USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 21
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Captain S. H. Smith, a son of John and Sallie (Hendrickson) Smith, was born near Milford, in Kent county, Delaware, as were his father and grandfather, the parents of the latter being among the earliest settlers in Sussex county, Delaware. John Smith was a farmer of some pretensions in that state, not content to follow the beaten track of common usage in his chosen field of work, and in consequence was a benefactor to the farming community in that he introduced many new ideas that proved of great value. He was a Whig and later a Republican, as those parties came nearer to meet- ing his ideas of right. He was a member of the great Methodist church and lived a truly Christian life. His union with Miss Sallie Hendrickson was honored by the birth of six children,-Mary Thompson, James, Elizabeth, Edward, Charles and our subject. He died in his eighty-third year, in Febru- ary, 1893, and his wife at the age of forty-five years.
Captain S. H. Smith was educated in a school kept up by the Baptist denomination in Delaware and then engaged in farming on his father's farm in Kent county. After devoting a few years to this industry he turned his attention to boating and was the captain of a number of vessels plying be- tween Delaware ports and New York. This life suited him and he continued it for twenty years, at the same time being engaged in fishing to some extent and also carrying on his farm. In 1888 he came to this city and embarked in
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the grocery business, which he has conducted ever since at the corner of Second and Griffith streets.
Captain Smith was married January 11, 1855, and has had three children: John, who combines farming and fishing and was married to Miss Miner; Thomas, who married Miss Anna Kemper and is also a farmer and fisherman, who handles a great many oysters; and Anna, who married Thomas Draper, a farmer who operates a steam thresher. Captain Smith is a man who is re- spected and esteemed by all and freely aids in upbuilding the city's enter- prises.
JOHN WESLEY GRACE.
John Wesley Grace was born in Goshen, Cape May county, New Jersey. October 29, 1843, and is a son of Philip H. and Hannah (Hand) Grace. The father was a farmer by occupation and owned and operated a small tract of land, near Goshen. He gave his political support first to the Whig party and later to the Republican party. He was twice married. The son of the first union was Jesse S., who married Mary Carson, by whom he had five children, namely: Frank, Lydia, Janet, Lebus and Seatia. By his second wife, the mother of our subject, Mr. Grace had five children: Philip, a sea captain, married Sophia Swain, and their children are Orlando, Malachi. Allen and Coleman. Henry married Sarah Ann Mickel and their children are Laura V., Harry Carlton, Eudora and Calla. Deborah H. became the wife of John C. High and their children are Andrew, Howard, Ida, Henry Reeves. Emma is the wife of James Cresse, by whom she has two children, Lewis and Alva. John W. is the youngest of the family.
In the town of his nativity John W. Grace spent his early boyhood days, and when a youth of fourteen years, went to sea. For eighteen years he was connected with the coasting trade and served as captain of various vessels engaged in carrying coal between Philadelphia and Boston. On abandon- ing the sea he became connected with the mercantile interests in Goshen, conducting a store for twenty-two years. He also dealt in coal, grain and lumber. He is now a wholesale grain dealer and shipper, and owns and sails a vessel between Goshen Landing and Delaware Point, handling twenty-five thousand bushels of grain annually. In 1870 occurred the marriage of Mr. Grace and Miss Rebecca Morris, daughter of Joseph Morris, a sea captain of Seaville, New Jersey. Five children have been born to them, namely: Bessie; John W., Jr., who is a graduate of the Lehigh University and a civil engineer by profession, now in the employ of the United Gas & Improve- ment Company of Philadelphia; Eugene G., who is also a graduate of the
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Lehigh University in the civil engineering department and is now in the employ of the Bethlehem Iron Works of Philadelphia; Leroy T. and Hermia.
In his political affiliations Mr. Grace is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to give his time and attention to his business affairs. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, in which he has served as steward. He deserves great credit for his success in life and may truly be termed a self-made man, for since the age of fourteen years he has depended entirely upon his own efforts and is to-day numbered among the men of influence in his com- munity.
AUGUSTUS S. BARBER, JR.
