Stephen Warne

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Stephen Warne

Born: 1700, Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey 450

Marriage: Mercy Pierce 13 Oct 1729, New Jersey 450

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 General Notes: 

He was the 2nd and the last of the Warne name to be associated with the Proprietors and was administrator of his father's will. His father's Will states that Stephen was the eldest son. He was married 3 times, one wife being Mary Pierce. 450

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Stephen married Mercy Pierce, daughter of John Pierce and Maria Delameter, on 13 Oct 1729 in New Jersey.450 (Mercy Pierce was born about 1704 in Middlesex County, New Jersey 450.)

from A Genealogy of the Warne Family in America By George Warne Labaw :

The Warne Genealogy is principally made up of the history of Thomas Warne, one of the twenty-four early Proprietors of East Jersey, and his descendants, or supposed descendants, of whatever name, together with other family notes. There is an introductory chapter, immediately following this Preface, and then a short chapter on the Warne family in general. Not following the usual course of the genealogist, the author has arranged his data on the plan of a family tree, or for that matter, if it may be so said, of several trees. If Thomas Warne is the trunk, then there are six main branches, the trunk and each branch occupying a chapter by itself. Or, you may take each one of these six branches as a trunk, with branches extending from it. The fourth chapter, in regard to Stephen Warne, oldest son of the Proprietor, and his descendants, may not be correctly arranged.

STEPHEN WARNE, SON OF THOMAS, AND HIS DESCENDANTS

Stephen Warne, oldest son and child of Thomas Warne, the Proprietor, and Mary L. C. Warne, his wife, is expressly spoken of as such in the old affidavit already given of John Johnston, Sen., and John Matthies, under date of July 19, 1732, and is mentioned as well in various deeds as "eldest son and heir-at-law of Thomas Warne, one of the twenty- four Proprietors of East Jersey, or East New Jersey, etc." While, again, as we have likewise seen, after the death of his father, who, in 1722, died intestate, he took out letters of administration on his estate, August 23, 1722, being called in the records "his son and heir." And once more, according to Book К of Deeds, p. 297, in the Secretary of State's office at Trenton, Stephen Warne, July u, 1723, "for love and affection" deeded to his loving brother Thomas Warne 350 acres in Middlesex County on Matawan Creek, near the Mon- mouth County line, which was witnessed by William Car- hart and others. Also in the same book, p. 298, he deeded on the same terms under date of October 19, 1723, 300 acres to his brother Joshua, probably adjoining the other tract. At this time, as well as later, anyhow until 1737, Stephen Warne was of Perth Amboy. When he administrated on the estate of John Green, July 21, 1737, he was yet of that place. In 1742, however, we find he was of New Brunswick. But when he deeded a small lot of land in the city of Perth Amboy to one Philip Kearny, May 7, 1761, he was of "Cran- bury, County of Middlesex, etc."

Mrs. Levi Holbrook, living (1905) at 128 West 59th St., New York City, (a descendant of the Dey family, but not of the Derrick Dey family of Preakness) has in her possession the certified copy of a deed reading like this : "This indenture made the twenty six day of July * * * one thousand seven hundred and sixty. Between Stephen Warne of New Brunswick, County of Middlesex and Province of New Jersey, yeoman, of the one part and Peter Perrine of the South ward of Perth Amboy said county and province, yeoman, of the second part, * * * six pounds current money of said Province, etc. * * * all that Lott of land situated and Lying at the place commonly called Middletown Point. Beginning at the South East Corner of a two acre lott formerly sold by Thomas Warne deceased to the Freehold people for a landing place * * * and thence South forty one degrees east one chain to land formerly sold to Andrew Burnet, etc." The deed is signed by Sten Warne, and witnessed by William Vanne (probably Warne) and Gilbert Bartow. The abbreviation "Sten," as in the Philip Kearny deed, and others generally, perhaps all others, is that which the Proprietor's "oldest son and heir-at-law" used. He must therefore have changed his residence to Cranberry either late in 1760 or early in 1761.

The Peter Perrine above referred to was born in 1706, and died 178—. He married Margaret Dey, dau. of William

Dey, Sen., and Margaret , his wife, who it is supposed

was the granddaughter of Judge Richard Salter.

The following three items are taken from New Jersey Archives, Vol. XXIII :

Item I. Inventory of personal estate of John Mel ven (or Melvin) of Amboy, made by Sten Warne and Daniel Baker. Date of inventory Jan. 21, 1722-1723. Date of John Mel- vin's will June 27, 1722.

