THE FIRST FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE,
BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY.INDIAN VILLAGE.
New Jersey, as has been stated, was originally a part of New Netherland. As early as 1618, the Dutch erected a trading post at Bergen. All now included in the State was granted, in 1664, by the Duke of York to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Carteret was once governor of the island of Jersey in the English Channel, and gave the name to the new province. In the year mentioned, the first English settlement was made at Elizabethtown, now known as Elizabeth.
In 1674, the province was divided into East and West Jersey, a distinction which is preserved to some extent to the present day. Berkeley, who owned West Jersey, sold it to a number of Quakers, some of whom settled near Burlington. Carteret sold his part to William Penn and eleven other Quakers. The various changes of ownership caused much trouble with the land titles. In 1702, all the proprietors surrendered their rights to the crown and New Jersey became a royal colony. The same governor ruled New York and New Jersey, though those in the latter elected their own assembly. A complete separation from New York took place in 1738, and New Jersey remained a royal province until the Revolution. Its location averted all troubles with the Indians. Newark, the principal city, was settled in 1666, by emigrants from Connecticut. Burlington, founded in 1677, was one of the capitals and Perth Amboy the other.
WILLIAM PENN, THE GOOD AND WISE RULER.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE.
In 1638, a number of Swedes formed the settlement of Christina on the Delaware, near Wilmington. They bought the land from the Indians and named it New Sweden. A second settlement, that of Chester, was made just below the site of Philadelphia in 1643, and was the first in the present State of Pennsylvania. The fiery Governor Stuyvesant of New Netherland looked upon these attempts as impudent invasions of his territory, and, filled with anger, hurried down to Delaware and captured both. It was a matter of no moment to the thrifty Swedes, who kept on the even tenor of their way and throve under the new government as well as under the old. A further account of the settlement of Delaware will be given in our history of that of Pennsylvania.
