All,
I have completed the ownership information as far back as I could easily go concerning the 660 foot square tract of land that I have always called the Pine Crest Gun (Buck) Club. There is another tract of land they owned giving them an easement to the property; however, I have determined it will be quite confusing for me to explain the location and acquisition of that one.
Location on the 660 foot square tract.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.794639021834115&lng=-74.58438992500305&z=17&type=h&gpx=
In 1922 the property was owned by a man named Stanley K. Heilbrow from Mt. Holly. On May 24 of that same year he sold this property and others in Woodland and Tabernacle township to Constant LeDuc and his wife Marie. If the last name sounds familiar you should check out "More Forgotten Towns of South Jersey" and read the chapter titled "From Bread And Cheese Run To Apple Pie Hill." In that chapter Beck met up with Constant's relative (most likely son) Albert B. LeDuc and toured the area with him. What Beck may or may not have known at the time is that the LeDuc family owned a massive about of land in that area. The chapter makes it seem to me that Beck felt he was just a fire warden.
In July 1924, just two years after Constant LeDuc purchased the property he died leaving the property to his wife. That very same month on July 22 she passed the property onto Albert B. LeDuc. He owned this particular tract of land and others when Beck visited him around 10 years later.
At this point we see the hidden beginnings of the gun club. The deed shows that on July 31, 1947, a man named Bart Vought from New Hanover Township purchased the property from Albert B. LeDuc. This deed is the first one to spell out the tract location of the property and the 2 stones there at the time. I was in Trenton looking over the records of the Pine Crest Buck Club and Bart Vought was listed as a member and I believe the president. I am having the records mailed to me and don't have them yet.
In January 1948 the Pine Crest Buck Club officially registered as a corporation with the state of NJ, and a few months later on April 3, 1948 Bart Vought and his wife Margaret E. Vought officially sold the property to them. The club retained ownership until February 15, 1961 when Bart Vought, Jr of Lanoka Harbor Ocean County acquired it from them. The deed is signed by the president of the club, Bart G. Vought.
The next deed pretty much tells us that the Bart Vought, Jr from above was actually Bart G. Vought Jr the son of Bart G. Vought. And so on August 11, 1967 Bart G. Vought, Jr., a single man on Laurel Boulevard, Lanoka Harbor sold the property back to his dad Bart G. Vought of Lacey Township.
This ownership lasted quite a while, and I now know he was the owner when I first visited the place in the 70s. However, on April 30, 1981 Bart Vought and Jean Vought, his wife from 1152 Laurel Boulevard Lanoka Harbor sold the property to the Waretown Sportsman Club, Inc with an address of 70 Main Street in Ocean Township Ocean County. This is the first deed that mention's the Block and Lot numbers for Tabernacle Township. It also tells us that the gun club (cabin) was still there as the cabin and it's contents were part of the sale. They were sold "as is."
Then in 1995 as mentioned in a post above it was purchased by what appears to be the present owners, William H. Schwinn. Sr. and Ray Brewer. The sale price was $8000.00
Guy
