Tag Archives: Monmouth County

Stout Brothers Rescue a Pirate

Mob Storms Court House

On March 25, 1701, Court convened in Middletown, New Jersey. Governor Andrew Hamilton, Lewis Morris, head of the Assembly, and other dignitaries took their seats. The prosecutor had a slam-dunk case. Moses Butterworth, accused pirate, had admitted sailing on the ship of Captain Kidd.

This picture, a popular image of pirate Captain Kidd, comes from the website, monmouthtimeline.org. That website does not specify the origin of the picture.

However, as the trial got underway, a man named Samuel Willet appeared and shouted that the court had no authority. Mr. Willet had enlisted a drummer to come along to make noise so that the court could not proceed. Thirty or forty local men, including two Stout brothers, all armed with clubs and arms followed Willet.

The drum banged away as two men tried to release the prisoner. The sheriff fought them off and managed to subdue the trouble makers. The drum kept beating and the crowd kept pouring up the stairs to the courtroom.

Judges and attorneys drew swords and tried to re-arrest the prisoner. Imagine a period so unruly that judges and attorneys had to carry swords into court! The drum kept beating as the crowd assaulted the court officials and tore up court documents.

The drum kept beating, the crowd kept coming. The Rebels dragged off the King’s Attorney General and Justices, along with the sheriff and Clerk of Court and even Governor Hamilton. They threw them into cells and kept them under guard from March 25 to March 29.

Richard Stout’s sons, 36-year-old Jonathan and 43-year-old James joined in the rebels’ merriment. I give their ages to point out that this was not simply the work of young men feeling their oats. These were mature land owners. And based on other town records, we can surmise that pater familias Richard was cheering them on.

After this incident, Butterworth, the former pirate, took to farming, married a local girl and became an important citizen of the community.

Defending a Pirate

Why would these good citizens of Middletown take the side of a pirate? I believe there are two answers to that question.

Pirates Can Be Useful

The first answer became clear when I read a surprising article called “Well Behaved Pirates Seldom Make History,” by Mark G. Hanna. (See reference below). Hanna points out that although some of the captains of pirate ships fit the dramatic image we have of them, pirate crew members were ordinary folk.

The owners/captains of the pirate ship, recruited sailors or even farm boys along the eastern American coasts. The promise of enormous riches from their share of loot, lured these poor young men. For most of them, this was a one-time adventure. They would make their stake to invest in land to keep them the rest of their lives. And if they survived the pirate adventures, they returned to their communities and became respectable citizens.

Besides that, with shipping an uncertain business and transit slow, the pirate ships provided a useful service. They brought goods for merchants and ordinary folks that were unavailable elsewhere. The colonists turned a blind eye to where the goods came from in order to enjoy the bounty. They were no different than people today who buy merchandise that “fell off the truck,” or people who thronged to speakeasys during prohibition. Pirates were an important part of the colonial economy.

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

As I said in my article about David Stout and the mob in Middleton, this breach of the Butterworth trial was not the first such attack on officials. In the case of Butterworth, his trial became a handy focal point for resistance. If the British were against him, the colonists would support him.

Whose Land Is It Anyway and The Provincial Revolt

It takes a little history to understand why these upstanding citizens suddenly became criminals. I learned the history of the Provincial Revolt from the History of Monmouth County and from Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (see below for references).

The sovereigns of European countries felt free to dole out the lands of the New World, regardless of the fact that those lands were already occupied by the natives. So King Charles of England gave to his brother, the Duke of York (future King James) a large swath of land that included the property later known as the Monmouth Patent. After holding the land briefly, in June 1664, the Duke of York gave the land to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret –“the Proprietors.”

However before that, in January, 1664, Richard Stout was part of the group from Gravesend in Long Island who had purchased land from the local tribes. And in April 1665, the purchase was made legal when British Governor Nicolls issued The Monmouth Patent.

What Governor Nicolls and the Gravesend group did not know was that Nicolls was no longer the representative of the King when he signed the Monmouth Patent. The Duke of York had passed the land on to the Proprietors almost a year earlier and they had appointed a new Governor. News traveled slowly.

