USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 63
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
!
The Munson House,
Hartshorn Fitz-Randolph Home as it was in 1845; burned 1876,
433
MORRIS COUNTY
a stream. We follow its windings-up above the Falls. The emigration from the old country may be represented by the Falls. And thus we come down stream to Dover, Granny's Brook, and Indian Falls, and a hermitage just above it.
There was a little school house not far from the Fitz Randolph home- stead, by the brook that flows down to Indian Falls. Sarah Millen went to school there. At the age of three she used to run away from home and go to school. Her father punished her for this at first, but afterwards let her have her way. The teacher boarded with them and at that time was a lady teacher. The children used to paddle in the brook near the school house-charming place for a school. We don't have such privileges now. This was the old Mine Hill school. Later the school was built on top of the hill, near the church. Mr. Stevenson, who later taught in Dover, first had the Mine Hill school. That must have been before 1848. After the death of Gov. Dickerson in 1853, Rev. Robert Crossett and his two daugh- ters kept a private school in the Dickerson mansion for three years. Sarah Millen went to this school. The Canfield children went to this school. It was primarily for them. Many from Dover attended. All this helps us see the picture of human life that followed that survey which John Reading made in 1713, out here at Mine Hill.
But we have not yet finished painting our picture of the Randolph house, the "Mansion House." Some day an artist may give it to us. When Sarah Millen was a little girl, about ten years old, an old carpenter visited the house and went through it, examining everything with great interest. He was about seventy years old, and said that he had worked on the house when a young man. This was in 1853, about. He may have worked there fifty years before, in 1803, nearly. Does this mean that the "Mansion House" was built in 1803? Hartshorne Fitz Randolph died about 1807. Perhaps the carpenter was repairing the house or enlarging it. Dr. Magie states that Fitz Randolph occupied this house from 1753 to 1807. Now to my notes again.
The mother of Sarah Millen was married in this house in 1834. The grandmother of Sarah Millen's mother bought it from a man named Woods. This is that Freeman Woods. Now then. Where are we coming out? This Freeman Woods may have bought it from the heirs of Richard F. Randolph, in 1816.
The house is a large house with two stories and an attic. There were iron rings in the ceiling of the upper hall, to help get things up garret. "Things" included great hogsheads of grain, for the grain, when threshed out, was stored in hogsheads in the large, light attic above the kitchen. The hogsheads were still there when Mrs. Goodale last saw the house. Over one part of the kitchen was a bed for any one who came from the poorhouse to stay during the summer. This is how the people in the poor- house were provided for in those days. There was a very wide stairway in the great hall. The children used to dress up in all the old clothes and finery of their ancestors and play church on this stairway, reading the service from an old prayer book of the Church of England, that was in the family.
From the inventory of the estate of Hartshorne Fitz Randolph we find reference to the furnishings of six bedrooms. Can we reconstruct the house, after it has burned down? Presto! Mrs. Goodale takes a pencil and paper and draws a plan of it. And Miss Louise Goodale, her
434
NEW JERSEY
daughter, who is an artist, thinks she can paint a picture of it from her mother's description.
The house had a sunny front exposure and a cool place in the rear for the milk room, which was some steps below the level of the kitchen. Above this low milk room was a place for a bed, and a bed could be put in the alcove beside the milk room, curtained off. Above the front end of the hall was a hall bedroom. This helps us figure out six bedrooms, if we add one over the kitchen, and one over the front room, and one over the back room. Hartshorne had five daughters and two sons, besides the visitor from the poorhouse and occasional guests. I leave the problem for any housekeeper to work out. Something like a problem in algebra.
Another matter of interest is the road by which one approached the house or left it. The present cross-cut to McLoughlin's corner was not then in existence.
