Ro & I and friend visited old port of Greenwich. Oldest house is in on-line book “Colonial and Old Houses of Greenwich, New Jersey”, Bessie Avars Andrews, Vineland, New Jersey 1907, G. E. Smith, printer, Vineland, N.J." as follows:
***
CHAPTER 111.
There is a fine old brick house at Greenwich wharf or near the bank of the Cohansey river; a portion of the building is of very ancient date, it is thought to have been built,:
“When the Indian brave
Steered his bark o'er the wave.
And roamed the forest at will. “
The primitive part is of medium size, but additions have been made to the original from time to time by the different owners, and today stands a large brick mansion, situated at the beginning of the "Great Street" and the junction of the river.
There are wooden buildings attached to the house as you go towards the wharf, that in the past have been
utilized as store and residence.
The river as in old colonial days affords easy com- munication to Philadelphia. The Vv-riter well remembers v/ith friends sitting on the steps of the lower house, watching and waiting for the steamer as it made its way through the crooked reaches of uld Cohansey; suddenly emerging from behind a strip of woodland in full view to our longing eyes, then entirely disappearing until the short blasts of
the whistle and the splash of the paddle wheels informed us of its nearness to the landing.
This homestead stands on the sixteen acre lot originally bought by Mark Reeve the emigrant, who came from the mother country in the "Griffin" with John Fenwick. He bought the lot August 9, i6S6, the second lot sold by the executors of Fenwick, in laying out the town afterwards called Greenwich.
Fenwick's executors were William Penn, then Governor of Pennsylvania, John Smith, Samuel Hedge and Richard Tyndal, the last three were each to have five hundred acres of land for their trouble.
It has been said that Mark Reeve built the oldest part of the present house, but there were wooden buildings upon the lot, that have long ago passed into oblivion, and the house that he built, and made his home for a few years, it is quite possible was one of them. He was a man of much ability, and became a large land owner; he purchased a plantation in Mannington, where he resided until after Fenwicks death. He sold the lot in 1689 to Joseph Browne, reserving a burial lot where his wife was buried; he then purchased a large tract of land south of Cohansey river. His death occurred November, 1694.
Joseph Browne was a man of affluence; he was engaged in mercantile business in Philadelphia before coming to Greenwich, and it is supposed he continued in trade, as he owned the wharf, and a full rigged sloop valued at £180, At his death in 171 1 his inventory induced dry goods, groceries and hardware.
He left 142 ounces of silver plate valued at £64. 11 sh. 8 p. six negro slaves £220. an Indian boy £40. His property in real estate was considerable including three houses.
After his death, his son Joseph Browne, Jun., conveyed the lot to Thomas Chalkley, an eminent minister among the society of Friends, who married his mother in 1714. In 173S he sold the lot to John Butler, who sold it to Thomas Mulford, in a short time Mulford sold it to William Connover, and in the year 1760 he sold it to John Sheppard; it remained in the Sheppard family until nearly the close of the nineteenth century.
Thomas Chalkley who for more than forty years, travelled and preached among the Friends, occasionally visited Greenwich and held meetings there; in 1724 he was accompanied by Thomas Lightfoot and Benjamin Kid who spoke to the people.
In his journal of 1726 he mentions the malignant distemper which had prevailed at Cohansie, from which more than seventy persons had died; he continued his visits until the infirmities of age prevented, having as travelling companions James Lord, John Evans, Elizabeth Stephens and others who assisted him in his labors.
...
The old homestead was in the possession of the Sheppard family for more than a century; the Sheppards settled in old Cohansey at an early date and became very numerous. It is said there were four brothers, David, Thomas, John and James, who came to America from
Tipperary, Ireland.
They resided in Shrewsbury, East Jersey for a time; about 1683 they settled south of the Cohansey River, formerly called Shrewsbury Neck. It is thought the name Sheppard implies that they were of English descent.
John Sheppard was a descendant of Thomas Sheppard the emigrant; he was a prominent member of the Cohansey Meeting; his descendants were numerous, and the last lineal descendant that occupied the homestead was Philip Garrett Sheppard who died in the last decade of the nineteenth century; he was buried in the enclosed Sheppard burial ground back of the old meeting house. Philip's mother's maiden name was Margaret Garrett and she be- longed to one of the oldest English families that first settled in Pennsylvania; their forefather came in the vessel with William Penn and landed at Chester in 1682.
After the death of Philip G. Sheppard, the property was again sold. At this period of the twentieth century, the house and sixteen acre lot are in the possession of Isaac Ridgeway; who with his wife, a model for good housekeeping, make the old homestead an ideal residence. In the roomy interior the modern furnishings blend har- moniously with the corner cupboard, narrow casement or broad door, that are reminders of its antiquity, and add much to its attractiveness.
In front of the house are ample grounds with fine views of "Old Cohansey River" with its tidal ebb and flow, winding through its reedy shores and marshes on its way to the Delaware.
A road from the "Great Street" passes by the front of the house through the grounds to the landing, where inolden time a ferry crossed the river conveying travellers and teams. Many crossed to attend the Quaker Meeting and the Presbyterian Church at the head of
Greenwich.
...
It was at this landing December 1774, the brig “Greyhound” under command of Captain Allen, with a cargo of tea, destined for Philadelphia, anchored. Fearing some opposition, he had the tea stealthily conveyed and stored in the cellar of Dan Bowen's house, near the open market square. On the evening of December 22, it was taken out and burned by some of the patriotic citizens of Cum-
berland County, disguised as Indians.
