I feel a light breeze in Bamber tonite.
Oh wait.....that is just Jerseyman fanning through his library in search of the mysterious Miller.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Atsion To Boot Hill
- Thread starter james ungehajer
- Start date
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Jerseyman,
An amazing snapshot of history as usual.
Just as Largo does, I spend a lot of time in that haunt year round. I actually walk along road that folows the edge of the former mill pond almost every night.
I would like to trouble you a little further if possible.
I haved lived here twenty five years now and I have not gotten a good answer as to the origin of the local moniker, Miller's Bogs. (Forget about Pestletown)
These bogs are evident beginning just upstream from Iron Mill and continue in series up the Albertson Branch all the way to the Old White Horse Pike. Some State workers call them the Ancora bogs.
I have showed Guy this area and we have viewed copies of Wharton surveys on the north and south side of the Albertson and no reference to Miller is found.
Obviously I could do the Miller grantee-grantor thing in the years prior to the State's acquisition but Miller could be a little cumbersome.
Do any of your maps have a Miller reference in that area?
Thanks.
Scott
Scott:
Thanks for the kind words! You and I have already had some private conversations on the origins of Pestletown as a place name, so we will let that sleeping dog lie. Regarding the bogs along the Pump Branch (originally the Pump Brook), they apparently did not exist there in 1877. Only a “cranberry meadow” northwest of the old White Horse Pike appears on a map of that year. Twelve years later, however, New Jersey Geological Survey Atlas Sheet No. 12, Mount Holly and Vicinity, depicts a bog beginning at the Fleming Pike Bridge over the Albertson Branch and extending almost to the confluence of Pump Branch and Blue Anchor Branch. Then, just above that same confluence, another bog begins and extends two-thirds the distance towards the Camden & Atlantic Railroad.
Beginning in 1892, Joseph Wharton acquired all of the land along both sides of Pump Branch during his effort to buy up South Jersey land in a scheme to sell water to Philadelphia. His estate still owned this land in 1935, except for a 35-acre bog located immediately adjacent to the southeast side of the Camden & Atlantic Railroad, which Wharton owned jointly with Albertson and a 12-acre bog at the confluence of Pump Branch and Blue Anchor Branch, which R. Atierno owned. During Wharton’s tenure in this land, and the tenure of his estate, Anna R. Miller leased these bogs for at least a portion of the time. Hence, the name “Millers Bogs.” IIRC, the same Miller was involved at Rockwood. A visit to Swarthmore College Library to view the Joseph Wharton papers would yield additional information.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
George:
I have nothing but a somewhat educated conjecture to run on here, but based on a review of the 1931 aerials (greatly enlarged!), I am wondering if Springtown was once a hamlet contaning a shack or two for the cranberry pickers. I note one or maybe two rectilinear structures with an outhouse. These appear standing behind the Spring Garden Inn across the railroad and slightly northeast. There is another structure facing the south side of Wharton Avenue between the railroad and Old White Horse Pike. This dwelling appears to have two outbuildings. And it looks like there is yet another building just to the left of the top of the “B” from the abbreviation “Br.” Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Edit: Here is a detail from the 1931 aerial:
Best regards,
Jerseyman
I am uncertain exactly where you are referring to along the Pump Branch. I can say there are two exceptions that the Wharton Estate did not own that the Pump Branch went through east of the Pike. One was 14.6235 acres and was sold to Davis Mills June 19, 1869 by Charles Matlack ET UX. The other is 12.00 acres and was sold to Charles Matlack on 9/1/1867 by John S. Irick, Daniel L. Miller, and Mary Roberts. The Miller name may have dated back to Daniel L Miller and not Anna. She was though buying property in the 1870’s in that area.
Here are the two exceptions even though it looks like one. The purple looking area is the two in question. There is a division line down it. It looks like a stone search is in order in the fall.
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=11&Z=18&X=1289&Y=10984&W=2&qs=|atco|nj|
Guy
Here are the two exceptions even though it looks like one. The purple looking area is the two in question. There is a division line down it. It looks like a stone search is in order in the fall.
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=11&Z=18&X=1289&Y=10984&W=2&qs=|atco|nj|
Guy
Guy:
Between the Fleming Pike crossing of the Albertson Branch on the south and the Camden & Atlantic Railroad on the north, Wharton owned 268 acres on the west side of Pump Branch and 238 acres between Pump Branch and Wharton Avenue according to the mapping I have here, excepting out the two parcels mentioned in my previous post. AFAIK, this is the area known as Millers Bogs. My recollection from viewing the Joseph Wharton papers years ago at Swarthmore is Anna R. Miller paying rent for the bogs, but I cannot recall for how long and I cannot find my notes from that trip. The Daniel Miller you mention may be the source of the name, but I am trusting my memory that Anna was there as well.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Guy:
Here is my mapping from c.1935 and this will show you what I am talking about:
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Here is my mapping from c.1935 and this will show you what I am talking about:
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Thank you for your efforts Jerseyman!
