Fullwidth – Page 85 – GOODSPEED HISTORIES

April Fools! We’re Moving!

April 1, 2016 By Marfy Goodspeed in E. T. Bush, Hunterdon 1 Comment Tags: old ways

April Fools Day is a custom with a long history. Which makes it a dangerous day to move to a new home. And yet, that was the practice in Hunterdon County in the 19th century. Well, not always on that particular day, but close to it, as Egbert T. Bush attests. It seems that by winter’s end, everyone got restless and packed up their belongings to try living in another place.

A “Paradise Lost” for Fruit

March 25, 2016 By Marfy Goodspeed in E. T. Bush 4 Comments Tags: farming, flora and fauna

I recently came across a very moving obituary for Egbert T. Bush, written by Frank Burd, probably sometime in the 1970s. Burd had known Mr. Bush since his youth and was a relative of his. He informs us that Mr. Bush had always had an interest in fruit culture, especially fruit trees, which he pursued more deliberately once he acquired his farm in Sandy Ridge, which he bought from Wesley Rockafellow in 1892.

The Amwell Church of the Brethren

March 18, 2016 By Marfy Goodspeed in Amwell Twp, Delaware Twp, Hunterdon 15 Comments Tags: churches

There is a small church in Delaware Township with a very long history. It is known as the Amwell Church of the Brethren, sometimes called the Dunkard Church for its practice of adult baptism. It seems to be a sort of outlier, quite different from the major religious groups who first appeared in Hunterdon County. Those were Quaker, Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican (Episcopalian), Lutheran, Methodist, German Calvinist, and Dutch Reformed. They all had congregations throughout the county and hundreds of worshippers. But the Brethren church didn’t even have a church building until 1811, and never grew to any great size, despite two spin-off churches. And yet, it has endured for 283 years. Although that is a long time, there are eight church in Hunterdon County that were founded before 1733. They are: