CHRONOLOGY

1700-1799

A mural by Francis D. Millett at the Essex County Courthouse depicts a grand jury rebuking colonial Chief Justice Frederick Smyth in 1774 for scoffing at colonists who protested the "imaginary tyranny" of the British. The Newark Public Library

1700–1709

1700An early schoolhouse was erected on Market Street, between Halsey and Broad streets.
1701The Rev. Jabez Wakeman arrived in Newark in 1699, moved to the parsonage and was granted 10 acres of the meadow and 60 acres of upland.
1704The township hired a shepherd to guard sheep on the town’s western slopes.
1705Samuel Harrison and William Camp were instructed to survey the vacant land at the landing.
1706“It is voted, that if any Person or Persons do set Fire within the Common Line, or Neck, or Meadow, before Notice be given by the Beat of the Drum, he or they shall forfeit 20 shillings.”
1708Walls put up for a new church. The building was large enough for the entire population, but the interior was not completed for 30 years.
1709Newark Township offered the position of minister to Mr. Bowers with an annual salary of 70 pounds.

1710–1719

1710Newarkers began settling the Whippany area.
1711Residents of Newark were asked whether they were willing to come to an agreement with the residents of Elizabethtown for settling the Bounds between the two places.
1713Newark granted its charter by Queen Anne.
1714First schoolhouse opened.
1715“All unruly Cattel and horses being found trespassing in the Common field, the owner of such unruly Creature Shall pay to the Pounder or pounders when pounded, One Shilling and sixpence.”
1716David Ogden chosen assessor for the provincial tax and Samuel Conger tax collector.
1718On March 17, it was agreed to renew the Line between Newark and Ackquackonong.
1719System of assessing residents for the support of the poor was established.

1720–1729

1720Local residents began to mine copper.
1721Stone quarried for building purposes. First freestone quarried for market.
17221723, and 1724. No entries in township records.
1725John Crane appointed sheep master.
1726John Baldwin Jr. and John Crane Jr. chosen assessor and rate maker.
1728Eliphalet Johnson and Jonathan Ward appointed “Town Overseers of the Poor.”
1729Edward Riggs was appointed fence viewer and John Kinney, pounder.

1730–1739

1730Newark “Watering place” settled and tanning industry began.
1731Authority given by township for persons seeking to “dig for Mines.”
1732 The London Church Missionary Society sent out missionaries, including some who settled at Elizabethtown and other places near Newark, where they occasionally preached and used the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
1733Heavy rains drove Josiah Ogden to harvest wheat on Sunday, resulting in his leaving Old First Church and helping to establish Trinity.
1734Trinity Church founded with the help of Ogden and others, “who took occasion to leave the Presbyterians in consequence of the rigor which he was received for saving his grain in a wet harvest on the Sabbath.”
1735A Mr. Webb used the burying place for pasture that year.
1736Old First’s Rev. Aaron Burr Sr. preached first sermon in the wilderness of Hanover.
1738Aaron Burr ordained and installed as pastor of Old First Church. John Barnes, alias John Greenwood, alias John Thompson, alias George Grown, robbed Thomas Bailey’s house three times and was sentenced to die in Newark’s first public execution.
1739Thomas Longworth was appointed clerk for recording of strays.

1740–1749

1740Famed English clergyman George Whitefield visited Newark and preached at Old First Church during the Great Awakening.
1741The burying yard was sold to Dr. William Turner for the ensuing year.
1742Township officials voted to fine any person who cuts trees on the parsonage grounds, with one half the penalty going to the complainer and the other half for the use of the poor.
1743Fine of 20 shillings ordered for anybody cutting trees in township; money went to help support the poor.
1744David Brainerd, missionary to Native Americans, ordained at Old First.
1745Great excitement occurred arising from contention between the settlers and the English proprietors over land titles.
1746Two great land riots occurred in Newark. King George II granted Trinity Church (now Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral) its charter.
1748First commencement of the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, took place in the Presbyterian Church on Broad Street.
1749The second commencement of the college of New Jersey (Princeton) was moved to New Brunswick from Newark.

1750–1759

1750Major controversy arose between Hugh Robarts and John Robarts concerning the bounds of the meadow called Parsonage Meadow near the mouth of Bound Creek.
1751Israel Baldwin, John Sydenham, Isaac Pierson and Thomas Brown appointed surveyors of highways.
1752Aaron Burr married Esther Edwards, daughter of famed minister Jonathan Edwards.
1753Burr secured a provincial charter from Gov. Belcher for The First Presbyterian Church, the name that the church uses today.
1754John Dod III was appointed assessor of county and poor rates.
1756Aaron Burr Jr. born on Broad Street in the Presbyterian manse.
1757The Rev. Aaron Burr Sr. died in Princeton at the early age of 41.

