Swedesboro and Woolwich Township

By Lois M. Stanley, Russell C. Shiveler Jr. and Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society

In the mid-1600s, a group of Swedes from Delaware and Pennsylvania sailed up the Raccoon Creek and began a settlement on prime farmland in southern New Jersey. Initially known as Raccoon, the town at the center of Woolwich Township was renamed Swedesborough in 1765. Transportation links to Swedesboro by creek, highway, and railroad made the town an attractive location for mills, shops, and farms. Today many residents are descended from the area's original Swedish settlers. Swedesboro and Woolwich Township presents a diverse collection of photographs from the 1800s to the 1970s, illustrating daily life for residents of the community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439637159

Lois M. Stanley

Lois M. Stanley is the chairperson of the Swedesboro Historical Preservation Commission. She lives in an 1892 Victorian home on Kings Highway bought by her grandparents in 1928. Russell C. Shiveler Jr. is an author of several historical publications and a descendant of one of the many farming families in the Swedesboro area. Both authors are members of the Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society and the Gloucester County Historical Society. They have collected images from the archives of the historical societies, as well as from private collections.

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INTRODUCTION

Before there was a highway, there was a creek. Before there was a borough, there was a church. Before there was any semblance of civilization, there was an attraction. In the mid-1600s, a small group of Swedes from Pennsylvania and Delaware ventured to the eastern shore of the Delaware River searching for new homesteads. In his writing The Settlement at Raccoon (1922), the Reverend Edgar Campbell states, It is more than likely that the earliest settlement in the neighborhood was on a high point of land at the foot of the old cemetery of Trinity Church from which there is still an extensive view in all directions up and down the streams. There, along the banks of the Raccoon Creek, they found an abundance of fertile sandy soil and prime farmland. There they found streams of fresh water. There they found vast tracts of prime woodland: oak, birch, maple, pine. There they found all the raw materials needed to sustain their agricultural lifestyle. There they stayed. The settlement grew with the addition of families like the Helms, the Homans, the Mattsons, the Keens, the Locks, the Dalbos, and the Hendricksons.

Other settlers began moving into the area. The English and Quakers were soon established in Gloucester County. The English Colonial government needed a highway between Burlington and Salem and in 1691 Kings Highway was laid out. It passed through the center of the Swedish settlement at Raccoon. The new highway opened the southern portion of Gloucester County to even more settlers.

The Swedes were anxious to preserve their culture. The Swedish Lutheran Mission first sent a teacher to educate children in the Swedish language. The people were in need of spiritual guidance. In 1703, they built the first Swedish Evangelical church in New Jersey on the high point of land next to the Raccoon Creek. In 1720, the Swedish Mission sent a shipment of Bibles and songbooks to the residents at Raccoon. At this early date, the value of teaching and education was established.

The Colonial government of Gloucester County was firmly in control of the English beginning in 1676. The English gave a tribute to the original colonizers by conferring the name Swedesborough on the Raccoon settlement in 1765. Even at that date, the Swedish Lutheran pastors lamented the tendency of the Swedes to intermingle with the other nationalities that few could still speak the Swedish language. The original township of Greenwich was partitioned in 1767 and the new body was organized as Woolwich Township. The Borough of Swedesboro was formally created in 1902 out of the township of Woolwich.

In the 1700s and 1800s, more churches were started to minister to other ethnic groups. The Germans of the area established the Moravian Church in 1748. The Methodist movement came to South Jersey and drew the English. In the 1830s, two churches were started in the African American community of Small Gloucester. In 1860, the first Roman Catholic church was built in Swedesboro, for the worship of the new immigrants from Ireland, and later from Italy and Sicily. Each church building became the anchor that firmly attached the immigrant group as the community grew.

Just as the church became the spiritual anchor in Swedesboro, new businesses became the economic engine to draw more people into the area. Farms needed feed, seed, crates, trucks, and equipment. Mills were built, followed by bakeries. Banks were established. Swedesboro added grocery stores, dry goods stores, hotels, butchers, hardware stores, and automobile and truck dealerships. The construction of two canning factories resulted in a period of prosperity and growth from 1913 to 1960.

In this book, we have used the images of the residents of Swedesboro and Woolwich Township to illustrate the great things achieved here. The first library in the state was founded here. The first school in Gloucester County was started here. The first elected governor of New Jersey, Charles C. Stratton, was a resident here. His fine home on Kings Highway is one of the most admired dwellings in the county. The business acumen of Edgar F. Hurff is related here, as he went from tenant farmer to the area’s leading capitalist. Joseph Bona, as an educator and coach, formed and directed the advancement of many men and women in the local schools. William Gibbs was a teacher in the segregated Richardson Avenue School as well as in the integrated Swedesboro High School. His leadership in civil rights was only overshadowed by his passion for quality education.

The borough of Swedesboro and surrounding Woolwich Township have changed dramatically in the 350 years since the Swedish settlers first viewed the landscape. Many of us living today would say that even in our lives the changes are amazing. Buildings do not last forever; businesses may come and go with the economic tides. This book captures the pleasant memories of days gone by in Swedesboro and Woolwich Township: the memory of freshly baked bread, the smell of tomato ketchup on the morning breeze, the smile of a friendly butcher, banker, or merchant. It is our hope that the reader will find Images of America Swedesboro and Woolwich Township interesting and informative. As residents here, we all have a stake in the vitality of our community; some in business, some in building preservation, some in family history, some in worship, some in education, some in civic organizations. We fervently hope that all our readers will see new challenges after reading about our community’s past history.

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HISTORICAL EVENTS

Throughout the years, the areas of Swedesboro and Woolwich Township have been the scenes of several noteworthy events. Celebratory occasions such as visits from royalty and Main Street affairs are memorable, yet there were catastrophic natural happenings that will be forever remembered.