USA > New Jersey > Salem County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 2 > Part 15
USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 2 > Part 15
USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 2 > Part 15
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Baptists .- Records dated March 29, 1509, show that steps were taken by the Baptist residents of the neigh - borhood of New Canton preparatory to the erection of a meeting-house. It is recorded that on March 12, 1812, " the neighborhood met at meeting-house to choose trustees." It is supposed Rev. Henry Smal- ley, pastor of the Cohansey Baptist Church, and Rer. Joseph Sheppard, of the Salem Church, preached in the neighborhood occasionally, hence the erection of a place of worship before the constitution of a church ; and in this house, which occupied the site of the present building, the constituent members gathered and the conneil of Nov. 12, 1812, convened.
Oct. 17, 1518, twenty-six persons from the Salem Baptist Church, and five from the Cohansey Church, aggregating thirty-one, were dismissed to form the nucleus of the new organization. The following are the names of the constituent members: From the Salem Church: Abraham Harris, Joseph Elwell, William Simkins, John Mulford, John Findley, Jere- minh Anderson, Rachel Vanhizle, Elizabeth Sayre, Elizabeth Mulford, Mary Elwell, Mary Simkins, J'hebe Finley. Eleanor Anderson, Orpha Emerson, Mary Ilarris, Mary Mills, Sarah Boon, Hannah Grif- fith, Hannah Anderson, Rachel Mulford, Hannah I Simkins, Naomi Stretch, Hannah Dilks, Ruth Ash- ton, Anna Bowen, Mary Mills. From Cohansey Church: Robert Watson, Charles Mulford, Hannah Watson, Mary Simkins, Hannah Corliess.
The council, consisting of Rev. Henry Smalley and Rev. Joseph Sheppard, convened Nov. 12, 1818. Mr. Smalley preached, and it is said "all things were done decently and in order." On the afternoon of the same day, Abraham Harris and John Mulford were chosen deacons, and Charles Mulford was elected clerk.
Previous to the constitution of the church there seems to have been an nuderstanding with Thomas J. Kitts, of Wilmington, Del., that he should act a-
426
IHISTORY OF SALEM COUNTY.
supply, with a view to the pastorate. Nov. IT, 1818, Rev. Mr. Kitt- brought a letter of dismission from the Wilmington Church, and December sth following he was ordained pastor of the Canton Church. Dur- ing his pa-torate a board of trustees was chosen, con- sisting of John Mulford, Joseph Ewell, James Butcher, David Rowwen, and Charles Mulford. . A communion service and table were presented by the Salem Church. Robert Watson was chosen deacon in place of John Muitord, and Charles Mulford one- eeeded David Bowen as clerk. Ang. 19, 1519, it was resolved to apply for admission to the New Jersey Baptist Association, and a letter was prepared and delegates were appointed. Rev. Mr. Kitts closed his labors March 11, 1820.
April 8, 1820, Rev. Jolin P. Cooper was called as a supply for one year. The relation was continued, and he remained three years and ten months. Feb. 24, 1824, Rev. Ebenezer Jayue, of Tuckahoe, became pastor, at a salary of one hundred and twenty dollars for the first year, at the expiration of which time the relation was continued by unanimous vote, and he remained two years and three months, dying in the pastorate. A monument near the church bears this inscription:
After time had been given these disaffected memi .... for reflection, and an opportunity to return afford : them, by advice of the former council. Rev. J ..... Miller and over thirty others were excluded from tir. communion and fellowship of the church, Auz. !: ISOT. These and their adherents erected a house i; worship near by. adoptel the Old School confession ... faith. Rev. Mr. Miller became pastor, and servir .. were held regularly for some years. After Mr. Mi !. ler's resignation other preachers occupied the pulpi :. but the interest subsided. and eventually the building was soll, removed, and devoted to school purpur. For about a year succeeding the separation, Ephrain. Turner, a licentiate. already referred to, with Joh !. P. Cooper and John Huston, supplied the pulpit, ani at the expiration of that time Rev. William Ruddy, of l'hiladelphia, became pastor, and was instrument d in reuniting the church with the New Jersey Baptist Association. The old frame church gave way to a nest and substantial brick structure, forty feet by sixty, and the asperity and bitterness of the past were greatly al- layel during Mr. Buddy's four years' pastorate. Her. William G. Nice, from Philadelphia, was pastor from July 7, 1842, to March 21, 1846. Rev. William " Bowen, of Friskville, N. Y., was called as supply for a year, and became and continued pastor until March terval been supplied by Rev. Joseph N. Folwell and Ephraim Turner,-Rev. George Sleeper, of Medfor !. N. J., accepted the pastorate, and served with muel: success. He resigned March II, 1855, and died in Vincent, Chester Co., Pa., March 19, 1866.
