USA > New Jersey > Salem County > Salem > History and genealogy of Fenwick's colony > Part 43
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Elsborg, now Elsinborongh, is one of the first places where Europeans landed and settled in West Jersey, being coeval with Obisquahaset, now Penn's Neck. It was there a small colony of English, from New Haven, Connecticut, landed in 1640, and lived about three years. It appears that they never gained the confidence of the Indians or the Swedish settlers, by whom they were greatly harassed, but a greater scourge even than that was an epidemic called pleurisy. A historian writes that more than one-half of their number died with the fatal malady, and those that escaped the disease returned to the state from whence they came. When Fenwick arrived with his colony the point of land called Asamhocking was purchased by Robert Windham, but he died soon after that event, and left a daughter who married Richard Darkin, a young man of much promise. Richard and Ann W. Darkin had two sons and two or three daughters. Richard dying about 1714, their landed estate was divided between their two sons, John and Joseph Darkin. About 1720 John removed the old log domicile of his father and built a substantial brick dwelling, which is still standing, and owned at the present time by Amos Harris. Jo- seph Darkin, the younger brother, erected himself a brick dwelling on the southern portion of the Windham estate. The said building has been repaired recently, but most of the old
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walls are remaining. Isaac Smart located on a tract of land of about 500 acres called Middle Neck, whereon he built himself a briek mansion in 1696, and a few years later his son, Nathan Smart, built an addition to it ; the house is standing and in good repair, and owned now by Richard Waddington.
John Mason, the emigrant, built in 1696 a brick dwelling on his property in Elsinborough, and in 1704 he built a large addition to it. The house is still standing, with some alterations made within a few years past by Richard M. Acton, whose wife inherited the property from her father, Thomas Mason, who is a lineal descendant of John Mason.
Abel Nicholson, the youngest son of Samuel Nicholson, built himself a brick dwelling, in 1722, which is in tolerable repair at the present time. Samuel Nicholson, the youngest son of Abel, inherited it, and lived there until about 1755. He then built himself a large brick mansion on the north end of the Nicholson allotment, on what is called the Amblebury Road, and there ended his days. The property is owned at the present time by Thomas Fogg, and the ancient house is in good repair.
George Abbott came from New England about the year 1696, and purchased a large tract of land of Joseph Nicholson, then a resident near Haddonfield, Gloucester county. George Ab- bott built a dwelling on the property near Monmouth river, as it was called at that time, in 1706. In 1725 he built an addi- tion to it ; the house is still standing, in good repair, and is owned by Andrew Smith Reeve. On the adjoining plantation stands another ancient dwelling, built by Henry Stubbins in 1745 or 1746. George Abbott, Jr., purchased part of the allotment of John Smith, of Amblebury, and built himself a brick dwelling, in 1730. The house is located in Alloways Creek Township. Charles Fogg became the owner, and he and his wife, Sarah Smith Fogg, resided there during the remainder of their lives.
Near Hancock's Bridge is a hip-roof briek dwelling, built in 1742 by Richard Smith, the son of Jonathan Smith, who was the youngest son of John Smith, of Amblebury. On the south side of Alloways Creek, near Hancock's Bridge, stands a large brick building in good repair, built in 1734 by William and Sarah Chambless Hancock. In this building the bloody mas- sacre took place in 1778, at the time of the Revolution. It is now owned and occupied by Lucetta, the widow of Richard Mulford. Abont half a mile down the creek stands a brick dwelling built by John Maddox Denn, in 1725. The present owner is William Bradway, who, on his mother's side, is a de- seendant of John M. Denn. Quarter of a mile further down,
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within a few rods of Alloway's Creek, stands a brick dwelling built by Joseph Ware, Jr., in 1730. It is now owned and oc- cupied by myself and wife, both the descendants of Joseph Ware, I on my mother's and she on her father's side. A mile farther down still, stands a brick dwelling, being hip-roof, built in 1745 by Charles Oakford, Jr., the grandson of Edward Wade, of Salem. It is owned by James Baker. On Alloways Creek Neck is a large brick building built by Nathaniel Chambless, the 3d, about 1730. The house erected by Daniels the elder is standing at the head of Stoe Creek, near the village of Canton, built prior to 1700. There has been within a few years an ad- dition built to it of frame.
William Bradway, son of Edward Bradway, the emigrant, built a brick dwelling on Stoe Neck as early as 1700, which is still standing at this period; the property is owned by Jonathan Ingham, of Salem. On the same neck of land stands the an- cient brick dwelling built by Bradway Stretch, the grandson of Edward Bradway, which was erected about 1745.
There are a number of ancient dwellings standing in Man- nington. About a mile from the city of Salem is a large brick house, with a double roof, built by John Pledger, Jr., in 1727. Iu Upper Mannington, on the property which is now owned by James J. Pettit, is an ancient brick dwelling, built in 1722 by Samuel Mason, son of Thomas Mason, who bought the property of Samuel Hedge, 4th, in 1720, being part of Hedgefield. Fur- ther up the Mannington creek there is another brick mansion built by William Nicholson, son of Abel Nicholson, about 1730. Near this ancient dwelling once stood the house of Samuel Hedge, and the place where the building formerly stood is quite visible at the present day. It is a venerated spot, because there, in the autumn of 1683, John Fenwick left this world of care and perplexities. The property is now owned by Dr. Thomas and his wife Joan Dickinson. Not far from the Nicholson house stands a large brick house on the southern part of Hedgefield, built by Samuel Smith, son of John Smith, of Smithfield, about 1718. The said house stands near the King's Highway, laid out from Salem to Burlington. Near the straight road from Mannington Hill to Woodstown, about five miles from Salem, stands a large brick dwelling built by William Hall, Jr., in the year 1724. According to the record in the family Bible of the Halls, John Smith, of Almesbury, died in that house. Eliza- beth, the wife of William Hall, Jr., was his grand-daughter. He was 106 years old and a few days over at the time of his death, which event took place in the beginning of 1731. He was born
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in the county of Norfolk, England, 20th of 3d month, 1623, and lived in his adopted country nearly fifty years.
One mile and a half from the Hall dwelling stands a large brick dwelling, built by the eminent Friend, Isaac Sharp. I have no record when it was erected, but I think, judging from the time Isaac Sharp was an active man in the public affairs of this colony, (he being one of the Justices of the Salem Courts early in the last century,) it would be safe to fix the time it was built as early as 1700. Not far from this ancient dwelling the mortal remains of John Fenwick lie mingled with its mother earth in the Sharp family burying ground. David Davis' man. sion is still standing in Pilesgrove, near Paulding station ; also, the house of Elisha Bassett, Jr. About a mile from Woodstown, in the township of Lower Penn's Neck, is Fenwick Adams' brick dwelling, built in 1728, now owned by Elias Buzby. Thomas Miles, the eminent surveyor, built himself a dwelling near the Delaware river, nearly opposite New Castle; it is more than 140 years old. The farm was inherited by his son, Francis Miles, and at the time of his death he devised the prop- erty to the township of Penn's Neck for educational purposes.
There is a large brick building located on Fenwick Point, as it was formerly called, built by Andrew Sinnickson in 1740, one hundred years after the first Andrew Sinaker emigrated from Sweden and settled on the eastern shore of the Delaware. During the last season the old mansion has been thoroughly repaired, but the ancient walls are left as formerly. The im- provements were made by Charles Sinnickson, of Philadelphia, the great-grandson of Andrew Sinnickson, who built it. In the same neighborhood stands Sinick Sinaker's dwelling, built of brick. I presume it was built about the time of his brother Andrew's. The Sinnicksons were leading men in the township of Penn's Neck as early as 1725, and were large land-holders.
Daniel Smith, Jr., built a log dwelling with a hip roof at Mill Hollow, about 1730 ; it is now in good repair, and owned and occupied by James Tyler. Not far distant from the one mentioned stands a house where Daniel Smith, Sr., lived. The house was of brick, but was rebuilt within a few years past. At what time it was built I have no definite means of deter- mining, but it was called an old house in the time of the Amer- ican revolution, and in it the French soldiers secreted them- selves until such time as the American militia crossed Alloways creek at Quinton's Bridge. John Smith, the eldest son of Daniel, became the owner. He married and had three sons- John, (who was the eldest, and was one of the Justices of Sa-
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lem Courts for a number of years,) Benjamin and James Smith. The latter became an eminent merchant in Philadelphia, and was the senior partner of his brother-in-law, Jacob Ridgway, for a number of years. He retired from mercantile business some time previous to his death, and located himself and family in the city of Burlington.
John Pledger and Hippolit Lefevre purchased a tract of 6,000 acres of land, 2,000 acres of which is now known as Quaker Neck. The latter erected upon the tract a large brick residence in 1707. The building is still standing, and is owned at the present time by George Griscom, of Salem. The property was sold by his family to Benjamin Wyncoop, an Englishman. At the begin. ning of the war of the revolution Wyncoop sympathized with England, and the property was partially confiscated. John Mountain purchased the homestead, and the residue of the property was bought by Lucas and Richard Gibbs, Ebenezer Miller, Mark Miller, William Abbott, Benjamin Wright, Riel- ard Ware and George Hall. Tradition says Wyncoop became very much reduced in circumstances, and died in the Pennsyl- vania Hospital a few years later.
William Tyler's brick mansion was built prior to 1730, and is located in Alloways Creek township, an addition having been added some years later. It is now owned by William Robin- son. James Tyler's briek mansion is still standing, built about 1750; it is now owned by Richard MePherson. There are a number of dwellings which have recently been taken down. William Hancock, son of the emigrant, built quite a large brick house in Elsinborough, in 1705. Richard Grier became the owner, and took the old house down and erected a frame dwell- ing in its place.
Christopher White, who landed at Salem in 1677, built him- self the largest and most substantial briek dwelling of any that was built in Fenwick Colony prior to 1700. It was erected in 1690, and located in Monmouth River precinet, about three- quarters of a mile from the present Hancock's Bridge, on his allotment of 1,000 acres, purchased of John Fenwick in 1674. Tradition says he sent to England for the bricks and an archi- tect. The walls were eighteen inches in thickness ; the floors were laid with two and a-half inch heart yellow pine; the cellar was covered with square English brick, and likewise the yard around the house. After standing 160 years it was taken down-the walls of the building even at that time were in a good condition.
Samuel Wade, who arrived in this country in 1675, built a 60
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one-story brick dwelling in Alloways Creek in 1688. The house had four rooms, together with an entry the whole length of the house. Samuel Wade died previous to the eighteenth century. He and his wife, Jane Smith, the daughter of Thomas Smith, had three children born in England-Henry, Andrew and Anne. I presume those three children died minors, as there is no record of them after their parents arrived in this country. Samuel Wade, their third son, born at Alloways Creek 1st of 6th month, 1685, inherited his father's property in Monmouth precinct, and soon after he arrived at the age of twenty-one he married, and had five children, two sons and three daughters. He met with a great loss by losing both of his sons in 1730, it being two years before his death. John Stewart, who had emigrated from Scotland a short time before, married Mary, the eldest daughter of Samuel Wade, Jr., and they became the owner of the homestead. They raised another story on the ancient building in 1763, being seventy-five years after it was built by Samuel Wade, Sr. Man being more de- structive than time, it was taken down about twenty-five years ago by John D. Stewart, a lineal descendant of Samuel Wade, being of the seventh generation, after the ancient domicile had withstood the wintry blasts of more than 160 years.
Redroe Morris' brick mansion was built on the shores of the Delaware, in Elsinborough. Samuel Carpenter, of Philadel- phia, purchased five hundred acres of land of Richard. Guy, and built a brick dwelling in 1688. The following year he sold it to Redroe Morris, at that time a resident of Salem. About that time he married Jane Baty, and in the spring of 1690 they removed to Elsinborongh on the property he had recently pur- chased. To corroborate this statement, the Monthly Meeting records state Jonathan Morris, their eldest child, was born in Elsinborough, 6th of 12th month, 1690. This property has been in the possession of the Morris family for six generations. The present owner, Clement Hall, a descendant, within a few years past, rebuilt the old dwelling, and I think some of the ancient walls are still standing.
Nearly a mile from the river, on the Amblebury road, that leads to Salem, stands a large brick dwelling, built by Lewis Morris, son of Rodroe Morris, in 1725; it was rebuilt by the present owner, William B. Carpenter, about fifteen years ago ; some of the old walls were left standing. William, on the side of his mother, is of the fifth generation from Lewis Morris. Bartholomew Wyatt, Jr., built himself a large brick dwelling in 1723, in the township of Mannington, on the twelve hundred
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acre traet that he inlierited from his father, Bartholomew Wy- att, who came to Salem about 1690. The brick dwelling was taken down a short time previous by the late Andrew Thomp- son.
Of the ancient churches that are standing at this time, I think the Friends' meeting house at Hancock's Bridge perhaps is the. most ancient. It was built on a lot that was deeded to them by William Hancock, and was erected in 1756; an addition was built to it in 1784. The prominent male members of that meeting, when the first was built, were James Daniels, Jr., Jonathan Bradway, Joseph Stretch, Jr., Bradway Stretch, Brad- way Keasbey, John Denn, Charles Oakford, Nathaniel Chamb- less, 3d, James Chambless, Jr., Solomon Ware, John Ware, Joseph Ware, Jr., Samuel Hancock, John Hancock, Jeremiah Powell, Jr., John Stewart, Aquilla Barber, James Butcher, and quite a number of younger men.
In 1740 Jonathan Waddington, Sr., son of William Wadding- ton, purchased about three hundred acres of land on East Thor- oughfare creek, in the lower part of Lower Alloways Creek township; the year following he deeded the said tract to his fon, Jonathan Waddington, Jr. In the year following, 1742, the latter named built himself a large. frame dwelling; it is still standing, in tolerable repair, being one of the oldest frame dwellings standing in the county at the present time. The property remained in the Waddington family until about 1790; at that time Jonathan Waddington, 3d, sold it to one of the Padgett family. Ephraim Turner is the present owner. Re- specting his parentage I have no knowledge. Ephraim is an active member of the Canton Baptist Church, and one of the deacons of the same for a number of years; his wife was a Bradway, a lineal descendant of Edward Bradway, the emigrant.
SLAVERY.
Before the year 1700, African slavery was introduced in the Fenwick Colony, and the next generation of landholders were the owners of slaves generally. When such labor is employed to do the menial services on the farm and in the house, its effect is to produce idleness amongst children of the slave-holders, and idleness is the stepping stone to vice and immorality. Slavery continued in the county until 1772. That year was a remark- able epoch in the history of the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The yearly meeting of the Society of Friends, held at Philadelphia in that year, passed a rule of dis- cipline that a member of the society who belonged to said yearly meeting should not forever afterwards hold human beings in bondage. Friends in the county submitted to the decision of the yearly meeting, and emancipated their slaves. They like- wise furnished homes for the aged and infirm, and assisted them during the remainder of their lives.
The Quakers, like other religions denominations, held no principles against African slavery at the early organization of their Society. After William Penn purchased the province of Pennsylvania he, in 1677, visited Holland and parts of Ger- many, inviting emigrants to his new possession in America. There was a company formed composed partly of Hollanders and Germans, known as Frankfort Land Company. The com- pany's agent was a rising young lawyer, Francis Daniel Pasto- rius, son of Judge Pastorius, of Windshire, who, at the age of seventeen, entered the university of Altorf. He studied law at Strausburg, Basle, Jena, and at Ratisbon, the seat of the Impe- rial Government, where he obtained a practical knowledge of international polity. Successful in all his examinations and dis- putations, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws, at Nurem- burg, in 1676. He emigrated to America in the year 1683, in company with a number of his countrymen, members of the Frankfort Company. The said company purchased 2,600 acres of land of the proprietor, bounded by Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. The towns of Frankford and Germantown were founded
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on the company's land. Among the German emigrants that purchased land of said company was Wiggert Levering and Geohardt Levering, and William Rittinghuysen, as it was then spelled, but now spelled Rittenhouse. William was the grand- father of the celebrated American astronomer, David Ritten- house. The mother of Dr. Thomas R. Clement, of this county, was a Levering, a direct descendant of Wiggart Levering, of Germantown. A short time after Francis Daniel Pastorious arrived in Pennsylvania he became a member of the Society of Friends. He married about that time, Anna, daughter of Dr. Klosterman, of Muhlheim. He was one of the first who had any misgivings about the institution of slavery, and in 1788 he wrote a memorial against slave-holding, which was submitted to the meeting of Germantown Friends, and by them approved of, and Pastorius was appointed to lay the memorial before the yearly meeting held in Philadelphia the same year. It was the first protest against negro slavery submitted to a religious society in the world. Whittier, the poet, who had an opportunity of seeing the original manuscript, says it was a bold and direct appeal to the human heart. The memorial found but little favor with the yearly meeting, and it was said that Pastorious returned to his home at Germantown with sadness depicted on his coun- tenance. By that act the seed of liberty was sown, for in the year 1698 Germantown Friends again sent a memorial by the hands of Pastorius to the yearly meeting held at Burlington, and it was received with more respect and consideration than it had been ten years previous, and was directed to be put on the books of the meeting, and had during that time gained a number of advocates for the measure. In 1701 the yearly meeting peti- tioned the Legislatures of Pennsylvania and New Jersey to pass a law to prohibit any more importation of slaves in the colonies. There was such a law passed in Pennsylvania, but it was abro- gated, and became null and void by the order of Queen Anne, of England. Westcott, the historian, says the first person that wrote a book showing the evils of slavery was Ralph Sandeford, a young merchant on Market street, Philadelphia. He had re- sided for some time in one of the West India islands, and had witnessed the cruelties inflicted upon his fellow-man, and in the year 1728 his book was published, showing the evils of the sys- tem, and for so doing he was disowned by the Society of Friends. In 1732 Benjamin Ley, the hermit, wrote a book on the same subject. A few years later Anthony Benezet arrived in Phila- delphia, he being a French Hugenot, who left his native land on account of religious intolerance. He was a Quaker and a
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man of great learning and benevolence of character. His resi- dence in Philadelphia was on Chestnut street, corner of Fifth street, and there he kept a school for colored children many years. Marshal Girard, the first ambassador from France, made his home with Anthony Benezet during his stay in this country. Benezet corresponded with the philanthropists in Europe on the evils of slavery, likewise with eminent men in this country, such as Washington, Jay, and Franklin, and many others. John Woolman, a native of Burlington county, an eminent minister of the Society of Friends, traveled extensively and visited most of the meetings within the compass of the yearly meeting, plead- ing the cause of the enslaved with great effect. It could not be otherwise, if it be true, as one of England's favorite sons says of him after reading the history of his life, which was published after his death : " His religion is love. His whole existence and all his passions were love. If one could venture to impute to his creed, and not to his personal character, the delightful frame of mind which he exhibited, one could not hesitate to be a convert. His Christianity is most inviting, is fascinating." And after seventy years' labor by some of the greatest minds that the Quaker society ever had among them, they abolished slavery within the compass of Philadelphia yearly meeting. Pastorious, the originator of freedom, died at Chesnut Hill, a short distance above Germantown, where he owned 500 acres of land, in the year 1720, and was buried in the Friends' burying-ground, at Germantown, a town he had founded over forty years before. There is no stone to mark the spot where he lies. His deseend- ants live at Germantown at the present day. I close this sketch of him by quoting a few lines of Whittier respecting him, after the proclamation of freedom made by President Lincoln :
" And the fullness of the time has come, And over all the exile's western home, From sea to sea, the flowers of freedom bloom.
" And joy bells ring, and silver trumpets blow, But not for the Pastorious ! even so The world forgets, but the wise angels know."
BEVERAGES.
It had long been the practice in England, Germany, and in parts of Northern Europe, prior to the settlement of the North American provinces, to use as a common beverage strong beer, and when the English and German emigrants came, they straightway busied themselves in erecting breweries for manu- facturing beer for common drink. There were four of them in the small township of Elsinborough : John Thompson's, Nichol- son's, Morris', and George Abbott's. There were also several more throughout the county. It seems to have been considered at that period one of the essentials of life. William Penn, the eminent apostle of Quakerism, and one of the greatest statesmen in the early settlemement of this country, had a brewery erected at his country seat in Penn's Manor, a few miles above Bristol, which is still standing. It was also made in large quantities in this section of the country, not only for home use, but a large portion was shipped to Philadelphia and New York. The succeeding generation planted large apple orchards, and when they became in full bearing order, distilleries for manufacturing cider into alcoholic liquors were erected, and that in time be- came the common drink of the people in the place of beer. It appears by the most reliable authority that all classes, both the rich and poor, and members of all religious organizations, made use of it as a common drink. Less than a century ago it was the custom at funerals for liquor to be handed out to those who had met to pay their last respects on earth to their departed friend. It has been daily used in many families and handed out to their workingmen until within a short period, and there may be a few at the present time who adhere to the old custom, but the number is diminishing yearly. Some persons ask if the present generation is more moral and better than our ancestors were, who used strong drink so freely, and likewise did not see any erime in holding their fellow creatures in bondage. I have no doubt that they did not see the great evil such
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