Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1902-03-06
GLOUCESTER COUNTY so YEARS AGO
Condition Of the people, manner Of life and
surroundings.

CONDITION OF the people, manner OF life and
surroundings.
"a page from volume written by Gen'l SamI
c. French and dedicated to his wife and
chiidrenl
/ was born near Mullica Hill Cat the place
know as Evan in the county Of Gloucester,
State of New Jersey, on November %, 1918.
My fathers name was Samuel French,
whose ancestry in this country runs back
to Thomas French, who descended from
one of the Oldest and most honorable of
English families My mothers name was
Rebecca Clark. She was born January /,
1890, at Billingsport, on the banks Of the
Delaware river, in New Jersey. She was
married to my father on the Sd day. Of
October, 1916. The names Of their children
were: Garrett Samuel G., Charles c., Joseph
H., John G., Sallie c., and George w.
As there may be a desire in long after
years to have knowledge of how the
'well-to-do'' farmers lived in the early
part of the present century in New Jersey,
| will describe the condition of the people
at my fathers. New Jersey was slave
State when | was born (181S). In 1920
slavery was abolished; but there were two
hundred and thirty-six slaves for life in
1850 in the State, because it did not eman-
cipate a slave then in being 1t only set
free the unborn babes. You see the differ
ence between abolition and emancipation !?
The superabundance Of the neoessaries of
life at that period can scarcely be realized
now, and everyone Jared sumptuously, and
nearly all alike. Under the house there
were four cellars. As winter approached,
perhaps forty cords of oak and hickory
wood, four feet in length, were hauled to
the wood pile. Some twenty or more fat
hogs were killed, the hams and shoulders
sugar-cured and smoked in a large stone
smokehouse. The sides, etc., were
sailed down In great cedar tanks The
beeves were killed, the rounds dried not
smoked, and the rest Scorned.p Minced
meat and sausage, in linked chains by the
hundreds of pounds, cider boiled down in
great copper kettles, and apple butter and
pear sauce made without stint. Shad from
the fishery were paqght for sailing down
for six dollars per hundred. Oysters by
the wagon load were in winter put in the
cellar and kept fat by sprinkling brine and
corn meal In bins the choice apples were
stored, each variety by itself, for daily use,
while large quantities were buried in the
earthen pits for spring. On the swinging
shelves was the product Of the dairy, cheese
and butter. Four hogsheads were kept
full of cidar vinegar; and 'spple iackn
(apple brandy in barrels in row, accord
ing to age; great oId-fashioned demijohns
were kept full of cherries, wild and cult
waited, covered with brandy Apples,
peaches, pears, hHekleberFies, epIrants,
plums, ETC., were dried On soatfolds in the
sun for piad nd oh
children forgot not their ample supply Of
chestnuts, shellbarks, hazelnuts, etc. Tur-
keys, geese and barnyard fowls were raised
largely, but they were considered product
for sale. There was no stint to these super
abundant supplies, and they were yearly
consumed. Rabbits, pheasants, cartridges,
and woodcock were abundant, and often
were secured by trapping; and the ponds
and streams were filed with fish. ! might
perhaps convey to you better idea Of the
abundance of fruit and its cheapness by
stating that [ have seen wagons come to the
farm for peaches, and they were told to go
into the orchard and get as many as they
wanted, and on coming out an estimate
would be made Of the number Of bushels
gathered, and they were charged ten cents
per bushel. Apples, the finest Of varieties,
NVIC uBSdiCUlt, ttilkt WBiG udl1lGtl To Uu6
great public cider MILL ground up for
cider, and that distilled into brandy on
shares-that is, the mills allowed the far
mer certain number Of gallons of brandy
for every hundred bushels of apples de-
livered. And as numerous as were these
great cider mills, l have seen the gates
locked and teams turned away because of
the supply exceeding the capacity of the
presses.
There were Germans who woye carpets,
and mills that converted the wool into
cloth. All along the kings highway,
which was marked with granite shafts for
milestones, each one denoting, in carved
letters, how many miles it was to Camden
(Cooper's Ferry, there were smiths Shops
wheelwrights, cabinetmakers, and country
sh oemakers, and taverns for entertainment
of imam and beast"
Daily, four-horse stagecoaches, carrying
the mail and passengers, passed over the
road, and, by common consent, / suppose,
they were granted the right of way, OF it
may have been the last lingering observance
of respect to kingly prerogative.
| have given these minute details Of the
manner in which the people lived in New
Jersey and adjoining States in the olden
times, when the the richest were poor and
the poorest had abundance to show you
how well they lived, how comfortably clad,
and how content they were in the days
when trusts, combines, and protective
tariffs were unknown, and no great oorpor-
ations existed.
What change has sixty five years
wrought! The stage coach has disappeared
on the advent of railroads, steam will be
displaced by electricity as the candle and
lamp have been, and as the friction match
has banished the flint and steel and finder
box, the scythe and sickle have been super
seeded by the mower, the magnificent sail
ing ships have given way to the ocean
racers. Ere long we will see the wind pass
by as we see the streams of water now
1.-THE cloud of witnesses around that hold
US in full survey" may themselves he seen,
for we are discovering the secrets of Arcana
every day, the source of life and the mys-