USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 27
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In 1740 there was but a bridle path between Roxiticus and Morristown,
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which passed through the Drake and Pitney clearings, the only buildings on the path being Henry Axtell's blacksmith shop, James Pitney's house and Smith's mill at the east end of what was later Brookside. Elder Samuel McIrath was a Scotchman, so stern and inflexible that he turned his own daughter out with the command never to darken his door and she never did. Stephen Dod came from Newark to Mendham in 1745. The Dods were rare geniuses. They made all the clocks in Mendham, repaired all the guns and could both invent and execute. Lebbeus, a son of Stephen Dod, was a cap- tain of artillery in the Revolution. He was detached from active service by order of General Washington, and directed to establish an armory for the making and repairing of muskets. One of the early doctors of Mendham, Dr. John (1) Leddle, was an old man in 1780 and was in active practice during the Revolution. His son, Dr. John W. Leddle, practiced in the town- ship all his life. Dr. Absalom Woodruff was also a noted physician, as were the Elmers, father and son. Dr. Upson was both physician and farmer.
Churches-Rev. Eliab Byram was the first pastor of the Mendham church. He was a graduate of Harvard, 1740, and was installed by the Presbytery of New York, pastor of the Mendham church in 1744. In 1745 the people of Mendham built a house of worship on the site of the present one. Its timbers were cut and hewed in the adjoining forest, and it was covered both roof and sides by shingles riven and shaved by the men who were to sit under their shelter, and fastened on with wrought iron nails they themselves had made. In fact there was little about this first meeting house that was not made by some of the congregation, except the glass in the win- dows. It stood for seventy-one years. In 1791 it was voted by the congre- gation "to git a bell for the meeting house four hundred pound wait." Elisha Beach enjoyed the honor of ringing the new bell for the first year, "on the Sabbath and lectors and at 9 o'clock at night." The deed for the lot on which the old church stood was not made to any sect or society but to "the congregation or Inhabitance of people that do or shall frequently meet together to worship God in that plaice." The old church was struck by lightning on Sunday, May 16, 1813. Mrs. John Drake was instantly killed and several of the congregation severely injured. It was torn down in 1816 and a fine new building erected, which was destroyed by fire in 1835. A new church erected the same year was burned in 1859, and on February 1, 1860, the present church was dedicated.
Rev. John Pierson, installed in 1753, was the second pastor of the Mendham church. He was a grandson of Abraham Pierson, one of the founders of Newark, New Jersey. The third pastor, installed in 1764, was Rev. Francis Peppard, of Ireland, a graduate of Princeton, 1762. During his ministry Watts' hymns and psalms were introduced, giving great offense to the older members, old Elder Cummins leaving the church during the singing. In 1768 the congregation called Rev. Thomas Lewis, who was fol- lowed by Rev. John Joline, 1778-95. Rev. Amzi Armstrong was installed in 1796 and served the church for twenty years. His name is still a house- hold word in Mendham. A succession of ministers has followed down to the present, and the old church has been the spiritual home of many noble men. An influence from this church crossed the Allegheny moun- tains with a little Mendham colony, and on August 15, 1781, a church was organized at Ten Mile (Amity) in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in the open air, Demas Lindley, Jacob Cook, Joseph Cook and Daniel Axtell, being ordained elders. Rev. Thaddeus Dod, born in Mendham, was settled
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pastor over this Amity church, and there died in 1793; he was said to have been the second Presbyterian minister west of the Alleghenies.
Schools-From the days of the first academy established by Henry Ax- tell about 1795, Mendham has had exceptionally good schools, both private and public. The borough of Mendham maintains high, grammar and primary ; Union and Ralston, all grades. The township schools during the school year ending June, 1913, enrolled 156 scholars, with an average daily attendance of 98, the school being operated at an expense of $6,868.33. The teachers were as follows: Brookside-grammar, Elizabeth G. Stephenson ; primary, Matilda J. Lowery; Union-Jessie M. Willet; Ralston-Wil- helmina Peterman. The officials of the township (1913) were: Freeholder, Theodore S. Hill; clerk, Frank Dean; assessor, Fred H. Garabrant; col- lector, Charles L. Lade ; treasurer, M. Fred Babbitt; township committee- William B. Woodhull, M. Fred Babbitt, Mulford S. Burnett; surveyor of highways, Fordham S. Burnett; overseer of the poor, M. J. Murphy ; justice of the peace, George J. Brown; commissioner of deeds, Edson J. Rood; president board of education, H. S. Hurlburt ; clerk, W. R. Garabrant ; cus- todian, Charles L. Lade; medical inspector, D. W. A. McMurtrie; attend- ance officer, Arthur C. Whitney. The real estate valuation for 1913 was $606,900 ; personal property, $55,850.
