USA > New Jersey > Cape May County > The history of Cape May County, New Jersey : from the aboriginal times to the present day > Part 22
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"Mr. Clay then sat down, and from the tears which had been so copiously shed during his speech, the smiles of wel- come and felicitation lit up a mellow radiance which fell with rainbow softening over the scene. Throughout the whole reply of Mr. Clay, he was deeply and powerfully af- fected, and it was with a giant effort that he succeeded in uttering his closing remarks."
Nathaniel Holmes, Jr., who served in the Assembly from 1847 to 1849. was the son of Captain Nathaniel Holmes. He was born July 7, 1782. He served in the Board of Free- holders from Dennis township from 1834 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1851, or eleven years, during all of which time was the director (chairman) of the board.
On April 25, 1848 the people by ballot decided to have a new court house built, and chose for its location Cape May Court House village. The Board of Freeholders se- lected as the committee to visit other counties and get ideas of public buildings James L. Smith and Samuel Fithian Ware. On the 6th of June following the board ordered the house built to be 48 by 35 feet, with the lower story to be
277
NOTED MEN OF A GENERATION.
twelve feet in the clear and the upper story to be nine feet in the clear. The court house was finished in 1850, and on May 7 the freeholders in t at the new court house to settle the bills, and they all amounted to $6284.33. Richard Thompson was chosen to dispose of the old court house.
The song. "Cape May," was written about May 1, 1848, by Theophilus Townsend Price. The circumstances lead- ing to its inception are here related :
Being one evening in company with some young people, his personal friends. they sang the minstrel song of "Dearest May." which at that time was very popular. He remarked that it was a pity that so sweet a melody should be wedded to such trifling words. They requested him to write a song for the music, which he accordingly did, and produced the song as printed at first. There was no paper published at Cape May at that time, and it was first printed in a Philadel- phia paper.
Theophilus Townsend Price was born on the Price home- stead plantation at Town Bank, Cape May county, on the 2Ist day of May, 1828. He was the seventh child of John Price and Kezia Swain, who was the daughter of Daniel Swain, and belonged to one of the oldest families in Cape May county. When he was three years old his father. sold his interest in the homestead farm at Town Bank to his brother, Captain William Price, and bought one of the Swain farms of his father-in-law on the seaside road above Cold Spring.
Here the subject of our sketch grew up to manhood, en- gaged in the general work of the farm, and in going to school whenever opportunity offered. He was by nature a student and lover of books, and does not remember the time when he could not read. His education was obtained at the common schools and at the Cold Spring Academy, which at that time was furnishing an academic education for both sexes under the direction of Rev. Moses William- son.
In his twentieth year he began teaching in the public schools of Cape May county, and continued in this occupa- tion about three years. In 1850 he commenced the study of medicine, reading under direction of Dr. V. M. D. Marcy,
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HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
of Cold Spring. He graduated in March, 1853, and in April settled at Tuckerton, N. J., where he has continued in active practice ever since.
In November. 1854, he married Eliza, youngest daughter of Timothy Pharo, of Tuckerton. By this union he had two children, one of which only is living, the Rev. Theophi- lus Pharo Price.
Soon after his settlement he became interested in and identified with the public affairs of the communities in which he lived. The township of Little Egg Harbor, in which the village of Tuckerton is located, was at that time a part of Burlington county. He became a member of the Burlington County Medical Society in 1854 and is still a member. He was township superintendent of the public schools of Little Egg Harbor for eight years, and until the law was passed abolishing town superintendents and creating county super- intendents. He was postmaster of Tuckerton during the Lincoln and the Johnson administrations; was elected to the New Jersey Legislature in 1868. During this service he obtained a charter to build a railroad from Tuckerton to Egg Harbor City, and a supplement to a charter to build a rail- road from Manchester to Tuckerton. The latter road was built in 1871, of which he was elected a director and secre- tary, still holding these offices. He was a director of the National Bank of Medford, N. J., for thirty-five years.
In 1877 he wrote the descriptive and historical portions of the New Jesey Coast Atlas, published by Woolman & Rose, covering the first sixty-eight pages of that work.
In 1864 he organized and conducted for fourteen years a union mission Sunday school in a destitute neighborhood near Tuckerton: was instrumental and active in organizing the first Baptist church at West Creek, Ocean county, in 1876, of which he was chosen deacon, clerk and treasurer for fifteen years. In 1891 he was actively instrumental in organizing and constituting the Baptist church of Tuckerton, of which he is a licentiate, deacon and clerk.
