USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Chatham > Brief history of Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey > Part 8
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
48
HISTORY OF CHATHAM
it has been located in the town hall where Miss Lynda Phillips has for the past eight years served the public most acceptably as the borough librarian.
After the discontinuance of the New Jersey Journal in 1783, no other publication of any importance was undertaken in the town until March, 1897, when Mr. John DeWitt began the weekly issue of the Chatham Press. Previous to this date, Chatham news was published in both the Summit Herald and the Madison Eagle. Many of the citizens of the town were ardent supporters of these papers. In September, 1898, Mr. J. Thomas Scott became the proprietor of the Chatham Press, and since that time he has issued a very commendable publication which now has a circulation of ap- proximately one thousand copies per week. It is of interest to note that a few issues of a two-page leaflet called The Pioneer were published in 1871. This paper appeared monthly, and was edited by Mr. W. E. Gould.
Until 1892, the government of the town was subject to that of Chatham township. In this year under an act of the legislature the com- munity was organized into the Village of Chatham and was governed by a body known as the village trustees. There were two hundred forty voters in the village at this time. The following gentlemen composed the first body known as the village trustees: Frederick H. Lum, president; H. Jowitt, J. T. Wagner, George T. Parrott, and Dr. William J. Wolfe. Mr. Hudson Muchmore was the clerk. The town existed under this form of government but for five years, at the end of which time it was incorporated as a borough, with Frederick H. Lum as its first mayor. In the year 1897 the voters had increased to three hundred thirty-six.
It was through the efficient leadership of Mr. Frederick H. Lum that the borough affairs were so successfully begun. Much wisdom was exer- cised in all his acts and in his reviewing of the acts of the council. The first council was made up of Edward L. Phillips, Thomas W. Dawson, Ed- ward Taylor, C. J. Miller and William L. McCormick. Chatham was the first town to be incorporated under the borough act of '97, and many of the forms necessary to carry out the workings of a borough were drawn up by Mr. Lum originally, and used by the State as copies. Under Mr. Lum's mayoralty the town was furnished with water which was turned on Febru- ary. 1898. Under the efficient supervision of Mr. Edward L. Phillips and his two co-workers on this committee, Thomas W. Dawson and Frank L. Kelly that work was consummated. Electric lights were put in the town in the year 1901, through an increased bond issue of $15,000, which made the total at this time $60,000. To Mr. Lum's credit belongs also the installation of the phone service, police protection, and the organization of a volunteer fire company. Mr. Lum is a descendant from a long line of ancestry of the Lum family which was without doubt among the first settlers in the present confines of the borough. His immediate line lived on the homestead prop- erty located at the corner of Fairmount avenue and Main street. No one family has stood out so prominently in the history of affairs in the town as that of the Lums. From service in the Revolution and the Civil War, to the business enterprise and general welfare of the community, its members have been zealously active.
Following the service of Mr. Frederick H. Lum as mayor of the town, came Mr. Frank L. Kelly, who was elected in 1903. For many years Mr. Kelly had been a co-worker with Mr. Lum and through his tutelage had grown to be very competent in municipal affairs and thoroughly capable, as his long and successful service has shown, to be placed at the head of the borough. Under his mayoralty the water and light plants were enlarged
49
MORRIS COUNTY
and extended, municipal building was erected 1906, a sewer system in con- junction with the borough of Madison was installed June 1, 1911, a fran- chise was granted to the Morris County Traction Company in 1912 to run trolleys on the main street, iniles of permanent sidewalks were laid, a gas franchise was granted to the Public Service Gas Company in 1911, the Lack- awanna railroad tracks were elevated in 1913, the town was practically freed from mosquitoes through the combined laying of the sewer and the work of the Board of Health, and throughout the town hundreds of shade trees were planted by the shade tree commission appointed by Mr. Kelley. In conse- quence of these many improvements made during Mr. Kelley's administra- tion the borough of Chatham offers to all prospective citizens the most mod- ern conveniences.
