Deptford`s Moment Of Fame

How does the saying go, “ Everyone gets 15 minutes of fame”? For Deptford that moment of fame has lasted more than two centuries. The first manned flight in this country took place on January 9, 1793. Journeying from the Philadelphia prison yard, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman, landed his balloon in a clearing in Deptford Township.

Blanchard was not a novice at balloon flight; he had already tackled the English Channel during a flight from Dover to France. In fact, he had made 44 ascensions before setting his sights on America. He not only made history with this flight but he carried mail from some very prominent people of the time, Benjamin Franklin and King Louis XVI. Thus, the first airmail.

Through the revolutions that had befallen America and France, Blanchard felt a kinship to the new world and respected her fight for freedom. He was honored to be able to come here and bring his vision of the first manned balloon flight to our shores. He gathered the support of George Washington who granted him a letter of introduction to prospective citizens of South Jersey where he planned on landing. On his flight he would take two passengers, Dr. John Jeffries and a little black dog along with various items for experiment such as a magnet and bottles filled with atmospherical air. Dr. Benjamin Rush, father of American psychiatry, asked Blanchard to take his pulse while he was in flight to compare to his land pulse. There was only an 8 beat difference that could have accounted for his excitement as he traveled above the earth at some 5,812 feet high.

Blanchard left the Philadelphia prison yard with cheers of good wishes from thousands of bystanders. Samuel Mickle of Woodbury wrote in his diary later about the launching. Had he known that the flight would end in Deptford he could have saved himself the trip to Philadelphia and traveled just a few miles instead. The balloon lifted off at 10:00 AM and traveled for 56 minutes where it landed in a clearing in Deptford. The dog, suffering from airsickness, was delighted to leave the cab. He ran to a small pond and drank of the muddy water then returned to the Blanchard when a farmer approached carrying a pitchfork. The man was frightened by what he saw. His life experiences could not account for this strange craft that fell out of the sky. Soon they were joined by another farmer who was just as confused. Blanchard could not speak English so he gave them Washington`s letter but they could not read. More people joined them and they helped Blanchard gather his balloon. They took him to one of their farms and offered him food. Perhaps you will recognize an ancestor among one of those that greeted Blanchard, they were: Everard Bollton, Joseph Chessman, Samuel Taggart, Joseph Griffith, Zara North and Amos Cattell.

Jonathan Penrose a resident of the area offered Blanchard passage in his carriage back to Philadelphia. He arrived there at 7:00 PM where he respectfully visited President Washington with an account of his flight. The letter that Washington presented to Blanchard was officially the first airmail in the United States. Unfortunately, the letter has never been found.

There were no reporters at the site when Blanchard landed his balloon. No great crowds that had accompanied him in Philadelphia, just some very scared farmers that had not a clue that history was being made. The legacy that Blanchard left of course did not go forgotten as the Governor of the State of New Jersey proclaims each January 9th the First Manned Flight In America Day and so Deptford`s moment of fame goes on.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: Vickie Van Antwerp