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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
Burlington was one of the first settlements to provide for public education. In 1682 an act of the assembly gave Matinicunk Island in Delaware River to the town with the stipulation that the revenue be used for the education of youth. The money from farm tenants on the island is still spent for schools.
The first schoolhouse was a Quaker institution. Built in 1792 (now occupied by the Young Women's Christian Association), it was constructed partly with bricks from the meeting house erected 1683. Members of the Church of England who came to Burlington were antagonistic to the Quaker classes that existed long before the school was built. In 1714 the Episcopal Society appointed as schoolmaster Rowland Ellis, who complained that his efforts were "beset with Heathenism Paganism Quakerism and God knows what." Ironically, a majority of the 20 pupils enrolled under Ellis at that time were Quakers.
The Episcopalians were no more friendly toward the very few Presbyterian newcomers. Of them, John Talbot, rector of St. Mary's, said: "The Presbyterians here come a great way to lay hands one on another; but after all I think they had as good stay at home, for the good they do." Methodists and Baptists joined the settlement a good deal later. Burlington's fine old Colonial churches are its heritage from those first citizens.
The town was capital of the Province from 1681, alternating with Perth Amboy after the union of West and East Jersey in 1702. During this period Burlington was the residence of Deputy Governors Samuel Jennings and Thomas Olive, and of Governor Jonathan Belcher.
A dozen years after its founding the town had a large pottery, salt house, and other industries. Shipbuilding became increasingly important. By 1744 Burlington ranked with New York, Philadelphia, and Boston as one of the busiest ports in the country.
In 1776 the little city, then numbering 1,000, was chosen as the meeting place of the Provincial Congress, which there adopted the State Constitution. Secure in their prosperity, the citizens of Burlington did not take the Revolution too seriously. The invasion of the town by about 400 Hessians in December 1776, and the cannonading in the spring of 1778 by two British warships returning from an attack on American frigates farther up the Delaware, were accepted with equanimity. In fact British naval officers had to warn spectators from the Green Bank before the bombardment
started.
Burlington's position on the main thoroughfare between New York and Philadelphia and the natural beauty of its site attracted many of the political and literary figures of the early days of the Republic. The town became a summer resort for the fashionables of Philadelphia.
An important contribution to agricultural methods was made by Charles Newbold of Burlington, who patented the cast-iron plow in 1797 (see AGRICULTURE). Farmers first feared that it would poison the soil, but their prejudice was finally overcome.
About 1838 a silkworm industry was started with acres of mulberry trees, but the experiment failed. From the Civil War to the present Burlington's industries have developed substantially, but the once vital shipping trade has disappeared.
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