USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Morristown > Historic Morristown, New Jersey : the story of its first century > Part 5
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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
The first iron forge erected in Whippanong, which, it may be casually remarked, was at first a part of Burlington, and subsequently of Hun- terdon County, and which included an extent of territory larger than the present township of Hanover; and, indeed, the first forge erected within the bounds of what is now Morris County, was, it is supposed, built by John Ford and Judge John Budd, and stood on the bank of the Whippanong River, just to the right of the upper end of the present bridge near the Presbyterian church, as one comes from Whippany toward Morristown.
In confirmation of the above statement concerning the location of the first iron forge in Whippanong, the words of a former resident of Whippany, who died about the year 1845, are here quoted: "I was born in 1778. I have seen old timbers said to have been a part of the old forge at Whippany. It stood at the west end
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
of the cotton mill dam, between the river and the road. A saw mill and a grist mill were built upon the same ground after the forge went down." In this primitive forge, for many years known as the "Old Iron Works," which, tradition says, was a small and rudely constructed building, the pure iron was separated from the ore by the process known as "smelting."
That the iron industry in Whippanong was remun- erative is evident from the fact that other forges were soon erected at several points along the course of the Whippanong River and its confluents, by the pioneers of this region; so that the entire region was for several years after its permanent settlement known as "Old Forges." The last of the iron forges to be operated in the vicinity of Whippany was at Troy, about two miles to the northward of the primitive settlement. Only a few years before the commencement of the Civil War the last bar of iron was manufactured at the Troy forge; and within a few years past the remains of the immense timbers of which it was constructed were to be seen lying prone upon its site. Some of the imple- ments, also, used in the manufacture of the iron bars, rusty with age and neglect, were to be seen, reminding the observer of one of the most interesting periods of Morris County history.
The iron ore used in the early forges mentioned was for several years, after the settlement of Whippanong, procured without cost to the pioneer manufacturers, and was at first found on the surface of the earth, or, as a writer of local history tersely says, "Was to be had
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by simply picking it up." From another writer of county history, it is learned that: "At that time the ore protruded itself out of the ground, and even as late as the Revolutionary war a wagon could be driven up to ore beds and loaded without any preliminary hoisting. The appearance of the veins is very singular. It looks as if some powerful force from beneath had split the solid rock, leaving a chasm of from 6 to 25 feet, and that the ore in a fused state had been forced into it as into a mould."
From what is now the Dickerson mine, at Succasun- na, about twenty miles to the westward of Whippa- nong, the ore was brought in leather bags thrown over the back of a horse; and after its manufacture into iron bars it was bent to fit the back of a horse, and in the same way transported to Newark and Elizabeth- town, and thence by small sailing vessels and row- boats to New York. The journey from Whippanong to New York occupied about two and a half days. On the return trip various commodities used by the set- tlers were brought on horseback. The writer is relia- bly informed that several of the leather bags, used for the transportation of iron ore in the early part of the eighteenth century, are now (1905) in the possession of cne of the iron manufacturing concerns in Dover, New Jersey.
Concerning the significance of the word Succasun- na, just mentioned, Dr. Theodore F. Wolfe, of Rox- bury Township, who has given much thought to the matter, says :
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
"The name was spelled Suckasunny (1808), Zukkazinny (1740), Zukkazunning (1710), Suckasunning (1715). It is de- rived from the Minsi-L. Suken, black, Ahsin, stone and ing, a locative suffix, and means 'the place of black stone.' It was primarily applied to the locality of the outcropping mag- netic ore at Ferro Monte. Another tribe of the Lenape would have called the hill Sug-ah-sun-ing, and a third would have called it Suck-assuning."
It is a fact of no small interest that the iron ore utilized by the white settlers of what is now Morris County, had long been known to the native Indians, and had been worked by them in their rude way into implements of industry and war, many of which in re- cent years have been found in different portions of northern New Jersey.
