Caleb Carman, Sr.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carman-335

Caleb Carmen was the son of John and Florence Carmen and was born on the 1st of the 1st month (March) 1639 (according to reverend John Elliott's Records of the Roxbury Church).

Caleb Carman senior's nuncupative will was dated Aug. 5, 1693. It was "attested before Joseph Houldin and Samuel Crowell, Justices, by affidavit of John Gervis and Caleb Carman, leaving all to his wife Elizabeth; sons mentioned." His inventory equalled 73 pounds 3 shillings. Bond to the widow Elizabeth 16 August 1693

His father, with Reverend Robert Fordham, bought from the Indians a large tract of land on Long Island, the Patent for which tract was granted by Governor Kieff on Nov. 16, 1644. On this tract the Town of Hempstead was settled; thither the Carmen family removed.

His father died in 1653 and his widowed mother married John Hicks. Caleb Carmen and his older brother John and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Coe, (husband of Abigail Carmen) on April 7, 1661, petitioned the government at New Amsterdam that John Hicks, who married their Mother, be made to render an account of her estate.

From the Hempstead Town records, we learn that Caleb Carmen owned six cows on January 16, 1659.

    In 1660, he received a parcel of land at Jamaica when allotments were set off there.

On March 11, 1662, it was recorded at Hempstead that, "on this date at a general town Meeting was given to Caleb Carmen" other lands.
On Dec. 4, 1663, he bought from Thomas Jacocks of Hempstead, a neck of meadow lying below the mill, being commonly called, "Jacocks Neck." This Carmen resold to Henry Dubrown on December 7, 1663.
On January 1, 1667, 1000 acres of land at a place commonly called "Passayunk" being of the Delaware River by the side of the Schuykill, (now Philidelphia County, Penn.), under patent, was granted by Richard Nichols, the Duke of York's Governor of New York, to Robert Ashman and associates, (Philadelphia County, Penn., Deed records, Exemplification Book 8, Page 423.) (Above patent is also recorded in Exemplication Book 1, Page 237, and gives the names of all the associates, which are as follows: Robert Ashman, John Ashman, Thomas Jacocks, Caleb Carmen, Thomas Filewellyn, Frederick Anderson, Joshua Jacocks, Thomas Jacocks, Duncan Williams and Francis Walker, a total of ten. From subsequent titles, it is set forth in Philadelphia Deeds that these ten men acquired 100 acres of land each, and by th 25th of Dec., 1678, lot No. 3, which was Caleb Carmen's, had been sold to Jan Classon, parde cooper, (horse trader).
From Dec. 7, 1663, when Caleb Carmen deeded to Henry Dubrow, as far as the writer has been able to learn, there is no mention of him again on the island until Dec. 5, 1670, when, as a resident of Jamaica, he voted at the town Meeting. From New York Colonial Documents, Vol. XII, Page 648, there appears a list of reputable inhabitants residing in various places along the Delaware River and Bay, dated April 23, 1680. In this list, at Passayunk, there appears the names of seven of the original ten Patentees among which are Robert Ashman, John Ashman and Caleb Carmen and Thomas Jacocks; at Bread and Cheese Island. Thomas Jacocks' name again appears, he was evidently a son. From the Upland Court Records, Sp. 11, 1677, evidence as given in a suit of Ruth Jacocks, widow of Thomas Jacocks, Sr., makes it clear that John Ashman, one of the Patentees, had sold his 100 acres of patent land and removed from the Colony. (Philadelpha Deeds show that John Ashman sold his 100 acres onJuly 30, 1670, to Andries Banskon.) From the foregoing, it is evident that Thomas Jacocks, Sr. was dead before the date of this suit and John Ashman had left the Colony probably about the time he sold. It would, therefore, seem that this Census was taken about ten years prior to the date given in Colonial Documents, and it supports the belief that Caleb Carmen with his brother John is listed in Jamaica again in the Census of 1673.
From the New York Colonial Documents, we learn that in 1670 Caleb Carmen had a passport granted to him by the Secretary of the Colony to sail to Port Royal, North Carolina.
On Feb. 24, 1676, the Town of Jamaica gave liberty to Joseph Carpenter of Messcetocone, and Caleb Carmen of this town, to build a saw mill and a water mill or corn mill where the old mill stood,--the agreement was signed by Caleb Carmen.
He is mentioned again as of Jamaica on April 18, 1677, and again on June 14, 1681.
