Middlesex Chapter 93

Original Site.— Where New Brunswick now stands during the greater part of the seventeenth century there was a dense cedar forest and a swamp ca1led "Prigmore’s" or "Pridmore’s swamp." The latter name often appears in old records. The first inhabitant is said to have been Daniel Cooper, who resided where the post-road afterwards crossed the river and kept a ferry.* This Cooper was one of the very early purchasers and settlers under the proprietors, and his name appears as such in the schedule to the Elizabethtown Bill, but the record does not locate him at the site of New Brunswick, where a misty tradition only places him. Daniel Cooper had a tract of two thousand acres of land on " Pasaick" River.**

When New Brunswick was first called "Inians’ Ferry" cannot be determined exactly. Gordon and other annalists state that on the 1st of November, 1681, John Inians and company bought two lots where New Brunswick now stands, containing a mile of river front by two miles in depth. On the 1st of March, 1682, he was a petitioner to the Governor and Council, in connection with Joseph Benbridge, requesting that "lands which they and their associates had purchased of the Indians, which had by the late surveyor-general been surveyed and a return of the survey made into the secretary’s, might be patented according to said survey." The warrant was for six thousand acres, and it appearing that the surveyor had laid out seven thousand six hundred and eighty acres without reserving the sevenths that were the proportion of the proprietors, further consideration of the petition was deferred till the next day. On the following day ,it was determined by the Council that "John Inians and Joseph Benbridge and associates should have patents for the land, according to the proportion mentioned in the warrant for the survey,— John Inians one thousand and all the others five hundred acres apiece,— at one halfpenny per acre, and that the whole overplus of the tract shall be appropriated to the proprietors in lieu of their sevenths to be laid out by the surveyor-general, and that the proprietors shall pay and allow to the said Inians and associates an apportionable part of the Indians’ part of said overplus."***

A map is extant a literal copy of which is in the possession of Mr. Charles D. Deshler, of New Brunswick, made in 1685 by John Reid, first deputy surveyor under the proprietors, and afterwards surveyor-general, which gives the situation and outline of nineteen lots known as "The Raritan Lots," lying on the south side of the Raritan, and stretching from the mouth of South River past the site of New Brunswick to Bound Brook, seventeen of which have each about a half a mile of river front by about two miles in depth, and extend in a southwesterly direction inland. Beginning at the mouth of South River, the first of these lots is marked to "Law Baker" and contains thirteen hundred acres; the next to "C.P. Sonmans," one thousand acres; the next to "Governor Barclay," five hundred thousand acres; the next to "C. Longfield," five hundred acres; the two next to "John Inians," each six hundred and forty acres. This last is shown in the map to be the "fording-place" (and the original site of New Brunswick) by a hand pointing toward it, and also by the word "falles" written opposite. These "falles"are within the memory of many, and were more properly a rocky rift, extending across the river just below the upper lock,, making the stream so shallow as to be easily crossed at low tides in a wagon or on horseback.

On the 3d Tuesday of September, 1686, John Inians appears in the minutes of the County Court of Middlesex as plaintiff in an action against Mordecai Boudinot. He is again spoken of as " Capt. John Inians" when he acted as one of the justices of the Court of Sessions held at Piscataway March 15, 1686-87. Afterwards his name often appears in these minutes in connection with that office. He was unquestionably a man of some consequence, for besides being an associate justice of the court he was one of Governor Hamilton’s Council from October till November, 1693, and again from July, 1695, till March, 1697, and also of Governor Basse’s Council from the 8th till the 11th of March, 1698.(4*) Inians became the owner of this property, as has been seen, certainly as early as March 1, 1682, and it is probable that he very soon afterwards started the ferry, for on the 19th of April, 1686, we learn from the "Records of the Governor and Council of East Jersey"(5*)"a paper was given in here by Mr. John Inians, therein setting forth that he has been at considerable expense to accommodate the Country in making out a Road to the falls from his house on the Raritan, which is six miles shorter than formerly, and hath furnished himself with all accommodations, as boats, canoes, etc., fitting for fferrying over the Raritan River all Travelling with horses and cattle, etc. Desiring that this Board will be pleased to order its being a publicke road for the use of the country, and settle the rates for the fferry, etc., which being Read, Its agreed and ordered that the Commissioners appointed by Act of the General Assembly for laying out of all Highways, Landings, and fferries, in some short time repair to the said fferry, and there inspect the same and make Returne to the Secretarye’s office, and as to the said fees and Rates for the fferry, the same must be settled by Act of the General Assembly, to which end this Board will take care to recommend the same to the House of Deputyes." So that, as this quotation establishes, Inians’ Ferry was in operation before the date of this petition, April 19, 1686, whether one or more years can neither be asserted nor denied "When it was legally established, as a ferry," says Mr. Deshler, "so as to empower the collection of fees, I have not been able to ascertain with certainty." Gordon says (and the statement has been adopted by all later annalists), "The ferry was granted by the Proprietor, Nov. 2, 1697, for the lives of Inians and his wife, and the survivor, at a rent of five shillings sterling per annum."(6*)

The place continued to be called Inians’ Ferry— variously corrupted, Inions, Innions, Onions, and Inyance— in all the public acts and records as late as 1723, at which time a road and two streets were laid out in the place on petition of "the inhabitants of Innionces’ Ferry." Before this there was one other street, called "the Broad Street," which undoubtedly was the one now known as Burnet Street.(7*)As the minutes of the commissioners relative to the laying out of these streets are very interesting, we copy them from the "Minutes of the County Court," as follows:
"Whereas complaint hath been made by the Inhabitants of Inionses ferry to us the Surveyors of the County of Middlesex concerning a Road Beginning att George’s Road about three chains from the River (from thence running to the Northeast corner of Jacob Oakey’s house, thence along Lawrence Williamson’s House to Freeland’s, Northwest corner of his house), thence along all of the houses to the front of Court Van Vories House, and there the said Road ends as witness our hands this twenty-second day of July in the ninth year of his majesty’s Reign Annoys Domi, 1723. Said Road being a Rod and a half wide.

"Another street laid out beginning at Lawrence Williams House (from thence running down to Low water mark) which said street is to be one Rod wide (half of the said Rod of Lawrence Williamson Land and the other half of John Van ardsden Land) Laid out by us Surveyors witness our hands this twenty-second day of July in the ninth year of his majestyes Reign Annoys Domi 1723.

