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 62
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 62
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 62
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By a second marriage, to Lucy, daughter of Jo !. .. Bowen, were born three children, - Daniel, Lizzie, at . John W. His wife having died in 1865, he marri. . Mr. Elizabeth Turner.
Mr. Sharp resides upon the homestead, where i ... is still actively engaged in farming pursuits. H . son Daniel was born Oct. 23, 1838, and received the best coufmon school education obtainable at that day, which has since been utilized in a practical and ># ~ cessful manner, both as an instructor and in the a i vancement of his business interests. Beginning at the age of eighteen, he taught in succession in all the distriets of Commercial township for a period of seven: years, after which for five years he followed the for. tn:es of the sea, and became master of a vessel. tu returning he acted for two years as principal of the boys' department of the public schools of the city. As a representative of the Republican party he wa- elected, in 1872. clerk of Cumberland County, and filled the office for two terms of five years cach. Mr. Sharp was married, Dee. S, IS58, to Miss Mary E .. ·laughter of Charles Compton, of Mauricetown, Cum- berland V'o., and has children,-larry H. (residing in Tacoma, Washington Territory, where he is prae- tieing the profession of law), Emma C., Lucy B. (die- ceased in 1881), Barton F., C. Compton, Walter, Dan- iel, Jr., and Mary. The death of Mrs. Sharp occurrel in 1950. Mr. Sharp has been for years engaged in the propagation of oysters, and has extensive of-the- bels at Maurice River Cove, in Cumberland and Cape May Counties. During the present year he has em- barked largely in the enterprise, and devotes his at- tion exclusively to this branch of industry. He i- also a director of the Cumberland and Maurice River Railroad, in the success of which he is greatly inter- ested. Mr. Sharp is an active Mason, and has been Master of the Evening Star Lodge, No. 97, of Bridg. . ton. Ile was educated in the faith of the Methodi -: Episcopal Church, of which his father was a mo-t devout representative, but has more recently affiliated with the Presbyterian Jenomination.
FRANCIS B. MINCH.
The subject of this biographical sketch is the son of Archibald Minch, and was born Sept. 14, 1839, in Hopewell township, where he resided prior to his recent removal to Bridgeton. After a period spent a: the neighboring district school, he was for three year- a pupil of the Union Academy of Shiloh, and subst. quently engaged in farming occupations with 1 ::- father, whose farm he at a later period successfully managed. He was married on the Ist of February. 1560, 10 Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin and Rachel Tice, of Hopewell township. Their children are Robert F., Bloomfield JI., and Mary E. Mr. Minch was at the early age of twenty-one called t a participation in public affairs, and at the urgen! solicitation of his friends was made a member of th .
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Daniel Shark
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LEWIS MCBRIDE.
Stephen box sh
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CITY OF BRIDGETON.
township committee of Hopewell on the Republican ticket. This was during the late civil war, when heavy taxes were levied for military purposes, and by his financial ability and discretion the town-hip wa- largely relieved of its burden of indebtedness. He was elected a freeholder of Hopewell, and filled the othee with great acceptance for a period of nine years.
F 13. Meiners,
Ile ha- frequently been offered the nomination for other important official positions, but invariably de- clined such honors. Mr. Minch has been a member of the County Agricultural Society since its organ- ization. He is also a director and one of the charter members of the Bridgeton National Bank. He has re- cently removed from the home-tead in Hopewell and become a citizen of Bridgeton, where he has erected a spacious and attractive residence on Commerce Street, and became actively identified with the inter- eats of the city. Mr. Minch has long been con- nected with the Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, of which he was both a member and trustee, but has recently become a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Bridgeton, where the family are now wor-hipers.
LEWIS MCBRIDE.
