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Topography - Early History - Fort Nassau - Gloucester as a county seat - County Courts and Public Buildings - The Original Town and some of Its Inhabitants - A Deserted village - An Era of Prosperity Arrives - Incorporation and City Government - Manufacturing Interests - Religious History - Schools - Societies - Gloucester as a Pleasure Resort - The Fox Hunting Club - Fisheries.
TOPOGRAPHY. - The name of Gloucester is borrowed from a cathedral town on the bank of the Severn, in the west of England, whence emigrated some of the earliest settlers of West Jersey. The word itself is from the Celtic, - glaw caer, - which signifies "handsome city."
Gloucester City is in the southwestern part of the county, on a peninsula formed by the Delaware River on the west, Great and Little Timber Creeks on the south and southeast, and Newton Creek on the north and east. It is situated on slightly undulating ground, sufficiently elevated to insure good drainage, which is further assured by the geological formation, -a body of sand and gravel, from ten to thirty feet thick, resting on a stratum of day. This, with the broad and fast-flowing river on the west, whence, in summer, cool breezes are wafted, joined to wide, clean streets abounding in shade, and the large yards and gardens in fruit-trees giving, at a distance, the appearance of an inhabited forest - to which add excellent water in abundance, good schools, numerous societies, full religious opportunities, with many industrial establishments insuring work for those who will - altogether point to Gloucester City as a desirable place to live in. That the people live and live long is proven by the annual table of vital statistics, which show it to excel most towns of its size in healthfulness, the death-rate in 1885 being 15.42 in the 1000, while in Camden it was 18.30, in the county 17.87 and in the State 18.63.
The area of Gloucester is one and a half square miles, within which live five thousand nine hundred and sixty-six persons, an average of six to the acre; in eleven hundred and thirty-seven houses, an average of five and one-fourth to the house; with an assessed valuation (much below real value) of $1,763,510, an average of $295.50 per capita; and the eleven hundred and thirty-seven houses are owned by six hundred and seventy-five persons. The city contains seven industrial establishments, with a capacity for employing two thousand five hundred persons and an annual payroll of nine hundred thousand dollars; well-appointed schools, with room for all, and a competent corps of teachers, at an annual cost of eight thousand dollars; five churches, representing different shades of religious beliefs, having, in all, two thousand two hundred members; and two railroads and a line of ferry-boats, giving frequent means of ingress and egress. The municipality owns a city hall, adequate for all requirements; has built sewers; streets are lighted by gas; has a debt of seventy-six thousand dollars, incurred by the construction of water-works costing eighty-five thousand dollars and sufficient for a population of forty thousand. The cost of the city government is twelve thousand dollars a year, covered by a tax rate of two per cent. for all purposes. Such is the Gloucester of 1886. Forty years ago it was a hamlet, a hundred years ago but the ruins qf a former town, and one hundred and ninety years ago the only town in South Jersey.
EARLY HISTORY - FORT NASSAU. - In 1621 the States-General of the New Netherlands granted to the Second West India Company, of Holland, a large tract of land upon the eastern coast of North America.* This company sent out, for the New World, in 1623, a vessel in command of Captain Cornelius Jacobse Mey, who brought with him a number of persons and materials, with the intention of establishing a colony. All early historians agree that he entered Delaware Bay in 1623, and gave his name to the cape at the southern extremity of New Jersey, and which still retains it, although anglicized as Cape May. Gordon’s "History of New Jersey," page 7, says he fixed upon Hermaomissing, at the mouth of the Sassackon, the most northerly branch of Timber Creek, as the place for his settlement, and where he built a log fort, which he named Nassau, in honor of a town on the Upper Rhine river, in Germany. How long Captain Mey remained with his colony at Fort Nassau, or what was the cause of his departure, is not known; but the next ship that was sent up the Delaware, in 1631, eight years after, found the place entirely deserted by the colony and in possession of the Indians. The exact locality even of the fort is a matter of conjecture; and even Evelin, Campanius, Lindstrom, Van Der Donck, Kalm, Acrelius and other early writers, failed to agree upon its exact location. The earliest of the writers named, Evelin, was, in 1633, one of the settlers at Fort Eriwamac, at the mouth of Pensaukin Creek. So completely was every vestige of Fort Nassau destroyed that its site cannot be definitely determined.
Recent research has, to some extent, removed the mystery of the site which Captain Mey chose for his fortification. Mickle, in his "Reminiscences of Old Gloucester," carefully examined the evidence, and since his time others have successfully pursued the same line of investigation. The results are found in the paper upon "The Hollanders in New Jersey," submitted by Rev Abraham Messler, D.D., to the New Jersey Historical Society May 16, 1850; Edward Armstrong’s papers on the history and site of the fort, contained In Volume VI. of the Society’s proceedings; and the report of the Society’s committee in 1852, authorized to examine the supposed location which is embraced in the same volume.
The most reasonable deduction from this mass of evidence md investigation is that Fort Nassau was perched upon the high ground of Gloucester Point, or, more definitely, that "it was situated immediately upon the river at the southern extremity of the highland abutting upon the meadows north of mouth of the Timber Creek." "That position," Mickle wrote, "would have struck the eye of an engineer, inasmuch as a fortress thus situated could have commanded both the river and creek, while it would have been greatly secured from the attacks of the Indians by the low marshy land which surrounded it on all sides except the north. Some of the cabins which constituted the town of Nassau are supposed, with much reason, to have stood, near the mouth of the Sassackon, which was one of the many names for Timber Creek. The first fort, erected in 1623, was probably a very rude pile of logs, just sufficient to serve as a breastwork. This having been destroyed by the Indians, another fort was built in 1642, when the Dutch returned to watch their rivals, the Swedes. The latter fort, Barker supposes to have been built with some style, as its architect was Hendrick Christiansee, the builder of Fort Amsterdam." Mickle dates the rebuilding in 1642 on the authority of "Holmes’ Annals" and "Duponceaus Annotations.’ Gabriel Thomas or his engraver was manifestly wrong in placing upon his map a Dutch fort at some distance above Gloucester, at the mouth of what seems to be intended for Coopers Creek. Lindstrom, in his description of New Sweden in the time of Governor Prinz, said that at the location of the fort, "la riviere est ici bien profonde." If the fort was situated where the river was very deep, which is Lindstrom’s meaning, it could not have been any distance up Timber Creek, but at Gloucester Point.
The house of John Hugg, who purchased five hundred acres from Robert Zane in 1683, is supposed to have been built upon the site of Fort Nassau, and its location coincides with the strongest theories of the situation of the work. John Redfield, who lived near by, prompted the investigation made by Mr. Armstrong. Redfield’e daughter having brought from the river-shore a flower which he suspected was exogenous, he visited the spot where it was plucked and found pieces of Dutch brick and ware in the ground, and portions of a wall surmounted by a few logs, indicating the remains of a redoubt or a building erected for defense. From the abandonment of the fort, about 1651, to 1677, when the London and Yorkshire commissioners sailed up the Delaware River, the shore from Timber Creek to Pensaukin was in undisputed possession of a few Indians, although under the jurisdiction of the English since 1664.
In an article contributed to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History in July, 1885, Judge John Clement says, -
"When the London and Yorkshire commissioners, accompanied by their friends, found their ship in the Delaware River in 1677, their attention was naturally drawn toward the territory on the eastern side of that beautiful stream. Their future homes were to be there, for they had come to ‘plant a nation,’ yet their minds did not comprehend the importance of their undertaking, nor did they see the end from such small beginnings. In ascending the river, that prominent point known among the Indians as Arwaumus, was a noticeable feature, and it was at once agreed that it was a suitable site for a city and by the newcomers called Gloucester Point. In fact, the London commissioners insisted upon stopping at this place, and it was only after much persuasion and substantial inducements offered, that they consented to go to Burlington and settle with the others.
"It is quite possible also that the remains of Fort Nassau, built in 1623, were there, around which were a few Swedish and Dutch settlers. The true position of this fort has always been in doubt, some claiming that it stood in the marsh near the mouth of Timber Creek, and others that it was built on the high ground, the present site of Gloucester City, this being in the eye of a military engineer the most suitable spot for a work of defense. Although the London owners, through over-persuasion, settled with their friends at Burlington, the original purpose was not abandoned, for in a short time individuals were prospecting for land bounding on Cooper, Newton and Timber Creeks, and a few families had already settled at the Point."ERECTION OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY. - In the year 1678 Robert Turner, of London, came to this country, and soon after prospected for land in this vicinity. In 1682 Mark Newbie, Thomas Thackara, Robert Zane, William Bates and their families, and Thomas Sharp and George Goldsmith came to Salem, and, in accordance with the advice of Robert Turner, located a large tract of land on Newton Creek and its middle branch, on which they settled.
In the year 1686, the territory having become populous, the inhabitants of the territory embraced in the third and fourth tenths, residing between Pensaukin and Oldmans Creeks, met on the 28th of May at Arwaumus, or Gloucester Point, and formed a county constitution, defined the boundaries of the new county, called Gloucester, arranged for courts and executed other business necessary to complete an organization without the warrant of legislative action; but is the Province was in confusion, and Burlington, the place where official business was transacted, was far away, the people took this opportunity to provide for themselves offices of record and a more convenient place for the transaction of public business. This action was confirmed by the Provincial Government in 1692 and 1694.
GLOUCESTER AS A COUNTY-SEAT.- It is very evident that at the time of this action there were some settlers at Gloucester, but who they all were is not definitely known. Mathew Medcalf, Samuel Harrison, John Reading, William Harrison and Thomas and Richard Bull were among the first settlers there. Some of them were friends of the London commissioners, and others the settlers on Newton Creek, who became residents of the new county-seat.
A tract of land was laid out by them. It was proposed and intended from the year 1677 to make the place a town, and on the 12th of the Sixth Month, 1686, the proprietors held a public meeting at Gloucester, at which it was mutually agreed by all the proprietors then present to lay out a town. A memorandum was drawn up, which if now in the Surveyor-General’s Office, at Burlington, extracts from which are here given:
Article 1. "That the town shall contain nine streets, extending from the River Delaware backwards, the land embraced to be laid out and divided into ten equal parts, every one fronting the river and containing in breadth 220 yards."
Article 2. "That at present there shall be a cross street, run through the town at the distance of twelve chains and twenty links, from Water Street to the river-side."
Article 3. "That the two middle divisions, or tenth part, of the town shall again be divided into two equal parts, by the running of a street to cross the same in the midst, between Water Street and the aforesaid street running through the town."
Article 4. "That there shall be a square three chains every way, laid out for a Market-Place, where the said cross street shall meet and intersect the higher great street, which is between the two middle tenths, or divisions aforesaid."
Article 5. "That the four quarters bordering to the market-place he divided and made by the running of the aforesaid short cross street and High street shall be again divided into equal shares and lots, of which every quarter shall contain twenty and two, being in the whole eighty-eight lots, the length of which shall be half the distance between the said Water Street and short cross street, which is sixty yards, and the breadth of each lot shall be the eleventh part of the breadth of one of the middle divisions, or tenth part of the Town is twenty yards."
Article 6 provided "that every proprietor shall have privilege of choosing his lot, provided he settle on the same and build a house within six months."
Article 7 provided "that every proprietor having a right to a twentieth part of a Propriety may take up one of the aforesaid eighty-eight lots, and so proportionately for any greater share or part."Article 12 says: "That the town be from henceforth called Gloucester, and the third and fourth tenths the County of Gloucester."
Article 13 prayed "That the creek heretofore and commonly called by the name of Timber Creek be and is hereby nominated and is henceforth to be called by the name of Gloucester River."
Article 14 provides "That for taking up lands within the town bounds or liberties of Gloucester."
It is evident that at this stage of the meeting some of the members had been thinking of the plan proposed, and had feared that trouble would ensue in a division of lots, and Article 15 provided other means of distribution, by which "the proprietors, aforesaid, do fully and absolutely consent, conclude and agree."
All former locations were declared null and void by Article 16, and Article 17 declared "that what land soever shall be taken up within the Town boundary shall be by lot, and instead of a first choice (as formerly proposed), the first lot shall now claim and have the first survey;" and so on.
Article 18 provided "That before any land be surveyed in the Town there shall a road be laid and marked out from High Street in Gloucester, through the middle of the Town bounds, until it meets with Salem road."
Article 19 declared "That there be two public and commodious landings in the most convenient places on the banks of the Gloucester river and the branch of the Newton Creek, surveyed and laid forth with roads leading from them into the aforesaid high road, through the midst of the Town bounds."
Article 20 declared "That there shall be a lane or road of 33 foot broad laid out at the distance and end of every twenty chains through the Town bounds, from the high road of each side thereof, down to the branch of Gloucester river and the branch of Newton Creek."
The great road was ordered to be begun the 20th of August following, also the public landings, with the roads and the rest of the lands or roads leading from the branches, and proceeded with until completed.
It was also ordered that the surveyor, Thomas Sharp, be furnished with four assistants, namely: Francis Collins, Thomas Thackara, John Reading and Mathew Medcalf each of which was to have five shillings per day, and the surveyor ten shillings.
The following-named persons were subscribers to the articles, who declared that "All the several Articles and conclusions are never exposed and declared before:" William Coxe, Francis Collins, William Roydon, Thomas Sharp, Robert Zane, William Bates, Thomas Carleton, William White, Mathew Medcalf, Thomas Thackara, John Ffuller, Widow Welch, Richard Heritage, William Willis, James Atmore, Stephen Newby, William Coxe, Widow Bull, Francis Collins, Thomas Coxe and William Alberson.
