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 49
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In the year 1835 the population of Newark was estimated at 15,000 and the number of buildings at 1,712. In the compilation of the first directory, from 1835-'36 (Editor B. T. Pierson), the following estimate was made (Clinton had been separated since 1833) : Free white Ameri- cans, 10,542; Irish, about 6,000; English and Scotch, about 1,000; Germans, about 300; free colored people, 359; making a total of 18,201. The num- ber of German settlers seems somewhat small, but they must have increased rapidly, as in the year 1833 they were estimated at only seventy-five. Pier- son's Directory of 1836 to 1837 contained 5,094 names, among whom are not counted journeymen, clerks and workmen who had no permanent home and who were only counted as "transients." If one counts four persons to one name the total for 1836-'37 should be 20,376. It is not a great task to select from these 5,091 names which have a German sound, because, Pier- son's Directory of that year is only a thin, little book. But it is much more difficult to be certain that a person having a German name is of German birth, while, on the other hand, there may have been many Germans with English names. The inclination to get rid of a name with a German sound when adopting the English language, deplorable as it is, is rather common with some Germans, and the custom may have been more common at a time when the number of Germans in this country was comparatively small.
In this directory, as far as possible, the occupation is added to the name; thus a fine sounding German name is Christian Erb, hair-curler, near Spring and Clay streets. Further on we find Theophilus Frey, shoemaker, 44 Orange St .; Chas. Frey, 22 Church St .; Dr. Solomon Reinz, 70 Broad St .; John Helm, "Washington Foundry," 23 New St .; Samuel Helms, carpenter, 11 Green St .; Christopher Hildebrand, saddler, 322 Broad St .; Michael Kiesele, boarding house, Canal and Dickerson Sts .; Balthasar Krummeich, potter, 44 Canal St .; Theodore Laisz, shoemaker, Halsey's alley; Edward Lehmann, saddler, 36 Walnut St .; Wmn. Pfeffer, cobbler, 22 Orchard St .; Rochus Heinisch, manufacturer of surgical instruments, Quarry St .; Fred- erick Helfenstein, tailor, 9 Broad St .; Jacob Schneider, boarding house, 55 Broad St .; Wm. Westdall, delicatessen store, 98 Broad St. Further on we find the names of Huckel, Rundel, Schuremann, Schiffer, Schuman, Sigler, Spinning, Spook, Spreck, Stroud, Tims. The name of Sanders appears eleven times; Smith seventy times; Schmidts or Schmitts are not in the list, but there may have been many German names under the name of Smith. Young appears fifteen times, but it does not say how many of them wero Germans. The names mentioned before, Rothe, Bauer, Bachmoyer, Hundertpfund, etc.,
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are not found in this list, which shows that the directory was not complete. In Rochus Heinisch we find the founder of the well-known Heinisch Sons, who, very likely, were the first German manufacturers of Newark, since they began the manufacture of knives and scissors in this city during the year 1825.
The number of the German inhabitants of Newark at that time must have been considerable for two reasons: because on June 19, 1833, the first German aid society was organized, "Die Deutsch Gesellschaft," in New- ark. This society was organized with the intention of helping its members and new immigrants. A further proof of the strength of the German popula- tion at that time lies in the organization of the first German Lutheran church, in fact, the first German church in Newark, which was organized on October 10, 1833, by Pastor Dr. F. M. Geissenhainer, in a hall on Harrison street, which was at that time the name of that part of Halsey street lying between Market street and William street. This was the beginning of the German Evangelical-Lutheran St. Johannis Church.
