Historic Burlington City, NJ

Welcome!

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Welcome to historic Burlington City, NJ. Here, you'll find information on the dozens of historic sites located within this small City, as well as numerous historic figures who called Burlington home, and other historical information. If you need more information, various historical organizations may be of help, as may the many books published on topics relevant to Burlington. If you'd like to see Burlington for yourself, directions are available, along with links to nearby motels for reservations.

Be sure to also visit tourburlington.org, the official tourism site for the City of Burlington Historic District, and burlingtonnj.us, the City of Burlington's official municipal web site.

Driving Directions

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As a center of population and commerce for centuries, Burlington City has always been convenient to major thorofares. Although none of the area's superhighways pass through our City, it is within five miles of all of them, and whatever direction you may be driving from, it's simple to get to Burlington. There are multiple routes from each direction - here are some of the easiest:

Driving from the North - Trenton, Princeton, Somerville
: Follow Interstate 295 South to Exit 47B for County Highway 541. Follow 541 North for 3 miles into Burlington City, where it ends at the Riverfront Promenade.

Driving from the Northeast - New Brunswick, New York, Boston: Follow the New Jersey Turnpike South to Exit 5 for County Highway 541. Turn left at the light. Follow 541 North for 4 miles into Burlington City.

Driving from the East - Lakewood, Asbury Park: Follow Interstate 195 West to the New Jersey Turnpike. Follow the Turnpike South to Exit 5 for County Highway 541. Turn left at the light. Follow 541 North for 4 miles into Burlington City.

Driving from the Southeast - Medford, Hammonton, Atlantic City: Follow County Highway 541 North to Burlington City. If traveling from Hammonton, follow Highway 206 North to Highway 541. If traveling from Atlantic City, follow US Highway 30 North to Highway 206.

Driving from the South - Moorestown, Cherry Hill, Vineland: Follow Interstate 295 North to Exit 47B for County Highway 541. Follow 541 North for 3 miles into Burlington City, where it ends at the Riverfront Promenade.

Driving from the Southwest - Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore: Follow Interstate 95 North to the exit for Route 413, Bristol, PA. Follow 413 East across the Burlington-Bristol Bridge into Burlington.
Driving from the West - King of Prussia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh
: Follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike East to the New Jersey Turnpike. Follow the Turnpike South to Exit 5 for County Highway 541. Turn left at the light. Follow 541 North for 4 miles into Burlington City.
Driving from the Northwest - Allentown, Scranton, Syracuse
: Follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension South to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike East to the New Jersey Turnpike. Follow the Turnpike South to Exit 5 for County Highway 541. Turn left at the light. Follow 541 North for 4 miles into Burlington City.

Related reading:

Hagstrom New Jersey State Road Atlas: ISBN 0880970502 - Amazon.
New Jersey State Road Atlas: ISBN 088097060X - Amazon.

Public Transportation

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New Jersey's public transportation system, NJ Transit, makes it easy to reach Burlington by bus or light rail, with hundreds of buses and trains every week running to, or through, Burlington. Flat-fare light rail service is available from Camden, Trenton and intermediate towns along the Delaware River, while bus service is available from Mount Holly, Trenton, Camden, Philadelphia, and intermediate towns, with fares based on trip distance. Buses and trains stop in the center of Burlington City, within easy walking distance of all historic sites and the downtown shopping district.

Public Transportation from the Southwest - Camden, Philadelphia: NJ Transit RiverLINE Light Rail - Serves Camden, Pennsauken, Palmyra, Riverton, Cinnaminson, Riverside, Delanco, Edgewater Park. Connections in Camden to PATCO rail service and Greyhound and NJ Transit bus service.; NJ Transit Bus 409 - Serves Philadelphia, Camden, Pennsauken, Cinnaminson, Delran, Willingboro. Connections to Greyhound and PATCO rail service in Camden; Greyhound and SEPTA rail and bus service in Philadelphia.; NJ Transit Bus 419 - Serves Philadelphia, Camden, Pennsauken, Palmyra, Riverton, Cinnaminson, Delran, Riverside, Delanco, Beverly, Edgewater Park. Connections to Greyhound and PATCO rail service in Camden; Greyhound and SEPTA rail and bus service in Philadelphia.

Public Transportation from the South - Mount Holly, Moorestown: NJ Transit Bus 413 - Serves Philadelphia, Camden, Pennsauken, Cherry Hill, Maple Shade, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Hainesport, Mount Holly, Lumberton, Westampton. Connections to Academy Bus from New York in Westampton; Greyhound and PATCO rail service in Camden; Greyhound and SEPTA rail and bus service in Philadelphia.

Public Transportation from the North - Bordentown, Trenton: NJ Transit RiverLINE Light Rail - Serves Trenton, Bordentown, Roebling, Florence. Connects to NJ Transit, SEPTA and Amtrak rail service and NJ Transit regional bus service in Trenton.; NJ Transit Bus 409 - Serves Trenton, Bordentown, Fieldsboro, Florence. Connections to NJ Transit, SEPTA and Amtrak rail service in Trenton.

For bus fare and schedule information, please call NJ Transit at (800) 582-5946 (within New Jersey) or (215) 569-3752. Fare examples in March, 1999 are $1.00 from Mount Holly, $1.70 from Trenton, and $2.30 from Camden. For light rail fare and schedule information, visit the RiverLINE web site.

NJ Transit provides, by reservation, lift-equipped buses for passengers with disabilities. For reservations, please call NJ transit by 4:00 PM on the day before the scheduled trip.

During the off-peak hours of 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays, a reduced bus fare program is available for passengers with disabilities and those 62 years of age or older with a valid NJ Transit reduced fare or Medicare card. For more information, call the Reduced Fare program office at (201) 378-6401.

Lodging

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If one day doesn't seem like enough time to see all the sights in Burlington, why not make it an overnight or weekend trip? There are three fine hotels and motels just 10 minutes away near the New Jersey Turnpike (Interchange 5) in Westampton.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Mount Holly / Exit 5
Hampton Inn Burlington/Mount Holly
Econo Lodge Westampton

These hotels and motels are also within 2 miles of Interstate 295 (Interchange 47), and less than 1 mile from major shopping centers and restaurants.

For larger groups, the Quaker-run Burlington Meeting House conference center in the center of Burlington City has 88 beds, a professional kitchen and meeting space. Call (609) 387-3875 for information.

Annual Events

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Numerous events take place in Burlington City throughout the year. For precise dates or additional information, please contact the City's Director of Public Affairs at City Hall, (609) 386-0200.

February

Black History Art and Essay Contest and Awards Ceremony: Held at the Captain James Lawrence School in late February. Sponsored by the Oliver Cromwell Black History Society.

April

Boat Ramp opens: The City's public boat ramp on the Delaware River opens for the summer season.

May

Spring Festival: Crafts, food and family entertainment along High Street between Broad Street and the Delaware River.

Memorial Day Parade

June
Historic Yorkshire Alliance Yard Sale
First Saturday in June

Slade-Valentine American Legion Post #336 Street Parade

Summer Concert Series begins
Last Thursday evening in June on the Riverfront Promenade - Free
July
Summer Concert Series continues
Thursday evenings on the Riverfront Promenade - Free

Lunch at the Movies
Classic movies presented at the Burlington County Historical Society's center. Bring your own bag lunch.
August
Summer Concert Series continues
Thursday evenings on the Riverfront Promenade - Free

Festival of Lights
Typically third Saturday in August. Concert, parade of lighted boats, and fireworks show. Concert begins at 7:00 PM, parade of boats around 8:00 PM, fireworks at 9:00 PM.
September
Summer Concert Series finale
Labor day evening on the Riverfront Promenade - Free

Wood Street Fair and High Street Art Show
A craft fair on Wood Street and art show on High Street. Crafts, art, food, entertainment, antiques.
October
Boat Ramp closes
City's public boat ramp closes for winter at end of month.
November
Veteran's Day Parade
High Street. Parade at 10:00, Ceremony at 11:00 on the lawn of the American Legion.
December
Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting
On the first Saturday in December, the City's annual Christmas Parade proceeds down High Street through town, ending with the lighting of the City's Christmas Tree at the Riverfront Promenade.

Home for the Holidays

Storefront Decorating Contest

Holiday House Tour (every other year)
Year-Round
Tour & Tea
Fourth Tuesday of the month. Tour of preserved historical houses and tea. $18 per person, starts at 1:00 PM. Sponsored by the Burlington County Historical Society.

Historic Yorkshire Alliance

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The Historic Yorkshire Alliance was created by residents and business owners in the Yorkshire Neighborhood of the City, bounded by High and Broad Streets, the Assicunk Creek and the Delaware River. Founded under the auspices of the City's Neighborhood Preservation Program and the NJ Department of Community Affairs, the Alliance works to sustain the historic beauty and value of the neighborhood, and build identity, pride and a sense of community among residents. At the 1995 State Conference for Neighborhood Preservation, the Alliance won the "Neighborhood Organization of the Year" award.

The Alliance meets the second Wednesday of every month except August and January, in the cafeteria of the Captain James Lawrence School. Meetings include information and education programs and guest speakers, and the Alliance also sponsors community events through the year, including an annual neighborhood yard sale and a holiday home decorating contest. Membership is free, and open to all residents and organizations in the Yorkshire neighborhood.

Oliver Cromwell Black History Society

1999-08-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

The Oliver Cromwell Black History Society was formed in 1983 for the preservation and research of Black Heritage in the City of Burlington and throughout the United States. The Society is named for Oliver Cromwell, a Black soldier in the Revolution who was decorated by George Washington and lived in Burlington after the war.

The Society meets each month, and holds an annual Black Heritage Historical Art and Essay Contest for students in Burlington City and Burlington Township. The Society's efforts were also instrumental in the designation of the William Allen School as a historic site on both the National and State Historic Registers. The Society and the Institute work together to encourage young men to represent African-American soldiers in Revolutionary War recreations at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, some fifteen miles away.

Grellet House

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On the corner of High and Federal Streets stands a reproduction of the Grellet house, built by area lawyer Louis Colaguori. The original house stood on the corner of High and Library Streets, and was the home of Etienne de Grellet du Mabillier, better known as Stephen Grellet.

The house later served as a boarding house for some years, its most notable tenant being Miss Kitty Balester, a student at nearby Van Rensselaer Seminary, who went on to marry author Rudyard Kipling. In the mid-twentieth century, the house was moved a short distance down High Street. Only one wall of the original house remains, serving as the north wall of a building which once housed the local offices of Public Service Electric and Gas. Those offices are now housed in the new Grellet house, along with the Colaguori law offices.

Colonial Burlington Foundation

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PO Box 1552
Burlington, NJ 08016

Founded in 1950 by the late historian and author "Doc" Bisbee and several other residents, the Colonial Burlington Foundation works to preserve colonial structures in Burlington City.

The Foundation's primary project, the Revell House, dates to 1685. The Foundation sells gingerbread to raise money for ongoing maintenance of the house at the annual Wood Street Fair each September, which also features arts, crafts, antiques and collectibles, and tours of the house.

Neptune Hose Company #5

1999-01-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Bordentown Road
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0435

Neptune Hose Company #5 was organized on September 23, 1907, with a two-wheel hand-drawn hose carriage. Andrew H. McNeal, owner of the McNeal foundry in East Burlington - now known as U.S. Pipe - felt the need for fire protection at the East end of town. He donated land for the Company's first building, "for the purpose of giving East Burlington its first defense from fire," and many of the Company's first members were employees at his foundry.

In 1916, the Company purchased a 1-ton Ford Model T truck for $599, which was made into a hose wagon. In 1929, the Company's metal alarm gong was replaced with a siren - the second siren in the City. Three years later, City Council purchased a 1932 American La France pumper for the Company, equipped with a "fire foam system." Fifteen years later, a 1947 Ward La France pumper was purchased by the Council.

