The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 102

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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Matthew Medcalf, probably a son of the one who settled at the place in 1688, established a fish- ery below the wharf extending to Timher Creek. The title to the fishery passed to two daughters of William Masters, Mrs. Richard Penn and Mrs. Turner Camac. Samuel Reeves, now of Haddon- field, was in 1818 conducting the Eagle Point Fishery at Red Bank. He says at that time the fishery at the place mentioned was operated by William and Aaron Wood, and belonged to Joseph Hugg, who was keeping the ferry and ferry-house. He also says John Mickle, son of Isaac, was then conducting a fishery above Newton Creek.

GLOUCESTER FOX-HUNTING CLUB .- A num- ber of gentlemen of Philadelphia interested in hunting convened at the Philadelphia Coffee- House, southwest corner of Front Street and Mar- ket, October 29, 1766, to organize a club. Twenty- seven were present; among them occur the names of Benjamin Chew, Thomas Lawrence, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, John Cadwallader, Charles and Thomas Willing, James Wharton, Andrew Hamilton and others, who, in later years, became famous in the councils of the State and nation. They agreed to keep a kennel of fox- hounds, and to pay to the treasurer five pounds each for the purpose. In 1769 old Natty, a negro man belonging to Mr. Morris, was engaged year after year as knight of the whip placed in charge of the kennel.

He was allowed fifty pounds per annum, a house and a horse. In 1774 a hunting uniform was adopted, a dark brown cloth coat with lapeled dragoon pockets, white buttons and frock sleeves, buff waistcoat and breeches and a velvet cap. In 1777 the kennel consisted of sixteen couple of choice fleet hounds, and in 1778 twenty-two hounds.

The kennel was established soon after the or- ganization on the banks of the Delaware River, near Gloucester Point, and while the business meetings were held in Philadelphia, the rendez- vous for huuting was established at the inn of William Hugg, at Gloucester Point Ferry. After the Revolution the club was revived and the mem- bers increased. Twenty of the members were the founders of the City Troop of Philadelphia, and the commander of the Troop, Samnel Morris, Jr., was until 1812 the president of the club. The hunts took place usually in Gloucester County, at Chews Landing, Blackwoodtown, Heston's Glass Works, and sometimes at Thompsons Point, on the Dela- ware. Jonas Cattell, the noted guide and whipper in of the club, was tall, muscular, possessed of un- common activity and endurance. He was re-elected

for the service in the winter of 1796, and continued until the dissolution of the club, in 1818. His keen sagacity, knowledge of woodcraft and of the habits of game rendered his services invaluable. The death of Captain Charles Ross, in 1818, caused the final disbanding of the club. The kennel was distributed among the members, and their progeny are scattered all over West Jersey.

FISHERIES .- Various places along the Delaware River, at Gloucester, became noted as shad-fish- ing stations at the time of the settlement, but the first mention of them is contained in a will of Sarah Bull, made in 1742. She was a daughter of Thomas Bull, whose mother, Sarah Bull, is men- tioned as a widow in 1688, and as owning one of the lots that extended down to the river. The fishery designated was above the wharf, extending to Newton Creek, and was left by her to the Har- risons, and used until the erection of the factory, when its usefulness was destroyed. Gloucester Point has ever been the resort of experienced fishermen, whose purpose was less for pleasure than gain, and fisheries with immense nets have troubled the waters ever since the white man's boat first pressed the gravelly strand. For many years it was the occasion of an annual picnic with New Jersey farmers, far and near, to go with their teams, in large companies, each spring, to Glou- cester Point, load their wagons with shad, haul them home and cure them for family use during the year, salted and smoked herring and shad being deemed as essential to the larder as pickled pork. Shad were more plentiful and larger in those days than now. In the language of Alexander A. Powell, a fisherman, threescore years ago, "Shad don't run as they used to do when I was a boy ; they used to bring in six thousand at a haul; now six hundred is a big catch, and such big ones as they used to catch ! eight-pounders, many of them, wbile now a four-pounder is called a beauty." The Hugg fishery, extending from Clark's to the old ferry at Hitchner's, and the Champion fishery, north from Hitchner's to Newton Creek. The latter was purchased by the Gloucester Land Company in 1848. The Clark fishery was united with the Hugg right about seventy years ago, and Alfred Hugg, a leading lawyer of Camden, whose ancestors for generations owned the fishery, with other heirs, is now the owner, and was the opera- tor until 1886, when it was leased to William J. Thompson and William Guy. The net used is five hundred and seventy-five fathoms iu length, twenty fathoms in depth, and the lines over four miles long, being the largest net used on the Dela-' ware. Shore-fishing has been less lucrative since

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

gill-fishing came into vogue. This method came into use as early as 1800, and was considered in- jurious to the general fisheries to such an extent that an act was passed, November 26, 1808, pro- hibiting the use of the drift net or gilling seines. This act was in force many years, and June 10, 1820, Aaron Patterson, Charles Anderson, William Griffith and William Campbell were tried for the offense committed May 6th, opposite Howell's fishing-grounds, at Red Bank. The act became inoperative a few years later, and the method was largely used.

Alexander A. Powell was one of the earliest to engage in this mode of fishing. He drifted his first net, sixty fathoms long, from Gloucester to Red Bank, in 1828, and continued in the same occupa- tion, each returning spring, until 1882, when the weight of seventy winters compelled him to desist. Sixteen gill-fishers now constitute the Gloucester contingent, using nets one hundred and thirty fathoms long. Formerly sturgeon fishing was quite a business, but it has fallen off, and the boats go to the bay in the early part of the season, following the fish as they move up the river, and reach Gloucester in July.

There are two fishing districts on the Delaware River, in Camden County. The southern district extends from Federal Street, Camden, to Timber Creek. Patrick McGallagher is fish wardeu of this district. The following is a statement of the catch for 1886, with the number of men employed and nets used : At Gloucester, William J. Thompson and William Guy employ sixty men, and work a net of five hundred fathoms length. The number of roe shad caught was 9240; bucks, 6153; skips, 2431,-total, 17,824; herring, 179,406 ; rock fisb, 691. Gloucester City, 21 gillers, 2500 fathoms, 8300 shad. Bridge Avenue, Camden, 10 gillers, 750 fathoms; 3000 shad. Kaighns Point, 10 gil- lers, 1000 fathoms, 5000 shad.

PLANKED SHAD may not be called an industry, but planked shad dinners are an institution pecu- liar to Gloucester Point, one that is rapidly winning popularity for the locality. Who was the inventor, and when and where the invention was first ap- plied, is not surely known. Tradition has it that a hundred years ago Jersey dames, living near the banks of the Delaware, always famous for the abundance and delicate flavor of its shad, pleased and cultivated the epicurean appetites of their lords, the ploughmen and the fishermen of the day, by serving up the dainty fish, toasted on oaken planks, free from the effluvia of swine fat. This is tradition, however, dark, dim and uncertain, but living testimony verifies the statement.

. Samuel Reeves, now in his ninety-sixth year, living in Haddonfield, began fishing at Eagle Point fishery, at Red Bank, in 1818, and says planked shad were then prepared, but not often, and not until many years later did it become extensively known. About fifty years ago "Aunt Polly" Powell, wife of Abraham Powell, living near the shore at Gloucester Point, so served the fish, on occasions, to the hungry disciples of " Izaak Wal- ton," who sought the gravelly shore on piscatorial expeditions. " Aunt Polly "-the term was one of affection and respect-did not make it a business to cater for the hungry, but, at times, fishing-parties, hungering and thirsting, would entreat her kind offices in warming a cup of coffee or frying a bit of bacon, and, in the goodness of her kindly heart, she sometimes varied the regimen with planked shad, to their delight and her gain. " Aunt Polly's". skill, however, never made planked shad famous. They were delicious, and the fishermen knew it, and repeated the experiment to prove the fact; but they were not judges, for fishermen are always hungry, and a hungry man knows not whether it be the excellence of the viand or the sharpened appetite that makes it taste so good.

The first to provide the dish to parties was Mrs. Wills, the widow of Aden G. Wills, who kept the ferry-house, "The Old Brick," over forty years ago. He removed to Red Bank, where Mrs. Wills supplied planked shad to her guests occasionally. Aden;Wills died and Mrs. Wills, who is still living in Philadelphia, leased the Buena Vista, at Glou- cester Point, about thirty years ago, and had a lim- ited patronage for plank shad. Among her regular patrons was Detective Ben Franklin, who some- times alone, at other times with company, doubled his enjoyment by sampling the luscious dish while inhaling draughts of cool air. But while Mrs. Wills was an expert in the culinary art, she knew not the mysteries of printer's ink, and the knowledge of the dish was limited.

Daniel Wills, a son, served planked shad at tlie Buena Vista years later, and after that at the Lazaretto, where many a bon vivant sought his hospitality. A Chester host took up the rôle a number of years ago, and many went thither for the delightful dish, but the later lustre of the Gloucester dinners has paled the rival lights in the land of Penn, and if they still burn, it is dimly and subdued. Plank shad continued to be served, but their renown was confined within narrow bounds, and Philadelphia almost monopolized the privilege until about ten years ago, when William J. Thompson, who had been running the Buena Vista, was supplanted by John Plum, and, building

THOMPSON

HADLING IN

SETTING THE BIG EINE

HOTEL AND FISHERIES OF WILLIAM J. THOMPSON, GLOUCESTER CITY, N. J.

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GLOUCESTER CITY.

a house of his own farther south on the shore, set rival tables, which, exciting emulation, led to a strife for trade that lined both their coffers with silver and gold.

The rivalry led to extensive advertising, until Gloucester Point's special dainty had been read of all over the land, and parties from distant States, after experimenting, have gone home, told their story and started others on the pilgrimage. John J. Jackson succeeded Plum, who supplies the com- modity at the "Buck," on Timber Creek, but the pil- grimage to Gloucester still continued, requiring constant expansion and multiplication of appliances to feed the increasing pilgrims, which this year will reach ten thousand. All classes are included, United States judges, Senators, Congressmen and heads of departments, Governors, legislators, State, county and municipal officials, military and naval heroes, the grave, the gay, all, in singles, pairs and fifties, all partake ; even the bootblack, if he has the price, may enjoy the luxury, barring the wine.

Mr. Thompson is constantly adding attractions to his spacious hotel, and his guests warmly praise his hospitality and successful management. He is

one of Gloucester's most active citizens, and in business and political matters, a leader. When Mr. Thompson came to Gloucester (1869) "planked shad " dinners were served in a primitive way. He has brought it to a state of perfection, and his hotel is the resort not only of Philadelphia's most noted people, but the entire country. It is a great place for foreign tourists, who desire to receive in- struction about the mysteries of that great Ameri- can dish.

Plank shad is thus prepared and served. A hick- ory or white-oak plank, two and a half inches thick, is heated almost to ignition ; upon it is placed a " roe shad," fresh from the water, and split down the back, seasoned and then placed before a fire of coals. It requires from half to three-quarters of an hour to cook properly. The fire cooks one side, the hot plank the other, the process conserving the aroma and juices ; and served hot, with new pota- toes, fresh green peas, asparagus and waffles, with wine to those who will, it is a dish fit for the most epicurean of American sovereigns.

Among the noted sportsmen was John Burroughs, whose reputation for fishing and gunning was second to none in the country,

THE BOROUGH OF HADDONFIELD.

CHAPTER XI.

Early History-Francis Collins, John Kay, Timothy Matlack, Jacob Clement, Samuel Clement, Thomas Perry Webb, Thomas Redman, Hugh Creighton, William Griscom, Benjamin Hartley-Local In- cidents of the Revolution -- Haddonfield in 1825 and 1835 -- Friendship Fire Company-Old Taverns-The Post Office-Library Company -- The Friends -- Baptist Church - Methodist Church - Episcopal Church-Presbyterian Church-Schools-Business Interests-So- cieties.

EARLY HISTORY .- The land on which this town is situated was embraced in two surveys, one of five hundred acres, made to Francis Collins, Oct. 23, 1682, and another of five hundred acres to Richard Mathews, in 1683. The former may be described as lying southwest of Ellis Street, and extending from the head of the middle branch of Newton Creek to the south branch of Coopers Creek. The King's Highway, or Salem road, passed through it. The 28th of Eleventh Month, 1724, Joseph Collins, heir-at-law of Francis Collins, conveyed the por- tion west of Salem road to John Estaugh. He retained the eastern portion, where his father had erected a mansion house on the hill south of the village, which he named "Mountwell." The site is now occupied by Reilly's Seminary. The larger portion of the Collins tract, not occupied by the town, is now owned by the Hinchman estate and William H. Nicholson and others.

The Matthews tract adjoined the Collins tract on the north, and extended to Coopers Creek. Richard Mathews was a Friend and resided in London at the time of the purchase of this land, hut, a few years later, removed to Stoke Newington, England, where he died in 1696. He was inter- ested in the Province, was probably a creditor of Edward Byllinge, and, through his agents, made several surveys in Gloucester County, as it is not known that he ever came to this country. In 1691 he sold, through his attorney, Elias Farr, one

hundred acres of the tract above mentioned to William Lovejoy, it being that portion that lay between the main street of Haddonfield and Coop- ers Creek. William Lovejoy was a blacksmith, and it is supposed his shop was the smith-shop marked on the Thomas Sharp map of 1700. The land was granted him by Richard Mathews, for services, and in 1696 Thomas Gardiner, Jr., son- in-law of Richard Mathews, as administrator of the Mathews estate, granted Lovejoy fifty acres additional, for services rendered. This tract lay beyond the present Evans' mill, in Delaware town- ship, and was called the Uxbridge. Lovejoy aban- doned his occupation soon after, and sold all his land, in the year 1696, to Thomas Kendall, who erected a mansion-house and corn-mill. The mill contained but one set of burrs, and was known as the "Free Lodge Mill," and was probably the first of the kind in the county of Gloucester. The land and mill passed, in 1702, to Henry Treadway, who soon after sold to Mordecai Howell, who, in 1705, conveyed it to John Walker and Thomas Carlisle. The latter, in 1708, sold his undivided half-interest to Walker, who, in 1710, sold the land, one hun- dred and fifty acres, to John Kay, Joshua Kay, John Kay, Jr., and Simeon Ellis. In 1713 John Kay, Jr. and Simeon Ellis gave to John Kay a quit-claim deed for their right in the property.

JOHN KAY was among the leading men of the settlement, and first purchased one hundred acres of Francis Collins in 1684, situated on the north side of the north branch of Coopers Creek, and is now part of the farm lately owned by Joseph W. Cooper, deceased. The land lies about one mile east of Ellisburg, in Delaware township, this county. At his house, in 1685, under the author ity of the Quarterly Meeting of Friends at Bur- lington, an Indulged Meeting was organized, and continued there several years. In 1685 John Kay

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was elected to the General Assembly of the prov- ince of West New Jersey, and again in 1703-4. He was also appointed one of the justices of Glou- cester County, by virtue of which he was one of the judges of the courts of the county. In 1710, (the year he purchased the Lovejoy survey), he was again elected a member of the Assembly, and upon the meeting of that body, at Burlington, elected speaker, and was re-elected for the sessions of 1711-12-13. He was defeated for Assembly in 1716 by Daniel Coxe. When in the Assembly he was chairman of the committee to make the set- tlement of the boundary line between New York and New Jersey, and also chairman of the com- mittee to prepare a law to fix the partition line between East and West Jersey. He died in 1742, leaving a widow, Sarah, and several children,- John, Sarah (who married James Norris), Mary, Isaac, Josiah, Benjamin and Joseph. At the time of his death he owned all the land east of the main street in Haddonfield, from Coopers Creek to a line near Ellis Street, excepting a few lots sold to Timothy Matlack and others. He also owned tracts of land in Delaware township and other parts of what is now Gloucester and Camden Counties. In 1727 he conveyed to his son Isaac several tracts of land, containing seven hundred and thirty-four acres, situated on both branches of Coopers Creek. In this deed he is mentioned as "John Kay, of the Grist-Mill, at the head of Coopers Creek, in Newton township, Gloucester County, New Jersey." The only part of the estate now in the family name is owned by Isaac M. Kay (a lineal descendant of John), of Haddonfield, and is in Delaware township. The tract in Haddonfield passed to John Kay, a son, except a portion owned hy Sarah Norris. The mill property was in the por- tion conveyed to Isaac and passed to his son Joseph, hy whom it was resurveyed in 1791, and; later, passed to Mathias Kay. The old mill was in New- ton township, and its site can still be seen in the bed of the pond when the water is low. In 1779 it was moved about one hundred yards down the stream and to the north, on the site of the pre- sent Evans' mill, in Delaware. In 1819 Thomas Evans purchased the mill property of Mathias Kay, and, in 1839, rebuilt it, and on the south side, at the end of the dam, about 1820, built a full- ing-mill, which was rented by Russell Millard, who began business and continued until about 1854, when it was destroyed by fire. Thomas Evans died in 1849, and left the mill to his son, Josiah B. Evans, who, in 1854, associated with him Solomon Matlack, a millwright. He died in 1869 and left the property to his children. The business is now

conducted by Joseph G. Evans & Co. In 1883 the machinery was changed and the Roller Process and other improvements adopted.

Sarah, a daughter of John Kay, married James Norris, a shipwright, and built one of the first houses in Haddonfield, on a lot given her by her father in which she kept a store. She was taxed in 1723 and for many years after. This was prob- ably the first store in Haddonfield. Her husband died in 1742, and left a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Isaac Smith in 1739 and John Hinchman in 1747. Sarah Norris died in 1757. The old house in which she kept her store stood on the west side of the main street, near the corner of Potter Street, and her dwelling, a two-story hipped roof with a high basement, stood on the same property.

TIMOTHY MATLACK, son of William, came to Haddonfield in 1726 and opened a shop. In 1733 he was assessed 10s., and Sarah Norris 6s. 8d. Matlack received from his father, William, in 1714, a tract of land in Waterford township, near Glendale, where he built a house and settled. In 1726 he sold it and removed to Haddonfield. It does not appear that he bought until Angust 6, 1732, in which year he purchased of John Estaugh several lots on the west side of Main Street, embrac- ing the American House property, and above and be- low and some distance to the rear. On September 1st, the same year, he bought four acres of John Kay, on the east side of the main street, opposite the American House. In 1743 he sold part of the last- named purchase to Jacob Clement, a tanner, in whose descendants it still remains. The lot on which the residence of George Horter now stands was part of the four acres of Matlack. Timothy Matlack purchased land on the north side of the road of Mary Gill and John Gill, Jr., March 31, 1744, which, October 17, 1754, he sold to John and Daniel Hillman, who, May 15, 1758, sold to John Shivers ; the house now occupied by Mrs. Joseph B. Tatem, on Main Street, standing on the pre- mises, was shortly after built.

TIMOTHY MATLACK, a son of Timothy Matlack, was born in Haddonfield, in 1730, and afterwards became noted in the councils of the nation. When a young man he moved to Philadelphia. He was educated as a Friend, and consequently as a non-resistant, but during the Revolutionary War he served as a colonel, for which he was "dealt with " by the Society and lost his membership. He was secretary of the Continental Congress when that body was in session in Philadelphia, and was known as an earnest advocate of the cause of the colonies. He died in 1829, and was buried in the

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

grave-yard of the Society of Free Quakers (of which he was a member), on South Fifth Street, Philadelphia.

BENJAMIN COLLINS, a son of Joseph Collins, was a carpenter, and received from his father a tract of land fronting the south side of the main street, a part of the Mountwell estate. He died in 1756.

JACOB CLEMENT, who in 1743 hought a lot of Timothy Matlack, built thereon a tannery. The site of it is to the rear of John Clement's house, and it was continued until about 1812. It passed to James Clement, his son, and later to John Clement, his nephew, and is now owned by John Clement, son of John. The old mansion- house stood on the site of John Clement's present residence.

About 1750 James Hartley built a tannery on the lot of Charles H. Hillman, which was operated until about 1825.

SAMUEL CLEMENT, son of Jacoh, who married Rebecca, the daughter of Joseph Collins, in 1735, received from him a large tract of land ex- tending from the main street southerly to a line running from Coopers Creek westerly. On this tract and on the south side of Main Street, corner of Ellis Street, Dr. Evan Clement, in 1760, erected a large brick house, where he lived many years, as did his son, Samuel E. Clement. The property was recently purchased by Alfred W. Clement, who, in July, 1886, tore down the house and in the wall was found a brick hearing the date September, 1760. Samuel Clement was an active member of the Society of Friends and prominent in the pro- gressive movements of his day. He was also a surveyor and, entrusted with the settlement of township and county lines, which he faithfully and satisfactorily performed.

THOMAS PERRYWEBB, in 1727, purchased of John Kay a triangular piece of land where now stands the store of Alfred W. Clement, where he had built a dwelling, and in 1733 was assessed as a tavern-keeper. In 1737 he was taxed 10s. as a blacksmith. He continued in business many years. His widow, Margery, in 1742, purchased a piece of land adjoining ; but the only son being a seafaring man, the property eventually passed to others.

THOMAS REDMAN, who settled at Haddonfield about 1730, was the son of Thomas Redman, of Philadelphia, a leading mechanic in that city. He was apprenticed to a druggist and when of age came to Haddonfield, and in 1737 married Hannah, the daughter of John Gill, and opened a drug store in the village. He died in 1766 and left several children, of whom Thomas Redman followed the

business of his father, and also was a conveyancer. He married Mercy Davis. They had a son Thomas, who married Elizabeth L. Hopkins. He too became a druggist and also a conveyancer and carried on the business in the same house which stood on the site of Mrs. Samuel C. Smith's residence. He died in 1846 and his widow in 1852. Their chil- dren-Thomas (deceased), James, Joseph, Eliza- beth (deceased), John, Charles and Sarah-are residents in the vicinity.

THOMAS CHAMPION, son of Nathaniel and grand- son of John, who established a ferry over Coopers Creek in 1702, came to Haddonfield as a tailor and resided in the mansion built by Mathias Aspden. He afterwards became its owner. It is now the property of the Misses Blackwood, on Main Street. This was considered at the time of its erection the most expensive house in the village. The owner- ship of the lot passed from Thomas to his son Samuel, and after his death it passed out of the name and became the property of Benjamin W. Blackwood, M.D.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 102

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220