USA > New Jersey > Camden County > Camden > The civil and political history of Camden County and Camden City > Part 3
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sparsely inhabited and practically undeveloped .* On the other hand, the strenuous, but unsuccessful, fight made by the residents around Cooper's Ferries to secure the removal of the county seat from Woodbury to Camden in 1825 left in its wake a spirit of antagonism on the losing side which time failed to mollify. This fight was particularly bitter and all manner of arguments were put forth by the people from the lower end of the county opposed to the change. One of the most effective arguments was that the cost of erecting the county buildings in Camden would be excessive. To off-set this state- ment, Gideon V. Stivers, Benjamin Wiltse and Daniel Ireland offered to erect a brick Court House, a stone Jail and two brick buildings for the offices of the County Clerk and Surrogate, complete in every detail for eighteen thousand five hundred dollars. These buildings were to conform substantially with similar buildings at Mount Holly in Burlington County. f
In this fight the inhabitants of the townships of Waterford and Gloucester were closely allied with those of Newton, their vote being 928 in favor of Camden to 322 for Woodbury. At a meeting held at White Horse the following resolution was adopted :
"It is resolved-That the roads of all parts of the county and the business of citizens generally, have of late become centered at Camden; and that the interest of Gloucester County would be promoted by having the seat of justice located at Camden-and that a large majority of the said county would be better accom- modated at Camden than at Woodbury."
The inhabitants in the other townships did not see the matter in the same light and Camden lost out by a majority of 876 in favor of retaining the county seat at Woodbury.
In 1837, a public meeting of a number of the inhabitants of Gloucester County was held at John M. Johnson's house (Vauxhall Gardens) to consider making application to the Legislature to set off the townships of Waterford, Camden, Newton, Union and Gloucester into a new county to be known as Delaware county. This move was, however, apparently not made in earnest, but as a means of protesting against the setting off of a part of old Gloucester county to form the new Atlantic county. Having failed to accomplish their purpose the subject was dropped and nothing further was heard of
* When Atlantic county was taken away from "Old Gloucester" It had a population of 8, 164, while In the remaining part of the old county there were 20,267 inhabitants. It Is interesting to note that the public property of the county was appraised at $35,868 with an indebtedness of $7,932.50-quite a contrast with today's valuation and bonded debt.
+ Village Herald, December 29. 1824.
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a new county until 1843, when an active campaign was begun to secure a division of what was now left of the original Gloucester county.
The actual reason for the agitation to create a new county was entirely political. With the number of new counties created between 1824 and 1840,* the majority of which exhibited Whig sympathies in all elections, the Democratic party lost its influence in State affairs, and the leaders of the latter party readily agreed to the formation of Camden county in the hope that it would secure Democratic repre- sentatives in the Legislature.
The notice of the intention to apply to the Legislature in 1844 for the erection of a new county was signed by John Mickle, Ben- jamin S. Hamell, John Sands, Richard Fetters, Joseph C. Delacour, John K. Cowperthwait, Dr. Isaac S. Mulford, and Isaac Cole. The publication of this notice immediately stirred up opposition, not only throughout the remaining part of old Gloucester county, but also from those in the townships which it was proposed to separate from their former affiliations. Notwithstanding all of this opposition the act creating the county of Camden, by taking Waterford, Gloucester, Newton, Camden, Union, Delaware, and Washingtont townships from Gloucester county was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor on March 13, 1844.
As indicating the tenor of the opposition, the set of resolutions passed at the annual meeting of Newton township, held at Haddon- field on March 13, 1844, is of peculiar interest, because a majority of the same people twenty years before had as strenuously favored Camden as a county-seat. The preamble recites that the act "was carried through the Legislature by a strict party vote, for the sole purpose of gratifying a few reckless individuals, to the great injury and prejudice of far the largest part of the good citizens of the county, and contrary to the rights of men, as freemen." The resolu- tion instructs and requires the persons elected as chosen freeholders "not to appropriate any money towards repairing or building any new buildings at Camden, until the seat of justice shall be settled, or a county town legally located."}
John W. Mickle, a staunch Democrat, lead in the fight to organize a new county out of the northern portion of old Gloucester county,
* Warren county was created in 1824; Passaic and Atlantic countles in 1837; Mercer In 1838, and Hudson In 1840.
