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 8
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Another high power plant is planned for York Haven on the Sus- quehanna, to be connected with Reading and Easton.
The puffing and panting of the locomotive may cease to resound through our narrow valley.
Dover is a distributing center of this new industrial force in Northern New Jersey. Our great industrials are already operating by electricity.
Consider, then, Dover's strategic position: on the one hand the influx of power from Pennsylvania, equal to our future industrial demands; and on the other hand the great purchasing market of the Greater New York, not to mention the world-wide outlets of Port Newark and New York Harbor, so near at hand.
PART III Municipal and Civic Institutions
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1922 MANUAL OF THE TOWN OF DOVER MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY (Incorporated, April 1, 1869) CENSUS
1900 National 5,938
1910 National 7,468
1915 State
8,97I
1920 National
9,817
MUNICIPAL BOARD MAYOR
Hon. William H. Hosking
ALDERMEN
. Jan., 1924
First Ward-
Etta C. Searing.
Jan., 1923
Arling M. MacFall. Tan., 1924
Second Ward-
James T. Kerr . Jan., 1923,
J. Willard Farrow . Jan., 1924
Third Ward-
Floyd S. Carling
Jan., 1923
Ralph B. Dunham . Jan., 1924
Fourth Ward-
Samuel H. Francis Jan., 1923
Simon C. Hume Jan., 1924
Meets every second Monday-8 p. m.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Farrow
FINANCE Searing MacFall
Hume
INSURANCE, PRINTING AND ELECTIONS Dunham Francis
Carling
FIRE DEPARTMENT AND STREET LIGHTING Carling Searing
Kerr
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Dunham
Farrow Hume
OFFICERS AND SALARIES Hume Francis
MacFall
LICENSES Carling Kerr
Searing
ORDINANCES
Francis
Farrow MacFall
DISTRICT TAXES (ADVISORY ) Mayor and Board of Aldermen
STREETS AND HIGHWAYS Kerr Dunham
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OFFICERS CLERK
Jos. V. Baker
. Jan., 1925 Chas. A. Gillen, Deputy TREASURER
John Moller
. Jan., 1925
Leonard Elliott
ASSESSOR OF TAXES
COLLECTOR OF TAXES
TOWN ATTORNEY
. Jan., 1925
. Jan., 1923
TOWN SURVEYOR
Jan., 1923
STREET COMMISSIONER
. Jan., 1924
BUILDING INSPECTOR
Charles A. Nelson
Jan., 1923
POLICE JUSTICE
William Gardner
.Jan., 1924 OVERSEER OF THE POOR
William Gardner
POLICE SURGEON
Augustus L. L. Baker, M.D. Jan., 1923 KEEPER PUBLIC POUND
William J. Parker
KEEPER MUNICIPAL BUILDING
L. Briant Hedden
AUDITOR OF ACCOUNTS Jan., 1923
Floyd M. Diehl.
July, 1922
CHILD HYGIENE NURSE
Mrs. Mabel E. French. Jan., 1922
DEPARTMENT OF POLICE
Charles U. Counterman . Chief John W. Hart. Lieutenant
John T. Gallagher Sergeant
MOTORCYCLE POLICE
Harry C. Fine
George Youmans
James T. Hart Walter D. Burns
DEPARTMENT OF FIRE ENGINEERS
Geo. B. Carhart, Chief Manchus H. Hann, Ist Ass't Charles W. White, 2nd Ass't Otto A. Marquard, 3rd Ass't
PATROLMEN
July, 1925
Richard L. Maloney
Charles S. Cooper
Raymond Sharp
Charles A. Nelson
. Jan., 1927
. Jan., 1923
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OPERATORS
Jacob Nichols, Chief
J. L. Corey, Ass't
A. H. Goodale
RELIEFS C. E. Ripley, Jr.
H. W. Squires
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH MEMBERS
George F. Steffany . Jan., 1923
Edna E. Fogarty (Mrs. T. B.)
Jan., 1923
William G. Hummel, Pres. Jan., 1924
Augustus J. Lauenstein.
. Jan., 1924
William F. Costello, M.D ..
. Jan., 1925
John G. Taylor, Health Officer and Reg. V. S.
Wm. H. Tonking, Sec'y-Treas. Martin E. Alpers, Bacteriologist Meets every fourth Monday-8 p. m.
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
TRUSTEES
Charles D. Platt, A. M .. . Jan., 1923
Lucy Killgore (Mrs. Robt.) .Jan., 1924
Grace Neighbour (Mrs. E. D.) Jan., 1925
Dennis B. O'Brien, Pres.
Louis Harris Jan., 1926
Jan., 1927
Mayor of Dover. Superintendent of Public Schools, Ex-officio
Martha A. Burnet, Librarian (Secretary) Nina E. Woodhull, Ass't Librarian Mildred Powers, Sub. Librarian Meets every first Friday-8 p. m.
SHADE TREE COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS
Charles H. Munson.
Jan., 1924
Edward D. Neighbor, Sec'y Jan., 1925
Peter C. Buck, President. Jan., 1926
Meets every second Wednesday-I p. m.
SINKING FUND COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS
Charles S. Clark.
Jan., 1923
Sanford C. Gerard, Sec'y
Jan., 1924
Howard H. King, President Jan., 1925
Mayor of Dover. Ex-officio
Town Treasurer Ex-officio
Jos. V. Baker, Clerk John Moller, Treas. Meets first week in January and on call
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DEPARTMENT OF WATER COMMISSIONERS
Emil Heller
. Jan., 1923
Charles W. White. Jan., 1924
George F. Steffany, Pres. Jan., 1925
Jos. V. Baker, Clerk John Moller, Treas. William M. Hedden, Superintendent Meets every second Wednesday-8 p. m.
BOARD OF SEWERAGE
COMMISSIONERS Edward Kelly, President
Edward M. Searing John K. Cook
Michael F. Mullen, Secretary Meets on call of President
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Arthur W. Condict, M.D., Pres Feb., 1923
Henry Heiman
. Feb., 1923
Estella Totten (Mrs. Leo) . Feb., 1923
William L. R. Lynd. . Feb., 1924
Emil G. Kattermann. .Feb., 1924
Lenore D. Allen (Mrs. Jos. L.) .. Feb., 1924
Coleridge H. Benedict, Dist. Clerk Feb., 1925
William Otto . Feb., 1925
John D. B. Vreeland. Feb., 1925
Roswell S. Bowlby, Supt. of Schools Meets every first Tuesday-8 p. m.
87
MAYORS OF DOVER, 1869-1922 TOWN OF DOVER, INCORPORATED APRIL I, 1869 First Mayor and Council
George Richards, Mayor. 1869-1871
James H. Neighbour, Recorder 1869-1871
Ephraim Lindsley, Alderman 1869-1871
Mahlon H. Dickerson, Alderman. 1869-1871
Thomas J. Halsey, Common Councilman 1869-1871
Daniel G. Wiggins, Common Councilman 1869-1871
Alpheus Beemer, Common Councilman . 1869-1871
Martin V. B. Searing, Common Councilman. 1869-1871
William H. McDavit, Common Councilman. 1869-1871
Mayors following
Anson G. P. Segur, Mayor 1871-1873
George Richards, Mayor .. . 1873-1887
Sedgwick R. Bennett, Mayor. 1887-1891
Horace L. Dunham, Mayor 1891-1893
George McCracken, Mayor 1893-1895
Ferdinand V. Wolfe, Mayor. . 1895-1896
Town of Dover changed to City of Dover-May 4, 1896:
George Pierson, Mayor 1897-1899
George A. Raynor, City Councilman (Chairman)
John A. Lyon, City Councilman
John H. Stumpf, City Councilman
George B. Carhart, City Councilman
City of Dover and officials ousted from office March 21, 1899, the former government taking control, Ferdinand V. Wolfe assuming his office as Mayor.
Ferdinand V. Wolfe, Mayor. . 1899-1899
Frederick H. Beach, Mayor 1899-1901
Harry S. Peters, Mayor. . 1901-1903
Isaac W. Searing, Mayor 1903-1906 George Pierson, Mayor. . 1906-1910
John Mulligan, Mayor. 1910-1914
William L. R. Lynd, Mayor.
Richard W. Whitham, Mayor
1914-1916 1916-1920
Pursuant to an Ordinance adopted May 26, 1919, the governing body attained the designation of Mayor and Board of Aldermen. William L. R. Lynd, Mayor ..
William H. Hosking, Mayor
. 1922-
Ralph B. Dunham, Alderman
J. Willard Farrow, Alderman.
Samuel H. Francis, Alderman.
Simon C. Hume, Alderman.
James T. Kerr, Alderman.
Arling M. MacFall, Alderman
Etta C. Searling, Alderman
. 1920-1922
Floyd S. Carling, Alderman
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THE DOVER POLICE FORCE
For the first twenty years of the twentieth century Ethelbert Byram was Dover's efficient Chief of Police. He is now Sheriff of Morris County and resides in Morristown.
In November, 1921, Charles U. Counterman, after ten years of experience on the Dover police force, was appointed Chief of Police. Other officers of the police force are Lieutenant John Hart; Sergeant John Gallagher; Harry Fine and George Youmans, motorcyclists; James Hart and Walter Burns, patrolmen; and forty-two special police- men. Special policemen are also employed by the banks.
For three years the local police department had a one hundred per cent. record for efficiency.
Among the usual duties of the police are the oversight of school children at street crossings at noon and at the close of the school day, especially at the Northside school and at the corner of Blackwell and Sussex streets. On holidays it is part of their duty to handle the crowds and keep traffic moving without accidents.
The police office is in the municipal building on Sussex street. A police court is at hand and cells for persons under arrest are close by, where such persons may be confined for twenty-four hours. For longer periods of detention the law requires them to be taken to the county jail at Morristown.
Across the street from the new municipal building, on the south side of the canal, may be seen a little old room of detention that for many years served as the local "jug." Even when there were no human occu- pants of this apartment it had numerous inhabitants, they say, who were always eager to welcome a new "boarder."
For a town of its size Dover has provided very limited accommo- dations for law-breakers.
Charles U. Counterman, our chief of police, has been elected a member of the National Police Conference, which is under Federal authority and maintained by Federal funds. A national police bureau is to be located at Washington, D. C., to receive, compile and investigate police information and criminal intelligence throughout the country. The bureau is to conduct studies and make recommendations upon the stan- dardization of police methods and procedure throughout the country, aiming also to make street and highway traffic regulations more effective.
The safeguarding of the public upon streets and roads is becoming a subject that demands much of the time of a police force. The study of criminology is another department of their work that is being recog- nized as a special department of psychology and physiognomy, if not genealogy. Many special magazines and treatises are being published upon such subjects and an up-to-date police department might be expected to have a library all its own, equipped with the growing litera- ture of the subject, from Victor Hugo's "Jean Valjean" to the latest study of finger-prints of men and the nose-prints of cattle.
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For the six months ending July first, 1922, the Dover Police Department has a record of "93 per cent. efficient." Improvements costing over $400 have been made in the rooms of the Department.
THE POLICE COURT
The jurisdiction of the Police Justice of the Municipal Court of the Town of Dover, New Jersey, is indicated as follows :
To hear all criminal complaints of acts committed within the muni- cipality, holding offenders to bail or committing them to await the action of the Grand Jury.
To enforce all Ordinances of the Town of Dover and local Boarď of Health. To try and determine such cases and fine or imprison upon conviction.
To enforce all Motor Vehicle and Traffic violations committed with- in the Town of Dover.
To solemnize marriages.
Jurisdiction over Fish and Game Violations committed in the County.
To compel persons who make threats to give sureties to keep the peace.
To hear all complaints of children being incorrigible, paroling them or committing them to await trial by the Juvenile Court in Morristown.
To deal with deserters of families, vagrancy, disorderly persons, cruelty to animals, and cruelty to children.
