Tag Archives: New Jersey History

VIRUTAL AUTHOR TALK – New Jersey Women During World War II

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New Jersey Women during World War 2

The important role that women have played in our history is still being uncovered, especially their selfless contributions to our war efforts in which they were prevented from serving in combat.  World War II saw an unprecedented mobilization of women who supported the war in traditional and novel ways, breaking many societal barriers; this was particularly true for women in New Jersey.  In celebration of Women’s History Month, please join us as Dr. Patricia Chappine examines the critical role the women of New Jersey played as they stepped into newly formed military branches and entered the labor force in areas never before opened to them.

Dr. Patricia Chappine is an adjunct professor at Stockton University where she teaches courses in the Holocaust and Genocide studies and historical studies programs. She is also working as the Rudnick Fellow for the Alliance Heritage Center of Stockton University. She earned a B.A. in Sociology and an M.A. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Stockton University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in History and Culture from Drew University in Madison, NJ. Her research interests include Holocaust and genocide studies, women’s history, New Jersey history, particularly women during WWII, and digital humanities.

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VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALK – Colonial Taverns of New Jersey: Libations, Liberty and Revolution

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Colonial Taverns of New Jersey

New Jersey was the “Crossroads of the American Revolution,” and as battles raged, colonial taverns formed the social network that held the state together. A haven for Patriots and Loyalists alike, taverns were the “seedbeds” for the Revolution, strongholds for political activities, beacons for travelers, and venues for entertainment, merriment, and libations. Please join us as author Michael C. Gabriele spotlights the lives of New Jersey’s little-known colonial/Revolutionary War luminaries such as Elizabeth Haddon, Jacob Hyer, Christopher Ludwick, Cyrus Bustell, Timothy Matlack, John Dickinson, Ann Risley, John Neilson, John Woolman and Henry Lyon as well as how taverns were used as the main stage for the unfolding drama of a colony transitioning into statehood.

A lifelong Garden State resident, Michael C. Gabriele is a 1975 graduate of Montclair State University and has worked as a journalist, freelance writer and author for more than forty years. Gabriele is a member of the board of trustees for the New Jersey Folk Festival at Rutgers University, a member of the executive boards for the Allied Artists of America, New York, the Nutley Historical Society, the Theater League of Clifton, and serves on the advisory board of the Clifton Arts Center.

VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALK – Puerto Rican Farmworkers in the Garden State, 1950s-1970s

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Puerto Rican Farmworkers in the Garden State, 1950s-1970s

New Jersey has a rich history of agriculture and is renowned for many types of crops, from peaches, to blueberries, to corn. Those who committed their efforts to the cultivation of those crops tell as rich a history, especially those migrants who came from Latin America and the Caribbean in the Twentieth century. Please join us for Hispanic Heritage Month as Professor Ismael García-Colón discusses the experiences of Puerto Rican farm workers in New Jersey and how those experiences inform us of the larger Hispanic experience in America in the second half of the Twentieth century.

Ismael García-Colón is a Professor of Anthropology at the College of Staten Island and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is a historical and political anthropologist with a focus on immigration and colonial migration, guestworkers, farm labor, U.S. empire, Puerto Rico, and U.S. ethnic and racial histories. García Colón is the author of Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire: Puerto Rican Workers on U.S. Farms (University of California Press, 2020), and winner of the 2020 Frank Bonilla Book Award from the Puerto Rican Studies Association. His research explores the Puerto Rican experience in U.S. farm labor and its relation to U.S. colonialism and immigration policies, and how government policies formed and transformed modern subjectivities in Puerto Rico.

Slavery and Emancipation Laws in 19th Century New Jersey

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Slavery and Emancipation Laws in 19th Century New Jersey is a class offered by Genealogy Librarian Regina Fitzpatrick.  Originally presented to celebrate Juneteenth in 2018, the links and information have been updated in 2024.

 

I wanted to pass along some useful online and print resources used to prepare this lecture, in addition to some general Juneteenth resources.  The updated slide deck from the lecture is available on the Genealogy Research Guide.  Please note that some collections referenced in this presentation have not been digitized.  These are available to be researched via the New Jersey State Archives.

Links for Slavery and Emancipation Laws in 19th Century New Jersey

Print Resources at the New Jersey State Library

Juneteenth Links

VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALK – Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey

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New Jersey is known for many things, from its iconic beaches to delicious fruits and vegetables to “the Mob”. Yes, New Jersey has a rich history as it relates to the Italian Mafia and the many notable figures that called New Jersey home during the twentieth century. Please join us as Scott Deitche, author of “Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey”, will discuss the colorful history of organized crime in New Jersey. The talk will range from Prohibition to the peak of the Mob’s power in Jersey, through more recent events and the influence of the NJ Mafia in popular culture. Figures covered will include Abnzer “Longy” Zwillman, Sam “The Plumber” Decavalcante, Willie Moretti, and Ritchie The Boot Boiardo.

Scott M. Deitche is an author specializing in organized crime. His books include Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld and Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey. He has written articles on organized crime for local and national magazines and newspapers. Scott has been featured on The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, American Heroes Channel, A&E, C-SPAN, Oxygen as well as over 50 national and international news and radio shows. He is a member of The Mob Museum’s Advisory Council. Scott also runs the Tampa Mafia Tours at tampamafia.com. Scott lives in St. Petersburg, FL.

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Researching the History of a New Jersey House

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Thank you to Douglas McVarish for his deeply informative talk surrounding his book “Researching the History of a New Jersey House”.  New Jersey has such a rich history, especially at the local level, and houses are an important part of that tapestry.  House research can be a difficulty and taxing undertaking, but with his over 30 years experience in house research, Douglas does a fantastic job of highlighting the steps to take and the records to look for.  So let’s tale a stroll around the block and put some context behind “If those walls could talk…”.

What is a House History?

