Author Description

The bulk of this large volume covers the history of the Bedminster Township, Somerset County area in which the farm (the inspiration for this work) was located. The author, waxing poetic in the first two chapters, “tell[s] of this Jersey homestead and its early founder.” Beginning in Germany, we learn of that country’s condition and meet Johannes Moelich (future founder) who immigrated to America in 1735. Making his way through Philadelphia and Germantown, he arrives in New Jersey in 1747 and buys the “Old Farm” in 1751. The growth of the area continues as the Indian path becomes the King’s Highway, Bedminster Church is built, slavery is dealt with, the Revolutionary War affects the area, the practice of medicine begins, merchants set up shop, and more. The nearly ninety pages of genealogies covers the Moelich-Malick-Melick-Mellick family. An entertaining and informative story of this area, the author uses one farmstead as the backdrop to the larger history.