AtsionFieldsboroSummer2011

This summer I haven't been posting but that doesn't mean I haven't been visiting historic places. In July, I visited White Hill in Fieldsboro for the archaeological dig by Monmouth University. Loretta Kelly is the head of the ongoing effort to preserve this beautiful and historic house. It was the home of Mary Field and the site of occupancy by Hessian officers during the Revolutionary War.
Most recently, this week, in fact, August 20, I visited Atsion Mansion, which was open for tours and included a tour of some istes in the woods, given by Barbara Solem, author of the well-known and popular book Ghosttowns of the New Jersey Pinebarrens and other Quirky Places.
Renowned New Jersey archaeologist Bud Wilson was on hand for the house tour as was the architect who presided over the recent renovation of the mansion.
Photographs were not permitted, but I managed a few before the group was advised not to take any.
Other highlights of the summer ncluded a visit to the Inidan King Tavern of Dolly Madison on one of their Open House days in July. Her Uncle, Hugh Creighton was one of the proprietor's of the Tavern and the descendants of the family donated a bed in which Dolly Madison is alleged to have slept during her visits to her Haddonfield relatives.
Anyone interested in the Civil War may want to go to Camden County College for a lecture series:
Call 856-227-72200 ext 4330 for more info.
Hope to see you there!

Upcoming EventsTodayTomorrowNextWeek

Today, Saturday, June 25th, I'll be going to Fieldsboro to see the archaeological dig taking place at White Hill, the Mary Field house that a friend, Loretta Kelly, has been working on getting preserved for some years. Tomorrow, Sunday, June 26 is the flower show at the James and Ann Whitall House and I'll be giving part of the tours of the house along with fellow volunteers so come on over and visit! The weekend of the 4th, the Indian King Tavern will host an open house and again, I'll be one of the tour guides. The house opens directly after the parade. Why battle traffic to go somewhere else for a day trip when there are such great places to visit in your own backyard. Hope to see you at one of these events! Pictures and blog to follow!

John Woolman House

A Pilgrimage to The John Woolman House, 99 Branch Rd., Mt. Holly,
(609) 267-3226

John Woolman was born at Rancocas, in Burlington County, NJ, in 1720 and died in 1772 of smallpox while on a visit in England. This house is not where Woolman lived, but a house he had built for his daughter, Mary, after she married Samuel Comfort. John Woolman had married Sarah Ellis in 1749.

Woolman’s family had arrived in Rancocas, from England, in the 1680’s, a decade after Fenwick established his Quaker colony, in Salem,. John Woolman was born on a farm along the Rancocas Creek.

He is famous today for his writings and the record they leave of his thoughts on one of the most important questions anyone can ask: what is the best way for a human being to live in this world? During his lifetime, Woolman traveled from New Jersey through the other colonies in the ministry of his faith, The Society of Friends, known to us now as Quakers.

His ideas, then and now are both simple and radical. They spring from the conviction that all have “that of God within” called, the Light. Individual actions have wide consequences. Waste and consumption on the part of some create poverty for others. Love for all inspires nonviolence and compassion for the one who does wrong as well as the one who is harmed.

When John Woolman found himself becoming too successful in the field to which he was apprenticed, storekeeping and selling, he gave it up to pursue the tailor trade so that business concerns could never overshadow his greater duty which was spiritual. Woolman’s journal reflects his struggles with how to relate to those who lived in ways he knew to be wrong, such as the buying and selling of slaves.
He practiced and preached simplicity, frugality, humility, and compassion, while striving to avoid the pitfalls of success, arrogance, and the loyalty of friendship that would get in the way of conscience.

A quote from ;”The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman” edited by Phillips P. Moulton,
“..(I) was early convinced in my mind that true religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart doth love and reverence God the Creator and learn to exercise true justice and goodness, not only toward all men but also toward the brute creatures; that as the mind was moved on an inward principle to love God as an invisible, incomprehensible being, on the same principle it was moved to love him in all his manifestations in the visible world; that as by his breath the flame of life was kindled in all animal and sensitive creatures, to say we love God as unseen and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by his life, or by life derived from him was a contradiction in itself.”

An interesting and informative tour was given by Jack Walz.

Betsy Ross and Whitall Volunteers History Club

Today, April 1st, 2011, eight Whitall House volunteers met in the first History Book Readers Club session at the James & Ann Whitall house. Some of the books brought were: Washington's Crossing, author David Hackett Fischer, Irish in Philadelphia, Dennis Clark, Old Gloucester County and the American Revolution, Robert Harper, and several issues of Patriots of the American Revolution Magazine, which I'll be glad to check out, as I've been looking for a good history magazine for a couple of years. ALso, I'd like to find a useful genealogy magazine.

My offering today was a selection of diaries from Job Whitall, Joseph Plumb Martin, a Farmer's Wife 1796/7, A Hessian Soldier, Elizabeth Drinker, and Phllip Vickers Fithian. It's amazing to me how different diaries reflect the world. Several of us have picked up and put down Phillip Vickers Fithian's diary of life on the Cohansie River in the 1770's. We all got tired of "Cold and wet. I reaped rye today." Pages and pages of plowing and sowing and reaping and threshing. Weeks and months of it. I would have left it at that but a volunteer at the Salem County Historical Society Library told me, about a month ago, that after Phillip went to Princeton, (in the first graduating class there), one of his teachers talked to him about the importance of details in everyday life. So, I'm back to the plowing and reaping and waiting for the diary to get a little color and life beyond the fenced fields.

As a mother, I must say I'm hurt that in all of Job Whitall's diary, his mother, Ann Whitall, is mentioned about three times (I'm exaggerating but I'm not far off.) Once again, we have the taking of cart loads of lumber to the mill, and cattle going here and there, lots of reaping and processing of flax, but not much human interest. In these diaries friends and relatives die and are buried in less than ten words. These fellows definitely are proponants of the "just the facts" style of writing, although, even in a farm day in Colonial times, there must have been more facts than 'reaped the rye.'

As for Mother Ann Whitall, I've only read excerpts from her diary but I plan to read more starting next week at Gloucester County Historical Society Library. Her diary runs toward lamentation over the ingratitude of her children and the unwillingness of them and their father to turn their thoughts to their imminent death and damnation for sinfulness. I would have spent the day out in the rye, too, if that's what I was getting at home.

The best diary I've read, to date, at least in this historic period frame, is the Diary of a Farmer's Wife, 1796-1797. This woman cooks, laughs, her husband falls over in the pig pen and is "wrothful" but can be mollified with his favorite pie and some brandy. People get married, robbers raid the pantry, and when someone dies, we find out what happened to the wife, husband, household goods, and what the funeral was like. This woman LIVES in her diary. She enjoys it and so do her readers.

In the next blog entry, I'll be writing from my work of the past several weeks on Betsy Ross, Elizabeth Haddon, and Ann Whitall, preparation for a presentation I'll be giving in April. For today, I stopped on my way home from Red Bank Battlefield and took photographs of the probable location of the original Griscom farm where Betsy was born, the site of the old Hugg's Tavern where she was married, and the historic marker which gives some information about the history of Hugg's Tavern before it was torn down.

Tune in next week for Betsy Ross! Jo Ann

Events - Upcoming and in Review

AND another NOTE: This just in from Harry Schaeffer, organizing volunteer of the volunteers who work at Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield:
Nathaniel Philbrick will be speaking at 11am on March 23rd in the Student Center on Rowan’s Campus. The title of the lecture is: “From Plymouth Rock to the Little Bighorn: Leadership in American History.”

NOTE: Just added today, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, this info from Loretta Kelly, head preservationist at White Hill:
White Hill's Archaeological dig starts on May 27th and runs on consecutive Saturdays until July 2nd. The address is 217 4th St. Fieldsboro, NJ. You can contact: lorettakelly3@yahoo.com for more info.

On Saturday, March 26, I'll be driving down to Hancock House in Salem County for a favorite event, the re-enactment of the battle at Hancock House, also called a "massacre" because, in fact, the Loyalist Militia, under the command of, I think it was Major Simcoe, that attacked the Tavern in the middle of the night, slaughtered the sleeping patriots. This was one of the many skirmishes that took place in the struggle to gain control of the 'breadbasket' that was Salem County during the Revolutionary War.

Fields were burned, cellars and barns were raided, by both sides, and it was also the place where the famous Cattle Drive of Mad Anthony Wayne took place. It's a fine event and one of my favorite parts of it is the spinner who works in the old out building. She has home-dyed yarns and is both knowledgeable and interesting on Colonial fabric. She made me want to learn to spin!

Tomorrow, I'll be sending out checks to two upcoming events with great anticipation of a good time: #1Burlington County Historical Sites Related to the Civil War - tour, Saturday, May 21, 2011. The registration deadline is May 10, but I'm not taking any chances that it may be filled up. The link for more info is www.BurloCoHistorian.com and you should save this link anyhow because they have so many great events!

#2The Outdoor Club of South Jersey annual trip to Washington D.C. on May 7. It's worth the membership fee to go on this trip, but also, they have so many excellent hike trips, bike trips, kayak trips and other events in this club, you should check it out. The trip costs $30 and the bus lets you off in front of the SMithsonian. You're on your own (which I like) and since this year is the sesqui-centennial of the Civil War, you may want to go to the American History Museum. Last year, my friends and I very much enjoyed the new Early Man exhibit at the Natural History. We had a long itinerary but ended up spending the entire day there, it was that interesting.

