Jones Mill on Muskee Creek

[66C10]

I was researching the area of Jones Mill once located on Muskee Creek near Manumuskin. It was a sawmill (or 2 as listed in this link) owned by Abraham Jones (1714-1786) Found this list from 1773 on State of NJ website. I will add more to this thread about the area of Jones mill and Abraham’s stolen tombstone at a later date. Also included on this list is Aaron Leaming Jr(1715-1780), owner of Leamings mill sawmill (or 3 as listed in this link) on the Menantico. He is son of Aaron Leaming Sr(1687-1746) and Lydia Parsons-Shaw-Leaming(widowed by William Shaw in 1712 married Leaming 1714)

https://nj.gov/state/darm/WebCatalogPDF/SAS00001_Tax_Ratables/Cumberland_County/Book468_CumberlandMauriceRiverTownshipSeptember1773.pdf

Looks like the old dam is still present here https://boydsmaps.com/#17.92/39.321331/-74.943041/midatlidar/0.00/0.00 swapping to the Cook and Vermeule topo give verification to this. Must be a dam because looks the same as Clark’s Mill dam here https://boydsmaps.com/#17.98/39.363687/-75.000603/midatlidar/0.00/0.00
LiDAR is awesome these sand plants really erased these old mill areas

 

[66C10]

Below are two news stories covered decades apart. Apparently 150 years after old Abe was buried at his mill, rumor got around of valuables being buried with him resulting in grave robbers digging him up a few times.
1932 article: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-millville-daily-abraham-jones-millvi/27411809/
1973 article: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-millville-daily-abraham-jones-millvi/27411195/
Other interesting points made are
-22 graves were buried around the estates as of 1932. Al found one of them the rest have probably been destroyed via sand mining.
-There was a house and a tavern on the property which equals a possible cellar hole still around?

 

[manumuskin]

I was researching the area of Jones Mill once located on Muskee Creek near Manumuskin. It was a sawmill (or 2 as listed in this link) owned by Abraham Jones (1714-1786) Found this list from 1773 on State of NJ website. I will add more to this thread about the area of Jones mill and Abraham’s stolen tombstone at a later date. Also included on this list is Aaron Leaming Jr(1715-1780), owner of Leamings mill sawmill (or 3 as listed in this link) on the Menantico. He is son of Aaron Leaming Sr(1687-1746) and Lydia Parsons-Shaw-Leaming(widowed by William Shaw in 1712 married Leaming 1714)

https://nj.gov/state/darm/WebCatalogPDF/SAS00001_Tax_Ratables/Cumberland_County/Book468_CumberlandMauriceRiverTownshipSeptember1773.pdf

Looks like the old dam is still present here https://boydsmaps.com/#17.92/39.321331/-74.943041/midatlidar/0.00/0.00 swapping to the Cook and Vermeule topo give verification to this. Must be a dam because looks the same as Clark’s Mill dam here https://boydsmaps.com/#17.98/39.363687/-75.000603/midatlidar/0.00/0.00
LiDAR is awesome these sand plants really erased these old mill areas

The Dam Hunter! Looks like you found a couple I didn't know about!

 

[manumuskin]

Below are two news stories covered decades apart. Apparently 150 years after old Abe was buried at his mill, rumor got around of valuables being buried with him resulting in grave robbers digging him up a few times.
1932 article: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-millville-daily-abraham-jones-millvi/27411809/
1973 article: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-millville-daily-abraham-jones-millvi/27411195/
Other interesting points made are
-22 graves were buried around the estates as of 1932. Al found one of them the rest have probably been destroyed via sand mining.
-There was a house and a tavern on the property which equals a possible cellar hole still around?

The stone I told you about out there is much smaller then that.Anyone could pick it up and walk away with it.It had some writing on it but was obviously only a piece of a bigger stone.I can't remember what it said but it wasn't much,a few letters if I remember right.

 

[66C10]

I still find it strange this place wasn't included on the Hartman maps

 

[manumuskin]

Some of those maps have large blank areas on them,especially in the Maurice River Township area,also Commercial Township doesn't have a lot either.he may not have had a lot of maps of those areas to go on.

