Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-04-23
!, REMINICENCEs OF THE HISTORIC
ToNKIN's FARM.
Paper Read by Dan'l L. Pine before the
Gloucester County Historical Society at
Mickleton, on Monday, April Is, 1908.

Paper Read by Dan'l L. Pine before the
Gloucester County Historical Society at
Mickleton. on Monday, April Is, 1908.
When we attempt to investigate occur
rences which took place more than a CEN
fury ago, events that have escaped the
notice of recorded history, yet, events
which we presume will be of interest to the
present and future generations of the
locality in which they were acted-we
should endeavor to discriminate between
actual fact and tradition.
Acts of our forefathers, the account OIL
which is given us by those who were then
upon the stage Of action is something more
than tradition especially when they are
connected with occurrences verified by
authentic records. Yet tradition is often
of great interest to those who love to delve
into the past.
The large old fashioned stone house on
the southeast side of tae Woodbury. and
Swedesboro turnpike, at the lower end Of
Mickleton, has so much Of Interest con.
nected with it, that we are justified in
calling it ian historic house At the
beginning Of the revelation it was the
home OF one who was actively engaged in
airy soldier made it his home
In deed on record in the Clerks office
we find the following recital: Whereas
Thomas Scholy was seized of one hundred
acres of land situate in Greenwich town.
ship in said county of Gloucester, being
thereof seized by deed dated the 2Sth day
Of March, 1888, conveyed the same unto
Nicholas Young, and the said Nicholas
Young dying interstate the same descended
to his only son, Joseph Young who by his
will dated the Doth day of the third month
! l799, did devise the same to his daughter
Amy Young, nevertheless in the same will
ordered the same land TO be sold and the
monies arising therefrom to be divided
between his five daughters, Mary, Martha
Susanna, Phebe and Amy, and they togeth-
er with their husbands by sundry deeds
conveyed the same ore hundred acres Of
land to Benjamin Lodge, and the SAINT
Benjamin Lodge by deed dated June %
l766, conveyed the same to William Scull,
and Thomas Denny High Sheriff of the
county of Gloucester, by virtue of an ex-
ecution to him directed against Scull solo
the same to Bodo Otto on the LIST day O
August, 1772, for the sum of e497 procla-
nation money.
March %, 1886, Catharine Otto, John G.
Otto, children and heirs of Bodo Otto, Jr
deceased, John Wilkins and the Rev
Andrew Hunter guardians of Jacob Otto
and Daniel Otto, two other children Of
Bodo Otto, Jr., they being minors conveyed
to Samuel Tonkin, the farm containing one
hundred acres for the sum of $1,000.
AS all the occurrences which we arr
| investigating took place during the owner
ship of the Otto and Tonkin families, WE
deem it unnecessary to follow the changes
of title any farther.
Bodo Otto, ST., was a physician whose
father, Bodo Otto, ST., also a physician
emigrated from Germany in 1852, and
settled in Philadelphia, and during tht
Winter of 1878 had charge of the hospital
at Valley Forge
July 1776 Congress called on the New
Jersey Convention to furnish two thousand
men for Washington's army; under thi:
call Gloucester furnished three companies
| Cumberland one, and Burlington three,
forming a battalion of which the officers
were Col. Charles Read; Lieut. COL, Jonah
Hillman; Major, VIM. Ellis, and Surgeon
Bodo Otto, Jr.
This battalion was attached to Maxwell's
brigade which opened the battle Of Brandy
wine. Later we find the names Of Bodo
Otto as Surgeon, and Samuel Tonkin as
Lieut. COL, of militia regiment raised by
the counties of Cumberland, Salem and
Gloucester.
Bodo Otto died Jan. Doth, 1882, it i:
said in the house known as the "Old Fox
Tavern, now belonging to Hoffman. His
remains lay in the old church cemetery al
Swedesboro
His son, John G. Otto, born near Wood
bury, so says notice of him in the library
of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
graduated at the University of Pennsyl-
vania in 1892, became a prominent phys
ician in Philadelphia, and the author o.
several medical works.
| In the old deeds there are two statements
or topics presented to us, which seem tt
deserve our attention-one is the term
proclamation money, and the other is the
amount and value of the purchase money.
We have not been able to find a specific
definition of the term, or in other word:
why it was called proclamation money!
Ia the early settlements of the State, il
fact throughout the eighteenth century
foreign coins, principally Spanish were to
great extent, the metallic currency circu-
lation of the country. The values assigned
to these foreign coins were variable, seemed
to depend on the whims or caprces Of
individuals; so much so, that in 1908
| Queen Ann issued proclamation fixing {
specific value for each coin. This remedied
the evil for a time, but the people soon
began to disregard it, so much so, that in 174(
the Governor refs ued the proclamation
and compelled its more strict observance
This leads us to believe that this is the
origin of the term, p exclamation money.
have heard old people speak of Spanish
doubloons as being in circulation in the
latter part of the eighteenth century.
Their value was about fifteen dollars. The
colonial assembly of New Jersey issued
bills of credit; the first took the form Of
treasury notes, and were redeemable by
taxation, but the denominations were SC
large that they did not circulate as cur
rency.
A new assembly met in 1921, and con
tinued in existence until 1927, during the
whole of Governor Burnet's administers
ton. By an act Of this assembly, e40, 00(
in bills of credit from one shilling to three
pounds were issued These were loaned TO
individuals in sums of not less than e12
/ 10 $, nor more than g100, unless at the
cad of SIX months from the date of ISSUE
there remained in the hands of the agent
some of the issue.
Plate and real estate were pledged by
the borrower, who paid five per cent. inter.
est Loans on plate were for one year, on
real estate twelve years. From this time
until the revolution, the assembly passed
various acts for the issue of bills of credit,
but they had to be finally sanctioned by
the King, which sanction was often with
held. The sums issued were apportioned
to the counties, in which loan offices were
established under a commissioner named
IN the act.
At one time the bills Of New Jersey
were at a discount of sixteen per cent il
exchange for the bills of New York
Now as to the valve of property, at the
time of which we are writing. We are told
that this farm was sold by the Sheriff in
1772 for e497, but we are unable to deter.
mine whether the house was built at that
time-sold again in 1896 for $1,000. From
the best evidence we have, we concluded
| that the exterior walls of the house as they
are to-day, were there at that time.
To show the value of property, about the
close of the eighteenth century, we will
digress somewhat The farm, now owned
by Edward Cooper, was bought by VIM
Pine, in 1894, for the sum of e1300, to be