The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 98

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

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· Article 20 declared " That there shall be a lane or road of 33 foot broad laid out at the distance and end of every twenty chains through the Town bounds, from the high road of each side thereof, down to the branch of Gloucester river and the branch of Newton Creek."

The great road was ordered to be begun the 20th of August following, also the public landings, with the roads and the rest of the lands or roads lead- ing from the branches, and proceeded with until completed.

It was also ordered that the surveyor, Thomas Sharp, be furnished with four assistants, namely : Francis Collins, Thomas Thackara, John Reading and Mathew Medcalf, each of which was to have five shillings per day, and the surveyor ten shil- lings.

The following-named persons were subscribers

to the articles, who declared that "All the several Articles and conclusions are never exposed and declared before:" William Coxe, Francis Collins, William Roydon, Thomas Sharp, Robert Zane, William Bates, Thomas Carleton, William White, Mathew Medcalf, Thomas Thackara, John Ffuller, Widow Welch, Richard Heritage, Wil- liam Willis, James Atmore, Stephen Newby, Wil- liam Coxe, Widow Bull, Francis Collins, Thomas Coxe and William Alberson.

The eighty-eight lots in the town plot were num- bered and began at the north end of Water Street ; the lots are numbered as follows, and the name of owner and date of survey is here given as far as could be ascertained : No. 1, corner of Water Street, Samuel Harrison, November 1, 1689; Nos. 2, 3 and 4, Matthew Medcalf, November 25, 1689; No. 5, Sarah Harrison, for her husband, January 24, 1689 ; No. 6, John Reading, November 26, 1690; Nos. 7 and 8, Andrew Robeson, March 12, 1689; Nos. 9, 10 and 11, John Reading, December 6, 1688 ; No. 11 was on the corner of Water Street and the great road; No. 12, Francis Collins, also on corner of Water Street and great road, south side, September 12, 1689; Nos. 13 and 14, Thomas Bull, December 17, 1689; lot No. 15, Sarah Wheeler, September 13, 1689 (this lot was a triangle at the turn in the river, the lots from this front were laid out at right angles); No. 16, William Roydon, October 7, 1689 ; No. 17 to Daniel Read- ing, August 9, 1689 ; Nos. 18 and 19, Anthony Sharp (uncle of Thomas Sharp), April 26, 1689; No. 20, Thomas Sherman, November 26, 1690; Nos. 21, 22 and 23, vacant to the town line on the corner northward from the town line on the east side of the main road ; Nos. 24, 25, 26 and 27, vacant ; Nos. 28, 29 and 30, in rear of 18 and 19, were surveyed to Anthony Sharp, April 26, 1689; No. 31, John Reading ; Nos. 32 and 33, on south side of public square were vacant ; Nos. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39, on north side of public square, John Reading, December 17, 1689 ; lots 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, to town line are vacant. The blocks containing twenty lots each, on the west side of the north and south road, are numbered from 44 to 66, and owned by John Reading; lots 50,51, 52, 53, 54, 55 and 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62. On the back line lots number from 67 northward to 88. Of them, John Reading owned lots 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 and 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 and 83. The town bounds, or liberties of Gloucester, were divided, as before mentioned, into ten parts. The land north of the bounds and on Newton Creek was swampy and in possession of G. and W. Harrison. The first part is marked on the town plot as in possession of John Reading, the clerk of

