Manners Family

Adapted from Lequear's "Traditions of Hunterdon." Originally published in The Hunterdon Republican 1869-70.

East Amwell is Rich in History

The eastern portion of Old Amwell, on the northern slope of the Sourland Mountain, is somewhat celebrated as being the home of several descendants of Richard and Penelope Stout. The history of the Stouts is full of incident, and strange occurrences.

A view from the hospitable mansion of Jacob Manners, Esq., in heart of the old Stout settlement, discloses, on one of these fine spring days, a landscape as rare in beauty as it is rich in agricultural wealth. On the north, wide green fields slope down to a branch of the Neshanic, half a mile distant, and beyond---a gently rising upland, diversified by numerous ravines, stretches away to the dim blue outline of Pickel�s Mountain, and the sweeping curves of the hills of Clinton, Raritan and Franklin. To the east, the slope of the northern spur of Sourland Mountain, inclining to the Neshanic Valley, shuts in the vision for a short distance, while farther to the north, on that side, the wide expanse of open undulating country is seen as far as the hills of Tewksbury. Westward, the rough, broken outline of Amwell Hills stretches to the Delaware, and a few hundred yards south, Sourland Mountain, now appearing as a green mass of early summer foliage, shuts out the scene beyond. On a hillside some distance to the north the white stones of the old Schenck burying ground are visible. Here, among others, that brave old soldier Capt. John Schenck lies. Not far from the mansion, on a knoll sloping to the west, is the Stout and Manners family graveyard. On the Manners farm, rising above the green fields, thousands of fruit trees, just shorn of their blossoms and laden with tiny fruit, rise up as evidence of the care bestowed upon these ancestral fields. This somewhat minute description will make more clear what we are about to write.

Richard and Penelope Stout had seven sons. They lived at Freehold, Monmouth county. Their son James was the first of the name who came to Amwell. He settled on the west side of Jacob Manners� farm, where Abraham Runkle now lives. His brother, David, came soon after and brought his family, settling about a mile north of James. Benjamin Stout, David�s youngest son, settled northwest of the Manners farm. David gave the land for the family burying ground, which was then on a part of his farm. The old David Stout dwelling house is still standing, about a mile northeast of Jacob Manners� residence.

John Manners was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1679. He was a tailor by trade, and came to Freehold and married Richard and Penelope Stout's granddaughter "Becky." They had several children and emigrating to Maryland lost them all. They then, in 1718, came to Amwell and purchased the farm where Jacob S. Manners now lives. A deed, dated 1728, shows that John Manners then owned about 400 acres. This, with Benjamin Stout�s land, was purchased from C. VanSyckel, who probably held it on speculation. VanSyckel bought it from Thomas Stephenson.

The whole of this corner of Amwell was first granted to William Penn, and joined a tract of Peter Sonmans, of 23,000 acres in Somerset County. John Manners� house stood about 10 feet east of the wagon house and about 200 yards east of the present mansion house. Here the second John Manners was born.

Jonathan Stout, brother of David, was settled on the other side of the mountain. The whole family were Baptists, and went to Hopewell to meeting---usually on foot. The first John Manners was one of the most devout men who ever came to America. He read the New Testament through twice a year, for sixty years. He was turned out of church, on account of his predestinarian principles. But, nothing daunted, he took a chair from home, and during service sat outside, close to the door, and listened to the preaching.

Long Journey to Trenton Mill

John Manners used to tell Peter Young�s great uncle that when he was a boy he used to go to Mahlon Stacy�s mill at Trenton, on horseback. The distance from Ringoes to the Assanpink was only twenty miles. Three bushels of corn would be put upon one horse, and another bushel would be put upon another with the rider. Parties would wait for their grists to be ground and bring them back with them. There were no roads; only bridle paths through the forest.

Peter Young, the Giant of Amwell

Peter Young, great-grandfather of Peter Young of Ringoes, bought 1000 acres east of the Manners tract, and settled upon it with his three sons, Peter, Henry and Jacob.

