{"1": {"fulltext": "iiiaiMiifiii ii BlilPI iSK^\\nF 142\\n.C2B4", "height": "3370", "width": "2101", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "Key\\nV\\\\^", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "Wyy_ v^:/... v^-./...\\\\", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3286", "width": "1856", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3266", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "SKETCH\\n:e^x0\\n(O^lPl III (BiMfT\\nTO ACCOIIPANY THE\\n^t0l0gical gl^prt 0f t\\\\t ^Mt at gtto |erstg\\nFOR SAID COUNTY.\\nBY MAURICE BEESLEY, M.D\\nTRENTON:\\nPRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE TRUE AMERICAN\\n1857.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "5j", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "3/^\\nSKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY\\nOF THE\\nCOUNTY OF CAPE MAY\\nBY MAURICE BEESLEY, M. D.\\nThe difficulties to be encountered in making a historical sketch\\nof the County of Cape May, are perhaps as great, if not greater,\\nthan will be found in any other county of our State. Isolated as\\nit was in early times from the upper districts of the Province, and\\nwith a sparse population, we find no material to consult, except a\\nmeagre court record; hence the inquirer is compelled to seek from\\nmusty manuscripts and books in other places, a goodly portion of\\nthe little that has escaped oblivion, in the vista of years gone by,\\nand that little must necessarily be made up of scraps and fragments\\nwhich owe their interest, if any they have, more to their intrinsic\\nworth, than to the skill bestowed upon their arrangement.\\nOrder cannot come out of chaos and any attempt to make a con-\\nnected history, with the resources at hand, would end in disappoint-\\nment. Being partially surrounded by water, without a roadstead\\nor harbor to invite the hardy pioneers who first visited the Delaware,\\nto sojourn and rest upon her shores, she was passed by to more\\ninviting regions, on its waters above, where ships could find refuge\\nfrom winds and storms and man, in his inherent thirst for dominion\\nand power, could secure the virgin soil of the country, in extent", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "160 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nand proportions, and upon terms so inconsiderable, as to fill up the\\nfull measure of his desires, and gratify his ambitious and venture-\\nsome propensities.\\nAfter the most careful investigation and patient research in the\\nState and County archives, and the early as well as the more recent\\nchronicles of our past history, we find no data to prove that Cape May\\nwas 2^ositivel^ inhabited until the year 1685, when Caleb Carman\\nwas appointed, by the Legislature, a justice of the peace, and Jona-\\nthan Pine, constable.*\\nThese were independent appointments, as Cape May was not\\nunder the jurisdiction of the Salem Tenth. This simple fact, how-\\never, that the appointment of a justice and constable for the place,\\nwas necessary, goes to prove that there were inhabitants here at\\nthis time yet whence they came, in what number, or how long they\\nhud sojourned, are inquiries that will most probably ever remain in\\nmystery and doubt. Fen wick made his entry into New Salem,\\nin 1675, and soon after extinguished the Indian title from the Dela-\\nware to Prince Maurice River.f He made no claim and exercised\\nno dominion over Cape May and we have nothing to show at the\\ntime of his arrival, that the country from Salem to the sea-shore\\nwas other than one primeval and unbroken forest, with ample na-\\ntural productions by sea and land, to make it the happy home\\nof the red man, where he could roam, free and unmolested, in the\\nenjoyment of privileges and blessings, which the strong arm of\\ndestiny soon usurped and converted to ulterior purposes.\\nGordon, in his history of New Jersey, says Emigrants from New\\nHaven settled on the left shores of the Delaware so early as 1640,\\nsome of whose descendants may probably be found in Salem, Cum-\\nberland, and Cape May counties.\\nAs far as regards Cape May, we have no tradition of any such\\nsettlement. History tells us that Hudson, in the Half-Moon, en-\\ntered the Delaware Bay, the 28th August, 1609, but finding the\\nLearning Spicer s collection. f Johnson s Salem, p. 13.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY, 161\\nwater shoal, and the channel impeded by bars of sand, he did not\\nventure to explore it.\\nOn the 5th of May, 1630, a purchase of sixteen miles square,\\nwas made at Cape May, for Samuel Godyn and Samuel Bloemart,\\nof nine resident Chiefs. This tract was purchased by Peter Heyser,\\nSkipper of the ship Whale, and Giles Coster, commissary. It was\\nprobably the first purchase of the natives within the limits of New\\nJersey at least it is the first upon record, and was made for and\\nin behalf of the Dutch West India Company.\\nThe renowned Capt. Cornelius Jacobese Mey, visited our shores,\\nand explored Delaware Bay in 1623, and to him the County of Cape\\nMay is indebted for a name. He built Fort Nassau, at Timber\\nCreek, the site of which is now unknown. f\\nDavid Pieterson de Vries was the next pioneer to the New World.\\nHe entered Delaware Bay in 1631, and first landed at Hoorekill,\\nnear Cape Henlopen. He left a colony there; but on his re-\\nturn the succeeding year, found they had been massacred by the\\nsavages. Finding the whale fishery unsuccessful, he hastened hia\\ndeparture, and, with the other colonists, proceeded to Holland by\\nthe way of Fort Amsterdam, (New York). Thus, says Gordon, at\\nthe expiration of twenty years from the discovery of the Delaware\\nby Hudson, not a single European remained upon its shores, De\\nVries, in his journal, says, March 29th, 1633, found that our peo-\\nple has caught seven whales we could have done more if we had\\ngood harpoons, for they had struck seventeen fish and only saved\\nseven.\\nAn immense flight of wild pigeons in April, obscuring the sky.\\nThe 14th, sailed over to Cape May, where the coast trended E. N. E.\\nand S. W. Came at evening to the mouth of Egg Harbor found\\nbetween Cape May and Egg Harbor a slight sand beach, full of\\nsmall, low sand hills. Egg Harbor is a little river or kill, and in-\\nside the land is broken, and within the bay are several small is-\\nMulford s K J. p. 58 Gordon. Mickle s Reminiscenees.\\n11", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "162 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nlands. Somewhere further up, in the same direction, is a beautiful\\nhigh wood. This was probably Somer s or Beesley s Point, clothed\\nin its primitive growth of timber.\\nAbout 1641, Cape May was again purchased by Swedish agenta,\\na short time before the arrival of the Swedish governor, Printz,\\nat Tinicum. This conveyance included all lands from Cape May\\nto Narriticon, or Raccoon Creek.*\\nCampanius, a Swedish minister, who resided in New Sweden, on\\nthe banks of the Delaware, from the year 1642 to 48, says, page 46,\\nCape May lies in latitude 38\u00c2\u00b0 30 To the south of it, there are\\nthree sand banks, parallel to each other, and it is not safe to sail\\nbetween them. The safest course is to steer between them and\\nCape May, between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. But for this\\naccount, these sand-banks could only have existed in the imagina-\\ntion, as there have been none there within the memory of man.\\nJohnson in his sketch of Salem, says The Baptist church at Cape\\nMay took its origin from a vessel which put in there from England,\\nin 1675. He evidently obtained this from Benedict s History\\nof the Baptists, who makes the same assertion, viz The founda-\\ntion of this church was laid in the year 1675, when a company of\\nemigrants arrived from England, some of whom settled at Cape\\nMay. Amongst these were two Baptists, George Taylor and\\nPhilip Hill.\\nIt is most likely, as Mr. Benedict gives us no references for the\\nabove statements, that an error has been made in tlie date, as no\\nrecord of the chu^-^h here is to be found prior to 1711 and, a3\\nbefore stated, no fact to prove that our county was inhabited until\\n1686.\\nThe first will and inventory on file in the Secretary s office, at\\nTrenton, from Cape May, is that of John Story, dated the 28th\\nof the ninth month, 1687. He was a Friend, and left his personal\\nestate, amounting to \u00c2\u00a3110, to his wife, having no heirs. The next\\nMickle, p. SS.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 163\\nwere those of Abraham Weston, November 24th, 1687, and John\\nBriggs, in 1690. In April, May, and June, 1691, John Worlidge\\nand John Budd, from Burlington, came down the bay in a vessel,* and\\nlaid a number of proprietary rights, commencing at Cohansey, and\\nso on to Cape May. They set off the larger proportion of this county,\\nconsisting of 95,000 acres, to Dr. Daniel Coxe, of London, who had\\nlarge proprietary rights in West Jersey. This was the first actual\\nproprietary survey made in the county. In the copy of the ori-\\nginal draft of these surveys, and of the county of Cape May, made\\nby David Jameison, in 1713, from another made by Lewis Morris,\\nin 1706, (which draft is now in my possession, and was presented\\nby William Griffith, Escj., of Burlington, to Thomas Beesley, of\\nCape May, in 1812,) Egg Island, near the mouth of Maurice Biver,\\nis laid off to Thomas Budd, for three hundred acres. Since this\\nsurvey was made, the attrition of the waters has destroyed almost\\nevery vestige of it scarcely enough remaining to mark the spot\\nof its former magnitude. Upon this map likewise is laid down\\nCape May Town, at Town Bank on the Bay shore, the residence\\nof the whalers, consisting of a number of dwellings and a short\\ndistance above it we find Dr. Coxe s Hall, with a spire, on Coxehall\\nCreek, a name yet retained by the inhabitants. As no other build-\\nings or improvements are noted upon this map, than those above\\nmentioned, it is to be presumed there were but few, if any, existing\\nexcept them, at this day. The only attraction then was the whale\\nfishery and the small town of fifteen or twenty houses marked upon\\nthis map, upon the shore of Town Bank in close contiguity, would\\nlead us to infer that those adventurous spirits, who came for that\\npurpose, preferred in the way of their profession to be near each\\nother, and to make common stock in their operations of harpoon-\\ning, in which, according to Thomas and others, they seemed to be\\neminently successful.\\nDr. Coxe, in his capacity as proprietor, continued to be ac-\\nJ. Townsend s Manuscript.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "164 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\ntively concerned in the management of business anterior to the\\nsurrender extensive purchases of land were made by him of the\\nnatives, and these agreements were assented to by the Council of\\nProprietors. These several purchases of the natives were made\\nand dated, respectively, on the 30th March, 30th April, and 16th\\nMay, 1688. They were laid in the southern part of the province,\\nincluding part of the present counties of Cumberland and Cape\\nMay. Either disheartened by the difficulties he had experienced, or\\ntempted by an offer that would cover the disbursements he had made,\\nCoxe resolved upon a sale of the whole of his interest in this province.\\nHe accordingly made an agreement, in the year 1691, with a body\\ncomposed of forty-eight persons, designated by the name of the\\nWest Jersey Society. To this company, on the 20th January,\\n1692, the whole of the claim of Dr. Coxe, both as to government\\nand property, was conveyed, he receiving therefor the sum of\\n,\u00c2\u00a39000. This sale opened a new era to the people of Cape May.\\nAs no land titles had been obtained under the old regime of the\\nproprietors, except five conveyances from George Taylor, f as agent\\nfor Dr. Coxe, the West Jersey Society became a medium through\\nwhich they could select and locate the choice of the lands, at prices\\ncorresponding with the means and wishes of the purchaser.\\nThe society, through their agents appointed in the county, con-\\ntinued to make sales of land during a period of sixty-four years of\\ntheir having possession at the end of which time, in 1756, having\\nconveyed a large proportion of their interest, they sold the balance\\nto Jacob Spicer the second, for \u00c2\u00a3300. The title is now nearly\\nextinct.\\nIt has been handed down, that Spicer obtained the grant for the\\nproprietary right in Cape May, of Dr. Johnson, agent of the So-\\nciety at Perth Amboy, at a time when the influence of the wine\\nbottle had usurped the place of reason, or he could not have ob-\\ntained it for so inconsiderable a sum as three hundred pounds and\\nMulford, 264, 6. t Cape May Records.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 165\\nthat the Doctor, sensible he had betrayed the trust rei^osed in him,\\nleft the society at his death a thousand pounds as a salvo.