USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume I > Part 39
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ways and canal ways, highways and byways, but of all ways let us keep in the right way." The Morris Canal was then an accom- plished fact.
One cannot look over the accounts of the celebrations of the Fourth of July from the beginning through a half century without new and vivid impressions of the mighty and steady changes for- ever being wrought by Time. In 1835, when this narrative of the celebrations ceases, Newark had about 18,000 inhabitants, and the next year was to become a city. Its energy and thrift had raised it to the leading place among the communities of the State, its suc- cess in manufactures was known the country around and in Europe. The story of the Independence Day observances from the first up to the establishment of the city, is, in a sense, the history of the town.
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.
Washington's Birthday was observed by St. John's Lodge of Masons for seven years before his death. It was publicly celebrated as early as 1794, with a salute by Captain Parkhurst's artillery of fifteen guns, one for each State, with a dinner at Gifford's. One of the artillerymen was killed while firing the salute, by the premature explosion of a cartridge which he was ramming home. In 1795 February 22 was observed with a ringing of the church bells, firing of cannon, a display of flags and with a dinner at Parkhurst's tavern, where fifteen toasts were given, including "Confusion to all societies combined to destroy our happy Constitution." At the time of Washington's funeral, services were held here, and there was a parade of militia with muffled drums and reversed muskets. For many years thereafter Washington's Birthday was observed only by St. John's Lodge. In 1862, on the day after Washington's natal day, the Newark Daily Advertiser published the following: "For the first time in our history Washington's Birthday rose to the dignity and importance of a general holiday yesterday." This was taken as a "gratifying sign of the times." The Post Office, banks and most of the stores were closed. Exercises were held in the churches.
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PRESIDENT ADAMS IN NEWARK.
As far as is known, Washington was never in Newark after the War for Independence, passing to and from New York by way of the Elizabethtown ferry. On August 2, 1797, Washington's suc- cessor in office, President John Adams, paid a short visit to Newark on his way from Philadelpiha to his home. "Yesterday," said the Centinel of Freedom, "the President of the U. States passed through this town, on his way to the eastward. The American colours were immediately displayed. A number of the inhabitants of the town being called together on the occasion, Messrs. Isaac W. Crane and William S. Pennington were appointed to draught a respectful address to his Excellency, and it was agreed that it should be signed by David Ogden, Esq., and presented by Mr. W. Crane. The following was accordingly drawn up and presented:
"'Sir: Impressed with a high sense of the important services you have rendered your country in the various stations you have so honorably filled, since the commencement of our glorious Revolu- tion until the present day, we take the liberty to congratulate you on your arrival and transient stay in our village, and to express to you our sincere wishes for your welfare and happiness, and like- wise at a time when our external relations require internal har- mony, to express our perfect reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the constituted authorities of our government, and our full assurances that they will on all occasions pursue a line of conduct honorable and advantageous to our country. We devoutly offer our prayers to the divine disposer of all events, to support your Excel- leney in the various duties of your arduous office, and to prolong your useful life as a blessing to your family and country.
"'Signed, in behalf of a number of the citizens of Newark, "'DAVID B. OGDEN.
" 'The President of the United States.'
"To which the President returned the following answer:
" 'Sir :-
" 'I pray you to communicate to the inhabitants of Newark my thanks for their polite attention, and for their kind wishes for my welfare and happiness.
" "The perfect confidence they express in the wisdom and patriotism of the constituted authorities of our government-at
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a time when our foreign relations require internal harmony, afford me the highest satisfaction. And I pray the divine disposer of events to reward the citizens of Newark, with all others for their patriotism.' "
As his Excellency left the village, a federal salute of sixteen guns was fired, as a farther mark of respect and esteem of the inhabitants of this town for their much-beloved chief magistrate.
President Adams again visited the village late in July, 1798, on his way to New York. A company of Federalistic militia was drawn up to greet him, together with a large company of citizens, but his coach never stopped. The shades of the coach windows were down, but in response to the cheering as the coach passed the apex of Military Park, Mrs. Adams raised the curtain and waved her hand. Late in June, 1800, according to the Centinel: "The President of the United States," John Adams, "passed through this
town, without being interrupted with the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells, drunken expresses to insult him on the road, loud and terrific huzzas, or any kinds of federal worship or adoration whatever-but rode in his carriage and was seen to walk the streets in the free and uninterrupted garb of a private citizen, to drink punch with the Democrats and to talk of things ordinary and local."
The above is quite characteristic of the Republican-Demo- cratic sentiment of the time, which detested all pomp and ceremony and often went to extremes in proclaiming "all men free and equal." The "expresses" mentioned were horsemen, members of the Federalistic cavalry companies, who carried the news of a dignitary's coming by means of relays, thus informing the people of the near approach of the great man some minutes before his conveyance made its appearance in Broad street.
In October, 1798, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, one of. three commissioners sent to France to try and adjust a treaty with that nation, and the man who said: "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute," made a stay here, apparently for several days. A committee of citizens presented him with an address.
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TWO VISITS FROM LAFAYETTE.
In 1824 and 1825, Lafayette paid his last visit to America, and twice visited Newark. His first visit was on September 23, 1824.2 "On the morning of that day he arrived at Jersey City from New York. * * * The marquis was accompanied by his son,
George Washington Lafayette. * * * At Jersey City the gen- eral was received on the part of New Jersey by Grand Marshall General Jonathan Dayton, Major Keane of Governor Williamson's staff and Colonel T. T. Kinney. * * * From Jersey City the general was escorted hitherward by a squadron of cavalry and a numerous and imposing cavalcade. About twelve o'clock a salute from the ordnance of the Newark Cadet Artillery announced the near approach of the general and his escort. The route of the approach was along the turnpike, connecting with the bridge at the foot of Bridge street. On the other 'Bridge street' side of the bridge the party were met by a great crowd of people, and all along the way until the arrival at Major Boudinot's house, the air was vocal with the people's plaudits. * *
"The arrangements in Newark to receive the general were on a scale of unparalleled grandeur and completeness of detail. People were attracted from all parts of the State to witness the ovation. *
* * At Major Boudinot's residence 3 the general was introduced to the judges of the State and Federal courts, mem- bers of the Cincinnati Society, and other persons of distinction. Specially fitted up apartments were provided for the royally- entertained guest in the late residence of the Hon. Elisha Boudinot, fronting on Military Park.
"On the latter had been constructed something wondrously picturesque and beautiful, in the shape of a commodious bower, in which the general received large numbers of the townspeople. The base of the bower, which was composed mainly of the choicest flowers, covered an area of thirty-five feet in diameter.
"There were thirteen arches, one for each of the original thir- teen States. The pillars were fifteen feet high and sustained a floral dome representing the Western Hemisphere. * * The ladies * of the town took an active part in preparing the wreaths necessary for the formation of the bower. William Halsey furnished the design and superintended the erection, while Moses Ward was his
" From "History of Essex and Hudson Counties," compiled by William H. Shaw, 1884.
3 Major Boudinot was the son of Ellsha Boudinot, one of the leading citizens of Newark for nearly a score of years after the War for Independence. The Boudinot home was on Park place and was razed by the Public Service Corporation in 1913.
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assistant. The occasion was not alone prolific in floral display, but in music and poetic and patriotic sentiments. There was an address by the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, and a grand and imposing military display in front of the bower under the command of Major General Doughty and Brigadier Generals Dayton and Darcy.
"In spite of the unfavorable character of the weather-it rained during the day-the ovation was a great success. The beauty and chivalry of a large part of the State, besides Newark, combined and labored zealously to that end. * *
* It was a general holiday for the place."
During his few hours' stay in Newark, Lafayette, who was then an old man, was permitted to retire to the rooms in the Boudinot house, prepared for his comfort, to rest and prepare him- self for his next journey. That same afternoon he left for Eliza- bethtown. This was for many years reckoned as one of Newark's greatest festival days. There were many old soldiers then living who had fought under him or who had come in more or less direct contact with him while under arms. Here, as elsewhere through- out the country, Lafayette displayed a remarkable memory for names and a keen grasp upon the leading episodes of the struggle for independence then, nearly fifty years in the past. His uniform tact and graciousness seems to have captivated everyone, and his deep enthusiasm for the cause to whose success he had contributed so much made him the popular idol wherever he went.
It has not been generally known that Lafayette again visited Newark during his last tour of the country. "We are informed," says the Newark Eagle in its issue for July 8, 1825, some ten months after the ovation just described, "that Gen. Lafayette will visit this State next week, and make the following tour. He will land at Hoboken on Thursday about 7 o'clock and proceed from thence to Hackensack where he will breakfast; thence to Paterson, and there partake of a cold collation; from Paterson he will take the direct road through Parsippany to Morristown, where he will dine and spend the night; on Friday he will pass through Spring- field to Elizabethtown and breakfast there; he will dine at New Brunswick on the same day, lodge at Princeton-breakfast on Sat- urday morning with Joseph Bonaparte, and after visiting Borden-
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town, will proceed to Philadelphia in a steamboat which will be waiting for him."
These plans were changed somewhat, and on his way from Morristown toward Elizabethtown, Lafayette stopped for a brief period at Madison (then Bottle Hill), lingered at Connecticut Farms, the scene of the inhuman killing of the wife of Pastor Cald- well in 1780, and then proceeded to Newark. He visited the lodge rooms of St. John's Lodge of Masons on the top floor of the Academy (some of whose appurtenances had been lent during the War for Independence to be used in Morristown at the time Lafay- ette was made a Mason during the War for Independence), and inspected the female school of Mr. and Miss Van Doren, which occupied a part of the Academy building. From there he pro- ceeded to Morton's Hotel, where he was entertained by the leading citizens, headed by William S. Pennington (a veteran, like himself), at an "elegant breakfast." Thereafter he made a call upon the relatives of his friend, Isaac Cox Burnett, Esq., then American consul at Paris. He next visited the "new" Presbyterian church (the Third Presbyterian church, opposite the City Hall, organized the preceding year), where the ladies of the church were assembled to receive him. "As he was getting into his carriage," says a news- paper account, "to depart, an affectionate valedictory was deliv- ered to him by Joseph C. Hornblower, Esq. He was accompanied to Elizabethtown by the Morris, Newark and Elizabethtown escorts."
ANDREW JACKSON AND HENRY CLAY.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, visited Newark on June 14, 1833. He was on an electioneering tour, and was that fall elected to his second term as President. He came up the State from Philadelphia, by coach to New Bruns- wick, and there took to horse and rode to Elizabethtown, from there taking ferry to New York. He was given an enthusiastic reception there and a little later made a sort of triumphal entry into Newark. He rode his horse from Jersey City over the turn- pike. He was received at Bridge street, according to an old news-
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paper, "by a committee of citizens and entered the town about 1 o'clock under the customary salute, and was hailed by the acclama- tions of the thousands of spectators, from whence he was escorted, riding a noble charger with unusual grace and head uncovered, bowing continually as he passed through the crowd in the prin- cipal streets of the town to the inclined plane of the recently completed Morris Canal.
"After witnessing the passage of two boats over the inclined plane, the cavalcade moved to the Military Common. The troops being reviewed, the President was conducted to the Park House, on the corner of Park place and North Canal street, where such citizens as could elbow their way to his apartments, were presented. After which the President partook of a cold collation at the house of William Wright Esquire.1 * * The windows were filled with ladies, who saluted as he rode by, gracefully recognizing them at every step."
Martin Van Buren, then Vice President, and who was to suc- ceed General Jackson as Chief Magistrate of the nation, accom- panied him on his visit to Newark on that memorable day.
