USA > New Jersey > Sussex County > Hardyston > Hardyston memorial : a history of the township and the North Presbyterian Church, Hardyston, Sussex County, New Jersey > Part 7
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A body of four thousand men, styled the Western Army, was formed, for the purpose of chastizing he Indian Allies of the British. To the command of this force General John Sullivan was appointed in the spring of 1789; and Colonel Fran- cis Barber, son-in-law of Robert Ogden, 2d, was made its Adju- tant General. General Sullivan broke up the Indian settlement along the Susquehannah, and drove the Indians to the Niagara River. In a battle with the savages, August 29th, at Conewawa
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N. Y., Colonel Barber was wounded in the head, but not so severely as to prevent his appearing soon after, in active service. This gallant officer participated in most of the great battles of the Revolution, and was with Washington, at Newburg, when the Gen- eral announced to his officers the close of the war. A few hours later, he rode near a tree which some soldiers were felling and was instantly killed. He was a man of finished education, a popular officer, and a christian gentleman.
Colonel John Rosencrantz, of Walpack, with a regiment of Sussex Militia, accompanied General Sullivan upon this expedi- tion, and was advanced to the command of a brigade. There were four hundred of the Jersey Militia, and their promptitude was highly commended. At this time, or later in the war, Colonel Rosencrantz received a wound in the shoulder, from the effects of which he never recovered. It broke out afresh, causing his death three years after the war ended.
All the Indians did not at once disappear, but returned and made incursions into our territory. An Indian band, headed by a noted Tory, named Daily, committed many murders, and again spread dismay along our borders. Once more our Jersey Militia were sent against them. The troops pursued them across the Delaware River, and succeeded in killing Daily, and in destroying and dispersing his followers.
During the war of the Revolution, the people of this county were very much annoyed by the surprises of a Tory band, who mysteriously disappeared after their raids. At last one fellow was found in a house, where he was either sick or disabled by an accident. Threatened with hanging, he made a full confession, and gave information by which numbers of the gang were taken. In an old house, two chimneys came together, with a single top above the roof, and between was a closet, where three men were secreted. The interior of an old haystack had afforded a hiding place, and here several were taken. At first there was no answer to the demand " Come out and surrender." But when the leg of one man was seized, he was soon dragged out, and the rest made to follow, and the stack was shortly ablaze. The pursuing party came to a large house, somewhere on the Snufftown Moun-
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tain, where the owner received them with much apparent frank- ness, and conducted them over the house, telling them they should see everything and find all right on his premises. He brought them to the last room, saying, " My wife is here very sick, and yon need not disturb her, but just go in and see that there is nothing there." They said that they would not harin the sick, woman, but the men followed their captain in. Over the floor in the middle of the room, a green baize eloth had been tacked down, and on it stood the bed with its occupant. They lifted the bed- stead and woman aside, took up the eloth, and found a trap-door in the floor, beneath which was an excavation where half a dozen fellows were hiding. Other ruffians were picked up elsewhere, and the Captain started for Goshen with quite a company of pris- oners. When night eame on, they eamped, made a pen of logs for the culprits, and built a large fire, but drank so freely of whisky, from a big keg they had taken, that the guards all went to sleep, and their prisoners escaped.
Claudius Smith was a recognized leader of the free-booters who ravaged Orange County and extended their depradations over into Sussex. IJe robbed the house of Robert Ogden, in the winter of 1778. He lived near the site of the present town of Monroe, with three sons, desperadoes like himself. He was a terror to the whole region, and a large reward was offered for his apprehension. He eluded pursuit by going to Long Island, where he was tracked and captured, near Oyster Bay, and thence taken to Goshen. He was chained to the jail floor and a strong guard kept over him, until January 22d, 1779, when he was hung, with two others, Gordon and De la Mar. His son, Dick, committed several murders afterwards, in revenge, as he said, for the hanging of his father. Claudius Smith was con- nected with the robber, Bonnell Moody, who had a place of retreat near Newton, and after the war escaped to England, where he published an exaggerated story of his career. He received a Lieu- tenant's commission in the British Army, and a pension. ITis brother was captured and hung.
The following letter was written in behalf of Hugh Max- well, who was in New Town jail, under sentence of death, and
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was afterwards executed.
