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THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
SERIES ELEVEN VOLUME ONE SUMMER 2014 NUMBER 2
The Bates Bulletin
In This Issue
Robert of Stamford Line ………………….…...Front Page
Our Trip to AZ ………………………….……. Front Page
Spence Klein Visits England ………….……….Front Page
Welcome New Members ……………………………… 14
Obituaries ……………………………………………….15
Newton Burial Ground …………………………………16
Bates State Park ………………………………………...22
Volunteers & Trustees ……………………………….. ..24
March 26, 2014
Well - I spent 5 hours at the Society of Genealogists
(SOG) in their wonderful library and 3 hours at the Na-
tional Archives (KEW) looking just for your information
and came up with zero! Not many Bates, of course, but
lots of Bate and quite a few Bateman.
Re, George Bates, Henry and Nick Bates, Robert Bates
or anyone else leaving England – and I quote from the National Archives "very few emigration records exist in
any form!". They just didn't keep track of people leaving
the country for several hundred years.
For one thing, a vast majority of people moving to and
from England were part of the British Empire and, as
such, could freely move from one part of the Empire to
another. All you have to do today is walk down the street and there are ethnic restaurants and shops everywhere.
Many have been here for generations.
So, if you are trying to track Bates coming to America you'll probably have to do it from our side. And, of
course, we didn't really enforce immigration recording
until Castle Gardens in 1820. And we were English and part of the Empire until after the Revolutionary War.
Certainly, some historical records show the ships that
some people came over on but those were mostly records
the Captain or someone in the shipping company kept to
make certain they got paid.
Robert of Stamford Line
To all of you who are waiting for my work on Robert of
Stamford Line. Please bear with me. I am so very back-
logged right now. I need to have uninterrupted time to
work on it where I can concentrate.
I have a pile of other Bates work to catch up on, so soon
as caught up I will give this Robert Line my full atten-
tion. Also, remember I hay all summer and sell hay, so
quite busy.
OUR TRIP TO AZ
In May, we flew to AZ to visit a Pastor friend from
Maine, who resides in Cottonwood, AZ. I contacted As-
sociation members by e-mail, who live in AZ, hoping to have a Bates get-together. Only one couple worked out.
Eleanor & Alan Bates of Cottonwood. (You may recog-
nize them as the ones who did the story of Sarah Rich who Married Joseph Joy Bates, article in Fall & Winter
2013 Bulletin). We met at the local Walmart and went
from there to Sizzlers. Food was great, and we had a
wonderful time meeting and talking about Bates. Thanks
Bakers for sharing with us. You are Awesome!
SPENCE KLEIN AND VISIT TO ENGLAND,
FOR RESEARCH
By Sandy Bates & Spence Klein
When Spence said he was going to England to do Re-search, I jumped at the chance to ask his help with Bates
Research. I asked if he could find anything on Clement
Bate/Bates wife Anna Dalrumple. Also George of Brim-field, Henry & Nicholas to CT., and Robert of Stamford.
To see if any possible records on them when they left
England to come to the United States. I asked an awful lot of him. I want to give him a Big THANK YOU FOR
HIS DEDTICATED TIME SPENT ON THIS, FOR US!!
This is what Spence had to say on his research for these
folks:
London research
Hi Sandy,
The Bates Bulletin Page 14
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
Now regarding Clement Bates. I found out a lot about the Bates's from Kent – most of which I'm sure you already
have. I looked at every parish register in Canterbury (at
that time all Lydd baptisms, marriages and burials were
recorded in Canterbury), Cranbrooke and Biddenden for a hundred years. I found Clement's baptism in Lydd and
4 Bates children in Biddenden.
Unfortunately, of course, they never included the mother's name. I found absolutely no record of his mar-
riage to anyone much less a Dalrumple (or variant spell-
ing thereof). That made me curious so I double checked everything and there was not a single baptism, marriage
or burial of any Dalrumple in any of those parishes for at
least a hundred years!
So – he either married someone else and that marriage is not recorded (I think unlikely) or, if it is Ann Dalrumple,
she and presumably other Dalrumples came from outside
of that area.
