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 5
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
Judge of U. S. District Court for New Jersey.
Died at Succasunna, October 5, 1853.
Here, too, is the home of Frederick A. Canfield, with his notable collection of New Jersey minerals and historical data.
THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE IN RANDOLPH
The annual meeting of the trustees of the Friends' Meeting House and Cemetery Association of Randolph Township was held at the meet- ing house, near Dover, on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 1914, at 3:30 o'clock. The present trustees of the association are Eugene A. Carrell, of Morristown, who is also the president; Elias B. Mott, of Rockaway; M. Wheeler Corwin, of Kenvil; Henry Alwood, of Succasunna ; Charles Brotherton, of Dover; William H. Baker, of Dover, who is treasurer; and Fred Hance, of East Orange, who was elected trustee and secretary to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, Edward S. Hance,
47
who capably filled these offices of the association from its organization on October 22, 1898, when it was formed for the purpose of preserving the historic old building and to keep the cemetery grounds in order. The following new members were admitted at this meeting :- Fred Hance, of East Orange ; Dr. A. L. L. Baker and Mrs. Ellen B. Baker, of Dover ; Mrs. Phoebe J. Corwin; Mrs. Laura C. Alwood, and Charlotte H. Meeker, of Succasunna, and E. Bertram Mott, of Rockaway.
The following brief history, compiled by the late James W. Brother- ton, will perhaps prove of interest to the public.
As early as 1740 several families of Friends, most of them from' Woodbridge Township, settled in Randolph (then Mendham) Township, and meetings were held at their homes. Among these early settlers were William Schooley, James Brotherton, Robert Schooley, Jacob Laing, and Hartshorne Fitz Randolph, with their families.
In 1740 meetings for worship were being held on first days at the home of William Schooley, a log house about three-quarters of a mile. east of the present meeting house.
On 8th Mo., 15th, 1758, one acre of land, the site of this house, was deeded by Robert Schooley for four pounds of the current money of the Province of New Jersey, to Jacob Laing and James Brotherton, trustees, who are to hold the land in trust as a place to bury the dead of the people called Quakers, "then residing in the vicinity, but members of the monthly meeting at Woodbridge, N. J."
In 1758 the sum of seventy-three pounds was raised and the present structure was built and a regular meeting was established, subordinate to the Woodbridge Monthly Meeting. For many years. meetings were held regularly on the first and fifth days of the week at II A. M. In pleasant weather the meeting house was on first days well filled both above and below, people driving in or coming on horseback several miles to attend. Richard Dell and others ministered acceptably to their spir- itual needs.
During the years from 1820 to 1830 or thereabouts, many valued members of this meeting, with their families, migrated to Western New York State and settled there. This so depleted the home meeting that it began rapidly to decline. Mid-week meetings were dropped and in 1864 meetings for worship, except by appointment, were discontinued altogether.
About the year 1870, John Hance, Isaac Alwood Vail, and others whose ancestors and relatives were buried in the graveyard, contributed money to build a stone wall to enclose the grounds. The wall was relaid and completed in 1880-I by Isaac Alward, and an iron fence constructed across the front by subscriptions raised by John Alwood Vail and John Hance. A row of sheds at the rear of the meeting house formerly shel- tered the horses in unpleasant weather, but this fell into decay and was not rebuilt. By the will of Edward Dell $500 was left in trust, the interest to be used in caring for the graveyard.
The year 1897 found the building and grounds sadly neglected. James W. Brotherton and Rachel B. Vail, the only surviving members
48
residing in the vicinity, requested of the Rahway and Plainfield (form- erly Woodbridge) Monthly Meeting, that the property belonging to the Randolph Meeting be deeded to them, promising to provide for the care and oversight thereof, that the property should be kept in suitable con- dition for the purposes for which it was intended. On 10th Mo., 14th, 1897, the trustees of Rahway and Plainfield Monthly Meeting deeded the Randolph Meeting property for $1 to James W. Brotherton and Rachel B. Vail under the above agreement.
On the 6th Mo., 28th, 1898, there convened a number of those whose ancestors of years ago or relatives of more recent date had been laid at rest in the old burying grounds. These interested persons, tak- ing the necessary legal steps, formed themselves into an association to be known as The Friends' Meeting House and Cemetery Association of Randolph Township. On October 22, 1898, James W. Brotherton and Rachel B. Vail deeded the property for $1 to the aforesaid association, which association agrees to carry out the promises made by them.
