Frank's Ford, Tub Mill, and Amatol

[Jerseyman]

Yep, I can see it clear as day now, especially the triangle made by 542, 653, and the Ives Branch. Oh well, guess the bad news is that isn't the location of Tub Mill. The good news is there was a mill on Ives Branch where it crosses that road, according to the map. Do we know anything about that site?

Edit: I see an 'Old Bass River Mill Rd' heading down that way, so perhaps that's the mill on the Gordon map.

Mark:

Sorry to be so long responding to your reply--I finally finished up my killer project today!!!

Let me tell you, getting only 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night for almost a month gets old real fast when you are working on an intensive documentation project!!!! So I have moved from Night of the Zombies back to the Land of the Living again!!

Anyway, regarding your question about the mills on Ives Branch, reportedly the stream powered two mills. The original name for Ives Branch is Willets [I question this spelling] Creek, probably named for the Willits family of old Little Egg Harbor Township. John Leek Sr. constructed the first sawmill here on land he owned along the branch. Leek died in 1777 and his heirs sold the sawmill to Francis French Sr. in 1814, who also built a gristmill there along Ives Branch. In his will, dated 1819, Francis devised "…unto my beloved wife Phebe one half of my sawmill and Gristmill…." He devised the other half of the mills to his sons, Jacob and William French. This Francis French Sr. also reputedly established a family cemetery very near to the mill along Route 542.

This cemetery is known both as the French Cemetery and also as the Mill Cemetery, the latter name used in Isaac Cramer's account book. However, evidence indicates that the cemetery predates the French's mill ownership and the burial ground may actually be associated with an old Presbyterian Church built before John Leek Sr.'s death in 1777. The French family only retained title to the mills until 1823, when the two brothers conveyed the property to Isaac Cramer, the man who kept the above mentioned account book, now part of the Batsto Collection at the New Jersey State Archives. It is unclear what became of the gristmill, but the 1858 map of Burlington County shows only the sawmill as the property of a C. [Charles] Cramer. BTW, the Cramer family also has its own cemetery on Route 542, located in the corner of property containing the Cramer Auto Recycling Yard. And the Leek-McKeen family cemetery is located at the intersection of Route 542 and 653 in the community of Wading River.

I am not certain when the Cramer family closed the mill, but Charles B. Cramer, presumably his son, was still operating it in February 1873, when the heirs of Charles Cramer advertised his various undevised real estate holdings for sale. When Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule published the New Jersey Geological Survey volume on the state's water supply in 1894, he reported the millseat as the property of Mrs. Ellen Cramer with the type of mill recorded as "Grist and sawmill site…not in use." The millpond had a fall of 8 feet, which generated 25 horsepower to power the two mills. Route 542 (Hammonton Road) once crossed over Ives Branch on the milldam holding back the pond established for powering the mills. Today, of course, the millpond no longer exists and a bridge has replaced the milldam.


I hope this answers your questions about the mills on Ives Branch.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Teegate]

Mark:

BTW, the Cramer family also has its own cemetery on Route 542, located in the corner of property containing the Cramer Auto Recycling Yard. And the Leek-McKeen family cemetery is located at the intersection of Route 542 and 653 in the community of Wading River.

A little more info on what Jerseyman has mentioned here. The cemetery at the Cramer Auto Recycling Yard is an interesting one, but most of the stones are hard to read. I doubt the family members who are buried there would have ever imagined they would be next to a junk yard. It is located here.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.59...pn=0.001612,0.003278&t=h&z=19&iwloc=addr&om=0

While in the area you should stop in to the Hillside Cemetery right around the corner and visit the gave of Elizabeth McCambridge who is the daughter of John Bowers. He is buried in Reevestown Cemetery and was mentioned by Fred Brown in the 1974 National Geographic article. Elizabeth McCambridge grave is located exactly here.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.58...pn=0.001612,0.003278&t=h&z=19&iwloc=addr&om=0

And the Leek-McKeen Cemetery Jerseyman mentions is where Lucy Ann Evans is buried. She was the wife of Jesse Evans the manager of Martha Furnace from 1806-1848. His clerk was Caleb Earl who you may remember wrote the Martha Furnace diaries. She had a very interesting and at times lonely life.

