The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 125

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

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THE TOWNSHIP OF DELAWARE.

preservation. A short time previous to the break- ing of the dam the mill was destroyed by fire. The calamities occurring so near together, and the in- roads made in these primeval forests, no doubt caused the site to be abandoned for mill purposes.

The Ellises came from Yorkshire, England, in 1680 or 1683, and settled in Springfield, in Burling- ton County. Simeon Ellis purchased land in Waterford township, on the north side of the north branch of Coopers Creek, of Francis Collins, in 1691, but the place of his nativity is unknown. He built his log cabin on a portion near the stream, on the farm now owned by Samuel Lippincott, and occupied by Samuel H. Griscom, and named the place Springwell. In 1695 Simeon Ellis bought four hundred acres of land of Margaret Hugg, adjoining his first purchase. This Margaret was a daughter of Francis Collins. These first pur- chases of Simeon Ellis included the land now occupied by the village of Ellisburg, in Delaware township. He purchased other tracts of land in the vicinity, some of which include the farms of John Ballenger and others on the south side of the stream, and other portions are now owned by William Graff, Logan Paul and Joseph K. Lippin- cott, Jr. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and was one of those who made up the assemblages at John Kay's or Thomas Shackle's houses. He died in 1715, dividing his property among his children, seven in number. Simeon, the fourth son, acquired that portion now embrac- ing the village of Ellisburg. He died in 1773, leaving six children,-Isaac, who married Mary Shivers, a daughter of Samuel Shivers ; Benjamin, who married Sarah Bates; William, who married Amy Matlack ; John, who married Priscilla Peter- son (widow); Sarah, who married William Duyre; and Simeon, who married a Bates, sister to Benja- min's wife. Isaac settled that portion of the home- stead including the village of Ellisburg, and died there, leaving several children,-Isaac, Rebecca and Simeon. Isaac married Sarah Hillman in 1785, and always lived near Ellisburg, on his father's homestead. About the year 1795 the Eves- ham road, now Marlton turnpike, was laid, cross- ing the Haddonfield and Moorestown road nearly at right angles, and it was at this crossing that Isaac Ellis erected a hotel, a part of which is still standing. He had three sons by his first wife,- Simeon, Isaac and Josiah,-and also two daughters, Martha and Hannah. His second wife was Ann Zane, by whom he had one son, Joseph Ellis, the present owner of the hotel, and the oldest resident in the place, being eighty years of age, to whom most of this property descended. He died in 1828.

Joseph Ellis married Ann W. Champion, the eldest child of Joseph C. Champion, who still remains the companion of his declining years. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he is still active and participates in nearly all the public meetings held in the town- ship, and possesses a mind well-stored with the traditions of the neighborhood and his ancestors. Joseph and Ann W. Ellis have four daughters remaining, out of a family of eight children,- Martha Ann, who married James Wills; Sarah, who married Samuel M. Hulings; Elizabeth, who married George C. Kay; and Hannah, who re- mains single-all of whom reside in the township.

The pioneers of this family shared, with their neighbors, the privations of the Revolutionary period, and many interesting anecdotes are told concerning their adventures, At one time the Indians encamped at Oxfords Landing, at the junction of the north and south branches of Coop- ers Creek, came to the house of Isaac Ellis to borrow fire ; the farmer was engaged threshing buckwheat in the barn at the time, and directed them to the big fire-place in his kitchen for the coals desired ; having secured a large brand, they started for home, but evidently desiring to return thanks for the favor, proceeded into the barn with the lighted torch, where Friend Ellis was thresh- ing ; his surprise and anxiety can well be imagined, and it took considerable jabbering to convince his dusky neighbors of the danger they were subject- ing him to; but happily no damage resulted. He continued to live on friendly terms with these people as long as they remained in the neighbor- hood.

During the movements of the British through New Jersey, about the time of the battle of Red Bank, they were informed by a Tory named Wines that there was a considerable number of cattle on the Ellis and Kay farms, which they were not long in securing. They drove them towards Moores- town, and when passing the residence now occu- pied by David A. Burrough, a weaver who was there at the time came out from behind the house and shook his frock, which frightened the cattle and they stampeded down a lane known as Fore Lane and then into the deer-park woods, from which the British failed to extricate them, and consequently the cattle, in a day or two, returned home. At the close of the war the Tory Wines fled to Nova Scotia, but returned, after an absence of many years, to be indignantly received by all who knew him. It is from these families that the town of Ellisburg was founded, and the present Joseph Ellis is a descendant, and at one time owned a large tract of land in and adjoining the

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

town. Mr. Ellis is now one of the oldest and most respected of the inhabitants, and will ever be remembered with kindness by all who knew him.

After the death of Peter Champion, Ann Ellis (his widow) married John Stokes, by whom she had two sons, who settled in Virginia. By Samuel Murrell she had two children,-Samuel, who mar- ried a Chambers, and had daughters ; Ann E. Murrell, who married Batheuel M. Heulings, who inherited the farm whereon her son, Samuel M. Henlings, now resides, from her half-brother, being a part of the tract Simeon Ellis gave to his son William, and has since remained in the blood, although passing out of the name. Ann E. Heu- lings (late Murrell) was left a widow in 1845, with ten children, five of whom at this writing are de- ceased. Her two sons, Batheuel and Abram, were soldiers during the entire War of the Rebellion. They were both in the Union army, and Batheuel was severely wounded at the battle of Gettysburg by a musket-ball which passed clear through him, from the effects of which he finally died several years after the close of the war.

The Gills were relations of Elizabeth Estaugh, and no doubt came to America under her .patron- age, and at one time owned and resided on a valu- ahle tract of land in this township (see Haddon- field borough). The first grant of land made by John Haddon to John Gill was in 1714, for two hundred and sixty acres, situated on both sides of the Haddonfield and Berlin road, and near the head of the stream known as Swett's Mill stream, -the land now owned by Joseph C. Stafford and others. At the time of this conveyance John Gill resided on this tract. Prior to 1739this tract came into the possession of Bartholomew Horner and remained in that name until the close of the century, but has long since passed entirely out of the name and blood. It is from these early owners that Horner's Hill School no doubt received its name. John Gill afterward resided nearer Haddonfield, on the premises now owned by Griffith. On this property near the junction of the two branches of Coopers Creek, was a landing known as Axfords Landing, a place where considerable business was transacted, it being the highest landing on the stream, but its exact location at this time is un- known. John Gill married Mary Heritage in 1718, and died in 1749, leaving two children,-John and Hannah, -- who, after their marriage, resided outside the limits of this township, and from whom the Gills now residents of Haddon and Centre town- ships are lineal descendants. Much of the lands formerly owned by the Gills still remain in the family name.

The Haineses settled in the eastern portion of the township, contemporary with the families pre- viously mentioned, on the farm now owned by Mrs. Dr. E. B. Woolston, near Cropwell, and John H. Lippincott, both lineal descendants. They soon became connected with the Lippincotts, who set- tled adjoining plantations in Burlington County, and founded the Friends' Meeting-house at Crop- well, of which religions society both families were members. The Haineses soon began to migrate and seek other employment, and at present the name is almost extinct in the township, although many of the females married and settled in the ad- joining counties, and to whose descendants the properties above mentioned have descended.

Richard Heritage was one of the propri- etors of the town of Gloucester when it was laid out, in 1686. He owned lots in the original town, and was one of the signers of the memoran- dum made by the proprietors as to the division of lots. He was the first who bore the name in West Jersey, and came from Warwickshire, England. He purchased rights of Edward Byllinge and his trustees in 1684, and made a location of land on the north side of Pensaukin Creek, in Burlington County, and called the place "Hatten New Garden." He purchased other rights and located other lands in this township. He died in 1702, without a will, and most of his land passed to his heir-at-law, his eldest son, John. In 1705 he sold to William Matlack one thousand acres of land in Waterford township. John mar- ried Sarah Slocum in 1706. To his son Joseph he conveyed considerable land. Much of this land he sold. It lay on both sides of the creek and now embraces several valuable farms. Samuel Burrough purchased a part of this tract in 1698. Joseph Heritage died in 1756, leaving six chil- dren,-Richard, who married Sarah Whitall and Sarah Tindall; Joseph, who married Ruth Haines; Benjamin, who married Keziah Matlack ; John, who married Sarah Hugg; Mary, who married John Gill and John Thorne; and Hannah, who married Mr. Rogers.

It was from Joseph Heritage and his children that many of the early settlers purchased land, and, although the family appears to have been a large one, yet the name is now unknown among the residents of the township, although some re- main within the present limits of Waterford town- ship and still hold a small portion of the land.

