Deer Hunt

Today the firearm portion of the New Jersey deer hunting season began. So for the hunters among us, we offer this memento of Mantua Township history: the annual deer hunt 86 years ago. 

Back from the hunt: Mantua Township men in 1930 following their annual deer hunt at Quaker Bridge. The photo was taken in front of Orol Ledden's store on Center Street in Sewell. Hunt participants (left to right) - Back row: ______ Foldshield, Jr.; ______ Foldshield, Sr.; David Garriques, Sr.; Louis Sharp, Orol Ledden, Jr.; Orol Ledden, Sr.; Clarence Budd; unidentified; Russell Carre; ______ Hird; William Richards; Paul Henry; ______ Carson. Front row: unidentified; Jack Tozour; James Barnard; unidentified; Charles Quay; John Kean; David Garriques, Jr.; James S. Ledden; Joseph Crawford; ______ Brickner; ______ Wescott; unidentified; Louis Andrews; Winfield Smith.

This is a remarkable photo. The clarity of the image lets us recognize individuals. The people involved come from a number of families that still have members in the community today. The view of Ledden's shows what the familiar store looked like back in those days. The building was later expanded significantly, and now houses a number of businesses, including Val's seafood.

There is an order to the group above. Dale Ledden, who generously donated the photo, pointed out to me that the successful hunters got to stand for the picture, each posing with his buck. Those who came back empty-handed had to sit. It also appears that the deer get smaller from left to right, so there is a careful hierarchy of hunting prowess on display here.

Other details in the photo contribute to its charm. The extensive bootlaces must have required patience and expertise. The shadow of an onlooker in the foreground right confirms that this photo was taken at the end of the day. A glimpse of a car parked on the left shows that Center Street was much narrower in those days; today, there is not much room between the street and the building. And in the background on the left you can just see the roof of Jeff and Debbie Gellenthin's house.

Maybe you will recognize a relative or family friend in the picture. If you can help us fill in the blanks and identify the unidentified, we would appreciate it!

Thanks for the Harvest

While there are still a few farms in Mantua Township, it's hard for us to appreciate just how important agriculture was to our community a century ago. Nearly 1 in 4 households in those days were directly involved in farming.

100 years ago this week part of the Thanksgiving and harvest celebration included a county "Corn and Potato Show" to highlight the accomplishments of young farmers and homemakers. Competition was tough--Gloucester County was full of farms--but as the article below shows, there were a few winners from the Township. 

For my part, I am happy to see that my alma mater won "best agricultural exhibit collected by pupils of school district." And Violet Dreby of Barnsboro won in the quintessentially quaint but eminently useful category "best six button holes in white goods."

Article from the Philadelphia Inquirer via Newspapers.com

As we turn our thoughts today to the source of our blessings, let's be grateful for the generations of Mantua Township farmers who left us a legacy and example of hard work and faith. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Boo!

Today being Halloween, we turn our attention to two ghost stories from the history of our township--just for fun.

One hundred-twelve years ago this month the New Brunswick Daily Times ran a brief item that seems appropriate to the day:

From The New Brunswick Daily Times, October 5, 1894 via Newspapers.com

Alonzo Jenkins (his surname is misspelled in the text) lived near the railroad tracks in Sewell. It seems likely that the meeting he attended was at the Barnsboro Methodist Church. His encounter with the spook would have taken place along present-day Center Street, on the hill between Barnsboro and Sewell. This route would have taken him past a handful of farms; maybe some local farm boys had a bit of fun at his expense. Of course, the road also passes near the old Driver cemetery...

Mr. Jenkins is described in the article as a leading businessman in early Sewell, but a review of census records show he was not a township native and did not live here for long. He was raised in Mullica Hill. The 1895 New Jersey census, a year after this story ran, confirms that he lived in Sewell. But by 1900 he was a jeweler living in Wenonah. In 1910 he was living in Clayton and, interestingly enough, was a newspaper reporter. He died in 1912 and is buried at the Richwood Methodist Church cemetery.

