The Thornton Line is a boundary line or partition line surveyed in 1696 through the
Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...
during the colonial period, separating the territory into two proprietary colonies: the
Province of East Jersey
The Province of East Jersey, along with the Province of West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702 in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed, were two distinct political divisions of the Province of New Jersey, which became the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
and the
Province of West Jersey
West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often ...
. New Jersey was divided into two proprietary colonies after the Duke of York's 1664 grant of the colony to
Sir George Carteret
Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet ( – 14 January 1680 N.S.) was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the ...
and
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton (1602 – 26 August 1678) was an English royalist soldier, politician and diplomat, of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley family. From 1648 he was closely associated with James, Duke of York, and ...
, and the sale of rights under the
Quintipartite Deed
The Quintipartite Deed was a legal document that split the Province of New Jersey, dividing it into the Province of West Jersey and the Province of East Jersey from 1674 until 1702.
On July 1, 1676, William Penn, Gawen Lawrie (who served from ...
in 1676. The Thornton Line was an attempt to replace the errors of the
Keith line
The Keith line was a line drawn through the Province of New Jersey, dividing it into the Province of West Jersey and the Province of East Jersey. The line was created by Surveyor-General George Keith in 1686, when he ran the first survey to ...
(1686) and its amendment the
Coxe–Barclay Line
The Coxe–Barclay Line was a boundary line or partition line drawn through the Province of New Jersey during the colonial period, dividing it into the Province of West Jersey and the Province of East Jersey. Surveyor General George Keith surv ...
(1688) which was disowned by the East Jersey proprietors in 1695. While it appears on Worlidge's map of the two Jersey colonies, it was never formally adopted.
[Worlidge, John. ''A New Mapp of East and West New Jersey being an exact survey Taken by Mr John Worlidge''. (London, c. 1696).]
See also
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Lawrence Line
The Lawrence Line was a boundary line or partition line drawn through the Province of New Jersey during the colonial period, dividing it into the Province of West Jersey and the Province of East Jersey. The line was created by surveyor John Lawre ...
(1743)
*
New York – New Jersey Line War
The New York – New Jersey Line War (also known as the N.J. Line War) was a series of skirmishes and raids that took place for over half a century between 1701 and 1765 at the disputed border between two American colonies, the Province of New Y ...
References
Pre-statehood history of New Jersey
History of the Thirteen Colonies
Borders of New Jersey
1696 establishments in New Jersey
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