Folks:
James Ungehajer contacted me in a PM and inquired about Munion Field. I know that other forum members have expressed some interest in this place, so I decided to post my reply to all.
There is very little written on Munion Field. Beck mentions it in his book, Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey. Henry Bisbee's work, Sign Posts : Place Names in History of Burlington County, N.J. and his previous work, Place Names, are the only works I have found that discuss this location. Here is what Bisbee writes in Sign Posts:
MUNION FIELD (Bass River Township). An area on the eastern border of the township once owned by a man named LeMunion. First name unknown. A LeMunion was living at Indian Mills as shown on the 1873 [sic] [N.B.: should be 1876 and name on map is "J. Le Munyan" not "LeMunion"].
An interesting place name, Lumervian Fields, may be found in the 1865 road returns. It pinpoints the place as Munion Field. The name may be a misspelling of the word "lemma," a small aquatic plant which grows in shallow bog and is commonly called "duckweed."
I think Doc Bisbee got some of the history right, although I think the discussion of a lemma is a bit of stretch. Furthermore, even though I have not looked at the cited road return, I have to wonder if Doc should have written a new spectacle prescription for himself and may have misread the script in the recorded document.
The real problem stems from the surname "Munion." Its variants include: LeMunyon, LaMunyon, Munyon, Munion, Munnion, Aomunion, LeMerion, Lamorion, and, perhaps even Manion. At least some of these stem from scrivner errors. For those of you familiar with the Tuckerton Historical Society, June LaMunyon is a fixture there and her husband comes from the family I am discussing in this thread.
For purposes of discussion here, I will uniformly called the family "Munion" to aviod confusion except when citing specific individuals, for whom I will use the surname they used. The American Munion family begins in New England, apparently in Rhode Island. There are members of the family in New Jersey by the early eighteenth century, although most are located along the Delaware River in Gloucester and Salem counties.
By the second half of the eighteenth century, a Richard LeMunyon or Munnion (variant spellings within source) appears in a number of Monmouth County tax ratable lists. Born during or before 1743, Richard had at least four sons: Thomas, John, Cornelius, and David. Most of these sons migrated to Greene County, Pennsylvania and at least Thomas reportedly dropped the "Le" from his surname. David reportedly returned to New Jersey. Meanwhile, one source states that Richard LeMunyon witnessed the will of a Joseph Burdy in Dover Township, Monmouth County, although I could not find that will in the will volumes of the New Jersey Archives series nor have I located that will personally to see the witnesses signatures first-hand. Nonetheless, if the source can be trusted, Dover Township, now located in Ocean County, lies just ENE of Munion Field, placing Richard in the immediate proximity.
The typescript index for the Colonial Deeds and Conveyances does not contain any Munions (including spelling variants) except one in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, suggesting that land transactions would be found in Burlington and Monmouth county deed books. I will not say with certainty that Richard owned this land without checking all of the sources, but I think it is safe to say that either he or one of his descendents likely owned Munion Field at some point in time. The earliest cartographic reference that I have found for this toponym is the 1876 Scott atlas of Burlington County. The place name appears on the county map in the atlas. I would be interested in hearing of any older maps that depict it. It does not appear on the 1812 Watson or the Thomas Gordon map of New Jersey (all editions). The 1858 Burlington County map fails to show it as well. If the 1865 road return that Bisbee cites is Munion Field Road, then that is when Munion Field probably becomes an "official" place name.
So, the final question is why is Munion Field a place name depicted on maps? I think it may have simply served as a locational landmark for the junction of roads adjacent to the land.
Now, with all of the above written information, I should note that the Oxford English Dictionary defines a munion as the trunnion of a gun. Furthermore, the OED also lists a munnion, which the work defines as a mullion, an architectural feature that divides the glass or lights in a window. These definitions notwithstanding, I think that Munion Field stems from the surname and not any type of manufactured or crafted item.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
James Ungehajer contacted me in a PM and inquired about Munion Field. I know that other forum members have expressed some interest in this place, so I decided to post my reply to all.