 

[Menantico]

I saw this video clip on Facebook today. It shows some of the creek and the surrounding area.

 

[manumuskin]

I saw this video clip on Facebook today. It shows some of the creek and the surrounding area.

I kayaked Muskee from Weatherby rd down to 47 once.Was looking for s tone that has apparently been swallowed by the marsh.I flipped my yak sliding off the bank into the crik at Weatherby.Got wet to the chest and almost got impaled on a spike sticking up underwater that appeared to be part of a piling from an old bridge. That was in march so that ended my outing that day but i went back with the canoe next week and then I just got my legs wet getting into the canoe and didn't risk the slide because I woulda flipped that too. I also went upstream as far as i could get toward Jones Mill but only made it maybe 200 yards before the brush shut me down.

 

[66C10]

Can you go Weatherby to 347 or is there no place to get out at 347 I never took notice

 

[manumuskin]

I didn't see any good place to get out.I went from Weatherby actually all the way to the Maurice,turned around and headed back to Weatherby.I had no intention of getting out on 47 so I didn't look to hard but I don't think it's a good spot.There is or actually used to be a spot on the maurice you could put in or take out a canoe or kayak in bricksboro here.I"ve never did it and don't know how the locals would react to you parking there.I know a person that lives within sight of the road back to the river so had no issues walking back there from her house. She don't live there anymore,her brother does and we're not friends so I"d have to park at the trail and don't know how that would go.You could always park at the mauricetown bridge and go up Muskee from there.I"ve done that as well. https://boydsmaps.com/#18.00/39.300234/-74.980271/pines2020a/0.00/0.00

 

[manumuskin]

I take it you mean 47 Instead of 347.Muskee crosses 47

 

[66C10]

Ah yeah I meant 47 I always think 347 when in the same breath as Weatherby rd. Parking at Mauricetown seems like the best option

 

[manumuskin]

Why you have a canoe or kayak? You can see the mouth of Muskee from the mauricetown bridge but you can' tell it till you get close to it.It's on the right as the river takes it's first left bend above the bridge.There are some interesting little criks on the left between the bridge and Muskee.One goes back into the Phragmite Jungle and I don't know if its still there but if you took the right ditch there was a eight foot square cube made out of plywood that had windows in ut and looked as if someone had been hunting from the roof.Coukdn't see anything but reeds out the windows anyway.

 

[manumuskin]

I don't think the duck blind lasted long.It only shows in the 2015 aerials and then disappears https://boydsmaps.com/#19.00/39.289912/-74.979703/pines2015/0.00/0.00 on second thought I think that section of marsh burnt about five years ago or a little more.That may have been the end of it

 

[c1nj]

There hasn't been any fires in that location that I am aware of. It may of been torn down.

 

[manumuskin]

There hasn't been any fires in that location that I am aware of. It may of been torn down.

There was a fire in the marsh years ago there but I can't remember how long ago it was.I"ve been using that bridge since it was made but I know I was grown when it burnt,it may have been before or after I found the duck shack, Then again I remember the ice came up bad in there one winter and mowed the reeds down like a fresh cut lawn so maybe the ice destroyed it,The fire may not have even made it bck that far,I remember it started along the north side of the road from the bridge and burnt east.The fire company stopped it at the RR grade.I wasn't a big fire and was out in a matter of hours.You live in this area? How long?

 

[c1nj]

I know there hasn't been one in 10 years. There have been a few on the high ground in recent years. Last big phrag fire was mid 80s.
Maybe the 90s or early 2000s?

 

[manumuskin]

I know there hasn't been one in 10 years. There have been a few on the high ground in recent years. Last big phrag fire was mid 80s.
Maybe the 90s or early 2000s?

There was a big marsh fire down berrytown.I was down there and seen it.I just remember it was long ago because I don't remember hurting while I was out there Just thought of this,Maybe someone went out there and stole it for the wood?They would have had to dismantled it.No one was picking it up.