Manuscript Group 45, Andrew Bell (1757-1843), Collector of Perth AmboyPort and Land Surveyor Papers, 1745-1866 (Bulk dates: 1770-1820)
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Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
Manuscript Group 45, Andrew Bell (1757-1843), Collector of Perth Amboy
Port and Land Surveyor Papers, 1745-1866 (Bulk dates: 1770-1820), 3 linear feet / 10 boxes/volumes
Call Number: MG 45 + Box
number
Diary kept by this New Jersey
loyalist, June 17-July 2, 1778, during “the march of the British Army
across the Jersies – and the Battle of Monmouth”; a two-volume register of
East Jersey land surveys, 1788-1842; cash books, 1801-1808; four volumes of
financial records, land surveys, maps, and letters addressed to Bell as surveyor
general of the Board of Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey,
1804-1842, and to John Rutherfurd (1760-1840). Included are letters of
Richard Edsall, Samuel Hayes, Amos Pharo, and other deputy surveyors. A
Perth Amboy lawyer, landowner, and Loyalist, Bell served during the Revolution
as confidential secretary to Sir Henry Clinton and later to Sir Guy Carleton.
Gift (in part) of Andrew Bell
Paterson.
Andrew Bell, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Bell
(d. 1778), was born on June 4, 1757 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family moved to New Jersey where he was a law student of
Cortlandt Skinner at the outbreak of the Revolution. Bell, a loyalist, joined the royal
army in New York and in December of 1776 was appointed a clerk in the office of the
British Commander in New York. He served under various men in that office, including Sir
Henry Clinton and Sir Guy Carleton, and was involved in a number of skirmishes, including
the Battle of Monmouth.
In 1779, patriots confiscated the New Jersey estate Bell had inherited upon his
fathers death the year before. Bells sister, Cornelia (1755-1783), however,
married William Paterson (1745-1806), an active patriot, creating ties to both the
loyalists and the patriots for the Bell family.
At the close of the war, Bell settled in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and started over as a
merchant. He was successful despite uncertain times and his loyalist background, and was
appointed the collector of Perth Amboys port in 1800 for the final year of John
Adams presidency. During this time period, he was also the deputy
surveyor general
of the East Jersey Proprietors and for approximately thirty-five years, ca.
1806-1842,
served as the surveyor general. During his lifetime, he was active in St. Peters
Church of Perth Amboy.
On September 23, 1782, Andrew Bell married the widow Susannah Moore
(b. 1755), the
daughter of Margaret and Daniel OBrien, in New York City. They never had children.
Andrew Bell died in Perth Amboy on July 19, 1843.
See Family
Tree.
Sources:
-Honeyman, A. Van Doren. “Early Career of Governor William Paterson,” Somerset
County Historical Quarterly (July 1912) Vol. I, No. 3, pgs. 161-179, Vol. I, No. 4,
pgs. 241-250.
-Jones, Alfred E. “The Loyalists of New Jersey,” Proceedings of the New
Jersey Historical Society (April 1926) Vol. XI, No. 2, pgs. 219-221.
The diary of Andrew Bell was a gift of Andrew Bell Paterson.
The source of the
remainder of the papers is unknown.
The papers mostly document the professional life of Andrew Bell, consisting of
receipts, shipping documents, land surveys, maps, and a diary written during the
Revolution. The papers date from 1745-1866, have bulk dates of 1770-1820 and measure three
linear feet. The majority of the documents have been glued into large bound volumes and
organized by record type: receipts, accounts, and shipping papers; court records; land
surveys and maps – and then arranged chronologically.
While the majority of the receipts in the collection belong to Andrew Bell, there are a
number of receipts documenting the Paterson family, which Bells sister Cornelia
married into. The papers contain receipts of Richard Paterson, William Paterson
(1745-1806), William Bell Paterson, William Paterson (1817-1899), Andrew Bell Paterson,
Euphemia (White) Paterson, Thomas Paterson, and Stephen Van Rensselaer Paterson.
These
items document goods bought and jobs paid for and include accounts and pew rents for St.
Peters Church of South Amboy, of which Andrew Bell was an active member.
