One of the wonderful tools used by genealogists is the United States Census records. Many details of an individual’s life can be traced using all census records during their lifetime. James Bramall was mayor of Delran in 1881. He is buried in Bridgeboro Methodist Cemetery having died in 1910 at the age of 85. Based on the census records for the years 1860 to 1910, we know the following about his life.
Starting with the 1860 census, James was born in Sheffield, England in 1825. He married his wife Sarah in England in 1849 and they immigrated to the United States the following year. James and Sarah initially settled somewhere in Pennsylvania as their son, Albert was born there in 1852. A few years later they moved to New Jersey. There is conflicting information where and when son James was born c 1855, some listings are New Jersey & others are Pennsylvania. Younger children – William, Matilda and Henry were born in New Jersey. The 1860 census showed James was a carpenter & owned his home in Cinnaminson Township with a value of $1500 and a personal worth of $200.
The 1870 census highlights one of the biggest frustrations for tracing individuals – misspelled names! James and his family are called Broomall but as the rest of the information matches the family, it is safe to assume an errant census taker. Like the previous 1860 census, there are no addresses noted, just Cinnaminson Township residents. While James is still listed as a carpenter, his real estate is now considered to be worth $2000 and personal estate $500. Children mentioned are Albert, William and Matilda.
By the 1880 census, the family is living in Bridgeboro, Delran Township. Of course, they could be in the same house as the 1860 and 1870 census records are not clear on addresses. Prior to the 1880 census, Delran was part of Cinnaminson Township. James continues to be listed as a carpenter but monetary values weren’t included for that year. The members of the household are James, wife Sarah, son William and daughter Matilda.
In 1885, the state of New Jersey conducted its own census. The town location is now listed as Delran. Besides James and Sarah in the house, Howard, Matilda and Clarence Rapp were also in residence. Howard Rapp was their daughter Matilda’s husband and Clarence was their son.
The next available records were in 1900. By this time James and Sarah are 75 yrs old and living by themselves. A new question asked how many children were born into the family and how many were living in 1900. According to the census records, Sarah had given birth to 8 children but only 3 were still surviving. In 1905, NJ again did a census, there is no change in previous information except age.
The 1910 census was taken in April as James is listed as 85 yrs old. He died in October 1910. They had lost another child as only 2 were recorded as alive in 1910. James listed his occupation as “own income.” He must have saved enough retirement income – no social security at that time!
More research needs to be done on the life of this early Delran carpenter, but the census records give a great start.
Research completed by Sue Hueskin, Delran Historical Society member
On Saturday August 13 from 3pm to 6pm the Riverside Historical Society’s Museum will be open. The museum is located at the Historic Keystone Watch Case Building in Riverside. There’s a new exhibit: The Industrial Years of the Keystone Watch Case Company. The wood patterns used for casting machine parts, architectural drawings of the machinery that ran the building and items manufactured onsite during the heyday of its operation will be on display. This special open house coincides with the Famous Riverside Car Show.
Join us at our June monthly meeting when our featured speaker will be Alice Smith. Alice Smith will highlight the guidelines outlined in Donald A. Ritchie’s book Doing Oral History. This book is considered the premier guidebook to oral history used by historians, archivists, and genealogists as a core text throughout the history community. Alice will be discussing setting up oral history projects and conducting interviews. She will also be sharing some of the information gathered from an oral history project conducted about ten years ago while interviewing persons who worked the Russ farm in Delano. Genealogy involves researching historical documents, oral history and now DNA. Alice M. Smith has been involved with the Riverside Historical Society since 1999. She is a resident of Delran and is also an active member of the Delran Historical Society.
Delran Township was established in 1880. Since that time, 43 people have served in the position of Mayor. Dee Wells, a member of the Delran Historical Society has been searching for photographs of all the people that served in this capacity. Howard Bishop came to the April meeting and brought photographs of his grandfather – Frank Yansick. Frank Yansick was Delran’s longest serving mayor. He took office on January 1, 1936 and remain the mayor until December 31, 1952. Early in his term, he approved plans for a new development on Fairview Street, planned as Riverside Estates. Mr. Bishop brought a copy of the site plans for this project. Hard to believe that the total budget in 1936 was only $18,170 a slight increase over the 1935 budget. The budget surplus was $11,289. The township budget included $175 (the amount of tax revenue on dogs) to pay claims presented by residents for poultry killed by dogs. At one meeting in the spring of 1936, a resident presented a bill for $47.50 for 29 dead chickens.
ted Arm Chair Genealogy at our February meeting. The presentation included live access to Ancestry.com. She shared great tips for researching your family history using historical documents. She modified her 