Harrison Genealogy Repository

Notes

Jasper may have died in 1713, not 12

The first Church of Newark was founded in 1667, and a building

erected, about 1714 or 1716, a second meeting-house was built, and the

third erected about 1787 to 1791. The people of Orange, Bloomfield and

Montclair communed with the Newark Church until about 1716. In fact,

for considerably more than a hundred years after the founding of

Newark the crest of the first mountain was the western boundary of the

town, and until the year 1806 the town of Newark was divided into

three wards: Newark Ward, Orange Ward, and Bloomfield Ward. That year

Orange became a separate town, and six years later Bloomfield Ward

became the town of Bloomfield. This part of Newark took in the

territory from the Passaic on the east to the crest of the first

mountain on the west, and as this section was so thoroughly occupied

by the descendants of Jasper Crane it was early called Cranetown.

Jasper Crane, Sr. was one of the purchasers of the 'Kingsland Farms,'

an immense estate near Newark, now known as Belleville. The exact date

that Jasper senior took his leave of Branford has not been definitely

fixed. In the spring of 1666, the people of Branford, becoming

dissatisfied about the union of the New Haven and Connecticut

Colonies, and particularly on account of granting the right of

suffrage to the inhabitants not members of the church, resolved at

once to remove to New Jersey, as agents, who had been sent thither,

came back bringing favorable reports of the new country. In October,

after adopting a code of laws for their government, Mr. Pierson with a

portion of his congregation left Branford for their future home,

Newark, NJ. Jasper senior although one of the original twenty-three

who signed the first contract in 1665, still was active in public

affairs in Branford, holding the office of assistant magistrate in

1666 and 1667. But in Jan. 30, 1667, he headed the list of signers to

a new covenant and disposing of his property at Branford that year

took up his permanent home at Newark and became very prominent in all

transactions of the town, especially during the first fourteen years

of its growth and development. He was the first president of the town

court, and first on the list of deputies to the General Assembly of

New Jersey for several years. At the drawing of Home Lots, Feb. 6,

1667, Lot 49 fell to the senior Jasper Crane, No. 40 to Deliverance

Crane, and No. 62 to John Crane, they being his two eldest sons. At a

town meeting of Newark, held January, 1668, Jasper Crane, with Robert

Treat, were chosen magistrates for the year ensuing, and also deputies

or burgesses for the General Assembly for the same year. This Robert

Treat was the first recorder or town clerk for Newark, and was

exceedingly prominent in all public matters while he remained in the

settlement. But in 1671 he returned to Connecticut, where he was held

in high esteem, and for several years was Governor of that Colony,

proving a faithful and conscientious worker for the interest of the

inhabitants under his charge. From January, 1668, until his death,

Jasper Crane senior was given a prominent part to perform in the

settlement of Newark. May 20, 1668, he as one of a committee signed an

agreement fixing the dividing line between Newark Town and Elizabeth

Town. July 28, 1669, he with Robert Treat was chosen by the town to

take first opportunity 'to go to 'York' to advise with Col. Lovelace

concerning our standing. Whether we are designed to be a part of the

Duke's Colony or not, and about the Neck, and liberty of purchasing

lands up the river, that the Town would petition for.' Re-elected

magistrate January, 1669, 'and Deputy to the General Assembly if there

shall be any.' He with Robert Treat were chosen to be moderators of

town meetings for the year ensuing. Jan. 2, 1670, again chosen

magistrate and deputy, serving in latter capacity annually until 1674,

and at the town meeting Feb. 20, it was voted that the governor be

requested to confirm Jasper Crane and Robert Treat magistrates or

justices of the peace. The same honors were conferred in 1671, and in

addition it was voted Jan. 22, 1671, that 'every man should bring his

half bushel to Henry Lyon & Joseph Waters and have it tried and sealed

when made fit with Mr. Crane's, which for the present is the

standard.' Mr. Crane was also one of a committee to see to burning the

woods for a year. May 13, 1672, Mr. Crane and Lieut. Swain were chosen

representatives for the town to consult with other representatives of

the country to order matters for the safety for the country. June 17,

1672, Mr. Crane was again chosen magistrate, and also chosen

'President of the Quarterly Court to be held in Newark to begin

September next.' He was also given 'liberty to sell liquors in the

town till the country order alter it.' At a town meeting July 1, 1673,

Mr. Crane was chosen to serve on a committee, with Mr. Bond, Mr.

