USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Essex county, N.J., illustrated > Part 5
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THE FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
THAT some of the seeds of liberty gathered in Essex County, New Jersey, took root in other places, is made manifest in Dr. Mcwhorter's removal to Charlotte, Meclenberg County, North Carolina, where the first Declaration of Independence was born and promulgated. So daring and impetuous had the doctor been it became necessary, whenever he was known to be at home, that a sentinel should pace back and forth before his door. Before the doctor had become fairly settled in his new place, he was compelled again to fly from home as the enemy were pursuing the rebel parson, as they termed him, with sleuth- hound purpose and tenacity. It is vouched for on pretty good authority that Dr. McWhorter was with Washington when the council of war was hekdl which resulted in the capture of the llessians and the telling victory of the Americans at Trenton.
A DARING ADVENTURE.
WHERE there was so many brave spirits engaged in the cause of American independence, it seems invidious to make election, to choose some and leave others unmentioned whose deeds were just as brave and the results of whose daring feats were just as far-reaching, but space not permitting even a bare mention of the many, we must be excused for the present- ation of the few as representatives of the whole.
The ground was covered with snow when Capt. John Kidney, Capt. Henry Jeroloman, Jacob Garlam and Halmack Jeroloman
VIEW ON MARKET STREET, EAST FROM BROAD STREET.
started out from Bloomfield, then a part of Newark. They drove a swift team tackled to a wood-sled, but the usual con- comitant of sleigh bells was wanting to complete the turn out. Even such an indispensable article as a whip was dispensed with, since the horses seemed animated with a like spirit that governed the cargo of adventurers seeking just what they apparently were to find in the immediate vicinity of Bergen Heights. As they hauled up at a hostlery by the wayside, the fog rising in curls from the nostrils and sides of the smok- ing steeds, and when the lines had been thrown to the hostler and the boniface had welcomed his guests at the fireside and made their stomachs feel glad over a glass of patriotic Bergen cider, the daring patriots were ready for the purpose which they had in view. The British garrison which kept guard over the Heights and overawed and plundered the people, had not confined themselves that cold night to cider alone but, like the Indian, had a drop of the creature which was warmer and stronger, they naturally grew careless and less fearful of danger. Stealthily they approached the school-house, where the British were holding their orgies, when Capt. Kidney gave orders in a loud voice to his army of three men all well armed. They then began a fusilade and made all the noise that it was possible under the circum- stances. Ile then sprang to the door, forced it open and demanded a surrender, shouting out to the terror-stricken roysterers, "Every one of you are my prisoners, sur- render or die," the frightened crowd of red-coats within not knowing but an entire regiment of Americans were behind the captain. He then ordered them to fall in line and one by one to make their exit. He picked out one officer and a refugee, had them muffled and put into the sled, warning the first who attempted to escape that he would be a dead man. The captain and
VIEW ON WASHINGTON PARK AND WASHINGTON PLACE.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
his companions then made a dash for the sled, started off at the swiftest pace and baffled any pursuit which would surely follow soon after. The prisoners were taken to the Morristown jail to rest while their chagrin passed off at having been so cleverly outwitted and captured.
ESSEX COUNTY IN THE WAR OF 1861=5.
T HERE are signs in nature which scientists consider infal- lible, which indicate the approach of great convulsions of earth and matter, disturbances of the elements which, though slight in themselves, bring forebodings of approaching changes resulting in disasters wide-spread. Then there are signs which point with unerring finger to the figures on the face of the swift revolving cycles of the years rolling on, which are none the less just as surely premonitions of disturbances among men. governments and nations which point to revolutions, changes and consequences just as certainly and are just as significant and freighted with results just as far-reaching.
That awful stillness pervading space and which, like the deep darkness which "can even be felt " preceding earthquakes, is a sign insignificant in itself but marvellously truthful, as it becomes the herald of a convulsion which may shake the earth from circumference to centre. In summer, when not a leaf is stirring or cricket chirping, and not a "breath of air," as saith the patiently-waiting sailor, is astir, it is easy indeed to divine that nature's leyden-jars are being charged as yonder dark cloud rolls slowly up the western sky in readiness for loosing the forked tongues of the lightning which, with might and power, tear great rents in the slow-moving clouds, waking the deep-mouthed thunders which in close pursuit of the zig-zag lightnings apparently on mischief bent, but which charms and satisfies when it lets loose the rain-drops to cool the parched earth.
