USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 40
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The names of sachems or chiefs of the petty kingdoms east of the Passaic were Seweckroneck, Mindowaskein, and Canundus. The Indian sachems living on the western side of the Passaic and at the foot of Long Hill (known and called by the Indians Tantomwom) were Sennachus, Non- sechem, and Nowenock. [Bill of Chancery, pp. 56-59.]
Much evidence concerning the location of Indian villages in this vicinity
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is obtained through the implements picked up. From arrow heads and stone axes found it has been concluded that there were camp sites at the following places : Dickinson's farm, the Budd farm down Budd Lane, Coleman's Hill, Duchamp's sand pit, the spring near the pumping station, the bluff on the western bank of the Passaic north of Main street, the knoll on the Vander- poel estate, the hillside in the vicinity of Stanley, and the farm of Mr. Schwartz on the Black Swamp. Some of these sites were probably not permanent, being used occasionally during the wanderings of the Indians over the State. As recently as the early part of the 19th century the Indians were known to pass through Chatham on their way to the coast. The late Barnabas Bond said that he remembered the Indians stopping for the night in his father's barn, and that he had vivid recollections of seeing them pay for their night's lodging by performing a war dance in the morning as an amusement for the town folk. It is said that up to 1850 delegations were sent from the remnant tribes of this locality living at that time in the west, to look over their old hunting fields in the Passaic Valley, the Indian burial ground at Hanover Neck, and to renew in their traditional history recollec- tions of the old land marks. [Tradition, reported by Wm. Budd.]
Previous to the year 1680 the Watchung Mountains formed a frontier barrier beyond which the white man dared not venture. Hostile Indians had their encampments dotted throughout this wilderness, and trails led from one Indian settlement to another. The clearings along the banks of the Passaic are said to have been the scene of many a battle between the aboriginal tribes. The fields beyond the Cheapside Bridge are often referred to as one of these battle grounds. The Indian has now long since left this valley and the only recollection of him at the present time is the occasional arrow-head picked up by the farmer or the student of Indian lore.
Early Settlement-It was seventy-five years or more after Henry Hud- son first sailed up the river bearing his name, in 1609, before any settlement was made by the white man beyond the Watchung Mountains. A trading post was established at Bergen (Jersey City) in 1614, and scattered settle- ments were made at Hoboken in 1641. After the Indian massacre in 1643 and the consequent outbreak of the Indians against the whites in Pavonia (name for the Jersey shore of the Hudson) in 1654, emigrants were advised to make their settlements in groups in order to protect themselves from the Indians. In consequence of this, the first concentrated settlement was made at Bergen, 1660. Four years later a settlement at Elizabeth Town was headed by Daniel Denton, and in 1666 some New Englanders from Connec- ticut settled at Newark. It was from these settlements, particularly the latter, that early adventurers came into the land beyond the Great Watchung.
One of the first descriptions of this territory is contained in the follow- ing: "There are little hills from the Raritan River which is about the middle of this Province, that go to the very North-West bounds of it, in which are abundant of good Mill Stones to be had, and there are many, both corn and Saw Mills set and setting up already, also on the other side of these Moun- tains, there is found fresh Rivulets, fit for setting of In-Land-Towns, and a great deal of Meadow-ground upon the banks thereof so that there is abund- ance of Hay to be had for Foddering of Cattle in the Winter time and these meadows show the Country is not altogether covered with Timber." [The model of the Gov. of the Prov. of East New Jersey in America, Edinburgh, John Reid, 1685, p. 68.]
