The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 132

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

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THE HOSANNA METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (colored), at Cramer Hill, originated from a series of religious meetings hield in the house of Miss Hetty Waples, on Saunders Street, in 1862. Nine persons became members of this meeting under the ministration of Elder Peter Gardiner. In 1863 these meetings were held at the houses of John Col- lins and Peter Walters. Caleb Walters, the father of Peter, was an earnest worker, and was known as the founder of the "Little Hosanna Church," as it was called, a small, one-story frame building, sixteen by twenty feet in size, built on Saunders Street. In this church the congregation worship- ped until 1871, when Elder William Grimes re- built the church and enlarged it to twenty by forty feet in dimensions. The pastors who have been assigned to this congregation are the Revs. Peter Gardiner, Henry Davis, Joseph Stewart, George

E. Boyer, Francis Hamilton, Theodore Gould, James Watson, Jeremiah Turpin, William Grimes, John Cornish, I. J. Hill, Isaac I. Murray, Jeremiah Pierce, Robert Dunn, George A. Othello, Benja- min Timothy, Isaac J. Hill, Littleton Sturgis, George A. Mills, John Whitecar and Francis F. Smith, the present pastor. There are twenty-seven members. The Sunday-school has been in progress since the formation of the church. William L. White was superintendent for several years. At this time (1886) there are thirty-nine teachers and scholars in the Sunday-school, with Wilson Wat- son as superintendent and George Price assistant.

UNION MISSION, at Cramer Hill, also called the Aurora Church, was built through the influence of Mrs. Francis Maxfield in 1885. Meetings had been held in her house four years previously, and through her efforts and by small contributions of the colored citizens, a small, one-story frame mis- sion chapel, twelve by eighteen feet in dimensions, was built. The Rev. James Chamberlain was the first minister; he was succeeded by the Rev. James Bowser. In 1884 the Rev. William Camomile was sent as pastor, and in 1886, the present minister, the Rev. James K. Johnson, officiates. There are but few members of this church. The Sunday-school is under the care of Mrs. Cassie Stewart as super- intendent.

ALFRED CRAMER is a descendant of David Cra- mer, a native of England who emigrated from Eng- land to this country with his wife about the middle of the eighteenth century, settled on Long Island and there followed his trade of a moulder. He had eight children,-Jeremiah, David, Isaac, Joseph, John, Mary, Abigail and Elizabeth.

When Joseph, the fourth son, who was born in 1780, was eight years old, his father removed to Cumberland County, N. J., when he continued his occupation. Joseph became noted for his skill in mathematics, was self-educated, taught the English branches in the schools of Philadelphia, and other places, and later in life published an astronomical map. Joseph married Deborah, daughter of David Van Hook, of Port Elizabeth, N. J., who owned the mill at Schooner Landing, where he and his wife died, each at the advanced age of nearly one hundred years. Their children were David, John, Joseph, Isaac, Selinda, Rachel and Mary.

Isaac Cramer, the fourth son, and father of Alfred Cramer, was born near Blackwood, N. J., April 22, 1820. When sixteen years old he was apprenticed to the wheelwright trade in Philadel- phia with William Haskins, on Malden Street, between Front and Frankford. After completing his apprenticeship he returned to New Jersey,

alfred Cramer

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THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

locating at Kinzeytown (afterwards Creesville), where he worked for Joseph Monroe. In 1841, he married Mary, daughter of Ephraim and Anna Bee, of Bee Corner, now called Salina. They had four children,-Hiram, a member of the Twelfth New Jersey Veteran Volunteer Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Chancellors- ville, Va .; Joseph, married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary A. Merrill, of Woodbury, N. J., and is in business at Cramer's Hill; Mary died at the age of thirteen; and Alfred, who married Pris- cilla A., daughter of Jolin and Elizabeth Wright, of Camden, by whom he had five children,- Alfred, Ida M., Lydia P. (deceased), Estella I. and Lois V.

Alfred Cramer was the second child, and was born near Blackwood, December 12, 1844. He remained with his father upon the farm until he was of age. Farm-work did not suit his taste, and he became a canvasser for books. This proved a valuable experience to him and helped to fit him for a business career. His father opened for him a store in Creesville, which he conducted for five years. After that he came to Camden, where he engaged in the coal business with his father-in- law, John Wright, for four years. About this time he turned his attention to real estate, and began to purchase land with a view to laying ont a town, and Cramer's Hill is the result.