WILLIAM GARDNER, Police Justice.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
There may be a Justice of the Peace in each ward of any town to represent the county in criminal matters; but offenses committed within the corporation are subject to the jurisdiction of the Police. Court. The Justice of the Peace holds preliminary hearings in crim- inal matters of his jurisdiction and binds over the parties to appear before the Grand Jury. Justice of the Peace is a constitutional office, while the Police Court is statutory. The Justice of the Police court is appointed by the Council for five years. The Justices of the Peace are elected by the County for a term of five years. They take office May first, after the general election and are sworn in, giving a bond for $2,000.
John H. Martin is Justice of the Peace for Dover in 1922. His: office is in Sussex street.
CONSTABLES
There are now six Constables in Dover: George Youmans, Charles Parker, William Parker, Isador Less, A. Judson Coe, Joseph Voelker. They are elected by the County and can make arrests on the warrant of any Justice of the Peace in any part of Morris County ..
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In order to follow a criminal in other counties the warrant may be indorsed over to Justices in such county ; but offenders must be tried in the county where the offense was committed. Constables must now give bonds for $1,000.
THE DISTRICT COURT
The Second Judicial District Court of the County of Morris was established by special act of the Legislature in 1918 and is controlled by an act of the Legislature entitled, "An Act Concerning District Courts," passed in 1898. The territorial jurisdiction of every district court is co-extensive with the limits of the county in which it is established and it has jurisdiction of every suit of a civil nature at law or to recover any penalty imposed or authorized by any law of this state where the debt, balance, penalty, damage or other matter in dispute does not exceed, exclusive of costs, the sum or value of $500. District Courts also have jurisdiction in proceedings between landlords and tenants and in actions of forcible entry and detainer, and in actions of replevin, and in attach- ment, as provided in the above mentioned act and in such other cases as are now or may hereafter be provided by law. Special jurisdiction is given district courts under various statutes as, for instance, Agriculture, Biological Products, Carriers, Cattle Pasturing, Employment of Chil- dren and Females, Commodity Sales, Corporations, Cruelty to Animals, Employment Agencies, Fish, Game and Birds, Mechanics' Liens, Milk and Cream, Tenement House Supervision, and various other acts. Dis- trict Courts are courts of record and have power to punish for contempts of court, the court having common law power in this respect. Wher- ever district courts are established, Justices of the Peace have no juris- diction of civil matters coming within the jurisdiction of the District Court as above mentioned.
Morris County has three District Courts, known as the First, Second and Third Judicial District Courts. The First District Court is located at the Court House in Morristown; the Second District Court at No. 14 W. Blackwell street, Dover; and the Third District Court, in the Town Hall, Boonton. Each District Court has a Clerk whose posi- tion is permanent under the Civil Service Act and it is the duty of the Clerk to issue all writs and summonses and keep the records.
In the Second Judicial District, court is held on Wednesday of each week at the Court Room in Dover, except in the case of Jury trials, which trials are held on Friday, as the Court designates.
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THE ASSOCIATION OF EXEMPT FIREMEN OF THE CITY OF DOVER, NEW JERSEY
The Association of Exempt Firemen of the City of Dover was incorporated May 24, 1897, under the provisions of an Act for the Incor- poration of Associations of Exempt Firemen and the formation of a State Association of Exempt Firemen, approved February 25, 1889.
The first officers elected were : William W. Sickles, President ; J. J. Vreeland, Vice-President; Robert C. Vreeland, Secretary, and Guido C. Hinchman, Treasurer.
The object of this Association is to provide and maintain a fund for the relief, support, and burial of the members and their widows and orphan children, to perpetuate the social relations existing among the members of the Dover Fire Department, and to render such assistance in case of fire as the officers of the association may deem proper to direct, by the advice and consent of the constituted authorities of the city.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF DOVER
Mr. I. W. Searing's Story
Elliott's Foundry stood, in 1873, where Birch and Bassett's Coal and Automobile Office stands now. In the second story of the foundry was Palmer and Allen's carpenter shop. This was an unhappy combina- tion-shavings above and sparks below. In some way the carpenter shop took fire at noon one December day, when the snow was on the ground. The fire started when everybody was out of the building at dinner time. The town then had no organization for fighting fires. But people scur- ried around and brought what ladders and pails they could. No houses were very near, and the fire was confined to the carpenter shop. This was quickly consumed by the flames. Everybody began to talk about the necessity of taking measures to fight such fires in future. Dover was helpless. There had only been two fires in Dover from 1856 to 1873. One was a building on Orchard street, adjacent to the cemetery. The other was a building on William Ford's lot, near the pond.
