4th of July Celebration at Matamoras, Pennsylvania, 1876

A Hundred Years. A Nation's Celebration,  an excerpt from the Tri-States Union:

 

Some two months ago, the fact that Matamoras would celebrate the ‘One Hundredth Anniversary’ of our American Independence was announced through the village papers, and the whole country round for many days before hand, looked forward to the recognition it was to receive, with most joyous anticipations, and participated in the exercises with a fervor that bespoke the depth of the patriotic feeling which moved them. 

                                     

At an early hour in the morning, the ceremonies were inaugurated by the raising of a beautiful bunting flag on the pole in front of Eagle Engine House, by two of the oldest inhabitants of Westfall Township.  Following this was the firing of cannon on “Taylor’s Bluff” and a profuse display of flags by the citizens generally.

 

 

A half hour later Maghogomock Hook and Ladder Company of this village, numbering about 25 members, and Excelsior Engine Company No.1, of Germantown, numbering 30 men, headed by the Susquehanna Cornet Band, and accompanied by a large number of citizens from this place and Germantown, went across the bridge and finally the crowd increased to fifteen hundred persons, a fair number for a little village like Matamoras.

Long before the exercises of the day had commenced all available space on the streets, verandahs, in windows and on roofs along the line of the proposed march was occupied by expectant people, “gay in holiday attire,” awaiting the initiatory proceedings. It was considerable after ten when the column was in readiness to move over the route which had previously been marked out for it.  The march was taken up and continued amid the plaudits of the masses that had assembled to witness it, and was the finest civic display ever witnessed in Matamoras.

 The clouds had been dispersed by the sun, which seemed to catch not a little of the fire of the Centennial, and responded with a most genial outpouring.  Still a cool breeze stirred the foliage, fanned perspiring humanity, and gently unfurled the hundreds of flags that were conspicuous in the village, and waved them over the inspiring scene.

Rev. Mr. Monroe of Port Jervis invoked the divine blessing in a brief and beautiful prayer.  After this Mr. Augustus Brown, President of the day, introduced Dr. J. S. Potter, of Matamoras, as the orator of the day. … Next came the reading of the Declaration of Independence, which was done by James W. Quick.  The band then discoursed some very fine music, after which Dr. Solomon Van Etten, of this village, was called on for a speech.

 The line was then reformed and marched to Eagle Engine Company’s house when a bountiful repast was served, in which all the paraders shared.  After the above ceremonials were over, the vast concourse of people joined the ceaseless throngs on the different streets, and sought enjoyment where it could be found.

An ice cream and strawberry festival under the management and auspices of the Matamoras Sunday school, was in operation during the day and evening and was liberally patronized.

Notwithstanding the large and miscellaneous crowd of people at the great Centennial celebration in the village of Matamoras, July 4^th 1876, remarkable good order was maintained, and with the exception of one or two drunken brawls, everything passed off pleasantly. The several committees and officers of the day deserve great credit for the able manner in which they performed their duties, and thanks of the place are due all those who so kindly consented to be present and assist in the celebration.”  

Excerpted from: "A Hundred Years. A Nation's Celebration" Tri-states Union, July 07, 1876.  https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031675/1876-07-07/ed-1/seq-1/

George Bradford Brainerd (American, 1845-1887). 4th of July Celebration at Matamoras, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1876. Collodion silver glass wet plate negative Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/191931

Henry Ct. Middaugh's Beneficiaries, 1836

 

Will Book B, p  312

Pike County, Pennsylvania

Estate of H Ct. Middaugh

Deceased

"And now August 20^th A D 1836 Henry C Middaugh, John W Middaugh, & Lenah Middaugh make application to me Daniel E. LaBar the Register for the probate of wills and granting letters of administration in and for Pike County for the probate of the last will and testament of Henry Ct Middaugh and for letters testamentary therein and which said will is in the words following to wit …"

 

Beneficiaries:

My well beloved wife Lenah;

my son William Middaugh;

my son Cornelius Middaugh, Jun.;

my son Levi Middaugh;  

my son John Middaugh;

my son Henry Middaugh, and his son and daughters, William Middaugh, Elmira Middaugh, and Catherine Middaugh;

my daughter Catherine Little, wife of William Little;

my daughter Peggy Danneley, widow of William Danneley; (or Donnoley?)*

my daughter Peggy Wood, wife of John Wood and her daughter Charity Lambert;   

my daughter Janey Caskey, wife of Martin Caskey;

my son William to hold in trust for my daughter Sally Quick, wife of Daniel Quick;

my grandson Henry C. Middaugh (father is not named).