Mr. Cramer carried through his plans against the advice of friends, and his success is due to patient industry and faith in his undertaking. He has sold five hundred lots to families, many of which were paid for in monthly installments, and many are now owned by skilled mechanics and tradesmen doing business in Philadelphia. Mr. Cramer is still adding largely to his original pur- chase.

DUDLEY

is a small village southeast from Cramer Hill, and on the line of the Burlington County Railroad. It takes its name from the Hon. Thomas H. Dudley. There are from twelve to fifteen fine residences in the village, includ- ing the large mansion and buildings of the Hon. Thomas H. Dudley, and known as "The Grange," also one church, one store and one physi- cian's office. The general store was started by the present owner, J. S. Corkhill, in 1885. Dr. Jerome L. Artz, who located in Dudley in 1885, was born in Ganges, Richland County, Ohio, in 1859; was educated in the schools of his native place; com- menced the study of medicine with Dr. G. W. Kester in 1875, and entered the Homeopathic Hospital College at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1877; in

1878 removed to Philadelphia and entered the Hahnemann Medical College, and graduated there- from in the class of 1881. He was assistant at this college and the Children's Hospital until 1885, when he removed to Dudley.

The cemetery belonging to the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Camden is located in the western portion of Dudley, between the Moores- town pike and Westfield Avenue. The area is about six acres, neatly inclosed and handsomely laid ont in square lots, and wide avenues leading to the main drive.

MERCHANTVILLE .- The town is situated on the Amboy Division of the Camden and Mount Holly Railroad, about four miles east of Camden ; the turnpike leading from Camden to Moorestown passes through the town. It contains a population of about six hundred, and is largely the residence of people in business in Camden and Philadelphia. It has a post-office, town hall, depot, telegraph and express offices, school-house, four churches (Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and African Methodist) and a large boarding-honse sitnated in Oak Grove.

The village prior to 1850 contained only the buildings of the farm and tenant-houses of the Rudderow family. Soon after that time Alexander G. Cattell purchased the plot of ground containing theold house built by John Rudderow in 1804, which he tore down and erected on its site his residence. In 1856 Amos Rudderow, who owned the farm, sold to Jacob Bunting, ten acres of land on the south side of the pike, for the purpose of laying it ont into lots. He erected a house, now the property of Mr. Whickall, a spice merchant of Philadelphia. Soon after the Hon. A. G. and E. G. Cattell, John Loutz and David E. Stetson purchased twenty acres of land on the north side of the pike, where each erected a mansion. In 1858 the same persons bought seventy-five acres, the balance of the Amos Rudderow farm. About the same time A. G. and E. G. Cattell purchased the old Coopers woods, on the north side of the railroad, cleared it of stumps and laid it out into lots and began selling. In 1853 the Stockton Hotel was erected on the turn - pike, which was kept by Benjamin Martin until 1885. Abont 1860 a school-house was erected and used until the erection of the present commodions house. The old honse is now used as a drug-store. The first store in town was kept by Charles W. Starn, and is now owned by Benj. H. Browning, and is the residence of Dr. D. W. Bartine, who was the first resident physician and is still in prac- tice there.

A town hall, forty by sixty feet, two stories in

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

height, was erected in 1870 at a cost of eight thou- sand dollars.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- In 1863 an effort was made to build a church at the place, which failed. In the fall of 1865 Da vid S. Stetson, Chas. W. and Jos. A. Starn, members of Bethel Church, residing at Merchantville, called a meet- ing of the citizens, which met at the old school- house and organized by electing as trustees D. S. Stetson, Mathias Homer, E. G. Cattell, Thomas Sinex, Isaac Hinchman, Charles W. and Joseph A. Starn. A subscription was at once opened and two thousand dollars was subscribed, which was increased to six thousand dollars. A building committee was appointed. Lots for a church and parsonage were donated by James C. Finn, and a church building begun, which was completed in the spring of 1866, and dedicated in March by Bishop Matthew Simpson. The pastor at the time was the Rev. R. S. Harris, He was succeeded by the Revs. David H. Shoch, Wm. W. Moffatt, Ed- ward Hewitt, Wm. Boyd, R. J. Andrews, George B. White, J. E. Price, Nelson McNicholl, William McCowen, W. S. Bernard and J. B. Rogers, who is the present pastor.

