USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 2
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March 12, 1806, the Newark and Mt. Pleasant Turnpike Company was incorporated by Joseph T. Baldwin, Nathaniel Beach, Isaac Pierson, Hiram Smith and Joseph Jackson. They built a road entering the county at Cook's Bridge, passing through Whippany and Littleton, meeting the Union turn- pike near Dover. The road was abandoned as a turnpike before 1833.
On March 3, 1806, a company was chartered to build a turnpike from Morristown to Phillipsburg, with a branch from Schooley's Mountain to Hackettstown. This company, known as the Washington Turnpike Com- pany, was formed by David Webster, George Bidleman, Nicholas Neighbour, Ebenezer Drake, Israel Canfield, James Little, John McCarter, Edward Condict, Harry Cooper, and Samuel Sherred. This road, passing out of Morristown, is still the principal road to Mendham. From Mendham the road was built to German Valley, up to Schooley's Mountain, through Spring- town, where it branched, the main line going through Pleasant Grove towards Phillipsburg, and the "spur" to Hackettstown.
On the same day, March 3, 1806, the Paterson and Hamburg Turnpike Company was incorporated by Joseph Sharp, John Seward, Robert Colfax, Martin J. Ryerson, Charles Kinsey, Abraham Goodwin, Abraham Van Houten, John Odle Ford, and Jacob Kanouse. This company built the turn- pike, that, beginning at Aquackanonk Landing, in Essex county, passed through Paterson to Pompton, up the valley of the Pequannock to New- foundland, and on to Hamburg, in Sussex county.
November 14, 1809, Tobias Boudinot, Israel Crane, Benjamin Smith, Lemuel Cobb, John Hinchman and Joseph Jackson incorporated the Parsip- pany and Rockaway Turnpike Company. They built the road that, beginning at Pine Brook, ran up through the Boudinot Meadows, Troy, Parsippany, Denville, Rockaway, across the mountain to Mount Pleasant, there joining the Union Turnpike. On July 22, 1822, this road was abandoned as a turn- pike, was laid out as a public road by the surveyors of the highways, and is still the main thoroughfare from that part of the county to Newark.
February II, 1811, the Newark and Morris Turnpike Company was in- corporated by John Doughty, Benjamin Pierson, Caleb Campbell, Seth Wood- ruff, Moses W. Combs and Jabez Pierson. The object of this company was to build a road passing through South Orange to Bottle Hill, and on to Morristown.
The charters of these companies were very much like those of the later day railroads, providing for condemnation of lands, the charging of tolls, etc. The turnpikes had a great influence in developing the resources of the county, and in their day took the place of railroads. While the country was sparsely settled, the combining of capital to build roads for public use, and the charging of tolls, was justifiable; but that day has passed, and today the community that does not furnish free public highways is as back- ward as one that will not provide free public schools. Not only are the roads of Morris county now entirely free, but they are of the best modern con-
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struction, and form one of the many features that attract the transient tourist and induce the permanent resident.
As early as April 3, 1798, Pruden Alling and Benjamin Green adver- tised the Hanover Stage to run from William Parrott's to Paulus Hook (Jersey City) every Tuesday and Friday, returning the following day ; the . fare was $1. At the same time Benjamin Freeman and John Halsey adver- tised stages to run from Morristown to New York every Tuesday and Friday, returning every Wednesday and Saturday. The stage started from Benja- min Freeman's at six o'clock in the morning, stopped at Stephen Halsey's at Bottle Hill and Israel Day's at Chatham, and from thence to Mr. Roll's at Springfield, from whence the stage went to Paulus Hook by Newark, but passengers desiring to go to Elizabethtown Point could have a convey- ance furnished. The fare to the Hook was $1.25, and to Elizabethtown, $1. Ten years later, March 30, 1808, John Halsey advertised a stage from Mor- ristown to Elizabethtown Point, to start from his house at six a. m. Mon- days, Wednesdays and Fridays, to arrive at the Point in time for the first boat to New York, fare $1. A four-horse stage ran to "Powles Hook" on Tuesdays and Fridays, "as usual." The next year ( April 4, 1809) John Burnet & Company advertised a stage to run from Seth Gregory's tavern, on Morris Plains, through Morristown, Whippany, Hanover, Orange and" Newark, to the "city of Jersey," starting at six a. m. on Mondays and Thurs- days, returning the following days. His claim for patronage was that his. route was shorter than any other, and followed the turnpike all the way. His charge was $1.50 each way. In 1812, William Dalrymple was carrying pas- sengers by stage to Elizabethtown three times weekly, boat there being taken for New York. On December 22, 1812, advertisement is made of Governor Ogden's "beautiful steamer," just completed, making the marvelous time of" seven miles an hour. The machinery, described as "different in many respects from any other ever built," was made by Daniel Dod, of Mendham, a celebrated inventor and clockmaker.