On February 4, 1970, the Company took delivery of a Ward La France 1500 GPM pumper with an automatic foam system. The largest-capacity pumper in the County at that time, the new pumper was nicknamed "Super Pumper." Housed since 1979 in the Company's new fire house, the truck has since been joined by a 1990 Emergency One 1750 GPM pumper. The Company also owns a 1949 Mack 1000 GPM pumper and a 1967 Thibault Support/Lighting truck.

Niagara Hose Company #6

1999-01-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

High Street and Route 130
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0434
niagarahoseco6@yahoo.com

Niagara Hose Company #6 was incorporated in 1913, the evolution of a group known as the "Sprinklers." A plot of land at High and Dewey Streets was donated, and a house was built. The company acquired its first motorized apparatus in 1916, and served through three wars.

In 1962, the Company was required to relocate a short distance down High Street, to make way for highway construction. The move was accomplished smoothly, with groundbreaking taking place for the current firehouse while plans for the highway were still being drawn.

The company presently owns a 1996 Seagrave 1250 GPM pumper, a 1973 Mack 1000 GPM pumper, a 1950 Mack 750 GPM pumper, a 1985 Chevrolet 4WD support truck with plow, and a 14 foot rescue boat.

William R. Allen School

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Constructed in 1900, the William R. Allen School was Burlington City's third school built for the education of black children, and now stands as the City's only artifact of the period of educational segregation.

The Quaker founders of Burlington were acutely aware of the need for education, and established a school in 1792. Leaders within the local black community shared the Quakers' belief that education was an important part of social equality. Public education in the City started in 1805, and the first segregated classes for black children were held in the home of a black woman in 1812. A small wood-frame building was constructed on Wood Street and housed the black school at the end of the Civil War, but was too small to adequately serve the student population.

Although the Quakers had long been known for their egalitarian view of race, a Quaker businessman's act of generosity furthered segregation in 1868. He and another local businessman donated a parcel of land on East Federal Street for the construction of a schoolhouse for black children. The large wood-frame Federal Street School, completed in 1870, was distinct in being the only City school not funded by the trust fund overseen by the Board of Island Managers, instead drawing its support from a special school tax. It was also the subject of an 1884 action by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which ruled that the four children of a local black man, Reverend Jeremiah H. Pierce, must be admitted to the City's white schools under the New Jersey School Law of 1881. Throughout the late 1800's, a few black students did attend white schools in the City, but most were still sent to the Federal Street School, on the grounds that it was located in their neighborhood. By 1894, newspapers reported that there were once again no black students in the City's white schools.

Plans for a new two-classroom brick building were made in 1899, and the new school was finished in 1900. It was named for William R. Allen, a strongly Unionist mayor of the City during the Civil War and well-known local businessman. In 1914, a third classroom was added to accommodate a growing student body. Over the next ten years, the Great Migration brought many black families to Burlington from southern states, and the school could no longer house all the children. In 1923, a room in the basement of the Bethel A.M.E. Church on Pearl Street was rented and used as a fourth classroom, and in 1924, an addition doubled the size of the Allen School.

Enrollment continued to grow, and in 1934, the City was forced to remove white students from the nearby James Fenimore Cooper School and distribute the black students between the two facilities. In 1940, the New Jersey State Constitution forbade segregation in schools, but the City's practice of enrolling children in schools in their own neighborhoods meant that most black children still attended the Cooper and Allen schools, and that white children attended other schools. The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education led to an attempt at city-wide integration, but the Allen School remained all-black until it was closed in the 1960's.

In July of 1995, the New Jersey Historic Trust awarded Burlington matching grant funds to restore the Allen School. Combined with more than $650,000 of funding from other sources, the grant will be used for a total rehabilitation and historic restoration of the building. Once restored, the Allen School will be used for special educational and community programs.

Related Reading

Find books about school desegregation at Powell's Books.

City of Burlington Historical Society

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The City of Burlington Historical Society is an action-oriented historical organization which works to maintain the heritage and culture of the City of Burlington. With assistance from the City, the Society preserves the Carriage House, Hoskins House and Friends Schoolhouse.

The Society also sponsors events and programs which encourage citizens and visitors to take interest in the history and culture of Burlington, including the Storefront Decorating Contest each holiday season, Holiday House tour every other year, High Street Art show in September, and the City's annual Christmas Parade. The Society also offers guided tours of historic Burlington.

The Society meets on the second Monday of each month at 7:30 PM in the Daniel Keegan Center, located at 522 Wood Street. For more information on the Society, call (609) 386-3993, or e-mail the Society.

Burlington County Historical Society

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451 High Street
Burlington City, NJ
08016-4514
(609) 386-4773
FAX (609) 386-4828

What famous American author created the characters Hawkeye and Natty Bumpo? Who uttered the immortal words "Don't give up the ship!" during heated battle in the War of 1812? Is it true that jinrickshaws, man-powered carriages, were produced in Burlington, New Jersey and exported to the Orient? These answers to these questions await you at the Burlington County Historical Society!

Learn many facinating facts as you tour the Society's complex including the Bard-How House, the James Fenimore Cooper House, and the Captain James Lawrence House, complete with period furnishings and decorative arts, and the Aline Wolcott Museum Galleries featuring "Ingenuity and Craftsmanship: The Culture of Production in Burlington County." The Society also owns the Collins-Jones House, currently being restored.

Expand your knowledge of local history by spending an afternoon in the Society's Delia Biddle-Pugh research library and archives. Utilize the Society's collections of historical photographs, maps, manuscripts and deeds to investigate the history of this unique county or trace your own family's Burlington County roots via census records and local newspapers available on microfilm. The library's collections also include record books from Atsion, papers of the Abolition Society, and the James Fenimore Cooper collection.

Access to the Society's museum galleries and research library in the Corson Poley Center is $3.00 ($1.50 for children 12 and under). The Society is open from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. Tuesday through Saturday.

40-minute guided tours of the Society's three period houses are available for $3.00 ($1.50 for children 12 and under), beginning every 50 minutes during the hours the Society is open. Both options are available for a combined price of $5.00 ($2.50 for children 12 and under). Visit the Society's welcome center at 451 High Street, Room 101, to get started.

The Society's Gift Shop is open during regular tour hours and features a selection of books (including exhibit catalogs for the Society's permanent and temporary exhibitions), reproduction antique jewelry, Williamsburg pottery, tinware, woven coverlets and much more.

The Society presents numerous programs, events, tours and exhibits throughout the year, many open to the public, others restricted to members. For more information on facilities, programs, tours or membership, call, e-mail or visit the Society.

Carriage House

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The Carriage House is located in the center of a block, across Union Street from the Library Company. It was owned by the Woolman family, Quakers prominent in West Jersey commerce.

The two-story brick structure has been restored, and includes space for horses and coaches, rooms for coachmen, and a hayloft. It is maintained by the City of Burlington Historical Society, and was the Society's meeting place for many years.

Marguerite V. Burton

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From Adoptee to Countess

Marguerite Vivienne Burton was born about 1880, the daughter of two traveling performers. Wishing for her to have a stable home, her parents offered her for adoption, and she was taken in by the Thomansons, in-laws of the McNeals, owners of the U.S. Pipe Foundry. She spent her childhood in the family mansion, and told her schoolmates at St. Mary's Hall that she would someday be a countess.

In 1898, Marguerite met James H. Birch Jr., son of carriage mogul James Birch, on the train to Philadelphia. They married in 1904, but Burlington was too "small-town" for her, especially after she won a beauty contest run by a New York newspaper. After traveling in Europe, she married Baron Walter von Roedick, a German officer, in 1912, then became involved with a German diplomat's son, Count Christain Gunther von Bernstroff, and married him in 1917, causing quite an outrage back in the States - to say nothing of the Baron, who promptly challenged the Count to a duel.

After the war, Marguerite returned to Burlington, uncertain of the welcome she would receive. Her old friends greeted her warmly, and she became a part of American society once again, regaining assets that had been frozen by the government during the war. She moved to New York and went on to have three more husbands - coal magnate Arthur Wooly-Hart, Jams Askton, and New York Bell Vice-President Oscar M. Taylor - before she died at her Park Avenue home in 1981. Burton's half-dozen husbands doubled the mark set by Lydia Sherman, but as far as we know, Burton didn't poison any of hers.

Old Burlington Laws

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Like many other historic towns, Burlington has quite a background in the area of local laws, including some which may seem a little strange to modern-day residents. Here are a few examples which were in effect in 1879:

Throwing stones down an alley was punishable by a fine of 3 dollars, or 24 hours in jail.
Throwing putrid fish in the streets would earn you a fine of 5 dollars.
A 10-dollar fine was levied on those who dug pits in the roads.
Anyone who obstructed a constable from catching a runaway goat would be fined 25 dollars.

Naturally, not all laws were quite this strange. One rather practical law decreed that stray geese would be killed and their meat be used to feed the poor, with a small portion taken out to feed the family of the constable responsible for apprehending them.

And in 1851, a precursor of modern environmental laws established a 5-dollar fine and up to five days in jail as the punishment for anyone who put "any offensive, putrid or unwholesome substance, whatever" in the Delaware River.

Birch Opera House

1998-07-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

The 1200-seat Birch Opera House was opened in 1877 by carriage mogul and arts patron James Birch, next to the mansion occupied by the Birch family. Over the next five decades, it hosted such performers as Billie Burke, Buffalo Bill Cody and John L. Sullivan, and indoor productions of Ben Hur, complete with horses.

After the advent of the automobile destroyed the market for Birch's carriages and rickshaws, his factory went out of business, and the Opera House closed in 1927.

Today, Burlington's Post Office stands on the site of the former Opera House. The Birch name is still seen by passers-by every day, on the base of a cast-iron statue of Mercury. An English copy of a sixteenth-century work by Flemish sculptor Jean Boulogne, the statue was erected in 1881 as the centerpiece of the Opera House, and now stands in front of the Post Office.

Mitchell Fire Company #4

1998-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Federal and Mitchell Streets
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0433

In 1870's Burlington, Federal Street was home to many shoemakers and shoe factories. Feeling the need for fire protection, they accepted a hose carriage as a gift from the Young America Fire Company, and housed it in a blacksmith's shop, but did not organize an official fire company. In 1874, though, a fire struck the home and shop of a grocer, and though the shoemakers brought their hose carriage into action, the pressure of the city's water system was not sufficient to extinguish the flames.

The shoemakers decided that an organized fire company would be in their best interest, and formed the Mitchell Fire Company. Initially, the "Shoemakers' Company," as it was called, had only hand-pumped Franklin engines, but steam-powered LaFrance pumping engines were later brought into service. Mitchell's original firehouse, built in 1875 and used for more than 100 years, still stands at the corner of Lawrence and Federal Streets, but the company is now located in more modern quarters at Mitchell and Federal Streets. The Mitchell company currently operates a 1978 Hahn 1000 GPM pumper, and also owns a 750 GPM 1959 GMC pumper.

The Mitchell Ladies Auxiliary, founded in 1923 with a membership of 15, is the oldest auxiliary in the City. During the floods of 1955, the auxiliary provided food and beverages to all the city's firemen for four consecutive days and nights, earning a commendation from the Red Cross.

Ulysses S. Grant House

1998-06-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

During the latter months of the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant became concerned for the safety of his wife and children. In 1864, wishing to spare them from the physical stress of the War, he brought his family to Burlington, placing them in a house at 309 Wood Street. Grant returned here to visit his family prior to the Battles of the Wilderness.

In April of 1865, Grant was invited to attend a play with President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln, but declined, preferring to visit his family in Burlington. On his way from Washington to Burlington, Grant received word that the President had been shot. Shortly after the end of the War, Grant and his family returned home from Burlington. The house is now a private residence.