The Sunday-school was begun by David S. Stet- son, in his own house, and later held in the school- house, and upon the completion of the church the meeting-place was charged to that building.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was erected at a cost of about eight thousand dollars in 1874. The congregation was under the pastoral care of the Rev. Nathaniel L. Upham from its organiza- tion to September, 1884, when the Rev. M. C. Wood, the present pastor, assumed the charge. The church has a membership of sixty-seven.

GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- A small band of this denomination was gathered in the Town Hall in 1873, and organized into a church. Services were supplied by appointment by the bishop from Philadelphia. The congregation was weak for several years, but in 1880 a better spirit prevailed, Grace Parish was erected and the present chapel built. In February, 1883, the Rev. R. G. Moses was selected as rector of the parish, and is now in charge. There are about one hundred and twenty in the parish and fifty-six communicants.

THE POST-OFFICE was established in 1866, with Chas. W. Starn as postmaster. The following persons have officiated as postmasters : John W. Kaighn, Richard Shreiner, Mrs. R. Shreiner, Wm. Kirby, E. L. Shinn and the present incumbent, Gottlieb Mich.

INCORPORATION .- The village was incorporated March 3, 1874, with Mathias Homer as burgess,

and Jas. Millinger, Elijah G. Cattell, D. T. Gage, Jos. Baylis, E. S. Hall, T. C. Knight and C. E. Spangler as the first Council, Mr. Homer con- tinued as burgess until 1886, when he was suc- ceeded by John H. Wilkinson. The justices of the peace since the incorporation of the borough have been Richard Shreiner, Wm. Sheldrake, John Potts, E. J. Spangler, E. L. Shinn and Jos. Baylis.

THE STOCKTON SANITARIUM, for the treatment and care of persons suffering from nervous affec- tions, and for mild cases of mental disease, is located at Merchantville, New Jersey, and was opened for patients October 29, 1884. The build- ings stand one hundred feet above the elevation of the Delaware River, in grounds containing eleven acres, divided into shade, lawn and garden. They are handsomely, as well as comfortably fur- nished. All unnecessary restraint is removed, the appearance of an asylum avoided, and a degree of freedom is allowed which would be impossible where large numbers are congregated. It is wholly a private establishment and has no board of direc- tors or trustees. There are separate buildings for the sexes, which gives the patients very consider- able more freedom than could be extended if all were in one building. Dr. S. Preston Jones was the founder of the institution, and is still its pro- prietor.

STOCKTON RIFLE RANGE, when first established by Samuel H. French, in 1866, contained forty- three and one-half acres of ground in Wrightsville. The range proper is provided with the best im- proved batteries and firing grounds in the United States. As originally built, it contained ranges up to one thousand yards distance ; but as this was seldom used, it was deemed advisable to reduce it to six hundred yards. The New Jersey and Penn- sylvania Rifle Clubs and teams, the Pennsylvania National Guards and other national military com- panies meet at this place, and the range is provided with magazines and closets for the exclusive use of the different State organizations.

STOCKTON PARK .- Soon after the rifle range was started an additional forty-six and one-half acres of ground was laid out in connection with the grounds of the range, as a park and pleasure resort, making the park ninety acres in extent. The original buildings were altered and a large pavilion, fifty by one hundred feet in dimensions, erected, a hall for roller-skating, etc. In 1885 Emmor D. French, the superintendent, had con- structed an artificial lake, covering twenty-one acres of ground. This lake is only three feet in depth, and is provided with pleasure boats, one

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THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

being a large boat designed to carry fifty children at one time. The park is the favorite resort of the many cricket clubs, lawn-tennis parties and excur- sionists of Camden and vicinity.

PENSAUKIN is a small settlement on the Jor- dantown road, adjoining the borough limits. It was farm lands of the Cattells and William Pigeon, and about eight years ago lots were offered for sale, which were bought slowly by artisans, who have built small but comfortable and convenient resi- dences. It is being substantially built up by actual residents, and is a station on the railroad.

HOMESTEADVILLE .- In July, 1852, two hundred lots were laid out south of Merchantville (which at that time was just begun) and on the Whiskey road. It was a tract of land about six hundred by fifteen hundred feet, having three streets run- ning lengthwise and three crosswise. The lots were not sold readily, hut eventually some of them were purchased by colored people. The growth of the place did not reach the expectations of its founders.

