USA > New Jersey > Cape May County > The history of Cape May County, New Jersey : from the aboriginal times to the present day > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
r
1800
COLD SPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
THE HISTORY
OF
Cape May County,
NEW JERSEY,
FROM
THE ABORIGINAL TIMES
TO
THE PRESENT DAY,
EMBRACING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE ABORIGINES; THE DUTCH IN DELAWARE BAY; 1: THE SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY; THE WHALING; THE GROWTH OF THE VILLAGES; THE REVOLUTION AND PATRIOTS; THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT; THE WAR OF 1812; THE PROGRESS OF THE COUNTY; AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
BY
Lewis Townsend Stevens.
Illustrated. ,
CAPE MAY CITY, N. J. LEWIS T. STEVENS, PUBLISHER. 1897.
Copy 2 33602-0'
F142 .Cz S8 Copy 2
Entered according to act of Congress, in 1897, by LEWIS T. STEVENS, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. D. C.
PRESS OF THE STAR OF THE CAPE PUBLISHING CO .. CAPE MAY, N. J.
PREFACE.
"The History of Cape May County" is the result of many years of research, and the author hopes that it will meet with the approbation of the public. Some ten years ago the au- thor began the keeping of a scrap book of Cape May county history, among other things, and this constant accumulation of facts resulted. about a year ago, in a determination on the part of the author to prepare a history of the county, which would portray its gradual development and the progress of its people from the earliest times. The cause which led to its preparation principally was the fact that no history had ever before been published, excepting the sketch of Dr. Maurice Beesley, in 1857, which contained only fifty printed pages.
The information obtained for this volume was largely sup- plemented from the collections of the New York Historical Society, the New Jersey Historical Society and the Pennsyl- vania Historical Society. Many facts were gathered also from the articles of Francis B. Lee, Esq., of Trenton, and the author has also been aided in his work by Colonel J. Granville Leach. of Philadelphia; County Clerk Edward L. Rice, and Mr. Aaron Leaming. The diaries of Aaron Lea- ming the first, of Aaron Leaming the second, and of Jacob Spicer the second have been perused and liberal extracts made from the same. The work of Dr. Beesley has been woven into this volume and proper credit given to him for every fact for which he is responsible.
The county of Cape May has a most honorable history and the one aim of the author has been to tell the facts as he finds them and yet try to keep away from the dryness which characterizes such works. There may be errors in the vol- ume, but the author has been very careful in the verification of dates and names. The different ways of spelling family names is caused by the literal copying of the records from which they are taken.
If this volume serves to preserve to the people the history of the county, the author will feel that he has been repaid for his efforts. LEWIS T. STEVENS.
Cape May, May 15, 1897.
ODE TO CAPE MAY.
By Theophilus T. Price, M. D.
.
-
Tune: "Dearest May."" (Revised by the author for this work.) Dear land of, my nativity! And scene of childhood's play, I fondly sing my love to thee In humble, fervent lay. Let others roam who have a mind; With thee I'd rather stay, For many ties there are that bind My heart to thee, Cape May.
CHORUS :- Cape May! Cape May! My thoughts to thee will stray With fond delight, in memories bright, When I am far away.
Thy sunny skies look down serene Where warbling woodlands lay; And fertile fields stretch out between The ocean and the bay. And health on every breeze is borne That o'er thee takes its way: And plenty pours her teeming horn Into thy lap, Cape May. Chorus.
f
Thy daughters' praise truth gladly speaks, While fond emotions rise; The glow of beauty gilds their cheeks And sparkles in their eyes; And hearts of love and tenderness Within their bosoms play : Their virtues fair adorn and bless Thy happy homes. Cape May! Chorus.
Thy sons, a generous patriot band, Hospitable and brave, Love loyally their native land, Their homes, and circling wave; Bold are their hearts where duty lies, Or honor points the way; And noble, honest men arise. Thy proudest boast, Cape May! Chorus.
I love to breathe thy healthful air; I love thy sky and sea; I love thee, for my friends are here, And all that's dear to me. I love thee, for thou art my home, And wheresoe'er I stray The golden chain of memory Still binds me to Cape May! Chorus: Cape May! Cape May! etc.
·
Contents.
