Bergen Township, New Jersey (pre-1862)

:"see also Bergen Township, a distinct municipality formed in 1893."

Bergen Township was a Township that existed in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1661 to 1862, first as part of Bergen County, and later as part of Hudson County. Several places still bear the name: Bergen Square, Old Bergen Road, Bergen Avenue, Bergen Junction, Bergen Hill and Bergen Arches in Jersey City; Bergen Point in Bayonne; and Bergenline Avenue and Bergen Turnpike in North Hudson.

The Lenape and The Netherlands

The name Bergen was originally given to the peninsula between the Hudson River and Hackensack River by the European settlers. The name derived from that of one of the earliest settlers of Nieuw Amsterdam, Hans Hansen Bergen, who arrived in the province of New Netherland in 1633 as a ship's carpenter. Bergen initially settled on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan (Nieuw Amsterdam) but later owned extensive plantations elsewhere on the island. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=szY7AAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA267&lpg=RA1-PA267&dq=%22bergen+county%22+hans+hansen+bergen&source=web&ots=aJ-Eb5OG1d&sig=vAMgF9KBLx_Gf2BUgm5tqiXzmfI&hl=en#PPA1,M1 The Bergen Family, or the Descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen, Teunis Bergen, 1866] ] Bergen later married Sarah Rapalje, said to be the first child born in New York State of European parents. Hans Hansen Bergen came from Bergen, Norway, and was one of the few Scandinavian settlers of Nieuw Amsterdam (New York City). [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=6tcMAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA146&lpg=RA2-PA146&dq=%22hans+hansen+bergen%22&source=web&ots=otkKSzZ4l7&sig=bv1TzDblC__hfwkvvm6grLpkHAc&hl=en Hans Hansen Bergen, Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Francis Bazley Lee, 1907] ] Previous settlements in Pavonia (which the original colony was called) such as Communipaw, Harsimus, Hoebuck, had been destroyed and mostly abandoned after a series of raids and reprisals by Netherlanders and the Lenape (later known as Delaware Indian), in what is known as Kieft's War. In late 1654 a series of land grants were made for farms for "land behind Kill van Kull" [History of new Netherland, E.B. Callaghan (c)1855] In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, negotiated a deal with the Lenape, and re-purchased the area named Bergen, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," then taking in the sweep of land on the peninsula west of the Hudson and east of the Hackensack River extending down to the Kill Van Kull in Bayonne. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=owpYaTSYmDMC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=%22by+the+great+rock+above+wiehacken%22&source=web&ots=N3sWTbWs6r&sig=OWea40y4zZcNeK6XlvGItRN7nlY#PPA62,M1 History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time] , p. 62, accessed march 29, 2007] Bergen was founded in 1660 by settlers who wished to return to the west bank of the Hudson. Its semi-independent government was granted on September 5, 1661, by Stuyvesant, as part of his efforts re-gain a foothold on the North River's western shore and expand beyond New Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan, under the condition that a garrison be built. It is the first continuously-occupied permanent European settlement in what would become the state of New Jersey. [ [http://www.jerseycityonline.com/history/jc_history.htm Jersey City: America's Golden Door] , accessed March 19, 2007. "Jersey City, the second largest city in New Jersey, is the site of the first permanent European community in the state."] It became and remained the seat of government for the province until 1709, when the British moved it to Hackensack, which was seen as more centrally located. [ [http://www.jerseycityonline.com/history_of_jersey_city.htm JERSEY CITY HISTORY OF FORMS OF GOVERNMENT FROM EARLY DUTCH DAYS TO THE PRESENT TIME] , accessed March 19, 2007."Until 1709, Bergen Village, (around Bergen Square, Jersey City) was the county seat and the sessions of the court were held there, but after this date, the village of Hackensack was designated as being more centrally located and more easily reached by the majority of the inhabitants, and hence was chosen as the county seat of Bergen County (which it remains) and the courts were moved there."]

Colonial America

In 1664, a negotiated surrender gave control of New Netherlands to the English on and September 22, 1668, the original town charter was confirmed by Philip Carteret, the first English provincial Governor of New Jersey."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 145.] The Treaty of Westminster formalized the British/Dutch deal in 1674 and the area officially became part of the proprietary colony of East Jersey. In 1675, it was divided in four administrative districts, or counties: Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth, and Bergen. On March 7, 1683, the garrison/village at Bergen and surrounding areas became a town within Bergen County.In 1710, when Bergen County, by royal decree of Queen Anne of Great Britain was enlarged to include what had been part Essex County, the village of Hackensack (in the newly formed Township of New Barbadoes) was seen as being more easily reached by the majority of the Bergen County’s inhabitants, and hence was chosen as the county seat (as it remains today). Bergen was re-established by Royal Charter on January 4, 1714.

Bergen Township was created by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of the first group of 104 townships formed in New Jersey. Bergen County was thus split into two parts: Bergen Township to the south, and Hackensack Township to the north. As originally constituted, Bergen Township included the area between the Hudson River on the east, the Hackensack River to the west, south to Constable Hook and north to the present-day southern border of Bergen County.

ubdivision

On January 28, 1820, Jersey City was formed within Bergen Township. In 1838, Jersey City was reincorporated as a city, becoming independent of Bergen Township.

On February 22, 1840, the New Jersey Legislature created Hudson County from southern portions of Bergen County. The new county included the entirety of the original Bergen Township (including Jersey City) and the portions of Lodi Township south of today's Paterson Plank Road.

While part of Hudson County, portions of township were taken to form Van Vorst Township (April 12, 1841, annexed by Jersey City on March 18, 1851), North Bergen Township (April 10, 1843), Bergen town (March 24, 1855, ultimately annexed by Jersey City on May 2, 1870) and Bayonne Township (April 1, 1861).

The remaining portions of the township were absorbed by Bergen town, in a sort of reverse takeover, and the township was dissolved on March 11, 1862.

North Bergen was incorporated as a township on April 10, 1843, by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature, from Bergen Township. Portions of the township have been taken to form Hoboken Township (April 9, 1849, now the City of Hoboken), Hudson Town (April 12, 1852, later part of Hudson City), Hudson City (April 11, 1855, later annexed by Jersey City), Guttenberg (formed within the township on March 9, 1859, and set off as an independent municipality on April 1, 1878), Weehawken (March 15, 1859), Union Township and West Hoboken Township (both created on February 28, 1861), Union Hill town (March 29, 1864) and Secaucus (March 12, 1900)."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 145.]

References

Sources

*"History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923;" by "Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858-1942."
*"Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties)" prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958.

External links

* [http://www.rays-place.com/history/nj/bergen-tship.htm Bergen Township, NJ from Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey: 1844]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsbc/gsbcArch01.html Bergen County Townships and Municipalities]
* [http://www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com/bergen_county_new_jersey_municipalities.html Dutch Door Genealogy: Bergen County New Jersey Municipalities]