This set up a situation where for a time there were two governors, Nicolls acting, he thought, in the name of the Duke of York; and Philip Carteret, acting for the New Jersey Proprietors. The two sides continued to contest who owned the land for many years, with Carteret saying that any deeds executed by Nicolls were null and void. That meant the ownership of Richard Stout’s land and that of all his sons, were in question.

Who Had the Right to Govern?

Throughout what became known as The Provincial Revolt, the colonials tried hard to respect the King and the British law. The followers of Nicolls continued to hold a court and an Assembly that decided local matters, while also sending representatives to the court of Carteret. However Governor Carteret’s officials frequently turned away the representatives from Monmouth County. The people in the two towns of Middletown and Shrewsbury refused to swear allegiance to the proprietors and pay rent on land that they believed they owned.

They asserted in 1667 that they would follow the orders of Carteret, but only when they were just, and they would refuse to assist in the arrest of their own citizens unless the town agreed. In 1668 they reaffirmed their loyalty to the King, but “as the proprietors are something new and are issuing orders directly rather than for the King, we are not bound to obey.” Throughout, the towns refused to sign oaths that they believed would violate their patent. The Monmouth patent guaranteed them the right of self-governance, and free rent for seven years.

In February 1669, six men including Richard Stout were appointed by the town to “give answer to the Governor’s men in the town’s behalf.” The answer, of course, was “No!” At the same meeting, they called upon the people of the towns to gather and resist any effort to take property (i.e. collect rent.)

In other words, their local government was calling for armed resistance to the Proprietor’s government.

Family Involvement

In November 10,1671, Richard Stout was chosen to attend adjournment of the general assembly to substitute for another man. But on November 18, he was discharged. The record states, “for several causes and considerations best known to the town.” The town chose John Throckmorton to take his place. I imagine these “causes” were Richard’s known resistance to the very legislature he was originally chosen to attend.

Also, note that John Throckmorton would have been either the young husband of Richard Stout’s daughter Alice, or more likely her husband’s aged father John I. This is just one example of how the colonial revolt involved alliances and enmities within families.

The Fight Escalates

The Assembly of the Proprietor’s Governor Carteret kept twisting the knot on the recalcitrant English settlements If they did not obey, they would not be allowed to vote, hold office or even become Freemen. It called the people of Middletown “Mutineers against authority and of the government and disturbers of the peace.”

In response, the local town meeting passed what became known as “The Monmouth Declaration of Independence.” (Note this is 100 years before the American Declaration of Independence.)

Their declaration brought even harsher rules from the proprietors, with incendiary language like this: “For such as pretend to right of property to land and government within our province by virtue of patent from Governor Col. Richard Nicolls, as they ignorantly assert, we utterly disown any such things….” and an even more explicit “No Way!” response from the rebels. I would love to give you the entire documents, but they are too lengthy to reprint here. If you are interested in the history of this early insurrection against the British, you can read the books referenced below.

Slumping Toward Settlement

Things got so heated that Governor Phillip Carteret had to flee back to England for two years. When he returned he offered some concessions to the settlers. At first the colonists resisted, but probably realizing that their 7 years of free rent was coming to an end, they finally settled. Until the Proprietors entirely gave up their claims of ownership, the settlers continued to resist.

Two factions developed, one led by Andrew Hamilton, a Scottish man supported by the proprietors and Jeremiah Ross Basse, supported by the settlers. Between 1675-1702 the battle raged between the pro- and anti-Scottish.

Taking It Out on the Courts

One of the things that Basse did that apparently pleased the settlers was to protect the pirates who hung around Sandy Hook and the mouths of the Raritan and Delaware Rivers recruiting local men.

When Basse was put in jail, a group of settlers broke into the court. Their leader cried “By what right do you keep court?” He was fined and put in jail. The settlers, using a beam from a nearby house, beat the jail to pieces and freed Basse.

During the summer of 1700, courts were periodically broken into, quite literally. Then in July, Hamilton marched on Middletown, and in August the mob with David, James and Benjamin Stout fought back.

