USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 4
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The ore for these forges continued to be taken principally from the Dickerson mine, on account of its greater richness and purity, though the great Jugular vein at Mount Hope and the vein at Hibernia had become known. The forgemen constituted a class by themselves, handing down in many instances from father to son the trade they lived by. It was a day of simple habits, and men lived on the plainest fare. Morristown was the
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chief source of supply, and many men made the trip on foot from the upper part of the county to that place once a week to get their supplies.
Peter Hasenclever, a German, born at Remscheid, in 1716, came to this country about 1764 as the representative of the London Company. Within three years he is said to have built a furnace at Charlotteburg ( on the borders of Morris county ), and three miles further down stream a "finery forge," with four fires and two hammers, capable of making 250 tons of bar-iron a year single-handed, and from 300 to 350 tons double-handed ; and a mile lower down still a second forge, of equal capacity. He introduced many im- provements and increased the capacity of the forges. Governor Franklin appointed a committee to examine into his acts in behalf of his company, with whom he had gotten into difficulty. This commission, reporting at Newark, July 8, 1768, testified to the perfection of his iron works, and that he had introduced many improvements in manufacture, some of which had been adopted in England. They said, "He is the first person that we know who has so greatly improved the use of the great natural ponds of this country as by damming them to secure reservoirs of water for the use of iron works in the dry season." They further said that he was the first to make old cinder beds profitable; that he improved the furnaces by building the inwalls of slate instead of stones, and by placing the stack under the roof ; that he only used overshot wheels, and "around the hammer-wheel, shafts with strong cast-iron rings, whose arms served as cogs to lift the hammer-handle." The commission, whose members were all interested in iron works and mines and able to speak authoritatively, said these con- trivances were new ones, "at least they are new in America." It may be interesting to know that Hasenclever was justified by a decision of Lord Chancellor Thurlow in England, after a long litigation.
After the Revolutionary War, especially in the decade preceding and in that following 1800, many new forges were built, of larger size, and some of them probably occupying sites of others which had gone down. In a letter written to Richard Henry Lee in 1777, Washington states that "in Morris county alone there are between eighty and one hundred iron works, large and small." Unless the writer counted each fire of every forge it is impossible to verify this statement by locating the iron works, or even then unless some of those known to have been built at a later period were built on sites of older forges. Besides the forges mentioned, some of which were still in operation, the principal other forges of the county after the war were as follows: Beginning at the head of the west branch of the Rockaway river, is the Hopewell forge, near the boundary line of, if not within, Sussex county. It was built, tradition says, by Colonel Samuel Ogden, of Boonton, and probably rebuilt by Samuel G. I. De Camp, about 1812. It has long been idle. The next forge, a mile below Hopewell, called Russia, was built before 1800, and was long known as William Headley's forge. Professor Cook places its erection as early as 1775. It was an old forge in 1806, when it was owned by William Fichter. It was owned in 1828 by Joseph Chamberlain, and later by Jetur R. Riggs. Colonel Samuel Ogden conveyed the land on which it was built to Thomas Keepers in 1800, and Mrs. Davenport, Thomas Keepers' daughter, said there were forges here and at Hopewell before 1800, which were called "Upper and Lower Farmingham forges." Situate as Russia forge is, just where the river issues from the mountains with a fall of tweny-five or thirty feet, the site is a most desirable one, and was probably early taken up.
The next forge, a mile lower down, was called the Swedeland forge.
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It was built by John Dow, Cornelius Davenport and Jacob Riker, before 1800. Dow was the leading spirit in the enterprise. In 1806 Colonel John Stanburrough took possession and operated the forge more or less at in- tervals until his death in 1862. He took the premium of the Morris County Agricultural Society for making a ton of octagon iron in the shortest time. The premium was a silver cup, now held as an heirloom in the family by his youngest daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Dalrymple, of Branchville, New Jersey. The forge was repaired by Albert R. Riggs. The next forge, about one and a half miles below Swedeland, is Petersburg. This is a very old forge, some placing its erection as early as 1730. The land was located for Robert Hunter Morris and James Alexander, June 3, 1754. Jonah Austin mortgaged to Abraham Ogden, October 1, 1777, one-quarter interest in the forge and lot called "Petersburg." It has also been called Arnold's forge, having once been owned by Jacob Arnold, of the Speedwell iron works. It has been transferred many times, but has now gone to decay.