The first purchase including the territory west of the Watchung Moun-
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tains was made by Governor Nicolls, on October 28, 1684, from the Indian chief Matano. The land covered by this patent was of great dimension and embraced not only the present Union county, but also a small part of Morris county and a considerable portion of Somerset. The Nicolls Grant covering the western part of Morris county included Chatham. Stephen Osborn accompanied by the Indian sagamores marked out the boundaries of the purchase. The particular Indian who helped decide the western boundary was Wewanapo, a cousin of one of the sagamores that sold the land origin- ally. The line which was established on the 16th day of July, 1684, and set the first boundaries of Elizabeth Town, ran from Piscataway westward towards the Green river near where it comes out of the mountain; from thence the surveyors encompassed the foot of the mountain directed by the Indian till they came to the Minisink Path, and then came down to Elizabeth Town. It was affirmed however by an Indian chief that this compass in- cluded only a part of the town's land. [Hatfield's "History of Elizabeth Town," pp. 36 and 228.] When the boundaries of Elizabeth Town were definitely passed by the Assembly in October of the year 1693, a great part of Morris county was included within the township. It was described by the legislature as follows :- "The Township of Elizabeth Town shall include all the land from the mouth of the Raway River west to Woodbridge-Stake, and from thence westerly along the Line of the County to the Partition Line of the Province, and from the mouth of the said Raway River, up the Sound to the mouth of the Bound Creek, from thence to the Bound Hill, and from thence northwest to the Partition Line of the Province." This territory included Union county and large portions of Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, Warren and Sussex counties including Chatham, Morristown, Schooley's Mountain and Newton. [Hatfield's Hist, Elizabeth Town, page 240.]
The Indian sachems, Wewanapo, Sennachus, and Nonsachem sold to George Carteret for the sum of £55, on April 23, 1680, a tract of land lying up in the mountains. This purchase lay upon the brook, "called by the Indians Oppinqua," (possibly Day's Brook), "there being a long mountain called by the Indians Tantomwom." Proof is given in the Bill of Chancery [p. 60] that this Long Mountain was Long Hill. If the Oppinqua were Day's Brook the purchase covered this immediate vicinity. It is possible that the brook referred to might have been the Black Brook of the Great Swamp. On October 30, 1684, Gawen Lowry and others of Elizabeth Town bought of the Indians, Seweckroneck, Mindowaskein, Canundus and We- wanapee large tracts about Green Brook and the Blue Hills ( the Watchung Mountains were referred to in the early times as the Blue Hills). This pur- chase lay on the eastern side of the Passaic river and extended from Scotch Plains northward to the locality of Canoe brook. A part of this land is known in the Bill of Chancery as lots 125 and 126. [ Bill of Chan., p. 56.]
Land was frequently purchased by the whites through deceptive bar- gainings with the unsophisticated Indians. A tricky method resorted to by the settlers in making purchases along the Passaic has been handed down to his posterity by Mr. Harvey Lum. Occasionally agreements were made for tracts of land as large as that which could be embraced with the hide of an ox. The Indian, thinking that the land in question was no larger than that which the hide would cover, made the exchange for a small consideration. But the interpretation placed on the bargain by the white man was quite different from that understood by the Indian. Instead of the land being the size of the hide, it was, to the contrary, of rather extensive dimensions. The
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ox hide was cut into the narrowest possible strips and linked together into one continuous cord. In consequence of this strategy the land embraced be- came a lot of considerable size. On not a few occasions was property thus inveigled from the original inhabitants of this locality.
It appears in the records in Trenton among the deeds and assignments of land between 1664 and 1703 that small plots of land were sold to the inhabitants of Newark at the point where the Indian trail to Minisink crossed the Passaic river. Considering that the size of these plots was somewhere about twenty acres, one may justly conclude they were purchased for the purpose of making a settlement. Tuttle, in his history of the Pres- byterian Church of Madison, states that about 1685 a few families from Elizabethtown and Newark settled beyond the Watchung Mountains. The following confirmation shows that a number of the inhabitants of Newark had purchased land previous to the year 1698 at the Minisink crossing in Chatham and is rather conclusive evidence that a settlement was made soon after this date.
The following is an excerpt taken from the records in Trenton : "1698, March 28. Confirmation to Elizabeth, widow of David Ogden, in Newark, in right of her father, Capt. Samuel Swaine of Newark, deceased, of twenty acres there on the south side of Long Hill, south the road, west Nathaniel Wheeler and John Johnson, north George Day, east John Curtis and a piece of meadow, northeast Thomas Peirson, southeast the "great island," south- west Samuel Freeman, northwest the creek." [N. J. Arch., Ist series, vol. 21, p. 281.] Each of these landowners lived at the time in Newark. It is quite probable that Day and Peirson moved on their land soon after this date. This particular tract was located west of the Passaic river and north of the Minisink trail. The great island referred to was without doubt the island in the river at the crossing which was possibly called, "the great island," in contradistinction to the little island at the crossing in Stanley. The location of this tract is most definitely determined through the com- bined references to Long Hill and this island, since there is no other island in the Passaic river to which reference may be made as, "the great island," in the vicinity of Long Hill. The statement that this land was on the side of Long Hill does not necessarily place it immediately on the slope of the mountain. The land at this juncture along the river might justly have been referred to at this time as lying on the side of Long Hill.
