Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

http://xrl.us/Hopper1770Will


Seller's description:

Last will and Testament of Garret Hoppe(r), 1770 " of " . . . New Barbadoes Neck in the County of Bergen, Eastern Division of New Jersey". Two and one-half manuscript pages.

A scarce survival of a detailed last will and testament from the Hackensack, New Jersey area. The heirs named in the will are Garret Hoppe's(r) wife Cathrina, son Jacob and daughter Marytje. The family name is spelled Hoppe throughout the will, yet it comes from the same group of documents I currently have on Ebay from the Hopper family. At some point it was likely changed and it was also not uncommon for there to be spelling variants of family names at that time.

The first section of the will is of a spiritual nature and attests to Garret's faith in Jesus Christ and his hope for Redemption. It then covers his future funeral arrangements. Following this, Hoppe leaves his real and personal estate to his "beloved wife  . . during the time she remains a widow". He then leaves to his son, Jacob " . . .for his Primogeniture or Birth Right after the decease or remarriage of my said wife abovesaid my House Clock my Dutch Bible all my horses . . . " etc. Hoppe also leaves his farming implements, wagons, etc. and . . . "As also my Negro Man Cato". He refers to him as his man, not as a slave, though he was in all likelihood. Hoppe does not seem to have been as rich or had as many slaves as his descendant, John J. Hopper in his will of 1833.

Garret Hoppe then leaves sums of money for his daughter, Marytje . . ." two hundred and fifty pounds current lawful money of the Colony of New York to be paid by my son Jacob . . .". How it is to be paid in installments is then explained. Further division of the estate is detailed and Marytje's husband, Isaac Van Geison (sp?) is mentioned as sharing in his wife's inheritance. Garret's grandson, Hendrick VanGeison is also mentioned at this point and  . . " my truly and well  beloved friend the Revd. David Marinus to be executors of this my last will and testament . . ".

The final half page declares this to be Garret Hoppe's last and final will : "Signed Sealed Published Pronounced and declared to be my last will & testament in the presence of Peter Zabriskie, Johannes Bant, Naujie Kip his mark ( hand drawn cross in between to signify his signature). To the right of this is Garret Hoppe's name as well as "his mark" GH and an L.S. in a stylised oval. Apparently Garret did not write, unable to sign his name, indicating this will is the work of a scribe. At the very bottom is the three line certification of a clerk " . . . from the Perogative Office of the State of New Jersey at the City of Burlington". His signature follows, Herbert (?) hard to make out his last name as it is written in a very tight script - see pictures.

Measurements & condition : Fully opened the will measures approximately 13-1/4" by 16-1/2" ; folded in the normal manner it is approximately 8-1/4" by 13-1/4". The paper is watermarked with a large orb and crown mark and a smaller mark with script letters in a circle. There are four horizontal folds and one vertical. The paper is still supple with only slight age-toning. The edges are irregular with virtually no loss of corners, etc. The ink is strong and very readable with the front page writing done at an angle slightly up to the right. The following pages the writing straightens out. My pictures should show clearly the minor holes at fold intersections, etc. When I got this the will was seperated along the horizontal fold lines. It has been gingerly re-attached with minute amounts of glue along the horizontal folds by a professional. All sections are perfectly lined up in their original positions. Some areas of minor seperation have been left as is - care was taken not to over-restore the document. This is a four page document with the second half of page 3 and all of page 4 blank except for below notation.

Back of final blank page has handwritten note : "Copy of Garret Hoppe's Will". This was done by the scribe to attest to its being true to Hoppe's intentions. Scribes usually made more than one copy ; one to be filed in the courts and maybe copies for immediate family members. The word copy then did not mean the way we use copy today. A rare and complete manuscript from pre-Revolutionary New Jersey. New Barbadoes was a section of Bergen County that saw early settlement.


12 pictures were provided in the auction - I've posted 10 here, unaltered.



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I wonder how old that brick pipe REALLY is. Anyone got a clue?

I guess the OT situation loosened up - they're working today (Saturday).



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Today, I spoke with a cop at the scene who said the replacement pipe would be about 75' long. I thought maybe it would run the length of Anderson between Union and Main.

He said no replacement was in the ground yet. I told him I saw replacement pipes last night that aren't there now, so they must have been installed.

"No - those are now at Johnson Park".

I guess there's a staging area over there now.

