The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 129

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

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Benjamin W. Cooper was born at the homestead, now owned by his brother, William B. Cooper, in Stockton township, on the 13th day of the First Month, 1805, and spent the whole of his life as an enterprising farmer in the township where he was born. After obtaining a preparatory education in the schools in the vicinity, he entered the West- town Boarding-School, and there spent several years in diligent study, and thus laid the founda- tion of a liberal education, being afterward one of the best informed men in the community in which he resided. He was a constant reader of books of general literature, but devoted much of his read- ing to agricultural subjects, and was himself a liberal contributor to agricultural journals of his

day. Having a retentive memory, he absorbed a vast amount of information, which he freely dispensed to his friends without reward. He studied agriculture as a science and practiced it as an art. He introduced all new modes of cul- tivating the soil, and was first in his neighborhood to use the best improved implements-needed by all progressive farmers.

In management of State, county and municipal affairs he held various places of trust and respon- sibility, and was possessed with a sound discrimi- nating judgment.

He was one of the originators of the plan for the erection of Camden County by the division of Gloucester County, exerted all of his influence in that direction, and was greatly instrumental in having it eventually accomplished. After the ac- tion was taken, forming the new county of Cam- den, and the controversy arose about the location of the county buildings, Mr. Cooper favored the erection of them at Camden, and left no opportu- nity pass until the final decision, making Camden the county-seat, was rendered. He was an ardent and consistent Republican, and took great interest in the administration of State and national offices. Recognizing his efficiency as a man of good judg- ment, he was appointed one of the lay judges of Camden County, and served in that position from 1850 to 1855. No subject of great political mo- ment absorbed his attention more than the freedom of the colored slaves in the Southern States. Many a refugee negro found in him a friend on his way northward, beyond the jurisdiction of slavery, and his home in Stockton township for many years was a "station" on the line of the "Underground Railroad," where many a poor es- caped slave was befriended both with food and money.

Benjamin W. Cooper, like his ancestors, was a member of the Society of Friends, connected with the Haddonfield Monthly Meeting. He was mar- ried, on the 18th day of the Second Month, 1830, to Lydia, daughter of Samuel Lippincott, whose an- cestors were among the first settlers in New Jer- -sey. He died on the 23d day of 11th Month, 1863.

WILLIAM B. COOPER, the youngest son of Benja- min and Elizabeth (Wills) Cooper and a brother of Benjamin W. Cooper, was born in Delaware township (now Stockton), on the 11th day of the Sixth Month, 1814. The historic old mansion where he was born and which he now owns, in- cluding the farm adjoining, where he has spent most of his life, was erected by Samuel and Pru- dence (Brown) Cooper, his grandparents, in the year 1790.

744

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

William B. Cooper obtained his education at the Newton Friends'School, Rancocas Boarding-School and at the well-known Westtown Boarding-School, in Chester County, Pa. He then attended to the duties of the farm with his father, and upon the death of the latter, in 1842, he succeeded to the ownership of a part of the paternal homestead. He continued his chosen occupation until a few years ago, when he retired from his farm and moved to the city of Camden, where he now re- sides. As a farmer he has met with great success, and, following the example of his brother Benja- min W., regularly introduced new modes of agri- culture and improved machinery necessary for the progressive farmer. He has always taken a deep interest in owning the finest breeds of horses and cattle, and takes the greatest delight in having them well cared for. As a farmer he has been looked upon as a model, as a neighbor universally respected, and as a kind-hearted, noble gentleman his name is a synonym of goodness. In his plain, unassuming and unpretentious way he has con- tinued to live a life of great usefulness. As a friend of the poor and the needy, his charities are well known, yet never made public by himself. Like his father and brother, in the days of slavery he was a devoted friend of the refugee slaves, and would do anything to comfort and protect them.

In religion he has been a consistent member of the Society of Friends and served many years as clerk of Newton Meeting, of which he and his estimable wife are members. On the 9th day of the Third Month, 1879, William B. Cooper was married to Phebe Emlen, a lineal descendant of George Emlen, who emigrated from England to Philadelphia about the time that William Penn arrived.

