Germantown is now part of Toms River, in Dover Township, Ocean County, NJ. Sometime after (or perhaps during) the First World War the area began to be called "Pershing" instead of Germantown, but as the village of Toms River grew and expanded, the Germantown /Pershing area gradually became absorbed into it, and it is no longer recognized as a separate entity.

This page is currently under construction...if you have anything to add to the history of Germantown, please send me an e-mail. For now, all I have are some news items concerning Germantown from old area newspapers. You can find them by clicking here.

One of those news articles mentions that a Mr. Newman has moved into his new home on Clifton Avenue, indicating that at least that part of Dover Township was considered in 'Germantown'. I found a Newman family living on Clifton Avenue in 1920 on the Federal Census:

George Newman, age 38. He was born in New Jersey, as was his mother; his father was from Connecticut. George was employed as a house carpenter.
Ethel M. Newman, age 40 (his wife); she was born in New York.
Stewart M. Newman, age 15 (their son)
Ralph E. Newman, age 2 (their son)
Charles P. Newman, age 78 (George's father). As mentioned, he was born in Connecticut, though his parents were from New Jersey.

Other families living on that section of Clifton Avenue, and thus presumably Germantown residents were:

• John H. Hill, age 50. He was a poultry farmer. His father was born in Connecticut, his mother in Maryland, although their mother tongues were both listed as 'German'. He lived with his wife, Roseanna, and his aunt, Catharine Boynes, a German immigrant, and his son, 26 year old George Hill.
• Lewis J. Applegate, age 25. He was also working as a house carpenter. He lived with wife Deborah,25, daughter, Goldy, 2, and son Rowland Applegate, age 1.
• Mary L. Bennett, age 29. She was divorced, and lived with 22 year old Fred Attison (he was a boarder and worked as a laborer with the railroad.)
• Harry Smith, age 40. He was born in New York; his parents were from Ohio. Harry was unemployed. He lived with his wife, Anna (35), son Harry (8), daughter Anna (5), and son Roy (2).

A Henry Forcanser is also mentioned in one of the news articles; I found him in 1920 living on Bachelor Street, which intersects Clifton Avenue and is therefore probably also considered part of Germantown. In 1920, Henry was 60 years old and a widower. He was born in New Jersey to German immigrants and ran a grocery store. Living with him were his son, Harry, 27 (also working in the grocery store), and son Ford, age 38, who worked as an agent for the central Railroad.

Other residents of Bachelor Street included:

• Alton Cowdrick (the drawbridge tender--presumably he tended the drawbridge over the Barnegat Bay to Seaside. Bachelor street is a few miles from that drawbridge, so he wasn't like a toll keeper or lighthouse keeper that lived at the bridge.)
• Wallace B. Seaman, a housepainter
• William A. Seaman, a house carpenter
• Mr. Thomas, also a drawbridge tender (possibly they worked in shifts? There was also a bridge across the Toms River from the foot of Hooper Avenue, but I don't believe it was a drawbridge)
• Phillip Wilburt, who gave his occupation as "caretaker - private estate".
• Jerome Smith, another house carpenter and son of German immigrants. James Bryant, a railroad laborer.
• George Brahn, unemployed.
• Clara Hill. Her occupation is hard to read, but her field of employment is listed as "machine".
• Lee Roy Applegate, a road laborer.
• Erich Schroeder, German immigrant and ship yard machinist.

The 1914 news article also mentions a Noah Hand...I found him living on Washington Street in 1920. Washington Street runs all through Toms River, from Main Street all the way to Clifton Avenue and beyond, so it may be that the Noah I found in 1920 was living near the Clifton Avenue end of the street. He was just one entry away from John P. Haines, who we know lived on the piece of property now known as Cranmoor, which is in fact right at the foot of Clifton Avenue.
Noah was 44 years old and working as a self-employed farmer. He lived with his wife, Julia, age 44 (she was from Pennsylvania). They had the following children living with them in 1920:

• Ernest Hand, 21, a drawbridge tender (that's at least 3 people with this occupation in Germantown! Alton Cowdrick and __ Thomas, on Bachelor Street, also tended the drawbridge).
• Edith Hand, 18
• Florence Hand, 16; both she and Edith listed their occupations as "machine operator".
• Elbert Hand, 14
• Russel Hand, 12
• Earl Hand, 10
• Charles Hand, 5