Lewis Mulford

  General Notes:

Will of Lewis Mulford of Elizabeth: In the name of God Amen. I Lewis Mulford of Elizabeth Town in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey being weak in body but of sound and disposing mind and memory blessed be God therefor, Do this Twenty sixth day of October in the year of your Lord One Thousand seven hundred & Eighty-nine make and publish this my last Will and Testament in manner following. First I do order that all my just Debts and funeral expenses be paid out of my moveable estate. ITEM I give and Bequeath unto my daughter Anne as much out of my moveable estate as will make, with what she has already had in out set, equal in value to what I have already given to my daughter Hannah . ITEM I give and bequeath unto my son Lewis the sum of seventy five pounds. ITEM I give unto my grandaughter Mary,daughter of my son David deceased, the sum of thirty pounds to be paid to her at age or marriage whicheverfirst happeneth with interest for the same from the time she shall arriveat the age of fourteen years. Which several legacies above mentioned to be New York currency and to be raised out of my moveable estate. Also I give and bequeath unto my said grandaughter Mary above named thirty pounds aforesaid out of and part of a certificate I have signed Benjamin Thompson, dated October 5th 1785 and numbered 3549 for seven hundred and sixty seven dollars & eighty nine____ [100ths?] of a dollar. ITEM I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Anne for so long a time as she shall remain my widow the use of all my Real Estate and also the use of all my Moveable Estate remaining after paying my debts and the afore mentioned legacys, to be and remain unto my said wifes use for so long time as as she shall remain my widow, but that upon her intermarriage all her right to the use of my estate real & personal and to each and every part thereof by Right of Dower or otherwise, shall cease and be at an end. ITEM All the residue and remainder of my moveable estate which shall remain after my Debts and the before mentioned Legacies are paid there out, and my Wife's use therein shall cease by her Death or intermarriage as aforesaid, I give equally between my two daughters Hannah and Anne. ITEM I give and devise unto myson Thomas and to his heirs and assigns forever, all the lands & tenements where he now liveth which formerly belonged to Elijah Davis with the hereditaments and appurtenances thereto belonging. Also five acres of land to be taken off of my plantation adjoining to the last mentioned Devise on the South West side thereof, and to run from the corner of the land purchased of Elijah Davis where stood as assafrastree on a corner nearly South South East over Davis line two chains, thence on a direct line to the road so as to include the said five acres. ITEM all the residue and remainder of my homestead plantation with Tenaments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, I give and Devise equally in quantity between my two sons Benjamin and John, and to their respective heirs and Assigns forever in Severally, the half whereof hereby Devised to my son Benjamin shall include all my land lying the west side of the road that goes by my house, commonly called Pools place, and also include my house barn and buildings where I now live, and so much land on the eastside of the road, as with the land on the west side of the road will make one half in quantity of the land herein Devised between my said sons Benjamin and John, which line of division between my said sons Benjamin and John shall run from the aforesaid road to the land of Daniel Tooker,and shall be the South West boundary of my said son John's half;and incase my said sons Benjamin and John shall not agree where said Division line shall set off from the road, that then and in that case I Authorize and impower my Executors herein after named to fix and ascertain the same as convenient for both parties as they in their discretion may think proper. ITEM I give and devise unto my three sons Thomas Benjamin and John a Tract of land containing about thirty acres lying and being at a place called Turkey, which land I purchased of Elijah Davis the same binding on the land of Silvainus Oakley, the said land to be divided equally among my said three sons and to be and remain to them and their respective heirs and Assigns forever in Severally. ITEM I give and Devise unto my two sons Lewis and John and their respective heirs and Assigns forever equally between them in severally a Lot or Tract of Salt meadow lying in Elizabeth Town great meadows by the long pond, which meadow was purchased from William Trotter and Nathaniel Price. ITEM I give and Devise unto my sons Benjamin and John equally between them and to their respective heirs and Assigns forever in Severally, all that my lot of Salt meadow in Raway meadows on the north side of Thompson's Creek, adjoining to said Creek and the upland of Cornelius Hetfield which lot I purchased of Samuel Norris. ITEM I give and Devise unto my grandson Stephen Mulford, son of my son David deceased and to his heirs and assigns forever all and Singular my land with the Tenaments & Appurtenances situate in Elizabeth Town on the North West side of the Country road, which I purchased of Aaron Lane. And it is my will that all the Devises herein be forecontained shall be subject to my wife's use thereof in the manner before directed. ITEM I do order and direct that my sons Thomas and John, in consideration of the Devises to them made, do severally pay the following Legacys unto my son Lewis, to wit, my son Thomas, one hundred pounds, and my son John Seventy five pounds money aforesaid. And I do also order and direct that my said sons Thomas Benjamin and John do equally among them find for and deliver to my son David's widow so long as she remains his widow, the one half of her New Year's fire wood, and also two bushels of wheat and five bushels of Indian Corn annually towards her support. And my Will further is that if either of my sons Lewis or Thomas bring any Account or Charges against my Estate, such Account as far as the same shall be supported and recoverable in law shall be paid by my Executors and raised out of what is herein before given or Devised to him or them making such Charge by the Appropriation or Sale of so much thereof as will be sufficient for the purpose, so that my Estate shall be indemnified on Account thereof, except a debt of about forty pounds which I owe to my son Thomas which I direct to be paid out of my Estate. And I ordain and appoint my son Thomas Mulford and my son in law Benjamin Cory Executors of this my last Will andTestament, with full power and Authority to fix and ascertain the Division between my sons Benjamin and John as aforesaid in case they should disagree about fixing the same; and I do hereby revoke all former Wills and Testaments by me in any wise made rattifying this to be my last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first herein above Written.

[signed] Lewis Mulford
Witnesses: Gabriel Barton [father of John Mulford's wife Sarah], Moses Meeker, and John Barton [brother of John Mulford's wife Sarah].
The will was proved March 29, 1790 on the testimony of witnesses Moses Meeker and John Barton, and Executors Thomas Mulford and Benjamin Cory (who appears to have signed by mark) were sworn in.
I have scoured the New Jersey Calendar of Wills from 1670-1817 (except the volume for 1731-50, which is missing from the Northampton library) for mentions of Mulfords in Northern NJ, and noted every one. There were Mulfords on Cape May from about 1700, but the first one in the probate records did not appear until 1715, when Ezekiel Mulford of Cape May County was paid a debt by the estate of Abraham Hand. Ezekiel made hiswill and died at Cape May in 1721 (leaving three small children who may afterward have been raised with Lewis at Easthampton). For about ten years thereafter, the only Mulfords mentioned in the record were in Southern New Jersey. Between 1738 and 1757, there appeared in Essex County five Mulfords who were old enough to witness and execute wills and inventory the estates of others: Ezekiel (?-after 1767)and Jonathan (?-1789), sons of Ezekiel of Cape May; Lewis (1718-90), son of Lewis of East Hampton; and Job (1719?-1778) and Jeremiah (1714?-1791/95?), sons of Jeremiah of East Hampton. Very close in age, these five were grandsons ofThomas and great-grandsons of William Mulford of East Hampton. They grew up together in East Hampton and probably migrated to New Jersey more or less as a group around 1740, the date given forJonathan's and Lewis's moves to NJ by J. E. Rattray in her 1953 History and Genealogies of East Hampton.
The earliest appearances of these five in the NJ Calendar of Wills were as follows: - A "Mrs. Mulford" [unidentified] received payment of a debt from the estate of Joseph Meeker of Elizabeth, sometime between 7/14/1732 and 3/1/1738. - Jeremiah Mulford, William Jones and Benjamin Bonnel witnessed the will of Nathaniel Bonnel of Elizabethtown, 6/19/1736. - Lewis Mulford was named as principal creditor and co-administrator on the estate of Ephraim Sayre of Elizabeth, intestate 5/16/1746. - Ezekiel Mulford and Jonathan Mulford witnessed the willofJeremiah Hart of Turkey [New Providence], Borough of Elizabeth, 11/10/1749. - Job Mulford inventoried the estate of Aaron Thompson of Elizabeth,4/25/1757.
Mulfords proliferated in the northern New Jersey records after1760, so there would at first appear to be many possibilities for the identities of Charity Mulford's parents. However, only the family of Lewis Mulford 1718-90 remained in Elizabeth proper at the times ofCharity's birth and marriage, and only one or two of Lewis's sons left any traces that suggest possible links to Charity. So, assuming for investigative purposes that Charity's father was indeed one of Lewis's sons, which one was he?