Chapter I-The Indians and the Dutch Explorers. 9
Chapter II-Pioneers and Whaling 23 Chapter III-The Settlers and Their New Homes. .. . . . 36 Chapter IV-Life Early in the Eighteenth Century ... 59 Chapter V-Development of Religious Denominations 70 Chapter VI-Maritime Tendencies and Cattle Owning 79 Chapter VII-Ancient Loans and Taxes 90
Chapter VIII-The Religious Controversies 98
Chapter IX-West Jersey Society Rights 106
Chapter X-Jacob Spicer and His Sayings. I16
Chapter XI-Aaron Leaming and His Times 132
Chapter XII-John Hatton, the Tory 143
Chapter XIII-Preparations for War 171
Chapter XIV-The Revolution Begins 183
Chapter XV-Cape May Patriots 195
Chapter NVI-The Ending and Independence.
08
Chapter XVII-The County in 1800. 224
Chapter XVIII-The War of 1812. 233
Chapter XIX-Progress After the War. 248
Chapter XX-Noted Men of a Generation. 267
Chapter XXI-The Decade Before the Rebellion .280
Chapter XXII-Opening of the Civil War .301
Chapter XXII-First New Jersey Cavalry 316
Chapter XXIV-The Enlistments of 1862. 328
Chapter XXV-The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865. 344 Chapter XXVI-Life Following the Rebellion. 355
Chapter XXVII-Fifteen Years of Prosperity 375
Chapter XXVIII-Distinguished Visitors 393
Chapter XXIX-Cape Island 405
Chapter XXX-Cape May City 429
Chapter XXXI-The Boroughs .445
Appendix A-Members of the Legislature 450 Appendix B-Boards of Freeholders 453
Appendix C-County Officials 463
Appendix E-Municipal Officers .472
Appendix D-Postmasters 465 .
Appendix F-Table of Population 480
ERRATA.
Page 43-For "Thomas Caesar Hoskins" read "Thomas Hand, Caesar Hoskins."
Page 206 -- For "Daniel Ganetson" read "Daniel Garret- SO11.
Page 338-For "Willoby Snyder" read "Willoby Souder." Page 360 -- For "Miss Emma T. Brooks" read "Miss Emma T. Sutton."
Page 393-For "thunpike" read "shunpike."
Page 423-For "Mashel" read "Maskel."
Illustrations.
Cold Spring Presbyterian Church Frontispiece
Map of Cape May County 177
Townsend Coat of Arms 37
Steamboat Landing, Cape May Point, in 1859 189
Congress Hall. Cape Island, in 1859 211
The Carlton. Cape May Point. . 235
245
Marine Villa, Cape May
251
Joshua Townsend 254
"The Jail of 1829 257
261
Jonathan Hand
268
James L. Smith 270
Joseph S. Leach
280
"The Court House 283
.. Tesse II. Diverty 288
289
William S. Hooper
291
George W. Smith
313
Henry W. Sawyer
319
William J. Sewell
347
Jonathan F. Leaming
353
Clerk's and Surrogate's Offices
357
Thomas R. Brooks
360
Richard S. Leaming
367
Dr. Alexander Young 368
369
William T. Stevens
376
Waters B. Miller
378
Alfred Cooper
381
Thomas E. Idlami
358
Dr. Walter S. Leaming
390
Eugene C. Cole
891
Dr. Anna M. Hand
399
Edmond L. Ross
400
Andrew J. Tomlin
401
The Synagogue, Woodbine
Aaron W. Wand
403
Robert E. Hand
404
First Baptist Church. Cape May
421
Dr. James Mecray
430
Joseph Q. Williams 432
Frederick J. Melvin 435
James M. E. Hillreth 441
397
The Tail of 1894
402
Joseph E. Hughes
Dr. Maurice Beesley
Rev. Moses Williamson
President Harrison's Cottage, Cape May Point
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
THE INDIANS AND THE DUTCH EXPLORERS.
The first inhabitants of what is now the county of Cape May, as far as history teaches us, were the red minen of the forest. These aborigines were of that great tribe of the Al- gonquins, which had their first home about Ottawa, Canada, and being of a roaming and nomadic disposition, more so than most other families, they naturally cared little for agri- cultural pursuits and wandered over the country and were found east of the Mississippi River, through all the Middle, Northern Central and New England States. Of all the tribes who were most unfortunate were the Algonquins. Disease took thousands of them away and the greedy set- tlers killed them off like birds. The branch of the Algon- quins which inhabited New Jersey were the Lenni-Lenapes .. who happily were treated honorably and paid for their land' by the settlers the prices demanded by their chiefs. In- dians, as all know. are fond of game and during the hunt- ing season Cape May had its share of the inhabitants of the forest. Birds of varieties abounded. Wilson, the ornithol- ogist, who did most of his writing and studying at Beesley's Point, said. "If birds are good judges of excellence in cli- mate. Cape May has the finest climate in the United States, for it has the greatest variety of birds."
