Manuscript Group 1009, Manning Family (Woodbridge Township, NJ), Papers, 1713 – 1864 (Bulk dates: 1760 – 1819)

Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 1009, Manning Family (Woodbridge Township, NJ)

Papers, 1713 – 1864 (Bulk dates: 1760 – 1819), 0.25 linear feet / 1 small manuscript box

Call Number: MG 1009

Summary


Summary:

Chiefly indentures, survey maps, and other land records of Jeremiah Manning (1736-1767) and William F. Manning (ca. 1769-1850) of Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey.  Includes documents relating to the Heard and Fitz Randolph families.

Biographical Note:

James Manning (1700-1767), the son of Christiana Lang and James Manning of Piscataway, New Jersey, married Grace Fitz-Randolph (b. 1713), with whom he had six children.  Their son, James Manning (1738-1791) was born on October 22, 1738 in Piscataway, New Jersey.  After graduating from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1762, he was ordained as an evangelist in 1763.  Once he was ordained, he traveled the colonies preaching at churches and promoting education.  Heavily influenced by the Great Awakening and the preacher Roger Williams, James recognized the necessity of combining higher education and faith.  His travels brought him to Rhode Island and, in 1764, he founded Rhode Island College (now Brown University) as a Baptist school of higher learning.  James married Margaret Stites in 1763; they had no children.  James Manning died in Providence, Rhode Island on July 29, 1791.

Jeremiah Manning (1736-1803), another son of Grace and James Manning, was born on May 25, 1736.  He married Ursula Drake in September of 1758 with whom he had a daughter, Ursula.  On March 26, 1764, he married his second wife, Rachel (Ford) Fitz Randolph (1733-1799), the widow of Jeremiah Fitz Randolph (1728/9-1759).  Rachel and Jeremiah Manning had two sons: James and William Ford (ca. 1769-1850).  After Rachel’s death, Manning married his third wife, Mary (Fitz Randolph-Jackson) Ford (b. 1749), on July 21, 1799.  This was also her third marriage.  Jeremiah Manning died on June 10, 1803.

Sources:

Christian, Louise Aymar and Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph. The Descendants of Edward Fitz Randolph and Elizabeth Blossom, 1630-1950, published in 1950.

Folsom, Joseph Fulford, et al. Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography (New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1923).

McLachan, James. Princetonians: 1748-1768, A Biographical Dictionary (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1976).

Nelson, William, ed. The New Jersey Coast in Three Centuries: History of the New Jersey Coast with Genealogical and Historical-Biographical Appendix (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1902).

Provenance Note:

The source of these papers is unknown.

Scope and Content Note:

The Manning Family Papers consist of the land deeds, survey maps, and legal and financial documents of the Manning family of Woodbridge, New Jersey.  These items date from 1713-1864, and have bulk dates of 1760-1819.

The majority of the documents in this collection consist of indentures regarding land transactions in Woodbridge, New Jersey by various members of the Manning family, particularly Jeremiah, James, James, Jr., William, and William F. Manning.  The indentures have been divided into the sub-series Manning Family and Non-Manning Family and then arranged chronologically.

The collection also contains a smaller number of survey maps, legal documents, and financial documents, which are arranged chronologically within each grouping.  These series include legal decisions, sworn statements, wills, bonds, promissory notes, receipts, and accounts. There is also one folder of Middlesex County local government documents, which includes decisions by the Freeholders of Woodbridge and by the inhabitants of Bonham Town, and a clerk’s note.

Folder List:

Folder Description Dates
Indentures
1 Manning Family indentures
– Jeremiah and Ruth Randolph to Jeremiah Manning 1760
– James Manning to Jeremiah Manning 1761
– Joseph Oliver to James Manning 1768
– Bowley Arnold to Jeremiah Manning 1768
– John Willson, Jr. (sic) to Jeremiah Manning 1771
– Jacob Shotwell to Jeremiah Manning 1772
– Peter Vroom and John Demott to Jeremiah Manning, with sworn statement of Phineas Manning 1774,

1805

– James Manning to James Manning, Jr. 1778
– Jeremiah Manning to Andrew Bunner (?) 1788
2 – Jeremiah Manning to William Manning, Jr. 1792
– James Manning to William Manning 1792
– Joseph and Sarah Bonington to William F. Manning 1800
– Phinias and John Manning to William Bullis 1801
– Benjamin and Jemime Foord (sic) to William F. Manning 1807
Non-Manning Family indentures:
3 – John March to Henry Brotherton 1713/14
– Freeholders of the Commons of Woodbridge to Robert Lueas 1732
– Ann (Brotherton) Wren and John Brotherton, executors of Henry Brotherson, to Samuel Allen 1733
– Charles Foord (sic) to William Foord (sic) 1734
4 – Jonathan Kinsey to David Compton 1736
– Thomas Betts to James Jonstone 1742
– Jonathan Hazard to William and Samuel Ford 1743
– Samuel Fitz Randolph, Jr. to David Compton 1744
– Samuel Fitz Randolph, Jr. to Charles Foord (sic) 1748
5 – Peter Kleinhoff to Samuel Dunham and John Olliphant 1761
– Malachi Fitzrandolph to David Compton 1761
– Daniel Allward to Gabriel Compton 1767
– Robert Martin to Gabriel Compton 1773
– John and James Heard to Nathaniel Heard 1793
– Martha Tappen to Smith Harriet 1806
Land Survey Maps
6 Plan of land sold J. Gleason n.d.
Plan of woodland by Gleasons n.d.
Plan of land T. Larned bought of James Brown n.d.
Plan of land sold David Wilson n.d.
Untitled – shows land of Matthew F. and Joseph Russell 1803 (?)
Untitled – shows Turnpike Road and Summer Street n.d.
Legal Documents
7 Court decision regarding the will of Jeremiah Fitz Randolph ca. 1760s
Sworn statement of Phineas Manning (located in folder 1 – Indentures) 1805
Copy of the division ordered by the Orphan’s Court of the real property of Jeremiah Manning 1807
Agreement between Mary Heard and Henry Campbell and Crowell Moore 1814
Sworn statement of Robert Ross 1819
Copy of the will of John Palmer 1860
Financial Documents
8 Promissory note to the Trustees of the “Publick Schoolland of the Township of Woodbridge” from Jeremiah and James Manning, Jr. 1783
Receipt of the estate of John Kent signed by Elizabeth Pray 1788
Bill for surveying Thompson’s farm 1796
Promissory note to Richard Merril from Jeremiah Manning 1802
Receipt for money from Benony (?) Frazier signed by Jeremiah Manning 1803
Receipt from the estate of Jeremiah Manning signed by William Foord (sic). Jr. 1803
Receipt from the estate of Jeremiah Manning signed by Benjamin Drake 1804
Bond: Smith Herriot to Martha Tappen 1806
Receipt for money from Phineas Manning signed by David La Tourrette 1809
Accounts from the estate of James Manning regarding tax on Ohio lands 1809-1816
Account of the estate of James Manning with William F. Manning 1813-1815
Local Government Documents: Towns in Middlesex County
9 Decision of the Freeholders of Woodbridge in favor of Robert Lueas (see also Indentures, folder 3) 1729/30
Decision of the inhabitants of Bonham Town to sell the old schoolhouse and build a new one 1819
Clerk’s note to advertise for a town meeting 1864

Processed Stephen Sullivan, January 2000 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Submit a request to copy part of this collection

back

Print Friendly, PDF & Email