\\nAs history throws no light on the original occupiers of the soil,\\nconjecture only can be consulted on the subject. It would seem\\nprobable, in as much as many of the old Swedish names, as recorded\\nin Campanius, from E.udman, are still to be found in Cumberland\\nand Cape May, that some of the veritable Swedes of Tinicum or\\nChristiana might have strayed, or have been driven to our shores.\\nWhen the Dutch governor, Stuyvesant, ascended the Delaware in\\n1654, with his seven ships and seven hundred men, and subjected\\nthe Swedes to his dominion, it would be easy to imagine, in their\\nmortification and chagrin at a defeat so bloodless and unexpected,\\nthat many of them should fly from the arbitrary sway of their\\nrulers, and seek an asylum where they could be free to act for them-\\nselves, without restraint or coercion from the stubbornness of myn-\\nheer, whose victory, though easily obtained, was permanent, as the\\nprovincial power of New Sweden had perished for ever.\\nMaster Evelin s letter in Plantagenet s New Albion,* dated 1648,\\nsays I thought good to write unto you my knowledge, and first\\nto describe to you the north side of Delaware unto Hudson s River,\\nin Sir Edmund s patent called New Albion, which lieth between\\nNew England and Maryland, and that ocean sea. I take it to be\\nabout 160 miles. I find some broken land, isles and inlets, and many\\nsmall isles at Eg Bay but going to Delaware Bay by Cape May,\\nwhich is twenty-four miles at most, and is, I understand, very well\\nset out and printed in Captain Powell s map of New England, done\\nas is told me by a draft I gave to Mr. Daniel, the plotmaster, which\\nhe Edmund saith you have at home on that north side (of Cape\\nMay) about five miles within is a port or rode for any ships, called\\nthe Nook, and within liveth the king of Kechemeches, having, as I\\nsuppose, about fifty men. I do account all these Indians to be\\neight hundred, and are in several factions and war against the Sar-\\nPhiladelphia Library.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "166 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nquehanncoks, and are all extreame fearful of a gun, naked and un\\narmed against our shot, swords and pikes. I had some bickering\\nwith some of them, and they are of so little esteem that I durst\\nwith fifteen men sit down or trade in despite of them. I saw there\\nan infinite quantity of bustards, swans, geese and fowl, covering\\nthe shores, as within the like multitude of pigeons and store of\\nturkeys, of which I tried one to weigh forty and six pounds. There\\nis much variety and plenty of delicate fresh and sea fish and shell-\\nfish, and whales and grampus, elks, deere that bring three young at\\na time.\\nHe further says, Twelve hundred Indians under the Raritan\\nkings, on the south side next to Hudson s River, and those come\\ndown to the ocean about Little Eg Bay, and Sandy Barnegate,\\nand about the South Cape two small Kings of forty men a piece\\ncalled Tirans and Tiascons.\\nIt would seem from the above description given by Master Eve-\\nlin, that he actually visited this part of the country at that early\\nday, and made the circuit of Cape May.\\nThe name of Egg Bay has been perpetuated with but little vari-\\nation, and the many small isles that he speaks of, yet stand there\\nin testimony of his having seen them as stated, in propria persona.\\nNow where it was the king of Kechemeches with his fifty men held\\nforth, it would be difficult to ascertain it might have been at Town\\nBank, or Fishing Creek, or further up the cove or nook, as he\\nwas pleased to call it. Master Evelin must certainly have the\\ncredit of being the first white man that explored the interior, as far\\nas the seaboard, and his name should be perpetuated as the king\\nof pioneers. His account of the great abundance and\\nvariety of fowl and fish seems within the range of probability, and\\nthe story of the turkey that weighed forty-six pounds, would have\\nless of the couleur de rose were it not qualified in the same para-\\ngraph, with deere that bring forth three young at a time. And\\nwhat a sight it must have been to see the woods and plains teeming", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 167\\nwith wild animals, the shores and waters with fowl in every variety,\\nwhere they had existed unharmed and unmolested through an un-\\nknown period of years and the magnificent forest, the stately and\\ntowering cedar swamp, untouched by the axe of the despoiler, all\\nreveling in the beauties of Nature in her pristine state, the reali-\\nties of which the imagination, only, can convey an impression, or\\ngive a foretaste of the charms and novelties of those primeval\\ntimes.\\nGabriel Thomas, in his history of West Jersey in 1698, gives us\\nthe following particulars, viz Prince Maurice River is where the\\nSwedes used to kill the geese in great numbers for their feathers\\n(only), leaving their carcasses behind them. Cohansey River, by\\nwhich they send great store of cedar to Philadelphia city. Great\\nEgg Harbor (up which a ship of two or three hundred tons may\\nsail), which runs by the back part of the country into the main sea\\nI call it back, because the first improvements made by the Christians\\nwas Delaware river-side. This place is noted for good store of corn,\\nhorses, cows, sheep, hogs the lands thereabouts being much im-\\nproved and built upon. Little Egg Harbor Creek, which takes their\\nnames from the great abundance of Eggs which the swans, geese,\\nducks, and other wild fowls of those rivers lay thereabouts. The\\ncommodities of Cape May County are oyl and whalebone, of which\\nthey make prodigious quantities every year having mightily ad-\\nvanced that great fishery, taking great numbers of whales yearly.\\nThis county, for the general part of it, is extraordinary good and\\nproper for the raising of all sorts of cattell, very plentiful here, as\\ncows, horses, sheep, and hogs, c. Likewise, it is well stored with\\nfruits which make very good and pleasant liquors^ such as neigh-\\nbouring country before mentioned affords.\\nOldmixon, 1708, says The tract of land between this (Cape\\nMay) and Little Egg -Harbor, which divides East and West New\\nJersey, goes by the name of Cape May County. Here are several\\nstragling houses on this neck of land, the chief of which is Cox s", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "168 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nHall but there s yet no Town. Most of the inhabitants are fisher-\\nmen, there being a whalery at the mouth of the Bay, on this as\\nv-eW as the opposite shore.\\nCape May County, by an Act of Assembly on the 12th day of\\nNovember, 1692, was instituted as follows, viz: Whereas, this\\nProvince hath formerly been divided into three counties for the\\nbetter regulation thereof; and whereas Cape May (being a place\\nwell situated for trade) begins to increase to a considerable number\\nof families and there being no greater encouragement to the settle-\\nment of a place than that there be established therein an order by\\ngoverniiient, and justice duly administered Be it therefore enacted\\nby the Governor, Council, and Representatives in this present As-\\nsembly met and assembled, and by the authority of the same, that\\nfrom henceforth Cape May shall be, and is hereby appointed a\\nCounty, the bounds whereof to begin at the utmost flowing of the\\ntide in Prince Maurice River, being about twenty miles from the\\nmouth of said river, and then by a line running easterly to the most\\nnortherly point of Great Egg Harbor, and from thence southerly\\nalong by the sea to the point of Cape May thence around Cape\\nMay, and up Maurice River to the first point mentioned and that\\nthere be nominated and appointed such and so many justices and\\nother officers, as at present may be necessary for keeping the peace,\\nand trying of small causes under forty shillings. In which circum-\\nstance the same county shall remain until it shall appear they are\\ncapable of being erected into a County Court and in case of any\\naction, whether civil or criminal, the same to be heard and deter-\\nmined at the quarterly sessions in Salem County, with liberty for\\nthe Justices of the County of Cape May, in conjunction with the\\nJustices of Salem County, in every such action in judgment to sit,\\nand with them to determine the same.\\nThe time and place of holding the county elections were likewise\\ndirected, and the number of representatives that each was entitled\\nto: Burlington to have 20, Gloucester 20, Salem 10, and Cape", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 169\\nMay 5 members. Cape May continued to have five members until\\nthe time of the surrender in 1702, except in the year 1697, when\\nshe was reduced to one representative. No record, however, of the\\nnames of the members previous to 1702 has come to light.\\nAct of Oct. 3d, 1693 Whereas it has been found expedient to\\nerect Cape May into a County, the bounds whereof at the last ses-\\nsion of this Assembly have been ascertained and conceiving it also\\nreasonable the inhabitants thereof shall partake of what privilidges\\n(under their circumstances) they are capable of, with the rest of the\\ncounties in this Province, and having (upon enquiry) received satis-\\nfaction that there is a sufficient number of inhabitants within the\\nsaid county to keep and hold a County Court, in smaller matters\\nrelating to civil causes Be it enacted by the Governor, Council,\\nand Representatives in Assembly met and assembled, and by au-\\nthority thereof, that the inhabitants of the County of Cape May shall\\nand may keep and hold four county courts yearly, viz on the third\\nTuesday of December, 3d March, 3d June, and 3d of September\\nall which courts the Justices commissioned, and to be commissioned\\nin the said county, shall and may hear and try, according to law, all\\ncivil actions within the said county under the sum of .\u00c2\u00a320. All\\nabove the sum of \u00c2\u00a320 were still to be tried at Salem.\\nThe same Assembly passed the following, viz\\nWhereas the whaling in Delaware Bay has been in so great a\\nmeasure invaded by strangers and foreigners, that the greatest part\\nof oyl and bone received and got by that employ, hath been exported\\nout of the Province to the great detriment thereof Be it enacted,\\nthat any one killing a whale or whales in Delaware Bay, or on its\\nshores, to pay the value of y q- of the oyl to the governor of the\\nProvince.\\nIn 1697 all restriction was removed from the courts in civil cases,\\nand the same immunities and privileges were granted as were en-\\njoyed by the courts within the several counties of the Province.\\nIn the same year. May 12, 1697, An Act for a road to and\\nfrom Cape May was passed.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "170 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nWhereas the inhabitants of Cape May County do represent\\nthemselves as under extreme hardship for want of a road from Cape\\nMay, through their county to Cohansey, in order to their repair to\\nBurlington to attend the public service Be it enacted by the\\nGovernor, c., that George Taylor ^and John Crafford, be commis-\\nsioners appointed to lay out a road from Cape May the most conve-\\nnient to lead to Burlington, between this and the 10th day of Sep-\\ntember next.\\nIt was ordered likewise that the expense be borne by the inhabit-\\nants of Cape May until such time as those lands through which the\\nroad goes are settled. This road, so important to the convenience\\nand travel of the people of the county, was not finished till 1707.\\nPrior to this the county was completely isolated from the upper\\ndistricts of the State by the extensive bed of cedar swamps and\\nmarshes stretching from the head-waters of Cedar Swamp Creek to\\nthe head-waters of Dennis Creek, and no communication could have\\nbeen held with Cohansey or Burlington except by the waters of\\nthe Delaware, or by horse-paths through the swamps that consti-\\ntuted the barrier.\\nBy the Act of the 21st January, 1710,* the county of Cape May\\nwas reduced to its present bounds, viz Beginning at the mouth\\nof a small creek on the west side of Stipson s Island, called Jecak s\\nCreek thence up the same as high as the tide floweth thence\\nalong the bounds of Salem County to the southernmost main branch\\nof Great Egg Harbor Kiver thence down the said river to the sea\\nthence along the sea-coast to Delaware Bay, and so up the said\\nBay to the place of beginning.\\nIt seems the inhabitants on the western side of Maurice Kiver,\\nthe Cape May boundary, were without any legal control until\\n1707, t when an act was passed annexing the inhabitants between\\nthe river Tweed, now Back Creek (being the lower bounds of Salem\\nCounty), and the bounds of Cape May County to Salem County.\\nPatterson s Laws. Smith s N. J.