So it was immediately preceding the great Civil War. When all the batteries of the North and South had been full charged by the work of hate and fury going on for years, an awful fore- boding of war was easily felt in the solemn stillness surrounding the field of preparation in the land of the sunny South. The deep-mouthed dogs of war lay quiet, but in readiness for un- leashing by a proclamation of war. The cup of dissatisfaction and brotherly discord had been filled to overflowing, and while the sweet-smiling angel of Peace held the chalice of love to lips that long refused to sip, then came the explosion. The spark long fanned, finally found life and reached the powder of Fort
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List of such of the direct Intendants who require Application obtavie's warrants the 10%. April1696 X Robert Ung 200 Meres; Lamell- Bronne, matter Tomkins, Samuell & Nahum Mitchell, francis Tinsley & * Hance Illets, d'athaniel TS Salt, Borjamen Batwine, Thomas & Person, Samuel Lyon, Haut Roberts, Thomas Richards, Iquid- Dove, Cash of them Being 13 In number 100 Actes natten Surjant, Unathen Siers, Sother Bronon, Each- 1 Go Acres William CMbone 80 lar. Hannah Thompson & Gomath Riggs - 100 clares, chathamielt uuml Filtrar Laman & Elizabeth Gydon Sixties Acres- Jasper Graine yo chores, George Harris 50 Acres, Hannah Proven 2 Goleta, Thomas Brown 23 cloves-
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COPY OF AN OLD RECORD FOUND IN MR. MITCHELL'S SILVER LAKE HOTEL, ON EAGLE ROCK.
MONUMENT IN FAIRMOUNT CEMETERY, ERECTED BY THE CITY OF NEWARK TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THE EARLV SETTLERS.
Moultrie's cannon. One flash, and the deep-mouthed thunder awoke and unleashed every dog of war, both North and South. The beautiful flag which had floated in glory over a united and prosperous people was rent with "gash and seam." Little they knew, who fired that first shot, of what they were dream- ing. Little thought they who, with heartless aim, sent the ball speeding which should make that furrow, the one leading to the ploughing of the entire sunny land of their own beloved South and a literal sowing thereof with the besom of destruction; much less thought they
When in storm of shot and shell,
" Old Glory " fell, "Old Glory " feil ; The institution of slavery, which had been our country's bane,
Would no longer live to stain Its ground of blue, Its stars and stripes-
The flag of the free, rightly named.
John Curtice to suring by order from tracts of Laws giantis roti finite 1696
From no part of our common country did there follow an echo clothed in a more sorrowful thrill than that which was an- swered back to the bellowing sound of the shotted gun fired from Moultrie's walls, than did that from the people of Essex County. Not that war between kindred had begun ; not that the truce was indeed broken; not that the promises of rivers of blood flowing from brothers' torn veins which could be plainly seen through the rents that shot made in our beautiful flag- not all these cogent reasons combined, but that which did more to break the bond of hope and loose the flood-gates of despair, was the closing of our factory doors in fulfillment of the promise sent back of want in the families of her ten thousand skilled mechanics and workmen.
All over Essex County, as if by magic touch, great manufacturing establishments
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
had sprung up, and the much needed supplies of the South were being manufactured therein to meet a rapidly increasing demand, as Essex County had already long borne the title of "THE WORKSHOP OF THE SOUTH." The ties of busi- ness and family ties which had been growing for years through these channels, must, when nurtured by the prosperity they wrought, which was both rich and rare, have grown very strong, and when the match was touched which sent that first shot ricochetting over the waters to Sumpter's walls, it was freighted with no small hope that that tie would prove strong enough to hold,
'Mid the thunder of battie, In the red glare of war, 'Mid the shouts of the fighters And the clashing of steel.
