Excerpt from Early History of Atlantic County, New Jersey: Record of the First Year's Work of Atlantic County's Historical Society In order to have a comprehensive understanding of West Jer sey, of which Atlantic County is a part, it is necessary to go back to the grants of land and their distributions to later purchasers. Under the English system. Newly acquired lands were the property of the king. Who disposed of them by grants to private persons, or by charter to land companies. New Jersey thus came into the possession of two different individuals. Each having one half the province. These two men were Sir George Carteret. Former Governor of the Isle of Jersey and Lord Berkeley*. In June, 1673, Lord Berkley sold his share to John Fenwick in trust for Edward i-iyllings. For the sum of one thousand pounds and an annual royalty of forty beaver skins. Edward Byllings. The Quaker owner of \vest Jersey. Failed. He placed his property. In 1675, into the hands of W'illiam Penn. Gawen Lawrie. And Nich olas Lucas. (the latter two were creditors.) and Byllings himself. Thus creating four trustees. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The heart of this book is the remarkable Civil War diary of the author’s great-grandfather, William Benjamin Gould, an escaped slave who served in the United States Navy from 1862 until the end of the war. The diary vividly records Gould’s activity as part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia; his visits to New York and Boston; the pursuit to Nova Scotia of a hijacked Confederate cruiser; and service in European waters pursuing Confederate ships constructed in Great Britain and France. Gould’s diary is one of only three known diaries of African American sailors in the Civil War. It is distinguished not only by its details and eloquent tone (often deliberately understated and sardonic), but also by its reflections on war, on race, on race relations in the Navy, and on what African Americans might expect after the war. The book includes introductory chapters that establish the context of the diary narrative, an annotated version of the diary, a brief account of Gould’s life in Massachusetts after the war, and William B. Gould IV’s thoughts about the legacy of his great-grandfather and his own journey of discovery in learning about this remarkable man.