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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


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.



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

mailto:[email protected]



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.



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



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



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

http://www.camdencounty.com/government/about-camden-county/county-history

http://www.camdencounty.com/government/about-camden-county/county-history

http://www.haddonfieldfriendsmeeting.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Bates_(Quaker)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Bates_(Quaker)

https://sites.google.com/site/camdencountynjgenweb/township-histories/haddon

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





Cemetery and Memorial

THE BATES BULLETIN PAGE 21


Looking from Memorial back to Newton Creek, the land

of William of Newton Creek is on the opposite bank



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

The Bates Bulletin


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

http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/Pages/index.aspx

http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/Pages/index.aspx

Membership Committee............Terri Bates Black, Sandy Bates,

Carol Seward, Cindy Waltershausen

Directory...................................Terri Bates Black & Sandy Bates

Communications Coordinator........................... Terri Bates Black

[email protected]

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,

[email protected]

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

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