This link is to information on the Mill owned by John Teeter and the murder of Hannah Harden

TEETERTOWN,  NEW JERSEY

Written by Paul Teetor

A Teeter Family Genealogy

1730 – 1966

dated January 1967

            There has been a quite a bit of interest in the small village of Teetertown, New Jersey during the recent years. It is located approximately one mile north of Lower Valley in Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The village acquired its name from a mill operator there in 1820 by John Teeter a son of Elisa Teeter, the youngest son of Conrad Teeter of Knowlton, New Jersey. At first it was referred to as Teeter’s Mill and it later became Teetertown. Another incident which may have created some publicity was the murder in 1859 of Louisa Dorland Hardin by her husband the Reverend Jacob D. Hardin, for which he was hanged in Belvidere, New Jersey. Louisa was the daughter of Catherine Teeter Dorland and a grand-daughter of the above John Teeter. Her husband gave her an apple filled with arsenic.

            Henry Teeter, another son of Elias married Azuba Vaughn, daughter of Rev. Daniel Vaught an adjoining neighbor of Conrad Teeter the father of Elias. They settled near Peruville in the Town of Dryden in Tompkins County, New York. Their home is now a place of Historic interest because it served as one of the “stations” for the “Underground Railroad” during the Civil War period. (I’m not sure where this is, but I will find out what I can.) This was a note by Paul Teeter. Peruville is located in the Town of Groton about 5 miles south of the Village of Groton. The house still stands at the corner of Old Peruville Road and Pleasant Valley Road.

CHARLOTTE:

B. 1765 in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, D. October 24, 1841 in Terre Haute, Indiana at the home of her son, John Britton. She was residing in Pleasant Gardens, Putnun County, Indiana. She married on December 28, 1891 in the Hamilton Church in Northampton County, PA. (near the home of Henry Teeter), Daniel Britton of Elizabethtown, New Jersey who died September 17, 1802.

            Their son, John, was born November 9, 1792, and was baptized in the German Presbyterian Church in Northampton County, PA

            Daniel Britton enlisted in the army for the Revolutionary War and served for two years under General Washington, and participated in the battle of Monmouth and the battle of Trenton, as well as others. He was discharged from the army June 5, 1783. Charlotte applied for a pension for widows of soldiers in the Revolutionary War prior to April 1840. The pension was certified February 16, 1842 for $80.00 per year plus $320.00 for arrears to March 4, 1841. Pension Application Number W-9750.

            Notes: Some of the pension application papers use the name, Catherine Britton.

            After the death of her husband, Charlotte and her children moved to the Lake Country to be with other members of the family. Still later, she moved to Indiana, probably Putnam County. No additional information is available about their children.

            Conrad Teeter, Michael Butz and Andrew Raub on June 12, 1764 purchased from Thomas Gordon of Hunterdon County, New Jersey (the county in which Teetertown is located) 400 acres of land located near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on a branch of McMichael’s Creek, each to have a one-third interest in the property which is in Hamilton Township in Monroe County, Pa. The 400 acres was known as the McMichael’s Creek Property. Conrad’s son, Henry was 21 years of age in 1764 and it is suspected that he lived on this farm until he and his wife Elizabeth, sold on October 30, 1792 to Abel Partridge the 132 acres for 600 pounds, Pennsylvania money. This was prior to their moving to Cayuga County, New York in 1793.  Conrad in 1771 sold his interest in the McMichael’s Creek property, 132 acres and 32 perches, to his son, Henry, for 125 pounds.

            The indenture for this transaction was not signed by Conrad before his death. An Indenture dated July 31, 1784 and recorded in the Deed Book E-I, page 465, Northampton County Court House in Easton, Pennsylvania, gives little to the property to Henry. It is signed by Conrad’s widow, Catherine, and nine of their children as follows:

Jacob Rice of Nolton, Sussex Co., NJ and Catherine his wife, late widow of Conrad Teeter, late of Nolton Township.

          Jacob Teeter

          Peter Teeter

          Michel Teeter

          Ellis Teeter

          Conrad Teeter

Abraham Smith of Lower Smithfield Twp. Northampton Co., Pa, Yoeman, and Elizabeth his wife

          John Tiltz of said State of New Jersey, Yoeman and Catherine his wife

John Mushback of Wallpack Township in said State of New Jersey, Yoeman and Sibilla his wife.

Charlotte Teeter of the Township of Nolton aforesaid, Spinster.

            There is some question about the date when Conrad and his family moved from the Springfield property to the farm in Knowlton Township. Grace Rice in her record, states that it was before 1767. Apparently there was a period of land speculation in Sussex County a short time before this date. The Record Book DD of The West Jersey Company lists a survey of 51,727 and 90/200 acres of land in Sussex County to Benj. B. Cooper on November 5, 1757. It seems quite possible that the Paulins Kill property was purchased from the Cooper Tract or some similar tract. Some of these tracts were very large ones. Teetertown, new Jersey is in an area that was part of the Lewis Morris Tract of 1711 containing 100,000 acres.

            The Paulins Kill farm of 240 acres is located 1 ½ miles southeast of Blairstown; the north boundary is the Paulins Kill and the southeast corner is in Buttermilk Pond, now Cedar Lake. The Indian name for the Paulins Kill was “Tonhonknealkung” in 1729. In 1965, it is a beautiful, fast flowing trout stream. There is a story that Paulins Kill was named in honor of the daughter of a Hessian soldier. The house and farm buildings on this farm were burned by the British and the Tories during the Revolution. The house has burned twice since then. A portion of the mantle piece was saved and is now incorporated in the present mantle. The house faces the Paulins Kill. There is also a good view of the Delaware Water Gap from the house. At present the farm is owned by Andrew Butler who has large stock farms in three states. This property is his stock farm in New Jersey and also his home.

            During the summer drought of 1964, the pasture land was being irrigated by pumping water from the Kill through a system of large spray pipes.

            It is interesting to observe the changes in the spelling of the name of Conrad Teeter in a relatively short period of time. In Germany, it would have been Konrad Theodore. In the Bucks County Court Records, it is Conrad Teiter. In Sussex County, it is Coonrad Teeter. Some cemetery records in Sussex County spell the name Teetor for the first time. The translations of the early church records have a much larger variation from Conrad to Conrath Diraters. By 1800 the spelling of the name was pretty well stabilized at Teeter. The migration from New York State to Ohio and Indiana caused the spelling to stabilize as Teetor for that branch of the family.