USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > Notes on old Gloucester County, New Jersey, Volume I > Part 19
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
A few hundred yards away towards the bay is a mound known since the battle as Fort Hill.
Mr. French while tonging for oysters discovered the wreck of one of the ships sunk during the battle. He tonged out about one hundred bushels of English cannel coal of fine quality and used it aboard his boat.
In the gravel pit, adjacent to his home, several skele- tons have been found, one of which was in good condition and was buried under the monument.
Paine's tavern, a famous hostelry of that period, is said to have been burned, as were a number of houses on the other side of the river.
The number of iron relics, such as hand made nails, bolts and hinges, together with cannon balls, grape shot and gun barrels found in the neighborhood, are mute evi- dences of the devastation wrought there.
Near the site of the warehouse where the American privateers stored their spoils before it was carted away to Philadelphia many copper coins and Indian relics have been found.
The foundations of the old houses are occasionally found while the ground is being cultivated.
Life of Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr. *
Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., was the brother, son, grandson and father of distinguished physicians. With his brother, Dr. John A. Otto, and his father, Dr. Bodo Otto, Sr., he served at Valley Forge during the memorable winter of 1777-8 in the hospital of which his father was Chief Surgeon.
Born in Hanover, Germany, September 14, 1748, he was brought to Philadelphia as a child of four years, by his father, Dr. Bodo Otto, Sr. After receiving as com- plete a preliminary education as the country afforded he pursued his medical studies under the instruction of his father, receiving his degree as B. M. (Bachelor of Medi- cine) in 1771, from the University of Pennsylvania. He settled in Gloucester County, N. J., a few miles from Swedesboro. Raccoon Creek flows past this point to the Delaware River, and the settlement seems to have been called at that time Raccoon .; The mother of his children, Catharine Schweighauser, evaded the following dire warn- ings which her mother, Mrs. Jean Conrad Schweighauser (Margaret Klampffer), wrote in German in her note bookį on March 23, 1763, when her daughter was twelve years old : "George Keller, of Canastoga, told me that my daughter Catharine was to be on her guard against falling or fire every year on her birthday-especially when Saturn and the Moon or Mars and the Moon are in conjunction in the constellation of the water-bearer, which will occur when she is 19 years of age-it is then she has to be most careful; and every 19 years she is to be on her guard- and he says that my son Jacob would become very domes-
* By OTTO TOD MALLERY, his great-great-grandson.
1 My authority for this name is a note in my possession, dated 1783, signed by the then "Rector of the Lutheran Church at Racoon", in which the Rector, Nicholas Collin, gives the birthdays of the 4 children of Bodo Otto, Jr., and states that he baptized the last three.
# Original in possession of the writer.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
tic" (and that he would invent something new, if he lived long enough).
The next year after receiving his medical degree he married, as told in the following notation written in French* by his father-in-law, John (or Jean) Conrad Schweighauser : "On the 6th of February, 1772, between seven and eight in the evening my daughter Catharine (Schweighauser) was married (in Philadelphia) to Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., who lives in the Jersey about 15 miles from Philadelphia. She went away with him Feb. II, 1772, at II o'clock in the morning."
During Bodo's short, active and useful career in camp, hospital and legislative chamber, his faithful wife made a comfortable home in Swedesboro for the children, Catharine Margaret, John Conrad (the distinguished Philadelphia physician) and Jacob. When Jacob was three months old, in March, 1778, a fight occurred on the grounds surrounding their home, between Col. Maw- hood's Regiment of British and the Americans. (See Note I). The house and barn were burned. Mrs. Bodo Otto was driven from their home with her young brood, the youngest, baby Jacob, in her arms. The father was away from home at this time. The date corresponds with that of his service at Valley Forge, the most gloomy and heart-breaking months of the War for Independence. Mother and children found shelter among neighbors until a new home was found. In the "History of Gloucester County, N. J." (pp. 300) an old inhabitant is quoted as pointing out in the middle of the 19th century the brick house of Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., at Swedesboro, built previous to the Revolution, and later occupied by William Welch. In this house the fourth and last child was probably born, Daniel, on Jan. 15, 1780, and all four children were reared.
An entry in an old family Bible gives an account of the destruction of the Swedesboro house and farm at
* Original in possession of the writer.
