Historic Morristown, New Jersey : the story of its first century, Part 2

Author: Sherman, Andrew Magoun, 1844-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Morristown, N.J. : Howard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 576


USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Morristown > Historic Morristown, New Jersey : the story of its first century > Part 2


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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 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31


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SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS


-The popular version given-The foot-prints of


"Tempe's" horse were seen for many years-


"Leddell's mill" still in operation. ·327-354


CHAPTER XVIII


Washington's customary seriousness-An occasional laugh is indulged in-A braggart's attempt to break a young horse-Washington laughs heartily-Sketch of General John Doughty-He settles in Morristown-Two distinguished for- eigners visit 'Morristown-They attend a mili- tary parade-A grand ball in the "Continental House"-Tallow candles are the only light- Death of Don Juan de Miralles-An imposing funeral-Soldiers guard his grave-The history of the "Continental House"-Officers quartered in the building-Captured British cannon stored there-Courtship of Alexander Hamilton- Hamilton and the sentinel as related to Lossing -Captain "Jack" Steele's letter from Headquar- ters-The main portion of the American army leaves Morristown-The second battle at Springfield-Colonel Benoni Hathaway is wounded-He prefers charges against Gen- eral Heard-Pennsylvania troops are left in Morristown-Misunderstanding over the sol- diers' term of enlistment-The soldiers resolve to mutiny-They procure arms, ammunition and provisions-Accidental shooting of Captain Adam Bettin-General Wayne hastens from his quarters to camp-He addresses the mutineers- A shot is fired over his head-"Shoot me, if you will"-Wayne returns to his quarters-The mutineers start for Philadelphia-They seek jus- tice-General Wayne vainly endeavors to dis-


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SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS


suade the mutineers from their purpose-He recognizes the justness of their cause-Wayne leads his soldiers to Princeton-Their wrongs are righted-Clinton sends emissaries to the mutineers-They indignantly spurn their flatter- ing inducements-The emissaries are executed as spies-Wayne's tribute to the Pennsylvania troops-Sketch of General Wayne's career -. His quarters at Bottle Hill-Another version of the "Tempe" Wicke episode-Comments of a local historian upon the popular theory-Some inter- esting information furnished by a descendant of Morris 'County patriots-She addresses a valu- able letter to the author-The destruction by fire of the "Leddell house"-The cause of the conflagration-A Morristonian's reminiscent letter to the author 355-386


CHAPTER XIX )


Relief of the long-suffering patriot soldiers-Resumé of national events-The surrender of Cornwallis -The discovery of old documents at Trenton- Inventories of property of Morris County pa- triots in the Revolution-Sketch of Judge John Cleves Symme's career-A famous house-Anna Symme's marriage to Captain William H. Harri- son-Walter Mould, an English artisan, removes to Morristown-He occupies "Solitude"-He coins the famous "horsehead pennies"-A silver mine on the Symme's place-Captain Benjamin Holloway keeps the Wheatsheaf tavern-Pres- ent 'owner of the "Wheatsheaf farm"-"The Morristown Ghost"-Amusing experiences of the author-He receives significant offers of an "original copy"-The "perennial perambulating


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SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS


typo" episode-A dramatic representation of the "Morristown Ghost"-Reprints of the famous pamphlet-The author recommended to publish the names of Roger's victims-The probable printer of the original "Morristown Ghost". . . . 387-415


CHAPTER XX


Local belief concerning buried treasure-Tories and others bury money and valuables-Morris Coun- ty residents seek the aid of a "chymist"-The story of the Morristown Ghost related-Morris County's rapid growth from the Revolution- The iron industry an important factor-Log huts superseded by more comfortable homes-Better schools are established-The Presbyterians build a new meeting house-"Parson Johnes" preaches his half-century sermon-The service described by a recent pastor of the First Church-Decease of the Rev. Timothy Johnes, D. D .- Tribute of Dr. Albert 'Barnes to Dr. Timothy Johnes- Successors to "Parsons Johnes"-Methods em- ployed to raise the ministers' salary-"Wood- frolicks"-Expenditures for "cake and cider"- "Spinning visits" to the parsonage-Baptist pas- tors during the closing years of the century-"A List of Capt. Joseph Halsey's Company Militia" -The organization of the Morris Academy- Names of the subscribers-The first board of proprietors-A building lot is purchased of the First Church-Names of early pupils of the Morris Academy-The school becomes famous -A library is established-Constitution and by- laws are adopted-Names of the officers- Growth of the library-A newspaper is issued in Morristown-Change of name and editorship-