" Elder Ebenezer Jayne, born Feb. 19, 1754; died while pastor of this church, May 27, 1523, in the 25, 1842. Sept. S. 1849,-the church having in the in- seventy-fifth year of his age."
April 7, 1827, Rev. John P. Thompson, of the Port Elizabeth Church, became pastor, and remained three years and two months. During his pastorate a spirit of unkindness, which seems to have originated years previous, was fully disclosed, and the council recom. mended by the Association in 1827 to settle this diffi- culty was refused by a resolution passed Feb. 9, 1523, declaring i: "against the independence and dignity of the church, and contrary to Scripture and dis- cipline." He having removed from the immediate
Henry B. Shermer served some months as supply. Oct. 13, 1855, Rev. William Pike, of Balligomingo, Pa .. accepted a call, and was pastor until March 25, 1859. May 7th, following, Rev. Samuel C. Dare, a licen- tiate of the Pitt-grove Baptist Church, was received as supply, and was ordained and installed as pastor vicioity, Rev. Mr. Thompson was granted a letter to : June 9th, the relation continuing until Sept. 25, 1999. Cohansey Church, June 12, 1590. July 10, 1980, , Rev. William C. Cornwell, of Philadelphia, was pas- Enoch MI. Barker, a licentiate of the Woodstown tor from Nov. 15, 1863, to February, 18GG ; Rev. Jere- iniah W. Marsh, of Bloomingdale, N. J., from April 7. 1866, to Dec. 10, 1869. Jan. 10, 1870, Eugene Man -. field Buyrn was called as supply, bringing a letter of dismissal from the Twelfth Baptist Church, Philadel- phia. In 1870 the Association held with the church supply four months, when Rev. John Miller, of Al- , of Woodstown refused to recognize bim as an acered. Baptist Church, became supply, and on June 8, 1831, a council was called for his ordination. He closed his labors March 9, 1833. During his pastorate it was agreed to rent the pews, and Ephraim Turner was appointed clerk. Rev. John P. Cooper served as lowaystown, was called as supply for one year, and became pastor, and so served four years and nine monthis. During this period the church voted to withdraw from the New Jersey Association becan-e it liul permitted changes in the articles of faith.
Towards the cler of Rev. Mr. Miller's pastorate the church beenme divided in their views and feel- ings concerning him, and a council was unanimously called, by whose decision both parties agreed to abide. The decision was disregarded by the Miller faction, however : a division occurred, and the mi- nority, with the pastor at their head. left the church. . a new roof was put on the church and a pulpit rece-
ited minister, and to place his name as such on the records. Notwithstanding this he was called as pas- tor November 12th, by a large majority ; but, owing to the dissatisfaction of the minority and his unsettled! relations with the Association, he resigned, and wa- dismissed by letter to Newton, MId., Jan. 7, 171. Rev. Samuel Hughes, of Camden, was pastor fruta May 13, 1871, to March 9, 1872. Rev. E. M. Barker. of Blackwoodtowa, N. J .. who had served the church 150)-39, was called, by a unanimous vote, March 24, 1472, and resigned May 4, 174. During his pa-torate
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TOWNSHIP OF LOWER PENN'S NECK.
added. Charles Warwick, a Heentiate from Cape of the proprietors of this establishment and its favor- May, was a supply for a time. Frank Spencer, a li- able location combine to render it one of the leading canning-houses in the county. ventinte of the West Meriden, Conn., Baptist Church, became a supply Dec. 7, 1974. He was ordained and There was an early tide-mill on Cooper's Creek, in Bea-ley's Neck. installed as pastor March 18, 1875, and resigned after a successful administration March 10, 1877. The succeeding pastor was Rev. M. Moore Fogg, who was called immediately upon the resignation of Rev. Mr. Spencer. His successor was the present pastor, Rev. Charles P. De Camp.
The present membership of this church is nearly four hundred, and besides the " Home" or Canton Sunday-school, there are connected with it schools known as the Hill Neck, Cro --- Roads. Harmersville, Harmony, and Stow Creek Sunday-schools ; the pop- erty, consisting of the house of worship, parsonage and sexton's house, and five acres of land, being lo- cated in an agricultural section, with a large ter- ritory surrounding it unoccupied by other Baptist Churches.
Methodists. - Formerly there was a Methodist Church at Canton. The society was regularly organ- ized and owned a house of worship. Owing to causes not necessary to name here the society gradually grew weaker and weaker, till its existence was nearly nomi- nal, and a few years ago the church edifice was sold and converted into a storc.
The Methodists of Hancock's Bridge and Harmers- ville and surrounding country purchased a lot at Har- ! Smith Wood, the mill and the land adjoining it were
mersville, of Peter Stretch and wife, in 1833, and built a church thereon. The society purchased a second lot of Richard Medford and wife, at Hancock's Bridge, in 18-19, and the present house of worship has been standing since about that date.
Industrial Pursuits. - The leading industry of this township has long been agriculture. The soil of the township is measurably productive. Much labor has been expended in reclaiming marshy lands. The inhabitants dwelling on both sides of Alloways Creek, in 1697, obtained a law authorizing the erection of a dam to stop out the creek a few rods above Han- cock's Bridge. It was completed, but, as the result of negleet, broke, and was never afterwards repaired. Since then millions of tons of wood and lumber have passed over the site of this ancient dam, and wany vessels have been built farther up the creek and floated down past this place.
The canning-factory of Messrs. Garrison & Shep- pard, at Canton, was established in 1881. The prin- cipal product is canned tomatoes. A large and in- creasing business is done, and from fifty to ninety hands are employed during the season for canning, and several in the tin-shop manufacturing cans.
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Messrs. Starr Brothers, of Salem, in 1882 put in operation a canning establishment at Hancock's Bridge. The factory proper is a building one hun- dred and twenty-two feet by sixty-two. Au annex, measuring fifty-two feet by thirty, with twenty-two -. feet posts, is used as a packing-room. The enterprise
For more than one hundred and fifty years there have been two water-mills in the township for grind- ing grain. The first was erected by John Mason, of Elsinboro. He purchased two hundred and fifty aeres of Annie Salter, situated on the upper branch of Stow Creek, and erected a flouring-mill about 1702. His son, Thomas Mason, soll the land and mill to Samuel Wood about 1740. The latter, at the time of his death, willed the property to his eldest son. Jon- athan Wood, who left it to his son, William Wood. The latter sold the farm to William Bradway, and the mill and pond to his uncle, John Wood, father of the late John Smith Wood. John Wood left it to his grandson, John Wood Maskell, and at the death of the latter it passed to Thomas Maskell.
Judge John Brick, who resided on the lower branch of Stow Creek, called Gravelly Run, erected a flour- ing-mill there in the early part of the last century. Some time after the death of Judge Brick, which oc- curred about 1758, his heirs sold the mill to John Wood, son of Samuel Wood, and at the death of John Wood, his son, John Smith Wood, became the owner. In the division of the property of John set off to Lucy Wood, his daughter, the wife of Dr. Clark, of Woodbury.
About 1790, Edward Bradway purchased of Jere- miah Powell the right to a natural pond on Powell's land, and the privilege of cutting a ditch from the pond to the creek, so that food-tide could fiil the former from the latter, the returning water being utilized to run a grist-mill. This establishment was never in favor with the inhabitants, and never did an extensive business, and about the year IS14 it was abandoned, and the site reverted to its former owner.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
TOWNSHIP OF LOWER PENN'S NECK.1
Situation and Boundaries .- This is the most westerly township in the county, and the larger por- tion of it is virtually an island. It is bounded north by Upper Peau's Neck, cast and south by Salem Creek, which separates it from Mannington, Salem, and Elsinboro, and west by the Delaware River.
Descriptive .- Lower Pen's Neck contains an area of thirteen thonsand five hundred and eighty-one aeres, most of which is available, being well adapted to grazing and market gardening. The township con-
1 By M. O. Noife.
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HISTORY OF SALEM COUNTY.
tains one hundred and twenty-one farms, and the soil is rich, and on the margin of the Delaware are large strips of marsh-meadow lands. Some of the fine-t cattle in the county are raised here, and large quanti- ties of vegetables have long been produced for the Philadelphia markets.
The Delaware River flows along the western side of this township, and an artificial canal about two miles long has been cut at the extreme north, connecting the Delaware with Salem Creek, which flows along the eastern and southern borders, saving a cireuitous navigation of about twenty-five miles, and surround- ing the town-hip with water, except a few hundred rod, at it- northwestern corner. Mill Creek and Bal- dridge's Creek and other small streams have their sources in the township, emptying their waters into the Delaware River and Salem Creek.
Well-traveled road- traverse the township in all directions, farms and farm building- have a thrifty aspect, and Lower Penn's Neck may be regarded as one of the most prosperons townships in Salem County. Its inhabitants, numbering thirteen hun- dred and thirty-four in 1850, are industrious and eu- terpri-ing.
The assessed valuation of personal property in Lower Penn's Neck in 1881 was $325,857; its real estate was assessed at sind, soll; itstotal debt amounted to $213,276; its voters numbered 350. Its poll-tax amounted to 8238; its school tax, SIsós; and its county tax, 81770.
Original Purchases and Settlement.1 --- Lower l'enn's Neck was settled by Europeans, probably varlier than any other part of Salem County. Here the Finns and Swedes made a settlement as early as 1635 or 1610.
At Finn's Point the Swede, built a fort. That it was primitive in conception and rude in construction may well be imagined. In the vicinity of its site, opposite Fort Delaware, is the present Finn's Point battery. At this place lived, at a later date, La-se Hendricks, Stephen Yearnans, Erick Yearnans, and Matthias Spackleson, from whom John Fenwick pur- chased one thousand acres of land, called Pampian's Hook, where he conceived a project, which was never executed, of laying out a town to be called Finnstown Point. Erick Yearnans Fenwick was appointed bailiff over the bailiwiek of West Fenwick, now Penn's Veck.
Among the carly comers to this township were several Dutch families, some of whose descendants were conspicuous in after generations.
"The Siunickson family is one of the oldest in South Jersey. Originally they spelled their name Cenca, corrupted to Sinaker. There is no definite account that I know of fixing the year when Ander- Seneca left Sweden and settled on the shores of the Delaware, but circumstances convinge me that he and
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his family came in company with Minuit. the f .;- Governor of New Sweden, in 163S. Anders Sen. : had two sons born in Sweden, Broor and Anders. 1: what period Anders Seneca, Jr., came and settled ca the eastern shore of the Delaware is uncertain, bir :: is safe to presume that it was soon after their arra 1; in this country, for Anders Nilson, Jonas Nils ... Michael Nilson, Hans Peterson, Van Nemsans in'a Vanneman', and several other families were inkat. itants of Pean's Neck as early as 1640, and the Dahlin, family were likewise residing on the castern shore ot the Delaware about that period .. . . Broor Send a and his family, I think, made a home on the western shore of the Delaware River. . . . Anders Seneca, Jr., . . . bought a large traet of land at Obi-quahasi. now known as Denn's Neck, of the natives, and it- tled thereon; that being about thirty years prior to Fenwick's arrival with his English colony. . . . Wil- liam Gill Johnson bought land in Peun's Neck of William Penn and Michael Lecroa in IG8.1. . . . Wil- liam Gill Johnson left two sons, who inherited b.s property, Thomas and John Gill Johnson. Thomas- died in 1721, leaving a widow and six daughters. . . . The widow of Thomas Gill Johnson married Thom :- Mile- abont 1723. Thomas and his wife bought of Christina, Rhina, and Alice sisters of Mrs. Miles their shares of the lands inherited from their father Andrew, the son of Sinnick Sinnickson, was the first of the family to write his name Sinniekson.
" He and his brother John. in 1784, purchased lange tracts of meadow- and wood-land of the heirs of Wil- liam Penn, as the following order, given to Thomas Miles, the deputy surveyor for James Logan, will show : 'In order to Thomas Miles to survey to sin- nick and John Sencea the march called Mud Blau !. and one hundred acres of land adjoining to their other tracts, and for William Philpot the point of land and marsh between his plantation and Salem Creek, and fur Owneidferds Stanley, Mayant Bilder- back, and Thomas Bilderback one hundred actos at a place called Hell Gate. Dated 7th of Fourth Month, 1733. The price of the marsh is live and twenty pounds and one hundred acres of wood-land, thirty pounds for a hundred aeres clear of quit-rents.' Ar- drew Sinnickaon (Sd) beld important offices in the colonial government in the town and county in whi-1: he Jwelt. He tilled the office of judge of the court and justice undler George III., and was an ardent Whig during the American Revolution. He died 20th of Liguth Month, 1790, aged seventy years, leaving to his heirs a large re il estate. . . . Thouni- Sinnickson, the eldest son of Andrew (34;, took an active part in the Revolutionary war, and commande ) a company in the Continental army. On account of Lis writings and bitter opposition to British tyranny he was outlawed by Lord Howe, and a heavy reward wa- offered for him dead or alive. At the organisa- tion of this goverment he warmly approved of Alex ander Hamilton's views, and hence he became ti.
1 Partially from dats contributed by Th anas Shounds.
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BEIDENGE OF THOMAS SINNIGKSOM, JA. OUSINAL HOME. READ HOWIT 1610.
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TOWNSHIP OF LOWER PENN'S NECK.
leader of the Federal party in this section of country during the administration of Washington and the elder Adams. He frequently represented this county in the State Legislature, was a member of the First Congress of the United States, which met in New York City, and also a member of Congress from 1796 to 1798. For a number of years he was a judge and a justice, and likewise enunty treasurer. Andrew Sinnickson (4th) was an ardent Whig. During the American Revolution he raised a company of men, and commanded them at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. After the war was over he hell a com- mission as judge and justice, and lived to an old age greatly respected.""
The above extracts speak of the settlement of the original Lower Penu's Neck, Sinniekson, and other pioneers, and of later Finnicksons and others, who were conspicuous in their day and generation, notably during the struggle for American freedom. In all generations to the present Sinnicksons have been among the wealthy and prominent men of the town- ship and county, much of the land purchased by Anders Seneca, Jr., now being in possession of his descendants.
The Dunns are an old family in Lower Penn's Neck. Soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by order of Louis XIV., in 1681, many Huguenots emi- grated to this country to avoid persecution. Among them were two brothers, Zaccheus and Thomas ; Dunu, most probably natives of Alsace or Lorraine. The former settled in Pilesgrove; the latter located in Penu's Neck, and had numcrons descendants. In 1659 be bought one hundred acres of land of Wil- liam Penn, which was surveyed to him by Richard Tindall, and which adjoined lands of Hans Cornelius and Widow Hendricks, near Finn's Point. He was a Calvinist, and some of his descendants, with the Copners and other families, organized the okl Pres- byterian Church at Pennsville. Another Huguenot family which became prominent in the township and county were the Jaquetts.
Thomas Miles was an eminent surveyor, and be- t Penn's Neck, in honor of William Penn, soon after he came conspicuous as early as 1725. He did consid- erable surveying in Penn's Neck, Mannington, and the lower part of Gloucester County, for the heirs of William Penn. He owned and lived on a farm op- posite New Castle, Del. His son, the Francis Miles elsewhere referred to, inherited this farm, and, dying without heirs, left it to the township for the support of public schools. The place is under the supervision of a trustee appointed by township authority.
Thomas Lambson was a large owner in Lower J'enn's Neck. The Garrison family owned one thou- sand acres, extending from the river to Salen Creek. The family own considerable land bordering on the river at the present day. The first Swedish Church was built on the Garrison property in 1742. Steven
Baldwin owned one thousand acres, bounded by the river and Salem Creek. It was located near Salem. and was bounded on the northeast by Richard Tin- dall's land.
In 1676, John Fenwick gave to his daughter Eliza- beth and her husband, John Adams, all that tract of land located in Penn's Neck, and known at this time as Sapaney.
Fenwick Adams, son of John, married, and settied on his father's property in Penn's Neck.
The Powers family came into the township a few generations since, and have been influential and well known, having been conspicuous in connection with religious and public affairs.
The Copners were an ancient family in Lower Penn's Neck, and, with the Dunn and several other families, were prominent members of the Presby- terian Church near Pennsville, though Samuel, son of Joseph Copner, late in life joined the Friends' So- ciety, and devised one-half of his property to the So- ciety of Friends.
The following are the names of conspicuous fami- lies and persons resident in Lower Penn's Neck be- tween 1800 and 1830:
Aplin, Bidelle, Brewer, Beaver, Batten, Corson, Congleton, Callahan, Craven, Dunn, Dilmore, Dick- inson, Dauser, Elwell, Findley, Gibbon, Griscom, Garrison, Ilumphreys, Johnson, Jenkins, Kasson, Kille, Lloyd, Lambson, Lippincott, Loomis, Matson, Nickerson, Orr. Peterson, Red-trake, Ridgeway, Rork, Sinnickson, Sparks, Steelman, Shourds, Tin- dall, Thompson, Vickers, Vining, Ware, Wright.
The names of representatives of the before men- tioned and other families who have been prominent during a later period will be found in the civil lists, and in the accounts of various local interests with which they have been identified.
Organization .- The territory now comprising the townships of Upper and Lower Penn's Neck and Oldman's was originally included in one township, called West Fenwick, but the name was changed to became interested in the l'roprietary management of a portion of what was at first part of Fenwick's "tenth," or colony. The division of the township was effected some years later, the precise date not being now obtainable, and the township of Lower Penn's Neck was thus erceted.
Civil List .- The following is as complete a civil list as the historian was able to compile from records in the office of the township elcik. If any of the town-hip minute-books of a date previous to the year 1840 are in existence it is not known where they are to be found.
TOWNSHIP CLERKS.
1-4:441. Sylvano. B. Sheppard.
1842, 1811-15. Henry W. C. Sult- cher.
1-47. Alphens Pil Jerbach.
1836. Isaac Lippincott.
1>47-50. Jonathan E. Muore.
1-1. John M. Powers.
1-32-54. John Casperson.
I History of l'enwich 's Columny, p. les, .tuy : Thomas Shourds.
430
HISTORY OF SALEM COUNTY.
1st. William A. Casper. ING-57. Isane C. Griscom.
1234-59. T. G. Innn.
IST :- 33. Sanmiel Il C'allahas.
JeGu. Willi un H. Snitcher.
1 .; 1-7s. William T. Garrison.
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