In September, the Court of the County of Essex was interrupted and the crowd abused the clerk and pulled off his wig. 60 horsemen took the prison keys and released the prisoners.

Then on March 25, 1701 came the trial of Moses Butterworth, and the mob that included Jonathan and James Stout.

Finally, a year later, April 1702, the Proprietors surrendered their rights to Queen Anne.

Anarchy or Democracy?

A British official reported to the Queen a few months later that New Jersey “is a state without government.” From the colonials point of view, they had all the government they needed. It wasn’t being imposed by crooked officials claiming to represent the crown.

Lewis Morris, the official writing the report, proved somewhat prescient when he wrote,

“I dare not determine that the present ill circumstances of New York, Jersies, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas and Lucay Islands are derived from New England; but the transcripts were so Exact in most or all circumstances, that I fear they were too much Influenced by the worst example.”

Note: Lucay Islands refers to the Bahamas, inhabited by the Lucayan people. It is possible this letter was also referring to those islands we now know as the Virgin Islands.

While some British officials were beginning to worry about the bad example of New Englanders with their outrageous resistance to taxation without representation, our hardy farmers in New Jersey must have relished their few years of peace before the “real” revolution began.

Notes on Sources

Ellis, Franklin, History of Monmouth County, 1885, Philadelphia: R. T. Peck & Co. Chapter III covers “The Dutch, English and Proprietory Rule in New Jersey.” Coverage of the Provincial Revolt starts on page 85 and the Butterworth Trial on page 85. Accessed at Archive.org in June and July 2021

Hanna, MG. (2015). “Well-Behaved Pirates Seldom Make History: A Reevaluation of the Golden Age of English Piracy.” In Governing the Sea in the Early Modern Era Essays in Honor of Robert C. RitchieUC San Diego. Report #: 5. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9j63k6xp in June and July 2021.

Stillwell, John, M.D., Historic and Genealogical Miscellany : Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol. IV , New York, NY: Self-published, 1903. This entire text is available at archive.org The book contains family trees as well as legal documents from New Jersey covering a multitude of information.

Real Life In The World of RICHARD STOUT

Richard Stout B. about 1615; D.1705

Richard Stout’s Life Influenced By Broader Affairs

  • Richard Stout’s life is woven into the fabric of the history of his times. He served in the English Royal Navy while it was fighting battles on several fronts.
  • Purposefully or not, he used the Navy to transport him to New Amsterdam in the New World. When he got off the ship in Manhattan, he stayed.
  • There he became a mercenary, fighting for the Dutch, enemies of his homeland, England. Because of this service fighting Indians, he became a Dutch citizen and presumably spoke Dutch.
  • His service with the Dutch included fighting against the native peoples who were trying to fend off the encroachment of Europeans. This early exposure to the indigenous peoples apparently helped him bargain with them later.
  • Because of his resistance to someone dictating his religious beliefs, he joined the Anabaptists in the settlement of Gravesend in Long Island. There he became a farmer and raised a crop that was tremendously important to the European money-men who funded the settlements–tobacco.
  • Emphasizing the dangers of crossing the Atlantic, a Dutch ship wrecked on the New Jersey coast, and resulted in Richard marrying the widow Penelope Stout. Penelope’s legend illustrates a popular story from those times, of European people kidnapped by Indians.
  • After twenty-three years in Gravesend, raising a family and accumulating wealth, he found the competition for space to be stifling. Reflecting a concern we see operating over and over among the colonists on the east coast, he moved with a group of likeminded people across a small stretch of water to the new territory that would become New Jersey.
  • Because of the fighting between England and Holland, the first attempt to move was stopped by the Dutch. They needed all the settlers they could get to keep their colony strong. However, when the English won one of the many wars with the Dutch, Richard and a group of friends made their move.
  • While he had turned his back on the sea, he had sons and grandsons who became traders and ship’s captains, making the run to Bermuda and other Caribbean ports.
  • Despite being illiterate, Richard Stout served in many civic positions, including representative to the local Assembly. [Note: I previously said he was a member of the New Jersey Assembly, however that was an error.] He continued to amass land after moving to New Jersey and was able to distribute large tracts to his children.
  • Neither Richard nor Penelope lived to see the beginning of the American Revolution. However, they would have experienced plenty of the unrest that led to the break with England.

