summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/old/63996-0.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authornfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-02-04 13:10:48 -0800
committernfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-02-04 13:10:48 -0800
commitb5e6900531826ff0cd15e676cdce7b57458f8d8b (patch)
tree564d0186ca4caf72568a5a392c5f1a91b469a6bc /old/63996-0.txt
parent30e901ab4ddb9ddc13c316eac5900670833501f2 (diff)
NormalizeHEADmain
Diffstat (limited to 'old/63996-0.txt')
-rw-r--r--old/63996-0.txt9481
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 9481 deletions
diff --git a/old/63996-0.txt b/old/63996-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b378e6..0000000
--- a/old/63996-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9481 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J, by C.
-G. (Charles Gilbert) Hine
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J
- Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now Living
-
-
-Author: C. G. (Charles Gilbert) Hine
-
-
-
-Release Date: December 9, 2020 [eBook #63996]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOODSIDE, THE NORTH END OF NEWARK,
-N.J***
-
-
-E-text prepared by David King and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by
-Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
- file which includes the original illustrations.
- See 63996-h.htm or 63996-h.zip:
- (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63996/63996-h/63996-h.htm)
- or
- (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63996/63996-h.zip)
-
-
- Images of the original pages are available through
- Internet Archive. See
- https://archive.org/details/woodsidenorthend00hine_0/
-
-
-Transcriber’s note:
-
- Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
-
-
-
-
-
-WOODSIDE, THE NORTH END OF NEWARK, N. J.
-
-
-[Illustration: The “Magazine” House, 1812. Erected to store powder from
-the Decatur works on Second river. This stood back of the Summerfield M.
-E. Church where Woodside Avenue now runs. Here also was the site of the
-Revolutionary camp ground of General Anthony Wayne, 1779, which
-stretched north to Second river.]
-
-
-WOODSIDE
-
-The North End of Newark, N. J.
-
-Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories
-
-Gathered From the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now Living
-
-By C. G. HINE
-
-
-
-
-PART I
-
-Early History. Before 1866
-
-PART II
-
-C. C. Hine and his times, briefly covering the period of personal
-recollections and the development of Woodside as a residence section
-
-PART III
-
-Anecdotes of and matters personal to Mr. C. C. Hine
-
-APPENDIX
-
-HINE’S ANNUAL, 1909
-
-
-
-
- INTRODUCTION.
-
-
-I believe that those of long ago who wrote books frequently began with
-an apology to the gentle reader, and I am inclined to do likewise, or at
-least to rise and explain.
-
-The fact is, this narrative was originally undertaken merely as a family
-reminiscence, but Mr. C. C. Hine’s life was so interwoven with the later
-life of Woodside that what was intended as a brief sketch to illustrate
-a series of photographs has gradually grown into a book covering the
-story of the region now known as Woodside as completely as I have been
-able to gather it. This will account for the somewhat personal view
-frequently indulged in and for some of the minor details.
-
-Woodside, until it was opened as a residence section, was a purely
-farming region whose inhabitants went elsewhere for their groceries and
-religion, and as the average farmer thinks more of making hay than
-history, the movement must necessarily be somewhat slow.
-
-Dr. Macauley once said of Woodside: “As God made it it was a beautiful
-place, but as the hand of man left it I have nothing to say.” That the
-hand of man has desecrated it all those who knew its woodlands and
-waterways twenty-five or more years ago can readily testify, but one of
-its good points even man cannot reach, and that is its climate, for it
-is the coolest part of Newark. This in former times was unconsciously
-testified to by the drivers of the old horse cars, who were in the habit
-of shedding their coats upon arrival at the cemetery from the north,
-there to hide them among the bushes, and again resume them on the return
-trip to Second river.
-
-This region was then as beautiful a stretch of hill and vale and
-riverside as could well be found. The river was clear and sparkling, and
-fish abounded; the call of the whip-poor-will was heard on the evening
-air, and the brown thrush sang to us from the thicket, while squirrel
-and hare were always with us.
-
-Groves of trees were numerous and beautiful. “Bird’s Woods” along Second
-river with its magnificent old pines and hemlocks, the outer edge of the
-wood fringed with an undergrowth of laurel, while partridge berries
-gleamed from the depths of the moss underfoot, made an entrancing spot
-which has seldom been equalled, and the ruins of the old mills along the
-stream gave a picturesque touch that none who grew up with the region
-can forget.
-
-Effort has been made to give credit for information received; in some
-cases authority for statements made is given in connection with the
-statements themselves, as it is interesting and valuable to know the
-source, but this is not always practicable, as the same item not
-infrequently comes from several sources and it is occasionally difficult
-to blend the varying opinions.
-
-In a few instances statements made by unknown newspaper writers have
-been used. The stories are given for what they are worth, but all of
-them are part of the legend of the region and none have been invented
-merely for filling.
-
-I have honestly done the best I could in gathering and arranging the
-material. Now and then I have come on a mine of information in such
-friends as Mrs. Henry J. Winser and Messrs. E. A. Boyden, James S.
-Taylor and James Swinnerton, but it has been mostly here a little and
-there a little, and for such help I acknowledge indebtedness to Mr. W.
-E. Blewett, Jr., Mr. E. A. Boyden, Miss J. F. Bradford, Mrs. R. H.
-Brewster, Mr. Edward Burling, Mr. R. Smith Carter, Mr. James E. Coombes,
-Mr. Frank S. Crane, Mrs. Henry Davis, Miss Anna B. Farrand, Mrs. A. H.
-Gibbs, Messrs. Levi C. and William H. Jackson, Mrs. Margaret H. Kay, Mr.
-J. Edwin Keen, Mr. John Morris Keen, Mr. Thomas Kinsey, Mr. David
-Maclure, Mr. James C. McDonald, Mrs. John R. Mathews, Mr. Theodore
-Melius, Rev. Henry Merle Mellen, Mr. Henry B. Munn, Mr. Lincoln B.
-Palmer, Mrs. Margaret Perry, Miss and Messrs. Phillips, Mr. Henry C.
-Rommel, Mr. Arthur E. Sandford, Miss. J. A. Sidman, Judge Alfred F.
-Skinner, Mr. William Stimis. Mr. James Swinnerton, Miss Laura M.
-Sydenham, Mr. James S. Taylor, Mr. L. P. Teller, Judge Jay Ten Eyck,
-Mrs. Mary E. Tucker, Dr. Grenville M. Weeks, Mrs. Emma F. Welch, Mrs. E.
-M. Wessel, Mrs. Henry J. Winser.
-
-I am also indebted to the Newark Public Library, the New Jersey
-Historical Society and the New York Historical Society, and to the real
-estate records of the Fidelity Trust Company.
-
-Through the courtesy and co-operation of Mr. Charles Grant Schaeffer,
-Principal of the Elliott Street School, the school children entered into
-a competition for a cover design for this book which resulted in the
-selection of the design submitted by Miss Edna Eckert, a pupil in the
-Eighth B Grade.
-
-
-
-
- PART I.
-
-[Illustration: Woodside in 1849. Enlarged from Sidney’s map of “Twelve
-Miles Around New York”, published in 1849.]
-
-
-
-
- GENERAL HISTORY.
-
-
-Woodside was originally included in the Newark grant, which extended
-north “to the Third River above the towne, ye River is called
-Yauntakah”. For a long time those of this region in common with those of
-Belleville, were known as the “Inhabitants of the Second River”. But
-Newark on March 11, 1743, having become tired of supporting the poor of
-so large a district, narrowed its borders, drawing a line on the north
-just below the eastern end of the Gully road to the “Boiling Spring”.
-
-
- THE FIRST BOUNDARIES OF WOODSIDE.
-
-
-The description given in the Town Meeting of March 11, 1743, reads as
-follows: “Beginning at Passaick River, at the Gulley near the House of
-Doct’r Pigot, thence North West (Northeast?) to Second River, thence up
-the same to the Saw Mill belonging to George Harrison, thence a direct
-Line to the North East Corner of the Plantation of Stephen Morris,
-thence to the Notch in the Mountain leaving William Crane’s House to the
-Southward, thence on a direct line to Stephen Van siles, thence
-Westwardly (Eastwardly?) to Passaick River leaving said Van siles Bars
-and Abraham Francisco’s to the Northward of s’d Line: and it was agreed,
-that all on the Northward of s’d Lines should be esteemed Inhabitants of
-Second River, and all on the Southward of the Body of Newark, excepting
-Levi Vincent, Johanes Kiper and his Son Thomas Cadmus. John Low desired
-that himself and his Father might be reconed or esteemed Inhabitants of
-Second River, since they belonged to that Society.”
-
-This is a verbatim copy taken from the “Newark Town Records”, but I do
-not know just what it means unless some previous copyist stood on his
-head when putting down the points of the compass.
-
-
- AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY.
-
-
-For nearly one hundred years this region was a portion of Bloomfield, or
-Wardesson, as it was formerly known, and when in 1839 Belleville was set
-off from eastern Bloomfield, Woodside became a part of the newer
-township, and so remained until March 24, 1869, when it became
-independent of all outside control.
-
-At this time its boundaries extended from the mouth of Second river
-along the west bank of the Passaic to a point immediately below the
-Gully road, thence west a little south to the Boiling Spring, cutting
-across Second avenue above Mount Prospect avenue, thence almost
-northeast to a point on the canal just above what is now known as the
-“butter works”; thence southeast a quarter mile or so to Second river
-which it crossed and continued with Mill street as its northern limit as
-far as the Back road, from which point Second river was itself the
-dividing line to its mouth at the Passaic.
-
-
- WOODSIDE SUBMERGED.
-
-
-But, alas! on the fifth of April, 1871, our independence was lost
-forever and most of us were turned over to the tender mercies of the
-Newark politicians, who have ever since exercised a wonderful ingenuity
-in taxing us poor inhabitants to the limit and giving as little in
-return as possible. In fact the only thing we get for our taxes, aside
-from the fire department service, is an occasional policeman, who comes
-twice each year with tickets to sell for ball or excursion. Does the
-road need paving or sewering, the cost is assessed on the abutting
-property, and so is it with sidewalks, and even with the shade trees
-which the city fathers insist are good for us, and having planted them
-they send us a bill therefor. The Woodsider has never yet been able to
-ascertain what he is taxed for, unless it is to keep the politicians in
-good running order. This remark should be qualified to some extent so
-far as the police are concerned, for no locality could have a better
-protector than Mounted Officer Niblo, who has long been on this post and
-who, we hope, will long remain; there is also a patrolman who does his
-duty as though his job depended on it, but the majority of them seem to
-have the true politician’s idea as to what is good for them.
-
-The sin was legalized by “An Act to divide the township of Woodside
-between the City of Newark and the township of Belleville”.
-
-The boundary of Woodside is given as “beginning at the intersection of
-the centre of the Second river with the centre of the Passaic river;
-thence (1) running southerly along the centre of the Passaic river, the
-several courses thereof, to the northerly line of the city of Newark
-(just below Gully road); thence (2) westerly along the said line of the
-city of Newark to the centre of the Great Boiling spring, at the line of
-the township of Bloomfield; thence (3) northerly along said line to the
-centre of Branch brook; thence (4) northeasterly along the centre of
-said brook, the several courses thereof, to the centre of Second river;
-thence (5) down along the centre of Second river, the several courses
-thereof, to the centre of Passaic River, and the place of beginning.”
-
-All of the township of Woodside not included within the above mentioned
-boundaries was annexed to the township of Belleville.
-
-James S. Gamble, Horace H. Nichols and Charles Akers, of the township of
-Woodside, were among the commissioners appointed to see that the
-division was properly carried out.
-
-The act was approved April 5, 1871.
-
-The transition from independence to slavery was engineered, I am told,
-by three men for personal and selfish motives, and it gives me great
-pleasure to record that all three were sadly left. One longed to be
-sheriff, but must live in Newark to secure the nomination, and did not
-wish to remove from this pleasant land; the two others were holders of
-considerable property, and it was their hope that a boom in building
-lots would set in that would materially fatten their pocketbooks, and so
-in some dark and mysterious way our model township was ceded to Newark.
-
-But the politician failed of election and the lots did not sell, and
-“one of the disappointed real estate owners, like Judas Iscariot, went
-out and hanged himself”.
-
-Once the place belonged to Newark the street car company could, of
-course, do what it liked with the roadway, and it shortly proceeded to
-regrade (I had almost said degrade) Washington avenue above Elwood,
-utterly destroying the carefully laid out parkway on which property
-owners had spent much thought and money. Terraces and trees were
-ruthlessly cut down and, to provide a dumping place for the earth
-removed, Oraton street was cut through and filled in with the Washington
-avenue debris. “Ichabod was written upon the avenue and the fine name of
-Oraton could in no way lend dignity to the new street”, which at that
-time was largely given over to negroes and laborers.
-
-
- THE OLD ROADS OF WOODSIDE.
-
-
-Until 1865 Woodside was a purely agricultural district, except for the
-factories along Second river, and contained but four roads of any
-moment. The River road, the Back road to Belleville, the old Bloomfield
-or Long Hill road and the lower road from Belleville to Bloomfield,
-known as Murphy’s lane. There was also one cross road known as Division
-road or Bootleg lane, because of its shape; this is now given over to
-Halleck street and Grafton avenue, with that bit of Washington avenue
-which lies between.
-
-
- HOW WE ARE TO PROCEED.
-
-
-The history and legend, dating before 1867, so far as I have been able
-to find them, will be taken up guidebook fashion by following each road
-in turn and pointing out its wonders as we proceed.
-
-
- THE RIVER ROAD.
-
-
-“The road to ‘Hocquackanong’ was laid out from the north end of Newark,
-as the path then ran, through the village named, passing the north end
-of the Acquackanonk meeting house and thence to Pompton”. This was
-recorded March 16, 1707, and must refer to the River road, though
-probably all the laying out it received was on paper.
-
-The Indians from Paterson and beyond had a well defined trail along the
-river bank which led to Newark Bay, and the early settlers probably used
-this without attempting much improvement.
-
-
- THE GULLY ROAD.
-
-
-As we travel northward the River road naturally begins with the Gully
-road. As far back as tradition goes and the old maps show, the Gully
-road has existed, but there is a theory that the Indian trail, of which
-the River road is an expansion, continued down the river bank, and one
-bit of folk-lore which remains indicates that this may have been so.
-
-
- A GULLY ROAD GHOST.
-
-
-The legend tells us that so long ago that those who tell the story
-cannot compute the time, there lived at the present junction of
-Washington avenue and the Gully road an aged couple in a simple cot that
-hardly kept them from the weather. There was then a small stream that
-claimed the gully for its own, but as time went on the brook gradually
-dried up, and as gradually people from the back country began to use its
-bed as a highway. As traffic grew the cottage was found to lie in the
-way of travelers, and one night it was ruthlessly torn down over the
-head of its defenseless occupant, for by this time only one was left.
-
-The resultant exposure proved fatal, the old settler being unable to
-survive the shock, and ever after has his ghost walked the Gully road.
-The ghost has not been seen for thirty years or more, but one who has
-actually met the vision, a lady of years and education, tells me that
-she distinctly saw it one dark Sunday afternoon, about 1879, while on
-her way to church.
-
-Though a resident here for several years she had never heard of the
-Gully road ghost, nor did she know that the region was haunted, but in
-the darkest and loneliest part of the road she encountered a nebulous
-shape about the size of a human being, standing at a gate which gave
-entrance to one of the few places along the road. My informant was young
-then, and more easily frightened than now, but she saw too distinctly to
-believe that she could have been mistaken. It appears that the lady had
-disregarded the biblical injunction to obey her husband, for he did not
-wish her to go to church at that particular time, but she, being
-contrary minded, insisted, and it seems highly probable that the ghost
-was sent to warn her back into path of obedience. Hurrying back she
-informed her husband, but nothing more was seen of the apparition and it
-was some time later that she learned that the road was haunted and heard
-the above story from an old settler.
-
-
- INDIAN RELICS FOUND IN THE GULLY ROAD.
-
-
-The present level of the Gully road is much lower than it was even fifty
-years ago, and there is a legend that one hundred and fifty years ago a
-great freshet cut out large quantities of earth here, but the higher
-level could hardly have been of long duration, for Mrs. Gibbs recalls
-that a number of years ago, while workmen were digging a trench,
-possibly for the sewer, they brought up what are thought to have been
-Indian relics from a depth of twelve feet or more. Mr. Gibbs’s brother
-was passing at the moment of discovery and tried to purchase the find
-from the man in charge, as he regarded it of considerable ethnological
-value, but the contractor refused to sell, and when Mr. Gibbs and his
-brother returned to the spot the men had gone and their discovery with
-them, and to-day the exact character of the find is not known. Other
-Indian finds in this immediate neighborhood are a stone mortar and
-pestle and many arrow points on the Gibbs place. On the Sandford place,
-just above, a stone mortar hollowed out of a heavy block long stood by
-the well. This was kept filled with water for the chickens to drink
-from. When the place was regraded this stone disappeared, it having been
-probably buried.
-
-(Since the above was put in type I have found one of the laborers who
-was employed in building the sewer through the Gully road. He tells me
-that this was about fourteen years ago, that the find occurred just east
-of the entrance to the Gibbs place on the north edge of the road, and
-consisted of four or five Indian skeletons with many stone hammers,
-arrow points, etc. My informant is under the impression that the burial
-place was extensive and only partially uncovered.)
-
-From the fact that Indians would hardly dig to any such depth as
-indicated above, it is fair to presume that the filling in may have been
-comparatively recent; possibly some great storm had washed masses of
-earth down into the gully.
-
-The Gully road is now well paved and lighted and much affected by that
-brazen highwayman the automobile, but there was a time when it was a
-dark and lonesome place where no honest man desired to be caught after
-dark; where it is said smugglers filed by during the silent watches of
-the night, the deserted river bank here being a favorite rendezvous for
-those whose deeds were evil.
-
-
- OLD MOLL DE GROW.
-
-
-Sixty years or so ago a stone wall ran from the bend of the Gully road,
-near the river diagonally to Belleville avenue, across the property now
-occupied by the cemetery. Beside this stone wall was buried the first
-person interred on the site of the cemetery—a noted witch, old Moll
-DeGrow, the fear of whose shade lent greatly to the terrors of the Gully
-seventy-five years ago.
-
-This witch was used by the elders as a bugaboo to keep the children
-indoors after dark, and she appears to have been eminently useful and
-successful in this capacity. The Gully road was as black as a black hat
-on a moonless night, and one who ventured abroad at such a time never
-could tell when he or she might be grabbed by the powers of darkness.
-During the long Winter evenings these farmer and fisher folk were wont
-to amuse and scare themselves, as well as the children, by relating all
-manner of ghostly experiences. Mrs. Henry Davis recalls how, as a child,
-she used to crawl up to bed so terrified after an evening of witch
-stories that she could hardly move, her one thought being to get under
-the bed clothes as quickly as possible, where she would all but smother.
-
-Under such circumstances the ghost of a witch was a powerful combination
-for evil, and particularly so when it was such a witch as old Moll, who
-was so much a terror to the neighborhood that there was talk of burning
-her in order to rid the community of her undesirable presence, but
-fortunately she died before this feeling culminated in a tragedy. Mrs.
-Henry Davis well remembers hearing her mother (a former Miss King) tell
-this as a fact.
-
-
- BODY SNATCHING.
-
-
-In the early days of the cemetery, when it was inclosed by a high wooden
-fence, there was considerable talk of body-snatching, and one of the men
-in charge of the grounds was strongly suspected.
-
-Old Mrs. Holt walking down the Gully road one night saw, standing in the
-darkest shadow, an old fashioned undertaker’s wagon, and hearing voices
-of men, stepped back among the bushes out of harm’s way. Soon she saw
-three men against the night sky standing on the high ground of the
-cemetery. One carried a lantern while the other two had a long bundle
-shrouded in white. He with the lantern stopped on the ridge, while the
-others kept down the slope. Now they lifted their bundle to the top of
-the fence where one man steadied it while the other climbed over. When
-both were over the body was taken down and placed in the wagon. The man
-on the hill, whose voice Mrs. Holt recognized, called good-night to the
-men in the road and they responded as the wagon rapidly drove toward
-Newark.
-
-
- THE DEVIL IN THE GULLY ROAD.
-
-
-How John Thompson saw the Devil in the Gully road was once told by
-himself in a moment of great confidence, for ordinarily he would never
-speak of the adventure.
-
-About ’68 or ’69 John worked for Mr. Melius on the River road, and it
-was noticed that when called on to drive down town after dusk for his
-employer he invariably went the long way round—Grafton and Washington
-avenues—and when coming back with Mr. M. he would shut his mouth the
-moment they entered within the dark precincts of the Gully and say never
-a word until they were well beyond the black shadow of its overhanging
-trees.
-
-It seems that John was originally a river man and that he sailored under
-Captain Nichols, whose profanity was one of his notable points; he had a
-varied assortment of swear-words and a proficiency in their use that
-made the efforts of ordinary mortals pale into insignificance.
-
-For some reason not explained the schooner was held up in Newark one
-day, and as the Captain lived in Belleville there was nothing for it but
-to walk home. John Thompson went along for, of course, neither one of
-the seamen thought much of the storm that was raging, even if the rain
-did come down in torrents which soaked them through.
-
-It certainly did look dark and creepy to John as he peered into the
-black hole of the Gully road, and though he was himself a gentleman of
-color and matched up with a dark night first rate, he ever fancied
-daylight for such places, but the Captain went plunging on into the
-shadows and John could but follow.
-
-The Captain had used up his stock of cuss-words, and while in the very
-darkest part of the tunnel commenced all over again and was going fine
-when a sudden, blinding flash of lightning discovered to John, who was
-in the rear, a third man walking between them and chuckling every time
-the Captain swore. Before the light went out John saw that the man was
-dressed like a parson and that his clothes appeared to be dry in spite
-of the heavy downpour. A second flash showed a most alarming state of
-things: the stranger was on fire, smoke or steam was escaping from every
-crevice, but still he chuckled as the Captain ripped out all manner of
-strange oaths, and did not seem to pay any attention to his own internal
-combustion; even in the dark his glee could be heard bubbling forth, nor
-could the pounding of the storm drown it. By this time the Captain’s
-attention was also attracted, and when a third flash enabled them to see
-that their unknown companion had hoofs their worst suspicions were
-realized and both men broke and ran for Belleville as fast as two pairs
-of scared legs could carry them, while the Devil laughed long and loud
-at their dismay.
-
-
- A LOVER’S LANE.
-
-
-Another man once ran against a cow in the Gully road one dark night and
-was considerably worked up over the adventure for the moment. The
-unfortunate part of it was that he lingered long enough to discover that
-it was a cow, else we might have had another story of these darksome
-terrors. The horns and hoofs were there, and all that was needed was a
-little more imagination and not quite so much practicality. But not all
-the stories of the Gully road are of such fearful things as these. It
-was a way of surpassing beauty when lighted by the sun, and a lover’s
-lane that fairly blossomed with loving couples on pleasant Sunday
-afternoons, when the sighing of the wind in the trees was but an echo of
-the happy sighs below. Many a life contract has been signed, sealed and
-delivered within its confines; in fact I have heard of one youth who
-proposed on the way back from a boat race, the romantic influence of the
-place with its glamor of shady nooks being quite too much for his
-equanimity.
-
-
- GHOST OF A BRITISH SPY.
-
-
-Then there was the English spy who, legend says, was captured by a party
-of Americans and promptly hanged on the limb of a large tree that stood
-at the bend of the road. His ghost was for long a sad handicap to the
-neighborhood and, singular as it may seem, he is said to have played his
-wildest pranks with those who placed the greatest faith in him. But
-since the spread of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery down toward his abode
-little or nothing has been heard of his doings. One theory is that of
-late he has come within the orbits of so many other ghosts, but of a
-more respectable and orderly character, that he has become inextricably
-tangled, much as is reported of wireless messages when many amateurs
-assault the air.
-
-
- HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT.
-
-
-About fifty years ago Henry William Herbert, who wrote under the name of
-Frank N. Forrester, resided on the river bank within the present limits
-of the cemetery, his place being known as “The Cedars”. A queer,
-romantic figure about which much of fiction as well as truth has been
-woven.
-
-To Mr. Boyden and others, whose youth was spent about here, this strange
-figure was a familiar sight, for the recluse used almost daily to walk
-down town, his shoulders enveloped in a shawl, and always with a troop
-of dogs at his heels. Those who so remember him rather resent the fact
-that his brawls have been made much of and his virtues neglected by such
-as write of him, for they recall him as an attractive man and pleasant
-companion with many kindly qualities. Herbert generally made a call at
-the Black Horse tavern which then stood at the “Stone Bridge”, and after
-a short stay would continue on to the Park House. He was apt to be
-brusque with those he did not like, and when “beyond his depth” through
-too great conviviality inclined to be ugly when opposed.
-
-He was born in London April 7, 1807, and was educated at an English
-college. He came to New York in 1831, supporting himself by teaching and
-later by writing short stories, historical novels and books on sports,
-his “Field Sports of America” soon making his name a familiar one to the
-lovers of gun and rod.
-
-A Newarker, who has written of him from personal knowledge, says:—
-
-“It is a difficult matter to sift the good from the bad in Herbert’s
-character. He was in truth a most rare and singular being if he did not
-possess some virtues.
-
-“When writing his celebrated work, ‘Field Sports of America’, he had
-access to the Newark Library; not content with the privileges there
-afforded, he cut out bodily leaves from ‘The Encyclopedia Britannica’,
-evidently unmindful of the selfishness and criminality of the act. There
-are some men made up of inconsistencies, and a strange agglomeration of
-moods. Herbert was one of them.
-
-“There is nothing associated with Herbert’s life that is apt to strike a
-stranger favorably. He was a direct antithesis of Irving, who possessed
-a certain magnetic influence. The truth is Irving was a good man and
-Herbert was not. Herbert was endowed with rare genius, and those who
-have a desire to become convinced of this fact should read his works;
-they tower as far above the general literary productions of to-day as
-does the Oregon pine over the tender sapling. His characters are finely
-drawn—not overdrawn—his heroines are as pure as the purest, and his
-villains—distinctive in their characteristics—‘act well their parts’.
-Though not an extensive verse writer, Herbert was the author of some
-very creditable poetry, his translation of Æschylus’s ‘Prometheus Bound’
-and ‘Agamemnon’ show ripe scholarship and otherwise redound to his
-credit.
-
-“In several of his novels the subject of this sketch has portrayed his
-own character far better than it has been or can be done by another.
-Whatever Herbert’s defects, as an author he was of the highest order; he
-was a voluminous writer and a fine translator. ‘Marmaduke Wyvil’,
-‘Cromwell’ and ‘The Roman Traitor’ are works that stand in the front
-rank of their class, while among his translations M. Thiers’s ‘Life of
-the First Consul’ is one of the standard works of literature. In his
-historical novels he approaches nearer Sir Walter Scott than any author
-I have been privileged to read. He was, in fact, a dual character—an
-enigma. His genius merits admiration, and it is safe to say that his
-fame will not die with the century that gave him birth.”
-
-Many are the stories told to show his eccentric character and occasional
-violence. During summer days he would place himself on the bank of the
-river with a gun and threaten to shoot passing boatmen unless they came
-on shore at his bidding, but no sooner did they land than Herbert would
-disappear, leaving the affrighted oarsmen in a state of perplexity as to
-what next. It sounds much like a fool trick from this distance, but his
-reputation made the experience anything but a pleasant one.
-
-Conviviality was the order of the night at The Cedars, Herbert being
-much in the habit of inviting friends to enjoy what he termed the
-hospitality of the place. On one such occasion four guests were drinking
-with him, when the host suddenly sprang to his feet and produced from a
-small closet two swords and, throwing one on the table, ordered one of
-those present to defend himself. Recognizing that the affair might
-terminate seriously, one of the guests kicked over the table, throwing
-the lamp to the floor and enveloping the room in sudden darkness. The
-party “broke up” then and there, and the company made for the Gully road
-that they might live to fight another day. Herbert was thoroughly crazed
-by this time, and chased his friends up to and down Belleville avenue.
-Finally the pursued separated and the pursuer kept on after one of them
-even to the Black Horse tavern (Broad street and Belleville avenue),
-where an escape was effected.
-
-
- THE HARE AND TORTOISE.
-
-
-A race modeled on Æsop’s fable is by no means an everyday occurrence,
-but Herbert was by no means an everyday citizen. He seems to have been
-as fond of a joke as he is said to have been of a bottle, and these two
-loves furnished a modern version of the Hare and Tortoise fable. The
-following facts are given me by Mr. James S. Taylor, who was an eye
-witness of the event, and who secured missing details from one of the
-participants later.
-
-But before going on with the story suppose we hear what the local poet
-had to say on the subject:—
-
-
- THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE.
-
-
- This is the tale of a race
- That long years gone took place
- On the broad river Passaic
- When times were archaic,
- And here are the facts in the case:
-
- One Herbert of eccentric renown
- Challenged a friend, of the town,
- And a supper of game
- Should be prize for the same,
- And with plenty of wine washed down.
-
- The challenged was clumsy at rowing
- And his boat very poor was at going,
- While Herbert’s was light
- And his rowing a sight
- To set all his backers a-crowing.
-
- But, like the hare in the ancient race,
- Herbert likewise did slacken his pace,
- And soon sought his ease
- ‘Neath the leaves where the trees
- On the waters their shadows did trace.
-
- A bottle he had from the vine
- And was having a jolly good time,
- When his friend labored by,
- To whom Herbert did cry:
- “Stop in and have sup of my wine.”
-
- But the tortoise kept steadily at work
- While the hare on the bank still did shirk—
- Where drink of the gods held him fast,
- Where the cool, dark shadows were cast
- And the scent of wild flowers did lurk.
-
- The end came as it should in such case,
- For the tortoise, though slow, won the race,
- And ’twas Herbert who paid for that supper of game.
- The story is ended, but for details of same
- We’ll drop into prose for a space.
-
-
-Herbert was well acquainted with Frank Harrison, veteran of the war with
-Mexico and keeper of the North Ward Hotel on Broad street, opposite
-Bridge. At some convivial point in his existence he suggested to
-Harrison that the two have a boat race on the Passaic, from Belleville
-to Newark, the prize to be a game supper, and the latter, being game
-himself, though no boatman, accepted the challenge.
-
-The only condition or obligation of the race was that they should start
-together, and that the first man to cross the finishing line should win.
-Each could choose his own boat and suit himself as to rowing. Herbert,
-living on the river, had a light boat which he knew how to handle, was
-familiar with the currents and eddies and was moreover a good oarsman,
-while his opponent knew nothing of the Passaic or its ways. The day was
-warm, the start was made on time and Harrison received the inverted
-plaudits of the company assembled for the occasion, for it seemed to
-these wise ones that there could be but one end to such an event.
-Herbert was away promptly and soon out of sight around the bend where
-Second river loses its identity, while the dispenser of strong waters
-was yet finding himself, but as he rowed our eccentric friend became
-warm and a black bottle, which he had brought along for company, looked
-up at him from the bottom of the boat with an invitation he could not
-resist.
-
-He was now well on his way and still his antagonist was not in sight,
-therefore, hurry seemed out of place, and then the cool depths of the
-tree-shaded river bank looked inviting and, thinking to tarry but a
-moment, he put the boat about for the shore.
-
-Once on shore and stretched at his ease the necessity for any race at
-all did not appear plain to our hero and he gurgled the time away,
-blissfully careless as to what might happen out in the hot sunshine.
-Thus the second boat came along, passed and continued on down toward the
-goal. Possibly Herbert thought he could at any time overtake his clumsy
-antagonist, possibly he did not go so far in his speculations; whatever
-his idea was, the tortoise won the race and the game supper.
-
-Herbert shot himself in the Stevens House, New York, on May 17, 1858. He
-was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, overlooking the river he knew so
-well, and his epitaph, which he is said to have suggested himself, is
-the single Latin word “Infelice”.
-
-
- EARLIER DWELLERS SOUTH OF THE GULLY ROAD.
-
-
-In 1743 a Dr. Edward Pigot lived hereabouts, as is noted in the Town
-Meeting of that year, quoted elsewhere; who he was or whence he came is
-not for me to say. In 1791 Abraham Sandford, Jr., and Elisha Sandford,
-lived in an old house on the site of the Herbert house, while building
-the Sandford dwelling, which still stands nearly opposite the Point
-House. As early as 1680 the property was owned by Henry Rowe, and
-remained in the possession of the family until about 1812. Mary Rowe, a
-witch, lived in a cabin here, and may be the same person referred to
-elsewhere as Moll De Grow.
-
-After that I find no record of a dwelling here until Herbert built.
-After his death this house was occupied for a short time by Mr. Joseph
-S. Rano, a shoemaker by trade, and a great hunter and a haunter of the
-river and its banks; then came Mr. Sanchez y Dolce, who resided here
-until the dwelling was destroyed by fire. Then came the cemetery, and it
-is now the dwelling place of many dead.
-
-
- GREEN ISLAND.
-
-
-Those who only know the Passaic of to-day can hardly realize that there
-was once a “Green Island” lying off the northern end of Mount Pleasant
-Cemetery which was a noted rendezvous for wild ducks and geese, with
-enough water between it and the shore to enable river craft to navigate
-the channel.
-
-This Green Island was a thorn in the side of the cemetery people, who
-purchased it for $ 1,000, or thought they did; but soon came those who
-bluffed them into buying it over again, and this time they paid $10,000.
-When the Erie came it claimed that the cemetery had no rights in Green
-Island at all, and calmly pre-empted it for trackage purposes.
-
-
- OF FISH AND FISHING.
-
-
-Seventy-five years ago this was a hunter’s paradise, and even within the
-memory of some of us old codgers the fishing for shad and smelts was a
-well established industry. In fact, the fishing rights of Green Island
-were for hire, as I am told that one could rent them for a day or a week
-and do his own fishing. Old Fink, whoever he was, once gathered in five
-hundred shad in one haul; at least one of his contemporaries does
-solemnly affirm such to have been the case, and another as calmly tells
-me that fourteen bushels of smelts were the reward of two hauls, of
-which he had cognizance.
-
-This almost sounds as if we were again on the lake of Gennesaret. But
-still greater wonders are recorded by Mr. William Stimis, eighty-seven
-years of age, who has heard his father say that he had seen 1,200 shad
-caught in one haul, and he, William, with three others, gathered in 120
-bushels of smelts in one night. He also tells of a striped bass weighing
-sixty-six pounds, sturgeon six feet long and of a host of lesser fish
-that swam the Passaic.
-
-
- THE SMELT OF THE PASSAIC RIVER.
-
-
-In Graham’s American Monthly Magazine, 1854, appears a “Memoir on the
-Smelt of the Passaic River”, by Frank Forrester, from which the
-following brief facts are taken:—
-
-The author was fond of classical allusions and high sounding phrases,
-and devotes two of his four pages to telling us how much he knows of
-things that do not pertain to the subject in hand, but when he gets down
-to “the delicious little fish known as the Smelt” we learn that it is
-the smallest of the salmon family, that the American smelt is larger
-than, and superior to, the European variety, and that its zoological
-name “osmerus” is from the Greek, and means “to give forth a perfume”,
-this having reference to the peculiar odor of cucumbers it exhales when
-fresh.
-
-The smelt of the Passaic and Raritan rivers was an entirely different
-fish from that of the Connecticut and more eastern rivers, and commanded
-a far higher price in the New York markets, though much smaller, the
-majority being under six inches in length while the eastern smelt
-averages eleven to twelve inches. The whole fish was of the most
-brilliant pearly silver, with the slightest possible changeable hue of
-greenish blue along the back, “The peculiar cucumber odor, in the
-freshly caught fish, and the extreme delicacy of the flesh, both of
-which are (1854) so far superior in the fish of the Passaic, as to be
-obvious to the least inquisitive observer”. This Passaic smelt Mr.
-Herbert found agreed in every particular with the description of the
-European smelt.
-
-In the springs of 1853-4 no school of fish, either shad or smelt, ran up
-the river owing, it was believed, to the establishment of a chain ferry
-about a mile above Newark bay. Mr. Herbert never knew of a well
-authenticated case where the smelt had been taken with bait, but states
-that they could be taken with the scarlet Ibis fly, and that he had
-himself killed them thus on the Passaic.
-
-Two well known figures of the Green Island waters were those of the “Two
-Horaces”, as they were called, Messrs. Horace H. Nichols and Horace
-Carter, brothers-in-law, neighbors and good friends. They constructed a
-comfortable boat for the purpose and might have been seen almost any
-pleasant afternoon, when the fishing was on, placidly waiting for a
-bite.
-
-
- THE POINT HOUSE.
-
-
-When the Erie came it drove spiles into the tender bosom of Green
-Island, and in time filled in a solid road bed, and where we once hunted
-for the roots and buds of the calamus docks have been built and filled
-in, and our island has lost its identity. All this filling has so
-changed the outline of the river bank that it is not now evident why the
-“Point House” was so named, though there was a time when this was a well
-developed point.
-
-Accounts differ somewhat as to the old-time owners of the Point House
-property, even the same man does not altogether agree with himself on
-this point. It is said that Judge Elias Boudinot, a Newarker, secured
-the property from the state, there being no other claimant for it. It
-was probably purchased on November 12, 1799, from the Judge by Abraham
-Van Emburgh who, about 1810-14, left suddenly for parts unknown because
-of a financial panic in the Van Emburgh family.
-
-[Illustration: The Point House. Said to be 150 years old. The scene of
-many a story and incident.]
-
-The property was sold by order of the court on July 24, 1811, to Thomas
-Whitlock who, on August 22, 1811, sold it to Peter Sandford; his heirs
-disposed of it on February 8, 1832, to William Duncan, John Cunningham,
-Sebastian Duncan and John Duncan. Another account makes Simeon Stivers
-an owner one hundred years ago, and also mentions one William Glasby and
-Miles I’Anson as subsequent owners.
-
-
- PHŒBE KING AND THE POINT HOUSE.
-
-
-That the Point House was a place of resort at an early date would appear
-from the following anecdote told me by Mrs. R. H. Brewster, a
-granddaughter of that Phœbe King who furnished the original material for
-the story, and who lived just below in the King house. The incident
-occurred before 1820, and came to Mrs. Brewster from her mother.
-
-During certain seasons of the year the men of the neighborhood were in
-the habit of going on what were known as fishing trips on the river, but
-though they fished within sight of their own doors, they would remain
-away from home for two or three days, using the Point House, which was
-then run by a woman, as headquarters, and here they indulged in what
-were technically known as “fish dinners”, and these fish dinners, it
-would appear, were conducive to more or less conviviality. The fact that
-“Poddy”, husband of Phœbe, was much troubled with gout in later years
-may have been due to an excess of fish, or something taken at this
-time—however this is merely surmise.
-
-Phœbe, it seems, came to the conclusion that her good man was eating too
-many fish dinners, and she said something to this effect, even going so
-far, when no attention was paid to her first hint, as to suggest that
-she might blow up the Point House if “Poddy” did not change his method
-of fishing, but he forgot all about it the next time one of his cronies
-came along and off he went again. Thus things ran along some two years
-or more until one day Phœbe discovered a ladder standing against the
-side of the Point House, next the kitchen chimney, at a time when a
-“fish dinner” was hatching, and as our story opens a great chowder was
-brewing over the fire at the bottom of that chimney. Phœbe saw her
-opportunity and grasped it; procuring a long string, a small bag and
-what she thought was powder enough to give the fisherman a scare, she
-proceeded to work. But as the result shows she underestimated the
-ability of good black powder to do things.
-
-With the powder inclosed in the bag and the bag fast to one end of the
-string the good wife cautiously ascended to the roof and, carefully
-placing the bag just over the chimney’s edge, she then came back to
-earth and, walking as far as the string would permit, let it go and
-hurried home. The result was even more conclusive than she had
-anticipated, for the explosion that followed not only distributed the
-chowder with absolute impartiality to the expectant company gathered
-around the hearth, but also removed a portion of the chimney.
-
-It would appear that at that time there was a witch in the neighborhood,
-possibly old Moll DeGrow, whose power for evil was generally recognized,
-and the recipients of the chowder promptly came to the conclusion that
-the witch was at the bottom of the trouble, all but “Poddy”. He had a
-light, and hastened home with it, but there sat Phœbe, placidly spinning
-and greatly surprised at his tale of woe, and though he tried to get up
-an argument over the matter it lacked success, being much too one-sided,
-and it was many years before he was allowed to verify his suspicions. In
-the meantime fish dinners at the Point House went out of fashion, the
-new method of serving chowder not being looked on with favor.
-
-
- THE POINT HOUSE WORKS FOR A LIVING.
-
-
-For several years the Duncans carried on the printing and dyeing of silk
-handkerchiefs in the Point House, probably the first enterprise of this
-sort established in the vicinity of Newark. They secured the raw silk in
-New York and, after converting it into the finished article, one of the
-brothers would make up a bundle of handkerchiefs and trudge to New York
-with it. On leaving this place the Duncans established the woolen mills
-in Franklin, N. J., which have since been known as the Essex Works.
-
-Apparently the next use to which the point was put was for the
-transshipping of freight, for we are told that rather more than fifty
-years ago this was a landing where vessels unloaded coal and other
-commodities which those from the back country, even so far as
-Bloomfield, were wont to cart home by way of the Division road and
-Murphy’s lane.
-
-About 1855 our old Point House, which some say was built 150 years ago,
-was owned by George Jackson, who manufactured fireworks here, while his
-brother Charles followed the same trade in a small building just north.
-He is said to have paid $400 for the property. About once in so often
-the fireworks factory would explode, and it made such a nuisance of
-itself because of these irregular excursions heavenward that Mr. Gould,
-who lived just across the way, purchased the property in order to quiet
-his nerves.
-
-From fireworks to firewater sounds like an easy transition, and so we
-come to the Holt regime. The Holts and a brother of Mrs. Holt, Ed.
-Moorehouse, lived in the King house (which we have passed without
-knowing it, and to which we shall go back shortly) and some time before
-1865 removed to the Point House, and here again was trouble for the
-neighbors, for while this was not a regular tavern, it would appear that
-a certain black bottle was part of its furniture, and that that black
-bottle was a magnet which no servant girl of the time and region could
-resist. Now a drunken cook is not generally regarded as any great
-addition to the family menage, as I am informed. It was no small
-undertaking to find a cook who would go so far into the country as this
-region then was, and when found, to have her almost immediately go
-astray via the Point House, was considered highly provoking.
-
-The Holts made their own root beer, and there is a story to the effect
-that while a party of well known Newarkers was in the place one day a
-keg of this same beer, which stood on the bar, exploded and deluged the
-visitors with a combination of liquid sassafras and wintergreen that was
-shocking to see and worse to bear, and it is recorded that those
-inundated failed to discover a funny side to the experience.
-
-
- THE FLOATING PALACE.
-
-
-The “Floating Palace”, kept by Ed. Holt, appears to have been a laudable
-effort on his part to benefit his friends and neighbors by catering to
-those who frequented the river. This was a boat anchored in the middle
-of the stream, which was reached by customers in small boats. It appears
-to be commonly thought that Ed. had a government license, but no local
-permit to retail liquor, and the boat was supposed to overcome the
-difficulty by straddling the county line. But one who knew Ed. well and
-knew the kind of a place he kept tells me that he sold nothing stronger
-than beer, and endeavored in every way to keep the boat of such a
-character that respectable parties could stop for refreshment, and that
-he was ably seconded in this by his Scotch-Irish wife, whose influence
-was all for good. Under more favorable circumstances Ed. Holt might have
-developed into a leading citizen. He was a man of character and of very
-temperate habits himself; a carpenter by trade, he always refused to
-employ men who were habitual drinkers.
-
-For a short time there was a second floating palace anchored in Dead
-Man’s bend, nearly opposite the lower end of Green Island, which was
-thoroughly disreputable, and it is probable that the reputation of this
-was unjustly extended to Holt’s place, for many people are to-day of the
-opinion that the latter was not as clean as it might have been. The
-Floating Palace burned to the water’s edge while Ed. Holt was still
-proprietor, and the experiment was not tried again.
-
-The Point House was long known to oarsmen as the training ground of some
-of the famed scullers of the world. Captain Chris. Van Emburgh, mariner,
-was one of the noted characters who frequented the place; he was an old
-Passaic river skipper and came originally from its eastern bank.
-
-Quite within the memory of those who are now beginning to be numbered
-with the older inhabitants, the place was one of the picturesque
-features of the river. Here were benches placed beneath the graceful
-willows which adorned the banks of the point; it was a good vantage
-ground from which to view the boat races when the local Tritons were
-trying their powers of endurance against outside barbarians. There were
-boats to let here, as full many a lover knew. But as the river became
-more and more foul such diversions ceased, and to-day the Point House
-stands shorn of all its old time attractions.
-
-
- OLD BLACK TOM.
-
-
-Old Black Tom was a well known, and many times damned, neighbor of the
-Point House. This was a large rock which lay almost in the middle of the
-channel, which at this point came close in to the western shore; at low
-water it was just covered, and one of the amusements of the boys was to
-step on the rock from a boat, when the person so doing had the
-appearance of walking on the water. But what was not so amusing, at
-least to the river men, was for a boat to run on the rock when the tide
-was falling. The canal boats which carried bricks or coal above
-frequently fell victims and, as every one knows how earnestly a rusty
-canaler talks when excited, there is no need to attempt a reproduction
-here.
-
-It seemed natural to step from Green Island to the Point House and now,
-having disposed of the latter, we shall go back as far as the Gully
-road.
-
-
- THE KING PROPERTY.
-
-
-Just at the bend of the road on the north side stood, within the memory
-of man, a pump which was long a popular warm weather resort. This was on
-the old King property. Just when the first King came here, or where
-from, has not been ascertained; all we know is that a Jasper King was
-living at the junction of the Gully and River roads, an old man, at the
-time of the Revolution, and that his son, whose name is not now
-recalled, was a soldier under General Anthony Wayne and was killed in
-action. He is said to have been one of those who crossed the Delaware
-with Washington.
-
-This son left one child, a son named Jasper, born July 18, 1775, who was
-brought up by his grandfather. Because of the confusion of tongues due
-to the similarity of name, the younger Jasper was nicknamed “Poddy”,
-this being a sort of explanatory title which is supposed to have
-described his midship section.
-
-This grandson enlisted for the War of 1812 and was stationed at Sandy
-Hook, he never saw active service in the field, but served his time out
-and was honorably discharged. He married Phœbe Budd, January 6, 1795,
-and about 1817 built the house which formerly stood in the bend of the
-road. Mrs. Henry Davis, a granddaughter of this Jasper, recalls having
-heard her mother relate how, when Jasper was a very young child, he was
-taken by his mother to see the husband and father off to the war, and
-how the mother lifted him up so that the father, who was on horseback,
-could kiss the child good-bye. The father was killed in action and the
-child never saw him again.
-
-The poorly shod condition of the soldiers at this time led to the
-throwing of their caps in the snow to stand in while waiting for the
-order to march. (This same tradition has also been handed down in the
-Phillips family, as noted elsewhere).
-
-A story current in the King family indicates that a detachment of
-British or Hessian troops was camped at one time near the King house.
-For it is told how the young child Jasper was induced by these soldiers
-to bring them apples and potatoes from his grandfather’s cellar. He was
-too young to appreciate what he was doing, but the grandfather soon
-caught him at it, and put a stop to it. This story would indicate that
-the invaders were not always such merciless marauders as is generally
-supposed. The orchard from which these apples came was situated on the
-Gibbs’ hill and was noted for the fine quality of its fruit.