The eighty-eight lots in the town plot were numbered and began at the north end of Water Street; the lots are numbered as follows, and the name of owner and date of survey is here given as far as could be ascertained: No. 1, corner of Water Street, Samuel Harrison, November 1, 1689; Nos. 2, 3 and 4, Matthew Medcalf, November 25, 1689; No. 5, Sarah Harrison, for her husband, January 24, 1689; No. 6, John Reading, November 26, 1690; Nos. 7 and 8, Andrew Robeson, March 12, 1689; Nos. 9, 10 and 11, John Reading, December 6, 1688; No. 11 was on the corner of Water Street and the great road; No. 12, Francis Collins, also on corner of Water Street and great road, south side, September 12, 1689; Nos. 13 and 14, Thomas Bull, December 17, 1689; lot No. 15, Sarah Wheeler, September 13, 1689 (this lot was a triangle at the turn in the river, the lots from, this front were laid out at right angles); No 16, William Roydon, October 7, 1689; No. 17 to Daniel Reading, August 9, 1689; Nos. 18 and 19, Anthony Sharp (uncle of Thomas Sharp), April 26, 1689; No. 20, Thomas Sherman, November 26, 1690; Nos. 21, 22 and 23, vacant to the town line on the corner northward from the town line on the east side of the main road; Nos. 24, 25,26 and 27, vacant; Nos. 28, 29 and 30, in rear of 18 and 19, were surveyed to Anthony Sharp, April 26, 1689; No. 31, John Reading; Nos. 32 and 33, on south side of public square were vacant; Nos. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39, on" north side of public square, John Reading, December 17, 1689; lots 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, to town line are vacant. The blocks containing twenty lots each, on the west side of the north and south road, are numbered from 44 to 66, and owned by John Reading; lots 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 and 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62. On the back line lots number from 67 northward to 88. Of them, John Reading owned lots 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 and 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 and 83. The town bounds, or liberties of Gloucester, were divided, as before mentioned, into ten parts. The land north of the bounds and on Newton Creek was swampy and in possession of G. and W. Harrison. The first part is marked on the town plot as in possession of John Reading, the clerk of the county, and Samuel Harrison. Part second is marked as mostly vacant, John Reading being in possession of one-eighth of the part. Part three, the north part, is mentioned as laid of to John Reading and William Roydon. Part four contains the following: "Andrew Robeson one whole propriety, ye 12th. of 9th month, 1689." Part five contains in its limits the north half of the old plot which was on the west end; the east end of this part is marked as being in possession of Mathew Medcalf, Richard Bull and John Reading. Part six embraced within its limits the south half of the old plot, and the east end of the part was owned by Anthony Sharp and Richard Bull. Part seven was surveyed to Robert Turner and Widow Bull. Francis Collins is marked as in possession of the north half of part eight and part nine and part ten, and marked as vacant. The land and swamp south of the town was owned by John Reading. The plot of 1689 is known in old papers and records as the "Liberties of Gloucester." For many years Gloucester township and Gloucester town were separate organizations. The latter extended eastwardly to a line east of Mount Ephraim, between the present farms of Benjamin and Joseph Lippincott, and to the farm of Samuel E. Shivers, and running from the south branch of Newton Creek to Little Timber Creek. On the 15th of November, 1831, Gloucester town and a portion of Gloucester township were laid out and given the name of Union township, and included the territory now embraced in Gloucester City and Centre township. The latter was erected from the greater pars of the territory of Union township in 1855, and the remaining portion of Union township, upon the incorporation of the city of Gloucester, February 25, 1868, was annexed to the city and so remains.
THE COUNTY COURTS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. - The first courts of the county of Gloucester were held at Gloucester on the 1st day of September, 1686, at whose house or tavern is not stated. Courts were held a few times at Red Bank, but that place was soon abandoned. At a meeting of the court held at Gloucester on the 2d of December, 1689, it was decided to erect a jail, and the court, record contains the following entry concerning it:
"Daniel Reading undertakes to build a goale logg-house, fifteen or sixteen foot square, provided he may have one lott of Land conveyed to him and his heirs forever, and ye said house to Serve for a prison till ye County makes a common goale, or until ye s’d logge-house shall with age be destroyed or made insufficient for that purpose; and William Roydon undertakes to Convey ye lotts, he being paid three pounds for the same at or before ye next Courte."This primitive prison was the abode of the Gloucester malefactors until the end of 1695, when the court ordered another of the same kind to be built, but in June, 1696, it changed its plan and decided to combine the jail with the first courthouse, the court having theretofore been held in taverns or private houses. The following specifications were made:
"A prison of twenty foot long and sixteen wide, of a sufficient height and strength, made of loggs, to be erected and builded in Gloucester, with a Court-House over the same, of a convenient height and largeness, covered of and with cedar shingles, well and workmanlike to be made, and with all convenient expedition finished. Matthew Medcalfe and John Reading to be overseers or agents to lett the same or see the said buildings done and performed in manner aforesaid, they to have money for carrying on of the said work of the last county tax."On October 5, 1708, a stone and brick addition was ordered, and to defray the expenses of this improvement the grand jury levied a tax of one shilling upon every hundred acres of land, six-pence per head for every horse and mare more than three years old, for neat cattle three pence each, three shillings for each freeman in service and three shillings for each negro over twelve years of age, to be paid in current silver money or corn, or any other country produce at money price.
December 5, 1708, the grand jury considered it necessary that an addition be made to the prison and court-house and presented the following specifications: "That it joyne to the south end of the ould one, to be made of stone and brick, twelve feet in the cleare and two story high, with a stack of chimneys joyning to the ould house, and that it be uniform from ye foundation to the court-house." This addition was made, and seven years later, in April, 1715, the justices and freeholders decided to build a jail twenty-four feet long, with walls nine feet high and two feet thick. Another site was selected and the old jail and court-house were sold in March, 1719, to William Harrison. The county buildings were completed in 1719, and in December of that year the justices and freeholders, not being satisfied with the work, ordered the building "to be pulled down to ye lower floor and rebuilt upon the same foundation." About this time it was ordered "that a payor of substantial stocks be erected near the prison, with a post at each end, well fixed and fastened with a hand cuff iron at one of them for a whipping post." That a pillory or stocks was established before this time is evident from the fact that March 1, 1691, John Richards was found guilty of perjury, and sentenced to pay twenty pounds "or stand in ye pillory one hour." He chose the latter and served his sentence April 12th following.
The court-house as reconstructed was quite an elaborate building. The first story was the prison, and imposed upon it was the court-house, the main room of which was nine feet high, and was reached by "a substantial flight of stone stayers." There was "a Gallery at the Weste end from side to side," and "a payer of stayers up into the garrett," besides "a table and Bar, pailed, that it may Sufficiently accommodate the Justices, Clerks; Atturneys and Jurys." The stocks and whipping-post were set up nearby, and in 1736 the board ordered the addition of a yard, a watch-house, a workhouse and a pump to the public buildings of this new county-seat. That the court-house was not comfortable appears by this minute of December 19, 1721: "Proclamation being made, the Court of Common Pleas is adjourned to the house of Mary Spey by reason of the cold." Probably the building had never been completed according to the specifications, as in January, 1722, the board passed a resolution directing Thomas Sharp to prosecute Abraham Porter and William Harrison, the building commissioners, on their bonds of fifty pounds each, for non-performance of their duties; "or otherwise a Prosecution shall be proceeded in against ye s’d Thomas Sharp for Paying ye third and last Payment before it came due." The next year this resolution was suspended in order to permit them to finish their work. In 1750 Samuel Cole was made manager of further additions, and in 1782 repairs to the court-house and jail were ordered, and such repairs to the county-house as to make it tenable. The jail and court-house were destroyed by fire March, 1786, and a majority of the shareholders desired the buildings elsewhere. The subject was brought before the people of the county and an election was held and Woodbury was selected as the county-seat, and old Gloucester, after being the seat of justice for the county one hundred years, lost its importance and remained the same for many years after.
THE ORIGINAL TOWN AND SOME OF ITS PEOPLE. - Gabriel Thomas, writing in 1698, says of Gloucester: "There is Gloucester Town, which is a very fine and pleasant place, being well-stored with summer fruits, such as cherries, mulberries and strawberries; whither young people come from Philadelphia, in the wherry-boats, to eat strawberries and cream, within sight of which city it is sweetly located, being about three miles distant from thence."
Oldmixon, writing in 1708, says: "Gloucester is a good town, and gave name to a county. It contains one hundred houses, and the country about it is very pleasant."
A few facts only of the early residents of the town have been obtained from the records and other papers, the following of which are here given: Mathew Medcalf who, in 1686, was keeping tavern, in 1695 and in 1733 conducted a ferry across the Delaware. The Harrison family, Samuel and Joseph, were still living in the town in 1750, as in that year Samuel Harrison married Abagail Kaighn, widow of John, and daughter of John Hinchman. She survived her husband and died at Taunton Iron Works, Burlington County, where she resided with her daughter Abagail, wife of Richard Edwards. William Harrison was sheriff of Gloucester County in 1716, and, later, one of the judges of the county courts. The Huggs were large land-owners on Timber Creek, and became the owners of the ferry and tavern, at one of the public landings. William Hugg, in 1778, was keeping the ferry and tavern, and it was at his house the Fox-Hunting Club was in the habit of meeting. The family still own the fishery there. John Burrough, who was the first of the name in the county, was a weaver, and was engaged in his occupation at Gloucester in 1688. In that year he bought a tract of land between Great and Little Timber Creeks, and, about 1690, moved upon it. Richard and Thomas Bull were lot-owners in the first division, as also was Widow Sarah Bull. Thomas Bull, in 1710, married Sarah Nelson, at the Newton Friends’ Meeting-house. He was, doubtless, a member of this family. Richard Bull was still a resident of Gloucester in 1717. Jacob and Thomas Clement, who came from Long Island with the Harrisons, were among the early residents of the town. Jacob Clement married Ann, daughter of Samuel Harrison, of the same place. He was a shoemaker and followed his trade by going from house to house, as was the custom in those early days. In 1733 John Brown was taxed 10s. as a merchant. Sarah Bull was then conducting a mercantile business, for which she was assessed 2s. Medcalf’s ferry was assessed 12s. and Tatem’s 7s. 6d. It is probable that Tatem was then keeping one of the Cooper ferries.
A DESERTED VILLAGE. - The removal of the seat of justice from Gloucester to Woodbury caused the former to decline in importance and influence, and thenceforward, for nearly three-quarters of a century, it was known only as a fishing town and a place for the meeting of clubs from Philadelphia and elsewhere. Multitudes visited it, but few remained. Farming, berrying, fishing and catering to the desires of pleasure-seekers constituted the avocations of the few people who lived here during the ante-industrial period. The "Old Brick" ferry-house, at the Point; Powell’s farm-house, on the shore, at the foot of Somerset Street, built in 1696 (the date on the tablet was obscure when it was torn down by Captain William Albertson, in 1882); the Plummer House, on the site of the iron works; the Arthur Powell homestead, at Sussex and Market Streets, now the residence, of his widow, the venerable and intelligent octogenarian, Mary Powell; the Harrison mansion, near Newton Creek, where Miss Mary Harrison, a descendant of Samuel Harrison, who bought the northern section of the town in 1689, lived with the family of John Redfield, and where she died in 1885; a cluster of houses at Pine Grove, and a few houses along the shore, sheltering the ferrymen and fishermen, comprised all there was of the town of Gloucester in 1880. "Not twenty houses in the whole place," declared an old resident.
Besides the houses noted above, there were the old court-house on the southwest corner of King and Market Streets, and the jail on Market, above King. The first was removed about 1865 to make way for a dwelling, and the jail was burned about 1820. The bricks were bought by Frederick Plummer and used in the construction of the two-story rough-cast house now standing on Front Street, above Mechanic, in Camden.
AN ERA OF PROSPERITY ARRIVES. - With all its desirableness as a place of residence, the progress of Gloucester was slow until the advent of industrial establishments - the first, the Washington Mills, which commenced operation in 1845 - offered regular and remunerative employment.
It is difficult to ascertain the increase in population of the territory now comprised within the limits of the town of Gloucester prior to 1850; for it was included as a part of Gloucester township in 1695, and although it assumed, as Gloucester Town, to be a separate constabulary, the census takers, with rare exceptions, counted its population with that township, and after 1832 with Union township, which was set off from Gloucester township in that year, and as the town was not co-extensive with the township until 1855, when Centre township was set off from Union, the proportion belonging to the town cannot be ascertained. In 1810 the population of Gloucester township was 1726. This, then, included Gloucester and Centre townships and Gloucester City, with an aggregate population; in 1885, of 10,231. In 1830 the census gives Gloucester Town 686, and in 1840 Union township 1075. This included Centre township. In 1850 the population of Union was 1095, and of Gloucester City 2188, showing a wonderful increase during the ten years marking the advent of the industrial era, inaugurated in 1845, chiefly through the enterprise of David S. Brown, to whom, more than to any other person, Gloucester owes its advancement. The best data to be had places the number of people inhabiting the locality, in 1840, at less than two hundred. Its growth since is shown by these tables taken from the census returns:
United States Census.
State Census.
1850
2188
1855
2453
1860
2865
1865
3773
1870
3682
1875
5105
1880
5347
1885
5966
THE CITY GOVERNMENT.
In 1868 the town was incorporated as Gloucester City. The first officers of the city, elected in March, 1868, were as follows: Mayor, Samuel D. Mulford; Recorder, Hugh J. Gorman; Assessor, Frederick Shindle; Collector, Andrew J. Greene; Surveyor of Highways, Bowman H. Lippincott; Constables, Peter Rencorn and Samuel West; Councilmen, Samuel Raby, John M. Pettit, Nathaniel W. Fernald, William C. Mulford, William N. Brown, Henry P. Gaunt.
The first meeting was held March 13th, at the mayor’s private office. Peter L. Voorhees, of Camden, was elected city solicitor.
In 1871 the charter was amended, under which the number of Councilmen was increased to nine. In 1883 the city was divided into two wards, under a statute of the State; each ward now elects four members of Council, leaving the ninth to be elected by the city at large.
CITY HALL. - In 1869 an act of the Legislature authorized the City Council to issue bonds to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, for the purpose of building a city hall. The bonds were issued and a two-story brick building was erected. The building is of brick, two stories high, and finished in a plain but most substantial manner. The first floor is divided into convenient rooms for city officers, - a Council chamber, mayor’s office and lock-up. In the upper story is a large audience-room, with a spacious stage, and a seating capacity for five hundred persons. The hall is located on the north side of Monmouth Street, above Burlington.
