New Jersey Biographical and Genealogical Notes from the Volumes of the New Jersey Archives
The Rev. Robert McKean was b. July 13, 1732, the son of William McCain and Letitia Finney, his wife. William McCain was b. in Ireland in 1707, and coming to America in early life with his mother, Susan McCain, settled with her at Chatham, New London, Chester county, Penn., where he kept tavern until 1741, thereafter for four years at Londongrove, and later at Londonderry, in the same region. He d. Nov. 18, 1769.

[Documents Relating to the Colonial History of New Jersey Vol VI]
Oct. 22. We hear, the worthy Rev. Mr. M'Kean, Missionary for Amboy, departed this Life on Saturday last, at the Seat of his Father-in-Law Edward Antill, Esq; at Rariton Landing.1--The Pennsylvania Chronicle, No. 40, October 26, 1767.
The Rev. Robert McKean was b. July 13, 1732, the son of William McCain and Letitia Finney, his wife. William McCain was b. in Ireland in 1707, and coming to America in early life with his mother, Susan McCain, settled with her at Chatham, New London, Chester county, Penn., where he kept tavern until 1741, thereafter for four years at Londongrove, and later at Londonderry, in the same region. He d. Nov. 18, 1769.
Robert McKean (as he wrote his name) studied for the ministry, probably under the Rev. Francis Allison, D. D., and having been ordained in England, in 1757 was appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to be a missionery of the Church of England, at New Brunswick, his labors, however, often extending so far afield as Piscataway, Spotswood, Woodbridge, and more distant settlements in Central New Jersey. On taking charge of his mission he wrote home to the Society, January 8, 1758, that he "arrived at New Brunswick on the 16th of Dec., and was kindly received by his congregation, and had officiated regularly to them from that time."

Writing again from New Brunswick, Feb. 5, 1758, to the Rev. Dr. Peter Bearcroft, Secretary of the Society, he says: "Since my arrival here I have wrote to you by two different Conveyances, one by the Pacquet, and another by means of a friend via Ireland. In them I have troubled you with a particular account of my Voyage and other proper occurrences, as also the kind reception I have met with and the happy prospect I have as yet in my mission."

Young as he was, his indefatigable zeal and marked ability were speedily recognized. The College in Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M., in 1760. When Gov. Thomas Boone arrived in New Jersey, in July, 1760, the clergy of the Church of England waited upon him with an address, presented by a committee of three, of whom Mr. McKean was one. He served on a similar committee to address Gov. Josiah Hardy in November, 1761.

He was regular and faithful in his attendance upon the convention of clergy which met in Philadelphia, April 30-May 5, 1760, to discuss the affairs of the church in Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties; he and Mr. Samuel Cook, "two of the Society's worthy Missionaries of New Jersey, [attending] with the kind intention of giving their best advice and assistance in promoting the designs of the Convention."

When the pulpit of St. Peter's church at Perth Amboy became vacant, in 1761, the people of that congregation "had so much their hearts set on Mr. McKean" that they were "utterly averse" to the Society's selection, and were correspondingly glad when the appointee declined to leave Litchfield, Conn., and in the course of a year Mr. McKean was transferred to Perth Amboy, where he arrived in February, 1763, with a notification of his appointment as Missionary, his services being restricted to that parish exclusively, at the request of the vestry.

In 1764 Woodbridge was placed in his care, he visiting it once every three weeks. In these charges he labored with indefatigable zeal and assiduity, and manifestly had the confidence of the older clergy. His own experience of the hardship laid upon young Americans who were obliged to go to England for ordination made him an ardent and perhaps intemperate advocate of the plan of appointing American Bishops--a cause so ably urged by Dr. Chandler.

Mr. McKean studied medicine, and was a successful practitioner in that profession, and so much esteemed among his fellow medical men that he was one of the seventeen who organized the New Jersey Medical Society, in July, 1766, and was elected its first President. His parishioners did not object to his practicing, but they--at least some of them--did find fault when he sent in his bills. He also seems to have taught school at Perth Amboy.