"Another Road Laid out by us whose names are underwritten Surveyors of the County of Middlesex. Beginning att Samuel Mulfords and so along dildine’s House and Abraham Lefogs house into the Broad Street Leading to Court Van Vories house witness our hands this twenty-second day of July in the ninth year of his Majesty’s Reign Anno Domi 1723. Said Road being a Rod wide. HENRY FFREEMAN, WILLIAM HARRIS, DIRIK VAN AERSDALEN."(8*)
"The earliest use of the name ‘New Brunswick’ which I have been able to discover in any public record is found in the minutes of the County Court, from which we learn that on the 7th of April, 1724, two surveyors of the roads and two constables were, for the first time, appointed by the Court of General Quarter Sessions for New Brunswick, and after this date it ceases to be called by the name of Inians’. So that the title New Brunswick was not applied to it by those who were most familiar with the facts until at least ten years after the accession of the House of Brunswick to the throne of Great Britain. At this early period the settlement at New Brunswick must have been a very small one, although it was already beginning to overshadow the older settlements of Woodbridge, Perth Amboy, and Piscataway, and its prospect of becoming an important place was considered to be very flattering. In August, 1730—31, James Alexander writes to ex-Governor Burnet:

‘As to New Brunswick at Inians’ Ferry, it grows very fast, and the reason is the country grows very fast back of that place; for when I came to this place in 1715 there were but four or five houses in the thirty miles between Inians’ Ferry and the Falls of Delaware, but now the whole way it is almost a continued lane of fences and good farmers’ houses, and the whole country is there settled or settling very thick; and as they go chiefly upon raising wheat and making of flour, and as New Brunswick is the nearest landing, it necessarily makes that the store-house for all the produce that they send to market, which has drawn a considerable number of people to settle there, insomuch that a lot of ground in New Brunswick is grown to near as great a price as so much ground in the heart of New York.’ The frequency with which the necessity for a way to Inians’ ‘Ferry is at this date presented by the people of comparatively remote sections as an argument for the opening of new roads, and the readiness with which this plea is accepted by the road commissioners as a sufficient reason for granting the petitions, show the importance of the landing and ferry there to the rest of the province Notwithstanding all this, the embyro town must have been of very diminutive proportions in 1730, for thirty-four years later, in 1774, John Adams describes it as follows: ‘Went to view the city of New Brunswick. There is a Church of England, a Dutch Church, and a Presbyterian Church in this town. There is some little trade here; small craft can come up to this town. We saw a few small sloops. The river is very beautiful. There is a stone building for barracks, which is tolerably handsome; it is about the size of Boston jail. Some of the streets are paved, and there are three or four handsome houses; only about one hundred and fifty families in the town.’"(9*)

Inians procured his grant in November, 1681. At that time a single road, or, more properly, a bridle-path, afforded the only means of communication with West Jersey, crossing the Raritan at this point. The different rivers and streams were the principal avenues whereby intercourse was kept up in other directions. In 1675 "William Edmundson made a journey southward from New York. He says that in going from Middletown to the Delaware River," although directed by an Indian guide, he was unable for a whole day to discover the proper course, and he was obliged to go back until his guide could strike the Raritan. They then followed its margin until they came to a "small landing from New York,"— no doubt the crossing of the path at Inians’ Ferry,— and thence wended their way along a small path to Delaware Falls. He says, "We traveled that day and saw no tame creature; at night we kindled a fire in the wilderness and lay by it; …next day, about nine in the morning, by the good hand of God, we came well to the falls."(10*)

Dutch Immigration.— About 1730 several families immigrated from Albany, N.Y., and the tradition is that they brought with them their building materials, according to the Dutch custom, and located along the public road, which they called, after their former home, "Albany Street." Among these settlers we find the names of Dirck Schuyler, Hendrick Van Deursen, Dirck Van Veghten, Abraham Schuyler, John Ten Broeck, Nicholas Van Dyke, and Dirck Van Alen. These were men of considerable property and enterprise, and their arrival gave a fresh impulse to trade. The city was now a growing town of much activity. The principal streets were Burnet, Water, and Albany, with perhaps a few buildings on Church Street. The inhabitants lived along the river as far south as Sonman’s Hill, extending north for about one mile, or a short distance above the ferry. A few of the ancient buildings ar’ still standing, but most of them have given place to more modern structures. The old house recently standing in Burnet Street near Lyle’s Brook, known as the property of Dr. Lewis Dunham, was built by Hendrick Van Deursen, one of the Albany settlers, who owned several acres of land in the vicinity.(11*)John Van Nuise, of Flatbush, L.I.,(12*) bought a farm of one hundred acres of Enoch Freland, April 28, 1727, having its front on Neilson Street, its northern line along Liberty Street, its southern along New Street, extending west as far as the Mile Run. For this property, in connection with five acres of "salt meadow" at the mouth of South River, he paid the sum of eight hundred pounds. In the summer of that year he erected a large farm-house on what is now Neilson Street, between Schureman and Liberty, and surrounded it with suitable outbuildings. This house was used as the headquarters of the Hessian commander during the occupation of New Brunswick by the British army in the Revolutionary war, and is still remembered by nearly every middle-aged man. Some of the older citizens will remember the Appleby House, a stone edifice with gable roof and broad hall, on the corner of Church and Peace Streets, now Van Pelt’s drugstore; the Gibbs House, an antique stone mansion, built by Hendrick Voorhees, standing between Burnet Street and the river, near Miller’s Brook, crossing the street near Town Lane, the French property on George Street, in front of the hotel near the depot, and the large apple-orchard on the hill, where now stand the buildings of Rutgers College.

One of the oldest frame buildings in New Brunswick is the old Vanderbilt House, No. 143, Burnet Street. Like the old City Hall in Liberty Street, it is a little the worse of wear. The oldest preserved deed of the property was "made by William Cox to Court Van Voorhuise, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Lord George II., and in the year of our Lord 1725." With the house was included all the mill property from the brook at its lower line up along the river about two hundred feet to the southerly line of the Hicks property. For all of this the sum of forty pounds was paid. In 1778 the property belonged to Richard Gibbs, and was at his death by will devised to his three grandchildren, John, James Neilson, and Ann Gibbs. The latter thereafter married Thomas Perkins, of Philadelphia, who purchased the shares of the other two grandchildren for sixteen hundred dollars, and in 1795 sold the house to John Schureman, who the same year sold it to David Abeel. The property was afterwards sold by the then sheriff to Joseph Sequine, who in 1828 sold it to Cornelius Vanderbilt (price not named). By him it was sold in 1830 to John Hicks for two thousand one hundred and fifty dollars, and by his executors deeded to Isaiah Rolfe, April 22, 1872, for forty-five hundred dollars. The house has been vacant since 1871, and is now alone in its old age, the proprietor being unresolved whether to repair or remove it.

