As a warm tradition during the holiday season, we enjoy chatting at the dining room table with loved ones while passing around delicious plates of sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, savory yams, a gelatinous formation of cranberry sauce, and other mouth-watering delights. Of course, your stomach will be filled with pleasure at the end of the meal, but what about your brain?
Did you ever ponder the notion where cranberry sauce originated? Probably not, but there is a historical connection with Bordentown.
Since every industry depends on the expertise and foresight of those in charge, when it came to the production of cranberries, the person in New Jersey that stood tall amid the murkiness of the bogs was named Enoch Bills (1882-1966).
Born and raised in Bordentown, his skills as a structural engineer and cranberry grower took center stage when he developed the first cranberry processing plant in 1915. Located on the fringes of the Pine Barrens in New Egypt, Cranberry Canners Incorporated was the first factory in the world to make cranberry jelly and jam as we know it today. It was also one of the most profitable businesses in Ocean County since the cultivation of this tangy little berry still looms large in the Garden State.
By 1920, Elizabeth Lee (1865-1942), Enoch’s aunt, an agricultural pioneer in her own right, is said to have conducted experiments on the berries by cooking them on a small stove in her kitchen and transferring the contents into 5 lb. sugar sacks that allowed the juice to drip into kettles. Branded under the trade name of Bog Sweets, the labeled cans were carefully hand-packed into cartons and shipped to market by rail. Thus began the popularity of cranberry juice and cranberry sauce in this country.
A decade later, Enoch Bills conferred with two Massachusetts executives of the Northeastern cranberry operations, Marcus Urann of the Ocean Spray Preserving Company and John Makepeace of the Makepeace Preserving Company, regarding the merger of their companies into a strong cooperative. Through this establishment, innovative ideas in sales marketing and expansive products emerged. Today, this company, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. is the world’s foremost leader of cranberry products, ranging from sauces and juices to blended beverages and healthy snacks.
In 1943, Enoch Bills moved the plant’s growing operations from New Egypt to Bordentown where he held the post of manager. Over time, the facility improved dramatically as land was acquired, warehouses were built, and equipment was replaced.
For his achievements, this humble cranberry grower received many honors during his employment and following his retirement in 1963. He received a citation from the Burlington County Board of Agriculture for his contribution to the field of agriculture as well as a citation from the New Jersey Board of Agriculture just prior to his death. In addition, he was a charter and life member of the Ocean and Burlington County Boards of Agriculture and the New Jersey Farm Bureau. In 1964, Ocean Spray unveiled a bronze plaque as a testimonial of his skills.
Bordentown is blessed to have had food entrepreneurs Enoch Bills and his aunt, Elizabeth Lee, considered among the famous residents that have walked its streets.
And the Bordentown Historical Society is fortunate to have several artifacts associated with the now-closed Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. facility in Bordentown including vintage postcards, “an honorary” wooden cranberry scoop, framed aerial photographs of the plant, and an empty Ocean Spray cranberry sauce container.
Doug Kiovsky is the vice president of the Bordentown Historical Society. For information about the Bordentown Historical Society, call (609) 298-1740 or email bordentownhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