1760–1769

1760The Rev. Andrew Burnaby, vicar of Greenwich, visited Newark. “Except for the Trinity Church steeple, he saw nothing noteworthy. The square old sandstone Presbyterian church, while stout and spacious, had no architectural distinction. The county courthouse and riot-scarred jail were not worth noting.”
1761First lodge of New Jersey Free Masons organized at Newark’s Rising Sun Tavern.
1762Discussions over dividing the parsonage lands.
1763End of the French and Indian War.
1764Fifty pounds raised for the poor.
1765First public library established in Newark.
1766Official allowed residents to “take Care of their Hay in the Meadows, the 24th of this Ins’t March”.
1767Horse racing in Newark began. Jabez Harrison elected overseer of the highways.
1768Matthias Ward started a stage line to Paulus Hook (Jersey City). Two stages sent off daily.

1770–1779

1770William Halsey, Newark’s first mayor, was born in Short Hills.
1772Officials voted to allow “any Cattle that shall be found trespassing in the Salt to be pounded by the Person who shall find them trespassing, and that the Poundage shall receive it of the owner of Cattle—and that John Crane be Pound Keeper at 3 d.p. Head.”; Four rival stage lines came to Newark on trip between New York and Philadelphia.
1773Officials voted to raise 10 pounds for the poor.
1774Newark Academy founded.
1775Gen. George Washington passed through Newark on his way to assume command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass. Newark enthusiastically received John Adams, John Hancock and other members of the Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York delegations on official visit.
1776On Nov. 22, Washington entered Newark on his retreat through New Jersey with a force of 3,500 troops. Thomas Paine began to write “The American Crisis, “ containing the quotation: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Lord Cornwallis lived in Newark from Nov. 28 until late December while Washington moved his troops south toward the Delaware River.
1777The population of Newark was about 1,000, with 141 dwelling houses.
1778No poor money raised this year. Officials voted to make “all Cattle, Horse, Hogs, Sheep, or Geese, found Running at Large subject to be pounded, unless they have a Keeper.”
1779Officials decided “That the Meadows shall not be burn’d until the 1st April” and that “Justice Cundit Take the Town Charter into his Charge until Called for By Proper Authority.”

1780–1789

1780On January 25, British Col. Lumm came from New York, following the river on the ice, and burned Newark Academy and the Upper Green (Washington Park). On the same night, another British party set fire to the Presbyterian Church at Elizabeth | “They carried away Joseph Hedden, compelling him to walk in his night clothes thru the icy street and eventual death.”
1783Caleb Bruen, American spy, arrested.
1786Officials voted to install “a large Swinging Gate on the Road that leads to the Salt Meadow, below and near the Hand that points to the Ferry and that all Cattle which shall be found without a Keeper below the Gate shall be liable to be Pounded. That any Gentlemen have leave to build an House for a Public Market, in the Broad Street.”
1787Cornerstone of the present Old First Church laid by Dr. McWhorter. The new building was opened for public use Jan. 1, 1791.
1788Money raised from the Dog Tax used to “encourage the raising of sheep and wool in this Township.”
1789Newarkers adopt a standard to observe the Sabbath.

1790–1799

1790Turning points in Newark history: Southern markets opened to Newark goods; a major highway was built to Jersey City and wooden drawbridges were thrown across the Passaic and Hackensack rivers.
1791The first hanging of record after the Revolutionary War occurred when William Jones was hanged for killing Samuel Shotwell. The first truly Newark newspaper published: John Woods’ Newark Gazette and Paterson Advertiser.
1792A bridge was built across the Passaic River. “The first public road to New York communicated with Market street, and led across the upland and meadow by ferry near the bay.”
1793Moses Combs named keeper of the pound.
1794Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Perigord, bishop of Autun, lived in Newark for approximately six months in the David Alling House on Broad Street.
1795Dog Tax from 1794 appropriated “for the Use of the Poor.” Benjamin Lyon named keeper of the pound.
1796The Newark Sentinel of Freedom newspaper appeared for the first time.
1797Newark took first steps toward establishing a firefighting corps.
1798Englishman John Davis reported that Newark had “probably the largest cobblers’ stall in the United States of America.” Caldwell Township formed from Newark.
1799All cattle found trespassing in the Salt Meadows liable to a 2 shilling-per-head fine.