Salem County Research Articles

The first record of an established population of Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) in New Jersey, USA.

Amblyomma maculatum Koch, the Gulf Coast tick, is expanding northward from its original range in the southeastern United States. In 2013, its most northern collection was in Delaware. Amblyomma maculatum has since been found in Connecticut, Illinois, and New York. It is the vector of the human pathogen Rickettsia parkeri, the causative agent of R. parkeri rickettsiosis. We report the first finding of an established population of A. maculatum in Salem County, NJ, with a R. parkeri infection prevalence rate of 23.8%. Our finding of A. maculatum is consistent with other recent findings in the northeastern United States in that specimens were found in open areas devoid of tree canopy. This discovery demonstrates the importance of tick surveillance in order to identify expanding tick populations and the pathogens they may transmit.

Isaiah D. Clawson: A Salem County Politician in a Time of Transformation

Isaiah D. Clawson was a physician and politician from Salem County in the antebellum era. He first affiliated with the Whig Party. When that party disintegrated in the mid-1850s, Clawson sought the support of the American (Know-Nothing) Party before affiliating with the more enduring Republican Party. Clawson's political maneuvers when he ran for, and was elected to, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1854 and 1856 revealed the political options open to Whigs as their party faded from the political scene. In the context of New Jersey politics, where the American Party endured longer than elsewhere, political figures such as Clawson had to gain and hold on to support from both Americans and Republicans to unify the opposition to the Democrats. Although Clawson's political positions were more in line with Republican thinking on slavery and internal improvements, political realities of the time compelled him to rely on a united opposition to win and retain his seat in the House of Representatives.

Emerging Chlorinated Polyfluorinated Polyether Compounds Impacting the Waters of Southwestern New Jersey Identified by Use of Nontargeted Analysis.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a widespread, environmentally persistent class of anthropogenic chemicals that are widely used in industrial and consumer products and frequently detected in environmental media. Potential human health impacts from long-term exposure to legacy PFAS resulted in the industrial development and use of numerous replacement species in recent decades. Environmental investigative activities have been crucial in identifying the existence and environmental transport of emerging PFAS in environmental media. Previous investigations in an industrially impacted region of southwestern New Jersey has shown consistently elevated levels of legacy PFAS, motivating additional examination by non-targeted mass spectrometry to identify emerging PFAS contamination. This study applied non-targeted analysis to water samples collected in Gloucester and Salem Counties in southwestern New Jersey, revealing the existence of a series of novel chloro-perfluoro-polyether carboxylates and related PFAS species originating from an industrial PFAS user in the region. There is sparse publicly available toxicity information for the emerging chemical species, but estimated concentrations exceeded the state drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). Non-targeted analysis was used to estimate the effectiveness of point-of-entry water treatment systems for removal of the emerging species and reduced the abundance of PFAS by >90%.

Traditional Patterned Brickwork in New Jersey

This article traces the history of the first architecture of refinement in colonial New Jersey: traditional patterned brickwork, the artful ways in which bricklayers used vitrified bricks to decorate the outer walls of the houses they built. These practices had their roots in 16th-century England, where they were employed in fashionable and prestigious architecture, and where they remained the common knowledge of bricklayers a century later during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666. With the slump in the building trades that resulted from the rebuilding, Quaker bricklayers and brickmakers joined the migration to the Delaware Valley, where they found the greatest abundance of brick clay in West New Jersey. In the century that followed, Burlington County experienced the largest number of patterned brickwork buildings, while Salem County became home to the second largest number, the greatest variety of patterns, and most of the best examples. The best and best-preserved of its early buildings, the Abel and Mary Nicholson house, has been designated a National Historic Landmark for its patterned brickwork. The rise of the Georgian style of architecture reduced the popularity of patterned brickwork after 1750. After the Revolutionary War, the ascendancy of the Federal style was incompatible with patterned brickwork, and that sealed its eventual disappearance. This article combines an understanding of these buildings as physical artifacts while collectively placing them within the larger narrative of New Jersey’s development during the colonial period.

