USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 32
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CHAPTER XII
MORRISTOWN-EARLY HISTORY-PUBLIC OFFICERS-COUNTY BUILDINGS -- SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES-LIBRARIES-CHURCHES-Y. M. C. A .-
HOSPITALS-BANKS-NEWSPAPERS AND PRINTERS-WASHING-
TON AT MORRISTOWN-WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS
-FORT NONSENSE-LODGES AND SOCIETIES
Morristown, the principal town and the county seat of Morris county, is situated in Morris township, 371 feet above sea level, thirty miles from New York City, on the Morris & Essex division of the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western railroad. It is rich in historic associations, having been the headquarters of Washington and his army camp for two winters. But this feature of Morristown's glory is fully treated on another page, and needs no further reference here. Its past is glorious, and its future is full of promise.
The city today is exclusively a residential community, beautifully lo- cated, and with all that goes to make a modern municipality. The real estate valuation of Morristown in 1912 was very nearly equal to one-fourth the real estate valuation of the entire county. Many wealthy families have chosen Morristown as their home, have erected costly residences on ample grounds, while the character of even the poorer homes is superior to most towns. The streets are paved with brick and macadam, and a bountiful supply of pure water is carried in mains through well-paved and well-lighted thoroughfares. Magnificent church edifices representing many different creeds rear high their spires, while schools, public and private, follow the best trend of modern educational thought. There is a seat provided for every child in the town who wishes to attend, and the efficiency of the schools has been attested by officials of the State Board of Education. A Volunteer Department affords to the town protection against fire, and, well equipped and well officered, has proven entirely efficient. The Morris County Traction Company operates the street railway system, connecting with towns east and west. This company, with the frequent service of the Morris & Essex railway, insures arrival and departure at short intervals, both day and night. The Morristown & Erie railroad connects with the Greenwood Lake division of the Erie railroad, forming an outlet for the products of that section, east or west, from Morristown. Strong mercan- tile houses have ever been a feature of the business life of the town, while five banks of financial strength furnish facilities for savings, investment, and needed business accommodation.
A magnificent Young Men's Christian Association building has re- cently been dedicated, which shelters one of the strongest associations known to a town the size of Morristown. A beautiful park, "The Green," forms the central square. Burnham Park, designed for recreation and all usual park purposes, while as yet largely unimproved, will eventually be a great attraction and delight. In "The Green" stands the beautiful monu- ment erected by Morris county in honor of her soldiers and sailors who gave up their lives in defense of the Union during the Civil War, as well as a memorial of the services of those yet living. Inscribed upon the shaft are
EE
LACEY
Morristown in 1815. (Plate of P. H. Hoffman).
Old Arnold Tavern. Washington's Headquarters, Morristown, winter of 1777. (Plate of P. H. Hoffman).
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the names of practically all the notable battles of the war, west as well as east, and in which the sons of Morris county bore a splendid part. Facing "The Green" on four sides are business houses, and two of the historic churches of the town. "The Green" is beautifully laid out, and by deed no building of any description can be erected upon it. The land was pur- chased in April, 1816, from the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church.
In the year 1715, the land upon which Morristown is built was con- veyed to Joseph Helby, Thomas Stephenson and John Keys (or Kay), in three separate tracts, by the Proprietors of West Jersey, the holdings of the three men aggregating 4500 acres. It is not known where or by whom the first house was built, but it is supposed to have stood on the bank of the Whippany, where the grist mill, saw mill and forge stood. In 1738 the village was mostly located on Spring street, although an occasional hut might be found on Morris street and on "The Green" clear- ing. Roads were as yet scarcely known. The wild creatures of the forest roved through the deep, tangled woods, and all domestic animals must be securely penned at night for protection against attack. A church was estab- lished in 1718 in Hanover, which the inhabitants of West Hanover (as Morristown was then known) attended until the year 1738, when the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown came into being, and a few years later a church building was erected. The community though small, was deeply religious, strictly observing the Sabbath day, and regular in attendance upon church services.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War the village numbered about 250 inhabitants, while the immediate surrounding region had become a pros- perous farming section. The Hathaway and Jones families owned prop- erty and resided in the north part of the village, the Ford family to the east, General John Doughty to the south, Silas Condict and his brothers to the west. Church rolls contain the names of the principal families of that period, and from them are taken the names of Ford, Campfield, Lindsley, Johnson, Condict, Rev. Timothy Johnes (pastor of the First Presbyterian Church), Doughty, Prudden, Pierson, Fairchild, Freeman, Howell, Allen, Day, Dickerson, King, Wood, Lum, Cutler, Beach, Tichenor, Hathaway, Frost, Blatchley, Crane, Coe, Munson, and others. Colonel Jacob Arnold, of "Light Horse" fame, was keeping a tavern, on the north side of the park, in the building later owned by P. H. Hoffman; while Colonel Jacob Ford had just built the mansion in which Washington spent a winter, and now known of all as "Washington's Headquarters." The village had become definitely known as Morristown, the original name having been New Han- over. A second church, the Baptist, had been organized and a house of worship erected; a steeple added to the First Presbyterian Church, and a bell placed therein. While the village had grown slowly prior to the Revo- lution, there are indications that, among the families there settled, were some of wealth and culture, who gave to the settlement a reputation, never outgrown, of being aristocratic.
