James's birth is "guesstimated" as 1620 based on his life events. Presumably he was born in England; however, this is not specifically documented. The earliest known documentation of James Grover (Sr.) comes from Lynn, Massachusetts, where on 27 Dec. 1642 as an apprenticed servant of James Hubbard, James Grover apprenticed himself to Edward Tomlins to learn the carpenter's trade. [See Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins , Vol. III (Boston, 1995), p. 1825.] The reference is presumed to relate to this James Grover based on his subsequent affiliations with James Hubbard.
Grover was devoted to Anabaptist doctrine and clearly a follower of Lady Deborah Moody, who was expelled from Salem, Mass., for her Anabaptist beliefs (i.e., opposing infant baptism). Moody soonafter founded the English settlement of Gravesend, Long Island, in the New Netherland Colony, in Dec. 1645. On 20 Feb. 1646, James Grover was granted a house, lot, and farm of 20 acres in the first division of Gravesend lands (at that time a small settlement of about 100 colonists).
James continued his history of thinking and acting for himself. On 9 Mar. 1654/55, he, with George Baxter and James Hubbard (mentioned above), preferring English to Dutch rule, hoisted the British flag at Gravesend, declaring themselves subjects of the Republic of England. He managed to escape arrest for treason at that time. James was subsequently sent by the English colonists of Long Island on a mission to see Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, about their situation. He returned to Gravesend in 1657, bringing with him a letter from Cromwell addressed to the English inhabitants of Long Island, which he presented to the magistrates of Gravesend. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Amsterdam, had been informed of this communication and requested that James be sent to him with it. James prudently evaded this demand, leaving the letter with the magistrates, who presented it unopened to the Director General.
In 1663, he was accused of dissuading English settlers in Gravesend from volunteering to fight in the Dutch war against the Esopus Indians (thus making him even more of an enemy of the Dutch government). In Dec. 1663, he and several others met with Indians to assess possible lands for resettlement on the Navesink River (in what would later become East New Jersey), defying the Dutch government again. The following year (in October 1664), after the Dutch surrender of New Netherland to the English, James, along with William Goulding and John Bowne, was authorized by Richard Nicoll, the Duke of York's governor in New York, to treat with the Indian sachems (chiefs) at Navesink in New Jersey to purchase lands near the mouth of the river. He was one of the twelve "Monmouth Patentees" on 25 Mar. 1664/65 entrusted with the new settlement. On 21 Mar 1666/67, he sold his farm in Gravesend to Thomas Delavall and moved to (East) New Jersey. One of the first settlers of Middletown, NJ, he was deputised to survey the land into lots and received Lot No. 16 in this division.
He was the first Town Clerk of Middletown in 1667 and 1668. In July 1667, he was licensed to keep an ordinary (tavern) at Navesink by New Jersey Governor Philip Carteret. He is also credited with discovering bog iron on his land in the area of Middletown that would later become Tinton Falls, then called the Falls of Shrewsbury (at the boundary between Middletown and Shrewsbury), in 1667. He subsequently brought Henry and Samuel Leonard from New England to build an ironworks there for him and his close associates Richard Hartshorne and John Bowne. This was the first ironworks in New Jersey and the first south of New England. In 1674-75, the partners mortgaged the ironworks to Lewis Morris of Barbados and Cornelius Steenwyck. Morris returned to New Jersey and eventually took over complete ownership.
On 27 Feb 1667/68 James subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II of England and the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey: John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret. He and his son James were founders of the Baptist Church of Middletown in 1668. This was the first Baptist church in New Jersey, and the only one in America at that time outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In Oct.-Nov. 1668, James was one of the repudiated deputies of Middletown and Shrewsbury delegated to the First General Assembly of the Province held in Elizabeth-Town. The entry in the town minutes retroactively declaring his and John Bowne's election as invalid due to insufficient representation was recorded by James Grover himself. In General Assembly, Grover and Bowne had sworn oaths to the proprietors of New Jersey, thus acknowledging their governance and land rights (including the right to collect quitrents, i.e., property taxes from the residents of the Monmouth Patent). Grover and Bowne were in fact acting in accordance with advice from Gov. Nicoll in New York received in response to a petition from Grover and others in 1667. However, the landowners in Middletown and Shrewsbury continued to dispute the authority of the New Jersey Proprietors based on Nicoll's 1665 patent, which had exempted these settlers from property tax for seven years.
In 1668-1669, the town contracted with James for laying out meadow lots at Shoal Harbor (near Portland Point, later known as Atlantic Highlands). James was to receive one pound of merchantable blade tobacco for each acre surveyed. In Jan. 1669, James proposed to the town government that the flour mill property he had acquired be expanded to include 30 acres of upland and two acres of low ground on the north side of the mill pond in exchange for certain terms considered advantageous to the town. This was agreed to, the conditions including that James would mill the townspeople's corn before any from another town, and that he would provide meal of the quality found in New York.