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 171\\nputting them under its jurisdiction. The act of 1710 extends\\nSalem County, and curtails Cape May County, to Stipson s Island,\\nor West Creek.\\nThe first town meeting for public business was held at the house\\nof Benjamin Godfrey, on the 7th of February, 1692.* The com-\\nmissions for Justices and Sheriff were proclaimed, and George\\nTaylor^was appointed clerk. The first suit on record is for\\nassault and battery; Oliver Johnson against John Carman.\\nThe second, John Jarvis is accused by George Taylor of helpinc\\nthe Indians to rum. William Johnson deposeth and saith, that\\nhe came into the house of the said Jarvis, and he found Indians\\ndrinking rum, and one of the said Indians gave of the said rum to\\nthe said Johnson, and he drank of it with them. The said Jarvis\\nrefusing to clear himself, was convicted.\\nAs early as 1692,t a ferry was established by law, over Great\\nEgg Harbor River, at the place now called Beesley s Point, a proof\\nthere must have been inhabitants upon both sides of the river, and\\ncontiguous to it at that period.\\nThe original settlers, or those who were here previous to the year\\n1700, were principally attracted (as the authors heretofore quoted\\nsufficiently corroborate) by the inducements held out by the whale\\nfishery and Long Island supplied the principal proportion of those\\nwho came prior to that time. The names of those who were Tcnoivn\\nto be whalers,! were Christopher Leamyeng and his son Thomas,\\nCsesar Hoskins, Samuel Matthews, Jonathan Osborne, Nathaniel\\nShort, Cornelius Skellinks, Henry Stites, Thomas Hand and his\\nsons John and George, John and Caleb Carman, John Shaw, _\\nThomas Miller, William Stillwell, Hum phrey Hew es. William Ma-\\nson, John Richardson, Ebenezer Swain, Henry Young; and no\\ndoubt many others.\\nThe jaw-bone of a whale, ten feet long, was recently found a few\\nrods from the shore at Town Bank, by Thomas P. Hughes, the pro-\\nCape May Kecords. f Learning Spicer s Collection.\\nX Secretary s office, Trenton Cape May records.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "172 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nprietor, partly imbedded in the sand, which has probably lain there\\nsince the time of the whalers.\\nFirst Court.\\nAt a Court held at Portsmouth (supposed to be Town Bank or\\nCape May Town) on the 20th March, 1693, which is the first of\\nwhich we have any record, the following oflScers were present,\\nviz Justices John Wolredge, Jeremiah Bass, John Jervis, Jo-\\nseph Houlden, and Samuel Crowel. Sheriff Timothy Brandreth.\\nClerk George Taylor. Grand Jury Shamgar Hand, Thomas\\nHand, William Goulden, Samuel Matthews, John Townsend, Wil-\\nliam Whitlock, Jacob Dayton, Oliver Johnson, Christopher Leayeman,\\nArthur Cresse, Ezekiel Eldredge, William Jacocks, John Carman,\\nJonathan Pine, Caleb Carman, John Reeves, and Jonathan Foreman.\\nA rule of Court passed, the grand jury shall have their dinner\\nallowed them at the county charge a rule that would seem reason-\\nable at the present day, when grand jurors have to pay their own\\nbills and serve the county gratis.\\nTheir charge being given them, the grand jury find it necessary\\nthat a road be laid out, most convenient for the king and county,\\nand so far as one county goeth, we are willing to clear a road for\\ntravelers to pass. John Townsend and Arthur Cresse appointed\\nAssessors; Timothy Brandreth, Collector; Shamgar Hand, :ZVea-\\nsurer Samuel Matthews and William Johnson, Supervisors of the\\nRoad and John Somers for Egg Harbor. At same Court, John\\nSomers was appointed Constable for Great Egg Harbor. The\\nCourt likewise orders that no person shall sell liquor without a\\nlicense, and that \u00c2\u00a340 be raised by tax to defray expenses, with a\\nproviso that produce should be taken at money price in payment.\\nThe above appointment by the Court of John Somers for Supervisor\\nThis is supposed to be the same Jeremiah Bass who was agent for the West Jersey\\nSociety in 1694 and 5, for Cape May, at which time ho resided at Cohansey, and next year\\nat Burlington was appointed governor of the State in 169S, and departed for England\\nin 1699. [Mulford, 261.] A Jeremiah Bass figured at Salem from 1710 to 1716, as an\\nattorney and a member of the Legislature from Cape May, from 1717 to 1723 but whether\\nthe same, or a relative, is uncertain.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nio\\nof the roads and Constable for Great Egg Harbor, confirms the\\nopinion advanced by Mickle (page 38) that the County of Glouces-\\nter did not originally reach to the ocean, and that the inhabitants\\nof the seaboard, or Great Egg Harbor, were under the jurisdiction\\nof Cape May. The act of 1694, however, made them dependent\\nupon Gloucester, and that of 1710 extended the County of Glouces-\\nter to the ocean. A passage from Oldmixon, 1708, heretofore\\nquoted, that Cape May County extended to Little Egg Harbor at\\nthat time, is evidently incorrect.\\nThe following named persons purchased of the Agents of Dr. Cox\\nand the West Jersey Society, mostly previous to 1696, some few as\\nearly as 1689, the number of acres attached to their respective names,\\nviz\\nChristopher Leamyeng 204\\nWilliam Jacoks, 340\\nAbigail Pine, 200\\nHumphrey Hughes, 206\\nSamuel Matthews, r^ 175\\nJonathan Osborne, 110\\nNathaniel Short, 200\\nCaesar Hoskins, 250\\nShamgar Hand, 700\\nJoseph Weldon, (Whilldin), 150\\nJoseph Houlding, 200\\nDorothy Hewit 340\\n--Thomas Hand, 400\\nJohn Taylor,./-. 220\\nJohn Curwith, 55\\nJohn Shaw, 2 surveys, 315\\nTimothy Brandreth, 110\\nJohn Crawford, 380\\nEzekiel Eldridge 90\\nWilliam Mason, 150\\nHenry Stites, 200\\nCornelius Skellinks, 134\\nJohn Richardson, 124\\nArthur Cresse, 350\\nPeter Causon, 400\\nJohn Causon, 300\\nJohn Townsend, 640\\nWm. Golden Rem Garretson, ..1016\\nWilliam Johnson, ,f. 436\\nJohn Page, 125\\nJohn Parsons, 315\\nWilliam Smith, 130\\nGeorge Taylor, 175\\nV Dennis Lynch, 300\\nWilliam Whitlock, 50O\\nJacob Spicer, 2 surveys, lOOO\\nBenjamin Godfrey, 210\\nRandal Hewit, 140\\nElizabeth Carman, 300\\nOliver Russel, 170\\nSamuel Crowell, 226 John Reeves, 100\\nJohn Carman, 250 Benjamin Hand, 373\\nThomas Gandy, 50 James Stanfield 100\\nCaleb Carman 250\\nTrenton Cape May Records.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "174\\nEARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nSome few of the above locations were made on the sea-shore but\\nthe larger proportion of them in the lower part of the county. In\\naddition to those who located land previous to 1700, on the fore-\\ngoing page, the following-named persons had resided, and were then\\nresiding in the county, many of whom possessed land by secondary\\npurchase.*\\nThomas Leamyeng\\nAlexander Humphries\\nJohn Briggs\\n^Abraham Hand\\n-Shamgar Hand, Jr.\\n^Benjamin Hand, Jr.\\nDaniel Johnson\\nOliver Johnson\\nWilliam Harwood\\nJacob Dayton\\nRichard Haroo\\nJonathan Crossle\\nWilliam Lake\\nTheirs Raynor\\nThomas Matthews\\nWilliam Stillwell\\nJohn Cresse\\nMorris Raynor\\nJoshua Howell\\nArthur Cresse, Jr.\\nWilliam Blackburry\\nDaniel Carman\\nJoseph Knight\\nJohn Stillwell\\nJohn Else\\nJohn Steele\\nThomas Hand\\nJoseph Ludlam, Sen.\\nAnthony Ludlam\\nJonathan Pine\\nJohn Wolredge\\nJohn Jervis\\nJonathan Foreman\\nThomas Goodwin\\nJonathan High\\nEdward Howell\\nGeorge Crawford\\nJoseph Badcock\\nWilliam Dean\\nRichard Jones\\nJohn Howell\\nThomas Stanford\\nGeorge Noble\\nJohn Wolly\\nPeter Cartwright\\nAbraham Smith\\nJohn Hubard\\nThomas Miller\\nRobert Crosby\\nJohn Fish\\nLubbart Gilberson\\nEdward Marshall\\nState and County Records.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\n175\\nJames Cresse\\nWilliam Simpkins\\nThomas Goodwin\\nThomas Clifton\\nJoshua Carman\\nWilliam Duboldy\\nJames Marshall\\nJohn Baily\\nWilliam Richardson\\nThomas Foster\\nThomas Hewit\\nGeorge Taylor, Jr.~\\nJohn Dennis\\nIsaac Hand\\nDaniel Hand\\nJeremiah Hand\\nJoseph Hand\\nThomas Bancroft\\nEdward Summis\\nHenry Gray\\nAbraham Weston\\nThomas Going\\nJonathan Edmunds\\nNicholas Martineau\\nJohn Garlick\\nSamuel Matthews, Jr.\\nWilliam Shaw\\nRobert French\\nJeremiah Miller\\nZebulon Sharp\\nWilliam Sharwood\\nJohn Story\\nRichard Townsend\\nRobert Townsend\\nThe following is from the manuscript of Thomas Leaming, one\\nof the early pioneers, who died in 1723, aged 49 years.\\nIn July, 1674, I was born in Southampton on Long Island.\\nWhen I was eighteen years of age (1692) I came to Cape May,\\nand that winter had a sore fit of the fever and flux. The next summer\\nI went to Philadelphia with my father Christopher, who was lame\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2with a withered hand, which held him till his death. The winter\\nfollowing, I went a whaling, and we got eight whales and five of\\nthem we drove to the Hoarkills, and we went there to cut them up,\\nand staid a month. The 1st day of May we came home to Cape\\nMay, and my father was very sick, and the third day, 1695, de-\\nparted this life at the house of Shamgar Hand. Then I went to\\nLong Island, staid that summer, and in the winter I went a whaling\\nagain, and got an old cow and a calf. In 1696, I went to whaling\\nagain, and made a great voyage and in 1697, I worked for John\\nReeves all summer, and in the winter, went to whaling again. In", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "176 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\n1698, worked for John Crawford and on my own land and that\\nwinter had a sore fit of sickness at Henry Stites and in the year\\n1700, I lived at my own plantation and worked for Peter Corson.\\nI was married in 1701 and 1703 I went to Cohansie, and fetched\\nbrother Aaron. In 1706, I built my house. Samuel Matthews\\ntook a horse from me worth \u00c2\u00a37, because I could not train. In\\n1707, we made the county road.\\nAccording to the same author, in the winter of 1713-14, the\\ncounty came near being depopulated by a grievous sickness,\\nV V which carried off between forty and fifty of the inhabitants. The\\nV\\\\o disease came on with pain in the side, breast, and sometimes in the\\nY^^back, navel, tooth, eye, hand, feet, legs, or ear. Amongst the\\nvictims were Nicholas Stillwell, Arthur Cresses, Sen. and Jr., Reu-\\nben Swain, Richard Smith, Samuel Garr^tson, Cornelius Hand,\\nJoseph Hewit, William Shaw,* John Reeves, Richard Fortesque,\\nJohn Stillwell, James Garretson, Return^. Hand, John Foreman,\\nJedediah Hughes, John Matthews, Daniel Wells, and over twenty\\nothers. It can scarcely be conjectured from the above recital of\\nsymptoms, what the true character of the disease could have been.\\nIt was a severe retribution in a population of some two or three\\nhundred and Providence alone, who saw proper to afflict, can solve\\nthe mystery.\\nFrom second Aaron Leaming s manuscript\\nMy father s father, Christopher Learning, was an Englishman,\\nand came to America in 1670, and landed near or at Boston thence\\nto East Hampton. There he lived till about the year 1691, and\\nthen leaving his family at Long Island, he came himself to Cape\\nMay, which, at that time, was a new county, and beginning to settle\\nvery fast, and seemed to promise good advantages to the adven-\\nturers. Here he went to whaling in the proper season, and at other\\ntimes worked at the cooper s trade, which was his occupation, and\\ngood at the time by reason of the great number of whales caught in\\nAaron Learning first, afterward married his widow.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 177\\nthose days, made the demand and pay for casks certain. He died\\nof a pleurisie in 1696. His remains were interred at the place\\ncalled Cape May Town, was situated next above now New England\\nTown Creek, and contained about thirteen houses but, on the\\nfailure of the whale fishery in Delaware Bay, it dwindled into com-\\nmon farms, and the grave-yard is on the plantation now owned by\\nEbenezer Newton. At the first settlement of the county, the chief\\nwhaling was in Delaware Bay, and that occasioned the town to be\\nbuilt there but there has not been one house in that town since\\nmy remembrance. In 1734 I saw the graves; Samuel Eldredge\\nshowed them to me. They were then about fifty rods from the\\nBay, and the sand was blown to them. The town was between\\nthem and the water. There were then some signs of the ruin of\\nthe houses. I never saw any East India tea till 1735. It was the\\nPresbyterian parsons, the followers of Whitefield, that brought it into\\nuse at Cape May, about the year 1744-5-6; and now it im-\\npoverisheth the country.\\nAaron Learning (the first), of the County of Cape May, departed\\nthis life at Philadelphia, of a pleurisie, on the 20th June, 1746,\\nabout five o clock in the afternoon. He was born at Sag, near East-\\nhampton, on Long Island, Oct. 12th, 1687, being the son of Chris-\\ntopher Leamyeng (as he spelt his name), an Englishman, and Hester\\nhis wife, whose maiden name was Burnet, and was born in New\\nEngland. Christopher Leamyeng owned a lot at Easthampton, but\\nhe came to Cape May, being a cooper, and stayed several years and\\nworked at his trade; and about 1695-6 he died at Cape May, and\\nhis land fell to Thomas Leamyeng, his eldest son the rest was left\\npoor.\\nAaron Leaming was bound to Collins, a shoemaker in Connecticut,\\nbut did not serve his time out, and came into the Jerseys at about\\nsixteen years of age, very poor, helpless, and friendless embraced\\nthe Quaker religion, lived a time at Salem, came to Cape May while\\nyet a boy (in 1703), settled at Goshen, raised cattle, bought a\\n12", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "178 EARLY HISTOET OF CAPE MAT COUNTY.\\nshallop and went by water, gathered a considerable estate, but more\\nknowledge than money. The 12th day of October, 1714, married\\nLydia Shaw, widow of William Shaw,* and daughter of John Par-\\nsons. By her he had four children, Aaron, Jeremiah, Matthias, and\\nElizabeth. He was first a justice of the peace at Cape May. In\\n1723 he was made Clerk of Cape May and in October, 1727, he\\nwas chosen assemblyman, and served in that post till July, 1744.\\nHe was universally confessed to have had a superior knowledge he\\namassed large possessions, and did more for his children than any\\nCape May man has ever done. He left a clear estate, and was\\nburied in the church-yard in Philadelphia. At Salem and Alloway s\\nCreek he became acquainted with Sarah Hall, an aged Quaker lady,\\nmother of Clement Hall. She herself was an eminent lawyer for\\nthose times, and had a large collection of books, and very rich, and\\ntook delight in my father on account of his sprightly wit and\\ngenius, and his uncommon fondness for the law, which he read in\\nher library, though a boy, and very small of his age (for he was a\\nlittle man), and could not write for the Presbyterians of New\\nEngland had taken no other care of his education than to send him\\nto meeting.\\nAaron Learning, the author of the foregoing manuscript relating\\nto his father and grandfather, was one of the most prominent and\\ninfluential men the county ever produced. The family lost nothing\\nin caste through him. He was a heavy land operator, and a member\\nof the Legislature for thirty years. From the manuscript he left\\nbehind him, which is quite voluminous, it would appear he was a\\nman of great industry and much natural good sense, well educated\\nfor the times, and withal a little tinged with aristocracy a trait\\nof character not exceptionable under the royal prerogative. No\\nman ever received greater honors from the county, and none, per-\\nhaps, better deserved them. The Legislature selected him, and\\nJacob Spicer second of our county, to compile the laws of the State,\\nWilliam Shaw died in the epidemic of 1713.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 179\\nknown as Learning and Spicer s Collection, a trust they executed\\nto the satisfaction of the State and the people. He was born in\\n1716, and died in 1780.\\nAnother of the early settlers was William Golden. He emigrated\\nto Cape May in or about 1691. He was an Irishman, and espoused\\nthe cause of James against William and Mary, and fought as an\\nofficer in the battle of the Boyne, in 1690. As he soon after came\\nto America, he was most likely one of those stubborn Jacobite\\nCatholics that William, in his clemency, gave permission to flee the\\ncountry, or abide the just indignation of the Protestant authority\\nfor the part he took in said battle to promote its downfall. He,\\nwith Rem Garretson, located 1,016 acres of land at Egg Harbor,\\nnow Beesley s Point. He was one of the justices of the Court, and\\noccupied other prominent stations. He died about 1715, leaving\\nbut few descendants one of whom, his great grandson. Rem G.\\nGolding, now past eighty years old, lives near the first and original\\nlocation, and has in his possession at the present time the sword\\nwith which his ancestor fought, and the epaulette which he wore at\\nthe battle of the Boyne.\\nBenedict, in his history of the Baptists, says of Nathaniel Jen-\\nkins, who was a Baptist minister, and a member of the Legislature\\nfrom 1723 to 1733, he became the pastor of the church in Cape\\nMay in 1712. Mr. Jenkins was a Welchman, born in Cardigan-\\nshire in 1678, arrived in America in 1710, and two years after\\nsettled at Cape May. He was a man of good parts, and tolerable\\neducation, and quitted himself with honor in the Loan office whereof\\nhe was trustee, and also in the Assembly, particularly in 1721 (3\\nwhen a bill was brought in to punish such as denied the doctrine of\\nthe Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, the inspiration of the Holy\\nScriptures, c. In opposition to which Mr. Jenkins stood up, and\\nwith the warmth and accent of a Welchman said I believe the\\ndoctrines in question as much as the promoter of that ill-designed\\nbill, but will never consent to oppose the opposers with law, or with", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "180 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nany weapon save that of argument. Accordingly the bill was sup-\\npressed, to the great mortification of those who wanted to raise in\\nNew Jersey the spirit which so raged in New England.\\nCol. Jacob Spicer was in the county as early as 1691. He was a\\nmember of the Legislature fourteen years, from 1709 to 1723, and\\nSurrogate from 1723 to 1741 and for many years a justice of the\\nCourt. It is believed he came over with William Penn, and settled\\nin the upper part of Gloucester a while previous to coming here.*\\nBorn in 1668 died, 1741.\\nHis son, Jacob Spicer, deserves a more particular notice. He\\nwas born in 1716. We have nothing to guide us in relation to his\\nearly days, or until he became a member of the Legislature in\\n1744, which station he occupied for a period of twenty-one years\\nthe first in connection with Henry Young, Esq., and afterwards,\\nuntil his demise, with Aaron Leaming (second) Esq. being almost a\\nmoiety of the time he lived. He bore a prominent part in the pro-\\nceedings and business of the House, as the journals of those days\\nfully prove, and received the appointment in connection with Aaron\\nLeaming second to revise the laws of the State and Leaming and\\nSpicer s Collection, the result of their labor, is well known at this\\nday as a faithful exposition of the statutes.f He was a man of\\nexemplary habits, strong and vigorous imagination, and strictly\\nfaithful in his business relations with his fellow-men, being punc-\\ntilious to the uttermost farthing, as his diary and accounts fully\\nattest. He carried system into all the ramifications of business\\nnothing too small to escape the scrutiny of his active mind, nothing\\nso large that it did not intuitively embrace. He married Judith\\nHughes, daughter of Humphrey Hughes, Esq., who died in 1747\\nand in 1751 he married Deborah Leaming, widow of Christopher\\nJ. Townsend s manuscript.\\nf I am more particular to reiterate the fact of his being concerned with Aaron Leaming\\nin the work of compiling the hiws, as Mickle, in his Reminiscences, claims the credit of it\\nfor Jacob Spicer, of Mullica Hill; which is no doubt an error, as I have the most indubi-\\ntable evidence to the contrary.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OP CAPE MAY COUNTY. 181\\nLearning. The written marriage agreement which he entered into\\nwith the said Deborah Learning, before consummating matrimonj,\\nis indicative of much yound sense and discriminating judgment. In\\n1756 he purchased the interest of the West Jersey Society in\\nthe County of Cape May, constituting what has since been known\\nas the Vacant Right. In 1762 he made his will of thirty-nine\\npages, the most lengthy and elaborate testamentary document on\\nrecord in this or perhaps any other State. He left four children,\\nSarah, Sylvia, Judith, and Jacob; and it would be curious and in-\\nteresting to trace their descendants down to the present day, whose\\ngoodly numbers, on the side of the daughter, are still mostly in the\\nhome and county of their ancestor; yet, upon the male side, the\\nname of Spicer has nearly run out, and will soon, in this county, be\\namong the things that were. He died in 1765, aged about forty-\\nnine years, and was buried by the side of his father, in his family\\nground at Cold Spring; a spot now overgrown with large forest\\ntimber.\\nHenry Stites, ancestor of all in the county of that name, came to the\\ncounty about or in the year 1691. He located two hundred acres of\\nland, including the place now belonging to the heirs of Eli Townsend.\\nHe made his mark, yet he afterwards acquired the art- of writing,\\nand was justice of the court for a long series of years, being noted\\nsuch in 1746. He left a son Richard, who resided at Cape Island,\\nand he a son John, from whom the Lower Township Stites have\\ndescended. His son Isaiah, who died in 1767, and from whom the\\nStites of the Upper, and part of the Middle Township have de-\\nscended, lived on the places now occupied by his grandsons John\\nand Townsend Stites, at Beesley s Point. The Middle Township\\nStites below the Court House, are descendants of Benjamin Stites,\\nwho was probably a brother of Henry, and was in the county in\\n1705.\\nNicholas Stillwell, who was a member of the Legislature from\\n1769 to 1771, was a son of John Stillwell, of Town Bank. He", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "182 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\npurchased, in 1748, of Joseph Golden, the plantation at Beesley s\\nPoint, now owned by Capt. John S. Chattin. After his death, in\\n1772, the place fell to his son, Capt. Nicholas Stillwell, who after-\\nwards sold to Thomas Borden, who sold, in 1803, to Thomas Bees-\\nley, who resided on the premises until 1816, and on an adjoining\\nproperty until his death in 1849.\\nCapt. Nicholas Stillwell, son of the above, was an eflBcient oflScer\\nof the Revolution. Capt. Moses Griffing, who married Sarah, a\\nsister of Capt. Stillwell, was taken prisoner by the British towards\\nthe close of the war, and placed in the famous, or rather infamous\\nNew Jersey prison ship that undying stigma upon the name and\\nfame of Britain, where the dying, the dead, the famished and famish-\\ning, were promiscuously huddled together. A truthful, yet romantic\\nstory could be told of his young wife, who, upon hearing of his un-\\nfortunate imprisonment, true to her plighted vows, and actuated by\\na heroism which woman s love only can inspire, resolved to visit\\nhim and solicit his release, though one hundred miles distant\\nthrough woods and wilds, marauders and tories, or die in the attempt.\\nShe made the camp of Washington in her route, who put under her\\ncharge a British officer ot equal rank with her husband. She\\nreached New York in safety, and after a long and painful suspense\\nSir Henry Clinton yielded to her importunities; her husband was\\nexchanged, and both made happy.*\\nJohn Willets was the son of Hope VVillets, and was born here in\\n1688, married Martha Corson in 1716, left three sons, Isaac, James,\\nand Jacob. He was Judge of the Court many years, a member of\\nthe Legislature in 1743, and was living in 1763.\\nAmong those who deserve a passing notice as one of Cape May s\\nfavorite sons, was Nicholas Willets, a grandson of John. In 1802\\nhe took up the profession of surveying, which he practiced with\\ngreat success, and obtained the confidence and respect of all who\\nknew him, by the sprightly and urbane deportment which he ever\\nLetter from Jared Griffing to Dr. R. Willets, 1834", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUXTY. 183\\nmanifested, together with stern integrity and strict impartiality in\\nhis various business relations with his fellow man. It will be seen\\nhe was a member of the Legislature nine years, and closed a life of\\ngeneral usefulness in the year 1825, aged about fifty-six years.\\nThese biographical sketches of the pioneers of Cape May, might\\nbe extended much further, if the space allotted to the purpose\\nwould permit. I must therefore close with the following notices\\nJoseph Ludlam was here in 1692, and made purchases of land on\\nthe sea-side, at Ludlam s Run, upon which he afterwards resided;\\nand likewise purchased, in 1720, of Jacob Spicer, a large tract in\\nDennis s Neck. He left four sons Anthony (who settled upon the\\nSouth Dennis property, which is yet owned in part by his descend-\\nants), Joseph, Isaac, and Samuel, from whom all the Ludlams of\\nthe county have descended. He died in 1761, aged eighty-six years.*\\nJohn and Peter Corson came about the same time, 1692. The\\nsecond generation was Peter, Jr., John, Jr., Christian, and Jacob.\\nPeter represented the county in the Assembly in 1707. This\\nfamily, all of whom are descendants of Peter and John, numbered\\nin the county, at the census of 1850, 295 souls 253 of whom belong\\nto the Upper Township, 6 to Dennis, 26 to the Middle, and 10 to\\nthe Lower Township.