USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 24
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The Methodist Episcopal church in Rockaway was incorporated April 20, 1833 ; the first church building was erected in the fall of that year, the first minister being Rev. William Shepherd. Among his successors was Rev. Charles S. Downs, whose widow, Sarah J. C. Downs, was from 1881 to 1891, leader of the temperance forces of New Jersey, as president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. This church will have further mention in the history of the borough of Rockaway. Another Methodist church is that at Rockaway Valley, incorporated June 5, 1842, as the Methodist Episcopal church at Rockaway Valley. A church was erected on the Powerville road, services being in charge of the pastor of the Denville church.
A Methodist church was built in February, 1873, for the Allen and Teabo mine families on land donated by the New Jersey Iron Mining Com- Dany. This church was coupled with the Port Oram, but now is a separate charge, having a membership of ninety-three, and a Sunday school of 126. The church is valued at $2,500; pastor Rev. J. M. Versteeg.
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In 1870 the Mount Hope Iron Mining Company erected a church at Mount Hope for the benefit of any body of Christians desiring to use it. The Methodists being more numerous than any other sect they have always used the church and later obtained a regular minister. The present membership is twenty-eight ; the Sunday school numbers eighty; the valua- tion of the church property is $1,200; pastor, Rev. S. N. Thomas.
On October 26, 1869, a Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated at Hibernia, built with funds largely contributed by the mining companies and merchants, the cost being $8,100. In 1871 a parsonage was erected at a cost of $2,200, furnished at a cost of $325, and a parsonage library added. The first pastor was Rev. J. W. Folsom.
In 1852 a Methodist class of forty members was formed at Greenville by Rev. Mr. Cross, of the Newark conference. In 1861 Greenville was made a preaching appointment, services being held in the schoolhouse. The charge was later added to the Hibernia church.
Services were first held in the Welsh tongue in May, 1857, at the Richards mines between Mount Pleasant and Mount Hope. A church was built in 1863, at a cost of $1,200, near the Richards mines. This church was a branch of the Dover Presbyterian Church, which in 1869 installed Rev. John R. Jenkins pastor of the Welsh Presbyterian Church at Richards Mines. He died in January, 1876, no pastor having succeeded him, occasional services being held by the pastor of the Dover church.
On September 29, 1875, St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church of Mount Hope was incorporated with Rev. Michael J. Connelly, pastor. This church has prospered and has erected schools and parsonage in connection with their church edifice. About 1865 a Roman Catholic church, known as St. Patrick's was erected at Hibernia, and about 1876 a similar church, St. Cecelia's, was built at Rockaway, near the Righter's pond. The first church, St. Patrick's, was a part of Boonton parish, the latter, St. Cecelia's, under the care of the Protectory at Denville.
Schools-Schools have existed in Rockaway from almost the first settlement, the erection of a school and church following closely the gather- ing of the people into communities, however small they might be. The first school at Rockaway village was built in 1774, Beach Glen school at a little later date. The Denville school at about the same time, and schools were established at the mines as they became necessary. The first system of public instruction under the state law was organized in February, 1829. On June 11, 1830, John Sherman, William Wheeler and Francis Lindsley were incorporated as the "Denville School Association."
In April, 1836, George Rowland, Jacob Powers, John B. Kelsey, Benoni Whitehead and David Cole were incorporated as "The Trustees of the Rock- away District School House No. 2," for the promotion of learning.
Rockaway East School District was incorporated April 7, 1859, by William Boyd and Freeman Wood, trustees, and Joseph Tuttle, town super- intendent.
Union district, part in Rockaway, part in Randolph, was incorporated May 16, 1860; Rockaway, July 10, 1851 ; Beach Glen, May 4, 1852; Mount Pleasant, May 5, 1853 ; Denville, May 24, 1854 ; Lyonsville, October 9, 1854; Mount Hope, March 9, 1859; Greenville, April 27, 1875. There have been many changes in the districts, the township superintendent's office abolished, and the system in every way improved. The schools as now named, with the teachers employed, are as follows: Supervising principal, D. B. O'Brien; Hibernia-grammar, Francis P. Smith; primary, Elsie F. Ash, Rosa T.
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Hart; Oreland-grammar, Charles F. Mann, Jr .; primary, Sarah J. Shaw, Catherine A. Dwyer, Lena J. Smith; Mount Pleasant-grammar, Frank N. Zeek; primary, Evelyn N. Spargo, Marion A. Sayer; Picatinny Arsenal- Maud C. Lyon ; Lyonsville, Gertrude E. Shaw; Marcella, Harvey W. Sees- holtz ; Mount Hope Avenue, Newton B. Lundy. For the school year ending June, 1913, there was expended in the maintenance of these schools $26,- 236.56. The total number of scholars enrolled was 993, the average daily attendance 750.