 

Executors:  Henry C Middaugh, John W Middaugh & Lenah Middaugh

Witnesses: Richard Eldred, M.M. Dimmick, Catherine Carpenter

Daniel E. LaBar, Register

Inventory Sept 15, 1836

Filed Sept. 20, 1836

 

The two daughters are both referred to by the anglicized nickname “Peggy” in the will.

 

* William Dowley & Ganehje Middag, bapt Henry b 1804 & Pegge b 1805 https://archive.org/details/minisinkvalleyre00vosb/page/235/mode/1up

 

        "Midaghs" 1792, Reading Howell, A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania

 

Revolutionary War Damage Estimates, 1783, Upper & Lower Smithfield

The treasure trove of 18th century records on the Pennsylvania frontier published by the PA State Archives include this 1783 compilation of damages sustained by the residents of Upper and Lower Smithfield, in then Bucks County, from the soldiers and adherents of Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. The period of time covered by the estimate is 1775 through 1782; the township assessors are not named.  

John Emmons, David Vanauken, George Sallady, Cornelius Dewitt, Elijah Middagh, Simeon Westfal [Westfall], Joseph Shawers.

Joseph Cole, Joseph Ridder [Rider], Zachariah Shenkins, James Vanauken, Esq., Henry Peterson, Abraham Decker, James Shimers [Shimer], Lewis Meid, William McCarty, John McCarty, John Conklin, Israel Wells, Peter Quick, Morgan Deshay, George Heatter [Heater], William Halbert [Holbert]  

 .

 James Rosencrans Osterhoud, Ephraim Ferguson, Thomas Quick, Benjamin Hains [Haines?], James Wells, Benjamin Cartright [Courtright], John Emmons, John Taylor, Elias Decker, Cornelius Decker, John Rosencrans, Andrew Dingman [Jr.], Samuel Decker, John [Johannes Sr. or Jr.?] Vanetten [Van Etten]

  .

