Precursor to New Jersey's Modern Archival Preservation

From the newspaper Elizabeth Daily Journal of Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. Published February 26, 1917.

HISTORIC PAPERS NOT PRESERVED

Important N. J. Documents “Lost, Strayed or Stolen.”

TRENTON, Feb. 26.—While the State of New Jersey, one of the original thirteen colonies which formed the organization of the United States, is rich in historical lore, she is sadly lacking in the preservation of the documents and records which tell the story of the commonwealth’s career, according to the report filed to-day with Governor Edge and the Legislature by the Commission on the Condition of Public Records of the State of New Jersey.

Senate Bill No. 248, introduced by Senator Stevens of Cape May, providing for the establishment of a department of public records, is recommended for enactment to cure the situation which now exists.

The report to the Governor says such valuable public records of the State as the original grants of land in New Jersey, many of the original journals of the General Assembly, Provincial Congress, Constitutional Convention of 1776, messages and official correspondence of Governors, petitions to the General Assembly, court dockets and minutes, town and township records and other manuscripts of priceless value are in private possession. In many cases they have been abstracted from the official files of the State, sometimes by high public officials of other days. Some have been thrown out of public offices as junk by careless and ignorant officials. Others have been given to the relatives of public officials through their last wills and testaments. They have been mutilated and destroyed for personal gain.

"Again," says the report, “many of these valuable historic records have been floating around the auction houses of the country for the past seventy years, sold and resold, and the spoils of the plunder divided between the auctioneers and the marauder. These conditions are startling and shocking to the sense of mankind in this age of civilization. They should be immediately stamped out for all time.”

Three Governors of the State, Voorhees, Fort and Fielder, at different times in their administrations have been forced to command private interests to turn over to the State rare old papers of record which were about to be sold in auction rooms in the larger cities.

No less abominable, however, is the condition of the public records of certain municipalities of the State, says the report. The cities of Perth Amboy and Burlington have no records for the first 250 years of their incorporated existence and the records of many of the other municipalities are in practically the same condition.

For centuries nearly every European country has systematically preserved its public records and many of the States of the Union have or are doing the same.

One of the most glaring features of our ancient records has been their abstraction, a practice in vogue for more than a century, and the investigations of the commission finds that a large portion of them are now held and controlled by private interests, to the exclusion of citizens of this State who are by law entitled to a gratuitous examination of them for legitimate purposes.

One of the records retained in a private family are the original grants- leases and releases- given by James, Duke of York, to the territory and government of the Province of New Jersey, and of East and West Jersey, respectively, accompanied with nearly 200 kindred papers. This family resides in an adjoining State.

The report says that more than a century and a quarter ago a certain official of one of the most important records offices of the State abstracted nearly all the records of his office upon his retirement, his successor doing the same, when he retired sixty years later. “These papers are now held intact by their respective descendants residing in New Jersey,” says the report, which adds, "the present head of the family is willing that they be turned over to the proper State authorities.”

Some sixty years ago the original memorials, petitions and other communications presented to the Provincial Congress were possessed by a particular family in Virginia, who then turned them over to certain private interests in New Jersey, where they now remain. The Federal Government borrowed military records of the Revolutionary War to use in settling pension claims, and has never returned them. Many public records have been mutilated in order to obtain autographs. The commission was told it would be charged $1 a day to examine certain records held by private organization, yet the papers belong to the State.

The bill advocated by the report provides a non-salaried commission of three to supervise the work of preserving the records.

Newspaper article transcribed above.
Click to enlarge.

Using ChatGPT for Genealogy

I've been using ChatGPT to aid various aspects of genealogical research and writing. I'm learning as I go and thought I'd share some observations at this juncture.

I subscribe to the Plus Plan, which is $20 per month. There is a free version and a more expensive Pro Plan. I do not have these other plans, so I do not know what the results would be with the free or Pro plan.

My ChatGPT is geared towards me and what I have told it I am seeking. The same question that you pose within your profile would probably yield different results in mine.

Technical Help with Blogging Platform

Since August 2010 I have been using the Blogspot platform. One of the purposes of writing here is to attract people researching the same historical figures. Google no longer indexes every page, causing entire articles on particular people to be hidden from search results. In addition, I have been unable to alter information in tabs, delete them, or add new ones.

