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The Formans. 1508-1913
The first ‘Forman’ in America is an Englishman named Robert Engle Forman who arrived with his wife, Johanna Pore, in 1645. Robert and the 12 generations that follow him are well documented and undisputed – but the 4 preceding English generations are a bit in question.
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Lewis Forman.Petition against the Retaliators
Lewis Forman, my 6th great-grandfather, signed this petition in 1781 asking the NJ State Assembly to take action against the Retaliators – an illegal but tolerated vigilante group targeting loyalists.
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Lewis Forman. Petition on Corruption of Auction Commissioners
Lewis Forman, my 6th great-grandfather signed this petition in 1779, asking the NJ State Legislature to address corruption in the sale of confiscated Loyalist properties.
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Lewis Forman. Petition for Patriot Relief & Equal Military Burden
Lewis Forman, my 6th great-grandfather, petitioned for relief for Patriots left destitute by the British, and for the burden of military service to be shared equally by all citizens.
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Will of Aaron Forman
Aaron Forman was my 7th great-grandfather. He died in 1688, at the age of 52, leaving 7 children behind. The tone of his Last Will & Testament suggests he knew he was dying and had some time to prepare for it.
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Samuel Forman. 1662. High Sheriff
Samuel Forman is my 8th great-grandfather. This is the text of his appointment as High Sheriff of NJ.
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Samuel Forman. 2nd Remonstrance Against the Proprietors
Samuel Forman, my 8th great-grandfather, was born in Hempstead in 1662 and moved to Freehold, Province of East Jersey. In 1701, he signed a petition asking for the reunification of West and East Jersey.
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Samuel Forman. Takes Governor & Other Officials Prisoner
Samuel Forman is my 8th great-grandfather. He arrested the Governor, Secretary and Attorney General of East Jersey for essentially holding court while Scottish.
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Samuel Forman. Remonstrance Against the Proprietors
Samuel Forman is my 8th great-grandfather. This is the text of the Remonstrance of the Inhabitants of East Jersey to the King, against the Proprietors, and asking for the appointment of a competent Governor.
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Samuel Forman. Records in Freehold & Oyster Bay
Samuel Forman is my 8th great-grandfather. he was born in 1662 in Hempstead, Long Island but these records relate to his life in Monmouth, NJ.
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Hays Family
My great-grandfather, Theodore Clarence Brintzinghoffer, was born in Newark, NJ on September 19th, 1876. Each and every branch of his family tree came to America before the Revolutionary War. This is the story of his paternal grandmother’s line – The Hays.
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Henry Hays. Depositions
This is a transcription of multiple depositions taken in 1819 related to a lost deed for a property purchased in 1785 by Henry Hays, my 5th great-grandfather, from Daniel Ellis and William Smith, assignees of John Hays, at a public sale in Burlington Township.
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Archibald Craig. Deed
This is a transcription of a conveyance for a land transfer in Freehold, NJ between Jacobus Romine and Archibald Craig, my 8th great-grandfather on 25th of May 1720.
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Brintzinghoffers. 1650-1950
My grandfather, James Henry Brintzinghoffer, was very proud of his German roots and his family’s long history in America. He once told me they came over on the Mayflower – which wasn’t quite true – but it was closer to true than any of us realized until long after he was gone.
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Patrick Hassett: A Sapper from Clare
Patrick Hassett, my 2nd great-grandfather, was born around 1840. The population of Clare, Ireland peaked the year after he was born – 286,394 souls. By the time he was 10, 50,000 of them would be dead from famine and 25% would have emigrated with between 30-50% dying in the crossing.
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Elizabeth Irene Wiggans
My grandmother, Elizabeth Irene Wiggans was born on the 16th of April, 1916, in the back bedroom of 290 Peshine Ave, Newark, NJ. She was named ‘Elizabeth’ after her mother but to her father, she would always be ‘Lovey’. Everyone else called her Irene.
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McAllens of Westminster
Daniel McAllen was a shoemaker born in Ireland around 1821 to James McAllen, a labourer. He emigrated first to England before the age of 20, and then to America at the age of 28, in 1848.
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Wiggans of Lancashire
This story tracks the Wiggans family in Lancashire, England back to 1730, although the name is much older. It is derived from the personal name “Wuicon” or Wigand – meaning high or noble – and it was first recorded in the Domesday Book as “Wighen” in 1086, in Cambridge.
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John Patrick O’Mullan
On January 4, 1907, my grandfather, John Patrick O’Mullan was born to Daniel William Mullan and Elizabeth Gallagher in Moyaver, County Antrim, Ireland. They christened him at St. Olcan’s church – where his father was christened and his family is buried.
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Jacob Zutvan & Archibald Craig. Deed
This is a transcription of a conveyance for a land transfer between Archibald Craig, my 8th great-grandfather and Jacob Zutvan / van Zutphen / Sutphen, my 7th great-grandfather, on 24 APR 1733 regarding a property in Freehold, NJ.
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John Craig & Archibald Craig. Deed
This is a transcription of a conveyance for a Spotswood Creek land transfer between John Craig, my 9th great-grandfather and Archibald Craig, my 8th great-grandfather on 10 APR 1702.
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James Craig. Deed
James Craig is my 8th great-uncle on my maternal grandfather’s side. This is a transcription of a Spotswood Creek, NJ property between James Edwin and James Craig from 10 APR 1702.
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William Hays. Deed
William Hays is my 6th Great-grandfather on my maternal grandfather’s side. This is a transcription of a property sale on his move to Burlington County in 1738.
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Margaret Teresa Costello
My grandmother, Margaret Teresa Costello, was born to John J. Costello, a blacksmith, and Honora Brown in Newark, NJ on the 3rd of August 1903. Her father would died of kidney failure when she was not yet 3 years old, and she grew up in her mother’s boarding house on Plum St. in Newark.
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Aaron Forman. Deed
This is a 1741 conveyance in Freehold, NJ. I initially believed this to be the deed of my 7th great-grandfather, but this transaction comes 2 months after his death – more likely one of his nephews.
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The Browns of Newark
My great-grandmother, Honora Brown, was baptized ‘Honora’ in Newark, NJ in 1872. She was called ‘Lenora’, then ‘Eleanora’, and finally ‘Eleanor’. Her granddaughter and 2nd great-granddaughter are both named Eleanor.
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John J. Costello of Newark
My great-grandfather, John J. Costello, was a blacksmith born in Connecticut probably in June of 1871. He moved to Newark, NJ sometime in early childhood and lived there until he died there at the age of 35 from kidney failure.