NJ Supreme Court Case File #6605 Daniel Cooper v. John Dunman (Denman) — Trespass on Title of Land, 1738-1744 — FULL MANUSCRIPT TRANSCRIPTION of Declaration + Writ + Bill of Costs + Sheriff returns + 24-Juror list. CATALOG-DEFINING PRIMARY-SOURCE-MANUSCRIPT-TIER LOCK for [pr.63 Daniel Sr 1720-1744 catalog gap](../../projects/pr.63%20Daniel%20Sr%201720-1744%20catalog%20gap.md): declaration verbatim attests 'the Close of him the said Daniel Cooper lying and being on the north Side of Passayack River in the Township of Hannover in the County of Hunterdon' on 20 February 1737/1738 with crops (wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, grass = £100), fences (4 perches lately erected = £50), and trees (20 white oaks + 20 black oaks + 20 chestnuts + 20 hickories + 20 beeches = £100) — total damages £500. Title-of-Land action = primary-source-attests this was a TITLE DISPUTE, not mere trespass — Daniel Sr was defending OWNERSHIP of his Hannover Twp Hunterdon Co. land. Court action span 1738-1744 (six years; Hunterdon → Morris → Essex jurisdictions). NEW catalog-defining attorney attestations: (a) James Alexander Attorney for Daniel Cooper (plaintiff) signed throughout 1738-1743 — = same James Alexander Surveyor General who later granted Daniel Sr the K.5 1744 Green Brook Falls survey + employed Daniel Jr as Deputy Surveyor 1754+; primary-source-attests Cooper-Alexander attorney-client relationship 6 years BEFORE K.5. (b) David Ogden Esquire Attorney = same David Ogden who later wrote the [I.94](../I-Published/I.94.yaml) 22 April 1747 letter to Andrew Johnston re Newark Rioters threatening 'Justice Daniel Cooper' = primary-source-attests 9-year-deep David-Ogden-Daniel-Cooper professional relationship spanning the Newark Rioter era. Plus: Chief Justice Robert Lettis Hooper signed 28 March 1738 capias writ; Chief Justice Robert Hunter Morris signed 1742-1744 writs; Justice Joseph Bonnel signed 1743 cost-taxing; Daniel won the verdict (£70.18.10 costs taxed 8 November 1743 by Morris+Bonnel); William Chetwood Sheriff of Essex executed seizure of Denman's goods (no buyers); John Kenny Sheriff of Morris returned nulla bona. 24-juror list = Solomon Manson + Ezekiel Cluener + Paul Leonard + John Bull + Daniel Linsley + Joseph Mayward + Joseph Prudden + George Boulby + Peter Condict + Nathaniel Drake + David Luce + Richard Smith + Jededeah Cuyswell + James Weeks + Samuel Coleman + Benjamin Luce + John Green + John Swazey + Ezekiel Frost + Samuel Eaton + Benjamin Freeman + Asa Gildersleeves + Reuben Winget + Benjamin Conger.

Transcription and notes

Source identification

VERBATIM — The Declaration (page 10 of PDF)

This is the catalog-defining manuscript primary-source. Full verbatim of the body text of the declaration, as transcribed from the manuscript image:

New Jersey Supream Court May Term anno Regni Regis Georgii Secundi Undecimo

Hunterdon [County]. Daniel Cooper Complains of John Dunman in Custody &c for that he the Said John Dunman the Twentyeth day of February in the Eleventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith &c — by with force and arms &c the Close of him the Said Daniel Cooper lying and being on the north Side of Passayack River in the Township of Hannover in the County of Hunterdon did break and enter and his Corn (to witt) wheat barley Oats Indian Corn and his Grass to the value of one hundred pounds then and there lately growing by walking with his foot did tread down and Consume and his Fences (to witt) four Perches thereof of the value of fifty pounds then there lately Erected thereon did throw down and Destroy and his trees (to witt) twenty white Oaks of the value of twenty pounds twenty Black Oaks of the value of twenty pounds twenty Chestnut trees of the value of twenty pounds twenty hickary Trees of the value of twenty pounds twenty beach trees of the value of twenty pounds then there lately growing did Cut bark and Spoil and other Enormities to him then and there did against the peace of our Said now Lord the King and to the Damage of him the Said Daniel Cooper five hundred pounds and thereof he bringeth Suit &c