Below is a copy of the first part of one of the Oldest deeds of the property:
"This indenture, made the eleventh day of February, in the thirteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign, Lord George the Second, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, etc., and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred thirty-nine and forty. Between Court Van Vorhuise of the corporation of New Brunswick, in the province of New Jersey, yeoman, of the one part, and Richard Gibbs of the same place, mariner, of the other part, witnesseth that the said Court Van Vorhuise, for and in consideration of the sum of fifty pounds current money of the province aforesaid, at eight shillings per pound to him in hand, before the enseallng and delivery hereof well and truly paid by the said Richard Gibbs, the receipt whereof be the said Court Van Vorhuise doth hereby acknowledge himself to be therewith fully satisfied, contented and paid, and of and from every part and parcel thereof, doth absolutely, fully and fairly requit, exonerate and discharge him the said Richard Gibbs his heirs, executors and administrators forever by these presents, hath given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed, released, conyeyed and confirmed by these presents, do give, grant, bargain, sole alien, enfeoff, release, convey and confirm unto the said Richard Gibbs his heirs and assigns forever. All that certain lot of land situate, lying and being in the city of New Brunswick aforesaid; beginning upon the line of the said Richard Gibbs upon the street, thence running as the street runs to the brook, thence along the said brook as the brook runs at low water to low water mark in Raritan River, thence up the said river to the line of the said Richard Gibbs, thence along the line of the said Richard Gibbs to the line aforesaid or place of beginning, etc., etc."

After the deed, which is very long and minute in its description, comes the following:

"Be it remembered that on the ninth day of July, 1745, personally appeared before me one of his Majesty’s counsels for the Province of New Jersey, John Cholwell, one of the subscribing witnesses to the within instrument, who being of full age and duly sworn on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God, did declare that he did see the within-named Court Van Vorhuise, party to the within instrument, execute the same as his voluntary act and deed for the uses therein mentioned, and that he signed his name as a witness thereto, and that he also did see Noah Barton sign his name, also a witness thereto.

A very interesting description of New Brunswick in 1748 is given in the account of the travels of Peter Kalm, a professor of the university of Abo, in Swedish Finland, who visited North America as a naturalist, under the auspices of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science. "About noon," he writes, "we arrived in New Brunswick, a pretty little town in a valley on the west side of the river Raritan. On account of its low situation it cannot be seen coming from Pennsylvania before coming to the top of the hill which is close to it. The town extends north and south along the river. The town-house makes a pretty good appearance. The town has only one street lengthwise, and at its northern extremity there is a street across. Both of these are of considerable length. One of the streets is almost entirely inhabited by Dutchmen, who came hither from Albany, and for that reason they call it Albany Street. On the road from Trenton to New Brunswick I never saw any place in America, the towns excepted, so well peopled.

"The greater part of its New Brunswick’s trade is to New York, which is about forty English miles distant. To that place they send corn, flour in great quantities, bread, several other necessaries, a great quantity of linseed, boards, timber, wooden vessels, and all sorts of carpenter’s work. Several small yachts are everyday going backward and forward between these two towns. The inhabitants likewise get a considerable profit from the travelers who every hour pass through on the high road."(13*)

The City Charter and Government.— New Brunswick was incorporated as a city in 1784, when the first president, directors, etc., were appointed. The presidents and assistants were afterwards (till 1801) elected annually by the people. In 1801 a new charter was obtained, and under it a mayor and aldermen were appointed by the Legislature, and six common councilmen elected by the Legislature and six common councilmen elected by the people. Since 1838 all these municipal officers have been elected by the people.

The following have been presidents and mayors of the city since its incorporation:

1784. Azariah Dunham.	1853—55. John B. Hill.
1796—1801. Abraham Schuyler.	1855—56 Abraham V. Schenck.
1801—13; James Schureman.(14*)	1856—57. Lyle Van Nuis.
1813—21. James Bennett.(14*)	1857—58. John B. Kirkpatrick.(15*)
1821—24. James Schureman.	1858—59. Tunis V.D. Hoagland.
1824—29. Augustus R. Taylor.	1859-6O Peter C. Onderdonk.
1829—38. C.L. Hardenbergh.	1860—61. Ezekiel M. Paterson.
1838—40. August R. Taylor.	1861—63. Lyle Van Nuis.
1840-41. David M. Vail.	1863—65. Richard McDonald.
1841—42. Littleton Kirkpatrick.	1865. Augustus T. Stout.(15*)
1842—43. Fitz Randolph Smith.	1865—67. John T. Jenkins.
1843—45. John Acken.	1867—69. Miles Ross.
1845—46. William H. Leupp.	1869—71. George J. Janeway.
1846—47. John Van Dyke.	1871—73. Garret Conover.
1847—48. Martin A. Howell.	1873—75. Thomas M. De Russy.
1848—49. Augustus F. Taylor.	1875—77. Isaiah Rolfe.
1849—51. David P. Randolph.	1877—79. Lyle Van Nuis.
1851—52. Peter N. Wyckoff.	1879—81. T. De Witt Reiley.
1852—53. John Van Dyke.	1881. William S. Strong.

Assessor, Cornelius W. Castner, 1881—83; Collector, Robert G. Miller, 1881; Solicitor, Howard MacSherry; Treasurer, Lewis R. Dunham; City Clerk, Edward Tindell; City Physician, Staats V.D. Clark; Overseer of Poor, Peter J. Stults; City Weigher, Stelle F. Randolph.

Chosen Freeholders.— Director, Cornelius Powelson; Clerk, William M. Cox; Solicitor, A.V. Schenck; Janltor, Robert S.R. Pierce.

Boundaries.— The corporate limits of New Brunswick are inclosed within the following boundaries: Beginning at the mouth of Mile Run Brook, south-westerly up to where it crosses George’s road; thence east to Lawrence’s Brook, following said brook to the Raritan River, crossing said river, and following the south boundary line of Piscataway (now Raritan and Piscataway) township, up said river to a point opposite Mile Run Brook.

