By Dale Murschell
Clementon is located in the lower part of Camden County encompassing the Chews Landing/Berlin Road. Route 30, also known as the White Horse Pike, runs through the northeast corner of the Borough. Almost everyone who grew up in South Jersey, within 40 miles of Clementon during the middle of the 20th century, visited Clementon to enjoy the Amusement Park. This was before Six Flags, Great Adventure, etc., when local amusement parks were the only option. This park was started just after the turn of the century (1900), by the Gibbs family. Although picnicking, swimming and boating had been enjoyed for many years at the lake, the first amusement, swings, were added in 1905. In 1906, the first commercial amusement, a hand operated devise that went around, known as the Aerial Wave, was installed. In 1907, trolley tracks were installed from Haddon Heights to Clementon, allowing those in Camden and even Philadelphia easy rail and ferry transportation to the park. By the 1920s, the park was one of the best in the country. The photo below shows the park in the 1930s.
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There were so many visitors trying to jam onto the trolleys on Sunday nights, that wire fence pens were constructed to force the riders into lines for boarding the trolleys. I witnessed a similar procedure in the 1970s at Disney World, and thought it a novel idea. Little did I know that the concept was used in South Jersey 50 years earlier. The trolley was discontinued in the late 1930s. The Clementon Parks still survives, although not at the level of the glory days.
In the late 19th century, one of the most influential men of Clementon was Abel Bottoms. He was responsible for building a Hosiery Mill, the first water system, the first school, and the town hall. In the mid 19th century, Hillman Rowand operated a charcoal factory. He donated the wood for the construction of the Watsontown Methodist Church in 1859. It is said that in 1854, there were fifteen dwellings, a grist mill, and a saw-mill.
About fifty years earlier, one of the lesser known glass factories was operating in Clementon. The Clementon Glass Works has also been referred to as the Gloucester Co. Glass Works. It was located across the road from where eventually, the entrance to the Amusement Park was constructed. The years of operation have never been definitively established. Samuel Clement purchased a large tract of land in 1800. About 1804, there was a glass factory in operation, containing a nine-pot furnace. Exactly when it was erected is unclear. Although most of the Stanger Brothers were involved in the operation of the Glass Factory in Glassboro in the early 1800s, William Stanger provided the early knowledge of operation for the Clementon Glass Works. This glass factory was the third major glass factory in New Jersey, after Wistarburgh and the Stanger Factory in Glassboro, and the Stangers were associated with all three. Samuel Clement must have been having a difficult time, because the glass factory, along with the entire town were offered for sale in 1815.
It is assumed that Jonathon Haines purchased at least the Glass factory, because by 1817, Jonathon Haines was operating the Glass Works. Jonathon Haines (1791-1828) had been a storekeeper, trading under the name of Shreeve & Haines. Glass company money (scrip) or (shinplasters) ala. shinnies were issued bearing Jonathon Hainess name in 1817, to be used at the company store. The glass factory operated until sometime between 1822 and 1825. Mid 19th century maps show the glass works land being used as a pear orchard. Since the start of the glass works is not specifically defined, and the closing date has the same problem, it is difficult to define the years of operation. Possibly someone will eventually spend some time with further research on this subject.
Winter sleigh parties to glass factories were somewhat of an early 19th century cultural and social occasion or an early South Jersey tradition. The sleigh partiers enjoyed traveling to the nice warm atmosphere of the glass factory. Excerpts from Howard Kembles Glass Notes indicate that on a special night in Clementon, music would be available for the sleigh parties to dance. The music must have been quite invigorating as evidenced by a note in Samuel Mickles Diary that on January 22, 1812, Trial Westcott deceased last night at the dance at Clements Glass Works in Clementon, NJ. In addition to dancing, the partiers would have an opportunity to purchase glass items called glass house whimsies. These items included hats, horns, pitchers, candle sticks and glass animals. All items not normally made at a bottle factory.
The early years of production at Clementon saw many types of bottles produced, while the later years saw window glass as the product. As for what type of bottles were produced, we have Richmond Morcom, of Wilmot Flat, NH to thank. In the early 1960s, Richmond spent time digging old glass factory sites in South Jersey. One of those sites being Clementon, in Camden County. At this point, I want to thank Richmond for sharing with me what he found. Richmond mentioned his digging at Clementon (Gloucester Co. Glass Works) in his article in the Antique Bottle & Glass Collector magazine of January 2000, Digging The Early Glassworks. The photo below is Richmonds photo of his artifacts from Clementon. It shows quite a variety of colors and bottle parts. The second photo highlights artifacts of ribbed flasks that are included in the first photo.
These artifacts put into play the fact that the swirl ribbed Pitkin Type flasks were also made in South Jersey. The next photo shows a locally found flask, thought to have been made at Clementon.
The final photo shows additional bottles thought to be from Clementon, by matching the artifacts. Richmond also found parts of the standard black glass string lip cylinders, along with artifacts of clear glass bottles and decanters. For more information on Richmond Morcoms Clementon artifacts, please refer to his article in the ABG&C of January 2000, or the Corning Museums Journal of Glass Studies, Vol. X, 1968.
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