USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Port Elizabeth > History of Port Elizabeth, Cumberland County, New Jersey > Part 3
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Isaiah Silvers started a store in Quaker Street, next to the Methodist Episcopal parsonage, in 1840. He sold to Wharton Ogden in 1860, who continued the business there until he built his present store in 1868, on the northwest corner of Second and Quaker Streets.
On what is now the "Hall corner," being the northwest corner of Broadway and Second Streets, Mahlon Foster had a blacksmith-shop previous to 1802, and for a number of years after. He sold the property to Benjamin Fisler, May 12, 1810, who built and kept a store there. He was followed by Joseph
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
Brown, who was succeeded by Isaac Townsend. It was used by Cooper & Townsend in connection with the glass-works. Also by Francis Lee as a storehouse. In the fall of 1883 it was turned into the present hall, being first used in holding the fall election.
The southwest corner of Second Street and Broadway; on which Francis Lee's store stands, was sold by Mrs. Bodly to Enoch Rogers, October 27, 1796. It passed into the hands of Stephen Willis, who built and established the store. The Lees have owned it and kept store there since May 25, 1819. J. P. Bickley built and kept store where Dr. J. H. Willets's office now stands until the Ist of December, 1857, at which time it was destroyed by fire.
Perhaps the greatest business enterprise ever undertaken in Port Elizabeth was the organization of a company known as " The Port Elizabeth Manufacturing Company." They secured a charter from the Legislature March 13, 1837. The first sec- tion states that "Isaac Townsend, Thomas Lee, Joshua Brick, Benjamin F. Reeves, John Getsinger, and Owen Jones, and their associates and successors, ... shall be incorporated for the pur- pose of manufacturing cotton, wool, silk, and iron, and also for the purpose of dyeing, printing, and bleaching cotton fabrics." Their capital stock was limited to two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars. There is no record to show that there was any- thing done in the matter except to receive the charter.
On account of the channels of trade changing and the busi- ness on which Port Elizabeth formerly depended moving to other places, it has lost some of its old-time importance ; but even at the present time its prospects for the future are not discouraging. Its present population is five hundred and forty- nine.
The present oldest inhabitant is Mrs. McCullough, aged eighty-eight years; the youngest, William Murphy, Jr., aged two months.
NEGRO EXODUS.
In 1824 there was quite an exodus of negroes to Hayti. Captain Samuel Craig, who ran a packet regularly from Port
33
PUBLIC MEN.
Elizabeth to Philadelphia, gathered up two vessel-loads of negroes, brought them to Port Elizabeth, where they were re- shipped in the schooner "Olive Branch," Captain John Mat- thews, and taken to Hayti. Those who had the matter in charge made it appear to the negroes that they were to be taken to a place where everything grew without cultivation, and all they would have to do would be to gather and eat. Several persons went from here, among them being Phebe Bond, Memory Balard, Ned Wright, George Cropper, and John Cornish. A colored girl who worked for John Ogden at the hotel, being desirous of going, but forbidden to do so by Ogden, dressed in men's clothes and secreted herself on the vessel, thus getting away. After getting there and finding it required labor to live, as at all other parts of the world, they became dis- satisfied, and Ned Wright and John Cornish came back happier than when they went away. Cornish afterwards shot and killed James Corse, and was sentenced to prison for life, but was finally released on account of consumption of the lungs, and died in Bridgeton.
PUBLIC MEN.
The first Continental Congress which convened at Philadel- phia, September 5, 1774, recommended that nothing be used that came from Great Britain or any of its dependencies after the first of the next March. A public meeting was held in Bridge- ton, December 22, and a committee of thirty-five persons was appointed to see that the recommendation was carried out in this county. Joshua Brick, Sr., and Jonathan Lore were ap- pointed from Maurice River, showing that the spirit of liberty and patriotism was ripe here at an early period.
Thomas Lee was the member of Congress from this district from 1833 to 1837, during Andrew Jackson's administration, with which Mr. Lee was in full sympathy.
Benjamin F. Lec, son of Thomas, has been clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey since 1872.
Joshua Brick was one of the judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals from February 5, 1845, to June, 1846. He was
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
also a member of the convention that framed the new State Constitution in 1844.
We give below a list of the members of the State Legisla- ture Port Elizabeth has furnished :
Council .- Israel Stratton, 1833 ; Joshua Brick, 1835-36; Israel Stratton, 1837. Senate .- J. Howard Willets, 1874-77. As- sembly .- Joshua Brick, 1781 ; James Lee, 1805 ; Stephen Willis, 1812; Thomas Lee, 1814; Israel Stratton, 1823-25 ; J. Howard Willets, 1871-72; Wilson Banks, 1885.
The following is a list of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas Port Elizabeth has furnished since the Revolution :
Joshua Brick, 1777-82-87, 1822-27-32-37-41-42; James Lee, 1801-06-11-16; John Elkinton, 1808; Thomas Lee, 1813 ; Stephen Willis, 1814; Israel Stratton, 1823-24-29-34-43-52-57; Joseph Butcher, 1836; Joseph E. Oliver, 1860-62; Daniel Harris, 1866-67-72.
Port Elizabeth has furnished lawyers in the persons of
John Jeffers, admitted May, 1821.
John Reeve,
September, 1828.
Joseph C. Oliver,
November, 1877.
SKETCH OF MRS. BODLY'S LIFE.
Elizabeth Bodly, daughter of John Ray, was born in Piles- grove township, Salem County, in 1737. She married Cor- nelius Clark, a native of Burlington. In 1757 they came to Maurice River and purchased a large tract of land near the mouth of Manumuskin Creek, extending down the river a con- siderable distance. They probably built and located in what is now Port Elizabeth. The house, being a log one, stood on the wharf a little above Francis Lee's present residence. They had four children,-Joel, John, Susan, and Elizabeth Clark. Cornelius Clark died a young man, and his widow was left with the four young children to care for and a large landed estate to look after and improve, also large meadows and lowlands situ- ated on Maurice River to reclaim from the tide. When done, they proved to be some of the best meadow-land in South Jersey. Elizabeth's second husband was John Bodly. They had two children,-Sarah and Mary Bodly.
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SKETCH OF MRS. BODLY'S LIFE.
The elder died a minor. John Bodly dicd soon after his second child was born. Joel Clark, the eldest son of Cornelius and Elizabeth Clark, married Ann Dallas, sister of Jonathan Dallas. He died a year afterward, leaving no children. John, the second son, enlisted in the army during Washington's ad- ministration to help put down the Whiskey Rebellion in West- ern Pennsylvania, and died of camp fever. Susan Clark, the eldest daughter, was married to Jonathan Dallas, and died in a short time, leaving no children. Mr. Dallas soon after married Elizabeth Clark, sister of his first wife. They had five children, -Susan, Elizabeth, Ann, Mary, and Holmes Dallas. Mary Bodly's first husband was Maurice Beesley. They had one son, whom they named Theophilus Elmer Beesley, after an intimate friend of the child's father. Maurice Beesley died when his son was quite young. The son afterwards became an eminent physician, and practised with success in the town of Salem and surrounding country for a number of years.
Elizabeth Bodly was a woman above the medium size, black eyes, regular features, and was considered handsome even in old age. She possessed an expanded mind and great benevo- lence of character. The poor in the neighborhood always found in her a friend indeed. It is said there were very few days in the autumn and winter season when the poor were not found at her door receiving supplies of food and clothing. She was very fond of having her grandchildren around her.
It frequently occurred, when the poor came to ask for assist- ance, they would tell her some marvellous tales about witches, etc., to all of which she would listen without endeavoring to convince them to the contrary, well knowing that early impres- sions cannot be eradicated in old age. When they were gone, she would tell the children they must not believe such things, as there was no truth in them.
Elizabeth Bodly died November 25, 1815, aged seventy-eight years, and was buried in the Friends' burying-ground, Port Elizabeth.
Thus closed a long, eventful, and useful life.
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
CIVIL WAR.
Port Elizabeth furnished its full quota to the Union ranks during the Rebellion, perhaps more men in proportion to her population than any other town of like size in South Jersey. The following is as correct a list as we are able to give from our available sources of information :
SECOND REGIMENT. Company B.
William Gifford (corporal), Andrew Gressman, John E. Williams.
FOURTH REGIMENT. Company H.
Benjamin F. Mitchell, corporal, wounded at Gaines' Farm, Va., June 27, 1862; died from wounds, in hands of enemy, July 20, 1862.
FIFTH REGIMENT.
John Horton, musician, died on way home, May, 1862.
SEVENTH REGIMENT.
Company A.
Abraham R. Sheppard.
Company B.
John A. Barnett, died of dysentery at Arlington Heights, Va., June 26, 1865. Company D.
William Sheppard, died at Beverly, N. J .; Hosea Madden. Principal engagements, Hatcher's Run, Lee's Surrender.
TENTH REGIMENT.
Company A.
George Weiser.
Company B.
Azel C. Henderson, died of fever at Washington, December 25, 1862; Richard B. Simpkins, George Stadler, Francis L. Vanaman (corporal), died of fever at Port Elizabeth, October 28, 1863.
Company K.
Horace P. Bickley (sergeant), Richard D. Mitchell, promoted second lientenant Company I; William M. Mitchell, John G. Mitchell, Samuel Mayhew, wounded in jaw at Spottsylvania; Clement Biggs, John H. Smith, shot through lungs at Opequan, Va., September 19, 1364, died from wound September 29, 1864; Edmund T. Smith, missing in action at Winchester, August 17, 1864 ; Jesse Smith. Principal actions, Wilderness, Va., Spottsylvania, Va., Cold Harbor, Va., Winchester, Va.
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CIVIL WAR.
TWELFTH REGIMENT.
Colonel J. Howard Willets, transferred from Seventh Regiment, Company 11; wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., and Williamsburg, Va.
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. Battery C.
Wesley Downs, colored, was in several engagements, and came home to die.
TWENTY-FOURTII REGIMENT. Company B.
B. Reed Brown (first lieutenant), Francis Hankins (sergeant), William H. Wills (sergeant), Thomas S. Simmons (sergeant), John W. Simmons (corporal), George Madden (corporal), Henry H. Mayhew (corporal), Henry Adler, died at Washington, from wounds received at Fredericksburg, Va .; Frederick Blindt, Joseph Camp, Thomas II. Gifford, John Gilland, William F. Hogbin, John M. Henderson, John Matticks, Ezekiel Simmons, killed at Fredericks- burg, December 13, 1862; Lewis S. Sockwell, Job Sheppard, Benjamin F. Vanaman, died of dysentery, at Washington, D. C., October 8, 1862 ; William Weiser, Richard Watson Vansant (corporal), John Sheppard, wounded in first battle of Fredericksburg, Va., was captured at Bridgewater, Va., nearly starved at .Andersonville, from which he died at Annapolis, Md., March 21, 1865.
Company F.
James Craig. Principal actions of regiment, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Va.
THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT. Company D. Jesse H. Reeves, in action second battle of Nashville ; James W. Hand, died of dysentery at Tunnel's Hill, Ga., January 29, 1865.
Company E. Samuel Madden, died of fever at Chattanooga, Tenn., February 8, 1865.
THIRTY-SEVENTII REGIMENT. Company F.
Joseph T. Brown, sergeant.
THIRTY-EIGHTII REGIMENT. Company C.
John N. Loper (corporal), Joseph T. Biggs, Alphonsa A. Jones, Henry V. Mad- den, Abram Sawyer, Sr., Seeley F. Sheppard.
Joel Madden was in the Third Cavalry, Company G. Seeley Reeves was in a Massachusetts regiment, Fifteenth or Twentieth. Abraham Sawyer, Jr., and his brother Lewis enlisted in another State. Frank Sawyer was in the Fifteenth Regiment of Maine, Company K.
A mound was raised in the Methodist Episcopal Church-yard soon after the war in memory of nine soldiers who were never brought home. They were Samuel Madden, Benjamin F. Mitchell, Ezekiel Simmons, John A. Barnett, Henry Adler, James W. Iland, Clement Biggs, John IL. Smith, and Edmund T. Smith.
.
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
NATURAL AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES.
Geologists tell us that the southern part of New Jersey was the last piece of ocean-flooring raised above the tide-level of the Atlantic; and I have wondered why this assumed fact is not mentioned as explanatory of the assertion that several sections of South Jersey are the last to receive industrial development. According to the last report of the " State Agricultural Experi- ment Station," there are one thousand square miles of uncleared land south of a line drawn from the city of Burlington to Sandy Hook. From an agricultural point of view, these southern soils have wonderful capabilities, as is attested by the success of Vineland, Hammonton, Egg Harbor City, and other smaller settlements, none of which are over twenty-five years of age. The report concludes : " These are destined to become our most desirable and productive lands." While Port Elizabeth should not be claimed the Arcadia of South Jersey, topographical re- search reveals the fact that the economical features of its natural resources deserve careful attention. The alluvial soil surround- ing the town, though generally light, is very productive when carefully fertilized and cultivated. The outlying farms are chiefly devoted to the raising of vegetables and small fruits for the Millville and Philadelphia markets. Wheat, oats, Indian corn, hay, white and sweet potatoes, are the staple productions, and melons are raised in abundance. Fruits are grown with great success, and this branch of husbandry should be more fully developed; also the raising of sorghum may be done with profit. Apples, peaches, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and currants grow remarkably well, and are sweeter and richer in flavor than the same varieties grown far- ther north. Indeed, all products are superior in flavor and quality to like products grown in North Jersey, and command higher prices in the Philadelphia and New York markets. This largely arises from the medium annual temperature of 53.50°, and the influence of the Gulf Stream, giving us a truly tem- perate climate. In the commons north of the town, known as the " old sand-fields," the wild blackberry grows abundantly.
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NATURAL AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES.
Hundreds of bushels are annually picked for market and home consumption. They are usually small, but are noted for their sweetness and excellent flavor,-in these two points far sur- passing cultivated varieties. Huckleberries and May cherries grow plentifully in the surrounding swamps, and are largely gathered in their seasons. The most valuable farm-land is the meadow-bottoms, composed of blue mud. It is worth one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre, ac- cording to condition, and capable of paying twenty per cent. on the investment. This meadow-land is far superior to the swampy bottoms farther up the surrounding streams, and the marshy bottoms down the Maurice. We think farmers should devote more attention to the raising of poultry for market.
The lands surrounding Port Elizabeth are well drained by the Maurice River, and the Manumuskin and Muskee Creeks, and malaria and asthmatic affections are scarcely known. The general healthfulness of the town is also due to the deep wells and almost uniformly soft and very palatable water .*
Along the Manumuskin are many so-called boiling springs, which bubble up from the foot-hills, and their sparkling and hygienic waters have a wide reputation. The annual rain-fall here is about forty-seven inches. So full and equable is the flow of the Manumuskin the year round, should a dam be erected at any point above the truss-bridge it would form a most excellent water-power for driving manufactories. There are natural banks on either side of the creek, about fifteen feet high, and a lake could be raised from an eighth to a quarter of a mile wide, and about two miles long. The Manumuskin
* Longevity of life here is the best proof of healthfulness. Many inhabitants live to a ripe old age, and one or two centenarians in the persons of Elizabeth Springer and daughter, deserve special mention. Elizabeth Springer died Decem- ber 2, 1857, aged one hundred and one years and six months, and was buried in the church-yard at Port Elizabeth. Rev. William Walton preached her funeral sermon from the 116th Psalm, fifteenth verse: " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." She was blind for over twenty years, and a highly estimable and Christian lady. Margaret Springer, daughter of the above, died January 31, IS79, aged one hundred years.
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
and Maurice afford an easy and convenient outlet for the prod- ucts to Philadelphia ; besides, the West Jersey Railroad is but a mile and a quarter from town.
Underlying the surface soil is a stratum of fire- and potter's- clay which could be developed to great advantage. This is not the main clay-bed of two hundred and ten feet in thickness and its outcrop in the line of Atco, as described by State Geol- ogist Cook ; for with its dip of thirty feet to the mile, it would be about four hundred feet below the surface at the Port. The clay-bed here is about thirty feet thick, and only a few feet below the surface. The fire-clay was used with much satisfac- tion about the furnaces of the Eagle Glass-Works, where it withstood an intense heat. This clay is specially adapted to the manufacture of brick and earthenware. In boring for a driven well below Colonel Willets's office, a stratum over thirty feet in thickness was gone through, which was exceeding fine and white, and was pronounced a fine quality of porcelain- clay. Muskee gravel has long been justly celebrated for its excellent quality, and the pits have long contributed to the good roads in this section of Maurice River township. The West Jersey Railroad Company have established their pits here, and thousands of tons are annually distributed along their road. In connection with this stratum of gravel is a dark-brown silicious conglomerate. This stone is extensively used for foundation-work in building,-the pot-house at the glass-works having been built of it entire. Glass-sand is also plentiful, and large quantities are shipped from Lore's Wharf.
The wood industry has always been an important feature of the Port. Many choppers are engaged during the winter in cutting cord-wood and getting out cedar rails. Pine and cedar logs are carted to Fries's and Jones's saw-mills to be converted into lumber. Before the many heavily-wooded tracts were burned on the line of the West Jersey Railroad, the wood in- dustry was much more extensive. In the early morning the first line of teams on their way to the wharves would measure half a mile in length. For the past twenty years the hoop- pole business has been fostered with great profit to the dealers.
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SPORTING FEATURES.
The prepared hoops were largely shipped to the Southern States and the West Indies.
Underlying the swamp and marshy bottoms, and deeply im- bedded in mud and vegetable deposit, huge cedar logs are found that belong to a pre-historic period. The wood is sound, and is utilized in the manufacture of " split mud shingles," which are highly prized for their lasting properties. In former days the tar and charcoal industry employed many men in the adjacent pine districts, but there is little accomplished in that line to-day. During the operation of the "Cumberland Iron-Works," char- coal was exclusively used for smelting purposes. Bog-ore fur- nished the metal, and to-day the many iron springs along our streams and through our swamps give evidence that the metal was never exhausted.
In 1876, Dr. J. T. Sharp established a lime-kiln, with a ca- pacity of five hundred bushels.
SPORTING FEATURES.
The principal varieties of fresh-water fish that abound in the Manumuskin and Muskee Creeks are the chub, pike, sucker, roach, sunfish, and the inevitable eel. In the Maurice, the species are those which inhabit both salt- and fresh-water streams, and are chiefly represented by the catfish, perch, rock, herring, shad, and sturgeon. Now and then a porpoise finds his way up the river, probably being piloted by a school of fish upon which he seeks to prey. Many persons of a pisca- torial tendency find much diversion or monetary profit during the fishing seasons.
The larger species of wild animals are yearly growing scarcer. There are yet a few deer, and the red fox and the gray are sometimes run down. The raccoon and opossum arc still quite plentiful, and the hare is largely gunned for in its season. There are four species of squirrel in the woods and hedges, and the mink and otter are not yet extinct along the streams. The muskrats are a very numerous family along the banks of the Maurice. But the sport most relished by the townsmen, and especially fostered by the Game Protective
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HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH.
Society, is gunning for wild fowl. Several varieties of duck visit our ponds and streams. Quail, woodcock, English snipe, and the pheasant are more or less abundant, according to locality. The rail- and the reed-bird, however, elicit the most interest. The great September gale of 1876 swept away much of the bank on the west side of the Maurice, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to substantially replace it. The October gale of 1878 permanently opened great breaches all along the west bank, and now the meadows are open from Port Norris to above Port Elizabeth, and are grown up thickly with wild oats. These are the feeding-grounds of myriads of rail- and reed-birds from the first of September to the middle or last of October. Fully two hundred members of the West Jersey Game Protective Society are here at each recurring season, coming by rail or by water from Philadelphia, Camden, Trenton, New York, Newark, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Chester, Wilmington, Norristown, and other places. Four or five steam- and several sailing-yachts-of the former class, Disston's and Gibson's, and among the latter, the old champion " Minerva"-bring a large number of sportsmen to the grounds. From one hundred thousand to one hundred and twenty-five thousand are killed annually opposite the Port alone. A party of nine killed two thousand one hundred during one tide; and so numerous are the rail at times that one gunner will kill fifty before picking them up. One man has killed as high as three hundred and sixty-five, one tide. The best season's work by any one resident was accomplished by David Lore, who killed ten thousand birds. These, and similar statements, are some- times said to be grossly exaggerated, as the most of the rail are shot singly ; nevertheless, the facts are abundantly verified. At times the discharges are so rapid, it is found necessary to cool the gun-barrels by immersing thein in water, or the gun is laid aside to cool while another fowling-piece is used in its stead. These rail-bird grounds are said to be the best in the United States.
FHULUTYPE
F. GUILKUNST
PHILAD'A.
CONTINENTAL PARADE.
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF FEBRUARY 19, 1885.
It has often been asked why the jollification was made in cold weather. A short explanation of its origin and develop- ment fully answers that question, and the Port's patron saint, Elizabeth, may be forgiven for " fixing the date of the centennial anniversary of the place at so cold and cheerless a season of the year." On December 3, 1884, Rev. C. W. Livezly dropped into the studio of C. B. Ogden, and stated he had just received a postal from the presiding elder, Rev. WVm. Walton, requesting him to hold a celebration of American Methodism. Mr. Og- den remarked, " By the way, it has been just a hundred years since Port Elizabeth became a definite village; why not have a double centennial celebration ?" After discussing the matter with several influential citizens, it was thought advisable to appropriately celebrate the anniversary of Methodism on the morning of Sunday, the 21st inst., and honor the memory of the Port in a befitting manner on the evening of the same day. Committees were appointed, but the time was found too short to prepare a historic sketch of the Port. Sunday was thought an inappropriate day, and that the centennial should be fixed for the middle of holiday week. As ideas developed, it was deemed best to call a mass-meeting of citizens. Accordingly, on December 16 a meeting was held in Lee's Hall, a commit- tee on resolutions was elected, and an executive committee chosen to devise plans and prosecute the work. The date was fixed for February 19, 1885, being as near Washington's Birthday as convenient. It was thought advisable to celebrate in the winter, that farmers, watermen, and the Eureka Cornet Band would all be at home and ready for the work. A centen- nial tea-party was mentioned for the evening of the day, and it was not dreamed that the interest would reach any one outside the village. The people thought they might have a baby elephant to amuse and instruct, but after the Executive Committee had met a few times, a veritable Jumbo was found on their hands. With the arrangements already made, it was found inexpedient to postpone to warm weather.
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