USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 3
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He has been an industrious author. His publications have been : "Ap- peals to Men of Sense and Reflection," 1869; "Two Weeks in the Yo- semite Valley," 1873; "Supposed Miracles," 1875; "Christians and the- Theatre," 1875; "Oats or Wild Oats," 1885; "The Land of the Czar and the Nihilist," 1886; "Faith Healing, Christian Science and Kindred Phen- omena," and "Travels in Three Continents ;" "Extemporaneous Oratory for Professional and Amateur Speakers ;" "The Theory and Practice of Foreign Missions ;" "The Fundamentals and Their Contrasts;" "The Wrong and Peril of Woman Suffrage;" "Constitutional and Parliamentary History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," 1912; "A History of Methodists in the United States." The Morristown chapter in this work contains his narra- tives on "Fort Nonsense," and "Washington and the Holy Communion." The following on "Methodism in Morris County" is from his facile pen :
METHODISM IN MORRIS COUNTY
In the year 1738 a certain part of the territory of the Colony of New Jersey was set apart and named Morris county. Twenty-seven years.
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. afterwards there were fourteen church buildings in the county, nine of which belonged to the Presbyterians. The others were owned respectively by the Evangelical Lutherans, the Baptists, the Congregationalists, the Dutch Reformed, and the Rogerines,-an abnormal society which soon became extinct.
In the next year a number of Evangelical Christians-who belonged to a society which was at that time growing rapidly in England and Ire- land, as well as Wales and Scotland,-had emigrated to America, and began to awaken the citizens to a true sense of their religious responsibilities. Little did they think that they were destined to spread almost miraculously throughout the territory which for more than a century and a quarter has been known to the world as the United States of America! Members of that Society continued to emigrate to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, . and other places, and, as the converts increased in number, they soon commenced to erect buildings in which to hold meetings. In a short time preachers without ordination began to traverse the country, and wherever they went they made converts. From these exhorters were selected, and many of them developed into preachers. They moved about the country · collecting persons in houses and school rooms for religious services.
John Wesley, a presbyter of the Church of England, who was the chief originator of the society, and was at that time and till his death its leader, had early been informed of these events in America, and had sent trained preachers to the members of the society. In 1773 two preachers of much force of character were assigned to the whole Colony of New Jersey. At that time in all the Thirteen Colonies there were only seven- teen of these preachers, and 2073 enrolled members, of whom 257 were in New Jersey.
During the Revolutionary War, local societies in many places were destroyed, and nearly all were temporarily retarded. But after the war ended, and the Church of England was bereft of its civil authority in the United States, the society was transformed into a church with ordained bishops, elders and deacons. In the year 1784 Elizabethtown, New Jersey, reported 220; and Flanders, in Morris county, 555 members.
The "Circuit Riders," as the public called them, traveled the sur- rounding country, and Elizabethtown and Flanders at that time were the centers for the residences of the ruling preachers. Any circuit might have several preachers and exhorters. With the increase of villages and towns, the circuit system, though existing in mountainous and agricultural sections and in small villages, became much less used than in former times. Churches in large villages, towns, boroughs and cities, require and support pastors who give their whole strength to one church unless, as occasionally happens, the congregation becomes so large that the pastor needs an assistant.
In the early years of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the preachers were allowed to stay in any one place but a short time, a few remaining for two years, and one or two three years; also, a few aimed to become permanent pastors. As there had been no rule on the subject, this caused the General Conference of 1804 to enact a rule that bishops should not be allowed to station the ministers in any one charge for more than two years in succession. In 1864 the time was lengthened to three years, in 1888 to five years, and in 1900 the time limit was entirely removed. Consequently, one and the same society, in various cases, has had more than sixty pastors in succession during less than one hundred years.
The long list of ministers since Methodism entered Morris county
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MORRIS COUNTY
preserves the names of men who made a good reputation here or brought it on entering the State. Among those who laid the foundations of the Methodist Episcopal Church and later the Church in East Jersey, and especially Morris county, were Jesse Lee, who afterwards was the founder of New England Methodism; Freeborn Garretson; David Bartine, Sr .; Gamaliel Bailey; Isaac Winner ; Anthony Atwood, who in his life-time, was the means of the conversion of more than eight thousand persons; John Kenneday, known afterwards all over the Middle States; John K. Shaw; and C. A. Lippincott-great winners of souls to Christ and the church. Some of these men were natural orators, and others were peculiarly wise in their generation, assisting in building not only visible edifices in which to worship God, but gathering a society of Christian workers to occupy them. To attempt to portray them would be futile, nor is there need of it, for their good works have followed them both in earth and heaven. In many a congregation the laity have been as devoted as the ministry.