The mistake which our hot-blooded southern brothers made was in their reckoning of receiving more than regrets for their
which was long being prepared for the mighty conflagration which finally blazed high on every hill-top of the South and swept over the southron's sunny land as with the besom of destruction. For many long years after the war had closed the question was asked, " Upon whose shoulders shall rest the responsibility for the untold sufferings, the almost irreparable loss, and the fearful devastation wide-spread?" But time has soothed the passions and healed the wounds and the question is no longer asked. With whom rests the responsibility of building the fearful holocaust ? It is enough for our purpose that
ESSEX COUNTY WAS LOYAL.
T is safe to say that no State, not even Massachusetts herself, the hotbed of abolitionism, proved herself more loyal than did Essex County and New Jersey. No place answered the call for troops to meet the rebellion with greater alacrity, and
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VIEW ON MILITARY PARK AND PARK PLACE, NEWARK, N. J.
errings and personal sympathy for their self-wrought sufferings which in the end cost them so dearly. Not while the blood of the fathers keeps up its coursing through the veins of the children's children of the Revolutionary heroes; not while the recollection of Washington's masterly strategy and victory over the llessians at Trenton lives to enrich our national history, and the picture of his rage when cashiering the traitor Lee on the field and applauding the heroism of Moll Pitcher at Monmouth remains engraved on the tablet of every American heart, could that heart cease to beat responsive to liberty and union, the jewels for which he fought. The southerners had hoped that the close business relations with the men of Essex County who had previously voiced public sentiment could be relied on in the dread hour of war. But they had counted the strength to be gleaned from this rich field without that wisdom which garners the golden crop. The opinions of the hot heads of the North varied little from the fire-eaters-as they were then termed-of the South; either being ready, aye eager to touch the match
when population is considered, few places indeed, if any, turned out a larger percentage of enlisted men-the record showing that out of a population of less than 700,000, nearly 100,000 men went to war, Essex County furnishing her full share. The exact figures as we find them recorded was at that time 676,000, and she sent to war of that number 98,806. When the martyred Lincoln sent forth his first call for men to defend the nation's capital, New Jersey was quick to respond. There was no hesitation. The first bugle note, the sons of the old "Jersey Blues " of the Revolution heard and heeded. Eager pledges of help went forth from every county, town, village and home. While men honestly differed as to methods, all purposes were the same and, couched in the language of another, it was " The Union forever, one and indivisible," and at all hazards and whatever cost, it must and shall be maintained. The flag which was brought out only on Independence day and other holiday occasions now fluttered in every breeze from all the public buildings, and with a singular unanimity of action householders
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
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vied with one and the other to see who should first have the stars and stripes floating from their house-top. In every town and village, patriotic men gathered to give expression to their senti- ments of loyalty to their imperilled government. The banks of the county opened up their coffers and willingly pledged their hoarded gold. As a sample of what the banks of Essex County did, we need but mention the $50,000 which stood to the credit of the "Old Bank " (the Newark Banking Company), $50,000 to the State Bank, Mechanic's and Newark City each with $25.000, and the Essex County with $20,000. Not alone came cash responses to the call for money from the banks, but other institutions and the wealthy among her citizens kept them company.
THE NEW JERSEY BRIGADE.
TO make use of the language of a writer of the days follow- ing the firing on Sumpter. " It was a carnival of patriotism all through Essex County and in fact all over New Jersey."
GENERAL THEODORE RUNYON.
A LTHOUGH he had never marshalled large bodies of troops or " set a squadron in the field," the General soon proved that no mistake had been made in his selection, and when the trying times came, the military tact and rare good judgment he displayed proved him the right man in the right place. His previous experience, gained while endeavoring to place the state militia on an efficient basis, served a purpose satisfying to himself and proved a rich legacy to his country when dangers menaced, and the companies of militia which had enjoyed the benefit of his military ardor and soldierly skill formed many a nucleii around which gathered the crowds of men who came forward to offer their services in the cause of their country and in defense of their homes and firesides.