The subject of this biographical sketch is of Scotch- Irish ancestry, and was born in Burlington County, N. J., in 1997, where his boyhood was spent. IFis advantages of education were such as the public schools of the neighborhood afforded, after which, at
the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to Samuel Stackhouse, of Medford, with a view to acquiring the trade of a wheelwright, which then included the art of carriage-building. Here he remained until twenty- one years of age, and having completed his appren- ticeship, he removed, in 1818, to Bridgeton, and estab- lished a business under the firm-name of MeBride & Clement. Mr. McBride finally obtained exclusive control of the business, and by his energy and skill- ful workmanship established an extensive industry, having at one period eighteen apprentices in his shops. He manufactured principally carriages and heavy wagons, the latter having an extended reputa- tion for superior excellence in construction. MIr. McBride was married, in 1822, to Miss Rebecca, daughter of Daniel Bowen, of Hopewell, represent- ing one of the oldest families in the county. Their children are P'habe (the late wife of Juel Fithian), Edward (now residing in Logan, Iowa, and married to Mlrs. Harriett Packard). Lewis (married to )lis> Rtnth Harris), Rebecca (the wife of Rev. Joseph W. Hubbard, of lowa), David ( married to Miss Caroline D. Mulford, of Bridgeton). Jesse (a physician, married to Miss Minnie Chambers, of Louisville, Ky.), and Louisa (wife of Francis Clunn). David, of this num- ber, resides in Bridgeton, where he is actively en- gaged in business, He was in 1878 elected sheriff of the county. His tastes have led to a deep interest in the agricultural development of the county, and to his identification with its agricultural society, of which he is president, and was for nine years pre- viously the efficient secretary.
Mr. McBride was largely identified with the in- terests of the county, and wielded a considerable influence in matters of public import. He mani- fected much public spirit, and was the active pro- moter of all schemes having the public interest at heart. He was in polities a Whig, and was for years director of the board of freeholders of the county. Ile was the first incumbent of the office of super- intendent of public schools of Bridgeton, and filled the position until his death. He was the first presi- Jent of the County Agricultural Society, and presi- dent of the Cumberland Steamboat Company.
Ile was a supporter and member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Bridgeton, and one of its elders at the time of his death, which occurred in October, 1864, in his sixty-seventh year.
STEPHEN COX.
Among the master. builders of Shropshire, England, the place of his birth, was Isane Cox. His children were Thomas, Isaac, John, Stephen, and two daugh- ters. At a later period of his life he removed to Sta ?. fordshire, where his death occurred. Thomas, his , son, was a builder in Staffordshire, and a man of en- , terprise and extensive business connections, while Stephen was a watchmaker in Kidminster, Warwick .
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY
shire. His son John removed to Shropshire, where hi- life was chiefly -pont as a builder. He married Mary Pierce, of Staffordshire, and had children .-- James, Ann, John, Mary, Richard, Francis, Joseph, Stephen, Thomas, Elijah, Sarah, and two who died in childhood. The death of Mr. Cox occurred in Staf- fordshire, in his seventy-eighth year, his remains being interred in Tipton churchyard. Mrs. Cox, who died in her seventy-first year. lies buried in the same spot. Their son Richard was killed by an accident while acting as engineer of a mail steamer plying between Southampton and Havre de Grace. Stephen, the subject of this biography, was born in Bridge Row, Toll End, Staffordshire, England, on the 24th of December, 1822, his early years having been spent at the home of his parents. Such limited edu- cational opportunities as the parish school offered he enjoyed, after which, at the age of fourteen, he was apprentived at the Hor-ley Iron-Works, in Stanford- shire, and remained until twenty-one years of age, when he removed to Smetherwiek, in Warwickshire, when he was employed as foreman by Fox, Anderson & Co., at the London Work-, near Birmingham. He remained thus engaged for ten years, and received on his retirement very flattering testimonials from his employers for proficiency and skill in his trade. Having discerned in America a broader field for the mechanic than his native land afforded, Mr. Cox emigrated with a view to prospecting. He traveled over various portions of the country and ultimately located in Reading, where he became foreman of the Nobles Machine- Works. At the expiration of the second year he accepted an engagement with the Phenix Jron-Works, at Phoenixville, Pa., and later removed to Bridgeton, in the employ of the same company, where he assumed the foremanship of the shops of the Cumberland Nail- and Iron- Works. In the fall of 1866 he established machine-works in Bridgeton, the firm being Cox, Derube & Co. It later became Cox & Co., and subsequently Peace, Cox & Co. He has since admitted his sons, William and Stephen, to an interest in the business, the firm now being Cox & Sons. They manufacture steam heat- ing apparatus, horizontal and vertical engines and boilers.
Mr. Cox was married July 24, 1843, to Miss Mary Partridge, of Staffordshire, England. Their children are William, Stephen, Mary (MIrs. Canfield), and Mercy, all born in England. Thomas was born in Phoenixville, and John T. and Charles Franklin in Bridgeton. Mr. Cox is in his political preferences a Republican, though not active in the political field. He is a member of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church of Bridgeton, and one of its earliest wardens and the founder of its Sunday-school. Mrs. Cox is also a member of the same church.