He was a trustee of the South Jersey Institute, at Bridge- ton, for nine years; a trustee of the New Jersey Reform School for Boys at Jamesburg for three years. He is now president of the Board of Trustees of the Camden Baptist
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NOTED MEN OF A GENERATION.
Association, president of the Board of Education of Little Egg Harbor, physician and secretary of the Board of Health, director and secretary of the Beach Haven Land Associa- tion, life. member of the New Jersey Historical Society, pres- ident of the Board of Trustees of Tuckerton Library Associa- tion, and is a member of several other benevolent and chiar- Stable societies.
For seventeen years he held the office of United States Marine Hospital surgeon at the port of Tuckerton and until the office was abolished by the government, March, 1896. During this time he examined annually about one hundred and fifty life-saving men before they entered on their duties. He has contributed from time to time articles to the press, bothi in prose and verse, and has delivered many publie ad- dresses and lectures.
On the 9th of June, 1849, two additional postoffices were established in the county, one at Townsend's Inlet, with William Stiles as postmaster, and the other at Seaville, with John Gandy as postmaster.
Enoch Edmunds, of Cape Island, who was elected to the State Senate in 1849 and served three years, was born in Lower township in 1799. He was the son of Robert Ed- munds. From 1844 to 1847 he was sheriff of the county. In 1851 he became an elder of the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, and was such until he died, sixteen years later. In 1860 he was chosen overseer of poor of Cape Island, and served in the City Council in 1861 and from 1863 until his «leath, on Marchi 30, 1867. He was a merchant.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION.
From 1845 the people of this county began to move into the then newly developing States of Indiana and Illinois, and after the gold fever of 1849 many went further. These two States, however, were the objective point of many of the emigrating families from Cape May. Dr. Maurice Bees- ley. in speaking of this fact, says (1857):
"The population meets with an unceasing annual drain. in the way of emigration. Numerous families every spring and fall sell off their lands and effects to seek a home in the far West. Illinois has heretofore been the State that has held out most inducements to the emigrant, and there are at present located in the favored county of Sangamon, in that State, some sixty or seventy families which have re- moved from this county within a few years past, most of whom, be it said, are blessed with prosperity and happiness. Many of her people are to be found in the other free States of the West."
When the last half of the present century opened there were 6433 residents in this county, and it was estimated by the census takers that about one-fifth of the entire male- population were engaged in seafaring, and a more hardy and adventurous band never sailed from any port; no sea or ocean where commerce floats a sail they did not visit if duty called.
The pilots of Cape Island were likewise renowned for their skill and enterprise in the way of their profession. They braved the tempest and the storm to relieve the mar- iner in distress, or to conduct the steamer, the ship, or the barque to the haven of her destination. There were about thirty-five of them living in the lower end of the county.
The Dias Creek postoffice, with Charles K. Holmes as postmaster, was established September 9. 1850, and on the-
Joseph Leach
س
28.1
THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION.
3d of March, 1851. another office was established at Bees- ley's Point, with Joseph D. Chatten in charge.
Captain Wilmon Whilldin, Sr., the first to establish steam- boat communication between Philadelphia and Cape May, was a native of this county. He was born March 4, 1773, near Cape May City, on the estate possessed by his ances- tors from the first settlement of the county. He was the son of Jonathan Whilldin (who is described as "gent" in okl conveyances), by his wife, Hannah Crowell; grandson of James Whilldin, Esq., by his wife, Jane Hand; great grand- son of Joseph Whilldin, by his wife, Mary; and great grand- son of Joseph Whilldin. Esq., by his wife, Hannah. The last named Joseph was High Sheriff of the county from 1705 to 1708, and many years one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace and of the Courts of Common Pleas. James Whilldin, Esq .. the grandfather of Captain Whilldin, was commissioned a Justice of the Peace by Governor Belcher, June 7, 1753, and re-commissioned by Governor Hardy, September 24, 1762, and by Governor Franklin, August 21, 1767. On the two last occasions he was also commissioned a justice of the quorum. He was also commissioned Justice of the Court of Oyer and Terminer on March 13, 1773, in which capacity he served until he died. In 1779 he was a member of the Legislature, and during the Revolution he served on the County Committee of Safety. He was a prom- inent member of the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, of which he was a ruling elder from 1754 until his decease, November 5, 1780. Captain Whilldin studied naviga- tion, and early in life removed to Philadelphia. where he resided until his decease, April 2, 1852. He was one of the pioneers in steam navigation on the Delaware. In 1816 he built the steamer "Delaware," with which he established communication with Cape May. (A large portrait in oil of Captain Whilldin, now in the possession of his granddaugh- ter, Mrs. J. Granville Leach, has a portrait of the "Dela- ware" in the background.) Captain Whilldin became the owner of several steamers, which plied to different points on the Delaware, also on the Chesapeake. At one time he was a partner of the elder Commodore Vanderbilt. The pilot
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HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
boat John G. Whilldin, so familiar in our waters, was named in honor of Captain Whilldin's son, Dr. John Galloway Whilldin, a promising young physician of Philadelphia, who died of consumption in early life.
