Gamaliel Bartlett
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Gamaliel Bartlett(November 27, 1796 – November 10, 1859) was the first postmaster ofStanhope, New Jersey.He was appointed to the position in 1823 by PresidentJames Monroe.In 1829 Bartlett petitioned theSussex CountyCourt for a license to "keep an Inn or Tavern in the house in which he now lives, in the Township of Byram". It was signed by the 16town councilmembers (referred to as Freeholders). Probably the location of the proposed licensed premises was what is locally referred to asThe Stanhope House.[citation needed]
Morris Canal[edit]
Bartlett was involving with bringing about theMorris Canalsection andMorris Canal and Banking Company.ThePalladium of Liberty,aMorristown, New Jersey,newspaper of the day, reported on August 29, 1822:
Membership of a committee which studied the practicality of a canal from Pennsylvania toNewark, New Jersey,consisted of two prominent citizens from each county (NJ) concerned: Hunterdon County, Nathaniel Saxton, Henry Dusenberry; Sussex County, Morris Robinson, Gamaliel Bartlett; Morris County, Lewis Condict, Mahlon Dickerson; Essex County, Gerald Rutgers, Charles Kinsey; Bergen County, John Rutherford, William Colefax.
During November 1829, William C. Lewis announced his intention of joining Gamaliel Bartlett's blacksmithing business in Stanhope.
In 1833, Bartlett would find himself embroiled in a lawsuit entitledPresident and Directors of the Morris Canal and Banking Co. vs. Gamaliel Bartlett.[1]The case took four days to try before Justice Ford. On May 30, 1833, Gamaliel Bartlett prevailed and was awarded $1,500.00 plus all costs for "...damages for forge, grist mill, and saw mill, through lying still or lack of water during the making of (the) canal." In the parlance of 2009, the award would be approximately $50,000.00.[citation needed]
Family[edit]
His parentage unproven, Gamaliel Bartlett is believed to have been born inMassachusettsand married (October 20, 1818, atNew Lebanon,New York) at the age of 21 to Mary A. Parmelee who was born about 1790 inMassachusetts.Three of their five children died young, viz., Samuel (April 24, 1824 - May 6, 1825), Emma (April 7, 1826 – May 9, 1826), and Laura Mariah (August 16, 1834 – December 23, 1834). These three children were born and died at Sussex County inStanhope.
The first of their two children who lived to maturity was Jane Mariah who was born atMonroe,New York(formerly known as Monroe Works) in the county ofOrange,on December 4, 1819.
The second surviving child was Henry Clay who was born at Stanhope, Sussex, New Jersey, on April 13, 1830.
Death[edit]
Gamaliel Bartlett died November 10, 1859, at the home of Mrs. David Johnson (his wife's first cousin) at Brooklyn, New York City. TheBrooklyn Daily Eagle,on that same day, carried an obituary on page 3. He was buried atGreen-Wood Cemeteryin Brooklyn, New York City, in Section #108 and Lot # 723.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- ^The records of this matter are in call number MG 20 - box number 13, at theNew Jersey Historical Society,Newark,New Jersey.