USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Dover > Dover dates, 1722-1922 : a bicentennial history of Dover, New Jersey , published in connection with Dover's two hundredth anniversary celebration under the direction of the Dover fire department, August 9, 10, 11, 1922 > Part 14
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While the bank was authorized to start with a capital of $150,000, the same has been changed from time to time to meet the new condi- tions which presented themselves. On June 28th, 1892, it was voted to make the capital stock $125 000, which has obtained up to the present . time. The present capital stock has behind it $250,000 surplus, besides about $60,000 undivided profits.
The growth of the bank has been steady and, on referring to records, we find that, April 15th, 1878, the deposits were $97,599.20 and, on May II, 1922, $4.041,004.13.
During the year 1907 it was found that facilities for carrying on the business were inadequate, and plans were commenced for a complete remodeling of the inside of the bank building. In the years 1908-9, the rooms on the third floor and officer on the second floor were renewed and brought up to modern practice; the main banking room was made up-to-date with laminated steel vault, circular door, safe deposit boxes and outside cover of 15-inch concrete walls around the entire vault.
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It can with confidence be stated that no better facilities for the transaction of business can be afforded the people of this section of our County and State, the bank being prepared at all time's to negoti- ate the purchase or sale of marketable securities, such as Government, Railroad or Municipal Bonds, to collect foreign or domestic bills, drafts, or letters of credit, and to transact such business for the accommodation of the public as any well managed institution of this character can undertake.
It is a well recognized fact that this bank from its inception has been conservatively managed; in fact, some of its best friends claim for it that it is ultra conservative and, for a Banking Institution, this is one of the best things that can be said of it, as depositors and all people doing business with a bank are interested in having it safe- guarded and protected to the limit. Courtesy to its clients and careful attention to every business transaction for them is the aim of the directors, officers and employees.
The selection of employees of this bank is largely made from Dover High School graduates and our local business college. Only those of good family and with best recommendation from teachers and principal are considered. These young men are carefully trained in the work and, with proper initiative on their part, should be fitted to fill at a later date high official positions as bankers at home and abroad, if called.
It is with pride that the bank refers to the list of splendid, sub- stantial men who have served on this Board of Directors and whose services continued up to the close of their lives, except a few who, for business reasons, decided to sever their connection, owing to removal from this vicinity and press of their private business: Columbus Beach, George Richards, Isaac B. Jolley, Isaac W. Searing, Ephraim Lindsley, James H. Neighbour, Hudson Hoagland, Albert R. Riggs, Alpheus Beemer, Richard George, Henry McFarlan, Josiah Meeker, James W. Brotherton, John W. Jackson, John H. Pierson, Wm. H. Lambert, Thomas Anderson, Samuel Tippett, Fred H. Beach, Leopold C. Bierwirth, Mahlon Hoagland, Jr., Cadwallader R. Mulligan, Rus- sell T. Penniman, Robert Killgore, Elbert H. Baldwin, Emil M. Lowenthal, John H. Bonsall.
The men who so ably filled the position of President of this bank :since its organization, whose valuable services are reflected in the :success of the institution are: Columbus Beach, George Richards, Hudson Hoagland, Cadwallader R. Mulligan, Thomas H. Hoagland.
The men who served the bank as Cashiers, so ably and efficiently giving the best that was in them, are Jay S. Treat. George D. Meeker, Elbert H. Baldwin, Charles Applegate, William Otto. The men who are guiding the destinies of the bank at the present time and who are doing their best for depositors, stockholders and all interested parties are as follows:
Directors-Peter C. Buck, Thomas H. Hoagland, DeWitt R. Hummer, James B. Tonking, John Mulligan, Paul Guenther, William F. Birch, James N. Goodale.
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Officers-Thomas H. Hoagland, President ; Peter C. Buck, Vice- President ; William Otto, Cashier; Sanford C. Gerard, Asst. Cashier.
In Conclusion, it is proper to state that this bank, like all others, stood by the U. S. Government in the World War, receiving subscrip- tions for Liberty and Victory Loans, made deliveries to the proper owners and acted as safekeepers for the owners of these bonds, all without charge to the owners and subscribers or to the Government.
THE DOVER TRUST COMPANY
The Dover Trust Company commenced business January Ist, 1902, with a capital of $100,000, succeeding the People's National Bank, which began business 1898 with a capital of $50,000. Mr. James H. Simpson was its first President and was succeeded by Mr. I. W. Searing.
