USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 46
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
637
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
City, New Jersey, May 10, 1890; six years later he entered in the real estate business in that town. He has been very active in politics, and in everything which makes for the welfare of the town in which he lives. In 1897 he was appointed sealer of weights and measures of Ocean City, which office he still continues to hold. In 1904 he was elected overseer of the poor of Ocean City, and the same year was elected one of the justices of the peace, which latter office he still continues to hold. For two years he was chief of the Ocean City vol- unteer fire department, and for three years foreman of the No. I. volunteer fire company of Ocean City. He is a Republican, and is now serving a third term, and his twelfth year as commissioner of the state of Pennsylvania, in New Jersey. He attends the Presbyterian church. In secret societies and fraternal or- ganizations he has taken a prominent part. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Kalmia Tribe, No. 220, of Ocean City, of which he is past sachem, and of the Loyal Order of Moose, Lodge No. 116, At- lantic City. He is also a member of the Inter- national Fire Engineers' Association, New Jersey Fire Chiefs' Association and Keystone Fire Chiefs' Association.
Jerome Samuel Rush married, April 21, 1887, Mary Cottingham, second daughter of the Rev. Edward Townsend, a Methodist min- ister, whose family is one of the oldest of the early pioneers of Virginia. On the maternal side she is a lineal descendant of the family of the poet, Thomas Moore, and Sir John Moore. On both sides her patriot ancestry give her a right to membership in the organizations of the Daughters of the Revolution and the Colonial Dames. A son born of this marriage died in infancy.
In 1681 William Penn ob- TOWNSEND tained from the Crown a grant of the immense ter- ritory now embraced in the state of Pennsyl- vania, in lieu of a monetary claim against the Crown for sixteen thousand pounds left to him by his father, Admiral Sir William Penn, on his death in September, 1670. Had Penn been allowed his own way, he would have called the territory Sylvania, by reason of its beautiful forests, but the King, Charles II, good hu- moredly insisted on the prefix of Penn, hence Pennsylvania. Penn's great project was to establish a home for his co-religionists in the New World where they might freely preach and practice their convictions unmolested.
Penn, with several of his most intimate friends, leaders of the sect in England, em- barked on the ship "Welcome" September I, 1682, and landed on the west bank of the Dela- ware river at New Castle, Delaware, Octo- ber 24, 1682, and was received by the members of the Society of Friends. who had preceded him and were settlers on both sides of the river, but principally in Burlington county, West Jersey. With Penn came two of his nearest friends, Richard and Robert Town- send, and they were with Penn on November 30, 1682, when the famous interview with the Indian tribes took place under the large elm tree at Sackamaxon, now Kensington, and when he planned and named the city of Phila- delphia.
Richard Townsend, born in 1644, settled at Westchester, about twenty miles west of Phila- delphia, where he built a saw and grist mill, carried on his trade of millwright, preached the Quaker doctrine, experienced the usual vicissitudes experienced in pioneer life and gained the respect of every one with whom he came in contact. He died in 1714, leaving one child, a daughter.
His brother, Joseph, came to America later with another brother, William, settled in Phila- delphia in 1712 and is the ancestor of Joseph B., Henry C. and J. William Townsend of that city. John Kirk Townsend ( 1809-1851), born in Philadelphia, was an associate of J. J. Audu- boni and assisted him in the preparation of his "American Ornithology." He also accompan- ied Thomas Nuttall on his journey west of the Mississippi river, across the Rocky mountains to the Columbia river and later visited the Sandwich Islands and South America in pur- suit of his profession. He also had charge of the ornithological department of the Smith- sonian Institution at Washington, District of Columbia, and was a member of the Philadel- phia Academy of Natural Sciences. He is of the same Quaker ancestry as is Hon. Lawrence Townsend, 1811 Walnut street, Philadelphia, United States minister to Portugal, 1897-99, and to Belgium, 1899-1905.
William Townsend, who lived in Philadel- phia, 1712-15, settled near Westchester in 1725 and advanced the cause of righteousness and peace as promulgated by the Society of Friends in that place, taking up the work un- finished by his brother, Richard. It was Rob- ert Townsend, the companion of William Penn and Richard Townsend on the ship "Wel- come," who was probably the ancestor of the Townsends of Burlington county, New Jersey.
