The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 97

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

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In 1861 he was engaged upon the Philadelphia Inquirer and Sunday Transcript and has since made journalism his principal avocation. He edited the Gloucester City Reporter from 1882 to 1885

In 1850 he married Miss Mary M. Wright and settled in Camden, where he has since remained, taking an active and influential part in public affairs. An advanced Liberal in politics, he was a delegate to and secretary of the State Free-Soil Convention held at Trenton in 1852. He was one of the promoters of and speakers at the formation of the first Republican Club organized in Camden, April 12, 1854, and in 1856 was one of the principal organizers of that party in West Jersey and is still one of its prominent speakers. In 1862 he was elected justice of the peace and has been re-elected four times since. In 1877 he was elected eity recor- der and re-elected 1880, '83 and '86. In 1884 he was elected to House of Assembly ; was a leading mem- ber, taking part in important debates ; was on the committee on education, municipal corporations and chairman of the committee on printing and on labor and industries. In the preparation of the history of the cities of Camden and Gloucester, as embraced in this volume, Mr. Braker rendered valuable assistance.

WILSON FITZGERALD, one of the notably suc- cessful business men of Camden, began life as a poor boy. He was a son of George K. and Eliza- beth (Rees) Fitzgerald (married October 3, 1807, by Rev. Mr. Abercromby, at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia), and was born February 26, 1819, in the Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. When nine years of age his father died, and he, being obliged to make his own living, went upon a farm in Montgomery County, where he became inured to hard work and laid the foundation of a rugged constitution and those habits of industry and thrift which he has maintained throughout his life. He remained upon the farm until he was sixteen years old, and then, resolving to learn a trade, and choosing that which had been his father's, he en- tered as an apprentice the cooper-shop of Titus & Edwards, on Commerce Street, above Fifth, Phila- delphia. Here he worked for five years for his board and an allowance of twenty-five dollars per year for clothes. The youths of to-day would consider themselves very hardly used or abused had they to endure the rigid laws of labor which then prevailed. During the five years' apprentice- ship, which it was customary to serve in nearly all trades, the only holidays allowed were the Fourth of July and Christmas, and the apprentice boys were given on each of these occasions the sum of twenty-five cents for spending money. This was

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

all the cash they received, and was prized accord- ingly. Their habits were of necessity frugal, and they were safe from many of the temptations to which the young men of to-day fall ready victims. After he had "served his time," young Fitzgerald went to work as a jourueyman for John Edwards & Son, on Bank Street, working one year at six dollars per week, and then being made foreman of the shop, receiving seven dollars per week for the four subsequent years. He then determined to start in trade for himself, and opened a cooper- shop on Greenleaf Court (now Merchaut Street), with a capital of two hundred dollars, which, by rigid economy, he had saved from his scanty earn- ings. After carrying on business, with a fair de- gree of success, for eleven years, he sold his shop to the man with whom he had learned his trade, and removed to Camden. This was in March, 1845, immediately after his marriage, to which we shall again advert. He bought property on Stevens Street, where he was in reality a pioneer, as that vicinity was then a common, showing no improve- ment except the little house which he built there for twelve hundred dollars. This became the home of Mr. Fitzgerald and his wife, and very proud indeed was the young man of the modest honse which his labor and thrift had provided. He continued building in that neighborhood, as his means permitted, until no less than twenty-six houses had arisen in testimony to his enterprise, completely changing the aspect of that part of the town. When he first went to Caniden he rented a house on Federal Street, above Second, and in it started what was probably the first green grocery and provision store in Camden. In 1856 he bought property at Beasley's Point, Cape May County, N. J., and for five years followed farming there, also carrying on, in the summer, a boarding- house. In 1861 he sold this property and, return- ing to Camden, established himself in the grain, flour and feed business on Front Street, below Market, in the old Hollinshead Hotel building. This store was subsequently extended through to Market Street. Here Mr. Fitzgerald probably carried on the first wholesale flour business which was transacted in Camden. About 1871 he moved to his present place of business, Nos. 10 and 12 Market Street, which building he erected. His son, John L., is associated with him, under the firm-name of Wilson Fitzgerald & Co., in the management of this house. They have a very ex- tensive trade in flour, feed, seeds and fertilizers. In connection with this business, Mr. Fitzgerald brought to the city the first salt that ever came here in bulk-a ship's cargo from Turk's Island.

