Ocean County , NJ History

New Jersey Mirror, 24 Feb 1937: Mrs. Mary Collis, 50 years old, wife of Edward Collis, farmer of Archertown, near here, was found hanging in a shed off the kitchen of her home on Wednesday afternoon. Toms River State Police declared it a case of suicide. Collis, who discovered the body suspended from the rafter in the shed, could give no reason for his wife ending her life. Dr. Raymond Taylor, of Lakewood, Ocean county coroner, said the woman had been dead about two hours. Except for her husband, Mrs. Collis leaves no immediate survivors.

Trenton Times 22 Feb 1906 Asay Springs may not refer to an area, but to actual springs that are located in the White Horse area of present day Hamilton, across the Crosswicks Creek from Bordentown. That approximate area is the former location of a house once known as the Asay-Cubberly house. It was the home of Isaac Asay (son of Joseph, I believe), from 1849-1858 and maybe longer. A good account of the area can be found in Louis Berger & Associates, Historic Sites, Trenton Complex Archaeology: Report 12, The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger and Associates, Inc., East Orange NJ, Prepared for the Federal Highway Administration and the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Analysis, Trenton, 1998. (That's a long way of saying they had to study the area before they could build a new highway. If you have a recent map of NJ, you'll see the area is now pretty well covered by the intersection of I-295 and I-195.) The springs were tapped to provide ...

According to the Trenton Times of Feb 22, 1906: Asay Springs may not refer to an area, but to actual springs that are located in the White Horse area of present day Hamilton, across the Crosswicks Creek from Bordentown. That approximate area is the former location of a house once known as the Asay-Cubberly house. It was the home of Isaac Asay (son of Joseph, I believe), from 1849-1858 and maybe longer. A good account of the area can be found in Louis Berger & Associates, Historic Sites, Trenton Complex Archaeology: Report 12, The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger and Associates, Inc., East Orange NJ, Prepared for the Federal Highway Administration and the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Analysis, Trenton, 1998. (That's a long way of saying they had to study the area before they could build a new highway. If you have a recent map of NJ, you'll see the area is now pretty well covered by the intersection of I-295 and I-195.) The springs...

WINSLOW — Slowly, progress is being made toward fixing years of long-standing problems at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, says Assistant Human Services Commissioner Kevin Martone. A community warning system, which failed in December, has been improved so that nearby residents will be called the next time a patient escapes from the hospital grounds, Martone said. Staff must now contact police immediately if a patient is unaccounted for instead of looking for the patient first. A new, higher fence outside and new cameras inside will improve security. To cut down on overtime and payroll abuse, the hospital will be installing time clocks. In 2006, 300 employees each received at least $10,000 in overtime pay. Almost $9.1 million of Ancora's $85 million budget, or 10.7 percent, was spent on overtime. None of the employees are currently required to punch a time clock. But that will change, Martone said. The 37-year-old assistant commissioner, appointed to make reforms by former acting Go...

from the New Egypt Press 18 Feb 1910 The funeral of Mrs. Margaret Black, widow of the late Alfred Black deceased was held from her late residence "Locust Hall" near Jobstown on Wednesday. A large number of relatives and friends came to pay their last tribute to the deceased, who was highly respected by all who knew her. Interment was at Sykesville in the family plot there.

Allegations of nepotism, employees sleeping on the job and payroll abuse have brought normally private administrative hearings into the public eye at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital. Debra Weisman, a nurse at the hospital, says that over the past two years, she has complained about fellow nurses sleeping on the job, patient rounds being conducted by unqualified orderlies, and staff members claiming credit for hours they didn't work. She said her complaints go to Anita Jackson, the local union chief for nurses at Ancora. Weisman said she asked Jackson to take the complaints to Wilhemina Tameka Martin, the head nursing administrator for psychiatric services. Jackson and Martin are sisters. "I think that's a conflict of interest," Weisman said. "How can it not be a conflict when the union head is directly related to the boss above her?" Weisman said other nurses are reluctant to complain because they are afraid of retribution. She produced an Aug. 24, 2007, memo f...

from the Trenton Evening Times, 17 Feb 1909 FORMER SURROGATE DEAD MOUNT HOLLY, Feb 17 - William K. Armstrong, 93 (or 98 ?) years old, former surrogate of this county and a Justice of the Peace for many years, died Monday evening at his home in Lumberton, of pneumonia

from the New Egypt Press 11 Feb 1910 Elizabeth A. Buzby, late of Crosswicks, died there January 7, 1910. By her will she appoints her daughter Margaret W. LEWIS executor thereof and gives all her estate to her granddaughter, Lydia B. KULP. Inventory filed shows personal property of $203.

from the New Egypt Press 11 Feb 1910 Mary L. Bowne, late of Columbus, died there January 6th. By her will she appoints Joseph F. TAYLOR, William S. Bowne and John E. AARONSON, executors thereof. She orders that $50 be expended for a suitable tombstone. To Thomas B. Aaronson, $1300; to John E. Aaronson $1068, to Elnathan Aaronson, $1000; to William S. Bowne $1500; to Emily A. Bowne, $1500; to Charles A. Bowne, $500; to Rebecca A. Aaronson, interest to $1000 during her life, and at her death principal to go to her heirs at law, to Mildred Aaronson, entire contents of her bed room; to Ellen Aaronson, the entire contents of her room on first floor. All the residue of her household goods she gives to Mary Anna Taylor. To Emily L. ROCKHILL, all her wearing apparel and $1000; to Emily A. Bowne, Emily L. Rockhill and Mabel A. BULLOCK all the residue of her estate. Inventory filed shows personal property of $13,177.51.

from New Jersey Courier 8 Feb 1924 Whiskey, of the Chatsworth "block and fall" variety, is blamed for the death of William Chamberlain, 68 years old, cranberry picker on the bogs of the Applegate Land and Improvement Company near Chatsworth. The man died at his home after being stricken on Sunday morning. It was said by Chatsworth residents that he had been in a drunken party the night before. Another man is seriously ill from th effects of some of the same hooch, Chatsworth residents say. He is Harry Anderson, another cranberry picker, who is well known in that vicinity. Chamberlain is survived by a widow [....illegible...] unfortunate that bootlegging around Chatsworth has been rampant for some time, and it is expected that action will be taken to clean up that vicinity.

from the New Jersey Courier 6 Feb 1879: The bay is still frozen over here and has been since the last of December, a very long period. Our people daily walk across it in going to and coming from the beach

from the Trenton Evening Times, 31 Jan 1914 BORDENTOWN, Jan 31. - William Craig, Sr., father of William Craig, Jr., a graduate of Bordentown Military Institute, who married Miss Margaret Mershon, of Bordentown, and who resided at Flatbush, L.I, died at his home at New Germantown last night.

We start with an article in the New Jersey Mirror 24 Jan 1906: Another fiendish crime was added to Burlington county's list, already too long, on Thursday afternoon( i.e., January 18, 1906) when the discovery was made that Miss Florence W. Allinson had been outraged and foully murdered in a barn at "The Orchards," a farm in the western end of Moorestown which she rented of Mrs. Esther W. Strawbridge. The condition of the dead woman indicated that she was first outraged, then strangled with a strap removed form a cow's blanket and beaten over the head with a club until her skull was frightfully crushed. The crime was committed between eleven o'clock in the morning and two o'clock in the afternoon, the discovery of the dead body having been made about the latter time by Benjamin Funk, a Bridgeboro oil man who had stopped at the house to leave the usual weekly supply. Funk entered the house and found no one there except little Bessie Walker, a five-year-old chil...