Increases in Mortality for All Causes and All Cancers Combined before and after Startup of a Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey, USA

The Salem/Hope Creek nuclear plant in southern New Jersey is one of just four U.S. plants with three large reactors (all others consist of one or two). These reactors started operations in 1976, 1980, and 1986 and routinely released toxic radioactive gases and particles into the environment. Only a single study has been performed by federal officials on cancer near nuclear plants—a study now 30 years old. A review of official mortality data using four-year periods shows the Salem County cancer death rate was consistently just below that of other New Jersey counties up to the mid-1980s. However, from 1983-1986 to 2015-2017, the county rate soared from -5.4% below the rest of the state to +32.6% above. The county/state mortality ratio for all causes also increased rapidly in these periods, from +0.6% above to +28.4% above the state. Salem now has the highest cancer death rate, and the 2nd highest total death rate of any New Jersey county. Had the 1983-1986 county-state ratios not changed in the following 31 years, 3493 fewer deaths (1018 of them from cancer) would have occurred among Salem County residents. The lack of any apparent etiologies that could have caused such a dramatic and unexpected change, plus the fact that the Salem/Hope Creek reactors are aging, corroding, and more prone to leaking radionuclides, emphasizes the immediate need for more studies of this type, and the inclusion of local health as a crucial factor in public decisions on the plant’s future.

The Steam Mill and Jacksonian Politics: The Career of William N. Jeffers

Political and economic transitions reshaped New Jersey as they did throughout the United States during the 1820s. By the end of that decade an emergent second party system, centered on support of or opposition to Andrew Jackson, defined both national and state elections. The “Market Revolution” had begun to transform the nation’s economy. Industrialization and improvements in the transportation network led to the eclipse of purely local markets by national ones. Politicians and entrepreneurs at the local level sought to adapt to such transitions. William N. Jeffers of Salem County, New Jersey, so adapted his approach to both political and economic relationships. Jeffers furthered his political ambitions by identification with the Jacksonian movement in New Jersey. He sought to advance his economic ambitions by obtaining a charter for a bank and for a steam mill to take advantage of Salem County’s agricultural economy.

Pathogen transport and fate modeling in the Upper Salem River Watershed using SWAT model

Simulation of the fate and transport of pathogen contamination was conducted with SWAT for the Upper Salem River Watershed, located in Salem County, New Jersey. This watershed is 37 km2 and land uses are predominantly agricultural. The watershed drains to a 32 km stretch of the Salem River upstream of the head of tide. This strech is identified on the 303(d) list as impaired for pathogens. The overall goal of this research was to use SWAT as a tool to help to better understand how two pathogen indicators (Escherichia coli and fecal coliform) are transported throughout the watershed, by determining the model parameters that control the fate and transport of these two indicator species. This effort was the first watershed modeling attempt with SWAT to successfully simulate E. coli and fecal coliform simultaneously. Sensitivity analysis has been performed for flow as well as fecal coliform and E. coli. Hydrologic calibration at six sampling locations indicate that the model provides a “good” prediction of watershed outlet flow (E = 0.69) while at certain upstream calibration locations predictions are less representative (0.32 < E < 0.70). Monthly calibration and validation of the pathogen transport and fate model was conducted for both fecal coliform (0.07 < E < 0.47 and −0.94 < E < 0.33) and E. coli (0.03 < E < 0.39 and −0.81 < E < 0.31) for the six sampling points. The fit of the model compared favorably with many similar pathogen modeling efforts. The research contributes new knowledge in E. coli and fecal coliform modeling and will help increase the understanding of sensitivity analysis and pathogen modeling with SWAT at the watershed scale.

Plant Communities of the Burden Hill Forest, Salem County, New Jersey

The plant community types on three tracts within the Burden Hill Forest, a distinctive outlier of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, are described and classified. While these tracts consist largely of a general pine barrens type, they display a number of significant differences from the main body of the Pine Barrens. These differences include additional forest plant community types previously undescribed for New Jersey, higher heterogeneity of community types and woody plant diversity, and the presence of several unusual or rare species including Castanea pumila (Allegheny Chinquapin).

Comparison of light traps, gravid traps, and resting boxes for West Nile virus surveillance

West Nile virus surveillance was conducted at five sites in New Castle County, DE, and one site in Salem County, NJ, from June through September, 2004, using dry ice-baited Centers for Disease Control miniature light traps, infusion-baited gravid traps, and resting boxes. All trap types were simultaneously placed at each site every two weeks and run overnight. Collected mosquitoes were identified to species, pooled, and analyzed for virus using a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test. In total, 47,972 mosquitoes in 29 species or species groups were analyzed. Light traps collected 60,201 mosquitoes in 28 species or species groups. Gravid traps collected 3,195 mosquitoes in 19 species or species groups. Resting boxes collected 99 mosquitoes in nine species or species groups. In total, 1,500 mosquito pools were tested for WNV resulting in ten positive pools. All positive pools consisted of Culex pipiens, Culex restuans, or Culex salinarius. Seven positive pools were from gravid traps and three were from light traps despite testing almost 14 times as many pools from light traps. The overall infection rate from gravid traps was nearly 33 times greater than the infection rate from light traps, 2.29 and 0.07 infected mosquitoes per 1,000, respectively. The results demonstrate the advantage of using gravid traps for West Nile virus surveillance over light traps or resting boxes.

The Delaware Valley in the Early Republic: Architecture, Landscape, and Regional Identity

Of all the regions of America, perhaps the least understood is the Mid-Atlantic. Some scholars have gone so far as to suggest that it is not a single region because of its diverse cultural traditions. Others argue that diversity is the defining characteristic of the region dating back to the seventeenth century, when most of it was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Gabrielle M. Lanier's new book takes regionalism to a new level of complexity by exploring the relationship among ethnicity, regional identity, and localism in three places in the lower Delaware Valley in the period from 1780 to 1830. The three localities are Warwick Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Northwest Fork Hundred in Sussex County, Delaware, near the Maryland border; and Mannington Township in Salem County, New Jersey. Each represents a different cultural landscape and a different relationship between people and the material landscape. Lanier compares travel accounts and tax records in the predominantly German Warwick Township, Pennsylvania, to those in nearby more heterogeneous townships, and she finds that ethnic differences in architecture were less pronounced than travel accounts indicated. When she surveyed the material culture of western Sussex County, Delaware, she describes a “landscape on the margins” (pp. 70–103), more closely linked to the slaveholding Chesapeake Bay than to the Delaware Valley. Her most intriguing analysis is of Manning-ton Township, New Jersey, where she sees the characteristic patterned brickwork houses as reinvented monuments to “the ancestral landscape” (pp. 104–44) of the Quaker elite in a hierarchical “hydraulic society” (p. 126) shaped by the tradition of banked meadows.

The Delaware Valley in the Early Republic: Architecture, Landscape, and Regional Identity (review)

