USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 22
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only one of that faith in the township. These were the only early churches organized in what is now Pequannock township, although there were others in the territory set off from it.
Schools-The first schools in the present township were established at Pompton Plains, Beavertown and Pine Brook. The first school house on Pompton Plains of which there is authentic record, was built several years prior to 1800, and stood on the opposite side of the street from the present school house, and near the present church. About 1808 a portion of the people of the district became dissatisfied with the school, and built a house about half a mile north of the church, employing David Provost as teacher. About 1824 a new school building was built opposite the church, which for many years accommodated a large school employing superior teachers, rank- ing from 1840 to 1855 among the best in the township. In 1872 this building was removed and a more modern structure erected in its stead.
The first school house at Beavertown was built about 1776, and con- tinued in use as such until 1806. A second was built on the road leading to Pompton Plains in 1809, but after being in use a few years was moved into Passaic Valley, about a mile south of Beavertown Corner. In 1838 it was sold and another erected in a more central location, which in 1872 again gave way to a modern edifice.
At Pine Brook, the first school house was built of logs, about 1760, on the road leading to Boonton. The next was a frame building erected in 1785 ; a third in 1816, and a fourth in 1852. Other school houses have been erected from time to time, the present system including schools at Brook Valley, Jacksonville, Lincoln Park, Pompton Plains, Riverdale and Mead- town.
For the school year ending June, 1913, the township expended for its public schools, $14,826.96. The total enrollment of scholars was 437, the average daily attendance 300. For the years 1913-14 eleven teachers were employed, including a supervising principal. The school and teachers are: Supervising Principal, James F. Dodd, Riverdale; Brook Valley-Irma Hopper, Boonton; Jacksonville-Martha D. Blanchard; Lincoln Park- Grammar, Ben M. Brown, Mound; Primary, Emma Black; Pompton Plains Grammar, Ernest M. Kahl, Pompton ; Primary, Ethel M. Van Ness, Pomp- ton : Riverdale-Grammar, Maurice E. Moncrief, Riverdale ; Primary, Rena B. Casse ; Meadtown-Herbert Keller.
Population, etc .-- In 1830 Pequannock contained a population of 4355, and in 1840, 5227. Losing Rockaway township in 1844 reduced the popu- lation in 1850 to 4118, which in 1860 had increased to 5440. In 1867, Boonton and Montville were set off, which reduced the population in 1870 to 1539, which in 1880 had increased to 2239, the increase in manufacturing and improved railroad service inducing settlement. In 1890 the census showed 2862 ; in 1900 the population had risen to 3250 but the incorporation of Butler as a borough in 1901 so reduced it that in 1910 the census showed but 1921 inhabitants in the township. Butler reporting 2265, the combined figures (4186) showed a gain of 936 for the decade.
In 1881 the assessed valuation of real estate in the township was $632,- 604; personal property, $108,220. For the year 1912 the real estate valua- tion outside of Butler was $894,720; personal property, $93,985. In Butler the real estate was rated at $993,975; personal, $159,550. This shows an advance of nearly $1,000,000 in realty values in the same territory covered by the assessment of 1881, and an increase of $145,315 in personal property values.
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For 1913 the township officers were: Simon E. Estler, freeholder ; Joseph J. Pellett, clerk; Alfred Gilland, assessor ; Thomas W. Benjamin. collector ; F. M. Prescott, treasurer ; Fred W. Ricker, F. M. Prescott, Harry Comly, township committee; Alfred DeBow, constable; A. R. DeBow, over- seer of the poor ; Louis J. Ryerson, Giles M. Roome, Justices of the peace; Robert J. Still, Giles M. Roome, commissioners of deeds; George T. New- bury, president board of education; Lewis F. Stillwell, district clerk; Thomas W. Benjamin, custodian; Dr. William S. Colfax, medical inspector ; James F. Dodd, attendance officer.
