Burlington County Statues, Monuments & Memorials

1. Burlington CountyStatues, Monuments & Memorials NEW VIEWS VI By Joseph M. Laufer Colonial Heritage Region Quaker Heritage Region Historic Rancocas Valley Pinelands Region Pinelands Region

2. Civil War Soldier At Rest Beverly, NJ The statue of the Civil War Union Soldier at rest was once located in Beverly National Cemetery, a few miles away in Edgewater Park on Mt. Holly Road. Shown above is an old post card showing the sculpture atop a pillar that stood in the center of the cemetery. Prior to 1957, the statue, atop the pillar, stood in the center of the first circle inside the gates of the Cemetery, which places it very near the Civil War burials, located immediately on the left as you enter the gates.

4. More on the Soldier at Rest… • Location: At 700 Melbourne Ave. - Corner of Melbourne and Cherry - on the grounds of the American Legion Post 115 Building. • In 1872, the New Jersey Legislature passed an act appropriating $10,000 to erect a state monument at the National Cemetery in Beverly. The act resulted in creation of the “Soldier at Rest” monument to memorialize the soldiers and sailors from New Jersey who fought and died in the War of the Rebellion. The Philadelphia firm of Van Gunden and Young won the contract to execute the memorial. The 70-foot high column comprised eleven pieces of marble, a total of over 1,000 cubic feet of stone, quarried and carved in Caravia, Italy. One of Italy’s most renowned sculptors produced the soldier statue. The assembled monument, including shaft, pediments, capitals and statue, weighed in at about 80 tons and was once located in a grassy circle closest to the superintendent’s residence and maintenance garages. A great crowd, including the Governor of New Jersey, civilians, and many military organizations, arrived at the cemetery on 28 June 1875 to dedicate the memorial. Over the ensuing years following its erection, the column supporting the statue developed serious cracks, causing the monument’s disassembling following World War II. Charles Moses received the contract to rehabilitate the memorial. He disassembled it, but died before completing the restoration. His widow presented the “Soldier at Rest” statue to Beverly’s American Legion Post 115 and this organization has resisted all attempts to move the statue back to the National Cemetery. Courtesy Paul W. Schopp

5. Beverly, New Jersey

6. DUNK’S FERRY • Location: At the end of Manor Road on the Delaware River bank across from the gazebo. • Significance - The monument was dedicated on September 20, 1975 by the City of Beverly Bicentennial Committee. It reads: Near this site one of our country's first ferries was operated from circa 1695 to late 19th C. During Revolutionary Times it was used by Washington and his troops. This area was called "Dunks Ferry" before Beverly was founded.

7. Burlington Anchor

8. Burlington Anchor • Location: At the entrance to Waterfront Park and the Promenade at the end of High Street at the Delaware River. • Significance - This Anchor has no direct historical significance. It was salvaged from the Delaware River and there seems to be no connection to any particularly interesting ship. It is, however, appropriately placed and symbolizes the role of nautical navigation in the history of Burlington County. The relationship of Captain James Lawrence with the history of Burlington is another argument for its appropriateness. Recently, there were suggestions of removing it from the Promenade; however, it seems unlikely that this will happen because it has become a part of the landscape of the City of Burlington.

9. Shield Mooring Monument

10. Shield Mooring Monument • Location: On the Riverbank (Delaware Street) between Talbot and Wood Streets. The grey structure in the background is the truncated V.F.W. building occupying the eighteenth century location of Green Bank Mansion, home of Royal Governor William Franklin, Tory son of patriot Benjamin Franklin. • Significance - On this site, the ship "Shield" came to Burlington and tied up to a large buttonwood tree on December 10, 1678. The "Shield" was the second ship to bring the Quaker settlers to the area. In 1677 The "Kent" had brought the first group of Quakers to the area, but did not venture all the way up to Burlington. The passengers disembarked downstream and made their way to Burlington by small boats or on foot. The story is told that the Captain of the "Shield" risked taking his ship all the way to Burlington. However, he was unable to get the ship close enough to the shore for the passengers to disembark comfortably. Something of a miracle occurred on the evening of December 10 when the Delaware froze because of the frigid temperatures, and the passengers were able to walk to shore on the ice. The initial colonization of Burlington by Quakers was complemented with the subsequent arrival of two other ships from England: The "Willing Mynde" and the Fly Boat "Martha".

11. More on the Shield Mooring Monument … • There are two monuments and a memorial tree at the site. The fenced-in monument was erected by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New Jersey on the 250th anniversary of the founding of Burlington in 1927. The plaque reads "To Commemorate the founding of Burlington in 1677 and the mooring of the Ship Shield near this spot in 1678". The smaller marker outside the fence reads: "1952 - Sycamore tree planted on the 275th anniversary of the founding of Burlington in 1677. Dedicated by the Burlington Kiwanis Club."

