HISTORY OF FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY Information located at http://nj.searchroots.com/Gloucesterco/ On a web site about Gloucester County, New Jersey, maintained by Janice Brown; text transcribed by Janice Brown from the source noted below. From: "History of the Counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of their Prominent Citizens," by Thomas Cushing, M.D., and Charles E. Sheppard, Esq.; Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883; Press of J.B. Lippincott & Co. Page 213- CHAPTER XL TOWNSHIP OF FRANKLIN GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE-This township was formed in 1820 from Greenwich and Woolwich. At the time of its organization it was fifteen miles long, six and a half miles wide, and contained seventy-two thousand acres. The township has been reduced by the formation of others, till at present, it contains only thirty-one thousand and three hundred and eighty-eight acres. Its surface is generally level, with a light, sandy soil, susceptible of a high state of cultivation, as evidenced by the large crops of vegetables and small fruits. But a few years since Franklin was a dense forest of small pines, but, by industry and frugality, it has become of immense value as a truck-farming township. It is the southeast corner township of the county, and is bounded on the southeast by Atlantic County, on the southwest by Cumberland and Salem counties, on the northeast by Clayton, and on the northwest by Monroe township. The township is watered by Marsh Lake Branch and tributaries in the easterly part of the township, and by the head-waters of Scotland Run in the west part of the township. PIONEER SETTLEMENTS-For all the information in relation to pioneers of what is now Franklin Township we are indebted to Mr. William Porch, whose venerable years and bright memories of the past carries us back among the settlers of this then forest of pines and oaks, and, with but a slight draft upon the imagination, we can see the brave pioneer wending his way into the wilderness, marking here and there a tree as a guide to his future operations or necessities. It was the custom of the pioneers of this township to take up or warrant a sufficient number of acres of land for each of their children a good-sized farm, that when the original should pass away he might leave to each of his numerous family a plantation for their future support. Among this class of pioneers was John Porch, who located at what is now known as Porchtown. His purchase embraced an area of two thousand five hundred acres in that immediate vicinity. Having a foresight of the necessities of himself and others, he built a grist mill on the stream running through his plantation. He also built a saw-mill at that point, and since that time, about 1780, Porchtown has not been without both saw- and grist-mills, until within a few years the saw-mill has been abandoned and is fast going to decay. The property passed into the hands of William Porch, and from him to his children, among whom the two thousand five hundred acres of land was divided, a part of which went to Stephen Porch. Samuel Freese married a daughter of William Porch, and their share, six hundred acres, was subsequently sold to the Camden Fire Insurance Comopany, and nearly or quite all of the original tract is now owned by parties other than the Porch family. The mill property and one hundred acres is owned by Robert Butler, and Mr. Porch says that James L. Wickham owns "quite a clever bunch of the land" once owned by his grandfather, John Porch. In the early part of this century, John Porch kept a store at Porchtown, and at that time there was a large amount of business transacted at that place. Joseph Smith, son of Thomas Smith, who was born about 1730, owned quite an extensive tract of land adjoining the Porch tract. That part of the township in which the hamlet and railroad station of Iona is situated was settled by Moses Crane. He took up something over a thousand acres in and around this locality, became a prominent man in the affairs of the township, and was the father of a large family, to whom his property descended. That locality was known for many years as Cranetown, but when the family, to a large extent, had ceased to be possessors of the original tract, and the railroad had been built, the name of the place was changed to Iona, and at present but very little of the original tract is owned by the Crane family. As will be seen by reference to the history of the village of Malaga, Daniel H. Miller was a large landowner around that locality in the early part of the present century. Another of the pioneers of that locality was Joshua Richman, who came here as early as 1815, and located a large tract of land, upon which he lived for nearly sixty years. Mr. Richman was one of those honest, industrious pioneers, whose unassuming manner, sound judgment, and rectitude of life made him a suitable person to be trusted with the financial affairs of the township, and the settlement of differences of opinion between his neighbors. He lived to a good old age, departing this life in 1882, honored and respected by his townsmen, leaving a good name for his numerous descendants to honor and perpetuate. Among the pioneers near the center of the township was Robert Chew who located a large tract of land, where he lived and died. Of his family there were twelve children, who, with their descendants, are scattered over this and adjoining townships. Samuel Sharp was also an old settler in this locality, whose first purchase was a tract of one hundred and fifty acres. He was the father of a large family, all of whom have left this locality. Philip Woolford was another pioneer of this part of the township, which was sometimes called Hopeville, Woolfordtown, and Plainville. He was the owner of quite a large tract here, and most of which passed into the possession of his descendants. John Trimnel was also one of the pioneers of Woolfordtown and was a millwright by trade, and is said to have been one of the best mechanics in this section of the county. Some of his descendants are still residents of Franklin township. William Chew and William Surran were the prominent pioneers of that quarter of the township known as Pine Hollow, or Chewville, near Dutch mill. Both of these pioneers were large land-owners, and assisted largely in clearing off the timber and improving the land in this locality. Each of these men were the progenitors of large families, none of whom are owners of any portion of the original tracts. That portion of the township in and around what is known as Downstown was settled by Aquilla Downs, who was the father of a numerous family. Mr. Downs was not only one of the pioneer farmers of this section, but was also a local preacher in the Methodist denomination, and employed his talents in that direction by preaching to the inhabitants of the different settlements. Two of his sons, Osborn and Jesse, were very acceptable preachers on the old-fashioned Methodist circuits. At the death of Rev. Aquilla Downs his large estate passed into the possession of his children and has passed from one generation to another, and is still nearly all owned by his descendants. Samuel Downs was also one of the pioneers in this part of the township and owned a large tract of land; also John Downs was one of the pioneer purchasers of a large tract of land in this vicinity, most of which is now owned by his son, George Downs, who is now one of the old men of the township. Benjamin Downs was a surveyor, and subsequently located at Glassboro. In that part of the township now known as Forest Grove the pioneer settler was William Wilson, who built a mill, which subsequently went to decay. Robert Parvin located here soon after Wilson, when the two commenced the blacksmith and wheelwright business. Wilson soon engaged in the mercantile business, when the little hamlet soon began to put on a business-like appearance, and the whole property was then purchased by Richard Wood. Like many other young and promising towns, the wealth, or rather poverty, of the surrounding county did not warrant the expenditures, and the little town was not enlarged to any extent beyond its youthful dimensions. In the early part of this century there stood an old house, a short distance below the mill, known as the "Refugee house." It was a double log building, i.e. one building enclosed within another, and so arranged that a person acquainted with its construction could easily secrete himself from one not acquainted with its peculiar construction. It is said that this building was used as a place of refuge by certain parties who were supposed to flee from the iron grasp of the law, and that under or around it large sums of money were buried. Tradition says that George Cake secured quite a sum from the old house, which enabled him to start in business. The old house long since went to decay. CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS PROCEEDINGS OF THE PIONEER TOWN MEETING "At a town-meeting of the inhabitants of the township of Franklin, held at George Cake's Inn at Little Ease, on the 8th day of March, A.D. 1820, pursuant to an act of the Legislature of New Jersey, passed the 27th day of January, A.D. 1820, Jeptha Abbot was chosen Moderator and Isaac Thorn, Town Clerk. . . . The Clerk being sworn, proceeded to nominations, and the following persons were chosen for the different Town Ship officers, vis: Assessor, Levi L. Campbell; Collector, Jeptha Abbott; Commissioners of Appeal, Samuel Fisher, William Porch and Jacob Stanger; Freeholders, Daniel Focer?, Jacob Fisher; Surveyors of Highways, Moses Crane, Francis Stanger; Overseers of the Poor, Levi L. Campbell, Jeptha Abbott; Constables, Abraham Leddon, Nathaniel Salmon; Overseers of Highways, Jacob Swope, David Scoran, Samuel Sharp; Pound Keepers, Ebr Whitney, Nathaniel Salmon; Judge of Election, George Anderson; Town Committee, George Anderson, Gabriel Insard?, William Porch, Samuel Fisher, Samuel Downs..." [This source goes on to show records of town officers for the years 1821-1882, and other early town records that are not included here]. 1822 appears to be the first time that a ballot was used at town-meetings [At this time Glassboro and Clayton were included in Franklin township]. In February 1825, when the vote was taken in relation to location of court-house, jail and other county buildings, the whole number of votes cast by Franklin Township was two hundred and twelve... the certificate was signed by Jacob Stanger, judge of election; Isaac Thorn, assessor; Samuel Fisler, collector; and Daniel Focer, town clerk. PIONEER SCHOOL COMMITTEE-At the annual town-meeting in March, 1826, the following named persons were elected a "committee for the education of poor children in the township." Walter Donlevy, Thomas B. Wood, Laurence Cake, Jacob Fisler, Jr., William Porch, John Jackson and Aquilla Down. "Ordered, That the township committee pay to the school committee the money raised last year (1825) for the use of said school. Ordered, That the school committee shall proportion the money received by them for the use aforesaid to the best of their ability." At the annual town-meeting in March, 1830, the following named persons were elected a "school committee:" Robert Chew, Benjamin Harding, William Porch, Esq., Dr. Jacob Fisler, Levi L. Campbell. These gentlemen held the position of "school committee" till the spring of 1837, when the records tell us that "the town committee to act in place of the school committee," yet at the annual town-meeting in March 1838, Jacob Stanger, John V. Porch and James Down were elected a "school committee," neither of whom are elected members of the town committee. The inhabitants continued to elect three persons annually as a school committee until the spring of 1847, when Miles Synott was elected "school superintendent," which officer was continued till the law was changed creating a county superintendent of schools. VILLAGES AND HAMLETS MALAGA is a small hamlet, situated on the southwest side of the township, near the line of Cumberland County. The land upon which the village is located was owned, previous to 1813 or 1814, by Daniel H. Miller, who owned a tract of several thousand acres in this vicinity. Upon this large tract was nothing more than the farm-house and several tenements till 1814, when the entire tract was purchased by Christian L. Stanger, who, in 1813 probably, built a saw-mill just below where the present bridge crosses the stream. This was the pioneer improvement in what is now the village of Malaga. At this mill was manufactured the lumber for building the pioneer glassworks of what now is Franklin township. The pioneer store was the one connected with the glass-works and owned by Stanger & Co. Soon there were other stores at this place, all of which soon served their time and were abandoned. The pioneer blacksmith and wheelwright were also connected with the glass-works. The pioneer tavern was kept by Ferguson McGonigal. The old building stood in front of the site occupied by the present hotel. There was a large lot in rear, or along the road leading to the railroad depot, and the space between the tavern and glass factory, now occupied by buildings, was then vacant. A saw-mill, on the site of the present one, was built by Jacob Stanger during the ownership of the property by C.L. Stanger & Co., and the present grist-mill was built by John G. Rosenbaum in 1830. He intended the mill originally for his own use exclusively; but as soon as it was in operation the people of the surrounding county, who had been in the habit, from necessity, of pounding their corn and what in the old-fashioned mortar, began to patronize the new mill, and Mr. Rosenbaum was therefore under the necessity of enlarging his private mill to the capacity of the present mill. For several years Malaga was, to all appearances, a thriving town; but, like all such towns with a floating population, it soon ceased to be anything more than whatever the glass-factory happened, with its good or ill fortune, to make it, as the village is not surrounded with a rich farming community, upon which merchants and mechanics mostly depend for support. There are at present in the village the Malaga Glass Works, two general stores, one owned by the glass company, and the other by R.C. Souders; one tavern, by Joseph M. Iredell; saw- and grist-mills, one blacksmith, one large two-story school-house, the old town hall, now owned and occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Society as a place of worship; three secret societies-Knights of Pythias, Knights of Labor, and Junior American Mechanics. The village contains a population of about two hundred and fifty. The railroad station is about half a mile northeast from the main street of town. The postmasters of Malaga have been J.G. Rosenbaum, Chew, McClure, Down, and the present postmaster, Ferdinand Rosenbaum. IONA-This is a small hamlet situated on the line of the West Jersey Railroad, about one and a half miles from Franklinville, and was made a railroad station in 1860 or 1861. The place was settled by Moses Crane, the father of a large family, and known for many years as "Cranetown." Mr. Crane built a saw-mill here, which was in operation till about 1875, when it was abandoned. There is at present at Iona a railroad station, store, steam saw-mill, owned by sons of W.P. Crane, and town hall. Population about seventy-five. (end)