USA > New Jersey > Ocean County > Historical reminiscences of Ocean county, New Jersey > Part 12
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Daniel Stout served about one month at Perth Amboy in 1776; in 1777, was on guard at Toms River one month, and two months at Monmouth Court House, and then again six months at Toms River. For a short time, he performed light horse duty at Morristown, and was de- tailed to procure cattle for Gen. Wash- ington's army. In 1780, he was in his father's company in Col. Samuel For- man's regiment. Towards the close of the war, he served every other month on guard at Toms River under Captains Price, Hankins and Brewer, and his mil- itary career ended in 1783. His actual time in service was about two years and three months. He appears to have been
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but eighteen years old when he first en- listed. He married Anna Chadwick, December 25, 1792; his wife, who was born December 9, 1772, was daughter of Capt. Thomas Chadwick, a noted hero of old Monmouth. She lived to an advanced age, and was a lady of marked natural ability, retentive memory and agreeable conversational powers, and one of the most interesting narrators of Revolution- ary and other old time events in our county. Daniel and Anna Stout had children as follows : John, born 1793, and died 1795 ; Elizabeth, born 1794; Han- nah, 1796, married Capt. William Rog- crs; Rachel, 1798, married John Wil- liams ; Caroline, 1800, married John Henderson ; Catharine, 1802, married William Holmes; Anna, 1805, married Capt. Joseph Holmes ; Alice, 1807, mar- ried Randolph Dey ; Margaret, 1809, married John Applegate ; Sarah, 1811, married Judge D. I. C. Rogers. Of these, the following are still living in this vicinity : Elizabeth unmarried, An- na who married Capt. Joseph Holmes, and Sarah who married Judge David I. C. Rogers. Catharine and Margaret went to Ohio after marriage, and Caro- line to Leeds Point.
THE BODINE FAMILY.
The Bodine family, in the southern part of Ocean county, are of French Hu- guenot descent. The first members orig- inally came to Staten Island, and from thence descendants came to this county. The History of Staten Island, by Clute, in speaking of the origin of this family, refers to John Bodin, a celebrated law- yer and literary character, who was born at Angers about 1530; for a time he en- joyed the favor of King Henry III, which however he lost by his patriotic conduct. Among his works, the most remarkable are a treatise on Republican government and a work on witchcraft called Demona- nia. He became chief magistrate of Laon, and while holding that position, died of the plague in 1596.
The first known member of the family in America was John Bodine, who pur- chased land on Staten Island in 1701, and was living in 1744. His wife was prob- ably named Hester, as John Bodine and his wife Hester are mentioned in Staten Island records in 1736-7. He had a son Francois, who married Marie Dey, and they had a son, Jean or John, baptized November 29, 1719, who married Dor- cas
, , and had children, viz :- John, born February, 1753, and James, born December 17, 1758. The last named John died March, 1835, aged about 82 years; James died May 13, 1838, in his 80th year. John married Catharine Britton, and had children : John (subsequently known as Squirc John), Jacob and Edmund, and perhaps others. The last-named James Bodine first married Elizabeth Egbert, daughter of Tunis Egbert, and they had four sons and two daughters, viz : Nancy, Dorcas, John, Tunis, James and Edward; he next married Margaret Oakley, daughter of Israel Oakley, and they had six chil- dren, viz : Eliza who married Isaac Swift, Margaret who married Abraham Houseman, William who married Rosan- na Willetts, of Warwick, Va., Andrew who married Mary Houseman, Abraham who married Abby Kinsey, and Israel who died young.
Of the sons of James Bodine, two came to what is now Ocean county in 1816, namely, Tunis and James. They origin- ally located at Manahawken, and entered into the mercantile business ; beside which they started a stage line, probably the first, from the ferry below the vil- lage to Mount Holly ; James soon sold out and left, and embarked on a ship, and subsequently died of cholera. Tunis married Ann Haywood, of Manahawken. After living at that place some six or seven years, he removed to Barnegat, where he still resides. He had children : Elizabeth who married Capt. Wright Predmore, James who married Cornelia Holmes, Sarah who married Joseph Sex-
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ton, and Aun who died young. next married Amelia Chadwick ; they had no children.