Our second ghost tale comes from the same stretch of road as the first, though it pre-dates the first by at least a dozen years. This story comes from Dale Ledden, and is about the family of his great-grandfather, a gentleman of Scots extraction who managed the marl pit that is today the "Big Dig" location on the former Inversand property.

It was a chilly fall evening at the home of Mr. Ledden's great-grandparents. A cozy fire in the wood stove kept the cold outside. As they talked and relaxed from the day, a knock came at the door. This was a surprise--they were not expecting anyone. They opened the door to find a young couple with a boy. They invited them in to warm up.

The young father told them he and his little family had arrived that day at the port of Gloucester on a ship from Ireland. Someone there had told them that Mr. Ledden's grandfather hired Irish workers to work in the marl pit, so the family had walked from Gloucester to see about a job. The wife invited them to sit down and talk. The husband explained to the young couple that unfortunately, the pit had closed for the season; once ice began to form in the excavation it could not be worked until the following year.

Disappointed, the young couple were at a loss. What could they do now? As the father considered, he leaned back in his chair. He gave a sudden start as he burned himself on the stove. Back in Ireland homes were heated by peat fires. None of the young family had ever seen a wood stove before.

Wanting to help the young man somehow, the husband told him about a farmer he knew in the Williamstown area who was hiring people to bring in his butternut squash crop. The couple decided this would be worth investigating, and rose to begin the long walk to that town. 

Noticing how exhausted the boy seemed--and perhaps with an idea of the hard winter the poor young immigrants were facing--the wife suggested the two leave their boy with the older couple temporarily. She and her husband would take care of him, and he could help them around the place with chores. The young parents could come back and get their boy when they had gotten themselves established.

The young couple agreed to this proposal and set off for Williamstown. The boy made himself useful around the house for the husband and wife and they were happy to have him around. Winter passed, and spring turned to summer. The three were content together.

Late one afternoon in early summer the wife sent the boy on an errand to Kirkbride's store in Barnsboro, which was located where Jim's Pizza now is. This was the nearest general store to the couple's home in what is now Sewell. She had to take the wagon elsewhere, so he would be going on foot. He assured her that he knew the way there, took the shopping list, and set off up the road.

Evening approached with no sign of the boy. The couple had expected him by now. Had he gotten lost? Had he been injured?

Suddenly the door to the house burst open and the boy ran in. He raced to his bed and hid himself under it. It was some time before the couple could get him to come out. He seemed frightened beyond reason. All they could get out of him were the words "Willy o' the Wisp! Willy o' the Wisp!"

At length they pieced together the full story. Like all children in his part of Ireland, the boy had been taught about Willy o' the Wisp by his parents. He was an evil fairy with a lantern through his nose who would lead unwary travelers who followed his light to a swampy doom in the bogs found throughout the countryside. Parents told this story to keep children from wandering into dangerous territory at night. The appearance of twinkling atmospheric lights over bogs from time to time reinforced the tale.

The boy had been on his way back down the hill from Kirkbride's when he encountered Willy o' the Wisp. His little light hung in the air and receded as the boy advanced. Then it disappeared. Suddenly it reappeared at his other side. Then it was gone again. Curiosity turned to alarm and then to all-out fear as the boy, who had never seen a lightning bug, became convinced he was in the presence of the dread fairy. Off he ran for home!

A "wisp" was a bundle of sticks to be burned as a sort of torch. So "Willy o' the Wisp" could be thought of as "Willy o' Torch," or, as he is known in another variation of the tale, "Jack o' Lantern."

Happy Halloween, everyone. Be safe! And thank you Dale Ledden for sharing your story.

Back to School!

Here we are in the last few days of September, the traditional "back to school" month in Mantua Township. What a time of year this was when we were young. Summer was over and--following in the footsteps of our parents and theirs before them--we were excited in spite of ourselves. How we hated to lose the freedom of vacation! And yet, the adventure of a new class, a new teacher, new subjects, new activities--a new beginning--was invigorating (even with the occasional stomach full of butterflies).