Large as was the number of those who had to go into exile after the German Revolutionary movement, following the overthrow of the Bourbons in France, it was insignificant compared to the hosts of refugees who flocked to the asylums given to them in Switzerland, England and the United States during the period of reaction after the Revolution. This immigration brought a great many highly educated men; lawyers, clergymen, professors, artists, physicians and journalists. A distinct line cannot be drawn between these two immigrations. One runs into another, yet there is a distinction between them. The Thirtiers, or, as they later on were called, the "Grays," accepted the American viewpoint of things, and the customs they found and accommodated themselves to them. The Forty-eighters, or the "Greens," on the contrary, had become revolutionists through and through, and were convinced that they alone had the right conception of popular rule, and so they quarreled over everything they encountered in the land which had granted them a hospitable refuge. The existence of slavery and the Puri- tanical Sunday shocked them. The zeal for reform reached a climax in the platform of the Wheeling Congress in 1852.2 There were over a thousand revolutionary societies, but only sixteen delegates responded to the call. Queer resolutions were adopted at this meeting, such as to abolish the Presidency and the two Houses of Congress, and even the government of States. Marriage was to be abolished and children were to' be trained, brought up and educated by the State. Money was to be done away with. and a progressive system of taxation instituted, by which it would be impos- sible for the rich to possess over a certain amount. The right of inheritance and slavery were to be abolished, and poor children were to be clothed and fed at the public expense. But, to cap the climax, there was a resolution demanding that the United States should appropriate Europe and "found a new realm of liberty." All the delegates to the Congress voted for this prop- osition, but this demand, however, to most of the older men of "forty-eight" seemed so wild that a tremendous roar of laughter arose, and from this time the zeal for reform cooled down very considerably.3
2 Newark was represented by Leonhart Roos.
3 For an account of the revolutionary societies, their ideas and doings, see T. S. Baker, "America as the political Utopia of Young Germany," vol. i, opp. 62-102 (1897). Also "Das neue Rom," published in 1851 by Theodore Porsche and translated into English by Chas. Goepp, later a well-known New York lawyer. About the same time he published a pamphlet called "E pluribus unum." In. these writings the idea was advocated of the United States making itself the nucleus of a federation of republies to embrace the whole world. (New York, G. P. Putnam & Sons.
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The ideas and actions of some of these Forty-eighters must, to the present generation, indeed, appear like a fairy tale. However, a short description of these years is necessary, particularly as the proceedings are instructive, giving us an insight into the characters and views of these revolutionists. Whoever has a love for ideal human endeavor can sym- pathize with these men and their actions. It is noteworthy that the "Frei- heitskampfer" of 1848-'49, who found shelter here, still clung to the thought of an invasion of Germany. They even went so far as to make preparations for this war, in order to purge the Fatherland of the oppressors, and to bring about the restoration of the German republic. The central place of meeting was the Shakespeare Hotel in New York, where a German Military Commission had been organized under the leadership of August Willich, to which belonged, among others, L. New, I. Dietz, N. Roser, G. Metternich and Walter Kroepl. There were a number of men in Newark who clung to the thought of an armed intervention, in order to help Germany to victory. Their headquarters was the house of L. Albinger, 121 Market street, where they formed an organization of a "Germany Artillery Company," under the leadership of H. L. Fach, who, as a major of artillery, had fought in the Baden-Palatinate campaign. Whether this German artillery ever came to be organized is, however, doubtful, as no record or notes of it are in exist- ence, but that is a matter of no importance. The idea was the principal point which proved the idealism of the men, although time brought about another state of affairs.
The harm done to one country and nation often results in profit to others. The "Pilgrim Fathers" sought on the shores of the new world civil and religious freedom, which had been denied them in their old home. The expelled Huguenots from France, to whom had been granted places of refuge in Germany, became a most precious part of the German people, and when in the years 1848-'49 Germany raged against its own flesh and blood and repulsed its best and noblest men, to the United States there came a new, strong and powerful element. There is hardly a large city in the country that has not enjoyed its share of the invasion of forty-eight. And what it has done for Newark can be judged by many people who have played an important part in our community. Among these are the founders of the German Press, Dr. C. F. B. Edler, Fritz Anneke, Conrad Wollinger, Franz Umbscheiden and Benedict Prieth. Dr. Eidler had been interested in the March Revolution in Berlin and edited at that time a newspaper called the "Urwaehler" (Primeval Elector). Having fled to America, he became the founder of the first German newspaper in New Jersey, "The New Jersey Staatscourier," from which sprung "The Staatszeitung" and later "The New- ark Zeitung." Fritz Anneke, the founder of "The Newark Zeitung," took a prominent part in the "forty-eight" movement, having been formerly a Prussian officer, and later commander of the Volunteer Corps Artillery in the Palatinate. His wife, the justly celebrated Franziska Anneke, who had accompanied her husband on his many expeditions in Germany, followed him also to America, where she took an active part in the editing of his newspaper.
Conrad Hollinger, who died in March, 1870, and who founded "The New Jersey Volksmann," wrote enthusiastic articles in the days of the Baden revolution, for which he was cast into prison, where he had to languish in solitary confinement for 133 days. Later he went to Switzerland, where he became rather unpopular through his writings; he often came into con- flict with the police, and finally emigrated to America and settled in Newark, where he could write to his heart's content.
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Benedict Prieth, the founder of the New Jersey "Freie Zeitung," had been a fighter and sufferer of the great "Year of Liberty." The young patriot, then student in Vienna, had been irresistibly drawn away by this movement, to which he clung with all possible enthusiasm. He was a mem- ber of the Vienna Legion of Students, and atoned for this enthusiasm by political imprisonment in the fortress of Salzburg, in his native country, the Tyrol. Later on he continued his studies and won promotion as Doctor of Law in Tubingen, after he had been working at the Bozener "Zeitung" and at the "Bund" in Bern. Other witnesses of that great time are Rev. Friedrich August T. Ziegler, August Camerer, Dr. Fridolin Ill, Dr. Gallus Mayer, Dr. Emil Schiffner, Arthur Balbach and Charles Kiesele. All these men have lived for years in this country as esteemed citizens after leaving their old homes in which they were not understood.
Pfarrer Lehlbach became a member of the constitutional convention after Archduke Leopold of Baden had been exiled and after the country had been declared a republic. When the reactionists had gained the upper hand he fled to Strassburg, where, in his absence, he was condemned to fifteen years' imprisonment, and in 1848 he came to America. Here he became pastor of the German Lutheran church on Mulberry street. Dr. Louis Greiner, who for twenty years was a lawyer of great repute, belonged to the "Committee of Five" that founded a provisional Republican govern- ment. The zeal with which he took up the cause of the people caused him to be condemned to death when the revolution was overthrown, but luckily he escaped the last penalty.
Charles T. Ziegler lived at Carlsruhe at the outbreak of the Revolution. He also took up the cause of the people with enthusiasm and was condemned to ten years' imprisonment after the revolutionists had been defeated by the Prussians. Later he succeeded in escaping to Switzerland and thence to America. Dr. Fridolin Ill, whose name lives on through highly respected descendants, belonged to the first professional men who went over to the
"Party of the People" at the outbreak of the Revolution. He attended their assembly at Offenbach and was made civil commissionary of Ueber- lingen (his native town). Dr. Ill was extremely enthusiastic about the restoration of the German empire, and he was one of those who brought about the proposition to offer the imperial crown to the King of Prussia. When the revolution failed, Dr. Ill fled to America, and was known as one of the prominent champions of the Republican party in Newark.
Arthur Balbach was a captain in the army at Baden when the Revolu- tion began, but went over to the "Freiheitkaempfer," who elected him commander of the Lake Country. Charles Kiesele was a member of the Committee of Public Safety in Baden. He was condemned to two years' imprisonment for taking part in the agitations. In Newark he practiced as a veterinary surgeon.
Newark became the home of a great many men who had fought and suffered for their youthful ideals. Amongst them is Carl Dittler, who gave up position and fortune to serve the people. He was a close friend and companion of such men as Carl Schurz, Friedrich Hecker and Franz Sigel. Carl Dittler had to flee and his large fortune was confiscated. Friedrich Finter is another hero of that memorable fight for freedom; also the well- known Conrad Knecht, and T. E. Adler, who fought at the age of sixteen in the Revolution and later on became here the publisher of a German weekly . paper, "The Pioneer." Then there are Frederick Merk, who settled in Hil- ton, and Julius Rust, who, at the time of the beginning of the Revolution,
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was but fourteen years old. Another youthful hero of the year 1848 was Fred Felger who fought during the Revolution under Franz Sigel and later became a manufacturing jeweler in Newark. Amongst those who partici- pated in all the fights of that year was Charles Schuetz, jewelry manufac- turer and the father of Messrs. Fred and Herman Schuetz in Newark. Com- panions of his were Wilhelm Una, John Kleb, Fritz Kiefer, Fritz Krezelius and John Günther. The last named three gentlemen were members of the same company and met in Newark later on. Carl Dillman and Charles Voelcker who was a young student at the University in Giesen when the Revolution began, together with August Schroder, Julius Goldsticker and John Roeser, Carl Schwartz, who later was excise commissioner, and Fritz Ahl fought in the Revolution. The last two named gentlemen defended the barricades in the memorable fight in Berlin. Other participants in the Revolutionary War of 1848 and 1849 were Oscar Seiffert, who was the first police magistrate of German nationality in Newark; then J. J. Hockenjos, John Beisinger, Robert Tangemann, Dr. Adolf Douai, later director of the German-English Green Street School; John Becker, Friedrich Finters, Henry Roos, Charles H. Schmidt, publisher of a German paper in Elizabeth; J. Mussehl, and many more. The list is by no means complete, but it contains the names of well-known German-American citizens of Newark. They are all dead, but their children and grandchildren live here, a sturdy race, worthy of the fathers who fought and suffered for the cause of freedom and left the land of their birth to find a second home here.
