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 57
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 57
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103
As in the case of the Union Fire Company, many distinguished citizens have been members of this or- ganization. Among the presidents of the company appear the names of Gen. John Beatty, Aaron Dick- inson Woodruff, Gideon HI. Wells, Alexander Cham- bers, and others.
The following are the officers of this company : W. S. Ashmore, president ; James S. Kryer, secretary ; James A. Howell, treasurer ; John J. Doran, foreman.
RESOLUTION FIRE COMPANY .- From the meagre records of this company but little can be learned of its
678
HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
early history. It was organized Feb. 4, 1804, and in- eorporated Dee. 28, 1824. Zachariah Rossell was president of the company during most of the period of its existenee, and Samuel Evans, Charles Bur- roughis, Charles Parker, Edward W. Sendder, Charles Moore, and Benjamin Moorehouse were its secretaries.
It was divided into three sections or committees, ealled the ladder committee, the alarm committee, and the bucket committee, eaeh having particular duties assigned to it. At first the company had what was known as a bucket-engine, but in 1839 this was put in charge of a company of boys, who kept it in their care till it came in possession of the Good Will Company in 1849. A new suction and propelling en- . gine was purchased in 1837, at a eost of four hundred and fifty dollars.
In October, 1848, the Good Will Fire Company be- eame auxiliary to this, and on the 2d of April, 1849, as the record states, " the members of the Resolution Fire Company severally resigned, and the secretary was authorized to hand all the books and effects to the president of the Good Will Fire Company."
GOOD WILL FIRE COMPANY .- This company was organized on the 7th of February, 1848, but it dates its organization Feb. 4, 1804, because it became first auxiliary to and successor of the Resolution Company, which was organized at that time. It at first used the old bucket-engine of the Resolution Company, after ehanging it to a suction-engine. In 1849 it came in possession of the property of the Resolution Fire Company, and in 1850 it purchased a new and elegant engine at a eost of two thousand dollars. This engine was used till the company received its first steamer in 1864. The steam-engine now in use by the eom- pany was purehased in 1881. Its team was purchased in 1871, and put in service July 4th of that year. The first engine-house of this company was an old one-story building in Front Street, near Willow. Thenee it removed to another old one-story house in Warren Street. This had two planks under the wheels of the engine for a floor, and an old stove rolled against the door for a lock.
In 1849 the eity built an engine-house in Washing- ton Street for this company. This was oeeupied till The engine-house of this company in Broad Street was the first erected by the city. It has since been enlarged and improved, and the eity has supplied all the companies with houses. 1861, when the present convenient and fine house in Warren Street near Factory was erected. This was afterward enlarged and a stable was added. A large tower in the rear of the engine-house was completed The presidents of this company have been Gideon in 1870. It is seventy feet in height, and in it was . H. Wells, Richard J. Boud, Joseph Whittaker, John placed an alarm-bell of two thousand pounds' weight that the company purchased at a eost of eleven hun- dred dollars.
This was the first uniformed fire company in Tren- ton, and it is said that its example did much to stim- ulate an esprit de corps among the other companies.
An entire company in the war of the Rebellion was made up of volunteers from this fire company. ; Then the number of members in each fire company was not limited as at .present. Charles Moore was
i
president of this company at the time of its organ- ization. The officers are Eckford Moore, president ; Thomas D. Cassidy, secretary ; Charles K. Fox, treas- urer ; and Samuel Wilham, foreman.
EAGLE FIRE COMPANY .- On the 15th of June, 1821, twenty-two citizens met at the house of John Hutchinson and organized the " Eagle Fire Company of Mill Hill." by the adoption of a constitution and the choice of the following offieers : Gideon H. Wells, president ; Lewis Evans, vice-president ; Thomas W. Morgan, secretary ; Jesse Redman, treasurer; and Robert Chambers, inspector.
Feb. 26, 1830, the company was, by an aet of the Legislature, incorporated. The corporators were Robert Chambers, Fairfax Abell, Richard J. Boud, Wollaston Redman, John Whitaker, and Willian Waln. The first engine used by this company was procured soon after its organization. It was built by Pat Lyon, of Philadelphia, and was worked from the ground. The second, purchased in 1847, was a double-decker, and its eost was seven hundred and seventy dollars. In 1864 this company purchased the first steam fire-engine that was brought to the eity. It has been considerably repaired, but it is still in use.
