In the late 1600s, James Duke of York, Brother of King Charles II of England, granted patents for all the land in New Jersey, and the right to form a government, to two groups of proprietors. The West Jersey Proprietors were Quakers seeking religious freedom. The East Jersey Proprietors were mostly Scots seeking wealth. Almost all the land in Branchburg was first granted in large tracts to the individual proprietors themselves. On this map the original land grants are set off in different shades of green. Biographical information is given about these men where you see coats of arms. Although a few of them made efforts to establish plantations, most were purely speculators, and all sold their land to the real first settlers within a few years. A number of them were very wealthy and influential Scots at a time when the King of England was a Stuart of the Royal Scottish Line. During the period when the first land grants were being made in Branchburg, one of the major issues to face the Proprietors was the establishment of a line to separate the two provinces. One line that was proposed would have been drawn from Little Egg Harbor directly through what is now Somerville. But when the dust settled, Governors Cox and Barclay agreed on September 5, 1688 that the line should run "straight from Little Egg Harbor to the most westerly corner of John Dobie's Plantation as it stands on the South Branch of the Raritan River ..."thence to run along the back of the adjoining Plantations..." Part of the reason for the acceptance of this line was that a more easterly alternative would have invalidated the land grants of some very wealthy and influential Scots Proprietors. Whether the line was drawn to validate the land grants, or the land grants were made to influence the line, the net effect was to give the East Jersey Proprietors hundreds of thousands more acres to sell in a triangle of land from Somerville to Branchburg and extending all the way to Little Egg Harbor.

1. The White Oak Tavern and its part in the incorporation of Branchburg in 1845.

Located on the north side of Old York Road just east of Stony Brook Road, the White Oak Tavern provided lodging for travelers between Philadelphia, or Easton, and New York. It was named for an ancient oak tree nearby. It was also a meeting place where local citizens could pick up their mail and exchange points of view. Branchburg had been part of Bridgewater from that town's charter in 1749. In 1845, the residents of Bridgewater who lived west of the Raritan River, petitioned the New Jersey Legislature to be set off as a separate township. This was approved by an act dated April 5, 1845. The first town meeting was held at the White Oak Tavern, which was then operated by Isaac "Shifty Ike" Hall, on April 14, 1845. One day the great oak tree was blown to bits by a local politician who set a large charge of gun powder in its hollow trunk to celebrate an election victory. By the early part of this century the inn had fallen into decay, and it was torn down in the 1920s. One of the original tavern doors with a beautiful suffolk latch was saved and is now in the possession of the Branchburg Historical Society. 

2. "White Oaks" - The Estate of William P. Bowman

Originally from South Branch, William P. Bowman became the manager of the New York office the John A. Roebling Sons Company, and married a daughter of the Roebling family. The Roeblings were pioneers in the field of suspension bridge construction and had built the Brooklyn Bridge. The company they founded designed suspension bridges around the world and manufactured the steel cable used in their construction. A member of the family had been a passenger on the Titanic. William Bowman built this estate in 1911. The "Tavern Room" was paneled with wood from the old covered bridge at South Branch. That bridge had been built with wood salvaged from the Reformed Church at Millstone when it was rebuilt in 1826. In the mantle may be seen musket ball holes made in the church during a Revolutionary War Battle. The room was designed to resemble the public room of the White Oak Tavern. Mr. Bowman invited famous guests to carve their names into a trestle table in the room. The names include President Warren G. Harding, U.S. Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Ferdinand and Ruth Roebling, George Bogart, Louis Paul Dessar the artist, and renowned architect George B. Post of Bernardsville, who designed the Wisconsin State Capitol and many of the mansions in the Somerset Hills including his own estate, Claremont (see The Somerset Hills Landed Gentry Map).

3. Thor Solberg - Norwegian American aviation pioneer.

In 1935, Thor Solberg became the first person to fly from the United States to Norway, pioneering the polar route used by today's airlines. Emigrating to the United States, he established the airfield that bears his name in Readington. During Word War 11 he trained over 5000 pilots for the Army.

4. Readington Meeting

The Village of Readington was first settled by Adrian Lane about 1711. By 1715 he had built a grist mill on the Holland Brook. Following the granting of a Royal Charter to Readings Town in 1730, and a fire in the old log church at Two Bridges, the Dutch church was moved here in 1738. During the Revolution, the minister was Jacob Hardenbergh, a patriot who lived in the Old Dutch Parsonage in Somerville and advised George Washington regarding local conditions. Church services in those days were in Dutch. James Van Sickle owned the mill. Casper Berger ran the local tavern, and Dr. Jacob Jennings made house calls on horseback. Dr. Jennings' son, Jonathan became the first Governor of Indiana in 1816. The mill continued to be operated until 1915. Then it became a sausage mill until about 1920. It was finally dismantled in 1935.