Using a Timeline

I find it easiest to picture the life of an ancestor by constructing a timeline that includes both events in his/her life and larger historic events. The historic events happening around and involving Richard and Penelope Stout and their children are not the colonial history that we learn in school. While the Pilgrims were building New England villages and struggling with events like King Phillip’s War, The New York/New Jersey area flipped from Dutch to English and a war in far off Europe affected the every day life of colonists here. The Pilgrims were not the only ones seeking religious freedom.

The Roots of Conflict Between Nations

1497: Englishman John Cabot sailed along the New York coast, giving the British cause to claim that they got there first, although he did not go inland, and settlers did not follow behind.

1609: Dutch-funded English explorer Henry Hudson, on his third voyage to the New World, sailed up the river that would be named for him–the Hudson River. Dutch traders followed after him and established trading posts that grew into Dutch settlements.

These two expeditons kicked off a long-running argument between England and the Netherlands about who owned what we now think of as the mid-Atlantic.

1613: The British Governor of Virginia claimed that the Dutch did not own New Amsterdam–it was all under the British crown and was part of Virginia.

Summer of 1613: Sir Samuel Argall of Virginia, under the direction of the Governor of Virginia (which covered everything in northeastern America up to the Massachusetts Colony), sailed to Mt. Desert (now Maine) and killed a shipload of French Jesuits. He was on a mission to drive out the French who ruled what is now Nova Scotia,parts of Canada and Maine. (Argall had previously discovered a shorter route from England to Jamestown and had made many trips across the Atlantic.) On one of his many voyages, Argall also stopped off in Manhattan and warned the traders there that they must cease trading because the land belonged to the English.

Trying to Calculate Richard Stout’s Birth Year

1610-1615: General birth year of Richard Stout in England. (Apparently in Burton Joyce Parish, Nottinghamshire to John Stout and Elizabeth Bee. ) [See comment below. Some readers of the old English records believe her name was Gee or Kee. Changing alphabets are just one of the many challenges in tracing the real life of Richard Stout!] Marriage license in church records for John and Elizabeth dated 13 Nov 1609. The fact that Richard’s oldest son is John lends credence to his father being named John.

Nathan Stout’s book says Richard was born in 1615 and Penelope in 1622.

Richard’s birthdate can be roughly calculated by looking at the story of his arrival in North America. Richard Stout allegedly quarreled with his father over a young woman he wanted to marry. He left home and joined the British Navy. Or, in an alternative version, he was impressed into the British Navy. Presumably he would have been around 18-20 years old when that happened, and he was said to serve seven years with the British Navy, before hiring on with the Dutch. He would have arrived in the new world on a ship belonging to the British Navy, but stayed in Manhattan, part of New Amsterdam. There we have a record that the helped the Dutch fight against the Indians recorded on March 25, 1643 and April 22, 1643. An Immigration index, which is not proof, tells us that he arrived in 1643.

Let us assume that he was a mercenary for one year, beginning in 1643. That would put his British Navy service starting about 1636. If he were twenty years old, he would have been born in 1616, close to the assumed date in family histories that say he was born in 1615. However, we also have the story that he was forty years old when he married Penelope, and that happened in 1644 or 1645, which would mean he was born in 1604 or 1605.

Back to the Richard Stout Timeline

For sixty years, the English left the Dutch alone in New Amsterdam (including New Jersey), however…

June 1634: The British Grant of New Albion, which included New Jersey, Long Island, parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware gave 44 grantees the right to bring 3,000 men to the area. This action was taken by King Charles II despite the fact that the land was occupied by Dutch. Nothing came of it except a very small enclave in Delaware. Governor Kieft of New Amsterdam took some of that small group prisoner and sent the rest packing.

