Journeys Around Jericho

Along the Western Part of Salem and Cumberland

County Boundary -- The Deserted Settlement of

Hepnertown -- The 18th Journey

By WILLIAM J. S. BRADWAY

(Copyright 1934, by William J. S. Bradway.)

John Hepner came from Germany prior to the close of the eighteenth century and settled at Shiloh. He married Mary Hitchner and became the father of seven children -- Matthias, John, Jacob, Barbara, Margaret, Betsey and Mary. Mr. Hepner served in the War of 1812 and subsequently removed to the West.

Jacob Hepner, son of John and Mary Hepner was born September 11, 1787, at Shiloh. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick Fox. Their children were: John, Mary, Frederick, Elizabeth, Jacob, Catherine, Lydia Ann, George, Matthias and David. The family resided on a farm in Deerfield Township.

Jacob Hepner, Jr., was born October 9, 1823, on the homestead farm. He married Lucinda, daughter of John Randolph, of Shiloh, on March 14, 1850, and they went to live on the farm purchased in Dutch Neck, Hopewell Township.

Hepnertown Founded.

In 1872, Mr. Hepner, in connection with his brother, Matthias, purchased a large acreage of timber of the estate of the late John S. Wood. They made a clearing in the forest preparatory to operating a saw mill and engaging in the lumber business.

The site chosen for the settlement lay a mile north of Jericho, along roads leading in a general northerly direction to Peck's Corner. Branvhes [i.e., "Branches"] of the forest roads led to Marlboro on the southeast, Wood's Upper Mill to the north and Maskell's Mill to the west. These road were bordered for miles with deep forests of many years growth.

The Hepner Brothers had purchased a steam saw-mill of Willain [i.e., "William"] Crane, of Iona, and it was brought down to the settlement under their supervision. In the meantime workmen built a house and barn for the accomodation of men and teams. Supplies were brought in to provide for the wants of the coming settlers.

Hepnertown's First Settlers

The first colony came from Porchtown and included Mr. and Mrs. Frank Downs, Samuel Filer and Frank Black. They were soon followed by Wilmer B. Crane and his uncle, John Crane, of Iona; Philip Garrison, of Monroeville; George Connelly, of Millville, and Jesse Travis, of Norma. John Beckett and Cyrus Beckett and his son, Millard, of Millville, settled at Marlboro and worked in the mill.

Mr. and Mrs. Downs occupied the house built at Hepnertown and boarded the men. One day, while the workmen were away with the teams, and Mrs. Downs was alone, she found the house to be on fire. With no help at hand she was forced to see her house and nearly all its contents devoured by the fiery element.

The settlement was homeless, but they did not despair. Food and household necessities were obtained at Jericho, Roadstown and Bridgeton and other buildings used for temporary homes.

Men were put to work building two double houses to be occupied by those at the settlement and for the families soon to follow. The first house being completed, household goods were purchased and the building occupied. In the meantime the sawmill had been completed and the machinery installed. Then Hepner Brothers were ready for more workmen.

Schench and Brocking Families Reach the Settlement

On May 15, 1872, three families with their household goods packed on wagons started from Iona on the journey to Hepnertown. The company was composed of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Schench and children, Mr. and Mrs. William Schench and child, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred O. Brocking.

Mrs. Brocking related the story of the trip to the writer fifteen years ago while she was living in Bridgeton. She said: "We passed through Porchtown and on to Deerfield, where we stopped for rest and dinner, and to feed the horses. Resuming the journey, we passed through Cohansey and then on the [i.e., "to" ?] Marlboro. From there we drove through Jericho and then north to our new home. We reached there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

"The steam mill put up in the forest had been moved down from my childhood home at Iona Station. I was a girl-wife, nineteen years old when we made the journey. I shall never forget the winding road along the mill pond and my first impressions of Jericho. The streams and the trees and vines made the natural scenery so beautiful. The old Jericho hotel was to us so wonderfully built. This quaint old building standing on an elevation, was very imposing."

Busy Days at Hepnertown

When the families had become settled at Hepnertown, and active work began at the saw-mill, John Schench and Wilmer Crane were the sawyers and William Schench and Fred Brocking were the engineers. Mr. Brocking also acted as bookkeeper.

Hepner's Mill was run in day and night shifts for two years. The wood choppers were kept busy felling trees of oak, chestnut, pine and cedar; then came the logging crews with stout horses and mules and heavy wagons to load and haul logs and deliver them at the log bank.

In the mill, Will Schench and Fred Brocking took turns in the engine room to keep sufficient steam pressure to allow John Schench or Will Crane and their helpers to operate the swift revolving saws as they ate their way through the big logs.

Lumber was hauled to Bridgeton and Salem. Samuel Filer, David Coombs, Joshua Clark and Samuel Hewitt were among the team drivers. They made long hours delivering lumber to Hepner Brothers' various customers.

David Elwell, who as a young man lived with his father, Isaac W. Elwell, at Bishops Run, worked in the mill one winter. One day recently the writer heard Mr. Elwell recall experiences at Hepnertown, speaking especially of the splendid teams of horses employed in the business. Charles Mixner was also a helper in the saw-mill.