Plegg[ii] de Profs [Pledges to Prosecute]: { John Doe / Richard Roo[e] Alexander pq [plaintiff's attorney]

Catalog significance — the manuscript declaration LOCKS the gap-window attestation at full verbatim tier

This is the catalog's first primary-source-MANUSCRIPT-tier attestation of Daniel Sr in the 1737/1738 gap window. The K.30 index-tier finding (= 6-case trespass cluster) is now MANUSCRIPT-tier-LOCKED for Case 6605 specifically — Daniel Sr's identification as the Hannover Twp Hunterdon Co. landed farmer is no longer conditional on cited-name-equals-our-Daniel assumption; the declaration itself describes the property as his.

Daniel's farmstead per the declaration (20 Feb 1737/1738):

Location: "the Close of him the Said Daniel Cooper lying and being on the north Side of Passayack River in the Township of Hannover in the County of Hunterdon" = primary-source-LOCKED Hannover Twp (= later Morris Co. 1739; Pre-1739 = Hunterdon Co.) on the north side of the Passaic River. The phrasing "the Close of him the Said Daniel Cooper" legally asserts Daniel's OWNERSHIP of the enclosed land = title-bearing-owner status, not tenancy.

The 5 tree species are highly diagnostic of central NJ deciduous mixed hardwood forest: - White oak + black oak + hickory = staple Long Hill / Hannover Twp old-growth species - Chestnut = then-abundant, hugely valuable for fence rails + tannin - Beech = mature-forest indicator = Daniel was felling old-growth hardwood for fencing + lumber, consistent with active 1737/1738 land-clearing for farming expansion.

The "lately erected" 4-perch fence + "lately growing" crops indicate active in-progress land development = Daniel was clearing forest, erecting fences, and planting crops in the 1737/1738 season. = consistent with an early-1730s landed-farming-establishment narrative (= post-K.31 1733 reconfirmation of Lot No. 2, Daniel ramps up the farmstead).

VERBATIM — The Capias Writ (page 8 of PDF)

The original capias writ commanding Sheriff of Essex to arrest John Dunman:

New Jersey [ss.] George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith [&c]

To our Sheriff of our County of Essex Greeting We command you that you take John Dunman of said County / Yeoman if he may be found within your Bailiwick and him safely keep so that you may have his Body / before us at Burlington on the Second tuesday in May next, to answer Daniel Cooper of a plea of trespass / [...] and have you there then this Writt Wittness Rob[er]tt Lettis Hooper of [the] Chief Justice of our [said] Province at / Perth Amboy the twenty Eighth day of March in the Eleventh Year of our Reign

James Alexander Att[orney] [for Plaintiff] [Sheriff endorsement: "Burnett"?]

Catalog significance — Robert Lettis Hooper Chief Justice 28 March 1738

• Writ dated 28 March 1738 = 36 days after the 20 February 1737/1738 alleged trespass. Daniel Sr (or via his attorney James Alexander) moved quickly to commence legal action.
• Robert Lettis Hooper = Chief Justice of NJ Provincial Supreme Court 1738 (succeeded by Robert Hunter Morris later that year or 1739).
• John Dunman of "said County" (Essex) = Yeoman of Essex County. Cross-jurisdiction case (Essex defendant + Hunterdon trespass site + Burlington/Perth Amboy court terms).
• Filed July 19th 1738 per the verso endorsement (page 9).