Old Peter Young was of about the weight and stature of the Cardiff Giant. His thumb was as thick as an ordinary man�s wrist. One day, in company with John Manners, he was going towards Hopewell, when he saw an enormous buck lying asleep in the thicket. Peter seized the animal by the antlers, while John went to the barn for a rope. Meanwhile the buck wrestled and tugged to regain his liberty. He would jerk back, and then suddenly dart forward, sometimes standing on his hind legs, and dragging Peter after him.

When John returned with the rope, he beheld his gigantic comrade, still holding on to the buck, his buckskin breeches torn in tatters and flying like banners of victory in the gale.

The ruins of the second house built by John Manners, in 1750, are still to be seen, about 200 yards east of the present mansion. John Manners, Jr., married Mary Higgins. They had a son John who moved to Readington and was the father of Gen. James S. Manners and Dr. John Manners. These both received a much better education than was usual for that day. James was born in 1780, and was Sheriff of this county for three years, and was General of the militia. He lived near Kuhl�s mill, and died in 1851, without issue.

Dr. John Manners, born 1785, studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia. He practiced at Clinton for several years. He married a daughter of Judge Cooper, and gave up medicine for law. He was a member of the State Senate for three years, and during a part of the time was President of that body. He left no issue.

John Manners, Jr., after the death of Mary Higgins, his first wife, married Rachel, daughter of James Stout. They had two children, Rachel, born 1773, and David, born 1777. David was the father of Jacob S. Manners, and lived on the old homestead. The schoolhouse stood where the tavern at Wertsville now is, and was built in 1756. Here, David went to school to James Ewing, a Scotsman, and pastor of the church at Hopewell. Here he studied surveying and became proficient in the art, and afterwards practiced it extensively in his native country. It is said that Mr. Ewing, having noticed that the farmers of Amwell allowed their grass to run out, and sowed no seed, taught David how to get a field in with good red clover, and that this was the beginning of the successful seeding of clover and grass in this part of the county.

Col. Stout and Capt. Schenck

David Manners married Mary, a daughter of Captain John Schenck, to whose memory history has never done justice. Capt. Schenck was in nearly all of the important battles and skirmishes of New Jersey. He often related how excited he was when he saw Lee retreating at Monmouth. At the battle of Princeton, he was in the act of stooping under a limb and rallying his men, when a cannon ball struck the limb and carried it away. We relate below that Captain Schenck aroused the party that attacked the British Lighthorse on their return from the raid upon Lowrey�s storehouse in Flemington. He knew that if successful in this expedition the British would overrun the whole of this part of the country, heretofore untouched by them.

It was at Colonel Joseph Stout�s house, near Stoutsburg, then in our county, that Washington halted, on his memorable march form Coryell�s Ferry to Monmouth. Colonel Stout, a son of Jonathan, was a companion in arms with Colonel Philip Johnson, who fell mortally wounded at the battle of Long Island. With Colonel Charles Stewart and Captain Schenck, he rallied the minute-men in �75 and his name stands prominent in the reports of all the great conflicts upon our soil. He was no less distinguished for his services during the Indian troubles growing out of the French war.

David Manners and Mary Schenck, his wife, had nine children, five sons and four daughters: John, who married John Stout�s daughter Penelope, of Hopewell; David, who became Mayor of Jersey City; Theodore, married Caroline Werts; Abraham, married Abraham Quick�s daughter, whose mother was a Stout; and Jacob S., living on the old Manners homestead, married Jacob Blackwell�s daughter.