I found a great little book called the Monumental Inscrip-
tions All Saints Church, Lydd, Kent, England and it the
inscriptions from the church and the headstones of every-one in the graveyard. There were several Bates's in-
cluded. Since some many association members have vis-
ited the church there I assume that they have already
given you that info and it's been published in the Bulle-tin. However, I did copy what I could and can give it to
you if you don't already have it.
I'm sorry I don't have better results for you. I would have saved me a lot of time if I had had the genealogies of
everyone I was looking for because I had to search a
large span of years just so I didn't miss anyone.
Spence
email: [email protected]
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
DEBORAH L. VOLPER of CA
Says Line is: William of Hanover NJ—Ephraim--Isaac
Clark Sr.--Isaac Clark Jr.--Susannah Bate--Jessie Joanna Shamblin--George Winfield Dowel--Lewis Winfield
Dowell--Ruby Lucille Dowel—Deborah.
CARL BATES of IN
Earliest is: Amos Bates--John Bates---Charles Wesley
Bates---Carl Charles Bates--Carl Stanley Bates--Carl.
DOREEN BATES of NC
Says Line Is: Martin Bates b 1810 NC, d 1900 in Tenn,
marr Rebecca Phillips. They had 11 children, listed here.
George Mack Bates Sr. 1832-1912--Preston R. Bates
1834-1904--Martin Bates 1863--Jane Bates 1839--John
Bates 1841-1891 (Doreen's Line)--Isaac Bates 1844--
Mary Bates 1847-1906--Winny Bates 1848--William Henry Bates 1849--Alford Bates 1851-1935--Greenberg
1853-1932.
MARGARET DUNNAM TYLER of LA
Says Line Is: John Bates 1598 marr Elizabeth--George
Bates--James Bates--John Bates--James Bates the Patriot
from VA--Charles Bates marr Mary Martin--Samuel Bates of Halifax VA --John William Bates--Dozie Foley
Bates--Dozie Foley Dunnam--Margaret Dunnam Ty-
ler. ( Witt says instead of 3rd being James, it should be
his brother rich Quaker John Bates 1655-1719, and the
rest is OK.)
TOMMY WYNDOL BATES of TX
Says Line is: Robert Bates 1766--Robert Bates Jr. 1786--Bazzel B. Bates 1812--John Reid Bates 184--Joseph
Nevlin Bates1875--Ralph Aaron Bates1919--Tommy.
BARBARA BATES SWEARINGEN of FL
Earliest is Harvey Allen Bates 1880-1934 of Whitefield
Maine. (I thought the name sounded familiar), so did a
Quick Search and must proof it before sending her the
info. I believe her line may be Clement Bate/Bates—Samuel Bates 1639--Samuel Bates 1678/80--John Bates
Nov 24, 1716--Barnabas Bates marr Lorana Besse--
Alden Besse Bates 1803--Thomas A. Bates 1835--Frank
A. Bates 1864--Harvey Allen Bates 1880--Barbara.
KAREN CURRENT of MI
Says Line Is: James Bate/Bates of Dorchester Mass.--
James Bates--Samuel Bates--James Bates--James Bates--Oliver Spencer Bates --Russell Bates--Asher Bates--
Lucinda Bates Lee--Earl Lee--Harry Lyle Lee--Karen
Lee Current.
PAUL ANDREW BATES of CA
Paul is the son of (the late) Thomas James Bates of
Berkeley CA. Thomas had all the Bates Books of Vol 1. of the Bates Bulletins. More on this under Thomas J
Bates obit and info.
JACKIE BATES LAWYER of IL
Jackie Says Her Line is: Henry Bates of CT--Elias--Benjamin--Lyman--Charles A.--Phillip Hamilton--Fred
Milton--Merle Ray--Jackie Ruth Bates Lawyer.
The Bates Bulletin Page 15
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
OBITUARIES
THOMAS JAMES BATES age 90, May 6, 1923 - Au-
gust 9, 2013. Father of Antony and Paul, Grandfather of Christina, Sammy and Jeremy, Great Grandfather of
Claire and Liam.
Loved by all in the Claremont Neighborhood in Berke-
ley, California.
Tom had the Hard Cover Books of Vol 1 of the Bates
Bulletins (1907-1922)
NOTE: Tom's son, Paul Andrew Bates has some left
over books of his Dad's. He is offering these books to
Association members at $15.00 which includes ship-
ping. This is so Great of Him!!!
If interested send an e-mail to me
[email protected] and I will forward to Paul, so
he can contact you for payment, and mailing info.
NATALIE BATES ALLEN
In the April 1929 Bates Bulletin,
page 36 under Bates Births it list:
Natalie Bates Allen was born April 24, 1928 daughter of Dudley C. &
Wilma G. Bates Allen of Beverly
NJ.
Natalie loved her Bates Family in the Association. Her and I (Sandy)
had a lot of contact during the
years.
Her line is her parents Dudley C. Allen and Wilma G.
(Bates) Allen. Her Grandfather was Nathan Bates. This
is as far as we could get, and could not find the Parents
of Nathan. Natalie had gone to England to the Lydd church, and the rug was pulled back and she took lovely
pics of the plaques of Bates buried there. Also other
pics of inside church and seat cushions fashioned by the
ladies of the church. She shared all these with us.
Natalie Bates Allen CHESTER, VA - Our beloved
mother, Natalie Bates Allen, passed away on April 26,
2014, at age 86. Natalie was born in East Orange, NJ, to
her beloved parents, Wilma (Bates) and Dudley Collins
Allen. Natalie attended The College of William and
Mary, where she developed her love of the Spanish lan-
guage and culture. During this time, she also played field
hockey for The Tribe and Miss Applebee. She graduated
from Syracuse University and later received her master's
degree in Spanish from the Universidad de Salamanca in
Salamanca, Spain, under the direction of Don Armando
and Laura del Greco. Natalie taught Spanish and English
for many years at both the high school and junior college
levels. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of
Leonia, NJ, the D.A.R., P.E.O., and the Bates Associa-
tion. She maintained a lifelong love of horses and sailing.
Throughout her life, she was an avid reader, and enjoyed
doing crossword puzzles, and traveling with her querida
amiga, Alicia Wilbur. Natalie was predeceased by her
baby brother, and a granddaughter, Tracey Anne War-
rick. She is survived by three daughters, Sharon (Jim)
Rousseau, Barbara (Jeffrey) Groppuso, and Natalie (Jon)
DeBoer; grandchildren, David (Kim) Warrick, Jennifer
Groppuso, Jamie Groppuso, Sarah DeBoer (Frank Dick-
son), William DeBoer, and Sean (Sharon) Rousseau; and
great-grandchildren, David (Samantha), Robert
(Krystina), Douglas, and Rachel Warrick. A memorial
service will be held when our mother is laid to rest be-
side her mother and father this summer in Groton, NY.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity
of your choice. Published in the Times Trenton on May
4, 2014.
RICHARD F. BATES
His wife Mary contacted me and said Richard had
passed. His Line is: Clement—Samuel—Samuel--John--
Thomas--Nicholas--Edward--Edward--Edward--Robert--
Richard.
BATES, Richard F. (RN, BSN) of Walpole, passed
away on March 7th, at his home, age 80. Beloved hus-
band of Mary T. (Marshall) and the late Carolyn (Carr). Devoted father of Edward A. Bates of Florida, William J.
Kafouse and his wife, Susan, of Rhode Island and the
The Bates Bulletin Page 16
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
late Robin A. Bates. Cherished brother of the late Robert D. Bates and Charlotte Nancy Letham. Loving "Grampa"
of Kimberly and Christopher, and also survived by many
loving nieces, neph-ews, in-laws and friends. Funeral
from the Alexander Thomas & Sons Funeral Home, 45 Common St., WALPOLE, Tuesday morning at 9 fol-
lowed by a Mass of Christian Burial at Blessed Sacra-
ment Church at 10. Relatives and friends invited. Visit-ing hours Monday evening from 4 to 8 at the funeral
home. Interment at Rural Cemetery, Walpole. Late Ko-
rean War Army veteran. Published in The Boston
Globe on Mar 9, 2014.