The last king of the Lenni-Lenapes. King Nummy, is buried on Nummy Island near Hereford Inlet, and it is said that all Indians left the county after the ceremony of burial and journeyed to Indiana, settling on the banks of the Wabash river.
The Lenni-Lenapes were called often the Delawares, and were the most influential tribe in this section, as well as the
10
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
most peaceable. The name of the particular tribe inhabiting Cape May county, living at Cape May Point, was the Kech- emeches. The Delaware river was called the Whittuck, and the province, now New Jersey, was called Skaakbee, or Sheyichbi. The name of Tuckahoe is of Indian origin, and means where deer are shy or difficult to approach. Hunting for deer about the head of that river, which was enjoyed by the indian, was indulged in by the residents of the county Aintil 1890, since which time very few have been seen there.
It has been supposed by many that the number of aborig- ines in this State when first visited by Europeans was con- siderable. That they were very numerous in this county there cannot be any doubt, from the great quantities of shells found contiguous to the seaboard. Many hundreds ·of bushels are to be seen, in numerous places in one mass, and the soil in many places abounds with them and is en- riched thereby. There is a singular, and perhaps, unac- ·countable fact, respecting these deposits; the shells are, uni- versally, so broken that seldom a piece is found larger than .a shilling. Many Indian relics have been discovered, such as isinglass, medals, stone hatchets, arrow heads, earthien- ware of a rough description, beads, javelin heads, etc.
Dr. Maurice Beesley, in his "Sketch of the Early History ·of Cape May" (1857), says of the Indians :
"Of the aborigines of Cape May little seems to be known. It has been argued they were very inconsiderable at the ad- vent of the Europeans. Plantagenet in 1648 speaks of a tribe of Indians near Cape May, called Kechemeches, who mustered about fifty men. The same author estimates the whole number in West Jersey at eight hundred; and Old- mixon, in 1708, computes that 'they had been reduced to one-quarter of that number.' It cannot be denied by any one who will view the seaboard of our county that they were very numerous at one time here, which is evidenced by town plats, extensive and numberless shell banks, arrow heads, stone hatchets, burying grounds, and other remains existing with us. One of these burying grounds is on the farnı formerly Joshua Garretson's, near Beesley's Point, which was first discovered by the plowman. The bones (1826) were much decomposed, and some of the tibia or leg
11
THE INDIANS AND THE DUTCH EXPLORERS.
bones bore unmistakable evidences of syphilis, one of the fruits presented them by their Christian civilizers. A skull was exhumed which must have belonged to one of great age, as the sutures were entirely obliterated, and the tables firmly cemented together. From the superciliary ridges, which were well developed, the frontal bone receded almost on a direct line to the place of the occipital and parietal sutures, leaving no forehead, and had the appearance of having been done by artificial means, as practiced at present on the Columbia among the Flat Heads. A jaw-bone of huge dimensions was likewise found, which was coveted by the observer; but the superstitions of the owner of the soil believing it was sacrilegious, and that he would be visited by the just indignation of Heaven if he suffered any of the teeth to be removed. prevailed on us to return it again to its mother earth.
"In 1630, when sixteen miles square was purchased of mine Indian chiefs, it would infer their numbers must have been considerable, or so numerous a list of chiefs could not "have been found on a spot so limited. Yet. in 1692. we find them reduced to fractional parts, and besotted with rum.
"A tradition is related by some of the oldest inhabitants, that in the early part of the eighteenth century the remnant «of Indians in the county, feeling themselves aggrieved in various ways by the presence of the whites, held a council in the evening in the woods back of Gravelly Run, at which they decided to emigrate; which determination they carried into effect the same night. Whither they went no one knew, nor were they heard from afterwards. In less than fifty years from the first settlement of the county the aborigines "had bid a final adieu to their ocean haunts and fishing :grounds.
"Less than two centuries ago Cape May, as well as most other parts of our State, was a wilderness; her fields and "lawns were dense and forbidding forests; the stately Indian roved over her domain in his native dignity and grandeur, lord of the soil, and master of himself and actions, with few wants and numberless facilities for supplying them. Civili- zation, his bane and dire enemy, smote him in a vital part; The dwindled before it as the reed before the flame: and was
12
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
soon destroyed by its influence, or compelled to emigrate to other regions to prolong for a while the doom affixed to his name and nation.
"The following (synopsis of an) Indian deed, and believed to be the only one that has been handed down, was found. among the papers of Jacob Spicer, and is now in the pos- session of Charles Ludlam, Esq., of Dennisville.