He was also instrumental in bringing about the system of delivering in Camden unbroken car- loads of produce and merchandise from the West, by which immense sums of money have been saved. He first, as an experiment, brought the cars from Trenton, and this led to, or rather forced, the adoption of the present plan of ferrying the cars across the river from Philadelphia, thus placing unbroken bulk freight at the doors of Camden's warehouses, mills and stores ; and that, too, when it is through billed, as cheaply as it can be deliv- ered in Philadelphia. In addition to his mercan- tile business, our subject carries on a large farm on the Delaware River, about midway between Wood- bury and Mantua Creek, and he has a house there as well as in the city. His has been a very active life, and his prosperity, well-deserved as it is, has followed as a logical result from his industry and integrity. Mr. Fitzgerald is a Republican, but not a politician. He has held a seat in the City Coun- cil for six years-three years representing the Mid- dle and three years the North Ward.

On March 11, 1845, Mr. Fitzgerald was united in marriage with Joanna Colhouer. They have had seven children, five of whom are living. Eliz- abeth, born September 27, 1846, married Walker W. Chew; Anna, born September 9, 1849, is the wife of Louis T. Derousse ; Mary Emma, born February 18, 1852, died in infancy ; and Clara, born January 21, 1853, died in more advanced years ; Fannie Bockius, born Nov. 26, 1856, married J. E. Stockham ; John Lawrence, who is associated with his father in business, was born October 16, 1858, and married Miss Adele Annie Kite; Wilson, the youngest of the family, boru November 14, 1860, married Miss Amanda A. Smith, and resides in Camden, as do also the other children of Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald.

FRANK P. MIDDLETON is the great-grandson of John and Sarah Middleton, and the grandson of Joseph Middleton, who married Anna, daughter of Levi and Elizabeth Ellis. To Joseph Middle- ton and his wife were born twelve children,-eight sons and four daughters,-of whom but two survive. Bowman H., a native of Haddonfield, N. J., and the fifth son, was born on the 19th of July, 1814, and spent his life in the county of his birth. He early became proficient in the trade of a cabinet- maker, subsequently removed to Camden and car- ried on the business of an undertaker until his death, in 1866. Though interested in public affairs, he did not aspire to office, his ambition being satisfied with the position of coroner, which he filled for some years. He married Elizabeth Venable, of Camden, N. J., whose children are

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

Frank P., Josiah V., Anna (Mrs. English), Charles K. and Emily. Frank P., the subject of this bio- graphical sketch, was born May 6, 1837, in Marl- ton, Burlington County, N. J., and at an early age removed with his parents to Camden. His educa- tional advantages were such as the country af- forded, supplemented by more thorough training in Camden, after which he began his active career as assistant to his father in the undertaking busi- ness. He continued thus employed until the death of the latter, when, in connection with his brother, he managed the business in behalf of the estate. In 1869 Mr. Middleton established himself in Camden as an undertaker and speedily acquired an extended patronage. He was, on the 70

14th of February, 1864, married to Mary, daughter of Anthony and Martha Williams, of Philadelphia. Their children are Lizzie (deceased), Laura (de- ceased), Mattie and Harry (twins) and Mary and Frank (twins, deceased). Mr. Middleton is a Republican in his political affiliations, but has never allowed the allurements of the political arena to draw him from the routine of his legitimate business. He is a member of Chosen Friends Lodge, No. 29, of Independent Order of Odd-Fellows ; of Provident Lodge, No. 4, of An- cient Order of United Workmen ; and of Ionic Lodge, No. 12, of the Order of Sparta. Both Mr. and Mrs. Middleton are members of the North Baptist Church of Camden.

GLOUCESTER CITY.

CHAPTER X.

Topography-Early History-Fort Nassau-Gloucester as a County Seat-County Courts and Public Buildings -The Original Town and Some of its Inbabitants-A Deserted Village-An Era of Pros- perity Arrives-Incorporation and City Government -- Manufac- turing Interests-Religious History-Schools-Societies-Glou_ cester as a Pleasure Resort-The Fox Hunting Club-Fisheries.

