USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 22
USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 22
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527
TOWNSHIPS, CITIES, VILLAGES, AND POPULATION.
county of Hunterdon: thence along the line dividing the counties of Somerset and Hunterden to a point therein where the same crosses the road called the Pennington road, leading from the village of Rocky Hill to the village of Pennington; thence continuing along the middle of said road to the Delaware River, at Titusville; thence down said river the several courses, and including the islands belonging to this State, to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby erected into a sep- arate county, to be called the county of Mercer."
This included Nottingham in Burlington, the Windsors in Middlesex, and Lawrence and a part of Hopewell in Hunterdon.
On the 27th day of February, 1838, five days after the previous act was enacted, an act to establish the boundaries of Montgomery township was passed as follows, viz. :
" All that part of the township of Montgomery in the county of Soni- erset which lies south of the following line, to wit: Beginning on the Millstone River where the boundary line between the counties of Mid- dlesex and Somerset crosses the same, continuing down said river to the original southeasterly corner of a tract of land called the Van Horn tract, and thence running westerly along the original south boundary of said tract, and continuing on in the same course to the middle of the * road called the Pennington road, leading from the village of Rocky Hill to the village of Pennington, and thence westerly along the middle of said road to the boundary line of the county of Somerset, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and made a part of the county of Mercer, . . . and said liue shall hereafter be the boundary line between the county of Mercer and the county of Somerset."1
While the Somerset members of the Legislature who voted for the former act were unwilling to vote for this act which dismembered their own county, other members from other counties who withheld their votes from the former act gave their votes for this one, and thus the county of Mercer was formed as originally designed by those who projected the measure.
The first act left Princeton half in the county of Somerset and included the other half in Mercer. The . second act made a new township from a part of Mont- gomery and West Windsor, and called it the town- ship of Princeton, and annexed it to the new county of Mercer.
These were the boundaries of the new county till 1844, when the Democratic party, having a majority in the Legislature, made many changes in the lines of townships and counties in the State, and passed an act March 13, 1844, "re-annexing the township of Hopewell, in the county of Mercer, to the county of Hunterdon." This was so strongly a partisan move- - ment, and so palpably unwise, that with the other alleged " straightening of crooked liues" at the same session, the people, in the fall of 1844, rose in their displeasure and elected a Whig Legislature. And among other acts passed by that body restoring old . lines was the act entitled " An Act to re-annex the township of Hopewell, in the county of IIunterdon, to the county of Mercer," approved Feb. 5, 1845.
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By this act not only that portion of old Hopewell which had been annexed to Mereer in 1838 in form- ing the county was re-annexed, but the whole of old
Hopewell township extending to the Amwell boundary gave an impulse to the growth of the village, and
was included and annexed to Mercer as the line now stands.
The county was named after Gen. Hugh Mercer, who fell at the battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777.
The county of Mercer now contains eleven town- ships, including Trenton and Chambersburg, both of whose city limits are co-extensive with the township boundaries. viz. : Chambersburg, Ewing, Hamilton, Hopewell, Lawrence, Millham, Princeton, Trenton, Washington, East Windsor, and West Windsor.
The histories of these townships are severally given in their alphabetical order in this volume, and to them our readers are referred for such local informa- tion as may be pertinent to them as separate organi- zations. Our township historians have endeavored to gather up and record details and annals which have not hitherto been published, and they have incorpo- rated in their narrative so much of previously pub- lished matter, documentary and otherwise, as would seem necessary to make the volume as complete a local history as the enterprise of the work contem- plated. The history given of the organization of the townships is documentary, but great difficulty and mnuch imperfection have been experienced in tracing the families of early settlers. It may seem strange in some instances to our readers that certain families, and it may be prominent persons, have been unno- ticed by the township historian, but the explanation may be found in the ignorance, and in some instances the unwillingness, of the present living representa- tives to communicate what they know of the unwrit- ten history and genealogy of their ancestors. These local writers applied to the natural source of informa- tion, and sometimes after going from family to family and failing to glean anything of the traditions er records of the ancestral branch, they were obliged to abandon the pursuit. For the history of early set- tlements, the growth of villages, the institutions of religion and education, the industrial pursuits, the social and political progress of the people, the streams, roads, and internal improvements, and the natural features of the country, our readers are referred to what has been written under the heads of the several townships.