SORDENTOWN .- Not far from where Pensaukin is situated, and on the road from the old "Spread Eagle Tavern " to the Union School-house, Thomas Clement, in 1850, laid out thirty-seven lots, which were sold mostly to colored people, and which are still held by them.

JORDANTOWN .- On the road from Merchant- ville to Fork Landing, and on the old Rudderow lands, several lots were laid out about 1840, and in 1846, when that road was opened, it passed through the place, where, there were four or five houses and a Methodist Episcopal Church, occu- pied by colored people. From that time the place grew slowly, and is now quite a settlement, with a school-house and neat Methodist Church. In former times yearly "Bush Meetings," as they were called, were held in some of the groves, which were cleared of underbrush for the purpose. These occa- sions called the old and young from far and near. The Rev. Benjamin Stokeley and the Rev. Isaac Hinson were among the early and prominent ministers who had charge of the meetings and congregation.

DELAIR .- The new village of Delair is situated about four miles from Camden, on the Delaware River and Pennsylvania Railroad, in this town- ship.

Jacob L. Gross, a Lancaster lawyer, moved here with his family in 1868, and soon thereafter pur- chased ten acres from the Browning estate and ten acres from Isaac Adams, upon which he built three cottages, and his son, Dr. Onan B. Gross, one.

The new town made no further progress, how- ever, for the next few years, when Bartram L. Bonsall, then publisher of The Camden Post, and John Zimmerman, of Pensaukin, in December, 1885, purchased one hundred and eleven acres, being the farm of Israel B. Adams, son of Isaac Adams, of whom the ten acres had been purchased by Jacob L. Gross seventeen years before.

Messrs. Zimmerman and Bonsall immediately laid the land off into building lots, and during the summer of 1886 sold a large number of them, aggregating in value nearly twenty thousand dollars. Several new houses were constructed and the village bids fair to become a popular suburban place of residence. The situation is delightful, and the ground very high, overlooking the river. The name Delair was given by the late Colonel Isaac S. Buckelew, the two syllables signifying Delaware air. During the fall of 1886 workmen cleared away brush, cut down trees, graded avenues and terraced a high bluff along the railroad. Three hundred Carolina poplar- trees were planted, one every twenty-five feet, over the entire tract, thus marking the avenues and insuring a grateful shade in the future.

MANUFACTURING.

The manufactories of this township, with two or three possible exceptions-as the brick and terra- cotta works at Pea Shore-may be regarded as a portion of the industrial overflow of Camden, being mostly near the city and all having offices there. This is also true of those located farthest away, as, for instance, Augustus Reeves' establish- ment.

THE PEA SHORE BRICK AND TERRA-COTTA WORKS are located at Fish House Station, on the Amboy Div. of the Pennsylvania R. R. The works, with the clay-pits near by, occupy forty-five acres fronting on the Delaware River, and prior to 1866 were used for the burning of red bricks only. Soon thereafter the present proprietor, Augustus Reeve, obtained entire control of the works, and in 1877 erected the fire-brick and terra-cotta department, there being on the grounds a large deposit of fire- brick and pipe-clay, and, so far as known, the only deposit south of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, N. J. There are two distinct departments at these works-the red brick manufactory and that for the making of fire-brick and terra-cotta ware. The first, with the kilns, sheds and machinery, cover one and a half acres of ground and contains a Chambers patent brick-machine, capable of pro- ducing thirty thousand to thirty-five thousand bricks daily, and is driven by an engine of sixty

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

horse-power. There are three large kilns capa- ble of burning two hundred thousand bricks each. The terra-cotta works are one hundred and thirty- four by sixty feet, with an L extension forty by forty-five feet, and the machinery of this de- partment requires an engine of thirty horse-power. It is fitted up with tempering-mill, stampers and presses for the manufacture of fire-brick, pipe, tile and terra-cotta ware of various kinds ; the products are sold to the home market and shipped to many States, and large quantities of the fire-brick clay are sent to various fire-brick works in Philadelphia. Sixty hands are employed. Branch siding of the Amboy Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which runs through their grounds, together with four hundred feet of wharfage on the river-front, affords them ample facilities for shipping by rail or water in all directions. The office and warehouse is at No. 31 Market Street, Camden, where a large supply of manufactured stock is stored.