\\nThe Hand family was well represented amongst the eai ly settlers,\\nthere being eleven persons of that name previous to 1700.\\nJohn Townsend, the ancestor of all of that name now in the\\ncounty, and of many in Philadelphia and elsewhere, came from\\nLong Island by way of Egg Harbor, in or previous to 1691. He\\ntraveled down the sea-shore until he found a spot to suit hira, where\\nhe cleared land, built a cabin and a grist-mill, and in 1696 located\\nsix hundred and fifty acres of land. Capt. Thompson Vangilder\\nnow owns the mill site, and a part of the adjacent property, for-\\nmerly John Townsend s, upon which he resides. He left three sons,\\nRichard, Robert, and Sylvanus. He was sheriflf of the county five\\nA. Learning s Memoirs.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "184 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nyears, and departed this life in 1722. It will be seen by the county\\nrecords and list of officers, that his descendants have acted a promi-\\nnent part in the county, through the several generations that have\\npassed away since 1691.\\nHenry Young came about the year 1713. He served the county\\nas Judge of the Court for many years, and was a member of the\\nLegislature ten years. Judge Young was an extensive landholder,\\nDeputy Surveyor, and was Judge of the Court from 1722 till his\\ndeath in 1767. He was Surrogate from 1743 to 1768. He was a\\nsurveyor and scrivener and no one, of those times, was more highly\\nrespected, or acted a more prominent and useful part. All of the\\nname now in the county have descended from him.\\nJonathan Swain and Richard Swain, of Long Island, were here\\nin 1706, and soon after their father, Ebenezer Swain, came to\\nCape May, and followed whaling; Jonathan being a cooper for\\nthem. Their immediate descendants were Zebulon, 1721 Elemuel,\\n1724 Reuben, who died in the epidemic of 1713 and Silas, 1733.\\nThere was a Capt. Silas Swain in 1778, from whom has descended\\nJoshua Swain, recently deceased, who held many important trusts\\nin the county, as sheriff, member of the Legislature nine years,\\nand a member of the convention to draft the new Constitution in\\n1844.\\nCape May has never had the honor of but one representative\\nin Congress, and he was the Hon. Thomas H. Hughes, from 1829\\nto 1833. He was likewise a member of the Legislature nine years.\\nIn the Upper Township, William Goldens, Sen. and Jr., Rem\\nGarretson, John and Peter Corson, John Willets, John Hubbard,\\nand soon after Henry Young, were the pioneers, and at a later day\\nJohn Mackey at Tuckahoe, and Abraham and John Vangilder at\\nPetersburgh. In Dennis, being a part of the old Upper precinct,\\nwe find on the seaboard Joseph Ludlam, John Townsend, Robert\\nRichards and Sylvanus Townsend, sons of John, Benjamin God-\\nfrey, and John Reeves, who were among the earliest settlers.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 185\\nDennisville was settled upon the south side of the creek, in or\\nabout 1726, by Anthony Ludlam, and some few years afterwards\\nthe north side by his brother Joseph, both being sons of Joseph\\nLudlam, of Ludlam s Run, sea-side. David Johnson was here in\\n1765, and owned at the time of his death, in 1805, a large scope\\nof land on the north side of Dennis Creek. James Stephenson\\npurchased of Jacob Spicer, in the year 1748, the property now\\nowned and occupied by his grandson Enoch, now aged over eighty-\\nfive years. East and West Creek were settled by Joseph Savage\\nand John GofF, the last of whom was here as early as 1710. He\\nhad a son John, and his numerous descendants now occupy that\\nportion of the county.\\nIn the Middle Township, we may name on the seaboard, in the\\norder in which they resided, Thomas Learning, John Reeves, Henry\\nStites, Sharagar Hand, Samuel Matthews, and John Parsons. Wil-\\nliam and Benjamin Johnson, Yelverson Crowell, and Aaron Learn-\\ning, first, were first at Goshen, the latter with the ostensible object\\nof raising stock.\\nCape May Court House has been the county seat since 1745.\\nDaniel Hand presented the county with an acre of land, as a site\\nfor the county buildings erected at that time. But little improve-\\nment was made until within the present century, the last twenty-\\nfive years having concentrated a sufiiciency of inhabitants to build\\nup a village of its present extent and proportions, embellished by\\nthe county, with a new and commodious Court House, and by the\\npeople, with two beautiful new churches, one for the Baptist and an-\\nother for the Methodist persuasion.\\nIn the Lower Township, the greater proportion of those who lo-\\ncated land (see list) were congregated, some at New England, some\\nat Town Bank, and others at Cold Spring, and on the sea-shore\\nabove and below.\\nCape Island was owned previous to 1700 by Thomas Hand, (who\\nbought of William Jacocks,) Randal Hewit, and Humphrey Hughes.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "186 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nFew settlements, and but little alteration occurred with Cape Island\\nuntil recently.\\nThomas H. Hughes, Jonas Miller, R. S. Ludlam, and the\\nMessrs. McMakin, were among the first to venture the experiment\\nof erecting large and commodious boarding-houses, who were fol-\\nlowed by a host of others, and an impetus was given to the enter-\\nprise, that has built up a city where a few years ago corn grew and\\nverdure flourished.\\nAs a watering-place it stands among the most favored on the\\ncoast, and the shore and bathing grounds are perhaps unrivaled.\\nIn 1689, as noted in deeds to William Jacocks and Humphrey\\nHughes, the distance from the sea across the island to the creek\\nwas 265 perches. As the deed calls for a line of marked trees, it\\nmust have been on the upland, at which place the distance has been\\ngreatly reduced by the inroads of the sea since that time.\\nIn l ^56 Jacob Spicer advertised to barter goods for all kinds\\nof produce and commodities, and among the rest particularly de-\\nsignated wampum. He offered a reward of \u00c2\u00a35 to the person that\\nshould manufacture the most wampum and advertised, I design\\nto give all due encouragement to the people s industry, not only by\\naccepting cattle, sheep, and staple commodities in a course of barter,\\nbut also a large quantity of mittens will be taken, and indeed a\\nclam shell formed in wampum, a yarn-thrum, a goose-quill, a horse\\nhair, a hog s bristle, or a grain of mustard seed, if tendered, shall\\nnot escape my reward, being greatly desirous to encourage industry,\\nas it is one of the most principal expedients under the favor of\\nHeaven, that can revive our drooping circumstances at this time of\\nuncommon, but great and general burden.\\nIn another place he advertises for a thousand pairs of woolen\\nstockings, to supply the army then in war with the French. He\\nsucceeded in procuring a quantity of the wampum, and before send-\\ning it off to Albany and a market, weighed a shot-bag full of silver\\ncoin and the same shot-bag full of wampum, and found the latter", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 187\\nmost valuable by ten per cent. The black wampum was most\\nesteemed by the Indians, the white being of little value.\\nThompson, in his history of Long Island, page 60, says The\\nimmense quantity which was manufactured here may account for\\nthe fact, that in the most extensive shell banks left by the\\nIndians, it is rare to find a whole shell having all been broken in\\nthe process of making the wampum. This curious fact applies\\nespecially to Cape May, where large deposits of shells are to be\\nseen, mostly contiguous to the bays and sounds yet it is rare to\\nsee a piece larger than a shilling, and those mostly the white part\\nof the shell, the black having been selected for wampum.\\nOf the aborigines of Cape May little seems to be known. It\\nhas been argued they were very inconsiderable at the advent of\\nthe Europeans.* Plantagenet in 1648,f speaks of a tribe of\\nIndians near Cape May, called Kechemeches, who mustered about\\nfifty men. The same author estimates the whole number in West\\nJersey at eight hundred and Oldmixon, in 1708, computes that\\nthey had been reduced to one quarter of that number. It can-\\nnot be denied by any one who will view the seaboard of our county,\\nthat they were very numerous at one time here, which is evidenced\\nby town plats, extensive and numberless shell banks, arrow heads,\\nstone hatchets, burying grounds, and other remains existing with us.\\nOne of those burying grounds is on the farm formerly Joshua Gar-\\nretson s, near Beesley s Point, which was first discovered by the\\nplowman. The bones (1826) were much decomposed, and some of\\nthe tibia or leg bones bore unmistakable evidences of syphilis, one\\nof the fruits presented them by their Christian civilizers. A skull\\nwas exhumed which must have belonged to one of great age, as the\\nsutures were entirely obliterated, and the tables firmly cemented toge-\\nther. From the superciliary ridges, which were well developed, the\\nfrontal bone receded almost on a direct line to the place of the occipi-\\ntal and parietal sutures, leaving no forehead, and had the appearance\\nGordon, p. 62 f Master Evelin s Letter.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "188 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nof having been done by artificial means, as practiced at present on\\nthe Columbia among the Flat Heads. A jaw-bone of huge dimen-\\nsions was likewise found, which was coveted by the observer but\\nthe superstitions of the owner of the soil believing it was sacrile-\\ngious, and that he would be visited by the just indignation of\\nHeaven if he suffered any of the teeth to be removed, prevailed on\\nus to return it again to its mother earth.\\nIn 1630, when sixteen miles square was purchased of nine Indian\\nchiefs, it would infer their numbers must have been considerable,\\nor so numerous a list of chiefs could not have been found on a spot\\nso limited. Yet, in 1692, we find them reduced to fractional parts,\\nand besotted with rum.*\\nA tradition is related by some of the oldest inhabitants, that in\\nthe early part of the eighteenth century, the remnant of Indians\\nremaining in the county, feeling themselves aggrieved in various\\nways by the presence of the whites, held a council in the evening\\nin the woods back of Gravelly Run, at which they decided to emi*\\ngrate which determination they carried into effect the same night;\\nWhither they went no one knew, nor were they heard from after-\\nwards. In less than fifty years from the first settlement of the\\ncounty, the aborigines had bid a final adieu to their ocean haunts\\nand fishing grounds.\\nLess than two centuries ago Cape May, as well as most other\\nparts of our State, was a wilderness her fields and lawns were\\ndense and forbidding forests the stately Indian roved over her\\ndomain in his native dignity and grandeur, lord of the soil, and\\nmaster of himself and actions, with few wants and numberless faci-\\nlities for supplying them. Civilization, his bane and dire enemy,\\nsmote him in a vital part he dwindled before it as the reed before\\nthe flame and was soon destroyed by its influences, or compelled to\\nemigrate to other regions to prolong for a while the doom affixea to\\nhis name and nation.\\nCourt Records and Proud s Pennsylvania.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 189\\nThe following (synopsis of an) Indian deed, and believed to be\\nthe only one that has been handed down, was found among the\\npapers of Jacob Spicer, and is now in the possession of Charles\\nLudlam, Esq., of Dennisville.\\nIt was given January 1st, 1687, by Panktoe to John Dennis, for\\na tract of land near Cape Island, viz. Beginning from the creek\\nand so running up into the woodland, along by Carman s line to a\\nwhite oak tree, at the head of the swamp, and running with marked\\ntrees to a white oak by a pond joining to Jonathan Pine s bounds.\\nAll the land and marsh lying and between the bounds above men-\\ntioned and Cape Island.\\nThe witnesses were Abiah Edwards and John Carman. Pank-\\ntoe s mark bore a striking resemblance to a Chinese character.\\nIn 1758, the commissioners appointed by the legislature, of\\nwhom Jacob Spicer of our county was one, for the purpose of ex-\\ntinguishing the Indian title in the State, by special treaty, met at\\nCrosswicks, and afterwards at Easton, and among the lists of land\\nclaimed by the Indians were the following tracts in Cape May and\\nEgg Harbor. One claimed by Isaac Still, from the mouth of the\\nGreat Egg Harbor River to the head branches thereof, on the east\\nside, so to the road that leads to Great Egg Harbor so along the\\nroad to the seaside, except Tuckahoe, and the Somers, Steelman,\\nand Scull places.\\nJacob MuUis claims the pine lands on Edge Pillock Branch\\nand Goshen Neck Branch, where Benjamin Springer and George\\nMarpole s mill stands, and all the land between the head branches\\nof those creeks, to where the waters join or meet.