Do people really write house histories?  Yes, house histories can be a fantastic compliment to genealogy research or extremely helpful in assisting getting a home on a register of historic places.  House histories can come in a variety of styles, from simple lines of ownership to examining the house in various historical contexts.  When embarking on a house history, consider the following questions:

  • When was it built? How has the house and surrounding property changed over time?
  • What are the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood?
  • Who has lived in the house? What roles did they play in their community of residence?

Types of Records

Information related to houses can be found in a variety of resources, making house history research a daunting task.  Deeds, wills, and other court records can provide crucial information related to construction, purchase, transfer, and inventory of houses as well as the person(s) involved.  Newspapers can contain information related to people and events associated with a specific home or provide greater context related to its sale.  City directories, censuses, insurance records, and building contracts can also provide a wealth of information related to the inhabitants and the house in a particular point in history.  Visual records through maps, atlases, and pictures can document the home’s location and evolution, providing important historical context.  Lastly, there are local histories and historic surveys that can provide a wealth of detailed information not only about the specific home, but the neighborhood and community as well.

Places for Information

The records references above are scattered across various repositories, organizations, and mediums.  The New Jersey State Library has print and digital Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Agricultural and Manufacturer censuses from 1850-1880, postcards, clippings, genealogical resources, and the largest historical maps and atlases collection in the state.  The NJ State Archives has extensive records for the Proprietors of East and West Jersey, annotated topographic maps, historic newspapers, and county records, including deeds, probate records, road returns, and assessment books.  The NJ Historic Preservation Office has a fantastic GIS (Geographic Information System) tool called LUCY, as well as numerous historical surveys.

Other places to consider when doing house research include your local historical society; these are great for published local histories, newspapers, and city directories.  Municipal and county clerk offices can provide access to a variety of important house-related documents, including deeds, plat maps, road returns, land division records, and records of legal actions.  The Surrogate Court offices can help with locating wills, orphan court proceedings, inventories, and other estate documents.

More Information

If you would like more information regarding conducting house history research in New Jersey, please contact Douglas McVarish at douglasmcvarish@gmail.com.  You can also check out his book “Researching the History of a New Jersey House” or download the “How to Research the History of a House” guide from the NJ Historic Preservation Office.   You can view a recording of this webinar on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/4_P5dRAqE6A.

Municipal Documents at the New Jersey State Library

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Picture of shelves of multicolored books from our Jerseyana collection.

Did you know that New Jersey has 564 municipalities, ranging from cities, towns, townships, boroughs and villages?  That’s a lot of locations for a small state!  Here at the library, we often get questions related to municipalities, especially their formation.  Our go to resource, “The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries 1606-1968”, available electronically at https://dspace.njstatelib.org//handle/10929/21587, is great at determining when a municipality was formed and can help us locate the legislative act that established it.  But have you ever wanted to know more about your town; its history, how it was organized, or why certain laws or ordinances were enacted?  Our Jerseyana collection can help!

Blueprint photo of development proposals on Main Street Area of Western Section (2) Town of Hackettstown. Boorman & Dorram Inc. Consultants.

Throughout the United States, the decades following World War 2 saw a great explosion in population which also coincided with the growth of suburban and rural communities.  In addition, environmental concerns and a shift in the role of government caused many communities to undertake comprehensive urbanization and community development studies.  These studies produced a plethora of documentation and provide great historical context to judge how communities have met or failed to meet their promised expectations.

Photo of Old Document Titled: Attachment 3a U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT BUDGET JUSTIFICATION (Attach This Form to Each Budget for a Capital Project, Activity, and to the Program Administration Budget)

New Jersey was no exception; towns big and small commissioned various community-wide studies, developed master plans, and published annual reports.  The Jerseyana collection at the New Jersey State Library has copies of various municipal planning documents, especially from the 1960s and 70s, for communities throughout the state.  These documents provide a unique insight into the history and development of many communities in New Jersey, including plans and policies that are still in effect today.  Click on the images for a better look!

Some interesting finds in the collection include:

  • Project Manual for Police Headquarters for City of Trenton (1969) – While this is mostly policies related to the physical building, it does have a section on the prevailing wages in Mercer County for many blue-collar jobs.
  • Study of Population, Monmouth County (1974) – This comprehensive population study provides in-depth information related to demographics in the county, from racial percentages, to population density across the county, to projected death and growth rates.
  • Development Plan, Main Street Central Business Area, Hackettstown (1980) – This development plan has a wonderful set of street maps that identify almost every building, commentary on building and land conditions, and recommendations for improvements, including costs.
  • Regional Sewerage Feasibility Study, Gloucester County (1967) – Contains a variety of information related to sewerage and land use throughout the county, including borough, town, and county maps, environmental studies, and even a ledger for county bonds to fund sewage improvements in the county.
  • Newark Model Cities Program (1968) – Many cities engaged in a Model Cities Program that aimed to improve the lives of their inhabitants through housing, education, health, and other social programs. This document includes budgets and justifications for many of the different programs that were believed to help improve the lives of the citizenry, with the caveat “The first year action program of the Newark Model Cities Program does not promise instant aid to all, but with reasonable financing, sound administration and solid community support it can produce noticeable action and improvement in both human and physical terms.”

You can find more unique and interesting works related to your town by doing a “New Jersey Subject Keyword” search of your town from our catalog search page.

A screenshot of our catalog search screen with New Jersey Subject Heading as search topic.

Please reach out to the Reference Department for any questions or assistance – refdesk@njstatelib.org or 609-278-2640 x103.

Strangely Contaminated: The Loyalists of New Jersey Program Recap

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So much of the literature and remembrance of the American Revolution focuses on Washington’s rag-tag army that suffered in almost every conceivable way.  Then there is the mythos around the resilient and zealous Patriot militia, who in the face of every obstacle, were able to best the formidable Red Coats.  But what about their counterparts whose loyalty to the British Crown remained steadfast?  The Loyalists are an often understudied and severely unappreciated population when discussing the American Revolution.  This is especially true of the Loyalists of New Jersey.