 Henry Barnet, Henry Lawall, Peter Trexler, Commissioners of Northampton County

~~~~~

Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Vol. 9, Samuel Hazard, 1854.

HathiTrust edition.

Google eBook edition.

  
  

"A Quaint Old Document of the Machackemech Church"

The Evening Gazette, Sept. 3, 1897

AN ANCIENT SALARY LIST
A Quaint Old Document Of The
Machackemech Church

How the People of the Neversink Valley Provided to Pay for the Services of Occasional Preachers - What a Trunk in a Dutch Farm House Revealed.  (From Church Life).

    "Mr. Benjamin C. Swartwout, of Huguenot, N.Y., has in his possession an old trunk which belonged to his great-great-grandfather, Philip Swartwout, and which contains some very interesting documents pertaining to the Revolutionary period, and before that event.  Among these papers was found one written in Low Dutch on a single sheet of paper water marked with the Crown of England, to indicate that the stamp duties on the sheet prescribed by the English Government had been paid, known as the Stamp Act, and which led to the revolt of the colonies and the final separation from the Mother Country.

This quaint old document purports to be a subscription list to pay for the services of the minister who should come to preach in the Machackemech (now Port Jervis) church, which was then without a pastor.  Although this paper bears no date, it is evident that it was issued just prior to or during the Revolutionary War, and could not have been later because some of the persons whose signatures appear on it, perished in that war.

Rev. Thomas Romein, who was the second minister in charge of the Minisink Valley churches, resigned in 1772, and for a period of 13 years thereafter, until 1785, when the services of Rev. Elias Van Bunschooten were secured, the Machackemech congregation, (and presumably the churches lower down the valley), was supplied occasionally by ministers from Marbletown and elsewhere, who married the people during such visitations, baptized children, and on Sunday preached to the inhabitants from the pulpit of the old log Machackemech church.

By the terms of this salary list, which is the oldest paper of its kind in all this region, the subscribers were to pay at the church when the domine had performed his service the sum set opposite their respective names. ... This ancient subscription list is interesting and valuable as denoting the heads of families who composed the Machackemech congregation at the  beginning of the Revolution.  Anthony Van Etten, who heads the list, was Justice of the Peace, ancestor of the Neversink Valley Van Ettens, and was killed toward the close of the war. Philip Swartwout was Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the Committee of Safety.  It is owing to his careful filing of the papers containing his official acts and relating to the church that much of the unwritten history of the Revolutionary period in this section has been preserved.  He was killed in 1779.

Sketches of many of the names in the list below have been already published in Church Life and need not now be repeated.  Thomas Kyte was the school master; Johannes Westbrook was a Captain of militia, who lived on the farm of the late Abram J. Cuddeback, near the Driving Park, and Jacob R. Dewitt, Captain of a company of rangers for gruarding the frontier, and brother of Mary Dewitt, who was wife of James Clinton and mother of New York's famous Governor, Dewitt Clinton.  Space will not permit further mention of the names contained in the document in Low Dutch, which is as follows:

The Evening Gazette, Sept. 3, 1897

Anthony van Etten, Philip Swartwoud, Thos Kyte, Benjn Depuy, Hrramus VanInwegen, Johannis Wasbroek (Westbrook), Jacob R. Deweidt (Dewitt), Samuel Depew, John Wallis, John Parw, Cornelus Vaninwagen, Bangemin Coddeback, Jacobus Swartwoud, Jacob Grammar (Gumaer), Deies Grammawr (Gumaer), Petrus Grammawr (Gumaer), Josap Drack, Ezegel Gumaer, Moses Depew, Henderick Daccor (Decker), Anthony Bunscoten, Jacobus Daiwes (Davis), Johannis Quick, Isack van Whe.

 The following is a free translation of the text of the foregoing document:  " We, the underwritten, promise to pay to the Consistory of Magagemeck for the salary of the preacher who ministers to us, every time that he serves us, each to subscribe with his hand to pay at the church the day the service is performed." 

~ Transcription of "An Ancient Salary List" The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis N.Y., September 3, 1897.

Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church Records, 1745 "Church Members" p 281.

Machackemeck Gravestone Inscriptions

Many of the signatories of this document and/or their next generation descendants are buried in the Gumaer Cemetery, Godeffroy, NY and the Machackemeck Burying Ground in Port Jervis, NY. 

The present location of the "Quaint Old Document" is unknown by us at this time.  One can only hope a scan or film digital version, with fresh translation, will appear online at some point in the future. The 1897 commentary on the document may contain errors, please verify any historical or genealogical leads it may offer. Special thanks to Thomas M. Tryniski's Fulton History for the newspaper clipping snapshots. Please consider donating to Tom Tryniski or any of the local Tri-State NJ, NY & PA historical societies faithfully working to preserve the Minisink Valley heritage. 

See also our compilation ~  "Most Wretchedly Spelled" ~ Variants of Maghagh-kamieck.

Neoclassical Tombstone Art, 1823 - 1838

.

Two extraordinary tombstones stand in the old Quicktown burying ground in Westfall Township PA.  Weathered grey with the years, the larger rectangular slab of  polished bluestone illustrates the difficulty of carving this dense material.