On a branch of the Rockaway river which comes in from the east below Petersburg, is built the Hard Bargain forge. It stands on the same. tract originally as the Petersburg forge, from which it is distant only a quarter of a mile in an air line. It was built about 1795, by an association among whom were John Dow, Christian Strait, John Davenport and others. Though a one-fire forge, it had at one time nine partners. In 1828 it be- longed to Adams & Dean. The buildings have long been disused.
Passing down the Rockaway river about one and a half mile, we reach Woodstock forge, of comparatively recent origin, having been built about 1825, by Ephraim Adams, James L. Dickerson and Stephen Adams. The land (1748 acres) upon which it stands was returned to Skinner & Johnson for Thomas Kinney in 1774. This forge never made a large quantity of iron, the fall in the stream being insufficient to give proper hammering capa- city to draw out the iron when made. The next forge below Woodstock is the Upper Longwood forge, which stands in the same tract of 1748 acres as the Woodstock. It is very old, and large quantities of iron have been made there. John De Camp became its owner about 1798, and it is said to have been rebuilt by him on a new foundation, a freshet having carried out the old works. De Camp, who carried on the forge until 1817, was a brother of Joseph, Lemuel and David De Camp, all of whom were more. or less engaged in iron manufacture. A shop was at one time attached, in which large quantities of anchors were manufactured and many men em- ployed. The forge buildings have fallen or been torn down. A mile lower down the stream is the Lower Longwood forge, on the same tract of 1748 acres above mentioned. It is said to have been built by Ebenezer Tuttle and Grandin Morris, about 1796, and bought by Canfield & Losey in 1806, from whom it passed into the hands of Blackwell & McFarlan. It has long ceased to be a forge. Below Lower Longwood was the old Speedwell, or Ford forge, already spoken of.
The Valley forge, within sight of the track of the Morris & Essex rail- road, was built by Jared Coe and Minard Lefever, probably before or dur- ing the Revolutionary War. Professor Cook places the date at 1780. It came to Canfield & Losey about 1800, and was burned down in 1814. Jeremiah Baker, son-in-law of Andrew King, and who had already com- menced to acquire the large property which he afterward possessed, built it up with an agreement to purchase; but after working it for a year Can- field & Losey took it back, and Baker bought it a second time of Blackwell & McFarlan, who had succeeded to the business and property of Canfield &
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Losey, in 1817. This was with an understanding that Blackwell & McFarlan should take all the iron he made. In 1828 it again burned down, and was rebuilt by Mr. Baker. In 1875 it was burned a third time, while rented by Messrs. McClees, of New York, from Henry and William Baker, to whom their father had devised it.
On the west branch, just before its junction with the east branch of the Rockaway, is Washington forge, built by Charles Hoff and his brother- in-law, Joseph De Camp, about the year 1795. Charles Hoff sold his half to Joseph Hurd in 1808, and the De Camp heirs sold their interest to Joseph Dickerson, who owned the whole in 1828. It was afterward run by Henry McFarlan.
Beginning at the headwaters of the east branch of the Rockaway river, or, as it is called, Burnt Meadow brook, the first forge was the Burnt Meadow forge, or Denmark, owned by Harriman & Sayre, and Jacob Ford Jr., as we have seen, in its beginning. In 1806 the Fords sold it to Benja- min Holloway, who built the last forge. Hubbard S. Stickle stated that he managed for Holloway from December, 1806, to December, 1807, while it was being built. The old forge had then entirely disappeared. Holloway failed in 1818, and in 1823 it was bought by George Stickle (father of Hubbard S. Stickle), who sold it in 1821 to John Hardy. John M. Eddy bought it in 1841 and carried it on for several years, when it fell into the possession of Edward R. Biddle, then owner of Mount Hope. In 1858 it came into possession of Ernest Fiedler, of New York City. It has long been disused.
About 1842 "Big" Samuel Merritt built a forge on a little brook run- ning out of Gravel Dam, on what is called the Garrigus Place, near Den- mark ; but it was a small affair and soon abandoned.
The next forge down the stream was Middle forge, already mentioned. In 1773, Colonel Jacob Ford Sr. conveyed this forge to Colonel Jacob Ford Jr., and in 1778 the executors of Jacob Ford Jr. conveyed it to John Jacob Faesch, who ran it in connection with his works at Mount Hope until his death, June 28, 1800. General John Doughty, as commissioner, conveyed it to Moses Phillips Jr., who rebuilt and ran the forge a number of years. Under him it was called the Aetna forge. In 1839 it came into the hands of Samuel F. Righter, who conveyed it in 1853 to his brother, George E. Righter. He operated it some years, when it was permitted to go to decay. The United States purchased the forge seat in 1880, with the large tract of land around it, of Mr. Righter, and put up extensive powder magazines there. For this purpose no other place was found to contain equal advantages. It was very easy of access to the seaboard, possessed a valuable water power, and the tract was as secluded as could be desired.
