The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 130

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

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he has published are,-" Lays of Ancient Times" (1857), "Voices from the Rocky Mountains " (1862), "Præsidicide " (1865), "The Bride of Gettysburg" (1878), "Betrayed " (1880), "The Heir of Lyolynn " (1883), "Above the Grave" (1884), " Artiloise, or the Weeping Castle" (1885), and others are soon to follow.

Dr. Hylton's versification is strong and rythmi- cal, and the flow of thought regular and entertain- ing. His works find a ready sale, and have won for him a place among the successful literateurs of the country. He married, May 31, 1865, Miss Emma Denckla Silvis, daughter of Benjamin and Emily T. (Renfrew) Silvis, of Philadelphia, and has had a family of seven boys, of whom only J. Dunbar Hylton, Jr., survives.

Benjamin Morgan, a great-grandson of Alex- ander, a descendant of Griffith Morgan, before 1800, became the possessor of a large tract of land on Coopers Creek, below the old Champion tract, and above what is now the Browning farm. He married Mary Champion, and settled upon the place. His son Joseph married Margaret, a daugh- ter of John Browning. Of his daughters, Mary became the wife of Isaac Mickle; Rachel, of Rich- ard M. Hugg ; another became the wife of Jacob Roberts.

The families of Rudderow in this region of country sprang from John Rudderow, a native of England, who emigrated about 1680 and settled at Chester, in Burlington County, N. J., between the north and south branches of the Pensaukin Creek. He died in 1729 and left the land to his son, John Rudderow, who died in 1769 and devised it by will to his son William, who, in 1758, married Abigail, the daughter of Thomas Spicer, Jr., son of Thomas, grandson of Samuel. At this time William Rud- derow was living on his paternal estate with his father, where he continued for eight years after his marriage, and where eight of their children were born. In 1782 they moved from the forks of Pen- saukin to the property of Rebecca Spicer, her mother then living on her estate, which em- braced a tract of over four hundred acres, in the centre of which Merchantville stands, and in which Abigail, the wife of William, had an interest. This property was in possession of Thomas Spicer, Sr., before 1717, as in that year it was surveyed by Thomas Sharp ; a piece of land later known as Coopers Woods was included in the tract. Upon this tract Thomas Spicer, Sr., erected a house soon after 1717, which evidently was occupied as a tene- ment, and in a re-survey made in 1735 it is mentioned as the residence of Alexander McCloud. It stood on the site of the present residence of ex-

MEIST, DIL

BUILT IN 1775.

"MOUNT PLEASANT." RESIDENCE OF J. DUNBAR HYLTON, M. D., STOCKTON, CAMDEN CO., N. J.

749

THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

Senator Alexander G. Cattell. John Rudderow, son of William and Abigail, married in 1782, and in 1792 moved in the old house to which; in 1804, he built a large addition, two stories high, twenty by sixty feet, of sawed white oak timber laid like a log house and dove-tailed at the corners. This house stood until 1852, when it was torn down and replaced by the present residence. The old part, in 1806, was moved and made into a barn.

About 1733 Thomas Spicer, Sr., erected a one- story and a half house, with dormer windows, also of white oak timber, on that portion of the estate now owned by Joseph Hollinshead. A part of the old house is still standing, and is in the township of Delaware, while the part later erected, adjoining, is in Stockton, the township line passing through the house. This house was, prior to 1782, known as Cherry Tree Tavern, and from that time to 1808 as the home of William Rudderow. It was then occupied for a number of years by William, son of John Rudderow.

Rebecca Rudderow survived her husband many years, and died at the age of eighty-three years. Their children were John, William and Thomas. John settled upon the farm, and in 1792 moved into the house above mentioned. He married, in 1782, Jerusha Inskip, by whom he had children,- William, Benjamin, Samuel, Thomas, Sarah, Abi- gail, Hope and Jerusha. The daughters lived in Camden. William and Benjamin lived on the old homestead property. Samuel settled on the origi- nal Rudderow estate, on the north side of Pensau- kin Creek, opposite his uncle's, who had settled previously on the south side.