NEWTON BURIAL GROUND, Haddon
Township, NJ
By Frank Comstock
Imagine a quiet, narrow strip of grassy land in an early
20th century neighborhood: narrow streets, older homes,
a few dogs, some children riding bikes, lots of birds and
squirrels. The grassy strip itself has a few dozen head-
stones, bushes, trees, and a couple of plaques. Still
maintained by Haddon Township, but mostly unseen by
anyone other than the nearby neighbors, this is the last
existing shred of the once ambitious Newton Colony in
what was then known as West Jersey. Tucked into a nar-
row lot between Lynne Avenue and a set of rarely used
railroad tracks in the West Collingswood section of Had-
don Township, all that is visible of the Newton Colony is
the old burial ground.
Men, women, and children, often called Irish Quakers,
tired of the constant battle with English authorities over
their belief that they had the freedom to be Quakers, took
a risk we can’t imagine today. Leaving everything
known behind and virtually unaware of what they were
to face, they sailed from Ireland in 1681 to the barely
established town of Salem along the Delaware River in
the southern part of what we know today as New Jersey.
The first group of families and single men, with names
such as Bates, Thackera, Newbie, Sharp, and Goldsmith,
sailed further north on the Delaware River in 1682 to a
point directly across from present-day Philadelphia.
Their destination was a swampy, tidal, three-armed creek
they christened Newton’s Creek, although most accounts
show the name shortened to Newton Creek soon after
arrival. This was the land these men had taken up sev-
eral years before while still in Ireland.
Part of what was known as the Irish Tenth, this land was
alternately fast and swampy, primarily wooded, with a
few hay meadows that were shared for animal feed. The
mostly level land rising from the Delaware, the three
branches of the Newton, and the slightly larger Cooper’s
Creek must have challenged the newcomers since none
of them were known to have much experience as farm-
ers. Reports written as much as one hundred years later
indicate their first homes were rude log huts, or even
structures not much better than tents as saplings were
bent toward each other and covered with branches or
animal skins. These reports indicate some of the early
settlers built their first homes into hillsides and, in at
least one case, a settler moved into a cave.
Such reports may be an example of 18th and 19th century
fascination with the hardships faced by the earliest Euro-
pean and English settlers in the Americas. The Newton
colony settlers certainly faced hardship, but at an average
elevation of less than 35 feet above sea level and with the
land largely level today, it’s hard to imagine these early
homes backed into hillsides.
Newton Creek itself might not be recognizable today if
William Bates returned through some sort of time travel.
A depression-era works program dredged out several
lakes along the three branches of the creek. Long and
narrow, these lakes apparently took over the swampy
land along the edges of the creek. They undoubtedly
helped with the natural ebb and flow of the tides along
the Delaware, but a lack of attention over the last few
decades means nature is beginning to fill in the lake
edges and a return to native swamp has begun. Canoeing
and kayaking are popular and small docks can be seen on
waterfront yards. A new sewage treatment plant some
30 years ago and some dredging on one of the Newton’s
lakes have helped, although the EPA still lists the water
as impaired. People do fish the lakes and the streams
connecting them, but with a Superfund site near the
mouth of the Newton close to the Delaware, caution
might be prudent.
The Bates Bulletin Page 17
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
When the first settlers arrived in 1682, William Bates
was the only one who took land on the south side of the
middle branch of the creek, although there is no real indi-
cation why he did that. Contemporary accounts show
that his land included Bates’ Run (Run is an old English
word for a small creek, still used today in southern New
Jersey), so that may have strongly influenced his desire
to settle on the opposite side of Newton Creek. Thomas
Sharp’s 1700 map of the Newton Colony shows two such
small inlets on William’s property, one that appears to be
little more than a cove along the creek, while the other
may extend several hundred feet into William’s property
cutting diagonally across the land. It might be reason-
able to presume William saw this small run as a source
of both irrigation and transportation onto and off his
land.
