JONATHAN AND ELIZABETH (DISSOSWAY) HUTCHINSON
OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
Jonathan Hutchinson made his Will on 10 April 1776. The witnesses and executors of the Will signed an oath when it was probated in Burlington County Court on 22 January 1777. Therefore, he died between these dates and more likely closer to the later date. The history handed down is this family is that Jonathan "died in 1776, and was buried the day of the battle of Trenton [New Jersey], the sound of the guns being distinctly heard the morning of the day of the funeral." The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26, 1776, and what was called the 2nd Battle of Trenton took place on January 2nd, 1777, and then on January 3rd, 1777 was the Battle of Princeton, which is very close to the area of his homestead. Where Jonathan was buried is not recorded and is not known. The Inventory for his estate was dated 16 Jan 1777 [NJ State Archive's Will]. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Dissosway, daughter of Sarah Dissosway, of Monmouth County, New Jersey, on 7 October 1737. [The NJ Marriage Bond for this marriage has her name spelled phonetically as "DUSOSWA."
[Some of those who have not researched this family, have simply copied what others have written and thus have erroneously concluded that Elizabeth Dissosway was a Seminole Indian, all due to the phonetic spelling of her name as "DUSOSWA" on their NJ Marriage Bond. Unfortunately, whomever arrived at this erroneous conclusion with absolutely no proof, has given it to LDS and others, resulting in it being copied and now having made its way onto the Internet. Nothing could be further from the truth.]
Their NJ Marriage Bond states: "License of marriage on ye seventh day of October A.D. 1737 was granted by Honorable John Hamilton, Esq., resident, unto Jonathan Hutchinson of Windsor in County of Middlesex, farmer of the one party and Elizabeth Dusoswa, spinster, daughter of Sarah Dusoswa of the County of Monmouth, widow, of the other party."
Based upon several factors: the language in Jonathan's 1776 will, items found in his 1777 Inventory and Account, handwriting analysis of Jonathan's handwriting on his 1737 NJ Marriage Bond, and on that of another NJ Marriage Bond dated 29 October 1765, it is clear that Jonathan Hutchinson married secondly, Sarah Davis, on 29 October 1765. This second Marriage Bond describes Jonathan Hutchinson of Winsor Township in the County of Middlesex and Sarah Davis, spinster, of the other party. Nothing further is known regarding his wife Elizabeth.
In September 24, 1737, William and Jonathan Hutchinson bought land on the southern side of the Assanpink and on both sides of the Province line as run by George Keith from the heirs of David Lyell, deceased. Charles Robbins Hutchinson states that the tract of land was lying on the southerly side of the Assanpink Creek and on both sides of the province line as run by George Keith, containing 756 acres, and upon which they settled. This land was in what is today the southern part of West Windsor Township, Mercer County. He also states that the Lyells were Perth Amboy people and it is likely that both Jonathan and William also came from that locality and that they were brothers. [It is also known that the John Hutchinson, who married Elizabeth Pearson in 1730, was also from Perth Amboy, New Jersey.]
In August 28, 1740, James Alexander and Daniel Donaldson Dunstar conveyed to
William Hutchinson, for 488.11.5 pounds, a tract of land in what was then in
Windsor Township, Middlesex County and is today East Windsor Township, Mercer
County, bounded east and north by Rocky Brook, including the present village of
Etra, then called Milford, extending southward to about where is now the
Monmouth County line and westwardly about one and a half miles; containing 1,037
acres. Its southwesterly corner appears to have been about where
Lawrence's Line between East and West Jersey crosses said county line. To
this tract William Hutchinson removed, and some portion of it still remains in
the possession of his descendants.