Related reading:

Civil War Memoirs: ISBN 0940450690 - Amazon.
General Grant: ISBN 0873385241 - Amazon.
Grant: A Biography: ISBN 0393300463 - Amazon.

James H. Birch

1998-06-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

Industrialist and Arts Patron

James H. Birch established a carriage repair shop in Burlington in 1862. His business was so successful that in 1865, he purchased the High Street mansion which had previously been occupied by governor Joseph Bloomfield and his family. Behind the house, Birch built a factory to mass-produce carriages. A patron of the arts, he opened a 1200-seat opera house on High Street next to the mansion.

Birch's business continued to expand, and by 1900 his factory covered 15 acres, with a staff of hundreds making more than 200 models of carriages for export worldwide. Birch's techniques for the mass production of carriage bodies attracted the attention of Henry Ford, who asked Birch to manufacture bodies for his new automobiles. Although his son urged him to accept Ford's offer, Birch declined, believing that the automobile would never replace horse-drawn carriages.

The rest, as they say, is history. Birch's carriage factory went out of business in 1918, and the Birch Opera House closed in 1927. Even Birch's son, James Jr., met with sorrow, as the first husband of Marguerite V. Burton. Not all was lost, though - Birch's third son, Thomas, served as U.S. Minister to Portugal from 1913 to 1922. Today, rickshaws and carriages produced by the Birch carriage factory are preserved in the collections of the Burlington County Historical Society and the City of Burlington Historical Society.

Grubb Estate

1998-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Located on both sides of Wood Street at the Riverfront Promenade, the Grubb estate included a mansion, two large brick Victorian cottages, a tannery, a brewery, and a brickyard.

The Grubbs were abolitionists, and tunnels between the houses and the riverbank were used to hide escaped slaves.

The mansion, "Delaware House," was used by a non-profity charity in the 1990's. Both cottages remain private residences.

Young America Fire Company #3

1998-05-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

East Broad Street
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0432

The Young America Hook and Ladder Company was organized in 1857, and bought its first truck for $75.00. Originally housed on East Pearl Street, the company merged in 1869 with the Franklin Fire Engine Company #3, which had been organized in 1852. The new company took the name Young America Fire Company #3, and in 1870 built and occupied its present firehouse at 21 East Broad Street. The firehouse has been renovated and modernized since, to house more advanced equipment. The company's current equipment roster includes a 1974 Mack tower ladder with a 75' aerial device and a 1991 Ford cascade/lighting truck for filling air bottles.

In 1879, Young America purchased the bell, formerly hung in the belfry of St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn, which had warned of the British fleet in New York harbor during the Revolutionary War. Removed from the bell tower of the firehouse in 1956 for safety reasons, the bell now stands on the grounds of the Fire Engineers' office at High and Belmont Streets.

New Saint Mary's Church

1998-05-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

By the mid-1800's, the congregation of St. Mary's Church had outgrown their original building, and a new church was needed.

New St. Mary's Church, located across the churchyard from the old church, was designed by Richard Upjohn, architect of Trinity Church in New York. Built between 1846 and 1854 at a cost of $20,000, it is one of the first and best examples of the gothic revival style in American churches.

The church bells were cast in London and placed in the steeple, more than 160 feet high, in 1866. To this day, they are rung by hand. The church was gutted by a fire in 1976, leaving nothing but the stone walls standing. Services were held in Old St. Mary's while the interior of the new church was rebuilt.

Hope Company #1

1998-04-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

High Street
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0431

In the mid-1800s, a series of consolidations took place among fire companies in Burlington. The Washington Engine Company and Hope Hose Company consolidated in 1849 as the Washington Engine and Hope Hose Company, and reorganized in 1850 as the Hope Hose Company. The joint companies chose a location at the corner of York and Union Streets.

In 1869, the Fulton Engine Company consolidated with Hope Hose, and the resulting company occupied the Fulton House on Pearl Street, but later that same year erected a building on the 100 block of High Street. That firehouse was used for 100 years, and in 1969, the Company moved across High Street to its current location.

Hope's steam-powered pumpers saw their share of action, at fires and elsewhere. An Amoskeag engine in use from 1872 to 1894 was called into service when the steam-driven pump at the City's water works malfunctioned.

Its successor, an 1894 LaFrance engine, was retired in 1924, but in January of 1928, a huge fire struck the Florence haystacks. After pumping water for 8 hours, the Mitchell Company needed relief, so Hope's steamer was pulled out of retirement and pumped for over 36 hours non-stop.

This LaFrance steamer has been preserved, and remains on display in the Hope firehouse, alongside the company's current truck, a 1981 Mack 1000 GPM pumper. The company also has a 1991 Ford Lighting/Support truck and a 14-foot rescue boat.

Broad Street Methodist Church

1998-04-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

The first church to stand at the corner of Broad and Lawrence streets was constructed in 1820. In 1847, it was replaced by the current Broad Street Methodist Church.

The church's graveyard is home to many old graves, including that of Oliver Cromwell.

Before this corner became church property, it was occupied by the county jail.

William R. Allen

1998-04-07T01:43:00.000-07:00

Civil War Mayor

After serving in the War with Mexico in 1847 and 1848, William R. Allen was mayor of Burlington for two terms. His time in office included the Civil War years, during which Allen strongly supported the union cause.

As president of a local bank, Allen was popular in Burlington's business community. He also served as director of the Library Company of Burlington for nearly thirty years, and resided in the former Smith House.

In 1900, the City named a school in honor of Allen.

Related Reading

Find books about the Mexican American War at Powell's Books.

Lyceum Hall

1998-03-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Located at 432 High Street, Lyceum Hall was constructed in 1839 as a public hall for lectures, theatrical productions and cultural programs. It was given to the City in 1851, and housed the municipal government for 140 years. Most present residents know it as Old City Hall. In 1910, the hall was remodeled and stylistically updated under the direction of architect Henry Armitt Brown. The building is the best example of Neoclassical Revival architecture in the City.

In 1991, government offices were moved to a leased building due to Lyceum's structural problems. In July of 1995, the New Jersey Historic Trust awarded Burlington matching grant funds to restore the building. Combined with an equivalent amount of local funding, the grant will be used for structural repairs, restoration of historic interior features, removal of asbestos, foundation and window repairs, repainting, and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Once restoration work is completed, the building will once again house Burlington's municipal government, and the Police Department will also be located in the vicinity. The City hopes to move the administrative offices back into the structure by the end of 1997.

Railroads in Burlington

1998-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

Constructed in 1834, New Jersey's first railroad, the Camden & Amboy, passed through Burlington on its route between Perth Amboy and Camden. The original track consisted of wooden ties supporting wooden rails topped with a strip of iron, but these rails were prone to damage, and were replaced with all-metal rails in the 1840's.

The Camden & Amboy operated one of the first few steam locomotives in America, now known as the John Bull. Imported from England, the engine featured the most advanced technology available at the time, and its owners were amazed when a local mechanic assembled the pieces into a working machine without any plans. The engine's inaugural run featured such notable passengers as a niece of the Bonapartes, and several identical locomotives were built to complete the railroad's equipment roster.

As more advanced locomotives became available, they were gradually limited to branch line service. After the Pennsylvania Railroad absorbed the Camden & Amboy, the John Bull was designated a relic. It is now preserved in the National Museum of American History, in Washington DC.

Passenger service began in early 1835, with a room in the Blue Anchor Tavern serving as a waiting room. At first, passengers detrained at Bordentown in all but the coldest weather and took steamboats down the Delaware River to Philadelphia. When the river froze in the winter, trains continued through Burlington to Camden, where passengers could take ferryboats to Philadelphia. In the 1840's, year-round rail service became available. In the 1860's, a station was constructed across from the Blue Anchor. This station was demolished in 1951, but another station on the west end of town, built to a plan by legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy, is still in use.

The Camden & Amboy was a rather progressive railroad initially and was the first to implement containerized handling of luggage and baggage, but the management's interest in maintaining a monopoly led them to purchase other rail lines, rather than upgrading their equipment roster or improving safety. In 1855, a southbound train failed to wait at a passing siding north of town for a northbound train to pass, and the two trains nearly collided on the single track through town. Fortunately, the engineer of the southbound train realized his error and began backing his train toward the siding. Unfortunately, a deaf local doctor had seen the train pass, and began driving his buggy across the tracks just as the train reversed direction. The ensuing collision and pileup left 24 dead and more than 100 injured. Although the railroad management tried to shift the blame, local writer Henry C. Carey exposed poor operating procedures as the true cause of the tragedy.

A second railroad, the Burlington & Mount Holly Railroad and Transportation Company, was incorporated in 1836, but construction was delayed by the financial panic of 1837, and the line was not completed until the late 1840's. The two railroads crossed in East Burlington. In the 1890's, the Pennsylvania Railroad used the Burlington & Mount Holly tracks to experiment with electric operation, but this service was discontinued after the electrical powerhouse in Mount Holly burned. The Burlington & Mount Holly line was abandoned in 1927, but the Camden & Amboy line remains in use, though only by Conrail freight trains.

The burning of the powerhouse in Mount Holly provided an impetus for the construction of a trolley line between Mount Holly and Burlington. The local Mount Holly Street Railway Company was acquired by the Camden & Suburban and reorganized as the Burlington County Traction Company. By 1904, tracks were in place from Camden to Burlington by way of Mount Holly. The Traction Company suffered several years of economic deficits and equipment problems, and agreed to sell its equipment and franchises to the Public Service Transportation Corporation.

The Monmouth Traction Company had also begun construction of a line between Camden and Atlantic Highlands by way of Trenton in 1898, but a year later eliminated tracks beyond Trenton and became the Camden and Trenton railway. In 1900, tracks were laid through Burlington, although negotiations to establish a crossing between the trolley and the railroad tracks on Broad Street delayed construction for several months. Four years later, the line was finally opened for service, and an interchange with the Burlington County Traction Company was established. Unfortunately, travel from Camden to Trenton took three hours - longer than the railroad - and the company went into receivership in 1908. Reorganized as the Riverside Traction Company in 1910, the line met with more trouble in December of 1911, when the East Pearl Street bridge collapsed under a trolley en route from Trenton to Camden. Only the motorman and one passenger were injured, but the car was completely wrecked, and service was interrupted for two days. Four months later, the Riverside line was also leased to the Public Service Transit Corporation.

Public Service operated both lines for several years, but by the 1930's new bridges spanned the Delaware River between Camden and Philadelphia, and trolley service was discontinued. Bus service was substituted, and continues to this day, now operated under the auspices of NJ Transit. Though the trolley tracks have now been removed, either during World War II scrap drives or subsequent highway reconstruction projects, the buses still follow parts of the original trolley lines.

In the late 1990's, NJ Transit announced plans to reinstate passenger rail service from Trenton to Camden through Burlington, using light rail cars on the same route taken by the Camden & Amboy. Service on the line, now called the "RiverLINE," began in March of 2004.

Special thanks to Paul W. Schopp for railroad histories.

James Healy

1998-03-01T01:55:00.001-08:00

Black Priest and Bishop

James Augustine Healy was born April 6, 1830 on a cotton planation near the town Macon in Jones County, Georgia, to Michael and Mary Eliza Healy. Michael Healy was a former Irish soldier who emigrated to America by way of Canada after the war of 1812, and became a planter. In 1829, Michael fell in love with Mary Eliza, a mixed-race domestic slave, and purchased her from her former owner, Sam Griswold. Georgia's laws at the time prohibited interracial marriages, but the two are believed to have been married by a traveling preacher, and carried out their family life as husband and wife.