Cornet Geary, British Leader, Killed

Returning from from their raid upon Col. Thomas Lowrey's storehouse in Flemington, Cornet Francis Geary and a small body of Light-Horsemen had to pass through a thick forest from Copper Hill to what is now Larison's Corner. After the party had left Ringoes in the morning, Capt. John Schenck collected all of the men and ammunition to be found in the neighborhood, and passing quietly through the woods to a point in the road about a mile and a half above Larison's the party secreted themselves among the trees and awaited the coming of the British. As they approached, a single shot was fired, but the horsemen proceeded. A whole volley was then fired, and the Amwell men ran from tree to tree shouting as though a whole army were in the woods. The leader of the Light Horse now formed his men in a line and returned fire. But one of the Americans, aiming at Geary, shot him in the center of the forehead, and he reeled and fell to the ground, mortally wounded. His cowardly followers now wheeled and fled towards Flemington, and left their leader lying in the road. The party in the woods took the body, stripped it of valuables and uniform and hastily covered it up with leaves. The party now scattered and went toward their homes.

The British on their return overtook Matthew Housel, who had been in the fray, and compelled him to go with them and act as a pilot. They struck across to the New Brunswick road and reached their line without doing any damage except robbing some children, who were on their way to school, of their dinner. That night, under cover of the darkness, a company was sent back, under guidance of Housel, to try to recover the officer's body.

Cornet Francis Geary was descended from the nobility of England, and his family would have given a large reward for his remains. Housel was forced to obey his captors, and with a lantern led the way through the woods. He happened to be one of those who covered Geary with leaves, and knew just where he lay; so he cunningly took the British to every spot in the woods but the right one.

Wearying with the search, the British contingent now went to the houses at Ringoes. In one of these the officer's coat was secreted under some wheat that lay piled on the floor of the garret. In another, his boots were hid in an oven. His watch went to Flemington, and we are told that it is here now. Failing to find anything, they took Housel to the New Brunswick road and discharged him, thinking his services had paid the price of his liberty.

The Story of Penelope VanPrincis Stout

Peter Young showed us a deed signed by John, James, Jacob and David Stout, conveying real estate of their father, James, to their brother Joseph Stout. This was dated 1746. This James was the son of the original �Amwell Stout,� one of the very first settlers. If tradition tells the truth, he came to this plantation as early as 1699, for Hopewell was known by that name at that date. The history of the mother of James and Jonathan Stout is one of the most remarkable ever written.

�She was born in Amsterdam, about the year 1602. Her father�s name was VanPrincis. She and her first husband, (whose name is unknown,) sailed for New York, (then New Amsterdam,) about the year 1620; the vessel was stranded by Sandy Hook; the crew got ashore, and marched to the said New York; but Penelope�s (for that was her name) husband being hurt in the wreck, could not march with them; therefore he and his wife tarried in the woods; they had not been long in the place, before the Indians killed them both, (as they thought) and stripped them to the skin; however, Penelope came to, though her skull was fractured, and her left shoulder so hacked that she could never use that arm like the other; she was also cut across the abdomen so that her bowels appeared; these she kept in with her hand. She continued in this situation for seven days, taking shelter in a hollow tree, and eating the excresence of it. The seventh day she saw a deer passing by with arrows sticking in it, and soon after two Indians appeared, whom she was glad to see, in hope they would put her out of her misery. Accordingly, one made towards her to knock her on the head; but the other, who was an elderly man, prevented him; and throwing his matchcoat about her carried her to his wigwam, and cured her of her wounds and bruises. After that he took her to New York and made a present of her to her countrymen, viz.: an Indian present, expecting ten times the value in return. It was in New York that one Richard Stout married her; she was now in her 22nd year and he in his 40th. She bore him seven sons and three daughters, viz.: Jonathan, (founder of Hopewell,) John, Richard, James, Peter, David, Benjamin, Mary, Sarah, and Alice; the daughters married into the families of the Bounds, Pikes, Throckmortons, and Skeltons, and so lost the name of Stout; the sons married into the families of Bullen, Cramford, Ashton, Traux, &c., and had many children. The mother lived to the age of 110, and saw her offspring multiplied into 502, in about 88 years.�---�Hist. Baptists.�

The Baptists of Flemington

Shortly after the Revolution the interests of the (Baptists) society seemed to languish, but revived in 1798 when, on the 19th of June in that year, a regular church was organized, called the Church of Amwell. The first members who entered into this organization were: Nathaniel Higgins, William Merrell, Elizabeth Hartenbrook, Sarah Ott, John Runyan, John Carr, John Manners, Sarah Sutphin, Hannah Wolverton, Rachel Manners, Anna Higgins, Elizabeth Yard, Anna Craven and Margaret Wilson. The first six of these were baptized at Flemington, by Rev. G. A. Hunt, of Kingwood Church. The others were received from Kingwood and Hopewell Churches. Rev. G. A. Hunt, Rev. Mr. Ewing and Rev. Mr. Harpending officiated at the organization. The first regular pastor was Rev. James McLaughlin, called in 1804. The mother church soon began to send out colonies which rapidly increased and now form large congregations.

Joseph Stout, Practical Joker

Col. Stout had a son Joseph, who was as wild a blade as ever sprung from a pious and steady ancestry. Traditions of his many practical jokes are well remembered by the people in this section. One is too good to be lost. As we have related, old John Manners lived on the right of the road leading from Hopewell to Amwell, and James Stout on the left. One summer evening �Joe� was crossing the mountain with a fearful thunderstorm threatening at his back, when he met a peddler, who anxiously inquired the way to the nearest house.

If all of the thunderbolts in the elements had been crashing around Joe�s ears, he could not have lost the opportunity for playing a practical joke upon the poor peddler. We have said that John Manners lived on the right, as you come from Hopewell, and James Stout on the left; but Joe, to fool the peddler, said: �You go on about a mile, and on the �left� old John Manners lives, where so many peddlers stop, and very few are ever seen going away. The old woman, Aunt Becky, will meet you at the door and pretend to be very kind. She will coax you in and make a great fuss with you---but look out for yourself there.

�On the �right�, James Stout lives. They are very clever people and there you will be safe.�

The peddler, cheered at the prospect of so near a shelter, hastened on, and turned to the right, going, as he supposed, to James Stout�s. Loudly pealed the thunder, and a sky as black as midnight, illumed by vivid flashes of lightning foretold the quick coming of rain. The peddler went up the lane on the run.

Now Aunt Becky, as she was called by every man, woman and child for miles around, was the kindest woman in the world. She saw the peddler coming and ran to the door to let him in. As he reached the stoop the first big drops began to patter upon his pack, and the old lady bade him hasten or his goods would get wet. There was that kind, persuasive manner in her look and tone which reminded him of Joe�s description of Mrs. Manners, and led him to ask before he entered, �Whose house is this?�

�John Manners,� was the prompt reply. The peddler turned and ran as though every drop of rain were a bullet flying after him. Great streams poured down from the black sky, as, bespattered with mud and soaked to the skin, he fetched up at James Stout�s.

�You�ve ruined your pack,� said Mrs. Stout, as she surveyed his streaming figure. �Y-y-e-e-s,� stammered the frightened man, �I-I�ve spilled my p-pack. B-but I�ve s-s-aved my l-life! I�ve escaped from that old John Manners� where so many peddlers go and few ever come away.�

The Stouts were startled at this revelation of their relative�s murderous treatment of peddlers, and at the next prayer meeting at Joseph�s, soon after, a family consultation was held. Joe was suspected and called up. He �stoutly� denied any knowledge of the matter.

The Manners Family Cemetery

Jacob S. Manners, with a commendable desire to cherish among coming generations a proper respect for the last resting place of those who had so much to do with the early history of our county and state, has recently purchased a lot adjoining the old Stout graveyard, and laid it out for a family cemetery. The walks will be so arranged that the inscriptions on the headstones will face toward them, and each plot is to be bordered by an evergreen hedge. Here, as the seasons come and go, one by one of those descended from this pioneer race will be laid upon this consecrated hillside, so that in death, as well as in life, the circle of this family will be perpetuated in this quiet corner of the world.

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