All the territory included in the original Washington township, except that portlon within the Camden County Alms House Farm, was returned to Gloucester county by act of February 28, 1871.
# For a full report of this meeting see "The Camden Mail" of March 20, 1844.
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believing that politically it could be counted on as a Democratic strong- hold. The people outside of Camden, however, resented the methods used in securing this legislation and steadily voted against the Demo- cratic nominees, and John W. Mickle was much taunted about his Democratic County which consistently cast its vote for the opposite party.
With the establishment of the new county, another bitter strife arose over the selection of the site for the county seat. Those active in the movement for the creation of Camden county, cherished the idea of having the buildings located in Camden, but the opposition party joined forces and endeavored to secure them for either Mount Ephraim, Long-a-Coming (Berlin), White Horse, or Haddonfield. It was a fight between Camden, led by Abraham Browning and John W. Mickle, and the whole of the county. Before the site was finally selected, it required four elections ; a writ out of the Supreme Court ; two amendments to the original Act, one directing that two additional elections should be held and the other instead of requiring a majority of all those voting to decide upon the location, directing that, if at the next election no place, received a majority of all the votes polled, Long-a-Coming should be the seat of justice ; and finally a positive order from the Supreme Court directing the Board of Freeholders to proceed with the building of the Court House at Camden in accord- ance with the election of April 11, 1848.
At the first election, Camden received 1062 votes to Gloucester, its nearest competitor's poll of 822, with 1190 necessary to a choice. The second election gave Camden 963 votes and Mount Ephraim, 527, while it required 1003 votes to decide the issue. At the third test, all of the outlaying districts having combined on Long-a-Coming, the vote was 1498 for that place to 1440 for Camden. This was a clear majority, but the Camdenites would not acknowledge defeat and, despite the action of the Board of Freeholders in purchasing ground and awarding a contract for the Court House, obtained a new lease of life through the Legislature, upon the ground that the selec- tion of Long-a-Coming was secured through fraud. The supreme test now was at hand and at the fourth election the Camden people did heroic work in bringing out an unprecedented vote of 2444 to 795 for its nearest competitor, Haddonfield, and 704 for the previously accepted locality, Long-a-Coming.
Notwithstanding this overwhelming majority the county author- ities refused from time to time to go ahead with the project. Abraham Browning and John W. Mickle offered their oft-repeated
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motion to appoint a committee to select a site in Camden, which met with the usual fate-voted down. The Board of Freeholders were now served with a mandamus, or order, from the Supreme Court requiring it to provide buildings for the use of the county as directed by the election of April 11, 1848, or show cause why they did not do so. Seeing that further efforts were useless, the Board proceeded to take steps to erect a Court House in Camden city.
The next difficulty was the selection of a site within the limits of Camden. The two principals in the previous fights, John W. Mickel and Abraham Browning, were closely connected with rival ferry companies. Each desired that the county buildings should be placed upon a direct road leading to their respective ferry landings. The adopted location was the result of a compromise between these local rival factions, since it permitted the erection of the building mid-way between Federal and Market streets and equi-distance from each of the ferries located at the foot of these streets. The plot of ground, extending from Market to Federal streets east of Sixth street, was purchased from Abigail Cooper for $5000. At that time this tract was practically in the country; to the eastward, except for the Friends' Meeting House and the houses around Twelfth and Federal streets, were woodlands and farms; to the north- ward was a dense grove of trees in the midst of which was set The Diamond Cottage Garden; in the block to the west were only a few houses, including the Academy, and the Columbian Garden; while along Federal street directly opposite, stood the frame house occupied by William Carman. Broadway, then known as the "Road to Wood- bury," ran diagonally across the land to the intersection of Market and Sixth streets. Such then was the setting in which the new Court House was to be placed.
The original structure, which was completed in 1855 at a cost of about forty thousand dollars, was of brick, rough cast, measuring 50 feet by 150 feet. It was located midway between Market and Federal streets and extended from Sixth street to the new line of Broadway. On the north and south sides of the building were large court yards which were enclosed by high iron fences.