In the tradition of September, then, we offer this week a look at some classes from the past. Maybe you will find one of your parents or grandparents, or some other relative. You might even see yourself.

Memory is a fallible thing, and typographical errors occur all the time; please let us know if you notice any inaccuracies in the captions of the photos. Also, if you recognize any of our unidentified students or teachers, please drop us a note.

1910s

Over one hundred years ago Miss Hamilton's class congregated along the outside wall of the Union Street School in Mantua--the same building that today houses our museum. The students are not identified in the photo but, tantalizingly, we have a partial list of students from the class. We just don't know where they are in the picture. Can you match any of the faces with a name?

Miss Hamilton's class at the Union Street School, Mantua. 
Known class members, in alphabetical order, include: Jessie Batten; Grace Bundens; Harvey Burkhart; Grace Darlington; Anna Hendlymer; Elsie Huff; Bill Hughes; Bertha Jones; Mildred Jones; Camella Kean; Emma Madciff; Marian Munyan; Franklin Myers; Margaret Myers; Fenimore Neuschafer; Frances Owens; Alvin Park; Mae Pike; Frank Ramsey; Arthur Updegrove; Loren Vandergrift; Gordon Warner; Cecil Zane; Marion Zane.
Photo courtesy of Barbara Jones Scott.

1920s

About eight years later at the Union Street School Miss Florence Willey gathered her 7th and 8th grade classes for a group photo. Some of the young ones from Miss Hamilton's 1912 class are among these older students. 

Miss Florence Willey's 7th and 8th grade class, Union Street School, circa 1920.

(Left to right): Front row - Loren Vandergrift; John Kean; Joseph Wolf; Bertram Miller; Kenneth Lore; Mildred Burkhart; Adrian Vandergrift. 2nd row - Grace Rose; Clifford Young; Charles Cooper; Roger Kean; Cecil Zane; Everett Foulke; James Chew. 3rd row - Oscar Gruber; Dorothy Myers; Katherine Davelstien; Sophia Gonserkevis; Alice Haines; William E. DeLaney. 4th row - Harold Feltman; Byron Budd; Martha Leisy; Eunice Simmons; Mildred Jones; Eva Freschcoln. Back row - Lewis Chew; Thomas Munyan; Eugene Neuschafer; Louise Bewley; Bertha Jones; Elsie Bendel; Grace Apgar.

Photographer: R. Jaggers of Paulsboro. Photo courtesy of Bertha Jones Scott.

1930s

The Great Depression was at its height when Mr. Yacovelli (teacher) and Mr. Johnson (manual training teacher) assembled their smallish 7th and 8th grade class for a photo in front of the Sewell School. 

Mr. Yacovelli's 7th and 8th grade class, Sewell School, October 1933.
(Left to right): Front row - Mr. Yacovelli; James Cogan; Thressa Smith; Estelle James; Frank Clark; Ted Micklin; Mr. Johnson. 2nd row - Grace Leach; Patty Barrett; Mary Chadwick; Lelia Arnold; Helen Peirce; Walter McCarty. Top row - Marcella Farestad; Henry Strabuk; Russell Ferguson.
Bert Sorden of Mantua, photographer. Photo courtesy of Thressa Smith Jones.

1940s

Regional conflict in Europe was fast turning into World War 2 when Miss Mary Lippincott's fourth graders had their pictures taken at J. Mason Tomlin School in Mantua. The Mantua Township Historical Commission's Theresa Ratz DiGiamberardino is in the upper left-hand photo. A line of blanks in the caption ("___") acts as a placeholder for unidentified students.

