The Hamlet of Friendship and the Alloways.. The History Behind the Alloway Memorial Stone

[Teegate]

All,

Our very own Lost Town Hunter has written an article on the Friendship Bogs area for the Whitesbog Preservation Trust newsletter. Included in the article are a few photos you have never viewed before. Look closely and you will see that I am mentioned a few times

And once you are finished the article check out the article below it written by our very own "Turtle."

Enjoy....

http://whitesbog.org/images/newsletter/3rd-quarter-16 newsletter-internet.pdf

 

[bobpbx]

Very interesting, with a lot of information. Terry's article is also informative too.

I wonder why Garfield erected the stone? What do you think motivated him to do that?

 

[Teegate]

It was his ancestors. He probably kept hearing about all the work Elizabeth White did and felt his relatives deserved credit for all of their hard work also.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

Bob,

What Teegate said is correct. James or J. Garfield De Marco's mother was an Alloway, Gladys Alloway, raised in the Alloway house at Friendship. She married Anthony De Marco, Garfield's father.

 

[bobpbx]

I find the history of De Marco fascinating given all that surrounds the family name. And I applaud J. Garfield De Marco's decision to sell his holdings to a conservation group rather than wood farmers and other cranberry growers. He likely had a few other motives than conservation for doing so, but still, he made a good decision overall. And for the record, it really should be named the De Marco Preserve in my opinion. The following two links are interesting reading about the family and his decision.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-25/news/0305250144_1_demarco-garfield-cranberry

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/nyregion/leaving-a-legacy-after-a-lifetime-in-the-bogs.html

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

Bob, I already had the above articles in my files but am pleased that you posted them here. I met Garfield De Marco in the early 1970s and became acquainted with him when he was head of the Pinelands Environmental Council. During those years our paths crossed many times because of our involvement in Pinelands issues and my deep interest in the history of the cranberry industry. I found Garfield to be a complex personality, a scholar of history with a brilliant mind. We both enjoyed talking about local history, and I would soon learn that, despite public or political opinion to the contrary, he was not an uncompromising adversary of protection of natural communities. When, I reported to him a mining operation that was destroying a large population of an endangered shrub, Broom Crowberry, in the East Plains, he immediately saw to it that the illegal operation was stopped. On another occasion, when I informed him that beavers were flooding out the endangered Bog Asphodel at Burnt Bridge near Chatsworth, he immediately arranged for the Fish & Wildlife service to remove the beavers off site. This tinge of sensitivity lurked behind a gruff exterior and was detected by only a few. Ask Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, who too--in my opinion--was aware of it. This should put in perspective De Marco's comments in the NY Times article, "I love the area. I love the land. I don't believe in cutting trees. ...."

 

[Teegate]

"I don't believe in cutting trees. ...."

His words did not exactly follow his actions in that regard from what I have heard.

 

[bobpbx]

His words did not exactly follow his actions in that regard from what I have heard.

Maybe so, but the man well made up for it.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

His words did not exactly follow his actions in that regard from what I have heard.

It was not my intention to portray Garfield as a conservationist, but I simply wanted to point out that I had long ago observed another side of this complex, enigmatic personality, a side that few others, it appears, had noticed. While it is clear that there were numerous economic considerations that prompted Garfield to sell his vast holdings to the NJ Conservation Foundation, it is equally clear to me that he wanted to preserve this land as a memorial to his father, Anthony, founder of A.R. DeMarco Enterprises.

 

[RednekF350]

Very informative article Ted. The photographs really bring life to the operation.

I love the Friendship area and have always been attracted to the old bog operations throughout the pines. Parkdale, Wescoat and Miller's here in Pestletown are my favorite haunts for running our dogs and hunting.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

I"m pleased that you enjoyed the article and share your feelings about all these special places, Rednek. I'm working on producing a more comprehensive booklet about the history of Friendship. That will include many more photos of the hamlet as well as a few of the people that lived there.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

As a member of the Whitesbog Preservation Trust, I just received a printed black/white copy of the 3rd quarter newsletter containing my article on Friendship. Regrettably, this printed issue contains several errors that I did not have an opportunity to correct before it was sent to the printer. I wanted all of you to know in case you receive a printed copy of the Whitesbog Newsletter. Fortunately, these errors were corrected in the computer generated pdf article (containing color photos) posted by Teegate above.

 

[johnnyb]

Many thanks to Ted for authoring the very interesting article, to Teagate for providing a color copy of the Whitesbog newsletter and to PBX for the two newspaper articles. What I found intriguing in the latter two newspaper articles is nary a whisper of NJ state participation in the purchase. I think I've been told that the state contributed almost 50% of the purchase price and part of the state's participating was an agreement/requirement that NJCF would have full responsibility for management of the property once it had been purchased. Which all raises an interesting thought: I wonder if there are any conditions stated on the current deeds? Maybe I'll visit the Clerk's office in Mt. Holly - that office has been very, very helpful to me in the past
Incidentally, I have a very clear memory of seeing a family and kids around a house next to the road junction in Friendship in the early '50's.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

Johnnyb, you raise a very interesting point about the omission in these articles of the degree of the State's involvement both in the purchase and management of the Parker Preserve. I would think that Emile De Veto or Michele Byers or Russell Juelg of the NJ Conservation Foundation are best qualified to answer that.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Truthfully, I wish they would still use the land for cranberries.

 

[MikeBickerson]

Very nice article!

Someone here might know, although don't post if its sensitive. Many years ago there was a member here and on Barry's yahoo group who lived in Friendship for a few years as a child. She was writing a book of her experiences (I remember reading one chapter that she sent to my roommate to take a look at). Does anyone every know what happened to that project? It was like seeing an exciting trailer for a movie that never got released.

 

[Teegate]

That was SureSue. She got married and moved across the country which effectively ended that for some reason.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

Ben, local cranberry growers, no doubt, share your wish that the Parker Preserve had continued to produce cranberries.

 

[Lost Town Hunter]

Mike and Guy, your memories serve you well. During her childhood in the 1960s, Margaret "SureSue" Bakely lived at Friendship with her late parents, cranberry laborer Vernon "Pudgy" Bakely and talented folk artist Margaret. In the 1970s, I became a close friend of the Bakelys while they lived at "Peach Farm" near Tabernacle and SureSue was a young school girl. I occasionally hear from SureSue, who has been living (I believe) in Louisiana for a number of years.

 

[woodjin]

Thanks for writing that article Ted, and for the great and rare photos that accompanied it. Also thanks to Guy for putting up on the forum. I recall SureSue saying that her dad used to bring home severed rattlesnake tails for her to play with when she was a child. it doesn't get much more piney than that!