History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 135

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830

USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 135
USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 135

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The trustees have been as follows :

Elected 1865: Charles Chamberlin, one year ; John (. Duhrkoop, two years ; Robert MeC'ague. Sr., three years; John M. Francis, four years; Bethuel N. Crane five years ; Christopher Gregory, six years.

Since then the following trustees have been annui- ally elected :

1869, Charles Chamberlain, re-elected; 1870, John ('. Duhrkoop, re-elected ; 1871, Robert MeCague, Sr., re-elected : 1872, John M. Francis, re-elected (Wil- liam H. Havens elected to fill vacancy caused by the death of John M. Francis) ; 1873, B. N. Crane, re- elected : 1874, Christopher Gregory, re-elected ; 1875, Charles 11. Martin ; 1876, John C. Duhrkoop, re-elected ; 1877, Robert McCague, Sr., re-elected (Christopher Gregory resigned, and Joshua Benson elected to fill the unexpired term) ; 1878, William H. Havens, re-elected ; 1879, B. N. Crane, re-elected ; 1×80, Joshua Benson, re-elected ; 1881, Charles H. Martin, re-elected ; 1882, John C. Duhrkoop, re- elected ; 1883. Robert MeCagne, Sr., re-elected; 1884, William 11. Havens, re-elected.

Charitable Institutions .- ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL.

1229

CITY OF BAYONNE.

"This is, and always has been, the only bos- pital in Hoboken. It was founded in 1x66 by the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, under whose super- vision it is at the present time. Since the extensive improvements of Iss3 it contains one hundred and fifty beds, which are, as a general thing, all occupied later upon the law as a profission, he entered the aflive of Hon. Reverdy Johnson, and concluded his studies with S. Trackle Walls of Baltimore. Not desiring to practice, Mr. Lewis then retired to hi- plantation in Virginia, anl dev ded his time to agricultural pursuit- until the beginning of the late All persons, of whatever religion or nationality, at. received, those in good circumstances being asked a small sum as payment ; to those in needy circum- I ment, but felt impelled to follow the fortunes of Vir- stances the hospital is free. The money for its main- tenaner is raised principally by alms. war. He had until this time been a firm adherent of the Union cause and opposed to the recession move- ginin on her withdrawal from the I mon, and at once Joined the ranks of the Confederacy. He served as The Winow's HOME is a private institution founded in 1599 by Mrs. Stevens. It is now in charge of Mrs. Ann Newberry, and the physician who [On being made prisoner he was confined four months attends the inmates of the home is Dr. Fisher. The original location was Washington Street, near Ser- enth; the present is 333 Bloomfield Street. The number of ladies why receive the benefits of the home varies from six to twelve. aid-de-camp on the staff of fren, Chambliss and as brigade inspector under tien. William H T Lee. in Fort Delaware, and when a second time captured was for clever months a prisoner in both Fort De la- ware and Camp Chase. He received promotion to the rank of major and later to that of colonel in the de- partment of the inspector-general, and during his period of service took part in the battles of Bull Run, second Manassas, Antictam, Gettysburg, Fredericks- burg, Chantilly and Winchester. At the close of the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. conflict Col. Lewis returned to his plantation and resumed its cultivation. He was, in 1×59, married to Mis Lu y Ware daughter of U'l. J. W. Ware, EDWARD PARKE CUSTIS LEWIS. of Virginia, and has one daughter living. He was a second tune married, in 1569, to Mrs. Garnett, only daughter of Edward V. and Mary Picton Stevens, to whom were born four children. Col. Lewis made Europe his residence in 1809, and on his where he purchased large traets of land, por- return, in 1875, became a citizen of Hoboken, his present home. His political proclivities are Demo- eratie. lle was in 1878 elected to the State Legisla- ture, acting as chairman of the committee on edu cation, and vice-chairman of the committee on municipal corporations. Ile was also delegate to the Democratic Convention held in Cincinnati in 1880, and member of the State Democratic Committee of New Jersey in 18%}, but he declined active political preferment, though participating actively in the arena of politics. Col. Lewis has also been iden- tilied with various civil organizations, to which he has given substantial and. Ile is a member and was for three years president of the Scheutzen Associa- tion, is president of the Columbia Rifle Association, and filled the same office in connection with the Hudson County Driving Association. He has main- tained the religious faith of his family, that of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and acts as vestryman of Trinity Church of Hoboken.