The engine-house of the company was a one-story building, sixteen by thirty feet, located on Broad Street, on the lot where the court-house now stands. The hooks and ladders were chained to an adjoining fence, and fastened with a paddock.
In 1836 the lower story of the sehool-house was fitted up for an engine-honse, and the old house was sold. In 1849 a small engine-house was erected iu Market Street, and was used by the company till 1858, when the city built the present house in Broad Street near Centre.
In November, 1830, William C. Howell offered a resolution "that in future the company abstain from the use of ardent spirits in meetings of business, and that our usual mode of throwing in our sixpences be continued, and be given for the use of the house." This was laid over from meeting to meeting till May, 1831, when the motion for its adoption was lost.
O. Raum. John Farrell is president ; Jesse Thornley, 'seeretary ; William. Ossenburg, treasurer ; and James Phillips, foreman.
Soon after the steamer was received a team was procured; for this company as well as others soon learned by experience that to draw a heavy machine by hand was severe exercise.
On the 31st of January, 1333, the company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature. The corporators were Benjamin Fish, John B. Abbot,
:
079
CITY OF TRENTON.
Maturin Redway, Jacob B. James, Charles Skelton, Thomas M. Hamilton, William R. Howell, John Phares, and John Sunderland. The present officers . are Levi J. Bibbins, president; John E. Brelsford, secretary; A. J. Walker, treasurer; James R. Gould, foreman.
DELAWARE FIRE COMPANY .- No record shows the date of the organization of this company. It is known that it existed prior to April 5, 1821, for under that date there is a list of seventy-six active and twelve honorary members. It had also purchased two en- gines, as appears from entries without date in the books of the treasurer, at a cost of two hundred and thirty dollars. It is said of one of these that, though unpretentious in its appearance, it was an efficient machine.
In March, 1856, the company purchased a new hand- engine for one thousand dollars. In 1866 a new steam fire-engine was received, and this was, in 1870 -71, thoroughly repaired and improved. It was used till 1881, when the present steamer of the company was purchased.
The first engine-house was a small one-story wooden building on the southerly side of Bridge Street, near Warren. In 1856, when the new hand-engine was purchased, the company bought another engine- honse on the north side of Bridge Street, near Fair. In the autumn of 1868 this was abandoned, and the ; engine-house that the city had built in Warren Street was occupied.
TRENTON HOSE COMPANY .- During the winter of 1838-39 an unusual number of fires occurred in Trenton, and although the supply of engines was ample, it was found that hose and the means for its transportation were deficient. The necessity which thus became apparent led to the organization of the Trenton Hose Company on the 8th of March, 1839. Its first officers were A. P. Atkinson, president ; George Furman, vice-president; Charles C. Belle- jean, secretary ; Samuel F. Hart, assistant secretary ; George W. Van Hart, treasurer; Charles W. John- son, John R. S. Barnes, and David L. Anderson, directors.
At first a hose-carriage was borrowed from the Resolution Fire Company ; but a new one was soon purchased, and a small and inconvenient building in Warren Street was used for a hose-house. Another liose-carriage was afterwards purchased to replace the first, and the company removed first to a house in Hanover Street, then to near the corner of Han- over and Greene. In 1866 the city purchased this property, and erected thereon a brick hose house.
An excursion was made by this company in 1868 to Boston and Lynn, in which cities marked honor was bestowed on it. The presidents of the company have been A. P. Atkinson and George Furman.
The following are the officers: Edward T. Green, president ; J. Brad. Parker, secretary; George Fur- inan, treasurer; and Lewis Baker, foreman.
HARMONY FIRE COMPANY .- A feeling of insecurity among the people in the northern part of the city led to the organization, on the 9th of May, 1849, of the Harmony Fire Company. The other engines were located in the lower part of the city.
An appropriation towards the purchase-price of an engine was made by the Common Council, and in January, 1852, their first machine was received. This was repaired in 1857. A new hose-carriage was pur- chased in 1864, at a cost of two hundred and seventy- five dollars, and in the same year the company re- ceived its first steamer. This was replaced by the present steam-engine in 1880.
In 1852 the company's first engine-house was erected on the site of its present building, in Warren Street, near Tucker. This was burned in the same year, and the company erected another on Princeton Avenue, near Pennington, which it occupied till its present house was built.
The company purchased a team in the spring of 1866. A bell was procured in 1869.
