Thomas Warne

Emigrated with his father, Stephen, to America in 1683. From findagrave summary: Age 70 years. An East Jersey Proprietor ∼
Thomas Warne was born in Plymouth, Devonshire County, England in 1652. Sometime later, he emigrated to Dublin, Ireland where he worked as a merchant. He and his father Stephen Warne emigrated to America in March of 1683. Thomas Warne, in addition to his cargo, brought with him eleven indentuted servants. They were as follows: William Elleson, 3 yrs., John Kighin and Nora Rae, 5 yrs., Patrick Kemane, 7 yrs., Anthony Ashmore and Walter Newman, 9 yrs., also Abraham Smith, Jane Hankinson and her three children Thomas, Peter and Richard Hankinson. Thomas Warne settled in Perth Amboy, NJ. On September 13, 1683, Thomas Warne purchased 400 acres in Matawan, Monmouth County, NJ. It is there where he established his plantation eventually expanding it to one thousand acres. The purchase in 1683 was part of the original Twenty-Four Proprietors of East Jersey Purchase. The Twenty Four Lords Proprietors of East Jersey, Thomas Warne being one of them, established Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, NJ, as their capitol. The original Warne Plantation, located between the Matawan and Gravel Creeks in present day Matawan, Monmouth County, NJ, is the site of the Thomas Warne Historical Museum and Library. The museum is located inside an 1820's schoolhouse.

Thomas Warne was a bachelor until he was about fifty years old. He married Mary, the widow of Thomas Carhart. She was the daughter of sea captain Robert Lord who was born in London, England in 1627 and emigrated to America with his family on April 29, 1635 aboard the ship Elizabeth and Anne. Thomas Lord, the father of Capt. Robert Lord, was born in London about 1585. He married Dorothy and settled with their six children in Newtown, Long Island, NY, before settling in Cambridge, Maas. Capt. Robert Lord was 8 years old when his family left Emgland for the American Colonies. Captain Robert Lord of Cambridge, Mass. married Rebecca Stanley. Their children were Robert Lord, Thomas Lord and Mary Lord (b.July 13, 1668). Mary (Lord) Warne was born in Cambridge Massachussetts on July 13, 1668. She married Thomas Carhart in November of 1691 on Staten Island, NY. They moved to Woodbridge Twp., Middlesex County in 1695. she became a widow the next year. Between 1700-1702 Mary Carhart of Woodbridge married Thomas Warne of Perth Amboy. Thomas Warne raised his three step-sons along with the children born to his union with his wife Mary. Mary (Lord) Warne died about 1713, shortly after the birth of her last child George Warne. Thomas Warne, her husband and father of their children as well as step-father to her children with Thomas Carhart, granted 600 acres of land "...to be divided equally between my (his)three sons-in-law (step-sons).," in 1714, about a year after the death of his wife. Thomas Warne and Mary (Lord) Warne had six children. They were as follows: Stephen Warne, Thomas Warne, Samuel Warne, Joshua Warne, Sarah Warne and George Warne, respectively.

Thomas Warne purchased and sold several thousand acres of land in Middlesex and Monmouth County New Jersey. He was a Justice of the Court of Common Right (Court of Chancery) and a Member of the Governor's Council from 1683-1699. He sold several of his lots in Perth Amboy so that the first government house could be built and a road leading to it could be paved. The Proprietary House, the home of the Royal Governor of New Jersey, which was erected in 1762, was built on one of his original lots.

• Thomas Warne was interred in the Topanemus Cemetery alongside his wife Mary. His gravesite was marked by a single flat six foot by three foot stone slab. On that slab was the inscription: Here lyes the body of Thomas Warne. He was born in Plimouth[sic] in Devenshire [sic] in Great Britain, lived some time in Ireland and in the 31st year of his age came over a propriater [sic] of East Jersey who died with the dead paulsey May the 15th. Anno 1722 aged 70 years.

The tombstone of Thomas Warne was removed from the Topanemus Cemetery and deposited in the basement of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church in Freehold, NJ. The monument was moved along with many others to avoid the scars of neglect and vandalism.

Warne Family Genealogy, published in 1911: https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G007600.pdf