The next forge is the Mount Pleasant forge, already spoken of. Here were at one time a four-fire forge above the bridge, and a smaller one below. The upper or larger forge was down before the beginning of the last cen- tury ; the lower one was long standing.
The Rockaway river, after the union of its two branches, flows first through Dover, where were the old Josiah Beman forge and Schooley's forge (the Quaker iron works), already mentioned, and, it is said, a forge built by Moses Doty. Of these only one survived, and became merged in the extensive iron works of Canfield & Losey. Below Dover, the first forge on the Rockaway river was the old iron works of Job Allen, of which an account has been given. The lower forge at Rockaway was built by Stephen Jackson, after he had sold his interest in the upper one, and found Faesch
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unwilling to sell it back to him. He had served as captain of militia cavalry in the Revolutionary War, and in the severe winter of 1780-81 contracted a pulmonary disease which he supposed would terminate fatally, and in this belief sold his forge to Faesch. Afterward, recovering his health, he tried in vain to repurchase it. A freshet in the winter of 1794-95 formed an ice- dam below the upper dam, and on his own land. He was prompt to act on this suggestion, building the next year the lower dam and forge at Rockaway, which he sold in 1809 to his son Joseph. It remained in his possession until 1852, when he conveyed it, with the rolling mill, to Freeman Wood. It was never afterward used as a bloomary forge. It was used in the manufacture of steel, but only for a short time, and was then suffered to fall to pieces.
A mile below the village of Rockaway a stream joins the Rockaway river, coming from the north, known as Beaver brook. It is made up of three principal streams-the White Meadow brook, upon which were built the White Meadow forge and Guinea forge, already mentioned; the Beach Glen brook, upon which were the Hibernia forge and the Beach Glen forge (the old Johnston iron works) ; and the Meriden brook, upon which were the Durham forge, the Split Rock forge and the two Meriden forges. Hibernia forge was built by William Scott after the furnace there went down; it ran but a short time. Of the Beach Glen forge, mention has already been made.
Durham forge, at Greenville, was built by Ebenezer Cobb, about the year 1800. There is nothing left of the forge but heavy castings which vege- tation has almost covered up. The Split Rock forge was built about 1790, by a Mr. Farrand. It was bought by Colonel Lemuel Cobb, and formed part of that large tract of about 3000 acres at Split Rock, which was divided among his three heirs-Andrew B. Cobb, Mrs. William C. H. Waddell and Mrs. Benjamin Howell. In the division the forge fell to Andrew B. Cobb. The bloomary fires were replaced by a deoxidizer, which by a process that introduces the ore heated and mingled with heated pulverized charcoal to three fires arranged around one stack, makes a charcoal bloom similar to that of the old fashioned fire, but much more rapidly. Of the two forges at Meriden, one on the north side and the other on the south side of the public road, the upper one was built shortly after Split Rock, and possibly by the same parties ; tlie lower one by Peter Hiler, about 1820. Colonel John Hinch- man, of Denville, once owned this lower forge; from him it passed to John Righter, of Parsippany. Both forges have been down many years. Below the mouth of Beaver brook, at Denville, Den brook enters the Rockaway from the southwest. Upon this stream were the Shongum, Ninkey, Cold- rain and Franklin forges, which have been mentioned.
Near the Rockaway river, in Rockaway Valley, on a brook coming from the hills on the west, James Dixon built in 1830 the forge which was operated for about thirty years by him and his two sons, Cyrus and William. On another little stream which joins the Rockaway at Rockaway Valley, . about two miles north of the Valley church, a forge was built by John Decker about 1825, and called the Decker forge. It was running to within a few years of the Civil War.
Following down the Rockaway is Powerville forge, built in 1794, by William Scott. In 1836 Scott built the rolling mill on the same property. In the division of Colonel Scott's real estate this fell to his son, Elijah D. Scott, who conveyed it to Thomas Willis. Three miles below Powerville, on the Rockaway, is Old Boonton, of whose slitting mill mention wil be made hereafter. In connection with this mill was a four-fire forge, which long survived the other mills.