James Emlen, the grandfather of Phebe Cooper, was well educated, and it was designed that he should travel in Europe for his further accom- plishment, but he removed to Chester County and followed the occupation of a miller. He was married to Phebe Pierce, and both he and his wife died of yellow fever. Anne, their eldest daughter, married Judge Walter Franklin of Lan- caster, Pa. James Emlen, the youngest child and father of Phebe Cooper, was married in 1816. to Sarah F. Foulke, a teacher in the Westtown Board- ing-School. In 1835 he became a teacher in the same institution, and resided with his family on the property for thirteen years. His wife became a minister and paid religious visits to various places in the Eastern, Western and Southern States. Her last religious visit was made to Eng- land. She was universally esteemed by all who

knew her. She died in 1849. James Emlen was a highly loved elder in Friends' Meetings. He died in 1866. Dr. Samuel Emlen, brother of James, was one of the most eminent physicians of Phila- delphia, and was known throughout the United States.

BENJAMIN COOPER, son of Benjamin W. and Lydia (Lippincott) Cooper, and nephew of Wil- liam B. Cooper, was born at the Cooper homestead, in Stockton township, on the 21st of Sixth Month, 1834. He was educated in the schools of his native township and the well-known Westtown Friends' School, in Chester County, Pa. He then returned to his home, and engaged in work on the farm. Upon the death of his father, in 1863, Ben- jamin Cooper inherited the homestead which he owns at the present time. He continued actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he removed to Marlton, N. J. He still owns the farm and superintends its cultivation. Following the precedents established by his enterprising fa- ther, he is progressive and brings into use all the new and improved machinery necessary for suc- cessful farming. Within the past few years he has been extensively engaged in breeding thor- oughbred Jersey cattle.

Mr. Cooper was one of the originators of the plan to construct and one of the incorporators of the Philadelphia, Marlton and Medford Railroad, and devoted much time and energy to the con- struction of the same. He was originally and still is one of its largest stockholders, and since the organization of the company has been a direc- tor. In politics Mr. Cooper is a Republican, and in religion, like his ancestors for many generations before him, is a member of the Society of Friends. Benjamin Cooper was married, in 1859, to Lydia Evans, the only surviving child, daughter of Da- vid and Sarah E. Evans, a prominent farmer of Burlington County, and a descendant of William Evans, one of the first Welsh emigrants to New Jersey, who settled at Mount Laurel, Burlington County. They have three children, viz. : David E., William B. and Samuel R., all of whom are engaged with their father in his farming interests.

Thomas Willard, who, in 1689, married Judith, a daughter of Henry Wood, settled on a tract near the Wood homestead, where he died in 1734, and left three sons-James, Henry and Thomas-and daughters. A granddaughter, Abigail, in 1743, married Samuel Spicer, son of Thomas, and died April 24, 1762, aged twenty-six years. A grand- son, Benjamin, owned part of his grandfather's estate, and left it to his son James, who, February 28, 1781, sold part of it to Thomas Stone, who

Benj Cooper

745

THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

sold twenty-two acres in 1783. Old citizens remember Parr Willard, in the vicinity, as being much interested in fruit and its culture. An old pear-tree now stands on the place of Abraham Browning, which bears the "Willard Pear," and is from stock originated by him.

Joseph Nicholson, the first of the name to settle in what is now Camden County, was the fourth child of Samuel Nicholson, and was born in Eng- land, Second Month 30, 1669. His father was in- terested in the purchase made from Lord John Berkeley, in 1673, and came to this country with his wife, Ann, and five children, from Wiston, in Nottinghamshire, England, in the ship "Griffith," with John Fenwick, and arrived in the river Dela- ware on the 23d of Ninth Month, 1675, and soon after settled in Salem, where he selected a tract of sixteen acres with a marsh fronting on the creek and erected a house. He purchased large tracts of land later and became one of the wealthiest men in the colony. In 1680 the Society of Friends, of which he was an active and prominent member, purchased his house and lot and refitted it as a meeting-house, which the next year was enlarged. This house was the first meeting-house in West New Jersey. A few years after the sale Samuel Nicholson-removed to a plantation on Alloways Creek, where he died in 1685. Ann, his wife, re- moved here and died in 1694. The sons, except Joseph, settled on the homestead and in the vicinity. Joseph, in 1694, purchased a tract of land on the north side of Coopers Creek, and the next year (1695) he married Hannah, a daughter of Henry Wood, who settled at the mouth of Coopers Creek in 1682. On this place Joseph Nicholson built a house and settled. In 1699 he purchased a tract of land adjoining James Wood, a grandson of Henry. He died in 1702 and left a son, Samuel, who inherited the estate of his father and resided on the tract purchased of James Wood. This was re-surveyed in 1733. He was married three times,-first in 1722, to Sarah, a daughter of Samuel Burroughs ; second to Rebecca Saint ; and third to Jane Albertson, widow of William and daughter of John Engle. The last was successively the widow of John Turner, William Albertson, Samuel Nicholson and Thomas Middleton. Samuel Nicholson died in 1750, and left children,- Joseph, Abel, Abigail, Hannah and Sarah. Joseph, in 1749, purchased the lot in Haddonfield, north of the Methodist Church, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Joseph B. Tatem, and probably built the honse. Abel married Rebecca, a daughter of Aaron Aaronson, and died in 1761, before his child was born. This child was named Abel, and

married Rebecca Ellis, a daughter of Isaac. It is from this branch the family in this region descend. Abigail, in 1743, became the wife of Daniel Hill- man, and in 1767 of John Gill. Hannah married John Hillman, and Sarah, the youngest child, died single in 1756. The Nicholson homestead was owned for many years by Abraham Browning, and is now occupied by several factories.

Samuel Spicer was a native of New England, and one of the few American born citizens that can he claimed among the early settlers of old Glou- cester County. He was a son of Thomas and Michael Spicer, and was born prior to 1640. His father was one of the colony of Friends who emi- grated from England to avoid persecution for their religious belief, only to meet as trying an ordealin their new homes. Samuel Spicer, the son, on the 21st of Third Month (May), 1665, married Esther Tilton, at Oyster Bay, L. I., and settled at Grave- send. In 1684 he visited this region of country and purchased of Samuel Coles four hundred acres of land on Coopers Creek and the Delaware River, adjoining Henry Wood, who purchased one hun- dred acres of Samuel Coles in 1682, above and on the Delaware. In the next year he, with his wife, Esther, and eight children, moved to the new pur- chase and built a house near where the bridge crosses Coopers Creek at Federal Street. On the 24th of May, 1687, he purchased three hundred and fifty acres of land, and subsequently other lands adjoining. These lands extended from Coopers Creek to Pensaukin, embracing the lands on which Merchantville now stands.

This ferry was maintained until 1762, when a bridge was built at the place and the locality was kuown as Spicer's Bridge many years. In the year 1687 Samuel Spicer was appointed one of the judges of Gloucester County and continued in the office several years. He was active in the Society of Friends, of which he was a prominent member, and died soon after 1792. His widow, Esther, sur- vived him until 24th day of Seventh Month, 1703, when she, with a servant and Richard Thackara, a lad of about eleven years of age, were struck by lightning and killed. An account of her burial at night is given in connection with the old Newton burying-ground in the history of the township of Haddon. They had eight children, all of whom were born at Gravesend,-Abraham, Jacob, Mary, Martha, Sarah (who, in 1695, became the second wife of Daniel Cooper), Abigail, Thomas and Samuel. Samuel Spicer left in his will to his son Jacob one hundred and fifty acres attached to the homestead, and on the Delaware River and Coopers Creek, and to his other sons, Samuel and