The engraving is in shallow relief with the design, a series of geometric lines, dividing the face into four sections of neoclassical elements. The first bears a double branched weeping willow - one branch cascades over a coffin, the other over a heart centered in an urn.  A double diamond pattern borders the second section's round medallion,  columns the third, and a leafy vine border fills the last.  

The center medallion is highly unusual for it is totally blank - no name or date of death are inscribed on this tombstone, no epitaph graces the section below the medallion or initials on the matching foot stone. The smaller and less decorative neighboring stone gives no hint for it, too, lacks an inscription honoring the deceased.  

Thomas Wheeler, 1836, Rural Valley Cemetery

Only a few examples of the work of this anonymous stone cutter have been identified in the burying grounds and cemeteries we have visited thus far in the Minisink region.  These include the two blank tombstones at Quicktown in Pike Co. PA, those for Thomas and Hiriam Wheeler in Rural  Valley Cemetery in Cuddebackville NY, and for Naomi and Ezekiel Gumaer at one of the old Peenpack settlement burying grounds, the recently dedicated  Gumaer Cemetery, near Godeffroy NY.   


Bluestone is readily available in the region, extremely dense and difficult to carve but durable and impervious to water. One or more of the neoclassical funerary motifs typical of the colonial and post colonial period are found on each of these tombstones including architectural columns, a weeping willow, a coffin, an ashes urn & heart, rosettes, pinwheels and an hourglass.

Willow, double diamond and coffin for Thomas Wheeler

Hiriam Wheeler, 1837, Rural Valley Cemetery

Columns, willow and urn for Hiriam Wheeler

Another telling detail on the Gumaer & Wheeler tombstones is the calligraphy of  the word Died, where the upper and lower case letters, D & d, are elegantly joined - Gumaers below the word, the Wheelers above. The distinctive script of the abbreviation AE and the numerals 7 & 2  are matched carvings on these stones separated by over a decade in dates.  While difficult to read in the morning light prevailing during our excursion to the Gumaer Cemetery, Ezekiel Gumaer's 1823 tombstone bears a weeping willow over an hourglass and the epitaph, My Glass is Run.

Naomi Gumaer, 1827, Gumaer Cemetery

Thomas Wheeler, Rural Valley Cemetery

Hiriam Wheeler, Rural Valley Cemetery

Ezekiel Gumaer, 1823, Gumaer Cemetery

Three more quite ornate and larger bluestone tablets are found at the Old Westbrookville, aka Clarks, Burying Ground:  Elisha Reeve, 1838, Mary M Griffin, 1839 and Lemuel Clapp, 1848. Of these only the Reeve stone shares duplicate decorative elements of weeping willow and urn with the Wheeler and Gumaer examples. While the Reeve tombstone is from the same workshop it was, without doubt, inscribed by another carver, perhaps an apprentice or another local stone carver.  (Note the Find A Grave contributor of the Griffin and Clapp photos has chalked the stones without regard to the long term damage this incurs.)

Elisha Reeve, 1838, Clarks Burying Ground (w/ chalk residue)

A 1935 map of the burying ground by H. W. Olsen plots 16 graves and locates the burying ground at that time on the property of Madame Pierce [sic] with the "sexton" listed as the Misses Westbrook. The earliest inscribed marker is that of Cornelius Cox, d. 1820, age 31. 

The 1933 tombstone survey by the Pike County Daughters of the Union Chapter lists a now missing marker for Leah, wife of Lodewick Dewitt, d. 1859, age 52, and four Jennings and VanInwegen children. 

The PA Land Records Warrantee map for Westfall Township list this tract of 133 acres, which includes the lower portion of present day Cummings Hill Creek, as warranted to Cornelius DeWytt in 1743, surveyed in 1751, and patented as "Petersburg" to Peter Quick in 1787.







The mystery of the blank stones at Quicktown, Westfall, PA remains.  Was this a local carver or were the stones ordered from afar?  Were family funds lacking to complete the work?  Whatever the case generations have passed, an estimated 180 years, and the memory of those buried here is lost forever. 

 Rest in Peace

Bluestone, a form of limestone, is extremely dense, durable and impervious to water.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_12043187_bluestone-vs-slate-durability.html

extremely dense, durable and impervious to water. Both ma

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_12043187_bluestone-vs-slate-durability.html

Bluestone, a form of limestone, is extremely dense, durable and impervious to water.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_12043187_bluestone-vs-slate-durability.html

Pike County, Pennsylvania, 1814 - 2014

I arrived home this morning and found a treasure on the doorstep, a rare hardcover edition of the program for the Bi-Centennial Celebration of Milford, Pike County, Pennsylvania 1733* - 1933.  An auspicious start to this, the 200th year of the formation of Pike County, 1814 - 2014, and an opportunity to examine the history of the first Pike County Court & Courthouse, explore  available Pike County records and vintage county land owner maps.

(c) Pike County Historical Society, 1933

Much of the material in the 1933 Bi-Centennial book is excerpted or paraphrased from The History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania by Alfred Mathews; Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & Co.; 1886.  Mathews' work can present difficulties when attempting to source his oral histories, traditional stories and claimed legends of the county, so proceed with caution. There is, however, lots of substantial material from state & county records: 

THE COURTS.- The first court "in and for the county of Pike" was held in the house latterly occupied by Mrs. Lee, in a room of good size up-stairs, and the county offices were crowded into the same house. The earliest entry that can be found upon the oldest book of records in existence is that of a court December 6, 1814, Associate Judges John Coolbaugh and Daniel W. Dingman "being present." The case entered was that of James Wallace against John Barnes. The action was made returnable January 16, 1815. A transcript from a justice's docket was entered, showing judgment for the plaintiff of one hundred and ninety-eight dollars.

...Judge Daniel W. Dingman sat upon the bench as associate judge for a period of twenty-six years, dating from the erection of the county, and his confrere, Associate Judge John Coolbaugh, held his exalted position nearly as long.

... The county commissioners first elected- Hezekiah Bingham, Cornelius Case and John Lattimore- held their initial meeting November 2, 1814, and after producing and filing their certificates and qualifications according to law, elected John Cross their clerk, at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per year, and Francis A. L. Smith, treasurer.

When they came to the consideration of the probable expenses of the county for the ensuing year, the board resolved to levy a tax of half a cent upon the dollar on all taxable property in the county. They then proceeded to the appointment of assessors in those townships, in which none had been elected according to law, viz.: in Palmyra, Moses Killam, Jr., with Erastus Kimble and Simeon Chapman as assistants; in Lackawaxen, John Crissman, with Mordecai Roberts and Jeremiah Barnes, assistants; in Upper Smithfield, Edward Mott, Jr., with Jacob Quick and George Westfall, assistants; in Delaware, Solomon Westbrook Jr., with Cooper Jagger and Everett Hornbeck, assistants; Middle Smithfield, Alexander Biles, with Daniel Jaynes and Andrew Eighlenbergh [Eilenberger], as assistants. (Note portions of Middle Smithfield would be set off to Monroe County.)

 

Pike County Courthouse of 1874 on the left, the original Courthouse & Jail of 1814 on the right

...The work of erecting the court-house was begun in 1814 and the stone building still standing and used as a jail was completed in 1815. It was substantially constructed of native boulders hewn square on the outer side, and the thoroughness with which its walls were laid puts to shame much more recent workmanship. The contractors were Dan. Dimmick, Jacob Quick and Samuel Anderson. At first there was no bell upon the court-house, and when the judges and lawyers and persons interested were to be summoned, the sheriff mounted the cupola and blew most piercing blasts upon a huge tin horn. This was superseded by a huge triangle, upon which the sheriff or a tipstaff dealt resounding blows that were not unmusical, and this, in turn, gave way in 1844 or 1845 to the bell which for many years announced at proper seasons that justice was about to be judicially administered.

This building served as court-house and jail until 1873, when the present court-house was constructed, and the county offices were within its walls until 1851, when a small brick building was erected in front of the site occupied by the present court-house. This was built under contract by George P. Heller.  The present handsome brick court-house, containing all of the county offices and a commodious court-room, was built in the years 1872-7[4], the first action being taken at the February and September Sessions of court in 1871.

The contract for the foundations was let to S.S. Van Auken, but afterwards rescinded and the work was done by the commissioners and sub-contractors.  The contract for building was let March 2, 1872, to A.D. Brown, for $26,096. He was afterwards allowed considerable sums for extra work. The cost of this edifice as completed has been, after careful computation by competent persons, fixed at about $45,0O0.

The people of Milford raised about $1000, purchased two town lots adjoining the public square and donated them to the county as a proper site for the building.  ~ Chapter I, Civil History. A fully searchable version of the Mathews' work is available at Hathitrust here.  

Cornerstone of the Pike County Courthouse, presented by John Fletcher Kilgour

Laying of the Corner Stone of the New Court House at Milford-Imposing Ceremonies-Fine Address by Rev. John Reid.
According to announcement the corner stone of the nwe Court House at Milford was laid yesterday afternoon.  A large concourse of people, among them representatives of nearly every part of Pike county, witnessed the ceremonies. ...

After the address, an ode was sung by the choir, when C. W. Bull, esq., announced the following articles to be place in the box to be sealed in the corner-stone:  Copy of report of the Grand Juries recommending a new court house and list of their names, order of court thereon.  Copy petition of commissioners to the court for an order to issue bonds of the county, order thereon.  Resolution of commissioners to build Court House, state of plan, contracts, &c. Copy of list of subscription to purchase lot to donate to the country as a site for the Court House.   Historical sketch of the county, public buildings, courts, &c.

Contents of the Courthouse Corner Stone, 1872.

