Provincial Congress of New Jersey

The Provincial Congress of New Jersey was a transitional governing body of the Province of New Jersey in the early part of the American Revolution. It first met in 1775 with representatives from all New Jersey's then-thirteen counties, to supersede the Royal Governor. In June 1776, this congress had authorized the preparation of a constitution, which was written within five days, adopted by the Provincial Congress, and accepted by the Continental Congress.

Provincial Congress of New Jersey
Type
Type
History
FoundedMay 23, 1775 (1775-05-23)
DisbandedAugust 27, 1776 (1776-08-27)
Preceded byBritish Royal governors
Succeeded by1st Session of the New Jersey Legislature
Leadership
President
Secretary
Assistant(s)
Meeting place
Trenton, New Jersey

The Constitution of 1776 provided for a bicameral legislature consisting of a General Assembly with three members from each county and a legislative council with one member from each county. All state officials, including the governor, were to be appointed by the Legislature under this constitution. The Vice-President of Council would succeed the Governor, who served as the Council president, if a vacancy occurred in that office.[1][2] The Provincial Congress ceased to function when the first session of the new Legislature convened on August 27, 1776, under the New Jersey State Constitution it had prepared.[2]

1775 Sessions

The Provincial Congress met in late May, June and August in Trenton. During their sessions in the first week, they elected from their members: Hendrick Fisher as the body's President, Jonathan D. Sergeant as secretary, and William Paterson and Frederick Frelinghuysen as assistants. The members, or deputies of the Congress, were received at its first session on May 23, 1775.[3]

Members of the Provincial Congress

At Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1776, three Provincial Congress deputies, Abraham Clark, John Hart, and Reverend John Witherspoon, signed the Declaration of Independence, becoming of the nation's 53 Founding Fathers.

