In the late 18th and early 19th century, farmers kept track of their cattle and sheep by cropping their ears with distinctive earmarks. These marks were the only way to distinguish an animal that had wandered into another person's farm yard; if the stray had your earmark, you could readily reclaim it as yours. Marks included crops and half crops, slits, nicks, holes, triangles, square holes, slopes and one, that of George Friday, shaped like a pennant. Joseph Vail's mark, for example, was "a Crop off the Left Ear, a Slit in the Same, a Nick the Upper Side the Same Ear." Reuben Dunn's mark was a "Swollow fork in the left ear, a happiny under Side the Same, a happiny under Side and upper Side the Right Ear." A happiny, incidentally, was a notch the size of a half penny. Book A of the records of the Township contains a listing of earmarks beginning in 1811 when 46 farmers entered their marks in the book and continuing until 1844, when the practice was apparently discontinued. Here's the list, with the date the earmark was recorded: Adams, Charles - 1812 Allen, Joseph - 1813 - "this mark Referd to Noah Allen" Allen, Noah - 1826 or 1827 Ayres, James - 1819 Ayers, Zebulon - 1813 Bababcock, Simeon - 1811 - "This mark is Referd to John Jennings" Bird, John G .- 1811 Boyce, David - 1819 Brown, Stephen - 1816 Cadmus, Cornelius - 1811 Coddington, Aaron - 1840 Codington, Isaiah - 1832 Codington, Millard - 1844 Cole, Freeman - 1818 Compton, Reuben - 1811 Coon, Aaron - 1811 - "This mark transferred to Ephraim Giles" Coon, Benjamin - 1819 - "This mark is Refered to Samuel Ross" Coon, Reuben - 1815 Corrington, John - 1813 Cory, Daniel - 1844 Corey, John - 1818 - "This mark transfered to Daniel Cory" Cory, Parkis - 1831 Cosad, Samuel - 1811 - "This mark is transfered to Freeman Cole" Cox, Restoris - 1826 / Drake, Elizabeth - 1828 - "Widow" Drake, Jacob - 1825 Dunn, Davis - 1825 - "This Mark is referred to Israel C. Mundy" Dunn, Francis - 1811 Dunn, Jonathan - 1811 - "This Mark Referd to Davis Dunn" Dunn, Reuben - 1811 Dunn, Runnet - 1814 F[itz] Randolph, Edward - 1811 French, David Jun. - 1815 Friday, George - 1844 Giles, Ephraim - 1842 Jenning, Benjamin - 1841 Jennings, John - 1812 Jennings, Wm. - 1840 Kelly, David Esq. - 1811 Kelley, Rachel - 1811 - "Widow" Kirkpatrick, Alex. - 1811 Kirkpatrick, John - 1811 - "This mark Referd to Reuben Coon" Manning, Isaac Jun. - 1811 Manning, Isaac Senior - 1811 - "12 Jun 1827 this mark Recorded to Richard Manning" Manning, James - 1811 Manning, John - 1811 Manning, John - 1813 Manning, Richard - 1827 Moore, Benjamin - 1811 Moore, Isaac - 1817 Moore, Jesse - 1811 Moore, Jonathan - 1820 Moor, Peter - 1843 Mundy, Israel C. - 1841 Mundy, Lewis - 1822 Mundy, Peter D. - 1841 Myrax, John - 1828 Pangburn, John - 1811 - "this mark is Refered to Benj. Coon" Pangburn, Richard - 1811 Pangburn, Samuel - 1811 Penington, Ephraim - 1811 Pennington, James - 1825 Pennington, John - 1811 Piatt, Assa - 1818 Ralph, Moses - 1811 Richards, Thomas - 1819 Rinhart, Henry - 1811 Roberd, David - 1811 Ross, Samuel - 1822 "This mark referred to Aaron Coddington" Ruckman, David N. - 1841 Ruckman, Isaac - 1828 Ruckman, Stephen - 1822 Sherwood, Wm. D. - 1818 Shotwell, Ralph - 1813/1814 Smalley, Daniel - 1813 Smalley, David T. - 1811 - "this mark is referred to Wm. Tompkins" Smalley, Jacob - 1811 Smalley, James - 1811 Smalley, John - 1816 Stewart, William - 1822 Stites, Elijah - 1811 Stites, Isaac - 1812 Stites, John - 1811 Tanner, James - 1811 - "This mark is Refered to John Corrington" Taynor, Nathaniel - 1812 Terril, Squire - 1821 Terill, Thomas - 1811 - "Referrd to David N Ruckman" Tingly, Jacob - 1811 Tingly, Joseph - 1811 - "Jany. 12 1816 this mark taken up by John Smalley" Titus, Isaac - 1826 Titus, John - 1813 Tompkins, Wm. A. - 1841 Toms, Charles - 1811 - "This Mark is Pict out of the Book" rd May 22th Toms, Charles - 1811 - "This mark is Refurd to Thomas Richard May 22, 1832" Tucker, Jacob - 1814 Vail, Alexr. - 1811 - crossed out Vail, Joseph - 1813 Vermule, Frederick - 1811 Vermule, Doct[or] John - 1812 Wemyss, James - 1811 Willett, Jonathan - 1811 Willet, Thomas - 1811 Wilson, Zachariah - 1827 Winans, John - 1811 Winans, John W. - 1842 [Recorded jointly with Philip W. Winans] Winans, Philip W. - 1842 [Recorded jointly with John W. Winans] Winens, Winet - 1811 Woodden, Ezra - 1811 Worth, William - 1811 - "This