Miss Mary Lippincott's 4th grade class at J. Mason Tomlin School, 1940-41.
(Left to right): Top row - Theresa Ratz; Ruth Marshall; Jean Hunter; Anna Lonia; Kathryn Fleming. 2nd row - Shirley Dissinger; Loretta Foulke; Faith Glenn; Betty Parker; Fay Leisy. 3rd row - Harry Snoke; Alfred Ristine; Howard Kammerer; Ruth Anderson; Ruth Histand; Sue Brown. 4th row - Edward Kay; John Higgins; James Cartwright; Richard Lisborg; George Freshcoln; George Landwher. 5th row - George Gallagher; _______; Harry Scott; Moselle ____; Mattie Fortune; Estelle _____.
Photo courtesy of Theresa Ratz DiGiamberardino.

1950s

After ten years of war and its aftermath, Mantua Township, along with the rest of the nation, was hopeful and prospering. The thirty-nine (yes, thirty-nine!) members of Mrs. Jones' third grade class at J Mason Tomlin school reflect the growing population of the community. Carolyn Harris of the Mantua Township Historical Commission is second from the right in the second row.

Mrs. Jones' 3rd grade class, J. Mason Tomlin School, 1950.
(Left to right): Front row - Janet Mihlebach; Lester Barger; June ____; Jules Weissman; Patsy Park; Carter Brown; _____; John Romano; Patsy Kammerer; Charles Mogar; Virginia Jones; William Schickle. 2nd row - Grant Kircher; Jeanette Donnelly; James Hirst; Carolyn Stecher; Tom Davis; Susan Parks; John Raffo; Janice Porter; Edward Dempsey; Bernice Lonia; Paul Kaufman; Carolyn Harris; Donald Carson. 3rd row - Ed Haig; Charles Firman; George Randall; Calvin Samson; Frank Exler; John Parks; Bobby Slater; Eddie Jones; _____; Teddy Slater; Mrs. Jones. Top row - Bessie Shelmire; Jean Mantal; Jenny Howard; Carol Hebert.

1960s

Ten years later the "Space Race" was heating up on the international scene. Space was also a concern in the burgeoning schools of Mantua Township. This Barnsboro School first grade class came together in the school's spruced-up basement to take a photo in 1961. Unfortunately, we have no record of the names of these students or the teacher. Please let us know if you recognize any of them.

Unidentified 1st grade class, Barnsboro School, 1961-62 school year.

It of course takes teachers as well as students to make a school. Another photo from the 1960s is this image of the 1965 faculty of the Centre City school. We have no names for them, so if you remember any of the faces please notify us.

Faculty of the Centre City School, 1965.

Bonus mystery photo

At the museum we sometimes find a photo about which we have very few clues. We assume that the image below is from a class in Mantua Township, but there is nothing to show which class it is, who the students are, from which school it comes, or when it was taken. If you recognize any of these students, please let us know.

Update--Thanks to Herb Hood of Sewell for identifying his relative John Schnee, born 5 Feb 1940. This helps us estimate the class was from sometime in the late 1940s. Excellent sleuthing!

Revival!

147 years ago today a reporter writing under the pen name "Washtenaw" ran a two-column story in the Philadephia Evening Telegraph about his experiences at the Bethel Camp Meeting in Mantua Township. Bethel was a religious revival meeting/ community/ camp/ vacation/ event that took place for two weeks every August for decades in the woods that once grew where the "Snowy Owl" development now stands. Long before the Pitman Airport that preceded Snowy Owl the campground was there. And though it is difficult to picture now, tens of thousands of people fled the heat of the city for this shady camp meeting.

Bethel meeting took its name from the Bethel Methodist Church, which still stands on the Delsea Drive in Hurffville, its sponsoring congregation. John Turner, a prominent member of that church and extensive Mantua Township landholder, lived on Tyler's Mill Road and donated part of his land for the camp meeting. 

This type of gathering has largely gone by the wayside, but in the days before large buildings that could hold several thousand participants, it was the only feasible way to hold such large meetings. And before air conditioning, a wooded setting was a welcome environment in the August heat. 

Bethel Camp Meeting started as a local revival center. The entrance to the camp was a dirt road leading from Tyler's Mill Road. But after the railroad came to Mantua Township attendees began flooding in from the city, and the event grew dramatically in size. Railroad owners built a special platform alongside the tracks that was only used when the camp was open.

