Steve/sewell
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Glass historians have always labeled a certain factory in New Jersey as Crowleytown. No glass factory was ever called Crowleytown. The Mckearins had some of the history correct but it was a combination of them,One of the greatest New Jersey Glass historians Ed Pfeiffer,local tax and business records, Howard Kembles glass notes and research by myself including visiting the site on numerous occasions to finally I believe in creating the most accurate chronological order of events. If any one has any other information regarding this subject please post it here and correct any possible misinformation. Thank you
The glass factory at Crowleytown was located where the Crowley's Landing picnic area is located today in the Wharton tract State Forest just off of County route 542,in Washington Township New Jersey. Samuel Crowley Sr.who was born on the 5th of MAY 1788 and died on the 23rd of OCT 1864 was the owner of four hundred acres of land deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. He did not erect the first glass works there as legend has stated it was in fact John Huffsey of Philadelphia. By the following year the town as a whole consisted of the glass house,a hotel a blacksmith shop, a school, a store, and about 17 other dwellings. This factory employed twelve glass blowers.
Huffsey named his glass works the Atlantic Glass works. Samuel Crowley Jr was born on the 28th day of February 1811,and died on the 22 of January 1887. He now entered the picture in 1855 as a part owner of the town along with his father and relative Isaiah Weeks and and tried to sell to investors that the town and the glass works would be come quite profitable.He also with other business and influential wealthy men located nearby who owned either Iron works or other glass factories petitioned the State of New Jersey for the construction of a canal to the Delaware river.This never materialized as the business environment was growing cold. The first 4 years of the factory were quite profitable. This is also the period when the first Mason jars were blown here and also at the the Tansboro Glass works by John Mason. A downturn in business brought on by stiff competition from other nearby glass works in Southern New Jersey slowed output dramatically.
Ultimately the glasshouse proved unprofitable for Huffsey as an owner when Samuel Crowley Jr. failed to attract the necessary investment in the village .Huffsey sold his interest in the glass works back to Samuel Crowley Jr who then leased the glass works to a group of New York and Philadelphia investors headed by Daniel Burling and his brothers in 1857. As part of the lease agreement in 1857 Samuel Jr agreed to purchase half of the glass products produced at the factory. Burling was in Camden, New Jersey listed as a merchant in the year 1850 . He is also listed as a merchant on Cliff Street in New York City in 1859 and in 1860 he is listed as being in the glass business at the Atlantic Glass Company. Burling is also listed in the Washington Township tax list with the other glass workers in Crowleyville in 1860. Daniel did well for about two years but gave up the lease and the business went back back to Samuel Crowley Jr and Isaiah Weeks in 1862.
In the same year Crowley and Weeks reorganized the glass works and Crowley Jr assumed full control naming the Glass works the Crowleyville Glass company. Samuel Crowley jr operated the glass works from 1862 to 1864 when he leased the works to David Felt of New York City. The town at the time consisted of two lots and fourteen houses,a hotel,general store and a small grist mill. The US Civil War began on 12 April 1861.Samuel Crowley Sr died on the 23rd of October and Samuel Jr inherited his fathers interest in the town. The war had a devastating effect on virtually all business's. When the war ended Felt went out of business and Crowley Jr was forced to sell his interest in the Glass works back to Isaiah Weeks in 1866. It seems Samuel Crowley jr got into financial hard times and was accused of swindling his sister in-law out of 15,000 dollars.When a court ruled in the sister in-laws favor Samuel Jr was forced to sell everything he owned to pay his court ordered debt to his creditors and sister in law. The Crowleys and the Weeks were inter related through the generations and money can ruin anything as we all know.
Isaiah Weeks in turn sold the factory back to the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company where again Crowley Jr was a part owner of. The company also owned the Bulltown glass factory down river and the Milford glass works near Pendleton. In 1868 The works were purchased by a group of 4 men led by John Daugherty who continued to call the Glass works the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company. In less then a years time the company again was restructured and John Daugherty and Company named their glass works The Neptune glass and manufacturing company.This company manufactured all sorts of glass ware including the famous Gothic pickle jars and many soda and porter bottles. The Neptune glass works operated until 1871 .This was the final failure of the glass works. This was also the end of Crowleytown the small hamlet. Samuel Jr. was unable to come up with enough revenue to pay his sister in-law the court rendered judgement.Then as quickly as the town Samuel Crowley Sr. had founded sprung up it ended just as quickly. Although it was abandoned, the plant stood until it finally collapsed in 1874. The Crowleytown glass works were literally blown over by a possible tornado.
This is a pretty accurate account of the company's and names associated with the glass works at Crowleyville by doing painstaking research at various towns tax records,New Jersey historic Business records and glass notes from Howard Kemble. A majority of the Washington/Taylor Historical Flasks were made at the factories associated with the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company. These were the factories of Milford,The Atlantic Glass Works and Bulltown. Also made at the various glass works at Crowleyville were quite a few soda and beer bottles along with common medicine bottle and vials.
I found the following bottles on the Mullica River directly at the factory site right next to the boat slip earlier this year in April when we in Southern New Jersey were still in drought conditions. The Mullica River was running at about 50 percent of normal yearly average and at low tide 70 horizontal feet of river bank bottom was exposed during low tide. These two bottles in the purest blue green aqua color were lying stuck in the mud about twenty feet apart along with numerous shards all in the same deep rich aqua color.The flow of the river at Crowleys landing is slowed because of layout of the bank. It is almost an inlet which protects the area from swift current.