The members of the Friends' Meeting House and Cemetery Asso- ciation of Randolph Township at this time were: President, James W. Brotherton, Dover, N. J .; secretary, Edward S. Hance, Wharton, N. J .; treasurer, William H. Baker, Dover, N. J .; Eugene A. Carrell, Morris- town, N. J .; Henry Alward, Succasunna, N. J .; Elias B. Mott, Rock- away, N. J .- From "The Index," June 12, 1914.
THE QUAKERS
When John Jackson sold out his Dover property in 1753, it is said that he went to the western part of Virginia and started something there. You will find a town named "Jackson" in Jackson County on the map of West Virginia. He must have been then over fifty years old. His property was sold in two portions. The forge and the land on which his dwelling stood in Dover went to Josiah Beman, "Bloomer." A bloomer was one who made rough blooms of iron at such a forge as Jackson's. A bloom of iron is the rough ball or lump of iron obtained by roasting the ore on a charcoal fire in the forge oven.
The extended farm lands which Jackson had acquired in 1722, situ- ated now in Mine Hill, adjacent to Jackson's brook, were sold to a Quaker named Hartshorne Fitz Randolph, who afterwards added to this property until he had an estate of about 1,000 acres.
At this point, therefore, the history forks-one fork leading to the continuance of the iron works in Dover and the other fork leading to the Quakers of Mine Hill, Randolph and Millbrook.
William Penn was one who early located large "returns" of land in this region, taking up with the Kirkbrides some thousands of acres. Leonard Elliott's house, once known as the Munson Homestead, was in the Penn Return of. 1715 (Dover History, page 473). Thus we see that Dover touched the hem of William Penn's garment, so to speak.
The Richard Brotherton farm, it is said, was bought from William Penn and has stayed in the family ever since. Richard Brotherton mar- ried Mary Wilson, a great-great-granddaughter of the Robert and Ann
49
Wilson who came over from Yorkshire, England, 1683, in the same ship with William Penn. In 1681-82, Lady Elizabeth Carteret sold the Province of East Jersey to an Association of twelve persons, mostly of the Society of Friends, among them being William Penn.
William Penn's object in taking up so much land appears to have been to provide a place of refuge for the Quakers who were persecuted in the Old Country. He gathered them together and led them out of the land of persecution into the wilderness of Pennsylvania and New Jersey -a regular exodus into a new Promised Land. Randolph and Mill- brook, then, were parts of this Promised Land in the New World. Perhaps the present inhabitants have forgotten that fact. Some of the country schools in the vicinity of Dover might get up excellent historical programs based upon their interesting past and it would be a good lesson in American history. Morris County is full of historical interest.
A volume might be written about the Quaker settlement, and much about these Quakers may be found scattered through the pages of Dover History. They were strong for the Abolition of Slavery. From 1800 on the Quakers were agitating in a peaceful way for the emancipa- tion of the slaves, and felt it their duty to assist runaway slaves in their escape to Canada. The "Underground Railway," as it was called, had one station at Randolph.
Let me conclude this article with a brief sketch of Richard Brother- ton, a typical saint of the Quaker faith. Although following the butcher's trade, not now regarded as a suitable setting for a moving picture hero, he ennobled his calling. The poet George Herbert says, in one of his religious poems :
"Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws Makes that and the action fine."
It was in this spirit that Richard Brotherton followed his humble calling and became a lighthouse on the hills of Morris County. In the same spirit other men of those early days followed the necessary callings of village baker, blacksmith, preacher, carpenter, farmer, wagon-maker, ironmaster, and many of them-not all-shine as stars in the spiritual firmament of these iron-bearing hills. In our Dover History studies we are trying to "follow the gleam of that light."
RICHARD BROTHERTON
The story of Dover would not be complete Without "Dicky Brotherton," "honest man" he, The Quaker of Randolph, who sold the folks meat And won wide renown for unfeigned piety.
With wagon well stored he would ride far and wide O'er these rough roads and hills to each customer's door Have a chat, leave a "roast"-Morris County beef-I'd Like to meet him to-day on his rounds, as he bore Choice viands to Dover, Mine Hill and Millbrook. The widow and orphan he never forsook ; But gladdened the desolate when he drew near
With kind words and solid, substantial "good cheer."
50
"A dear, good old man," well belov'd ; true respect He won in his day-he was surely "elect."
