Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-11-10

tarily submitted to a form OF govern
ment in their newly found homes, with
out having guaranteed to themselves and
their posterity, that character OF liberty
{ of person and property, to obtain which,
they abandoned the places of their birth,
and sought to establish colony in far
distant America
Tie fundamental rights and privileges
Of the inhabitants, guaranteed by the
Concessions, were permanently secured
by provision that the same should not
be altered by any legislative enactment
thereafter.
i With the right OF government necessa-
irly attaches the power To create legal
tribunals, and in order that the colonists
might be further secured in the enjoy
ment of their liberty and right OF prop
erty, the same Concessions provided for
the establishment Of Courts, with certain
limitations as to the method Of legal pro-
cedure, and the manner by which justice
should be reached in the settlement of
public and private disputes.
Two of the principal provisions regard
ing the establishment OF Courts were:
First THAT in all Publick Courts OF
Justice for Tryals of Causes, Civil or
Criminal, any Person or Persons, Inhab-
'itants of said Province, may freely come
ainto and attend said Courts and hear .
''and be present at all or any such Tryals
9sas shall be there had or passed, that
'sJustice may not be done in Corner
.'nor in any covert manner, being in
sstended and reserved by the help of the
ssLord, and by these our Concessions and
Fundamentals, that all and every Per-
''son or Persons, inhabiting said Province
''shall as far as in us lies, be free from
Oppression and Slavery.
Second THAT there shall be in every
Court three Justices or Commissioners,
twho shall sit with the twelve Men of
s'the Neighborhood, with them TO hear
''all Causes and tc assist the said Twelve
Men in the Neighborhood in Case OF
Law; and that they the said Justices
"shalI pronounce such Judgment as they
s'shall receive from and be directed the
Twelve Men, in whom only the ,Iudg-
''ment resides and not otherwise. And
in case of their neglect and refusal that
then one of the Twelve, by consent of
s'the rest, pronounce their own Judg-
"ment as the Justices should have done,
'and ii any Judgment shall be passed in
stany Case, Civil or Criminal bv any
.'other Person or Persons or any other
"way. then according to this Agreement
land Appointment, it shall be held null
'sand void, and such Person or Persons.
$50 presuming to give Judgment, shall be
severely Fined and upon Complaint
s'made to the General Assembly bv them
s.be declared incapable Of any Office or
Trust made by this Province"
The Concessions also provided that the
Province be divided into ten precincts.
each embracing ten proprietarles. 1t was
not until January 1851, that the tenths
were actually laid off. The commission
ers acting under the Instructions from
the proprietors ordered a surveyor to
measure the front OF the river Delaware
from Assunpink, near Trenton, to Cape
May, into ten proportionable parts, run
ming each tenth so far back into the
woods as to give it an area OF $1,000
acres. The first and second tenths ex-
tended from the division line between
East and West Jersey to the River Crap
well or Pensaukin on the south, and the
third and fourth tenths reached from
"said river Crapwell on the north, to the
/ river Berkley, formerly called Old Mans
Creek, OH the south.
Il Gloucester County was formed out of
the last two tenths; first by the voluntary
act of the people themselves, {the only
county in tine State so created1 and alter
wards by an act passed by the West Jer-
lsey legislative Assembly.
While the original Concessions were
promulgated in 1876 there seems 10
bave been no meeting OF the General
! Assembly Of the West Province until
1851 In this year the principal settle
ments in West Jersey were at Salem and
Burlington, and on May ?, 1852, the AS
sembly provided for the establishment of
! four Courts OF Sessions, to be held at
those places yearly.
1t will be perceived that the inhabi-
tants of the third and fourth tenths had
j imposed upon them the burden of tray-
cling either to Salem or Burlington, for
the transaction of public business. Not
only did this situation result in great in
convenience, but left the affairs of the
intermediate localities in an unsettled
condition.
Just at this time disturbances in the
provincial government affected its sta
4 bility, in the eyes of the colonists, and
our forefathers seized upon the first op-
4 portnnity offered to erect a government,
Il and establish Court among themselves,
| in order to avoid the inconvenience to
n which the concentration of public busi-
ness at Salem and Burlington subjected
them.
| For the avowed purpose Of furnishing
4 relief, and to provide convenient place
where the residents of that neighbor-
A hood could meet for the transaction Of
public business, the proprietors, free
u holders and inhabitants of that part OF
i West Jersey living between Pensaukin
and Old Mans Greek, met at Arwames, or
II Gloucester, on May Goth. 1856. and
adopted what may be called County
Constitution. Up to this time there
had been no recognition either in the
Grants and Concessions or by any Act of
the General Assembly of County Gov
ernment, for that territory, although it
was known as the County OF Gloucester
! and SO called among the inhabitants.
! It is quite apparent from the scope and