13. Burlington City Friends Meeting and Burial Ground The first Meeting House in Burlington was established in 1678. The first Meeting House in Philadelphia was established in 1683 (5 years later)

14. When Europeans arrived in what is now Burlington in the 1600's, they found the area inhabited by the Mantas, or "Leaping Frogs," tribe of the Lenape. The tribe referred to the riverfront land where the City now stands as "Techichohocki," or "Oldest planted land." Oct. 10, 1677— In Burlington City, the Friends made a peaceful land purchase agreement, trading gunpowder, pipes, hooks, cloth, kettles and etc. Among eight Native American chiefs who amicably sold the land to the Quakers was one highly esteemed for his nobility and integrity, Chief Ockanickon. He was Chief of the Mantas tribe of the Lenape, and a valuable early friend of the settlers. To the rear of the Friends Meetinghouse under a huge sycamore is a plaque and stone marking the grave of Chief Ockanickon, Chief of the Mantas tribe of the Lenape, and an early Native American friend of the settlers. A boulder near the tree bears his mark, and a bronze plaque with his last words: “Be plain and fair to all, both Indian and Christian, as I have been.” (1681)

16. Grave Of Chief Ockanickon Postcard.   The bottom of the card reads Grave Of Chief Ockanickon, Burlington, NJ.  Marked by 1930 Ockanickon Campers.    The postcard is unused.   The postcard is in good condition but does have light wear and has yellowed  Postcard is approx. 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

17. INDIAN KING TREE It is believed that Ockanickon lies buried near this old sycamore tree in the Friends burial Ground. It has been claimed that his burial was the second of record in the Friends Cemetery at Burlington. This fact cannot he established. However, Samuel Smith, New Jerseys famous historian, whose statements are generally accepted, says, "This king dying soon afterwards was attended to his grave in the Quakers burial place in Burlington with solemnity by the Indians in their manner, and with great respect by many of the English settlers; to whom he had been a sure friend." He died in 1682.

18. Burlington Veterans’ Memorial

19. Burlington Veterans’ Memorial • Location: On the south side of High Street across from Belmont St. between the Wilbur Watts School and All Saints Catholic Church. • Significance - This is a classic memorial on the more massive scale than others in Burlington County. The centerpiece of the monument is the World War I soldier on the pedestal holding his rifle. The pillared structure in the background adds a degree of majesty to the scene. In the foreground are individual monuments representing the different wars in which Burlington citizens fought.

20. Burlington’s Statue of Mercury

21. Statue of Mercury • Location: At 427 High Street in front of the Burlington City Post Office. • Significance - This cast iron statue was erected in 1881 and served as the centerpiece of the Birch Opera House which was located on the site of the present Post Office. The figure is believed to have been cast in England as a copy of a 16th C. work by Flemish sculptor Jean Boulogne. Now resplendent in gold leaf, it stands atop a base inscribed "BIRCH 1881" for the year it was placed at the Opera House.

22. Burlington’s Firefighters Memorial Corner of High and Belmont Streets

23. In 1879, Young America Fire Company (21 E. Broad St.) purchased the bell, formerly hung in the belfry of St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn, which warned of the British fleet’s approach in New York harbor during the Revolutionary War. Removed from the bell tower of the firehouse in 1956 for safety reasons, the bell now stands on the grounds of the Fire Engineers' office at High and Belmont Streets.

24. Burlington County Veterans’ Memorial, Burlington Township, NJ

25. Located on Old York Road Burlington Township Adjacent to Municipal Bldg.

26. MASONIC PRESIDENTS’ MEMORIAL Oxmead Road Burlington Township

27. Traffic Control Station Currently located on Jacksonville Road in Burlington Township, across from the main entrance to the Masonic Home, this Traffic Control Station once stood at the intersection of High St. and Broad St. in the City of Burlington.

28. Est. 1902 The New Jersey Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth (later, E.R. Johnstone Training and Research Center) Monument at entrance dedicated in 2002 by the Bordentown Social Club, the alumni organization of the school, which closed in 1955

29. Nicknamed “ Old Ironsides” because it was located on the estate of Charles Steward, commander of the USS Constitution.

30. Founded as the Bordentown Normal School by Reverend Walter A. Rice, an African Methodist Episcopal minister on West Street, Bordentown. Moved to this location in 1902.

33. Statue of Thomas Paine Prince St. at the waterfront Bordentown, NJ

34. Thomas Paine Statue • Location: At the corner of Prince St. and Park St. close to the Delaware River embankment. • Significance - The Bordentown Historical Society was responsible for initiating and constructing only the third public monument to Paine in the U.S. This statue was unveiled and dedicated with much fanfare and half the national colonial war re-creation forces on June 7, 1997 (the weekend of the 188th anniversary of Paine's death). The Inscription on the base reads: "Thomas Paine - 1737-1809 - Father of the American Revolution". The statue was sculpted by Lawrence Holofcener.

