USA > New Jersey > Salem County > Salem > History and genealogy of Fenwick's colony > Part 23
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
247
SHARP FAMILY.
boy, carried provisions to him in his place of refuge. He, how- ever emerged from his retreat, and went with Dr. Ebenezer Elmer, (the father of Judge L. Q. C. Elmer,) of Bridgeton, to Fort Ticonderoga, to participate in the engagements on the frontier. It was here that, although a Quaker, he attained the rank of Colonel in the army ; and his name now stands coupled with the above grade on the roster of the officers of the Ameri- can forces. When driven from their home the silver plate and other valuables of the Sharps, of Sharpstown, were conveyed across the Delaware river to their relatives, the Delaneys, who resided at Wilmington, Delaware. The man who rowed the boat was named Jonas Keen, and he related the circumstance on his death bed as one that had made a deep impression on his memory. The said Jonas Keen lived to the very advanced age of ninety years, and has descendants now residing in Salem.
Edward, the second son of Isaac Sharp, the emigrant, as stated before, married Martha Thompson, of Sussex county, East Jersey. She was the daughter of Colonel Mark Thomp- son, of Marksboro, in the above county, and who served with the rank of Colonel in the Revolutionary army. Whilst engaged under General Dickinson, at the battle of Princeton, he was severely wounded, and was carried under the same tree to which the soldiers had taken General Mercer. Dr. Jacob Thompson Sharp, formerly of Salem, grandson of Colonel Mark Thompson, alluded to above, was (until children were born to him by his wife, Hannah Ann Smith, of Philadelphia,) the sole surviving representative of the family of Sharp's, who emi- grated to Salem county from Ireland ; which is confirmed by the report of Mr. Gifford before the Historical Society of New Jersey, at Newark, several years ago, which expressly states that the above assertion is true. There are other families bearing the same name in Salem county, likewise in New Jersey, which are remote from the Sharps of Blessington, or Sharpstown. Ed- ward Sharp alone married, the others dying without issue. He married the daughter of Mark Thompson, as before stated; they had four sons-Samnel, Jacob Thompson, Breckenridge and Edward Sharp, and one danghter-Mary ; all of whom died before attaining their majority, except Jacob Thompson Sharp, who studied medicine and practiced that profession many years, in both East and West Jersey ; and now resides in Cum- berland county, He married, as before stated, Hannah Ann, daughter of Edward Smith, a prominent merchant of Phila- delphia, and a native of Salem connty, as were likewise his ancestors for several generations. Dr. Jacob Thompson and
248
SHARP FAMILY.
his wife, Hannah Ann Sharp, had six children, four of whom are still living, viz: Dr. Edward S. Sharp, of Salem; Sallie M. Westcott, of Bridgeton, Alexander Henry Sharp, a lawyer of Atlantic county, and Thomas M. Sharp, Esq., of Port Eliza- abeth, Cumberland county Martha Thompson Sharp and Jacob Thompson Sharp are deceased.
Joseph Sharp, younger brother of Isaac Sharp, of Blessing- ton, near Salem, resided at the same place and doubtless emi- grated from Ireland simultaneously with his brother Isaac. Isaac Sharp, 1st, did by his last will, bearing date 15th of 3d month, 1734, give to his two sons, Isaac. and Joseph, all his lands whatsoever in East and West Jersey, ratifying and con- firming the above mentioned conveyance to his father by Thomas Warner to his heirs and assigns forever.
William, the younger brother of Anthony Sharp, born in Gloucestershire, England, married a young woman by the name of Covert ; they had a son by the name of Thomas Sharp. Anthony Sharp, his uncle, gave to him, who was then about emigrating to America, and in consideration of his, Thomas Sharp, looking after Anthony Sharp's possession, there for his ease and best advantage ; he, the said Anthony Sharp, granted and confirmed unto him, and his heirs, something over 1,000 acres that Anthony Sharp bought of Roger Roberts, of Dublin, in 1681 ; and the deed of conveyance was made the same year. This property was located on the King's Highway; Salem County Alms House farm is part of it. Thomas Sharp had a son Isaac, who built in the first decade of the eighteenth century a large and substantial brick dwelling, which is still standing, in good repair. William Austin is now the owner. That family of Sharps, like those of Sharpstown, had a large deer park, which is still visible.