This gentleman, the editor of The Constitution, at Woodbury, New Jer- sey, and treasurer of Gloucester county, is a son of Augustus S. and Mary (Sparks) Barber, and was born in this city November 13, 1848. The father was of German-English descent and was born in Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania, March 25, 1808, and there received the educational advantages usually accorded the youth of that day. He engaged in business at an early age, following mercantile pursuits, but subsequently moved to Chambersburg. Pennsylvania, where he had a position in the post-office for a number of years, under Colonel Findlay, and then went to the city of Philadelphia. where he entered the Johnson Type Foundry and learned the trade of a printer, changing his whole future career. In 1834 he came to this city and established The Constitution, one of the successful newspapers of the state, and for many years an organ of the Whigs, but later devoted to the interest of the Republican party. It was the first paper in the state, south of Trenton, to introduce steam-power printing-presses, and it still retains the name of being conducted on the most modern methods. It is highly prized as well for the high standard maintained as its pure moral influence, and is greeted with pleasure by hundreds of families.
Augustus S. Barber, Sr., was twice married, his first wife, Mary Sparks, being the mother of five children: Annie S., the wife of John L. Wentz, a resident of Salem county, this state; Mary T., who wedded Aaron M. Wil- kins, of this city; Robert W., who married Margaret A. Clark and who re- sides in Los Angeles, California; John, who died unmarried; and Augustus S., Jr. Mrs. Barber was a victim of cholera during the epidemic of that dreaded plague, in 1854, and Mr. Barber chose Susan R. Campbell for his second wife. They had two children: Susan, who died in childhood; and Helen, who died just as she was budding into womanhood. Mr. Barber died
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March 22, 1894, in the ripeness of age and the consciousness of a well spent life, deeply regretted by hosts of friends.
Augustus S. Barber, Jr., received his education in the private schools of Woodbury and then entered the printing-office of his father, which afforded him a thorough course of training and enabled him to acquire a knowledge of the business. He was untiring in his efforts to keep the paper up to the high standard set for it and was useful to his father, who retired from the business in 1892, leaving the entire management to him. It is a clean, newsy sheet, neatly gotten up and ably edited, unwavering in its advocacy of the right and fearless in denouncing wrong.
The marriage of Mr. Barber to Miss Hannah Maria Chattin, a daughter of William P. and Arabella S. Chattin, was celebrated at Salem, New Jer- sey, the home of the bride, on October 10, 1875, and they have had two children: William, who died in childhood; and John, born April 22, 1878. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and in politics a stanch Republi- can. He is a past master of Florence Lodge, No. 87, F. & A. M., and a past noble grand of Woodbury Lodge, No. 54, I. O. O. F. He was elected to the office of county treasurer by the freeholders in 1896 and was re-elected in 1898. He is the secretary of the state executive committee, to which office he succeeded John Y. Foster, under Franklin Murphy, chairman, in 1898. He has filled the office of journal clerk of the state senate and is the present secretary of the senate.
CHARLES HERITAGE.
Charles Heritage, one of the leading farmers of East Greenwich town- ship, Gloucester county, was born on the 21st of November, 1830, in the township where he still resides, and is a son of Jonathan and Hannah (Atkin- son) Heritage. His paternal grandparents were Benjamin and Hannah (White) Heritage, natives of New Jersey and of English ancestry. Jonathan Heritage was born in Woolwich township, March 21, 1793, and in 1829 took up his res- idence upon the farm now occupied by his grandson, Walter, in East Green- wich township. There he made his home until his death, which occurred November 20, 1869. His wife, who was born in 1799, was called to her final rest on the 15th of February, 1871. Their children were: Charles; Benja- min, John and George, who reside in Mickleton; and Elizabeth, who makes her home with her brother Benjamin.
Charles Heritage, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the Friends' school at Mickleton and assisted his father in the work of the home farm until 1854, when he purchased his present farm of one hundred
Chas. Heritage
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and twenty-three acres, and was actively connected with the cultivation of that property until 1886, since which time it has been under the management of his son-in-law, Howard J. Rulon.
On the 6th of April, 1854, Mr. Heritage was united in marriage to Miss Martha R. Borton, a daughter of Aaron Borton, who resided in Salem county for many years and died near Mullica Hill, Gloucester county, in August, 1888. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Heritage, as fol- lows: Walter and Albert, who are well known residents of Gloucester county; Clara B., who died at the age of twenty-one years; John C., who carries on farming near Mickleton; Richard B., a sheep farmer of Wyoming, who mar- ried Martha Boston, of Illinois, and has a son, Walter Raymond; Esther L., who is the wife of Howard J. Rulon, and has a daughter, Mary H .; Mary, who died at the age of three years; and Howard J., who died at the age of four years.