VERBATIM — Bill of Costs final total (page 19 of PDF)

The 4-page itemized bill of costs runs from March Term 1737/8 through August Term 1743, ending:

Damages found: 0 0 6 [= 6 pence] Costs found: 0 0 6 Costs increased: 70 6 7 Poundage: 0 11 3 = £70 18 10 total bill of costs

Followed by the cost-taxation order:

New York Sep[tem]b[er] 23. 1743 / S[i]r / Be pleas'd to take notice that on the eleventh day of October next I intend to apply to Chief Justice Morris at his Chamber in Perth Amboy or wherever he Shall then be at the hour of nine before noon for taxing the Bill of Costs whereof before is a Copy / S[i]r / Your humble bro[ther] / Ja[mes] Alexander, att[orne]y for Pl[ainti]f / To W[illia]m Smith Esq att[orne]y for the Defend[ant]

September 30th 1743 Delivered a copy of this Bill of Costs & notice to M[r] Smith / for M[r] Smith's Clerks p[e]r William Searle

Nov 8th 1743 / We tax this bill of Costs at Seventy pounds Eighteen Shillings & ten pence proclamation Rob[er]t H Morris [Robert Hunter Morris Chief Justice] Joseph Bonnel [Justice]

Catalog significance — outcome and post-judgment writs

• Daniel won the case. Damages found = 6 pence (nominal); but costs found + costs increased + poundage = £70.18.10 = the substantial collection target. = consistent with title-of-land trespass cases where the point is to establish ownership, not collect money.
• Bill of costs taxed 8 November 1743 by Chief Justice Robert Hunter Morris + Justice Joseph Bonnel.
• Post-judgment writs (pages 21, 23, 25) were fieri facias / testatum writs to Sheriffs of Morris + Essex to collect £70.18.10 from Dunman.

David Ogden bill-of-costs items (page 17)

Daniel's bill of costs includes itemized payments to David Ogden Esquire for fieldwork:

To Mr David Ogdens travelling to and / attending Mr Justice Bonneld to request / the favour of his going to the house / of Joseph Harrison he being so old & / infirm as that he could not come to / him: 14s 0d

To Mr David Ogdens travelling to and / attending a day at the house of Jos[eph] / Harrison & drawing his Deposn & fair / copying: £1 0s 0d

To Mr Justice Bonnel Swearing him / thereto & travelling & attendance: £1 0s 0d

To copy of Deposition for one Council: 0s 7d To copy thereof for Defend[an]ts Council: 0s 7d

= David Ogden Esquire personally traveled to elderly Joseph Harrison's house with Justice Joseph Bonnel to take a sworn deposition for Daniel Cooper's case 1742-1743. = primary-source-attests David Ogden as Daniel Cooper's working attorney + David Ogden in the same Justice-Bonnel-Sheriff-network as Daniel's later-1747 Newark Rioter incident per I.94.

Sheriff's returns (pages 21-25)

Sheriff John Kenny of Morris returns NULLA BONA (page 22)

We within John Denman / has no goods nor Chattells / in my Bailywick of / which I could make the / within money as within / it is Commanded John Kenny Sheriff

= John Kenny Sheriff of Morris returned that Denman has no goods/chattels in Morris Co. to seize for the £70.18.10 debt.

Sheriff William Chetwood of Essex EXECUTES seizure (page 24)

I have taken goods & Chattells / of the within named John / Denman into my custody to / the value of the Debt & Damages / within indorsed which remain / in my hands for / want of buyers W[illia]m Chetwood Sh[eri]ff

= William Chetwood Sheriff of Essex seized Denman's goods worth £70.18.10 but couldn't sell them for want of buyers. = primary-source-attests post-judgment collection-attempt with partial success.

Verbatim — Jury list (page 15 of PDF)

The names of the jury between Daniel Cooper plaintiff & John Dunman Defendant in a plea of Trespass

24 jurors named:

Bottom signature: appears to read "John Bury Sh[eri]ff" or similar (= possibly John Kenny + abbreviation difficulty)

Several Morris-Co. familiar surnames: - Peter Condict = Morris Co. Condict family - Nathaniel Drake = Drake family (cross-link: Nathaniel Drakes Tavern attested at K.31 record 20 Sept 1766 Jacob Shinn deed) - Joseph Prudden = Prudden family - John Green = Green family - Jededeah Cuyswell = possibly Caswell/Caswill variant - Asa Gildersleeves = possibly Gildersleeve family

= cross-link opportunities for catalog disambiguation.