Ward Boundaries.— First Ward.— Bounded on the north by New Street, on the east by the Raritan River, on the south by Lawrence’s Brook, and on the west by George Street, Clifton and Nielson Avenues.

Second Ward.— North by New Street and Livingston Avenue, on the west by the boundary line of the city of New Brunswick, on the southeast and east by Neilson and Clifton Avenues and George Streets.

Third Ward.— East by the Raritan River, south by New Street, west by Neilson Street, and north by Washington Street.

Fourth Ward.— South by New Street, west by George Street, north by Washington Street, and east by Neilson Street.

Fifth Ward.— South by New Street and Livingston Avenue, on the west by the boundary line of the city of New Brunswick, on the north by Somerset and Albany Streets, and east by George Street.

Sixth Ward.— West by the boundary line of the city of New Brunswick, north by the Mile Run Brook and the Raritan River, south by Albany, Somerset, and Washington Streets, on the east by the Raritan River and George Street from Washington Street to Albany Street.

Geological Features.— Within the boundaries of this city the red sandstone and shale predominate, which are of a soft and argillaceous character, decomposing rapidly when exposed to the action of the atmosphere. There are only a few layers scattered through it which furnish a stone that is considered of any value. The soil resting on the top of it presents a tinge of color which has been derived from its decomposition. In many places it comes so near the surface that the growth of trees is rendered difficult and uncertain, and the vegetation produced on it is peculiarly liable to injury from drought. Yet in a good season it yields the farmer a profitable remuneration for his labor, and when it has been treated with lime, which absorbs and preserves in time of drought the moisture of the atmosphere, it claims to be called fertile land.

The rocks of the red sandstone and shale formation of this vicinity are all regularly stratified, and have a uniform dip to the northwest, except when they have been subjected to some disturbance from the upheaval or protrusion of other formations. The dip varies from five to twenty degrees. The State geologist, Professor Cook, gives the thickness of the red sandstone in this vicinity as twenty-seven thousand feet, or more than five miles.

"If the mode of computation is right, the result must be accepted. Those who think the strata was once horizontal, and were thrown into their present inclined position at some later period, adopt this conclusion; others, who think the strata were deposited on a slope, as we now find them, do not consider the above as being the true thickness. They suppose that the strata on the southeast border were first deposited on the northwest slope, and then that the upper edges were worn off, and the material carried farther northwest, to be again deposited and form new strata upon the lower parts of those already deposited. Without any addition of material there would then be, in this way, a multiplication of strata, all having the same dip; and such a process could go on until the formation had widened out to its present extent. Such a mode of formation would not require that the whole series of strata shoud be more than a few hundred, or possibly a thousand, feet in thickness." (16*)

There has been sunk a well in New Brunswick some four hundred and fifty feet, several at Newark to a greater depth, and one in Paterson thirteen hundred feet, all in the red sandstone and shale; and all observations unite in showing that the red sandstone and shale of New Jersey are of sedimentary character. The materials composing them must have been deposited in water during the progress of many ages, and since an analysis shows so little trace of any of the ingredients of the salt water of the ocean, we may add deposited in fresh water.

The prevailing red hue of the strata is obviously due to the fact that they contain a portion of the red oxide of iron. Some of the beds of the shale and fine-grained sandstone from local causes have a bluish-green hue, while other large tracts have a dull brown color, the effect of the heat of the adjacent trap rock, and in some localities they have been so baked that they have a ringing sound when struck like clinkstone.

We give an analysis of the red shale in the vicinity of New Brunswick, which will show all the materials of which it is composed:

In 100 parts,— 73 silicic acid and quartz; peroxide of iron, 10; alumina, 3.20; lime, 4.93; magnesia, 0.98; potash, 0.73; soda, 0.97, with a trace of sulphuric and carbonic acid and water.

The lime, iron, potash, soda, and magnesia are specially noticeable as valuable ingredients. There remains only one more circumstance of importance to be mentioned respecting the red shale and sandstone. It seems to have been subjected at some period after its deposition to a process of denudation, by which the upper surface of the strata or the outcrop has been abraded and worn away, exposing them almost naked to the action of the weather.

Copper has been found in the red sandstone and shale, and exists in almost a pure native form as a red oxide, as a basilicate, as a gray sulphuret, and as pyrites or yellow copper ore.

At an early date copper was discovered in the vicinity of the city, and promised quite a "boom" to the little hamlet. Some one in passing the fields of Philip French, about a quarter of a mile from the town, observed a large flame rising from the ground. Previously two hundred pounds of virgin copper in lumps had been plowed up.

In 1751 a shaft was sunk about three hundred yards from the river, and the miners struck a vein of blue-stone two feet thick, covered with sheets of pure copper having the consistency of gold-leaf, the stone itself contained grains of copper, and occasional lumps were found. A stamping-mill was erected in the hollow between the college and seminary, and supplied with water from Mile Run. Many tons of pure copper were exported to England. Several other spots in the vicinity were worked with temporary success. There have been several more recent attempts to renew old Elias Boudinot’s enterprise, but they have failed.

There has been found a compound of the carbon and oxide of copper associated with the red oxide. It resembles some dark earthy substance, and is easily crushed between the fingers. On examination with a microscope small black shining particles were discerned diffused through the mass, found to be carbon, probably anthracite. Heated in the flame of an alcohol lamp it burned, and continued in a red-hot state until the carbon was consumed. Heated to three hundred degrees it loses seventeen per cent. of its weight. When treated with nitric acid after being ignited, a residuum of twenty-five per cent was found to be silica. It is an important fact that so large a portion of carbon (35.50) should be associated with this copper ore. This is unusual. Gray sulphuret of copper is massive, sectile, has a dark lead-gray color, and is seen sometimes in the form of roundish grains in the altered shale rock.

The locality is near the bed of a ravine, and near the Delaware and Raritan Canal, a short distance from the city, and when it is remembered that the red oxide is common in the vicinity, it will not be difficult to account for the formation of these carbonates, which seems to be continually going on. Water charged with carbonic acid dissolves a portion of this oxide, and whenever circumstances favor the escape of the excess of the carbonic acid these salts as a residuum are deposited. The mineral is manifestly the product of precipitation from an aqueous solution, and to find the above result it is only necessary to admit that the carbonates of copper are rendered soluble by an excess of carbonic acid. The color varies from a light to a bluish-green, and can be scratched with a knife, and is easily broken. The fracture is uneven and slightly conchoidal. In structure usually it is opaque, but sometimes translucent and having a vitreous lustre.