I just received an e-mail from Linda Stanton about the May 15 Classic Car and Decoy show with a musical performance from Jim Albertson at Batsto. You can be sure that I'll be there. And since I'm on the subject of Linda Stanton, she is to be congratulated along with everyone else who made this year's Lines in the Pines one of the BEST! Valerie Vaughan sang along with a British friend, Branwell Taylor, Paul Schopp and Dr. Robt. Emmons gave a very interesting presentation, "A Distant Memory: The Rusty Trail of the Blue Comet." Authors (such as Nelson Johnson of Boardwalk Empire), were there signing books, artists had paintings and photographs on display, and there was something for everyone. It was held at Frog Rock Golf and Country Club.

The historic houses will be opening their doors for events again within the next couple of months after a long quiet winter for most of them.
Today was the first of the new spring session of the Sewing Guild of the Whitall volunteers. Joyce Stevenson kindly offered her expertise to those of us who are trying to make our own Colonial clothes. Don't get me wrong, I actually buy most of mine from Sue Hueskin, and in fact a week ago, I bought two new short gowns and aprons, but I'm sewing my own short gown, the old fashioned way, by hand, just for the experience.
The Whitall House officially opens again for tours on April 6 at 1:00, but the History and Conversation Club will have its first meeting there April 1st.

Robert Fischer Hughes will host the regular meeting of the Griffith-Morgan House group at 7:30 on the site of the house which is off River Road in Pennsauken, 243 Griffith Morgan Lane. Check out this site for more information on the house - http://historiccamdencounty.com/
He sent me an e-mail that Professor Howard Gillette will present a lecture, "Between Justice and History" on May 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Rutgers/Camden campus, 326 Penn St.
http://miller2011eventbrite.com

Betsy Ross will be visiting the Indian King Tavern on May 14, www.indiankingfriends.org, and the address is 233 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033, 856-429-6782.

Hope to see you at one or all of these places! Jo Ann

The Irish Girls

Once, when touring Paulsdale in Mount Laurel, I passed the servants' staircase and the guide said, "Alice Paul used to call the servants "the Irish Girls." It was an innocent comment, and who knows if Alice Paul really said it or what the context was. Anyhow, every time I toured a historic mansion such as the Wharton mansion at Batsto, for example, and saw the servants' staircase and their cramped little quarters in the attic, I imagined those young girls, full of hope, gossiping, laughing, and, I hope, getting married, leaving service, and having families of their own.

I suppose what bothered me about the comment in the proximity of the servants' staircase was the idea of these young women cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and raising the children of these families and being referred to in a generic term like the Irish girls, rather than by their names. Maybe there was a high turnover rate.

Anyhow, for Women's History Month and St. Patrick's Day, I decided to find out who the Irish girls were who were domestic servants for the family of Alice Paul, the tireless Suffragist who wrote the Equal Rights Amendment. This isn't going to be about the Paul family, or their farm, though if you check back in my blog entries, you'll find some information on those topics. This is only about the Irish girls!

My search began and ended with ancestry.com and a big surprise. The first of the Irish girls I found living with the Pauls was Bridget Mulkerm. She was listed on the 1900 census. Naturally, I tried to find out more about Bridget, but you can't imagine how many Bridget Mulkern, Mukerrin, Mukearne and many other variations on the name there are and with the same birth year! You could almost hear the brogue in the spellings. One, whom I found particularly intriguing was a Bridget Mulkern who was a "prisoner" at Maine General Hospital, along with 98 other people listed. She, too, had been born in 1881 in Ireland and had emigrated 2 years before the census of 1900. But, I can't digress into the fascinating stories of all the other Bridget Mulkearnes I found.

Bridget's predecessors were listed on the 1895 census as Mary Kerrigan and Mary Harrison. I found local families with the same surname, and it may be that these girls were hired out by their parents.

Along the route, I found out some interesting observations such as that domestic service was the largest category of Irish female employment in the US at the turn of the last century (19th to 20th). Until I read up a bit on this situation, I felt kind of sorry for these young women, however, as it turns out, domestics earned 50% more than saleswomen and 25% more than girls working in textile mills and factories. Added to that is the benefit that they didn't have to pay for their lodgings or transportation AND they lived in nice houses, not squalid tenements. That made it possible for them to save up and send money to Ireland to help their families still reeling from the devastation of the Great Hunger and the barbarous evictions.

The unexpected bonus of my attempt at honoring these young women who cleaned and cooked and took care of the children, and saved and sent the money home to help their families, was that I found an ancestor of my own.

As is often the case, a little clue from searching for the Irish girls took me to Lavinia Johnston, born in 1810 in Ireland, and living in the 1880 census, two doors down from her daughter, Lavinia Johnston McQuiston, son-in-law Hiram McQuiston, and their children, Mary Lavinia, William J., Sarah A., Effie, and Hiram, Jr. Lavinia and Hiram McQuiston were the great-grandparents of my mother, and Lavinia Johnston was her great-great-grandmother. My mother's name was Mary Lavinia and my daughter's name is Lavinia. By the way, although Hiram McQuiston was born in Ohio, his parents were born in Ireland also.

A web site where I found some interesting facts was the Mayo County Library web site. The web site that provided the photos was:
xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/SADLIER/Domestic.htm
The photographs aren't of the Paul family servants, but they are of Irish domestics, and the photo of the Paul farm is from the period.

To all of you out there who have Irish ancestors, Eirinn Go Brach! Jo Ann

Elizabeth Fenwick Adams - Did she or didn't she? A family history mystery.

Twice this past week on gloriously sunny days that smelled of spring, friends and I headed down the highway on the trail of the mystery of Elizabeth Fenwick Adams and her alleged connection with the family that founded Gouldtown, a unique and remarkable tri-racial community in South Jersey.

Elizabeth FEnwick Adams and Gouldtown were not my only reasons for heading as far south as Greenwich, however. This year is the sesqui-centennial of the Civil War and I was also still on the hunt for the Underground Railroad and South Jersey's fascinating AfroAmerican history including the Ambury Hill Cemetery.

The first of the two days, a friend and I researched Othello and Springtown.
Once we'd arrived at Greenwich, the only town in New Jersey that I could actually imagine myself moving to, we stopped in at the Cumberland County Historical Society Library. The people there are kind, generous and friendly. Armed with their directions, maps, and knowledge, we drove to the "head of Greenwich" on Ye Greate Street, and up on a lonesome bluff, we found Ambury Hill, home of some veterans of the Civil War and the "Colored" Regiment from Cumberland County.

All month, I'd been reading Parallel Communities, the Underground Railroad in South Jersey, by Dennis Rizzo which is a fabulous read - conversational, full of fascinating facts and interesting observations. Although I make regular pilgrimages to my favorite SJ town, Greenwich, this time I was using Rizzo's book as my inspiration. His comments about the origins of the AfroAmerican towns of Othello, Springtown, and Gouldtown had whetted my history appetite and I wanted to see these places for myself.

A year or two ago, I'd happened onto the Othello cemetery on the side of the road on one of my drives to Greenwich and I had always wondered about it. An interesting side note for those of my fellow history buffs who are also interested in the history of the Still family: Levi and Charity Still had escaped from slavery and hid out for a time in Springtown. Charity and her sons were kidnapped there by slave catchers and taken back down South. Different stories tell this differently, some say only the boys were taken. Anyhow, Levi Still moved further north to the Medford area. James Still, his son, became the famous "Black Doctor of the Pines." Eventually Charity made her way back to her husband and, her son, William found his way to Philadelphia where he became one of the most famous Station Masters of the Underground Railroad. I've visited his house there, the Johnson House, and it has an interesting Underground Railroad Museum. William went on to write the first and most comprehensive account of the stories of the self-emancipators helped by him and the other brave Abolitionists in that dangerous time.

Well, for Elizabeth's story, we have to go back much further, to the arrival of the Fenwick family on the ship Griffin. This story stirs up a lot of debate over oral history and documentary history. The document that exists and gives the oral history some credibility is the will of John Fenwick, the original proprietor of the area. Written just before his death, in 1683. Variations on the quotation of the paragraph in the will exist in different web sites and books, but the gist of it as written in Rizzo's book is:
"Item: I do except against Elizabeth Adams of having any ye least part of my estate, unless the Lord open her eyes to see her abominable transgression against him, me and her good father, by giving her true repentance, and forsaking yt Black yt hath been ye ruin of her, and becoming penitent for her sins; upon yt condition only I do will and require my executors to settle five hundred acres of land upon her"

Genealogical accounts have Elizabeth Fenwick Adams marrying an other colonist, Anthony Windsor, several days after grandfather's will. Oral tradition of the Gouldtown residents has it that she and the original Gould had five children. No information remains on what happened to the three daughters, and one son died, which left Benjamin Gould, who married a Finnish woman and founded Gouldtown. It is said that their graves, Benjamin and his Finnish wife, are in the cemetery at Gouldtown. Information on the succeeding generations plus a really fine large group photo of the Goulds is available on-line in The Southern Workman, Vol 37, by the Hampton Institute via a google search.