Note 1. From "History of Medical Men in New Jersey", by Wickes.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
variance with the preceding. The entry in the Bible was made about 1840. The Bible version was included in an address before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1845, by Dr. Isaac Parrish, in a Biographical Memoir concerning Dr. John Conrad Otto, the son of Bodo Otto, Jr. Dr. Parrish's account reads: "During Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr's, absence from home on military duty, his house was fired by his political antagonists, the Tories, and his wife and several young children were driven from their home in the midst of an inclement season, while all the products of the farm were consumed. The incendiaries were apprehended and convicted; and notwithstanding the calamity into which their acts had plunged him, Dr. Otto interferred in their behalf, and actually took a long journey on horseback to obtain their pardon. His mis- sion was successful, but being overtaken by a violent storm, he contracted a severe catarrh, followed by pul- monary consumption, and died. The version in the Bible in the handwriting of his grandmother, Janette Otto (Mrs. Judge Garrick Mallery) seems to have been the source of Dr. Parrish's address, similar words occurring in both. The Bible version says that in fording a stream, during a violent storm, he contracted a severe cold which terminated his life. The present writer is unable to say whether the historical account or the family account is the true one.
Whatever may have been the circumstances which destroyed his residence, the short career which gave him his reputation and character begins with his warm espousal of the patriot cause, his support of the Provincial Congress which met at Trenton, N. J., on Nov. 23, 1775, and after- wards at Burlington and New Brunswick. By that body he was appointed, July 24, 1776, Surgeon of the Battalion, under command of Col. Chas. Read, destined to reinforce the flying camp. (See Note 2). This was less than three weeks after the Declaration of Independence. Subsequent-
Note 2. See "History of Medical Men in New Jersey", by Wickes.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
ly he was elected to the Senate of New Jersey, then com- missioned as Colonel of State Troops, First Battalion, Gloucester County.
The personalities who bore the strain, suffering and discouragements of Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-8 have won a lasting place in the hearts of their fellow countrymen. The administration of a modern well-equip- ped army hospital requires sufficient fortitude to test the courage and ability of its medical officers. How much more severe must have been the test at Valley Forge, where food was scarce and inferior, typhoid rampant, clothing insufficient, the cold intense, and all the diseases raging which follow underfeeding and exposure? Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., his father, Bodo Otto, Sr., and his brother, Dr. John A. Otto, struggled manfully against disease, discouragement, and doubt, while the great British army lived in comfort and feasted in luxury in Philadelphia. A family tradition attributes the following letter to Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., from Valley Forge, addressed to his wife in Swedesboro :
"MY DARLING WIFE :
I miss you and the children. I miss your good cooking. Here we have to change the order of our courses to get variety. For breakfast we have bacon and smoke, for lunch, smoke and bacon, for supper, smoke."
He did not long survive the completion of his mili- tary duties, but died before his venerable father, on Jan. 29, 1782, in the 34th year of his age, in his Swedesboro house, and lies buried in the churchyard of the Episcopal Church there, of which he had been a vestryman.
Custom House at Little Egg Harbor *
Little Egg Harbor was a port of entry and a great deal of the importations from Europe and the West Indies came into Gloucester County via that section. Ebenezer Tucker, Esq., a Revolutionary soldier, was collector, sur- veyor and inspector during the last decade of the 18th century. His books of records cannot now be found but many manuscript letters and printed circulars of instruc- tion, copies of U. S. laws from Alexander Hamilton, Tench Coxe, W. Eveleigh, Comptroller, Joseph Nourse, Register, Oliver Wolcott, Timothy Pickering, Aaron Dunham and others still exist.
Numerous blank forms for various kinds of reports to be made under the different laws, and forms for ex- pense reports, fees, drawbacks, imports, exports, bonds, gauging, measuring, are carefully filed and saved.
The earliest blank reports were for the last quarter of the year 1789, and the first letter was a manuscript cir- cular signed by A. Hamilton, dated Oct. 10, 1789, to the effect that manifests of cargoes must be delivered to the Collectors of the Ports from which they are to sail. The object of this provision was to obtain a knowledge of the exports.
On February 27, 1790, N. Eveleigh wrote Surveyor Tucker requesting that his oath of office and bond with sufficient security be transmitted as early as possible. He said they were already six months beyond the three months allowed by law. The communications were transmitted by means of business men travelling back and forth.
The settlement of Chestnut Neck on the southerly side of the Mullica or Little Egg Harbor River extended to Nacot Creek and probably got its name from the trees that predominated there. It was an important community composed of seafaring people and traders.
* By FRANK H. STEWART.
20
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Further up the Little Egg Harbor river at its forks was the center of merchandise distribution.
Among the well known Captains who in 1793 sailed to Amsterdam, Bilboa, Antigua, Nantz and other ports were Joseph Jones, Benjamin Adams, John Burrowes, Thomas Walker, Jeremiah Somers. Among the places where boats were built, Raccoon Creek, Nacot Creek and Great Egg Harbor are mentioned.
