
to the office.
J. S. Phillips built a shoe-shop in
1847, and still occupies it. Nathaniel
Coleman has been a shoemaker in the place many years.
The first blacksmith was Joseph Tindall,
who began working at his trade here about 1801. His shop has had several successive owners
since he ceased business. It
has been occupied by Edward Maguire during the past ten years.
Runyan’s wheelwright-shop was established
about twelve years ago by the present proprietor, who was the first
of his trade in the village.
The Ewingville Driving Park Association
was incorporated in 1875, and embraces in its membership Thomas F. Howell,
Israel Hendrickson, Edward Maguire, S. H. Phillips, and William Howell.
This corporation has a good half-mile track, and has done much
towards the improvement of the blood of horses in the vicinity, affording
oppurtunities for training not previously accessible to the farmers
and horse-owners of the township.
EWING.
– This is a small village on the road from Ewingville and Birmingham
at its intersection with the Scotch road.
Ewing was formerly known as Carleton,
and from about 1832 to 1838 was the seat of a female seminary which
was under the management of Mrs. Emoline Kemper, and was supported by
the neighborhood.
The wheelwright-shop here was erected
by Edwatd S. McIlvaine, and has been occupied successively by Johnson
Dill, James Perrine, George Stockton, Andrew M. Watson, and Auguste
Montroy, the present wheelwright.
The name Ewing is often applied to
the neighborhood of the cross-roads village mentioned, and in this sense
embraces the locality of the Ewing Presbyterian Church, which is south
of the village proper. Besides
this ancient house of worship, Ewing contains a blacksmith-shop, a wheelwright-shop,
and nine dwellings.
GREENSBURG
– This village is located in the west part of the township, south of
the centre, on the canal feeder, and on the line of the Belvidere Branch
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which traverses Ewing.
The tavern known as the Bridge Hotel
is a stone building which is more than a hundred years old. It had many occupants until about ten years
ago, when it was purchased by Charles Holt, the present proprietor.
A post-office was established here
many years ago. The present
postmaster is Frederick Goodnow.
Stores have from time to time been
opened, which were none of them long kept, the proximity of Trenton
operating against the success of local trade.
The present merchant, John W. McCalvin, began business in 1878,
and has been more liberally patronized than many of his predecessors.
The village contains thirty dwellings,
a store, a hotel, a post-office, and a railway station, and is said
to have received its name in honor of a former resident.
BIRMINGHAM
is situated at the crossing of the old river turnpike and the road which
traverses the township east and west, north of the centre, and contains
a blacksmith-shop, a shoe-shop, and several dwellings.
A public-house was kept here in 1800,
and considerably later by John Reeder.
It was afterwards kept by Peter Jaques, and later by William
Howell, until purchased by John W. Scudder, and converted into a dwelling.
In connection with the old inn, a blacksmith-shop
was established by the early tavern-keeper, John Reeder. It changed hands times innumerable until 1877,
when it came into possession of James Deane, blacksmith and wheelwright,
who is the present owner and occupant.
The shoe-shop of John Mershon was opened
fifteen or twenty years ago.
John Guild plied the silversmith’s
trade at Birmingham as early as 1800, and many years ago made two silver
cups out of fifty silver dollars, which since that time have formed
a portion of the communion-set in use in the Ewing Presbyterian Church.
BROOKVILLE.
– This is the name applied to a village located on the canal-feeder,
near Asylum Station, in the southwestern part of the township. It contains twelve dwellings, and a woolen-mill
and two grist-mills.
|
|
