The oldest standing house in the county: the Revell House, originally on Pearl Street, now on Wood Street, Burlington. (1685)
The earliest settlements in this region
are shrouded in the mystery of three and a
half centuries ago, and in the history of
three maritime nations: Sweden, Holland,
and England. All laid virtually simultaneous
claim to the territory.
The ancient Dutch claim to "New
Netherlands" embraced, among others, the
lands of present-day Burlington County.
Dutch navigators sailed down from their
"North River," the Hudson, to explore this
area, known to them subsequently as the
"South River Settlements," as early as
1623.
In 1624 the Dutch became the first
European inhabitants of the immediate
region. A small group of Walloon settlers
occupied Burlington Island - then known
by its Indian name "Tenneconk" - with the
expectation that others would follow.
The Dutch West India Company envisioned
this island as a seat of government
for New Netherlands. Problems of river
navigation brought a rapid reversal of this
early idea, and a transfer of emphasis -
and of the Walloon settlers as well - to
Manhattan Island.
Swedish and English adventurers also
sailed up the river to the Rancocas and
Assiscunk Creeks, leaving sporadic settlements
in their wake, prior to 1640. The
Swedes became the first permanent
settlers of the down-river region in 1638,
naming the territory "New Sweden." They
also settled firmly on the site of the earlier
Dutch location on Burlington Island, known
to the Swedes as "High Island," prior to
1648.
Firmly, that is, until Governor Peter
Stuyvesant appeared in the Valley in 1655.
Putting his one and only foot down hard, he
and his Dutch followers re-asserted the
rights of Holland and ousted the Swedes
from their outpost island.
Nine years later the English gained
control of the Delaware by naval and
military force, but without benefit of a body
of settlers.
The Conrow House in Delran Township, an early home of a French Huguenot family.
This was in 1664. Soon thereafter a
permanent settler of record appeared on
the site of Burlington: one Pierre Jegou, of
French or Dutch blood, who built a tavern
at Lisch Point (Water-lily Point) on the
mainland to accommodate travelers journeying
between New England and the
Virginia settlements.
In 1672, Quaker mystic George Fox
crossed New Jersey with Indian guides.
Hearing that Jegou had been driven away
from his tavern by natives of the nearby
tribal towns, and finding the place empty,
Fox related that "we got us some fire and
stayed there... and the next day swam our
horses to an island called Upper
Tennedonk, and over the river..."
Jegou returned to the tavern, and Fox
returned to England - but a few years
later his Quaker followers appeared on the
Delaware, 1 ,000 strong, coming out of
persecution in England in such sailing ships
as the Kent of 1677, the Willing Minde and
the Flie-boot Martha of the same year, and
the Shield of 1678. With the Quakers were
a number of French Huguenots, escaping
violent persecution in France after
revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
These venturesome pioneers founded a
government for the Province of West New
Jersey, with Burlington as the "chief-town"
or Capital, before the coming of Penn to
Pennsylvania.
The founders divided the Province
initially into Tenths rather than Counties.
The first two of these, Yorkshire Tenth
reaching from "the highroad of Burlington
to River Derwent alias Assunpink" to the
north, and London Tenth "from the
highroad to River Cropwell alias
Pensauquin" to the south, formed a basis
for the coming County of Burlington.
By 1690 the settlers had established
various "out-plantations" on the Rancocas,
Assiscunk, and Pensauken Creeks; being
joined on the latter waterway by several
Swedish families. Another doughty Swede,
Eric Mullica, had long since traversed the
wilderness to found a small colony at
Lower Bank.
Such were the valiant voyagers, the
freedom-loving colonizers, on whose
ground the County of Burlington was
destined to grow.