There is very little written on Munion Field. Beck mentions it in his book, Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey. Henry Bisbee's work, Sign Posts : Place Names in History of Burlington County, N.J. and his previous work, Place Names, are the only works I have found that discuss this location. Here is what Bisbee writes in Sign Posts:
MUNION FIELD (Bass River Township). An area on the eastern border of the township once owned by a man named LeMunion. First name unknown. A LeMunion was living at Indian Mills as shown on the 1873 [sic] [N.B.: should be 1876 and name on map is "J. Le Munyan" not "LeMunion"].
An interesting place name, Lumervian Fields, may be found in the 1865 road returns. It pinpoints the place as Munion Field. The name may be a misspelling of the word "lemma," a small aquatic plant which grows in shallow bog and is commonly called "duckweed."
I think Doc Bisbee got some of the history right, although I think the discussion of a lemma is a bit of stretch. Furthermore, even though I have not looked at the cited road return, I have to wonder if Doc should have written a new spectacle prescription for himself and may have misread the script in the recorded document.
The real problem stems from the surname "Munion." Its variants include: LeMunyon, LaMunyon, Munyon, Munion, Munnion, Aomunion, LeMerion, Lamorion, and, perhaps even Manion. At least some of these stem from scrivner errors. For those of you familiar with the Tuckerton Historical Society, June LaMunyon is a fixture there and her husband comes from the family I am discussing in this thread.
For purposes of discussion here, I will uniformly called the family "Munion" to aviod confusion except when citing specific individuals, for whom I will use the surname they used. The American Munion family begins in New England, apparently in Rhode Island. There are members of the family in New Jersey by the early eighteenth century, although most are located along the Delaware River in Gloucester and Salem counties.
By the second half of the eighteenth century, a Richard LeMunyon or Munnion (variant spellings within source) appears in a number of Monmouth County tax ratable lists. Born during or before 1743, Richard had at least four sons: Thomas, John, Cornelius, and David. Most of these sons migrated to Greene County, Pennsylvania and at least Thomas reportedly dropped the "Le" from his surname. David reportedly returned to New Jersey. Meanwhile, one source states that Richard LeMunyon witnessed the will of a Joseph Burdy in Dover Township, Monmouth County, although I could not find that will in the will volumes of the New Jersey Archives series nor have I located that will personally to see the witnesses signatures first-hand. Nonetheless, if the source can be trusted, Dover Township, now located in Ocean County, lies just ENE of Munion Field, placing Richard in the immediate proximity.
The typescript index for the Colonial Deeds and Conveyances does not contain any Munions (including spelling variants) except one in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, suggesting that land transactions would be found in Burlington and Monmouth county deed books. I will not say with certainty that Richard owned this land without checking all of the sources, but I think it is safe to say that either he or one of his descendents likely owned Munion Field at some point in time. The earliest cartographic reference that I have found for this toponym is the 1876 Scott atlas of Burlington County. The place name appears on the county map in the atlas. I would be interested in hearing of any older maps that depict it. It does not appear on the 1812 Watson or the Thomas Gordon map of New Jersey (all editions). The 1858 Burlington County map fails to show it as well. If the 1865 road return that Bisbee cites is Munion Field Road, then that is when Munion Field probably becomes an "official" place name.
So, the final question is why is Munion Field a place name depicted on maps? I think it may have simply served as a locational landmark for the junction of roads adjacent to the land.
Now, with all of the above written information, I should note that the Oxford English Dictionary defines a munion as the trunnion of a gun. Furthermore, the OED also lists a munnion, which the work defines as a mullion, an architectural feature that divides the glass or lights in a window. These definitions notwithstanding, I think that Munion Field stems from the surname and not any type of manufactured or crafted item.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Guy, you always get me going for my topis.