Lewis had five sons: Lewis, David, Thomas, Benjamin and John.David died in the prime of his life, between 1780 and 1789, leaving young children who were named in their grandfather's will (1789). If Charity had been David's daughter, she would certainly have been named too, but she wasn't. Lewis's children who reached adulthood, including those who died early, were named in his own will (1826). Charity was not among them, though she was alive when the will was made. Thomas left a will proved in 1831 that I haven't seen yet but will examine. There is nothing in the few known facts of his life that suggests any connection with Charity. Benjamin left no will and few other traces, apart from a Revolutionary War pension application dated 1830 that lists no children except son Lewis, living in New York. Benjamin was then living in Elizabeth, as was Charity (Mulford) Clark, and it would be very strange indeed for him to have omitted mention of a daughter who was living so close by. John 5left no will or other list of his off spring, but circumstances involving his wife, Sarah Barton, and her family suggest that John may have been Charity's father. (See notes under her name.)
Lewis's gravestone at the Ist Pres. Ch. in Elizabeth (#1340) says he d. 3/18/1790 in his 73rd year. His sister Jane was b. 1716, so Lewis was probably born early in 1718 and would have turned 73 in 1791.A stone beside his, broken off near the ground, may be that of his wife Anne. But her burial is not recorded in the Sexton's Book, so perhaps 1) the brokenstone is someone else's, or 2 ) she died between John's birth in 1757 and 1766, when the Sexton's records began.
He is the earliest of four Lewis Mulfords buried at the 1st P.C.; the others are his son (1744-1830) and two grandsons who died young. Another grandson named Lewis (1790-1877), a son of Benjamin, is probably buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside.
Lewis Mulford was principal creditor and co-administrator of the estate of Ephraim Sayre of Eliz., int. 5/16/1746.
Lewis Mulford was exor. of will of Samuel Norris of Elizabeth, 8/6/1751, proved 8/29/1751.
Lewis Mulford wit. apptmt. of Hannah Meeker, the widow, as admr.of Moses Meeker of Elizabeth, int. 10/12/1753. Bondsmen: Joseph Cory and Stephen Crane. Wit.: Moses Miller, Lewis Mulford and Thomas Bartow.
Lewis Mulford (w/ Joseph Conkling & Abraham Clark, Jr.) wit.will of Joshua Clark of Elizabeth, 6/27/1757. Joshua Clark was father of Robert, father of Amos, father of Job Clark, who m. Charity B.Mulford. This Clark family lived just a short distance NW of Lewis's farm.
Lewis Mulford was bondsman for Elias & Sarah Davis of Elizabeth, guardians of R. Miller and J. Hendricks, 9/29/1761.
Lewis Mulford wit. will of Samuel Olliver of Elizabeth, 4/9/1774, proved 1/6/1784.
Lewis Mulford owned land adjoining Thomas Williams of Elizabeth in 1776. (And they may have been brothers-in-law: see notes underAnne? Williams.) On the opposite side of Thomas Williams' land, across West Brook, was land of Robert Clark. [Will of Thomas Williams, 5/16/1776.]
Lewis Mulford and John Burrows owned adjoining lands in Rahway Meadows in 1780 [Will of Moses Miller, 11/7/1780].
Lewis Mulford owned a salt meadow on Thompson's Creek in partnership with John Burrowes, Sr., weaver, of Elizabeth in 1784. [Will ofJohn Burrowes,Sr., 5/18/1784, proved 4/5/1786]. John Burrows' daughter Anne married Gabriel Barton, and their daughter Sarah married Lewis Mulford's son John. I theorize that Sarah and John Mulford named a daughter after Sarah's younger sister, Charity Barton, and a son after Sarah's uncle (Edward)Townley, who was married to Anne (Burrows) Barton's sister Mary Burrows. Furthermore, in a letter written about 1946, Dewitt Crane referred to his grandmother - Job and Charity (Mulford) Clark's daughter- as Charity Burrows (Clark ) Crane. If her middle name was Burrows(and why on earth would Dewitt Crane have thought to say so, unless it was true?), there can be little doubt about her descent from Gabriel Barton, Anne Burrows, John Mulford and Sarah Barton. None of Lewis Mulford's four other sons had any Burrows connection. If it can be proven that Townley Mulford and Charity B. Mulford were siblings, there will be almost no doubt about who their parents were: of Lewis Mulford's known daughters-in-law, only Sarah Barton is known to have had close family connections to both a Townley and a Charity. (It must be acknowledged, however, that David's wife and Benjamin's two wives have never been identified.) Finally, if it can be shown that the Barton family used the name Charity in preceding generations (in particular, did Gabriel have a sister named Charity, or was his mother a Charity?), that will add further weight to the circumstantial evidence. Unfortunately, both Gabriel's parents' names are unknown - see notes under him and under his unknown father, elsewhere in this file. ( Data and notes from Eric Weber)

Lewis married Anna Williams? about 1724 in Elizabeth, Essex, New Jersey.