Guy

 

[Jerseyman]

Guy:

The amazing thing about the Cramer family cemetery is that the family itself owns the auto recyling center! How ironic is that!!!! You would think the family would be a little circumspect about where they placed their junkyard! So much for genealogy and family pride!

Yes, indeed, Lucy Ann Evans is buried at the Leek-McKeen graveyard! These old family plots are very interesting places to visit while wandering through the Pines!!

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[MarkBNJ]

Thanks a lot for that interesting information, guys. Jerseyman, looking at where 542 crosses Ives Branch it seems you can still make out the outlines of the mill pond, and perhaps the clearing just south of the road was somehow connected with the works there. Google shows a road that no longer exists running away up to the NE, called Old Bass River Mill Rd. Perhaps that name post-dated the mill by a long time, or perhaps some called it by that name.

I confess to a fascination with cemetaries. There is one up here in Whippany, NJ that has a number of burials of soldiers who served with Washington. I took my kids to visit it one day and several of my neighbors thought it was a rather morbid thing to do. I considered that, but in the end I think the kids got something good out of it.

I have never really explored small family plots due to the property/privacy issues. There was a time when most rural families buried their dead on their own land, and such plots can be found in many places up here in the highlands.

 

[Jerseyman]

Thanks a lot for that interesting information, guys. Jerseyman, looking at where 542 crosses Ives Branch it seems you can still make out the outlines of the mill pond, and perhaps the clearing just south of the road was somehow connected with the works there. Google shows a road that no longer exists running away up to the NE, called Old Bass River Mill Rd. Perhaps that name post-dated the mill by a long time, or perhaps some called it by that name.

I confess to a fascination with cemetaries. There is one up here in Whippany, NJ that has a number of burials of soldiers who served with Washington. I took my kids to visit it one day and several of my neighbors thought it was a rather morbid thing to do. I considered that, but in the end I think the kids got something good out of it.

I have never really explored small family plots due to the property/privacy issues. There was a time when most rural families buried their dead on their own land, and such plots can be found in many places up here in the highlands.

Mark:

Yes, you are correct about the site of the millpond. Here is a view of the millpond and the twin headraces extending out from the millpond and the dam from the 1858 map:

The eastern one powered the sawmill and the western one powered the gristmill. Note that the map does depict and label the sawmill. It does NOT depict the gristmill; rather, the western millrace flows without passing by any buildings.

Regarding the cemeteries in and around Bridgeport, you can visit all of them with complete impunity as they are located along the roadways and receive occasional visitors.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[bobpbx]

Jerseyman, I notice that the mapmaker only showed two trees back then, both of them pretty large. Is that all there was back then in that area, just two trees?

Just kidding of course. I love to see maps that show that sort of thing. It tickles me and I actually like it. Its kinda neat and cozy.

 

[MarkBNJ]

The only thing that would make it better is a picture of a half-submerged mythic serpent with the words "Here be monsters."

Thanks for the great info, Jerseyman! You've got an amazing store of resources at hand.

 

[Jerseyman]

Jerseyman, I notice that the mapmaker only showed two trees back then, both of them pretty large. Is that all there was back then in that area, just two trees?

Just kidding of course. I love to see maps that show that sort of thing. It tickles me and I actually like it. Its kinda neat and cozy.

I agree with you, Bob--it is very neat!! We had a discussion of the Pine Tree iconology on nineteenth-century maps almost exactly a year ago:

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=3460&highlight=%22pine+trees%22

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Jerseyman]

The only thing that would make it better is a picture of a half-submerged mythic serpent with the words "Here be monsters."

Thanks for the great info, Jerseyman! You've got an amazing store of resources at hand.

Mark:

One of my favorite such maps is the one featuring that label (“Here be monsters”) in the Potomac River near the U.S. Capitol building! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Best regards,
Jerseyman