Happy Holidays - and just look at what the New Jersey State Archives has as a present for everyone!! Regards, Joan Joan M. Lowry mailto:jmlowry@earthlink.net -----Original Message----- From: Joseph R Klett [mailto:joseph.klett@sos.state.nj.us] Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 10:33 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: [Fwd: West Jersey Proprietors Records Deposited at State Archives] Dear Friend of the State Archives: I would like to extend to you a personal invitation to join us next Wednesday, 12/14, at 10:00 in the State Archives' Manuscript Reading Room for a press event unveiling our recent accession of the records of the West Jersey Proprietors. We will be displaying the original Concessions and Agreements, the Duke of York's grants to Berkeley and Carteret, John Lawrence's province line surveying record book and several other documents. We hope you will take some time out of the seasonal hub-bub to join us in celebrating this momentous historical development. Hope to see you here! With best wishes for the holidays, Joe Klett Chief of Archives NJ Div. of Archives & Records Mgt. -------- Original Message -------- Dear List-serve Members: It gives me great pleasure to announce to you that the Council of Proprietors of West New Jersey has deposited its vast holdings of surveys, record books and maps, dating back to 1664, with the New Jersey State Archives. We are planning a press event and exhibit to celebrate this development on Wednesday, 12/14, at 10:00 a.m. in the State Archives' Manuscript Reading Room. For more information, please see West Jersey Council President Robert S. Haines' announcement letter (excerpted) and press release below. I will forward the Department of State's press release shortly. With best regards, Joseph R. Klett Chief of Archives NJ Div. of Archives & Records Mgt. Council of Proprietors West New Jersey in America<> Burlington, NJ 08016 PO Box 158 Burlington, NJ 08016 December 5, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<> To All Press: The attached document, for immediate release, announces a major historical development regarding public access to over three hundred years' worth of records of the Proprietors of West New Jersey, now on deposit at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton. We are planning a press event relating to this exciting news for next Wednesday, December 14th, at 10:00 a.m., to be held in the State Archives' Manuscript Reading Room, 2nd Floor, 225 West State Street, Trenton. The event will include short remarks by officials of the respective organizations and a display of key documents in the deposit, followed by time for press interviews. Robert S Haines, President FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 5, 2005 Burlington, NJ Robert S. Haines, President of the Council of Proprietors of West New Jersey, announced today that the council's vast holdings of surveys, record books and maps dating back to the seventeenth century have been deposited with the State Archives in Trenton. The nine-member Council and its Surveyor General unanimously resolved to enter into a depository agreement with the Archives at a full meeting held in Burlington on October 12th. The agreement places the documents, including the monumental "Concessions and Agreements" and original 1664 patents from the Duke of York, in a state-of-the-art facility and under the custodianship of professionally trained archivists. The Council members are legal successors of John, Lord Berkeley, who received half of the colony of New Jersey under the Duke's 1664 grant. In 1676, Berkeley's heirs agreed to a "province line" dividing New Jersey into east and west. That document, referred to as the Quintipartite (five-party) Deed, along with others signed by William Penn and the notes of John Lawrence, who surveyed the division in 1743, are among the manuscripts now in the State's care. West Jersey's proprietors hold legal right to all unappropriated land west of the province line. East Jersey's proprietors dissolved in 1998, at which time they sold their land rights to the State's Green Acres program and transferred their records to the State Archives. The deposit with the State does not affect the Council's land rights or legal ownership of the records. Under the agreement, the State Archives will provide cataloging, indexing and public reference service for this priceless collection. "We know the Archives staff and facilities will provide the best possible care for these historical treasures," Haines said. Daniel W. Haines, Robert's brother and Clerk of the Council, noted that the proprietors do not have facilities or resources to conserve the records in an archival environment. "We are fortunate to have the wonderful facility that exists at the State Archives, and the dedication of their staff." Joseph R. Klett, Chief of the State Archives, is elated to receive the documents into his purview. "This is the realization of a professional dream for me," said Klett, who proposed the deposit and has been meeting with Council members over the last two years to work out details of the transfer. "If you're a student of colonial New Jersey, you know that east is east and west is west. But the 'twain' have now met at the State Archives so to speak. What an exciting time for the historical community." In total, the deposit consists of eleven large parchment documents dating from 1664 to 1763; fifty-five bound volumes of minutes, surveys, warrants, and other records dating