638
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Robert Townsend, one of the four sons of Richard Townsend, of Cirencester, Gloucester- shire, England, was born probably in 1646 and sailed in 1682 on the ship "Welcome" in com- pany with William Penn and his own brother, Richard, to assist in the founding of Pennsyl- vania. He located at Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia, and the place grew rap- idly, receiving large accessions from the Quakers and other immigrants who came not only from England but largely from the Ger- man Palatinate and from Holland, hence the name, Germantown. His grandson probably lived in Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, had a wife Betsey and seven children: Jonathan, Daniel, Benjamin, Firmon, Hope, Ann, Elizabeth. He was a farmer and leading member of the Society of Friends.
(I) Firmon, fourth son and fourth child of and Betsey Townsend, was born in Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, about 1810, and was a wheelwright in Columbus, as well as a farmer and lumber- man. His position in the township as a mem- ber of the Society of Friends, as a mechanic, as a lumberman and as a useful and quiet citi- zen appears to have been universally conceded. He was an anti-slavery Whig and on the for- mation of the Republican party, which ab- sorbed the Free Soil advocates, he naturally found his political home in that party. He was married by Friends Ceremony about 1832-33, to Amy, daughter of David Taylor. Children : John B., Barclay B., Charles H.
(II) John B., eldest child of Firmon and Amy (Taylor) Townsend, was born in Colum- bus, Burlington county, New Jersey, December 31, 1834. He was a pupil in the public school of Mansfield township, was brought up on his father's farm, and was like his father an Anti-slavery Whig and on the birth of the Republican party a member of that political organization. His only public offices were those of deputy-sheriff of Burlington county, 1893-96, under appointment from his son, who was high sheriff of the county, and member of the board of township committeemen, but he did not allow his public duties to prevent his close attention to his extensive farming in- terests. He was affiliated with Columbus Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Columbus Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men ; Columbus Sub Council, Order of United American Mechanics. He married (first) October 23, 1856, Abigail, daughter of Will- iam E. and Mary Ann Atkinson, of Springfield
township. She was born September 12, 1833, died August 6, 1896. Children: I. William A. 2. Clara, married John B. Colkitt, a farmer of Mansfield township, and is now de- ceased. 3. Charles Firmon, lived on the old homestead and died there October 24, 1903. 4. Ella, married William E. Shinn. He mar- ried (second) January 24, 1897, Annie, daugh- ter of Robert G. and Mary Elizabeth Buckis.
(III) William A., eldest child of John B. and Abigail (Atkinson) Townsend, was born in Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, November 27, 1859. He was educated in the public schools near Jackson- ville, and remained on the farm with his father until he was twenty-one years of age. He then engaged in farming on his own account in Mansfield township and continued until 1893, when he was elected high sheriff of Burlington county, holding the office until No- vember, 1896. He then purchased the home- stead formerly owned by his maternal grand- father, William E. Atkinson, and engaged in farming, which line of work he followed suc- cessfully for the following eleven years, dur- ing which time in connection therewith he en- gaged in the coal and feed business in company with S. R. Ware in Columbus, New Jersey, the management of the business being conducted by Mr. Ware. In January, 1908, upon the death of Mr. Ware, Mr. Townsend removed to Columbus and purchased the interest of the widow of Mr. Ware, and is now extensively engaged in that business. He is also serving in the capacity of director in the Mt. Holly Na- tional Bank, and for the convenience of the citizens of Columbus and surrounding locali- ties Mr. Townsend conducts a private bank- ing business in that village. He has served as a member of the township committee for three years and as district clerk of the board of education for three years. He is a member of Lodge No. 117, American Mechanics' As- sociation ; Columbus Lodge, No. 101, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Mt. Holly Lodge, No. 848, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a Republican in politics.
Mr. Townsend married, January 19, 1880, Rebecca, born in Burlington county, New Jer- sey, September 4, 1861, daughter of Charles A. and Rebecca (Antram) Braddock, the former a son of Jacob Braddock, of Medford, Burlington county, and the latter a daughter of John Antram, a representative of an old fam- ily of Burlington county. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Townsend: I. Mabel, born July 31, 1881 ; married Clifford R. Bowers, of Mt.
639
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Holly, New Jersey; one child, Rhea. 2. Floyd, January 28, 1883; attended Mt. Holly high school and Trenton Business College ; now a rural mail carrier ; married Julia Poin- sett, of Columbus, New Jersey. 3. Lottie, March, 1885, died eight years of age. 4. Au- gustus, January 12, 1888; educated in the pub- lic schools and Trenton Business College ; re- ceived instruction as a taxidermist through a correspondence school at Omaha, Nebraska. 5. Clara, February 16, 1893. 6. Bessie, De- cember 28, 1896. 7. Charles Stanley, Janu- ary 16, 1900.