On Jan. 14, 1683, John Carmen and Elizabeth Ludlum, both of the town of Jamaica, petitioned for a license to marry, with the consent of their parents Caleb Carmen and Elizabeth Carmen and Nehemiah Smith and Elizabeth (Ludlum) Smith, which petition was granted on Jan. 19, 1683/4. This John Carmen was Caleb's eldest son who apparently married shortly after this date.
On June 26, 1684, John Carmen with others made a petition at Jamaica praying for a patent to a certain tract of land lying within the jurisdiction of the town of Flushing, and this is the last evidence of his residence in Jamaica.
When he learned his trade as a millwright, the records do not disclose, but besides following this industry, he was head of a whaling company.
Sometime prior to 1680, a group of Long Island whalemen shifted their operations to Delaware Bay and lived at what was known at Town Bank during the whaling season. Caleb Carmen and his eldest sons were among this group.
It has been recorded in the genealogy of the descendants of Caleb's son James that he, James, was born in Cape May, N. J., in 1677, but this seems doubtful as his family evidently had a permanent residence at that time in Jamaica.
In the Burlington Co., West N. J. Court Records, on the 4th of the 7th month (Sep.) 1685, Caleb Carmen, John Carmen; indictment for our Lord the King against Evan Davis, Indictment filed: a summons hath been sent to Davis but he disobeyed it. Edward Peyner, attested, in Court deposeth, that about the 2nd month last, he being at the plantation of Evan Davis, the said Davis told this deponent that he the said Davis had bought a fish of an Indian called "Nummy" and further that if this deponent would go with him to it he should have a share thereof. Whereupon this deponent went with the said Davis and coming to the said fish sayeth it was a whale fish and that he saw an iron (with a warp thereto) in the said whale fish which iron and warp the said deponent knowing them to belong to Caleb Carmen and Company told Davis thereof, who then swore if there was an iron it was the better for himself. Whereupon the said deponent would meddle no further therewith but sayeth that said Davis seized upon said whale fish and tackling and hid the same from said Carmen and Company, whereupon Caleb Carmen in open court binding himself in the sum of 40 pounds to present the said complaint and warrant was issued out to Alexander Humfrey, deputy sheriff or under sheriff, to take in custody the body of the said Evan Davis and him to secure and bring to Burlington with all convenient speed to answer said indictment and such other things as shall be objectioned against him and also to answer for his contempt of authority.
25th of 9th month (Nov.) 1635, Caleb Carmen was commissioned Justice of the Peace for Cape May Co., New Jersey, and Jonathan Pine was made constable the same day. (Leaming & Speicer Grants and Concessions, page 504.)
Since Caleb Carmen is called "responsible householder" in the Census list above referred to, he must have been well known along the river from the time of his permanent residence at Passayunk, consequently, was the logical man to be commissioned a Justice of the Peace by the Government.
At the Court held on the 12th of the 3rd month (May) 1686, Governore being present, Evan Davis by his and Daniel England's bond bound to appear at this court to answer our Lord and King on complaint of Caleb Carmen and John Carmen; Evan Davis appeared not and forfeited his recognizance.
From Burlington West New Jersey Court Records, Edward Hunlock, Edward Marshall, Richard Bassnett, Daniel Wills, four of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, at the request of Philip Richards of Philadelphia, at the Providence of Penn., met together on the 16th day of Feb., 1688, at the House of Richard Bassnett in Burlington and did there hold private session. Complaint: Philip Richards complains whereas he loaded several goods on board the sloop Susanna (Peter Lawrison, master) by a bill of loading in the hand of the said master dated 3rd of Nov., 1688, ready to be produced in court, it may appear, shipped at New York bound for Philadelphia above said, which sloop came ashore to the norward of Cape May and said sloop being come ashore as aforesaid, the master and men left the sloop and went ashore to seek for relief, in the interim Caleb Carmen and sons got aboard said sloop--when the master and his men came back to come on board their sloop the said Carmens, "vi et armis" kept them off and would not suffer them to enter their sloop unless they did yield said Carmen one-half their goods on board which they pretended to have a fight in for saving the good therein (as they termed it). Whereupon the said master and men (being over-powered by the said Carmen) being forced into compliance with them in