DAYTON B. WHITEKAR.
The earliest representative of the Whitekar fami. in America was Richard, who left England in lee. and subsequently joined the Fenwick colony. 11: 1. came a member of the Fenwick Council of Proprie ?... to guvern W'est Jer-ey, and wielded a commanding in. fluence. His residence until the year 1690 was in the town of Salem. It is impossible to trace the line of descent of the subject of this sketch from Richar ! Whitekar, though unquestionably the families are identical, and the ancestors of Dayton B. doubtle ... emigrated at a later date. The great-grandfather of the latter was Thomas, whose son Jeremiah had twelve children, as follows : Priscilla, Jeremiah, John. Henry, William, David, Thomas, Lydia, Hannab. Nancy, Sarah, and Maria. Mr. Whitekar died on the ISth of June, 1814. Jeremiah, his son, and !la father of the subject of this sketch, was born March 23, 1780, in Fairfield township. Here his life wa- principally spent either in pursuit of his trade of carpenter or as a successful landlord. Ile marrivi Miss Amy D. Burt, and had children, -Ann R., John, Hannah D., Elim D., Jeremiah, Dayton P .. Ruth B., Priscilla W., Jeremiah P., and William C., of whom four survive. The death of Mr. Whit- ekar occurred July 12, 1828, in Bridgeton. His son, Dayton B., was born at the latter place May 7, 1811. After limited opportunities at school, the early age of fourteen found him learning the trade of a carpenter, which he followed withont interruption until lai!, though changing his field of labor in 1883 to Bridge. ton, to which place his parents removed. In 1840 be embarked in the business of contracting, and al-y became an extensive lumber dealer in Bridgeton. This enterprise he still continues, though released from active superintendence of his varied interests. which are conducted by his brother William. Mr Whitekar was marri al Nov. 25, 1835, to Miss Nanmi Gentry, to whom was born a daughter, Hannah 31 (Mr -. Mason). By a second marriage to Mrs. Sarah A. Woodraf, April 9, 1889, he has one daughter, Laura C. (Mrs. Cox). In politics Mr. Whitekar is a Democrat, and though at different times the inetm- bent of various minor township offices, his exten-iv business connections in Bridgeton and elsewhere have left little time for other pursuits. In his department of industry he has exercised a controlling influence for inany years. He has been especially prominent as : member of the Independent Order of Cdl-Fellon- having held, together with many subordinate jusi- tions, the offices of Grand Warden and Grand Master of the State, and Grand Representative of the thrand lodge of the I'nited States. Mr. Whitekar i- a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgeton, of which he is steward and trustre, and an active worker.
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633
CITY OF MILLVILLE.
CHAPTER XCIL
CITY OF MILLVILLE.
Incorporation of the Township .- The township of Millville was set off from Fairfield and Maurice River by an act of the Legislature passed Feb. 14, 1801, to take effect in March, 1802. Its boundaries, as created by this act, were :
" Beginning at the month of Bucksbutum Creek, from thence rou- ning up the middle of the water-course thereof to Northwest Branch: thence up said l'rauch to a beaver dam ; thenve a straight courso lu the head of Chatfield Brauch ; thenco dowu the entle to Lebanon Branch: thence along the line of Deerfield township to Maurice River; thence up the same to the line of Gloucester County ; thence along the same to Janamuskeen Branch ; thence down the same to Set's line; thence along mid line to Menantico Creck; thence dowo the said creek to Maurice Hiver ; thence across the river tu the beginning."
It included in its limits the present township of Landis, which was set off from it in 1864, redneing its limits to the present size.
Incorporation of the City .- By an act approved Feb. 26, 1566, to take effect March 1, 1866, the whole township of Millville was incorporated as the city of Millville, and divided into three wards. All that part lying south of the Bridgeton and Millville turnpike on the west of the river, and all on the east of the Pioneer Houses .- On the west side of the river was a house as early as 1756, owned by Lucas Peter- sou, which is probably the same house which belonged to Alexander T. Moore, the grandson of Alexander Moore (the first owner of the, land covering the east tavern was kept by Philip Souder, Jr., in 1793, and by Benoni Dare in 1706. In the latter year Moore built an addition to it for a kitchen, for the use of his tenant. river south of Main Street and the Leaming Mill road was made the First Ward. All that part lying east of a line running from Main Street up Buck Street to Cinder (now Broad) Street, then along the centre of that street to the centre of the Millville and I side of the Cohanscy at Bridgeton), and where a Glassboro (now West Jersey) Railroad, and then northward along that road to the line of Landis township was made the Second Ward. All the re- maining part of the city was made the Third Ward.
