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Notes for Charles Stokes

A biosketch reports [1]:

Charles, third child and son of David and Ann (Lancaster) Stokes, was born in Beverly township, Burlington county, August 12, 1791. In his early manhood he taught school and engaged in farming, and then studied surveying and was one of the head surveyors of the Camden and Amboy railroad. He was for some time a member of the state legislature and was one of the framers of the state constitution. He was also very active in promoting and was one of the most influential directors of the Mount Holly Insurance Company. "This is Charles Stokes' peculiarity," said a man who knew him well in 1903, "He, like the patriarchs of old, is a descendant of a long line of cherished and honored ancestry. And as his portion he has inherited that little spark; that certain something; that invisible yet ever present and all pervading power, that raises up and throws down who it will. That makes honored or dishonored, whoever and whenever suits its strange fancy, without which none are great, and with which none are mean. View him as you will, there cannot be found in him any one art; any faculty; and ability to do a particular thing in a peculiar way, whereby those who rise in the world usually climb into a place above their fellows. And yet, without wealth, without office, and without title he has risen to that place of prominence where he is one of the foremost citizens of his country and state. As Abram became Abraham, so is he the honored Charles Stokes." He married, October 18, 1816, Tacy, daughter of William and Ann (Lukins) Jarrett. Her great-grandfather, John Jarrett. the name is also spelt Garrit, is said by some to have come from Holland, and by others from the Scottish Highlands. About January, 1712, he married Mary, daughter of John Lukens, who emigrated in 1684 from Criffilt, Germany. Their son, John, who married Alice Conard, was the father of William Jarrett, the father of Tacy, the wife of Charles Stokes. The children of Charles and Tacy (Jarrett) Stokes were; 1. David, born September 18, 1817, died in infancy. 2. Hannah, April 30, 1819, married, April 27, 1837, Charles Williams. 3. Alice, August 25, 1821, married, in 1843, William, son of John R. and Letitia Penn (Smith) Parry. 4. Jarrett, April 29, 1823, died September 18, 1870; married Martha, daughter of William and Hannah (Rowland) Hilliard. 5. Anna, April 24, 1825, married, 1850, Chalkley Albertson. 6. William, who is referred to below.

A biosketch reports [2]:

Charles Stokes (1791-1882): Born August 12, 1791 in Wellingborough Township (now Beverly); The son of David and Ann Lancaster Stokes and descendant of Thomas and Mary Stokes of London, England who immigrated to Burlington County in 1676. Charles moved to Stockingham and lived with his parents until he married. He was educated at Rancocas Friends School. In his early life, Stokes farmed with his parents, and taught during the winter. At age 17 he began a long career as a surveyor. Charles married Tacy Jarrett of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on October 18, 1816, and settled in a new home and farm in what is now Beverly. They had six children: David, Hannah, Alice, Jarrett, Anna, and William. Charles was a Pacifist, Teetotaler, and life-long member of the Society of Friends. In 1817 he was elected elder, and served as representative to the Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia for 65 years until his death. In 1830 Stokes was selected as one of five bridge commissioners, and supervised construction of the Centerton Bridge and the later pier bridge on the Rancocas at Bridgeborough. Stokes was an early proponent of a rail line linking Philadelphia and New York City. He attended the First Public Railroad meeting chaired by Col. John Stevens in 1828, and was elected Secretary. This effort led to establishment of the Camden & Amboy Railroad. In 1833 Stokes surveyed the line and served as Company Agent to acquire property on the right of way. In 1830 Stokes was elected to the New Jersey House of Representatives where he served one term. In 1835 and again in 1836, Stokes was elected to the Council of State Legislature. He was a great admirer and acquaintance of Andrew Jackson who caused him to be commissioned as Master in the Court of Chancery in 1836. He was later selected as one of 60 delegates statewide (one of four from Burlington County) to the New Jersey State Constitutional Convention, which convened in Trenton on March 18, 1844. He was an active delegate and was successful in including protections against indentured servitude and separation of church and state. However, when it came to the final vote, Stokes received requested and received unanimous approval to be excused from voting due to the military features in the document. He was a stockholder in the Beverly - Mt. Holly Turnpike or Plank Road Company in 1851. In the same year he became a director of the Mt. Holly Insurance Company. He was also a stockholder in the failed Dunks Ferry Steamboat Company. Stokes surveyed the town of Beverly (then Churchville) in 1847; laid out the town of Delanco (then called Delaranco) in 1852; planned the town of Edgewater Park (then called Willington) in 1853; and surveyed the town of South Beverly in 1856. He also surveyed most of Wellingborough and served as its principle record-keeper for 20 years. He was a member and President of the Centerton Turnpike Company from 1855 until his death. He was a founding member and first President of the Rancocas Library in 1859. The Stokes family moved to Rancocas in 1863. Charles Stokes served as Burlington County Freeholder for 15 years, and was on and off the Wellingborough Township Committee for most of his life. Charles Stokes died in the town of Rancocas February 27, 1882 at age 91 and is buried with his family in the Rancocas Friends burying ground.


Footnotes:

[1] Francis Bazley Lee, ed., Genealogical and Memorial History of the State of New Jersey, Vol. 2 (1910), 581, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].

[2] Peter Fritz, Key Figures in Delanco History, [URL].