DEAR SIR: I have enclosed to his excellency, the Governor, several affidavits, etc., in favor of the Criminal Maxwell; whom I verily believe is altogether innocent of the charge against him : and I cannot but think, that the evidence in his favor is quite suf- ficient to convince every candid, unprejudiced mind, open to con- viction ; and you may be assured there are many hundreds of persons in the county, who are entirely persuaded he is not guilty.
I doubt not you will do all in your power to preserve the life of one whom I think is innocent. I am in no ways partial towards him; and if after all, the man is executed, I shall have the satisfaction to reflect I have done my duty, and that his blood will not be npon me.
I am, dear sir, your friend and very humble servant,
UZAL OGDEN.
Newtown, Sept. 7th, 1780.
To the Hon. Robert Ogden, Esq., at Sparta.
Favored by Mr. Broderick
EPHRAIM WOODRUFF belonged to Colonel Oliver Spencer's regiment of the Continental Army. He was present and partici- pated in a number of the great battles of the Revolutionary war. As years increased upon him he delighted to narrate the stirring incidents of his military life. IIe taught the school at Ogdensburg in a log house, which occupied the site of the present school house, and was donated for the purpose by Robert Ogden, Jr.
In this school house religious services were sometimes held, and a weekly prayer meeting maintained. Mr. Woodruff's log house stood beside the school house, and was very much of the same pattern.
WILLIAM JOHNSON 2d and CORNELIUS DEVORE were soldiers of the Revolution and pensioners. Their certificates were signed by John C. Calhonn, Secretary of War in 1822.
MAJOR JONATHAN MOPEAKE was a soldier in the Continental Army and settled in Hardyston after the war. His son Jona- than, was born in 1800. His wife was Sophia Maines, daughter of Peter Mains, of Sparta, a Revolutionary soldier, and Olive Bas- sett.
OLIVE BASSETT, wife of Peter Mains, died at an advanced age about the year 1850. Their log house stood two miles from Sparta on the Newton road. They were living there when the Ameri-
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can Army passed through, on its way to the Delaware River, as she supposed. It was in the winter time, with snow upon the ground. Many of the soldiers had no shoes, and blood from their frozen feet marked the snow. Some of them had their feet bound up with rags, and begged from her all the old clothes she had to give them. Her oven stood by itself outside, and she had in it a large baking of bread, but the soldiers took it all.
SIMON WADE was a member of the Second Sussex Regiment, and during the Revolutionary War served in a powder manufac- tory. His family early settled in Connecticut. His brother Na- than Wade, was killed in the battle of Minisink. He was a ear- penter by trade, and first came to Hardyston in the employ of Robert Ogden, Sr. He married Abigail Beardslee, of Pough- keepsie, N. Y., purchased his farm from Robert Ogden, Sr., and erected the house and buildings now standing. He died Septem- ber 21st, 1817, aged sixty-eight years.
CHARLES WADE, son of Simon, was born at the homestead, December 4th. 1796. His wife was Mary Jane, daughter of Elder Samuel Tuttle. Mr. Wade died November 22d, 1869. He was highly esteemed for his integrity of character and upright- ness in business. He was for many years a member of the North Church and much interested in all that pertained to its welfare.
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CHAPTER V.
IRON MANUFACTURE.
Five forges, worked at different times, stood at the "Head of the Wallkill," near the present village of Sparta.
The Ogden forge was a mile from Ogdensburg, and a mile and half above Franklin Furnace. The time of its erection was very early. At the beginning of this century, and until his death in 1805, it was run by Major Elias Ogden, who brought most of his ore from the Ogden Mine on the top of the mountain.
Previous to the Revolutionary War, ore from the Ogden Mine was transported on pack horses to the forges in Morris County. Dr. Fowler's " New Forge " was put up on the bank of the Wallkill in the rear of the Catholic Church.