The condition of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Morris county at the present time may be best shown by a tabulation of members and the valuation of its churches and parsonages.
The Methodist Fathers in superintending the churches of any con- ference, employed a unique method of dividing the churches with their pastors into districts, without respect to the boundary lines of States or counties. For instance, the Elizabeth District reports to the Conference 12,108 members, and the value of its churches is $1,080,200, and of par- sonages, $190,000. As reported from the churches to the Conference, the statistical table of Morris county is as follows, for the year ending April, 1913:
The Elizabeth District is represented in Morris county by the follow- ing churches :
Churches
Membership.
Val. of Chs.
Val. of Pars.
Chester and German Valley
80
$9,500
Flanders and Drakestown.
162
9,500
$2,300
Sucasunna .
127
8,000
2,500
369
$27,000
$4,800
The Jersey City District is represented in Morris county by the fol- lowing churches :
Churches
Membership.
Val. of Chs. $14,000
$6,000
Newfoundland
63
8,000
4,000
514
$22,000
$10,000
The Newark District is represented in Morris county by the following churches :
Churches
Membership.
Val. of Chs. $4,000
$3,000
. Green Village
94
12,000
....
Parsippany
33
2,500
2,000
Whippany
39
3,500
1,000
Pine Brook
75
5,000
2,500
Pleasant Plains
13
1,500
....
Rockaway Valley
70
3,000
Madison
300
25,000
6,000
Mendham
172
18,000
4,000
Morristown
1013
125,000
20,000
1905
$196,000
$38,500
Val. of Pars.
Denville
96
Val. of Pars.
Butler
45I
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The Paterson District is represented in Morris county by the follow- ing churches :
Churches
Membership.
Val. of Chs.
Val. of Pars.
Boonton
232
$25,000
$10,000
Ist Ch. Dover
551
43,000
5,000
Grace Ch. Dover
295
11,500
4,000
Hibernia
17
2,000
....
Hopatcong
36
6,000
Montville
44
3,000
....
Mount Fern
33
2,000
....
Mount Hope
27
1,200
Mount Freedom
III
6,000
1,800
Mountain View
84
3,500
2,400
Port Morris
III
5,200
2,500
Rockaway
200
10,000
2,750
Stanhope
207
6,500
3,000
Tebo
89
2,500
....
Towaco
61
2,500
....
Wharton
223
8,000
3,000
2,421
$137,900
$34,950
Total
5,209
$382,900
$88,250
....
One of the most important institutions of Methodism is the Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, Morris county. It has not only been of great service to Methodism throughout the world, but to Morris county, especially in the small and remote towns. They have had the benefit of the students who in preaching give the freshness of their youth and the results of contemporary study.
The Celebration of the Hundred Years of Methodism in the United States brought out the spirit and feeling of its members; and they con- tributed in one year twenty million dollars to the various institutions of the church, including missions at home and abroad, church edifices, schools. and colleges.
For a considerable time the Methodist Episcopal denomination had been considering the need of a Theological Seminary to be erected in or near New York. The friends of the eccentric Daniel Drew, a potent factor in monetary affairs in New York, who was connected with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, brought before him this project. After much planning and consultation, he proposed to give a half million dollars, insisting that he would not do so unless a capable board was established to take care of the funds and carry out the scheme. For reasons of his own, he stated that $250,000 was to be used for the erection of the neces- sary buildings, and the other $250,000 to be invested, and the interest to be used for the needs of the institution. He contracted to pay down at once $250,000, but postponed the paying of the second half. For a while he paid the interest, and no doubt intended to pay over to the treasurer the principal before he died. However, having become involved to such a degree that he could not meet the promises concerning the second half, there was but very little in the treasury. Dr. Hurst, the president of the institution, knowing that Mr. Drew was in straits, accompanied by Dr. Henry A. Buttz, visited a large number of intelligent and benevolent persons and churches, and laid the difficulty before them, and by that means obtained the amount necessary. Since that time, several imposing and remarkably useful buildings have been erected and paid for.
While due recognition is allowed to the givers, it is but truth to say
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of Dr. Buttz, who was the pastor in Morristown when the institution was founded, and who has been professor in it and for many years presi- dent, that while the buildings are monuments of the beneficence of those who furnished the funds to build them, Dr. Buttz was in most cases the winning personality who drew the attention of the givers to the institu- tion, its purpose and definite needs, and thus received the promises.
The presidents and professors from its beginning have been qualified to train the students for the ministry of the Church of Christ. By the aid of the church, the students have dispersed themselves over the United States and as missionaries in all the continents of the globe and in almost every nation. Several students have returned as professors, and one of them, Dr. Tipple, is at present the president of the institution .
Many of the students who came from other States and countries have remained in New Jersey, and some of them have been pastors in Morris county. Dr. Randolph S. Foster and Dr. John F. Hurst left the presidency of Drew Theological Seminary at the call of the church to become bishops; and four of the students, Dr. Burt, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Neulsen, and Dr. Henderson-also became bishops.
CHAPTER IV.
THE IRON INDUSTRY-EARLY FORGES-THE CLINTON IRON WORKS-CHARCOAL FURNACES-SLITTING AND ROLLING MILLS-ANTHRACITE FURNACES
The history of the iron industry of Morris county reaches back almost to its first settlement. In 1714 the tract embracing the Dickerson mine was taken up on account of its minerals, from the proprietors of West Jersey, by John Reading, who in 1716 sold it to Joseph Kirkbride; and it is a matter of tradition that previous to that time the ore was manufactured into iron by forge owners, who were allowed to help themselves without charge. The ore was already known to the Indians, and their name "Sucka- sunna," meaning black stone, or heavy stone, has been given to the plains which extend to the hills wherein the mines are situated. The first forge within the present bounds of Morris county, of which we have knowledge, was erected at Whippany, just above the bridge over the stream nearly in front of the church. Tradition fixes as early a date as 1710 for its erection. It was no doubt very small, and without any of the appliances of the bloom- aries of a hundred years later. The ore was brought to it from the Succa- sunna mine in leather bags, on horseback, and the iron was carried to market at tidewater in bars bent to fit a horse's back-the only method of trans- portation. A single horse, it is said, would carry from four to five hundred pounds, fifteen miles in a day. Not a vestige of this forge now remains, and its builder is unknown. The conjecture is that John Ford and Judge Budd built it.
Forges were erected soon after near the site of Morristown, of the same character as the Whippany forge, and getting their supply of ore from the same source. One was located just north of what is now Water street, near Flagler's mill, called the Ford forge. Colonel Jacob Ford, Sr., who probably built this forge, and afterward forges on the two branches of the Rockaway, was called by Peter Hasenclever "one of the first adven- turers in bloomary iron works." All the forges near Morristown were ex- tinct in 1823.
The first forge at Dover was built, it is said, by John Jackson, in 1722, on what is still called Jackson's brook. Jackson purchased a tract of 527 acres of one Joseph Latham, including the site of this forge and much of the. land west of Dover. The venture was not successful, and in 1757 the forge passed into the hands of Josiah Beman, and the farm into those of Hartshorne Fitz Randolph. In 1743 a tract of 91 acres was located by Joseph Shotwell, which covered most of the village of Dover, on both sides of the river from where the Morris & Essex railroad crosses it, to below Bergen street, and it was said to be at a place called the "Quaker Iron Works." In 1769 Josiah Beman, "bloomer," mortgages to Thomas Bartow the same tract, excepting nine acres on which the forge stands, "sold by him to Robert Schooley." In 1768, Joseph Jackson and son Stephen purchased of Robert Schooley one fire in this forge. The next year Joseph Jackson conveyed his interest to his son. Josiah Beman, the owner, as it appears, as early as 1761 of this Dover forge, was a brother of David Beman of Rockaway, the brother-in-law of General Winds. He lived in the long low house in Dover, on the north side of the mill pond. He was a man of great piety, a regular attendant of church at Rockaway, and of very simple
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MORRIS COUNTY
habits. Stephen Jackson learned his trade of him, and in 1764 bought the last year of his time of him for $100, and with Andrew King leased and carried on the forge for a time. It is said the two young men kept bachelors' hall, doing their own cooking. In a few years they both had capital to go into business for themselves, and both became prominent iron manufac- turers. Beman sold his forge to Canfield & Losey in 1792, and the new firm enlarged the business by the erection of rolling mills, etc.
