The rule at the time was that land should be purchased from the Patent. Nicolls was unaware that in June, 1664, James had given a lease and release for New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, thus invalidating the grant to the Monmouth Patentees. One year later, April 8, 1665, Nicolls issued "The Monmouth Patent" to twelve men who had come from Western Long Island and New England seeking permanent stability for religious and civil freedom as well as the prospect of improving their estates. On April 2, 1664, the English appointed Richard Nicolls to serve as the Deputy Governor of New York and New Jersey. An early deed refers to "the chief sachems or leaders of Toponemus." One of the sons of the leader, was Weequehela who negotiated the sale of several of the initial tracts of land to the first farmers. The chief of the Unami, or Turtle clan, was traditionally the great chief of all the Lenni Lenape. The initial European proprietors of the area purchased the land from the Lenni Lenape leader or Sakamaker. For 50 years, 1614–1664, the Monmouth County area came under the influence of the Dutch, but it was not settled until after English rule in 1664. The Dutch established a garrison at Bergen allowing settlement of areas within the province of New Netherland. After the Dutch arrival to the region in the 1620s, the Lenape were successful in restricting Dutch settlement to Pavonia in present-day Jersey City along the Hudson River until the 1660s and the Swedish settlement to New Sweden (1655 - The Dutch defeat the Swedes on the Delaware). Within a period of 112 years, 1497–1609, four European explorers claimed this land for their sponsors: John Cabot, 1497, for England Giovanni de Verrazano, 1524, for France Estevan Gomez, 1525, for Spain, Henry Hudson, 1609, for Holland. As the Lenni Lenape population declined, and the European population increased, the history of the area was increasingly defined by the new European inhabitants and the Lenape Native American tribes played an increasingly secondary role. Those who remained survived through attempting to adapt to the dominant culture, becoming farmers and tradesmen. They were first moved to the only Indian Reservation in New Jersey, the Brotherton Reservation in Burlington County, New Jersey (1758-1802). They were eventually moved to reservations set up by the US Government. Some Lenape starved to death as a result of animal over-harvesting, while others were forced to trade their land for goods such as clothing and food. Since the Lenape people, like all Native Americans, had no immunity to European diseases, when the populations contacted the epidemics, they frequently proved fatal. Several wars, at least 14 separate epidemics ( yellow fever, small pox, influenza, encephalitis lethargica, etc.) and disastrous over-harvesting of the animal populations reduced their population to around 4,000 by the year 1700. In 1600, the Delaware / Lenape Native American population in the surrounding area may have numbered as many as 20,000.
Their villages were known to be in the Wickatunk and Crawford's Corner sections of the township. While there is some debate on this, the Lenni Lenape Native Americans were the first known organized inhabitants of this area, having settled here about one thousand years ago and forming an agricultural society, occupying small villages that dotted what was to become Marlboro Township. History Historical timeline Lenni Lenape 6.4 Federal, state and county representation.The township was named for the marl beds found in the area. Marlboro Township was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 17, 1848, from portions of Freehold Township. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 40,191, reflecting an increase of 5,449 (+16.3%) from the 33,423 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 6,707 (+25.1%) from the 26,716 counted in the 1990 Census. The township is located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Marlboro Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Hornik ( D, term ends December 31, 2023) Census Bureau map of Marlboro Township, New Jersey