746

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Thomas, one hundred and seventy-five acres each. Samuel died young, and his land passed to Jacob. Thomas inherited from his father the one hundred and fifty acres, and also purchased four hundred and ten acres in and around Merchantville of his hrother Jacob. He died in November, 1759, and left the landed estate to his son, Thomas Spicer, who, in 1741, married Rebecca, a daughter of Humphrey and Jane Day, who lived on Coopers Creek, in the lower part of what is now Delaware township. He died in the May following, 1760, and by will entailed the property to his wife, Re- becca; his daughter, Abigail, who was the wife of Wm. Rudderow ; and their son, John Rudderow, then a child of fifteen months old. Thos. Spicer, Jr., passed much of his time in travel and visited on business the West Indies and other places. Re- becca Spicer survived her husband until 1777, liv- ing most of the time on her own plantation. Abigail (Spicer) Rudderow was the only child living of three born to them.

Samuel Spicer, son of Thomas, Sr., who married Abigail Willard in 1743, settled on the land he received from his father. His wife, Abigail, died April 24, 1762, aged twenty-six years, and left one son, Jacob, who died September 4, 1769, aged twenty-four years; a daughter Abigail, who mar- ried John Keble, a merchant of Philadelphia. She died August 27, 1807, aged sixty years; Rebecca, who married William Folwell, also a merchant of Philadelphia ; and Sarah, who married Joseph Cowperthwait. Judge John K. Cowperthwait was a son of the latter, and Spicer Cowperthwait, now a merchant in Camden, is a grandson.

Wrightsville is on that part of the Spicer prop- erty that came to Rebecca and William Folwell and to Sarah and Joseph Cowperthwait.

Jacob Spicer, son of Samuel, Sr., owned a large tract of land lying north of his father's, and ex- tending to Pensankin Creek. He sold to his brother Thomas four hundred and ten acres, lying next his father's land, and that part lying on Pen- saukin Creek to Samuel Burroughs, who later built a mill upon it. A part of the Burroughs land is still in possession of the family. Jacob Spicer, in 1691, removed to Cape May County, and was a member of the Legislature from 1703 to 1723, and surrogate from the last-named year to 1741, and died in the latter year. He left a son Jacob, who was a member of the Legislature in 1744, and was appointed with Aaron Leaming to revise the laws of the State, and "Leaming and Spicer," as the collection is termed, bears witness to the faithful performance of their duties. The Spicer estate will later be mentioned in the account of the Rud-

derow family, to whom it in large part descended. Mention has been made of the marriage of Eliza- beth Cole, the widow of Samuel, to Griffith Mor- gan. He was a native of Wales, and a mariner, and in 1677 purchased of David Lloyd and Isaac Norris, executor of Thomas Lloyd, of Philadelphia, a tract of five hundred acres of land, embracing the site of Fort Eriwomac, which had been located by Samuel Jennings, the first Governor of New Jersey. It was bounded on the west by Delaware River, and on the north by Pensaukin Creek, and ex- tended about a mile up the creek and about a quarter of a mile along the river-front. He did not settle upon the place for many years, hut con- tinned his business as a mariner, and was some time in England. An account of his romantic meeting with Elizabeth Coles will be found in the sketch of Samuel Coles. The license for his mar- riage was granted by the chancellor of Pennsyl- vania on the 10th of December, 1693, and the mar- riage ceremony soon after was performed in Phila- delphia. He then erected a stone house, two stories and a half high, with dormer windows, near the mouth of Pensaukin Creek, commanding a fine view of the Delaware River, where he settled and died a few years after, leaving a widow and one son, Alexander. His widow, Elizabeth, died in 1719. Alexander Morgan inherited the proper- ty of his father, and, in 1717, married Hannah Cooper, a daughter of Joseph Cooper, and settled upon the Morgan homestead, where he died in 1751, leaving his wife and ten children,-Joseph, Benjamin, Isaac, Mary, Elizabeth, Lydia, Sarah, Hannah, Rachel and Alexander. By this marriage the family ultimately became connected with the Mickles, Hopkinses, Ladds, Coxes, Cootes and Clements of West Jersey, and the Rawles, Riggs and other families of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Morgan, eldest son of Alexander, married Agnes Jones, and settled on the homestead. They had one child, Griffith, who, in 1766, married Rebecca, a daughter of Samuel Clement; three daughters were the result of this marriage, as fol- lows : Agnes, who married Enos Eldridge ; Re- becca, who became the wife of James B. Cooper and resided at Haddonfield ; Ann, who in 1795 married William E. Hopkins and lived on the Hopkins farm, on Coopers Creek, near Haddon- field. The first wife of Joseph Morgan died young. He married a second time and had several children, -Joseph, who married Mary Evans and Mary Butchel; Hannah, who married Mr. Saterthwait; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Joseph Reeve ; and Sarah, who married James Hinchman. Upon the death of this wife he, in 1758, married Mary,

J. Dunbar Hylton

747

THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

the daughter of Joseph Stokes, by whom he had four children, -- Isaac, Alexander, Mary and Ben- jamin; the last married Mary Champion. His third wife died and Joseph Morgan married Elizabeth Atkinson, by whom were no children.

The old homestead, near the mouth of the creek, remained in the family and came to Joseph R. Mor- gan. William Burroughs, as administrator, con- veyed the one hundred acres of that part of the estate, and the mansion-house, to John Morris, March 1, 1834, who resided thercon until Septem- ber 26, 1853, when he sold it to William B. Mann & Co., of Philadelphia. In that year a fishing club of eight persons was formed, of whom Mr. Mann was one, and bought five acres adjoining the house, and erected the present Fish House. On the 28th of January, 1868, Jacob Backenbach bought the farm and Morgan homestead of one hundred acres, and is still in possession.

Benjamin Morgan, the second son of Alexander, in 1761, married Jane Roberts and settled on Peu- saukin Creek, part of the homestead, where he at once built a one-story frame house, and, in 1775, built the present stone dwelling-house, of which the old part is the east wing of the house now owned and occupied by Dr. J. Dunbar Hylton. Their children were Hannah; Benjamin, who died in youth ; and Benjamin R., who never married. At the death of Benjamin his estate passed to Alex- ander Morgan, of Philadelphia. In 1838, John S. Hylton, a native of England, came to this country and purchased of the administrator of the Morgan estate two hundred and twenty acres, known as the Mount Pleasant farm, and one hundred and seventy acres adjoining, and above, on Pensaukin Creek, the Comus Hill farm. On this large tract he settled, and, in 1860, finding the soil in its loams and clays was well adapted for use, he began the shipment of loam and clay to rolling-mills, foundries and pot- teries. It was of easy access to Pensaukin Creek, where the material was loaded on vessels and con- veyed to its destination. The trade has been con - tinued to the present time without interruption. In 1872 the business passed to his son, Dr. J. Dunbar Hylton. Immense quantities have been shipped from the farm, and the supply seems un- limited. In 1880, when the iron trade was prosper- ing, forty-two thousand tons were excavated and shipped, and in 1885 twenty-five thousand tons were taken out. In addition to the shipment of loam and clay, Dr. Hylton is cultivating fruit ex- tensively, having a peach orchard containing fifteen thousand trees, fifteen acres containing four thou- sand Niagara grape-vines, one thousand Keefer pear-trees and ten acres of the Wilson blackberry.

J. DUNBAR HYLTON, M.D., is a member of the ancient and honorable family of that name that for so many generations bore a prominent part in the military and civic history of England. The family seat is at Hylton, near Sunderland, on the river Ware, where Henry Hylton, who had re- ceived a large grant from William the Conqueror, because of his own and his father's valor, and who was afterwards slain in Normandy, built the an- cient Hylton castle in 1072. The family traces its genealogy back three hundred years before the conquest, and is mentioned by the venerable Bede in his work published in the sixth century. Since the time of the Conquest it is remarked of the Hyl- tons that one was slain at Feversham, in Kent, one in Normandy, one at Mentz, in France, three in the Holy Wars, under Richard I., three at the battle of Bourdeaux, under the Black Prince, one at Agincourt, two at Berwick-upon-Tweed, against the Scots, two at the battle of St. Albans, five at Market Bosworth and four at Flodden Field.