In 1748 the land on both sides of the river at Rockaway was located by Colonel Jacob Ford, and the tract was said to include "Job Allen's iron works." In 1767 letters of administration on Job Allen's estate were granted to Colonel Jacob Ford, his principal debtor, tending to the conclu- sion that the pioneer ironmaster of Rockaway had been no more successful than his neighbor at Dover. These iron works were built, as near as can now be ascertained, in 1730. The little dam in the middle of the upper pond was that on which this earliest structure depended for water. In 1774, Joseph Prudden Jr., of Morristown, conveyed to Thomas Brown and John Cobb one fire in this forge, the other being in possession of David Beman. May 30, 1778, Cobb & Brown conveyed the same fire, with the appurtenances, to Stephen Jackson. In 1780, January 2, David Beman conveyed his half of the forge to John Jacob Faesch; and January 1, 1782, Stephen Jackson conveyed his part also to him. Faesch retained the works until his death, when they were bought back by Stephen Jackson. In 1812 Stephen Jackson devised this forge to his sons, William and John D. Jack- son, but both interests were purchased by their brother, Colonel Joseph Jackson, who had since 1809 been the owner of the lower forge at Rocka- way. By him it was sold in 1850 to his son-in-law, Samuel B. Halsey.
It is evident that about the years 1748-50 a great advance was made in the manufacture of iron. In 1741 a humble "representation" was made by the council and house of representatives to the governor of the province, Lewis Morris, setting forth the abundance of iron ore and the conveniences which existed for making the same into pig and bar iron, and that with proper encouragement they could probably in some years wholly supply that necessary commodity to Great Britain and Ireland. In 1750 an act of parliament was transmitted, entitled "an act to encourage the importation of pig and bar iron from His Majesty's colonies in America, and to pre- vent the erection of any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace for making steel, in any of the said colonies." The act corresponded with its title, and, while it permitted the colonists to manufacture and send to the mother country pig and bar iron under certain regulations, it strictly forbade, under penalty of £200, the erection of any such mill as was intended to be pro- hibited. They might make the crude article, but they must send it to the mother country to be reduced to such shape as to fit it for use. The forge- man could make the iron bloom, but he must send it across the Atlantic to be rolled into the nail rods and horseshoe iron he and his neighbors required for their own use. The governors were ordered to report the mills, etc., then erected, and Governor Belcher reported that there were in New Jersey that year, one mill for slitting and rolling iron, in Bethlehem township, Hunterdon county; one plating forge at Trenton; and one furnace for making steel in Trenton; of which only the plating forge was then used. Whether as one of the effects of this law or not, several forges were built in the county about the time it went into operation. Colonel Jacob Ford, of Morristown, in 1750 "took up" or located the falls of the east branch
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of the Rockaway at Mount Pleasant, and erected two forges there. The same year he purchased the fall on the same stream at Denmark, where the Burnt Meadow forge was built; it is called John Harriman's iron works, in 1764, but a few years afterward was owned by Jacob Ford Jr. In 1749 Jonathan Osborn purchased the falls midway between Denmark and Mount Pleasant, and built what is known as Middle forge-the site of which is now owned by the United States. All these forges were in the hands of the Fords before the Revolutionary War.
There was also a forge about half a mile below Lower Longwood at the time of the war, which was called Ford's forge, and was extinct in 1823; but exactly when it was built cannot be ascertained. In a deed made in 1803 from Samuel Tuthill to John P. Losey, mention is made of the bridge that crosses the Rockaway river, "a little above where the old Speed- well forge formerly stood."
From 1750 to the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, were also erected many other ancient forges. One stood on the Whippany river near Morristown, called the Carmichael forge, and one at Malapardis, about three miles northeast of Morristown, long extinct. The Hathaway forge, on the branch of the Whippany, close to the Morris & Essex railroad, about a mile west of Morris Plains station, was built by James Keene, who was a cap- tain in the Revolutionary army, and who operated it until 1780. Jonathan Hathaway, from whom it took its name, owned and operated it over twenty- five years, then Benjamin Holloway until 1806, when it was burned down. It was rebuilt, but a freshet in 1821 broke away the dam, and it was not again in operation.