List of officers of the court, county, representatives and resident members of the bar.  Cross's map and book of the county.  Milford Herald, Pike County Democrat, N.Y. Observer, Advocate and Journal, Public Ledger.  A court house Bond.  Rules of court, commissioners check.  Silver dollar issue of 1872, presented by J. Wallace Heller.  Copy of address delivered by Rev. John Reid.  Holy bible.  Copy of order of exercises.  Full set of the national fractional currency of the present issue, presented by W. H. Armstrong.  Treasurer's deed, bond and list of Treasurer's sale of 1872.

September 15, 1874.

The original Pike County Courthouse, which now houses the Sheriff's Office, is the second oldest courthouse in the State of Pennsylvania.

By the fall of 1874 the new courthouse was completed.  The Evening Gazette would note the approximate county population at the time was 9,000 inhabitants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pike County Court House,  c 1875.

 
 

Researching the Records of Pike County Online

Researching the county has always been problematic; Land Records, Deeds and Wills for the present boundaries of Pike County can be found in Bucks County through 1751, Northampton County through 1798, and Wayne County through March of 1814. FamilySearch.com, besides census records, has added browse only Probate Records for Bucks, Northampton and Wayne Counties should one care to wade through the material with the above dates in mind. Abstracts of Northampton County Wills & Estate Records, 1752-1802 is a helpful tool for pinpointing probate dates in order to find the original material in the browse only records as above. The Land Records Indices can be found on the PA State website here or in this fully searchable transcription for the Northampton Co Warrant Register as hosted by the State.  

County Maps

1872, F. W. Beers, Topographical Map of Pike Co., Pennsylvania Historic & Museum Commission or here, Library of Congress.  Loads of land owners, schools, roads, etc on this great Beers map.

Beers Map of Pike Co PA, 1872, detail Lehman Township

Pike County Township Warrantee maps, Pennsylvania Historic & Museum Commission:
Blooming Grove, Delaware, Dingman, Greene, Lackawaxen (North), Lackawaxen (South), Lehman, Milford, Palmyra, Porter, Shohola, Westfall. These maps are a treasure for the Minisink family researcher, the only such maps in the Tri-States NY NJ PA area.

Based on the Warrantee surveys, the 19th century John Cross map of Pike Co.: A map of the county of Pike, Pennsylvania : shewing the location and form of the original surveys with the numbers by which they are designated on the commissioner's books of said county : also the townships, streams, roads, plank roads, railroads, canals, and principal places is available from the Library of Congress.

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for the County Seat, Milford: 1885, 1897, 1905, 1912. Apparently the other villages & towns of the county were too small for Sanborn to include in their database.

Reseaching Pike County Records On Site

The Pike County Historical Society, at 608 Broad St, Milford, abounds in resources: newspaper clippings, family files, local history books, obituaries and cemetery records. The staff will conduct research for a fee or allow you to research for a donation.  An 1877 Map of the Borough of Milford is among the many items on display. The Pike Co Administration Building, at 506 Broad St in Milford, holds volumes of Wills, Deeds, and oversize editions of each of the Township Warrantee Maps.

McLaughlin House, 1904, home of the Pike Co Historical Society

To the best of my knowledge only one Provincial Pennsylvania settler of the Minisinks survived two frontier wars and each incarnation of County - from Bucks to Northampton to Wayne to Pike - and that is Captain Johannes Van Etten, (1732 - 1815) Northampton County Militia,  who died the year after Pike County was formed. He rests alongside his second wife, Rachel Williams, in a quiet corner of Milford Cemetery.

 photo (c) 2013 Michael J Harding

Special thanks to Milford Borough Secretary, Lizanne Samuelson, Joseph White, & Michael Harding.

Notes

*As of this date, I've located no warrant for land as early as 1733, nor evidence that Thomas Quick, Sr. held such patent.  A lengthy discussion on the historical records can be found in our entry on Van Etten's 1756 Account of the Death of Thomas Quick. 

The Mathews history, without source or footnote, states:
About the year 1733 a Hollander named Thomas Quick emigrated from the Fatherland to the colony of New York, and not long afterwards located on the Delaware, in what afterwards became known as Upper Smithfield, and still later as Milford, Pennsylvania. His circumstances were equal to those of the affluent Dutch immigrants of that period. He pitched his tent considerably in advance of his predecessors, and, according to the testimony of his descendants, was the pioneer settler of Milford. Quick erected a log cabin, cleared land and built a barn, which he stored with wheat and maize, the fruits of his industry. 

In Early Pennsylvania Land Records as transcribed on Ancestry.com (subscription) shows a Petition to James Logan, Philadelphia, 1727:  ...Jacobus Bruin, John Hamilton, Joseph Wheeler, Thomas Quick & Hendrick Schoomaker presented a Petition to purchase parcels of vacant land on this side Delaware of the Indians, who claim it, in order to make settlements for themselves...  There is, however, no evidence as yet if this is the Thomas Quick who held the Warrant of 1750 in present day Pike County.

It is likely Thomas Quick settled on the land before 1750, the provincial warrant being issued after the fact. Perhaps more material will come to light in the future.

Quick's Mill tract on the Vandermark Creek, Milford Township Warrantee Map