On the 12th of March 1664, King Charles II of England granted to his brother, James, Duke of York, all New Jersey. On April 2, the British appointed Richard Nicolls Deputy Governor of New York and New Jersey. One year later, April 8, 1665 Nicolls issued "The Monmouth Patent" to twelve men who had come from Western Long Island and New England seeking permanent stability for religious and civil freedom as well as the prospect of improving their estates. Nicolls was unaware that in June, 1664, James had given a lease and release for New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret thus invalidating the grant to the Monmouth Patentees.

In 1676 Colts Neck Township area was included in the division of East Jersey. With the death of Sir George Carteret his lease rights were sold to 12 proprietors, soon increased to 24 with many more added later on, who then established a Board of Proprietors to administer their lands and rights in 1684.

Early settlers of Shrewsbury (biggest section of Colts Neck was Shrewsbury till 1847) were the English. Among the first ( about 1664-5) were John Hance, Richard Stout, John Tilton, James Grover, Obadiah Holmes, John and Job Throckmorton, Taylor, Smith, Wardell and Hartshorne families.

About 15 years after the English, the Scots came to Shrewsbury, Colts Neck, Marlboro and Freehold areas. Among them were the Thompsons, Bownes, Johnstones, Crawfords, Hardys, Kers and Barclays. John Reid and George Kieth were also among this group - they were surveyors, their maps a collectors dream. By 1685 there were over 100 Scotch families in Monmouth County.

The Dutch migration didn't begin till around 1690. Many of Colts Neck's Dutch families appear in the Old Brick Church (Marlboro) records, which begin in 1709 (well preserved in the Monmouth County Historical Association Library. ) The Dutch homes were large, taking pride in building their barns, just as huge. Many are still scattered in this area. A few of our Dutch settlers were, Schancks, Conovers, (Van Kowenhoven), Barriclo, Van Mater, Van Dorn and Vanderveers.

From the township death records and various family cemeteries we know of other families that lived in Colts Neck in the 1700's, among them: Probasco, Sickles, Bennett, Laird, Brower, Heyers, Holsart, Statesir, Wainright, Van Clief, Stoutenburg, Holmes, Golden, Emans, Scobey, Williams, Polhemus, Lefferts, Wickoff, Smock and Logan. As you will note many of these early families are still represented here today.

That Colts Neck has been noted for its horse breeding farms since the 1700's is fact. From a newspaper of 1780 this item appeared, "The ensuing season, at Colt's Neck, county of Monmouth at the farm of Captain Van Mater, the beautiful full blooded horse LIBERTY. At 4 pounds in gold or silver, continental at the exchange, ready cash will be expected; good pasture will be procured for mares. It would be needless to say any thing of his pedigree or performances, as it bath been so often ascertained here to fore, and established through the state."

The early pioneers, for a very short time, lived much as the Indians. Dwellings were located near water with natural protection sought against chilling winds of winter. Very often the stable was built first and used as a dwelling until a better structure could be raised. The earliest huts were made by twisting and tying the tops of young saplings together and covering them with strips of bark, modeled after the larger Indian wigwams.