Although General Runyon had not yet reached the forties in life's score, yet he was a man of large experience and was the possessor of a mind well disciplined and was a man of marked
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The shrill whistle of the ear-piercing fife and the rattle of the soul-stirring drum was heard everywhere. That first call for troops by President Lincoln on April 15, 1861, the people with one mind resolved to heed. With a full realization of the terrible danger with which they were menaced. the people responded with alacrity. The wave of enthusiasm which arose as the wave of the ocean arises and onward rolled with a power which no obstacle could check or overcome. New Jersey was asked for four regiments and from Essex County nearly a thousand of this quota came. So enthusiastic were the people, it required but a few days to fill the quota, and when they were mustered into service, the brigade organization was completed by the appointment of Theodore Runyon, of Newark, as Briga- dier-General ; Alexander V. Bonnell, as Brigade Inspector, and Captain James B. Mulligan, as Aid-de-Camp.
firmness of character. Few men in the state understood better the value of military discipline. He comprehended in a marvel- ous way the fearful gravity of the situation, and by his identifi- cation for years with the militia of the state, had natural title to the distinction of commander of New Jersey's volunteers, nearly every man of whom knew General Runyon, and felt that they had in him one who would look closely after their every want. and who all knew that there would be no needless rushing into (langer ; no needless exposure of person or ignorant orders with human sacrifice resulting.
On the 27th of April, 1861, this prominent Essex County law- yer, whose eloquence for years had electrified her courts and charmed her juries, was merged into the army general, his com- mission as brigadier-general of volunteers bearing the above date. The General then immediately took command, thus
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED,
VIEWS
NEWARK
VIEWS IN NEWARK IN 1875.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
bestowing upon Essex County the honor of furnishing the first general officer of the state. The task the General had accepted was no light one, but his experience with the militia had peculiarly fitted him for its accomplishment, and with the aid of the nucleii of veteran militiamen, he was not long in bringing 'order out of chaos," and accomplishing the hard task of dis- iplining and equipping his brigade of three thousand men, many of whom had never seen a musket, let alone their entire ignorance of military drill, and few indeed but were totally ignorant of the rigors and discomforts they had to undergo in their approaches to the expected denouement of the bloody bat- le-field. But they were Jerseymen, and it was theirs to keep unsullied the reputation won by the famous " Jersey Blues " on
May, he was directed to embark his troops " as soon as possi- ble," on the propellers of the Delaware and Raritan canal, and on the same day the General commanding received his final orders to reach Washington by the way of Annapolis, the rail- road route through Baltimore having been cut off by the burn- ing of bridges and the tearing up of tracks by the southerners already in the field. To the Hon. John G. Stevens, a director of the Delaware & Raritan Canal Company at the time, belongs the honor of the first suggestion as to the feasibility of this route. In his orders, General Runyon was directed to report to the commandant at Annapolis on his arrival. Space not permit- ting a full record of the General's orders, it must suffice for us to say on this page of ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, ILLUS-
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MARKET ST
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VIEW OF MARKET STREET STATION, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.
he bloody fields of the revolution and under the eye of the immortal Washington. They were inexperienced, but yet possessed the spirit of war-worn veterans. It didn't take them ong to get at an understanding of the necessity of subordina- ion, and when the order came to break camp and move, the state had abundant reason to look upon their citizen soldiers, in Company, regiment and full brigade, with pride and satisfaction.
War in earnest had begun, and that too in earnest before the lowers of May had begun their blooming, and our Essex County boys were not far from the terrible experiences which ' war in earnest ever brings " The easy route by rail to Wash- ngton had already been cut in twain at Baltimore, and when General Runyon received his final orders on the 19th day of
TRATED, that these orders to Essex County's brilliant lawyer, soldier, statesman, and now the nation's ambassador to the Ger- man empire, Theodore Runyon, closed with the following mem- orable words : " The honor of New Jersey is in your keeping."
Such marvelous speed was made with the work of the brig- ade's embarkation, that in less than twenty-four hours the little fleet, bearing its precious burthen of New Jersey soldier boys, left Trenton under the command of Captain R. F. Loper. Such speed did these canal propellers make, they reached Annapolis on the night of the 4th. All along the route the troops were the receipients of the most hearty and friendly greetings, and all along the watery way they were met with abundant mani- festations of the pleasure the people felt at their coming. Ac-
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
cording to orders, General Runyon reported to General Butler, who was then in command at Annapolis, and after some cere- mony, he was ordered on to Washington.
