News From Bamber, 1900

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New Jersey Courier 25 Oct 1900
Zebulon Collins, a well known woodsman, died suddenly of heart failure at Bamber on Tuesday. There was no physician attending. He will be buried on Saturday at Whitings. Collins was one of the men who found Jim Wainwright's body, where it had been hidden in Cedar Creek after the murder in 1885. Zeb's quaint humor on the witness stand also softened the grim features of that tragic trial.
(I have located some of Zebulon's census entries--it appears he was born about 1801, and was married to a woman named Rebecca (b. about 1803). In 1860 the family was living in Dover Township (what is now Toms River township); living with them were daughter Nancy Collins, b. abt 1855; Zebulon Collins, Jr, b. about 1842; Joseph Collins, b. about 1837; and Rachael Collins, born about 1844.
In 1870, the family was still in Dover Township. Zebulon, Jr. is the only child still at home, employed somewhere as a laborer (Zebulon, Sr. was a farmer). His sister, 44 year old Matilda Collins now lived with him, and a 14 year old girl, Anna (probably the same girl referred to as 'Nancy' in 1860, given their ages). Two others lived in the home at the time as well, Hannah and Joseph Perrine, ages 5 and 10. According to the 1880 census, they were his niece and nephew.
At any rate, Zebulon had relocated his family to Lacey township (though it's not clear if he was actually in Cedar Crest/Bamber at this point). In 1880, the family consisted of the elder Zebulon, as well as nephew Joseph, and sister Matilda. Joseph and Zebulon, Sr were employed as charcoal makers.
They are on the last page of the census, and thus there is a good chance they were in the Bamber area, on the far edge of Lacey. Other families located nearby in 1880 inclued:
James and Rebbecca Higgins
George and Sylvia Johnson, who worked in charcoal
Daniel and Sarah Brewer, who worked in charcoal
Silas Kennigan
David and Rachel Harring, a fisherman family
Charles Smith, who kept a hotel
C.F. (g?)emloch
Location: Bamber Lake, Lacey Township, NJ 08731, USA

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