Marfy Goodspeed ... Only one of Freegift Rounsavell and Allemina Godown’s children remained in Amwell (later Delaware) Township, and that was Richard F. Rounsavell (1789-1865). He married his first wife Rebecca about 1820/21 and had with her three children. After Rebecca died in 1837, he married second Sarah Ann McKinney in 1840. After she died in 1843, he married third Elizabeth Case (1806-1875), daughter of Mathias Case and Mary Howell. He had no more children after Rebecca’s death. Judging from the deeds recorded for Richard Rounsavell, and I have not checked them all, he appears to have acquired land near the D&R Canal in Lambertville, some distance away from the original Rounsavell homestead, as he and his first wife are buried in the First Presbyterian Church Courtyard in Lambertville. Isaac Rounsavell married Catharine Larew sometime before 1790. She was the daughter of Abraham Larew and Mary Thatcher who lived near the Covered Bridge. The Rounsavells had four children: Mary, born about 1790, married John Case and died age 46 in 1836; Mahlon, born about 1795, died before 1839; Abraham, born 1796, died unmarried in 1863; and Stout, born about 1800, married Elizabeth Thompson, also died before 1839. Isaac’s will left the residue of his personal and real estate to grandson Harrison, $1200 to the children of deceased daughter Mary Case; a legacy to Elizabeth, widow of Stout Rounsavell; and one to his niece Deborah Rounsavell, wife of Richard Shepherd. She was the daughter of Isaac’s brother Nathaniel. Isaac also made provision for his son. Four years later [1888], Harrison Rounsavell’s wife Elizabeth died at the age of 66 on May 23, 1888. (Her obituary in the Democrat stated that she was 67.) These losses probably weighed heavily on Harrison. On September 24, 1888, he wrote his will. Since he and Elizabeth had no children of their own, he divided his real estate between the heirs of his aunt Mary Case (sister of Stout Rounsavell) and the heirs of his uncle Peter Thompson (brother of Harrison’s mother Elizabeth). The residue of his estate, both personal and real, was to be sold and divided into two parts. One went to the heirs of his aunt Mary Case (sister of Stout Rounsavell and wife of John Case; she died in 1836, and he died in 1837). The other went to the heirs of Harrison’s uncle Peter Thompson, who died in 1870.22 Madison Case, the children of Joseph Case, Catharine Reading, Elizabeth Wilson, Caroline Conover and the children of Tunis L. Case. The heirs of Peter Thompson were James C. Thompson, Harrison Thompson, Sarah Horne, Elizabeth Fowler, Mary Catharine Holcombe and the children of John Prall Thompson.] Another interesting bequest was mention of a patent for 160 acres of land which Harrison’s uncle Mahlon had been given for his service during the War of 1812. The way Harrison Rounsavell put it – “in case anything is realized from a Patent for 160 acres of land to my share which said land was secured by my uncle Mahlon Rounsavell, I wish the same to be distributed in the same proportions to the children of my Aunt Mary Case dec’d and in the same manner as the other bequests made to them. The Howell House September 22, 2018 by Marfy Goodspeed . . . Jacob Howell Jacob Howell was born on December 19, 1757. He never married. He also never purchased any property, at least not any with a deed that was recorded. He had enough land from his father’s will. But where exactly was that land? I cannot say much of anything about Jacob Howell during his lifetime as he shows up in very few records. The first time Jacob Howell shows up in the 18th century tax records is in 1780, according to the TLC Index of Tax Ratables for Hunterdon County. But I looked through a copy of the 1780 ratables and could not find Jacob or his brother Joseph. Their father Benjamin was taxed on 250 acres, in 1780 and in 1786. The first mention of Jacob Howell was in 1790 when he was listed with his father Benjamin Howell. They were taxed jointly on 170 improved acres and 36 unimproved. They had 4 horses, 4 head of cattle and a sleigh. What it rather odd here is that they were not taxed on either a ferry or a tavern house. I am guessing that is because in his later years, Benjamin Howell leased both businesses to others. In 1802, Jacob Howell was listed in the ratables as a single man living in the household of John Bake. By that time his father Benjamin had died. What Jacob did with the rest of his life, I cannot say. But I can say that during the last years of his life, he was cared for by Eliza Case, daughter of his niece Mary Howell Case. This became evident from Jacob’s will, written on March 26, 1835.13 According to the will, there was only one person that Jacob Howell wanted to provide for and that was Eliza [Case] Scarborough “that lives in the house with me.” He bequeathed her “the farm that I now live on that is mine by heirship of my father Benjamin Howell, dec’d.” He then gave the metes and bounds of this farm. Beginning at a Red Oak tree, marked for a line tree between me and lands lately John Prall’s on the south side of the creek, twenty yards more or less from the Creek, four chains on a southwardly course from said tree, on the line between me and said Prall, to the end of the line between me and him, to a corner in Romine’s line, a space over the road leading from centre Bridge to Sergeantsville and thence on a northwardly course along Romine’s line, between me and him to a line between me & Benjamin Bodine, thence along said line to the Creek a space below? Jacob Warman’s (and a westerly course from him) thence down the creek in the middle thereof to the second fence from Warman’s corner, thence south twenty yard more or less to a cherry tree marked on the south side of the creek on the bank, from thence on a westardly course down the creek to a chesnut marked sixty yards more or less from thence on a northardly course over the Creek twenty yards more or less to a Black Oak marked & from thence on the north side of the Creek and down the same twenty yards more or less to a hickory tree marked, thence Southardly across the creek eight yards more or less to a black oak, marked & from thence on a westardly course one hundred & twenty yards, more or less to the place of Beginning, suppose to contain sixty acres of land be the same more or less. This very vague description continued to be used in subsequent deeds right up to 1881, when finally the usual metes and bounds (exact directions and distances) was included. It was that deed, dated April 1, 1881,14 in which Jacob W. Bowlby conveyed the farm of 64 acres to Richard Everitt for $6500, that finally allowed me to accurately locate the farm of Jacob Howell. Sixty four acres is certainly less that the original amount of acreage allotted to Jacob Howell, but its location tells us much. It was bordered by Shoppons Run on the north, Benjamin Bodine on the east and Route 523 on the south.15 Since our mystery house was located north of Shoppons Run, we now know that it was on land acquired by Jacob’s brother Joseph Howell. A Word About Eliza Scarborough Eliza Case was born on January 6, 1806 to Mathias and Mary Howell Case. Mathias Case died in 1825, only 42 years old, so Mary had to raise Eliza on her own. Because we are dealing with the early 19th century, I have no census records to tell us where the two were living while Eliza was a child. In 1816, several members of the Howell family, including Eliza’s mother, moved to Pickaway County, Ohio, but Eliza stayed behind to live with her great uncle Jacob. She married Isaac Scarborough on January 23, 1833 and had three children: Mathias Howell Scarborough (1834-1887), Mary (1837-?, probably died young), and Hannah A. Scarborough (1839-1909). But only two years after the marriage it appears that Eliza and Isaac were not compatible, since Jacob Howell’s will of 1835 emphatically excluded Isaac from having any control over the property he was leaving to Eliza. Isaac Scarborough died in 1846. In the census of 1850, Eliza Scarborough, age 44, was living with her three children in the household of Richard Rounsaville. He was 61 at the time, a farmer and widower. His wife Rebecca had died in 1837 after having had three children. Richard must have been impressed by Eliza’s good qualities, because just a few months after the census was taken, the two of them married. Eliza had to agree to an “ante-nuptial” document stating that she would not claim any dower right to Richard’s property, and make a quit-claim deed in favor of Richard’s children. Richard Rounsaville died in 1865, age 76. Eliza was left without any support from his estate, but his administrators allowed her half the profits from the sale of crops from her husband’s farm.16 Eliza’s daughter Hannah married William Fell of Pennsylvania in 1864. Fell worked on Richard Rounsaville’s farm until 1868 when Eliza Case Scarborough Rounsaville conveyed the farm of Jacob Howell to him for $7300.17 But tragedy struck in 1873 when Fell died at the age of 33. Two years later, Eliza Scarborough died, on April 4, 1875, age of 69, and was buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Lambertville. Side note: Austin Davison, whose collection of papers sheds much light on the history of this family, and which can be found at the HCHS, was the son-in-law of William H. Fell and Hannah Scarborough. His wife was Margaret M. Fell. Having gotten this far, I must take a break and polish up the rest of the story for my next article on Joseph Howell.