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| Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1938, Vol. 40, p 26 |
HISTORY IN THE MAKING 1676 TO 1920; BOOKS AND AUTOGRAPHS: THE PROPERTY OF J. LAWRENCE BOGGS, NEWARK, N.J. Sale
No.40. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1938. First edition. ... Public &
Private Papers of Lewis Morris, Robert Hunter Morris, Robert Morris,
William Paterson, Robert Boggs & allied families; relating to The
settlement & progress of New Jersey, Franklin & the proprietors
of Pennsylvania, French & Indian Wars, American Revolution, the
Constitution, The First Supreme Court. - American Book Exchange, 2013.
The auction, featuring a breathtaking collection of Americana relating to the early history of New Jersey, New York & Pennsylvania, was hailed as one seldom appearing at public sale. The consignor, J. Lawrence Boggs, was related to many of the notables including Lewis Morris, Colonial Governor of NJ, Robert Hunter Morris, Chief Justice of NJ & Colonial Governor of PA during the French and Indian War, and Robert Morris, Chief Justice of NJ after the Revolution.
No less interesting was the early and unusual Record Book of the Town Clerk of Minisink for the sheer number of ancestral lines gathered across time in the valley all rubbing file shoulders, as it were, with the Boggs library holdings on Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Marshall, Robert Hunter, William Paterson, and numerous members of the Continental Congress.
The Associated Friends of Rutgers University Library would publish The Boggs Sale, in their 1938 newsletter thanking financial contributors and detailing their acquisitions, presently housed among the Library's Special Collections and University Archives. J. Lawrence Boggs would also gift papers to the New Jersey Historical Society, The Boggs Family Collection, 1737 - 1942.
Additional research led to an online gen group's discussion on a late 1990s discovery of the microfilm of the Minisink Ms at a Family History Center, FHC. Said discussion included an error filled excerpt of the previously published article "The Minisink Chronicles" by Gene Kuykendall, New Netherlands Connections, 1997, Vol 2, # 1.
A quick search of the online FHC catalog found the microfilm, which can be rented, $7.50, and viewed, printed or downloaded at any Family History Center: Town records, 1734-1782; Montague Township (New Jersey).Family History Library US/CAN Film 888797; FHC locator
The first page of the film:
MONTAGUE TOWNSHIP (SUSSEX COUNTY), N.J.
Town Book, 1734-1782
Contents: road returns, 1734-71; earmarks, 1736-82; annual lists of officers elected, 1739-82;
Town Book, 1734-1782
Contents: road returns, 1734-71; earmarks, 1736-82; annual lists of officers elected, 1739-82;
register
of estrays, 1757-76; miscellaneous entries, 1738-67. Until late 1750's,
the records were entered as those of the precinct of Minisink [frequently Manisink or Manissink],
Sussex County, N.J. (or, in several early entries, Orange County,
N.Y.). Microfilmed May 18, 1959, by the Rutgers University Library, from
the original volume owned by Charles A. Philhower (Westfield, N.J.),
which he intends on presenting to a local historical society. This item
was sold in the J. L. Boggs sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, May 11,
1938.
A selection of freeholders & officers as found in the Ms:
Joseph Barton, Jacob Bogart, Cornelus Brinck, Gerit Brink, Lambert Brinck, Mathewes Brinck, David Cole (also David Cool), William Cole, Daniel Cooley, Jr, Bastoaon (also Basteaen) Cortrecht, Hendrick H Cortrecht, Hendrick Jans Cortrecht, Jacobus Cuddeback, Pieter Cuykondal (also Cuykendal), Salomon Cuykondal, Salomon Davis, Andries Decker, Johannis Decker, Thomas Decker, William Ennes, Benjamin Forgeson, Uriah Forgeson, Eevert Hornbeck, Abraham Low, Joel Quick, Thomas Quik, Jan ? Rosa, Benjamin Sheppard, Abraham Simer, Jacobis Swartwout, Benjamin Tomson, Abraham van Aken, Anthony van Etten, John van Fliet (also Jan van Vliet), Harmen van Garden, Johannis van Gardon, Daniel Westfael, Jacob Westfael, Jurryan Westvael, Anthony Westbroek, Jacob Westbroek, Capt. Johannis Westbroek, Joseph Westbroek, Salomon Westbroek.
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| drawn by Jacob Hoffman; engraved by John Scoles, New York Magazine, June, 1794, Library of Congress |
Two fellow researchers brought to my attention the latest print issue of the Sandyston Journal excerpting a 1960s New Jersey Herald article by C. V. Crane ( then President of the Minisink Valley Historical Society MVHS) which quotes without corrections from the Minisink Ms:
... the following record of a town meeting held in 1740. ...For Constables, Jacobus Cuddeback and Eevert Hornbeck; Suprovisor, Capt. Jacobus Swartwout; Fens Vewers, Jacobus Decker and Lambert Brinck, Stalyon Vewrs, Jacobus Decker and Peter Cuykendal; Pathmasters, Anthony Westbroek and Thos Decker; Poor masters, Johannes Westbroek and Solomon Davis; Waggon Viewers, Cornelus Brinck and David Cool, to see that each wagon within ye p.cinct aforesd be in the inside of y rot four foot and ten Inches of Duch measure in ye penalty of twinty shillings of Currat lawful money of ye province of New York to be Recovered before any of his majesties Justic of y peace within said p.cinct of any Owner or owners of such wagon or wagons as shall be found insufficent :half of which money to y informer and y other half to ye poor of said p.cint, town Clark, William Ennes.
Coincidentally, another entry from the auction catalog adds a footnote on the jurisdiction of the locale: Lot # 63 Hamilton, John, ... 2 pp., 4to, about 200 words, Amboy, July 6, 1741. To Lewis Morris. Expressing the wishes of the Council of Proprietors of New Jersey that the Justices of Orange County exercise their authority until the boundary lines between New York and New Jersey were run.
Belatedly, a board member informed me that the Minisink Ms was held at the MVHS and will be made available to the general public as a large format scanned copy. At least two copies of the Gene Kuykendall late 1990s edition of the transcription of the Ms exist - one at the Sussex Co Public Library & one at the MVHS.
Only one mystery remains: How, when, and from whom did J. Lawrence Boggs acquire the Record Book of the Town Clerk of Minisink?