The company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, March 2, 1855. The corporators were George D. Sunningshire, Samuel F. Bellerjeau, James S. Robinson, John B. Creed, Samuel J. Price, Matthew Moses, Samuel O. Bellerjeau, Charles Meyer, Jolin Brades, Charles Sweet, and John Haws.
John Taylor is president ; Philip C. Kulp, secre- tary ; William W. Fell, treasurer ; and Walter Lan- ning, foreman.
PROTECTION HOOK-AND-LADDER COMPANY. - This company, which was composed of Germans. was organized in 1850. . Its apparatus was housed in the Good Will engine-house, and when the com- pany was disbanded, in 1855, its property was turned over to the Good Will Company.
This was an efficient company, although its exist- ence was brief. Its officers were Simon Rahnweiler, president ; Joseph Reubins, vice-president ; Joseph C. Mayer, secretary ; and William Pheyt, secretary.
AMERICA HOSE AND STEAM FIRE - ENGINE COMPANY. - In January, 1850, the America Hose Company was organized by members from the Hand- in-Hand Fire Company, and it was incorporated Feb. 14, 1860.
The company purchased its first hose-carriage from the Hope Hose Company, of Philadelphia, at a cost of two hundred dollars, and first housed it at the Good- Will engine-house, in Washington Street. The city first erected for the company a framed house in Mont- gomery Street, near Perry; in 1870 the house now occupied in Perry Street, east from the canal.
The company resolved to purchase a steam fire-en- gine, and for this purpose procured subscriptions to the amount of two thousand dollars. This was during the war of the Rebellion, and the enlistment of most of the members of the company caused the abandon- ment of the project for the time. In 1868 the engine ' was purchased, and it is still in use. It cost four
680
HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY. NEW JERSEY.
thousand dollars, and the team and harness, which ' "volunteer" was added to the title of the association by an act of the Legislature in 1878.
were purchased in 1870, cost four hundred and ten dollars. In 1870 the company purchased a bell at a ; cost of three hundred dollars. Officers: Abraham Chamberlain, president; John B. Gandy, secretary ; William McGill, treasurer; aud Charles Q. Carman, foreman.
Within two hours after the receipt of the news of the fall of Fort Sumter thirty-two members of this company enlisted.
OSSENBURG HOSE COMPANY .- This company was organized Sept. 22, 1873. It was at first furnished with a hand-carriage. In 1875 it provided itself with a new hose-carriage. It is now well supplied with equipments, and the members have a tasteful uniform.
The present officers are Thomas Leonard, president; John Hingley, secretary ; E. R. Taylor, treasurer ; George W. Lawton, foreman.
WASHINGTON HOOK-AND-LADDER COMPANY .- This was organized May 22, 1873. Its organization grew out of an evident necessity for an active hook- .and-ladder company, as there was not at that time a company that operated with hooks and ladders exclu- sively. On its organization the Trenton Hose Com- pany presented it with hooks and ladders and car- riage.
The company's house in Warren Street, near Fac- tory, was erected by the city in 1877-78. In the year following the company procured a new horse truck.
The officers are Charles Tye, president ; John E. Little, vice-president ; James Maher, secretary ; Ab- ner R. Lanning, treasurer; and Johu Camanade, foreman.
The manual force of the department at the present time, April 19, 1882, consists of one chief engineer, two assistant engineers, seven fire wardens, one su- perintendent of fire-alarm telegraph, three hundred and forty-eight members of engine companies, seventy members of lose companies, and thirty-four muembers of the hook-and-ladder company, making a total membership of four hundred and fifty-two, an increase of one hundred and four members during the last two : years.
The apparatus of the department consists of seven steam fire-engines, nine hose-carriages, and one hook- and-ladder truck. The apparatus of the several com- panies are all drawn by horses, and are all in first-class order. The Eagle Company have contracted with Clapp & Jones, of Hudson, N. Y., for a third-class engine. The citizens of Trenton have just cause to be proud of the apparatus connected with the depart- ment at present. There is probably no city in the country of the same population whose fire depart- ment apparatus equals that of Trenton.
THE VOLUNTEER FIRE ASSOCIATION FOR THE RELIEF OF DISABLED FIREMEN OF THE CITY OF TRENTON .- Under the act of 1853 for the incorpora- tion of benevolent and charitable associations, this was incorporated in November, 1855. The word
The organization of the association was effected mainly through the instrumentality of A. S. Living- ston, at that time chief engineer of the fire depart- ment.
Subsequently the management of the association was changed, and now the board of trustees consists of three from each company in the fire department, one of whom is elected by the company each year, for the term of three years.