How It Started

At the outbreak of the war in 1775, the loyalties in New Jersey where sharply divided.  While many eventual British sympathizers initially supported the cries for representation and outrage against the many acts forced on the American colonies, they could not bring themselves to openly support rebellion.  There steadfastness in support of the British Crown labeled them treasonous, emboldening patriot civil and military authorities to enact harsh punishments for those not openly supporting the rebellion.  As a result, New Jersey had some of the most punitive laws directed toward Loyalists, forcing some to take up arms against their fellow New Jerseyians.  Eventually, the Continental authorities would confiscate nearly 1.4 million pounds-worth in Continental currency of Loyalist property and goods by the end of the war.  But the Loyalists did not sit idly by and watch.

After the invasion of New Jersey by the British in 1776, many Loyalists felt free of their rebel oppressors and became more outspoken in their support of the Crown, including a couple thousand who would take up arms and join the New Jersey Volunteers, a Provincial military force under the command of Brigadier General Cortlandt Skinner.  Formed from 6 battalions commissioned through the fall and winter of 1776-1777, these men would see constant action in New Jersey and even as far south as Georgia and South Carolina.

The New Jersey Volunteers

Unlike their rebel counterparts in the patriot militia, the Loyalists of the NJ Volunteers enlisted for the duration of the war.  The Lt. Colonel of each battalion was responsible for raising their own men, which often came from specific areas of New Jersey.  For example, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were raised primarily in Monmouth County, while the 3rd was from Essex County, the 4th from Bergen County, the 5th from Sussex, and the 6th from Hunterdon, particularly around Trenton and Princeton.  The Volunteers did experience a couple of reorganizations, ultimately ending the war with 3 battalions, which were always undermanned.

The New Jersey Volunteers, while the most prolific and most active of the Loyalist units from the colony, were not the only ones who took up arms against their peers.  The West Jersey Volunteers were mainly from Glouster County and eventually folded into the NJV in 1778, the Loyal Refugee Volunteers were from Bergen County and tasked with securing wood, and the Black Brigade was made up of former slaves and partook in many successful raids in Monmouth County.  In fact, its leader, Cornelius Titus, was a former slave from Shrewsbury Township and was bestowed name of “Colonel Tye”, becoming one of the fiercest guerilla fighters of the war.

Stationed mostly on Staten Island for the duration of the war, the NJ Volunteers and other New Jersey Loyalist units partook in over 100 raids and engagements in New Jersey and Staten Island.  While the NJV suffered a severe blow in Patriot Brigadier General John Sullivan’s overall unsuccessful raid of Staten Island on August 22, 1777, having 2 battalion commanders captured and a sizable number killed, wounded, and captured, their fortitude, determination, and quest for vengeance, would sustain them for the duration of the conflict.

Their efforts were not strictly relegated to guard duty and small raids; they participated in major engagement and fought valiantly alongside the British Red Coats and other more seasoned Provincial units.  The 2nd Battalion of the NJV, for example, were conscripted by the Royal Artillery and were active in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.  Men from the 1st and 4th Battalions joined Hessian General Kynphausen’s 2 incursions into New Jersey in June of 1780 at both the battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield, the latter of which they pushed back multiple companies of Patriot militia and continentals.  Men from 3rd Battalion joined Captain Patrick Ferguson’s raid on Little Egg Harbor, massacring about 45 men from Kasimierz Pulaski’s famed Legion before sailing to Georgia and South Carolina, where many would meet their end at the Siege of Augusta, Battle of Eutaw Springs, and finally at King’s Mountain.

Armed service was just one, though perhaps the most impactful, of the ways that the Loyalists assisted the British in the defense of their principles.  Supplies and intelligence were critical to keep the military operations afloat, which untold numbers of Loyalists were responsible for.  Even in the face of public ridicule, overly burdensome fines, property confiscation, and imprisonment, many Loyalists from New Jersey were steadfast in their beliefs and suffered at the hands of their Patriot counterparts.  While they are not the Patriots we remember and celebrate, their determination and dedication to the British cause played a significant role in the course of events of the American Revolution, especially in New Jersey.

For More Information

If you would like to find out more information about the New Jersey Loyalists, or Loyalists in general, please visit “The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies” created and maintained by historian Todd Braisted.  You can download a map of the engagements in and around New Jersey at https://www.njstatelib.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Map-of-Loyalist-Engagements-scaled.jpg.  You can also download a copy of the presentation slides at https://www.njstatelib.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Strangely-Contaminated-Presentatin-Slides.pdf.  If you have any questions, please email me at adauphinee@njstatelib.org.

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Don’t judge a book by its cover: Celebrating the Fitzgerald’s Legislative Manual

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Fitzgeralds Legislative Manual cover, State of New Jersey 2020

The Fitzgerald’s Legislative Manual is a deceptively simple looking reference book. Its drab, unassuming cover does not draw a reader in and is frankly, quite easy to overlook.

It is also a perfect example of why we should never judge a book by its cover. Fitzgeralds Legislative Manual cover, State of New Jersey 2020

From a librarian’s viewpoint, the value of the Manual is not so much in the individual pieces of information it contains, but in the overall compilation. It has done the hard work for us – culling State and local government information from thousands of webpages (and other sources) and then usefully organizing and indexing it for ready reference.

For example, let’s say you wanted to know the sheriff in each New Jersey county. You could Google and visit each of the 21 county sheriff office websites[i]; you could visit the NJ Sheriff’s Association website and click through each of the 21 counties on their interactive map; or perhaps, find an unofficial, unverified webpage and hope the information is correct.

Or, you could turn to the Manual.

