It was a treat to hear Bonnie Beth Elwell give a lecture on the founding families of the above named towns, Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove. She is an astonishing young woman. She is president of the Salem County Genealogy Society and is now also Historian for Pittsgrove. Bonnie is in her twenties, but she has great maturity and a sincere appreciation for the experience and knowledge of the elders in her sphere.
Among the many families whose history and lineage she described were the Dares (of Daretown), Nelsons, Johnsons, Woods, and a dozen others. She also talked about how the names evolved over time as in Nelson from Nel's Son, a Scandinavian naming practice.
On sale at the lecture was the new Arcadia book on the above named towns, authored by Bonnie. Although I don't have family history in this area, mine are from the Big Timber Creek area, I always enjoy reading the work of a talented local historian and I look forward to reading this one. It is a birthday present I bought for myself - Today is my birthday, November 13, 2013.
Happy Trails (of all kinds including the trails we follow tracking ancestors back through the forest of the years!) Jo Ann
ps. I wanted to mention how exceedingly encouraged I am by the Arcadia project. It will be an invaluable resource for the future, on the small towns of America in these times of dwindling history (in terms of attention and money devoted to archival effort which has been held afloat by the devotion of an aging but valiant group of local historians.)
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