Gen. Robt. Lewis, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, who was an officer of hugh rank in the British army, emigrated from Wales to America and settled in Westmorelend County, Va., tions of which still remain in possession of the family. His son John married a daughter of " King " Carter, to whom was born, among other children, a son Fielding Lewis, who was united in me rriage to Betty. only sister of Gen. George Washington. Fielding Lewis filled the position of quartermaster-general of the Federal army during the Revolutionary war, and also acted as aid-de-camp to Gen. Washing- ton. Among his children was Lawrence, who resided first at Mount Vernon and later at Woodlawn adjacent to it, which was given him by the owner of Mount Ver- non. Lawrence Lewis married Nelly Custis, grand- daughter of Mrs. Washington, and adopted daughter of the general. Their living children were Eleanor Parke, who married E. G. W. Butler; Angela, who married Charles M. C'onrad ; and Lorenzo. The latter was born in 1803 and died in 1547, having made Audley, Clark Co., Va., his residence. He mar- ried Esther M., daughter of Professor John Red- mond V'oxe, of Philadelphia, a distinguished physi- cian of the latter city. Their children are George Washington, John Redmond Coxe, Lawrence Fickl. ing, E. Parke Custis, Charles Conrad and Llewellyn Daingerfield. E. Parke Custis, the third son, was born on the 7th of February, 1837, at Audley, Clark Co., Va., and received his early scholastic train- ing at Staunton, Va., after which he entered the University of Virginia, at Charlotteville. Deciding

CHAPTER XLIL.

CITY OF BAYONNE.'

Formation. This municipality was set off as a township from the town of Bergen on the 15th of

! By Hlen. Anthony H. Ryder

1230

HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

March, 1861, and became a city under chartered powers granted by the legislative act, dated the 1)th of March, 1869. Subsequently those powers were varied, and a more elaborate charter was granted March 22, 1872. By the latter enactment the city is divided into five wards. The real and personal estate valuations, according to the assessors' estimate, September, 1876, amounted to $5,343,935. This was a little in excess of one-seventeenth of the entire county's valuation.

Early History .- The area comprises the southerly end of the county of Hudson, extending from the canal. and covering the land from bay to bay and ending at the Kill von Kull. The signification of the word naming the locality is Bay-on, or on the bay. The city is named by reason of its touching the borders and being on the shores of two bays, Newark and New York. Early designations in the region are of a ' of the third person of the Trinity." 2

purely and definitely Holland origin. Any close ! student readily picks up a name as from that source, because it has its characteristics. Within the Holland mind it would be next to sacrilege to name a locality Corpus Christi. The earth is God's footstool, according to a prevalent idea permeating a Holland mind, and recourse to any Scriptural name is beyond the bounds of propriety. Accordingly, the Hollander, where he has settled, names no locality Bethlehem, Jericho or Jerusalem. lle thinks it is alienating to common purposes that which has been appropriated to sacred uses.

The word Kill has the sense of flow or stream, and Kill von Kull is the stream running from Arthur Kull Bay. Figuratively-or, better to say, literally the expression designates a flow from a faucet. The crookedest stream to be seen to-day in the county is called Croma Kill, Crom signifying crooked. Kill is an affix to a number of local names, as found in the words Cresskill, Fishkill, etc., designating localities settled by the Hollanders. The word Neck, ap- plied to places and the word Point were in fre- quent use when the early settlers affixed names, and within the boundaries of Bayonne both the ancient Bergen Neck and Bergen Point are included. Bergen Neck, as the limits of a congregation, was described in 182x " as a most beautiful district of country, hardly two miles in its average width, about four or five miles in length, having Newark Bay on the west, the Kill von Kull on the south, New York Bay on the east and Bergen on the north." Subsequently the area was abridged to achinit a Bergen Point congrega- tion.

In the carly times, going to continental days, it was customary to contribute pieces of wampum ' when the deacons moved along the aisle or among the congre- gation to gather the collection. An early desire was here for a stated ministry. The services by the pastor began at the church before he stopped into the pulpit,

with a solemn and silent invocation. As Dr. Taylor, in his annals, describes it : "The moment the minister arrived at the pulpit-stairs his private devotional prayer was offered, as he held his bat before his face seeking the presence of the Master of the house ere he ascended the sacred desk." Or, as another portrays the custom : " With nimble step he advances up the aisle, bowing to right and left, and pausing a moment at the bottom step of the pulpit. he reverently holdls his hat before his eyes and offers prayer. He has been tanght to seek the supporting arm of God, knowing that if it be withdrawn, his strength withers and his spiritual faculties decay. The assistance of the Holy Spirit is craved with a devout reverence. As the body is unable to perform its functions unless constantly supplied with the breath of life, so does the soul constantly require the vivifying inspiration