Swain, Mr. Kitchell and Mr. Lyon, to consider with messengers from

other towns about sending a petition to the Lords Proprietors in

England for the removal of grievances; and July 5th the town agreed to

pay for sending the messenger to England, as the above committee had

agreed with Mr. Delevall about money to cover that expense. August 4th

the town chose Mr. Crane, Mr. Bond, Lieut. Swain and Sergeant John

Ward deputies to treat with the generals about having a privileged

county between the two rivers Passaic and Araritine. August 12 again

chosen magistrate; September 6th, on committee to try and secure the

'Neck' to add to the possessions of Newark; and September 16th

instructed by the town to 'treat with the generals, and, if they can,

to buy it.' It would seem the committee were successful, for October

25th Mr. Crane, Mr. Molyns and Mr. Hopkins were chosen to look after

the confirmation of the purchase of the Neck and sue for further

easement in respect to pay. November 17th Capt. Swain and Mr. Crane

were chosen to continue the trade for the Neck. The following year

(June 29, 1674) the town voted to have Mr. Crane and Mr. Pierson, Jr.,

carry the petition and present it to the Governor and Council at North

Orange to 'obtain confirmation of their bought and paid for lands.'

August 10, 1674, was again chosen magistrate. Mr. Crane was now

becoming quite advanced in years, and the important and exacting

services required of him by the town must have proved a heavy tax upon

his strength, for he now dropped out of political office, while his

sons, John, Azariah and Jasper, Jr. began to work in. Feb. 19, 1678-9,

it having been discovered that many of the settlers had taken up lands

contrary to a town agreement, Mr. Crane stated at a town meeting that

he would lay down all lands so taken if others would, and March 10th

following he was chosen, with Robert Dalglesh and Jasper Crane, Jr.,

to lay out Samuel Potter's lot again. This entry, so far as the public

records of Newark shows, closes the public life of the senior Jasper

Crane. If we may judge from the entries upon the Newark Town Records

we should say that, next to Robert Treat, Jasper Crane was the most

prominent figure in the early settlement of that town. After Treat

returned to Connecticut, Jasper Crane's name came first in the filling

by popular vote the highest and most responsible positions of public

trust in the settlement. That he held the confidence of the people is

clearly manifested by their returning him annually for so many years,

and until the infirmities of age unfitted him for further public

service. But the family name and traits of character were appreciated,

for no sooner than the name of Jasper senior disappears from the

proceedings of the town meetings than the names of John, Azariah and

Jasper, Jr., are brought into recognition. The patents for land in

Newark to Jasper Crane, Aug. 25, 1675, covering one hundred and

sixty-eight acres, are as follows: 'House lot 14 acres, 17 a. his

first division on great Neck, 11 a. in part for his second division on

said Neck, 6 a. on said Neck, 4 a. at bottom of the Neck, 20 a. for

his second division by Two Mile Brook, 26 a. his third division by

head of Mile Brook, 20 a. for his third division at the head of the

branch of Second River, 14 a. of meadow for his first division at

Great Island, 12 a. of meadow for his second division by the Great

Pond, 14 a. for proportion of bogs, 5 a. of meadow near the Great

Island, 1 a. of meadow at Beef Point, 4 a. of meadow near Wheeler's

Point, yielding 1/2 penny lawful money of England, or in such pay as

the country doth produce at merchants' price, for every one of the

said acres, the first payment to begin the 25th of March, which was in

the year 1670.' These lands were taken up and occupied some time prior

to date of the patents. Another warrant seems to have been issued to

Jasper Crane, May 1, 1675, for 103 acres of land in Newark. At a town

meeting held Aug. 24, 1670, an agreement was made with Mr. Robert

Treat and Sergt. Richard Harrison to build and maintain a sufficient

corn-mill upon the brook called Mill Brook. They were given sole

privilege of this brook, with all the town grists, and all stone

within the town limits suitable for millstones, with all the timber

that was prepared by Joseph Horton for the mill, and two days' work of

every man and woman that holds an allotment in the town, with all the

lands formerly granted to Joseph Horton. They were to hold this land

as their own so long as they held and maintained the mill, and not to

dispose of the mill without consent of the town. The town was also to

give thirty pounds in good wheat, pork, beef, or one-fourth in good

Indian corn, at such prices as would enable them to exchange it for or

procure iron, millstones, or the workman's wages, &c.: Winter wheat 5

shillings per bushel; summer wheat 4s. 5d.; pork 3d. per lb.; beef