General Washington first came to Morristown, January 7, 1777, locat- ing in the Arnold Tavern, and there passed a trying winter, leaving in May of the same year. He returned in December, 1779, becoming the guest of Mrs. Ford, widow of Colonel Jacob Ford, Jr. (the gallant officer who died during Washington's first winter in Morristown), and remaining until the early part of June, 1780.
After the Revolution, the growth of the town was rapid. About 1812 the Speedwell Iron Works were built by Stephen Vail. They were closed
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about the year 1870, and have not since been in operation. During their existence they were of great importance, and deserve the name of the home of the electro-magnetic telegraph, Stephen Vail there producing the first available Morse instrument, so called. His son, Alfred Vail, in- vented an entire new alphabet for telegraphic use, as well as entirely new machine, and in 1844 the new lever and grooved roller which embossed upon paper the alphabetical characters which he had originated. At the Speed- well Works was manufactured the first boiler for the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic-the Savannah, in the summer of 1819.
In 1812 the State Bank at Morris was founded, but a few years later failed, as did the old Morris County Bank, founded in 1836. However, other and stronger banks followed. On February 19, 1855, the Morris- town Gas Light Company was incorporated, but gas was not made until October, 1859. Fire companies were in existence from 1859. The Morris Aqueduct Company was incorporated November 16, 1799. The Morris & Essex railroad was completed to Morristown in 1838 and from that time onward, Morristown has never ceased her forward movement.
Transportation-It would be wise policy for the officials of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western railroad to furnish to their trainmen the old schedules of the stage lines that formerly furnished the only means of com- munication with Jersey City. Then, when the abuse showered upon their heads concerning the "delay, linger and wait" was getting too much to endure, the grumblers might be shown the way their fathers traveled, and the price they paid, for the pleasure of stage coach travel over bad roads, followed by worse. Until 1838 there was no other means of arriving at or departing from Morristown.
Benjamin Freeman claimed the honor of running the first stage from Morristown to Paulus Hook (Jersey City). This was in 1797. The fare was $1.25 each way, the coach leaving Tuesdays and Fridays, at 6 a. m. The route was through Bottle Hill (Madison), Chatham, where a stop was made for breakfast; thence to Springfield, Newark, and reaching Paulus Hook almost any time in the afternoon or evening, according to various circumstances. The return trip could be made on Wednesday or Satur- day. John Halsey soon entered into partnership with Freeman, and they did a prosperous business, unhindered until 1799, when Matthias Crane entered the field as a rival. Later, other competitors arose, the columns of the early papers flaming with their advertisements extolling the beauties of their different routes, the comfortableness of their vehicles, the quality of their horses, and the carefulness of their drivers. Most of the stages ran to Paulus Hook, but some only to Newark, and others to Elizabethport, where boat could be taken to New York.