MONTVILLE TOWNSHIP
Separated from Essex county by the Passaic river, Montville is other- wise bounded by Pequannock, Boonton and Hanover townships, separated from the latter by the Rockaway river. The middle of the township is crossed by the D., L. and W. railroad. The Morris canal also crosses the township, passing through the village of Montville, descending in half a mile 150 feet, by two inclined planes. The township was formed in 1867 from territory set off from Pequannock. It is nine miles in length, four miles in width, the land chiefly rolling, although the extreme southern part is known as Pine Brook flats, and is nearly surrounded by the Passaic and Rockaway rivers. Here the soil is level sand loam, free from stone, which when properly cultivated is productive. The soil in the rest of the town- ship consists mainly of loam on clay bottom, productive of grass, grain, vegetables and fruits. Dairy and market produce farming are the principal reliance of the farmers, with poultry and livestock growing as important features. The northern part of the township is rough, mountainous wood- land, the highest points in the northeastern part known as the Waughan mountains and the Turkey mountain. In the southeastern part is the Hook mountain range, between this and the Passaic river is a strip of fertile land sloping to the river, called Passaic Valley. A small stream known as Stony Brook passes through the northwestern part, emptying into the Rockaway at Powerville. Another brook rises near Turkey mountain, flows through the village of Montville and empties into the Rockaway about half a mile below the Dutch Reformed church. The stream at Montville affords about all the water power that is available in the township, excepting that furnished by the Rockaway for a short distance on the western boundary. In Passaic Valley, near the Pequannock line, is a quarry of red sandstone, owned by the descendants of Hartman Vreeland, who was one of the first settlers in that region. Some fine geological specimens have been found in this quarry, showing tracks of a bird as large as an ostrich. In the northern part of the township, near Turkey mountain, is a quarry which has supplied large quan-
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tities of limestone for the Boonton iron furnaces, and for making lime for different purposes, this being the only limestone quarry in that section. The brook that runs through what is known as upper Montville and down the valley emptying into the Rockaway below the Dtuch Reformed church, was known as Owl Kill among the early settlers. The large trees that bordered the stream were a favorite resort for owls, no doubt attracted by the large numbers of mice that burrowed in the soft soil of the adjoining meadow. Owl Kill was pronounced by the Dutch "Uyle Kill," the valley and brook both becoming known by the latter name. Humphrey Davenport, one of the first settlers in that vicinity, came there in 1714. On January 1, 1754, a granddaughter of his married Jacob Bovie, and she is recorded on the church record of Aquackanock, as born in "Uylekill."
The settlement at Upper Montville was made at an early date and it is believed the first grist mill in the vicinity was erected there, and prior to 1745 it was known to belong to Michael Cook, who was then an old resident. This mill and a saw mill were owned in 1787 by John Pierson and Elijah Dod, they settling there when young men. Silas Cook settled in Montville about 1795, his first purchase being a quarter interest in the cider mill and distillery belonging to Zadoc Baldwin of Essex county. He bought that interest June 8, 1798, and the following year secured another quarter and soon afterward became sole owner of the distillery. After the death of Elijah Dod he became also the owner of the grist mill and part owner of the saw mill. Large quantities of bark were purchased and ground at the bark mill and tannery of Elijah Baldwin, the tannery being owned and operated for many years by the Baldwins. At the cider mill of Silas Cook large quantities of apples were ground in the old fashioned way, a large cider making and distilling business being there con- ducted. Whiskey was prepared in various forms, the addition of a little scorched sugar to the cider giving it a color and the name of cider brandy, selling for 25% more than plain cider. Cherry brandy was also made in quantity by the addition of black and wild cherries to a barrel of whiskey which imparted a deep red color and a cherry flavor to the liquor. Under the act of Congress of 1815, authorizing a direct tax to meet expenses in- curred during the War of 1812-14, the old distillery of Silas Cook is noted as No. 90 in the second collection district. Prior to 1825 distilleries were numerous and the use of whiskey quite general among the people. In a neighborhood about one and a half miles east of Montville, called Doremus- town, there were in 1827, three dwellings within a few yards of each other, each one a licensed tavern ; about a mile east another was licensed and a mile and a half beyond this two more were licensed. None of these answered the requirements of a tavern, but were mainly used to sell liquor to the Morris canal laborers. There was a legitimate tavern at Pine Brook for eighty years that did a profitable business in accommodating the "Sussex teams" as they were called, which in large numbers passed through to New- ark, with loads of flour, grain, butter, pork and other products from the farms of Warren, Sussex and upper Morris counties.