Mr. Heritage and his family hold membership in the Society of Friends and are people of high respectability, enjoying the warm regard of all with whom they have have been brought in contact. Mr. Heritage is a charter member of the Mickleton Grange and served as its treasurer from 1893 until 1898. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, ever earnest in the advocacy of the principles of the party, yet has never been an aspirant for the honors and emoluments of office. His time and attention have been given to his busi- ness affairs, and his capability and unflagging industry brought to him creditable success. He is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil. He takes a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of Gloucester county and is justly accorded a place among her repre- sentative men.
BRADWAY FAMILY.
Edward Bradway, living in the parish of St. Paul, Shadwell, in London, transported himself, with his wife Mary and two children, Mary and Susanna Bradway and their three servants,-that is to say, William Groome. Francis Buckell and John Alim,-in the third month in the year, according to the English account, 1677, into America, on board ship Kent, Gregory Marloe master, who all arrived in the province of West New Jersey the seventh month following, and so to the place New Salem, where they did inhabit, and had the following children: Mary, Susanna (William not mentioned as coming with the family), Sarah (born the 27th of the seventh month, 1677). and Hannah, born the 14th of the seventh month, 1681. As the Kent was leaving the Thames, King Charles the 2d, on his pleasure barge, came along-
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side and asked whither they were going, and on being told they were Quakers going to America he gave them his blessing.
Before coming to this country Edward Bradway purchased one thousand acres of land and a town lot of Fenwick, said lot containing sixteen acres, commencing near the public wharf at the creek and running up the street a certain distance, and from the line of said street a northerly course to Fen- wick creek. (See deed bearing date of June 6, 1680, Salem Surveys, book 5. page 311, Trenton, N. J.) In the year 1691 Edward Bradway built on his town lot a large brick house, which is still standing, for size and appear- ance surpassing any house built prior to that date, and for many years after- ward in Salem. The governor of this state resided in this house some time after the death of Edward Bradway: hence it went under the name of the governor's house for many years afterward. It was also called the Light- house, because in earlier times lanterns were displayed from a pole on the roof to guide navigators in the creek. Edward and Mary Bradway deeded their house and town lot of sixteen acres to their daughter, Mary Cooper, a widow, the deed bearing date of January 16, 1693. (Salem Surveys, book 5, page 288, Trenton, N. J.)
In 1693 the town of Salem was incorporated into a borough, and the authorities of the town changed the name of Wharf street to Bradway street, in honor of Edward Bradway. He was a prominent member of the Friends' meeting in early times, and appears in public affairs, being chosen a member of the assembly of Salem Tenth in September, 1685; signed concessions and agreement in March, 1676; was a member of assembly, Salem, in March, 1683; justice of Salem Tenth in May, 1684; commissioned to call to account Salem people who had received public goods, in May, 1684; justice of Salem Tenth, in May, 1685; and member of the assembly, September, 1685.
Edward Bradway's will, bearing date December, 1693, says: "To my wife Mary, all that tract of land I now live on, with house, orchard and all thereunto belonging, with the one hundred acres of marsh lying near the mouth of Monmouth river,-in all containing eight hundred acres,-for and during her natural life, and after her decease unto my daughters Susanna and Sarah, to be equally divided, and to my wife Mary and daughters Susanna and Sarah each one-third of my personal estate; and unto my son William the tract of land he now lives on, containing five hundred acres. To my daughter Hannah, four hundred and fifty-nine acres of land called Stowe Neck. I give and bequeath to my grandson John Cooper, son of William Cooper, of Salem Town (deceased), three hundred acres of land, mentioned by deed."
William, son of Edward and Mary Bradway, married Elizabeth Wood
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seventh month, 26, 1687, from Newton, a widow with children. In his will he mentions his last wife Patience. Sarah Bradway, daughter of William and Elizabeth Wood, his wife, was born "ye 29th of ye first mo., 1690; Edward, born 28th of ye 8th mo., 1692; William Bradway was born the 21st day of the II mo., 1695; Jonathan, born 22d of ye first mo., 1698; Elizabeth, born 16th of ye first mo., 1700." The birth of John and Mary was not given. Sarah, daughter of William and Elizabeth W. Bradway, married a man by the name of Wright, first name not given in her father's will. Their first son was Edward: the marriage and name of his wife not found. William died single. Elizabeth Bradway married Edward Keasby Ist mo., 29th, 1725. He was the son of Edward Keasby, the emigrant, and wife Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Isabella Thompson. Jonathan's first wife's name uncertain; said to have been a daughter of James Daniel, Sr., and his wife Isabel Colyer. His second wife was Susanna Oakford, married 20th Ist, 1739. Edward Bradway, son of Jonathan Bradway and Susanna, his wife, was born 31st day of 3d mo., 1741. Sarah Bradway, daughter of Jonathan and Susanna, was born 28th 7th mo., 1743. Nathan Bradway, born 15th of 2nd mo., 1746. Jonathan Bradway departed this life 3d mo., 1765, aged sixty- six years. His first wife's children were William, Rachel, Hannah and Jona- than, Jr. Susanna Bradway departed this life 28th of 12th mo., 1767.