To all firemen who are disabled in the line of duty the sum of five dollars per week is paid during the continuance of such disability, and on the death of any fireman a funeral benefit of fifty dollars is paid to his family or relatives.
The funds of the association are derived from a tar on all foreign insurance companies doing business in the city under the law of 1867. These funds now amount to thirteen thousand dollars, invested in rcal estate and bonds and mortgages.
The present officers are C. W. Biles, president ; Wil- liam S. Zehner, vice-president ; Thomas Leonard. secretary ; George Furman, assistant secretary ; Chas. Megill, treasurer; and Thomas E. Boyd, Louis Cour- tier, and Albert Rainbow, financial committee.
Manufactures .- Various branches of manufacture have been undertaken in Trenton and afterward, abandoned, either because they had ceased to be re- munerative or because attention was attracted to more profitable avenues of industry, or for reasons that it is now difficult to determine. Some of these were carried ou with success during many years, and others had only an ephemeral existence. Among the former may be named paper manufactories, of which there have been several, also cotton-mills and calico-print- ing works. Distilleries and tanneries formerly es- isted here, but with changing circumstances they have passed away. There have also been manufac- tories of spikes, nails, leather belting, buttons, violins, locomotives, cars, carriages, etc. Some of the build- ings in which these manufactures were carried on have gone to decay, some have been destroyed by floods, others by fire, and many have beeu converted to other uses.
Trenton Water-Power. - In 1831 the Trenton Delaware Falls Company was incorporated with a perpetual charter. In that year work was commenced on what is known as the Trenton water-power, and it was completed in 1834. The engineers were Benja- min Wright, Charles Potts, and Stephen H. Lonz. At first there was a wing-dam constructed at Seud- der's Falls, seven miles above the city, and the water was taken from the river above this dam through a race to the city, where it is utilized for mills and manufactories of various kinds. It has proved to be. as was foreseen, a very important factor iu the pros- perity of the city.
The wing-dam which was first built was after-
CITY OF TRENTON.
681
wards converted into a complete dam ; but this, be-
1851. It was afterwards carried on by Benjamin cause of the lack of the necessary legislation, has not : Fish, and then by Jonathan S. Fish. In October, been kept iu good condition, and during times of low water the supply is not what it might otherwise be. A head and fall of thirteen to sixteen feet is made available along this artificial channel, and many manufactories of various kinds are propelled by it.
The officers of the company are F. J. Slade, presi- dent; Joseph Stokes, vice-president and general su- perintendent; and George W. Vankirk, secretary. The capital stock of the company is one hundred thousand dollars.
Saw-Mills .- Several saw-mills have at different times been built and carried on in Trenton. Some of these have been destroyed, or have disappeared with the lapse of time, and others have been con- verted to other uses as the forests have been cleared away.
One was erected by Benjamin Fish, George S. Green, and Charles Green, on the west side of the water-power, at the foot of Lodge Alley. It was car- ried on by the firm that built it till the death of Charles Green in 1848. It was then run by Benja- min Fish and George S. Green till 1876, when Mr. Green became the sole proprietor, and he has con- tinued to conduct the business since.
The capacity of this mill is three million feet of lumber per annum. Eighteen men are employed, and the annual production is a little less than the capacity of the mill. The machinery is propelled by water from the water-power.
The hemlock timber that is here manufactured into lumber is brought down the Delaware River in rafts, and floated through the water-power to the mill. The white pine is floated down the Susquehanna River into Chesapeake Bay, and up Back Creek to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, through which it is taken to the Delaware River, up that river to Bordentown, and through the Delaware and Raritan Canal to Trenton, where it is floated through the Feeder to a point near the mill.
Flour Mills .- As elsewhere stated, the first mill erected in Trenton was the log grist-mill of Mahlon Stacy, which was erected in 1680. In 1690 it was purchased by William Treut, who built in its place a stone mill two stories in height. Gideon H. Wells afterward converted it into a cotton-factory. This building remained without change till 1843, when it was partially destroyed by a flood. The paper-mill of Henry McCall was afterwards erected on the same site. It, too, has disappeared.