William Bodine, son of James and Margaret Bodine, who married Rosanna Willetts, had children : George James who married Emeline Williams, William Oakley, Margaret who married Edwin Salter, and Abraham.
A TOMS RIVER BOY KIDNAPPED.
Tunis famous enough to sell the boy as a slave to some trader going down the Missis- sippi to New Orleans. When Capt. Beatty returned, he found plenty of proof that the boy was free born, and Mr. Errickson entered warmly into the casc, and communicated with the then Governor, Geo. F. Fort, of New Egypt. Gov. Fort was deeply impressed with the outrage committed, and would glad- ly have aided in redeeming him from bondage, but he had no authority to in- cur the heavy costs of sending witnesses so far and paying expenses of lawyers,
In the early years of our county paper, it gave one item of news that always had a melancholy interest to many old trial, &c. And so the poor fellow was residents. It was published, if I mis- left to his fate. It is some consolation to know that if he was living, the late civil war must have resulted in his free- dom. take not, chiefly at the request of the late Charles I. Errickson, who will long be remembered by many for his kind deeds, and who took much interest in this particular affair. The substance of the story was this :
The late Captain Samuel Beatty, of the schooner Amos Falkinburg, was lying near Franklin, on the Gulf coast of Louisiana, when, one day, he was as- tonished by a colored man, a slave in the vicinity, hailing him and asking him boy was stolen.
Was it wrong in so many of our citi- zens who remembered this offence, re- joicing, a few years later, to hear the news that the man who committed it, was safe inside the grated doors of Toms River jail ? Thoughi for another offence, it was some satisfaction to know he was imprisoned in the place from which the
if he knew certain men, whom he named, then living at Toms River, Cedar Creek A RARE OCCURRENCE. and Forked River. Capt. Beatty, sur- prised, asked him how he came to ask A HOMICIDE IN OCEAN COUNTY. the question, and how he, a slave so Few, indeed, are the places of cqual far away, knew the names of these men. population with the district now known The colored man said he saw by the as Ocean county, which can present a stern of the vessel where she was from, record as unstained by serious crimes. and then stated that he was originally About the most noted event in its crimi- from Toms River, knew the late Capt. nal calendar, was the killing of a lad some fifteen years old, named Thomas Williams, son of Esquire Daniel and Huldah Williams, by a man named Peter Stout, at Goodluck, on the 19th of No- vember, 1802. Peter Stout was always considered as a half-witted, partially crazed man, but had always, previous to this affair, secmed harmless. At the present day, it is no uncommon occur- rence if a half-witted or drunken man is seen, for a troop of thoughtless boys to follow him, calling names and torment- Wm. Rogers, father-in-law of Capt. Beatty, was a boy with Capt. Hiram Horner, of Toms River, and went on sufficiently to prove that his story was substantially correct. He was then asked how he eame to be a slave down in Lou- isiana. He replied that when he was a good sized boy, a man who once lived at Toms River was about emigrating West, and persuaded his mother to let him go along, promising to do well by him ; but after getting out West, this man was in-
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ing him, Such should learn a lesson from this story, The boys around Good- luck often tormented Peter Stout, calling him nicknames, the principal of which was " eel head-hollo, old eel head !"
On the morning in question, young Williams left home to drive cattle to the meadows, down the road along the north side of Stout's creek. On his way he met Peter Stout, who had an axe on his shoulder, and thoughtlessly began to plague him, calling him "eel head," &c. Stout let him pass, and then turned, slyly ran up behind him and struck him on the head with the axe, killing him instantly. During the forenoon, the boy's mother, uneasy at his long absence, went in search of him, and found the body at a spot marked for half a century after by twin oak trees, about opposite the com- mencement of the path leading across Stout's creek, towards the place formely owned by the late Capt. William Rogers. Mrs. Williams was so horror-stricken at the sight of the lifeless body of her son, covered with blood, that for a time she was bereft of her senses. It seems she grasped the boy in her arms and carried him home, a distance of about half a mile, but she remembered nothing about it, however, until she came to her senses, when she found herself in a chair at home, rocking her boy, her dress shock- ingly covered with blood.