Mr. Fred A. Canfield is my authority for saying that the large black- smith shop shown in the diagram furnishes a scene in a romantic story called "Woodside," written by "Ella Lincoln," whose real name was Eliza Woodruff. This story was published many years ago. This beautiful region, with its romantic glen and its picturesque landscapes, might well be the scene of romantic tales, or a charming residence tract for those who can appreciate it. We can reach it now by trolley. And a short spin takes us to Lake Hopatcong. And not far away is Green Pond. With all the social attraction and business conveniences of Dover close at hand; and a little church at Mine Hill, very handy; not to speak of Mr. Buck's emporium on the corner. Some day people may realize the charm of this tract, as the old Quaker settlers seemed to do.
While I am on this subject let me see what Mrs. Ella W. Livermore has to say about it. Have patience, gentle reader! It is a long lane that has no turning. Here is a letter written by Thomas Ross, a grandson of Hartshorne, at Newark, August 5, 1806, to Charles Fitz Randolph: "I have not heard anything from Grandfather these several weeks past. The last account informed us of his being much the same as when we were there. It would be more pleasing to hear from him, as his situation is often the subject of our consideration. Give my respects to all dear rela- tives, especially to our honored Grandfather."
Another letter by the same: "Feb. 15, 1807. I hope upon receipt of this, you will favor me with a letter in return informing me how things are regulated at the Mansion House since Grandfathers's decease." Note the expression-"Mansion House," and dates.
Newark is drawing its citizens from the descendants of the patriarch on the old Latham tract. Who is this Thomas Ross and who are his descendants ?
On July 15, 1816, Joseph Jackson of Rockaway wrote to Charles F. Randolph, saying: "The widow Randolph called on me today to have something done respecting the Harvest now standing on the homestead, that Mr. Tuttle sewed since your Father's decease." The father here spoken of must have been Richard Randolph. The letter then goes on to say that the widow has a full right to remain in the Mansion House and occupy the plantation free of rent until her dower is assigned to her.
Mrs. Livermore adds: "From my earliest childhood the Mellen place was pointed out to me as being Hartshorn's home. Rev. B. C. Magie, in his sketches, gave it as his home, and as Richard Brotherton and my
435
MORRIS COUNTY
Grandfather were living at the time Mr. Magie wrote, I think he may have got information from them.
Fitz Randolph (From Munsell's History) :
The New Jersey Randolphs, or Fitz Randolphs, as they once wrote themselves, came to Middlesex County, New Jersey, from Barnstable, Mass., in 1630. They had come to Barnstable from Nottinghamshire, England, in 1622. They were of the emigrants who left England for "conscience' sake," some by this name landing at Massachusetts Bay and some in Virginia, during the years from 1621 to 1630. The Randolphs of England have had a prominent place in English history from early in the tenth century, as have those of Scotland (from whom "the Bruce" was descended) in Scottish history. All of the American Randolphs are of English or Scottish stock, and all are directly descended from the "adventurers" who, sailing from England in 1621-30, landed in Massachusetts or Virginia. Most of those who thus came and who had Scotch blood in them, wrote their name Fitz Randolph, while those of unmixed English blood retain the simple name of Randolph. (From sketch of Hon. Theodore F. Randolph, governor of New Jersey in 1869.)
Dr. Theodore F. Wolfe of Succasunna told me that when he was in England, engaged in his literary studies, he visited Sherwood Forest, the haunt of Robin Hood's men, in Nottinghamshire. At the time of Dr. Wolfe's visit the forest tract was owned by a Fitz Randolph.
The prefix "Fitz" comes from the Norman French and suggests that the family may have come over with William the Conqueror in 1066. From Skeat's Etymological Dictionary we find that the old spelling of Fitz was "fiz," pronounced "fits" or "fitz." In Piers Plowman the word is spelled "filtz," "fitz," and "fiz." It is derived from the Latin "filius," a son. By contraction this became in French "fils" or "filz."
Fitz Randolph :
Robert Fitz Randolph, Yorkshire, England, Grand-nephew of "William The Conqueror" Lord Robert F. R., builder of Middleham Castle.
Edward Fitz Randolph of Yorkshire was the founder of the family in America and was born in Nottinghamshire, Eng. in 1617. He came to Barnstable, Mass., with his father Edward in 1630.