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP
In the heyday of its prosperity, Randolph was considered one of the best townships in Morris county. But with the decline of iron ore mining, the closing down of its furnaces and forges, and the setting off of the town of Dover and borough of Wharton, much of its glory departed. It is located in the central part of the county ; was erected from Mendham town- ship in 1805, and named in honor of Hartshorn Fitz Randolph, an eminent citizen of the township. The Morris canal passes through the township, as does the D., L. & W. railroad, and the High Bridge branch of the Central railroad of New Jersey. The country is uneven and hilly, the soil not especially fertile, but the mineral wealth of the township more than compen- sates for its lack of agricultural advantages. Iron ore of the richest quality was found in great abundance, and for a century and a half, mining was extensively carried on; forges and furnaces abounded and prosperous vil- lages grew up around the mines and iron works. But the consolidation of interests and the opening up of mines in other localities finally wrought disaster to the iron mining industry of Morris county, and in all of Randolph township there is scarcely an iron ore mine being worked. Conditions may yet change and the rich minerals of the township become again a source of wealth to mine owners. The township is exceedingly healthful and the land- scape varied and picturesque. The soil with proper cultivation and encour- agement produces profitable crops and can be made to replace the loss of the mining industry.
In 1713, John Reading, a surveyor and prominent citizen of New Jersey, at one time president of the council and acting governor of New Jersey, made a survey of the land in the township and portions were offered for sale. The first purchaser was John Latham, who bought of the Proprietors 527 acres. This was twenty-five years prior to the erection of Morris county. It does not appear that Latham ever settled on this land, but in 1722 he sold his purchase to John Jackson who was the first acual settler, and he was at- tracted by the rich magnetic iron ore of the section. He erected a dwelling, and on the stream in front of his home built a forge and began the iron business. The ore which was made into iron at this forge was from the famous Succasunna or Dickerson mine at Ferromonte, about two miles northwest of the forge. Moses Hurd soon afterward came from Dover, New Hampshire, and worked in the Jackson forge; other persons found em- ployment there and little by little the first settlement grew. Joseph Kirk- bride was the second purchaser of land, buying first in 1713, and in 1716 enough more to make his holdings 6,337 acres, about one-half of the town- ship. This tract included the rich Dickerson mine, then called the Succa- sunna mine. Joseph Kirkbride left his land to his sons, between whom it was equally divided, except the Succasunna mine, which they held jointly.
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It does not appear that the Kirkbrides ever lived in Randolph, but they in- duced others to come and purchase land of them. In 1732, Daniel Carrell bought 150 acres south of Centre Grove that is still owned in the family. The winter of 1740, when Daniel Carrell came, was called the "hard winter." There was a heavy snow fall and for weeks, in order to save his cattle from starving, he brought hay on his back a distance of two and one half miles, traveling on snowshoes. Some cattle perished and a man and his wife were found dead at their home when the snow melted in the spring. In the summer of 1740, William, son of the pioneer, William Schooley, moved from Schooley's mountain and purchased 600 acres of the Kirkbride tract at what is now Mill Brook. His son, Robert Schooley, built a grist mill at Mill Brook, which was the first mill in the township, and the first mill west of Morristown.
Henry Brotherton purchased 400 acres of the Kirkbride tract in 1744, his purchase lying a little west of Mill Brook. He married the eldest daughter of William Schooley; his brother, James Brotherton, married a second daughter of William Schooley, and settled near his brother. The Schooleys were descendants of Robert, a brother of Thomas Schooley, who came from England in the ship "Martha" in 1677. Robert Schooley came in 1678, landing in Burlington, New Jersey; William, son of Robert, came to Morris county and purchased a large tract of what has since been known as Schooley's mountain.
In 1750, Minard Lefevre owned a farm in the township and in 1779, was with Jonathan Dickerson, joint owner of the famous Succasunna mine. Minard was a grandson of Hippolyte Lefevre, who came to New Jersey in 1675 in the ship "Griffith," the first ship to bring settlers to New Jersey.
