USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Annals of Morris County > Part 2
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John Jacob Fæsch was a native of Hesse Cas- sel, and came to this country in the service of the London Company, who owned extensive tracts of land at Ringwood, Long Pond and *Statement of Richard Brotherton.
Charlottenburgh, at each of which places they. erected furnaces and forges. These were built and for a time managed by a German, whose namo was Hasenclever, who brought over a number of Germans and among them Mr. Fæsch, who for a time assisted and then super- seded him about 1766. His successor, carly in 1772 and possibly in 1771, was another remark- able man, Mr. Robert Erskine, of Scotland, a farge number of whose papers have been de- posited with the New Jersey Historical Society. In passing it may be stated that Hasenclever is said to have gone to Mount Hope with Fæsch, and died there. It has been currently reported that he left thirty pounds to the Rockaway church, on condition that his body should be buried under the pulpit, but I can find no rec- ord of any such money having been paid to the trustees, nor of his having been buried at Rockaway, although I suppose from the state- ments of old people, that he was buried there.
The London Company, as it was called, seems not to have been very successful pecuniarily, in the manufacture of iron. It could only make the ernde iron and send it to England, all roll- ing and slitting mills in America being prohib- ited by the mother country, so that the busi- ness was conducted to the worst advantage, To cart the blooms and pigs thirty miles to New York, and then ship them three thousand miles, for conversion, was too heavy a cost for profit.
The reputation of Mr. Fasch in the commun- ity was good, both as a man of business and in- tegrity. That Mr. Erskino had no confidence in him, in either respect, is evident from his private letters and from the fact that as the Lon- don Company's agent he sued him to compel him to refund property alleged to be retained unlawfully by him. In his letter to Cortlandt Skinger, Esq., in reference to "the bills in Chancery, filed against Mr. Fæsch," he names £400 as the sum in htigation. In his correspon- dence with his employers, in 1772 and '73, he criticises his predecessor mercilessly as one who "without the consequence your business gives, any man will be a cipher ; if he has conducted it dishonestly will be less than one .. * * I cannot say I have observed in him, or any of his works, the least spark of genius. * * * * It is a criterion of genius I think, to be com- municative from inclination, of which Mr. Fæsch is the reverse." In one of these letters he says that "the farmers in the invirous have been spoilt by Hasenclever." The Scotchman probably underrated the German's integrity, but as to his abilities as a business man we know that ne finally came to bankruptcy, or nearly so, although tho Mount Hope estate was a very productive one during the war, through government contracts. Fæsch's reputation, in Morris county, as a man of honor was very high,
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and his mistakes at Ringwood were probably not the results of dishonesty but such as any man in such a place might easily and without blame make.
It was a popular and widely believed tradi- tion, that the English government, believing that the Americans were mainly dependent on the London Company's works for iron, made an arrangement with t'iat Company to destroy them, in order to injure the Colonies in the dif- ficulties which were evidently approaching. It is very possible that some such proposition may have been made, but the ouly evidence I can find at any attempt to carry it out is in the de- struction of the works at Charlottenburgh, and the fact, stated to me by some old men, that in the forests abont those works, they have often seen coal-pits which seem to have been burned down many years before, but the coal was not used, shoving a violent saspension of business at some time. These works were destroyed and the common belief is that it was done by direc- tion of the Home Company. Still it must be admitted that the basis of the rumor is quite shadowy. For an iron mill to burn up is not very extraordinary, certainly not so extraordi- nary, as for a conspiracy to burn several mills to have ese ped the notice and record of such a vigilant manager and patriot as Mr. Erskine.
And here let me indicate a few meager facts about Ringwood, the headquarters of the Lon- don Company, as possibly aiding some one who may attempt to write its history as it deserves. I infer from records at Trenton, that "the Ringwood Company" preceded the London Company. April 15, 1740, Cornelius Board sells to Jumiah Ogden, John Ogden, Jr., David Og- den, Sen., David Ogden, Jr., and Usal Ogden, all of Newark, called "tho Ringwood Compa- ny," sixteen acres of land at Ringwood for six- ty-three pounds. February 1st, 1764, Joseph Board sells to Nicholas Gouverneur of New Yo.k and David Ogden, Sen , six acres and a balf for six ponuds ten shillings. The same day Joseph Board conveys to the company "a tract of land seitnate lying and being at Ringwood, near the Old Forge and dwelling house of Wal- ter Erwin." The tract was of the same size and price as the provions one. July 5th, 1764, The Ringwood Company sell to "Peter Hasen- claver, lite of London, Merchant," for 5,000 pounds, all the company's lands at Ringwood, in Bergen now Passaic-County. The deed states that on the property there are "erected and standing a Furnace, two forges, and sever- al dwelling houses." It speaks of "Timothy Waid's forge," also of the "Old Forge at Ring- wood." The deed is signed by David Ogden. Sen., David Ogden, Jr., Samuel Gouverneur and Nicholas Gouverneur. John and Uzal Og- den deed their share to Hasenclever on the
same day, but in a separate conveyance. Has- enctever also bought land in the vicinity of Ringwood of Joseph Wilcox and Walter Erwin the same year, also a tract of sixty-eight acres of David Ogden, "lying in the mountains be- tweeu the two rivers, Romapock on the cast and Wanque River on the west at a place calledl Rotten Pond, in the County of Bergen." He also bought of one Delaney and others 10,000 acres, three miles from Ringwood, at 30 pounds per 100 acres. October 28, 1765, Hasenelever bought ninety-eight acres and also some other lands of Lord Stirling.t The extent of the company's estates may be inferred from thes seanty notes, and at the same time the date of the London Company's organization may be fixed as in 1764, when Peter Hasen clover, their agent, began the purchase of those forges and tracts of land at Pompton, Ringwood, Long Pond and Charlottenburg, all in Bergen Coun- ty as then constituted. From some intimations in the letters of Joseph Hoff at the Hibernia Works with Lord Stirling, I infer that the com . pany claimed some right in the minesat liber- nia.
Hasenclever at once began to enlarge the old works and build new ones at each of the placer just named. After a time, as already stated, Mr. Faesch became the manager in place of Hasenclever, who probably was not equal to the task on account of ill health. Almost the only knowledge we have of Faesch's stewart- ship at Ringwood and its dependencies, we de - rive from His successor, Erskine. It is evident. however, that the London capitalists had grown weary of furnishing capital to carry on work> which were noproductive of dividends, and for that reason sent a man in whom they had en tire confidence to look after their interests and manage them with plenipotentiary powers. What ho thought of Mr. Faesch is intimated in his letters, as already cited, but to bis personal Friend Ewing, in Scotland, he speaks without reserve, but I think with unnecessary karsh- ness. Mr. Faesch's entire subsequent career refutes the charge, to which there is only one fact that suggests the unpleasant suspicion of having misappropriated his employer's funds. I refer to his purebase of several thousand acres at Mt. Hope, imundiale'y after leaving Ringwood.
I have in my possession the copies of letters of Mr. Robert Erskine, in his own handwriting. to Mr. Walter Ewing and his "very dear cousin Rev. Mr. Fisher." The first is dated March 17. 1773, and the second March 18th, and both written at New York. The first leiter contaiur some items of interest concerning the extent of the London Company's business and Mr. Ers-
+East Jersey Records Liber B 3, pp. 66 -- 78. 78, 84, 118, 234.
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kine's opinion as to its management previous to his taking charge. He speaks of its being "two whole years and upwards since I saw them" -certam relatives in Scotland. The date of this and the following letter so carly in 1773- March 17-and the particular knowledge shown of the company's business, makes it evident that he must have reached Ringwood at least as early as the previous year, 1772, if not in 1771. Mr. Erskine continues, "but let me apol- ogize for my partial silence and leave it to ibuse concerned to find an exense for their to- lal. The concerns of the company for whom 1 am engaged are very great, the amount of their inventories at New Year in iron, goods, cattle and moveables alone was upwards of £30,000 currency ; the annual circulation ofcash and supplies is between £20,000 and £30,000. Before I came here tlus property was in the hands of a set of rascals, as I can now fully prove : the company suffered impositions from all quarters, many of which I have put a stop to, but not all. I have rid me of the greatest part of those who deserved no confidence, have discovered my predecessor in the management to have been guilty of a most infamous breach of trust, confirmed under his own hand, and which makes it necessary to commence a suit in Chancery against him. The bringing things to the length I have done has required all my address. The affairs of my employers still re- quire the whole of my attention. I am con- vinced the works may be carried on to profit were all those concerned honest. I have eight clerks, about as many overseers, forgemen, founders, colliers, wood cutters, earters and laborers to the amount of five or six hundred. The care of this centers in me, besides cash accounts of 1,000 or 1,500 pounds per month rendered monthly, to bring such au undertak- ing into a proper train of going on, is certainly not a small task. This is my apology."