Just a butcher, of course, but he made his trade fine By the honest, kind-hearted and neighborly grace That illumined his deeds and his speech and his face. In the quaint Quaker meetings out there on the hill He presided for years-just a slim "two or three" Attended, at last-everything was so still ! The men sat on one side and lest they should see The women, a board fence was let down between, Long silence-more silence --- no music-no hymn- No remarks-meditation-no tableau-no scene! Just plain Dicky Brotherton sitting up there With his plain Quaker coat and his Quaker broad brim, Till at last this brief word breathes upon the still air- "We must do the right!"- a tap-tap on the floor With his patriarch staff and the meeting is o'er. Those Quakers stuck to it when slavery tried To rule this fair land, when it fain would enthrone Its power o'er our future: Let no man deride The faith of the Quakers. They could not condone This blot on our scutcheon; they clung to this plank- "God made man for freedom; no slave chains must clank In this great land of ours-Do the right! Do the right! Heed the still voice of conscience, the true inner light !" Out here on these hills, where God's free breezes blew, Came Whittier's voice to a conscience refined
By the breath of God's spirit-the message rang true. It rang through the nation at last, unconfined-
"Do the right! Do the right! We must do-we must do- We must do the right!"-and the faint whisper grew Till in bloody encounter and death-toll this land, This fair land of freedom at last took its stand, Led by Abraham Lincoln! Now all men are free Who are born 'neath our banner, from mountain to sea !
51
DOVER'S MOTHER CHURCH
The history of religion in Dover is not complete without some account of the Mother Church at Rockaway. Rev. Barnabas King came from New England in 1805, according to Dr. Megie's statement. He began preaching at Berkshire Valley. Did the name "Berkshire" come with him from the Berkshire Hills of Connecticut? He was installed pastor at Rockaway in 1808, and died in 1862, in the fifty-fifth year of his pastorate, as noted on his tombstone in Rockaway. He was a gradu- ate of Williams College, 1803, in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
Rev. Joseph S. Tuttle, D.D., in an historical sermon, speaks of him- self as the colleague of Barnabas King from 1847 to 1862. Dr. Tuttle afterward became president of Wabash College, Indiana; but before going West he wrote many historical articles about Morris county. To him we are indebted for the information that George Bowlsby deeded land in Parsippany to "the religious society of people commonly called Presbyterians." This was in 1745. And he dates the birthday of the old church at Rockaway on the second of March, 1758, for then the first subscription paper was starte dthus: "We, the subscribers to do by these mannefest It to be our desier to Joyn (pronounced 'jine') with pasipaney to call and settel a minnester to have the one half of the preachen at posipaney and the other half at rockaway and each part to be eakwel to payen the minnester."
A second memorandum states that the "inhabitenc of rockaway pigenhil and other places agesant" (adjacent) met and agreed upon a "suitable place above bemans forg, below the first small brok upon that rode up to Samuel Johnson."
Dr. Tuttle explains that the congregation was gathered from the then sparsely settled region which included Denville, Rockaway Valley, Horse Pound, Meriden (a school district), Mount Hope, Denmark, Berkshire Valley, Franklin, Dover (not then known by that name, prob- ably) and the region beyond.
This first "meting hous" was raised in 1759, and partly enclosed. Glass, paint and floor boards were bought the next year to finish the house. The founders were assessed to "pay a prespetering minister." The building was not ceiled nor plastered. The people did not wait for their church to be finished and "all decorated up" before they used it. It was said to be ghastly in its incompleteness. In 1780 it was voted "to make a Ladder to go up Galeryes and Lay Down boards on the galery Beams and make seates to set on." And yet nothing was done until 1794. We must remember the distractions and sickness of the Revolu- tionary War.
This building continued in use until 1832. In Rockaway they have a pen sketch of this old building, a contemporary of our old Quaker Church and very much like it in design. In 1831 a new building was started, and this was dedicated in 1832. By this time there were enough people in Dover to think it worth while to organize and form a Dover church, instead of subscribing longer to a Rockaway church. So we find in the records of Rev. Barnabas King that eighteen members were
52
dismissed in 1835 to form a Dover church. And we find in the Dover records that the Dover church began its life April 23, 1835, with a mem- bership of seven men and seventeen women, whose names are given in Dover History, page 415.
Let us conclude this brief sketch with two short ballads, which take us back, in spirit. to Dover's Mother Church of 1758-1832.