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SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS


Jacob Mann is the new editor-The first post- master in Morristown-A fire association is or- ganized at the county seat-Names of the offi- cers-The "Morris Aqueduct" is incorporated- Names of the proprietors-A description of the "Morris Aqueduct"-The inauguration of the first stage route between Morristown and Powles Hook-A rival stage is put on-Flaming advertisements to secure patronage-Burial Grounds in Morristown-The "Bill of Mortal- ity," by "Parson Johnes" and sexton William Cherry-"Time brushes off our lives with sweep- ing wings"-Many Revolutionary soldiers were interred in the Presbyterian burial grounds- Brass buttons have been found-Revolutionary soldiers were interred in the Baptist burial grounds-Buttons, pennies and wallet are found-The oldest stone in the Presbyterian burial grounds-The visit of an antiquarian to the oldest cemetery in Morristown-The oldest date she found, 1722-A friend said the oldest date was 1713 415-447


Errata Addenda Index of Persons


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INTRODUCTION


Few will take up this book who do not know that Morristown is in Morris County in New Jersey, some thirty miles due west of New York. Few are aware, however, that the location of Morristown is absolute- ly unique, not in one respect only, but in three differ- ent ways. It occupies a geological site of remarkable interest. It was the westernmost colonial puritan church-town, the outpost of New England. In the revolutionary era, from the capture of New York to the capture of Cornwallis, it was the key of Washing- ton's position, the one connecting link between the eastern and the southern states, like the stem of an hour-glass.


I.


The Morristown court house is on ground which has been solid ground since the world began. The Mor- ristown green, near by, was for a long period under the waters of the ocean, as has been, at one time or another, nearly all the land within this country, and in-


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INTRODUCTION


deed most of the present land surface of the globe. From the hill on which the court house stands there could be seen, when the ocean last receded, no one of the numerous other hills now visible to the east and south. All that the ocean left behind it was a wide expanse of sandstone and shale. Melted rock, squeezing up later through cracks in the sandstone, was to form the hills that now shut in the Passaic val- ley, and others farther away.


When the ocean covered the site of the green, the coast line was continued to the northeast by Watnong, Boonton and Ramapo Mountains, but it did not extend in the opposite direction much beyond Bernardsville, Mine Mountain there forming a sort of promontory. Morristown is just on the ancient coast line. Were this all, the fact would be of interest, notwithstanding that there were many other points, along the line on the map which marks the boundary of the most an- cient geological formation remaining in the world, be- sides that occupied by Morristown. But, besides this ancient line of the coast, and just here at right angles to it, there is another geological line of great import- ance known as the glacial moraine. This is a heavy deposit of "drift," consisting of sand, gravel, rounded stones, and boulders, which was left all along the southern margin of the great body of ice which cov- ered the northern part of the globe during the glacial period. This line of drift running around the world crossed the ancient coast line precisely where Mor- ristown now stands. It extended to the southeast as


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INTRODUCTION


far as Staten Island, and thence eastward through Long Island. To the westward it is found across the continent. The greater part of Morristown is built on the glacial moraine, which is here of considerable depth, the site of the green being many feet above the shale and sandstone deposited by the ocean. In one field within the borough limits, on the southern side of the moraine, may be found three geological forma- tions : ancient gneiss, shale, and glacial drift.


Enough has been said to show that Morristown oc- cupies a unique geological position. What follows concerning geology is of local interest only. The Pas- saic Valley, extending from Morristown to Summit, and from near Paterson to a point below Bernards- ville, originated in consequence of the formation of the range of hills enclosing it to the east and south. The waters of the valley found an outlet through a gap near Summit, then the bed of a river. The glacier filled the river bed with a body of drift which closed the gap as an outlet for the water of the valley and has kept it closed ever since. The valley south of the glacier having thus no outlet, the waters rose to about 360 feet above the present sea-level, when they were able to escape to the southwest and find their way to the Raritan. All parts of the valley below this level, and south of the moraine, thus became a lake, called by the geologists Lake Passaic. The shores of the lake are still marked, in place, by deposits of water- worn pebbles. After many years the glacier began to recede to the northward, and the lake became corres-


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INTRODUCTION


pondingly larger until the time came when the water found a lower outlet to the northeast, by way of Lit- tle Falls, after which the present course of the Pas- saic River became established.


