Tree Cutting on Quaker Bridge Rd.

[Teegate]

Don,

Mine is a point and shoot camera. I purchased it because the macro feature was rated highly.

There was no evidence that the millpond was on the Sleepy below the dam where we visited before. Jerseyman's map in post 48 shows it going all the way to the Mullica but Gabe found no evidence of that in the short distance he traveled up it. With the dam being further up the Sleepy one would think the millpond would have been upstream and not downstream towards the Mullica. In the end more explorations will need to occur.

The water was low and we were constantly hitting things. Bob and I were in the canoe together and tumbled out with all of our belongings. Once we hit dead on a submerged log and I almost flew out forward. We had many close calls today but in the end we did quite well. It was a long day for sure. Going from Atsion to Pleasant Mills in less than 9 hours in low water and visiting all of the places we wanted to stop at was very exhausting.

Guy

 

[Don Catts]

Guy, I am sure this is the right location, but we are still in the wrong county. Burlington starts in the center of the Mullica. If the 700 acres was on the other side of the Mullica you would have to get all cut timber across the river to the Mill. But it does looks like a nice area for exploration, nice job, Don

 

[pinelandpaddler]

I saw this one. I am looking for the map of Fruitland itself, with more detail, street names, dimensions, etc. I am interested in how far east of the train tracks it went. Did it go as far as the Stone Bridge Farm on Quaker Bridge Rd.

My understanding is that Fruitland never materialized. Is this the case?

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Guy, I am sure this is the right location, but we are still in the wrong county. Burlington starts in the center of the Mullica. If the 700 acres was on the other side of the Mullica you would have to get all cut timber across the river to the Mill. But it does looks like a nice area for exploration, nice job, Don

Looks like the sale advertisement was simply incorrect in placing the mill in Burlington County.

 

[Don Catts]

My understanding is that Fruitland never materialized. Is this the case?

Pinelandpaddler,

Yes, Fruitland did materialized in the early 1860 the name of Atsion was changed to Fruitland. Several lots were sold; the first one sold was on Atsion Rd. to B. B. Brown. Col. Wm C. Patterson developed it. In 1871 Patterson estate was liquidated and that was the end of Fruitland. When Raleigh bought it in 1871 he had the name changed back to Atsion. The Raleigh Land & Improvement Co. also materialized although the name was never changed the deeds for the houses across from Atsion Lake on Atsion Rd say the town of Raleigh on them.

Don

 

[Don Catts]

Looks like the sale advertisement was simply incorrect in placing the mill in Burlington County.

Would be ibteresting to see the deed.

 

[Jerseyman]

Gentlemen:

We had the same jurisdictional discussion on the Locks thread. As time permits, I am looking at a wide array of research material to develop a response to this issue. At the moment, I will point out that in March 1902, State Senator Horner presented a bill to the New Jersey State Senate that annexed a portion of Hammonton, Atlantic County, and a portion of Waterford, Camden County, to Shamong and Washington townships, Burlington County. The legal description within the April 2, 1902 Act reads as follows:

Beginning at a point in the present line between Burlington and Atlantic counties, at the mouth of Sleepy creek, where the said creek empties into Atsion river (sometimes called Mullica River), and at the east end of the line dividing the town of Hammonton from the township of Mullica; thence (1) leaving said river and extending in a straight line northwestward, to the middle of Emphriams [sic] bridge, over the said Atsion river, where the said river is crossed by the road leading from the Burnt House (so-called) to Bobby’s Causeway (so-called); thence (2) southeastwardly, along the several courses of the said Atsion river to the place of beginning, shall be and the same hereby is annexed to and made part of the said county of Burlington….

