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1785-1840 Gloucester

In 1785, the county court house at the corner of King and Market Streets burned down. Since Gloucester Town's population never developed at Gloucester, the county voted to move the county seat to nearby Woodbury, NJ. With the lost of the activities related to county business, Gloucester Town was reduced to a small number of farms, seasonal fisheries and limited traffic from the ferry.

Gloucester would still be a summer retreat for those looking to escape the heat of Philadelphia.

In 1818 the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club would dissolve but another group of Philadelphia citizens would select the Gloucester's waterfront as their head quarters. The Prospect Hill Association built a club house on the south point at Gloucester. The building would be sometime referred to as the Prospect Hill Fish-House.

The fish house building would continued to stand in the south end of Gloucester into the late 1930's.

For more information on the Prospect Hill Association, we suggest the history blog by the Jerseyman:

http://jerseyman-historynowandthen.blogspot.com/2010/12/prospect-hill-association.html

Below is a link to the New Jersey State Archives

which has published the Tax Ratables from the early 1770's-1810's

https://www.njstatelib.org/using-ratables-for-new-jersey-genealogy/

The links for "Gloucester Town Township" cover the years from 1773 to 1805 starting on page 64

Click on the link below for the New Jersey State Archives finding aid:

https://www.nj.gov/state/archives/guides/sas00001Digital.pdf#page=64

Should the link to the NJ Archives become unusable please using the to the Gloucester Town Tax Ratables: Gloucester Town Tax Ratables

1802 - Duel at Gloucester Point, NJ

Captain George Izard duel with Mr. Pierre a Frenchman.

Izard was engaged to Mr. Pierre's sister but neither truly wanted to marry each other.

Mr. Pierre traveled to Philadelphia from Charleston SC in June 1802 to confront Captain Izard and both agreed to meet across the Delaware at Gloucester Point, New Jersey to engage in a duel of honor.

George Izard would be shot in the chest, he barely recovered, but he at last escaped, in his words “an embarrassing yoke.”

George Izard would later be promoted to a Major-General in the United States Army during the War of 1812.

From 1825-1828 he served as the second Governor of Arkansas Territory.

Izard was once aide-de-camp for General Alexander Hamilton, who of course would die in a duel himself just two years later.

Artist: David Johnson Kennedy

Inscription:

Prospect Hill Fish House Gloucester Beach Gloucester, Delaware River. New Jersey. Fishing by net until June 10th. Shad and herring fishery. (Front Bottom)

Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/2943#

1798 - Gloucester Waterfront

General Joseph Ellis House

Hugg's Tavern

High Street or Market Street.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L933-45Y3?i=192&wc=MQTS-N6D%3A338011801%2C338929401&cc=2018330

1798 - Gloucester Waterfront

John Heritage’s Tavern on King Street and a famous property known as "Lilliput". In 1761 Lilliput is put up as part of a prize in a lottery including Petty's Island.

It appears that the lottery raised funds for the creation of the Germantown Academy.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L933-45Y3?i=192&wc=MQTS-N6D%3A338011801%2C338929401&cc=2018330

1821 License petition for Joseph Hillman for Huggs Tavern at Gloucester Point in the town of Gloucester.

[ Image courtesy of the Gloucester County Historical Society. ]

1798 - north Gloucester Dam & Water Works

( sluice gate )

A dam was built to keep Newton Creek's water level high in the meadows for farming, livestock and to prevent any saltwater intrusions into the creek during droughts.