Mr. McKean m. Isabel Graham Antill, Feb. 19, 1766, at Christ church, Shrewsbury. She was a dau. of Edward Antill, 2d, of New Brunswick, and Anne Morris, his wife, dau. of Gov. Lewis Morris. She is said to have been "a young lady of very gay and independent spirit, not calculated to enhance the domestic happiness of the missionary." In his will, dated Sept. 13, 1767, he describes himself as "Clerk, Missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, at Perth Amboy." He mentions his wife, but no children. He died at Raritan Landing, near New Brunswick, at the residence of his father-in-law, Edward Antill, 2d, October 17, 1767, after a long and wasting illness.

Writing to the Society, October 12, 1767, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, of Elizabethtown, says: "Wasted away with a tedious disorder, the worthy, the eminently useful and amiable Mr. McKean is judged by his physicians to be at present at the point of death." He adds: "A better man was never in the Society's service." The lamented young clergyman was buried in St. Peter's churchyard, Perth Amboy, where a monument erected by his brother, Thomas McKean--a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice and afterwards Governor of Pennsylvania--bears this inscription: "In Memory of The Rev. Robert McKean, M. A., Practitioner in Physic, &c., and Missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to the City of Perth Amboy:--who was born July 13th, 1732, N. S., and died Oct. 17th, 1767, An unshaken Friend, an agreeable Companion, a rational Divine, a skillful Physician, and in every relation in life a truly benevolent and honest man, Fraternal love hath erected this monument."

Genealogy of the McKean Family, by Roberdeau Buchanan, Lancaster, Pa., 1890, 8-9, 13
A Record of Christ Church, New Brunswick, by the Rev. Alfred Stubbs, New York, 1850, 9
Historical Collections relating to the American Colonial Church, edited by William Stevens Perry, D. D., Volume II., Pennsylvania, 1871, 270-273, 295-305, 380, 381, 410
History of St. John's Church, Elizabeth Town, by Samuel A. Clark, Philadelphia, 1857, 85, 96, 110, 118-119
Contributions to the Early History of Perth Amboy, by William A. Whitehead, New York, 1856, 225, 228-9, 291, 391, 392, 409
N. J. Archives, 1st Series, IX., 338, 340; XX., 262, 434, 468, 636; XXIV., 457; XXV., 472-3
N. Y. Coionial Documents, VI., 610; VII., 497
Woodbridge and Vicinity, by Rev. Joseph W. Dally, New Brunswick, 1873, 130-132
A Collection of American Epitaphs, by Rev. Timothy Alden. A. M., New York, 1814, No. 1045
Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey, by John W. Barber and Henry Howe, Newark [1844], 309
Edward Antill and His Descendants, by William Nelson, 1899, 24-25
History of Medicine in New Jersey, and of Its Medical Men, by Stephen Wickes, A. M., M. D., Newark, 1879, 329-330
Transactions of the New Jersey Medical Society, 1766-1800, Newark, 1866. passim.

[Volume 68, American Administration and Probate Acts in The P.C.C., 1781-1790, Page 41
Antill, Lewis, of New York, widowerl Administration to brother John Antill; mother Ann Antill having died before administering. (Feb. 1786)

[Orderly Book of Three Battalions of Loyalists, A List of the New York Loyalists, 1776-1783, Page 115]
John Antill Lewis Antill