Our reporter opened his story by describing the location of the camp and the size of the crowd. The "Barnsboro Station" in the article is located where the old Sewell train station now stands. The town of Sewell had yet to be created.

In the next section of the article the reporter describes the difficulty in getting to the camp on the train (and on the train in the first place). 

I took these pictures this morning. I wonder if I was walking on what's left of the "narrow roadway leading into the woods" mentioned above. The depth and width of the path show it is an old, well-established way that was once heavily traveled.

In the following section the reporter describes the sleeping accommodations. Civil War surplus tents  figured prominently.

In the next section the reporter presents an evocative account of the camp at nighttime. It speaks to the very reason for the camp meeting, and the age-old desire of human beings to find inner peace. The description of how they provided light for the camp is interesting.

Late night hymn singing:

Our reporter did not spare the water sellers, who plied their trade (even on the Sabbath) to a hot and dusty crowd. 

Perhaps the scarcity of water was one of the reasons that the Bethel Camp waned in popularity over the next three decades while the newer camp meeting destination, the Pitman Grove, grew. For years the two meetings both took place every August--on different weeks, out of respect for each other's events. Pitman's meeting had plentiful water, with Alcyon Lake nearby, and that may be one issue that turned the tide in its favor. As we know, a town grew up around the Pitman Grove, while Bethel Camp meeting disappeared into the mists of history.

A "small stream" back of the camp a quarter mile: this would fit the bill.

The next section outlined the daily schedule in camp.

Imagine a Sunday morning with hundreds of people, alone and in family groups, walking along the railroad tracks south for a mile and a half from Barnsboro Station. Since trains could not stop at the camp meeting platform on Sundays, this was the scene.

The reporter found the camp physically uncomfortable and seems to have been glad to be making his escape before the meeting concluded.

The rapid growth of Bethel Camp Meeting in the years following the Civil War was driven by promoters who saw an opportunity to sell railroad tickets. Note the name of the agent who ran this ad the year previous to our reporter's visit in the Evening Telegraph:

Bethel Meeting died away sometime in the late 1800s, no longer able to compete with the success of the Pitman Grove. By 1900, according to maps I have seen, most of the trees the reporter described seem to have been cut down. And then it was a nursery, and an airport, and a housing development. But plenty of trees remain on the slopes leading down to the stream. As I walked alone in the shade among the beeches this morning, it was cool and refreshing--especially for a day in August.

Soldiers from Wenonah invade Mantua Township

Well, not really. But 107 years ago this week the determined troops of the Camden-based Battery B of the New Jersey National Guard's field artillery built a bridge from Wenonah into Sewell. They were intent creating a shortcut to their pistol range, which was on the other side of Mantua Creek in our township. 

The troops were tired of taking their horse-drawn wagonfuls of supplies to the range the long way around: across the Wenonah Avenue bridge to downtown Mantua; a hard left at the Mantua School onto Mantua Boulevard (the McCarthy Avenue cutoff was not yet in place); down to and over the bridge at Chestnut Branch; and from there to their destination on the Sewell side of Mantua creek.

Oregon Daily Journal article courtesy of Newspapers.com

Why would a Camden-based artillery unit care so much about the route from Wenonah to a gun range in Sewell? Two factors came into play: First, Battery B was at this point homeless. Three years prior its armory had been destroyed in a horrible fire. Second, while most of its officers lived in and around Camden, its captain Samuel Barnard lived on Cherry Street in Wenonah. 

Captain Barnard seems to have found a temporary spot for his battery's equipment in his hometown. Since his men could easily reach Wenonah from Camden via the West Jersey Railroad, creating a training location nearby would have made sense.  

In 1910, the year after they built the bridge, Battery B was given $100,000 to buy land to build and furnish a new armory in Camden, complete with "the necessary stables and range or ranges suitable for revolver and sub-calibre artillery practice."* Before long, the group was once again meeting in Camden and Captain Barnard was the one taking the train. The new armory was on Wright Avenue, near the current Mickle Street exit from 676, in a building that in the 1970s housed Camden's Department of Public Works.

