A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II, Part 20

Author: Urquhart, Frank J. (Frank John), 1865- 4n; Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, N.Y. ; Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1136


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 II > Part 20


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During that same decade the numbers of German and Irish, foreign born or of German or Irish parentage, decreased-the Ger- mans from 25,139 in 1900 to 22,177 in 1910; the Irish from 12,742 to 11,225. On the other hand, the number of Italians increased, from 8,537 to 20,493; and the Russians from 5,511 to 21,912. As for the Italians, they are, apparently, soon to take their place with the Germans and Irish, and, like the representatives of those two races, large numbers of them are now potent in good and beneficial works for the general good. Indeed, many of the Russians, Poles and Greeks, are already indentifying themselves with the broader movements that make for civic improvement. It is in the indiffer -. ence to the advancement of the city as a whole that is so char-


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acteristic of the immigrants during their first few years here that the chief danger lies.


Henry Lang succeeded Mayor Fiedler in 1882, and in 1884 gave up the chair to Mayor Joseph E. Haynes, who had for many years served as principal of Morton Street School. He proved immensely popular and enthusiastically devoted to promoting the community's welfare. He continued in office for ten years, shortly after his retirement in 1894, became Postmaster of Newark, dying while in office. The city's latter-day prosperity really began during Mayor Haynes' regime, and it has gone forward rapidly under his successors. His greatest achievement was the Newark water sup- ply, for which he worked for years with tireless energy and per- sistence. His services in this regard have never been adequately recognized. He and those about him did a great deal to improve the city's system of handling the public's business. He recognized clearly the cosmopolitan trend of the population and sought to adapt his administration to the growing change for the benefit of all.


It was during the administration of Mayor Julius A. Leb- kuecher (1894-1896) that more attention was paid than ever before to the improvement in the city's physical appearance. He deplored the lack of proper buildings for the transaction of the city's busi- ness, and in one annual message, that for 1895, said:


"The beautification of our city, which has heretofore been con- fined almost wholly to the efforts of the private citizen, has received a new impetus by a vote of the people in the recent election, as a result of which a fine system of public parks is to be provided for the people of Newark and Essex County. As the taxpayers of the city will contribute nearly three-quarters of the expense, it is expected that the interests of Newark will be fully cared for in this matter. The adornment of Military Park with flowering plants and shrubbery is another innovation that will doubtless meet with public approval when the results are realized." (See Appendix B. -The County Park System.)


Mayor James M. Seymour (1896-1903) was a pioneer in the movement for the abolishment of grade crossings, and as a direct result of his endeavors the Pennsylvania Railroad started work . upon the elimination of nineteen grade crossings on April 15, 1901,


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THE NEWARK YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION See Chronological Table


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completing the work in Newark on April 13, 1903. It was during his administration that the building of the new City Hall was decided upon, and the work was under way when he completed his last term. He started the movement for the removal of overhead wires from the city streets. He was an ardent believer in the "Greater Newark" idea, and sought for the annexation of territory outside the city's borders. In his fifth annual message, written in May, 1900, he said:


"Newark's door should be kept always open to the neighboring communities, the annexation of which is desirable, with a view of extending the boundaries of the municipality and increasing its importance among the cities of the world. * * * We should acquire such contiguous territory, if possible, as fast as it is built up and obtains rudimentary improvements. East Orange, Vails- burg, Harrison, Kearny and Belleville would be desirable acquisi-


tions. ** * * By an exercise of discretion we can enlarge the city from decade to decade without unnecessarily taxing the prop- erty within our limits, which has already paid the cost of public improvements."


Up to the present (1913), none of the communities mentioned by Mayor Seymour has become a part of Newark, with the excep- tion of Vailsburg. Mayor Seymour was noted for his sturdy inde- pendence.


