In May of 1666, some 30 persons from Milford, Connecticut, set foot on the Passaic River shore, and according to tradition, the first to come ashore was the 19-year-old daughter of Captain Samuel Swaine, named Elizabeth. These original settlers purchased a title to the land directly from the Indians.
woodcut from the frontispiece of The History of Newark by Joseph Atkinson, Newark, N.J. 1878.