Several lists of ships whose papers were taken by force and retained, together with printed lists of American seamen detained abroad because of lack of citizenship papers, are filed with the custom house papers of Little Egg Harbor.
In a controversy between Silas Crane, a judge and soldier of the Revolution, who succeeded Ebenezer Tuck- er as Collector, and Collector Winner of Somers Point, we gain a small list of ships and masters of 1808, viz. :
Ship "Regulata," Wm. Clark, Master; Sloop "Orange," John Endicott, Master ; Sloop "Liberty," Rich- ard Leeds, Master; Ship "Dolphin," Richard Risley, Master; Sloop "Juno," Augustus Sooy, Master.
A little later the names of Samuel Loveland, Thomas Rose, Bennett Rose and others appear.
The records contain much about wrecks, sales of boats, tariffs, privateers of the war of 1812, prisoners of war, and a few signatures of famous men like James Monroe and James Madison, are conspicuous. The early records of the port of Great Egg Harbor (Somers Point) seem to be mislaid or destroyed. Diligent effort on my part to find them availed nothing. It is quite possible that a thorough investigation would determine their fate.
Diary of Ann Whitall *
James Whitall was born 7 mo .- 4-1717 O. S. Died 9 mo .- 29- 1808.
Ann, his wife, was the daughter of John and Ann Cooper. She was born 4 mo .- 23-1716 ; died 9-22-1797.
She was a pious Quakeress. Her manuscript diary from 7th day of 2 mo., 1760, to 25th day IIth mo., 1762, is now in possession of Logan Pearsoll Smith, Esq., of England, and these extracts were made from a copy given by him to Albert Cook Myers, who has spent several years on historical matters pertaining to the early settlements on the Delaware River.
4-24-1760. Hab. Ward & Mos. Ward came here to the dam there has been so much quarreling about and brought two axes, two mattocks and two spades to cut the dam down and to work they went, and Sparks brought the Sheriff and there was miserable work but they tied them and took them to Joseph Harrisons, and from there to jail.
In her diary she gives her pedigree and mentions a long list of trials and tribulations, mostly trivial. She was a faithful attendant at Friends' meetings and com- ments freely on what interested her. On Ist day 7 mo. 1760 she writes: Now been married about twenty years. She criticizes a marriage between Abe Chatting and Ruth Wood, widow and widower, 22-7 mo. 1760.
21, 9, 1760. Benagy Andrews lives with Kate now Tom. is dead. Sam. died in the fall and Tom. in the Spring, both with the small pox. They did not live long after their dear father Peter Andrews.
16-II-1760. Hannah Andrews buried.
22-II-1760. Old Joshua Lord laid in his grave.
Chatfield, who was to marry Hannah Andrews, died a week after her.
James Browns wife dead.
Sam'1 Abbott is dead.
* By FRANK H. STEWART.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
3-12 mo. 1760. Alice Brown laid in her grave.
Jan. C. Crosway from old England at Haddonfield meeting.
Went to meeting in wagon.
Grieves over smallness of meeting. Uncle James Lord died a young man. My father was taken away. Joseph Gibson went to Salem. Joseph Tomlinson to Haddonfield.
5 day 4 mo. 1761. David Cooper gone to Assembly for the first time.
6-9 mo. 1761. First day to meeting, next day to Haddonfield. Now their fine carriage house is finished and painted. Our friend Peter Fiern was there to speak.
Grace Fisher and Sarah Hopkins went to Egg Har- bor meeting I day 10 mo. 1761, with Josiah Albertson.
Joseph White back from Old England.
5 day-12-1716. First youths meeting at Woodbury we have had.
Hannah Smith gone to her long home.
16-3-1762. Richard Matlacks wife deceased.
18-3-1762. John Mickle is married.
26-3-1762. A very full Quarterly meeting. John Woolman, Joseph White and Betty Mores in attendance. A wonderful meeting it was. It seems people have grown some better since last fall.
William Hunt from Carolina, John Woolmans cousin, at meeting.
John Hopkins is married 4 day 19th of 5 mo. 1762. Betty Sloan married on 5th day.
James Brown married on 6th day to Katy Andrews. 18-4 mo. 1762. David Coopers house burned down. 6-7 mo. 1762. David Cooper and his six children and our sister Hannah have a home to live in again.
17-9-1762. Sarah Wood has changed her name to Tatum.
19-4-1762. James Whital married.
23-6-1780. John Tatum married again to Eliza- beth Cooper.
Historical Notes *
MARK NEWBIE'S IRISH PENCE.
