Hopefully, chronological order of my family.  Originally our last name was Van Voorhees.  Three brothers came over from Holland on a boat named the Spotted Cow in 1660 (De Bonte Koe means The Spotted Cow).  It is not known where two of the brothers settled, possibly Staten Island area.  The Voorhees ancestor of my branch settled in Monmouth County.

Albert, Couart, Garret and Kendrick Voorhess are buried in Adelphia Cemetary.  John G. (wounded in Fredericksburg), Monroe and Jacob are buried in Harmony Cemetary.  My grandparents, George and Ethel along with my aunt Trena are also buried there.  John Voorhees (Revolutionary war) is buried in Tenant Cemetary.

My parents, John Harley Voorhees and Ruby Helen Thomson were married in 1934 by my father's uncle, Henry Johnston.  My sister Marilyn Etta was born June 4, 1936.  I was born July 6, 1942.

Mom and dad lived in the highway building my grandfather built on Rt 71.  That is now Higgins Avenue.  They were given the land between Higgins and my grandparent's home at 424 Euclid Avenue.  Our home was built by my dad and Uncle Henry in 1940 at 423 Euclid.  Our home is a Sears and Roebuck catalogue home.  (Grandmom and Grandpop bought the land in 1925 from the Schible Estate.  They built their home in the middle of a corn field.)  Grandpop was also the town road supervisor.  I think he was the only person in that department plowing and taking care of it at that time.  Mom and dad built the Twin Willow Market at the rear of our property approx 1945.  Dad was a butcher and Mom made the potato, macaroni, coleslaw salads and baked beans.  They also carried canned goods, milk, etc.  Their business increased dramatically during the summer months when the ladies and families at the shore would patronize the Twin Willow for Dad's prime cuts of steak, hamburger, pork chops, chicken, sandwich meats, etc. and of course Mom's homemade salads.  There was a large mirror on the wall behind the counter.  Every holiday Dad painted the appropriate kind of picture on the mirror.  When highway 35 was built, it cut off easy access to the Twin Willow so Mom and Dad opened a store in West Point just over the canal bridge, Voorhees market.

My father joined the Brielle Fire department when he was 18 years old and was exempt by 45 years old.  He was friends with Shem Pierce, Jake Gross and Ernie Stires.  I don't remember if Dottie Herbert's dad was a member.  When the fire whistle blew, Dad would be trying to tie his shoes but he had large hands and would be struggling with the strings so I would go in and tie the laces for him.  When Dad was younger, he mated on the Teepee (name of a boat) out of Bogan's Basin.  My grandfather and Mr. Bogan were friends.

When I was approximately 5 years old my sister kept her horse in the right side of Grandpop's garage.  His car was on the left.  My sister took me with her, usually bare back.  I have had my bare foot stepped on by Honey (the family horse), toppled off her back when my sister said duck and I didn't.  Caught the clothes line right across my chest.  Then there was the time Honey jumped over me and my tricycle.  Never touched me or my bike and did not lose my sister.  Pat Hillman whose parents owned the Brielle Marina next to the old Harbor Inn had a horse and used to ride with Marilyn.  Back then Euclid was a dirt road.

I had friends who were twins.  Janie and Jackie visited their grandparents in the summer.  Their grandparents owned the old Moonmist (now Due Amici).  We decided to build a boat in their basement.  We asked Mr. Brown to take us to the Free Beach on Cresent Drive.  We planned on keeping it in a kind of cave worn by the tides.  We launched our boat and it promptly sank.

I used to ride the handlebars of my sister's bike to the Free Beach along with her friends Penny Grey, Gail Stires and Dottie Herbert.  There were other girls but I can't remember who.  Anyway, we would swim across to the inlet side at low tide, stomp the mud till we found the clams.  Then dig them up with our hands, wash them off and put them down the front of our bathing suits.  We would swim back to the beach and wrap them in our towels.  After a few trips, we had enough to bring home so the moms could make clam chowder.

When George Legg was chief of police in Brielle,  Patty Thiele and I think Jackie and Janie and I went to him and told him we wanted to help him in some way.  He deputized us and took our fingerprints.  Then he sent us out to find a lost purse.  I wonder if there was really a lost purse.

Mr. Knight owned the Esso station on the corner of Higgins and Riverview.  I would ride my bike over and say I thought I had a hole in my tire.  Tire would go in the tub so I could check to see if there were any bubbles.  Then Mr. Knight would give me a patch.

Before the highway came thru, next to my grandparents garden was a field and woods down to Ashley Avenue.  I used to stamp the weeds down to make hideouts in them so I could sit and suck the honey suckle flowers that grew all over.

My mother and dad bought Friar Tuck for me when I was 16 years old.  Tuckie was a 12 year old saddlebred.  My sister and niece Jennifer both rode him.  Jennifer's younger sisters, Janine and Rachel also rode him.  My sons would ride with me when they were old enough to hold the saddle horn.  Tuck was trained English but I rode him western and we could run barrels in 17 seconds.  Tuck and I would ride over to the drive-in-movies that was on the Brielle circle and go up the small hill west of the fence.  Someone always had the speaker turned up so Tuck and I would watch the movie till we couldn't stand the mosquitos any longer.  I hope the statute of limitations for trespass has run out, LOL  We would also go to the Circle Freeze on Manasquan circle and tie Tuck to the post and rail fence.  I would buy vanilla for him and chocolate for me, then drop the bit out of his mouth and enjoy our ice cream.  Friar Tuck died at the age of 32 years.

I hope this will provide some information to the Historical Society regarding how it was when I was growing up in Brielle.  Some is personal, however, use whatever you like.

My grandson Kyle and great grandson Cody now own the home that Mom and Dad built in 1940.  They are the fourth and fifth generations to live there.

By Susan Mae Voorhees Montgomerie, 4/26/2024

Jim Ham, (Brielle's current historian) asked me to write about my young life in Brielle.  I hope this will benefit the Historical Society as well as my future generations.