Jonathan's birth date is unknown but I have attempted to compute it based upon the birth date of
his first known child - Rachel - and using a statistical average age of being abt. 25 years old when he married in 1737. If this is
correct, he may have had
children other than those presently known; being his first known
child Rachel was born ca. 1744, seven years after his marriage. It stands to
reason that there MAY have been other children born before Rachel in 1744. I also used deed records of Monmouth County to
help in
this. Other children's birth dates are from records in Windsor Twp, Middlesex
Co, NJ, and are their children found in Norton's book, New Jersey in 1793, cemetery
inscriptions, family records and history. A Lynne Frost's LDS records
state that there was a child named David. However, no proof was exhibited. My
research shows that the name David wasn't mentioned in Jonathan's
Will and nothing has ever been found to substantiate that name as being a child
of his. The great-grand-daughter of Jonathan, Mrs. Susan (Wilson) Mount, also
adds David as being another son of Jonathan but does not show how she arrives at
this. Again, if this is true, then David would have died without heirs prior to
the writing of Jonathan's will in 1776. Frost also states that
his daughter Rachel's middle initial was a "D". This may be true being her
mother's maiden name of Dissosway but I have never see it written with a "D" as
middle initial anywhere. The names for Jonathan's "known" children were Rachel,
Jonathan, Daniel, Isaac, James [my 5th-great-grandfather], Amos, and William.
On Oct 12, 1761, Jonathan signed a petition, as one of 11 others, for Thomas Tindall to have a tavern license.
On Oct 11, 1763, he again signed a petition,
as one of 10 others, for Thomas Tindall to keep a tavern house "where he of late
has kept Tavern ..." The Tindalls and Hutchinsons were neighbors and their
families intermarried many times along with the Cubberleys from the same area.
Jonathan was also chosen as a Commissioner of Windsor on 10 Mar 1761
along with Matthew Rogers.
In the October Term 1763 of the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace at Perth
Amboy, Middlesex Co, Jonathan Hutchinson and 16 others were called to attend but
were absent from the morning session and were fined. One of the eight of those
present in the morning session was his brother William Hutchinson. The Grand
Jury recessed until 2:00PM, at which time those absent in the morning were in
attendance; including Jonathan Hutchinson, who remitted his fine of 20
shillings.
In "Middlesex Co Early Records", Rutgers University, Page 70, is a return for Dutch Neck Road -"re: the Petition of several of the Freeholders in the Township of Windsor ... from the Old Post road near John Height's Grist Mill to the four Rod Road Near Thomas Hoopers Tavern ... Beginning in the Old Post Road Richard Majors Blacksmith's Shop ..." It was signed on 3 April 1767 by Samuel Bayles, William Dye, Isaac Bonnell, John Hammell Junr, Jonathan Hutchinson, Mathias Vandike. I believe this is probably Jonathan, Sr. due to it being in Windsor and the others who signed it being related to him via marriages, etc.
"On Tuesday the 27th ult. between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning, the barn of Jonathan Hutchinson, sen. of Windsor township, about six miles from Princeton, was struck by lightning, and consumed, together with a wheat mill, and a large quantity of hay; of six horses in the stable, two were got out unhurt, but 4 of the best were most terribly burned, and little hopes are entertained of their recovery. (Riverton's New York Gazetter, No. 5, May 20, 1773; New Jersey Archive Series, New Jersey Colonial Documents, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to Colonial New Jersey.)
Account book of David Olden, Commissioner of Clothing for Middlesex Co, NJ,
during the Revolution, who lived in Windsor, New Jersey, paid "Sarah Hutchenson,
for 2 lb of thread, at 3 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence", 22 December 1777. (See
Certificates and Receipts of Revolutionary, New Jersey, by Dorothy Stratford and
Thomas Wilson.) Olden was Commissioner from 1777-1779 and he later was Agent of
Confiscated Estates.
Jonathan's children appear to have been associated with the Allentown
Presbyterian Church as of 19 April 1785 when they signed a church petition and
daughter Rachel, and also POSSIBLY Jonathan, are buried in this church's cemetery. There
is a space next to his daughter Rachel’s stone where a stone once stood. This
church was also affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Nottingham [now
Hamilton Square] which is the area where this family resided.