It was in the regime of Mayor Henry M. Doremus (1903-1907) that the present (1913) City Hall was completed. He was respon- sible for a number of important innovations, including free band concerts in the city and in some of the county parks within the boundaries of Newark, and free excursions for poor children. These departures marked the beginning of a new epoch, in which the city government recognized in tangible form the desirability and the need for providing wholesome entertainment and recreation for J both the children and their elders. The band concerts have become an indispensable feature of summer life in the city, while out of the excursions for the poor has grown Newark's city playground system. Mayor Doremus worked for the removal of poles and over- head wires from the city streets and for the abolishment of unnecessary noises. He kept up the crusade which Mayor Seymour had begun for the abolishment of grade crossings. He started a


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civil service system in the Police and Fire Departments. The grade crossing accident at Clifton avenue occurred in February 19, 1903, in which nine pupils of the Barringer High School lost their lives. On January 2 of the same year, about six weeks before this accident, Mayor Doremus included in his annual message this, under the circumstances, remarkable paragraph :


"While it is true that railway tracks are being elevated and grade crossings are being abolished, there should be no halt until every death trap of this nature has been obliterated. Even the completion of the present plans, while highly commendable in them- selves, will still leave our citizens unprotected at certain points in important highways. This is notably true of the grade crossing at Clifton avenue, which is dangerous to children on their way to school or play in Branch Brook Park, to drivers and passengers in trolley cars. While this crossing is permitted to disgrace our city there should be no rest for those in authority."


A hint of the rapid changes which were going on during Mayor Doremus's administration is to be gathered from the following paragraph in his last annual message:


"The city of Newark is undergoing the most astonishing changes in its history. It is being reconstructed on new and improved lines. New parks, new buildings, new pavements, new hospitals, new libraries, new enterprises are all improving the city. Low tax rates of years gone by resulted in the city's falling behind in the matter of schools, municipal buildings and other improve- ments. To-day we have splendid assets."


In 1907 Mayor Jacob Haussling succeeded Mayor Doremus. Upon the completion of Mayor Haussling's present term he will have cqualed the record of Mayor Haynes, of ten years' service, the longest of any of Newark's Mayors.


Great things have been accomplished during the administra- tion of Newark's Mayors since the Civil War, but from the stand- point of the historian, the achievements have been brought about largely by the force of public sentiment rather than through the pesonality of any individual or succession of individuals. American municipal advancement no longer relies upon the commanding influence of one man or group of men.


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DEDICATION OF THE KEARNY STATUE, 1880.


On Tuesday, December 28, 1880, the statue of Major General Philip Kearny was unveiled in Military Park, with three of the leading generals of the Civil War present at the ceremonies. The statue stood originally in the State House at Trenton, but was brought to Newark through the efforts of an organization known as the Kearny Monument Association. A replica of it was also set up in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. The statue, being originally planned for indoors, has never been altogether satis- factory in Military Park, as it gives the impression of being undersized. It has, nevertheless, become a much-prized Newark belonging, largely because of the associations that cling about it. The sculptor was Henry Kirk Brown, who made the equestrian statue of Washington in Central Park, a statue of Lincoln in Pros- pect Park, Brooklyn, and the statues of General Scott and Nathaniel Green for the National Government. Brown's statue of De Witt Clinton in Greenwood Cemetery was the first bronze statue cast in the United States. Ever since the statue was set up it has been decorated on Memorial Day by the veterans of the war. In 1911 a circular tablet was attached to the west side of the pedestal bear- ing this inscription: "In Memoriam. Presented by the Italians of Newark, N. J., 1911."


On the day of the dedication of the statue, General Grant, who had in the previous November been defeated in his candidacy for a third term, was entertained by Senator Frederick T. Freling- huysen 2 at his home at the head of Military Park. General Sherman was the guest of William A. Righter for luncheon and later was conducted to the Frelinghuysen residence. General McClellan was received by Senator William Wright in his home adjoining that of Senator Frelinghuysen, and where his son, Colonel Edward H. Wright, passed away in his ninetieth year, on Septem- ber 17, 1913, on the anniversary of the battle of Antietam, in which he took an active part as a member of Mcclellan's staff.3


' See Appendix I for list of delegates to Continental Congress, Senators and Representatives from Essex County.


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There was an imposing procession through the principal streets with Brigadier-General Joseph W. Plume as grand marshal. The distinguished guests rode in the procession in open carriages, although it was a very cold day. General Grant was greeted with great enthusiasm, and when he left the platform in Military Park after the statue had been unveiled, the great throng of fifteen thou- sand people crowded around him and he was removed from the press with difficulty. He returned immediately to New York. An address was delivered by Senator Frelinghuysen, whose statue, since 1895, has stood in the same park. Mr. Frelinghuysen's address was followed by an impressive appreciation of General Kearny by Cort- landt Parker, who had been a strong personal friend of Kearny.