Despite the name, the Manual is not just a manual of legislative practice. In fact, relatively little of the book is about legislative procedure at all. The Manual is more of a directory and resource guide to State and local government. It contains the names of elected and appointed officials, their contact information and biographies. It provides summaries of the work departments and agencies do. It provides election results, census figures, budget information, and other useful data sets.

It can answer questions as different as “How many toll lanes are along the Turnpike?” “Who ran against the governor in 1850 and how many votes did they receive?” “Who are registered lobbyists for the health care industry?” “What is the State bug?” “Is hunting allowed in Wawayanda State Park?” “What local newspapers are being published?” All of these topics are indexed and readily available to the reference librarian and curious researcher alike.

What makes the Manual particularly valuable to the State Library’s reference staff is that it has been published annually since 1872 and, so, our collection can help us answer a wide variety of historical research questions.

Going back to my question about county sheriffs… what if you didn’t want to know the current sheriff, but rather, who the sheriff was in 2005? Or 1990? Or 1892? It is possible you’ll find this information piecemeal or on unverified webpages, but you can save a lot of time, clicks, and effort by just checking the Manual for an authoritative answer.

Curious about the official Republican and Democratic party platforms on prohibition or women’s suffrage? Check the 1920 volume.

Want to know the average school teacher salary in 1936? Doing family genealogy and need to know the country coroner in 1962? Or 1912? The Manual can help you out with these and many more questions.

Page image from the 1872 Legislative Manual showing a picture of Governor Theodore F. Randolph and biographical text
An example page from the 1872 volume

But what about information prior to 1872?

As I mentioned above, the Manual has been published annually since 1872 and published specifically as Fitzgerald’s Legislative Manual since 1879, when publisher Thomas F. Fitzgerald took over operations. A number of publishers have held the rights over the years, but the title and basic structure have remained fairly constant.

There is no known book that served as a single reference for all of this information prior to 1872, though there are books that offered elements of it.

Charles Sitgreaves compiled his Manual of Legislative Practice and Order of Business in the Legislature of the State of New Jersey in 1836, while serving as a member of the Legislative Council. He had previously served in the General Assembly and felt well versed in the structure of proceedings, writing (p. v.):

The peculiarity of our State Constitution, investing almost unlimited powers in the Legislative Council and General Assembly; the general character of our Legislative rules, and the peculiarity of our Legislative practice, in dispensing almost entirely with committees of the whole, render it difficult for a new member to acquire a knowledge of the practice and order of business in a whole session, and impossible to acquire that knowledge from any book of practice now extant. 

Sitgreave’s Manual was designed to be the most comprehensive overview of New Jersey’s specific rules of procedure and because he wanted the work to serve as a quick reference for lawmakers, it also contained several pages of directory, budgetary, and other useful pieces of information.

It was well received and the 1836 Legislature ordered 200 copies to be printed and distributed to key figures and institutions, including “incorporated libraries in New Jersey.”[ii]

Unfortunately, even though the manual contained then-current information and was clearly intended to be updated regularly, the State Library has no later editions in its collections and we cannot verify if there was ever an update at all. We do have reference to an 1853 Assembly resolution[iii] (referred to as a “House resolution”) to purchase for legislators the “new edition” of Sitgreave’s manual. Yet, an 1855 Trenton State Gazette[iv] article mentions the fact that Sitgreave’s manual had not been updated since 1836 had caused some issues during an intense procedural debate. Perhaps the “new edition” was simply a new printing.

Sitgreave’s manual was considered unique and authoritative, but it drew upon earlier works that had proven useful to legislators. Though he references several works in the manual, two may have been particularly formative.

The first was Thomas Jefferson’s Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801),[v] which had been used by the Legislature since at least 1804[vi]. The second was Joel Sutherland’s A Manual of Legislative Practice and Order of Business in Deliberative Bodies, which was published in 1830 as the Pennsylvania Legislature’s state-specific companion to Jefferson’s manual. We have no record of Sutherland’s manual being formally adopted by the New Jersey Legislature, but we know it was purchased for use of the Library – and therefore legislators – in 1831. Its melding of Jefferson’s ideas with the specific peculiarities of State legislatures no doubt made it an invaluable work.

For useful New Jersey information, there were a number of compiled guides, such as Alden’s New Jersey Register (1811). This work contained directory information for local government, civic organizations, religious and private societies, libraries, university calendars, and odd bits of information, like that the Morris aqueduct supplied water to the village through a mile and half of wooden pipes. If such works didn’t specifically influence Sitgreaves, they may have at least influenced Fitzgerald.

Regardless of its origins, the Legislative Manual has assisted researchers for 150 years and the State Library’s historic collection will continue to do so well into the future.

I would like to thank Dana Combs, librarian with the Office of Legislative Services, for invaluable research assistance. In particular, I’d like to thank her for discovering the earliest references to Jefferson’s manual, the discrepancy about Sitgreave’s “new edition,” and several articles that showed the early manuals’ significance to the Legislature.

References:

[i] Additional google searches may be necessary if you first need a list of the counties

[ii] See Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey (1835-1836) page 411

[iii] “Seventy-Seventh Legislature,” Trenton State Gazette, Feb 2, 1853

[iv] “Parliamentary Usage,” Trenton State Gazette, March 7, 1855

[v] This link is for the 1812 second edition

[vi] Interestingly, this was much earlier than Jefferson’s manual would be adopted at the federal level, despite having been written for that purpose. For more information, see this article and this article from Senate.gov as well as this article from Monticello

Abigail Sharp: New Jersey’s One Witch

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A close up of a handwritten letter in cursive.

The colonial province of New Jersey never tried anyone for witchcraft. The only legal record concerning a “witch” is the lawsuit brought by Abigail Sharp of Woodbridge, New Jersey against Abraham Shotwell.