CHAPTER V.
INFLUENCE OF THE FORTY-EIGHTERS ON THE AMERICAN POLITICS OF THE TIME.
INTERVENTION OR NON-INTERVENTION-VISITS OF LUDWIG KOSSUTH AND GOTTFRIED KINKEL AND THEIR OBJECTS-THE KNOWNOTHING MOVEMENT -- DESTRUCTION OF A GERMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH-ATTACKS ON GERMAN FESTIVITIES-GERMAN ORGANIZATION FOR DEFENCE AND PROTECTION IN NEWARK-BEGINNING OF THE AGITATION OF THE SLAVERY QUESTION-THE FORTY-EIGHTERS EFFECTIVE AGITATORS-FIRST ANTI-SLAVERY MEETING IN NEWARK HELD BY GERMANS.
During the years following the suppression of the revolutionary move- ments of 1848, some of the Republican leaders came to the United States under slightly different circumstances. They had the more or less openly avowed intention of prevailing on this country to abandon its settled policy of holding aloof from European quarrels and of interfering on behalf of European revolutionists. The form in which this proposition became crystal- lized was expressed in the phrase "intervention for non-intervention." This term referred principally to the case of Hungary, when the power of the House of Austria had been restored by the Czar of Russia. The meaning was, that whenever a popular rising took place for the purpose of establish- ing a Republic, it was to be the business of the United States as a sort of protector of all Republics, whether actual or prospective, to keep mon- archical governments from interfering in favor of the threatened dynasty. The next conspicuous visitor of this kind was Ludwig Kossuth, the revolu- tionary governor of Hungary. He came to America to seek help for the re- vival of the Hungarian struggles; his intention failed, though the people
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everywhere had received him with enthusiasm. Ludwig Kossuth reached Philadelphia the 17th of April, 1852. He had spent the Sunday in Burling- ton and Monday and Tuesday in Trenton and Jersey City, where the Newark people had come to meet him on April 21st. He was welcomed with real April weather, sunshine and rain alternating, and the mud in the unpaved streets was so deep that the greater part of the military organizations had to abandon their march. An enormous crowd had gathered early in the morning at . Centre Street railway station. The crowd was almost im- penetrable when the train arrived, so that the distinguished guest and the honorary committee had great difficulty in getting to the waiting carriages. Guns boomed salutes when the procession moved forward toward the Mili- tary Park, and the Putnam Guard formed the escort, under the command of Captain Rochus Heinisch. On the sidewalks were soldiers, German clubs and societies, which, altogether, formed a striking scene; the open um- brellas making a peculiar contrast to the many different uniforms. Marshal of ceremonies, Colonel A. C. M. Pennington and his colleagues were on horseback, and wore the Hungarian hat and tri-colored scarf. The soldiers marched in following order:
Lafayette Guard. Captain Turnbull
Columbian Riflemen Captain Brintzinghoffer
Jefferson Rifles. . Captain Sommers
Newark Rifles Captain Leibe
(the last two named were Germans). The procession moved to the City Hall (the old City Hall), where the public reception was held in view of the enormous crowd, on the lower balcony. Mayor Quimby and ex-Chan- cellor Halsted welcomed the honored guest, whose answer was received with great enthusiasm. Then Kossuth was greeted by the Germans in a special address, read by Lawyer Emil Schoeffner. A ludicrous circumstance may be mentioned in connection with this demonstration, because it throws a peculiar light upon the condition of the streets at the time. Soon after the parade was over a peculiar flatboat, a "Scow," mounted on wheels and drawn by four horses, moved along Broad Street. The occupants of the boat, as well as the outriders, made a tremendous noise with their horns. As the boat was almost on a level with the street the mud waves seemed to splash up on the bowsprit and cover its bottom.