At the time of the Fenwick's arrival and colonization, there were a number of Lenni Lenape still in the area. Gouldtown history has it that the Murray families are descendants of Lenni Lenape. Also, the Pierces are descendants of two African American brothers who came from the West Indies, John and Peter Pierce, paid the passage for two Dutch sisters whose last names were Von Aka, and married them. Benjamin Gould, said to be the son of Elizabeth Fenwick Adams and the original Gould, whose first name is lost to history, married a Finnish woman and founded Gouldtown. The names of Pierce, Gould, and Murray represent Lenni Lenapi, African American, Dutch, Finnish and, possibly, English ancestry.

On August 23, 1683, Elizabeth Fenwick Adams married Anthony Windsor under the care of the Salem Meeting. Her brother, Fenwick Adams married Ann Watkins in August of 1687. http://dunhamwilcox.net/nj/newton_nj_marriages.htm
"Marriages solemnized in open court at Salem, New Jersey, as recorded in the Minute Book thereof, No. 2, on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, N. J."

What does this mean? Did she obey her grandfather and return to the family and marry Anthony Windsor? We have here two documents, one which states that her grandfather is cutting her out of his will if she won't leave the "Black" man who has been her "ruination" and another which has her marrying another English colonist a few months after the will. I'm mystified.

Nonetheless, the story was a great reason to make the trip to my favorite
historic town, Greenwich. On my second trip, it was my great pleasure to introduce another history pal of mine, Loretta Kelly, head preservationist at White Hill, Fieldsboro, NJ, to the numerous beautiful houses starting with the Sheppard's Landing house on the Cohansie River, the two Friends' Meeting Houses, and a stop at the Prehistory Museum where the two museum volunteers treated us to coffee and Danish and a tip on where to hunt for arrowheads. I'll keep that secret to myself and when I get there, if I find anything, I'll write a blog entry about it.
These two kind history buffs also told me that they help to maintain Ambury Hill cemetery. Thank heavens for volunteers - where would history be without them.

Now that African American History month is over, and Women's History Month has begun, I'll be turning my attention to new mysteries, including, of course, historic sites that figure in the Civil War Sesqui-centennial. By the way, there was a great display at the Cumberland County Historical Society featuring Civil War history and a 34 star flag from 1861-1864.

I hope some readers will spend a few hours following the trail of the mystery of Elizabeth Fenwick Adams and her grandfather's will and let me know if you think she ran off and married the first Gould of what later became Gouldtown, or if she had an affair and returned home to marry Anthony Windsor, or if there is some other explanation available to a creative thinker or avid researcher. Also, I'd like to know the name of "Ann, the Finn" who married Benjamin Gould.

Happy Trails! Jo Ann

Maple Shade Presentation on Stiles history

In the 1970's there was a saying "The Personal is Political." I'd like to adapt that to "The Personal is Historical." I spent several years of my adolescence living in Maple Shade, New Jersey and so I was interested in attending a workshop held there.

Yesterday, on Saturday the 26th of February, at the Burlington County Historians' Roundtable, a number of upcoming events were announced and I decided to attend one that was to be held today, Sunday, February 27th, 2011. The presenter, Dennis, had done an enormous amount of research over several years on deeds, founding farm families, and historic houses of Maple Shade. Here is his website:
http://mysite.verizon.net/densdoor/index.html

His focus today was on the Stiles family. Check out his site to find out more. He has a great deal of information on his site and pictures of a house that I went to see after the presentation,the Collins House. I had passed that house many times in my childhood and I knew it was an old farm house. I'm glad to see that with so many other historic houses disappearing, this one has been saved.

Also, Maple Shade has a delightful one-room schoolhouse worth visiting as well. I finally got to go inside on one of the Burlington County Historical Society's field trips a couple of years ago. It was an all day trip to more than a dozen one-room schools. The woman who gave the tour this year, whose name, unfortunately, I didn't catch, was the person who introduced the presentation at the Maple Shade municipal center today. She is a member of the Colonial Dames.

At the presentation today, I ran into Robert Fisher-Hughes, preservationist at two other wonderful houses in Pennsauken, Burrough-Dover and Griffith-Morgan. I decided to drop by one of them before I went home.

Hope you enjoy Dennis' link (sorry I didn't catch his last name either.)

Historians' Roundtable February 26, 2011

Yesterday, under sunny skies and a brisk breeze, forty people gathered to hear Joe Laufer and Paul Schopp, among others, describe upcoming events in the Burlington County History world. There were too many people to list, but many historical societies were represented as well as re-enacting groups, and directors of such interesting sites as the Burlington County Prison Museum, Roebling Museum, Smithville and Beverly.

Joe Laufer described upcoming events and projects including the Camp Dark Waters, Whitmer Stone project, the James Forten project, and the One-Room School project to give just a sample.

The library itself is gorgeous. Original hand-carved wooden trim interior, painted glass panels, fireplaces and handsome works of art warm every room. The staff is courteous, helpful and engaging as well as knowledgable. I enjoyed a tour of the building.

By the way, this year is the Civil War Sesquicentennial. On March 14, at Leisuretowne Historical Society, there will be a presentation by the County Historian at 7:30 on Burlco and the Civil War.
On Monday, April 4th, there will be a presentation at the Southampton Historical Society.
On May 23rd, there will be a New Views Bus Tour of Civil War Sites.

Among the wide array of aspects of historical interest represented at the Roundtable, there were re-enactors and I ran into an acquaintance of mine, Sue Hueskin, and her husband, Revolutionary War re-enactors and sutlers and I made an appointment to augment my growing and handsome wardrobe of colonial clothes. Sue has published two fascinating books that I dexribed in an earlier post, one called Had On and Took With Her, which describes the clothing worn and stolen by run-away slaves and servants, and another based on the found cookbook of 18th century Polly Burling (several copies of which I bought and gave as Christmas presents to my friends who cook.)

Also, while there, I took the opportunity to purchase the dvd The Black Doctor of the Pines, Dr. James Still and the Legacy of the Still Family. Regrettably, I had to miss the film debut at the Lenape School District, so now I'll be able to see the film, especially moving as this is Black History Month.

Next month, I'd like to do a short feature on the Civil War, since my family history has turned up a couple of Civil War veterans,
Robert Jaggard, of the Clementon Jaggard family, who survivied Andersonville, and William C. Garwood, a fifer with Company K, the 38th New Jersey Volunteers who served on the James River in Virginia.

To end a perfect day, a friend and I drove out to Waretown to Albert Hall where we listened to great music and appropriately ended the evening with a Civil War Music band, the name of which, I have, regrettabley, forgetton, but I'll look it up and let you know in my next post.

If you love history, I'd urge you to get out to the next Roundtable.
Later today, I plan to head over to Maple Shade to hear a presentation called "Studies in Stiles" at the Stiles Avenue Municipal Building from 2:00 to 4:00. I'll let you know what I find out!

Charles Boyer

Spent the evening reading Charles Boyer's books - Old Mills of Camden County, and Old Inns and Taverns in West Jersey. What a stalwart and passionate historian he must have been. Those books were fascinating. I found my family branches, Garwood and Cheesman all over the place, grist mills, saw mills, and taverns. I could picture Charles S. Boyer on his day trips to the various sites and then doing the research in thousands of deeds and wills, tracking back the places and the people along the waterways of West Jersey. Fortunately, I was able to get both books, second hand, on sale at the Camden County Historical Society on Euclid Avenue, behind Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

After lunch with a friend in Haddonfield, yesterday, I ambled on over to Camden County Historical Society Library to do more family history research. They had a heating problem and it was COLD in there, but I soon was lost in the files in their cabinets and in the books on the shelves. I was searching in Strykers for my Revolutionary War ancestors and found plenty of all three names listed there: Wright, Garwood and Cheesman.

This whole month, I've been doing Underground Railroad presentations in the school in the area as a part-time employee for Camden County Historical Society. This is my second year doing this work and it is gratifying to see the enthusiasm of the kids when they find out how many interesting places there are in their own towns to explore.

I'd like to know more about all of these things, follow the threads, the family history in this area, the Underground Railroad, the Inns and Taverns - the more I learn, the more I want to find out.

I've found it helpful to refer to a booklet that I bought at one of CCHS's spring book sales:
A Teacher's Guide to the WaterSheds of Camden County. The maps of the waterways make the relationship between taverns and mills more understandable. Every river had it's mills and every area of mills had taverns, the watermen needed a place to hang out while they waited for the change over of products being delivered and picked-up. They must have been lively places, those taverns, with the talk of politics and business, the buying and selling of livestock and land, corn and grains, the gossip and scandals.

One of these days, perhaps I'll even get lucky and find a Cheesman, Garwood or Wright through this blog. I hope so.

I'll be back to blog after my visit with the Historian's Roundtable in Mount Holly tomorrow morning. I'll be attending with Loretta Kelly, the main preservationist working on White Hill in Fieldsboro. Till then - stay warm and dry!