TOWNSEND This name has been com- mon in New Jersey and Long Island for several generations. The first of the name who at- tained prominence was Henry Townsend, who for the sake of his religion underwent many persecutions and indignities. They have almost without exception been Friends or Quakers, and held in high regard by their as- sociates, marrying generally into their own sect.
(I) William Townsend, the pioneer an- cestor of the family, came to America in 1793, landing in New York. He married and be- came the father of five children, namely : Thomas, William, John, Mary, Samuel, see forward.
(II) Samuel, youngest son of William Townsend, was born in New York. He re- moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a real estate dealer.
He married Anna, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Van Hook) Vaughan, and they were the parents of eight children, namely : George Nathaniel, Henry Burman, Thomas Vaughan, see forward, Anna, William, Sam- uel Jr., Mary Ella, Lizza.
(III) Thomas Vaughn, son of Samuel Townsend, was born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, March 4, 1840. He married, Feb- ruary 23, 1863, Jessemine Button, of Balti- more, born September 4, 1845. They are the parents of eight children, all living: I. James Vaughan, born at Baltimore, Maryland, mar- ried Hattie Martin, of Atlantic City, New Jer- sey ; they have two children: Ruth and Mar- garet. 2. Aramittie, born at Baltimore, Mary- land, married Ulric Skirven, of Baltimore, Maryland ; no children. 3. Mary Ella, born at Baltimore, Maryland, see forward. 4. Sam- uel Delmar, born at Baltimore, Maryland, mar- ried Claude Riddell, of Williamsport, Penn- sylvania; one son, Delmar. 5. Laura Jane,
born at Baltimore, Maryland, married Von Mark Kleman, of Philadelphia, Pennslyvania ; have one child, Jessamine. 6. Ida May, born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 7. Harry Burman, born . at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, married Hannah Fenton, of Atlantic City, New Jersey. 8. Walter Rogers, born at Lim- erick Square, Pennsylvania, married Elizabeth Oakley, of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
(IV) Mary Ella, daughter of Thomas Vaughan Townsend, was born at Baltimore, Maryland, June 24, 1868. She received her early education in the public schools and acad- emy of Atlantic City, New Jersey, receiving a diploma from the latter. In 1890 she en- tered the Womans Medical College of Penn- sylvania, and in 1895 graduated with degree of Doctor of Medicine. She began the gen- eral practice of her profession at Atlantic City in 1895. She frequently writes able articles for the various medical journals on some subject which has become of special interest in the course of her practice. She is a member of the American Medical Associa- tion and the Atlantic County Medical Associa- tion, and keeps abreast of the times in all mat- ters pertaining to her chosen profession. Dr. Townsend is unmarried.
The sufferings and persecu- WHITE tions of non-conformists to the Church of England during the reign of Charles II caused many British mem- bers of the Society of Friends to seek in the colonies that liberty of conscience which had been denied them in the mother country. Among those who suffered under the "Non-Conformity and Coventicle Acts" of that reign were Thomas White, of Cumrew, county of Cumberland, and Christopher White, his son, then of Lon- don.
(I) Christopher White was born at Cum- rew, Cumberland county, England, in 1642, removed to London in 1666, and in 1668 mar- ried Hester Biddle, born at Poplar, in Step- ney parish, nigh London, whose father was John Wieat. In 1677 Christopher White, his wife, their two children and two servants, sailed for America in the ship "Kent," and landed at Salem, New Jersey, June 23 of that year. Like several other immigrants, he pur- chased one town lot in Salem with one thou- sand acres of farm lands before leaving Eng- land. He continued to live at Salem until 1682, and then took possession of his allot- ment of land at Alloways creek. In 1690 he built a large brick house on his property, and
640
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
the king's highway from Salem to Cohansey ran through his lands. There is a tradition in the family that he sent to England for archi- tectural plans from which his house was built, and also that the bricks used in its construction were imported. Christopher White died about the year 1693. He appears to have been an ener- getic man of high moral character, and those traits were transmitted to his descendants for several generations after him. He left a widow Hester and five children: Hester, Thomas, Sarah, Josiah and Joseph.
(II) Josiah, son of Christopher White, was born in England, 7mo 13, 1675, and lived on the farm previously owned by his father at Alloways creek, where he died May I, 1713, leaving his landed estate to his son Josiah. He married, when about twenty-three, Hannah, daughter of Joseph Powell, and by her had five children: 1. Christopher, born 23 6mo. 1699, died before attaining his majority. 2. Josiah, mentioned in succeeding paragraph. 3. Hes- ter, born 1707. 4. Hannah, born at Alloways creek, 1710. 5. Abigail, born 1713.