586

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

the county, and Samuel Harrison. Part second is marked as mostly vacant, John Reading being in possession of one-eighth of the part. Part three, the north part, is mentioned as laid off to John Reading and William Roydon. Part four contains the following: "Andrew Robeson one whole pro- priety, ye 12th of 9th month, 1689." Part five contains in its limits the north half of the old plot which was on the west end ; the east end of this part is marked as being in possession of Mathew Med- calf, Richard Bull and John Reading. Part six embraced within its limits the south half of the old plot, and the east end of the part was owned by Anthony Sharp and Richard Bull. Part seven was surveyed to Robert Turner and Widow Bull. Francis Collins is marked as in possession of the north half of part eight and part nine and part ten, and marked as vacant. The land and swamp south of the town was owned by John Reading. The plot of 1689 is known in old papers and records as the " Liberties of Gloucester." For many years Gloucester township and Gloucester town were separate organizations. The latter extended eastwardly to a line east of Mount Ephraim, be- tween the present farms of Benjamin and Joseph Lippincott, and to the farm of Samuel E. Shivers, and running from the south branch of Newton Creek to Little Timber Creek. On the 15th of November, 1831, Gloucester town and a portion of Gloucester township were laid out and given the name of Union township, and included the terri- tory now embraced in Gloucester City and Centre township. The latter was erected from the greater part of the territory of Union township in 1855, and the remaining portion of Union township, upon the incorporation of the city of Gloucester, February 25, 1868, was annexed to the city and so remains.

THE COUNTY COURTS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. -The first courts of the county of Gloucester were held at Gloucester on the 1st day of September, 1686, at whose house or tavern is not stated. Courts were held a few times at Red Bank, but that place was soon abandoned. At a meeting of the court held at Gloucester on the 2d of Decem- ber, 1689, it was decided to erect a jail, and the court record contains the following entry concern- ing it :

"Daniel Reading undertakes to build a goale logg-honse, fifteen or sixteen foot square, provided he may have one lott of Land conveyed to him and his heirs forever, and ye said house to Serve for a prison till ye County makes a common goale, or until ye s'd logge-house shall with age be de- stroyed or made insufficient for that purpose ; and

William Roydon undertakes to Convey ye lotts, he being paid three pounds for the same at or before ye next Courte."

This primitive prison was the abode of the Gloucester malefactors until the end of 1695, when the court ordered another of the same kind to be built, but in June, 1696, it changed its plan and decided to combine the jail with the first court- house, the court having theretofore been held in taverns or private houses. The following specifi- cations were made :

" A prison of twenty foot long and sixteen wide, of a sufficient height and strength, made of loggs, to be erected and builded in Gloucester, with a Court-House over the same, of a convenient height and largeness, covered of and with cedar shingles, well and workmanlike to be made, and with all convenient expedition finished. Matthew Med- calfe and John Reading to be overseers or agents to lett the same or see the said buildings done and performed in manner aforesaid, they to have money for carrying on of the said work of the last county tax."

On October 5, 1708, a stone and brick addition was ordered, and to defray the expenses of this improvement the grand jury levied a tax of one shilling upon every hundred acres of land, six- pence per head for every horse and mare more than three years old, for neat cattle three pence each, three shillings for each freeman in service and three shillings for each negro over twelve years of age, to be paid in current silver money or corn, or any other country produce at money price.

December 5, 1708, the grand jury considered it necessary that an addition be made to the prison and court-house and presented the following spec- ifications : "That it joyne to the south end of the ould one, to he made of stone and brick, twelve feet in the cleare and two story high, with a stack of chimneys joyning to the ould house, and that it be uniform from ye foundation to the court-house." This addition was made, and seven years later, in April, 1715, the justices and freeholders decided to build a jail twenty-four feet long, with walls nine feet high and two feet thick. Another site was selected and the old jail and court-house were sold in March, 1719, to William Harrison. The county buildings were completed in 1719, and in Decem- ber of that year the justices and freeholders, not being satisfied with the work, ordered the building "to be pulled down to ye lower floor and rebuilt upon the same foundation." About this time it was ordered "that a payor of substantial stocks be erected near the prison, with a post at each end,

587

GLOUCESTER CITY.

well fixed and fastened with a hand cuff iron at one of them for a whipping post." That a pillory or stocks was established before this time is evi- dent from the fact that March 1, 1691, John Rich- ards was found guilty of perjury, and sentenced to pay twenty pounds "or stand in ye pillory one hour." He chose the latter and served his sen- tence April 12th following.

