Written by Erik Burro
Today’s event focuses on West Jersey, the portion of our State granted to Lord Berkley and resold to a group of Quakers, including William Penn who determined distribution of shares, land purchases and constitution, the Concessions and Agreements. West Jersey was the area south of a diagonal line from Little Egg Harbor, Ocean County to the northwest corner of Walpack Township in Sussex County.
In 1675, John Fenwick, a former Civil War captain-turned Quaker, was granted a 1/10 share of West Jersey. Prior to the completion of the West Jersey Proprietorship, Fenwick convinced a number of Quaker households to sell their properties in England and begin new lives, far distant from Britain’s oppression, in a town he named Salem, where he promised peace, religious independence and prosperity. South Jersey was new to English settlement, but was already home to Swedes and Finns who had been living in the area more than a generation before. Fenwick renewed treaties with the Lenni Lenape near the towering Salem Oak tree, already a landmark that would become a symbol of his town and be protected as part of the Quaker Meeting Burial Ground.
Two years ago, before it fell, acorns from this iconic white oak were collected to be shared with other parts of New Jersey. The planting of its seedling at Lower Walpack Cemetery will be a continuation of watching over the graves of other West Jersey settlers who lived their lives here and contributed to what would become America’s State of New Jersey.
The Salem White Oak Planting ceremony took place on Oct. 23, 2021 at the Lower Walpack Cemetery. Download/view a PDF of the Program.
