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THE
CIVIL AND POLITICAL
HISTORY
CAMDEN COUNTY and CAMDEN CITY
CHARLES S. BOYER
President Camden County Historical Society, Life Member Gloucester County Historical Society, Member Pennsylvania and New Jersey Historical Societies
PRIVATELY PRINTED 1922
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Edition limited to 500 copies This is No.
Copyrighted ky the Author 1912
The Civil and Political History
OF
CAMDEN County and Camden City
By CHARLES S. BOYER
Nearly sixty years prior to the founding of the city of Phila- delphia, the Dutch West India Company by virtue of its charter, had through Captains Cornelius Jacobese Mey and David Pieterson DeVries, taken possession of all of the country along the Delaware river. They established a small colony on its eastern bank, near the mouth of Timber creek, a few miles below the present city of Camden, and built a log fort, called Fort Nassau, to protect it against the ravages of the Indians. This was the first settlement, of which there is any authentic record, to be erected by Europeans on the shores of the Delaware and, though its existence was short-lived, it marks the beginnings of the present civilization in this part of the country. The trials, tribulations and ultimate fate of the little set- tlement around Fort Nassau has been so admirably told by Clay, Mickle and others,* that nothing further can be added to the story.
Passing over the period from 1633 to 1664, during which the Dutch and Swedes were struggling for control of the territory bounding on the Delaware river, we come to the English domination of the country. The latter exercised undisputed sway, until the War for Independence, except for the short period in 1673-74, when the Dutch recaptured New York and the adjacent country. It was during the occupancy by the English that the foundation of our early laws and customs was laid, the former being based on a set of rules and regulations, called the "Fundamentals," which had been agreed upon by the "Proprietors, Freeholders and Inhabitants," while the customs closely followed the practices and precepts of the Quakers. It is quite true that there were a few Dutch and Swedish families in West
• Barker's Sketches of the Primitive Settlements on the River Delaware, O'Callighans His- tor of New Netherlands, Mlckle's Reminiscences of Old Gloucester.
Jersey, particularly in what is now Gloucester and Salem counties, but their peculiar customs and laws have left no especial impress on the later development of the country.
The manner in which the title to the lands in West Jersey passed from the English sovereign to others and finally to those who actually settled within the province involves many complicated legal questions. We will, therefore, only briefly touch upon the grants, leases and re- leases of these Crown lands in order that a clearer understanding may be had of the events leading up to the settlement of the colony.
The British laws vested title to all lands secured by discovery, or exploration, in the King, who could dispose of them in any way that suited his designs or purposes. In 1664, the Duke of York, afterwards James II, in order to mend his fortune, induced his brother, Charles II, to give him a large portion of the Crown lands in America, the consideration for the portion now called New Jersey, being "the payment, within ninety days after demand, in each year, of forty beaver skins." The patent gave the Duke of York also absolute authority to govern the province including the right to establish such laws and ordinances as were necessary, the only re- striction being that these laws should not be contrary to the "Laws of the Realm," and that the inhabitants of the territory should have the right to appeal to the King.
James, as soon as he had received this gift, dispatched Colonel Richard Nicols as his deputy governor and directed that the in- habitants should render obedience to his authority. The King also appointed a commission, consisting of Admiral Sir Robert Carre, George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick, to accompany Nicols and visit each of His Majesty's colonies for the purpose of adjusting all complaints and appeals. The fleet conveying the new deputy gov- ernor and commissioners arrived before New Amsterdam (New York) in August, 1664, and immediately demanded the surrender of the city and the forts erected by the Dutch, promising protection to all settlers who readily submitted to the government established under authority of the King of England. Governor Stuyvesant, after a show of resistence, capitulated to the superior forces under the com- mand of Nicols. The latter took possession, in the name of the King and subject to the government of his master, the Duke of York. Carre was at the same time directed to proceed to the Dela- ware, where the Dutch were still in control, and assume command of that portion of the country in the name of the King, with the promise "that all the planters shall enjoy their farms, houses, lands, goods
and chattels, with the same privileges, and upon the same terms which they do now possess them,"* the only condition being that they shall "change their masters" from the West India Company, or the King of Sweden, to the King of England.
Within three months after the Duke of York obtained his patent, and even before his deputy governor and the King's commissioners had reached America, the Duke had in consideration of a competent sum of money, conveyed to Sir George Carteret and John Lord Berkeley that portion of his original grant now within the bounds of the state of New Jersey, including the "right to rule." Both of these grantees had been loyal followers of the Stuarts and were also in- terested in lands in the Carolinas. Carteret was enthusiastic over the colonization idea, but Berkeley was only interested in the new country as a medium through which he could quickly recoupe his declining fortune. The latter soon discovered that the development of the country would take a long time to accomplish and that the ultimate pecuniary returns were doubtful at best. After holding his interest for ten years, he decided to sell his undivided share as soon as he could do so without loss. Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick, two prominent English Friends, learning of this decision, entered into negotiations and finally purchased the Berkeley share for 1000 £, the deed being made, however, in the name of Fenwick, because the financial affairs of Byllinge, who was a brewer, and previously reputed to be wealthy, had begun to assume a serious turn. Very shortly afterwards, Byllinge became a bankrupt and transferred all his property, including his equity in the West Jersey lands, to trustees, consisting of William Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas, who were to manage the same for the benefit of his creditors.
During the proprietorship of Cartaret and Berkeley, the lands, as already noted, were held by them as "tenants in common," but after the Dutch re-conquest of 1673 and the subsequent return of the country into English hands, a new situation confronted the pro- prietors. In order to give him an unquestionable title to his grant, Cartaret secured from the Duke of York a new instrument confirming to him the upper portion, subsequently known as New East Jersey, while the Quaker contingent, under the leadership of William Penn assumed that the balance of the province, called New West Jersey, was included in the Fenwick-Byllinge purchase, and that the original conveyance from the King held good.
A question arose, however, as to the dividing line between the
* Smith's History of New Jersey, p. 4S.
two parts, and in 1676 an agreement was signed by the parties in interest, called the "Quintipartit Deed," whereby the boundary hnes be- tween the two portions was presumably settled. This deed was signed by Sir George Carteret on the one hand and William Penn, Gawen Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas, as trustees, and Edward Byllinge, as the direct purchaser of the Berkeley share, on the other part. By this instrument, the division Hne between East and West Jersey was estabHshed as running from Little Egg Harbor Inlet to a point on the Delaware river in the northwest corner of the state. The exact location of this line was the subject of much discussion in the General Assembly and the Proprietor's Council and was not definitely settled until 1767. Up to the latter date there was much friction between the proprietors of the two provinces over the ownership of lands adjacent to the line, or lines, which it was attempted from time to time to fix. The two surveys which had the greatest prominence were those run by George Keith in 1687 and the Lawrence line fixed in 1743.
It appears that one of the principal assets that Byllinge had at the time of his bankruptcy was his interest in the West Jersey lands and his trustees promptly turned their attention to the conversion of this property into tangible and definite shape. As the grant had never been surveyed, its area and character were unknown, so that it could not be offered for sale by "metes and bounds" and the trustees, there- fore, devised the plan of dividing the estate into one hundred shares, or proprieties, of which ten were awarded to John Fenwick, as representing his equity in the original purchase, and the other ninety parts were offered for sale.
The purchaser of these shares, or rights, did not secure title to a definite tract of land in West Jersey. They merely obtained an undivided, indefinite and undefined interest in the land, which carried with it no right to a division of the land until a dividend had been declared by the commissioners, or their successors, the council of proprietors. The original dividend of each proprietor's share was 5200 acres, which was increased by subsequent dividends, until a total of 35,000 acres was assigned to each propriety.
The shares, or proprieties, were sold as any other property and sales of all sorts of fractional parts of a propriety became numerous, the usual divisions being quarters, eights, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, and sixty-fourths. Tanner* states that the usual price paid for a whole propriety was about £365. Another cause for the sub-divisions
• "The Province of New Jersey," p. 15.
may be traced to transfers through inheritance.* Thus the number of proprietors increased rapidly and the entire character of the pro- prietorship changed. As the body of land-owners became so large, the old plan of control and supervision became inadequate and it was necessary to devise a new method of handling the land problem. At a meeting of a majority of the resident proprietors, each holding not less than one-thirty-second of a propriety, held in Burlington in February, 1687-88, it was agreed to place their "public affairs as Proprietors" in the hands of a "Council of Proprietors! of the Western Division of New Jersey," six of whom should be elected annually by the Proprietors of Burlington county and five by the Gloucester County Proprietors. This body was "empowered to act and plead in all such affairs as do and shall generally concern the body of the said Proprietors." The association still holds its annual elections and goes through all the long established customs including the holding of an assembly in the building at Burlington. Its activities are today, however, more formal than real, although oc- casionally the question of a land title comes before the Board for adjustment or settlement.
Another organization, founded on the original purchase of the interests of Dr. Daniel Cox,J came into existence in 1691, under the name "The West Jersey Society." § This society which was owned by persons living in England and officered by non-residents, secured, for a consideration of £4800, to be paid upon the execution and delivery of the deed and a mortgage on one-third of the estate as security for a further payment of £5000 in one year, twenty pro- prieties in West Jersey, together with certain lands in East Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania. It also claimed the rights of gov- ernment under the Byllinge grants and for nearly ten years exercised these functions, under more or less turbulent conditions, and not without vigorous opposition from holders of proprieties secured direct from Byllinge's trustees. In the exercise of governmental rights the society was not a success, but as a purely business company it returned large dividends to its shareholders.
The "Council of Proprietors," above noted, and the "West New
* Many of the original proprietors never came Into the Province, but disposed of their in- terests to intending settlers in such proportional parts as suited the means of the prospective emigrant.
t During the fallowing year the number of members of the Council was reduced to nine, five from Burlington and four from Gloucester County.
t Dr. Cox styled himself "Chief Proprietor and Governor of West New Jersey." He was physician to Queen Mary and later to Queen Anne.
§ A full account of this Society is given by John Clement, see Proceedings of the Surveyors' Association of West Jersey, pp. 118-148.
Jersey Society" carried on their plans for the sale and settlement of unoccupied lands independently until 1700, when Governor Andrew Hamilton as "General Agent and Factor" of the Society, and repre- senting the largest single propriety interest, was elected president of the Council. A truse was thereby concluded between the clashing factions which continued until the death of Hamilton. From 1702, the Council passed through many stormy periods, being beset from without by the arbitrary stand of the Royal Governor and from within, by the grasping desires of its various members. The West New Jersey Society closed out its land interests in New Jersey in 1814 to Benjamin B. Cooper, but is said to still maintain its organ- ization in England.
In "The Camden Mail" of May 20, 1844, appeared the follow- ing notice, copied from the "London Times" (March 18, 1844) of a meeting of the Society :
WEST JERSEY SOCIETY
"A general court of proprietors is to be held at the Chambers of William Whiteside, Esq., the secretary. No. 63 Lincoln's-inn- fields, on Monday, the 25th day of March, inst., at 3 o'clock, precisely, for examining the accounts for the year preceeding, and electing a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and committee men for the ensuing year."
March 18,
When the first settlers arrived in West Jersey, they applied to the commissioners for permission to locate a definite tract of land and, if the applicant was entitled to the same, an order was made upon the Surveyor-General to have a survey made, provided no previous survey had been recorded for the land specified in the order. The method of making these early surveys was very crude and in- teresting. If the area was a large one, the surveyor, compass in hand, mounted his horse and rode over the bounding lines of the tract until, by the gait of his horse, he deemed he had covered a sufficient distance to enclose the required acreage. The survey was then entered in the Surveyor-General's office and this constituted the title. The surveyor was always careful to allow a surplus, as he was hardly likely to be called to task by the commissioners, but was sure to hear from the purchaser, if the quantity on subsequent survey had been found to have been underestimated. As was to be expected, subsequent re-surveys frequently disclosed many irregularities in the
original surveys and in order to have a perfect title, if the acreage so returned was in excess of the quantity to which the holder of the "right" was entitled, the settler usually purchased from some owner a share, or portion of a share, sufficient to cover the excess of land alloted. While among the earlier inhabitants, the greater number held proprietary interests, others purchased the rights to definite number of acres from one of the proprietors for which the latter usually received about ten pounds for each one hundred acres. Such purchasers had no voice in the early governmental affairs.
After the general plan for handling the original division of land has been worked out, the next step was the development of the coun- try, for which it was necessary to induce settlers to emigrate to a new and almost unknown land. The first propriety rights were taken as has already been noted, either by the creditors of Edward Byllinge in settlement of their claims against him, or were sold to well-to-do Quakers. Many of these, however, preferred living in England and only became identified with the plan of settlement be- cause of the profit it promised. There were, however, among the Byllinge creditors a number of Quakers who were anxious to get away from the persecutions to which they had been so often subjected. Through the influence of this small group many others were induced to join forces and prepare to seek homes in the new and untried country — virtually self-devoted exiles. The company which finally gathered together was made up of two groups, one from Yorkshire, headed by Thomas Hutchinson, Thomas Pearson, Joseph Helmsley, George Hutchinson and Mahlon Stacy,* and the other from London, headed by Thomas Olive, Daniel Wills, John Pennford, and Ben- jamin Scott. Each of these groups had purchased a one-tenth division of the province. The ship "Kent" sailed from London in the Summer of 1677 for West Jersey with 230 passengers, including the commissioners appointed to treat with the Indians and organize a form of government. On entering the Delaware river, they sailed along the easterly shore until they reached Raccoon creek, where they landed and spent the Winter, while the commissioners examined the country and settled upon the terms of purchase from the Indians. The commissioners bought three tracts of land in the order of their purchase as follows : from "Rankokus" creek to Timber creek, be- tween "Old Man's" creek and Timber creek, and the third, from "Rankokus" creek to "St. Pink" creek at the Falls of the Delaware.