James was commissioned a lieutenant of Middletown's company of foot soldiers starting in 1672 and through 1683. In 1673, he was employed as a millwright by New York's Governor Lovelace to erect a water mill on Staten Island. That year he was also chosen by Middletown, with John Bowne, to be a commissioner to consult on terms of surrender with the Dutch at Fort Orange, they having retaken New York and New Jersey. (The British retook this territory the following year.)
He was a grantee in the 1674 Indian deed for lands in the Monmouth Patent not previously legally acquired. He was commissioned justice of the peace and associate of the County Court by Gov. Carteret in 1675 and 1676, and recommissioned justice of the peace several times through 1683. In June 1676, Gov. Carteret granted tracts in Middletown to James referred to as "Grover's Inheritance," including: 330 acres on Swimming River; a triangular tract of 200 acres on Ramanesse Creek; another triangular tract of 25 acres on Navesink Bay; and six acres of swamp land at the head of Jumping River. Gov. Carteret granted James 517 acres in Middletown in June 1677. Shortly before his death, in Nov. 1685, James gave 197 acres of this tract--referred to as "Grover's New Invention"--to his youngest son, Safety Grover.
James Grover Sr. of Middletown, Monmouth Co., East New Jersey, made his will on 1 Dec. 1685. After bequeathing his soul to Almighty God and his body to the Earth, he directed that "all those debts and Duties as I owe in Right or Conscience to any man whatsoever, shall be well and truely contented and paid, in convenient time after my Decease." He devised his mansion house, mill, meadow and other lands to be divided in third parts to son James, son-in-law Benjamin Borden for the sake of his wife Abigail (James's daughter), and son-in-law Richard Gardiner for the sake of his wife Hannah (James's daughter). The remainder of the estate was to be divided between his five children: sons James, Joseph, and Safety, and daughters Abigail and Hannah. However, James's widow Rebecca was given possession of the entire estate for her support and maintenance during her widowhood. Son James and son-in-law Richard Gardiner were named co-executors. The will was proved 28 Jan. 1685/86. The estate account shows payment for James's funeral charges and fencing the grave on 28 Dec. 1685. It is presumed that he and he widow were laid to rest in a family burial ground on their property.
James's wife Rebecca is his only known wife and presumed to be the mother of the five children named in his will. If this was the case, they were probably married in Massachusetts or Gravesend, Long Island, in the 1640s. Known children (from estate and land records) are:
1. James Jr., b. by 1647 (if he was 21 when a founder of the Middletown Baptist Church in 1668), m. Alice ___--linked below;
2. Joseph, "second son," b. say 1652, m. Hannah Lawrence--linked below;
3. Abigail, b. 1654, m. Benjamin Borden--linked below;
4. Safety (son), b. 1657/1658 (based on age of 49 years given in 26 Apr. 1707 deposition), possibly m. Mercy ___; and
5. Hannah, b. say 1660, m. (1) Richard Gardiner and (2) William Winter--linked below
The Grover genealogy at Jack Mount's website includes two additional sons for James Grover Sr.: John (b. abt. 1640) and Josiah (b. abt. 1648). The source for this information is not known, and these children may be questionable. If they did exist, they must have died without issue (considering the father's will), and prior to 1679 when Joseph Grover was referred to as James Grover Sr.'s "second son" (see Joseph's memorial for further details).
NOTE: Online (secondary) sources suggest that James was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire--possibly in 1607, 1611, or 1623. The basis for birth in Chesham or connecting him to any of these birth dates is unknown and the information must be considered speculative/questionable at best.
Heartfelt thanks to Sue McDuffie for creating this memorial.
SOURCES: Primary sources for the information given above are too numerous to list in this context. However, all or most of the information can be gleaned from the following secondary sources (Stillwell being the most comprehensive):
Franklin Ellis. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 23, 62, 64, 68, 73, 74, 86, 87, 520-524, 527, 541, 543, 586-588, & 700.
William S. Horner. This Old Monmouth of Ours: History, Tradition, Biography, Genealogy, and other Anecdotes Related to Monmouth County, New Jersey (Freehold, NJ, 1932; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 180.
Norman H. Maring. Baptists in New Jersey: A Study in Transition (Valley Forge, 1964), p. 38, 39, 41, & 74.
Edwin Salter. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a Genealogical Record Of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their Descendants ... (Bayonne, 1890; reprinted Toms River, 1980), p. 16, 24-25, 30-35, & 360-362.
Edwin Salter and George C. Beekman. Old Times in Old Monmouth: Historical Reminiscences of Old Monmouth County, New Jersey, Being a Series of Historical Sketches relating to Old Monmouth County (now Monmouth and Ocean) (Freehold, 1887; reprinted Baltimore, 1980), p. 1, 2, 104-106, 165, 167, 198, 200, 201, 204-210, 216, 220, 227, 241, & 242.
