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As previously mentioned, Joshua Pettit sold his land to John Shotwell prior to 1776.\u00a0 This land was located on both sides of Green Brook near Scotch Plains.\u00a0 Using clues found in the actual estate papers, a crude sketch of the land can be rendered as seen below:<\/p>\n
Between the time Shotwell’s will was penned in 1776 and the time he died in 1779, a map was made of the area around Scotch Plains by Capt. Cornelius Vermeule Jr.\u00a0 It was drawn in 1778 under the command of General George Washington. A modern recreation of that map is seen below:<\/p>\n 1778 Plainfield and Scotch Plains, NJ.\u00a0 Note “Green River” and “John Shotwell” tract.<\/p><\/div>\n One\u00a0 of John Shotwell’s tracts is shown on the right-hand side of the map highlighted\u00a0 in red and green.\u00a0 This may or may not have been a portion of the tract mentioned in his will.\u00a0 Regardless, there is a fair chance if it wasn’t, it was probably close to it.\u00a0 This tract is bounded on the north by the road to Scotch Plains, on the south by Cedar Brook, and is located north northwest of the intersection of current day Watchung Ave and Woodland Ave.\u00a0 “Green River” aka Green Brook is seen just to the north and forms the northern boundary.<\/p>\n On modern maps, Cedar Brook, which formed the southern boundary of the land above, is not shown to extend as far north as it did on older maps.\u00a0 In the 1778 map (above), it extended up near Green Brook and paralleled it into Scotch Plains.\u00a0 It’s original course is depicted as late as 1905, however, and can be seen on the USGS map of the area below:<\/p>\n No doubt the watershed and path of Cedar Brook have been altered by 20th century urban and residential developed.\u00a0 Despite this, we can use the 1905 map to determine where Cedar Brook would have been on the current map in 2021.<\/p>\n The Shotwell tract depicted in 1778 was bounded by these two brooks.\u00a0 His land was said to have been located on the road from Plainfield to Scotch Plains.\u00a0 This narrows down the area we are looking for significantly.\u00a0 When all these factors are taken into consideration, we can locate this area precisely on current topographical maps in the Plainfield and Scotch Plains, NJ area. How do we do this?<\/p>\n Fortunately we have an anchor point on the 1778 map that correlates to the modern maps. This will allow us to reconcile them quite accurately.\u00a0 The 1778 map shows the intersection of what is present day Watchung Ave and Woodland Ave at the south end of John Webster’s tract.\u00a0 This very same intersection is seen on the modern map below:<\/p>\n 2021 topo map showing Scotch Plains, Plainfield and the intersection of Watchung and Woodland Ave.\u00a0 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)<\/p><\/div>\n (To view the location above on Google Maps following this link: https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/Yqv7NgD7fih3ZCdr5<\/a>)<\/p>\n Now we can take this intersection on both maps, as well as other noted roads and brooks, and use this to correctly orient the 1778 map on top of the current topographical map.\u00a0 Though there is some distortion, and the two maps do not synchronize perfectly, the location of John Shotwell’s land can be easily marked out on the 2021 map as seen below:<\/p>\n 1778 map superimposed on 2021 topo showing the location of John Shotwell land as well as Manning, Vail, Webster and others. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)<\/p><\/div>\n Note how the intersection of the two roads matches as well as the location of Green Brook.<\/p>\n This map is a little busy.\u00a0 To clear it up a bit, we will do a different view of the same rough property boundaries only (from 1778) and plot them on the map. Shotwell’s land location on the 2021 topographical map is seen below:<\/p>\n Possible location of John Shotwell land near Green Brook in Plainfield or Scotch Plains, NJ. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)<\/p><\/div>\n At the center of this tract today is a cemetery belonging to St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church.\u00a0 This church was founded in 1851, well after John Shotwell had passed on and his land had changed hands. Nevertheless, it can be used as a point to quickly locate the Shotwell land on current maps.\u00a0 (To see this location on Google Maps, which is roughly at the center of the old John Shotwell land, click here: https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/3rPxACLmp1xnnmp77<\/a>)<\/p>\n It has yet to be determined if this Shotwell tract was the same tract mentioned in his will that he purchased from Joshua Pettit in 1776.\u00a0 In all likelihood it was, but one cannot say definitively at this time.\u00a0 One problem with drawing that conclusion, is this tract only contains land on the east side of Green Brook.\u00a0 In the will, John Shotwell divided his land between his children and this land was on both sides of Green Brook.\u00a0 On the 1778 map, the land on the west side is owned by members of the Vail family.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 this may not be accurate.\u00a0 In fact, The Green Brook Historical Society<\/a>, which has conducted quite a bit of research on the Vail family, claims this is erroneous.\u00a0 They stated:<\/p>\n The map shows the location of the early landowners, mills, and the Blue Hills Military Post. The names associated with the Vail farm, however, are not correct. The property was purchased by John Vail in 1733; and not the John Vail Sr. from Green Brook who had four sons with the names indicated. The John Vail that purchased the plantation in North Plainfield was the brother of Samuel Vail and the uncle of John Vail Sr. and Stephen Vail Sr. of Green Brook<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 –Green Brook Historical Society website, Access December 30, 2021.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, it may be that the Shotwells owned the land on the other side of the Green Brook opposite the tract as well.\u00a0 Perhaps it later belonged to the Vails.\u00a0 Regardless, this information helps us zero in on a narrow area where Joshua Pettit would have owned land.\u00a0 As mentioned, the land was on both sides of Green Brook.\u00a0 It was sold to John Shotwell and, by all accounts, his land was in Scotch Plains.\u00a0 This would place Pettit’s land somewhere below the first mountain and northeast of the Shotwell tract, if not the Shotwell tract itself.\u00a0 Therefore, the most likely area where Joshua Pettit owned land is in the area shown on the map below:<\/p>\n Most likely location of Joshua Pettit’s land along Green Brook in Scotch Plains, NJ. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)<\/p><\/div>\n You can also see how close this land would have been to the Osborne “Cannonball House” where Joshua Pettit’s creditors met in 1767 (see red arrow on map).\u00a0 To put it into the geographic context with the rest of New Jersey, the above map is centered within the red square on the below map:<\/p>\n Lastly, it can be placed on a colonial map as follows:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pettitresearch.com\/familyhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/Joshua-Pettit-John-Shotwell-lot-sketch-1.png\")
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