Previous to 1875, no specific offices were provided by the county for the county clerk, surrogate and register of deeds. These officiais rented quarters where it best suited their convenience. In that year, a one story brick building, to which was subsequently added a second story, was erected on the Market street side of the court yard and all of the county offices were then located on the court house grounds.
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The Soldier's Monument, now standing on the grounds north of the City Hall, originally stood in the court yard on Federal street, having been erected in 1873, partly by private subscription and partly from funds contributed by the Board of Freeholders. In 1882, in an- ticipation of the erection of the new jail it was moved to its present location.
The unsanitary condition of the jail, which was located in the basement of the Court House, became a public scandal, from about 1876, but, notwithstanding numerous appeals, the Board of Free- holders refused to remedy the situation. Finally, after Judge Wood- hull in May, 1879, had again called the attention of the Grand Jury to the matter, the latter body found a bill of indictment against the Board of Chosen Freeholders for maintaining a nuisance. The pre .. sentment was in the most scathing terms, charging that the Free- holders had since January, 1878, persisted in maintaining a jail "so badly located, so ill constructed and so inefficient for the demands of the community, that for want of requisite room, proper ventilation and suitable accommodations, the same hath been for all that time and yet is unwholesome, ill-governed, overcrowded, unfitted and in- adequate." The Board now began to take some heed to the public outcry and after much discussion, decided in 1881 to erect a jail on the Federal street court yard. The plans were prepared and work on the new structure started, but before its completion, owing to frequent changes in the political complexion of the Board, the build- ing was changed from a jail to a court house, and then back to a jail. Sessions of the court were actually held in the new building in 1885, before its final conversion into a jail.
After having been in use for a period of nearly fifty years, the old county buildings became inadequate for the needs of the rapidly increasing business of the county and it was decided that an entirely new Court House must be erected. Following a careful study of the situation, the old plot of ground, bounded by Market, Broadway, Federal, and Sixth streets, was selected as the best site available for the new building, which was to include all of the county offices, the courts and the jail, the latter to be located on the top floor. The old court house was torn down in 1904, and the other buildings on the grounds in 1906. The ceremonies incident to the opening of the new Court House were held on Tuesday, April 24, 1906, and the building was turned over to the county authorities on February 13, 1907. The cost of the structure was about $800,000, and to the honor of the building committee, it should be said that not one word
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of suspicion was ever uttered of any unseemly, or unbusinesslike act having been committed during its erection.
When Camden county was created out of Gloucester county, the Legislature directed that commissioners should be appointed to divide and apportion the public property of the old county. After some delay, the commissioners filed their report in 1846. According to this report the Court House, Jail, Clerk's and Surrogate's Offices and the lots appurtaining thereto, situated in Woodbury, were to remain absolutely the property of Gloucester County, while the Poor House and farm lands situated in Washington township, Camden county, were vested as an absolute and independent estate in the Boards of Chosen Freeholders of the two counties in equal moieties as tenants in common. The steward of the Poor House was elected at a joint meeting of the Boards of Freeholders of Camden and Gloucester counties. The Poor House and adjacent land remained the joint property of the two counties until 1860, when, by an act of the Legislature, commissioners were appointed to sell the property. The sale was held August 7, 1860, at which Camden county purchased the Almshouse and other buildings, together with two hundred and sixty- four acres of land for about $19,800. The other tracts were sold to sundry purchasers.
CAMDEN CITY
While county and township organizations were being formed and hamlets or villages were springing up in various parts of the country, the few inhabitants around "The Ferries" were busily engaged in the cultivation of their farms and in improving their crude habitations. As Philadelphia grew in population and wealth, the adjacent country naturally felt the effects.
Jacob Cooper,* a merchant in Philadelphia and a direct descendent of the first William Cooper, was the earliest to realize the possibilities of this location as a town site, and on April 3, 1764,¡ obtained from his father, William, a tract of 100 acres, lying between the lands of his nephews, Daniel and William Cooper. It has been generally stated that this tract was first divided into town lots in 1773. A
* Jacob Cooper was a son of Willlam, eldest son of Daniel, son of the original William Cooper. He was born in 1723 and married Elizabeth Corker, daughter of William and Mary Corker, of Philadelphia. At the time of his marriage William Corker was deceased and hls widow had become the wife of Joseph Trotter, of Philadelphia. Jacob was a merchant In Phila- delphla and an active member of the Bank Meeting on Front street above Arch. Both he and his wife were buried In the old grounds at Fourth and Race streets, the former In 1786 and the latter in 1789. They had a number of children of whom only Jacob, Elizabeth, Willlam Corker and Mary reached their majoritles.