reference to their particular goods and in pursuance of which said forced compliance the said Carmens have carried away said goods of the said Philip Richard mentioned in the bill of loading aforesaid and have done several other matters and things in reference to the said goods in the said sloop against the business of our Lord and King; whereupon Philip Richards requested the Magistrates to issue out process against Caleb Carmen and sons, against all or any other person or persons that have been concerned in the aforesaid unlawful proceeding or resonably suspect thereof to bring them to Burlington in order in the binding to make personal appearance before this court of Quarter Sessions to be held at Burlington aforesaid then and there to answer to our Lord and King upon complaint of the said Philip Richards."
The writer is advised in connection with Admiralty Law that had Caleb Carmen and sons, finding the vessel abandoned on shore and not anchored thereto, removed all the goods from the vessel to a safe place, legally they would have been entitled to salvage. But the fact that they had removed no goods by the time the Master and crew returned but by force of arms made the Master and Crew surrender one-half the goods thereon it was an act of piracy and not salvage. Probably the judges of ths court, not being conversant with Admiralty Law, and it being held before a previate hearing, did not bring the complaint up in open court, since no further record of the case is to be found in these records.
At the same Court held on the 12th of the 3rd month (May) 1688, by adjournment the 16th of the same month, John Skeen, Deputy Governor, Robert Stacy, James Marshall, Edward Hunloke, Mahlon Stacy, Elias Farr, Richard Bassnett, William Myers, Justices: The Grand Jury find a bill against Caleb Carmen, Sr., upon complaint present Caleb Carmen and Sons, John Peck, etc., concerned for taking, breaking up and disposing of dubarkus (Footnote: In Sir Thomas Browns' Acct. of Whales, which works were edited by C. Sayle, printed in Edinburgh, 1927, it says, "Sperma-ceti" whales mariners called Jubartar or Gibbartis. The name Gibbarta we also found given as one kind of Greenland whale.) whales on the shore contrary to law. Caleb Carmen and Peck, etc., appear, saying they have sold no debarkus whales but what at first Thomas Matthews gave them leave for. Jury empaneled. Evidence:
John Throp, Richard Starr, Henry Johnson, Samuel Matthews, attested:
John Throp, attested, sayeth he bought a fish was supposed a dubarkus whale and that there was made eleven barrells of oil of it.
Richard Starr, attested, sayeth that he was present when Throp bought the whale and that Carmens then owned the whale as their own and that Throp bought the whale as the said Carmen's own right.
Henry Johnson attested, sayeth that John Throp agreed with Carmen only for their labor upon the whale.
Samuel Matthews, attested, sayeth that Ezekiel Eldridge (who had part of the fish) sayeth he had sold his part to Throp for 10 shillings, the rest had done the same and that they sold the fish as theirs.
John Dennis, attested, sayeth he knows little of Throp buying the fish but hath heard said Carmens say that all drift whales that came ashore there belonged to them by Thomas Matthews' order. Jury attested. They go together and find Caleb Carmen and rest concerned in the presentment, not guilty, according to the presentment.
John Dennis, being the prosecutor, Caleb Carmen being indicted, plead not guilty and refers himself to God and Country whereupon the Jury are called and all accepted, attested, and the Jury find him not guilty in the manner and form he now stands indicted and he therefore afterwards was cleared by proclamation.
On March 25, 1688, Adlord Bowde, attorney for Dr. Daniel Cox, Esq., governor of the Province, gave a seven year lease to Caleb Carmen for 1200 acres of land along Cold Spring Creek near Cape May with the right that Carmen or his heirs, during the term of the lease, may purchase any of the said land by paying the sum of five pounds per 100 acres for 400 acres and ten pounds for the other 700 acres.
Dr. Daniel Cox sold approximately 90,000 acres which he owned in what is now Cape May County to the West Jersey Society in March 4, 1690/1 subject to such sales as he had heretofore made to various buyers and also subject to the lease and option above mentioned.
Caleb Carmen died in 1693, and on August 7 of that year a numcupative Will of Caleb Carmen, Sr., was dictated before Joseph Holden and Samuel Crowl, Justices of Cape May County by the affidavit of John Garvis (Jarvis) and Caleb Carmen. He left his entire estate to his wife Elizabeth, with his sons mentioned. Letters of administration were granted to the widow Elizabeth, Aug. 16, 1693. She gave a bond as administratrix with Jonathan Pine her son-in-law, as fellow bondsman.
After Caleb Carmen's death these options were exercised by the various Carmen heirs, as follows:
On March 27, 1694, John Carmen, son of Caleb, for 25 pounds, took a deed for 250 acres of land near the head of Cold Spring Creek; part of the above leased lands, from the agent of the West Jersey Society.
On March 28, 1694, Caleb Carmen, Jr., son of Caleb Carmen, for 30 pounds took a deed for 250 acres of land, and one-half the water mill thereon, near the head of Cold Spring Creek bounding thereon until you come past Jonathan Formans' plantation, also part of the above leased lands.
On April 22, 1695, Elizabeth Carmen took up 300 acres of land. John and Caleb Carmen, jointly took up 225 acres of land, and Jonathan Forman, his son-in-law, took up 250 acres also.
From the above evidence, it would appear that after the capture in 1664 of the Dutch possessions in New Amsterdam and the Swedish possession (that the Dutch had captured from the Swedes previously on the Delaware River) by the English that Caleb Carmen with others was attracted by the fur trade in the Delaware River which the Dutch had forcibly prevented the English from enjoying during their ownership and in this way got acquainted with the area at the juncton of the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers, and also valuable whaling in the Bay. Here he evidently resided between 1663 and 1670.
He certainly was one of the patentees with Robert Ashman, and probably resided along the Bay during the whaling season from an early period until he finally took up a permanent resident there in 1685.
The maiden name of his wife has not been ascertained. From the fact that his eldest son John was married in 1683/4 we might presume he was 20 years old and therefore we might further assume Caleb Carmen, his father married about 1660 to 1661. Elizabeth, his wife, survived him about six years, dying sometime between Sep. 4, 1699, when she gave to her son Jonathan 100 acres at Cape May, and Dec. 7, 1700, when Daniel Carmen deeded 100 acres of land which had been bequeathed to him by his mother, Elizabeth. Between the time of Caleb's death and the death of his widow, as has been shown above, his heirs took up the land their father had leased with an option to buy.
From the above it is quite evident that Caleb Carmen was a very active man and had other pursuits than milling, building mills and operating them. In other words, he turned a penny whenever he found an opportunity and having accumulated by his various activites sufficient capital, evidently leased the land from Dr. Daniel Cox's agent, around the Cold Spring Creek, with the intention of building a tide mill which was completed before his death, as the above deeds show.
The Mill passed to his sons John and Caleb, Jr., and was sold by Caleb, Jr. and Elizabeth Carman, widow of John, to John Drawford by deeds dated Oct. 27, 1698, and Aug. 9, 1699, and ultimately passed into the hands of the Schellinger family who owned and operated the mill for many many years. this mill was in operation within the memory of persons still living and had had an auxiliary steam power added to it in later years. It burned down some 60 years since but a few of the sills and posts for the flood-gates can still be seen, and remains of the pond.
Some years ago 1200 acres on the South side of the Cold Spring Creek, embracing a portion of the mill site, was bought by Henry Ford, but has since been disposed of by him. It seems a pity that Mr. Ford did not know that it was the site of the first power mill in Cape May, New Jersey, for he might have been inclined, had he known, to rebuild this tide mill as a memorial to the first mill built in Cape May County, as he has done with many other historic sites.
From such evidence as can be found through the above deeds, and elsewhere, his children were:
1. John; born 1663; died 1696; married Elizabeth Ludlam, 1683/4.
2. Joshua; born 1665; said to have married Lucy Dayton.
3. Elizabeth; born about 1667; died before 1742; married first Jonathan Forman about 1685; married second John Parsons, about 1700.
4. Robert (said to have been a son in some accounts).
5. Caleb; married Elizabeth ( ) before 1694.
6. Abigail; married first Jonathan Pine; second probably William Sharswood.
7. James; born 1677; died Oct. 28, 1756; married first Margaret Duwys; married second Sara Frazier, (of these descendants there has been published a considerable account).
8. Daniel; living in 1700.
9. Ephriam; living in 1723.

