USA > New Jersey > Cape May County > Ocean City > Ocean City [N.J.] guide book and directory 1892 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
2
18
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
its mournful note as it winged its slow flight inland or folded its lengthy legs and wings in an apparently inextricable mass in alighting. Curlew, plover, and infinite varieties of snipe, waded out after the receding wave in quest of unwary mussels, their low cries mingling with the angry scream of the bald eagle, as he darted into the waters for his prey, or oftener robbed the hard-working fish hawk. Twenty-seven varieties of sea gulls visit the coast. They are divided into two general classes: summer gulls and winter gulls. They vary in size from a pigeon to a goose. The winter gulls are the largest, and come in November; in May they return to Labrador.
On this part of the coast is found a wonderful variety of forms of ocean life, from the low, shapeless mollusk to the gigantic cetacean. This fact is apparent in the choice of the location of the Biological Society buildings of the University of Pennsylvania, ten miles to the south, at Sea Isle City. To see the ocean when it is terrible in its beauty, one must visit it during the fall or winter months. It is then, when lashed into fury by the winds, that the depths are stirred and its treasures thrown up on the beach. The strand looks at times as though a polar had swept over it and left a thousand fantastic forms of ice, so clear that when the sun's rays strike them they radiate every color of the rainbow. These are jelly fish, dead and divested of their digestive organs, thus making the illusion more complete, as that is the only part of their bodies not transparent. Constellations of star fish, the quaint tiny sea horse, "sailor's razors" and "pincushions," the graceful " sea robin," conchs, clams and sea snails may be seen in abundance.
On the eighth of October a finback or rorqual whale washed ashore measuring sixty-eight feet. The tail measured fifteen feet across the flukes, and if Neptune had harnessed it to his chariot, he would have required a bit thirteen feet long to have controlled his charger. It was a monster of its kind, and the skeleton is the largest owned by any museum in the world.
Lying near the 39th degree of latitude, the climate is that of Annapolis, Maryland. Spring comes early. Summer is rendered delightful by the cool sea breezes. Autumn, with its gorgeous
F. P. CANFIELD, City Councilman.
"The Illinois," Mrs. H. D. Canfield, Proprietress.
19
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
coloring, dreamy haze and bright skies, lingers long. The close proximity of the gulf stream adds greatly to the salutary influence of the climate. The winters are tempered by its warm current, thus making an all-the-year-round residence in every way desirable. Invalids are loud in their praises of its benefits. What better inspi- ration can be wished for than the music of the pines, the roar of the ocean, the invigorating blast of the Atlantic north wind? This is a part of our birthright, from which we cannot afford to be kept out.
The island was formerly known as Peck's Beach. There may be found still further back, in the archives of the Courts of London, a document in which it was known as Pete's Beach. It has little written history save that of its location and wrecks. Of a period when a race computing time by nights and moons built their mud lodges along the shore, no record is given. Tradi- tion only hands its history down to us interwoven with the beauti- ful legends of the peaceful tribes of Delawares or Lenni-Lenapes. If we measure time by the years since the island has been inhabit- ed, it is but a short step back from this bright scene of civilization to the time when their swift pirogues shot out from the shore filled with dusky braves, gorgeous in paint and feathers, and with squaws of beautiful form clothed in rudely-made garments fringed with the hair of the red deer, still found in Southern New Jersey, while wampum made from the clam shells of the beach adorned their black unbound hair. Pirates have anchored here without fear of molestation, and borne from the hold of the vessel treasures of gold, jewels and rich merchandise to bury beneath these sands. Their implements of warfare have been dug up but recently, quite near. One of these, a long, pointed iron rod; half-way of its length was fastened a knife fashioned like a hand sickle. The evident intention of its use was first to draw the victim toward the executioner with the knife, and then impale him on the rod.
The first topographical survey of the island was made to Thomas Budd, October 7, 1695. In 1750, about 500 acres of land located between Ninth street and the north point of the beach, were bought of him by John Somers, Lord Chancellor of England,
L
20
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
and cousin of John Lord, Right Honorable Earl of Hardwick. This tract of land remained in the possession of the Somers family for one hundred and thirty years. The first houses upon the island known to be built by white people, were located, one near the north point of beach, occupied by Hanna Kittle, the other in the neighborhood of Ninth street and Asbury avenue, occupied by John Robinson. Thirty-three years ago Parker Miller, and Louisa, his wife, with four little children, braved the solitude and erected a home. For over twenty years they were the only residents. Their intercourse with the outside world was when sportsmen came gunning for wild fowl, when a vessel was cast away, or “beach parties " came across the bay for a day's recreation. Mr. Miller was engaged in raising cattle, planting oysters, and watching the coast for wrecks. He has acquired by his long residence and direct observation, a better knowledge of the island from its primeval condition to its present high state of development, than any one living.