The neighbors were soon notified of the event, and the body taken to the inn at Goodluck, for the purpose of holding a coroner's inquest. In past years a superstition prevailed in the minds of many in England and in this country, that if the murderer touched the body of the murdered person, the wounds would commence to bleed afresh. At this in- quest, some person mentioned this su- perstition, and it was proposed and agreed to that every one present should by turns approach and touch the body. All did so but Peter Stout, who was present, and who extended his hand towards the body, but suddenly checked
himself, as if afraid of the ordeal, re- fused to touch the body, and turned about and went out whistling. Blood was observed upon his clothes, and upon being questioned, he said it was from a fowl he had killed. Suspi- cion being strong against him, he was arrested and sent to Freehold, tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While in jail he made a full confession, which was afterwards printed. As it was generally conceded by all who knew Stout, that he was not of sound mind, strong efforts were made to have his sentence changed, and among those who labored hard for it were Esquire Wil- liams and his wife, the parents of the murdered boy. They visited Freehold for that purpose, and visited the con- demned man in jail ; but all their efforts were unavailing, and the unfortunate man suffered the extreme penalty of the law. His body was taken to Goodluck, and buried by the road along the south side of Stout's Creek, and the spot marked by a grape vine. This spot and the place where the boy was killed can still be pointed out by old residents. Young Williams was buried in the grave- yard at Goodluck, and on his headstone is this inscription : " Thomas Williams, died November 19th, 1802, aged 14 years, 9 months and 18 days."
TOMS RIVER-ORIGIN OF THE NAME.
GOOSE CREEK-INDIAN TOM-CAPT. WM. TOM.
Two distinct traditions have been hand down, giving the origin of the name of Toms River ; one that it is derived from a certain Captain Wm. Tom, who resided on the Delaware River over two hundred years ago, before any whites had settled in what is now known as Ocean county, and who, in the prosecu- tion of his duties as a kind of land agent, penetrated through the wilderness to the seashore in search of eligible land for settlers, and discovered this stream ;
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upon his return he made such favorable than that of Goose Creek, though deeds representations of the land in this vicin- made by parties living near the river ity that settlers were induced to come mentioned it thus : " Goose Creek (alias here, and they named it Toms River, after Capt. Tom, because he first brought the place to the notice of the whites.
The other tradition attributes the ori- gin of the name to an Indian named Tom, who lived in the vicinity during the first half of the last century.
The stream was also anciently called Goose Creek, and this name was used to designate it in legal writings, and on maps for over a century.
In regard to the name Toms River, the writer of this acknowledges that after patient investigation of all sources of in- formation known to him, he has found nothing that conclusively settles the question of its origin ; yet he is strong in the belief that it originated with Capt. Wm. Tom some two centuries ago, and that Indian Tom, who lived a generation or so later, aided in perpetuating it; and ferred. the reasons for this belief will be given before concluding. In regard to the name
GOOSE CREEK,
it seems to have been bestowed by the proprietors or their agents, when the land here was originally run out in 1690. Samuel H. Shreve, Esq., a careful in- vestigator of land titles in this vicinity, in a communication published in the Ocean Emblem about fifteen years ago, says :
" The first patent to Dr. Johnson was dated 1690, and in that as well as in the patent to Robert Barclay, of the same dato on the south side of the river and opposite Dr. Johnson's, the name is Goose Creek. It is the same in all doc- uments that I have been able to find un- til 1727, when Obhonon Cedar Swamp is referred to as being on a branch of Toms River ; subsequently, in 1740, the well- known surveyor, John Lawrence, desig- nates it as Toms River, and after that date the name occurs more frequently
Toms River) and ' Goose Creek, other- wise called Toms River,' as late as 1789, as if the former the correct name, while the latter was the more common. I can- not, therefore, but believe the original name was Goose Creek."
In addition to what Mr. Shreve states, the writer has found the name of Goose Creek given to the stream on various old maps, among which may be named Mitchell & Pownall's map, 1755, and Jef- frey's map, 1778 ; and the last time on Carey's map of New Jersey, 1814, which calls it " Goose or Toms Creek."
INDIAN TOM.
