William Underhill Stites Sr.

• BIRTH 3 Apr 1676 Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, USA
• DEATH 13 May 1727 (aged 51) Springfield, Union County, New Jersey, USA
• BURIAL Old Springfield Burying Ground, Springfield, Union County, New Jersey, USA Show Map GPS-Latitude: 40.7099520, Longitude: -74.3119390
• MEMORIAL ID 13028413

William Underhill Stites Sr. was born in 3 April 1676 at Hempstead, Long Island, Nassau County, New York Colony. In 1705, he married MARY HALL, who was born 7 August 1677 at Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut. The daughter of Isaac Hall and Lydia Knapp. William and his family moved from Long Island probably between 1715-17 to New Jersey near the present Springfield, and purchased 700 acres of land on the south side of the road and west of the Rahway River, where he built a log house, there being but few dwellings in the town at that time. In fact, the earliest date of a white family in the area was in 1717. Three groups of the Lenape Tribe called this area home. Groups of Unamis, “People Down the River,” were often seen in the vicinity by the early settlers.

Dense forests covered the land 250 years ago. Just a primitive road connected Morristown and Elizabethtown until 1801, when a turnpike road was constructed between Elizabethtown Point and the Delaware River in Sussex County. To avoid paying a toll on the Morris & Sussex Turnpike, the citizens built a parallel road and, appropriately, named it “Shunpike Road”. Today, the Baltusrol Golf and Country Club is located here. Mills and lumbering provided livelihoods in the area; and of course, nearly everyone farmed. William Stites died at Springfield, Union County, New Jersey, on May 13, 1727, at age 51. Mary died 21 April 1728 at age 51. She and William share a tombstone in the Springfield Old Burying Ground on Mountain Avenue. According to the Springfield, New Jersey, website, William Stites's tombstone is dated 1729.

Richard Stites was the first settler in Westbury, Long Island in 1657. He subsequently moved to New Jersey.

Gravesite Details

Husband of Mary. Died age 51 years.

Spouse
Mary Hall Stites 1681–1728 (m. 1705)

Children
John Stites 1706–1782
Rebekah Stites Carle 1707–1770
Hezekiah Stites 1708–1728
Richard Stites 1715–1727
Mary Hall Stites 1716–1720
Elijah Stites 1721–1765
Benjamin Stites 1725–1805

References

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13028413/william-underhill-stites

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13028413/william-stites Find A Grave Memorial] - SmartCopy: Jun 11 2020, 5:11:40 UTC