Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-04-30
THE OLD TAVERN HOUSE
HADDONF|ELD, \. !.
Address Delivered by DIR. John n
stevenson Before the Historical
society of Gloucester CO., Mt
HaddonffeId. April IA. 'Os.

oldest pubic highway III the COioH5 VI
West New Jersey. The first session
of the first General Assembly OF this
province convened at Burlington, on
the 25th day of November, 1851. On
the 5th day of January, 1872, the fol-
lowing Act Of this legislature was ap.
proved by Gov. Samuel Jennings:
.Be it also further enacted by all-
thority aforesaid that there shall be
a highway surveyed and set forth be
tween Burlington and Salem, the sanle
to be begun at or before the fifth day
of second month; and that twenty
men in the whole shall be appointel
for the said work, ten of them from
Burlington and ten from Salem.
When this road was laid out the
land upon which Haddonfeld stands
was unoccupied public land. 1t was
still under general proprietorship in
that division called the Third Tenth,
which extended from Pensauken creek
on the north to Oldman's creek on the
south, and from the Delaware river TO
the Atlantic Ocean, the whole prov
ince having been divided into 100
equal parts, 10 of which were called
stenths"
The first location of land here was
made on October 23rd, 1852, by Fran
els Collins, from Oxfordshire, England,
comprising 500 acres on the west side
of Ellis street and the turnpike HAD
don avenue). An old deed Of convey
ance of the tract of land upon which
the Old Tavern House stands says,
that ssRichord Matthews, formerly Of
Blackwell Hall, London, now Of Stoke
Newington, Middlesex, England, had
purchased by deed dated March Gath,
1876, one eight of a Propriety in West
Jersey" Two years afterwards, Aug
ust 26, 1878, the proprietors, Edward
Byllinge and William Penn issued their
warrant allotting to Richard Matthews,
as much land, as his interest amount
ed to in the Third Tenth, but it was
not until March, 1858, that he had sur
veyed to him 500 acres, which are duly
recorded in Revels Book of Surveys,
page 38. Under the law Of the pro-
prietors a settler could take up no
more than 500 acres of public land.
This was the second tract OF land
taken up for settlement in what is
now the borough of Haddonfieli. It's
boundaries began at Cooper's creek,
about where Ellis street crosses it
and then closely following the line of
the latter to the turnpike (Haddon
avenue), parallel to which it ran to
Westmont, and then across to Coop
er's creek, which was its boundary to
the stating point.
Richard Matthews never visited
America He sold his land through an
agent. On June Is, 1881, he sold to
william Lovejoy, of Gloucester Coun-
ty, blacksmith" that triangular piece
Of land opposite to this house, bound
ed by Ellis street, Main street and
Cooper's creek. Here the village start
ed known as Uxbridge. 1t contained
100 acres.
The 400 acres, remaining of the
Matthews tract was sold on June 6,
1897, to John Haddon, Of Rotherhitt,
county Of Surry, England
1t will thus be seen that the name
of Haddon was unknown here for fif-
teen years after the first survey Of
land, and probably continued so for
three years longer when a record
changed all this. 1t was a power of
attorney dated 5mo. duly, 25 day.
1900, from John Haddon, of Rothe,
rift, County of Surry, England, to his
daughter, Elizabeth, of the same place,
to become his agent for the location,
purchase and sale of lands. The ro-
nance of this was that Elizabeth Had
don was only Is years old thorn in
1922, when this document was sign
ed; that she was one of two children,
both daughters, and that she had de-
termined to go to America, which
voyage she made in the following
year, 1901. Equally romantic it was,
that John Estaugh, friend of her
fathers, a prominent young Quaker
preacher, TO which sect the Haddon
family belonged, should on the 2Sth
day of September, two months after
wards, received a minute from the
tCogshall Quarterly Meeting of
Friends" of Kelvedon, allowing him to
go to America on a religious visit. This
romance ended 1st day, 8mo., 1902,
when John Estaugh and Elizabeth
Haddon were married at the house of
the latter, which stood on Cooper's
creek, when the New York connecting
branch of the West Jersey and Sea-
shore R. R. crosses that stream.
In the year 1922, John Haddon, still
d resident of England, conveyed to
John and Elizabeth Estaugh, the track
Of land he had purchased of Richard
Matthews, which in the deed is called
New Haddonfield" Here by this
time the Estaughs had built a new
house, where Samuel Moods house
now stands.
On August 6, 1882, Timothy Matlack
bought of the last named owners part
of this land, fronting on the Main
street, including the site upon which
this Old Tavern House stands. The
same day he bought four acres across
the street opposite to this house. The
nature of his business is clearly set
forth in an advertisement in the
American Weekly Mercury" Of April
IS, 1745.
ITO be sold by way of Public Ven
due by Timothy Matlack, the 18th day
of the next Third Month (called
May'O
Several houses and lots, viz: a
malt house, brew house, still house,
and several lots not built on in the
fT<s - q al thu 0ratufv4 IF