I have no indication that DeCamps were here earlier, but the settlement of Scotch Plains predates that of Westfield by about 40 years. Scotch Plains was settled in the early 1680s. The Westfield land was divvied up by the Associates in 1700, but there weren't many settlers there until about 1720. The Scotch Plains settlers generally associated with the Piscataway settlement and attended church there (according to Hatfield). On the other hand, there was no church in Westfield (and therefore no baptismal records) until 1727. My point is that a lack of pre-1735 Westfield baptism records for a family is not evidence that the family was not present in Scotch Plains. I'm sure there were many families in Scotch Plains early on of whom little or no trace survives. And that trace is more likely to appear in the records of Piscataway than Elizabeth or Westfield. Gary On Mon, 12 May 2003 23:01:53 -0600 NJUNION-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: > Can you re-check your source for the accuracy of the transcription of your > quote? A date of 1689 or thereabouts for the settlement of the DeCamp family > in Westfield is much earlier than anything I have seen. The oldest DeCamp > birth that I can find in Westfield is 1735. All the other information I have > found suggests that the family lived on Staten Island until about 1720, and > then went to various parts of NJ. ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!