USA > New Jersey > Salem County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 52
USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 52
USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 52
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" Note .- These two surveys must have embraced the lands on which now stand the village of Berkeley, most of the town of Clarksboro, Clark's Landings, the railroad depot at Clark-boro, Thomas D. Brown's nursery, the almshouse farm, etc. We will here ju-t notice that John Alford atoresaid, by deed dated Nov. 1, 1740, conveys his other half of the one thou- sand aeres before mentioned. and lying on the south- east side of Edward's Creek, to John Haines. of Goshen, neither place or kingdom mentioned. This
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TOWNSHIP OF EAST GREENWICH.
Shoemaker, John Haines, James B. Albertson, James Beckett, and others. Four years after this purchase the said John Haines built the larger part of the present brick mansion house now owned by James B. Albertson, which is in good keeping after the lapse of near one hundred and thirty years. A consider- able portion of said lands continues in the Haines family to the sixth generation. Restore Lippineott, during the next fifteen year-, ac- complished the great task of straightening Edward's Creek by cutting thoroughfares across several of the bends thereof, and, with the assistance of William Haines, dug an entire new watercourse or canal from Gerrard's Dam to Great Mantua Creek (here we first discover the name of Mantua for the creek in- stead of Mantoes, as heretofore), a distance of some one hundred rods, at a width of about thirty feet, and four in depth. This accounts for the entrance of Edward's Creek into Mantua Creek at the present time being very different than formerly, as before alluded to. At the mouth of this canal flood-gates were laid, which effectually kept the tide from flowing up the same. At some considerable distance up said creek, and nearly on the lower bounds of the present almshouse farm, the said Restore Lippincott conceived the idea of building a grist-mill, preparatory to which he purchased of John Haines, by deed dated the 14th day of the 5th month, 1777, fifty-three acres of land and marsh, lying on the southeast side of said Edward's Creek, for the purposes of a mill-pond. The project of the mill, after much labor and expense, was aban- doned on account of the flatness of the stream and valley, and consequent difficulty in obtaining a suffi- cient fall of water. There had been two grist-mills in early times further up said stream, above the tide, one of which was called Room's mill, and upon its going down, another, known as Cozzens' mill (near where Leppee's mill now stands), was crected, which also going down about the date last mentioned, perhaps led to the idea of the new mill, in our narrative, to supply their place. Elijah Cozzens, one of the owners of the mill above noticed bearing his name, was a dep- uty surveyor and scrivener, many of whose maps and Coles, who, by deed dated May 21, 1762, conveys . writings have frequently come into my hands. The said Restore Lippincott, by deed dated the 3d day of the 7th month, 1779, conveys the whole of his lands to his son, William Lippincott, which, by a survey now taken, is found to contain eight hundred acres. About this time we find a sweeping warrant issued by the Council of Proprietors to one John Hind (gold- smith), of London, Great Britain, bearing date the 4th day of August. 1755, recorded in the surveyor- general's office, at Burlington, for forty thousand acres of land unappropriated in West New Jersey, and that the sheriff of Burlington County, by deed dated Sept. 29, 1787, sells to one John Lee three thousand eight hundred and fifty acres of said land : and the said John Lee, by deed dated the 1st day of 2d month, 1789, conveys fifty-three and one-half acres thereof to the said William Lippincott.
" We will now return to the almshouse property. Robert Gerrard aforesaid, by his last will and testa- ment, dated the 20th day of the 6th month, 1748, directed that his real estate in general should be sold by his executors, viz. : his wife Margaret, son William, and Joshua Lord, who by their deed bearing date the 1st day of the 10th month, 1752, convey the whole six hundred and fifty acres to Thomas Gerrard, who, by deed dated the 13th day of November, 1752, con- veys two hundred and fifty-three acres, being a part of said tract, to Sarah Bickham, who married James Wood, and they by deed, dated Aug. 6, 1756, convey the same to William Gerrard, and he by deed of the same date sells the same to Daniel Lippincott and wife, who, by deed dated April 1, 1757. convey the same to Thomas Coles. Thomas Gerrard aforesaid, by deed of conveyance dated Nov. 11, 1752. - ells four hundred and twenty acres of the land bought of the executors of Robert Gerrard to William Gerrard aforesaid, who, by his deed dated the 26th day of the 12th month, 1755, conveys the same to Restore Lip- pincott, who and wife, by their deed bearing date the 15th day of July, 1759, sell to Thomas Coles afore- said sixty-six and one-half acres, and to John Ches- ter at the same time six acres three roods and fifteen perches of meadow ; and the said John Che-ter, by deed dated Dec. 15, 1759, conveys the same to Thomas sixty-four and three-quarter acres of the seventy- three and one-half acres in the two last pieces men- tioned to James Hinchman, who and wife, by their deed dated Jan. 15, 1765, conveys the same to Restore Lippincott aforesaid. The said Restore Lippincott now owns of the original Clark tract four hundred and eleven acres, and the said Thomas Coles two hun- dred and sixteen and one-half acre .. Thomas Denny, high sheriff of the county of Gloucester, by deed dated the 25th day of June, in the third year of the reign of George III., king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the Faith, etc., A.D. 1763, sells all the lands of Thomas Coles in the county aforesaid, by virtue of a writ issued out of the Su- preme Court, principally in favor of Samuel Hogg, a blacksmith, to the aforesaid Restore Lippincott, who has now become the owner of the whole half of the original proprietary right of the said John Clark lying on the northwest side of Edward's Creek, with one hundred acres additional bought from the Egling- ton tract, amounting to six hundred and seventy-two and one-half acres, with the usual allowance, etc. From corroborating circumstances, it appears that
" William Lippincott, during the next twenty years from the date of his father's deed, sells off' to sundry persons varions parts and parcels of his lands, which. with sundry parts before conveyed from time to time, and excepted in the several deed-, without giving par- ticulars, thereby reducing the quantity retained by him to two hundred and fifty acres, and builds the
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HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
stone mansion house which was standing on the premises when conveyed to the county of Gloucester. On the 29th day of 1st month, 1798, William Lippin- cott and wife (whose maiden name was Beekett, and one of the original owners of a part of the lands of Elmer W. Cooper, near Bridgeport) convey all their lands to William White. He was a deputy surveyor and an excellent scrivener, and who, upon being ealled on by the Society of Friends of Upper Green- wich to assist them in making choice of a new site for their meeting-house, in the place of the old one known as 'Solomon's,' after viewing a number of places, coming to the spot where the present Green- 1 wieh meeting-house now stands, stnek down his com- pass staff, saying, 'Here is the right place.'
years in Canada, returned with his family to New Jersey, and purchases of William White, by deed dated the 7th day of the 2d month, 1803, all and the same lands which he had before conveyed. The dif- ference in price as per deeds was eight hundred and thirty-three dollars and twenty-five cents in favor of the last sale. The said William Lippineott, by his last will and testament, bearing date 18th day of the 5th month, 1824, bequeathed the homestead farm to his son, Restore Lippincott, who, by deed of assign- ment dated the 7th day of the 4th month, 1841, con- veys the same to William Miekle and George Craft, assignees, for the benefit of his ereditors, and the said assignees, by deed dated the 20th day of the 10th month, A.D. 1841, convey the homestead farm, contain- ing one hundred and eighty acres, to Elizabeth Lip- pineott, who, by deed dated the 14th day of the 6th month, June, A.D. 1860, conveys one hundred and seven aeres thereof to the county of Gloucester, on which the present almshouse buildings were soon after erected, the boundaries of which are as follows : Beginning at a stone in the middle of the Lawrence- ville and Red Bank turnpike 1.54 chains from the centre of the culvert over a small stream, and thence running eastwardly to Edward's Creek, and thence up the same by low-water mark, southwardly to a station in a general bend in said ereek, and cor- ner to the said Elizabeth Lippincott's other lands, and thenee by a direct line southwestwardly to a stone standing some distance southward from a fa- mous spring of water, known as Rattlesnake Spring (but how it obtained the name the writer cannot tell). It is nevertheless a fountain of most pure water, is- suing from a rock, and supplies che whole wants of the almshouse. From the stone last mentioned the . Groff and wife, Nov. 14, 1800.
boundary line is northwestward to a stone lettered 'G. C., 1860,' in the middle of the turnpike road above mentioned, and thenee along the same a north- easterly course to the place of beginning, containing. by actual survey taken at the time, the number o: acres before mentioned. On the 2d day of the 6th month, June, A.D. 1864, the said Elizabeth Lippin- eott conveys to the county another small piece of marsh for mud to mend the meadow banks, adjoining said farm on the south, at the general bend in the Tereek before noticed, containing ninety-hundredths of an aere.
" William Gerrard in his deed to Restore Lippin- cott dated the 26th of 12th month, 1755, as noticed in its place, reserves one-half acre of land for a family "In the following spring William Lippincott re- moves with his family to Canada, purchasing lands about twelve miles westward from Niagara Falls, and settles thereon. In the year 1800, William White builds the stone barn, with his name and date en- burying-ground forever, but where it is located, or whether it ever was used as a burial-place none can tell, as no traces thereof appear. The Lippincott family, however, instituted a small burial-ground across a valley and on a rising hill in front, and at graven upon a large stone, and placed in the west . some distance from the mansion-house, soon after it end thereof, which was standing when the farm was , came into their possession, in which the interments conveyed to the county, and taken down a few years
thereafter. William Lippincott, after spending five | said William Lippineott before mentioned in his last
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of the family from time to time were made; and the will directed the inclosure of the ground by a good stone wall, which was carried out by the aforesaid Elizabeth Lippincott, under the immediate super- vision of the writer, and when the deed was made to the county for the farm this venerable little spot was reserved. The said Elizabeth Lippincott in her last will (though not interred in said burying ground) be- queathed a legacy sufficient to keep the same forever in repair. The almshouse graveyard has been laid out right alongside of the foregoing, on a sandy hill amid the shady pines, where one after another of the inmates of the institution, as they pass off the stage of action. are quietly laid away."
Chain of Title of the Samuel Reed (late Jo- seph H. Moore's Farm, East Greenwich Town- ship .- Samuel Reed purchased 109186 aeres of Jo- seph A. Moore and David S. Adams, executors of Joseph HI. Moore (deceased ), by deed dated Jan. 27, 1883.
Joseph H. Moore purchased 202 acres of Joseph V. Clark and Joseph Allen, administrators of Wil- liam Allen (deceased ), Jan. 19, 1819.
Joseph HI. Moore purchased 12 acres of Isaac Pine, Oet. 19, 1843.
Isaac Pine purchased 12 aeres of Samuel Sailer. administrator of George Allen, Oet. 2, 1843.
George Allen purchased 12 acres of William Mickle. executor of Rachel Allen, 3d mo. 15, 1828.
Rachel Allen purchased 12 acres of Joseph V. Clark and Joseph Allen (above), 5th mo. 10, 1822.
Joseph H. Moore purchased 35 aere ( Mary Ann Duncan) of Joseph Jessup, sheriff. Jan. 5, 1850.
William Allen purchased 183 acres, 2 rods, 20 perches, being a part of the original 225 acres of John
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TOWNSHIP OF EAST GREENWICH.
William Allen purchased I rod, 36 perches of James Reeves and wife, Sept. 25, 1808.
William Allen purchased 18 acres of William Jones and wife, Ang. 10, Isto.
John Groff purchased 184 acres of Nathan Paul and wife (Tamsen), Oct. 29, 1789. This land de- >cended to Nathan Paul by will from his father, Nathan Panl, who purchased the same of David Long and wife (Lucy), March 20, 1761. David Long inherited this land by will from his father, Peter Long.
John Groff purchased 351 acres of John Sparks, Esq. (Ruth, his wife), April 1, 1791. being part of a large traet which John Sparks purchased of Francis Robinson, Dec. 19, 1779.
John Groff purchased 5 acres of meadow, adjoining on Repaupo Creek, of Isaac Steelman, Dec. 14, 1787. It is a part of the real estate devised to said Isaac Steelman by his father, James Steelnan.
The small lot of 1 rod, 36 perehes aforesaid, which William Allen purchased of James Reeves, is a part of 100 acres which James Reeves purchased of John Sparks, March 9, 1793, and John Sparks purchased of Francis Robinson (both aforesaid), March 13, 1781.
James Reeves sold 1-45 acres, part of the above 100 acres, to Samuel Bowers, May 20, 1828, and, from the best information at hand, the George and Margaret R. Mullen farm was originally part of James Reeves' land.
The 18 acres aforesaid, purchased by William Allen of William Jones, Aug. 10, 1816, was a part of 190 acres which Solomon Lippincott (of the western di- vision of the State of New Jersey) and wife ( Mary) conveyed to Jacob Lippincott, May 13, 1795, and Jacob Lippincott and wife ( Mary) sold said 18 acres to William Jones, June 16, 1814.
We are informed that the farms of Benjamin Her- itage and Davis S. Adams were both formerly the property of Joseph Harrison in 1773.
The farm of Edwin A. Holmes was owned by Isaac Pedrick in 1818.
Jessup's mill, ealled Daniels' mill, and the land ad- joining, was owned by Elijah Cozens in 1805.
William A. Dawson's farm was owned by William Sweeten in 1809. The boundary line between this property and that of the late Williaui Haines was a noted boundary line between the Sweeten lands and another large tract originally belonging to the Rich- ards survey.
"Cedar Lawn Farm." It has an extensive grove on a natural inclined slope, with a beautiful fresh-water lake, being a pleasant summer resort for the friend- of the family and neighborhood.
The Charles Heritage farm appears to have be- longed originally to Solomon Lippincott, who, by his will, devised lands to his grandson. John Lippincott, who in 1814 sold to Enos Gibbs. He sold to Joseph D. Green, from whom the title passed to Isaac Green in 1819; thence, at subsequent dates, to Cornelius Johnson, to Isaac Johnson, to William White, to John Watson, to Amos Hendrickson, to William Shute, to Jonathan Heritage, and then to his son, Charles Heritage. This is a valuable farm, and of such there are many in the township of which we are writing.
Civil List .- The following is a list of the first offi- cers elected in this township, together with the prin- cipal officers for 1882 and 1883.
1881 .- Township Clerk .- J Albert wis appointed town clerk, when the act erecting the township was passed, and at the annual town-meet- ing held in the spring of Iss1, William H. Brown was elected ; A>- sessor, J. A. Wolf; Collector, Wilham P. Haines: Chosen Freehold- ers, Joseph L. Breves, Benjamin Heritage: Township Committee, David B. Gill, John Loudeusliger, and Job S. Haines ; Surveyors of Highways, David 8. Adams, George H. Gannt : Overseers of High- ways, Jeffrey C. Daften, David S. Adam, : Overseer of Poor, Isaac C. Warner : Pound Keeper, Joseph Onest ; Judge of Election, Isaac N. Hughes ; Inspectors of Election, John Haines, William H. Wolf. 1882 .- Town Clerk, Henry L. Haugen ; Assevzor, J. A. Wulf; Collector. William P. Haines : Chosen Freeholder -. Joseph L. Reeves, Benja- min Heritage; Township Committee, David B. Gill, John Louden- slager, and Job S. Haines.
1883 .- Town Clerk, Henry L. Haines: Assewor, J. Albert Wolf : Collec- tor, William P. Haines; Chosen Freeholders, Benjamin Heritage, Joseph L. Reeves : Township Committee, John A. Loudenslager, David B. Gill, Walter Heritage ; Surveyors of Highways, David S. Adams, George HI. Gaunt ; Overseer- of Roads. Fir. t District, Jeffrey C. Batten ; Second District. William Dawson ; Overseer of the Poor, Isaac C. Warner: Commissioners of Appeal, William G. Haines, David Owen, Charles Shoemaker : Judge of Election, Isaac N. Hughes; Inspectors of Election, William H. Wolf, Jobn Haines : Pound Keeper, Joseph Guest.
VILLAGES AND HAMLETS.
Clarksboro .- This quiet old town is situated in the northeast part of the township, at the crossing of old Salem pike and the Paulsboro and Mullica Hill roads. Previous to, and in the early part of the present century, the land on the northeast side of the Mullica Hill road was owned by Jeffrey Clark, from whom the town takes its name. He was a large land - owner, bis plantation including all that portion of the town and running well up towards the old " Death of the Fox" Inn. Ile caused the farm on that portion nearest the crossing to be laid out in building-lots, somewhat larger than is the custom at the present day. The town soon began to grow, and in about 1825 it had become the great trading-point for some miles around, although there were yet but few houses on the Clark tract.
Part of the latter appears to have been owned by Joseph P. Hillman in 1790, who sold about 130 acres to Michael Wolf, and it afterwards descended to his son, David Wolf, who subsequently sold to Joseph Wolf, from the heirs of whom the late William Haines purchased the same, and at his death 85 acres thereof descended by will to his son. Job S. The southwest side of the Mullica Hill and Pauls- boro road was owned by different parties, among Ilaines, the present occupant, one of the heirs of said William Haines. This property is known as whom was John Eglington (after whom the beautiful
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HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
cemetery just out of the town was named), the Gill up in 1772 or 1773, i- the principal street, beautifully family, the Sailers, and others.
The pioneer merchant at this place was Matthew Gill. He kept store here probably as early as 1775, on the corner where the brick store now stands. Here in the old building, and for some years in the brick store which be built, he dispensed the necessaries of life usually kept in a country store at that time, such as codfish, molasses, nails, calico, brown linen sheeting, tea, sugar, crockery, and last, but not least, good old rum-rum that didn't kill. For many years Mr. Gill's store was the great centre. He was the Wanamaker of eighty years ago.
The pioneer tavern was kept in that ancient-look- ing stone building near the railroad crossing. towards Berkeley. This was built previous to the Revolution- ary war, and has lived through four wars, and to all appearances is good for several centuries more. It was known all through this section of country as the " Death of the Fox Inn." Tradition says, and every one knows that tradition never lies, that it was the custom in ye ancient days to capture a live fox, no- tify all sporting men within a hundred miles to meet at a certain inn, bring with them their dogs, and at a certain hour, after dinner, of course, let the fox loose. give him a fair start, and then let the hounds follow in the chase and kill the fox if they could. This was one of the principal sports among the pioneers of this section, and for this reason the old hostelry attained the name even prior to the Revolution.
Among the pioneer landlords was William Sailer, who for many years ministered to the wants of both man and beast, and always gave his guests such a welcome that they at once felt themselves at home. In after-years, and early in the present century, Mr. Sailer left the old stone house, and opened a hotel up in the village, in the house now owned by Edward Stewart, where he remained a few years, and retired, leaving Clarksboro without a tavern, and the weary traveler, even to this day, without a place in the town to rest and refresh himself.
While Matthew Gill was in the mercantile business he was also engaged in distilling -pirits. His old distillery stood nearly in rear of the brick store in the back part of the yard, or on what is now the next lot. Here the old pioneer farmers could exchange their corn, rye, and wheat for something more exhilarating, which many of them did. The old distillery subse- quently came under the ban of public opinion, and gave place to something better.
For many years Clarksboro has moved along in the even tenor of its way, neither adding or diminishing perceptibly. The solid old residences that were there at the beginning of this century are still occupied by some cases by the builders. Occasionally a new house has been built, or one modernized, but no spontaneous uprising of new residences or tenements. The old Salem turnpike, the mile-stones of which were set
shaded as far as the town extends each way from " the corners" as it used to be called.
The railroad station is at the crossing of the Pauls- boro road, and on that street a few houses and a Ger- man church have been built since the advent of the rail- road. Taken altogether, it is a quiet town, with three churches, Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, and German Evangelical, two stores. George S. Dil- more in the old Gill store, and J. C. Davis & Bro. on the opposite side of the pike, where the village post- office is located. The principal attraction of the town is the graveyard, or, as it is better known, "Eglington Cemetery," a beautifully laid out and ornamented city of the dead, whose slumbers will never be disturbed by mirthful demonstrations of the denizens of what is now Clarksboro.
Pioneer Land-Owners in and around Clarksboro. -Besides those already mentioned, the following may be of interest. March 9, 1715, the proprietors of the Western Division of New Jersey deeded to Francis Austin a tract of land containing one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five acres. Seven hundred acres of the above was assigned to Jonathan Haines the 3d day of January, 1719.
One hundred of the 1865-aere traet was assigned by Nehemiah Ilaines, son and heir of the said Jona- than Haines, to John Eglington, and recorded in liber M. folio 218, in surveyor-general's office, Bur- lington, N. J.
John Eglington, by his last will and testament, dated May 22, 1776, gave part of his lands to his nephew, John Lord. John Lord died intestate and without issue, and the land went to his brother, Asa Lord. Asa Lord died, leaving a widow and one daughter. The widow married John Richards, and he, by an Orphans' Court sale, sold to Matty Coats by deed dated July 19, 1799.
Matty Coats married Ann Lord, only daughter and heir of Asa Lord. Matty Coats and his wife, Annie, sold thirty-two aeres and two roods of the above land to James Cattle Wood, by deed dated July 20, 1799. This thirty-two acres, says James Taggart, now living near Clarksboro, is now owned by Ellward Steward. It is described in the old deed as follows :
" Beginning in middle of the Salein Road; thence along the mid le thereof So 4>> W. 9 ch 10 }; thence No 57,99 W. 35 Ch and 201 to Juumes C. Woods other land as he light of George Cozzens ; thence by same No 52º E. 9 ch 20 1; thence by John Boyer and Steward's land atol by other Lotts, 80 571 2º } .. 35 ch 60 1. to place of beginning, containing thirty-two acres and two Hoods "
This deed was signed in presence of Matthew Gill and George Brown. The price paid for the land was nine hundred dollars.
Dec. 24, 1802, Samuel Davenport, and Ann, his wife, descendants of the builders, and for half a century in . deeded to William Thompson fifty acres of land, on which stood the " Death of the Fox Inn." The deed was recorded May 23, 1803, in liber G, folio 31, of deeds. This property is now owned by J. D. Iloff- man and Isaac Davidson.
TOWNSHIP OF EAST GREENWICHL.
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Mr. David B. Gill, of Clarksboro, says that in the middle of the old turnpike road, in front of the old " Death of the Fox," is a deep well, and that four or five feet below the surface of the road is a large flat stone covering the month of the well. The well was made many years prior to the establishment of the turnpike (1772), and from the well water was taken for use in the old tavern, and the building of the turn- pike necessitated the covering of the well.
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