What happened to the bridge? It does not seem to have survived the departure of the field artillery. Where was it located? My guess is it was somewhere in the area highlighted in yellow on the 1901 topographic map below. Any further upstream would have required bridging Monongahela Brook as well as Mantua Creek. Much further downstream the creek would have been too wide for such a bridge.

1901 map courtesy of the United States Geological Survey

It's been quite a while since Battery B went back over the border. If anyone reading this post has any clues about this short-lived bridge, or the location of the one-time gun range to which the bridge led, please let us know. I am curious!

Come visit the Museum this Saturday, July 2nd. We'll be open from 10 AM to 12 Noon.

*Compiled Statutes of New Jersey, Volume III, p 3393 - Newark, NJ, Soney & Sage, 1911. Available on Google Books.

A Historic Business Opportunity

Two-hundred forty-four years ago this week an advertisement ran in the Pennsylvania Gazette for a large parcel of prime land in our community. A look at the notice shows how much things have changed around here since that long-ago day:

Image courtesy of Newspapers.com

Some contrasts with today are obvious. We no longer live in "the western division of the province of New Jersey." And 1,000 acre plus parcels of land are no longer to be had in our area at any price. And our township broke off from Greenwich over 150 years ago. But other differences are more subtle. For example, Chestnut Branch flows today through woods of tulip poplar; pine trees have become somewhat rare.

The tract for sale may have included part of today's communities of Sewell and Barnsboro. It is unclear who purchased the land, or even if a sale did take place. It may have been bought by the Chew family and become part of their large holdings along Chestnut Branch. One clue to its location it that the "almost new" sawmill offered with the property was almost certainly located at what we today call Tyler's Mill. The only road of consequence through our area in those days passed this mill where it crossed Chestnut Branch. 

The road took the path of our Main Street, leading northwest from the sawmill past the Barnsboro Inn as it does today. As it left the settlement of Barnsboro it followed the track of the Mount Royal Road. There was no Carpenter's Landing (Mantua) yet, so there was no road leading in that direction. The landing described in the ad was probably at Mount Royal. This would have been, as the notice says, about a five mile trip. This was a selling point, because access to the thriving Philadelphia market was the key to success for an aspiring local sawmill operator. 

Five miles seems a short distance to us today, but hauling lumber overland in the late 1700s was an onerous task. One of the driving reasons for the establishment of Carpenter's Landing was likely a desire to shorten the trip from the sawmill to navigable water. As the community developed, additional sawmills were built on the Chestnut Branch: one at Alcyon Lake, another where the creek passes under Center Street Sewell. And a large sawmill operation on Mantua Creek was built at Carpenter's Landing itself.

So, where did the pine forest go? Through the sawmills, onto ox-carts, up through Barnsboro to the landing at Mount Royal (or Mantua, later) in rafts or boats to the Delaware River, on to the city market, then into ships for export to markets across the ocean. And, as it grew, into the homes and buildings of Philadelphia itself. 

Perhaps you know of a stand or two of pines in the woods near your house...not the scrub trees of the Pine Barrens, but the lofty white pines that once covered much of our township. The next time you visit, take a moment to look up and breathe in and try to picture the long-ago woods of the west division of New Jersey province.


Interested in learning more about Mantua Township's past? Do you have information about the property described for sale in the advertisement featured today? We would love to share. Come visit our museum from 10 AM to 12 Noon on first and third Saturdays of the month, or the first Thursday evening of the month from 7 to 8 PM. You can also message us to arrange a special off-hours tour.

Disaster Averted

Plenty of rain fell in Mantua Township 120 years ago this week. This did not deter vacationers from enjoying the amusement park at Alcyon Lake. The beginning of summer meant crowds eager to swim, boat, ride the log flume, or otherwise attempt to beat the heat. The lake, larger than ever behind a new dam built by the park's owners, was invitingly cool.