Mills, Tanneries and Distilleries-There were several grist mills in operation at convenient points in the early days of the township, water power being so abundant that nearly every farm could have a water supply of its own. Among early mills remembered is that of Moses Tuttle and Isaac Fairchild, at Rockaway, prior to 1761 ; the Hopler mill at Powerville; the Martin Hiler mill, and the Aaron Miller mill at Rockaway Valley. In 1820 Abijah Conger had a cider mill and distillery on the road from Dover to Franklin. Matthias Kitchel in the same year operated a similar establish- ment at Denville. John Hinchman, who opened the first store in Denville, built a cider distillery west of his store. James L. Davenport put up a dis- tillery on his farm at Green Pond, as did Thomas Green in Denville, and George Ayres erected a distillery on his father's farm at Pigeon Hill.
There were three tanneries in the township-David Hill's at Denville; Henry Berry's at Mount Hope, and the Baker tannery, near Mount Pleasant, the latter founded in 1792 by Jeremiah Baker, who operated it seventy years, then turned it over to his sons. Jeremiah Baker died in 1861 aged ninety-one years.
Early Hotels-One of the first hotels opened in the township was erected in 1790 by Thomas Day, at the upper end of Green Pond; that was kept by different landlords after Mr. Day.
The Denville Hotel was built by John Hinchman in 1811. Moses Tuttle was licensed in 1771 to keep a tavern, the Tuttle House, which was probably at Mount Pleasant. Bernard Shaw was licensed in July, 1773, to keep a tavern at Rockaway. The present hotel at Rockaway was not opened until after the Morris canal was constructed. The first structure was commenced by William Conger, but before it was completed it passed to Joseph C. Righter, who completed it. The first landlord was Joseph Jackson, or a Colonel Reading, authorities disagreeing.
The present officials of the township are: Freeholder, Christopher Kelly, Jr .; clerk, William J. Daddow; assessor, James Lash; collector, Charles M. Myers; treasurer, Daniel J. Howard; county committee-John Cox, Daniel J. Howard, Sidney F. Cook, Charles Parliman; constables- George W. Fichter, George Hull, Sr .; overseer of the poor, John S. Carr; justice of the peace, Daniel Moran ; commissioner of deeds, Peter E. Cooper ; president of the board of education, Samuel A. Crook ; district clerk, Edwin J. Matthews ; custodian, Daniel Brooks; medical inspector, George H. Fos- ter ; attendance officer, William Shepard.
ROXBURY TOWNSHIP
Separated from Sussex county by Lake Hopatcong, and bounded north, east, south and west by Jefferson, Randolph, Chester and Mount Olive townships, Roxbury has a great variety of lake, mountain and stream. About one-third the area of Lake Hopatcong lies within its borders. The north branch of the Raritan river has its rise in a large spring near Ken-
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vil; the south branch of the Raritan rises about one mile south of the source of the north branch, yet these streams diverge widely and at one point are twenty miles apart. Schooley's mountain range passes entirely across Roxbury, and from it large quantities of iron ore have been taken, although not in as large quantities as in Randolph township, where at one time forty mines were in operation. From its broken and elevated surface Roxbury is not very productive agriculturally, although corn and apples are grown in abundance. In past years charcoal was made in large quantities, and bloom furnaces for the manufacture of soft iron were located near Bakers Mills in the northeastern part of the township; another was situated near Port Morris at Shippenport, where a very fine quality of charcoal iron was made.
Lake Hopatcong, which has become so well and favorably known as a summer resort, lies along the northwestern border of the township, nine miles long and one mile wide, at an elevation of about nine hundred feet above tide water. This lake, an unfailing storehouse of water, made possible the Morris canal, that wondrous waterway which for many years was one of the chief outlets of the Lehigh Valley coal traffic, and was one of the busy transportation routes of the State. The lake, often called the "Lake George of New Jersey," is six hundred feet higher than that famous lake. Lake Hopatcong ( Honey Cove of Many Waters ) has an indented shore of eighty miles, and its borders are exceedingly rugged, broken and irregular. Green and wooded hills rise from its edge; bold and bare rocks narrow its bounds and separate coves and small bays; and stately groves of pines and chestnuts give the landscape a wonderfully rich and picturesque appearance. Its shore line of wooded hills forms a natural background for its blue and dimpling waters, across which sail and motor send hundreds of speeding craft. There are two gateways to the lake ; one at Lake Hopatcong station from which the visitor takes a steamer that makes the circuit of the hotels and camps; the other is at Mt. Arlington station from which a drive of about a mile brings the traveler to the edge of the cliffs overlooking the lake. Thirty hotels and boarding houses cater to the wants of tourists from the New Breslin with accommodation for four hundred and fifty guests to the medium and small hotels and cottages, the variety of price equalling the difference in size, location and accommodation.
