Jackson Tree Fractured Branch
©2010-2024 Doug Wilson

The Jackson family of Long Island, whose immigrant ancestor arrived there in 1643 as one of the first inhabitants of Hempstead, is also known to a been part of the earliest colonial communities in northern and central New Jersey. (Jackson Family Genealogy) Three of the sons of James Jackson and Elizabeth Hallett are fairly well documented. A fourth son, James Jr, moved to Woodbridge and started a three generation proprietorship of The Elm Tree Tavern of Woodbridge, NJ, 1739-1820. Historical evidence paints a picture of these generations and their activities. Pieces of Eight, a pirate story on this site, also helps define the family of James Jackson Jr and Mary Fitz Randolph.

Public and private records document likely descendents of this family that continued to live in New Jersey after the sale of the tavern. However, these records are not clear which members of the second generation begot the third generation or if this line continues. In 2013, a record trail came to light from two histories of Rockaway, NJ, that suggest James Jr's son Benjamin had a son John in Essex County and who had a daughter Phebe and a son Charles in that county who subsequently removed to Morris County. DNA evidence is yet needed to prove the records are referring to this particular Benjamin and John. This same year, DNA evidence, in combination with available records, firmly connects one documented line of descent from Thomas of the third generation to keep the tavern.

If you are a male with surname Jackson and believe your Jackson paternal line traces back to these Jacksons in New Jersey, please consider participation in the Jackson Surname Y-DNA Project.

New Jersey was first established as a province in the possession of King James of England and proportioned out as East and West Jersey to proprietors as favors for their loyal service. Over the years it evolved as diagrammed on the map series at left. (Rootsweb)

There are numerous records of Jacksons (from Long Island) living north of Middlesex & Essex/Union Counties and Jacksons (from Ireland) living in southern New Jersey. The bulk of these records belong to either of these immigrant family lines.

There are, however, a number of records that are not readily associated with either line mostly because the record contains limited or no mention of familial relations, like tax, land and petition documents that contribute to the early New Jersey substitute for missing US Census records. These create "orphans" that may or may not be affiliated with the known families from Long Island and Ireland.

In early years of the settlement of Jersey, I find few Jackson references in the archives and genealogical records. In 1685, Thomas, William, and Annabel Jackson from Scotland were put aboard the exile ship, Henry and Francis, bound for Perth Amboy. Thomas died on the voyage and William moved on to New York after arrival. Annabel may have been wife to either of them and could have accompanied William to New York. There is no other record in New Jersey for her. (Whitehead, p28) Also in nearby Perth Amboy, a 1727 probate record cites the death of a Joseph Jackson and includes no reference to his family or origins. (NJA s1v23, p256)

The NJ Archives also includes references to Jackson among its records of marriages in areas bordering on Pennsylvania, known for its population of Quakers. (NJ Archives s1 v22) They are

• 1730 Bridget Jackson, Philadelphia, m. Robert Bibby, Philadelphia
• 1731 Hannah Jackson <no loc> m. Mathias Keen, Bucks, Pa.
• 1734 Ann Jackson, Philadelphia m. Joseph Hitchcock, Philadelphia
• 1734 Susannah Jackson, Bucks, Pa., m. Jonathan Bourne, Bucks, Pa.
• 1737 Joseph Jackson, Pennsylvania m. Mary Robinson
• 1738 Sarah Jackson, Philadelphia m. William Cannon, Philadelphia
• 1748 John Jackson, Chester m. Mary Moreton, Chester
• 1758 Mary Jackson, Jr., Bucks, Pa. m. John Green, Bucks, Pa.

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The northern New Jersey counties as we know them today evolved over 157 years of land purchases and arbitration. They are Bergen and Essex, established in 1683 across the Hudson River from Staten Island, New York; Morris, cut out of the wilderness to the west of the former in 1739; Sussex formed further to the northwest in 1753; Warren was formed in 1824 to the west of Morris and below Sussex; Passaic was cut out of the western part of Bergen and the northern part of Essex in 1837; and Hudson was formed from the southern tip of Bergen in 1840.

For a while in the 1660s, the Dutch tried to establish Achtor Kol in this area and failed as a result of their vicious attack on the native inhabitants. After the English took New York from the Dutch in xxxx, their settlers began to purchase land from the natives with the permission of the New York Governor, Nichols, who viewed everything west of Manhatten as part of his proprietor's domain.

In 1683, the northern counties of New Jersey were first defined by English name as Essex and Bergen. Areas to the west were wilderness still occuppied by the Lena Lenape native Americans. Not until 1739 was Morris cut out of that wilderness

It is unclear in which county some of the "orphan" Jacksons in the northern counties reside. Amos Jackson (USCCRR) and Peter Jackson (USCCRR) each appear on a 1795 petition to the Legislature from inhabitants and freeholders of Bergen, Essex, and Morris Counties supporting the building of a road from the bridge at the “Village of Second River" (NJ Colonial Census)

John Jackson, son of James of Flushing on Long Island, and wife, Sarah Doty, acquired 527 acres of Morris County in 1722. There, he founded the Jackson Forge and established the town of Dover. They had a family of 10 children until 1753 when the business went bankrupt and at least three of the sons' families left the area. See the Jackson Genealogy website for the origins of these families that mostly descend from Robert Jackson of Hempstead, Long Island.

