Haddonfield - A Woman`s Town

You will not find many women that were famous in the 18th century unless they were royalty or of noble blood. I cannot say that the subject of this story was famous during her time, though she was among her friends. Her notability became evident well after her death through an epic poem called, “Tales of a Wayside Inn by Henry Wadswroth Longfellow.

Elizabeth Haddon was born in Surrey County, Great Britain in 1680. Her parents, John and Elizabeth were Quakers and were close friends of William Penn. Through Penn`s colorful conversations of the new world and stories about the opportunities that would abound people of the Quaker belief, Mr. Haddon bought several thousands of acres of land in West Jersey. Elizabeth would listen with fascination to Penn`s stories about the raw nature of the land and open spaces. How a new world was being carved by those brave enough to try. It wasn`t long before Elizabeth had a vision of her own and began requesting of her parents to let her go to the new world and handle her father`s land holdings. Finally after much debate and harassment from Elizabeth, her parents relinquished.

In 1701, at the age of twenty-one, Elizabeth arrived in Philadelphia. She had two servants and a paper giving her rights to handle all of her father`s land. Elizabeth was full of enthusiasm and excitement about starting a new life in West Jersey. She found the trip from Philadelphia rugged and hard. There were not many roads cut out along the way. This did not discourage her in the least. She arrived in West Jersey at a small house that had built on the land and quickly settled in. It was not long before she was known to all of her neighbors. She handled her father`s affairs so well that she eventually built a much larger house two miles from where Haddonfield is today. Elizabeth not only possessed a remarkable talent for handling financial matters but also medical treatments. She mixed various herbs to treat wounds and rashes. The locals as well as Native Americans depended upon her to lend her assistance since there were few physicians in the area. Not long after her arrival to the new world, she met a Quaker minister named John Estaugh. They were married in 1702. It was during the period before Estaugh asked Elizabeth to marry him that Longfellow immortalized Elizabeth`s words to her husband to be. In his famous epic poem, Longfellow had her say: “I will no longer conceal what is laid upon me to tell thee, I have received from the Lord a charge to love thee, John Estaugh.” It does not appear that the two were courting at the time and John declared that he had not received such a charge from the Lord. Needles to say, Elizabeth had her way and she spent forty years as John`s wife until he died in 1742.

Elizabeth was blessed, she was known throughout the area as a loving, considerate woman, always eager to help others. She showed that she could handle the affairs usually set by a man including her father`s estate and treating the ill. She was bestowed the honor of having a town named after her. A town that would become rich in South Jersey`s history. Elizabeth died on March 30, 1762, she was 82 years old.

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Author: Vickie Van Antwerp