When the village was set off in 1892 it was divided into two districts the northern and the southern, with the railroad track as the dividing line. At first the greater population of the southern district was made up of the people of Stanley and a few residents on what was known as Duxbury Hill, the locality in and about the crossing of Watchung and Fairmount avenues. There was little growth for a number of years because of the real estate being in the possession of the older residents who would not sell. However in the year 1900 considerable development began, and from a village of about I200 the town grew to approximately 2000 within ten years. The great majority of the newcomers were from Brooklyn and sought homes in "high and healthful Chatham," because of its salubrious air and pure water. At the present it is a town of commuters, men whose businesses call them daily either to Newark or New York. (Josiah Muir, it is said was the first coni- muter from Chatham to New York.) The growth of the borough has not stopped. With all the modern improvements it is quite likely that within the next ten years the population will be doubled. No one village west of the Watchung Mountains can offer more pleasant building sites with greater town accommodations than that of the borough of Chatham.
Officials of Borough of Chatham, 1913 .- Mayor, Frank L. Kelley. Council, Alfred M. Trowbridge, president ; William G. Badgley, Percy B. Lum, Emory N. Faulks, James WV. Wagner, James Whitton. Borough clerk, William S. Angell ; borough counsel, Ralph E. Lum ; borough attorney, Lawrence Day; recorder, Ezra F. Ferris; overseer of the poor, William S. Shuster ; collector, G. Vernon Lum; street commissioner, Paul Molitor ; assessor. Charles A. Miller ; borough electrician, Harvey Vance; borough tapper, Charles H. Van Wert. The council meets the first Monday evening of each month. Committees-Roads, Trowbridge, Whitton ; finance, Faulks, Wagner; police, Badgley, Faulks; fire, Lum, Badgley ; sidewalks, Whitton, Lum; sewerage, Councilmen Trowbridge, Badgley, Faulks ; Members, WV. M. Hopping, J. H. Macintyre. Police, Francis L. Heater ; marshals, William Shuster. Paul Molitor, David H. Crawford, Walter H. Hand. Board of Water Commissioners, Alfred M. Trowbridge, William M. Hopping, Emory N. Faulks. Board of Health, meets last Monday evening of each month. President, Dr. B. A. Prager ; Hervey S. DeGroodt, J. Thomas Scott, C. I. Budd; D. H. Crawford, secretary and registrar of vital statistics; J. J. McCormack, health inspector ; George L. Kelley, plumbing inspector. Board of Education-James H. Macintyre, president ; Joseph H. Conklin, vice- president ; William M. Hopping, district clerk ; Walter V. Sayre, Herbert T. Strong, David Falconer, Charles A. Van Orden, William Riker, J. Thomas Scott; Lawrence Day, counsel. The school board meets the last Tuesday
50
HISTORY OF CHATHAM
evening in each month. Joint Sewer Commission: Frank L. Kelley, chair- man; J. Thomas Scott, secretary ; George W. Downs, treasurer. This com- mission meets on the third Mondays of January, April, July, and October, alternating between Madison and Chatham Council Rooms.
The newly elected officers at the November election 1913, were Mayor Laurence S. Page, to succeed F. L. Kelly, and councilmen Lawrence Day and Wesley R. Conklin to succeed Alfred M. Trowbridge and Emory N. Faulks.
Schools-Public School No. I, with an approved four-year high school course. Supervising Principal, Charles A. Philhower. St. Patrick's Paro- chial School.
Churches-The Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. John Macnaughtan, pastor; Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. J. H. Egbert, pastor ; St. Patrick's R. C. Church, Rev. P. A. Maher, rector; Congrega- tional Church, Rev. Dr. C. E. Hesselgrave, pastor; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rev. J. W. Van Ingen, rector.
Lodges-Chatham Lodge, No. 245, I. O. O. F., meets every Friday eve- ning in the Wolfe building. Sunset Council, Jr. O. U. A. M., meets every Tuesday evening in the Wolfe building. Pride of Sunset Council, Daughters of Liberty, meets every Wednesday evening in Wolfe building. U. S. Grant Post, No. 117, G. A. R., meets second and fourth Saturday evenings of the month in the Wolfe building. Chatham Fish and Game Club. Chatham Wheelmen Club.