Records and tradition indicate that the earliest settlements in Roxbury were in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Raritan at Succasunna and Drakeville. The first location of record was made May 15, 1713, by Peter Garbut and Francis Breck, who took up 2100 acres. On October 27, 1714, John Budd located 1054 acres south and west of Succasunna. In 1752 Ebenezer Large located 1725 acres north of Budd Lake. In 1754 William Throckmorton located lands where Succasunna and Kenvil are built, and sold the same to Cornelius Slaight. Northeast of Kenvil is the Mary Wills tract, occupied since 1869 by the Atlantic Giant Powder Com- pany. Other locations followed, but these are the earliest of record. In 1757 Martin Ryerson located 218 acres lying north of Budd Lake, south of and adjoining the Large tract. In 1789 Jacob Drake located 502 acres north- west of Drakeville. Soon afterward George Eyre located a large tract including the remaining portion of Budd Lake. Other early land owners were James Parker, Mary Tompkins, Israel Pemberton, Joshua Newbold, Michael Newbold, Israel Canfield and others.
Previous to 1832 the New York market was reached only by teams. Roxbury being on the line of travel, hundreds of loaded wagons passed over her roads laden with products of Warren and Sussex counties, returning
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with merchandise for the dealers of these counties. In 1832 the Morris canal was finished, and in 1853 the Morris and Essex railroad was completed to Hackettstown. The Chester railroad, a branch of the M. & E. railroad, leaves the main line near Wharton, and passes through the eastern part of the township, Kenvil and Succasunna being stations on that line, which was opened for traffic in January, 1870. The High Bridge Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey was completed to McCainville in July, 1876, and extended to Wharton ( formerly Port Oram) in 1878, a further exten- sion to Rockaway being finished in July, 1881. Until 1872 mail was brought to the township villages by post rider, and the four-horse mail coach, but when the railroad came near, the interior villages were served by the one- horse mail wagon. With the completion of the Chester branch mails were received twice daily at most villages of the township.
Succasunna, now a village of over six hundred inhabitants, has been a postoffice since July 1, 1808, the first postmaster, James Hinchman, estab- lishing the postoffice east of Black river at the foot of the hill near the famous Dickerson mine. Succasunna was the name originally given the mine, that name also appearing in the corporate title. The valley, which at this point is more than a mile wide, has for many years been known as Succa- sunna Plains. As early as 1818 the village of Succasunna became known as a racing center. A mile track was built on a tract of two hundred acres, where noted horsemen came from neighboring states to test the speed of their favorites. The sport only survived a few years, however, before it was
broken up by legislative enactment. The property was also used as a training ground by the county militia. It is a favorite locality for summer residences, being beautifuly located in the valley of the Black river. A Presbyterian church was built there in 1760 and a Methodist Episcopal Church in 1851. A pottery was started there in 1800 that became very pros- perous, but the early activities of the village were connected with the iron interest of the vicinity.
Drakeville was named after Colonel Jacob Drake who located land in the vicinity and made it his home for many years, the earlier name being New Market. Its first postoffice was established about 1844, Albert R. Riggs being the first postmaster. Drakeville lies in the valley at the head of the south branch of the Raritan on the old turnpike which passed through Succasunna. The first school was taught there in 1828 in a cooper shop, but in 1836 a schoolhouse was built. A Baptist church was built in 1874. The Morris Canal passes through this ancient village, having a lock and two planes by which the level of the canal is changed about one hundred feet within half a mile.
Kenvil ( formerly McCainville) is a station upon both the Chester and High Bridge branches. A school house was built in 1836, and a postoffice established in 1872. George Drake was the first postmaster. Near the vil- lage the Atlantic Giant Powder Works were built in 1873, blasting powder being manufactured and shipped to all parts of the country. On May 16, 1876, an explosion occurred that killed two men, and in May, 1880, a serious fire occurred, but the destroyed part of the plant was quickly rebuilt with brick.