  • X = Attended Session
  • N = Elected but did not attend Session
Name of Deputy or Delegate County May–June 1775 (Trenton)[4] August 1775 (Trenton)[5] October 1775 (Trenton)[6] January–March 1776 (New Brunswick)[7] June–August 1776 (Burlington)[8]
John FellBergenXX---
John DemarestBergenXXXXX
Hendrick KuyperBergenXX---
Abraham Van BuskirkBergenXXN[9]XX
Edo MerseliusBergenXX---
Jacobus PostBergen--XXX
Jacob QuackenbushBergen----X
Daniel Isaac BrownBergen----X
Joseph BordenBurlingtonXX---
Isaac PearsonBurlingtonXXXX-
Colin CampbellBurlingtonXX---
Joseph ReadBurlingtonX----
Peter TallmanBurlington----X
Thomas ReynoldsBurlington----X
Thomas FennimoreBurlington----X
Charles ReadBurlington----X
Caleb ShreveBurlington----X
John PopeBurlingtonXXXX-
Samuel HowBurlington--XX-
John WoodBurlington--XN-
Joseph NewboldBurlington--XX-
Jesse HandCape-MayX-XNX
Elijah HughsCape-May-XN[10]XX
Thomas Leaming, Jr.Cape-May----X
Joseph SavageCape-May----X
Hugh HathornCape-May----X
Samuel FithianCumberlandXX---
Jonathan ElmerCumberlandXX---
Thomas EwingCumberlandXX---
Theophilius ElmerCumberland--XXX
Jonathan AyarsCumberland--XXX
Ephraim HarrisCumberland----X
John BuckCumberland----X
Jonathan BowenCumberland----X
Henry GarritseEssexXX---
Michael VreelandEssexXX---
Robert DrummondEssexXXXXX
John BerryEssexX----
William P. SmithEssexX----
John StilesEssexX----
John ChetwoodEssexXX---
Abraham ClarkEssexX-XXX
Elias BoudinotEssexXX---
Stephen CraneEssex----X
Isaac OgdenEssexXX---
Philip van CortlandtEssexXX---
Betheul PiersonEssexXX---
Caleb CampEssexXXXXX
Samuel PotterEssex--XX-
Lewis OgdenEssex--XXX
John CooperGloucesterX-XNX
Elijah ClarkGloucesterXXXNX
John SparksGloucesterXX--X
Joseph HuggGloucester-X--X
Joseph EllisGloucester-XXXX
Thomas ClarkGloucester--XN-
Richard SomersGloucester--XN-
Samuel TuckerHunterdonXXXXX
John MehelmHunterdonXXXXX
John HartHunterdonXXXXX
John StoutHunterdonXX---
Jasper SmithHunterdonXX---
Thomas LowryHunterdonXX---
Charles StewartHunterdonXXXX-
Daniel HuntHunterdonXX---
Ralph HartHunterdonXX---
Jacob JenningsHunterdonX----
Richard StevensHunterdonXX---
John Stevens, Jr.HunterdonXX---
Thomas StoutHunterdonXX---
Thomas JonesHunterdonXX---
John BassetHunterdonX----
Abraham BonnellHunterdon-X---
Joseph BeaversHunterdon-X---
Augustine StevensonHunterdon--XN-
Philemon DickinsonHunterdon----X
John AllenHunterdon----X
John CombsMiddlesex----X
Moses BloomfieldMiddlesex----X
Nathaniel HeardMiddlesexXX---
William SmithMiddlesexXX---
John DunnMiddlesexXX--X
John LloydMiddlesexXX---
Azariah DunhamMiddlesexXXXX-
John SchurmanMiddlesexXX---
John WetherillMiddlesexXX-XX
David WilliamsonMiddlesexX----
Jonathan BaldwinMiddlesexXX---
Jonathan DeareMiddlesexXX---
Lucas SchenckMiddlesex-X---
John DennisMiddlesex--XX-
Edward TaylorMonmouthXXXXX
Joseph SaltarMonmouthX----
Robert MontgomeryMonmouthXX---
John HolmesMonmouthXXXXX
Josiah HolmesMonmouth----X
James MottMonmouth----X
John CovenhovenMonmouthXXXXX
Daniel HendricksonMonmouthXX---
Nicholas Van BruntMonmouthX----
William WindsMorrisXXXN-
William De HartMorrisXXXN-
William WoodhullMorris----X
Jacob GreenMorris----X
Jonathan StilesMorrisXX---
David ThompsonMorris-X---
Peter DickersonMorrisX----
Silas CondictMorrisXXXXX
Ellis CookMorrisXXXXX
Jacob DrakeMorrisXXXXX
Joseph ShinnSalem----X
Whitten CripsSalem----X
Andrew SinnicksonSalemX---X
Robert JohnsonSalemX----
Samuel DickSalemX---X
Jacob ScogginSalemXX---
James JamesSalemXX---
John HolmesSalem-XXXX
Benjamin HolmesSalem-XXX-
Edward KeasbySalem--XX-
John CareySalem--XX-
Ephraim LloydSalem-X---
Grant GibbonSalem--N[10]N-
Hendrick FisherSomersetXXXX-
Nathaniel EyersSomerset-X---
John RoySomersetX----
Peter SchenckSomersetXX---
Abraham Van NesteSomersetXX---
Enos KelseySomersetXX---
Jonathan Dickinson SergeantSomerset
Middlesex		XX--X
Cornelius Van MulinerSomerset--XN-
Ruloffe Van DykeSomerset--XX-
John WitherspoonSomerset----X
Jacob Rutsen HardenberghSomerset----X
James LinnSomerset----X
Frederick FrelinghuysenSomersetXX--X
William PatersonSomersetXX--X
Archibald StewartSussexX----
Edward DumontSussexXX---
William MaxwellSussexXXXN-
Ephraim MartinSussexX-XXX
John Budd ScottSussex-X---
Casper ShaferSussex----X
John Cleves SymmesSussex----X
Isaac Van CampenSussex----X
Mark ThomsonSussex-XXX-
Hugh HughesSussex-X---
William NorcrossSussex-X---
Thomas PottsSussex--XNX
Abia (or Abijah) BrownSussex--XX-

See also

References

Notes
  1. "The New Jersey Constitution of 1776". Retrieved December 17, 2006. See also: New Jersey Legislature#Before the Legislature and the Constitution of 1776.
  2. "New Jersey Legislature, Historical Information". Retrieved August 12, 2009. See also: New Jersey Legislature#Before the Legislature and the Constitution of 1776.
  3. State of New Jersey. Extracts from the Journal of Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, held at Trenton in the Months of May, June and August 1775. Burlington, New Jersey: Issac Collins. (1775) Woodbury, New Jersey: Joseph Sailer (1835) : 3-5.
  4. "List of Deputies who attended in May and June" in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 169–170.
  5. "List of Deputies who attended the Session in the Month of August" in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 183–184.
  6. "List of Deputies who attended this Session" (October 1775) in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 197.
  7. "A List of the Deputies Returned to Serve in Congress" (31 January - 2 March 1776) in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 325–326.
  8. "Name of the Deputies" (10 June - 21 August 1776) in Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 445–446.
  9. supra, 198–99
  10. Supra 198–199

Further reading
  • Kemmerer, Donald L. (1940). Path to Freedom, The Struggle for Self Government in Colonial New Jersey 1703-1776. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • McCormick, Richard P. (1964, 1970). New Jersey from Colony to State, 1609-1789. 1st Edition-Princeton: Van Nostrand; 2nd Edition—New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
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