Sixteen years later, April 26, 1828, McCoury, Drake & Company ad- vertised a stage "to run through in one day and by daylight," from New York to Easton, Pennsylvania, via Elizabeth Port, Morristown and Schooley's Mountain Springs, fare $2. Passengers using this route left New York at six a. m. by the steamer "Emerald," and returning, left Easton at four a. m., arriving in New York at six p. m. While this was the through route, the Morris and New York stages left Morristown on Mondays, Wed- nesdays and Fridays, going by way of Hanover and Orange to Newark, thence by boat to New York, arriving at three p. m., and returning to Mor- ristown at five p. m., fare $1.25.
The next transportation movement affecting Morris county was the construction of the Morris Canal, from Easton to Jersey City. This water- way, which brought great benefit to the declining iron industry of Morris county, was conceived in the brain of George P. Macculloch, of Morristown, while on a fishing excursion to Lake Hopatcong. Taking advantage of the great height of that body of water, 925 feet above sea level, he deemed it feasible to dam its outlet, store the winter rains, and then lead its waters. westward down the valley of the Musconetcong to the Delaware, and east- ward down the valleys of the Rockaway and Passaic to Newark. The region to be traversed in Morris county was rich in mineral products, and iron was manufactured in abundance in fifty forges and three furnaces, although thirty forges and nine furnaces had been practically abandoned on account of lack of cheap transportation. The plan also offered a cheap means of"
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transporting the coal of the Lehigh Valley to tidewater at Newark and Jersey City. Mr. Macculloch attempted to interest the State of New Jersey in his plan, and succeeded in having a committee appointed by the legisla- ture by an Act of November 15, 1822, with authority to employ a practical engineer and surveyor to explore, survey and level the most practical route for a canal, also to estimate its cost. This committee, consisting of Mr. Macculloch, Charles Kinsey, of Essex, and Thomas Capner, reported in 1823, and received the thanks of the legislature, but that august body refused to commit the State to the project, leaving it to private enterprise, a mis- take most calamitous in the light of present conditions.
On December 31, 1824, the Morris Canal and Banking Company was incorporated with a capital of $1,000,000, for the purpose, as stated in the preamble, of constructing a canal to unite the Delaware river near Easton with the tidewaters of the Passaic. The incorporators named in the Act were Jacob S. Thompson, of Sussex; Silas Cook, of Morris; John Dow, of Essex ; and Charles Board, of Bergen. George P. Macculloch and John Scott, of Morris county ; Israel Crane, of Essex; Joseph G. Swift, Henry Eckford, and David B. Ogden, of New York City, were appointed commis- sioners to receive subscriptions to the stock. The Act also allowed the com- pany to do a banking business in connection with its canal, in proportion to the amount expended on the canal. In view of the present status of the canal, the attitude of Mr. Macculloch in relation to the financial features of the act is of interest. He says :
"It may be well here to remark that, anticipating the danger of throwing the whole concern into the control of mere foreign capitalists, the draft of a charter provided that a certain number of directors should be chosen resident in each county penetrated by the canal. * * * Several gentlemen from Wall street had volunteered their good offices and very kindly took post in the Trenton lobby after my departure. Upon their suggestion, the draft of the charter was transformed into its present shape, nor did I receive the most distant hint of any alteration until the bill was finally passed. A company was formed, and myself included in its direction. The precarious position of a canal coupled to a bank, and directed by men of operations exclusively financial, was obvious. The interests of the country and the development of the iron manufacture were merged in a reckless stock speculation. I did all in my power to arrest this perversion, but soon found myself a mere cipher, standing alone, and re- sponsible in public opinion for acts of extravagant folly, which I alone had strenu- ously opposed at the board of directors. * I clung to the sinking ship until every hope of safety had vanished, and then vacated my seat by selling out, thus saving myself from ruin, if not from loss. From the moment the charter, altered without my knowledge, was obtained, the whole affair became a stock-jobbing con- cern, the canal a mere pretext; my efforts to recall the institution to its duty were regarded as an intrusion, and every pains was taken to force me to retire. * * *
"Not only was the project itself first conceived by me, but I employed five years in exploring the route and conciliating friends. The newspaper articles, the corre- spondence to obtain information, the commissioners' report, and an endless catalogue of literary tasks, were from my hand. I claim to have single-handed achieved the problem of rendering popular, and accomplishing, a scheme demanding cash resources and stigmatized as the dream of a crazed imagination."