There are but four incorporated cities or boroughs in the county, viz. : Trenton, Princeton, Hightstown, and Chambersburg.
The city of Trenton is the most ancient and the largest of the four. Its original charter embraced much territory which has since been set off from it. Its first charter was dated Sept. 6, 1746. It traces its naine to William Trent, who had come from Scotland to Philadelphia and thence in 1714 to the Delaware Falls, where he purchased from the Mahlon Stacy tract of land eight hundred aeres on both sides of the Assanpink, and he removed his residence there. He having given in 1720 or thereabout a lot to the county of Hunterdon for a court-house and jail where
1 Act of Assembly, 1838.
528
HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
now the old Trenton Bank stands, the inhabitants ealled the town after Mr. Trent,-Trenton, often called in former years Trentown and Trentstown.
This city has been of slow growth, though eligibly and handsomely situated at the head of tide-water navigation on the beautiful Delaware, with the Assan- pink Creek separating Trenton from South Trenton. It is fifty-five miles southwest of New York, thirty miles northeast from Philadelphia, ten miles south- west from Princeton, twenty-six miles from New Brunswick on the Raritan, and one hundred and sixty-six miles from Washington, D. C. Just below the falls the Delaware is spanned by a wooden bridge which was built in 1804-6 at the cost of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. It was a remarkable structure for strength and durability. The floor was supported by iron rods hanging from arches. It has withstood great floods. Mr. Burr was its architect. It has been modified of late years somewhat, and ยท adapted to the additional use of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, as well as for common travel. Another bridge has been erected across the Delaware : at the upper end of the city. This, too, is of great value to Trenton in its intercourse and trade with citizens of Pennsylvania.
1
The eity of Trenton has also been for nearly one hundred years the seat of the State capital, which adds to its dignity and appearance as well as to its trade and business ; and the presence of other State institutions adds much to the interest and importance of the eity. But more of this in a subsequent chapter.
This city gains importance also from its being the capital of the county, where the county courts are held, and the county buildings are situated ; with all these advantages, and with a valuable water-power, it has become a prominent manufacturing city, and as sueh is growing steadily. There is but little doubt that Millham and Chambersburg will soon be an- nexed to the eity of Trenton, and be eonsolidated with it in one municipal government. The popula- tion of Trenton in 1880 was 29,910; of Chambers- burg, 5437; and of Millham, not less than 1500; making a combined city population of about 37,000 inhabitants, at present say 40,000. When our readers come to the long chapter devoted to the city of Tren- ton they will be fully apprised of the extent and character of this peculiarly attraetive and prosperous city. We add only that thus far its growth and de- velopment have been slow, but stable and sure; its capitalists have been eautious, its municipal govern- ment has been conservative and economical, its relig- ious sentiment has been demonstrative and diffusive, but it will hardly be denied that its publie spirit, as manifested in public enterprises for the health and ornamentation and higher development of the city, has hitherto been somewhat paralyzed by a timidity which was more excusable in former generations than in the last half-century.
Princeton, it will be seen, is a beautiful university
town, highly and healthfully situated, and whose prosperity consists in the prosperity of the institu- tions established there. Its charter bears date 1813. Its population is under four thousand, but it has en- joyed many modern improvements and advantages which many much larger towns have not been able to obtain. It is the depository of many treasures and gifts. Its local history will be read with interest. The population of the borough is three thousand two hundred and nine.
Hightstown became an incorporated borough in the year 1853. It is the principal town in East Windsor, and was stimulated in its growth by the business of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which passed through it, and in former years made it a very active business-place. It is particularly deseribed in the history of East Windsor. Its population is one thou- sand three hundred and fifty-five.
Chambersburg was incorporated as a borough in the year 1872. It has obtained its rapid growth through its manufacturing interests and as a suburb of Trenton. It is growing rapidly, its situation is pleasant, and it contains some handsome streets and residences. It has a population of five thousand four hundred and thirty-seven.