A few months later, Henry Clay, Jackson's opponent for the Presidency at the time, and whose running mate for the Vice Presidency was Theodore Frelinghuysen, of Newark, visited the town, on November 20, 1833, by invitation of leading citizens. Because of his powerful and effective championship of protection to home industries, Clay was a great favorite in a community like Newark, which was rapidly acquiring wealth and fame because of its manufacturers. Like Lafayette and Jackson, Clay was met as he came across the Meadows over the turnpike by mounted militia and citizens in carriages. A great throng crowded around the Park House to welcome "glorious Harry of the Slashes." Amzi Dodd made the formal address of welcome, and Mr. Clay responded in a few but forceful words. After a reception, the distinguished visitor was taken on a tour of inspection through the principal
* Senator William Wright, whose home was then where the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company's building now stands.
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factories of the town. The workmen at Rankin's hat factory presented him with a most imposing beaver hat. At Smith & Wright's saddle manufactory he was presented with a handsome saddle, bridle and trappings. Here a speech of presentation was made by John P. Jackson," in which he was urged to accept "these memorials from those who are indebted to your liberality and enlarged policy of protecting the domestic industry of our country. They are not decorated with the glittering tinsel that would gratify the eye of royalty, but we cherish the conviction that they will nevertheless be a pleasant offering to a plain, honest-hearted Republican."
Later in the day Mr. Clay returned to New York, and as he was leaving the company of Newarkers that accompanied him to New York, General Darcy presented him, for his "highly respected lady," the superb Newark-made carriage which had conveyed him from Newark. At this, Senator Clay was deeply moved, and responded as follows:
"Gentlemen, you overwhelm me. I know not how to refuse, and yet may I be permitted (the company here interrupted him by dissent), I assure you, gentlemen, I know not why it is that one so undeserving as myself should be so loaded with such marks of your esteem and generosity. I know of nothing in my humble service deserving of a return so splendid and so costly. It comes so unexpected. Gentlemen, my heart is too much overwhelmed; the citizens of Newark have made upon it such an impression; it can thank you, but tongue can not. Be pleased, sir, to accept in behalf of yourself and fellow-townsmen, my warmest thanks for this elegant present to my wife." The carriage was made by the firm of John Clark & Son.
In 1839 Joseph Bonaparte was the guest for a short time of the then former Governor William S. Pennington, at his' home on High street, the east side, a little south of Kinney street. It is believed, too, that Daniel Webster was Mr. Pennington's guest about the same year.
" One of Newark's leading lawyers at the time, one of the editors of the Newark Daily Advertiser, speaker of the Assembly, connected with the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company from its beginning; sheriff of Essex County from 1839 to 1849, and for a quarter of a century prominently identified with every Important State enterprise.
I
CHAPTER XXII.
THE RISE OF NEWARK'S INDUSTRIES-THE FOUNDERS.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE RISE OF NEWARK'S INDUSTRIES-THE FOUNDERS.
T HE skill of Newark people at "making things" is of very ancient origin. There were men unusually well skilled at the then known handicrafts, among the founders, in 1666. They were adepts in contriving their physical surroundings to best serve their needs. We know this by the orderly and decent fashion in which they laid out their town, plotting every man's land-holdings to a nicety, contriving the first, and to this day principal streets, with a foresight that is little short of astonishing; creating means and methods to make their homes substantial and enduring abodes, with every comfort then possible in a region which was, to all intents and purposes, on the frontier, with nothing but the wilderness and its terrors to the north and west of them.
They utilized every natural force about them with deftness. They saw the possibilities of the wild apples they found growing when they came, and before the first generation of Newark settlers had passed away had developed the art of cider-making to such a point that the town was known for this product throughout the colonies. Trivial as this may seem today, it means much, for it shows that the pioneers were able to make use of such opportunities as they could discover, surpassing their neighbors on every side. They planned, and carried out their plans so well, that their village became one of the most attractive on the continent within three generations from the time the founders came into the wilderness and settled it. From the very beginnings of Newark one finds a singular, a remarkable constructive genius. In a word, Newark's skill in making and in doing things goes away back to the very establish- ment of the town.