There are
also a number of documents belonging to various other individuals, most of whom seem to be
merchants or shippers from Perth Amboy, Philadelphia, New York, or Providence, Rhode
Island from the 1750s-1790s. These include: John Brayton, John Brown, Thomas Brown, John
Cooshin, John Halsted, John Murray, Matthew Adams, Robert Stewart, the Lyell family, and
the Terrill family.
There are also documents more closely related to the shipping business, particularly to
trade at the Port of Perth Amboy. These items include manifests of cargo, including one
listing “A return of loyalists property shipped on board the William &
Mary;” an abstract of duties on the tonnage of vessels in the District of Perth
Amboy, 1796-1799; and a list of licenses from the comptrollers office at Perth
Amboy, 1798-1800. The receipts and accounts in the collection are often for goods shipped
or the hiring of men for various vessels.
The papers also contain court records from Sussex County, New Jersey. These items
include depositions, court orders, summons, warrants, sheriffs bonds, subpoenas, and
articles of agreements.
Andrew Bells career as a land surveyor is well documented in three volumes of
land surveys filed together with the pertinent survey maps and correspondence from
deputy
surveyors. The surveys are arranged alphabetically by county, then township,
and lastly by date. While most date from Bells time as surveyor
general, there are
some documents addressed to and signed by Bells predecessor John Rutherfurd
(1760-1840). The collection also contains a number of larger, loose maps of regions in
Middlesex, Monmouth, Sussex, and Union Counties, New Jersey, along with two volumes
registering surveys throughout New Jersey from the years 1785-1842. These registers record
the surveyor, when the survey was received, who received it, and at whose request it was
performed. One of the volumes also contains accounts for individual deputy surveyors,
tracking each surveyors jobs and fees.
Lastly, the papers contain a copy of a diary written by Andrew Bell while serving under
Sir Henry Clinton in the Revolution. The entries run from June 17-July 2, 1778 and
document the British march across New Jersey, troop movements, and various skirmishes
including the Battle of Monmouth. The diary was published in the Proceeding of the New
Jersey Historical Society, Series I, Vol. 6, pgs. 15-19.
Manuscript Group 18, Parker Family
(Perth Amboy, NJ) Papers: Contains Andrew Bell material
Manuscript Group 23, William Nelson (1847-1914)
Manuscript Collection: Contains Andrew Bell
material
Manuscript Group 42, William Paterson (1745-1806) Manuscripts
Manuscript Group 530,
Thomas Seabrook (1735-1805) Family Papers: Contains surveys signed by Andrew
Bell
Manuscript Group 542, William Paterson (1745-1806) Docket
Manuscript Group 718, William Paterson (1817-1899) Papers
Manuscript Group 824, Smith Family
Papers: Contains Andrew Bell material
| Box | Folder | Title | Dates |
| Andrew Bell Diary | |||
| 1 | 1 | Diary from June 17-July 2, 1778, copied by Steven Van Rensselaer Paterson |
1843 |
| Receipts, Accounts, Shipping Papers | |||
| 1 | 2 | Andrew Bell: Cash Book | 1801-1808 |
| 2 | – | Miscellaneous receipts, shipping receipts, cargo manifests, accounts: Dewar & Marshall, John Murray, Matthew Adams, Hannah Smith, John Halsted, Peter Smitzer |
1753-1800, n.d. |
| Andrew Bell: Receipts | 1790-1815 | ||
| 3 | – | Andrew Bell: Receipts | 1808-1858, n.d. |
| John Brayton: Receipts | 1761-1762 | ||
| John Brown, Sophia Brown, Susannah Brown: Receipts and Accounts |
1748-1833 | ||
| Thomas Brown: Receipts | 1790-1826 | ||
| John Cooshin: Receipts | 1758-1762 | ||