John Bradway, of Alloway's Creek precinct, Salem county, West New Jersey, cordwainer, youngest son of William and Patience Bradway, mentions in his will bearing date June 3, 1739, his wife Mary, son John and daughter Hannah, both minors; executors, wife and son John. Probate August 25, 1739, liber 4, folio 203.
Susanna Bradway, daughter of the emigrant, was engaged to be married to John Remington but died before the marriage took place. He was one of the witnesses to her mother's will. William Hall married first Elizabeth Pyle, May 21, 1684, who died leaving three daughters,-Sarah, Elizabeth and Hannah. It has been claimed by his descendants that his second wife was Sarah Clements, but they cannot prove it. His second wife was Sarah Brad- way, a daughter of Edward and Mary Bradway, emigrants. They were mar- ried at Salem, New Jersey, 4th mo., 26, 1694. (See minutes of Friends' meeting; also a copy of the same at the rooms of the Philadelphia Historical Society, Thirteenth and Locust streets.) His mother's will, bearing date 6th mo., 8, 1696, says: "To my daughter Sarah Hall." Her sister, Susanna Bradway, died intestate. Hugh Middleton administered her estate. The paper says: "Whereas, Susanna Bradway, late of Monmouth river, co-heirs with William Bradway and Hannah, Mary Middleton and Sarah, now wife of William Hall, of Salem Towne, carpenter,"-three sufficient proofs that his
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second wife was Sarah Bradway. They had three children born to them,- William, Jr .; Clement and Nathaniel Hall. William Hall, the emigrant, died in 1713. (See his will at Trenton, N. J.) His widow, Sarah B. Hall, died in 1726. Hannah Bradway, daughter of Edward and Mary, married Joseph Stretch, from whom the Stretch family of Salem county descended, and had three sons,-Bradway, Joseph and Peter Stretch.
William Cooper, of Pyne Poynt, and Mary Bradway, daughter of Edward Bradway, of Alloway's Creek, were married in Salem Meeting 9th mo., 8th, 1682. William Cooper. Jr., lived but a few years after his marriage, dying 3d mo., 1691, in the thirty-first year of his age, leaving his wife Mary and three children-John, Hannah and Mary-to survive him. For so young a man he had acquired considerable property, consequently leaving, besides per- sonal property inventoried at £236 19s, his dwelling-house and sixteen acres of land in the town of Salem and eight hundred acres of land on Alloway's creek. Three hundred acres of the latter were given to him by his father-in- law, Edward Bradway, and these he devised to his son John; the remaining five hundred acres on Alloway's creek he purchased and devised them to his two daughters. Hannah and Mary. His dwelling-house and sixteen acres of ground he devised to his wife for life, "and after her decease to my unborn son or daughter, all unto him or her heirs forever." There is little doubt that William Cooper, Jr., died at his father's house at Cooper's Point, his will being witnessed by Samuel Spicer and Henry Wood, who lived near there.
The children of William Cooper, Jr., and Mary his wife were: John, born 9th mo., 22d. 1683: Hannah, born 6th mo., 7th, 1686, married John Mickle 9th mo., 8th, 1704, and died Ist mo., 1737; Mary, born 12th mo., 27th, 1688, married Benjamin Thackara in 1707: and Sarah, born 7th mo., 15th, 1691. John Cooper was not quite eight years old when his father died and soon be- came a member of his grandfather's family, for on 4th mo., 5th, 1695, when in his twelfth year, this indenture of apprenticeship of that date was made:
"Witnesseth that ye said John Cooper, by and with the consent of his mother and also of his own voluntary mind and will, hath put himself sarvant and after the manner of an apprentice unto ye sd. William Cooper, his said grandfather, to and with him to dwell from ye day of ye date hereof until he shall attaine to ye age of ninteen yeares, during which said tearme ye said John Cooper, his said grandfather, viz., William Cooper, well and truly shall serve his honest and lawful commandments, observe and obey everywhere, nor from the sarvice or imployment of his sd grandfather in any wise unlaw- fully absent himself by day nor yett by night, but as a true and faithful appren- tice and sarvant ought at all times to demaine and behave himself towards ye sd William Cooper, his sd grandfather, and Margaret Cooper, his grand-
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mother, during the said tearme; and the said William Cooper is to find unto ye said John Cooper, his grandchild, sufficient and convenient meate, drinke, lodgeing, washing and apparill during ye sd tearme."