2d.; Indian corn 2s. 6d. per bushel. As Mr. Treat was to return to

Connecticut, Jasper Crane assumed his portion of the contract. From

Jasper Crane we have a large number of descendants -- one branch of

them located westward of Newark, and five or six miles distant,

calling the lace Cranetown. Some of his descendants located four miles

southward of Newark, at a place called Elizabeth Town. Among those who

settled here was Stephen Crane, who there is good reason to believe

was an elder son of Jasper, born in England about 1630. From these

points members of the family pressed their way further westward,

crossing the Passaic River, settling Morris County. They were all

remarkable for frugality, honesty and piety, and were mostly

Presbyterians. It has been said by one, not a member of the family,

'no more respectable people, no better citizens, are found in our

communities than those who bear Crane blood in them.' Oct. 30, 1666,

at a meeting in Branford, Conn., the preliminary agreement outlining

the conduct of the proposed new settlement upon the 'Passiack River in

the Province of New Jersey' was signed by many Branford people, among

them Jasper Crane senior and his sons John and Delivered.* These three

names appear among the first proprietors of the town of Newark, and at

the town meeting held Feb. 6, 1667, Mr. Jasper Crane, John and

Deliverance* appear to have been present. Thenceforth for more than a

century the name of Crane occupied a conspicuous place in the annals

of the town, and scarcely a town meeting was held during a period of

one hundred years that there was not a Crane chosen to fill some town

office, and it was not unusual to elect to public positions several of

the name at one meeting. But March 13, 1759, the family seemed to have

reached the zenith of its popularity, for at that meeting by vote of

the town eight different offices were filled by Cranes. As it appears,

however, that John Crane was chosen collector and John Crane to serve

on a committee to settle a line in the parsonage land, it may have

required but seven Cranes to fill the eight positions; so that the

election held this day exceeded but a trifle that held March 12, 1754,

when six Cranes were elected to fill seven public positions. Their

names were: John, for collector; Timothy and Ezekiel, surveyors of

Highways; Elijah and William, overseers of the poor; John, clerk of

strays; Noah, on committee to settle the line between the towns of

Newark and Elizabethtown. Jasper Crane's will, dated 1678, named

children John, Azariah, Jasper and Hannah Huntington, and

granddaughter Hannah Huntington; John to have his 'silver bole.' Mr.

Crane was probably born about 1605, and died 1681, his will having

been proved that year, and names wife Alice. E-Mail from BEVERLY

CRIFASI to ELSIE SAVELL (Fidonet Crane Family Wiz) Subj: Re: Crane

History Speaking of books with a new slant - here's the information on

that book we spoke about the other night. It consists of sermons by

John Flavel 'to Christian readers in the town of Dartmouth [England]'

and was published some time subsequent to the only dated sermon I

could spot, which is March 14, 1671. The title page is missing, but

the cover and construction are clearly of that vintage. In addition, I

compared it (side by side) with a 17th century history of English

kings owned by my BALDWIN ancestors (but not, I'm sure, since the

1600's) and the similarities in style (format, size, fonts, etc.) The

owner, a CRANE, knows for a fact that it was owned at least from the

lifetime of a CRANE gr grandfather b 1844. The current owner does not

know how long it had been in the family before that CRANE obtained it,

but believes that it had been in the family from before 1844. This

branch of CRANEs is known to have been very conscious of their family

history and extremely active in preserving local history, so it is not

inconceivable that this book could have been owned by CRANEs in the

lifetime of Jasper or Azariah. What a nice fantasy! The owner agrees,

but notes that Jasper had returned to England after the founding of

Newark, so he 'could' have owned it. Supposedly Flavel was a Puritan,

and the fact that he intended the sermons for readers in a particular

town may be helpful. I'll see what I can find out this week in NYC,

Elizabeth and Newark. The hour was late, so we agreed to get together

this weekend and carefully look at it for margin notes and such. I

will also photograph the publication information- perhaps this too

will yield a clue about Jasper. This book seems like a natural for

microfilming, even if it yields nothing about Jasper. Coincidentally,

I had spent the day yesterday with people from the Montclair

Historical Society (they own the Israel Crane House) investigating

grants. One member of our group recalls using a microfilm of 'early NJ

books that no longer exist' to study Puritan sermons and other works.

