In the 1800s, Bayville was mostly used for asparagus farming. Five or six men owned large sections of Bayville and made their living from farming asparagus. One of those men was Nicholas Godfrey, a native of Cape May township in New Jersey. At the height of his land ownership, Godfrey owned more than half of Bayville's land. Godfrey died in 1899. He is buried in the Bayville Cemetery. He was a Lieutenant for the Union Army during the Civil War. He was also an inventor and he was Bayville's first postmaster in 1877.