Silas Cook was an educated, influential man and in 1806 was chosen one of the judges of the county court, an office he held continuously for forty years ; was also justice of the peace and served as state senator.
About 1785 Nathaniel Gaines, a young man, settled at Pine Brook. He was a veteran cavalry man of the Revolution, a native of Connecticut, and a nailer by trade. This trade called for the manufacture of nails by ham- mering each one out on the anvil, nail-cutting machines coming many years
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later. Gaines married a daughter of Ezekial Baldwin and had several children. His son, Dr. Ezekial Baldwin Gaines, studied medicine with Dr. John S. Darcy, at Hanover, and was licensed in 1814. He first practiced with Dr. Darcy, then went to Parsippany and for a few years was a partner of Dr. Stephen Fairchild. In 1818 he moved to Lower Montville and there practiced his profession thirty-seven years. In 1855 he moved to Boonton, served several years as postmaster there and died March 31, 1881, aged ninety years.
About 1809 Conrad Estler opened a small store at Montville, the first store kept there. On April 1, 1812, Benjamin L. and Stephen Condit bought twenty-three acres of land of Daniel T. Peer, at Montville, and erected a bark mill and tannery. A year later they sold to their brothers, Nathaniel O. and Timothy D. Condit, who came from Orange, New Jersey, and conducted business several years. About 1827, when the canal was being built, N. O. Condit took out a license and for thirty years kept a public house. After the setting off of Rockaway township in 1844 this tavern was the place for holding town meetings and elections in Pequannock township until 1867 when Montville was set off, and became the headquarters for transacting the public business of that township. From 1800 to 1820 Mont- ville village was a hamlet containing sixteen dwellings, two bark mills, a grist mill, a cider mill and distillery, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter and wheel- wright shop, and a small store, which made it a business center for a circuit of several miles. In 1880 the village contained forty houses, a saw mill, two grist mills, a bark mill and tannery, a rubber factory, two blacksmith shops, two taverns and two stores. In 1910 the village had grown to a population of 690 with all else in proportion.
"Duryea's Mill" was a landmark for many years, passing finally to the Zabriskie family. The original mill was a small affair but was frequently enlarged and rebuilt, and greatly improved, until it was the best in the vicinity. About a mile down the river there was a woolen factory erected about 1809, used as a carding and fulling mill by Nicholas J. Hyler and Leonard Davenport, who at the same time built a saw mill.
The assessed valuation of real estate in the township in 1913 was $636,- 675 ; personal property, $98,535. The population in 1890 was 1,333 ; in 1900, 1,908, and in 1910, 1,944.
Schools-The early schools will have further mention in the history of Pequannock township from which Montville was erected in 1867. Since that date all schools of the township have been entirely free in all the six school districts. In 1880 there were five school districts, owning property valued at $9,500. For the school year ending June, 1913, the township ex- pended for the support of its schools $8,301.86. Montville village, Lynwood and Pine Brook maintain grammar and primary schools; Lower Montville, Towaco and Taylortown one school each. The teachers are as follows: Supervising principal, James F. Dodd; Montville-grammar, Leona E. Hart; primary, Lena S. Down; Lynwood-grammar, Vera E. Wilcox; primary, Margaret Douglas ; Pine Brook-grammar, Elizabeth J. Reeder ; primary, Mary E. Collins; Lower Montville-Mrs. S. R. Vreeland; Towaco-Lucy H. Daneski; Taylortown-Alfred G. Stanbrough. The total enrollment of scholars in the township for the school year 1912-13 was 436; the average daily attendance, 280.