II.


Upon the crossing point of the two great geological lines just sketched there grew up a puritan settlement. The reader will find that, according to puritan custom, the early history of the town was substantially that of the church.


It is unnecessary to describe the puritan element, the most notable of those which went to the formation of American civilization. The puritan, the church- man, the Holland calvinist, the Scotch presbyterian, the lutheran, the catholic, the huguenot, all contrib- uted their part, but the dominant element, in the north at least, was introduced by the puritan, whose settle- ments were known collectively as New England. Town after town was established on the puritan model, first on the coast, and by degrees in the interior, each town with its one church. If doctrinal differences arose in any church, one faction or the other would usually remove to another place and organize a new town. There were certain settlements outside of the legal limits of New England which were as truly puri- tan as any in Massachusetts or Connecticut, such as the Hamptons and Southold in eastern Long Island and Newark in New Jersey, with its offshoot Morris- town.


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INTRODUCTION


Sometimes puritan settlements would be made amid uncongenial surroundings, and so lose speedily their peculiar characteristics. Among these were West- chester and Eastchester, Hempstead and Newtown, all under Dutch government and influences, and later under Church of England government and influences. In New Jersey, Woodbridge was settled from Massa- chusetts, but was soon invaded by Scotch and quakers, not to speak of Church of England influences from Amboy, the seat of government close by. Some who were born puritans were willing to remove to new homes without organizing a town and church after their own manner, and of such were the puritans who joined with others in building up Elizabethtown, Mid- dletown, Shrewsbury, Monmouth and Cape May, Even Mendham, a semi-puritan village near Morristown, had its quaker meeting.


Newark, however, was wholly puritan, having its beginning in a revolt of some of the best men in New Haven colony when that colony was joined with Con- necticut. They were distressed and scandalized by one result of the union, which was that godless men became entitled to vote, a right previously restricted by the laws of New Haven to church members alone. They accordingly exiled themselves and established a new town, to be ruled by its church. The early rec- ords of Newark show a thoroughly puritan interming- ling of the affairs of church and state, such a thing as the election of a pound keeper being followed in the record by a vote for the call of a new minister. The


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INTRODUCTION


laws were such when Morristown was settled, half a century later than Newark, that a town organization like that of Newark was no longer feasible. A wide territory called a township, sparsely settled and in- cluding several villages, had become the regular form of organization, as settlers no longer needed to cluster together for their common protection against Indians. Yet, at Morristown, church and village grew up to- gether, and the people of both were puritans by birth and training, born in Newark, or eastern Long Island, or elsewhere, but all, with possible exceptions of no importance, sons of New England families. By this time all the puritan and semi-puritan churches of New Jersey, Newark included, had connected themselves with the presyterian synod, under a compromise de- vised by the New England element, and the Morris- town church was accordingly organized under the presbyterian name.


There were, no doubt, during the colonial period, villages to be found farther west than Morristown where New England ideas were uppermost, and among them notably a settlement in the Wyoming val- ley which might have become a Connecticut town, had it not been destroyed by the Indians. No other place of importance, however, was settled by the puritans west of the Hudson except Newark and Morristown, the latter being the advance post of New England, the church-town farthest west. This History will show how its church practically constituted the town during its first half century.


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INTRODUCTION


III.


For the better part of a century the little town se- cluded amid the Jersey hills maintained its character as the outpost of puritanism. It will be seen in these pages how such civic energy as there was came from the church, which, usually by formal vote of its trus- tees, supplied lands when needed for any public pur- pose, whether for a green or a court house, an army building or a drill ground. The revolution brought Morristown out of its seclusion, and the church-town at the crossing of the geological lines became the pivot of the war of independence.