1643: An Important Year in the Life of Richard Stout

Richard Stout arrived in New Amsterdam, fought Indians for the Dutch, joined Lady Moody’s settlement in Gravesend, and possibly met Penelope.

1643: Richard’s arrival in Long Island, New Amsterdam (U. S. and Canada Passenger and Immigration List Index 1500s-1900s, pg. 278) Employed by Dutch at Ft. Amsterdam in Spring of 1643.

1643: Richard owned Plantation #18 at Gravesend. Richard Stout spoke Dutch because of his previous service and helped the English settlers deal with the Dutch.

1643: Penelope shipwrecked. They probably met and married very close to this time.

Life at Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam

When the Puritans kicked out the wealthy Lady Deborah Moody from Massachusetts for opposing baptism of infants, she moved south to Long Island and started the English settlement of Gravesend in the middle of Dutch territory. Her partner in this settlement,William Bowne whose family later intermarried with Stouts) who had left England for religious freedom and did not find that freedom in Massachusetts Colony. They had fled New England because of differences with the Puritans over baptism of Infants, in a sect called Anabaptists. They fled to the Dutch, who were more tolerant and her group of English settlers became an English enclave inside New Amsterdam. Indigenous villages surrounded the new settlement and in September that year, Indians attacked in an action known as Keift’s War for the Dutch Governor.

The location of Gravesend would be roughly where Techkenis is shown in this map from 1639. Observe Conye Eyland (Coney Island) on the upper left. This is a detail of a map of Manhattan, that you can see at https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Settlement_of_Gravesend%2C_Long_Island.

October 1643: A report to Holland about New Amsterdam said that Long Island was destitute except for one place–apparently Gravesend. The Dutch tolerated an English-speaking settlement because they needed to increase the population of New Amsterdam.

1644: The residents of Long Island/Gravesend took shelter at Ft. Amsterdam against continuing attacks.

August 30, 1645: They signed a peace treaty with the Indians.

The Richard Stout Family Grows in Gravesend

1645: Probable marriage date for Richard and Penelope.

Richard had settled in the more liberal (religiously speaking) Dutch colony of New Amsterdam before he joined with Lady Moody. He joined the English settling Gravesend, where he and Penelope were married. There his children were born and his family lived for more than twenty years. There is no question that religion was an important part of their lives.

1645: Birth of oldest son, John, in Gravesend

December 19, 1645: A belated patent issued to the Gravesend group by Dutch Governor Keift.

1646 (about): Birth of Richard (Jr.) in Gravesend

1648: Dutch slaughtered Indians including children at a place then called Pavonia.

1648: A Pennelope Prince testifies in a trial at Gravesend.

1648: An unproven possible date of the marriage of Richard and Penelope, although there is an extract of marriage records (U. S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900) that says 1644. There is also a mention in another record that they married in 1663, which seems unlikely given the probable age of children. (The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (quarterly) 1932, Selective Extracts, pg. 220.)

About this time (1648), a group from Gravesend started on a journey to New Jersey to buy land from Indians. The Dutch soldiers turned back the party.

1650 (about): Mary, first daughter born in Gravesend.

1652 : Alice, second daughter born in Gravesend.

1652-1654: The First Dutch-Anglo War raged in European waters.

1654: Third son, Peter born in Gravesend.

1655 or 1658: Fourth son James born in Gravesend.

1655: Indians, retaliating for earlier attacks, massacred all the European inhabitants of Povonia. Povonia now bears the name Hudson County, New York. The Indians destroyed all the houses on Staten Island. In three days, they killed 100 Dutch and took 150 prisoner.

1655-1667: 2nd Anglo-Dutch War

1656: Sarah, third daughter born in Gravesend.

The Move to Middletown

January 25, 1664: The group from Gravesend, including Richard Stout, purchased land from the Nevesink people in a legal deed. Sachem Popomona and his brother Misharoing signed the deed giving 118 fathoms of land and 50 additional fathoms in twelve months.[I question whether fathom is the correct translation here, as a fathom equals 6 feet square of land, which would make this a very small amount] The purchase price included 5 coats, 1 gun, 1 clout capp (cloth cap), 1 shirt, 12 pounds of tobacco and 1 anker (equal to 10 gallons) of wine.