REV. W. A. MASSEY, Pastor of First M. E. Church.
FIRST M. E. CHURCH.
21
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
Great Egg Harbor Bay.
This picturesque, landlocked sheet of water, teeming with blue- fish, sheepshead, oysters, and shellfish of every description, received its name from the large numbers of gulls' eggs found in the surrounding meadows. The gentle ebb and flow of the tide, submerging and revealing the emerald beauty of its tiny green islands, the white-winged sea craft passing rapidly to and fro or resting lazily on the blue waters, the throbbing steamers with their long wakes of white foam, form an endless panorama, from which the weary toiler, the dispirited pleasure seeker, nor the invalid, can ever grow weary. Away to the southwest, Thoroughfare Sound sweeps out through the meadows, till it is lost to view in the shadow of the pines. Following the line of the bay, now curving to the west, Beasley's Point is plainly visible. During Revolutionary times, a watch was kept at this place from a " crows- . nest", or lookout, and if any British vessels were seen, a bell was rung and the inhabitants of the surrounding country quickly gathered at the Point to repulse the soldiers should they come in on a foraging expedition, as was frequently done. At one time all the men of the village were absent, and a young woman, Rachel Stillwell, was keeping watch ; she espied a British man-o'-war lying just outside of the inlet. Quickly dropping the spy-glass she gave the alarm, but before it was responded to the British had lowered their row boats and were speeding across the bay. Summoning the women of the hamlet, a cannon was quickly rolled into posi- tion, and with her own hands she applied a brand to the touch- hole, and quickly reloading, sent peal after peal across the waters, completely routing the redcoats.
Sweeping down past Beasley's Point, the waters of the Tucka- hoe, Middle, and Great Egg Harbor rivers empty into the bay. In the dim perspective, masts and sails are outlined against the sky; in nearer view, schooners laden with wood, oysters, and freight of
22
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
various kinds, are hurrying out to the ocean, bound for different points all along the coast.
Historic Somers' Point next marks the curve of the shore. From its wharves have sailed out brave soldiers of the Revolution and daring and skillful navigators. Many of these who have "gone down to the sea in ships" have left behind them wives, sweethearts and mothers, who differed only from the heroines of fiction in that the tragedy and pathos of their lives were real, for as they left the port, they sailed out of the lives of those standing on shore, and all that ever floated back was a rumor, perhaps, of a fragment of wreck cast up on some distant coast, bearing the name or some trace of the vessel.
Still following the line of the shore, now lost to view, and now clear and distinct, Longport may be seen. Its prominent wharf is visible for many miles out at sea. This point of land forms the last boundary of the bay, and is divided from Ocean City by Great Egg Harbor Inlet. On its opposite side it is washed for miles by the Atlantic Ocean. The same character of the beach as that of Ocean City is noticeable. Longport was founded by M. Simpson Mccullough in 1882. Palatial houses and tasteful and convenient cottages adorn its streets and avenues. The Aberdeen Hotel, con- ducted by W. Lamborn and Mrs. Elizabeth Kitts, is one of the finest on the coast. The sanitary arrangements are complete in every detail. The facilities for bathing, boating and fishing are nowhere excelled, and Longport promises to be in the near future the Newport of Southern New Jersey.
At the wharves at Ocean City yachts are constantly in readiness to take parties out fishing or sailing on the bay or ocean. The Atlantic Coast Steamboat Company operates a line of steamboats between Ocean City, Longport and Somers' Point. A large steamer is run to the fishing banks in the ocean daily during the summer. This is provided with lines, bait, and everything necessary for the comfort and enjoyment of its patrons. This is patronized by invalids and pleasure seekers, aside from those who go for the sake of fishing. While enjoying the refreshing sea air, they can rest in the cabins or beneath canopies, shaded from the sun.
R. FISHER'S RESIDENCE.
FISHER5
PISKEYS
R. Fisher's Office Buildings and Twin Cottages.
-
235
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
The Founders of Ocean City.