John E. Stillwell, M.D. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants, Vol. III (New York, 1914; reprinted Baltimore, 1970), p. 246-258.
Grover was devoted to Anabaptist doctrine and clearly a follower of Lady Deborah Moody, who was expelled from Salem, Mass., for her Anabaptist beliefs (i.e., opposing infant baptism). Moody soonafter founded the English settlement of Gravesend, Long Island, in the New Netherland Colony, in Dec. 1645. On 20 Feb. 1646, James Grover was granted a house, lot, and farm of 20 acres in the first division of Gravesend lands (at that time a small settlement of about 100 colonists).
James continued his history of thinking and acting for himself. On 9 Mar. 1654/55, he, with George Baxter and James Hubbard (mentioned above), preferring English to Dutch rule, hoisted the British flag at Gravesend, declaring themselves subjects of the Republic of England. He managed to escape arrest for treason at that time. James was subsequently sent by the English colonists of Long Island on a mission to see Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, about their situation. He returned to Gravesend in 1657, bringing with him a letter from Cromwell addressed to the English inhabitants of Long Island, which he presented to the magistrates of Gravesend. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Amsterdam, had been informed of this communication and requested that James be sent to him with it. James prudently evaded this demand, leaving the letter with the magistrates, who presented it unopened to the Director General.
In 1663, he was accused of dissuading English settlers in Gravesend from volunteering to fight in the Dutch war against the Esopus Indians (thus making him even more of an enemy of the Dutch government). In Dec. 1663, he and several others met with Indians to assess possible lands for resettlement on the Navesink River (in what would later become East New Jersey), defying the Dutch government again. The following year (in October 1664), after the Dutch surrender of New Netherland to the English, James, along with William Goulding and John Bowne, was authorized by Richard Nicoll, the Duke of York's governor in New York, to treat with the Indian sachems (chiefs) at Navesink in New Jersey to purchase lands near the mouth of the river. He was one of the twelve "Monmouth Patentees" on 25 Mar. 1664/65 entrusted with the new settlement. On 21 Mar 1666/67, he sold his farm in Gravesend to Thomas Delavall and moved to (East) New Jersey. One of the first settlers of Middletown, NJ, he was deputised to survey the land into lots and received Lot No. 16 in this division.
He was the first Town Clerk of Middletown in 1667 and 1668. In July 1667, he was licensed to keep an ordinary (tavern) at Navesink by New Jersey Governor Philip Carteret. He is also credited with discovering bog iron on his land in the area of Middletown that would later become Tinton Falls, then called the Falls of Shrewsbury (at the boundary between Middletown and Shrewsbury), in 1667. He subsequently brought Henry and Samuel Leonard from New England to build an ironworks there for him and his close associates Richard Hartshorne and John Bowne. This was the first ironworks in New Jersey and the first south of New England. In 1674-75, the partners mortgaged the ironworks to Lewis Morris of Barbados and Cornelius Steenwyck. Morris returned to New Jersey and eventually took over complete ownership.
On 27 Feb 1667/68 James subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II of England and the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey: John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret. He and his son James were founders of the Baptist Church of Middletown in 1668. This was the first Baptist church in New Jersey, and the only one in America at that time outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In Oct.-Nov. 1668, James was one of the repudiated deputies of Middletown and Shrewsbury delegated to the First General Assembly of the Province held in Elizabeth-Town. The entry in the town minutes retroactively declaring his and John Bowne's election as invalid due to insufficient representation was recorded by James Grover himself. In General Assembly, Grover and Bowne had sworn oaths to the proprietors of New Jersey, thus acknowledging their governance and land rights (including the right to collect quitrents, i.e., property taxes from the residents of the Monmouth Patent). Grover and Bowne were in fact acting in accordance with advice from Gov. Nicoll in New York received in response to a petition from Grover and others in 1667. However, the landowners in Middletown and Shrewsbury continued to dispute the authority of the New Jersey Proprietors based on Nicoll's 1665 patent, which had exempted these settlers from property tax for seven years.
In 1668-1669, the town contracted with James for laying out meadow lots at Shoal Harbor (near Portland Point, later known as Atlantic Highlands). James was to receive one pound of merchantable blade tobacco for each acre surveyed. In Jan. 1669, James proposed to the town government that the flour mill property he had acquired be expanded to include 30 acres of upland and two acres of low ground on the north side of the mill pond in exchange for certain terms considered advantageous to the town. This was agreed to, the conditions including that James would mill the townspeople's corn before any from another town, and that he would provide meal of the quality found in New York.
