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The Berdan family were prominent land owners in New Jersey. On the
outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Albert Berdan enlisted in the New
Jersey volunteers, and was appointed sergeant in the 2nd battalion. On the
conclusion of peace he settled in New Brunswick, where he remained till
1798. In that year he came west, settling in the township of Woodhouse. He
and his family received allotments, partly in Woodhouse and partly in
Charlotteville.
When the Courts of Quarter Sessions were organized, in 1800, and the
first session held in April, at the house of Lieut. James Munro, Albert
Berdan was sworn in as the first constable of Woodhouse, and was also
appointed the first Court Crier. An item in the court journal for the
spring term of 1801 states that Albert Berdan was indicted for swearing in
the presence of one of the jurymen, Lucas Dedrick. But this seems to have
been quite common in those days, for in the same session two other
prominent men were fined for the same offence. Moreover, in the fall
session of the same year, Mr. Berdan was again indicted, this time not
only for profane language, but for aggravated assault, for we read:
"Albert Berdan, fined £5, Halifax currency, for assault and
battery." In fact, the great majority of offences that were brought
into court in those early days were for assault or abusive language. There
are very few instances of theft.
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