Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-06-08
pAuLsnoRo cElEaRArloN.
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE
BUSINESS MEMS ASSOCIATION.

/ last Monday evening, June 5 It was th,
! first anniversary of the Board of Trade
the official title OF which is the Business
Mems Association. The celebration wal
unique in the history of organizations 0
its character because while the name 0
those s0-called is legion, the number tina
survive their first anniversary with sui
ficient vitality left to hold an anniversary
banquet and extend hospitality with sc
cordial and lavish a hand, is nit
The members and guests assembled il
Dawson's Ball at T. 80 p. M, and Their
marched to Laws Hall where the banquet
was held Around the handsomely spread
tables were men of all the professions and
avocations OF life-mInisters,d doctors, states
men, iawyere, editors, merchants, farmers
mechanics, and laboTers-m of ihs
association and guests-to the number o.
more than one hundred. The hall wal
tastefully decorated with flags, and Ben
nets orch sstra furnished excellent music.
Every detail to make the occasion q
success had been considered Each guests
place at the table was designated by 8
card, beside which was beautiful menu, q
combination of the engravers and printers
art
ne duuf69S Vi WCtCOluC Was maui ny
Mr. John H. Brown, President of the As
ISOLATION, in brief but courteous address
Rev. S F. Gaskill, pastor of the local
NJ. E. church, invoked the blessing, and
then the menu was discussed and digested
Hon. H. c. Loudenslager, who acted as
t0ast-master, introduced as the first speaker
DIR. George c. Laws, who read an interest
ing paper on the subject "Our Town,
which we print in full, because we con
slider it, a. art from its local references, a
valuable contribution to the history oil
Gloucester county.
When one has the subject of his address
provided for him be is saved a considerable
part of his trouble, and the toast, Our
Town." is a theme to which any citizen
ought to feel proud to respond. One diff
Guilty in the way is the fact that the town
is co-extensiYe with Greenwich township
there being no well defined municipal
bounds except the township lines and our
governing body, under the town meeting
is the township committee. Our two great
businesses, the Mantua Point Phosphate
Works, and those of the Repauno Chem
ical Company, are part of the very life
of the community. Then too, we must
not forget BillingspOrt; for the ancient town
of that name and the modern one of Pauls-
boro have gradually grown until they have
Joined together and become one commun-
ity. Bilingsport was selected by the pro
prietor, Edward BylIinge as the site for a
town and given his name, and he, no doubt,
expected it to becomt the important place
in the colony. There is good reason for
locating here the Manor of Wacessit the
seat of Earl Ployden, Lord Palatine, of New
Albion, who received his grant in 1854, 80
years before that of Berkeley and Carteret.
Ia 1923 Captain Cornelis Mey built Fort
Nassau, history states,at the mouth of Tim
Der creek. On an ancient map of the South
river. as the Delaware was formerly called,
are located the towns of New Castle, Christ
lana, Upland and Wicaco aud on this side
BilIingsrort, the first town with an English
name situated on the South river at the
mouth of Timer Kill, as the first stream
above it is named and below Billingsport
on the bank of the river is Fort Nassau
Mantua and Little Mantua creeks are called
Timer aud Little Timer Kill, and a place
to the east Timer swamp. There are other
reasons 10 favor of the locality that We
have not time to ailude to here. There is
we'll founded tradition that VIM Penn
intended to found here the seat Of his COM
meTcial metropolis, and that preparatory
survey was begun. The line of survey
running from the river through the town
known as the Penn Line is all that remains
of that intention, the site at Philadelphia.
being selected year later on account of
the ground being higher. Perhaps William
was better treated at the Blue Anchor
Tavern than be was at Billingsport hotel /;
at any rate it was there that he proceeded
TO lay out the groand of the Philadelphia
Wicaco Land & Improvement Company of
which he was president, secretary, treasur
er and board of directors. From that
time on the neighborhood got along con.
tentlY for century. At the time of the
Revolution we were evidently a thckly
settled farming community, inhabited BY
people of some wealth il we are to Judge
by the houses of brick and stone they built.
many of which are still standing, and are
copies ON larger scale of the Philadelphia
residences of Colonial times: Roads were
few, the streams were the highways and
the houses are built on their banks.
With the breaking out of the Revolu-
tionary war, the neighborhood livened up
and in TIT fort was built on the bluff as
part of the defenses of the river, and a
powerful fort it was. Some of us have
seen it in it's ruin and decay, after man has
been at work for years with shovel and
pillow trying to obliterate it, and can Judge
from its remains how creditable it must
have been to the military engineer who
built it. This fort was attacked by force
of $500 British who crossed over from
Chester. The small garrison spiked theii
guns, blew up the magazine and Joined the
forces at Red Bank. Justice has never
been done TO the magnitude of the military
operations on the Delaware, right here and
opposite shore;and ] hope the time will come
when historian not of New England birth
will tell in full the story of the sieges and
battles of which this was the scene, but OF
which school histories and school historians
have never heard. After the war the
neighborbood took another mar, until 1912
TO Is when the old fort was gaFtisoned BY
South Jersey troops under Generals Gaines
and Elmer, The fort property was sold by
the government in 1885 to Jos. G. Gill. OF
this place. and 90. Ford, of philadelphia.
and the cannon removed to Philadelphia.
Greenwich township is the oldest in the
county, having been laid ont as such March
|, 1893. A large proportion OF the inhabit
ants were of Swedish descent, and the
Swedish language, religion and customs
were maintained for a long time, but now,
all that is left to remind us of these earlier
settlers is their family names of Rambo,
Lock, Derickson, Cox, Hendrickson, Helm,
etc. The first church ever built here was
built by Swedes it was stone church and
never completely finished.
Seventy years ago there was no Pauls-
boro. Samuel P. Paul, who lived 10 the
stone house near the bridge, after whom
the place was named, was the principal
land owner. He gave an acre for burial
ground aud was the first man buried in it.
The hotel was built in 1884 The road to
Crown Point was opened and the bridge
built about 1900 under great opposition
from those living on the other road :. the
Kings highway" for fear it would divert
travel Mr.. GiIlis stone residence was built
in 1910 by John Clark, the grandfather Of
DR.. II. c. Clark, OF Woodbury. The resi-
dences of Messrs Isaac and 3. S. Cox are
other old houses. Fiftr years ago Pauls-
boro had made but little progress and con.
sisted of about dozsn houses; from that
time on the growth was steady but slow
A Methodist church had been built in 1927
and a larger one in $50. The present
handsome structure in 1892 A little lafei
the brick school house was erected It was
enlarged in 1881 and is now having large
and handsome addition built to it. In 1855
Joseph G. Gill, large land owner, had sc
acres surveyed and laid out in 200 lott
4. ~. "A r