Conrad Emery and His Descendants  

In the year 1705 a number of German people belonging to the Reformed Church, residing bewteen the cities of Wolfenbüttel and Halberstadt, fled because of religeous persecution, first to Neuwied in Rhenish Prussia, then to Holland. Two Years later, in the year 1707, they embarked for New York. But adverse winds carried their ship into Delaware Bay, so they set out from Phiadelphia for New York over the Old York Road from New Hope, determined to reach the banks of the Hudson, their final destination. However, when they reached the Rockaway area (Lebanon was orginally called Rockaway) they were so impressed with the appearance of the country that they abandoned their orginal intentions and decided to establish themselves in this region instead. From these people and their descendants, Germantown and German Valley derived their names. German Reformed Churches were established at German Village, Foxhill, New Germantown, Stillwater, Newton and Lebanon. ALl except Lebanon ultimately became Presbyterian. The latter became a Dutch Reformed Church when it untied with the church at Whitehouse in 1813.

It is possible that Conrad Emery (or Conrod Hümmerich as the name often appeared in the early records) Was one of these emigrant Germans, or he may have come later and settled in this vicinty to be with his countrymen. Thr first record we have of his presence in this country was July 8, 1730, when he was naturalized by an act of the New Jersey Assembly entiled "An Act for the better enabling divers Inhabitants of the Province of New Jersey to hold Lands, and invest them with priviledges of natural born Subjects of the said Province". Among the rather large list of emigrants to be granted the privilege of citizenship by this act appears the name Koenraet Henerigh. ANd since he would necessarily have been at least twenty-one years of age at that time, his dater of birth must have been on or before 1709.

The early baptismal records of the Emery family in New Jersey carry the Germanic spelling of the name: Humerich, Humrich, Hummerich, and Hemmerich. It also appears in midifications such as Emerich, Himry, Hemry, Emry and even Henry. But eventually the name became everywhere in Hunterdon county in its present and general form, Emery.

On April 15, 1752, Conrad Emery purchased 147 acres of land in Readington Township, Hunterdon county, N.J., from Jospeh Kirkbride. At that time Readington Township comprised all the land laying between the north and south branches of the Raritan RIver; that is, all the land now included in the townships of Tewksbuty, Clinton and Readington. Kirkbride owned the land in the southerly part of this territory, so the orginal homestead tract was probably located in the southern part of Readington Towhsip, or in the present Clinton Township. The farm was supposedly sold by the rest of the children to their brother, John Emery, on December 29, 1790.