"It was given January Ist, 1687, by Panktoe to Jolin Dennis, for a tract of land near Cape Island, viz .: 'Begin- ning from the creek and so running up into the woodland. along by Carman's line to a white oak tree, at the head of the swamp, and running with marked trees to a white oak by a pond joining to Jonathan Pine's bounds. All the lands and marsh lying and between the bounds above mentioned and Cape Island.'
"The witnesses were Abiah Edwards and John Carman. Panktoe's mark bore a striking resemblance to a Chinese character."
It is a boast of the citizens of all New Jersey, and espe- cially of the land owners, that not a foot of its soil was ever taken by fraud or force from the red man. The first Dutch settlers purchased theirs, as did the Swedes subsequently, and later the English Friends, or Quakers. And the suc- ceeding proprietors all pursued the same honorable course.
During the period of exploration, in the sixteenth cen- tury, Cape May's shores were probably seen by many bold navigators who did not land. Being partially surrounded with water and with long, low marshes between the beaches and the main land, and possessing no natural harbor for vessels, excepting a slight one on the Delaware Bay side, just above the point of the cape, the hardy ocean voyager pressed on to places more promising, where ships could ride at anchor and be safe from the wind and storm.
John Cabot, the loyal Englishman, and son, Sebastian Cabot, who made a voyage to America in 1498, may have- seen Cape May and explored it, because it is recorded that he explored the coast of what is now New England and as far south as Cape Hatteras. John de Verrazani, a Floren- tine navigator, sailing under the flag of France, is also be- lieved to have passed Cape May, and is believed to have-
13
THE INDIANS AND THE DUTCH EXPLORERS.
rounded the Cape in the spring of 1524 in the "Dolphin." The county was in the territory claimed by Verrazani as New France.
Cape May county, the boundary of which has not been changed to a very great extent since its organization, is bounded on the north by the Tuckahoe river, which rises in the great cedar swamp in the northern part of the county, and which inter-locks with Dennis creek, the latter empty- ing into the Delaware Bay. This cedar swamp in which they rise stretches for seventeen miles across the county. That portion of the land north of the Tuckahoe river was first known as Gloucester county, but became Atlantic county when the latter political division was formed.
Being a level county, with an alluvial formation, and with the unpromising beaches along the ocean side, the early ex- plorers who were hunting for gold mines had no time to tarry long upon them. They left it for those who wanted to settle down to agricultural pursuits, for which the terri- tory was excellently calculated. The beaches formed excel- lent places for the pasture of cattle, and the sounds between the beaches and main land were places to fish and gather the clams and oysters which abounded in the waters. The soil of the county was composed generally of sand, loam and gravel, which was covered in many places with oak, while in the northern end much pine was found.
By right of the discoveries of the Cabots the English claimed about all of North America, and in 1584 King James granted a patent to Sir Walter Raleigh, which embraced the provinces of New Jersey and New York, then all one and known under the name of Virginia. This grant he soon ignored, and in 1606 granted a new charter for Vir- ginia in which was included the territory now known as the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva- nia and Maryland, to the Duke of York, afterwards King of England.
By this time New Jersey and adjacent lands were claimed also by the Swedes and Dutch. Previous to this second grant of King James I, about the year 1600, Balthazer Moncheron, of Holland, and several of his associated patrons of discovery, moved by "terrors, sufferings and
14
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
failures of their explorers, abandoned the then prevailing: idea of a northwest route to India, and left this question to. the English and Danes for settlement." But the works. they had done acted as a sprouting seed, out of which came- the Dutch East India Company's determination to make an exploring move. The notion got into the heads of its offi- cers, and against the advice of Moncheron, the Amsterdam directors became jealous of Denmark and England, and de -- cided to seek the route. Having received seventy-five per- centum dividend on their stock, they could easily afford the venture. "De Halve Maan" (Half Moon), of forty last: or eighty tons, with two masts, was fitted out for an arctic: voyage. Sir Henry Hudson, an Englishman, who had already made two voyages to the new world in search of the self-same passage, was tired of by his own country, and happened to be in Amsterdam at the time. It was no» trouble for this powerful monopoly, the East India Com- pany, to secure the services of Hudson, whose surname was afterward changed to Hendrick. He was given charge of the ship, assisted by an under skipper and twenty men- Robert Juet was made Hudson's clerk and became historian of the voyage. On the fourth of April. 1609, he set out for the northern coast of Norway. He sailed northward until icebergs drove him to turn the prow of his ship to the south. In July he reached Newfoundland and later he explored' the coast of Maine, and in August he found himself in the Chesapeake Bay. Sailing northward, on the 28th of the. month, he entered Delaware Bay, which was called South Bay by the Dutch, and when barely escaping shipwreck ran the Half Moon inside the bay and anchored around the. point of the Cape, probably opposite Town Bank. He. spent a day in exploring about the Cape. Vander Donk says in his account, "The bay of the South river was the first place of which the men of the Halve Maan took pos- session, before any Christian had been there." No settle- ment was attempted by Hudson's crew. They sailed up. along the bay side of the county for some distance, but en- countering flats, which are common there to this day, turned back, and Vander Donk reports "finding the water shoal,. and the channel impeded by bars of sand, he did not ven-
15
THE INDIANS AND THE DUTCH EXPLORERS.
