{"id":2062,"date":"2020-06-16T06:57:21","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T06:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=2062"},"modified":"2020-06-30T00:52:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T00:52:04","slug":"morgan-memories-oyster-shells-in-my-front-yard","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/sample-page\/morgans-people-places\/things\/morgan-memories-oyster-shells-in-my-front-yard\/","title":{"rendered":"Oyster Shells in my Front Yard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Morgan Memories \u2013 Oyster Shells in my Front Yard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Northbound NJ Transit commuter train heading to NY Penn Station traveling below Morgan Heights. Photo was taken from the southern part of Raritan Bay Waterfront Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It always seemed to happen. \nDig even just a little bit at our house in the yard facing the bay and\nyou would inevitably hit oyster shells \u2013 and not just a few of them.  This always perplexed me as the yard was\nabout forty feet above sea level.  Though\nI never heard the phrase when I grew up there, starting in the 1800s (or so) this\nbluff used to be referenced in documents as \u201cMorgan Heights\u201d or after the\nrailroad went in, as \u201cMorgan Station.\u201d \nPreviously, and for nearly 200 years, it had been part of the Morgan\nfamily\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was what likely happened before that time which might\nexplain why there were gobs of oyster shells some 40 feet above the bay.  Last I heard, oysters didn\u2019t grow on trees.  At the time, I thought perhaps the land must\nhave slowly risen over the prior million or so years.  Afterall, tectonic plate movement explains\nhow mountains are made.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mother had a different suggestion.  She said it was due to the Lenni Lenape who lived\nthere for millennia before the Europeans settled what we now know as New\nJersey.  Franky, at the time I thought\nshe was a tad nuts.  The tectonic plate\nmovement theory was the more likely answer in my much younger mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to too many years more than I like for it to have been.  After performing tons of research over the years, I inadvertently stumbled over some interesting old historical documents which discuss this very topic.  Turns out, my Mom\u2019s answer seems to be the correct one based on these documents I recently found.  We\u2019ll also get a brief history lesson regarding the native peoples who occupied Morgan before it was Morgan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Raritan Bay\u2019s Great Beds Lighthouse with many seagulls on the beach. Great Beds was named for the great beds of oysters which, prior to the industrial era pollution and probably over-harvesting, posed a great danger to shipping.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following is from the January 1924 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY<\/a>, The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Monmouth County by Prof. Charles A. Philhower.  It discusses the Unami, who were the Lenni Lenape people who lived around Raritan Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lenni Lenape occupied mainly the Delaware River Val-<\/em>
ley.  All of what is now New Jersey belonged to them\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Lenni Lenape signifies original people.  Lenni, in<\/em>
the Delaware language, used as an adjective, means \u201coriginal,<\/em>
pure.\u201d  \u201cLen\u201d means our, and \u201cape,\u201d man, which, interpreted,<\/em>
is \u201coriginal of our people.\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were three sub-division of the Lenni Lenape, the<\/em>
Unami, the Wunalachtikos, and the Monsis, according to Los-<\/em>
kiel.  The Unami took the lead in civil affairs and occupied the<\/em>
central part of the State, south of the Musconetcong and the<\/em>
Raritan, to the Asseroches (Copper Creek) at Camden on the<\/em>
Delaware and the Mullica River on the coast\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Unami was variously pronounced by the French,<\/em>
English and Dutch. Some of the written interpretations of the <\/em>
oral word as heard from the mouths of the Indians are: <\/em>
Unamines, Unamin, Wanami, Wenanmeew, Wonami, Wuman-<\/em>
meeh, Wonameyo and Wenanmeiw. The word signifies “The<\/em>
People down the River.” They always held precedence in<\/em>
civic affairs over the other Delawares, and were often spoken<\/em>
of as the Turtle Tribe. Their totemic emblem was the turtle,<\/em>
called by them “pokoango,” the crawler. There were probably<\/em>