MAYORS. - The following is a list of the mayors of Gloucester from 1868 to 1886:
1868. Samuel D. Mulford.
1875-76-77. John Gaunt.
1869. Charles C. Collings.
1878-80-83. William H. Banks.
1870-71. Peter McAdams.
1879-81-82. John Willian.
1872. Samuel T. Murphy.
1883. Frederick Shindle.*
1873. David Adams.
1888-85. Samuel Moss.
1874. James L. Hines.
1886. George Wyncoop.
Mayor John Willian died in the winter of 1883, and Frederick Shindle was appointed to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
RECORDERS. - The names of the city recorders and the dates of their election are as follows:
1868. Hugh J. Gorman.
1874. Willard Emery.
1869. Charles F. Mayers.
1875. Daniel J. McBride.
1869. Edward Mills.**
1876-77. John H. McMurray.
1870-80. Benjamin Sands.
1878-79. G. William Barnard.
1871. Theodore Brick.
1881. William H. Bowker.
1872. John A. Baker.
1882. William H. Taylor.
1873. Benjamin F. Measey.
1883-87. James Lyons.
Charles F. Mayers resigned in May, 1869, and Edward Mills was appointed in his place. Jas. Lyons Was re-elected in 1884, and by a change in the law, the term was extended to three years.
COLLECTORS OR CITY TREASURERS. - Albert J. Green was elected to the office in 1868, and again in 1870, re-elected in 1871 -72; again elected in 1878, and has been re-elected each succeeding year since, making twelve years of service. The other treasurers were, - Andrew J Greene was elected in 1868-70-71-72; again in 1878, and re-elected annually until 1880, inclusive, and dying in the latter year, his place was filled by Charles H. Fowler, appointed by City Council.
1869. Thomas Hallam.
1875. Peter Rencorn.
1873. Alonso D. Husted.
1875. Thomas Hallam.***
1874. Alexander A. Powell.
1876. Hugh J. Gorman.
Peter Rencorn died and Thomas Hallam was appointed in his place.
PRESIDENTS OP COUNCIL.
(By the charter of 1868 the mayor presided; by the amendment of 1871 Councils elected the president.)
1871-74-79. Edmund Hoffman.
1881. Samuel Moss.
1872. Henry F. West.
1882. Robert Conway.
1873-75-78. Philip H. Fowler.
1883. G. William Barnard.
1876-77. Aaron Fortiner.
1884. Lewis G. Mayers.
1880. Henry P. Gaunt.
1885-86. William C. Hawkins.
Following are officers for 1886:
Mayor, George Wyncoop; Recorder, James Lyons; Collector, Charles H. Fowler; Assessor, Joseph Whittington; Chief Engineer of Water Department, James Finley; Councilmen, William C. Hawkins, W.J. Thompson, G. William Barnard, Jacob Carter, Francis McQuaide, William A. Guy, Charles Rencorn, John Redfield, Michael Smith.
* Elected to fill unexpired term of John Willian, deceased.
** Vice Charles F. Mayers, resigned.
*** Appointed by City Council, vice Peter Rencorn, deceased.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. - Prior to 1875 Gloucester City had no Fire Department. In March of that year a fire broke out in a store on Middlesex Street and Willow, which did much damage, and would have been disastrous but for the steam-power and hose of the Washington and Ancona Works. This aroused the people to action, and Gloucester City Fire Department was formed as follows: Foreman, Patrick Mealey; First Assistant Foreman, John Graham; Second Assistant Foreman, John Lafferty; Privates, Henry Gilmore, Andrew Mosser, James Foster, Joseph McAdams, Lawrence Conlohan, James McMahon, Sr., James McMahon, Jr., Joseph Berry, Herman Klosterman and William Shimp.
The apparatus provided comprised one hook-and-ladder truck, fire-ladders, six fire extinguishers, six hooks,, thirty-six buckets, axles, rope, grappling irons, etc. There were no water-works outside the mills, and no means of procuring water save from wells, passed from hand to hand in buckets. One thousand feet of hose was procured, and on September 13, 1878, a carriage was purchased of the Union Hose Company of Lancaster, Pa.
The department was then re-organized as follows: Chief Engineer, Patrick Mealey; First Assistant Engineer, John P. Booth; Second Assistant Engineer, Henry J. West; Members, John Graham, James Foster, James McMahon, Sr., Andrew Mosser, Henry Gilmore, Joseph McAdams, John B. Farquhar, Edward Byers, James Truax, William Keown, Edward Shingle, Jacob Carter, Lawrence Conlohan, Michael Noon, Patrick Gilmour, John Lafferty, James McMahon, William Byers, Isaac Edwards, Theodore Hoffman.
In 1879, Assistants John P. Booth and Henry J. West resigned, and James McMahon and Jas. Foster were appointed to fill their places.
The department was placed under the control of five commissioners appointed by the Council, - three of them members of that body and two selected from the citizens. In 1884 the commissioners increased the force to thirty-four, when these were appointed, - Edward Hutchinson, William A. Guy, Isaac Budd, Adin Owens, Ralph McDermott, John McElhone, Stansford Foster, Robert Walsh, William Shaw, William Stiles, and these, with those before-named, constitute the department.
The commissioners are, - Citizens: Philip H. Fowler (president) and Hugh Mullin; Council-men, William A. Guy, G.M. Barnard and Charles Rencorn. President Fowler is superintendent of the Gingham Mills, and was one of the first and most active promoters of the organization of the Fire Department, and has been president of the commissioners from the start.
The house occupied is the one first built, of wood, on the rear of the city hall lot. The firemen receive no pay, but are exempt from assessment on private property to the amount of five hundred dollars and are beneficiaries of the Firemen’s Relief Fund, the growth of a State tax upon insurance companies. In constructing the water-works, in 1883, fire matters were duly considered, and the necessity for fire-engines obviated by a direct pressure being brought to bear from the pumping engines upon the street hydrants insufficient to force the water over the highest buildings in the city.
THE WATER SUPPLY. - In 1873 the Legislature authorized the borrowing of five thousand dollars, and in 1874 a like amount, for the construction of sewers. The money was judiciously expended and the loan paid when due. In 1873 the Gloucester Land Company having given the city the Mercer Street Water-front, authority was obtained from the Legislature to borrow ten thousand dollars for the purpose of constructing a wharf. This was accomplished within the estimated limit, and the bonds issued were paid as they matured. These were the only debts contracted, and for several years the city had no obligations, when, in 1883, it was determined to construct water-works. They were completed, in 1884, at a cost of eighty-five thousand dollars. To meet this expenditure, four per cent. bonds, having from ten to thirty years to run, were issued, and the remainder of the cost was paid out of a balance in the hands of the treasurer. A sinking fund was established, and four thousand dollars of the bonds have been paid, leaving seventy-six thousand dollars yet due in 1886, represented by a plant which gives promise of soon returning a handsome revenue.
The question of water supply early engaged the attention of the more thoughtful. The water supplied by wells was excellent, both for drinking and domestic purposes, and the supply abundant; but it was obvious that the wells filled by water percolating through soil constantly receiving new accretions of foreign matter must be impure, and in time become positively dangerous to health. This danger was avoided by boring below the stratum of clay underlying the surface soil. Here water for drinking is obtained in abundance and of wholesome quality, but too hard for general purposes. Besides, there was no adequate protection in case of fire, and water-works were deemed absolutely necessary. In 1872 David S. Brown, ever on the alert for anything that would benefit the city he had done so much for, procured a charter for a company to build works, but the jealousy of corporations was interposed. In 1881 John Gourley and other members of the City Council agitated the project and a vote of the people, to whom the matter was referred, under the law, resulted in a majority in its favor, but the opponents of the measure procured a decision from the courts setting aside the vote on account of some informality. The matter slept for a time, when the Gloucester City Reporter, a newspaper, then edited by Benjamin M. Braker, revived the interest in a number of well-written articles, and on the question being again submitted to the people, it was approved by a decisive vote. Council secured the services of Jacob H. Yocum, a civil engineer of Camden, and in 1883 work was begun. The design was to obtain the supply from the head-waters of Newton Creek, near Mount Ephraim, where water of excellent quality could be had. The estimated cost was one hundred thousand dollars, and bids for that amount were being considered, when a strong petition to locate the works on Newton Creek, within the city limits, because of lessened cost, was presented, and the demand prevailed, although many questioned the purity of water taken from a sluggish tide-water stream. Fortunately, in excavating for a subsiding reservoir, from which the water was to be pumped, a subterranean stream of pure, soft water was struck, of such volume and force that it seriously impeded the work and defied all efforts to stay the flow, and thus most excellent water is supplied. A stand-pipe ninety feet high is used, and in case of fire a direct pressure, by the Holly system, from the pumps, avoids the necessity for steam-engines.
DAVID SANDS BROWN was born at his father’s farm, near Dover, N.H., on the 27th of July, 1800. His parents were of old Puritan stock, his ancestor, Henry Brown, having landed in Boston in 1639, and soon after settled in Salisbury, Mass., where the family continued to live for several generations. In 1778 William Brown, the father of David, married Abigail Peaslee, of Haverhill, Mass., and bought the farm near Dover, N.H., where their children were born, and where they spent the remainder of their lives. Soon after their marriage they joined the religious Society of Friends, and their children were educated in accordance with their peculiar views. David was their youngest son. The educational resources of Dover being at this time very limited, at ten years of age he went alone to Boston, riding in the stage beside Daniel Webster, thus beginning an acquaintance which lasted a life-time.
For several years he pursued his studies at Salem, Mass. In 1817 he left that town to go into business with his brothers, who had preceded him to Philadelphia. In 1821 he became a member of the firm of Hacker, Brown & Co. The house was engaged in the dry-goods commission business, and continued in existence until 1830. In this year a change was made, and the firm-name became for the future David S. Brown & Co. Early in life Mr. Brown became much interested in the development of American manufactures. He was fully convinced that the prosperity and progress of the country depended upon protection to American industries. Into the promotion of these industries he threw himself with all the earnestness and activity of his nature. Earnestness of purpose and strength of will being his chief characteristics, to resolve upon an action was to carry it into effect almost simultaneously. In 1844 he projected the cotton-mills of the Washington Manufacturing Company, at Gloucester, N.J., and built them in conjunction with Messrs. Churchman, Ashhurst, Folwell, Mickle, Evans, Gray, Scull and Siter. This was followed by the construction of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company, for the production of printed calicoes. In 1871 he built the works of the Ancona Printing Company, in order to utilize newly-discovered processes, until then untried in America. In 1872 the Gloucester Gingham Mills, built in 1859, were incorporated. In 1871 the Gloucester Iron Works, on the Delaware, near Gloucester, were built and put into active operation. In 1878 the Gloucester City Gas Works were constructed and incorporated, and the Gloucester Land Company, and the Gloucester Land and Improvement Company organized. In 1865 Mr. Brown, in connection with a number of incorporators built the Camden, Gloucester and Mount Ephraim Railroad. Of these, corporations he was president at the time of his death, as well as of the School of Design for Women, in Philadelphia, which he had founded in connection with Mrs. Peter, the wife of the British consul. The rare business qualifications which Mr. Brown possessed were strikingly exhibited at the time of the organization of the Pennsylvania Railroad, when he was foremost in contributing personally and enlisting the aid of capital in its purchase and extension, and whose earnest appeals and confident example contributed materially to its present proud position.
In the panic of 1857 the firm of David S. Brown & Co. succumbed to the pressure, and suspended. In April of the following year they submitted to their creditors a proposition to pay seventy-five per cent. - one-fifth in cash, on the 1st of May, one-fifth each three, six, nine and twelve months, with interest; and, for the remaining twenty-five per cent. they offered the stock of the Greenwich Improvement and Railroad Company, and the Gloucester Manufacturing Company, or the notes of the firm at two and three years, with interest. So that, at the end of three years, the debts of the firm were paid - principal and interest. In a short sketch of Mr. Brown’s business career, which appeared at the time of his death, the writer says: "The active life of one man rarely reaches so far in its measure of national progress as has that of the merchant and citizen whose death every one laments. It embraced the entire period of transition, from dependence, almost abject, upon foreign countries, to industrial triumphs of the most complete and enduring character, and this was in itself the work of Mr. Brown’s life, and its result was the crown of his labors. No degree of personal effort that such an occasion could call for was ever wanting; no risks that actual execution of great works could involve were too great for him to take upon himself. It is easy to assume that a successful issue of the great undertakings of 1844 to 1870 was probable, and that therefore those who took the responsibility at that time were not to be credited with unusual honors; but in fact, looking back to that period now, the wonder rather is that any one should have been bold enough to stake everything on breaking up the foreign control of our markets - a work not fully accomplished until 1876. Honor is due to Mr. Brown for this long and faithful championship of domestic industry. To build up these industries as he did in a country without foreign competition would be a great distinction, but in fact, there has never been a greater struggle or more extreme difficulties than those encountered in the establishment of extensive manufactures during the twenty-five years of Mr. Brown’s greatest activity. Yet the most unflinching courage, the most patient and indefatigable labors marked every year of his life, giving almost more than mortal strength to the business he had built up, and, at last, laying down his duties with extreme reluctance. It is not often that so much ability and courage are united in a man of daily business activity. It is easy to be driven from a treat purpose by business necessities; it is easy to yield upon the ground that at the time it does not pay, but Mr. Brown never forgot the higher public purpose in the most extreme business trials, and although the end shows that such firmness is best, it is rare that persons tried in such emergencies see the higher interests as he did. In his manner, in his activity, in his persistence to go on and do more, Mr. Brown seemed little changed in 1870 from his daily life in 1850. Yet these twenty years had seen the battle of his life completely won, and himself not the least of the masters in the field."
