The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 108

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

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vember 28, 1831, one hundred and forty-nine years after, when, by an act of the Legislature, the city of Camden (having been erected as a city Febru- ary 23, 1828, within the township of Newton) was established as a separate township. The territory taken from Newton by this act lay between Coop- ers Creek and Kaighns Run. The township of Newton, for over one hundred and fifty years, had two voting places, one at Newton and one at Had- donfield, when, on February 23, 1865, by an act of the Legislature, the eastern part of Newton was organized into a separate township and named the township of Haddon. The western part of Newton township retained its name and corporate powers until five years later, when, by legislative enactment, February 14, 1871, the old township of Newton was annexed to the city of Camden, and as a civil organization ceased to exist and has since been known only to history.

Camden soon after was again sub-divided into wards, and the remnants of old Newton became the Eighth Ward of that city. Six years later, April 5, 1878, the northern portion of the Eighth Ward was annexed to Haddon township and so remains. In 1870 the township, as it then existed, contained a population of eight thousand four hun- dred and thirty-seven and had within its limits thirty-five industrial establishments.

The first settlers within the territory of Newton, soon after their arrival took an important part in the provincial government of West Jersey, and on the 2d of May, 1682, only three months after their settlement, William Cooper, Mark Newbie, Henry Stacy, Francis Collins, Samuel Coles, Thomas Howell and William Bates were chosen to re- present the Third or Irish Tenth (of which New- ton formed a part) in the Legislature of New Jersey, which body then met at Burlington. The persons chosen, with the exception of Samuel

636

637

THE TOWNSHIP OF HADDON.

Coles and Thomas Howell, were residents of New- ton township. Samuel Coles resided at the mouth of Coopers Creek, in what is now Stockton town- ship, and Thomas Howell in what is now Dela- ware township. The Third or Irish Tenth in- cluded all the territory now embraced in Camden County, extending from Pensaukin Creek to Tim- ber Creek. The Fourth Tenth extended from Timber Creek to Oldman Creek, and what is now Gloucester County, although more thickly settled, had no representation then in the Legis- lature, as most of its inhabitants were Swedes.

NOTES FROM NEWTON TOWNSHIP RECORDS. -From 1682 to the year 1723 no record of the proceedings of the people in their corporate capa- city was kept. Thomas Sharp, in 1723, was ap- pointed township clerk and ordered to purchase a record-book for the use of the township.

The records as contained in this book were begun on the 12th day of First Month (January) 1723, and were closed March 14, 1821. The first town-meeting of which record was made was held at Newton March 12, 1723, when Joseph Cooper and John Gill were chosen overseers of the poor and Thomas Sharp, clerk. At the next meet- ing, March 9, 1724, Joseph Cooper and Thomas Sharp were chosen freeholders ; John Eastlack and John Gill, overseers of the poor; Joseph Cooper, Jr., assessor ; William Cooper, collector; Jacob Medcalf, Samuel Shivers, Joseph Kaighn and Thomas Dennis, commissioners of highways.

At this meeting it was "agreed yt Jonathan Bolton Give some Hay and Corn to Ann Morrises horse, in order to make him capable to carry her to ye place from whence she came, and yt she stay here but untill the seventeenth day of this instant, and after that the Overseers of the Poor fforce her away. If she refuse to go and yt what charge is expended in ye perfecting of it shall be allowed by this Meeting. What remains in the hands of John Gill off the poor tax, as ye case is stated, amounts to the sum off ffive pound, ffive shillings and ffive pence."

For many years a list of the officers appointed had to be laid before the Court of Quarter Sessions, then held at Gloucester for approval. An in- teresting feature of the old records is the many names of the original families of the township, the descendants of some of whom now reside in it. Many of the early settlers whose names appear on record have now no descendants living within the limits of Camden County. The small amount of tax collected contrasts strongly with the amount now collected from the inhabitants of the same territory. In 1733 the assessor was directed to ex-

tend his assessment to the mills, taverns and ferries in the township. Sarah Norris' shop was taxed twenty shillings, and the mill of John Kay, ten shillings.

