Individual Details
Jonathan Singletary Dunham
(17 Jan 1639/40 - 6 Sep 1724)
He was first known as Jonathan Singletary, but later Jonathan Singletary Dunham. It is not known for sure why he adopted the name Dunham. All his brothers maintained the name Singletary.
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 apparently not known, but it must have been by 1661. There is a record in that year of Jonathan's parents conveying a piece of land to Mary, identified as the wife of Jonathan. It was about that time that Jonathan seems to have been involved in his first controversy. He was apparently 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, apparently with Mary's parents. It is not clear why they did this, but apparently 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 in consideration 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 apparently used for many generations and was reportedly still standing in 1870. The millstone itself is still in existence, and can be seen on display at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The house that Jonathan built in 1671, adjacent to the mill, was reportedly built of brick from Holland that was used a ballast in ships. Although it has apparently been significantly refurbished, it is still standing. It currently serves as the Rectory of the same Trinity Episcopal Church. In 1671 Jonathan was listed as acting as the foreman of a jury, and also as the overseer of the highways. In 1673 he was elected as member in the New Jersey Assembly. In 1675 he served as the Clerk of the Township Court.
As mentioned above there are some controversial and somewhat disturbing records concerning Jonathan. In 1677 he was called a "mad man" by the Council of War for the Achter Colony and apparently punished in some manner. Later that same year he was arrested for removing goods from Governor Phillip Careret's house and he was condemned for the act. There were a couple of stories from about 1681 involving Jonathan and apparently several Quakers, which were recorded by Cotton Mathers about 20 years later. The first apparently 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 apparently occurred in Plymouth, Massachusetts and involved Jonathan and a couple 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 apparently concerns this later incident. Jonathan was condemned by the Court for his actions, and ordered to be publicly whipped and to leave town.
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 apparently not known, but it must have been by 1661. There is a record in that year of Jonathan's parents conveying a piece of land to Mary, identified as the wife of Jonathan. It was about that time that Jonathan seems to have been involved in his first controversy. He was apparently 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, apparently with Mary's parents. It is not clear why they did this, but apparently 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 in consideration 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 apparently used for many generations and was reportedly still standing in 1870. The millstone itself is still in existence, and can be seen on display at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The house that Jonathan built in 1671, adjacent to the mill, was reportedly built of brick from Holland that was used a ballast in ships. Although it has apparently been significantly refurbished, it is still standing. It currently serves as the Rectory of the same Trinity Episcopal Church. In 1671 Jonathan was listed as acting as the foreman of a jury, and also as the overseer of the highways. In 1673 he was elected as member in the New Jersey Assembly. In 1675 he served as the Clerk of the Township Court.
As mentioned above there are some controversial and somewhat disturbing records concerning Jonathan. In 1677 he was called a "mad man" by the Council of War for the Achter Colony and apparently punished in some manner. Later that same year he was arrested for removing goods from Governor Phillip Careret's house and he was condemned for the act. There were a couple of stories from about 1681 involving Jonathan and apparently several Quakers, which were recorded by Cotton Mathers about 20 years later. The first apparently 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 apparently occurred in Plymouth, Massachusetts and involved Jonathan and a couple 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 apparently concerns this later incident. Jonathan was condemned by the Court for his actions, and ordered to be publicly whipped and to leave town.
Events
| Birth | 17 Jan 1639/40 | Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay |  |  | |
| Marriage | By 1659 | Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay - Mary Bloomfield | |||
| Death | 6 Sep 1724 | Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey | |||
| Occupation | grist mill owner |
Families
| Spouse | Mary Bloomfield (1642 - 1705) |
| Child | Esther Dunham (1659 - 1690) |
| Child | Mary Dunham (1661 - ) |
| Child | Mary (Sarah) Dunham (1663 - ) |
| Child | Ruth Dunham (1666 - ) |
| Child | Eunice Dunham (1667 - 1684) |
| Child | Jonathan Dunham (1672 - 1706) |
| Child | David Dunham (1674 - ) |
| Child | Nathaniel Dunham (1677 - 1678) |
| Child | Nathaniel Dunham (1679 - ) |
| Child | Benjamin Dunham (1681 - 1715) |
| Father | Richard Singletary (1600 - 1687) |
| Mother | Susannah Cooke (1616 - 1682) |
| Sibling | Eunice Singletary (1641 - ) |
| Sibling | Nathaniel Singletary (1644 - ) |
| Sibling | Lidia Singletary (1648 - ) |
| Sibling | Amos Singletary (1651 - ) |
| Sibling | Benjamin Singletary (1656 - ) |
Notes
Birth
His parents are listed on his birth record as Richard and Susana Singletary.Endnotes
1. , For , , Massachusetts Vital Records Project; http://ma-vitalrecords.org/. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), birth record, Essex County, Salisbury.