Another reference in the same volume goes to verify the location of this tract of land at the place heretofore selected. "1702, April I, confirmation to John Johnson of Monmouth County in right of headlands, of a lot in Essex County on the Passaic River where the road from Minisinks to Elizabethtown crosses it." [N. J. Archiv., Ist series, vol. ii, p. 334.] The limits of the counties at this time were quite indefinite and a lot at the crossing might have been referred to as lying in Essex county without any great mistake in location.
In the earliest time there were two gate ways through which the settlers were able to reach the country beyond the Watchung Mountains. These were the gaps at Scotch Plains and at Short Hill through which Indian paths ran to the open low lands lying to the southeast. Scotch Plains was settled by Thomas Gordon as early as November 18, 1685, [ Contributions to East Jersey History, Whitehead, p. 62], and surveys were made in the Passaic Valley, according to a map dated May 3, 1749, taken from a survey made for a Mr. Gordon of Gordonston in Scotland. This map is in the possession of Mr. David Dickinson. The survey made for Mr. Gordon was for his first
Nath Wheeler
Sam'l Foreman
John Johnson
David Ogden
The Great Island
2
creek Geo Day
John Curtise
ELIZABETH
To
Passaic River
-
Original owners of lands at Minnisink Crossing, 1698. They were residents of Newark.
Map drawn by James M. Littlejohn, Chatham.
Thomas Pairson
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division of land in the province, and consisted of an allotment of fifteen hundred acres as the following item shows: "1701, June 10, Confirmation to Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonston, Scotland, as his first division of land in the province, fifteen hundred acres on the south side of the Passaick along the path from Elizabethtown to Minisink." [N. J. Arch., Ist series, vol. 21, p. 151.] Sir Robert Gordon was one of the proprietors of East Jersey and this is indisputable evidence that his first allotment of land lay on the east side of the Passaic at Chatham. From this map of 1749 it may be concluded that settlements were made in this section of the Passaic Valley by pioneers from Scotch Plains.
It is stated that settlements were made in Morris county as early as 1685 but no definite information concerning them is given. [Barber and Howe, p. 379; also Hist. Madison Pres. Church, Tuttle, p. 10.] Soon after the Robert Treat and Daniel Denton settlements, pioneers came over the Blue Hills from Newark and Elizabeth Town. In their attempt to cross the mountains there was but one way of ingress. This was by the old Minisink Indian Trail which passed through the Short Hills Gap and led directly to Chatham. The ford of the river was known in those early times as the Crossing of the Fishawack in the Valley of the Great Watchung. The chief settlement at that time was probably made at Whippanong or Whippany. There is considerable evidence that a settlement was made at the time mentioned in the attractive locality near the crossing of the river at Chatham. However, no authentic record has been found.
The settlement at Whippanong which included the vicinity of Chatham, was organized into one of the townships of Burlington county in the year 1700. [Proceedings N. J. Hist. Soc., 2d series, vol. 2, p. 18.] Since Chat- ham lay in the territory of the disputed claims between East Jersey and West Jersey, considerable confusion arose concerning the county to which the town belonged. Frequent references are found in which the territory is placed in Burlington county of West Jersey, and likewise, almost as many references locate it in Essex county of East Jersey. Tradition has it that William Penn owned a large tract of land in the upper part of Burlington county about the year 1701. Purchases were made from this tract by many of the proprietors of West Jersey. This land rightfully belonged to East Jersey and these purchases led to the conflicting claims between the pro- prietors of East and West Jersey.