We can only add if it should ever, after sufficient trial, prove to be true, it may bring into operation a new industry, and render the treasures that have long been claimed to have been hid in this soil a source of extensive wealth.

A short distance from the city west have been found the sulphate of barytes. The specimens are opaque, having a yellowish color and a foliated structure, but others exhibit crystals which are translucent and have a bluish tint. In a commercial point it is used in chemistry, and also in the preparation of paints, and valuable as a mineral.

River and Streams.— This city is so situated that one prominent aspect of the surface is that its gentle slope in the southeasterly parts insure a proper drainage to the Raritan River, freeing the city of all surface water and giving power from the river to the extensive mills which are situated upon its banks. We find the South Branch of the Raritan rising in Brooklyn Pond, in Morris County, a few miles north of Drakeville, whence it courses along the western base of Fox Hill, receives the waters of Budd’s Lake, and drains the Sennon Valley; it then passes west of Round Mountain and enters upon the red shale district, flowing to the northward of Flemington, thence nearly eastward to Neshanic, where it changes its course, its direction being nearly northeasterly to the point where it joins the North Branch in forming the Raritan River, through which its waters after passing along the borders of the northeasterly parts of New Brunswick, discharge into the bay at Amboy.

The North Branch has its head near Calais, in Morris County, and not far from the source of the South Branch, but this stream is not diverted by the range of Fox Hill, and therefore naturally finds a channel more directly towards the red shale district; and flowing nearly southerly meets the South Branch, and sends its waters oceanward by the same channel. It has a larger branch and a longer, called first Black River, then the Lamington, which first receives the waters of the North and South Rockaway. These principal streams discharge almost all the waters of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. They all flow through broad valleys, whose rich alluvial soil afford a sure reward to the husbandmen’s labor. The South Branch is the westernmost stream in New Jersey which finds its way to the Atlantic.

It was of Governor Paterson that Moses Guest, New Brunswick’s earliest poet, wrote, July 4, 1791, on seeing the Governor in his barge, which was elegantly decorated with laurel and flowers, and rowed by twelve men dressed in white:

"On Raritan’s smooth-gliding stream we view—
With pleasure view— the man whom we admire,
On this auspicious day with laurel crowned;
How gracefully the honored barge moves on!
See Neptune’s sons, all clad in white,
Timing their oars to the melodious flutes.
Not Cleopatra’s barge,
When she, full armed with each bewitching charm,
A tyrant bound in the sweet chains of love,
More elegant or pleasing could appear,
Nor did contain a jewel of such worth;
Not freighted with a proud, intriguing queen,
She nobly bears New Jersey’s favorite son,
Our guardian chief, our friend, a Paterson."

The water used for drinking and culinary uses is said to be of the purest. It is well-nigh entirely free from the deleterious vegetable and mineral substances, and this fills out the complement of its claims to healthfulness In the State Geology of New Jersey, pp. 701—4, is the following, the first column of which gives the whole amount of solid matter in grains, obtained by evaporating a gallon of water to dryness (one gallon of water contains 58,372 grains); the second column gives that portion of the solid matter that is of vegetable or animal origin and can be burned out. Both mineral and organic matter are prejudicial to good health, the mineral matter affecting the kidneys; the animal and vegetable matter are recognized as especially injurious to the system; so we give both the total solid matter, which

comprises the mineral and organic matter, and the organic matter alone in a separate column:

Stream	Solid Matter.	Organic Matter.
Lawrence’s Brook (city water)	2.03	0.66
Raritan River	3.80	0.78
Passaic (Newark, etc., Paterson water)	7.44	2.86
Delaware (Trenton water)	3.53	0.63
Schuylkill (Philadelphia water)	5.50	1.24
Croton (New York water)	10.92	4.31
Cochituate Lake (Boston water)	3.11	1.42
Albany water supply	10.72	2.32
Troy " "	6.92	2.12

Here is an official report certifying that but two-thirds of a grain in nearly sixty thousand grains of this city water is vegetable or animal matter, or one-ninety-thousand part of it, while Newark water is four times as bad, and New York water nearly seven times. But even these are vastly superior to the wells which are even now voluntarily used by many of the citizens.

The city of New Brunswick, with her increasing population, has many facilities that many cities are without. The rich harvests of Middlesex and Monmouth lying to the east and southeast, the consumers are brought face to face with them, and are enabled to procure fresh vegetables and fruit in their season; a healthy climate, well laid out streets and avenues, make it superior to many places which have not its advantages.