On the decease of Captain Whilldin his only surviving child, Captain Wilmon Whilldin, Jr., succeeded to the busi- ness of the father, and continued the line of steamers to Cape May until the civil war, when most of his boats were em- ployed by the government in the transportation of troops and provisions to the army. At his decease, May 23, 1866, he was extensively engaged in transportation by steam, and was interested in lines running to many parts of the country.
The first town school superintendents were appointed in the county in 1851, and they were: Upper township, Barna- bas Coffie; Deunis, Joshua Swain; Middle, Rev. N. B. Tin- dall; Lower, Joseph E. Hughes: Cape Island, Rev. Clark Polly. There were 2135 school children in the county, di- vided as follows: In Upper, 441 ; Dennis, 534; Middle, 609; Lower, 400; Cape Island, 151.
The old borough of Cape Island did not suit the inhabi- tants. Therefore, in 1851, a city charter for the place was secured from the Legislature. Since that time Cape May City has had two charters; one in 1867, and the last in 1875. From 1851 to 1867 the Councilmen (six in number), were c'ected yearly ; and from 1867 to 1875 three Councilmen were elected each year, for a two-years' term, making six as before. Up to 1875 the Alderman and.City Recorder were members of Council, and the Mayor was its president, but the latter had no vote only in case of a tie. while the two former were accorded that privilege. Council then elected its clerk. Since 1875 there has, each year, been three Coun- cilthen elected for terms of three years each, making the body nine in number, and they choose the'r president from amor y their number. The Recorder is now the clerk of the city, and by ordinance superintendent of the water works and register of the bonded indebtedness. The Alderman is now simply just. . . of the peace, and, should the Mayor re- sign or die, acts as such until the next election.
Joshua Swain, Jr., who was elected to the State Senate
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THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION.
in 1852, was the son of Joshua Swain, who was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1844. He was born June 2, 1804, and died March 23, 1866. He served in the Assembly from 1850 to 1852, and then in the Senate until 1854. He was continuously clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1831 until he died. He was for six years a Judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of New Jersey. He died at Seaville, and his remains lie in
COURT HOUSE USED SINCE 1850.
Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery, Seaville. He was a Bap- tist in faith.
He was succeeded by his son, Edward Y. Swain, as clerk of the Board of Freeholders. The latter was prominent in county affairs, and was clerk from 1866 to 1871, when he died. He was born December 27, 1834, and died October 9, 1871.
Henry Swain, brother of Joshua, Jr., who was loan com- missioner, was born May 12, 1806, and died September 24, 1877. He served the county as loan commissioner from 1854 to 1856, and from 1857 to 1862.
284
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
The first bank in the county to be established was that at Cape Island, known as the "Bank of Cape May County," which had subscribers to stock from every part of the county. Its certificate of association was filed in the County Clerk's office on September 26, 1853. It was a State bank .. In 1855 it closed up its business. On October 17, this year, Joseph F. Leaming, its vice-president, gave notice that "all' circulating notes issued must be presented to the State Treasurer within two years" for payment. On March 3. 1854, the act to incorporate the Cape May Turnpike Com -- pany became a law. The object of this company was to construct a thoroughfare between Cape Island and Cape May Court House. The incorporators were Richard C .. Holmes, Dr. John Willey, Eli L. B. Wales, George Ben- nett, Joseph Ware. Richard Thompson and Clinton H. Ludlam. The work on it was not commenced until three years afterwards, and in 1858 it was completed.
