February 4, 1830--Delaware-Raritan Canal Incorporated

A canal across central Jersey was an inevitable phenomenon.  William Penn, back in the 1670's, thought of the idea first.  He sent out surveyors to explore the possibility of constructing a canal across the Jerseys, from the Delaware River to New York Bay--in other words, find an easier avenue of commerce between New York and Philadelphia.  It took a long time for Penn's idea to become a reality--February 4, 1830, to be exact.  That is when the State of New Jersey granted a charter to the Delaware & Raritan Canal and Banking Company  to construct an artificial waterway between the Delaware River and the Raritan River.  The stage was set for a canal route that would cut through old South Brunswick and skirt by the staid village of Kingston.  The canal was to become an integral extension of the South Brunswick transportation system--but only for ten decades.  Also in 1830, a charter was granted to the Camden & Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company to construct a line in direct competition with the canal.  Soon thereafter, the railroad started winning out as there new major form of transportation across New Jersey.  By mid-November of 1830, construction of the canal began.  Steady progress was made along several sections, including the ones around Kingston.  In the summer of 1832, the first major setback occurred when many laborers, most of them Irish immigrants, succumbed to an outbreak of Asiatic cholera.  In the fall of 1833, the canal was opened from Trenton to Kingston.  The entire length was opened by May of 1834.  Canal traffic thrived until the early 1870's when the Pennsylvania Railroad expanded to a four-line track.  As railroad profits increased, canal profits decreased.  After 1900, the canal system was operating at a loss.  Yacht passage kept the canal going in the 1920's, but by 1932 the canal had to close and ceased to function as a transportation link.  William Penn's idea proved to be a good one--but delayed too long and doomed when it finally started.  The problem was not location, location, location.  The problem was luck and timing.  The railroad proved to be a better idea.

February 3, 2004--Seth Dvorin, SBHS Graduate Slain in Iraq

First Lt. Seth Dvorin, who graduated from South Brunswick High School in 1998, died near Iskandariyah, Iraq, after a roadside bomb exploded while he was conducting a counter explosive mission.  Seth was an officer in the 10th Mountain Division, Battery B, 3rd. Battalion, 62nd. Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the United States Army.  For his bravery in the line of duty, Dvorin was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.  He was posthumously promoted from Second to First Lieutenant.  Eye-witnesses to the explosion described Lieutenant Dvorin as a true hero who warned others to get back from the bomb he had spotted.  That day, he gave up his life to save many others.  Throughout his life there were many examples of his helping others, showing courage, and practicing compassion.  After Seth graduated from South Brunswick High School, he wanted to join the Army; however, his parents insisted he go to college first, then go into the military.  After the military experience, Seth planned to work for the FBI or the CIA.  At Rutgers, Dvorin received a Bachelor's Degree in Criminology in 2002.  He enlisted right after graduating and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Then, it was on to the Air Defense Artillery School at El Paso, Texas.  After finishing his training, he found out that he was going to be sent to Iraq.  Before going overseas, Seth married his college sweetheart, Kelly Harris.  Five days after getting married he left for Iraq.    In June of 2004, the South Brunswick Township Council honored this brave soldier's ultimate sacrifice.  Dvorin's mother was presented with two plaques--one held an inscription that described how the community felt about her son.  The other plaque featured a picture of Lt. Dvorin posing in front of a large American flag.  The mother, in turn, announced a scholarship to be set up in her son's name to recognize students who study the humanities.  Seth Dvorin gave it his all each day of a life cut short by the tragedy of war.  May his memory live on.

February 2, 1799--Aaron Dean's Will Seals Fate of His Slaves

"Innisfree" Dean House 739 Georges Road

Aaron Dean, Sr., was one of the "founding fathers" of South Brunswick (previously part of the South Ward of Middlesex County).  He owned several acres of land and he owned several slaves.  The fate of these slaves was sealed in Dean's will, dated February 2, 1779.  Aaron Dean, Jr., received a young slave, named Frank.  The deceased's wife, Charity, received two female slaves, Pat and Dine.  His daughters, Margaret and Ruth, were to receive Pat and Dine after Charity's passing.  John Dean was to receive a young slave whose name was unknown.  Daniel Dean acquired a servant, named Robert.  In Daniel's will, Robert was to be manumitted and given thirty dollars upon the death of Daniel's wife, Ruth.  Abraham Dean acquired an indented young female, named Abigail, who went to Abraham's wife, Isabel, at his passing.  Finally a female servant, named Dinah, was manumitted at the age of twenty.  This information, though incomplete and sparse, indicates that almost all those who descended from the original Aaron Dean (whom the Deans part of South Brunswick Township is named after) possessed servants--be they slaves, indentures, or black freemen--for generations.  The last Dean servant was Peter Baker, who lived in a cottage adjacent to the Dean homestead.  He had outlived the last of the local Dean family members and was left on his own.  In his final years, when Peter could no longer work, he became a charge of the Township.  "Old Pete",  as he was known by locals, passed away after living a long, full life.  It was discovered that he had used much less than what the Township had allotted him (close to $700 remained unused).  Before he died, Pete Baker requested that these monies be returned to the Township and given to someone who needed it more than he did.  Sometimes the true heroes hide in the history.  Most times we never bother to find them.  Such is not the case in this blog--hats off to "Old Pete."