In 1838 the coming of the railroad sounded the death-knell of the stage coaches, and they retired to the star-route lines and country lines of short distance. In that year the Morris & Essex railroad was completed to Morristown, then the terminus. The station was originally on Maple avenue, near De Hart street, the road thence traversing Maple avenue until near the Catholic church, thence across to Madison avenue and to the line of the present route. In 1881 a new station building was erected on the site of the present one, which was described in that day as "elegant." In 1914 the elevated track was completed through the town, and the present really magnificent station buildings were finished. Perhaps the writers of fifty years hence will consider the term "magnificent," as applied to the
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buildings, as little justified as Morristonians remember their old station as "elegant." Communication with New York City is constant, while sev- eral express trains for Buffalo and the west now pass over the Morris & Essex, stopping at Morristown, and connections are made with all fast main line trains at Dover. Connection is also made with the Greenwood Lake division of the Erie railroad, over the Morristown & Erie railway. Old stage coach days are kept in memory by automobile coaches running to nearby points as far as Boonton. Street and suburban transportation is furnished by the Morris County Traction Company, east by connection to Jersey City, and west to Lake Hopatcong. The fine roads tempt the auto- mobile tourist, and as Morristown is a point of interest historically as well as a point of natural attraction, this class of tourist travel is heavy.
On April 6, 1865, the town was incorporated. The municipal govern- ment is vested in a mayor, and a board of aldermen consisting of eight mem- bers, two from each of the four wards into which the town is divided. The board meets monthly, on the first Friday evening of the month. The officials of the board are: A president, clerk, treasurer, and counsel. The officers of the city are: An assessor, a collector, a street commissioner, who is also inspector of sewers ; a surveyor, a board of three engineers, nine municipal electricians, a chief of police, a sergeant, and two roundsmen, a police surgeon, three police justices, an overseer of the poor, a board of health, consisting of five members; a health inspector, a plumbing in- spector, a building inspector, an excise board of three members; and a shade tree commission of five members. The total valuation of real estate in the town in 1912 was $10,211,350; personal property was valued at $1,772,150 ; the total tax rate on each $100 of valuation being $2.26.
The Board of Health of the town is an efficient one, and in all that pertains to the health of the town keeps vigilant watch, the board working in closest sympathy with the sanitary inspector, plumbing inspector, health physician and dairy inspector. The officers of the board are : John R. Burr, president ; Dr. Francis H. Glazebrook, secretary and treasurer ; members: Samuel C. Haven, M. D., Robert C. Caskey, James D. Ball.
The police force consists of a chief, J. Frank Holloway; a sergeant, John J. Morrison; two roundsmen, Theodore L. Roff and Cornelius J. Hally ; seven patrolmen; a mounted officer ; seven chancemen; a doorman, and a watchman. The peace of the town is exceptionally good, the result of an efficient force.
The first postmaster of Morristown was Frederick King, who was com- missioned in 1782 by Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard. Henry King, his son, succeeded him, June 14, 1792, commissioned by Postmaster General Timothy Pickering. He held the office forty-two years, and was succeeded by Edward Condict, on April 10, 1834. On October 1, 1888, free delivery was instituted, with an initial force of five carriers. Additions have been made from time to time, the force now numbering eleven regular carriers, one parcel post carrier, two rural route carriers, and three substitute car- riers. The office is also a postal savings bank, and finds that a growing line of business. The present postmaster, Eugene Burke, appointed by President Wilson, relieved Charles McCollum, whose term expired July I, 1914. George C. Marsh, assistant postmaster, was appointed January I, 1906, having served the preceding twenty-nine years in the railway mail service. The office is an important one, and it is hoped will soon be located in a government-owned building.
The city population depending for service on the postoffice was, accord-
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ing to the census of 1910, as follows: First Ward, 3498; Second Ward, 40II ; Third Ward, 2707; Fourth Ward, 2291 ; total, 12,507-a gain of 1240 over the census of 1900.
The Fire Department-No department of city government comes so near the hearts of the people as the firemen-brave fellows all, to whom in the direst distress all turn for protection. Morristown's department dates from July 26, 1797, when the first fire-fighting association was formed. The next record of a company is found in the Palladium of Liberty, under date of August 16, 1815: "The Morris Fire Company will please recollect that their annual meeting is the first Monday in Sept. * * * It is hoped there will be a general attendance of the inhabitants of the town and that the committee appointed to procure ladders, hooks, etc., will be able to make a full report." At this meeting Israel Canfield was elected president. This second company was short-lived, as an editorial in the Palladium, April 17, 1817, says: "We hope measures will speedily be taken to reorganize the sometime since defunct fire company." Another company was organized in 1836 and a hand-engine purchased for $250. A year later another company was formed and a second hand-engine bought. The same year, 1837, an act was passed incorporating the Morristown Fire Association, which immediately took charge of the apparatus of the two companies. This association continued until 1867, when the present fire department was organized under the provisions of the new town charter.
On August 7, 1867, the Morristown Fire Department was organized under an act of council. Richard M. Stites, to whose energy the depart- ment owes its existence, was appointed the first chief engineer, serving until 1875. The department is entirely volunteer, numbering 225 men, and consists of the following organizations :
The Fire Wardens are limited to twenty men. The company has no apparatus but is appointed for the purpose of securing compliance with fire ordinances and regulations of council, inspecting or prohibiting the the storing of combustible materials, protecting the apparatus of the depart- ment when in use, and acting as police at fires ; organized August 13, 1867. William Y. Sayre was the first foreman.
Independent Hose Company was organized August 13, 1867; George H. Doren was the first foreman. Resolute Hook and Ladder Company was organized June 14, 1869, with William A. Halsted as the first foreman. Niagara Engine Company was organized August 10, 1869, with George W. Crocker as the first foreman. Washington Engine Company was organ- ized May 21, 1872, with John W. Hays as the first foreman. The first steamer for this company was bought October 14, 1879.
The Exempt Firemen's Association was incorporated, February 25, 1875, by William Y. Sayre, Isaac G. Arnold, Richard M. Stites, Charles McCollum, William H. Voorhees, Sidney W. Stalter, Samuel K. Smack, Isaac Van Fleet, Charles H. Green, Hayward G. Emmell, Manicus H. C. Jennings, and Louis H. Atno.
The Fire Department Charitable Fund was founded March 9, 1869, by the passage of an act, "To incorporate the trustees of the Morristown Fire Department Charitable Fund, for the relief of indigent and disabled firemen and their families." Richard M. Stites was the first president of both the association and the fund.
The Fire Department apparatus consists of: Two second-class steam fire engines; two hose wagons; one hose reel; one automobile chemical engine; one hook and ladder truck; and one wardens' wagon. Eleven
1
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horses are in the service, all having drop harness of modern style. The department has 6000 feet of 21/2-inch hose, 450 feet of 3/4-inch chemical hose; and ten Babcock fire extinguishers. Alarms are sent in over a fire alarm telegraph system, under the management of the city electrician. In 1912 the department answered seventy-eight alarms, the loss by fire for the year being $49,905. The efficient chief engineer of the department is Wilbur F. Day Jr., who has under him a first and second assistant. The town electrician, Frank E. Pierson, in his department controls all matters relating to the fire alarm telegraph and sewer signals. The fire alarm tele- graph consists of one automatic central station complete; one police trans- mitter ; fourteen alarm instruments; twenty-three fire alarm boxes; with 77,- 700 feet of underground and overhead wire. The sewer signals, which oper- ate between the four ejector chambers and police headquarters, consist of four automatic manhole switches, with terminal boxes; one double set of batteries; four cut-out boxes ; one signal annunciator; with 50,000 feet of underground and aerial wire. The sewers of the city are under the charge of the street commissioner, William H. Frapwell, and are in first-class con- dition. The work of the sewer department is divided into two parts-first, the sewer system, which consists of all mains, laterals and ejector pumps that are necessary to collect the sewage and convey it to the disposal plant ; second, the disposal plant, at which place the sewage is purified and the affluent allowed to flow into the river. Camille A. R. Maier, city chemist, has applied the most rigorous tests, in accordance with the most modern methods, and has failed to detect any flaws in the workings of the plant, these tests proving the irreproachable conditions and high standard of efficiency of the disposal plant. The sanitary condition of the town is high, and certain infectious diseases reduced to a minimum through the agency of this most excellent system of sewerage and sewage disposal.
