In 1841, Joseph Kingsland Jr. (1792 – 1878), heir to his father’s Kingsland Manor estate, needed to liquidate some property in Nova Scotia, Canada. During the Revolutionary War, Isaac Kingsland (1697 – 1779), his grandfather, and Joseph Kingsland Sr. (1740 – 1821), his father, left the colonies and moved to Nova Scotia, remaining loyal to George III. After the war, Joseph Kingsland Sr. came back to the “United States” and moved to New York City where he continued his trade as a contractor and builder. In 1787, having received a contract from the city to install curbing, Joseph Sr. purchased the mill and home in North Belleville, now known as the Kingsland Manor in Nutley, from the Walls brothers. The property in Nova Scotia still belonged to the Kingsland family.

Joseph Kingsland Jr. inherited the properties on the death of Joseph Kingsland Sr. in 1821. Twenty years later, he decided it was time to liquidate his family’s Canadian holdings. but he needed to establish his bona fides to those properties. He turned to two family members who could provide unimpeachable proof of his family’s claim.

The Governor of New Jersey at the time was William Sanford Pennington. William (1796 – 1862) served as the thirteenth Governor of New Jersey from 1837 until 1843. He was related to Joseph several generations back through the marriage in 1641 of William Sanford (1588 – 1668) to Elizabeth Kingsland (1593 – 1701). Elizabeth was William’s four times great grandmother. Governor Pennington provided a letter of introduction to Joseph Kingsland Jr.

The Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Courts was Joseph Courten Hornblower (1777 – 1878). He served as Chief Justice from 1832 until 1846, when he stepped down to become the President of Princeton University. His mother was Elizabeth Kingsland (1734 – 1808), a cousin of Joseph Kingsland Jr. Justice Hornblower also provided a letter of introduction to Joseph Kingsland Jr.

Armed with two letters from some highly placed members of New Jersey society, Joseph traveled to Nova Scotia and sold the Kingsland holdings there. He packed his clothing for the journey in two deerskin trunks.

The smaller trunk, probably used to pack his collars, cuffs, and toiletries, measures 16 inches long and 11 inches wide and has a curved top that measures 8-1/2 inches at its highest point. The trunk is displayed in our Office.

The larger trunk was donated to the Trust by the Madison Museum, 9 Main Street, Madison, New Jersey. In 2015, we received a call from the museum saying that they had a trunk belonging to Joseph Kingsland Jr. and asking if we would like to have it for our collection. The trunk measures 32 inches long and 17 inches wide and has a curved top that measures 14 inches at its highest point. Brass nails on the trunk lid form the initials “JK”. This trunk is displayed in the Master Bedroom.