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NEARLY all of the people who lived on the territory now embraced within the county of Camden and of the most part of West Jersey, for one hundred years after the first settlement was made, were members of the Society of Friends. They were the representative people of the western division of the colony and for many years controlled the Legislative Assembly. Their history in this province, as well as in that of Pennsylvania, is fraught with much interest and instruction.
THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS, arose in England about the middle of the seventeenth century, a time of considerable religious excitement, when the honest-hearted were aroused by the general prevalence of vice and immorality in which the King and court were but examples. The term Quaker (i.e., Trembler) was first used in 1650, and was given to the Friends in derision by Justice Bennet, of Derby, because George Fox, the founder of the society, bade him and his companions to tremble at the word of the Lord. Its application was further induced by the fact that some of the early preachers and others trembled violently when under strong religious exercise. They even accepted the name Quaker, so far as to style themselves "the people called Quakers" in all official documents intended for publication to the world at large. The early form of marriage certificates contained the expression "the people of God called Quakers," but in 1734 the Yearly Meeting for Pennsylvania and New Jersey agreed "that ye words ‘of God’ and ‘called Quakers’ be left out of that form for the future." In 1806 the expression was changed to the "religious society of Friends." Some of their principal characteristics, as differing from other professing Christians, was in opposition to all wars, oaths and a paid ministry, or grace of God, which is given to every man as a guide to salvation. George Fox says, moreover, "When the Lord sent me forth into the world, he forbade me to put off my hat to anyone, high or low, and I was required to thee and thou all men and women, without any respect to rich or poor, great or small, and this made the sex and professions to rage, but the Lord’s power carried me over all to His glory, and many came to be turned to God in a little time, for the heavenly day of the Lord sprang from on high and broke forth apace."
For refusing to pay tithes in England, the goods of Friends were taken to many times the value; for absence from the national worship twenty pounds per month was imposed, and when brought before the courts, the oath of allegiance was tendered to them as a pretext, upon their refusal to disobey the injunction "swear not at all," for the imposition of further penalties. Meetings of the Friends were broken up, and in many cases they were shamefully abused. The sober, upright lives of Friends were a constant reproach, and aroused the hatred of many around them. It is probable that fully one-half of their sufferings were due to this cause, as their persecutors certainly cared little for religion.
In 1659 a petition was presented to Parliament, signed by one hundred and sixty-four Friends, offering their own bodies, person for person, to lie in prison instead of such of their brethren as were under confinement and in danger as of their lives therefrom. More than two hundred and fifty died in prison, and while some in England were sentenced to banishment, it was only in New England that a few were hung and others had their ears cut off.
THEIR EMIGRATION TO AMERICA. - Persecutions were continued with more or less severity until the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England, when an act of toleration was passed in 1689. Prior to this, however, many Friends had sought a home for religious liberty in Massachusetts, Long Island and New Jersey, and when William Penn established his colony, in 1682, it was but natural that a large number should have been attracted thither. The first
settlement of Friends in New Jersey was at Salem in 1676, and at Burlington in 1678.
A few of the early settlers within the present limits of Camden County came here from Burlington settlement, and from that source obtained authority for the, organization of their religious meetings.*
The little notice taken of the interests of William Penn in New Jersey and of his connection with the initiatory steps for colonizing the territory and establishing a form of government, is a noticeable feature in the writings of his biographers. This may be accounted for by the willingness of his admirers to subordinate everything to his successful efforts in founding a colony of his own, which soon overshadowed the sparse settlements on the east side of the Delaware River, which had been planted by and were under the patronage of John Fenwick. It was more than seven years before he received the grant for Pennsylvania that Penn became interested in the effort to establish in America a colony where Friends could enjoy with freedom the dictates of their conscience.
When Lord Berkeley (on March 18, 1673), as mentioned in the preceding chapter, conveyed to John Fenwick his individual moiety of New Jersey, for reasons which do not appear, the right was questioned by the creditors of Edward Byllynge, a brewer of Westminster, London, at that time insolvent, they suspecting that Edward Byllynge had paid for the grant with money justly due to them.
After much controversy between John Fenwick, Edward Byllynge and Edward Byllynge’s creditors, William Penn was called upon to act as arbitrator; who, after careful examination and inquiry, decided that John Fenwick was entitled to but ten parts, and that he (Fenwick) should convey the ninety parts of said territory to such persons as should be chosen as trustees for the benefit of Edward Byllynge’s creditors. The creditors, who were mostly Friends, pressed Penn into their service as one of the trustees in the sale of these lands and in the payment of Byllynge’s debts, the others being Gawen Laurie and Nicholas Lucas. On February 9, 1674, John Fenwick made conveyance of the ninety parts to said trustees, reserving ten parts whereon was planted his colony. In the discharge of the intricate duties which his position as trustee imposed upon him, Penn’s sense of justice and fair dealing was often displayed, as were also his foresight and business penetration. The records of the times prove that while thus engaged he rendered many valuable services not incident to his stewardship, and also helped to frame a form of government acceptable to adventurers, that met the wishes of the owners as well.
During these days the leading and more thoughtful members of the Society of Friends were casting about them for some "new country" where the adherents to their religions belief could be at peace, and where their persons and estates would be secure from the hands of those who, under the color of law, excused their shameless persecutions. "The plantations in America," as heretofore stated, were attracting some attention, and the reports from there as to climate and soil were good. William Penn was at that time a prominent and influential member of the Society, and being one of the trustees of Byllynge, New Jersey was naturally looked to as the spot where their wishes could be realized, and in its settlement they became interested.
The primary object was to sell the land to colonists, or the debts of Edward Byllynge could never be discharged, and to prompt Friends to avail themselves of the opportunity which now offered, a form of government had to be established and promulgated embodying the fundamentals sought for, but not so much at variance with the home policy as to be rejected by those in authority. This was a delicate task, and yet a necessary one, for this wilderness country had few inducements to cause people to break up their homes and settle here. Passing over the Concessions and Agreements published by Berkeley and Carteret, in 1664, as applied to the whole territory of New Jersey, "The Concessions and Agreements of the proprietors, freeholders and inhabitants of the province of West New Jersey in America," as made in 1676, show the success of William Penn and his associates in their first efforts to establish the true basis of a representative government by placing the fountain of power in the people.
These "concessions," contained in forty-four chapters, are the best evidence of the broad views and liberal sentiments of the framers whose object was to secure those who came within their operation and control against the encroachments and abuses from which they were then suffering. No one can read them without being convinced that men of strong minds and decided purpose only, could so well put their intentions into words.
Touching the vital question of taxation, the subject was met in this plain and direct manner:
"They are not to impose, or suffer to be imposed, any tax, custom or subsidy, tollage, assessment, or any other duty whatsoever, upon any color or pretence, how specious soever, upon the said province and inhabitants thereof, without their own consent first had, or other than what shall be imposed by the authority and consent of the General Assembly, and that only in manner and for the good ends and uses as aforesaid."And again, that of "the exercise of their consciences in matters of religious worship," is neither vague nor ambiguous.
"That no man, nor number of men upon earth, hath power or authority to rule over men’s consciences in religious matters; therefore it is consented, agreed and ordained that no person or persons whatsoever within said province at any time or times hereafter, shall be any ways, upon any pretence whatever called in question, or in the least punished or hurt, either in person, estate or privilege, for the sake of his opinion, judgment, faith or worship towards God in matters of religion, but that all and every such person and persons may from time to time and at all times freely and fully have and enjoy his and their judgments, and the exercise of their consciences in matters of religious worship throughout all the said province."In these "concessions and agreements" almost every detail necessary to the proper working of a new system was anticipated and provided for, and, as was demonstrated, it only needed a sufficient number of settlers in the colony to warrant its success.
To say that William Penn had neither part nor lot in the production of this document would be to ignore all knowledge of the man, and his subsequent life of usefulness devoted always to the advancement and benefit of his fellow-creatures.**
Not one of the New England States, nor New York nor Virginia was quite equal to West New Jersey in its love and practice of perfect religious toleration. Under the dominant ideas of the Friends governing here, no man was asked for or about his creed when offering himself as a candidate for public office. Never before, anywhere else that we know of, was there set to the world such an example of absolute and harmless toleration. The Puritans did noble things for liberty; the Hollanders did nobler; but the Friends, as far as their influence extended, did noblest.
The authors of this remarkable Constitution addressed the Society of Friends of England, recommending the province, and invited them to emigrate to it. The invitation was not in vain, and before the end of the year 1677 a colony of more than four hundred Friends found homes in West Jersey, and many more during the years immediately succeeding. When the ships bearing the Burlington immigrants in the year 1678, arrived in the Delaware the agent of Andros, at New Castle, required them to pay duties at that point, but Sir William Jones decided this to be illegal, and the claims of the Duke of York on West Jersey were then withdrawn and the Friends were left in the full enjoyment of independence. In November, 1689, Samuel Jennings, the Deputy-Governor of West Jersey, convened the first General Assembly, and the Friends met together to make their own laws. They reaffirmed the Concessions, declared all races and religions equal, forbade imprisonment for debt and the sale of ardent spirits to the red men, demanded that lands be acquired from the Indians by purchase, and permitted that a criminal might be pardoned by the person against whom the offense was committed.