Its present officers are Edward Kelly, President; James L. Hurd, Vice-President; E. W. Rosevear, Secretary-Treasurer ; C. S. Clark, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.
The following is a list of its Directors :
John S. Dickerson
Max Heller James L. Hurd
Emil G. Kattermann Edward Kelly
Elmer King T. O. Bassett
E. J. Neighbour Robt. F. Oram
E. W. Rosevear
Roy E. Lynd
Reinhard Huettig Howard H. King
Its present resources are in excess of $3,000,000.
This institution has been remarkably successful in the develop- ment of thrift and saving. It has aided in the erection of homes and the general prosperity of Dover and vicinity. It safeguards financial interest, provides adequate security for valuables, advises as to investments by its patrons and friends, furnishing information free of cost to them. It encourages all efforts for the advancement of the general good and recommends accounts by the young.
The chief asset of a bank clerk is honesty, courtesy, and willing- ness to serve the public. Studiousness and a desire for greater effi- ciency, a requisite of great value to them. The higher the education attained the better fitted to fill whatever position may be open to them.
It is difficult to measure a bank's influence. Absolute integrity is required. Confidence of the public must be maintained. The per- sonnel of directors, officers and employees must be unquestioned. All this the Dover Trust Company has, and sets the highest standard of moral and financial integrity in all dealings with the people and public interest.
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A trust company has for its depositors, individuals, firms, corpora- tions. It can act as Executor, Administrator and Trustee under wills or by appointment of the Court. It is under strict control and con- stant supervision by the State Department of Banking and Insurance.
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
"WASTE NOT, WANT NOT"-how shall we mortals marry These words to action in our little sphere?
How gather in the wealth they seem to carry, How heed the voice of thrift, the summons clear ? Each man, each child may be an engineer
Of fortune, as Poor Richard taught of old ;
The banks were filled with savings in a year,
When thrifty Ben this open secret told.
"Waste not your substance," said our frugal Bennie ; "Don't pay too much for whistles, but put by From day to day a dollar or a penny
And so win independence ; do not cry
And shout aloud, 'We're freemen, free !'-the lie Sticks in your throats when you are slaves to debt ; For freedom must be earned, and this is why Some folks, freeborn, have not found freedom yet."
And so the printer's lad became our Moses, Our prophet, leading to the Promised Land ; While others heavenward gazed with upturned noses, He saved his pennies, firmly took his stand Upon this text-"Waste not, want not"; no grand Ideal of the Future made him blind To common sense, to dollars in the hand, To nearby fortunes that the thrifty find.
BEN, we have canonized you lately ; many Are making pilgrimages to your shrine ; Your shrewd, plain preaching holds its own with any Taught by rapt seer or eloquent divine.
For January 17, the birthday of Ben Franklin.
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THE NEWSPAPERS OF DOVER By Harry R. Gill
We have been told that "a man is known by the company he keeps," and in a great measure, we have come to learn that a town is judged by the newspapers it supports.
Since 1869 Dover has not been without a newspaper, On April Ist, 1869, The Dover Enterprise came out as the town's first paper, published by Edward L. Dickerson and Frank N. Lindsley. The type was set in a small shop over the present Dickerson store in East Blackwell street and the forms taken to New York for printing. The Enterprise was a weekly and this farming-out process continued until June 1, 1870, when the paper was taken over by W. J. Bruce, a prac- tical printer, who put in a plant and changed the name to The Dover Mail, not a very large sheet, but surely large enough to carry the events as they happened way back in the seventies. In those days the advertisements were more or less in the nature of reading notices and it is more than likely that Editor Bruce gathered his own news, set his own type from the case, and "got out" the newspaper himself. We are also reasonably sure that Dover's pioneer publisher had very little trouble with the "newsies" and that he knew nothing of the blessings of the telephone as the newspaper's greatest friend in the gathering of news. It took a genius to publish a paper in those days- nowadays a fat bank account is the greatest asset. In those days the typesetting machine was only a dream-but those were the days when the versatile printers were made. Now they are specialists, each doing his part in the great organism that groans for lack of time in which to do more and to do it more quickly. To ".miss the mail" in Bruce's time perhaps gave him little concern. The coming of plate and type- setting machines was to the newspaper office what a copious shower is to the parched soil.