Considered both illegitimate and slaves at birth under the law, James and his siblings were forbidden from attending school in their home state. Wanting their children to be educated, the Healys sent James and his brothers Hugh and Patrick to Quaker schools in the north, first in Flushing, New York, then in Burlington, where they studied in the 1840's under the instruction of Adeline Glover. Despite the Quaker emphasis on equality, the boys met with some discrimination throughout their school years, based not only on their race, but also on their Irish heritage and the fact that their father owned slaves - something local Quakers found unconscionable.

In the mid-1840s, Michael Healy transferred the boys to the newly-founded Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where they excelled academically. James and Hugh were in the first graduating class of 1849, of which James was Valedictorian; Patrick graduated the next year. Their younger brothers, Sherwood and Michael, also attended Holy Cross. Continuing his religious education, James entered the Sulpican Seminary in Montreal to train for the the priesthood. In 1852, he transferred to the Sulpican Seminary in Paris, France, working toward a doctorate and a career as a seminary professor. During this period, he felt a calling to serve as a pastor, and in 1854 was ordained at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, becoming the first African-American to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest.

Returning to the United States, Father James Healy served as an assistant priest in Boston for several years. At the time, tension existed between black and Irish Catholics, since both groups were forced to compete with each other for menial jobs. To make matters worse, New England residents unhappy with a flood of Irish Catholic immigrants were waging a hate campaign against Catholics, going so far as to tar and feather a priest in Maine! Healy managed to win respect, though, and lobbied to repeal anti-Catholic laws at the state level.

In 1866, he became pastor of Saint James' Church in South Boston, one of the largest churches in the diocese, and in 1875, he was named Bishop of Portland, Maine. At the time of his arrival, most Catholics in Maine were either Irish, French Canadian or Indian, and anti-Catholic sentiments were so strong that some churches were burned by Protestants. Even some Irish Catholics were shocked to have a black Bishop. Once again, Healy won over his doubters, traveling some 30,000 miles to visit parishoners throughout Maine in his first summer as Bishop.

In the twenty-five years he served as Bishop, Healy established 60 new churches, 68 missions, 18 convents and 18 schools throughout Maine, and lobbied for sovereignty for Indian tribes and an end to child labor. Known for his work among the poor, he refused to live in the Bishop's mansion, living instead at the Cathedral rectory, and declined to be buried in the Cathedral vault with the other Bishops, opting instead to be buried in South Portland's Calvary Cemetary under a Celtic cross headstone. Shortly before his death in 1900, he was appointed Assistant to the Royal Throne, a high honor within the Roman Catholic Church.

Having spent most of his formative years away from his mother's family and the slaves on his father's farm, he never became involved in discussions of racial issues. Asked to attend an African-American Catholic Conference, he declined, writing, "We are of that Church where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, slave nor freeman, but Christ is all and in all."

Patrick Healy

1998-03-01T01:55:00.000-08:00

Patrick Healy was born February 27, 1830 on a cotton planation near Macon, Georgia, to Michael and Mary Eliza Healy. A former Irish soldier who emigrated to America by way of Canada after the war of 1812, Michael was a planter. In 1829, Michael fell in love with Mary Eliza, a mixed-race domestic slave, and purchased her from her former owner, Sam Griswold. Georgia's laws at the time prohibited interracial marriages, but the two are believed to have been married by a traveling preacher, and carried out their family life as husband and wife.

Considered both illegitimate and slaves at birth under the law, Patrick and his siblings were forbidden from attending school in their home state. Wanting their children to be educated, the Healys sent Patrick and his brothers Hugh and James to Quaker schools in the north, first in Flushing, New York, then in Burlington, where they studied in the 1840's under the instruction of Adeline Glover. Despite the Quaker emphasis on equality, the boys met with some discrimination throughout their school years, based not only on their race, but also on their Irish heritage and the fact that their father owned slaves - something local Quakers found unconscionable.

In the mid-1840s, Michael Healy transferred the boys to the newly-founded Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where they excelled academically. Patrick's brothers were in the first graduating class of 1849. Their younger brothers, Michael and Sherwood, followed them to Holy Cross. After his graduation a year later, Patrick continued his education at Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, where in 1863 he may have been the second African-American to earn his Ph.D. - his brother Sherwood reportedly received a doctorate in Canon Law from the North American College in Rome in 1860.

Ordained as a Jesuit priest, Patrick served as Georgetown University's prefect of studies from 1868 to 1878, and its president from 1873 to 1881 - the first African-American president of a predominantly white university. Called the "second founder" of Georgetown by some, he reformed the curriculum, oversaw the construction of a multi-use building which now bears his name, expanded programs in medicine and law, and founded the alumni association.

Related reading:

Dream of an Outcaste : Patrick P. Healy: ISBN 091662031X - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.

William J. Allinson

1998-03-01T01:43:00.000-08:00

Abolitionist Pharmacist

Druggist William J. Allinson opened his pharmacy on the corner of High and Union Streets in 1831, in the building which had previously been home to printer Isaac Collins.

A Quaker, Allinson was a close friend of the abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who visited the pharmacy frequently, speaking against slavery from its doorstep. Allinson's opposition to slavery was not a surprise, as his grandfather had opposed it in the 1760's and 1770's. According to local legend, the pharmacy's basement served as one of Burlington's stations on the Underground Railroad.

Allinson was also interested in literature and history, and supported the Library Company of Burlington. His son became a prominent attorney in Philadelphia, and his descendants still possess a copy of John Woolman's Journal signed by Allinson's friend, Whittier.

Related Reading

Find books about Abolition, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Woolman and the Underground Railroad at Powell's Books.

Lydia Sherman

1998-02-04T01:58:00.000-08:00

Serial Murderess

Born in Burlington in 1824, Lydia Sherman (her final married name) was orphaned at the age of nine and raised by an uncle. She left town in 1840, and moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where she met her first husband, Edward Struck, a widower with six children. They moved to Manhattan, where Struck joined the police force, and had seven more children together. After eighteen years of marriage, Struck was discharged and became depressed. Lydia poisoned him with arsenic "to put him out of the way."

Finding herself unable to single-handedly support at least a half-dozen young children, she poisoned baby William, four-year-old Edward and six-year-old Martha Ann, in a single day. When fourteen-year-old George became chronically ill, she laced his tea with arsenic, and when twelve-year-old Ann Eliza had recurrent chills and fevers one winter, Lydia poisoned her as well. Lydia's oldest daughter, eighteen-year-old Lydia, died of natural causes two months after the last of her siblings was poisoned.

Hired by a storekeeper to care for his invalid mother in Stratford, Connecticut, Lydia was recommended as a housekeeper to a wealthy farmer, Dennis Hurlburt. He hired her, married her within days, and was dead of poisoning within months, leaving her with $10,000.

Finally, widower Horatio Sherman came calling, wanting to hire Lydia as a housekeeper and nurse for his baby. When he upped the ante to marriage, she accepted, but after they were married, Horatio drank heavily, abused her and wasted her ill-found inheritance. In an effort to gain his attention and affection, Lydia poisoned baby Frankie, then sixteen-year-old Ada. When Horatio remained unchanged, she put arsenic in his brandy bottle.

Having poisoned three husbands and seven children, Lydia Sherman went on trial in 1872 and was convicted of second-degree murder. Dubbed the "Modern Lucretia Borgia," "Poison Fiend," "Borgia of Connecticut" and the "Queen Poisoner," She spent the rest of her life in prison, and though her remarrying habits were later surpassed by Marguerite Burton, no Burlingtonian since has equaled her body count.

Related reading:

Women Who Kill: ISBN 080706775X - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.
Bad Girls Do It! an Encyclopedia of Female Murderers: ISBN 1559501049 - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.

James Walter Wall

1998-02-01T01:59:00.000-08:00

Mayor and Senator

James Walter Wall, son of Garret Dorset Wall, was born in 1820, and, like his father, served in the military, attaining the rank of Colonel. He also shared his father's passion for the political arena. A year after his father's death, the startup Democratic party swept the local elections, and James, at 31, became the first mayor of Burlington under the new City charter. Well-respected in town, he was a very popular mayor.

Active in literature and journalism, the younger Wall corresponded with prominent citizens throughout the eastern states. In 1861, he became aware that some of his letters to friends in the southern states, opposing the Civil War, were being censored by the postmaster general, and wrote a letter protesting this censorship. He was accused of treason and arrested at his home, though not without a fight - he threw at least one constable across a room before being restrained.

The citizens of Burlington were incensed, and local anti-war sentiments were only galvanized by Wall's arrest. The mayor was returned to his home a short time later, and was elected to the U.S. Senate the very next year. He died in 1872, and is buried, like his father, at St. Mary's Church.

Boudinot-Bradford House

1998-01-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Boudinot-Bradford House, located at 207-209 West Broad Street, was built in 1803 for Elias Boudinot. Boudinot occupied the house in 1804, accompanied by his daughter Susan Boudinot Bradford, widow of George Washington's Attorney General, William Bradford.

The house was originally single mansion standing on 10 acres of land. Boudinot planted a variety of trees on the grounds, and a pair of Chinese porcelain lions guarded the entrance. The halls were decorated with portraits and statuary, and Boudinot maintained an extensive private library with a marble mantel depicting Apollo and the Muses in bas-relief.

After Elias Boudinot's death in 1821, Susan Boudinot Bradford occupied the house until her death in 1851. In more recent years, most of the land originally purchased with the house was subdivided and sold, and the house itself has since been divided into two conjoined private dwellings.

Temple B'nai Israel

1998-01-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

The structure now occupied by Temple B'nai Israel was originally built in 1801 for Lydia Ritchie. In 1828, it became the home of Garret Dorset Wall, a member of the New Jersey Assembly. After Garret Wall's death in 1850, it was the home of his son Colonel James Walter Wall, who became the first mayor of Burlington under the new City charter.

In the 1870's, the house was bought by the Thomansons, in-laws of the McNeal family who owned the U.S. Pipe Foundry. They adopted a young Marguerite Vivienne Burton, and put her through school at St. Mary's Hall. Throughout the late 1800's and early 1900's, Marguerite's social exploits were the talk of the town.

The building was purchased in 1916 by Temple B'nai Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in southern New Jersey. Originally formed in 1907, the congregation became an orthodox synagogue in 1915, and is presently led by Rabbi Matthew Kaufman.

For more information on Temple B'nai Israel, call (609) 386-0406.

Samuel R. Gummere

1998-01-01T01:54:00.000-08:00

Language Educator

Samuel R. Gummere was a Quaker educator and textbook author in the early 1800's. He authored texts on spelling, grammar and elocution, and in 1826, founded the Gummere Girls' School at York and Penn Streets in Burlington. Three years later, a building was erected on the Green Bank to house the school.

In 1833, along with his brother John Gummere, John's son Samuel J. Gummere, and Dr. John Griscom, formerly schoolmaster of the Burlington Friends' School, Samuel was instrumental in the founding of Haverford College.

In 1836, Samuel sold the school to a board of trustees. The next year, it was sold to Bishop George Washington Doane of Saint Mary's Church, and became Saint Mary's School for Girls.

Biddle-Pugh House

1997-09-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Delia Biddle-Pugh House, located at 130 West Broad Street, was constructed circa 1799.

Delia Biddle-Pugh was instrumental in early efforts to preserve the historical heritage of Burlington City. The library of the Burlington County Historical Society is named for her.

Hoskins House

1997-09-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

John Hoskins, Jr., a builder and contractor, was the son of an early member of Burlington government. In 1795, along with other local Quakers, he founded the Endeavor fire company. In 1797, he contracted to demolish the old brick market, and used the bricks to build a house which still stands at 202 High Street. Upon completing the house, Hoskins promptly sold it, never occupying it himself, but to this day it is known as the Hoskins House.

The restored colonial structure now belongs to the City of Burlington Historical Society, and is furnished with many period antiques from the City. There have been several archaeological digs on the site as well.

