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Return to SCLSNJ.org
Manage your event registrations
Need special accomodations?
Other activities in our meeting rooms
Joseph R. Klett, Executive Director of New Jersey State Archives speak on the fascinating topic of land ownership in New Jersey in early colonial times.
Land ownership in early colonial times is fascinating - much of New Jersey was an uncharted, unsurveyed, unsettled wilderness. Property boundaries were bodies of water, trees, and rocks. Many property owners were prosperous absentee investors who had never set foot in New Jersey. Early in it's history New Jersey was divided into the Province of East and West Jersey. Each province had its own government and governor. It was all done without benefit of a survey.
The unclaimed land and land sales records were maintained by the proprietors – and the proprietors were also the ruling government. That governing part didn’t suit them though, so in 1702, they relinquished that role to the British monarch, Queen Anne, while keeping the land part. The story has continued all these years. In 1998, the East Jersey Proprietors disbanded while the West Jersey Proprietors continue to this day (although they finally turned their records over to the State Archives 20 years ago).
The Van Harlingen Historical Society and the Somerset County Library System is proud to host this program in collaboration.