two council fires, one near Trenton at Crossweeksung and the<\/em>
other possibly at Warmesing (Morgan)<\/strong>, on the Raritan Bay<\/em>
at Cheesequake Creek (Chesnaquack)\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indian name for New Jersey was Scheyichbi, or Sche-<\/em>
Jachbi (pronounced Scha-ak-bee).  It means long, land water,<\/em>
which is significant of the land lying between the Hudson and<\/em>
Atlantic on one side and the Delaware on the other.  The In-<\/em>
dian name for the Delaware was Lenape Wihittuck.  The name<\/em>
of the Hudson was Mahicanituk, and that part of the Atlantic sea-<\/strong><\/em>
board, Seawanhacky, or place of shells<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numerous shell heaps found along the coast of Monmouth county,<\/em>
[the boarder of which is located 3 miles east of Cheesequake Creek]<\/em>
and the size of many of them,<\/em>
attest to the fact that thousands of Indians repaired to these<\/em>
quarters, where they gathered shells for wampum, seawan,<\/em>
peague, or roanoke, and stored up quantities of dried fish,<\/em>
oysters and clams.  As late as 1820 Indians were observed<\/em>
journeying over the Minisink Trail to the land of Seawan-<\/em>
hackey at Navesink [They would have crossed near or through the<\/em>
Morgan Estate]\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great village<\/em><\/strong> frequently referred to and variously spelled<\/em>
was located at<\/em><\/strong> Morgan at the mouth of Chesnaquack Creek<\/strong><\/em>
(Cheesequake) on the northwest side<\/em><\/strong>. As nearly as I can de-<\/em>
termine this was the village of Wromasang, Weomasing, or<\/em>
Ramesing\u2026<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above identifies the location of my childhood home, \u201c\u2026 Morgan at the mouth of [Cheesequake Creek] on the northwest side.\u201d  Before its reshaping into the present-day channel in 1883, the original mouth of Cheesequake Creek was located parallel to the railroad tracks where NJ State Highway 35\u2019s northbound trestle bridge is presently located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From a 1747 Map of Northern New Jersey highlighting the Minisink Path south of Raritan Bay. Map is from the New York Public Library. https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/510d47da-f2c2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 The Great Minisink Trail crossed the Raritan at\nSayreville
\nat the neck of land in early times known as Kents’ Neck, just
\nwest of Crab Island. Motochshegan’s Camp was on the north
\nshore at this point back of the marsh. The Trail paralleled
\nthe coast along the Bay from Sayreville [through Morgan] to Matawan. Here it
\npassed the village of Matawan, the seat of the Matovancons,
\nand crossed the tract known as Mowhingsunge, lying between
\nMatawan Creek and Mowhingshunge Creek. From thence it
\npassed over Indian Hill equally distant from the shore, and
\nthence through the village of Chawcosett at Middletown. With
\na curve to the southward it swung into Navesink. Near Fair-
\nview it met the Crossweeksung Trail\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Indians had special places where they buried the
dead many times, especially in winter, they were buried, if in-
terred at all, on the immediate camp site, sometimes beneath
the wickon, or wigwam. Consequently, in proportion to the
number of Indians there were in the State we find few burial
sites as such. I have found burials in Monmouth in the shell
heaps, and on village sites. This is not unusual. There were
burial sites near Sayreville, at the crossing of the Minisink
Trail, at Morgan<\/strong>, at Indian Hill and at Crosswicksung\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1769
1769 Map of the Rariton (Raritan) Bay Bayshore. Chisquake Cr (Cheesequake Creek) is shown below South Amboy. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress. Digital Id: http:\/\/hdl.loc.gov\/loc.gmd\/g3811f.ar124500<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following is also from the same author in the January 1924 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY<\/a> but in a different section, The Minisink Indian Trail by Professor Charles F. Philhower:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 The trail went on from Sayreville to Morgan<\/strong>, where it
crossed the Cheesequake Creek (Indian, Ches-na-quack).  There
was a great council fire.  The course was thence to Matawan,
Wickatunk and south of Swimming river to Shrewsberry and
Navisink rivers\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the main purpose of this Trail was for\nfrequenting
\nthe shell fisheries of the coast. \nOysters, clams, scallops, whelks,