The second letter, to his "Rev'd and very dear cousin," presents the writer iu another phase and a better one, and at the same time furnishes a view of the condition of society among the mountains as related to chinreh priv- ileges. "I heard of the loss of my Dear Cousin Mrs. Fisher (by Mr. Pajan's son, who arrived here last summer), with no small concern. The God whom you serve bas no doubt supported you and will carry yon through this valley of tears with joy, but oh, my dear cousin, I beg an interest in your prayers. You will see by my letter of apology to Mr. Ewing for writing so seldom, how I am involved in the cares of this world. Were it not for a wicked heart, however, the business I am engaged in ought rather to lead me to God than make me forget him, as I have seen much of his Providence since I came here. There is no place of wor-
ship near where I live. Some German clergy- men come only about five or six times a year. I have of late, however, proenred supplies from the Presbytery here, aud have agreed tor sup- plies once in two months, which they have promised to appoint. This expense I defray, and if the farmers aud neighbors join in sub- scription we may have a clergyusan orce a month or oftener."
How extended the trust of Mr. Erskine was, may be inferred further from the fact that he apphed to the general Congress after the war began, and also to Gen. Washington, to have his men exempt from military duty except in special exigencies. He had a company of his own men organized, oquipped and drilled, and ready on very short notice to march, Erskine himself was for a time the captain of the com- pany. He was in the American service as Geog- rapher or Topographer, and there are some maps still in existence of his drafting. The papers in the possession of the Historical So- ciety show that he was a very ingenions dratts- man and mathematician.
The difficulties of his position and also the manner of his meeting them are set forth in his letters to his London employers during the years 1774, '5 and '6. They also present the state of affairs and of public sentiment at that time as seen by a very intelligent witness, Thus in June, 1774, he says : "I have no doubt that a total suspension of commerce to and from Great Britain will certamly take place. Such I know are the sentiments of those who even wished a chastisement to Boston. It in want of friends here, it will be difficult even with mi- eroseopie search to find them. Gracions God avert the consequences." June 17 he writes : "The Virginians, who are the soul of America, take the lead. We have not yet heard from the southward, but from what has appeared hitherto, the whole colonies seem to look on that of New England as a comnion eanso." In August he writes : "The southern colonies as they are more warmly situated, so they seem more warmly to oppose the present measure ; the Carolimans exceed those of Vir- ginia, if possible, but over the whole continent there is a feeling and sensibility for the mother country. They have not yet forgot their friends, their relations and their benefactors. These will powerfully plead in the breasts of the Congress, and I hope in a great degree coun- terbalance that warmth which injuries, real or imaginary, naturally create. What is con elud- ed on then may be the dietates of necessity and not of resentment, and therefore I think a non-exportation plan will be a dernier resort and not entered into at present."
In October 1774 he writes, that "the Oliver- ian spirit in New England is effeetnaily roused
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and difuse s over the whole comment. which hope of reconciliation will be cut off. That though it is now pent np within boun Is, a few drops of blod I t run would make it break out in torrents which 40,000 men could not stem, much less the handful Gen. Gage has, whose situation is far from agreeable. The masons and carpenters who began to build barracks have leftoff work. Tradesinen of the same kind have been engaged bere-New York-but on second thoughts have refused to go. Were he to come to extremities he no doubt might .serifice thousands, but in the end would be cut off. I don't see. therefore, how he can pro- care comfortable winter quarters withont either abandoning the place or, like Hatchin- son's addresses. publicly recant. The rulers at home have gone too far. The Boston Port lull would have been very difficult of digestion. but not allowing Charters the due course of justice, and the Canada bills, are emetics which cannot possibly be swallowed and must be thrown ny again to the bedaubing of the ad- ministration, who seem to have utterly fogot that they bad the same spirit to contend with as at beme, without the same advantages of turning it into a different channel by bribery and corruption. I have never disguised my thoughts to ron on any subject since I came to this country. Yon will therefore excuse my freedom on political concerns."
