I posted this town here in hopes that someone out there knows something about it and can help with some research being conducted by a friend of mine. Other than the information below, I know nothing at all about this place

If you know something about it, I would appreciate greatly if you would send me an e-mail.

The place is supposed to be located somewhere in Chesterfield Township, in the eastern end according to historian E.M. Woodward (writing in 1883). Evidently there was a grist mill there, Bullock's Grist Mill, referred to in a will as a 'plantation' and worth $18,000 in 1859 so it must have been a sizeable piece of property. According to E.M.Woodward's History of Burlington County, the mill was built about 1701 by Henry Beck and Joseph Scattergood.

In 1883, the population was said to be around 150 people. There was one store, a blacksmith/ wheelwright shop, a Baptist church, a shore shop, and a post office.

Early settlers of Recklesstown were, according to Woodward, James Pearce, William Pearce, and Obadiah Warren.

Another researcher stopped by the site recently, looking for information about one Joseph Reckless who supposedly settled in New Jersey c.1712.

He is believed to have been the grandson of a John Reckless who was Sheriff of Nottingham in 1649 and who became a Quaker that same year. Another researcher and visitor to this page recently made the suggestion that his family (surname Reckless) may have been the founders of Recklesstown...they were in the lace making industry in Nottingham and are known to have emigrated to America early in it's settlement. The family was supposedly a Hugeunot family.

The New Jersey Gazette of 3 Mar 1779 recorded the marriage on 21 Feb of Col. William Shreve to Mrs. Ann Reckless at Recklesstown, but I have no idea if there's a relation to the above mentioned Joseph.

There exists a press cutting stating that 'by 1678, Samuel Reckless of Nottingham, ironmonger, had emigrated to America and with others from the county founded the new town of Recklesstown in New Jersey'.

It would seem likely that 'Samuel' was a close relative of John's - might even be the case that Samuel's name has been recorded incorrectly.

I have also heard that Recklesstown is an old name for Crosswicks and that there are at least three cemeteries there, but I can not confirm this.

I recently came across this article in the New Jersey Mirror dated 19 Oct 1881:
Benjamin Taylor, aged seventy, committed suicide near Recklesstown last week, by hanging himself. He was afflicted with a cancer on the face.

On July 12 1893, the same paper mentioned another suicide:
Miller Chamberlain, a farm hand, living near Recklesstown, was found dead at his home on Sunday afternoon, with the top of his head blown off. He went out into the yard with the gun, and other members of the family thought he intended to kill a crow that had been stealing his chickens. Hearing the report of the gun, they rushed out, but he was dead before they reached him. It is supposed he committed suicide