I can only assume that the Dutch were too busy fighting the English to interfere with this second attempt by the Gravesend group.

September 1664: Dutch at New Amsterdam surrendered to the English, who called the territory New York. Probably, the Stouts and a couple other families moved to Middletown at this time.

April 8, 1665: The Navesink representatives appeared before the new English Governor with the buyers. English Governor Nicolls issued the Monmouth Patent, specifying details of the settlement of Middletown, including freedom of religion.

1665-1667: The Second Dutch-Anglo War. At the beginning of that war, the British took over New Amsterdam. By 1667, they lost the war and the American territory back to the Dutch.

1665: Richard Stout and others from Gravesend settle in Middletown. It is possible that he and Penelope moved with only his two older sons, John and Richard (Jr.) in 1664, before the Governor issued a Patent. If that is the case, the younger children who did not get immediate grants of land in the land division of 1667–  James, Peter, Mary, Alice and Sarah— apparently stayed in Gravesend for a couple of years. [Jonathan, Benjamin and David were not yet born.)

1665: Son Jonathan born.

Richard Stout Life in Middletown

1667: David Stout is born probably this year in Middletown. Younger children join Richard and Penelope and older children in Middletown.

December, 1667: Land division of Middletown. Richard Stout was appointed as one of three surveyors. Richard Stout held lot #6 in Middletown.

1668: With son John, Richard is a founder of the first Baptist Church of Middletown. They met in homes for 20 years until they built a log church.

1669 (about): Benjamin, youngest child of Penelope and Richard, is born in Middletown. Richard is named an Overseer.

1671: Richard elected to first New Jersey General Assembly representing Middletown.

1672-1674: The British lost to the Dutch once again in the Third Anglo-Dutch war. These wars took place in Europe, but affected the people who had emigrated to America. The winner changed the Governor, the courts, etc.

Richard Accumulates Land, Gives Land to Children, and Serves His Community

1675: Richard deeds 1800 acres to heirs naming “wife”, John, Richard (Jr.), James, Peter, Mary Bowne, Alice Throckmorton and Sarah. He is serving as Indian Commissioner for the New Jersey General Assembly.

1677: Richard received 745 more acres by patent.

1682: April 10, Deed for selling 40 acres “bought from Richard Stout and wife Penelope.

1685: He is a witness to a will

The End of Richard Stout’s Story

1686: Gets abatement on taxes because he is “very old.”

1687: In January deeds land to son Jonathan.

1689: Deeds land to Benjamin Stout for joynture of wife Penelope.

1696: Gave land to his son David on the Hop River in Monmouth County.

1703: Son Peter dies.

9 June 1703: Richard writes will

1705: Richard Stout Dies

23 October 1705: Richard will proved, naming ten children. Peter died before 1705, so the will mentions his wife and children. Richard was illiterate, despite his facility with languages and role as a leader, and signed with an “x”. His wife received the orchard and “the rooms of the house she lives in with the cellar and all the land. ” She gets all horses except one mare and colt. Benjamin gets land in exchange for having kept Richard’s cattle last year; John, Richard, James, Jonathan, David and Benjamin get one shilling each. Daughter in law Mary ( and her son John one shilling each. Kinswoman Mary Stout, daughter of former Peter Stout, one cow. The remainder of the estate goes to his wife. His sons John and Jonathan are executors.

Note: The will mentions three Marys. Richard’s daughter Mary; ‘Kinswoman Mary Stout’ who was the wife of the late Peter Stout; and “daughter-in-law Mary” and her son John. At that period, daughter-in-law did not mean wife of my son. Otherewise, the “Kinswoman Mary Stout” would have been a daughter-in-law. It generally meant the child of a former marriage of the present spouse–in this case that would be Penelope’s daughter. However, we have no other mention of Penelope having a daughter. If her survival story is true it seems doubtful that she had a child with her. So the identity of this Mary remains a mystery.