5 1
MORRIS COUNTY
ADDENDA
Page 29, line 6-This church was used for seventy-three years. Until 1874 it had been the practice of the Presbyterian congregation to hold Sunday School, mid- week prayer meetings and Sunday evening services in the upper room of the Old Academy. When the new school was built on Passaic Avenue the Old Academy was moved to Summit Avenue where it now stands. The Presbyterians, in order to continue their meetings in a central locality, built a chapel on the site of the Old Academy and used it for Sunday School and prayer meetings until 1905. The congregation decided to build a church in 1902, and land was purchased for this purpose on the corner of Main Street and Elmwood Avenue. The work was begun in 1904 and on June 5, 1905, the Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church was dedicated to the honor of The Rev. Jos. Meeker Ogden, who had served the church for forty- five years from 1828 to 1873.
INDEX.
Academy, Old, 31, 32. Andre, Major, 16.
Archean Era, I. Asgill, Captain, 23. 24.
Crane, Daniel, 37. Crowell's Tavern, 36.
Day, John, 8.
Battle of the Churches, 27. Bergen, 4.
Bobilation Day, 41.
Bonnel's Mill, 40.
Bonnel Town. 40. Borough of Chatham, 48, 49.
Bradley, Hon. Jos. P., 45.
Brainard, Rev. David, 26.
Brick-Making, 40. Brittin, Capt. Abraham, 26.
British Soldiers, 19, 20.
Budd, Dr. John C., 9, 41.
Budd. John, 8.
Families, Early, 9.
Fish and Game Club, 38.
Fishawack, 3, 7.
Flour Mills, 38, 41.
Ford, Col. Jacob, II, 12.
Caldwell, Mrs. James, 20.
Canoe Brook, 5. Carteret Purchase, 5.
Catholic Church, 29.
Cemeteries, 30. Cenozoic Era, 1.
Chatham Bridge. 18, 24.
Chatham Bridge ( Poem), 24, IS.
Glacial Deposits, 2. "Goose Town," 40. Gordon Survey, 7.
Chatham Imprints, 15. Chatham, Name, IO.
Chatham Press, 47.
Chatham Wheelmen, 38. Civil War, 45. Company C. 15th N. J., 46. Condit's Tavern, 36.
Congregational Church, 30. Conflicting Claims, 8. Connecticut Farms, Battle of, 20, 21. Continental Troops, 23. Council, First. 48.
Court-Martial, 19. "Cow Chase," 16.
Day, Steplien, 20, 21. Day's Tavern (Timothy Day), 9. 20, 21, 22. D'Anteroche, Count, 17.
Dead Lake, 2.
Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad, 35. Distillery, 38.
Elevation, Railroad, 35.
Elizabeth Town, Township of, 5.
Episcopal Church, 30.
Fairmount Avenue School, 33.
Budd Lane, 9.
Budd Lane School, 33. Burlington County, 7, 8.
Caldwell, Rev. Jas., II, 20, 21, 36.
Forges, Old, 7. 38.
Franklin Mill, 40. French Regiment, 22, 23.
Gas Company, Public Service, 48.
Geological Story, I.
Gould, Jolin, 30. Great Black Swamp, S.
Hamilton, Alexander, 19.
Hancock, Father John, 29. Hayward. John ( Purchase). S.
Horton, Azarialı, IO. Horton, Foster, 9. 36. Hunterdon County, 5, 8, 9.
Ice Sheet, I. Indian Sachems, 3, 5.
52
HISTORY OF CHATHAM
Indian Villages, 4. Island, Great, 6, 41.
"John Day's Bridge," 10.
"Karmel the Scout," 12, 19, 20. Kelley, Frank L., 48. Kollock Shepard, 15, 17. Lafayette, Marquis de, 17, 18, 26. Lake Passaic, 2. Lee, Gen. Chas., 10, 11, 12. Lenni-Len ?~~ Indians, 2. Liberty Pole, 15, 45.