Reviewed by: The Delaware Valley in the Early Republic: Architecture, Landscape, and Regional Identity John Fea (bio) The Delaware Valley in the Early Republic: Architecture, Landscape, and Regional Identity. By Gabrielle M. Lanier. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Pp. xviii, 241. Illustrations. Cloth, $46.95.) We need more books like Gabrielle M. Lanier's The Delaware Valley in the Early Republic. Lanier reminds us just how much we do not know about the Delaware Valley. Part of the reason why this region gets so little attention is because early American historians tend to gravitate to places that either offer a wealth of literary sources (such as New England) or an abundance of quantifiable public records (such as the Chesapeake). Lanier calls our attention to a fact that interdisciplinary scholars of material culture, architectural history, and cultural geography have known for a long time: exploration in the early mid-Atlantic is possible, but it requires historians to dabble in fields that may lie outside of their disciplinary comfort zones. Lanier questions the existence of a monolithic Delaware Valley regional identity by focusing her attention on three small and quite distinct corners of this region: German-settled Warwick, Pennsylvania; the Delmarva peninsula's North West Fork Hundred; and Quaker-dominated southwestern New Jersey. She prefers to think of the Delaware Valley as a "region of regions" (xiv), a place defined by very different material and cultural landscapes. Lanier has little use for interpretive paradigms and syntheses that settle for coherence over complexity. While cultural historians of the early republic today are thinking and writing about nationalism, Lanier argues that most people living in this period experienced a landscape that remained intensely local. Warwick Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, possessed a cultural and ethnic identity shaped by both the perceptions of travelers [End Page 485] passing through the area and tax assessments that offered a rather shallow description of the built environment. Travelers, Lanier notes, often perceived the German population of southeastern Pennsylvania through English eyes and consequently employed common stereotypes to describe German practices, customs, and buildings. On the other hand, tax lists suggest that such stereotypical perceptions were often far from accurate. The architectural style of German farm buildings, for example, differed very little from the buildings of non-German farms. Yet, as Lanier shrewdly points out, even tax lists do not offer a complete picture of German culture in Warwick. Through her examination of the interiors of German buildings, Lanier uncovers a pattern of "architectural creolization" (65). These buildings looked Georgian on the outside but possessed a style that was uniquely German on the inside. She thus concludes that German identity in the Delaware Valley was quite complex, revealing elements of assimilation, creolization, and cultural persistence. In North West Fork Hundred, located in the southeastern corner of the state of Delaware, local identity was shaped by the tale of Patty Cannon, a tavernkeeper accused during the 1830s of murdering and robbing visiting slave traders and burying their bodies in shallow graves throughout the region. As the legend of Cannon became embellished throughout the nineteenth century, it gradually took on folklore status and came to define North West Fork Hundred as a "landscape on the margins" (76). This place was commonly perceived as a borderland between slavery and freedom and an isolated dark corner where the primitive physical environment contributed to its reputation for lawlessness. But unlike Warwick, Pennsylvania, a place where perceptions did not always conform to reality, Lanier's close reading of the material and cultural world of North West Fork Hundred affirms, rather than undermines, the sense of regional identity popularized by the Cannon legend. Finally, Lanier explores the largely forgotten Quaker communities of southwestern New Jersey, particularly Mannington Township in Salem County. Mannington's local identity was forged by late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century antiquarians, genealogists, and photographers, who memorialized the brick architecture of the Quaker rural elite who originally settled this township in the seventeenth century. These impressive brick homes symbolized the political and economic power of these Quakers, but also have come to define the way the past is remembered in Salem County. Lanier rightly argues that the original owners of [End...

Beneath the starry flag: New Jersey's Civil War experience

Few events in American history can match the triumph and tragedy of the Civil War. Many books have been written about the War between the States, but until now, none has chronicled - in their own words - the many important roles played by people from New Jersey. Beneath the Starry Flag is a collection of richly detailed eyewitness accounts by New Jerseyans who lived during the Civil War. Drawing from letters, journals, regimental histories, and newspaper accounts. Alan A. Siegel places the reader in the midst of these desperate times. The book deplets the war years chronologically, from the tense days when one state, then another seceded from the Union, through hattles lost and won, to the victory at Appomattox and Lincoln's funeral procession across New Jersey. Readers will learn of the remarkable valor of New Jersey soldiers such as John Beech, a Trenton potter who won a Medal of Honor for bravery at Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle. They will learn too of the sacrifices made by civilians, such as Cornella Hancock of Salem County, who ministered to soldiers wounded on battlefields from Gellysburg to Petersburg. Stegel also tells of other people and institutions who played very different roles in the war. Including Somerset County's Daniel Cory, who said he would shoot the president if he could; the state's leading Copperhead newspapers, which denounced the draft and discouraged enlistments; and the State Legislature, which at one point called for a truce and negotiations to end the conflict. Siegel allows them all, enlisted men and officers, politicians and plain citizens, patriots and conspirators, to speak in their own words in often moving firsthand accounts. Their motives, emotions, and deeds are chronicled in this collection of stories, some which have been out of print for many years, others that have not been heard since they were first written more than a century ago. Beneath the Starry Flag is an invaluable addition to what we know about this remarkable time in American history, perfect for the general reader of Civil War historian.