Information in regard to Indian Tom, is very meagre indeed. The most defi- nite notice that the writer has is in the communication of Mr. Shreve above re- The same number of the Ocean Emblem which contained Mr. Shreve's communication, had another, advocating the Indian Tom origin of the name, signed " A Native," which, we presume, was from James N. Lawrence, Esq. We give the substance of both as show- ing the strongest arguments we have found in favor of the Indian Tom origin. Mr. Shreve says :
" There certainly was a Tom, ' an in- dividual incarnate Tom, and he had a wigwam. I haye a map made in 1740 of the country about Mosquito Cove, a short distance north of Toms River, on which "Barnegatt Toms wigwam " is located upon the north point of the cove. The fact that an Indian by the name of Tom, most probably Barnegatt Tom, lived on the river near the head of Dil- lon's Island during the Revolution, seems to be well established. Suppose this to have been in 1778. As I have mentioned before, the name of Toms River occurs in 1727, and if Tom was at the latter date, say twenty-seven years of age, or even older, the story is still plausible. Be-
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side the tradition itself, that the river ' still younger, and it will not be seriously took its name from the Indian, is entitled contended that the stream was named to some credence when we consider the after a little Indian papoose. fact that the descendants of our first Perhaps the most strenuous advocate was the writer before referred to, who settlers are living among us, and they of the Indian Tom origin of the name, especially believe it.
As Mr. Shreve says, his theory is signed himself a " Native," (probably plausible upon the facts he gives ; but James N. Lawrence). We give the sub- the following extract from records in the stance of his article which also contains Freehold Court House quite effectually destroys his foundation. After men- tioning under date of Oct. 13th, 1713,
references to old Toms River settlers : "By reference to actual survey, and especially to Andrew Johnson's patent, certain roads in the upper part of old 1690, he (Mr. Salter,) will see that said Monmouth, the record mentions
. THE FIRST ROADS LAID OUT IN OCEAN COUNTY.
" Laid out a highway from Henry Leonard's saw mill to Barnegate ; that is from said saw mill along John Hankin's path to Hay path ; then to ye head of Sarah Reape's meadow and down ye side of ye said meadow as ye line of marked trees, to the Fish path ; then as that goes to Manasquan ; thence along ye Fish path to the Cedar path, and along the Cedar path as the marked trees that lead to Meteteconk, and following the marked trees to Goose Creek, called Toms River, and over said river, by marked trees to the line of the lands of late Thomas Hart." Signed by John Reid, Elisha Lawrence and Obadiah Bowue, commissioners.
The foregoing was copied by Judge Beekman from the original records and published in the Monmouth Democrat, Feb. 8, 1877, in his articles on the Boun- daries of Old Monmouth. Judge Beek- man, who has proved himself a careful, reliable investigator of the history of Old Monmouth, informs the writer that tne name Toms River was certainly thus used as stated as early as 1713, showing it was a common name then. Hence, if, as Mr. Shreve surmises, Indian Tom was twenty-seven years old in 1727, he would have been only thirteen in 1713 ; and if the Indian Tom of the Revolution was the Indian Tom, he might have been
patent commences on the south side of Miles Foster's patent at Tilton's Creek and runs south to Goose Creek, which patent includes the Ralph place (Messrs. Schofield's and McLean's), Edwin Jack- son's, Thomas Salter's (late Cook's), and Dillon's (now Robinson's Island). Grant- ing that the gentleman is somewhat of an antiquarian, I suggest that he ramble over Johnson's patent, thereby visiting the old salt works erected by Albertus Schoeslear, Savidge and Coats, Thomas Salter and others, merchants from Phil- adelphia, who were engaged in the salt business during the Revolution. Some information may be obtained by refer- ence to a controversy between Messrs. L. and Justice, published in the Mon- month Inquirer of November and Dec- ember, 1849 ; also the Emblem of Feb- ruary, 1858, where the editor gives the name" George's" instead of Goose Creek. Surveyor John Lawrence, in his notes (1725) of New Barnegat Inlet or Cran- berry Inlet, gives the bearing of com- pass from certain points in the bay, the channel running from opposite Tilton's Point to Nigger house farm ; thence by a thoroughfare to the north point of land at the Inlet. Aaron Bennett, Richard Phillips and William Chadwick, de- ceased, I have heard make the same statements ; also that the inlet called Burning Hole or Barnegat, was opposite Egg Island, north of where Amos Grant now lives, and that Barnegat was called New Inlet in those days. Rebecca
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Buad, daughter of Daniel Luker, the dents or business men at Toms River, first white inhabitant of the place, told me, in the winter of 1835, that the above was correct ; also, that she could remem- ber when it was a thick cedar swamp where the bridge now is, and a log was used for pedestrians to cross on. Then came a severe storm which destroyed
Tom, from whom the name was de- rived, and his brother, Jonathan Pumha, owned all the land south of Metedeconk to Goose Creek (see Smith's History of New Jersey, 1721). Tom died about 1734 or 5, much lamented as he was known as a friend of the white man, al- of the rivers, belonged to Capt. John ways holding out inducements for the Totamy Willockwis. There is nothing whites to settle on his lands.