The court-house as reconstructed was quite an elaborate building. The first story was the prison, and imposed upon it was the court-house, the main room of which was nine feet high, and was reached by " a substantial flight of stone stayers." There was " a Gallery at the Weste end from side to side," and "a payer of stayers up into the garrett," be- sides "a table and Bar, pailed, that it may Suffi- ciently accommodate the Justices, Clerks, Attur- neys and Jurys." The stocks and whipping-post were set up near by, and in 1736 the board ordered the addition of a yard, a watch-house, a work- house and a pump to the public buildings of this new county-seat. That the court-house was not comfortable appears by this minute of December 19, 1721 : "Proclamation being made, the Court of Common Pleas is adjourned to the house of Mary Spey by reason of the cold." Probably the build- ing had never been completed according to the specifications, as in January, 1722, the board passed a resolution directing Thomas Sharp to prosecute Abraham Porter and William Harrison, the building commissioners, on their bonds of fifty pounds each, for non-performance of their duties ; " or otherwise a Prosecution shall be proceeded in against ye s'd Thomas Sharp for Paying ye third and last Payment before it came due." The next year this resolution was suspended in order to per- mit them to finish their work. In 1750 Samuel Cole was made manager of further additions, and in 1782 repairs to the court-house and jail were ordered, and such repairs to the county-house as to make it tenable. The jail and court-house were destroyed by fire March, 1786, and a major- ity of the shareholders desired the buildings else- where. The subject was brought before the people of the county and an election was held and Woodbury was selected as the county-seat, and old Gloucester, after being the seat of justice for the county one hundred years, lost its importance and remained the same for many years after.

THE ORIGINAL TOWN AND SOME OF ITS PEO- PLE .- Gabriel Thomas, writing in 1698, says of Gloucester : "There is Gloucester Town, which is a very fine and pleasant place, being well-stored with summer fruits, such as cherries, mulberries and strawberries ; whither young people come from

Philadelphia, in the wherry-boats, to eat strawber- ries and cream, within sight of which city it is sweetly located, being about three miles distant from thence."

Oldmixon, writing in 1708, says : "Gloucester is a good town, and gave name to a county. It contains one hundred houses, and the country about it is very pleasant."

A few facts only of the early residents of the town have been obtained from the records and other papers, the following of which are here given : Mathew Medcalf, who, in 1686, was keeping tavern, in 1695 and in 1733 conducted a ferry across the Delaware. The Harrison family, Samuel and Joseph, were still living in the town in 1750, as in that year Samuel Harrison married Abagail Kaighn, widow of John, and daughter of John Hinch- man. She survived her husband and died at Taunton Iron Works, Burlington County, where she resided with her daughter Abagail, wife of Richard Edwards. William Harrison was sheriff of Gloucester County in 1716, and, later, one of the judges of the county courts. The Huggs were large land-owners on Timber Creek, and became the owners of the ferry and tavern, at one of the public landings. William Hugg, in 1778, was keeping the ferry and tavern, and it was at his house the Fox-Hunting Club was in the habit of meeting. The family still own the fishery there. John Burrough, who was the first of the name in the county, was a weaver, and was engaged in his occupation at Gloucester in 1688. In that year he bought a tract of land between Great and Little Timber Creeks, and, about 1690, moved upon it. Richard and Thomas Bull were lot-owners in the first division, as also was Widow Sarah Bull. Thomas Bull, in 1710, married Sarah Nelson, at the Newton Friends' Meeting- house. He was, doubtless, a member of this fam- ily. Richard Bull was still a resident of Glouces- ter in 1717. Jacob and Thomas Clement, who came from Long Island with the Harrisons, were among the early residents of the town. Jacob Clement married Ann, daughter of Samuel Har- rison, of the same place. He was a shoemaker and followed his trade by going from house to house, as was the custom in those early days. In 1733 John Brown was taxed 108. as a merchant. Sarah Bull was then conducting a mercantile busi- ness, for which she was assessed 28. Medcalf's ferry was assessed 12s., and Tatem's 78. 6d. It is probable that Tatem was then keeping one of the Cooper ferries.