Sharp’s 1700 map shows the Bates land already belong-
ing to Jeremiah Bates. We know William died in 1700,
so we have to presume that Sharp drew his map after
William’s death. Things had changed greatly in the
nearly two decades William farmed his land. The map
shows William had a number of neighbors on his side of
the Newton by the time of his death. William’s original
250 acres had increased to about 500 acres during his
lifetime. Some of the roads in this area today existed in
William’s time and some early accounts show his land
extending from what is known today as the White Horse
Pike (roughly to the east) to the Black Horse Pike
(roughly to the west). Since William was appointed as a
highway commissioner by 1684 or 1685, we can only
conjecture that he might have had something to do with
laying out those roads. In his time the roads were un-
doubtedly little more than native trails and were appar-
ently known as the White Horse Road and the Irish
Road. Neither road is believed to be exactly where it was
in the 1680s and 1690s.
William’s land was directly across from where the early
settlers decided to lay out a burial ground. The burial
ground is on the north side of the middle branch of the
Newton Creek, being about four feet above sea level at
the creek’s edge and rising to about twenty-four feet
above sea level at its highest point near what is today
Collings Avenue. The shape is roughly trapezoidal, be-
ing narrower near the creek. Thomas Thackera provided
land for the burial ground to the Newton Meeting. Some
records show that Thackera “conveyed” the land, but
“provided” might be a better word because as you will
see shortly, he never actually deeded the land.
Most of the early settlers are believed to be buried on this
quiet plot, although no definitive records exist and no
stones have been found. Of course, many early Quakers
eschewed the use of stones as too worldly. Today, the
gently rising slope from the creek and the level stretch to
the north is a largely grassy area with a few clumps of
stones, the oldest of them dating to the Revolutionary
period. An historical plaque marks the land as the site of
the Old Newton Burial Ground to distinguish it from the
subsequent Newton Burial Ground in nearby Camden,
itself now largely lost to modernity. This Old Newton
Burial Ground is not to be confused with the identically
named Old Newton Burial Ground 100 or so miles north
in Newton in Sussex County. New Jersey has always
had a habit of allowing more than one town to have the
same name. Even today, there are two towns named
Franklin, three places named Franklin Township, three
Greenwich Townships and no less than six Washington
Townships.
An unusual memorial set on the first bit of level land
above the creek was placed in 1931 when the burial
ground was cleaned and restored. Old stones, mostly
unreadable, were placed in a low, square concrete struc-
ture with what was believed to be the front of the stones
facing outwards. An unusual memorial, it is also an in-
teresting way to display broken and worn headstones.
Unfortunately, the concrete is now crumbling and is in
dire need of repair. The land also includes an old rail-
road station, kept in good repair by a local historical
group and a small playground for children. At one time,
the Newton Meeting House, believed to have been built
by William Bates in 1684, also stood on this land.
The records are not clear about the exact location of the
Meeting House because another lot of slightly less than
an acre was given by Thomas Thackera in 1684, but the
deed was not recorded until 1712. That piece of land
The Bates Bulletin Page 18
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
apparently includes an 1821 building known today as the
Champion School, although it was originally called the
Newton Union School. This is the starting point for the
confusion surrounding the deeds and ownership of the
Newton Burial Ground.