That sounds like another possibility, although I doubt Puritan sermons

were as anecdotal as the ones given today! Regards - Bev E-Mail from:

BARBARA PETTY to: ELSIE SAVELL (Fidonet Crane Family Wiz) Subj: Crane

- Iron Hi Elsie. I was just reading a book about the iron industry in

colonial New England and something made me think of you. This book is

called 'Ironworks on the Saugus' by E.N. Hartley (1957). In Chapter 13

'Heirs of Hammersmith' (the Saugus works being named Hammersmith for

one in England), it discusses the various other attempts to establish

works in New England after the general failure of the ones at Saugus

and Braintree. It seems that John Winthrop Jr. was very interested in

the business and attempted a works between New Haven and Branford

Conn. This too didn't exactly go over with flying colors and it was

found that rich prospects were found in New Jersey and a works opened

there at Tinton Falls, near the present town of Red Bank, Monmouth Co,

but in its day within the limits of Shrewsbury, a town settled by

Connecticut people about 1664 and the works seemed to be on the land

of Col. Lewis Morris (perhaps the man for whom Morris co. N.J. was

named??) Now to get to the point, I'll quote a couple of passages from

this chapter for you: (this is discussing the New Haven venture by

Winthrop) - pp. 282-5 Trouble would probably have arisen had there

been one town making the appropriate grants, and one town 'bloc' of

presumably small shareholders. The fact that there were two of each

more than doubled the potential. And Winthrop, one might almost say,

characteristically, had rushed into construction under a thoroughly

murky legal title. By December, 1655, the dam, built at least in part

by the labor contributions of the townsfolk, was fourteen feet high,

major expenditures were being made, and it was not established whether

the plant site belonged to New Haven, to Branford, to the investors in

the two towns, or to Winthrop! .....(some omitted here) The product of

negotiations toward this end was a pair of documents signed in

February, 1656. In the first, Stephen GOODYEAR, apparently on his own,

and JASPER CRANE and John COOPER, presumably as agents of the

investors of Branford and New Haven, respectively, agreed to finish

the furnace at their own cost. Winthrop was to be allowed a quarter

interest in return for his 'discovery,' his securing of privileges and

immunities, and his promotional costs. .....(more ommitted here) If

caution continued to reign among the ultra-Puritans of New Haven, the

two newcomers (Wm. PAINE and Thomas CLARKE [Boston merchants]) were

tending strongly in the opposite direction. From a letter which Paine

and Clarke wrote Winthrop asking him, as true owner, to support the

efforts which JASPER CRANE, at their suggestion, was making to get

additional grants and clarification of old ones from Branford and New

Haven, we can tell at least what they wanted. ....(more ommitted)

Crane's persuasiveness seems to have worked at Branford; at least,

that town made additional grants to the ironworks in the spring of

1658. It is doubtful if New Haven saw fit to extend, now, and to

outsiders, more than it had been willing to offer Winthrop when it was

bending every effort to persuade him to settle there. Those are (I

think) the only mentions of the name Jasper Crane in these pages,

however, since he seemed to be involved with the iron works in Conn. I

wonder if it may be inferred that he also had something to do with the

developing iron industry in New Jersey? Just thought I'd let you know

about this. Seems I've seen you mention that you would like to know

what brought him to New Jersey? Don't know if he might have been

involved at all with the Tinton works but there is referenced an

article 'Tinton Manor: the Iron Works,' by Dean Freiday, in N.J. Hist.

Soc. Proc., LXX (1952), 250-61. There are also supposed to be some

papers at Rutgers Univ. on Tinton. Also I'm positive that you're aware

of the genealogy on the Crane family which is available from the

circulating library of the New England Hist. and Gen. Soc. Vol. 2:

Descendants of Benjamin Crane of Wethersfield, Connecticut, John Crane

of Coventry, Connecticut. Also of Jasper Crane of New Haven,

Connecticut and Newark, New Jersey and Stephen Crane of Elizabethtown,

New Jersey with Families of the Name in New Hampshire, Maryland and

Virginia. Don't quote me on this, but it seems that somewhere recently

I've read that Newark, NJ was a part of Litchfield Conn. at one time.

This book seems to also indicate that apparently the Tinton works

doesn't have very detailed information left to historians. Apparently

the iron works people were not the best business men and the most

fastidious record keepers. I'm also trying to learn more about my

husband's ancestor John COBB and fam. of New Jersey. He was involved

in the iron works industry in NJ also. He came from Taunton Mass

(another not overly unsuccessful N.E. iron venture). My ancestors the

JENCKES, of Hammersmith and Providence RI are the reason I bought this

book to begin with. Usually when these ventures were started, certain

immunities were granted such as no taxes or military service required.

Guess that makes it even more difficult to trace ancestors involved

with them? They were a litigious bunch though, so court records might

prove revealing. Your many postings on the Crane name made me think

immediately of you. Persistence may pay off after all. Hope this is a

help. Barb