Accession #2026-05
Letter from John and Mary Muffett writing from Spalding, England, to George Hunt on Germantown Road in Philadelphia. Dated 1/3/1836.
Letter to George Hunt, page 1
The Historical Society recently received a donation of letters, certificates, deeds, photos and ephemera related to residents of the house at 505 Camden Avenue. One of the most interesting items in the collection was a three-page letter addressed to George Hunt “Opposite the Woodman Hotel on the Germantown Road, Philadelphia, North Ammerica.” It was posted from Spalding, Lincolnshire, England on January 3, 1836 by John and Mary Muffett and received by Hunt on March 9, 1836.
Genealogical research revealed that John Muffett’s sister, Mary Ann, was married to George Blanchflower Hunt, who was a Kensington, PA brickmaker. The letter relayed Muffett family news and gossip and John shared that he had a 7-week old son named Robert. He then went on to recount the poor economic conditions in England at the time. John Muffett was also a brickmaker and it was hard to find work in England at that time. There were few jobs to be had except for building government work houses and wages were very low. John Muffett said he would like to come to “Ammerica” but he didn’t have enough money and was hoping that George Hunt and other family members could offer him a loan. He was interested in the “system of work” here – how many hours of work per day, how hard was the work, and the details of the brickmaking trade such as the type of kiln and fuel used.
Letter to George Hunt, page 2
After several pleas for assistance, he states:
“I should like to have an answer about the letter end of March next that I may be prepared time enough to leave England about the first of April, but remember I shall always be desirous of coming at any opportunity as I shall not stand for the time of year wether Spring or Autumn Butt the sooner the better – it will suit me, for our Prospects are anything but good ones as it appears to me that we are coming to the last scene of the Play, that is after they get the Workhouses done, trade will then be at a stand is the opinion of many.”
Did John Muffett ever make it to “Ammerica?” His son Robert, according to census records, immigrated here in 1847. Robert appears with his family on the 1860 US Census in Chester Township. It took longer than he would have liked but John and his son purchased land in 1863 on the north side of E. Main St. near the entrance to Maple Shade going up the hill. They owned and resided in an imposing brick double house. It has since been converted to a single family residence. The house is obscured by a thick, tall hedge, but still remains. The Muffett brickyards were behind the house. They appear in the Moorestown Commercial Agency Register business directory for July 1878 as – John Muffett & Son – Bricks.
What brought the Muffetts all the way from England to what is now Maple Shade to make bricks? In the 19 th century, that area was well known for the excellent clay along the north branch of the Pennsauken Creek. Geologically speaking, that area is part of the Merchantville Formation, an Upper Cretaceous geological layer spanning western New Jersey through Burlington and Camden counties that was formed underwater roughly 80 million years ago. It consists of dark-colored, clayey glauconite sand and was historically utilized for local brick-making and known for yielding marine fossils. The brickyards of Maple Shade produced not only bricks but also terra cotta pipes and other terra cotta products.
Letter to George Hunt, page 3
The house and brickyard remained in the ownership of the Muffett family until 1888 when John Muffett died. The next significant owner was Augustus Reeve’s Maple Shade Brickworks which was followed by several others. The brickyard operated until the Great Depression. Another nearby brickyard, the Graham Brick Co., operated until the 1950s. Robert Muffett lived on Camden Avenue in Chester Township (the Maple Shade part) according to local directories from 1894 to at least 1920. Census records list him working in the brick industry into his 80s. He passed away in 1925 and was buried in Colestown Cemetery. His obituary pronounced him one of the first settlers in Maple Shade and one of the oldest Odd Fellows.
An acquisition like this is fascinating because it explains the motivations for an immigrant family to leave everything searching for a better life. And we learned the origin story of a prominent local family of tradesmen whose labor contributed to the buildings we still see every day. – Stephanie Herz, Historical Society Librarian
Matlack’s Dairy Bar Menu Cover
Accession #2025-20
Menu from Matlack’s Dairy Bar formerly located on Kings Highway in Moorestown, NJ
Two-sided, folded 8″X5″, Yellow outer cover
Inside – Full Menu
Donated by Sue Powers
Matlack’s Dairy Bar Menu Inside
Undated photo of the Hugh Hollinshead House located at 260 E Main St.
Accession #2025-11
This house, recent winner of a Blue Ribbon award for Historic Preservation, was home to members of the Hollinshead, Higbee and Morris families who are the subject of a newly donated archive. Details coming soon!
To learn about the house click here.
3 inches round, hand-crocheted of metal colored beads forming an 8-point star.
Accession #1995-13-06
Woman’s coin purse 3” Hand-crocheted of metal colored beads forming an 8-point star. The top has a raised design of a woman’s head in the art-nouveau style. Hinges frame with a pinch clasp closure. This coin purse was donated by Marguerite Coates Cowan, daughter of William G. and Shreve (Kaisel) Cowan, granddaughter of Sallie Ann Wilkens Cowan. It belonged to Sallie Ann Wilkens (the donor’s grandmother.)
Our student intern, Brianna Pepe, has curated an exhibit of vintage beaded purses that are part of the Historical Society’s textile collection. The collection will be on display through December 2024. Read more about it in our September 2024 newsletter!
Top of the coin purse has a raised design of a woman’s head in the art-nouveau style. Hinges frame with a pinch clasp closure.
The opened coin purse.