\nsea snails, muscles, crabs and fish were highly relished by the
\nIndians.  The many shell heaps of\nMonmouth county about
\nthe mouth of the Raritan, and Shrewsbury Inlet are evidence
\nof the extensive use of sea foods.  Shell\nheaps forty to sixty
\nfeet in diameter and ten feet deep are not uncommon<\/strong>.  In these
\nheaps are found ash beds, fragments of pottery, stone imple-
\nments and animal bones.  In some heaps bone\nawls are not
\nunusual.  This indicates that such\nlocality was a drying station,
\nand the awls were used for stringing the dried product, which
\nwas transported to their mountain fastnesses. \nFish were also
\ndried for later use.  Drying was the most\ncommon means of
\npreserving food.  It is not uncommon to find\nburials beneath
\nshell heaps.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not sure if this is true or not but I had heard sometime around 2008 that construction of one of the homes on Cliff Avenue, north of North Street, was delayed because of the discovery of buried human remains.  If true, the human remains might have been of one of the aboriginal people, one of the Morgan family slaves, or perhaps Jimmy Hoffa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This section is from the earlier 1913 publication, \u201cA Preliminary Report of the Archaeological Survey of the State of New Jersey<\/a>\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shell heaps. \u2014 Shell heaps frequently mark the garbage\ndump of some old Indian village. They often occur near the sites of former\nsettlements, always near water, and sometimes by themselves, far out on the\nsalt meadows. Those on the marshes present the shell mound in its most typical\nform, and mark the spot where the Indian procured and dried oysters and other\nbivalves to carry inland for consumption. Often these heaps are of great size,\nlike the mound at Tuckerton, and frequently they contain nothing but shells\nfrom top to bottom. Relics are never so abundant in any shell heap as they are\non a village site, and often a search of the fields nearby will prove more productive\nthan digging in the mound. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shell heaps on the mainland are often not heaps at\nall, in the true sense of the word, although they may have been several feet\nabove the surface in Indian times. The washing of earth or the blowing of sand\nhas covered them with many inches of concealing soil, and they may only be\nfound through the chance burrowing of some animal which throws out the shells,\nor the passage of a ploughshare through their midst. These mainland heaps are\nmost apt to be true kitchen middens, and in them may often be found many of the\nobjects that occur on village sites, and, as in the firepits, objects that\nwould otherwise decay are preserved by the protecting soil and shells. Beneath\nthe shell heap are often found the skeletons of the Indians themselves, perhaps\ninterred there for concealment from foes, or for some reason unknown to-day.\nFire pits and refuse holes are also found uncles the shell layers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These images are from page 45 of the report and provide pretty conclusive findings my late mother would agree with.  BTW, the numbers in the parenthesis, e.g., (28-I-3-I-I, 5.), are indications of where to look on specific topographical maps such as this one<\/a> or this one<\/a> (see the detailed instructions starting on page 13 of this document<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think \u201c\u2026 road to Keyport on the opposite side of Cheesequake Creek from Morgan\u2026\u201d essentially means the land under present day Route 35 on the south side of Cheesequake Creek and \u201c\u2026 the bluff overlooking Raritan Bay\u2026\u201d is the bluff of present day Lawrence Harbor where Shoreland Circle is located. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And there you have it!  \u201cAt Morgan along the bluff on the north bank of Cheesequake Creek there was formerly an immense shell heap<\/strong>\u2026\u201d  Boom!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morgan Memories \u2013 Oyster Shells in my Front Yard It always seemed to happen.  Dig even just a little bit at our house in the yard facing the bay and you would inevitably hit oyster shells \u2013 and not just a few of them.  This always perplexed me as the yard was about forty feet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":983,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2062","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2062"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2069,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2062\/revisions\/2069"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}