from 1676-1909; twenty cubic feet of loose papers, including survey returns from 1680-1900s; and fifty-two boxes of rolled maps and plans dating back to the 1700s. Archives staff completed their inventory, packaging and relocation of the collection in November. The Council has retained its facsimile of the "Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Province of West New Jersey in America." This document, drafted in England by William Penn and the Quaker trustees of West Jersey late in 1676, is considered one of the founding colonial charters on which were based the principles and American freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution a century later. "The original volume cannot be exhibited except on rare occasion," said William H. Taylor, Twelfth Surveyor General of West Jersey, "whereas a facsimile can be on permanent display." That's exactly what the Council hopes to see happen in the City of Burlington, former capital of West Jersey, with the creation of a permanent historical exhibition and tourist destination celebrating and interpreting the history of the province and its proprietors. <>Richard P. McCormick, Professor Emeritus of Rutgers University and currently the senior member of the West Jersey Council, spoke in favor of the proposed deposit at the Council's October 12th meeting. "Few 'historic sites' in New Jersey can match in importance the antiquity of the West Jersey Proprietors or its impact on our history as a colony and a state," McCormick said. "Moreover, the West Jersey 'Concessions and Agreements' merit attention and admiration along with the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights as statements of the finest aspirations in our democratic tradition." Under the terms of the deposit, the State Archives will create new microfilm and imaging of certain West Jersey records as part of the longterm plan for their care and preservation. This will also facilitate display of reproductions in Burlington, on the Archives' website, and in published form. "The Proprietors have cared for these documents for the past 330 years," said Taylor. "We are confident that the State Archives will meet the challenges of that job for at least the next three centuries." #####

As much as I would like to join you, I can't. I have a question, tho. Is Somerset County considered east or west New Jersey? That is where my ancestors, the Annin famil began in United States. Pauli from Arkansas ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joan M Lowry (GSNJ)" <jml-gsnj@earthlink.net> To: <NJ-GSNJ-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 7:17 PM Subject: [GSNJ] West Jersey Proprietors Records Deposited at State Archives > Happy Holidays - and just look at what the New Jersey State Archives has as > a present for everyone!! > Regards, > Joan > > Joan M. Lowry > mailto:jmlowry@earthlink.net > -----Original Message----- > From: Joseph R Klett [mailto:joseph.klett@sos.state.nj.us] > Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 10:33 AM > To: undisclosed-recipients: > Subject: [Fwd: West Jersey Proprietors Records Deposited at State > Archives] > > > Dear Friend of the State Archives: > > I would like to extend to you a personal invitation to join us next > Wednesday, 12/14, at 10:00 in the State Archives' Manuscript Reading Room > for a press event unveiling our recent accession of the records of the West > Jersey Proprietors. We will be displaying the original Concessions and > Agreements, the Duke of York's grants to Berkeley and Carteret, John > Lawrence's province line surveying record book and several other documents. > We hope you will take some time out of the seasonal hub-bub to join us in > celebrating this momentous historical development. > > Hope to see you here! > > With best wishes for the holidays, > > Joe Klett > Chief of Archives > NJ Div. of Archives & Records Mgt. > > -------- Original Message -------- > > Dear List-serve Members: > > It gives me great pleasure to announce to you that the Council of > Proprietors of West New Jersey has deposited its vast holdings of surveys, > record books and maps, dating back to 1664, with the New Jersey State > Archives. We are planning a press event and exhibit to celebrate this > development on Wednesday, 12/14, at 10:00 a.m. in the State Archives' > Manuscript Reading Room. For more information, please see West Jersey > Council President Robert S. Haines' announcement letter (excerpted) and > press release below. I will forward the Department of State's press release > shortly. > > With best regards, > > Joseph R. Klett > Chief of Archives > NJ Div. of Archives & Records Mgt. > > > Council of Proprietors > West New Jersey in America<> > Burlington, NJ 08016 > > > PO Box 158 > Burlington, NJ 08016 > > December 5, 2005 > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<> > > To All Press: > > The attached document, for immediate release, announces a major historical > development regarding public access to over three hundred years' worth of > records of the Proprietors of West New Jersey, now on deposit at the New > Jersey State Archives in Trenton. We are planning a press event relating to > this exciting news for next Wednesday, December 14th, at 10:00 a.m., to be > held in the State Archives' Manuscript Reading Room, 2nd Floor, 225 West > State Street, Trenton. The event will include short remarks by officials of > the respective organizations and a display of key documents in the deposit, > followed by time for press interviews. > > Robert