Library, 47. Littlejohn, Jas. M., 40.
Log School House, 31.
Long Hill, 3, 6. Long Hill School, 33. Lowantica, 17, 13, 23. Lum, Benjamin P. ("Squire Lum"), 10. Lum, Chas. M., 43, 47. "Lum Estate," 9, 42. Lum, Fred H., 43, 48.
MacDougall, Wm. R., 37.
Mastodon, 2.
Maxwell's Brigade, 20.
McDougall. Gen., 12.
Mesozoic Era, 1.
Methodist Church at Turkey, 27.
Methodist Church, First, 29.
Miller, Col. Jacob, 18. Minnisink Crossing, 2, 3, 6.
Minnisink Trail, 2, 34, 5, 7, 26. Ainsi, 2. 3. Minton, "General" Mahlon, 56. Minton, Guy, 13.
"Modern Montpelier," 27. Morrell, Jacob, 9, 10, 19, 36. Morris County, 9. Munn, Hon. Jephtha B., 42.
Nicholl's Grant, 5. Niles, Flon. Nathaniel, 34. New Jersey Journal, 15, 17. New Jersey Troops, Mutiny of, 22.
Officials, 1913, 49.
Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church, 9. Ogden, Rev. Jos. Meeker, 27, 33, 36. "Old Forges," 38. "Old Sow," 10, 13, 18, 20.
Page. Geo. Shepard, 30, 35, 38, 41. Page, Laurence S., 41. Paleozoic Era, I. Park, Reasoner's, 35. Parrot's Mill, 9, 41.
Passaic Indians, 3. Passaic, Name, 3. Passaic Valley, 4. Pennsylvania Troops, Mutiny of, 22. "Pioncer, The." 48. Presbyterian Church at Bottle Hill, 27. Presbyterian Church, First, 29. Principals of School, 32. Proprietor, West Jersey, 7.
Purchases, Early, 6.
Railroad, Morris and Essex, 35.
"Rebel Paper," 15, 16.
Revolutionary War, 7, 10.
Road to Elizabeth Town, 34.
Rose, Bridesmaid, 41.
Rose Growing, 40.
Ross's Mill, 40.
Sand Pits, 41. Saw Mills, 4, 38, 39.
Scheyichbi, 2.
School af Passaic Avenue, 32.
Scotch Plains Gap, 6.
Scotch Presbyterians, 26.
Seeley's Tavern, Col., 10.
Settlements, 4, 7. Sheldon, Col., 14. Short Hills Gap, 6. Shunpike, 34. Slavery, 44. Soldiers of Civil War, 46.
Soldiers of Revolution, 13.
Spencer, "Aunt Affie," 31.
Spencer, "Uncle Bobbie," 38, 39.
Spies, British, 19, 23.
Springfield, Battle of,
Stanley Hall, 30. Stanley Post-Office, 37.
State School Funds, 34.
Sterling, Lord, 10, 20.
Streets, Original Names of, 34.
Sullivan, Gen., 14.
Sunken Lands, 2.
Swaim, Dr. Geo. M., 42.
Tantomwom, 3, 5.
Teachers, Early, 31. Terminal Moraine, 2. Timothy Day's Tavern, 36.
Toll-gates, 34.
Tories, 13, 19. Traction Company, Morris Co., 35, 48.
Track-rock Eruption, I. Turnpike, Newark and Morris, 34. Tuttle, Rev. Jos. F., 13, 14.
U'nalactigo, 2, 3. Unami, 2. Union Church, 27. Union Hill School, 33.
Valley of Great Watchung, 7.
Vanderpoel. Polly, 17.
Vapo-cresoline, 41.
Village of Chatham, 48.
Village Trustees, 48. Volcanic Action, I.
Ward, Aaron, 14. War of 1812, 26. Washington, Gen. Geo., II, 12, 13, 10, 19, 21. 24. Washington Irving, 14. Whippany, 7. Wigger, Right Rev. Wm. M., 29. Winds, Gen., 18. Women of Revolution, 14.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
0 014 206 169 7
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.