A DESERTED VILLAGE .- The removal of the seat of justice from Gloucester to Woodbury caused the

588

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

former to decline in importance and influence, and thenceforward, for nearly three-quarters of a cen- tury, it was known only as a fishing town and a place for the meeting of clubs from Philadelphia and elsewhere. Multitudes visited it, but few re- mained. Farming, berrying, fishing and catering to the desires of pleasure-seekers constituted the avo- cations of the few people who lived here during the ante-industrial period. The "Old Brick" ferry- house, at the Point; Powell's farm-house, on the shore, at the foot of Somerset Street, built in 1696 (the date on the tablet was obscure when it was torn down by Captain William Albertson, in 1882); the Plummer House, on the site of the iron works; the Arthur Powell homestead, at Sussex and Mar- ket Streets, now the residence of his widow, the venerable and intelligent octogenarian, Mary Pow- ell; the Harrison mansion, near Newton Creek, where Miss Mary Harrison, a descendant of Samuel Harrison, who bought the northern section of the town in 1689, lived with the family of John Red- field, and where she died in 1885; a cluster of houses at Pine Grove, and a few houses along the shore, sheltering the ferrymen and fishermen, comprised all there was of the town of Gloucester in 1830. "Not twenty houses in the whole place," declared an old resident.

Besides the houses noted above, there were the old court-house on the southwest corner of King and Market Streets, and the jail on Market, above King. The first was removed about 1865 to make way for a dwelling, and the jail was burned about 1820. The bricks were bought by Frederick Plummer and used in the construction of the two- story rough-cast house now standing on Front Street, above Mechanic, in Camden.

AN ERA OF PROSPERITY ARRIVES .- With all its desirableness as a place of residence, the pro- gress of Gloucester was slow until the advent of industrial establishments-the first, the Washing- ton Mills, which commenced operation in 1845- offered regular and remunerative employment.

It is difficult to ascertain the increase in popula- tion of the territory now comprised within the limits of the town of Gloucester prior to 1850; for it was included as a part of Gloucester town- ship in 1695, and although it assumed, as Glouces- ter Town, to be a separate constabulary, the census- takers, with rare exceptions, counted its popula- tion with that township, and after 1832 with Union township, which was set off from Glouces- ter township in that year, and as the town was not co-extensive with the township until 1855, when Centre township was set off from Union, the proportion belonging to the town cannot be ascer-

tained. In 1810 the population of Gloucester township was 1726. This, then, included Glouces- ter and Centre townships and Gloucester City, with an aggregate population, in 1885, of 10,231. . In 1830 the census gives Gloucester Town 686, and in 1840 Union township 1075. This included

Centre townsbip. In 1850 the population of Union was 1095, and of Gloucester City 2188, show- ing a wonderful increase during the ten years mark- ing the advent of the industrial era, inaugurated in 1845, chiefly through the enterprise of David S. Brown, to whom, more than to any other person, Gloucester owes its advancement. The best data to be had places the number of people inhabiting the locality, in 1840, at less than two hundred. Its growth since is shown by these tables taken from the census returns :

United States Census.

State Census.

1850.

218S

1855. 2453

1860

2865

1865. 3773

1870

3682

1875.

5105

1880.

5347

1885.

5966

THE CITY GOVERNMENT.

In 1868 the town was incorporated as Gloucester City. The first officers of the city, elected in March, 1868, were as follows : Mayor, Samuel D. Mulford; Recorder, Hugh J. Gorman ; Assessor, Frederick Shindle; Collector, Andrew J. Greene; Surveyor of Highways, Bowman H. Lippincott; Constahles, Peter Rencorn and Samuel West; Councilmen, Samuel Raby, John M. Pettit, Na- thaniel W. Fernald, William C. Mulford, William N. Brown, Henry P. Gaunt.

The first meeting was held March 13th, at the mayor's private office. Peter L. Voorhees, of Camden, was elected city solicitor.