I. AUNT ABIGAIL'S MEETING
Aunt Abigail Jackson was very devout, And this is the story that comes down about This old-fashioned saint-'tis an anecdote quaint, Well attested, it seems, without mythical taint.
The Rockaway folks-seventeen fifty-nine- Decided to ask all their neighbors to "Joyn" (jine) And set up a Meeting House handy for all, Above Beman's Forge, near a brook that was small.
They called the inhabitants of Rockaway, Pigeon Hill, Horse Pound, Meriden, Denmark, they say, Franklin, Dover and Berkshire and further away, To meet and consult on a place that would suit, Where a new Meeting House would be sure to take root.
It soon was agreed, so with zeal they began To lay the foundations and work out the plan, So eager they were the first meetings to hold They began with loose boards laid on beams, we are told.
But interest waned, and soon meetings were few, Till one faithful soul started things up anew : Aunt Abigail Jackson was so filled with zeal That she held a grand meeting which made its appeal.
What though floors were lacking, no parson in sight, Though side walls and ceiling were in sorry plight, She just sat on a beam and sang hymns; she could sing Like a bird ; but no bell was yet ready to ring And no organ led off. When the neighbors inquired, "Who all was at meeting?" Aunt Abbie said, "Three- The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost-me; That makes four !- a good meeting as could be desired !" More came the next time; so folks, in that day, On the beams held their meetings in old Rockaway.
53
II. GENERAL WINDS OF ROCKAWAY 1776-7
O, have you heard the General pray, Brave General Winds of Rockaway,
In the deacons' meetings that they hold, Where patriots meet, both true and bold ? 'Twas there I heard him, many a day,
Brave General Winds of Rockaway!
In the old, unplastered church they met ; No parson was there the text to set:
But when the General once began, Loud waxed the voice of that valiant man. Oh, yes, I've heard him many a day, Brave General Winds of Rockaway!
In thunder tones he prayed the Lord And fervently His name implored
To break the oppressor's yoke and free This land-the home of liberty. The people loved to hear him pray, Brave General Winds of Rockaway!
And when at Chatham Bridge he stood And faced the foe, they thought it good To take a hint that the General dropped, So they took to their heels and never stopped; For he could fight as well as pray, Brave General Winds of Rockaway !
The first Sunday school in Morris county was started in 1815 by Mrs. Joseph Jackson (Electa Beach, the Colonel's second wife), who gathered the children together in the old red schoolhouse near the church. Before this date she and Mrs. James Jackson had instructed the children in their own homes.
For several years the Mother Church was racked by the music question. Should the hymns be "lined out" or sung without such pre- liminaries? The old-style precentor, David Beman, led the party that stood by the old custom. Young Benjamin Jackson led the younger ele- ment of progressives. A compromise was tried, by which one party should have charge of the morning service and the other party have the afternoon service. Finally, after a long "unpleasantness," the progressives won a permanent victory in 1792, due, perhaps, to the high repute of Benjamin Jackson as a singer. There was no Caruso in those days, but one who could lead the singing in meeting as wonderfully as Benjamin Jackson could do it enjoyed an equally enviable renown in these parts.
54
THE METHODIST CHURCH AT MILLBROOK
NOTE :- In a former article we spoke of the Presbyterian Mother Church of Dover. Since then Mr. Alonzo B. Searing has furnished me with his excellent narrative of the Methodist Mother Church of Dover. This was published sixteen years ago. I give it here in somewhat con- densed form, but mostly in Mr. Searing's own words. Mr. Searing has done a fine piece of historical work. The story of these self-reliant and godly people who maintained the influences of the Gospel among these picturesque, sequestered hills is worthy of record. It is a part of Dover's moral environment. This Mother Church now desires to build a parsonage and so provide a dwelling for a resident pastor to carry on the good work of former years among the hills South of Dover.
The Methodist Episcopal Church at Millbrook celebrated its sev- enty-third anniversary September 16, 1906, having been dedicated July Ist, 1883. This was the first Methodist Church erected in Randolph Township. The committee in charge of the celebration in 1906, con- sisted of William S. Dalrymple, Ella Dalrymple, John Pugsley, Charles Palmer, William C. Spargo, William W. Searing and Alonzo B. Sear- ing. The pastor was Rev. S. O. Rusby. Alonzo B. Searing read an historical address of which a synopsis is given herewith.