Moses Hurd was a foreman at the John Jackson forge in 1722. Joseph and Daniel, sons of Moses Hurd, in 1790, bought a large tract of land at what was then called "The Two Partners," but later became Hurdtown. They built a saw mill, started a forge and opened the Hurdtown mine which later was perhaps the most valuable iron mine in the State. In 1745, Joseph Shotwell purchased of the proprietors ninety acres on the south side of the Rockaway river, including the water privileges and power. This tract is now a populous part of the town of Dover. In 1756, General Wil- liam Winds bought of the heirs of William Penn, 275 acres about one mile east of Dover. He was a distinguished officer of the Revolution, and died on his farm. In 1757, Josiah Beman bought about 100 acres on the north side of Dover. He erected a forge and made iron until the War of 1812. Most of these early settlers were members of the Society of Friends. John Read- ing, the man who first surveyed the land of the township, was a member by birthright, but later became a Presbyterian, although he was always a strong friend of the Society and induced several of that faith to settle in Morris county. Richard Dell, a leading Quaker, was among the earlier settlers owning land in Rockaway purchased in 1764. William Mott, of "Mott Hollow" (Mill Brook), was of Huguenot descent. Then came King, Berry, Lampson, Munson, Doty, Baker, Clark, Roff, Trowbridge, Abers, Till, Wolf, Combs, Anson, Seward, Dell, Tuttle, Fitz-Randolph, Bonnell, Lewis, and many other families, the attraction being the iron ore and not the soil. The Succasunna mine was known and worked before plow ever turned the sod of the township. Ore was taken from it and carried on the backs of horses to the old forges. This utilized the Indian paths for roads. These paths were gradually widened and near them the settlers usually built their homes. The turnpike from Whippany to Rockaway and the old road from Morris-
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town to Franklin, and thence to Dover, were Indian paths widened and im- proved. Road building in a proper sense did not begin until 1801, when the Morris turnpike was chartered to run from Elizabethtown through Morris- town and Newton, to the Delaware, opposite Milford. In 1804 the Union turnpike from Morristown through Dover to Sparta was opened and later continued through Culver's Gap to the Delaware. In 1807 the Jefferson turnpike was chartered and in 1809 the Parsippany and Rockaway turnpike. In 1813 the Dover Turnpike Company was organized to build a road to Succasunna. Fifty-four charters were granted between 1801 and 1828. Some of these companies yet existing and collecting tolls to the shame of the communities who thus advertise their inability to own their own highways.
Spinning and weaving were common in even the most prosperous households of the early community, neighbors vying with each other in the excellence of their products. Weaving was discontinued after factories began supplying cloths at reasonable figures, but spinning long continued. A fulling mill was built at Mill Brook that antedates all others in the county, except Morris township mills. To this mill most of the wool of the town- ship later came and was there woven into various kinds of cloth.
As the population increased and iron mining became general, thriving towns grew up around some of the mines. Ferromonte grew to a village of several hundred inhabitants around the Succasunna mine, and was later the home of Mahlon Dickerson, legislator, governor of New Jersey, United States Senator 1817 to 1829, Secretary of the Navy under both Presidents Jackson and Van Buren. Mine Hill, a mile north, at one time had a popu- lation of 800, a church, school house, stores and postoffice ; Mill Brook, with its mill; Mount Freedom and Walnut Grove had churches, stores, post- offices and blacksmith shops; Fort Oram, on the Morris canal and D., L. & W., was a central shipping point for iron and ore, but although a large busi- ness was done at the John Hance & Co. store, Port Oram did not grow much until after the Civil War. This village, now the borough of Wharton, will have further mention ; as will Dover, which was incorporated in 1869.
Churches-For three-quarters of a century the only place of worship in the township was the "Quaker Meeting House," built in 1748, or earlier. Built when timber was to be had for the cutting, its substantial frame has existed for a century and a half. Here, without a pastor, ordained preacher or teacher, the Friends worshipped in their peculiar way, often in silence and again in speech, as the Spirit moved. But the old meeting house is now silent, though the good influence of the Friends of Randolph still lives and has found its way to other places of worship in the township.
Mount Freedom Presbyterian Church was organized July 9, 1820, by Rev. Samuel H. Cox, of Mendham, and Rev. Jacob Green of Succasunna, who were appointed by the Presbytery for that purpose. Jacob Drake, Elijah D. Wells and John Corwin were duly ordained and installed elders. Rev. Jacob Bryant, who had been instrumental in gathering the congrega- tion, was installed the first pastor, November 17, 1824, by the Presbytery of Elizabeth. He was a native of Mount Freedom and under his ministrations the church increased in numbers and influence. He resigned his pastorate in 1829 but continued to supply the pulpit until his death in 1846. Through a succession of pastorates the church has prospered and has a large member- ship, with a neat place of worship, graveyard, parsonage and five acres of land, all located at New Freedom.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Mount Freedom (or Walnut
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Grove) is the successor of an old Baptist church whose history has not been preserved, but which with its graveyard dates back to an early period in the settlement of the township. The Baptist church was for a time used as a union meeting house, but the Baptist society became extinct and the old house of worship long since disappeared. The Methodists erected on the old site a new and commodious edifice at a cost of $5,000, the first pastor being Rev. John Stilman.