He took me over to one of the street openings. If you look at the below picture closely, you can see the busted brick pipe and some of its unpleasant contents.

I asked when he thought the work would be completed. He said they weren't going to be working over the weekend, so it might be next Wednesday or Thursday.

They've just used four large metal tubes to connect two massive rectangular metal plates. The new piece was lifted, swung around, and lowered into one of the street openings...........I'm guessing to brace the walls.

Those are some historic bricks down there, but I doubt you'd want one in your home.



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I'll go to any lengths to get the story (as long as it's within a block of my apartment).

I could see big replacement pipes and bright lights from my living room window, so I took a walk over there to see if the cell would perform well at night (it usually doesn't). The lights did the trick.

I snapped away from both sides of the street. The sewer-sucker truck was now in the middle of Main and Anderson and too dark to shoot. I had thought there was only one opening in the street, but I think there are at least 3.

I asked a worker how big the replacement pipes are. "60 inches - same as the busted one". I then asked how old the busted one was. "It was made of brick - GOTTA be at least a hundred years old...........same as me".

He looked about 25. I asked him, "How do you think that makes ME feel?"

He laughed.

And, except for the third picture, the cell passed the test.



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I'm not sure exactly what happened there yesterday between Union and Main Streets, but there was some sort of road cave-in. I could see the bright lights and hear an occasional rumble as repair work went on through the night.

As you can see in the third picture below, it's a pretty large opening that appears to be shored up now so the problem can be fixed.

The road's still closed and work continues. If anyone knows exactly what happened, please post.

Below:

1. View to the west

2. View to the east

3. City officials at the scene



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http://xrl.us/HopperDraftWill


Seller's description:

Early 19th century incomplete draft of John J. Hopper last will & testament, "  . . of the County of Bergen in the State of New Jersey . . . "

Manuscript in brownish ink on single page totaling one and one-half pages of writing. After introductory comments on the soundness of his mind and memory John Hopper writes " . . . First I devise and bequeath to my two sons Albert and Jacob and to their heirs and assigns forever  . . . all my land . . . and to my son John and to my six daughters Cornelia, Alice, Catherine, Elizabeth, Maria and Jane to each the sum of one thousand dollars New York Currency to be paid by my two sons Albert and Jacob . . . . " . The thousand dollars each is stipulated to be paid in installments over a number of years. John Hopper then instructs his two sons to " . . . support and pay the expenses of my son John (perhaps from a seperate marriage) at college and in his professional studies until he arrives at the age of twenty one . . . ".

The will then requires that Albert and Jacob will  " . . . bring up and support my three youngest daughters Elizabeth, Maria and Jane until they become of age . . . ".  Mr Hopper then bequeaths to his wife seven hundred dollars and that she be able to live in their dwelling house and  "possess two rooms . . . and that my movable estate be equally divided by my nine Children, Cornelia, Alice, Catherine, Albert, Jacob, John, Elizabeth, Maria and Jane. The draft of the will ends at this point.

Condition and measurements : Approximately 7-7/8" by 12-3/8". Age-toning, staining here and there, some partial seperations to fold areas, a few inconsequential  missing areas ; top left corner, small section of edge, minor hole in fold area. My pictures accurately reflect the overall condition. Written in later pencil on blank section of back " Draft of will of John J. Hopper"

My pictures include copies of early newspaper articles about the Hopper house in Hackensack. Copies of these will be provoded to the buyers of any of the documents I have listed if desired. This document and others listed were found under attic floorboards in the Hopper house in the mid-20th century.

Special note : With time permitting  I will be listing this week the complete 4 page will of Garrett Hoppe(r). I will also be listing more receipts related to Jacob Hopper as one of the overseers of the Poor in New Barbadoes ( Hackensack). These receipts are from the early 1770's and regard Jacob Hopper's payments to women who took in poor orpahn children.


Like the Last Will auction, seller offers 12 images. Since I can only post 10, I will omit the duplicate newspaper article images that I included in the Last Will post. I have not altered any images.



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http://xrl.us/LocalSign


There's no real historical interest here, but the sign made me think: where exactly would you have to be in Bergen County for the directional arrows to (almost) make sense?

Ignoring "Yesteryear", all I could come up with was Kinderkamack Rd in River Edge heading south.

I don't know where "Yesteryear" would go to..............Paterson, maybe?



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