In 1871 the charter was amended, under which the number of Councilmen was increased to nine. In 1883 the city was divided into two wards, under a statute of the State; each ward now elects four members of Council, leaving the ninth to be elected by the city at large.

CITY HALL .- In 1869 an act of the Legislature authorized the City Council to issue bonds to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, for the purpose of building a city hall. The bonds were issued and a two-story brick building was erected. The build- ing is of brick, two stories high, and finished in a plain but most substantial manner. The first floor is divided into convenient rooms for city officers,- a Council chamber, mayor's office and lock-up. In the upper story is a large audience-room, with a spacious stage, and a seating capacity for five hundred persons. The ball is located on the north side of Monmouth Street, above Burlington.

589

GLOUCESTER CITY.

MAYORS .- The following is a list of the mayors of Gloucester from 1868 to 1886 :

1868. Samuel D. Mulford.

1875-76-77. John Gaunt.

1869. Charles C. Collings.

1878-80-83. William H. Banks.

1870-71. Peter McAdams.

18'9-81-82. John Willian.

1872. Samuel T. Murphy.

1883. Frederick Shindle.1

1873. David Adams. 1883-85. Samuel Moss.

1874. James L. Hines. 1886. George Wyncoop.

Mayor John Willian died in the winter of 1883, and Frederick Shindle was appointed to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.

RECORDERS .- The names of the city recorders and the dates of their election are as follows :

1868. Hugh J. Gorman.

1874. Willard Emery. 1875. Daniel J. McBride.

1869. Charles F. Mayers.

1869. Edward Mills,2

1876-77. John H. McMurray.

1870-80. Benjamin Sands.

1878-79. G. William Barnard.

1871. Theodore Brick.

1881. William H. Bowker.

1872. John A. Baker. 1882. William H. Taylor.

1873. Benjamin F. Measey. 1883-87. James Lyons.

Charles F. Mayers resigned in May, 1869, and Edward Mills was appointed in his place. Jas. Lyons was re-elected in 1884, and by a change in the law, the term was extended to three years.

COLLECTORS OR CITY TREASURERS .- Albert J. Green was elected to the office in 1868, and again in 1870, re-elected in 1871-72; again elected in 1878, and has been re-elected each succeeding year since, making twelve years of service. The other treasurers were, --

Andrew J Greene was elected in 1868-70-71-72; again in 1878, and re-elected annually until 1886, inclusive, and dying in the latter year, his place was filled by Charles H. Fowler, appointed hy City Council.

1869. Thomas Hallam.

1875. Peter Rencorn.

1873. Alonzo D. Hueted.

1875. Thomas Hallam.8

1874. Alexander A. Powell. 1876. Hugh J. Gorman.

Peter Rencorn died and Thomas Hallam was appointed in his place.

PRESIDENTS OF COUNCIL.

(By the charter of 1868 the mayor presided ; by the amendment of 1871 Councils elected the president.)

1871-74-79. Edmund Hoffman. 1881. Samuel Moss.

1872. Henry F. West.

1882. Robert Conway.

1873-75-78. Philip H. Fowler. 1883. G. William Barnard.

1876-77. Aaron Fortiner. 1884. Lewis G. Mayers.

1880. Henry P. Gaunt. 1885-86. William C. Hawkins.

Following are officers for 1886 :

Mayor, George Wyncoop; Recorder, James Lyons ; Collector, Charles H. Fowler ; Assesgor, Joseph Whittington ; Chief Engineer of Water Department, James Finley ; Councilmen, William C. Hawkins, W. J. Thompson, G. William Barnard, Jacob Carter, Francis McQuaide, William A. Guy, Charles Rencorn, John Red- field, Michael Smith.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT .- Prior to 1875 Glou- cester City had no Fire Department. In March of