In looking about for a town-site it was finally decided by the
♦West Jersey Records, Liber B., part 1, pp. 131 and 13S.
10
Yorkshire men to locate at Burlington, while the London represent- atives selected a site at Arwaumus (near the present location of Gloucester City). Before anything definite, however, had been done, the two groups decided that they "being few and the Indians numerous" it would be a wiser policy to combine their settlements. The present site of Burlington (or Bridlington as it was then called) was therefore selected and in October, 1677, the settlers began build- ing their first habitations. Two early Dutch travellers* describe these houses as follows :
"they make a wooden frame, the same as they do in Westphalia and at Altoona, but not so strong; they then split boards of clapwood, so that they are like Cooper's pipe staves, except that they are not bent. These are made very thin, with a large knife, so that the thickest end is about a pinck "(little finger)" thick, and the other is made sharp, like the edge of a knife. They are about five or six feet long, and are nailed on the outside of the frame, with the ends lapped over each other. They are not usually laid so close together, as to prevent you from sticking a finger between them, in consequence either of them not being well joined, or the boards being crooked. When it is cold, and windy the best people plaster them with clay."
The passengers on the "Kent" were, however, not the first English speaking people to come to West Jersey. In 1675, John Fenwick and a few others arrived in the ship "Griffith" and settled at Salem, where they had firmly established themselves by the time the York- shire and London parties reached their destination. Fenwick was a former officer in Cromwell's Army who had become converted to the Quaker doctrine and was associated with Byllinge, as already noted, in the purchase of the province.
In a few years, the settlers learned that the much feared Indian was a peaceful individual if treated with ordinary justice. Some of those who had settled at Burlington and others who had lately arrived from England began to spread over the country. In March, 1681-82, a company of Irish Quakers secured surveys for one hun- dred acres of land at the mouth of Little Newton creek (later known as Kaighn's Run or Line Ditch) and sixteen hundred acres on Newton creek extending from the Delaware river to about Collings- wood. Closely following these settlers came Richard Arnold, whose lands are now occupied by the New York Shipbuilding Co. ; William
• "Journal of a Voyage to New York, etc. 1679-80," by Bankers and Slyter in Memoirs of Long Island Hist. Soc, Vol. l, p. 173.
11
Roydon, Samuel Cole, William Cooper, and Samuel Norris, all of whom owned at one time land within the present city limits of Camden; Francis Collins whose land is now partly covered by the village of Haddonfield; Richard Matthews, Joshua Lord, John Ladd, and the Woods (John, Constantine and Jeremiah), early land owners along Woodbury creek; John Hugg, Samuel Harrison, Andrew Robeson and Richard Bull, whose surveys laid between Newton and Timber creeks.
GOVERNMENT
It is hard to imagine 'a more desolate, or uninviting place for people reared to city, or town life in England in which to settle. The territory included in these early surveys was a vast wilderness covered by a dense forest and almost impenetrable underbrush. Here and there, adjacent to the rivers and creeks were meadow lands, which offered grazing for cattle, but were not suitable for permanent culti- vation. The first efforts of the settlers were directed to clearing and cultivating the upland, building their temporary homes and cutting pathways through the woods, so that they might communicate with their neighbors.
With the form of government under which they were to live, these early settlers were not concerned, so long as it secured for them religious tolerance and freedom of thought, as was promised under the "Concessions and Agreements of West Jersey," adopted by the new proprietors in 1676-7.
In order to understand succeeding events, it is however, necessary, even at the expense of repeating what has already been said, to further consider the terms under which these people left their homes in England to settle in a new and undeveloped country. According to the "Concessions," we have already seen that West Jersey was di- vided into ten equal parts, called Tenths, and each of these was further divided into ten proprieties — a total of one hundred full portions. Only five of the Tenths are mentioned in any of the early legislation, namely, the First, or Yorkshire Tenth, extending from the Falls of the Delaware (Trenton) to Rancocas creek; the second, or London Tenth, embracing the land from Rancocas to Pensauken creeks; the Third, or Irish Tenth, extending from Pensauken to Timber creeks, the Fourth Tenth, including the lands between Timber creek and Oldman's creek, and the Salem Tenth, bounded by Oldman's and Cohansey creeks.
12
For the first year, the Proprietors residing in England were to appoint the resident commissioners and for the next two years they were to be chosen by "the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants re- siding within the Province." These commissioners were not only to supervise the division of lands, but also, to exercise general control over the governmental affairs of the colony. In 1681, the commis- sioners were in accordance with the "Concessions" to be succeeded by a General Assembly and Council, composed of representatives from each "Tenth," selected "not by the common and confused way of crys and voices, but by putting Balls into Balloting Boxes."
Each representative was to "be allowed one shilling per day during the time of the sitting of the Assembly, that thereby he may be known to be the servant of the people ; which allowance of one shilling per day is to be paid to him by the inhabitants of the pro- priety or division that shall elect him."
The first representatives in the General Assembly for the Third Tenth, which included what afterwards became old Gloucester County, were as follows :
1682 — Representatives in the May meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Thomas Thackery
Mark Newbie Robert Zane
Member of Council : Mark Newbie
Representatives in the November meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Robert Zane
Thomas Thackery
1683 — Representatives in the May meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Francis Collins
Mark Newbie Samuel Cole
Henry Stacy Thomas Howell
William Bates
Member of Council : Francis Collins
13
1684 — Representatives in the May meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Henry Wood
Robert Turner Marcus Lawrence
Francis Collins William Bates
Henry Treadway
Representatives in the November meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Henry Wood
Robert Turner William Bates
Francis Collins Marcus Lawrence
1685 — Representatives in the May meeting of the General As- sembly :
Robert Turner Samuel Carpenter
Thomas Sharp Richard Russell
Samuel Cole Richard Arnold
William Albertson
Representatives in the November meeting of the General As- sembly :
William Cooper Francis Collins William Bates Thomas Howell John Reading
Robert Turner Thomas Thackery Robert Zane John Kay John Hugo
1686 — Representatives in the May meeting of the General As- sembly :
Robert Turner Robert Zane
Francis Collins John Hugo
Thomas Howell Thomas Thackery
William Bates John Kay
John Reading William Cooper
The plan of government as outlined in the "Concessions" failed to recognize the fact that, while Byllinge had transferred his equity in the lands of West Jersey to his trustees, he did not at the same time relinquish his right to the government of the territory which iiad been specifically conveyed to him in the deed from Berkeley.
14
Owing to the bitter controversy which arose over this question the usual functions were largely suspended. Historians generally have stated that there were no meetings of the General Assembly between the years 1685 and 1692, but, lately through the researches of Dr. Godfrey, the minutes of the session for May, 1686, have been found and somewhat alter previously accepted theories, especially as they apply to old Gloucester county.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY
As the population increased, slow though it was, it soon developed that the chief function of the "Tenths" was that of apportioning the land among the different proprietors, and that the question of local government had been left in too vague a state under the "Conces- sions." To remedy this defect the proprietors, freeholders and in- habitants of the territory between Pensauken and Oldman's creeks through "the Members of ye Assembly for ye Third & fourth Tenths on ye behalf of Their Tenths Request they May have power to keep Courts for ye third & fourth Tenths." This permission having been granted by the General Assembly of West Jersey on tne fifteenth of May, 1686,* the inhabitants met at Axwames, or Ar- wamus, now Gloucester City, thirteen days later and organized a county government and adopted a set of rules, which, supplementing the colonial laws, provide all the necessary machinery for conducting the local affairs.
This curious instrument, comprising in all but ten short para- graphs,! "not only regulated the marking of hogs and other cattle — a precaution to which the absence of fences in those primitive days gave considerable importance, but erected the two precincts into a County, ordained a regular court, provided officers similar to those already employed in the jurisdiction of Salem and Burlington, and prescribed the Minutiae of legal practice." The above record taken from some unpublished pages in the original manuscript of Leaming and Spicer's "Grants and Concessions," upsets the statement made by Isaac Mickle regarding the origin of old Gloucester County.
As originally constituted old Gloucester County included all of the territory now embraced within the present counties of Gloucester. Atlantic and Camden, and contained in 1699,1; 134 freeholders, while
• See unpublished manuscript of Leaming and Spicer, Camden County Historical Society publication, Vol. 1, No. 4.
t Sre Mickle's "Reminiscences of Old Gloucester," p. 35, and Clement's "Sketches of the First EJmigrant Settlers in Newton Township, Old Gloucester County," pp. 27-28. t New Jersey Archives, First Series, Vol. II, p. 305.
15
in 1818 the population had increased to 19,744.* In its inception it actually had no fixed boundaries and it was not until 1694 that a successful attempt was made to define its limits by legislative enact- ment.
Following Mickel, we learn that in the county constitution above noted it was provided that there should be a court, which was to meet alternately at Axwamus, or Gloucester, and Red Bank. The county seat was fixed by the joint consent of the inhabitants at Gloucester and a large town laid out divided into ten equal shares, to correspond with the number of proprieties. A town jail was soon deemed necessary and a "logg-house" fifteen or sixteen feet square, was erected, which served the purpose until 1696. In the latter year, this building was superseded by another one in which was also in- cluded a court room. In 1720, a new court house was erected and served the county until 1786, when it was entirely consumed by fire.
After the fire, the Board of Freeholders petitioned the Legislature to pass a law permitting the building of a new court house in such a place as a majority of the inhabitants determine "by a free and impartial election." The election having decided the question in favor of Woodbury, plans were immediately made to secure a lot and build the court house and jail. This was finished towards the close of 1787, at a cost of about $12,000.
TOWNSHIPS
After the many questions incident to the formation of the county had been settled and the local government firmly established the next step was the sub-division into townships. In 1694, the General As- sembly of West Jersey passed a law directing that the counties of the Western Division should be divided into townships. Acting under this law, the Clerk and Grand Jury of Gloucester divided the county into five townships and nominated a constable in each. The report of the Grand Jury was approved by the Court of Gloucester County on June 1, 1695, and spread on the court records. Thus began the townships of Newton, Waterford, Gloucester, Deptford, originally spelled Deadford, and Egg Harbour, or New Weymouth. The latter township, however, according to the court records was actually established on March 1, 1694, but we have been unable to ascertain why this special action was taken.
The status of Gloucester Town as a township is still not definitely settled. It was established under an order of the Burlington County
* A Gazetteer of the United States, J. E. Worcester, ISIS.
16
Court, dated 7 mo. 4th, 1685, as a town, but it is not clear as to whether this order carried with it any authority to estabHsh a town- ship government.* It is, however, certain that such a government was estabHshed under the Letters Patent of December 8, 1773.*
NEWTON TOWNSHIP
The township, or constabulary, of Newton was defined as front- ing on the Delaware river and bounded by the lowermost branch of Newton creek on the southwest, and extending from the river between the said streams to a line drawn between the headwaters of the two creeks. The earliest mention which has been located of this township in any legislation is in the Act of 1701, wherein Martin Jervis [Jarvis] was appointed assessor and collector, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the tax law passed by the Provincial Assembly in 1700.
That the inhabitants of the township of Newton took quite a lively interest in the proceedings of the General Assembly is shown in an original manuscript petition dated January 13, 1774, which has lately come to light,! relating to the celebrated controversy over the removal of Stephen Skinner from the office of Secretary of the Treasury of the Province of New Jersey for a shortage in his ac- counts of over £6575, which he claimed had been stolen from the treasury. This document was signed by seventy prominent citizens of the township, including Jacob Stokes, Benajmin Thackrey, Joseph Mickle. Isaac Burroughs, James Sloan, Joseph Sloan, Benjamin Graysbury, William Chew, Nathaniel Chew, Samuel Webster, Samuel Clement, Joseph Lippincott, Thomas Stephens, and Thomas Clement, and read in part as follows :
"To the Honorable House of Representatives of the Colony of New Jersey, in General Assembly Convened. — The Petition of a Number of the Inhabitants of the Township of Newton, in the County of Gloucester. — Humbly Showeth — that by the Minutes of the last Session of Assembly it appears. Your House were of the Opinion that the Robbery of the Eastern Treasury said to be Committed, happened for want of that security and care that was Necessary to keep it in Safety, and that you re- quested the Governor to remove the Treasurer. We take the liberty to inform the House that we think your request very reasonable *******"
• Publications of Camden Co. Hist. Soc, Vol. I, No. 4.
t Originally listctl In tlv William Nelson Sale as item S73, but withdrawn from sale.
17
For one hundred and thirty-three years, or until 1828, the people of this section went along in the even tenor of their way, holding town meetings and electing the township officers and members of the Board of Freeholders.* In the early days outside of the settle- ments which later made up the city of Camden, the township con- tained only the villages of Haddonfield and Rowandtown, or Round- town (afterwards called Glenwood and now known as Westmont).
It is interesting to note that in 1818 the population of the entire township was only 195 l,t while Gloucester city, one of the two principal towns of the county, Woodbury being the other, had a population of 1726.
The territorial limits of the township have been changed on four separate occasions, first, in 1831, when Camden township was formed, second, when Haddon township was formed in 1865, third, when the major portion of what remained of the old township was an- nexed to the city of Camden in 1871 and finally, on March, 1871, when the small remnant was added to Haddon township and its existence as a political sub-division of the State extinguished.
The town meetings, until 1737, were all held at the old Newton Meeting House, which formerly stood near the graveyard adjacent to the present West Collingswood Station on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. In the next year the town meeting was held in the Friends' School house at Haddonfield.
The records of the old Township are, like those of many other of the older townships and municipalities, either lost, or scattered, making it impossible to compile a complete list of township officers, or activities. About fifty years ago Judge Clement, who at that time had apparently seen the minute book for the years 1723 to 1737, prepared a list of the officers for this period, which should be made a matter of permanent record and are, therefore, here set down.
* The Board of Freeholders had its origin in an act passed in 1713 (Allison's Laws, p. 15), providing for the raising of money for building and repairing of goals and court-houses within each county. It provided for the election by the inhabitants of each town and precinct in each county, on the second Tuesday in March, annually, of two freeholders for every town and pre- cinct for the ensuing year, which freeholders so chosen, or the major part of them, together with all the Justices, of the Peace of the respective county, or any three of them (one w'hereof being of the Quorum), should meet together and appoint assessors and collectors to assess and collect such taxes as may be agreed upon to build or repair jails and court-houses as may be required in the respective counties. The justices and freeholders were required to appoint managers "to do and see done such Things and Works as they shall agree upon to be done and performed" and to draw warrants on the collectors for the work and materials required. By the act of 1716-17 (Allison's Laws, pp. 35-38), the justices and freeholders were also authorized to raise the necessary taxes to defray the public and necessary charges of the county. In 179S, the justices were omitted, and the Board was therefore known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders of thii county. In 1832, the requirement that office holders be freeholders was repealed ; but the name of the Board remained unchanged (See Proceedings N. J. Hist. Society, Vol. V., No. 2, p. 117).
t "A Gazetteer of the United States," J. E. Worcester, IS'S.
18 This list is as follows :
1723 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp; Overseers of poor, Joseph Cooper, Jr., John Gill.
172^1 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp; Overseers of poor, John Eastlack, John Gill; Freeholders, Joseph Cooper, Thomas Sharp ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, William Cooper; Surveyors of highways, Jacob Medcalf, Samuel Shivers, Joseph Kaighn, Thomas Dennis; Overseers of roads, Samuel Sharp, William Albertson.
1725 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp; Overseers of poor, James Hinchman, Jacob Medcalf ; Freeholders, John Kay, John Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, John Eastlack; Surveyors of highways, William Cooper, Ben- jamin Cooper, Jacob Medcalf, Thomas Atmore; Over- seers of roads, Samuel Sharp, William Albertson.
1726 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp; Overseers of poor, James Hinchman, Jacob Medcalf ; Freeholders, James Hinch- man, William Cooper ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Col- lector, Benjamin Cooper; Surveyors of highways, Jacob Medcalf, John Kaighn ; Overseers of roads, Joseph Kaighn, William Dennis.
1727 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp ; Overseers of poor, Joseph Kaighn, John Gill ; Freeholders, Joseph Cooper, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, Samuel Sharp ; Constable, Samuel Sharp ; Surveyors of highways, John Kaighn, James Hinchman, William Cooper, Jacob Medcalf; Overseers of roads, John East- lack, Caleb Sprague.
1728 — Township clerk, Thomas Sharp; Overseers of poor, Joseph Kaighn, Simeon Breach; Freeholders, Robert Zane, John Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Col- lector, John Gill ; Constable, Thomas Atmore ; Surveyors of highways, William Cooper, Benjamin Cooper, Isaac Cooper, Mark Newbie; Overseers of roads, John East- lack, Caleb Sprague.
1729 — Township clerk, Samuel Sharp; Overseers of poor, Joseph Kaighn, Simeon Breach; Freeholders, William Cooper, John Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Col- lector, Thomas Atmore; Surveyors of highways, Robert Zane, Samuel Sharp, Joseph Ellis, Joseph Zane; Over- seers of roads, John Eastlack, Caleb Sprague.
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1730-31 — Township clerk, Joseph Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Robert Zane, Joseph Kaighn; Freeholders, Robert Zane, Joseph Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, John Gill; Constable, Thomas Perrywebb; Surveyors of highways, Joseph Cooper, Jr., John Eastlack, Simeon Breach, Caleb Sprague; Overseers of roads, Caleb Sprague, John Gill.
1732 — Township clerk, John Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Robert Zane, Joseph Kaighn; Freeholders, Robert Zane, Joseph Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, James Graysbury; Constable, William Albertson; Surveyors of highways, James Hinchman, John Kaighn, Robert Hubbs, Joseph Kaighn ; Overseers of roads, Isaac Cooper, Joseph Zane (Robert Stephens acted as Overseer of poor in place of Robert Zane from September to the following March).
1733 — Township clerk, Joseph Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Tobias Halloway, John Gill; Freeholders, Tobias Hallo- way, Joseph Kaighn ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Col- lector, William Albertson; Constable, William Dennis; Surveyors of highways, James Hinchman, John Eastlack, John Kaighn, Joseph Kaighn; Overseers of roads, Isaac Cooper, Joseph Zane.
173-1 — Township clerk, John Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Tobias Halloway, Joseph Kaighn ; Freeholders, James Hinchman, Timothy Matlack ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Col- lector, Joseph Mickle; Constable, Joseph Mickle; Sur- veyors of highways, James Hinchman, Timothy Matlack, Joseph Ellis, WilHam Albertson; Overseers of roads, Samuel Sharp, John Brick.
1735 — Township clerk, John Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Joseph Kaighn, Robert Stephens; Freeholders, Joseph Kaighn, Isaac Cooper ; Assessor, Joseph Cooper, Jr. ; Collector, John Kaighn; Constable, John Kaighn; Surveyors of highways, James Hinchman, Joseph Cooper, Joseph Kaighn. Robert Hubbs ; Overseers of roads, John Kaighn, James Graysbury.
1736 — Township clerk, John Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Ben- jamin Cooper, William Albertson; Freeholders, Timothy Matlack, Joseph Kaighn; Assessor, John Gill; Collector, John Kaighn; Constable, John Kaighn; Surveyors of highways, Samuel Clement, John Kaighn, William Albert- son, Isaac Albertson ; Overseers of roads, John Eastlack, Tobias Halloway.
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1737 — Township clerk, John Kaighn; Overseers of poor, Ben- jamin Cooper, Thomas Atmore ; Freeholders, Timothy Matlack, Joseph Kaighn ; Collector, Samuel Clement ; Constable, John Kaighn; Surveyors of highways, James Hinchman, William Albertson, Joseph Kaighn, Robert Hubbs; Overseers of roads, Robert Hubbs, Isaac Albert- son.
Between 1737 and 1823, no lists of township officers can be found and, while the names of some of those holding office during this period are known, it is not until the latter year, when the newspaper files are available, that a complete list can be compiled.
1823 — Township clerk, Josiah Atkinson; Overseers of poor, Isaac Webster, Joseph Myers ; Freeholders, John Clement, John Roberts ; Assessor, Joseph Collins ; Collector, Ruben Lud- 1am; Commissioners of appeals. Turner Risdon, Gideon V. Stivers, J. K. Cowperthwait ; Surveyors of highways, Hugh Hatch, Isaac Mickle, Jr. ; Overseers of roads, Joseph Middleton, Samuel Burrough, Samuel Pine ; Township committee, John Wessell, Richardson Andrews, John Clement, Thomas Redman, Thomas Rowand ; Constable, John Porter; Poundkeepers, Benjamin Springer, Thomas Porter; Judge of elections, Joseph Porter.
182^1 — Township clerk, Samuel Ellis; Overseers of poor, Joseph Myers, Thomas Porter, Freeholders, Isaac Wilkins, Samuel C. Champion ; Assessor, Joseph Porter ; Collector, Richardson Andrews; Commissioners of appeals, Gideon V. Stivers, Samuel Laning, Jacob Roberts; Surveyors of Highways, Hugh Hatch, Joseph W. Cooper; Overseers of roads, Joseph Middleton, Samuel Burrough, Evan Clement; Township committee, Thomas Redman, John Clement, Thomas Rowand, Samuel Scull, Isaac Cole ; Constables, John Porter, James Githens; Poundkeepers, Benjamin Springer, Thomas Porter; Judge of elections, J. K. Cowperthwait.
1825 — Township clerk, Samuel Ellis; Overseers of poor, Jacob Myers, Thomas Porter; Freeholders, Samuel C. Cham- pion, John Roberts; Assessor, Jacob Roberts; Collector, Richardson Andrews ; Commissioners of appeals, Gideon V. Stivers, Isaac Webster, Joseph Porter ; Surveyors of Highways, Joseph W. Cooper, David B. Roberts; Over- seers of roads, Joseph Middleton, John Sloan, Evan '
21
Clement; Township committee, John Clement, Thomas Redman, Joseph Kaighn, John Wessell, Isaac Smith; Constables, John Porter, James Githens; Poundkeepers, Benjamin Springer, Thomas Porter; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins.
1826 — Township clerk, Samuel Ellis; Overseers of poor, Thomas Porter, Joshua B. Fennimore; Freeholders, Gideon V. Stivers, John Roberts ; Assessor, Jacob Roberts ; Collector, Richardson Andrews; Commissioners of appeals, Samuel Laning, Turner Risdon, Ebenezer Toole ; Surveyors of highways, Jacob L. Rowand, Samuel Nicholson; Over- seers of roads, Joseph Middleton, John Small, Richard Stow ; Township committee, John Clement, Thomas Red- man, Samuel Scull, John Wessell, Isaac Jones ; Constables, John Porter, James Githens; Poundkeepers, Benjamin Springer, Thomas Porter; Judge of elections, Samuel G. Thackray.
1827 — Township clerk, Samuel Ellis; Overseers of poor, Thomas Porter, Benjamin T. Davis; Freeholders, John Roberts, Gideon V. Stivers; Assessor, Jacob Roberts; Collector, Paul C. Laning; Commissioners of appeals, Samuel Laning, Turner Risdon, Ebenezer Toole; Surveyors of highways, Samuel Nicholson, Hugh Hatch; Overseers of roads, Joseph Middleton, Amos Willis, Michael Stow; Township Committee, John Clement, Thomas Redman, John Wessell, Isaac Jones, Richardson Andrews; Con- stables, John Porter, Joseph G. Albertson ; Poundkeepers, Benjamin Springer, Isaac Horner; Judge of Elections, Samuel C. Thackray.
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP
Waterford township was the most northerly of the newly created townships. It was defined as extending "from Pensoakin, alias Crop- well River, to the lowermost branch of Cooper's Creek." Mickle says it derives its name from a fishing town on the Barrow in Ireland, but of this there does not seem to be an authentic corroboration. This territory was settled by the Spicers, Morgans, Coles and Champions. The first locations were along Cooper's creek and on Pensauken creek. It has been almost entirely a rural section, with a sprinkling of small villages, composed largely of farming communities which have only lately been invaded by people who desired a quiet retreat after a strenuous day in the city.
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Waterford retained its original entity until 1844, when the northern portion was set off as Delaware township. The principal town is Berlin (formerly called Long-a-coming) of which more has been said in connection with the selection of the county seat.
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP
The boundaries of Gloucester township now fixed by the Court in 1695 as "from y® said Newton Creek branch to y® lowermost branch of Gloucester River (Timber Creek)." This is one of the oldest settled parts of the county, containing as it does the site of the "lost town" of Upton (now definitely located as adjacent to Good Intent). The Tomlinsons, Hillmans, Albertsons and Huggs all had extensive land holdings within the original township and were active in its civil hfe.
Gloucester township was the subject of more changes than any of the other original counties. Union township which was formed in 1831, from a portion of the original township and Gloucester Town, which had up to that time maintained a separate existence, and con- tinued as a sub-division until 1855, when a large part of its territory was taken from it to form Center township. In 1868, upon the incorporation of the "Inhabitants of Gloucestertown" into Gloucester city the small remnant of old Union township was added to the town- bounds of the new municipality. Winslow township was taken from the lower end of the original county, while in 1859 a small portion of Gloucester township in the vicinity of Long-a-coming (Berlin) was added to Waterford.
DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP
The territory occupied by the township of Deptford, now in Gloucester county, was originally known by the Swedes as Bethlehem, but soon took the present name and included all the land between the "said branch of Gloucester River (Timber creek) to Great Man- toe's Creek, (Mantual creek)." It suffered many changes up to 1878, including the establishment of Washington township in 1836, from which Monroe township was taken in 1859; the City of Woodbury in 1870 and West Deptford in 1871. Including as it did in the early days the old settlement of Woodbury it occupied a very important place in county affairs.
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GREENWICH TOWNSHIP
This township is also now a sub-division of Gloucester County. As described in the court minutes from which we have taken the other township boundaries, Greenwich laid between "Great Mantio's Creek" (Mantua Creek) and "Barclay River" (Oldman's creek). This was probably at the time of its establishment the most populous of all the townships. It had been settled by the Swedes long before the English arrived. Out of Greenwich township have sprung Wool- wich in 1767, by Royal patent, Franklin in 1820, Harrison, formerly Spicer, in 1844, Mantua in 1853, West Woolwich in 1877, changed to Logan 1878, and East Greenwich in 1881.
EGG HARBOUR OR NEW WEYMOUTH TOWNSHIP
Egg Harbor township occupied the entire eastern end of old Gloucester County, which originally extended from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean. It was far removed from the other sections of the county and therefore not really an integral part of its civil life. When, therefore, application was made for the establish- ment of a township no objection was raised by any of the other town- ships, whose territory might have been affected thereby. The town- ship probably included all of the present Atlantic county since there was no definite boundary lines fixed at the time of its formation. As the population began to increase and spread along the seacoast, a new township was found necessary and Galloway was created in 1774. These two townships were subdivided in 1813, when Hamil- ton township was created, and in 1838 by the formation of the town- ship of MulHca.