THE FAIRVIEW BRICK-WORKS are located at Pea Shore, on the river-front, three miles above Camden, and cover an area of ten acres. They were originated in 1869, by Stone, Hatch & Co. In 1871 Hugh Hatch and Joseph Hatch, brothers, bought the entire grounds and buildings, and they have since conducted the business under the firm- name of Hatch & Brother. There are four large buildings upon the grounds, in which are the differ- ent departments for the manufacture of hard, strecher, paving and salmon brick. The mill proper is fitted up with a Chambers & Brothers brick- machine, which has a capacity for making thirty- five thousand to fifty thousand bricks a day. The average speed and production is seventy bricks a minute. The clay is dumped by the car-load into the reservoir of the machine, which mixes and tempers it before it enters the dies. From the dies the bricks pass on an endless belt to the drying- rooms in the main building,which is built of brick, sixty by three hundred feet in size and twenty- seven feet high, with an annex one hundred and ten by one hundred and fifteen feet, and of the same height. There are four arched kilns inclosed in the structure, having a capacity of three hundred and fifty thousand bricks each. The drying-rooms are on the second floor, above the kilns, and are capable of drying five hundred thousand bricks at one time. Between April 10, 1885, and April 10, 1886, there were made at the works seven million bricks with one machine. In 1882 patents were grant- ed the proprietors for the improved kilns of their own design and invention. On November 23, 1883, the works were destroyed by fire, but were rebuilt in 1884, and greatly increased in size. The

machinery requires a sixty horse-power engine, supplied by four large boilers. The works be- ing inclosed, the business is conducted through- out the entire year. Sixty hands are constantly employed. The firm has a large trade and excel- lent facilities for shipping by vessels from their own wharf on the river-front, and on the Penusyl- vania Railroad. The main office of these works is at No. 17 Kaighn Avenue.

THE OVERBROOK MILLS, corner of Seventeenth and Stevens Streets, Camden, covering au area of three acres, were commenced in 1879 by Richard Williamson & Co., for the manufacture of worsted coatings, linings and dress goods. Four large brick buildings are used by this company for dif- ferent branches of the goods made. In the mill proper, new and improved machinery is used for combing, drawing and spinning the raw material, and the weaving-sheds are specially constructed with top and north light. There is also a large wash and dry-house, a warehouse for storage of wool and a brick engine-house. On August 20, 1885, the mills were totally destroyed by fire at a loss of sixty-two thousand dollars, partly covered by insurance, but within six months they were rebuilt and in complete running order. New and automatic machinery was introduced for the manipulation of the finest grades of mohair and alpaca yarns, which are used for making braids, " seal-skins " and all kinds of fancy goods which require lustrous yarns. The machinery of the dif- ferent departments is operated by two sixty horse- power engines, with three large tubular boilers. Two hundred and twenty hands are employed. The products of the mills are sold throughout the entire United States, and the company are im- porters as well as merchants and manufacturers. The store and main office is at No. 20 Strawberry Street, Philadelphia.

J. L. CRAGIN & Co., soap manufacturers, began business at the corner of Seventeenth and Federal Streets in 1879. The firm had for many years conducted the same business in Philadelphia. They make exclusively "Dobbins' Electric Soap" and "Bradford's Fig Soap" for wooleu and worsted manufacturers. The grounds occupied are two hundred by three hundred feet. The main build- ing is L-shaped, three stories in height, with basement. It extends one hundred and twenty feet on Federal Street, and one hundred and seventy feet on Seventeenth Street. There are also stables and sheds connected with the estab- lishment. The motor is an engine of thirty horse- power, with two flue boilers rated at thirty horse- power each. The company has a paid-in capital

aliser &. 6 statt

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THE TOWNSHIP OF STOCKTON.

of five hundred thousand dollars. One hundred hands are employed. The trade is large and ex- tends throughout the United States, Canada, Ger- many and Cuba, with branch offices in Philadel- phia, Boston, New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

THE UNITED STATES CHEMICAL COMPANY, manufacturers of chemicals and fertilizers, was in- corporated in 1875, with William J. Jordan, presi- dent ; George T. Lewis, vice-president ; and E. R. Jenks, secretary and treasurer. The company owns an area of thirteen acres, on which are located twelve buildings, which are supplied with the necessary machinery and appliances for the manu- facture of their special products. Three large engines, equivalent to two thousand seven hundred horse-power, are required to run the large machin - ery for crushing and preparing the phosphates and fertilizers. From seventy to eighty men are constantly employed. An extensive business is done, and ample facilities are afforded for shipping by vessels on Coopers Creek, or over the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which is extended along the grour ds of the works.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 132

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