Marfy This Month: March 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:
- Old Records Throw Light on the Ways of Past Ages, by Egbert T. Bush. I know, that doesn’t sound all that interesting. But in fact, Bush here discusses the creation of Amwell Township, laws concerning taverns and crimes, and “Old John Reading,” a man I plan to talk about later this year for the 300th anniversary of Hunterdon County.
- Part 3 of The Pauch Farm House History: Richard Green and Elizabeth Wolverton. It appears that the Pauch house was built sometime between 1788 and 1794, although without a dendrochronology test, I cannot be sure. Dendrochronology involves taking a core sample from one of the beams in a house and counting the rings to determine age. It can be surprisingly accurate, but it is also (not surprisingly) expensive. (NOTE: While working on the Pauch farm, I discovered a connection between one of its residents and the Baptist schism in Locktown in 1839. The big day in this story was 175 years ago, on March 2, 1839, so the timing seems right.)
- Baptists Divided, or Who Put the Lock in Locktown? The Kingwood Baptists and the Second Great Awakening. Like all good stories, it needs at least two installments. Meanwhile, I will keep working on the Pauch Farm, and researching the life of Charles Sergeant. The Sergeant article will be accompanied by a Genealogy Chart to help keep all the characters straight.
Updates to previous posts:
I have added Samuel Green’s signature to the article “The Greens of Amwell.” It was taken from one of his mortgages of 1737.
“After the Search: House Histories”
Marfy’s talk for March 29 SOLD OUT! Another will be added for April. Keep up-to-date at GoodsppedHistories.com.