USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 33
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A feature of the early jail was "the doctors' room." In this room was an old-fashioned open fireplace, and about half way up the chimney were
Old Morris County Court House and Jail, situated on "The Green," 1777. The pillory and stocks appear under the tree. (Plate of P. H. Hoffman).
O'Hara Tavern, Morristown. Many army officers were located here in the winter of 1777 and also in 1779-80. (Plate of P. H. Hoffman).
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iron bars to prevent escape. One Uriah Brown, however, who was left securely locked in, presented himself at the door the next morning, demand- ing to be let in, as, he said, he was afraid of being arrested as a jail- breaker, although he did not seem to mind being locked up for debt. He refused to tell how he got out, but after repeating the performance several nights and mornings, he finally, to escape punishment, confessed that he had removed one of the bars from the chimney, and although he could easily climb up and out, could not get back the same way.
This court house was in use by the county until 1827, when the present building was completed, and in October of that year was dedicated with great ceremony, with a procession formed in the following order, according to the record of the Morris County Court of Common Pleas :
Music Sheriff Board of Chosen Freeholders Building Committee Master Builders Clergy and Orator Gaoler and Crier Constables Coroners Justices of the Supreme Court Judges of the Common Pleas Justices of the Peace Clerk and Surrogate Attorney General and Prosecutor Members of the Bar Grand Jury Petit Jury County Collector and Assessor Citizens
The order of exercises was as follows: Prayer; address; prayer ; opening the Courts in due form of law ; calling and swearing the grand jury; charge to the grand jury; adjournment of Court to the next day. The address was delivered by Henry A. Ford, and was reported in full and pub- lished in The Jerseyman of October 24, 1827.
The court house is beautifully situated on an eminence on the west side of Washington street, between Western avenue and Court street. It is of brick, and originally was two stories high, with basement. The surro- gate's and clerk's offices face on Court street, and were built in 1847; and the sheriff's residence and other buildings at a much later period. The original building, however, with the figure of Justice high up over the entrance, stands as built, and shows little evidence of its age. Justice, how- ever, has lost her traditional scales, but as the Scales of Justice frequently get out of balance, perhaps this is not a serious loss. In spite of its age, the old building is still "a thing of beauty," and reflects credit upon its designers and builders.
SCHOOLS
In response to a statement made by the trustees of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1769 that they needed more funds, 140 pounds, 5 shillings, was subscribed by Morristown people, good old Rev. Timothy Johnes heading the list with 9 pounds. From this we may infer that even
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at that early day the advantages of higher education were appreciated. The first record of a local school is found in the trustees' book of the First Presbyterian Church :
"Jan. 12, 1767, the trustees being called and met at the school hous, henry Prim- rose, Joseph Stiles and Benjamin Coe absent, proseaded and chose Benjamin Bale President and Gave Lieve that a school hous might be Built on the Green Near Whair the old hous 'Now Standeth."
"Oct. 7, 1771, the trustees met at Doct. tuthills esq. Sam Robarts absent and agreed that the money that Mr. Watt (or Walt) left to the town Should be laid out towards Purtchasing utensils for the Comunian Table also that the School hous now on Peter Mackees land be Removed onto the Parsonage land and there to Remain During the Pleasure of the trustees and then Lyable to be removed."
The names of the teachers of these schools are not preserved. Mahlon Johnson, who died at the age of eighty-two years, December 20, 1857, wrote thus of these early schools, the one described being three miles from Morris- town :
"The school buildings were constructed of logs, and instead of glass for windows, sheepskins were stretched over apertures made by sawing off an occasional log. These windows had one value-they were an effectual screen to prevent pupils from being interrupted in their exercises by what was going on outside. The time was regulated by an hourglass, and they drank their water from a tumbler made from cows' horn or ground shell. Arithmetic was not taught in classes but the pupils ciphered when they were not reading, spelling or writing. The latter branches were taught in classes. A chalk line or crack in the floor was the mark they were required to toe. The common school was hardly considered a school in those days unless the whack of the ruler or the whistle of the whip was frequently heard."
The Morris Academy-This institution was organized by twenty-four gentlemen, November 28, 1791, each subscribing for one share of £25. Jabez Campfield was president of the first board of proprietors but re- signed at the end of a month and was succeeded by Caleb Russell. The contract for building the academy was awarded to Caleb Russell and a lot purchased from the First Presbyterian Church, "100 feet in front and one hundred and fifty feet on the hill opposite the Conners land," * * * "for the sum of thirty pounds Jersey money. Caleb Russell gave his obli- gation for said sum." After the building was completed, Caleb Russell, although he was then county clerk and engaged in other business, consented to take charge of the academy as principal. On October 5, 1792, the school opened with thirty-three scholars, Mr. Russell continuing in full charge until the close of 1795, and in partial charge until August, 1797. He was a remarkable man and a most useful one. He was a graduate of Princeton, 1770, and studied law under Judge Robert Morris of New Brunswick. He served four terms of five years each as clerk of Morris county and died in office, June 8, 1805, aged fifty-six years. Under him the academy took high rank, scholars coming from the South, New York, and New Jersey cities. From November 5, 1792, to April, 1795, 269 pupils were enrolled. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Whelpley, a New England man. He was too strict a disciplinarian to give entire satisfaction, and a new institu- tion, Warren Academy, arose in opposition, under the charge of James Stevenson. This was burned March 6, 1803, and a new brick building erected on Morris Green, on a lot purchased from the First Presbyterian Church, where later stood the Park House. After a few years this school was discontinued and the property sold. Morris Academy continued for more than sixty years the great educational institution of the town, attract-
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ing scholars from far and near and exerting an influence that gave the town a high reputation for culture and intelligence. With the opening of the Maple Avenue Public School, local patronage fell away, and after standing unused for years and falling into decay, the building and lot were sold to the Morristown Library and Lyceum, as elsewhere stated. The new library building was completed in 1878 and in September of that year the academy opened under Wayland Spaulding, a graduate of Yale University.
From 1881 to 1883 Dr. Andrew F. West served as principal, and he was succeeded by Charles D. Platt, a graduate of Williams College, who served until 1899, and he in turn was succeeded by Harry W. Landfear, a graduate of Amherst College and Yale Divinity School. In the fall of this year Mr. Landfear was given one pupil, provided he could find four or five more. He was successful in obtaining this number, and carried on the work with such energy and enthusiasm that in four years the enrollment of the school was fifty-two pupils. This number is one less than the average attendance up to the present date-1914.
A review of the work done during these fifteen years presents some interesting statistics : 240 different pupils have been enrolled; 21 pupils, who left to enter such schools as Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Lawrence- ville, St. Paul's, Concord, and Pomfret, have returned to the Academy to complete their preparation for college. After school hours and during the summer vacations, 14I different pupils have been tutored. Of this number, 9I were not connected with the school; 67 pupils completed the course and were graduated; of these, 62 entered college, and five went into business. The graduates have been represented in twelve colleges and universities, among them Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Troy Polytechnic, Columbia, Lehigh and Cornell.
In 1907 the New Jersey State Board of Education examined the methods and work of Morris Academy and placed the institution on the list of approved schools of the state. Independent of the credentials of a registered school, the certificate privilege has been granted by all colleges and universities admitting candidates by that method.
The academy continued in the Lyceum building until the disastrous fire of February 23, 1914, which left only the walls of the Lyceum standing. The school suffered severe loss, the fifty-five pupils losing all their books, and Mr. Landfear a fine collection of reference books and other prop- erty. The school reopened at once after the fire, in the new Y. M. C. A. building.
Many private schools of high grade have flourished in the town. Shortly after the year 1800, Mrs. Phoebe Scribner, widow of Captain Nathaniel Scribner, of the Revolution, came to Morristown with her daugh- ters, Esther, Elizabeth and Anna, and opened a boarding school for young ladies. This school was continued under different owners until the summer of 1881.
Miss M. J. Mann and her sister, daughters of Jacob Mann, the pub- lisher and printer, maintained a successful private school for twelve years. Miss Phoebe Babbitt and Miss H. M. Mills likewise had successful schools. French and Italian were taught by Mr. Barthelemy, and a French Academy was opened in 1808 by Mr. Marten, "lately from New York."
The Morris Female Institute-Was incorporated in August, 1860, and a substantial building erected. Charles G. Hazeltine was first in charge of
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the institute, which in 1877 was leased to Miss Esther Elizabeth Dana, who conducted it most successfully. Ministers of the town at various times also conducted successful boys' schools, and many young ladies' schools have flourished. The present schools of the town, besides the public schools, are: The Misses Hazeltine's, 53 Maple avenue; the Hebrew School, 5 High street; Morris Academy (lately) in the Lyceum building; Randolph Mili- tary Academy ; Miss Christine Sutphen's ; Miss Charlotte Thomas'; Morris- town School, on Whippany Road; Morristown Automobile School, 20 High street ; Morristown Business School, 14 Washington street.
The Public Schools-The public schools of Morristown are under con- trol of a board of education consisting of nine members, elected by the people. The system includes four schools with a course of instruction covering all primary, intermediate, grammar and high school grades. The immediate and responsible head is a superintendent of schools, an office most capably filled by I. Burton Wiley, who has under his supervision fifty- seven teachers, regular and special. Supervisors are employed in music, drawing, manual training and physical exercises ; the girls having a special department of domestic art, not including as yet cooking. In manual train- ing, in fact in all the courses of study, practical benefit is Superintendent Wiley's highest aim, and in this line he has succeeded in arranging courses with special reference to the welfare of those who cannot finish a high school course, without detriment to those so fortunately situated that they can.
The total enrollment (1914) of pupils in the district is 1741, as follows: High School, 324, eleven teachers, Clara E. Brown, principal; Maple Avenue School, grammar and primary, 682, seventeen teachers; Speedwell Avenue School, grammar and primary, 406, eleven teachers, Mary E. Mer- chant, principal; Mills Street School, grammar and primary, 176, four teachers, Anna E. Mills, principal; Liberty Street School, primary, 153, four teachers, Margaret Kincaid, principal.
The Maple Avenue school-house is the home of the high school, also of the grammar and primary grades, twenty-eight regular teachers being employed in the building, to the exclusion of the nine specialists, Superin- tendent Wiley, and Miss Edith M. Peckham, superintendent's secretary. A complete list of the teaching force of the town follows: J. Burton Wiley, superintendent ; Edith M. Peckham, secretary; Ida E. Johnston, substitute; Hattie C. Youngblood, unassigned ; Edward M. Young, music; Sallie Van Horn, drawing; Anna L. Tully, assistant drawing ; Charles R. Lamb, manual training; Viola Schnarendorf, physical training; Harold D. Richards, special ; Alma S. Bortree, mentally defective.
Maple Avenue High School-Clara E. Brown, principal; Irwin B. Somerville, Helene Slack, Jessie G. Tiffany, Carlotta B. Capshaw, George S. Harris, Harold F. Biddle, Ray C. Carter, Emily N. Hea, Emily R. Wil- lard, Helen M. Biddle. Grammar-J. Scott Griswold, Beryl Inglis, Beatrice Blakeslee, Ethel E. Richardson, Edna M. Bedell, N. Ferne Holden, Clara H. Beebe, Agnes Leonard, Elizabeth Basset. Primary-Fannie M. Har- wood, Kate S. Fennell, Adelaide B. VanNess, Alice H. Beach, M. Isabel Slater, Helen C. Brady, Nancy L. Smith, Mary P. Dempsey.
Speedwell Avenue School-Mary E. Merchant, principal. Grammar- Anna Hillidge, Addie I. Compton, Annie E. Cowen, Mary B. Tyndall, Jessie Ayres. Primary-Elva C. Beach, Carrie M. Webb, Mary M. Burch, Myra G. Ford, Julia B. Woodhull.
Mill Street School-Grammar : Anna E. Mills, principal ; Ora J. Myers. Primary-Mildred A. Lewis, Alice Prost.
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Liberty Street School-Primary: Margaret Kincaid, principal; Anna R. Letcher, Anna E. Riordon, Sarah C. Adams.
The operating expense of all the schools for the year 1912-13 was $68,376.12; the total enrollment for the same period, 1685; average daily attendance, 1367. The schools rank high in efficiency and salaries paid compare favorably even with those paid by larger towns.
The high school building on Maple avenue was opened in December, 1869. Its erection at that time was largely due to the generosity of George T. Cobb, to whom the town also owes in a large measure its beautiful Methodist church and Evergreen cemetery. Mr. Cobb donated the lot upon which the building stands, accompanying that gift with another of $10,000 in cash. In the assembly room is a beautiful tablet dedicated to his memory. A large addition has been recently made to the original building.
MORRISTOWN LIBRARIES
The first public library in Morris county was established in 1792. On September 21st of that year, eleven inhabitants of the county met at the house of Benjamin Freeman, at Morristown, and "advised and consulted" upon the propriety of organizing a society to be known as the Morris County Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures. Captain Peter Layton, a Revolutionary officer, was chosen chairman, Colone! Russell, clerk. A constitution was presented, but being defective in some points a committee was appointed to revise it. The meeting then adjourned to convene at the same house, September 25 following. At the adjourned meeting, one hundred persons were present. The constitution was read as revised, and adopted. Ninety-seven of those present signed the docu- ment, and paid in $227. On October 1, 1792, the election of officers was held, Samuel Tuthill being chosen president, Joseph Lewis vice-president, Dr. William Campfield secretary, W. Canfield librarian, Israel Canfield treas- urer. The next meeting was held April 1, 1795, at which by-laws were adopted, one of which provided that the librarian was to be at the library to deliver books on all days but Sunday, from 6 a. m. to 9 p. m., and "that he shall collect all dues in specie." The society started well, with 96 volumes, the treasurer reporting at the end of the year $35.47 on hand, and 20 volumes added to the library.
The society thus organized was successfully conducted until 1812, when a Morris Library Association was instituted, which at its second meet- ing, April 6, 1812, received a communication from the president of the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures, of- fering the property of that society for sale. This offer was accepted, and the society passed out of existence.
Morris Library Association-On February 3, 1812, a party of gentle- men met at Bull's Hotel and agreed to the measures necessary for the or- ganization of a library company, and adjourned until February 24, on which day G. H. Ford was elected president and secretary. A seal was ordered engraved, and at the next meeting, April 6, Jabez Campfield was elected librarian. At the same meeting the offer to sell was received from the first society, and was accepted. The inventory of purchase showed 123 names which were to be placed upon the books of the new company, to- gether with 396 volumes, and other property, in all amounting to $656.55. At this meeting a code of laws was read and adopted, for the government of the library. A shareholder might have a book out not longer than one month, for which each year he was to pay fifty cents. Non-shareholders
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and strangers could also take out books, but were charged a high rate. The first year (1812) 144 books were taken out, at a fee to the librarian of six cents each, and in 1820, 600 were taken out at two cents each. In 1820 an amendment to the by-laws was adopted, allowing any person all the privi- leges of a stockholder by the payment of one dollar. In 1823 a number of shares were called in by the Association, and later advertised at public sale through The Palladium, all being sold but four. In 1825 the trustees presented Rev. Albert Barnes, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, with share No. I, "to be used by him as long as he may remain pastor of the said church," and not subjected to yearly dues. Mr. Barnes accepted the share, and was elected a trustee.
The Apprentices' Library-The next public library was instituted June 16, 1848. The books and property of the Morris Library Association were purchased by the new library, which started with bright prospects. Being solely for the benefit of the apprentices of Morris county, it was called the Apprentices' Library. The capital stock was limited to $1500, divided into shares of $3 each, one-half of the stock being subscribed within three months. The library started with 1500 volumes, covering a wide range, and for the times was considered a very good collection. The library rooms were in the building later used by James Douglas as a drug store. The library, during its brief existence of three years accomplished a great deal of good, and at the time of closing (1851), owned 2500 volumes, including those of the two former libraries and those which it had purchased.
The Morris Institute-This society succeeded the Apprentices' Library, and had a short life. Founded February II, 1854, with G. T. Cobb as president and J. R. Runyon as secretary, rooms were rented in what was later Washington Hall. The books of the Apprentices' Library were rented or bought, and in addition a reading room was opened, with weekly and monthly periodicals. But the books were old, and the expense high, conse- quently patronage was light, and after two years the society dissolved. The books were stored in a building at the corner of Court and Washington streets, where soon afterward half were destroyed by fire. The remainder were stored in a safer place, where they remained until claimed for "the New Library."
Morristown Library and Lyceum-The need of a good public library had been clearly shown by the experiences of the foregoing societies, and in 1861 the subject was again agitated. The war excitement, however, pre- vented action until 1865, when definite action was taken. A meeting was held and a committee appointed, which prepared a plan that was presented for approval at a meeting held in Washington Hall, January 8, 1866. This committee consisted of John Whitehead, John F. Voorhees, William C. Caskey, William S. Babbitt, R. N. Merritt, J. T. Crane, E. J. Cooper, George T. Cobb and Alfred Mills. A charter was granted March 6, 1866, and Alfred Mills, John Whitehead, and William C. Caskey were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock, which was re- stricted to $50,000. When $10,000 of this had been subscribed, a meeting of stockholders was held and a board of seven directors chosen, who were to hold office one year, and from their number to elect a president, a secre- tary and a treasurer. The stock, divided into shares of $25, was free from taxation. A site for a building could not be found on "The Green" except at a prohibitive price, so, when an offer was received from the stock- holders of the old unused Morris Academy, on South street, it was accepted.
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The offer was to assign their stock in the Academy to the Library and Lyceum for an equal nominal value in stock, the lot to be taken at a valua- tion of $10,000. The directors of the Library and Lyceum considered the offer a good one, and plans were called for, stone being decided upon as the material to be used. Colonel George B. Post, of New York City, was the successful architect, and the stones selected were boulders from the property of the Morris Aqueduct Company, near Jockey Hollow road, which the Aqueduct Company generously donated. Ground was broken in February, 1875, and the following May the foundation was begun. Work was pushed rapidly, and on August 14, 1878, the completed building, costing $55,000, was formally opened to the public.
The Library and Lyceum profited by the unselfish devotion of the board of directors and by the generosity of public-spirited citizens who from time to time made bequests by will and otherwise. J. Warren Blachley devised $5,000; William L. King gave much in services and gifts, valued in all at $100,000; John Whitehead was especially valuable in the selection, purchase and arrangement of books, and in preparing a catalogue; while to William S. Babbitt, secretary in the early days, great praise is due. In June, 1879, the board of directors was increased to nine, and the capital stock to $100,000. In 1882 the number of volumes in the library was about 10,000, and an oil portrait of William L. King, the first president, painted by J. Alden Weir, and one of J. Warren Blachley were presented by friends of the library. The board of directors was then composed of William L. King, president; John Whitehead, vice-president; W. S. Babbitt, secretary; John E. Taylor, treasurer; and Henry C. Pitney, Alfred Mills, Theodore Little, Aurelius B. Hull and Samuel Eddy.
The Library and Lyceum, for the quarter of a century following the completion of its beautiful building, had a very successful career. The library was continually increased with the best class of solid helpful litera- ture, preference being given to such books rather than to works of fiction. Many gifts were made, and the library became the custodian of many rare and valuable books and documents. Among the treasures there deposited was the only complete set of the Palladium of Liberty, the first newspaper published in the county. Another treasure was the old "Bill of Mortality," elsewhere mentioned. The endowment fund had reached the sum of $60,- 000, and after the generous bequest of W. B. Skidmore ($20,000), the library was made free to the public in October, 1907.
On the morning of February 23, 1914, at 5.35 o'clock, fire was dis- covered in the building, and although an alarm was quickly turned in and promptly answered by the fire department, which fought the flames with judgment and bravery, four hours later nothing was left of the interior of the beautiful building. The library of 30,000 volumes, the rare and valuable historical papers, and the portraits of Messrs. King and Blachley-all were destroyed, the bare outside walls of the building only escaping destruction. The monetary loss was about $75,000, although that amount was greatly reduced by an adequate insurance. Morris Academy, which occupied the rear of the edifice, reopened in the Young Men's Christian Association building. As yet (1914) no work has been done toward rebuilding, al- though it will undoubtedly be replaced by even a finer building.
The present board of directors of the Library and Lyceum are: John E. Taylor, president ; Joseph Hinchman, treasurer ; Henry C. Pitney Jr., secretary ; and Vincent B. King, Rev. Franklin B. Dwight, Dr. Frederick W. Owen, Charlton A. Reed, Philander B. Pierson, Gordon E. Sherman and Alfred Elmer Mills.
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