MR. SEARING'S NARRATIVE
The germs of Methodism were first planted in Morris County by those sincere and earnest Christians, Philip Embury and Barbara Heck, who emigrated to this country from Ireland, landing in New York on August 10, 1760. Philip Embury was happily converted under the preaching of John Wesley in 1752, and in the year 1766 preached his first sermon in his own house in Park Place, New York, to an audience of five persons, among whom was his devoted friend, Barbara Heck.
They then formed a class which increased in membership until it was deemed advisable to erect a chapel in John street, New York, in 1768.
In the British army, at that time occupying New York, was Cap- tain Webb, an earnest Christian soldier, who, with Embury, preached several times a week to large numbers of people, many of whom were converted and joined the church.
In 1770, two more churches were built, one in Maryland and the other in Philadelphia. In 1769, John Wesley, recognized the need of missionaries to aid the infant societies, sent Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor from England to this country. In 1771, he sent Francis Asbury and Richard Wright, and in 1773. George Shadford and Thomas Rankin.
Philip Embury was the first Methodist class leader and local preacher in Morris County. In June, 1773, the first American con- ference was held in Philadelphia. There were then 1,160 members in the society, 200 being in New Jersey and the remainder in Virginia, Maryland and New York. In 1776, the Methodist of New Jersey num- bered about 400. The growth of the church was somewhat disturbed by the struggle for independence.
55
At the general conference held in Baltimore, December 24, 1784, Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were received as bishops. The Methodist Church then had eighty-three preachers and 14,988 members. In 1799 there were about 60,000 members.
The first Methodist house of worship in New Jersey was built in 1799 in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County. It was about 1799 that we have the first account of any established place of worship in Randolph Township, this being in a large two-story frame house owned by Sylvanus Lawrence, near the place where Albert DeHart resided for many years, on the road from Center Grove to Succasunna Plains. This house had formerly been used as a hotel and town meetings had been held there. The society later built a more suitable stone house on the crossroads, near the David Horton mine, to be used as a meeting house and school house, with the name "Lawrenceville" inscribed over the doors. But, as the building was not centrally located, it was not finished for the purpose intended and for several years Methodist meetings were held in a large stone barn near there belonging to Daniel Lawrence. Here, with the horses and cattle in their stalls and the spacious barn floor cleanly swept and rough seats arranged for the comfort of the attending worshippers, those faithful servants of God, Rev. Francis A. Morell, Mr. Morrow and others preached for several years.
As a majority of the members lived in Millbrook, the meeting place was finally transferred to this village and services were held in the old schoolhouse, which was built by Calvin Lawrence and formerly stood by the side of the brook at the foot of the hill, near the present ( 1906) schoolhouse. Rev. Solomon Parsons, when a young man, taught school in the old schoolhouse. "There in the beautiful valley lying below us, with the gentle murmur of the flowing waters of the brook as it rippled over the stones and pebbles, the sound of which often came gently steal- ing in the schoolhouse windows, mingling with the voice of prayer and hymns of praise, for several years, the Revs. John Hancock, Alexander Dickerson, Thomas Lovell, Isaac Winner and others labored with marked success."
"In 1826, or 1827 the Rev. Thomas Lovell took up a subscription to build a church in Dover, but for want of interest the project failed and the society at Millbrook increasing, on or about 1831, they resolved to build a church on the beautiful hill overlooking the village in the valley. On the twenty-fifth of April, 1832, Horace S. Cooper and Eunice, his wife, executed a deed by which, for twenty-five dollars, they sold half. an acre of ground to Halmah Francisco, James Morrison, Jacob Lawrence, Horace S. Cooper, Robert Parsons, Jr., Elihue Mott and Alexander Dickerson, trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, in the township of Randolph, County of Morris * * land for the new church.
The timber for the frame of the new building was freely donated by different one» living near, and Messrs. John Powers, John Carrell and other kind friends went in the woods and hewed out the larger timbers, while the smaller pieces and floor boards of oak were sawn out by Sam- uel Searing at his mill and given to the society.
56
As these timbers were not seasoned, a kiln was built in which to dry them and a man employed to watch the drying process. At that time temperance societies were almost unknown. The watchman imbibed too freely of the juice of Jersey apples, neglected his duties, and one Sabbath morning the kiln and its precious timbers were con- sumed by fire. In no wise discouraged, David Lindsley and Simon Sear- ing took their teams and heavy wagons and drove forty miles to Easton, the nearest lumber yards, bringing back with them suitable timber for immediate use.
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.