In the spring of 1682 Mark Newbie succeeded in having a law passed making his imported half-pence legal tender to the extent of five shillings. Newbie was a member of the West Jersey Assembly, was one of the first settlers and his coins are now quite rare. It was about one hundred years later that the Colony of New Jersey issued its own copper cents.
THINGS TO DO.
The site of Fort Nassau, built in 1623, should be ap- propriately marked, also the first churches that have long since passed away.
A complete list of all tombstone inscriptions of aban- doned graveyards, both public and private, should be made and published before vandalism and age obliterate them forever. All graveyards should be taken over and kept in repair by public authority. For the sake of a few extra ears of corn many burial plots forever reserved in recorded deeds have been farmed over to the disgrace of avarice.
The Indian trails should be located and marked; also the Indian village sites.
The first roads should be mapped and published and the locations of the old inns and taverns and ferries indicated thereon.
Old Colonial homesteads should be photographed or sketched.
LARGE WHITE OAKS.
On the banks of Mantua Creek are two mammoth oak trees. The one near Mt. Royal is known as the Tatem
* By FRANK H. STEWART.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
oak, and the one near Mantua as the Rose or Avis oak. The 1917 measurements made by Wm. P. Haines follow :
Tatem. Rose or Avis.
Height
92 ft. 87 ft.
Girth at 6 ft. 27 ft.
19 ft. 7 in.
Girth at 2 ft.
32 ft. 24 ft.
Spread of branches
IIO ft.
105 ft.
The fine old white oak at Mickleton, which measured 17 ft. 6 in. in girth at 2 feet above the ground in 1905, is now dead. It had a spread of 87 ft.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
This splendid organization perhaps more than any other is composed almost entirely of the descendants of the ancient and determined pioneers of Old Gloucester. It has its own building, on the Old King's Highway, in Woodbury, which contains a very rare collection of refer- ence books; a large collection of furniture, including the writing desk of Elizabeth Haddon, pictures, china, manu- scripts and other relics of all kinds.
Among its rare manuscript treasures are several that belonged to Washington and indorsed by him. The most valuable one is probably an indemnity bond given to Washington, while President, by the famous and last sur- vivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. There are also several deeds for land on the Potomac River. Another rare docu- ment, dated 1675, is signed by John Fenwick, who found- ed Salem, and witnessed by Richard Noble, the surveyor, who laid out the city of Burlington.
It was through the efforts of the Gloucester County Historical Society that the famous battlefield of Red Bank and the handsome old Moravian Church were saved for the future. From time to time many historical papers have been read before the Society, and its publications are highly prized by those interested in history and antiqui-
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
ties. John G. Whitall, a descendant of Ann Whitall, the heroine of Red Bank, is its President, and Dr. Wallace McGeorge, chairman Board of Trustees, W. M. Carter, secretary.
1794 MILITARY CENSUS.
In the year 1794 a military census was taken of all the male residents of Old Gloucester between the age of 18 and 45 years. Fortunately the scraps of paper con- taining several thousands of these names have escaped destruction so far and through the kindness of Miss Sarah A. Risley they were copied and a list of the names has been presented to The Genealogical Society of Pennsyl- vania.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY POST OFFICES.
The post masters in Gloucester County for the year 1800 were :
Nathan Donnell, of Woodbury, who received $33.50 for his services for the year.
John Croes, of Swedesboro, received $11.20.
Reynold Keen, of Atsion, received $14.74.
John Branson, of Haddonfield, no amount mentioned.
RATTLESNAKE AT RACCOON.
The first settlers of Old Gloucester, as is shown by the early records, were harassed by the depredations of wild beasts. Snakes also were numerous and we find in the Raccoon Church records that Anders Lock, one of the Swedes, died from the bite of a rattlesnake and was buried August 5, 1716.
JAMES LAWRENCE. "Don't give up the Ship."
Was born Oct. I, 1781, at Burlington, N. J. He studied law with his brother John, of Woodbury, for two years 1796-8. Ernest Redfield, Esq., now has some of
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
his law books. He entered the U. S. Navy Sept. 4, 1798, as a midshipman, and served through the war with France. In 1800 he was acting lieutenant on the sloop of war "John Adams." He served under his school-boy chum, Stephen Decatur, in the Mediterranean squadron, during the war with Tripoli, and received by resolution of Con- gress a sword for gallantry in action. During the war of 1812 he served on the Frigate "Constitution" and other famous ships. While in command of the Frigate "Chesa- peake" he engaged the British Frigate "Shannon" off Boston, Mass., and was mortally wounded June 1, 1813, and died aboard his ship at sea four days later. He was buried at Halifax, N. S., with military honors, and on Sept. 16, 1813, his remains were removed to Trinity Churchyard, New York.
