Samuel Kitchell was among the first white settlers in present-day Newark, having come from the New Haven colony in 1666 with Robert Treat. According to The Mountain Society, the settlers had come believing that the land had already been purchased from the Indians by the Governor and Council. However, the Hackensack Indians would not allow them to settle. An agreement for a first sale, extending to the foot of "the great mountain called Watchung," was signed on July 11, 1667; Kitchell was one of the signers. A second sale was made a decade later. This was a purchase from the "Winachsop and Shenachtos Indians, the owners of the great mountain Watchung." This purchase included a large portion of surrounding land, including the present-day Oranges, Maplewood, Bloomfield, and Belleville.
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