The beer or soda Bottle is embossed E Low Gloucester Co. It was I believe an Iron Pontiled bottle. The Square medicine bottle is smooth based but I believe it was made here also in the last years of the factory.
The glass factory at Crowleytown was located where the Crowley's Landing picnic area is located today in the Wharton tract State Forest just off of County route 542,in Washington Township New Jersey. Samuel Crowley Sr.who was born on the 5th of MAY 1788 and died on the 23rd of OCT 1864 was the owner of four hundred acres of land deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. He did not erect the first glass works there as legend has stated it was in fact John Huffsey of Philadelphia. By the following year the town as a whole consisted of the glass house,a hotel a blacksmith shop, a school, a store, and about 17 other dwellings. This factory employed twelve glass blowers.
Huffsey named his glass works the Atlantic Glass works. Samuel Crowley Jr was born on the 28th day of February 1811,and died on the 22 of January 1887. He now entered the picture in 1855 as a part owner of the town along with his father and relative Isaiah Weeks and and tried to sell to investors that the town and the glass works would be come quite profitable.He also with other business and influential wealthy men located nearby who owned either Iron works or other glass factories petitioned the State of New Jersey for the construction of a canal to the Delaware river.This never materialized as the business environment was growing cold. The first 4 years of the factory were quite profitable. This is also the period when the first Mason jars were blown here and also at the the Tansboro Glass works by John Mason. A downturn in business brought on by stiff competition from other nearby glass works in Southern New Jersey slowed output dramatically.
Ultimately the glasshouse proved unprofitable for Huffsey as an owner when Samuel Crowley Jr. failed to attract the necessary investment in the village .Huffsey sold his interest in the glass works back to Samuel Crowley Jr who then leased the glass works to a group of New York and Philadelphia investors headed by Daniel Burling and his brothers in 1857. As part of the lease agreement in 1857 Samuel Jr agreed to purchase half of the glass products produced at the factory. Burling was in Camden, New Jersey listed as a merchant in the year 1850 . He is also listed as a merchant on Cliff Street in New York City in 1859 and in 1860 he is listed as being in the glass business at the Atlantic Glass Company. Burling is also listed in the Washington Township tax list with the other glass workers in Crowleyville in 1860. Daniel did well for about two years but gave up the lease and the business went back back to Samuel Crowley Jr and Isaiah Weeks in 1862.
In the same year Crowley and Weeks reorganized the glass works and Crowley Jr assumed full control naming the Glass works the Crowleyville Glass company. Samuel Crowley jr operated the glass works from 1862 to 1864 when he leased the works to David Felt of New York City. The town at the time consisted of two lots and fourteen houses,a hotel,general store and a small grist mill. The US Civil War began on 12 April 1861.Samuel Crowley Sr died on the 23rd of October and Samuel Jr inherited his fathers interest in the town. The war had a devastating effect on virtually all business's. When the war ended Felt went out of business and Crowley Jr was forced to sell his interest in the Glass works back to Isaiah Weeks in 1866. It seems Samuel Crowley jr got into financial hard times and was accused of swindling his sister in-law out of 15,000 dollars.When a court ruled in the sister in-laws favor Samuel Jr was forced to sell everything he owned to pay his court ordered debt to his creditors and sister in law. The Crowleys and the Weeks were inter related through the generations and money can ruin anything as we all know.
Isaiah Weeks in turn sold the factory back to the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company where again Crowley Jr was a part owner of. The company also owned the Bulltown glass factory down river and the Milford glass works near Pendleton. In 1868 The works were purchased by a group of 4 men led by John Daugherty who continued to call the Glass works the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company. In less then a years time the company again was restructured and John Daugherty and Company named their glass works The Neptune glass and manufacturing company.This company manufactured all sorts of glass ware including the famous Gothic pickle jars and many soda and porter bottles. The Neptune glass works operated until 1871 .This was the final failure of the glass works. This was also the end of Crowleytown the small hamlet. Samuel Jr. was unable to come up with enough revenue to pay his sister in-law the court rendered judgement.Then as quickly as the town Samuel Crowley Sr. had founded sprung up it ended just as quickly. Although it was abandoned, the plant stood until it finally collapsed in 1874. The Crowleytown glass works were literally blown over by a possible tornado.
This is a pretty accurate account of the company's and names associated with the glass works at Crowleyville by doing painstaking research at various towns tax records,New Jersey historic Business records and glass notes from Howard Kemble. A majority of the Washington/Taylor Historical Flasks were made at the factories associated with the Burlington, Atlantic, Cape May, and Philadelphia Glass Company. These were the factories of Milford,The Atlantic Glass Works and Bulltown. Also made at the various glass works at Crowleyville were quite a few soda and beer bottles along with common medicine bottle and vials.
I found the following bottles on the Mullica River directly at the factory site right next to the boat slip earlier this year in April when we in Southern New Jersey were still in drought conditions. The Mullica River was running at about 50 percent of normal yearly average and at low tide 70 horizontal feet of river bank bottom was exposed during low tide. These two bottles in the purest blue green aqua color were lying stuck in the mud about twenty feet apart along with numerous shards all in the same deep rich aqua color.The flow of the river at Crowleys landing is slowed because of layout of the bank. It is almost an inlet which protects the area from swift current.
The beer or soda Bottle is embossed E Low Gloucester Co. It was I believe an Iron Pontiled bottle. The Square medicine bottle is smooth based but I believe it was made here also in the last years of the factory.
] Huffsey Mason Jars or the Atlantic Glass Works Mason Jars . I like Huffsey Jars has a nice ring to it.[8D]
