James Grover Sr. (1611 - 1685)

Born 11 Jul 1611 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Rebecca (Chesseman) Grover — married 1651 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, Kings, New York

Descendants

Died 3 Dec 1685 at age 74 in Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey

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Biography

James Grover Sr. immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Gravesend, Long Island

Circa November 1607 -- James Grover [Sr.] was born probably at Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England.^[1]

July 11, 1611 -- James Grover was born at Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England.^[2][1]

James Grover was an Englishman^[3] living in the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. Grover is recorded as hoisting the flag of England at Gravesend in 1646. More research is required to know if and why Grover attempted to separate Gravesend from the rest of New Netherlands and make it a colony of England.^[4]

Marriage

1639 -- James Grover and Rebecca [Cheeseman/Chesseman] married at Gravesend, Long Island, [New Netherland] (now Brooklyn, New York City, New York).^[1]

Alternatively Between 1641 and 1647 -- James Grover and Rebecca Cheeseman married at ??.^[5]

Alternatively Before September 27, 1654 -- James Grover and Rebecca Cheeseman married at ??.^[2]

Rebecca Unknown was born circa 1618.^[1]

James and Rebecca Grover resided at Gravesend, Long Island, (now New York) and later at Middletown, Monmouth County (New Jersey).^[1]

According to Mayes, James and Rebecca Grover had five children: three sons (James Jr., Joseph, and Safety) and two daughters (Abigail, and Hannah).^[3]

Alternatively

James and Rebecca Chesseman Grover had six children: three daughters:^[1]

1. Joseph. Born circa 1651-1652. Married Hannah Lawrence. They had a son and two daughters. Died circa March 1689;
2. James [Jr.]. Born circa 1650. Married Alice Unknown. They had 4 daughters. Died April 1, 1715.
3. Rebecca, who married Mordecai Gibbons.
4. Safety (male). Born 1658. Married Mercy Unknown. Died after 1727.
5. Abagail. Born 1654. Married Benjamin Borden. Died January 8, 1720;
6. Hannah. Born circa 1660. Married, first, Richard Gardiner, and secondly, William Winter.

Alternatively

James and Rebecca Chesseman Grover had two additional sons:^[1]

1. John. Born circa 1640;
2. Josiah. Born circa 1648;

September 27, 1654 -- Abigail Grover was born at Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherland. She was the first child of James and Rebecca Cheeseman Grover.^[2]

Two sons John Grover and Josiah Grover are commonly placed in this family.^[6]

John Grover is sometimes said to have been a son of James and Rebecca Cheseman Grover.^[7]

His Life

James Grover was one of the most active and useful of the first settlers.^[8]

December 27, 1642 -- James Grover was an apprenticed servant of James Hubbard. By consignation of Matthew Bancke, James Grover apprenticed himself to Edward Tomlins of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony to learn the carpenter's trade.^[9][2]

December 10, 1645 -- New Netherland Director Willem Kieft granted a patent for Gravesend, Long Island (now Brooklyn, New York City, New York) to Lady Deborah Moody and her associates (including James Grover).^[2]

February 20, 1646 -- James Grover was granted a house, lot, and a farm of 20 acres in the first division of Gravesend lands which at that time was a small settlement of 100 colonists.^[2]

November 12, 1646 -- James Grover was granted a town lot at Gravesend, Long Island.^[3]

1655 -- James Grover, George Baxter, and James Hubbard led an unsuccessful rebellion at Gravesend, proclaiming Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. Baxter and Hubbard were imprisoned. No mention of any punishment of Grover has been found.^[3]

1657 -- James Grover owned six morgens (12 acres) at Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherland.^[3]

3 July 1663 — Christaen Jacobsen Wolff made declaration that ____ Witlock and James Grover, of Gravesend, "had been to the several English towns on Long island to dissuade the people from volunteering."^[10]

August- September 8, 1664 -- James Grover supported the English conquest of New Netherland.^[11]

Circa 1664 - 1665 - Among the first settlers of Shrewsbury, Colt's Neck, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey (now New Jersey) were: James Grover, John Hance, the Hartshorne family, Obadiah Holmes, the Smith family, Richard Stout, the Taylor family, Job Throckmorton, John Throckmorton, John Tilton, and the Wardell family.^[12]