Respectfully yours,
A NATIVE."
In the foregoing the writer states some things which are true, some which are doubtful, and some which are probably
trading with Philadelphia merchants ; we doubt if Barnegat Inlet was ever called New Inlet, unless about the time Cranberry closed and then, if at all, only for a very brief period. Smith's History of New Jersey was not published in 1721, but in 1765, and Mr. Shreve, a re- the timber, after which a ferry was kept liable writer, has given good reasons to by her father until a bridge was built, a portion of which may now be seen. John Lawrence, in his notes, calls it "the riding-over place," afterwards Luker's ferry. Capt. Stephen Gulick, the oldest male inhabitant now here, will corroborate my sketch.
believe that Indian Tom lived many years after 1734-5. And as to the In- dian ownership of the land from Meted- econk to Toms River, Smith's History, page 443, says at the great conference held at Crosswicks, N. J., in 1758, for extinguishing all Indian claims to lands in New Jersey, at which the commission- ers were Andrew Johnson, Richard Sa' ter and others, a paper was submitted declaring the lands from the half warnt from the mouth of Metedeconk river tof Toms River, from the sea to the heads!'
in Smith's History that refers to any Ing dian Tom in this vicinity. But on thn." contrary, several references to Capte William Tom, which show that he was le," prominent man in his day. kg. 12
That Indian Tom lived as late as they- erroneous ; and it is to be regretted that time mentioned by Mr. Shreve, we haveve man who had such opportunities to ex- heard traditionary corroboration front. amine into papers and records relating the late Hon. Charles Parker, (father of Governor Joel Parker,) who was in bush- iness at Toms River in 1810., Mr. Par-a ker had a remarkably retentive memory,of and he informed the writer that when hea first came to Toms River, he talked to1 men who had known Indian Peter, a $ brother of our Indian Tom ; that Indian Tom once undertook to sell lands for other Indians, but proved a defaulter, and was not again trusted, was drunken. &c. ; and the personal recollections of these men would probably not go further back than say about fifty years before Mr. Parker talked to them. And Na- tive's own letter gives a statement which is also corroborative : he says in 1835 he talked to a daughter of Dauiel Luker, to old times at Toms River, should be so careless in his statements. It is true that there was an Indian named Tom, that there was a Luker's ferry and a riding-over place, and that there was much business done in the salt trade, especially about the time of the Revolu- tion. But we very much doubt that Surveyor John Lawrence's notes stated that Old Cranberry Inlet was opened as early as 1725 ; that Daniel Luker was the first white inhabitant; that a log, unless a remarkably large one in a very dry time, was ever used to cross Toms River ; that Thomas Salter was a Phila- delphia merchant, though he and Joseph and Richard Salter were old time resi-
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who was the first white inhabitant of the | tained when at the place about sixty place. If Indian Tom induced whites years ago, from residents who then were settlers to come here, it then must have ancient ; and some twelve or thirteen been after Luker located here, and it is years ago he named a gentleman still evident that if Luker had a daughter older than he, who had investigated the living in 1835, he could not have lived subject when at Toms River about sey- longer ago than the time Mr. Shreve enty years ago. This gentleman then states Tom lived. Mention is made in lived in Illinois, and the writer of this ancient deeds of A. Luker's ferry at addressed him on the subject. His reply Toms River in 1749. Was he the father fully corroborated the statement. He f Daniel ? Reference is made to Capt. said when he first visited Toms River, stephen Gulick as the oldest inhabitant. intelligent old residents not only assured at the request of the writer, Capt. Gu- him that the place was named after Cap- ck was interviewed by Chas. W. Bun- tain Tom, but showed him an old histo- ell, Esq., of Bayville, who stated to rical work that explained the reason, im the substance of Native's statement. which was in substance that Captain apt. Gulick's reply was that he knew Tom induced settlers to locate here, and othing about Indian Tom more than these settlers named the strears after thers knew ; he had heard there was him. : By reference to the sketeh of ich an Indian. Many who never heard Capt. Tom's life, previously given, his : Capt. Tom, and had heard of Indian statement seems sufficiently sustained to om, would be likely to guess that the justify his assertion of the origin of the ver was named after the Indian.