35. More on Thomas Paine… • The statue features Paine standing with one foot resting up on a rock bearing the inscription "We have in our power to begin the world over again," from his book Common Sense, which inspired the colonists to war on behalf of democratic rights and independence, and not just a tax rebellion. Paine is depicted holding a copy of Common Sense in one hand and gesturing forward with the other. At his feet are his other great works, The Age of Reason, Rights of Man and American Crisis, as well as his musket. • The statue creates the first memorial to Common Sense, which exemplifies the American Revolution. The memorial depicts Paine as both author and soldier. Paine wrote Common Sense in the fall of 1775, in support of representative government, democracy and equality for all. He is credited in some circles with ghost-authoring the Declaration of Independence. This transformed America's mission from a rebellion against taxation into a struggle for independence and self-determination. Paine donated the proceeds from Common Sense to the Revolution. In 1776-77, Paine fought in the army as an Aide-de-Camp for General Greene. In 1777 he was appointed Chairman to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. • Another aspect of Paine's legacy is that he is credited with devising the cantilevered bridge.

37. The John Bull Locomotive Monument • Location: At the corner of Farnsworth Ave. and Railroad Ave. adjacent to the Farnsworth House, at 135 Farnsworth Avenue. • Significance - Moved here from its original location on Amboy Ave. in 1970, this monument commemorates the famous "John Bull" Locomotive. The inscription reads: First movement by steam on a railroad in the State of New Jersey, November 12, 1831 by the original locomotive "John Bull" now deposited in the United States National Museum at Washington. The first piece of railroad track in New Jersey was laid by the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company between this point and the stone 3,500 feet eastward in 1831.

38. More on the John Bull Monument… • According to the booklet issued for the monument dedication ceremonies, the Pennsylvania Railroad erected the monument “To mark the first piece of track laid between New York and Philadelphia, 1831.” While the bronze tablet set into the monument does celebrate the John Bull and its movement on the track, the monument primary purpose was to celebrate the trackage itself. The monument consists of a cube of Baltimore granite measuring five feet square and seven feet high set on a foundation of the stone sleepers, manufactured at Ossining Prison by inmates, which once supported the rails of the Camden & Amboy. A circle of original Robert L. Stevens’s designed T-rail encircles the stone cube. When the monument stood along the railroad right-of-way, a second marker, a stone obelisk, set 3,500 feet east of the main monument, marked the opposite end of the first section of track. Back in the early 1970s, a local plumbing supply retailer and renowned model maker named Ed Scholl rescued the monument and moved it to his front yard after discovering some miscreants had stolen a section of the original rail to sell for scrap. He recovered the rail section (or otherwise replaced it) and the main monument remained at his store and house until his death in the 1980s. Subsequent to Scholl’s demise, the City of Bordentown removed the monument and placed it at its current location. I am not aware of what happened to the obelisk marker.

40. Revolutionary War Ships Monument Bordentown, NJ

41. Revolutionary War Ships Monument • Location: Overlooking the juncture of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River from the bluff at the end of Prince Street. • Significance - This monument was dedicated on May 20, 1990 by the Rancocas Valley Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames XVII Century. The inscription reads: "Waters of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River join below. 22 vessels at Bordentown and 4 at White Hill were among the 44 that were destroyed in a British raid on May 8, 1778. All were trapped in the upper Delaware when the British took Philadelphia in September, 1777. Sites in Crosswicks Creek containing thye remains of 2 vessels are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

42. Bordentown Female College Watering Trough Intersection of Farnsworth Avenue and Crosswicks Street

43. Bordentown Iron Lacework overlooking the Delaware & Crosswicks Creek

44. Alice Paul Tombstone Cinnaminson Located in Westfield Friends Burial Ground Riverton Road, Cinnaminson, NJ

45. Eagles at Smithville Mansion Main Gate Eastampton, NJ

46. Eastampton: Smithville Tower Bell

47. Located on Smithville Road at the Eastampton Fire House. Removed from the Smithville Schoolhouse in 1948 by Ralph H. Maxvitat of Stratford, New Jersey

48. Roberts Landing Monument Maple Shade, NJ

49. Roberts Landing Monument • Location: Entering Maple Shade from Moorestown over the "Iron Bridge" which crosses the north branch of Pennsauken Creek, on the left hand side of the road, between the north and south ramps on Main Street leading to Route 73. It is across the ramp from the Maple Shade VFW building. Large brown-colored electrical generators are adjacent to the site. It is best to park at the VFW parking lot. • Significance - "On the 14th day of November, 1698 about 100 persons, more or less related to each other, gathered on the pasture of John R. Mason, in Chester Township, near what is known as the "Iron Bridge" over the north branch of the Pennsauken Creek on the Moorestown and Camden turnpike road at about 2:30 o'clock" according to a publication memorializing the event. They were there to dedicate the obelisk-shaped monument which can be seen today on this site. The monument marks the spot of the original settlement of the Roberts family in New Jersey, in 1682. The inscription on the monument reads: "John Roberts and his wife Sarah from Northampton, England 1677 settled here 1682. Erected by their descendants, 1898". • John and Sarah Roberts were among about 230 people, most of them Quakers, who, having sailed from England, arrived in New Jersey on August 16th, 1677 on "The Kent". They made their way first to Burlington, and with their fellow Quakers, established a community there. John had purchased a 267-acre plantation on the north branch of the Pennsauken Creek and laid claim to it in 1682. He and Sarah took a boat up the Pennsauken Creek, disembarking at their new property and while they were building their first home lived in a cave at the spot marked by the Roberts monument today.

50. Town Clock Maple Shade, NJ