It has been a long time since I published my last installment in the saga of Raven Rock. The last post described Moses Quinby’s purchase of the 75 acres adjoining Bull’s Island. This one will discuss the millers Mahlon Cooper and Robert Curry, whose 10-acre mill lot was adjacent to the 75 acres and to Bull’s Island.
As the end of the 18th century approached, ownership of Raven Rock and Bull’s Island was changed from a single large landowner to multiple owners with different ways of exploiting the resources of the neighborhood.
Fishing rights in the Delaware River were legally transferable, and that gives us a hint of what was happening at Raven Rock and Bull’s Island in the 18th century. In 1782, Isaiah Quinby leased fishing rights in the Delaware River to various people. He may have done this before 1782, but this is the earliest record available.
John Ladd was one of the Quaker immigrants who came to West New Jersey in 1678. He was also on hand when William Penn was designing the layout of his new town of Philadelphia. Family tradition says that Penn offered him a choice of one of the best squares in the city or £30, and that Ladd chose the money, whereupon Penn said: “John thou art a ladd by name and a lad by nature, doesn’t thee know that Philadelphia will be a great city?” (Ah, Penn—such a joker.)
There has been some interest lately in finding a way to preserve the old Saxtonville Tavern in the village of Raven Rock. It is currently owned by the State of New Jersey under its Green Acres program. Sadly, this means it is unoccupied, which is one of the worst things that can happen to an old house. The State of New Jersey desperately needs a program of resident curators for its historic properties.
I came across a wonderful post about real names versus muppet names. Here’s the link to the webiste called Vast Public Indifference. And here are some examples of real names that could be muppet names:
In response to the previous post, Buzz Woods sent me a link to Emma Ten Broeck Runk’s massive genealogy of the Barcroft family, available on Google Books (here’s the link).
I have no idea how I missed this resource. Like most 19th century/early 20th century genealogists, she did not worry too much about citing sources, but considering the thousands of names and dates she provided, I hardly see how she could. This is just to say, it is a wonderful resource, but must be taken with a grain of salt.
I learned yesterday that the owners of the old Rake house on Sandbrook-Headquarters Road had taken down the remains of the house after it had been gutted by fire. This is disappointing, as it appeared that there was enough of the old stone walls to incorporate into a new building. Clearly not everyone sees the value in preserving such things. You can see a picture of the house and get the story of the fire here.