Crazy Quilt by Marianna Darnell, 1886
Accession #2024-01-01
58″ x 68″ silk, velvet cotton needlework patchwork quilt made by Marianna Darnell (1845-1914) The quilt contains beautiful motifs of flora and fauna and is an example of a Crazy Quilt which was popular from the 1870s to the mid-1880s. To read more see page 5 (below) of our March 2024 newsletter HSM_Mar_2024_NL-C-022824
Friendship Fan
Accession #1970-06-02
A “friendship fan” dated 1868 donated by Mrs Horter Hillman in 1970. A collection of poems copied by “Aunt Rachel Wills” in a bound copy book was donated at the same time. The fan has the signature of “Sallie Wills” who may be the sister of Rachel A Wills. If you have information about any of these people, or this fan, let us know!
Oil painting by Emma Markley Stow
Accession #2020-07
Oil painting (16″x23.5″) by Emma Markley Stow of RCA’s Astro Electronics Missile Defense “Golfball” or radome.
The radome contained an 84-foot rotating radar antenna designed to detect and track various space objects, primarily missiles.
From the archives: Did you know that Moorestown played a significant role during the Cuban Missile Crisis? On 24 October 1962, while President Kennedy read an angry letter from Soviet Chairman Khrushchev that defied compliance with Kennedy’s demands to remove nuclear missiles in Cuba, plans were made to repurpose an incoming missile detection system housed in the “golf ball” building in Moorestown. Normally, the Moorestown system was used for testing purposes, but given the situation in Cuba, the Moorestown system was pressed into real service and was pointed at Cuba to detect any missiles launched toward the United States.
The painting was donated by Helen Anderson and it belonged to her father, Wendall Anderson, an RCA engineer.
Anna W Sutton, Autographs
Accession #2017-09-01
4.5″ x 6″ brown leather Moorestown High School Autograph book belonging to Anna W Sutton, Nancy Froelicher’s mother. Entry dates 1924-1926 with many short rhyming verses.
Page from Anna Sutton’s Autographs Book. Click to enlarge.
Page from Anna Sutton’s Autographs Book.Click to enlarge.
Page from Anna Sutton’s Autographs Book. Click to enlarge.
Sampler by Martha Cowperthwaite, age 10, 1818.
Accession #2010-18
Sampler by Martha Cowperthwaite, 1818. Donated to the Historical Society in 2010 by Susan Alloway of Columbus, NJ, who said the sampler belonged to her late mother-in-law Elizabeth Alloway. The sampler has recently been beautifully restored thanks to a generous grant from the Indian Springs Questers. To read more about it, see below. Better yet, visit us at Smith-Cadbury to see it up close!
Restoration of Samplers HSM 2018 (1)
Porcelain Doll from 1744
Accession #2018-04
Doll dated 1744. 10 inches long by 3 inches wide. Porcelain face with painted facial features and rouge cheeks. The porcelain head is attached to a wood piece that stops 6″ down. The bottom of the doll does not have an interior frame and the full length beige muslin type fabric covers down to the rest of the doll dress which is ruffled and long sleeved. The arms of the doll are made of rolled fabric. There is an ornate ribboned blue bonnet with a chin ribbon tie. The bodice of the dress is adorned with a bib that has two rows of green and blue beads.
The doll is a donation from Elizabeth Hawks of Naples, NY who is a sister of Bill Archer who, with his wife Eileen, brought the doll to the Historical Society.
An engraved card with “Miss Reeve, 141 East Main Street Moorestown, N.J.” states, “This doll dates from about 1744-She belonged to Hannah Core Foster who married Mark Reeve in 1764.” A ribboned card that accompanies the doll states: “Cinnaminson Home Fete, June 1918, Doll Show, Oldest Doll” The box the doll is in is from Van Dusen & Stokes Co, Artistic Jewelry Oriental Art Objects, 1123 Chestnut Street, Phildelphia Pa.
Alice Doughten oil painting
Accession #2017-20
The Develin Family donated this oil painting by Alice Doughten. Alice Doughten studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and won the prestigious Cresson Award for study abroad in 1910. She studied in France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Northern Italy. Her work at the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy is renowned.
Quilt that was found in a trunk in the attic of Nancy Froelicher’s home.
Accession #2017-11
90″ x 90″ square quilt that is not padded and does not have a bottom layer so that the back side of the quilt is exposed showing stitching and quilt side has unfinished edges. There wasn’t any information about the family origin of the quilt that was found in a trunk in the attic of Nancy Froelicher’s previous home on Main St. For more information and to see the quilt please visit us at Smith-Cadbury Mansion when we reopen in September!
Bowers Candy Tin
Accession #2015-17
Recently donated by Historical Society member Dave Homer, a Bowers Old Fashioned Creamy Mints tin. MFD. By Bowers Candies DIV. Of C. J. Webb, INC., Moorestown, N.J. 08057. Ingredients: Cane Sugar, Water, Cream of Tartar, Oil of Peppermint. Do you have information about the Bowers Company that operated in Moorestown for many years? Let us know! Post a comment below!
Henry W. Moore Diary for 1873: click to enlarge.
Accession #2015-12
New in our collection are three books that belonged to the William Moore family. They include a handwritten arithmetic book dated 1829 possibly belonging to Martha Warrington Moore, a detailed ledger book of the Moore finances dated 1841-1881, and a diary of Henry W. Moore (1839-1920) covering the years between 1873-1881. William was the great grandson of Benjamin Moore, believed to have been the brother of Thomas Moore, namesake of our town. The three children of William and Martha Warrington Moore–Henry W., William S., and Hannah E. Moore–lived together as adults in their parent’s home. Bertha and Harvey Brown took care of the childless Moore siblings in their old age, as well as their house and garden. Consequently, the house and its contents were willed to the Browns. This donation comes from Bertha Bendel, daughter of Bertha and Harvey Brown, who grew up and still lives in the Moore home.