In reviewing Mr. Brown’s life, it is easy to realize that one of his chief characteristics was the unselfish earnestness with which he devoted himself to every project which won his approval, when it in no way contributed to his profit or aggrandizement. He always felt great sympathy for young men of energy, and was ever ready to extend to them a helping hand. His health, which had been failing for several years, finally gave way early in 1877, and after the 4th of March he did not leave the house. His death took place on the 6th of July. On the 7th a special meeting of the Gloucester City Councils was held, and the following resolutions were passed:
Whereas, Almighty God has removed to a better world our friend and benefactor, the late David S. Brown, therefore be it Resolved, that we, n behalf of the citizens of Gloucester City, express our sensibility of the loss we have sustained; and Resolved, that Mr. Brown was the leading spirit in establishing all the industrial institutions, and that he was the foremost man in furthering many interests in our town, the benefit of which will long be felt by our people."
MANUFACTURES.
The establishment of large manufactories in Gloucester gave the town a new impetus, and caused it to grow and prosper. To the manufacturing interests are due the present prosperity of the city. A connected history of each of these establishments is here given:
WASHINGTON MILLS. - The first of the large manufacturing establishments in Gloucester were the Washington Mills, owned by the Washington Manufacturing Company, incorporated by the Legislature January 31, 1844, and on February 21st of that year the commission named in the act met at Cake’s Hotel, Camden, and opened subscriptions to stock, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars of which was taken. The stockholders met March 13th, and elected as directors David S. Brown, John Siter, John R. Worrell, William Woodnutt, Gideon Scull, Thomas Sparks, Lewis R. Ashurst, Mordecai D. Lewis, Charles W. Churchman, Samuel R. Simmons and D.H. Flickwir. David S. Brown was elected president, and John Siter treasurer.
A committee was appointed to select a site on which to erect suitable buildings. Kaighns Point, Camden, was first thought to be the desired location, but difficulties intervening, Gloucester Point was decided upon. Here, also, obstacles interposed, in the way of purchasing ground limited in extent, as desired, and the Gloucester Land Company was organized, from which the manufacturing company purchased ten acres, bounded by Mercer, King and Monmouth Streets, and the Delaware River. Plans were prepared which, being approved, ground was broken July 1, 1844, and the first bricks of Mill No. 1 were laid on the 15th of August following. This mill, four stories high and three hundred feet long by fifty feet wide, with boiler-house and other essential out-buildings, was pushed to completion; necessary machinery for the manufacturing of white cotton goods put in, and July 31, 1845, the first cops of yarn were spun, and August 7th the first loom was running. The mill contained three hundred and twenty-four narrow and seventy-four wide looms, fourteen thousand five hundred and ninety-two spindles and employed three hundred and sixty-three persons.
Melcher’s plans contemplated expansion, not in size, but in the number of buildings, and since No. 1, six other similar mills have been built, with necessary adjuncts in the form of engine and other houses. The mills occupy the space between Ellis Street and the river. On the northern half of the remainder of the tract the company erected a number of commodious brick buildings for boarding-houses to accommodate single persons employed in the factory, while the southern half planted with shade-trees, was opened to the public.
The first manager of the business of the company operating the mills was Samuel Raby, who, although an excellent man and capable superintendent, became obnoxious to the mill-hands during the strike of 1848, and was compelled to leave. Stephen Crocker was the next superintendent, and remained in charge until March, 1857, when he was succeeded by Henry F. West, who for twenty-nine years has maintained the regard of the working people and the confidence of the owners. In 1879 the machinery was altered for the manufacture of colored dress goods. The mills now run 1030 looms, 46,000 spindles, employ 800 persons, with a yearly pay-roll of $260,000 and an annual production of 2,000,000 pounds of cloth.
The present officers and directors are Samuel Welsh, president; Henry N. Paul, treasurer and agent; Samuel R. Shipley, George H. Boker, Samuel Chew, Charles S. Wurts, H.P. Sloan, Richard Ashhurst, Charles J. Churchman and Samuel H. Grey.
GLOUCESTER LAND COMPANY. - The Land Company was not a voluntary, but a compulsory feature of the enterprises contemplated by David S. Brown and his coadjutors. When the Washington Manufacturing Company wanted but ten acres of land, owners insisted upon selling not less than ten times that amount or none at all, and so the manufacturing company resolved itself into a land company and selected John Biter and Samuel B. Simmons as trustees. They purchased sixty-two acres of Frederick Plummer and one hundred and one and a half acres of Robert W. Sykes and paid thirteen thousand dollars for the Champion fishing right. These purchases embraced the northern section of the city, and upon it have been built nearly all the industrial works, - Washington Mills, Ancona Print Works, Gloucester Print Works and the Iron Works. Churches and city have been liberally treated with, when requiring land, and the accommodating terms offered private parties have encouraged improvements, and enabled many with limited income to own their houses, Gloucester showing out of about nineteen hundred ratables, six hundred and seventy-five who are owners. In 1846 the company was incorporated, and in the charter is a section, making valid provisions in the deeds conveying the land, forbidding the sale of malt or spirituous liquor upon the premises. Under this charter the company still operates, having much land still in possession, exceeding in value the cost of the original purchase. The officers of the Land Company and the Washington Manufacturing Company are the same- President, George H. Boker; Treasurer, Henry N. Paul.
GINGHAM MILLS. - In 1860 Samuel Raby, the first superintendent of the Washington Mills, built a factory south of Jersey Avenue, and manufactured cottonades and coarse ginghams. In 1870 the Gloucester Gingham Mills Company was incorporated, those named in the act being Samuel Raby, Edward Bettle, William C. Shinn, Samuel Chew, David S. Brown and George Janvier. The directors were David S. Brown, president; Samuel Chew, secretary and treasurer; and Henry F. West. The factory of Mr. Raby was purchased, Philip H. Fowler appointed superintendent, and the factory, after being enlarged, was supplied with improved machinery for the manufacture of ginghams of a finer grade. Mr. Fowler assumed the management in 1871, and since that time the works have been running almost uninterruptedly, and with a success evincing enlightened tact in the control. The necessity for expansion has been frequent, and met as required, until the establishment covers seven acres of ground, comprising seven principal buildings, with nineteen annexes, wings and out-buildings. The main factory is of brick, two stories high, fifty-nine by two hundred and eighty feet in dimensions, and, with the six principal buildings, contain over 36,000 yards of flooring. The mills contain 502 looms, 12,372 spindles, and employ 500 persons - one-fourth men, the remainder women and minors. The output is 6,000,000 yards annually, and the pay-roll foots up $150,000 yearly.
The officers are Samuel Shipley, president; Samuel Chew, secretary and treasurer; John H. Carr, Harry B. Chew and David Chew; superintendent, Philip H. Fowler; assistant, Charles H. Fowler.
PHILIP H. FOWLER, one of the leading manufacturers of Camden County, is the great-grandson of George Fowler, born in Salem, Mass., where he resided and engaged in the manufacture of shoes. Among his sons was George, also a resident of Salem, who followed a sea-faring life and was lost while pursuing his vocation. His only son, George, born at Salem in 1803, by trade a mason and builder, married Sarah N., daughter of Daniel Moore, of Newburyport, Mass., and had children, - Sarah A. (wife of L.P.S. Corea, resident of Fayal, Azore Islands), George P. (of Salem), Philip H., Frank E. (of Galesburg, Ill.), Samuel (who died while a prisoner at Andersonville) and Helen M. (wife of Henry Chalk, of Salem).
Philip H. Fowler was born on the 11th of May, 1832, in Salem, Mass., and received his education at the grammar schools of his native city. Desiring to become master of a trade he entered a cotton-mill as an apprentice, meanwhile continuing his studies at a night-school. At the age of nineteen he applied himself to the work in the machine-shops of the mill, and at the expiration of the fourth year had become thoroughly familiar with the mechanical portion of the business. He then assumed charge of certain departments of the mill and continued thus employed until 1857. Mr. Fowler then made Gloucester City, N.J., his home, and entering the employ of the Washington Cotton-Mills, assumed the direction of one or more departments of the mill. For sixteen years he has filled the position of superintendent of the gingham mills at Gloucester City and still acts in that capacity. Here his thorough practical knowledge and financial ability have left their impress on the business and established it on a permanent and successful basis. Many improvements have been added, the capacity of the mills increased and its products, by their superior excellence, made readily marketable. Mr. Fowler is in his political affiliations a Republican and a strong advocate of the doctrine of protection. He has served for three terms as member of the Gloucester City Council and for three years been actively associated with the School Board. Mr. Fowler was, on the 24th of November, 1852, married to Phebe A., daughter of James S. Young, of the British Provinces. Their children are Frank A., Charles H. and Hattie E., wife of Milton T. Shafto, of Gloucester City. Mr. Fowler is identified with the Camden National Bank as director. An active Mason, he was the first Master of Cloud Lodge, No. 101, of the order in Gloucester City, and is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Camden.
THE GLOUCESTER PRINT WORKS, the second in chronological order of the industrial establishments originated by David S. Brown and his associates in the limits of Gloucester, are situated near the banks of the Delaware River. The Gloucester Manufacturing Company, which operates them, was chartered in 1845, the following-named persons being the incorporators: William Folwell, Philip J. Grey, Gideon Scull, William Baugh, David S. Brown, Robert F. Walsh, Charles W. Churchman, who proposed to erect works "for the manufacturing, bleaching, dyeing and printing and finishing of all goods of which cotton or other fibrous material forms a part." The management was substantially the same as that of the Washington Manufacturing Company, and the object was to dye, bleach and print the product of the parent company. The works were built in 1850, and enlarged in 1855, for the introduction of printing machinery. September 14, 1868, the works were burned to the ground, even the walls being leveled; but by the 1st of April following the works were rebuilt as they now are, through the energy of Daniel Schofield, the superintendent. Besides the dyeing and bleaching departments, there are twelve printing-machines. The capacity of the works is eight hundred and thirty-six thousand pieces of calico annually, giving employment to three hundred persons. The superintendents have been D. Schofield, Archibald M. Graham and Mr. Bowker.
THE ANCONA PRINTING COMPANY was incorporated in 1871, the incorporators being David S Brown, George A. Heyl, James S. Moore, Samuel Chew and Harry C. Heyl, who erected works in Gloucester for the introduction of the new discoveries in the application of colors, then successful in Europe, but untried in this country. The experiment was successful, and the production of "Dolly Vardens" and other unique designs kept the works running to their full capacity. When in full operation the works give employment to three hundred persons and turn out six hundred thousand pieces of printed muslin annually. They are located on the river-shore, between the Washington Mills and Gloucester Manufacturing Company’s Works. Archibald M. Graham was the manager until his death, in 1884.
GLOUCESTER IRON-WORKS are situated on the river, near Newton Creek and are the farthest to the north of the long line of industrial establishments fostered by the enterprise of David S. Brown. In 1864 William Sexton and James P. Michellon, who had long been connected with the Star Iron-Works in Camden, built an iron foundry on the above-mentioned site. They cast shells for the United States government, and with other work did a prosperous business until 1871, when it was transferred to the Gloucester Iron-Works Company, incorporated that year. The directors were David S. Brown, president; James P. Michellon, secretary; Benjamin Chew, treasurer; William Sexton, superintendent; and Samuel Chew.
The works were enlarged, covering, with wharfing and storage ground, nearly a million square feet of surface. The casting of water-pipe, and the manufacture of material for water and gas-works, comprise the principal product of the works, and these are being constructed by the company at many distant points, and the output is disposed of from Maine to Texas. The full capacity of the works is a consumption of twenty-one thousand tons of iron per year, the actual present output being fifteen thousand tons. Three hundred men are employed in Gloucester City, with many others in the various places where the company is constructing gas or water-works. The pay-roll exceeds two hundred thousand dollars per year. The directors are Samuel Shipley, president; James P. Michellon, secretary; Harry B. Chew, treasurer; William Sexton, superintendent; Samuel Chew and John H. Carr.
WILLIAM SEXTON, the intelligent and able superintendent of the above-named works, was born in the city of Camden on the 7th day of October, 1828, and is the son of William Sexton and Sarah Lawrence Sexton. His mother was the daughter of Thomas Rodgers, who fled from Flanders to America to escape religious persecution.
Mr. Sexton was educated in the public schools of Camden, which he left at the age of fifteen to enter the patent-leather manufactory of Charles Freeman, where he remained two years, when he was employed by John F. Starr, whose iron works were then situated at the foot of Bridge Avenue. At the age of nineteen he became foreman of the machine-shop, which position he filled until he associated himself with Samuel Elfreth, in the machine business, in Camden. At Mr. Starr’s solicitation, Mr. Sexton returned to the machine-shop, and held the position of foreman for nineteen years.
In the year 1864, desiring to embark in an enterprise of his own, Mr. Sexton came to Gloucester and established a foundry in connection with James P. Michellon, under the name of Sexton & Co. Finding it difficult to compete with the larger concerns, in company with others, he formed the Gloucester Iron Works, a description of which will be found above in this sketch. On February 4, 1849, Mr. Sexton married Mary M. Andrews, daughter of Chester and Sarah Andrews, of Trenton, N.J., by whom he had the following children:
William and Sarah, twins, who died young, and a daughter, Mary Emma, who is married to Robert Marshall, Esq., of Philadelphia.
Mr. Sexton is in the prime of a vigorous manhood, and is strictly, a "Camden County man," never having lived out of it, and by all considered one of its best and most respected citizens. By his industry and perseverance he has contributed largely to the success of the large and important manufacturing industry of Gloucester City, with which he has so long been identified.
TERRA-COTTA WORKS. - On the river-shore, south of Jersey Avenue, are located the Gloucester Terra-Cotta Works, of Kehrer & Sons. These were operated many years ago by David S. Brown & Co., and afterwards by George H. Hammond, and by other parties without much success. About 1883 the present firm assumed possession and made a success of the enterprise. The product is terra-cotta pipe, of which eight thousand feet is made weekly, giving employment to twenty men. On the river-shore, below high water, is a valuable bed of clay, suited to the company’s wants, but when they attempted to dig for it, an injunction, issued at the instance of the owners of the fishery right, restrained them, and the material now used in manufacturing is brought from a distance of nearly two hundred miles.