An ancient forge stood near the site of the old Franklin furnace, and was operated as early as 1765, when Michael Rorick came from Bergen in the employ of the men who ran it. The leading man was William A. Potts, reported to have been so wealthy, that if all his money had been turned into silver dollars, no four-horse team could have drawn them. Upon the mountain are lands still called after Potts, the former owner. An old deed calls for a " marked tree at the corner of the Potts mountain tract, now of the Franklin Manufacturing Company." The birch-flat is spoken of as having belonged to Potts. John Potts had a mountain survey made as late as 1788, and recorded in the Clerk's Office in 1792. At the breaking out of hostilities, 1776, the proprietors of the forge withdrew to New York, being Englishmen and sympa- thizing with the British. The works were then unused for years. John Odell Ford, who lived at Stockholm, repaired and enlarged
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them, and expended much money in the endeavor to make iron from Franklinite ore. He was very persistent, but could not keep up the required heat, and salamander after salamander resulted. Dr. Fowler was associated with him for a time, and upon Mr. Ford's failure bought out his interest, took the works, and finally came into possession of all the mineral lands. These were not highly appreciated at that time, and so little value was set upon Mine Hill, which contains such a wealth of zinc and iron, that even Dr. Fowler never took pains to perfect his title to it, and it was done by his heirs some time after his death. He ran this and his other forges successfully, improving upon the methods of smelt- ing hitherto used. In a letter he once expressed his opinion that the reduction of Franklinite ore required a greater heat than could be produced by charcoal, and furnaces must be perfected for the use of anthracite coal.
There were zinc works near the Franklin grist mill where the old fulling mill house was supplied with a chimney and re- arranged for use. Mr. Ballou, a man of some scientific attainments, was for a long time employed in the endeavor to work the zine. By his fires most of the zine was evaporized and escaped through the chimney. He also attempted to separate the iron from the zinc by mechanical operation, reducing the ore to powder and taking out the iron partieles by a series of magnets; ranged upon a wheel. His methods were not successful enough to warrant . their long employment. His experience however was valuable to others, and at a later time a great zine house was erected, with a series of bags, within which the zine vapor was held until it was deposited in a white or blue powder. This powder mixed with oils made a valuable paint. The zinc paint of commerce is little more than the same article, improved in its process of manufac- ture.
The Franklin Manufacturing Company erected the charcoal blast furnace. Oliver Ames and Oakes Ames, of Massachusetts, were the principal onwers, and William L. Ames was their super- intendent. They introduced the casting of stoves and rolling of sheet iron. For the latter purpose their quality of iron was well adapted, and the stoves and pipe made by them were far more last-
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ing than those produced in later years.
The Company had several re-organizations. A process was thought to have been discovered which would make both iron and zine from Franklinite mineral at the same time. A new and larger blast furnace was put up a little farther from the kill, at a cost of $100,000, with zine works in connection. But the process failed to meet the sanguine expectations of its inventors. Charles C. Alger brought suit against this Company, and against Joseph E. Edsall, and recovered a small amount of damages for infringe- ment upon his patent for hot blast chimneys in furnaces.
The Boston Franklinite Company was organized by gentle- men mostly from Massachusetts, and John H. Brown, who had been long associated with the Ames brothers, was their superin- tendent. In 1867, William E. Dodge, Moses Taylor, John I. Blair, the Scrantons and others, stockholders of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, of Scranton, Pa., purchased the entire in- terest, and under a new charter became, in 1872, the Franklin Iron Company. By purchase this Company. own large tracts of land, estimated at 15,000 acres, embracing farm and wood lands, and including many valuable ore mines. A portion of these traets lie in Passaic County. The present large furnace was erected at a cost of half a million of dollars, and completed in 1873. With few interruptions it has been running ever since, producing large quantities of pig iron which is sent to Scranton and trans- formed into Bessimer steel. The company carried on a long liti- gation with the New Jersey Zinc Company, the contest ending finally in their favor. A compromise has been effected, by which the Franklin Iron Company became possessed of the rights of the New Jersey Zinc Company, and now engages in zinc mining. The Sussex Branch Railroad was extended from Newton to McAfee Valley by this company, mainly for their own conven- ience in mining and making iron.
ISAAC SHARP, of Piles, in the county of Salem, and Western division of the Province of New Jersey, made his will March 22d, 1770. By this he constituted his widow Elizabeth executrix, and his son Joseph executor. On the 20th of March, 1775, the widow Elizabeth, and Joseph and his wife Grace, conveyed 182 acres of
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the Pepo-Cotten lands to Ezekiel Dennis, of Sussex, who was the progenitor of our Dennis families.
This Joseph was Joseph, Senior, who married the widow Grace Bassett, a Quakeress, who always wore the Quaker dress. They had quite a number of sons. She had money in her own right, and was a woman of much refinement and benevolence.
Joseph, Senior, came to Hamburg before the Revolutionary war, and took possession of the lands to which his father Isaac had proprietery elaims. These lands extended along the Wallkill from the State line, and, with a few breaks, to the Ogden traet above Franklin Furnace and to Penn's line, with extensive mountain tracts. He built the forge or furnace near the Fountain bridge, and named it the Sharpsboro Iron Works. The manufacture of iron under the restrictions imposed by the British Government was not remunerative, and under financial embarrassment he returned to Salem.
The works abandoned by Sharp fell into the hands of STEPHEN FORD, SENIOR, who lived in the house, near the Upper Hamburg bridge, which was afterwards enlarged by his son David. He was a native of England and sympathized with the English during the war of Independence. It is said that he made iron for the use of the British Army and east cannon balls for them. His men often performed their work at night, and the children and females of the family carried food for the workmen from the house to the forge after dark. He received considerable sums of English gold which he seereted in small bags let down in the par- tition walls between the plastering. He had sheet iron shutters made at the forge for the windows of his house. This was reputed to be a place of retreat for the more open Tories and free booters when they were closely pursued. He seems to have been on good terms with his neighbors, even the patriotic ones, and kept quiet in the later years of the war, escaping arrest although under sur- veillance.
After the Revolution the sons of Joseph Sharp, Senior, Jos- eph, Junior, and William, rode up on horseback to occupy the property inherited from their father. The forge was started under the direction of the sons, and another was built on the site of the
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saw mill above the present paper mill. When William became deranged, Joseph associated his brother-in-law with him in busi- ness, and Colonel John Hathorn, of Warwick, was their clerk or superintendent. The business in their hands was not profitable, and except for the rise in value in his landed property, Colonel Joseph Sharp would have become a bankrupt.
Stephen Ford, Senior, before mentioned, had two sons, Stephen, Junior, and David. Stephen, Jr., was a merchant and carried on business in the store house that he built near his father's dwelling, and which is still standing, having been used by a long succession of store-keepers. He went to New York for the pur- pose of buying goods, and died there with the yellow fever which. was then prevailing in the city.
DAVID FORD was the second son of Stephen, Senior. He was interested in the forges with the Sharps, or after them. Soon after his brother's death he entered into partnership with William Darrah, and they were associated until 1818. They conducted the store, the grist mill, and the Fountain bridge forge, and the firm of Ford & Darrah was extensively known. Ford was a Director of the Sussex Bank and Superintendent of a portion of the Paterson and Hamburg turnpike road. Under his supervision a large part of the difficult work over and through the mountains was done. His day book shows the setting of the mile-stones from Snufftown through Hamburg and Deckertown, October, 1830. In the midst of his business enterprises he died June 30th, 1837, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.
WILLIAM DARRAH, the partner of David Ford for many years, was born near Hamburg 1777. His large farm lay half way from the village to Franklin Furnace, and adjoined the forge lot, which still bears the names of himself and partner. The house in which he spent most of his days is still standing in the field in sight from the public highway. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Richard Edsall, of Vernon, and had a large family of sons and daughters. Henry Thompson Darrah, his eldest son, succeeded him in business. In October, 1818, he was ap- pointed Sheriff of Sussex county, and served three years. There were many civil suits and judgments, and many Sheriff's sales of
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property while he was in office. He built the Martin Mabee house, was remembered as a kind friend and good citizen, and died. in 1830, in his fifty-third year. He is buried a few feet only from his partner, David Ford, at Hamburg. In 1837 his family immigrated to Missouri.
In 1792 JESSE POTTS and his brother came from Trenton, and built a more extensive forge than any hitherto constructed in this region. This was located farther down the Wallkill, and the site is below the Haines homestead. The timbers were very large and cut in Pochuck Mountain. In hauling a large stick of timber one man was killed. The dam was washed out in a freshet, and the Potts brothers, after several misfortunes, gave up business at this place and moved away. It is said, I know not with how much certainty, that they, with members of their family, after- wards founded Pottsville, Pa. They are supposed to have been connected with the Potts who erected the first forge at Franklin Furnace, in 1765; and possibly with Thomas Potts, who was high Sheriff of Sussex Co. from 1772 to 1775, although belonging to a younger generation. Joseph Sharp, Jr., took possession of their forge, and after a short time removed the building. Rem- nants of the dam still remain in the water of the stream.