Upcoming EVENT!! Historians' Roundtable

Subject: Upcoming Event at Burlington County Library System Message: Burlington County Historians’ Roundtable
Mount Holly Library
Saturday, Feb. 26, 10 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.
or call 609-267-7111.
This is the first program in the Historians’ Roundtable, a project designed to bring community historians together for conversations in a public setting at local libraries. Burlington County historian Joe Laufer will be joined by his friend and fellow historian, Paul W. Schopp, and former county historian, Dave Kimball. The theme of the series will be Burlington County’s history agenda for 2011, an overview of the historians roundtable project, and a look at 2011 anniversaries and events and how we might best commemorate them. "It is fortuitous that we will be using two of the most historic libraries in the county for the first series of roundtables" Laufer reflected. The Mount Holly Library, originally known as The Library Company of Bridgetown, received its charter on June 11, 1765 from His Majesty George III of England, through William Franklin, then Governor-General of New Jersey. The library is the fifth oldest in the state. Preregistration requested.
Have a great day! Joe Laufer
9 Smith Court, Vincentown, NJ 08088
609-859-4042 FAX: 609-678-1845

General Washington Visits Haddonfield

Under blustery winds and brilliant sun, on Saturday, February 19, 2011, the great, good General Washington visited the Indian King Tavern in Haddonfield, New Jersey. As you might expect, the Tavern was thronged with so many visitors to hear the general speak that half had to be kept down on the first floor touring in order to stay within the fire marshall's limits on guests in the Assembly Room on the second floor.
My favorite question asked of the general by a local boyscout was, "Did you ever shoot any of your own men." The general nimbly sidestepped this tricky question by talking about the confusion of battle and other officers who'd gotten caught in the crossfire.

The general wasn't the only dignitary at the Tavern, Governor Livingston was also there. The schedule for the events of 2011 was available and is posted to the left, while a photo of General Washington and Governor Livingston is at right.

Among the many momentous historical events that have taken place at the Indian King Tavern, it is where the New Jersey Assembly met to declare New Jersey no longer a British Colony, but an independent state. It is also where the New Jersey State Seal was adopted.

Taverns were far more important to town life than they are today. They were the places where people met to get the news from carters and watermen plying the dusty roads and rivers, and creeks of colonial New Jersey. Business was conducted at the taverns, real estate deals, sales of lumber, crops, and products were made, and celebrations were held there. Taverns were the heart of the colonial community life as churches were the soul.

The Indian King Tavern is a more deluxe and spacious version of the average colonial tavern. In New Jersey, they were larger than their Philadelphia cousins, which tended to be small, one room row house affairs. In New Jersey, several excellent taverns are still standing and can be visited, the Griffith Morgan House, the Burrough Dover House and Hancock House. Burrough Dover served the Big Timber Creek watermen, Griffith Morgan, the Pennsauken Creek traveler, and Hancock House, in Salem County, served the Alloway Creek vicinity. It was also the scene of a horrific massacre of sleeping local militia men by a Loyalist group under the command of the infamous Major Simcoe.

If you haven't visited the Indian King Tavern yet, take advantage of the posted open house dates and come on over. You won't be disappointed, although you are too late for General Washington's Birthday cake, which I can tell you was delicious!

Also of note, I found a book published in 1946 of Betty Cavanna's youth market novel Secret Passages which is set in colonial Haddonfield and features tunnels below buildings on Kings Highway that run to the Cooper River and which were built during the Revolution, but served later for Underground Railroad use. Historians will tell you this is untrue, history myth, not fact, and so I warn you with this disclaimer. Nonetheless, the old book is a great read and many people remember the Betty Cavanna books of their childhood, including Linda Hess, director of the Indian King Tavern, and Dorothy Stanaitis, a trustee of Rutgers, the State University, who nominated her for a Children's Literature Award.

To Timbuctoo - Forgotten History

Saddlertown, Timbuctoo, Guineatown, Othello, Springtown, Snow Hill - what do these names mean to you? Once, they meant security, fellowship, a meal and a warm place to rest on the long journey from slavery to freedom for thousands of freedom seekers taking the Underground Railroad through New Jersey. They were following the North Star.

New Jersey was not only a hotbed of Revolutionary activity, it was also a crossroads of another kind - the trade in human beings on one side, and the efforts of courageous and moral people to end slavery and save those people they could by conducting them from house to house, church to church and school to school on their way to freedom.

Those were perilous times, nearly 200 years in the struggle for freedom for all people who had come to these shores in various states of bondage, whether religious, or economic.

In the forefront of the struggle, whether for freedom for slaves, or civil rights for women, were the Quakers, the Society of Friends. They first came here to escape religious persecution in England, Ireland and other parts of Europe, then that same spirit of "God within" drove them to work for the freedom of all.

The trail led from Delaware and Maryland up through Salem County, stop by stop, parallel to the Old Kings Highway, through swamps and forests, always Northward through safe houses to Haddonfield, Burlington, Bordentown and Perth Amboy and finally, New York, and sometimes, Canada.

More than 50,000 people found freedome through the Underground Railroad.

During February, I do a lot of work for the Camden County Historical Society giving presentations at schools on the Underground Railroad in New Jersey and especially Camden County. This issue divided families as did the question of independence. In the Cooper family, Marmaduke Cooper was "read out of meeting" for refusing to emancipate his slaves, and yest his brother Samuel Cooper, ran a stop on the Underground Railroad in what is now Camden.

A secondary route through New Jersey crossed the Delaware River, often by ferry. The Cooper family were the operators of ferries along the Delaware. Ships came in with human cargo to sell at what is now Wiggins Park, the site of a summer music venue. Ferries came in across the Delaware River with freedom seekers, hidden in many ways, who were making their way north.

In my next post, I'll put some photos of places you can still visit where this stream of freedom seekers found support across our state, and I'll post the names and stories of some of these people.

Did you know that Harriet Tubman, arguably the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, worked in Cape May as a hotel restaurant cook to earn the money for her dangerous journeys to the fields and slave quarters of plantations in the south?

One of the things I enjoy about holidays dedicated to forgotten history such as African American History Month, February, and Women's History Month, March, is that it gives us a push and opportunity to revisit the stories of the people and places so often forgotten in our state's rich heritage.

Responses to Count Von Donop's Skull post

This e-mail just came from Lee Anderson, author and re-enactor:

"Interesting stuff JoAnn. Although I doubt it is Von Donop's skull, all they have to do is a test for DNA on it. There are Von Donop descendants, I believe that one lives in North Carolina.

Although I also believe that the only way you can get DNA from a skull is teeth and it looks like the teeth are all missing.

Also, Von Donop's dying quote, maybe he didn't, but I got it from the Diary of Job Whitall who was present at his death and a doctor from Woodbury was German and translated his words. I think that is a pretty good source. I don't doubt that the quote or some variation
of it has been uttered many times over during several wars from the 12th to the 19th century.

Thanks for the posts. They are always good reading.
Take care,
Lee Anderson"

Is this the skull of Count Carl Von Donop, Hessian Commander?

On Saturday, January 29th, five intrepid docents from the Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ, drove up the snowy highway to the Clarke House, on the Princeton Battlefield. We enjoyed a highly informative tour given by John Mills, a lifelong Revolutionary War historian, re-enactor, and historic site curator. He's also a black-powder expert. I saw Mills do a black-powder demo at Walnford historic site many months ago. He demonstrated both cannon and rifle firing. On this day, he gave us a fascinating description of this momentous battle of the Revolutionary War. It is generally regarded, along with the Battle of Trenton, as the turning point in the war for Independence. It is part of what is known as The Ten Crucial Days. This farm house is the site of the death of the heroic General Hugh Mercer, who was bludgeoned, bayonetted and died of his wounds in the Clarke farmhouse.

The house has both period furnished rooms and a museum that features weapons and ammo as well as many prints, and maps depicting the battle.
The grounds were breathtakingly beautiful in the fresh deep snow.

After touring the Clarke House, we headed to New Brunswicke where we examined the alleged skull of Count Carl Von Donop, the Hessian commander who died of his wounds at Red Bank Battlefield in October of 1777.

The skull was donated to the special collections department of the library but no other provenance exists to identify the donor or prove whether the skull is in fact Count Von Donop's. He was buried near the site of the battle and it has been alleged that his bones were later dug up. It is known that bones of the soldiers buried on the battlefield were washed out the banks of the Delaware after floods, and dug up by vandals and scattered.

Hessian wounded were treated in the Whitall house. Those that died on the spot were buried in unmarked graves. Others died nearby in the Woodbury Friends Meeting House and their remains were buried in The Strangers' Cemetery which was later moved to an almost forgotten site outside of town. More Hessians who died on the retreat were buried in Glendora. Survivors who were captured, were imprisoned in Philadelphia.

The monument at Red Bank Battlefield is engraved with a quote alleged to have been uttered by the dying Count Von Donop that he died "the victim of my own ambition and the avarice of my prince." Some dispute that he ever actually said this and it was attributed to a later observation by an unnamed French man.

If you are interested in learning more about this battle, I'll be listing some good books from a brochure offered at the Clarke House.

location of the Clarke House and Princeton Battlefield:
500 Mercer Road, Princeton, NJ 08540-4810, 609-921-0074

location of the library that houses the alleged skull of Count Von Donop:
Ronald L. Becker
Head, Special Collections
Rutgers University Libraries
169 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1163
(732) 932-7006 x362 phone
(732) 932-7012 FAX
rbecker@rulmail.rutgers.edu
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/scua.shtml

Great Photographs! Upcoming PPA show.

This just in from Pineland Preservation Alliance:
"Join us on Sunday, February 13, from 1 - 3:00pm at PPA for the exhibit opening of The Lure of the Land: A photographic journey through the Pine Barrens, New Jersey's diverse wilderness of culture and ecology. The work of photographer Chase Schiefer can also be viewed here. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Mr. Schiefer's work will be donated to PPA.