James was commissioned a lieutenant of Middletown's company of foot soldiers starting in 1672 and through 1683. In 1673, he was employed as a millwright by New York's Governor Lovelace to erect a water mill on Staten Island. That year he was also chosen by Middletown, with John Bowne, to be a commissioner to consult on terms of surrender with the Dutch at Fort Orange, they having retaken New York and New Jersey. (The British retook this territory the following year.)
He was a grantee in the 1674 Indian deed for lands in the Monmouth Patent not previously legally acquired. He was commissioned justice of the peace and associate of the County Court by Gov. Carteret in 1675 and 1676, and recommissioned justice of the peace several times through 1683. In June 1676, Gov. Carteret granted tracts in Middletown to James referred to as "Grover's Inheritance," including: 330 acres on Swimming River; a triangular tract of 200 acres on Ramanesse Creek; another triangular tract of 25 acres on Navesink Bay; and six acres of swamp land at the head of Jumping River. Gov. Carteret granted James 517 acres in Middletown in June 1677. Shortly before his death, in Nov. 1685, James gave 197 acres of this tract--referred to as "Grover's New Invention"--to his youngest son, Safety Grover.
James Grover Sr. of Middletown, Monmouth Co., East New Jersey, made his will on 1 Dec. 1685. After bequeathing his soul to Almighty God and his body to the Earth, he directed that "all those debts and Duties as I owe in Right or Conscience to any man whatsoever, shall be well and truely contented and paid, in convenient time after my Decease." He devised his mansion house, mill, meadow and other lands to be divided in third parts to son James, son-in-law Benjamin Borden for the sake of his wife Abigail (James's daughter), and son-in-law Richard Gardiner for the sake of his wife Hannah (James's daughter). The remainder of the estate was to be divided between his five children: sons James, Joseph, and Safety, and daughters Abigail and Hannah. However, James's widow Rebecca was given possession of the entire estate for her support and maintenance during her widowhood. Son James and son-in-law Richard Gardiner were named co-executors. The will was proved 28 Jan. 1685/86. The estate account shows payment for James's funeral charges and fencing the grave on 28 Dec. 1685. It is presumed that he and he widow were laid to rest in a family burial ground on their property.
James's wife Rebecca is his only known wife and presumed to be the mother of the five children named in his will. If this was the case, they were probably married in Massachusetts or Gravesend, Long Island, in the 1640s. Known children (from estate and land records) are:
1. James Jr., b. by 1647 (if he was 21 when a founder of the Middletown Baptist Church in 1668), m. Alice ___--linked below;
2. Joseph, "second son," b. say 1652, m. Hannah Lawrence--linked below;
3. Abigail, b. 1654, m. Benjamin Borden--linked below;
4. Safety (son), b. 1657/1658 (based on age of 49 years given in 26 Apr. 1707 deposition), possibly m. Mercy ___; and
5. Hannah, b. say 1660, m. (1) Richard Gardiner and (2) William Winter--linked below
The Grover genealogy at Jack Mount's website includes two additional sons for James Grover Sr.: John (b. abt. 1640) and Josiah (b. abt. 1648). The source for this information is not known, and these children may be questionable. If they did exist, they must have died without issue (considering the father's will), and prior to 1679 when Joseph Grover was referred to as James Grover Sr.'s "second son" (see Joseph's memorial for further details).
NOTE: Online (secondary) sources suggest that James was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire--possibly in 1607, 1611, or 1623. The basis for birth in Chesham or connecting him to any of these birth dates is unknown and the information must be considered speculative/questionable at best.
Heartfelt thanks to Sue McDuffie for creating this memorial.
SOURCES: Primary sources for the information given above are too numerous to list in this context. However, all or most of the information can be gleaned from the following secondary sources (Stillwell being the most comprehensive):
Franklin Ellis. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 23, 62, 64, 68, 73, 74, 86, 87, 520-524, 527, 541, 543, 586-588, & 700.
William S. Horner. This Old Monmouth of Ours: History, Tradition, Biography, Genealogy, and other Anecdotes Related to Monmouth County, New Jersey (Freehold, NJ, 1932; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 180.
Norman H. Maring. Baptists in New Jersey: A Study in Transition (Valley Forge, 1964), p. 38, 39, 41, & 74.
Edwin Salter. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a Genealogical Record Of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their Descendants ... (Bayonne, 1890; reprinted Toms River, 1980), p. 16, 24-25, 30-35, & 360-362.
Edwin Salter and George C. Beekman. Old Times in Old Monmouth: Historical Reminiscences of Old Monmouth County, New Jersey, Being a Series of Historical Sketches relating to Old Monmouth County (now Monmouth and Ocean) (Freehold, 1887; reprinted Baltimore, 1980), p. 1, 2, 104-106, 165, 167, 198, 200, 201, 204-210, 216, 220, 227, 241, & 242.
John E. Stillwell, M.D. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants, Vol. III (New York, 1914; reprinted Baltimore, 1970), p. 246-258.