The following story appeared in the Village Record [the name of the paper before
the name Hightstown Gazette], dated 20 Nov 1857:
Mr. Editor: On the farm now owned by Isaac Goldy, near Milford, about 2 miles
from Hightstown, there is an ancient burial ground, wherein several of the old
owners of the soil thereabout found the last resting place of their earthly
remains. From a tombstone in that place I copy the following, verbatim et
literatu: "Sacred to the Memory of Ann Hutchinson, Relict of Wm Hutchinson Esqr.
departed this Life Jany. 4th 1801. Aged 101 years 9 Months and seven days. She
was mother of 13 children, and Grand Mother and great grand mother, & great
great Grand Mother of 375 Persons." I give also the punctuation and Capital
letters.
By applying the rule of compound subtraction, or more properly subtraction of
denominate numbers, and making allowance for the difference between Old and New
Style, we perceive that she was born on the 17th day of March 1699, and
consequently lived in three different centuries, i.e. she was born on the 17th,
lived through the whole 18th, and died in the 19th century. A very lengthy
article might be written upon the times, the scenes, and changes through which
she passed, and which she witnessed; but those conversant with history can fill
up the great space of her life with general incidents to suit themselves. I will
only mention a few facts in connection with her history, and that of her family.
She was the wife of Wm. Hutchinson, Esq, a Justice of the Peace under the crown
and government of England. This William Hutchinson took up from the government
all the land bounded easterly by or near the Earl of Perth's Patent, (at the
corner of the farm now owned by Mr. Wesley Sill,) and bounded northerly by Rocky
Brook, and extending westerly to at or about the farm now owned by Thomas Mount,
(son of Hiram Mount, dec'd); and extending southerly also to the Ely tract, (a
tract of 1500 acres taken up by John Ely, my great grandfather,) at or about the
property now owned by Abijah J. Chamberlin. You will perceive then, Mr. Editor,
that your office, and all of Hightstown south of Rocky Brook, stands on the
tract of this old lady's husband. Her first residence was a dwelling made of
pallisadoes, a few yards from where Mr. Goldy now lives. My uncle, the late Rev.
Robert Hutchinson, dec'd, and Mrs. Phebe Hutchinson, widow of Rev. Sylvester
Hutchinson, gave me several particulars in reference to the old Hutchinson
family, which I have not the space to fully record. Ann Hutchinson retained her
faculties to the last, and could see to thread a needle or read without
spectacles when in her 101st year. The family have been remarkable for
longevity. Her son, Joseph Hutchinson, (very properly and justly called in his
day by the Methodist Father Hutchinson,) lived on the place where Wm. R.
Hutchinson now lives. I well recollect the old gentleman myself. He was a very
exemplary and pious man, and between 1780 and 1790 was one of a very small class
or society in Milford. About the time Methodism began to be frequently preached;
my grand father, Richard Ely, who died in 1791, in his life time invited the
Methodists ministers to preach in his house, and in warm weather they sometimes
preached in his barn; he lived where Richard A. Ely, son of my uncle Aaron Ely,
now lives, in Millstone township. I have heard my father frequently say that he
remembered, though then young, when these meetings were held at his father's. By
(sic) why digress into the history of Methodism? Because the history of the old
Hutchinson family is identified with the early history of Methodism in this part
of the country. William Hutchinson, another son of this Ann, lived where Daniel
P. Hutchinson now lives, and had four sons, all of whom turned out to be
Methodist preachers, viz: Ezekiel Hutchinson, Robert Hutchinson, Sylvester
Hutchinson and Aaron Hutchinson, all of whom have passed the earth. Ezekiel
Hutchinson removed, many years before his death, to Ohio. My mother, who
departed this life in 1819, was one of the little band of despised Methodists
(for Methodists were persecuted and despised in their infancy) who formed the
church at Milford, and having been brought up to attend that church till I
arrived almost to manhood, and conversing much with the Hutchinson family, I
became of necessity acquainted with many facts in relation to that family, and
to the Methodist Church at Milford; which facts are many of them given by Judge
Pearce in the Record, a few weeks back, and are in accordance with what I
remember having heard from old people. There are many respectable families
descended from this Ann Hutchinson in the United States - Among those of her
descendants now living on the old Hutchinson tract are William R. Hutchinson,
Daniel P. Hutchinson, and the present Treasurer of New Jersey, R.M. Smith, Esq.