Edward "The Pilgrim" came to Plymouth first in company with his parents. He married Betsey Blossom, daughter of Deacon Blossom, who came over with his family, in the second voyage of the Mayflower, to escape persecution, and came to Plymouth, 1628. Edward and Betsey were married, May 10, 1637. In 1668 they moved to Piscatawa, New Jersey.
Their children (9) were (1) Nathaniel, (2) Hannah, (3) Mary, (4) John, (5) Joseph, (6) Elizabeth, (7) Thomas, (8) Hope, (9) Benjamin.
(5 Joseph, b. at Barnstable 1656 had children (1) Hannah, (2) Joseph, (3) Mary, (4) Bithia, (5) Lydia, (6) Moses, (7) Jonathan, (8) Susanna, (8) Ann, (9) Ruth, (10) Prudence, (II) Isaac.
(2) Joseph, b. at Piscataway, N. J. in 1690 had children (1) Jeremiah, (2) Mary, (3) Sarah, (4) Rachel, (5) Ephraim, (6) Joseph, (7) Jacob, (8) Rebecca, (9) John, (10) Grace, (II) Thomas, (12) Paul.
(3) Joseph b. 1722 had a son Robert born 1762 and he had 13 children of whom 8 died in infancy and five lived,-(1) Hetty, (2) Francis, (3) Mary, (4) Joseph, (5) Sarah Ann.
(2) Francis Carmen Fitz R. born 1794 m. Phebe Halsey Crane. Their son Bennington (Judge) m. Eliza Henderson Forman in 1840. He was born 1819, d. 1890. She died 1908. Their dau. Sarah Ann m. Rev. James Clark D. D.
Judge Bennington F. R. b. 1819, & Eliza H. had children (1) Althea, (2) Eliza, (3) Frances, (4) Isabella, (5) Julia.
Althea F. R. m. Joseph D. Bedle (Governor of New Jersey). He d. 1894. Children of Althea-Bennington F. R., Joseph D., Thomas F., Althea F. R. (Mrs. Adolphe Rusch), Randolph, Mary (d. 1883).
Robert, (brother of Francis C.) was physician & clergyman. Robert m. Annie Campyon, French woman. Their son Joseph (Judge) b. 1802 m. Ann Forman, gr. dau. Col. David Forman had children (1) Samuel dec., (2) Sarah Ann dec. Judge Joseph m. 2nd. Miss Cooper (Easton). Their children are (I) Charlotte
436
NEW JERSEY
dec., (2) Joseph (Morristown, lawyer), (3) John dec., (4) Mary (living with Joseph in Morristown).
Nathaniel Fitz Randolph oldest living child of Edward m. Mary Holby at Barnstable, Mass., 1660. They removed to Woodbridge, N. J. about 1667. In 1693 he represented Woodbridge in the Assembly held in Perth Amboy. Friends' Meetings were held in his house from 1705 to 1713, the year of his death. (The house stood near the black walnut tree, the place belonging to John Barron.)
Edward, son of Nathaniel above, m. Katharine Hartshorne, dau. of Richard & Margaret Hartshorne, Middletown, 1704. (Richard Hartshorne was a brother of Hugh Hartshorne, described in Smith's Hist. of N. J. as an upholsterer in London, Eng.) Hugh is mentioned in colonial hist. of N. J.) George Fox mentions in his Journal that he visited Richard H. at Middletown 1672.
Richard, son of Edward & Katharine, was b. 1705, 16th of 4th mo. This Richard was their first son (2) son Edward b. 1706, 5th mo., 7th day. d. 1750. (3) son Thomas b. 1707, IIth mo., 24th day. d. 1740. 4th Mary, b. 1710, 3d mo., 24th day. 5th Robart, b. 1712, 5th mo., 19th day. A sea captain. 6th Nathaniel, b. 1714, 3d mo., 21st day. 7th Margaret, b. 1716, 9th mo., 2nd day. d. 1718. 8th Eseeck, b. 1718, 12th mo., Ist day. 9th Hugh, b. 1719, 10th mo., 19th day. d. 1748. Ioth Hartshorne, b. 1723, Ist mo., 8th day.