The route of the canal was selected by Major Ephraim Beach, under whose direction the work was executed. It was a wonderful engineering work for its day, the system adopted to raise boats over the hills being per- fected only through costly experiment. The first plane was completed at Rockaway, and passed a boat loaded with stone, from the lower to the upper level, fifty-two feet, in twelve minutes.
The canal was completed from Easton to Newark in August, 1831, at an actual cost of $2,000,000, and was adapted to boats of twenty-five tons «only. In 1836 the canal was completed to Jersey City. There were twelve
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MORRIS COUNTY
planes and seventeen locks, aggregating an elevation of 914 feet, the highest planes being at Drakesville and Boonton Falls, eighty feet each. To meet the payments, the "Dutch loan" of $750,000 was borrowed in Holland, a mortgage on the canal being given as security. This mortgage was fore- closed and the canal sold, causing the loss of their stock to the stockholders ; the unsecured creditors lost their claims; and the State of Indiana, holder of a second mortgage, lost much of its loan. The canal was bought in by Benjamin Williamson, Asa Whitehead and John J. Bryant, on October 21, 1844, for $1,000,000. The purchasers reorganized the company under the same name, enlarged its capacity, and operated it until May 4, 1871, when the Morris Canal Company made a perpetual lease of the canal and works to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, the present owners. The size of the boats was greatly increased, and for many years it was one of the important transportation routes of the State. In 1845, toll and other receipts were $18,997.45 ; in 1846, $51,212.39; and in 1870, the last year before leasing to the railroad, they were $391,549.76. Under railroad ownership the canal has degenerated, until it is about as unimportant as so great a work could well be, and nothing remains of its former greatness. Attempts have been made to get a bill through the New Jersey legislature, allowing its complete aban- donment, but all have failed, and each year it is allowed to fill with water ; an occasional canal boat passes through, but its principal use is as a swim- ming tank and a canoe stream.
Steam transportation came to Morris county with the building of the Morris & Essex railroad, by a company bearing the same name. This com- pany was incorporated by the legislature of New Jersey, January 29, 1835, the incorporators being James Cook and William N. Wood, of Morristown ; William Brittin, of Madison; Jeptha B. Munn, of Chatham; Israel D. Con- dit, of Milburn ; John J. Bryan and Isaac Baldwin. The capital stock was $300,000, and the object of the company, as stated, was to build a railroad from one or more places "in the village of Morristown" to intersect the railroad of the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company at Newark or Elizabethtown. The rate for travel was limited by the charter to six cents per mile for passengers. A provision was also inserted in the charter allowing the State to purchase the road at its appraised value, fifty years after its completion. In 1836 the company was authorized to build lateral roads to Whippany, Boonton, Denville, Rockaway and Dover, and to in- crease its capital stock $250,000. In 1838 the company was authorized to borrow money, and in 1839 to raise the par value of its stock from $50 to $75 per share. In addition to the incorporators as named, Lewis Condict, of Morristown, and Jonathan C. Bonnel, of Chatham, were prominent and useful in forwarding the construction of the road.