Musical entertainment for the afternoon will be courtesy of the "old-timey" band Piney Hollow Drifters, who will also be selling copies of their latest CD."

I checked out the link they sent of the photographer's work and it is spendid. It was a wonderful way to spend a trapped-indoors day - looking at photographs of the beautiful world. It made me want to grab my camera and go out and photograph the snow! I think I will!

MysteryChurchSJ

Hello history buffs - I've been away in West Virginia for a time and just got home. In answering my e-mail, I found a message from Barry Casselli who has a great web site for people interested in the Pine Barrens. He asked for information on a mystery church he has photographed. Here is his message:
"I just realized, that with your blog, maybe a mystery can be solved.
I photographed this small frame church (see attachment) a few years ago. Unfortunately I did not note the name or location of the church. I believe I took the photo somewhere between Daretown and the Alliance cemetery. The house number on it is 213. It's possible the church is somewhere between Daretown and Rosenhayn. There was a dated stone set in the upper part of the front wall, but I forgot to try to read it.
I would like to find out where this building is, and take new photos (and mark it on my map). Could you post this text and photo on your blog? This one's a real mystery, because I have no idea where it is."
Thanks,
Barry Caselli
criterion1974@yahoo.com

Upcoming Event Notice

Just received this via e-mail.  If you are interested in Dr. Still, famous herbal doctor of the pines, you may wish to attend this presentation.  Call the number listed for more information.  This summer, at the History Conference in Monmouth, I saw a presentation on the architectural preservation plans for Dr. Still's home/office.  Did you know his brother was William Still, the famous Philadelphia Abolitionist and Underground Railroad Station Master?  I visited the house where he lived, in Germantown, a year ago during a Revolutionary War re-enactment event at Cliveden. 

The Black Doctor of the Pines
Dr James Still and the legacy of the Still Family

Lenape High School Auditorium
Tue Feb 1,2011 at 7pm

 RSVP by Jan 25th
609-654-5111 ext 3528
or email
ldtv@lrhsd.org

Kings Highway and Old Salem Road

Here is the excellent map you can use to track the route of Kings Highway and the Old Salem Road. Happy travels! Map provided by Jerseyman.

Kings Highway and the Old Salem Road - A friend helps clear up a question.

Revised - A Letter from Jerseyman about the Old Salem Road and Kings Highway 1/18/2011

While not based in law and reality, you could say the King's Highway runs between Salem and Perth Amboy. To be factual, however, the route represents two different roads, both of which have their own distinct and fascinating histories. The road to Amboy appears on the earliest map of Burlington—drawn by Salem surveyor Richard Noble in 1677 and annotated several years later by others—and labeled “Old Indian Road.” This road provided a good route between the West New Jersey and East New Jersey seats of government, which became very important after the two groups of proprietors surrendered their provinces to Queen Anne in 1703 and the “Jerseys” became a royal colony. During her reign, residents referred to modern-day Kings Highway as “the Queen’s Highway.” This is the route that armed men escorted William Franklin, New Jersey’s last royal governor, from Burlington to Perth Amboy during 1776. There were several roads in New Jersey that became known as “the King’s Highway” during the colonial era.

Our Kings Highway, or, more correctly, the Salem Road, became officially established under a 1681 law approved by the Colonial Assembly. The roadway has undergone modifications several times as the early population nucleated at certain locations like Moorestown, Haddonfield, Gloucester, and Woodbury. As first laid out, the Salem Road left Burlington over the Yorkshire Bridge and traveled up the Perth Amboy Road as far as Cedar Lane. At that point, the Salem Road traveled down Cedar Lane to Slabtown (now Jacksonville) and then down Jacksonville Road to Mount Holly. The Salem Road then reached Pine Street/Eayrestown Road and traveled out to Eayrestown, where a ford provided a relatively painless passage over the Rancocas above the head of tide. From there, the route passed over Bella Bridge Road and across Fostertown Road, where it then traveled the route of the predecessor of Elbo Lane and today’s Pleasant Valley Drive to the west end of Moorestown. The Salem Road then turned onto its present route, more or less down to the South Branch of Pennsauken Creek, where the road crossed a bridge over the South Branch by the Matlack plantation. Passing through present-day Cherry Hill, the original Kings Highway ran west of the present one, passing through Colestown Cemetery immediately outside the door of old Saint Mary’s Church. As the road approached Haddonfield, it diverged over towards Brace Road and crossed the North Branch of Coopers River, running east of Brace Road. A section of the old roadbed is still there today in the woods just east of Brace Road near the state historical marker. The road continued running down east of Brace Road until it arrived at Ice House Lane is the modern residential development named “Uxbridge,” located off Haddonfield-Berlin Road, and forded across the South Branch of Coopers River. From there it passed through the Haddonfield Public Works property and over Gill Road to Warwick Road. The Salem Road went down Warwick Road to Laurel Road, crossing the North Branch of Timber Creek at the milldam constructed for what later became Tomlinson’s mill proximate to the old Stratford Military Academy. The road ran up Chews Landing Road to Hider Lane/Coles Road/Almonesson-Blenheim Road and then crossed the South Branch of Timber Creek at Limber Bridge, located just upstream from Cole Landing and adjacent to Cheesman’s Landing. Passing over Almonesson-Blenheim Road until it becomes Cooper Street, the Salem Road moved into Woodbury before the town every existed and then turned southwest towards Salem, running more or less down present-day Kings Highway.

Several key changes occurred in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In February 1689, the judges of the Burlington Court directed that a new route be laid out between Burlington and the original route at the west end of Moorestown. During the same court hearing, the judges licensed a ferry for the first time over the Rancocas Creek. As a result of this court order, surveyors laid out the section of Salem Road that crossed the London Bridge in Burlington and down through Willingboro, a portion of which still remains in service today, and down to Adam’s wharf or Hackney’s Dock, next to the Willingboro VFW, which burned a couple years ago. The ferry service, generally known as Hollinshead Ferry, provided a riverine link in the Salem Road, and upon reaching the old Chester Township shore, the Salem Road continued straight across the landscape to present-day Borton Landing Road and then on to Main Street, Moorestown, which the Salem Road more or less followed along the ridge of the camelback to the western end of town and connecting to the original route.

The second major change occurred in 1704, when colonial law directed a new route into and out of Haddonfield for the Salem Road. The route diverted from east of Brace Road and took today’s Munn Lane for a distance before it headed across the landscape and crossed over the Free Lodge milldam and entered Haddonfield. Going down through Haddonfield, the route went down Kings Highway or Main Street, Haddonfield, past the end of present-day Warwick Road and on down through Audubon/Haddon Heights, across Kings Run at the milldam and up into Mount Ephraim. Upon achieving Mount Ephraim, the road did not run as it currently does, but it dipped easterly to near Little Timber Creek and then in Market Street and on to a now non-existent road that ran behind Cedar Grove Cemetery that provided access to Little Bridge, the crossing over Little Timber Creek. The road then ascended the high riverbank (a swale from this road still remains in the landscape to this day!) and went through Brooklawn between 4th and 5th avenue and down to the crossing over Big Timber Creek near the bowling alley off Route 130 N. After crossing Big Timber Creek, the Salem Road went down through Buck Tavern (Westville) and on down Old Broadway to the Kings Highway at the lower end of Woodbury, rejoining the old route.

The New Jersey State Legislature did not incorporate the Gloucester and Salem Turnpike Company until March 1851, so it is a relatively recent moniker for the roadway.

Sorry if this is a long and confusing read; I tried to make it as clear as possible. You may want to have a local road atlas handy as you read this comment.

Best regards,

Jerseyman

 

Taking a drive on snowy Kings Highway 1/12/11

Kings Highway, I am told, runs from Perth Amboy down to Salem.  It is one of New Jersey's earliest highways and a lot of history has traveled on it.  Yesterday, right after an overnight snowfall of about 6 inches, a friend and I drove down Kings Highway to look at the beauty of the countryside clad in white.

By the time we got started at 11:00 a.m., the morning sun had fled and the wind had blown all the snow off the trees.  Things looked more gray than glorious, but, we were moved by the spirit of adventure!

During the summer, which seems so long ago now, I had driven to Perth Amboy for a Civil War re-enactment. If I had known then that Kings Highway went there, I'd have given it a try just to see how long it would take and what I might find along the way. Actually, I didn't see much on the turnpike or of Perth Amboy as the re-enactment was in Woodbridge, right next door.  However, in the park where the encampment was being held, I discovered the Revolutionary era Parker Press, a charming and original building with the colonial press in it.  I will talk more about the Parker Press when my book on James Parker arrives from amazon.com.   I'm sure I'm one of their best customers, though they have yet to send me a note to say thank you.

Perth Amboy was the first city incorporated in New Jersey in 1718 and James Parker set up the first press in Perth Amboy in 1752, just in time for the Revolution.  

Kings Highway has had some divergences and many names and I'm afraid to even get into that since it seems to cause a storm of controversy.  For more, see Rambles Through Old Highways and Byways of West Jersey, by Charles S. Boyer, published by the Camden County Historical Society.  I'm actually not clear on how the old Kings Hwy. relates to the current one or how either relate to the Old Salem Road and the Salem Turnpike.  Maybe one of the erudite readers who help me out from time to time can clear that up for us.  I can tell you that it was laid out in the late 1680's on an ancient Native American trail.