Jerusha, the wife of John Rudderow, died, and he married as a second wife, Anna Lacony, by whom he had children,-John, Ezra, Amos, Joel, Anna, Susan, Emily and Jane. John died about 1864. Ezra was a captain on the river steamer "Farmer," and was killed by an accident. Amos bought part of the home estate and resided there, and sold the farm in parcels from 1856 to 1858. From 1861 to 1878 he was treasurer of the West Jersey Ferry Company ; he now resides in Mer- chantville. Joel studied for the ministry and en- tered the Episcopal Church, and is now rector of a parish, "The Oaks," in Montgomery County.

William Rudderow, son of William, settled on a tract of land on the south side of Pensaukin Creek, and on the main road, where he died, and left two sons,-Richard and Josiah -- who also lived and died upon the tract. After the death of the latter the farm was sold.

Thomas, a brother of John and William, also settled on Pensankin Creek, adjoining his brother

William, where he died and left two sons,-Jacob and Benjamin. Miss Jerusha Rudderow, a daughter of John Rudderow by the first wife, died in 1884, and in 1885 a hundred acres of land were sold, and which had not been transferred by deed since its sale to Samuel Spicer-a period of two hundred years. Dr. Jolin R. Stevenson, Dr. Charles H. Shivers and Mrs. Gustavus M. Murray, all of Had- donfield, are children of Mrs. Anne Shivers, daughter of John Rudderow.

Humphrey Day came to the settlement along the river and creek when a young man, and in 1737 he was keeping a ferry and a tavern, probably where John Champion had a ferry in 1702, as in that year he was assessed upon the business twenty shillings. He was a neighbor of the Woods, Spicers and Nicholsons. He and his wife, Jane, who died in 1760, were buried in the St. Mary's church-yard at Colestown. He lived on the north side of Coopers Creek, on land lately owned by the Shivers family. Their daughter Rebecca married Thomas Spicer, Jr., who owned four hundred and ten acres, the site of Merchantville and surround- ing it.

The Fish family in the township are descended from the Swedish settlers. Justa Fish is the first of whom anything is known. He was a constable in Chester township, Burlington County, in 1698. Isaac Fish, probably a son, in 1762, was in posses- sion of a large tract of land and the fishery above Pea Shore and on the river-front. He had children, -Charles, who married Rachel Browning ; Benja- min; Jeremiah ; Ann, who married Samuel Rud- derow ; Keturah, who became the wife of Jacob Stone; Eunice, who married William Horner ; Susannah, Daniel Stoy ; Rachel, Josiah Rudderow ; and Elizabeth, Adam Baker Evaul. Charles Fish lived at the place many years, but in time it came into the possession of Benjamin, who, about 1843, sold it to Samuel Browning, whose son Eli now is in possession, while the property is still owned by Sarah Browning's heirs, of whom he is one. The children mentioned above are by two wives. Jeremiah Fish, one of the sons of Isaac, came into possession of the farm on the river-front-part of the original one hundred acres. Samuel Coles sold to Henry Wood, and which later came to Joseph Nicholson. Jeremiah Fish, in 1830, sold to William Horner, his brother-in-law, who lived and died there. It passed to Lemuel Horner, a son of William, who now owns the property. The old Wood-Spicer burying-ground is on this farm, and Pavonia and the Camden Water-Works are ad- joining.