(III) Josiah (2), son of Josiah (I) and Hannah White, was born 6 mo., 21, 1705, and died 5 mo., 12, 1780. He was a man of marked enterprise, and it was he who built the dam across Alloways creek and put a sufficient sluiceway to drain all the lowlands above what afterward was known as Hancock's bridge. This work was undertaken in 1728, and his work was guaranteed to stand for one year before he received his pay. Before the end of the year the dam broke, and a tradition says that it was purposely cut on the night before the year expired. However this may have been, Josiah White was compelled to sell his large patrimonial estate to pay the debt in- curred in erecting works for the benefit of others. At. that time he was only twenty- three years old, and many persons in the same adversity would have been discouraged, but not so with him who had inherited from his father and grandfather those qualities which enabled him to withstand more than ordinary trials. After disposing of his estate he had five hundred pounds left, and then determined to leave his native county, not having any fam- ily. He removed to Burlington county, and settled at or near Mt. Holly, and there pur- chased land on the headwaters of Rancocas creek. Soon afterward he constructed a dam across that stream, then built a fulling mill and carried on the business of making cloth during the greater part of his later life. He was a minister of the Society of Friends, and many
incidents are related of his plain and truthful speech, his skill in the treatment of disease with roots and herbs, his generosity in refus- ing pay for any of his medical services, and his honesty in every walk of life. When, during the revolutionary war, the British and Hes- sian troops were at Mt. Holly, in 1777, a large field of employment was opened for his benev- olence. He administered to their infirmities and diseases such simple remedies as he found to be effectual, and many of those relieved by him sought in various ways to show their gratitude. He then took occasion to reason with them on the principles upon which their unhallowed war was conducted, and by pres- enting the matter in its true light brought many of them to consider how wicked it was for them to come thousands of miles with guns, swords and cannon to kill their fellow creatures; and he said to them: "Even me, who have been so willing and ready to assist you in sickness and relieve your disorders and afflictions, you came to destroy with the rest." He was very firm in his opposition to human slavery in every form, and from early man- hood, whenever opportunity offered, labored privately with persons holding slaves in order to effect emancipation. In this and other matters of benefit to his fellowmen his prac- tice was consistent with his profession, and he most carefully rejected any dyestuffs which had a tendency to injure the cloth, and all arti- cles in the manufacture of which slave labor entered or by which health might be im- paired.
Josiah White married, 10 mo., I, 1734, Re- becca, daughter of Josiah and Amie Foster (nee Borden), of one of Burlington county's best old families, and a descendant of the Borden family from whom Bordentown, on the Delaware river, receives its name. She was born 10 mo., I, 1708, and bore her hus- band six children: I. Amy, born 5 mo., 13, 1737, died young. 2. Hannah, born II mo., 28, 1739, married (first) 1762, Thomas Prior, (second) Daniel Drinker, 1796. 3. Josiah, born 4 mo., 2, 1743, died 5 mo., 31, 1745. 4. Rebecca, born 3 mo., 15, 1745, married Thomas Redman. 5. John, born 7 mo., 9, 1747, see for- ward. 6. Joseph, born 8 mo., 22, 1750, died young.
(IV) John, son of Josiah (2) and Rebecca (Foster) White, was born 7 mo., 9, 1747, died 8 mo., 22, 1785, aged about thirty-eight years. He married, 6 mo., 7, 1775, Rebecca, daughter of Jeremiah Haines, of Burlington county. She was born 7 mo., 27, 1744, and died 3 mo., 22,
641
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
1826, having borne her husband four children : I. John, grew to manhood and died unmarried. 2. Christopher, died unmarried. 3. Josiah, born 3 mo., 14, 1781. 4. Joseph, see forward. (V) Joseph, youngest child of John and Rebecca (Haines) White, was born in Mt. Holly, 12 mo., 28, 1785. Soon after marriage he entered into a partnership with Samuel Lip- pincott in the hardware business in Philadel- phia. In 18II he left that city on horseback with the intention of travelling into the south and southwest as far as St. Louis, for the pur- pose of collecting moneys due his firm; and while in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, he ob- served a man standing in the door of a store, whose garb indicated that he was a Friend. He entered the store to purchase some trivial article, and there made the acquaintance of the Friend whom he saw, and whose name was Elisha Hunt, with whom Joseph White after- ward had a long business association. On that evening he was asked to join the Hunt family circle, and there the proposition was made that if he (White) would give up his proposed western trip on horseback, and assist them in building and freighting a keelboat, Caleb Hunt would join him on the journey to St. Louis, and such an arrangement was agreed upon. In the spring of 1812 Joseph White and Caleb Hunt, with a crew of French Can- adian boatmen, started their keelboat from Brownsville, bound for St. Louis, Missouri. "During the previous IIth month an earth- quake, which is known as 'the earthquake of New Madrid,' had changed and rent the banks of the Ohio River." As far as the