Sharp v. Shotwell

closeup of Supreme Court case file; the handwritten text says "Abig. Sharp v. Ab. Shotwell"
Courtesy New Jersey State Archives ; Department of State

On May 13, 1727, Abigail Sharp sued Abraham Shotwell for trespass on the case in the amount of £500, citing harm to her business, her reputation, and her social life, as well as exposing her to the threat of unwarranted prosecution. Shotwell had publicly accused her of witchcraft, describing supernatural events he claimed he had witnessed, including her taking the shape of a cat on top of his house and bewitching his horse, which died.

Abraham Shotwell pleaded not guilty. There is no information on the ultimate decision of the case.

The three pages that comprise her lawsuit are the only record we have that the events occurred and it seems to have been forgotten until the case became an object of public interest in the 19th century.

The suit was filed in Middlesex County and is in the collection of Supreme Court case files at the New Jersey State Archives. See “Abigail Sharp v. Abraham Shotwell.” Case 38755. New Jersey State Archives Supreme Court Case Files, 1704-1844. https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/SupremeCourt.aspx. A scanned copy is available to download.

A Transcription of the Lawsuit

Spelling, grammar, and line breaks are preserved from the original.

The original handwritten account of the lawsuit
Courtesy New Jersey State Archives ; Department of State.

Superior Court of the term of May in the thirteenth year of
King George
Middlesex: Abigail Sharp complains of Abraham Shotwell in Custody &
For that, whereas the said Abigail is a good true faithfull
And honest subject of our Lord the King now & hath been
Of good name fame conversation & condition & as Such
As well[?] among her neighbors as other faithfull subjects
Of our Said Lord the King always hitherto hath been
Esteemed called & reputed & soberly modestly & Religiously
From the time of her nativity hitherto hath always lived
Without any scandal or suspicion of felony witchcraft
Inchantment or diabolical conversation with wicked
& unclean spirits or another other hurtfull or unlawfull
Crime whatsoever. Nevertheless, the aforesaid Abraham
Not ignorant of the premises but contriving & malitious-
Ly intending the same Abigail unjustly to injure
Her good name fame & reputation to hurt Distract
From & damage & to cause her to suffer & undergo
The pains & penalties by the Laws of England & of
This province upon those that are guilty of witchcraft
& have commerce & familiarity with unclean &
Wicked spirits ordained to be inflicted the Same
Abraham on the last day of March in the year of
Our Lord one thousand seven hundred & twenty
Seven at Woodbridge within the county of Middlesex
Aforesaid in the presence & hearing of many of the
faithfull subjects of our Lord the King now falsely &
maliciously openly & publickly spoke uttered
& spread abroad of the same Abigail those false [??]
& defamatory English words following namely Nab
Sharp (meaning the said Abigaill) is an old witch &
Had been flying all night & that he saw her (meaning
The Said Abigail) as he was coming home early in
The morning & She was just lighted in a [??] of
Bouns & also that the said Abraham of his further
[next page]
Further malice against the same Abigail. Thereon & that
Same Abigail further to blacken scandalize & hurt
in the manner aforesaid afterwards to wit on the day
& year & at the place aforesaid presence & hearing
Of many of the faithfull subjects of our said Lord
the King now falsely maliciously openly & publickly
Spoke uttered spread abroad & with a loud voice
Published of the same Abigail these other false feigned
Scandalous & defamatory English words following
Namely Abigail Sharp is a witch & that he heard a
Noise on the top of his house & he saw her meaning
The said Abigail in the shape of a cat and also that
The said Abraham of his further malice against the
Said Abigail shown & the same Abigail further to
blacken scandalize & hurt in the manner aforesaid
afterwards to wit on the day year & at the place afore
Said in the presence & hearing of many of the faithfull
Subjects of our said Lord the King now falsely &
Maliciously openly & publickly spoke uttered spread
Abroad & with a loud voice published of the same
Abigail these other false feigned Scandalous & Defamatory
English words following namely Nab Sharp that old
Witch (meaning the said Abigail) bewitched that horse
That lies dead in my field. She meaning the said
Abigail, brought him there just now all mealy from
The mill, by Reason of the Speaking uttering
Spreading abroad & publishing of which several
False feigned scandalous & defamatory English words
The same Abigail – not only in her good name found
Credit[?] & Reputation which she heretofore had is
greatly hurt & worsted but hath been put in danger
Of being indicted of felony & witchcraft & is drawn[?]
Into so great hatred & infamy that all the people
Of this Province do refuse to have commerce &
Society with her & in getting of her livelyhood
& doing of her business she is many ways hurt
[next page]
Wherefore the said Abigail saith that she is worsted & hath
damage to five hundred pounds & thereof she bringeth
this suite.
Wm. Smith Quod[?] plg[?]
[Post script]
Middlesex: So Abigail Sharp puts in her place William Smith her attorney
against Abraham Shotwell in a plea of trespass upon the
Case

Who was Abigail Sharp?

Nothing is known of her origins, the outcome of the case, or anything else at all in any source that I can find.

I have not yet found a published genealogy or primary source that includes an Abigail Sharp that could possibly be her, but there are clues in the lawsuit to her possible identity.

Abigail brought the lawsuit herself, which may indicate she was either unmarried or widowed. Shotwell disparagingly called her an “old nab” in 1727; if she was, say, 50 years old at the time, that would have her born about 1675 or earlier. At that age, she could be a New Jersey native born to one of the early Sharp settlers in East or perhaps West Jersey, or she was herself an immigrant.

There are a handful of Sharp families settled in New Jersey by 1727. My current working theory is she is a sister or cousin to a pair of Sharp brothers who immigrated from Scotland and settled in Woodbridge. Abigail was in the same generation as William and John Sharp. William Sharp married a Mary Smith. Abigail’s lawyer was William Smith; I have not yet confirmed his identity.