Liber A. C., folio 530, etc.
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lengthy advertisement, which appeared in "The Pennsylvania Chron- icle and Universal Advertiser" of April 24-May 1, 1769, however, indicates clearly that shortly after Jacob Cooper obtained possession of the property it was "divided into lots" and that this plan was on exhibition "at the London Coffee House,* at Peter Thompson's, con- veyancer in Race street, and at the Subscriber's "(Jacob Cooper )" in Arch street." The advantages which these lots offer are quaintly stated in the advertisement and may be summarized as follows:
"A soil fitted for gardening, and the raising of earlier fruits than Pennsylvania affords"; "the conveniency of being near the city of Philadelphia for distilleries, breweries, lumber yards, stores and other offices"; "The diversion of fishing and fowling" and "the added pleasure of sailing on the water in summer".
Cooper continued his endeavors for several years to dispose of this property and on March 14, 1771, another advertisement appeared in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" stating that "it is a suitable Place for erecting another Ferry, and in all Probability may in a few years, be disposed of in Lots, to great Advantage, in erecting a TOWN, as it will suit for many Persons to reside there, and carry on different Occupations, as in Philadelphia."
Others evidently did not share in this prophetic vision and after waiting two more years for a purchaser, Jacob Cooper went ahead with the project and laid out in small town lots about forty acres of the tract, bounded by the present Cooper street on the north, Sixth street on the east, a line mid-way between Market and Arch streets on the south and the Delaware river on the west. His original plan called for but twelve blocks, or squares, with two streets extending from the river and six street running parallel with it. To this new village he gave the name "Town of Camden," in honor of Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, and Lord Chief Justice of England, who about this time was using every exertion in behalf of the American colonies .¡
In this plan the six streets running north and south were called King, Queen, Whitehall, Cherry, Cedar, and Pine, intersected at
· The London Coffee House, located at the southwest corner of Front and High streets, Philadelphia, was the principal seat of activities in the city, the meeting place of the most interesting people and "the clearing house for news of all kinds." Many of those who became the first purchasers of lots in Cooper's new town frequented the tavern and there learned of the new project.
t The popularity of the Earl of Camden is indicated by the fact that an armed boat built by Sherlock in 1775 for the Pennsylvania Navy was called the "Camden." Under command of Captain Edward Yorke she gave a good account of herself in the defense of the Chevaux-de-frise at the Battle of Red Bank.
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right angles by Cooper* and Market streets. The names of the streets running north and south were changed by ordinance of City Council on May 24, 1832, to Front, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets respectively.
The original plan provided for a square plot of ground at the intersection of Market and Whitehall, or Third, streets for public use, presumably for a market house, but it was never used for that purpose and later became part of the public highway. When the building, now occupied by the West Jersey Trust Company, at the southeast corner, was erected, an attempt was made to secure the right to come out to the building line on Market street, but the original dedication prevented either City Council, or the courts from modifying the express design of the grantor.
In 1776, Jacob Cooper and his wife placed in trust, the plot of ground at the northwest corner of Fifth and Arch streets, known as lot No. 127, to be used only for public purpose. A portion of this ground was laid out at an early date as a public burial ground, while another portion, after having been occupied by a school house for a number of years, is now used by the fire and police departments.
In view of the present day values of the lots laid out by Jacob Cooper, the prices at which he sold them in 1773 are extremely in- teresting. John Brown paid forty pounds "lawful money of Penn- sylvania" for lots Nos. 71 and 86, while John Reedle's deed calls for payment of twenty pounds for lot No. 68. The Pennsylvania pound was rated at 2.66 2/3 Spanish milled dollars, or Continental paper dollars, so that each lot was priced at a little over ninety-six dollars. This Spanish dollar was also called "piece of eight" and was rated as equivalent to 7 shillings 6 pence, equivalent to 90 pence (McMaster ). ;
Jacob Cooper's interest in the new town which he had laid out, soon waxed cold, for after selling a large number of lots (one hun- dred and twenty-three out of a total of one hundred and sixty-seven plotted), he sold, in 1781, the remaining portion of his lands to his nephew, William Cooper, son of his brother Daniel.
