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ROADSTOWN MANUSCRIPT MARKING ~ Gene Fricks ROADSTOWN MANUSCRIPT MARKING By Gene Fricks Kay & Smith record the Roadstown, Cumberland County post office (zip 08351) in operation from September 7, 1802 until August 18, 1972. 1 This is a significant timespan. I cannot recall seeing a Roadstown marking up until I stumbled across the illustrated item this summer, which may more reflect the fact that Cumberland County post offices receive little attention than for any other reason. Mail service to the area is currently provided from Bridgeton. Fig. 1: Roadstown manuscript marking dated Aug. 14, 1865, addressed to Haddonfield, NJ. The letter enclosed is datelined August 12, 1865. Most of the letter deals with family pleasantries but starts off: “My dear Joseph, “I reached Roadstown safely, about 8 Oclock. As it did not rain I thought I would not stay in Bridgeton, so I took the Stage, and had a slow and unpleasant ride. The Stage was full, and for once, I was glad you was not with me, but sorry when I reached home for they all seemed disappointed that you was not with me. I found them all well….” The sender was (Mrs.) Mary Moore of Haddonfield, a relative of the recipient Joseph Tatem. ENDNOTES 1 John L.Kay and Chester M. Smith Jr., New Jersey Postal History. The Post Offices and First Postmasters 1776- 1976. (Quarterman Publications: Lawrence MA, 1977): 56. NJPH 196 Vol. 39/No. 4 Nov 2011 Whole No. 184
Doug D’Avino ~ HEZEKIAH B. SMITH’S INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE SMITHVILLE - HEZEKIAH B. SMITH’S INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE By Doug D’Avino Smithville, located in Burlington County, N.J., is home to the Smithville County Park, which includes Smithville Lake and the historic Smithville Mansion. This section of Eastampton Township (near the county seat of Mount Holly, as well as the author's residence) is named after Hezekiah Bradley (H.B.) Smith (1816 - 1887), and served as a thriving industrial center during the second half of the 19th century and into the next. This Smithville is not the "Towne of Historic Smithville," located in Atlantic County near Absecon, which is better known to most current day New Jersey residents. Born in Vermont, Smith trained as a cabinet maker. He subsequently moved to New Hampshire, then Massachusetts, before settling in New Jersey in the last year of the Civil War. The H. B. Smith Machine Company was founded in 1865 when Smith purchased the practically abandoned village of Shreveville (Westampton Township, at that time) for $23,000 and renamed the village Smithville. The company, incorporated in 1877, became famous for its many products, especially woodworking machinery. However, it is most renowned for manufacturing the Star high-wheeled bicycle, and for the opening of a 1.8 mile bicycle railroad that allowed workers to pedal to the plant each day from their homes in Mount Holly. Its founder held over forty patents, including such diverse ones as a scroll saw and a steam-powered tricycle. After purchasing the village, Smith spent several years upgrading Smithville’s machine shops and foundry and rebuilding the village housing. He created a public park at the center of the village, constructed a dormitory (Mechanics Hall) for unmarried factory mechanics, built an opera house for cultural and artistic events and constructed a schoolhouse for village children. In all, Smithville was redesigned to provide accommodations for 250 people. The Smithville post office was established in 1866, located in the Company offices, shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. In an application for the post office, Robert S. Kille stated the village population as “... 200, expect soon to be double that.” The first Postmaster, John Segine, held the job for just two weeks, as listed in Table 1. He was succeeded by Kille, and then by James Logan. Finally, in 1868, Smith assumed the position of Postmaster, a post he held for over 10 years. Since he was President of a large manufacturing company, in all probability he was Postmaster in title only, with the workers in the Company Store serving customers. The largest customer using the post office would have been the H. B. Smith Machine Company! Smith’s business success sent him to the U.S. House of Representatives, as a Democrat, in 1878. But his victory came at a cost. Little did the fair citizens of the Garden State know that their newest Congressman was a bigamist, a revelation that exploded into the national newspaper headlines (led by The New York Times) several weeks after he was elected. Having never legally divorced his first wife, who he married in 1846 and with whom he had four children, he took up with a much younger mill girl, Agnes Matilda Gilkerson. With Smith’s financial support, Agnes went on to graduate from Penn Medical University in Philadelphia in 1861, receiving her Doctor of Medicine degree with a major in Chemistry. He married Agnes in 1865 when she was 27 and he 49, after some ten years of “courtship.” Agnes developed and sold a number of patent medicines, which netted her a lucrative income, as well as Vol. 39/No. 4 197 NJPH Whole No. 184 Nov 2011
Page 1 and 2: NJPH The Journal of the NEW JERSEY
Page 3 and 4: Robert G. Rose ~ CLARKSBURG RIMLESS
Page 5 and 6: Richard Micchelli ~ CIVIL WAR PATRI
Page 15: Richard Micchelli ~ CIVIL WAR PATRI
Page 19 and 20: Doug D’Avino ~ HEZEKIAH B. SMITH
Page 31 and 32: Don Chafetz ~ DEVELOPMENT OF THE MA
Page 35 and 36: Statehood Period Don Chafetz ~ DEVE
Page 37 and 38: Statehood Period Don Chafetz ~ DEVE
Page 43 and 44: Statehood Period Dateline: Via: To:
Page 47 and 48: Gene Fricks ~ NJ MACHINE CANCELS Il
Page 49 and 50: Jean Walton ~ THE NEW JERSEY PHILAT
Page 55 and 56: Doug D’Avino ~ HOMETOWN POs: Amat
Page 57 and 58: MEMBER ADS MEMBER ADS ~ YOUR AD MIS
Page 59 and 60: NJPHS LITERATURE AVAILABLE postpaid

NJPH - New Jersey Postal History Society

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