The park had grown up around the Pitman Grove, in those days part of Mantua Township still. The Grove was a popular religious camp meeting; a place for people to come and renew (or find) their faith away from the heat and bustle of the city. Founded over twenty years before, the Grove had grown rapidly, for two key reasons: a new railroad, which made it convenient for Philadelphians to participate, and Alcyon Lake, which provided an important water supply.

The lake which attracted the camp meeting which in turn attracted the amusement park was the result of a dam built across a creek years before to power a sawmill. The creek was the Chestnut Branch--the same creek that gives its name to our township's park these days. Over the spillway of the dam at Alcyon Lake it flowed, as it still does, under Lambs Road near today's Total Turf facilities. It passed among the disused marl pits through what is now Ceres Park, then under a bridge at the Barnsboro-Glassboro turnpike--our Barnsboro's Main Street. Here the creek powered a sawmill owned by George Tyler before passing under what we call today Tylers Mill Road.

Chestnut Branch goes on through Sewell and joins the Mantua Creek in Mantua, but the part of the creek described above is the setting for a dramatic story from a dozen decades past in which foresight on the part of a few saved lives and prevented an accident from turning into a tragedy.

Early in the morning of the 19th two local farmhands were examining the new dam at Alcyon. They were concerned that all the recent rain might cause trouble with the structure. What they found alarmed them: the face of the dam was bulging outward. Quickly they sounded the alarm, warning people away from the immediate area. Their thoughts turned downstream, mentally tracing a potential path of destruction. Nobody lived in the floodplain of the creek, but the workers at Tyler's sawmill would be at work already, and certainly in harm's way.

Philadelphia Times article courtesy of
Newspapers.com

Mounting horses, the two galloped toward Tyler's mill. They likely followed Lambs Road up to the corner where the Pitman Methodist Church now stands, then raced up the muddy turnpike toward Barnsboro. They arrived in time to warn the handful of mill workers. One of the workers opened the sluice gates to allow the flood waters to flow through when they came, and they all sought shelter on higher ground.

Back at the lake, the dam had already given way. A roaring wall of water ten feet high was unleashed. The noise of it carried for miles. The flood destroyed three bridges, and caused major damage at the amusement park as attractions, piers, etc. were sucked down the lake and ruined. But it could have been much worse. Nobody was killed. In fact, no one was even injured. The floodwaters spread out after Tyler's mill and did no damage further downstream. 

My hat goes off to the two unnamed Mantua Township heroes who had the wit to recognize a dangerous situation and took the initiative to act.

1901 Topographic map courtesy of US Geological Survey

If you want to know more about this story, or if you know anything that can help us identify the two heroes, please come visit the Museum or leave us a message. We will be open this Saturday from 10 AM until Noon.

Mantua Grammar School Class of '31

Eighty-five years ago this week the year was drawing to a close at the Mantua School. Twenty-three of Mantua's finest youth readied themselves for 8th grade graduation, which took place June 9th at the Methodist chapel. Their names are listed below the photo.

Row 1 (l-r): Helen Geiger; Beulah Hillman; Beatrice Thurlsin; Dorothy Sharp; Edna Jones; Beverly Reese; Louise Carbone; Doris Foster. 
Row 2: Unknown; Bill DeCesari; Margaret Roy; Gertrude Pope; Tillie Mueller; Margaret ?; Bernard Gallagher. 
Row 3: Lester Bates; Henry Staubach; Unknown; Winfield Smith; Lewis Bailey; Robert Harris; James Mulvenna; Morris Haslett. 

In a way, this generation was riding the crest of an educational wave. Most already had as much formal education as their parents would ever have. But by 1931 in New Jersey, the law requiring children aged 6 through 16 (which had existed for decades) to attend school was starting to be enforced. Most of these teens would enter Pitman High School in the fall. 

An accomplishment of this type called for recognition. Below is one of the impressive diplomas handed out on that long-ago day. It belonged to Morris Raymond Haslett, the last boy on the right in the last row.