James's birth is "guesstimated" as 1620 based on his life events. Presumably he was born in England; however, this is not specifically documented. The earliest known documentation of James Grover (Sr.) comes from Lynn, Massachusetts, where on 27 Dec. 1642 as an apprenticed servant of James Hubbard, James Grover apprenticed himself to Edward Tomlins to learn the carpenter's trade. [See Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins , Vol. III (Boston, 1995), p. 1825.] The reference is presumed to relate to this James Grover based on his subsequent affiliations with James Hubbard.
Grover was devoted to Anabaptist doctrine and clearly a follower of Lady Deborah Moody, who was expelled from Salem, Mass., for her Anabaptist beliefs (i.e., opposing infant baptism). Moody soonafter founded the English settlement of Gravesend, Long Island, in the New Netherland Colony, in Dec. 1645. On 20 Feb. 1646, James Grover was granted a house, lot, and farm of 20 acres in the first division of Gravesend lands (at that time a small settlement of about 100 colonists).
James continued his history of thinking and acting for himself. On 9 Mar. 1654/55, he, with George Baxter and James Hubbard (mentioned above), preferring English to Dutch rule, hoisted the British flag at Gravesend, declaring themselves subjects of the Republic of England. He managed to escape arrest for treason at that time. James was subsequently sent by the English colonists of Long Island on a mission to see Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, about their situation. He returned to Gravesend in 1657, bringing with him a letter from Cromwell addressed to the English inhabitants of Long Island, which he presented to the magistrates of Gravesend. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Amsterdam, had been informed of this communication and requested that James be sent to him with it. James prudently evaded this demand, leaving the letter with the magistrates, who presented it unopened to the Director General.
In 1663, he was accused of dissuading English settlers in Gravesend from volunteering to fight in the Dutch war against the Esopus Indians (thus making him even more of an enemy of the Dutch government). In Dec. 1663, he and several others met with Indians to assess possible lands for resettlement on the Navesink River (in what would later become East New Jersey), defying the Dutch government again. The following year (in October 1664), after the Dutch surrender of New Netherland to the English, James, along with William Goulding and John Bowne, was authorized by Richard Nicoll, the Duke of York's governor in New York, to treat with the Indian sachems (chiefs) at Navesink in New Jersey to purchase lands near the mouth of the river. He was one of the twelve "Monmouth Patentees" on 25 Mar. 1664/65 entrusted with the new settlement. On 21 Mar 1666/67, he sold his farm in Gravesend to Thomas Delavall and moved to (East) New Jersey. One of the first settlers of Middletown, NJ, he was deputised to survey the land into lots and received Lot No. 16 in this division.
He was the first Town Clerk of Middletown in 1667 and 1668. In July 1667, he was licensed to keep an ordinary (tavern) at Navesink by New Jersey Governor Philip Carteret. He is also credited with discovering bog iron on his land in the area of Middletown that would later become Tinton Falls, then called the Falls of Shrewsbury (at the boundary between Middletown and Shrewsbury), in 1667. He subsequently brought Henry and Samuel Leonard from New England to build an ironworks there for him and his close associates Richard Hartshorne and John Bowne. This was the first ironworks in New Jersey and the first south of New England. In 1674-75, the partners mortgaged the ironworks to Lewis Morris of Barbados and Cornelius Steenwyck. Morris returned to New Jersey and eventually took over complete ownership.
On 27 Feb 1667/68 James subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II of England and the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey: John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret. He and his son James were founders of the Baptist Church of Middletown in 1668. This was the first Baptist church in New Jersey, and the only one in America at that time outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In Oct.-Nov. 1668, James was one of the repudiated deputies of Middletown and Shrewsbury delegated to the First General Assembly of the Province held in Elizabeth-Town. The entry in the town minutes retroactively declaring his and John Bowne's election as invalid due to insufficient representation was recorded by James Grover himself. In General Assembly, Grover and Bowne had sworn oaths to the proprietors of New Jersey, thus acknowledging their governance and land rights (including the right to collect quitrents, i.e., property taxes from the residents of the Monmouth Patent). Grover and Bowne were in fact acting in accordance with advice from Gov. Nicoll in New York received in response to a petition from Grover and others in 1667. However, the landowners in Middletown and Shrewsbury continued to dispute the authority of the New Jersey Proprietors based on Nicoll's 1665 patent, which had exempted these settlers from property tax for seven years.
In 1668-1669, the town contracted with James for laying out meadow lots at Shoal Harbor (near Portland Point, later known as Atlantic Highlands). James was to receive one pound of merchantable blade tobacco for each acre surveyed. In Jan. 1669, James proposed to the town government that the flour mill property he had acquired be expanded to include 30 acres of upland and two acres of low ground on the north side of the mill pond in exchange for certain terms considered advantageous to the town. This was agreed to, the conditions including that James would mill the townspeople's corn before any from another town, and that he would provide meal of the quality found in New York.
James was commissioned a lieutenant of Middletown's company of foot soldiers starting in 1672 and through 1683. In 1673, he was employed as a millwright by New York's Governor Lovelace to erect a water mill on Staten Island. That year he was also chosen by Middletown, with John Bowne, to be a commissioner to consult on terms of surrender with the Dutch at Fort Orange, they having retaken New York and New Jersey. (The British retook this territory the following year.)
He was a grantee in the 1674 Indian deed for lands in the Monmouth Patent not previously legally acquired. He was commissioned justice of the peace and associate of the County Court by Gov. Carteret in 1675 and 1676, and recommissioned justice of the peace several times through 1683. In June 1676, Gov. Carteret granted tracts in Middletown to James referred to as "Grover's Inheritance," including: 330 acres on Swimming River; a triangular tract of 200 acres on Ramanesse Creek; another triangular tract of 25 acres on Navesink Bay; and six acres of swamp land at the head of Jumping River. Gov. Carteret granted James 517 acres in Middletown in June 1677. Shortly before his death, in Nov. 1685, James gave 197 acres of this tract--referred to as "Grover's New Invention"--to his youngest son, Safety Grover.
James Grover Sr. of Middletown, Monmouth Co., East New Jersey, made his will on 1 Dec. 1685. After bequeathing his soul to Almighty God and his body to the Earth, he directed that "all those debts and Duties as I owe in Right or Conscience to any man whatsoever, shall be well and truely contented and paid, in convenient time after my Decease." He devised his mansion house, mill, meadow and other lands to be divided in third parts to son James, son-in-law Benjamin Borden for the sake of his wife Abigail (James's daughter), and son-in-law Richard Gardiner for the sake of his wife Hannah (James's daughter). The remainder of the estate was to be divided between his five children: sons James, Joseph, and Safety, and daughters Abigail and Hannah. However, James's widow Rebecca was given possession of the entire estate for her support and maintenance during her widowhood. Son James and son-in-law Richard Gardiner were named co-executors. The will was proved 28 Jan. 1685/86. The estate account shows payment for James's funeral charges and fencing the grave on 28 Dec. 1685. It is presumed that he and he widow were laid to rest in a family burial ground on their property.
James's wife Rebecca is his only known wife and presumed to be the mother of the five children named in his will. If this was the case, they were probably married in Massachusetts or Gravesend, Long Island, in the 1640s. Known children (from estate and land records) are:
1. James Jr., b. by 1647 (if he was 21 when a founder of the Middletown Baptist Church in 1668), m. Alice ___--linked below;
2. Joseph, "second son," b. say 1652, m. Hannah Lawrence--linked below;
3. Abigail, b. 1654, m. Benjamin Borden--linked below;
4. Safety (son), b. 1657/1658 (based on age of 49 years given in 26 Apr. 1707 deposition), possibly m. Mercy ___; and
5. Hannah, b. say 1660, m. (1) Richard Gardiner and (2) William Winter--linked below
The Grover genealogy at Jack Mount's website includes two additional sons for James Grover Sr.: John (b. abt. 1640) and Josiah (b. abt. 1648). The source for this information is not known, and these children may be questionable. If they did exist, they must have died without issue (considering the father's will), and prior to 1679 when Joseph Grover was referred to as James Grover Sr.'s "second son" (see Joseph's memorial for further details).
NOTE: Online (secondary) sources suggest that James was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire--possibly in 1607, 1611, or 1623. The basis for birth in Chesham or connecting him to any of these birth dates is unknown and the information must be considered speculative/questionable at best.
Heartfelt thanks to Sue McDuffie for creating this memorial.
SOURCES: Primary sources for the information given above are too numerous to list in this context. However, all or most of the information can be gleaned from the following secondary sources (Stillwell being the most comprehensive):
Franklin Ellis. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 23, 62, 64, 68, 73, 74, 86, 87, 520-524, 527, 541, 543, 586-588, & 700.
William S. Horner. This Old Monmouth of Ours: History, Tradition, Biography, Genealogy, and other Anecdotes Related to Monmouth County, New Jersey (Freehold, NJ, 1932; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 180.
Norman H. Maring. Baptists in New Jersey: A Study in Transition (Valley Forge, 1964), p. 38, 39, 41, & 74.
Edwin Salter. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a Genealogical Record Of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their Descendants ... (Bayonne, 1890; reprinted Toms River, 1980), p. 16, 24-25, 30-35, & 360-362.
Edwin Salter and George C. Beekman. Old Times in Old Monmouth: Historical Reminiscences of Old Monmouth County, New Jersey, Being a Series of Historical Sketches relating to Old Monmouth County (now Monmouth and Ocean) (Freehold, 1887; reprinted Baltimore, 1980), p. 1, 2, 104-106, 165, 167, 198, 200, 201, 204-210, 216, 220, 227, 241, & 242.
