The Saw Mill
In 1744, Edith Sharpless warranted the rights to 312 acres of land in West Jersey. Her son, Joseph, inherited those rights and had several pieces of land surveyed. One of those parcels was 112 acres on the fork of Middle Run, which he had surveyed in 1761. This would become the future site of Lake Fred. After his death, these parcels were inherited by his brother, Benjamin, of Philadelphia. By 1764, Benjamin was placing ads in the Pennsylvania Gazette advertising this and other properties for sale. In the advertisement he states, 鈥淎lso one tract of 112 acres, lying on the fork of Middle Run, which is a suitable place for a saw mill and well timbered.鈥
Robert Smith purchased the property from Benjamin Sharpless in 1774, and constructed the earthen dam that gave birth to Lake Fred. He also built a sawmill. Sources indicate that Smith may have mortgaged his property to help fund the North American War for Independence. Robert Smith only owned this property for three years before selling it in 1777.
It appears that the saw mill operated until the mid- to late-1850s. During that time it passed through a series of owners: Robert Smith (1774); Thomas Pearsall (1777); Robert Leeds (1807); Samuel Whitall (1814); James B. Caldwell and Elias D. Woodruff (1815); Nehemiah Blackman (1819); Thomas C Blackman (1825); Thomas S. Richards and John Richards of Gloucester Iron Works (1833); Stephan Colwell (1853); and Gloucester Farm and Town Association (1855).