mouth of the Ohio the voyage was comparatively easy, but from the Ohio's mouth to St. Louis the passage became so difficult that the number of boatmen was required to be doubled. Return- ing by keelboat to the mouth of the Cumber- land river, they then left their boat and on horseback returned to their respective homes. At Bowling Green, Kentucky, Mr. White records: "I fell in with the proprietor of a Cave (Mammoth Cave), who wanted me to purchase it ; he asked $10,000. With five men he makes one hundred pounds of saltpetre per day ; to make it costs him from five to six cents per pound; it is now worth twenty-five cents per pound in Lexington, Ky." In 1812 Joseph White and Elisha Hunt organized a company for purchasing the right of Daniel French in a device for propelling a boat by steam power, and when organized Mr. White owned one-third of the stock of the enterprise. The company acquired the privilege of oper-
ating French's patent west of the Alleghany mountains, and forthwith built shops at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, for the construc- tion of the steamboat "Enterprise," which was built in the latter part of 1813, at a cost of $15,000, and which sailed from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for New Orleans, under com- mand of Captain Henry Shreve, son of Israel Shreve, of Burlington county, New Jersey, a colonel in the revolutionary army. On its arrival at New Orleans the "Enterprise" was seized by a marshal at the instance of Fulton and Livingston for coming within the limits of Lousiana, but a bond secured the release of the vessel and they returned up the river with a full cargo of freight and passengers, mak- ing the trip up the river to Pittsburgh in the short time of twenty-six days, thus proving the practicability of navigating the Mississippi by steam. The "Enterprise" was the first steamboat that ever made a voyage from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and return. This pioneer vessel afterward had an eventful career, and on her second trip to New Orleans was pressed into government service by Gen- eral Jackson and sent to Alexandria, on the Red river, with a cargo of army stores and provisions. Elisha Hunt died at Moorestown, New Jersey, at the age of almost ninety-four years. In a letter he wrote he says: "The little office connected with our Brownsville store was the rendezvous of many intelligent and enterprising young men, and there all the recent inventions for travel were discussed. Among our regular visitors were Neil Gilles- pie Blaine (grandfather of James G. Blaine), Robert Clark, Stephen Darlington and others." Among other merchandise consigned to Joseph White by the Hunts for market in Philadel- phia during the year 1813 or '14 was one barrel of "Seneca oil," gathered at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, which was sold by Mr. White to Daniel Smith, druggist, of Philadelphia, for medicinal purposes. Mr. White was exten- sively engaged in coal operations in the Lack- awanna and Schuylkill regions during the later years of his life, and he died in Philadelphia, 25 5 mo. 1827, aged forty-one years. He was one of the pioneers in developing the resources of the country in many directions, and in every respect was one of the foremost men of his day. His wife was Rebecca (Smith) White, and by her he had eight chil- dren : John J., Daniel S., Elizabeth, Sarah S., Anna, Howard, Barclay and Anna Maria White.
(VI) Barclay, youngest son of Joseph and
ii-16
642
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Rebecca (Smith) White, was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, 4 mo., 4, 1821, and died November 23, 1906. He received his early education in public schools in his home town, later was a student under a private teacher, Daniel Smith, of Wilmington, Delaware, and still later attended a boarding school at Wes- town, Pennsylvania. However, he left school at the age of fifteen years and turned his at- tention to farming, and farming and agricul- ture were an important part of his business occupation in all subsequent years, although during several years of that period he was in the public service, and when not so engaged he devoted his time to conveyancing and man- agement of trust estates in connection with farming interests. In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant superintendent of Indian affairs and went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he had full charge of six Indian agencies. He remained in the west six years in connection with the duties of his official position, then returned to Mt. Holly, N. J., and opened an office for conveyancing and the care of trust interests. He owned two large farms, of three hundred or four hundred acres, which were devoted chiefly to the production of hay and grain. He possessed decided literary tastes, and cultivated them fully and to good purpose even during the later years of his long and useful life; he wrote an antobiography after having passed his eightieth year. He was origi- nally a strong Whig, and one of the organizers of the Republican party in the locality in which he lived. While never a seeker, after political advancement, he held various local offices of minor importance to which he was chosen by fellow townsmen. Throughout the period of his life Mr. White never departed from the teach- ings of the Society of Friends under which he was brought up, and at one time he was assist- ant clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
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.