Thomas, the father of Isaac Sharp, had a family burying ground, which was common at the first settlement of this country. John Fenwick was buried there ; the reason assigned was-Fenwick was desirous to lay with his wife's relatives, the mother of his children, she being a cousin of Thomas Sharp. Isaac, the son of Thomas Sharp, was one of the Justices of Salem court from the year 1709 to 1739 ; he was an active and useful member of Salem Meeting of Friends. Thomas Chalk- ley mentions in his journal being at the house of his worthy friend Isaac Sharp, in 1730. Isaac's descendants are not numerous ; he had a grandson that married Grace Bassett ; their children were-Abraim and William Sharp. Dr. Griffith who resided in Salem a number of years ago, married a lady of
249
SHARP FAMILY.
that family. No part of the large and valuable estate of the Sharp's family belong to their descendants at the present time.
32
JOHN SMITH (OF SMITHFIELD) FAMILY.
John Smith, the son of William Smith, was one of Fenwick's executors. He was born in the county of Kent, in England, in the year 1645. In 1673 he married Susannah Marey, daughter of Edward Marcy, and in 1685 he and his wife, together with a number of emigrants, embarked for America on board the ship Ariel, Edmund Baily master. They landed at New Castle in the 4th month of the same year. In the 6th month following, he came to Salen, in West New Jersey, and pur- chased 1,000 acres of land of Samuel and Anna Hedge, in Upper Mannington, it being one-half of the Hedgefield allot- ment, and there he made his permanent home. From that time it was known as Smithfield. It has been said he was a relative and also an immediate friend of John Fenwick. I presume this was the reason he was made one of Fenwick's executors, notwithstanding he had not arrived in this country at the time of his death. It is generally admitted by those familiar with the characters of the first settlers, that he had more than ordi- nary intellect and business capacities. HIe and his wife had two children born in England, who died the first year after they arrived in this country. Their children born in America were Susanna Smith, born in Mannington 8th of Sth month, 1689; Joseph Smith, their eldest son born in 1691 ; John Smith, Jr., born in 1693; Samuel Smith, born in 1696; and Elizabeth Smith, born 3d of 3d month, 1703. She married Judge John Bacon, of Bacon's Neck. Joseph Smith, the son of John and Susanna Smith, married and had one son-Thomas Smith, who in 1740 married Sarah, the daughter of Elisha and Abigail Bassett, of Pilesgrove ; they had three sons, the eldest was William, born 31st of 8th month, 1741. He married Sarah, the daughter of James Chambless, Jr., of Alloways Creek; their children were Mary, Charles, William, James, Beulah, Clement and Atilla Smith. Mary, the eldest, married John Ellet, son of Charles and Hannah Carpenter Ellet ; their children were Hannah C. and Maria Chambless Ellet, the latter remains single and resides in Salem. Hannah Carpenter Ellet was twice married, her first
251
JOHN SMITH (OF SMITHFIELD) FAMILY.
husband was George W. Smith, of Virginia; they had issue, one son-Charles P. Smith. Her second husband was Joseph E. Brown, the son of Joseph and Ann Allen Brown; they had issue, two sons. James Smith, son of William and Sarah Chambless Smith, married Hannah, the daughter of Jediah and Hannah Carpenter Allen, of Mannington ; their children are Sarah Ann and Mary Smith. Clement, the youngest son of William and Sarah Smith, married Hannah, the daughter of William and Catharine Low Tyler, of Salem ; they had one son-Clement Smith. Beulah, daughter of William and Sarah Smith, married Joseph H. Wilson, of Philadelphia; their child- ren were Mary, William, Emeline, James, Harlin, Louisa and Sarah Wilson. Charles, William and Atilla Smith never married.
