USA > New Jersey > Camden County > Lawnside > A true story of Lawnside, N.J. > Part 3
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Superintendents of Mt. Pisgah Sunday School :
Peter Mott
(Not in routine) Spencer C. Moore
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William Polk John Goodwin Peter S. Smiley John Jackson William H. Polk
J. Howard Jackson George Thomas Peter Jackson James Cocper Charles Gibson
Superintendents of Mt. Zion Sunday School :
(Not in routine)
William Monroe
Haman B. Ward
Edward J. Miller
Thaddeus Miller
Henry D. Wilson
G. M. Landin
Albert C. Callis
John H. Brown
King J. Still
Ephraim J. Still
Harrison Cornelius
Charles C. Smiley
Aaron Sadler
Horace J. Bryant
William M. Williams
Alvin Miller
Laurence Landin
Albert Johnson
Superintendents of Grace Temple Baptist Sunday School :
Lester Watkins William H. Bennett
Public School teachers who taught at Lawnside:
(Not in routine)
Samuel Sharpe
Charles Beemer
Alfred Laurence
Anna Robinson White
John Blake
Miss Chew
Mary Boyer Jackson
Anna Borican
Mary Anderson
Tamson Pierce Miller
Edward J. Miller
Miss Peyton
George Miller
Miss Davis
Mary A. Gross
Mr. Harris
William Longfellow
Jennie Barbosa
Ellen Blake
Helen Brooks
Mr. Randolph
Mrs. Hamilton
John Jackson
Horace Owens
Emma Meritt Jackson
Ephraim Still
Katie Butler
Joseph Jackson
Mary Parker
Anna Miller Johnson
Annie Miller Bryant
Laura Williams Wright
Charles Moore
Henrietta Faucett
PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS, 1921-1922. Supervising Principal Mr. J. Howard Johnson Barrington, N. J.
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Principal Samuel A. Allen Lawnside, N. J.
First Grade Marie H. Trulear 14+ N. Redfield St. Phila., Pa.
Second Grade Bertha Payne Stubbs Lawnside, N. J.
Third Grade Helen V. Branche 727 Walnut St. Camden, N. J.
Fourth Grade Bertha E. Manigault Magnolia, N. J.
Fifth and Sixth Grade Celestine L. Truitt 1809 Fitzwater St. Phila., Pa.
Our folks who went from here to teach public schools :
John H. Jackson
J. Howard Jackson
Joseph Jackson
Clara L. Brown
Elizabeth Miller
Ephraim J. Still
Henrietta Faucett
Our Deacons and Local Preachers :
Ebenezer Mann
Joseph Butler
Peter Mott
Charles Davis
Edward J. Miller
John H. Jackson
John Brown
William M. Williams, Sr.
William P. Gibson
George Bodely
Stephen Thomas
William M. Williams, Jr.
Charles Faucett
Amos Still
Charles Authur
William Bowman
Gilbert Shaw
William A. Moore
Deaconesses :
Mary B. Jackson
Elizabeth Thomas
Sarah Faucett Julia Ward
Emerline Jackson
Sunday School or Church Choristers:
Joseph Jackson James Farmer
John C. Farmer James Cooper
George Thomas
Charles Gibson
William H. Benson
Horace J. Bryant
Vocal or Instrumental Music Teachers:
Aaron Byard William Byard George H. Lewis John Goodwin Phoebe Adams
Ella Miller George Thomas James Farmer John C. Farmer Lottie Harvey
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Anna Miller
Annetta Miller
Leah Miller
Laura Anderson Morris Bella Hodges
Erma Clay Edw. Walton
Clara A. Brown
BUSINESS.
Most of our folks find occupation in agricultural pursuits, but some have gone into other professions. Let us name a few :
COUNTRY STORE ( These persons used the same site)
Charles Watkins
Peter S. Smiley
Jacob Nutter
Anna Piner
Littleton Williams
George Gross
Josiah Still
W. Williams
Levic Anderson
Ethel Roberts
G. Gross
COUNTRY STORES (On different sites)
Callis & Brown Sewell Hodges
Laurence Landin Walter P. Still
Mary McDonald SHOPS
Ellen Blake
Shedrick Selby
Mary A. Sadler
Jas. Walker
Jimmie Diamond
Jerry Chapman
Catherine Murphy
Chas. Still, Sr.
John Walker
Samuel Sharpe
Isaac Jackson
Isaac Williams
Andrew Beckett
Stephen Thomas
Solomon Hubert
Hannah McCauley
U. G. Hicks
Samuel Diton
STORE, GARAGE and POOL PARLOR Edgar Kenton POOL ROOM and ICE CREAM PARLOR George Morris LUNCH and ICE CREAM PARLOR Georganna Manluff
ICE CREAM PARLOR Francis A. White HOME-MADE BREAD
Hannah Williams Amy L. Smiley
Sarah J. Brown and daughter
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BASKET MAKERS
William DeGraft, I BARBERS
William DeGraft, HI
William DeGraft Samuel Diton
Charles Cooper Charles Benson
Frederick Burnett SHOEMAKERS
Wm. Loubar Josiah Still
William Cooper Wilson Morehead
Isham Lee
DOCTORS OF MEDICINE
Roscoe Moore Charles Polk
TRAINED NURSES
Mary Stewart Bryson M. P. Whittington Mrs. Le Mar JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
George Thomas
John C. Farmer
E. P. Reed
Wm. M. Williams
G. M. Landin TAILOR Thomas Rivers CATERER Samuel Perkins SNOW HILL LAUNDRY
Francis Polk, Mgr. Emerline Jackson
Mary Anderson
HOUSE PAINTERS
Bobert Williams Robert Farmer
Harrison Farmer, Bro.
INTERIOR DECORATOR William H. Sadler HORSE CLIPPERS
Walter Sadler Donald Sadler
CONTRACTORS and BUILDERS
Edward J. Miller & Sons Thad. & William Miller
Walter Miller Alvin Miller
Joseph Miller I, N. Bryant & Sons
Peter Jackson & Sons
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JOBBERS
Littleton Williams Josiah Still William M. Williams Jos. Basset & Sam'l Money Samuel Brown
CEMENT CONTRACTORS
Emmett Rice James M. Cooper
Henry Morris John C. Farmer
LAWYER John W. Parks
A number of our folks used to go to the seashore for the summer season, using the railroad to do so. The Camden and Atlantic Rail- road, chartered in New Jersey Legislature, March 19, 1852, was com- pleted. It was the first railroad to cross the State of New Jersey 1854. We went to Cooper's Point, Camden, and took a passenger freight train for economic reasons. Later the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway (narrow gauge) was chartered March 24, 1876, and ran their first train from Camden to Atlantic City July 1, 1877. It passed into the hands of receivers, and on September 20, 1883, was sold under foreclosure and reorganized with the word "Railway" in its title changed to "Railroad." It is now a part of the Reading route. The station here has been changed three times-Denton, Lawnton, Lawnside.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
Now, in concluding my story, before bringing to you the History of Lawnside, I wish to impress on you the necessity of knowing these documents of national importance. I shall not take space to write them, I shall only recommend them to you.
"Declaration of Independence" In Congress-Thursday, July 4, 1776 The Constitution of the United States of America
PREAMBLE
"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The XIII, XIV, XV and XIX affect you personally and the citizens of the United States collectively.
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XIII was ratified December 18, 1865. XIV was officially declared adopted in July, 1868. XV was finally declared adopted in March, 1870.
The Secretary of State proclaims the ratification of the XIX Amendment and certifies its validity as a part of the United States Constitution. August 28, 1920.
"the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." That is all, but to obtain it required seventy years of activity by the women.
The object in showing you the liberties exercised by our fore- parents, also their origin and development, is that you may be encouraged to greater achievements and hold sacred the memory of those who lived, worked and succeeded before your present activities began. Some we have named ; others may never be mentioned, but they helped make our present blessings possible. To them be Honor! Respect! Praise and commendation while any of their children live, and after their decease may strangers never cease to extol their virtues.
HISTORY.
Prior to 1492 the learned people thought this world was square and if you went beyond the horizon you would fall off into the unknown.
There lived a man named Christopher Columbus, who believed the world to be round and by sailing west ships could reach India by a much shorter route than the one in use. Being an Italian, he first stated his case to Italy, but received no encouragement. He next traveled to Portugal, where he was heard but considered crazy. Finally he came to Spain, and the Queen Isabella, of Castile, became interested, pawned some of her jewelry and fitted up three ships for this adventure. Columbus started from Palos, in Southwestern Spain, August 3, 1492, and was 70 days at sea. On October 12, 1492, he discovered Guanahani, or Cat Island, which he named San Salvador (Holy Saviour) and took possession of in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Spain. Supposing he had only discovered the coast of India, he called the people "Indians," a name ever since very inappropriately applied to the early inhabitants of the Western Continent. But Christopher Columbus did not know he had discovered a new world.
Another mariner sailed in 1497-1498 and explored the eastern coast of South America. He published a description of that vast continent, with maps, and in the honor of Amerigo Vespucius, a Florentine navi- gator, this new world was named America.
The first permanent English settlement made in America was Jamestown, Va., 1607.
A Dutch man-of-war came into the James River in 1619 and sold at Jamestown 20 negroes as slaves to the Colonists.
England, Holland and Sweden each had a part in the discovery and colonization of New Jersey. The English claim of New Jersey
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grew out of voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot, in 1497-1498. Hol- land claimed Henry Hudson, on August 28, 1609, entered the mouth of the Delaware River, Zuydt (South) River and then sailed around to New York Bay and entered on the Hudson (North) River. The Swedes settled in what is now Swedesboro, Gloucester County.