In 1737 the town-meeting was more specific, and named the mills, shops, taverns and ferries. On March 8th, in that year, Timothy Matlack was assessed ten shillings ; Sarah Norris, 68. 8d .; they each kept at that time a shop in Haddonfield. October 24th Isaac Kay's mill was assessed ten shillings, (it stood on the south branch of Coopers Creek, in what is now Haddon township, opposite the Joseph G. Evans mill, near Haddon- field) ; John Breach, eight shillings, fulling-mill located on the middle branch of Newton Creek ; Sarah Norris' shop, 68. 8d., on site of Aaron C. Clement's residence, in Haddonfield; Thomas Perrywebb's blacksmith-shop, ten shillings, on the site of Alfred W. Clement's store, on Main Street, in Haddonfield; Humphrey Day's ferry and tav- ern, twenty shillings.

In 1749 there was assessed Isaac Kay's mill, Thomas Redman's drug-store, Mathias Aspden's store, all at Haddonfield; John Breach's fulling- mill, Jacob Albertson's grist-mill and Daniel and Benjamin Cooper, as operating ferries at the site of Camden, and in this year boats and flats were taxed.

In 1754 Josiah Harvey was assessed with a fulling-mill, probably John Breach's, as his name does not appear for the same year; Thomas Red- man, Mathias Aspden and Thomas Champion were store-keepers ; Kay's and Albertson's mills were still in operation ; and Hugh Creighton was oper- ating a fulling-mill.

In 1770 the Legislature passed an act to prevent swine from running at large in the streets of Had- donfield. This act does not appear to have been very popular, as at the town-meeting of 1775, by a majority of two, a resolution was passed not to enforce the law in the future.

The town-meetings were held generally in the old Newton Friends' Meeting-house until the erec- tion of the meeting-house at Haddonfield, in 1721, at which place it was held until 1787. At the meeting in March, 1787, a resolution was passed that the next annual town-meeting be held at the school-house (which was built on the Friends' Meeting-house lot) in Haddonfield.

Elections were held at the Newton Friends' Meeting-house and at other places in the town- ship. In the earlier years elections were con- ducted by the sheriff of the county, who carried the box from place to place, where designated, and received the votes. An incident in this connec-

638

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tion is given, which shows the law and custom governing the election, ---

"Upon the meeting of the Legislature in 1716, Daniel Coxe was returned as member of the State Assembly in place of John Kay, and was chosen Speaker. The proceedings of that body, however, show in what way this occurred, for William Har- rison, sheriff of Gloucester County, was arrested and brought to the bar of the House, by the Ser- geant-at-arms, and reprimanded for 'adjourning the election poll from the great field ' near John Kay's house to William Cooper's, several miles distant, without the consent of the candidates, which was contrary to the law. By this transaction, the de- feat of John Kay was brought about, which led to the censure of the chief executive of the county.

"John Kay, at that time, resided at the corn- mill, and the ' great field ' was part of John Had- don's estate, bounded by the King's Road and part of the village of Haddonfield."

The town house of Newton was built at Had- donfield in the summer of 1854, since which elec- tions have been held in that building.

THE NEWTON COLONY'S SETTLEMENT. - The causes of the settlement of West Jersey and the action of the proprietaries in reference to the di- vision of the territory, are given in the first part of this book. By this division, the proprietors, on the 14th of January, 1681,1 set off a tract of land along the Delaware River, which extended from the river eastward, between the Pensaukin Creek and the Timber Creek, " so far into the woods as to embrace sixty-four thousand acres."2

This tract was designated by the proprietors as a place of settlement for a company of immigrants from Dublin, Ireland, and was named the Third or Irish Tenth.

It will he noticed in the early history of Glou- cester City (found elsewhere in this book) that as early as 1677 attention was drawn to this section of country by the London commissioners, who were strongly inclined to settle at what is now Gloucester City. They were persuaded to locate at Burlington, but still determined to advocate the selection of this locality as a good place for settlement. Robert Zane, of Dublin, who proba- bly came over in the ship with John Fenwick, was in Salem as early as 1675, as he was one of the founders of the Friends' Meeting established at

that place in the year named. He does not ap- pear, in the first few years after his arrival, to have attempted to make a permanent location, but was evidently examining the country with a view to finding a site for himself and others who were still in Dublin. Soon after the arrival of the London and Yorkshire commissioners they described to him the locality and their favorable impressions of the region of country along the river. It is evi- dent that a company was formed for the purpose of emigration before he left his native land, as on the 12th of April, 1677, a deed for one whole share of propriety was made out by Edward Byllynge and his trustees to Robert Turner, linen draper, of Dublin; Robert Zane, serge-maker, of Dublin; Thomas Thackara, stuff weaver, of Dublin ; Wm. Bates, carpenter, of the county Wicklow, and Jo- seph Slight, tanner, of Dublin. In the conrse of a few years Joseph Slight disposed of his interest to Anthony Sharp, Mark Newbie and others.

Thomas Sharp, a nephew of Anthony Sharp, came to this country to settle and to act as agent for his uncle in locating lands. He was a surveyor, and was the first clerk of the county of Gloucester. He wrote several accounts of the first settlers, one of which is as follows :

"Let it be remembered, it having wrought upon ye minds of some friends that dwelt in Ireland, but such as formerly came thither from England ; and a pressure having laid upon them for some years, which they conld not gett from the weight of until they gave upp to leave their friends and relations there, together with a comfortable sub- sistence, to transport themselves and family into this wilderness part of America, and thereby ex- pose themselves to difficulties, which, if they could have been easy where they were, in all probability might never have been met with; and in order thereunto sent from Dublin in Ireland to one Thomas Lurten, a friend in London, commander of a pink, who accordingly came, and made an agree- ment with him to transport them and their fam- elys into New Jersey, viz. : Mark Newbie and fan- ely, Thomas Thackara and famely, William Bates and famely, George Goldsmith, an old man, and Thomas Sharp, a young man, but no famelys, and whilst the ship abode in the Dublin Harbor, pro- viding for the voyage, said Thomas Lurten was taken so ili that he conld not perform ye same, so that his mate, John Dagger, undertook it. And upon the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord 1681, we sett saile from the place aforesaid, and through thegood providence of God towards us, we arrived at Elsinburg in the county of Salem npon the 19th day of November follow-

1 The date here given is in the old style, and in accordance with the present calendar the date is January 14, 1682, as the year 1681 did not end until March 25th.

" The east line of this tract was not definitely settled until 1705, when Samuel Clement ran the head-lines of the old townships of Gloucester County, which eventually became the boundary line of Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester Counties.

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ing, where we were well entertained at the houses of the Thompsons, who came from Ireland about four years before, who, by their industry, were ar- rived at a very good degree of living, and from thence we went to Salem, where were several houses yt were vacant of persons, who had left the town to settle in ye country, which served to accommodate them for ye winter, and having thus settled down their famelys, and the winter proving moderate, we at Wickacoa among us purchased a boate of the Swansons and so we went to Burling- ton to the commissioners, of whom we obtained a warrant of ye surveyor-general, which then was Daniel Leeds; and after some considerable search to and fro in what then was called the Third or Irish Tenth, we at last pitched upon the place now called Newton, which was before the settle- ment of Philadelphia, and then applied to sª sur- veyor who came and laid it out for us and the next spring, being the beginning of the year 1682, we all removed from Salem together with Robert Zane, that had been settled there, who came along from Ireland with the Thompsons before hinted, and having expectation of our coming, only bought a lott in Salem Town, upon the which he seated himself untell our coming, whose proprietary right and ours being of the same nature, could not then take it in Fenwick's Tenth, and so be- gan our settlement, and although we were at times pretty hard bestead, having all our provis- ions as far as Salem to fetch by water, yett, through the mercy and kindness of God, we were preserved in health, and from the extreme diffi- culties.

" And immediately there was a meeting sett up and kept at the house of Mark Newbie and in a short time it grew and increased nnto which Wil- liam Cooper and famely that lived at Poynte re- sorted, and sometimes the meeting was kept at his honse, who had been settled some time before. Zeal and fervency of spirit was what, in some degree, at that time abounded among Friends in com- memoration of our prosperous success and emi- nent preservation, boath in our coming over the great deep, as allso that whereas we were but few at that time and the Indians many, whereby itt putt a dread upon our spirits considering they were a savage people, but ye Lord who hath the hearts of all in bis hands, turned them so as to be serviceable to us and very loving and kinde, which cannot be otherwise accounted for. And that the rising generation may consider that the settlement of this country was directed upon an impulse by the spirits of God's people not so much for their care and tranquillity, but rather for the poster-

ity yt should be after and that the wilderness being planted with a good seed might grow and increase to the satisfaction of the good husband- man. But instead thereof, if for wheat it should bring forth trees, the cud of the good husbandman will be frustrate and they themselves will suffer loss. This narrative I have thought good and requisite to leave behind, as having had knowl- edge of things from the beginning."

Another account Thomas Sharp wrote in Book A, page 98, of Gloucester County deeds in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton. Af- ter reciting the facts nearly as given above, he continues, --

"The Surveyor-General was instructed to survey unto every one of us so much land as by ye consti- tution at yt time was allotted for a settlement being five hundred acres, or yt we had a right to for a taking it up under, which we accordingly ob- tained. At which time also Robert Lane, who came from ye city of Dublin and had been settled in Salem four years before, joined in with us who had a right to a tenth, Mark Newbie to a twentieth, Thomas Thackara to a twentieth, Thomas Sharp (out of his uncle Anthony Sharp's right) a twen- tieth and George Goldsmith (under ye notion of Thomas Starkey's right) a tentb, all which of us excepting William Bates, who took his on ye southerly side of Newton Creek-we took our land in one tract together for one thousand seven hun- dred and fifty acres, bounding in ye forks of Newton Creek and so over to Coopers Creek and by a line of marked trees to a small branch of ye fork creek and so down ye same as by ye certificate of it standing upon record in ye Secretary office it doth .appear. And after some time, finding some inconveniency in having our land in common together, being at ye time settled at ye place now called Newton in ye manner of a town, for fear as aforesaid, at which being removed we came to an agreement to divide, George Goldsmith be chosen for the head of the creek, Thomas Sharp the forks or lower end of the land next toward the river, by which means the rest kept to their settlements without any disadvantage to themselves. And so ye land was divided according to every man's right. But it is to be understood, as I have so much hinted before, that by ye constitution of ye country at yt time, no person, let his right be never so great, should survey and take up above five hundred acres in one tract to make one settle- ment of, and yt within six months or- otherwise it was free for any other person that had rights to land to survey it to himself, as if it had never been taken up for any other person. Whereupon many

640

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

were obliged, in order to secure good places to themselves, to give one hundred acres to secure the rest, and many were deterred from taking up their land yt could not find means to secure it, least they should spend money to no profit. Now ye state of ye case touching George Goldsmith (hav- ing a full and certain knowledge thereof) is this wise: Thomas Starkey did desire and order George Goldsmith to take up some land for him in West Jersey, where it is reasonable to suppose he had a right, but brought nothing with him to make it appear, and ye commissioners at yt time gave way by ye credit of the report of ye rest concerned that he might take up five hundred acres, but it never was returned in Starkey's name. George Goldsmith being uneasy under ye circumstances, he writ several times to Thomas Starkey giving him to understand he had taken up five hundred acres of land for him, provided he would allow him one hundred acres of it for settling the same, as a general custom then was; the letters either mis- carried, or otherwise the demand being ungrateful to him he answered them in silence. Supposing as it may be supposed yt ye land being taken up for him could not be taken from him it could not be allowed . . . whereupon George made application to Robert Turner and layeth his case before him signifying if he would allow him one hundred acres of yt land whereon he had made his improve- ments he would suffer him to take up yt five hun- dred acres in his own right. Robert taking the matter in due consideration and searching the records at Burlington about it and finding it so to be recorded in George Goldsmith's name, who had no right at any time to take up any land in yt province, agrees to survey it for himself, and ac- cordingly did, and records it as such in the Secre- tary's Office, conveys one hundred acres of ye same according to agreement to George Goldsmith and unto his heirs and assigns forever. The other four hundred acres he sold unto Isaac Hollingsham. The foregoing is a true relation of yt settlement of Newton, as also a true and impartial account of ye foregoing tract of land settled by George Gold- smith. Given under my hand the 3ª month 3rd 1718.