From such illustrious and valiant ancestors is descended the subject of this sketch. His great- grandfather, William Hylton, descended from one of the junior branches of the family. About 1764 he left England and came to America, locating near Bath, Va., where he acquired some ten thou- sand acres of land, as well as owning land on Long Island, where the city of Brooklyn now stands. After the breaking out of the Revolutionary War he espoused the royal canse and returned to Eng- land, his property in America being confiscated by the colonies. He finally established himself in the Island of Jamaica, where he became a large planter.

His son, John Hylton, was a captain in the British army, and resided near Kingston Jamaica, near which point he was stationed. He was the father of John S. Hylton, a native of county Durham, England, on the river Ware, near Hylton castle. He married Mary Susanna Fry, and was an extensive planter in Jamaica, where he owned some five thousand acres of land and sixteen hundred negroes. He removed to the United States about 1839, and purchased large tracts of land at Comus Hill, on Pensaukin Creek, Camden County, N. J. There he passed the re- mainder of his life, engaged in bucolic and agricul- tural pursuits, and in the cultivation of a fine liter- ary taste. He was a frequent contributor to various leading magazines and periodicals in both England and America. His children are Dr. J. Dunbar Hylton; William R. Hylton, residing near Camden ; Dr. Reginald T. Hylton, Nanticoke Pa .; Lionel, residing in Philadelphia; Dr. Stanley C. Hylton,

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

of Philadelphia; and Edith A., wife of Nicholas Bilger, of the same city.

Dr. J. Dunbar Hylton was born on the Island of Jamaica March 25, 1837, and, on his mother's side, is descended from the Frys, of Maddon's Court, England, and the Dunbar family, of Scotland, to . which the great Scottish poet, William Dunbar, belonged. His early education was conducted under a private tutor. He was brought to this country when he was two years of age. Subse- quently he assisted his father in his farming pur- suits, and then, having been seized with the gold fever, he engaged in gold-digging at Pike's Peak. He next entered the employ of the Phoenix Iron Company for the purpose of learning the iron business, and after a time entered upon the study of medicine, under Dr. Henry H. Smith, professor of surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1866. He engaged in the practice of his profession, for ten years, in Phila- delphia, and at River Side and Palmyra, N. J., and finally purchased a farm, belonging to his father, in Camden County, and turned his attention to agriculture, fruit-growing and mining clays. At the present time he owns about two hundred and seven acres of land in Stockton township and Burlington County, containing clay and kaolin deposits, varying in depth from eight to thirty-two feet, which he readily disposes of to the rolling- mills, fire-brick works and foundries of this country and Cuba, and is also engaged in every branch of agriculture, trucking, farming, fruit- growing, and in the development and propagating of new varieties of fruits and berries. The ancient and picturesque house which he occupies was completed in 1775 by Benjamin Morgan. This house stands on a high bluff, overlooking the waters of the Pensaukin Creek and the Delaware River, and commands a fine view of Philadelphia and the surrounding country for miles, and has been occu- pied by the Hylton family for over forty years. It is one of the attractions of the neighborhood, and the doctor, with his genial hospitality, occu- pying this antique abode, and surrounded by his well-tilled fields and his small army of laborers, reminds one strikingly of the planters of the South iu the days before the war. Inheriting strong literary taste and ability, like Horace, he finds time, apart from his bucolic pursuits, to dally with the muses, and each winter sees from his pen some new gem added to the list of the successful and popular works of the day. His talent runs chiefly in the direction of the ideal and imaginative, and manifests itself in verse. Among the volumes that

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 129

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