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Besides the forges mentioned, there were in the county several others. Benjamin Roome writes that Simon Van Ness had a forge on the Morris county side of the Pequannock river, about one and a half miles above Bloomingdale, which was worked by Robert Colfax as late as 1811, when a freshet tore it to pieces and it was not rebuilt. In 1821-22 Hubbard S. Stickle built the Montgomery forge, on Stone Meadow brook, about two miles above Stony brook ; it is no longer in operation. About the same time Timber brook forge was built near Greenville, on Copperas brook, a stream running north into the Pequannock, by John Dow. It was owned in 1828 by George Stickle, and afterward by Matthias Kitchel. Since the death of . Mr. Kitchel it has been suffered to go to decay. On the stream running south into Lake Hopatcong were built two forges. The upper one, called the Welldone (since shortened to Weldon) forge, was built by Major Moses Hopping, probably about 1800. The land was located in 1793. The forge later came into the possession of Hon. William E. Dodge, of New York. The lower forge was built shortly before the other, probably in 1795, by Daniel and Joseph Hurd, and called by them New Partners. On the Mus- conetcong river there were several forges, but mostly on the Sussex side of the river.
On the south branch of the Raritan there were at least three forges. William Stephens built one in 1840, about a mile below Budd's Lake, which was in operation but a few years, when it went down. George Salmon owned one at Upper Bartleyville, which was running as late as 1862; and at Bartley- ville was the old forge known as Welsh's forge, which ran down about 1840. Professor Cook gives the date of its erection as 1790. There is located on an old map (1823) the site of an "extinct forge," called Eaton, near Bartley- ville, and another below the junction of the north and south branches, called Casterline's. On the north branch at Flanders was an old forge, built by William Hinchman in 1802, and which ran for about forty years. In 1812 he advertised in the Morristown Herald a large amount of property for sale, including "an excellent two-fire forge in complete repair for making bar iron, with workmen's houses, orchards, gardens, etc."
On Black River there were also three forges-one, whose ruins are remembered by old people, about a mile above the grist mill of the late General Cooper; one at Hacklebarney, which was running until a late date; and one about a mile below Hacklebarney, which has long gone to decay. At Shippenport was built in 1844 a forge to run by the waste water of the Morris canal in summer, and by a natural stream at other seasons. This forge was greatly enlarged by Anson G. P. Segur.
The Pequannock river, after leaving the mountains, flows more slowly and sluggishly along, now to the right and now to the left, through the farm- ing and meadow lands, some six or seven miles to the village of Newfound- land, the center of which is the hotel formerly of John P. Brown. At this village a small forge was erected about forty years ago by an association of persons, among whom were the late Peter B. Brown and Ebenezer Cobb. It stands on a tract of 320.16 acres returned for James Alexander and Robert H. Morris, October 25, 1754. This forge has been called 'Squire Cobb's forge, Cobb & Bigalow's forge, and Bigalow & Decker's forge, and some- times Tobacco forge, from its limited power.
About a mile above Brown's Hotel, Cedar brook, flowing from the north, joins the Pequannock ; up this brook about a mile was the celebrated Clinton works, built by William Jackson in 1826 and in the six years following. Though entirely in Passaic county, it was a Morris county enterprise, and
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undertaken by Morris county men. William Jackson was a son of Stephen Jackson, of Rockaway, and had but recently, with his brother, built the rolling-mill there. Selling out his interest in the Rockaway mill, he entered this then perfectly wild forest region, erected a saw mill, forge and blast furnace, sawed timber, and made iron, which he carted to Dover and Rocka- way for market. The first blast was made under the supervision of John F. Winslow, a son-in-law of Mr. Jackson, afterward one of the proprietors of the Albany iron works. It commenced October 4, 1833, and continued until February 5, 1834. The second blast commenced May 9, 1834, and ended April 29, 1835. The third and final blast comenced August 25, 1835, and ended January 30, 1836. Mr. Jackson employed many men and teams in the transportation of his lumber and iron to their destination, and the re- turning trips were made with ore. He made roads and built dwelling houses and outbuildings for his men and teams, and such as were necessary for his business ; also a grist mill. An anchor shop was built and anchors made. While the works were being constructed, iron fell one-half or more in price, owing to the tariff legislation, and Mr. Jackson was obliged to stop operations. The water power is a splendid one, and the water, descending in three or four falls between one and two hundred feet, presents a beautiful and romantic place to visit. Mr. Winslow went to Troy, New York, where he entered into partnership with Erastus Corning. The famous "Monitor" iron- clad which met the "Merrimac" off Fortress Monroe in 1861, was built by them, and was actually owned by them at the time of its wonderful victory, the government yet owing them for its construction.