5. Casper Berger - Redemptioner, Stone Mason, Tavern Keeper, and Miller in Readington Village.

Casper Berger was a German who had been brought to America (by some accounts against his will) and sold by the captain of the ship for the cost of passage. Casper, a stone mason, was indentured to Cornelius Van Home, who told him he could have his freedom upon building 3 stone houses. Van Horne's white stone house gave the village of White House (in Readington Township) its name, and the house, built for Johannes Moelich in Bedminster, was made famous in the Story of an Old Farm. After gaining his freedom, Casper Berger prospered, becoming the tavern keeper in the Village of Readington. Berger's Tavern, a hotbed of Patriot activity during the Revolution, was the meeting place of Captain David Schomp and his band of spies for General George Washington. Casper Berger bought the slave, Samuel, to perform his military service for him, and by the end of the war, Casper owned the mill and 1000 acres of land.

6. John Lord Drummond - Viscount Melfort, Laird of Lundie, and Lord of Riccartoun.

One of 24 East Jersey Proprietors, he was granted 1000 acres between the mouth of Holland's Brook and Whiton Road on November 9, 1685.

John Drummond was the younger brother of the Earl of Perth. In 1680 he was deputy governor of Edinburgh Castle. Four years later he was named Secretary of State for the Kingdom of Scotland, and raised to an Earl. He enjoyed great influence with King James II of England and later accompanied him into exile in France. There, the King of France made him a Duke. He was considered one of the handsomest men of his time, and the finest dancer of the Royal Court. 

7. The Swift Sure Stage Line

From colonial times, stage coaches carried passengers between New York and Philadelphia along the Old York Road. Stopovers were made at Two Bridges, The White, Oak Tavern, and Centerville. The coaches were green and red with gold trim and brass fittings. Coachmen wore buckskin breeches, high boots, a red vest and a silk hat with a gold band and the brim turned up at the sides. The guard blew his horn at intervals from a half-mile distance as they approached a village. The White Oak Tavern stood at the corner of Stony Brook Road and Old York Road. An ancient Oak tree for which it was named stood in the field near the intersection of Old York Road and Dreahook Road. When passengers from Philadelphia saw the White Oak, they knew that they would soon be stopping for the night. Another Stage Coach Barn and Inn can still be seen in Centerville. Stage Coaches continued to operate into the beginning of this century.

8. "John Dobie's Plantation"  - 375 Acres south of Fairview Drive granted November 9, 1685.

July 9, 1685 John Campbell was licensed by the Governor to "settle upon the South Branch of the Raritan River... if he can peaceably agree with the Indians and there to make settlement as well as for himself as Capt. Andrew Hamilton and Mr. John Doby, till the same can be purchased or that the division line between this province and the Province of West New Jersey be run." John Dobie sent a number of servants over to clear the land and establish his plantation. For each one that he Sent, he received "headrights" of land, but it is not known if he ever came to the new world. See: John Campbell: and The Lords Proprietors. 

1862-1863, Branchburg Joins The Grand Army of the Potomac

Answering Lincoln's call, the 30th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment was raised at Somerville in September of 1862. Company A was raised at North Branch under Captain Arthur S. Ten Eyck, who was to rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Regimental Commander. Branchburg men also enlisted in Company E, formed in Somerville, and Company F, raised in Neshanic. The Regiment was attached to the Grand Army of the Potomac under the command of General "Fighting" Joe Hooker. In May of 1863 they fought in the Battle of Chancellorville Virginia. The Confederate army was led by General Robert E. Lee. Over 30,000 men were killed or wounded in two days of fighting including General Hooker who recovered, and Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson, who later died from his wounds.

9. Billy Vosseller, Drummer Boy of the Rappahanock

At the age of 15, Billy Vosseller from Two Bridges, volunteered to serve in the Civil War. He became the drummer boy for Company E of the 30th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg, and was in the Battle of Chancellorsville. He may have inspired the poem "Drummer Boy of the Rappahanock" by J. W. Watson, written just after the battle of Chancellorville. and published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Billy's drum may be seen at the museum of the Somerset County Historical Society.
During the last century, Branchburg farmers traveled to Ohio to buy flocks of sheep, and drove them home all the way across the state of Pennsylvania. One local farmer on such a drive in July of 1863, happened on the sleepy town of Gettysburg on a day following the battle. Thousands of the dead still lay upon the field of battle.