Bricksburg in the 1870s

While 1870-71 was a very newsworthy year for Bricksburg, by mid-decade the excitement had died down and news items from that part of the county became increasingly rare. In NJ from June 10, 1875 it does mention a "Mr. Jones of Bricksburg", who went to the Tuckerton Sunday schools, apparently to organize an excursion for the students to Long Branch the following month. One of the only other news items to come out of Bricksburg in 1875 was a marriage announcement--on 21 July, Clara W. Phifer of Bricksburg married Theodore M. Nichuals of Camden.

There was also mention of another family from Bricksburg in 1874:
"The wife of one Charles Porter, a druggist, of Bricksburg, died on the 14th inst.(July, 1874), from the effects of an abortion produced by the use of instruments by her husband. The coroner's jury found a verdict to the above effect. Porter escaped. The case caused considerable excitement in the neighborhood."

In 1876 there are a few more mentions of the citizens of Bricksburg; on February 17th it was mentioned that Al Larrabee was grading the area around his store, and that the Land Company was doing likewise to Main Street. On March 30th, it is announced that S.F. Blackman was elected chairman at the school meeting, and that A.L. Kelly gave an exhibition of "oxy-hydro-calcium light" on canvas, of 100 select views of Bible history(no, I don't know what that's supposed to mean.)

At least one Bricksburg resident departed this world in 1876: on August 8th, Anna Martina Smith, the daughter of S.M. and G.P. Smith, died at the age of 27 (NJC 17 Aug 1876). (G.P. Smith was apparently deceased as well, as his wife had erected to him a monument in the Evergreen Cemetery in April of that same year.) The previous month, there was also a wedding announcement concerning Bricksburg resident Louisa Keel, when she married George Chamberlin of Manchester, at Ocean Grove on July 17th (NJC 17 Aug 1876).

NOTE: I am once again indebted to Melinda for the following correction of the above item:

The woman's name, Louisa KEEL, should have read REED. This is Melinda's great-aunt and she verified the date for us. (Not the first time a newspaper got someone's name wrong!)
Still, although the building frenzy of 1870-71 had died down, Bricksburg was still a busy little community throughout the decade. Apparently a sort of religious revival was occurring, in all three of Bricksburg's churches (Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian). In early 1876, the Methodist church boasted it had received some 70 new converts, while the Baptists could only claim 10. Even the Temperance movement, the Good Templars, was still active and growing---by April they had over 70 membrs. In February it was also mentioned that Smith and Garvin were running their shop on nine hours time; but R.A. Brick and Co. had apparently stopped doing business for the winter and were expected to resume in March. (In actuality they did not open until April 17th).

By spring, more improvements were being done to area businesses--Sherman Kelsey and Rev E.Dickinson put new roofs and shingles onto their Main Street buildings. Smith and Garvin were working ten hours a day by then.

But as with earlier years, the growth and prosperity of Bricksburg was not without incident--on April 25th, 1876 fire struck again, this time destroying an entire house on the corner of Clifton Avenue and Fourth Street; fortunately the family that had occupied it had moved out two weeks prior. It was believed at the time that the building was owned by Mrs. Reed of Toms River. For more on the history of the Iron Furnace at Bricksburg,