Jersey Genesis [Paperback]

Henry Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1983

Long regarded as folklife classics, Henry Charlton Beck's books are vivid re-creations of the back roads, small towns, and legends that give New Jersey its special character. Rutgers university Press is pleased to make these important books available again in newly designed editions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (October 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813510155
• ISBN-13: 978-0813510156
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Mullica-slip into the nostalgia, June 29, 2002

By 

BobPbx (Forked River, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jersey Genesis (Paperback)

I read this book in 1975 and again in 2002. It was like slipping into an old, soft woolen shirt I love to wear on cold winter evenings; it wraps around you like an old friend. Beck does an excellent job introducing us to the "Down Jersey" folk who lived along the Mullica River in simpler times; Charlie Weber, the last salt hay farmer who.."rolls mosquitoes off his sun-armored arms as if he were rolling down his sleeves"; Snapper Cobb,.. "for whom big days are marked by turtles and herring in the tide; Aunt Hattie Ford, who ran an old-fashioned grocery store where locals gathered around a comforting pot belly stove to exchange news and keep company, and where Beck was accepted as a native; and Constant Ford, who would "tramp across the old fields in search of bits of glass, old bricks, and cellar holes, seeking traces of his youth". Like an old friend of ours, Beck invites us along with him as he pokes around in all the hamlets that have held their own since the country was first settled; Lower Bank, Herman City, Green Bank, Crowleytown, Bulltown, and Pleasant Mills. He also treats us to some special forays out into the woods surrounding the river, where he gives us original material on places and things that have lived in Jersey legend since the rum runners ran these woods; Joe Mulliner, "highway robber of the pines"; the Leeds Devil, who.. "like a giant bird of prey, is seen to hover above some silent, star-bespangled pond within the umbrous recess of a cedar swamp"; and the lost town of Aserdaten, which has been swallowed by the vegetation of the mysterious Forked River Mountains. One of the really neat things about this book is that, because it was written in 1945, we get to learn about people and places from two distinct period of time. We learn a little about life along the Mullica during the World War II period, and we learn a lot about life along the Mullica in long times past, as the locals prominent in the late 1930's and early 40's relay their hand-me-down memories to Beck about the major events that shaped the river in colonial times. There are stories about the role of the river in the days of the iron furnaces at Batsto and Atsion, and glass production, moss pulling, pine cone gathering, and of course shipbuilding. The Mullica was an important river during the Revolutionary War, both as a highway for war supplies and a hideout for privateers who harassed and plundered British shipping so much that the British finally sent in several shiploads of well-armed troops to "break up once and for all this privateering along the Jersey coast". For some of the material in this part of 'Genesis', Beck digs information out of the late Gus Schneider, who made it a favorite hobby to collect the legends of British ships and Patriot resistance. Beck meets his match with Gus, for as the locals tell Beck about Gus;..."he don't write like you do....he just digs things up out of the river to prove its all true". All of this is just a glimpse of the wonderful stories about the people and places who made the Mullica their home that are to be found in "Jersey Genesis". In the final chapter (up around the headwaters), Beck expresses a melancholy sadness in bringing his story to a close..."the end of our journey and the river's end as well". Henry Charlton Beck loved the Mullica, and he brings the reader to love it as well. I look forward to a time in the future, perhaps when I have retired, to bring this book off the shelf and relive the trip to Down Jersey again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Henry Beck's love affair with a river and its people, September 9, 2007

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jersey Genesis (Paperback)

This is without a doubt the most personal of all of Henry Charlton Beck's books about New Jersey; it is truly a labor of love. Beck loved the Mullica River area of south Jersey ("To me the Mullica is the most wonderful of the unrecognized rivers of America."). He had spent years exploring the region and made many friends there. The book is a slow, sentimental journey up the river, from Barnegat Bay to the Forks up past Batsto and Atsion to Berlin, though he is most fond of the section between Chestnut Neck and Batsto. He writes of boatbuilders, fishermen, moss gatherers, and the last generation of salt hay farmers. He has known these people for years and tells their stories well. He also relates historical information - about near forgotten towns like Herman City, Bulltown, and Crowleytown as well as past events when the Mullica was an important shipping point. He says in his preface he almost wrote the book as a novel, and one can feel the emotions of a novelist as the book unfolds: joy and understanding, as well as a certain sadness and reverie (the book was written during WW II and some of the men Beck knew well were overseas fighting). Like an old-timer who tends perhaps to tell the same story more than once, to repeat himself while always emphasizing or pointing out the most significant parts (to him and, with hope in his tone, to the listener, too), Beck makes his way up the river he loves revealing as best he can what makes him love it so much - the people and their character. If sometimes it's hard to feel as enthusiastic as Beck is to visit one more decoy carver or listen to just one more fifth generation resident tell about when that broken down old building across the road there once hosted the best fiddlin' parties in the Pines - well, it's still a pleasure and a joy to accompany Fr. Beck up the river of his happiest memories.

6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mullica River History....People Not Places, November 26, 1999

By 

Robert Blanda - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jersey Genesis (Paperback)

I own the unofficial Mullica River Website. I purchased this book in hopes of finding answers to the most common questions thay may arise when you visit the Mullica - i.e. What is the history with the abandoned house at the end of the river? or Who designed the Cuts? I didn't find these answers, rendering the book almost useless to me. It was full of chatter about people that really had very little to do with the Mullica River at all! There were a few useful sections about the British running the river ages ago, but still found the book to be difficult reading. The book was copyrighted originally in 1945, so don't plan on seeing recent history in the book (or propper grammer for that matter). It was REVISED (one page to be exact) in 1963.

Worth the money? Not for me. It now sits on a bookshelf collecting dust. Perhaps at my tag sale next year.

Rob Blanda