I have not found a solution through ChatGPT. It suggested adding headers through the formatting options. This does not seem to help.

I am exploring publishing on other platforms.

Review of Writing

ChatGPT can review my writing and offer suggestions about flow, grammar, and overall impact. I have inquired about specific sentences that sound awkward; ChatGPT offers rewording that is clearer.

I clarify that the purpose of the writing is genealogical. This is important for the tone. Writing on this genealogical blog is vastly different from business or legal writing. You need to inform ChatGPT about the goal of your particular piece of writing.

Revising Pictures

MyHeritage began offering photo revisions years ago.

ChatGPT can also revise pictures. I asked it to fix older pictures. ChatGPT took liberties with the pictures, adding items and features that were not present.

Original picture of Ethel Laurel Winterton (1891-1962)
Probably her high school graduation circa 1909

Colorized and fixed by MyHeritage

Colorized and fixed by ChatGPT
The blemishes were erased.
Note that the diploma in her hand was changed to a rose!

Answering Genealogical Questions

The continued lure of researching past people lies in figuring out their connections, locations, and dates.

ChatGPT cannot find all the documents about someone, analyze them, and spit out the answers.

ChatGPT can find sources on the internet and offer general genealogical rules.

Below is the inquiry I made for Ruben Bishop who died in Morris County, New Jersey in 1829. ChatGPT found the index of death notices online, which connected Ruben to Connecticut.

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Me: genealogy research question. Ruben Bishop died in Morris County New Jersey in 1829. His will named brothers Calvin, Luther, Miles, and Abner. I do not have their ages or places of residence. Presumably they died after Ruben died in 1829. Are there any mentions of these people on the internet?

ChatGPT: Short answer: very little shows up online (as of now) for those specific brothers by name, but there are a couple of useful clues and leads—including confirmation of your Ruben and context that may help you push further.

What does show up for Ruben Bishop

One solid hit:

• An early Morris County death notice index includes:
  “Bishop, Reuben (Woodbury, CT)… Sept. 11, 1829… Doctor… of Bottle Hill.”

This is important because it:

• Confirms death in 1829 (matching your will)
• Ties him to Bottle Hill (now Madison, Morris County)
• Suggests he was originally from Woodbury, Connecticut

👉 That Connecticut connection is a big clue—it suggests the brothers (Calvin, Luther, Miles, Abner) may not have remained in Morris County or may appear in Connecticut-origin families.

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Citations

I find genealogical citations challenging. You should provide the title of the document, database, film number if applicable, custodian, and information about online location. It's a layered approach.

The guide for citing genealogical sources is Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

The articles here on this blog are not formal writings for publication in journals, so I try to not delay publication here caused by fixation on proper citation format.

I've been asking ChatGPT for citations specific for use in genealogy, as opposed to Chicago, MLA, or APA. I provide an online link if available. ChatGPT looks at the webpage and returns suggested citations.

Creating Family Tree Diagrams

I need family trees to illustrate the relations among the people I write about. Sometimes I screenshot from Ancestry or Family Tree Maker. Often this is insufficient to show all the people needed to illustrate a point. I have created my own tree diagrams in Microsoft Paint. Now I use Canva. This is time consuming.

Family tree diagram created by me in Canva

I asked ChatGPT to create a family tree diagram of the children of Jonas Long and Elizabeth Merrell. I typed everyone's names and dates. I asked for and received revisions. This is pretty good for a few minutes of work on my end.

Family tree diagram created by ChatGPT

Creating Maps

I asked ChatGPT to create a map of three towns in New Jersey. The Plainfields share borders, but lie in three different counties. I wanted a map that clearly showed these three towns. The map created by ChatGPT was inaccurate.

Map of the Plainfields in New Jersey
Map on the left from New Jersey Department of Transportation
Map on the right from ChatGPT

Handwriting

ChatGPT can transcribe handwritten documents. Wow!

Difficult words might be revealed.

It's not perfect.

ChatGPT's transcription of the above portion of this document:

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This Deponent further saith that he saw the said
Woodward at [Aikens?]    on the Evening of the same Day
where he heard him boast that he had disarmed
sixteen or seventeen of the Rebels — and farther the
Deponent saith not.

[signed] William Imlay

Sworn in Council of
Safety 12 Janry 1777
Before me —

Wm Livingston Prest.