Of these ten children of Edward and Katharine Randolph the former Edward died 23d of 2nd mo., 1760 and Katharine his wife, the 13th of the 8th mo., 1759.
Edward Fitz Randolph and Katharine his wife settled and lived on the farm on which Robert C. Vail now (?) resides, as near as I (?) can ascertain. His son Edward died at that place several years before his father's decease, and the farm descended to his son James Fitz Randolph.
Nathaniel, 6th child, father of Capt. Nath. Fitz Randolph, killed at Elizabeth- town in the Revolution.
Esec, the 8th child, G. Grandfather and his son Thomas Gr. father (Mrs. R.) his son Hartshorne ( from whom named) settled Randolph Township in New Jersey.
(Above is the lineal line. Genealogy of the Fitz Randolph Family of New Jersey : taken from Mr. Hartshorne Randolph's Copy, through cour- tesy of his daughter, Miss Annie Randolph.)
There is a book called "Story in Brief of a Thousand Years," from which the following data are taken.
Rolf, the Norseman, who conquered Normandy in 912 A. D.
William "Longsword," Duke of Normandy, died 943.
Richard, surnamed "The Fearless." Reigned in Normandy fifty years. Died 996.
Richard, surnamed "The Good." Reigned 30 yrs. Died 1026. His sister m. Aethelred, Saxon King of Eng. & after his death m. Cnut the Danish King. There were two lines of descent from this Richard the Good (1) Richard, Duke of Normandy, whose son Robert m. Harlotta, whose son, William the Con- queror, was born 1027. (2) Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, m. Avicia, and had two sons, Alan and Eudo. Eudo m. Agnes, and had several children, of whom the sixth son was named Ribald.
Ribald, 6th son of Eudo and Agnes, was Lord of Middleham in Yorkshire, England. He was the father of Randolph and grandfather of Robert Fitz Randolph, who (through his mother) was grandson of the first Robert Bruce, and who built the Castle of Middleham about the year 1190. From the two sons of Robert ("Ranulph" and "Radulph") have descended, as we are led to believe, many royal personages, and also the Fitz Randolphs of Spennithorne and of Nottinghamshire, of the 13th to the 17th centuries, as well as the Fitz Randolphs of Massachusetts and of New Jersey of the 17th to the 20th centuries.
George Washington was a descendant of Bardolph, younger brother of Ribald described above.
L. V. F. R.
Hartshorn Fitz Randolph died at his home, 342 Westminster Ave., Elizabeth, N. J., on Monday, after an illness of several weeks. He was 87 years old. He belonged to the notable Fitz Randolph family whose lineage dates back for centuries.
When a boy Mr. Randolph was tutored by the Rev. Dr. Henry Hale, and at an early age he entered business, and was in business until last July. (Notice dated Dec. 2, 1913.)
437
MORRIS COUNTY
He was a man of strong convictions and ardent patriotism. He leaves four daughters, Mrs. Edward B. Hixson, Miss Mary A., and Miss Jane S. Randolph, of this city, and Mrs. Walter Parker, of Montclair,-and four grandchildren, Edward B., Joseph Randolph, and Sarah Hixson and Elizabeth Parker .- Elizabeth Journal.
The following seems to be a funeral address, perhaps referring to Mr. J. Elwood Vail. We may regard it as a service held in the old Quaker Church, representing the thoughts that were uttered in that sanctuary on some occasion when the silence was broken.
Title: The dying love of the upright man stamped with the seal of Divinity.