The Kays came from Yorkshire, England, about 1683. Many of them were Friends, and, conse- quently, suffered persecution at the hands of those in authority, in the shape of fines and imprison-

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THE TOWNSHIP OF DELAWARE.

ments. At the Court of Quarter Sessions held at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, in 1661, John Kay, Baronet, was the presiding judge, and committed sixty Quakers to prison. Ten years after, John Kay was fined for attending Friends' Meeting, at York, in the same shire. It is possible that the latter was the same person as the former, and that while the committing magistrate he became con- vinced of the truth of the doctrines preached by George Fox, laid aside his title and suffered with the Friends in person and estate. Whether this was the same John Kay that purchased land in this neighborhood in 1684 is not definitely known, but such is supposed to be the case. This first purchase is now a part of the farm of Samuel C. Cooper, now occupied by Jesse L. Anderson, about a mile east of Ellisburg. The tract embraced the farm of Isaac M. Kay, on the opposite side of the creek, and which has regularly descended to the present owner, who is a lineal descendant of John Kay.1 There is a tradition that John Kay first lived in a cave on the hill-side near the creek, but the location of the place is unknown, although the story is not improbable. In 1685 a religious meet- ing was established at the house of John Kay, by consent of Burlington Friends, in connection with one of a similar character held at the house of Timothy Hancock, at Pensaukin, on alternate First Days. These meetings were continued until 1707. During this period several marriages took place, the last one recorded being that of Benja- min Thackara and Mary Cooper, in 1707. These meetings were attended by Friends from Evesham (Mount Laurel) and Marlton, and serve to show how strongly these people were attached to their principles, and what difficulties they were willing to overcome in order to observe the requirements of the society. In this connection it may be proper to mention that another meeting was held at the house of Thomas Shackle, from 1695 to 1721, when John Estaugh gave the ground for a meet- ing-house at Haddonfield. The house of Thomas Shackle stood upon the farm now owned by Amos E. Kaighn, a lineal descendant of John Kaighn, who located near Kaighns Point in 1696. In 1735 the farm became the property of John Burrough, who most probably built the brick part of the house, still standing, in the year 1736. John Kay located several tracts of land near his first pur- chase, fronting generally on the north branch of Coopers Creek. In 1710 he purchased the man- sion-house and corn-mill, on the north side of Coopers Creek, now belonging to the estate of Jo- siah B. Evans (deceased). This corn-mill was 1 Sec Haddonfield Borough.

built by Thomas Kindall, in 1697, and stood some distance below the dam. The remains of the race may yet be seen, but the site of the mill is oblit- erated. He died in 1742, a wealthy man, leaving a large landed estate, most of which has passed out of the name, until the only part of the orig- inal tract that has remained continuously in pos- session of the family. is the farm of Joseph F. Kay, which has descended through the blood for nearly two hundred years, no deed ever having been made for the same.

The Matlacks came from a small village in Not- tinghamshire, England, William Matlack came in the first boat that came up the Delaware, and was the first person to put his foot upon the shore where Burlington now stands ; this was about the year 1677. In 1682 he married Mary Hancock, and removed to a tract of land between the north and south branches of Pensaukin Creek, in Chester township. In 1701 William Matlack purchased of Richard Heritage a tract of one thousand acres of land, now part in Waterford and part in Dela- ware townships, Camden County. In 1705 John Matlack purchased two hundred acres of land of Francis Collins, in Waterford township, and in 1708 he married Hannalı Horner, and settled upon his purchase. A part of this estate is now owned by the heirs of John Wilkins, and the old house stood a short distance from the handsome resi- dence of the present owners. In 1714 William Matlack gave his son George five hundred acres of land, a part of that purchased from the Heri- tages. In 1717 he purchased two hundred acres of land, upon which his son Richard settled in 1721. This tract lies in Delaware township and upon it is located the old Matlack burying-ground. Richard died in 1748 and was the second person buried there. In 1779 the estate passed out of the name to William Todd, and was subsequently bought by Richard M. Cooper, father of Alexan- der Cooper, the present owner, who, as before stated, is a lineal descendant of William Cooper, the first settler of Camden. The Matlacks are a numerous family and are mostly Friends. Some of the name still reside within the township and others in Chester township, in Burlington County. William Ellis (a son of Simeon) married Amy Matlack, one of the descendants in a direct line, and who, thereby, became owners of part of the estate. Levi (a son of William and Amy) became the owner, and his grandson, Charles E. Ellis, is the possessor of and resides on the estate. Wil- liam and Amy settled on the land, and the house they occupied is still standing.

John Shivers appears as the first settler of the

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

name in these parts, and purchased a tract of land in Delaware township, of Mordecai Howell, in 1692, upon which he erected a dwelling. He died in 1716, and his widow, Sarah Shivers, was ap- pointed administratrix. In 1720 she purchased an adjoining tract of land, which extended the estate east of the mill-pond. The dwelling on the farm now belonging to the estate of Richard Shivers, deceased, is thought to be the spot where John Shivers erected his first house, and doubtless some of the material in the present edifice was taken from the old. John Shivers dying intestate, there is some doubt as to the exact number of his chil- dren, although they are supposed to be as follows : Samuel, who married Mary Deacon ; John, who married Mary Clement; Mary, who married Thomas Bates; Hannah, who married John Mat- lack ; and Josiah, who married Ann Bates. In 1720 Samuel purchased two hundred acres of land from Francis Collins, and the following year he conveyed his interest in his father's estate to his brother John, who remained on the old farm and whose descendants still occupy portions of the original tract represented in the farms now occu- pied by Richard Levis Shivers and William A. Shivers, the descendants mentioned.

At one period the house in which John Shivers, the second, lived was kept as an inn, and was no doubt a favorite resort. John Shivers acquired several other tracts of land in this and the adjoin- ing townships. He had three sons,-Isaac, Samuel and John. The latter resided in Salem County, and Charles P. Shivers, his son, lives at Swedes- boro'. Samuel had three sons,-John G. Shivers, who resided in Haddonfield, and whose sons, Charles Hendry Shivers, an allopathic physician, and Samuel Shivers, a bricklayer, still reside in the borough ; Joseph C. Shivers resided at Marlton, Burlington County, and his descendants still reside in that vicinity, excepting Bowman H. Shivers, who is a homeopathic physician and resides in Haddonfield ; Bowman was the third son.

Isaac Shivers, the son of John Shivers, the sec- ond, was born September 16, 1773, and acquired the homestead estate, which, in turn, descended to his children and grandchildren, Richard Levis Shivers and William A. Shivers, who reside thereon. In 1837 Isaac Shivers removed to Had- donfield, but returned again to his farm in 1842, but in 1847 he again removed to Haddonfield, where he died October 19, 1872, having attained the advanced age of ninety-nine years and one month. He was buried in Colestown Cemetery. His children were as follows: Sarah, born May 1, 1805, and remained single; Joseph Levis, born

January 7, 1807, married Henrietta Hendry, a daughter of Dr. Bowman Hendry, of Haddon- field, and had four children,-Bowman H., Isaac, Elizabeth and William M .; Anna, born October 4, 1808, and remained single; Richard, born No- vember 21, 1810, married Mary Troth, a daughter of Jacob Troth, and had five children,-Susan, Richard L., Isaac, Anna E. and Sallie N .; Charles, born July 7, 1814, married Martha Harker, and had three children,-William A., Charles and Ella; Jehu, born March 17, 1821, married Mary Ann Hillman, and had four children,-Alfred H., Edward H., Frank W. and Jehu H .; Benja- min, born January 27, 1823, married Harriet D. Hartley, and had five children,-Mary, Eliza, Thomas H., D. Lewis and Maria; David, born August 13, 1826, married Julia Cloud, and had six children,-Cora, Nellie, Walter, Larenia C., Clifford and Clara. Many of these descendants of Isaac Shivers now reside in Camden City and others in Virginia. Those remaining in the town- ship are Richard Levis Shivers, on the old home- stead, and William A. Shivers, on another portion of the original tract.

The Stokeses came from London about the year 1698 and settled in Burlington County. In 1709 Thomas Stokes (whose father settled in Burlington County) purchased three hundred acres of land of John Kay, now in Delaware township, the larger part of which tract is now owned by Mark Ballin- ger and the heirs of Jacob Anderson, Nathan M. Lippincott and Daniel Hillman (deceased). This land extends on both sides of the north branch of Coopers Creek, and is some of the best and most productive land in the township. He settled on this tract, and his house was located near the present residence of Mark Ballinger. In 1696 Samuel Harrison located about eight hundred acres of land on the south side of the north branch of Coopers Creek. This consisted of four several and adjoining surveys, now included in the farms of Eliza A. Hillman, Joseph K. Lippincott, the heirs of Jacob Anderson, Aquilla and Alfred Hillman (formerly Stokes), John Craig and others. He resided on this tract for several years, but the place where his house stood is not known. Samuel Harrison was a mariner, a brother of William and Sarah Bull, who settled at Gloucester soon after it was made a town. This land descended to his son William, who sold it in tracts to various persons. It was in the midst of an Indian neighborhood, which extended from the north branch southerly nearly to the south branch. Thomas Sharp, a sur- veyor, in 1686, in describing a tract of land, spoke of a water-course known as the Peterson's mill-

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THE TOWNSHIP OF DELAWARE.

stream as "the same as the Indian King liveth on," Judging from the settlements of the first emigrants, the residence of the king spoken of is believed to have been on the farm now owned by the heirs of Joseph H. Ellis.

That this tract was occupied by a numerous tribe of aborigines is beyond a doubt, as their imple- ments of stone have been found on nearly all these farms. Nathan M. Lippincott, during his life, took a pride in preserving those found upon his farm. A large sycamore-tree, standing in his door-yard, was adorned with these rude implements of the children of the forest, among which could be found tomahawks of different sizes, pestles with which they ground their corn, arrow-heads and other articles, all fashioned out of stone, of a kind which is not found in this section, and corres- ponding with similar implements found in other sections of West Jersey. There is evidence that this Indian settlement was an extensive one. Within the memory of some of the present inhabit- ants a few of these eked out a miserable exist- ence on the part of the land formerly owned by Thomas Stokes, near the residence of Aquilla Hillman and brother (who are lineal descendants of the Stokeses), on the lands of Mrs. Dr. E. B. Woolston, in Delaware township. Near the Crop- well Meeting-house there lived, during the first quarter of the present century, an Indian woman by the name of Nancy, and a man by the name of Josh Te Kaylere, or Tekaler, who were well known throughout the neighborhood.

Probably the last of this tribe was an Indian by the name of Joel, who followed basket-making, and, al- though he preferred to live in his cabin in the woods, dressed and conducted himself in imitation of his white neighbors ; yet in many ways he followed the customs of his ancestors. This man was well known to the present residents of Marlton, Bur- lington County, and is distinctly remembered by the writer. He died about thirty years ago near Taunton.

Thomas Shroud, in his "History of Fenwick Col- ony, Salem County," says "that John Davis emi- grated from Wales and settled on Long Island. He married Dorothea Hogbin, an English woman of large wealth. He belonged to the sect called Singing Quakers, worshipped daily on a stump and was very pious and consistent. He lived to the extreme old age of one hundred years. A number of years before his death, about 1705, he moved with his family to Pilesgrove, Salem County, N. J., near where Woodstown is now located. His eldest son, Isaac, came to New Jersey first. John also came soon after with his family. The latter and

all his family subsequently became members of Friends' Meeting."

Joseph A. Burrough, in a genealogical record of the Burrough family, made in 1850, and who was a lineal descendant on his mother's side, says the Davises came from Montgomeryshire, Eng- land, where Richard Davis, a felt-maker, lived, who died First Month 22, 1703, aged seventy-three years. Tacy Davis, his wife, a native of Welch- pool, from London, died Third Month 1, 1705. They were both ministers in the Society of Friends. Richard was a recommended minister for forty-five years. Their son, John Davis, and his wife, Jo- anna, came to America and settled at Woodstown, Salem County, N. J. They had a son David, who married Dorothea Causins, who was born in Eng- land Eleventh Month 19, 1693, and had two sons, -- Jacob, who remained at Woodstown, and whose descendants are now to be found in that vicinity, and David, who married Martha Cole. They had seven children,-Mary, Joseph, Jacob, Samuel C., David, Martha and Benjamin. Martha married Joseph Burrough in 1792; Mary married William Rogers; Joseph married Mary Haines, daughter of Nathan Haines; David married Mary Haines, daughter of John Haines; Jacob married Eliza- beth Coulson ; Samuel C .; Benjamin remained single.

Samuel C. Davis acquired through his mother about eight hundred acres in the eastern part of the township, which was a part of the original Samuel Coles estate, and owned and resided in the house now owned by Joseph O. Cuthbert. He seems to have maintained a lordly estate, a large part of which he inclosed with a high picket fence and established a deer-park, which is remembered by persons now living, and which included most of the land now owned by Joseph O. and Allen Cuthbert. This park fence was so constructed as to admit the deer from the outside, but to prevent their egress, and at certain seasons tame does with bells on were liberated and sent into the forest, and upon their return many a stately buck accompanied them within the inclosure only to find himself a prisoner. The Davises also acquired other prop- erty, as the farm now occupied by David A. Bur- rough was acquired by his grandfather, Joseph Burrough, as his wife's legacy from her father, and it was upon this farm that the last elk in West Jersey was slaughtered, the horns of which are now in the possession of Edward Burrough, an- other of the descendants. The Davises were a numerous family, some going into Burlington and other counties, until the name is now unrepre- sented in the township.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 125

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