April 8, 1665 -- James Grover was one of the 12 men who bought the Monmouth Patent from English Governor Richard Nicolls/Nicholls/Nichols.^[13][14][3]

He was a public office holder, and he was in charge of early land surveys.^[15]

March 21, 1666/1667 (i.e., 1667) -- James Grover sold Lot No. 6 at Gravesend to Thomas Delavall.^[3] Before July 10, 1667 -- James Grover moved from Gravesend, Long Island to Monmouth Tract (now Monmouth County, New Jersey. He assisted in founding Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey (now New Jersey).^[3]

1667 -- New York Governor Richard Nicolls granted James Grover a patent, or deed, to No. 16 in the 1667 apportionment of Middletown lots. James Grover's home farm was at Tinton Falls, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey (now New Jersey).^[16]

1667 -- He was the first tavern owner in New Jersey.^[17]

Winter 1668 -- James Grover organized the first Baptist church in New Jersey.^[3]

May 28, 1672 -- Province of New Jersey Governor Carteret and Council awarded individual land grants to James Grover and five others to settle the Monmouth Tract-Proprietorship land dispute.^[3] 1673 -- James Grover sold his farm to Lewis Morris.^[18]

August 1674 – James Grover John Bowne, and associates petitioned for confirmation of their patent for the lands lying between Sandyhook and the Raritan Kil, New Jersey.^[19]

1676 & 1678 -- James Grover was a member of the Monmouth County Court for Middletown and Shrewsbury.^[3]

James Grover Sr., was a justice for the towns of Middletown and Shrewsbury and for Monmouth County.^[1]

James Grover Sr. was a lieutenant in the Middletown company of New Jersey Militia.^[1]

1680 -- James Grover represented Middletown at the first Assembly for the Province of East Jersey.^[3]

1683 -- James Grover was appointed Justice of the Peace for Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey.^[3]

December 5, 1685 -- James Grover conveyed 530 acres of land to his son Joseph Grover.^[3]

The Grover family has been largely represented in Upper Freehold, New Jersey as well as along the New Jersey shore.

Death

December 1, 1685 -- date of James Grover's will.^[2]

James died after having conveyed to his second son, Joseph, by deed of right 530 acres from his large land estate called "Grover's Inheritance." It is not stated what the eldest son, James Grover Jr., inherited.

December 1685 -- James Grover died at Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of East Jersey (now New Jersey).^[1]

January 28, 1686 -- date James Grover's will was proved.^[20][3]

Given the children listed in this profile, this James Grover appears to be the one who left the following will:^[21]

In the name of God AMEN, I James Grover, Senr of Middletown, County of Monmouth, in East Jersey, being sencible of my Mortality and the present of perfect and sound mind .....

I bequeath my soul to Almighty God that gave it, and my body to the Earth, etc. And as for my Temporal Estate as it has blessed God to bestow upon me, i doe Give, Order and Dispose of the same in manner and forme following (that is to say)- first - I will that all those debts and Duties as I owe in Right or conscience to any man whatsoever, shall be well and truly contented and paid, in convenient time after my Demise, by my Execut(ers) hereinafter named.

Item I give and bequeath and my will is that my Mansion house, my Mill with that belongs thereto, and all my land lying on the N-E side of Mill Creek, together with all my Meadow land adjoining or Elcewhere, shall be divided into three equal parts, one third I give to my son James Grover, on third to my son-in-law Benjamin Border, for sake of his wife, my daughter Abigail, and the other third part to my son-in-law, Richard Gardiner for the sake of my daughter Hannah, his wife with all the privilidges & appurtenances thereto belonging, to them and their Heirs Execut(rs), Administrat(rs), or assignes.

Item all the rest of my Estate, Movable or Imovable, both household and stuffe, tools, implements--cattle, horses, swine and everything elce that is mine, my will is that after decease of me and my wife, it shall be equally divided between my five children, James, Joseph, Safety, Abigail and Hannah.

Item My will is that after my decease, all my Estate, both Real and Personal shall be and Remaine in the possession of my Deare Wife Rebecca for her support and Maintenance as long as she shall live or remain a widow, and afterward to be disposed of as specified.

Lastly I doe Ordain and Appoint my son James Grover and my son-in-law Richard Gardiner to by me Execut(rs), and none other after my decease, to see this Will and Testament performed. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hadn and fixed my seale, this 1 st day of Dec. in the year of Our Lord 1685.

This will are proved Jan 28, 1685/6.

Witnesses: Richard Hartshome and Tho. Webly,

before John Throckmorton.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Jack Mount's Genealogy: My Seabrook Family Ancestral Line. Accessed by Michael Boynton on February 14, 2017 at 2:45 AM. as father-in-law of (3) James Seabrook (1680-1745). Available here.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Find A Grave: Memorial #123076932
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14} Mayes, Edward. Family of Longstreet, page 72.
4. ↑ Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Grovers of Monmouth County, N.J.
5. ↑ Source Needed. Entered by Jerry Cox.
6. ↑ Source needed
7. ↑ Source needed
8. ↑ Source needed
9. ↑ Great Migration Begins. Page ??
10. ↑ O'Callaghan: Part 1, Page 249
11. ↑ Source needed
12. ↑ History of Colt's Neck
13. ↑ Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.) Page 10 Col 2.
14. ↑ This Old Monmouth [New Jersey] of Ours. Page 177.
15. ↑ Source needed
16. ↑ Patentees of Monmouth
17. ↑ Source needed
18. ↑ Source needed
19. ↑ Digital image of the original document from the New York State Archives
20. ↑ Liber A of East Jersey Deeds, page 235.
21. ↑ Will from Liber I, page 68, East Jersey Deeds

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England (1620 - 1633). 3 Volumes. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1995.

• History of Colts Neck, [Monmouth County, New Jersey]. Scanned from an undated booklet from Colts Neck Library. Booklet thought to have been written in 1965. Accessed April 14, 2016 at 1:30 AM. [1]

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 24 April 2020), memorial page for James Grover, III (11 Jul 1611–3 Dec 1685), Find A Grave: Memorial #123076932, ; Maintained by Sue McDuffe:) (contributor 47122067) Non-Cemetery Burial, who reports a Buried on farm/property.

• Mayes, Edward. Genealogy of the Family of Longstreet Completed. Circa 1935. Privately published. Clark T. Thornton, editor. Reprinted 2009. Pages 72 - 73,

• Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting. 2003. On line database.

• Hornor, William S. This Old Monmouth [New Jersey] of Ours. Moreau Brothers: Freehold, New Jersey. 1932. Reprinted by Clearfield Company Inc. Genealogical Publishing Company: Baltimore, Maryland. June 1, 2009. Accessed by Michael Boynton on February 11, 2017 at 9:57 PM. Available for sale at https://books.google.com/books?id=Cy88CpankH8C&source=gbs_navlinks_shttp://www.ceresfamily.com/public/history/wh179.html.

• William Nelson, Editor. Patents and Deeds and Other Early Records of New Jersey, 1664 - 1703. 1982. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. Available here.

• O'Callaghan, Edmund. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N.Y. (Weed, Parsons and Company, Printers, Albany, 1865)

• John E. Stillwell. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey. Volume 4. 1903. New York. Available at Columbia University Library.

• John E. Stillwell. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Grovers of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Volume 4. Pages 246 - 278.

• Monmouth Tract. Wikipedia. Accessed February 11, 2017 at 8:00 PM. Available at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouth_Tract

• Patentees of Monmouth [New Jersey]. Wikipedia. Accessed February 12, 2017 at 11:27 PM. Available at Space:Patentees_of_Monmouth

Acknowledgements

• Mike Snider created WikiTree profile Grover-292 created through the import of My Ancerstors.ged on Jul 2, 2011.

• The Newman Family Tree.ged was imported on 12 March 2011.

• Grover-821 was created by Jerry Cox through the import of jcoxff.ged on Oct 15, 2013. NOTE: Imported GEDCOM includes Jerry's notes containing parts of his years of family history research. Status Category is "S1 No notes" mentioning Grover-821 (Research Notes not needed).

• WikiTree profile Grover-338 created through the import of RichardThomasDavis.ged on Aug 5, 2011 by Ryan Davis.

• WikiTree profile Grover-351 created through the import of OliveMinverva.ged on Aug 5, 2011 by Rya Davis.

• Irene Dillon did an exhaustive research of the facts presented here, and Robin Kabrich humbly edited the biography after completing the merges.