A number of Newark's settlers, in the last quarter of the seven- teenth century, had their own looms and wove the yarn which they had spun, into cloth. When a Newark settler killed a cow or an ox,
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the hide was taken to the town tanners, who were among the very first in the whole country. In 1751 or a little later, a copper mine was discovered in what is now West Hudson county, in Arlington, on the plantation of the Schuyler family. According to a tradition, the discovery was made "by a person passing along about 3 o'clock in the morning, who observed a blue flame, about the size of a man, issuing from the earth, which afterward soon died away. He marked the place with a stake, and when the hill was opened several large lumps of copper were found." This was the beginning of the Schuyler copper mine. All the ridge on the eastern bank of the Passaic, although in another county, was to all intents and purposes a part of Newark in the early days. The people dwelling across the river considered themselves Newarkers; came here to attend church services and to transact business.
Newark was the focal point for a wide region for a century after its foundation. The first stationary engine ever operated in what is now the United States was set up at the Schuyler copper mines, and it must be remembered that this mine was remarkably successful, that the copper produced was of very high grade for the time, that it was very profitable for the Schuyler family and that it aroused all of the then inhabited northern section of New Jersey to search for similar wealth. The Arlington copper mine was, there- fore, among the first mines uncovered in the country, and was developed largely by Newark brains and by Newark ingenuity. Newark had an iron foundry more than a decade before the War for Independence. 1
Newark was able to tan the hides of its cattle from the very first, but it relied on itinerant shoemakers to convert this leather into boots and shoes. These travelers were in all probability more or less unwitting founders of Newark's shoemaking industry. They went about the country carrying their tools with them in the packs on their backs. They arrived in Newark, for instance, at a certain time in the year, and each family had one or more hides tanned and ready in anticipation of their coming.
' See Chapter XI.
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Cobblers have been philosophers from the very beginning of time. As they work they talk upon the topics of the day. Their occupation does not demand that their full mentality be expended upon their work, so they have forever been free to talk out their thoughts whilst busy with their lasts. They have always been good entertainers. They stayed for days, sometimes weeks at a time, in one household, making boots and shoes for the entire family. Here in Newark there seem to have been some, probably youths, who, while listening to the talk of the traveling shoemaker kept their eyes closely riveted upon the work in hand and learned how to make shoes themselves. This seems to be the best explana- tion of Newark's early aptitude at shoemaking. It is pretty certain that the town was making shoes before the War for Independence.
THE FIRST NEWARK SHOEMAKERS.
In February, 1781, Gerret Sickles of Newark advertised for journeymen shoemakers in the New Jersey Journal, which was then published in Chatham, now in Morris County, because, being a sheet issued in the interests of the patriots, it could not with safety be gotten out any nearer New York. Sickles in his advertisement asked for journeymen "who understand making boots, stuff shoes, etc. They will find constant employment and best wages."
A month later another Newarker, Thomas Drake, advertised in the "Journal" as follows: "A journeyman shoemaker who understands the stuff and silk branch will meet with encouragement by applying to the subscriber, living near the [First] church in Newark,"
Newark's industries were therefore beginning to ,stir even while the War for Independence was going on. For two or three years after the declaration of peace we find no word in any print of industrial activity hereabouts. The country seems to have been exhausted with its struggles for the accomplishment of inde- pendence. But the people were pulling themselves together, were coming to realize that this liberty for which they had prayed and fought, now realized, entailed tremendous responsibilities. Many
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things which they had been forced to look to the mother country to supply they must now provide for themselves. They were quick to see that they must develop the industries. So groups of energetic and more or less far-seeing men began to devise schemes for manu- factures.
INDUSTRIALISM AND PATRIOTISM.
In 1787 the New Jersey Journal printed a notice for a meeting of "the subscribers towards The Manufacturing Society of the State of New Jersey," to be held "at Mr. Lawrence's tavern at Spring- field on the first Monday in July next. We ought to view ourselves as young beginners," says this notice, "in the world, whose all is at stake and that it depends upon our virtue and good economy whether we shall be a prosperous and happy nation or sink into all the meanness of abject slavery, disgrace and contempt."
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