Revolutionary Incidents.— Capt. Peter Voorhees was killed on the 25th of October, 1779, within half a mile of New Brunswick, by a party of British horsemen commanded by Maj. Stewart, Col. Simcoe, who had been in command, having been taken prisoner by Capt. Moses Guest. This officer gives in his journal, published in connection with a collection of his poems in 1823, the following account of Simcoe’s expedition into New Jersey, and his being captured in this county near New Brunswick:
"On the 25th day of October, 1779, Simco, who then commanded a regiment of horse in the British service, crossed over from Staten Island at the Blazing Star Perry to the Jersey shore in the night with seventy-five horsemen. His main object was to take Governor Livingstone prisoner, which he expected to do by surprise. Simco was not discovered to be an enemy until he had got seven miles north of New Brunswick, at Quibbletown, from which place an express was dispatched to Col. John Neilson, at New Brunswick, who immediately ordered out his regiment. We were soon marched to the bridge at Raritan Landing. From Quibbletown Col. Simco proceeded rapidly to Col. Van Horne’s house at Middlebrook. He was much disappointed in not finding the Governor there.(17*) He then went on to Van Vechten’s bridge on the Raritan River, and set fire to some forage and flat-bottom boats; from which he went to Millstone, a small town 8 miles N.W. of New Brunswick; here he set fire to the court-house and jail. While we were at the landing bridge we discovered the smoke of those buildings. It was then thought probable that the enemy would endeavor to pass this bridge in their retreat. Col. Nelson therefore continued there, being in hopes of cutting off their retreat, and dispatched me with thirty-five men, with orders to endeavor to fall in with them, and to annoy them as much as possible. Soon after getting upon the road leading from Millstone village to the bridge, I was informed by an express that the enemy was within a few hundred yards of me; I bad just time to get to an open piece of woods when they made their appearance. We attacked them as they came up, but they came on so rapidly that we could only give them one discharge. Col. Simco’s horse received three balls, fell on him and bruised him very badly; there was one man killed and several wounded. I left a physician with Simco and proceeded on. We soon found his party had halted on the heights west of Brunswick. They sent a doctor and his servant to us bearing a flag. The doctor requested permission to attend Col. Simco, which was granted, but as the enemy was proceeding on their retreat whilst the flag was negotiating, which is contrary to the rules of war, the doctor and his servant were considered as prisoners. After Simco fell, Maj. Stewart (a refugee who had piloted him) took the command. Soon after we dismissed the doctor we witnessed a scene that was truly distressing. We found Capt. Peter Voorhees lying in the road mortally wounded, and to all appearance nearly breathing his last breath. He had just returned from Gen. Sullivan’s and with a few militia horsemen was pursuing so close on the enemy’s rear as to cause a detachment to sally out. They soon came up to him and cut him with their broadswords in a most shocking manner, which caused his death in a few hours. We pursued them until we got to South River bridge, 8 miles south of Brunswick, at which place we received information that five hundred men had been landed at Perth Amboy to cover their retreat, and that they were embarking for Staten Island.
"Many persons, I doubt not, think it strange that Col. Simco could penetrate so far into a thick settled country without receiving more injury than he did. It was not occasioned by the inactivity of the Jersey militia, who had greatly distinguished themselves for their zeal and activity during the Revolutionary war in defending the liberties of their country, but it was occasioned by their getting to a considerable distance in the country enveloped in the shades of night, by their having the address to pass, in many places, for the American horse, and by the rapidity with which they proceeded. Simco was in the Revolutionary war to the Northern what Tarleton was to the Southern army; they were both zealous partisans, and capable of undertaking and executing any daring enterprise."(18*)

We condense the following respecting the war in New Brunswick from Dr. Steel’s Historical Discourse and other sources:
New Brunswick suffered during the war to an extent to which few towns were subjected. It lay in the path of the two armies crossing and recrossing the State, and in the varying fortunes of war was at one time in the hands of the enemy, and at another under the protection of friends. During the winter of 1776—77 the city was in the possession of the British army, who occupied it by a large force. Lord Howe, the commander-in-chief, had his headquarters in the Neilson house, in Burnet Street, while the Hessian commander occupied the Van Nuise house, on Queen Street. The hill beyond the theological seminary was fortified; a post was erected at Raritan Landing, overlooking the river, and another on Bennet’s Island, two miles below the city. Many of the British officers were quartered upon the inhabitants; the citizens were compelled to abandon their residences; all business was suspended; schools and churches were broken up, and the whole town was under the absolute sway of the enemy. On the property of William Van Deursen, below New Street, there was an encampment, with a redoubt thrown up for their protection.

The soldiers remained in possession of the city about six months, Lord Cornwallis having command of the post. During the months of February and March they were shut up in the town and cut off from their base of supplies at Amboy. To relieve them a fleet was sent up the Raritan with provisions.

The fate of that fleet was a matter of anxious interest on both sides, the British expecting it, yet fearing it would fall into the hands of the enemy, and the Americans planning for its destruction. Receiving timely information that the fleet had started up the Raritan, the Americans in the night planted a battery of six cannon on the shore below New Brunswick, and in the morning, as Lord Cornwallis was watching eagerly for the approach of the boats, and they were just rounding the point below the city, the battery opened upon them, "when five of the boats were immediately disabled and sunk, and the remainder returned in a crippled condition to Amboy."

Gen. Howe at this time made an unsuccessful attempt to open communication by land.

The farmers throughout this whole section of country were compelled to deliver over their stores into the hands of the British. At Three-Mile Run the buildings were all plundered and frequently fired. Barns were torn down to supply timber for the construction of a temporary bridge over the Raritan, and some of the most wanton cruelties were inflicted.

"But they were not allowed to remain in the undisturbed possession of the town. Cols. Neilson and Taylor gave them constant trouble; Capt. Guest was on the watch for a favorable opportunity to pounce upon the Hessians; James Schureman, who had learned something of war at the battle of Long Island, gave them no rest, while Capt. Hyler, whose adventures with his whale-boat around Staten Island seem almost romantic, and who could fight on land as well as on water, kept them in constant apprehension. These officers watched every movement of the enemy, drove back their foraging parties into the city, and often skirmished with their outposts.

"Deeds of personal valor were of frequent occurrence, and traditions are preserved in the families of the town of heroism unsurpassed in the whole history of the conflict.

" Col. Neilson organized a secret expedition against the outpost of the British on Bennet’s Island, now known as Island Farm. With a picked command numbering two hundred men he stealthily approached the works on the morning of February 18th, some time before daybreak. It was a clear, cold night, and a fresh fall of snow rendered the undertaking extremely hazardous. But they reached the works without being discovered, and Col. Neilson was the first man to leap the stockade. Capt. Farmer saved the life of his commander at this moment by aiming a well-directed blow at the sentinel, who was in the act of discharging his musket into his breast. The short engagement lasted only a few minutes, when the works were surrendered by Maj. Stockton, who was the acting commander of the post in the absence of Col. Skinner. One captain, several subordinate officers, and fifty-five privates were taken prisoners, and a quantity of munitions of war were captured. The British knew nothing of the event, as only a few guns were fired, until some time during the morning, when the Americans with their prisoners and booty were far on their way towards Princeton, where Gen. Putnam was stationed, into whose hands they delivered their spoils. Col. Neilson and his men received from Gen. Washington a very high compliment for the wisdom with which he had planned, and the secrecy with which he had executed, this most successful expedition.