Item 2. Inventory of personal estate, etc., of Eleazer Cot- trill (Cotterell), of Middletown, N. J., yeoman, made by Thomas Harbert, John Bray, Joseph Smith, and Samuel Ogborne, and bonds due by Stephen Warne et al. Date of inventory, April 15, 1727. Date of will, Mch. 18, 1726-7. Will proved Apr. 2, 1727.

Item 3. 1727, Nov. 16, among assets of Daniel Hend- ricks, of Middletown, Monmouth Co., will as above dated, was a farm bought of Stephen Warne. But whether the Proprietor's son or his father is here meant, we cannot tell.

Here are some interesting items about Stephen Warne which throw some light on his locations and life. See New Jersey Archives, Vol. XI :

"Run away about the middle of March last (1724) from Stephen Warne of the city of Perth Amboy, in the Province of East New Jersey, a lusty well set servant man, aged about 26 years, and is a Scotchman, his name is John Robeson, he had on a felt Hat, a striped Holland Jacket, a home spun Shirt, a pair of Purple Leather Breeches, and yarn stockings,

Fac-similé of the Autograph oí Stephen Warne, Son of the Proprietor

shoes half worn; he is very apt to get Drunk and is very Quarrelsome."

"Whoever takes up the said servant so that his Master may have him again shall have Twenty Shillings as a Reward, besides reasonable Charges.

Paid by me

Stephen Warne."

From The American Weekly Mercury, Apr. 29, 1724.

"A Plantation To be Let. 1500 acres on Millstone and Cranberry Brooks on Post Road half way from New York to Philadelphia, eleven miles from the Landing at South River Bridge. Stephen Warne one of those to apply to living near the Premises." From The New York Gazette, March 15, 1736.

The same advertisement is also in The American Weekly Mercury, April 8-15, 1736.

See again New Jersey Archives, Vol. XII, p. 515:

"Land for sale by Stephen Warne, innkeeper, 18 miles from Amboy, 16 from New Brunswick, living on the premises. 90 acres, etc."

From The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 14, 1848-9. He was not living at New Brunswick, it seems, at this time.

Following is a partial list of deeds given by Stephen Warne :

1722, Jan. 2. Stephen Warne of the County of Middlesex, etc., to Cornelius and Tunis Vanderveer, both of Fiatbush, Kings Co., N. Y. ¿690, 350 acres.

Book G, p. 109. Freehold.

1722, Oct. 15. Stephen Warne, of Middlesex, husbandman to David Lyell of Monmouth, 100 acres.

Book F 2, p. 80. Trenton.

1725, Mch. 27. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy, yeoman to Samuel Leonard of the same place £28 a lot 33x156 feet in Perth Amboy.

Book H 2, p. 175. Trenton.

1725, May 24. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy to Thomas Taylor, of Freehold.

Book K, p. 62, Trenton.

1725, May 24. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy to Rachel Clarke, of Middletown.

Book K, p. 63. Trenton.

1725, Dec. 14. Stephen Warne of the city of Perth Amboy, yeoman to Richard Hughs, of the same place.

Book K, p. 301. Trenton.

1730, July 19. Stephen Warne of Middlesex to Thomas Boels a lot in Perth Amboy. Date also given 1731, July 19.

Book K, p. 247. Trenton.

1733, Apr. 19. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy to John Baker ¿35. 37"^ acres.

Book K, p. 300, Trenton.

1842, Jan. 18. Stephen Warne, "eldest son and heir at law to his father Thomas Warne one of the proprietors of East New Jersey, dec'd." by and with the advice, consent, and approbation of his brother Joshua Warne to Samuel Leonard £15, a lot of land in Perth Amboy.

Book H 2, p. 165. Trenton.

1742, Feb. 4. Stephen Warne of New Brunswick, Middlesex Co etc to Samuel Leonard of Perth Amboy £200 all that tract of land on which Stephen Warne lately lived on the South Side of Cranberry Creek etc 200 acres more or less. Also a tract of timber, etc.

Book H 2, p. 164. Trenton.

Some of the above deeds are recorded also at Perth Amboy, and those that follow, among others, are likewise recorded there :

1724, Feb. 18. Stephen Warne, of Perth Amboy to Capt. David Hendrickson of Middletown 366 acres, part of 1000 acres "granted by Patient to Thomas Warne 3Oth Nov. 1695.

