Many people know the story of Henry Hudson’s “discovery” of Cape May and of Cornelius Jacobson Mey’s exploring the area and naming it after himself. Not many people, though, know the story of the earliest people who were in Cape May County.
When the last Ice Age ended over 10,000 years ago, the glaciers that covered northern New Jersey receded and the sea level began to rise. As it did, it pushed sand and dirt before it, creating the barrier islands. Behind these islands, meadows with meandering creeks and small ponds, and wooded stands of oak and cedar attracted a variety of wildlife. Following that wildlife came prehistoric man. These people were nomadic, trailing the game that they needed to survive. They hunted bison (yes, there were bison in New Jersey), and a much larger specie of deer than today’s, that roamed the area. Archaeological excavations have revealed some of the history of these people. A burial site was uncovered in Upper Township and several temporary camp sites were found in Lower Township, including one at the Cape May County Airport. The discovery of Paleo points in the area is further evidence that these prehistoric people spent time here. As the game they hunted moved on, so did the hunters, leaving just a trace of their stay.
About 2000 years ago, the Lenape came to the Jersey Cape. These Indians lived in small villages and not only hunted and fished, but also harvested edible plants and acorns, which they ground into flour. They may have been numerous. In the 19th century, it was common for farmers plowing their fields in Upper, Middle and Lower Townships to turn up axe heads, points, nutting stones, fishing net sinkers and other artifacts. Some stone artifacts that have been found in the county were made from stone found in northern New Jersey and as far west as central Pennsylvania, indicating a robust trading network among the Lenape tribes. Many county roads today, including Route 9, Route 47, Breakwater Road in Lower Township, Indian Trail in Middle Township and Route 50 in Upper Township follow Lenape trails. But in his book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles C. Mann presents evidence that by the time white settlers arrived, as much as 95% of the native people had been lost to European diseases, primarily smallpox, introduced by European explorer and fishermen who visited the east coast of America. By the time the white settlers arrived in Cape May County, there were only a few small clans remaining.
Their first contact was with the Dutch. The primary purpose of the Dutch East India Company was to establish trade with the Indians, setting up trading posts where the Dutch exchanged commodities such as iron pots for animal furs and skins. The earliest deed between the Dutch and the Lenape in the Colony of New Jersey was signed in 1664 in Lower Township. The Dutch East India Company never established any posts in Cape May County, however. Of course, once the English booted the Dutch out of the New Netherland Colony in 1674, that deed was no longer honored.
The first Englishmen to arrive came in the late 1660’s, however, they were not settlers. They were whalers who set up seasonal camps during the whaling season. These early whalers would set up watch towers along the barrier islands and the bay front and, when a whale was spotted, would launch a boat very similar to today’s life guard boats directly from the beach. Once a whale was captured, it would be towed to shore to be processed. Once whaling was over, the camps were abandoned until the next season.
It wasn’t until the late 1680’s that English immigrants came who would stay. Primarily coming from the eastern end of Long Island and New England, they came to Cape May County for two primary reasons. The first was economic. The proceeds from one whale would buy a house and lot on Long Island. Here the whaler could purchase almost 1000 acres for the same money. The second reason was religious freedom. When the Dutch governed Long Island, they tolerated all religions. Once the English took over, they were not very accepting of any religions outside the Church of England. Members of other religions were persecuted and often thrown in jail. Cape May County was still part of the English colonies, but far enough away from the seat of government for the settlers to practice their religion without interference and still feel that they were English citizens. The first settlers who came were primarily Quakers and Presbyterians. The Quakers settled in the north eastern part of the county, building farmhouses and farming as well as whaling. They built their first meeting house in the area of Beesley’s Point, but built the still standing, and still active, Seaville meeting house around 1704. Although there were numerous farms, they never founded an actual town. The Presbyterians settled along a large creek on the southern bayshore. The named the creek New England Creek and called their settlement New England Town or Portsmouth. They established their congregation and built a church. The current “Old Brick” Presbyterian Church in Cold Spring is a descendent of that original congregation, although not the original building. In a short time, houses were built and the townspeople were farming outlying areas. The Quakers and Presbyterians were soon followed by the Baptists, who settled in the central section of the county and established their church in Cape May Court House. The First Baptist Church of Cape May in Cape May Court House is a descendent of that original Baptist congregation. Since the land was fertile and there was plenty of native wood to harvest, whaling soon became a less important source of income. By the 1750’s, whaling was no longer a primary industry in the county as farming, timbering, fishing and ship building became more important sources of income.
So what happened to the native people? Court records show they were treated equitably by the early settlers. They were often hired to work on the whaling boats and in building homes. When the county was established in 1692, the influence of the Quaker settlers and their belief of equality for all were reflected in the early laws. An early court case brought charges against a Lenape man who was accused of stealing a whale. When he testified that he had legally bought the whale, his testimony was accepted and the seller was arrested as the real thief. Within a few years, however, the Lenape felt the area was getting too crowded. There were, after all, over 900 white residents by 1700. The Lenape simply moved on into Salem County (now Salem and Cumberland Counties) and into Burlington County (now Burlington, Atlantic and Ocean Counties.) There was one exception, however. A Lenape chief whom the English called King Nummy stayed behind. His sister had married a white minister, become a Christian and raised a family. When she died at a young age, her brother, whose real name was Manomie, stayed so he could help raise her children in the Lenape tradition. Manomie died in Cape May County and the place of his burial has been debated for almost 300 years. One of the places mentioned is in the area of Erma. Nummy Island is another purported burial place. Is “King Nummy’s” grave somewhere in Lower Township or Middle Township? We will probably never know.
What we do know is that artifacts left behind by the earliest residents of the county are still turning up. Stone points are often found along the bayshore and occasionally in plowed fields. Will you be the next to find evidence of our early past?
