17th century

The Mortonson–Van Leer Log Cabin was originally built along the north bank of the Raccoon River by Morton Mortenson, a Swedish-Finnish man who arrived in the Delaware Valley, at that time part of the colony of New Sweden, in May 1654. Mortenson's great-grandson, John Morton, would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence as a Pennsylvania delegate. The cabin consists of one small room with no windows and a single door and its walls are made of cedar logs and lime mortar caulk.

The cabin was owned by a local Bernardhus Van Leer, a notable physician, and later by the Van Leer family, who were noted in the anti-slavery cause.^[2][3]

Prior to and during the American Civil War, the Van Leer family used the Log Cabin as a station for the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape to free negro communities.^[4]

The Van Leers also built nearby villages for freed slaves and financially supported the Underground Railroad.^[5][6][2] The cabin had strong ties to Quakers and Episcopalian communities at the time.

The cabin is recorded as a friendly trading post for Native Americans.^[7]

Originally located along Raccoon Creek on the Morton Homestead, the cabin was donated to Gloucester County Historical Society by the Schorn family. In 1989, the cabin was relocated modestly, so that is now based behind the cemetery at Trinity Episcopal Church in Swedesboro.^[8]