He wrapped the mantle of decay around him, with the serenity and composure of one matured for the change, and with the impress of Affection's kiss upon his lips his spirit is borne to the land of the blessed . Dry your tears, dear friends,- take the mantling drapery from your hearts. He you mourn is not dead. He still lives to bless you. Oft in the Silence of your hearts will you hear his voice, and feel the hallowed influence of his presence, his Spirit will hover over you in earth life and many a silent admonition will recall his presence. Let the thought give cheer and comfort to your souls, ever keeping the life pure and holy; by an implicit faith in the Divine Goodness; and confiding in the Spirit for Guidance invite the harmony of Heaven to your home circle and live in its enjoyment. So shall you have angel visitors and be clothed with a heavenly peace. Finally when Death shall stand at your door and call for all that's mortal, then from the house of many mansions, far through the soul's chambers, voices will be heard calling- calling sweetly, Come home ! come home !
The following seems to be another address or meditation.
The revelations of the morrow may be one of Death. To us the same portion may come as to these. Our dear ones may be taken and we be left alone. Our parent, companion, and friend, may be summoned to put off mortallity. But let us be cheered with the thought, that the death hour of the mortal, is the birth time of the Spirit, and therefrom will it count the years of its immortality. But what shall be said to this circle of mourning ones? No words of mine are adequate to lift the cloud, or part the veil. The companion is dead. The mother is gone the way of all the earth. Her eyes are sightless, her voice is silent, her pulses are stilled forever. Her life work is done, her sufferings are over, and she is at rest. There is consolation, not in her death, but in her deliverance. She has already climbed the hill of immortality and joined in the melodious chorus of the angel choir. But how sad is the portion of the surviving companion. Alone in life and the wide world. One reign of Solemn Silence. The word of sympathy that would so largely relieve his heart must now remain unspoken. But God can speak and he will hear him. When in the embrace of Death he yields himself, his spiritual hearing will be acute, and his ears, it may be, will be greeted with the voice of the departed loved one, and her arms entwine about him to bear him up the heights of glory. So indeed may they together ever be with the Lord. Solemn indeed is the grief of these dear children; bereft as they are by a fatal stroke of a devoted mother. Their loss is her gain and much consolation have they in the fact of her preparation. Live the life of that mother, and the same triumph showed by her will crown you in Death and the blessedness now her portion will become the joy of your hearts forever. The Mother is not confined in the coffin house, but roams the rather over the wide plains of complete deliverance. Look to meet her there, and this hour of sorrow will eventuate in joy forever. And may the blessing of the Great Father attend you all. Amen.
It seems almost a sin to weep over the young and beautiful dead, but it must be a colder philosophy than most of us possess to repress the rising tears when bending over the lifeless form of a dear child. We may know that the pains of earth are exchanged for the joys of Heaven, we may admit the selfishness of our woe, that would interpose itself between the dead and their happiness, we may listen to and allow the truth of gospel solaces, and cling to the hope of a happy and endless meeting in regions beyond the grave; but what can fill the void which their dreary absence makes in the circle which they blest; when every association tends to recall
438
NEW JERSEY
them? Thus it seems when the heart is first bereft, when the sorrow is new, and we sit down in our lone chamber to think of and brood over it. But we know that afflictions must become softened by time, or it would be unbearable. And there are many reflections that the mind draws from its own stores to yield after comfort. Memory forgets nothing of the departed but the woe of separation, and every association connected with them becomes pleasant and joyous. We see them with their angel plumage on; we feel them around us upon viewless wings filling our minds with good influences and blessed recollections, freed the sorrows, temptations, and sins of earth, and with a holier love they are still ministering to us. It is one of the immunities of grief, that it pours itself out unchecked and every one who has a darling child like this we have lost will readily excuse this fond and mournful prolixity, this justifiable lamentation. But
We shall all go home to our Father's house, To our Father's house in the skies, Where the hope of our souls shall have no blight, Our love, no broken ties.
We shall roam on the banks of the River of peace And bathe in its blissful tide, And one of the joys of our bosom shall be The little boy that died.
Mr. William B. Vail, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Elwood Vail, died at the family residence, near Dover, at the outset of a very promising career. He was nearly thirty-two years old. He was a young man of spotless character, of large intelligence, and well-directed abilities. He had early formed an attachment for electrical science, to which he devoted himself arduously and had acquired such skill in his profession that he held at the time of his death the responsible position of superintendent of the Edison electric lighting system in the city of Rochester, New York.