  

Morris had been born in Philadelphia in 1917, but when he was still a baby his parents Raymond and Margaret bought a home in Mantua Heights on what would later become West Elm Avenue. Neither Raymond (a house painter) nor Margaret had studied beyond 8th grade. 

Morris would go on to complete high school. He became a plumber, volunteer fireman, and served in a Coast Guard air crew during World War II. He married, raised a family, and lived a long, useful life in Mantua. He passed in 2003 and is buried in Eglington Cemetery. 

If you're interesting in learning more about the 8th grade class of '31, Mantua Township school history, or anything about our community's past, come visit the museum June 18th between 10 AM and Noon.

Tragedy at the Bridge

175 years ago this week eight-year-old Josiah Bowlin and his older brother, a young teen, were fishing from the bridge over Mantua Creek, at the spot where Route 45 now crosses the river. It was a Sunday, but these were the days before the end of May meant a holiday weekend. The awful war that would lead to Decoration Day--and eventually Memorial Day--was still to be fought. The small town growing up by the bridge was then called Carpenter's Landing, and was part of Greenwich Township. A dozen years would pass before Mantua Township would be created.

Josiah and his brother lived on the Deptford side of the creek. Their parents, Henry and Grace, were well respected in the community. They were in their thirties. A third son--just a baby--and three daughters rounded out their young family. They also had the distinction of being African-American, one of only three such families in their neighborhood.

Back at the bridge, tragedy struck. Somehow, Josiah's older brother lost his footing and fell into the water. Just as today, the current and tides can make this part of the creek a dangerous place. Unable to reach his brother, young Josiah ran home for help. Family and friends raced to the bridge, but it was too late. The older boy had disappeared.

The Public Ledger of Philadelphia, June 1st and 2nd of 1841 tell about the sad event (thanks to Newspapers.com):

"Great exertions," the newspaper tells us, were made over the next couple of days to recover the body, but to no avail. The community mourned with the Bowlin family. Within the next few years Henry took his family away from Carpenter's Landing and settled in Galloway Township in Atlantic County. He and his wife had at least two more children. Henry passed away in Galloway in 1880.

Interested in learning more about Mantua Township history? Our museum will be open this Thursday evening (6/2) between 7 and 8:30 PM. On Saturday (6/4) from we will not be open in the morning but will be open from 2-6 PM due to the annual "Rock the Block" celebration. Come support the event and visit us while you're there.

It's been 118 years this week since Milton Chew stopped into Bradshaw's Store and spent 25 cents to buy a new washboard. The store was at the corner of Berkeley Road and Bridgeton Pike in Mantua, on a spot now occupied by a Walgreen's parking lot.

Bradshaw's was a general store. As the ledger for the last week of May back in the day shows, it sold everything from cracked corn to wallpaper. The proprietor would also advance cash for paying a bill or rent labor to get a job done. One of the more unusual purchases during the week, by S. Frazier, was a 40-foot tree to be made into a flagpole.

You may recognize the last names of some of the store's customers during that long-ago week, since many have family members that still live in our township. Besides Mr. Chew and Mr. Frazier the ledger shows Mrs. J. Hewlings, Mrs. M. Eastlack, William Gallenthin, Mrs Swartz, E. Roman, F. B. Ridgeway, William Norris, and H. Reed, among others. Have a look:

The Bradshaw Store closed for business many decades ago and became simply a private residence and later burned in an arson fire. These two ledger pages were among a handful of water-damaged papers firemen rescued from from the ruins of the house. If you're interested in seeing this record in person, stop by the Mantua Township Historical Museum's open hours from 10 AM - 12 noon on the first or third Saturday of the month, or from 7-8:30 PM on the first Thursday evening of the month.

Welcome!

Are you interested in Mantua Township history? We are! Follow us each week as we present a memory from the archives at the Mantua Township Historical Museum. Leave us your thoughts and we'll share them. Ask us your questions and we'll do our best to answer them. Let's expand our vision for today by keeping in touch with our community's past.