We decided to drive to Mickleton, and stop at a few of my favorite locations on the way.  Our first stop was the James and Ann Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield.  If you are new to this blog, let me just say that in October of 1777, a fierce and fast battle took place there.  The apple orchard of this Quaker farm had been confiscated by the Continental army in order to dig a fortification as part of the Delaware River defense.  Fort Billings, Fort Mercer on the New Jersey side of the river and Fort Mifflin on the Pa. side, were keeping the British ships from coming up the river and supplying the British army which had taken Philadelphia.  When the Battle at Red Bank was over, 300 wounded Hessian mercenary soldiers fighting in the Crown's employ, were dragged into the Whitall's house for treatment.

In order to make a surprise attack and to avoid the bridges that had been destroyed by local militia, the Hessians had come from Haddonfield via Clements Bridge Road, not on Kings Highway.

It is worth noting that most colonial homes were not as grand as the Whitall House.  The Whitalls came from old, established and wealthy families.  Most farm families would have lived in two or three room wooden frame dwellings.  Ann Whitall was a descendant of the Cooper family, founders of Camden.  Both Ann and her husband James are buried on the front lawn of the Woodbury Friends Meeting which we passed on our way to Mickleton.

After a parting backward look at the cold gray Delaware River at National Park, we drove back

to Kings Highway and passed the Mount Royal Inn on the corner of the crossroads of what was once called Sandtown.  Over the years this tavern was named Heart in Hand, The Lacy House, the Sickler House and the Blue Anchor.  Taverns were the civic and business headquarters of colonial New Jersey.  Militia units me there, and sometimes after battles and skirmishes, the wounded were taken there.  Most small towns had a tavern and so did most creeks and rivers, since waterways were the highways of the colonial period.

We also passed the Death of the Fox Inn, now a private home.  It is one of my favorite buildings for its simplicity and the beauty of the stone (which was once covered in plaster).  The Death of the Fox was a recruiting headquarters during the Revolution.  The proprietor at the time was William Eldridge, many influential Philadlephia patriots including Samuel Morris and General Robert Wharton were members of the fox hunting club that met there. 

I have read that a Tory traitor was arrested, brought to the Death of the Fox for a barrel top trial and then hanged on the spot.  The commander in charge of the execution threatened that any man who cut the body down would be hanged in its place.  The proprietor's daughter, in defiance of the order, cut the body down in disgust.

Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr. met with his Gloucester County regiment at the Death of the Fox and it is where he died, much later, at the young age of 33, of pneumonia.  He is buried at the graveyard behind Trinity, Old Swedes' Church in Swedesboro. 

Colonel Bodo Otto, Sr. served with his two sons as surgeons with General Washington's forces at Valley Forge.  Dr. Otto, Sr. lived in Reading, Pa., but Dr. Otto, Jr. lived on the Kings Highway in Mickleton.

In celebration of 1/11/11 - My 11 favorite historic sites

Not in order and I couldn't tell you why, but here are ll of my all time favorite SJ historic sites:  1.  James and Ann Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ., 2.Ye Greate Street in Greenwich (which has at least 11 favorite places on it) way down in Salem County, NJ, 3.Pomona Hall and Camden County Historical Society Museum and Library, Camden, NJ., 4.Gloucester County Historical Society Museum and Library, Woodbury, NJ, 5. Clara Barton One-Room School House and Bordentown in general (about 11 great places to visit there too), 6.Burlington City, about 11 wonderful places here too, including James Fennimore Cooper House, and the walk by the river, 7.Ocean City History Museum and the Somers House on Somer's Point Circle, 8.Gabriel Daveis Tavern, Glendora, NJ 9.Griffith Morgan House, Pennsauken, NJ
10.Abel Nicholson House, Fort Elfsborg Rd., Elsinboro, 11.the old Quaker and Revolutionary War cemetery in Collingswood, off the railroad track, and past the Champion One-Room School, and Collings/Knights House (getting 3 for the price of 1).  What are your favorite 11 history spots as of 1/11/11?

What makes America great - and a little local history.

When I drive around South Jersey, I notice the old buildings that speak of the lives of people who, though they lived long ago, were not so different from us.  I try to imagine what it would have been like if I had lived then.  Of course, that's impossible.  However, it's what writers do.  Perhaps, if I had lived a hundred years ago, I would have done what my female ancestors did, sewing.  My great grandmother, Catherine Sandman, was a seamstress in Philadelphia, as was her daughter, my grandmother, Mabel, many years later.  That was how they supported themselves and their children after they were widowed.  My career, teaching, would not have been available to me had I lived at the time of the Little Old School Houses of South Jersey. 

One of my favorite spots to visit is the Clara Barton One-Room-School in Bordentown.  Quaint, evocative, and one of the first public school in the state, it was saved by a penny collection from school children.  I remember those little penny collections from when I was a child.  My church would send a little cardboard church shaped box and we would fill it with pennies for the missions overseas. 

In the time of Clara Barton's youth, children received their education at home, if they received any at all, or by subscription, if their parent's could afford it.  If they were lucky, there would be a charitable institution that would allow them to attend with the children of that religion, usually Quaker, correctly identified as The Society of Friends. 

Clara Barton was hired to teach in a subscription school in Bordentown.  She convinced the town to educate all the children whether their parents could pay tuition or not, and the school population swelled from a couple dozen to several hundred.  A superintendant of schools was hired over Clara Barton's head, and she left.  Most of you know where she went after that.  She took a job in Washington D.C. just in time for the Civil War.  Of course, then, she went on to found the Red Cross to help the wounded soldiers.

My favorite little school house is in Greenwich.  Next time I post, I'll round up a photo of that little stone building which was donated to the community by a local patron.  Having taken school house tours, I have been lucky enough to see inside both the Greenwich One Room School House, and the historic one in the town where I lived in my teens, Maple Shade, NJ as well as two dozen or more others. 

It is my personal opinion that one of the things that makes America great is that we educate all the people, however effectively or evenly or consistently, the point is that we make that intention and one way or another, we follow through with it.  As for why we don't 'score' with the other industrial nations, having lived abroad, I would say the main reason is that our school systems are laboring under uneven spending and a constantly fluctuating flow of migrating peoples from all over the world as well as from different regions of our own nation.  Nonetheless, we try, and when you realize how recent laws enacting universal education actually are, it's a miracle we do as well as we do. 

Can you guess with the little school house to the left of this blog entry is located?  The building still stands and is in good condition as of January 2011.  It is also used in the community for different functions. 

Wow! Guessed in less than 24 hours!

Well, I'm surpised and delighted that mystery house #6 has been guessed in less than 24 hours!  Here is part of the text of the guessing msg.

"While I have known the identity of every one of your mystery photos, I just can’t help but respond to your latest image. This, of course, is the Benjamin Cooper House, located at Point and Erie streets at Coopers Point, North Camden. For many years this house served as a tavern called the “Old Yellow House” and, later, the “Old Stone Jug.” The construction of the house strongly suggests that Benjamin Cooper built it with a tavern in mind for the ferry that operated nearby. The house contains fifteen rooms and once featured a wide veranda along its façade, facing the Delaware River. The application for a tavern license renewal sent to the Gloucester County Court in 1739 stated:

That Benjamin Cooper of sd County Yeoman has made a wharf & Built a house on the side of the River Delaware opposite Philada and Intends to keep a ffery from sd house to Philada and the keeping of a ffery your honours very well know Renders it Necessary the sd Benjm Should keep a public house or house of Entertainment at sd house or the house he now lives in; and sd Benjm is a man of Credit & Estate.

The house served as a headquarters for British General Abercrombie during the American War for Independence as a guard outpost while General Howe’s forces occupied Philadelphia.

During the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, the old house served as an office building for a variety of shipyards that occupied the surrounding land, including the famous John H. Mathis yard.

Although Isaac Mickle states in his work, Reminiscences of Old Gloucester County that William Cooper’s original house washed into the Delaware during a high flood tide, documentary evidence and an actual physical examination of this house and its underpinnings confirm that Benjamin incorporated what remained of William Cooper’s house from the 1680s into this extant structure."

Thank you and congratulations to Jerseyman.  I'm going to have to try harder, dig deeper, go outside the box to find a historic site that will boggle you!  I may have to go for a cemetary or something.  Jerseyman, you make blogging fun! 

3 Posts - #1Mystery solved. #2PhotoDataBaseGCHS #3 Whitall descendant

Mystery Site Identified
Today, Friday, January 7, 2011, I received an e-mail from Bill Woodall who has guessed the mystery site. 

"Mystery site #5 is the Lower Alloways Creek Friends Meeting,
vintage 1756, expanded to two stories in 1784.
I am the technical advisor and cartographer for
http://www.njchurchscape.com/ - a photographic database of New
Jersey's historic churches."

Bill has asked if anyone has any information on a church posted on his site:
http://www.njchurchscape.com/assistance%20please.html
Thank you for visiting, Bill, and congratulations on guessing the mystery site!

Volunteering at Gloucester County Historical Society
Yesterday, Thursday, the 6th, was my first day volunteering at GCHS in Woodbury on 17 Hunter St.
Naturally, I've visited there on many occasions both to see new exhibits at the museum and to attend workshops or lectures at the library, which is renowned as one of the finest family history resources in South Jersey.  Needless to say, as is the case with many historic sites, a lot of work is done on, what their sign in the entrance way calls "Volunteer Time" and I am happy to give something back to the genealogical and historical societies.  At two of the places where I volunteer, I am a docent, talking and walking.  At this one, I'll be working behind the scenes, scanning photographs and doing data entry.  I believe in giving something back, and it will also give me a chance to get to know the 'holdings' better. 