The city limits include a large scope of territory having few inhabitants, and mostly covered with a growth of oak and pine, which has been cut off sev- eral times, having a light sandy soil, and it has been held in tracts of hundreds and thousands of acres each by those who had no need or desire to sell. These causes combined have prevented it from being occupied and cleared by settlers. These portions, like the outlying portions of Bridgeton, were included in the city limits because of the opposition which would have arisen to creating new townships out of those outlying portions if the eities were made to in- elude only the built-up portions, as they properly should.
A few carly settlers had located in the bounds of Millville previous to 1795, mostly along Maurice River, below the built-up portions of the city, and a saw-mill, since called Leaming's Mill, was on the Menantico as early as 1720.
Union Pond. which had been created about three iniles above the bridge, and establishing mills at this point. This town was located on the east bank of the river, at the head of tide-water and navigation, about twenty-five miles from its mouth, and fifteen miles in a straight line from Delaware Bay.
Previous to 1754 there was at the place where this town was laid out a landing ealled Shingle Landing. The old King's Highway, from Cohansey Bridge to Cape May, crossed the Maurice River at a place called the "New Mill," near where the upper part of the Union Pond is, and ran off to the north and east of Millville to Leaming's Mill, where it crossed the Menantico.
June 20, 1754, a road was laid from Beriman's Run, a branch of the Menantico, to the river at Shingle Landing, and crossing there was continued to the Beaver Dam at Lebanon Branch, where it joined the old road to Cohansey. The building of a bridge here caused the place to be called "Maurice River New Bridge," "The New Bridge," and " Mau- rice River Bridge." according to the idea of the one speaking or writing of it, showing that as there was nothing there but the bridge, the munes meant nothing but that.
Col. Buck and his associates did not carry out their plans of bringing the water down to the town, but mills were built at the pond. They sold a few lots in the town, on which houses were built. In 1802 the only houses were the one on the west side of the river. before referred to, the kitchen of which, built in 1796, remained nutil that aod the main part of the build- ing (which was built after that date to replace the old part which was there when the kitchen was built) were burned, about January, 1867, having previously been converted into a packing-house for the canning establishment; on the east side of the river was a small house and store owned by Nathan Leake, near the bridge; on the north side of the street, a little farther east, were two one-story houses joined together, occupied by Preston, Hannah, and Benjamin Ware; on the northeast corner of High and Main Streets was a one-story house owned by Jeremiah Stratton, who was one of the first purchasers of lots from Col. Buck; farther cast, about seventy feet from the lintel property which is on the northeast corner of Main And High Streets, was a small house where lived a Mrs. Newcomb; on the south side of the street, about
Millville Laid Out .- The land where the city proper now stands having passed into the hands of Joseph Buck and his associates, as already mentioned, a town was laid out and named Millville from the plan they had formed of bringing the water from the . where there is a cigar-store occupied by Harvey Six-
634
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
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smith, was a story and a half house built and occu- pied by Ezekiel Foster, who was also one of the first purchasers of lote ; a house also stood where the store of Isaac B. Mulford now is: just below the corner of High Street, on the south side of Main, was a small store kept at first by Nichols & Parker, and then by David Nichols alone, which is standing at the present day, and is occupied as a barber shop; a school- house stood on the ground now included in the grave- yard adjoining the Presbyterian Church, which was afterwards removed and used as a carpenter-shop, but
east corner of High and Main Streets, which he built shortly after hi- removal to Millville, and where he used as a tavern for many years, and was removed to make room for the present hotel building, built by Robert S. Tice. This comprised all the buildings in Millville in 1802.
After the death of Col. Buck his executors sold off' lots, but the growth of the place was very slow, there being nothing to cause a town to spring up until the starting of the first glass-works. So slight was the prospect of any value to the lots that some of the pur- chasers did not take their deeds, and their lots were sold by Buck's heirs many years afterwards. The chief business of the few inhabitants was the cutting and carting of cord-wood and lumber, and large quantities of these were shipped from this place to Philadelphia and other places. This business con- tinned to be carried on quite extensively until within the last twenty years, when the increasing use of coal as a fuel, and the decreasing supply of wood has caused the business to greatly decrease, and the sinall saw-mills which were situated on nearly every branch of Maurice River have been left idle, and most of them have been destroyed, and the ponds have mostly dis- appeared by the going down of the dams.
