Edward Fitz Randolph Died by 1677 NOT 1684 or 85
Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitz Randolph: a Widow on 21 March
1676/77
By Jean M. Hoffman, CG
Edward’s death date is a point of
contention as evidenced by his profile at WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fitz_Randolph-42.
He clearly died prior to his widow’s remarriage on 30 June 1685,[1]
but how long before? Land records reveal his wife Elizabeth as a widow years
earlier.
The New Jersey State Archives
provide many searchable databases online (https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/index.aspx
). The one of interest here, under the heading “Land, Probate & Court
Records,” is Early Land Records, ca. 1650-1900s. This database currently
indexes over 74,857 land records held by the New Jersey State Archives. The
earliest existing deeds and surveys in over 120 record books are included. Many
index entries link to images of the original records.
A search for Elizabeth Fitz
Randolph in Middlesex County returns four results. They are for the warrant, survey,
and patent of her land and a listing as an adjoining landowner in another person’s
survey. The warrant is the earliest record, dated 21 March 1676/77. It is for 300
acres in Piscataway, Middlesex County, East Jersey, going to Widow Mrs.
Elizabeth Fitz Randolph "in Right of her self her husband and three sons
John, Joseph, and Thomas".[2]
This is the widow of Edward Fitz Randolph as the sons listed are their known
sons and this is the place where the family then lived.
Search Results:
The entries list the location of
the document and in this case allow access to a digital image of each of the
documents. Here is the recording of the warrant, one of many on the page:
For Elizabeth to be termed a widow
and proceed with this land transaction, her husband, Edward Fitz Randolph was
already deceased by the date of the warrant, 21 March 1676/77.
[2] General
Board of Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey, Surveys and
Warrants (1675-1997), Liber 2, Part B (1675-1738), folio 52.
