William Albertson Back  to home page:
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The following from:
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A small group of Quaker trustees, one of them being William Penn, engineered the division of Byllynge’s property into 90 shares, and anyone who was interested in establishing a Quaker Colony could buy them.  Divided into tenths, the first and second tenth portions became Burlington County and the third and fourth tenth became Gloucester County.

  The land that today comprises Magnolia was situated in the third tenth portion of Gloucester County in Western New Jersey.  It was inhabited by the friendly tribe of Lenni-Lenape Indians and was rich in woodland, flowing streams and lakes with abundant supplies of fish.  The Quakers who later settled here made a modest living off the timer, fruits, dairy products, vegetables and live stock which were indigenous to this climate and soil.

On May 2, 1682, William Albertson, Sr. acquired a tract of this land in Newton Township and settled there.  Subsequently, he purchased several more tracts of land, moved to Pennsylvania, and gave this land to his son William.


 In 1685, William, Sr. was a member of the Colonial Legislature and also held other minor County and Township offices.  He reared six children and died in 1709.  His son William remained on the homestead until his death in 1720, when this tract of land passed on to four generations of William Albertsons.  “Part of this land is the area we now know as Magnolia.”

 “On December 17, 1709, one of the tracts, located in Gloucester Township and bounded on the south side by Otter Branch, became the legacy to Josiah Albertson, who then settled there.”

 Josiah married Ann Austin of Evesham, Burlington County, in 1727.  They had eight daughters and one son.  He plied his trade as a shoemaker, but at the same time increased his land holdings to twice the size of the original acreage, on which he established grist and saw mills and thrived on farming and lumbering.

In 1743, Josiah built a large brick house, possibly on the site of his log cabin.  Today it is a three-story structure with twenty rooms.  Still intact are the original yellow pine floors and woodwork, built-in cupboards with brass hardware dating back to 1869 and four working fireplaces.  The house was added to, and is still standing and occupied.  Carved on the cornerstone on the west wall of this remarkable house is the phrase, “Built by Josiah Albertson 1743, rebuilt by Chalkley Albertson 1865.”  It is an impressive looking mansion located several hundred yards off the south side of Evesham Road, Gloucester Township, just across the Magnolia Borough line.  It is the birthplace of this immediate area.

Like his father, Josiah Albertson was active in civic affairs.  In those days, civic meetings were held in March of each year at different homes in the area.  Minutes of Old Gloucester Township dated 1747 reveal that one of the annual meetings was held in Josiah’s home on Evesham Road, at which time he was elected town clerk for that year.

At the time of Josiah’s death, Chalkley Albertson, who was born on this estate and was in direct line, also owned a portion of this estate, purchased the rest and before long became a successful farmer.


The New Jersey Albertsons were Quakers. He was one of the first settlers
in Newton, Gloucester Co. On May 2, 1682, he located on a tract there and
operated a sawmill. He may have been from New Amsterdam or Long Island.
Later, in 1692, he moved across the Delaware River to Byberry Twp.,
Philadlephia Co.. In 1698, he conveyed the estate to his son William. He
was a member of the colonial legislature in 1685, and held other posts.

From "Sketches of the First Emigrant Settlers, Newton Twp." by John
Clement (1877) pp. 101-108; Phila Liber M 75; Magazine of American
Genealogy, 1929:
On May 2, 1682, William Albertson located a tract of land in Newton
township, between the south and the middle branch of the creek that bears
that name, and settled thereon.4-5 (Today the site is in Camden, near the
Walt Whitman bridge, just across the creek from Gloucester City) It does
not appear whence he came, but the probability is that he was of Dutch
extraction, as before named, and that his parents were among the
Hollanders of New York. The house which he built--no doubt, a small
one--stood by the middle branch, and nearly fronting the little
settlement called Newton; but in a few years it entirely disappeared. He
was a married man with a family when he came there; shortly after he
removed to Byberry, Pennsylvania, and gave the possession of the estate
to his son William. This occurred before 1692, for, in that year, he
purchased a tract of land in the town bounds of Gloucester, the deed for
which names him as then a resident of the place above mentioned.6

A portion of this same land was still in possession of a lineal
descendent, John Jarrett Albertson in 1923.

Upon the setting apart of a lot of land at Newton whereon to build a
meeting house, he was one of the persons who accepted the trust therefor,
and no doubt took an active part in the erection of that place of
worship.7 This trust was continued until 1708, when other and younger men
were called to occupy the same position.

He made several locations and purchases of land, while a resident here;
but his removal so soon from this neighborhood leaves but little of his
history among us, yet, so far as his record goes, he was a person much
respected in his day and generation. In 1685, he was returned as a member
of the
4 Lib. T, 355, O. S. G. Colonial Legislature; he also held other minor
county and township offices during his settlement here.8

His children were William, who married Esther Willis, daughter of Henry
and Mary, of Westbury, Long Island, N. Y., in 1695;9 Abraham, who married
Hannah Medcalf;10 Rebecca, who married Joseph Satterthwaite; Ann, who
married Walter Forrest 11 and John Kaighn; Cassandra, who married Jarvis
Stockdale; Benjamin, who married Sarah Walton; and Josiah, who married
Ann Austin of Evesham, Burlington county, N. J.

A weaver by trade, at the time of his decease, he resided at Poquesin, in
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he owned grain and saw mills, and
considerable other property. He died soon after the execution of his will
(1709), survived by his widow Hannah, and by all his children except Ann.
12

To his son William, in the year 1698, he deeded the homestead property,
whereon he remained until his decease in 1720. 13 This was a valuable
estate, and he improved it by enlarging and banking the meadow attached
to the property, which, at that time, was the only soil from which hay
and pasture were derived. The artificial grasses now used upon the
upland, had not then attracted the attention of agriculturists, for which
reason the meadow and marsh lands along the streams commanded much the
higher price, and were considered as a necessary appendage to every farm.
The meadow land on each of the branches of Newton creek, was, no doubt,
the attraction that brought the settlers first to this place, and was, in
fact, the only means they had for sustaining their cattle.

To avoid expense and to secure the land from the overflow of the tide,
William Albertson placed a dam across the south branch, and reclaimed
much of the marsh above the same. In this dam there were tide gates, the
construction and utility of which need not be explained here.14 These
were kept in use until the dyke was put across the mouth of the creek, at
the river, in 1786.
8 Leaming & Spicer's Laws.
9 Friends' Records, Long Island.
 10 License Book, 25, Lib. No. 7, Salem
Records, 156.
 11 Lib. No. 6, Salem Records, 32.
 12 Philadelphia Records. Lib. M, 75, O. S. G.
 13 Lib. A, 104. Lib. G3, 139. Lib. No. 2, 139.
 14 Albertson Papers.