CAMDEN COUNTY
Old Gloucester county retained its political integrity until 1837, when the eastern portion bordering on the ocean was set off as Atlantic County. The greatest blow, however, that it received was in 1844, when seven of the largest and most populous townships were taken to form the county of Camden. While the contests in 1787 between the inhabitants of Gloucester Town and Woodbury over the location of the county seat stirred up the inhabitants, the taking away from old Gloucester county of over one half of her area (613 square miles out of a total of 1179 square miles) to form Atlantic county did not meet with any opposition, since this part of the county was
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sparsely inhabited and practically undeveloped.* On the other hand, the strenuous, but unsuccessful, fight made by the residents around Cooper's Ferries to secure the removal of the county seat from Woodbury to Camden in 1825 left in its wake a spirit of antagonism on the losing side which time failed to mollify. This fight was particularly bitter and all manner of arguments were put forth by the people from the lower end of the county opposed to the change. One of the most effective arguments was that the cost of erecting the county buildings in Camden would be excessive. To off-set this state- ment, Gideon V. Stivers, Benjamin Wiltse and Daniel Ireland offered to erect a brick Court House, a stone Jail and two brick buildings for the offices of the County Clerk and Surrogate, complete in every detail for eighteen thousand five hundred dollars. These buildings were to conform substantially with similar buildings at Mount Holly in Burlington County. f
In this fight the inhabitants of the townships of Waterford and Gloucester were closely allied with those of Newton, their vote being 928 in favor of Camden to 322 for Woodbury. At a meeting held at White Horse the following resolution was adopted :
'Tt is resolved — That the roads of all parts of the county and the business of citizens generally, have of late become centered at Camden; and that the interest of Gloucester County would be promoted by having the seat of justice located at Camden — and that a large majority of the said county would be better accom- modated at Camden than at Woodbury."
The inhabitants in the other townships did not see the matter in the same light and Camden lost out by a majority of 876 in favor of retaining the county seat at Woodbury.
In 1837, a public meeting of a number of the inhabitants of Gloucester County was held at John M. Johnson's house (Vauxhall Gardens) to consider making application to the Legislature to set off the townships of Waterford, Camden, Newton, Union and Gloucester into a new county to be known as Delaware county. This move was, however, apparently not made in earnest, but as a means of protesting against the setting off of a part of old Gloucester county to form the new Atlantic county. Having failed to accomplish their purpose the subject was dropped and nothing further was heard of
• When Atlantic county was taken away from "Old Gloucester" It had a population of 8,164, while in the remaining part of the old county there were 20,267 Inhabitants. It is interesting to note that the public property of the county was appraised at $35,S6S with an indebtedness of $7,932.50— quite a contrast with today's valuation and bonded debt.
t Village Herald, December 29 1824.
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a new county until 1843, when an active campaign was begun to secure a division of what was now left of the original Gloucester county.
The actual reason for the agitation to create a new county was entirely political. With the number of new counties created between 1824 and 1840,* the majority of which exhibited Whig sympathies in all elections, the Democratic party lost its influence in State affairs, and the leaders of the latter party readily agreed to the formation of Camden county in the hope that it would secure Democratic repre- sentatives in the Legislature.
The notice of the intention to apply to the Legislature in 1844 for the erection of a new county was signed by John Mickle, Ben- jamin S. Hamell, John Sands, Richard Fetters, Joseph C. Delacour, John K. Cowperthwait, Dr. Isaac S. Mulford, and Isaac Cole. The publication of this notice immediately stirred up opposition, not only throughout the remaining part of old Gloucester county, but also from those in the townships which it was proposed to separate from their former affiliations. Notwithstanding all of this opposition the act creating the county of Camden, by taking Waterford, Gloucester, Newton, Camden, Union, Delaware, and Washingtonf townships from Gloucester county was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor on March 13, 1844.
As indicating the tenor of the opposition, the set of resolutions passed at the annual meeting of Newton township, held at Haddon- field on March 13, 1844, is of peculiar interest, because a majority of the same people twenty years before had as strenuously favored Camden as a county-seat. The preamble recites that the act "was carried through the Legislature by a strict party vote, for the sole purpose of gratifying a few reckless individuals, to the great injury and prejudice of far the largest part of the good citizens of the county, and contrary to the rights of men, as freemen." The resolu- tion instructs and requires the persons elected as chosen freeholders "not to appropriate any money towards repairing or building any new buildings at Camden, until the seat of justice shall be settled, or a county town legally located."!
John W. Mickle, a staunch Democrat, lead in the fight to organize a new county out of the northern portion of old Gloucester county,
•Warren county was created in 1824; Passaic and Atlantic counties in 1837; Mercer in 1838, and Hudson in 1840.
t All the territory included in the orig-inal Washington township, except that portion within the Camden County Alms House Farm, was returned to Gloucester county by act of February 28, 1871.
i For a full report of this meeting see "The Camden Mail" of March 20, 1844.
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believing that politically it could be counted on as a Democratic strong- hold. The people outside of Camden, however, resented the methods used in securing this legislation and steadily voted against the Demo- cratic nominees, and John W. Mickle was much taunted about his Democratic County which consistently cast its vote for the opposite party.
With the establishment of the new county, another bitter strife arose over the selection of the site for the county seat. Those active in the movement for the creation of Camden county, cherished the idea of having the buildings located in Camden, but the opposition party joined forces and endeavored to secure them for either Mount Ephraim, Long-a-Coming (Berlin), White Horse, or Haddonfield. It was a fight between Camden, led by Abraham Browning and John W. Mickle, and the whole of the county. Before the site was finally selected, it required four elections ; a writ out of the Supreme Court ; two amendments to the original Act, one directing that two additional elections should be held and the other instead of requiring a majority of all those voting to decide upon the location, directing that, if at the next election no place, received a majority of all the votes polled, Long-a-Coming should be the seat of justice ; and finally a positive order from the Supreme Court directing the Board of Freeholders to proceed wnth the building of the Court House at Camden in accord- ance with the election of April 11, 1848.
At the first election, Camden received 1062 votes to Gloucester, its nearest competitor's poll of 822, with 1190 necessary to a choice. The second election gave Camden 963 votes and Mount Ephraim, 527, while it required 1003 votes to decide the issue. At the third test, all of the outlaying districts having combined on Long-a-Coming, the vote was 1498 for that place to 1440 for Camden. This was a clear majority, but the Camdenites would not acknowledge defeat and, despite the action of the Board of Freeholders in purchasing ground and awarding a contract for the Court House, obtained a new lease of life through the Legislature, upon the ground that the selec- tion of Long-a-Coming was secured through fraud. The supreme test now was at hand and at the fourth election the Camden people did heroic work in bringing out an unprecedented vote of 2444 to 795 for its nearest competitor, Haddonfield, and 704 for the previously accepted locality, Long-a-Coming.
Notwithstanding this overwhelming majority the county author- ities refused from time to time to go ahead with the project. Abraham Browning and John W. Mickle offered their oft-repeated
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motion to appoint a committee to select a site in Camden, which met with the usual fate — voted down. The Board of Freeholders were now served with a mandamus, or order, from the Supreme Court requiring it to provide buildings for the use of the county as directed by the election of April 11, 1848, or show cause why they did not do so. Seeing that further efforts were useless, the Board proceeded to take steps to erect a Court House in Camden city.
The next difficulty was the selection of a site within the limits of Camden. The two principals in the previous fights, John W. Mickel and Abraham Browning, were closely connected with rival ferry companies. Each desired that the county buildings should be placed upon a direct road leading to their respective ferry landings. The adopted location was the result of a compromise between these local rival factions, since it permitted the erection of the building mid-way between Federal and Market streets and equi-distance from each of the ferries located at the foot of these streets. The plot of ground, extending from Market to Federal streets east of Sixth street, was purchased from Abigail Cooper for $5000. At that time this tract was practically in the country; to the eastward, except for the Friends' Meeting House and the houses around Twelfth and Federal streets, were woodlands and farms ; to the north- ward was a dense grove of trees in the midst of which was set The Diamond Cottage Garden; in the block to the west were only a few houses, including the Academy, and the Columbian Garden; while along Federal street directly opposite, stood the frame house occupied by William Carman. Broadway, then known as the "Road to Wood- bury," ran diagonally across the land to the intersection of Market and Sixth streets. Such then was the setting in which the new Court House was to be placed. ;
The original structure, which was complfeted in 1855 at a cost of about forty thousand dollars, was of bric4t, rough cast, measuring 50 feet by 150 feet. It was located midway between Market and Federal streets and extended from Sixth street to the new line of Broadway. On the north and south sides of the building were large court yards which were enclosed by high iron fences.
Previous to 1875, no specific offices were provided by the county for the county clerk, surrogate and register of deeds. These officiais rented quarters where it best suited their convenience. In that year, a one story brick building, to which was subsequently added a second story, was erected on the Market street side of the court yard and all of the county offices were then located on the court house grounds.
91
The Soldier's Monument, now standing on the grounds north of the City Hall, originally stood in the court yard on Federal street, having been erected in 1873, partly by private subscription and partly from funds contributed by the Board of Freeholders. In 1882, in an- ticipation of the erection of the new jail it was moved to its present location.
The unsanitary condition of the jail, which was located in the basement of the Court House, became a public scandal, from about 1876, but, notwithstanding numerous appeals, the Board of Free- holders refused to remedy the situation. Finally, after Judge Wood- hull in May, 1879, had again called the attention of the Grand Jury to the matter, the latter body found a bill of indictment against the Board of Chosen Freeholders for maintaining a nuisance. The pre- sentment was in the most scathing terms, charging that the Free- holders had since January, 1878, persisted in maintaining a jail "so badly located, so ill constructed and so inefficient for the demands of the community, that for want of requisite room, proper ventilation and suitable accommodations, the same hath been for all that time and yet is unwholesome, ill-governed, overcrowded, unfitted and in- adequate." The Board now began to take some heed to the public outcry and after much discussion, decided in 1881 to erect a jail on the Federal street court yard. The plans were prepared and work on the new structure started, but before its completion, owing to frequent changes in the political complexion of the Board, the build- ing was changed from a jail to a court house, and then back to a jail. Sessions of the court were actually held in the new building in 1885, before its final conversion into a jail.
After having been in use for a period of nearly fifty years, the old county buildings became inadequate for the needs of the rapidly increasing business of the county and it was decided that an entirely new Court House must be erected. Following a careful study of the situation, the old plot of ground, bounded by Market, Broadway, Federal, and Sixth streets, was selected as the best site available for the new building, which was to include all of the county offices, the courts and the jail, the latter to be located on the top floor. The old court house was torn down in 1904, and the other buildings on the grounds in 1906. The ceremonies incident to the opening of the new Court House were held on Tuesday, April 24, 1906, and the building was turned over to the county authorities on February 13, 1907. The cost of the structure was about $800,000, and to the honor of the building committee, it should be said that not one word
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of suspicion was ever uttered of any unseemly, or unbusinesslike act having been committed during its erection.
When Camden county was created out of Gloucester county, the Legislature directed that commissioners should be appointed to divide and apportion the public property of the old county. After some delay, the commissioners filed their report in 1846. According to this report the Court House, Jail, Clerk's and Surrogate's Offices and the lots appurtaining thereto, situated in Woodbury, were to remain absolutely the property of Gloucester County, while the Poor House and farm lands situated in Washington township, Camden county, were vested as an absolute and independent estate in the Boards of Chosen Freeholders of the two counties in equal moieties as tenants in common. The steward of the Poor House was elected at a joint meeting of the Boards of Freeholders of Camden and Gloucester counties. The Poor House and adjacent land remained the joint property of the two counties until 1860, when, by an act of the Legislature, commissioners were appointed to sell the property. The sale was held August 7, 1860, at which Camden county purchased the Almshouse and other buildings, together with two hundred and sixty- four acres of land for about $19,800. The other tracts were sold to sundry purchasers.
CAMDEN CITY
While county and township organizations were being formed and hamlets or villages were springing up in various parts of the country, the few inhabitants around "The Ferries" were busily engaged in the cultivation of their farms and in improving their crude habitations. As Philadelphia grew in population and wealth, the adjacent country naturally felt the effects.
Jacob Cooper,* a merchant in Philadelphia and a direct descendent of the first William Cooper, was the earliest to realize the possibilities of this location as a town site, and on April 3, 1764,t obtained from his father, William, a tract of 100 acres, lying between the lands of his nephews, Daniel and William Cooper. It has been generally stated that this tract was first divided into town lots in 1773. A
• Jacob Cooper was a son of William, eldest son of Daniel, son of the original William Cooper. He was born in 1723 and married Elizabeth Corker, daughter of William and Mary Corker, of Philadelphia. At the time of his marriage William Corker was deceased and his widow had become the wife of Joseph Trotter, of Philadelphia. Jacob was a merchant in Phila- delphia and an active member of the Bank Meeting on Front street above Arch. Both he and his wife were buried in the old grounds at Fourth and Race streets, the former in 1786 and the latter in 1789. They had a number of children of whom only Jacob, Elizabeth, William Corker and Mary reached their majorities.
t Liber A. C, folio 530, etc.
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lengthy advertisement, which appeared in "The Pennsylvania Chron- icle and Universal Advertiser" of April 24-May 1, 1769, however, indicates clearly that shortly after Jacob Cooper obtained possession of the property it was "divided into lots" and that this plan was on exhibition "at the London CofTee House,* at Peter Thompson's, con- veyancer in Race street, and at the Subscriber's "(Jacob Cooper)" in Arch street." The advantages which these lots offer are quaintly stated in the advertisement and may be summarized as follows :
"A soil fitted for gardening, and the raising of earlier fruits than Pennsylvania affords" ; "the conveniency of being near the city of Philadelphia for distilleries, breweries, lumber yards, stores and other offices" ; "The diversion of fishing and fowling" and "the added pleasure of sailing on the water in summer".
Cooper continued his endeavors for several years to dispose of this property and on March 14, 1771, another advertisement appeared in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" stating that "it is a suitable Place for erecting another Ferry, and in all Probability may in a few years, be disposed of in Lots, to great Advantage, in erecting a TOWN, as it will suit for many Persons to reside there, and carry on different Occupations, as in Philadelphia."