The Horners are descended from the Swedish

750

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

settlers, and prior to 1739 Bartholomew Horner purchased a large tract of land of John Gill, now in Delaware township, near the head of the old Swett Pond. . It passed to his son Jacob, and was retained in the family until after 1800. The family were connected by marriage with the Stokes, Thackaras, Matlacks and Kays. Early in the pres- ent century Merritt, David and Joseph Horner were living in the township, well advanced in years. Merritt resided a short distance north of Merchant- ville, on the farm still owned by his descendants. His children were Beulah (married Thomas P. Clements, Ann (married John Stow), Miriam (married Benjamin Fish), Mary Ann (married John Horn), William, Marion and Joel. William mar- ried Eunice Fish, and in 1830 bought the farm now known as the Lemuel Horner farm, where he lived and died. His son Lemnel also resided there. It has recently been sold to Alfred Cramer, and will be laid out into lots. The old house upon the property was built in 1765 by some of the Woods or Spicers, and is yet in good condition. Marion Horner, son of Merritt, settled on the homestead of his father and died there. The property is owned by his family.

Joseph Horner, brother of Merritt and David, settled on the old Burlington road, southwest of the Sorrel Horse tavern. He had three sons,- Joel, Asa and Thomas C. The latter settled in Camden ; Asa P. remained on the homestead and died there; Joel lived on the farm adjoining. They were both judges of the courts of Camden County and freeholders of the township for several years.

David Horner settled on a farm east of his brother Merritt, and now owned by John S. Collins, where he died. His children were Mary (married James Adams), Elizabeth (married William Hinch- man), Isaac, Benjamin, John and Merritt. Ben- jamin settled on the homestead; the others in Camden.

The family of Brownings, which has for many years been prominent in the county in agriculture, law, ferries and other occupations, all sprang from one John G. Browning, who came from Holland to this country before 1752. The name is of English origin, and the emigrant was doubtless a descend- ant of one of the family connected by its branches with the great mercantile interests for which Hol- land was noted. He was married in this region of West Jersey, at some place not known, Decem- her 12, 1752, to Catherine Baker, and settled on the Delaware, within the limits of Camden County. They had eleven children, of whom Philip Jacob, George Adam and Margaret, all born before 1757,

died comparatively young. John was born No- vember 6, 1760, and in early life became interested in marine service and ship-building, and failing in accomplishing his object in that direction, he pur- chased a tract of land on Alloways Creek, where he lived a few years, and about 1795 purchased a tract of land west of Merchantville and moved upon it. He married a daughter of one of the Lawrence family of East Jersey, by whom he had fourteen children, of whom were Daniel. (who married Hannah Cole), Benjamin, William, James, Samuel, Rachel (who married Charles H. Fisk), Margaret (who married Joseph Morgan), Rebecca (who married Ezra Rudderow) and Elizabeth (who married - Heulings). One of the sons married Grace Fisk, a daughter of Isaac. John Browning married, as a second wife, Ann Hinchman, by whom he had four children,-William (who mar- ried - Burrough), Benjamin (who married Re- becca Troth, a daughter of Jacob), Isaac (who married Sarah Starn) and Jane (who became the wife of Charles Starn) ; the latter is a large fruit- grower in the vicinity.

John Browning, May 30, 1801, bought one hun- dred acres of land, part of the Spicer land, in the northern part of the township, near the Moorestown road of Joel Gibbs. The property was sold by the Spicers in 1765, and came to Thomas Holmes, who by will left it, May 27, 1783, to his son William, who, in 1800, sold it to Joel Gibbs. In October, 1805, John Browning purchased twenty- one acres of land, on the west side of the main branch of Pensaukin Creek, of Joshua Ostler. Isaac Browning lives upon the home tract west of Merchantville. Others of the family settled in township.

George Browning, next younger than John, was born in 1763, and moved to Burlington Connty, where he settled. Abraham, a younger son, was born February 25, 1769, and about 1798 married Beulah Genge, a native of Gloucester County. He purchased one hundred acres of land on the bank of Coopers Creek, above the Spicer lands and below the Champion tract. It formerly was in possession of the Shivers family, but was not the original Shivers tract, as that was in Delaware township. Abraham Browning settled at the place mentioned, and later purchased two hundred acres, adjoining and below on the creek, of Mr. Bonnell. The Marlton pike passes through the property, which is yet in the family. About 1800 Abraham Browning established the ferry at the foot of Mar- ket Street, Camden, which was known as the Brown- ing Ferry until it was chartered in 1849 as the West Jersey Ferry. It was retained in the family until