TOPOGRAPHY .- The name of Gloucester is bor- rowed from a cathedral town on the bank of the Severn, in the west of England, whence emigrated some of the earliest settlers of West Jersey. The word itself is from the Celtic,-glaw caer,-which signifies " handsome city."

Gloucester City is in the south western part of the county, on a peninsula formed by the Delaware River on the west, Great and Little Timber Creeks on the south and southeast, and Newton Creek on the uorth and east. It is situated on slightly undulating ground, sufficiently elevated to insure good drainage, which is further assured by the geological formation,-a body of sand and gravel, from ten to thirty feet thick, resting on a stratum of clay. This, with the broad and fast- flowing river on the west, whence, in summer, cool breezes are wafted, joined to wide, clean streets abounding in shade, and the large yards and gardens in fruit-trees giving, at a distance, the appearance of an inhabited forest-to which add excellent water in abundance, good schools, nu- merous societies, full religious opportunities, with many industrial establishments, insuring work for those who will-altogether point to Gloucester City as a desirable place to live in. That the people live and live long is proven by the annual table of vital statistics, which show it to excel most towns of its size in healthfulness, the death-rate in 1885 being 15.42 in the 1000, while in Camden it was 18.30, in the county 17.87 and in the State 18.63.

The area of Gloucester is one and a half square

miles, within which live five thousand nine hun- dred and sixty-six persons, an average of six to the acre ; in eleven hundred and thirty-seven houses, an average of five and one-fourth to the house; with an assessed valuation (much below real value) of $1,763,510, an average of $295.50 per capita ; and the eleven hundred and thirty-seven houses are owned by six hundred and seventy-five persons. The city contains seven industrial estab- lishments, with a capacity for employing two thousand five hundred persons and an annual pay- roll of nine hundred thousand dollars; well-ap- pointed schools, with room for all, and a compe- tent corps of teachers, at an annual cost of eight thousand dollars ; five churches, representing dif- ferent shades of religious belief, having, in all, two thousand two hundred members; and two railroads and a line of ferry-boats, giving frequent means of ingress and egress. The municipality owns a city hall, adequate for all re- quirements ; has built sewers ; streets are lighted by gas; has a debt of seventy-six thousand dollars, incurred by the construction of water-works cost- ing eighty-five thousand dollars and sufficient for a population of forty thousand. The cost of the city government is twelve thousand dollars a year, covered by a tax rate of two per cent. for all pur- poses. Such is the Gloucester of 1886. Forty years ago it was a hamlet, a hundred years ago but the ruins of a former town, and one hundred and ninety years ago the only town in South Jersey.

EARLY HISTORY-FORT NASSAU .- In 1621 the States-General of the New Netherlands granted to the Second West India Company, of Holland, a large tract of land upon the eastern coast of North America.1 .This company sent out, for the New World, in 1623, a vessel in command of Captain

1 See Early History of Gloucester County, p. 32.

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GLOUCESTER CITY.

Cornelius Jacobse Mey, who brought with him a number of persons and materials, with the inten- tion of establishing a colony. All early historians agree that he entered Delaware Bay in 1623, and gave his name to the cape at the southern extrem- ity of New Jersey, and which still retains it, al- though anglicized as Cape May. Gordon's " His- tory of New Jersey," page 7, says he fixed upon Hermaomissing, at the mouth of the Sassackon, the most northerly branch of Timber Creek, as the place for his settlement, and where he built a log fort, which he named Nassau, in honor of a town on the Upper Rhine river, in Germany. How long Captain Mey remained with his colony at Fort Nassau, or what was the cause of his depar- ture, is not known; but the next ship that was sent up the Delaware, in 1631, eight years after, found the place entirely deserted by the colony and in possession of the Indians. The exact locality even of the fort is a matter of conjecture; and even Evelin, Campanius, Lindstrom, Van Der Donck, Kalm, Acrelius and other early writers, failed to agree upon its exact location. The earliest of the writers named, Evelin, was, in 1633, one of the set- tlers at Fort Eriwamac, at the mouth of Pensau- kin Creek. So completely was every vestige of Fort Nassau destroyed that its site cannot be defi- nitely determined.

