The Proprietors, finding it impossible to overcome the determination of James to unite New York and New Jersey to New England under the same government, deemed it advisable to abandon the unavailing contest, and by acceding to the King’s design to obtain from him an efficient guarantee that he would respect their rights to the soil. A surrender of their patent, so far as the government was concerned, was therefore made in April, 1688, James having agreed to accept it; and, the Proprietors of West Jersey having acceded also to the arrangement, a new commission was issued to Sir Edmund Andros, annexing both provinces and New York to his government, and Francis Nicholson was appointed his lieutenant-governor.
The course of Andros in accepting the simple acknowledgment of his authority as sufficient, without revolutionizing the government and dismissing the functionaries in office in New Jersey, was doubtless in a great measure owing to the fact that the surrender by the Proprietors of their right to govern rendered necessary the issuing of a new grant to them from the Crown, confirmatory of all the immunities of the soil; and until that could be perfected, it may have been considered expedient not to disturb the existing regulations. It is nevertheless remarkable that any considerations of the kind should have had so mollifying an effect upon one whose arrogance, disregard of the rights of others, and impetuosity of temper were so intrusively manifest as in Edmund Andros.
By the seizure of Andros in New England in April, 1689, in anticipation of the successful revolution in England in favor of William and Mary, which promised the subversion of his authority not only there but also in the other colonies that had been placed within his jurisdiction, an opportunity was afforded the Proprietors of New Jersey to resume all the rights and privileges of which they had been despoiled. But there were impediments in the way. They were not sure of the support of the people, and being separated,—some in England, some in Scotland, and some in New Jersey,—it was not possible that unanimity of action could be secured. Many of them, having been closely allied to King James, were probably disposed to cling to him in his misfortunes, and had the deputy-governor thrown off the responsibilities he had so recently resumed as the representative of the Crown, for the purpose of re-establishing the authority of the Proprietors, it would have been attended with great doubt and uncertainty as to his success, the people having so definitely manifested their preference for a royal government.
In April Hamilton received a summons from the mayor of New York, acting as lieutenant of Andros; and, attended by the justices of Bergen, repaired thither to consult upon the proper course to be pursued in the peculiar situation of affairs prevailing in the two colonies, but nothing of consequence resulted from the conference. The deputy-governor on subsequent occasions was invited to similar consultations in New York, but does not seem to have compromised himself in any way with any party; and, as so much doubt existed as to what was the proper course for him to pursue, he resolved in August to proceed to England in person to advise with the Proprietors there. On his way thither he was taken prisoner by the French, and appears to have been detained in France until the May following, when he, being then in England, resigned his position as the deputy-governor. From the time of Hamilton’s departure for England until 1692 the inhabitants of East Jersey were left to the guardianship of their county and town officers, who seemed to have possessed all necessary powers to preserve the peace. So also in West Jersey. The course of events caused but little alteration in the general condition of the Province after the surrender of the government to Andros in April, 1688, and the subsequent suspension of his authority.
In 1687 George Keith, surveyor-general of East Jersey, under orders from the Proprietors there, attempted to run the dividing line between the two provinces, in accordance with the terms of the Quintipartite deed of 1676; but the result was unsatisfactory to West Jersey, as it was thought too great a quantity of the best lands came thereby within the bounds of East Jersey. In September, 1688, however, a consultation took place in London, between Governor Coxe of West Jersey and Governor Barclay of East Jersey, with the view of perfecting a settlement of Keith’s line, resulting in a written agreement signed and sealed by the two parties; but nevertheless no satisfactory termination of the matter was arrived at for many years. It was in 1688 that the “Board of Proprietors of West Jersey” was regularly organized.
It would be very gratifying to be able to state clearly, upon good authority, the condition of New Jersey at this eventful period in its history, and note its progress since its surrender to the English in 1664, but from the imperfection of the details, the information obtainable is not sufficiently definite to give satisfactory results.
That the population of East Jersey had largely increased there can be no doubt. It was a constant cause of complaint by the government of New York that the freedom from taxation and various mercantile restrictions had tended greatly to increase emigration to East Jersey, much to the detriment of New York; and the first towns, Newark, Elizabethtown, and Middletown, drew large numbers from New England and Long Island, leading to their becoming centres for the development of other towns and villages. The new capital, Perth Amboy, became in a very few years an important settlement, and both from Scotland and England numerous families had already arrived and settled in various parts of the Province; so that it is probable the increase during the quarter of a century had been more than a hundred-fold, making the total number of souls in East Jersey nearly, if not quite, ten thousand. There are no figures upon which any correct estimate can be based of the increase in West Jersey, but it may be safely considered as coming far short of the eastern Province.
Of the five counties recognized in 1670 Monmouth was the most populous; and of its three towns, Shrewsbury, Middletown, and Freehold, the first was the most important. Essex County came next; Elizabethtown, Newark, Acquackanock, and New Barbadoes being its towns, ranking in the order in which they are named. Middlesex followed, with Woodbridge, Piscataway, and Perth Amboy as its towns. Bergen stood fourth, with its towns of Bergen and Hackensack; and Somerset came last, having no specific townships. There were, of course, in all the counties small settlements not yet of sufficient importance to be recognized as separate organizations. In 1683 Bergen County was third in importance, and Middlesex fourth.
One great hindrance to the development of the agricultural and mineral resources of the two provinces was the want of roads and conveniences to promote intercourse between the different sections. The only Indian path ran from Shrewsbury River to the northwest limits of the Province, and the only road opened by the Dutch appears to have been that by which intercourse was kept up with the settlements on the Delaware, in what is now Maryland. From New Amsterdam a direct water communication was had with Elizabethtown Point (now Elizabethport), and thence by land to the Raritan River which was crossed by fording at Inian’s Ferry, now New Brunswick. Thence the road ran in almost a straight course to the Delaware River, above the site of the present Trenton, where there was another ford. This was called the Upper Road; another, called the Lower Road, branched off from the first about five or six miles from the Raritan, and by a circuitous route reached the Delaware at the site of what is now Burlington; but the whole country was a wilderness between the towns in Monmouth County and the Delaware River as late as 1675.