The Methodist Episcopal Church at Mill Brook is nearly as old as the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Dover, and was united with it for many years. In 1881 it was united with Mount Freedom and is still coupled with that church as a charge of the Newark conference. The society owns a church and maintains a Sunday school. The combined value of the church property of this congregation is $6,000; parsonage $1,800; church member- ship, III; Sunday school, 127. Rev. Frederick S. Benson is the settled pastor.
Prior to the organization of the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church several years, a Sunday school was organized at Mine Hill, David Jenkins being superintendent, librarian and sexton. The Ford sisters, Emeline, Ellen and Mary, were efficient teachers, and through the medium of this school a religious sentiment was created and maintained. Speakers from a distance often addressed the school and the pastor of the Presbyterian church at Dover often preached in the school house. Prayer meetings were held on Sunday evenings, conducted by David Jenkins, an elder, and Pearce Rogers, a deacon, of the Dover Presbyterian church. On May 27, 1874, a church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange counties, the membership of twenty-five being drawn from the Dover church. David Jenkins, William H. Bray and Joseph A. Thomas were elected and ordained ruling elders; Pearce Rogers, a resident of Mine Hill and a licen- tiate of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange, acting as the first minister. A house of worship was erected at a cost of $6,000, and on September 22, 1874, Pearce Rogers was ordained and duly installed pastor. The church building was completed and dedicated free of debt in the summer of 1878, the basement having been used, however, in 1874.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church is located about one mile west of Dover on the road to Wharton. It was built in 1847 through the efforts of Rev. Father Senez, then stationed at Madison. Noting the numbers who came to him from Dover he visited that town and every third or fourth Sunday administered mass in a private house. He determined that a church should be erected and began at once to accumulate a fund that in about a year was deemed sufficient to begin with. A lot was donated by Mrs. Wil- liam Phillips, the men of the parish helped in the construction of the founda- tion and a building was soon erected. It was not completed, however, when services were first held therein. Father Senez was removed from the parish, being succeeded at Madison by Father McQuade (later Bishop) who per- formed priestly service for St. Mary's parish for eighteen months. He was succeeded by Father Ward, the first priest to reside in the parish. He was succeeded by Father John Callan, who finished the church and added a choir gallery and a basement in which was held a parochial school. He remained eighteen years, being succeeded by Father B. Quinn, who estab- lished churches at Rockaway and Mount Hope, and built a fine parochial residence. Father McCarthy a year later became pastor and at once began raising funds for the erection of a much needed new church. Work was begun in November, 1871, the cornerstone laid in June, 1872, and the church
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built of stone found in the vicinity, dedicated November 1, 1873. The build- ing cost $50,000, and in addition to carrying the great work to completion, Father McCarthy also purchased ground for a cemetery that was dedicated in 1875. Father James Hanly succeeded Father McCarthy in 1876, and in 1880 collected $8,000 and paid off the floating debt of the church. The church is a prosperous one and all its varied interests are well maintained.
Schools-The schools of Dover and Wharton will have especial men- tion, the schools of the present township being here noted. There were several private schools in Randolph both before and after the establishment of public schools. The first of these was held at the Richard Brotherton homestead, another in a little building erected opposite the Quaker meeting house, another at Richard Brotherton's house a mile southwest, another at what was called Franklin school house, a mile and one-half east of Dover. After the death of Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, of Ferromonte, a school of high order was opened in his former residence, by Rev. Robert Crossett, who continued it three years. With the enactment of the public school law came the free schools, there now being eight in the township, with teachers as follows: Supervising principal, A. W. Kiser ; Mine Hill-grammar, T. G. Reid; primary, Winifred Duffy ; Milbrook-grammar, A. A. Marriatt; primary, Alice M. W. Eaton ; Lincoln-grammar, Roldo A. Fisk; primary, Viva C. Coe ; Ferromonte-Anna E. Jenkins ; Mount Fern-Mrs. Adaline D. Atno; Mount Freedom-I. N. Cumback; Center Grove-Mrs. Eugenis D. Baird ; Ironia-Mildred L. Stroud. The total number of scholars enrolled in these schools during the school year ending June, 1913, was 526, the average daily attendance, 370. The total cost of operation for the same year was $13,245.22. The officers of the township for 1913 were: Freeholder, Moses N. Tucker ; clerk, John M. Toye; assessor, Ellison Coe; collector, Richard Bassett, Jr .; treasurer, George M. Lauterman; township committee-Wil- liam J. Curnow, John R. Pugsley, George W. Lauterman ; constables-Jacob J. Drake, James M. Bay, Theodore B. Scudder ; overseer of the poor, E. C. Burnett ; commissioners of deeds-Isaac N. Cumback, William A. Kinney ; president of board of education, D. H. Dalrymple; district clerk, Charles Coe; custodian, Richard Bassett, Jr .; medical inspector. Dr. F. S. Hann; attendance officer, A. W. Kiser.