Recent research has, to some extent, removed the mystery of the site which Captain Mey chose for his fortification. Mickle, in his " Reminis- cences of Old Gloucester," carefully examined the evidence, and since his time others have success- fully pursued the same line of investigation. The results are found in the paper upon "The Hol- landers in New Jersey," submitted by Rev. Abra- ham Messler, D.D., to the New Jersey Historical Society May 16, 1850; Edward Armstrong's pa- pers on the history and site of the fort, contained in Volume VI. of the Society's proceedings ; and the report of the Society's committee in 1852, au- thorized to examine the supposed location which is embraced in the same volume.

The most reasonable deduction from this mass of evidence and investigation is that Fort Nassau was perched upon the high ground of Gloucester Point, or, more definitely, that " it was situated immediately upon the river at the southern ex- tremity of the high land abutting upon the meadows north of mouth of the Timber Creek." "That posi- tion," Mickle wrote, " would have struck the eye of an engineer, inasmuch as a fortress thus situa- ted could have commanded both the river and creek, while it would have been greatly secured from the attacks of the Indians by the low

marshy land which surrounded it on all sides ex- cept the north. Some of the cabins which con- stituted the town of Nassau are supposed, with much reason, to have stood, near the mouth of the Sassackon, which was one of the many names for Timber Creek. The first fort, erected in 1623, was probably a very rude pile of logs, just sufficient to serve as a breastwork. This having been destroyed by the Indians, another fort was built in 1642, when the Dutch returned to watch their rivals, the Swedes. The latter fort, Barker supposes to have been built with some style, as its architect was Hendrick Christiansee, the builder of Fort Amsterdam." Mickle dates the rebuilding in 1642 on the authority of " Holmes' Annals " and " Duponceau's Annotations.' Gabriel Thomas or his engraver was manifestly wrong in placing upon his map a Dutch fort at some distance above Glou- cester, at the mouth of what seems to be intended for Coopers Creek. Lindstrom, in his description of New Sweden in the time of Governor Prinz, said that at the location of the fort, "la riviere est ici bien profonde." If the fort was situated where the river was very deep, which is Lindstrom's meaning, it could not have been any distance up Timber Creek, but at Gloucester Point.

The house of John Hngg, who purchased five hundred acres from Robert Zane in 1683, is sup- posed to have been built upon the site of Fort Nassau, and its location coincides with the strong. est theories of the situation of the work. John Redfield, who lived near by, prompted the inves- tigation made by Mr. Armstrong. Redfield's daughter having brought from the river-shore a flower which he suspected was exogenous, he vis- ited the spot where it was plucked and found pieces of Dutch brick and ware in the ground, and por- tions of a wall surmounted by a few logs, indicat- ing the remains of a redonbt or a building erected for defense. From the abandonment of the fort, about 1651, to 1677, when the London and York- shire commissioners sailed up the Delaware River, the shore from Timber Creek to Pensaukin was in undisputed possession of a few Indians, although under the jurisdiction of the English since 1664.

In an article contributed to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History in July, 1885, Judge John Clement says,-

" When the London and Yorkshire commis- sioners, accompanied by their friends, found their ship in the Delaware River in 1677, their attention was naturally drawn toward the territory on the eastern side of that beautiful stream. Their fu- ture homes were to be there, for they had come to ' plant a nation,' yet their minds did not compre-

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

hend the importance of their undertaking, nor did they see the end from such small beginnings. In ascending the river, that prominent point known among the Indians as Arwaumus, was a noticeable feature, and it was at once agreed that it was a suitable site for a city and by the new- comers called Gloucester Point. In fact, the Lon- don commissioners insisted upon stopping at this place, and it was only after much persuasion and substantial inducements offered, that they con- sented to go to Burlington and settle with the others.

" It is quite possible also that the remains of Fort Nassau, built in 1623, were there, around which were a few Swedish and Dutch settlers. The true position of this fort has always been in doubt, some claiming that it stood in the marsh near the mouth of Timber Creek, and others that it was built on the high ground, the present site of Gloncester City, this being in the eye of a military engineer the most suitable spot for a work of de- fense. Although the London owners, through over-persuasion, settled with their friends at Bur- lington, the original purpose was not abandoned, for in a short time individuals were prospecting for land bounding on Cooper, Newton and Timber Creeks, and a few families had already settled at the Point."

