When the area known as Sicklerville (or Sickler Town) was first settled
in the early 1800's, it had an abundance of pine and cedar trees. The early residents
would cut the pine and make charcoal out of it. The charcoal was then taken by wagon to
Philadelphia and used in the smelting of iron ore. The clear-cutting of the forest
gradually turned the community in one of farming.
In 1754 three brothers came from Germany. They were Christopher,
Jacob, and John Zeigler. After settleing here they changed the family name to Sickler.
Christopher, who lived in Chews Landing, had a son John who was born on March 11th,
1765. John was one of the first settlers of Sicklerville. He built a cabin
of cedar logs on what is now Erial Road sometime between 1790 and 1810. John died in
1839. He had twelve children of which three were boys. His sons helped turn the
area into a farming community.
The first Methodist meetings were held in people's homes until 1837
when John's son, William, donated an acre of his land for the purpose of building a church.
The community joined together to build a one-story wooden structure that was used
during the week as a school and a church on Sunday. Sometime in the 1840's an additional
acre was given for the use as a cemetery. In 1851 the still existing Methodist Church
was built on this site and recently relocated to it present site. The Sickler family
also opened a general store around 1865 that was run by Paul H. Sickler.
When the Williamstown Branch of the Philadelphia and Atlantic Railroad
went through the area in 1872 a station as erected and called Sicklertown. When Paul
Sickler opened the first Post Office in his general store in 1874, the sign out front said
Sicklerville. So the town had the distinction of using both names for a number of years.
Finally the name of Sicklerville was permanently adopted. Another large family of
the area at that time was the Ware's. In the 1800's the area was sometimes called
Waretown.
As I previously stated, Sicklerville started as a logging community
because of the abundant forests. It later became a farming community which lasted for
the better part of 100 years. Sicklerville is now thew most populated area of Winslow
Township, as a result of the housing boom in the 1960's and the extension of the Atlantic City
Expressway through it. Sicklerville is still growing today with numerous churches,
shopping plaza's, and a bus depot. Sicklerville also houses three of the township's six
public schools and is home to Frank Donio Memorial Park. Descendents of the Sickler
family are still residing in the area today.
Thanks to Paul Del Guercio for supplying this information
Reprinted from the March 1995 society newsletter.