[Abstracts of Wills, Vol XIV, 1786-1796]
Will of Alice Colden's Father
Page 634.--THOMAS ELLISON, of New York, to my wife Mary, the house in which I now live on the west side of Broadway, and my three houses on the east side of Broadway, with the stables on New Street, which houses and stables lay between the house of John Slidel and the house of my brothers, John Ellison and William Ellison, and the house and lot of ground in the possession of John Lamb, for her support and maintenance during her life, she keeping the said houses in repair; Also to my wife, œ500 and all my plate (except three pieces of plate given to my nephew, Thomas Ellison), all my household furniture; what I have given to my wife shall be in lieu and bar of her dower; to my brother, William Ellison, and my nephew, Thomas Ellison, all the lands I bought of Cornelius Tiebout, in New Windsor, Ulster County, containing about fifty-five acres, in trust for such minister of the gospel in communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York State as shall hereafter be settled in the Town of New Windsor; Also to my brother William and nephew, Thomas Ellison, œ600, in such of my bonds as they may choose to be kept out at interest, and the annual interest arising therefrom to be paid to such minister for the time being toward his support and maintenance, and if there should be no such minister at the time of my death, then the rents and profits of the said land and the interest of the œ600 shall be yearly put out at interest by my said brother and nephew, their heirs (but not to be at his or their risk), and shall become principal, and be added to the œ600 until such a minister shall be settled in New Windsor; then the interest of the whole sum so accumulated shall be yearly paid to such minister and his successors for the time being toward his support and maintenance, and whenever the inhabitants of the said Town in communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church shall become a religious corporation for the uses and purposes aforesaid; to my nephew, Thomas Ellison, son of my brother William, the house and lots of land where I now live on the west side of Broadway, which lots I bought of William Hyer and the heirs of John Searle, deceased, with the garden and water lots in the rear, with the wharf and houses built thereon, and the three houses and lots on the East side of Broadway aforesaid, but subject to the Estate for life hereinbefore given to my wife in the said premises; Also all the lots of ground and houses I have in the first ward of the City, bounded southeasterly by little Queen Street, northwesterly by Greenwich Street, and southwesterly partly by land belonging to Benjamin Stymets and others, being seventy feet in breadth on Lombard Street and seventy on Greenwich Street, and two hundred and sixty-seven feet on little Queen Street, with all my right in and to the water lot in front; Also all that parcel of land bounded on the southwest by Thames Street, on the southeasterly side by Benjamin Stymets, on the northwesterly side by a lot of ground now belonging to the heirs of Nicholas Rosevelt, deceased, in the rear by my lots above mentioned, being thirty-three feet in breadth at each end, and in length on Thames Street ninety-six feet; Also the water lot I have in the former South Ward, now First Ward, granted to me by the Corporation of the said City; Also the two dwelling houses and water lots with the three storehouses in the rear in the Third Ward, being the westernmost half of certain water lots granted to Benjamin Peck and Samuel Farmar and Robert Griffith, being thirty-seven feet six inches in front on Water Street, and thirty-seven feet six inches in the rear on the East River or harbor, and in length two hundred and fifteen feet from Water Street into the River, bounded northwesterly in front by Water Street, northeasterly by a water lot now belonging to Samuel Farmar, southeasterly by the East River, and southwesterly by a water lot now or late belonging to the heirs of Benjamin Moore, deceased; Also a lot of ground in Cherry Street, and runs through to Water Street in the Fifth Ward, being thirty-three feet four inches in front on Cherry Street, on Water Street the same, and in length from Cherry Street to Water Street about one hundred and forty feet, bounded in front by Cherry Street, northeasterly by houses and lot of ground of John Depeyster, southeasterly by Front Street, and southwesterly by houses and land now or late belonging to Thomas Franklin, subject to the leases thereon; Also lots of land my father had a right in at Perth Amboy and a tract of land at Barnagat, County of Monmouth, New Jersey; Also to my nephew Thomas, one silver bowl, one silver fruit dish, and one small silver salver, also all my wearing apparel; to Thomas Ellison Colden, son of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., the lot of ground lately bought of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., and Christian, his wife, and of Robert Griffith and Rebecca, his wife, lying on the southeasterly side of Queen Street in the Third Ward, being in front on Queen Street twenty-two feet, and in the rear twenty-two feet, and in length on the easterly side forty-one feet six inches, with the use of a gangway in the rear, subject to the lease thereon, but if Thomas Ellison Colden should die before he arrives at the age of twenty-one years without lawful issue, then the lot of ground above devised to him shall go to all the children of Christian Colden, who shall be living at the time of my death; to my brother, John Ellison, œ100; to my brother William, œ100; to my sister, Elizabeth Colden, œ100; to my sister Crooke, œ100; to my sister, Elianor Ellison, œ100; to my sister, Mary Ellison, œ400; to my niece, Elizabeth Ellison, œ100; to my niece, Margaret Ellison, œ100; to John, Margaret, and Ann Inglis, children of Charles Inglis, now Bishop of Nova Scotia, by my niece, Margaret Crooke, each œ200; to the children of my sister, Elizabeth Colden, who shall be living at the time of my death (the children of my niece, Alice Colden, deceased, wife of Lewis Antill, to have their mother's share), all the moneys due to me from Cadwallader Colden, my brother-in-law, which is now about œ1,600, equally to be divided among them; to the children of my nephew, Cadwallader Colden, Jr., who shall be living at the time of my death, all the moneys due from Cadwallader Colden, Jr., on bond or book debt, at time of my death; to Benjamin P. Griffith, my wife's nephew, now in Nova Scotia, œ100; to Robert Griffith, my wife's nephew, œ100; to Thomas Ellison Rumsey, œ100; to Jane Hamilton, my wife's sister, œ50; to Abigail Jane Rumsey, œ50; to Harriot Rumsey, daughter of Abigail Jane Rumsey, œ50; to Christian Marschalk, my wife's niece, œ100; to Hannah Farmar, my wife's niece, œ50; to Elizabeth Farmar, wife of Thomas Farmar, œ50; all said legacies to be paid by my executors as soon as they can be raised out of my real and personal estate, given to my nephew, Thomas Ellison, not to exceed two years after my death; if my legatees will take their legacies in bonds, my executors are directed to pay them in bonds in six months after my decease; all the residue of my estate not hereinbefore mentioned, also the residue of my goods, chattels, and personal estate, to my nephew, Thomas Ellison. I appoint my brother, William, and my nephew, Thomas Ellison, executors.