THE GLOUCESTER STEAM MACHINE-WORKS are situated on Market Street, below King. In 1853 Hugh W. and Robert Lafferty erected a sugar refinery at Broadway and Mercer Streets, and for sixteen years carried on a flourishing business, producing five hundred barrels of refined sugar per week and giving employment to sixty men. They imported their raw material direct, and for a time Gloucester was a shipping port, several vessels at one time lying at the Mercer Street wharf unloading cargoes from the West Indies and other foreign parts. In 1879 this business was discontinued and Hugh W. Lafferty started the steam-engine and machine-works, his specialty being sugar machines for plantations and sugar-works. They are of his own designing, his inventions being many and various, and the demand for them from all parts of the world is increasing so that an enlargement of the works will be a necessity of the near future.
ONE LUMBER-YARD at a time has sufficed the little city, and there has never been competition in the trade. For several years Frank Mulford sold lumber, his place being on the north side of Market Street, east of King, when, in 1849, Henry B. Wilson and William C. Doughten opened a yard on the northwest corner of King and Market Streets, and Mulford abandoned the business. They built the frame store for the sale of hardware. In 1854 William S. McCallister became associated with them, and, in 1858, sole proprietor, Wilson & Doughten removing to Kaighns Point and there engaged in the same business. In 1866 John C. Stinson became McCallister’s partner, and on the death of the latter, in 1868, George W. Dickensheets succeeded him and the firm has since been Stinson & Dickensheets.
From the first the men engaged in the trade have been useful in public as well as private life. Frank Mulford was a leader in municipal and society affairs. Henry B. Wilson has been a leader in Camden, member and president of the City Council, postmaster and member of the Legislature. William S. McCallister was one of the most useful and trusted men in Gloucester, while John C. Stinson and George W. Dickensheets have been pillars of the religious bodies to which they belong, and for many years in various municipal bodies sought the good of others rather than their own profit.
THINGS THAT WERE. - Jacob Sheetz, Abel Lukens, John H. Shultz, Peleg B. Savery and Abraham Browning, in 1858, procured a charter for the Gloucester China Company, to manufacture and sell porcelain, china, chemicals, drugs and other articles of which clay, sand and other earthy substances form the bases or principal ingredients. The company built a factory on part of the ground now covered by the Ancona Print Works. Peleg B. Savery was the well-known Southwark hollow-ware foundryman and the product of the Gloucester works was largely used in lining his iron castings. John Siter & Brother carried on a factory for the making of woollen and cotton machinery, and the same site was occupied by Richard F. Loper, of propeller fame, as an iron ship yard.
In 1864 Joseph Harrison, of Philadelphia, had works built on the ground now occupied by the Gloucester Iron-Works. They were in charge of John H. Mystrom, an ingenious inventor, who turned out some excellent steel by a method of his own, similar to the Bessemer process. For some reason the enterprise failed.
In 1872 David S Brown, George Jamison, Henry N. Paul, James P. Michellon, Benjamin Chew, Henry F. West, William Sexton, Daniel Schofield and Samuel Chew procured a charter for the Gloucester City Savings Institution, which prospered for a number of years, but in 1884, when most of the original promoters had ceased connection with it, it suspended, and its effects were placed in the hands of a receiver.
THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.- March 8, 1845, Richard W. Howell, Charles Robb, Joseph Porter, Thomas S. Ridgway and Benjamin W. Cooper obtained a charter for a projected enterprise under the name of the New Jersey Manufacturing Company of the County of Camden, for the manufacturing, dyeing, bleaching and printing of wool and cotton and all goods of wool and cotton and other fibrous material. The proposed capital to be invested was six hundred thousand dollars. There was a proviso in the charter that all children to be employed in the establishment under sixteen years of age must have at least three months "schooling" each year. The place selected was Gloucester, but the enterprise failed to mature.
In 1855 the Union Manufacturing Company of Gloucester was chartered to manufacture flour, meal, barrels and kegs. The incorporators were William B. Thomas, Thomas A.G. Stein, Samuel Z. Brock, Wm. S. Doughten, James L. Hines and Jeremiah H. Banks, but the company was never organized and nothing came of the undertaking.
In 1865 a charter was granted to James H. Stevens, James P. Michellon, Peter L. Voorhees, William Sexton and Lewis H. Bundick, to form the Gloucester Iron Foundry and Machine Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, but the project ended with the grant.
In 1871 the Gloucester Co-operative Benefit Society, capital ten thousand dollars, was incorporated, with Wm. McIlhenny, Wm. Wholstenholm, John Schules, Robert Booth, James Bartolle, Wm. Lee and James White as incorporators. The object was to purchase direct from first hands and avoid the profits of middle men, but the project went no farther than the granting of the charter by the General Assembly.
THE GAS LIGHTING COMPANY OF GLOUCESTER was incorporated in 1878, the names of David S. Brown, James P. Michellon, Henry N. Paul, Benj. Chew and Wm. Sexton being mentioned in the act, and they comprised the company. The works were built by the Gloucester Iron Company and were located on Jersey Avenue, above Fifth Street. They were completed and began operations January 1,1875. The holder has a capacity of sixty thousand cubic feet of gas, and the annual production is sixty-seven million cubic feet, with three and a half miles of pipe, supplying seventy-six street lamps belonging to the city, besides private parties. The officers of the company for 1886. are: President, George A. Heyl; Secretary, James P. Michellon; Treasurer and Superintendent, Harry B. Chew.
THE POST-OFFICE. - The following is a list of the postmasters of Gloucester, together with the dates of their appointment, as furnished by the Post-Office Department at Washington:
Postmaster.
Date of Appt.
Postmaster.
Date of Appt.
William C. Mulford.
July 29, 1845.*
Albert J. Greene.
Sept. 7, 1866.
William H. Emery.
Feb. 25, 1849.
Edwin Tomlinson.
Mar. 19, 1869.
William C. Mulford.
June 5, 1853.
Chas. H. Barnard.
Nov. 17, 1881.
William H. Emery.
May 25, 1861.
Jas. McLaughlin.
July 28, 1885.
* Date of establishment.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
It is not generally known to the members of the present church at Gloucester that over one hundred and sixty-four years ago a congregation of the Church of England worshipped in that town, but such is the fact. In 1722 Thomas Bull, one of the proprietors of the town, in his will, makes the following bequest: "I give my file or tier of lots at Gloucester, including the burial-ground near my house, to be set apart for a Church of England when the congregation see fit to build." There is no evidence that a church was ever built, and the site of the burial-ground mentioned is unknown. A congregation was maintained, however, for many years, and up to the time of the Revolution, if not later. The Rev. Nathaniel Evans, who was appointed as missionary by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in 1765 was placed in charge of the parish at Gloucester, Colestown and Berkley. He preached at those places until his death, October 29, 1767. Five years later, November 19, 1772, he was succeeded by the Rev. Robert Blackwell, who married Rebecca, a daughter of Joseph Harrison, a member of the congregation. He continued in the service until the Revolutionary War broke out, when he joined the army as chaplain and surgeon. The churches for a time were without regular services, and it is not certain that the church at Gloucester was again revived. No further effort is known tending to re-establishing Episcopal services in it. The present church of that denomination was organized in 1847. Some of the early emigrants who settled at Gloucester in 1689 were members of the Society of Friends, and they doubtless worshipped in the house of Mark Newbie, on the White Horse road, in Newton township, where an "indulged meeting" was held under the authority of the Society of Burlington.
Dr. Bangs, a Methodist historian, states that "Messrs. Boardman and Pilmore landed at Gloucester Point October 24, 1769, and immediately set about their work of doing good."
They were English missionaries sent out by John Wesley, but whether they set about their work at Gloucester Point is not stated. There is no evidence of permanent results. Meetings under Methodist auspices were held in Gloucester as early as 1820, in the "eight-square" school-house, on the Woodbury road, north of Timber Creek, but no organization was formed. About the same time meetings were held and continued for years in the old school-house on Market Street, east of the West Jersey Railroad. They were conducted by Frederick Plummer, of Philadelphia, a man of great eloquence and power in the pulpit, who drew large audiences. His efforts resulted in the conversion of hundreds during the fifteen or twenty years that he visited Gloucester Point. Many were baptized in the Delaware, but no church organization was effected, and the converts, gathered from many miles of surrounding country, were scattered or joined other churches, when Mr. Plummer ceased his ministrations, about 1840. Among them were Arthur Powell, a trustee of the Methodist society in 1839, and his widow, Mary Powell, still living with clear mental powers and retentive memory, and an active member of the Baptist Church. Another of Rev. Plummer’s converts is Alexander A. Powell, son of Arthur, now one of the leading members of the Methodist Church in Gloucester, with two sons, George W. and A. Aden Powell, local preachers.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Gloucester originated in 1839, as the following minutes will show: "At the request of Robert W. Sykes, Esq. of Philadelphia, a meeting was called at the Gloucester Point Hotel, Gloucester County, N.J., at three o’clock on Wednesday, June 5th, 1839, of the following gentlemen, viz.: Joshua P. Browning, John Whiteman, Edmund J. Yard, John Moore, Arthur Powell, Thomas Githens, Edward Daugherty, Reilly Barrett, Richard Benson, James Carrigan and James Harmstead."
Of the above, Powell and Browning belonged to Gloucester, Githens, Barrett and Dougherty were from Camden and the others were Philadelphians. Browning was elected chairman and Harmstead secretary. Mr. Sykes then proposed to convey to the above-named gentlemen the house, twenty-five by fifty feet, erected on a lot of ground sixty-one by two hundred and sixty-six feet, on Market Street, above Third, for a place of religious worship "for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church." The property was then presented to them as trustees. About three hundred dollars was raised and expended in furnishing the house. Robert W. Sykes, a generous donor, was a lawyer, and besides owning the ferry across the Delaware between Gloucester Point and Greenwich Point, possessed considerable land in Gloucester. He was not a member of the Methodist Church, but gave the new congregation encouraging support. The trustees gave the building the name of "Sykes’ Chapel," but subsequently, at his request, it was changed to "Gloucester Point Chapel."
Rev. Levi Scott, who afterwards became a prominent bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. Joseph Ashbrook, of Camden, were assigned by Conference to conduct the religious services in this building. On October 20, 1839, an incendiary fire destroyed the chapel and all it contained except the Bible. This seemed to be a sad misfortune to the community and the young congregation, but their good friend R.W. Sykes, seconded by his wife, came promptly to their aid. Calling the trustees together the next day, October 21st, he informed them that he had insured the building for twelve hundred dollars, and that the money was at their disposal for the purpose of rebuilding. He also offered to exchange a lot one hundred by two hundred and eighty feet, on King Street, more centrally located, for the one on which the original building stood. These generous offers were accepted and a brick building, thirty by fifty feet, was constructed at a cost of eighteen hundred dollars.
The Gloucester Church was part of a circuit until 1845, when the membership having reached sixty, it was made a separate station under the charge of the Rev. Elwood H. Stokes, now president of the Ocean Grove Association. The society worshipped on King Street until 1851, when the opening of Somerset Street through the ground compelled the removal of the building. Land was purchased on Monmouth Street, corner of Willow, and a two-story brick church, forty-five by seventy feet, erected thereon, and the year following a three-story parsonage, the whole costing about eight thousand dollars. Here the congregation held religious services until the night of December, 1882, when, in the midst of one of the greatest revivals that ever visited the congregation, a fire destroyed the structure, with all its contents, leaving nothing but blackened walls. The parsonage was damaged, but the insurance made good the loss. On the church there was a debt of twelve hundred dollars and an insurance of five thousand dollars. The Presbyterian and Baptist congregations of the town kindly offered to shelter the homeless society, but the use of the city hall, proffered by the City Council, was accepted, and there they met until the pastor, Rev, H.M. Brown, aided by the trustees, James L. Hines, president, in a few months placed on the site of the ruins a large and beautiful church building, fifty by eighty feet, at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars. Like other churches and institutions of Gloucester City whose population, dependent upon factory employment, comers and goers as trade ebbs and flows, this church has had its seasons of lesser and greater growth, and its membership has fluctuated. In 1880 it reached three hundred and seventy; at the present time, six years later, it is two hundred and forty-two. The Sunday-school, with forty-two teachers and four hundred and ten scholars, is under the charge of George W. Powell as superintendent, with William J. Turkington as assistant.
The following-named ministers have served the Gloucester congregation since its organization, in 1839. Those marked With a * are dead.
1839. -William Brooks.*
1861. - William Walton.
1841. - Socrates Townshend.
1863. - Thomas C. Carman.
1843. - J.W. McDougal.*
1865. - Milton Relyea.
1845. - Elwod H. Stokes.
1868. - Jesse Stites.
1847. - John B. Dobbins.
1871. - Abram K. Street.
1848. - Robert Givin.
1874. - Philip Cline.
1851. - Joseph Ashbrook.*
1876. - Enoch Green.
1853. - Jefferson Lewis.
1878. - George H. Neal.
1855. - John Fort*
1881. - William Walton.
1857. - Joseph Atwood.
1882. - Henry M. Brown.
1859. - Robert S. Harris.
1885. - Daniel B. Harris.
In 1883, November 14th, the corner-stone of a Mission Chapel was laid in the southeastern section of the city. The burning of the church a few days after retarded work upon the chapel, but it was recently finished and services are now held in it regularly, the pulpit being supplied by local preachers from Camden.
CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION. - The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension, of Gloucester, was organized in 1847, largely through the efforts of Rev. Isaac P. Labaugh, assistant rector of the Episcopal Church at Haddonfield, assisted by Thomas S. Ridgway and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Robb, of Philadelphia. A meeting was held in the district school-house November 29, 1847, when the congregation was organized and the following officers elected: Wardens, Jefferson Smith and Alan Sanford; vestrymen, Nathaniel Demeritt, William S. McCallister, Thomas Higginbottom, George Nichols, Daniel F. Melcher, Hiram Brownell, Benjamin Browning, Albanus L. Clemens, Luther L. Cheeney and Benjamin Taylor. Two days later, on December 1st, Charles and Rebecca Robb, of Philadelphia, who owned large tracts of land at Gloucester, conveyed to this newly-formed parish a lot of ground one hundred feet square on Sussex Street, near Ridgway, "for and in consideration of the love and veneration for the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for the establishment of the same in the township of Union, commonly called the City of Gloucester." The lot was virtually presented to the parish, as but ten dollars was charged. Another lot on Sussex Street, forty by one hundred and twenty feet, was afterwards bought of Daniel Lacey and a third on Ridgway Street, twenty by one hundred and twenty feet, of Isaac P. Labaugh, upon which a rectory has since been built. Thus organized, having selected the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension as the name, Isaac P. Labaugh was chosen rector of the parish and continued to serve as assistant rector of the church in Haddonfield. A substantial stone building, with a seating capacity of three hundred and fifty, was erected, at a cost of three thousand dollars, and consecrated, free of debt, early in 1850, by Bishop Doane, of the diocese of New Jersey. Besides those already mentioned as active workers in the parish during its early struggles were Mrs. William S. McCallister, James Wilson, Samuel Raby, Stephen Crocker, Henry B. Wilson and others.
The following is a list of the rectors and others in charge in the order of their succession: Isaac P. Labaugh, rector; Josiah Bartlett, rector; MacGregor J. Mitcherson, missionary in charge; Theophilus Reilly; John A. Goodfellow, lay reader; James A. Lamb, lay rector; John A. Fury, priest in charge; Reese C. Evans, priest; Richard H. de Gorma, priest; Caleb Pease, deacon; Thomas F. Milby, deacon; Thomas Dickerson, priest; Francis D. Canfield, priest.
The parish has sixty communicants. The property is valued at ten thousand dollars.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. - In 1847, Rev. John. M. Rodgers, a Presbyterian clergyman of Woodbury, visited Gloucester and held meetings at Washington Hall, on King Street, and on the 26th of June called a meeting for the purpose of organizing. Mr. Rodgers presided and William C. Mulford, M.D., was chosen secretary. The trustees elected were William Melcher, William C. Mulford, Peter Du Bois (an elder), Elvin Jewell and Henry Van Fossen. Rev. Mr. Rodgers accepted a call to become pastor of the young congregation and entered upon his duties on the 1st of October with about twenty members. Their meetings were held in Washington Hall until 1849. In the mean time land had been purchased on Monmouth Street, at the corner of Burlington, the Gloucester Land Company donating part of the purchase money, and October 11, 1848, the corner-stone of the present house of worship was laid with appropriate ceremonies, Revs. Theodore Cuyler, D.D., and George W. Janvier delivering addresses on that occasion. The building is of brick, two stories, and the main audience-room will seat four hundred persons. The cost was eight thousand dollars. Upon it was a spire, eighty-two feet high, which a hurricane blew down three years after its erection and it was not rebuilt. The congregation at first was weak, but the Presbytery of Philadelphia assisted and Rev. Mr. Rodgers himself raised fifteen hundred dollars for the building fund. Rev. Dr. M.B. Grier, one of the editors of the Presbyterian, and who supplied the pulpit during 1867 and 1868, did much for the interests of the congregation. He presented a lot of ground adjoining the church, upon which a fine parsonage was built in 1870, costing two thousand eight hundred dollars. Fifteen pastors have served the congregation since the organization, in 1847. Their names and the dates that they each assumed charge are as follows:
1847. John M. Rodgers.
1859. T.F. Richmond.
1849. James Kirk.
1859. Joseph McMurray.
1850. A. Tudehope.
1866. John S. Hanna.
1851. Edward D. Yeomans.
1867. M.B. Grier, D.D.
1851. F. Knighton.
1869. Henry F. Reeves.
1853. W.B. Jones.
1881. John R. Milligan.
1854. David Longmore.
1885. James A. McGowen.
1856. W.E. Boardman.
The pastorate of Joseph McMurray was a happy one, and under his ministrations of nearly seven years prosperity attended, until his failing health compelled his resignation. His death soon thereafter was deeply deplored. To rich gifts he united rare piety, which won for him universal love and reverence. The long pastorate of Henry F. Reeves, extending over twelve years, was blessed spiritually and temporally. Under him the entire debt of the church was liquidated and prosperity attended his efforts until the time of his resignation to become principal of the Ivy Academy, a Presbyterian institution at Bridgeton, N.J. The church membership is one hundred and fifty-seven.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of Gloucester was constituted April 4, 1867, in Washington Hall, on King Street, where services were held until the frame meeting-house was built, with a seating capacity of three hundred.
The pastors have been C.D. Parker, William P. Maul, Thomas R. Taylor, E.V Glover, Peter McKenzie, John S. Teasdale, William C. Calder.
The officers for 1886 were, - Pastor, William C. Colder; Deacons, George M. Cheeseman, John Budd; Clerk, Clayton Sagers; Treasurer, Anna Farrel; Trustees, Clayton Shuster, W. Budd, Geo. M. Cheeseman, John Budd, Frank Sagers, Harry
Carter. The members number ninety-five.
The Sunday-school was formed June 18, 1867, and has one hundred and ninety officers, teachers and pupils, with a library of three hundred volumes. Superintendent, George M. Cheeseman.
ST. MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, on the southeast corner of Sussex and Cumberland Streets, was built in 1849 by Rev. Father Waldron, appointed parish priest by Archbishop Kendrick, of Philadelphia. Mass had been celebrated for some time in Washington Hall, on King Street, and in the old school-house near Broadway and Hudson. Rev. Waldron remained but a short time after building the church, a stone structure, and was succeeded by Rev. Finnegan, who at the end of a year was removed and Rev. Harrigan appointed in his place. His pastorate of six years was very successful. The parish was strengthened and the debt of two thousand seven hundred dollars reduced to nine hundred dollars. He was removed to a parish in Cincinnati, where he died a few years afterwards. Such was the affection of his old parishioners for their former pastor that, raising the cost by subscription and obtaining the proper authority, they brought his body to Gloucester and buried it among their own dead. Rev. Daly was the next parish priest, and during the few years of his stay the debt was increased to nine thousand five hundred dollars. Rev. Father Wiseman was the next pastor and is kindly remembered as a good one, under whose administration the parish grew. The parish school-house was built, several teachers employed and a large number of children instructed. He was removed to Crawford, N.Y., and Bishop Corrigan appointed Rev. Egbert Kars as pastor in 1873. Father Kars was the best loved and most successful pastor the Gloucester Church has known. For thirteen years he administered its affairs with wise firmness, tempered with love, and gained the hearty co-operation of his parishioners in whatever he undertook for the good of the church. Shortly after his coming he brought the Sisters of St. Dominic and placed them in charge of the school. He liquidated the parish debt during his pastorate, which ended with his life, May 8, 1886, when he died, lamented not alone by his own, but all the people, and such was the regard in which he was held, that on the day of the funeral the factories were closed and the people en masse attended the obsequies. While he was in charge of the parish Revs. Donavan, Horn, Cary, Lynch and Murphy were appointed assistants in succession, the last-named acting is pastor at the time of Father Kars’ death. The parish numbers seventeen hundred souls.
SCHOOLS. - The log school-house in the woods was used until 1830, when a frame house was built east of the Union Cemetery and served the purpose for a number of years. It was then sold, and a brick house, now occupied as a dwelling, was erected near Broadway and Hudson Street. In 1859 the two-story brick school-house on Monmouth Street, near Broadway, was erected at a cost of seven thousand dollars, followed in 1868 by one at Cumberland Street and Ridgway, costing five thousand five hundred dollars; and in 1869 by the frame school-house on New Jersey Avenue, at Pine Grove. This cost one thousand six hundred dollars. In 1871 a second house was built near to and similar to the first one at Ridgway and Cumberland, and in 1873 a third, each of them of equal cost and capacity. These five buildings, valued at two thousand nine hundred dollars, with seven hundred and fifty seats, sum up the public school accommodations for the children of Gloucester City, the number of whom, between five and eighteen years of age, is sixteen hundred and thirty six, the number enrolled being ten hundred and forty six, with an average attendance of five hundred and twenty three. The pupils in other schools, including the Roman Catholic Parochial School of St Mary’s, number two hundred and fifty.
When the State established the public-school system the people of Union township, especially those in the western section, entered heartily into educational work and the largest possible facilities were provided. In 1847 this section comprised two school districts - Nos. 1 and 2 - with sixty-two and one hundred and seventy-seven pupils respectively. The schools were kept open throughout the year and the taxes levied to cover the cost were paid cheerfully. The treasurer of the School Board acted as superintendent. The first so to act was William C. Mulford, M.D., in 1847 and 1848, as well as in subsequent years. He was succeeded by Joshua P. Browning, William H. Emery, Jeremiah H. Banks and William C. McCallister, the latter serving for a number of years and until 1868, when township gave way to city methods.
Under the city charter the Board of Education is an independent body, not amenable to Common Council for its actions, but providing such educational facilities as in its judgment are required, with power to levy such tax, within the statutory limit, as will suffice to pay the cost. The board consists of six members elected for three years, two being elected annually. The board elects a president, secretary and treasurer from its own members. The school funds are made up of a State, local and poll-tax. The receipts of the treasurer for the fiscal year ending February 1, 1886, were: From the State, $4908.88; local tax (two mills), $3685.37, - total, $8594.25. The expenditures were $7877.31, of which $6252.50 was for salaries. The surplus on hand was $4756.97. The salaries range from $400 to $500 for teachers and $1000 for the principal. There are eleven teachers, as follows: Principal, William Dougherty; Priscilla H. Redfield, Annie Emery, Mary Whittington, Matilda O. Redfield, Elizabeth W. Hanna, Kate McMurray, Willie Cogill, Emma Mayers, Emma S. Gaunt, Ida F. Luther. In addition to these, Judge John Gaunt, G.W. Michaels, P.H. Redfield and R. Heritage have been employed as teachers of night schools, which are open for several months in the year and are well attended. Judge Gaunt and Miss Redfield are veteran teachers, the latter having taught in the schools of Gloucester for more than thirty consecutive years.
The members of the Board of Education are George M. Dixon, William C. Turkington (secretary), Russell Willard (treasurer), Samuel Barwis, Charles C. Collings (president), Duncan W. Blake, M.D.
The following have been officers of the board since 1868:
PRESIDENTS.
1868. William C Mulford.
1879-80. John C. Stinson.
1869. Samuel Raby.
1881-82. Henry M. Harley.
1870-71. Thomss Hallam.
1883. Henry F. West.
1872-75. Samuel T. Murphy.
1884. John H. McMurray.
1876. George Boughman.
1885. George M. Dixon.
1877. Samuel T. Murphy.
1886. Charles C. Collings.
1878. William H. Banks.
SECRETARIES.
1868-71. John C. Stinson.
1877-82. Andrew J. Greene.
1872-73 William H. Banks.
1888-86. George P.J. Poole.
1874 -76. Samuel Finney.
1886. William C. Turkington.
TREASURERS.
1868-73. George W. Dickensheets.
1877-78. Thomas Hallam.
1874; William H. Banks.
1879-85. Lewis G. Mayers.
1875-76. Samuel T. Murphy.
1886. Russell Millard.
CEMETERIES. - The Cedar Grove Cemetery Company was incorporated in 1851, the names of William C. Mulford, Jacob Morrill and Stephen Crocker appearing in the charter. The company was organized and eight acres of land purchased on Market Street, east of the West Jersey Railroad. This was laid out and improved, and this cemetery has long been the favorite resting-place of Gloucester’s dead. The present directors are James L. Hines, president and treasurer; Wm. Van Meter, secretary; William C. Birch, James E. Truax and Levi North.
The Union Cemetery is located between Broadway and the West Jersey Railroad, south of Market Street. The association was incorporated in 1860, Abraham Powell, Arthur Powell and Joseph B. Ellis being named in the act. The ground originally measured three acres, but the railroad cut off one-third, leaving but two acres. The directors are: Alexander A. Powell, president; Lewis G. Mayers, treasurer; Daniel Carroll, secretary.
BUILDING ASSOCIATIONS. - The first building association was incorporated in April, 1849, as the Gloucester Saving Fund and Building Association, with Moses G. Boston, Westcott Lowell, Stephen Crocker, William S. Doughten, George Nichols, Charles S. Barnard, William C. Mulford, Jeremiah H. Banks, William H. Emery and Joseph Cramer as incorporators. The association did well for about seven years, but difficulties and losses occurred and its affairs were wound up when the stock was worth about ninety dollars per share.
August 17, 1866, a meeting was held in Union Hall and the United Mutual Loan and Building Association. was formed by the election of William W. Fernald as secretary, and the following-named rectors: William S. McCallister, Hugh J. Gorman, James L. Hines, James Nield, Samuel Raby, Peter McAdams, William Ames, Philip Ritner and Joseph R. Smith. Samuel Raby was chosen president and Albert J. Greene treasurer. These were among the most careful and trusted men of the city, and the success of the enterprise was assured. Stock was subscribed for, and the association began its long career of usefulness. The first year the receipts were $8957, and the amount loaned on bond and mortgage was $8600. Eighteen series of stock have been issued, eight of which have matured, leaving two thousand three hundred and six shares still running. The total amount loaned on bond and mortgage since the start is over $350,000, in sums varying from $200 to $2000, and averaging less than $1000 to each person. These have been persons of limited means, and it is estimated that nearly three hundred persons have thereby been aided in securing homes; and this accounts, in part, for the unusually large proportion of house-owners in Gloucester - over one in three of the ratables. Samuel Raby was president two years; Henry Black, ten; Archibald M. Graham, one; James L. Hines, nearly six years, when, resigning, Henry Black was again elected, serving until March, 1886, when he resigned to take the secretaryship, made vacant by the resignation of Hugh J. German, after nearly eighteen yeas consecutive service. Albert J. Greene, who was also city treasurer, was elected in 1866 and, excepting 1884, when Lewis G. Mayers was elected for one year, he has been the only treasurer. The last annual report gives the receipts at $18,459.52, and the average premium for loans twenty per cent. The present officers are: President, Joseph Rutland; Secretary, Henry Black; Treasurer, A.J. Greene; Directors: . Peter McAdams, Thos. Black, John Mcllmoyl, Joseph O’Kane, Alonzo D. Husted, William C; Turkington, Harrison Eger, Frank Rafferty.
SOCIETIES.
CLOUD LODGE, No. 101, FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS, was formed in 1869, largely through the endeavors of Benjamin Cloud, of Woodbury, and by his efforts a meeting was held in Washington Hall September 27th, when Richard C. Horner, Philip H. Fowler, William Mulford, William C. Burch, Joseph Tucker, John P. Booth, William Willian, William W. Garrett and William Ames applied to the Grand Lodge of New Jersey for a dispensation to form a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, with the following officers: R.C. Horner, W.M.; P.H. Fowler, S.W.; William C. Mulford, J.W.; William C. Burch, Treasurer; William Ames, Secretary.
The warrant constituting Cloud Lodge was received January 31, 1870, and the officers were P.H. Fowler, W.M.; William C. Mulford, S.W.; William C. Burch, J.W.; John C. Stinson, Treasurer; William Ames, Secretary.
The following have served the lodge as Worthy Masters:
1870-71. - Philip H. Fowler.
1879- Frank H. Hoffman.
1872. - Edward Mills.
1880. - G. William Barnard.
1873.- John P. Booth.
1881. - Wm. C. Burch.
1874. - Edwin Tomlinson.
1882. - Thomas J. Finney.
1875. - John Gourley.
1883. - Henry H. Harley.
1876. - William W. Garrett.
1884. - Wm. H. Bowker.
1877. - Thomas J. Finney.
1886. - John W. Warner.
1878. - George A. Dobbins.
The lodge now has twenty-five members.
MOUNT ARARAT LODGE, No. 8, MASONIC LADIES, which meets in Powell’s Hall, is one of the most prosperous societies of Gloucester, and was organized October 8, 1867, in Union Hall, with the following charter members:
Sarah A. Conover.
Elizabeth Grove.
Eliza Rambo.
Sue Hendrickson.
Mary A. Higham.
Sarah Counor.
Jennie Warburton.
Jane Colwell.
Sarah Parker.
Caroline Bastian.
Elizabeth Alaways.
Louisa J. Daisey.
Mary Richmond.
Sarah J. Elberson.
Annie M. West.
Abigail Marsh.
Patience O’Harah.
Mary A. Miller.
Elizabeth Rodgers.
Emma Neill.
Julia Smallwood.
Ellen Turner.
Rosanna Horner.
Mary Wynn.
Anna F. Conover.
Sarah Solomon.
Hannah Tatem.
Ellen P. Carney.
Lizzie Herron.
Emeline Pew.
Priscilla Lewis.
Emma Daisey.
Hannah Doughty.
Mary Farras.
Anna D. Morton.
Mary E. Irvin.
Sarah Stillings.
Milicent Lafferty.
Margaret Thomas.
Rebecca Marple.
Sarah Matlack.
Frances Taylor.
Elizabeth Starr.
Deborah Wilkins.
Martha Tomlinson.
Parmella Yeager.
Eliza J. Herron.
Georgiana Fraser.
Lizzie Horner.
The officers for 1886 are Past I.H.P.; Amanda Cheeseman; I.H.P., Laura Beckett; H.P., Ella Pursglove; S. of C., Lou Richardson; S.I., Emma
Lanagan; J.I., Stella Parker; Tiler; Emma Ross; Treasurer, Amanda Adams; R.S., Hannah Tatem; F.S., Anna D. Norton.
Arwames Lodge, No. 37, I.O.O.F, was instituted February 5, 1846, by Samuel T. Reed, Grand Master of New Jersey, assisted by D.D.G.M. Samuel Lilly, G.W. Joseph Notts, G.C. Joseph Narine, G.G.A.P. Darast and Grand Marshal James P. Taylor. The charter members were Dr. William C. Mulford, Reuben M. Dimock, Henry Wiggins and John Howarth. The lodge prospered for several years, but the Civil War depleted its membership and it ceased working until May 7, 1871, when it was reorganized with these members:
Thomas H. White.
Wesley Anderson.
Alexander A. Powell.
Joseph A. Leeds.
David P. Morgan.
Edmund Hoffman.
James L. Hines.
George W. Dickensheets.
Henry van Possen.
William H. Banks.
James Neild.
John E. Miller.
Joseph B. Ellis.
Joseph R. Smith.
Samuel T. Murphy.
The meetings were held in Greene’s Hall and a strong organization was effected. Its present membership is thirty-four, with these officers: N.G., Albert Munn; V.G., Joseph C. Berry; R.S., Joseph C. Penn; W., David P. Morgan; C., Henry P. Hill; I.G., Henry Wiltse. Among the Noble Grands previous to the suspension were William C. Mulford, Wesley Anderson, Samuel T. Murphy, Edmund Hoffman and Frank Mulford. The following have been the Noble Grands since the reorganization:
Thomas A. White.
George McLaughlin.
Alexander A. Powell.
Lewis C. Harris.
John E. Miller.
George A. Dobbins.
Robert Verdin.
William R. Gardiner.
Albert Munn.
Joseph Cooper.
James Neild.
Samuel Pettit.
Charles Mason.
Joseph C. Penn.
George Oatley.
John P. Booth.
Squire Brooks.
Wesley Anderson.
James E. Parker.
Hugh O’Neil.
Henry P. Hill.
William Buckley.
Joseph Test.
ANCIENT CASTLE, No. 2, A.O.K.M.C. - The Ancient Order of the Knights of the Mystic Chain was founded in Reading, Pa., February 2, 1871, by J.O. Mathers and J.M. Brown. It now numbers one hundred and fifty castles in that State and ten in New Jersey, the latter recently formed through the zeal of members of the Gloucester Castle.
Ancient Castle, No. 2, was founded chiefly through the efforts of William L. and Harry S. Simpkins, George and Samuel B. Lee, who called a meeting at the house of James Carr, on Hudson Street, and securing twenty-four names, resolved to apply for a charter, and March 15, 1878, this castle was instituted, with the following-named charter members:
William L. Simkins.
Harry S. Simkins.
George Lee.
Samuel B. Lee.
J.H. Brown.
Thomas Conover.
James M. Chapman.
Lewis S. June.
Samuel Beaston.
George W. Lake.
Benjamin S. Cheeseman.
Isaiah Magee.
Harry B. Wiltse.
William Daisey.
W.N. Fenie.
Joseph Greene.
William Greene.
William Kent.
Joseph L. Hebbard.
Thomas Lake.
George Morrison.
Abraham McLeod.
Jesse Perkins.
Samuel Burrows.
Frederick Fabrinen.
The castle has prospered and gathered within its fold many of the best and most influential citizens, among them these, who have been active in spreading the order in this part of the State: Past Supreme Commanders Lewis G. Mayers, James A. Wamsley, M.D.,. Walter W. Larkins and George W. Cheeseman.
STANDING ELK TRIBE, No. 22, Improved O. of R.M., was instituted February 25, 1871, by Great Prophet Charles H. Gordon, of Camden, with these charter members, -
William W. Taylor.
Charles B. Musgrove.
John McEllmoyl.
James Paul.
John A. Baker.
James Kane.
William Keys.
Joseph A. Test.
Samuel T. Murphy.
George W. McLaughlin.
Robert M. Watson.
Isaac Burrough.
Joseph Wigglesworth.
David Fassner.
Jacob Stetser.
Wesley Anderson.
Wright Burgess.
Samuel B. Lee.
John A. Baker.
James Kane.
William Keys.
Joseph A. Test.
Samuel T. Murphy.
George W. McLaughlin.
Robert M. Watson.
Isaac Burrough.
Joseph Wigglssworth.
David Fassner.
Jacob Stetser.
Wesley Anderson.
Wright Burgess.
Samuel B. Lee.
KNIGHTS OP PYTHIAS. - Franklin Lodge, No. 26, K. of P., was instituted in Washington Hall, August 18, 1869, by Acting G.C., Stephen D. Young; G.V.C., Thomas G. Rowand; G.P., Samuel Williams; G.K. of R., William B. French; G.M. of F., C. Mahew;. G.M. of E., James H. Pierson; G.M.A., A. Frank Holt; G.I.G., William P. Repsher; G.O.G., Samuel Braddock, all of Camden, except J.H. Pierson, of Woodbury. These were the charter members initiated at the institution of the lodge: Peter V. Brown, Charles F. Mayers, Thomas J. Finney, John O. Hines, Samuel Finney, George Leaming, Lewis G. Mayers, John C. Jordan, Levi Sharp, John D. Harley, Edgar Roby, Robert Booth, Robert Heaton, William R. Britton, Albert Munn, James Paul, George Whipple, William S. Chew, William B. Simon, Ambrose Strong, George W. Powell, Henry Harley, Mark L. Lacey, Alvin Berry, Thomas Conover, Joseph Tucker, Leroy Starkweather, Edward Noble.
These were the officers installed August 18, 1869: P.C., James Magee; C.C., Peter V. Brown; V.C., Samuel Finney; K. of R. and S., Charles F. Mayers; M. of F., Thomas J. Finney; M. of C., Samuel Beaston; M. of A., John D. Harley; I.G., John O. Hines; O.G., Edgar Roby.
The Past Chancellors of the lodge are Peter V. Brown, Samuel Finney, A.E. Tallman, John D. Harley, William Brown, John Moffatt, Howarth Law, Henry Law, Edgar Roby, Henry Black, Robert Heaton, Griffith J. Cassels, William Caldwell, Daniel Forrest, Joseph Wigglesworth, James Radcliffe, George Angleman, John B. Morrell, John P. Booth, William B. Britten, Robert Booth, Joseph Berry, Elwood Fisher, Douglass J. Robinson, Thomas F. Middleton, Asa V. Locke, Frank M. Neild, Jehu A. Locke, John S. Whitefield, Samuel T. Murphy, William Feeney.
The officers for 1886 are: P.C., William Feeney; C.C., Arthur G. Clark; V.C., Hugh Sterling; P., John Moffatt; K. of R. and S., Robert Heaton; M. of F., Benjamin F. Upham; M. of E., Henry Black; M.A.A., Elijah R. Locke; O.G., Thomas Steen.
The lodge has fifty-nine members, and meets in McBride’s Hall every Tuesday evening.
THE YOUNG REPUBLICAN CLUB was formed in July, 1880, as a campaign club, with James Finley as captain and William Hewlings, lieutenant, but in October following it was reorganized as a permanent body, for social purposes, with new officers: President, Henry F. West; Vice-President, John H. McMurray; Secretary, Robert Brannan; Treasurer, Charles F. Reeves. A room was secured at the northeast corner of King and Hudson Streets, and furnished with all the necessities for social and mental enjoyment. Christmas, New Year’s and the Fourth of July are days of special observance, but other seasons furnish occasions for banquets or less gastronomic pleasures. The membership numbers sixty, and the officers are: President, Henry F. West; Vice-Presidents, William H. Banks and John H. McMurray; Secretary, Harry Reeves; Treasurer, G. William Barnard. No liquors are tolerated about the club-room.
THE WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION meets in the building long known as the Washington Hotel, at the corner of Hudson and Willow Streets. It was formed May 10, 1882, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, largely through the efforts of Mrs. Fannie H. Carr, president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, No. 1, of Camden. The following were the original officers: President, Mrs. Rev. H.M. Brown; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Edna Taylor and Mrs. Rev. J.R. Milligan; Secretary, Mrs. Theresa Anderson; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary R. Michaels.
Fitting up the rooms on Hudson Street, the Union began an active career of usefulness and benevolence. Soup is distributed to the worthy poor during the winter season; and a library well stocked with carefully selected books provides good reading matter, in comfortable quarters, to all who choose to avail themselves of the privileges. The officers of the library are: President, Richard Hoffner, Jr.; Secretary, D. Roscoe Harris; Treasurer, Emma Collings; Librarians, Emma Collings and Sarah J. Lippincott. The present officers of the Union, which now numbers eighty-four members, are: President, Mrs. Edna Taylor; Vice-President, Mrs. Rev. D.B. Harris; Treasurer, Mrs. A.M. Lippincott; Secretary, Sarah J. Lippincott; Superintendent of Literature, Mrs. M.R. Michaels.
THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL CLUB for mental improvement was formed in 1883, and contains some of the brightest minds among the young men of the Catholic faith in Gloucester. The officers selected were, - President, James McLaughlin; Secretary, Herman Eger; Treasurer, Peter McAdams; Librarian, Daniel F. Lane.
The club occupies rooms on King Street, above Hudson, which are handsomely furnished, and the library is well filled with carefully selected books, to which the late Father Kars liberally contributed. The membership numbers twenty-five and the first officers are still retained.
THE YOUNG MEN’S CATHOLIC BENEFICIAL SSOCIETY was organized in 1873, with thirty charter members and the following officers: President, John J. Lafferty; Secretary, Michael M. Mullins; Treasurer, Daniel Kenny. It is No. 314, and is chartered by the Irish Catholic Beneficial Union. It has prospered and now has a membership of one hundred and thirty.
GLOUCESTER POINT AS A PLEASURE RESORT. - Hermaomissing was the Indian name for Gloucester Point. The eastern shore of the Delaware River, from Trenton to the sea, presents no more attractive resort for the lovers of combined rural and aquatic diversions than Gloucester Point. At the head of the Horseshoe Bend, where the Jersey shore trends to the east and the Pennsylvania shore to the west, the river expands to bay-like proportions, and opens to the eye a river-view many miles in extent, and from the surface, cooled by contact with the water, southwestwardly breezes, the prevailing winds of the summer-time, come with refreshing vigor during the heated term. Joined to this, the six thousand feet of gravelly river-shore, affording ready facilities for beaching small craft, with excellent fishing in the river and creeks around, the fact that the Point has been from the earliest times a favorite pleasure resort, needs no explanation. Three miles from Market Street, Philadelphia, it is an easy row or sail, and hundreds did and thousands do make it their Mecca, on pleasure bent.