The difficulties encountered in building this road cannot be appreciated in these days of large corporations, with power to accomplish everything. . Many changes were made in the route to gain friends for the project, and the directors often pledged their private credit to supply funds. The en- gineer was Captain Ephraim Beach, the engineer of the Morris Canal. The track was first the "strap rail," a flat bar of iron spiked on the edge of tim- "bers running parallel with the road bed; and accidents were often caused by the rail ends curling under the wheels, sometimes going through the bottom of the cars. The engines were small, two meeting all needs. The depot in Morristown was on De Hart street, and the railroad entered the village through the present Maple avenue, then known as Railroad avenue, but earlier as Canfield street. At Newark the cars were hauled from the de-
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pot on Broad street through Center street to the Center street depot of the New Jersey railroad, this method prevailing until 1851, when the company was authorized to continue its line to Hoboken. This was not done at once, but, by an arrangement with the New Jersey railroad, trains were run to Jersey City over that road, a branch being built to connect the two roads at Newark. It was not until 1863 that the Morris & Essex built its own line to Hoboken, an act of legislature passed in 1864 also enabling the company to buy the Passaic bridge from the New Jersey railroad.
There was no thought or intention of ever making the road a "through line" at first, and the line to Dover was not built until 1848. To get around Morristown, the track was taken up and laid anew, along the present route. To alter the contemplated run from Denville direct to Dover, the people of Rockaway contracted to give a right of way from Denville to Dell's Bridge, where the switch between Rockaway and Dover was placed, if the road was built to Rockaway, an agreement that was fulfilled. The main line and traffic are now (1914) direct between Denville and Dover.
From Dover the road was again started westward, but did not reach Phillipsburg until 1861. On December 10, 1868, a lease was made to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad, which is still in force. By it the lessees agreed to operate the road, making it a part of their own sys- tem, to tidewater, and to guarantee the payment of interest on its funded debt, and at least seven per cent. on its stock. The improvements made since the lease to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad corpora- tion are many and costly. In Morris county the line has been elevated at Chatham and Morristown, and an elevation is contemplated at Madison. New and even more elegant depots have been built, the recently completed one at Morristown being the handsomest on the line. The quality of the roadbed equals the best in the country, while the equipment is unsurpassed. Morristown, Dover, Madison and Chatham have an hourly service with New' York, and have the full benefit of the road's western express trains.
The branch lines in the county are also important. The Sussex rail- road now leaves the main line at Netcong. The Boonton branch was built in 1864 from Denville, and is now the route taken into Hoboken by many trains. The Chester branch is now an adjunct of the parent road, as is the Passaic and Delaware branch from Summit to Gladstone. The great Lack- awanna "cut-off" leaves the old line at Lake Hopatcong and runs direct through Blairstown to Delaware Water Gap.
Other railroads in the county, built at later dates and more fully noted in township histories, are the New Jersey Midland (now the New York, Susquehanna & Western), skirting the northern edge of Pequannock, Jefferson and Rockaway townships; the Greenwood Lake railroad, which crosses Pompton Plains ; the Green Pond railroad, a branch of the New Jersey Midland; the High Bridge branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, running from High Bridge through German Valley and Wharton, with a spur to Chester; the Dover & Rockaway railroad, connecting the High Bridge branch at Wharton with the Hibernia railroad at Rockaway; the Ogden Mine railroad, running from the Ogden and Hurd mines to Lake Hopatcong ; and the New Jersey & Pennsylvania railroad, successor to the Rockaway Valley railroad, on which the traffic is temporarily stayed.
The Morris County Traction Company operates an electric street rail- way system beginning at Lake Hopatcong, passing through Wharton, Dover, Rockaway, and Denville (where the Boonton branch begins), Mt. Tabor, Morris Plains (where a branch diverges to the State Hospital), Morristown,
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Convent, Madison and Chatham, and so on through Summit, connecting with the Newark lines at Maplewood.
The county is universally supplied by electricity as an illuminating power, the plants of the Eastern Pennsylvania Company being located at Dover and Boonton. Every borough in the county has a system of water- works, mostly owned by the municipality, but in a few instances by a pri- vate company. Gas is also furnished in the boroughs. Banks and news- papers of high order are found in nearly every borough and town, while public schools and churches are everywhere. All these features will be found fully noted in the township, town and borough histories.
CHAPTER III.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS-PUBLIC SCHOOLS-CHURCHES
There are two great educational institutions in the county, both de- nominational in character-the College of St. Elizabeth, at Convent Station, under the control of the Roman Catholic Church; and Drew Theological School at Madison, under the management of the Methodist Episcopal Church. These are also more fully noted elsewhere. The Young Men's Christian Association movement is popular in the county, Morristown and Madison having recently erected modern association buildings.