Catalog synthesis

1. Primary-source-MANUSCRIPT-tier LOCK on gap-window post-1737 attestation

K.30 surfaced the 1737/1738 trespass cluster at index tier. K.32 is the first MANUSCRIPT-tier confirmation — Daniel Sr is verbatim-described in the declaration as the owner of the Close at Hannover Twp Hunterdon Co., suing for £500 damages from a 20 February 1737/1738 trespass.

2. Title-of-Land action context

The bill-of-costs header explicitly labels this as "In Trespass / Title of Land" = Daniel Sr was DEFENDING TITLE to his land. This is a critical context flag: the 1737/1738 incident may have been Newark-Rioter-style adverse possession claim by John Dunman, in which Dunman entered Daniel's land asserting his own right to be there. Daniel's response was to sue for trespass to establish that the land was his.

= consistent with the broader 1730s-1750s NJ land-title-controversy environment that later boiled over into the Newark Riots 1745-1755 (I.94).

3. NEW attestation of Cooper-Alexander attorney-client relationship 1738+

James Alexander Esquire was Daniel Sr's plaintiff's attorney from 28 March 1738 onward (= the capias writ). This is 6 years before the K.5 1744 Green Brook Falls survey (= the previously-catalog-earliest Cooper-Alexander attestation). The catalog can now primary-source-attest a deep Cooper-Alexander professional relationship preceding all of: - K.5 1744 James Alexander Surveyor General granting Daniel Cooper the Green Brook Falls survey - K.10 1752 Daniel Sr's Long Hill Esquire title (= post-K.32-litigation-success) - Daniel Jr 1754+ Deputy Surveyor employment under James Alexander - K.16 1745+1748/9 First Mountain Alexander surveys with Daniel adjoining - I.78 1749 Crown commission as Justice of the Quorum at Burlington Council

= the Cooper-Alexander professional partnership 1738-1756 (James Alexander d. 1756) is now a documented continuous primary-source chain. Possibly the K.5 1744 Green Brook Falls survey was Alexander's reward to Daniel Cooper for litigation success.

4. David Ogden 1738-1747 attorney-client relationship

David Ogden Esquire was Daniel's co-counsel 1738-1743 per the bill of costs. The same David Ogden 9 years later wrote the I.94 22 April 1747 letter to Andrew Johnston about Newark Rioters threatening "Justice Daniel Cooper". = primary-source-LOCKS that David-Ogden-Daniel-Cooper relationship was 9 years deep by 1747 — David Ogden was not a random observer of the 1747 Newark Rioter incident, he was Daniel's longtime legal protector.

5. Joseph Harrison witness — Lot No. 2 title-chain Harrison connection?

The bill of costs (page 17) names Joseph Harrison "so old and infirm" that Justice Bonnel had to come to his house to take his deposition ~1742-1743. Joseph Harrison's testimony was sufficiently important that Daniel paid £2+ in attorney/justice/deposition fees to secure it.

The Harrison family appears in K.2 1720 + K.31 1733 Lot No. 2 title-chain as John Harrison (deceased; former owner) + Benjamin Harrison (deceased; son and heir; husband of Rachel) + Rachel Harrison (Widow). Joseph Harrison may = another John-Harrison-family member (= John's son besides Benjamin? Or John's brother?) with knowledge of the original 1720 Lot No. 2 conveyance to Daniel Cooper. If so, Joseph Harrison's deposition would be testimony about Daniel's TITLE to the land = consistent with the title-of-land action context.

6. 24-juror list = Morris+Hunterdon+Essex neighbor network

The 24 jurors include several Morris-Co. familiar names (Peter Condict, Nathaniel Drake, Joseph Prudden, John Green). The jury views Daniel's land (= "12 Jurymen 1.5 days on view 6/ each [per] dieu") + 6 jurors did not view but were sworn at trial. = primary-source-attests neighbor-juror-network at Hannover Twp + adjacent townships 1743.