Thomas Thackera apparently never recorded the deed for
the two acres of land he gave for the burial ground and
Meeting House. His son Benjamin did record the deed in
1708, granting the land to Thomas Sharp and others. In
1712, Benjamin then deeded the additional lot of less
than an acre given by his father Thomas Thackera to
Thomas Sharp and others. The next chapter in this story
appears to be an unrecorded 1771 deed of trust for sev-
eral men given by the nearby Haddonfield Quarterly
Meeting. Things get even murkier in 1799 when James
and Jane Thackera conveyed the lands previously owned
by Stephen Thackera (believed to be a grandson of the
original Thomas Thackera) to Joseph and Elizabeth
Sloan. This deed apparently included the burial ground
and the Meeting House land. By 1808, the Haddonfield
Quarterly Meeting had transferred their deed of trust to a
new, unnamed group of trustees because all of the origi-
nal trustees had died. In 1810, Joseph and Elizabeth
Sloan transferred the burial ground and Meeting House
lot to James and Rachel Sloan for $25.00. This 1810
transfer of land that was mistakenly included in the 1799
deed was not recorded until 1816. In 1811, a year after
the 1810 transfer and five years before recording that
transaction, Joseph and Elizabeth Sloan transferred the
property again to the Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting in
trust. John Clements 1877 history, though, shows James
Sloan apparently holding title to the land until 1819
when he released his interest to a group of trustees who
had charge of part of the burial ground.
Ownership records peter out at this point for the burial
ground and Meeting House lots. The northwestern end
of the property, though, is apparently the site of the
Champion School according to documents filed to place
the school building on the National Register of Historic
Places.
The burial ground, recorded as 1.49 acres is now owned
by Haddon Township which absorbed West Collings-
wood at some time in history. What happened between
the early 1800s and now is a mystery probably best left
alone. Haddon Township also owns a 1.6 acre lot at-
tached to the north end of the burial ground – it may en-
compass part of the land given by Thomas Thackera –
with a small, well-maintained station for the old Reading
Railroad. The township maintains this as an historical
artifact and the grounds are used as a play area for chil-
dren.
The Champion School, with its own checkered owner-
ship record, stands on a small lot of 0.8 acres, which may
be the additional 0.8 acres that Thomas Thackera gave to
the Newton Meeting after his first conveyance of about
two acres. This lot is slightly to the northwest of the bur-
ial ground at 326° on a compass reading from the center
of the burial ground. Collings Avenue bisects these lots
today, running directly in front of the school.
After the Newton Meeting House burned in the early
1800s, the local Quakers sold the small lot in 1821 to a
group of Newton Township residents who wanted to
build a school. The price was $75.00. It wasn’t until ten
years later than anyone noticed that the money had never
actually been paid and the title had never been conveyed
and recorded, even though the school had been built. A
prosperous local farmer named Samuel Champion, who
owned much of the land around the burial ground by that
time, stepped up and paid for the land and received the
deed, at least to the small lot containing the school. At
some point, the school’s name was changed from the
Newton Union School to the Champion School. In 1838,
New Jersey enacted a state-wide public school law and a
group of local residents raised $110 to buy the school
and the small lot from Samuel Champion. In doing so,
title of this building and lot were transferred to the first
Board of Education in that area.
The Champion school, which may sit partially on the site
of the original Newton Meeting House, remained in use
as a school into the 1900s until a one room school was
no longer practical. Religion returned then to this site of
the first Quaker Meeting in the area as first Episcopalians
and then Presbyterians took over the building to use it as
a church. After World War II, the building was used by
The Bates Bulletin Page 19
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
several local civic groups for meetings. A restoration
project is underway now to save this nearly two hundred
year old structure.
A sacred site for the early Irish Quakers as the location
of their first meeting house and the final resting place of
so many of the original settlers, the Newton Burial
ground seems to have been largely abandoned by Quak-
ers after the Newton Meeting moved to nearby Haddon-
field where a new meeting was started around 1721, now
known as the Haddonfield Friends Meeting. If you pre-
fer a different version of history, you might subscribe to
the move of Quakers in the area once known as Newton
Township to current-day Camden where they once again
set up as the Newton Friends Meeting around 1824.
Regardless of which historical version you choose, the
burial ground certainly was being used again by the
Revolutionary War and for many years into the 1800s.
Apparently more or less abandoned again, local citizens
rescued the burial ground around 1930 and built the rec-
tangular monument to house broken stones. Newton
Burial Ground is maintained by Haddon Township to-
day. There is very little trash and no obvious vandalism
– some older stones are broken, though. The land so gra-
ciously given by Thomas Thackera 330 years ago exists
quietly today shaded by large trees, traversed mostly by
squirrels and an occasional veteran’s group that puts
flags on some of the graves on Memorial Day.
