Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-01-30

The London Commissioners. John PEN
ford. Thomas Olive, Daniel Wills, and
/ Benjamin Scott, in behalf Of the ten London
Proprietors, chose their portion at Arwau-
mus, about where the City Of Gloucester
now is), apd called it the second tenth
To begin settlement here, Olive sent up
servants 30 cut hay for cattle which he had
bought. When, however. the Yorkshire
Commissioners found the London Friends
we're going TO settle at such distance they
tried to induce them TO join them in sett-
ling town, by offering them the largest
share in consideration that shey she York
shire Commission had the best land in the
woods, as the company was few in num-
bers, and the Indians were numerous they
agreed to this, and surveyor by the name
Of Noble, who came 10 the first ship was
employed to divide the spot From letter
written at the time we learn that Here is
town laid out for twenty proprietors, and
a straight line drawn from the river side
up the land which is 80 be the Main street,
and a market place about the midd g. The
Yorkshire ten proprietOrs are to bulls on
one side (the eastern1 and the London ten
on the other side, and they have ordered
one stress TO be made along the river side
which is not divided with she rest, but 10
small lots by itself, and every one that hath
any right 10 a propriety is to have his share
in it.. The town lots for every propriety
will be about ten or eleven aefes, which is
only for house, orchard and gardens, and
the corn and pasture grounds are to be laid
off in great quantities. -
The name first given to the town was
New Beverly, then Bridlington, but it was
soon changed to Burlington. "The Prop
prietors would not consent TO the occupa
sion Of land until contract could be made
and carried out Under these grants no at
tempt was made by the settlers to interfere
with the privileges OF the Indians, or TO re-
move them from their place OF abode and
only as they died or from time so time
Abandoned their towns where these places
occupied by the whites Many of the
Indian deeds are still in existence and have
all kinds of hieroglyphics attached as the
signatures of the grantors, which are quite
as unexplainable as the names they repre-
sentn
The passengers on the Kent after suffer-
ing many privations, mostly found their
way to Burlington and settled in the neigh
borhood, though the first boat mentioned
was probably the little craft in which the
commissioners and few others came from
Raccoon creek and not the Kent which did
not go TO the end of the voyage and was
probably injured The settlers did not
have time to get habitations before winter
set in, and constructed their houses like
she Iut ian wigwams about them The
chief food was venisou and Indian coru
supplied by the natives who were geDer-
ally helpful to the settlers, though some
thought Efforts were made TO make them
otherwise by insinuations that the English
had given them small -pox il their match
coats, VIII oh NAL dy was amongst them.
At conference held by them one of their
chiefs said, TN my grandfather's time she
smallpox came, aud now in my time the
smallpox bas GOMEZ and then stretching
his hands 80 the skies he said, 1T came
from thence and to this the others gave
assent.
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