• Residence: Aug 5 1693 - New Jersey, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Jul 28 2021, 14:41:47 UTC

    ---

Caleb Carman, son of John Carman, was born 1 Jul 1639 in Roxbury, Mass Bay Colony.[1]

He moved with his family to Long Island about 1644. His father died in 1653. On 7 Apr 1661, Caleb, his brother John and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Coe "petitioned the government at New Amsterdam that John Hicks, who m. their mother, be made accountable for her estate."[2]

Family

Said to have married Elizabeth Seaman about 1661, daughter of Captain John Seaman and Martha Moore and sister of Hannah Seaman who married Caleb's brother John Carman.[citation needed]

Wright has Elizabeth, last name unknown.[3]

Children

John 1663-1696
Joshua 1665-
Elizabeth c1667-bef 1742
Robert
Caleb
Abigail
James 1677-28 Oct 1756
Daniel living in 1700
Ephraim living in 1723
Land In Cape May

On 25 March 1688, the province gave a seven year lease to Caleb Carman for 1200 acres of land along Cold Spring Creek, near Cape May, with the right to purchase any of the land for five pounds per 100 acres for 400 acres and ten pounds per acre for the other 700 acres. Jeremiah Basse signed the indenture.[4]

At the time of his death in 1693, Caleb Carman owned over 1000 acres in Cape May County.

Death and Legacy

Caleb Carman senior's nuncupative will was dated Aug. 5, 1693. It was "attested before Joseph Houldin and Samuel Crowell, Justices, by affidavit of John Gervis and Caleb Carman, leaving all to his wife Elizabeth; sons [John and Caleb, Jr.] mentioned." His inventory equaled 73 pounds 3 shillings. Bond to the widow Elizabeth 16 August 1693.[5]

The sons each purchased 250 acres from the estate, as did son-in-law Jonathan Forman; Elizabeth retained 300 acres. Elizabeth later gave 100 acres to her son Jonathan and bequeathed 100 acres to her son Daniel. Elizabeth died some six years after Caleb, that is before September 1699.[6]

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carman-335

Profile last modified 17 Mar 2022 | Created 27 Jun 2013 | Last significant change:
17 Mar 2022

Caleb Carman Sr. (1639 - aft. 1693)

Caleb Carman Sr.