-
-The last Jasper, who died October 1, 1854, had two sons, William and
-John, and eight daughters. John was a ship-builder, his yard being
-located in North Belleville. William was a brass molder and later had a
-sash and blind factory in Newark; he was noted as a temperance lecturer
-and traveled the country over in the cause.
-
-
- A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.
-
-
-One of the incidents of the Revolutionary period had somewhat to do with
-the King house. A son of Joseph Hedden, Jr., “the martyr patriot” of
-Newark, escaped from his father’s house while the British soldiers were
-dragging the senior out of his bed and into the street. The boy, though
-but half clad, jumped from a window and ran to the Passaic river at
-Lombardy street and up the river on the ice and snow to the Gully road.
-
-He stopped at the older King house for information and such scant
-clothing as they could afford to share with him and, believing that the
-soldiers were after him left by the Gully road for the Long Hill or
-Bloomfield road, where he found refuge in the house of a friend named
-Morris and was furnished with stimulants, food and clothing, and had his
-frozen feet treated.
-
-The King house was later included in the Gibbs purchase and was occupied
-by the gardener employed by Mr. Gibbs, and while so used it was
-destroyed by fire. Mrs. Gibbs remembers the building as a typical old
-frame farm house snuggled down under the shelter of the hill, embowered
-in roses and so picturesquely situated as to make her long for the
-simple life.
-
-
- BURIED TREASURE.
-
-
-There have been many stories in the past of Captain Kidd and his buried
-treasure, and there has been much digging in the fields hereabout by
-those who would acquire riches without due process of labor, but the
-only find that I have heard of occurred where the Gully road joins the
-River road.
-
-The building of the Erie Railroad necessitated a change where the Gully
-becomes the River road, and a strip some eighty feet wide was lopped off
-the Gibbs property. When the fence was moved back certain articles of
-silver were dug up by the workmen in the slender triangle which now lies
-between the drive and the railroad. The matter was kept quiet,
-presumably through fear that the stuff would be claimed, and the pieces
-disappeared before any one could inspect them.
-
-Where this occurred would have been just in front of the older King
-house and it is possible that these articles were family treasures
-buried during the Revolution in fear of a British raid.
-
-
- WHEN BRITON MET BRITON.
-
-
-A story has come down from the elders to the effect that at some point
-in the game of war two detachments of British troops were foraging in
-this region apparently each “unbeknownst” to the other, for the legend
-has it that while one was on the River road nearly opposite Jasper
-King’s, the other, which was on higher ground, mistook them for the
-enemy and fired a volley among them, whereupon the hirelings rushed for
-the cover of the river bank, which was much higher then than now, and in
-their excitement threw their guns into the river. Some of these guns
-were recovered after the war by fishermen.
-
-
- THORNHILL.
-
-
-What has been known to most of those now living as the Gibbs house is an
-imposing brown stone edifice which was built by Governor Pennington for
-his daughter Mary when she became the wife of Hugh Toler. In due time
-the place was sold to Mr. Alfred H. Gibbs, and has since been known as
-Thornhill. It was a sightly place with the river at its feet.
-
-
- THE TERHUNE PLACE.
-
-
-The next place north was that known of late as the Terhune place, which
-stands just above the Riverside station. The original dweller on or near
-this site is said to have been a Maverick, but nothing more than this is
-known. Then came one Matthew Banks who, according to story, was so lazy
-that he hoed his corn on horseback. Mr. Banks was quite as much
-fisherman as farmer, and spent much of his time on the river, and they
-do say that the old fellow would turn a penny now and then by selling
-herring for shad to the unsophisticated. Older residents tell me that
-there was formerly a hill of some altitude between this place and the
-river which cut out any view of the water from the house, and to which
-children were taken on Fourth of July nights as a vantage point from
-which to view the fireworks. Mr. Banks came here about 1820 and was
-possibly the last slave owner in this neighborhood. He is said to have
-purchased a negro from John Hawthorn, the quarryman, and, when he sold
-the place, among the chattels he wished to dispose of was a colored boy
-aged 14 years, “used to farm work”.
-
-After Matthew Banks a Mr. Small, who was the head printer in the Daily
-Advertiser office, took up his residence here, and following him, if I
-have the history right, came Mr. Terhune, who built the present house.
-Here also lived Mr. Horace Carter while his own dwelling was building on
-the Gully road, and thus we come to modern times.
-
-
- SANDFORD.
-
-
-“Second day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
-and ninety-one, Abraham Sandford, Jr., of New Barbadoes Bergen County,
-bought from Thomas Eagles and wife Mary a certain parcel of land.
-Beginning at the road that leads from Newark to Second river at the east
-corner of the land of Abraham Stivers”, etc. So runs the old deed which
-announces the advent of the Sandford family on this side of the river.
-
-Captain William Sandford, the original settler of the name in this
-country, came from the Barbadoes Islands in 1668 as the representative
-of Nathaniel Kingsland “of the same Island of Barbadoes, Esq.” He
-purchased “all that Neck of Land lying and being between Pisaick and
-Hackingsack Rivers”. The lower seven miles of this tract beginning at
-Newark bay and extending to the copper mine, and “Commonly then known by
-the name of New Barbadoes” fell in due course to Captain Sandford. The
-Captain was a noted man in his day. In 1682 he was commissioned Attorney
-of the Province, in 1699 he was appointed by Governor Carteret one of
-his two deputy governors during the absence of the Governor in England;
-he was for years in the Governor’s Council and prominent in affairs of
-church and state.
-
-The Abraham Sandford, Jr., who was the first of the name to settle on
-the west bank of the Passaic, was a great-great-grandson of William
-Sandford. He built the house (1794-5) which still stands, but in a
-greatly remodeled condition, just below and opposite the Point House,
-and which is to-day occupied by his grandchildren. As the family grew
-and multiplied this particular branch was known as the “Pine Tree
-Sandfords”, owing to the fact that a magnificent tree of the species
-long flourished near the dwelling.
-
-The tract originally purchased by Abraham Sandford, Jr., comprised about
-thirty acres, extending to the Back road. In 1801 he added to his
-possessions by purchasing the river front from Simeon Stivers, and in
-1817 bought an adjoining half acre from Stewart Elder. Abraham, Jr., had
-three children: Susan, Maria and Abraham A. The son married Charity
-Yansen, whose father was a soldier of the Revolution; they resided on
-the homestead; their children were Elizabeth M., Emma L., Mary O. and
-Frank. The first and last of these still live in the old house.
-
-
- POLLY VAN WINKLE.
-
-
-Polly Van Winkle was one of the picturesque figures of the River road
-some two or three generations ago. The neighbors appear to have stood in
-some fear of her lest she take offense and vent her displeasure by
-setting fire to their property; thus she came and went much as it
-pleased her. She appears to have had no home of her own, but carried all
-her worldly goods in a pack on her back, and when she appeared at some
-door it was to walk in and make herself at home, declining to go no
-matter how broad the hints that were dropped. She never wished a bed,
-always preferring to sleep on the floor close to her bundle, which was
-never allowed to leave her sight.
-
-
- MUNN.
-
-
-Next as we progress northward is the Munn house.
-
-The Munns came to America from England or Wales, and were among the
-early Newark settlers from New England. Captain Benjamin Munn of
-Hartford, Conn., served in the Pequot Indian War of 1637. He removed
-to Springfield, 1649; was probably killed by the Indians, 1675. His
-two sons, John and James, were in the Indian fight at Turners Falls,
-1676. John settled in Westfield, died 1684, leaving a widow and two
-sons, John and Benjamin. The widow married, 1686, John Richards, the
-schoolmaster of Westfield, and removed with him and her two boys to
-Deerfield, where his house was burned in the destruction of the town
-by the French and Indians in 1704. A few years afterward he removed to
-Newark, N. J., where he was the schoolmaster in 1718. His stepson,
-John Munn, married Mary, sister of John Richards and widow of John
-Ward, about 1720, and had Joseph, Samuel and Benjamin. Benjamin was
-born 1730 and died 1818—lived all his life on his farm, now the town
-of East Orange. Two of his sons, David and Amos, served in the
-Revolutionary War. After the war Amos married a daughter of Silas Dod
-and settled in Bloomfield—died in 1808, leaving Silas and other
-children. Silas continued his business till 1825, when he removed with
-his wife and two boys, William Alonzo and Bethuel, to the old Col. Van
-Cortland place on the Passaic, just below the mouth of Second river.
-Here he resided five years—1825-1830—during which time his son Henry
-Benson and daughter Emeline were born. He then moved to Belleville,
-where he lost his daughter Emeline, and where his son Silas, Jr., was
-born.
-
-In 1850 he purchased the Van Emburgh place, consisting of four or five
-acres, opposite the old Point House.
-
-This tract was conveyed on June 7, 1790, by Gaspars Van Winkle and wife
-and Aurentee Due, heirs of Gideon and Mary Smith, to Abraham Van
-Emburgh. Most of the property remained in the Van Emburgh family until
-sold to Silas Munn, March 16, 1850. At this time there were two small
-dwellings on the land, one was moved back and converted into a barn, the
-other was moved, remodeled and added to in 1893 and is still standing.
-Here Silas died in 1873.
-
-The children of Silas were William Alonzo, Bethuel, Silas, Henry Benson
-and Emeline. William Alonzo married a sister of John Boyd of Woodside,
-and removed to New York; his second wife was Hannah Wilson, with whom he
-removed to Milwaukee, where he died in 1876. Bethuel married Sarah,
-another sister of John Boyd, and after the death of his mother, in 1866,
-occupied the house on the River road until his decease in 1899. Henry
-Benson studied law, moved to Madison and Portage City, Wis., of which
-latter place he was elected mayor, and from which he was sent to the
-Legislature. He finally removed to Washington, D. C., where he still
-resides; he has owned the homestead for many years. Silas, Jr., followed
-civil engineering, went west and finally settled on a farm near Grant
-City, Mo., where he now resides.
-
-
- THE MELIUS HOUSE.
-
-
-Next in order stands the Esley Melius house. Old deeds in the possession
-of Mr. Theo. Melius tell us that on December 11, 1799, Abraham Van
-Emburgh and Rhoda, his wife, sold to John P. Sandford for the sum of
-$3.84, at a place called Belleville, a part of a water lot, which the
-said Abraham Van Emburgh purchased from Elisha Boudinot, Esqr., by a
-deed bearing date November 12, 1799; this adjoined the lot “now
-conveyed” to Charles Hedenburgh.
-
-March 20, 1866, John I. Sandford and Rhoda, his wife; Asa Torry and
-Mary, his wife; Catherine Udall and Sarah Hopson quitclaimed the above
-water lot to Rachael Sandford, this being part of the real estate of the
-late John P. Sandford.
-
-March 20, 1860, Rachael Sandford deeded the above water lot to Ezra
-Gould for the sum of $500.
-
-These transfers show the ownership of the waterfront of the Melius place
-since 1799, and possibly some time before that date.
-
-The north part of the present Melius house was erected by John Stimis,
-probably at the same time that he erected his own house, just above,
-1805. Amos Munn, son of Benjamin, of East Orange, and father of Silas
-Munn, ancestor of the River road branch, born 1763, died 1808, was at
-the time of his death building a dwelling on the lot now occupied by the
-Foster Home; his executors exchanged the unfinished building for a
-two-acre lot, which is now part of the Melius homestead. In 1811 the
-executors sold the lot to Jean Baptiste Bacque. Later there dwelt here
-one Hedenburgh, if I am correctly informed; then a Vincent whose
-daughter, Dorcas, married Gilbert Pullinger—the Pullinger reign lasted
-from 1830 to 1836. Mrs. Pullinger appears to have been a character with
-more loves than come to most of us. After her came the Duncans, a Zeiss,
-William Patterson, Ezra Gould and Esley Melius.
-
-By a deed dated October 1, 1853, John R. Sked and Sarah C., his wife,
-sold the property, which was in shape like the letter L, and which
-inclosed on two sides the property of Charles Daugherty, to Ezra Gould,
-subject to several mortgages held by William Patterson and others. And
-on May 1, 1857, Charles Daugherty and Rachael, his wife, sold to Ezra
-Gould a lot purchased in 1849 from William Patterson, which squared the
-Gould property.
-
-April 12, 1866, Peter M. Myers and wife sold the Ezra Gould property to
-Sarah A. Melius, wife of Esley Melius, and the property has since
-remained in the Melius family.
-
-Mrs. Melius was a daughter of Samuel Rust, the inventor of the
-Washington press, which was the foundation on which the great firm of R.
-Hoe & Co. was builded. The daughter received the best education that the
-times afforded girls, being placed first at a leading school in
-Poughkeepsie, then at the West Point Academy on Lake Champlain, and was
-given a finishing polish at Mrs. Jackson’s school on Broadway, New York,
-which was located just above Prince street on the site later occupied by
-the Metropolitan Hotel. She was a woman of strong convictions and was in
-her day a magazine writer of some note.
-
-There is a story current that Mrs. Melius once held the Erie Railroad up
-at the point of her parasol by standing in the middle of the track and
-shaking that weapon at the approaching engine, which naturally stopped
-all a-tremble, whereupon the lady climbed on board a car and enjoyed a
-ride to New York. Just how much of this is fact and how much is fancy is
-not altogether clear at this distance.
-
-
- STIMIS FAMILY TRADITIONS.
-
-
-The next house that can claim the dignity of age is that built about
-1805 by Mr. John Stimis, son of Christopher, and occupied during our
-early days by Col. Gilbert W. Cumming, and at present by the Andersons.
-
-Christopher Stimis was the first of the name to settle in this
-neighborhood. He came some time before the Revolution, from a place then
-known as Weasel which, according to the Erskin Map No. 82 (made for the
-use of General Washington during the Revolution), was situated along the
-Passaic river, west side, some 3-4 miles north of the “Achquackhenonk”
-bridge (the present town of Passaic).
-
-Christopher married a daughter of the house of Coeyman and built his
-home, on land that had come to his wife from her father’s estate, a few
-hundred feet north of the present Melius house. When the Revolutionary
-war came Christopher enlisted, and while in the army took a heavy cold
-and died of hasty consumption.
-
-Christopher had two sons, John (1) and Henry (1).
-
-John (1) had five sons: John, Peter, Christopher, Henry and William (the
-latter is the only one of this generation now living).
-
-Henry (1), who lived in the old homestead just south of John, had four
-sons: John, Abraham, James and Thomas.
-
-The above information comes from Mr. William Stimis, now 87 years of
-age, a grandson of Christopher. His memory is clear and he is quite
-certain of his facts.
-
-While the first Stimis did not keep a tavern in the ordinary sense, he
-did know how to brew beer, and for many years the house was a stopping
-place for thirsty souls. Even as late as the Revolution the brewing of
-beer was continued, for I am informed that the place was frequented both
-by Hessians from across the river and by such Continental soldiers as
-happened in the neighborhood.
-
-
- HESSIANS BURY LOOT.
-
-
-There is a story which has been handed down in the Stimis family to the
-effect that some Hessians, while on this side, were hard pressed by a
-superior force of Americans, and in their haste to get away were
-compelled to bury certain treasure or loot of some sort in the field
-back of the Stimis house, toward Washington avenue. This treasure has
-been dug for within my own recollection, but so far as known was never
-found. The Hessians also left behind in the Stimis house some muskets
-and a camp kettle which are still in the possession of members of the
-family.
-
-
- OLD TWO BOTTLES.
-
-
-One of the characters of the River road some fifty or more years ago was
-“General” James or “Old Two Bottles”, as he was more familiarly known.
-General James was a shoemaker who lived under the bank, two hundred feet
-or so below the limekiln; in fact at about the spot known to my youth as
-“the Cedars”, where we boys learned to swim and had our clothes tied in
-knots to a chant which, as I remember it, went something like this:—
-
- “Chaw roast beef,
- The beef was tough;
- Poor little nigger,
- He couldn’t get enough.”
-
-By wetting the article of clothing and pulling hard two boys could draw
-tight a knot which took both hands and all the teeth the owner of the
-aforementioned article had to work loose.
-
-The General lived near the water’s edge in a little hut of stone and
-wood. The old shanty leaked so that when the rain fell he and his wife
-sought refuge under the family umbrella, so the story goes.
-
-Near his house was a spring of good water, but what interested the youth
-of the neighborhood more was the legend of a cave close by where Captain
-Kidd is said to have stowed treasure. This was supposed to be at a spot
-where were more stones than nature would seem properly to have gathered
-together, and this the boys would now and then pry into, but so far as
-known nothing came of it but an occasional backache.
-
-Presumably his close contact with the river bred a contempt for water
-that became more and more pronounced as the old fellow advanced in
-years, when to the few who can now recall him he was a well known
-character. Possibly he once drank some water which did not agree with
-him—possibly he supposed it was only intended for the floating of boats
-(none has as yet made this point clear), but, whatever the cause, our
-friend was very particular not to tamper with his constitution by
-drinking any more of the stuff. Hence the jug which was his constant
-companion when visiting Newark.
-
-The General had a private path, just above the reach of high tide, which
-came out on the main road near the Point House, and every Saturday
-afternoon wife Rachael and he would journey southward. They always
-walked single file, the old lady some fifty to one hundred feet in the
-rear—presumably this was to insure the safety of the jug, a rear guard,
-as it were, to protect the supplies, a precautionary measure which would
-naturally occur to a military man.
-
-Possibly our “General” was a veteran of the war with nature: that
-certainly is a satisfactory way to account for his title. Just how he
-came by the secondary title of “Old Two Bottles” is not quite clear, but
-it is said that it was the result of high words in the family. Mrs.
-General, it seems, longed for something more substantial than the rear
-to guard, and appears to have made an unwelcome suggestion that two
-bottles would be better than one jug and, being some distance behind the
-conversation was carried on in an elevated tone of voice, and as the
-General’s rate of locomotion was about a mile an hour the neighbors came
-easily by the story.
-
-The General and his wife occupy unmarked graves in the neglected burial
-ground above the Weiler house.
-
-
- THE ALEXANDER PLACE.
-
-
-The next house of which there is any memory was a brick structure at the
-southwest corner of the River and Division roads. This was the property
-of, and presumably built by, “Jim” Alexander (James G. Alexander?), who
-came from Newark and passed the place many times as he drove the stage
-from Newark to Belleville. Alexander was a North of Ireland man who came
-to Belleville after a brief sojourn in Paterson. For a time he drove a
-stage between Belleville and New York, and also between Belleville and
-Newark. He married a Coeyman and thus came into possession of a farm
-which extended from Grafton avenue south to the Henry Stimis place, and
-from the river back to Summer avenue. He is said to have run the
-limekiln at one time.
-
-Alexander’s house burned and he removed to Belleville, where he became
-somewhat eccentric, parading the streets barefoot and with a silk hat on
-his head, in which costume he would preach whenever the curious were
-willing to form a congregation. There are stories current which indicate
-that he had a ready wit and a tongue sharper than a two-edged sword.
-
-
- THE LIME KILN.
-
-
-We have come to the Division road, now Grafton avenue, so far as this
-end of it is concerned. Opposite, on the river bank, stood for many
-years the limekiln erected by three Englishmen: Thomas Vernon, Thomas
-Farrand and John T. Grice. This performed its offices without doing
-serious damage to the landscape. The last to burn lime here was Mr.
-Francis Tompkins, but the old Newark Lime & Cement Company was finally
-too much for him, and he went under. Between the burnings of lime there
-was little activity about the place, and as time went on it became
-little more than a picturesque wreck, and thirty years ago or more the
-old kiln ceased work entirely. Then came Mr. Benfield who, as some of
-his facetious neighbors were fond of saying, had a process for
-extracting gold from stone fences. So far as I have any knowledge of the
-matter, the process was all right, but it cost more to extract the gold
-than it would bring in the open market, and so in a certain sense the
-experiment was not a success, and it resulted in the erection of
-unsightly buildings which have been added to from time to time by others
-who would do things here, until from being a picturesque ruin the place
-has grown to be one of the ugliest sights on the river bank.
-
-
- HOUSES ABOVE GRAFTON AVENUE.
-
-
-Above Grafton avenue, on the corner, stood the frame house of John
-McDonald, who married a Coeyman (he was a calico printer by trade), and
-opposite, between road and river, stood a small frame house occupied by
-James Coeyman. Above, on the west, was the brick house of Levi Coeyman,
-and next the frame house of John DeHush Coeyman, while on the site now
-occupied by the large brick house built by Peter Weiler stood the home
-of Minard Coeyman, the hive of the Coeymans. Just above, where the brook
-crossed the road, was the house of Henry Coeyman, and just beyond that
-of John Coeyman, later occupied by William McDonald and by one
-Worthington. A cannon ball and numerous Indian relics have been ploughed
-up on this property. The last three buildings were torn down by Mr.
-Weiler when he built about 1860. The only other house below Second river
-was the original Van Cortlandt stone house.
-
-
- COEYMAN GENEALOGY.
-
-
-Peter Coeymans of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, had seven children. His
-five sons sailed from Holland in the ship Rensselaerswyck, October 1,
-1636, and settled in Albany, N. Y. The youngest of the boys was Lucas
-Pieterse Coeymans. “May 14th, 9th year of William 3d of England (1698)
-Leukes Coeman of the towne of Newark yeoman”, bought of Gerrit Hollaer
-of the city of New York, land lying on the Passaic river, in the “toune”
-of Newark and County of Essex, “where the said Leukes Coeman now
-livith”. This deed was acknowledged January 17, 1699.
-
-The children of Lucas Peterse Coeymans and Arientie, his wife, all of
-whom were born in Albany, N. Y., were:—
-
-Geertie Koemans, who married Harmanus Bras, October 5, 1695, at
-Hackensack.
-
-Marytie Koeymans, who married Cornelis Tomese, August 8, 1696, at
-Hackensack.
-
-Johannes Koeymans, who married Rachel Symen Van Winckle (of
-Acquackanonk), March 6, 1708, at Hackensack.
-
-Januetie Koemans, who married Gideon Symen Van Winkle (of Acquackanonk),
-March 13, 1708.
-
-Very little has been preserved concerning the Coeyman family, and
-probably the only way to trace the line from Johannes down to Minard
-would be by a long search of old titles. Minard Coeyman is said to have
-served during the Revolution under Colonel Van Cortlandt.
-
-Minard had sons: Henry M., Peter, William, Thomas and John.
-
-Henry M. had a son, James A., whose son, Albert J., now lives in
-Belleville.
-
-Peter had sons: Levi and Minard.
-
-
- EXTENT OF THE COEYMAN POSSESSIONS.
-
-
-There is a legend in the Coeyman family to the effect that it at one
-time owned all the land between Second river and the Gully road, and
-that the land purchased by Van Cortlandt was sold to him by a Coeyman.
-That, if correct, would carry the property north to Second river. Its
-southern boundary has only been traced as far as the present Melius
-property. Mr. William Stimis tells me that the first Christopher Stimis
-who came here married a Coeyman, who received as her portion of the
-estate six acres, which included the land occupied by the late Henry
-Stimis and extended to the present Melius property. Mr. William Stimis
-thinks that his grandmother, the wife of Christopher, above, was a
-daughter of Andrew Coeyman and a sister of Minard Coeyman, but he is not
-sure of this. Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins has made the statement that the
-Coeyman property once extended from the Gully road to Second river and
-westward to include Forest Hill.
-
-
- A COEYMAN REMINISCENCE.
-
-
-A Coeyman reminiscence tells how, in order to save their bedding and
-household linen from the rapacity of the soldiers it was placed on the
-barn floor and covered deep with hay, and how the soldiers came along
-and began to use up the hay and the pile went down and down and down,
-until there were only four feet between the invaders and discovery, but
-at this point the troops left the locality and the bedding remained in
-the family.
-
-The army lay on the Coeyman farm long enough to cut down every forest
-tree that stood thereon, and all the fine old trees that we knew thirty
-years ago are said to have come into being since then. The same story is
-told of General Wayne’s troops, who camped along the Back road, and
-probably the above refers to this same time.
-
-
- WASHINGTON MARCHES DOWN THE RIVER ROAD.
-
-
-November 21, 1776, General Washington and the troops from Fort Lee left
-Hackensack by the Pollifly road, crossed over to the old Paramus road
-and reached the bridge at Acquackanonk (now the town of Passaic) about
-noon. Crossing there the bridge was destroyed to delay the pursuing
-British under Cornwallis. On the 22d Washington and 3,500 or more troops
-left Acquackanonk for Newark. The forces were divided, some going over
-the hill to Bloomfield, the others keeping down the River road and thus
-entering Newark.
-
-This was one of the most bitter periods of the Revolutionary struggle;
-everything was apparently going against the American cause, and it was a
-bedraggled and disheartened company that marched down our River road on
-that 22d day of November. Thomas Paine participated in this retreat
-across New Jersey, and it was this that inspired his “Crisis”, which
-begins: “These are the times that try men’s souls”, and it was at Newark
-on November 23d that Washington wrote: “The situation of our affairs is
-truly critical, and such as requires uncommon exertion on our part.” The
-way in which Washington handled this, as other desperate situations, has
-placed him in the front rank of commanders the world over. His “Fabian”
-policy of masterly inaction in front of forces vastly superior to his
-own, combined with his ability to recognize and take advantage of the
-opportunity when it arrived, was marvelous.
-
-Cornwallis did not attempt to cross the river until November 26th.
-Apparently he had no wish to capture the American troops, as he spent
-something like a week in the Passaic Valley, foraging on the country as
-he went, and progressing in a most leisurely manner.
-
-
- STEPHEN VAN CORTLANDT AT SECOND RIVER.
-
-
-Stephen Van Cortlandt, twelfth child of Col. Stephanus Van Cortlandt by
-his wife, Gertrude Schuyler, was born 11, August, 1695; married 28,
-August, 1713, Catalina Staats, daughter of Dr. Samuel Staats by his
-first wife, Johanna Rynders. He resided at “Second River” (now
-Belleville), Essex County, N. J. Issue:
-
-1. Johanna Van Cortlandt, born 3, February, 1714; died without issue.
-
-2. Gertrude Van Cortlandt, born 23, February, 1715; married Johannes Van
-Rensselaer.
-
-3. Stephanus Van Cortlandt, born 19, September, 1716; died without
-issue.
-
-4. Samuel Van Cortlandt, born 22, December, 1717; died without issue.
-
-5. John Van Cortlandt, born 16, February, 1721; died 29, June, 1786.
-Married Hester Bayard.
-
-6. Philip Van Cortlandt, born in 1725; died 1800 without issue. He
-commanded a New Jersey Regiment in the Revolution.
-
-7. Sarah Van Cortlandt died without issue.
-
-John (above) had a son Stephen, born 11, August, 1750, and Stephen had
-two daughters—Elizabeth, who married John Van Rensselaer, and Hester,
-who married James Van Cortlandt. (The above is from Mrs. Catharine T. R.
-Mathews, nee Van Cortlandt, an authority on the family genealogy.)
-
-
- THE OLD VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE.
-
-
-The old Van Cortlandt house, which is described below, stood about
-midway between Second river and the G. L. R. R. tracks, facing the
-Passaic, and also the road, for at that time the highway kept very close
-to the water’s edge but, owing to the frequent flooding of this low land
-and consequent washouts, the road was finally set back to its present
-line. Fifty years ago this was known as the “new” road.
-
-There is some uncertainty as to when this house was built, for if Dr.
-Staats gave the house now known as the Belleville Hotel to his daughter
-at the time of her marriage, as some think, Stephen Van Cortlandt would
-hardly have erected a second dwelling, at least until a son or daughter
-married and desired to start a new establishment. During the later years
-of its existence the old house is said to have been haunted by a ghost
-nine feet high and hump-backed, and the place had an uncanny
-reputation—misfortune was said to follow its tenants. Old residents told
-of skeletons in its musty closets, and one of the Van Cortlandt family
-is said to have become insane while living here, but what the tragedy
-was, if any, has not been recorded.
-
-
- NOTES ON THE VAN CORTLANDT PLACE.
-
-
-Mr. Silas Munn says in his fragmentary diary that when he moved into the
-old Van Cortlandt house many people said that it was the abode of
-“hobgoblins” and that ill fortune followed its occupants—then followed
-the statement that at the end of two years he was taken down with
-malarial fever—lost a flock of sheep—two valuable horses, one of which
-was killed by a foul with another on the road, and lost so much money in
-his business that he was obliged to suspend and take boarders. Bad luck
-seemed to follow all its subsequent occupants till finally, in 1878, the
-old house was destroyed by fire.
-
-The house was after the pattern of those built by the Dutch farmers at
-an early day. A broad hall ran through the centre, at either end were
-heavy doors, divided horizontally, so that only one-half need be opened
-at a time and thus leave the occupant free to talk with a caller without
-intrusion. A broad garden extended from the road to the house, a
-spacious barn was nearby, while orchards of rare apples and pears
-extended on either side and on the opposite side of the road was another
-orchard of fine fruit. The property in 1829 adjoined that of Minard
-Coeyman. It was then known as the estate of Colonel Van Cortlandt. Silas
-Munn, under date of September 2, 1829. writes that he was requested by
-Minard Coeyman to attend with G. Dow and fix the line between his land
-and that of the estate of Van Cortlandt, when it was found that the
-estate had inclosed 300 rods of Coeyman’s land.
-
-
- ADVICE TO GIRLS WHO WOULD MARRY.
-
-
-The first Mrs. John Van Rensselaer, who has been heard by Mrs. Kay to
-say that she was married in the house south of Second river, used to
-caution the young girls of her acquaintance against too long delay and
-overmuch prinking, and she was somewhat fond of citing herself and her
-sister as examples.
-
-It seems that when John Van Rensselaer came down from Albany to spy out
-the land and its fair daughters, he came to the Van Cortlandt house,
-where the two girls were living, and word was brought upstairs to the
-young ladies that the gentleman was below awaiting them. Whereupon
-“Bess” was for going down immediately, dressed as she was, but the
-sister, thinking that a few more furbelows would add to her charms,
-remained behind and spent a half hour or so before the glass.
-
-This, of course, gave “Bess” an opportunity with the visitor which she
-improved to such good purpose that the matter of the future Mrs. Van
-Rensselaer was practically settled by the time the much beautified
-sister appeared on the scene. The story I have from Mrs. Mary E. Tucker
-who, when a girl, was told the incident by Mrs. Van Rensselaer herself.
-
-
- JOHN VAN RENSSELAER II.
-
-
-About 1830 an Englishman named Duxbury was living in the Van Cortlandt
-house. He had been brought over to act as general superintendent of the
-print works. John Van Rensselaer, whose father married Elizabeth Van
-Cortlandt, became very much interested in Margaret Duxbury, and they
-were finally married. Thus two John Van Rensselaers in succession went
-to the old house for their brides; the children of John 2d were James,
-Cortlandt and Catherine.
-
-
- WHAT AN OLD MAP SHOWS.
-
-
-On the Erskin map No. 79, known as “From Newark, through Acquackononk to
-Gothum” this house is marked “storehouse”, while to the house north of
-Second river (now the Belleville Hotel) is attached the name of Stephen
-Van Cortlandt.
-
-This same map shows the old Coeyman house to have been occupied by
-Hendrick Coeyman; another house just north of this is not named, and
-these three are the only houses noted on this map on the River road
-between Second river and the Gully road, though the old Stimis house
-must have been standing at this time, and it is probable that the first
-King house was also then in existence.
-
-
- CANNON BALLS FROM THE RIVER.
-
-
-Mr. James S. Taylor tells me that in hauling for shad on the reef just
-below Second river, which was formerly only two feet under water at low
-tide, it was no uncommon thing to scoop up occasional shells from the
-bottom of a bigness of three to four inches in diameter. The Decatur
-Powder Works were formerly situated just above on the north bank of
-Second river, and whether these shells were a relic of that institution
-or were some reminiscence of the Revolution no one seems to know.
-
-
- COEYMAN BURIAL GROUND.
-
-
-But few of the stones are left in the old Coeyman burial ground, which
-lies just north of the Weiler house. The following is a complete list of
-those standing at the present time:—
-
- Anthony Wauters,
- who died April 9, 1800
- Aged 52 years
- also his wife
- Margaret
- who died Oct 8, 1802
- Aged 52 years
- and his daughter
- Mary
- who died April 23, 1832
- Aged 66 years.
-
- O what were all my sufferings here
- If, Lord, thou count me meet;
- With that enraptur’d host to appear
- And worship at thy feet.
-
- Rachel Wat——
- Departed this life April
- 17th, 1833
- Aged 62 years 1 day
- The Lord taketh pleasure ——
- that fear him. In those ——
- in his mercy.
-
-
- Peter L. Coeyman.
- Died April 6th. 1869, Aged 76 years, 11 mo. and 4 days
-
- Come all my friends as you pass by
- As you are now so once was I,
- As I am now so you must be,
- Prepare yourselves to follow me.
-
-
- In memory of James,
- son of Minard and Catherine Coeman who
- died August 5th, 1801, aged 1 year, 10 mos. and 7 days
-
- Minard Coeyman died November 12, 1833, aged 75
- years and five months.
- Catherine, his wife, died July 13, 1841, aged 76 years,
- 10 months and six days.
- Lean not on earth, ’twill
- Pierce thee to the heart.
- Caroline, daughter of James and Catherine Alexander,
- died October 1st, 1841, aged 1 year, 6 mos. and 9 days.
-
-
- Levi Holden. 1806
-
- Sacred to the memory of Thomas Holden, oldest son of Levi and Hannah
- Holden, who was born in Massachusetts on the 5th day of September,
- 1779, and departed this life 20th day of May, 1820, after a very
- protracted and severe illness. Aged 40 years, 8 mo. and 15 days.
-
- His heart is no longer the seat
- Of trouble and torturing pain;
- It ceases to flutter and beat,
- It never shall flutter again.
- The lids that he seldom could close,
- By anguish forbidden to sleep,
- Sealed up in the sweetest repose,
- Have strangely forgotten to weep.
- His soul has now taken its flight
- To mansions of glory above,
- To mingle with angels of light,
- And dwell in the Kingdom of love.
-
- L. H. In memory of Levi Holden, son of Thomas and Anne Holden, who
- was born in Massachusetts August 19th, 1799. Drowned 19th July,
- 1806.
-
- When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear,
- Then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
- O grave where is thy sting,
- O death where is thy victory.
-
-
-
- John MacDonald
- Born Jan. 3, 1820, Died May 30, 1881.
-
- With heavenly weapons I have fought
- The battles of the Lord,
- Finished my course and kept the faith
- And wait the sure reward.
-
-
- Frank H. Smith
- Died December 2, 1885, Aged 14 years and 2 days.
-
-
-
- Carrie A. Smith,
- Died November 8th, 1888, Aged 10 years and 11 mos.
-
-
- INDIAN RELICS.
-
-
-The New Jersey Historical Society has in its possession two Indian stone
-hatchets and a number of arrow points which were dug from the river bank
-300 to 500 feet above Grafton avenue by Mr. William Jackson. Indian
-relics have been dug up at numerous points along the River road.
-
-
- A MYSTERY SOLVED.
-
-
-About 1837 there was much mystery concerning a certain “Button” factory
-on Second river, near the Passaic, which was run by one Thomas Thomas.
-Twice each year a vessel would ascend the Passaic and drop anchor
-opposite Grafton avenue; no one ever came ashore from her, and all sorts
-of rumors were spread in regard to her. Some said she was a smuggler,
-others a pirate. After nightfall there were mysterious trips from the
-“Button” factory to the schooner, men trundled heavy casks down to the
-water’s edge and these were transferred to the vessel which, in due
-time, sailed away with the awful secret buried deep in her hold.
-
-It seems that Thomas was engaged in manufacturing money which was sent
-to Brazil. Mr. William Stimis, who ran the milling machine in the
-“Button” factory states that copper coins of two sizes were made. One
-marked “40” was the size of a silver half dollar, and one marked “80”
-the size of a dollar. Jos. Gardner was engaged to engrave the dies. The
-place was raided two or three times on the theory that counterfeiting
-was going on, and Gardner was arrested at least once.
-
-
- ADDITIONAL ON THE VAN CORTLANDT HOME.
-
-
-NOTE—The following was received from Mrs. Mathews too late to insert it
-in its proper place. Mrs. Mathews thinks that the house south of Second
-river was built by John Van Cortlandt (5), son of the Stephen Van
-Cortlandt who married Catalina Staats. It was his grand-daughter
-Elizabeth who married John Van Rensselaer in the old house.
-
-NOTE—The inscription below was omitted from its proper place in the list
-of those stones now standing in the Coeyman burial ground:—
-
- In memory of
- Christina, wife of
- Anton King who
- died Dec. 10, 1791,
- In the 91st year
- of her age.
-
-
-
-
- DIVISION ROAD.
-
-
-Division road, or Boot Leg lane, was merely a cross road, connecting the
-River and Back roads. This followed the present lines of Grafton avenue
-and Halleck street with that bit of Washington avenue which lies
-between, the jog being accounted for by a hill, which it was necessary
-to circumvent.
-
-The first house built on the lane was that of James Campbell, a silk
-printer by trade, who worked in the factory of his brother, Peter, in
-Belleville. This was situated at the foot of the hill in what is now the
-northeast corner of Washington and Grafton avenues. It was later
-occupied by Mr. Kennedy, the florist. The next house was built by Mr.
-William Stimis (who gives me these facts) about opposite the above on
-Washington avenue.
-
-The third house erected was that of Mr. William Tobey (Halleck street),
-an Englishman who was employed in the Bird factory. Mr. Tobey is
-described as a stocky man, genial, full of story and pleasant wit, and
-he appears to be remembered as something of a character. The place was
-added to by Morrison and Briggs, and here Charles Morrison is said to
-have lived for a time. Then came Mr. Stent, the architect, who designed
-the present entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The house is at present
-used for beer bottling purposes. Halleck street was at one time known as
-“Tobey’s” lane.
-
-The fourth house was that of Gilbert Stimis, on the south side of
-Halleck street, and the fifth and last until we come to modern times was
-the Edgecombe house, erected about 1858. The family consisted of the
-mother and three daughters. They are said to have come here from
-Paramus.
-
-
- BACK ROAD.
-
-
-Mrs. Charles Holt, who is 71 years of age, recalls the time when the
-Phillips farmhouse was the only house on the lower Back road, between
-the cemetery and Elwood avenue, and when this stretch was known as
-“Phillips’s lane”.
-
-As Mr. James S. Taylor remembers it, the only houses along the old Back
-road, as far back perhaps as 1850, were, beginning at the south:—
-
-First, the John C. Bennett house, built in 1852, at the S. E. corner of
-Chester avenue; then, almost opposite, the Miles I’Anson house, which
-now stands on a knoll along the northern border of Chester avenue. Next
-the Phillips homestead, on the west, just below Delavan avenue, which
-has since been moved back to Summer avenue. Above this there was no
-house until the bend, now known as Elwood place, was passed. Some
-distance beyond here stood a small stone house on the right occupied by
-an Irishman. This was probably Pat Brady, who in the fifties built just
-below the present Bryant street. Pat had the reputation of being a child
-of fortune. It is remembered that, while very poor, he suddenly became
-well-to-do, and this was only accounted for by the fact that he might
-have “found a purse”. About opposite the Brady house stood the
-“Magazine” house back in the field.
-
-Probably the next was the Thomas Coeyman (son of William, who comes
-next) frame house, opposite the Elliott street school. Then came the
-William Coeyman house of stone, on the left and just above the head of
-Halleck street. William Stimis states that his father, John Stimis,
-worked on this house, which was erected about one hundred years ago.
-About half way between Irving street and Montclair avenue stood the
-house of Peter Coeyman (Peter and William were sons of Minard Coeyman of
-the River road). Next was the Alexander house, a long, low,
-story-and-a-half frame on the left just south of Verona avenue.
-Following this was the Jesse Bennett house on the S. W. corner of Verona
-avenue and opposite this on a lane which probably ran to the River road
-stood the Riddle house, formerly the J. F. King house. Next the house of
-Benson, the miller, which still stands at the S. E. corner of Summer and
-Sylvan avenues. While still further afield, toward the rising sun, stood
-the house of Jonathan Bird.
-
-The Back road, in a deed made in 1812, is called the “Drift road”, while
-in 1820 it was “the road leading from Garrit Houghwort’s to Captain
-Stout’s mill ‘dam’“ (present cemetery to Second river). Now this highway
-of other days answers to three different names: as Lincoln avenue,
-Elwood place and Summer avenue. Mr. William Phillips has heard that in
-1805 this road was merely a farm lane running not further north than the
-present Elwood avenue; that here it stopped at a farm, the owner of
-which would not allow it to pass through his property, and presumably
-this accounts for the turn at Elwood place, it being a laudable effort
-to get around the obstructionist. But, as will appear a bit later,
-General Anthony Wayne marched up this road in 1779, and it seems
-probable that the date, 1805, is too recent.
-
-
- THE “STRAWBERRY” LOT.
-
-
-When we were boys the Back road began at the “Strawberry” lot, a great
-ball field where the “Waverlys”, the “Newark Amateurs” and others
-furnished forth many a holiday. A member of the latter was, I have
-heard, the first in this neighborhood to pitch a curved ball which, in
-those days, was a great event. Part of the “Strawberry” lot is still the
-home of the athlete, for here the Riverside Athletic Club reigned for
-many years.
-
-
- RIVERSIDE ATHLETIC CLUB.
-
-
-Chronologically speaking the history of the Riverside Athletic Club
-belongs to the second part of this book, but this seems the best place
-to dwell briefly on the subject.
-
-The club was organized about 1882, with some twenty-five members, among
-the more prominent of whom were L. P. Teller, William H. Brown, Paul E.
-Heller, Henry W. Heller, Frank Cadiz, Edmund Pierson and one Linehan. It
-was known as “the school of the bowlers”, and turned out more good,
-successful bowlers than any other athletic club in Newark; in fact it
-almost immediately took a prominent place in athletics generally, its
-track team was among the best, it was successful in football and had a
-fine reputation for square, manly sport.
-
-Starting without money, the members laid out the grounds and built the
-track and tennis courts themselves, but so popular did it become that
-within two years there were something like three hundred members and the
-club continued to thrive for many years. Interest began to wane,
-however, as time went on, and about five years ago the club disbanded.
-
-Shortly thereafter the Park Presbyterian Church purchased the clubhouse,
-and it was turned over to the Park Athletic Association, a church
-organization, and is still so occupied, though I believe the association
-is at present independent of the church.
-
-
- A MILLERITE.
-
-
-On the slender point made by the opening of Washington avenue stands the
-house erected by Mr. Scharff, and which was the home of a Millerite in
-the early days of Woodside, one Flavel by name, a baker by trade.
-Whether working over the hot fires of the bakery awoke in Mr. Flavel a
-desire to reach Heaven before his time, or whether he was one of those
-uneasy mortals who do not like to stay long in any one place, has not
-been explained, but he was a Millerite, that point is established. The
-neighbors still remember how he used to adjourn to the roof, “in his
-nightgown”, as one unsympathetic informant puts it, for the purpose of
-being translated, but there was always some hitch, and I believe he
-finally gave it up and ultimately took the route that is open to all of
-us.
-
-
- NAMES OF SOME EARLY OWNERS.
-
-
-The “Strawberry” lot belonged to Joseph West, whose house stood,
-according to the map of 1849, where Washington avenue now cuts into the
-brotherhood of streets here. The old pump presided over by “Mose” in the
-days of our youth, and from which the street car horses were watered,
-was probably the pump attached to the West house. This house may have
-been built by Gerard Haugevort; it was occupied by him probably 75 years
-ago. It was also occupied, about 1845, by old “Mammy” Pullinger, who
-started life on the River road, as a groggery and a rather low resort.
-When Washington avenue was cut through Mr. Nichols moved the building a
-few hundred feet down the Gully road, where it stands to-day.
-
-Adjoining the West property on the north, and on the west side of the
-Back road was a narrow strip of land owned by Jesse Bennett, then came
-the Miles I’Anson property, which extended to that owned by John Morris
-Phillips, who also owned to the bend in the road, now Elwood place—this
-on the left. On the right the earliest map giving the names of owners,
-and which is probably not older than 1865 shows, for the same stretch,
-H. H. Nichols, John C. Bennett, Stoutenburg & Co., Romaine and Parker &
-Keasbey.
-
-
- A LESSON IN MANNERS.
-
-
-There is a story of one of the old residents here who was not given to
-taking impudence from anyone, particularly from those in his employ. He
-at one time had an obstinate Irishman to deal with, and dealt with him
-after the following fashion:—
-
-It seems that for some piece of impertinence our citizen knocked his
-Irish employee down and jumped on him, remarking as he did so: “I’ll
-teach you to be a gentleman”, to which the under dog as promptly
-responded, “I defy you”. Our friend soon had his misguided opponent by
-the ears and was thumping his face into the dirt with a right good will
-(“laddy-holing” I believe this particular process is called), and with
-each movement of his arms he repeated over and over again his earnest
-desire to make a gentleman of the Irishman, to which the latter
-continued vehemently to respond, “I defy you! I defy you!” Whether he
-succeeded in his laudable efforts is not recorded, but he can at least
-be commended for his zeal in the matter.
-
-
- MR. MILES I’ANSON AND PREVIOUS OWNERS OF HIS PROPERTY.
-
-
-About 60 years ago a number of Englishmen settled in the northern part
-of Newark. This immigration was due to two causes: financial depression
-in the mother country and the Chartist agitation, 1839-1848. Among those
-who came over at this time was Mr. Miles I’Anson, who settled in the
-Woodside district, where he purchased a farm of about 30 acres,
-including the property south of the Phillips homestead, extending about
-as far as the present May street, on the west side of Lincoln avenue.
-
-It was Mr. I’Anson, it is said, who first suggested the name of Woodside
-for this locality.
-
-A search of the I’Anson property made by Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins for Mr.
-I’Anson contains many interesting items and names, and is here quoted
-from at length.
-
-By a deed dated December 10, 1812, Richard L. Walker and wife sold the
-Back road property to Peter Maverick. It is described as being located
-on the “Drift” road, being bounded southeast on the Drift road northeast
-by land now or late of David Phillips, northeast (northwest?) and
-southwest by land now or late belonging to Isaac Plume.
-
-Peter Maverick and his wife Mary on October 5, 1820, mortgaged to Hannah
-Spencer the above lot and a lot beginning at the southeastern corner of
-John Hawthorne’s lot on the western side of the “New Road” (probably the
-Bloomfield turnpike and below the Woodside line), leading from Garret
-Hogwart’s to Francis King’s; thence on the eastern line of said John
-Hawthorn’s lot of wood; thence to the northern line of the lot of land
-belonging to the estate of Isaac N. Kipp, dec’d; thence to the western
-line of said “New Road”.
-
-January 19, 1833, William Dow, Sheriff, sold to Hannah Spencer the above
-two tracts of land.
-
-April 1, 1833, Hannah Spencer sold both of these tracts to James
-Flintoff and George Flintoff.
-
-May 11, 1839, the administrators of James and George Flintoff sold both
-tracts to William T. Haines.
-
-January 5, 1842, William T. Haines sold the Lincoln avenue lot to David
-Day.
-
-January 7, 1842, David Day and wife sold the property to Miles I’Anson.
-
-November 19, 1841, William T. Haines and wife sold to William Barnett a
-part of the tract (as supposed) above referred to as situated on the
-western side of the “New Road”.
-
-June 9, 1846, William Barnett and wife sold their land to Miles I’Anson.
-
-April 7, 1803, the executors of Isaac Plume, deceased, sold to John
-Hawthorne land at the northwest side of “the Road or Drift Way Leading
-out of the Public Road from Newark to Belleville”, thence east to
-Ebenezer Smith’s land, thence north to David Walker’s land, thence west
-to the road. (This is copied as the search gave it.)
