"John Brierley, in 1769, kept the Tavern which was variously called Barber’s Tavern, Farmers & Drivers Hotel, and later the Woodstown House. After a few years, Samuel Barber became the landlord, and was here until 1786."This exert speaks of an old Tavern which stood in the town of Woodstown during the year 1769, some 108 years before the now known Woodstown Hotel. This Tavern is believed to be an all together different structure, however the naming convention of the two structures are almost identical in nature. The site of the previous tavern cannot be positively confirmed as of this date in time, however, it was stated to have stood somewhere near the corner of the now Route 40 & Main Street. It seems that the previous Tavern, at some time fell into disrepair and was torn down. At that time, the naming of the Tavern was simply passed on to the now standing Woodstown Hotel. From the County Clerks office, we have found that the naming of Farmers & Drovers Hotel was applied to a structure presiding on the property as early as 1866. Was this mentioned structure the now known Woodstown Hotel, or was it the structure which was mentioned in the above named structure in the exert above dating back to the year 1769, this we cannot determine as of this time. This information can be confirmed by reviewing the deeds record at the Salem County Clerks Office, ( Book: 33 - Page:119 ). This deed regards the bequeathing of the said property from Mr. Samuel Dickenson to his children, Anna, David & Samuel. In this deed, the naming of the structure, Farmers & Drovers Hotel was remarked. Records have claimed that Mr. Jacob B. Keeley was the said builder of the Hotel, however Jacob did not purchase the said property until the year 1872. In Samuel French’s epithet, it is stated that Jacob B. Keeley opened the Farmers & Drovers Hotel in the year 1877. What I do believe we are truly looking at here is the fact that when the Dickenson Family owned the property, there may have been an already presiding hotel on the property which was called the Farmers & Drovers Hotel. When the property was sold to Jacob B. Keeley in the year 1872, he constructed a new Hotel upon the foundation of the old Tavern. This may explain why there are several different types of stone utilized in the structure of the property's foundation. This may be fairly speculative in nature, but unfortunately there is very little information available to go forward from this point in time.

My friends, I tend to hold a deed as a binding legal document under the eyes of the law. These deeds are utilized and withheld for many different reasons, however, I utilize the document to appropriate an approximate age of a structure. After thoroughly reviewing this issue in full, and spending well over (80) hours in doing so, it is my finding that the structure known as the Farmers & Drovers Hotel / Woodstown Hotel was established and was standing during the year 1866. This was during the time the Dickenson family owned the property.