A meeting of citizens was called to meet in Whitlock & Lewis's store, corner of Morris and Blackwell streets, now Lehman's. Few came to this meeting. The following were present: J. H. Neighbour, Titus Berry, William L. Young, George McCracken, I. W. Searing, M. C. Whitlock and Jas. B. Lewis. It was decided to call a second meeting and try to bring out a larger attendance. Col. Stites, of Mor- ristown, was invited to come over and address the meeting, telling how to organize a town fire department. They had a well-attended meeting. Col. Stites, an engineer, spoke. The need of a water supply was seen and it was decided to build cisterns in different parts of town that were remote from the water supply afforded by the river and the canal. Only two such cisterns were actually constructed, one at the corner of Chest- nut and Prospect streets and one on Gold street near Prospect. It was also decided at this meeting to build catch-basins along the river, so as to have a depth of water where the suction pipe would work when the river was low.
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But in the town charter of 1869 there was no provision made for taxing the town to maintain a fire department. It became necessary to obtain from the Legislature an enabling act to permit the town to raise the funds for the purpose. A committee called on George Richards, the mayor, to discuss this point and he recommended that the business men assume the immediate responsibility for this expense until it could be formally provided for by vote of the people and act of Legislature. Mr. George McCracken took around a subscription paper which was signed and generously supported by the business men of the town.
A fire ordinance was passed and organization effected as told in the First Annual Report, quoted elsewhere.
As to the period previous to the organization of 1873, there is one old relic in evidence, still kept on the premises of the Dover Lumber Company and exhibited on parade on rare occasions. This old Engine No. I, which Mr. McFarlan had in earlier days for the protection of the Iron Works, he finally presented to the town-a reminder of the days when pumping was done by man power and not by steam. There was but one such engine here, but in other towns they sometimes had several and placed them in line so that one engine would pump from the river into the next engine and number two would pump the water along to number three and so on until the last engine discharged the stream into the fire.
In February, 1874-5, a supplement to Dover's charter was passed by Legislature authorizing the issue of fire bonds to the amount of $12,000 at seven per cent. interest to be refunded in twelve years.
William Sickles, in conversation with me, has briefly alluded to the following fires:
(1) Gage's Saw Mill, (2) Maze's Saw Mill, (3) Searing's Lumber Yard, (4) The Skating Rink and Force's barns, (5) Birch and Bas- sett's Garage, in the building that was once the Old Academy, (6) Rich- ardson & Boynton's. The dates of these fires may be found in your fire records. (7) The Lindsley block.
At the Richardson & Boynton fire there was trouble in getting enough water, until the engine got to the river and took water from that.
At the skating rink fire they got the engine going just in time to save the houses east of the fire. The wind was blowing to the east. These barns and the rink were between the canal and the present Index building.
At the Birch & Bassett fire the men had to fight burning gasoline, as the garage contained many automobiles. Some of these automobiles were saved and many were wrecked by fire as they stood in the building. After this fire Birch & Bassett secured the brick building next to the Index Office, formerly used by the Electric Company. On the day of the Birch & Bassett fire the firemen were out of town on a fire parade, but fortunately the apparatus was left in Dover.
Mr. Sickles spoke in some detail of the Lindsley block fire. In this he helped save the Mansion House by getting inside the building with the hose and working to extinguish the flames that had penetrated
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between the ceilings and the rafters and in the cornices of the roof, threatening to jump across Sussex street and reach Kilgore & White's store. The Bennett house, next to the Lackawanna Restaurant was also saved by covering it with old carpets and keeping it wet.