" THOMAS SHARP,

" Allowed hy John Kay, the 3ª month 4"h 1718."

In addition to the tract of seventeen hundred and fifty acres, these persons located a tract of one hundred acres of meadow land at the mouth of Kaighns Run, on both sides of it and fronting the Delaware River, now in the city of Camden. This was done for the purpose of procuring hay for their cattle, and was divided into smaller tracts in 1684.

Robert Zane, in the allotment, took a tract on the Delaware south to the stream and Robert Turner took the part south of it also on the Delaware. The other tracts were up the Run and were long and narrow, with the Run passing through each, Thomas Sharp adjoining Zane and Turner, and in order above were the lots of William Bates, Thomas Thackara and Hannah Newbie, the widow of Mark.

It has been mentioned that William Bates lo- cated on the south side of the middle branch of New- ton Creek. In the division of the large tract lying south of the middle branch, Thomas Sharp's por- tion lay on the main stream and up the south branch. Next above was Mark Newbie, Thomas Thackara, Robert Zane and the Robert Turner (Starkey) tract.

William Roydon, a grocer of London, located the first tract of land, four hundred and fifty acres, at the site of Camden, September 20, 1681, and a little later William Cooper located a survey of three hundred acres (which bears date June 12 1682), at Pyne Point (now known as Coopers Point), where there was a large Indian settlement under the chieftain Arasapha. Cooper came from Coles Hill, England, in 1678, and settled at Bur- lington, from which place be removed to Pyne Point upon the location of the land above alluded to.

Francis Collins, in October, 1682, located a tract of five hundred acres of land, a part of which is now the site of Haddonfield.

Samuel Coles and Thomas Howell settled in the limits of the present townships of Delaware and Stockton. A few other settlers followed in the same year. The land on which Zane, Thackara, Newbie, Sharp, Bates and Goldsmith settled was surveyed to them March 10, 1681, and soon after that time it was divided.

EARLY SETTLERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. -Robert Zane, who was the pioneer in the move- ment, had in the division selected five hundred acres on the upper course of the creek, which ex- tended from Newton Creek to Coopers Creek, and which now includes the property of Edward C. Knight and others. He was elected to the first Legislature of the province in 1682, re-elected in 1685, and was constable of the township in 1684-85.

In Sharp's map of 1700 his house is marked as being along the middle branch of Newton Creek, a short distance above where the Camden and White Horse turnpike crosses that stream. He was mar- ried, in 1679, to Alice Alday, of Burlington, sup- posed to be an Indian maiden, and had several children, of whom nothing is known. His second

641

THE TOWNSHIP OF HADDON.

wife was Elizabeth Willis, of Hempstead, L. I. She died in 1700, leaving five children. The fam- ily emigrated to the West, where the name became noted in the early settlements about Wheeling, Va., and Zanesville, O.

EDWARD C. KNIGHT, long and prominently identified with the internal improvements of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was born within the present territory of Camden County on the 8th day of December, 1813. Giles Knight, his pater- nal ancestor, was a native of Gloucestershire, England, came to America in 1683 with William Penn in the "Welcome," and settled in Byberry, where he died in 1726. Jonathan and Rebecca Collings Knight, the parents of E. C. Knight, were members of the Society of Friends. His father died in 1823, before E. C. Knight was ten years old, and his mother followed in 1867, at the age of seventy- eight.

Jonathan and Rebecca Knight had seven chil- dren; four sons died young ; those living are-E. C., Martha W. (wife of Jas. H. Stephenson) and Sarah C. (widow of Aaron A. Hurley). E. C. Knight was married to Anna M. Magill, July 20, 1841, by whom he had five children, three of whom are dead,-Jonathan at the age of twenty-five, Anna, six years, and Ed. C., Jr., twenty months. Those left are Annie C. and Ed. C. Knight, Jr., who was married, June 31, 1886, to Miss Clara Wa- terman Dwight, daughter of Edmund P. and Clara W. Dwight of Philadelphia.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 108

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