751

THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

a few years since. Abraham Browning died Sep- tember 11, 1836, and his wife in 1863. They are both buried in the Colestown church-yard. Their children were George, Eleanor, John, Catharine, Rebecca, Abraham, Genge, Maurice, Charles, Ed- ward, Benjamin B. (who died in infancy), George B. and Benjamin F., of whom Eleanor, Rebecca, Abraham and Maurice only are living. Abraham and Maurice were largely interested in Camden, where some account of them will be found in con- nection with the professions and enterprises in which they were engaged. Maurice Browning is now the manager of the Browning estate in this township.

Isaac Browning, the youngest son of John George, was born December 1, 1775, and settled in Gloucester township, at the mouth of Timber Creek, where he lived and died.

The ancestors of the family of Starn, in this country, was Conrad Starn, who had two sons,- Abner and Andrew. The latter resided in Phila- delphia. Abner settled near Haddonfield, and had five sons,-Joseph, Benjamin, Charles, Samuel and John,-of whom Benjamin remained on the home- stead, and Joseph and Samuel moved to what is now Stockton township where they rented farms. Late in life Joseph Starn purchased one of the Rudderow farms, now part of the borough of Mer- chantville, hut died before moving thereon. His sons were Elwood, Josiah, Charles W. and Joseph A. Charles W. Starn, in 1864, purchased a farm of John Lawrence, part of the old Ostler tract. He had for several years previously carried on market gardening, but at once hegan to set out the farm to fruit-trees, and at present has two thousand five hundred apple-trees, one thousand pear-trees, six thousand cherry-trees, six thousand peach-trees and twenty-five acres of blackherries, and has settled conclusively that this part of New Jersey is well adapted to the culture of fruits.

On the property now owned by Joseph Evaul, Nathan and Hannah Evans erected a stone house in 1797. It later came into possession of William Browning, who, about 1815, sold it, with the prop- erty of Jacob Evaul's heirs, to Jacob Evaul, Sr., by whom it came to his sons, Joseph and Jacob. The Evauls are descended from the early Swedish settlers, who remained along the river after the title passed to the Proprietors. Adam Baker Evaul married Elizabeth Fish and settled in the vicinity.

John Walker came from "Old Market," Eng- land,-the first of the name in this region-in 1677, and soon after hought land in what is' now Stockton township. He had two children,-John

and Catharine. The latter married George Hors- fielder, to whom John, her father, in 1710, con- veyed one hundred and five acres on Pensankin Creek. Horsfielder sold it in 1712 to John Walker, Jr., brother of his wife, who, in 1713, sold it to Philip Wallace, who had married his daughter Sarah. Their children married into the families of Gibbs, Atkinson, Lacony, Morgan, Toy, Lippin- cott and others. Sarah married Joseph Morgan, who lived on the old Morgan estate ; Patience married James Toy ; Thomas married Hope Lip- pincott. Others intermarried with families of Atkinson and Lacony. Elizbeth Fish married Samnel Wallace, son of Thomas; Ann Wallace, daughter of Thomas, married Benjamin Rudderow.

Joseph and Samnel Osler, in the time of the Revolution, owned land north of the land Samuel Burroughs bought of Jacob Spicer and east of Jordantown and on the south branch of Pensankin Creek. Joseph died before 1787, as in that year his land, consisting of four hundred acres, was divided between his children-Davis, Joseph, Eliza- beth (Mrs. Rudderow), Samnel, Jeremiah, Sarah, Joshua, Owen, John and William.

Major John Osler, a surveyor and a leading man in St. Mary's Church, at Colestown, in 1815 sheriff of Gloucester County, owned a farm west of the Osler lands, now owned by Joseph Horn. The fruit farm of Charles W. Starn is a part of the old Osler tract.

Benjamin Osler, son of John, purchased a tract of land of Mrs. Mary Morgan, part of the Morgan lands, and died there. His sons, Edward J. and Davis S., now reside upon it.

The family of Stones was at one time numerous in the township, on the old Spicer land, near the river, near the Lemuel Horner farm. They were of Swedish origin and probably came from the ad- joining Swedish settlements, as they were not orig- inal settlers. John Stone, the first of whom any- thing is learned, married, first, Mary Walker, danghter of David Walker, son of John Walker, Jr. Their children were Rebecca, who married Archibald Campbell; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Hudson ; Phebe, who became the wife of John Stow ; Abigail, of Isaac Middleton ; Jerusha of Edward Toole; Margaret, of Mathew Miller ; and sons, Joshua and William. Thomas Stone also was an owner of land in the vicinity.

BETHEL METHODIST CHURCH.1-In the year 1813, George Horn, formerly of Hanover Furnace, N. J., built the dwelling-house on the Moorestown turnpike, known as the Homestead, where William Horn now lives, near the present Dudley station.

1 By the Rev. S. Townsend.

752

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Soon after this, perhaps the same year, the Method- ists from Camden, by invitation of Mr. Horn, commenced holding meetings there. He was not then a member of church, but became such soon after. In the year 1815 a class was formed there and he was appointed leader. There had been a class formed in the neighborhood some years be- fore, either in a private house or in the old school- house near by, led by one John Peak, of Stone Meeting-House; but this had gone down before the class was formed at Father Horn's.

Among the first local preachers and exhorters who preached at his house were Riley Barrett, Andrew Jenkins, David Duffel and others from Camden ; and later, John P. Curtis, from near Haddonfield. Among the itinerant preachers who preached there were Sylvester Hill, Rob- ert Sutton-he came to fill Mr. Hill's place and died while on the circuit. Also, Joseph Rusling, Joseph Lybrand, Daniel Fidler, David Best, David Dailey, Jacob Gruber and Wes- ley Wallace; these last were on the circuit to- gether. Father Bohm, of precious memory, was on the circuit in 1827 and 1828. Also, Ezekiel Cooper often came out from Philadelphia and preached and sometimes stayed three or four days. At one time he brought Bishop (teorge out with him, who stayed all night there.

The first class was formed by Rev. Mr. Van Schoik, who then had charge of the circuit, which was called Burlington Circuit. In somewhat later years the appointment was connected with Cam- den Circuit, and the preachers were Rev. D. W. Bartine, W. W. Foulks, William Williams, Joseph Ashbrook and others. Meetings were held here all along the years, even up to 1844, though not so frequently as at first.

About the year 1830 meetings were commenced in the Stone School-house, often called Union School-house, on the Burlington turnpike, five miles from Camden, and only a few feet from where the Brick School-house now stands. A class was formed here and the local preachers from Camden and elsewhere preached first on Sabbath days and the itinerant preachers week evenings till, about 1838, they commenced preaching there on Sabbath morning and at Moorestown in the afternoon. The circuit was at one time, say from 1838 to 1842, called Haddonfield Circuit, then Moorestown Cir- cuit, and afterward Bethel was connected only with Palmyra and finally stood as an appointment alone. We have no means of knowing the bound- aries of the old Burlington and Camden Circuits, though we have reason to believe they were very large ; but the Haddonfield Circuit included the

following appointments : Coopertown (near where Beverly now stands), Bridgeboro', Asbury (now Cinnaminson), Union School-house (now Bethel), Moorestown, Haddonfield, Greenland, Blackwood- town, Long-a-Coming (now Berlin), Waterford, Jackson, New Freedom and Gibbsboro'. There were only two preachers on those thirteen appoint- ments, giving preaching by the itinerant preachers once in two weeks at each place, and the alternate Sabbaths were supplied by the local preachers. As to salary, the preachers in charge received from three to four hundred dollars per year, and the junior preacher, who was generally a single man, received one hundred dollars and boarded among the kind and hospitable friends on the cir- cuit. The preachers on the Haddonfield Circuit, commencing with 1838, were as follows: 1838, James Long and J. B. Mckeever ; 1839, J. Long and W. A. Brooks ; 1840, Nathaniel Chew and S. Townsend; 1841, N. Chew and a supply ; 1842, Edward Stout and C. A. Kingsbury ; 1843, E. Stout and a supply ; 1844 45 (then called Moores- town Circuit), J. J. Sleeper ; 1846-47, Thomas G. Steward. Some of the presiding elders were as follows : From 1833 to 1837, R. W. Petherbridge ; from 1838 to 1841, Thomas Neall; from 1842 to 1844, Charles T. Ford. When Bethel appoint- ment was attached to the large circuits the official men and others came from the extreme points to the quarterly meetings, in some cases a distance of twenty-five to thirty miles, and these quarterly meetings were seasons of happy reunion ; the love-feasts were spiritual feasts indeed, and the presiding elders preached with much earnestness.

The first Bethel Church was built in 1844, under 'the pastorate of Rev. J. J. Sleeper. It was a frame church, thirty-two feet wide by forty-six feet long, and one story high, of respectable appearance and good material, situated on .the Burlington turn- pike, four miles from Camden. It is still remain- ing on the same site as chapel to the new church built in 1884.

There was an excellent revival of religion in the school-house about the winter of 1843, under the labors of Rev. E. Stout. There was a great revi- val in the winter of 1846, under the labors of Rev. T. G. Stewart, in their new church. Quite a large number were converted, several of whom are prom- inent members of the church to this day. There was also a good revival under the labors of Rev. C. K. Fleming, and another under the pastorate of Rev. R. S. Harris in the time of the Civil War, and also a good one in 1833 in the pastorate of Rev. W. E. Greenbank, besides many others of more or less power and extent.

THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

The church has now about one hundred and ten members and one hundred scholars in the Sabbath- school. It is, taken as a whole, a church of more than ordinary spirituality and earnestness in Christian work.

Following is a list of the pastors not heretofore given, from 1848 to 1886, inclusive :

For 1848-49. J. Loudenelager (connected with Moorestown Circuit). For 1850. Not ascertained (connected with Moorestown Circuit). For 1851-52. Edward Page (connected with Moorestown Circuit).

For 1853. L. Herr and B. F. Woolston (connected with Moorestown Circuit).

For 1854. C. K. Fleming and D. L. Adams (connected with Moores- town Circuit).

For 1855. C. K. Fleming (connected with Moorestown Circuit). For 1856-57. L. J. Rhoads (connected with Moorestown Circuit). For 1858-59. G. C. Maddock (connected with Moorestown Circuit) For 1860. J. H. James (connected with Moorestown Circuit).

For 1861. C. R. Hartranft (connected with Moorestown Circuit). For 1862. J. G. Crate (Bethel and Moorestown).

For 1863. J. I. Corson (Palmyra and Bethel).

For 1864-65. R. S. Harris (first year Palmyra and Bethel, second year Bethel only).

For 1866-67. L. Larew (Bethel only).

For 1868-69. T. D. Sleeper (Bethel only).

For 1870-71. W. Reeves (Bethel only).

For 1872-73-74. Enoch Green (Bethel only).

For 1875. J. B. Turpin.

For 1876-77-78. M. C. Stokes.

For 1879-8O. C. F. Garrison. For 1881. A. K. Street.

For 1882-83-84. W. E. Greenbank.

For 1885-86. S. Towneend.

SCHOOLS .- Stockton township contained three school-houses as early as 1800. One of stone, built in 1795, and known as the " Union School- House," was situated on the old Burlington road about one and a half miles east from the Sorrel Horse tavern. A log house also stood on the same road, near the head of Woods Creek, or Baldwins Run, and its site is now in the town of. Dudley. Another stood on the land of Ben- jamin Morgan, on the line of the Camden and Marlton pike. It was known over fifty years ago as the Greenville School-house, and the name still clings to it. Near this house is a small Episco- pal chapel.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 130

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