After the ceremonies at the statue, the great crowd melted away, and the members of the Kearny Monument Association and some of the guests, including General William T. Sherman, pro- ceeded to Whitty's Standard Hall, which still (1913) stands, at 199-201. Market street, where a collation was served. As General Sherman entered the hall to take his seat upon the platform, the assemblage rose to its feet and greeted him with cheers and the


" Colonel E. H. Wright once said that he should have fallen at Antietam, when he carried the message from Mcclellan to Burnside to cross the bridge. If that order had been obeyed the Civil War might have ended two years sooner. He delivered the message, it was ignored, and Antietam was a divided victory. Easily, the end of his gallant career might have been nipped in the bud by a chance Rebel bullet in his wild ride through the lines, and the task of the biographer of to-day have been performed fifty years ago. Colonel Wright was at that time, and before, and a little after, a staff' officer of General MeClellan. With him were the Comte de Paris and his brother, Duc D'Orleans; John Jacob Astor was his tent-mate, and a half dozen others of notable position were his associates. When Mcclellan was superseded his staff went with him, McClellan to Trenton, where he was afterward to be sent again as Governor of New Jersey, and Wright to the home in Park * * Colonel Wright's father had gained wealth


place, where he died. *


when his son was yet a boy, and his election to the United States Senate introduced the son to the finest society the nation then knew. Handsome and debonnaire, he was a favorite in the best circles, and the marriage of . his sister to a diplomat gave him access to European society rarely enjoyed. He himself became secretary at the St. Petersburg legation, and his earlier travels had made him familiar with Europe in its most interesting period. He met Louis Napoleon, saw Isabella of Spain on her shaky throne, con- versed with the Czar of the Russias, was the chum of Englishmen whose names are now historical, and knew personally the great men of his own country from 1840 to 1890. He was our only cosmopolite. * * -Newark Sunday Call, Sept. 21, 1913.


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singing of "Marching Thro' Georgia." General Sherman made a short speech, in which he said he had never met General Kearny, but that he had the highest admiration for him as a soldier. He continued :


"If I were going to look for a commander of a body of cavalry I wouldn't seek him among the members of the Supreme Court of the United States, nor yet would I look for a member of the Supreme Bench among the young lieutenants. If you have been soldiers you have seen the day when you wouldn't


swap Phil Kearny for a dozen Supreme Court judges. * * But this statue, some may say, does no good. Ah! but it is to the young boys now growing up that this Nation will have to look to after we older ones have departed from this earth. You men of Jersey have erected that which tells the young what qualities are necessary to make a hero and a soldier in time of war. But God forbid that ever such a time shall come again; but when it does, every young man should be ready to respond to the call of his country, and then will be seen the advantages of erecting such monuments to pluck and courage as you have dedicated to-day. If the statue of Kearny imbues into the young the noble traits of the American soldier this will be of more value than its weight in diamonds or gold."


General Sherman was entertained at dinner by George A. Hal- sey at his residence, 989 Broad street. In the evening he sat in a box at the Park Theatre in West Park street, where the New Jersey Historical Society is now (1913) located, the play being "A Child of the State." He returned to Washington on a late train that same night. He was then in command of the Army of the United States. General Grant died five years later. The Daily Advertiser said of him on the occasion of the Kearny statue dedication: "The Gen- eral is evidently improved by his release from the cares of state and the recreation of extensive travel. He looks ruddy and robust, and entertains his guests with a flow of conversation imparting an endless fund of information which shows that he has lost none of the quickness of observation and practical reflections which have been the prominent features of his character."


General McClellan was Governor of New Jersey at the time of the unveiling. He died a few months after General Grant, in 1885, at his home in Orange. He did not take part in the ceremonies


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attendant upon the unveiling of the statue, but sat in his carriage until the exercises were concluded. General Kearny was repri- manded early in the war by General Mcclellan for his treatment of an officer in his (Kearny's) brigade. From that time General Kearny was very active in denouncing General McClellan for his failure to move the army against the foe.


NEWARK IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.


Newark responded with her characteristic alacrity to the call for volunteers for the Spanish-American War. The First Regi- ment, New Jersey National Guard, volunteered in a body, and on May 2, 1898, left the city for its first camp at Sea Girt. Great crowds thronged Broad street when the regiment marched from its armory to the Broad street station of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Says one account of the time:


"Many women fainted; children were tossed about and strong men found themselves helpless in the crush. * * * The scene along Broad street cannot be described. At Market street and thence to the City Hall the crowd was most dense. Mayor Sey- mour, with head uncovered, stood in the centre of the City Hall steps holding aloft an American and a Cuban flag. * * ** Pass- ing the Hall, the guardsmen marched to Hill street and counter- marched to the Central depot, where trains were in waiting."


The regiment was escorted to the station by the several Grand Army Posts of the city, a company composed of firemen, two com- panies of boys from the Catholic Protectory at Arlington and a band of music. The regimental and company officers of the First were as follows:


FIELD AND STAFF.


Edward A. Campbell, Colonel; R. Heber Breintnall, Lieutenant Colonel; Henry W. Freeman, Charles B. Champlin and Frank Hayes, Majors; Alvin H. Graff, Adjutant; Andrew B. Byram, First Lieu- terfant and Battalion Adjutant; Arthur H. Mac Kie, First Lieu- tenant and Battalion Adjutant ; Robert M. Phillips (resigned), First Lieutenant; George W. Church, Captain and Quartermaster; Henry Allers, Major and Surgeon ; James R. English, First Lieutenant and Battalion Assistant Surgeon; S. Harbourne Baldwin, First Lieu- tenant and Battalion Assistant Surgeon; Horace W. Patterson, First Lieutenant and Battalion Assistant Surgeon; J. Madison Hare, Captain and Chaplain.


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NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.


George E. Melcher, Sergeant-Major; George H. Pennington, Battalion Sergeant-Major; John Hummell, Battalion Sergeant- Major; John Costello, Battalion Sergeant-Major; Louis Philibert, Chief Musician; Thomas J. Hill, Principal Musician; William H. Boeh, Principal Musician ; W. Pitt Rich, Hospital Steward; Rudolph E. Wilhelm, Hospital Steward; Job A. Wolverton, Hospital Steward.


COMPANY OFFICERS.


Company A-Joseph H. McMahon, Captain; Patrick J. Griffin, First Lieutenant; Thomas J. Mulgrave, Second Lieutenant.


Company B-George Handley, Captain; Herbert C. Van Hlouten, First Lieutenant; William H. Camfield, Second Lieutenant. Company C-Harry T. Spain, Captain; Alvah M. Jacobus, First Lieutenant; William H. Black, Second Lieutenant.


Company D-Alfred Williams, Captain ; Orrin E. Runyon, First Lieutenant; James E. Van Houten, Second Lieutenant.


Company E-James Walsh, Captain; George Zimmer, First Lieutenant; Gustavus E. Shourt, Second Lieutenant.


Company F-John D. Frazer, Captain; Robert Berry, First Lieutenant; Sidney W. Allen, Second Lieutenant.


Company G-George M. Buttle, Captain; F. R. Crowell, First Lieutenant; James E. Brown, Second Lieutenant.


Company H-Frank E. Boyd, Captain; Adolph G. Frey, First Lieutenant; William H. Ring, Second Lieutenant.


Company I-Arthur Rowland, Captain; Frank J. Van Deman, First Lieutenant; Arthur Tomalin, Second Lieutenant.


Company K-Cornelius A. Reilly, Captain; C. Albert Gasser, First Lieutenant ; Joseph B. O'Rourke, Second Lieutenant.


Company L-Theodore C. Reicer, Captain ; Louis J. O'Rourke, First Lieutenant; J. Edward Phillips, Second Lieutenant.


Company M-Edward R. Westervelt, Captain; John C. Schoch, First Lieutenant; P. J. Anderson, Second Lieutenant.


The first command to be mustered into the service of the United States at Sea Girt was Company B on May 6. The entire regiment was mustered by the close of May. On May 20 the First Regiment left Sea Girt for Falls Church, Virginia, and took up its station at Camp Alger on May 21. It was made part of the First Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps. The brigade com- mander was Brigadier-General Joseph W. Plume, Colonel Campbell being acting commander of the brigade for about a month preced-


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ing General Plume's appointment. The brigade, beside the First New Jersey, was composed of the Seventh Ohio and the Sixty- fifth New York.