\\nAbraham Logues claims the cedar swamp on the east side of\\nTuckahoe Branch, which John Champion and Peter Campbell have\\nor had in possession.\\nAlso, Stuypson s island, near Delaware River.\\nSmith s New Jersey.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "190 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nAt a court of the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, holden\\nat the house of Robert Townsend, on the 2d day of April, 1723\\nJustices Present. Jacob Spicer, (first), Humphrey Hughes, Ro-\\nbert Townsend, John Hand, Henry Young, William Smith.\\nThe county divided into precincts, excepting the Cedar Swamp\\nthe Lower precinct, being from John Taylor s branch to the middle\\nmain branch of Fishing Creek, and so down ye said branch and\\ncreek to the mouth thereof.\\nMiddle precinct, to be from the aforesaid John Taylor s branch\\nto Thomas Leaming s, and from thence to a creek called Dennis\\nCreek, and so down the said creek to the bay shore, along the bay\\nto Fishing Creek.\\nThe Upper precinct, to be the residue of the said county, ex-\\ncepting the Cedar Swamp,* which is to be at the general charge of\\nthe county.\\nIn the year 1826, Dennis township was set off from the Upper\\ntownship by a line from Ludlam s Run to the county line, near Lud-\\nlam s Bridge.\\nPrevious to the year 1745, the courts were held for the most part\\nin private dwellings. At this date, however, a new house had been\\nconstructed upon the lot still occupied for the purpose, and the first\\n\u00e2\u0082\u00acourt held in it On the third Tuesday of May, 1745, the follow-\\ning officers and jurors were present\\nJustices Present. Henry Young, Henry Stites, Ebenezer Swain,\\nNathaniel Foster Jacob Hughes, Sheriff Elijah Hughes, Clerh.\\nGrand Jurors. John Leonard, John Scull, Noah Garrison,\\nPeter Corson, Joseph Corson, George Hollingshead, Clement Da-\\nniels, Benjamin Johnson, Jeremiah Hand, Thomas Buck, Joseph\\nBadcock, Isaiah Stites, Joseph Edwards, James Godfrey, Thomas\\nMeaning the Long Bridge road over the Cedar Swamp, so essential to the people at\\nthat time as thr only road off the Cape, and was always a county road until 1790, when the\\nroad over Dennis Creek, which is likewise a county road, was made where it now exists.\\nThe toll-bridge over Cedar Swamp Creek, at Petersburgh, was built in 1762, which\\nopened a more direct communication with the upper part of the county.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 191\\nSmitli, Isaac Townsend, Ananias Osborne, Robert Cresse, and\\nThomas Hewitt.\\nFrom Thomas Chalkley s journal, a traveling Friend from Eng-\\nland, dated 2nd month, 1726, it appeared to have been a wilderness\\nbetween Cohansey and Cape May.\\nFrom Cohansey I went through the wilderness over Maurice\\nRiver, accompanied by James Daniel, through a miry, boggy way,\\nin which we saw no house for about forty miles, except at the ferry\\nand that night we got to Richard Townsend s, at Cape May, where\\nwe were kindly received. Next day we had a meeting at Rebecca\\nGarretson s, and the day after a pretty large one at Richard Town*\\nsend s, and then went down to the Cape, and had a meeting at John\\nPage s and next day another at Aaron Leaming s and several ex-\\npressed their satisfaction with those meetings. I lodged two nights\\nat Jacob Spicer s, my wife s brother. From Cape May, we traveled\\nalong the sea-coast to Egg Harbor. We swam our horses over Egg\\nHarbor River, and went over ourselves in canoes and afterward\\nhad a meeting at Richard Sumers, which was a large one as could\\nbe expected, considering the people live at such distance from each\\nother.\\nJacob Spicer, in his Diary, gives us the following estimate of the\\nresources and consumption of the county, in the year 1758.\\nAnd as my family consists of twelve in number, including my-\\nself, it amounts to each individual \u00c2\u00a31 Bs. 8|i. annual consumption\\nof foreign produce and manufacture. But perhaps the populace in\\ngeneral may not live at a proportionate expense with my family, I ll\\nonly suppose their foreign consumption may stand at X4 to an indi-\\nvidual, as the county consisted of 1100 souls in the year 1746, since\\nwhich time it has increased then the consumption of this county\\nof foreign manufacture and produce, will stand at \u00c2\u00a34400 annually,\\nnear one half of which will be linens.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "192 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nThe Stock article of the county is about \u00c2\u00a31200\\nThere is at least ten boats belonging to the county which carry oysters\\nand admit they make three trips fall and three trips spring, each, and\\ncarry 100 bushels each trip, that makes 6000 bushels at what they\\nneat 2s. per bushel, 600\\nThere is 14 pilots, which at \u00c2\u00a330 per annum, 420\\nMitten article for the present year, 500\\nCedar posts, 300\\nWhite Cedar lumbar, 500\\nAdd for boards, 200\\nPork and gammons, 200\\nDeer skins and venison hams, 120\\nFurs and feathers, 100\\nHides and tallow, 120\\nFlax seed, neats tongues, bees wax, and myrtle, 80\\nTar, i 60\\nCoal, 30\\n\u00c2\u00a34430\\nAnnual consumption of county, \u00c2\u00a34400\\nAdd public taxes, 160\\nFor a Presbyterian minister, 60\\nFor a Baptist minister, 40\\nEducation of youth, 90\\nDoctor for man and beast, 100\\n4850\\n\u00c2\u00a3420\\nIn arear \u00c2\u00a3420, to be paid by some uncertain fund, or left as a debt.\\nIt appears by the above statement, the mitten article of trade\\nin 1758 amounted to the sum of .\u00c2\u00a3500, which was quite a reward\\nto the female industry of the county. The manner in which the\\nmitten trade was first established, is related in a letter from Dr.\\nFranklin to Benjamin Vaughan, dated Passy, July 26th, 1748, on\\nthe benefits and evils of luxury.\\nThe skipper of the shallop employed between Cape May and\\nPhiladelphia, had done us some service, for which he refused to be", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 193\\npaid. My wife, understanding he had a daughter, sent her a pre-\\nsent of a new-fashioned cap. Three years afterward, this skipper\\nbeing at my house with an old farmer of Cape May, his passenger,\\nhe mentioned the cap and how much his daughter had been pleased\\nwith it; but, said he, it proved a dear cap to our congregation.\\nHow so When my daughter appeared with it at meeting, it was\\nso much admired, that all the girls resolved to get such caps from\\nPhiladelphia and my wife and I computed that the whole would\\nnot have cost less than one hundred pounds. True, said the far-\\nmer, but you do not tell all the story. I think the cap was never-\\ntheless an advantage to us for it was the first thing that put our\\ngirls upon knitting worsted mittens for sale at Philadelphia, that\\nthey might have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there and\\nyou know that that industry has continued, and is likely to continue\\nand increase to a much greater value, and answer better purposes.\\nUpon the whole, I was more reconciled to this little piece of luxury,\\nsince not only the girls were made happier by having fine caps, but\\nPhiladelphians by the supply of warm mittens.\\nMarch 13th, 1761. The election of Representatives began\\nand on the 14th, it was ended, when the poll was\\nJacob Spicer, 72 Aaron Learning, 112 Joseph Corson, 41.\\nWhole amount of votes polled, 225. Spicer and Leaming elected.\\nIn the year 1752, an association of a large number of persons\\nwas formed for the purpose of purchasing of the West Jersey So-\\nciety their interest in the county, having particular regard to the\\nNatural Privileges. These privileges, consisting of fishing and\\nfowling and all the articles of luxury and use obtained from the\\nbays and sounds, were held in high estimation and it was difficult\\nto name a valuation upon a right so endeared to the people as this.\\nThis association being slow and cautious in its movements was no\\ndoubt astounded, in the year 1756, to find that Jacob Spicer, upon\\nhis own responsibility, had superceded them, and had purchased\\nFranklin s Works, 2n(l Vol., page 577. f A Learning s Memoirs.\\n13", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "194 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nthe right of the Society, through their acknowledged agent, Dr.\\nJohnson, of Perth Amboy, not only in the Natural Privileges, but in\\nthe unlocated land in the whole county. Spicer, although he did\\nnot attempt or desire to prevent the people from using and occupy-\\ning these privileges as they had heretofore done, received for his\\nshare in the transaction a large amount of obloquy and hostile feel-\\ning, which required all the energy and moral courage he possessed\\nto encounter. He was publicly arraigned by the people the follow-\\ning account being from his own pen.\\nWent to hear myself arraigned by Mr. Aaron Leaming and\\nothers before the Public, at the Presbyterian Meeting-house, for buy-\\ning the Society s Estate at Cape May, and at same time desired to\\nknow whether I would sell or not. I said not. He then threatened\\nme with a suit in chancery to compel me to abide by the first asso-\\nciation, though the people had declined it, and many of the original\\nsubscribers had dashed out their names. I proposed to abide the\\nsuit, and told him he might commence it. If I should see a bargain\\nto my advantage, then I told the people I should be inclined to sell\\nthem the natural privileges, if I should advance myself equally\\notherwise but upon no other footing whatever, of which I would\\nbe the judge.\\nThe following is Aaron Learning s version of the affair.\\nMarch 26th, 1761. About forty people met at the Presbyte-\\nrian Meeting-house to ask Mr. Spicer if he purchased the So^ety s\\nreversions at Cape May for himself or for the people. He answers\\nhe bought it for himself; and upon asking him whether he will\\nrelease to the people, he refuses, and openly sets up his claim to the\\noysters, to Basses titles, and other deficient titles, and to a resurvey,\\nwhereupon the people broke up in great confusion, as they have been\\nfor some considerable time past. f\\nJacob Spicer, at his death in 1765, left these privileges which\\nseemed to be so exciting to the people, to bis son Jacob, who, about\\nSpicer s Diary. f A Learning s Memoirs.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 195\\nthe year 1795, conveyed by deed to a company or association of\\npersons, his entire right to the natural privileges, which were used\\nand viewed as a bo7ia fide estate, and the Legislature passed acts\\nof incorporation, giving them plenary powers to defend themselves\\nfrom foreign and domestic aggression, thus virtually acknowledging\\nthe validity of their title. Previous to the year 1840, a suit was\\ninstituted in East Jersey, the result of which was favorable to the\\nproprietors but on an appeal to the United States Supreme Court\\nfrom the Circuit below, the decision was reversed, confirming the\\nright of the State to all the immunities and privileges of the water\\nthereof, barring out the proprietai-y claims altogether, and establish-\\ning the principle that the State possessed the right as the guardian\\nand for the use of the whole people, in opposition to the claims of\\nindividuals or associations, however instituted or empowered.\\nIn June following he offered them his whole landed estate and\\nthe natural privileges in the county, excepting his farm in Cold\\nSpring Neck, and a right for his family in the privileges, for X7000,\\nwhich offer was declined.*\\nHe further states Mr. James Godfrey, hi behalf of the Upper\\nPrecinct, applied to me to purchase the natural privileges in that\\nprecinct. I told him I should be glad to gratify that precinct, and\\nplease myself also and could I see a prospect of making a good\\nforeign purchase, and thereby exchange a storm for a cahn to equal\\nadvantage to my posterity, I should think it advisable and in that\\ncase, if I sold, I should by all means give the public a preference,\\nbut at present did not incline to sell. I remarked to him this\\nw as a delicate affair, that I did not know well how to conduct\\nmyself, for I was willing to please the people, and at the same\\ntime to do my posterity justice, and steer clear of reflection. Re-\\ncollecting that old Mr. George Taylor, to the best of my memory,\\nobtained a grant for the Five-Mile Beach and the Two-Mile Beach,\\nand, if I mistake not, the cedar-swamps and pines for his own use,\\nSpicer s Diary.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "196 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nand his son John Taylor reconveyed it for about \u00c2\u00a39, to buy his\\nwife Margery a calico gown, for which he was derided for his\\nsimplicity.