Port Morris, now a village of about six hundred inhabitants, is the highest point in New Jersey on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western rail- road. The plateau on which it stands is sixteen feet below Lake Hopatcong, and here the waters of the lake are drawn out to fill the Morris Canal, and in former days a vast tonnage of iron ore was floated westward, and a vastly
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greater tonnage of coal eastward from the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. In 1869 the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Co. made a large outlay for improvements at Port Morris, building the first half of a roundhouse completed in 1873, with room for twenty-three engines. A trestle for storing coal was built half a mile long, capable of storing 170,000 tons of coal. A postoffice was established in 1879 with Ira H. Mowery as post- master.
A postoffice called Rustic was established in 1878 at Drakeville station, a mile and a half from Drakeville village on the M. & E. railroad, John H. Low being the postmaster. Rustic postoffice is now located at Mount Arling- ton station. Other stations in Roxbury township on the Chester branch are Kenvil, Ironia and Horton.
Churches-Succasunna Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest in the county. A deed executed in 1756 by James Parker, one of the West Jersey proprietors, conveyed one acre for a church and burial ground to Levi Lewis, Daniel Cary and others. A church building is believed to have been erected, and that Levi Lewis, who owned a saw mill at Combs Hollow sawed the lumber for the first church. Daniel Cary was an elder and trustee of the church from its organization, a date which is placed at 1745. The first pastor known to have been settled over this church was Rev. William Wood- hull, a graduate of the College of New Jersey, and a member of the Presby- tery of New York. The original call, September 1, 1768, for his services over this church and the Chester church, is still preserved by the Succasunna church. These two churches agreed, to pay Rev. Mr. Woodhull £40 yearly, to give the use of the parsonage and to furnish him with firewood. The first church building and its burial ground have a share in Revolutionary history. The artillery taken from Burgoyne at Saratoga, October 13, 1777, was brought to Roxbury township, and the soldiers having it in charge used the Succasunna church for barracks and hospital. The larger cannon, some of which it required three yoke of oxen to draw, were ranged and sheltered outside the church, the ammunition being stored within. The drums, band instruments and other accoutrements were stored in the garret of a house occupied by James Young. These trophies of English defeat, the powder mill near Morristown and the magazine made the British very anxious to gain possession of Morris county, but they never succeeded in even gaining a foothold.
The old church without plastered walls or ceiling was repaired in 1818, and accommodated the congregation until May, 1853, when after nearly one hundred years of service it was abandoned, and on October II, 1853, a new church was dedicated. In January, 1873, the first service was held in a greatly enlarged and improved building. In 1856 a parsonage was built, valued with an acre of ground at $2,000. In 1840 an acre and a half was added to the burial ground, and in 1872 five and a half acres were purchased adjoining, at a cost of $1,200. The Sunday school dates from about 1841, a private house at first accommodating the school, but later it nearly filled the church.
The Methodist Episcopal church was the next church established, being named after Bishop E. S. Janes, who held his residence at Succasunna. This church grew out of the old Flanders circuit, its first place of worship prior to 1850 being Corwin's Chapel, in the present village of Ironia. Not agree- ing with the temperance views of that locality, that part of the congregation living in the vicinity of Succasunna, decided to build a church there. In
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1849 Rev. T. T. Campfield, of the Flanders circuit, organized a class and preached in the old academy and in private houses. It is said that Rev. J. W. Gilder preached there in 1832, and that the academy being too small to hold the people assembled, services were held in the Presbyterian church. The organization of a church was effected in 1850, the members remaining con- nected with the Flanders charge until 1852. The circuit then included Flanders, Draketown, Tottens, Walnut Grove, Succasunna and Cross Roads. In 1852 the New Jersey Conference created Succasunna and Walnut Grove a separate charge and appointed Rev. William Day as the first pastor. Soon after that election the trustees decided to build a church, Bishop Janes donat- ing $500. At the laying of the cornerstone, that old Methodist war horse, Rev. W. P. Corbit, preached the sermon as he stood in the adjoining grave- yard. The church, which was built on a lot of one and a half acres, and donated by the wife of Rev. C. A. Lippincott, presiding elder of the district, was dedicated February 17, 1852. The parsonage, nearly opposite, stands on a one-half acre lot, donated by the heirs of Rev. C. A. Lippincott. In 1872 three acres were added to the burial ground. The Sunday school was organized in 1850, and now numbers IIO scholars. The membership of the church is 155, and the church valuation is $8,000, the parsonage being valued at $2,500.
The next is the Port Morris Methodist Episcopal Church. In May, 1874, a Sunday school was organized at Port Morris, chiefly by the efforts of Miss Mary Mills of Stanhope. For two years the place of meeting was the machine shop attached to the roundhouse, where seats of planks were arranged. A preaching service was held after the Sunday school session whenever Miss Mills and her assistants could secure a minister. In October, 1875, she interested several Christian men among the railroad employees, and services were held on Sunday afternoon, the Rev. C. E. Little, of Hacketts- town, preaching a most effective sermon to a large congregation of railroad employees and their families, assembled in the machine shop. Meetings were then continued every Sunday, and every evening when convenient, until about 100 had professed conversion. About February, 1876, a Methodist Episcopal church was organized with about sixty members, and connected with the Succasunna charge, Rev. G. H. Winans being the appointed pastor. A chapel was built in April, 1876, by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company for the use of its employees for church and school pur- poses.
Schools-The first school was at Succasunna prior to 1800. On Febru- ary 8, 1808, a subscription was started, and 125 shares were taken for the purpose of starting an academy. A building was erected and the school started in 1809. An iron weather vane in the shape of a fish with the date 1809, was raised on the building which sheltered the school for forty years. In 18II a bell was purchased and hung. In 1825 fifty shares of additional stock were issued. After forty years in the old building the school was removed to a carpenter shop near McCainville, which had been fitted up for its reception.
In 1880 the public school system of the county included nine districts, each having a school house. The system now includes a high, grammar and primary school at Succasunna (Roxbury School) with eight teachers includ- ing the principal; grammar, intermediate and primary school with four teachers at Port Morris ; an intermediate and primary school at Ledgewood with two teachers; a school at Alpaugh with one teacher ; and a school at Spencer with one teacher. A supervising principal is in charge of the
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schools, and a special teacher in music and drawing is also employed. The schools and teachers are: Supervising Principal, William Lantz; Music and Drawing, Ruth E. Stevens; Port Morris-Grammar, Stacy B. Emmons ; Intermediate, Fannie H. Davis; Primary, Gertrude L. Ort and Clari De Shazo; Roxbury (Succasunna )-High School, Robert V. Spencer, principal, Alma I. Misch, Bertha L. Hewitt, Harold M. Terrill; Grammar, Ellen H. Wainwright and Iva D. Lindabury ; Primary, Madeline F. Smith and Elsa M. Jaede; Ledgewood-Intermediate, Edith M. Scripture; Primary, Mar- garet H. Kumpmann; Alpaugh-Edward Fitzherbert and Maude E. Rum- sey. The total number of scholars enrolled for the year ending June, 1913, was 520 ; daily average attendance, 356; total cost of operation, $15,699.27.
Population-The population of Roxbury in 1890 was 2739, a figure it has never since reached. In 1900 it dropped to 2135, and in 1910 rose to 2414. The assessed valuation of real estate in the township in 1913 was $828,370; of personal property, $296,308.
The town officials for 1913 are: Freeholder, John W. Fancher ; clerk, Ferdinand Alpaugh; assessor, Edward W. Kilpatrick; collector, John F. Scheer ; treasurer, Theodore F. King; township committee-Theodore F. King, Frank I. Davis and Charles I. King; constables-Silas Dell, A. Frank Atno and Henry F. Reaves ; overseer of the poor, Jacob W. Baker ; justices of the peace-John W. Fancher and Charles G. Appell; commissioners of deeds-Theodore F. King, John W. Fancher, William D. Jardine and Wil- liam H. Youngs ; president of Board of Education, William E. King; district clerk, William Lantz; custodian, John F. Scheer; medical inspector, Dr. C. A. Plume; attendance officer, William Lantz.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
Situated in the southern corner of the county, joining Hunterdon county on the south and Warren county on the west, Washington township joins Chester township on the east and Mount Olive township on the north. It was one of the six townships into which the county was divided in 1798, prior to that time it having been a part of Roxbury. Schooley's mountain occupies a large portion of the town, which although 1000 feet above sea level and 600 feet above the surrounding country, forms a table land with a rich deep soil, unlike other mountainous regions. The township is well watered, the south branch of the Raritan river flowing through the middle, with sufficient fall to supply water power for several mills. The Black river also flows along the southern boundary for a few miles, but the fall is very gradual. The Musconetcong on the west has considerable water power which has been utilized, as has the power of several other small streams flowing through the township. The slope to the south from Schooley's mountain is abrupt, varying from 400 to 600 feet in a distance of three- quarters of a mile, and faces a range of hills which rise more gradu- ally to about the same elevation. This latter range in the south is called Fox Hills and between the two ranges lies German Valley, about eight miles in length. The part lying in Washington township is very beautiful, the view from Schooley's mountain, as descent is made into German or Middle Valley, being especially fine. The land throughout the township is very rich and large crops are the rule, on both the valley and mountain farms.
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