Born 1 Mar 1639 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Son of John Carman and Florence (Unknown) Hicks

Brother of John Carman and Abigail (Carman) Whitehead

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Carman — married 1662 [location unknown]

Father of John Carman, Joshua Carman, Elizabeth (Carman) Parsons, Caleb Carman Jr., Daniel Carman, James Carman Sr. and Ephraim Carman

Died after 5 Aug 1693 in Cape May, Cape May, New Jersey

13:54: H Husted edited the data for Caleb Carman Sr. (1639-aft.1693). (source (land indenture), link to kids' profiles (7/9 connected)Formatting. ) [Thank H for this]

Research Notes

Copy/Paste from NJfounders.org (need to integrate into biography)

Descendants of Founders of New Jersey Dedicated to the Origins and Heritage of New Jersey

Caleb Carman Dates of Birth and Death 1644/5 - 1693 John and Florence (Fordham) Carman arrived in Boston on the ship Lyon in1632.
Their son Caleb was born 1 March 1639.
John Caleb, with other associates, purchased a large tract of land on Long Island from the Indians, under a patent granted by the Governor of New Amsterdam, Wilhelm Kieft, 16 November 1644.
The Carman family moved to the purchase, which became known as Hempstead.

Sometime prior to 1680, Caleb Carman and his eldest sons were among a group of Long Island whale men who shifted their operations to Delaware Bay and lived at what was known as Town Bank, during the whaling season.
However, by 1685, the family permanently relocated to West Jersey, since in that year Caleb Carman was commissioned Justice of the Peace for Cape May County, New Jersey.

The Burlington County, West Jersey Court Records of 4 September 1685, include an indictment against a man for stealing a whale, which by rights the judge ruled belonged to Caleb and John Carman.
In 1688, Caleb Carman was indicted taking, breaking up and disposing of a whale on the shore.
The whale was purported to have yielded eleven barrels of oil.
Carman argued that under license from the Governor all drift whales that came ashore belonged to him. The jury found Carman not guilty.

On 25 March 1688, the governor of the West Jersey gave a seven year lease to Caleb Carman for 1200 acres of land along Cold Spring Creek, near Cape May, with the right to purchase any of the land for five pounds per 100 acres for 400 acres and ten pounds per acre for the other 700 acres.%br> At the time of his death in 1693, Caleb Carman owned over 1000 acres in Cape May County.
He left his entire estate to his wife Elizabeth (Seaman) Carman, with the mention of his sons John and Caleb, Jr.
The sons each purchased 250 acres from the estate, as did son-in-law Jonathan Forman;
Elizabeth retained 300 acres.
Elizabeth later gave 100 acres to her son Jonathan and bequeathed 100 acres to her son Daniel. Elizabeth died some six years after Caleb, but before September 1699.

Biography Author Teresa Carroll Medlinsky #313, Evelyn Hunt Ogden (Registrar) Citing:
(1) "Caleb Carman Whaler, Millwright and Miller," in The Cape May County Magazine of History and Genealogy, June 1945, Clifford Campin, Jr.
(2) Patents and Deeds and other Early Records of New Jersey 1664-1703, Cape May Deeds,. Edited by William Nelson
(3) Roxbury Church Records, Rev. John Elliott, New Jersey Founders

Sources

↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ6L-JBC : 10 February 2018), Caleb Carman, 01 Jul 1639; citing ROXBURY,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0928294 IT 3.
↑ Wright, F. Edward. Colonial Families of Cape May County, New Jersey. (Lewes, Del: Colonial Roots, 2002), page 14
↑ Wright, page 14
↑ Stillwell, John. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey (New York, 1903-1932), volume 1, page 386
↑ Caleb Carman. Calendar of Wills, 1670-1730. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, XXIII, 82
↑ http://www.njfounders.org/DFNJ_2011_Book_FINAL2011.pdf
See also

Campion, Jr., H. Clifford. "Caleb Carmen (Whaler, Millwright and Miller) (Builder of the first mill in Cape May County)." Cape May County Magazine of History and Genealogy (1944, June): 283.
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