Marfy This Month: April 2014
Marfy Goodspeed, a Hunterdon County resident since 1976, is a historian and Society member. She started a business, Goodspeed House Histories, in 1981 that has taught her about early county residents, and as a member of the Delaware Township Planning Board and the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission gained an understanding of historical geography. She writes articles for the Society’s newsletter, and has a website called GoodspeedHistories.com
These are her latest:
“March 29 I gave a talk on doing house histories. It was part of the Hunterdon County 300th Anniversary speakers series. I had a lot to say on this subject, so it seems like a good idea to publish a version of that talk on the website. This should be considered an introductory lesson on how to research your property. But it’s still long enough to be published in two parts. I hope this will help get you started on your own house history.”
The Secrets to a Great House History.
“The life and times of Charles Sergeant and Sarah Green. This couple had a lot of influence on the families and economic life of Delaware Township. I have long wished to write about them, and am glad to have gotten the chance. Sorry to say, there are still unanswered questions about the Sergeant genealogy—in fact, a pretty big mystery still waiting to be solved. Here’s the link:
Charles Sergeant and Sarah Green.”
Articles by J. M. Hoppock
“In the article about Charles Sergeant, I referred to two articles written by Jonathan M. Hoppock in 1901 and 1905. They had not yet been published on the website, so it seemed appropriate to post them now. However, they do not deal with Sergeant’s ownership of the Pauch farm, but rather the property that Sergeant owned from 1805 to his death in 1833, along the Wickecheoke. The articles need annotation because Mr. Hoppock seems to have depended primarily on the stories he was told rather than on actual research.
Sergeant Mansion and Mill, 1745 and The Old Sergeant Mill.”
More articles: