USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 2
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The establishment of this institution was due to Rev. Dr. Samuel Beach Jones, who for twenty-four years was the pastor of the First Presbyterian church here. When he first proposed this enterprise to the presbytery of West Jersey, in April, 1850, no gifts were in prospect, and the first sub- scriptions were small. the largest being one thousand dollars, heading the list, opposite the name of Dr. William Elmer; and the institution has ever since been maintained without endowments or even legacies. It has there- fore been somewhat dependent upon the liberality of friends, the tuition fees not being sufficient to sustain it as it should have been. In keeping with the spirit of the times, the peculiar religious doctrines of the Presbyterian denomination are not pressed upon the pupils, even in the most indirect manner.
Recurring to the structure, we may state that the corner-stone was laid for it on the 9th day of August, 1852, and many churches responded to the request to furnish a room. The building is constructed of brown stone and lately a wing has been added, besides a commodious gymnasium on the lot adjoining on the west side of the grounds. From the cupola the bay may be seen and a fine view of the surounding country enjoyed. The lot for the original structure was purchased at a cost of $1,625.50, and the incorpora- tion of the board of trustees had been secured several months previously.
The principals of this academy have been Messrs. Smythe, Stevenson, Thompson, Gosman, Whitly, Diefendorf, Vaughan, Sherman, Allen and finally the present incumbent, Pheobus W. Lyon, who ranks high for gen- eral intelligence and administrative skill.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The corner-stone of the old Presbyterian church at the west end of Broad street in Bridgeton was laid July 26, 1792, and the building opened for wor-
Old Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton.
West Jersey Academy, Bridgeton.
Court House and Sheriff's Residence and Jail, Bridgeton.
The Tumbling Dam, Millville.
First Baptist Church, Millville.
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
ship May 17, 1795, by Presbyterians from Philadelphia. This house of worship was the first church erected in Bridgeton, and the congregation worshipping therein was the first religious body organized here. For three years previously the congregation had been holding religious services in the court-house, which stood in the middle of Broad street, below Franklin street.
In chronological order the first several pastors of this church were Dr. William Clarkson, 1794-1801; Jonathan Freeman, 1805-1822; Brogan Hoff, 1824-1833; and John Kennedy, 1834-1838. During this latter period, 1834- 1838, the brick Presbyterian church on North Laurel street was built; but the old historic church was still used for an occasional funeral or for mis- cellaneous occasions in which the whole town participated as late as 1846. The structure is still standing, more as a relic of the quaintness of the early period than for anything else, and it is a venerable relic, too. The sight of it ever brings up a long line of memories and sentimental reminiscences which one finds difficult to drop from his meditations. Although so old, it still retains the freshness of its pristine existence, while the surroundings are kept in appropriate repair, giving the air of ease, rest and retirement. In- ternally we behold the odd style of construction, the brick-paved aisles, the box-like pulpit at the head of a winding stairway, the high-backed pews, the windows of small panes, the seven-plate wood-stoves made of South Jersey bog iron, and the peculiar designs on the plastered wall.
The adjoining grave-yard, characteristic of its day, seems to share all the more reverence, on account of its features, than if finished in some neutral style. How restful all.
The hundreth anniversary of the laying of the corner-stone of this ven- erable church was celebrated on July 26, 1892. The whole day was devoted to this occasion, when numerous addresses were delivered and historical papers read, interspersed with skillfully rendered music from an orchestra. A "museum of antiquities" was improvised, which was rich with suggestions.
OLD RESIDENCE.
There is a singular fascination attaching to the ancient landmarks that still survive and point to a part that otherwise is without tangible remin- iscence. Notably are several ancient residences built early in the last cen- tury, which still retain the flavor of antiquity, and the interest of historical suggestion. The antiquarian is fond of pointing out the dwelling-house oc- cupied recently, for so long a period, of Joseph Frankling, Esq., now de- ceased, and afterward of his son. Samuel Frankling. It is perhaps the most
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
ancient of all the quaint ante-Revolutionary dwellings that now remain in Woodbury. The dwelling, formerly the residence of Samuel Mickle, later of John M. Saunders, was built in 1762. In the year following, 1763. was erected the dwelling long occupied by Michael C. and Mary R. Fisher, and later of John Paul Fisher. Passing the century mark of antiquity of nearly two-score years, were the John H. Jessup dwelling, built in 1765, and the John C. Small building, built in 1766.
Nothing retains the flavor of antiquity comparable to the residence, the dwelling-house, erected a century or centuries ago. If kept intact from modern repairs it may appear quaint and crude enough, but it reflects with unfailing certainty the spirit and even the customs and manners of ages gone by. Its historical character is unimpeachable.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY COURT-HOUSE, AND WOODBURY.
Gloucester county was laid off in 1677, and the first court-house and jail were built at Gloucester in 1694. (Benjamin F. Carter's "Woodbury and Vicinity," 1873.) It was built of logs and the first structure was sixteen feet long, twelve feet wide and eight feet high. At the next session of the court it was ordered that the dimensions be altered to twenty by sixteen feet and that there be also a "court-house over the same, of a convenient height and largeness, covered of and with cedar shingles, etc." In 1708 extensive additions were made with stone and brick substituted for logs, and three years previously a whipping-post, stocks and hand-cuffs had been ordered as a punishment for criminals. In 1786 the court-house and jail were burned and in the year following, in 1787, the present court-house in Woodbury was built. The land was donated in 1786 by John Bispham and accepted for the county by Joseph Reeves, James Wilkins and John Wilkins, who were appointed a committee to take the deed. The committee to build the court- house were John Jessup, Samuel Hugg and James Brown. The surrogate's office was built in 1799, and the clerk's office in 1820.
The soldiers' monument situated in the court-house square, commem- orates the patriotism and bravery of the loyal sons of the county who fell in the civil war. It was erected by the county and dedicated May 30. 1867. The committee who had the monument in charge were R. K. Matlock, S. J. Bayard and B. F. Carter, appointed by the citizens; and Daniel J. Packer, Isaac C. Dilks and Isaac H. Lippincott, appointed by the board of free- holders. Michael Reiley executed the work, at a cost of four thousand and fifty dollars. Of the two hundred and thirteen names inscribed on the monti- ment, the oldest was that of Andrew J. Peck, sixty-two years: the youngest
Court House and Monument, Woodbury. Methodist Episcopal Church, Woodbury.
Whitney Glass Works, Glassboro: established 1775.
Trinity Episcopal Church, Swedesboro: built 1741. Headquarters of Lord Cornwallis during the winter of 1777.
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
that of William Waddell Ladd, sixteen years of age. The names of officers commemorated are: Brigadier-Generals Joshua B. Howell, George D. Bay- ard and Charles G. Harker; Captain Edward Carlyle Norris; and Lieuten- ants James S. Stratton, Joseph H. Johnson, Mark H. Roberts and Joseph Pierson.
THE GLOUCESTER COUNTY ALMSHOUSE.
The Gloucester county almshouse, located in Greenwich township, near Clarksboro, occupies the middle of a farm of one hundred and seventy-nine acres. A stream of water, Edward's creek, in which the tide regularly ebbs and flows, passes through its environments. The main edifice is a three- story brick structure with extensive wings, and is of modern style. Rooms open on either side, with spacious halls traversing the entire length of the house, and each is supplied with pure water from a large reservoir forcing the supply abundantly to the third story. The water supply is a spring from a solid rock formation. A two-story stone asylum near the house provides for the management of inmates in need of more especial care.
The title to the land of the almshouse can be traced back through King Charles II to James, Duke of York, A. D. 1663; the succession of the titles is interesting: James conveyed to John, Lord Berkley, and Sir George Cart- eret, all New Jersey. Lord Berkley, who took the western division, con- veyed in 1675 to John Fenwick, in trust for Edward Byllinges. Byllinges conveyed a part lying on Edward's creek to John Clark; John Clark, Jr., his heir, in London, conveyed the same to Benjamin Alford, of New-England in America. His heir, John Alford, in 1720 conveyed five hundred acres to Robert Gerard. His executors in 1750 conveyed to Thomas Gerard, who the same year conveyed to John Wood, who in 1756 conveyed to William Gerard, who the same year conveyed to Daniel Lippincott. It then trav- ersed back and forth in the Lippincott family until in 1841 or after, when Elizabeth Lippincott conveyed one hundred and seventy-nine and one hun- dreth acres to the county of Gloucester.
The Lippincott family grave-yard is reserved on the premises, adjoining which the almshouse burying ground is laid out, the native pines and cedars thereon being preserved.
THE WHITNEY GLASS WORKS.
The history of the Whitney Glass Works dates back to the year 1775. when a family by the name of Stanger. who had come over from Germany in 1770 and settled at Alloway's Creek, Salem county, removed to what
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
is now Glassboro and there built a small furnace on a tract of land purchased from one Archibald Muffett. The Stanger Brothers operated their factory until 1780, when, owing to the depreciation of the continental currency, they' failed and were cast into the debtor's prison at Gloucester City, then the county seat of Gloucester county.
At the sheriff's sale which followed the failure of the Stangers the prop- erty was bought in by Colonel Thomas Heston, of Hestonville (now a part of Philadelphia), who had become a frequent visitor at Glassboro owing to the meets of the famous Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, of which he was an active member, being held in the vicinity, and Edward Carpenter. Indeed it was Colonel Heston who suggested that the settlement then known as Heston's Glass Works be called Glassboro, as a tribute to its principal indus- try; and it was through him that the Whitneys obtained their interest in the business, which has continued without interruption to the present day. It is also interesting to note that Colonel Heston obtained the release of the Stanger Brothers from prison and that afterward they were employed in the very factory they themselves had established.
Under the management of Messrs. Heston and Carpenter the works were gradually enlarged and improved, and the manufacture of window glass was introduced. At this time, owing to the lack of railroad facilities, all the glass was hauled by teams to what is now known as Mantua, at that time called Carpenter's Landing, and from there forwarded to Philadelphia in small sloops and flat-boats. Colonel Heston died in 1802, and shortly afterward his widow disposed of the interest in the glass-works which had fallen to her to young Mr. Carpenter, whose father had been connected in the business with Colonel Heston.
In 1806 Eben Whitney, Esq., of Castine, Maine, while on a voyage from the island of Madeira to Philadelphia, was wrecked off Cape May, New Jer- sey. He was many months engaged in saving cargo and repairing his vessel, and during the frequent journeys which were obliged to be made between Cape May and Philadelphia he became acquainted with Miss Heston, the daughter of Colonel Heston, whom he married on August 27, 1807. After his marriage Eben Whitney settled at Glassboro and there his sons Thomas H. and Samuel A. were born, and these two brothers were identified with the business their grandfather had helped to establish, for a period of nearly fifty years.
In 1813 a new factory was erected in Glassboro, upon a site south of the original plant, which was first known as the Harmony Glass Works; and about the year 1824 the original plant built by Stanger Brothers was aban- doned and the business united with that of the Harmony Glass Works. In
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
1835 Thomas H. Whitney purchased a one-third interest in the business and two years later acquired the entire works and continued the sole owner of them until 1840, when his brother, Samuel A. Whitney, bought a half interest in them. In 1842 the name of the plant was changed from the Harmony Glass Works to the Whitney Glass Company, and the same year the Stanger Glass Works at South Glassboro or Temperanceville were added to the Whit- ney interests, and they were operated under the firm name of Whitney Brothers until 1887.
In 1882, Thomas H. Whitney having died and Samuel A. Whitney hav- ing retired from the active management of the company, John P. Whitney, a son of Thomas H. Whitney, and Thomas W. Synnott, a nephew, continued to carry on the business as Whitney Brothers until 1887, when the business had grown to such proportions that it was deemed wise to incorporate, which was done under the' name of Whitney Glass Works, J. P. Whitney, T. W. Synnott and Eben Whitney being the first incorporators.
Since the incorporation in 1887 the business has gradually grown until now employment is furnished to over eight hundred operatives, and it is esti- mated that over sixty million bottles are produced annually. Besides the five furnaces at Glassboro the company operates a plant at Salem, New Jer- sey, and owns a plant at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, and a window-light plant at South Glassboro or Temperanceville.
The main offices of the company are at 227 South Front street, Phila- delphia, and it maintains offices also in New York and Chicago. The present officers of the company are J. P. Whitney, president; R. D. Macleod, vice- president; and C. J. Yost, secretary and treasurer.
GEORGE DUDLEY WHITNEY.
WOODBURY ACADEMY.
The old Woodbury Academy is an educational structure that for some years has passed the century mark. It was established in 1791, the struc- ture itself being erected the same year with funds raised by lottery,-a method, however, singular to the reader of to-day, that was current at the time-a notable similar instance being the endowment of Columbia Col- lege of New York city in 1746-51, by lottery funds authorized by the state legislature. The site of Woodbury Academy was the gift of Joseph Bloom- field (afterwards from 1803 to 1812 governor of the state) in trust to the following gentlemen: Rev. Andrew Hunter, Dr. Thomas Hendry, John Sparks, Benjamin Whitall, Franklin Davenport, John Blackwood and Joshua Howell, for the sole purpose of erecting an Academy thereupon. In 1820
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
a second story was added to the hitherto one-story structure and for fourteen years following it was also used as a place of worship by the Presbyterians.
The Rev. Andrew Hunter was its first teacher, and during its subsequent conspicuous history many prominent individuals received their education within its walls, including Dr. James Rush, of Philadelphia, Commodore Benjamin Cooper, and Captain James Lawrence, of "Don't give up the ship" fame. The building subsequently was used for public-school purposes. The old academy, still preserved and having on its exterior a Latin cross, is reputed to have been brought from San Domingo during the insurrection of 1789, where it had formerly been used in a convent.
THE FOUNDERS OF OCEAN CITY.
This beautiful place had its origin in the enterprising efforts of four men, namely: Hon. Simon Lake and his three sons, Revs. E. B., S. Wesley and James E. These sons were natives of the southern portion of New Jersey, their playground was on the beach and all their early associations were con- nected with that locality. Hence their work in after years, when men, were of a patriotic order, as they evinced a noble disposition in building up the interests of their native land. Thus they became factors in the upbuilding of the interests of this commonwealth. All three of the sons became efficient workers in the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, as members of the New Jersey conference.
In the course of time the attention of the sons was directed toward the establishment of a seaside resort where the sale of intoxicant liquors should not be allowed and the sacredness of the Sabbath be respected. Rev. E. B. Lake led in this enterprise, visiting a number of places along the coast, but at last found that in the scenes of his boyhood existed a point as eligible as any. He was selected by his brothers and his father to superintend the enter- prise, and in order to accomplish the work he resigned temporarily from the ministry. Having a hardy constitution from his early training, he was ade- quate to the task, and in this he was aided by his father.
OCEAN CITY ASSOCIATION.
The above is the title of a stock company formed about twenty years ago for the improvement of Ocean City, headed by Dr. W. B. Wood, of Phila- delphia, who was the first president of the association. Immediately upon organization the company began issuing stock and securing the land. The first topographical survey was made by W. Lake, February 13, 1880, and the part known as section A was staked off into avenues, streets and lots. Work
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Park and Association Ground, Ocean City, new Jersey.
Cold Spring Presbyterian Church.
View of Ocean City.
Arbury Avenue, Ocean City, showing the Central Trust Company Building.
Jail, Sheriff's Residence, County Offices and Court-house at Cape May Court House. View of the Beach, Ocean City.
-
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
was begun in earnest and pushed,-clearing, ditching and placing brush at the north of the island for the gathering of sand and thus extending the ocean front.
The first public sale of lots took place in May following. the lots selling for fifty thousand dollars each, and lots to the value of eighty-five thousand dollars were soon disposed of. The first deed was made to S. T. Champion, and another lot of land, called section B, was surveyed. A wharf one hun- dred and twenty-five feet long and seventy-two feet wide was built, at a great cost, connected with the city by a good road over the meadows. Board walks run parallel with this wharf the entire distance.
The first building erected here was the little pioneer cottage on the rear of the lot now occupied by the offices of the proprietary company. It was first used as a boarding-house for the mechanics then at work on the island, and was sometimes occupied by as many as forty men. But the first build- ing of considerable size was the Bellevue, erected by I. B. Smith, at the corner of Seventh street and Asbury avenue, at which point the first funeral services ever held on the island were conducted, on the occasion of the death of Harry McCann, a boy who was killed by falling from a cart while hauling sand.
The first hotel, the Ocean House, now Hotel Brighton, was also built by I. B. Smith. A railroad was built from Pleasantville to Somers Point and formally opened to business October 26, 1880. A steamboat was purchased to ply between Somers Point and Ocean City, thus completing connection with the general system of thoroughfares of the country. By the spring of 1881 a turnpike from Neasley's Point to Ocean City, and a bridge over Thoroughfare Sound, were completed, by a company organized for the purpose.
