also into the history of the State and of the mother country. The court decided that no owner could have an exclusive right to a fishery in front of his land on tide-waters; that when the Lords Proprietors by their patent conveyed the land originally to the plaintiff's grantor, they could only grant the fee to low-water mark, and that the peo ple of the State had an equal right to the oysters with the owner, although he had planted the bed. The case was elaborately argued not only by counsel, but by the Chief-Justice, and the rule was discharged. The opinion has been frequently criticised, but has never been directly overruled; and the decision remains to this day the law in New Jersey. The opinion is remarkable for its great learning, its profound knowledge of the common law, and its admirabie judicial style. It will be considered somewhat remark able that Chief-Justice Kirkpatrick should have had such an admiration for the blackletter and common law of England, when it is known that he was the author of a law passed by the Legislature in New Jersey in 1799 which enacted that no report of legal decisions, no digest, nor law book published in Great Britain after 1776, should be read in the Courts of the State. He was a great stickler for the old-fashioned practice in plead ing; knew Coke upon Littleton almost by heart, and regarded with great disfavor any modern innovations upon the practice. He held the office of Associate Justice from 1798 to 1803, and that of Chief-Justice from 1803 to 1824. He married Miss Jane Bayard, the daughter of Col. John Bayard, who had made a dis tinguished record in the Revolutionary War. Chief-Justice Kirkpatrick was a man of re markable presence and bearing, of great personal beauty; and he and his wife were pronounced the handsomest couple in New Brunswick. In private life he was of un sullied character, and in his family was un rivalled as a father, husband, and friend. Some of his letters to his wife still retained
by his descendants are full of affection. l ie was a public-spirited man, foremost in aiding measures for the common good; of great piety and unaffected zeal in the cause of re ligion. He was the founder of the Theo logical Seminary at Princeton, connected from its foundation with the Presbyterian church in America, and was the first Presi dent of its Hoard of Trustees, which posi tion he held for many years. J Ie took a very deep interest in his Alma Mater, and from 1809 to the time of his death was one of its Trustees. He died in 1831, at the age of seventy-five. A grandson bearing the same name is now President Judge of the Essex County Courts of New Jersey, — a position of great responsibility and importance. During the twenty-one years that Andrew Kirkpatrick was Chief-Justice, the Supreme Court was composed of a Chief and two Associate Justices. Five persons — William S. Pennington, William Rossell, Mahlon Dickerson, Samuel L. Southard, and Gabriel H. Eord — were Associates during his time : all of whom, except Rossell and Ford, at tained gubernatorial honors. Among the settlers in Newark, in 1666, was a young man, named Ephraim Penning ton. He probably came from the Colony of New Haven, in Connecticut. He signed the "fundamental agreements? already referred to which provided that no one could vote or hold land in the new Colony, unless he were a member of some congregational church; and as a home and "out" lots were allotted to him, young as he was, he must have complied with the necessary re quirements to entitle him to an equality with other members of the church. The quaint old English cottage which he built and which was used for nearly one hundred and fifty years as a homestead for the family, was standing until about sixty years ago. This young man, Ephraim Pennington, was the ancestor of a family which has given many distinguished men to the State and nation. William Sandford Pennington was his greatgrandson, and was born at Newark about
