Individual Details
Jonathan Singletary Dunham
(17 Jan 1639/40 - 6 Sep 1724)
Jonathan Singletary Dunham was an interesting person of many contradictions. The first of these is his name. His father was Richard Singletary, but for reasons that are not clear,he changed his last name to Dunham after he moved from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to New Jersey around 1665.
Jonathan grew up in Essex County,Massachusetts, which is where he met and married Mary Bloomfield, daughter of Thomas and Mary Bloomfield. The date of their marriage is not known, but it must have been before 1662. It was about that time that Jonathan seems to have been involved in his first controversy. He was drawn into in a series of legal disputes with a John Godfrey. At one point he was jailed for a time and at another point he reportedly accused Godfrey of witchcraft.
Sometime around 1665, Jonathan and Mary left Essex County, Massachusetts and relocated to Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey with Mary's parents. It is not clear why they did this, but Thomas Bloomfield was one of a number of prominent men invited to emigrate there by the newly appointed Governor of New Jersey. As noted above, with this move Jonathan began to call himself Jonathan Dunham alias Singletary.
Jonathan became a prominent citizen in Woodbridge. In 1670 "Jonathan Dunham, alias Singletary, and Mary his wife, formerly of Hauesall in ye Massachusetts colony" are given a 213 acre grant of land inconsideration of Jonathan building the first grist mill in Woodbridge Township.He later acquired a number of other tracts of land also. The old mill that he built was used for many generations and was reportedly still standing in 1870.The house that Jonathan built in 1671, adjacent to the mill, was reportedly built of brick from Holland that was used as ballast in ships. Although it has been significantly refurbished, it is still standing. It currently serves as the Rectory of the Trinity Episcopal Church.
Although Jonathan and his family were based in Woodbridge, he seemed to be a wanderer and was often absent from his family. As mentioned above there are some controversial and somewhat disturbing records concerning Jonathan. In 1677, he was arrested for removing goods from Governor Phillip Carteret's house and he was condemned for the act. There were a couple of stories from about 1681 involving Jonathan and several Quakers, which were recorded by Cotton Mather about 20 years later. The first took place in Long Island, New York and involved Jonathan and a group of Quakers, one of whom was brutally and mysteriously murdered. The second occurred in Plymouth, Massachusetts and involved Jonathan and a couple of Quaker women, including a Mary Ross. They reportedly engaged in some bizarre behavior, including the killing of a dog. There is a Court record from Plymouth from 1683, which concerns this later incident. Jonathan was condemned by the Court for his actions, and ordered to be publicly whipped and to leave town.
Dunham, Isaac Watson. (1907). Dunham genealogy: English and American branches of the Dunham family.Bulletin Print. (available on Google books)
Dunham, Kenneth Royal. (1987). Dunham-Singletary genealogy. Rochester, NY: Royal Press.
Jonathan grew up in Essex County,Massachusetts, which is where he met and married Mary Bloomfield, daughter of Thomas and Mary Bloomfield. The date of their marriage is not known, but it must have been before 1662. It was about that time that Jonathan seems to have been involved in his first controversy. He was drawn into in a series of legal disputes with a John Godfrey. At one point he was jailed for a time and at another point he reportedly accused Godfrey of witchcraft.
Sometime around 1665, Jonathan and Mary left Essex County, Massachusetts and relocated to Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey with Mary's parents. It is not clear why they did this, but Thomas Bloomfield was one of a number of prominent men invited to emigrate there by the newly appointed Governor of New Jersey. As noted above, with this move Jonathan began to call himself Jonathan Dunham alias Singletary.
Jonathan became a prominent citizen in Woodbridge. In 1670 "Jonathan Dunham, alias Singletary, and Mary his wife, formerly of Hauesall in ye Massachusetts colony" are given a 213 acre grant of land inconsideration of Jonathan building the first grist mill in Woodbridge Township.He later acquired a number of other tracts of land also. The old mill that he built was used for many generations and was reportedly still standing in 1870.The house that Jonathan built in 1671, adjacent to the mill, was reportedly built of brick from Holland that was used as ballast in ships. Although it has been significantly refurbished, it is still standing. It currently serves as the Rectory of the Trinity Episcopal Church.
Although Jonathan and his family were based in Woodbridge, he seemed to be a wanderer and was often absent from his family. As mentioned above there are some controversial and somewhat disturbing records concerning Jonathan. In 1677, he was arrested for removing goods from Governor Phillip Carteret's house and he was condemned for the act. There were a couple of stories from about 1681 involving Jonathan and several Quakers, which were recorded by Cotton Mather about 20 years later. The first took place in Long Island, New York and involved Jonathan and a group of Quakers, one of whom was brutally and mysteriously murdered. The second occurred in Plymouth, Massachusetts and involved Jonathan and a couple of Quaker women, including a Mary Ross. They reportedly engaged in some bizarre behavior, including the killing of a dog. There is a Court record from Plymouth from 1683, which concerns this later incident. Jonathan was condemned by the Court for his actions, and ordered to be publicly whipped and to leave town.
Dunham, Isaac Watson. (1907). Dunham genealogy: English and American branches of the Dunham family.Bulletin Print. (available on Google books)
Dunham, Kenneth Royal. (1987). Dunham-Singletary genealogy. Rochester, NY: Royal Press.
Events
| Birth | 17 Jan 1639/40 | Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay | |||
| Death | 6 Sep 1724 | Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey |
Families
| Spouse | Mary Bloomfield (1642 - ) |
| Child | Nathaniel Dunham (1679 - ) |
| Child | David Dunham (1674 - ) |
| Child | Jonathan Dunham Jr. (1672 - 1706) |
| Father | Richard Singletary ( - ) |
| Mother | Susannah Cooke ( - ) |