The Indians who, prior to its settlement by the Dutch and English, occupied the region now consti- tuting Morris County, were of the Delaware tribe, or, as they termed themselves, the Lenni Lenape, a term signifying "original people;" a title adopted by this tribe because of their claim that they were descendants of the most ancient of all Indian ancestors, a race of men which had existed unchanged from the beginning of time. In support of this claim, it may be said, that many associate Indian tribes accorded to the Lenni Lenape the title of "grandfathers," meaning thereby a people whose ancestors antedated theirs. The claim of the Lenni Lenape to being the "original people" seems to have been a just one, by reason of the fact that their language appears to have been more widely
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diffused than that of any of the other numerous Indian tribes of the Western Continent.
The Leni Lenape dwelt for the most part in villages, the wigwam sites being frequently changed, and new hunting and fishing grounds were thus sought as their necessities required. Among this tribe, of whom it is said there were at no period to exceed 2,000 in the en- tire State, there were no community houses, as among the Oneida Indians of central New York, but each family occupied a separate wigwam. The Indians of New Jersey are said by several writers to have been ruled by twenty kings or chiefs, some of the tribes having less than fifty subjects. A blanket or animal skin thrown over the broad shoulders, deerskin rudely fastened about the muscular legs, the feet covered with moccasins of the same material dressed in such man- ner as to be soft and pliable, and ornamented with quills and wampum beads-such was the dress of the Lenni Lenape Indians.
From the first, the Indians of what is now Morris County were hospitable and friendly in their inter- course with the early settlers, and these traits did not forsake them even after long association with their pale-faced neighbors. Among the Indians of the re- gion under consideration there existed a code of hon- or-engraven on their hearts, as they claimed, by the Great Spirit-which would have put to shame some of their white neighbors, those in particular who at- tempted to corrupt and demoralize the aborigines by the introduction of "fire water," which attempt met
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
with manly resistance on the part of the kings or chiefs of the various tribes. Notwithstanding this resistance to the introduction of the customs of civilization (?), the use of "fire water" among the Indians prevailed at length to such an extent that among the aborigines it was said: "Two of us die to every Christian that comes here." Because of the honorable dealings of the whites of this region with the Indians, in the matter of purchases of land and other business transactions, they dwelt together in uninterrupted peace; indeed, as already mentioned, during the first years of the settle- ment of this portion of the New Jersey Province, the friendly aborigines supplied the whites with game, skins and furs, thus materially lightening the rigors of a new settlement in a strange country and among an alien race.
The origin of the Indians of New Jersey, as under- stood by them, is deeply interesting from several points of view, but particularly as being remarkably suggestive of what is now known as the evolutionary theory of creation, which has come to be accepted by many scientists, and by not a few theologians, as well. Indeed, as will be seen, the Indian conception of their origin seems to have anticipated by many years the modern evolutionary theory of creation; for it was their belief that, previous to their incarnation in hu- man bodies, they were in the form of beasts, and lived in caves under the surface of the earth. One of them accidentally discovered a hole leading out to the sun- shine, and then they all followed him out and found it
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HISTORIC MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
so pleasant that they began life anew. They gradually developed into the form of human beings, learned to hunt and fish, and in due course of time began, in a rude way, to cultivate the soil. The names "Sitting Bull," "Big Bear" and many others of a similar char- acter since applied to Indians seem, by their sugges- tion of a beastly nature, to confirm the theory of cre- ation entertained by the aborigines of New Jersey.
It is a matter of no ordinary interest that on the thir- teenth day of August, in the year 1708, two years be- fore the permanent settlement of Whippanong by the English, a tract of land consisting of several thousand acres, of which what is now Morristown was about the centre, was deeded by the Indians to the whites for what would, in these days at least, be considered an insignificant compensation. Said compensation was:
"Thirty pounds in cash, ten strandwater blankets, fifteen kettles, twenty axes, twenty hoes, ten duffills blankets, half a barrel of wine, three files, one gun-boer, one auger, four pis- talls, four cutlasses, ten gunnes, one hundred barres of lead, half a barrell of powder, ten white blankets, twenty shirts, and one hundred knives."