RICHARD SOMERS.
Born at Somers Point, Sept. 15, 1778, was appointed a midshipman April 30, 1798. He served on the Frigate "United States" during the war with France, and during the war with Tripoli, like Stephen Decatur and James Lawrence, was in the Mediterranean squadron. He lost his life while in command of the "Ketch Intrepid," a fire ship, Sept. 4, 1804. The "Intrepid" was blown up and none of the officers or crew were saved.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY FAMILIES IN THE WEST.
In the first decade of the last century, and later, hun- dreds of persons in Gloucester County removed to Ohio and westward. Many of the family names of Old Glou- cester County are now prevalent in Cincinnati and there- abouts. One hundred years ago it took approximately thirty days to go by loaded wagon from the Great Egg Harbor section to the valley of the "Miami Country" in Ohio.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
MEN OF THE REVOLUTION.
Among the prominent men of Old Gloucester County during the war of the Revolution who deserve mention were John Cooper, John Wilkins, John Sparks, Tench Francis, Colonels Joseph Ellis, Elijah Clark, Bodo Otto, Israel Shreeve, Robert Brown, Joseph Hugg, Richard Somers, Samuel Tonkin, Majors Samuel Flanningham, Richard Wescott, Captains Samuel Hugg, Robert Tay- lor, Benjamin Whitall, John Davis, John Wood, William Ellis, Jeremiah Smith, George Payne and Samuel Shreeve, Paymaster John Little, Surgeon Thomas Hendry.
BATTLE OF GLOUCESTER.
In a letter from Lafayette to Washington, dated Had- donfield, November 26, 1777, a full and complete account is given of the Battle of Gloucester.
Lafayette was in command of a detachment of the New Jersey Militia and as a result of the victory which caused the retirement of the British across the Delaware from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, Washington suggested to Congress that Lafayette be given command of a divi- sion of the Continental Army. Congress complied with the suggestion and a few days later Lafayette was honor- ed with a commission. Colonel Joseph Ellis, of Glouces- ter County, was also in the engagement, which had far reaching effects and gave the New Jersey Militia a fine reputation that still exists.
Gloucester Fox Hunting Club *
This famous sporting club, composed of prominent men of Gloucester County and Philadelphia according to manuscript reminiscences written by one of its members about one hundred years ago, was established early in the 18th century; interest waned for a time; about 1760 it was revived. Capt. Samuel Morris for a long time prior to 1807 was annually re-chosen as its president. When age compelled him to give up riding a horse he rode in a light wagon to the hunting place, which was carefully selected where good roads intersected each other and where the cry of the pack of hounds constantly saluted the ear.
Among the members prior to the Revolution were Anthony Rainey, Joshua Gatcliff, Samuel Gatcliff, and Solomon Park, the watch maker of North Front Street, Philadelphia. The latter was an active hunter and mem- ber until 1815, when he was over seventy years of age.
In the year 1800 the members numbered about thirty, about half of whom were active hunters. The other half preferred the festivity of the hunting dinner to the excite- ment of the chase.
Robert Wharton, Mayor of Philadelphia, succeeded Capt. Morris as president. Capt. Charles Ross, of the First Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry, Capt. Wm. Davy of the merchant service, Benj. West, G. L. and J. Morris, Sr., Edward Davies, Solomon Park, A. M. Buck- ley, all of Philadelphia; General Franklin Davenport, John Lawrence and James B. Cooper, of Woodbury; Col. Joshua Howell, of Fancy Hill in Gloucester, Capt. Samuel Whitall, of Red Bank: Col. Heston, of Glassboro, and Jonas Cattell, guide and whipper-in, now upward of 72 years old, were members. With most of these gentlemen
* By FRANK H. STEWART.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
and R. M. Lewis, C. Clay, J. Morrell, A. Stocker, E. & B. Tilghman, A. Erwin and -- Milnor the unknown an- nalist had the pleasure of frequently crossing the pines and plains of Gloucester County between the years 1809 and 1819.
A fine pack of imported fox hounds was distributed among the sportsmen of West New Jersey, where their progeny still existed in 1819.
The author of the reminiscences wrote that Jonas Cattell could track a fox on the leaf covered ground of a forest and when the dogs struck a scent determine whether it was the trail of a fox or rabbit. He describes the fox as a wary animal going down the middle of a brook or over the top of a rail fence to throw the dogs off the trail. An old fox is as untamable as a tiger. A cub may be domesticated within a year but will never be sociable except with his kind feeder. Let him loose and he will ungratefully change his domestic for his natural wild state.
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