+ General Plume's staff was as follows: Colonel Marvin Dodd, Newark; Colonel Alexander C. Oliphant, Trenton; Colonel George W. Terriberry, Paterson; Lieutenant-Colonel William C. Strange, Paterson; Lieutenant-Colonel William A. Righter, Newark; Colonel A. Judson Clark, Newark ; Major James W. Howard, Newark ; Major Charles Alling Gifford, Newark; Major J. S. Henry Clark, Newark.


On September 2, after four months of service, several times being highly confident of being sent to the front, the First Regiment


4 General Joseph W. Plume was appointed as brigadier-general of volun- teers by President McKinley on June 23, 1898, and was placed in command of the Jersey brigade, which was the First Brigade, First Division, Second Corps. He was the only general officer appointed from New Jersey in that war. Hle resigned from the National Guard in February, 1899, after a con- tinuous military service of forty-two years. He was born in Troy, N. Y., on August 23, 1839. On his father's side he is a lineal descendant of Samuel Plume, one of the founders of Newark, in the Branford, Conn., group. In 1843 his father returned to Newark, and General Plume has since been a resident of this city. He entered the ranks of Company C of the Newark City Battalion in 1857, an organization which had a wide reputation for its fine personnel and for its tactical proficiency. He was a private in the battalion for four years. He was commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant of the Second New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and held that position until February 15, 1862, when he was appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of Brigadier-General William H. French, who commanded the Third Brigade of Sumner's division. On June 1, 1862, he was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of this brigade, and on September 8, 1862, was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of the Third Division, Second Corps. In the organization of the Thirty-seventh New Jersey Infantry he was elected its colonel, but declined the command, the regiment being enlisted for but one hundred days' service. General Plume, while in the Army of the Poto- mac, participated in the following engagements: First Bull Run, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Gaine's Mill, Peach Orchard, Savage Station, White Oak Bridge, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg. On November 4, 1863, he having resigned from the army in January of that year, General Plume was appointed Major and Brigade Inspector of the New Jersey National Guard. In 1864 he was appointed, upon the recom- mendation of Senator William Wright of this city, a first lieutenant in the regular army, but declined the honor. On July 6, 1865, he was commis- sioned Colonel of the Second Regiment, New Jersey Rifle Corps, and on . April 26, 1869, was elected Colonel of the Second Regiment, New Jersey National Guard. On May 8 of the same year he was commissioned Brigadier- General of the First Brigade, National Guard, and on the tenth anniversary of the date of this commission was commissioned Brevet Major-General by Governor George B. Mcclellan. He was commissioned Major-General of the New Jersey National Guard on April 4, 1885, the vacancy being caused by the sudden death of Major-General Gershom Mott.


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broke camp at Falls Church, and the next day arrived at Sea Girt. Generous furloughs were granted, but the command did not obtain full release from duty until September 26, when it returned to Newark.


On one occasion the regiment had made all its preparations to take a train for Tampa on the following day, as it was then fully understood that it was to be given the billet the Seventy-first New York received. There was intense disappointment the next morn- ing when the word came that the First New Jersey was to remain at Camp Alger.


Five members of the regiment died of disease while in the service of the United States: William C. Canniff, Corporal, D Com- pany, May 29; Private Jeremiah Murphy, A Company, July 13; Private Walter J. Spawn, M Company, August 8; Private William E. Smith, E Company, August 8; Private Thomas J. Ryan, G Com- pany, August 21.


The Second Division, New Jersey Naval Reserves, Battalion of the East, was largely made up of Newarkers at the time of the Spanish War. On May 17, the battalion was ordered to report on its training ship, the old sloop-of-war Portsmouth, at Hoboken. On May 21, the battalion was mustered into the service of the United States for one year or the war, and on May 29 took pos- session of the auxiliary cruiser Badger, going to sea on June 7. The Badger was exceedingly useful on the blockade along the Cuban coast. Its first service was on the New England coast, where the men drilled assiduously. On July 26, off Neuvitas, Cuba, the Span- ish steamer Humberto Rodriguez, towing two sailing vessels, with nearly five hundred Spanish soldiers aboard, was taken by the Badger, without a struggle. The prisoners were subsequently delivered to General Blanco, in Havana and the three prize vessels were sent to New York. The Badger's crew was honorably dis- charged at Philadelphia, on October 6, 1898. The only casualty in the battalion was the death of Coxswain William Nellinger, of Hoboken, who fell from the masthead to the deck, dying soon after. The officers of the Badger were as follows:




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