Churches-The oldest church in the township is the Reformed church at Lower Montville, a congregation first organized at Old Boonton about
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1756. Over half a century later the church edifice in Boonton was taken down and as a more central location for the congregation, Montville was selected. Such parts of the old church as were sound and available were used in the new structure and about 1818 a new church was erected on land purchased from Garrett Duryea and opened for services in 1819. The build- ing was on the north side of the road opposite the present church, and was 30 x 50 feet, two stories in height, with steeple, and finished inside with a double row of pews on either side of a central aisle, with galleries at sides and end. It served the congregation as a house of worship for thirty-eight years and when removed in 1856 most of the timber in the frame was found to be sound, although some of it had been in use at Boonton nearly a hundred years earlier. The first minister after the removal to Montville was Rev. James G. Brinckerhoof, who in 1824, when disturbances arose in the congregation, touching points of doctrine, led off one party to the division that resulted, and founded an organization which was called "The True Reformed Dutch Church." This congregation erected a small house of worship two miles south, on the road to Pine Brook.
After the division the Montville church was presided over by various pastors until 1856 when ground was purchased on the opposite side of the road and the present edifice erected. Rev. Nathaniel Conklin was then pastor and served in all for nineteen years, his term expiring in 1871.
The Methodist church at Pine Brook was erected about 1843 and has continued the principal congregation of that faith in the township. It is now connected as a charge of the Newark conference with Clinton. The mem- bership of the church is seventy-five, the Sunday school 115. The church property of both charges is valued at $5,000; the parsonage at Pine Brook at $2,500, the latter village having a population of 280. A church at White- hall was erected about 1851, maintained a pastor, and was the rallying point for Methodists in the northern and central parts of the township. The con- gregation at Montville have a house of worship valued at $3,000, a member- ship of forty-four and a Sunday school of ninety members.
The township officials for 1913 were: Freeholder, Edward Kayhart; clerk, Frank H. Starkey; assessor, Fred Van Duyne; collector, Frank L. Jacobus; treasurer, John Husk; township committee-George Bayliss, John Husk, John H. Capstick ; constable, Charles N. Nelson ; overseer of the poor, William H. Witty; justices of the peace-Frank L. Jacobus, John H. Mil- ledge; president of the board of education, Vilroy Thorn; district clerk, Fred Van Duyne; custodian, Frank L. Jacobus ; medical inspector, Dr. Fred Longstreet ; attendance officer, James F. Dodd.
MOUNT OLIVE TOWNSHIP
This township, lying directly north of Washington township, is joined east by Roxbury township, southeast by Chester, west by Warren county, and north by Sussex county. It was erected from Roxbury, March 22, 1871. Its east line begins at Chester township and runs to the Musconet- cong river at the gates of the reservoir, near Stanhope, two and one-half miles from Lake Hopatcong. The spur of Schooley's mountain range on which the churches are located was called Mount Olive for thirty years before it became the center of the township to which it gave its name. The original name of the village was Rattletown, but Benjamin Olive who lo- cated land near the churches really gave name to the locality. The surface is hilly but a large part is capable of cultivation, other parts affording good pasturage. The ancient line dividing East and West Jersey passed through
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the township. In the center of the township is Budd Lake, a beautiful sheet of water about five miles in circumference, situated in a direct line from Lake Hopatcong to Schooley's Mountain. It has an elevation of over one thousand feet and its surroundings resemble the Scotch lakes. Its waters are of unusual purity, making it ideal for boating and bathing. Frequent restocking by the government has resulted in an abundance of fish which attract many to the beautiful lake. This picturesque body of water has been frequented since 1715, its Indian name, Kankankianning, meaning Little Pond. The Musconetcong flows from Lake Hopatcong along the northern border, the south branch entering the township near Flanders, where there is a beautiful valley a mile and a half in width. The scenery of this valley from the hills westward and toward Mount Olive is rarely equaled. At Flanders and Bartleyville feed and flour mills were early established, supply- ing the iron mining regions. The early locations were made by Peter Garbut and Francis Breck. who took up 2500 acres May 15, 1713, part of which is now in Mount Olive township; next John Reading took up 250 acres which included the northern half of Budd Lake. Ebenezer Large located 1725 acres north of that lake in 1752. In 1714 John Budd located 1000 acres, part of which is the site of Flanders, now a village of over 500 inhabitants. In 1757 Martin Ryerson located 218 acres lying north of Budd Lake and south of and adjoining the Large tract. The Morris and Essex railroad traverses the northern border of the township; the High Bridge branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey crosses the southern part. The borough of Netcong is situated on the Morris and Essex ; Flanders, Drakestown and Bartley on the High Bridge branch.
Samuel Heaton and three brothers came to Mount Olive before 1753 from Wrentham, Massachusetts, to establish iron works. The mountain range is rich in iron ore, and the ore has been worked at intervals ever since. In 1846 the Crane Iron Company began work; several thousand tons of ore were taken out entirely free from sulphur. When sulphur was found in the ore the mine was abandoned, the process of burning it out not yet being in use. From 1846 the iron mines have been worked by different parties and companies, The Mount Olive Iron Company the largest operator. There were several bloom forges in the township for making charcoal iron, and at Bartleyville an iron foundry and machine shop for the manufacture of mill castings, machinery and plows for the farmers and miners, founded by William Bartley, and now operated by his de- scendants.
A postoffice was established in Flanders, July 27, 1822, Henry Halsey the first postmaster. The first schoolhouse was built of logs, prior to 1800, a deed for the second school lot being given August 10, 1805, the house now occupying the site being the third. Flanders now has a population of 510, according to the census of 1910, and is prettily located in a beautiful valley. Mount Olive, in the center of the township, has two churches and a schoolhouse, but has only been a postoffice since 1872, R. H. Stephens being the first appointee. The present population is 100. Budd Lake was made a postoffice in 1857, the first postmaster Jesse M. Sharp. Budd Lake has a permanent population of 120, but a summer population a great deal larger, its principal hotels alone having accommodation for 500 guests. The resort is very popular and well patronized. The leading hotel is the Forest House, directly on the lake front, accommodating 250. The Hatakawanna Inn, with accommodations for 80, is located a short distance from the lake. Net- cong, on the Morris and Essex, is the railroad station for Budd Lake. A
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postoffice was established at Bartleyville, January 9, 1874, William Bartley, first postmaster. South Stanhope is the railroad station now known as Net- cong, which will have further mention. The schools of the township, out- side the borough of Netcong (formerly a part of Mount Olive town- ship), are now located as follows, with names of teachers: Mount Arling- ton, Edith E. Gordon; Flanders-grammar, Jennie D. Odsted; primary, Alma B. Quick; Budd Lake, Jennie J. Lanterman; Cross Roads, Frances Kelley; Mount Olive, Agnes McCann; Bartley, Vira Sharp; Drakestown, Elmo Houtz; Waterloo, Mary A. Grimes. The total enrollment in these schools for the year ending June, 1913, was 233 pupils, with an average daily attendance of 154. The cost of operating the schools was $6,768.16.
The population of the township in 1890 was 1848; in 1900, 1221; and in 1910 had fallen to 1160. Netcong, however, incorporated a borough October 22, 1894, had in 1900 a population of 941 and in 1910 reported to the census enumerators a population of 1532, which shows a handsome figure again. The assessed real estate valuation for 1913 was for the township, $599,575 ; personal property, $69,691. For Netcong, real estate, $368,175 ; personal property, $70,442, making a total for township and town of $1, 107,883. The schools of Mount Olive, it may be said, are among the oldest in the county and churches were early established. A deed for one acre of land for church and school purposes was given in 1768 by James Heaton, Thomas H. Briggs who taught this school for many years, died in Succasunna, in 1876. Teaching was his profession and his pride. He said he obtained every grammar and mastered what was new in each, and he believed he had a larger number of books on the English language than any other teacher in New Jersey. He had lost a leg, which prevented him entering an active business or professional life, and loved his own profession so well that no other was desired. He was one of the few teachers of his day to hold a life state certificate. Samuel White, of Flanders, taught more than forty years, thirty-six of these years in Roxbury and Mount Olive, his last service was in the Pleasant Hill district, near Flanders, where he was taken ill in school and died in March, 1880. A stone schoolhouse in Bartley was built in 1848.
Churches-In 1752, Rev. James Harcourt of the Roxbury Church at Chester, for years known as the Pleasant Hill Church, began preaching at Mount Olive in the log church. This was an out station of the Roxbury Church and Rev. Mr. Harcourt preached there monthly for eleven years. In 1768 Rev. William Woodhull became pastor at Chester and he continued to preach at Mount Olive for fifteen years. The deed for the lot on which the old log church stood was given in 1768 by James Heaton for church, burial and school purposes, and the church was to be open to all denominations, although chiefly used by the Baptists and Presbyterians. In 1785, Rev. Lemuel Fordham began preaching at Mount Olive, continuing until 1815. In 1809 a new church was begun by the two denominations but not completed until 1818. When Rev. Mr. Fordham preached his farewell sermon in 1815, his pulpit was a workbench in the church, but he was evidently comfortable as the record states his sermon occupied three hours in delivery.
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