John E. Stillwell, M.D. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants, Vol. III (New York, 1914; reprinted Baltimore, 1970), p. 246-258.
Grover was devoted to Anabaptist doctrine and clearly a follower of Lady Deborah Moody, who was expelled from Salem, Mass., for her Anabaptist beliefs (i.e., opposing infant baptism). Moody soonafter founded the English settlement of Gravesend, Long Island, in the New Netherland Colony, in Dec. 1645. On 20 Feb. 1646, James Grover was granted a house, lot, and farm of 20 acres in the first division of Gravesend lands (at that time a small settlement of about 100 colonists).
James continued his history of thinking and acting for himself. On 9 Mar. 1654/55, he, with George Baxter and James Hubbard (mentioned above), preferring English to Dutch rule, hoisted the British flag at Gravesend, declaring themselves subjects of the Republic of England. He managed to escape arrest for treason at that time. James was subsequently sent by the English colonists of Long Island on a mission to see Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, about their situation. He returned to Gravesend in 1657, bringing with him a letter from Cromwell addressed to the English inhabitants of Long Island, which he presented to the magistrates of Gravesend. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Amsterdam, had been informed of this communication and requested that James be sent to him with it. James prudently evaded this demand, leaving the letter with the magistrates, who presented it unopened to the Director General.
In 1663, he was accused of dissuading English settlers in Gravesend from volunteering to fight in the Dutch war against the Esopus Indians (thus making him even more of an enemy of the Dutch government). In Dec. 1663, he and several others met with Indians to assess possible lands for resettlement on the Navesink River (in what would later become East New Jersey), defying the Dutch government again. The following year (in October 1664), after the Dutch surrender of New Netherland to the English, James, along with William Goulding and John Bowne, was authorized by Richard Nicoll, the Duke of York's governor in New York, to treat with the Indian sachems (chiefs) at Navesink in New Jersey to purchase lands near the mouth of the river. He was one of the twelve "Monmouth Patentees" on 25 Mar. 1664/65 entrusted with the new settlement. On 21 Mar 1666/67, he sold his farm in Gravesend to Thomas Delavall and moved to (East) New Jersey. One of the first settlers of Middletown, NJ, he was deputised to survey the land into lots and received Lot No. 16 in this division.
He was the first Town Clerk of Middletown in 1667 and 1668. In July 1667, he was licensed to keep an ordinary (tavern) at Navesink by New Jersey Governor Philip Carteret. He is also credited with discovering bog iron on his land in the area of Middletown that would later become Tinton Falls, then called the Falls of Shrewsbury (at the boundary between Middletown and Shrewsbury), in 1667. He subsequently brought Henry and Samuel Leonard from New England to build an ironworks there for him and his close associates Richard Hartshorne and John Bowne. This was the first ironworks in New Jersey and the first south of New England. In 1674-75, the partners mortgaged the ironworks to Lewis Morris of Barbados and Cornelius Steenwyck. Morris returned to New Jersey and eventually took over complete ownership.
On 27 Feb 1667/68 James subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II of England and the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey: John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret. He and his son James were founders of the Baptist Church of Middletown in 1668. This was the first Baptist church in New Jersey, and the only one in America at that time outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In Oct.-Nov. 1668, James was one of the repudiated deputies of Middletown and Shrewsbury delegated to the First General Assembly of the Province held in Elizabeth-Town. The entry in the town minutes retroactively declaring his and John Bowne's election as invalid due to insufficient representation was recorded by James Grover himself. In General Assembly, Grover and Bowne had sworn oaths to the proprietors of New Jersey, thus acknowledging their governance and land rights (including the right to collect quitrents, i.e., property taxes from the residents of the Monmouth Patent). Grover and Bowne were in fact acting in accordance with advice from Gov. Nicoll in New York received in response to a petition from Grover and others in 1667. However, the landowners in Middletown and Shrewsbury continued to dispute the authority of the New Jersey Proprietors based on Nicoll's 1665 patent, which had exempted these settlers from property tax for seven years.
In 1668-1669, the town contracted with James for laying out meadow lots at Shoal Harbor (near Portland Point, later known as Atlantic Highlands). James was to receive one pound of merchantable blade tobacco for each acre surveyed. In Jan. 1669, James proposed to the town government that the flour mill property he had acquired be expanded to include 30 acres of upland and two acres of low ground on the north side of the mill pond in exchange for certain terms considered advantageous to the town. This was agreed to, the conditions including that James would mill the townspeople's corn before any from another town, and that he would provide meal of the quality found in New York.
James was commissioned a lieutenant of Middletown's company of foot soldiers starting in 1672 and through 1683. In 1673, he was employed as a millwright by New York's Governor Lovelace to erect a water mill on Staten Island. That year he was also chosen by Middletown, with John Bowne, to be a commissioner to consult on terms of surrender with the Dutch at Fort Orange, they having retaken New York and New Jersey. (The British retook this territory the following year.)
