The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-06-18
A PLANKHD SHAD SUIT.
Allan L. McDermott's Great
Gloucester Water
front Fight.
INDEFENCE OF CHILLY" THOMPSON
Ancient Titles Which We're Proven
by Digging Up the Beach,
Glorious Victory.

| Everyone who has eaten a toothsome
shad has heard Of the Gloucester Fisher
les The man who has not visited them,
and enjoyed 'planked shad, = with cu-
| cumber salad, may have acquired wealth.
health and honor, but, Notwithstanding,
his life has been dismal failure. Geek
tensive with the fame of the fisheries,
is that of William Thompson, Familiarity
called Billy"
Some years ago Thompson was en-
| ployed at thesC Continental Hotel in Fhiia-
| delphia. He chanced to visit Gloucester
and determinedlto start summer hotel
there. He was the discover of panacea
| for suffering Philadelphians, and, within
| ten years, Gloucester has become. to the
| descendants of bfoad-brimmed William
and his followers what Coney Lsle is to
people hereabouts. Fromthe early settle-
ments along the Delaware, the shore of
Gloucester had been considered as deyo-
ted to fishing and to fishing, alone; but
Thompson reasOned:-This Is within
fifteen minutes of PhiladeIphia. and
those people win be glad Of an
opportunity to run away FROM their
mind-harr0wing and sight-destroylnR
white. stoops- So he erected a hotel or
two, and in course of time became man
Of large estates and a member Of the
Common Council, MOTTO mention an cleo
tion TO the Board Of Freeholders.
PURSUED BY ENVY
But envy, greed and grasp follow the
| footsteps Of success. land Biify.has not had
bed of roses with his title deeds. IL
seems that in the early part Of the
eighteenth century. one William Hugg
owned the town OF Gloucester, sand and
land. He died in 1874, and his estate was
n hxr fudfr l.
children and grandchildren To each 80
many of the acres of farm land were given
and ''the fishery was allotted to
all as tenants in common. Trouble
came to many of the heirs, and their
shares of upland and shore went through
the Sheriff. By this and other means
Arthur Powell acquired title to ell the
upland within the estate of the ancient
Hugg, and in;1S44 he sold his holdings TO
Charles Robb. of Philadelphia, who di-
vided the town up into building lots
and invited occupation. From the time
that Robb purchased he was In hot wat or
with the fishermen, He had purchased
swo-fifths of the fishery and. all the up-
iaud. The three other fifths passed
through many hands, and in 1887 be-
came vested in Thompson, who forth
with claimed and exercised the right to
erect pavilions on the shore where re-
freshments might be sold and visitors en-
joy the work of the fishermen. There
upon the descendants of Robbs claimed
that. in the division of 1874, nothing was
awarded to the fishery that was notsnnder
waterof, at any rate, chat II there was
any upiukrd went VI 3 the fishery in
1874. the Delaware River had SO en-
croaehed on the Jersey shore as to wipe
out the rights of those whose deedsiformed
the linkssin Thompson's chain of title.
HALF GLOUCESTER INVOLVED.
The quarrel assumed magnitude that
involved The title to the whole water
front of Gloucester, and has been before
the1courts, awaiting an opportunity for
trial sincedS88. On the 10Th Of May a
jury was drawn beforesJudge Garrison at
Camden. andsdufE sworn tostfy the qrles-
tion OF Whetherlthe descendants Of Robb
or Thompson owned the shore 'front.' The
witnesses included everyone obtainable
who remembered the Gloucester fisheries
as they were prior to 1910. The shore was
dug up in many places that the jury
which tradition located on the old beach,
All the ancient surveysIof the land along
the river were invoked, and the jury were
regaled With lectures on the courses and
habits of rivers. The engineering de-
partment of the case for the plaintiff
was in the hands OF General Elias Wright.
of Atlantic City, while the interests of
Thompson In this line were protected by
Edlow w. Harrison, ofsthis city. Messrs-
S. d M. HI. Gray were counsel for the
plaintiff and Allan NJ. McDermott for the
defendant.
After a stubborn fight of~five weeks
duration the case was given to the jury,
and, deliberating over twenty -four hours,
they returned q verdict establishing
Thompson's title to the water front.
Billy" may now be set down as very
rich man.