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I informed ChatGPT of errors.

Me: "Aikens" is "Trenton"

ChatGPT: Thank you — that reading fits the handwriting and the context much better. Here is the corrected portion:

This Deponent further saith that he saw the said
Woodward at Trenton on the Evening of the same Day
where he heard him boast that he had disarmed
sixteen or seventeen of the Rebels — and farther the
Deponent saith not.

This is an interesting Revolutionary War-era deposition. The reference to General Howe is almost certainly William Howe, commander of British forces during the New Jersey campaign.

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Me: "with the enemy on" is the phrase inserted between lines

ChatGPT: Yes — that insertion makes the sentence read much more naturally. The corrected passage would be:

This Deponent further saith that he saw the said
Woodward at Trenton with the enemy on the Evening of the same Day
where he heard him boast that he had disarmed
sixteen or seventeen of the Rebels — and farther the
Deponent saith not.

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Me: The month is April, not January

ChatGPT: Good catch. The attestation at the bottom should read:

Sworn in Council of
Safety 12 April 1777
Before me —

Wm Livingston Prest.

William Livingston was serving as president of the New Jersey Council of Safety at the time.

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Translations

ChatGPT can translate from one language to another.

I uploaded the death notice for Charles Loihle (1822-1891). The print is a bit smudged and is difficult to read for English speakers because the typeface is German Fraktur. This German notice appeared in the New Jersey Deutsche Zeitung, while an English notice appeared in the Newark Evening News.

Death notice of Charles Loihle.
December 11, 1891.
New Jersey Deutsche Zeitung, Newark, New Jersey.
Jody's German transcription is in the upper left; Jody's English translation on the right.

ChatGPT and I went back and forth as we did with William Imlay's deposition from 1777. The mishaps were with names, which I knew because of my knowledge of this family, but ChatGPT did not.

The other miss was in the first line with the word "hiermit." This can be translated as "hereby," but the sentence is still lacking a verb in the second position. ChatGPT offered the word as "machen," meaning to make or to do in English. I asked about this discrepancy. ChatGPT offered that the phrase is actually "machen wir hiermit" or "geben wir hiermit," but this was shortened as was typically seen in German newspapers of the time.

To fully appreciate the information in these death notices, one would have to be familiar with German vocabulary, grammar, and newspaper print of 135 years ago. ChatGPT definitely helped with this.

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Me: The word on the first line is unclear to me. Instead of "machen," it could be "hiermit." What do you think?

ChatGPT: I think you are right. Looking closely at the first sentence, the wording is much more consistent with the standard German obituary formula:

„Verwandten und Freunden machen wir hiermit die traurige Nachricht …“

or more idiomatically:

„… geben wir hiermit die traurige Nachricht …“

The blurry word after “Freunden” does not really resemble machen in Fraktur. The visible letter shapes fit hiermit better — especially the tall initial h and the clustered middle letters.

So the opening likely reads:

Loihle.—Verwandten und Freunden machen wir hiermit die traurige Nachricht, daß unser geliebter Vater …

English:

“To relatives and friends we hereby announce the sad news that our beloved father …”

That is a very typical 19th-century German newspaper death notice formula.

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Conclusions

ChatGPT holds great potential as a resource for researchers seeking to locate records, organize research, translate languages, and create images. It is far from perfect and not a substitute for critical thinking.

I hope that this article gives you ideas to try with ChatGPT.

Amanuensis Monday: Seventh Avenue Chapel, New York City

66 West 46^th St N.Y.

Oct 6, 1882

Ulyses S Stitt Clerk

My Dear Sir

On Friday Evening Sept 29^th there were received into the membership of the Church through the Seventh Avenue Chapel the following persons who made a satisfactory profession of their Faith.

Christian Hager and Kunigunda Gebhardt his wife.

Edwin Hide Moore. The last named was baptized by me prior to the Communion.

Yours Very Truly

Joseph R Duryee

Minister in Charge

Seventh Avenue Chapel

 

Elder Bolby were present

 

Report from

7^th Av Chapel 29 Sept ‘82

Read Nov 3 1882

 

George S Stitt Esqr

113 Fulton Street

N.Y. City

Amanuensis Monday: Will of Conrad Hopler, proved 1816 in Morris County, New Jersey

In the name of God Amen.

I, Conrad Hopler, of the Township of Pequanack, in the County of Morris, and State of New Jersey, being sound of mind and memory this tenth day of May in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and fifteen, do make the following as my last will and testament.

First I give and bequeath unto my daughters, Charlotte, wife of Henry Mourison, Elizabeth, wife of William vanWinkle, Catharine, wife ofIsaac Tuttle, Ann, wife of Jacob Vanderhoof, Sarah, wife of David Occabock, Margaret, wife of James Shaw, and Susannah, wife of James Lyon, and to their heirs and assigns forever all that part of two certain tracts of land which I am lawfully seized of at present, the one originally contained sixty three acres and four tenths and the other eighty six acres and six tenths which said two tracts of land was surveyed and returned to Joseph Hopler, my father, on the twenty eighth day of March AD Seventeen hundred and fifty by virtue of a deed to him from Gershom Mott by a deed bearing date the twelfth day of March Seventeen hundred and forty nine fifty- this is now about sixty seven acres of the two said tracts that I am now possessed of which I wish to be equally divided between my said six daughters above named or their lawful representatives according to quantity and quality- to them their heirs or assigns forever. The said lands being situate near where John Tucker now living in the township of Pequanack abovesaid.

Second I give and bequeath unto my son, Peter Hopler, and to his heirs and assigns forever, the house and barn where I now live and the lot of land where they stand bounded as follows- Beginning in the road distant one chain and ninety links due west from the west corner of my dwelling house, thence /1/ north forty two degrees and fifteen minutes east four chains and fifty links to an apple tree; thence /2/ south seventy one degrees and thirty minutes east one chain and thirty four links; thence /3/ south three degrees west three chains and twenty links; thence /4/ south fifty degrees and thirty minutes west two chains, to the middle of the aforesaid road; thence /5/ westerly along the said road to the place of beginning, containing one acre be the same more or less.

Thirdly I give and bequeath unto my said son Peter Hopler and to his heirs and assigns forever all that other lot of land also in the township of Pequanack lying about a quarter of a mile from the road that leads from Boonton to Frederick Miller on the north east side of said road about north east from where Frederick Hopler now lives- beginning at a small black oak saplin, the north east corner of Jacob Kanous’ lands, being also a corner in the Boonton tract; thence /1/ north sixty two degrees with twenty chains partly by a stone fence to a corner in a road lately laid out from Jacob Demouth’s barn to the publick road near Frederick Hopler’s; thence /2/ along said road or near the same north forty one degrees east twelve chains and fifty links to another line of the Boonton tract; thence /3/ along the same southerly about five chains to another line thereof; thence /4/ along the same to the place of beginning, containing twenty acres be the same more or less.

Fourth I give and bequeath unto my son, Frederick Hopler, during his natural life and to his heirs after his decease the following lots of land and premises situate in the township of Pequanack aforesaid.

First lot bounded as follows. Beginning at the south east end of the bridge that crosses the Beaver brook in the road leading from where I now live and to Frederick Miller’s; thence /1/ southeasterly along in the middle of the road fourteen chains and forty three links thence /2/ south forty one degrees and thirty minutes west nine chains and eighty seven links; thence /3/ north fifty two degrees and thirty minutes west to the said Beaver brook; thence /4/ up the stream of said brook the final courses thereof to the place of beginning containing fifteen acres be the same more or less.

The second lott, called the barn lot, beginning at the north east side of a large rock in the road about three or four chains southeasterly from my dwelling house; thence /1/ south twenty four degrees west two chains; thence /2/ south fifty nine degrees and thirty minutes east eight chains and fifty links; thence /3/ north twenty four degrees east two chains to the middle of the aforesaid road; thence /4/ along in the said road north fifty nine degrees and thirty minutes west eight chains and fifty links to the place of beginning, containing one acre and seventy hundredths of an acre.

Fifthly all the residue of my land, not heretofore bequeathed, situate on the northeast side of the road leading from William Scott’s to the bridge crossing the beaver brook near the school house, I give and bequeath unto my son, Frederick Hopler, during his natural life and to his heirs after his decease forever.

