Page:Memoir of George B. Wood, M. D., LL.D.djvu/9

 a great city which might rival Philadelphia. Before that time, as early as 1683, the same design had been formed by John Fenwick, who became Proprietor of West New Jersey by conveyance from Lord Berkeley, successor to the Duke of York, afterwards James II., who was grantee of the Crown. Fenwick left a will, directing a city to be erected near the Cohansey, which he willed thereafter to be called Cæsarian river. All that followed this large project, however, has been the growth of the small town or agricultural village of Greenwich.

Dr. Wood kept in his possession a deed, signed by the agent of William Penn, who acted as executor of John Fenwick, conveying a lot of ground forming a part of his Greenwich farm.

In each generation, the heads of this family in New Jersey have been men of consideration and local distinction. Richard Wood, the father of the subject of this memoir, was a man of superior mind and strong character, much respected by all who knew him. He was described by an acquaintance, speaking of him to Dr. Wood, as "a prince of a man." He married twice. His second wife, mother of George Bacon Wood, was Elizabeth Bacon, of Bacon's Neck, New Jersey. Of the early settlement of her family in that part of the country, evidence is preserved. One or two memoranda may be here interesting: "1683, June 25th, Shank-a-num and Et-hoe, Indians, convey to John Nichols, of Nichols' Hartford, near Cohansey, 100 acres of land,