Bulletin Article

MOVING HOUSES AROUND AND ABOUT -- Part I

by Helen Mountney
"Haddonfield is dotted with houses that have been moved about,"
(Haddonfield Herald Weekly, February 1, 1951)

The "Library Point" has always been an historic spot here in Haddonfield, but I'm sure that very few know the history of that property, especially the fact that a sizable house, known as 78 Haddon Avenue, stood on that site for many years.

This part of the story starts in 1781, when John Estaugh Hopkins and Sarah, his wife, deeded to Jacob Cox, a wheelwright, a piece of their property. In 1807, Jacob and Mary Cox sold one-third of that piece to Attee Leeman, a farmer, for $112.00 with all buildings, fences and streetways, subject to ground rent. Attee Leeman, an African American, was one of the thirty-two charter members of the 1811 Fire Company of Haddonfield, and held one (1) share of stock of that company.

After many transfers of the property, the Leeman lot came into the possession of Rebecca Nicholson, great-granddaughter of John Estaugh Hopkins. Sometime before 1916, Ms. Nicholson conveyed a small part of the triangle (near the point) to the Borough of Haddonfield for a park which then was planted with shrubbery. A fountain was strategically placed there as a watering place for horses. Years later, this point was "rounded off" for the convenience of traffic flow.
Rebecca Nicholson gave the house (but not the land) to Edward Smiley, who worked for her. He and his family could live in the house as long as he lived. There, he and his wife raised four children while he worked for the Nicholson sisters as their gardener, coachman and general handyman. From what the records show, Smiley kept a beautiful yard around his house on the point property.

In 1917, Rebecca Nicholson donated the remainder of this property for the sole use of the Haddonfield Library and Historical Society. Construction on the building began in 1917, but the Library and Historical Society building was not finished until 1920, due to the interruption caused by World War I.

In 1926, following Mr. Smiley's death, one of his sons had the house moved from the property and taken to 8200 Smiley Avenue in Pennsauken, where it sits regally on an inclined corner just a block off of Haddonfield Road. Geographically, after the house crossed the Estates section of Haddonfield, it would have been an easy move straight out Grove Street, before the days of the many traffic lights and wires that we encounter. Just by looking at the house and noting its depth, it had to have been moved in at least two parts. One of the hardest parts of the moves must have been the railroad crossing on Haddonfield Road between Maple Avenue, in Pennsauken, and what is now Pennsauken Country Club. Upon exploration of the neighborhood, it appears that this was probably one of the first houses there. Apparently, the roadway where it is now located needed a name, and the name given was, of course, Smiley Avenue.

This long thin area of Pennsauken, founded about fifteen years prior to the Civil War, near the intersection of Haddonfield Road and Park Avenue, had been called Jordantown. It is noted by historical authors to have been well known for being an African-American community having churches, cemeteries, a school, a few stores, and a camp meeting.

In 1975, when Mr. and Mrs. Miller, newcomers to South Jersey, were house hunting in the area for a home for their growing family, they found this lovely, sizeable house in a very convenient location to main roads, schools, churches, and shopping. They quickly purchased it and happily moved in. Mrs. Miller called Public Service Electric & Gas Company to have the records transferred into their names, only to find out that the company had absolutely no record of this house. That, however, was soon rectified. To this day it remains a mystery as to how this house had power prior to the Miller's moving in because there were ceiling lights, electric switches and outlets, and a gas stove in the house when they purchased it.

Mrs. Miller and her family still happily reside in this home and still find it a very comfortable, convenient place to live.