William P. Smallwood is supposed to have been born in "the house with the well in the yard" at Batsto in the winter of 1857 or 1858. His father, Samuel Smallwood, appears on the 1860 Census for Washington Township, working as a glassworker (presumably at Batsto).

UPDATE SEP 21 2003
A birth certificate has been found for William P. Smallwood AT BATSTO on 8th of Feb. 1858.( Vol. D-2,p.354), confirming the above theory. (Thanks to Judith for this information!)

Judith has also provided the following outline of Samuel Smallwood and family for us:

1830- Born May 20 in Galloway Twp.  Parents Samuel and Mary(Weldon) listed in 
Galloway Twp. Gloucester Co. 1780-1834
1834 � Father, Samuel dies in Port Republic
1850 � July 14 marries Mary Jane Allen, 
daughter of Jos. Allen,Jr. and Sarah Bodine Allen
(Her parents are innkeepers at Lower Bank).
Sept. 6 census lists them (the newlyweds) in Manchester Twp., Allegheny Co. PA.  
He is a �glassblower�. They are With several other NJ families.

At some point they return to NJ, and apparently Samuel goes to work at Batsto.
Daughter Sarah Elizabeth is born in New Jersey
1854 � Daughter Georgianna is born in New Jersey.
1856 � March 18, wife dies.   She is buried in Lower Bank.
1857 marries Maria Lucinda Allen, sister of first wife.
1858 � February 8th, son, William P. is born at Batsto, Burlington Co.,NJ
1859 � Wife dies on April 15th.  She is buried alongside sister.
1860 � Census shows Samuel
living in Washington Twp. With his third wife,
Rachel Peterson and the above three children.  
They proceed to have two girls and four boys.
1870 � Census shows this family living in Clayton Twp. 
Again, Samuel indicates he is a glassblower. William P. is listed as 12, Mary Jane is 8, 
Walter is 6 and Franklin is 6 mths. Old. The two older girls are gone.
(I found Georgianna living in Cape May with uncle, Jacob Smallwood in 1870.
Sarah Elizabeth marries in Cape May three years later, so she may be
in the area at this time as well.)
1880 � Census shows this family living on S. Pearl St. in Bridgeton, NJ, Samuel 
working as a glassblower, Rachel at home with five children and a boarder.  Son William P.
also living in town with his wife Annie and infant.  He too works in glass factory.  
(It is to be noted that Francis L. Bodine became part-owner of a failing glass business, 
re-named the Cohansey Glass Manufacturing Co., and running from  S. Pearl St. 
to the Cohansey Creek.  Since this is a blood relative of Samuel�s first two wives, 
it is possible that he re-located to work for this concern.)
1890 � Census not available.  Only a fragment of Hudson Co. for NJ.
1893-94 City Directory for Vineland indicates that the son, William P. has 
moved to that town with wife AnnaMary, dressmaker, living at 318 N. Boulevard.
1895-96 City Directory for Bridgeton has Samuel�s family living at 71 Orange Street.  
Sons Frank H. and Jacob live at home and work as gatherers in the glass factory.  Walter 
is living at 131 Church St. and is a glassblower.
1900 Census � Samuel is back in Galloway Twp., Atlantic County.  
The family rents a home in Port Republic near the Van Sant
boatworks.
Wife Rachel is listed, as well as son, Jacob and daughter Grace Elwell.  Though she is married 
one month, no mention is made of her husband.
1909/10 � Samuel dies �at home of his daughter in Gloucester� either on Dec. 28  1909 or 
Jan. 1, 1910 as listed by Gloucester Democrat and the Woodbury Constitution.  
In both death notices he is described as �former resident of Glassboro�.  I think he was in the 
home of his daughter Mary Jane, listed as Jennie Richman, living on the Malaga Road in Franklin 
Twp. He is buried in the Malaga cemetery with wife Rachel, son Jacob Smallwood, daughters 
Grace (Mrs. Aquila D. Elwell) and Mary Jane (Mrs. William Richman). 
 This was confirmed on a walk through 2/12/03 and photographed.

• Georgianna, Mrs. David Baird,lived and died in Beverly, NJ. Her husband was a secretary for the railroad.
• Sarah Elizabeth, Mrs. Albert Bennett, lived in Cape May, NJ. Her husband was a painter, previously married or widower with child.
• William P. Smallwood lived in Vineland, NJ and worked as a foreman in the glass factory . His children and grandchildren resided in the Vineland area but none went on to work in glass.

In jumping back a generation: to begin work on Samuel #2 (1771-1834) Port Republic, I have made several discoveries about Samuel P. Smallwood�s siblings. I have not treated William P. Smallwood�s family to scrutiny, basically because he �stayed local�, and more information is readily available for them. Check the Atlantic County Historical Society. Mary Elizabeth Smallwood married William Henry Norcross, who lists his occupation as �staging� in the 1850 census. A more colorful development of the Norcross family stagecoach enterprise is in Beck�s Jersey Genesis, pp.297-299. Letitia married John S. Corson and moved to Cape May where they eventually ran a hotel. Eliza married Charles Sheppard, boatman and later sea captain. They resided in Green Point, Brooklyn, NY for many years and had ten children. I am still in the process of unraveling the life facts for sister, Hester (Ester Ann?) who married a Russell and then an Endicott. Youngest brother, Jacob S. Smallwood led a very adventurous life first on the sea, and then as the engineer for the Cape May and Millville railroad ou t of Cold Spring, Cape May, NJ. According to newspaper accounts, he had to have his hand pried from the throttle at the age of 70 when the RR insitituted a new retirement policy.

I'll be adding more to this page in the near future...if you have anything to add, please send me an e-mail.