The histories of the townships bring to notice sev- eral villages and hamlets throughout the county.
In Hopewell are mentioned Peunington, the largest and most attractive of the unincorporated towns of : the county, Titusville, Hopewell, Mount Rose, Woodsville, Harbortown, Marshall's Corner, Stouts- burg.
In Ewing, Greensburg, Ewingville, Birmingham.
In Lawrence, Lawrenceville, Princessville, Baker's Basin, Lawrence Station.
In Hamilton, Hamilton Square, Sandtown or Mer- i cerville, Yardville, Groveville, N. Crosswicks, Exton- ville.
In Washington, Sharon, New Canton, Windsor, Newtown, Robbinsville.
In East Windsor, Milford.
In West Windsor, Clarksville, Port Mereer, Penn's Neck, Edinburgh, Dutch Neck.
In Princeton, Cedar Grove, Stony Brook, Princeton, Princeton Basin, Mount Lucas.
The population of the county of Mereer is, by the census of 1880, given at fifty-eight thousand and sixty-one (58,061) inhabitants, made up as follows, viz .:
Chambersburg
5,427 ' Princeton. 4,348
East Windsor ...
2,271
Trenton.
29.910
Ewing.
2.412
Washington. 1,28]
Hamilton. 3,370
West Windsor. 1,396
Hopewell 4,462
Lawrence
3,174
Total. 58,061
1
In the above Millhamn was counted in Lawrence, not having been then set off as an independent town- ship.
By the eensus of 1870 the population of the county was 45,057.
1
529
PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
Mercer County is divided into three legislative districts. They have recently been redistrieted.
The First District is composed of the townships of Ewing, Hopewell. Lawrence. Princeton, West Wind- sor, East Windsor, Hamilton, and Washington.
The Second District is composed of the First, See- : ond, Fifth, and Seventh Wards of Trenton, and of Millham.
The Third District is composed of the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Wards of Trenton, and of Cham- bersburg.
Mercer County belongs to the Second Congres- sional District, which is composed of Mercer, Bur- lington, Ocean, and Atlantic Counties.
CHAPTER XLIX.
PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
THE whole of Mercer County may be described as a place of historic interest. The territory, though sinall, occupies a position so prominent on the great thoroughfare of travel and transportation between New York and Philadelphia. or more extensively be- tween New England on one side and the Southern and Western States on the other. that it has from its natu- ral position and from necessity been appropriated by use as the nation's highway. Far back in the cen- turies, before the advent of the white man to these aneient forests, before the Dutch, French, or English touched our soil or traversed our streams, the Indian path of the aborigines between the Raritan at New Brunswick and the Falls of the Delaware passed along and upon where afterwards the first white settlers opened their first wagon-road, called the king's high- way, which came through Mercer County, on what is still the old road from Princeton to Trenton by Stony Brook and Maidenhead. This ancient road therefore has a historic interest.
The province linc, which was the ancient division line in the partition of the colony between East and West Jersey, and which seems to have so impressed itself upon the history of New Jersey that it will not pass into oblivion, has left its perpetual monument in its straight course across this county. There is historic interest in this invisible line, though it may hardly be called a place.
Trenton was occupied by the Hessian soldiers of Cornwallis' army during the middle of December, 1776, while Gen. Washington with the American army had retreated across the Delaware and encamped in Pennsylvania. The recrossing the Delaware on Christmas night by Washington and his army. their march to Trenton, and their splendid surprise and cap- ture of the Hessian army on the morning of the 26th December, 1776, and the military exploits of Washing- ton on the banks of the Assanpink on the 2d of January following, involving a battle in the evening and a strategic retreat to Princeton during the night, made Trenton one of the earliest and most noted places in the history of the Revolutionary war; and additional lustre was given to these events by Gen. Washington when, in 1789, on his journey to New York to be in- augurated President of the United States, he was wel- comed by the ladies of Trenton and escorted by the white-robed choir under the floral arch across the Assanpink. So Trenton, though without any other monument than the ever-abiding Assanpink, must be written a historic place.
