Books and Manuscripts

(Salem, New Jersey), April 23, 1689. Manuscript land deed, signed by Col. Lewis Morris the Elder, deeding 1,000 acres of land on the south side of Monmouth Creek (now Alloway Creek), in the Salem Tenth (now Salem County), to his former servant William Bickley; witnessed and signed by Richard Ashfeild, Lewis Morris (family relation and Col. Lewis's ward), and George Copping; further inscribed and signed by Stephanus Van Cortlandt, confirming the transaction. Red wax seal partially intact at lower right; docketed on verso, and further inscribed by Morris, and others on same. Creasing from old folds, small separations and losses along same, affecting some letters and words. Single sheet, 13 1/8 x 16 3/8 in. (333 x 416 mm). In mat and in frame, 23 7/8 x 27 in. (606 x 686 mm).

A scarce and early land deed in the Province of West New Jersey, signed by Lewis Morris the Elder (ca. 1601/13-91), patriarch of the Morris family in America, and considered one of the "most influential and colorful men in the middle and late 17th century American public affairs (Samuel Stelle Smith, Lewis Morris: Anglo-American Statesman, 1983).

Here Col. Morris deeds 1,000 acres of land on the south side of Monmouth Creek (now Alloway Creek), in Salem County, to his former servant William Bickley. This land was originally granted to Morris in 1685 by William Penn on behalf of the estate of John Fenwick, leader of the first English settlement in West New Jersey. Counter-signed by Lewis's nephew and ward, Lewis Morris of Passage Point (1655-95, son of Thomas Morris), as well Richard Ashfield, and George Copping. Endorsed by Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native-born mayor of New York City.

Born in Wales, Morris began his career in the Caribbean, first as a privateer, and then in the sugar trade, where he established a large enterprise throughout the region, and amassed a fortune. The first of the Morris family to settle in America, he came to New York shortly after the English took it from the Dutch, in 1664. In 1668 he established his estate "Morrisania" (in the present day Bronx), that would serve as the Morris family home for generations. In America he continued in the sugar business, while acquiring large landholdings throughout New York and New Jersey. He soon entered politics, and was elected a Representative to the Colonial Assembly, from 1681-1682, then as a member of Deputy-Governor Thomas Rudyard's New Jersey Council, from 1682-1683, and from 1683 to 1686 he held the same position in Governor Thomas Dongan's Council. He also served as head of the East New Jersey Court of Common Right (then the Province's supreme court).

Morris's two wards, both named Lewis Morris, would go on to hold high political positions in colonial America. Lewis Morris of Passage Point (1655-95) --signer of this document--was the first Sheriff of Monmouth County. The other Lewis Morris (1671-46), son of Morris's younger brother and trading partner, Richard, became Chief Justice of New York and the first Royal Governor of New Jersey. The latter's two grandsons, Lewis Morris (1726-98) would be a Signer of the Declaration of Independence for New York, and Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816), an influential senator and writer of the final draft of the United States Constitution.

A rare and early West New Jersey document.