Hoop Pole Industry

Hepnertown had another industry during a few years. This was the hoop-pole business. Barrel hoops were split out of small trees. The hoop-pole splitters were quartered in two small cabins and their work sheds were near by.

It is said the hoops were shipped to Cuba for use in making molasses barrels. This was quite an industry for several years, hoop-pole splitters finding employment at Jericho and Marlboro.

Workman Becomes Minister

William Schench, one of the workmen at Hepnertown, was a man of deep Christian character and with all the ability of an evangelist. It is said he loathed swearing so much that men about the mill would not swear in his presence.

Mr. Schench united with the Emory Methodist Episcopal Church at Roadstown. Later he joined the Wesleyan Methodists and was ordained as a minister. He preached at May's Landing and Vineland.

J. H. C. Applegate Visits Hepnertown

Near nightfall of an October day, a traveler reached Hepnertown. He was weary and his horse was tired from the long journey over sandy roads in the woods. He introduced himself as J. H. C. Applegate and said he was canvassing for the American Favorite, a monthly paper published in Bridgeton by J. Ward Richardson.

Mr. Applegate wished to stop for the night and was cordially received in the home of John Schench. Mrs. Brocking, in relating this incident, said: "We were all glad to meet Mr. Applegate. We learned that he lived at New Boston (Cohansey) and was a member of Harmony Methodist Episcopal Church and was letting his good influence be felt in the community in which he lived."

Reminiscences of Hepnertown

During the time Mr. and Mrs. John Schench lived at Hepnertown, a daughter was born to them and she was named Emma. When Miss Schench reached womanhood, she married Henry J. Mickel. Four years ago at the request of the writer, Mrs. Mickel related the following facts about Hepnertown and Jericho:

"There were one hundred and fifteen acres of handsome virgin timber, principally oak, pine, chestnut and cedar, growing to the very mill site at the time Hepnertown was settled. We lived there until 1874, when we moved to the 'Big House' at Marlboro, then to the [line missing] in 1875, and then back to Hepnertown in 1879.

"The place was quite lively with so many coming with logs. Frank Swing and Edward Brown each ran a meat wagon there twice a week. We bought groceries at John Wallen's store at Jericho.

"Down at Jericho there were five houses on the north side of the pond in Salem County. These were occupied by John Jones, Eli Harris, Charles Mixner, John Franklin and Jacob Henderson. Those living on the south side in Cumberland County were: Wilbert Skellinger, Samuel Hewitt, Isaac Johnson, Wolliam Fowser and Isaac Harris. John Wallen kept the hotel and store.

"The hoop-pole splitters at Jericho numbered more than a score at times. They boarded at the hotel and the splitting was done in sheds standing on the south of the hostelry. Among the hoop-pole splitters were: Joseph Chester, Jesse Chester, Samuel Wilson, Lewis West, Wilbert Skellinger, Preston Hewitt, Isaac Johnson, Sheppard Charles, Jonathan Lloyd, Mark Simpkins, Jacob Spahr, Thomas Jones, Harry Davis, Thomas Simons, Charles Abrams and Jacob Henderson."

Jacob Hepner bought the interest of his brother, Matthias, after a few years. John Schench continued to saw for Mr. Hepner while living at Marlboro and in Cook Lane. He had planks placed across the stream at the crossing back of Joseph Harris' farm, now owned by Leonard G. Harris. There was an old dam at this crossing where there had been a mill earlier in the history of the community.

Hepnertown Deserted

The steam saw-mill at Hepnertown began to have strong competition from neighboring mill's [sic] operated by water power. Then, too, the Hepner tract was being well cut over and the best of the timber converted into lumber.

In 1890, Hepner's saw-mill was sold to Henry Young and the machinery moved to the new owner's place near Cox's Corner on the Bridgeton-Roadstown road. Soon the families living at Hepnertown removed and the settlement was deserted.

The writer of Journeys Around Jericho recently traveled down to the ancestral village of the Bricks and the Woods, and then beyond to where once stood Hepnertown. North of Jericho the way of the traveler was over a sandy road with timber of a few years growth standing on either side, after passing an abandoned farm. Leaving the old stage road we were soon at the site of the village founded by Hepner Brothers.

The dwellings which stood on the higher ground to the north of the road and occupied by a courageous and industrious people are gone and only the foundation walls and a half filled well marks the spot of the habitations. Nearby stunted apple trees set by the settlers are struggling for life in the sandy soil with grapevines clinging to their topmost branches. Across the road where once stood the mill in which men toiled day and night to turn logs into lumber and the lumber sheds where products of the mill were stored, cannot be located as a dense growth of trees and vines have covered traces of the buildings. The cabins in which the hoop-splitters lived are gone and trees as large as those which the splitters turned into barrel hoops are growing on the site.

Hepnertown, which during the 70's and 80's was pulsating with life and activity, is today a deserted settlement with the site returning to forest trees. Here and there are clumps of holly and of laurel and thickets of green briers clinging tenaciously to the branches of the oaks and the pines.

SOURCE: Bridgeton Evening News, 16 November 1957. Photocopy graciously provided by R. M. "Dick" Hepner, 12 August 1999.

Transcription by John C. Hepner, 1999