Early Industries .- About 1806 began a new era for Millville, when James Lee and others started a . window-glas- factory on the site of the present works of Whitall, Tatum & Co., above the bridge. This ! was followed in 1814 by the iron foundry of Wood & Smith. The land covering the site of the north part of Millville having passed into the possession of David C. Wood and Edward Smith, they erected a small iron-furnace on the bank of the river, and commenced the smelting of iron. Charcoal was the fuel then used for that purpose, and the large tracts of land covering all the northern and eastern parts of the then township of Millville, and extending into Gloucester and Salem Counties, owned by this firm, furnished the supply. It was cheaper to bring the iron ore to the fuel than to take the fuel to the ore. Smith soon sold his interest to Wood, who carried on the business alone. These manufactories brought Dew inhabitants to Millville, and the town planned by Col. Buck began to grow. The growth of it since that date has kept pace with the growth of its manu-
factures. Surrounded by a country that was unim- proved, it has had to depend entirely on the resource. contained in its own limits for its growth.
Growth of the Town .- In 1822 it was still a small village, of probably not over one hundred and finy inhabitants. At that time there were but two houses on Main Street above Second, a one-story house at the southwest corner of Third, owned and occupied by John Coleman for many years after, and which stood until 1856, when it was bought by Lewis Mui- ford and torn down to make room for his pre-ent is now gone; Col. Back's house stood on the north- I dwelling, and the other at the southwest corner of Fourth Street, owned by Dr. Charles Garrison, and occupied by Isaac Powell, which is still standing.
lived until his death in 1805; this was afterwards , At the southeast corner of Second and Main was the
1 " Red House," as it was called for many years, ow ned by Dr. Garrison, and in which he resided until his death, when he willed it, together with quite a num- ber of valuable lots in Millville and a large tract :ud- joining the town on the east, to his adopted son. Charles Garrison Ireland, for his life. MIr. Ireland has lately died, and the property has come into the possession of his heirs. The tying up of this prop. erty in that way for so many years has been a great detriment to the eastern part of Millville, and to the interests of the heirs, by turning the tide of improve- ment to other parts of the town. In 1822 the window- glass works were idle, the former owners having made a failure.
In 1897 a strong effort was made to locate the county-seat at this place, but in the election to deter- mine the question in that year Millville was defeated. and was left without the help which the possession of the county buildings would have given.
The building of glass-works at Schetterville (now South Millville) in 1892, the erection of the cotton- mill from 1:52 to 1854, and the enlargement of those works from time to time have been the great sources of the prosperity of Millville.
The population of the city proper, excluding the country portions of the municipality, may be approxi- mately given at about 1200 in 18-10, 1600 in 1850, 3300 in 1800, 5700 in 1870, 7200 in ISSO, and is now about 8/0), and including the country portions i- about 8500.
Streets in Millville .- The town plat of Millville. as originally laid out by Joseph Buck, extended from Smith Street on the south to the present Broad Street on the north, and from the river eastward to Fourth Street. Main Street, from the river due cast forty- two perches, and Malaga road (Second Street ) were laid out in 1796, but none of the other streets were regularly laid out until March 9, 1815, when the streets as they now exist within the above bound-, and with their present names, were duly recorded in the road-book of the county.
As the town increased in size these streets were lengthened out, and others were opened, some of them regularly laid out, but many of them not. In 1858.
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635
CITY OF MILLVILLE.
Thomas H. Paschall, under the direction of the town- ship committee, made a survey of the streets of the place, and completed a map of them, called the "Millville town plat." March 9, 1859, an act was passed by the Legislature that upon a copy of that map, showing the location of the different streets, being filed in the county clerk's office, they should become public highways, and be kept in order by the overseer of roads of the township. Since the incor- poration of the city the laying out of new streets has been in the power of the Council, and a large number of new ones have been laid out, especially on the west side of the river, on both sides of and crossing the Bridgeton and Millville turnpike. A large tract of land now crossed by these streets was the dower-land of a Mrs. Brandriff, and on partition proceedings in the Orphans' Court of this county it was ordered sold by commissioners. Street- were run through it. and it was sold in lots. Most of the new houses on the west side of the river have been built on this property since 1870.
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