I would say, in conclusion, that not withstanding I have departed in my
religious views in some respects from ancient Methodism, the early instructive
lessons which I received from my Methodist relatives and friends, "He saves me
from a thousand snares." I still firmly believe the good old doctrine of free
grace, the freedom of the human will, and the universality of the atonement. To
which I will add; "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all my days," and
that "The arms of love that compass me, Will all mankind embrace." J.J.E.
[Joseph J. Ely, whose uncle was Rev. Robert Hutchinson, grandson of William and
Ann (Simpson) Hutchinson.]
Also, in another issue of the Village Record on the following week of the
27th
Nov 1857, a response to the above article was made by a member of the Hutchinson
family:
Mr. editor - Having noticed an article in your paper of the 20th inst., relative
to the history of William and Ann Hutchinson, their burial place, and
descendants, and thinking it may be interesting to some of your readers who may
have lost the knowledge of their ancestors, I ask your indulgence while I speak
of some matters connected with these things.
William Hutchinson and one of his brothers came from England to this county
early in the 18th century. The maiden name of his wife Ann, was Simpson. Their
family of children, thirteen in number, as is recorded on Ann Hutchinson's
tombstone, consisted of five boys and eight girls. From these branches have
sprung numerous families, bearing the name of Tindall in the neighborhood of
Hamilton Square; English and Laird in Englishtown; Ely, Wilson, Moore, Taylor,
and others, of this vicinity; Kannan [Kinnan], Bennett and others, of New
Brunswick. The marriages into families of these names took place about one
century ago. With later generations come in the names of Cubberly, Dey, Moore,
Taylor, James, Hartman, and many others down to the present time, and now beside
hundreds of Hutchinsons in this vicinity, these descendants may be found in
almost every resident name among us. Although the date of the woman's birth
reaches back a period of about one hundred and sixty years, and her descendants
are numbered in the thousands, yet if she were living to-day in your borough,
she might receive daily visits from a grand-daughter who is now in the middle
age of life, while in other branches of the family she might look upon children
with a string of greats too long for any but a clear-headed person to mention.
In the old burying ground alluded to, this host may look upon the final resting
place of their time-honored ancestors- their first parents of this western
world. But it would be a sad sight to many, for the plough has already broken
the sod over many graves of this ancient burial place, and unless steps be
speedily taken, there will soon be left no mark to designate the sacred spot
where these first breakers of the soil rest.
I would ask if some plan may not be devised by which the remaining graves shall
be religiously protected, so that future generations may read this headstone. We
presume the present owner of the land would sell the lot to the descendants for
a trifling amount - That such graves should be thoughtlessly trampled upon seems
to us a burning shame; and from the personal knowledge we have of many of the
descendants, we believe that a sufficient amount of money could be raised to do
it in a permanent manner. D.P.H. [Daniel P. Hutchinson great-grandchild of
Jonathan’s brother, William.]
Hightstown Gazette, 8 March 1883 - "A Family Record - A short history of the
succession of the Hutchinson and Wilson families, as we can trace them, since
they imigrated (sic) to America. In the reign of George III of England, before
the Revolution, Jonathan Hutchinson, an Englishman, came to this country. He was
married to a French woman by the name of Elizabeth Disousway, or Disseau in
French. He purchased a tract of land of a thousand acres in New Jersey,
Middlesex county, which of course, was held by the Crown of England. On this
land he settled. His family consisted of seven sons and a daughter. Their names
were Jonathan, William, David, Isaac, Daniel, Amos, James and Rachel D.