The Friendly Institution

1997-09-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

Founded on Christmas Eve, 1796 by Nathaniel Coleman and several other local Quakers, the Friendly Institution became non-denominational shortly thereafter when the wife of Mayor Joseph Bloomfield asked to join.

This local charitable organization is still in existence today, but as always is very secretive. Its members, primarily women, strive to assist the needy without being noticed. The Institution's motto is, "To spare the modest blush, to give unseen."

Endeavor Fire Company #1

1997-09-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

19 East Union Street
Burlington, New Jersey 08016
(609) 386-0430
endeavorfirerescue@yahoo.com

Like most cities of its time, early Burlington constantly faced the threat of fire. The first settlers remembered well the London conflagration of the 1660's, and constructed their buildings of brick wherever possible, but bucket brigades were in use by 1700. In 1742, the City received permission to form fire companies, and the bucket brigades were gradually replaced by companies using hand-drawn pumps, such as the Old City, Washington, and Fulton Engine Companies.

In 1795, surviving members of these early companies played key roles in organizing the City's first permanent fire company, the Endeavor Fire Company #1. The oldest company in the city, Endeavor is also one of the oldest in the United States still bearing its original name. The company maintains a continuous record of its minutes, dating from its first meeting in 1795.

The Endeavor was originally composed entirely of men from the Society of Friends, including John Hoskins, Jr., Daniel Smith, Jr., and Robert Smith, Jr. Each member was required to pay one dollar upon joining, and to purchase a bucket bearing his name, at a cost of eight dollars. According to local lore, the "Quaker Boys" were also required to pass a morals test. Many prominent residents of the City have been members of the Endeavor over the years, including Samuel J. Gummere and members of the Woolman family.

In 1798, the Endeavor purchased their first engine at a cost of 150 pounds, and John Griscom built a home for it in front of the Friends Meeting House on High Street. Meetings of the Company were held in the Friends School House until 1801, then in the homes of members until 1874, when the old Union Street market house was purchased by the City and given to the Endeavor as a permanent home. The clock and spire which had stood on the City's original town hall were placed atop the new fire house, located at 19 East Union Street. The Endeavor's fire bell, donated in 1871, had formerly announced the arrival of trains at the Camden and Amboy Railroad depot.

Endeavor Fire Company #1 has been augmented in this century by the formation of the Ladies Auxiliary in 1929 and the Endeavor Emergency Squad in 1940. Presently, the Endeavor operates a 1986 Pierce 1500 GPM pumper, a 1979 Pierce 400 GPM attack pumper, and a 1978 Horton support truck.

Friends' Schoolhouse

1997-09-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

In 1779, members of the Friends' Meeting in Burlington founded a school to ensure that their children received a proper education. The school was originally conducted by Joseph Clark in a house on Broad Street which was owned by the Meeting. Although the house was expanded in 1780 to provide lodging for the schoolmaster, it was not well suited for use as a school, and in 1792, the Meeting opted to sell the house and its grounds, using the proceeds toward the construction of a school.

That summer, workers demolished the old hexagonal wooden 1685 Meeting House, which still stood behind the current brick 1784 Meeting House. Some of the materials were saved and used in the construction of a schoolhouse at the corner of York and Penn Streets. While construction was underway, classes were temporarily held at 206 High Street, in a building which had previously served as the office of Samuel Jennings and the print shop of Isaac Collins.

When completed, the new one-room schoolhouse had 800 square feet of usable space, with a ten-foot ceiling. In 1794, Dr. John Griscom became schoolmaster, instructing three pupils. During his teaching career, he started a reading club for foreign journals. Griscom was regarded as a very good teacher, and when he left in 1807, the school was filled. In the 1830's Griscom, with brothers John and Samuel R. Gummere and John's son, Samuel J. Gummere, founded Haverford College. His friends in the literary community included Charles Dickens and Washington Irving.

The Friends' School pioneered racially integrated education in Burlington, counting among its students in the 1840's brothers James and Patrick Healy, who went on to become noted African-American clergymen.

The schoolhouse is now owned by the City of Burlington, and maintained by the City of Burlington Historical Society. It serves as a museum of sorts, containing historical school furniture and books, along with yearbooks and historical information from other schools in Burlington.

Henry C. Carey

1997-09-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

Writer and Muckracker

The son of an Irish immigrant, Henry Carey was a nineteenth-century economist, debater and political muckraker. He wrote on economics and tariffs, authoring such works as Harmony of Interest and Principles of Political Economy, and headed the American Philosophical Society.

Carey lived in Alcazar, just two buildings from the Camden & Amboy railroad through Burlington. He hated the concept of business monopolies, and wrote a series of letters against the monopoly of the Camden & Amboy beginning in the late 1840's.

When Burlington was the site of a devastating railroad accident in 1855, Carey authored essays and pamphlets revealing that the Camden and Amboy was not following ethical management and operation practices - for example, schedules.

James Fenimore Cooper

1997-08-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

Frontier Novelist

Born in Burlington on September 15, 1789, James Fenimore Cooper was the eleventh of William and Elizabeth Cooper's twelve children. When James was one year old, his family moved to the frontier of Lake Otsego, New York, where his father established a settlement which became modern-day Cooperstown.

Drawing on his experiences in upstate New York, Cooper authored several books about the American wilderness, including The Deerslayer and Last of the Mohicans. Though he never again lived in his birthplace, Cooper returned to the Burlington area for nearly two decades later in life.

Related reading:

The Deerslayer: ISBN 0873957903 - Amazon.
The Last of the Mohicans: ISBN 0899682545 - Amazon.
Correspondence of James Fenimore Cooper: ISBN 0838312950 - Amazon.
James Fenimore Cooper: Novelist of Manners: ISBN 0874134870 - Amazon.

Collins-Jones House

1997-08-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Built circa 1785, this house on the corner of Broad and York Streets was home in the early 1800's to former Royal Printer and newspaper publisher Isaac Collins. More recently, it was home to the Jones family, who donated it to the Burlington County Historical Society.

In the mid-1990's, a full-scale restoration of the house and grounds began, funded in part by a matching grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust. The restoration is expected to be completed by 2000.

John Gummere

1997-08-04T01:53:00.000-07:00

Science Educator

Born in 1784, John Gummere was a prominent Quaker educator and author of textbooks throughout the early nineteenth century. In 1814, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, and published his Treatise on Surveying. 1814 also saw the founding of the Gummere Academy on East Union Street in Burlington, a boys' school offering classical education, with John as its president. In 1821, he published a textbook on astronomy.

In 1830, Gummere donated the original building used by Burlington's first African Methodist Episcopal church. In 1833, along with his brother Samuel R. Gummere, John's son Samuel J. Gummere, and Dr. John Griscom, formerly schoolmaster of the Burlington Friends' School, John was instrumental in the founding of Haverford College, where he served as president and taught mathematics from 1834 to 1843.

In 1843, Gummere returned to Burlington, and again served as president of the Gummere Academy until his death in 1845. His Treatise on Surveying outlived him, serving as the standard surveying text for students and professionals alike until the Civil War, and remaining in print until 1917.

Garret Dorset Wall

1997-08-03T01:59:00.000-07:00

Attorney and Senator

Garret Dorset Wall was born in 1783, in Middletown, New Jersey. After earning his attorney's license at the age of 19, he served in the war of 1812, and also served as clerk of the State Supreme Court. In 1822, he was elected to the New Jersey Assembly as a Federalist, only to cause a stir in 1824 by supporting Andrew Jackson, Democratic candidate for the presidency.

In 1828, Wall bought the former home of Lydia Ritchie, on High Street in Burlington. A year later, he was elected Governor of New Jersey, but declined the position, stating that he was too busy with personal pursuits and did not wish to become further entangled in the State's politics. Later in the year, President Jackson appointed him U.S. District Attorney for the state. As District Attorney, Wall played a key role in breaking up a system of land piracy.

In 1834, Wall was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he represented New Jersey for six years. His final position as a public servant was that of a state court judge, from 1848 until his death in 1850. He is buried at St. Mary's Church in Burlington. During the decades he spent in the city, Wall played a central role in molding the local Democratic party, and was instrumental in establishing the short-lived Burlington College.

Garret Wall's son, James Walter Wall, followed in his father's political footsteps, and his daughter Matilda married Peter Dumont Vroom, governor of New Jersey between 1829 and 1836. Wall Street in Burlington was named in honor of the family's contributions to the City.

James Lawrence House

1997-08-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

Located at 459 High Street, this house was the boyhood home of James Lawrence. Born in 1781, the youngest of eleven children, Lawrence went on to a distinguished naval career, reaching the rank of Captain before his death in battle during the war of 1812. A "Don't Give Up The Ship" flag flies on Burlington's riverfront promenade in his honor.

Owned by the State of New Jersey, the Captain James Lawrence House is administered by the Burlington County Historical Society, along with the adjacent Cooper House and Bard-How House.

James Fenimore Cooper House

1997-08-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Located at 457 High Street, this house was built about 1780. In 1789, it became the birthplace of James Fenimore Cooper, novelist of the American wilderness.

In 1923, the house was acquired by the Burlington County Historical Society, which also owns the adjacent Bard-How House and James Lawrence House. It has now been restored and contains four museum rooms displaying Cooper artifacts, implements and furnishings, along with objects from the estate of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother who settled not far from Burlington after the battle of Waterloo.

Captain James Lawrence

1997-08-01T01:57:00.000-07:00

Naval War Hero

The youngest of eleven children, James Lawrence was born in Burlington on October 1, 1781. His parents were Tories who had entertained the Hessian commander as a dinner guest at their home during the Revolution, but when the war ended, they remained in America. James was sent to study law at the age of 13, but proved an uncooperative student. Eventually, he was permitted to join the Navy as a midshipman in 1798, and gained experience in action against the Barbary pirates.

Commissioned a Lieutenant in 1802, he was a member of Stephen Decatur's raiding party which destroyed the U.S.S. Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor after it was captured by the Tripolitans in 1804.

During the War of 1812, Lawrence commanded the U.S.S. Hornet, which captured the H.M.S. Peacock, and was promoted to Captain as a result. On June 1, 1813, commanding a new and untrained crew on the 49-gun frigate U.S.S. Chesapeake off Boston, Lawrence accepted a challenge from Philip Bowes Vere Broke, captain of the 38-gun H.M.S. Shannon. Four years Lawrence's senior, Broke had commanded the Shannon for six years, and had the best trained crew in the Royal Navy.

In less than 15 minutes, Lawrence's crew was overwhelmed. Mortally wounded, Lawrence shouted, "Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship; fight her till she sinks!" True to his words, every officer in the Chesapeake's chain of command fought until he was either killed or wounded. Even so, the battle was lost in under an hour, the Chesapeake was captured, and Lawrence died four days later, leaving his wife and a daughter.

In honor of Captain Lawrence, a group of women stitched the words "Don't Give Up The Ship" into a flag. The flag was presented to Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the U.S.S. Lawrence - named for Captain Lawrence - in the summer of 1813. Perry went on to capture an entire squadron of British ships in the battle of Lake Erie, on September 13, though not before every officer on the Lawrence - except for Perry and his 13-year-old brother - was either killed or wounded.

Lawrence's words became the motto of the U.S. Navy, which has named numerous ships in his honor, and Perry's flag now hangs in a place of honor at the United States Naval Academy. Copies may be seen at other Navy installations and, of course, in Burlington. Far less well known is Lawrence's last command to his crew - "Burn her!"

Stephen Grellet

1997-07-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

Quaker Missionary

Born a French nobleman, Etienne de Grellet du Mabillier fled to New York to escape the French Revolution. Anglicizing and shortening his name to Stephen Grellet, he encountered the writings of George Fox, joined the Society of Friends, and eventually settled in a house in Burlington City.