It’s also noteworthy that Abigail had the means to hire a lawyer to sue Abraham Shotwell. Abigail Sharp was a businesswoman. She claims in the lawsuit that she suffered not only from a bad reputation as a result of the slander, but that “all the people of this Province do refuse to have commerce & Society with her & in getting of her livelihood & doing of her business she is many ways hurt.” Shotwell also claimed that when she brought him to the dead horse, she was “all mealy from the mill”.

What was Abigail’s business? Did she work at the mill? Woodbridge is the site of New Jersey’s first grist mill, founded by Jonathan Singletary Dunham. Dunham’s daughter married Samuel Smith, and it was their daughter Mary who married the immigrant William Sharp.

In other witchcraft cases, it’s been noted by historians that accusers are motivated by fear of the Other, xenophobia, and jealousy. There is sometimes a financial disparity between the accused and the accuser, with the accuser wanting to take down someone of higher financial status.

If Abigail is a Scot, I wonder whether xenophobia played a part in Shotwell’s accusation (as it did in the Pennsylvania witchcraft trial discussed below); her accuser, Shotwell, was a New Yorker of English descent. Scotland and England at the time shared a long, fraught history of distrust.

If I am able to identify her further, I will update this blog.

Abraham Shotwell, being male with an unusual name, is easier to locate. He is probably if not certainly the Abraham Shotwell who was born say 1692 in Long Island and was of Piscataway when he died in 1757. He would have been in his thirties when he made his accusations, which he had to have known endangered her life. It had been only thirty years since the last witchcraft executions in the future United States, the Salem trials of 1692. While we can say today with hindsight it would have been unlikely for Abigail to be prosecuted for witchcraft, in 1727 it remained on the books as a capital crime.

East Jersey Witch Law of 1668

In the general assembly of East Jersey held in May, 1668, among the dozen “Capital Laws,” is the following law authorizing prosecution for witchcraft: “If any person be found to be a witch, either male or female, they shall be put to death.”

closeup of page in Leaming and Spicer's 1758 book "Grants, concessions, and original constitutions of the province of New-Jersey" depicting the law against witchcraft "ITEM.—If any person be found to be a witch, either male or female, they shall be put to death."
“ITEM.—If any person be found to be a witch, either male or female, they shall be put to death.”

This and other works are available in our list of Historical Compilations of New Jersey Law.

West Jersey, which operated independently and published its own laws, had no such mention of witchcraft in its laws. After 1703, when East Jersey and West Jersey were combined into the new province of New Jersey, the witchcraft law was in effect statewide.

Mount Holly Witches?

The other notable mention of witchcraft is a 1732 article published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on the witches of Mount Holly, who are celebrated today with an annual Witches Ball. Read the article here: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0056.

The absence of any supporting documentary evidence, the jovial tone of the article, and the absence of any personal names as would surely be expected all point to this being a probable fabrication by the Gazette under its editor, noted prankster and joker (among other titles), Ben Franklin. There are those who were more than willing to believe the story, including the author of an 1894 article in New Jersey Law Journal.

New Jersey’s Enduring Witch Heritage

Margaret Mattson, the only woman tried for witchcraft in Pennsylvania, was bailed out by her husband Nils Mattson and son Anthony Nilsson Long to the sum of 50 pounds. She was tried by a jury of mostly English Quakers who found her not guilty of witchcraft, but guilty of “the fame of being a witch” (i.e. she had a bad reputation). Margaret, her husband, and their son were Finns who had endured a traumatic migration to the New Sweden colony in 1654 on an overcrowded ship in which a third of the passengers died. However Nils Mattson prospered and was a landholder when the English Quakers moved in. While their rights to own property were for the most part respected by the English, there was tension as many of the prime locations were already developed by the Swedes and Finns. Many sold their land in Philadelphia, and a number moved to Gloucester and Salem counties.

In February 1684, she and her co-accused were tried for witchcraft in the new state of Pennsylvania’s Provincial Council, with William Penn serving as judge. In the midst of the accusations and trial, her husband sold off his farms in Pennsylvania. After the trial, he and Margaret relocated across the river to Gloucester County, New Jersey to live with their son. Witchcraft was never a crime in West Jersey. Son Anthony Nilsson Long was a prominent man, serving as constable of Gloucester County the same year his mother was tried as a witch across the river. Anthony had five children and there are surely descendants of Margaret Mattson living in New Jersey today.

Lastly, the accused witch of East Hampton, New York, Elizabeth Garlick, spared at trial by John Winthrop Jr. in 1658, has a strong New Jersey connection; most of her grandchildren left Long Island for Cape May and south Jersey when land became available in the 1680s and 1690s. Widespread endogamy means if you have colonial Cape May roots, there is probably a witch grandmother sitting in your tree.

Further Reading

Burr, George Lincoln (ed). “The Pennsylvania Cases of Mattson, Hendrickson, and Guard, 1684, 1701.” In Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases 1648-1706. Vol. 14 of Original Narratives of Early American History, edited by J. Franklin Jameson, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914, pp. 81-88, https://archive.org/details/narrativeswitch03burrgoog/page/n99/mode/2up

Cohen, David S. “Witchcraft.” Encyclopedia of New Jersey, edited by Maxine Lurie and Marc Mappen, Rutgers University Press, 2004, p. 880, https://resources.njstatelib.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=124913

Hanc, John. (October 25, 2012). “Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons.” Smithsonian Magazine, October 25, 2012. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/before-salem-there-was-the-not-so-wicked-witch-of-the-hamptons-95603019/?no-ist

Lee, Francis Bazley. “Some Legal Allusions to Witchcraft in Colonial New Jersey.” New Jersey Law Journal 17 (1894): 169-172. https://archive.org/details/sim_new-jersey-law-journal_1894-06_17_6/page/168/mode/2up

New Jersey LGBT Bars 1930s-1960s in ABC Bulletins

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Use this map to visualize locations of pre-Stonewall New Jersey bars serving LGBTQ patrons, as described in ABC Bulletins from the 1930s to 1960s.