It is definitely known that families moved from Newark and Eilzabeth Town west of the Passaic and settled along its banks in the year 1710. The attraction which lured the adventurer beyond the Blue Hills or Watch- ung Mountains was not only the fertile land in the Valley of the Great Watchung but also the iron ore deposits lying in the hills of north central Jersey. Deposits of ore were discovered by Arent Schuyler previous to 1695 and in consequence of his discovery many forges were located through- out the territory of Morris county and the locality became known as "The Old Forges." In a letter written by Washington during the Revolutionary War he states that there were from 80 to 100 forges within the limits of this county. Tradition says that one of these forges was situated at the crossing of the Passaic river, near where the mill now stands. Local evidence points toward the possible site of this forge having been near the crossing of the Passaic river at Summit avenue. Another of these forges was located at Green Village. It is said that the iron ore found at Hibernia and Wharton was transported by means of pack horses and manufactured into arms,
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ammunition, farming utensils, and ship trimmings. These were later trans- ported to Newark and Elizabeth Town for sale.
In the year 1713 the township of Hanover ceased to be a part of Burlington county through the setting off of the county of Hunterdon, and for the next twenty-two years the territory in and about Whippanong was a township in that county.
As previously stated, the land in this locality was in the early part of the 18th century the cause of a great deal of controversy which was brought about by the conflicting claims between the proprietors of East and West Jersey. The proprietors of West Jersey in their ambition for the acquisition of land did not stop with the limit of the old Keith Line established in 1687 between the two Jerseys, but extended their claims over into the Passaic Valley making the eastern boundary of West Jersey the Passaic river. William Penn, John Budd, and John Hayward were the principal pro- prietors who laid claim to the land of this immediate vicinity. According to a map made April 4, 1744 showing the encroachments of the West Jersey proprietors east of the Quintipartite Line, Thomas and Richard Penn owned 4,937 acres in the Great Black Swamp. [This map is in the Surveyor Gen- eral's office at Perth Amboy.] To William Penn belonged in the year 1715, 1250 acres in the vicinity of Dutch Town (Floral Hill) and to Abraham Chapman 833 acres in and about Stanley. John Budd besides possessing a great tract at Whippany, owned 1250 acres extending westward from the Passaic river through the present property of Frank M. Budd. In the immediate locality of Chatham 870 acres were purchased by John Budd for John Hayward in the year 1716. According to tradition, in 1721 John Budd was the owner of a tract of land to the extent of 847 acres including Chat- ham. This tract was probably the identical tract formerly owned by Hay- ward less a narrow strip of possibly twenty-three acres which extended to the west towards Madison. John Budd did not live on this tract, for a bill of sale, dated December 20, 1731, reads as follows: "From John Budd of Hanover to Samuel Bustill a certain brick dwelling house, etc." [Liber C-3 Burlington, p. 89.] Hanover was the home of the Budds until the time when Dr. John C. Budd moved from that place to the farm which is now in the possession of Mr. Frank M. Budd down Budd Lane. With all the diligent research which has been made the most definite date arrived at con- cerning the early settlement of Chatham is that of 1730, when John and Daniel Day settled in the locality where the road crossed the Passaic river west of the Watchung Mountains. These men came from Long Island. It is reported that John Day bought 250 acres of land from John Budd. George Day came into New Jersey and lived on the north side of Long Hill. [Littell's Genealogy, p. 113.] On the map formerly referred to in the possession of Mr. David Dickinson it is recorded that a George Day lived near the Passaic river south of the road leading to Elizabeth Town near the crossing in Chatham, at that time spoken of as "John Day's Bridge." It is possible that this was the George Day who settled on the north side of Long Hill. At this time, 1749, John Day owned the land west of the Passaic river including the present limits of Chatham. Nathaniel Bonnel came from Long Island to Elizabeth Town, from thence he moved to the Passaic river, and became one of the earliest settlers in Chatham. There is slight evidence in the map referred to above that a Mr. Bonnel lived on the present site of the Vanderpoel estate in 1749. However it is stated that the Bonnels settled originally on the present Bonnel homestead in Stanley. The first settlers in the Passaic valley west of the Watchung Mountains were of English and
Mt of Tantomworn
Township Morris
To Bottle
Township of Hanover
Morris 1739
F TO TURKEY
Territory of The Boro of Elizabeth
771W
- JOHN DAY
GeoDay
DSLOG HOUSES
Tavern 1755.
John Day Property
N
-
From Gordon's Surveys 170%.
5
Township
of
Newark
Chatham, John Day's Bridge, or Minnisink Crossing, 1749. From original in hands
of David Dickinson. Drawn by James M. Littlejohn.