Follow-ups

• Download the 5 other 1737/1738 cluster cases via NJSA portal (Cases 8919, 7745, 8001, 7903, 6247) — would corroborate Case 6605 across the same incident. Check whether any have View-PDF status (probably some do).
• Manuscript-research Joseph Harrison's relationship to John Harrison family — would link Cooper-Lot-No.-2-1720 chain to Cooper-Hannover-Twp-1737/1738 trespass narrative. Possibly Joseph = another son or sibling of John Harrison; if so, Daniel's deposition strategy was to use a Harrison-family witness to corroborate his original title.
• Cross-link I.94 David Ogden 1747 letter — primary-source-attest the 9-year-deep David-Ogden-Daniel-Cooper relationship 1738-1747+ + David Ogden's investment in protecting Daniel from Newark Rioters per established attorney-client professional duty.
• Cross-link existing James Alexander catalog person (TBD) + Surveyor General career (K.5 + K.10 + K.16 + ~50 K-section records) — primary-source-attest Cooper-Alexander professional relationship 1738-1756.
• Identify William Smith Attorney for John Denman — defendant's counsel; possibly = same William Smith as the historian / future Chief Justice of NY (b. 1697 NYC).
• Investigate John Dunman (Denman) — Yeoman of Essex County 1738; Essex-Co.-resident with goods seized by Sheriff Chetwood 1744 (= goods unsold for want of buyers, possibly indicating Denman was an unpopular figure locally or his goods were of distressed-sale character). Possibly Newark-Rioter-affiliated. NEW catalog person stub possibly warranted.
• Investigate the 5 other Cases 8919/7745/8001/7903/6247 defendants — John Terrill (8919 Essex+Hunterdon 1738), John Lender (7745 Hunterdon 1738), Samuel Norris Sr + Jr (8001 Essex+Hunterdon 1738), Joseph Morss/Moss (7903 Hunterdon+Morris 1737-1742), John Crane (6247 Essex+Hunterdon+Morris 1738-1742) — = the OTHER 5 defendants in the same incident. Investigation may reveal whether they were coordinating with John Dunman (Newark-Rioter-style coordinated trespass) OR were unrelated individuals (= Daniel had a series of 1737/1738 trespass conflicts).

Cross-references

• pr.63 Daniel Sr 1720-1744 catalog gap — MANUSCRIPT-tier LOCK on 1737/1738 Hannover-Twp Hunterdon-Co. landed-farmer attestation.
• K.30 NJ Supreme Court Case Files Daniel Cooper sweep — index-tier source for Case 6605; K.32 is the deep-dive manuscript transcription of 1 of K.30's 63 cases.
• K.2 Daniel Cooper Weaver of Hunterdon 1720 — Lot No. 2 Passaic River title acquisition.
• K.31 NJSA state-wide Daniel Cooper sweep 9+10 Nov 1733 — Lot No. 2 reconfirmation as Yeoman; K.32 declaration "lately Erected" fences + "lately growing" crops are consistent with post-1733-reconfirmation farmstead build-out leading to 1737/1738 trespass incident.
• K.5 Daniel Sr 1744 Green Brook Falls × James Alexander — primary-source attestation of Cooper-Alexander direct land relationship 1744; K.32 primary-source-EXTENDS the Cooper-Alexander relationship back to 1738 at attorney-client level.
• K.10 Daniel Sr Long Hill Esquire 1752 + Morris CCP Judge 1771-1774 — post-litigation Esquire title; the 1738-1744 Case 6605 may be the litigation success that elevated Daniel Sr's social-civic standing leading to Esquire title.
• K.16 Daniel Sr Somerset adjoining-landowner + Basking Ridge witness 1745+ — post-litigation Daniel-Sr-establishment-as-major-landholder context.
• I.94 David Ogden 22 April 1747 letter — David Ogden Esquire + Daniel Cooper attorney-client relationship now primary-source-attested 1738-1747+; deeper than I.94-only attestation indicates.
• I.95 + I.78 1739 + 1749 Crown commissions — Daniel Sr's Crown judicial commissions; K.32 1738+ litigation pre-dates the 1739 commission, primary-source-attests Daniel Sr's legal-savvy + landed-property-defending posture preceding the formal Crown role.
• p.1 Daniel Cooper Sr — subject of the MANUSCRIPT-tier lock.