He so won the confidence of his grandfather William that he made him, though but twenty-seven years old, one of his executors.
On Ist mo., 5th, 1712-13, John Cooper married Ann Clark, oldest daugh- ter of Benjamin and Annie Clark.
William and Margaret Cooper were English Friends. He was born in the year 1632, but neither the date of her birth nor the marriage is known. They lived at Coleshill, a hamlet in Hertfordshire, about twenty-nine miles north- west of London and not quite three miles from Jordan's, the burial place of Penn. It has a population of about six hundred and from its elevated posi- tion commands a view of six counties, while the beautifully wooded hills in its vicinity are celebrated. There they became convinced of the truth preached by George Fox and thence emigrated to America in the year 1679, bringing with them their five children,-William, Hannah, Joseph, James and Daniel. They attended in England the Friends' Meetings held at Thomas Elwood's house one mile from Coleshill, and at Isaac Pennington's not three miles dis- tant, and were members of Upperside Meeting of Friends, from which they received the following certificate:
"Whereas, William Cooper, of Coleshill, in ye p'rsh of Amersham and ye County of Hertford, hath signified unto us that he hath an intention if ve Lords permit to transport himself with his wife and children unto ye planta- tion of West New Jersey, and hath desired a testimonial from this Meeting for ye satisfaction of Friends there or elsewhere unto whom he may be out- wardly unknown."
William Cooper located a survey of eighty acres "within the town bounds of Burlington," the return of the survey being dated October, 1, 1680. In the spring of 1681 they determined to move further down the river and selected the highland at the mouth of Asoroches river, the Indian name for Cooper's Creek, where a dense pine forest then grew, from which William Cooper named the place, Pyne Poynte. Here William Cooper located three hundred acres of land, comprising the greater part of the present First and Second wards of the city of Camden, considerable parts of which still (in 1896) belong to his descendants, in the direct line, who hold their title by descent and devise, without a deed having been made since the first location of the land. He built his house near the edge of the bluff, on a site long since washed into the river by the inroads of the tide. Upon this tract a tribe of Indians, whose chief was Arasapha, had a village and kept up a constant intercourse by canoes with the opposite Indian village of Shackamaxon.
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Recognizing their right to the soil, William Cooper purchased it from them also, and received from them a deed signed by Talacca, their resident chief, and witnessed by several of their tribe.
William Kenton and Mary Cooper were married IIth mo., 30th, 1692. He lived but a short time after marriage. In his will, bearing date 8th day of December, 1693, recorded 23d of April, 1694, is the following:
"Late of the province of Maryland, now of Salem Towne, I will my Estate, viz., lands, Goods & Chattels belonging unto me in the province of Maryland, to be sold for the payment of my debts. I give and bequeath unto my 2 sons William and John Kenton all that tract of land and plantation lately purchased of John Worledge when they attain the age of one & twenty years. To my wife Mary Kenton, the rest and residue of my estate, both real & personal. I appoint my wife Mary and friend Richard Darkin, of Salem Co., and John Pitts of Maryland, to be my executors."
Hugh Middleton and Mary Kenton were married October 26, 1694. He was a resident of Mannington. His will, bearing date January 19, 1713. mentions his son John, daughter Mary, and daughter-in-law Sarah Hurley. It contains the following provisions: "To my son I give that plantation or farm whereon I now dwell called Bariton Fields, containing eight hundred acres of land. To my daughter Mary Middleton, one hundred and fourteen acres of land lying on the north side of Halltown creek, adjoining the land of John Pledger, of whom the land was formerly bought, together with ye half part of a gristmill now erecting upon ye premises in partnership between myself and John Van Mater. To my daughter Mary I give my silver tankard. also one feather bed, clothes, curtains, and other furniture thereonto belong- ings being in ye great roome of my dwelling-house."
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