The name of Ocean City will ever be associated with that of the Lakes-Hon. Simon Lake and his three sons, Ezra B., S. Wesley and James E., all born and reared in Southern New Jersey. Early in life the sons were led to enter the Christian ministry, and became members of the New Jersey M. E. Conference, and have since filled honorable positions. After some years, the attention of Rev. E. B. Lake was directed towards the establishing of a seaside resort, where the sale of alcoholic liquors should be prohibited and the sanctity of the Sabbath preserved. The tract of land, Peck's Beach, presented itself to his mind as the one to be redeemed for the purpose. Mr. Lake was eminently fitted for the work and entered upon it with an enthusiasm which is ever fresh and con- stant. Hon. Simon Lake, recognizing the possibilities of the enter- prise, immediately engaged with him, and the admirable plan of the City and its acquired facilities are largely due to his far-seeing wis- dom and sound executive ability. Revs. S. Wesley and James E. next came forward, and have, since that time, labored with Rev. E. B. Lake in the interests of the City.
Shortly after the enterprise was fairly under way, Hon. Simon Lake was stricken with a sudden and fatal illness, and passed away November 28, 1881. He was looked to as a leader in the affairs of church and state by all with whom he was associated. He carried his 68 years as sturdily as any other man of 40. Tall and broad of frame, strong in arm and voice, he reached the close of his earthly career with faculties of mind and body unimpaired by time or disease. His untimely death was mourned throughout the country.
2.4
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
Ocean City Association.
OFFICERS AND MANAGERS.
President, Rev. W. B. Wood; Vice-President, Rev. W. H. Burrell; Secretary, Hon. S. Lake; Treasurer, C. Matthews, Esq .; Superintendent, Rev. E. B. Lake; Rev. W. E. Boyle, Rev. S. W. Lake, C. Matthews, Jr., and Rev. J. E. Lake.
Through the efforts of the Lake family a company was formed with the above name and members. Active operations toward bringing forth a city from beneath the sand hills and out of the thickets commenced October 20, 1879, by securing the land and issuing stock. The first topographical survey was made by William Lake during the fall and winter following. The part known as section A was staked off into avenues, streets and lots. This was quickly cleared of brushwood and timber; thousands of feet of ditching were dug for drainage, and hundreds of loads of brush- wood were placed at the north point of beach for the purpose of gathering the moving sand and extending the ocean front. Lots to the value of $85,000 were disposed of, and another portion of land, known as section B, surveyed and laid out. A wharf, 125 feet long by 72 feet wide, was built at an enormous cost. This was connected with the City by a good road over the meadows, 1000 feet long, and a board walk running parallel with it the entire dis- tance. Dwelling houses, unpretentious at first, commenced to spring up. These were soon succeeded by large and commodious buildings. The first building erected was the little Pioneer Cot- tage, then standing on the rear of the lot now occupied by the Association Office. It was used as a boarding house for the me- chanics at work on the Island, and was sometimes occupied by forty men. The first hotel, the Ocean House, was built by I. B. Smith;
R. C. ROBINSON, Editor and Proprietor of the Ocean City Sentinel.
25
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
now the far-famed "Brighton," owned and conducted by R. R. Sooy. A newspaper was issued May, 1880. A railroad was built from Pleasantville to Somers' Point, known as the Pleasantville and Ocean City Railroad. This was formally opened October 26, 1880. A steamboat was purchased to ply between Somers' Point and Ocean City, thus completing connection with the outside world. A Turnpike Company was organized to build a road from Beesley's Point to Ocean City, which, together with a bridge over Thorough- fare Sound, was completed the following spring. A local church was organized and a camp meeting held for ten days.
This brief summary of a little more than a year's work is but one page in the rapid advancement of the City. The development during so short a period necessarily had the effect of stimulating and bringing forward new purchasers and residents, and the tide of progress has never abated. The success of an enterprise of this kind is not brought about without formidable difficulties. The toil and anxiety are best known to those who have participated in a work of its kind. The Association has tenaciously adhered to the principles first laid down, and sympathetic and fraternal relations now exist where the lava tide of dissension and strife threatened disaster.
Its present officers and managers are :
President, Rev. J. B. Graw, D. D. Vice-President, Rev. W. B. Wood, D. D. Secretary, Rev. S. Wesley Lake. Treasurer, Dr. G. E. Palen.
Superintendent, Rev. E. B. Lake.
George L. Horn, G. B. Langley, H. B. Howell, Rev. James E. Lake.
26
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
Ocean City.