William Penn and eleven other Friends purchased the province of East Jersey in 1682. Robert Barclay, of Scotland, author of a book entitled "Barclay’s Apology," was appointed Governor for life, and the whole of New Jersey was then controlled by the Friends. During Barclay’s administration there was a large immigration of Scotch and Irish Friends, who came to this province to find freedom.
The first settlers of these people who purchased lands in what is now Camden County, obtained shares in the proprietary right of Edward Byllynge’s trustees about 1677, and a few years later they came to this county and located. The line fixed between East and West Jersey, July 1, 1676, provided that the territory of the province be laid off into ten precincts, which, however were not so laid off until January 14, 1681, old style. At that time Daniel Leeds was surveyor-general of the Province and was ordered by the commissioners to divide the river-front of the Delaware from Assanpink to Cape May into ten equal parts, running each tenth "so far back into the woods" as to give it an area of sixty-four thousand acres. This was accomplished, and the third and fourth tenths extended from the river Crapwell, or Pensaukin Creek, on the north to the river Berkeley, or Oldmans Creek, on the south; each of the tenths laid out as above mentioned were also divided into tenths, and were each called a share of propriety.
Many of the Society of Friends had fled from the persecutions to which they were subjected in England to Dublin, Ireland, and their attention was attracted to the new country by the exciting troubles between Edward Byllynge and John Fenwick, and on the 12th of April, 1677, Robert Turner, Robert Zane, Thomas Thackara, William Bates and Joseph Sleight, all of Dublin, with the exception of William Bates, who was of the county of Wickloe, Ireland, purchased one whole share of propriety of the trustees of Byllynge, which included the right to locate within the limits of West Jersey. The proprietors of West Jersey then set aside for this colony of Friends the third tenth, which was from that time called the third or Irish tenth.*** In the years 1681 -82 it was provided that each tenth on which there were settlements should send to the Assembly ten delegates. The third or Irish tenth having at this time passed to the occupancy of die Dublin colony, seven of them were chosen to represent the district, viz.: William Cooper, Mark Newbie, Henry Stacy, Francis Collins, Samuel Cole, Thomas Howell and William Bates. The fourth tenth was not represented, as few, if any, English people were at that time within its limits. This Assembly met yearly until 1685, when, by reason of confusion arising from the attempt of Byllynge to assume the government, the Assembly did not meet again until November 3, 1692.
From the first landing of the Dutch, in 1623, to 1682 no permanent settlement of the English had been effected within the limits of what is now Camden County. The foregoing has brought us down to the time when the inhabitants of the third tenth and fourth tenth in the Province of West Jersey was represented in the Legislative Council of the State, from which time begins the early history of old Gloucester County, as given in the succeeding pages.
* PLANS OF ORGANIZATION. - The organization and subordination of the Meetings of Friends areas follows: One or more Meetings for worship constitute one Preparative Meeting; one or more Preparative Meetings constitute one Monthly Meeting; several Monthly Meetings constitute one Quarterly Meeting; several Quarterly meetings constitute one Yearly Meeting, which is an independent body; yet the different Yearly Meetings maintain more or less of correspondence with each other.
The Preparative Meetings are held monthly, and generally in the month prior to the regular Monthly Meetings, for the preparation of reports and other business to be presented thereat. The Monthly Meetings, are the principal executive branch of the Society for the exercise of the discipline over members. Regular and voluminous reports of the proceedings are recorded, as well as records of births, deaths and marriages. "Indulged" Meetings for stated periods are held by sanction of Monthly Meetings; but all Meetings subordinate to are established permanently by authority of the Quarterly Meetings, and these in turn by the Yearly meeting.
The first Meeting established in what is now Camden County was the old Newton Meeting. There are at present four meetings in the county, - Haddonfield Meeting, Newton Meeting and Hicksite Friends’ Meetings in Haddonfield and in Camden. Sketches of each of them are given in the history of the places in which they are situated.
** William Penn afterwards became proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and with his further history every intelligent reader is familiar. After a life of great usefulness, he died on the 30th day of the Fifth Month, 1718, in the 74th year of his age. His remains were interred in the burying-ground surrounding Jordans Friends’ Meeting-House in Buckinghamshire, England.
*** A further account of the settlement of this colony will be found in the history of Haddon township, in this volume.
SOURCE: Page(s) 24-30, History of Camden County, New Jersey, by George R. Prowell, L.J. Richards & Co. 1886
Published 2010 by the Camden County Genealogy Project