The Cape Island Turnpike Company built the pike from the steamboat landing on the Delaware Bay to Cape Island for the accommodation of steamboat passengers. This pike was constructed between 1846 and 1848. The company is- still in existence, and toll is still charged to those who drive vehicles over it.
The first President of the United States to visit Cape May- was Franklin Pierce, who visited the island in the summer- of 1855. He was welcomed by the City Council and held a public reception. People came from all parts of the" county to sec him.
In September (5th) of this year the famous Mount Ver- non Hotel at Cape Island, which had been two years in. building, was burned. And in June, of 1856, the Mansion; House and Kersal were destroyed by fire also.
The first newspaper published in the county was the "Ocean Wave," which was established at Cape Island by one Colonel Johnson in June, 1855. The sizes of its four pages were twelve by eighteen inches. About three months: after it was founded it was purchased by Joseph S. Leacli, who edited and published it until 1863, when he sold it 10. Samuel R. Magonigle. When Mr. Magonigle died, in [S69,- the "Wave" became the property of Christopher S.
283
THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION.
Magrath and Aaron Garretson, Sr. In 1878 Mr. Magrath became sole owner, and remained SO until he sold it. in 1883, to Thomas H. Williamson, son of Rev. Moses Williamson. In 1886 Mr. Williamson died, and it was then purchased from his estate by James H. E/1- munds, who still (1897) owns it. It has been edited from 1883 by Henry W. Hand, who served in the United States Navy during the Civil War.
Joseph S. Leach, editor of the "Ocean Wave," was born in Shutesbury, Mass, March 30, 1816, and died at his resi- .dence in Cape May City, August 9, 1892. He was the son ›of Lemuel Leach, Jr., and Eilzabeth Smallidge, his wife. His grandfather, Lemuel Leach, Sr., was an officer in the Revolutionary Army, and his maternal grandfather, Rev. Joseph Smallidge, was a prominent clergyman of the Bap- tist faith in Western Massachusetts. His colonial ancestor. Lawrence Leach, a descendant of John Leche, surgeon to King Edward the Third. arrived in Massachusetts with Rev. Francis Higginson, in 1629. Mr. Leach, also de- scended from John Washbourne. the first secretary of Mas- sachusetts, and from Francis Cooke, one of the "pilgrims" who came in the Mayflower.
Mr. Leach was educated at New Salem High School, and at Franklin Academy, Shelburne Falls, Mass. He after- wards studied theology and entered the ministry, in which he was preceded by three elder brothers, Rev. Sanford Leach, Rev. William Leach and Dr. Elbridge G. Leach. Failing health compelled him to seek a milder climate. and, in 1840, he came to Cape May, and took up his residence at the county seat. Shortly after his arrival he was invited to take charge of the Seaville school, which position he ac- cepted, and from that time until he became the proprietor of the "Ocean Wave" he was constantly and successfully engaged in teaching the youth of this county.
Foremost among those who were engaged in the Baptist Church of Cape Island was Mr. Leach. He was licensed to preach at Shutesbury Church, in Massachusetts, about 1838. He did not, however, unite with the local church until January, 1849. For nearly half a century Mr. Leach "was one of the leading members of the church, was many
286
HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
years clerk of the church, and one of its trustees, and for- forty-three years a deacon. The congregation was frequent- ly without a settled pastor for months at a time, on which occasions he occupied the pulpit, but always declined com- pensation for his ministerial work.
In the early fall of 1855 Mr. Leach purchased the "Ocean Wave" and published it and edited it until he sold the pa- per to the late Sanmel R. Magonagle. As editor he gained the reputation of being one of the ablest and strongest news- paper writers in the State, and by the use of his pen he was largely instrumental in advancing the social, educational, and material interests of the county. His writings were notedly valuable in aiding to secure the construction of the Cape May and Millville Railroad. The late Charles B. Dungan is known to have said that, "but for Mr. Leach's. earnest and able support in this connection, the building of the road would doubtless have been delayed for years."
At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. Leach warmly es- poused the cause of the Union, not only with his pen, but with voice as well. He was recognized as one of our best public speakers, and his services in this direction were fre- quently in demand, particularly during the war, at "war meetings." He was concise in argument, clear in diction and fervid in utterance, and his eloquence stirred his hear- ers to the heartiest expressions of enthusiasm.
