"Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of the fathers."- Job viii-8.

If the people of any section of this great country have reason to be proud of their ancestry, the people of Monmouth most assuredly have. New Englanders never tire of boasting of the Pilgrim fathers, but a noted writer of history in an adjoining state, more than half a century ago, has said that "East Jersey was settled by the best blood of New England." (I. F. Watrous in Annals of Philadelphia). The Pilgrim Fathers, the New Englanders now take pleasure in telling us, were not all Puritans of the straight-laced, persecuting order, but that a large proportion had respect for persons who conscientiously differed from them in religious opinion. And of this class of the Pilgrim Fathers we find were the principal men who founded the settlement in Monmouth.

The first opinion left on record of the section of country now known as Monmouth is that which was recorded in the log-book of the ship Half Moon, Sir Henry Hudson, commander. On the night of the 2d of September, 1609, he anchored along the beach not far from Long Branch, with the Highlands of Nevisink in sight, and his mate recorded the following in the log-book:

"This is a very good land to fall in with and a pleasant land to see."

Every good citizen of the county, it is safe to say, will cordially endorse that opinion at the present day!