The folder I worked on yesterday was the Glassboro Glass Works, in particular the Whitney buildings, a great many of the photographs donated by the Stanger family.  I can tell already I'm going to like this job - those photographs speak to me. 

In past blogs I may have mentioned that along with a passion for history and historic sites, I've become an avid genealogy seeker, which is how I got to know the folks at GCHS.  At their library, I found a great deal of useful information on my family names in New Jersey, in the Turnersville, Gloucester County area, Garwood and Cheesman.  The people at GCHS are gracious and knowledgeable and it is a pleasure to get to know them better as well. 

Before I started this blog, I had taken a trip to the State Archives with GCHS.  They say another one is planned, so when that happens, I'll be sure to blog it.  Also, if anyone out there has Italian ancestry.  I believe they have a lecture on that coming up.  Call 856-745-4771.

I've heard from a lot of interesting people, including Russ Worthington, a descendant of the Whitall family. He requests info in the form of family stories from anyone who might know.  I'll post the links above and his link today. 

Library of Congress Photographs

If you like historic houses, you should visit the Library of Congress site.  Go to http://loc.gov/ and on the right hand side, choose American Memory, Go, and you'll find the Historic Archicture Building Survey photographs of historic places.  The mystery site of the week is from that collection.  It is fascinating to see the pictures taken of places during the WPA historic building survey, in the 1930's, and compare them with the pictures of the same places today.  You can also access through http://memory.loc.gov/ and search by place.  Pick N then next and go to New Jersey and find the city you'd like to explore.  You can spend hours at it!  Enjoy! 

Paulsdale, Hooten Road, Mount Laurel, New Jersey

On January 11, 1884, a woman was born in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, who would rock the world.  Her name was Alice Paul, and she not only wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, she was the most militant and dedicated of generations of women's rights activitists, who finally got the 19th Amendment passed in 1920, so American women could legally vote at last.  In college, in England, Alice Paul learned from the British activists, far more militant tactics than the American suffragists were employing. Alice Paul formed a new women's political party and then organized, marched, picketed, was arrested many times, imprisoned, and went on hunger strikes.  She organized a 5,000 woman march on the White House on the day of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration and made the battle for the vote personal by holding the administration in power responsible for denying American female citizens the right to vote.  Alice Paul had a doctorate and three law degrees in a time not many women were able to go to college.

Paulsdale is a beautiful, three story, Georgian Revival farm house built in 1800 by Benjamin Hooten.  The Paul family, Hicksite Quakers, moved into the house shortly thereafter and it remained in the Paul family until the death of Alice Paul's brother, William, in 1958.  Hicksite Quakers practiced a life of simplicity, and believed in living in harmony with nature, out of the bustle of the commercial world.  The next family, the Feyerherms, who lived in the house from 1960, agreed to sell the house to a group called the Alice Paul Cenntennial Foundation, headed by Barbara Irvine.  This band of dedicated activists, who were originally organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Alice Paul's birth, held fundraisers featuring notables such as astronaut Sally Ride, and politician Shirley Chisholm, to name just a few, and mounted an effort to save the property when it was in danger of being bought by real estate developers in the 1980's.  Eventually, with the help of several banks, a loan sufficient to the task was granted. 

About two years ago, in August,the the mortgage was burned in effigy on the lawn on Women's Equality.
As a volunteer at the Paulsdale research library, on the third floor of Paulsdale, it was my great pleasure to attend the ceremony.  An event is held at Paulsdale every year on Women's Equality Day.  One of the featured speakers this past August, Mary Walton, has written an excellent new book called A Woman's Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot which you can buy on the internet for as low as $12.99.  Mine was purchased at Paulsdale at the book signing and joins a growing shelf of signed first editions on New Jersey historic places.

You can call Paulsdale to arrange a tour.  This past summer, I helped my fifteen year old nephew with his sophmore year, American history, summer research paper and I can attest to the fact that one of the pieces he wrote (his paper covered a dozen local history sites) featured Paulsdale and helped earn him an A.  That day, we had also visited the grave of Peter J. Maguire, of Labor Day history, and many other fascinating local history sites, but that will be for another day! 

In the meantime, Happy Birthday Alice, and Thank You! 

Great Blog Entry - a Review

http://jerseyman-historynowandthen.blogspot.com

Having spent approximately 32 years teaching in Gloucester City, and living in Mount Ephraim, it gives me the greatest delight when I find theat Jerseyman has posted an essay on some historical site in either of these towns.  I grew up in Philadelphia, moved to New Jersey in my early teens and have spent my life on both sides of the mighty river, both in places I've lived and schools where I've taught.  This isn't unusual even from the colonial period when many Jersey folk ferried across to live in Philly, and vice versa.  Betsy Ross, for example, was actually born on the Jersey side of the Delaware not far from Gloucester City.  The Griscombe family had a farm here.  Scholars have debated on exactly where the farm was located, but somewhere under the supports of the Walt Whitman bridge has been mentioned.

One of my favorite characters of Gloucester City history is Billy J. Thompson.  His grave is in the cemetary off Market Street, I think it is St. Mary's.  His is a rags to riches story.  He came as a boy with barely enough in his pocket to keep him alive.  Rose in prominence in New York, Philadelphia, and finally Gloucester City, NJ.  At his peak, he owned a hotel which featured the planked shad Gloucester City was famous for, a racetrack and an Amusement Park.  He married, had more than a dozen children, lost his holdings first to fire and finally to bankruptcy, died on a visit back to his homeland in Ireland, then his body was returned here for burial. 

Another of my favorite items on a list of things to research more at some point is the Battle of Gloucester Towne, where the Marquis de Lafayette fought alongside militia men such as my own Mount Ephraim hero William Harrison, Jr., against the Hessians on their way to Red Bank Battlefield that fateful day in October, 1777. 

Anyway, I strongly suggest that if you want a good read you'll visit Jerseyman's blog today!  Let us both know what you think and what you know!

By the way, I've had enquiries as to the the mysterious serpentine in the photo to the right, but I'm not telling till someone identifies it!  Jo Ann

Christmas Day Crossing Event and More! December events.

From the Fall/Winter/Events NJState Parks brochure, here are some events for the end of the month of December, 2010.  I'll post January events later.
1. Washington's Crossing will be re-enacted on Dec. 25 at noon, Nelson House, Washington Crossing State Park, (609)737-9303.  John Balu and Dave Hart, authors of Trenton, A Novel, have attended this event and recommended it when I attended their book signing and presentation at the Bishop Farmstead on Sunday, Dec. 19th. 
2. Dec. 26th, Boxing Day Holiday Open House at Grover Cleveland Birthplace Historic Site, (973) 226-0001, featuring music, activites, self guided tour, refreshments and exhibits.  I've never been to this house and won't be able to go to this open house.  If anyone else goes, please send a comment and tell us about it - thanks!

Upcoming Events in Salem County

A friend and I enjoyed our walk on the green trail around Thundergust Lake at Parvin State Park today.  While there, we stopped in at the ranger station and picked up a few events brochures and newspapers.
Parvin State Park offers guided walks.  There is one Sunday, Dec. 26 at 2:30 - meet at Second Landing, Almond Rd..  The Park is getting ready to celebrate its 80th birthday and asks anyone with photos or mementos of the park to mail them, drop them off, or contact http://www.friendsofparvin/.  The mailing address is:  Parvin State Park Appreciation Center,  789 Parvin Mill Rd., Pittsgrove, NJ 08318-4009 or phone 692-0036 (no area code given).

Gloucester County Nature Club hosts a walk along Big Timber Creek, 10 a.m., Tues., Dec. 28, Old Pine Farm Natural Lands Trust.  Call 627-7010 (no area code given).

A Hearthside dinner in the 1740 kitchen of Gibbon House, 960 Ye Greate St., in Greenwich Twp. will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Sat. Jan 15.  Cost is %50 per person or $75 per couple.  Menu is based on foods of he period.  Make your reservation or call for questions 455-4055 by Tues., Jan. 11.  Dinners will be held again on March 19 and May 21. 

Winter Hiking

Hello fans of South Jersey's natural and historic wonders!  I'm off for a hike to Parvin State Park, but before I go into that - let me tell you about an upcoming hike:

Wharton State Forest
Pinelands Winter Shrubs and Trees Hike
Starts at 10:00 a.m.
Length 2 - 4 miles
Fee - none
609-567-4559

One of my friends and I hike Parvin State Park regularly.  Aside from its beauty, the trail is a nice size and length and it offers an opportunity to re-visit an episode in American history that interests me - the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Thundergust Lake and the Little White Bridge are all products of the efforts of the young men of the CCC.  Standing waist deep in the shallow lake, they hauled out sunken logs and other kinds of debris.  They repaired the dam and built the bridge.  Part of the visitor's center at the entrance was built by the CCC from materials salvaged from a local train station.  I'm not entirely clear on the details of what part of the building, how much of the building or the accurate source of the recycled materials, but perhaps one of the kind experts who visit this blog may shed some light on that. 