David Smith, the second son of Thomas and Sarah Bassett Smith, was born 17th of 7th month, 1744. He married Mary, the danghter of James, Jr., and Mary Oakford Chambless, sister to his brother William's wife. They had no issue. David was a hatter by trade and followed his business in the town of Salem during his life. He adopted his nephew, the son of Thomas Smith, and made him the heir of his estate. David, the son of Thomas, married Martha, the daughter of Thomas Jones, of Salem. They had issue, three children-Mary, James and Arabella; one of whom' married Samuel, the eldest son of Samuel and Eliza Clement ; the other married a son of Judge Hornblower, of East Jersey.
Thomas, the youngest son of Thomas and Sarah Bassett, was born 25th of 1st month, 1747. He married Hannah Shillis ; their children were Elisha, Stephen and David Smith. Elisha married and left heirs-Stephen, Eliza and Ellen Smith. Ste- phen married Mary W. Jones, of Philadelphia ; their children were Sarah, James, Thomas, Charles, Elizabeth, Chambless, Clement and Isaac Smith.
In 1718 Samuel Smith married Hannah Giles. Their son, Giles Smith, was born 18th of 10th month, 1719, and their daughter Hannah Smith was born in 1721. She, in 1742, married Preston Carpenter, the son of Samuel Carpenter, and grandson of Samuel Carpenter, Sr., who arrived in Philadelphia in 1683, in company with his brother, Joshua Carpenter, and other emigrants, and who was one of the first merchants in that city, and in the year 1700 was computed to be the richest man, except the proprietor, in the province of Pennsylvania, but towards the close of his life he met with several heavy losses, and his estate was considerably reduced before he died.
252
JOHN SMITH (OF SMITHFIELD) FAMILY.
Preston Carpenter and his wife had, I think, seven children- Thomas, Elizabeth, William, Hannah, Margaret, Mary and Martha. Thomas married a young woman in Gloucester whose maiden name was Tonkins. They were the grand-parents of Judge Thomas Carpenter, of Camden. Willim Carpenter's first wife was Elizabeth Wyatt, daughter of Bartholomew, 3d. His second wife was Mary Redman, daughter of John Redman. Elizabeth Carpenter married Ezra Firth, son of John Firth. Margaret Carpenter married James Mason Woodruff. Hannah Carpenter's first husband was Charles Ellet ; her second hus- band was Jedediah Allen. Mary Carpenter married Samuel Tonkins. Martha Carpenter married Joseph Reeve.
Elizabeth Smith, youngest daughter of John Smith, of Smith- field, was born in 1703, and married John Bacon, of Cohansey, in 1720. He was, I believe, the son of Samuel Bacon They had seven children, named respectively Thomas, John, Eliza- beth, David, Martha, Mary and Job. Thomas Bacon, the old- est son, was born in 1721, and was the father of Charles and John Bacon. Charles married and settled on his father's prop- erty in Bacon's Neck, Greenwich township. They had five children. Thomas, married a young woman in Mannington by the name of Wright. They both died young, and left one son, the present Thomas Bacon, formerly of Mannington. Benja- min's second son married a young woman in Gloucester county by the name of Allen. They had two children. His second wife was Susan Dallas, daughter of Jonathan Dallas. David Bacon, their third son, never married, and was a merchant in the town of Salem for several years, but after a time he removed to Woodstown and there ended his days, leaving a legacy to Pilesgrove Monthly Meeting for them to erect a school house, which is now known as Bacon's School. Charles Bacon never married, and died at an advanced age on his farm in Bacon's Neck. Rachel Bacon married a Sheppard. She was the mother of the late Moses Sheppard of Greenwich. John Bacon came to this county and made it his home. After a time he married Hannah Denn, daughter of Paul Denn, of Alloways Creek. They had five children-Thomas, Eleanor, Martha, Hannah and John.