The records timeline below references all the records I have for Jacksons that reside in the northern counties of New Jersey. The persons known to be of the Long Island family are hyperlinked to their profile page on this site.

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The middle New Jersey counties include MIddlesex, formed north of the Raritan River and south of Essex County in 1683; Somerset, established soon after and to the west of Middlesex in 1688; Hunterdon, formed further to the west out of the northern part of Burlington in 1714; Mercer, taken from a remianing northern tip of Burlington and the southern tip of Hunterdon in 1838; and Union, drawn from the lower half of what was left of Essex in 1857.

The History of Union and Middlesex Counties attempts to list the names of residents of Woodbridge from its inception to 1840. (Clayton, p559) The enormous effort is incomplete. It does list a Charles and a Thomas Jackson. Yet it misses many early names, like James, Joseph and John for whom we have records in the timeline below.

The surname Jackson begins to appear in the middle NJ counties as early as December 1685 when the infamous exile ship from Newcastle, Scotland, the Henry and Frances, arrived in Perth Amboy. William, a cordwainer, and Annabelle Jackson arrived aboard the ship. Thomas died during voyage. Their relationship is not noted in the records of the voyage. Soon after arrival, William moves to New York and hosts early Presbyteriaan services in his home; some others from that ship went to Woodbridge. Annabelle does not show up again in NJ records and could have moved to NY with William. Also in 1685, a list of Scottish exiles arriving in Amboy and to be handed over to West Jersey Proprietor Barkley includes John Jackson. (Whitehead, p28-29; Clayton, p605; Clayton, p606)

In 1727, a Joseph Jackson of Perth Amboy died intestate. Administration of the estate of, granted to Francis Hopmire of Middletown, Monmouth Co., principal creditor. This could indicate a connection for Joseph to the Jacksons of Monmouth County. (1670-1730_Archives-ser-1_vol-23-Wills)

Another Jackson record is found in this area at about this time in the 1725 will of Thomas Byerly, Esq., of Woodbridge, Middlesex County. (NJ Archives s1v30, p.81). Byerly leaves his "friend", Thomas Jackson (residence unstated), £50. The witnesses were important personages: David Stewart, Margaret Daqworthy, Eliza Parker, Edward Hart, Joseph Bonny, Robert Mannering. Of note, a Woodbridge attorney, John Kinsey, Jr., is one of the executors of this important person with ties to New Jersey, New York, and England. In 1712, Queen Anne appointed Byerly to "her Majesties Council of New Jersey." (NJ Archives s1v11, pp35-36) The reference passage below from the archives of Mystic Seaport discusses his appointment as a seaport tax collector in New York. Note that it reports that Byerly returned to England around the time he made his will cited above.

Thomas Byerly was chosen by Queen Ann to serve as the Collector and Receiver-General of New York. Byerly was suspended in 1702 from his post as Receiver-General by Lord Cornbury, governor of New York and New Jersey at the time, for "ill-behavior, constant disobedience to orders, and countenance of Illegal Trade." However, it is more likely Byerly was suspended because he clashed with Lord Cornbury and it was later decided that Byerly had been "illegally" suspended. Byerly was restored by Queen Ann following his first suspension and by Lord Lovelace, Conbury's successor, in 1707 after his second suspension. He was assigned to the Assembly of New York by Queen Ann in 1712, replacing more rebelious members of the group. Then, on August 20, 1716 Byerly was again replaced as Receiver-General by James Gohier. In 1718 he was assigned to serve as the Collector of the Port of New York. In 1724 or 1725 he sold his land holdings in New Jersey and returned to London, England. (Mystic Seaport Collections, 2008)

The will of Matthew Moore, carpenter of Woodbridge, probated in April 1733 includes a witness also named Thomas Jackson. (NJ Archives s1v30, p.343) Are these NJ wills referring to Thomas Jackson of Long Island, son of James and eldest brother to James, Jr, and William of Woodbridge?

A James Jackson had land in Woodbridge, November 1730, adjacent to William Bunn, Henry Freeman and John Ilsley. (NJ Archive s1v23, p73) Either this means James Jr (or his father) possessed land in Woodbridge while yet living in Long Island or there is another James Jackson living in the heart of town. There is also the July 1739 inventory of the estate of John Balm of Elizabeth Town and Rahway includes a bond of James Jackson. (NJ Archives s1v30, p35) Is this how he purchased the Elm Tree Tavern? As early as 1730?

And just who is the Jackson that "came up and took land" in Plainfield of Union County in 1731? (Clayton, p297) As that name is accompanied by other Woodbridge resident names like Dunham, Fitz Randolph, Frazee, Ilsleys, Kelly, Marsh, Moore, Shotwell, Ross, Smith, Stelle, Thorn, and Vail, one must wonder if this Jackson may have been from Woodbridge while Colonel John Jackson moved into Morris County to the north.

To help document and sort out the evidence for descendents of James Jackson Jr. of Woodbridge, the records timeline below includes references to possible descendents of the Long Island Jackson line living in the middle section of New Jersey.