The Potts's called their forge the Hamburg Iron Works, from Hamburg, Germany. From this is derived the name of the village. The Sharps sought to perpetuate the name of Sharps- boro, by which the place had been called for some years, but when the Post Office was established, October 1st, 1795, it was called Hamburg. The German name is derived from two words, Hamme, a forest, and Burg, a fortress ; the whole signifying a Tower in the Woods. Hamburg was the second Post Office in the county, (which then included Warren County), Sussex Court House being established March 20th. 1793. The next in order of time was Sparta, January 1st, 1798. Previous to these Morris- town was the most northerly Post Office in the State.
Colonel JOSEPH E. EDSALL came into possession of the Sharps' lower forge near the site of the paper mill, and after running it for a time, built a second forge in close proximity a few rods lower down, 1822-4. Adam Smith, of Canistear, now living in his
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ninety-sixth year, was his carpenter. The great hammer beam was cut in Pochuck Mountain, and broke down the wagon in the village during its transportation. These forges were run much of the time at a dead loss, and Edsall was heavily in debt at the time he relinquished them, and was appointed County Clerk.
The Hamburg Manufacturing Company was organized pre- vious to 1830, and purchased the forges of Edsall and other prop- erty adjoining. In 1834 this company took down the forges, and erected the charcoal hot air blast furnace on the same site. John F. Winslow was President of the company as well as of the Clin- ton Manufacturing Company, of Passaic. Among those associa- ted with him were Messrs. William Jackson, Makepeace and Huntington, who resided in Hamburg for a time. The two com- panies, by purchase and lease, held much valuable property. They were owners of the Clinton or Pochunk mine of hematite ore, which made iron of superior quality. This mine was on the farm of Nathan Smith, which the companies purchased. Peter M. Ryerson, of Pompton, transported much of the ore from this mine all the distance to his own furnace. He constructed what was called the " gravity road," which branched from the public high- way opposite Francis Hamilton's place, and by gradual assent reached the ore beds.
The Hamburg Company employed a large number of men in the mines, in chopping wood and burning charcoal upon the mountains, and at their furnace. Their employees occupied every available house in the vicinity, and the company put up a number of small dwellings of their own to which the name of "the City " was given. Their charcoal burners lived in log houses put up near the places where they worked. Their numerous teams filled the highways as they carted ore and charcoal to the furnaces or transported their iron to the markets. Farmers found employ- ment for their teams in hauling ore, for which they received tick- ets entitling them to trade, to the amount due them, at any of the Hamburg stores. These stores were doing a good business, the upper and lower mills were running to their full capacity, grind- ing flour and feed, while farmers found ready sale near home for most of their farm products.
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In consequence of the failures of others and the general col- lapse of business enterprise at the time, misfortunes overtook the Hamburg and Clinton Companies, and they were forced to sus- pend in the Spring of 1838. This was a great blow to the village of Ilamburg. It sent away some important families, threw many workmen out of employment, and brought much of the business activity of the place to a standstill.
On the 27th of February, 1838, the Clinton Company agreed to sell to Peter M. Ryerson, of Pompton, for $22,500, six and eighty-five hundredths acres of their mine in Pochunk, upon which was part of their hematite or ore beds. After the company's failure, Dr. Elias L'Hommedieu was appointed trustee for the creditors and purchased, Dec. 7th, 1838, at a sale made by Sheriff Jolm Brodrick, for $4,041, the entire property of one hundred and nine acres " whereon is the Clinton ore bed, usually called the ('linton Mine."
Colonel Joseph E. Edsall had, by foreclosure of mortgage, regained possession of his lands, with all the improvements, fur- nace and houses, erected upon them. He united with Dr. L'Hom- medien under the firm name of Edsall & L'Hommedieu, and they operated the mines and furnace for a time, until L'Hommedieu withdrew, in 1845, and removed to Newark, leaving all in Edsall's hands. The latter continued the business for four or five years longer, until near 1850, when iron ceased to be made on this spot, and the works fell into decay. Edsall used considerable ore brought from the Ogden Mine, and his son-in-law, Thomas D. Edsall, mined and carted it for him.
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