About two miles below Mr. Brown's is Charlotteburg, or Charlotten- burg, as it is generally called; so named, it is said, in honor of Queen Char- lotte. Here, as has been said, the London Company had its furnaces, etc .. before the Revolutionary War. The property was long in the possession of Chilion Ford De Camp and his son Edward De Camp, both Morris county men- the latter a son-in-law of Colonel William Scott, owner at one time of Hibernia, Powerville, etc. Later the furnace was owned by Hon. Abram S. Hewitt.
A mile below Charlotteburg was a small one-fire forge, erected by the late John Smith in 1850, at a place called Smith's Mills. But little iron was made here-hardly enough to make a cinder bank-and it long ago went to destruction. The next forge down the stream was the Bloomingdale forge, owned by Martin John Ryerson, near the old Ogden furnace.
Charcoal Furnaces-The first furnace in Morris county was probably the one built in Bloomingdale, about a mile above Pompton, by the Ogdens. Benjamin Roome, for many years a deputy surveyor of the Board of Pro- prietors, and engaged all his life in surveying and searching titles in Morris and Passaic, ascribed its erection to them. It was close to the high bank, ยท about one-eighth of a mile below where Stony brook empties into the Pe- quannock. The Midland railroad now passes just in front of its site. It has not been in blast since 1800, and must have been built many years before; it is now gone. The Ogdens were from Newark, and were the pioneers in furnace building in this section, as well as in the manufacture of iron gen- erally. On April 15, 1740, Cornelius Board sold to Josiah Ogden, John Ogden Jr., David Ogden Sr., David Ogden Jr. and Uzal Ogden, all of Newark, and called the Ringwood Company, sixteen acres of land at Ring- wood, where they built the furnace afterward purchased of them in 1764 by Peter Hasenclever for the London Company. The Ringwood Company was
.
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thus the predecessor of the London Company. Josiah and David Ogden were brothers, and David had sons John, David and Uzal. Josiah had a son named David, and one named Jacob.
On November 27, 1766, John and Uzal Ogden, of Newark, mortgaged to Thomas Pennington and Ferdinand Pennington, of Bristol, England, sev- eral tracts in the counties of Bergen and Morris, and among the rest a tract at Bloomingdale partly in Morris and partly in Bergen, conveyed to them in two lots-one containing 137.64 acres, by Philip Schuyler and wife, August I, 1759; the other containing 34 acres, by Guilliam Batolf, October, 1765. It. is altogether probable that the furnace stood on this tract and that the deeds to the Ogdens indicate when it was built.
After the sale in 1764 to the London Company by the Ogdens, we meet frequently with their names in the history of the iron business of Morris county. Samuel Ogden resided at Boonton. On April 17, 1776, Joseph Hoff speaks of a moulder whom he desired to obtain, having been applied to by Messrs. Ogden, of Pompton furnace, to work at that business. It seems from this that the Ogdens after locating at Old Boonton still had their furnace at Pompton.
It is generally conceded that the Bloomingdale furnace was built prior to 1765; if not, then the first one in the county was the Hibernia furnace, styled in its beginning, The Adventure. The furnace, located four miles north of Rockaway, was one of the operations with which William Alexander, Lord Stirling, was connected as owner, and is more fully noted in the town- ship history. One of the letters written by Hoff, his manager, to Lord Stirling suggests, "If ye Lordship could send us some of the regular and Hessian deserters, that don't choose into the Continental service and de- pend on working in the country, to amount to 30 or 40, I would do my endeavor to make 'em serviceable." Later a letter was written to General Winds which explains why quite a large number of Hessians were sent to Morris county :
WILLIAM WINDS, EsQ., Brigadier-General :
Being in possession of a furnace as manager thereof, commonly called and known by the name of the Hibernia Furnace, belonging to the Right Hon. William Earl of Stirling, Major-General in the service of the United States of America, situate in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, which is employed for the continent in casting all sorts of military stores, which we have engaged to furnish with as speedily as possible, I find it therefore essentially necessary to employ a number of workmen for that purpose; and, as I am informed that a good many deserters both of the British troops and Hessians are come in and sent to Philadelphia, I have sent the- bearer -- my brother John Hoff-on purpose and given him full power hereby to engage as many men as he thinks proper, such as are used to cut wood in the winter season and can assist in the coaling business during the summer season, and a few other tradesmen; where they shall meet with the best encouragement and treatment, provided they make good several engagements to which they will be called. And whatever agreements and promises the said John Hoff does make the same shall be punctually fulfilled by me the subscriber,
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