February 1, 1951--George Parker Wins Poultry Trophy

Parker Poultry Farm

Practical poultryman, George R. Parker of Monmouth Junction, did not lay an egg on February 1, 1951.  Far from it.  His accomplishment was more of the "golden egg" variety during the 1951 Farmer's Week, held by the New Jersey State Poultry Association.  At the 60th annual meeting of the Association at the Hotel Hidebrecht in Trenton, New Jersey,  the winners in various categories of competition were announced . . . and you guessed it--our own George R. Parker received the coveted Poultry Green Pastures Trophy for best poultry range in the State of New Jersey during 1950.  Back in the day, there were fewer ways to bring glory to your community, but Mister Parker found a way to put Monmouth Junction "on the map."  Parker was no spring chicken when it came to receiving accolades for his accomplishments in the poultry business.  He has been called upon at various occasions to speak on panels at the Black Farmers' Annual Conference.  We felt all along that George R. Parker knew his chickens--but in 1951, he had a trophy to prove it.  When asked by a local reporter in New Brunswick, which came first "the chicken or the egg?"  Mister Parker replied "It all depends how wide the road is."

January 31, 1934--Monmouth Junction RR Engineer, Alonzo Wright's Funeral

Monmouth Junction Train Station

Veteran railroader and noted musician, Alonzo Francis Wright of Monmouth Junction, was laid to rest on January 31, 1934.  When Wright was a mere lad of twelve, his father, Joel Wright--an engineer on the old Camden and Amboy Railroad--taught him how to run the famous English engine, "John Bull."  He was present when the engine arrived at Bordentown, saw it being assembled at the wharf, and helped feed it wood to burn instead of coal.  In 1865, he moved with his family to Princeton where his father served as an engineer on the Princeton Junction branch.  Joel Wright served as a telegraph operator at Princeton Junction until 1876.  On January 29, 1877, Wright married Kate D. Groendyke.  Before he died, they had celebrated fifty-six years together.  His son, Alonzo, followed in his father's footsteps in working for the railroad.  He also was an ardent church-goer.  Wright served as a Sunday school teacher, was a member of the choir, and the church treasurer.  He was also a talented musician, who performed on the piano, violin, banjo, cornet, accordion, and mouth organ.  This humble, multi-talented man just happened to be descended from English nobility (so he claimed as often as given the opportunity)--his great-grandmother, Harriet Luttrell, was the daughter of the Earl of Carhampton, who once held a seat in Parliament in the British House of Lords.  This is but another example of the colorful characters who have been a part of South Brunswick Township history.  Legend has it that this Alonzo Francis Wright was never wrong (so he claimed as often as given the opportunity).

January 30, 1968--Timothy Ochs Ambushed in Vietnam

Timothy Ochs' 1965 Valhalla Yearbook picture

He was only twenty-one years old when he lost his life.  Specialist Fourth Class, Timothy C. Ochs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Ochs of Georges Road, Dayton, was killed in an ambush while en route to a new assignment near Saigon on January 30, 1968.  This tragedy occurred just days after he had completed a thirty-six day leave to see his parents back home.  Ochs had served a year prior to the leave and had re-enlisted in the Army in December before coming home to visit.  He had volunteered for another six months of service to his country.  Timothy was a life-long resident of Dayton.  He graduated from South Brunswick High School in 1965.  He then matriculated at the Institute of Computer Programming in New Brunswick.  Then he entered the military.  After receiving his basic training at Fort Dix, Ochs was assigned to Vietnam as a computer data processing specialist.  After his final six-month tour, he was planning to return to a job waiting for him at McGraw-Hill in Hightstown, New Jersey.  Timothy Ochs, one of our hometown heroes, never got the chance.

January 29, 1862--Francis Tites of Little Rocky Hill Dies

 Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Union Church

Many of us South Brunswick Townshippers drive through Little Rocky Hill on Route 27 and know little or nothing about the community that has been there since colonial times.  At an earlier time, the road sat east of where it now passes through Little Rocky Hill.  Along the old route an integrated community sprang up and clustered around the Mount Zion A. M. E. Church which was founded in 1843 and still stands.  The original name of the church was "Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Union Church."  One of the unsung founders of this church was Francis Tites, who passed away on January 29, 1862.  He lived on Old Road, which is the same road the church is on.  The nearby cemetery was started at the same time the church was.  After Mr. Tites (aka: Titus) passed away, he was buried in this cemetery by the church he loved.  The guiding principle of the A. M. E. Church is that all men, regardless of race, are brothers in God's eyes.  The founder of the first A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia, Richard Allen, was a former slave who did not like being told where a person of color had to pray.  He felt the races did not have to be separated at a place of worship.  Founder's Day for the A. M. E. Church  in Philadelphia coincides with Allen's birthday on February 14, 1760.  His movement of protest against the established Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1787, evolved into the A. M. E. Church.  The Church and its doctrine of inclusion spread to other states.  These included Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.  Francis Tites was one of the first in Little Rocky Hill to be inspired by Allen's message of brotherhood.  It took courage and conviction to express such a message in those days.  Tites made sure the Little Rocky Hill community stood as a beacon of what a free society could be.  A hundred years after Tites passed away, a new Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church was constructed north of the original structure on Old Road in Little Rocky Hill.  The reader is invited to find the Old Road the next time driving on Route 27 and take a step back in history