This deed, executed on vellum and well pre- served, is now in the possession of the New Jer- sey Historical Society at Newark, and is a partic- ularly valuable document. Through the courtesy of the above named society the writer of this history was permitted to carefully examine this deed and to make tracings from the same. The signatures of the In-
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
dians, with their respective and varied marks, and the actual signatures of the whites on the original deed, are by no means the least interesting feature of this valu- able document. Fac similes of thèse, and also of the beginning of the two first lines of the deed (enough to show the quaint, and for the times, really elegant, handwriting of the executor of the document), will be found in this volume, and will prove to be of deep in- terest to readers.
Not to dwell longer upon a subject, which, however interesting in itself, is not strictly appropriate to a his- tory of Morristown, it may be proper to add that the Lenni Lenape were eventually settled on the Indian reservation in Burlington County, where they came to be known as the "Edge Pillocks."
The invitation to the remnants of the Lenni Lenape from the Mohicans of New York State, in the year 1801, to join them, is deeply significant as a striking illustration of aboriginal simplicity and hospitality:
"Pack up your mats and come and eat out of our dish, which is large enough for all, and our necks are stretched in looking toward the fireside of our grandfathers till they are as long as cranes."
One brave and his faithful squaw of the Lenni Lenape tribe, remained in New Jersey after the rem- nants of the tribe had left the State, and twenty years afterward both died. The daughter of this lingering Indian couple, known as "Indian Ann," lived until the year 1894, and was therefore the last of the tribe in
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HISTORIC MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
New Jersey, which, in the early part of the eighteenth century welcomed with characteristic hospitality and friendliness the pioneers of what is now Morris County.
It is Hawthorne who writes of "the exquisite delight of picking up for one's self an arrow-head that was dropped centuries ago and has never been handled since, and which we thus receive directly from the hands of the red hunter. Such an incident builds up again the Indian village and its encircling forest, and recalls the painted chief, the squaws and the children sporting among the wigwams, while the little wind- rocked papoose swings from the branch of a tree."
Many arrow-heads, axe-heads and other Indian rel- ics have been found in Morris County since the red men disappeared, and these are scarcely preserved by their present owners. Traces of an old Indian village are still (1905) discernible between Malapardis and Littleton, a few miles to the westward of Morristown. On the occasion of the delivery by the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Whippany, in the year 1894, of an historical sermon, there were placed on exhibit in front of the pulpit desk an assortment of Indian relics found in the near vicinity of the village, which, in a most impressive manner, recalled the presence of the aborigines of this region, which now teems with the evidences of an advanced civilization.
"A moment and the pageant's gone; The red men are no more; The pale-faced strangers stand alone Upon the river's shore."
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CHAPTER II.
"The deeds of our fathers, in times that are gone; Their virtues, their prowess, the fields they have won; Their struggles for freedom, the toils they endured, The rights and the blessings for us they procured."
MORE suitable introduction to the chapter of this history relating to A the settlement, by the whites of what is now Morristown, New Jersey, could not be written, than the fol- lowing extract from the "Annals of Morris County," by the Rev. Jo- seph F. Tuttle, D. D., LL.D., "the father" of Morris County history :
"Every community," he says, "has a history which, if prop- erly related, must be interesting and even important at least to those who belong to it. Here the fathers of such a com- munity fought the battle of life, wrestled with the problems of moral responsibility, loved the living, pitied the sorrowful, helped the weak, wept over the dying; here they laid the foundation of the social fabric as best they could, often in a
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very blind but honest method, lived life as we now live it, and they died leaving their graves to us as silent monitors not to permit them to sink into forgetfulness. Although not as great as many who have lived, they are our forefathers, and the work they did for us merits a grateful record at our hands."
The fact that Dr. Tuttle's ancestors were among the early settlers of what is now Morris County, and ac- tively assisted in its material development, and in the shaping of its splendid history, gives special force to these words.
