It is quite impossible at the present time to ascertain the exact date when the first settle ment of this section of Morris county was made, or by whom made. I have made dili gent inquiry on this point in various dirce. Tions with but little success, for there do not appear to have been any written records made upon this subject. All the old land marks, and all the written records of the past, if any were ever made, seem to have been swept away and destroyed, and clouds of misty obscurity now envelop most of the scenes and incidents connected with our early history. In a description of the Province of New Jersey, published in the Gentleman's Magazine, in London, in the year 1755, no mention whatever is made of Morris county. All that section of country lying north and west of the Passaic river is described as un known lands but we know that this state ment is not true, for there are plenty of an thentic records still extant that go to prove the contrary, of which I shall have more to say as we proceed.