Manuscript Group 915, Baldwin-Reeve Family (Millburn Township, NJ) Papers, 1787 – 1957 (Bulk dates: 1801 – 1897)
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
Manuscript Group 915, Baldwin-Reeve Family (Millburn Township, NJ)
Papers, 1787 – 1957 (Bulk dates: 1801 – 1897), 0.25 linear feet / 1 small mss. box
Call Number: MG 915
Deeds, indentures, and other documents pertaining to land owned by Ezra Baldwin and by members of the Reeve or Reeves family of Millburn; a brief history of the White Oak Ridge Sunday School Association, a church organization located in present-day Millburn Township. The history was prepared by A. M. French, a former superintendent of the Sunday School, and read at an anniversary celebration held on October 15, 1882. Ezra Baldwin was a farmer from Springfield in Union County. Many of his lands in Chatham, Livingston, Millburn, and Springfield were acquired by members of the allied Reeve family.
Ezra Baldwin (fl. 1787-1825), a Springfield, New Jersey farmer, owned what was called Baldwin’s Sawmill, located in nearby Millburn, in addition to extensive lands in the area around his home.
Ezra Baldwin bequeathed the mill to his son Daniel Baldwin, who took Abner D. Reeve as a partner. Reeve eventually bought out Baldwin in 1850. Abner D. Reeve, also a farmer and landowner, held numerous local offices during his lifetime. Abner Reeve married Daniel’s daughter, Sarah Caroline Baldwin, on February 10, 1836 and they had three children together: Harriet, Catherine B., and George W.
George W. Reeve was born in Millburn, on his father’s farm, on May 28, 1855. As a child he assisted his father at the mill and attended Newark Academy. At the age of eighteen, he became a carpenter’s apprentice and then started his own business in Short Hills, New Jersey. He returned to Millburn and the home of this birth after three years in Short Hills and, once there, bought the sawmill from the man who had acquired it upon his father’s death in 1868. He then ran his carpentry business, the sawmill, and the farm. Like his father, he held county offices and was a member of the Chatham Presbyterian Church.
George W. Reeve married Laura Brokaw of Millburn, New Jersey on November 15, 1876. They had five children together: Edwin, Abner D., Harriet, George H., and Merritt.
See the Baldwin-Reeve Family Tree.
The source of this collection is unknown.
The Baldwin-Reeve Papers consist of documents dating from 1787-1957, with bulk dates of 1801-1897, that were generated by Ezra Baldwin, Joseph H. Reeve, Abner D. Reeve, Sarah C. Reeve, and George W. Reeve. The papers consist mostly of land contracts, but also include legal documents, financial records, and correspondence. The documents have been organized by type and within these categories arranged chronologically.
The majority of the papers are land indentures that date from 1787-1897 and pertain to land transactions by Ezra Baldwin, Joseph H. Reeve, and Abner D. Reeve in Canoebrook, Chatham, White Oak Ridge, and other locations in New Jersey.
The collection also contains bonds, tax notices, accounts, receipts, a small amount of mostly Reeve family correspondence, and one folder of documents concerning the church at White Oak Ridge. Lastly, there is a copy each of the wills of Abby Denman (d. ca. 1850) and Sarah C. (Baldwin) Reeve.
| Folder | Title | Dates |
| 1 | Legal documents: Land indentures – Ezra Baldwin (deeds, mortgages, quitclaims, map) | 1787-1798 |
| 2 | Legal documents: Land indentures – Ezra Baldwin (deeds, mortgages, quitclaims) | 1801-1808 |
| 3 | Legal documents: Land indentures – Ezra Baldwin (deeds, mortgages, quitclaims) | 1810-1825 |
| 4 | Legal documents: Land indentures – Reeve family (deeds, mortgages, quitclaims) | 1840-1897 |
| 5 | Legal documents: Bonds and a building contract | 1797-1862 |
| 6 | Legal documents: Wills | 1850, 1894 |
| 7 | Financial documents: Tax notices, accounts, receipts | 1840-1897 |
| 8 | Correspondence and one newspaper clipping | 1882-1918, 1957 |
| 9 | White Oak Ridge Church and Sabbath School: | |
| – a petition and pledge sheet for the church | 1870 | |
| – a history of the Oak Ridge Sunday School Assoc. | 1882 |
Ezra Baldwin
|
Daniel Baldwin – (partners in the Baldwin mill)
| |
Sarah Caroline Baldwin = Abner D. Reeve (1815-1868)
|
Harriet Reeve (1841-1872) = Samuel B. Parsil
Catherine B. Reeve (ca. 1846-1880)
George W. Reeve (b. 1855) = Laura Brokow (b. 1855)
|
Edwin Reeve (b. 1879)
Abner D. Reeve (b. 1881)
Harriet Reeve (b. 1885)
George H. Reeve (b. 1889)
Merritt Reeve (b. 1891)
Processed by Kim Charlton, November 1999 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