Book D, No. 2.

1724, Oct. 2i. Stephen Warne, of Perth Amboy to William Lawrence, Jun. of Middletown, a small tract formerly conveyed to Thomas Warne.

Book D, No. 2, p. 137.

1725, Nov. 23. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy to John Cowenhoven, of Freehold, a Bank lot in Perth Amboy.

Book D, No. 2, pp. 219-222.

1725, Nov. 24. Stephen Warne to Jacob Polhemus, a small tract.

Book D, No. 2.

1736, Dec. 2. Stephen Warne of Perth Amboy, Esqr., to Benjamin Applegate Jun. of the same place 50 acres.

Book E, No. 2, p. 74.

According to the Perth Amboy records Stephen Warne bought many tracts of land from various parties. Here are a few of the transactions:

1725, March 31. Richard Mount to Stephen Warne. Book D, No. 2, p. 166.

1723, Dec. 7. John Gordon, of Amboy to Stephen Warne of said place. Book D, No. 2, p. 216.

1725, Mch. 26. Edward Vaughan of Elizabeth Town, clerk, to Stephen Warne. Book K, p. 179.

1737-8, Feb. 20. Thomas Gordon of the County of Hunt- erdon, yeoman, to Stephen Warne, of the county of Middlesex. This was an exchange for land on Cranberry Brook. Book E, No. 2, p. 364.

1723, May 20. Stephen Warne sold half part of all his propriety and right in East Jersey to Samuel Leonard. Book D, No. 2, p. 220.

1728 Stephen Warne sold out the other half of his propriety to Thomas Leonard, leaving the Warne family thereafter devoid of all further interest in their title to the Province.

Among Marriage Licenses in New Jersey Archives, Vol. XXII, we find :

Stephen Warne of Middlesex and Mercy Pierce, of Middlesex, Oct. 13, 1729, were licensed to be married, and that they afterwards did marry is proven by two deeds, viz. :

1734, Apr. 4. Stephen Warne and wife Mercy Warne, of Perth Amboy, to Thomas Combs.

Book С 3, pp. 338, 9. Trenton.

1736, Dec. 2. Stephen Warne and Mercy Warne, of Perth Amboy to Benjamin Applegate, Jun.

Book E 2, p. 74.

In Vol. II, No. 3, p. 250, Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, we find : "To Stephen Warne, a daughter, named Ursula, May (17) 1742," evidently a birth. The Stephen Warne above mentioned, from the author's point of view, was unquestionably the subject of this writing.

There is much uncertainty in regard to the children of Stephen Warne. He was married and had children,—there is no question about that—and he was probably married three times, as we in this work have reckoned on. Mercy Pierce was one of his wives ; but because of the late date of his marriage with her, he must have been previously married, particularly since there were Warnes, as we shall see later, whose parentage otherwise cannot well be accounted for ; while, as we look at the matter, he was married yet again, further along in life. He had, as we have noted, a daughter Ursula, of whom we know nothing more than the record of her birth. The late James Steen, Esqr., of Eatontown, N. J., told the author more than once that Stephen Warne had a son Thomas. The rest of Stephen's children,—supposing he had others, and he must have had—the writer has had to guess at, since the documents and records for proof are not at hand. Stephen Warne evidently was not a financially prosperous man. He appears to have moved about considerably; while rather late in life, or when he was over 65, he was declared a bankrupt. It is not known when or where Stephen Warne, son of the Proprietor, died. He died intestate, of course, and there is no record of any administration on his personal estate, if he had any. Also in colonial days it often occurred that deeds were not recorded ; and we have no deeds, recorded or unrecorded, of any land that Stephen Warne, when he had land to deed, deeded to any of his children. It is to be greatly regretted that documents and records cannot be found to throw more light on the family of this man. During the Revolution many public records were destroyed ; also church records, and some private records ; likewise many such records and family Bibles have been destroyed by fire or lost or stolen since, and they are constantly being lost. Time, however, may ultimately throw additional light on these matters now indeterminate, and the writer's views either may be confirmed or his theories exploded.

The reader will note that the groups of children attributed in this Genealogy to Stephen Warne were quite dispersed. Was it not on account of his several marriages, and his not being prosperous, that this was the case? And then as he kept public house or tavern, at least when advanced in years, the man may not have been altogether steady in his habits; which would have tended still more to make his children under the circumstances shift for themselves.