WALTON'S FLOUR-MILL .- The stone inill at the foot of Mill Street, on the Delaware River, was built by Daniel Cox in 1824, and it has ever since been used as a flouring-mill. It has been owned by David Brister, B. Titus, James Hunt, Mr. Thomas, John Sager, Robert D. Cary, James M. Redmond, and Mr. Brister again. Mr. Brister was crushed and killed by the water-wheel, which he was assisting to clean, in
1867, Charles Walton purchased this mill from Mr. Fish, and he is still the owner. Externally the build- ing has not been changed (except by whitewashı) since its erection. In 1878, Mr. Walton renewed the machinery. It has four run of stones. It is wholly a merchant mill.
WARREN STREET CITY MILL .- This was the first flouring-mill erected on the water-power. It is lo- cated at the junction of Warren Street and Assan- pink Creek, on the east bank of the race. It is built of stone, three and one-half stories in height, with forty feet front on Warren Street. It was erected by Samuel S. and Thomas J. Stryker. The next year they built the brick grist- and merchant-mill iu the rear of it. This is three stories in height, thirty by forty feet.
The stone mill was first run by David Brister, then by-S. S. Cooley, then by the owners till 1847, when it was leased by Daniel B. Coleman and his father, James G. Coleman. After the death of the latter iu 1855, the business was continued by D. B. Coleman and his brother Caleb. In 1879, D. B. Coleman re- tired from the firm, and the business was conducted by Caleb till December, 1881, when he was succeeded by the present lessees, A. Thompson & Co. In 1879 the machinery of the mill was renewed, and the latest improvements were adopted. It is a merchant inill.
The brick mill was occupied till 1839 by David Brister, then successively by William Lee, William and Joshua Coleinan, and S. S. Stryker, Jacob Zing- enfuss, Temple & Son, and the present lessee, Har- mon H. Titus, who came in possession in the spring of 1879. It is a custom as well as a merchant mill.
MOORE'S FLOUR-MILL .- The flour-mill on the corner of Warren and Factory Streets was built in 1834 by Joseph Moore. It was carried on at first by David Brister, then, after April, 1838, by Imlah Moore and Peter Crozer, under the firm-name of Crozer & Moore. In 1854, Mr. Crozer retired from the firm, and the business was conducted by Imlah and Charles Moore till the death of the latter, after which it was continued by Imlah alone till 1878, when it was leased to A. Sickle till 1881. Imlah Moore then carried it on for a year, and in the spring of 1882 the present lessees, Zingenfuss & Co., took possession. It is a merchant mill.
CORNELIA MILL .- In 1847 a wooden building stood on the site of this mill, corner of South War- ren and Factory Streets, and in 1852 a brick building was erected there by Mr. Lodor. This was known as the City Iron and Brass Foundry. In these build- ings various branches of manufacture were at differ- ent times carried on.
The Cornelia Mill was built here by Edmund Craft in 1879. It is a finc brick structure, and the ma- chinery is used for the manufacture of what is termed "new process" and other fine brands of flour alone.
. 6 ... 7
rt- on of ne he ty
he of id in al il- d LS.
re d. re it re rs er re t- 8- C- 8.
d it
-
682
HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
It is propelled by water from the Delaware Falls Water Company's race, and by a steam-engine of seventy horse-power. The mill was carried on by Craft & Howell till the spring of 1882, since which time Howell & Sons have conducted it. .
The building adjoining this mill was erected by Mr. Craft in 1877. It is occupied by Charles Allen as a saw-mill and planing-mill, and in the upper story Fleetwood Bird has a carpet-cleaning estab- lishment.
Phoenix Iron-Works .- At an early day Josiah N. Bird and Edward D. Weld purchased the mill and axe-factory of Jonas Simmons & Co., at the foot of Mill Street. Here they established a machine-shop. In 1849 they erected an iron foundry adjoining their works, and in the same year they commenced the manufacture of spikes. They also engaged in the manufacture of boilers and other heavy machinery, also castings of various kinds, including stoves. They subsequently in part discontinued the general foundry business to engage more largely in that of machinery. Their business continued to expand till in the panic of 1857 they failed, and their establish- ment was conducted by Liscomb R. Titus and Garret Schenck. In 1861, Charles Carr became the pro- ! prietor, and the name "Phoenix Iron-Works" was given to the establishment. Mr. Carr conducted the business successfully, increasing his facilities from time to time as his increasing patronage required. In 1870 he purchased of Henry M. Lewis the paper- mill adjoining the Phoenix Works and converted it into a pattern-shop.
In April, 1877, Mr. Carr died, and the works came into the possession of W. D. Haven, who conducted the business till 1878, when the Phoenix Iron Com- pany was incorporated, and by this company the business has since been conducted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.