The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 60

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

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made across the creek (Atmore's Dam), each of which laws were to protect the owners of meadow or grass lands.

December 21, 1771, an act was passed to raise and keep the road across Newton Creek meadows from William Garrard's toll-house to Keziah Tomkins' fast lands. This was done on petition of Thomas Atmore, Isaac Burroughs, Benjamin Thackara, Jacob Stokes, Hannah Cooper, Keziah Tomkins, Elizabethı Thackara and Job Haines, who were the owners of meadow on the easterly side of the creek.

After some effort an act was passed, No- vember 20, 1786, allowing the owners of meadow on Newton Creek and its several branches to erect and maintain a dam and water-works across the mouth of the same at the river. This avoided the expense attendant on keeping up the several dams before named, and secured all the marsh land on the creek from the overflow of the tide. April 6, 1867, a supplement was passed to enable owners of meadow on that stream to improve the same. This did not accomplish the purposes intended, and March 27, 1872, another amendment was passed allowing the dam to be cut and the tides to ebb and flow. Some defect in the position of the sluices and gates prevented the outflow of the water from the inside, which accumulated from the springs and rains, and which made the neighborhood unhealthy and affected the value of real estate. A dam was erected across the mouth of the south branch of Pensaukin Creek by act of December 6, 1775, for the purposes before named. Great Timber Creek being a navigable stream, was banked on both sides, from the mouth nearly to the head of navigation on each branch, but this appears to have been done by individual shore-owners and without any. enabling act.

The owners of marsh on Coopers Creek, it being a navigable stream, also reclaimed it · in the same manner, and much valuable pas- ture land on each of these streams is still

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protected from the tide. This proves con- clusively that no attention had been paid, until near the close of the last century, to the cultivation of the upland or artificial grasses, and that all depended upon the marsh lands within reach of the tide for their hay. Farmers, long distances from their meadows, and at great cost and labor, thus obtained their winter supply, which at best was scanty and often of poor quality. The growers of early vegetables for the Philadelphia markets, and who utilized the light sandy soil, were not slow to notice the advantage of mauures in forwarding their crops, and soon grew ex- travagant in their use, but made it profitable. About the beginning of the present century notice was taken of marl and land plaster, and some farmers ventured to sow small breadths of clover, herd-grass and timothy seed.

This was watched with much interest by all neighboring agriculturists, with the hope that their cattle could be fed at much less cost and trouble than attended the securing of the meadow crop. John Gill, Joseph M. Hinchman, Joseph Kay, Samuel Nicholson and a few others made this risk, but the ex- periment at once dissolved all doubt in this direction, and meadow land began to lose its importance and decrease in value.

At once the benefit was recognized and the next year every farmer-except those whose meadow land adjoined their farms -- sowed grass seed with his winter grain.

About this time an attempt was made to utilize iron instead of wood for plows. It was a crude idea, for the land side mould- board and shear were cast in a solid piece, making it so heavy it could not be handled. It went, however, to prove one thing-that the clay soils slipped from it much better than from wood. Soon the pieces were cast separately and the "Peacock plow " was the first iron one that found favor among the farmers. Improvements in other like im- plements followed, and cultivators, spike-har- rows and gang-plows came iuto use.

The harvest in the olden time was the event of the agricultural year, and brought together nearly all the able-bodied men and boys and apprentices of the neighborhood. The sickle was the only implement used and all were expected to know how to "reap and bind," that the grain in sheaves might be ready for the carriers and shockers. One of the oldest and steadiest of the men would be selected as leader and his orders were ob- served. Young men would sometimes wish to test their skill and speed, and would not " cut in " ahead of the man on the lead, but if the work was badly done or disputes arose as to place, a word from the leader settled all. Sometimes among the farmers twenty or thirty reapers could be seen crossing a field of ripened grain and each carrying his " ridge " which was an attractive sight.

About ten o'clock the good wife and her daughters could be seen waiting under some convenient shade to dispense the lunch of hot biscuits and cool drink -- which was enjoyed by all. Dinner would be announced by the tin horn or conch-shell, which was always a good meal with an hour's rest thereafter. Four o'clock brought another lunch like that of the morning and was acceptable to the now weary harvesters, and as a day's work was from " sun to sun," there were several hours yet before the task was ended. Supper over, the traditional darkey fiddler would be pressed into service, the barn-floor cleared and straight fours, hornpipes and double shuffles indulged in, much to the pleasure of the lads and lassies who joined the dance.

The indentured apprentices, who, by their papers, were entitled to two " week's harvest" were always largely represented on these oc- casions, and made for themselves pocket- money for the coming year. Nearly all the mechanical operations in the villages would be suspended for this week, and the man who wanted his horse shod, his wagon mended or his shoe patched must ask it as a favor and not demand it as a right. The cradle gradu-

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ally took the place of the sickle as a more rapid means of cutting the grain, and at last the occupation of the reaper was gone and the days of the harvest, with its jokes, its lunch and its dance, were almost forgotten.

The wooden flail for threshing grain held its place for many years and made winter work for the man who looked after the cattle and did chores for the family, and our grandfathers winnowed the grain by the use of a barn shovel and trusted to a favorable breeze to carry away the chaff, which re- quired both patience and endurance to ac- complish. At last rude fan-mills made their appearance and one of these would accommo- date a neighborhood. Now the steam thresher does it all and the sound of the flail may never again be heard.

The grass was cut with scythes, spread with forks and gathered with rakes, taking about two days to prepare it for the mow. The whole process was by hand, and if the crop was clover and it happened to rain, there was little but stems when in the barn, for the frequent handling wasted the head and blossom. The first break in this system was the revolving horse-rake. Farmers were slow to accept its use or acknowledge its mer- its. "It picks up all the sticks and stones with the grass and I don't want it," says an old farmer sitting on the fence watching it work. "It rolls and wads the hay so you can't get it apart," says another near by and who refused to be convinced. These and other objections were lost sight of when its labor-saving advantages were considered, and soon one, if not two, of them could be seen on every plantation.

The grain and seed-drill has supplanted the sower, the plow and the harrow, the com- bined reaper and binder, the mower, rake and fork ; each worked by horses have crowded out the primitive appliances formerly used.

And the farmer's wife is entitled to a place here as well. With everything as primitive as the implements of her husband, her brain

and energies were often sadly taxed as to how she could get on with her work. The kitchen was the largest apartment in the house, and used for an eating, sitting, and cooking-room. The broad, open fire-place was where she was exposed to the heat, and also the strong cur- rent of cold air constantly rushing up the chimney, when preparing meals. The crane, the trammels, the huge pots and the griddle and gridiron were ever present, testing her strength and patience at every step. The array of pewter plates, bowls and mugs that adorned the dresser or high wooden mantel (being part of her wedding outfit) had to be cleaned and burnished as occasion required, while the uncarpeted floors and unpainted chairs and tables must receive a certain amount of labor each week to make them presentable to her family and neighbors.

The care of the dairy and its products, as well as the poultry, fell to the females. The washing, ironing and mending for the family (the hired help included) was a weekly or- deal ; not to mention the baking, sweeping and scrubbing,-all this without cook-stoves or ranges, without washing-machines or wringers, without patent churus, butter-trays or any other labor-saving appliances. The flax was to be broken and swingled ; the wool was to be cleaned, carded and prepared for the loom, and the hum of the wheel told that the mother and daughters were busy during the long winter evenings, and doing their work by the light of the pine-knots burning on the hearth. This picture is with- out romance or coloring, and she who took upon herself the duties of matron accepted a situation unknown in these days of the di- visions of labor and the intelligent applica- tion of machinery.

. It is needless to speculate as to the devel- opment of fruit and berry-growing in this section. With hundreds of acres yet untouched, so well adapted to these purposes, a few more decades, and that which is now forest and swamp may be made to yield its abundance,

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

through the industry of a teeming popula- tion. Many can remember when strawber- ries were a garden luxury, and the brier-hook of the farmer was ever ready to destroy the blackberry and dewberry vines that crowded his fences, when cranberry culture had not been thought of, and many other like growths received no attention.

Developments are constantly being made in our country which aid the farmer in selling the produce of his land, and invite him to in- crease his acres of cultivated soil. They give employment to people in manufacturing, min- ing and transportation, the building of rail- roads and canals, and the increase of foreign trade by shipping. None of the people so em- ployed produce anything for themselves or their families to eat; hence the earth with the fullness thereof, through the industry of the husbandman, supplies their wants. The im- provement in the breed of horses, of cattle, of swine and of ponltry has not been overlooked, and he is the exception who has no Jersey cattle in his pastures, no Chester Whites or Jersey Reds in his pens, no choice stock of colts in his stalls nor any Plymouth Rocks or Wyandotts in his hennery.