Mr. Sickles was a member of the first company formed in 1874.
The First Annual Report of the Chief Engineer of the Dover Fire Department, for the year ending March 1, 1873, gives the story of the founding of this department. The following is the list of Department Officers for that year : Chief Engineer, William H. McDavit; Assistant Engineer, William H. Worthen; Fire Committee, F. H. Lindsley, Thomas J. Halsey, Thomas B. Jarvis; Board of Fire Wardens, C. H. Munson, foreman; William T. Allen, assistant foreman; Jas. H. Neighbour, clerk; T. J. Halsey, M. C. Whitlock, A. Taylor, H. C. Byram, C. B. Gage, I. W. Searing.
PALMER AND ALLEN
In 1873, Stephen J. Palmer had a carpenter shop near the present Birch and Bassett Coal and Automobile office between the canal and the Central Railroad. This carpenter shop caught fire about noon and burned down. This fire made such an impression on the community that a meeting was called that same evening to consider measures of safety for the future. In December, 1873, a committee of the Common Council, consisting of Messrs. Frank H. Lindsley, James H. Neighbour, and William H. McDavit, were instructed to visit manufacturers of fire apparatus and also the fire departments of neighboring cities and report upon the subject of purchasing a fire apparatus for Dover. The result of that Committee's work was the signing of a contract, June 20, 1874, with Messrs. Harrel & Hayes, of Paterson, N. J., for the con- struction and delivery to Dover one fourth size Steam Fire Engine, 100 feet of Rubber Hose, one Hook and Ladder Truck, one Hose Tender, one Hose Jumper.
During the month of February following the "Fire Ordinance" was passed, the Board of Engineers and Fire Wardens appointed, the three companies of firemen organized and accepted by the Common Council, and the apparatus delivered, submitted to trial, and accepted.
From the arrival of the apparatus until February, 1875, it was housed temporarily in Tabernacle Hall. On the evening of February 20th the entire apparatus was removed to its present admirable and com- modious quarters on Sussex street. During the year the department has been thoroughly drilled, twice in each month in the summer, and once in each month in the winter. As a result we have three most efficient and active companies, thoroughly understanding the working and han- dling of their respective apparatuses.
During the year 1874 there have been seven fires. Uninsured losses, $13,150. Insured losses, $3,035. Total, $16,185.
I would also recommend the building of at least five fire cisterns- two on Morris street, one on Gold street, one on Prospect street, and
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one on Mt. Hope avenue. The estimated cost of these cisterns ten feet square by ten feet deep, built of brick, including all the necessary excava- tion, is $225 each.
There should also be set in the river bank at the foot of each street leading down to the river a wooden box, four feet wide by six feet long. By sinking the bottom of the box to the lower part of the river bed we can have abundant water supply in the dryest season. The estimated cost of boxes, including setting, is $25.
WM. H. McDAVIT, Chief Engineer.
The above extracts from Chief McDavit's report indicate how the Fire Department of Dover was started.
The department was then organized in five divisions :
I, City of Dover Engine Company No. I.
2. Vigilant Hose Company No. I.
3. Protection Hook and Ladder Company No. I.
4. Board of Fire Wardens.
5. Board of Engineers.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF DOVER, N. J.
Narrative of George B. Carhart, April 20, 1920
The following is an account of the most important fires that have taken place in Dover in the last forty years.
I. The Lindsley Fire on Blackwell street where now stands what is known as the Brick Block, east of the Mansion House, occurred about October first, 1880.
2. Following that in February, 1881, was the burning of the Car Shops on a very cold night. This fire was fought with one steamer, City of Dover, known as Number One. The night was very cold and the water was taken from a brook on the Oram property by building a dam to hold enough to supply the pump. After the fire was out and we went to take up the hose it was found frozen. It was considerable trouble to handle it. A member by the name of Dr. Rossi made the remark that we might as well try to wind up the stove pipe.
3. Then came the Dover Lumber Company Fire. That was a bitter cold night. The clothes froze on the men fighting the fire. The late J. B. Jolly of the Mansion House sent the men hot coffee, much to their relief.
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