Others evidently did not share in this prophetic vision and after waiting two more years for a purchaser, Jacob Cooper went ahead with the project and laid out in small town lots about forty acres of the tract, bounded by the present Cooper street on the north, Sixth street on the east, a line mid-way between Market and Arch streets on the south and the Delaware river on the west. His original plan called for but twelve blocks, or squares, with two streets extending from the river and six street running parallel with it. To this new village he gave the name "Town of Camden," in honor of Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, and Lord Chief Justice of England, who about this time was using every exertion in behalf of the American colonies, t
In this plan the six streets running north and south were called King, Queen, Whitehall, Cherry, Cedar, and Pine, intersected at
• The IjOndon Coffee House, located at the southwest corner of Front and High streets, Philadelphia, was the principal seat of activities in the city, the meeting place of the most interesting people and "the clearing house for news of all kinds." Many of those who became the first purchasers of lots in Cooper's new town frequented the tavern and there learned of the new project.
t The popularity of the Earl of Camden is indicated by the fact that an armed boat built by
Sherlock in 1775 for the Pennsylvania Navy was called the "Camden." Under
command of Captain Edward Yorke she gave a good account of herself in the defense of the Chevaux-de-frise at the Battle of Red Bank.
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right angles by Cooper* and Market streets. The names of the streets running north and south were changed by ordinance of City Council on May 24, 1832, to Front, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets respectively.
The original plan provided for a square plot of ground at the intersection of Market and Whitehall, or Third, streets for public use, presumably for a market house, but it was never used for that purpose and later became part of the public highway. When the building, now occupied by the West Jersey Trust Company, at the southeast corner, was erected, an attempt was made to secure the right to come out to the building line on Market street, but the original dedication prevented either City Council, or the courts from modifying the express design of the grantor.
In 1776, Jacob Cooper and his wife placed in trust, the plot of ground at the northwest corner of Fifth and Arch streets, known as lot No. 127, to be used only for public purpose. A portion of this ground was laid out at an early date as a public burial ground, while another portion, after having been occupied by a school house for a number of years, is now used by the fire and police departments.
In view of the present day values of the lots laid out by Jacob Cooper, the prices at which he sold them in 1773 are extremely in- teresting. John Brown paid forty pounds "lawful money of Penn- sylvania" for lots Nos. 71 and 86, while John Reedle's deed calls for payment of twenty pounds for lot No. 68. The Pennsylvania pound was rated at 2.66 2/3 Spanish milled dollars, or Continental paper dollars, so that each lot was priced at a little over ninety-six dollars. This Spanish dollar was also called "piece of eight" and was rated as equivalent to 7 shillings 6 pence, equivalent to 90 pence (McMaster).t
Jacob Cooper's interest in the new town which he had laid out, soon waxed cold, for after selling a large number of lots (one hun- dred and twenty-three out of a total of one hundred and sixty-seven plotted), he sold, in 1781, the remaining portion of his lands to his nephew, William Cooper, son of his brother Daniel.
* Cooper street was the northerly boiundary of his property and was a lane or road at the time he obtained possession of the tract(1764). In the conveyance from William to Jacob Cooper he is given "the uses, rig-hts, liberties and privileges of and passage in and along the said road and Ingress, Egress and Regress to, upon and along the said Road from time to time."
t The Spanish milled dollar then in general circulation, was divided into a half, a quarter, an eighth and a sixteenth, each represented by a silver coin and all of them in common use in the colonies. The "eighth" had a value in New Jersey of about eleven pence and became known as an "eleven penny bit," or "levy," while the "sixteenth" was equal to a little over five pence, contracted to "fip" or "fip-penny-bit." It was not until July 6, 1785, that Congress adopted the dollar as the unit of coinage and the decimal ratio for its sub-divisions with the smallest coin a half-penny of which two hundred were to make a dollar. (See McMaster, Vol. 1, p. 189.)
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The next addition to the town plot of Camden was that made by Joshua Cooper, son of Daniel Cooper, called in some deeds "Cooper's Villa." In 1803, Joshua laid out the tract extending from the southerly line of his uncle, Jacob Cooper's, plot to the north side of Federal street and from the present Front street to the public lots at Fifth and Plumb (Arch) streets. There were twenty-nine lots on the north side of Plumb street and twenty-four on the south side.
Edward Sharp in 1818 purchased a large tract of land from Joshua Cooper, and in April, 1820,* laid out a portion of this tract, between the south side of Federal street and an alley 150 feet south of the southerly side of Bridge avenue, extending from the high-water mark easterly to nearly the present Fifth street. This he called "Camden Village." Among the purchasers of these lots between March 28, 1820, and August 28, 1821, were several persons who afterwards took an active part in the affairs of the community ; namely, Samuel Laning, the first mayor; John D. Wessell, the owner of the ferry at Federal street; Reuben Ludlam, the first city treasurer; Daniel Ireland, Wil- liam Butler, Samuel Smith, the moderator of numerous township and city meetings ; Isaac Sims, James Read, David Sims and Dorcas Sims.
Aside from the three plans mentioned above and the lots at Kaighn's Point laid out about 1801, no other plans were filed until 1833, when Richard Fetters laid out the tract from Line to Cherry streets and from Front street to Fourth street, which soon received the name of "Fettersville."t The lots as originally laid out by Richard Fetters measured 30 x 200 feet, and in 1835 were assessed at fifty dollars each. A sale of two of these lots on the south side of Pine street below Third street was recorded in 1841 at the rate of three hundred dollars a lot, showing the great advance in property values in this locality within a few years.
The Camden and Amboy Railroad Company and several of its officials, especially the Messrs. Stevens, early bought a considerable tract of low, marshy land south of Bridge avenue and began filling it up by bringing earth from Baldwin's Cut on the East Side for this purpose.
As showing the situation which existed in Camden in its early days, the following editorial from "The Camden Mail" of September 23, 1835, is instructive :
"We had the rare occurrence in Camden, on Monday last, of a public sale of building lots; rare, not for the want of the
* Recorded July 3, 1820, Liber F. F., pp. 289, etc.
t Mr. H. L. Bonsall says the settlement was "profanely called 'Hardscrabble' by the more or less remote north and south populations."
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article, nor of buyers, but from the indisposition of owners to let their property pass into the hands of enterprising and public spirited citizens, who would build upon and improve it. The lots sold on Monday, were laid off from the property of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company ; and embraced that plot of ground now in part being filled up, which fronts on the road to Kaighn's Point, running towards the river, and the large front upon the river, below the railroad and yet open to the influx of the tide. The first was divided into eighteen lots of 25 feet front upon the rail road, or "bridge avenue", extending 135 feet deep to a twenty feet alley; and was keenly bid up to from $620 to $1220 per lot, averaging throughout, a fraction over $750 each. The unenclosed front, which was not divided, brought five thousand dollars, and the whole sale realized to the company nearly nineteen thousand dollars, leaving them yet in possession of as much ground as is necessary for all their opera- tions."
Prior to 1842, no lots could be purchased north of Cooper street, except in the immediate vicinity of Cooper's Point Ferry. The reason for this was that under the city charter and state tax laws then in force, farm lands were not taxable for city purposes, even though this land was within the city limits, but just as soon as the land was divided into building lots, it was assessed not only for state and county taxes, but also for municipal expenses. Until the failure of the United States Bank, in which Richard M. Cooper was heavily interested, the returns from the farm lands provided all the revenue desired, without exposing unsold lots to the higher tax levy.
Previous to the adoption of the name of Camden, many local names were used to designate the various places or sections, now within the city limits. These names were generally the result of custom, or popular parlance, and few of them had any legal or official significance. They were applied to the several localities, or settle- ments, because of some family connection with the place, or of some characteristic of the neighborhood. Some of the names were adopted from the slang expressions of the period.
Before the Town of Camden was laid out, the section north from Bridge avenue was variously called "William Cooper's Ferry," "Daniel Cooper's Ferry," or more frequently "The Ferries." After the town plot had been filed, the name "William Cooper's Ferry," "Samuel Cooper's Ferry," or "Cooper's Point," was used to designate the portion north of Cooper street. The number of settlers was small and practically all of the houses were clustered around the ferry, the
34
store of Isaac and Benjamin Cathrall, later kept by Richard Wells, and the hotel. The Cathrall store, located on "Samuel Cooper's Wharf," from the variety of merchandise for sale would have rivaled the modern department store. According to an advertisement in 1776,* it offered for sale almost everything from Irish linen and silk mitts to groceries, West India rum and mill saw files.
After the establishment of the ferry at Federal street, the section south of Cooper street became known as "Daniel Cooper's Ferry," no doubt to distinguish it from the Samuel Cooper ferry at the Point, and this distinction held good until Camden was laid out. These two localities were later known as "Lower Billy's Ferry" and "Upper Billy's Ferry" respectively.
The settlement in the vicinity of Kaighn's Point, where the Kaighn family had extensive interests, became known at an early date (about 1801) as Kaighnsborough, or Kaighnton. It was officially laid out by Joseph Kaighn as one of the commissioners appointed to divide the real estate of James Kaighn and the plan was filed in the county clerk's office at Woodbury in 9 mo. 1812. By 1828, the name Kaighn- ton had become so well rooted in the public mind that the Legislature in providing for the incorporation of the city of Camden made special provision whereby it was to be specifically represented in the new city council.
"Dogwoodtown," which included the lands in the neighborhood of Tenth and Federal streets, received its name from the profusion of dogwood trees that formerly thrived in the vicinity. "Ham Shore" and "Pinchtown" were small settlements on the Delaware between Bridge avenue and Spruce street, each with only a few old houses or frame shacks. These "shacks" were occupied chiefly by fishermen, who earned a living by catching fish then very plentiful in the Dela- ware river.
"Cooper Hill," in the vicinity of Broadway and Berkely street, was part of the old "Cooper's Woodlands." A portion of this section was also called "Nanny's woods," from the fact than an old colored woman lived in a cabin on the edge of the woods near what is now West and Washington streets. Stockton, f or Centerville,t Kaighnville
• Pennsylvania Packet, March 11, 1776.
t Reg'inning at the intersection of Ferry avenne and Jacl<s^n street, thence easterly along Jackson street to Seventh, southerly on Seventh street to VanHook street; thence along the latter street to Evergreen Cemetery; thence south along the westerly line of the cemetery to Ferry avenue and westerly and northwesterly along- the latter street to the place of beginning. The Stockton Land Association was formed about 1S55 by Isaac W. Mickle, John Cooper, P. W. Bonin, Jas. M. Cassidy, B. M. Braker, and W. D. Hicks. They bought twenty-three acres of land in this vicinity which was laid oft into building lots. On Stone <fe Pomeroy's map of 1860 the settlement is prominently marked by a special insert of the town plan.
t Tn the vicinity of Seventh and Ferrv avenu "^bis F-ettlement was started by the Center- ville Land Association, of which Thomas Phillips and John Crowley were the chief factors. They had purchased the northern part of the Mickle farm.
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or the Town of Stockton, Liberty Park and "Sweet Potato Hill"* were other designations given to locahties in the lower section of the city. Aside from "Cooper's Hill," these names are of comparatively recent origin.
The territory embraced within what is now the Eleventh and Twelfth Wards had so many names that it is almost bewildering to follow all of them. There was Wrightsville, named from John Wright ; Boothmanville, south and west of Marlton Pike and Federal street, laid out by Thomas Boothman about 1871 ; Cramer Hill, North Cramer Hill, and Cramer Heights, which were developed by Alfred Cramer; Pavonia, which was laid out in 1852 by the Pavonia Land Company;! Fairview, which derived its name from the beautiful view of the Delaware river that could be had from this tract ; Dudley and Dudley Homestead, located in the vicinity of the home of Thomas H. Dudley, who was active in the early political affairs of Camden and was vice-consul at Liverpool during the Civil War; North and South Spicerville, named after the Spicer family, which was one of the earliest of the first settlers to permanently locate along Cooper's creek; the French Tract, a development of Emmor D. French about 1876; Rosedale, Bailytown, East Camden, Deep Cut, The Hollow, and the Bottom were other designations given to particular sections. Most of these have long since lost their distinction, and today the Cramer Hills, Pavonia, Wrightsville, Rosedale, and Dudley are the only ones which have survived. They are all, however, of com- paratively recent origin. Prior to 1850, save for a few houses around the Federal street bridge, an occasional farm house here and there and the little aggregation of small houses inhabited by colored families in the vicinity of Pavonia station, the lands on the easterly side of Cooper river, were all devoted to agriculture and the territory was strictly a rural district. In 1894, Wrightsville, Cramer Hill, North Cramer Hill, Pavonia, Dudley, Fairview and Rosedale were incorporated as the Town of Stockton. The old names, however, were still in common use for many years after the consolidation.
The topography of the city as we know it today is entirely dif- ferent from that of the days of our forefathers. Then there were many small ponds now occupied by substantial buildings and marsh lands constantly overflowed by the tides which are now banked or wharfed against such inroads. From the east side of Second street
* South of the Atlantic City Railroad tracks and east of the West Jersey Railroad electric tracks.
t In 1851. the Pavonia City Association purchased of B. W. Cooper, his farm consisting of 85 acres and the mansion house for $500 an acre and proceeded to develop the same.
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a hollow extended nearly to Third street midway between Market and Cooper streets. Where Morgan's Hall now stands was a deep hollow used as a skating and swimming pond which in time was filled with refuse from the shingle mills in the vicinity and changed from a hollow to a mound to which the name "Shingle Shaving Hill" was given. In the vicinity of the North East Grammar School was a deep hole that was quite popular in the olden days as a coasting place. South of Newton avenue and east of the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad tracks were several ponds much frequented by wild ducks and geese in season. From about Henry and Washington streets to the river was low meadow land which was frequently covered with water and was flooded in Winter to furnish a skating pond. West of Second street from Bridge avenue to Kaighn avenue was a tide-marsh or flat overflowed by every tide, while south of Kaighn avenue the river encroached almost to the present line of Broadway.
