Jonathan Hampton (1712 - 1 November 1777) was an American colonial

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, merchant, and militia officer involved with New Jersey's frontier fortifications and defenses along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

(1755-1763). In 1755, the Royal Governor

Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New ...

and the colonial legislature authorized the construction of stone blockhouse fortifications along the colony's Delaware River frontier to thwart violent incursions by disaffected Native Americans and their French allies as hostilities led to the French and Indian War. These incursions and other hostilities were a continuation of a European conflict between France and England called the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. The act authorizing these fortifications also appointed Jonathan Hampton as the victualler and paymaster of a military unit, the New Jersey Frontier Guard, to man these forts. To supply these troops, Hampton built the

Military Road A military road is a type of road built by an armed force A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...

linking the provincial capital at Elizabethtown (now

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

) with Morristown and the Delaware River valley (then called the

Minisink The Minisink or (more recently) Minisink Valley is a loosely defined geographic region of the Upper Delaware River valley in northwestern New Jersey (Sussex and Warren counties), northeastern Pennsylvania ( Pike and Monroe counties) and New York ...

) in 1756-1757. This road followed Native American trails and became the route of subsequent roads, including the Union Turnpike, and present-day

New Jersey Route 10 Route 10 is a List of state highways in New Jersey, state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It runs from an intersection of U.S. Route 46, US 46 in Roxbury, New Jersey, Roxbury, Morris County, New Jersey, Morris Co ...

U.S. Route 206 U.S. Route 206 (US 206) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of New Jersey, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Only about a half a mile (800 m) of its length is in Pennsylvania; the Milford–Monta ...

, and County Route 510. The Military Road's western terminus ends at the Old Mine Road, an old road following the Delaware and Neversink River valleys between Esopus (now

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

) in

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston, ...

, and the

Delaware Water Gap The Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Wa ...

. Hampton established a large headquarters fort, Fort Johns, on the hillside overlooking the "Shapanack Flats" section of the Delaware valley near the Van Campen's Inn in Walpack Township. Hampton owned many large tracts of land in Sussex County's

Paulins Kill The Paulins Kill (also known as Paulinskill River) is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States. With a long-term median flow rate of 76 cubic feet of water per second (2.15 m3/s), it is New Jers ...

valley. Shortly after the creation of the county, Hampton offered several acres from these tracts to the county for the building of a courthouse (built 1762-1765) and a public green. Nearby, he offered tracts for a proposed school, and to the Anglican church for a church and parsonage for the local rector. Hampton was a freemason, however, he is often incorrectly conflated with the Jonathan Hampton of New York City that donated the altar bible, now known as the George Washington Inaugural Bible, to St. John's Lodge No. 1 after a fire in 1770. Hampton was part of a group of petitioners to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1762 who had applied to form a lodge at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. This petition was granted on January 24, 1762 with the lodge becoming Temple Lodge No. 1. Hampton died 1 November 1777 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey allegedly while celebrating news of the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga two weeks earlier. The Sussex County municipality of Hampton Township was named in his honor.Lurie, Maxine N. Lurie; and Mappen, Mar
"Hampton Township"
entry in ''

Encyclopedia of New Jersey ''The Encyclopedia of New Jersey'' is edited by Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen and contains around 3,000 original articles, along with 585 illustrations and 130 maps. It was published in 2004 by Rutgers University Press, with . The publication w ...

'', p. 348.

Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Pub ...

, 2004. . Accessed March 13, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Jonathan 1712 births 1777 deaths American Freemasons Merchants from colonial New Jersey 18th-century American merchants Surveyors from the Thirteen Colonies People of New Jersey in the French and Indian War People from Sussex County, New Jersey