mark is taken up by Lewis Mundy May 21st 1822" A state law from 1797 provided that stray cattle, horses and sheep were also to be recorded in a book, and if after a year the animal's owner had not claimed it, the stray was to be sold at public auction by the overseer of the poor. The proceeds of sale, after the payment of the expenses of the person finding and feeding the animal for the year, were to be paid over to the use of the poor of the township. Here's a description of one such stray: "Found at Joel Drake's December the 4th 1815 a stray year old heifer a little Brindle with a white fall, White under the belly, two White hind feet, White on the end of her tail - marked with a hole in the left ear and a Swallow fork in the right [ear] but the end of her ears appears to have been froze off, the end of her left ear has been froze off almost like a Crop - the right not so much. She is a little crimpled horned." Although lengthy, both lists are worthwhile printing in full because they in large measure replace the lost Federal censuses of this early period. Acker, Phillop, 1834 Adams, Charles, 1812 Allen, John, 1840 Allen, Gideon, 1822 Allen, Joseph, 1818, 1826 Allen, David, 1831 Alward, Benjamin, 1808 Bird, Jonas, 1824 Bird, John, 1824 Bruner, Charles, 1852 Chandler, Ephraim, 1843 Coddington, Archabald, 1808 Coddington, Millard, 1834, 1836, 1844 Cole, Elias, 1824 Cole, Freeman, 1820, 1822, 1823 Compton, Reuben, 1816, 1819 Compton, William, 1820 Compton, , Samuel, 1812 Coon, Reubin, 1824, 1825, 1835, 1836 Cooper, Daniel, 1820 Cornelinson, John, 1815 Cornilienson, John, 1817 Corrington, Benjamin, 1813, 1824 Cory, Jonathan, 1842 Cory, John, 1825, 1831 Cory, Parkis, 1819, 1823, 1824, 1826 Cory, Joel, 1830 Cory, Daniel, 1841 Coryell, Richard F., 1842 Coryell, John, 1844 Cosad, Samuel, 1812 Cox, Restores, 1823, 1826, 1829, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1848 Drake, Jeremiah, 1841 Drake, Jacob, , 1824, 1825 Drake, Joel, 1815 Drake, William, 1835 Drake, Noah, 1819, 1820, 1824, 1831 Drake, Edward, 1841,1844, 1845 Drake, Jonathan, 1809 Drake, William W., 1848 Dunn, Manning, 1812 Dunn, Jonathan, 1818 Eagar, Archable, 1814 Flagg, Henry C., 1850 French, Moses H., 1852 French, David, 1820 Giddes, George, 1822 Giddes, Amos, 1845 Green, Thomas, 1834 Hill, J., 1850 Jennings, Benjamin, 1809, 1835 Jennings, William, 1827, 1831, 1845 Kelley, Widow, 1809 or 1810 Kelly, Joseph, 1823 Kirkpatrick,Alex.,1811,1812,1813,1815,1819, 1820, 1822, 1833 Lawler, James, 1831, 1841 Lawler, Michael, 1821 Leeson, George W., 1855 Linberger, John, 1841 Lincoln, Ebenezer, 1817, 1820 Manning, Jacob, 1841 Martin, James, 1813 Miller, Lewis N. [H.?], 1835, 1843 Mirix, Squire, 1843 Mondy, Enos, 1817, 1818 Moor, William J., 1851 Moor, Ruban, 1823 Moor, Isaac, 1817, 1819 Moor, Jr., Henry, 1844 Moor, William I., 1843 Moor, Jesse, 1823 Moor, Isaac B., 1840, 1844 Mundy, Enos, 1823 Mundy, John, 1841 Pangborn, Samuel, 1812 Pangborn, Richard, 1830 Penington, Ephraim, 1810 Penington, Nathaniel, 1824 Pope, Samuel, 1809 Richfield, Daniel, 1820 Rightmirer,John, 1835 Ross, Samuel, 1823 Ruckman, Isaac, 1829 Ruckman, Joseph, 1822 Sherewood, William J., 1815, 1819 Sherwood, William D., 1819, 1821 Shotwell, Daniel, 1832 Simpson, James, 1829, 1830 Sims, Cuthbert, 1818 Smalley, Mahlon, 1821, 1824, 1825, 1850 Smalley, Daniel, 1811 Smalley, David D., 1814, 1815 Smalley, Jacob, 1816, 1833 Smalley, Nathan, 1830 Smalley, John, 1814, 1824 Spencer, Caleb, 1842 Stewart, David, 1812 Stewart, William D., 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829 Stine, John, 1826 Stites, John, 1817 Stites, Elijah, 1820, 1824 Stites, Isaac, 1828 Taynor, Nathaniel, 1813, 1815, 1817 Tingley, Jacob, 1827 Tingley, Joseph, 1810 Titus, Isaac, 1829, 1832, 1852, 1853 Tompkins, Nathaniel, 1832 Toms, Charles, 1817, 1822 Vail, Peter, 1833 Vail, Mares, 1831 Vail, Thomas, 1850 Willett, Thomas, 1815 Winans, Lewis, 1811, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1823, 1829 Woodden, Ezr[a], 1814 Wooden, Ezra, 1825 Worth, William, 1809 The Special Collections Department of the Alexander Library, Rutgers University, owns Book A [Ac. 2640], although a copy is with the collections of the Warren Township Historical Society. Warren's earmarks were originally published in the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly, June 1983. © Warren Township Historical Society |