Download map data: CSV | Excel

Research in the ABC Bulletins collection digitized by the State Library Information Center identified 150 bulletins in which the presence of a queer person was noted. All locations have been added to the map above. This map is considered comprehensive, but corrections and additions are welcome.

Trigger warning: Bulletins linked in this post and on the map may contain homophobia, descriptions of mistreatment, and slurs. These are historical documents and do not reflect current social norms or acceptable language.

Update: On 29 June 2021, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal vacated the decisions of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that resulted in penalties against bar owners serving LGBT patrons in the 1930s-1960s. This map has been updated to note when licensees were included in the Attorney General’s directive, and also includes seven locations that were not issued a pardon, locations in which the charges were dismissed, bars accused of lewdness between queer people after 1967, and appeals and court challenges to decisions, for a total of 150 decisions.

See the Attorney General’s press release and the directive with an appendix listing the bars.

ABC Bulletins in New Jersey State Library Digital Collections

The State Library Information Center has a large and growing repository of digitized State Documents, preserving and making them available free online for lawmakers, lawyers, State employees, and the general public. Part of our commitment to preserving New Jersey history involves identifying, digitizing, and making available State publications relating to marginalized and disenfranchised populations. These include the State Asylum reports, documents and publications on Black New Jerseyans’ history, documents on women’s suffrage, and documents on civil rights.

The Bulletins of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) are an important primary source for the social history of nightlife, entertainment, law enforcement, crime, and bar culture in New Jersey. Additional background information about the ABC collection can be found in Alcoholic Beverage Control Bulletins reveal social history of New Jersey by Caitlyn Cook.

Notably, the ABC Bulletins contain significant descriptions of queer culture and LGBTQ people’s relationships to the law and each other, in a time in which being one’s authentic self in public involved significant personal risk.

How and why did the ABC Bulletins document queer public life?

Post-prohibition legislation led to establishment of the ABC, whose director was empowered by law to create regulations for consumption of alcohol. Then as now, a liquor licensee had requirements to uphold state regulations.

Bar owners who tolerated customers perceived by ABC agents as gender non-conforming broke Rules 4 and 5 of the ABC State Regulations No. 20. Conduct of Licensees and Use of Licensed Premises. ABC Agents who had witnessed people being queer in public provided testimony that described clothing, posture, and timbre of voice to assign charges of “female impersonation” and “male impersonation”, often in combination with other violations, but occasionally the presence of queer people was enough to bring a case and penalties against bar owners.

Rules 4 and 5 were used against bars who served and hired queer people.
Number 20, rules 4 and 5. From Rules and regulations, effective July 1, 1950, https://dspace.njstatelib.org/handle/10929/21186

The regulations were based on ABC’s moral mandate, as expressed in 1955 by Commissioner Davis, “It is clear that homosexuals may well have a harmful effect on some members of the public. Furthermore, where they congregate and conduct themselves in the manner hereinbefore related, they are a threat to the safety and morals of the public.” (Bulletin 1063, Item 1)

Penalties were strict from the outset. In 1941, Acting Commissioner Garrett sets a precedent minimum charge of 15 days suspension for first offense on rule 5, presence of female impersonators. (Bulletin 474, Item 1) Long license suspensions for multiple or recurring violations (sometimes up to 180 days) could drive some bars out of business. Peter Clyment, who operated an unnamed Gloucester City bar in 1942, was compelled to sell his bar license and never operate again, partly for employing two unlicensed entertainers from Philadelphia as “female impersonators.” (Bulletin 491, Item 2)

Being Visibly Queer

The Peter Orsi case in 1939 (Bulletin 326, item 1), and the appeal (Bulletin 390, item 1) established a “you know one when you see one” precedent cited in subsequent cases, in a case where the only disallowed activity was queer people on the premises.

Bar owners, entertainers, and guests routinely gave testimony arguing they were not queer, only perceived as such in ways that were arbitrary. The Commissioner typically dismissed all such claims if his agents gave detailed testimony describing behavior and appearance outside what he considered normal. As can be imagined, bar owners and their lawyers tried a variety of ways to defend their businesses, bringing in psychiatrists and even a sociologist as defense witnesses. To support a charge of “obscene conduct by entertainer”, agents provided extended descriptions of verbal interactions, as well as comedy and burlesque performances by “Joe” on multiple dates in November 1951. Joe testified that he was a married man and that his performances were not indecent, and he was not impersonating a female, he impersonated a variety of entertainers, one of whom was Hollywood star Helen Morgan. (Bulletin 953, Item 1) At the time of a 1959 raid on Anthony’s in Paterson, bar manager Ruth Murphy Loomis stated she observed no unusual conduct among them and asked, “‘Tell me one thing: These people who you call homosexuals, gays or whatever you call them – what are they supposed to do?’ and that the agent replied, ‘I can’t answer that.’” (Bulletin 1289, Item 7)

In 1959, the commissioner wrote that clothes alone were not the determination someone was queer, describing a group at the Rutgers Cocktail Bar as “obviously homosexuals as indicated by their appearance and actions, including their manner of speech, their walk, gestures and other mannerisms.” (Bulletin 1133, Item 2) It took the New Jersey Supreme Court case, One-Eleven Liquors, v. ABC, (decided November 6, 1967) to remove the prohibition on “well-behaved” queer people using bars. See Whitney Strub and Timothy Stewart-Winter (Nov 30, 2017). “Remembering One Eleven Wines, a Pre-Stonewall Win Against Homophobic State Surveillance.” Slate.