The agitation for a better form of local government and one which would provide police protection was begun in 1826. In those days, the ferry gardens always attracted a certain element from Philadel- phia, especially on Sundays, when the bar-rooms and taverns across the river were closed, because no distinction was made on this side of the river between the days of the week. Many of these persons after partaking of the refreshments sold at these places became a source of much annoyance to the peace-loving citizens of Camden. At a meeting of a number of residents held at the hotel of Ebenezer Toole on November 13, 1826, a memorial and form of charter for the city of Camden was adopted and directed to be presented to the next Legislature. No action seems to have been taken, however, on this petition by the Legislature of 1827. The next public notice which has been located that an application would be made to the Legislature for a charter is found in an advertisement appearing in the "American Star and Rural Record" of October 31, 1827, and reads as follows:
PUBLIC NOTICE
A bill for the incorporation of the town of Camden, in the county of Gloucester, into a city will be presented for enact- ment to the Legislature of New Jersey on the second Tuesday of the next session.
Ebenezer Toole.
Samuel D. Wessell.
Richard Fetters.
On behalf of the applicants. August 22, 1827.
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As a result of this agitation on February 13, 1828,* the Council and General Assemblyf passed an act creating the city of Camden out of a portion of Newton township. At the time of its incorpora- tion, the city had a population of 1143. The original boundaries of the city of Camden were, (1) "a small run of water (Little Newton creek or Line Ditch )| below Kaighnton, which run is between the lands of the late Isaac Mickle, deceased, and Joseph Kaighn;" (2) "the road leading to Woodbury from the Camden Academy" (Broad- way) ; (3) "the road from Kaighnton to Cooper's Creek Bridge" (Newton avenue) ; (4) the road leading to the bridge over Cooper's creek (Federal street) ; (5) Cooper's creek and (6) the Delaware river. Under this charter, however, the city was subservient to the old township of Newton and this dual control was the source of constant strife between the township committee and city council.
The act provided for a mayor, a recorder, four aldermen, five councilmen and a town clerk. The mayor, recorder, aldermen and councilmen constituted the "body politic and corporate," under the style of "The Mayor, Alderman and common council of the city of Camden." Of the councilmen, one was to be elected to represent "the village commonly called William Cooper's ferry and one shall always be a resident of Kaighnton." The same provision regarding residence applied to the aldermen. The mayor presided at council meetings, and in his absence the recorder, both having votes on all questions, but they were without veto power.
This charter, and the amendment passed fifteen days later, in- creasing the number of aldermen, gave the people very little direct voice in the creation of the governing power. While it provided that five of the common council should be elected by the people, the five aldermen and the recorder were appointed by the Council and General Assembly in joint session. There was much opposition to the charter on the part of some of the ferrymen, who, as subsequent events proved, feared the effect stricter police regulation would have on their busi- ness. In spite of this opposition the charter was obtained and an election for councilmen, assessor, collector and town clerk was held in the Camden Academy on March 10, 1828, at which less than fifty
♦Public Laws of N. J., 1S28, p. 193.
t The title by which the State Legislature was then known.
t Little Newton Creek was in the early days a stream of some importance and was navigable as far as Broadway for barges loaded with hay and bricks. It was the dividing line between the Kaighns and Mickles, who jointly constructed and maintained meadow banks along its course to prevent inundation of the adjacent low land, a work taken over in 1844 by the Little Newton Creek Meadow Company and continued by the latter until 1874. About 1908, the Line Ditch sewer following substantially the creek bed was completed to take care of the old stream and the low lands filled up to grade.
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votes were cast. The first city officials elected were : Councilmen — James Duer, Cooper's Ferry; John Lawrence, Ebenezer Toole and Richard Fetters, Camden ; Joseph Kaighn, Kaighn's Point ; Assessor, Jacob B. Stone; Collector, Paul C. Laning; Town clerk, Samuel ElHs.
The first meeting of the city council was held on March 13, 1828, at the hotel kept by John M. Johnson on the site of the old Vauxhall Gardens on the west side of Fourth below Market street. The Mayor was, according to the charter, elected annually from among the alder- men by the council and Samuel Laning was the first one selected to fill that office, while Samuel Ellis, who had been elected at the town meeting, acted as clerk. Of the five councilmen elected only Richard Fetters, John Lawrence and Ebenezer Toole attended the first meet- ing, James Duer, the village shoemaker, and Joseph Kaighn failed to put in an appearance and afterwards resigned. According to tradition, it took Fetters and Lawrence the greater part of the pre- ceeding night to induce Toole to attend, notwithstanding the fact that he had been one of the petitioners for the charter. Duer having refused to serve, William Ridgeway was elected in 1829 to represent Cooper's Point, but never attended the meetings, nor did Joseph W. Cooper, elected in 1830, nor Charles Stokes chosen in 1831. In 1832, however, Joseph W. Cooper was again elected and then consented to perform the duties of his office.
The second meeting of the city council, on March 20, 1828, was held in a second story room of a frame house owned by Richard Fetters on the east side of Third street just below Market, which the council subsequently rented for twelve dollars per year. One of the first actions at this meeting was the granting of licenses to Benjamin Springer, who kept a ferry and hotel at the foot of Market street; Joseph English, a ferryman at Cooper street; Isaiah Toy, for the ferry hotel at Federal street, and William Ridgeway, the proprietor of the Cooper's Point Hotel. The license fee was fixed at twenty-five dollars. At the same meeting Reuben Ludlam was elected treasurer and his salary was fixed at "two and one-half per cent, of all monies receivable by him from taxes and loans, and five per cent, on all monies arising from the ordinary receipts of the corporation." The total salary of Treasurer Ludlam during his year of office-holding amounted to $87.80, which was considered entirely too much and the percentage was reduced for the following year to one per cent, on all monies received. Isaac Smith, the second city treasurer, received only $6.75 for the year's work. The explanation of Ludlam's "large
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salary" was that the $2500 which the city borrowed to build its first city hall came under the first class of receipts.*
Camden's first City Hall was authorized by an ordinance adopted by city council on June 18, 1828. It was erected on the south side of Federal street between Fourth and Fifth streets, the site now being occupied by the Public Service Building. Originally it was a stone building about twenty by forty feet, two stories high with an attic. The lower floor was to be used as a lockup and the upper floor, reached by a wooden stairway on the outside of the Federal street front, as a council chamber and court room. The attic was used as a jury room and also rented out for various purposes.
In 1835, the Mayor and Recorder were instructed by city council to tender the use of the old City Hall to the Justices of the Supreme Court for the Special Term which they proposed holding in Camden, and a committee composed of Robert W. Ogden, John W. Mickle and Richard Fetters was appointed to prepare the biiilding for the holding of such court session. What these preparations were, or whether the special session was held in the City Hall, the minutes of city council do not disclose.
Under the act creating Camden county it was provided that the City Hall and jail of the city of Camden should be used as a County Court House until other quarters could be erected by the county authorities. For this reason the building was, in the newspapers of that period, sometimes called the City Hall, and sometimes referred to as the Court House.
The first courts for Camden county were held in the City Hall on March 26, 1844. Justice Elmer had been assigned to the new county by the Supreme Court, but was prevented from presiding at the opening session on account of court engagements at Woodbury, and Justice J. M. White therefore acted in his place, being assisted by the following Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Camden County : Isaac Cole, Nathan M. Lippincott, S. B. Hunt, J. B. Sickler, and J. G. Clark, while Thomas B. Wood was clerk and James Gahan, crier. Upon the adjournment of the special session of the Circuit Court, the members of the Court of Common Pleas selected Isaac Cole as its first Presiding Judge.
The members of the first Grand Jury called before Judge Moore were J. G. Delacour, William Corkery, John D. Glover, James Lin-
• This money was borrowed on a note bearing six per cent, interest from Jacob Evaul, a wealthy farmer of Newton Township, who died FViday, November 16, 1828, at the age of 92. The note, however, was not entirely paid off until 1843.
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nett, Caleb Nixon, Joseph Burrough, David Albertson, David Borton, Josiah B. Sickler, Charles B. Robbins and Joseph Rogers.
In 1862, a one story building was added to each end of the old building, one side being the office of the Mayor and the other that of the City Clerk. Another addition was made to the building in 1871 to provide rooms for the City Treasurer and Receiver of Taxes. The entire structure was torn down in 1878.
While this building was erected for the use of the city officials, including city council, a reading of the council minutes and the early newspapers would indicate that it made little difference where, or when, they met. We find them meeting at Toole's Hotel, at Vauxhall Garden, at Toy's Hotel, at Alderman Smith's house, at the "Baptist Meeting House" and in later days at either Paul's, Clement's or Cake's Hotels.
The agitation which culminated in the erection of the present City Hall was begun prior to 1868. In the latter year, a committee appointed to select a location advocated the erection of the new build- ing on the site of the old City Hall. This report was, however, not adopted and the matter dragged along until 1871, when Jesse W. Starr came forward with an offer to donate four and one half acres of land, at the junction of Haddon avenue and the West Jersey Rail- road, upon the express condition that a City Hall should be erected thereon and that the unoccupied portion should be laid out as a public park. On July 2, 1874, Mr. Starr also gave the city the ground on which the Soldiers' Monument now stands, upon the same conditions. The limitations as to the use to which the ground might be put were extinguished in 1883, upon the payment to the donor or $10,813.19, and while the original conditions have not so far been altered, the city may now use it as is deemed best in the public interest. Upon this site the erection of the present City Hall was begun in 1874, and was so far completed that the first meeting of city council was held in the building on Thursday, January 27, 1876.
Our early city fathers did not believe in profiteering, and soon after attending to the licensing of the taverns and authorizing the building of a city hall, they took steps to prevent it by regulating the prices which the hotels or inns might charge the traveling public. A few of the rates were as follows :
For Breakfast 25 cents
" Dinner in common 25 "
" Dinner extraordinary 37^ "
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For Supper 25 cents
" Lodging per night 12^ "
" Claret per quart ZTYi "
'' Brandy per gill 12>4 "
" Cider per quart 6^4 "
" Strong Beer per quart ^2]/^ "
" Stabling a horse per night on English Hay 12^ "
" Stabling a horse for twenty-four hours on English
Hay 25 '
" Stabling a horse per night on Salt Hay 12^ "
" Stabling a horse for twenty-four hours on Salt
Hay 18^ "
In the light of our present currency, the above fractional amounts seem very strange, but it must be remembered that "fips," or "fipenny bit," a corruption for "five-penny bit," and "levies" — 6^4 and I23/2 cents — were extensively used as subsidiary coins of the land.
From a collection of villages whose total population did not much exceed one thousand souls, the new city within five years increased to 2341 and had at least assumed the aspect of a municipality.
Camden, although a municipality with a Mayor, Recorder, Alder- man and Council, had powers which were very much circumscribed and limited. It was still under the jurisdiction, of Newton township and so continued until 1832, when the legislative act creating the township of Camden went into effect. There was very little for the city authorities to do except grant tavern licenses, over which they had "the sole, only and exclusive right and power" and to pass ordinances for the protection of life and property and the abatement of nuisances. The city council was specifically prevented from levying any taxes on lands used for "the purposes of husbandry" or on any farm buildings thereon — a provision not contained in any other municipal charter in the state.
During the first twenty years of its existence the majority of tUe ordinances related to the control and supervision of dogs, hogs, horses and goats, which had a penchant for roaming at large through the city streets and over private property. The early city fathers, like their successors, did not overlook the authority, to create public of- fices, among which were a city treasurer, poundkeeper, street com- missioners, city surveyors, board of health and city solicitor.
The several early supplements to the original charter still gave the legislature control over the majority appointments of members of the local governing body. In 1842,* the people began to agitate the
* American Eagle, 12-31-1842.
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modification of their charter so that these officers might be elected by the inhabitants. To this end a town meeting was held in the City Hall on December 28, 1842, presided over by Richard Fetters, at which resolutions were adopted requesting the legislature to amend the city charter so that this condition might be remedied. The legisla- ture by an act of March 9, 1844, not only provided for the election of the Mayor by a town meeting, but gave city council the exclusive authority to grade, curb and pave the streets, and to compel property owners to pave the sidewalks.
Up to this time the supervision of the highways and streets of the city had been under the jurisdiction of the township authorities and had, consequently, received very little attention. The care of the sidewalks was nobody's business and was like the fire service, a voluntary matter. In front of some of the houses the owners had laid down planks or flagging. Occasionally a progressive resident would pave that portion in front of his house, with bricks, while his neighbor refused to make any improvement. There were no curbs, but in the more traveled thoroughfares posts were set up along the outer edge of the sidewalks.
The first attempt to compel the property owners to improve their sidewalks was made in April, 1844. The order provided that the sidewalks on the south side of Cooper street, along Market, Plum and Federal streets, as well as all the cross streets between Cooper and Federal street from Front to the west side of Sixth street should be immediately put in first-class order.
The first mayor of Camden to be elected directly by the people "in the town meeting assembled" was chosen in 1844. John K. Cowperthwait, who had been very active in city afifairs from the time of its incorporation, was selected and served for one year.
The supplement of 1848 provided for three wards; the North Ward, embracing all the land north of Arch and Federal streets, the Middle Ward, extended from Arch and Federal streets to Line street;* the South Ward, included all that portion of the city south of Line street. Each ward was to elect two councilmen and one chosen freeholder. Council now comprised the six councilmen above noted, the five alderm.en as provided in the act of 1828, together with the mayor and recorder.
On March 5, 1850, the legislature passed the so-called "Dudley Charter" which greatly increased the powers of city council, especially as regarded the raising of taxes for municipal and school purposes.
• Lane street was originally laid out as a "twenty foot alley," but in 1848 was made a street of 50 feet In width.
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Various other supplements were passed between 1850 and 1870 grant- ing certain specific authority, or correcting omissions in previous acts.