EFFECTS OF MORNING VERSUS EVENING EXERCISE ON PLATELET AGGREGATION

Sports Science Center, University of Delaware, Newark, DE and The Memorial Hospital of Salem County, Salem, NJ.

Evaluation of plastic and Mylar flagging as repellents for snow geese ( Chen caerulescens)

The effectiveness of white flags, black flags and Mylar streamers as visual repellents to snow geese ( Chen caerulescens) was evaluated. Five farms in Cumberland and Salem counties, New Jersey served as test sites. At each farm, four 10.12 ha fields were selected randomly, and then assigned to four treatment conditions: (a) white plastic flags (one flag per 0.4 ha); (b) black plastic flags (one flag per 0.4 ha), (c) Mylar streamers (one streamer per 0.4 ha); and (d) stakes only (one stake per 0.4 ha). From 2 December 1992 to 24 March 1993, vegetation samples and goose droppings were collected in all fields. Dropping weights were significantly less in black- or white-flagged fields than they were in fields with Mylar streamers or bare stakes. Although vegetation weights tended to increase in white- or black-flagged fields (and to decrease in fields with Mylar streamers or bare stakes), there were no significant differences. The results show that white or black flags can economically and effectively deter snow geese from agricultural fields, at least when alternative grazing sites are available.

Comparison of two Volumetric Rates of Foray 48 B Against the Gypsy Moth, 1988

Abstract Spray trials were conducted in Salem County, NJ. Treatments consisted of an aqueous based HD-1 strain of Bacillus thuringiensis formulated by NOVO as Foray 48 B diluted with water and Foray 48 B applied undiluted. All treatments were applied at 20 billion international units (BIU)/acre (43 oz/acre). For the diluted applications, Foray 48 B was applied at a volumetric rate of 1 gal/acre including 2% (v/v) Bond (Loveland Industries, Inc.) as a sticker. No sticker was added to the undiluted sprays. Each Foray 48 B treatment was replicated two times while the control was replicated three times. Woodlots were 15-40 acre in size and supported gypsy moth egg mass (EM) population densities of 395 to 2532 EM/acre. The tree vegetation consisted primarily of white oak, red oak, and sweetgum. Fifteen 0.025-acre fixed radius plots were established within each woodlot where treatment effects were measured. Treatments were applied with a Grumman AGCat 600 aircraft equipped with eight AU-5000 Micronair rotary atomizers with inner and outer blades pitched at 35° and 35°, respectively. Pump pressure was set at 40 psi and the variable restrictor unit (VRU) on the nozzles was set at 5. Diluted applications were applied with the same aircraft equipped with 37-8004 flat-fan nozzles angled downward 35° forward. The aircraft was operated at an airspeed of 100 mph on a 100 ft swath width, about 50 ft above the forest canopy. Woodlots were treated on May 27 when leaves had expanded more than 50% and larvae were predominately in the third instar. Pre- (Spring) and postspray (Fall) EM counts were made within each of the 15 subplots. Relative larval and pupal density was made by counting the number of larvae and pupae under burlap bands placed on one dominant preferred tree 25 ft outside each 0.025-acre plot. Insects were counted at weekly intervals until peak pupation. Defoliation estimates were made at peak defoliation. Estimates of feeding damage were based on examination of each burlapped tree and were rated in one of seven classes: 1, 0%; 2, 1-5%; 3, 6-10%; 4, 11-25%; 5, 26-50%; 6, 51-75%; and 7, &amp;gt;75%. The average index of all 15 trees was used to compute an average defoliation value for each woodlot.