A world traveler, he visited every European nation but Portugal, as well as Haiti, where he was called "Saint Stephen." Grellet discussed his Quaker beliefs with dignitaries including the Kings of Prussia and Spain, Pope Pius VII, and Czar Alexander I of Russia. Grellet's strangest distinction was his status as the last living person able to identify the true "Lost Dauphin" of France if the need arose - but it never did.

Grellet died in 1855, and is buried in the Quaker burial ground behind the Burlington Meeting House. Two of his chippendale chairs, donated by his daughter, are in the collection of the Library Company of Burlington.

Susan Bradford

1997-06-04T01:46:00.000-07:00

Socialite

Daughter of Elias Boudinot, Susan Boudinot Bradford was the wife of William Bradford, a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolution, Pennsylvania state attorney general, justice of the Pennsylvania state supreme court, and U.S. Attorney General under George Washington. Tragically, her husband died at the age of 40.

When her father retired to Burlington in 1804, Susan accompanied him to his new home, a mansion standing on 10 acres of land. After her father's death in 1821, she continued to occupy the house, and was recognized as a leader in Burlington's social circles. Her closest friends included Alexander Hamilton's widow Elizabeth and first lady Dolly Madison. In all, Susan Boudinot Bradford lived in Burlington for 47 years, until her death in 1851.

Library Company of Burlington

1997-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Library Company of Burlington is the second oldest public library in New Jersey, and the seventh oldest in the nation. It has operated continuously since 1758, when it was chartered by King George II of England. The Library was the first to print a catalogue, also in 1758. Most of its original 700 volumes were gifts from prominent residents.

The collection was originally housed in the parlor of Thomas Rodman's house at 446 High Street, and moved in 1767 to Robert Smith's house at 218 High Street. In 1789, Captain Joseph Bloomfield donated a piece of land on a small street near his mansion (now known as Library Street) and a small building was constructed to house the collection - the first library building in New Jersey.

The large stone building at 23 West Union Street which currently houses the Library was built in 1864, and expanded in the 1900's. The Library's collection includes a few thousand antiquarian books, hundreds of which were included in the original 1758 catalogue. More than 250 of these original books, some published as early as the 1550's, have been cleaned and stored in special archival boxes at the Library.

In addition to being historically significant, the Library offers the services modern patrons have come to expect, including a collection of over 45,000 circulating materials, computerized indexing and reservation of 750,000 more through the Burlington Libraries Information Consortium (BLINC), magazines, videos, and access to CD-ROM reference materials, the Internet, and educational computer games. The Library also hosts special events, ranging from children's programs to plays, seminars, and movies.

For more information, call the Library at (609) 386-1273.

Shippen House

1997-05-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Located on the corner of Talbot Street at the Delaware River, this house was originally built in 1756 as a summer home for the family of Judge Edward Shippen, a wealthy Philadelphian. In 1778, seventeen-year-old Margaret (Peggy), the youngest of Shippen's three daughters, fell in love with a widower twenty years her senior named Benedict Arnold. Arnold had recently been appointed Military Governor of Philadelphia, after being wounded in the battle of Ticonderoga.

Peggy's father was uncertain about their pairing. Judge Shippen had never expressed support for the Revolution, and was actually prohibited from traveling extensively due to suspicion that he sympathized with the British. And Shippen certainly didn't approve of his daughter marrying anyone on the shaky financial footing of a soldier, when many wealthier suitors could likely be found.

Despite her father's concern, the two were married before Peggy's 19th birthday. Living up to the social status the Shippens expected proved beyond their means, and Arnold tried various schemes to bring in more money, and wound up court-martialed for using government supplies for his own purposes. The grandest scheme began less than two weeks after their marriage, when - quite likely arranged by Peggy - a Philadelphian china dealer who sympathized with the British carried a letter from Benedict Arnold to the British in New York, offering his services as a spy.

The rest, of course, is history. In 1780, Arnold persuaded George Washington to put him in command of West Point, intending to turn it over to the British. His contact with the British - an adjutant general Peggy had befriended during the British occupation of Philadelphia - was captured in disguise behind enemy lines, and Arnold fled West Point in a panic to a British ship. By the end of the war, the family had moved to London, where they lived for nearly twenty years.

In 1801, with their eldest son serving in India in the British army, the Arnolds moved to New Brunswick, Canada, where Benedict Arnold failed to succeed as a trader and died of a respiratory illness. Peggy arranged for their four younger children to be educated, including military school for the three remaining boys, but died three years later. The Shippen house in Burlington remains a private residence.

Related reading:

Peggy: ISBN 0845347179 - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.
Finishing Becca: A Story About Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold: ISBN 0152008802 - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.
Americas' First Conspiracy: The Story of Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold: ISBN 189250118X - Amazon. Barnes & Noble. Borders.

Joseph Bloomfield

1997-05-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

Soldier and Governor

Born in 1753, Joseph Bloomfield reached the rank of Captain in the Revolutionary War, then served as New Jersey state attorney general and chief justice of the New Jersey Vice-Admiralty Court. He moved to Burlington upon marrying Mary McIlvaine, and took up residence in a mansion on High Street which had been built about 1750.

Both Bloomfields supported social causes. Joseph served as president of the first Society for the Abolition of Slavery, organized in Burlington in 1783. In 1789, he donated a small plot of land near the family home to the Library Company of Burlington, which had formerly been housed in the living rooms and parlors of its members. This provided a place for the Library's first permanent home, and the small side street adjacent to the Bloomfield's house and the Library was renamed from Office Street to Library Street - a name that remains to this day. Mary Bloomfield became the first non-Quaker member of The Friendly Institution, a secretive local charity founded in 1796.

Bloomfield served as Mayor of Burlington from 1795 to 1800, the second mayor under the Act of Incorporation of 1784. He went on to serve as Governor of New Jersey from 1801 to 1802 and 1803 to 1812, then returned to military service as a Brigadier General in the War of 1812. After the war, he finished his political career as a U.S. Representative from 1817 to 1821. He died in 1823, and is buried in St. Mary's churchyard.

Oliver Cromwell

1997-05-02T01:49:00.000-07:00

Black Revolutionary Soldier

Oliver Cromwell was born near Burlington in 1752. Raised a farmer, he served in several companies of the Second New Jersey Regiment between 1777 and 1783. After seeing action at the battles of Trenton and Princeton in 1776 and 1777, Brandywine in 1777, Monmouth in 1778 and Yorktown in 1781, he left the military at war's end. George Washington personally signed Cromwell's discharge papers, and also designed a medal which was awarded to Cromwell.

Some years after the war, Cromwell applied for a veteran's pension. He was well-liked in Burlington, and although he was unable to read or write, local lawyers, judges and politicians came to his aid, and he was granted a pension of $96 a year. He purchased a 100-acre farm outside Burlington, and fathered 14 children, then spent his later years at his home at 114 East Union Street in Burlington. He lived to be 100 years old, outliving 8 of his children, and is buried in the cemetary of the Broad Street Methodist Church. His descendants live in the city to this day.

In 1983, the Oliver Cromwell Black History Society was organized to research and preserve Black Heritage, in Burlington and elsewhere. The Society works to encourage young men to represent Cromwell and other African-American soldiers in Revolutionary War recreations at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, New Jersey.

Blue Anchor Inn

1997-05-01T13:19:00.001-07:00

The original Blue Anchor Tavern was built at the corner of High Street and Broad Street in 1750 by Richard Smith, Jr. The Third Provincial Congress of New Jersey met at the Tavern in 1776, and adopted a new State Constitution on July 2, 1776. In addition to declaring independence from Great Britain - two days early - this constitution granted voting rights to all citizens worth 50 pounds, and numerous women and minorities voted throughout the state until an all-male State Assembly again restricted the right to white males in 1809.

During the Revolution, the Tavern lodged George Washington, as well as American generals Knox, Green, Steuben, Cadwalader, Reed, Dickinson and Maxwell. On the opposing side, Count Donop, General Rahl, and Knyphausen rested here.

In 1856, the current Blue Anchor Inn was built on the same site. Known as the Beldin House in the 1860's, and later as the Metropolitan Inn, it served such guests as General Ulysses S. Grant, General George B. McClellan, Congressman McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson. It was used as a Republican headquarters during Lincoln's presidential campaign, and lodged stars of the stage in town for performances at the nearby Birch Opera House.

The Blue Anchor Inn is presently owned by the City of Burlington, and is being offered for sale for $1.00 - yes,one dollar! to any party willing and financially able to renovate it in accordance with the guidelines of the National Historic Trust, including renovation of the facade.

Birch-Bloomfield Mansion

1997-05-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Located at 415 High Street, the Birch-Bloomfield mansion was constructed about 1750. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it was occupied by politician Joseph Bloomfield and his family. From 1867 until the early 1900's, it was occupied by industrialist and arts patron James Birch and his family.

Today, the mansion serves as a private legal office.

Isaac Collins

1997-04-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

Royal Printer

Isaac Collins was born in Delaware in 1746. He moved to Burlington in 1770, and was appointed Royal Printer. Taking up residence in the building now known as the Burlington Pharmacy, he printed six-shilling notes and almanacs in a print shop at 206 High Street. Historians are uncertain whether this was the same print shop where currency was printed in 1728 by Benjamin Franklin.

Collins was a Quaker, but in 1777, he began publishing The New Jersey Gazette, a newspaper which supported the revolutionary movement, and was expelled from the Friends Meeting for warlike behavior. The next year, he moved his printing press to Trenton.

In the early 1800s, Collins published a quarto Bible far more error-free than most of its contemporary editions. In 1808, he moved back to a house in Burlington, apologized to the Friends for his support of the war, and was welcomed back into the Meeting.

Bard-How House

1997-04-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Bard-How House, located at 453 High Street, was constructed about 1743 by Bennett and Sarah Pattison Bard, and sold in 1756 to Samuel How, Sr. How was a butcher and tavern keeper by trade, and also served as a Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and a representative at the Provincial Congress of New Jersey.

After How died in 1782, the house was owned for some time by his sons. In the twentieth century, the house was acquired and restored by the Burlington County Historical Society, along with the nearby James Fenimore Cooper House and Captain James Lawrence House. The preserved house is furnished with 18th-century antiques and art, including a tall case clock made by local clockmaker Isaac Pearson in the 1740's. For more information or tours, contact the Society.

Elias Boudinot

1997-04-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

Statesman and Abolitionist

Born in Philadelphia in 1740, Elias Boudinot served as a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1778, and again from 1781 to 1784. In 1783, as president of the Continental Congress, he signed the Treaty of Paris, and was for a time President of the United States in Congress Assembled. After the Constitution was ratified, he served as a U.S. Representative from 1789 to 1795, then was appointed Director of the United States Mint.

Retiring from politics, Boudinot had a house built in 1803 on West Broad Street in Burlington. He took up residence in 1804, accompanied by his daughter, Susan Boudinot Bradford. As a private citizen, Boudinot was a trustee of what is now Princeton University, where he founded the natural history department in 1805. His views on religious tolerance and opposition to slavery led him to found the American Bible Society in 1816. That same year, he published Star in the West, suggesting that Native Americans were the lost tribes of Israel. Boudinot died in Burlington in 1821, and is buried in St. Mary's churchyard with his wife, Hannah Stockton Boudinot.

Boudinot supported the rights of Native Americans and is not to be confused with the other Elias Boudinot, who in 1835 helped arrange the signing of the Treaty of New Echota, in which a small minority group of Cherokee agreed to the emigration of the entire Cherokee Nation, resulting in most Cherokee eventually being rounded up by the Army and detained in concentration camps.