ture to explore it." The craft then sailed north and into- North river, which has since taken the name of its explorer,. Hudson.
Hudson's explorations, with others, created a desire. among the tradesmen of the Netherlands to seek more business, and in answer to the petition of a number of mer- chants a general edict was issued by the States-General of Holland on March 27th, 1614, for the encouragement of discovery and promotion and protection of an aborginal trade. The States-General enacted that the discoverers of "any new courses, havens, countries or places," should have "the exclusive privilege of resorting to and frequenting the same for four voyages," and all intruders were to be pun- ished by a fine and a confiscation of their property. A num- ber of merchants, principally of Amsterdam, formed a com- pany for the making of discoveries and to accept the benefit of the edict. They fitted out five vessels to follow in the wake of Hendrick Hudson, with Manhattan Island (now New York) as their objective point, from which to begin their operations. One of these crafts was named the "For- tune," and sailed from Hoorn, a port in Northern Holland, with Cornelius Jacobsen Mey as navigator. Another of the five, also called the "Fortune," was in care of Com- mander Hendrick Christiansen. The "Tiger," another, was navigated by Captain Aariaen Block. They made a few discoveries and gave up their work.
The natural successors of this company was the Dutch West India Company, which was formed in Holland in 1621. The States-General granted the Dutch West India Company a charter in 1622, by which the company was. given possession of the whole of the domain of New Jer -. sey. On the 21st of June of the year following it secured: the assent of the States-General to its prepared articles of internal government for its colony. Three ships were fitted out and a party of settlers made up, and all given into the charge of Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey. He sailed in. the "Blyde Broodschap" (Glad Tidings), well provided with the means of subsistence and with articles of trade. Mey was styled the First Director of New Netherlands. He reached Manhattan Island in May, 1623, and then pro-
16
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
ceeded to examine the coast where Hendrick Hudson had preceded him fourteen years earlier. Mey encountered the French, who had attempted to take possession, and repulsed them, and a second time he met the French, who had re- newed the attempt to take possession of "Zuyt Baai" (Dela- ware Bay). We are told that the French were driven off by the Dutch settlers and traders.
About four years previous to this Cornelius Hendrick- sen, in the "Onrest," had been at Cape May and left a look- out there.
It was during this voyage in 1623, to Delaware Bay, that iCaptain Mey gave to the Cape his name, and christened it Cape Mey, by which name it has ever since been known. He explored the bay, which was called "Zuydt" by the Dutch, while by the English "Delaware," and the Indians "Pontaxit," and river, and at length built a fort at Techaa- cho, upon a stream called by the natives Sassachon. This stream is now called Timber Creek and empties into the Delaware a few miles below Camden. He called it Fort Nassau, and this may really be called the first attempt of a settlement on the eastern shore of the Delaware river. Cap- tain Mey announced to his home company the discovery of "certain new populous and fruitful lands, along Zuydt Riviere." He explored the Atlantic coast as far north as Cape Cod. He named the bay of New York "Port Mey;" the Delaware, "New Port Mey;" its north cape, "Cape Mey." and its south cape. "Cape Cornelius." Only one of his designations has been handed down to posterity, and that has undergone some change in its orthography; the "e" being changed to "a." The Delaware river was known at this time under various names, some of which were South, Nassau, Prince Kendrick's, and Charles'.
The West India Company, after the reports received from Mey, endeavored, by the offer of many advantages, to in duce others to engage with them. They granted charters to individuals, subject only to Indian claims. Some pur- chased through agents lands on both sides of the river. When Captain Mey returned to Holland he left at Manhat- tan Island several families, sailors and men to explore and settle on the South river.
17
THE INDIANS AND THE DUTCH EXPLORERS.
Upon the voyages and discoveries of Hudson and Mey the name of New Netherlands was applied to all the coun- try lying on the coast between Cape Cod and Cape Hen- lopen, which claim was disputed by France and Great Britain.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.