The next morning a Kossuth-meeting took place in the forenoon in Washington Hall, and in the afternoon a banquet was given in the Park House, in his honor. In the evening Kossuth addressed the people in his own language, in the library, where he was introduced by Pastor Lehlbach. The auditorium was completely filled, and Kossuth spoke in an exceedingly interesting manner concerning the political situation of Europe, and concerning the prospect for better times. There were a large number of ladies present, and later in the evening, German unions and societies formed a torchlight procession, headed by a band and marched to the City Hall, where they offered a serenade to their guest. Kossuth, tired as he was, appeared on the balcony, where, amid a thundering ap- plause, he spoke a few words of thanks and appreciation. The next morn- ing at six o'clock he left for New York.
About the same time that Kossuth traveled about this country to arouse sympathy for down trodden Hungary, Gottfried Kinkel, poet and agitator, whose escape from the fortress of Spandau was made possible with the help of Carl Schurz; came to call on his countrymen in America, in order to
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float a so-called "national loan" of two million dollars, for the revolution- izing of Germany. During the winter of 1851-1852 he visited a large num- ber of cities and was everywhere received with an enthusiasm second only to that which greeted Kossuth himself. By subscriptions, fairs and bazaars he obtained about $10,000. The speeches and resolutions held and adopted by Kinkel-meetings were full of demands upon the government to break with its traditional neutrality and adopt the policy of "intervention for non-in- tervention." These demands came, by no means from foreigners only, but many native born politicians joined in the chorus. However, even the refugees themselves were not unanimously in favor of the "national loan." Some very influential men among the German refugees opposed the whole scheme of establishing the liberty of Germany, or any other European country, by force from the outside, and maintained that the people should first be educated up to the point where they desired a new revolution; then they would establish republican institutions of their own motion. Soon the enthusiasm created by the eloquence and captivating personality of Kinkel died away, and by the middle of the summer of 1852 little more was heard either of him or the "national loan."
For almost two centuries and three decades, Puritan ideals had reigned undisturbed; when they felt, for the first time, a strong and per- servering opponent-and this opponent emanated from the many German fugitives, that the great German national storm of the year 1848 had driven to the American shores. Here we must treat briefly of two matters, which have influenced very deeply the attitude of the Forty-eighters, as well as the whole German element, toward our political and social institu- tions. These matters, for want of a better term may be called Puritanism and the Church. Sunday observance in the Puritan meaning of the word, was, of course, unknown to the Germans. To the average American the open defiance of the customs of the land, with regard to Sunday observance; the open indulgence in beer and wine in the presence of women and children, who took part in these pleasures, and to crown all this, seeming lack of in- terest in church matters, was nothing less than proof of total depravity. The welcome which the victims of monarchical oppression had found at first was turned into very strong aversion, and on the part of many, into fierce enmity. The "Knownothing" movement was directed as much against the German Sabbath breaker and "infidel" as against the Roman Catholic; per- haps even more so against the former than the latter. The breaking up of peaceful German picnics, balls or other festivals by gangs of rowdies be- came a common occurrence, and seldom, if ever, did the police raise a finger to protect the Germans. The worst occurrence of this kind was the attack made by a number of New York roughs on a festival of the Turners, held on May 26, 1857, near Hoboken, which, however, turned out rather badly. The Turners were prepared and two or three of the rowdies were killed and others more or less seriously wounded. An outrage still worse than the affair in Hoboken was the demolition of the little church of St. Mary's on the corner of William and High Streets in Newark, which oc- curred on September 4, 1854. The rowdies destroyed the altar, organ and all the chairs and doors. After killing an inoffensive Irishman in Shipman Street the gang returned to New York, without being molested in the slight- est by the police. In other cities similar outrages occurred. When Know- nothingism became a political power, election riots in which foreigners, without regard to whether they were Catholics, Protestants or Infidels, were wounded by the score, became of ordinary occurrence in some parts of the
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