The Philadelphia Fox-Hunting Club made it a place of rendezvous during its existence from 1766 to 1818, with the headquarters at William Hugg’s Ferry- house, while the kennel was located on the site of William J. Thompson’s hotel. In excavating for the foundations of this building, a few years ago, a quantity of bones, the remains of canine feasts, were unearthed. Following the Fox-Hunting Club, in 1828, came the Fish-House Company, now the Prospect Hill Association. There is a dispute as to the date, some fixing it as late as 1838.
George P. Little, of Philadelphia writes: "That originally the Fish-House Company was organized by some old Waltonians, who, during the summer months, met semi-weekly under the large sycamore trees that once lined the shore of the Delaware, from Newton Creek to Timber Creek. Chief among those veterans in handling the rod and frying-pan was Jesse Williamson, and in organizing a club in 1838, it was called the Williamson Fishing Club, and, at his request, on the erection of the present house, the name was changed to the Prospect Hill Association.
The claim is made, however, on good authority, that when the Fox-Hunting Club disbanded a fishing club was formed, and that a house was built in 1828 on Prospect Hill, a high bluff overlooking the mouth of Timber Creek to the south, and that it was replaced, in 1838, by the present spacious two-story club-house, where, twice a month, from May to October, the members, under penalty for absence, gather and feast on viands of their own preparing - not fish alone, but anything that lures the appetite - not water alone, but aqua pura diluted to a weakness assuring to weak nerves. Among well-known names on the list of past and present members are these, - President and Captain, E.J. Hinchen, of the Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch, who, for thirty-two years, did not miss an opening-day; James B. Stevenson, Charles W. Bender, William F. Hughes, Benjamin Franklin; Peter Glasgow, George W. Wharton, William Richardson, Peleg B. Savery, Peter Lyle, Chapman Freeman, George J. Weaver, Louis Pelouze, Mahlon Williamson, Jacob Faunce, B.J. Williams, George Bockius, Thomas F. Bradley, Joseph B. Lyndall, S. Gross Fry, Benjamin Allen, John Krider, George P. Little, Peter Lane, Samuel Collins, William Patterson, J.W. Swain, Samuel Simes, Jesse Williamson (one of the originators), and others. The membership is limited to thirty, and, as they are long-lived, the entire roll of members during the fifty-eight years of its existence contains but few over one hundred names.
Besides the Prospect Hill Association, other clubs and individuals have built houses along the shore, where, during the summer months, they bring their families and friends for a day’s outing, spending the hours in fishing, and retiring to the houses when hungry. In a cluster, north of Hitchner’s Surf House, are nearly a hundred boat-houses, belonging to Philadelphians, who visit Gloucester Point for fishing and sailing, engaging frequently in regattas, a favorite course for which is around the Block House and repeat, making a sail of sixteen miles, during the whole of which the fleet is in full view from the Point. Several large hotels line the shore for the accommodation of visitors - notably the Buena Vista and Thompson’s, famous for planked shad, the Surf House, Fath’s, Haggerty’s, McGlade’s and Costello’s. These form a distinct portion of the city, and, although comprising a part of the municipality, with patrons and purposes entirely different.
Matthew Medcalf probably a son of the one who settled at the place in 1688, established a fishery below the wharf extending to Timber Creek. The title to the fishery passed to two daughters of William Masters, Mrs. Richard Penn and Mrs. Turner Camac. Samuel Reeves, now of Haddonfield, was in 1818 conducting the Eagle Point Fishery at Red Bank. He says at that time the fishery at the place mentioned was operated by William and Aaron Wood, and belonged to Joseph Hugg, who was keeping the ferry and ferry-house. He also says John Mickle, son of Isaac, was then conducting a fishery above Newton Creek.
GLOUCESTER FOX-HUNTING CLUB. - A number of gentlemen of Philadelphia interested in hunting convened at the Philadelphia Coffee-House, southwest corner of Front Street and Market, October 29; 1766, to organize a club. Twenty-seven were present; among them occur the names of Benjamin Chew, Thomas Lawrence, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, John Cadwallader, Charles and Thomas Willing, James Wharton, Andrew Hamilton and others, who, in later years, became famous in the councils of the State and nation. They agreed to keep a kennel of fox-hounds, and to pay to the treasurer five pounds each for the purpose. In 1769 old Natty, a negro man belonging to Mr. Morris, was engaged year after year as knight of the whip placed in charge of the kennel.
He was allowed fifty pounds per annum, a house and a horse. In 1774 a hunting uniform was adopted, a dark brown cloth coat with lapeled dragoon pockets, white buttons and frock sleeves, buff waistcoat and breeches and a velvet cap. In 1777 the kennel consisted of sixteen couple of choice fleet hounds, and in 1778 twenty-two hounds.
The kennel was established soon after the organization on the banks of the Delaware River, near Gloucester Point, and while the business meetings were held in Philadelphia, the rendezvous for hunting was established at the inn of William Hugg, at Gloucester Point Ferry. After the Revolution the club was revived and the members increased. Twenty of the members were the founders of the City Troop of Philadelphia, and the commander of the Troop, Samuel Morris, Jr., was until 1812 the president of the club. The hunts took place usually in Gloucester County, at Chews Landing, Blackwoodtown, Heston’s Glass Works, and sometimes at Thompsons Point, on the Delaware. Jonas Cattell, the noted guide and whipper in of the club, was tall, muscular, possessed of uncommon activity and endurance. He was re-elected for the service in the winter of 1796, and continued until the dissolution of the club, in 1818. His keen sagacity, knowledge of woodcraft and of the habits of game rendered his services invaluable. The death of Captain Charles Ross, in 1818, caused the final disbanding of the club. The kennel was distributed among the members, and their progeny are scattered all over West Jersey.
FISHERIES. - Various places along the Delaware River, at Gloucester, became noted as shad-fishing stations at the time of the settlement, but the first mention of them is contained in a will of Sarah Bull, made in 1742. She was a daughter of Thomas Bull, whose mother, Sarah Bull, is mentioned as a widow in 1688, and as owning one of the lots that extended down to the river. The fishery designated was above the wharf; extending to Newton Creek, and was left by her to the Harrisons, and used until the erection of the factory, when its usefulness was destroyed. Gloucester Point has ever been the resort of experienced fishermen, whose purpose was less for pleasure than gain, and fisheries with immense nets have troubled the waters ever since the white man’s boat first pressed the gravelly strand. For many years it was the occasion of an annual picnic with New Jersey farmers, far and near, to go with their teams, in large companies, each spring, to Gloucester Point, load their wagons with shad, haul them home and cure them for family use during the year, salted and smoked herring and shad being deemed as essential to the larder as pickled pork. Shad were more plentiful and larger in those days than now. In the language of Alexander A. Powell, a fisherman, threescore years ago, "Shad don’t run as they used to do when I was a boy; they used to bring in six thousand at a haul; now six hundred is a big catch, and such big ones as they used to catch! eight-pounders, many of them, while now a four-pounder is called a beauty." The Hugg fishery, extending from Clark’s to the old ferry at Hitchner’s, and the Champion fishery, north from Hitchner’s to Newton Creek. The latter was purchased by the Gloucester Land Company in 1848. The Clark fishery was united with the Hugg right about seventy years ago, and Alfred Hugg, a leading lawyer of Camden, whose ancestors for generations owned the fishery, with other heirs, is now the owner, and was the operator until 1886, when it was leased to William J. Thompson and William Guy. The net used is five hundred and seventy-five fathoms in length, twenty fathoms in depth, and the lines over four miles long, being the largest net used on the Delaware. Shore-fishing has been less lucrative since gill-fishing came into vogue. This method came into use as early as 1800, and was considered injurious to the general fisheries to such an extent that an act was passed, November 26, 1808, prohibiting the use of the drift net or gilling seines. This act was in force many years, and June 10, 1820, Aaron Patterson, Charles Anderson, William Griffith and William Campbell were tried for the offense committed May 6th, opposite Howell’s fishing-grounds, at Red Bank. The act became inoperative a few years later, and the method was largely used.
Alexander A. Powell was one of the earliest to engage in this mode of fishing. He drifted his first net, sixty fathoms long, from Gloucester to Red Bank, in 1828, and continued in the same occupation, each returning spring, until 1882, when the weight of seventy winters compelled him to desist. Sixteen gill-fishers now constitute the Gloucester contingent, using nets one hundred and thirty fathoms long. Formerly sturgeon fishing was quite a business, but it has fallen off and the boats go to the bay in the early part of the season, following the fish as they move up the river, and reach Gloucester in July.
There are two fishing districts on the Delaware River, in Camden County. The southern district extends from Federal Street, Camden, to Timber Creek. Patrick McGallagher is fish warden of this district. The following is a statement of the catch for 1886, with the number of men employed and nets used: At Gloucester, William J. Thompson and William Guy employ sixty men, and work a net of five hundred fathoms length. The number of roe shad caught was 9240; bucks, 6153; skips, 2431, - total, 17,824; herring, 179,406; rock fish,
691. Gloucester City, 21 gillers, 2500 fathoms, 8300 shad. Bridge Avenue, Camden, 10 gillers, 750 fathoms; 3000 shad. Kaighns Point, 10 gillers, 1000 fathoms, 5000 shad.
PLANKED SHAD may not be called an industry, but planked shad dinners are an institution peculiar to Gloucester Point, one that is rapidly winning popularity for the locality. Who was the inventor, and when and where the invention was first applied, is not surely known. Tradition has it that a hundred years ago Jersey dames, living near the banks of the Delaware, always famous for the abundance and delicate flavor of its shad, pleased and cultivated the epicurean appetites of their lords, the ploughmen and the fishermen of the day, by serving up the dainty fish, toasted on oaken planks, free from the effluvia of swine fat. This is tradition, however, dark, dim and uncertain, but living testimony verifies the statement.
Samuel Reeves, now in his ninety-sixth year, living in Haddonfield, began fishing at Eagle Point fishery, at Red Bank, in 1818, and says planked shad were then prepared, but not often, and not until many years later did it become extensively known. About fifty years ago "Aunt Polly" Powell, wife of Abraham Powell, living near the shore at Gloucester Point, so served the fish, on occasions, to the hungry disciples of "Izaak Walton," who sought the gravelly shore on piscatorial expeditions. "Aunt Polly" - the term was one of affection and respect - did not make it a business to cater for the hungry, but, at times, fishing-parties, hungering and thirsting, would entreat her kind offices in warming a cup of coffee or frying a bit of bacon, and, in the goodness of her kindly heart, she sometimes varied the regimen with planked shad, to their delight and her gain. "Aunt Polly’s" skill, however, never made planked shad famous. They were delicious, and the fishermen knew it, and repeated the experiment to prove the fact; but they were not judges, for fishermen are always hungry, and a hungry man knows not whether it be the excellence of the viand or the sharpened appetite that makes it taste so good.
The first to provide the dish to parties was Mrs. Wills, the widow of Aden G. Wills, who kept the ferry-house, "The Old Brick," over forty years ago. He removed to Red Bank, where Mrs. Wills supplied planked shad to her guests occasionally. Aden Wills died and Mrs. Wills, who is still living in Philadelphia, leased the Buena Vista, at Gloucester Point, about thirty years ago, and had a limited patronage for plank shad. Among her regular patrons was Detective Ben Franklin, who sometimes alone, at other times with company, doubled his enjoyment by sampling the luscious dish while inhaling draughts of cool air. But while Mrs. Wills was an expert in the culinary art, she knew not the mysteries of printer’s ink, and the knowledge of the dish was limited.
Daniel Wills, a son, served planked shad at the Buena Vista years later, and after that at the Lazaretto, where many a bon vivant sought his hospitality. A Chester host took up the role a number of years ago, and many went thither for the delightful dish, but the later lustre of the Gloucester dinners has paled the rival lights in the land of Penn, and if they still burn, it is dimly and subdued. Plank shad continued to be served, but their renown was confined within narrow bounds, and Philadelphia almost monopolized the privilege until about ten years ago, when William J. Thompson, who had been running the Buena Vista, was supplanted by John Plum, and, building a house of his own farther south on the shore, set rival tables, which, exciting emulation, led to a strife for trade that lined both their coffers with silver and gold.
The rivalry led to extensive advertising, until Gloucester Point’s special dainty had been read of all over the land, and parties from distant States, after experimenting, have gone home, told their story and started others on the pilgrimage. John J. Jackson succeeded Plum, who supplies the commodity at the "Buck," on Timber Creek, but the pilgrimage to Gloucester still continued, requiring constant expansion and multiplication of appliances to feed the increasing pilgrims, which this year will reach ten thousand. All classes are included, United States judges, Senators, Congressmen and heads of departments, Governors, legislators, State, county and municipal officials, military and naval heroes, the grave, the gay, all, in singles, pairs and fifties, all partake; even the bootblack, if he has the price, may enjoy the luxury, barring the wine.
Mr. Thompson is constantly adding attractions to his spacious hotel, and his guests warmly praise his hospitality and successful management. He is one of Gloucester’s most active citizens, and in business and political matters, a leader. When Mr. Thompson came to Gloucester (1869) "planked shad" dinners were served in a primitive way. He has brought it to a state of perfection, and his hotel is the resort not only of Philadelphia’s most noted people, but the entire country. It is a great place for foreign tourists, who desire to receive instruction about the mysteries of that great American dish.
Plank shad is thus prepared and served. A hickory or white-oak plank, two and a half inches thick, is heated almost to ignition; upon it is placed a "roe shad," fresh from the water, and split down the back, seasoned and then placed before a fire of coals. It requires from half to three-quarters of an hour to cook properly. The fire cooks one side, the hot plank the other, the process conserving the aroma and juices; and served hot, with new potatoes, fresh green peas, asparagus and waffles, with wine to those who will, it is a dish fit for the most epicurean of American sovereigns.
Among the noted sportsmen was John Burroughs, whose reputation for fishing and gunning was second to none in the country.
* See Early History of Gloucester County, p. 32.
SOURCE: Page(s) 582-607, History of Camden County, New Jersey, by George R. Prowell, L.J. Richards & Co. 1886
Published 2010 by the Camden County Genealogy Project