In Lossing's " Civil War in America," Vol. I, Chap. 18, the author says : " And on the fifth, the First Regiment, with six companies of the Second and nine companies of the Third. started forward in two trams of cars. The first of these trains reached Washington about midnight, and the second, at eight o'clock the next morning. The same evening the Fourth Regi- ment and the remaining company of the Third reached the capital. The four companies of the Second left at Annapolis, were detailed, by order of General Scott, to the service of guarding the telegraph and railroad between Washington and Annapolis Junction, On May 6, the arrival of the brigade was
from President Lincoln, who warmly complimented the appear- ance of the troops ; and among our veterans who gather at the meetings of the several posts of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. there are a few yet remaining who well remember the occa- sion and who hold in memory dear all the particulars of that visit of the martyred Lincoln, and cherish in their hearts the words of encouragement which fell from his lips, and remember as among their sweetest memories of life the gratification they felt over the smile of satisfaction with which he greeted them as they passed him on review.
At this point the army life of the volunteer commenced in varnest, the utmost exactness being required in all points of discipline, it being no longer the play of soklier, but the realities. All the hard routine of camp duties was daily observed. The
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GROUP OF LEATHER MANUFACTURERS.
reported to General Scott and, no camps being provided. the troops went into such quarters as were available in Washington. On all sides the arrival of the troops was bailed with pleasure, and men felt that now the capital was safe."
New Jersey never stood higher in the estimation of the loyal people of the country than at that time when she sent to the nation's defence the first full brigade of troops that reached the feld. Two days after its arrival in Washington, the brigade paraded the city and was everywhere hailed with the liveliest demonstration of enthusiasm by the people.
May 9th, the Fourth Regiment was ordered to go into camp at Meridian Ihill, and within a few days the entire brigade was encamped at that point, and on May 17, was honored by a visit
work of the soklier was found to be something more than mere festive employment, but demanded every energy, the fullest devotion, the loftiest self-sacrifice. There they stayed in "Camp Monmouth," perfecting in drill and all the other soldierly ac- complishments, under the eye of their General, till the 220 of May, when the dread order came from General Mansfield. com- manding the Department of Washington, directing that imme- diate preparations be made for a movement. The day follow- " ing, definite orders from the same authority supplied the needed information as to the objective of the proposed movement, and the camp was accordingly (with many regrets) abandoned.
There were then in and around Washington some thirteen thousand national troops under command of General Mansfield.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
On May 22, orders were issued to him to occupy the Virginia shore of the Potomac and also the city of Alexandria. It was to participate in this movement that the New Jersey brigade struck their tents on May 23, and abandoned the camp on Meridian Hill. General Runyon was ordered to be at Long Bridge at two o'clock on the morning of the 24th. In heavy marching orders the Second, Third and Fourth were paraded with one day's rations. Functual to the moment of his order, General Runyon was on the ground. At the junction of the Columbia & Alexandria Railroad, where the engineers had staked it out, the boys began the work of throwing up a defensive work, and a lodgment had been made on the south side of the Potomac. The work of our Jersey boys didn't end here. The entire New Jersey brigade continued to work in relays of three hours until, with their brawny arms, a line of intrenchments and redoubts was completed, and to General Runyon's brigade of New Jersey soldiers belongs
order to place shotted guns on the chain bridge and turn off the draw of the Long Bridge across the Potomac, and thus pre- vented our own soldiers, will with excitement over the defeat, and while chasing the phantom of senseless stampede, from reaching the capital, where looters would follow quick in the footsteps of the flying."
It is reported of the Hon, Benjamin Wade, commonly called "Old Ben Wade," an erratic son of Ohio, who, not unlike many other civilians and non-combatants, went out from Washington to see the first great battle of the war, that when on the retreat he jumped out of his carriage on arriving at the point where the troops of the New Jersey Brigade were stretched across the road checking the wild stampede of the northern army after the disastrous route at Bull Run and checking the pursuit of the victorious southerners, and exclaimed: " Would to God we had more such men as these Jerseymen in the army, we would not have suffered this defeat."
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