When New Netherlands was conquered by the English in 1664 the territory between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers was granted to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, named the province of New Jersey. Philip Carteret was the first governor. Lord John Berkeley, in 1674, sold his interest in New Jersey to some of the "Society of Friends," called "Quakers," who founded Salem. In 1676 the province was divided, the Quakers obtaining Western New Jersey and Carteret receiving Eastern New Jersey. In 1682 William Penn and others purchased Eastern New Jersey from the Carteret heirs and made Robert Barclay governor.
King James II, in 1688, made Andros governor of the Jerseys, which marked the beginning of confusion until 1702, when East and West New Jersey were united as one royal province under the governor of New York. But, having its own legislature, New Jersey was entirely separated from New York in 1738 and Lewis Morris became governor.
New Jersey, with the other English colonies, acknowledged the allegiance which the Colonists owed to the Crown of Great Britain, and, through the grant of "Magna Charta," they lay claim to all the inherent rights and liberties of natural born subjects within the Kingdom of Great Britain.
"The Declaration of Rights," dated October 19, 1765, earnestly demanded that the Stamp Act and other obnoxious Parlimentary statutes should be repealed at once. This was not favorably received in England.
From March 5, 1770, when Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave, the noble and fearless leader of a crowd of citizens of Boston, Mass., was shot down, the first to die for American liberty ( there were three others who fell in this attack-Caldwell, Gray and Maverick-known in his- tory as the Boston Massacre) until November 30, 1782, at the peace of Versailles, when Great Britain acknowledged the Independence of the United States of North America, the Colonists fought for Inde- pendence.
Now we have continent, country and state. Next we will consider county, township and village.
At a meeting held at Arwamas (Gloucester Point) the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of the third and fourth tenths, on the twenty-sixth day of May, 1686, during the administration of Governor Samuel Jennings, after discussion and deliberation, adopted a consti- tution for the government of the territory between Pensauken Creek and Oldmans Creek, which they gave the name Gloucster County. An act of legislature was proposed to form a new county, in 1844, of the townships Camden, Waterford, Newton, Union, Delaware, Glou- cester and Washington, of the old Gloucester County. Camden County was formed 1846 and Camden is County seat.
By legislative enactment, November 15, 1831, the township in
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Gloucester County known as "Union" was formed. The people of this territory were in Union Township 2+ years ( until March 6, 1855) when Centre Township was created, bounded on north by Haddon Township, northeast by Delaware Township, east by South Gloucester Township, southwest by Deptford Township, Gloucester County (being separated therefrom by Great Timber Creek), and on the west by City of Gloucester. The first annual town meeting was held at Mt. Ephraim March 14, 1855.
Lawnside is situated on the tract of land known as the Dublin colony, on the third or Irish tenth, Western New Jersey. It was pur- chased of Edward Byllynge, of London, England, in 1677 by Francis Collins. Surveyed October, 1682.
The date of the original settlement here is not known. Many events I have given in my story antedate the name of this village, showing a very active early settlement. I have used the name because the people must have a name to thoroughly understand a situation.
Mr. Ralph Smith, an abolitionist living in Haddonfield, N. J., purchased a tract of land about 1840. He had Mr. William Watson survey it and lay it out in lots. These lots were sold cheap to colored people. This was the beginning of the village of Free Haven, whose streets (original) are named after the early settlers. Inducements were made to get the colored people to buy and develop the town. Mr. Jacob C. White, of Philadelphia, Pa., a colored dentist, became greatly interested in the early development of Free Haven; he bought ground and enlarged on the original plan of the village. This village on Octo- ber 18, 1921, registered 606 legal voters for the fall election November 8, 1921, second precinct, Centre Township.
I have not told you all I know of Lawnside, but I will stop for a while, as I have discovered a great debt you owe. When I tell it, it will be a secret no longer. You are in the middle of it --
Love your country Admire your state Commend your county Adore your home Be affectionate to your family
Be kind to your neighbor is the debt every citizen owes
Our Father which art in Heaven, and our Uncle Sam, which is U. S. A.
THEORY.
My theory on the origin of the settlement called Snow Hill, Free Haven, and lastly, Lawnside, is that it was formed by slaves that were liberated by "Friends."
The Friends owned Western New Jersey from March, 1673.
The Friends are known to be slave abolitionists in the U. S. A. history.
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The secrecy of origin and of the unnamed settlement was meant for safety.
SNOW HILL, FREE HAVEN, LAWNSIDE. HISTORICAL CLAIMS.
1-A part of John Hillman estate and tavern, 1697-1720.
2-The oldest Methodist Church in Camden County, organized 1797; first meeting house, built 1808.
3-The first church to be built on the White Horse Pike (1828).
4-The first town where all the churches (3) work in unison, holding union meetings. ; all the Sunday Schools going on excursions same time and place, August 5, 1921; giving picnic and annual treat, September 1, 1921; the church officials holding joint week meet- ings.
5-The oldest colored town in New Jersey, probably dating back to early liberated slaves of Friends of this section.
6-The oldest school building built for colored children (1848) in Camden County.
7-A higher average of old lodges working than any town our size in Camden County.
8-The first post office in New Jersey to have four colored postmasters. 9-The first fire hall in Camden County to be built by colored people (1917).
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