1732: Penelope dies (probable date).

Aftermath

1775/1776: As we saw in the story of Benjamin Merrill, the husband of a Stout woman, the first battle happened in 1771 in North Carolina. However, The Battles of Concord and Lexington go into the history books as the ones that kicked off the Revolution. At any rate, people had been choosing up sides long before the guns began to fire in either place. In my next entry, I will tell you the story of some Stout brothers who raised a ruckus in a courtroom.

1780-1784: The Fourth Dutch-Anglo War. Partly because the Dutch had helped Americans who fought against the British in the American Revolution, ill feelings continued. This war resulted in the British regaining a firm hold on the central Atlantic coast.

Notes on Research

“Settlement of Gravesend” This website provides a detailed history of the beginning of Gravesend, with numerous resources listed. Unfortunately, I could not find the name of the author. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Settlement_of_Gravesend%2C_Long_Island Read in May, 2021.

“The Dutch English and Proprietory Rule in New Jersey to 1674.” Chapter 3 historyfiles.co.uk/kinglistsAmericas/ColoniesDutch.htm Consulted in May, 2021. Unfortunately, sources of information is not specified. The About page says the material mixes printed sources with submitted sources by people with interest or expertise. In other words, a Wiki, with additional sources besides public submissions.

History : Genealogical and biographical of the Eaton Families, found at Ancestry.com: North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000

New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817, Available on Ancestry.com

New York City, Marriages, 1600s-1800s,Genealogical Research Library, comp Available on Ancestry.com

Colket, Meredith. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. Consulted at Ancestry.com

Edwards, Morgan. Materials Towards A History of the Baptists in Jersey, Vol. II. 1792. Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, Printer. Available at archive.org

Ellis, Franklin. History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. 1885. Philadelphia: R. T. Peck & Co.  Available on line at archive.org

Mellick, Andrew D. Jr.  The Story of An Old Farm, or Life in New Jersey in the Eighteenth Century.1889 Somerville, N.J.: The Unionist Gazette. Available on line at archive.org

Opdyke,Charles W.; Leonard E. Opdycke; and William S. Opdyke. The Op Dyck genealogy, containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Opdyke-Updike American descendants of the Wesel and Holland families 1880 Consulted at Ancestry, but also available at Google Books. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Op_Dyck_Genealogy.html?id=GISFnQEACAAJ

Reynolds, Cuyler. Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, Vol. II New York: Lewis Historical Publishing: 1911 Available at Ancestry.com

Salter, Edwin. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. 1890. Bayonne NJ: E. Gardner & Son Publisher. Available on line at archive.org

Smith, Samuel. The History of the Colony of New Caesaria, or New Jersey, Samuel Smith, 1765; reprint, 1811, Wm. S. Sharp, stereotyper and publisher: New Jersey. Available on GoogleBooks. ( Amusing note explains that the typesetters were not familiar with the term gaol for jail and changed it to goal throughout.)

Stillwell, John. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Data Relating to the Settling and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol.2 and Vol. 4 ( 1909/1916) New York: NY. Available on line at archive.org

Stout, Claude D. Richard and Penelope Stout: A Critical Anlysis of an Important Period in American History. 1974. Palmyra WI printer. Available digitally on Ancestors.com. I read a digital copy purchased on line.

Stout, Herald. The Staudt-Stoudt-Stout family of Ohio and their ancestors at home and abroad Self published 1903

Stout, Herald. Stout and Allied Families. 1951. Dover Ohio: Eagle Press. Available on line at archive.org

Stout, Nathan. The History of the Stout Family First settling in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey.1823 (First printing). Also 1878, 1906, 1929. The first printing, complete with many errors corrected by others in later printings, can be read here. See the 1906 edition at Family Search.

  Streets, Thomas Hale. The Stout Family of Delaware with the story of Penelope.1903. Available on line at ancestry.com or for purchase.

Verkus, Frederick.  Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750.. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr. 1986. Consulted at Ancestry.com