James D. Magee

Bordentown 1682-1932: An Illustrated Story of a Colonial Town [New Jersey]

Bordentown, NJ: Bordentown Register, 1932. First edition. Hardcover. First and only printing. Hardcover in red cloth lettered in gilt. 145 pp. with bibliography. Illustrated with drawings by Mrs. Florence A. Magee. Very good. Prev. own. sig. front free endpaper. The history of the Delaware River town of Bordentown in south-central New Jersey, published to celebrate its 250th anniversary. The area that eventually became Bordentown was inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Native American tribe. The first white settler to make a home here was Thomas Farnsworth, a cordwainer (or shoemaker) who plied his trade at various places along the Delaware River. In April 1681 he bought 100 acres of land situated between Crosswicks Creek and Black's Creek. A year later he expanded his holdings to a total of 548 acres. though these purchases were made from white men, Farnsworth, a Quaker, did not consider the deal closed until he had also settled with the Indians, which he promptly did. He built his first cabin home in 1682 on the bluff overlooking the Delaware and "Farnsworth's Landing" became an active trading post. Joseph Borden arrived in 1717 and bought 50 acres, including the Farnsworth homestead; over the next few years Farnsworth sold additional land to Borden who acquired the whole site of what would become the town named after him. In 1734, Borden established a stage line that ran between New York (actually Perth Amboy, across the bay from New York City) and Philadelphia. Of the many famous Americans who lived in Bordentown at times (Clara Barton, Thomas Paine, Francis Hopkinson) the most asked about is Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and erstwhile King of Naples and King of Spain and the Indies, who established an estate at the confluence of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River, at a place called "Point Breeze", in 1817. The town was also the site of the running of the first steam locomotive in the United States, the "John Bull" imported from England, 1n 1831. Very Good. Item #E37397

Price: $95.00