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Subject: [D-Col] Question about complaints of high treason in 1747 Amboy NJ
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 11:44:57 EST

Apparently some of my ancestors ran into to some trouble with the English
about 1747. Do anyone know anything about the complaints of High Treason of
1747 in Amboy NJ. Here is a portion of my work that is related to the
question:

If this genealogy is correct, it reveals Joris Jacobse in New Amsterdam in
1651 and on Long Island by 1660; Joris and his sons Cornelius, and Harmen in
Brooklyn NY in 1698; Cornelius and his nephew Thomas in New Brunswick NJ by
1717; Peter and George, sons of Cornelius, s/o Joris Jacobse, in Somerville
NJ or Readington NJ by about the 1740's; and finally George and Peter, sons
of Cornelius, s/o of Joris Jacobse, near Harrisonburg VA by about 1740-49.
Some of the related Bowmans apparently remained in NJ. There was a Cornelius
Bowman, born July 18, 1788 in Readington, who married Sarah Hummer (Hammer?)
and who died October 17, 1836 in Chester NJ. The "Index of Wills,
Inventories, Etc" of Hunderdon County NJ shows that there were a number of
Cornelius Bowmans in that county. Apparently there was a will and an
inventory for a Cornelius Bowman in that county in 1786 and another for a
Cornelius Bowman in 1826. Obviously, neither of those could have been the
father of the George Bowman of Brocks Gap VA since the 1749 document from
George Bowman to his mother Ann indicated that his father Cornelius was dead
by 1749. There is also apparently a Hunderdon County will for a Cornelius
Bowman Jr of 1818. Also apparently in 1774 a Thomas Bowman Sr became the
guardian for a Thomas Bowman Jr. Also there is apparently a 1792 will and
inventory for a Thomas Bowman Sr.
In the late 1600's a large number of Dutch migrated from the areas around New
York City to the Raritan Valley. This may have had something to do with high
taxes or it may have just been a desire that the people had to distance
themselves from the British rule. The migration may also have been encouraged
by cheap land offerings. The Raritan river was a convenient way for people to
move into the back country of NJ. At that time the Raritan was nearly a mile
wide where it ran into the Atlantic Ocean at Perth Amboy. Large ships could
sail up the river for about 10 miles to New Brunswick. Raritan Landing was
about two miles above New Brunswick and the town of Raritan was about twelve
miles upstream from Raritan Landing.
About the time that England's King James II was being deposed by William and
Mary, those in power in New York who had been appointed by King James II
apparently fled. The government in New York was then taken over by Jacob
Leisler, a Captain of the Militia. Leisler was apparently quite popular with
the burghers and farmers of New York, Staten Island, and Long Island who had
been adversely affected by the recent English rule. It has been said that
Leisler's supporters included such names as Staats, Corson, Nevius, Kroesen,
Holmes, and Van Pelt. In 1691 Jacob Leisler and his son-in-law were executed
for treason. Subsequently some of those who had supported Leisler ran into
trouble with the English authorities. I've seen it reported that Drick
Kroesen, John Peterson Staats, and John Bodine were once arrested on Staten
Island, possibly because of their past support for Leisler.
It may be that some of the people living near the Readington and Somerville
NJ areas lost land in the Coxe Affair. Something obviously happened that
really stirred up some people in that area. At the August term in 1747 in
Amboy NJ there were a number of people indicted for High Treason. Those
indicted included Simon Wycoff (a descendant of Claeson?), Thomas Clawson,
Garret Cornelison, John Scermerhorn, Hendrick Hogelandt, Thomas Bowman,
George Bowman, Thomas Griffin, Cornelius Moore, and Jacob Bodine. Obviously
this was a group of descendants of early Dutch settlers who had some sort of
run in with the English. The George Bowman, who was indicted, could
conceivably have been the George Bowman of Brocks Gap VA, the son-in-law of
Capt. Peter Scholl and the Thomas Bowman could have been George Bowman's
cousin and the son of Jacob Jorise Bowman.

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