In regard to the public schools of the county, the following items are of interest and not elsewhere noted. In 1828 a central committee composed of Charles Ewing, John N. Simpson and Theodore Frelinghuysen reported :
"It is probable that Morris county more richly enjoys the advantage and blessings of education than any other in the State. Sixty-nine schools and 2411 scholars are reported, and, making a probable estimate for the parts not reported, there are about eighty-two schools and 2800 scholars in the county. Many of these schools are kept up during the winter only. Female teachers are in many places employed to instruct small children in the summer. The price of tuition varies from $1.50 to $2 per quarter. Reading, writing and arithmetic are taught in the common schools; and the languages and the higher branches of English education in several academies, which are included in the above number. The character of the teachers is generally good."
Under the Act of 1867, which, with amendments, is in force at the present time, a general system of public instruction was established, although a general common school law had been in force since 1828. Under this latter act, Robert De Hart was appointed the first superintendent of public instruction for Morris county. In 1881 there were in the county 110 school houses owned and two houses rented; 14,120 children between the ages of five and eighteen years were enrolled; school property was valued at $224- 900; and $61,368.44 was the amount appropriated for the support of the schools. In contrast with these figures, the report of County Superintendent J. Howard Hulsart in part is appended. Superintendent Hulsart is now completing his second term, having served continuously since 1908. The following are his figures for the school year 1912 and 1913: Value of school property, $1,107,226, divided as follows: land, $109,938; buildings, $915,517 ; equipment, $81,771 ; total operating expenses of the schools, $435,- 532; number of teachers employed in day schools, 408; number employed in night schools, 8; total number of scholars enrolled in day schools, 13,499; average daily attendance, 9905; total teachers' salaries paid, $227,325. During the school year 1913-14, eight new school buildings were completed and occupied, three more are in course of construction, and the cost of erecting six others has been provided for.
There are in active operation a County Principals' Association, a Teachers' Association, and a School Board Association, that hold regular meetings on the last day of the County Teachers' Institute, and on the last Saturday in March of each year.
CHURCHES
According to the historian, Samuel Smith, there were in the county in 1765, fourteen houses of worship, of which nine were Presbyterian; these were located at Hanover, Mendham, Morristown, Madison, Parsippany, Rockaway and Chester; the other two probably at Succasunna and near
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Basking Ridge. The Evangelical Lutherans had a church at German Valley, built in 1745. The Baptist church was built at Morristown in 1752, and the Congregationalists built at Chester in 1747. The Quaker meeting house stood a mile south of Dover; and the Rogerines, a peculiar sect, had an organization, long extinct, most of the members living on Schooley's Moun- tain. The Dutch Reformed Church at Pompton Plains was not built on the. Morris county side of the river until 1771. In 1812 "Alden's New Jersey Register" gave the denominations in the county as Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Congregational and Quaker. The Protestant Episco- palians have since established prosperous parishes in the county; and the Roman Catholic Church has many valuable institutions connected with the. religious work of that denomination.
The various denominations named above are further mentioned under the various township and borough heads. In this connection may be very properly given a contribution which, while it relates principally to Methodism, covers so broad a field that it affords much information as to early general religious conditions. It is from the pen of the Rev. James M. Buckley, D.D., LL.D., a distinguished clergyman and author,. now residing in Morristown. He was born at Rahway, New Jersey, De- cember 16, 1836. His literary education was acquired at Pennington, New Jersey, and the Wesleyan University. He studied theology under Dr. Nathaniel Laselle, at Exeter, New Hampshire, and in 1859 entered the New Hampshire Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church on trial, and was stationed at Dover and Manchester. In 1863 he traveled in Europe, and in November of that year was transferred to the Detroit Conference, and was a pastor in Detroit from 1864 to 1866, and from the latter year to 1880 in Brooklyn (New York), and Stamford, Connecti- cut. In that year he was elected to the editorship of the Christian Advocate, in which position he remained for thirty-two years. In 1866-69 he read medicine, and served on the board of managers of the State Hospitals for the Insane of New Jersey for many years. He has been president of the Methodist Episcopal (Seney) Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, from its foundation in 1881. In 1872 he was elected a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has been a member of every general conference since. He was also a delegate to the Ecumenical Methodist Conferences in London in 1881, Washington 1891, and Toronto. 19II.
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