My sons and I have walked or crawled across each of the dikes from the Old WHP all the way to the Fleming Pike while duck or deer hunting throughout the 25 years that I have lived here.
The bogs mapped as owned by Atierno are beautiful to explore. They are dark and dense and the bog floor is like a sphagnum mattress.
There are some very large cedars on the south side and west of the confluence of the Blue Anchor Brook and the Pump or Albertson Branch leading me to believe that Millers operations outlasted Atierno's.
The last map you posted is interesting in that the Iannacos and the Petruzzis are still on Pestletown Road to this day.
My gallery has quite a few Miller's bogs shots as it is my front yard so to speak.
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/3785/cat/all/ppuser/177/sl/r
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/3787/cat/all/ppuser/177/sl/r
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/3913/cat/all/ppuser/177/sl/r
Finally, my apologies to Jim for a major hi-jack of this thread.
Scott
Scott
I mentioned that on a future outing of mine that i intended to visit Iron Mills and hence the discussion expanded to that area and which given the knowledge of the various contributors on this site have contributed greatly, no apologies needed. I, and i think all of us have learned much.
Jim
I mentioned that on a future outing of mine that i intended to visit Iron Mills and hence the discussion expanded to that area and which given the knowledge of the various contributors on this site have contributed greatly, no apologies needed. I, and i think all of us have learned much.
Jim
Thanks for that, I lost the perspective a little in the blown up version but what you say makes sense. It's the one's Northeast I mentioned. My first thoughts were maybe the remains of an isolated family or two living out there to be in proximity to the rails for some reason. They seemed so near the bridge but just slightly off Wharton ave. After years of passing through this spot I will certainly stop when foliage is down. It's so obvious to me now I have to look for something.
Your 1935 map to answer Guy & Scott's questions shows some interesting things regarding the way properties were cut up back here then, right down to mine. So different for some. It seems funny to me the little patches owned seperately along Wharton Avenue. On the Fleming, my grandfather's property is easy to spot (At the time owned by Chiumento). Seems all the other properties are still in the same family names.
George:
I thought you and Scott—both of you being Pestletown hermits—would enjoy seeing the 1935 map. Obviously, there is much more to it, but I only scanned the portion germane to the topic at-hand.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
According to the article "Millers Bogs - A Forgotten Pine Barrens Town" printed in the Hammonton News, Thursday December 23, 1982, the original Miller was "John Henry Miller, a huge man of German extraction and an amiable disposition." The Historical Society of Winslow Township has just been lent a photograph of the Miller Family by his grand-daughter, who we are attempting to convince to give a talk at one of our meetings. I just scanned the photo last night and stumbled upon this site while doing some research on Millers Bogs.
I notice an "Upload a File" option on this forum an would be pleased to share the picture (once we have a signed permission) with this forum if anyone is interested.
Jack Jennings, Vice President, Historical Society of Winslow Township
Guy:
Here is my mapping from c.1935 and this will show you what I am talking about:
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Jerseyman,
Where did you find that map? It is very unusual to find a map showing property ownership and the HSWT would love to have a copy with permission to reproduce it. Do you have access to similar maps for Winslow Township?
Jack Jennings
RednekF350,
VERY nice photos. Might you grant rights to the Historical Society of Winslow Township to reproduce and use these pictures? If you agree, please email me directly at jejennings@comcast.net and I'll send you a form. If we can get Miller's grad-daugter to give a talk, it would be nice to have these on display. If not we'll have them in a 'Millers Bog" file. On of the longterm goals of the Historical Society of Winslow Township is to acquire and make available to our residents information on the families and historic settlements of our township. We're just getting started and have lots to do before there are no folks left that remember places like Russelltown, Millers bogs, etc.
By the way, we are always looking for nice folks who would be will to give a "less than an hour" talk on anything Winslow. We meet the first Monday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Senior Citizens Center directly across form Winslow Township Junior HS on Pump Branch Road.
Jack
Guy,
I believe he is talking about the Miller's Bogs that are the subject discussed in most of this thread and shown on Jerseyman's map. They are the Miller's Bogs in the woods across the street from my house. They are in Winslow Township.
However, he starts by talking about a Hammonton News article from '82 that might be referring to the bogs near Dutchtown and Rockwood