With the adoption of the charter of March 5, 1850, the number of office-holders was greatly augmented, each ward being entitled to its own set of subordinate officers and was directed to elect annually two councilmen, one assessor, one collector, a ward clerk, a judge of elections, three commissioners of appeals, a constable and an overseer of the poor. City council now consisted of the Mayor, six aldermen and six councilmen, of which the Mayor, or in his absence, one of the aldermen, should be the presiding officer. This provision amended by the act of February 21, 1851, by providing for the election of six councilmen from each of the three wards and the election of a "president of the city council" from among its members.
Almost the first step in connection with municipal finances after city councils was given authority to raise its own taxes was the creation of the "Lamp or Watch District" of the city of Camden. All of the territory outside this district was farm land, and it is, therefore, interesting to note the section of the city which was, in 1850, considered as separate and distinct from farm land. The boundaries of this watch district was as follows :
Beginning at the foot of Cooper street; thence along Cooper to Sixth, to Federal to Broadway, to IMarket street (Kaighn avenue) ; thence along Market street to Front, to Mechanic, to the Delaware river. All lands laid out into lots, or lands which have any improve- ments erected thereon, fronting or bounding on both sides of any of the aforesaid streets were included in the district.
This ordinance was passed on July 6, 1850, and at the same meet- ing council adopted its first ordinance fixing the amount of taxes that should be assessed and raised for the general expenditures of the city. In view of the present municipal budget, the sums specified for the several purposes are extremely interesting. The budget of 1850-51 was as follows :
To be collected from all persons residing within the city.
To maintain and support the common schools $2,000
To defray the contingent expenses 6,000
For supporting the fire engine department 600
To be collected from all persons residing within the Lamp or Watch District
For supporting the police therein 600
For supplying the city with water 400
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To be collected from those persons only residing within
the Lamp or Watch District in the North Ward. For maintenance and improvement of streets 2,000
To be collected from those persons only residing within
the Lamp or Watch District in the Middle Ward. For maintenance and improvement of streets 2,000
To be collected from those persons residing within the
Lamp or Watch District in the South Ward. For maintenance and improvement of streets 2,000
By the supplement of 1857, the mayor and aldermen were eliminated as members of city council and the latter body was made to consist of six councilmen from each of the three wards, two being elected each year for terms of three years each. Council was given authority to survey and map out the city and to provide that all new streets should conform to this survey ; to regulate the erection of buildings and prescribe their character. Up to this time there had been no authority to govern the laying out of streets and as a con- sequence houses had been built in swamps, or on hill tops, in a line, or at an angle to other adjacent structures and each sidewalk had a grade of its own.
Various amendments and changes in the powers, duties and man- ner of electing certain city officials were also made in 1860, 1861, 1864 and 1866.
The most radical change in the city charter was on February 14, 1871,* when the Legislature passed "An Act to revise and amend the charter of the City of Camden." This legislation together with the Act of March 7, 1871, besides enlarging the territorial area by extinguishing the ancient township of Newton, divided the city into eight wards, and gave city council authority to create new wards, provided that not more than two new wards were created in any five year period. Numerous changes as regards the election of city officials were also made.
The city limits now extended north and west of Newton creek and its North Branch, Mount Ephraim turnpike, the Stockton and New- ton turnpike road (Ferry avenue) and an extension of the same in a straight line to Cooper's creek.
The new city council was to consist of twenty-four members, to which number, on account of a deadlock, an additional member was chosen at a special election in April, 1872. The portions of the Acts
•Public Laws of N. J., 1S71, p. 210.
45
and Supplements of 1871, relating to the constitution of city council were amended by a general act of the Legislature in March, 1893, making two councilmen from each ward the legal number.
In 1878, the Legislature passed an act annexing to Haddon town- ship certain farm lands in the lower end of the Eighth Ward, which in a general way may be described as abutting on the North Branch of Newton creek east of Tenth street and south of Kaighn's Point avenue, provided that the owners thereof would pay within three months their pro rata share of the city debts, which had been incurred and remained unpaid subsequent to the annexation of Newton town- ship in 187L The assessment not having been paid by the residents affected, the transfer became null and void.
Since the passage of the law of 1871, which specifically provided for eight wards, city council, has under authority conferred on it, created four additional wards, and the legislature two wards as fol- lows.
The Ninth Ward was set off from the Fourth Ward in 1888 and its boundaries changed in 1900; the Tenth Ward was formed in 1899 from that part of the old Second Ward east of Fourth street and north of Pearl street; the Thirteenth Ward was created from a portion of the Seventh Ward in 1913; the Fourteenth Ward was created in 1919, by taking the larger part of the section known as Yorkship Village, or Fairview,* from the Fifth voting precinct of the Eighth Ward. The town of Stockton was annexed to Camden under an act of the Legislature in 1899, f and divided into two wards known as the Eleventh and Twelfth Wards.
TOWNSHIP OF CAMDEN
Camden Township was created by the Legislature on November 29, 1831, at the request of the inhabitants of the city of Camden,
* Diiring- the late war the United States government, through the Emergency Fleet Cor- poration and the New York Shipbuilding Corporation (The Fairview Realty Co.), opened oiip a large tract of land lying on the westerly side of the Mount Ephraim road north of the Main Branch of Newton creek and east of the town limits of Gloucester and built thereon a number of houses for the convenience of the greatly increased working force at the shipyards. The tract was given the name of Yorkship Village. The city of Camden agreed, if Haddon township would cede the territory to Camden, to provide a water supply, erect a school house and build a bridge across Newton creek to connect the village with Camden by way of Morgan street, at a total expenditure of nearly $700,000. By ordinance adopted May 17, 1918, the new addition was added to the Fifth voting precinct of the Eighth Ward, where it remained until 191?, when the Fourteenth Ward was created.
t Public Laws of N. J., 1S99. p. 355. Some time before this date the plan had been agitated but it met with a decided protest, as it was feared the consolidation would interfere with the local school, would increase taxation and would through the higher saloon license drive many of those who had established profitable business away. The annexation was pushed through the Legislature despite the protests of a majority of the residents, although it undoubtedly had the approval of a majority of the property owners.
46
who objected to the interference in their local affairs by the township committee of Newton township.
The limits of the new township were the same as those specified in the act of February 13, 1828 (the original act incorporating the city of Camden).
The first annual meeting for the new township was to be held on the second Monday in March, 1832, and that for the township of Newton was held three days later. The act further provided that on the Monday after the annual meeting of the township of Newton, the newly elected committees of the two townships should meet at the house of Isaiah Toy, "inn-keeper," in the city of Camden, at ten o'clock in the forenoon and proceed to divide the property. Its report reveals in a remarkable manner the tremendous growth of Camden in less than one hundred years. The committee's report was as follows :
"In compliance with the 5th section of an act entitled, an act to establish a new township in the County of Gloucester to be called the township of Camden, we the subscribers, committee- men of the township of Newton and the township of Camden, convened at the house of Isaiah Toy in the city of Camden, March 19th, 1832; and there and then did proceed to allot and divide between the said townships all property and debts in pro- portion to the taxable property and ratables as taxed by the assessor at the last assessment within their respective limits."
"Amount of dupHcate $3,117.00; amount of taxes assessed in Newton, $1,744.17; amount of taxes assessed in Camden, $1,327.83— $3,117.00. Joint debt $700.00. Newton's propor- tion $391.70. Camden's proportion $308.30."
"It is ordered and agreed that each township retain the public burial ground within their respective limits."
"Cash on hand, $62.75, Camden's proportion $26.75; New- ton's proportion, $35.12; township books, election box, etc., as- signed to the township of Newton by paying six dollars to the treasurer of the township of Camden."
Samuel Nicholson J. K. Cowperthwait
John Gill, Jr. Richard Fetters
J. M. FIinchman Isaac Van Sciver
Benj. W. Mickle Isaac Cole
John Lawrence •
The first meeting of the township committee for the new town- ship was held immediately following the joint meeting, and probably
47
in the same room and in the presence of their old allies of Newton. The first business after the receipt of the joint committee's report was the appointment of a committee to purchase books for the use of the township of Camden.
So closely are the affairs of the city and township connected that it is difficult to always distinguish the actions of the town-meetings, which were sometimes called on township matters and at other times on city affairs. The annual township meetings which were held on the second Monday in March were generally held in the old Academy, or in the City Hall. We also find township meetings held "at the home of James El well, inn-keeper" and at other hotels. Aside from the election of township officers, the principal function of these as- semblages was the fixing of the amount of taxes to be raised for the city and township. Up to 1845, it required a vote of two-thirds of the inhabitants of the township, in town meeting assembled, to assess a city tax exceeding five hundred dollars. This was later changed to a majority of the legal voters present.
It is interesting to study the means employed by the township in the early days to raise money. In 1834, the principal items on which the tax assessments were levied were as follows :
Per $100 of valuation
Real Estate
Personal property
Single Men
Horses and mules
Cattle
Jack wagons *
Common wagons and dearborns
Gigs and chaises
Sulkies
Tan vats
Turpentine stills
Lumber yards 1.00 — 4.00 each
While these rates appear adequate, the assessed valuations were so low that it is hard to conceive how the community made any progress with so little money to spend on public works. From an old account book kept by Richardson Andrews, we learn that the total State, county, township and city taxes levied on lots Nos. 81 and 82,
* Jack wapTons v-ors wagons with leather spring's and v.ere the forerunners of the present elliptical steel springs.
|
25 |
cents |
|
|
40 |
||
|
1.62 |
||
|
40 |
each |
|
|
18 |
||
|
80 |
||
|
40 |
||
|
28 |
||
|
21 |
||
|
9 |
per vat |
|
|
1.50 |
" still |
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situated at the northwest corner of Fourth and Market- streets, were as follows :
1819 — 78 cents 1829 — 3.78
1820 — 66 " 1830 — 1.85
1821 — 78 " 1831 — 1.15 1823 — 64 " 1832 — 5.36 1827 — 1.14 "
The figures are missing for the years 1822, 1824 to 1826 and 1828. Further investigation shows that a frame house was built in 1832 on lot No. 81 which accounts for the extraordinary increase in the amount for the year.
The total amount of taxes collected in Newton township for the years 1822-1826 was as follows:
1822 844.84 §-1
1823 1025.93 §-2
1824 999A6y2 §-3
1825 1626.81 §-4
1826 2130.52 §-5
In connection with the tax rates above quoted it is equally in- teresting to compare the amount of money raised in the early days with that required by the same territory twenty years later and today. According to the Township Committee's report for the year 1846, there was received during that year $2324.35, while the expenditures amounted to $1985.91, including the $923.38 paid to the City Treas- urer of Camden and $300 to City Council. The annual Town Meet- ing cost the taxpayers $24.75, of which $16.75 was for refreshments of its officers, $6.00 for the clerk of the meeting and $2.00 for the moderator. At the close of the year there were tax warrants un- collected amounted to $3527.32. From substantially the same terri- tory today, there is collected about one million dollars in taxes.
The township books cannot now be found, but from newspapers, court records and city council minutes, the following list of the town- ship officers has been compiled :
1832 — Township committee, Richard Fetters, Isaac Cole, John Lawrence, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Vansciver.
§—(1) Herald & Farmer, 10-15-1823.
(2) Village Herald, 10-20-1824.
(3) Included $100 collected for school purposes.
(4) Included $450 collected for township purposes.
(5) Included $42G.ll for township purposes and $100 for schools.
49
1833 — Township clerk, Josiah Harrison; Collector, Daniel S. Carter; Overseer of the poor, Benjamin Wiltse; Con- stable, John Gahan.
1834 — Township clerk, Josiah Harrison; Assessor, Isaac H. Porter; Collector, Caleb Roberts; Commissioners of ap- peals, Gideon V. Stivers, Nathan Davis, Isaac Vansciver ; Freeholders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters; Sur- veyors of highways, William J. Hatch, Joshua Bur- roughs; Overseer of poor, Wm. M'Knight; Constable, John Gahan; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine; Poundkeeper, Wm. M'Knight; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins; Township committee, Gideon V. Stivers, Rich- ard Fetters, James W. Sloan, Ebenezer Toole, Isaac Van- sciver ; School committee, Gideon V. Stivers, Richard Fet- ters, James W. Sloan, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Van- sciver.
1835 — Township clerk, Samuel Miller; Assessor, Edward Bul- lock ; Collector, Josiah Shivers ; Commissioners of appeals, . Gideon V. Stivers, Isaac Wilkins, Josiah Atkinson ; Free- holders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters ; Surveyors of highways, Samuel Laning, Joab Scull; Overseer of poor, Benjamin Wiltse ; Constable, Chester Chattin ; Over- seer of highways, Daniel L. Pine ; Poundkeeper, Abraham L. Hilderman; Judge of elections, Samuel Laning; Town- ship committee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Gideon V. Stivers, Richard Fetters, Isaac Vansciver, Charles S. Garrett; Special school committee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters, Isaiah Toy, Rev. Samuel Starr, Rev. Wm. Gran- ville, Rev. T. C. Teasdale, Benjamin Allen, Charles Kaighn, William Ridgway, Joseph W. Cooper.
1836 — Township clerk, Edward P. Andrews ; Assessor, Isaac H. Porter; Collector, Paul C. Laning; Commissioners of ap- peals, Isaac Vansciver, Josiah Atkinson, Edmund Hamp- ton ; Freeholders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Gideon V. Stivers ; Surveyors of highways, William Hugg, John Thorn; Overseer of poor, Benjamin Wiltse; Constable, Chester Chattin ; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine ; Pound- keeper, Stephen Goldsmith; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins ; Township committee, Samuel Laning, Thos. Peak, Joab Scull, Elias Kaighn, Henry Brown ; School committee, Samuel Laning, Thomas Peak, Joab Scull, Elias Kaighn, Henry Brown.