Rev. E. B. Lake has been the superintendent for the company from the first organization to the present time. He is endowed by nature for such a position,-as the saying is, "he is the right man in the right place." He is associated with every movement of progress in the city, being the prime mover of many of them. He has thoroughly investigated all the features, good and bad, of every point upon the New Jersey coast, and knows how to adopt the good and reject the bad.
The present officers and managers are: President, Rev. S. W. Lake: vice-president, Rev. J. B. Grew; secretary and superintendent, Rev. E. B. Lake; treasurer, Dr. G. E. Palen; directors, G. L. Horn, G. B. Langley, H. B. Howell, Rev. J. E. Lake and Rev. W. B. Wood.
II-B
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
COTTAGE HOUSES, OCEAN CITY.
No more alluring theme can be suggested to the tired worker, weary with the heat and hurry of city life, than the "cottage by the sea." It is the idea of home, peace, comfort, coziness in the midst of the royal environment of rest, all combined in a single phrase. The poet and the romancer have ever made much of the theme. The cottage homes of Ocean City constitute one of the striking features of the town. Breathing forth as they do in every delicate detail and elegant ornamentation the artistic spirit of the owner, they become every season the temporary homes of multitudes of summer so- journers who, although without a direct voice in local government, divide their home life with Ocean City. The streets and avenues lined with these cottages, with well kept lawns, luxuriant shade-trees, constitute one of the delightful features of the coast town that harmonize delightfully with the tranquil feeling engendered by old Ocean at rest. A still more alluring sentiment-a discord which is yet a harmony-springs from the contrast between the tranquil and rest-giving cottage, and old Ocean lashed into fury. Nothing in story or song has ever adequately portrayed the delights of these ideal homes of the shore.
The first cottage erected, the "pioneer cottage," stood at the rear of the present Association office. The entire cottage feature has sprung into ex- istence since 1880. In the place of sand-hills and thickets, to-day wide streets cross everywhere at right-angles. Spacious residences and picturesque cottages succeed each other, making in the height of the season, though crowded with sojourners, a perfect rest picture.
At the corner of Fifth street and West avenue is the home of Rev. E. B. Lake, one of the finest residences of the city. Other attractive residences are: The cottage of J. S. Rush, north corner of Eleventh street and Central avenue; the cottages of Rev. B. H. Sanderlin, H. G. Schultz, Dr. F. R. Graham, and Dr. Palin, on Ocean Front, besides his main dwelling. Still others are those of R. C. Robinson, of Jordan Matthews, 712 Wesley avenue; of C. Meyers; of Henry Reinhart, Eleventh street and Central avenue; the Burleigh cottages, Central avenue below Eleventh street, and the residence of S. B. Sampson.
OCEAN CITY BEACH.
This magnificent beach, at present variously appropriated by different summer resorts, comprises a delightful stretch of the New Jersey coast, some seven miles in length, of hard smooth ocean strand two hundred feet wide
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
along the ocean margin of an island. It was formerly known as Peck's Beach and is located sixty miles southwest of Philadelphia, ten miles south of Atlantic City, and thirty miles north of Cape May. The healing breath of the climate and the health-giving waters of the surf allure vast throngs of patrons to its delights from the earliest opening to the close of the season.
It lies on the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude. "Near this parallel," observes a writer, "are the Azores islands, noted for their equable climate; the Balearic islands of the Mediterranean sea; southern Italy, with vineyards and orange groves bearing fruit in the winter; the Ionian isles; Arabia, the land of dates, pearlin and tamarind; the central belt of the Flowery King- dom; and the Yosemite valley of California. Surf bathing here can be in- dulged in with the most grateful results from the last of May or first of June till late in October. Owing to the wide-shelving strand and the absence of quicksands or dangerous ground, this luxury is permissible at either high or low tide, while the exhaustion caused by heavy breakers is never experienced. For surf-water bathing the bay affords every facility. In the heated season no more picturesque scene can be found than on the beach and in the surf at Ocean City. It is alike the Mecca of the nervous invalid and the sporting arena of robust avoirdupois." "Down to its shores," says another writer, "flock invalids, worn and weary with the burden of the body ; school children white and worn, and business men with nerves unstrung and shattered. Na- ture lays her hand upon her children and restores the waning strength to the weary body, paints the white face with the ruddy hue of health, leaves the tension and soothes into an indescribable peace and rests the overtaxed nerves."
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