Elizabeth Bacon married John Denn of Alloways Creek, and was the mother of the late John Denn, of Mannington. David Bacon learned the hat trade in Philadelphia, and made his per- manent home in that city, where he followed his trade the greater part of his life and amassed a fortune. He married and left two children-Joseph and Hannah Bacon. Joseph Bacon
253
JOHN SMITH (OF SMITHFIELD) FAMILY.
the son of David Bacon, married and had four sons named Thomas, David, Joseph and Samuel Bacon. Hannah the daugh- ter of David Bacon, married Jonathan Evans. They were the parents of the late Thomas Evans, who married Catherine Wistar, the daughter of John Wistar, of this county. Job Bacon, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth S. Bacon, was born 1735, and married Mary Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, of Alloways Creek. They had three children-Job, Elizabeth and George Ba- con. Job Bacon, their son, had two children by his first wife-Jolm and Martha Bacon. His second wife was Ruth Thompson, daughter of John Thompson, of Elsinborongh. They had four children named respectively Mary, Sarah, Ann and Josiah Bacon. Mary was the first wife of Clement Acton, of Salem; Sarah remains single and resides at Greenwich ; Ann married Moses Sheppard ; Josiah Bacon went into the mercantile business in Philadelphia. It is believed that he has accumulated a large fortune. He is one of the Pennsylvania Railroad directors. The widow of Job Bacon, Sr., Mary S. Bacon, married Richard Wood, Jr. He was born in Stoe Creek township, Cumberland county, as it is now called, in 1728. He was the son of Richard Wood, who purchased 1,000 acres of land and built himself a brick house, as early as 1725, which is still standing. He died in the year 1759, and was buried in his own family burying ground on his farm. I have been informed that his great grand- son, Professor George B. Wood, of Philadelphia, has erected a small marble monument in the old family graveyard to the memory of his great ancestor.
Elizabeth, daughter of Job and Mary Bacon, married Rich- ard Wood, 3d. He was born 7th of 2d month, 1755. Eliza- beth was his second wife. He was a successful merchant in the town of Greenwich, and had six children-Professor George Ba- con Wood, Richard, Charles, Horatio, Ann Elizabeth and Han- nah Wood. At the death of Richard Wood, 3d, the poor and afflicted lost a valuable friend. He was ever ready to adminis- ter to their necessities ; so much so that his name in Greenwich and in the country around is held in grateful remembrance by the inhabitants to the present day. He told his wife a few years before his death to always look after the poor, and remarked that there was no danger but there would be enough attention paid to the rich. The case of this truly great man reminds me of the wise man, who said he never knew the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. This saying has been verified respecting Richard Wood's children, as they have all been successful in life in a remarkable degree as to this world's
254
JOHN SMITH (OF SMITHFIELD) FAMILY.
goods, also a very respectable standing in general society. George Bacon, son of Job Bacon and Mary, his wife, married Naomi Tyler. They had four children-Ezra, George, Francis and Mary Bacon. He was a partner in the mercantile business with his brother-in-law, Richard Wood, several years, and he was far above ordinary men in his conversational powers, easy in his address, and without ostentation, which made his company very agreeable and interesting. He wielded a great influence for good in the town of Greenwich, and in society generally in which he associated. He died at an advanced age greatly regretted by all who knew him.
STRETCH FAMILY.
Joseph Stretch emigrated to this country from England about the year 1695. In the year 1700 he married Hannah, the young .. est daughter of Edward and Mary Bradway, who was born in New Salem, the 7th of 7th month, 1681. Joseph and his wife settled on the southern portion of a tract of land which her father had purchased of the heirs of John Fenwick, contain- ing 900 acres of fast land and meadow. The said tract was below the Salter line, now known as Stoe Neck. About the year 1720, William Bradway, the son of Edward, had a brick dwelling erected on his part of the property, and his nephew, Bradway Stretch, built himself a brick dwelling about the size of his uncle's, on the property he inherited from his mother, about the year 1740. There are standing at this time six brick dwellings, all in sight of each other, which were erected in the fore part of the last century,-Daniel's, Bradway's, Stretch's, Padgett's, Butcher's and Richard Wood's. They are located on the head of the tide waters of the Unknown or Stoe creek. The early emigrants universally made the first clearings and settled on the navigable streams. I presume for two good causes-the first was there were but few public highways, and they poorly kept up for traveling, and what traveling they did do was on horseback ; the second was by living near to navigation they could more readily get their produce to market in vessels and boats. There was a more important cause than either before mentioned: our hardy pioneers of the wilderness being men of judgment and enterprise, soon discovered the most fertile lands lay bordering on the navigable streams and their tributaries, which, I think, is the case in the counties of Salem and Cumber- land.
Joseph and Hannah Stretch had two sons-Bradway, born 11th of 3d month, 1702, and Joseph, born in 1704. Bradway subsequently married Sarah, the daughter of John and Mary Chambless Hancock, born 15th of 11th month, 1701. They were married in 1724, and had eight children-Hannah, William, David, James, Sarah, Mary, Bradway and Eleanor
246
STRETCH FAMILY.
Stretch. William, the eldest son of Bradway and Sarah, mar- ried and left one son, John Stretch, who married a Finley. Ile afterwards sold his part of the Stoe Neck property to his nephew, John Finley. James, the son of Bradway and Sarah, born 4th of 4th month, 1793, married Elizabeth Evans. She inherited the brick house farm which belonged to her father, a short distance below Harmersville. (The farm belongs at the present time to Peter E. Harris.) At that place James and his wife commenced life. They had three children- James, Dorcas and Rachel. James' second wife was a widow by the name of Allen ; they had no issue. James lived to reach about eighty-seven years. His son James had two wives. The name of the first I never learned ; she lived but a short time after marriage. His second wife was Mary, daughter of Asa Jefferies ; they had several children. A short time after his father's death he sold the property inherited from his parents and removed with his family to Indiana. Ile and his wife are both deceased, leaving, I understand, a large estate to their children. Two of their sons studied law, and are successful in their profession. Dorcas, the daughter of James and Elizabeth Stretch, married Samuel, the son of Ed- ward and Hannah Pancoast. They were natives of Burlington county, but subsequently removed to Gloucester, and there ended their days, leaving a family of eleven children-Joseph, Elizabeth, Eliakim, James, Hannah, Samuel, William, Dorcas, Josiah, Charles and Anna. Joseph married Susan, the daugh- ter of Joseph and Ann Thompson ; their children are mentioned in the Thompson family. Elizabeth's husband was Malichi Horner, of Gloucester, who is deceased ; they had no issue. Eliakim kept a feed and flour store for a number of years in Philadelphia, and married Tacy Roberts, of Byberry ; they had issue. John and Mary Pancoast both died young. The parents of the above mentioned children are deceased. James was a bricklayer, and followed his trade in Philadelphia during his life. He married and left several children. Hannah, the second daughter, possessed great natural abilities, a logical mind, a remarkably mild temperament, and conversational powers above mediocrity. The poet truly wrote :
There is many a gem that is born to bloom unseen And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
She married Townsend, the son of Reuben Hilliard. He was a carpenter, and carried on his trade in Philadelphia. They had nine children-Elizabeth, Samuel, Joseph, Hannah, Reuben,
257
STRETCH FAMILY.
Anna, William, Mary and Charles. Hannah P., the mother, died several years ago of that loathsome and painful disease- cancer, which appears to be hereditary in the Pancoast family. Her husband is still living. All of their children (each of whom evineed uncommon intellect) are deceased excepting Anna, who married Bennett Smedley. Samuel, the son of Samuel and Dorcas Pancoast, was sent in early life to Philadelphia to learn the carpenter trade. After his term of apprenticeship expired, he followed the business several years with success. He married Mary, the daughter of Enoch and Beulah Allen ; she lived but a short time, leaving no issue. His second wife is Malenia Skirms, whose parents lived near Trenton, New Jersey. Sam- nel and his wife have four children-Allen, Mary, Eveline and Charles. Allen Pancoast's wife is Eliza Denfield; they have issue. Mary Pancoast married Oliver Lund ; they have issue. The younger children are unmarried. Samuel was a member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania for two or three terms. For many years of his life he pursued the business of buying and selling real estate in the city of Philadelphia. He has now retired from business and from public life, possessed of a competency, and lives at his country seat at Tioga. Wil- liam Pancoast, his brother, died a young man unmarried. Dorcas, the daughter of Samuel and Dorcas Pancoast, is living with her relatives in Philadelphia, unmarried. Jo- siah Pancoast removed when a young man to one of the Southern States, and died in a short time unmarried. Charles, the youngest son of Samuel and Doreas Pancoast, resides in Philadelphia, where he has been an Alderman for a number of years. He married Harriet Merrill, a widow, a native of Mas- sachusetts. Charles and his wife have no issue. Anna, the youngest daughter of Samuel and Dorcas, was very precocious in acquiring an education, and was a teacher in the Philadelphia schools the greater part of her life. She subsequently married William Keyser, an eminent teacher in that city, a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. They had one daughter-Eveline Keyser. William died not many years after his marriage of pulmonary consumption. Her second husband was Henry Maguire ; they had one child-Jenny. Anna is now deceased, dying of the same disease of which her husband died. Samuel Pancoast, father of the above mentioned children, died in Elsinborough, in 1833, of Asiatic cholera, which he contracted while in Philadelphia on a visit to his children. Soon after that event his widow, Dorcas Pancoast, removed to Philadel-
33
258
STRETCH FAMILY.
phia and made her home with one of her daughters ; she lived to nearly fourscore years.
Hannah, the daughter of Bradway and Sarah Stretch, born 6th of 2d month, 1725, married Wade Barker. They had issue, a daughter, Hannah Barker, who subsequently married Robert Watson ; her second husband was James Sayres. Rachel Sayres, their eldest child, married a man by the name of Gil- man, a native of Cumberland county. Sarah, the daughter of Bradway and Sarah Stretch, born 14th of 2d month, 1736, married Samuel Scudders ; they had issue. (They were the great-grand-parents of William Evans Sendder, who keeps store at Hancock's Bridge at the present time.) Mary, the daughter of Bradway and Sarah Stretch, born 24th of 2d month, 1736, married a Corliss. They had issue, Jacob Corliss, who subse- quently married and died a young man, leaving one son, Benja- min Corliss, who inherited the farm that Jervis Hires now owns, located near the village of Canton. Mary S. Corliss, the mother of Jacob, departed this life 2d of 6th month, aged over sixty-seven years. Eleanor, the daughter of Bradway and Sarah Stretch, born 16th of 3d month, 1745, married a man by the name of Evans; she died in 1770, aged twenty-six years, leaving issue.
Joseph, the son of Joseph and Hannah B. Stretch, was born 12th of 8th month, 1704; from him there are numerous de- scendants. He purchased more than two-thirds of the Christo- pher White allotment of 1,000 acres bought of John Fenwick in 1676. The greater part of said estate was inherited by Josiah White, the grand-son of Christopher. Joseph Stretch, Jr., was the purchaser of a large part of it, including the old brick mansion that was built by Christopher White in 1691. Joseph and Deborah Stretch had eleven children-Sarah, Mary, Peter, Joseph, Samnel, Jonathan, Joshna, Martha, Nathan, Aaron and Rebecca. Sarah, the eldest daughter, born about 1725, married Solomon, the son of Joseph Ware, Jr., and Elizabeth Walker Ware, There were eight children by that union-Peter Stretch, Elizabeth, Job, Hannah, Elisha, Barsheba, Sarah and Solomon. This large family of children all died minors excepting Sarah, who was born 14th of 6th month, 1756. She subsequently married Joshua Thompson, of Elsinborough, but died young, leaving three children-Joseph, John and Elizabeth. John died soon after his mother's death, aged about ten years. Those whom Joseph and Elizabeth married, and their offspring, are mentioned in the genealogy of the Ware and Thompson families
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.