Sussex County, New Jersey — Divisions of land proceedings, vol. A, book pages 19, 20 and 21: the partition of a Newton Township tract formerly William Burnett's, between the heirs of Daniel Cooper Jun'r and Aaron Fulkerson. Order 26 Nov 1793; return and map 27 May 1794. FamilySearch DGS 5679654, images 21 and 22.

What this document records

🎯 the order page 19 verbatim

Page 19, the whole opening paragraph, read at 4×: "By George Allen, Francis Price & Levi Adams Esquires, Judges of the inferior Court of common pleas of the county of Sussex in the state of New Jersey — Whereas application hath been made to us by the Heirs of Daniel Cooper Jun'r deceased of the County of Morris, who claims an undivided half part of all that tract of Land formerly belonging to William Burnet dec'd and now belonging to the heirs of the s'd Daniel Cooper Jun'r dec'd and Aaron Fulkerson as tenants in common, containing Two hundred and thirty eight Acres and forty two hundredths of an acre, situate on the North Easterly side of a tract of Land surveyed to Judge Theale, beginning at the south east corner of the dwelling house of Samuel Swaysey & in the Township of Newton in the County of Sussex aforesaid & now in the possession of the s'd Aaron Fulkinson, to have the said tract divided into two equal shares or parts pursuant to an Act entitled 'An act for the more easy partition of Lands held by Coparceners, joint tenants, and tenants in common' passed the eleventh day of November 1789 — We therefore agreeably to s'd Act Have nominated & appointed David Smalley of the County of Somerset, Elijah Smith of the County of Morris and Samuel Beedle of the County of Sussex, to divide the s'd tract of Land into two Equal Shares or parts, pursuant to said Act. — Given under our hands & Seals this 26th day of November 1793. George Allen (Seal) Francis Price (Seal) Levi Adams (Seal)."

📌 the commissioners oaths pages 19 20 verbatim

Each commissioner was sworn separately, in his own county — which is why three different judges appear: ▸ David Smalley — "Personally appeared before me Samuel Tuttle, one of the Judges of the inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the county of Morris… David Smalley, a commissioner appointed for dividing s'd Lot of Land in the County of Sussex held & claimed by the Heirs of Daniel Cooper Esq'r dec'd & Aaron Fulkerson as Joint Partners or Tenants in Common… sworn before me this 1[7]th Day of December 1793." ▸ Elijah Smith — sworn before David Thompson, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Morris County, "this 21st Day of April 1794." ▸ Samuel Beddell — sworn before Levi Adams, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Sussex, "Given under my hand 26th of Nov'r 1793."

🎯 the return page 20 verbatim

"We the Subscribers having been appointed Commissioners by the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Sussex, for the purpose of dividing a certain tract of Land in the Township of Newton in the County of Sussex af'd & by the Heirs of Daniel Cooper Esq'r dec'd & Aaron Fulkerson as Joint Partners, and having all met on s'd premises on the 22nd Day of April Last & having, after swearing the Chain Bearers, did proceed to divide the said tract into two parts as followith viz. s'd Lot allotted to Aaron Fulkerson, Beginning at the most Northermost corner of a tract of Land surveyed to Judge Hoad[?] & at the begining corner of Lot No 2, thence south thirty seven degrees West ten chains & fifty Links, thence (2) North twenty five degrees West Nineteen Chains & fifty Links, thence…"

🎯 the drawing and signatures page 21 verbatim

"…having drawn for the s'd lots this twenty 7 day of May & in the year 1794 at the house of Samuel Annin Inn Keeper at Basking ridge, all which we submit to the Honourable Court of the County of Sussex and pray that the same may be entered of record. Given under our hands & Seals this 27th day of May 1794. David Smalley (Seal) Elijah Smith (Seal) Samuel Bedele (Seal). The words 'at Samuel Annin Inn keeper at Basking ridge' was Interlined before sealing." The lots were drawn BY BALLOT, not assigned — "having drawn for the s'd lots". And the Basking Ridge venue was an interlineation — added to the draft before sealing.

🗺️ the map is on page 21 this is map ca 21

The lower two-thirds of page 21 is the surveyed plan itself, drawn in ink on the register page. This is Alleman's Map CA 21. Legends read within the two figures: This is Lot No two Drawn to the Heirs of Daniel Cooper Deceased Containing 113. 3. 9 [= 113 acres, 3 roods, 9 perches] ▸ Lot No 1 … to Aaron [Fulkerson] … 3.19 — partly obscured by the gutter. ▸ Courses lettered around the figures include N 80 13 W 49.80, S 8 13 E 11.50, N 42 14 W 13.50, S 5 9½ W 23.30, N 24 N 28 E 67.80.

⛔ the heirs are not named individually which settles an open question

NO HEIR OF DANIEL COOPER IS NAMED. Not one, on any of the three pages. They are "the Heirs of Daniel Cooper Jun'r dec'd" throughout — order, all three oaths, return and map. This SETTLES [A.64]'s open question rather than leaving it open. [A.64] reasoned from the abstract's brevity that "the original Sussex Co. Clerk record at CA 19 itself did not list Daniel Jr's heirs individually" — and made pulling CA 19 its highest-priority follow-up, costed as an in-person visit to the Sussex County Clerk in Newton NJ or a paid records request. CA 19 has now been read. The inference was right. ⇒ That follow-up is CLOSED as a null, not merely unattempted, and the remaining route to Daniel Cooper Jr's named heirs is his Morris County Surrogate probate, which [A.64] already lists.

🔤 palaeography why junr and not senr

Jun'r vs Sen'r is the one reading on this page that could change who the man is, so it was tested rather than assumed. The word appears three times (page 19 twice, page 20 once) in the same hand and the same form: a tall looped ascender with a descender that swings left below the baseline, then un, then a superscript r. Matched against exemplars on the same two pages: the J of Judges (page 19 line 2) and Judge Theale carries exactly that left-swinging descender; the S of Samuel, Swaysey and Sussex is a compact rounded form with no descender at all. ⇒ The reading is Jun'r. It is independently corroborated by the sense: the same document calls him "Daniel Cooper Esq'r dec'd" in the oaths, and the Esq'r abbreviation is plainly a different word from the one in question.

📌 two places and a person not otherwise in this catalog

Judge Theale (page 19) and Judge Hoad[?] (page 20) — the tract adjoined a surveyed tract of his on the south-west. The two spellings may be the same man; neither is certain. Samuel Swaysey — his dwelling house is the order's starting reference point. The catalog spells the surname Swayze elsewhere; this document does not.