In 1870 The Iron Era, founded by Benjamin Vogt, also came into the journalistic life of the community. As a paying newspaper proposition The Era was perhaps the most successful until more recent years. During the régime of the late George Richards, who was recognized as one of the leading political factors of Northern Jersey, The Dover Printing Company was able to pay what was considered in those days a handsome dividend. At that time the late John S. Gibson was its editor, and it has been conceded that Editor Gibson was the ablest newspaper man of whom North Jersey can boast. Editor Gibson went from The Era office to The Newark Commercial- Advertiser and from that time on the career of Dover's strongest paper became more or less checkered. In the meantime Mr. Richards passed away in 1900, with some of those whose political' patronage was neces- sarily withdrawn.
In 1875 The Dover Index was founded by Francis F. Hummel and Lorenzo D. Tillyer, upon the discontinuance of The Dover Mail. Mr .. Hummel came to Dover from Mauch Chunk in 1874 as foreman
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of The Mail, under Mr. Bruce. Both Mr. Hummel and Mr. Tillyer are now deceased, but, like Tennyson's brook, The Index goes on for- ever. William G. Hummel, brother of the founder, is the present publisher.
In the earlier days of journalism, newspapers had an ambition- for the most part political-more so than now, when profits are more to be desired than a principle fought for. The Era was the Republican mouthpiece and The Index the Democratic. So, on the assumption that temperance or prohibition was a burning issue in the breasts of many, a number of local enthusiasts, known then as "prohibition cranks," formed a stock company, and The Morris County Journal blossomed forth as the noonday sun-one of the very few prohibition papers in New Jersey. Its first editor was James S. Bradbrook, a Free Methodist preacher, who got out its first number in 1890. The publication office was on the top floor of the Alexander Wighton Build- ing, now owned and occupied by James T. Lowe. Of course its income was restricted and consequently its existence was not the smoothest. Editors came and went. Bradbrook was succeeded by Edward Jones, another Free Methodist preacher, who remained at the helm the longest of any of its editors. He was a widower and practically lived in the office, hence a little salary went a long way with him, for he was working for the sake of principle and stuck to the ship as long as he could. Jones was extremely bitter in his writings, but none too strong for some of those on his board of direct- ors. However, he finally came into disfavor and stepped out "on his own hook," equipping a small printing plant in a residence in Sanford street, where he continued to publish his literature in tract form and offered it for public distribution. During this period he was maintained by a few of his friends, who still had confidence in him and the work he was trying to accomplish. Jones was succeeded by Norton Wagner, who came from Scranton. In a short time Wilton R. Capps, now a resident of Newark, succeeded Wagner, but only for a brief period. During his time, however, Mr. Capps attempted for the first time in the history of the town to publish a daily paper. He made a noble struggle-but he was only a pioneer. The Journal appeared as a daily but for a few weeks. It was a money-loser as a weekly, but more so as a daily.
Then along came Rev. David Spencer, a Baptist minister, who had the Ledgewood church as his pastorate. He came from Racine, Wis. Through his forcefulness he was able to form a stock company of such representative business men as William H. and Andrew K. Baker, Martin V. B. Searing, Isaac W. Searing, Charles F. Clark, David S. Allen, Jacob J. Vreeland, Sr., Alex Kanouse and others. The paper was reorganized as The Morris Journal and the company known as The Morris Publishing Company. During this régime Dover was given its newsiest and best printed newspaper. It was all hand- set but, although its patronage was generous, its income was not suffi-
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cient and it went into the hands of a receiver. At the sale the paper was taken over by George Richards and absorbed into The Iron Era. The plant was dismantled and taken to Morristown and used for sev- eral months by Morey Bros. in publishing The Daily Record, and later the Morris County Standard, edited by John W. Williams. The Standard was absorbed by the the Morris County Chronicle, and The Standard and Chronicle, in time, were absorbed by The Jerseyman. Editor Gill, of The Advance, got out the first issue of The Daily Record with the old Morris Journal plant, in a shop at the rear of a building in Morris street near the yards of the Mills Wood Working Company. He still has in his possession the first copy of The Record off the press.
On March 9, 1903, The Dover Advance first saw the light of day. Harry R. Gill, the present owner and publisher, conceived the idea of a twice-a-week paper while employed as foreman of The Daily Record in Morristown. Before starting the paper, however, because of limited financial means, he took in partnership with him Oron P. Cole, who was then employed as a compositor on The Dover Index. Together they worked diligently for months building up their already small business, for they had made a new start. Their competitors, The Index and The Iron Era, had been in existence for years. The novelty of a semi-weekly paper seemed to meet with popular approval and the business took on a healthy growth from its inception. Shortly after The Advance appeared, The Index came out as a daily, the second attempt for Dover, and it proved as disastrous as the first, except that its publishers had stronger backing and greater prestige in the community than The Daily Journal had when Mr. Capps attempted it. It was a disagreement over the continuance or the dis- continuance of The Index as a daily that led to the dissolution of part- nership between Hummel and Tillyer, the latter of whom retired from the business and built the Fair Building in East Blackwell street, now occupied by F. A. Rinehart. Failing in this enterprise as a novelty store, he engaged in the newspaper business at Hightstown, where he conducted for several years The Highstown Gazette. The Index was published as a daily for about seven months.
In May, 1905, Mr. Cole sold his interest in The Advance to the present owner, who has since operated it personally. In May, 1914, at a chattel mortgage foreclosure sale, The Iron Era and its plant was bought in by Harry R. Gill and absorbed into The Dover Advance.
Older residents in the town will remember the names of some of the former editors of The Iron Era: Benjamin H. Vogt, John S. Gibson, Frank Everett, Frank J. McDeede (now a surgeon in Pater- son), A. E. C. Mindermann, James E. Williams and Frank E. Porter.
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DOVER REAL ESTATE
I never intended to become a real estate agent, but I find that I have been accumulating material that might easily form a history of the growth of Dover real estate. We are sometimes told that there can be no sound where there is no ear to perceive it, no music except as it is performed and heard. Real estate appears to belong in the same class of phenomena. Land becomes real estate when it gets related to human use. Real estate grows or develops as it becomes more intimately or extensively related to the service of man. Hence its historical changes in value as indicated by prices paid at successive periods of time, illus- trated in the case of Dover.
The late James H. Neighbour allowed me to have access to his old deeds, maps, and his copy of McFarlan's Descriptions of Dover real estate from 1827 to 1849, in which a methodical account was given of each lot on the principal streets, with area, date of sale and selling price and purchaser. Much of this information may be found in "Dover History," together with the full text of the available deed concerned with John Jackson's real estate transactions, 1722 and 1753, briefly noted in "Dover Dates." Mr. Neighbour told me that Silas Dell is thought to have originated the first detailed map of this region in his endeavors to locate bits of land yet unappropriated. He showed me Silas Dell's map.
THE SHOTWELL RETURN
From Edward Howell, Civil Engineer, Morristown, I have obtained the following memorandum of the Shotwell Return, which he took from the original record at Perth Amboy.
"JOSEPH SHOTWELL. S-2-98. May 30, 1745. Martin Ryer- son, Deputy Surveyor. A tract (in Morris County) at the place called 'Quaker Iron Works.' Beginning at a Hickory Sapling marked on four sides, standing in the line of a former survey made for Joseph Latham at the west side of a rocky hill.
"First :- I) N 44d E 30.00 2) S 46d E 3.00 3) S 44d W 29.00 4) N 70d W 3.00 to beginning, containing 9 acres strict. Second :- Also that tract of land lying on both sides of the Rockaway River, beginning at a Black Oak tree standing by the south side of said Rockaway River by a point of Rocks distant from the N E corner of the above mentioned lot upon a S 69d E course 99c & 1/2 from thence N 51d E 40, S 43d E 29, S 13d W 131/2, N 78d W 49 to beginning, containing 91 acres and both tracts together contain 100 acres strict."
Note that the first place was called Quaker Iron Works previous to 1745. This may mean that the Schooleys, had a forge here at an earlier date. Was John Jackson a Quaker? William Schooley took up land at Millbrook, 1713. Also note that Joseph Latham had a tract within Dover's present limits, in addition to the tract of 527 acres which he sold to John Jackson in 1722. Possibly John Jackson acquired the land
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for his forge and dwelling from the same Latham, but we find no record of the deed, as is common for that time.
This Shotwell return took in the business center of Dover.
The late Frederick H. Beach gave me access to the original books, maps, and surveys of the McFarlan estate, going back to the land pur- chases of Israel Canfield, made with a view to mineral rights. These documents were then kept at Morristown in the law office of John Bon- sall, nephew of Mr. Beach. They are important records of Dover history, and of a still wider territory.