Ocean City was created by an act of incorporation April 30, 1884. The first council consisted of G. P. Moore, Mayor; Parker Miller, Rev. W. H. Burrell, Correll Doughty and Enoch Green. The administration of the two mayors and the councilmen who have served with them since then, has been attended with stability and prosperity. This is shown in the steady throbbing pulsation which marks the life and business interests of a city which is under no bond of debt, and has never realized the paralyzing effects of a sudden boom, whose growth has been steadily upward from the first. When the government was vested in a mayor and council, the original design of the City was carried out, but upon a broad and liberal basis. The avenues through which vice and immorality enter are guarded only to such an extent as to be a protection to liberty and pleasure, which are in no way restrained, and Ocean City has a genuine air of respectability and refinement.
To follow, step by step, its growth and progress is impossible, but not twelve years have elapsed, and a city of beautiful homes stretches from bay to ocean and for miles up and down the island. Spacious and elegant summer residences of prominent citizens of Philadelphia, Camden, New York, and inland cities north and south, adorn its wide streets and avenues. Accommodations for the entertainment of guests are nowhere excelled. The hotels are thoroughly equipped ; boarding cottages, large and small, may be found to suit every taste. There are miles of graveled streets and sidewalks, boardwalks on the strand, public schools, stores of every description, steamboat and railroad facilities, excellent telegraphic and mail services, and everything which may be found in cities much older. The Auditorium, occupying the center of the camp
>
JOHN R. KENDRICK.
C
SIESTAU
JNO.R KENDRICK 820 Wesley Ave.
27
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
ground, is a handsome structure, with a seating capacity of two thousand. The public school is a well-built, prominent edifice, and is supplied with a most efficient corps of teachers. The Excursion House on the strand adds greatly to the convenience of visitors. Bath houses, restaurants, carousels, and booths of every descrip- tion, spring up at every point.
The M. E. church was dedicated August, 1891. Rev. W. A. Massey, the pastor, is not only an able preacher, but an indefatiga- ble worker as well. During his pastorate the membership has been greatly increased, and through the quiet months of winter, as well as the exciting summer season, the church is always well filled. In a short time a new parsonage adjoining the church will be completed.
Ocean City has the additional attraction for moral people that the liquor traffic is prohibited. A clause in all deeds calls for the forfeiture of title if the vice is allowed to flourish on the premises.
Rents are very reasonable, either for the season or by the year. Cottages, furnished or unfurnished, can be rented from fifty dollars upwards. The surrounding country, through its rich soil, fur- nishes the best of vegetables, fruits, etc., in great abundance. These are brought direct to the City by the farmers and truckers them- selves, and wholesaled to the markets or retailed from the wagons to customers.
Several routes are available by which the City may be reached from the imperial eastern cities-New York and Philadelphia. These are within a few hours by rail, and the important cities up and down the coast are brought into close touch either by rail or water.
Ocean City has officials and citizens of whom it may be justly proud. Besides those of whom sketches are given are J. T. Adams, proprietor of the Traymore and owner of the Lafayette; R. R. Sooy, the genial host of the Brighton; N. Corson, one of the first builders of the City, a man whose life is marked by sterling integ- rity ; Capt. Isaac Lee, spending his declining years in peaceful, con- tented retirement ; 'Squire Myers, progressive and enterprising ; Dr. D. W. Bartine, professor of mathematics in the public schools
28
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
of Philadelphia ; Joseph Brower, a retired merchant of Philadelphia ; W. Godfrey, one of the earliest pioneers of Ocean City; Assessor R. Ludlam ; R. Fisher, whose extensive business speaks for itself; J. T. Price, the enterprising host of the Ocean City House ; S. Schurch, of the Bellevue ; F. Schmitt, a self-made, and for many years a prominent business man of Philadelphia, and Hiram Steel- man, grocer. Among our younger men who owe their success largely to their own efforts since they came to Ocean City, are City Treasurer H. G. Steelman, owner and proprietor of the largest grocery store in the City; City Clerk and Real Estate Agent H. B. Adams ; Abel D. Scull, architect and builder, whose work is among the finest in the City; John Gandy, grocer ; the Sampson Brothers, contractors; R. B. Stites, lumber dealer; Stonehill & Adams, stone-masons. The younger members of the city council, F. P. Canfield and J. Steelman, are coming rapidly to the front as busi- ness men, and are showing themselves to be men capable of being vested with municipal powers.