Following the course of the winding Whippanong River, or perhaps guided by the solitary crooked In- dian path (Indian paths were invariably crooked) lead- ing to the westward, some of the enterprising English settlers at Whippanong found their way to what is now Morristown, where they made a settlement. It is al- most certain that this settlement, by the progressive pioneers of Whippanong, was made soon after their arrival at the last named place from the eastside of the Great Wachung Mountain-perhaps during the same year; or it may have been during the year next follow- ing the permanent settlement of Whippanong. It is a matter of sincere regret to students of local history, that extant historical records as well as tradition, are as silent as the Roman catacombs on the Appian Way, as to the exact date of the beginnings of what is now considered, by not a few world-wide travelers, the most beautiful city in the world-a city, also, about which there cluster historic associations almost unpar-
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
alleled in interest in the annals of our great country. Nor is there any reliable history, or even trustworthy tradition, from which such data may be safely inferred; hence the student of local history is reluctantly com- pelled to accept some such vague statement as that of a former pastor of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Morristown (Rev. Rufus S. Green, D. D.), who says : "We cannot be far out of the way in placing the date of the first settlement of Morristown back nearly or quite to 1710;" or to accept the somewhat less vague conclusion of another student of local his- tory, that "Morristown was first settled by the whites about the year 1710." If, however, "history makes us some amends for the shortness of life," then Morris- town's "ample page which is rich with the spoils of time," most certainly makes us generous amends for the silvery haze which surrounds the commencement of her rare civic career.
The facilities for the prosecution of the iron indus- try offered by the Whippanong River, in the newly set- tled region, and perhaps the somewhat closer proximity of the iron ore at Succasunna, and the improvement in other respects of their material welfare, were appar- ently among the inducements to the founders of what is now Morristown to remove from the settlement at Whippanong, and make for themselves a new home in the inviting region chosen.
It will be far from uninteresting to the readers of this history to learn, that the particular locality to be first settled by the immigrants from Whippanong, was
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HISTORIC MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
that in the near vicinity of the corner of the present Water and Spring streets, at the foot of Town Hill. This locality seems to have been chosen partly because of its proximity to the Whippanong River, flowing but a few rods to the eastward, which was to be utilized for the carrying on of the iron industry; and partly because of the ample protection from the winter winds afforded by the bold hills to the northward and west- ward of the spot selected. Inasmuch as what is now Morris street, as also the present Spring street, were at the early period now under consideration, the Indian path leading from Whippanong eastward toward Rox- iticus, which is now Mendham, it is probable that the particular locality chosen by the Whippanong immi- grants was selected also with a view to keeping as near as practicable to the only apology for a road then known in the vicinity.
The first iron forge to be erected by the early set- tlers of what is now Morristown, probably stood near, and perhaps upon, the identical site of a portion at least of what is now known as "Flagler's mill," and by some as "Durling's mill," which is situated a little to the north of the present Water street, and at the lower end of what was once known as "Pochontas Lake." This body of water was for many years, and until the com- plete destruction of the dam by a great freshet about ten years since, the peculiar pride of the young for swim- ming, boating and skating, not to mention the pleas- ure it afforded those of piscatorial tastes, who occasion-
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
ally landed from its quiet waters a handsome black bass of no ordinary weight.
Near the primitive iron forge may have stood the gristmill and sawmill, both of which, as a means of sup- plying the imperative needs of the infant settlement, were doubtless built a little prior to the erection of the iron forge. Several other iron forges were subse- quently erected at different points on the Whippanong River, the remains of one of which, if local tradition is to be relied upon, are still (1905) to be seen on the northern bank of the stream nearly opposite the site of the present new roundhouse of the Lackawanna Rail- road Company. It is said that about the year 1777 there were in Morris County nearly 100 iron forges in operation, and that Washington, during his first so- journ in Morristown, expressed his disapproval of the employment of the large number of able-bodied men which the operation of these forges required, while the depleted ranks of the American army were left unre- plenished. All the iron forges on the Whippanong River within-the bounds of Morristown were, how- ever, so far as their operation is concerned, extinct as early as about the year 1823.
The houses, or huts, as they might more properly be called, first erected by the immigrants from Whip- panong, it is almost superfluous to remark, were rude structures, being constructed for the most part of logs, but they afforded satisfactory shelter from the ele- ments, and protection at night from the wild beasts
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HISTORIC MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
which then roamed at will through the newly-settled region.
