The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1874-04-04
Il Relic of the Past Destroyed.
A NEW JERSEY TOWN WHICH HAD sTEANGELE
SAD HISTORY.

SAD HISTORY.
In the heart of forest of stunted trees in Bur-
lington county, New Jersey, eighteen smoke
blackened chimneys, standing as head stones
over the ashes of as many once happy homes,
tell the sad story of the utter desolation Of a
prosperous village of hundred years ago.
Batsto stood at the head of Little Egg Harbor,
or Mullins River. 1t clustered about roman.
tic crystal lake that takes an oval shape in the
fringing foliage, and mirrors sky Of blue in .
frame of green. The Quakers settled round it,
and one Of their mum Der built an iron furnace
on the brink of its outlet, at which were made
the cannon used in the Revolutionary war.
Working for Quaker Ball, the owner of the
foundry, was q young Welshman, William
Richards At the Quaker's death he succeeded
him, and added to the little village wealth.
He paid the passage Of emigrants and made
them his retainers. On the knoll above the
lake stands the stone mansion he built. 1t ia
40x50 feet, with two story wings.
Young Richards had inherited his fathers
love of power, and he ruled Bststo as a princi-
pality. From the old mansion, which was then
known as it is to-day as the Big House, he could
look down over the town and watch the inhab
itants at their work or in their sport. He ex
tended his power, and bought up $4,000 acres
of land, including what is now Atlantic county,
and embracing what are now the villages OF
Hammondton, Ellwood, and Egg Harbor city.
He built dwellings along the four streets of
Batsto, imported workmen, built TWO sawmills,
two glass factories, one pottery, a three story
stone grlst mill, dug camel t--o nrilee fong TO
Little Egg Harbor, built several scows, and put
two schooners in the coasting trade. The woods
were cleared by choppers, and the wood corded
around the glass factories. Ten large buildings
were filled with busy men melting, baking and
cutting window glass. Between five hundred
and thousand men found employment and
there waa not an idle hand in BatStO.
With the magnificent water power, made by
the fall OF the water from the lake, with the
forests of pne oak and cedar, with the rich
vineyards that were growing about the village,
all who passed that way predicted tourishing
city. Jesse Richards turned his own mill with
the water power and dealt the -four to his
workmen from his own store. He sawed the
timber and built the houses for his tenants, and
gave them their rent. He pressed the juice
from the rich grapes and stored them in his
own wine cellar. No other store was allowed
in that region but his, and no houses were built
but with his consent. The retainers of the Big
House were fed from the store and superintend
ed by the master. The saw mills, the glass
factories and the foundry made strange music
in the wilds of New Jersey. In the pottery
pair of wheels weighing $500 pounds crushed
through the sandy clay and added to the chorus
of noises in the Industrious place. In 1899 the
foundry furnace was again rebuilt, and the date
is inscribed on Lnc Ola iron pIdte.
BY 1910 ten iron furnaces were busy in New
Jersey, but the discovery of coal and iron ore
together in other States soon dealt them heavy
blow. The prosperity of Jesse Richards made
him the proudest, as he was the wealthiest man
in the State. He looked upon the fires as they
glowed in his furnaces with princely pride.
He reviewed his tenants as they collected in his
store for provisions with lordly satisfaction.
His wine mellowed as it grew old in his cellar,
and in the smiles of his good fortune he drank
his liquor in joy. In 184S the furnace was so
improbable that he allowed the fires to die out,
and they were never relighted. This check to
the growth of his wealth panied him. In 1854
he died, seventyt two years old, with three sons
and three daughters to enjoy his enormous for
tune.
AS William Richards had left as a legacy to
his sons love of thrift and power, Jesse Rich
ards left to his sons love of strong drink
Thomas, Samuel and Jesse were executors of
the estate, and ordered the factories to be man
aged in their name The broad acres and
thriving village returned to them vast reve-
nue.. They made Robert Stewart, faithful
secretary Of Jesse Richards, their manager, and
they left Batsto for Philadelphia. They Law
ished their wealth in every possible pleasure
and demanded all the profits of their factories
to supply them; aud finding these scarcely
enough, in 1855 sold to Matlock Allen, ,clothers,
of Philadelphia, 10000 acres of their land
This went as fast as young men OF fortune can
make money 60.
The working men were left unpaid. They
clamored for their wages. At length they
thra-v down heir tools nd the fires IN the lass
furnaces went out, and the busy village of a
half century was idle, and the men met and
talked over the days when up to the Big House,
"WidIam" Richards, as their dialect turns the
name, kept everybody we'll fed and paid, and
so endeared the men to him that he had only
to ask them and they would fight for him.
The young men returned to their home and
started the wheels of the factories and mill
again, and gave promise of adding to the thrift
Of the village, but as soon as the factories began
to return them more money, one after the other
went of, until Robert Stewart was again COM
PEELED to treat with the clamorous workmen.-
A few of the old laborers, under Jesse Richards,
agreed to work without their wages, for the
sake of the village. Many moved away. The
old houses began to crumble, the old foundry
tumbled in, the canal choked up, and the mill
stopped. Ten years ago the fires went out for
the last time. The retainers of the Big House
chose the best of the dwellings, and chopped
No rent collector called on them, and as one
house grew too old to be habted, they moved
into another. The Big House was desclate.
Seven years ago the post-office was taken
away from the village and given to Pleasant
Mills, smaller place in Atlantic county. The
old store at the Big House was exhausted, and
there was no money in the town to restock it,
and no money to patronize 1t II restocked Inc
carpenter, the Joiner, the shoemaker, the black
smith deserted their shops and the doors stood
wide open, but nobody entered at them. The
mill race burst, and the splash of the falling
water night and day reeehoes as it did before
Quaker Ball discovered its water power The
middle-aged men moved away, and the old men
and women clung to the ruins. AS the years
weakened the timbers in the houses, they
gathered in the strongest of them, and where
one house would accommodate two families
they lived together. They kept COW or two
among them, and raised pigs, chickens and
vegetables. The little returns from the wood
choppers bought bread and scant clothing. A
few days ago a spark from the chimney of
Robert Stewards house burned his own dwell
ing. A strong sweeping wind carried the fire be-
fore it, and within two hours the best dwellings
in Batsto were in ashes.