50
1837 — Assessor, Isaac H. Porter; Collector, Paul C. Laning, Commissioners of appeals, Josiah Atkinson, Isaac V'an- sciver, James Hale; Freeholders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters ; Surveyors of highways, Jos. G. Scull, John M. Johnson; Overseer of poor, Benjamin Wiltse; Constable, William Hugg; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine; Poundkeeper, Edwin B. Johnson; Judge of elec- tions, Isaac Wilkins; Township committee, Joab Scull, Elias Kaighn, Chas. S. Garrett, Richard Fetters, Isaac Wilkins ; School committee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters, Isaac Vansciver.
1838 — Assessor, Isaac H. Porter; Collector, Paul C. Laning; Commissioners of appeals, Josiah Atkinson, Isaac Van- sciver, Jas. Gahan ; Freeholders, J. K, Cowperthwait, Isaac Wilkins ; Surveyors of highways, Isaac Bullock, Joab Scull; Overseer of poor, Benjamin Wiltse; Constable, William Hugg; Overseer of highways, Seth Matlack; Poundkeeper, Edwin B. Johnson ; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins ; Township committee, Joab Scull, Elias Kaighn. Chas. S. Garrett, Amos A. Middleton, James Gahan; School committee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Oliver Cox, Isaac Vansciver.
1839 — Township clerk, Josiah Shivers; Assessor, Isaac H. Porter ; Collector, Thomas Peak ; Commissioners of ap- peals, Josiah Atkinson, Sr., Isaac Vansciver, Jas Gahan; Freeholders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Wilkins; Sur- veyors of highways, Isaac Bullock, Joab Scull; Overseer of poor, Benjamin Wiltse; Constable, William Hugg; Overseer of Highways, Daniel L. Pine ; Poundkeeper, Daniel L. Pine; Judge of elections, Samuel Scull, Ben- jamin Springer, Jas. Hale, Richard Fetters; School com- mittee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters, Isaac Van- sciver.
1840 — Township clerk, Josiah Shivers, resigned April 23, suc- ceeded by Josiah R. Atkinson ; Assessor, Isaac H. Porter ; Collector, Daniel S. Carter; Commissioners of appeals, Josiah Atkinson, Sr., Isaac Vansciver, Jas. Gahan ; Free- holders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Wilkins ; Surveyors of highways, Jas. Elwell, Chas. Carter; Overseer of poor, Andrew Sweeten; Constables, Josiah Shivers, Aaron Sparks; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine; Pound- keeper, Daniel L. Pine ; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins ; Township committee, Gideon V. Stivers, Joab Scull,
51
Josiah R. Atkinson, John M. Johnson, EHas Kaighn; School committee, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Vansciver, Gideon V. Stivers.
1841 — Township clerk, Josiah R. Atkinson; Assessor, Wm. Gre- gory; Collector, Daniel S. Carter; Commissioners of ap- peals, Thos. Peak, James Gahan, Josiah Atkinson; Free- holders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Wilkins ; Surveyors of highways, Joseph Weatherby, Thos. Peak ; Overseer of poor, William Hugg; Constables, Josiah Shivers, Aaron Sparks; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine; Pound- keeper, William Hugg; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins; Township committee, Richard Fetters, Gideon V. Stivers, Joab Scull, Isaac Cole, J. K. Cowperthwait, John W. Mickle ; School committee, Gideon V. Stivers, Isaac Cole, J. K. Cowperthwait.
1842 — Township clerk, Samuel Scull; Assessor, William Gre- gory; Collector, Daniel S. Carter; Commissioners of ap- peals, Gideon V. Stivers, Thomas Githens, Thomas Peak ; Freeholders, J. K. Cowperthwait, Isaac Wilkins ; Sur- veyors of highways, Jas. Gahan, Joseph Sharp; Overseer of poor, Benj. Toms; Constables, Edward Morgan, Ed- ward Gahan; Overseer of highways, John Subers; Pound- keeper, Daniel L. Pine ; Judge of elections, Isaac Wilkins ; Township committee, Gideon V. Stivers, J. K. Cowperth- wait, Richard Fetters, Elias Kaighn, Isaac Cole ; School committee, John L. Rhees, Isaac L. Mulford, J. K. Cow- perthwait.
1843 — Township clerk, Samuel Scull; Assessor, William Gre- gory; Collector, Timothy Middleton; Commissioners of appeals, Amos A. Middleton, Thomas Githens, Thomas Peak ; Freeholders, John W. Mickle, J. K. Cowperthwait ; Surveyors of highways, Joseph Weatherby, James Gahan ; Overseer of poor, John Meyers; Constable, Edward Morgan (only one constable) ; Overseer of highways, none elected; Poundkeeper, Daniel L. Pine; Judge of elections, Josiah A. Atkinson ; Township committee, Jesse Smith, Joseph Sharp, Daniel S. Carter, James Elwell, Isaac Wilkins ; School committee, Isaac S. Mulford, John L. Rhees, J. K. Cowperthwait.
1844 — Township clerk, Josiah Shivers ; Assessor, Charles Sloan ; Collector, Timothy Middleton ; Commissioners of appeals, Thomas Peak, Jesse Smith, Isaac Wilkins; Freeholders, John W. Mickle, J. K. Cowperthwait; Surveyors of high-
52
ways, Jesse Smith, Daniel S. Carter ; Overseer of poor, William Hugg; Constable, James Gahan, Overseer of Highways, Daniel L. Pine ; Poiindkeeper, Theo. C. Humphreys; Judge of elections, Josiah R. Atkinson; Township committee, Richard Fetters, Isaac Cole, James Elwell, Jesse Smith, Thomas Peak ; School committee, Richard Fetters, Isaac S. Mulford, Jos. G. De Lacour, B. A. Hammell, Isaac Cole, J. K. Cowperthwait, J. L. Rhees, Jesse Smith.
1845 — Township clerk, Joseph Myers ; Assessor, Josiah Shivers ; Collector, Clayton Truax; Commissioners of appeals, Thomas B. Atkinson, Jas. L. Williams, Thomas Peak; Chosen freeholders, Chas. Kaighn, John R. Thompson ; Surveyors of highways, William Sharp, Mark Burroughs ; Overseer of poor, Caleb Roberts ; Constable, John Law- rence ; Overseer of highways, Richard M Paul ; Pound- keeper, Edward C. Jackson ; Judge of elections, Samuel Scull ; Township committee, Josiah Sawn. John B. Thomp- son, Joseph Sharp, Joseph J. Moore, William J. H. Hawk ; School committee, Franklin Ferguson, Jos. C. De Lacour, Samuel H. Morton, Philander C. Brink, Jesse Smith, James W. Sloan, Enoch Shiver, Jr., David Brown, Joseph Taylor.
1846 — Township clerk, Jas. M. Cassady; Assessor, J. R. Atkin- son; Collector, J. P. Buyack; Commissioners of appeals, Andrew Jenkins, Jas. Elwell, Benj. A. Hammell ; Chosen Freeholders, John W. Mickle, Chas. Sexton ; Surveyors of highways, Samuel McLain, John A. Brown; Overseer of poor, William Hugg ; Constable, Samuel Lummis ; Overseer of highways, Daniel L. Pine ; Poundkeeper, Daniel L. Pine; Judge of elections, Benj. A. Hammell; Township committee, James Elwell, Richard Fetters, Elias Kaighn, Joab Scull, Caleb Roberts ; School committee, Isaac Mulford, Joseph C. De Lacour, Richard Fetters, Isaac Cole, Wm. Feuring, Isaac Mickle, Richard J. Ward, Elias Kaighn, J. W. Shorff.
1847 — Township clerk, Josiah Shivers; Assessor, Josiah R. At- kinson ; Collector, Isaac Kelly ; Commissioners of appeals, James Gahan, Charles M. Thompson ; Chosen freeholders, John W. Mickle, Richard Fetters ; Surveyors of highways, Samuel McLain, Elijah Davis ; Overseer of poor, William Hugg; Constable, Robert P. Smith; Overseer of high- ways, Daniel L. Pine; Poundkeeper, William Hugg;
53
Judge of elections, Timothy Middleton ; Township com- mittee, J. K. Cowperthwait, James Elwell, Elias Kaighn, Joab Scull, Chas. Sloan ; School Committee, Isaac S. Mul- ford, Jos. C. De Lacour, William Feuring, Ebenezer Nichols, Richard J. Ward, Daniel S. Carter, Henry Chap- man, Isaac Mickle, John Thorn.
After the adoption of the new State Constitution in 1844, numer- ous revisions of the general and special statutes were required to bring them into conformity with the new organic law. Among these acts which were revised were those affecting the township of Camden. In 1847, a diversity of opinion arose as to the proper day for holding the annual town-meeting, as a result of which two meetings were held, one on the second Monday in March and the other on the second Wednesday in the same month. At each of these meetings a full set of township officers was elected, causing much confusion and uncertainty. At the request, however, of Thomas H. Dudley, P. J. Gray and Aula McCalla, Abraham Browning, then the Attorney- General, rendered a decision that the proper date was the second Wednesday and in this decision P. D. Vroom, Stacy G. Potts and William L. Dayton also concurred.
With the approval of the Act of February 25, 1848, the town- ship of Camden was abolished and the territory divided into three wards of the city of Camden. All the property rights belonging to the "Inhabitants of the township of Camden in the county of Camden" were then vested in the "Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council" of the city of Camden.
While Camden had a fully organized city administration since 1828, its growth in population and industrial development was a slow one, and for many years it slept in its Quaker repose. The Camden of forty, or even twenty, years ago was very unlike the Camden of today. It has reached its present status by a growth that has been so stealthy and silent that even those in daily contact with passing events have hardly noticed it, except in the retrospect.
Prior to 1842, it was, indeed, a primitive village in all but name, and was best known as a ferry landing. In the latter year, as already noted, some of the larger land owners began to divide their farm lands into building lots and offer them to public sale. The growth of the neighboring city of Philadelphia caused a demand for near-by homes and the proximity of these lots to the business section of the city across the river attracted many new comers to Camden. During
54
the ten years from 1840 to 1850 the population almost tripled in number. The improvements which were made, either by the municipality, or the individual, did not add much to the substantial upbuilding of the place. Its streets were unpaved and little better than ordinary country roads ; it had no lighting system worthy of the name and its water supply was very limited and of a primitive character. The houses which were erected by the new-comers, were principally small frame structures. Looking back on the scene of the clusters of houses scattered here and there among the groves of trees, or among the farm clearings, forcibly brings to mind the wonderful changes which have taken place within the lifetime of many still living.
Other building "booms" took place in 1850-1855 and 1868-1872. That of the later period gained such a momentum that nothing could stop its onward and upward movement and the present splendid de- velopment can be directly traced to the activities begun about that period. Time has wrought many changes not only in the manners and customs of the people, but in the whole topography of the country. Where there were hollows and ponds, now stand some of our most substantial buildings, while the sites of the houses which formerly stood directly on the river bank are now many hundred feet inland.
55
TOWNSHIPS OF OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY— NOW CAMDEN, GLOUCESTER AND ATLANTIC
COMPILED BY DR. CARLOS E. GODFREY
In Present Gloucester County :
Deptford Township, incorporated June 1, 1695.
Clayton Township, incorporated February 5, 1858; consolidated
into Borough of Glassboro April 14, 1908. East Greenwich Township, incorporated February 10, 1881. Elk Township, incorporated April 17, 1891. Franklin Township, incorporated January 27, 1820. Glassboro Township, incorporated March 11, 1878; consolidated
into Borough of Glassboro March 8, 1920. Gloucester Town Township ; consolidated info Union Township
November 15, 1831.* Greenwich Township, incorporated March 1, 1694. Harrison Township, incorporated April 1, 1845; formerly Spicer
Township. Logan Township, incorporated March 6, 1878; formerly West
Woolwich Township. Mantua Township, Incorporated February 23, 1853. Monroe Township, incorporated March 3, 1859. South Harrison Township, incorporated March 21, 1883. Spicer Township, incorporated March 13, 1844; name changed
to Harrison Township. Union Township, incorporated November 15, 1831 ; consolidated
into Gloucester City February 25, 1868. Washington Township, incorporated February 17, 1836. West Deptford Township, incorporated March 1, 1871. West Woolwich Township, incorporated March 7, 1877; name
changed to Logan Township in 1878. Woolwich Township, incorporated March 7, 1767.
» (Gloucester Town was authorized in 1685 and created as a townsiiip in 1773.
56
In Present Camden County : j
Berlin Township, incorporated April 11, 1910. i
Camden Township, incorporated November 28, 1831; consol- 1
idated with City of Camden February 25, 1848.
Center Township, incorporated March 6, 1855. i
Clementon Township, incorporated February 24, 1903. i
Delaware Township, incorporated February 28, 1844. \
Gloucester Township, incorporated June 1, 1695. ' Haddon Township, incorporated March 23, 1865. Newton Township, incorporated June 1, 1695; part annexed to
City of Camden March 1, 1871, balance annexed to Haddon ]
Township March 7, 1871. .
Pensauken Township, incorporated February 18, 1892. ]
Stockton Township, incorporated February 23, 1859; consol- \
idated into Town of Stockton, Referendum March 22, 1894. j
Union Township, incorporated November 15, 1831; annexed to !
Gloucester City February 25, 1868. 5
Voorhees Township, incorporated March 1, 1899. ■
Water ford Township, incorporated June 1, 1695. ■
Winslow Township, incorporated March 8, 1845. |
In Present Atlantic County: \
Buena Vista Township, incorporated March 5, 1867. 1
Egg Harbor Township, incorporated June 1, 1695. '
Galloway Township, incorporated April 4, 1774. 1
Hamilton Township, incorporated February 5, 1813. ]
Mullica Township, incorporated February 21, 1838. ■■
Weymouth Township, incorporated February 12, 1798. jj
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