What possible purpose could be involved in the approval of this change in the boundary line? The land transferred appears to fall exactly where the jurisdictional issue has been raised in both the Lock discussion and this one. More research needs to be conducted to understand the rationale for this legislative action. Even a contemporaneous Hammonton newspaper could not offer any explanation! John P. Snyder’s 1969 work, The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries, delineates this boundary change on his Map 12. You can find a pdf version of this book here:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf

Meanwhile, with the map below, I am throwing a little more mud on to the subject. Here is a detail from the Thomas Gordon map of 1833, showing the millpond and the probable dam location at that time:

Yet another history mystery to unravel! It might be solved by examining the tax ratable lists for Galloway Township, Gloucester County versus Northampton and Washington townships, Burlington County at the New Jersey State Archives.

We are all looking back with twenty-first-century eyes, so for us it is a black & white issue of knowing where the law established the boundary lines and we think that the people living back then made mistakes about these boundaries, but we should carefully weigh all the facts before jumping to conclusions about such errors.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Teegate]

Jerseyman,

I believe from my examination of the dam area that the millpond in the map you first posted is backwards. The Thomas Gordon map is correct.

Millpond downsteam which I believe is backwards.

Millpond upstream properly shown.

Guy

 

[Don Catts]

Boy do I love this forum, where were you folks 40 years ago?

Jerseyman, you come up with some interesting information.
When we look into one mystery we usually find several more. The boundary change of 1902 is over 100 yrs after the land sale on the broadside advertisement. And the mill foundation and pond would still be in Atlantic County. I have no idea where the 700 acres are?

The only thing this new boundary does is put Atsion village completely in Burlington County.

Thanks for all this information I love it, Don

 

[Boyd]

Boy do I love this forum, where were you folks 40 years ago?

Well one thing's certain.... we weren't sharing information over the internet and we weren't using scanners, digital cameras or GPS devices.

Some great information in this thread. Nice work everyone!

 

[Don Catts]

Well one thing's certain.... we weren't sharing information over the internet and we weren't using scanners, digital cameras or GPS devices.

Some great information in this thread. Nice work everyone!

AMEN!

 

[bobpbx]

Guy, I researched that "ugly" xyris. It is endangered in NJ.

Xyris fimbriata.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSea...fimbriata&mode=sciname&submit.x=14&submit.y=8

 

[Teegate]

Thanks Bob! I guess I should not have pulled that one out of the ground

 

[Teegate]

All,

Jessica and I spent the morning exploring the dam and millpond on Sleepy Creek Since we can't get there easily in my car the normal ways, we accessed the creek by wading across the Mullica at the same location we did Friday on our PBX kayak trip. This is the way I will access that area from now on in warm weather.

Jessica working her way up the Sleepy.

Since I previously posted photo's, here is a video of various and sometimes redundant snippets of the dam area. While exploring the remote side of the dam, I noticed very fresh footprints and I am going to assume someone read this thread and did some exploring themselves. If it was anyone here please chime in with your opinions.

The video. You can change it to 720P HD for better viewing.

We then walked to Wescoat Bog and checked on a few things. Bob...this should answer one of your questions.

Guy

 

[Gibby]

The rare sound of falling water in the Pines is great to hear! Thanks for posting the video.

 

[Don Catts]

Guy

Thanks for the show, Sleepy Creek Mill Dam is becoming one of my favorite places and I haven’t even been there.
\Don

 

[bobpbx]

Nice photos of the Xyris Guy. Thanks. That is probably a mixture of X. fimbriata an X. smalliana.

 

[manumuskin]

Guy
I couldn't hear what you said over the water.Is the dam made out of wood or rock? How old is it?I have been within yards of it but never noticed it.Is it underwater when the water is up,it appears it would be?

 

[manumuskin]

the damselfly seems to be a young female citrine forktail Ischnura hastata. seen from april till november in sphagnum swamps,sedge marshes and vernal ponds.Can be abundant but not readily noticed due it's habit of perching inconspicuously among tangles of thick vegetation.

 

[Teegate]

I suspect it is underwater when the water is up. It is wood, and the age would put it in the 1800s.

Guy