Among our noted summer residents are M. C. Clelland, of the Ridge Avenue Railway; E. Brucker, a retired merchant of Phila- delphia ; the Davis brothers, of Camden; H. Gerlach, a prominent jeweler of Philadelphia; C. H. Schermerhorn, secretary and treas- urer of the Niagara Mining and Smelting Company of Utah; Dr. C. E. Edwards, of Haddonfield, N. J .; F. R. Whitesides, of the firm Rush Whitesides & Sons, Philadelphia ; Godfrey Krouse, a promi- nent Philadelphia plumber; Rev. W. Huckle, of New York ; Dr. F. R. Graham, a prominent physician of Chester, Pa., and a host of others whom we hope to mention more fully in a future edition of the Guide Book and Directory.
--
CROSSCUP & WEST ING CO.
LIFE-SAVING STATION "OCEAN CITY."
THE AUDITORIUM.
29
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
Biographical Sketches.
MAYOR G. P. MOORE.
Mr. Moore was born in Chester county, Pa., of Quaker parents. He received the education of the common schools of the day, and afterwards learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1854 he removed to Michigan and engaged in farming, but returned to his native state four years later and went into business as a builder. He was twice a volunteer in the late Rebellion ; failing to pass the physical examination the first time, he was the second time accepted. Mr. Moore also holds the position of a notary public, is a prominent member of the society of Odd Fellows, and a director of the Cape May County Agricultural Association. He has held many posi- tions of private trust, not one of which has ever been violated.
Mr. Moore is possessed of strong religious tendencies. The churches of Ceresco Circuit, Michigan, were founded through his missionary labors. At the battle of Bull Run he was commis- sioned by the Christian Commission to go to the front to care for the wounded and dying. One instance alone of how his life in this direction is respected, is shown by the fact that when called by the United States Court to Baltimore to give testimony in a great life insurance trial, he was honored by the court suspending business to allow him to transact some private business with them in time to return home without traveling on the Sabbath. He came to Ocean City in 1881, and has held the office of mayor since its incorporation, with the exception of one term. He is a progressive official, honored by all parties, and has served the city well.
30
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
EX-MAYOR J. E. PRYOR, M.D.
Dr. Pryor is descended from a family prominent in the state of Indiana for over 160 years; noted through Colonial and Revolu- tionary times for the men it furnished both as officers and privates to the patriot armies engaged in warfare on the western frontier, when the Indians, led on by their great chief Tecumseh, consti- tuted such a terrible foe.
Dr. Pryor was born in the Wabash Valley, at the old " Pryor Homestead," almost in sight of the battle ground of Tippecanoe. He received his preliminary education at the common schools, and when eighteen years of age commenced teaching in this depart- ment. During this period his spare time was devoted to the prose- cution of his own studies. In the spring of 1885, he entered the Detroit Medical College, from which institution he was graduated three years later; he also received a course of instruction at the Philadelphia Polyclinic. He came to Ocean City in 1888, and soon acquired a successful practice. The duties which devolved upon him in this capacity were discharged in a thorough and conscientious manner. Dr. Pryor has displayed through his career the perseverance and courage which will continue to bring to him in the future as it has in the past the success which is ever the result of these attributes.
DR. GILBERT E. PALEN.
Dr. G. E. Palen has been one of the regular summer residents of Ocean City since 1881. He has shown his faith in its future by investing largely in lots, and building several cottages. He is deeply interested in retaining the temperance and religious prin- ciples upon which the place was founded, and thus keeping Ocean City free from the vices which so predominate in most resorts of this kind. He is one of the stockholders of. Occan City Associ- ation, and has been its treasurer for a number of years.
Dr. Palen was born in Palenville, N. Y., May 3, 1832. His father, Rufus Palen, was of Quaker stock, and was a well-known
WILLIAM LAKE.
3I
OCEAN CITY GUIDE BOOK.
tanner and leather dealer, being a partner of Shepherd Knapp, and a member of the firms of Knapp & Palen, Palen & Flagler, etc. After preparing himself for college, Dr. Palen first obtained a . thorough knowledge of the tanning business at the Fallsburgh, N. Y., tannery, in which his father's estate had a large interest. Then entering Brown University, he went with several of the pro- fessors and a number of students to Yale, where he graduated with the degree of Ph.B. in the "famous class" of 1853. He then pursued a medical course at the New York University, which he subsequently completed at the Albany Medical College, graduating from the latter in 1855 as a doctor of medicine.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.