1 Elected to fill unexpired term of John Willian, deceased.

2 Vice Charles F. Mayers, resigned.

3 Appointed by City Council, vice Peter Rencorn, deceased. 71

that year a fire broke out in a store on Middlesex Street and Willow, which did much damage, and would have been disastrous but for the steam-power and hose of the Washington and Ancona Works. This aronsed the people to action, and Gloucester City Fire Department was formed as follows : Fore- man, Patrick Mealey; First Assistant Foreman, John Graham ; Second Assistant Foreman, John Lafferty ; Privates, Henry Gilmore, Andrew Mosser, James Foster, Joseph McAdams, Lawrence Con- lohan, James McMahon, Sr., James McMahon, Jr., Joseph Berry, Herman [Klosterman and Wil- liam Shimp.

The apparatus provided comprised one hook-and- ladder truck, fire-ladders, six fire extinguishers, six hooks, thirty-six huckets, axles, rope, grap- pling irons, etc. There were no water-works ont- side the mills, and no means of procuring water save from wells, passed from hand to hand in buckets. One thousand feet of hose was procured, and on September 13, 1878, a carriage was pur- chased of the Union Hose Company of Lancas- ter, Pa.

The department was then re-organized as follows: Chief Engineer, Patrick Mealey ; First Assistant Engineer, John P. Booth; Second Assistant En- gineer, Henry J. West ; Memhers, John Graham James Foster, James McMahon, Sr., Andrew Mos- ser, Henry Gilmore, Joseph McAdams, John R. Farquhar, Edward Byers, James Truax, William Keown, Edward Shingle, Jacob Carter, Lawrence Conlohan, Michael Noon, Patrick Gilmour, John Lafferty, James McMahon, William Byers, Isaac Edwards, Theodore Hoffman.

In 1879, Assistants John P. Booth and Henry J. West resigned, and James McMahon and Jas. Foster were appointed to fill their places.

The department was placed under the control of five commissioners appointed by the Council,- three of them members of that body and two selected from the citizens. In 1884 the commissioners in- creased the force to thirty-four, when these were appointed, - Edward Hutchinson, William A. Guy, Isaac Budd, Adin Owens, Ralph McDermott, John McElhone, Stansford Foster, Robert Walsh, William Shaw, William Stiles, and these, with those before-named, constitute the department.

The commissioners are,-Citizens: Philip H. Fowler (president) and Hngh Mullin; Conncil- men, William A. Guy, G. M. Barnard and Charles Rencorn. President Fowler is superintendent of the Gingham Mills, and was one of the first and most active promoters of the organization of the Fire Department, and has been president of the com- missioners from the start.

590

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

The house occupied is the one first built, of wood, on the rear of the city hall lot. The firemen receive no pay, but are exempt from assessment on private property to the amount of five hundred dollars and are beneficiaries of the Firemen's Relief Fund, the growth of a State tax upon insurance companies. In constructing the water-works, in 1883, fire matters were duly considered, and the necessity for fire-engines obviated by a direct pressure being brought to bear from the pumping engines upon the street hydrants insufficient to force the water over the highest buildings in the city.

THE WATER SUPPLY .- In 1873 the Legisla- ture authorized the borrowing of five thousand dollars, and in 1874 a like. amount, for the con- struction of sewers. The money was judiciously expended and the loan paid when due. In 1873 the Gloucester Land Company having given the city the Mercer Street water-front, authority was obtained from the Legislature to borrow ten thousand dollars for the purpose of constructing a wharf. This was accomplished within the esti- mated limit, and the bonds issued were paid as they matured. These were the only debts contracted, and for several years the city had no obligations, when, in 1883, it was determined to construct water-works. They were completed, in 1884, at a cost of eighty-five thousand dollars. To meet this expenditure, four per cent. bonds, having from ten to thirty years to run, were issued, and the re- mainder of the cost was paid out of a balance in the hands of the treasurer. A sinking fund was established, and four thousand dollars of the bonds have been paid, leaving seventy-six thousand dol- lars yet due in 1886, represented by a plant which gives promise of soon returning a handsome revenue.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 98

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