-
-September 14, 1822, Abraham Reynolds, Sheriff, sold the same land to
-James Kearney, Esqr., except in the 6th course “sold under Decree in
-Chancery, dated April 2, 1822, wherein Gerard Haugwort (the various
-spellings of this name follow those in the search; the correct spelling
-is probably Haugevort), administrator of Hester Sip, dec’d, is
-complainant, and John Hawthorn and Margaret his wife, Aaron Munn and
-Nathaniel Lindsley are defendants.”
-
-September 14, 1822, James Kearney sold to Gerard Haughworth the same
-land last above.
-
-August 13, 1823, John Hawthorne quitclaimed to Philip Kearney for all
-his interest in the last above described land.
-
-The last will of John Hawthorne, dated August 18, 1841, and proved April
-22, 1844, gives to John P. Hawthorne the lot of land containing 14
-acres, called the Hogworth lot.
-
-April 1, 1845, Philip Kearney quitclaimed to John Hawthorne for all his
-interest in the same land last above described.
-
-March 28, 1845, John P. Hawthorne sold to Miles I’Anson land beginning
-at a corner of the said Miles I’Anson’s land on the west side of the
-Road leading from Newark to the Belleville Paint Works; thence south
-along said road, etc., the lot containing about 14 acres and bounded
-south, west and north by land owned by Miles I’Anson.
-
-December 14, 1853, Miles I’Anson sold to Robert Smith about an acre and
-a half, apparently to straighten the latter’s line.
-
-
- THE PHILLIPS FARM.
-
-
-Not so very many years ago, those who journeyed back and forth to
-Belleville by way of the old “Back road” passed the Phillips farm.
-
-[Illustration: The Phillips Farm House. Erected before the Revolution.
-Picture taken in 1869 shows one of the cherry trees that then lined the
-sidewalk.]
-
-At the south end of the estate stood a quaint little dwelling, bearing
-unmistakable marks of antiquity upon its weather beaten boards and
-crumbling shingle roof. This house had been the dwelling place of
-several generations of the name.
-
-Colonel Phillips, the founder of the family in America, was an officer
-in the English army under Oliver Cromwell, and on the accession of
-Charles II. to the throne of England, in 1660, he with others was
-obliged to fly to America. He first settled in Killingworth (now
-Clinton), Connecticut, and subsequently removed to New Jersey,
-purchasing nine hundred acres of land near Caldwell. One of his
-grandsons, David Phillips, settled in Newark and married Sarah Morris,
-grandaughter of a Doctor Morris, who was also an officer under Cromwell,
-and who fled to America with Colonel Phillips.
-
-[Illustration: The Old Phillips Well. Said to date back to the time of
-the Indians.]
-
-David Phillips had this property from Morris Phillips, and he from
-Samuel Morris. David Phillips began his housekeeping in the little house
-which stands on the Lincoln avenue property, “purchasing 16 acres of
-land for which his family received a deed from the proprietors of East
-Jersey in 1696”, and here Morris Phillips, the father of John Morris
-Phillips, was born and here he died. This Morris Phillips was one of the
-proprietors of the quarries at Belleville which furnished the stone used
-in building Fort Lafayette, Castle William on Governor’s Island, old St.
-John’s Church in New York, which has recently been closed by the Trinity
-corporation, and the old State House in Albany.
-
-The farm house still stands on the property, though it has been moved
-back to Summer avenue in the rear of the house erected some years ago by
-Mr. John M. Phillips near the original homestead site. The old farm had
-gradually acquired that human interest which only comes of long tillage
-and close association with man, its fine orchard of ancient apple trees,
-the wood lot on the eastern slope of the hill which lapped over into the
-Mount Prospect avenue region, and which held for the man so many boy
-memories of dog and gun, and the fertile flat lands which stretched
-north along the old road. All these combined to entice the man back to
-his boyhood’s home, and it is small wonder that Mr. John M. Phillips,
-who had a keen sense of the beauties and wonders of nature, acquired the
-place for his own at the first opportunity. Here was an ancient well of
-delicious water, which tradition tells us was known to and used by the
-Indians. Up to very recent times this stood with its long well-sweep
-picturesquely adorning the landscape.
-
-
- A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.
-
-
-In the winter of 1779 General Anthony Wayne marched his troops up the
-Back road to the fields between the present Elwood avenue and Second
-river, where he went into camp. Mr. Frank Crane tells me that when a boy
-it was a common thing to find along this hillside, all the way to Second
-river, hollows in the earth which are supposed to have been dug by the
-soldiers for shelter.
-
-Just about the time the troops reached the Phillips farm, Mrs. Sarah,
-wife of David, mentioned above, had finished a baking of bread; this she
-took out and gave to the hungry soldiers with pretty much everything
-else in the house that was eatable. It has been handed down in the
-Phillips family, as elsewhere, that the soldiers when they halted stood
-with their feet in their caps to protect them from the snow—those poor
-naked feet which had been cut and torn by the sharp crust of the snow
-until they marked the white highway with a trail of blood. The old
-grandmother many times told the tale to the family gathered about the
-warm hearth of the old farm house on wintry nights, and the boy John
-never forgot it.
-
-
- THE PEROU TRACT.
-
-
-A rather interesting tangle over the northern end of the Phillips tract
-has taken much patience to unravel. This concerned a small slice of land
-now largely occupied by Phillips Park and Elwood avenue.
-
-About 1825 Benajah Perou purchased a certain parcel of land from John
-Morris Keen, of which the above was part. Perou was a seafaring man and,
-in the spring of 1828, sailed for New Orleans, and nothing was afterward
-heard from him. Being unmarried his heirs were his six brothers and
-sisters, and in 1845 this property was divided amongst them, each
-receiving a long narrow strip, 66 feet wide, fronting on the “road from
-Newark to Belleville Paint Works”, and running back into the sunset.
-
-Daniel Perou received as his share the northernmost strip, known as lot
-No. 6. He was living back in the country and, in 1849, died intestate
-and unmarried; thus his 66 foot strip fell to the five remaining
-brothers and sisters, or their heirs, none of whom appear to have paid
-any attention to the property. In the meantime said brothers and sisters
-had been getting married and having children, and these children had
-insisted on growing up and doing likewise, until generations arose who
-knew not that they were interested in the property.
-
-Naomi Perou, one of the sisters of Benajah, married Morris Phillips, and
-in due time became the mother of John M. Phillips, who was one of the
-last of the line to be born in the old farm house. And as time went on
-and John M. prospered he began to buy up the interests of others in the
-adjoining property until he owned all of the Perou tract, or thought he
-did. But by the time an attempt was made to definitely fix the title to
-lot No. 6 there were found to be more than three hundred shares into
-which this lot must be divided, each one amounting to something less
-than three inches in width, and extending from Lincoln avenue to Mount
-Prospect.
-
-The hunt necessitated to clear this title led all over the country. One
-heir was traced as far as New Orleans, and lost; another vanished in the
-Civil War; another moved to Mystic, Conn., and could not be traced to
-his final end, and so it went. One was found in Kansas and another in
-Western New York.
-
-It cost more to perfect the title than the land was worth, and when it
-was perfected the lot—or all that was left of it—was given to the city
-for a park, a memorial to the late John Morris Phillips.
-
-
- THE ANTHONY WAYNE CAMP GROUND.
-
-
-It is family tradition among most of those whose ancestors resided here
-during the Revolution that Gen. Anthony Wayne camped along the old Back
-road, but so far as can be ascertained the books are silent on the
-subject. The New York Historical Society can find nothing in its
-archives, and if the New Jersey Historical Society has anything bearing
-on this point it does not know it.
-
-The only mention of the event that I have been able to find is an
-unsigned article which appeared in the Daily Advertiser of December 12,
-1884, which is quoted here entire, as it contains much of interest. The
-Advertiser says:—
-
-“The attention of an Advertiser reporter was recently called to a
-tradition that Gen. Anthony Wayne with 2,600 men was camped for a
-considerable time during the severe winter of 1779 in the vicinity of
-what is now Elwood avenue, and the old Belleville road in this city. It
-was rather doubted whether this could be possible, and all accounts of
-it lost. Such an event would certainly have left an impression which
-could not be entirely obliterated even in a hundred years. From
-information obtained, however, from the late John M. Phillips, whose
-grandfather was a revolutionary soldier; William A. Wauters, whose
-grandmother owned the woods in which it is alleged Wayne camped,
-together with a personal inspection of the ground made by Mr. Daniel F.
-Tompkins, of Woodside, his son and the writer, the following facts were
-ascertained:—
-
-“General Wayne, with a detachment of the American Army, after the
-evacuation of New York, regained for a portion of the winter encamped in
-the Coeyman woods, in what is now Woodside. His encampment extended from
-a point a little west of and in line with the old Belleville road and
-north of Elwood avenue, along the ridge up to Second river. Traces of
-this encampment are found in the excavations which the soldiers made for
-their huts. The excavations are found also along the line of the
-Montclair & Greenwood Lake Railroad at the south side of the bridge
-across the Second river. They are found also on the side of the hill
-west of Mount Prospect avenue, and south of the line of Elliott street,
-and extending north several hundred yards, the most marked being at the
-northern limit. In one of these excavations the stones which marked the
-temporary fireplace still remain. The troops cut down the growing timber
-from these woods, and the owner, Minard Coeyman, was paid for it by the
-government. About half a mile northwest of this ridge the old barn, in
-which were slaughtered the cattle for the use of the army, still stands.
-It belongs to the Crane family. Mr. Nathaniel Crane, who was born in
-1808, well remembers hearing his father and uncle talk about the
-encampment. Wayne had several field pieces with him, and the men used to
-take the horses down to Second river to water at a point 100 yards from
-the railroad bridge, and near the ruins of the old copper works,
-opposite Woodside Park. In February Wayne moved his army to Morristown.
-The close proximity of the British is given as the cause of Wayne
-breaking camp. In his position at Woodside he was liable to be flanked.
-Jasper King, father of the late William King, of East Orange, was a boy
-at the time Wayne was at Woodside, and his father was a soldier in
-Wayne’s army. Jasper went with his grandfather and his mother to say
-good-by to his father at the encampment in Coeyman’s woods.
-
-“Jasper King related to the late John M. Phillips that when the roll was
-called the soldiers came out from their tents and some of them threw
-their caps on the snow and stood on them with their bare feet. He said
-it began to snow as the troops started on their march to Morristown and
-some of the soldiers left marks of blood on the snow as they marched.
-Their way was along the old Bloomfield road, which may have been reached
-by crossing the fields past the old Crane Mansion, or by the way of
-Keen’s lane, the outlines of which can still be traced southwest to the
-Bloomfield road. From Bloomfield the march was through Caldwell, where
-the snow became so deep that the artillery was left behind and remained
-imbedded in the drifts on a by-road near where the penitentiary now
-stands, until spring. At Bloomfield a picket was posted to guard the
-rear. One of the men climbed onto the fence to see if the British were
-pursuing. In the act his gun was discharged, killing him instantly.
-
-“The story of Jasper King is corroborated by the known fact that on
-February 3, 1779, a snow storm set in, which lasted three days, and the
-snow was said to be eight feet deep on the Bloomfield road. The
-inference that Wayne’s encampment at Woodside was in the winter of 1779
-is made more probable from the fact that in his attack on Stony Point in
-July, 1779, he had no artillery. That Wayne was on the coast and near
-New York in the winter of 1779, is made exceedingly probable also by the
-following letter from Lord Stirling, which if he had been at Morristown
-with Washington would have been directed to the Commander-in-Chief:—
-
-“‘Ramapogh, Jan. 5, 1779.—Dear Sir: From every intelligence I have
-received I am induced to believe that Count D’Estaing is on this coast;
-in consequence of it I need not explain matters to you. Notwithstanding
-my situation of body, I will be at Paramis to-morrow and should be glad
-to see you there as soon as possible, to concert every necessary measure
-that may occur to us both.
-
- “‘I am, D sir, your most ob’d sev’t.
- ”‘Gen. Wayne. STIRLING.’”
-
-“That Wayne had artillery is evident from the fact that Mr. Tompkins
-found a grape-shot on the ground of the encampment. He also found a
-sword, which, evidently, had been worn by a noncommissioned officer.”
-
-
- A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.
-
-
-“During the winter of 1780-81 the British were at Belleville and may
-have used the same encampment previously occupied by the Americans. It
-is known that they occupied ground near where the new steel works of
-Dodge, Blake & Lyon now are. During this time a party of British stopped
-for the night on Keen’s lane, mentioned before on what is now Mr. Henry
-J. Winser’s lot, on Washington avenue, opposite Carteret street. Another
-party coming from Newark along the Passaic, stumbled on the pickets of
-the first party and immediately began firing. There was quite a skirmish
-in the darkness before the true state of affairs was learned.”
-
-
- PHILLIPS FARM HOUSE.
-
-
-“The old house in which the grandfather of the late John M. Phillips
-lived stood flush with the old Belleville road at the time of which we
-write, and was visited frequently by the American officers. It now
-stands in the rear of the new house on Lincoln avenue, and is well
-preserved. A middle-aged Irish woman came to the door at the knock of
-Mr. Tompkins the other day and seemed inclined to deny an inspection of
-the premises; but when it was made known to her that the visit was to
-see the house where the men who whipped the British a hundred years ago
-had lodged, she accorded a right royal welcome. A mere glance was
-sufficient to prove that the house was not of modern date. There is no
-plastering, and the joists that support the upper floors are thick and
-strong and as substantial as when put in, more than a hundred years
-ago.”
-
-
- THE BRITISH ON WOODSIDE SOIL.
-
-
-“While the British were encamped on this side of Second river, near the
-steel works, the grandfather of Mr. Tompkins, who was a scout in the
-American Army and noted as an athlete, was reconnoitering, with four
-companions, on the old Belleville road. They accidentally came upon a
-picket post in the dusk, the officer of which rode up and cried out:
-‘Who you be for?’ Tompkins, to gain time, asked the same question, ‘Who
-you be for?’ ‘For King George’, said the English officer. ‘We be for the
-Continental Congress’, shouted Tompkins as he sprang into the woods.
-There was a fence that stood in the way, and as Tompkins vaulted over it
-the entire picket guard fired. Two of Tompkins’s companions who, instead
-of jumping the fence had climbed over it, were killed, but the former
-escaped by the balls passing under him as he jumped. One of the scouts
-who was killed on that occasion lies buried in the old Bloomfield grave
-yard. The enemy probably not knowing that they had killed any one, left
-the bodies where they fell.”
-
-
- THE MAGAZINE HOUSE.
-
-
-The march of improvement, in the opening of Woodside avenue, has
-recently caused the destruction of the “Magazine house”, a low stone
-building which stood back of the present Summerfield M. E. Church. This
-dated back to about 1812, when it was built for the storing of powder
-made at the Decatur Powder Works, which were located on the site of the
-present De Witt Wire Works, Belleville. There was a spirit of mystery
-and adventure about the place that somehow tickled my boyish fancy
-greatly, and I always passed it with a sense of adventure, but the above
-is all that can be said of the spot. When Jacob Rutan was building the
-calico print works on Second river he lived here and his wife,
-Elizabeth, a member of the King family, formerly of the River road,
-boarded the men who were doing the mason work. How they all slept in
-this small building is a mystery.
-
-
- EARLY LANES.
-
-
-Just below the powder house; in fact, opposite the point where Elwood
-place runs into Summer avenue, the John Morris Keen lane led away to the
-Bloomfield road. This, it appears, was part of a lane from the River
-road, the easterly section of which was known as the Stimis lane.
-Whether the latter was opened for the purpose or, being established, was
-merely used because convenient, has not been made plain, but I am told
-that formerly a paper mill stood on the Bloomfield road, and that the
-paper was made from reeds gathered on the Hackensack meadows, brought up
-the Passaic river, landed possibly at the Point House landing and carted
-from there via the two lanes to the mill.
-
-
- THE HAUNT OF THE HIGHWAYMAN.
-
-
-The Back road, in the Elliott street neighborhood, seventy-five or more
-years ago, entered a deep gully surrounded on all sides by dense woods.
-It is possible that this gave the early name of “Drift” road to the
-highway, as it was a place into which snow could easily drift and cause
-trouble to travelers. This was a noted spot for highway robberies, many
-such having occurred here, and the place was long dreaded by those who
-were compelled to pass this way.
-
-The only actual hold-up of which I have heard is said to have occurred
-in 1856, when four men who came out of the woods from the direction of
-the Magazine house attempted to rob a passing farmer. What success they
-had I do not know, but it appears that they were recognized and later
-arrested. One of these, at least, was a Woodside man, but the names of
-the others have been forgotten.
-
-Tom Coeyman built about sixty years ago at the upper edge of this gully.
-His house stood near the junction of Summer and Grafton avenues, and
-this seems to have relieved the gloom of the place, for so far as known
-there were no robberies after the one mentioned above.
-
-
- NOT A CHRISTMAS CARROLL.
-
-
-Probably before our time the Back road was the dwelling place of “Owney”
-Carroll and his good wife Peggy. Both were convivial souls, and each a
-character in his or her way, but our most vivid memories cling about the
-old lady. One old resident recalls that in his youth the couple lived
-where now stands the Elliott street school, and that one time when he
-was passing with a load of wood Peggy was discovered in a somewhat
-awkward predicament.
-
-It seems that one or the other—or possibly both—had been looking on the
-wine when it was red, as was their custom, and that the husband had
-concluded that his better half would be improved by a bit of fresh air
-and, having thrust her forth, locked the door. Now Peggy does not appear
-to have taken this in good part and, finding an open window, she
-proceeded to crawl within; but, when about half-sill over, the sash came
-down on her back and pinned her fast—just as our informant was coming
-down the road with a load of wood.
-
-In the course of years Mrs. Carroll became a sort of attache of our back
-door, and I have a general recollection that the old lady’s methods did
-not always meet with the entire approval of my mother. She certainly
-thoroughly disagreed with one of Peggy’s capers. My mother was a great
-lover of plants, and among her treasures was a lemon tree which actually
-bore lemons; these Mrs. Carroll discovered one day while cruising about
-the back yard and, carefully gathering the treasured crop, she brought
-the fruit to the back door and tried to sell it to my maternal ancestor.
-Mrs. Carroll did not call at the house again for some time.
-
-
- THE WOODS OF THE OLD BACK ROAD.
-
-
-Those who sought knowledge at that fount known as the Elliott street
-school, when it was but a country schoolhouse, delight to recall how
-they were allowed to roam the woods that then bordered the old road on
-the west, for the first flowers of spring, and how the schoolmaster
-would ring the bell from the schoolhouse door summoning a return to
-study, and the children would come scampering back with hands full of
-bloom—windflowers and hepaticas mostly, whose blue and white are so
-emblematic of the springtime heavens. To those who can hark back so far
-that patch of woods is remembered as a wonderfully attractive spot.
-
-
- JESSE C. BENNETT.
-
-
-Jesse C. Bennett came to this country from Stockport, England, in 1833,
-to superintend the calico print works, which lined the south side of
-Second river from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond, and he built a
-house at what is now the southwest corner of Summer and Verona avenues.
-
-Mr. Bennett was an Episcopalian, and as dancing was one of the
-accomplishments of the day and not barred by that creed, he engaged a
-master of the art who once in so often gave the small Bennetts (there
-were twelve of them) lessons in an addition at the rear of the dwelling
-which provided a suitable room. As time wore on Mr. Bennett became a
-Second Adventist and turned this rear room from a dancing hall to a
-place for prayer. One of the fervent brothers of these times was Mr.
-Harry Harvey, who was given to long prayers; in fact he thought nothing
-of praying for an hour at a stretch. For these exercises the children
-were brought in and ranged under the long mantelpiece on one side of the
-room, but an hour was a long time to be good in those days, and
-generally one or two or three would steal awhile away without being
-noticed. This gradually emboldened the others, and one time while the
-heads of the elders were bowed in devotion the entire youthful
-congregation managed to get out unnoticed, and there was considerable
-commotion when the fact was discovered and, as I understand it, the
-commotion was not entirely confined to the elders.
-
-Later Mr. Bennett became a Methodist and joined the church of that
-denomination in Belleville.
-
-Mr. Bennett once had a man working about the place who was fresh from
-the Emerald Isle and he, venturing out one evening shortly after his
-arrival, came running back a badly scared Irishman, and announced that
-the woods were full of fairies, for he had seen their lanterns. It
-proved to be his first acquaintance with fireflies.
-
-
- THE CALICO PRINT WORKS.
-
-
-The calico print works which lined the south bank of the Second river
-from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond developed into a large
-industry under Messrs. George and Jonathan Bird. This part of the river
-bank has been a mill site for more than one hundred years.
-
-The first on record was the grist mill of Captain Bennett. His mill was
-a small affair which stood on the bank where the Back road crossed. Next
-came a Captain Stout, who rebuilt the mill. Both of these lived in the
-dwelling later known as the “Bird” house.
-
-[Illustration: The “Bird” House, Sylvan Avenue. Legend has it that this
-was built by an Englishman who was compelled to leave the country when
-the Revolutionary war broke out.]
-
-About 1824 the Stout mill and lands were sold to the Eagle Printing
-Company, which erected a large factory for the printing of calicoes
-along the south bank of Second river, extending from the Back road to
-the De Witt mill pond. The concern employed several hundred hands and
-conducted a business of great magnitude for those times, but it finally
-fell on evil days and failed about 1855.
-
-At this time the Back road was so narrow that wagons could hardly pass;
-indeed, so much of a country lane was it that even as late as 1850 the
-passing of a load of calicoes from the mill was an event to call the few
-inhabitants to the windows to see the sight.
-
-After this Andrew Gray and one Wright successfully conducted the
-business for some time, and finally George and Jonathan Bird became the
-proprietors. Jonathan Bird lived in the stone house that has since been
-known as the “Bird” house, and here dispensed a hospitality that was
-famed for many a mile around. In due course George Bird died, and later
-Jonathan sold to a stock company, of which John Eastwood was a member.
-This company put in some expensive machinery but, owing to internal
-strife, the business was abandoned after a brief existence.
-
-After remaining idle for some time the hat manufacturing concern of
-Moore & Seeley purchased the buildings, but before they did much the
-factory burned, and was never rebuilt. The story given out to account
-for the fire was to the effect that it was due to Chinese cheap labor.
-According to this version the hatters introduced Chinamen and the Irish
-element, which predominated at the time, objected, and the fire gave
-point to their objections, but there are some still living who account
-for the fire in a wholly different way.
-
-
- A FLESH AND BLOOD GHOST.
-
-
-There was a time when the Back road bridge across Second river was
-haunted by a headless ghost—at least I am so informed—but it seems that
-when off duty the ghost was known as old Sam Adams’s daughter, Mary Ann.
-
-When I was a boy the ruins of the old grist mill still stood close to
-the southeast corner of this bridge. It was then known as Benson’s mill,
-a man of that name having been the last miller. Some time some one was
-either murdered and thrown into the mill race here, or else was
-accidentally drowned. In either case the situation furnished the proper
-material for a mystery, and it would appear that there was talk of an
-apparition having been seen on the bridge shortly after the occurrence.
-
-This was taken advantage of by Mary Ann Adams to frighten the boys, and
-as a result few people cared to cross the bridge after dark, as too many
-had actually seen the ghost to leave any doubt of its existence. This,
-of course, was long ago, when Mary Ann was young. She died some six
-years ago, an old woman.
-
-
- WASHINGTON RESTS AT SECOND RIVER.
-
-
-There is a legend that Washington once rested at the grist mill, and
-that here his troopers purchased feed for their horses. This was
-probably during the retreat from Fort Lee.
-
-Somewhat south of the mill stood the miller’s house; in fact the
-building is still standing on its old foundations, at the southeast
-corner of Summer and Sylvan avenues. Here was born Col. Henry Benson,
-whose accidental death at Malvern Hill during the Civil War furnished
-Belleville with its first military funeral.
-
-
-
-
- THE OLD BLOOMFIELD ROAD.
-
-
-[Illustration: The Old Bloomfield Road in 1903. Looking north to houses
-at the corner of Clifton and Berkley Avenues. This part of the old road
-is now obliterated. Those who laid out this hill top had no appreciation
-of the fact that a crooked road is a line of beauty, both this and
-Murphy’s Lane having been suppressed in favor of a series of right
-angles. What would New York above 59th street be if the curves of
-Broadway were straightened?]
-
-
-The old Bloomfield or Long Hill road is frequently spoken of by the
-older inhabitants as a former Indian trail “from the mountain to the
-river”. This may have been one of the many paths which intersected the
-great Minisink trail extending from the Shrewsbury river to Minisink
-Island, in the Delaware river below Port Jervis, where the council fires
-of the Leni Lenape constantly burned. This particular branch probably
-passed through Great Notch on the First mountain, meeting the main path
-near Little Falls.
-
-The white man’s road began where what is now Second avenue joins
-Belleville avenue, and labored up the grade to the present Prospect
-place, where it turned toward the north for Bloomfield. The old road is
-less prolific in story and incident than any other part of this region.
-Those interviewed have invariably wished that I might be able to talk
-with some one now gone who was full of ancient lore, but as dead men
-tell no tales I have found myself at a disadvantage.
-
-Not only have the inhabitants gone, but the old road itself is largely a
-memory, for those who are now exploiting this region have almost
-obliterated the former highway, finding that its meandering course
-interfered with their straight lines, and not having in mind the
-attraction that a bend in the road, the curving line of beauty, with its
-mystery of a fair, unknown country beyond, has for the stroller.
-
-
- LORENZO DOW.
-
-
-Along this road during the early days of the last century passed the
-eccentric preacher Lorenzo Dow, on his way to the little Methodist
-church beyond Sunfish pond. Dow was an occasional visitor in the
-vicinity and left a memory of peculiar sayings and doings that flavored
-the local gossip for the better part of a hundred years. It is said that
-a toll-gate once stood near the canal bridge, which was kept by
-Archibald Jacobus, and those who were boys when I went skating on
-Sunfish pond will recall the ruins of an ancient grist mill whose wheel
-was turned by the waters of the pond. Concerning this Mr. Walter S.
-Nichols remembers when a boy making regular journeys to this mill with a
-grist of corn for the grinding—this was in the fifties, after the
-Searing mill on the canal had been abandoned.
-
-
- THE OLD ROAD A HIGHWAY.
-
-
-Until the toll-gates were removed, some twenty-five or more years ago,
-from the Turnpike or “New” road, as the present Bloomfield avenue was
-called, the old road was the avenue for pleasure driving and also for
-much heavy traffic between Newark and Bloomfield. This made the highway
-of prime importance and may help to explain the inflated values set on
-land in this region before the panic of ’73.
-
-
- ADRIAN SCHARFF.
-
-
-The Adrian Scharff house, which stood just within the Woodside line, was
-erected some time before 1850. It seems that Mr. Scharff brought his old
-world ideas with him to this country and thought he must either have a
-river frontage for his home or a view. He had almost decided on the site
-now occupied by the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, but finding that that was
-not available, contented himself with the next best spot near the
-hilltop.
-
-
- THE “WHITE-HOUSE” SMITHS.
-
-
-Beyond the Scharff house the road ran through dense woods for a short
-half mile to the Robert Smith property—known as “White-house” Smith to
-distinguish him from “Brick-house” Smith further north. The records show
-that this property was sold by Thomas Saffin to Thomas Havens, and by
-him to Ebenezer Smith. When this house was built is not known, but
-probably it was erected by Ebenezer Smith, father of Robert.
-
-Ebenezer Smith, born February 24, 1791, who was one of a large family,
-was the son of Scotch parents who immigrated to this country before his
-birth. Ebenezer had two sons, Robert and Ebenezer, Jr., and one
-daughter. Robert fell heir to the “White-house” Smith property.
-Ebenezer, Jr., married a daughter of Matthias Baker, and thus came into
-the property on which his son, Matthias Smith, erected the home of the
-“Brick-house” Smiths. Ebenezer, Jr., had two sons, Robert (2) and
-Matthias. Robert (1) lived in New York and used this as a summer home;
-he died in 1858. Robert Smith was a lover of fast horses and was in the
-habit of driving from Jersey City to his home. He had one horse, of
-which he was particularly proud, that would cover the distance in an
-hour.
-
-In those days the Hackensack meadows were covered with a dense cedar
-growth which was a hiding place for those whose deeds were evil, and the
-road was the scene of many hold-ups. On one occasion Mr. Smith, while
-driving home, overtook a woman who asked for a ride, and he took her in
-his trap, only to discover that the supposed woman wore heavy boots; he
-then concluded that they would later meet with others who would assist
-in relieving him of the necessity of carrying his money home. Having
-made up his mind to rid himself of the passenger, he dropped his whip
-and requested her to get it, as he could not leave his restive horse;
-and, of course, once she was out, he did not wait for whip or passenger.
-
-The children of Robert Smith all of whom are now dead, were Charles H.,
-Eugene B., Robert A., Sarah and Agnes W.
-
-
- LAND VALUES BEFORE THE PANIC OF ’73.
-
-
-This property was purchased by Peter H. and John H. Ballantine just
-before the panic of 1873 (the deed is dated January 31, 1873) when
-prices were greatly inflated, and they paid therefor the sum of
-$217,000, paying $50,000 down and giving a mortgage and bond for the
-remainder. It was not long before the new purchasers saw the error of
-their ways and desired to relinquish the property and the $50,000, but
-to this the Smith estate would not agree. It is hardly probable that
-they will ever see a profit on the investment, as interest at 5 per cent
-(and it was more than five in those days) would in itself now amount to
-almost twice the original outlay, and when the taxes and assessments to
-which the property has fallen heir are added to the loss of interest,
-even eighty dollars a foot can hardly seem a large sum to the Ballantine
-estate.
-
-
- WHERE JOHN MORRIS LIVED.
-
-
-Passing the Robert Smith place we come to the home of the Bartholfs,
-which was erected more than sixty years ago, as it is so designated on
-the map of ’49. Who Mr. Bartholf was or where he came from I have not
-ascertained. The records show that John G. Bartholf purchased the
-property from Samuel Morris, who had it from Zebulon Morris, to whom it
-came from John Morris. This was probably that John Morris who was a
-resident of the old Bloomfield road during the Revolution.
-
-Mr. John Morris Phillips, in the Daily Advertiser of February 19, 1880,
-stated that John Morris was his great-grandfather, and that it was to
-his house that the son of Joseph Hedden came when he fled from the
-British (referred to elsewhere), having nothing on but his night clothes
-and a pair of stockings. His feet were frozen to the bone as a result of
-the exposure.
-
-Some time in the sixties Mr. Albert Beach acquired this property which
-he at first used only as a summer home. The house was taken down in
-November, 1909.
-
-
- KEEN FAMILY TRADITION.
-
-
-The Keen homestead adjoined the Beach property on the north. Just when
-the farm house was erected is not known, but that it is
-pre-Revolutionary there is no question.
-
-[Illustration: The Keen Farm House. Pre-Revolutionary. This shows the
-building as it stands to-day.]
-
-In 1765 Thomas Keen, a native of England, and Miss Clorinda Lake, of
-Holland, were married on Long Island, and subsequently settled at
-Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey.
-
-Their son, Joseph Lake Keen, was married to Abigail Morris in 1790.
-
-Their son, John Morris Keen, was married to Peninah Sanford in 1820.
-
-Their son, Zebulon Morris Keen, was married to Hanna Maria Garrabrant in
-1863.
-
-Their surviving son, John Morris Keen, was married in 1908 to Helen
-Virginia Brainard.
-
-The grandfather of the present John M. Keen was born in 1797, and
-Peninah Sanford was born in Kearney (New Barbadoes) in 1792. She was a
-descendant of Capt. William Sanford, mentioned elsewhere.
-
-The Keen homestead still remains, the house being substantially
-unchanged, but the barns, cribs and smoke house have long since been
-removed. Pear trees standing in the yard over twenty years ago were said
-by Mrs. Peninah Keen to be over two hundred years old. This same
-grandmother, who began life in 1792, has stated that Washington, in one
-of his journeys to and fro, came up the old Keen lane and stopped at the
-farm house for a glass of water. This lane has been in use for at least
-one hundred and fifty years, as seventy-five years ago trees lined its
-borders which were then not less than seventy-five years old.
-
-
- THE “BRICK-HOUSE” SMITHS.
-
-
-Almost opposite the Keen home lived the “Brick-house” Smiths. This
-building was erected fifty-three or fifty-four years ago by Matthias
-Smith on the site where formerly dwelt his maternal grandfather,
-Matthias Baker. The latter had the property from Isaac Soverhill.
-
-
- THE SIDMANS OF OTHER DAYS.
-
-
-The Sidman family dates back to the time of William the Conqueror, when
-the first ancestor of whom there is any record is said to have come to
-England from Normandy. He appears to have been a favorite of the great
-William and received from him a considerable grant of land on the river
-Syd and from this the family derived its name—Sydenham, which was later
-shortened to Sidman.
-
-The introduction of the Sidman family to this neighborhood began with a
-romance, when John Sydenham ran away with Susannah Handcock, in 1711. It
-seems that Edward Handcock, “yoeman” (or Handcook, as one document gives
-the name) was living on this property in the year above mentioned, and
-that John Sydenham, who happened along from no one knows just where,
-fell desperately in love with Susannah, an only daughter, but the stern
-father frowned on the young man’s suit and Susannah was locked in an
-upper room.
-
-However, John brought around a ladder one night, and the two adjourned
-to the parson. That they were promptly forgiven is evidenced by the
-following extract from a deed, made in 1711 by Edward Handcock, in which
-he says: “for and in consideration of the love, good will and affection
-which I have and do bear unto my loving son-in-law, John Sydenham, etc.,
-and my only daughter, Susannah, his wife”. He then deeds to his
-son-in-law four acres of his land situated on the “highway to
-Acquacanong”, and six acres on the “highway to Watersson”, which latter
-adjoined land owned by Jasper Crane and by John Godon.
-
-The following genealogy of the family is furnished by Miss Laura M.
-Sydenham of Plainfield, and is taken largely from the family Bible:—
-
-John Sydenham (1) married Susannah Handcock, 1711. They had issue: John
-(2), born March 16, 1714; died in 1754. Samuel, who died intestate and
-unmarried in 1759. There is some doubt about this Samuel, there being
-but slight mention of him in the records, but it is presumed that he was
-the son of John Sydenham (1).
-
-John Sydenham (2) married Martha Longworth, December 8, 1741. They had
-issue:—
-
- Dorcas, born November 30, 1742.
-
- David, born October 11, 1744.
-
- William (1), born July 8, 1746.
-
- John (3), born May 10, 1748. He removed to parts unknown on the
- upper Hudson river, and nothing further has been learned concerning
- him.
-
- Susannah, born February 15, 1750.
-
- William (2), born November 15, 1751.
-
- Thomas, born November 4, 1753; died August 12, 1816.
-
-Thomas Sydenham married Sarah Fordham, in October, 1779. They had
-issue:—
-
- Susannah, born 1780; died 1852.
-
- Martha, born 1783.
-
- John (4), born 1785; died 1859.
-
- Mary, born 1788.
-
- Sarah, born 1791; died 1831.
-
- David, born 1795; died 1822.
-
- Bethiah, born 1798; died 1844.
-
-John Sydenham (4) married Amelia, daughter of Matthias Baker, August,
-1817. They had issue: Mary E., Martha A., Albert T., Sarah E., John E.,
-Matilda L., Harriet and Julia.
-
-John Sydenham (2) married Martha Longworth, as stated above; she was
-born August 23, 1724, and died May 12, 1804. Her sister Mary (born April
-22, 1737, died September, 1793) married a Mr. Eckley. The sisters both
-resided in the Sidman house now standing. One Isaac Longworth, who owned
-a store in New York in 1759, and was the owner of a sloop which traded
-up the Passaic river, is believed to be the father of Mary and Martha,
-and also of a son Nicholas, who removed west to Cincinnati, and became
-the progenitor of that branch of the family.
-
-[Illustration: The Sidman (Sydenham) Homestead. Date of erection not
-known. Picture taken in 1909.]
-
-The house now standing is not the Hancock house of 1711, though it is
-known to be more than one hundred and fifty years old. The Dutch oven,
-where bread and pies were formerly baked, is still a part of the
-structure, and the long-handled, wooden shovel, used to remove those
-edibles when baked, is still a part of its furnishings.
-
-The present spelling of the name Sidman has been in occasional use for
-at least one hundred and fifty years, as the name is so spelled in the
-grave-digger’s bill for John (2), who died in 1754. In the paper
-detailing the settlement of the estate of John (2) the name is spelled
-Sidnham. In an inventory of his goods is mentioned “Hagar, a negro
-girl”, who was valued at £40. In a document dated in 1816 the name is
-spelled Sidingham. The present spelling came into general use with
-David, son of Thomas, who refused to sign his name other than Sidman.
-
-Miss Laura M. Sydenham tells me that when she was a child a certain
-hollow on the crown of the ridge which had the appearance of having been
-surrounded by a heavy stone wall, and which was situated in the fields,
-she thinks, somewhere between the house of Mr. Elias G. Heller and the
-Presbyterian church, was pointed out by the elders as the site of a fort
-erected for protection against the Indians, but nothing more definite
-than this is known.
-
-Miss Sydenham also remembers having been told that a Tory, whose house
-was burned because of his unpatriotic tendencies, resided between the
-present Sidman house and Murphy’s lane.
-
-The woods on the Sidman place were used to some extent as a camping
-ground by certain Indians. Miss J. A. Sidman recalls having heard her
-grandmother tell of an invitation extended to her by these Indians to
-dine with them and, as she preferred not to offend the red-skinned
-neighbors, the invitation was accepted; but this proved to be one of the
-times when a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, for she arrived in
-time to see the dinner preparing and the careless and uncleanly methods
-of her hosts so nauseated her that she invented some excuse and came
-away.
-
-Another of the early memories is Mollie, an old Indian basket maker, who
-frequented the neighborhood, securing her material from the Sidman
-woods. She frequently slept on the floor of the kitchen, always in a
-sitting posture. One day other Indians came this way and the wild
-instinct returned to the old basket maker who, after an excited
-conversation with her new-found friends, departed with them never to be
-seen again in the neighborhood.
-
-The upper end of Branch Brook park, which was formerly a part of the
-Sidman domain, was known as “Blue Jay” woods.
-
-
- FOREST HILL BEFORE MORRISTOWN.
-
-
-Some years before his death Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins called at the Sidman
-house and made the statement that he had found in New York a document
-which contained information to the effect that Washington contemplated
-establishing his winter camp at “Sidman’s (Sydenham’s) Clove”, but owing
-to its proximity to the British lines the idea was abandoned and instead
-he fixed the camp at Morristown. Mr. Tompkins believed that this
-referred to this Sidman property which then covered a considerable
-tract, but no member of the family had ever heard any part of the estate
-called the clove, and nothing further was developed. A brief search
-among the records of the New York Historical Society fails to reveal the
-source of Mr. Tompkins’s information.
-
-
- A KEEN HOMESTEAD.
-
-
-On the corner of the old road and Murphy’s lane stands another Keen
-homestead. The original house, which has been added to until it has lost
-much of its identity, was part of the Crane estate and came into the
-Keen family through the marriage of Alfred Keen with a sister of
-Nathaniel J. Crane. The older part of the house was probably built a
-hundred years ago. The front part was erected by Alfred Keen about fifty
-years ago.
-
-
- THE FARRAND FAMILY.
-
-
-The old Moses Farrand home formerly joined the Keen property, extending
-to the canal. The building was torn down some years ago. It was a fine
-old place in its day, having been erected, it is said, near the close of
-the eighteenth century. The rooms were spacious for those days, while a
-great central hall extended from front to rear. The walls were thick and
-massive, the brown stone of which they were constructed is supposed to
-have been taken from the quarry at Soho.
-
-Dr. Edward D. Griffin pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark
-from 1801 to 1809, was in the habit of riding out to this house to
-conduct religious services for those living in the neighborhood.
-
-The family record in the old Farrand Bible, now in possession of Miss
-Anna B. Farrand, begins with Moses, who was born in October, 1728, and
-died September 19, 1805; following him comes Samuel, born July 25, 1759,
-died December 26, 1826; he married Sarah Andruss, who was born December
-30, 1769, and died in June, 1874; Joseph, born January 10, 1792; Moses
-Andruss (2d), born October 11, 1793, died January 26, 1862; Rachael,
-born August 13, 1795, died August 19, 1816; Sarah Ann, born August 4,
-1797; Charles, born July 29, 1799, died in June, 1874; Joseph, born
-December 20, 1801, died August 19, 1830; Phœbe, born November 23, 1802;
-Samuel Edward, born June 2, 1803; John Herman, born June 2, 1805, and
-Samuel Edward (2d), born May 19, 1807.
-
-The oldest Farrand home in this region was situated on our old road, but
-across the line in Bloomfield. Here Washington is said to have been a
-guest. This property fell to Charles, father of Miss Anna B., who has
-given me most of the family history.
-
-The Farrands, name originally spelled Ferrant, were Huguenots, and
-presumably were part of the emigrants who left France owing to the
-Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, following which several hundred
-thousand Frenchmen were compelled to seek refuge in other lands. A
-considerable colony of these settled in the neighborhood of New York
-during the early part of the eighteenth century.
-
-There is nothing further of interest concerning the old Bloomfield road;
-the short stretch beyond the canal which lies within the confines of
-Woodside offers no discoverable history or legend that may be used for
-this sketch.
-
-
- MURPHY’S LANE.
-
-
-The Lower Road From Belleville to Bloomfield.
-
-
- THE VAN RIPER FLOWER GARDEN.
-
-
-One who knew Murphy’s lane in years gone by would naturally begin with
-Charlie Van Riper’s flower garden. When we were young, Charlie Van Riper
-lived in a frame house, the northern windows of which overlooked Second
-river. The foreground of his view was a neglected expanse through which
-meandered Murphy’s lane, and also a second cart track which, as I recall
-it, merely shortened the distance a few feet for those seeking
-“Murphytown” from the south. This cart track, which is now Sylvan
-avenue, west of Summer avenue, ran close by the old-fashioned flower
-garden, which Charlie knew so well how to encourage to do its best, with
-its marigolds and hollyhocks, and all the old friends set out in little
-odd-shaped beds bordered with box. Charlie was as generous with his
-flowers as his flowers were generous to him, and many a child who
-stopped to gaze through the picket fence into that wonderland of
-gorgeous color went on his way with a bunch of blossoms given to him by
-the kind old soul.
-
-That portion of the wild land which was not interfered with by the
-traffic of Murphy’s lane offered inducements to the youngsters that I am
-inclined to think they rather preferred to the Van Riper flowers, and
-these were the hazel bushes which grew in abundance, the ripened fruit
-of which was a great attraction.
-
-
- BIRD’S WOODS.
-
-
-“Bird’s Woods”, where “The slant yellow beam down the wood-aisle doth
-seem like a lane into Heaven that leads from a dream”, should have had a
-Sidney Lanier to immortalize its cool and delicious depths. It was the
-picnic resort of many a Sunday school, but picnics in the early days
-were simple affairs and did not call for changes that seriously marred
-the beauty of the forest. The growth was almost wholly pine and hemlock,
-and the balsam-laden air is refreshing even yet to think of. A few
-swings and a sheltered platform, where lunch was served, were the only
-attempts of man to improve on the situation.
-
-Second river with its babbling waters, the ruins of the old paint mill,
-and the old dam, with its waterfall at the woods’ end, all combined with
-the forest to lend enchantment and to a child furnished possibilities
-for entertainment that were inexhaustible. How well I remember the rush
-of small feet when the Sunday school children reached the entrance to
-the woods, and how they spread out like a fan through its coverts of
-mystery, each one intent on finding something new or re-discovering some
-old friendly spot.
-
-[Illustration: The Waterfall On Second River At Bird’s Woods. Picture
-taken in 1903, before all the beauty of the region had been destroyed.]
-
-Then the woods were full of sound, and I can still recall the infectious
-laugh of Mr. Hine, who, as superintendent of the school and chief
-promoter of jollity, urged the children on to a full enjoyment of the
-occasion and his call to a stray robin that might at the moment be
-voicing his approval of the place, “That’s right, old fellow. Go it!”
-and then he would whistle to the bird in the tree in a way that started
-him all over again. We will never see the like of “Bird’s Woods” again.
-
-
- NAMES OF FORMER DWELLERS ON MURPHY’S LANE.
-
-
-As nearly as can now be recalled the line of houses on Murphy’s lane was
-in the following order: Joseph Johns (later John Tyner), William T.
-Wauters (later John Beardsley), John Murphy, Thomas Murphy, James
-Murphy, Pat Murphy (the chief ingredients of “Murphytown”), Bill
-“Whitehead” Bennett, N. J. Crane and Alfred Keen (on the corner of the
-old Bloomfield road).
-
-The Shields Guards was, before the Civil War, one of the institutions of
-Murphy’s lane. The armory in which the guns and accoutrements, loaned by
-the state, were stored, was situated some distance back from Charlie Van
-Riper’s house, near the present Mt. Prospect avenue. There were many
-Irishmen in the neighborhood and they formed this company as a rival to
-the Continental Blues, which numbered Belleville’s best among its
-members.
-
-
- THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL IN WOODSIDE.
-
-
-Among Mr. Hine’s papers is a note to the effect that about 1822 a Sunday
-school was carried on in Woodside (for how long he could not ascertain)
-in the house of Mr. Joseph Johns, on Murphy’s lane. This was an old
-stone house containing two rooms on the ground floor, in one of which,
-about fifteen feet square, the Sunday school was held. The house stood
-at the lower end of Murphy’s lane, very near Second river. It was torn
-down during the winter of 1886. Mr. Hine says:—
-
-“Mr. Johns himself does not appear to have been exactly a saint, but his
-wife, Peggy, was a woman of exceptionally fine character and a devoted
-Christian. She died thirty-three years ago (this was written by Mr. Hine
-in 1887), and those who were children during her later years speak of
-their visits to her house as among the bright spots in their child life.
-From the best information I can obtain, it was she who gathered the
-children of the neighborhood together for Sunday instruction, but I
-learn also of students from a seminary in Bloomfield who came down there
-to teach, and who also established a school in Franklin; they called it
-Pobishon. Whether that was an Indian name of the region or merely a
-local title, I do not know, but children from Belleville used to go to
-both schools.
-
-“I have not been able to find out whether this ancient Woodside school
-was divided in classes or taught in a body by the person conducting it;
-but the exercises were simple and now and then a tract would be given to
-a child, who in those early days, set great store by the simple gift. I
-only know of two persons now living who attended this school of
-sixty-five or more years ago: they are Mr. Henry Stimis, who lives on
-the River road in Woodside and his sister Eliza, who are well known to
-many of us. Mr. William Wauters, who was a cousin of Mrs. Peggy Johns,
-has for many years, and until recently, been a resident of Woodside, and
-is the father of two former faithful workers in this school, the Misses
-Lizzie and Lucy Wauters.”
-
-In view of the fact that the first Sunday school in Newark was held in
-1814 (Daily Advertiser, Oct. 27, ’83.) it speaks well for this country
-region that one was held here only eight years later.
-
-
- AN EASY WAY TO DIVIDE EVEN.
-
-
-As nearly as I can gather from current remark, Mr. Joseph Johns was a
-remarkably fine specimen of an awful example for a temperance
-lecture—certainly that appears to be the impression he left behind among
-the neighbors. A story still survives which indicates that Mr. Johns was
-also somewhat original in his method of doing things.
-
-It seems that he once had a sum of money in shape like a parcel of bills
-of tempting thickness, and Mrs. Johns, believing that it would be rather
-more safe in her possession than in his, tried to persuade him to give
-it up, but, failing in this, she firmly insisted that half of the amount
-belonged to her, and that he should at least divide. To this proposition
-he agreed and, taking the package to the chopping block, with one whack
-of an axe he cut it in two and handed one bundle to his wife, saying
-“there’s your half”.
-
-When he came to and realized the destruction he had wrought, he was at
-great pains to paste the bills together again, and in this condition
-they were put into circulation. For some years it was a common thing to
-find some of “old Johns’s money” among change received at the Belleville
-stores.
-
-
- WAUTERS—WAUTERSE.
-
-
-Beyond the Johns house stood the dwelling of William T.
-Wauters—Wauterse, as his Dutch forefathers spelled it. The house is
-shown on the map of 1849, but could not have been erected a great while
-before that date.
-
-
- POLLY VAN WINKLE AGAIN.
-
-
-It seems that Polly Van Winkle, mentioned in connection with the River
-road, was an inhabitant of Bloomfield and used Murphy’s lane as one of
-her routes to and from the water side. She left the same general memory
-here that she did elsewhere—a little, old woman, bent nearly double with
-years and the weight of an enormous pack, which was her constant
-companion.
-
-
- MURPHYTOWN.
-
-
-Not much has been learned of the Murphys, who appear to have been
-brought over to work in the calico mills, and who settled so thickly
-about midway of the lane that the spot became known as “Murphytown”.
-
-[Illustration: A Bit Of Murphy’s Lane. As it was twenty years ago.]
-
-
- THE GYPSIES DO BUSINESS.
-
-
-Some time before the Civil War a small band of gypsies, headed by one
-James Trail, who had been in the habit of camping in the woods on the
-south side of the lane, purchased some of the Murphy property for the
-purpose of establishing a winter home. In those days this was an out of
-the way spot and quite suitable for the nomads.
-
-During the warm months these gypsies wandered over the country and at
-one time, while in Tennesee, they came upon a gullible person named
-Ferris. Him they induced to bury a pot of gold, or at least to allow
-them to bury it, at an auspicious moment when the moon and stars favored
-increase, on the theory that if left a certain length of time, long
-enough to allow them to get well out of the country, it would multiply
-the dollars to a marvellous extent.
-
-At the proper time Mr. Ferris dug up the pot and found it heavily laden
-with—lead, and was sorely vexed. So far the plans of the gypsies had
-worked as they wished, but what they had not counted on was the
-persistence of their victim, who managed to trail them to their winter
-lair. He then sought out ’Squire Sandford of Belleville, and offered him
-a reward if he would capture the thieves and get the money back, which
-the ’Squire did in short order.
-
-All who knew ’Squire Sandford in his active days know how useless it was
-to attempt to bluff him, and it is hardly necessary to state that the
-gypsies promptly came to terms. This resulted in their giving up the
-property on Murphy’s lane in order to avoid further trouble, and the
-’Squire received half of the land in lieu of a money reward.
-
-
- THE BENNETT PROPERTY.
-
-
-On the far edge of Murphytown stood the home of Bill “Whitehead”
-Bennett. There were many Bennetts in the neighborhood, and it was
-necessary to distinguish one “Bill” from another—this one appears to
-have been a blond. The records show that the heirs of Joseph Crane sold
-this property to John P. Durand, and he to Simon Sainsimon, he to Daniel
-Crane, he to Aaron I. Crane, he to William Bennett, he to Abram S.
-Hewitt, and he to Dr. Grenville M. Weeks. The following items in regard
-to the ownership of the property I have from Dr. Weeks.
-
-
- PETER COOPER OWNS LAND HERE.
-
-
-Early in the fifties Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt bought a tract
-comprising about 38 acres just beyond “Murphytown”, their intention
-being to make a homestead of it, but they did not build. In 1860 Dr.
-Grenville M. Weeks who was then a young man, living in Bloomfield,
-discovered the place and, liking it both for its beauty and for what he
-thought would be its future possibilities as the city grew, saw Mr.
-Cooper and asked if he would sell. The latter said no, as he had
-purchased intending to make his home here, but that since then he and
-his son-in-law had been looking at a place near Greenwood Lake, and they
-might sell a year hence, if they decided on the latter place, as Hewitt
-thought the city would crowd them out of this spot.
-
-
- DR. GRENVILLE M. WEEKS COMES ON THE SCENE.
-
-
-In ’61 the Doctor again called on Mr. Cooper, who said, “Well, are you
-as hungry after that place as ever?” and when the young man said yes,
-the owner wanted to know how much he would pay down. The Doctor who was
-only twenty-one, had a half interest in a small drug store in
-Bloomfield, which had netted him $500, a very considerable sum to him,
-and when he said he had $500, Peter Cooper said, “$500! Young man, have
-you any idea what the relation of $500 is to a $10,000 place?” The
-Doctor then thought he could raise another $500, and the owner said, “I
-will make a contract and give you a deed when you can save another
-$1,000 and give me a mortgage for $8,000.” The Doctor had by this time
-entered the Navy, and was thus enabled to secure the second thousand and
-the deal was consummated.
-
-In the course of time John I. Briggs bargained for the property,
-agreeing to pay $15,000, and paid $100 down to bind the contract, but he
-never paid interest on the mortgage, and the Doctor was compelled to
-foreclose.
-
-
- MR. JAS. YEREANCE A RESIDENT.
-
-
-Next came Jeremiah Counsellor, a conductor on the M. & E. R. R., and a
-well-known character, and he asked the Doctor for an opportunity to sell
-the property, stating that he would sell it inside of a month, and that
-he wanted as his commission half of all he could get over $50,000. This
-was just before the panic of ’73, when prices were largely inflated and
-the Doctor was naturally pleased, as, having been attached to the
-government service most of the time, he had not appreciated the rise in
-land values. Shortly thereafter the sale was made to Mr. James Yereance,
-a New York business man, for $57,000, $25,000 being paid down. The
-interest was paid for some years, but Mr. Yereance was finally unable to
-meet the payments, and an amicable arrangement was made whereby part of
-the property was deeded to the father of Mr. Yereance and the remainder
-was bought in by the Doctor at Sheriff’s sale. The Doctor speaks very
-highly of the honest manner in which Mr. Yereance treated him all
-through these transactions.
-
-
- DR. WEEKS AND THE MONITOR.
-
-
-Dr. Grenville M. Weeks carries with him a useless right arm as a memento
-of the Civil War. He was surgeon on the Monitor when she sank, and tells
-such an interesting story—not only of this event, but also of the
-conception and building of the Monitor, many points of which he says are
-not commonly known—that a brief outline of his story is embodied here:—
-
-
- DR. THEODORE RUGGLES TIMBY.
-
-
-Dr. Theodore Ruggles Timby, who died November 10, 1909, at the age of 91
-was, the Doctor believes, the real inventor of the Monitor. In 1843, Dr.
-Timby gave thought to the immense unprotected stretch of coast which
-this country presented to an enemy, and recognized how impossible it
-would be to construct forts that would cover its vast extent. It then
-occurred to him that if floating forts could be constructed which could
-be taken to any point threatened, the difficulty would be met. It is
-said that the old circular fort on Governor’s Island first suggested a
-revolving turret to him.
-
-By much thinking he gradually evolved the Monitor type, and fifteen
-years before the Civil War broke out had perfected his plans and
-submitted them to the various European governments, even sending them to
-China, but they all scouted his idea, some one of them remarking that
-every inventor had his soft spot, and evidently that of Dr. Timby was
-the thought that he could float an iron ship.
-
-Dr. Timby returned home and continued to work over his plans, placing
-airtight compartments in bow and stern, and in such other ways as he
-could devise meeting the objections that had been raised.
-
-When the Civil War came the inventor managed to get his plans before Mr.
-Lincoln, who immediately became interested, and who used frequently to
-visit his workshop in Washington to discuss them. Finally Mr. Lincoln,
-who had some knowledge that the Merrimac was being constructed and knew
-that something must be done to meet the emergency, sent Dr. Timby with
-his plans to three of the wealthiest and most prominent men in New York,
-with a request that they submit the plans to the best engineer they
-could find.
-
-These took the model and plans to John Ericsson, then regarded as the
-best engineer in the country, and he, after shutting himself up with
-them for ten days, submitted a report in which he stated his belief in
-the feasibility of the plan, and that he could construct the vessel in
-one hundred days. The order was immediately given to go ahead, and at
-the end of the one hundred days the “Monitor” was floating on the waters
-of New York harbor, to all appearances a success.
-
-An interesting addition to this story, which belongs here, comes from
-Mrs. Lucy Cate Abercrombie of Forest Hill, and, while it is not part of
-the Doctor’s narrative, it helps to complete the history.
-
-When Ericsson announced that the Monitor could be built, he was called
-to Washington for consultation and, among other questions, was asked
-where the plates necessary to armor the proposed vessel could be
-secured. He responded that he did not know, that such plates were only
-made in Glasgow, and that it was impossible to secure them from there,
-but that there was a man in Baltimore who had invented machinery for
-rolling large plates, and perhaps he could do the work.
-
-
- MR. HORACE ABBOTT MAKES THE MONITOR A POSSIBILITY.
-
-
-This was Mr. Horace Abbott, the grandfather of Mrs. Abercrombie, who had
-perfected a machine for rolling heavy plates, by the invention of the
-third roll, but he had put his last dollar into the invention and the
-stagnation of business due to the war was writing ruin for him in very
-large letters. Mr. Abbott was sent for and a contract was signed, and in
-forty-eight hours thereafter the first plate had been rolled, and this
-led to other government work. Thus the Monitor not only saved the
-fortunes of the Union, but also those of one of its inventive citizens.
-
-Mr. Abbott’s invention revolutionized the methods employed in rolling
-heavy plates; it has never been materially changed and is in use to-day
-in every rolling mill in the country.
-
-
- THE MONITOR GOES TO HAMPTON ROADS.
-
-
-Word was sent to Lincoln that the Monitor was afloat and he, knowing
-that the Merrimac was almost ready, ordered it to proceed immediately to
-Hampton Roads. Ericsson, however, responded that this was impossible,
-that the vessel was intended only for harbor defense and would not last
-in a sea, as she was merely an iron deck set on a scow with an overhang
-at each end of twenty-five feet, and that the force of the waves under
-this overhang would lift the upper works from the hull. He had not
-followed Dr. Timby’s plans as to the hull, which would have saved the
-vessel in the storm off Hatteras referred to below. The only excuse for
-the twenty-five foot overhang that can be thought of now is that the
-short hull was sufficient to float the structure and cost less than a
-longer hull. The President, however, sent peremptory orders that the
-Monitor should go, and we all know the result.
-
-
- TALE OF THE MERRIMAC’S ENGINEER.
-
-
-Some years after the close of the war Dr. Weeks met the engineer of the
-Merrimac in Dakota, and as the conversation drifted to the days that had
-been, the engineer told how the Southerners were highly elated at the
-first success of the Merrimac, and felt that nothing could stop them,
-and when they came out of the James river on the morning that the
-Monitor arrived, the captain was annoyed to see what he supposed was a
-raft lying between him and his intended prey, the Minnesota, and not
-realizing what it was or that it could offer resistance, ordered full
-speed ahead, expecting to ram and destroy the obstruction.
-
-“You can imagine our amazement”, said the engineer, “at the shock of the
-impact, which threw us to the deck; it was like running on a ledge of
-rock. The iron prow of the Merrimac, which was made for ramming, was
-bent and useless, and had we not struck a slanting blow the result to
-the Merrimac would have been serious.
-
-“But what finally overwhelmed us were the enormous balls, eleven inches
-in diameter, which came thundering at our railroaded sides until they
-began to make breaches. Finally one of these ripped through us from stem
-to stern, killing or wounding seven or more, upsetting gun carriages and
-causing terrible devastation. Then it was that we realized that
-destruction awaited us unless we could escape.”
-
-
- DR. WEEKS TRANSFERRED TO THE MONITOR.
-
-
-One of the mistakes made by Ericsson was the placing of the conning
-tower, from which the vessel is fought, aft of the turret instead of on
-its top, as the plans called for. Because of this the officer in charge
-was compelled to swing the bow forty-five degrees out of her course in
-order to see ahead. This delayed the fight greatly and also caused
-Lieut. John L. Worden, who fought the Monitor, to be almost blinded by
-smoke and burned powder. This fact led to the transferring of Dr.
-Grenville M. Weeks to the Monitor, as it was necessary to relieve
-Lieutenant Worden and the Monitor’s surgeon, Dr. Daniel C. Logue, went
-with him to the Brandywine, while Doctor Weeks, who was surgeon on the
-Brandywine, was ordered to replace Dr. Logue.
-
-
- CAPTAIN BANKHEAD IN COMMAND.
-
-
-Captain Bankhead succeeded Lieutenant Worden in command of the Monitor
-and, as the Doctor says, there was a certain poetical justice in the
-succession of Captain Bankhead to this command. It seems that a board
-consisting of General Bankhead, the Captain’s father, and Colonel
-Thornton of the army, and Joe Smith of the navy, had been appointed some
-years before to determine whether this was a great piece of folly, as
-the Europeans thought, or whether it was of value, as the inventor
-believed. Thornton and Smith reported against the invention, while
-General Bankhead made a minority report in its favor. The Bankheads were
-Southern men, but loyal when the Civil War came.
-
-
- SINKING OF THE MONITOR.
-
-
-The Monitor was ordered to Charleston, S. C., and on December 29, 1862,
-was taken in tow by the Rhode Island, a powerful side-wheel steamer. A
-West India hurricane was raging up the Atlantic Coast, and two days
-after the start that very thing happened to the Monitor that was
-predicted by Ericsson, the tremendous lift of the seas under the long
-overhang of twenty-five feet caused the deck to break away gradually
-from the hull, and soon the cabin was awash and the heavy dining table
-was crashing into the stateroom doors and cabin sides as the rolling of
-the clumsy little vessel rushed the water from side to side.
-
-At this point the Doctor went below for something and found an engineer
-so sick in his stateroom that he did not realize their perilous
-position, and when the man refused to move the Doctor attempted to force
-him out, but now a wave swept over the deck and the Doctor, supposing
-the Monitor was going down, sprang for the companionway and had to fight
-his way up through a solid wall of water.
-
-Once outside he sought the top of the turret with the Captain; in the
-meantime rockets had been set off to notify the Rhode Island that her
-tow was sinking and the latter had cut her loose. By this time the fires
-were nearly out and the Monitor was so waterlogged that she did not rise
-to the seas, but dived into them, while her officers and men could with
-difficulty hang on, shutting eyes and mouth until the flood had swept
-astern.
-
-The Rhode Island immediately proceeded to lower a boat on its port
-quarter, but while this was being done one of the most desperate
-situations of this desperate night occurred. In some way an end of the
-immense tow rope which had been trailing astern became entangled in one
-of the paddle wheels and stopped the machinery. Thus she lay helpless
-for the time being. In the meantime the Monitor, which was still slowly
-running under her own power, her fires as yet not having been drowned
-out, was bearing down on the Rhode Island. In the darkness the proximity
-of the two boats was not discovered until the Monitor was on the point
-of ramming. Just at this critical moment the paddle wheel was cleared
-and the Rhode Island began slowly to forge ahead, and consequently the
-blow was not severe enough to cause serious damage, but it was a
-heart-rending moment to those on both of the vessels, who felt that they
-were very close to eternity.
-
-The collision smashed the boat which was being lowered but another
-quickly took its place and, recognizing how easily it could be stove,
-this was well guarded with rope fenders.
-
-It was midnight and very dark, the two vessels had drifted apart again,
-but finally the small boat was discovered close in on their starboard
-quarter. It did not dare come alongside, however, for fear of being
-smashed, and the men were compelled to jump.
-
-The Doctor was one of the last to leave the Monitor, and by this time
-the small boat had drifted so far off that he fell short into the icy
-water, but those on board caught him by the hair and collar and he was
-dragged to safety. The Doctor will never forget seeing one of the
-engineers, who had been the life of the party and who was loved by all,
-miss the boat by five feet as he jumped, and go down in the darkness
-never to be seen again.
-
-There were sixteen in the small boat, but it was staunch, and they felt
-comparatively safe. The waves were tremendous; at one moment the boat
-was riding the crest of a mountain, the next it was engulfed in the
-depths. While thus momentarily between two great seas they dimly saw the
-bow of a second boat from the Rhode Island hanging above them, which the
-next moment would come down athwartships and grind them to pulp. A shout
-of warning enabled each helmsman to throw his tiller over and sheer off
-to some extent, but what saved the situation from becoming a catastrophe
-to all was the Doctor’s quick wit. He tells the story very modestly
-himself. Springing up and bracing his feet he grasped the bow of the
-oncoming boat as firmly as possible and pushed it to one side and this,
-with the prompt action of the helmsman, just prevented the impending
-collision, but, as the one boat came down on the other, the Doctor’s arm
-was gripped between them and he was pulled down to the water, his arm
-was dragged from its socket and hung attached to his body by a few
-stretched muscles. The intense pain caused him to faint, and had it not
-been that the cold water revived him as his head went under he would
-have been pulled overboard.
-
-When the boat reached the Rhode Island they found a spar extended from
-which depended ropes up which the sailors scrambled as only a sailor
-can, and then the Doctor thought of death, and it was not pleasant in
-spite of the intense pain he was enduring. One sailor lost his grip and
-fell into the sea, never to be seen again.
-
-What could a man so maimed as the Doctor was do to save himself under
-such circumstances? Nothing. There seemed no hope for him, and he
-thought of descending into that watery grave and slowly disintegrating
-in the ooze at the bottom of the ocean; and the horror of it took hold
-on him, for he was a young man and wanted to live.
-
-Finally all were out of the boat but the men at bow and stern, the
-Doctor, and George W. Tichenor, when the latter shouted that they must
-do something to save the man who had saved them all. A rope was then
-thrown from the vessel and a bowline passed over the Doctor’s right
-shoulder and under his left arm, and the poor, maimed body was dragged
-on board as a bag of potatoes might have been, but he was saved. It was
-good to feel the wooden deck under foot once more.
-
-
- NOTES ON THE CRANE FAMILY.
-
-
-The last property on this old road was the Crane estate. The first of
-the name to settle here was Jasper Crane (born 1680), and he is supposed
-to have come here about 1730. The family genealogy goes back to an
-earlier Jasper, born 1600, who is said to have been a son of Gen. Josiah
-Crane, who was in the service of King James I. of England. Jasper
-married in England, as his son John was born there in 1635. Jasper came
-from England about 1639 and was one of the early settlers of New Haven,
-Connecticut, where he was a magistrate for several years. From there he
-removed to Branford and from the latter place to Newark in 1665. Here he
-was a magistrate, was first president of the Town Council and was first
-on the list of deputies to the General Assembly of New Jersey for six
-years after the settlement of Newark.
-
-John Crane, born 1635, had a son Jasper, born 1680 (the first to settle
-here). His son Joseph was born 1722; this Joseph had a son Joseph, born
-1767, and his son was Nathaniel Jonas Crane, born 1808.
-
-[Illustration: Crane Homestead. Supposed to have been erected about
-1760. Picture taken in 1890. The barn which stood back of this house was
-the one in which cattle were slaughtered for the troops of General
-Anthony Wayne.]
-
-The old Crane stone house is supposed to have been erected about 1760 by
-Joseph Crane; this was taken down about 1890. The small wing at the
-right of the building is believed to have been the older part of the
-house. Those now living remember that in the attic of this part were
-several swords of various descriptions which Nathaniel J. Crane has said
-were used by members of the family who fought in the French and Indian
-War. The barn which stood in the rear of this house is the one referred
-to elsewhere as having been used as a slaughter-house when General
-Anthony Wayne was camped under this ridge.
-
-Beyond the Crane house is the Keen homestead, which is mentioned in
-connection with the old Bloomfield road.
-
- Note for page 126.—Information concerning the Sidman family which
- was received after this book was in type and inserted at the last
- minute, shows that Jasper Crane owned land here as early as 1711.
- See page 100.
-
-
-
-
- PART II.
-
-[Illustration: C. C. Hine In 1895. “There may have been men of greater
-and more beautiful character than his, but I never knew any and never
-read of any. I count it one of the most fortunate things of my life to
-have been for so many years so closely associated with him. While it
-(the portrait) does not do full Justice to the subject (I do not think
-any photograph could), it is a face I am glad to look at and it recalls
-some of the pleasantest memories of my whole life and some of the things
-which, I am sure, have been of the utmost value to me in many ways. He
-left nothing but a trail of good wherever he went. My memory is of a
-_life_ rather than of episodes; I only wish I could describe it as it
-was lived. The only two absolutely unselfish people I ever knew were Mr.
-Hine and my own mother.”]
-
-
- C. C. HINE AND HIS TIMES.
-
-
-This second part is intended to cover as well as may be the period of
-time beginning with the opening of Woodside as a residence section.
-During these years Mr. Charles Cole Hine took such an active interest in
-the welfare of the neighborhood and was so wrapped up in and identified
-with its best interests that its history is his biography, consequently
-I feel that it will be proper to give here a brief outline of his life
-previous to the year 1867, when he settled in Woodside.
-
-When women could lift their little children up to “take a last look at
-the best friend they ever had”, as was done while the people passed by
-the coffin of Mr. Hine as it lay in the church, such as did not come in
-direct contact with the man may to some extent understand what a feeling
-of love he inspired in those who knew him.
-
-For me he had a living reality that death has never removed; it was
-years before I could accept the situation. Concerning no one else have I
-ever had the same feeling. Death has removed others and I have accepted
-the condition as final, but for a long period after the death of my
-father I had a feeling amounting to momentary conviction that he had
-opened the office door and was coming toward me, and have looked up from
-my desk many a time to welcome him. This could not have been a matter of
-local association, for I was occupying an office which he never saw.
-What it was I do not know.
-
- “Thy voice is on the rolling air,
- I hear thee where the waters run;
- Thou standest in the rising sun,
- And in the setting thou art fair.”
-
-
- CHARLES COLE HINE.
-
-
-Charles Cole Hine was born in New Haven, Conn., December 21, 1825. When
-six years of age his parents removed to Hornellsville, N. Y. His father
-was a carriage builder, but of nomadic tendencies, and the boy had small
-opportunity for schooling, though as a matter of fact he went to school
-all his life; he had an instinct for acquiring knowledge that could not
-be suppressed, and as a result those who knew him best in after life
-took it for granted that he was a college-bred man.
-
-With the versatility of many another self-made man he turned his hand to
-many things in his youth while finding himself. He once went on a
-concert tour with three other young men, driving from town to town
-through Ohio and western Pennsylvania. At one time he turned to art for
-a living and actually did support himself, after a fashion, for a brief
-period, painting portraits. Mr. Hine’s father moved to Massillon, Ohio,
-in 1837, and there the boy grew up and cast his first vote. Once when
-clerking in a store in Massillon, among the commodities of which was a
-line of books, the proprietor, who was of a kindly disposition, allowed
-the young man to read as he liked, and as a result he read every book in
-the place, including an encyclopædia, some six hundred volumes in all.
-
-When the telegraph was young he became interested in that and
-established lines through parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
-contracting for poles and their erection, selecting the local operators
-and teaching them the Morse alphabet, and doing any other missionary
-work that was needed. That he was something more in this than ordinary
-is evidenced by the fact that in Reid’s “History of the Telegraph in
-America” Mr. Hine’s name is frequently mentioned, and always in
-complimentary terms. While in charge of the office in Louisville, he
-invented a transmitter to repeat messages in order to save the time of
-an operator, for in those days the electric fluid only carried a message
-so far, and long distance messages must needs be repeated by hand. Later
-some one invented and patented the same thing and made, I believe, a
-fortune by it.
-
-An operator in the early days of telegraphy was a more important
-personage than at present. Mr. Hine has told how, when he was stationed
-in St. Louis, 1848-9, P. T. Barnum was taking Jenny Lind around the
-country and, upon reaching St. Louis, he insisted on getting inside the
-telegraph office and making the acquaintance of the operator. As a
-result he took Mr. Hine riding with him and gave him two tickets for
-each concert, no mean gift when tickets were selling at $20.00 each.
-
-The year 1849 was the year of the cholera and of the “great fire” in St.
-Louis. “The city was a charnel house; funerals were the principal events
-and the chief business of the hour; hearses went on a trot when they
-could not go faster.” Mr. Hine was convalescing from the disease and had
-been carried from a room at Olive and Main streets to his boarding
-house. That same night the “great fire” started on the levee. Four
-hundred buildings in the business heart of the city, which included
-Olive and Main streets, were destroyed.
-
-While living in St. Louis Mr. Hine met Mary Hazard Avery, whose parents
-had also removed from Connecticut, and was married to Miss Avery in that
-city July 4, 1853. Before that time he had established himself in New
-Albany, Ind., where in due course he represented the Adams Express
-Company, and was secretary of a plank road, notary for two banks and
-agent for several insurance companies, fire and life.
-
-While living here the New Albany Theological Seminary removed to
-Chicago, leaving a splendid set of buildings vacant, and Mr. Hine
-thought he saw the opportunity of his life in the establishment of a
-girls’ seminary. The property was easily obtained, and he spent all the
-money he had and all he could borrow fitting up the place but, as he
-once put it, “the New Albany Female Seminary opened simultaneously with
-the great panic of 1857”. He lost every cent he had and came out of the
-crash many thousands of dollars in debt.
-
-When Mr. Hine wished to enter active business again he bought up the
-outstanding notes against him in order to protect himself and, although
-his former creditors had no claim on him thereafter, he gradually paid
-back every dollar of indebtedness with interest. In this he followed the
-somewhat unique method of ascertaining who among his old creditors were
-most in need, and paying these first.
-
-As an insurance agent Mr. Hine had represented the Ætna Insurance
-Company, whose western general agent had said to him: “Mr. Hine, if ever
-you should want to go into insurance again, please let me know first”,
-and after the crash Mr Hine promptly sent word to the headquarters in
-Cincinnati that he wanted a position and as promptly got it. Thereafter
-he was connected with the western office of the Ætna until he removed to
-New York in 1865. Mr. Hine was brought east by the offer of the
-secretaryship of the International Insurance Company, but the methods
-adopted not being to his liking he resigned. He was then practically
-offered the position of Superintendent of the Insurance Department of
-the State of New York, but preferring to be his own master and
-delighting in editorial work, he purchased the Insurance Monitor in
-March, 1868, and that became his life work.
-
-
- MR. HINE IN SEARCH OF A HOME.
-
-
-As soon as his work would permit he began to look about for a home, and
-ultimately decided on Woodside, which was then beginning to be exploited
-as a residence section for toilers in the city. In this connection it
-can do no harm to tell a little story which he often told of himself.
-
-As a young man he spent many of his leisure hours painting, and in 1844
-painted much with a certain man in Massillon, Ohio, who was something of
-an artist, and during this time painted the man’s portrait, but he had
-completely lost sight of his friend for more than twenty years.
-
-In 1866, when looking for a home site, Mr. Hine answered, among others,
-an advertisement of a Mr. M., in Morrisania, and while inspecting the
-house saw a portrait which he recognized as that of his artist friend of
-1844, and one which he had seen many times, but which the lady of the
-house told him was Mr. M., an entirely different name.
-
-When the gentleman himself arrived Mr. Hine recognized him, but neither
-gave any indication of the recognition and an appointment was made for
-Mr. M. to call at the New York office of his prospective customer the
-next day.
-
-[Illustration: Home Of Mr. Henry J. Winser. House erected in 1866.
-Situated at 201 Washington Avenue. In the foreground stands the old
-apple tree that was used as a talking point by Mr. Ananias.]
-
-In the meantime Mr. Hine got out his old portrait of the man and placed
-it in his office where the caller would see it, expecting a good time in
-resuming the old acquaintance, but Mr. M. never came, and inquiry showed
-that he had disappeared suddenly, leaving no address, and that his house
-was vacant and in the hands of an agent.
-
-Mr. Hine’s portrait of the man hung for many years over a door in the
-dining room at No. 209 Washington avenue, and he was fond of relating an
-entirely new supposition accounting for the mysterious disappearance of
-the gentleman, which was advanced by his pastor who, on a certain
-occasion, was dining at the house when the story was told, and who
-“looked up from his plate, gazed at the picture a moment, and then
-looking me square in the eye said, in a calm, deliberate voice: ‘Maybe
-he was afraid you would paint him again.’”
-
-
- MR. HINE FIRST VISITS WOODSIDE.
-
-
-Mr. Hine first visited Woodside in August, 1866; the house at 201
-Washington avenue was for sale, having been erected by a Mr. Babbitt,
-who was unable to occupy it. Mr. Hine concluded it could be made to meet
-his requirements, and immediately closed the bargain; but it seems that
-Mr. Henry J. Winser had before this discovered the house and, being
-attracted by the great trees growing on the place, secured the refusal
-of the property for a few days, and it was before this time had expired
-that Mr. Hine made the purchase.
-
-Here was a state of things which was unpleasant for all except Mr.
-Babbitt, who had his money, and he referred Mr. Winser to Mr. Hine, thus
-dismissing the matter so far as he was concerned. Mr. Winser as city
-editor of the New York Times was then investigating the Tweed Ring and
-could not attend to personal matters, hence it devolved on Mrs. Winser
-to open the negotiations which resulted in a sale to Mr. W. and the
-purchase of property adjoining on the north by Mr. Hine.
-
-
- THE FIRST HOUSES ERECTED ON WASHINGTON AVENUE.
-
-
-The Winser family moved in on September 1, 1866. At this time there were
-five detached houses on this (east) side of what was then Belleville
-avenue; these were occupied by Messrs. Winser, Best, Baldwin, Neumann
-and Daniel F. Tompkins. On the west side were six houses, occupied (from
-south to north) by Messrs. Sommer, an artist; Shannan, Mrs. Van Wyck,
-James Gamble, George B. Callen and John P. Contrell. Between Elwood
-avenue and Carteret street the foundations for four houses were laid,
-and on the hill above Carteret street Mr. Charles D. Morrison who, with
-Mr. John I. Briggs, composed the firm of Morrison & Briggs, builders,
-was erecting his own dwelling. Below these groups on the south there was
-no building until we came to the spacious house, embowered in trees, of
-Mr. Horace H. Nichols, and across Washington avenue from Mr. Nichols, at
-the point, the house built by Mr. A. P. Scharff, later occupied by Dr.
-MacKie, Mr. James A. C. Van Rossam and one Flavel.
-
-
- THE FIRST HOUSES ERECTED ON LINCOLN AVENUE.
-
-
-On what was then known as the Back road were the houses of Colonel Buck,
-Messrs. Samuel Royce, Miles I’Anson, E. A. Boyden, John Scharff, John C.
-Bennett; the first house of C. D. Morrison, present corner of May street
-and Summer place; the old Phillips farm house and the house of James
-Swinnerton, Jr., on the northeast corner of Elwood avenue, which was
-then Berkley street.
-
-
- HOUSES ERECTED IN 1866-7.
-
-
-Within the year there were built the houses of Mr. Hine, Mr. Harlan, C.
-D. Morrison, Miss Teel, Mr. Pratt, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Faitoute, Mrs.
-Jackson, Mr. F. F. Mercer, Mr. Blackwood, Mr. McDonald and Wm.
-Chippendale, the latter a son of Richard Chippendale, who came to this
-country on account of the Chartist troubles in England, and about this
-time the house of Mr. Horace Carter on the Gully road was built.
-
-Several new houses were built on the River road near Grafton avenue, and
-were occupied by Mr. Webster, Mr. Oliver Gordon, formerly of Brooklyn,
-who had a large business with China and was a colleague of the Lows; and
-Benjamin Brigg, son-in-law of Mr. Gordon and the representative of the
-Brigg woolen mills in Huddersfield, England.
-
-
- HOMES OF AN EARLIER PERIOD.
-
-
-Of the old settlers there were the houses of Sandford, Munn, Melius,
-Colonel Cumming, Stimis, John McDonald, Coeyman and Weiler, on the River
-road; Mr. Alfred Hardwick Gibbs on the high ground north of the Gully
-road, known as “Thornhill”; the “Cedars”, built by Frank Forester (H. W.
-Herbert), which had been bought by Mr. Sanchez y Dolce, and was then
-occupied by him, and also a group of houses about the junction of
-Washington and Grafton avenues and Halleck Street, which is treated of
-elsewhere.
-
-On the west side of Belleville avenue near Second river was the
-interesting old house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bird and Mrs.
-Bird’s two sons by a former marriage, Lewis and George Ashmun. This was
-a most delightful house, and the hospitality of the Birds was renowned.
-Mrs. Bird was a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Strong, of Massachusetts, and
-inherited her gracious manner and charm of conversation from a long line
-of ancestors who were among the best people of New England.
-
-They entertained with the grace of the early part of the nineteenth
-century, before the advent of that class of plutocrats that brought
-ostentatious pomp and more or less bad manners into society. Mr. Bird
-was a gentleman of the old school, and Mrs. Bird one of the most
-gracious and beautiful of women. It was always a delight to attend their
-evenings at home. One was sure of meeting all the charming people of the
-surrounding country and Newark, and there was no lack of brilliant
-conversation. When the gatherings were not too large and the company
-could assemble around the hospitable board the table-talk was sparkling
-with wit, while matters of graver import were freely discussed.
-
-It is impossible to say when this old house was erected; it bears every
-evidence of having been a very fine place in its day. One informant
-recalls having heard Mrs. Bird state that the house was built before the
-Revolution by an Englishman who sympathized with his king and was
-consequently compelled to leave the country when war was declared. This
-information Mrs. Bird secured from a daughter of Harry Coeyman, who had
-received it from her father. Presumably this is Henry M. Coeyman, a son
-of Minard, who is said to have served in the Revolution, and the son
-would thus have come on the scene early enough to know the facts.
-
-The records do not go beyond 1790. On July 5, 1790, James H. Maxwell
-conveyed the property to Alexander McComb who, on May 21, 1792, conveyed
-it to Daniel McCormick who, on July 18, 1792, conveyed to Thomas
-Bennett. The next transfer is a sheriff’s deed dated June 24, 1812, to
-Jacob Stout, and on April 9, 1825, his widow, Frances, conveyed to the
-President and Directors of the New Jersey Bleaching, Printing & Dyeing
-Company. On September 10, 1829, a sheriff’s deed conveyed to Samuel
-Wright et als. Then follow the names of owners as follows: Andrew Gray,
-Bolton et als., Edward Dwight et als., American Print Works, 1835; James
-K. Mills, 1853; George Bird, 1853, and Jonathan Bird, 1859.
-
-During the time that the house was occupied by Mr. Bird the place was
-approached from Mill street by a bridge across Second river just above
-the present Washington avenue bridge.
-
-
- INTRODUCING MR. ANANIAS.
-
-
-After the many years of unclouded friendship that have existed between
-the families of Hine and Winser it is difficult to realize that there
-could ever have been any other state of feeling, but at the outset
-conditions were just the reverse and the cause of it is rather an
-interesting little story.
-
-Both homesteads were situated within what was once a Stimis apple
-orchard and each contained several magnificent apple trees that were
-probably over one-hundred years old, and it was one of these trees and
-an unruly tongue that caused the trouble. The tree in question was a
-picturesque old giant that stood on the Winser premises near the street
-and near Mr. Hine’s line.
-
-A neighbor of both families, whom we will call Mr. Ananias, took a
-dislike to Mr. Hine, even before his house was finished, and undertook
-to make trouble for him. Knowing that both families admired and valued
-the trees which adorned their places he pitched on this particular apple
-tree, and first called on Mr. Winser and during a conversation managed
-to introduce the subject of the new neighbor, incidentally remarking
-that Mr. Hine, who was a new-rich upstart from the west, had taken a
-dislike to the Winser family and, having learned of its love of trees,
-had announced that he was going to have that apple tree down, Winser or
-no Winser, under the pretense that it interfered with his view.
-
-Having planted and properly watered the seed of discord he proceeded to
-sow tares in the next field by informing Mr. Hine that the Winsers had
-expressed themselves in a very disparaging way concerning him and his,
-proposing to annoy him in any way they could and, having heard of his
-admiration for this great apple tree, intended to cut it down to spite
-him.
-
-After this it was quite natural that the families should pass by on the
-other side—in fact the one turned its back on the other in so pronounced
-a fashion that there was no overlooking it.
-
-The Winsers saw the family move in and noted that it consisted of one
-gentleman, two ladies and three children, and concluded that the slender
-lady, who was in black, was a widow, and that the slender boy was her
-son. And thus matters stood until one morning there was a bad accident
-in the Hine kitchen and Miss Avery, the supposed widow, came over for
-help. The cook had been burned and Mr. Hine, in beating out the flames,
-had had his hands burned until the skin hung from them in shreds.
-
-Carron oil was wanted and a doctor was wanted, and Mrs. Winser, who was
-home alone at the time, did all in her power to assist the distressed by
-sending her horse for the doctor and coming to offer personal help. When
-she first saw Mr. Hine he was sitting with hands extended to avoid
-contact with anything, and when she expressed a wish to help he gladly
-accepted, but voiced his surprise that, feeling as she did, the offer
-should be made. This led to a prompt retort, and almost before they knew
-it the situation was explained and the eyes of both opened, and
-thereafter there was a well-worn path between the two houses. During the
-ten days or more that Mr. Hine was confined to the house Mrs. Winser
-took down any matters he wished to dictate and made frequent journeys to
-his New York office in his behalf.
-
-Much might be told in regard to the sayings of Mr. Ananias, but possibly
-one or two more of his pleasantries will suffice:—
-
-Mrs. Winser recalls her first visit to Woodside and the swarms of
-mosquitoes in the horse cars that were on hand to greet her: they were
-the real Jersey mosquitoes of well-defined propensity. It was August,
-and as she and Mr. Winser alighted in front of the house, which was then
-building, and which later became theirs, they were met by Mr. A., and to
-him voiced their opinions of the pests, but he waived it off with the
-casual remark that Woodside only had mosquitoes for a week or ten days
-during the middle or latter part of August, and while they were bad
-then, it was only for a brief period.
-
-In July, 1867, Mr. Winser sailed for Europe on the destroyer
-“Dunderburg”, built by Mr. Webb, but finished too late for use in the
-Civil War, and which had been purchased by the French government. The
-trip was considered dangerous, as the vessel had been intended merely
-for coast defense, and the traveler not only made his will, having been
-warned that he was going to a watery grave, but left the most minute
-written instructions to help Mrs. Winser over the rough places.
-
-What was Mrs. Winser’s astonishment when, as soon as her husband was out
-of reach, “the Woe of Woodside” (our friend Ananias) came to her with a
-memorandum saying that Mr. Winser had pledged himself to pay $300 toward
-the erection of an Episcopal church in Woodside. This was news to her,
-and she searched the book of written instructions in which all claims
-and all money matters had been entered by Mr. Winser without being able
-to find that he had made such a pledge as was claimed.
-
-When she made this announcement to Mr. A. he promptly answered: “Well,
-if this amount is not paid by you, your husband’s honor will be at stake
-and you will be the cause”. Imagine the feelings of this wife of fifteen
-months when told that she must pay this moral (!) obligation or cover
-her husband’s name with dishonor. Finally, without consulting any one
-versed in the ways of the world, Mrs. Winser paid over the money and,
-according to Mr. A., the name of H. J. Winser was put down on the
-subscription list with others, but some weeks later she learned that the
-name was not down among subscribers, but headed the list, and was used
-as a means of extracting money from other Episcopalians in the
-neighborhood.
-
-The Winsers had brought their letters to Christ Church in Belleville,
-and had had no thought of making any change; hence, on the return of Mr.
-Winser, and the facts being known, he was filled with wrath. It was too
-late, however, to do anything. The reason for this conduct on the part
-of Mr. A. is supposed to have been purely monetary, as he expected to
-profit by the work involved in the erection of the proposed church
-building.
-
-Thus when one acquainted with all the circumstances once remarked that
-“the church was conceived in sin and born in iniquity” the statement is
-thought to meet the situation with a fair degree of accuracy.
-
-Mrs. Winser was later appointed treasurer of the church guild, and had
-great satisfaction in making Mr. A. toe the mark when his part of the
-work was not properly done.
-
-
- ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
-
-
-Until the building was under cover services were held in Morrison’s
-Hall, Washington avenue, opposite Elliott street, and the Lenten
-services, morning and evening, in the Winser house; but, as I understand
-it, when the church was organized some of the first services were held
-in Mr. Hine’s house, as witness the following:—
-
-“At the first regular meeting of the Vestry of St. John’s church of
-Woodside, N. J., the following resolution was offered by Mr. E. A.
-Condit and unanimously adopted:—
-
-“Resolved, that the Vestry of St. John’s Church, Woodside, hereby tender
-their acknowledgments to C. C. Hine, Esquire, for his numerous acts of
-kindness and courtesy in their behalf, and especially for the free use
-of his house as a place of public worship during the past summer.
-
-“Resolved, that the Secretary communicate this resolution to Mr. Hine
-and record the same in the minutes of the Vestry.
-
- “E. A. CONDIT,
- ”Secy. of the Vsty.“
-
-On September 15, 1868, St. John’s Church was dedicated, the church
-building having been in use for some time previous to this. The annals
-of the parish pass this service over. Bishop Odenheimer and some twenty
-odd clergymen were present.
-
-Rev. Mr. Lounsbury was the first rector; he remained only a short time
-and Rev. Samuel Hall succeeded him in February, 1868.
-
-The following notes are from the parish register:—
-
-“First meeting to organize, September 2, 1867.
-
-“Cornerstone laid, November 29, 1867.
-
-“Rev. Samuel Hall, rector, February 8, 1868, to February 8, 1873, when
-he resigned to become rector of the Church of the Redeemer, Morristown.
-
-“Rev. H. H. Barbour, rector from April 17, 1873, to November 1, 1875.
-
-“November 1, 1874, rectory occupied. Rev. Francis A. Henry, rector from
-April 29, 1876, to October 2, 1876.
-
-“Rev. I. B. Wetherell, rector from November 29, 1876, to April 18, 1877.
-
-“Rev. I. H. McCandless, rector from April 18, 1877, to November 1, 1877.
-
-“Rev. George C. Pennell, S. T. D., rector from January, 1878, to January
-15, 1880.
-
-“Rev. Arthur B. Conger, rector from March 28, 1880, to April 1, 1882.
-Resigned on account of illness.
-
-“Rev. A. L. Wood, rector from September 11, 1882, to September 1, 1891.
-
-“Rev. Frank Albion Sanborn, B. D., rector, September 1, 1891.”
-
-He was followed by Rev. George W. Lincoln, who was succeeded by Rev.
-Rowland S. Nichols, the present incumbent.
-
-
- A WOODSIDE MOLASSES JAR.
-
-
-That the women of Woodside were unusually attractive there is no
-denying. Of one of them it is told that she found herself in Newark
-rather late one evening after the cars had ceased to run and, being
-alone and unable to secure a livery team (for Newark was as primitive in
-its way forty years ago as was Woodside) she applied at the police
-station for help and an officer was sent with her on the walk home. They
-evidently had a very pleasant trip, for it was not more than three days
-later that the officer appeared at the lady’s home, dressed in his best,
-only to find that she was married. An introduction to the husband
-somewhat cooled his ardor.
-
-
- CAPT. KIDD IN THE WINSER BACK YARD.
-
-
-There is a tradition that Captain Kidd buried treasure at a point in the
-Winser back yard where an ancient apple tree flourished when we were
-young, and the following facts seem to show good foundation for the
-belief:—
-
-We are told that oft during the quiet of the night (this was before the
-day of the trolley and its outrageous roar) the sound of a pick being
-driven vigorously into the earth could be heard from the direction of
-the old tree, but when the hearers gazed out into the dark no one could
-be seen. Those watching with the sick frequently noted such sounds, and
-as there were no visible diggers and the following morning no
-indications that the earth had been disturbed, it seems impossible that
-the work could have been done by other than the shades of the departed
-pirates. What, indeed, is to prevent our supposing that the ghost of the
-pirate captain himself was on hand, superintending the work in his old
-burying ground?
-
-Then there were the snakes that guarded this old apple tree—great black
-snakes of a peculiarly ferocious and menacing aspect—which, as is well
-attested by the most reliable witnesses, were known to deliberately
-simulate crooked sticks which, when about to be picked up by some
-unsuspecting human, would dart out a fiery tongue and with a terrible
-hissing sound drive the too venturesome explorer to the uttermost parts
-of the Winser lot.
-
-
- MORRISON & BRIGGS.
-
-
-Morrison & Briggs were the chief builders of the first Woodside houses.
-As nearly as can now be learned it seems probable that it was they who
-induced Messrs. Parker & Keasbey to purchase land here about 1865, open
-streets and lay out sites for residences. The builders at first had a
-very small shop on Berkley street (now Elwood avenue) immediately
-adjoining the house of Mr. Swinnerton, but it was not long before they
-erected a two-story woodworking establishment on Washington avenue, just
-north of Elliott street.
-
-Charlie Morrison, of the firm, was a curious specimen, good natured to a
-degree it would appear, for he was seemingly so unwilling to disappoint
-any one that he would promise the impossible without a blink. His
-fondness for moving was epitomized by his better half (very much better)
-once when she remarked that if he died first she should have his coffin
-put on wheels, as he would never be content to rest in one place long.
-
-Morrison & Briggs had not been exactly trained in the art of building
-but they managed to bungle it through in one way and another. The house
-at 209 Washington avenue is an example: this was built in 1866-7, and my
-recollection is of hearing that the cellar wall must needs be torn down
-twice before it would pass inspection. When the last payment on the
-house was due it was necessary to furnish the builders with a list
-(quite a long one) of those things left undone with a gentle intimation
-that the final check would be forthcoming when the deficiencies were
-supplied. There was then a very good feint at something doing, when
-another list, somewhat shorter than the first, was handed to the
-builders, and so by a gradual process of elimination, as it were, the
-house was pronounced complete.
-
-
- THE SAD FATE OF THE WINSER HORSE.
-
-
-During the winter of 1868 the Winser horse came to a bad end. It seems
-that a brother of a certain General S. had rented a house on Halleck
-street, and as the General was an old friend of Mr. Winser it was taken
-for granted that the Major, his brother, was of the same standing, and
-he was immediately taken into the Winser bosom.
-
-About this time the Winsers, having small use for their horse, had
-arranged to board it for a period in Westchester County, but when the
-Major heard of this he suggested that he take the animal, and that then
-if they wanted it at any time it would be near by. This was more than
-agreeable to the owners, and “Nelly” was soon installed in the Major’s
-stable.
-
-In the course of ten days Mr. Winser dropped in to see how his favorite
-was coming on, and was told by a stableman that his master had driven
-her to Pamrapo where he was superintending some road building. This
-seemed reasonable, but when a second visit some two weeks later elicited
-the statement that the Major had shipped “Nelly” from Pamrapo to
-Maryland, and it was found that the Major’s house was closed and that he
-would not return until January, it seemed about time to move in the
-matter.
-
-The case was laid before a well-known lawyer in Newark, who would not
-touch it because the Major and he were on the same Republican Committee.
-It was then given to Mr. Runyon, later Chancellor and Ambassador to
-Berlin, and he, not being of the same political faith as the Major, took
-the case with great gusto.
-
-The Major turned up in Newark in the course of time and the case was
-heard before Judge Depue. The Major said that “Nelly’s” bones were
-bleaching on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; that she was absolutely
-valueless, and that he had taken her out of pure pity to save her from
-ill-treatment. He had but one witness, who declared that he had driven
-with the Major, and had no hesitation in saying the horse was lame, half
-starved and not fit to be put in harness.
-
-Mr. Runyon demolished this testimony by proving that this witness had no
-knowledge of the points of a horse, by showing that he was indebted to
-the Major for his position at that time and that he had not seen the
-horse until she had been in the Major’s possession for some time. The
-Major was inclined to be flippant with the Court and, finally, when
-asked how he stood in regard to certain transactions, he answered that
-he “stood in his shirt and trousers”. The judge warned him that he would
-have to answer for contempt of court.
