Leeds Point and the First Author South of New York

                I like to think that, as a librarian, I have a lot of books in my own personal collection.  Don’t get me wrong: my house is not a private library with thousands of copies (just hundreds).  Lots of people have more than I do, but most of the books we collect these days have been printed within our lifetime.  Only collectors who have a permanent seat at Sotheby’s collect really old books, right?  Well, maybe not.

Daniel’s trip to the New World

                One of the oldest books on record here in the United States is an almanac written by Englishman Daniel Leeds in 1687.  He wrote it right here in New Jersey.  The Leeds family have been Jerseyeans since the late 1670s, sailing in on The Shield[1], a full century before the American Revolution.  Daniel Leeds quickly became an important man in Burlington County as a member of the Assembly, a British representative body in New Jersey, and later on he became an advisor on Lord Cornbury’s Council in 1704.  When Leeds settled he actually owned quite a bit of land.  His property extended from a strip of land adjacent to present-day Smithville all the way to Lower Island (which you and I now call Atlantic City).

Bill, Ben, and Dan

                Daniel Leeds, founder of Leeds Point, was originally the first Surveyor General of West New Jersey.   Leeds used his land surveying details to piece together an Almanac, the first edition coming out in 1687, but editions continuing until 1716.  The editions continued on but under the watchful eyes of his sons Felix and Titan.  Daniel Leeds almanacs were published by William Bradford (the American Revolutionary leader, not the Plymouth Rock Pilgrim leader).  Interestingly enough the almanac was most likely one of Bradford’s first printings.  Ben Franklin, in Poor Richard’s Almanac, also makes mention of Leeds bestowing upon the title of “First Author South of New York”.

The Old Homestead

                When Beck visited Leeds point back in 1963 he stated that: “The Leeds Point of today reveals nothing of this colorful past”.  I thought this was a fascinating statement, one that shows why he chose this city for his book.  It got me wondering how Leeds point would compare to today.  Outside of Jimmie Leeds Road on the road to Stockton College I’d never even heard the name Leeds before.  These days the houses aren’t as rundown as when Beck visited, and there is a Senior Living residence or two, but is mostly a small Pine Barrens town, quaint and quiet as most of them tend to be.  Leeds Point is currently not listed as an unincorporated community, and to be honest, probably wasn’t when Beck wrote the book, but the reason he chose to write about it is that a part of its history had been forgotten.  Though information about Daniel Leeds and family may be prominent on certain parts of the Internet his history is not as easy to come by on Jersey history sites as it should be.

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[1] The Shield was the first ship to sail up the Delaware River for New Jersey