The rhetoric of the last letter was more forej- I.e than elegant, but the writer is evidently in rartest la his attempt to arrest the uuwise measures of the home Government. Iu Octo- Fer 1775 he thns writes ! "The communication with my native constry may soon be cut off. The prospect is very gloomy and av lul. God in his providence seems to have determined the fate of the British Empire, which is likely to be rent in pieces. I do not believe, however. that there is a man of sense on this continent who desires such a disjunction provided they are not drove to it by absolute necessity, but if forcible measures are persisted in the dire event most take place, which may God in his mercy yet prevent." In the same month he writes again ; "The situation of this country and my own makes me truly anxious. * " Isball add that the generahty of people at h me are totally wrong in their ideas of this country and its inhabitants. who being now in arms most by next spring be looked upon as equal to the same number of regular troops not only to do them justice, but that their op-' ponents may have proper ideas of the business they go upon if the enterprise of subduing them le persisted in, which, however, I hope in God will not be the case. Perhaps the peti- tion of Congress may afford a proper opening for a negotiation. Should that be rejected as the last, then Grd have mercy on us all. All
sword which has hitherto been drawn with re- Inetanee will then be whet with rage, madness and despair. and the ports thrown open to all nations for assistance and trade, which it is impossible for the British Navy totally to pre- vent. Gracious Heaven prevent things from being brought to this pass, or that a total sep- aration should take place between friends so dear !" In the same letter Mr. Erskine speaks of "the general orders of Congress for all the colo- nists to be arrayed from 16 to 50 years of age.' and of some inconveniences he is suffering at the Works by "several stout fellows going off afd enlisting." "It will be moved at the Con- gress to-night for the inhabitants of this place to provide for the safety of their wives. children and valuable effets. God knows. therefore, how long the communication with England may remain open and when you will have an oppor- tunity to hear in a regular way again."
May 3, 1775. From New York, Mr. Erskine writes : "The people, as I have said before in private letters, are sincerely in earnest every- where. I have even been applied to for gun- powder by the principal people of the County of Bergen in the Jerseys, in which your Iron Works are situated, where they, who till new harlly thought anything of the matter. are forming into regular disciplined boches as fast as possible, which is the only business attend- ed to at present anywhere. Gen. Gage is shut up upon salt provisions in Boston, from whence it is allowed he could not -tir ten miles had be 10.000 men ; for 20.000 men who now beyond doubt can fight. are entrenched without the town. and :0,000 more were sent home again as supertuons at present. But I leave partic- nlais to thenewspapers, and am sorry the times have furnished a subject so foreign to my for- mer correspondence. The present subject I have adopted from the general voice which hekt it necessary that all who corresponded. with England should be explicit in declaring the sit- Dation of this country, which is beyond dispute indissolutly united against the British Ministry and their acts, to which the Americans will never subscribe but in ebaracters of blood ; uor since blood has been shed do I believe a hearty reconciliation can again take place unless BLOOD Seals the contract." A week afterward be writes : "Nothing now is attended to but arms and discipline. Even the tQuakers of Phil- adelphia have taken arms, and two companies of that persuasion were formed last week. * The seaport towns may be beaten down if the ministry think proper, but no force they can send will be able to penetrate ten miles muland. 'Tis perfectly astonishing they have carried things so far. The fishery bill, the alle- gations of cowardice, &c., have exasperated the
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whole continent to the last degree." Again of the 10th of June, he writes . "I beg leave to give you my sentiments respecting an acecom- modation, which there is not the least prospect of being effected by force of arms, soon if at all, for the universal diligence in learning and appheation given to military affairs minst soon convert the people of this continent into reg- ular troops. * * * They have their eyes about them and are determined to be free or die. There is no doubt, however, that a hearty reconciliation would immediately take place were they put on the same footing as in '63 and the right of taxation given up, Jor independen- ey is not their aim. Snch a wish was never ex- pressed or hinted at either in the last or pres- «·nt Congress."
In a letter May 23, 1775, he exclaims : "My heart bleeds for my native country." In An- ynst he writes, that "had the ministry design- ud to render the opposition to their measures as effectuat as possible, they could not have hit upon a better method than the steps they have pursued." "Sept. 5. The people are in gen- eral longing for intelligence from England, but however ardent and sincere their desires are for a happy and amieable reconciliation, they are in general prepared and preparing for the worst.' Dee. 5th, he tells his employers that whatever takes place "I shall continue to act for your interests and the preservation of your property as well as I can." Dec. 6th, he is in great trouble about protested bills in conse- quence of the troubles of the country, and then he exclaims : "Oh! my country ! to what art thou driving ? This gives me piquant distress indeed. How long will madness and infatna- tion contiune ? Oh God, justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne; merey and truth shall go before thy face. Excuse me, it is neither treason nor rebellion to wish the kings of the earth would imitate the Sovereign of the Universe. Civil war, subjects and kin- dred blood shed, and for what? Because the Ministry of Britain have adopted the prejudices aud resentments of a Governor and his petty partisans of one of the provinces. Heavens ! what a figure the present annals will make in history !"
In a communication dated December 2, 1775, to the "Colonel and other officers of the 1st Battalion of Continental Troops raising in the Jerseys," Mr. Erskine give a copy of his own commission, which deserves to be reported in full. "In Provincial Congress, Trenton, New Jersey, 17 August, 1775. This Congress being informed by John Fell, Esq., one of the Depu- ties for the County of Bergen, that Robert Ers- kine, Esq., bath at his own expense provided arms and accontred an independent company of Foot Militia in said County, do highly ap-
prove of his zeal in the same, and do order that he be 'commissioned as Captain of said com- pany. A true copy from the Minutes. Wmn. Paterson, Sec'y."
This commission Erskine copies in order to have the officers of the battalion rectify the ir- regular proccedings of one Yelas Meade, who was enlisting his men contrary to the exemption of Congress ; such enlistments seriously interfer- ing with the business at the Works. He says his company "consists of forgemen, carpenters, blacksmiths and other hands, whose attend- ance is daily required. I dare say, however. that there is not a man belonging to it but would willingly lend his aid in a case of extremity when every consideration must give way to the salvation of the country." He further says, "I have been at a very great expense in arms, uniform and discipline, and he closes his letter "with the sincerest wishes of success to the friends of the British Constitution and the Lib- erties of America."
On the 10th of February, 1776, he wrote to his London employers, among other things, that "brave Gen. Montgomery has fallen before Quebec, and makes the third hero who has ex- pired before its walls. We have some extracts from the English papers to the 17th of Novem- ber ; it makes me happy to see their complex- ion a little more favorable to a reconciliation. But shilly-shally undetermined procrastination and insidi ous maneuvers will not do. This conn- try is too much on their guard. too well pre- pared and too much exasperated to attend to anything but plam English. It is the heighth of folly to hope to disjoin them. Unless the Ministry treat with the Congress they need not attempt treating at all, for were any colony base enough to break the Union, could they dare doit? No. Open on all sides, their being attacked on their skirts and sea-coasts by their European cuemies is an happy alternative to that of being destroyed from all quarters; be- sides it is not in human nature to deliberate in the alternative, after engagements so short in a quarrel that has gone so far, a fact so obvi- ous that I hope all serupulous punctilios will be got over and a cessasion of arms and a re- peal of the obnoxious acts take place, and then I trust Great Britain will regain the confidence and esteem of this country, provided she shows a hearty and speedy disposition to do them jns- tice." Under the same date he encloses his "cash account for January, and adds, "this- the profitable running of the Works -- with a speedy settlement of the present disputes, would give me the highest satisfaction, but speedy the settlement must be if at all. A con- tinnance of hostilities and another campaign and the burning a few more defenceless towns and such acts of wanton mischief, will most un-
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doubtedly make the breach irreparable."
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