He was a grantee in the 1674 Indian deed for lands in the Monmouth Patent not previously legally acquired. He was commissioned justice of the peace and associate of the County Court by Gov. Carteret in 1675 and 1676, and recommissioned justice of the peace several times through 1683. In June 1676, Gov. Carteret granted tracts in Middletown to James referred to as "Grover's Inheritance," including: 330 acres on Swimming River; a triangular tract of 200 acres on Ramanesse Creek; another triangular tract of 25 acres on Navesink Bay; and six acres of swamp land at the head of Jumping River. Gov. Carteret granted James 517 acres in Middletown in June 1677. Shortly before his death, in Nov. 1685, James gave 197 acres of this tract--referred to as "Grover's New Invention"--to his youngest son, Safety Grover.
James Grover Sr. of Middletown, Monmouth Co., East New Jersey, made his will on 1 Dec. 1685. After bequeathing his soul to Almighty God and his body to the Earth, he directed that "all those debts and Duties as I owe in Right or Conscience to any man whatsoever, shall be well and truely contented and paid, in convenient time after my Decease." He devised his mansion house, mill, meadow and other lands to be divided in third parts to son James, son-in-law Benjamin Borden for the sake of his wife Abigail (James's daughter), and son-in-law Richard Gardiner for the sake of his wife Hannah (James's daughter). The remainder of the estate was to be divided between his five children: sons James, Joseph, and Safety, and daughters Abigail and Hannah. However, James's widow Rebecca was given possession of the entire estate for her support and maintenance during her widowhood. Son James and son-in-law Richard Gardiner were named co-executors. The will was proved 28 Jan. 1685/86. The estate account shows payment for James's funeral charges and fencing the grave on 28 Dec. 1685. It is presumed that he and he widow were laid to rest in a family burial ground on their property.
James's wife Rebecca is his only known wife and presumed to be the mother of the five children named in his will. If this was the case, they were probably married in Massachusetts or Gravesend, Long Island, in the 1640s. Known children (from estate and land records) are:
1. James Jr., b. by 1647 (if he was 21 when a founder of the Middletown Baptist Church in 1668), m. Alice ___--linked below;
2. Joseph, "second son," b. say 1652, m. Hannah Lawrence--linked below;
3. Abigail, b. 1654, m. Benjamin Borden--linked below;
4. Safety (son), b. 1657/1658 (based on age of 49 years given in 26 Apr. 1707 deposition), possibly m. Mercy ___; and
5. Hannah, b. say 1660, m. (1) Richard Gardiner and (2) William Winter--linked below
The Grover genealogy at Jack Mount's website includes two additional sons for James Grover Sr.: John (b. abt. 1640) and Josiah (b. abt. 1648). The source for this information is not known, and these children may be questionable. If they did exist, they must have died without issue (considering the father's will), and prior to 1679 when Joseph Grover was referred to as James Grover Sr.'s "second son" (see Joseph's memorial for further details).
NOTE: Online (secondary) sources suggest that James was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire--possibly in 1607, 1611, or 1623. The basis for birth in Chesham or connecting him to any of these birth dates is unknown and the information must be considered speculative/questionable at best.
Heartfelt thanks to Sue McDuffie for creating this memorial.
SOURCES: Primary sources for the information given above are too numerous to list in this context. However, all or most of the information can be gleaned from the following secondary sources (Stillwell being the most comprehensive):
Franklin Ellis. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 23, 62, 64, 68, 73, 74, 86, 87, 520-524, 527, 541, 543, 586-588, & 700.
William S. Horner. This Old Monmouth of Ours: History, Tradition, Biography, Genealogy, and other Anecdotes Related to Monmouth County, New Jersey (Freehold, NJ, 1932; reprinted Cottonport, LA, 1974), p. 180.
Norman H. Maring. Baptists in New Jersey: A Study in Transition (Valley Forge, 1964), p. 38, 39, 41, & 74.
Edwin Salter. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, embracing a Genealogical Record Of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their Descendants ... (Bayonne, 1890; reprinted Toms River, 1980), p. 16, 24-25, 30-35, & 360-362.
Edwin Salter and George C. Beekman. Old Times in Old Monmouth: Historical Reminiscences of Old Monmouth County, New Jersey, Being a Series of Historical Sketches relating to Old Monmouth County (now Monmouth and Ocean) (Freehold, 1887; reprinted Baltimore, 1980), p. 1, 2, 104-106, 165, 167, 198, 200, 201, 204-210, 216, 220, 227, 241, & 242.
John E. Stillwell, M.D. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants, Vol. III (New York, 1914; reprinted Baltimore, 1970), p. 246-258.