Mystery House Identified

I'm happy to say that Jerseyman has identified the mystery house and now I will post a new one.  Here is his comment:

This is a wonderful view of the Griffith Morgan House, which also shows a portion of the reconstructed section on the west side. This is the original facade for the house, facing the confluence of the Pensauken Creek with the Delaware River. The estate inventory for Griffith Morgan strongly suggests he operated an ordinary here, serving the watermen awaiting a change in tidal flow to travel up the creek or down the river. Despite possessing the trappings of an ordinary, I believe no license has ever been found issued in his name.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

Trenton Authors at Bishop Farmstead

Bishop Farmstead
Pinelands Preservation Alliance
17 Pemberton Rd, Southampton, NJ 08088
for directions, check out the web site.

Today, December 19, 2010, the authors John Calu and Dave Hart, gave an excellent talk on historic places in Trenton and the family history that inspired their newest book, Trenton, A Novel,   John Calu and Dave Hart took turns sharing their enthusiasm for the history of Trenton and the process of creating their book, published by Plexus.  John Bryans, head of the division that published Trenton, has a reputation for supporting books about the New Jersey Pine Barrens, in particular. 

Trenton, A Novel, is set during the American Revolution, in the area of the farm of the Hart family in Hopewell.  In the second half, the story moves to the modern world and the Alma family.  The families find a mysterious link.  I just bought the book and have only begun to read it, but I will be sure to give a review as soon as I've finished.  So far I find it fascinating.  Fortunately, I've already visited many historic sites in Trenton.  After reading the book, however, I'll avail myself of the map on the website of Calue and Hart, that shows where all the historic sites mentioned are located.  To find the website, simply google the title and authors. 

Calu and Hart also have written several young adult mysteries including The Lost Mission of Captain Carranza, and The Treasure of Tucker's Island.

Along with enjoying the really well-done presentation, it was a pleasure to stroll the grounds of the Bishop Farmstead, home of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.  There is the farm, the barn, and the building where the presentations are given.  I've enjoyed the Pinelands Prservation Alliance annual lecture series, and actually participated by giving a power point presentation on the Civilian Conservation Corps in New Jersey a couple of years ago.  The PPA series is very popular and has done a great deal to spread the history of the Pine Barrens. 

The Bishop Farmstead was bought in 2002 from a family named Shaffer who had purchased the farm and 12 acres from Kingsway Associates.  The farm had belonged to the Robbins family.Before the Kingsway Associates.  Previously, it had been passed down through inheritance from the original property owners, Thomas and Ann Bishop,  Quakers who came from England around 1703.  The property had been bought from a local group of Native Americans.  Their son, John Bishop and his wife Rebecca Matlock, married in 1737, built the main house in 1753.  A paper entitled A Brief History of the Bishop Farmstead gives more details on the style of the building and the history of its ownership.  

There are always wonderful art shows and programs being held at the Bishop Farmstead, so be sure to look for the next event on their web site and go out for a visit. 

Historic Mystery House #2 Identified & a Correction

Historic Mystery House #2 was correctly identified by Deb Hartshorn of the Ghosttowns of Southern New Jersey Group - which I will add as a link because it an is endlessly interesting conversation about places in the NJ Pine Barrens. 

Also, received a message that the dulcimer player is Rich Carty.

I'm going to post a Mystery House #3 now.  Happy Holidays - Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Music and Historic Houses December 2010

The big events for the holiday season are almost all over.  First I had the great opportunity of hearing Tim McGrath speak on his book John Barry, An American Hero in the Age of Sail at the Ancient Order of Hibernians on Dec. 6th.  Harry Schaeffer, acting head of coordinating volunteers at the James and Ann Whitall House made tha possible for me and Loretta Kelly, leader of the movement to save the Fieldsboro historic house, White Hill, the home of Mary Field, who managed to keep her house safe from the British and the Hessians while hiding, among others, Commodore Barry himself.  A part of our navy was scuttled just below White Hill where the tavern once stood.

On December 5th, with several friends, I enjoyed the tour of the decorated Batsto Mansion, following a wonderful lecture on the Wharton Family Homes in the Batsto Visitor's Center auditorium.  We hiked the village and once again, explored the grist mill, the saw mill, outbuildings with (my favorites) the sleigh and stagecoach, and the general store.  St. Nicholas was there and gave me a candy cane, though my friends tried to tell him I hadn't been good. 

Next I was able to work as a docent during a special Holiday House Tour, the Sound of Music, at the Indian King Tavern, which is where I met, again, David E. Field, maker of Appalachian musical instruments, and musician extraordinaire.  He was playing with the Cheat Mountain Boys and Steve Kruspky of Well & Good, Old-Time Music.  They were SO good that I had to hear more and went to Coffee Garden, 57 East Kings Highway in Audubon last Friday, the 10th, to hear them jam.  They are there every other Friday, but I'm not sure about the 24th - I'd call if I were you.  Coffee Garden is on the web.

On Saturday the 11th, I joined more of the volunteers of the James and Ann Whitall House for our candle light tour which also featured music, this time by the Piney Hollow Travellers (?).  I'm not sure of the name.  But they are regulars at many historic events and they came to play at our big event in October, the Battle of Red Bank re-enactment. 

Later that night, on the 11th, some intrepid music lovers and I trekked out to Albert Hall in Waretown for some bluegrass music and homemade desserts.  It's a music tradition that you shouldn't miss - $5 to get in, music all night, a different band every half hour, coffee with pie, and cake, or hot dogs and sauer kraut for those who prefer salty to sweet, at $1 each, and all done by volunteers, including the musicians.  It warms your heart as it delights your ear.

I believe there may be one event left at the Indian King Tavern, on New Years Eve, the tavern may be open from 6:00 to 9:00.  As with all mentioned events, it is best to call first.

The music was so wonderful at the historic houses that it made me wish to learn English Country Dancing, and I dropped in on Tuesday the 8th at one of the buildings of the Society of Friends in Haddonfield for a lesson.  The music was by Bare Necessities on cd, and I plan to ask Santa to bring me some of their music for Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All! 

Paulsdale, Mount Laurel, NJ

Today I am working at the Paulsdale research library with Samantha Barry, head of the volunteer team.  The original plantation farm house was built around 1800.  Paulsdale was purchased in 1883 and was a working farm of the Paul family.  There were more than 150 acres of orchards, crops and meadows for the dairy herd.  Paulsdale was sold and used as a private residence until 1990 when a group of women formed the Centennial organization to find a way to buy the property and turn it into a leadership institute.  There are 6.5 acres of the original propery and the building is on the National Historic landmark register.  In 2007, the research library was established.  I was one of the first volunteers and took over from our intern, Laura McGrath.  Fortunately for the library, me and everyone involved, Sam Barry came on board this past summer, in June, and became our leader.  She is a graduate library student at Rutgers (one of my alma maters).

Today we looked at the site she set up for our collection and here is the link:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/aplibrary

John Barry, An American Hero in the Age of Sail

Last night, Monday, December 6, 2010, a couple of history pals and I enjoyed a lecture by Tim McGrath on his new book, John Barry, An American Hero in the AGe of Sail at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Center in National Park, NJ.  He was an excellent speaker, charming, great stories, good voice.  One of my friends, Loretta Kelly, is the main preservationist working on White Hill in Fieldsboro.  Commodore Barry was sheltered there for a brief time when the British were hunting him down.  There was also a Tavern on the shore of the Delaware, just below the main house, during that time and Mary Field's husband was on the Committee of Correspondence.  He was drowned on the Delaware under suspicious circumstances.

The Continental Navy had to scuttle several ships off the shore by this tavern to keep them from going into the hands of the British.  Also, Count Von Donop billeted at White Hill with several of his officers.  It is a miracle that Mary Field was able to keep the house from being pillaged and destroyed the way so many other houses of patriots were at the time. 

The friend who invited us to this lecture is the acting head of volunteers at the James and Ann Whitall House in Red Bank, National Park.  It was kind of him to think of us.  Loretta has promised to repay his kindness with a tour of White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro, perhaps in the spring.  It isn't open to the public yet, but she's working on it.  They are in the process of the nominations, grants to pay for architectural evaluation, and so on.  What a long and arduous process. 

It was Loretta who recommended this book to me.  She bought it because of its references to White Hill but then she read it because of the great writing style of the author.  I'll write back later with a review.

Music Venue

The music venue for Old-Time Music, the group featuring some of the musicians who performed at the Indian King Tavern, including the Cheat Mountain Boys is The Coffee Garden, on Kings Highway, one block off White Horse Pike in Audubon and the next performance date is Dec. 10.  Maybe I'll see you there!  Check the Indian King Tavern Music of Christmas post for the review of the IKT event.

Mystery House - White Hill Mansion, Fieldsboro

Loretta Kelly was the only one who correctly identified the mystery house, and for a very good reason.  She took me on the tour when I made this photograph.  White Hill belongs to the Borough of Fieldsboro now and Loretta Kelly has spearheaded the efforts to save, restore and someday make the house a historic site available to visitors.  One of the interesting bits of information about this house is that Hessians occupied the house on their way to the Battle of Red Bank.  Mary Field, the owner of the house, was a widow by then.  Her husband drowned in the Delaware River under mysterious circumstances.  He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence.  Mary Field managed to save her home and safely put up the Hessians even though she was the wife of a 'Rebel' and the house remains with us today, though a Tavern that stood below the house on the bank of the Delaware, has been demolished.