Families in Magnolia

Charles Albertson became the first Superintendent of Schools of Camden County, and like their father, his two daughters became teachers. Charles died on August 21, 1944, at age 80. His brother John Jarrett Albertson was born on the homestead and educated, like Charles, at the Philadelphia Friends School. He married Elizabeth Swift Wills and they raised one daughter. In 1872 John became the first Camden County Engineer and supervised and designed many bridges in the area. Active in local and state politics, he was instrumental in guiding the citizens of the small hamlet into creating the Borough of Magnolia. John died in 1928 and left his assets to his wife. Upon her death in 1988, it was found that John had bequeathed to the Borough of Magnolia a piece of his land in memory of his ancestors who located on this tract in 1689, to be called as it is today, The John Albertson Park. Aunt Nel was born in Camden, NJ, in September of 1876. Her parents, William and Nelly, moved to Greenland Township, Magnolia, with their family. Nelly attended Business School and later Cay Hospital, but marriage to William in 1994 interfered with her education. William and Nel lived in several houses in Magnolia, with their final home being the original homestead. Nel loved the Magnolia children and was known to the boys in town as an expert at repairing old baseballs. She became well known as a midwife and assistant to Dr. Lyon, the local physician, bringing many babies into the world and attending to the sick. Known to everyone in Magnolia as Aunt Nel, she was regarded as its Florence Nightingale. She died at age ninety-six in 1972 and is buried in Bethel Cemetery, Pennsauken, NJ.

Magnolia, New Jersey · United States