The Supreme Court case did not exactly end the harassment of queer people in bars. Almost two years later, there was a 14 June 1969 raid on the Gold Nugget in New Brunswick. Three transgender or gender nonconforming women sitting in a bar were arrested and searched but were released and the charges dropped under “recent ruling by the director that the mere presence of female impersonators in a licensed premises, without more, e.g. overt acts of lewdness of their engaging in immoral activity is not violative of Rule 4 of State Regulation No. 20.” (Bulletin 1933, Item 4)

The Silver Lining

Reading in some cases dehumanizing descriptions of queer people in our grandparents’ generation is upsetting. Bulletins are historic documents of the period, and contain what we would today describe as slurs, homophobia and codified disrespect for queer lives.

It is ironic that the detailed testimony used to punish and drive out of business bars where queer people could find each other, also preserves rare descriptions of underground queer culture and personal life. There are detailed and vivid descriptions of fashion; cabaret, comedy, and drag performances; and sometimes funny conversations between queer patrons, bar owners, and ABC agents. Some bulletins preserve inadvertent tributes to romance, joy, and tenderness between queer people. Notable among these are a description of Freddie and Renee dancing together at the Clover Leaf Inn in Hamilton (Bulletin 1159, Item 1) and descriptions of couples dancing and being physically affectionate at Paterson’s NY Bar in 1955. (Bulletin 1063, Item 1)

At Anthony’s in Paterson in 1959, an agent stated, “a large number of the males wore loud sweaters, loud shirts and multicolored scarves.” (Bulletin 1289, Item 7) We know in the summer of 1966, butch and gender nonconforming women or transgender people at Jack’s Star Bar in Newark wore t shirts and “zipper fly pants”, one person wearing a “man’s haircut with side burns” and another “a heavy rock and roll hair-do combed back, sweeping back to his [sic] side of the temples.” (Bulletin 1667, Item 3)

Agents described what sounds like a drag show at the Secaucus Copa Club in March 1956: “the same male musician, now in padded house-dress and wearing a wig, sang an indecent parody of a popular song to a guitar player. Thereafter another performer sang a double entendre song to a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary.” (Bulletin 1112, Item 1) At Hoover’s Tavern, Morris Plains in 1963, a performer named Jim gave a saucy performance, while “two of the apparent homosexuals placed their arms about each other’s waist while they were talking, rolled their eyes at each other and made endearing motions.” (Bulletin 1521, Item 1)

Queer New Jerseyans of the 1930s through the 1960s demonstrated incredible bravery being queer in public when so much could be lost with an arrest. Bar owners risked and sometimes lost their livelihoods by providing space to queer patrons. Being queer and gender nonconforming in public still sometimes presents a risk, but increasingly New Jersey is a safer place to live and thrive.

Update 14 Dec 2021: added municipalities and counties to locations spreadsheet: CSV | Excel

Hidden Figures Revealed Program Recap

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Thank you to Janice Cross-Gilyard, president of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society – New Jersey Chapter, for her fascinating and well-researched look into notable African American figures from Summit New Jersey.  Janice has only uncovered the tip of the iceberg, yet the fruits of her research are enigmatic of the entire story of the African American experience, not only in New Jersey, but throughout the country.  While only a few of individuals are covered below, please feel free to watch a recording of the presentation at https://youtu.be/IPcKzbBTf1E.  If you have any questions, please contact Janice at aahgs.njchapter@gmail.com.

Reverend Florence Spearing Randolph

Florence Spearing Randolph (August 1866 – December 28, 1951) was an American clubwoman, suffragist,, ordained minister, and pastor of the Wallace Chapel AME Zion Church in Summit.  She was the first woman in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church denomination to be ordained as a deacon and an elder, as well as licensed to preach.  She was a delegate to an international ecumenical conference in London in 1901.  She was also the head of the New Jersey Women’s Foreign Missionary Society and set up the Bureau of Supplies to collect and distribute donations for missionaries.  Florence also served on the executive board of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association.

Violet A. Johnson

Though Violet was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, she became a servant for the John Eggers family in New York, before she moved with them to Summit in 1897.  She organized a Bible study group that became Summit’s first African-American church: Foundation Baptist Church.  As a result, she was the founder and president of the missionary society and president of the Deaconess Board.  Later, she joined the all-white New Jersey Women’s Suffrage Association, helping transform New Jersey’s suffrage movement into a multi-racial movement.  During World War I, she organized black women and girls for  war relief work.  In the late 1920s, Violet Johnson established the Girls Industrial home, a school for training African-American women and girls for domestic work.  She also was a founder and officer of the Summit chapter of the NAACP.

John Mallory

John Mallory was a high-school sports star that eventually made his way into professional football.  At Summit High School, he won honors in football, basketball, and track.  While playing football at West Virginia University, he ranked among the nation’s best punt returners and became an All-Southern Conference first team and Associate Press All-American honorable mention defensive back in his junion year, after only playing 3 games.  John was drafted in the 10th round of the 1968 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.  After playing 14 games his rookie season, he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons and became their all-time punt return leader.  He was inducted into the West Virginia University Hall of Fame in 2001 and inducted into the School of Physical Education Hall of Fame in 2004.

Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson is a tenor jazz singer and despite a long career, continues to perform in his 80s. Cab Calloway.  He has performed with jazz pianist Betty Liste, jazz guitarists John Zweig and John Carlini, violinist Marion Mansfield, and many others.  He signs in a variety of jazz styles, including the Great American Songbook, jazz standards, bluegrass music, classical music, gypsy music, Brazilian jazz, and others.  Bill Robinson has performed at the Apollo Theater in New York and opened for comedian Jackie Mason and jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton.

Norman Hill

Normal Hill, born in Summit in 1933, was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford College in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.  After serving in the military, he moved to Chicago to join the Civil Rights Movement and pursue a master’s degree at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Welfare.  However, he dropped out to pursue more direct social action and held various positions in projects around Chicago, including Youth March for Integrated Schools, Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, and Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions.  Norman Hill joined the Congress of Racial Equality in the 1960s and served as the first East Coast Field Secretary, moving his way up to National Program Director.