The location of the district of which Morristown was the centre was such as to make its possession of supreme importance to the Americans. This district comprised, in addition to Morris County itself, the eastern hills of Somerset County, and might be de- scribed as the highlands between Essex County and the Raritan. The Somerset hills, to the eastward, are not far from Morristown, which is not five miles from the line between the counties. At that time there was really no town in Somerset, though New Brunswick, Princeton and Morristown were just beyond its boundaries on different sides. If the British could have taken and held the Morris district, the rebel col- onies would have been cut in two, for such communi- cation as might have been carried on through the for- ests to the northward would have been difficult and precarious. It was this opportunity, this danger, for


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INTRODUCTION


one side or the other, that made Morristown so prom- inent during the revolution. It was this that kept the Morris district so constantly on its guard, that gave the militia of the Jersey hills so much more work to do than any other militia, and that created the need of the famous beacon system, including the "Fort Non- sense" beacon at Morristown itself. The British never succeeded in setting foot in Morris County, though their armies were repeatedly led up to the foot of the hills and repulsed; and only in one rapid cavalry raid, when General Lee was captured by them, did they en- ter the Somerset part of the district. Year after year they held off even from an attempt to advance, per- haps from undue caution, but certainly with the knowl- edge that on the signal all available men from Sussex, Hunterdon and Somerset on the one side and fron Bergen and Essex on the other would rush to the de- fense of the middle hills, and that Washington and his army were always there or close at hand.


After taking New York in 1776, the British pursued Washington through the Jersey plains towards the Delaware, and were so confident or so careless that they delayed to secure the hill district. After winning his brilliant little victories at Trenton and Princeton with the remnant of his force, Washington turned un- expectedly to the hills and passed some months at Morristown, watching the enemy and reorganizing his army. From this point he could descend instantly to the plains if the British invaded Jersey, or march quickly, by interior lines, to defend the Hudson passes


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INTRODUCTION


in case of need. From this time the cutting of the col- onies in two was a main object of the British. In 1777 they hoped, with Burgoyne's help, to accomplish this object by taking and holding the line of the Hudson; but instead of advancing from New York to meet Bur- goyne, with Washington in the way, they moved by water to the southward, drew Washington away, and took Philadelphia, not suspecting the fate to which they were leaving Burgoyne. Washington at Valley Forge protected the communication between the northern and southern colonies. When the British moved from Philadelphia towards New York, Wash- ington moved also, always keeping between them and the hills, and striking a blow at Monmouth. The next three years he hovered in the hills, keeping them tied to New York. The first and second winters he quar- tered in the Morris district, the third on the west side of the river, but wherever he was the passes were steadily guarded, and the alarm guns and beacons were always ready. Then came the finish at York- town.


The Jersey plains were sometimes held by the Brit- ish, and at other times were easily within their reach from Staten Island, which they always held in force. Communication between the Hudson and the Dela- ware, in order to be safe, had to go through Morris- town. The road southwest from Morristown thus be- came a great thoroughfare; it was "the great road," as Chastellux called it in 1780.


The memory of the revolution is cherished at Mor-


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INTRODUCTION


ristown more faithfully, it would seem, than in any oth- er town in the country, and this is indeed most fitting. A history of it has long been needed; and the present book, by an able writer deeply imbued with his sub- ject, will surely meet a most cordial welcome.


Emory Mc Centodo


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ERRATA.


For "That the pioneers of Whippanong were chiefly Eng- lish, or of English descent," on page 8, read : That the pioneers of Whippanong were chiefly of English descent.


For "Chapter VII," on page 139, read: Chapter VIII. For "Thaddeus Koscinsko," on page 244, read: Thaddeus Koscinsko.


For "Down the straight road of the Revolutionary period toward the Basking Ridge road, about half the distance," on page 295, read : "Down the straight road of the Revolutionary period toward the Basking Ridge road, a short distance from the terminus of Jockey Hollow road."


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ADDENDA.