On Den brook, a tributary of the Rockaway, were built Shongum forge, owned by Deacon John Huntington; Ninkey forge, owned by Abraham and John Kinney in 1796, and sold as their property in 1799 to Caleb Russell, and which was built and rebuilt several times; Coleraine (or Cold Rain) forge, lower down the stream; and still lower, Franklin forge, built by John Cobb, Thomas Brown and Stephen Jackson, just previous to the war.
Colonel James W. Drake writes in 1854 that, "principally for the pur- pose of consuming the surplus wood, four forges for manufacturing iron were at different times erected in Mendham, but the fires of all of them have been long extinguished. The ore for their supply was almost entirely fur- nished by the well known Suckasunny mine. A small amount of ore was at one time supplied by a mine in the village of Water Street, but at length the use of it was abandoned, as iron could not be made of it." From an old map made in 1823, showing the forges active and extinct in Morris county at that time, it appears that these forges were the Rushes and the Mendham forges, on the north branch of the Raritan; Leddle's forge on a branch of the Passaic; and Rye forge on the Whippany river, at Water Street, all extinct. The mine spoken of by Colonel Drake was reopened and worked extensively after the last war, by Ario Pardee and other lessees of the owner, Madison M. Connet.
In 1751 John Johnston bought of the Proprietors the falls of the Beach Glen brook, at Beach Glen, and built the forge known for many years as Johnston's iron works. It was sold by Job Allen to Benjamin Beach and Henry Tuttle, December 30, 1771, and Beach shortly after bought out his partner and operated it until his death. Benjamin Beach is described as a self-made man, who, beginning with very small means, by integrity, industry and systematic perseverance, acquired a large estate, owning at the time of his death over a thousand acres of land. Beach Glen, before it was so
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MORRIS COUNTY
called in honor of him, was called Horse Pound, because the early settlers, by building a fence from one high hill to another, formed a pound into which they drove their wild horses to catch them. From Benjamin Beach the forge descended to his two sons, Chilion and Samuel Searing. The dam was swept away by a freshet in 1867, and has never been rebuilt. There was an old forge at Troy, built probably by John Cobb. It (or rather its site, for the forge has gone down), is still owned in part by some of the descendants of Cobb. There was also an old forge at the head of Speed- well pond, and another at the present dam at Speedwell, where Arnold & Kinney erected their slitting mill. Colonel Ford is said to have been the builder of these.
At White Meadow a lot was located in 1753 by David Beman, probably for the purpose of building a forge, and he and Thomas Miller were no doubt the builders of one. They, or one of them, conveyed to John Bigalow and Aaron Bigalow, for in 1769 the Bigalows gave a mortgage of one-half of the forge "which was built at the place called White Meadow." October 18, 1774, the Bigalows gave a mortgage on a tract of 1421/2 acres, including the lot returned to Beman, said to be a tract which Thomas Miller bought of Thomas Barton and David Beman and conveyed to said Bigalows by deed of even date with the mortgage. From the Bigalows it fell into pos- session of Abraham Kitchel, who conveyed it to Bernard Smith (the friend of Faesch) in 1792. Smith was obliged to part with it, and sold it to Isaac Canfield in 1802.
About a mile below White Meadow was the forge well known as Guinea forge, built by Colonel John Munson before 1774. A recital by Benjamin Beach and Abraham Kitchel, in the minutes of the Board of Proprietors in 1785, quotes an application of Munson and Benjamin Beach in 1774 for a large tract of land lying near these works, which tells the history of this forge. With White Meadow forge, Guinea forge fell into the hands of Abraham Kitchel, who conveyed it in 1791 to Bernard Smith, who conveyed it to Isaac Canfield in 1802. Both of these forges were after- ward owned by Colonel Thomas Muir. Guinea forge was bought by Hub- bard S. Stickle, who owned the site at the time of his death. Both forges have long been down.
The capacity of the forges built before the Revolution may be judged from a petition presented to the House of Assembly in September, 1751, by the owners of bloomaries in the county of Morris, setting forth "that they humbly conceive their bloomaries are not comprehended in the late law for returning the taxables of the province; and that there are many bloom- aries in the said county that don't make more than five or six tons of iron in a year; and that therefore the profits of such forges cannot pay any tax, but many of them on the contrary must be obliged to let their works fall if any tax be laid on them ; and praying that the House will rather encourage . so public a benefit, and instead of laying a tax grant a small bounty upon every ton of bar iron fitted for market, and a receipt of the same being shipped for London produced to the treasurer, according to a late act of parliament." No action appears to have been taken upon this petition.
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