We have seen that the early settlers of what is now Morristown, first erected their rude log houses near the intersection of the present Water and Spring streets. It was not long, however, before a few log houses were erected in clearings along what is now Morris street. A few years later-it may have been during the year 1718 or 1720-the energetic settlers found their way up the hill (Town Hill, known for many years as "the gully," because of its condition as the result of fre- quent washings out by the rains) to the locality now occupied by the Green, and the churches and business blocks surrounding it. In those early days this section of Morristown was part of a dense forest composed of giant oaks, chestnuts and other native species; but in clearings made by the sturdy woodman's axe, the en- terprising settlers erected their houses on the plateau which is nearly 400 feet above the ocean level. It is highly probable that among the considerations which moved the settlers to this change of habitation to the above-mentioned plateau, was the improved state of the atmosphere, as compared with the dampness and mi- asma of the low lands adjacent to the Whippanong River, where the original settlement had been made.
The red men of the Whippanong tribe, be it remem- bered, still lingered amid the scenes and associations of their revered fathers. They doubtless viewed with amazement the rapid strides of their pale-faced neigh- bors, away from simplicity and barrenness, toward the
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THE STORY OF ITS FIRST CENTURY
higher civilization to which their racial instincts im- pelled them. From the pretty Whippanong stream these peaceable aborigines procured, with bow and arrow, and with rude spear, the fish with which its waters then abounded; and over the wooded hills and through the beautiful vales, now dotted with the signs of twentieth century civilization, they hunted wild game which then constituted the basis of their daily diet. Under the same somber moon that now, in his season, sheds his pale light upon the earth, swarthy lovers plighted their troth each to the other ; since love is love, whatever be the shade of complexion, or whatever be the place or period. After having lived in harmony with the whites for half a century, the Indians of Morris County emi- grated, a decimated band, to the West, about the year 1740, having been compensated by the State for the territory relinquished.
It has seemed meet, while the early history of what is now Morristown was passing in review before us, to drop a tear to the memory of our red-faced brothers who once inhabited the region, but who have melted away before the rising sun of civilization.
Wild beasts, including the bear, the panther, the wolf and the wildcat, roamed in the neighborhood un- molested, save as they now and then encroached upon the humble habitations of the white settlers. The pres- ence of these marauding enemies of civilization neces- sitated the careful herding in pens of the sheep and other stock by night, while by day, they were protected by the vigilance of their owners, whose unerring aim
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HISTORIC MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY
laid not a few of the stealthy prowlers low. At length the few surviving beasts slunk away from the human habitations which, year by year, were increasing in number, and the period of local history when "wolves in great numbers answered each other from the neigh- boring hills," soon became only an interesting mem- ory.
The quaint deed by which the land now embraced in Morristown's centre (the entire tract contain- ing 2,000 acres), was, in the year 1715, conveyed to one John Keys, or Kay, is of too much interest to be omit- ted; hence a verbatim copy is here presented :
"By virtue of a warrant from ye Council of Proprietors, bearing date ye tenth day of March last past, I have surveyed this Tract or Lott of land unto John Kay within ye Western Division of ye Province of New Jersey, in ye Last indian purchases made of ye Indians by ye said Proprietors; Situate upon & near a Branch of Passamisk River, Called whipene, beginning at a small hickory corner, standing near a Black oak marked K, ten cha. distance from a corner of Wm. Pens Lands; thence Northwest one hundred sixty & five cha; crossing ye said Whipene to a corner white oak marked also K; thence South west one hundred twenty and seven cha. & twenty-five link to a poast for a corner under ye side of a hill called mine mountain; from thence South east one hun- dred sixty & five cha. to a poast; then North East one hun- dred twenty-seven cha. & twenty five links, & by ye bound of Govn. Pens land to ye place of beginning. Containing Two thousand acres of land besides one hundred acres allowance for Highways, surveyed April ye 28th, 1715 pr me R. Bull Survy.
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