The Jersey Devil

1997-03-05T01:50:00.000-08:00

Legendary Monster

The Jersey Devil is a mythical - or perhaps not so mythical - beast that has terrorized the small towns in the vast southern forests of New Jersey for centuries. Legend has it that one Mother Leeds, a Quakeress who was rumored to dabble in the occult, had borne 12 children, and upon finding herself pregnant a thirteenth time, cursed the unborn baby, saying that she hoped it came out a devil. Her wish was reportedly granted, as the newborn emerged with wings and hooves, and laid waste to the room before flying out a window into the woods.

The Jersey Devil is most often seen in the Pine Barrens, a forest preserve of more than a million acres, and rarely strays as far west as the towns and cities along the Delaware River. In the third week of January 1909, though, it was widely reported throughout Burlington, Camden, and Gloucster Counties. Burlington City was visited twice during the spree, on the 17th and 21st of January. The creature's footprints were found in the snow, both on the ground and on housetops.

Related reading:

Jersey Devil: ISBN 0912608110 - Amazon.
Phantom of the Pines : More Tales of the Jersey Devil: ISBN 0912608951 - Amazon.
Legends of Long Beach Island : Stirring Tales of Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Pirates, and Much More: ISBN 0961000821 - Amazon.
Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature: ISBN 0684856026 - Amazon.

Cyrus Bustill

1997-03-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

Black Revolutionary Baker

Cryus Bustill was born in Burlington in 1732, the son of an English attorney and an African slave. After learning the baker's trade from Thomas Prior, a local baker and member of the Friends Meeting, Bustill gained his freedom at age 36. During the Revolutionary War, he was commended for supplying American troops with baked goods at the Burlington docks, and reportedly given a silver piece by General Washington.

Bustill and his wife, the daughter of an Englishman and a Delaware Indian, later moved to Philadelphia where they and their eight children attended the Arch Street Friends Meeting. Bustill was an early member of Philadelphia's Free African Society, started in 1787. After retiring from baking, he started a school in Philadelphia. He died in 1806. You may have heard of his great-great-grandson, Rutgers University valedictorian, singer and actor Paul Robeson.

Burlington Pharmacy

1997-03-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

Located on the southeast corner of High and Union Streets, this building was constructed in 1731. From 1770 to 1778, it was home to Isaac Collins, Royal Printer for the colony, who operated a printing shop on High Street. A pharmacy has been in business here continuously since 1831, when druggist William J. Allinson opened his business here.

Now the home of Wheatley's Burlington Pharmacy, the building has been a pharmacy for nearly 170 years.

James Kinsey

1997-03-01T01:56:00.000-08:00

State Court Chief Justice

Born in 1731 in Philadelphia, James Kinsey was instrumental in New Jersey's transition from colony to state. His father, John K. Kinsey, had served as Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly before moving to Philadelphia and holding the same post in the Pennsylvania Assembly. The elder Kinsey also served as Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, led the Quaker Party, and was Clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Both were descended from John Kinsey, one of the founders of Burlington.

Like his father, James Kinsey studied law, was active in the Society of Friends, and a political leader. He studied law, passed the bar in 1753, and by the 1770's was well-known attorney. In 1772, he was elected to the New Jersey assembly. He opposed Royal Governor William Franklin, who lived across town, and in 1774, started the Burlington Committee of Correspondence, to turn public opinion against King George III.

James Kinsey married twice. His first wife was Phoebe Wood. After her death, he married Hannah Decow of Burlington. His children were John, James, Philip, Thomas, Charles, Ann, Mary, and Hannah.

Kinsey was elected in September of 1774 to the Continental Congress, but as a Quaker, chose to resign in November of 1775, rather than swear an oath of allegiance. He continued his legal practice, and was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in November 1789, serving in that office until his death in 1803. Kinsey is buried in St. Mary's churchyard in Burlington, and his portrait has hung in the New Jersey capitol building in Trenton.

Kinsey's house, built in 1770, was sold after his death by his wife Hannah. Located at 38 West Broad Street, the house now serves as Lodge 965 of the Loyal Order of Moose.

William Franklin

1997-03-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

Our Last Royal Governor

The son of Benjamin Franklin, William Franklin spent much of his youth in England, where he earned a Master's degree by Oxford, was accepted to the bar, and married. Upon his return to America in 1763, he became royal governor of New Jersey at the age of thirty-two, and took up residence at Green Bank, a riverside Burlington mansion. There, he entertained dinner guests including George Washington.

Despite his youth, Franklin was a well-educated and talented administrator, but the office of Royal Governor was rapidly losing power. The first two years of his term were pleasant and uneventful, and he was instrumental in founding Queens College, now known as Rutgers University, but in 1765, he was unable to enforce the Stamp Act passed by Parliament. Three years later, 8,000 pounds disappeared from the East Jersey treasuries, and Franklin's refusal to remove treasurer Stephen Skinner from his post earned him more ill feelings.

Franklin's loyalty to the British crown bought him little in the way of military support, and when the spirit of revolution began to build, he was powerless to act against it. Locally, assemblyman James Kinsey began the Burlington Committee of Correspondence in 1774, to turn public opinion against the royal government. In January of 1776, Franklin was placed under house arrest at his second home in northern New Jersey. Five months later, he was seized and brought to Burlington for questioning by the independence-minded Provincial Congress. Refusing to relinquish his authority, he was transported to Connecticut and held as a prisoner of war for two and a half years. He then spent a few years as the leader of a Tory association in New York, before returning to England in 1782.

William Franklin's support of England severely strained his relationship with his father, as well as with his son, William Temple Franklin, who also supported independence. A few years before his death, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to William, "Nothing has ever hurt me with such keen sensations, as to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up arms against me in a cause wherein my good fame, fortune and life were all at stake." Upon his death, Ben left his son his books and papers and some lands in Canada, and forgave any debt his son owed him, but willed him no money, noting that if William's England had won the war, there would have been no inheritance to leave at all.

Related reading:

Benjamin & William Franklin: Father & Son, Patriot & Loyalist: ISBN 0312086172 - Amazon.
William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King: ISBN 0195057457 - Amazon.

Nathaniel Coleman House

1997-02-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

Located at 320 High Street, this house was constructed in 1720 by Richard Smith, Jr. In 1793, it was sold to Nathaniel Coleman, a Quaker silversmith who had come to Burlington six years earlier. Coleman occupied the house with his wife Elizabeth and his brother Samuel, also a silversmith, until his death in 1842.

Working in a second-floor workshop at the rear of the house, both brothers were highly productive - Nathaniel worked as a silversmith for more than forty years - and their works are now in many private and museum collections.

Nathaniel and Elizabeth Coleman were among the original members of The Friendly Institution, a secretive local charity which was organized in this house on Christmas Eve, 1796. The first floor of the house is now occupied, fittingly, by a jeweler's shop.

Dr. John Howard Pugh House

1997-01-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Located at 214 High Street, the Dr. John Howard Pugh House, also known as the Counting House, was constructed as two houses circa 1709 and 1716. The two houses were converted to one large house after 1768, and further alterations were made in 1860. The house is an example of Georgian/Federal architecture.

Between 1767 and 1776, the house was occupied by Samuel Allinson, who authored a compilation of state laws from 1702 to 1776, and as a member of the Friends was prominent in local anti-slavery movements. His grandson, William J. Allinson, later opened a pharmacy in town.

Born in Pennsylvania, Dr. John Howard Pugh moved to Burlington in 1854, and lived in the house from 1857 until his death in 1905. During the Civil War, he served without compensation at the United States general hospital in nearby Beverly. After the war, he served in the House of Representatives from 1877 to 1879, then resumed his medical practice. Pugh was president of the Mechanics' National Bank of Burlington for thirty-six years, and served on the State board of education.

In 1945, historian Henry "Doc" Bisbee purchased the building. After some time it was sold to its present owner, John A. Hammer, CPA. The original marble stoop, white cedar floors and fireplaces of rare blue swirl marble on the first floor of the house have been preserved by Mr. Hammer, who regularly opens the building to visitors during street fairs and other special events. The second floor, which also retains its original cedar flooring, is currently undergoing restoration.

Benjamin Franklin

1997-01-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

Printer and Statesman

Best known for his work in nearby Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin actually saw Burlington first, passing through as a 17-year-old on his way from Boston to Philadelphia. Stopping at a house believed to be the Revell House, he was fed by a kindly woman. He wrote in his autobiography:

"...I lay that night, and the next morning reach'd Burlington, but had the mortification to find that the regular boats were gone a little before my coming, and no other expected to go before Tuesday, this being Saturday; wherefore I returned to an old woman in the town, of whom I had bought gingerbread to eat on the water, and ask'd her advice. She invited me to lodge at her house till a passage by water should offer; and being tired with my foot travelling, I accepted the invitation. She understanding I was a printer, would have had me stay at that town and follow my business, being ignorant of the stock necessary to begin with. She was very hospitable, gave me a dinner of ox-cheek with great good will, accepting only a pot of ale in return; and I thought myself fixed till Tuesday should come. However, walking in the evening by the side of the river, a boat came by, which I found was going towards Philadelphia, with several people in her. They took me in, and, as there was no wind, we row'd all the way; and about midnight, not having yet seen the city, some of the company were confident we must have passed it, and would row no farther; the others knew not where we were; so we put toward the shore, got into a creek, landed near an old fence, with the rails of which we made a fire, the night being cold, in October, and there we remained till daylight. Then one of the company knew the place to be Cooper's Creek, a little above Philadelphia, which we saw as soon as we got out of the creek, and arriv'd there about eight or nine o'clock on the Sunday morning, and landed at the Market-street wharf."

Although he never made a permanent home in Burlington, Franklin returned here for three months in 1728, printing currency on New Jersey's first copper-plate press in a shop that may have later been used by Isaac Collins. During his stay, Franklin became acquainted with many prominent residents of Burlington. In his autobiography, he wrote:

"The New jersey jobb was obtain'd, I contriv'd a copperplate press for it, the first that had been seen in the country; I cut several ornaments and checks for the bills. We went together to Burlington, where I executed the whole to satisfaction; and he received so large a sum for the work as to be enabled thereby to keep his head much longer above water.

"At Burlington I made an acquaintance with many principal people of the province. Several of them had been appointed by the Assembly a committee to attend the press, and take care that no more bills were printed than the law directed. They were therefore, by turns, constantly with us, and generally he who attended, brought with him a friend or two for company. My mind having been much more improv'd by reading than Keimer's, I suppose it was for that reason my conversation seem'd to he more valu'd. They had me to their houses, introduced me to their friends, and show'd me much civility; while he, tho' the master, was a little neglected. In truth, he was an odd fish; ignorant of common life, fond of rudely opposing receiv'd opinions, slovenly to extream dirtiness, enthusiastic in some points of religion, and a little knavish withal.

"We continu'd there near three months; and by that time I could reckon among my acquired friends, Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, the secretary of the Province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph Cooper, and several of the Smiths, members of Assembly, and Isaac Decow, the surveyor-general. The latter was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who told me that he began for himself, when young, by wheeling clay for the brick-makers, learned to write after be was of age, carri'd the chain for surveyors, who taught him surveying, and he had now by his industry, acquir'd a good estate; and says he, "I foresee that you will soon work this man out of business, and make a fortune in it at Philadelphia." He had not then the least intimation of my intention to set up there or anywhere. These friends were afterwards of great use to me, as I occasionally was to some of them. They all continued their regard for me as long as they lived."

Franklin's son William also spent part of his life in Burlington, as the last Royal Governor of New Jersey.

Related Reading

Find books by and about Benjamin Franklin at Powell's Books.

Old Saint Mary's Church

1997-01-03T02:09:00.000-08:00

Located at the corner of West Broad Street and Wood Street, Old St. Mary's was constructed in 1703, and is the oldest Episcopal Church in New Jersey. Its silver communion service was a gift from Queen Anne, before her death in 1713. Its first rector, John Talbot, had been a ship's chaplain, and served from 1705 to 1725. During the revolution, Reverend Jonathan O'Dell supported the Loyalist cause, and eventually fled to Canada.