William Bates probably wouldn’t recognize anything if
he paddled a canoe up the Newton Creek today. He
would probably be amazed by all the houses on his farm
and the homes and small stores and streets on the land of
his fellow settlers. However, he could still land his ca-
noe at the burial ground where it meets Newton Creek
and stroll up the hill as he must have done hundreds of
times while going to the meeting house for the nearly
twenty years he lived there. Slumbering quietly now for
330 years, the Newton Burial Ground will probably live
on for many more years.
SOURCES
Sketches of the First Immigrant Settlers, John Clement,
Genealogical Publishing Company, 1877
History Of Camden County, George Prowell, L. J. Rich-
ards Publisher, 1886
The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of
Haddonfield NJ, 1813
Bates Bulletin, Series X, Volume 5, Spring 2013
Application to the Department of the Interior for place-
ment of the Champion School on the National Register
of Historic Places, 1988
www.camdencounty.com/government/about-camden-
county/county-history
www.haddonfieldfriendsmeeting.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=William_Bates_(Quaker)
https://sites.google.com/site/camdencountynjgenweb/
township-histories/haddon
http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-17/
news/33881226_1_newton-creek-urban-promise-
advocacy-group
The Bates Bulletin Page 20
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
Cemetery and Memorial
THE BATES BULLETIN PAGE 21
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
Looking from Memorial back to Newton Creek, the land
of William of Newton Creek is on the opposite bank
The Bates Bulletin Page 22
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
BATES STATE PARK, OREGON
By Stan Bates
Many of us aspire to travel more when we retire!
Now that my wife and I are retired, we love to spend
our summers near the Oregon coast to escape the
stifling heat we had endured for over 30 years, but
not learned to appreciate, in the Arizona desert.
Normally when we travel back and forth between
Arizona and Oregon, we take the Interstate Free-
ways as it makes it much quicker to reach our desti-
nation.
On October 2nd of 2012, we decided to take a route
we have never traveled before in order to see part of
Oregon that we had never been to previously. That
in itself is rare as we both grew up in Oregon and
Washington and have travelled most of the high-
ways throughout Oregon. We left the coastal area
where we spend our summers and crossed the I-5
corridor that transverses the Willamette Valley at
Salem continuing East on Hwy 22 up into the Cas-
cade Mountains. We then took Hwy 126 which led
us to the small community of Prineville (best known
for where Facebook’s computers are located). This
town is located in a high desert plateau area instead
of mountainous forested land and is where the road
became Hwy 26. Traveling a couple of hours longer
we climbed back into a forest setting before reach-
ing John Day, Oregon where we spent the night.
Upon departing John Day the next morning, we
needed gas so we stopped in Prairie City, Oregon. It
was a crisp 26 degrees outside at 9:30am as we con-
tinued our east bound saga towards Idaho and Inter-
state 84.
Approximately 10 miles east of Prairie City along
Hwy 26 as we were climbing into the southern por-
tion of the Blue Mountains, I commented to Sandi
that I grew up in Walla Walla, Washington which is
located towards the northern portion of this moun-
tain range. I never realized the mountains went so
far south into Central Oregon. As it turns out, we
were about 200 miles south as the crow flies from
Walla Walla. At that point we observed a sign for
an intersecting road that said Bates Rd. Shortly af-
ter we passed that sign, we were wondering for
whom the road was named, when we came upon a
highway sign indicating “Bates State Park” 1 mile.
There was absolutely no way we were not going to
visit this park, which is located about 20 miles
northeast of Prairie City and is in an area not trav-
elled frequently. Turning north onto Highway 7 we
traveled the 1 mile to the entrance to the Bates State
Park.
There were only about 6 or 7 vehicles inside the
Bates State Park which we found out is closed due
to winter snows from October 15th until the middle
of March each year. We read the placards located in
the Park and found out that the park sits on donated
land where the Bates lumber mill and the town of
Page 23 The Bates Bulletin
THE BATES ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1907
Bates, Oregon was once located. Needless to say
this was a revelation to us since we never knew a
Bates, Oregon existed let alone a State Park that was
created in its honor.
