Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-02-06
EARLY QUAKER SETTLE
hENTS|A WEST NEW JERSEY
Ioontinued from last week

IContinued from last week
In November 1917 another ship, the
"Willing Mind,n John Newcomb, COM
mander, came from London and dropped
anchor as Elsinburg bringing sixty or
seventy passengers who settled, some at
Salem and some at Burlington; the File
boat, Martha, OF Burlington, came this year
also with one hundred and fourteen passen-
gers designed to settl5 the Yorkshire tenth,
but, according TO Watson's annals, it was
NOT until 1878 that John and Thos Wood,
Thomas Gardiner and others with their
families were passengers on vessel the
ssShield of Stockholm from Hull which
arrived in the Delaware aud was the first
English vessel that passed up the river as
far as Burlington. Then the site of Phil
adelphia was bold, high shore, and the
ship in veering struck the trees with her
sails aud some of the passengers exclaimed
What a fine place for town. When they
reached their destination the ship was
moored to tree and the next morning the
passengers went ashore on the ice; they
made a tent OF the sails OF their vessel and
here held meetings for the first year afser
their arrival, thus showing that they allow
ed nothing 80 interfere with the discharge
OF their duties as devout, sincere chris
tians." Thomas Gardeners house was the
first one erected within the limits of the
town, and although of logs was OF better
quality than most Of his neighbors To is
the meetings were transferred, and the
first yearly" meeting of Friends in New
Jersey was held in this house Thomas
Gardiner was tailor by trade and as for
years there was little variation in she styles
as worn by the Quakers, he had little COM
petition. ''I5 has often been wondered
why the first English settlers went so far
up the Delaware, leaving behind them so
many suitable places where there was
greater depth of water and much nearer
the sea. The Swedish settlements, save a
small one at the mouth of Woodbury. creek,
did not extend far from Raccoon creek, and
then there were no other inhabitants save
Indians until they reached few HolIan-
ders near the mouth OF Assiscunk creek.
One of these, Peter Yegou, according TO the
records of Upland court as held at Chester
at this date) kept tavern, and as this
place also ferry was maintained for the
convenience of persons passing from New
York TO Virginia by way OF land, and it
lington was found
The following is portion OF letter
written by Mahlon Stacy, one of the first
settlers, to his brother, and his description
of Wess jersey at this period Is is dated
she 26sh of Ash month, 1880, and runs as
follows: But now word or two of those
strange reports you have of us and our
country. | affirm they are not true and
fear they were spoke with spirit of envy
Ii is country that produeeth all things for
she support and sussenance of man in a
plentiful manner. l have travelled through
most of the places shat are settled and
some thai are not, and in every place find
the country very apt TO answer the expecta
tion of the diligent / have seen orchards
laden with fruit to admiration, their very
limbs torn to pieces with the weight, and
most delicious to the taste, and lovely to
behold. have seen an apple tree from a
pippin kernel yield barrel OF curious Oh
der. have seen and known this summer
forty bushels of bold wheat OF one bushel
sown. Weshaye from May until Michael
mas great store of very good wild fruit as
Strawberries, eranberries and hurtleberries;
as for yenis0n and fowls, we have great
plenty, we have had brought home to Us by
the Indians seven or eight fat buck day.
Fish, in their season. are very plentiful;
my cousin and I, with some other men,
went last third month, into the river to
catch herring, for at that time they came
in great shoals into the shadows. We had
neither rod nor net, but after the Indian
fashion made round pin-fold about two
yards over and foot high, but left gap
for the fish to go in at, and made a bush to
lay in the gap TO keep the fish inland when
this was done we took two long birches and
tied their tops together and went abous a
stones cast above our said pin-fold, then
hauled these birch boughs down the stream
where we drove thousands before us. but so
many g0t into our trap as it would hold,
and then we began TO haul them in shore as
fast as three or four of us could by two or
three as a time, and after this manner in
half an hour we could have filled three
buahel sack OF as large herring as we eyer
saw. Though / speak only of herring, we
have, besides, plenty Of most sorts of fish as
ever saw in England, besides serveral other
sorts that are nos known there-as rock,
catfish, shad, sleeps heads. sturgeon
Indeed, tia country take is as a wilder
ness, is braYe country though no place
will please all. For my part | like it so
we'll / never had the least thought Of re-
turning to England except on the account
of trade" In another letter he says: stAll
our people are very we'll and in hopeful
way to live much better than ever they
did, and not only 50, bat TO provide well
for their posterity.
They improve their land and have good
crops, and il our friends and countrymen
come, they will ind better reception than
we had, by far at first. know not one
among the people that desires to be in
England again, mean since settled I
wonder at our Yorkshire people, that they
had rather live in servitude and work hard
all the year and not be three pence the
batter at the years end, than stir out Of
the chimney -corner and transports them.
selves 30 place where, with like pains in
etuO f,rf ba~