Alexander Mott of Rockaway informed me that the entire tract from Turner's Corner (Sussex street) eastward to the first Blackwell street bridge over the Rockaway river (formerly known as "the wading place") was once offered to a certain individual for $500. The man to whom it was offered declined to sink his money in such a swamp as the property then appeared, and said he would buy land where it was worth something. So he bought a farm in Millbrook, which was then the flour- ishing industrial section of this region. No doubt he made a wise choice for his time. Real estate values are made by other considerations than the number of acres in a tract. The canal came. The railroad came. The trolley came. Industries came. Building lots in the rejected tract are now sold at $5,000.
Harry L. Schwarz, who has made a lifelong study of Dover real estate, has greatly assisted me in securing accurate data that illustrate the changing real estate values of the past fifty years.
But before we take up these later details let us take a brief historical survey, gathering from our "Dover Dates" certain real estate facts, for this book goes to show how New Jersey ever became "real estate." 1497-The Cabots claimed North America for England by discovery.
(This included Dover, of course.)
1607-Henry Hudson claims New Jersey for the Dutch, by discovery.
1664-England asserts her prior claim and Charles II grants New Jersey to his brother, the Duke of York. The Duke conveys New Jersey to Berkeley and Carteret.
1674-Berkeley sold West Jersey to Quakers for £1,000.
1682-Lady Carteret sold East Jersey to Wm. Penn and others for £3,400.
1713-Wm. Schooley took up 600 acres at Millbrook.
1722-John Jackson bought 527 acres at Mine Hill for £5. (about $25).
1745-The Shotwell Return includes 100 acres of Dover. No price.
1753-Fitz Randolph bought at Sheriff's sale Jackson's' 527 acres, for £555. Values have risen.
1817-Blackwell & McFarlan introduce a new era in village real estate, making the map of 1825 and laying off streets and selling many building lots.
The story of the corners all along Blackwell street is particularly
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significant. The four corners of Blackwell and Sussex streets may be indicated as NW, NE, SW, SE.
1827 SW sold to Minton 2,500 sq. ft. $400. Now Killgore.
1827 SE sold to Hurd 5,000 sq. ft. $475. Mansion House.
1835 NW sold to McDavit 7,500 sq. ft. $500. Richards.
1836 NE sold to Hinchman 5,000 sq. ft. $750. Turner.
Real estate values progress by epochs marked by certain great causes, such as transportation facilities, industries, growth of popu- lation, cost of labor and building materials, market value of commer- cial products (which depend on how other people are prospering in other parts of the world). Dover's land values, therefore, were successively affected by the changes in modes of travel, and trans- portation from teams and stage coaches to canal (1831), D. L. & W. Railroad (1848), Central R. R. (1880), trolley (1904), and trucks and automobiles; and by the coming of new industries, as suggested by the following table:
1874 Birch Boiler Works.
1881 Singleton's Silk Mill.
1884 E. J. Ross, Silk.
1890 Kattermann, Swiss Knitting Mill.
1893 Laundry, Clark-Cook.
1894 Peters' Overall Factory.
1896 Richardson & Boynton Stove Works.
1897 Guenther's Silk Hosiery.
1900 McKiernan Drill Works.
1912 Lackawanna Switch & Frog Works.
1914 Artificial Ice. Hygeia-Crystal.
1915 N. J. Power & Light Company.
1916 Downs & Slater's Foundry.
1918 MacFall's Factory.
Outside industries have aided the prosperity of the town, such as, 1871, Hercules Powder Company, 1880 Picatinny Arsenal, 1883 Atlas Powder Co., 1891 U. S. Navy Depot, 1907 Wharton Steel Co .- Replogle, Inc.
The McFarlan land boom can be traced street by street and corner by corner, and the later industries have left their impress upon the expanding map of Dover, with new streets and new residential tracts. To trace in detail the real estate reaction to each change in transportation and industry would be an extended but illuminating study.
The McFarlan régime lasted about half a century. Then it ceased. McFarlan Park, the pride of the village, was sold and soon all traces of the old gardens on both sides of Blackwell street gave way to the show windows of thrifty storekeepers, the billboards of the Baker Theatre, the Hoagland Memorial Church.
Before quoting the sales which converted McFarlan's Park into marketable real estate, let us note that Mrs. Losey, further down the street, sold her vegtable garden to W. H. Goodale for $1,000 in 1850,
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and he built on it the first brick building in Dover-Goodale's Drug Store of to-day. When Mr. Goodale asked the little son of Mrs. Losey to tell his mother that $1,000 was offered for her garden plot she thought the child was "kidding" her and paid no more attention to it-who would pay such a fabulous sum? Mr. Goodale had to explain later that he really meant it.
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