The Zengerling "family farm"

1. My great-great-great grandfather Joseph Zengerling owned a farm in Newark, New Jersey, for the period 1848-1864. He is noted in the 1860 census as a farmer (his oldest son, Frank, was also a farmer) and the value of his real estate was given as $4000.

   I found him in the schedules for the special agricultural census taken in 1850 (enumerated on 10 Aug 1850, to be more exact), where his name is given as Joseph Zingerlenk. This record gives the following information:

   • 5 acres of "improved" land
   • cash value of farm noted as $1300
   • cash value of farming implements and machinery given as $30
   • he had one "milch" cow, 2 "working oxen," and one "other cattle"
   • the livestock was valued at $125
   • in the previous year he had raised 100 bushels of Indian corn and 100 bushels of Irish potatoes, and had produced 100 lbs. of butter
   • $12 is given as the value of "animals slaughtered"

2. Deed, received in the office (Essex County, New Jersey) 21 Feb 1848, from Philip Kingsley & wife to Joseph Zengerleng [sic]:

   This indenture made the nineteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight between Philip Kingsley and Romana A. Kingsley his wife of the township of Orange in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey of the first part and Joseph Zengerleng [sic] of the City of Newark in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey of the second part. Witnesseth that the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred ninety-seven dollars lawful money of the United States of America to them in hand well and truly paid by the said party of the second part at and before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged...

   Beginning ... southeasterly corner of lot number nine as numbered on a map of the Orange Parsonage tract, thence running north fifty-seven degrees west six chains and fifty links to the middle of a road as laid out on said map, thence along the middle of the same south ninety three degrees west nine chains and forty-eight links to the drift road, thence along the middle of the said drift road south sixty-five degrees thirty minutes east six chains fifty-six ... to land now or late of one [Alling?], thence with his line north ninety-three degrees east eight chains and fifty links to the place of beginning containing five acres & eighty-four[?] hundreths of an acre being a part of the same tract conveyed by the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in Orange to the said Philip Kingsley...

3. Some relevant notes of possible interest:

   • Philip Kingsley was born in Vermont, moved to the Newark area, and became the first lawyer to set up shop in Orange (or perhaps it was live in Orange). He is often noted in local histories.

   • In 1848 Joseph Zengerling payed $397.00 for these almost six acres, or roughly $66.00 per acre. As can be seen in the next deed, he sold the same property in 1864 for $5200.00 or about $866 per acre.

   • The "Orange Parsonage tract" mentioned in the deed has a very long history. When the town of Newark was set up in the later 1600s, common land was set aside for the sake of the church. As the area was settled by Puritans, the church could have been understood as what became the First Presbyterian Church of Newark. However two other groups -- Trinity Episcopal and the Mountain Society (what would become the Orange Society and later the First Presbyterian Church of Orange) -- also laid claim to this land.

     Controversy occasionally arose concerning this land and it wasn't finally settled until the very early 1800s. In 1826 some 56 acres were conveyed to the Orange Society, which in turn sold it in smaller parcels. Philip Kingsley bought 44 acres of this tract in 1841 for about $50 per acre. It was probably from these 44 acres that he sold the almost six acres to Joseph Zengerling.

   • Originally, the common land began "west of High Street." I have finally discovered exactly where Joseph Zengerling's piece of it was located. I vaguely recall having once found his name in an early city directory at an address on Roseville Avenue. It would seem that that was the farm's address, since it can be found on this 1858 map of Newark.

     Check toward the bottom-left corner of the map. There is a plot of land with the name "Joseph Singerling" inscribed on it. The property is sitting on the corner of Roseville Avenue and what is now Central Avenue.

     To get a "feel" for this location, Fairmount and Holy Sepulchre Cemeteries are beyond the top of this map, downtown is off the map beyond the bottom-right corner, and I believe that road that intersects Roseville Avenue to the right of Singerling's property is West Market Street. All of which is to say, the farm wasn't all that far from where the Court House sits.

4. Deed, received in the office (Essex County, New Jersey) 9 Dec 1864, from Joseph Zengerleng [sic] & wife to Henry Multhaupt:

   This indenture[?] made the tenth day of November in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four between Joseph Zengerleng [sic] and Maria his wife of the City of Newark of the County of Essex and State of New Jersey of the first part and Henry Multhaupt of the City of Newark in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey of the second part. Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of five thousand and two hundred lawful money of the United States of America to them in hand well and truly paid by the said party of the second part...

   ... being the same premises conveyed to the said Joseph Zengerleng [sic] by Phillip [sic] Kingsley & wife by deed dated February 19th 1848 and recorded in Book T.6 of Deeds for Essex County on pages 547 & 548.