Means were sought to build up a spiritual house- bold in those days,-a temple not made alone by the material hand, but one quickened by the spirit of God. There is not an instance cited in the New Tes- tament of a church edifice, nor can it be said with assurance that Christians of that day set apart places for public worship. A group of worshipers gathered in a house consecrated to divine service must ever be conducive to social advantage ; yet external re- ligion may be said everywhere to vary in some meas- ure from internal. The mere exhibition of a church assures us of a Christian idea. The pausing on the first step by the early pastor has its significant bear- ing, however, as it assures all that the present race of man will never be essentially better than their heathen predecessors so long as they rest satisfied with having only outwardly embraced the religion of the Messiah.

The Hollander had his peculiarities, his impressive ways. 'Tis well known that the humorous writer he led to an exuberant fame could never have found a more substantial race to suggest ideas to their fancy. When he took umbrage at an incident, the Hol- lander's ire flashed forth in "dunder und blitzen."* Hle hardly thought it worth while to blaspheme. Shafts from ironical writers do not touch him when they are prone to make merry with hissuperstition. The taci- turn, contemplative mood he so often falls in attracts the more general notice and gets the pencil of the graphic artist. Caricature him as much as you may, there is still lurking about the scene a sterling quality that will show a redeeming feature. Hardly does the whimsical writer, whose mission was to amuse, reach his concluding chapter before he discovers a heart-

2 Rev. G. S. Faber, D.D. New York : Eastburn, Kirk & d'o., 181.1. 3 Remembering well, when a lad, how he viewel an attack upon his cherry-trees, grafted with the cholcest aciones. Happily for the urchin in this instance, a wasp visited the eyebrow of the irritated veteran, as he was hunting for a rod of correction. This diversion served as a counter-movement, and the offending youngster merely heard the pre- liminary roar without getting the shock of a castigatlon.

1 Annals of the Classis of Bergen, second edition, page 115.

1231

CITY OF BAYONNE.

felt wish to have his lucubrations considered as more invitations to further research '

A sea-shell found on a mountain-top is as eloquent as an evangelist in preaching of the ingratitude of a world that caused a deluge. The plow of the pioneer is as potent in declaring a surrender by the emissaries of savage life, leading the mind by its accompani- ments to all the innovations characterizing a new colony. One's notions are stirred at a glance, and straightway we begin to analyze and put forth the details so lively in demonstrating the march of im- provement. The same brilliant temper, ready to blaze away at an irritating invasion, took a myriad of paths in varying the local scenes upon this stage of action.

The wigwam erused to be, and soon one observes the houses provided with large doors and small win- dows. The family entered in at the gate and generally lived in the kitchen. Members of the household during the summer rose with the dawn, ate their dinners at eleven and went to bed at sunset. The front door leading into the parlor was rarely opened, except on marriages, funerals, New Year's day, the festival of Saint Nicholas or some such great occasion.

To some extent isolated from the metropolis, the early residents here pursued with diligence their rural labors. altogether oblivious to any thoughts of speech- lating in city lots. There was simplicity at the dwellings of the yeomanry ; the current of life ran evenly at the fireside. The whole family, old and young, master and servant. black and white, nay, even the very cat and dog, enjoyed a rustic community of privilege. The fire-places were of a truly patriarchal magnitude. There sat the venerable Rergener, silently puffing his pipe, looking into the fire with halt-shut eyes, meditating for hours together ; the good Vrouw, on the opposite side, would employ the time in -pin- ning yarn or knitting stockings. The young folks would crowd around the hearth, listening with eager attention to an old crone of a negro, the oracle of the household, perched like a raven in the chimney-cor- ner, croaking forth a string of incredible stories about New England witches, grizzly ghosts, hair-breadth escapes and bloody encounters among the Indians.

