Chatham Township, New Jersey incorporated as an independent borough and its former village boundaries were expanded between 1891 - 1899 with annexed portions of rural lands that had formerly been within the township. The settlement of Chatham had been established in 1710 as "John Day's Bridge" and, in 1773 when New Jersey was an English province, adopted the name of "Chatham" to honor William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a British supporter of the colonial cause. This village also had been within Morris Township and it was an active community in the Revolutionary War. On August 19, 1892, Chatham seceded from the new township
Earl of Seaforth would have been the 6th earl, helped the British government during the rising of 1745, and was a member of parliament for some years. His son Kenneth Mackenzie was created Baron of Ardelve and Viscount Fortrose in the Peerage of Ireland in 1766 and Earl of Seaforth in 1771, also in the Peerage of Ireland. However, these peerages became extinct when he died in August 1781. Although there were still heirs to the older earldom, this remained under attainder. Kenneth raised the regiment of Highlanders, the 78th (later known as 72nd) in 1778, known later as the 1st battalion of