"On the 28th of May, Washington, who had spent the previous winter at Morristown, marched his army of seven thousand five hundred men to the heights of Middlebrook. Here he lay for two weeks, watching the movements of the enemy at Brunswick from a position which has since been called ‘Washington’s Rock.’ In the mean while the route to Amboy had been opened, both by land and water, and troops had been pushed forward to this point in large numbers, until by. the 12^th of June, 1777, an army of seventeen thousand British and Hessians was assembled, under those veteran commanders, Gens. Howe, Cornwallis, and De Heister. Both the English and German commanders were agreed that they had never seen a more splendid army, or one so well disciplined and equipped, and in better spirits.(19*) On the 14th they marched out of the city in the direction of Middlebush, with the design of drawing on an engagement with Washington, if they could induce him to leave the strong position which he occupied. Remains of the fortifications which they hastily threw up are still visible on the farm of Mr. John Wilson. Here the enemy remained until the 19th, when, failing in their design, they returned to New Brunswick, and made immediate preparations to evacuate the State. They were pursued by the Americans, and so greatly harassed on their retreat that it was not until the 1st of July that they were able to cross over from Amboy to the place of their destination on Staten Island."

Governor Dowain, of Massachusetts, bore the following testimony in regard to the firmness and patriotism of the people of New Brunswick during the struggle for independence: "With respect to the political principles of the inhabitants of New Brunswick, it may be proper to do them the justice of

adding that they have, throughout the whole course of the war, approved themselves firm and distinguished Whigs, and inflexibly preserved their attachment to the cause of America in the most gloomy and perilous times of her conflict with Great Britain."

Capt. Hyler, to whose romantic exploits reference is made by the historians, had his rendezvous at New Brunswick. He had under his command one gunboat, the "Defiance," and several large whale-boats, with which it was his custom to proceed down the Raritan, and among the trading-vessels, transports, and plundering parties of the enemy around Staten Island, Long Island, and in the neighborhoods of Sandy Hook. He selected only the bravest men, so expert in the use of the oar that when rowing at the rate of twelve miles an hour they could be heard only at a short distance. He had the faculty of infusing into his men his own spirit of adventure and daring. On one of his excursions he captured five vessels, two of them armed, in about fifteen minutes, within pistol-shot of the guard-ship at Sandy Hook. In another enterprise he captured an eighteen-gun cutter, which he was forced to blow up, after removing a quantity of stores and ammunition. His plan was to sally out of his berth near the upper lock, pass rapidly down the river, make his captures, and dash back again, often pursued by the enemy, who made slow progress with their heavier vessels, and dared not to follow him along the tortuous channel of the Raritan.

"The annoyance was so great that an expedition of three hundred men in several boats was fitted out to proceed to Brunswick and destroy his whale-boats and recapture some of the ammunition. The plan was carried into effect Jan. 4, 1782. The river was clear of ice, and proceeding cautiously up the Raritan, they had nearly reached the town, when, at midnight, Mr. Peter Wyckoff was awakened by the barking of a watch-dog, and holding his ear to the ground, he heard the measured stroke of muffled oars, and at once concluded that an attack was to be made upon the city. Mounting a fleet horse, he gave the alarm to Capt. Guest and spread the word from house to house, warning the inhabitants of danger. A scene of great excitement now ensued. Lights flashed through the town, and in a short space of time all the able-bodied men were under arms. But the enemy had reached the whale-boats and set them on fire, when our men came up and driving them off prevented them from accomplishing their purpose. They now found that their only safety consisted in a hasty retreat. The night was dark, and a running fight took place in the streets. The British endeavored to reach their boats by passing down Queen Street to their rendezvous at the foot of Town Lane. But they were intercepted at the Dutch Church, from behind the walls of which a volley was fired as they passed on eager only to escape. The principal skirmish took place near Mr. Agnew’s, but they succeeding in reaching the river and made their way back to Staten Island. The enemy’s loss in this encounter was four men killed and several wounded. On the side of the Americans there was the loss of six men wounded, none fatally, and five or six prisoners. A ball was shot through the body of John Nafey in this skirmish, but the prompt attention of Col. Taylor saved his life. The enemy completely failed in the object of their expedition, and Capt. Hyler was on the water in a few weeks, more daring than ever." He died in New Brunswick in 1782, but the place of his burial is not known.(20*)

James Schureman, a young man at the Revolution, was very prominent soon after in civil affairs. He graduated at Queen’s College about 1773, and through his eloquence chiefly a company was raised in New Brunswick, which served with great credit in the battle of Long Island. He had command as a captain in the early part of the war, and was offered a high position in the regular army. But he preferred to serve as a volunteer, and held himself ready to go out at a moment’s warning against the enemy. Being one of Capt. Guest’s company at the interception of Col. Simcoe, on the 25th of October, 1779, he saved the life of that officer by knocking up the musket of a comrade, who was in the act of running him through with his bayonet, as Simcoe had fallen wounded under his horse, which had been pierced by three balls. Schureman averted the deadly thrust and took Simcoe prisoner. The dastardly conduct of the British a few moments later in taking the life of Capt. Peter Voorhees while a prisoner in their hands excited the indignation of the citizens to such an extent that vengeance was threatened against the person of Col. Simcoe, and during the night the town was searched for him. "He was concealed in the old stone house on the corner of Neilson and Albany Streets, from whence he was removed to Burlington, where he remained a prisoner until honorably exchanged."

Mr. Schureman was taken prisoner during the war near the mills on Lawrence Brook, and after being confined for a few days in the guard-house near the Neilson mansion he was removed to the notorious "Sugar-House" in New York, whence he made his escape to the American army at Morristown. After the war was closed he was elected a member of Congress in 1789, after which he was chosen to the United States Senate for a full term, and was again returned to the House of Representatives in 1812 as a colleague with Richard Stockton. He served several terms as mayor of New Brunswick, and as a citizen was held in high esteem. He was a grandson of the schoolmaster, Jacobus Schureman, who came from Holland with Dominie Frelinghuysen, and died Jan. 22, 1824, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.

New Brunswick in 1799.— From the newswaper of that period, The Guardian and New Brunswick Advertiser, which commenced its eighth year Oct. 29, 1799, we learn something of the condition of New Brunswick at the close of the last century:

At that time New Jersey was divided into congressional districts as follows: Eastern District, Essex, Bergen, and Middlesex; John Condit, representative. Northern District, Morris and Essex; Aaron Kitchen, representative. Western, Hunterdon and Somerset; James Linn, representative. Middle District, Monmouth and Burlington; James H. Imlay, representative. Southern, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May; Franklin Davenport, representative.