* Cooper street was the northerly boundary of his property and was a lane or road at the time he obtained possession of the tract(1764). In the conveyance from William to Jacob Cooper he is given "the uses, rights, liberties and privileges of and passage in and along the said road and Ingress, Egress and Regress to, upon and along the said Road from time to time."
t The Spanish milled dollar then in general circulation, was divided into a half, a quarter, an eighth and a sixteenth, each represented by a silver coin and all of them in common use in the colonies. The "eighth" had a value in New Jersey of about eleven pence and became known as an "eleven penny bit," or "levy," while the "sixteenth" was equal to a little over five pence, contracted to "fip" or "fip-penny-bit." It was not until July 6, 1785, that Congress adopted the dollar as the unit of coinage and the decimal ratio for Its sub-divisions with the smallest coin a half-penny of which two hundred were to make a dollar. (See McMaster, Vol. 1, p. 189.)
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The next addition to the town plot of Camden was that made by Joshua Cooper, son of Daniel Cooper, called in some deeds "Cooper's Villa." In 1803, Joshua laid out the tract extending from the southerly line of his uncle, Jacob Cooper's, plot to the north side of Federal street and from the present Front street to the public lots at Fifth and Plumb (Arch) streets. There were twenty-nine lots on the north side of Plumb street and twenty-four on the south side.
Edward Sharp in 1818 purchased a large tract of land from Joshua Cooper, and in April, 1820,* laid out a portion of this tract, between the south side of Federal street and an alley 150 feet south of the southerly side of Bridge avenue, extending from the high-water mark easterly to nearly the present Fifth street. This he called "Camden Village." Among the purchasers of these lots between March 28, 1820, and August 28, 1821, were several persons who afterwards took an active part in the affairs of the community ; namely, Samuel Laning, the first mayor ; John D. Wessell, the owner of the ferry at Federal street ; Reuben Ludlam, the first city treasurer; Daniel Ireland, Wil- liam Butler, Samuel Smith, the moderator of numerous township and city meetings ; Isaac Sims, James Read, David Sims and Dorcas Sims.
Aside from the three plans mentioned above and the lots at Kaighn's Point laid out about 1801, no other plans were filed until 1833, when Richard Fetters laid out the tract from Line to Cherry streets and from Front street to Fourth street, which soon received the name of "Fettersville."+ The lots as originally laid out by Richard Fetters measured 30 x 200 feet, and in 1835 were assessed at fifty dollars each. A sale of two of these lots on the south side of Pine street below Third street was recorded in 1841 at the rate of three hundred dollars a lot, showing the great advance in property values in this locality within a few years.
The Camden and Amboy Railroad Company and several of its officials, especially the Messrs. Stevens, early bought a considerable tract of low, marshy land south of Bridge avenue and began filling it up by bringing earth from Baldwin's Cut on the East Side for this purpose.
As showing the situation which existed in Camden in its early days, the following editorial from "The Camden Mail" of September 23, 1835, is instructive :
"We had the rare occurrence in Camden, on Monday last, of a public sale of building lots; rare, not for the want of the
* Recorded July 3, 1820, Liber F. F., pp. 289, etc.
+ Mr. H. L. Bonsall says the settlement was "profanely called 'Hardscrabble' by the more or less remote north and south populations." ·
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article, nor of buyers, but from the indisposition of owners to let their property pass into the hands of enterprising and public spirited citizens, who would build upon and improve it. The lots sold on Monday, were laid off from the property of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company ; and embraced that plot of ground now in part being filled up, which fronts on the road to Kaighn's Point, running towards the river, and the large front upon the river, below the railroad and yet open to the influx of the tide. The first was divided into eighteen lots of 25 feet front upon the rail road, or "bridge avenue", extending 135 feet deep to a twenty feet alley ; and was keenly bid up to from $620 to $1220 per lot, averaging throughout, a fraction over $750 each. The unenclosed front, which was not divided, brought five thousand dollars, and the whole sale realized to the company nearly nineteen thousand dollars, leaving them yet in possession of as much ground as is necessary for all their opera- tions."
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