The first phase of the Bates State Park became op-
erational on September 20, 2011 after the land (131
acres) was sold to a non-profit subsidiary of Grants
County, Oregon, who in turn sold the land to the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department approxi-
mately 4 years earlier. Currently the park consists of
over 3 miles of trails for hiking/biking, a 9 acre
pond formed behind an earthen dam and fed from a
creek, numerous camping sites, a picnic shelter, pic-
nic tables, interpretive panels, small trees and op-
portunities for fishing or exploring. The dam and
pond are the only portions of the original site left
remaining, because the saw mill, railroad tracks, and
all of the town buildings were previously disman-
tled. There is also a large fish ladder that allows for
the migration of steelhead and salmon to their prime
spawning area. As more funds become available to
the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, more
improvements will be made to the park.
The setting for this park is ideal during the non-
winter months because of its somewhat remote loca-
tion there is not a large number of visitors, its cool
refreshing climate and excellent fishing. As the
park becomes more developed and word of its exis-
tence is increased, the number of visitors will grow
significantly. The park is located in a small valley
(Sumpter Valley) approximately 4,000 feet above
sea level with large mountains all around it (Dixie
Mountain is approximately 7,600 feet high) and is
adjacent to the park and Highway 7. The park site
sits between Clear Creek to the east, Bridge Creek
to the west and the Middle fork of the John Day
River to the north.
If you would like more information on the Bates
State Park, visit the Oregon Park and Recreation
Department (OPRD) at: http://www.oregon.gov/
OPRD/Pages/index.aspx and once there look to-
wards the upper right of the screen and click on the
tab that says Oregon State Parks. Once there, click
on the Bates State Park. In researching this article, I
owe a special acknowledgement to Dennis Bradley
of the OPRD who gave me extremely valuable in-
formation about the park as well as helpful data re-
garding other contacts that assisted me with finding
information concerning the community of Bates,
Oregon.
There are currently plans for two additional articles
to follow that delves into the history of the town of
Bates, the lumber mill that operated there, and the
on-going efforts of local and former residents of the
town of Bates to keep the memory of this commu-
nity alive. With respect to those residents, it is rele-
vant to quote a portion of a famous poem by Robert
Frost…
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Had we not taken this less traveled route, we would
not have found this State Park and learned of its his-
tory. Hopefully, this has made a difference for you,
the reader, as it has for my wife and me!
...Cont. in Fall 2014 Bulletin
Membership Committee............Terri Bates Black, Sandy Bates,
Carol Seward, Cindy Waltershausen
Directory...................................Terri Bates Black & Sandy Bates
Communications Coordinator........................... Terri Bates Black
Backup Communications Coordinator..........................Stan Bates
Web Site.......................Derek LaPointe, Computerconscript.com
Historian-VA....................................................Wayne Witt Bates
Head of DNA Project......Wayne Witt Bates, [email protected]
Visit Our Website at http://www.batesassociation.org
President......................................................................Sandy Bates
222 Line Rd, Greene, ME 04236, [email protected]
President Emeritus…………………………C. Benjamin Bates,
Executive Vice President……………........James Cleveland Bates
192 South St, Rockport, MA 01966, [email protected]
Resident Agent............................................................Lynne Bates
11 Meadow Lane Apt 2, Bridgewater Mass 02324
Treasurer....................................Mary Lou Bishop & Sandy Bates
Secretary of Treasurer…C. Benjamin Bates, [email protected]
Computer Chair..........................Spence Klein, [email protected]
Editor................. ..............Terri Bates Black [email protected]
Librarian......................................................................Sandy Bates
Page 24
Your Association's Volunteers : Trustees : —Chairmen:
C. Benjamin Bates, MD John E. Bates, MA
Mary Louise Bishop, TX Spence Klein, CO
The Bates Bulletin
The Bates Association PO Box 135
Bridgewater MA 02324