Hutchinson. As the Wilson and Hutchinson families intermarried, we will now give
a short genealogy of the Wilson family as we had it from our father and
grand-father. Archibald Wilson, an Englishman, married a Scotch woman, whose
name was Jane Lisle. They migrated to this country about the same time of
Jonathan Hutchinson, and purchased that tract of land lying between the
Assanpink and the Cattail brooks, lying along the old York road, then called the
King's Highway. They had two children. Sarah, the eldest, died while young.
Robert, who was our grandfather was born on the ocean coming over, on the 22d of
September, 1736, and was married to Rachel, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth
Hutchinson, on the 24th of December 1760. He being a strong Whig, at the
breaking out of the Revolution he joined a company as lieutenant and fought for
our independence. His wife holding the same opinions with him, so offended her
father (who still adhered to the King's cause) that in his will cut her off with
a Dutch cupboard, worth five dollars, while he left a valuable farm to each of
her brothers. Our father, Isaac H. Wilson, only son of Robert Wilson, Esq. that
lived to grow up, was born on Wednesday, March 10th 1779, was married the
10th
day of December, 1799, to Elizabeth, daughter of James and Sarah Hutchinson. Our
mother, Elizabeth Wilson, departed this life July 31st 1856, in the 74th year of
her age. Our father departed this life February 15th, aged 87 years, lacking 23
days." [submitted by Mary A. Updike, but written by Susan (Wilson) Mount per
15
March 1883 issue of the paper.]
In 1998, I purchased a Quit Claim deed I found in an antique & book shop
outside of Freehold, New Jersey, along with several NJ road survey petitions from
the 1800s. The purchased deed was a Quit Claim wherein James' brothers deeded
to James the land they had obtained from their father's 1776 will. The deed identifies them as sons of Jonathan.
So, here we have three brothers in 1786, about 10 years after their father's
death, giving their rights to the land they obtained by their father's 1776 Will to their brother, James, my 4th great-grandfather, for 15
schillings. The document reads:
"To all to Whom these presents shall Com Issac Hutchinson Amos & William
Hutchinson Sons of Jonathan Hutchinson Deceas'd of the Township of Windsor in
the County of Middlesex & State of New Jersey Sendeth Greetings Whereas the Sd.
Isaac Hutchinson Amos William & James Hutchinson is becom Seized of a certain
tract or tracts of land Situate Laying & Being in the Township of Windsor &
Notingham in the State aforesaid by Virtue of the Last Will and testament of
Jonathan Hutchinson their father Reference thereunto Being had Will fully & at
Large appear And Whereas Gervas Phares had made a Division of Said Lands as
Appears in a Draught Bearing Date April the 21th 1778 at the Request of the
Devisees & John Cubberley & Daniel Hutchinson Executors...Now know ye that the
Sd. Isaac Hutchinson Amos Hutchinson & William Hutchinson for and in
consideration of the full and just sum of five schillings Money according to
proclamation to them in Hand paid for the Sd. James Hutchinson the Receipt
Whereof they the Sd. Isaac Hutchinson Amos & William Hutchinson Doth hereby own
& acknowledge...thereof hath Remised Released & Forever Quit Claim & by virtue
of these presents...Quit Claim unto the Sd. James Hutchinson...all those four
lots of land hereafter described...and also a small Lott bought of John
Cubberley & Lydah Cubberley just below the mill on the north side of the
run...here unto set their hands and seals this forth Day of August in the year
of our Lord 1786. Signed: Isaac Hutchinson, Amos Hutchinson, William Hutchinson.
Witnessed: Daniel Hutchinson & Wm. Tindall."