ERECTION OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY .- In the year 1678 Robert Turner, of London, came to this country, and soon after prospected for land in this vicinity. In 1682 Mark Newbie, Thomas Thack- ara, Robert Zane, William Bates and their families, and Thomas Sharp and George Goldsmith came to Salem, and, in accordance with the advice of Robert Turner, located a large tract of land on Newton Creek and its middle branch, on which they settled.

In the year 1686, the territory having become populous, the inhabitants of the territory embraced in the third and fourth tenths, residing between Pensaukin and Oldmans Creeks, met on the 28th of May at Arwaumus, or Gloucester Point, and formed a county constitution, defined the bounda- ries of the new county, called Gloucester, arranged for courts and executed other business necessary to complete an organization without the warrant of legislative action; but as the Province was in con- fusion, and Burlington, the place where official business was transacted, was far away, the people took this opportunity to provide for themselves offices of record and a more convenient place for the transaction of public business. This action was confirmed by the Provincial Government in 1692 and 1694.

GLOUCESTER AS A COUNTY-SEAT .- It is very evident that at the time of this action there were some settlers at Gloucester, but who they all were is not definitely known. Mathew Medcalf, Samuel Harrison, John Reading, William Harrison and Thomas and Richard Bull were among the first settlers there. Some of them were friends of the London commissioners, and others the settlers on Newton Creek, who became residents of the new county-seat.

A tract of land was laid out by them. It was proposed and intended from the year 1677 to make the place a town, and on the 12th of the Sixth Month, 1686, the proprietors held a public meeting at Gloucester, at which it was mutually agreed by all the proprietors then present to lay out a town. A memorandum was drawn up, which is now in the Surveyor-General's Office, at Burling- ton, extracts from which are here given :

Article 1. " That the town shall contain nine streets, extending from the River Delaware back- wards, the land embraced to be laid out and divided into ten equal parts, every one fronting the river and containing in breadth 220 yards."

Article 2. "That at present there shall be a cross street, run through the town at the distance of twelve chains and twenty links, from Water Street to the river-side."

Article 3. " That the two middle divisions, or tenth part, of the town shall again be divided into two equal parts, by the running of a street to cross the same in the midst, between Water Street and the aforesaid street running through the town."

Article 4. " That there shall be a square three chains every way, laid out for a Market-Place, where the said cross street shall meet and intersect the higher great street, which is between the two middle tenths, or divisions aforesaid."

Article 5. "That the four quarters bordering to the market-place be divided and made by the running of the afforesaid short cross street and High street shall be again divided into equal shares and lots, of which every quarter shall contain twenty and two, being in the whole eighty-eight lots, the length of which shall be half the distance between the said Water Street and short cross street, which is sixty yards, and the breadth of each lot shall be the eleventh part of the breadth of one of the mid- dle divisions, or tenth part of the Town is twenty yards."

Article 6 provided "that every proprietor shall have privilege of choosing his lot, provided he settle on the same and build a house within six months."

Article 7 provided "that every proprietor hav- ing a right to a twentieth part of a Propriety may

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take up one of the aforesaid eighty-eight lots, and so proportionately for any greater share or part."

Article 12 says : " That the town be from hence- forth called Gloucester, and the third and fourth tenths the County of Gloucester."

Article 13 prayed "That the creek heretofore and commonly called by the name of Timber Creek be and is hereby nominated and is henceforth to be called by the name of Gloucester River."

Article 14 provides "That for taking up lands within the town bounds or liberties of Glouces- ter."

It is evident that at this stage of the meeting some of the members had been thinking of the plan proposed, and had feared that trouble would ensue in a division of lots, and Article 15 provided other means of distribution, by which "the proprietors, aforesaid, do fully and absolutely con- sent, conclude and agree."

All former locations were declared null and void by Article 16, and Article 17 declared "that what land soever shall be taken up within the Town boundary shall be by lot, and instead of a first choice (as formerly proposed), the first lot shall now claim and have the first survey," and so on.

Article 18 provided "That before any land be surveyed in the Town there shall a road be laid and marked out from High Street in Gloucester, through the middle of the Town bounds, until it meets with Salem road."

Article 19 declared " That there be two public and commodious landings in the most convenient places on the banks of the Gloucester river and the branch of the Newton Creek, surveyed and laid forth with roads leading from them into the affore- said high road, through the midst of the Town bounds."

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 97

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