name. Capt. Tom was appointed col- In concluding the notice of the Indian lector of quit-rents and land agent, by om theory, we shall simply repeat that le river could not have been named af- Governor Lovelace in 1669. It was his duty to call on settlers in South Jersey, er him, because he was living on Dil- from the Falls of Delaware (now Tren- n's Island in the Revolution, and the lace was well known as Toms River early seventy years before, and it is not ertain he was even then born ; at most must have been a very young pap- «bose, and more likely to have been imed after the river than the river named after him.
ton) to Cape May, including what is now known as Ocean county. By notices of him in Smith's History of New Jersey, Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania and New York Colonial Documents, it is evi- dent he was a great traveler, and ' well acquainted from New Castle, Del., to New York, with settlers' paths through
The reasons for believing the river de- the forests, and desirable places to lo- rived its name from Captain Tom, will cate ; and it would be both in keeping next be briefly stated.
WHY AFTER CAPTAIN WILLIAM TOM.
with the character of the man and in the legitimate line of his duties, to explore the country by Indian paths to Toms River, and on his return report what he thought of the place. And it is reason- able to believe that the first settlers named the river after the man who in- duced them to locate near it.
Among aged persons now living, who were acquainted at Toms River sixty or more years ago, is Rev. David B. Salter, formerly of Forked River, but at pres- ent residing in Bayonne, N. J. He is a Captain Tom appears to have been a gentleman noted for observation and leading man in public matters, and pop- retentive memory, and he is very posi- | ular with the settlers. He came to West tive that the river derived its name from
Jersey in 1664, and subsequently held Captain Tom, from information he ob- various positions of responsibility,
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among them Keeper of Public Records, Commissary, Deputy Governor, &c.
The two old gentlemen referred to in the foregoing as being positive that the
There is force in the remark made by place derived its name from Captain Tom, belong to a family that had special oppor-
Mr. Shreve, quoted in speaking of In- dian Tom, that a tradition handed down tunities of obtaining information on the from old settlers should receive consid- subject. William Salter (named by "Native,") was a commissioner appoint- ed in 1801 by the Legislature, to aid the remnant of New Jersey Indians in sell- ing their land. Before this, in 1796, Joseph Salter, whose heirs until late years owned the James Cook place, was commissioned to aid the Indians to lease their lands ; and before them, in 1756, Richard Salter was Indian Commissioner, (see Smith's New Jersey, and Samuel Allison's sketch of New Jersey Indians, in New Jersey Historical Society Pro- ceedings, January 1875). So that if the place had been named after the Indian Tom, they would have known it. eration. But the writer has, in person or through friends, interviewed about all the aged persons now or formerly living at Toms River that could be reached, and with the exception of the rambling writer who signed himself " A Native," and whose statements have been sufficiently answered, he has found no one who positively asserts the Indian Tom theory ; all they stated was simply a repetition of the statement of the late Uncle Billy Harbor (Herbert), so favor- ably remembered in connection with our late stage line, who was authority on many local traditions. When questioned as to the origin of the name, his reply From what has been said of Indian Tom it seems impossible that the river could have been named after him ; and from the facts presented it is safe to as- sume that Toms River derives its name from Captain William Tom. substantially was : " It is said there was an Indian named Tom living in the vi- cinity, and I suppose the name might have come from him." This was the natural guess of those who had heard of Indian Tom, but not of Captain Tom.
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