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Scotch origin. The former came from Connecticut to Long Island and thence to Newark. The latter landed at Elizabeth Town and came over the mountains either directly from Elizabeth or from the Scotch Plains Settle- ment. The early family names in and about Chatham in Morris county, which county was set off from Hunterdon in 1798, we find are Day, Bonnel, Budd, Carter, Raymond, Genung, Lum, Ward, Bruen, Spencer, and Morhouse. The homestead of the Day family was located on the present site of the Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church. It is said however that originally the family of Days lived somewhere near the hotel on the western side of the Passaic river north of Main street. Dr. John C. Budd was the first of the Budd family to live in this vicinity and through his reputation as a doctor the land about the farm where Frank M. Budd now lives became widely known. The road leading from Main street to his farm was in consequence named Budd Lane. Unfortunately the name of this street was changed to Passaic avenue. Previous to the Revolution there were two roads leading from the road to Elizabeth Town to the Cheapside Bridge. One followed the river and left Main street opposite the old Jacob Morrell house and came out on the present Passaic avenue just beyond the Budd farm. The other went down Elmwood avenue, running north of Coleman's Hill. The present Passaic avenue evidently was built to take the place of the two. The nucleus of the Bonnel family was located in the vicinity of Stanley where a Mr. Bonnel built a grist mill. For many years this locality was referred to as Bonnel Town. In 1749 a Peter Raymond lived on the Ridge Farm back of the present Allen estate east of the Passaic river. The Genungs originally settled on the slope of the Hill south from Division street. The oldest known residence of the Lums in Chatham was on the cor- ner of Fairmount avenue and Main street. The progenitors of this family owned land in the vicinity as early as 1730. It is reported that the farm of Frank M. Budd was called the "Lum Estate," during pre-Revolutionary times. The dwelling on Coleman's Hill was known as the Ward Mansion and was the home from which many of the noted men of that family sprang. Mr. Montgomery Ward, a notable merchant of Chicago, was a descendant of this family. He was born in Chatham, in 1843, in the house on East Main street now owned by Mr. Russel Budd. Israel Ward, of Revolutionary times, was the great-grandfather of Montgomery. Israel was a captain in the Eastern Battalion in the Revolution, and also earned a military title in the French and Indian war. Mr. Ward's property on Coleman's Hill was later occupied by his son Aaron Ward who died 1811. It is said that Gen. Washington was entertained at the home of Israel Ward when Aaron was a small child. The Morhouses referred to in Chatham history lived in the vicinity of the Orange water works. For a time previous to the purchase of the present Vanderpoel estate by David Vanderpoel in 1771, Moses Carter owned that farm. At Union Hill the first settlement was made by the Bruens prior to the Revolution and various members of the family have lived in this vicinity ever since that time.
The earliest history of Chatham deals with that locality east of the Passaic river and at the crossing about Parrot's Mill. The notable Day's Tavern often spoken of in connection with Washington, was located on the north side of the turnpike just east of where the River road turns off to the south. For a long time a mass of shrubbery and an old stone horse-block marked the site of this public house which was built about the year 1750. Foster Horton's store of the Revolutionary times was situated west of the Passaic on the south side of the turnpike road near the old mill pond.
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Foster Horton was notable especially through his father, Azariah Horton, who was the first American foreign missionary. [Hist. Discourse, Rev. E. P. Gardner, p. 7.] Colonel Seeley of Revolutionary fame kept a tavern previous to the Revolutionary War, just west of Foster Horton's store, on the same side of the road to Elizabeth Town. Not far west from Colonel Seeley's tavern, on the south side of the road, was the home of Jacob Mor- rell, now occupied by Fred Tallmadge. It is said that the residence of John Day was located on the north side of the road, west of the Passaic and near the river. A map heretofore referred to, which was found by the author of this sketch in the year 1912 represents a survey made for Andrew Johnson on May 3, 1749. This map was among some old papers in the home of Mr. David Dickinson, and the same is now in his possession. The dwellings of George Day and Peter Raymond to whom references has been made, are definitely located thereon. This little settlement lying peaceably along the Passaic was known until 1775 as John Day's Bridge. The name was changed about this date and the town was henceforth called Chatham after William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham. In consequence of his speeches in Parliament in defence of the colonies many towns throughout the east were given his name. The derivation of Chatham is from the Anglo Saxon-chete, cot- tage ; ham, village; a village of cottages.
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