The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-04-05
The Oyster Trade at Perth Am
boy.

regarded as among the most prolific in
the world. What are termed the Great
Beds or Amboy Grounds cover nearly
thousand acres, and comprise most of
the bottom of the mouth Il haritan
Bay. When first discovered about fifty
years ago they were covered with a
thick natural growth of oysters, "the
like of which," as an old Perth Amboy
man said, "was never seen before.
They were then free to all corners, and
continued so for several years, and
hundreds of thousands of bushels were
taken away, until the grounds became
almost cleared. In 1881, a company
composed of forty-eight men from
Newark, Elizabeth, and Perth Amboy,
obtained a grant from the Legislature,
and took possession of the coveted ter
ritory. Mr.. 7. J. Sophield, one of the
oldest oystermen of Perth Amboy, who
was then young man, gives the fol-
lowing "Reminiscences of the trouble that
ensued: "This company" ne said,
commenced to plant off-shore, using
seed from Newark Bay and the Raritan
River, which they bought at a shilling
a bushel. Abram Bloodgood had
charge of this business, and started
store in Perth Amboy, and paid the
men one half in goods and the other
half in oysters for the planting. At the
end of three or four years, when the
oysters had got their growth, and were
about ready for the market, the oyster
men from other places began to growl
and insinuate that the monopoly would
ruin the business. They threatened
trouble all round if something wasn't
done to stop it, but the company paid
no attention to their threats.
"About the 18th of September, 1881,
the enemy-we called 'em by that name
then-invaded the bay. 1t was on
Sunday morning, and remember when
l sauntered out of the house 1 looked
over to Wards Point. The water over
there was swarming with schooners
with men on board, and from their ae-
tons knew they meant mischief. The
whole town was shortly afterward made
aware of the presence of the strangers,
and some were in favor of 'em and
some weren't. The feet lay at anchor
all night, and remained so until Mon
day afternoon, when they lifted their
anchors, and every sloop let loose from
one to three shiffs, each holding two
men, ard if they didn't everlastingly
grub the oysters Pm a ghost. Them
fellers worked harder and faster than
1 ever saw oystermen work before, and
by nightfal1 they had their sloops load
ed down to the rails with the company's
oysters. Then they hoisted sail and
they went down and out of the bay
with the tide. The company sent to
New Brunswick for militia company,
and the next day the soldiers came down
in q boat to dispense the enemy should
they return; but. bless you, the enemy
did come back, and what's more,
they didn't pay any more attention to
them than if they had been so many
oysters, as they pushed 'em aside and
hauled up the oysters as fast as they
could. By this time the company had
their eyes opened, and they came
to the conclusion that rather
than lose all, they'd grub
their own oysters too. Then they hired
almost every man, woman and child in
Amboy to work for 'em on the halves,
and the wharf was covered ten feet
high with oysters. TWAS good thing
for all of US. 1 cleared some days as
much as S25, and almost all my neigh
bors did the same. This rivalry lasted
between five and six weeks, the stran-
gers comingin light every day and going
back heavily loaded. At last the beds
were cleaned out. The company saved
expenses, and perhaps made little.
Had they been permitted to continue
on uninterrupted, they would have been
the richest set of men in this country.
As it was, this invasion of outside oys-
ter men broke up the monopoly, and
the beds afterwards RENAME free until
1910. Then 1 and others of the town
staked off grounds, and we have been
planting ever since. The State derived
some revenue from US, but afterward,
as no one collected it, we did not pay.
Now we pay what is called the oyster
tax, and 1 believe only four of us do
that"
Sounds, North Rivers, Newark Bays,
and Virginia oysters are planted annu-
ally in these beds, where they thrive
wonderfully. They require four years.
growth before they are fit for the mar
ket. More than 100 men are engaged
in the trade at Perth Amboy, and the
major portion have followed the bust
ness from boyhood, and have grown
rich. The valuation of the oyster
grounds is placed at S1,000,OO0, and
the annual expectation to market is
estimated at 100000 bushels.
Newark Bay has also natural bot
tom for oysters, and the grounds like
those at Perth Amboy originally pro-
duced bivalves of natural growth. 1t
is public ground, and is used for seed
oysters, as well as growing for the mar
kets. Many dealers, however, own beds
in the bay, and the profit of raising in
this quarter has enriched hundreds.
In the past six years lucrative trade
has sprnng up between this planting
ground and California, and the trade is
steadily increasing. Thousands of
bushels of fine seed oysters were ship
ped to San Francisco in 1875, and pre-
parations are being made to send large
quantities this year. They are used to
stock beds in the harbor of that city.
Seed oysters, as well as bivalves of full