Pennsville Township Historical Society

Historic Homes of Pennsville

By Grace Alliegro

Supawna Mansion * Red Shingle Farm
* Capt. Johnson House * Freas Farm * Bilderback Home
Acton Home * Reilly Home

Buttonwood Farm

This brick manor house, located on Supawna Road, was built in 1815 by James Johnson. The original house was one room over one room; downstairs, a large room with a fireplace and above a bedroom. During the 19th Century, the home was enlarged to its present size. Buttonwood Farm passed from William Johnson to Edward Johnson in 1853, to James Johnson in 1858 and William Johnson in 1900. William Johnson was sheriff of Salem County. In 1920, the property was sold to Howard C. Whitehead and his family occupied it for several years. Goose Goslin, native of Salem, bought it in 1931. Goose was an American League baseball hero in the 1920's. In 1939, J. Dale Dilworth bought Buttonwood, and his family lived there until 1958 when it was purchased by Mr. McEnany.

In 1946, when Mr. & Mrs. Eric N. Baynes moved to Salem, they lived at Buttonwood before moving to Obisquahassit on Sinnickson Lane, just off Hook Road. Later it became a restaurant and it was renamed Buttonwood Manor. Mr. & Mrs. Robert Quigley lived there and conducted a nursery school. Years later it was bought by Mr. & Mrs. John Hassler.

The design of the home is from the Federal period. The front door has not only a fan light, but an unusual arrangement of six panels banded by four equidistant rows of bead moldings, each inset with an upright diamond of the same moldings. At the side of the house is a hearse door, just the height to put a coffin from the house into a hearse.

Cornelius Copner House

The Cornelius Copner Family was one of the first English speaking families to settle in our Swedish/Finnish area in 1690. The house was built in 1740 by Cornelius Copner's son, Cornelius Copner Jr. He built the home on his father's land. This particular home has an unusual pattern of glazed blue bricks in parallel lines on red bricks. The blue glazed bricks make a solid diamond pattern on one wall. The property is located on Christmas Tree Lane and was restored in 1964 by the Fowser family. At one time, Christmas Tree Lane continued to the early Finn's Point Road to Salem, reaching the site of the present highway at Goose Lane.

William Mecum House

The Mecum family came from England and settled in Lower Penns Neck sometime before 1700. The first William Mecum was a judge in the Colonial Courts of Salem County. The William Mecum house, with its beautiful examples of Georgian architecture and Flemish bond brick design, was built in 1737. The date and initials may be seen on one wall. Marks are visible showing renovations from hip roof to peak. This property has the original deed from William Penn and has always been owned by members of the Mecum family. It is the only land and house that has an "unbroken line" of title from the very first deed to present day. Located on, or near, the early road to Finns Point, it is now reached by a lane on the right of Lighthouse Road.

Obisquahassit

Obisquahassit was built in 1740 by Andrew Sinnickson on the land overlooking the Salem Creek, originally known as Fenwick Point. The home is located on the old road from Pennsville to Salem, passing near the creek and continuing to the old Toll Bridge into Mannington. This toll bridge no longer exists, however.

Obisquahassit was the Indian name of the old Indian Chief who sold the land to the early settlers. The Sinnickson family was one of the oldest families in South Jersey. The name "Sinnickson" had gone through several changes over the years. Originally it was "Cenca", then "Sinaker", and later "Seneca". Anders Seneca left Sweden in the company of Minuit, the first governor of New Sweden in 1638. His son, Anders, Jr. bought the large tract of land at Obisquahassit many years before John Fenwick's arrival. The last descendents were Mr. and Mrs. Eric Baynes, also the tenth generation of Sinnicksons. The home had been the oldest, one family owned farmhouse in the State of New Jersey until they sold it in the 1980s.

Lambson Tavern

The Lambson family settled on Plow Point Road around 1690 and built the tavern in 1741. The initials of Mathias and Martha Lambson and the date, 1741, can be seen on the east wall of the house. Toll Bridge Road passed on the west side of the house, which was near Harrisonville. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Johnson, descendants of the original owners, lived on the house for many years.

It was through the Johnson family that the Pennsville Township Historical Society was given a spinning wheel and an Indian arrowhead collection. The large spinning wheel can be found in the Townsend Building (on the site of the Historical Museum) and the collection of arrowheads can be seen encased in the gift shop. One front section of the home has a Flemish bond brick pattern. Not far from this home was fought a brief skirmish between the British and the American militia in March of 1778. They fought over possessions of wagons, which were filled with food.

Tindall House

Joseph Tindall's residence at "Tindale Grove" will be recognized as the main part of the remodeled house on Supawna Road, near Harrisonville. Residents in this house were adapted to travelling on two roads. Built before 1775, the doors originally faced Supawna Road and Lighthouse Road. When a new road was constructed from Salem in 1810, the family used the rear door as the main entrance. Today, a circular drive extends to both roads and the original purpose of the entrance is being used.

The home was built by Richard Tindall, a surveyor for William Penn. According to "A Story of Salem County", in 1688, we find recorded, "...A warrant to Richard Tindall, surveyor-general for the County of Salem and to John Wooledge, his deputy, to lay out one acre of land in Salem town, given by John Fenwick, to erect a Court House and Prison." By 1708 the Court House was voted for by the people of Salem.