S Haines, President > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > > December 5, 2005 > > Burlington, NJ > > Robert S. Haines, President of the Council of Proprietors of West New > Jersey, announced today that the council's vast holdings of surveys, record > books and maps dating back to the seventeenth century have been deposited > with the State Archives in Trenton. The nine-member Council and its > Surveyor General unanimously resolved to enter into a depository agreement > with the Archives at a full meeting held in Burlington on October 12th. The > agreement places the documents, including the monumental "Concessions and > Agreements" and original 1664 patents from the Duke of York, in a > state-of-the-art facility and under the custodianship of professionally > trained archivists. > > The Council members are legal successors of John, Lord Berkeley, who > received half of the colony of New Jersey under the Duke's 1664 grant. In > 1676, Berkeley's heirs agreed to a "province line" dividing New Jersey into > east and west. That document, referred to as the Quintipartite (five-party) > Deed, along with others signed by William Penn and the notes of John > Lawrence, who surveyed the division in 1743, are among the manuscripts now > in the State's care. West Jersey's proprietors hold legal right to all > unappropriated land west of the province line. East Jersey's proprietors > dissolved in 1998, at which time they sold their land rights to the State's > Green Acres program and transferred their records to the State Archives. > > The deposit with the State does not affect the Council's land rights or > legal ownership of the records. Under the agreement, the State Archives > will provide cataloging, indexing and public reference service for this > priceless collection. "We know the Archives staff and facilities will > provide the best possible care for these historical treasures," Haines said. > Daniel W. Haines, Robert's brother and Clerk of the Council, noted that the > proprietors do not have facilities or resources to conserve the records in > an archival environment. "We are fortunate to have the wonderful facility > that exists at the State Archives, and the dedication of their staff." > > Joseph R. Klett, Chief of the State Archives, is elated to receive the > documents into his purview. "This is the realization of a professional > dream for me," said Klett, who proposed the deposit and has been meeting > with Council members over the last two years to work out details of the > transfer. "If you're a student of colonial New Jersey, you know that east > is east and west is west. But the 'twain' have now met at the State > Archives so to speak. What an exciting time for the historical community." > > In total, the deposit consists of eleven large parchment documents dating > from 1664 to 1763; fifty-five bound volumes of minutes, surveys, warrants, > and other records dating from 1676-1909; twenty cubic feet of loose papers, > including survey returns from 1680-1900s; and fifty-two boxes of rolled maps > and plans dating back to the 1700s. Archives staff completed their > inventory, packaging and relocation of the collection in November. > > The Council has retained its facsimile of the "Concessions and Agreements > of the Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Province of West New > Jersey in America." This document, drafted in England by William Penn and > the Quaker trustees of West Jersey late in 1676, is considered one of the > founding colonial charters on which were based the principles and American > freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution a century later. "The original > volume cannot be exhibited except on rare occasion," said William H. Taylor, > Twelfth Surveyor General of West Jersey, "whereas a facsimile can be on > permanent display." That's exactly what the Council hopes to see happen in > the City of Burlington, former capital of West Jersey, with the creation of > a permanent historical exhibition and tourist destination celebrating and > interpreting the history of the province and its proprietors. > > <>Richard P. McCormick, Professor Emeritus of Rutgers University and > currently the senior member of the West Jersey Council, spoke in favor of > the proposed deposit at the Council's October 12th meeting. "Few 'historic > sites' in New Jersey can match in importance the antiquity of the West > Jersey Proprietors or its impact on our history as a colony and a state," > McCormick said. "Moreover, the West Jersey 'Concessions and Agreements' > merit attention and admiration along with the Magna Carta, the Petition of > Right, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights as statements > of the finest aspirations in our democratic tradition." > Under the terms of the deposit, the State Archives will create new > microfilm and imaging of certain West Jersey records as part of the longterm > plan for their care and preservation. This will also facilitate display of > reproductions in Burlington, on the Archives' website, and in published > form. "The Proprietors have cared for these documents for the past 330 > years," said Taylor. "We are confident that the State Archives will meet > the challenges of that job for at least the next three centuries." > > ##### > > > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== > GSNJ Newsletter: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/newsletter.html > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >