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 58
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 58
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 58
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Excelsior Lodge, No. 4. K. of P .- Excelsior Lodge was instituted in February, 1869, with Aaron Smith as Chancellor Conunander. and John T. Tompkins a. Vice Chancellor. They rented the third story of the new brick building of Garrison & Woodruff, on Com .- meree between Pearl and Laurel Streets, and fitted it up for their lodge-room in a neat and tasty manner. It
Calantha Lodge, No. 103, K. of P .- This lodge poole, of Millville, assisted by P. C. David Sithens, of Excelsior Lodge, No. 4. The following otheer, were installed at that time : P. C., Samuel W. Wells ; Chan. Com., James E. Hicks; V. C., George V. Garwood : K. of R. and S., William B. Trenchard ; M. of E .. Louis Beckhardt. The present officers are : Chan. Com., William T. Dubois; V. C., William Baxter: K. of R. and S., Lewis Ethrington ; MI. of E., George V. Garwood.
A. L. Robeson Post. No. 42, G. A. R .- This po -: was organized in April, 1550, with Sammel W. We" ... C .; Benjamin F. Bright, S. V. C .; Frank M. Harris. J. V. C .; T. M. Woodrad, Adjt .; Frank M. Riley. Q.MI. It has served a good purpose in keeping alive the memory of those who served their country in the rebellion. Its Past Commanders are Samuel W. Wells, James E. Hicks, and Howard Minot. The present officers are William N. Hewitt, C .; EMlora.i- Gros-cup. S. V. C .; J. In L. Hub !. , J. V. C. ; D.v. : D. Ginenback. Adjt .; Frank MI. Riley. Q.M.
Cumberland County German Beneficial Society. -This society was formed in 1959, with seven mac .. . bers, at the currier establishment of Jacob Kienzie. The first officer, were: President, Jacob Kies ?!:
Hope Council, No. 3, Jun. O. U. A. M .- Hope Council was organized Aug. G, lset, with fifteen ciner- ter members, and has been in succes-tul operation . Secretary, Matthias Putzenmaier ; Treasurer, Jac. s
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CITY OF BRIDGETON.
Heller. It meets monthly, and has paid out a large amount of money as benefits in cases of sickness and death, and now has about sixty members. The pres- entofficers are: President, Frederick Franz; Secretary. Matthias Plitzenmaier ; Treasurer, Jacob Ernest.
West Jersey German Beneficial Society .- This was started in 1869 with abunt forty members, mostly the same persons who belonged to the Cumberland County German Beneficial Society. It meets monthly and has the same purposes as that society, and its present officers are also the same.
GOULDTOWN.
Gouldtown, partly in the territorial limits of Bridge- ton and partly in Fairfield, is a settlement of colored people, many of them nearly white, about three miles east of the built-up part of Bridgeton. The familie> there mostly bear the name of Pierce and Gould. Some of them are active, industrious farmers, and have accumulated considerable property. A tradi- tion believed by many is that they are descended from Elizabeth Aduna, the granddaughter of Fen- wick, who provides in his will that she should have no part of his estate unless she forsook " that Black that hath been the ruin of her, and becoming peni- tent for her sins." In that case he directed bis ex- ecutors to settle five hundred acres of land upon her. George Burgin, born in 1765, was for several years an important man in the politics and business of the - county. Shortly after his father's death he took up The tradition among the inhabitants of Gouldtown further is that she was married to that black man, and that at his death she received her five hundred . his residence in Bridgeton, and, after his service as acres of land, which was taken up at Gouldtown, and sheriff, built the stone store-house still standing at the corner of Broad and Atlantic Streets, caused the road down the hill passing the court-house, which then stood in the middle of the street at the top, to be made fit for travel, and commenced store-keeping. He was elected a member of the Assembly in 1799, and again in 1501 and 1802, and of the Council in 1803, 1604, and 1809, and became the leader of the Democratic party, contributing by his activity and that Benjamin Gould, the earliest known ancestor of the present families, was her son. However pleasing this tradition may be, the truth of history compels the statement that there is no foundation for it. Fen- wick made his will and died in 1683, and there is no trace of Benjamin Gould or of any other colored man at Gouldtown for nearly three-quarters of a century afterwards. He bought a tract of two hundred and forty-nine acres previous to 1771, but how long be- ' energy to its success more conspicuously than any other person. In 1804 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Bloomfield surrogate, an office which he held until 1810. He died in 1813, and was never married.
fore is not known. It was owned by John Robertson in 1755, and Gould bought it after that date. Ancient maps, covering the whole of that region, are in posses- sion of the writer, from which the above facts are Enoch Burgin, the youngest son, continued ou the taken, and in 1774 no other colored man except Ben- , farm of his father, and married Elizabeth Souder. jamin Gould owned any of the land. While it might still be possible that he was the son of Elizabeth Adams, there is no probability.
African Methodist Episcopal Church .- A society of this denomination was formed at Gouldtown in 1820, and after a few years a building originally built about one and a half' miles northeast of there by the Presbyterians, but which had fallen into disuse, ; owing to the removal of those who were active in its building, was presented to them and removed to the centre of the neighborhood, and was used by them for a church and -choo !- house until 1861, when they built the present neat edifice on the south side of the road.
A post-office was established here June 3, 1873, with Seneca Bishop as postmaster. The present in- cumbent is Mordecai C. Pierce, who was appointed June 11, 1875.
PERSONAL SKETCHLS.
REUBEN, GEORGE, and Exoch BURGIN, the three son- of John Burgin, were successively sheriff's of the county, Reuben from 1793 to 1796, George from 1726 to 1799, and Enoch from 1802 to 1805. Reuben, born in 170, was a turner and chair-maker, and built the house in Bridgeton which used to stand on the north side of Commerce Street, where the insurance othice now is, where he resided. This afterwards became the property of ex-Governor Elias P'. Seeley, where he lived and died. Hle married Deborah Bowen, daughter of Seth Bowen, an officer in the Revolu- tionary army, and died in 1803. The widow, after a 1 few years, removed with her family to Philadelphia. There were six children of this marriage, one of whom, Dr. George H. Burgin, married and settled in Philadelphia, leaving descendants, who bear the family name, of great respectability. His grandson, Herman Burgin, now represents Lieut. Ecth Bowen, who died without male issue, in the New Jersey Society of the Cincinnati.
They had two children, who died without issue. ' After her death he removed to Bridgeton and mar- ried Mary Taylor, of Philadelphia, who had no chil- dren. He died ia 1815, leaving a considerable estate. Ilis widow afterwards became the wife of Samuel Seeley.
JOSEPH BUCK, born in Fairfield, May 1, 1753, was the son of Ephraim Buck and his wife, Judith Nixon. Ephraim Buck had six children. viz .: Joseph, the eldest; Ephraim; Judith, who married Jeremiah Bennett ; Ruth, who married Fithian Stratton ; Reu- ben, and Jeremiah. The last namel was long a prominent resident in Bridgeton, and was the father . of Robert :. Buck.
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614
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
But little is known of the early life of Joseph Buck. except that he en'isted in the Continental service, became a sergeant. and in 1779 was commissioned an ensign, and in 1.81 was promoted to be a lieutenant, and at the close of the war was discharged from the service with the rank of captain by brevet. He was present at the exception of Andre in 1780, and at the siege of Yorktown in October, 1751. Hle became an original member of the Society of Cincinnati. Wil- liam B. Buck, son of John Buck, now represents his grandfather, Jo-eph Buck.
After the close of the war Mr. Buck settled in Bridgeton, and in 1783 married Ruth Seeley, a daugh- ter of Col. Enos Seeley, who theu owned the property south of Jefferson Street, including the saw-mill, which stood just below the stone bridge recently enlarged, and who in 1774 made the dam across what was for- merly called Mill Creek, upon which the road leading to Fairton was laid in 1785. From 1787 to 1790 Buck was the sheriff of the county. He built the house on the north side of Irving, and opposite Bank Street, afterwards owned by his brother-in-law, Ebenezer Seeley, and at one time by his brother, Jeremiab Buck, of late years kept as a hotel. In 1795, in com- pany with others. he purchased the Union mili-pond and property, a few miles above the pre-ent city of Millville, and a considerable part of the land covered by that city, which he laid out and named, intending to establish mills and mantifactories as has since been done. He removed his family there, and made some progress in the work, but before his plans were per- fected he died, May 15, 1803.
There were nine children of Joseph and Ruth Buek, two of whom died young. The others were Jane, who married Daniel P. Stratton ; Sarab, who first married John Bower Ogden, then Henry Shep- pard ; Hannah, who married Nathan L. Stratton ; Dr. Ephraim, Joseph, and Jeremiah. All are now dėad.
At the time of his death, which occurred in 1503, be was engaged in laying out the present site of Mill- ville, and projecting plans for establishing mills and factories. He was buried there in the old graveyard, but the precise spot where his grave is located at the present day cauunt be accurately ascertained. His descendants, many of whom reside in Bridgeton, are of very respectable standing.
JOHN BUCK, son of Col. Joseph, born April 1, 1784, and died Feb. 5, 1842, was for several years employed in the store of his uncle, Ebenezer Seeley, at Laurel Hill. From October, 180S, to October, 1810, he was sheriff'; but he declined taking the office another term, as wa= customary, and commenced business at the southwest corner of Commerce (then called Bridge) and Front Streets, opposite Davis' Hotel, Bridgeton, under the firm of John Duck & Co., in partnership with Nathan L. Stratton and Thomas Woodruff. After a few years Daniel P. Stratton took the place of Woodruff, and the new firma of Buck &.
Stratton bought of William Potter the store and other property from the corner to the bridge. The partners were several times changed, but the busine -- continued substantially the same until the death of Mr. Buck. in 1842. Large tracts of woodland were pur- chased, and for more than twenty-five years this w .. the leading firm of the place, and accumulated very considerable wealth.
John Buck was twice married. He commence .. ] housekeeping in a house which stood where the post- office now is. After a few years he purchased the property on the cast side of the Cohansey, formerly Dr. Champneys', where he resided until his death. and long the residence of his widow, who is still living at the serene age of eighty-four years. Of hi- ten chikiren only four are living. viz. : Mrs. Charles E. Morgan, of Philadelphia, William B., Caroline, and Mrs. Louisa Reeve.
ELIAS COTTING .- Elias Cotting, the first clerk of the county after the setting off of this county from Salem, came here from Boston, Mass., in 1732. He was a mariner, and was called " captain" after his set- tlement here. James Goold traded with a vessel a: Greenwich for a number of years, and had returned to Boston, and en Oct. 12, 1782, he gave to Cutting a power of attorney to transact business for him here. which was renewed July 2, 1735, at which date Cot- ting resided at Greenwich. Hle soon settled at Cohansey Bridge, and was granted a license to keep a tavern at that place in February, 1789, which was annually renewed for several years. Sept. 27, 1730. be bought from the heirs of Robert Hutchinson one thousand acres of land and marsh on the Cohansey, the most of which he sold off' in smaller tracts during his life. The Hutchinson and the Mason surveys bounded on one another. and a jury of view having fixed the bounds of the Mason survey at twenty rod- below the bridge, and then running westward about where Oak Street now is, the Hutchinson survey was supposed for a long time to corner at the same place. Capt. Cotting owned and lived in a large house, which he probably built, just below the supposed north line of his traet, near the river, and north of Broad Street. Of later years it was owned and occupied by Enoch Boone. It has been torn down about forty years. On the organization of the county, in February, 1749. , he was appointed clerk by Governor Belcher, to hold during the pleasure of the Governor, and at the December term of the courts, 1755, be presented 2 commission from the same Governor, to hold during good behavior. He continued clerk until his death, in the fall of 1757.
ELI ELMER, son of Theophilus Elmer ( 1st), was a lieutenant in the " Western Company of Artillery" vi State troops, paymaster of Cumberland and Cape May, Was at the siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cora- wallis, and was one of the members of the State Cua- vention at Trenton, in 1787, which ratifie.l the Con -; i- tution of the United States. He afterward, became
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CITY OF BRIDGETON.
a man of considerable prominence. He removed 10 Bridgeton, and in 1788 and 1759 was elected a mem- ber of the Assembly, and 1795 of the Council, now called the Senate. He was sheriff from 1784 to 1787, and was active in the ercetion of the Presbyterian Church at Bridgeton. In 1789 he was appointed first collector of the port of Bridgetown, now officially styled Bridgeton, and held the office until his death, in 1802. He held the position of colonel of the mili- tia, and was styled such in the latter part of his life. Theophilus MI., son of Col. Eli Elmer, died recently at an advanced age at Chiengo. Craig, also his son, while returning from the South, about sixty years ago, lost his life by drowning on the Mis-i -- ippi; and Emelia, his daughter, married Jonathan Ilolmes, leaving descendants, most of whom reside in Bridge- ton. Theophilus, son of Theophilus, and brother of Col. Eli, was a surgeon in the United States army, and finally settled and died in Louisiana.
JONATHAN FREEMAN, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Bridgeton and Greenwich from 1805 to 1822, was born at Woodbridge, N. J., in 1765. His paternal ancestors were from England, his maternal from France. The partienlars of his early history and training are unknown. He was licensed as a | preacher by this Presbytery in 1793, and the next year was ordained, and settled at Hopewell, in the State of New York, where he remained two or three years, and then resigned the charge, and removed to Newburg, on the North River. While here he re- ceived the honorary degree of A.M. from Columbia College, and in 1809 from the College of New Jersey. He married a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Ker, of Goshen, N. Y., who was originally from Freehold, in New Jersey. While residing at Newburg he pub- lished n sermon, which he preached in 1798 on a day appointed by the General Assembly as a day of fast- ing and prayer, and a discourse on "P'salinody," preached before the Presbytery of Hudson in 1801. Ile was installed pastor of the Presbyterian Churche- of Greenwich and of Bridgeton Oct. 16, 1805. IIe was all his life a laborions worker, and between the care of his farm and visits to his scattered pari-h- ioners his time was fully occupied. Ile was one of the founders of the Cumberland Bible Society, in 1815.
Like his predecessor, however, he and his family were di-satisfied with their isolated position and severe labors as farmers. In the year 1:10 his wife's mother, Mrs. Ker, who, being a widow, had come to reside with them, purchased a house in Bridgeton, to which he removed, and which Mrs. Ker, by her will, made in 1811, devised to her daughter, Mrs. l'reeman, and to this house the family removed. In this house . Philadelphia, and died in 1770, leaving three sons, he resided until his death, which occurred Nov. 17, 1822, of a fever very prevalent, at the age of fifty- ›cven.
rian Church but of any denomination in South Jer- sey. He was an old-fashioned Calvinist, considering the doctrine of election as the corner-stone of the Christian edifice, and bad little toleration for those who differed. Indeed. he considered Arminians :14 denying the sovereignty of God, and hardly entitled to the name of Christians. He was a faithful, earnest, and often a pungent preacher ; a large and handsome, dark-complexioned man, dignified in deportment. He published while here two tracts on baptism, one in the form of a catechism and the other a dialogue, and he also established a religious magazine, of which only a few numbers were printed. The only persons known to be living in Bridgeton who were admitted to the church during his pastorate are Mrs. Lydia Harris, Daniel Fithian, and Samuel Reeves.
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman had several children when they came, and had in all nine who lived to adult age, three sons and six daughters. The sons are deceased. Three of the daughters are still living in Philadelphia, highly respected. A few years after her husband's decease Mrs. Freeman sold her house, and removed with her daughters to Philadelphia, where she died.
ALEXANDER MOORE Was of Trish descent, born in 1704, settled at Cohansey Bridge about the year 1730 to 1740, and having established a country store, and accumulated considerable property, he married Sarah Reeves, a daughter of Abraham Reeves, deacon of the Greenwich Church. The store-honse occupied by Moore for nearly fifty years was made of ecdar logs, and stood on the street uns called Commerce Street, a little west of the hotel, where it remained until taken down by his grandson, John Moore White, in 1791.
Both Mr. Moore and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church at Greenwich, and have monn- ments in the old graveyard there.
In 1760 the royal Governor and his Council ap- pointed Moore one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and he held that appointment until the 4th of July, 1776. Although not very active in , political matters, he was a Whig, as was his son, Alexander Moore, Jr., who burned the tea at Green- wich. The first joint meeting held after the adoption of the Constitution elected him one of the judges for the constitutional term of five years, at the capi- ration of which time his health so failed that he relinquished his active business.
Ilis wife died in 1775, at the early age of forty-five years. They had five children, two of whom died iu infancy. Sarah, the oldest, who, like her mother, was very beautiful, married John White, a merchant of the youngest, John Moore White, an infant. Another daughter married Dr. Harris, of Pittagrove, and has Jeft descendants. The son, Alexander Moore, Jr., married a Miss Tate, and was established on the farm
During his residence here Mr. Frceman was the ; most prominent minister, not only in the Presbyte- 1 a little west of Bridgeton, now owned by the county .
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
and connected with the poor-house, upon which a good house was built, and which he occupied and called Moore Hall, assuming a good deal of ari-to- cratie state, until the early part of this century, when he sold it and removed to Bucks County, P'a.