The Western Pennsylvania Warnes, originally of "The Jersey Settlement," we positively believe are descendants of Stephen Warne, oldest son and heir of the Proprietor Thomas. Many years ago, two or three of the representatives of that branch of the family came east and visited as some sort of cousins, the author's great uncle Samuel Warne, of Mount Pleasant, Hunterdon Co., N. J., and some of the Broadway Warnes, cousins of Samuel. Different persons, yet living, have informed the writer that the Warnes of Western Pennsylvania are of our blood, and they themselves likewise some of them claim the connection, or have claimed it. From the author's standpoint there is no other way to solve the problem than to put Joseph Warne, who married Dorcas Miller, and possibly a brother or two who might have gone with him to Western Pennsylvania, as a child or children of Stephen Warne by an earlier marriage than that of his marriage with Mercy Pierce. Moreover, the names in this branch of the Warne family are largely our own family names.

Under date of Nov. 10, 1748, Samuel Warne, brother of Stephen, had land surveyed: "Beginning at the N. W. corner of John Haye's land where it toucheth the line of the land now belonging to Joseph Warne, etc., etc." Perth Am- boy Records, Book S, Surveys, 2, p. 249.

This Joseph Warne, from the fact of his owning land in 1748 must have been born before 1726. He was not the Proprietor's son, nor his brother's son, because, so far as we know, the Proprietor had no brother, at least in this country. Hence he must have been the grandson of the Proprietor, and, as we feel sure, the son of his eldest son Stephen, who must have been married and had a child or children by a former wife before he married Mercy Pierce. One, Joseph Warne, of New Jersey, as already stated, who married Dorcas Miller (see further on) left this state in 1768-70 and went to Western Pennsylvania. Was not this the same Joseph, supposed son of said Stephen, who in 1748 had land in Middlesex county adjoining that which his uncle Samuel had surveyed? Said Joseph, of Western Pennsylvania, had a son Stephen, evidently his oldest son. Other Warnes in Western Pennsylvania, whom the author is unable to place, were John and Abijah—possibly brothers of Joseph, and sons of Stephen, or they may have been Joseph's sons, particularly if he was twice married. Joseph died quite an old man a little before 1790.

Once more. If Stephen Warne, son of the Proprietor, had a son Thomas, as is claimed, was he a child by a former marriage or was he a son by his wife Mercy Pierce? This Thomas was manifestly the father of Samuel Warne, b. Oct. 21, 1752, afterwards of Sennet, N. Y., and of Richard Warne, b. May 8, 1756, of Montgomery Co., N. Y. (See also further on.) Samuel and Richard Warne, said sons of Thomas, (and Thomas may have had other children), hailed originally, according to tradition, either from New York City, or New Jersey ; and who else could they have been than as we have here represented? Ursula, whose birth record we have given, may have been a daughter of Stephen Warne by his wife Mercy, or probably by a later wife, as, to us, Stephen appears to have been married three times.

Finally, seven brothers, of Sheffield, Mass., all of them Revolutionary soldiers, who, according to a tradition in the family, having come from New Jersey and the children of their father by a third wife, we believe were the children of Stephen Warne, eldest son of the Proprietor. The names again apparently imply connection all around, this group also being apart from the other children of their father, for reasons generally prevalent in similar cases. Samuel, said to be the youngest of these sons in their day living in Sheffield, was born, it is affirmed, about 1748 or later, as he died in 1808, aged about 60 years. But there must be some mistake about this. He either was not so old, or he died later, or he was not the youngest child,—indeed, we are practically sure that he was not the youngest child. Ursula, as we have mentioned, may have been a sister, a full sister of these brothers.

Note.—The author, on further consideration, has concluded to place the data of the Seven Warne Brothers in the Appendix to this volume, among those whose connection with the Thomas Warne, Proprietor, stock is uncertain.

Hence, if we are correct, the children of Stephen Warne by his three (?) marriages were:

A. Joseph, and possibly John and Abijah, the last two most likely dying without heirs, if indeed they were married. Perhaps too they were half, and not full, brothers of Joseph, if they were not his sons.

B. Thomas,—the father of Samuel and Richard.

C. Ursula.

D. Several brothers of Sheffield, Mass., apparently the brothers—the full brothers—of Ursilla.

Note.—It is possible, indeed, that Joseph, above mentioned, of Western Pennsylvania, who married Dorcas Miller, was the son of Thomas and his wife Deborah, as Thomas appears to have been married before his brother Stephen married Mercy Pierce.