| 4 | – | John Cooshin: Receipts | 1762-1765, n.d. |
| Lyell Family – Jane, Lorraine, Catharine, Polly, Mary, Thomas: Receipts and estate receipts, Andrew Bell was executor for Jane and Lorraine Lyell |
1768-1812 | ||
| Richard Paterson: Receipts and promissory notes | 1748-1779, n.d. | ||
| William Paterson (1745-1806): Receipts | 1762-1796 | ||
| William Bell Paterson: Receipts and bonds | 1817-1826 | ||
| William Paterson (1817-1899): Receipts | 1834-1866 | ||
| Andrew Bell Paterson: Receipts | 1826-1861 | ||
| Euphemia (White) Paterson: Receipts | 1816-1834 | ||
| Stephen Van Rensselaer Paterson: Receipts | 1834 | ||
| Thomas Paterson: Receipts | 1769-1773 | ||
| Robert Stewart: Receipts | 1745-1760, n.d. | ||
| Captain John, Elias and Sophia Terrill: Receipts, bonds, and estate receipts |
1748-1825, n.d. | ||
| Court Records | |||
| 4 | – | Sussex County Court Records | 1781-1821 |
| Land Surveys and Maps | |||
| 5 | – | Land Survey Register
– also contains accounts tracking |
1785-1808, 1785-1813 |
| 6 | – | Land Survey Register | 1808-1842 |
| 7 | – | Bergen County: Surveys and Survey maps- Saddle River
– Franklin
– Pompton |
1790-1824 |
| Essex County: Surveys and Survey maps- Newark | 1787-1807 | ||
| Hunterdon County: Surveys and Survey maps- Bethlehem | 1755-1813 | ||
| Middlesex County: Surveys and Survey maps- Perth Amboy
– South Amboy
– Woodbridge |
1788-1823 | ||
| Monmouth County: Surveys and Survey maps- Dover
– Freehold |
1790-1829 | ||
| 8 | – | Monmouth County: Surveys and Survey maps- Lower Freehold
– Upper Freehold
– Freehold
– Howell
– Middletown
– Shrewsbury
– Stafford
– Wickatunk |
1786-1832 |
| Morris County: Surveys and Survey maps- Chester
– Jefferson
– Mendham
– Pequanock
– Randolph
– Roxbury |
1790-1827 | ||
| Somerset County: Surveys and Survey maps- Bridgewater | 1790 | ||
| 9 | – | Sussex County: Surveys and Survey maps- Byram
– Frankford
– Hardyston
– Newton
– Vernon
– Wantage
– (also miscellaneous larger surveys and maps) |
1775-1826 |
| 10 | – | New Jersey Maps: | |
| – Middlesex County – Land on the Raritan and South Rivers |
n.d. | ||
| – Middlesex County – South Amboy: Drawn by A. Plum |
n.d. | ||
| – Middlesex/Monmouth Counties – Shore area near Sandy Hook and Raritan Bay |
n.d. | ||
| – Monmouth County – Freehold, surveyed for William Griffith and Joseph Mc( ) by Thomas DeBow |
1816 | ||
| – Sussex County – Plotted land | n.d. | ||
| – Union County – Rahway: Lots of Lewis B. Brown to be auctioned |
1835 | ||
John Bell
= ( )
Andrew
Bell (1757-1843) = Susannah O’Brien (Moore)
Cornelia
Bell (1755-1783) = William Paterson (1745-1806)
Cornelia
Paterson (1780-1844) = Stephen Van Rensselaer (d. 1839)
William
Bell Paterson (1783-1833) = Jane Eliza Neilson
Andrew
Bell Paterson (d. 1876)
Stephen
Van Renselaer Paterson (1815-1872)
William
Paterson (1817-1899)
Cornelia
Bell Paterson (d.1909)
Deputy Surveyors who performed the surveys in these
papers:
| James Allen | John Kinnan |
| John L. Anderson | Benjamin Lawrence |
| Nicholas Anosmith | Elisha Lawrence |
| John Armstrong | Joseph Lawrence |
| George Backster | Richard M. Lawrence |
| Thomas Ball | Thomas Millidge |
| Francis W. Brinley | James H. Newell |
| Samuel Cobb | Elias Ogden |
| Edward Condict | Amos Pharo |
| Thomas DeBow | Henry Plum |
| Silas Dell | James Robinson |
| Anthony Dennis | John Rockhill |
| Richard Edsall | James D. Rogers |
| Samuel Emley | Abraham Ryerson |
| John Forman | Martin Ryerson |
| John B. Garrison | Theunis Ryerson |
| Amaniah Gifford | John Sharp |
| Samuel Hayes | Abraham Woohton |
| Richard Herbert |
Processed by Kim Charlton, March 2000 as part of the “Farm to City”
project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
