Manuscript Group 903, Hatfield / Hetfield Family (Elizabethtown, NJ), Papers, 1709-1821 (Bulk dates: 1761 – 1791)
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
Manuscript Group 903, Hatfield/Hetfield Family (Elizabethtown, NJ)
Papers, 1709 – 1821 (Bulk dates: 1761 – 1791), 0.2 linear feet / 6 folders
Call Number: MG 903 + Folder number
Summary:
Deeds, indentures, and other documents pertaining to the Hatfield/Hetfield family of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Includes two subscription lists for the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth, dated 1734 and 1744-45.
Biographical Note:
Isaac Hetfield (1695-1762), the son of Isaac Hatfield (1667-ca. 1710), was a farmer in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), New Jersey. He married Sarah Price (d. Nov. 22, 1783), the daughter of Mary and Benjamin Price, with whom he had nine children: Sarah (1728-1804), Isaac (1730-1807), Joanna (1732-1756), Benjamin (b. 1735), Andrew (1739-1824), Abigail (1740-1770), Moses (1747-1803), Phebe (ca. 1750-1833), and Prudence. Both Sarah and Isaac Hetfield were members of the Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown.
The divisive nature of the American Revolution is evidenced in the conflicting loyalties of Sarah and Isaac Hetfield’s children. Sarah Hetfield married Abraham Clark (1726-1794), a staunch patriot. Abigail Hetfield, however, married Cavalier Jouet (1743-1810), a loyalist whose estates were confiscated and who was imprisoned and exiled.
Isaac Hetfield (1730-1807), the eldest son, was a patriot during the Revolution. He was born on the family homestead in Elizabethtown on October 8, 1730. He became a cooper and boatman and married Damaris Noe (1735-1808), the daughter of Sarah and Daniel Noe, on January 22, 1753. Damaris and Isaac had twelve children together (the children spelled their last name Hatfield): Charity (1755-1840), Aaron (1757-1839), Hannah (1759-1836), Prudence (1761-1851), Abigail (b. 1763), Isaac (1766-1840), Elizabeth (1768-1819), Andrew (1770-1822), Sarah (1772-1841), Jonathan (1775-1842), Oliver Spencer (1777-1780), and Mary Noe (1780-ca. 1805-1808). Isaac Hetfield was the ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown from 1786 until his death on February 4, 1807.
Oliver Spencer Hatfield, the son of Aaron Hatfield (1757-1839) and Sarah Barnet (1759-1824), was born on October 16, 1782 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He was active in the New Jersey Cavalry earning the rank of captain in 1817, and served as the clerk of the borough of Elizabeth for a number of years. He went into the dry goods and grocery business with his father and then his brother-in-law in the firms Aaron Hatfield & Son and Crane & Hatfield, however he was bankrupted by the financial crash of 1820. After this downturn, Hatfield settled in Hoboken, New Jersey where he lived until his death in 1860.
On November 4, 1804, Oliver Hatfield married Jane Mann (1787-1858), the daughter of Emma and Thomas Mann, with whom he had ten children: Emily Almira (1805-1874), Edwin Francis (1807-1883), Sarah (1809-1810), Sarah (1811-1836), Oliver Perry (1813-1817), Robert Griffith (1816-1879), Oliver Perry (1818-1891), Louisa (b. 1821), Laura Dilute (1826-1881), and Jacob Henry (1829-1884).
Sources:
Hatfield, Abraham. The Descendants of Matthias Hatfield (NewYork Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1954).
Provenance Note:
The origin of the collection is unknown at this time.
Scope and Content Note:
The Hatfield Family Papers date from 1709-1821 and largely consist of legal documents, probate records, commissions, and religious documents. The items within each of these categories are arranged chronologically.
The legal documents date from 1709-1819 and consist of bonds and Elizabethtown land deeds, in addition to a contract for a merchant’s apprentice. The papers also contain the wills of Isaac and Sarah Hetfield and the military commissions of Oliver Hatfield. The religious documents date from 1734-1809 and contain two subscription lists for the Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, Isaac Hetfield’s renewal of covenant, and pew indentures.
Lastly, the collection includes one piece of correspondence, two receipts, and an untitled survey map.
Related Collections:
Manuscript Group 1019, Jouet Family Papers
Manuscript Group 1436, Jouet Family Genealogical Collection
Folder List:
Folder Title Dates
Legal documents (spelling appears as it does in the documents)
1 Deed of gift: Isaac Hetfield to Samuell Hetfield 1709
Deed: Matthias and Hannah Hetfield to Isaac Hetfield 1728
Bond: Andrew Hetfield and Cavalier Jewett to William P. Smith 1762
Declaration of trust: Moses Hetfield to Isaac Hetfield 1770
2 Bond: Lewis Mulford to Issac Hetfield 1775
Bond: Issac Hetfield to Samuel Force, executor of Charity Freeman 1777
Contract granting Nancey Hetfield permission to cut wood on the land of William Hatfield 1787
Mortgage: Isaac Hetfield to Jonathan Morrell 1791
Bond: Isaac Hetfield to Jonathan Morrell 1791
Bond: Isaac Hetfield to John De Hart 1791
Contract of apprentice: John Hatfield apprenticed to Azubah and Sarah Brush, merchants 1813
Bill of sale for the sloop Packet of New York, by Moses Jaques and David R. Jaques to Oliver Hatfield 1821
Probate records
3 Will: Isaac Hetfield 1761
Will: Sarah Hetfield 1770
Probate certificate for will of Sarah Hetfield 1784
Preamble to will: Andrew Hatfield 1802
Commissions: Oliver Hatfield
4 As second lieutenant, signed by Joseph Bloomfield 1810
As first lieutenant, signed by Joseph Bloomfield 1812
As adjutant of the Essex squadron of cavalry, signed by William S. Pennington 1813
As captain, signed by Isaac H. Williamson 1817
Religious documents
5 Subscriptions for the Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown (?) 1734
Subscriptions for the Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown (?) 1744-1745
Renewal of covenant: Isaac Hetfield 1764
Pew deed: Congregation of Kingston and Joseph Hatfield 1806
Pew deed: Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabethtown and Oliver Hetfield 1809
Correspondence
6 To Andrew Hatfield from Jonathan Hatfield 1811
Receipts
From Samuel Force for settling all bond, bills, and debts with Isaack Hetfield 1785
From J. Quackinbush, Jr. for money from Emily A. Hatfield 1828
Map
Land survey map – untitled n. d.
Processed by Kim Charlton, September 2000 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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