Essays on Sussex County and New Jersey Postal History

Len Peck ~ DEVELOPMENT OF SUSSEX POs: Hamburg & The Paterson-Hamburg PikeDEVELOPMENT OF THE POST OFFICES OF SUSSEX COUNTY:Hamburg, Sussex County, N.J. & the Paterson-Hamburg TurnpikeBy Len PeckThe application to establish a postoffice in Hamburg was filed by ThomasLawrence and authorized on May 4, 1795,with Thomas Lawrence as its firstpostmaster. It was the second authorizedpost office in Sussex County, followingthat of Sussex Court House (now Newton)which had been established by Congressin the Postal Act of 1792. It was a naturaland convenient addition for the post rider,Samuel Moffet, being located directly onhis postal route between Bethlehem, PA.and Rhinebeck, N.Y on the Hudson,where it connected with the Albany postroad, and mail going to Albany andCanada was transferred to that postal route.Thomas Lawrence would serve asHamburg’s postmaster until July 1, 1816,when Walter I. Shee would take over thatposition.Thomas Lawrence was the 5 th inhis family line named Thomas. TheLawrence family had lived in Philadelphiafor three generations when he was born,and were well known merchants of thatcity, holding a number of public offices.His father, Thomas 4 th , was Mayor of thecity five times. The family estate – in thenorthern part of the city called Clairmont– was sold by the children when theirfather died, and Thomas 5 th moved toPrinceton, N.J. where he entered into apartnership with his brother-in-law, Robert Morris of New York.Fig. 1: This map shows NJ’s earliest postal routes toNorthwestern New Jersey. Hamburg, shown with the arrowand star, was directly on the N-S route from Philadelphia toRhinebeck NY, a route established in 1792. 1 33Thomas had married his cousin, Catherine, the daughter of Col. Lewis Morris, one ofthe signers of the Declaration of Independence. Several years prior to the Declaration, Col.Morris had bought a farm in Hamburg called Morrisville which was operated by slaves. WhenLawrence’s partnership with his brother-in-law in Princeton did not work out, he decided in1787 to rent the farm from his father-in-law, where he took up residence with his family. Hislife as a country gentleman proved to be so idyllic that he decided to buy the farm in 1790.Vol. 37/No. 2105NJPHWhole No. 174 May 2009