West Jersey and
East Jersey were two distinct parts of 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 political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a
border between West Jersey and East Jersey
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 ...
was often a matter of dispute.
Background
The
Delaware Valley had been inhabited by the
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
(or Delaware) Indians prior to European exploration and settlement starting around 1609, undertaken by the Dutch, Swedish and English. The
Dutch West India Company had established one or two
Delaware River settlements, but by the late 1620s, it had moved most of its inhabitants to the island of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
. This became the center of
New Netherland. West Jersey and East Jersey were two sections of New Jersey.
The development of the colony of
New Sweden in the lower Delaware Valley began in 1638. Most of the Swedish population was on the west side of the Delaware. After the English re-established New Netherland's
Fort Nassau to challenge the Swedes, the latter constructed
Fort Nya Elfsborg in present-day
Salem County. Fort Nya Elfsborg was located between present day
Salem
Salem may refer to: Places
Canada
Ontario
* Bruce County
** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie
** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce
* Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
and
Alloway Creek
Alloway Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Salem County, New Jersey in the United States. The name is a deriv ...
. The New Sweden colony established two primary settlements in New Jersey: Sveaborg, now
Swedesboro, and Nya Stockholm, now
Bridgeport.
Trinity Church, located in Swedesboro, was the site of the
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swed ...
for the area.
The Dutch defeated New Sweden in 1655. Settlement of the West Jersey area by Europeans was thin until the English conquest in 1664. Beginning in the late 1670s,
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
settled in great numbers in this area, first in present-day Salem County and then in
Burlington. The latter became the capital of West Jersey.
[''British Colony'' (Burlington County Historical Society. Burlington City, NJ ]
/ref>
Before 1674, Surveying, land surveyors for New Jersey considered it as a hundred and partitioned it into tenths. West Jersey comprised five of the tenths. But demarcation of the boundaries awaited settlement, the quit-rents the settlers would pay, and the land surveying which the money would purchase. Thus it took years and multiple surveys to settle boundary disputes. Burlington County
Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly. was formed on May 17, 1694 by combining the first and second tenths.[Snyder, John P]
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 93. Accessed September 30, 2013. At least three surveys were conducted of West Jersey. Richard Tindall was surveyor-general of Fenwick's Colony
Salem is a city in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population was 5,146, , the fifth tenth.
Constitution
:''See: History of the New Jersey State Constitution#West Jersey Constitution''
See also
* Colonial history of New Jersey
* Concession and Agreement
Concession and Agreement (full title: ''The Concession and Agreement of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea, or New Jersey, to and With All and Every the Adventurers and All Such as Shall Settle or Plant There'') was a 1664 docume ...
* Lords Proprietor (1665–1703)
* List of colonial governors of New Jersey#Governors under the Proprietors (1665–1674)
* Newton Colony
* Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the ...
* Dominion of New England
* West Jersey and Seashore Railroad
References
Further reading
* Weslager, C. A. ''Dutch Explorers, Traders, and Settlers in the Delaware Valley, 1609–1644''. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961).
* Johnson, Amandus ''The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638–1664'' (Philadelphia: Swedish Colonial Society. 1911)
External links
West Jersey History Project
1681 Regulations
Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents
(at "New Jersey").
{{Coord, 40.166, -74.234, display=title
Pre-statehood history of New Jersey
History of the Thirteen Colonies
Dominion of New England
Former regions and territories of the United States
States and territories established in 1674
Colonial United States (British)
1674 establishments in New Jersey
Former English colonies