All who knew him were his friends, for he attracted all with whom he came in contact by his upright life and capabilities for usefulness. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Friends' Meeting House, where his ancestors have so long worshipped.
An old Quaker letter :
Rockaway the 10th of the 7th mo. 1791.
Dear Son and Daughter: With a Heart full of Tenderness I am Engaged to write to you at this time with a desire it may have the Same acceptance.
As godlyness with contentedness being the greats gain that we can enjoy let us endeavour for it. For all things work together for good to them that love the Author of all good as peace and quietness is the happies State we can Enjoy therefore let each on endeavour to be Subject to that government that hath no end which is from the prince of peace to be Swift to hear, and Slow to Speak. Slow to wrath that we may be favoured with power to over come evil with good, as there can be no greater joy to parents then to hear of their children walking in the truth therefore Dear Children let truth have its perfect work that the dew of Heaven and the fatness of the Earth may be your Blessing. These few remarks I Send you as Treasure that cant be Spent but will bear improving and in Sending our kind respects to you and all inquiring friends your Mother is one with me So being in hast I conclude and Remain
your Loveing Father RICHARD DELL.
Loaned by Mrs. Wheeler Corwin, Kenvil, New Jersey.
Gleanings from Grandma Pruden's Scrap Book:
From The Jerseyman, February 17, 1866.
Obituary. The Late Richard Brotherton.
Died .- Dec. 29th, 1865, near Dover, in the Township of Randolph, N. J., in the 79th year of his age, Richard Brotherton.
Jacob Lundy Brotherton.
Richard Brotherton.
Aunt Rachel.
Mrs. R. Brotherton.
Quaker Portraits.
439
MORRIS COUNTY
Mr. Brotherton was descended from the first settlers of Randolph and was so well acquainted with the early history of his native town that he was commonly regarded as the town oracle.
In 1682 the great Wm. Penn and his associates purchased East Jersey. Thirty- one years later, the first white man ever known to have made his way into this township purchased of the heirs of Wm. Penn a tract of land, a part of which was in 1774 purchased by Henry Brotherton, the grandfather of Richard. This property has ever since remained in the family.
Richard Brotherton was accustomed to relate how his great-grandfather on his mother's side, Wm. Schooley, came from Schooley's Mountain and purchased Mill Brook, and started the first grist mill ever known in this vicinity. He was a pioneer and endured great hardships. Once he was obliged to go thirty miles to buy corn of the Indians and to bring it home on his back, walking on the snow with snow- shoes. In 1740, known as the hard winter, the snow was so deep that horses could not travel, and many cattle perished because it was impossible to get to them to feed them.
The first settlers of this Township were Quakers ,and the first church was the Quaker Meeting House, the frame of which was raised in 1748. In this house the distinguished Hartshorn Fitz Randolph, after whom the Township is named, was accustomed to worship. But of all those who belonged to the Society of Friends and worshipped in this Quaker Meeting House, no one was ever more esteemed for his kindness, his honesty, his consistency, and his piety, than Richard Brotherton. And the respect which he commanded was not confined to the members of his own denomination.
His business, (he was both a farmer and a butcher, sending his meat wagon for miles around) made him, in the course of years, familiar to all the inhabitants of the vicinity. Though these people were divided on other subjects, they were united in their favorable opinion of his character. Mr. Brotherton possessed a kind heart, always in sympathy with the poor and the afflicted. Often in driving his wagon, he has been known to go far out of his way to carry a piece of meat to a sick man or woman, when it was certain, from their circumstances, that he could never receive pay from them. He often received notes from those indebted to him, but never distressed any one for payment. On the contrary, he sometimes destroyed notes, lest, falling into other hands, the poor but worthy debtor might be involved in litigation or be in some way distressed. This kind regard for the comfort of others was a lifelong disposition and continued with him to the last. On Christmas, the week of his death, when hardly able to speak, partly by signs and partly by words, he ordered a basket to be filled with provisions and sent to a destitute family with the kind assurance that he did not forget them.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.