Dated September 16, 1793. Witnesses, Thomas Randall, Miles Sherbrooke, Jeronimus Remsen. Proved, February 1, 1796.

[New Jersey Biographical Sketches, 1665-1800]
"Mr. Van Horne, a candidate for the ministry, was, on the recommendation of Bishop Moore, called to the ministry of St. Andrew's church, in the village of Wallkill. Ulster county, N. Y., which at the time was, or was about to be, vacant. He accepted the call, and on the receipt of holy orders, entered upon the duties of the Rectorship, Dec. 10, 1793." (The List of Deacons of the P. E. Church, published in 1875, states that Mr. Van Horne was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Provoost, in 1794.) "He continued Rector of the parish until 1805, when he removed to Ballston."--Eager's Hist. Orange County, Newburgh, 1846-7, p. 317. He was inducted into Christ's Church at Balltown, and into St. Paul's Church at Charlton, August 8-9, 1805, both churches in Saratoga county, N. Y. He retired from the active ministry a few years later, and took up his residence at Coldenham. He d. at Poughkeepsie, May 31, 1835, after a short illness, in his 64th year."

[New Jersey Biographical Sketches, 1665-1800]
Alice, b. January 17, 1776; m. William Davies, April 18, 1818. He was b. March 21, 1763, at New Milford, Conn., the only son of the Rev. Thomas Davies (rector of the Episcopal church at New Milford, at the time) and Mary Hervey, his wife. At an early age William removed to Amenia, Dutchess county, New York, where he was engaged in mercantile business many years. He there m. 1st, Polly Leach, Jan. 23, 1787; she d. July 23, 1814. He removed about this time or earlier to Poughkeepsie, in the same county, where he lived for sixty years. He m. 2d, Mrs. Maria Foote, of Foughkeepsie, Dec. 31, 1814; she d. Nov. 18, 1815. He m. 3d, Alice Antill, as above stated. She d. June 25, 1870, without issue. He d. Feb. 7, 1857. By his first wife, Polly Leach, he had issue: 1. Thomas Leach; 2. William Augustus, b. at Poughkeepsie, May 10, 1808; 3. Charlotte Davies. Both sons, and perhaps the daughter, survived him. William Augustus m. 1st, Sarah, dau. of Hubert Van Wagoner, June 15, 1842; she d. s. p. He m. 2d, Frances, dau. of Joseph Barrett, June 4, 1861, by whom he had one son, Augustus, b. August 15, 1867, and living in 1909 at Poughkeepsie, an architect by profession.

