NJSA Early Land Records — Vincent Runyon to Nicholas Munday conveyance, 30 January 1678/9 — Piscataway meadow = catalog's EARLIEST documented Runyon land transaction in NJ. Vincent Runyon of Piscataway conveys 'all my Right, Title and Interest unto a Certain Meadow' (acreage not specified in legible portion) bounded on the West by Munday and on the East by [Richard?] Smith (et al.). Witnesses: Jeffrey Manning + [—] Higgens [Higgins]. Acknowledged 30 January 1678/9 (Old Style; = 30 January 1679 New Style). Recorded ~7 Feb 1679 per NJSA index. = the foundational primary-source attestation for Vincent Runyon's presence at Piscataway by 1679, anchoring the [p.148 Grace Runyon Cooper](../../people/p.148%20Grace%20Runyon%20Cooper.md) family-of-origin trace back to the earliest Piscataway proprietary era.

Transcription and notes

Source identification

Manuscript condition

The manuscript is heavily faded with significant ink loss in the body text — much harder to read than the K.13 mid-18th-c. survey return. Verbatim transcription below is based on 5x LANCZOS upscale of the most legible portions; uncertain readings marked [—] or [?].

Verbatim manuscript transcription (key elements)

Opening (= start of the deed body)

Whereas the said Vincent Runyon of Piscataway in [the County of —] [—] our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy and [—] [—] sold and demonstrated due [—] of [—] [— Robert Vauquellin?] of [—] of [—] [—] and [—] unto Nicholas Munday of [Piscataway] in the County aforesaid all my Right, Title and Interest unto a Certain Meadow Lying or being in [Piscataway?] bounded on [—] Upland and to the West by [Munday] on [—] [Saton?] and on the East by [Richard?] Smith and George[?] [—] Meadow [—] [—] [—] [—] and a Half [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] price Advantages [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] belonging with any [—] following [—] and [—] coming from any [—] [—] [—] [—] my [— —] [—] [—] [—]...

Signature / acknowledgment

...mentioned [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—]
mentioned Vincent Runyon [hath set] my hand and Seale Dated [my hand and Seale] [—] in [—] [—] of [— —] [—] [— —] [—] [—] our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy [— —]
Runyon Signed Sealed [—] and Delivered in the Presence of: Jeffrey Manning, [—] Higgens [Higgins], and Delivered in [the Presence] [—] [—] [—] [—] [—] [— —] this [— —] [—]
Runyon Acknowledged the said deed [—] [—] [— Jeffrey?] Munday[?] to be written [—] [—] this thirty day of January 1678/79

Key elements extracted

Catalog significance

Catalog's EARLIEST documented Vincent Runyon land transaction (= 30 Jan 1678/9) = at the very beginning of the East Jersey proprietary era. Pre-dates Vincent's K.12 Record 8 / 1687 Hopewell Hull 70-acre Raritan-River purchase by 8 years and his Record 10 / 1685-86 Gilman-survey adjoining-landowner role by 6 years. = Vincent Runyon was active at Piscataway by 1679 — within 5-7 years of the original 1666 founding of Piscataway by Quaker/Dutch settlers (= John Martin Berry, Hugh Dunn, John Drake, etc., transplanted from Long Island / NJ pre-cursor settlements).

Foundational for p.148 Grace Runyon Cooper paternal-line trace. Grace was born 17 Jan 1706/7 at Piscataway. If Vincent Runyon (active 1679-1687) is identified as Grace's paternal grandfather or great-grandfather, the Runyon-of-Piscataway line is primary-source-anchored to the original 1670s-1680s proprietary settler generation. Resolution of the 1687→1741 NJSA gap (= no Runyon Middlesex records appear in the database between Vincent's 1687 Hopewell Hull deed and Peter Runyon's 1741 Ambrose Brook survey) would lock the Vincent → ? → Reziah → Grace OR Vincent → Peter-line → Grace genealogical chain.

17th-c. cursive spelling note. K.12 Record 10 / L.[number removed]-86 records Vincent's surname as variant '[Runen]' = manuscript-cursive shortform consistent with the Dutch/French-Huguenot origin of the Runyon family (= 'Reuen' / 'Runyon' = Anglicized form of Reune/Runie of French Huguenot ancestry per established Runyon-family genealogies). The 1679 K.14 deed shows full 'Runyon' (or 'Runeyon') spelling.

The Munday family context

Nicholas Munday of Piscataway = early-1670s Piscataway proprietary settler. His receipt of a Piscataway meadow from Vincent Runyon in 1679 suggests intra-village land consolidation (= small grants being traded among the original ~30 Piscataway settler families to consolidate workable parcels). The Munday surname recurs in: - K.12 Record 10 / L.[number removed]-86 Gilman survey (Munday as adjoining) - K.12 Record 1 / Middlesex Co Mortgages Vol 1 1766 (= John Runyon's shop at Bound Brook "formerly Marlatts now John Runyons" — Marlatts being a separate but Piscataway-resident surname; not the Munday family directly)

Suggests Munday family continued in Piscataway through the proprietary era and may have intermarried with Runyons. Investigation of Munday genealogies (= Piscataway First Baptist Church + RDC registers) may surface Munday → Runyon marriages that establish Vincent's descendants' marriages.

Cross-references

• K.12 Middlesex Runyon search Record 9 — parent sweep entry
• K.2 Reziah Runyon Hunterdon 1720 conveyance to Daniel Cooper Weaver — candidate-father lead for Grace; if Vincent → Reziah is the lineage, the 1720 Hunterdon record fits as a marriage-portion gift from Reziah to future-son-in-law Daniel Cooper Weaver (= p.1 Daniel Cooper Sr)
• p.148 Grace Runyon Cooper — paternal-line ancestry candidate
• pr.2 Daniel Sr father search — adjacent context (= Grace's family-of-origin trace is parallel to Daniel Sr's)
• K.5 Daniel Cooper Grantee 1744 Green Brook Falls × James Alexander — Cooper-Runyon families ~65 years later

Follow-ups

• [ ] ** Create Vincent Runyon people-file stub** = NEW catalog person; p.X ID needed. Default: name file "p.X Vincent Runyon of Piscataway 1679-1687.md" (= matching the K.12 documented active span).
• [ ] ** Resolve 1687→1741 Runyon Piscataway gap** — pull NJ Archives probate database (per memory reference_njsa_searchable_databases.md) for Vincent Runyon's will (if extant) + 1700-1730 Piscataway baptismal records (Piscataway First Baptist + RDC) for children of Vincent.
• [ ] ** Resolve [—] Higgens witness identity** — likely = Eliakim Higgins or Josiah Higgins (both attested in adjacent Piscataway records). Re-zoom manuscript at higher resolution if possible.
• [ ] ** Resolve "Nicholas Munday of Piscataway" lineage** — check for Munday-Runyon intermarriages in Piscataway First Baptist + RDC registers 1670-1750.
• [ ] ** Confirm precise acreage of the meadow** — manuscript shows "[—] and a Half" suggesting some fractional acreage but the integer portion is illegible. Pull a higher-resolution scan if available.