In 1851, on the granting of the charter creating Cape May (then Cape Island) into a city. Mr. Leach was elected the first Recorder, by virtue of which office he became a member of City Council and a justice of the peace. In 1852 and 1858 he was chosen a member of City Council, and in 1872 he was again chosen Recorder of the city. In 1862 lie was town superintendent of public schools, and in 1863 President Lincoln appointed him postmaster of the city, which position he held until Andrew Johnson suc- ceeded to the Presidency, when. entertaining views an- tagonistic to President Johnson's "policy," Mr. Leach re- signed the office. He was a member of the County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1863, 1864, 1865, 1867, 1868 and 1870. He was frequently urged to accept a nomination for
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THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION
the Assembly, as well as to the Mayoralty of Cape May, but declined these honors.
In his death Cape May lost one of its most prominent and highly-esteemed citizens, one who will long be re- membered as a worthy representative of the "gentleman of the old school." The tablet erected to his memory in the Baptist Church bears this inscription:
"In Memory of
Joseph Smallidge Leach. Esq., a descendant of the Puritans. He preached to this people many years without compensa- tion and served in the office of deacon forty-thice years.
A Successful Educator.
An Able Editor. An Exemplary Citizen.
He honorably filled many public offices. In all life's re- lations he merited and won universal respect and esteem.
A quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. I Timothy, xi, 2."
Mr. Leach married, May 31, 1841, Sophia, daughter of Josiah Ball, Esq., of Worcester county, Mass. She still survives him, with seven of their nine children.
Petersburg's postoffice was first opened in April. 1856, with Peter Corson as postmaster. On the 6th of Septem- ber following the Rio Grande postoffice was opened, with Jeremiah Hand as postmaster. This made the fifteenth postoffice established in the county. None were again es- tablished until after the close of the Civil War.
In 1856 a telegraph known as the Philadelphia and Cape Island Telegraph was doing business, and continued to do so until the outbreak of the Civil War, when it was aband- oned by its proprietors.
In 1856 Jesse H. Diverty was chosen to represent Cape May in the State Senate, and served in the sessions of '57, '58 and '59, having served two preceding years as a member of the Assembly. His grandfather was William Diverty, who lived from 1744 to 1811, and was a native of Scotland. His father was James Diverty, born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1783. At the age of 10 the father came to Wilmington, Del., to live with an uncle. When 21 he came to Cape May to purchase hoop poles for the cooperage business of his
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HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.
uncle. He married afterwards Deborah Smith, the daugh- ter of Mrs. Jesse Hand, wife of the Cape May patriot. The new couple began life at Dennisville, where the father be- came a lumber merchant and postmaster. He died in 1858.
Jesse H. Diverty was born there, December 22, 1822. He was educated in the village school and at Bridgeton Acad- emy. For a time, when young, he was engaged in mercan- tile pursuits in Baltimore, and then with his father at Den- nisville. In 1865 he began the ship building business,
TESSE H. DIVERTY.
building in his time about thirty vessels. When the ship- building died out, he entered into agricultural pursuits.
In public life lie served as township collector, committee- man, justice of the peace, superintendent of schools, and for forty years was a school trustee. After serving in the Sen- ate, he was made engrossing clerk of that body for the two following years. Governor Abbett appointed him one of the commissioners of State Charities and Corrections. He was at first a Whig, but later a Democrat. During the war he was a staunch Unionist. In 1877 he was appointed a
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THE DECADE BEFORE THE REBELLION.
Judge of County Courts, and was reappointed in 1882 and 1887.
When 12 years of age he became a Methodist, and in 1843 was made a class leader. He was in 1844 made an ex- horter, in 1847 a local preacher, in 1860 a deacon and in 1871 an elder. He was superintendent of the Sunday-school from 1843 until his death. He died at Dennisville March 9, 1890.
The county of Cape May owes to the memory of Dr.
DR. MAURICE PEESLEY,
Maurice Beesley, of Dennisville, as much, if not more, as to any man of recent times, for his preservation of the facts concerning the early settlers and the development of the county. In 1857 he had printed his "Sketch of the Early History of Cape May County," and it has proved a valuable document. Dr. Beesley was long connected with the wel- fare of the county. He first saw the light of day at Den- nisville on May 16, 1804. His grandfather, Jonathan Bees- ley, was a Revolutionary soldier, being killed fighting in battle for American independence. His father was Thomas
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