Perhaps for me, the most exciting part of this research journey, was the finding of the remains of James Hutchinson's 1785 brick home and the remains of his grist and saw mill on what is today called Pond Road, Washington Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. The house was surveyed by the Works Progress Administration Project under the Historic American Building Survey(HABS-NJ-483) in the 1930s which included photographs of the interior and exterior as well as scaled architectural drawings from the foundation to the top of the house, both interior and exterior. This material can be found in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. while an exhibit of the house and some of its actual architectural details can be found in an exhibit at the NJ Archives & Museum.
The house was eventually abandoned by the family, rented for a time, and then boarded up. Sometime in the 1970s, the house was destroyed by arson. I found the home sometime after the fire and took photos of its then condition. At that time, the property was weed covered, in the country and the open fields being rented to farmers for crops. Each year after the fields were plowed and/or after a rain, I would from time to time drive to the site and walk through the plowed fields. Here you could simply bend over and pick up pieces of the Native American culture and the items of daily living from the family that lived there. It was here in these fields that I came up with the idea of how great it would be to see what was in the ground around this house.
Eventually, the remains of the burned house were pushed into the ground and all traces of it removed. It was then that I decided to to do an archaeological dig at the site. I learned that the local school board had purchased the property with plans to eventually build, in the years to come, a new school on the site. So, I contacted the board and asked their permission to to a salvage dig on the site before the bull-dozers were brought in, which was years away. I was surprised to learn that the school board had no interest in the historical value of what might lie in the ground, and in fact, I was told "suppose something very important was found" which would cause a problem. So, I went public by going to the press which published my story and photo of the home which helped generate interest from a grass roots historical preservation group which took my side on the issue. They got no where with the board and finally threatened to file an injunction against the school and/or sue the Board. Finally, in 1990, after a long struggle with the local school board, and the bad publicity they received, they relented and allowed me only 3 months with some specific strings attached. So, I accepted, figured out a way to circumvent their "strings," and proceeded to do as much as was humanly possible, on weekends and nights while working a full-time job.
During my "fight" with the board, I had offered to use the site as a learning tool for their students regarding the history of the area. Soon after starting to work on site, I was contacted by a school teacher from the above district who wanted me to know that she and other teachers supported my position and couldn't understand why the board wouldn't accept my offer to use the site as a learning tool. They then asked if they could bring some of their classes out to the site in afternoons and if I would also give a talk to their students. So, on several occasions third grade students were brought out to the dig in a school bus, apparently without the board's knowledge, and the students spent a few hours digging at the site looking for artifacts. Who knows, perhaps today one of those students is in a college studying history or archaeology as a result of their experience.
Eventually, the time ran out as did my stamina, as all excavations by me were done by hand and trowel. After I left the site as winter came on, the site was destroyed. Almost 2 years later, the board built a new school, bridge, and road which also destroyed the remnants of the grist mill. However, during that short period of time, I met some nice local folks, who would stop, pull their cars into the weeds and ask what I was doing. After talking to them and showing them the history, they thought it was great. In fact, one went home and dug through his photos, came back and gave me a photo of the mill when it was standing at the site. This is the only photo I have of the mill. I also found the foundation of the house, some artifacts in the foundation fill from when it was built in 1785, bits and pieces of life at the house, and eventually this led me to the original 1785 account book of James Hutchinson, my 4th great grandfather, which listed the builders of the house, their pay, the cost of the materials that went into the house, etc. I also found an beautiful arrow head, a flint for a flint lock rifle, and many other Native American artifacts. Being the house was next to the mill and the stream called Miry Run, it was built on a rise of ground nearby. And, it was on this rise that the Native Americans had apparently also spent a great deal of time. I had the arrow head looked at by the head of the state archaeological department and I was told that it dated to about 1,000 years B.C.
Although the old house is now gone, the search has uncovered many pieces of the family's history and several records of past family reunions held at the house, mill and mill pond, which was known as Hutchinson's Mills.