The Quakers Settle There-Andros in New Jersey

Lord Berkeley was now so disgusted by the losses and annoyances which he had endured in connection with his ownership of New Jersey, that he sold his interest in the province to John Fenwick and Edward Byllinge, English Friends or Quakers, for the sum of five thousand dollars. The tract sold to these Friends was in the western part of the province. With some emigrants, mostly of the Society of Friends, Fenwick sailed for his new possessions. They settled at a spot not far from the Delaware River, which they named Salem, on account of the peaceful aspect of the country and the surrounding Indians. There, with the peculiar gravity of the sect, Fenwick and his two daughters, thirteen men (most of them heads of families) and one woman, the wife of one of the emigrants, sat in silent worship according to their custom, under the shadow of a great tree, with covered heads and quiet bodies, on the ensuing "First Day" after their arrival. Then they built log cabins for shelter, and so began a new life in the wilds of New Jersey.

Byllinge was the principal proprietor, but soon after the departure of Fenwick, heavy losses in trade made him a bankrupt, and his interest in New Jersey was first assigned to William Penn and others for the benefit of his creditors, and was afterward sold to them. These purchasers and others who became associated with them, unwilling to maintain a political union with other parties, bargained with Carteret for a division of the province. This was done in July, 1676. Carteret retained the eastern part of the province, and the new purchasers held the western part. From that time until they were united and became a royal province in 1702, these divisions were known as East and West Jersey. From this circumstance, the expression "The Jerseys," heard in our day, was derived.

The proprietors of West Jersey gave to the settlers, who were mostly Friends at first, a remarkably liberal constitution of government, entitled "The concessions and agreements of the proprietors, freeholders, and inhabitants of the province of West New Jersey in America." The following year (1677) more than four hundred Friends came from England and settled below the Raritan. Andros required them to acknowledge his authority as the representative of the Duke of York. They refused, and the matter was referred to the eminent crown-lawyer and oriental scholar, Sir William Jones, for adjudication. Sir William decided against the claims of the duke, who submitted to the decision, released both provinces from allegiance to him, and the Jerseys became independent of foreign control. The first popular Assembly in West Jersey met at Salem in November, 1681, and adopted a code of laws for the government of the people. One of these laws provided that in all criminal cases, excepting treason, murder and theft, the aggrieved party should have power to pardon the offender.

Carteret died late in 1679. The trustees of his American estates offered East Jersey for sale. It was bought in 1682, by William Penn and others, among them the Earl of Perth, the friend of Robert Barclay, whom the proprietors appointed governor of the domain for life. Barclay was an eminent young Friend, whose writings have ever been held in high estimation by his sect, especially his "Apology for the true Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and practised by the people called in scorn Quakers," and his "Treatise on Christian Discipline." The purchase was made, not in the interest of religion or liberty, but as a land speculation. Barclay governed the province by deputies until his death in 1690, when he was only forty-two years of age.

A large number of Friends went from England and Scotland to East Jersey, and other immigrants flocked in from Long Island, to find repose and peace. They soon found that repose was not to be enjoyed by lovers of freedom anywhere under royal rule. They were also impressed with the significance of the injunction: "Put not your trust in princes," for James the king failed to keep the promises of James the duke, and they were compelled to submit to the tyranny of Andros. When that detested viceroy was driven from the country in 1689, the Jerseys were left without a regular civil government, and so they remained several years.