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The old gentleman died Sept. 5, 1786, leaving a will made in 1783. The son filed a eaveat, and a severe contest took place in the Orphans' Court, who, however, confirmed the will. The property disposed of by the will was quite valuable. The Bridgeton tract and other lands were left to the three sons of Sarah White, the two eller of whom having died with- out issue, the whole became vested in John Moore White.
SILAS PARVIN was probably the son of Thomas Parvin, who settled on the east of the Cohansey pre- vious to 1711. The first record of Silas Parvin is at February term of court, 1737, when he received a license to keep a tavern at Cohansey Bridge, where he kept a country store. llis license was renewed nearly every year until 1763, after which he censed to keep a tavern. About 564 he bad come into pos- session of that part of the Mason survey adjoining the Cohar-ey, extending from the south line of the survey, about where Oak Street now is, to Commerce Street, and on the west of Franklin Street, running northwestwardly acro-s Commerce Street and Muddy Branch the stream the lower part of which is how Jeddy's Pomdl), comprising about forty-five aeres. On this he built a two-storied hip-roofed house, where the tavern was kept. The King's Highway from Salem originally ran down the side of the hill from the corner of Broad and Franklin Streets, about where the southeast corner of the stone house on the west side of Atlantic Street, between Commerce and Broad Streets, now is, and then crossing the present Atlantic Street (which then did not exist), directly to the west end of the bridge. Parvin's house stood on the northwest side of this road, facing the river, and five or six rods south of Commerce Street. His title to the traet of land he occupied was disputed by the Masons and by Pemberton, who bought the Mason survey. He laid a survey on a part of the traet, but the Council of Proprietors would not ap- prove it, owing to the Mason survey being brought back from Logland, where it was taken soon after being made, and placed on record. In 1751 he was one of the overseers of roads for Hopewell, but does not seem to have held any other office. He died in February, 1579, and his property descended by law to his olde-t son, Clarence.
ROBERT PATTERSON was born in Ulster in 1743, his grandfather having been one of the Presbyterian IJe died in 1824, followed to the tomb with many marks of public respeet. refugee- from Scotland, who fled from persecution to enjoy comparative immunity ,in Ireland, many of ; DAVID POTTER was born in Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1741. His parents were Presbyterians from the north of Ireland, and had a large family of children. Two whose descendants were afterwards compelled to seek better safety in America. He exhibited great font- ness for study in early youth, and especially for the of them-viz., Matthew, born April 8. 1784, and Ligher branches of mathematics, in which he became . David-came to Bridgeton, ard resided there during
eminent. He was induced to enter the army in Ire- land by unfounded a -- grances that he would hay .. better opportunities for instruction in his favorite science ; but after a year or two's service he obtained his discharge. He emigrated to America in 170%, taught school first in Bucks County, and then in Philadelphia, and by that economy and thrift which distinguished him through life accumulated sufficient funds to enable him to establish a country store.
The place he selected was Bridgeton, where he commenced business in 1772, but he soon found thi- occupation to be entirely unsuited to his disposition and acquirements. Ilis new residence, however, in- trodueed him to an accomplished lady who made him a suitable wife. This lady was Miss Amy Hunter Ewing, of Greenwich, daughter of Maskell Ewing, a namesake of the wife of Rev. Andrew Hunter, then of the age of about twenty-two, and in May. 1774, they were married. A happy union it proved. They lived together in perfect harmony fifty years, and were the parents of eight children, most of whom in their turn raised families who lived to be worthy successors of such ancestors. The wife survived her husband twenty years, dying at the great age of ninety-four.
Just previous to his marriage Mr. Patterson dis- posed of his store and took charge of a school a: Wilmington, Del., and there he commenced house- keeping. But soon the stirring events of the Revolu- tionary war broke up the school. He was an earnest supporter of the American canse, and his experience as a soldier made him available as a military in- structor, and as such in great request. He engaged in drilling the militia, now being organized all over the country. Early in 1775 he came for that purpose to Cumberland, and removed his family to Greenwich. Regular physicians being few and fully employed, he studied medicine for a short time and took the position of assistant surgeon of Col. Newcomb's regiment of militia, acting in that capacity or on his staff as brigade major two or three years. In 1778, New Jersey being no longer so harassed hy the enemy as it had been, he purchased a small faroi in the township of Hopewell, about a mile northeast of Shiloh. But he soon found that farming did not snit him any better than selling goods. In December. 1779, he received the appointment of Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the univer- sity at Philadelphia, of which a distant relative of his wife, Rev. Dr. John Ewing, was then the head, and filled that office with great ability thirty-five years.
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