And if the passing and repassing of both the British and American armies in the Revolutionary war over the roads and fields ; if the cantonments of the enemy planted in adjoining neighborhoods, inspiring the peo- ple with fear, and if the depredation by lawless sol- diery upon the stock and produce of the country are worthy of being recorded among the terrible fruits of war, then the townships of Lawrence, Hopewell, Ew- ing, Hamilton, and West Windsor furnish material for the historic page.
The banks of the Delaware at a place called Wash- ington's Crossing, in Hopewell township, about eight miles above Trenton, indicate the place where Wash- ington with his twenty-four hundred men, besides horses and twenty pieces of artillery, in small boats, at night over a swollen stream filled with floating ice, recrossed the Delaware on Christmas night in 1776, and which he repeated about a weck later, cannot but arrest the attention of the traveler passing that way, and recall to his mind the great events which followed and were connected with that historic spot.
Princeton is pre-eminently a place of historic in- terest. Its Revolutionary annals are peculiarly full of interesting history, both local and national. The church, the State, and the nation turn to its history to note important events and to commemorate the character and services of many of its distinguished public men who lived before, during, and after the Revolution. It is a place where the fires of the Rev- olution were kindled, where leading sons of liberty
Trenton is eminently a place of historic interest. Far back when it was in Burlington County, and then in Hunterdon, before the Revolution, while it was known as "the Falls" on the Delaware, it was the , took wisc counsel together, where the ablest and most pioneer traveler's stopping-place when, on his journey across the province to Pennsylvania and Delaware, he crossed the Delaware River. Early in the eigh- teenth century the Hunterdon County court-house was established there, where it remained from 1719 till 1785.
patriotie men of the colony discussed and weighed the question of national independence, where two of the signers of the Declaration resided, both of whom were personally known at the court of Great Britain, where the organization of the State government under a Constitution which antedated the declaration
530
HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
.
of independence was organized, and where its first Legislature held its first session ; where; during the progress of the Revolution, the Council of Safety, the sessions of the Legislature, and the conferences of leading men were most frequently held ; where Wash- ington and his troops were quartered; where Corn- wallis and his troops were also quartered for weeks in the college, the church, and the town, burning the houses and plundering the homes of the patriots.
The State Capitol .- The seat of the State gov- ernment was fixed at Trenton by the Legislature in 1790. The present handsome lot on West State Street, extending to the low-water line of the Delaware River, was purchased, and the original old State-house, to- It is a place where a sharp and deadly battle in three , gether with an office for the Secretary of State, were erected upon it. It was a very quaint-looking build- ing forty years ago ; it was rough-cast, of bluish color, with a cupola upon it, and a large room in each end, one for the Assembly and one . for the Council. It has been enlarged and altered again and again by the outlay of several hundred thousand dollars, until it has become a grand and commodious capitol,
engagements was fought under Washington, who pcriled his life in the fight, and in which Mercer and other noble officers lost their lives, but which re- sulted in a cheering and brilliant victory over the enemy. The Quaker road at Stony Brook, the Quaker Church, the bridge at Worth's Mills, the battle-field, the hundred unmarked graves, old Nassau Hall scarred by British balls, and the still standing house scarcely having a superior in any of the States, so in which Mercer died, with the stains of his blood upon the floor, are surely all places of historic interest.
And in addition to all these, for several months in the year 1783 the American Congress held a session in Princeton, using the college library and chapel for their meetings, drawing around them foreign minis- ters and their families, and Gen. Washington closing : 1 their session with a festive celebration of peace, which was announced in the college chapel in the presence ! of ladies and gentlemen of distinction. If such events do not make a place pre-eminently historic, what more can be required? Need the visitor be taken to "Tusculum," to " Morven," or to the Quaker bury- ing-ground and to the Witherspoon Street Cemetery, where the dust of Princeton's illustrious dead lies ?
CHAPTER L.
THE SEAT OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT AND OF NATIONAL AND STATE INSTITUTIONS.