Efficacy of Condor of and Dipel 8 L Against the Gypsy Moth, 1988

Abstract Spray trials were conducted in Kent and New Castle Counties, DE, and Salem and Cumberland Counties, NJ. Treatments consisted of oil-based isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis formulated as Condor OF and Dipel 8 L diluted with water, Condor OF applied undiluted and an untreated control. Treatments were replicated five times in a randomized complete block. Woodlots were 10-84 acreas in size and consisted of isolated stands. Fifteen 0.025-acre fixed radius plots were established within each woodlot where treatment effects were measured. A Grumman Ag-Cat 600 aircraft equipped with eight AU-5000 Micronair rotary atomizers on a standard spray boom was used to apply the treatments. All B. thuringiensis formulations were applied at 20 billion international units (BIU)/acre (40 oz formulation/acre). For the diluted applications, Condor and Dipel were applied at a volumetric rate of 128 oz/acre including 2% (v/v) Bond (Loveland Industries, Inc.) as a sticker. The aircraft was operated at an airspeed of 90 mph on a 75 ft swath width, about 50 ft above the forest canopy. The pump pressure was 40 psi and the variable restrictor unit on the nozzles was set at 9 and 5 for the diluted and undiluted applications, respectively. The blade angle on the nozzles nearest the fuselage was set at 65 and 35°, and 70 and 35° for the other six nozzles on the boom, for the diluted and undiluted applications, respectively. Woodlots were treated on 22 and 27 May in Delaware and New Jersey, respectively, when GM was predominately 3rd instar. Pre- (Spring) and postspray (Fall) egg mass counts were made within each of the 15 subplots. GM larvae were counted under burlap bands placed on one dominant preferred tree 25 ft outside each 0.025- acre plot. Estimates of feeding damage were based on examination of each burlapped tree and were rated in one of seven classes: 1, 0%; 2, 1-5%; 3, 6-10%; 4, 11-25%; 5, 26-50%; 6, 51-75%; and 7, &amp;gt;75.

Field Studies of House Fly Resistance to Organophosphorus Insecticides1

Applications of Diazinon® ( O,O -diethyl O -(2-isopropyl-4- methyl-6-pyrimidinyl) phosphorothiate) or ronnel (Korlan) for more than 5 years in New Jersey dairy barns resulted in decreased effectiveness in house fly ( Musca domestica L.) control with these materials. Flies were collected from these barns and subsequently exposed in the laboratory on residual deposits of Diazinon,ronnel, DDT, and lindane. Resistance to these compounds was found in fly populations from these barns and from more than 20 other barns located up to 5 miles from the study barns. Resistance was less near the edge of the dairy farming area in the county and at the greatest distance from the study barns. Cross resistance to Diazinon, ronnel, lindane, and DDT was shown throughout the area, with highest resistance to DDT. In the study barns a large population of the flies present before an insecticide application proved to have a lower level of resistance than the smaller number of flies present soon after an insecticide application. Thus, highest resistance was correlated with greatest amounts of insecticide in the barn and highest kills of susceptible flies. In one barn a similar reduction in fly population and an increase in resistance resulted when manure supporting heavy fly breeding was removed from box stalls. Observations in Sussex and Salem Counties also showed increasing Diazinon resistance and usually in proportion to Diazinon use. Some cross resistance to ronnel and high cross resistance to DDT and lindane were found in these areas. All evidence shows that DDT, lindane, and related materials will not give control where organophosphorns resistance exists. Dimethoate (O,O-dimethyl S-(N-methylcarbamoylmethyl) phosphorodithioate), and malathion were unsatisfactory in practical field control where resistance to Diazinon and ronnel was appreciable. At other locations this material gave 4 to 6 weeks of control.

The Ware Site, Salem County, New Jersey

The Ware site is located in the northern part of Salem County, southwestern New Jersey, on the farm of Mr. Lee Ware. It is on the south bank of Salem Creek, extending to within about 100 feet from the creek, a location which would be flooded only in times of especially high water. The total extent of the site is not known, but it occupies an area of at least 400 feet by 150 feet. It is rather thickly wooded in places, with a mixed growth of cedars, hickory, dogwood, several species of oaks, and a variety of other trees, The soil is, in general, light and sandy.Excavation was begun in the autumn of 1947 and continued in the summer of 1948.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Nesting in Salem County, New Jersey

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Nesting in Salem County, New Jersey

Cumberland and Salem Counties, N. J.

Cumberland and Salem Counties, N. J.