-
-After ten minutes’ deliberation the jury returned a verdict against the
-defendant for $400 for the value of the horse and also assessed the
-costs on him, but it is needless to say that he never paid either
-amount, being a politician of note. The Republican party in Newark has
-certainly been loaded with a hard lot of citizens, first and last.
-
-
- THE OPENING OF WASHINGTON AVENUE.
-
-
-It will now be necessary to go back a bit in our chronology in order to
-get at the beginnings of the Woodside we know.
-
-The opening of Washington avenue, about 1865, was the beginning of a new
-era for the neighborhood, for then Parker and Keasbey purchased a
-considerable tract in the vicinity of Washington and Elwood avenues and
-cut it up for suburban dwelling purposes and Morrison & Briggs,
-contractors, appeared on the scene.
-
-To be sure “the opening of the new highway consisted merely in setting
-the fences back and making a narrow cut through the hill just north of
-Carteret street, the earth from which was used to fill the ravine
-further north”. A single car track was then laid from the cemetery to
-Second river, and Woodside was open for business.
-
-But it was not Woodside in those days. The first name attached to the
-locality, and which appears to have come into use about 1863, was
-Ridgewood. There was, however, a post office of this name already
-established in the state, and when the town was set off from Belleville
-the name was changed to the present form.
-
-In 1865 this was a part of Belleville, but it was not long before
-efforts were made for a separation, as the following documents
-indicate:—
-
- ASSEMBLY—NO. 498. STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
-
- An Act to set off from the township of Belleville, in
- the county of Essex, an election district, to be
- known as Woodside.
-
- 1 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly
- 2 of the State of New Jersey, That all that
- 3 part of said township of Belleville, lying and being
- 4 south of the Second river, be set off from the
- 5 township of Belleville, and made and constituted
- 6 an election district to be known and called Woodside.
-
- 1 2. And be it enacted, That Alfred Keen,
- 2 Charles D. Morrison, and Charles Akers be and
- 3 are hereby appointed inspectors of election with
- 4 power to elect and appoint a clerk for said election,
- 5 at the annual town election to be held in April
- 6 eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at Woodside
- 7 polling district in the public hall known as Woodside
- 8 hall, and who are hereby required and authorized
- 9 to perform all duties required of inspectors
- 10 of election, in and for said district, and shall
- 11 preside at said first town meeting in said district,
- 12 as inspectors of election.
-
- 1 3. And be it enacted, That at the election to be
- 2 held in April, anno domini eighteen hundred and
- 3 sixty-eight, and at each succeeding April, three
- 4 persons shall be elected as judges of election for
- 5 such election district for the term of one year, who
- 6 shall possess the powers, be required to perform
- 7 the duties, and be subject to the liabilities as other
- 8 judges or inspectors of elections, according to the
- 9 general laws of the State of New Jersey, as they
- 10 now are or may hereafter be, and said judges so
- 11 elected shall act as judges of all elections to be
- 12 hereafter held in said district, no ballot for this
- 13 purpose shall contain more than two names; in
- 14 case more than two names are voted for, the ballot
- 15 shall only be void as to said judge, and the
- 16 three persons who receive the highest number of
- 17 votes shall be deemed and taken to be elected
- 18 judges of election, in case two persons shall have
- 19 received an equal number of votes, the first person
- 20 named on the ballot for judge of election shall be
- 21 elected, and the said judges and clerk shall receive
- 22 two dollars per day for their services, and the said
- 23 judges of election shall procure a proper box for
- 24 said district, of which place and time of holding
- 25 elections they shall give at least two weeks’ notice
- 26 in five of the most public places in said district,
- 27 and the said board shall have power to appoint
- 28 a clerk, who shall perform such duties as is
- 29 required in the act to which this is a supplement.
-
- 1 4. And be it enacted, That all acts or parts of
- 2 acts inconsistent with this act be and the same are
- 3 hereby repealed.
-
- 1 5. And be it enacted, That this act shall take
- 2 effect immediately.
-
-
- ONE DOLLAR EACH.
-
-
-“Woodside, 13 Mar. 1868.
-
-“Gentlemen—At a meeting of the citizens of Woodside, held last evening
-to consider the matter of a new Township it was resolved that the
-passage of the Bill now before the Legislature was desirable and Major
-Sears and Mr. Alfred Keen were appointed (with power to select three
-associates) to proceed to Trenton and urge the passage of said Bill.
-
-“It was also resolved that the means to defray the expenses of these
-gentlemen be provided by a contribution of one dollar each from the
-signers of the Memorial, and I was appointed to collect such
-contribution. It being impossible for me to spare the necessary time to
-call upon you all, I request that you will hand the amount to my son,
-the bearer.
-
- “Respectfully yours,
- ”C. C. HINE,
-
-“To Messrs. C. D. Morrison, Lorenzo Hart, Wm. A. Wauters, A. Bigelow,
-Edw. Carrigan, Jonathan Bird, E. Coeyman, Sam’l Royce, J. S. Gamble,
-Louis Dovell, T. H. Blake, E. B. Smith, Geo. W. Harlan, H. McFarlin, B.
-Dodd, T. A. Roberts, E. F. Higgins, P. Smith, J. P. Contrell, Dan’l F.
-Tompkins, N. Caughlin, Edw. Morrison, Jas. Swinnerton, Jr., J. C.
-McDonald, H. E. Joraleman, Geo. Ashmun, John H. Meeker, Wm. Dixon, Geo.
-T. Teel, A. Van Riper, J. P. Fowler, Alfred Sears, John I. Briggs, Geo.
-B. Callen, A. C. Neumann, W. J. Harlan, B. R. Sage, D. Evans, Geo. W.
-Keen, Owen Carroll, C. C. Hine, B. F. Baldwin, H. J. Winser, Wm.
-Jacobus, Stephen Joraleman, G. W. Cumming, E. G. Faitoute, Aaron H.
-Keen, Anthony Epworth, E. Charlier, Henry Farmer, Geo. W. Gore, Patrick
-Brady.”
-
-If there were more names than these they were on another sheet which has
-been lost.
-
-The separation was effected apparently without much difficulty, and
-thereafter for a brief period Woodside was independent. For the gobbling
-of it by Newark see the early pages of this book.
-
-
- REMINISCENCES BY MR. SWINNERTON.
-
-
-The following items are taken from the “Reminiscences” by Mr. James
-Swinnerton, which were read before the Woodside Sunday School on the
-occasion of its twentieth anniversary, 1887.
-
-“At first a single stage which ran every hour was the only public
-conveyance between Newark and Belleville. This region was then a very
-primitive neighborhood. Early comers recall the fact that Washington
-Irving and his friends roamed over these beautiful hills and wooded
-vales with gun and dog. It was a veritable Sleepy Hollow, and Irving,
-had he been a resident, instead of an occasional visitor, might easily
-have rendered the Passaic and its valley as famous as he did Tarrytown
-and the Hudson. The hill above Carteret street through which Washington
-avenue was cut was then a well known spot to sportsmen, quail,
-ground-doves and rabbits being the chief game as now recalled.
-
-“The infusion of new blood in Belleville quickened the old, a direct
-avenue to Newark was demanded and a horse railroad determined upon.
-Farmers and others gave their time and the use of their teams to break
-through the ridge north of Carteret street, and a rough pathway was made
-over the hills to the bluff on this side of Second river. Those
-traveling further north must do so on foot after descending the bluff by
-a steep flight of steps and crossing the river on a rickety foot bridge
-of logs.”
-
-
- THE WOODSIDE OF 1867.
-
-
-“The early settlers found a country beautiful to behold, but with the
-usual discomforts of a new place. There were no stores, when short of
-provisions neighbor must forage on neighbor; there were no schools,
-Sunday or secular; there were no churches, there were no Sunday horse
-cars—ride to church we could not. There were no sidewalks, but there was
-a superabundance of mud—walk, therefore, we dared not. Those who were
-bold enough to do so found mud over shoe and usually arrived at the
-church door in a state of mind. Mud in Woodside at this time came early
-in the fall, stayed the winter out and lingered through the spring.
-Goloshes were at a premium and blacking brushes at a discount.
-
-“A Woodsider of the period has been compared to a duck standing on one
-foot, with the difference that the duck stands thus from instinct, the
-Woodsider for the reason that he had no spot on which to place his other
-foot.
-
-“During the day the horse-cars ran on twenty and forty-five minutes’
-headway and seldom ventured out after dark, owing largely to the
-peculiar facility with which they ran off the track and the difficulty
-of setting them in the straight and narrow way again.
-
-“Your present get off, cross over and wait for the bob-car arrangement
-is an improvement on the past, decidedly; as such it may afford you some
-consolation and hope for the future”. (Mr. Swinnerton thus wrote in 1887
-when there was loud and prolonged indignation over the “bobtail” car
-service furnished Woodside).
-
-These with other discomforts made life in Woodside interesting and will
-serve to show the situation during the first year. We were without the
-bread of life—often short of the bread that perisheth.
-
-As there were no sidewalks the middle of the road was used as a foot
-path by those too early for the next car. “One day”, writes Mr.
-Swinnerton, “in the middle of the road, and in the spring of 1867, I met
-and was introduced to Mr. Hine. After the usual civilities Mr. Hine
-declared his purpose to start a Sunday school just as soon as he had
-moved into the settlement. This was good news, but I wondered how the
-ways and means were to be provided. Many of us had spent our last dollar
-when moving in, and there was not a spare room in the hamlet large
-enough to accommodate a Sunday school.”
-
-“Several months before this the residents met under an old apple tree
-before the door of a small carpenter shop (Morrison & Briggs’s) to
-consider church and other interests, but the carpenter shop had
-disappeared and the apple tree promised little comfort beyond shade.
-
-[Illustration: Home Of Mr. C. C. Hine, 209 Washington Avenue. In this
-house three churches have been organized, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and
-Dutch Reformed.]
-
-“When I ventured to ask ‘where?’ Mr. Hine’s reply ‘In my own house’
-afforded me a new experience. The notion of any one inviting the
-children of a neighborhood to his home for religious instruction was
-novel.”
-
-
- THE SUNDAY SCHOOL OF JUNE 16, 1867.
-
-
-“Business engagements prevented my attendance at the first session of
-the school, but its praises were sung by the bairns at home and on the
-second Sabbath I went over, expecting to find a few scholars and a
-teacher or two arranged around an out-of-the-way room. To my surprise
-teachers and scholars in crowds were pouring into the house by the front
-door. On entering I saw chairs and benches in the parlor and the room
-occupied by the larger children; the library held the infant department,
-and there was provision for a Bible class in the hall.
-
-“The school was in full swing—children singing—Mr. Hine leading and
-thumping a melodeon vigorously with one finger and a thumb—his practice
-when no five-fingered player was at hand.
-
-“This show of life and activity was contagious. I fell into line at once
-by offering to fill the position of librarian. Mr. Hine’s reply to my
-offer, ‘we will look no further, but you must find your own library’,
-was characteristic of the man and the school. Money and books were in
-hand by the following Sunday.”
-
-Church services were also held in the parlor of Mr. Hine’s house. The
-Rev. Mr. Scofield, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, Newark,
-preached the first sermon from the text, “What think ye of Christ?”
-Several city pastors filled the pulpit—or, rather, stood at the table,
-propping up the Bible with a pile of books.
-
-Invitations to preach were frequently extended in this form: “We shall
-be very happy to have you come, but there will be no fee and you must
-bring yourself as there are no cars, and not a horse in the whole
-congregation.” Ministers from a distance came Saturday nights and
-“boarded round”. Theological students accepted invitations, bringing
-their first sermon, and glad enough of an opportunity to try it on a
-real congregation.
-
-The following letter from Mr. Swinnerton, found among some of Mr. Hine’s
-old papers, is inserted here as it is interesting in this connection:—
-
-“Newark, N. J., July 16, 1867.
-
-“Mr. Hine:—
-
-“Dear Sir—Send this just to let you know how we got along with the
-meetings on Wednesday and the Sabbath and, I am happy to say,
-first-rate. At the prayer meeting there was a fair attendance. Mr. and
-Mrs. Boyden led the singing. Messrs. Teal, Bennett, Pettit, Teal Junior
-and myself took part in the exercise.
-
-[Illustration: The Front Door At 209 Washington Avenue. Through which
-the Sunday School teachers and scholars streamed each Sabbath for
-eighteen months beginning with June 16, 1867.]
-
-“The Sabbath school attendance was 56 against 57 Sabbath previous. Mr.
-Taylor gave us a new chapter in Sunday school experience. Singing good.
-
-“Mr. Dixon preached at night; the service very interesting; good
-singing. Mr. S. was not very well but remarked on Monday morning that it
-had done him more good to come up and preach for us and breathe the
-country air than if he had stayed at home. We had a full house. We
-filled the aisle with chairs and there were, besides, nearly a dozen
-persons in the hall. Mr. Pettit led on Wednesday. I report progress with
-books—bookcase painting.
-
-“Shall see about preaching for next Sunday to-day.
-
- “Yours truly,
- ”J. SWINNERTON.“
-
-
- A CHURCH BELL IS PROCURED.
-
-
-Occasionally an expected supply would fail to come, and those who
-gathered for the services were then disappointed. To meet this Mr. Hine
-purchased a bell and hung it in the tower of his house and this, by
-clangor or silence, gave notice to all the country side. There were no
-street lights, and those attending evening service on moonless nights
-have been likened unto swarms of fireflies as they ranged over the
-fields toward the house, every man with a lantern in hand.
-
-Building up a congregation without the help a pastor can give, and
-raising money for a church edifice, are no light tasks. Several of the
-families held cherished church connections in Newark which they were
-loath to give up; others were indifferent.
-
-
- FAIRS, CAKE SALES AND LECTURES.
-
-
-The few especially interested worked with varying experiences. Fairs
-were held, the ladies baked cakes and gave them to the fair, the cakes
-were purchased by their husbands and carried home again.
-
-In October Mr. Henry J. Winser gave a lecture for the benefit of the
-church in the house of Mr. Hine, his subject being his recent trip
-across the Atlantic in the Dunderberg. As showing the capacity of the
-house, a circular issued at the time states that “about 200 persons can
-be seated”.
-
-[Illustration: Fair Of The Woodside Presbyterian Church, In The Basement
-Of The Dutch Reformed Church Market Street.]
-
-The basement of a Newark church was secured for a midwinter festival
-(see copy of poster); we were snowed under, and with difficulty reached
-our firesides.
-
-An auction of choice engravings and Prang’s chromos was attempted in the
-third story of a desolate building in Newark near the Market one
-Saturday night. Few people attended the sale and none purchased the
-pictures. At a similar attempt in Belleville chromos to the value of
-$1.25 were sold and, on counting the cash, it was found to be
-thirty-seven cents short.
-
-
- THE RETREAT FROM BELLEVILLE.
-
-
-“Moscow to Napoleon was a trifle compared to our retreat from Belleville
-that wintry night. Silently we carried our goods through that
-long-drawn-out village. Looked at through the mist of time this appears
-like a trifling incident, but then the giant Despair loomed above us,
-and it was only the splendid courage of Mr. Hine and his indomitable
-energy and perseverance which kept us going. Family interests he
-sacrificed for the common weal. To every objection there came but one
-reply: ‘I have enlisted for the war, and until a permanent building is
-erected my doors will stand open.’”
-
-“They did stand open for eighteen months, or until January 3, 1869, when
-the second building erected for church and Sunday school purposes in
-Woodside opened its doors—the Woodside Presbyterian Church—St. John’s
-Church having been opened some months previous.” (Here ends Mr.
-Swinnerton’s very interesting paper).
-
-
- THE ERIE RAILROAD.
-
-
-One of the advertised inducements to settlers in Woodside was direct
-railroad connection with New York. The Erie had leased the Paterson,
-Newark & New York Railroad, which was opened in 1868 and connected with
-the Newark & Hudson Railroad to Jersey City, also leased to the Erie.
-This promised blessing was slow in coming, for at least three years
-elapsed before the New York connection was made, and in the meantime
-those whose business called them to the greater city must take the
-occasional horse car or walk to the D., L. & W. (which in those days
-stood for “Delay, Linger and Wait”).
-
-The Erie has ever been to a Woodsider as a red rag to a bull. The
-extremely limited service of the “Newark Branch” and the absolute
-indifference of the management toward the convenience of travelers have
-been so pronounced as always to give the impression that the road
-regarded passengers as a necessary evil, to be endured but not
-encouraged and, as a result, hundreds in the old days turned from it in
-disgust and went elsewhere. It is safe to say that the Erie was the
-chief factor in holding the growth of this section in check, while
-to-day its foul breath blackens the heavens and desecrates the landscape
-as its engines vomit vast clouds of smudgy soft coal smoke with a
-villainous impudence that can nowhere be equaled. The Erie is the only
-railroad with more than one stop in Newark that charges more to one
-station than to another, and no other gives so little or so poor
-service. Such is its uniqueness.
-
-
- THE MAKING OF A SUNDAY SCHOOL.
-
-
-Mr. Hine took up his abode in Woodside on April 1, 1867. The following
-circular shows how prompt he was in starting the Sunday School:—
-
- SUNDAY SCHOOL IN WOODSIDE.
-
- There will be a Sunday School at the house of Mr. C. C. Hine, on
- Belleville Avenue, on Sunday June 16, 1867, at Half-past Two
- o’clock, p. m. All who feel an interest in this work are cordially
- invited to be present at that hour. Arrangements have been made for
- good singing and plenty of it. This SUNDAY SCHOOL is intended to be
- permanent.
-
- In the Evening, at Eight o’clock, Rev. Mr. Scofield, from the
- Central Presbyterian Church of Newark, will preach on “THE
- PRECIOUSNESS OF CHRIST.”
-
- On Wednesday Evenings, at Eight o’clock, until further notice, there
- will be Social Prayer Meetings.
-
- All these Services are intended to be permanent.
-
-
- A “BEFORE-THE-WAR” STORY.
-
-
-Mr. Hine’s love for the Sunday school is so well known that no one will
-be surprised to learn that as a young man, and while traveling, he once
-taught a class in an Atlanta (Ga.) Sunday school.
-
-This was before the war, and Mr. Hine used to tell as a good joke on his
-self-esteem, how adults gathered about his class to listen, until they
-outnumbered the scholars. This naturally made him feel somewhat elated
-until he found later that his auditors, learning that he was from the
-North, had gathered to ascertain whether he would inject any abolition
-talk into his teaching. The young man, however, was too wise to try
-anything of that sort, and was more than thankful that he had been when
-he discovered the true cause of his popularity.
-
-
- THE MAKING OF A CHURCH.
-
-
-Even before the Sunday school Mr. Hine had inaugurated church services
-in his dwelling, as is evidenced by this second circular:—
-
- Presbyterian Church in Woodside.
-
- Since the 9th of June public worship has been held in a private
- house in Woodside, the Presbyterian ministers of Newark officiating.
- A weekly Prayer Meeting has also been sustained since the same date.
- A Sunday School was organized on the 16th of June, and its roll now
- includes 84 names.
-
- Application was duly made to Presbytery, and a committee of
- Ministers and Elders was appointed to visit Woodside and organize a
- Church, which duty they performed on the evening of Monday, Sept.
- 23d. Seventeen members united at that time, seven others have
- signified their intention of doing so, and it is thought the number
- will soon be increased to thirty.
-
- An eligible lot of nearly a half acre has been secured, and
- subscriptions, sufficient to pay for it, made by the residents. An
- appeal is now made to the Newark Churches for means with which to
- build a Chapel. $4,000 or $5,000 will be needed.
-
- The rapid growth and flattering prospects of Woodside are well known
- in this community, and the importance of FIRST occupying this
- promising field can hardly be over estimated. Generous encouragement
- promptly extended will, under God’s blessing, result in the speedy
- up-building of a much needed place of worship.
-
-[Illustration: Presbyterian Church, Carteret Street. The first church
-organized in the house of Mr. C. C. Hine.]
-
-
- THE FIRST CHURCH OF WOODSIDE.
-
-
-The following “Annals of the First Presbyterian Church of Woodside” are
-copied from memoranda in Mr. Hine’s handwriting:—
-
-“Woodside, Essex County, N. J.
-
-“June, 1867.
-
-“The first Public Worship held in Woodside was at 8 o’clock on the
-Evening of Sunday, June 9, 1867, in the house of Mr. C. C. Hine on
-Belleville avenue.
-
-“Rev. Wm. C. Scofield of the Central Presbyterian Church, Newark,
-preached a stirring discourse from the text, ‘What think ye of Christ?’
-
-“After the sermon it was announced that a Sunday school would be
-organized in the same place at 2-1/2 o’clock p. m. on the following
-Sabbath; and on a vote to establish and maintain a Social prayer meeting
-twenty hands were raised pledging attendance.
-
-“At this date the village of Woodside is a mere suburban settlement,
-containing some forty houses that have all been built within the past
-sixteen months (this, of course, refers to the Washington avenue
-neighborhood). The want of Church privileges has been deeply felt, and
-this movement is designed to supply that want, draw the people of Christ
-together and build up a Church wherein and whereby He may be honored and
-souls saved.
-
-“Saturday, June 8th, was a rainy day. The storm continued furious over
-night and until after midday Sunday. At sunset it was fair. Notice had
-been inserted in the Newark evening paper, and on Sunday afternoon
-forty-one houses were visited (by Mr. Hine himself) and personal
-invitation extended. About one hundred people assembled and the
-accommodations were crowded to their utmost capacity.
-
-“Wednesday Evening, June 12, 1867.
-
-“Twenty-five persons attended the first prayer meeting to-night. Messrs.
-Hine, Teal, Bennett and Pettit prayed—in the order written, and with
-singing and remarks and reading a part of Luke 12th the hour was
-profitably spent.”
-
-
- MR. HINE’S HOUSE THE FIRST CHURCH BUILDING.
-
-
-The parlor of Mr. Hine’s house was left unfurnished; it was a room 15x25
-feet and the arrangement was such that the hall and the “library” across
-the hall could be used as an overflow. He purchased benches for the main
-room and placed a speaker’s table at the front end of the room, so that
-it commanded the hall and beyond, as well as the parlor. A bell so heavy
-that it shook the entire house, when in use, was hung in the tower, and
-his eldest, who, though young, was a husky lad, recalls with many a
-smile how he used to shift those long, heavy benches to meet the varying
-requirements of the day, displaying a species of muscular Christianity
-at this time which greatly pleased his sire, and how he would sit on the
-tower stairs and study his Sunday school lesson while he rang the bell
-for church or school.
-
-But not all were of so becoming a disposition, for I am told that Mr. A.
-P. Scharff, who taught a class in Sunday school, called his scholars a
-“Band of Hope”, as that was the only thing he could do for them.
-
-I very clearly recall being a member of the infant class—Class No.
-9—under Miss Hannah Teel of blessed memory, and seating myself with
-other infants on the ledge of a book case in the library. If ever there
-was a good woman and a faithful one, it was Miss Teel, who watched over
-that infant class for many years, and who was wholly unconscious that
-she was doing anything more than her plain duty. That kindly face is
-indelibly impressed on the memory of many grown-ups who were once
-children of the infant class.
-
-Of Miss Teal an old-time neighbor says: “Her memory is dear to all who
-were children in the early seventies. She was a woman of much executive
-ability and, in addition to her Infant Class in the Sunday school, she
-had a school for young children. Her sway was mild, but firm, and she
-delighted in teaching the little girls not alone the four necessary
-branches and sewing, but also many gems of poetry suitable for their
-young minds. In her home she was the mainstay of the household.”
-
-Three churches were organized in this house, which can truly be called
-the First Church of Woodside: the Presbyterian, St. John’s Episcopal,
-and the Dutch Reformed, the latter being formed after a split in the
-Presbyterian congregation.
-
-
- A SPLIT IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION.
-
-
-In organizing the first church the majority favored the Presbyterian
-denomination, and funds were collected for a church building, which was
-duly erected on Carteret street. The first minister was one Clarence
-Eddy, and he proved so very unsatisfactory that he was soon invited to
-resign. I believe that the governing body of the Church had had occasion
-to censure the reverend gentleman for something, and later found that
-the minutes containing the censure had been tampered with. This was the
-last straw, and Mr. Eddy was given an easy opportunity to vacate, as the
-following letter indicates:—
-
-“Woodside, N. J.
-
-”June 15, 1870.
-
-“Rev. Clarence Eddy.
-
-“Dear Sir—The undersigned, members of your congregation, beg
-respectfully to express the belief that a dissolution of your connection
-with the church is, under existing circumstances, desirable.
-
-“We, therefore, earnestly request that you will take early steps to
-consummate the separation; and this we do in a spirit of kindness to
-yourself and of regard for the church. We entertain no sentiment of
-personal hostility towards you and desire the separation to be made in
-such a manner as shall least disturb your own feelings and interests,
-both professional and private, and best conserve all the important
-relations involved.”
-
-This letter was signed by forty-six members of the church, including the
-families of Messrs. Hine, Nichols, Halsey, Swinnerton, Beach, Dovell,
-Blackwood, Harlan, Briggs, Smith, Snowdon, McDonald, Whitehead, Coeyman,
-Boyden, Slater, Maclure, Carter, Snyder, Baldwin and Tompkins.
-
-Mr. Eddy refused to accept the gentle hint and it then became necessary
-to take the matter before the Newark Presbytery, which held several
-highly spiced meetings, and which finally decided that “we must support
-the poor minister”, as one of the other “poor” ministers incautiously
-stated in public, and there was nothing left for those who had organized
-the church and erected the church building but to resign.
-
-The following, taken from a newspaper clipping, shows what the
-separation meant to the church. The writer, who merely signs with the
-initial D, states that of the $5,000 already paid on the church, less
-than $450 were paid by those who remained, while some $4,500 were raised
-and paid by those “who, from self respect, have been obliged to leave
-it”, and more than two-thirds of the current expenses of the church were
-also paid by them. Personally I am just enough lacking in Christian
-charity to be pleased at the hole the Eddyites found themselves in, but
-that has long been a thing of the past and the bitter feeling then
-engendered is so completely forgotten that one who was in the front rank
-of the Eddyites can now say that “Mr. Hine was Woodside”.
-
-
- A PARTISAN.
-
-
-Mr. Daniel Halsey, who resided on Carteret street, at one time did
-business in Petersburg, Va., and it became the custom to have Mr. Halsey
-send to Petersburg for a colored girl when any of his neighbors desired
-such help; thus there was gradually formed a small colony of Southern
-negroes, who were usually intensely loyal to their employers. One of
-these, a large, husky negress named “Milly”, was employed by Rev. Mr.
-Eddy and thereby hangs a tale, as the story books say.
-
-Shortly after the split in the Presbyterian Church, and when the feeling
-was very bitter and the entire neighborhood was divided into “Eddyites”
-and “Hineites”, Mr. Hine had occasion to call on Mr. Eddy for some
-purpose and was conducted by that gentleman upstairs to his study.
-
-Two or three times during the interview Mr. Eddy, who was an extremely
-nervous man, thought he heard some one on the other side of the closed
-door and, excusing himself, got up to look out into the hall, but,
-seeing no one, resumed his seat. The conference over, Mr. Hine was shown
-out, and as Mr. Eddy returned to his study he saw standing in a niche
-near the head of the stairs his colored Milly, with a flat-iron in
-either hand and, as he approached she brandished her weapons, shouting
-as she did so: “Ah was ready for him! Ah was ready for him!” expecting,
-of course, there was to be a fight and recognizing her duty to her
-employer. Probably Mr. Hine never knew how close he came that day to a
-broken head.
-
-Milly was one of the impulsive sort and, so far as her lights went, she
-lived up to them. Mrs. Perry tells how, when she used to stand on the
-corner of Lincoln and Elwood avenues, hesitating to engage the sea of
-mud which lay between her and home, and which was usually over
-shoe-top—the real, red, Jersey mud—Milly, when she happened to spy her
-beloved Sunday school teacher in this predicament, would rush from the
-Eddy back door to the corner, pick up the little woman, tuck her under
-her arm and carry her across the street as a child might carry a doll.
-It was of no use to resist; Milly was as large as a man and as strong as
-two.
-
-
- PIONEERING IN WOODSIDE.
-
-
-In these crude times many were the emergencies that arose, and much
-ingenuity was called into play to meet them, for between the Erie
-Railroad and that farce known as the street car, Woodside was almost as
-isolated as an island in mid ocean. Thus the making of a mistake that in
-these days would be a trifle was sometimes momentous in its
-consequences.
-
-This gave a certain pioneer flavor to the situation and made of the
-community one great family where neighbor was dependent on neighbor, and
-thus brought out and developed character that the present easy times do
-not call out, and men and women loomed large or small as they actually
-deserved.
-
-One of the small-sized emergencies which arose had to do with a certain
-Sunday morning communion service in the Presbyterian Church, and the
-situation was like this:—
-
-Mrs. Cumming had made objection to the use of wine at the communion,
-claiming that its very smell was intoxicating and its influence bad, and
-the discussion that followed led to a resolve to try unfermented wine,
-which was then just beginning to be introduced. As a consequence Mr.
-John Maclure, at whose house the vessels used in the service were kept,
-and who had charge of the preparations for the service, made a special
-journey to New York to purchase a bottle of the unfermented wine.
-
-Mrs. Margaret Perry, a daughter of Mr. Maclure, tells how on the Sunday
-morning of this particular communion service, while she was practising
-the morning’s music on the church organ and her father was preparing the
-communion table, she heard an exclamation of surprise, and looked up to
-ascertain the trouble.
-
-Mr. Maclure was a Scotch Presbyterian, and was necessarily limited in
-his Sunday morning vocabulary, and there he stood in a momentary daze,
-and wholly unable to fit words to the situation, with a quart bottle in
-his hand which, instead of containing, as he had supposed, unfermented
-wine, was full of Carter’s best black ink. The clerk in New York had
-wrapped up the wrong bottle.
-
-Imagine the desolation of the situation when, after inquiring of Mr.
-Hall, rector of St. John’s, it was learned that he had only just enough
-for his own communion service, and there was no other where to turn, for
-there was probably not a bottle of wine of any sort in the small
-community.
-
-But here was demonstrated the pioneer readiness to meet and conquer the
-unexpected. Mr. Maclure gathered his family about him and all repaired
-to his garden, where the grapes were just beginning to ripen, and while
-some gathered others pressed the fruit, and by straining the mass
-through cheesecloth enough “unfermented wine” was secured to meet the
-situation and save the day.
-
-
- PASTORS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
-
-
-Following Mr. Eddy came Dr. James Evans, who served for five or six
-years; then the Rev. James A. Trimmer, four to five years; the Rev. Jos.
-W. Porter, five to six years; the Rev. Henry C. Van der Beek, who served
-nineteen years; during his pastorate the church was moved to Forest
-Hill. The present incumbent is the Rev. Frederick W. Lewis.
-
-
- SUNDAY SCHOOL IN THE ELLIOTT STREET SCHOOLHOUSE.
-
-
-Mr. Swinnerton writes that Mr. Hine did not favor the suggestion that
-another Sunday school be started when the subject was first proposed, as
-he was not willing to do anything that would appear like opposition or
-that might cause damage to his first love, but there were sixty-odd
-children among the families that had left the Presbyterian Church, and
-they were soon clamoring for Mr. Hine. In the meantime the trustees of
-the public school which had just been erected on Cottage, now Elliott,
-street, Messrs. Albert Beach, John C. Bennett and James Swinnerton,
-offered the use of the building for Sunday school purposes, and though
-Mr. Hine hesitated, they kept on with the work of organization and, when
-he fully appreciated the feeling, he yielded and, once his mind was made
-up, took hold in good earnest.
-
-
- FORMATION OF CHRIST CHURCH OF WOODSIDE.
-
-
-The Sunday school was naturally followed by a church organization, and
-the services of the Rev. John M. Macauley, who was then living in
-Belleville, were secured, Mr. Hine and Mr. E. A. Boyden being appointed
-a committee for this purpose. As a burned child dreads the fire, it was
-but natural that the first thought was for a church organization
-independent of all denominational control but, this not appearing
-feasible, it was later decided that the Reformed Dutch Church would
-satisfy the larger number, and that denomination was adopted.
-
-The following, taken from the church books, shows the method of
-procedure and gives the names of those who were active:—
-
-“Woodside, N. J., May 16, 1871.
-
-“At a meeting held at the house of Mr. Charles C. Hine, and composed of
-representatives from thirteen families of the neighborhood, it was
-resolved to organize a Church Society.
-
-“After reading of the scriptures and prayer being offered by Revd. Dr.
-Macauley and Messrs. C. C. Hine and H. H. Nichols, the meeting was
-formally organized by the election of Horace H. Nichols as Chairman and
-Jas. Swinnerton, Jr., as Secretary.
-
-“It was then voted to organize without a denominational name or
-connection, and on the standard of belief of the Presbyterian Church,
-and it was also decided, by a full vote, to call the Society ‘Christ
-Church of Woodside’.
-
-“A committee composed of H. H. Nichols, C. C. Hine, E. A. Boyden and
-Jas. Swinnerton, Jr., was appointed to post the legal notice and arrange
-a meeting for the election of officers, etc.
-
-“The meeting then closed with prayer by Dr. Macauley.
-
-“The persons present at the above meeting were:
-
-“Revd. Dr. Macauley,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Hine,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Nichols,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. A. Beach,
-
-“Mrs. Callen,
-
-“Mr. L. Dovell,
-
-“Mr. Stent,
-
-“Mr. Warnock,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Higgins,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Boyden,
-
-“Mr. and Mrs. B. G. Blackwood,
-
-“Mr. Jno. I. Briggs,
-
-“Mrs. Miller,
-
-“Mr. Dowling,
-
-“Jas. Swinnerton, Jr.
-
-“JAS. SWINNERTON, Jr., Secretary.
-
-“The following is a copy of a notice posted pursuant to vote of meeting
-held the 16th inst.:—
-
-“NOTICE!
-
-“Notice is hereby given that a meeting will be held at 8 o’clock on the
-evening of Tuesday, May 30, 1871, at the house of Mr. Chas. C. Hine, in
-Newark, Essex Co., N. J., to complete the organization of a church to be
-known as ‘Christ Church of Woodside’, and to elect officers for the same
-and to transact such other business in connection therewith as may be
-necessary. Persons desirous of uniting are requested to present their
-letters at that meeting.
-
- “H. H. NICHOLS,
- ”C. C. HINE,
- “JAS. SWINNERTON, JR.,
- ”E. A. BOYDEN,
- “Committee.
-
- “Woodside, May 18, 1871.
-
-“Woodside, May 30, 1871.
-
-“Pursuant to notice given, a meeting was held at 8 o’clock p. m. this
-day at the house of C. C. Hine, Esq.
-
-“After prayer by Rev. Dr. Macauley, the meeting organized by the
-election of Mr. H. H. Nichols as Chairman and E. F. Higgins as
-Secretary.
-
-“The notice calling the meeting was then read by the Secretary and,
-after some discussion, a paper was drawn up and signed by those persons
-present willing to unite in the proposed Church organization.
-
-“The following is a copy of said paper and signatures:—
-
-“We, the Undersigned, hereby organize ourselves as a Christian Church,
-to be known as ‘Christ Church of Woodside’, Essex Co., N. J., to be
-governed by such standards and regulations as may be hereafter adopted.
-(Signed by)—
-
- “H. H. NICHOLS,
- ”MARY C. NICHOLS,
- “AMELIA F. NICHOLS,
- ”C. C. HINE,
- “MARY H. HINE,
- ”JANE A. AVERY,
- “B. G. BLACKWOOD,
- ”R. T. BLACKWOOD,
- “E. A. BOYDEN,
- ”JANE D. BOYDEN,
- “LOUIS DOVELL,
- ”MRS. LOUIS DOVELL,
- “ALBERT BEACH,
- ”MARIA A. BEACH,
- “MRS. G. B. CALLEN,
- ”JAS. SWINNERTON, JR.,
- “ELIZABETH E. SWINNERTON.
-
-“Messrs. C. C. Hine and E. A. Boyden were appointed a committee to
-secure additional signatures.
-
-“It being thought desirable not to proceed further in the organization
-until the report of the committee had been received, the meeting
-adjourned to meet at the same hour and place on Tuesday evening, the 6th
-day of June, 1871,
-
- “ELMER F. HIGGINS,
-
-“Woodside, June 6, 1871.
-
-“An adjourned meeting was held at 8 o’clock p. m. at Mr. Hine’s house
-and, after prayer by Rev. Dr. Macauley, the officers of the last meeting
-presiding, the minutes of the first and second meetings were read by the
-secretary and approved.
-
-“Mr. Nichols reported having conferred with the Gentlemen interested in
-the Reformed Church, who stated that they did not intend to locate in
-Woodside.
-
-“Mr. Boyden for Committee to secure additional signatures, reported
-having seen several persons who stated that they would attend this
-meeting if possible, and that some were present.
-
-“Mr. Hine then read a form of covenant which was referred to a committee
-of three, consisting of Dr. Macauley and Messrs. Beach and Blackwood,
-for revision or amendment, who at once retired and, after about fifteen
-minutes, returned.
-
-“Dr. Macauley reported that the committee thought the paper remarkably
-well drawn up, but that they would suggest that the clause reading ‘that
-repentance to-ward God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and assistance
-from the Holy Ghost are sufficient to cleanse us from our sins and
-restore us to fellowship with our God’, be altered slightly in its
-phraseology, which alteration would not materially effect or change the
-meaning, as follows: ‘That through repentance towards God, and faith in
-our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, we may be
-cleansed from our sins and restored to fellowship with our God’, which
-amendment being accepted by Mr. Hine, this paper as amended was adopted
-and reads as follows:—
-
-“In the fear of God and with a sincere desire to promote the cause of
-Christ and our own growth in the divine life, we do now enter into
-covenant with God and with one another in the formation of a Church to
-be known as ‘Christ Church of Woodside’, the following being a brief
-summary of our belief. We take the scriptures of the Old and New
-Testament as the only rule of faith and practice; we avouch the Lord
-Jehovah to be our God and portion and the object of our supreme love and
-delight; the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Saviour from sin and death, our
-Prophet to instruct us, our Priest to atone and intercede for us, and
-our King to rule over, project and enrich us, and the Holy Ghost to be
-our Sanctifier, Comforter and Guide.
-
-“Unto this Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Ghost—we do without reserve
-and in a covenant never to be revoked, give ourselves to be his willing
-servants forever, and in humble reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ we
-promise to discharge our several duties, in the closet, in the family
-and in the community, and also to attend upon the stated means of Grace,
-the preaching of the Word and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s
-Supper.
-
-“We do humbly confess the total depravity of our natures, the enmity of
-our hearts against God and the manifold transgressions of our lives, but
-we believe, nevertheless, that through repentance toward God and faith
-in our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, we may be
-cleansed from our sins and restored to fellowship with our God; and as a
-further expression of our faith and belief we adopt the creed commonly
-known as the Apostle’s Creed.
-
-“We do bind ourselves by covenant to this Church, to watch over it in
-the Lord, to seek its peace and edification, to submit to the discipline
-of Christ as here administered and to strive together for the support
-and spread of the gospel of our Saviour in all ways as opportunity may
-be given us, relying only upon Him who is able to keep us from falling
-and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with
-exceeding joy.
-
-“On motion of Mr. Beach, Messrs. H. H. Nichols, C. C. Hine and B. G.
-Blackwood were elected as Elders for one year.
-
-“Messrs. A. Beach, E. A. Boyden, E. F. Higgins, Jas. Swinnerton, Jr.,
-and L. Dovell were elected as Trustees for one year.
-
-“After prayer by Dr. Macauley the meeting adjourned.
-
- “ELMER F. HIGGINS,
- ”Secretary.
-
-“Christ Church, Woodside, Newark, N. J., from which the First Reformed
-Church of that place was organized, held its first service of public
-worship in the schoolhouse on the corner of the old Belleville road and
-Cottage street, on the 19th of February, 1871, Rev. John M. Macauley, D.
-D., officiating. In the following month—March 12, 1871—Dr. Ray Palmer
-and Rev. Mr. Strieby preached; with this single exception Dr. Macauley
-continued to preach there for two years. During this time a call, signed
-by every member of the church not absent from home at the time, was
-tendered to Dr. Macauley to become the regular pastor of the church.
-
-“In September, 1872, the question of a denominational connection was
-decided in favor of the Reformed (Dutch) Church and application was made
-to the classis of Newark for admission. This application met favorable
-consideration and a committee consisting of Revs. E. P. Terhune, D. D.,
-J. P. Strong, D. D., C. E. Hart, and Elders A. C. Wheaton, James Browe,
-was appointed to visit Woodside and organize the church in accordance
-with the regulations of classis.
-
-“Woodside, October 30, 1872.
-
-“The committee appointed by classis to organize a Reformed Church at
-Woodside assembled for that purpose Wednesday evening, October 30th, at
-the schoolhouse. The exercises were opened by religious services. Rev.
-Dr. J. P. Strong preached a sermon from Psalm lxxxvii., 3d verse.
-
-“After these services the committee proceeded to receive the members,
-thirty-two in number, applying to be organized as a church.
-
-“The organization was completed by the election of Horace H. Nichols,
-Charles C. Hine and Baxter G. Blackwood as Elders, and James Swinnerton,
-Jr., Louis Dovell and E. A. Boyden as Deacons.
-
-“The following resolutions were adopted:—
-
-“Resolved, That the ordination of officers take place on Sabbath,
-November 17, 1872.
-
-“Resolved, That the title of the church be ‘Christ Church, The First
-Reformed Church, Woodside’.
-
-“November 17, 1872, after morning service, and in pursuance of previous
-action, the ordination of the officers elected October 30th was taken
-up, Dr. Macauley officiating. Mr. Boyden having declined to act as
-Deacon, Messrs. Dovell and Swinnerton were duly ordained to that office,
-and Messrs. Blackwood, Nichols and Hine as Elders.”
-
-[Illustration: Christ’s Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues. The
-first building of this congregation and the third church to be organized
-in the house of Mr. C. C. Hine. Note the horse cars.]
-
-During the summer of 1872 arrangements had been made for the erection of
-a neat chapel on an elevated piece of ground on Washington avenue and
-work on the same commenced. The building was completed during the
-following Spring and worship was begun therein on the 2d day of March,
-1873. The house was dedicated shortly afterward (March 9th), Revs.
-Terhune, Strong, Abeel, Hart and the pastor, Dr. Macauley, taking part
-in the services. The stained glass used in this building was a Woodside
-production, made by George Laerter in a small place in the neighborhood
-of Washington avenue and Halleck street.
-
-
- DR. MACAULEY THE FIRST PASTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH.
-
-
-On the 5th of March, 1873, at a meeting attended by all the elders and
-deacons, it was resolved to repeat the call to Dr. John M. Macauley, to
-become the settled pastor of the church. A committee was then appointed
-and instructed to proceed with that duty in conformity with the usages
-of the Reformed Church. The call was duly drawn up and, on the 31st of
-December, 1873, a meeting, moderated by Rev. Dr. J. P. Strong, of
-Belleville, was held, at which the instrument was completed and signed
-and ordered to be placed in Dr. Macauley’s hands for approval prior to
-presentation at the next regular meeting of classis.
-
-
- DR. JOHN M. MACAULEY.
-
-
-On May 3, 1874, Dr. Macauley was installed pastor of the church. The
-Doctor was a man of rare education, a delightful companion with a
-brilliant mind and a forceful and graceful method of speaking; a pulpit
-orator of the old school, trained in gesture, word and manner as well as
-mind. Will Cumming, of the River road, then a young man studying law,
-and himself unusually clever, used to come regularly to the Sunday
-morning service in order to study the Doctor’s polished manner and
-language. The Doctor was one of the very few who could preach a long
-sermon and hold the close attention of his audience to the last word.
-
-
- TWO UNMENTIONABLES.
-
-
-After the Doctor came two who covered a period extending from 1881 to
-1894, and concerning whom little that is agreeable can be recorded.
-However a search of the church records shows that on December 8, 1888, a
-bill for fertilizing the church lawn was submitted by the pastor and
-ordered paid; thus we see that his labors were not all in vain. During
-this period the church building was moved from No. 215 Washington avenue
-to the present location and a parsonage was erected in the rear.
-
-
- REV. ISAAC VAN WART SCHENCK.
-
-
-As is well known it is easier to get an old man of the sea on one’s back
-than to get rid of him, but the spell was finally broken when, on August
-13, 1894, a call was extended to the Rev. Isaac Van Wart Schenck, who
-proved to be the opposite in every respect of his two predecessors. Mr.
-Schenck was a whole-souled man who always gave his best to the church
-and he was greatly beloved by Mr. Hine.
-
-It is interesting to note that the first trolley car ran through
-Woodside on the first Sunday that Mr. Schenck preached in the church.
-
-
- REV. HENRY MERLE MELLEN.
-
-
-Mr. Schenck was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Merle Mellen in September,
-1900, and, under his administration, the present church edifice was
-erected, the success of this enterprise being largely due to Mr.
-Mellen’s exertions.
-
-[Illustration: Christ’s Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues. The
-second church edifice of this congregation. Erected 1906-7.]
-
-On December 6, 1903, the mortgage of $1,900 on the old church property
-was burned and the church cleared of all indebtedness.
-
-February 4, 1904, the question of erecting a new church edifice was
-publicly discussed by the congregation, and the minister was instructed
-to appoint a building committee of twenty members.
-
-March 10, 1904, the building committee met and organized with Judge
-Alfred F. Skinner as chairman, William B. Abbey as secretary, and George
-S. Bruen as treasurer. It was decided to limit the cost of building and
-furnishings to $25,000.
-
-April 29, 1905, Charles G. Jones of Belleville was selected as
-architect.
-
-March 20, 1906, it was decided to move the old building to the back of
-the lot.
-
-April 12, 1906, ground was broken for the new building.
-
-June 14, 1906, the corner stone was laid under the auspices of the
-Classis of Newark.
-
-January 20, 1907, the new church was opened for worship.
-
-January 21, 1907, the building was dedicated.
-
-Memorial windows to the memory of Mr. C. C. Hine and Mrs. Mary H. Hine,
-to Mrs. Anna W. Hine and to the parents of Mr. Mellen, the minister,
-were placed in the building.
-
-The cost of the new church complete was a trifle over $46,000.
-
-This brief outline by no means tells the story. As before stated, the
-inception of the church is due to the Rev. Henry Merle Mellen, and the
-raising of money was also largely due to Mr. Mellen’s activity and
-unselfish devotion to the cause. The building committee was more than
-fortunate in its chairman and members, and the result of their work is
-an ornament to the locality.
-
-
- INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH.
-
-
-During the very early days of the church on the hill, sexton Budd
-introduced his patent gasoline lamps for lighting purposes, and no doubt
-was proud of his accomplishment, but why the crazy things did not blow
-up the first time they were lighted is the chief mystery of the
-situation. As nearly as we can recall the outfit consisted of the
-ordinary glass font with a small metal tube at the top through which the
-vapor arose, which gave light when a match was applied. These did not
-stay long, for Mr. Hine, who was an insurance man, very shortly
-discovered their possibilities.
-
-The lighting of Christ Church was first accomplished with kerosene
-lamps, there being no gas in the neighborhood then, except that made on
-the premises of Mr. Hine for his own house. It occurred to that
-gentleman that he could attach the church (which then stood on the lot
-adjoining his home) to that same gas machine, and thus do away with the
-dim and troublesome kerosene burners.