In the summer of 1748 when the French and Spanish privateers, after capturing our vessels, entered Delaware Bay, came up along the Jersey side, placed twenty seven prisoners in a boat and landed them at Cohansey.
***
CHAPTER 111.
There is a fine old brick house at Greenwich wharf or near the bank of the Cohansey river; a portion of the building is of very ancient date, it is thought to have been built,:
“When the Indian brave
Steered his bark o'er the wave.
And roamed the forest at will. “
The primitive part is of medium size, but additions have been made to the original from time to time by the different owners, and today stands a large brick mansion, situated at the beginning of the "Great Street" and the junction of the river.
There are wooden buildings attached to the house as you go towards the wharf, that in the past have been
utilized as store and residence.
The river as in old colonial days affords easy com- munication to Philadelphia. The Vv-riter well remembers v/ith friends sitting on the steps of the lower house, watching and waiting for the steamer as it made its way through the crooked reaches of uld Cohansey; suddenly emerging from behind a strip of woodland in full view to our longing eyes, then entirely disappearing until the short blasts of
the whistle and the splash of the paddle wheels informed us of its nearness to the landing.
This homestead stands on the sixteen acre lot originally bought by Mark Reeve the emigrant, who came from the mother country in the "Griffin" with John Fenwick. He bought the lot August 9, i6S6, the second lot sold by the executors of Fenwick, in laying out the town afterwards called Greenwich.
Fenwick's executors were William Penn, then Governor of Pennsylvania, John Smith, Samuel Hedge and Richard Tyndal, the last three were each to have five hundred acres of land for their trouble.
It has been said that Mark Reeve built the oldest part of the present house, but there were wooden buildings upon the lot, that have long ago passed into oblivion, and the house that he built, and made his home for a few years, it is quite possible was one of them. He was a man of much ability, and became a large land owner; he purchased a plantation in Mannington, where he resided until after Fenwicks death. He sold the lot in 1689 to Joseph Browne, reserving a burial lot where his wife was buried; he then purchased a large tract of land south of Cohansey river. His death occurred November, 1694.
Joseph Browne was a man of affluence; he was engaged in mercantile business in Philadelphia before coming to Greenwich, and it is supposed he continued in trade, as he owned the wharf, and a full rigged sloop valued at £180, At his death in 171 1 his inventory induced dry goods, groceries and hardware.
He left 142 ounces of silver plate valued at £64. 11 sh. 8 p. six negro slaves £220. an Indian boy £40. His property in real estate was considerable including three houses.
After his death, his son Joseph Browne, Jun., conveyed the lot to Thomas Chalkley, an eminent minister among the society of Friends, who married his mother in 1714. In 173S he sold the lot to John Butler, who sold it to Thomas Mulford, in a short time Mulford sold it to William Connover, and in the year 1760 he sold it to John Sheppard; it remained in the Sheppard family until nearly the close of the nineteenth century.
Thomas Chalkley who for more than forty years, travelled and preached among the Friends, occasionally visited Greenwich and held meetings there; in 1724 he was accompanied by Thomas Lightfoot and Benjamin Kid who spoke to the people.
In his journal of 1726 he mentions the malignant distemper which had prevailed at Cohansie, from which more than seventy persons had died; he continued his visits until the infirmities of age prevented, having as travelling companions James Lord, John Evans, Elizabeth Stephens and others who assisted him in his labors.
...
The old homestead was in the possession of the Sheppard family for more than a century; the Sheppards settled in old Cohansey at an early date and became very numerous. It is said there were four brothers, David, Thomas, John and James, who came to America from
Tipperary, Ireland.
They resided in Shrewsbury, East Jersey for a time; about 1683 they settled south of the Cohansey River, formerly called Shrewsbury Neck. It is thought the name Sheppard implies that they were of English descent.
John Sheppard was a descendant of Thomas Sheppard the emigrant; he was a prominent member of the Cohansey Meeting; his descendants were numerous, and the last lineal descendant that occupied the homestead was Philip Garrett Sheppard who died in the last decade of the nineteenth century; he was buried in the enclosed Sheppard burial ground back of the old meeting house. Philip's mother's maiden name was Margaret Garrett and she be- longed to one of the oldest English families that first settled in Pennsylvania; their forefather came in the vessel with William Penn and landed at Chester in 1682.
After the death of Philip G. Sheppard, the property was again sold. At this period of the twentieth century, the house and sixteen acre lot are in the possession of Isaac Ridgeway; who with his wife, a model for good housekeeping, make the old homestead an ideal residence. In the roomy interior the modern furnishings blend har- moniously with the corner cupboard, narrow casement or broad door, that are reminders of its antiquity, and add much to its attractiveness.
In front of the house are ample grounds with fine views of "Old Cohansey River" with its tidal ebb and flow, winding through its reedy shores and marshes on its way to the Delaware.
A road from the "Great Street" passes by the front of the house through the grounds to the landing, where inolden time a ferry crossed the river conveying travellers and teams. Many crossed to attend the Quaker Meeting and the Presbyterian Church at the head of
Greenwich.
...
It was at this landing December 1774, the brig “Greyhound” under command of Captain Allen, with a cargo of tea, destined for Philadelphia, anchored. Fearing some opposition, he had the tea stealthily conveyed and stored in the cellar of Dan Bowen's house, near the open market square. On the evening of December 22, it was taken out and burned by some of the patriotic citizens of Cum-
berland County, disguised as Indians.
In the summer of 1748 when the French and Spanish privateers, after capturing our vessels, entered Delaware Bay, came up along the Jersey side, placed twenty seven prisoners in a boat and landed them at Cohansey.