Then letters for the following places were directed to the New Brunswick office: Somerset, Scotch Plains, Raritan Landing, Amboy, North, South, and Middle Branches, Cranbury, Bonhamtown, Millstone, Stony Hill, Piscataway, Basking Ridge, Spotswood, Bridgewater, Six-Mile Run, etc. Imagine the residents of these places at the present day depending on the New Brunswick office for mail facilities on account of its having the nearest post-office! Letters for some of the above places, as Raritan, Cranbury, and Somerset, were sometimes sent to the Princeton post-office. Occasionally letters brought up at this office intended for the British province of New Brunswick, as we notice letters advertised here for well-known Tories who had fled to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia at the close of the war.

News from Europe averaged about six weeks in reaching the city, and when it arrived it was eagerly read at this time, as the citizens were deeply interested in the wars of France and England then in progress. Most of the citizens who had business at New York went by private conveyances, leaving their teams at Powles Hook (Jersey City) or Hoboken. "The Hobuck House and Ferry," kept by John Town, at Hoboken, seems to have been well patronized by New Brunswickers. Mr. Town took care of the teams while the owners crossed over in sail- or row-boats. A New Brunswick merchant would usually require the best part of three days to go to New York, transact business, and return. Much of the merchandise taken to and from the city was in sloops and schooners, and by them a large amount of lumber was brought from Egg Harbor, Virginia, etc. Some of these sailing-vessels were regular packets, carrying passengers and freight. The sloop "Hope for Peace," Capt. Nicholas Auten, and the "Independence," carried passengers as far as Albany.

Among the principal merchants of New Brunswick at the close of the last century may be mentioned the following: Robert Eastburn, Church Street; Jacob R. Hardenbergh, Samuel Clarkson, Samuel Barker, Church Street; William Lawson, Jr., near the market; Perez Rowley, S.J. & H. Rudderow, Albany Street; George Young, Jr., Peace Street, all dealers in dry-goods, groceries, medicines, etc.; Willett Warne, Albany Street, hardware; James Richmond, lumber, plaster, grass-seeds, etc.; Michael Pool, Queen Street, hats and furs; John Dennis, Jr., lumber, plaster, paints, etc., houses to let, agent for packets, etc.; William Forman, lumber; Williams & Leslie, watch- and clock-makers, plated ware, silver knee-buckles, etc., had also a branch store at Trenton; Timothy Brush, auctioneer, land and intelligence office, houses, lots, plantations, negro men, wenches, and children for sale, let, or hire, etc.; Miss Hay Burnet, young ladies’ high school, French, music, dancing, etc.

Among the now almost forgotten articles then sold by merchants were knee- and shoe-buckles, bellows, and snuffer’s; and in dry-goods, rattinets, calamancoes, shalloons, wildboars plain and figured, peelongs, durants, dowlass, moreens, etc.

At that day it will be remembered that women under certain circumstances were allowed to vote. It is a sad commentary on the frailty of human nature that even the fair sex were then charged with illegal voting! In the New Brunswick paper it is charged that the Jefferson candidate for Congress in Essex was elected by the large number of fraudulent or illegal votes given by married women and girls from fifteen years old upwards. It is consoling to know that the Middlesex ladies were above cheating at the ballot-box!

A singular adjunct to the business of the publisher of the New Brunswick paper at that day was the acting as agent for the sale of so many things advertised in his paper, and at the present day the most singular of all seem such as the following:
"To be sold, a negro man about 45 years old, with his wife aged 32, and child 3 years old; and, if wanted, a fine boy 6 years old; also a negro wench, husband and child, 2 years old; a negro fellow, 21 years old; a fine wench, 15 years old, etc. Enquire of the printer. Wanted to purchase a healthy negro man for farm work. Enquire of the printer."

Stray negroes were occasionally put in jail, their owners advertised for, and if none came forward they were sold to pay expenses of arrest and jail fees.

Connected with the early history of the place when it was known as Inians’ Ferry is the following incident: Thomas Budd, from whom Budd’s Lake took its name, purchased a large tract of land from the Indians, which he supposed was in West Jersey, as the division between the provinces was not then very certain. This was in 1687, or about that time, before Coxe and Barclay had agreed upon their compromise line. Budd had been to New York to purchase goods to pay off the Indians for the land, and when on his way back, at John Inians’, he was met by the sheriff and posse of East Jersey, armed with a warrant from the Governor and Council for his arrest. He was charged with having contrary to law convened the Indians within the bounds of East Jersey and purchased lands of them which belonged to the East Jersey proprietors. He refused to be arrested, claiming that he was then within the bounds of West Jersey, locked himself in, and defied the authorities to take him. Some of the people of West Jersey came over ostensibly to visit him, but with the design of effecting his rescue. The Governor being informed of this state of things sent up from Amboy a stronger force to assist the sheriff. Budd stood out for five days, incarcerated in some room of Inians’ tavern, but finding it useless longer to resist he surrendered, was taken before the Governor and Council, and bound over in the sum of one thousand pounds to appear and answer at the Court of Common Right to be held at Perth Amboy in October.

We are not informed how the case was finally settled, but it is probable that Budd gave up his Indian purchase, as before the convening of the court in October the partition line had been agreed upon.

(7*) William Burnet, after whom the street was named, was appointed Governor, and arrived in this country in 1720.

(10*) Edmundson’s Journal, p. 106. Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia, p. 91,—note.

(11*) Abeel and Hasser owned twenty or thirty acres above Van Deursen’s. Judge Morris owned a large farm on both sides of Commercial Avenue. Mr. Van Deursen was offered about forty acres of land lying below Morris Street, west of the lots on Burnett Street, between them and George, for two hundred and fifty-six dollars.

(12*) "The ancestor of the Van Nulse family in this country is Aucke Jansen Van Nuise who, with his wife, Magdalen Pieterse, and children, emigrated from Holland in 1861 and settled in New York. His place of birth is supposed to have been Nuise, in Groningen; hence the surname Van Nuise. He was a carpenter by trade, and built the first church of Midwout (now Flatbush), completed in 1660."— Bergen Family, p. 157.

(13*) It has been pointed out by Dr. Steele and others that Professor Kahn was mistaken in some of his statements; for instance, in reference to ‘"two German Churches, one of stone and one of wood," and that "the Presbyterians were building a church of stone" at the time of his visit.

(19*) For its numbers that army had not an equal in the world. Every soldier was eager for a battle— Bancroft, vol. ix. p. 351. The time was eventful and critical. About the time when these two armies confronted each other, viz., June 14th, Congress adopted the flag of our country. The historian remarks, "The immovable fortitude of Washington in his camp at Middlebrook was the salvation of that beautiful flag." p.362.