Sixthly all the residue of my land not heretofore bequeathed, lying on the southwest side of the road leading from William Scott’s to the bridge crossing the beaver brook near the school house in Rockaway valley I give and bequeath unto my son, Peter Hopler, and to his heirs and assigns forever.

Seventhly after my Just debts are paid I give and bequeath all my personal estate to my seven daughters first above named and the heirs of my daughter, Mary, deceased, that is, the heirs of my daughter, Mary, deceased, to have one eighth part thereof and that to be divided, share and share alike amongst them and my seven daughters above named to have seven eighths thereof that is of my personal estate after the debt are paid to be divided share and share alike.

I appoint Jacob Demouth and my son-in-law, Henry Mowrison, to be executors to this, my testament and last will.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written.

Conrad Hopler, his mark

Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Conrad Hopler to be his testament and last will in the presence of us:

Thomas Vanwinkle

John Kanouss

Thomas Kanouse

Henry Morrison renounced April 10, 1816, witnessed by Hezekiah Schofield and James Lyon.

Proved by Thomas Vanwinkle May 3, 1816.

Inventory by Aaron Miller and William Allger

Notes against:

Mary Vanwinkle  7.70

Frederick Hopler  29.80

Tunis Kanouse  6.90

James Lyon  22.05

David Kanouse  31.35

Matthew Stagg 5.35

Thomas Stagg  1.06

Isaac Tuttle  9.62

Peter Earl  3

Aaron Miller  4.45

Jacob Demouth  3.42

James Shaw  2.29

Conrad Kanouse  9.25

Bond against Jacob Kanouse Junior  300

In hand of John Earl  0.87

In hand of James Cardiff  0.66

In hand of John Pier  0.12

Amanuensis Monday: Letter of Ward Family from Bloomfield New Jersey 1842

Dr I M Ward

66 N Pearl St

Albany

Bloomfield Sep 5 1842

Dear Doctor

No doubt you have been looking for

an answer to your letter to Horace in regard to Nancy

Barton, written about two weeks since. It is one week

to day since Julia called on Nancy and I supposed

that Horace had written to you on the subject until

Saturday when he told me that he had not, and

desired me to write. Nancy informed Julia that she

had just engaged to stay with Ms Matthews for six

shillings for weeks, but that if she had known that

you wanted her before she would have been glad

to come. Ms Richards and Emily left here last

Friday morning for Philadelphia. We proceeded down

the old road as far as the junction of the turnpike when

Emily was suddenly taken with flowing very copiously

immediately turned about and came up the turn-

pike and at home as soon as possible. Emily was put to

bed and the Dr was in attendance in a few minutes.

As yet nothing further of consequence has taken place

but he thinks a miscarriage inevitable sooner or later

and the consequence may be very serious. In addition

she has a light attack of Bilious Remittent fever and

is confined to the bed pretty much all of the time.

Ms Richard remains also with us untill something deci-

cive shall take place in regard to Emily. Philice has

been herefor a week or two and on Saturday she was taken

sick- pain in the breast- headache nausea +e she is

confined to the bed and the Dr prescribes for her every day

Emily and Philice have both been bled and physiced

to their hearts content I should think but we must

obey the Drs direction. Julias health has suffered some

from excitement. She has had more pain and pressure

in her breast and her cough is increased. She has taken

one powder and though it relieved her a little, since

which she has not taken any more. I have ? a his time

after time that if she gets sick again, it will be her own

fault, as she has the remedy in her power but is too

thoughtless or careless to use it. There is considerable

sickness about at present mostly of a Bilious character.

We shall be happy to hear from you whenever

convenient. Much love is sent from all to all.

I remain yours truly

Oliver P Hanks

Dr Isaac Moreau Ward (1806-1895), the recipient of this letter, was practicing medicine in Albany, New York in 1842. By 1850, he had returned to Essex County, New Jersey and was farming in Clinton, later known as Irvington.

Dr Ward's wife was Mary Ogden Rankin. They married in 1832 in Newark.


The author of this letter, Oliver P Hanks, had married Dr Ward's sister, Julia Ward (1822-1843), in 1838 in Bloomfield. Julia died a year after her husband wrote this letter and is buried in Bloomfield Cemetery.

The Horace mentioned in the letter could be another sibling, Horace Hinsdale Ward (1808-1845). In 1831 he married Mary C Keen of Bloomfield.