-
-The idea was good, but the pumping machinery which forced the flow of
-gas through the pipes was inadequate for the extra work and, as a
-result, the pump must be wound up by hand two or three times during a
-Sunday evening. This usually fell to the lot of the small boys who did
-not go to evening service, they being strictly charged to visit the
-cellar every thirty minutes or so and do the necessary work; but small
-boys had a way of getting sleepy in those days, and there is a tradition
-that Mr. Hine, being warned by the gradual dimming of the lights, had to
-leave the church in a great hurry occasionally and operate the pump
-himself.
-
-
- THE CHURCH CHOIR.
-
-
-Mr. Hine was musical to his finger tips and found great enjoyment in the
-practice of the art. In his youth he composed a number of songs and
-ballads which were published in St. Louis. Naturally he had charge of
-the church music, and among the pleasantest experiences of his life were
-the choir rehearsals, and particularly was this the case when Mr. Jay
-Ten Eyck presided at the organ and the quartet choir consisted of Mrs.
-F. W. Schmidt, Mrs. Dr. J. E. Janes, Mr. Harrison I. Norton and Mr.
-Hine. One who knew him well at that time has said that “he was just like
-a boy going to a ball game when he came down to the church on choir
-rehearsal nights”, such was his enthusiasm.
-
-The selection and preparation of special music for Easter and other
-occasions gave him the most keen delight. At such times he would come
-home with an armful of carols and spend evening after evening trying
-them, usually with his flute, his daughter-in-law being at the piano.
-The possibilities were then taken up by the choir and the resulting
-music was reasonably good, though considerable good natured fun was
-poked at the choir-master on one occasion, at least, when, after having
-labored earnestly over a long Easter Sunday anthem the domine
-immediately began his prayer with, “Oh, Lord, we thank Thee that it is
-finished”.
-
-Mr. Hine was notably successful with the Sunday school music, having a
-peculiar faculty for arousing the enthusiasm of children. His “Now,
-children!” brought prompt and complete attention from all, and he was so
-absorbed himself in the work and was so much a part of it that the
-children abandoned themselves to his sway and responded with a gusto
-that made the singing of the school a great feature.
-
-
- WOODSIDE, 1868-9.
-
-
-Woodside was set off from Belleville in 1868 and lasted as an
-independent town just about two years. Again I fall back on Mr.
-Swinnerton, who was town clerk both years, for details. He says:—
-
-“When the new element came it found a lot of old-timers, very glad to
-welcome us and to benefit by the church and Sunday school privileges,
-but unwilling to spend any money for street or sidewalk betterment.
-Belleville contained many of the same sort, but there were some there
-who helped us secure our set-off into a township.”
-
-
- WOODSIDE TOWNSHIP.
-
-
- UNION TICKET.
-
- For Judges of Election,
- CHARLES AKERS,
- EDWARD P. SNOWDEN,
- HORACE B. NICHOLS.
-
- For Assessor,
- NATHANIEL J. CRANE.
-
- For Collector,
- JAMES S. GAMBLE.
-
- For Town Clerk,
- JAMES SWINNERTON, JR.
-
- For Justice of the Peace,
- ELIAS OSBORN.
-
- For Town Committee,
- CHARLES AKERS,
- MILES I’ANSON,
- JOSEPH I. DOWLING,
- HORACE CARTER,
- JOHN McMULLEN.
-
- For Commissioners of Appeal,
- JOHN C. BENNETT,
- EDWARD G. FAITOUTE,
- JOHN I. BRIGGS.
-
- For Chosen Freeholder,
- CHARLES AKERS,
- HORACE H. NICHOLS.
-
- For Constables,
- JOHN BURKE,
- BETHUEL MUNN,
- PHINEAS M. SMITH.
-
- For Surveyors of Highways,
- TRUMAN H. ALDRICH,
- GEORGE K. HARRISON,
- JOHN C. BENNETT.
-
- For Pound Keepers,
- NATHANIEL J. CRANE,
- JOHN C. BENNETT,
- JOHN I. BRIGGS,
- JOHN McDONALD,
- GEORGE K. HARRISON.
-
- Road Tax $4,000 00
- School Tax, per child 3 00
- Poor Tax 500 00
- Dog Tax, as the law allows.
- Incidental Expenses 500 00
-
-“The village had scarce gained its independence, however, when it was
-saddled with a heavy debt in the shape of bonds for the Midland (now
-Greenwood Lake) Railroad. This made it imprudent to attempt the raising
-of money for local improvements, but the year Mr. Hine was on the Town
-Committee $4,000 was raised for street improvements and divided between
-the five districts of River road, Washington avenue, Back road,
-Bloomfield road and the cross road in Woodside. Mr. Hine spent $600 in
-making a gravel walk from the cemetery to Carteret street, and gave the
-remaining $200 to General Cumming for use on the Gully road.
-
-“Our portion went to Soho (which appears to have been then a part of
-Woodside). The others stirred the ground a little, leaving the mud as
-deep as ever.” Woodside was an awful mud-hole in wet weather.
-
-The Town Committee met at night, usually in the house of Mr. Swinnerton,
-Town Clerk; none but the town officers attended these meetings. The two
-annual town meetings were held in a small hall on Washington avenue,
-opposite the Morrison & Briggs carpenter shop; this hall burned later.
-Two or three informal meetings were held in a small carpenter shop
-standing in Mr. Swinnerton’s yard, on the northeast corner of Elwood and
-Lincoln avenues (this was the first Morrison & Briggs shop). Here
-Woodside was given its present name.
-
-So far as can now be recalled the Town Committeemen were General
-Cumming, for the River road; Mr. Hine, for Washington avenue; either Mr.
-Phillips or Mr. Faitoute, for Lincoln avenue; Charles Akers, for the
-Bloomfield road; “a fine, old Irish gentleman for Soho”, and Joseph
-Dowling for the cross street. James S. Gamble was Treasurer.
-
-
- A WOODSIDE TRAGEDY.
-
-
-Possibly the only tragedy connected with Woodside was the shooting of
-Albert D. Richardson on December 2, 1869. Mr. Richardson was a
-celebrated newspaper correspondent and an author of some note. He had
-traveled over a large part of the United States and had settled in
-Woodside because of its rural beauty, having purchased the house built
-by Miles I’Anson, which now stands on Summer avenue, facing Chester.
-
-A Mrs. McFarland, who was later known to literature as Abbie Sage
-Richardson, and who came of a good Boston family, married Daniel
-McFarland, the black sheep of a prominent New York family, and, after
-supporting him for a reasonable length of time, she secured a divorce.
-Mr. Richardson assisted her in establishing herself, and about this time
-McFarland, while under the influence of liquor, met him in the office of
-the Tribune and shot him down. Richardson was removed to the Astor House
-and lived for a week. He was a widower with three young children and,
-desiring Mrs. McFarland to look after them, he married her while on his
-deathbed.
-
-
- WOODSIDE AND THE STREET CAR.
-
-
-From the beginning and up to comparatively recent times Woodside has
-been compelled to make a continuous fight for proper street car service.
-
-The first car track laid extended from the cemetery to Orange street,
-where it met the track which had been laid in 1862 from Market street.
-There was but one car, and that was pivoted on the trucks so that, a
-king bolt being drawn, the body of the car was swung around while the
-trucks remained on the track—this instead of reversing the horses to the
-other end of the car, as was done later. About 1865 the tracks were
-extended north through Woodside to Second river, to what was then known
-as “Flanigan’s station”, and for six years they went no further.
-
-It was many years before the Woodside section was treated as part of the
-main line, all sorts of bob-tail excuses being offered us. Cars would
-come as far as the “Pump” (cemetery), and there passengers could wait
-for the “bob-tail” or walk as they saw fit. There was no shelter against
-the winter’s storm or shade from the summer sun. “Old Mose”, who watered
-the horses at the pump, which stood just about where the Washington
-avenue sidewalk on the west now ends, was possessed of a movable bench
-which followed the shadows of the trees as the sun made its daily
-progress through the heavens, and this was the only spot whereon to rest
-our weary bones while waiting. Mose was a good natured old soul whom
-every one liked, and was as much of an institution as was the old
-West-farm pump from which he drew the water for the horses. His “Now,
-William, let her propel”, when it was time for a car to start, became a
-by-word.
-
-Naturally those living in Woodside were always grumbling at the poor car
-service furnished, and there was a constant fight with Mr. Battin, and
-later with Mr Barr, and many a delegation descended on the Board of
-Aldermen, and almost invariably its head and front was Mr. Hine who,
-while he loved peace, did not believe in peace at any price. The
-company’s charter required that all cars should run to the city line
-(Second river), and Mr. Hine, with his wonted energy, at once
-inaugurated an active campaign by writing to the papers as well as
-stirring up the City Fathers, and by dint of his “sticktoitiveness”, as
-he called it, he won his point and the octopus was forced to loose his
-tentacles and be subject to the law governing its agreements.
-
-In this connection a friend writes concerning Mr. Hine: “I remember, of
-course, his prominence in our town meetings and meetings after Woodside
-became annexed to Newark. He was the best speaker by far in our section,
-and better versed in parliamentary rules, so that he kept the meetings
-in better order than they would otherwise have been. He had a great
-faculty of leading people to state their views, thus getting a subject
-well ventilated and adding much interest to a meeting. In consequence of
-his great ability for speaking he was always chosen leader of our
-citizens’ delegations whether to the City Fathers for better horse car
-facilities, or to the Erie Railroad officials for improvements on that
-‘system’.”
-
-
- NOTES ON MR. HINE’S CHARACTER.
-
-
-Mr. Hine’s character was of a grade not often met with. I was with him
-probably more than any one else, as for many years we came and went
-together morning and night and were closely associated during business
-hours, and I can in all truth say that never once have I heard him utter
-a word, even by implication, that could not have been uttered in any
-presence, nor did I ever hear him gossip of his neighbors nor offer a
-criticism of any one not present except once, and that was so gentle
-that, had it come from another, it would have passed unnoticed. In this
-one case he referred to an erratic genius who played the church organ
-for many years, and who sorely tried his patience.
-
-But it must not be supposed that because of his gentle ways Mr. Hine
-could not fight. Nothing could stop him when a sense of duty impelled;
-not even the fear of death—if he ever had any such fear. As an instance:
-When traveling for the Ætna Insurance Company Mr. Hine, shortly after
-his marriage, and when a wife and baby were dependent on him, was sent
-to a town in Arkansas to establish an agency for the company, being
-instructed to select a certain man if he was found to qualify.
-
-They met and Mr. Hine, being satisfied, gave the man his commission as
-agent, but during the following evening he discovered that his new
-appointee had celebrated by getting drunk, and immediately concluded to
-take up the agency. Those acquainted with the man, however, insisted
-that he do nothing of the sort, stating that his agent was a fire eater,
-who would accept it as a personal insult and would shoot.
-
-Mr. Hine believed that only a coward carried arms and never did so
-himself, though he had been much in the Southwest and recognized the
-small value put on life (this was about 1857 or 8). However he saw what
-he believed was his duty and, while admitting later that he faced the
-man with considerable fear of the consequences, he did face him, and as
-briefly and with as little sting as possible, stated his reasons for
-withdrawing the commission. Strange to say the “fire-eater” acknowledged
-the justice of the move and expressed himself as sincerely sorry at the
-outcome. Only the highest class of courage can compel a man to face such
-a situation.
-
-I once by chance heard him tell an individual himself that he was either
-a knave or a fool, but neither knew that the remark was overheard, and
-Mr. Hine never again spoke of the matter so far as I know. He could tell
-the man himself, if necessity demanded it, but would never speak of it
-to others.
-
-His contempt for money, except for the good it could be made to do, was
-genuine and deep seated. His charities, considering his limited income,
-were boundless, as evidenced by his check stubs after his death. An
-examination of these showed merely that the $50 or $100 had gone to “an
-old friend”, or were marked with the one word “charity”. While in many
-cases money thus handed out was ostensibly loaned, Mr. Hine early
-learned never to expect its return, and he was seldom disappointed. One
-of his pet aphorisms, “gratitude is a lively sense of favors to come”,
-was frequently applied to this situation.
-
-The fact that he was imposed on and defrauded by charity fakirs time and
-again never made any difference; the next time he would take chances
-rather than run the risk of not helping where help was needed. He often
-said that “he could swallow anything he could get through his shirt
-collar”, and his shirt collar was a mighty easy affair, as many “a
-friend in need” discovered.
-
-On the other hand, no matter how much it might curtail his income by
-antagonizing a customer, he would hit every head in sight if he thought
-it deserved it, and he knew how to hit—none better. He had a way of
-grasping a situation and clarifying its follies or crooked features that
-was at times merciless.
-
-As before stated, Mr. Hine’s opportunities for school education were
-limited in his youth. On the other hand, his knowledge was almost
-universal. How he kept abreast of the times as he did was a mystery,
-even to his own family, for he had no time to read, beyond his morning
-and evening paper between home and office. His evenings, when not filled
-with church matters, were largely taken up by those who were ever
-calling on him for help and who never went away without receiving the
-best he had to give, whether they were young or old, or the poorest of
-the poor. He would explain a matter to a child with as much courtesy and
-patience as to an adult.
-
-On one occasion when he was confined to the house with some slight
-indisposition a small girl appeared at the back door with a straggling
-bunch of field flowers in her hand and handed it in with the simple
-message, “Tell Mr. Hine that I love him”. Hardly anything could have
-touched the recipient more deeply, and yet that small girl voiced a
-sentiment that was almost universal among those who knew him best.
-
-Mr. Hine was as punctilious in doing for his own boys as for the church,
-and while he believed in making them earn those things they desired,
-that they might the more fully appreciate them, he always stood by his
-agreements, not only in letter but in spirit. His idea seems to have
-been to make the boy feel satisfied that he had been given a square
-deal. Possibly one or two small instances will do no harm here:—
-
-One of the boys once saw a velocipede in a Newark store that he thought
-he wanted, and began to save his money for that purpose. As I recollect
-it, the machine was to cost $12. In the meantime the father saw one in
-New York for $10 that looked to him just as good, and told the youngster
-about it, and announced that he would bring it out. On arrival it proved
-to be a size or two smaller—a $10 size—and the boy was disappointed, but
-instead of telling him it was just as good, he seemed to get down to the
-lad’s level and appreciate that it was a matter of importance to him,
-and he made good without a hint of grumble at the extra trouble involved
-in taking the machine back and bringing out the larger one, and he paid
-the added $2 himself. He had said he could get one just as good for less
-money. He seemed to expect no particular thanks, merely giving the
-impression that he was only doing what he had agreed to do.
-
-Mr. Hine’s eldest was probably born with a streak of tar in his
-composition, for he has been an ancient mariner ever since I first knew
-him. No sooner was the boy large enough to run around a bit than he
-wanted a row boat on the river; but his father promptly responded to
-such a proposition with, “No, young man; not until you can swim across
-the river”, evidently in the belief that this was still some seasons
-off. But the lad wanted the boat, and the moment he could stand the
-temperature he was in the river, and generally several times a day (his
-mother never suspected how often), and by hard work and much persistence
-he managed to get the hang of the thing long before the summer was out,
-and one day announced that he could swim across the river and wanted the
-boat.
-
-Naturally his father was a bit incredulous, but they went to the water’s
-edge, and while the elder hired a boat at the Point House, the son
-retired to the privacy of the Melius dock and stripped for the ordeal.
-His clothes were put in the boat and the two started, and you can be
-sure that the father kept close by in case of accident, but there was
-none, and the boy got across all right. Then his father asked if he
-could swim back, and he said he would try, and did.
-
-No sooner were his clothes on again than he said: “Now, can I have that
-boat?” and quite as promptly came the answer, “Yes; we will go down town
-now and get it”. There was no quibbling or hesitation or delay, and no
-matter how the father may have felt in allowing his small son to have a
-boat, he had given his word and that settled it, and within the hour the
-lad was rowing up the river in his own boat, as proud as any small boy
-could be and without any idea of the situation except that both parties
-to the bargain had lived up to it.
-
-His methods of punishment were usually well fitted to the occasion. I
-still recall one instance with a clarity of vision that omits no detail.
-Mr. Hine was left in charge of the Winser premises during the absence of
-that family in Europe and, during that portion of the year when “sling
-shots” are in vogue, a group of young highwaymen, of which the younger
-two hopefuls of the Hine family were members, thought it was fine fun to
-sling stones between the blinds of the Winser house, then vacant, and
-hear the glass smash. But one day Mr. Hine discovered what was going on,
-and appointed himself a committee of one to investigate. He made no fuss
-whatever—just said we would have to replace the glass. It made no
-difference that others besides ourselves had helped in the mischief; if
-the others would help to pay for it that was all right, but none of his
-affair. Of course few of the other boys could see the thing from our
-point of view, and it took just about all of our little hoard, which had
-almost reached the point where we could purchase a greatly desired
-printing press, to pay for the damage. It was a cruel blow, but we never
-broke any more glass.
-
-Mr. Hine, just as a matter of course, did any little thing he could for
-friend or neighbor; it never occurred to him to hesitate when he saw the
-opportunity.
-
-When the matter of a station agent was first being agitated for the
-Woodside stop on the Newark branch of the Erie, one who thought he
-wanted the job fixed up a petition and went to the depot one morning to
-secure the signatures of such commuters as he knew. Seeing Mr. Hine and
-hoping for his name to head the list, he offered the paper to him,
-asking that he sign it if he approved. After reading Mr. Hine not only
-signed, but himself took the paper to every man present and insisted
-that each one sign, responding to those who objected that they did not
-know the young man, that he did, and had known him almost all his life,
-and knew he was safe to indorse. The result was that twice as many
-signatures were secured from that group as were hoped for. It was a
-small thing, but the prompt and hearty way in which it was done made it
-a benediction, and that man still thinks of Mr. Hine with pleasure and
-likes to tell why.
-
-
- MRS. MARY HAZARD AVERY HINE.
-
-
-Mrs. Mary Hazard Avery Hine was born in Westport, Conn., January 29,
-1821. Her parents removed to the West when she was a young woman, and
-she met Mr. Hine in St. Louis, Mo., and there married him. Mrs. Hine was
-educated in New Haven, receiving the best schooling which that city
-could give a girl eighty odd years ago, and she grew up under favoring
-circumstances. She was a woman of fine mind and great breadth and
-strength of character, and a recognized leader.
-
-Mrs. Hine was the third president of the Y. W. C. A. of Newark, and
-remained at its head through the many trying years of its youth, and
-when it was a very different institution from the present and very
-differently managed. She was also for many years president of the New
-Jersey branch of the Women’s Indian Association, and one of its most
-active members.
-
-Nearer home she organized and conducted a Zenana Mission Band which, in
-itself, would have been considered work enough by most women and, in
-addition, she carried on a large Bible class in the Sunday school—all
-this without interfering in the least with her household duties, which
-she was slow to delegate to others.
-
-
- THE ZENANA MISSION BAND.
-
-
-The Zenana Mission Band, which was started by Mrs. Hine, became quite an
-institution, with its bi-weekly meetings and annual fair, which were
-held in the home at 209 Washington avenue. Just when it was begun, or
-how, I am unable to state, but it was many years ago, and the meetings
-were only stopped when advancing years compelled Mrs. Hine to give up
-the responsibility.
-
-The meetings began early in the fall and lasted the day out. These
-continued until a fair was given during the following May or June, at
-which time the entire lower floor of the house was stripped of its
-furniture and devoted to the event. Tables and booths for the sale of
-all manner of articles, from embroidery to ice cream, being erected in
-every available corner.
-
-Mrs. Hine designed the embroidery patterns used and both she and Miss
-Avery, being expert with the needle, began the pieces and set the pace
-for the others, they having been brought up at a time when household
-duties and the finer uses of the needle were a part of every girl’s
-education. Some of those with whom I have talked look on the educational
-value to those who came to these meetings as possibly the more important
-feature, believing that many of the young women who attended would never
-otherwise have had their taste and skill for such work developed, for
-the embroidery was most rich and elaborate, requiring exceedingly
-careful manipulation.
-
-When the fair fell on rainy times and the fancy goods did not go off as
-desired Miss Avery would take a bundle of the best to New York and there
-dispose of the articles among her friends, for just about so much money
-was wanted to send out to India each year, and if it did not come it
-must be gone after.
-
-
- MISS JANE A. AVERY.
-
-
-In this connection I cannot forbear from a brief word concerning Miss J.
-A. Avery, Mrs. Hine’s sister and aid in all good works. Miss Avery was
-one of the most lovable persons I have ever met, her self-sacrificing
-spirit and constant thought of others being most marked. And with a
-saintly spirit she had an attractive personality quite beyond the
-ordinary.
-
-She has been compared to a bit of delicate Sevres china, and possibly
-that is as good a comparison showing her daintiness as could be made,
-but Miss Avery was something more than merely attractive; her devotion
-to any duty in hand was such that she never had a thought of fear, nor
-did she allow the discomfort of pain to interfere. Before the day of
-trained nurses she was caring for an uncle—Judge Edward Avery of
-Massillon, Ohio—who required constant attention, and while so engaged
-the bones of one foot were crushed by the falling of a heavy iron. The
-doctor insisted that she must not stand on this foot, but this
-injunction she felt it was impossible to obey, and made that same doctor
-whittle out a thin board and bind it to the injured foot, and thus she
-hobbled about in constant pain, but giving the unremitting attention
-required by her patient.
-
-One who knew Miss Avery well for many years writes that she “was one of
-those rare characters whose mission it is to bring comfort and cheer to
-their fellows. She was one of those large natures of whom Goethe says,
-‘They impress not by what they do, but by what they are’.
-
-“Wherever she went she was welcome; she had the remarkable faculty of
-seeing at a glance what was needed, and without a word doing the right
-thing, the wonderful gift of tact which, with a loving nature, makes the
-possessor a tower of strength. So winning was her personality that she
-made friends wherever she went, and always said laughingly that she
-could travel all over Europe with only her mother-tongue.”
-
-It is impossible at this date to go into details concerning all those
-who were active during the early days of this period, but there are a
-few in regard to whom I have been able to secure some bits of
-information.
-
-
- MR. HORACE H. NICHOLS.
-
-
-Mr. Horace H. Nichols was a man who left his impress on all those who
-came in contact with him. Mr. Nichols was a carpenter and builder in
-Newark before his removal to Woodside. He secured the contract for
-fencing the cemetery and that brought him this way, and the beauties of
-the country gave him a longing to turn farmer, and so he bought a
-considerable tract here in 1846, and in 1852 built the white house which
-still stands back from the road. Here he started the growing of fruit,
-and was very successful, as many of us can testify.
-
-Mr. Nichols had the character of a saint and, while not an aggressive
-man, was always ready “to dig down in his jeans” whenever the church
-called for help, and was ever looking for the opportunity to do his
-share—rather an unusual trait.
-
-
- REMINISCENCES OF MR. HENRY J. WINSER.
-
-
-Mr. Henry J. Winser was not with us during much of the very early
-period, owing to his appointment as consul at Sonneberg, Germany, during
-the eight years when Grant was President, and also through the term of
-President Hayes, and he had little opportunity for local activity.
-
-Mr. Winser’s earliest experience in the War of the Rebellion was as
-military secretary (with the rank of first lieutenant) to Col. Elmer E.
-Ellsworth, whose blood was the first shed in the war.
-
-The friendship with Ellsworth began in 1855 when he came to New York, a
-youth of seventeen, from his home in Saratoga County, hoping to be
-appointed as cadet to West Point. In this, however, he was disappointed,
-as the politicians desired the places for their friends’ sons.
-
-He then began the study of law in Chicago, but also kept up his study of
-the art of war and, becoming impressed with the tactics of the French
-Zouaves during the Crimean War, and being well known in military circles
-in Chicago, it was an easy matter for him to form a company. This was
-organized as the Ellsworth Zouaves, and was composed of the flower of
-the youth of Chicago.
-
-The fame of the “Chicago Zouaves” had become so widespread that a year
-or two before the war Ellsworth was asked to bring his men East, and so
-great was the enthusiasm over their exhibition that Colonel Ellsworth’s
-methods were soon widely copied.
-
-At the time of Mr. Lincoln’s election to the Presidency, Ellsworth was
-employed in his law office. He accompanied him to Washington and
-remained near the President during the unsettled period which followed
-the inauguration. He was among the first to obtain a military commission
-from President Lincoln, and was sent to New York with instructions to
-form a regiment from the ranks of the Volunteer Fire Department of the
-city in the shortest possible time.
-
-Mr. Winser was impressed into the service on this occasion. In a very
-short time Ellsworth had twelve-hundred men enlisted and mustered into
-the service of the United States under the call for three months’
-volunteers, and in the extraordinarily brief period of three weeks from
-the time he arrived in New York he marched at the head of a thousand
-well-equipped men to the steamship at the foot of Canal street. On
-reaching Washington this body of raw recruits was at first given
-quarters in the Capitol building, owing to lack of camp equipage.
-
-There were many anomalous things connected with the organization of the
-volunteer forces in the early stages of the war, and not the least
-anomalous was the fact that Ellsworth appointed Mr. Winser his military
-secretary, with the rank and uniform of first lieutenant.
-
-The advance into Virginia had been determined upon and instructions were
-given to embark at two o’clock in the morning for Alexandria. Ellsworth
-then entered the tent which he and Mr. Winser shared and asked the
-latter to get some sleep while he finished his final arrangements. Then
-it was that he wrote that brief, but pathetic letter to his parents
-which drew tears from many unaccustomed eyes after it was published. The
-letter is in an old scrapbook of Mr. Winser’s, and reads as follows:—
-
- “Headquarters First Zouaves,
- ”Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 23, 1861.
-
-“My dear Father and Mother:—
-
-“The regiment is ordered to move across the river to-night. We have no
-means of knowing what reception we shall meet with. I am inclined to the
-opinion that our entrance to the city of Alexandria will be hotly
-contested, as I am just informed that a large force has arrived there
-to-day. Should this happen, my dear parents, it may be my lot to be
-injured in some manner. Whatever may happen, cherish the consolation
-that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred duty, and to-night,
-thinking over the probabilities of the morrow and the occurrences of the
-past, I am perfectly content to accept whatever my fortune may be,
-confident that He who noteth the fall of a sparrow will have some
-purpose even in the fate of one like me. My darling and ever-loved
-parents, good-bye. God bless, protect and care for you.
-
-ELMER.“
-
-Just as daylight was breaking on the morning of the twenty-fourth of
-May, the steamers carrying the Ellsworth Zouaves arrived at Alexandria.
-The commander of the sloop-of-war Pawnee, which lay off Alexandria, had
-already proposed terms of submission which had been accepted by the
-city, and it was supposed that there would be no resistance to the
-occupation of the town.
-
-The following is Mr. Winser’s account of what occurred:—
-
-“Ellsworth was the first to land, and then Company E, Captain Leveridge,
-formed upon the wharf. Without waiting for the remainder of the regiment
-to disembark the Colonel gave some hurried instructions for interrupting
-the railroad communication and, calling to me, said: ‘Winser, come with
-me to the telegraph office. It is important to cut the wires.’ Mr. E. H.
-House, correspondent of the New York Tribune, had accompanied the
-expedition, and he and the Rev. E. W. Dodge, chaplain of the regiment,
-who were standing near, asked if they might go with us. We had gone only
-a few paces when I suggested to Ellsworth that perhaps it would be well
-to take a squad of men as an escort. He assented at once and I soon
-overtook him with a sergeant and four men from Company A. We ran up the
-street for about two blocks on a double-quick in the supposed direction
-of the telegraph office, meeting a few sleepy-looking people on the way.
-The Colonel at this moment caught sight of a large Confederate flag
-which had just been raised above the roof of a building apparently two
-or three blocks distant to the left. He at once said: ‘Boys, we must
-have that flag!’ and told the sergeant to go back and tell Captain Coyle
-to follow us with his entire company.
-
-“Not heeding the mission to the telegraph office for the moment, we
-pushed on toward the building with the flag flying over it and found it
-was the Marshall House, an hotel of second-class grade. As we rushed
-into the open door the Colonel called out to a man in shirt and trousers
-who was entering the hallway from the opposite side: ‘What flag is that
-over the roof?’ The fellow looked neither surprised nor alarmed at the
-irruption of armed men, and answered, doggedly as I thought: ‘I don’t
-know anything about it; I am only a boarder here.’ Without further
-parley the Colonel ran up the long winding stairway to the topmost
-story, the rest of us following closely. It did not take long to find
-the attic room, whence opened a skylight with the flagstaff within easy
-reach, and the large flag was soon upon our heads.
-
-“I passed it down to the men below, and as I got off the ladder I saw
-the Zouaves tearing off pieces as mementos of the exploit. This I
-stopped, saying that the flag must not be mutilated, but must be
-preserved as a trophy. The entire occurrence could not have occupied
-more than a couple of minutes. I was busy rolling the long flag over my
-arm when Ellsworth turned to the stairway holding one end of the flag.
-He was preceded by Private Francis E. Brownell, of Company A. Mr. House
-and Chaplain Dodge were close beside him, and I was a few steps behind,
-still rolling the flag on my arm as compactly as possible. There were
-two men in the attic room whom we had not noticed at first in our
-eagerness to get down the flag. They arose in great bewilderment to
-witness our deed and were almost fully dressed. They had, however, no
-connection with the tragic event.
-
-“In the order I have mentioned we began our descent of the broad,
-winding stairway. My attention was too much occupied in managing the
-bulky flag to know by actual observation precisely what happened in the
-first instant of the lamentable tragedy. I heard the clash of weapons
-and at the same moment the report of two guns, with so imperceptible an
-interval between that it might have been taken for a single shot. I saw
-Ellsworth fall forward at the foot of the first flight of stairs, and I
-saw Brownell, standing on the landing near the turn to the second
-flight, make a thrust with his bayonet at the tottering form of a man
-which fell headlong down half the second flight of stairs. No
-explanation of what had happened was needed. As Brownell reached the
-first landing place, after the descent of a dozen steps, a man rushed
-out and, without noticing the private soldier, leveled a double-barreled
-gun squarely at Ellsworth’s breast. Brownell said that he made a quick
-pass to turn the gun aside, but was not successful, and the contents of
-both barrels, slugs or buckshot, entered the Colonel’s heart, killing
-him instantly. He was on the third step above the landing when he
-received the shot, and he fell forward in that helpless, heavy manner
-which showed that every spark of life had left his body ere he reached
-the floor. The murderer’s fingers had scarcely pressed the triggers of
-his weapon when Brownell’s rifle was discharged full in the centre of
-his face, and as he staggered to his fall the shot was followed by a
-bayonet thrust of such force that it sent the man backward down the
-upper section of the second flight of stairs, where he lay for hours
-afterward with his face to the floor and his rifle beneath him. This man
-proved to be James T. Jackson proprietor of the Marshall House, and I
-fully recognized him as the person we had met as we entered the house.
-
-“We were dazed for a few seconds at the shocking calamity, but we
-rallied, not knowing how soon we should be called upon to defend our own
-lives. There were only seven of us, and Mr. House was unarmed. The noise
-and confusion of the last few moments had aroused the sleepy household,
-and we saw that in point of numbers we were in a small minority. I
-stationed the three Zouaves at points commanding the approaches to the
-passages converging on the stairway where we stood, and directed that
-the first man who showed himself in the passages should be shot down.
-The occupants of the rooms in our immediate vicinity were gathered
-together in a single apartment and Brownell, who had reloaded his rifle,
-was placed as guard over them with instructions to shoot the first man
-who should evince a hostile disposition. The Chaplain and I searched the
-story above, finding only the two men whom I have before mentioned as
-being in the attic room when the flag was cut down; these we led down
-and put in Brownell’s custody. Mr. House, meanwhile, had kept watch that
-no one approached us from the story below. These defensive measures were
-only the work of a minute or two.
-
-“We next turned our attention to our dear friend, the Colonel, whose
-life-blood had literally deluged the hallway. If we had not been too
-sadly sure that he was beyond the reach of any aid we could offer there
-would not have been even the slight delay there was ere we raised him
-from the floor. Mr. House and I lifted him up tenderly and laid him upon
-the bed in a room that was vacant. His uniform was so drenched with
-blood that it was almost impossible to discover the exact location of
-his wound. Unfastening his belt and unbuttoning his coat we found that
-the murderous charge had penetrated his left breast, taking into the
-wound much of the clothing, making a cavity almost large enough to
-insert a clenched hand. Poor fellow! We washed the stains from his face,
-which was beautiful in death—the expression of the handsome features not
-at all changed, except by the pallor, from that which his friends knew
-so well in life, and we composed his body, over which we laid the
-Confederate flag which had so long waved in defiance within sight of the
-White House, feeling that its use in this way purified it.”
-
-The sword which Ellsworth wore at the time of his murder was given to
-Mr. Winser and is still in the possession of the family.
-
-Mr. Winser was at the battle of Cold Harbor and had his horse shot under
-him. After the battle, during the night, a rifle ball lodged in the tent
-pole directly over his head, so low down that it must almost have passed
-through his hair, but so exhausted was he that he was all unconscious
-that death had been so near. During the Draft Riots in New York, in
-July, 1863, Mr. Winser was in command of the battery which protected
-Printing House Square. He also did effective work in communicating with
-the authorities on Governor’s Island, and although he was a marked man
-owing to his connection with the New York Times, he went fearlessly
-about the city looking after his friends in the sections where a reign
-of terror had set in.
-
-Mr. Winser was once made prisoner of war by Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, who
-was in command at Beaufort, S. C. Mr. Winser had criticised his methods
-in a letter to the Times. This so angered the General that he caused his
-arrest, sending him on board the Arago, which was just leaving for New
-York, without permitting him to communicate with any of his friends. The
-publication of the affair resulted in Mr. Winser’s reinstatement at
-headquarters in South Carolina.
-
-Mr. Winser was with Farragut at New Orleans, as a representative of the
-Times. In those days the means of communication were exceedingly slow,
-and Mr. Winser, recognizing the value to his paper of such a “scoop” as
-the first news of this important event would be, rowed down the
-Mississippi from Fort Jackson to the Gulf, where he found a schooner
-bound for Key West. This he boarded, and reached his destination a few
-hours ahead of the steamer from Havana, Cuba, which touched here for
-mail and passengers on its way to New York.
-
-Thus the New York Times had an account of the bombardment and surrender
-of Forts Jackson and Phillip three days in advance of any other journal.
-This was considered the greatest “beat” ever known in the history of
-journalism. It was not only the means of giving the news to the country,
-but was also the first intimation that the government itself received of
-the success of the fleet. Mr. Winser returned to New Orleans and was
-there during the Butler regime and chronicled the General’s achievements
-for his paper.
-
-Mr. Winser was also present at the meeting of Grant and Lee under the
-famous apple tree to arrange for the surrender of the Confederate Army.
-
-He was one of the commissioners for the exchange of prisoners from
-Andersonville, and his reports of the condition of the men were most
-harrowing.
-
-When the famous Butler-Porter controversy occurred in 1889, it was Mr.
-Winser who was able to prove that Butler’s charges against Porter were
-untrue.
-
-When Mr. Winser sent his report of Farragut’s passage of the forts below
-New Orleans (as narrated elsewhere), fearing there might be a
-miscarriage, he wrote a second account which was forwarded by the same
-steamer that carried the letters of other newspaper correspondents. This
-latter manuscript was returned to him and hence, when Admiral Porter
-wrote, asking him if he remembered the circumstances of the sudden order
-from Captain Porter to the flotilla to cease firing and return, Mr.
-Winser was able to give a transcript of the affair from his manuscript
-letter.
-
-It was a great grief to Mr. Winser that General Butler should have
-placed himself in so unpleasant a position, for he had valued him as a
-friend and soldier, and was most reluctantly brought into the
-controversy.
-
-[Illustration: Woodside As God Made It. Picture taken about 1885 from a
-Washington Avenue back yard. Looking south across the fields toward the
-Passaic.]
-
-When he settled in Woodside Mr. Winser was city editor of the Times and
-was deep in the investigation of the Tweed Ring. This work was so
-exacting that he had no time even to attend to his own private affairs,
-and paid little attention to Woodside politics, except in one instance.
-
-During the first year of Woodside’s independence there were no politics;
-no salaries attached to any of the offices, and consequently the good
-men were allowed to fill them. But by the time the second annual
-election approached there were a few soreheads who joined themselves
-unto the scattering Democrats and the house was divided against itself.
-
-This necessitated some electioneering, which was undertaken by Mr.
-Winser and Mr. Theodore G. Palmer, who went the rounds of the district
-canvassing for votes. The result was overwhelmingly Republican and
-eminently satisfactory.
-
-Mr. Winser broke down in January, 1869, and was told by the doctors that
-he must stop night work. He was advised by a friend to apply to General
-Grant for a consular position, and Sonneberg was suggested for its
-beauty of location and the wide field it offered for consular and other
-work, as it was the largest consulate in Germany.
-
-Mr. H. J. Raymond, of the New York Times, was bitterly opposed to this
-and refused to help in any way, declining even to write introductions to
-his political friends in Washington or to request their aid in the
-appointment. Mr. R. said: “I do not want you to leave the Times and I
-shall in no way help you in your desire.”
-
-But after Grant’s inauguration Mr. Winser wrote, asking for the
-Sonneberg post, and his was the first appointment made after March 4,
-1869.
-
-Secretary of State Hamilton Fish was a friend of Dr. Cox, father-in-law
-of Mr. Winser, and knew his (Mr. Winser’s) record as a journalist, and
-this doubtless was a help. Mr. Winser’s appointment was regarded as most
-remarkable, in that politics and pressure had nothing to do with it.
-Grant made it because he was a personal friend and the State Department
-probably sanctioned it because, in the application, Mr. W. said that he
-spoke three languages and referred to his Times editorials upon
-political matters.
-
-While consul at Sonneberg Mr. Winser was appointed by the United States
-Government, Commissioner to the World’s Fair at Vienna in 1873.
-
-When Mr. Winser returned from Sonneberg in 1873, intending to resign,
-Mr. Fish urged him to reconsider his decision and return to his post to
-go on with the work he had done for the government.
-
-Mr. Winser was the first American officer to look into the emigration
-from Germany. He stopped the deportation of criminals from Germany to
-this country. He was the first man to study the forestry system in
-Germany, the consulate being in the centre of the forestry department of
-the country. Knowing the language thoroughly and being persona grata in
-high official circles he had access to all departments.
-
-He wrote a most exhaustive report on the “Forests and Forest Culture of
-Thuringia”, which was sent to the State Department on November 28, 1873,
-and is in the “Commercial Relations” of 1873. So valuable was this
-report deemed by the State Department that it was printed as a separate
-pamphlet and sent to every newspaper in the country. In his report Mr.
-W. urged upon this country the necessity of cultivating and preserving
-its forests, as the time would come when care would be needed for their
-conservation from an economic point of view, for the supply of timber
-and for the effect they produced upon the climate, rainfall, etc.
-
-The press of this country, one and all, hailed the report with derision,
-it being regarded as ridiculous that this great country with its
-primeval forests and its vast area of timber land could ever be
-depleted. Even the Times feared that Mr. Winser’s four years’ residence
-in a little country like Germany had dwarfed his ideas.
-
-Twenty years later when the country became alarmed concerning the
-fearful devastation then going on throughout its forests men were rushed
-to Germany to learn its art of forestry.
-
-Mr. Winser sent the government the first translation of the new German
-tariff. It was received from the Coburg Minister of State within an hour
-after he received it from the Imperial Government, and permission to
-keep it for twenty-four hours was given. At 9 a. m. Mr. and Mrs. W. sat
-down, after giving directions that they were not to be disturbed, and at
-8 p. m. the work was finished, they dividing the pamphlet book in half
-and each working independently of the other. This feat created a
-sensation at the State Department and at the Consulate General at
-Frankfort. Mr. Winser had taken the precaution to notify the State
-Department that the voluminous matter had left Coburg on a certain date.
-He also wrote the Consul General, through whose office all documents
-were forwarded, that he had done this, so that no detention could be
-possible on the way. It was a fortunate thing that this was done, as the
-Consul General wrote he was sorry that he could not keep the document
-for a few days that he might get “some points”. He wanted to know how it
-was possible for Mr. W. to obtain the law before it had been given to
-the public.
-
-Mr. Winser also sent the first translation of the new laws concerning
-the Rinderpest to the government.
-
-On Mr. Winser’s return from Germany he was appointed, by Mr. Henry
-Villard, Chief of the Bureau of Information of the Northern Pacific
-Railway. In this capacity he inspected all the country tributary to the
-railroad, writing many pamphlets on the resources of the far West. He
-also wrote concerning the Yellowstone Park and its wonders.
-
-He was in charge of the foreign guests at the celebration of driving the
-last spike of the railroad. Later he became assistant editor of the
-Commercial Advertiser, and then became managing editor of the Newark
-Daily Advertiser. Just before his death he prepared the history of
-Trinity Church, Newark, on the occasion of the sesqui-centennial
-celebration. For nine years he was clerk of the vestry.
-
-Mr. Winser was one of the charter members of the “Monks of the Passaic”,
-a literary organization affiliated with the “Monks of the Meerschaum” in
-Philadelphia.
-
-Mr. Winser, Mr. Noah Brooks and Prof. Byron Matthews organized “The
-Wednesday Club”, which has become one of the best-known literary clubs
-of Newark. He was a life member of the New Jersey Historical Society.
-
-Mr. Winser’s church and other connections in Woodside are referred to
-elsewhere.
-
-
- MR. JAMES SWINNERTON.
-
-
-Mr. James Swinnerton, to whom I owe more than to any other one man for
-material covering this period, was a member of Swinnerton Bros.,
-manufacturing jewelers in Newark. He removed to Woodside in 1866, being
-one of the very first of the new element.
-
-Mr. Swinnerton immediately assumed a prominent place in the community,
-being town clerk during both the years of local independence and taking
-a foremost position in church and Sunday school development. So well
-satisfied were the voters with his work as town clerk that, when the
-second annual election was held, and an opposition ticket was put in the
-field, he received 185 of the 192 votes cast for that office.
-
-Mr. Swinnerton has a natural antiquarian bent and, as a consequence, has
-preserved many memorials and a vivid memory of the past, and such of
-these as relate to Woodside he has freely put at my disposal, throwing
-light into many a dark corner.
-
-
- MR. ALBERT BEACH.
-
-
-Mr. Albert Beach was born in Newark and moved to the Bartholf farm on
-the old Bloomfield road about 1865. He was a kindly man and had a number
-of boys who were always ready to help along any mischief in which we
-were interested, and as Mr. Beach himself was much interested in the
-church we were quite neighborly, boy and man. And then all boys
-appreciated Mrs. Beach, who was one of those who sensed the fact that a
-boy’s heart lay next his stomach, and who immediately established close
-relations with both. The Beach house was overrun with boys a goodly
-portion of the time, and they were not all Beach boys, either.
-
-
- GEN. GILBERT W. CUMMING.
-
-
-General Gilbert W. Cumming lived on the River road in the old Stimis
-house. The General’s property came down to the swamp where we boys
-learned to skate, and his rail fence was a great temptation when a fire
-was wanted, which was mostly all the time. It is still well remembered
-how, on such occasions he would come charging down the hill “spitting
-blue sparks”. The General’s habit of language was acquired in the army,
-apparently, and it generally sounded as though the army was in Flanders
-at the time; certainly it was of the pyrotechnic order, and no one could
-well blame him with such an inciting firebrand as his rail fence became.
-He was a thoroughly good man, however, and while he had the reputation
-of being somewhat crusty and quick tempered, he could be quite genial
-when all things worked together for peace. “He was an old-fashioned
-lawyer of the Abe Lincoln school.”
-
-The General was born March 12, 1817, of Scotch parents, at Stamford, N.
-Y. He was admitted to the bar in New York, but removed to Chicago in
-1858. When the Civil War broke out he offered his services and was
-appointed Colonel of the 51st Illinois Volunteers, which he was largely
-instrumental in raising.
-
-Under General Pope he participated in the battle of New Madrid, Mo., and
-while in charge of a brigade on the way to Tiptonville his capture of
-Island No. 10 against great odds brought him prominently to the front.
-For this he was made a brigadier-general for “gallant and meritorious
-services at Island No. 10”.
-
-Proceeding to Tiptonville he assisted in the capture of 6,000 Southern
-soldiers and later took part with his brigade in the attack on Fort
-Pillow. He was also at Corinth and Shiloh and was brought home from the
-latter on a cot, his breakdown being due to hard work and exposure.
-During a long rainy period he regarded himself as fortunate if he had a
-brush heap to sleep on, such a thing as a tent or any form of shelter
-being out of the question. He never fully recovered from a mild form of
-paralysis induced by these hardships.
-
-During one period of his service he was placed as a guard over a
-Southern home occupied by its mistress. The General applied to her for
-permission to sleep on the porch of the house, but she promptly
-responded that no “Yankee” could sleep on her porch, and he was
-compelled to wait until all were asleep before he could venture to seek
-its shelter. Being a polite man, the General did not fail to thank the
-lady on the following morning.
-
-He used to tell how the Yankees, after stewing their coffee again and
-again until there was nothing left to extract, would sell the grounds to
-their opponents for a dollar a pound. Johnny Reb must have been in
-straits for coffee.
-
-In spite of all he went through the General was a strong temperance man,
-never drinking liquor, even in the army, where good drinking water was
-often impossible to find. The General was always to be found on the side
-of law and order and was the one to whom Mr. Hine went in the early days
-of Woodside to stop the Sunday horse cars. Ideas have changed greatly
-during the past forty years in regard to the observance of the Sabbath,
-and it may seem strange to some that a serious effort was once made to
-disconnect this rural settlement from the rest of the world on that day,
-but such is the fact. The General did get out an injunction and the
-peace of the neighborhood was complete for a time, but the street car
-people, as usual, had their way in the end.
-
-
- MR. JOHN MORRIS PHILLIPS.
-
-
-Mr. John Morris Phillips belonged to that generation which was the last
-to be born in the old farm house now standing on Summer avenue, and he
-appears to have been the first to break away from the traditions of the
-farm.
-
-Mr. Phillips was born November 4, 1817, and early showed an inclination
-for mechanics. He was apprenticed to the pattern making business under
-Mr. Horace T. Poinier, and later found employment under the noted Seth
-Boyden; afterward he worked for the West Point foundry and from there
-came to the Novelty Iron Works, New York City, and all this time was
-learning and perfecting himself in every detail for future activity. His
-memory was so phenomenal that when he had examined a piece of mechanism
-its details never passed from his mind, and he could duplicate it
-without again referring to the original. This, of course, was a
-tremendous help in after life.
-
-In the fall of 1845 the Hewes & Phillips Iron Works were started in a
-small way at 60 Vesey street, New York, but the following year the
-business was moved to Newark. The concern grew rapidly to large
-proportions, and by the time the Civil War broke out was one of the
-foremost establishments of the kind in the country and during the war it
-did an immense amount of work for the government.
-
-All the turret machinery for the first “Monitor”—the one which saved the
-day in Hampton Roads—was made here, as was that for the five succeeding
-monitors including the Modoc, Cohoes, etc. That the Monitor’s machinery
-was well made the action at Hampton Roads amply proved.
-
-Over 200,000 stand of arms were manufactured at the Hewes & Phillips
-Works, and here the government also sent 12,000 flint-lock muskets to be
-modernized. These, it is said, were part of a gift to the country made
-during the Revolution by LaFayette, which had not been used at that
-time.
-
-Mr. James E. Coombes, an expert on American military small arms, writes
-that Hewes & Phillips did alter a number of flint-lock muskets to
-percussion, but he doubts if they were such obsolete weapons as those
-brought over by LaFayette. Mr. Coombes says: “It was the policy of the
-government to use only the later models of flint-locks for this purpose,
-as there was a vast quantity of them on hand. I have seen a number of
-these guns. They were stamped ‘H & P’ on the nipple lug—in fact, have
-two in my collection, but they are all late models.”
-
-Mr. Coombes’s opinion is accepted by military authorities generally, but
-in spite of this I am inclined to think that the story is correct,
-because it appears to have come so straight from Mr. John M. Phillips
-himself.
-
-Hewes & Phillips also altered 8,000 flint-locks for the state of New
-Jersey, asking nothing more in return from the state than the actual
-expense of the work. The machinery for the first Holland submarine was
-made here during the Civil War.
-
-Owing to threats made by Copperheads during the latter part of the war
-that the factory would be destroyed, the place was guarded day and night
-by a company of infantry. At that time Mr. Phillips lived on Bridge
-street and his back yard adjoined the machine works, and he could step
-from his house to his shop without exposing himself to possible danger
-from the disaffected element.
-
-Of the seventy boys and men who went out from this factory to enlist in
-the army every one came back, and not one received a scratch to show for
-his service. All apprentices who enlisted before their time was up were
-put to work on their return at journeymen’s wages, while serving the
-remainder of their time as apprentices. Thus did the firm at its own
-expense recognize the services rendered by these young men to their
-country.
-
-That Mr. Phillips was a broad-minded and far-seeing man is not alone
-proven by the business foundation he laid, but also by the monument he
-left in beautifully embowered Lincoln avenue. His love for trees was
-almost as great as for human beings, and because of this Lincoln avenue
-is to-day as beautiful as is the traditional New England village green.
-
-When the city saw fit to improve Lincoln avenue it did so by cutting
-down all its shade trees and transforming it into a dreary desolation.
-Mr. Phillips had in front of his house a row of cherry trees which were
-his pride and admiration and were also, alas, a source of considerable
-friction between himself and the neighborhood small boy, for the boys
-found it comparatively easy to adapt themselves to the Phillips
-cherries. I believe that their owner finally discovered that a generous
-coat of fresh tar on the tree trunks was as good a small boy preventive
-as it is in the case of certain insects. There is a tale of an
-expressman who took one of these tarred tree trunks to his bosom before
-he discovered the error of his ways, and the manner in which he blessed
-his tarry top-lights—so to speak—is one of the traditions of the
-neighborhood.
-
-These cherry trees went with the rest, and when the destruction had been
-so complete that there was no further job for the contractor-friend of
-the politicians that functionary went elsewhere. Then Mr. Phillips
-called on his neighbors in an effort to enlist them in a plan to
-rehabilitate their street by the planting of trees but, finding most of
-them indifferent, he planted trees on both sides of the way, from the
-cemetery to Phillips Park, a double row one-half mile long, and it is
-these trees which to-day shelter the avenue from the summer’s sun. The
-trees were procured from a nursery on his own property located about
-where Delavan ends in Summer avenue.
-
-
- MR. DAVID MACLURE.
-
-
-“The memory of him is sweet and pleasant”, more than one of his former
-scholars testifies. Mr. Maclure is a round peg in a round hole, although
-he happened into his present line of work in rather an accidental
-manner.
-
-He was the first clerk that the Prudential Insurance Company ever
-employed, but earning his bread and butter by such uncongenial drudgery
-soon wearied him, and he gave up the position with the idea of turning
-to art or to the ministry for his life work; but while in this somewhat
-uncertain state of mind the fates decided otherwise.
-
-At this time he was living at the home of his parents on Lincoln avenue,
-and, when it was learned that the school at Montgomery was closed for
-lack of a teacher, a friend fairly pushed him into the opportunity thus
-opened. He shortly became popular with old and young, and fitted so
-snugly into the position that vaulting ambition has never since troubled
-him.
-
-From the Montgomery school he came to the Elliott Street School in
-Woodside, was next transferred to the Eighth Ward School, and from there
-to the Chestnut Street School, where he has been principal for many
-years. Mr. Maclure has a way of making study attractive to children and
-stimulating them to strive the more to reach that promised land which he
-pictures so pleasantly—that those who have once been his scholars
-remember the days spent under his care with unmixed pleasure. “Beyond
-the Alps lies Italy”, is the way he sometimes put it to them.
-
-The following verse is not offered as an evidence of Mr. Maclure’s
-literary skill, but rather to show the personal interest which he takes
-in the children, and as one of the many ways in which he attaches them
-to him:—
-
- “To Annie E. Bennett, March 27, 1883.
-
- “‘Dear Anna, on your natal day,
- A word of wisdom let me say:
- Grow up, my blithe and little lass,
- So that, as years and seasons pass,
- You’ll still be found as pure and good
- As on this day of bright childhood.
- Remember this, my little maid,
- That youth and beauty soon will fade;
- But truth and honor ne’er decay,
- But live to bless life’s closing day.’
-
- “Written expressly for you on your eleventh birthday
- by your friend and teacher,
-
- “David Maclure.”
-
-Mr. Maclure is a many-sided man: A painter of pictures—good pictures—a
-writer of books and magazine articles, and a designer and maker of fine
-furniture. His home is full of his handiwork, which is the more to be
-praised because “the kitchen is his work-shop”.
-
-A book of poems entitled “Thoughts on Life”, and two novels, “David
-Todd” and “Kennedy of Glen Haugh”, have brought him fame in the literary
-world, and he is also the author of several school text-books.
-
-
- COL. SAMUEL L. BUCK.
-
-
-Col. Samuel L. Buck, according to the dry records of the
-Adjutant-General’s office at Trenton, was commissioned Major in the
-Second Regiment, Infantry, New Jersey Volunteers, on the twenty-second
-day of May, 1861, and was mustered into the United States service as
-such for the period of three years. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel
-January 20, 1862; Colonel, July 1, 1862; and was honorably discharged
-July 21, 1864, during the War of the Rebellion. The official record goes
-no further.
-
-He was at Chickahominy June 27, 1862, when of the twenty-eight hundred
-men in the Second Regiment only nine hundred and sixty-five answered at
-roll-call the following day. He commanded the regiment at Crampton’s
-Gap, where it met Longstreet. He was wounded at Chancellorsville, and
-was in many engagements.
-
-The Colonel delivered a lecture on his recollections of army life in the
-Woodside Presbyterian Church, April 3, 1879, which was later published
-in pamphlet form, but he was so extremely modest as regards his own part
-in the fighting that it furnishes no data for my purpose. Many recall
-that he had a fine record for bravery and efficiency, but I have found
-no one who could tell the story.
-
-
- MR. DANIEL F. TOMPKINS.
-
-
-Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins was an antiquarian whose researches brought to
-light and preserved much that was interesting concerning the local
-history of Woodside. He discovered a number of Revolutionary relics in
-the “Anthony Wayne camp ground” west of Summer avenue in the Carteret
-street neighborhood and his inquiries among the old inhabitants resulted
-in the preservation of valuable and interesting matter that would
-otherwise have been lost.
-
-Mr. Tompkins was a somewhat eccentric man and had some rather odd
-fads—possibly the best known of which was his large flock of goats,
-which was a prominent feature of the Washington avenue landscape for
-many years. Another, which was possibly not so well known, was a
-fondness for choice toilet soaps, of which he is said to have kept a
-large quantity in his house. We all know that cleanliness is next to
-Godliness.
-
-That he was public spirited and alive to the value of a park system
-there is no doubt, in fact he might almost be called the father of the
-Essex County park system of to-day. Mr. Tompkins owned property around
-the Boiling Spring, which has been a boundary mark from time immemorial
-and one of the corners of Woodside, and he was the first to suggest a
-park in that region, offering to give his land if the city would
-purchase more and make the whole into a public park, and while his offer
-was not taken, there is little doubt but that he helped to start the
-agitation which resulted in the present system of breathing places for
-the people.
-
-
- JOHN F. DRYDEN.
-
-
-The history of the man who has made a success of this life is always
-interesting. Starting with nothing but a willingness to work and an
-ability to think and having faith enough in himself and his ideas to
-hold to his purpose through all set-backs and discouragements, he is
-reasonably sure to reach the top.
-
-When or where Mr. Dryden was born I do not know, but he may have come
-from the land of wooden nutmegs, as he was a graduate of Yale. I do know
-that he came to Woodside in the early seventies a poor man; so poor, if
-his old neighbors remember rightly, that he did not even possess an
-overcoat to keep out the chill of winter.
-
-One cold, cheerless day a gentleman and lady with two children were seen
-to enter a vacant house on Lincoln avenue, just below Elwood. Those
-living nearby noted that the gentleman made frequent excursions to the
-front gate, evidently looking for that load of furniture which did not
-come. After considerable persuasion he was induced to accept an
-invitation from a neighbor to spend the waiting time in that neighbor’s
-house.
-
-Such was Mr. Dryden’s introduction to Woodside, but even then he was
-dreaming of industrial insurance, and his constant companions and most
-intimate friends were mortality tables and dry statistics, and it was
-not long before he became acquainted with certain gentlemen who
-succumbed to his persuasive tongue and furnished the capital with which
-the Prudential was started.
-
-At first the company consisted of Mr. Dryden and an office boy, and
-occupied a corner of somebody’s store on Broad street, Mr. Dryden’s
-salary at this time being $10 per week but growth was rapid, and soon
-Col. Samuel L. Buck was installed as assistant, and it was not long
-before the office became a hive of Woodside men and boys, many of whom
-have grown up with it and still remain in its employ.
-
-It is not necessary to follow Mr. Dryden through his many successes. He
-long ago became too great for Woodside, and removed to other
-surroundings, but he is part of the early history of this region.
-
- “One with a flash begins and ends in smoke;
- The other out of smoke brings glorious light,
- And (without raising expectation high)
- Surprises us with dazzling miracles.”
-
-
- THE “COUNT”.
-
-
-No stronger contrast to Mr. Dryden could be shown than in the person of
-“Count” Whitehead, a debonair gentleman who began with a flash and ended
-in smoke. For a brief period our friend was the glass of fashion and the
-mould of form for Woodside; he had some money and an ability to “blow it
-in” that was notable. During this period he drove tandem and clothed his
-Adonis-like figure in a way that held all eyes. When last heard of the
-“Count” was a ticket chopper in the Pennsylvania ferry house.
-
-
- LIEUT.-COL. W. E. BLEWETT.
-
-
-In the spring of 1861, Mr. Blewett became active in organizing a company
-of volunteers, the men being recruited principally from Belleville. This
-company of 101 men subsequently formed Company F of the Second Regiment
-of New Jersey (three-year volunteers). They were mustered in at Trenton
-May 1st, 1861, as part of the First New Jersey Brigade, reporting on May
-6th at Washington, being the first fully organized brigade to arrive for
-the defense of the National Capital. A few days later the brigade
-crossed the Potomac, and was the first regiment of three-year volunteers
-to enter the state of Virginia.
-
-At the Battle of Bull Run, July 21st, 1861, the Brigade (4th Division
-under General Runyon) was held as a reserve, but not engaged. They,
-however, were of service in covering the retreat of our army to
-Centerville. Later the Second was attached to the First Brigade
-(Kearny’s), Franklin Division; afterward to the First Brigade, First
-Division, First Army Corps. After much service and a most brilliant
-career, on the expiration of its term, the Brigade returned to New
-Jersey for muster out.
-
-The Second New Jersey was pre-eminently a fighting regiment.
-
-On June 12th, 1861, Mr. Blewett was mustered in as Second Lieutenant of
-Company F; June 4th, 1862, received commission as First Lieutenant, and
-April 16th, 1862, by command of Brigadier General Kearny, was detailed
-to take command of the Provost and Artillery Guards. Of this command he
-was very proud, owing to the fact that the appointment came direct from
-General Kearny, a much coveted honor.
-
-Friday, June 27th, 1862, the First New Jersey Brigade was ordered to
-Woodbury’s Bridge over the Chickahominy, there to meet Gen. Porter’s
-Division. (Six companies of the Second, under Lieut.-Col. Samuel L.
-Buck, were at that time on picket duty, and therefore took no part in
-this action.) Colonel Tucker led out the remaining four companies,
-including Lieutenant Blewett’s command with the rest of the Brigade.
-From Woodbury’s Bridge this Brigade, with others, was sent to engage the
-enemy near Gaines’s Mills and was soon in the thick of the fight.
-Porter’s Division, in hand-to-hand conflict, held their position against
-overwhelming odds until reinforcements, long delayed, arrived, but owing
-to the fact that their position was unfavorable and to the superiority
-of the enemy in numbers, the Union troops were compelled to retire. (The
-Confederate forces numbered perhaps 56,000; the Union troops, 33,000.
-The Union loss was 6,000 killed and wounded, besides nearly 2,000
-prisoners. The Confederate loss was placed at 9,000 killed and wounded.)
-The Second Regiment had the right of line, and though outnumbered and
-flanked by the enemy, they were the last to leave their station in the
-field. In this fight the regiment lost its colonel, Isaac M. Tucker,
-Capt. Charles Danforth, Color Sergeant Thomas Stevens of Belleville, and
-many others. The flags taken at this time were returned by a North
-Carolina regiment many years after. On the afternoon of June 27th
-Lieutenant Blewett was shot in the right breast. The ball took a
-downward course, and remained lodged in his side. While working his way
-to the hospital a fragment of a bursting shell cut his belt and
-accoutrements from his side. Upon arriving at Gaines’s Mills, then used
-as a hospital, Dr. Oakley dressed his wound and advised him to stop
-there, but fearing capture he continued on. This was fortunate, as later
-all the wounded at that hospital were taken prisoners. Aided by his
-colored servant he reached home in Belleville, July 4th, 1862. Owing to
-the fact that the ball could not be located the wound was long in
-healing. This incapacitated him for active service, and while stationed
-in Washington, September 9th, 1862, he resigned. Later Lieutenant
-Blewett became active in the National Guard of this state, was
-commissioned Captain Company H, Second Regiment, New Jersey Rifle Corps,
-September 19th, 1866; Captain Company H, Second Regiment National Guard,
-April 14th, ’69; Major and Quartermaster on the staff of Joseph W.
-Plume, Brigadier-General First Brigade, October 27th, ’69;
-Lieutenant-Colonel and Brigade Inspector, November 27th, ’71; resigned
-November 30th, ’74.
-
-
- MR. THOMAS W. KINSEY.
-
-
-Mr. Thomas W. Kinsey comes from a long line of warriors, and has lived
-up to the traditions of the family.
-
-Four brothers of the name came to this country in the Mayflower: two
-settled in Connecticut and two in New Jersey. An early ancestor, John
-Kinsey, was speaker of the New Jersey House of Representatives. The
-grandfather of Thomas W., Joel Kinsey, fought in the Revolution; his
-son, Joel, Jr., volunteered for the war of 1812, and his grandson,
-Thomas W., above, when fifteen years of age, enlisted for three years at
-the beginning of the Civil War and, when his time had expired,
-re-enlisted on the field for three more, or until the end of the war,
-putting in four years and seven months of fighting.
-
-During this time he received four wounds and two furloughs, one of ten
-days for bravery on the field of battle and one of thirty days after
-serving three years in the ranks. And Mr. Kinsey says he “had no special
-adventures—just plenty of fighting”.
-
-By the time his mother had given her consent to his enlistment all the
-New Jersey regiments were full, so this fifteen-year-old boy went to New
-York and enlisted at Fort Schuyler in the First Long Island Regiment,
-which was principally raised through the efforts of Henry Ward Beecher,
-whose brother was chaplain to the regiment and whose son was a
-lieutenant therein. This regiment was later known as the 67th N. Y., and
-when its members became decimated by slaughter it was merged in the 65th
-N. Y.
-
-Mr. Kinsey was in all the principal engagements of the Army of the
-Potomac except that at Winchester. During the Battle of the Wilderness
-he received a bullet in his leg which he carries yet. At the Seven Days’
-Battle, under Brigadier General Abercrombie, his regiment could see
-nothing in front because of fields of tall grain, and he alone
-volunteered to scout, keeping a couple of hundred yards more or less in
-advance of the line, climbing trees and exposing himself in other ways,
-and it was for this exhibition of bravery that he received the ten days’
-furlough referred to above.
-
-He was promoted to the sergeancy of Company C, 67th N. Y.; was shot in
-the head while before Petersburg, a “minie” ball, which is about the
-size of one’s thumb, passing through his cheek and out of the back of
-his head at the base of the brain. Because of this wound he was in the
-Fairfax Seminary, which had been turned into a hospital, when Lincoln
-was shot, but through the efforts of Governor Ward was transferred to
-Newark, and was here in the hospital some three months, being mustered
-out while still a patient, on August 8, 1865.
-
-Mr. Kinsey came to Woodside in 1867 and has ever since resided at the
-northeast corner of Summer place and May street, in the first house
-erected by Morrison & Briggs.
-
-
- DR. J. E. JANES.
-
-
-Dr. J. E. Janes is worth a good word if for no other reason than because
-of the good he did. The Doctor never refused to go when a call came, no
-matter what the night, or if he knew that there was no money
-compensation for him. He was endowed with that good Samaritan
-disposition that is so typical of our associations with all that is best
-in the old-fashioned country doctor—everybody’s friend and at the
-service of all. When the Doctor found it necessary to remove his family
-to the balm of the southern California coast Woodside lost a man.
-
-
- MR. PETER WEILER.
-
-
-Mr. Peter Weiler of the River road is spoken of as a man of large
-stature and determination and, withal, not easily bluffed. When the
-Paterson & Newark Railroad (now the Newark Branch of the Erie) was put
-through, the railroad people made every effort to avoid adequate payment
-for the land taken, and in many cases they succeeded in securing the
-property for little or nothing, but such an arrangement did not at all
-meet with the views of Mr. Weiler, and when they attempted to rush his
-place he built a rail fence across the proposed line of track and
-mounted guard with a shotgun, and the railroaders, like Davy Crocket’s
-coon, came down.
-
-
- BELLARS.
-
-
-One of the queer sticks of the times was Bellars, the church organist.
-No one ever called him “Mr.” Bellars—he was just plain Bellars—an odd
-combination of ignorance and musical genius. He could not read the
-simplest Sunday school music but, once he heard a tune, nothing could
-drive it out of his head.
-
-When it came to new music he was a trying proposition and grievously
-tormented Mr. Hine’s patience. Occasionally there were stormy scenes
-about the organ loft, and at least once Mr. Hine threatened to dismiss
-him if there was not an immediate improvement, winding up his peroration
-with “It’s a short horse and it’s soon curried”.
-
-During the latter years of the Bellars reign Mr. Hine owned a house on
-Cottage street, opposite the school house, which he allowed the former
-to occupy rent free as compensation for his weekly performance on the
-organ, and somehow the organist got it into his twisted noddle that the
-house had been given to him for work done, and it became necessary for
-the court to pass on the matter.
-
-Bellars employed Will Cumming as his attorney, and the latter showed
-considerable genius in handling the case, for he led his forlorn hope in
-such fashion that he almost prevailed against the facts, and as Mr.
-Hine’s lawyer was as lame as Will was active, the case actually looked
-serious at one time because of the ease with which the young man whipped
-the elder around the legal stump.
-
-Bellars was the music teacher of the neighborhood at a time when my
-benighted parents conceived the notion that I should learn to play the
-piano. Now, while Mr. Hine was very musical, my mother’s one standard of
-music was the speed at which it was performed, and one could play to her
-on a Sunday such a secular composition as “Yankee Doodle”, if only it
-were played slow and solemnly, and she would accept it as orthodox
-without hesitation, and I am my mother’s son when it comes to musical
-matters; hence I call my parents benighted for casting their money
-before Bellars.
-
-So far as can be judged, at this distance, Bellars’s chief notion of the
-teacher’s function was to receive the dollar, or whatever the lesson
-cost. Thus we can readily comprehend what the result must have been when
-such a teacher and such a pupil got together. The gentleman was a
-ventriloquist, or said he was, and he would cause little birds to sing
-up the chimney or under the piano, and sometimes a cat would meow or a
-dog bark in the far corner of the room. All this served to pass the hour
-devoted to the weekly lesson.
-
-The last time I saw Bellars was some years after his departure from
-Woodside, on an occasion when he was gawking down Broadway with a carpet
-bag that must have long lain dormant in some neglected corner, a picture
-that would have done a Puck artist a world of good, with his lean figure
-and excruciatingly thin visage. What was his latter end I know not, but
-I verily believe that he dried up and blew away.
-
-
- BOATING DAYS ON THE PASSAIC.
-
-
-During the eighties and early nineties the Passaic river, where it
-skirted Woodside, was one of the most celebrated rowing courses in the
-country, and here assembled well-known oarsmen from far and near,
-including such men as Courtney, Hanlon, Oomes, Ten Eyck, Edward Phillips
-and George Lee.
-
-So far as known, the Rev. Mr. Sherman, rector of Christ Church,
-Belleville, was the first to use a racing shell on the river. Closely
-following Mr. Sherman came Mr. James S. Taylor, whose earliest
-recollections are of the river and its ways. Mr. Taylor grew up on the
-water and was one of its first boatmen.
-
-Probably the first boat club was the Woodside Rowing Club; but this was
-more of a social organization with rowing as a side issue. John
-Eastwood, a leading member, later joined the Tritons and became
-Commodore of the Passaic River Rowing Association. The Passaic Boat Club
-is considered the first. Its original house was situated about opposite
-Centre street, but it was not long before the Club moved to Woodside and
-established itself just below the Point House.
-
-The Triton Boat Club, the third to be organized, soon out-distanced the
-others, and became the social as well as the boating centre of the
-Passaic. It was really born in 1868, in Phil. Bower’s boathouse, where
-certain oarsmen stored their boats, but was not officially organized
-until 1873, when the members met in the office of the Newark Lime &
-Cement Company. Twelve men attended this meeting, but only six names are
-given as organizers of the club: Frederick Townley, Henry C. Rommel,
-Truman Miller, Samuel A. Smith, Frederick Earl and Sidney Ogden. The
-other six seceded and organized the Eureka Boat Club.
-
-About 1875 the club built its first house at the foot of the Gully road,
-and the following year the first regatta was held. The Passaic offered a
-beautiful course to oarsmen, but it did not come prominently before the
-country until the Eurekas rowed in the races held at Philadelphia during
-the Centennial. This called attention to the Passaic and resulted in the
-first National Regatta on its waters, 1878. A moonlight race between the
-Tritons and the Viking Boat Club of Elizabeth, which was pulled off in
-October, 1879, is remembered as one of the notable events.
-
-Both Edward and Frank Phillips were prominent as oarsmen of the club,
-the former so much so that he, with Henry Rommel, was sent to the
-National Regatta held at Saratoga in 1881 or 1882. Henry Rommel, by the
-way, is probably the most “be-medaled” member of the club. George Small
-was another well-known Triton, as was George Lee who was brought out by
-the club and sent by it to England.
-
-Those enthusiastic members who had no time for meals, recall Ed. Holt’s
-“Floating Palace” with its cargo of pie and soft drinks as a welcome
-haven of refuge, and they also indorse the statement that the place was
-entirely respectable.
-
-[Illustration: A Canoe Regatta On The Passaic. As seen from the float of
-the Ianthe Canoe Club.]
-
-It is still a matter of common remark by oarsmen of other localities
-that the Passaic was the finest river on which they ever rowed.
-
-The Triton organization still exists in the hope that some day the river
-will be restored to its old-time purity and again be in condition for
-aquatic sports, but all it does at present is to eat a dinner once each
-year. It is rather a remarkable fact that the club has never lost an
-active member by death, except in one case of suicide.
-
-Possibly the first racing boat other than a single shell owned by the
-Triton Club, was one fitted for three pairs of oars and a coxswain,
-which was originally purchased by a well-known group of gentlemen that
-resided on the banks of the Passaic. John Rutherfurd was one of these,
-and the boat was kept for a long time on the lawn in front of his
-dwelling.
-
-One of the familiar figures of early days was Doctor Lauterborn, of
-Mulberry street who, after walking to the Passaic boathouse, thought
-nothing of rowing to the city of Passaic and back, finishing his
-afternoon by walking home.
-
-
- CANOEING RECOLLECTIONS.
-
-
-The history of the Ianthe Canoe Club, and of canoeing in general on the
-Passaic river, dates back to a certain mysterious green canvas canoe
-that, in 1880, appeared from no one knows where. Presumably it was
-constructed by some budding genius in the loft of his father’s barn, but
-all that we know definitely now is that its discovery was made by Will
-McDonald.
-
-This green canoe was the inspiration which set others at work and during
-the winter of ’80-1 a second canvas canoe, painted black, was built in
-the cellar of 77 Lincoln avenue, by “Lin” Palmer, who, as he won the
-first canoe race ever paddled on the Passaic and launched the first
-white man’s canoe on our beautiful stream, so far as is known, is
-entitled to a central position in the limelight.
-
-The black Palmer was launched with much circumstance in the following
-spring, and was at that time the only canoe on the river, as its green
-progenitor was not baptized until some time later, when Will McDonald
-purchased her.
-
-In 1881 a group of six boys, consisting of Lincoln B. Palmer, Robert M.
-and Albert Phillips, Will McDonald, John Russell and one other, formed
-the Ianthe Canoe Club. John Russell was boy in a drug store at the
-corner of Belleville and Bloomfield avenues, and he brought to the
-meeting a soda water fountain catalogue, which contained many pretty
-names, and from this the name of the club was selected, the lady
-appearing therein as a particularly attractive water sprite. George P.
-Douglass, who became a factor in canoeing circles about 1887, was a
-later acquisition to the club.
-
-The old Woodside Rowing Club’s building was standing idle. It belonged
-to the Messers. Hendricks, and a visit to these gentlemen resulted in an
-arrangement whereby the club was to have the building rent free,
-provided it kept the place in repair.
-
-The club grew and prospered and in August, 1882, its members were
-invited by the Triton Boat Club to participate in the first canoe race
-ever held on the river. It seems that one Hussey, a member of the Triton
-Club owned a canoe and had a reputation as a paddler, and it was because
-there was no one else to play with that the boys were asked to enter the
-race. There was no thought but that Hussey would win; he had been in
-races before and was the star of the occasion. “Lin” Palmer beat him
-quite handily and there was gloom in the home of the Tritons. And thus
-ended the first canoe race, which was participated in by “Walt” and Will
-McDougall, as well as by “Lin” Palmer and —— Hussey.
-
-During the following five years the club prospered greatly, but no
-events of importance are recorded. In 1887 John Pierson, of Bloomfield,
-and “Lin” Palmer, were sent as the first representatives from the
-Passaic river to an American Canoe Association meet, which this year was
-held on Lake Champlain. Neither of these representatives had ever been
-on such an expedition before, and their outfit was primitive in the
-extreme—so much so that they were shortly dubbed “the frying pan
-cruisers” by those who traveled with more elaborate and cumbersome
-outfits. But from now on the Ianthe moved up into the front rank of
-canoeists, as its members acquired the habit of capturing prizes, and
-held this position until the condition of the river drove all boating
-from its surface.
-
-
- A LAST WORD IN REGARD TO MR. HINE.
-
-
-We have about come to the end of this somewhat peculiar narrative, but
-before closing it I wish to say a final word in regard to Mr. Hine: I
-have interviewed very many who had to do with the early days of
-Woodside, without reference as to whether they were personal friends or
-not, and have heard but one opinion expressed, and universally
-expressed, in a manner too sincere to admit of any doubt. Each one
-recalls the man with a vividness and interest that time seemingly cannot
-dull, and each impression is but a repetition in one form or another of
-a great heart and a pure, clean minded man.
-
-It is given to few to be remembered as is Mr. Hine, and though he has
-been dead more than twelve years (April 16, 1897), the memory of him and
-the impression he left are as distinct and clear as though his departure
-were but yesterday. The abundant tears which were shed over his bier
-came from hundreds who felt that they had lost a personal friend and
-helper.
-
-
-
-
- PART III.
-
-
-
-
- C. C. HINE—PERSONAL.
-
-
-The following is personal to C. C. Hine, the writer’s father, and
-consists of extracts from a “private” book, from obituary notices,
-anecdotes, etc.
-
-I have found it impossible to select words that give a true idea of my
-father’s character, it was so simple, so lovable, so pure, and yet so
-strong, and even rugged. He had a faith that nothing could shake. There
-was no room for doubt in his mind; his religion was to him an absolute
-fact, and when his wonderful strength of character and broad knowledge
-of the world are considered, this child-like trust was remarkable. As
-boy and man he received many hard knocks in the struggle for existence
-and had seen rough and trying times, but through it all he kept his mind
-clean and his love for his fellow-man bright.
-
-Presumably he was always so—the testimony of his mother indicated it,
-and I have only recently discovered a private book which was never
-intended for other eyes, but which shows one of his phases so clearly
-that it is here quoted from at length.
-
-November 20, 1852, Mr. Hine wrote in this book which he then started for
-the purpose of systematizing and keeping track of his giving: “Three
-weeks before the beginning of the present month, I came to a definite
-conclusion regarding a system of formal and regular giving for
-charitable and religious purposes, with which to govern my future
-course.”
-
-He adopted a scale system whereby, if his income ever reached $14,000 he
-would give one-half of it away, and this was not intended to cover
-“occasional and irregular giving”.
-
-At the time he made this covenant with himself he was receiving, in St.
-Louis, $800 per annum. On the 1st of November he removed to New Albany,
-Ind., and began again at $400 per annum, but on December 1st his income
-was increased to the rate of $600 per annum.
-
-That he gave until it hurt him there is ample evidence, for we read in
-January, 1853: “I find myself very much straitened in many matters and
-greatly fear I will fall far behind my hopes of what I should save up
-for my visit home March 1st”; but his accounts show that he kept on
-giving.
-
-“July 4, 1853, I was married.—Prov. xxxi.:11. Amen. During August I was
-preparing to engage in a new line of duty, and as I am now entering upon
-an employment whose results will not be ascertainable each month I must
-credit what I give as I go along and then balance up a year hence.”
-
-Apparently on December 31, 1854, he writes: “Not knowing the precise
-condition of my business I have been unable to charge up the percentages
-heretofore. I now find that my net income for the year ending, say,
-August, 1854, was about $1,800, besides my living. This, situated as I
-was, did not amount to more than $200 for self and wife. Calling the
-year in round numbers $2,000 I must charge myself with one fifteenth of
-the whole amount, which is $133.33.... I thought I was wonderfully
-liberal all along through these sixteen months, and yet the figures
-bring me in debt $75! I can never be sufficiently thankful that God put
-it into my heart to begin this account, for I have found that the
-majority of my opportunities for giving have occurred when, from
-exterior circumstances, I have ‘felt poor’, and but for the
-consciousness that I owed, fairly, justly and honestly owed, according
-to a bargain of my own making, a large balance to the Lord’s work in
-general, and perchance—who could know—to the very case in hand in
-particular, I should not have given even the little I have.”
-
-By December 31, 1856, he had exceeded the limit for giving established
-by his scale to the extent of over 32 per cent. He debates with himself
-as to whether he should charge his pew rent in this account, but finally
-concludes to do so.
-
-In 1857 he notes that his income is about $2,000 “and my family has been
-increased by a Father, Mother and Sister-in-Law, making me six mouths to
-fill instead of three....”
-
-“I must now record one of those eras that will happen in men’s lives
-when they are not content to let well enough alone:—
-
-“In April, 1857, I abandoned a prosperous business, mounted a hobby and
-galloped headlong into an enterprise that has sunk every cent I had in
-the world and plunged me very deeply in debt besides, so that I will
-have to work for years to extricate myself.
-
-“I have now—July, 1858—as the result of my folly, no offering of money
-to make to the Lord’s cause.”
-
-Then follows his account brought forward which, in spite of the fact
-that only one dollar is credited “By Missionary Subscription”, is still
-somewhat ahead of his limit.
-
-“Many months have gone by since the foregoing was written—months of
-varied experience.
-
-“In January, 1859, I relinquished my school enterprise, a loser,
-probably, of $13,000 and about $7,000 ‘worse than nothing’....
-Providentially I was not permitted to remain idle a day. January 1st I
-was engaged with the Ætna Insurance Company at $1,500 per annum....
-
-“It has been a matter of much debate in my mind whether it was proper
-for me while so deeply involved in debt to ‘give away’ anything. It has
-seemed like assuming to disburse the money that belongs to others
-without their knowledge or consent.
-
-“I do not find, however, that, when I entered into this covenant seven
-years ago, I made any provision for my present predicament. Hence I must
-regard this covenant as prior, and not to be annulled by subsequent
-transactions. I am glad that I can see this view of the case very
-plainly, as I find great comfort in it. I shall now be relieved from one
-of the most onerous results of my pecuniary disaster—inability to join
-in the various contributions to the Lord’s cause.
-
-“During the Winter and Spring of 1859 I was traveling in Texas. The
-following Summer in Kentucky, and the Winter of 1860 in Georgia, Alabama
-and other Southern States, until April. All this time being under great
-pecuniary pressure and not having clearly arrived at the decision just
-above recorded, my contributions were neither frequent nor large. No
-regular account was kept and I can only recall two in addition to those
-recorded.”
-
-Then follows his ledger account with the various percentages charged
-against him, and showing that he had fallen considerably behind his
-scale.
-
-“In June, 1860, I removed my family to Covington, Ky., to be near my
-business headquarters in Cincinnati, and I trust that I may again fall
-into somewhat like regularity of habits, both in my business life and
-Christian experience....”
-
-April 5, 1861: “Hitherto this record has been kept in an old ‘Pass
-Book’, but from its semi-journal form it has assumed dimensions not
-anticipated nine years ago, when first begun. Hence I have purchased
-this book and copied out and set in order the whole thing from the
-beginning.
-
-“But I find that this long parade of figures and remarks is
-likely—unless I have a care—to prove a snare to me, as Gideon’s ephod
-did to him and his house. Truly man delighteth in vanity.”
-
-During the three years past his income had been gradually increased to
-$2,000 per annum, but “Sept. 1 (1862) my income was again decreased, on
-account of the stringency of war times, to $1,500”....
-
-“This is the second year of the great civil war; times have been pretty
-hard for men with fixed incomes, but I have kept even, thanks to a kind
-Providence.”
-
-By July, 1864, he had nearly caught up in his giving to the amount with
-which he had debited himself. At this time he writes:—
-
-“Let me here record one of those singular and precious providences that
-my faith, thank God, is broad enough to recognize. The ‘war times’ were
-pinching me, prices of necessaries were enormous. Only by the closest
-figuring could I ‘make both ends meet’. I said to the Lord ‘Send me an
-increase and I will make a thank offering of the first $100’. On a
-business visit to New York this month I unexpectedly got a contract to
-write a book for $500, a matter to be completed ‘nights and mornings’ in
-three or four months. On my return home I obtained an advance on my
-salary of $750 per annum. An opportunity suddenly presented itself also
-for me to buy a piece of paper at a profit of $98 which I cleared in a
-transaction involving a couple of hours’ labor. These three things (if I
-except the advanced salary, which I ought to have had long ago, but had
-almost despaired of) were unexpected and providential. I was thus
-granted the honor of assisting in the rescue of the American Board by a
-greatly advanced (for me) contribution.”
-
-January 9, 1865: “I was elected secretary of the International Insurance
-Company of New York, at a salary of $6,000. If I make a thank offering
-of my first half-month’s salary it will be in harmony with the past, but
-a small testimonial for the Lord’s goodness to me in giving me more than
-I asked.”
-
-He then debits himself “To Thank Offering $250”.
-
-“In March (1865) I removed from Walnut Hills, Ohio, to New York with my
-family, and on May 1st to Brooklyn, L. I., where we connect ourselves
-with the South Congregational Church, Rev. Edward Taylor, Pastor.”
-
-By June, 1865, he had again slightly exceeded his limit of giving, and
-thereafter seems to have kept well ahead.
-
-“We resided but one year in Brooklyn and in May, 1866, we went to
-Piermont, N. Y., on the Hudson, to spend the Summer. Here we remained
-four months and in September went to Newark, N. J., where we boarded
-until March, 1867, when, on the completion of our new house at Woodside,
-N. J., we removed to that beautiful place in the expectation and hope of
-making it our permanent home. Our family consisted of six souls.”
-
-The next entry was made in 1879, and reads:—
-
-“Years have elapsed—twelve of them—since the last entry in this book,
-and I have been meantime having my books of account kept as memoranda,
-rather than as double entry accounts, in deference to a favorite
-employee, so that I have been unable to make precise statements. For
-1867 I paid income tax on $6,280, but that was after allowed deductions
-of nearly $1,900. In March, 1868, I became the proprietor of the
-Insurance Monitor in New York and entered upon a publishing business
-which for several years netted me $12,000 per annum. Since 1873 this has
-gradually fallen off and now, 1879, amounts to but half as much. I think
-that, for the last thirteen years, 1867-1879 inclusive, $8,000 per annum
-would be a full statement of my profits....”
-
-Mr. Hine goes on to state that during all these years he has kept no
-detailed account, but is satisfied he has given sufficient to cover the
-percentage due, and that “there is no necessity for detailed entries
-and, besides, I am reminded of a passage in the life of Ichabod
-Washburn, where he found that such an account as this let his right hand
-know what his left was doing, and he abandoned it. So long, therefore,
-as I am quite clear that I am disbursing as much or more than my
-contract calls for, I will omit the entries here”.
-
-Under date 1886 he writes: “It is six years since I have looked or
-written in this book and it will probably be longer before I open it
-again. Meantime I am glad that I released myself from bookkeeping in the
-matter of giving. Without accounts quite as well as with them I am
-conscious that I have lived up to my plan and I expect to do so in the
-future.”
-
-The last entry is dated 1892: “Wholly by accident I came upon this book.
-I am past sixty-six years old now. I have nothing to add except that for
-the last few years, perhaps five or six, I have not been giving as
-freely as I formerly did. This is partly because of a change in my
-convictions of duty in regard to my local church relations, and partly
-because the general demands upon me have crowded my income very closely,
-and partly because my business has been less remunerative and my
-accounts unsystematically kept. I do not remember the details very
-fully, but my general consciousness is that I am falling behind in my
-giving and getting in debt on this account.”
-
-When Mr. Hine summed up as above he evidently did not include his
-“occasional and irregular giving” for an examination of his check stubs
-after his death led to the belief that he was then giving away fully 50
-per cent of his income.
-
-
- WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT OF MR. HINE.
-
-
-It is difficult to put on paper that which will adequately depict Mr.
-Hine’s many-sided character, but the following extracts from some of the
-death notices written by those who knew him best in his business life
-are given to show what sort of an impression he made on these:—
-
-“He was always so active that, although he had passed his seventy-first
-birthday, his death was something that had never been thought of by
-anybody except possibly himself. He traveled so much, did so much, was
-interested in so many things, that he will be widely missed. His was a
-many sided nature. He had a good knowledge of both art and mechanics....
-He was always self reliant, and to the end independent.”—[Insurance
-Times.
-
-“Every person who knew Mr. Hine at all intimately feels himself bereft
-of a friend.”—[Mutual Underwriter.
-
-“He was an able and strong writer; and whatever he wrote was fully
-‘tuned’ to his convictions.”—[The Ætna.
-
-“Personally, he was a lovable and amiable man, and as a business man his
-reputation for fairness and integrity was never questioned.”—[Travelers’
-Record.
-
-“A remarkable man was the late Charles C. Hine. What tireless industry
-he had, what versatility, what cheerfulness. What long journeys he took
-and kept taking, in his advanced years. Hale, hearty, ready to join in
-debate, to read a paper, to sing a song, and sing it well.... Fresh as a
-young man and capable of all kinds of work. Invincible, irrepressible; a
-typical American.”—[Insurance Magazine.
-
-“To us the sad news was especially painful, as we had known him
-intimately, and been associated with him in business relations for many
-years, in which connection we had learned to admire his great talents as
-a writer on insurance, and deeply to respect his noble character, in
-which there mingled all the elements that do honor to man.... The
-professional labors of Mr. Hine may pass on to other hands, but the
-personality of the man has left an impress which will make his name
-honored and revered long after the busy world has ceased to think of his
-professional work.... As an editor he was in his vocation, for his very
-wide reading, shrewd judgment, great capacity for literary work, raised
-him to great distinction in this field.... But most of all will he be
-missed by those many mourners who, forgetting the intellectual
-attainments of the man, can only feel that his great and pure and kindly
-heart has ceased to beat.”—[Insurance & Finance Chronicle, Montreal.
-
-“It has been truly said of Mr. Hine that as a promoter of sociability
-and a softener of rancour he had few if any equals, and certainly no
-superiors.”—[The Index, London.
-
-“The education emanating from a type of mind such as that possessed by
-Mr. Hine is beyond the ordinary mention.”—[Short Rates.
-
-“As a writer his style was original, vigorous and entertaining. He had
-strong opinions, and never hesitated to express them....
-
-“Mr. Hine had lived for many years in Newark, N. J., and though
-purposely avoiding any intermingling in political affairs, he was
-closely identified with what was best in the social and religious life
-of the city, in which activities he made himself a positive
-force.”—[Insurance Age.
-
-“His death came as a shock to all who knew him, for, although in his
-seventy-second year, his clean and wholesome life had left few marks of
-age on his strong and kindly face, and, though his hair and beard were
-white with the frosts of years, his vigorous bearing and evident
-strength of mind and body gave promise of many years of
-usefulness.”—[Insurance Opinion.
-
-“Mr. Hine was a brilliant ornament to the profession, and his death is a
-severe blow to the insurance press and the insurance world....
-
-“Mr. Hine’s portrait stands on our desk, and will ever remind us of the
-memory of a good man.”—[Review, London.
-
-“Though the passing years had whitened his hair and beard he seemed
-young—and in spirit and thought he was young.... We shall not soon
-forget his words at one of the meetings of the Fire Underwriters’
-Association of the Northwest, when he urged the young men to be clean
-men. How well the word clean describes him who is gone. He was clean in
-thought, word and action. He was an inspiration to men to make the most
-of themselves.”—[Philadelphia Intelligencer.
-
-“For, while he was successful, he had been through the tests that try
-men’s characters and he was a clean, honorable and self-respecting man
-who saw more in life than mere pecuniary reward.... It is a great thing
-to go through the world clean-handed, clean-minded and in good repute
-without sacrificing individuality and force. Mr. Hine did
-that.”—[Insurance Herald.
-
-“Always pleasant, always a gentleman. He could not well be otherwise,
-for he had nothing else in his make-up.... He was a man of exceedingly
-correct habits, and it would seem as though he ought to have lived for
-many years yet.... If there is any particular place on the other side
-set apart for the genial, as well as for the good, C. C. Hine will be
-directed thereto.”—[Oriental.
-
-“Though the largest assembly room in that portion of the city of Newark,
-its auditorium was not large enough to hold all the people who desired
-to pay to the memory of the deceased their tribute of respect and
-affection. The seats and aisles were filled, and many, unable to gain
-admittance, stood outside.”—[New York Insurance Journal.
-
-“He was a good editor, a vigorous writer, a clear thinker, and a
-student. He led a cleanly life. His methods were pure and
-honorable.”—[Insurance Record.
-
-“Mr. Hine’s social and personal qualities were such that he was
-respected and loved by all who knew him. He was a pure and gentle
-soul.”—[Insurance Advocate.
-
-“The death of C. C. Hine ... called forth such widespread and universal
-expressions of sorrow and esteem that his death, like the record of his
-life, will long continue a source of inspiration and noble incentive to
-every one in his profession.”—[Western Insurance Review.
-
-“Mr. Hine was widely known and as widely respected. He was an able man,
-a good man, steadfast in friendship, large in the spirit of comradeship,
-gentle, kind and true.... Constant growth and intellectual development
-were among his most marked characteristics.... He was a many-sided
-man—interested and studious in various directions... His popularity in
-the insurance business and far beyond it, was not the result of a
-promiscuous outpouring of honeyed words, for he was a man of decided
-opinions, and could always give good reasons for the faith that was in
-him.... Mr. Hine was a remarkable man, and extraordinarily successful in
-winning the love of those who were close to him, and the lasting respect
-of all others with whom he came in contact.”—[Insurance Press.
-
-“Is life worth living? As long as a man can find the determination to
-live as Colonel Hine did, and in death call out so much sincere and
-strong recognition of the effectiveness and usefulness of his life, the
-question stands answered in the affirmative. And when one has so lived
-there is no dread of death—it has no sting.”—[Insurance Herald.
-
-“Mr. Hine’s life is his best epitaph.”—[Insurance Press.
-
-“He was one of the most consistent Christian men we ever knew. The
-principles he professed were acted out in his life. He loved his
-neighbor as himself, and his genial, sunny manner will never be
-forgotten by those who were fortunate enough to come within the circle
-of his acquaintance.”—[Insurance Agent.
-
-“He had faithfully wrought out his task, never flinching from bearing
-his share of burdens, and was still in the harness when called hence. He
-leaves behind most pleasant memories of a stalwart man whose example is
-worthy of emulation.”—[Rough Notes.
-
-“Mr. Hine was a man of exceptional mental poise, with not only an
-extensive knowledge of men and events, but endowed with prudence and
-skill to make use of that knowledge for the achievement of practical
-results.”—[Argus.
-
-“He took pride and pleasure in his editorial work, and it was performed
-in a cleanly and conscientious manner. It was marked with amiability,
-versatility, good sense and comprehensive grasp of every subject....
-Free from improper motives himself, he was slow to suspect or discover
-deceit and trickery in others.... Even in controversy he was eminently
-fair and temperate and just.”—[Baltimore Underwriter.
-
-“The universal esteem in which C. C. Hine was held is voiced in the
-comment in the insurance press upon his high ideals of living and the
-able and fearless manner in which he represented insurance thought in
-his writings.... In speaking of the insurance press, he referred to
-its editors as being the ‘high priests’ of the insurance
-business.”—[Standard.
-
-“A clean and lovely soul the old man was, fighting wrong and supporting
-justice with honorable weapons. He well fulfilled the motto of Lincoln:
-‘With charity for all and malice toward none.’“—[United States Review,
-April 29th.
-
-“The ledger of his life is full of good deeds.”—[Views.
-
-“The passing away of Charles C. Hine, the widely respected editor and
-publisher of the Insurance Monitor, of New York, has brought sadness and
-a sense of personal loss to thousands of hearts. He was an upright man,
-a forceful character in the world, and in many respects lived an ideal
-life. His career was one of usefulness, and the world is better off
-because he lived. It was his good fortune to be favored in liberal
-measure with those endowments which won and retained the cordial regard
-of the multitudes who knew him. A man of inflexible integrity of
-character, of superior mental equipment, and a disposition which
-constantly inspired him to modest acts of helpfulness and sunshine, he
-was more than respected—he was beloved. As journalist, publisher, author
-and public speaker, he stood in the foremost rank in the insurance
-circles of the United States, and he constantly dignified and took pride
-in his work.”—[United States Review, April 22d.
-
-“The personality of him who was affectionately known as the ‘Patriarch’
-covered more than literary talent, more than business ability, more than
-professional strength. It embraced, as many of us can testify, an
-instinctive and undeviating support of the highest ideals of integrity,
-honesty and honor.... His heart was kindly, and his life pure and
-upright. As a friend and neighbor he was sympathetic and helpful; as a
-counsellor of those in need his aid was unstinted.”—[Resolutions adopted
-by the Fire Underwriters’ Association of the Pacific.
-
-“‘A good name is better than riches’, says the proverbialist of the Old
-Scripture, and the truth of the saying is never more forcibly
-illustrated than when death has called away the possessor of such a
-name.
-
-“Nothing is said of the amount of money accumulated by Mr. Hine during
-his lifetime, but all are eloquent in praise of his integrity, his
-courage in well-doing, his broad charity and his devotion to the cause
-of righteousness and truth.... Colonel Hine was a rare man, one whose
-example shines like a beacon above the rocks and shoals of commercial
-life, reminding those still voyaging there that deeds ‘are the harvest
-of eternity’.”—[Vindicator.
-
-“We know that he does not participate in our proceedings to-day, but who
-dares to say that, from beyond the purple and the gold, his keen eye is
-not watching us, and that his old-time smile does not beam from his
-pale, thoughtful, scholarly, beautiful face, as we have so often seen it
-do at these meetings. Such a man as he was, with the work he did, and
-the example he gave, needs no eulogy. Let us then try to tell, in plain
-and simple language, the story of his life, which was like a beautiful
-road, strewn on either side with flowers and fruits, with birds and
-butterflies....
-
-“Charles C. Hine was more than we have hastily described him as being.
-He was something besides a telegraph operator, an underwriter, an
-editor, a business man, a lecturer. He was a great man with a great
-soul; a good man with a good heart; a strong man with a strong mind. He
-was a man who had traveled as far as the sun and yet never gotten away
-from his childhood. He was the Doctor Johnson in whatever circle he
-chose to move, and yet as modest as a girl. He was the pride and glory
-of a great profession and yet as unassuming as a bashful boy. He
-remembered the love of his father, the caresses of his mother and the
-kisses of his sister—contact with the world did not harden his heart. He
-married the woman he loved, and for over forty years lived a perfect
-wedded life. He was a consistent member of the church and for thirty
-years the superintendent of a Sunday School. He was a working officer of
-the International Law & Order League. Three or four years ago, at
-Chautauqua, he addressed an audience of over five thousand persons. To
-measure the good he did in the world would be as impossible as to
-estimate the blessing of the sun’s rays. He became an old man on earth
-and continued to believe in God, in charity, in love, in goodness. He
-found inspiration in the stars, music in the birds, wisdom in babes, and
-peace in the Bible. He believed in women and trusted men.—[Memorial
-address of I. W. Holman.
-
-“A few days later, in the little church, the simple ceremony was
-performed. The house was filled to overflowing by men, women and
-children, neighbors and friends—all mourners. With streaming eyes they
-followed him to his last resting place on earth. His grave was filled
-with flowers and tears, and dedicated, in sorrow, to love. The dusk
-gathered softly, the shadows fell slowly—a helper of the poor, of the
-widow and the fatherless, was gone....
-
-“If it is the noblest epitaph to be written over the grave, that the man
-who lies there has been active, determined and firm in his principles,
-and has won notable success while passing through the fire of life
-without a stain of dishonesty upon his character, then Charles C. Hine
-lies fairly crowned with that finest laurel of mortality.”—[From
-memorial adopted by the National Association of Life Underwriters.
-
-“The death of Mr. C. C. Hine removes one of the most conspicuous figures
-in insurance journalism. Personally, we lose a valued friend, the
-profession loses an ornament. He was a good editor, a vigorous writer, a
-clear thinker, and a student. He led a cleanly life. His methods were
-pure and honorable, and he was a man that every editor of a paper could
-point to with pride, and say: ‘He is the Patriarch’ of us. His death
-came as a great surprise. We had always considered him physically strong
-and likely to live for many years. But then we did not think of the fact
-that he had lived the prescribed limit of ‘three score years and ten’.
-It appears that he had been ailing for a long time, and on Saturday, the
-16th, he sank quietly to rest. The Insurance Monitor, whose columns he
-so long presided over, will miss him greatly, and his death will prove a
-distinct loss, not only to journalism, but to the entire profession of
-underwriting.
-
-“Monday afternoon, a meeting of the insurance journalists was held in
-the office of The Weekly Underwriter, and the following minute was
-adopted:—
-
-“‘The insurance journalists of New York, convened this 20th day of
-April, 1897, upon news of the death of Mr. Charles C. Hine, unite in
-testifying their sorrow for their own great loss and in respectfully
-tendering their sympathy to the bereaved family.
-
-“‘As editor and publisher for nearly fifty years of the Insurance
-Monitor, he had in all sincerity and with eminent ability wrought well
-for what he deemed the best in insurance—the best for all. Nor in this
-way alone, but in very many public addresses, in books and pamphlets of
-his own, and in contributions to other books, had he labored to the same
-good purpose. And so he came to be, in fact, as long ago he was
-affectionately styled, ”The Patriarch“ among us.
-
-“‘He believed in his work, rejoiced in it, was proud of it. To him are
-all insurance journalists debtors for the high standard of life and
-labor which he set and by his conduct exemplified.
-
-“‘Called hence in his yet unwithered ripeness of mind and heart, he
-leaves us the pleasant and heartening memory of one who honored our
-profession by staunch though tolerant fidelity to his sense of right.
-
-“‘Committee.’
-
-“The Life Underwriters’ Association of New York, at a meeting held last
-night, appointed a committee which drew up the following minute:—
-
-“‘The members of this association are profoundly grieved in learning
-that their brother and friend, Charles C. Hine, has passed out of the
-mortal into the immortal life, and that they are to see his face no
-more. He was known to life insurance workers around the world. For a
-third of a century his was a helping hand to every toiler in the life
-insurance field. His journalistic work was not perfunctory, but glad and
-joyous. He believed. He had strong convictions. And he lived to see the
-little rill of life insurance broaden and deepen into the mighty river.
-As a writer he was many-sided. He knew the tensile strength of fact as
-expressed in figures and diagrams; and his work was enhanced in value by
-a never-ceasing play of humor. As a speaker none who ever heard him will
-forget him. He was ready, convincing, entertaining, versatile, apt.
-Living two years beyond his allotted three-score and ten, he seemed in
-appearance but to have entered upon the Indian Summer of his days. When
-last with us, but a few weeks since, he appeared to be but little
-changed from what he was a score of years ago. When the end came he was
-as a ”shock of corn fully ripe“, ready to be garnered. It was meet and
-fit that he should go thus swiftly, with the light shining on him from
-the worlds out of sight, for he had lived his life with such a transfer
-in view. This association holds out its hand in silence to the sorrowing
-ones of his household, for whose deeper grief it has the profoundest
-sympathy.
-
-“Committee.’—[Insurance Record—April.
-
-“It was a good morning for taking a last look. The sun shone forth in
-cloudless beauty, the air was sweeter for a frost of the night before;
-there was green grass, and much token, too, of leafage and flower. This
-is the time of year when the outer world tries hard to tell us of
-something better than itself. Not a violet or a dandelion by the wayside
-that does not sing of bloom that shall never fade. A seeming endless
-repetition of life and death points true to the endless life, the spring
-time unfading, the friendships that endure.
-
-“The simple ceremonies were held at the little church where the man was
-best known. There were banks of flowers, and there were streaming eyes.
-He must have been dear to the children for many of them were weeping as
-though they had lost a father. The place was crowded. The minister told
-a simple story of what the life had been on its religious side. Mr. Hine
-was an earnest Christian worker. He was a helper of others. He had no
-debate over doctrines. He accepted the truths of Christianity, and
-practiced what he believed. He was a helper of the poor, of the widow
-and the fatherless. It was a most pathetic address, out of the heart of
-a man who felt that the community has suffered an irreparable loss.
-
-“Thus did we get a glimpse of the real life of the man, and take note of
-the things he lived for. Many, many years we knew him here in the great,
-babbling town. Like the rest of us, he had his work to do, and he did it
-with a will. But his heart the while was there in the little church,
-there with the pastor, the poor, the children.
-
-“It is a benefaction to be buried when life is bursting forth
-everywhere. The autumn entombment is followed by a cold and dreary
-winter. It is so hard for those who weep to listen to the sleet against
-the window, the madness of the storm. And the snow piled up on the fresh
-tomb, how it chills one to think of it! But now come sunshiny days and
-calm, sweet nights, and through all the shining stars talk to us, and
-tell us that our dead were never buried, but journeyed swiftly to worlds
-more glorious; and we believe what they say. But we hear not the star
-voices except when there are calm and warmth, and bud and
-blossom.”—[Charles D. Lakey, in Insurance.
-
-“C. C. Hine was a stalwart figure in whatever walk of life he appeared.
-His character was sturdy and substantial in its development. Born in New
-Haven, Conn., in 1825, he early went to the then Far West to try his
-fortune, and in those rigorous times he laid the foundations for a sound
-physical and mental manhood. He was successively school teacher, artist,
-leader in telegraphy, insurance agent and insurance officer. In 1868 he
-purchased the ‘Insurance Monitor’, the oldest American insurance journal
-now in existence, and had, therefore, conducted it, as editor and
-proprietor, for upwards of thirty years. As a writer his style was
-original, vigorous and entertaining. He had strong opinions and never
-hesitated to express them. Especially in fire insurance he left his
-impress upon the thought and practice of the time. He had a peculiar
-facility in verbal expression, and was often called upon to speak in
-public upon insurance subjects, his addresses being always
-acceptable.”—[Insurance Age.
-
-“And so our old friend and ever courteous contemporary, Charles C. Hine,
-has gone over to the great majority. Although his stay here was longer
-in years than is the measure of time allotted earthly visitors, his
-departure is none the less sorrowful to all of us who knew and loved him
-well for his exemplary characteristics. As editor of the Monitor, and as
-a comrade in a special field of journalism, we were proud of the cordial
-relationship that existed without friction or interruption for more than
-a score of years between C. C. Hine and us. ‘To him’—as Editor Davis
-well said in the minute adopted at the meeting of insurance
-journalists—‘are all insurance journalists debtors for the high standard
-of life and labor which he set and by his conduct exemplified’. But, as
-Brother Lakey graphically expressed it, in the resolution he prepared
-for, and which was adopted by, the Life Underwriters’ Association: ‘When
-the end came he (C. C. Hine) was as a ”shock of corn fully ripe“, ready
-to be garnered. It was meet and fit that he should go thus swiftly with
-the light shining on him from worlds out of sight, for he had lived his
-life with such a transfer in view.’ In adding a word of tribute to the
-fragrant memory of this good man may we not confidently voice the hope,
-as we say farewell to him, that peace and joy shall be his share for
-evermore?”—[Vigilant.
-
-“Personally, Mr. Hine was a most agreeable companion, well informed on a
-wide range of subjects, an easy and interesting talker, always ready
-with a good story and, what is somewhat rare among story tellers, as
-willing to listen as to tell. Everybody liked him, and he had the good
-word of the people where he had lived. The writer of this well remembers
-some twenty years ago being down at Peru, Ill., on a case before Squire
-Underhill, a Justice of the Peace. The trial had drawn together quite a
-lot of old citizens, and while waiting for a witness a general
-conversation was indulged in. The writer happening to mention that he
-had just got back from New York, and insurance being referred to in
-connection with the visit, the ’Squire’s face lit up and he said: ‘New
-York—why, that’s where Charley Hine lives; runs an insurance paper down
-there. Do you know Charley?’ The question being answered satisfactorily,
-one and another of the old citizens began to tell about when Charley
-Hine set up the telegraph in Peru along back in 1850, or thereabouts,
-and what a smart young fellow he was, and so pleasant and accommodating,
-too. We have no doubt that his acquaintance with Charley Hine helped the
-learned counsel to win his case, which was not an especially good
-one.”—[Insurance.
-
-
- Y. M. C. A. IN 1855.
-
-
-“The new Young Men’s Christian Association building on Pearl and Main
-streets was opened yesterday to the public....
-
-“A resume of the life of the Young Men’s Christian Association in this
-city will be of interest to the readers. The association was first
-organized in this city in 1855 by C. C. Hine, and is said to be one of
-the oldest in the country.”—[New Albany (Ind.) Tribune, 1893.
-
-
- THE PATRIARCH RAISES HIS VOICE IN SONG.
-
-
-“I thought I knew the Patriarch fairly well, and that I was ‘on’ to all
-of his varied accomplishments. I knew that he could get upon his feet
-before an assembly and make an interesting talk, but I never knew until
-recently that he was a singer! I read in a report of the last meeting of
-the Fire Underwriters’ Association of the Northwest that ‘Father Hine
-was then introduced, and after a few jokes sang a song which evoked
-continuous laughter’. There is something droll in the idea of it to me,
-but I would bet another (dinner) with whosoever would take me up that
-Mr. Hine acquitted himself with his usual completeness. He can do a good
-many things, and i’ faith he can do ’em all well. He would not undertake
-anything he could not.”—[Insurance World, November, 1896.
-
-
- AFTER THE BANQUET WAS OVER.
-
-
-“In his October Monitor, C. C. Hine modestly refers to ‘a little
-occurrence’ that followed the recent banquet of the Northwestern
-Association. The ‘little occurrence’ was a one-minute speech made by Mr.
-Hine himself, in the presence of a company of fifteen, in response to a
-very complimentary toast proposed by H. C. Eddy of this city (Chicago).
-As near as we can recall it, this is what the Patriarch said: Gentlemen,
-I am nearly three score and ten years old. It is getting to be half-past
-eleven with me, and the longer I live and the older I grow the more I
-appreciate the friendships I have made and the more I appreciate such
-friendly expressions as this.’ Then, taking up his glass, he added, ‘I
-became a teetotaler at the age of twelve, and must therefore drink with
-you in cold water.’ The Patriarch said this from his heart, and the late
-hour and the deserted banquet hall added to the impressiveness of his
-remarks. But was he quite sure as to his own age? His eye is as bright
-and his voice as clear and ringing as when first we knew him, and his
-form is as erect and upright as his life has been. We repeated Mr.
-Hine’s little speech to two grandmothers that we know, and they repeated
-it to ‘the boy’, and the grandmothers told the boy that they hoped so
-good a temperance advocate would live a thousand years. ‘So say we all
-of us’—God save the Patriarch!”—[Insurance Post, October, 1894.
-
-
- YE PATRIARCH AS A HOOSIER.
-
-
-[Communicated.]
-
-
-“Recently my travels took me to the quiet, yet beautiful, city of New
-Albany, Ind., and while walking through its shady streets I remembered
-that the former home of Mr. C. C. Hine, the well-known underwriter, the
-accomplished writer, the able statistician, and the eloquent orator, was
-in this identical city. That here, when a local agent, he distributed
-blotting pads and cultivated the art of soliciting, which has served him
-many a good turn in later years. Here the foundation was laid for the
-broader work which fate had in store for him. The bright, young Hoosier,
-full of wit and good humor, was to become the grave and thoughtful
-‘Patriarch’, honored and beloved as a leader in his chosen profession.
-
-“There is a ‘touch of nature’ in us all, which inspires a curiosity to
-know something of those who have succeeded in life—who have become
-distinguished. That a great humorist should have wept at the tomb of
-Adam was to me no joke, provided that the spot selected was the genuine
-burial place of that eminent citizen. Who would not like to walk in the
-garden where Plato conversed, or view the forum from which Cicero spoke?
-To visit Avon and spend a day where Shakespeare sleeps will always be
-indeed a pleasure. Who, that is thoughtful, goes to Springfield, or
-Galena, without seeing the modest houses where Lincoln and Grant lived,
-when unhonored and unknown.
-
-“With this feeling, I sought and found the little, old-fashioned brick
-building, where, a third of a century ago, was the insurance office of
-Mr. Hine. On the side of the hill, a few blocks away, was the unassuming
-dwelling house, where the young agent lived in comfort and dignity,
-surrounded by a most loving family, and respected and esteemed by
-neighbors, many of whom have themselves since become known throughout
-the United States as wise statesmen, brave soldiers and honorable
-business men.
-
-“While in New Albany I was told many anecdotes illustrating Mr. Hine’s
-goodness of heart, fondness for children and devotion to charitable and
-Christian work. These cannot be repeated at this time. The following,
-however, told me by an old citizen, illustrates a type of manhood that,
-I fear, is becoming rarer each year, and is in danger of becoming, in
-time, entirely extinct:—
-
-“About 1853 the McCormick family offered the New Albany Theological
-Seminary $100,000 if that institution should be removed to Chicago. The
-offer was accepted, and Mr. Hine purchased the property which was
-vacated, and spent all the money he had, and all he could borrow, in
-erecting and fitting up buildings for a female college. The institution
-was thoroughly advertised, had the sympathy of the best people in the
-Southwest, and was about being opened under the most favorable auspices,
-when the financial crisis of 1857 swept over the West, cruelly
-prostrating and crushing thousands of the best and most public-spirited
-men in the country. Mr. Hine went down with the rest, losing every
-dollar he had, and being many thousand dollars in debt. He was broken
-up—badly broken up—but, fortunately, not broken down, for there is all
-the difference imaginable between the two. Mr. Hine then returned to the
-insurance business, traveling awhile for the Ætna Insurance Company,
-then becoming secretary of the International Insurance Company,
-subsequently, on the decease of the famous Tom Jones, purchasing the
-Insurance Monitor, at the head of which he has remained until the
-present time.
-
-“What became of his debts? Did he forget his creditors when he
-subsequently became prosperous, as so many others do? These were the
-questions I asked. Were the circumstances of his failure such as
-reflected unfavorably on his integrity and honesty? Did he afterward
-make settlements with his creditors that were satisfactory? Let others
-answer.
-
-“1. Gen. B. F. Scribner a well-known citizen of Indiana, and a resident
-of New Albany, said to me: ‘Mr. Hine’s failure was an honest one, and in
-no way reflected unfavorably on his honesty and integrity. He
-subsequently made settlements with his creditors that were entirely
-satisfactory. His conduct all through his troubles was such as to
-command the respect and sympathy of all right-minded citizens. The
-brevity of this statement very feebly expresses my admiration for Mr.
-Hine’s conduct and character.’
-
-“2. John C. Culbertson, Esq., formerly of New Albany, but now an honored
-resident of Santa Barbara, Cal., said: ‘Mr. Hine has been my intimate
-friend for over thirty years. He failed in New Albany years ago.
-Borrowed money to pay his servants. The Ætna Insurance Company advanced
-him $100 to support his little family in this trying time. Since then he
-has prospered, and has hunted up his creditors and paid them all in
-full, with interest, in some instances more than two dollars for one. He
-is an upright, Christian gentleman.’
-
-“3. L. G. Mathews, Esq., vice-president of the Ohio Falls Car Company,
-said: ‘Mr. Hine’s failure was due solely to the depressed condition of
-the times, financially. I was one of his creditors, and never knew of
-any one who complained of his honesty or want of integrity. As fast as
-he recovered from his misfortunes, and could spare the money, he devoted
-it to paying his debts. His manner of doing it was characteristic. He
-picked out the poorest and neediest of his creditors and paid them
-first. As an incident, I failed in business in 1872. Mr. Hine heard of
-it and sent me his check for principal and interest in full. I doubt if
-there is a man living, who, having left New Albany, could return and
-receive such a cordial welcome from all who knew him.’
-
-“4. Walter Mann, Esq., formerly a banker at New Albany, and now a
-resident of Minneapolis, said: ‘Mr. Hine left New Albany largely in debt
-and with nothing to begin the world again with, except experience and
-the best wishes of his friends. He afterward paid his debts, principal
-and interest. I was one of his creditors and speak whereof I know. His
-failure was an honest one and his conduct characterized by the highest
-integrity and honor. He paid his debts after he had ceased to be under
-any obligations to do so, and his record shows his thorough
-old-fashioned honesty and entire devotion to what he regards his duty.’
-
-“This article is written without the knowledge of Mr. Hine, and purely
-as a labor of love. In common with thousands of other underwriters I am
-indebted to the editor of the Monitor in a way that can never be paid
-with money.”
-
-I. W. H.
-
-[The above was published in an Indianapolis (Ind.) paper about 1890.]
-
-
-
-
- APPENDIX.
-
-
-
-
- REPORT OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WOODSIDE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
-
-
-(This and the school census are given because they furnish many names of
-early residents.)
-
- Organized Sunday, June 16, 1867.
-
- Completed a year (52 Sundays), June 14, 1868.
-
- No Sunday omitted during the year.
-
- Names enrolled during year 121
- Total attendance during year 3,024
- Average attendance during year 58
- Contributions (begun July 7, 1867) $107.28
-
- Smallest attendance, 44; largest 71.
-
-Organization consists of 11 classes, 3 librarians, 1 organist, 1
-superintendent. Number of books in library, 250; amount expended on
-account of library and papers, $150.
-
-Class No. 1 has had one teacher, Mrs. Sarah L. Tompkins. The names
-enrolled are Ida Cox, Nelly Galt, Mary White, Frances Honess, Christina
-Coeyman, Anna Chappell, Alice Chappell, Hannah Filand, Emma Forbes.
-
-Class No. 2.—One teacher, Mrs. Jenny Stimis. Enrollment: Ada Joralemon,
-Eva Rogers, Fanny Bennett, Jessie Dalrymple, Ellen Mackey, Emma Royce,
-Jenny Fisher.
-
-Class No. 3.—One teacher, Thomas Kinsey. Enrollment: David Bennett,
-Willie Pratt, Walter Clark, Theo. Palmer, Henry Mackey, Livingston
-Forbes, William Fisher.
-
-Class No. 4.—One teacher, Miss Annie Kinsey. Enrollment: Fanny Winser,
-Bella Gore, Kate Dalrymple, May McDonald, Anne Crane, Mary Bennett, Mary
-Phillips.
-
-Class No. 5.—One teacher, John C. Bennett. Enrollment: Willie Faitoute,
-Alvah Stimis, Willie Earl, Willie Clark, Harry Winser, George Boyden,
-Elven Forbes, John Beach, Fred Moore, Frank Moore, Walter Harlan.
-
-Class No. 6.—Three teachers, Mrs. Bell Z. Booeram, Prof. A. Bigelow,
-Miss J. A. Avery. Enrollment: Henry Pettit, Avery Hine, George Gore,
-Charles Van Nostrand, Will Cumming, Wm. Smith, Charles F. Eddowes.
-
-Class No. 7.—Two teachers, Harris McFarlin, Mrs. Harris McFarlin.
-Enrollment: Allen Earle, Garry Mackey, Charles Briggs, William Epworth,
-Alex Van Riper.
-
-Class No. 8.—One teacher, Mrs. Anne Callen. Enrollment: Abby Tompkins,
-Jenny Stimis, Matty Palmer, Cora Clark, Gabrielle Scharff, Letitia
-White, Lottie Coeyman.
-
-Class No. 9.—One teacher, Miss Hannah Teel. Enrollment: Emma Tompkins,
-Jenny Morrison, Nelly Baldwin, Anna Swinnerton, Laura Palmer, Belle
-White, Carrie Morrison, Emma Keen, Gilbert Hine, Neddy Hine, Joseph
-Swinnerton, Willie Roberts, Clarence Swinnerton, Charley Mackey, Fred’k
-Sommers, Henry Sommers, Johnny Gore, Johnny Morrison, Lottie Francisco,
-Jenny White, Harry Callen, Jimmy Carroll, Monroe Coeyman, Miles Coeyman,
-Alie McFarlin, Lulu Farmer, Violet Scharff, Johnny Evans, Arthur Stimis,
-Lavina Van Riper, Stella Joralemon, Freddy Beach, Freddy Faitoute,
-Caroline Coeyman, De Witt Joralemon.
-
-The above nine classes were the original organization.
-
-Class No. 10.—One teacher, George Blackwood. Enrollment: George
-Blackwood, John Blackwood, Arte Bigelow.
-
-Class No. 11.—One teacher, Mrs. Mary H. Hine. Enrollment: Carrie Day,
-Emma Sandford, Mary Sandford, Susie Mackey, Mary Carter, Lizzie Carter.
-
-Showing the present regular membership to be:—
-
-Scholars, 68; teachers, 11; librarians, 3; organist, 1; superintendent,
-1.
-
-
-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF WOODSIDE,
-ESSEX COUNTY, FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL 6TH, 1870.
-
-
- Dr.
-
- To amount of Tax Duplicate $15,501 22
-
- “ State School Fund due District Woodside 114 04
-
- ==========
-
-
- $15,615 26
-
-
- Cr.
-
-
- Paid P. S. Pierson, County Collector $5,720 00
-
- Woodside school District, Teacher’s Salary 150 00
-
- Montgomery “ ” “ 150 00
-
- Chas. D. Morrison, } $4 00
-
- Chas. Akers, } Judges of Elections 4 00
-
- Alfred Keene, } 4 00
-
- ———
-
- 12 00
-
- Elias Osborn, Assessor’s Fees 77 82
-
- Births, Deaths, Marriages and Militia.
-
- Chas. Akers, Collector’s Fees 172 48
-
- Gilbert W. Cumming, Attorney Fees 50 00
-
- E. W. Cobb, Justice’s Fees 4 28
-
- Town Committee 244 00
-
- Commissioners of Appeals 18 00
-
- Clerk's Fees 104 00
-
- Chas. Akers, Overseer of the Poor 62 39
-
- Alfred Keene, Expenses in Procuring a Copy of 7 50
- Supplement
-
- Dodd Bros., Township Seal 6 00
-
- Newark Daily Journal, Notices of Meetings 4 10
-
- ” “ Advertiser, ” “ 1 00
-
- A. P. Young, Copying and Engrossing Bill for 5 00
- Presentation to the Legislature
-
- Chas. D. Morrison, Ballot Box 14 00
-
- Fogg & Sanborn, Township Books, Tin Box for Clerk 12 50
-
- Interest on Town Notes, Discounted 151 44
-
- Road District, No. 1, Sum Appropriated and 800 00
- Expended
-
- ” “ No. 2, ” “ ” 800 00
-
- “ ” No. 3, “ ” “ $800 00
-
- Loaned to District No. 4 200 00
-
- ———
-
- Expended in District No. 3 656 09
-
- Road District, No. 4, Sum Appropriated $800 00
-
- Borrowed from and Due District No. 3 200 00
-
- ———
-
- Expended in District No. 4 1,000 00
-
- Road District No. 5, Sum Appropriated and Expended 800 00
-
- Amount of Uncollected Taxes to Date 3,588 21
-
- Taxes Remitted by the Commissioners 348 40
-
- Balance of Cash on hand 656 05
-
- —————
-
- $15,615 26
-
- _JAMES SWINNERTON, Jr._,
- Town Clerk.
-
- GILBERT W. CUMMING, }
- CHAS. C. HINE, }
- JOHN McMULLEN, } Town Committee.
- THEODORE G. PALMER, }
- EUGENE B. SMITH, }
-
-
- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DISTRICT CLERK OF TOWNSHIP OF WOODSIDE
-
-
-August 31, 1869
-
-Children Between 5 and 18 Years of Age Residing in the District
-
- _Parents or Guardians._ _No._ _Children._
-
- Barney Agnew 1 Daniel Agnew
- “ ” 2 Joseph “
- ” “ 3 James ”
- “ ” 4 Agnes “
- ” “ 5 Andrew ”
- G. A. Boyden 6 George O. Boyden
- John C. Bennett 7 Fanny Bennett
- “ ” “ 8 David ”
- “ ” “ 9 Mary ”
- Geo. H. Bartholomew 10 Emily T. Bartholomew
- “ ” “ 11 Lewis ”
- Baxter T. Blackwood 12 George Blackwood
- “ ” “ 13 John ”
- Edwin Benson 14 Edwin Benson
- Artemus Bigelow 15 Arte Bigelow
- Francis Clough 16 Frank Bennett
- Franklin Baldwin 17 Nellie Baldwin
- William A. Bradford 18 Esther C. Bradford
- “ ” “ 19 Millie ”
- Timothy Barrett 20 Catherine Barrett
- “ ” 21 Michael “
- Albert Beach 22 William Beach
- ” “ 23 John ”
- “ ” 24 Maria “
- Albert Beach 25 Fred Beach
- ” “ 26 Josephine ”
- Mrs. Mary Hopkins 27 Hattie L. Barnes
- Thomas H. Coeyman 28 Harriet Coeyman
- “ ” “ 29 Monroe ”
- “ ” “ 30 Miles ”
- George B. Callen 31 Harry Callen
- Franklin Pratt 32 Annie Chappall
- “ ” 33 Alice “
- William A. Clark 34 William T. Clark
- ” “ ” 35 Walter A. “
- Gilbert W. Cumming 36 William Cumming
- Horace Carter 37 Lizzie Carter
- Henry Coeyman 38 Lottie Coeyman
- ” “ 39 Mary ”
- “ ” 40 Caroline “
- J. S. L. Cummings 41 Bessie Cummings
- Edward Carragan 42 Edward Carragan
- N. J. Crane 43 Frank S. Crane
- ” “ ” 44 Jennie M. “
- ” “ ” 45 Sarah “
- Joseph Dreyfous 46 Walter Dreyfous
- ” “ 47 Adele ”
- “ ” 48 Gertrude “
- ” “ 49 Herbert ”
- Reuben W. Earl 50 Willie Earl
- “ ” “ 51 Charlie ”
- Anthony Epworth 52 William Epworth
- E. G. Faitoute 53 Willie Faitoute
- “ ” “ 54 Freddie ”
- G. W. Gore 55 Belle Gore
- “ ” “ 56 Johnnie Gore
- Wilbur Garrabrant 57 Frank Garrabrant
- ” “ 58 George ”
- Oliver Gordon 59 Bertie Gordon
- William Hunter 60 Lizzie Hunter
- “ ” 61 Annie “
- William J. Harlan 62 Melville Harlan
- ” “ ” 63 Walter “
- Daniel Halsey 64 George Halsey
- C. C. Hine 65 Avery Hine
- ” “ ” 66 Gilbert “
- ” “ ” 67 Edward “
- Ralph Hyde 68 Florence Hyde
- ” “ 69 Alice ”
- “ ” 70 Ralph “
- Robert Honess 71 Charles W. Honess
- S. U. Bard 72 A. Judson
- William Kennedy 73 Mary E. Kennedy
- ” “ 74 Sarah ”
- “ ” 75 Elizabeth “
- George W. Keene 76 Emma Keene
- James S. Mackie 77 Clara Mackie
- ” “ ” 78 Chas. P. Mackie
- “ ” “ 79 Stewart J. Mackie
- ” “ ” 80 Robert O. “
- ” “ ” 81 Alla C. “
- Mrs. Mary F. Mann 82 Ella Mann
- Charles D. Morrison 83 Jennie Morrison
- ” “ ” 84 Carrie “
- ” “ ” 85 Johnnie “
- Ashley Melius 86 Theodore Melius
- Bethuel Munn 87 Jennie Munn
- ” “ 88 Louisa ”
- John McDonald 89 Mary S. McDonald
- “ ” 90 John P. “
- John H. Mackey 91 Charlie Mackey
- ” “ ” 92 Henry “
- ” “ ” 93 Garry “
- ” “ ” 94 Ella “
- Mrs. Sarah Moore 95 Frank Moore
- Mrs. Sarah Moore 96 Fred Moore
- ” “ ” 97 Charlie “
- George Megrath 98 Robert S. Megrath
- ” “ 99 Clara ”
- Patrick McCabe 100 Fannie McCabe
- “ ” 101 Nellie “
- Michael McGrann 102 Annie McGrann
- Cornelius McIntire 103 Sarah McIntire
- ” “ 104 Caroline ”
- “ ” 105 Margaret “
- ” “ 106 Louisa ”
- Mrs. Holt 107 Charles Maxwell
- “ ” 108 Sarah “
- J. C. Neagles 109 Emma Neagles
- Lewis A. Osborn 110 William Osborn
- ” “ ” 111 Maria “
- ” “ ” 112 Emily “
- Francis O’Conner 113 Mary O’Conner
- William F. Pettit 114 Henry Pettit
- Theodore G. Palmer 115 Mattie Palmer
- ” “ ” 116 Theodore Palmer
- “ ” “ 117 Laura ”
- John M. Phillips 118 Willie Phillips
- “ ” “ 119 Albert ”
- Franklin Pratt 120 Will Pratt
- “ ” 121 Frank “
- Charles Peine 122 Charles Peine
- Albert D. Richardson 123 Leander Richardson
- ” “ ” 124 Maude “
- ” “ ” 125 Allie “
- H. S. McGrain 126 Philomena Ryan
- John Redding 127 Richard Redding
- F. A. Sherman 128 Ella T. Sherman
- James Swinnerton 129 Annie Swinnerton
- ” “ 130 Joe ”
- Gilbert Stimis 131 Jennie Stimis
- Gilbert Stimis 132 Alvah Stimis
- Mrs. Sarah Smith 133 Lemuel Smith
- Mrs. Snowden 134 Susan Simpson
- W. V. Snyder 135 Watson B. Snyder
- Henry Stimis 136 Clara Stimis
- “ ” 137 Henry “
- John Searle 138 Joseph Searle
- ” “ 139 Jane ”
- Robert Smith 140 Robert E. Smith
- “ ” 141 Charles L. “
- Edward Spooner 142 Thos. H. Spooner
- T. J. Tobias 143 Fannie Tobias
- ” “ ” 144 Nellie “
- ” “ ” 145 Charles “
- ” “ ” 146 Emily “
- Daniel Tompkins 147 Abigal Tompkins
- ” “ 148 Emma ”
- E. J. Vreeland 149 Kate Vreeland
- “ ” “ 150 Helena ”
- “ ” “ 151 Cyrus ”
- Adrian Van Riper 152 Lavinia Van Riper
- “ ” 153 Alexander “
- Peter White 154 Richard White
- ” “ 155 Beckie ”
- William A. Wauters 156 Lucinda Wauters
- Charles H. Tyler 157 Elmira Tyler
-
-
-
-
- CONTENTS.
-
-
- A
-
- Abbott, Horace, 119
-
- Adams, Mary Ann, 91
-
- Alexander, James G., 49
-
- Ananias, Mr., 142-146
-
- Anecdotes, 71, 87, 178, 179, 194
-
- Appendix, 295-304
-
- Avery, Miss Jane A., 212
-
-
- B
-
- Back Road, 66
-
- Baker, Matthias, 96, 99
-
- Ballantine Property on Old Bloomfield Road, 96
-
- Banks, Matthew, 37
-
- Bartholf, John G., 97
-
- Beach, Albert, 98, 230
-
- Bellars, 248-250
-
- Bennett, Jesse C., 67, 78, 88
-
- Bennett, Capt. Thomas, 90, 141
-
- Bennett, William, 109, 114
-
- Benson, Col. Henry, 92
-
- Benson’s Mill, 91
-
- Bird, George and Jonathan, 90, 140
-
- “Bird” House, 140, 141
-
- Bird’s Woods, 108
-
- Black Tom, 32
-
- Blewett, Lieut.-Col. W. E., 243-246
-
- Bloomfield Road, Old, 93
-
- Blue Jay Woods, 104
-
- Boating on the Passaic, 251
-
- Body Snatching, 11
-
- Boot Leg Lane, 64, 65
-
- British on Woodside Soil, 84
-
- British Troops on River Road, 34, 36
-
- Buck, Col. Samuel L., 239
-
- Buried Treasure, 35
-
- Button Factory, 62
-
-
- C
-
- Calico Print Works, 89
-
- Calico Print Works Property, 141, 142
-
- Cannon Balls from the Passaic, 59
-
- Canoeing on the Passaic, 253
-
- Carter, Horace, 25, 38
-
- Cedars, The, 15
-
- Christ Church Building, First, 190
-
- Christ Church, Chronology of the New Building, 193
-
- Christ Church, Form of Covenant of, 187
-
- Christ Church, Formation of, 182-190
-
- Christ Church Organized in House of C. C. Hine 182, 184
-
- Church Choir, The, 195
-
- Church, First, of Woodside, 173
-
- Church Services in the House of C. C. Hine, 161, 162, 171-175
-
- Coeyman Burial Ground, Stones in, 59-62, 63
-
- Coeyman Genealogy, 51
-
- Coeyman, Hendrick, 59
-
- Coeyman, Minard, 50, 75
-
- Coeyman Possessions, Extent of, 52
-
- Coeyman Reminiscence, 53
-
- Coeymans of the Back Road, 67, 94
-
- Cooper, Peter, 114
-
- Crane Family, Notes on the, 126
-
- Crane, Jasper, 100, 126, 127
-
- Cumming, Gen. Gilbert W., 230
-
-
- D
-
- Dead Man’s Bend, 31
-
- De Grow, Moll, 10
-
- Devil, The, in the Gully Road, 12
-
- Discomforts of a New Region, 158, 159
-
- Division Road, 64, 65
-
- Dolce, Sanchez y, 23
-
- Dow, Lorenzo, 94
-
- Drift Road, 67, 72
-
- Dryden, John F., 241
-
- Duncan, John, William and Sebastian, 26, 29
-
- Duxbury, Margaret, 58
-
-
- E
-
- Eagle Printing Company, 90
-
- Early Conveyances, 158
-
- Edgecombe House, 65
-
- Election Ticket, First, 197
-
- Elliott Street School, 88
-
- Ellsworth, Col. Elmer E., 214-222
-
- Elwood Place, 68
-
- Ericsson, John, 118
-
- Erie Railroad, 168
-
- Erie Railroad Brought to Terms, 248
-
- Erskin Map No. 79, 59
-
-
- F
-
- Fairs, Cake Sales and Lectures, 164-168
-
- Fairy Lamps, 89
-
- Farrand Family History, 104
-
- Farrand Genealogy, 105
-
- Farrand, Moses, Home, 104
-
- Ferrant-Farrand, 106
-
- First Reformed Church, 189
-
- First Reformed Church Building, 190, 193
-
- Fishing at Green Island, 23
-
- Flavel, 69
-
- Floating Palace, 30
-
- Forest Hill Before Morristown, 104
-
- Forrester, Frank, 15-22, 24
-
- Fort on Mt. Prospect, 102
-
-
- G
-
- Ghost of a British Spy, 15
-
- Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 91
-
- Gibbs, Alfred H., 37
-
- Godon, John, 100
-
- Gray & Wright, 90
-
- Green Island, 23
-
- Griffin, Dr. Edward D., 105
-
- Grist Mill on Old Bloomfield Road, 94
-
- Gully Road, 7-22
-
- Gully Road Ghost, 7
-
- Gully Road, Legend Accounting for Origin of, 7
-
- Gypsies on Murphy’s Lane, 113
-
-
- H
-
- Handcock, Edward, 100
-
- Hare and Tortoise, 19
-
- Haugevort, Gerard, 70
-
- Hedden, Joseph, Jr., Son of, 35, 97
-
- Herbert, Henry William, 15-22, 24
-
- Hessians Bury Loot, 46
-
- Hewes & Phillips Iron Works, 233
-
- Hewitt, Abram S., 114
-
- Highwaymen on the Back Road, 86
-
- Hine, C. C., Anecdotes of, 171, 136, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209
-
- Hine, C. C.—Personal, 259-291
-
- Hine, Charles Cole, Early History of, 132-135
-
- Hine, Mary Hazard Avery, 209
-
- Hine, Mr., First Visits Woodside, 137
-
- Hine, Mr., Impressions of, 256
-
- Hine’s, Mr., Character, Notes on, 202-209
-
- Holt, Ed., 30
-
- Holt, Ed., Floating Palace of, 252
-
- Holt, Mrs., 30
-
- Horse Cars, First, 159
-
- Houses Erected in 1866-7, 139
-
- Houses of Early Settlers, 140
-
- Houses on Lincoln Avenue, 139
-
- Houses on the River Road, 139
-
- Houses on Washington Avenue, 138
-
-
- I
-
- I’Anson, Miles, 70, 71
-
- I’Anson Property, Previous Owners of, 72-74
-
- Ianthe Canoe Club, 253
-
- Incidents of Early Days of the Church, 194
-
- Indian Name of Woodside, 110
-
- Indian Relics in Gully Road, 9
-
- Indian Relics on River Road, 62
-
- Indian Trails, 7, 93
-
- Indians, Fort for Protection from, 102
-
- Indians on the Old Bloomfield Road, 103
-
- Irving, Washington, in Woodside, 158
-
-
- J
-
- Jackson, George, 29
-
- Janes, Dr. J. E., 248
-
- Johns, Joseph, 109, 110, 111
-
-
- K
-
- Keen, Alfred, 104, 109
-
- Keen Family History, 98
-
- Keen Farm House, 98
-
- Kidd, Captain, Legend of, 149
-
- Keen Lane, 85, 99
-
- King, J. F., 67
-
- King, Jasper, 27, 33
-
- King, Phœbe, 27, 33
-
- King, “Poddy”, 27, 33
-
- Kinsey, Thomas W., 246, 247
-
-
- L
-
- Lanes, Early, 85, 99
-
- Lime Kiln, 49
-
- Lincoln Avenue, The Trees of, 236
-
- Long Hill Road, 93
-
- Longworth, Isaac, 102
-
- Longworth, Martha, 101
-
- Longworth, Nicholas, 102
-
-
- M
-
- Macauley, Dr. John M., 191
-
- Maclure, David, 237
-
- Magazine House, 85
-
- Maverick, 37
-
- Melius, Esley, 42
-
- Mellen, Rev. Henry Merle, 192, 194
-
- Merrimac, The, 118, 120
-
- Merrimac’s Engineer, Tale of the, 120
-
- Monitor, Sinking of the, 122
-
- Monitor, The, 116-126
-
- Monitor, The, Turret Machinery, 234
-
- Moore & Seeley, 91
-
- Morris, John, 97
-
- Morrison, Charles D., 150
-
- Morrison and Briggs, 150
-
- Mud, Plenty of, 159
-
- Munn Family History, 40
-
- Murphy’s Lane, 107
-
- Murphytown, 109, 112
-
- Mystery Solved, 62
-
-
- N
-
- New Barbadoes, 38
-
- Nichols, Horace H., 25, 213
-
-
- O-P
-
- “Old Johns’s Money”, 111
-
- Park Athletic Association, 69
-
- Passaic, Boating on, 251
-
- Passaic, Canoeing on, 253
-
- Passaic, First Recorded Boat Race on, 21
-
- Perou, Tract, The, 77
-
- Phillips, David, 75
-
- Phillips Family History, 75
-
- Phillips Farm, 74-79, 83
-
- Phillips, John Morris, 70, 83, 233
-
- Phillips Lane, 66
-
- Pigot, Dr. Edward, 1, 22
-
- Pioneering in Woodside, 179
-
- Pobishon, Indian Name of Woodside,110
-
- Point House, 26-32
-
- Prayer Meeting, First, 174
-
- Presbyterian Church Organized, 172, 173
-
- Presbyterian Church Organized in House of C. C. Hine, 171
-
- Presbyterian Church, Pastors of, 181
-
- Presbyterian Church, Split in, 176, 177
-
- Prudential Insurance Company, Its Start, 242
-
- Pullinger, Mrs. Dorcas or Gilbert, 43, 78
-
-
- R
-
- Rano, Joseph S., 23
-
- Reminiscences by Mr. Swinnerton, 158, 196
-
- Retreat from Belleville, 168
-
- Revolutionary Camp Ground, 240
-
- Revolutionary Incident, 35, 36, 46, 53, 76, 81, 83, 84
-
- Ridgewood, 154
-
- River Road, 7-71
-
- River Road an Indian Trail, 7
-
- River Road Laid Out in 1707, 7
-
- Riverside Athletic Club, 68
-
- Roads, Old, 5
-
- Rowe, Henry, 22
-
-
- S
-
- St. John’s Episcopal Church, 145, 148
-
- Sandford, Abraham, Jr., 22, 38, 39
-
- Sandford Family History, 38
-
- Scharff, Adrian, 95
-
- Schenck, Rev. Isaac Van Wart, 192
-
- Second River, Inhabitants of, 1
-
- Shields Guards, 109
-
- Sidman Family History, 99-102
-
- Sidman House, 102
-
- Slave, Last? in Woodside, 37
-
- Smelt of the Passaic, Memoir on, 24
-
- Smith, “White-house”, 95
-
- Smith, “Brick-house”, 99
-
- Smith, Ebenezer, 95
-
- Smith, Matthias, 107, 96, 99
-
- Smith, Robert, 95, 96
-
- Stimis, Christopher, 45, 52
-
- Stimis Family Traditions, 44
-
- Stimis, Henry, 45
-
- Stimis, John, 43, 44, 45, 75
-
- Stimis Lane, 85
-
- Stimis, William, 24, 45, 52, 63, 64, 75
-
- Stout, Capt. Jacob, 90, 141
-
- Strawberry Lot, 68
-
- Street Car Octopus, 5
-
- Street Cars, 200
-
- Sunday Horse Cars, No, 232
-
- Sunday School, First, in Newark, 111
-
- Sunday School, First, in Woodside, 110
-
- Sunday School in Elliott Street, 181
-
- Sunday School in the House of C. C. Hine, 160, 161, 170
-
- Sunday School of June 16, 1867, 161
-
- Sunday School Proposed, 160
-
- Sunday School, Report of First Year of, 295
-
- Swinnerton, James, 229
-
- Swinnerton, James, Reminiscences by, 158-168, 196-199
-
- Sydenham-Sidman, 99, 102
-
-
- T
-
- Taxes, What We Get for Our, 3
-
- Teel, Miss Hannah, 175
-
- Terhune Place, 37
-
- Thomas, Thomas, 62
-
- Thornhill, 37
-
- Timby, Dr. Theodore R., 117, 118
-
- Tobey, William, 64
-
- Tobey’s Lane, 65
-
- Toler, Hugh, 37
-
- Toll Gate on Old Bloomfield Road, 94
-
- Tompkins, Daniel F., 53, 240
-
- Tompkins, Francis, 49
-
- Tory, A, 103
-
- Town Meetings, 199
-
- Tragedy, A Woodside, 199
-
- Trail, James, 113
-
- Triton Boat Club, 251
-
- Two Bottles, 46
-
-
- V
-
- Van Cortlandt Genealogy, 55
-
- Van Cortlandt House, Old, 55-57, 63
-
- Van Cortlandt, Stephen, 55, 59
-
- Van Emburgh, Abraham, 26, 42
-
- Van Emburgh, Capt. Chris., 32
-
- Van Rensselaer, John, 57, 58
-
- Van Riper, Charles, 107
-
- Van Winkle, Polly, 39, 112
-
-
- W
-
- Washington Avenue, Opening of, 153, 158
-
- Washington, Gen’l, on the Back Road, 92
-
- Washington, Gen’l, on the River Road, 53
-
- Wauters, William T., 109, 112
-
- Wayne, Anthony, Camp, 33, 34, 79, 240
-
- Weeks, Dr. Grenville M., 114-126
-
- Weiler, Peter, 248
-
- West, Joseph, 70
-
- Winser, Henry J., Reminiscences of, 214-229
-
- Winser, Henry J., Settles in Woodside, 138
-
- Witch, A, of the Gully Road, 10
-
- Woodside, 1868-9, 196-199
-
- Woodside a Part of Belleville, 2, 151
-
- Woodside a Part of Bloomfield, 2
-
- Woodside a Township, 2, 154-157
-
- Woodside Absorbed by Newark, 3
-
- Woodside Before March, 1743, 1
-
- Woodside Formerly Ridgewood, 154
-
- Woodside in 1849, Map of—Facing Page, 1
-
- Woodside—Its Boundaries, 1, 2
-
- Woodside Molasses Jar, A, 148
-
- Woodside School Census, 1869, 300-304
-
- Woodside, The, of 1867, 158
-
- Woodside Township, First Annual Report of, 298, 299
-
- Woodside, When There Were No Politics in, 225
-
-
- Y-Z
-
- Yereance, James, 116
-
- Zenana Mission Band, 210
-
-
-
-
- * * * * * *
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s note:
-
- ○ Archaic spelling and punctuation have been retained.
-
-
-
-***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOODSIDE, THE NORTH END OF NEWARK,
-N.J***
-
-
-******* This file should be named 63996-0.txt or 63996-0.zip *******
-
-
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/9/9/63996
-
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
- most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
- restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
- under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
- eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
- United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
- are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
- works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
- Dr. Gregory B. Newby
- Chief Executive and Director
- gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-