\\nIn the contest of our forefathers for independence, nothing praise-\\nworthy can be said of the other counties of the State, that would\\nnot apply to Cape May. She was ever ready to meet the demands\\nmade upon her by the Legislature and the necessities of the times^\\nwhether that demand was for money or men. Being exposed, in\\nhaving a lengthened water frontier, to the attacks and incursions\\nof the enemy, it was necessary to keep in readiness a flotilla of\\nboats and privateers, which were ow^ned, manned, and armed by the\\npeople, and were successful in defending the coast against the\\nBritish as well as refugees. Many prizes and prisoners were taken,\\nwhich stand announced in the papers of the day as creditable to the\\nparties concerned.* Acts of valor and daring might be related of\\nthis band of boatmen, which would not discredit the name of a\\nSomers, or brush a laurel from the brow of their compatriots in\\narms. The women were formed into committees, for the purpose\\nof preparing clothing for the army and acts of chivalry and forti-\\ntude were performed by them, which were equally worthy of their\\nfame and the cause they served. To record a single deserving\\nact, would do injustice to a part and to give a place to all who\\nsignalized themselves, would swell this sketch beyond its prescribed\\nlimits.\\nOf those who served in a civil capacity, no one perhaps deserved\\nbetter of his country than Jesse Hand. He was a member of the\\nProvincial Congress of 1775 and 1776, which, on the 21st of June,\\nin the latter year, at Burlington, resolved a new State govern-\\nment should be formed. He was likewise a member of Council\\nin 79, 80, 82 and 83. He was selected by the county in con-\\njunction with Jacob Eldridge and Matthew Whillden, to meet the\\nconvention at Trenton, on the second Tuesday of December, 1787,\\nCollins Gazette, State li brary.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "EAELT HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 197\\nto ratify the Constitution of the United States, which was unani-\\nmously adopted on the 19th, when the members went in solemn\\nprofession to the Court House, where the ratification was publicly\\nread to the people, New Jersey being the third State to ratify. He\\nwas entrusted by the Legislature with another important trust, viz\\nthat of a member of the Committee of Public Safety from 77 to 81.\\nThe duties of this committee were arduous and responsible.*\\nHe created great astonishment with the people, when he pre-\\nsented to their wondering eyes the first top-carriage (an old-fash-\\nioned chair) that was ever brought into the county. The horse-\\ncart was the favorite vehicle in those times, whether for family\\nvisiting, or going-to-meeting purposes; and any innovation upon\\nthese usages, or those of their ancestors, was looked upon with\\njealousy and distrust.\\nElijah Hughes was a member of the Provincial Congress in 1776,\\nand was one of the committee of ten, appointed on the 24th of June\\nto prepare a Constitution, which was adopted and confirmed on the\\n2d day of July, two days before the Declaration of Independence.f\\nThose who first located lands in the county, were particular to\\nselect such portions as were contiguous to the waters of the bay\\nor ocean hence the sea-shore and bay-shore were first settled upon,\\nevidently for the purpose of being within reach of the oysters, fish,\\nand clams, abounding in our waters. Thus we find the whole sea-\\nshore from Beesley s Point to Cape Island, a continuous line of\\nfarms and settlements, regardless of the quality of the soil whilst\\nthe interior portion, and considered by some much the better part,\\nremains to this day unimproved and uncultivated.\\nBetween the years of 1740 and 50, the cedar-swamps of the county\\nwere mostly located and the amount of lumber since taken from\\nthem is incalculable, not only as an article of trade, but to supply\\nthe home demand for fencing and building materials in the county.\\nLarge portions of these swamps have been worked a second, and\\nMinutes of Committee. f Gordon.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "198 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nsome a third time, since located. At the present time, there is\\nnot an acre of original growth of swamp standing, having all passed\\naway before the resistless sway of the speculator or the consumer.\\nThe annual growth is sufficient to fill our wharves yearly with\\nmany thousands of rails and sawed lumber.\\nIt was not until recently, within the present century, that cord-\\nwood became a staple article of trade. Many thousand cords are\\nannually shipped from the county, m return for goods and produce\\nof various descriptions, of which flour and corn were formerly the\\nmost heavy articles.\\nThe failure in some measure of wood and lumber, and the im-\\nprovements progressing in all parts of our State in agricultural\\npursuits, have prompted our farmers to keep pace with the era of\\nprogression, so much so that the corn and wheat now raised in the\\ncounty, fall but little short of a supply; and when the grand desi-\\nderatum shall have been achieved, of supplying our own wants in\\nthe great staple of corn and flour, it will be a proud day for Cape\\nMay, and her people will be stimulated to greater exertions, from\\nwhich corresponding rewards and benefits may arise.\\nBeing partially surrounded by water, inducements were extended\\nto her sons at an early day to engage in maritime pursuits. As\\nearly as 1698, Richard Harvo owned a sloop and in 1705, Gov.\\nCornbury granted a license to Capt. Jacob Spicer, of the sloop\\nAdventure, owned by John and Richard Townsend, burden sixteen\\ntons. The license privileged her to run between Cape May, Phila-\\ndelphia, and Burlington; and in 1706, Dennis Lynch built and\\nowned the sloop Necessity. About the year 1760, there were nu-\\nmerous boats trading from the county to Oyster Bay, L. I., and\\nRhode Island and Connecticut, carrying cedar lumber mostly and\\nothers to Philadelphia, with oysters and produce of various kinds.\\nSpicer shipped considerable quantities of corn, which he purchased\\nof the people in the way of trade and cash, and forwarded to a", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\n199\\nmarket. He owned a vessel which he occasionally sent to the West\\nIndies.*\\nIt is supposed at the present time, that about one-fifth of the entire\\nmale population are engaged in this pursuit and a more hardy and\\nadventurous band never sailed from any port no sea or ocean\\nwhere commerce floats a sail, they do not visit if duty calls.\\nThe Pilots of Cape Island are likewise renowned for their skill\\nand enterprise in the way of their profession. They brave\\nthe tempest and the storm to relieve the mariner in distress, or to\\nconduct the steamer, the ship, or the barque to the haven of her\\ndestination. There were fourteen pilots at the Cape in 1758 at\\nthe present time their numbers are about trebled, being thirty-five\\nin 1850.\\nThe population* of Cape May, at difi erent periods since the year\\n1726, was as follows, viz.\\nTears.\\nPopulation.\\nSlaves.\\nFree Colored.\\nQuakers.\\n1726\\n668\\n1738\\n1004\\n42\\n1745\\n1188\\n54\\n1790\\n2571\\n141\\n1800\\n3006\\n98\\n1810\\n3632\\n81\\n1820\\n4265\\n28\\n205\\n1830\\n4936\\n3\\n225\\n1840\\n5324\\n218\\n1850\\n6433\\n247\\n1855\\n6935\\n297\\nThe population meets with an unceasing annual drain in the way\\nof emigration. Numerous families, every spring and fall, sell ofi\\ntheir lands and efifects to seek a home in the far West. Illinois has\\nheretofore been the State that has held out most inducements to\\nthe emigrant, and there are at present located in the favored county\\nof Sangamon, in that State, some sixty or seventy families, which\\nh*v\u00c2\u00ab removed from this county within a few years past, most of\\nSpicer s Diary.\\nt Manuscript proceedings of Assembly, State Library, and Census Keports.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "200 EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nwhom, be it said, are blessed with prosperity and happiness. Many\\nof her people are to be found in the other free States of the West.\\nPeter Fretwell, the first member from the county after the sur-\\nrender, and the first on record that ever represented her, belonged\\nto Burlington. He was a Friend and a cotemporary of Samuel\\nJennings, as the record of the monthly meeting there attests, and\\ncame over in the ship Shield, in 1678,* with Mahlon Stacy, Thomas\\nRevel, and others. It is curious that he, a non-resident, should\\nhave been selected to represent the county in the Assembly for a\\nperiod of twelve years yet such is the fact, and I cannot find that\\nJacob Huling, who was a member in 1716, or Jeremiah Bass, from\\n1717 to 1723, ever resided permanently here. The balance of the\\nlist of representatives were all legitimately Cape May men, and\\ntaken in a body were the bone and sinew of the county. Of some\\nof those ancient worthies in the list we know but little, except that\\nthey held important offices of trust and responsibility. Others\\namong them seemed to live more for posterity than themselves, by\\ninditing almost daily the passing events of the times, and they are\\nconsequently better known and appreciated. Their writings at that\\nday might have seemed to possess but little attraction, yet they\\nhave become interesting through age, and valuable as links in the\\nchain which connects our early history with the reminiscences and\\nassociations of times more recent and to carry out this con-\\nnection, it will be the duty of some faithful chronicler to unite the\\nhistory of those times and the present, which is so rapidly giving\\nplace to the succeeding generation, by a descriptive and truthful\\naccount, more full and complete, as the data and material incident\\nto later times are more abundant and illustrative. The troubles,\\nperplexities, and trials the members of Assembly endured previous\\nto the Revolution, in visiting the seat of government at Amboy and\\nBurlington, to attend the public service, cannot in this age of rail-\\nroads and steam be appreciated or realized. A single illustration\\nSmith s New Jersey.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY. 201\\nwill suffice for all. Aaron Learning gives an account of his journey\\nto Amboy in 1759, on horseback, as follows\\nMarch 3d. Set out from home; lodged at Tarkil; arrived at\\nPhiladelphia on the 5th. On the 6th, rid to Burlington. 7th.\\nEJctreme cold; rid to Crosswicks, and joined company with Mr.\\nMiller rid to Cranberry, where we overtook Messrs. Hancock,\\nSmith, and Clement, (of Salem) who had laid up all day by reason\\nof the cold. 8th. Got to Amboy. 17th. Had the honor to dine\\nwith his excellency governor Bernard, with more of the members\\nof the house. It was a plentiful table, but nothing very extraor-\\ndinary. The cheese he said was a Gloucestershire cheese was a\\npresent to him, and said that it weighed 105 pounds when he first\\nhad it. He says its the collected milk of a whole village that\\nmakes these cheeses, each one measuring in their milk, and taking\\nits value in cheese.\\n19th. Left Amboy for home. 20th. Rid to Cranberry, and\\nlodged at Dr. Stites 25th. Arrived home.\\nIn July, 1761, he attended the Assembly at Burlington on the\\n6th, and broke up on the 8th, and says July 9th. I set out home-\\nward. 11th. Got home, having been extremely unwell, occasioned\\nby the excessive heat. Almost ever since I went away, the 5th,\\n6th, 7th, and 8th, were the hottest days by abundance that ever I\\nwas acquainted with.\\nSept. 3d. A rain fell five inches on a level. The lower end of\\nCape May has been so dry that there will not be but one-third of a\\ncrop of corn here it is wet enough the whole season.\\n14th. Went a fishing, and caught thirty-nine sheepshead.\\nIt has not been necessary to enter into any disquisition of the\\nsoil, productions, geological aspect of the county, or the general\\nstatistics thereof, which are so ably set forth in the report, to which\\nthis is but an accompaniment.\\nIn justice to this sketch of Cape May, in which an attemjt has\\nA. Learning s Memoirs.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "202 EARLT HISTORY OF CAPE MAT COUNTY.\\nbeen made to elucidate her early history, by collecting a few relica\\nand incidents of men and things, from the scattered fragments that\\nhave survived oblivion since her first settlement, it will be proper to\\nstate, the space allotted for the purpose is insufficient to enter into\\na more extended detail, or to embody but a small portion of the\\nmaterial that years of inquiry and research have accumulated.\\nA history of the rise and progress of the different religious deno-\\nminations, and the numerous new and beautiful churches they have\\nerected in later years, would of itself form an interesting sketch,\\nyet it is necessarily postponed. The author has, therefore, sought\\nto give such portions of it, for the most part, as relate to the ear-\\nlier times, believing they would be of more particular interest, and\\nmoye gratifying to the generality of readers than those of a more\\nrecent date.