History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 994

USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 2 > Part 1

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.

Gc 974.901 M75e pt.2 1764746

AVI

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02232 9368

599

HISTORY

MONMOUTH

COUNTY,

NEW JERSEY.

pb.2)

ILLUSTRATED.

BY FRANKLIN ELLIS.

PHILADELPHIA : R. T. PECK & CO. 1885.

55801 599

450

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

serving young people, who are seeking to better their condition. In Dr. Lockwood many such have found a devoted friend. He has a quick discernment in detecting real merit, and will often go out of his way in advancing it. Many a young man has found his way through col- lege and to places of honor and remuneration through Dr. Lockwood's aid and encourage- ment. The writer of this has known him to take a long ride, under great physical suffering, to aid a worthy teacher in trouble,-not that it was his official duty, but because of the prompt- ings of the religious humanity of his generous heart. To-day in Monmouth County few there be who have not the most kindly feeling and respect for this scholarly gentleman, who has given the maturest part of a valuable life to the advancement of education in New Jersey, which he is proud to call his home.

No newspaper was published in Freehold prior to the War of 1812-15, and the few which were published there during the next fourteen years after the close of that war were weak and of short duration. In the time of the Revolu- tionary War the only paper published in New Jersey was the New Jersey Gazette, of which Isaac Collins was publisher. There were no post-offices then in Monmouth ; the nearest one was Trenton, of which B. Smith was postmaster. The New Jersey Gazette had many subscribers in Monmouth, to whom papers were delivered by post-riders, who undertook such business on their own account. In 1778, John Van Kirk, who was probably the same who was sheriff of Middlesex, and who lived at Cranbury, adver- tised that he would deliver the Gazette to sub- scribers in Allentown for 78. 6d. per annum ; Hightstown, 10s .; Cranbury, 118 .; Englishtown, 12s. 6d .; Monmouth Court-House (Freehold), 15s,-provided two hundred and fifty subscribers could be obtained ; one-quarter of the money to be paid in hand. In Angust of the following year (1779) Van Kirk advertised to carry the paper for about the same terms per quarter, in- stead of per annum,-fluctuations in currency probably the cause. His terms in 1779 were to subscribers in Allentown, 78. 6d .; Freehold 108 .; . Shrewsbury, 14s .; Middletown, 158., and Eng-

fishtown, 10s. per quarter,-the cash to be paid by the packet master on delivering of the second week's papers.

The agents in Monmouth County in 1777-78 for the New Jersey Gazette were Colonel Thomas Henderson, Freehold ; John Burrowes, Mid- dletown Point; Colonel Daniel Hendrickson, Shrewsbury ; Colonel Elisha Lawrence, Upper Freehold. 1764746

The first newspaper of Freehold was a small sheet, called the Spirit of Washington, pub- lished, as before mentioned, in the house of John Craig (or in a small building attached to the dwelling), on the north side of Main Street, next east of the court-house. It first appeared in 1814, and continued into the following year, but how much (if any) longer is not known. It was a Federalist paper, devoted largely to abuse of President Madison and ex-President Jeffer- son, and violently opposed to the war then in progress against England. Two or three copies of this paper are still in existence in Free- hold.

The Monmouth Star, a small five-column paper, edited by West Deklyn (a young lawyer of Freehold), made its first appearance October 24, 1819. It was printed in the old court- house building, on South Street, and also, for a time, in an old building standing on a part of the American House site and adjoining the small shop then occupied by Francis Deklyn, and afterwards, for more than thirty-five years, by Elias Hart. How long the Star con- tinued is not known.

The Monmouth Journal, a five-column paper, was first issued December 26, 1826, by George M. Bunce & Co. It lived nearly two years, expiring in 1828.

The Jersey Blue-Jolin C. S. Connolly and Josiah Pierson, editors-was published in Freehold in 1846, its first issue being dated January 11th in that year. It was a three-col- umn, weekly journal, " devoted to the moral and intellectual culture of youth," which is all that has been learned with regard to it.

The Monmouth. Herald was commenced by John C. S. Connolly and John R. T. Mason, in October, 1854, the office of publication being at the southwest corner of Main and Throck-

451

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

morton Streets. The paper was consolidated with the Monmouth Inquirer in April 1860.

The Monmouth Inquirer and the Monmouth Democrat are the only newspapers now pub- lished in Frechold, the first named being the older of the two. It was established in 1829 by John W. and Enos R. Bartleson,1 who came

1 John Wesley Bartleson was born at Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pa., January 26, 1806. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to the printing business in the office of the Doylestown Democrat, a mile and a half from his birth-place, the office then being under the man- agement of General Rogers. His brother, Enos R. Bartle- son, was at the same time an apprentice in the office of the Intelligencer, conducted by Kelly & Jackson, in the same town.

The first enterprise of Mr. Bartleson, after finishing his apprenticeship, was the publication of a newspaper at Doylestown. where, on the 27th of November, 1827, in part- nership with F. B. Shaw, a lawyer, he issued the first num- ber of The Bucks County Political Examiner. The paper was a small folio, with three columns to a page, issued weekly. It supported the administration of John Quiney Adams, and advocated his re-election to the Presidency. The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 probably caused the suspension of its publication, soon after which Mr. Bartleson removed to Freehold to commence thie publica- tion of the Inquirer, as mentioned.

Mr. Bartleson was an active politieian. He joined the Whig party early in the history of that organization, and remained in its ranks until it ceased to exist. About 1855 he became identified with the " American" or " Know- Nothing " movement, and upon the breaking up of that or- ganization, after the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presideney, he allied himself to the Democratic party. He was always opposed to the Republican party, as were very many of the old Whigs who adhered to the teachings of Webster and Clay and the politicians of that school.

Mr. Bartleson always wielded a strong influence among the people, and consequently was frequently named for po- sitions of public trust. In 1841, after his first withdrawal from the Inquirer, he was appointed by President Harrison to the charge of the light-house at Saody Hook, and removed with his family to that place. where he remained throughout the administration of President Tyler. In 1854 he was nominated by the Whig County Convention for sher- iff against Holmes Conover, the Demoeratie nominee, and was defeated by only eighty-one majority in a total poll of 4956 votes. In 1855 he was nominated by the Whig Convention for county elerk, and was defeated by Jehu Patterson, receiving 2077 votes against 2709 for Patter- son. In March, 1858, he was appointed by Governor New- ell county elerk, to fill the vacaney occasioned by the death of Mr. Patterson, until the ensuing election. At the township election in 1859 he was elected school superin- tendent, and was annually re-elected to that position until the new law creating a county superintendent went into et- fect, in 1867. In 1874 he was elected a justice of the peaee

from Doylestown, Pa., to Freehold for that pur- pose.

In the spring of the year named, having learned that the Monmouth Journal, which had

to fill a vacancy, and the following year was elected to the full term of five years, and was re-elected in 1880. In every public position to which he was assigned he dis- charged the duties faithfully and to the entire satisfaction of the publie.

After his first withdrawal from the Inquirer, Mr. Bartle- son became a large operator in real estate. From 1832 to 1850 he bought and sold large tracts of land in what is now the town of Freehold and in the immediate vicinity. It is said that at one time during the above period he was the largest land-owner, and probably the wealthiest man, in this section. In 1836 he owned over two. hundred acres of land east of South Street, and built the brick mansion opposite to the Freehold Institute, now occupied by J. A. Geissenhainer, Esq. This property he sold, in 1847, to Charles Parker, father of ex-Governor Parker, who conveyed it to C. D. Emson, Esq. In 1850 he purchased the " Briar Hill Farm," and engaged in farming, having his family residence on the Keyport road, just below the " Cowart property." He also engaged in the buteher- ing business, and dealt in flour, feed and grain. This lat- ter business ultimately eaused his finaneial embarrass- ment.

He was an early and warm friend and supporter of pub- lie education. He not only labored for the establishment of the publie-school system, but he aided to establish, and was a liberal patron of, the private institutions of learning in Freehold that, for more than a third of a century, contributed so largely to the intellectual culture of the people.

Mr. Bartleson was married, at Freehold, on the 5th of February, 1835, to Catharine, daughter of Samuel Throck- morton, who married Phoebe Snyder, at Frankfort, Ky., on the 26th of January, 1806, the day on which Mr. Bartleson was born. Her grandfather was Samuel Throckmorton, of South Amboy, who married Catharine Francis, of Middle- town Point, in 1755. Mrs. Bartleson's aunt, Sarah Throek- morton, married Dr. Samuel Forman, who was the father of John F. T. Forman, and grandfather of Dr. D. MeL. Furman, of Freehold. The fruit of this marriage was five children-Catharine L., who died in infancy ; Mary Ann, widow of James D. Budington, of Freehold ; Katie T., wife of II. B. Carpenter, merchant, of Philadelphia : Alethea, wife of Rev. E. D. Ledyard, of Cincinnati ; and Julia, wife of A. Bell Malcolinson, lawyer, of New York City.

Intimately associated as he was with public affairs, Mr. Bartleson was unobtrusive in his demeanor and kind and gentle in his intereourse with his fellows. His publie ad- dresses, whether on political topics or in local assemblies, were argumentative and persuasive, exhibiting a sound, practical judgment and a mind well stored with facts. lle always maintained a high reputation for honesty and in- tegrity of eharneter, and possessed, to a remarkable degree, the confidenee and respect of the public. He aimed to be useful, and in this respect he was successful to the full extent

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016

https://archive.org/details/historyofmonmout02elli

452

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

been commeneed in Freehold a little more than two years before, had been suspended for want of patronage, and that the citizens of Monmouth County were very much in want of a printer, the brothers Bartleson immediately started for Monmouth Court-House, as the town was then called. There was no public conveyance to the county-seat from that direction, and they were obliged to make the last twenty-five or thirty miles on foot. Arriving here, they learned that the printing-office of the Journal belonged to Major Peter Vanderhoef, then surrogate of the county, who had taken it to secure the payment of money advanced to sustain its publication, the original owners having departed to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Major Vanderhoef was not only anxious to sell in order to recover his ad- vanees, but was also, for publie reasons, anxious to have the newspaper resuscitated and the printing-office again put into operation ; so he was not long in coming to terms with the young printers, and making a transfer of the establish- ment to them. They immediately commenced business, and issued the first number of the Mon- mouth Inquirer under the firm-name of J. W. & E. R. Bartleson, editors and proprietors. The first. number was issued on Tuesday, the 7th day of July, 1829. The paper was a small folio of four pages, eleven by seventeen inches each. At this time the Inquirer was neutral in polities. Andrew Jackson, on the previous 4th of March, has just entered upon his first term as President, and Monmouth County, at the State election in October following, had given two hundred ma- jority for the Jackson ticket. Subsequently, upon the formation of the Whig party, the paper espoused that cause, and remained firm upon that side as long as the party survived.

The two brothers, with the assistance of a boy (John Conley),' by close application, managed to

do nearly all the work of the printing office within themselves, including the distribution of the paper to subscribers, which had to be done by carriers on horseback, there being very few post-offices in the county. The printing-office ocenpied part of a building located upon the lot now occupied in part by the Monmouth Demo- erat building and iu part by the banking-house of the Freehold National Banking Company. In digging for the foundations of the Democrat building in 1860, the well of the old printing- office was uncovered. The building had a front of about forty feet, and was about twenty feet deep, with a hall and stairway in the centre. On the first floor, in-the west end of the building, Mr. Jolin Outealt had a cabinet-shop ; over this, on the second floor, Charles Drake manufactured boots and shoes ; the printing-office occupied the ground floor on the east, and a small building on the rear was used for a press-room. The second story over the office was used by William Thompson as a tailor-shop. About the 1st of January, 1831, just about daybreak, this build- ing was discovered to be on fire, and was entirely destroyed. The only article belonging to the printing-office that was saved was the Ramage press upon which the paper was printed. This was saved by taking it apart and throwing it out of the window. The fire, however, was prevented from reaching the press-room. It was afterwards ascertained that the fire origin- ated in the tailor-shop from the carelessness of a journeyman. By the generosity of the busi- ness men of the town, a considerable amount of money was raised for the sufferers by the fire, but the Messrs. Bartleson refused to accept any part thereof, relying upon their youth and industry to recover their losses. The same morning of the fire a severe snow-storm set in, and before night the roads were completely blockaded. The next morning, without waiting for the roads to be broken, the senior partner ot"

of his opportunities. His ear was ever open to the tale of woe, and his hand always ready to relieve the distressed. The memory of few men of his generation will be longer cherished in the hearts of the poor than his. In his fan- ily he was a beloved friend and brother to all in the house- hold, laboring unselfishly to the end for the comfort and welfare of those committed to his charge. Ile died at Freehold, August 18, 1881.

1 Jolin Conley was born at Stillwell's Corners, January .15, 1817, and died at Freehold, Angust 11, 1881. At the

age of twelve years he went into the Inquirer office to learn the business, and he continued there, almost without inter- mission, until the time of his fatal illness. "There were several instances when Mr. Conley was the only person who remained faithful to it (the Inquirer), and he never failed to bring it out some time during the week, and so kept up its regular publication."

453

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

the firmi started for Philadelphia on a wood- sled to purchase materials to start the office again. It took all the first day to work lis way to Trenton. From there to Philadelphia he found the roads open. Having purchased the necessary materials and packed them upon his sled, he started at sunset and reached Bristol on the evening of the third day after leaving home. The fourth day he made good progress, and reached the "Willow-Tree Tavern" (now Clarksburg) just as night closed in, but shortly after leaving there he lost his way in the pine forests, and wandered about for several hours. The weather was intensely cold, the ther- mometer marking below zero. He left his team in the woods and started on foot. At length he discovered a liglit which led him to a house, where he received directions, found his road and succeeded in reaching Freehold about half-past one o'clock in the morning. His feet and hands were badly frost-bitten, but he thawed them with cold water, and subsequently experienced no serious trouble from that cause. In the mean time another building had been procured, and before noon of the day of his return the printing-office was in full operation again. The week having elapsed, they lost the publication of the paper, but the next week they issued two editions to make up for it. These incidents are particularly mentioned to show the difficulties that attended the publica- tion of a newspaper in Monmouth County half a century ago, and the courage and persever- ance that was necessary to overcome them.

The establishment by this firm of private post routes for the distribution of their news- paper throughout the county cost them about five hundred dollars a year, and about this time they discovered that it was a losing busi- ness, and discontinued it. The firm continued until July, 1833, when E. R. Bartleson, the junior partner, withdrew from it, and re- moved to Wheeling, Va., where he established the Wheeling Gazette, daily, semi-weekly and weekly, and built up a large business. Henry and George Ayres at this time came into the Inquirer offiee as apprentices, and with John Conley formed the operative force. They re- mained there until 1840, when they removed

to Philadelphia and engaged in the mercantile business. Henry, for a number of years after his removal, was a literary contributor to the Inquirer, over the signature of " Aunt Betsey."

In the spring of 1835, Mr. Bartleson sold a half-interest in the Inquirer establishment to Jacob M. Callender, of Doylestown, and the firm of Bartleson & Callender continued the business until 1840, when Mr. Bartleson dis- posed of his remaining interest to Robert H.

Johnson, of New York City. In 1842, Cal- lender sold his interest to Orrin Pharo. Subse- quently Mr. Bartleson purchased Johnson's interest and shortly after sold it to Pharo, who then became sole owner. In September, 1854, Mr. Bartleson again purchased a half-interest in the Inquirer, and the business was carried on under the firm-name of Pharo & Bartleson until May 8, 1856, when the latter withdrew, and was not afterwards connected with the paper. During this period, namely, October, 1855, the firm issued the first number of the New Jersey Far- mer, a monthly of sixteen small quarto pages, the publication of which was continued success- fully for several years, in the mean time having been sold to Judge Naar, of the True American, at Trenton.

Soon after the final withdrawal of Mr. Bar- tleson from the Inquirer, Charles S. Tunis be- eame associated with Mr. Pharo in the proprie- torship of the paper. The next change was the withdrawal of Pharo, leaving Tunis sole pro- prietor. Then came the firm of Tunis & Stout, then the withdrawal of Tunis in June, 1859. During Mr. Tunis' proprietorship a daily edition of the Inquirer had been issued for a time, but was found unprofitable, and discontinued July 17, 1858. After Stout, the next proprietor was Mr. Lyons. In April, 1860, the Monmouth Herald was united with the Inquirer,-Proprie- tors, W. D. & J. P. Connolly; Editor, John C. S. Connolly. The next change was the with- drawal of W. D. Connolly. Next, W. D. Con- nolly associated with him W. S. Cloke, under the name of Connolly & Cloke. Connolly withdrew, and A. P. Fardon became proprietor with Cloke. Fardon withdrew, and on the 24th of July, 1862, Cloke sold to Benjamin Suyder & Son. The last change of proprietorship was

454

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

made in 1864, when Snyder sold out to Col- onel Edwin F. Applegate, who remained the owner and manager of the Inquirer establish- ment until his death, in the present year, and it is now carried on by his son. Of those who preceded him in the proprietorship of the paper, there are now living Charles S. Tunis, Dr. A. P. Fardon, William S. Cloke (editor of the State Gazette, at Trenton) and W. Seott Snyder.

The Monmouth Democrat was founded and .

established by Mr. Bernard Connolly, who died without leaving any record of the history of the paper under his administration as editor and publisher. No files of the paper were pre- served by him, and no copy of the first number is known to be in existenec. From a copy of the second number, in good state of preservation, and now in possession of the present owner of the establishment, we learn that the first number of the paper was published on Saturday, April 12, 1834. It was a folio of four pages, with five columns to a page, printed on a sheet twenty by twenty-eiglit inehes in size, and set in large type. The motive leading to its establishment was to sus- tain President Jaekson iu his opposition to the recharter of the United States Bank, then the prominent political issue before the country. Mr. Connolly was a printer, then a resident of Princeton, and, from certain indications in the material of the office when it passed from his control, was employed in printing the publi- cations of the Presbyterian Church, under the direction of its board of publication. The first thirteen numbers of the Democrat were printed at Princeton, as appears from a paragraph in the number for July 5, 1834, in which the publisher announces that he hopes to be able to remove his printing material to Freehold by the early part of the succeeding week. Of its fur- ther history under Mr. Connolly's management we have but a few general facts gathered from occasional numbers collected by the present owner. In 1836 it supported Van Buren for the Presidency, and has supported the nominees of the Democratie National and State Conventions from that period down to the present time. Under the leadership of John R. Thompson, in 1842- 43, it advocated the framing of a new State Con-

stitution, the leading issues being the election of Governor and county officers by the people, the constitutional abolition of the property qualifi- eation for members of the Legislature, and the ereation of the Court of Errors and Appeals. It also opposed the high tariff doctrines of Henry Clay and the Whig party, and advocated " a tariff for revenue, with ineidental protection." After the eustom of those days, the paper was essentially a political one, prominenee being given to reports of congressional and legislative proceedings and debates on politieal questions. In the matter of news, preference was given to that from foreign countries, while local events in State and county, other than the proceedings of politieal meetings and conventions, were largely ignored.

About the 1st of Jannary, 1854, the estab- lishment was purchased of Mr. Connolly by James S. Yard, under whose management it has sinee continued. Mr. Yard was then publish- ing the Village Record, at Hightstown, a paper whieli, in partnership with Jacob Stults (now of the Long Branch News), he had established a few years before, and which had acquired some local reputation for its independent and vigor- ous treatment of social and political topics. He was largely imbued with the new ideas in jour- nalism then coming into vogue, and upon as- snming control of the Democrat, without ehang- ing its polities, lie at onee altered its whole gen- eral character and its typographical appearance. He announced, in his first address to its readers, that while the paper would be always found the ready and zealous champion of Demoeratie men and measures, its political department would never be allowed to engross so mueh space in its columns as to detract from its merits as a newspaper for the family, and that especial at- tention would be given to the chronieling of local news. Since that time the press of the State and of the whole country, in the particu- lars referred to, has been revolutionized, and the Democrat, among the pioneers in the movement, has maintained a good reputation among the papers of its elass at home and in the State at large.

While faithfully supporting the principles and organization of the party to which it is at-

455

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

tached, the Democrat has not blindly followed the lead or submitted to the control of party man- agers, but has aimed to elevate the tone of party politics, and in doing so has not hesitated to re- | buke the wrong method or to repudiate the im- proper nomination. At the same time, it has maintained the right and duty of a public news- paper to diseuss social and moral questions upon their merits, and without regard to party con- siderations ; and this it has done at all times and upon all occasions when it has seemed to be demanded. It was among the first to call atten- tion to the dangerous tendencies of the Know- Nothing organization, and was unremitting in its opposition to it until it ceased to exist. It was among the first in the State in its support of the war to suppress the Southern Rebellion. In its leading editorial in its issue immediately succeeding the attack upon Fort Sumter, and, in common with the press of all parties, still hoping that an appeal to arms might be averted, it said,-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 994

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 994