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walkitoutAnyone who can identify this location definitively gets (like, on a map with supporting documentation including an explanation of when it became and ceased to be a Township) a prize. If you think you can do this but you want to negotiate the prize in advance, contact me in the comments or by email.
I am totally serious.
Here's why.
In 1830, one John Hamlin in Delaware City in Delaware County in Ohio filed a Declaration for Pension (which you can view on Heritage Quest: just look up John Hamlin or Hamlen of New Jersey; it's a pay service, but a lot of libraries pay for access to it and you may be able to get it using your library barcode number/PIN and your library's website) based on his service in the Revolutionary War. In this Declaration, he says he was born in 1759 and lived in at the time of the Revolutionary War Huntington Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The Declaration also states that he has memory problems, does not know anyone who can vouch for his service at that time or in that place and has no supporting documentation for that service (he got the pension anyway, until he died 9 years later).
I _think_ this is what happened. I think John Hamlin hadn't lived there for decades, and he was a young man at the time. He might have gotten the name slightly off as an old man, the clerk might have heard it wrong, or both. In the past, I speculated that maybe he meant Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, but the supporting claims about militia service are all _clearly_ in New Jersey. I have also wondered if he said _Hunterdon_, which is a place in New Jersey. Certainly it is possible to find Hamlins in Sussex and Hunterdon (and other) counties in New Jersey in this time frame.
But I'm stuck with this 1830 document, which compels me to thoroughly explore the possibility of a Huntington Township that existed once and is now gone.
Any takers? I've already sent email to H.S. at Sussex County library and am awaiting a reply so please do not inundate her with repeat queries.
I am totally serious.
Here's why.
In 1830, one John Hamlin in Delaware City in Delaware County in Ohio filed a Declaration for Pension (which you can view on Heritage Quest: just look up John Hamlin or Hamlen of New Jersey; it's a pay service, but a lot of libraries pay for access to it and you may be able to get it using your library barcode number/PIN and your library's website) based on his service in the Revolutionary War. In this Declaration, he says he was born in 1759 and lived in at the time of the Revolutionary War Huntington Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The Declaration also states that he has memory problems, does not know anyone who can vouch for his service at that time or in that place and has no supporting documentation for that service (he got the pension anyway, until he died 9 years later).
I _think_ this is what happened. I think John Hamlin hadn't lived there for decades, and he was a young man at the time. He might have gotten the name slightly off as an old man, the clerk might have heard it wrong, or both. In the past, I speculated that maybe he meant Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, but the supporting claims about militia service are all _clearly_ in New Jersey. I have also wondered if he said _Hunterdon_, which is a place in New Jersey. Certainly it is possible to find Hamlins in Sussex and Hunterdon (and other) counties in New Jersey in this time frame.
But I'm stuck with this 1830 document, which compels me to thoroughly explore the possibility of a Huntington Township that existed once and is now gone.
Any takers? I've already sent email to H.S. at Sussex County library and am awaiting a reply so please do not inundate her with repeat queries.
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Date: 2011-10-14 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 08:08 pm (UTC)You should find your prize in your email.
Date: 2011-10-15 12:42 am (UTC)http://www.pohatcong.com/historic/huntington.html
It says: "Huntington was named for the Hunt family.
Other early settlers here were the Hawk, Sharp and Beers families."
I have Hunt ancestries showing Hunts marrying Hawks and I have a Hawk marrying a Hamlin a couple generations down the line in Exira -- these are auspicious indicators. I am _tickled_, especially since it looks like other people working this family line have been either wildly incurious about tracing the locations or assuming it was an error, just like me!
Re: You should find your prize in your email.
Date: 2011-10-15 01:24 am (UTC)That pohatcong.com is not what I would call a wildly informative site in general, but hey, it gave you the clues you needed, so yay.
Re: You should find your prize in your email.
Date: 2011-10-21 06:14 pm (UTC)I am, however, asking the same librarian whether deeds for Huntington from when it was in Sussex would be in Sussex deed books or in Warren deed books. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reply that gets me. I'm betting it'll be, "it depends".
Re: You should find your prize in your email.
Date: 2011-10-21 07:23 pm (UTC)http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/locality.htm
Boy don't I feel silly now for not having found that. I'm expecting that to come in handy in the future as well.