The church was expanded over the years, and a Guild House was constructed at the corner of West Broad Street and Talbot Street in 1799. Even so, the congregation needed a larger home by the mid-1800's, and New St. Mary's was constructed.

St. Mary's churchyard is the resting place of prominent citizens including former Governor Joseph Bloomfield, Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, Representative John Howard Pugh, Senator James Kinsey, Senator Garret Dorset Wall and Mayor James Walter Wall.

The Three Richard Smiths

1997-01-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

Early Residents

From the time Burlington was founded until the Revolution, the Smith family was influential in local commerce and politics. Family patriarch Dr. Richard Smith, one of the early settlers, lived in a house on High Street at the turn of the eighteenth century.

Dr. Smith's son, Richard Jr., was an international trader whose fleet of ships sailed between Burlington and the West Indies. He also represented Burlington in the Provincial Assembly. In 1720, he built the house now known as the Coleman House. Smith purchased Alcazar in 1739, and built the Blue Anchor Tavern next to it eleven years later.

Like his father, Richard Smith, Esq. served in the Assembly. He also served as State Treasurer, and served one term in the Continental Congress before resigning based on his opposition, as a Quaker, to the Revolutionary War.

Smith House

1996-09-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

Located at 315 High Street, the Dr. Richard Smith House was constructed in 1692 by Philadelphia carpenter Joseph Scattergood, and is one of the oldest buildings in Burlington. Smith and his family were influential in early Burlington commerce and politics.

The building was later occupied by banker and two-term mayor William R. Allen. The Smith House's first floor is now occupied by an art gallery, with the remaining floors serving as private residences.

Revell House

1996-08-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

The oldest building in Burlington County, the one-room Revell House was built near the waterfront in 1685 by George Hutchinson, a Quaker distiller. Hutchinson sold the house to Thomas Revell, who had arrived in December of 1678 aboard the ship Shield. Revell was active in West Jersey politics, serving as Surveyor General, Registrar of the Proprietors of West Jersey, and Clerk of the Provincial Assembly. From 1696 to 1699, the house served as Revell's office.

In the late 1700's, a second floor was added, consisting of a small hall and two rooms. Later, the house was home to the now-defunct Stockton chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1950, Henry "Doc" Bisbee, a much-loved local historian, joined with several other residents to form the Colonial Burlington Foundation and purchase the house. When the City wanted to widen Pearl Boulevard in 1966, Bisbee and his wife donated a site at 213 Wood Street, and the house was moved to its current location.

Bisbee and the Foundation organized the annual Wood Street Fair to raise funds for restoration and preservation of the house, and Bisbee, also an author, promoted the fair in his local historical newsletter, The Burlington Story. Tradition holds that this was the home where an elderly woman gave Benjamin Franklin gingerbread as he traveled to Philadelphia in 1723, and the nickname "gingerbread house" has been applied to the house for many years. Current maintenance of the house is funded by the sale of home-baked gingerbread at each year's Wood Street Fair, held the weekend after Labor Day.

Burlington Meeting House

1996-08-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

The first Burlington Meeting House - a hexagonal wooden structure - was built in 1683, and served for 100 years, even being seized during the Revolutionary War and used as a barracks.

Standing at 340 High Street, the present Burlington Meeting House was constructed in the mid-1780's by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) to replace the original smaller structure. In 1994 and 1995, major renovations and additions converted the Meeting House into a conference center, which opened in August of 1995 with facilities for day use by groups up to 200, and accomodations for 88.

The Meeting House now hosts weekend gatherings of high-school-aged Young Friends from around the greater Philadelphia region, as well as other groups. Significant portions of the original meeting room were preserved as part of the renovations, and continue to be used for meetings and seminars.

The Quaker burial ground behind the Meeting House holds the graves of several prominent Friends, including Dr. Joseph Taylor, founder of Bryn Mawr College, printer Isaac Collins, and missionary Stephen Grellet. Also buried here is Chief Ockanickon of the Mantas tribe of the Lenape.

Board of Island Managers

1996-08-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Board of Island Managers is charged with overseeing the earliest educational trust in the United States, formed in 1682 when the provincial government of West Jersey gave Burlington Island to Burlington City, on the condition that all revenue from use of the island be used to fund education.

The Board itself was organized in 1727, and has dispensed money from the trust to support education for over 200 years. Revenues from use of the island have been used to provide education for the poor, construct and improve facilities for public schools, and reduce local school taxes.

Alcazar

1996-08-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

The original portions of Alcazar, located at 406 High Street, were constructed circa 1680, and are the oldest standing construction in Burlington. Alcazar was originally occupied by Thomas Olive, one of the first Quaker founders of Burlington.

In 1739, Alcazar was bought by Richard Smith, Jr., an international trader whose fleet of ships sailed between Burlington and the West Indies. In 1750, Smith built the Blue Anchor Tavern next to his home.

Best-known among Alcazar's inhabitants is Henry Carey, a nineteenth-century economist, debater and political muckraker who authored Principles of a Political Economy.

In the heyday of the Birch Opera House, Alcazar served as a small hotel beside the larger Metropolitan Inn. In recent years, it has been converted to private offices.

Ship Shield Marker

1996-07-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

A large boulder near the riverbank marks the spot where the ship Shield, the first to arrive in Burlington after the city was settled, moored. The ship was tied to a large buttonwood tree on December 10, 1678. The passengers and crew remained on board overnight, and in the morning were surprised to find the surface of the Delaware River frozen so thick that they were able to walk ashore.

Green Bank, the estate of Royal Governor William Franklin, once stood behind this marker, on the site now occupied by the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall.

The Quakers

1996-07-07T02:07:00.000-07:00

The first Europeans to settle Burlington were members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. Founded by George Fox in seventeenth-century England, the Friends quickly met with persecution for their refusal to bear arms, take oaths, and pay tithes. Less than a quarter-century after the Society was founded, Friends began leaving England for the religious freedom of America. More than one third of those originally purchasing land in Burlington had been fined or imprisoned for their beliefs in England. Even as their ship, the Kent, sailed down the Thames River, King Charles II boarded it from his royal barge and wished them a safe voyage. As the King's own laws led to much of the abuse the Quakers received in England, this blessing is usually viewed as a polite "go away," at best.

Since 1677, Burlington has been the home of many Friends, including Cyrus Bustill, Isaac Collins, Thomas Gardiner, John and Samuel Gummere, schoolmaster John Griscom of the Burlington Friends School, John Hoskins Jr., James Kinsey, Alcazar builder Thomas Olive, Samuel Smith and pharmacist William J. Allinson. Many prominent Friends are buried behind the Meeting House on High Street, as is Chief Ockanickon of the Mantas tribe of the Lenape.

Historically, the Friends in Burlington were known for their pacifism, religious tolerance, and egalitarianism. The Lenape were befriended, but not converted, and trials involving Indians were decided by a jury of 6 settlers and 6 Indians. In 1757, Samuel Smith and other Friends founded the New Jersey Society for Helping the Indians. Friends in the Philadelphia area were forbidden from owning slaves after 1776, and in 1792 efforts began to educate freed slaves. In 1796, Friends founded a local charity, The Friendly Institution. In the 1800's, the Burlington Pharmacy was visited often by abolitionist Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whitter, and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Early Friends also founded the Endeavor Fire Company, oldest in the city.

Related reading:

The Quaker Reader: ISBN 087574916X - Amazon.
Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings: ISBN 0809125102 - Amazon.
Quakers and the American Family: British Settlement in the Delaware Valley: ISBN 0195049764 - Amazon.

The Purchase from the Lenape

1996-07-06T02:06:00.000-07:00

In 1676, a series of meetings were held between representatives of the West Jersey Proprietors and Chiefs of the Lenape Nation. The English wished to purchase the land along the Delaware River below the falls at Trenton. The Lenape agreed to sell the land where Burlington is now located, and roughly fifteen miles of land along the river in each direction, in exchange for the following goods:

150 pounds of gunpowder
144 pipes
100 fish hooks
92 yards of duffleds cloth
60 kettles (30 kettles, plus 30 more in lieu of wampum)
36 rings
30 blankets
30 pairs of scissors
30 guns
30 axes
30 awls
30 knives
30 needles
30 mirrors
30 pairs of stockings
30 barrels of lead
30 jews harps
30 combs
30 shirts
30 bracelets
30 bells
30 flints
30 steels
12 tobacco boxes
10 spoons of red paint

Council of West Jersey Proprietors

1996-07-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

The original Council of West Jersey Proprietors was composed of men who had purchased large blocks of land, and were designated by the British crown to govern the surveying, granting, and purchasing of land within West Jersey. The Proprietors negotiated with the local tribes of the Lenape to purchase land in the Burlington area, and also approved the Concessions and Agreements of 1676, the original laws of the region.

Proprietorships have been transferred by inheritance and in some cases by sale of land, and the holders of proprietorships have met in Burlington every April since 1688. The complete records of the Council of West Jersey Proprietors are housed in the Surveyor General's office on West Broad Street near High Street.

Related reading:

Influence of the Proprietors in Founding the State of New Jersey: ISBN 0404610234 - Amazon.
Proprietors, Patronage and Paper Money: Legislative Politics in New Jersey, 1703-1776: ISBN 0813511615 - Amazon.

Burlington Island

1996-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Located in the Delaware River a few hundred feet from the City, 300-acre Burlington Island was formerly known as Matennecunk Island. In 1624, the Dutch established a house and trading post on the island. They were displaced by the Swedish in 1656 and the English in 1664, regained control in 1673, and were displaced by the English again in 1677.

In 1671, two Dutchmen on the island in the employ of the English were murdered by Tashiowycan and Wyannattamo, Lenape braves overcome with vengeful grief at the death of Tashiowycan's sister. Relations between the English and the Lenape were strained briefly, but tribal leaders promised to find and punish the murderers, suggesting that they would have a dance, get the braves drunk, then club them on the head.

The Island was ceded to the City in 1682 by an act of the Provincial government, with all revenue from use of the island to fund education. Thus was established the oldest educational trust in the nation, now overseen by the Board of Island Managers, and the first basis for a free school system in the nation.

Money from the trust was used to provide education for the poor beginning in 1767, and free public schooling in the City dates back to 1805. In the eighteenth century, most of the revenue came from the rental of farmland on the island, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the island was developed extensively as an amusement park. Today it is an uninhabited scenic landmark in the river.

The Mantas Tribe of the Lenape

1996-01-01T02:01:00.000-08:00

When Europeans arrived in what is now Burlington in the 1600's, they found the area inhabited by the Mantas, or "Leaping Frogs," tribe of the Lenape. The tribe referred to the riverfront land where the City now stands as "Techichohocki," or "Oldest planted land."

During the years that the European presence was limited to a trading post on Burlington Island, relations were sometimes strained, but in 1676, the West Jersey Proprietors negotiated with the Mantas and other nearby Lenape tribes to formally purchase the land where Burlington City stands and the surrounding area.

Ockanickon, Chief of the Mantas at the time, befriended the Quakers who arrived the next year, and was frequently involved in their discussions and councils. His participation was doubtless helpful in ensuring that relations between the tribe and the English settlers remained pleasant.

Ockanickon died in 1681, and though he never converted to Quakerism, is buried near a huge sycamore just behind the Burlington Meeting House on High Street. A boulder near the tree bears his mark, and a metal plate with his last words: "Be plain and fair to all, both Indian and Christian, as I have been."

Related reading:

The Lenape Indians: ISBN 079101665X - Amazon.
The Lenape or Delaware Indians: ISBN 0935137017 - Amazon.
William Penn's Own Account of the Lenni Lenape or Delawre Indians: ISBN 0912608137 - Amazon.