THE county of Mercer has the honor and the ad- vantage of having the State capitol and many im- portant institutions of the State located within its boundaries. The building belonging to the national government for the use of the city post-office and for the United States courts is also at Trenton. These buildings are the most imposing public structures that are to be seen in Trenton or in the county, except the lunatie asylum and what may be found in Princeton.
The United States Post-Office and Government Building is situated on the corner of State and Stock- ton Streets. It is a beautiful three-story sandstone building, the front floors devoted to the city post- office, and the remainder of the building is appro- priated to the use of the United States courts and the offices connected with them. It is one of the most imposing buildings in the city, erected at great ex- pense, and its estimated cost, when completed, has been declared in Congress to be nearly four hundred
thousand dollars. It is almost universally regarded as a blunder that the court-room should be on the third high floor, to be reached by ascending nearly a hundred hard iron steps.
far as handsome and convenient rooms for all the purposes of the State Department is concerned and required by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. Though not magnificent and pretentious in its exterior architecture, it is a very large building, and one of which Jerseymen may well be proud. It is surrounded with neatly-kept grounds, and it is the most attractive place in the city to invite strangers to visit.
The State Library occupies a southern wing in the capitol, and has been growing with the building for a hundred years. At the present time the State library and the law library are consolidated, the former occupying the galleries and the latter the alcoves on the floor, the institution being admirably arranged and excellently governed. It is the gem of the State-house. The court-rooms are large and well furnished and tastefully decorated, and the Senate and Assembly rooms are gorgeous and convenient. All the offices and appointments are simply luxurious.
The State Prison .- This is a very costly and ex- tensive building, of the Egyptian order of architecture, situated in South Trenton, and was erected in 1836, with one hundred and fifty cells. It has been from time to time enlarged by the addition of several long wings and work-shops. It is a very elaborate affair, holding at present over cight hundred prisoners. This prison superseded the original one, which was quite near this new one, and which is now kept for the State Arsenal. The original was built in 1797, and still bears the old inscription on its front, "Labor, Silence, Penitence." The prison system of the State demands solitary coufinement, hard labor, and silent intercourse, but the prison has become too crowded with inmates to permit this system to be strictly ad- hered to in practice.
The Normal School .- This institution was estab- lished by the Legislature in 1855. Its object was to train teachers for common schools. The present build- ing on Clinton Street, in the city of Trenton, was erected in that year, and Professor W. F. Phelps opened
531
THE SEAT OF HIGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
the school the same year, before the building was eon- pleted.
A " Model School" for practical experience in teach- ing in connection with the Normal School was subse- quently established, and a suitable building was eree- ted on a lot adjoining the Normal, with Professor John S. Hart, principal, who beeame suecessor of Professor Phelps as prineipal of the Normal School also in 1865.
These two buildings are large, and contribute to the architectural interest of Trenton, and the institutions themselves are a souree of profit as well as intellectual advantage to the city and the county.
The State Industrial School for Girls, established by the Legislature in 1871, has recently been loeated on a farm of seventy-nine acres, in Ewing township, near the Luuatie Asylum. A new building has been erected and furnished on the farm by the State, at the cost of a little less than forty thousand dollars.
The State Lunatic Asylum, whose legislative origin dates A.D. 1844, but which was not ready for patients till 1848, is situated about two and a half miles northwest of Trenton, in Ewing township, on the Delaware and Belvidere Railroad, near the Dela- ware River, on an elevated traet of land, which affords a most beautiful landseape view from the majestic building that has been erected upon it. The eentral building is four stories high, with divers wings of the gratitude of the new nation for the loyal support three stories, the whole length extending over two thousand feet. This is New Jersey's favorite institu- tion, a monument of her wisdom and Christian hu- manity. There are in it five hundred and seventy- seven patients, and it requires about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year to maintain it. This is paid by the State, by the counties, and by private individuals. It is a very important institution, and seems to be very well managed. The portrait of ; Miss Dix should adoru the walls of this institution, or a mural tablet should commemorate her indefatigable perseverance in arousing the public mind, and besieg- ing the Legislature to take up this noble charity.
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