There is another entry, in a different hand:
"Augustus Davies was born Aug. 15/67--son of William A. & Frances Davies."

[New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800, Marriage Licenses, C-D, Page 70]
Cochran, Richard, Middlesex, and Mary Antill, Middlesex 1764 Oct 15

[Documents relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, Vol II 1778]
NOTICE is hereby given that there have been inquisitions found against the real and personal estate of the following persons, late of the county of Somerset and State of New-Jersey, that is against Joseph Stockton, Richard Cochran, Charles Roberts, John Harris, Benjamin Worth, William Drake and John Drake, disaffected persons, who have gone over and joined the army of the King of Great-Britain; which inquisitions have been returned at the last Court of Common Pleas, agreeable to an act of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey, passed at Princeton on the 18th day of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and no traverse hath been entered; but if all or any of the above said offenders, or any person or persons in his or their behalf, or who shall think himself interested in the premises, do not traverse said inquisitions at the next Court of Common Pleas to be holden in and for said county, final judgment will be entered against said estates.

By order of us,
JACOB BERGEN, |Commissioners for the
HENDRICK WILSON, |county of Somerset.
August 8, 1778.

--New-Jersey Gazette, Vol. 1, No. 36, August 12, 1778.

[Documents relating to the Revolutionary History of New Jersey, Vol III]
Somerset, ss. WHEREAS inquisition has been found, and final judgment entered thereon in favour of the state, against Richard Cochran, late of the western precinct in the county of Somerset--NOTICE is hereby given that the plantation, tract of land and premises whereon the said Richard Cochran lately lived, pleasantly situated in the precinct and county aforesaid, within one mile and a half from Princeton, together with the buildings thereon, will be exposed to sale at publick vendue on Monday, the 15th day of March next. The vendue to be held on the premises, and to begin at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The premises will be shewn at the day of sale, and a title made for the same pursuant to an act of Assembly of this state, by

JACOB BERGEN|Commissioners.
HENDRICK WILSON|
February 8, 1779.

There will also be exposed to sale, on the 20th of March next, three small houses and lots in Princeton, in the county of Middlesex, lately belonging to Richard Cochran, against whom inquisition has been found, and final judgment entered in Somerset county.

Middlesex county, Feb. 8, 1779.

--The New Jersey Gazette, Vol. II., No. 62, February 10, 1779.

Somerset County. WHEREAS inquisition has found, and final judgment entered thereon in favour of the state, against Richard Cochran, Joseph Stockton and John Van Dike, of the western precinct of said county; Daniel Coxe, of the county of Hunterdon; John Honeyman, Charles Roberts and William Burton, of the eastern precinct; William Drake, Benjamin Worth, of Barnard's township, and John Harris, of Bridgewater, all in said county. NOTICE is hereby given that the plantations, tracts of land and premises, with the appurtenances belonging to each of them, will be exposed to sale at publick vendue to the highest bidder, at the times and manner following, that is to say,--On Monday the 15th day of March next, will be sold the plantation late the property of Richard Cochran, near Princeton: ... The premises will be shown them at the day of sale, and a title made for the same, pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of this State, in that case made and provided.--Attendance will be given, and the conditions made known by

JACOB BERGEN|Commissioners.
HENDRICK WILSON
February 15, 1779.

[Documents relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, Vol IV]
HAVING closed the sales of the estates of the following fugitives and offenders, to wit, Thomas Russel, Robert Graham and Miles Sherebrook, of Middlesex county; William Burton, or Somerset county; Richard Cochran, of Hunterdon county; and John Demot, of New-York; those who have any claim against them are requested to exhibit their accounts fairly stated, to two of the Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas for this county, who will give their attendance at Job's tavern, at the cross roads, between Cranberry and New-Brunswick, on Monday the 20th inst. for the purpose of adjusting the same, as the law directs.

WM. SCUDDER,Commissioners.
JOHN LLOYD,
Middlesex, March 4, 1780.