Among the residents of early Morristown who served in the Revolution was James Rogers. He lived, as the author of this volume has been informed, in a house that stood on what is now South Street, about opposite the residence of the late Judge Vancleve Dalrymple. When about fourteen years of age he was a fifer in the Morris County militia. This statement will seem the less incredible when it is said that young Rogers was a tall, muscular and powerful boy. He was an ardent ad- mirer of Washington. At one time during the Revolution James Rogers was employed as a bearer of despatches. While in the lower part of the State engaged in this service he put up at a tavern. He was in some way thrown into the company of several Hessian soldiers, . and the conversation having turned upon Washington, one of them angrily exclaimed: "Damn Washington, and all his subjects!" Forgetful, appar- ently, of the "ticklish" business in which he was engaged, young Rogers fearlessly replied: "I am one of them"; and there is no record of the Hessians having molested the stal- wart American patriot.


At the battle of Monmouth Rogers fought all day; and he subsequently remarked that several soldiers died from thirst on that memorable day.


After the close of the Revolution, out of which, as the writer is informed, Rogers came, at the age of about 23 years, as captain, he returned to Morristown. It was his special delight in response to the wishes of his fellow-townsmen, to carry the American flag in Fourth of July parades, and this he did until he was 90 years of age. He died about the year 1850 in the town in which he was born, and of which he had been a life-long resident.


The foregoing facts are obtained from a native and resi- dent of Morris County who received them from Captain James Rogers himself.


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ADDENDA


On page 483 of "Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War," by Adjutant General Styker may be found the following :"James Rogers, Fifer, Morris."


Hanover; N. J. September, 1905.


There was a family living in the house near where I now live whom the "Morristown Ghost" wished particularly to interest his scheme. In the side of the house mentioned there was a window about 8 feet above the ground. On one stormy night the "Ghost" made his appearance at this window, made cer- tain communications, and then vanished. In the morning following an examination of the ground about the house showed marks in the soft earth where some one had walked up to the house from the roadway on a pair of stilts, and back the same way. The marks in the road showed where a horse had been tied to the fence along the road. Further investiga- tion proved that this horse had been used by the "Morristown Ghost" as a means of conveyance from the county seat to the scene of his midnight manifestations.


This is about the substance of what my grandparents knew about the episode above related. * * The idea the "Ghost" wished to convey by walking on stilts was that he was a spirit floating through the air.


The following extracts from two of the numerous letters received by the author of this volume since the commence- ment, in the Saturday issues of the Newark Evening News, of the series of articles on "History of Morristown, New Jersey; The Story of Its First Century," on February 25, 1905, are here presented because of the interesting data therein communicated. The names of the writers of these letters are withheld, since their publication would be a breach of confidence on the part of their recipient. It should, how- ever, be said that the writers of the letters from which the extracts are given, are well qualified to speak upon the mat- ters involved :-


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ADDENDA


"While I am writing, I recall being struck by your accept- ance of a mythical story of a dance at Arnold's tavern in the spring of 1777. The tradition is no doubt true in spirit, but must relate to the spring of 1780, when there really were 'as- semblies' in the Continental Store House, afterward known to Morristown people as O'Hara's tavern. (I have known earnest support of Morris's and Arnold's taverns as locations of the 1780 assemblies). In early 1777 Washington's army was nearer nothing than it ever was before or after-perhaps 2,000 or 3,000, scattered towards Battle Hill, and scourged with small-pox. There is no evidence, and no probability, that any one thought of dancing during those dreadful three months. * * That the Jersey women knit stock- ings innumerable in the winter of 1779-80 is doubtless correct. The evidence you quote is good, and the need was great, among the Jersey troops at least. There is no evidence what- ever that the entire army was ever short of any one article of clothing at the same time. * * *


In the old Ms. letters, etc., that I have read in the past there were constantly two items cropping out: Our regiment, or our State troops, need so and so and the State clothier of Conn. or Penn., or some other State, will distribute shoes, or something else, at such a day and hour. (As these are not real quotations, I omit the quotation marks.) The Jer- sey stockings would naturally go to the Jersey clothier for dis- tribution. There was a great diversity between the troops of different States in the matter of sufficient clothing. I recall no instance in which mention was made of the troops of one State being helped from the clothing supplies of another State. There was much State pride, which sometimes meant, of course, concealment of deficiencies of one's own State, along with private complaints in letters home. On the whole, barring the intense cold, my judgment is that the suffering in 1779-80 has been enormously exaggerated (on the whole), in- dividual experiences and recollections being taken for uni-




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