Of all the one-room schools in Delaware Township, none seems to have inspired more devoted attachment than the Van Dolah School. The number of graduates was large, and many of them were highly accomplished in later life. It was probably one of the best photographed schools in the county. I have included many of them here.
Wolverton
WOOLVERTON/WOLVERTON. In early records, the family name was spelled with two ‘o’s. But later generations dropped the extra o. Charles Woolverton acquired a tract of 1,665 acres in Amwell and Kingwood Townships in 1714. He was living in Burlington County before he brought his wife Mary Chadwick and children here. Eventually they had ten children, most of whom had large families of their own. They have spread far and wide.
The Supreme School
Having published Mr. Bush’s article, “The ‘Oregon’ and Other Schools,” and then a follow-up on Duck’s Flat, I thought I was done with this neighborhood for now. But I recently found another article by Mr. Bush continuing the story of Ducks’ Flat school. This article has allowed me to identify the mystery school I referred to previously, located down the road from the Ducks’ Flat school that Mr. Bush was familiar with. But I’ll wait until Mr. Bush has concluded before explaining.
Milling Industry at Prallsville Back of Year 1792
Little Known of Mill That Existed Prior to John Prall’s
When the Canal Was Dugby Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, N.J.
published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, February 13, 1930It is common to speak of John Prall Jr. as the builder of the first mill in this hamlet. But his titles date back to early 1792; and to some of us it seemed strange that a site so attractive with the Wickecheoke Creek rushing into the Delaware, with an established ferry close at hand, and with a solid community back of it should have been so long without a mill. While investigation has so far failed to reveal all that was hoped for, it has demonstrated that Prall was far from being first to carry on milling business here.
Rittenhouse/Bray, Wolverton/Sergeant & Cowdrick
The Pauch farm, continued. The previous article was Joseph Sergeant and Jane Quick.
One item in Charles Sergeant’s will of 1833 is of particular interest to us. It concerned a farm of 130 acres which he had bought from Joseph Sergeant, and which was occupied at that time by Jonathan Rittenhouse. Sergeant ordered that it be sold and the profits divided among his heirs. This was the old Richard Green farm which Charles Sergeant had kept after buying it back from his brother Joseph in 1818. After Joseph Sergeant left the premises, Charles Sergeant rented the farm to a tenant—Jonathan Rittenhouse.
Part II, Delaware Twp. Officers, 1838
Overseers of Roads
At the first town meeting, the Township Committee voted that $1,000 was to be raised for making and repairing roads. Municipalities were responsible for their roads, while the county took responsibility for the bridges. Generally, it was the landowners along the roads who maintained them, so you can imagine what condition they were in: dust in the summer, mud in the spring and downright impassible in the winter, unless you had a sleigh. The township named many people to be Overseers of Roads. It’s hard to say exactly what their responsibilities were. Most likely, they managed the work that was ordered by the Surveyors of Highways.
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