It’s mid-October and my thoughts turn to cemeteries. Some time ago I published several articles on the cemeteries of Delaware Township on the “The Delaware Township Post.” I would like to publish them here on my website also, with any additions or corrections that occur to me. The following (somewhat expanded) was published on the Post on January 8, 2008.
James Wasse’s Surveys
Once again, Jerseyman has caught me by surprise. He has published a fascinating post relating to early maneuvering before the first Quaker settlers arrived in the Delaware River.
The blog is “History–Now and Then,” by “Jerseyman” and the post in question is The Best Laid Schemes o’Mice an’ Men, Gang aft Agley
Under instructions from the Quaker trustees, James Wasse and Richard Guy had a survey made by Richard Hancock, which was published by John Thornton and Robert Green and titled “A Mapp of Virginia Mary-land, New-Jarsey, New-York & New England,” probably around 1677 or 1678. It showed three designated areas for settlement, one being at “Bethlem” which became Gloucester, another called Antioch where Salem was located, and the third was 5000 acres at the Falls.
John Reading’s Diary
This past Saturday, a group of Reading descendants, who have joined together as “The Mount Amwell Project,” gathered in Sergeantsville for one of their regular meetings. I was honored to be asked to speak to the group, and took the opportunity to try out on them a first chapter to a history of Delaware Township that focused on John Reading and his discovery of “Mount Amwell.”
West New Jersey, 1689, Part Two
The Council of Proprietors’ Other Business
During their meetings held in 1688 and 1689, the Council of Proprietors was setting up rules for how surveys would be obtained, and naming registrars for Burlington and Gloucester counties, who were Samuel Jennings and John Reading, respectively. They did not act for Salem County because it was still under John Fenwick’s control. But there were other matters to attend to.
West New Jersey, 1689 – Part One
I read recently that whatever is on your mind when you’re falling asleep or washing the dishes or taking a walk is probably what is most important to you, and until you resolve whatever you are pondering, you can’t focus well on anything else. My particular distraction was moving my history office from Washington, DC to Sergeantsville, NJ. I simply could not think of anything else until the move was made. Now that I’ve arrived and unpacked, and have only some filing to do, my thoughts are returning to West New Jersey.
J. M. Hoppock: The Old Opdyke House
by Jonathan M. Hoppock
published July 27, 1905 in the Democrat-Advertiser
Benjamin Tyson’s Mill
Mr. Bush is seldom wrong but in this case the headline writer and Mr. Bush were both mistaken about disclosing the location of Tyson’s Mill, but certainly correct about the meagerness of the old records. For my version of this mill’s history, see Tyson’s Mill at Headquarters.
Tyson’s Mill at Headquarters
Modified from part of an article first published in The Delaware Township Post, July 21, 2006, as “A History of Headquarters Mill.”
John Opdycke sold Headquarters Mill to Joseph Howell in 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War. This was probably a shrewd decision on Opdycke’s part, since demand for flour would certainly drop off with the end of the war.
Who Saw George Washington?
The question of whether Washington actually visited Headquarters has bedeviled local historians for decades. The source of the controversy was Fanny Carrell, who was interviewed by Charles W. Opdycke, for his well-known Opdyke Genealogy sometime around 1880 [pg 218-19]. Frances ‘Fanny’ Opdycke was the wife of James Carrell, and he was the grandson of Elizabeth Opdycke Arnwine, daughter of old John Opdycke Esq.
The Great Seal of West Jersey
Back Track to 1687
While visiting the website “West Jersey and South Jersey Heritage,” I found this picture of the seal of West Jersey. It took me by surprise.