And other things have kept in the line of improvements. Dwellings are more conve- nient and comfortable, barns are larger and better arranged, and labor-saving utensils may be found in every department.

The Federal and State governments have come to appreciate agriculture. Chemistry has been invoked and attention given to the best means of increasing crops. The State Board of Agriculture annually brings togeth- er the progressive farmers, and the Legislature, with commendable liberality, seconds every effort to advance these objects. The husband- man has now taken his true position in the community ; he knows that the wealth of the nations comes out of the land, and that he con- tributes largely to that end ; that his calling commands respect and that the produce of his broad acres finds a place in every family.

A NEW ERA .- The greatest stride in agricultural advancement has probably been developed within the last quarter of a cen- tury ; not alone in improved implements of husbandry, but in the variety and methods of cultivating the crops. The outbreak of the War of the Rebellion cut off all com- petition from the South, and the result of this and the demands of an enormous army stimulated the prices of farmn products in this county to a wonderful extent; potatoes sold readily at a dollar per five-eighths bushel. Corn brought from eighty cents to one dollar and a half per bushel, oats eighty cents to one dollar per bushel, rye an equal price, and wheat, about the close of the war, brought three dollars per bushel. Strawberries sold at from ten to thirty cents per quart, blackberries twelve to fifteen cents per quart, raspberries eight to ten cents per pint, grapes eight to ten cents per pound, and all other products at equally remunerative prices, and as a result, farm land rapidly increased in value, the best lands readily selling at from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars per acre, The value of all kinds of fertilizers correspondingly increased ; stable manure in Philadelphia sold on the wharves at one dol- lar and fifty cents per small cart-load. It was loaded upon canal-boats, flats and schoon- ers and sent up all the navigable streams to various landings. Farmers increased their. areas of cultivated land, and applied manures and fertilizers unsparingly. Peruvian guano, being considered the best commercial fertil- izer, sold at one hundred dollars per ton. Hay and straw brought prices varying from one dollar to two dollars and a half per hun- dred-weight. During such a period farmers became wide awake and progressive. New fruits were rapidly introduced. The first great acquisition was the Hovey strawberry introduced by C. M. Hovey, of Boston, and was the pioneer of the strawberry culture of to-day ; this was rapidly followed by other varieties, until the varieties are now over one

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hundred, and embrace all kinds and shapes of berries. Those varieties most popular at present are the Sharpless, Crescent, Miners, Downing and Mount Vernon, although many others are cultivated profitably. The season of 1886 has been one unusually favorable to the growth of the strawberry, and large crops have been gathered. Probably the largest crop by an individual grower in this county was a yield of sixty-eight thousand quarts on fourteen acres, grown by Ezra C. Bell, of Mount Ephraim. This yield has fre- quently been excelled by growers of one or two acres, and Friend Bell has exceeded it on ten acres two years previously. The large crop of this fruit caused a series of extremely low prices, thousands of quarts selling below the cost of picking, which fact has discouraged many growers to abandon their plants and turn their attention to other crops. The cultiva- tion of the blackberry began to assume im- portance about the same time as the straw- berry, and acquired considerable success, and is still cultivated, but is not as profitable as formerly, the Wilson Early being the most noteworthy. The best yield in the county was that raised by John S. Collins, on the Benjamin Horner farm, a little north of and adjoining the borough of Merchantville, in the year 1872; he raised and sold one hun- dred and ninety-two thousand quarts on sev- enty-five acres, which were sold for the sum of twenty-two thousand one hundred and two dollars. The variety was the Wilson Early.

Raspberries also came into profitable cul- tivation, the Philadelphia being the most profitable, although its honors have been closely contested by the Brandywine, Cuth- bert or Queen of the Market, Early Prolific, Reliance and others. Joshua Barton, of Berlin, in 1884, raised on two acres three thousand two hundred and forty-one and a half quarts of Queen of the Market rasp- berries, not including those consumed at home. Grapes also attracted their full share of attention, and many large yields and profit-

able returns have been obtained. In 1885 the crop of John W. Potts, of Stockton township, a little northeast of Merchantville borough, on five acres was a little over fifteen tons of grapes. While these results in small fruits were obtained, the grain and truck farmers were not idle. Large crops of all kinds of vegetables are yearly reported. Joel Clement, of Stockton, raised twelve hundred and eighty-five baskets (five-eighths bushel) of peppers on one acre, which sold for two hundred and twenty-five dollars. Jesse L. Anderson, of Ellisburg, a few years ago had a remarkable yield of sweet potatoes. David Roe, of Haddonfield, has at different times raised very productive crops of cab- bages.

Edward W. Coffin, 1885, on two and seven-eighth acres raised three thousand bushels of tomatoes of five-eighth bushel each and weighing thirty-nine pounds per basket, equal to forty thousand six hundred and ninety-six pounds per acre. He also raised on four and seven-eighth acres thirty- nine thousand six hundred pounds of hay. Joseph Errickson, of Delaware township, raised in 1885 eight hundred and forty bushels of tomatoes on one acre ; John D. Glover, of Mount Ephraim, four hundred and eighty- six bushels of wheat on seventeen acres; Joseph C. Hollinshead, of Haddon township, raised twenty-five tons of mangel-wurzel beets on one and a half acres. Joel Clement, of Stockton township, near the Bethel Church, raised in 1885, on a little less than a quarter of an acre, eleven hundred baskets (five-eighths bushel) of squashes, which sold for one hun- dred and eighty-five dollars ; and from a little less than one and one-half acres of cabbage two hundred and three dollars was realized ; from one and a half acres of late tomatoes two hun- dred and twelve dollars was realized. Many of these yields and prices have no doubt been exceeded, but enough has been mentioned to give an idea of the crops produced under the advanced system of agriculture.

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

While these changes have been going on in the rotation of crops and the cultivation of the soil, the condition of the agriculturist has also assumed a more elevated position in all that concerns the conveniences of husbandry and the drudgery of the farmers' wives, although the relief of the latter has not reached that position to which she is justly entitled. It is true that the spinning- wheel and distaff have been discarded, and the huge fire-places, with their cumbersome crane and pots and kettles, have been suc- ceeded by the cook-stove and range, the bare floors are carpeted, and the plumber's art frequently called in to locate the bath-tub, and hot and cold water arrangements, the dairyman succeeds the dairy-maid with the milk pail, the washing, ironing and mend- ing for the hired men employed on the farm is a thing of the past, the sitting-room and parlor are furnished in the latest styles of furniture, and adorned with many handsome ornaments, and frequently the chandelier is found in its graceful proportions hanging from the ceiling, yet the system of farmers boarding and lodging their field hands is still in vogue, although the practice of providing convenient and comfortable residences for the employees of the farm, and the men board- ing themselves, is being successfully tried among the more affluent farmers. The system is far from being general, although it is not venturing much to say that within the next score of years it will be as un- common an occurrence to find a farmer board- ing his help as it is to-day to find one wash- ing and mending for them. The day is also not far distant when butter-making, except in large dairies, will also be seldom done upon the farm. The milk or cream will be sent to a creamery and the farmer charged a percentage for the manufacture of the pro- duct into butter. But to forecast the events that are sure to supplant the methods of to-day is to venture on unknown grounds. Certain it is, however, that the wife of the

agriculturist of Camden County is destined to be relieved from much of the slavery that now besets her life, and to enjoy an existence as free from vexatious toil as her city neighbor.

After reviewing the past and noting the continued advance in agricultural pursuits, it is impossible to predict the future of the husbandman of this county.

The importance of a unity of action in many cases necessitated the formation of a Farmers' Association, which was first organ- ized at Ellisburg in 1872, and afterwards removed to Haddonfield, where it entered on a quiet but steady career of usefulness, the effects and advantages of which are manifold. Aside from the discussions at the meetings, many important actions were taken to relieve the farmers of impositions practiced upon them. For several years exhibitions of cereal products and poultry were yearly held in the Town Hall at Haddonfield, where poultry for breeding purposes was sold and exchanged. The energies of the association were largely curtailed by the Grange move- ment, which reached this county in 1874. Yet, notwithstanding the absorption of its members in the Grange organizations, the association maintained its organization and membership in the State Board, and, aided largely by its influence, is reorganizing the State Board of Agriculture, and placing that body upon its present influential posi- tion. One of the original. members of the association is at this time president of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture. The officers of the association are as follows : President, Edward Burrough ; Vice-Presi- dent, Edward S. Huston ; Recording Secre- tary, George T. Haines; Corresponding Secre- tary, Edward Burrough ; Treasurer and Librarian, Jacob S. Coles; Executive Com- mittee, Isaac W. Coles, Ezra C. Bell, Rich- ard Levis Shivers, Nathaniel Barton and Samuel Wood.

In accordance with the provisions of the law authorizing the creation of County Boards

E le Belle.

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of Agriculture, the Camden County Board of Agriculture was formed, aud although yet in its infancy, gives promise of being a useful element, through which the farmers of the county can unite upon any measure tending to advance their interest. The present offi- cers are as follows : President, Ezra C. Bell ; Vice-President, Edward S. Huston ; Record- ing Secretary, George T. Haines ; Correspond- ing Secretary, Nathaniel Barton ; Treasurer, Jacob Stokes Coles ; Directors, Theodore Heider, Edward Burrough and Amos Ebert ; Delegates to the State Board of Agriculture, Edward Burrough and Edward S. Huston.

CAMDEN COUNTY POMONA GRANGE .- This organization was established Septem- ber 6, 1877, in Clement's Hall, at Haddon- field, by the action of the Union Grange, at Mechanicsville, Haddon Grange, of Haddon- field, Blackwood Grange, of Blackwood, and Hammonton Grange, of Atlantic County. Meetings are held at the hall of Haddon Grange, Haddonfield. Isaac Nicholson was elected Master, and served until 1880, when he was succeeded by Theodore Hyder, of Black wood, who still presides. R. J. Bynes was chosen secretary at the organization and served until 1880, when he was succeeded by R. L. Shivers, who served one year and was followed by the present secretary, George T. Haines.

EZRA C. BELL, one of the successful ag- riculturists of Camden County, is a descend- ant of Henry Bell, one of the Friends who came to Montgomery County, Pa., in the last decade of the seventeenth century, and settled on lands he purchased of William Penn. His son John, born in 1721, mar- ried Hannalı Recse, and to them there was a son born in 1749, whom they named Jona- than. This son married Mary Stroud, and had two children,-James and Isaiah, the last-named of whom married Catharine Hughes, and died in 1849, aged seventy- eight years, having nine children, the second child, named Hughes, marrying Sarah

Comfort, daughter of Ezra and Margaret (Shomaker) Comfort. Hughes Bell for nine years managed the farm attached to the Westtown Boardiug-School of Friends, and in 1847 purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in Union (now Centre) town- ship, Camden County. This was formerly known as the Joseph Tomlinson property, originally located by Joseph Hugg. Part of this land was in timber and the remainder in an impoverished and much neglected farm, and, but for a tract of banked meadow on Great Timber Creek, there would have been no hay for winter's use. At that time his fam- ily consisted of his wife and five children,- Chalkley, Charles, Mary, Ezra C., and James. Soon a change was apparent, and by judicious cropping the soil advanced rapidly in fertility. Hughes Bell was among the first in this section to cut and stack his corn before husk- ing, thus saving the fodder from winds and rain. The objection of "costing too much," as argued among farmers, soon vanished and the system was in a few years almost uni- versally adopted. His sons used the first mowing-machine hereabouts, and although cumbersome and defective in many parts, was the beginning of a new era in hay-mak- ing for all. Hughes Bell died in 1857 and his sons became the possessors of his landed estate and pursued the same intelligent system . of agriculture, taking advantage of the use of machinery and the application of fertilizers. The land which came to Ezra C. Bell was the purchased tract of seventy-one acres and part of the original tract. Much of this land was yet unbroken and some of it difficult to clear. In utilizing a bed of clay on the premises for brick and the man- ufacture of tile, of which his present residence was built in 1856, with which the farm is nnderlaid, gradual inroads were made upon the brush and stumps until some of the best land was exposed to the sun and made ready for use. The miles of tile which underlay the soil render it now one of the most pro-

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 60

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