CHATHAM.
The history of Chatham-township and borough-appears elsewhere, the contribution of Mr. Charles A. Philhower.
PASSAIC TOWNSHIP
This township, the extreme southern point of the county, is bounded on the north by Morris, on the east by Chatham township, on the west by Mendham township and Somerset county, and on the south by Union county, from which it is separated by the Passaic river, that river also forming for a distance the boundary between Morris and Somerset, the bend of the river partly enclosing Passaic township. One of the marked physical features of this township is a beautiful parklike ridge of land which extends through it from Long Hill to Morristown. The ridge, a watershed between the tribu- taries of the upper Passaic on the south and the branches of the Whip- pany on the north, is a prominent feature in the topography of the state, and remarkable for the fine views and continuous succession of beautiful
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MORRIS COUNTY
estates, while one of the finest drives in the state, the road from Madison to Morristown, runs along it. It differs from the Short Hills in its level top and more uniform slopes. The ridge is about 380 feet above tidewater and about 140 feet above the general level of Chatham and Madison. Nearly all the wells on the ridge are about 100 feet deep, which indicates its thickness. The township is well supplied with beauti- ful brooks and streams, the soil of the township is excellent and the farmers thrifty and independent. Another marked physical feature of the township was long known as the Great Swamp, about seven miles long, with an average width of three miles, originally heavily timbered. This has practically all been cleared off and drained, and is now excellent meadow and farming land. This is the bottom of a large glacial lake which in the glacial period covered the country for thirty miles in length and from six to eight miles in width, and was in most places two hundred feet deep. It covered the country where Madison, Chatham, New Providence, Basking- ridge, Hanover, Whippany, Troy, Pompton and Little Falls now stand. Prosperous villages dot the township: New Vernon, Logansville, Pleasant- ville, Green Village, Myersville, Millington, Stirling and Gillette. The Passaic & Delaware branch of the D., L. & W. runs through the southern part of the township, connecting with the Morris & Essex at Summit. Gil- lette, Stirling (population 540), and Millington (population 300) are sta- tions on this road. The township was set off from the south part of Morris township in 1866, and at the first census taken after that date in 1870, showed a population of 1625; the census of 1880 showed an increase for the decade, the figures being 1896; in 1890 a slight loss brought the figures down to 1821 ; in 1900 the population was 2141 and in 1910, 2165. In 1912-13 the total number of scholars enrolled in the five public schools of the township -Stirling, Millington, New Vernon, Logansville, and Long Hill-was 471, with an average daily attendance of 322. The township spent in operating its schools that year $13,877.05. A list of the schools and the teachers fol- lows: Supervising principal, G. H. Osborn; Stirling-Grammar, Harold L. Spicer, Olive F. Van Ness; Primary, Catherine T. Murphy, Ethel E. Far- well, Ann C. Deverill. Millington-Grammar, William C. O"Neil; Primary, Ella C. Bloom. New Vernon-Grammar, Miriam B. Sayre; Primary, Kat- rine Regan. Logansville-Edna F. Denniston. Long Hill-Rachel G. Cornish. In 1881 the assessed valuation of real estate in the township was $764,620; personal property, $195,960. In 1912 the figures were: Real estate, $1,403,300; personal property, $178,800.
The old families of the Passaic Valley have been preserved in a work published in 1851 by John Littell entitled "Family Records or Genealogies of the First Settlers of the Passaic Valley and Vicinity above Chatham, with their Ancestors and Descendants." This work is recognized as a standard authority by genealogists and presents in detail the records of the families who have made much valuable history.
Passaic is rich in historical associations. The grounds occupied by Washington's army as encampment in 1779-80 and 1781 are nearly all in the township, on the first level bench below Mount Washington. The situation of the camp was admirable, the huts comfortable, and firewood abundant. It was the lack of provisions and clothing that caused the great suffering. The house occupied by the officers of the camp, which Washington often visited, known as the old Wick farm house, was located on the road from Mendham to Hoyt's Corners, and may yet be seen. It was in this house that Tempe Wick so long concealed her favorite riding horse. During the win-
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