\\nAs no system, as said before, could be observed in the arrange-\\nment, except in the way of chronology, it is submitted in a form\\nimperfect and diversified, which will be better described in the lan-\\nguage of the poet\\nVarious that the mind\\nOf desultory man, studious of change,\\nAnd pleased with novelty, may be indulged.\\nCowper.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\n203\\nMEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE.\\nA List of the Ilembers of the Legislature, from the first record of them\\nafter the surrender of the Government in Queen Anne s reign in 1702\\nto the present time.\\nCOUNCIL.\\nJonathan Hand,\\nJonathan Jenkins,\\nJesse Hand,\\nJesse Hand,\\nElijah Hughes,*\\nJesse Hand,\\nJesse Hand,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nElijah Hughes,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nJeremiah Eldredge,\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nDATE.\\n1702 to\\n1707 to\\n1708 to\\n1709 to\\n1716 to\\n1717 to\\n1723 to\\n1733 to\\n1740 to\\n1743 to\\n1744 to\\n1745 to\\n1769 to\\n1771 to\\n1773 to\\n1776 to\\n1778 to\\n1779 to\\n1707\\n1708\\n1709\\n1716\\n1717\\n1723\\n1733MHumphrey llughel; Nathaniel Jenkins,\\n1740\\n1743\\n1744\\n1745\\n1769\\n1771\\n1773\\n1776\\n1778\\n1779\\n1780\\n1780 to 1781\\n1781 to\\n1782 to\\n1783 to\\n1784 to\\n1785 to\\n1786 to\\n1787 to\\n1788 to\\n1789 to\\n1790 to\\n1791 to\\n1792 to\\n1793 to\\n1794 to\\n1782\\n1783\\n1784\\n1785\\n1786\\n1787\\n1788\\n1789\\n1790\\n1791\\n1792\\nPeter Fretwell.\\nPeter Corson.\\nEzekiel Eldredge.\\nJacob Spicer, Peter Fretwell.\\nJacob Spicer, Jacob Huling.\\nJacob Spicer, Jeremiah Bass.\\nAaron Learning 1st, Henry Young.\\nAaron Learning, Aaron Learning, Jun.\\nAaron Leaming, John Willets.\\nHenry Young, Jacob Spicer 2d.\\nAaron Leaming 2d, Jacob Spicer 2d.\\nAaron Learning 2d, Nicholas Stillwell.\\nAaron Leaming 2d, Jonathan Hand.\\nEli Eldredge, Jonathan Hand.\\nEli Eldredge, Joseph Savage, Hugh Hay-\\nthorn.\\nEli Eldredge, Kichard Townsend.\\nHenry Y. Townsend, James Whillden,\\nJonathan Leaming.\\nJoseph Hildreth, Jeremiah Eldredge, Mat-\\nthew Whillden.\\nRichard Townsend.\\nMatthew Whillden, John Baker, Elijah\\nTownsend.\\nJohn Baker, Joseph Hildreth.\\nElijah Townsend, Levi Eldredge.\\nElijah Townsend, John Baker, Nezer Swain.\\nMatthew Whillden, John Baker, Elijah\\nRichard Townsend,\\nRichard Townsend,\\nTownsend.\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nElijah Townsend.\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nElijah Townsend.\\nEli Townsend, Nezer Swain, Elijah Town-\\nsend.\\nRichard Townsend, Nezer Swain, Elijah\\nTownsend.\\nRichard Townsend, Matthew Whillden,\\nElijah Townsend.\\n1793 Richard Townsend, Matthew Whillden,\\nElijah Townsend.\\n1794 Richard Townsend, Matthew Whillden,\\nEbenezer Newton.\\n1795 iDavid Johnson, Richard Townsend.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "204\\nEARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\nCOUiS CIL.\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nParmenas Corson,\\nParmenas Corson,\\nParmenas Corson,\\nJohn Townsend,\\nParmenas Corson,\\nEbenezer Newton,\\nParmenas Corson,\\nWilliam Eldredge,\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nEbenezer Newton,\\nJoseph Falkenburge,\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nMatthew Whillden,\\nNathaniel Holmes,\\nJoseph Falkenburge,\\nJoseph Falkenburge,\\nFurman Learning,\\nJoshua Swain,\\nThomas H. Hughes,\\nThomas H. Hughes,\\nThomas H. Hughes,\\nJoshua Swain,\\nThomas H. Hughes,\\nJoshua Swain,\\nIsrael Townsend,\\nIsrael Townsend,\\nJoshua Townsend,\\nJeremiah Leming,\\nRichard Thompson,\\nAinos Corson,\\nTtiomas P. Hughes,\\nISIaurice Beesley,\\nJames L. Smith,\\nJames L. Smith,\\nEnoch Edmunds,\\nSENATE.\\nDATE.\\n1795 to 1796\\n1796 to 1797\\nReuben Willets,\\nReuben Willets,\\nJames L. Smith,\\nJames L. Smith,\\nEnoch Edmunds,\\nEnoch Edmunds,\\nJoshua Swain, Jr.,\\nJoshua Swain, Jr.,\\nJoshua Swain, Jr.,\\nJesse H. Diverty,\\n1797 to\\n1798 to\\n1799 to\\n1801 to\\n1803 to\\n1804 to\\n1805 to\\n1806 to\\n1807 to\\n1808 to\\n1809 to\\n1810 to\\n1811 to\\n1812 to\\n1813 to\\n1814 to\\n1815 to\\n1819 to\\n1821 to\\n1822 to\\n1823 to\\n1824 to\\n1825 to\\n1827 to\\n1830 to\\n1831 to\\n1834 to\\n1836 to\\n1838 to\\n1840 to\\n1842 to\\n1846 to\\n1847 to\\n1849 to\\n1798\\n1799\\n1801\\n1803\\n1804\\n1805\\n1806\\n1807\\n1808\\n1809\\n1810\\n1811\\n1812\\n1813\\n1814\\n1815\\n1819\\n1821\\n1822\\n1823\\n1824\\n1825\\n1827\\n1830\\n1831\\n1834\\n1836\\n1838\\n1840\\n1842\\n1844\\n1847\\n1849\\n1851\\n1844 to\\n1845 to\\n1846 to\\n1847 to\\n1849 to\\n1850 to\\n1852 to\\n1853 to\\n1854 to\\n1855 to\\n1845\\n1846\\n1847\\n1849\\n1850\\n1852\\n1853\\n1854\\n1855\\n1857\\nRichard Townsend, Reuben Townsend,\\nEleazer Hand.\\nAbijah Smith, Elijah and Richard Town-\\nsend,\\nPersons Leaming, (3 members till this year.)\\nElijah Townsend.\\nAbijah Smith.\\nPersons Leaming.\\nJoseph Falkenburge\\nMatthew Whilldin.\\nThomas Hughes.\\nNicholas Willets.\\nThomas H. Hughes.\\nNicholas Willets.\\nThomas H. Hughes.\\nJoseph Falkenburge.\\nNicholas Willets.\\nThomas H. Hughes.\\nJoshua Swain.\\nRobert H. Holmes.\\nNicholas Willets.\\nJoshua Townsend.\\nNicholas Willets.\\nJoshua Townsend.\\nIsrael Townsend.\\nIsrael Townsend.\\nIsrael Townsend.\\nJoshua Townsend.\\nJeremiah Leaming.\\nJeremiah Leaming.\\nRichard Thompson.\\nAmos Corson.\\nThomas P. Hughes.\\n[Muurice Beesley.\\nReuben Willets.\\n[Richard S. Ludlam\\nNathaniel Holmes\u00c2\u00ab-\\nJMackey Williams.\\nJohn Stites.\\nSamuel Townsend.\\nRichard S. Ludlam.\\nNathaniel Holmes, Jr.\\nMackey Williams.\\nJoshua Swain, Jr.\\nWaters B. Miller.\\nJesse H. Diverty.\\nJesse H. Diverty.\\nDowns Edmunds, Jr.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "EARLY HISTORY OF CAPE MAY COUNTY.\\n205\\nSHERIFFS.\\nA List of the Sheriffs from 1693 to the present time.\\nTimothy Brandreth 1693 to 1695\\nJohn Townsend 1695 to 1697\\nEzekiel Eldredge 1697 to 1700\\nEdward Howell 1700 to 1701\\nCresar Hoskins 1701 to 1704\\nJohn Taylor 1704 to 1705\\nJoseph Whilldin 1705 to 1708\\nHumphrey Hughes 1708 to 1711\\nJohn Townsend 1711 to 1713\\nRichard Downs 1713 to 1715\\nRobert Townsend 1715 to 1721\\nRichard Townsend 1721 to 1722\\nHenry Young 1722 to 1723\\nRichard Downs 1723 to 1740\\nConstant Hughes 1740 to 1744\\nJacob Hughes 1744 to 1745\\nJeremiah Hand 1745 to 1751\\nJohn Shaw 175 1 to 1754\\nThomas Smith 1754 to 1757\\nJeremiah Hand 1757 to 1760\\nEbenezer Johnson. 1760 to 1763\\nHenry Hand 1763 to 1765\\nSylvanus Townsend 1765 to 17138\\nDanield Hand 1768 to 1771\\nEliEldredge 1771 to 1774\\nHenry Y. Townsend. 1774 to 1777\\nIsaiah Sti tes 1777 to 1780\\nRichard Townsend 1780 to 1781\\nNathaniel Hand 1781 to 1782\\nDaniel Garretson 1782 to 1783\\nJonathan Hildreth 1783 to 1784\\nBenjamin Taylor.;^. 1784 to 1787\\nPhiiiD Hand 1787 to 1788\\nHenry Stites 1788 to 1791\\nEleazer Hand 1791 to 1796\\nJacob Godfrey 1796 to 1798\\nJeremiah Hand 1798 to 1801\\nThomas H. Hughes 1801 to 1804\\nJoseph Hildreth 1804 to 1807\\nCresse Townsend 1807 to 1808\\nJacob Hughes 1808 to 1809\\nJoshua Swain 1809 to 1812\\nAaron Leaming.. (3rd). .1812 to 1815\\nSpicer Hughes 1815 to 1818\\nDavid Townsend 1818 to 1821\\nSpicer Hughes 1821 to 1824\\nSwain Townsend 1824 to 1827\\nThomas P. Hughes 1827 to 1830\\nRichard Thompson. .1830 to 183^\\nLudlam Pierson 1833 to 183^\\nJoshua Swain, Jr 1834 to 1835\\nSamuel Matthews 1835 to 1838\\nSamuel Snringer 1838 to 1841\\nThomas Vangilder 1841 to 1844\\nEnoch Edmunds 1844 to 1847\\nPeter Souder 1847 to 1850\\nThomas Hewitt 1850 to 1853\\nElva Corson 1853 to 1856\\nWilliam S. Hooper 1856 to 1859\\nCLERKS,\\nA List of the Clerks from\\nGeorge Taylor 1693 to 1697\\nTimothy Brandreth 1697 to 1705\\nJohn Taylor. 1705 to 1730\\nAaron Leaming, 1st 1730 to 1740\\nEliiah Hughes, Senr 1740 to 1762\\nElijah Hughes, Jr 1762 to 1768\\nJeremiah Eldredge 1768 to 1777\\nJonathan Jenkins 1777 to 1779\\nEli Eldredge 1779 to 1802\\n1693 to the present time.\\nJeremiah Hand 1802 to 1804\\nAbijah Smith 1804 to 1824\\nRichard Thompson.-f .1824 to 1829\\nLevy Foster 1829 to 1831\\nJonathan Hand, Senr. .1831 to 1834\\nJacob G. Smith 1834 to 1835\\nSwain Townsend 1835 to 1840\\nJonathan Hand, Jr 1840 to 1860\\nSURROGATES.\\nA List of the Surrogates from the first appointment, in 1723, to the\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2present time. Previous to this, all business in the Prerogative Court\\nwas transacted at Burlington.\\nJacob Spicer, 1st 1723 to 1741\\nHenry Young 1741 to 1768\\nElijah Hughes, Jr 1768 to 1787\\nJesse Hand 1787 to 1793\\nJeremiah Eldredge 1693 to 1796\\nEbenezer Newton 1796 to 1802\\nAaron Eldredge 1802 to 1803\\nJehu Townsend 1803 to 1831\\nHumphrey Leaming 1831 to 1852\\nElijah Townsend, Jr 1852 to 1857", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "LETTER OF STATE TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEER.\\nTopographical Department of the State Survey,\\nMay 1st, 1856.\\nBr. Wm. Kitchell,\\nSupt. of N. J. State Geol. Survey.\\nDear Sir\\nI transmit herewith, for the purpose of the geological in-\\nvestigations, the Topographical Map of the County of Cape May,\\nconstructed upon a scale of 3 outjo) or about two inches to the mile,\\nwhich is the scale upon which the field-work is executed. The\\nengraved Map will be drawn upon a scale of go^on? or about one\\ninch to the mile. The principles upon which the survey is con-\\nducted, and the details of the field-work, are fully set forth in the\\nlast annual report of progress. It is proper, however, to state, with\\nreference to this Map, that while endeavoring to keep pace with\\nthe geological investigations, I have failed to complete the triangu-\\nlation of the southern portion of the State, for the reason that the\\nface of the country is so remarkably uniform, tliat it would have\\nexhausted the greater portion of the funds at my disposal to erect\\nthe necessary stations for taking observations. The alternative\\ntherefore presented itself of relying upon such assistance as could\\nbe derived from the secondary triangulation and plain- table work\\nof the Coast Survey, or of deferring for the present the topography\\nof that section of the State. The former course has been adopted\\nfor the obvious reason that, without the topography, the geology\\ncould not be satisfactorily described. Moreover, the peculiar shape", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "208 LETTER TO DR. KETCHELL.\\nand geographical position of the county were favorable to such a\\ncourse as being long and narrow, and surrounded on three sides\\nby water, there was little chance for error in laying down its topo-\\ngraphy entirely with the plane-table. That portion already sur-\\nveyed by the general government, has simply been revised without\\ngoing over all its details.\\nIt is presumed that the characters used in delineating the topo-\\ngraphy will be comprehended without explanation. The salt\\nmeadow can be readily distinguished from the upland the culti-\\nvated land from the wooded and the cedar swamps from the dry\\nforest.\\nIn submitting this Map to the citizens of the county, I beg to\\nexpress the hope that it will meet their expectations and I will\\nadd the conviction that, coupled with Professor Cook s Geological\\nReport, it will be of great value not only to them but to every\\ncitizen of the State.\\nVery respectfully.\\nYour obedient servant,\\nEGBERT L. VIELE.", "height": "3250", "width": "2059", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "SKETCH\\n^^1*1.^ hiS TO\\n-s^-^\\n%kf% mm \u00e2\u0082\u00aciiifT\\nTO ACCOMPANY THE\\nw.\\n^colugical llepott of State of pto |mm\\nFOR SAID COUNTY.\\nBY MAURICE BEESLEY, M. D.\\nTRENTON\\n1/.^ I PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE TRUE AMERICAN.\\n18 57.", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3302", "width": "2002", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3266", "width": "2018", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3260", "width": "1914", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3266", "width": "1846", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": ".0^ e ^jj:-\\no t- jj;* ^o-\\nJv.\\no\\n,0\\nC\\nO^r.\\nO. o o .0 ^p. I 1 o, Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process.\\nrtV v Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide -r\\nLrf aV V Treatment Date:\\nalllBBBKKEEPER\\ny 6\\n3^\\nV W\\nO^\\nPRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES. LP.\\n1 1 1 Tnomson Park Dnve\\nCranberry Townsilip. PA 16066\\n(724) 779-21 1 1", "height": "3260", "width": "1914", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "h\\n^oV^\\nA^^^\\n0^ -o o^.l* A\\nA", "height": "3266", "width": "1846", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3374", "width": "2044", "jp2-path": "sketchofearlyhis00beesl_0066.jp2"}}