As before stated, a charter was granted by the Legislature to the proprietors of the Morris Aqueduct, November 16, 1799. As this company still exists as a corporation, and has played a most important part in the history of the town, the names of the incorporators are of interest; they are as follows: John Doughty, William Campfield, James Richards, David Ford, Aaron Pierson, John Halsey, William Johnes, Gabriel H. Ford, Henry King, Caleb Russell, Daniel Phoenix Jr., Israel Canfield, Benjamin Freeman, David Mills, George O'Hara, Rodolphus Kent, Joseph Lewis, Lewis Condict, Abraham Canfield, Samuel Ogden, Elijah Holloway, Ed- ward Mills, William Tuttle, Matthias Crane, Jonathan Dickerson, Daniel Lindsley. While a charter was not granted until November 16, 1799, an editorial in the Genius of Liberty, November 21, 1799, states that work was begun June 20, 1799, and that "an aqueduct four miles in length, in- cluding its various branches, has been completed to this town. The foun- tain is one hundred feet above the town, on the north side of a small moun- tain covered with wood. The pipe has been laid three feet under ground, at an expense of between $2000 and $3000. The work was executed by Peletiah Ashley, of West Springfield, Massachusetts."
The "fountain" was on the Jockey Hollow road, about one mile north of the town. The water was conducted to Morristown through brick tile, and for several years the aqueduct was in use, but then was allowed to become unused, the town returning to the wells. The charter rights were then purchased by James Wood, who relaid the aqueduct with chestnut logs having a two-inch bore. He built a small wooden cistern, holding one hundred barrels, for a reservoir, this being located on what is now Western
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avenue. In 1846, John F. Voorhees became the owner of the aqueduct. He relaid it with cement pipe, and built a reservoir eighteen feet square, on tlie site of "Fort Nonsense," where the later day reservoir is located. In 1869 the aqueduct came into the hands of a strong company, and has ever since been a reliable source of supply. Large reservoirs have been con- structed, and pure aerated water is furnished through many miles of mains to every part of the town, 184 street-hydrants furnishing connections with the mains in time of fire. The company still bears the name under which it was originally incorporated-The Proprietors of the Morris Aqueduct.
City Officials-Official register for 1913: John J. Todd, mayor; Wil- liam H. Linder, president of board of aldermen; Henry F. Dempsey, clerk; Clifford S. Rutan, treasurer ; Carl V. Vogt, attorney.
Board of Aldermen-First Ward: William H. Linder, R. Ralston Reed, M. D .; Second Ward: Fred Horsefield, Thomas H. Wiss; Third Ward: Charles R. Shelley, Robert H. Williamson; Fourth Ward: Clifford Mills, M. D., B. W. Clifford.
Officers-Jeremiah C. White, assessor; Samuel Karn, collector ; Wil- liam H. Frapwell, street commissioner and superintendent of sewers; Richard L. Davis, surveyor. Board of Engineers-Wilbur F. Day Jr., chief ; John H. Madigan, first assistant; Clarence Hopkins, second assistant. Frank E. Pierson, municipal electrician ; J. Frank Holloway, chief of police; John J. Morrison, sergeant ; Theo. L. Roff, Cornelius J. Hally, roundsmen; George L. Johnson, M. D., police surgeon ; A. J. Bennell, Isaac R. Pierson, Edward A. Quayle Jr., police justices. Board of Health-John R. Burr, president ; Dr. Francis H. Glazebrook, secretary and treasurer; Samuel C. Haven, M. D., Robert C. Caskey, James D. Ball. Robert S. Van Dyke, health inspector ; John J. Belbey, plumbing inspector ; George T. Timmons, building inspector. Excise Board-D. Farrand Sturgis, chairman; James S. Adams, Eugene Carrell. Shade Tree Commission-Mrs. Eleanor G. Ames, Miss Louisa E. Keasbey, J. E. Lidgerwood, J. H. Maghee. James E. Welsh, overseer of the poor.
THE COUNTY BUILDINGS
It was not until 1755 that a court house and jail were built in Morris- town, although a court met at Morristown, "previously called New Han- over," March 25, 1740. The first building was a small one of logs, standing, it is believed, near the center of the present "Green." Again the First Presbyterian Church comes to the rescue, as the following extract from the trustees' book shows :
May 17, 1770, the trustees being duly called and met at the county house and agreed to convey a part of the meeting hous land to the freeholders of the county of Morris for the benefit of the court hous.
June 7, 1770, the trustees met & gave a Deed for one acre of Land on which the Court-hous standeth to three Majestrets and the freeholders of the County of morris.
The second court house was soon afterward built, standing nearly opposite the United States Hotel, the front being about the middle of the present street, which was then but a narrow lane. It was a one-story building, sides and roof being shingled. In 1776 a second story was added, the land on which the building stood and the remainder of "one acre of ground" costing the county five pounds, the full amount the trustees of the church demanded.
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