"l'is easy to contemplate similar scenes of simplicity and comfort, the sociable and busy aspects so vivid in the years gone by. There were the receptions given the thoroughly tutored dominie, when the best room was opened and the sumptuous meal prepared. And then the urchins said their catechism, and there were comments and courtesies exchanged, accompanied by the choicest good cheer. Behold the gardens! how they glow with the rich products of autumn, the golden pumpkin and the green-tinted cabbage! Sie the lad and his team coming from the mill with the grist carefully ground ! hear the blast of the dinner-

horn calling the men from the field! Again notice the feathered race,-the lucks, the cackling geese, the turkeys, guinea-hens, with chanticleer and his retinue sauntering around him. Hear the lowing of the sleek cattle browsing in the meadow - or cooling their sides at the edges of the kills or along the shores of the bay ! Fancy the ring of the harvest blades, the thwack of the flail upon the Hoor of the open barn ! Hear the whistle of Sambo in the corn-field, or his merry ditty, as, with axe on his shoulder he hies to the woods! "Yes " hints a graph " author, " the quilt- ing-parties and the frolies and suppers that followed, and the sparking of the young folks when the old folks had retired." These winter evening chats, to, about the ample fire-place, "where half a |modern) cord of wood blazed mt its wondrous comfort." AH these things traverse along the avenues of fancy as hints of what were. How varied is the position of to- day Irom that of those who first came to this field of labor !

On the opening of the court-house, among other remark- in the address of Chief Justice Hornblower, are noticed what he says about the old town and its early homes. "I remember," he says, " when it had very few inhabitants except old-fashionel, honest Dutchmen, and very few houses except those not built for show, but for domestic comfort and convenience, -- long, low and unpretending in appearance, but dura- ble in materials," He makes referener as well to an- other feature when speaking of their " two or three hospitable doors, into which the friend and stranger might enter and find a welcome." Dr. Taylor in- timates that the acquaintance with strangers could not be said to be eagerly sought. When such ae- quaintance was formed and appreciated, however, it was not easily terminated.

Early Pursuits .- In their quiet way, the inhabit- ants are said to have followed their callings, princi- pally in agriculture. Shad fisheries and the oyster- grounds furnished fields for busy enterprise and a profitable employment. By an act of the State Legis- lature, passed April 20, 1576, authority was given the pilot commissioners to prescribe regulations as to the placing of fishing-poles and for determining what would become an impediment to navigation.

Extreme Cold .- From the sith to the 30th of January, 1792, both inclusive, for twenty-five days, the temperature kept about or below the freezing- point ; the lowest was two degrees above zero.

From the 15th to the 24th of January, Isto, there was a cold term. Temperature Thursday, 18th, at 2 P. M., forty degrees above zero; next morning, sun- rise. at zero, -a fall rarely noted within a range of nineteen hours. The 19th was known as the " cold Friday." Many trees were killed.

From the 11th to the 27th of January, 1821, a cold term prevailed. The lowest temperature was below zero. On the 26th many persons crossed on the ice from New York. The ice embargo on

1 Wwwhington Irving's " Knickerbocker ' The author's apilogy, page 12 " If it has taken an unwarrantable liberty with our rarly provincial history, it Ine at least turned attention to that history and pre rocked re- search '

1232

HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

vessels continued till the 30th. During this sharp spell a half-way house (it may be, " a sample-room ") was started for the accommodation of travelers cross- ing on the ice. Historian Winfield, in quoting a newspaper of January 30th, that year, says: " 1 ' drouthy crony' going from Jersey City for a glass broke through the ice. A wag standing at the door of the saloon said to the proprietor, 'Sir, there has a man just slipped down cellar ; you had better look after him, or your liquors will be in danger.'" Ae- counts are given of a protracted eold term in 1780 that continued for a month. Sleighs were driven over the ive from Bergen to New York. At that time the hill from Fort Lee to Bergen Point, except what had been cleared for the farms, was covered with a fine growth of thrifty timber. A great want of fuel existed in the city, and wood commanded a high price,1

Cholera .- This scourge visited Bergen Neck with singular virulence in 1849. Among the deaths were Catherine J. Corrigan, Edwin Corrigan, Eliza Cubberly, Ellen Vreeland, Richard Crips (aged 20), Michael McDonald (aged 21), Abraham Van Bos- kirck (aged 82), William Pennington (aged 9).

The numerous deaths in this region all occurred within a belt of land running from New York to Newark Hay, not half a mile in width. It was the ventre of disease also in 1832. No local cause can be assigned why it was so. Some who were very severely attacked recovered .? Deaths reported in New York City of the same discase for the week closing August 4th, were six hundred and seventy-eight.

strong, and the floating ice forced by the rapid eur- rent, at particular tides, eomes rusbing and rumbling, occasionally emitting sounds and tones like those heard at Niagara." 3

The choicest localities were selected years ago for pleasant abodes. Especial preference was given to the north side of the highway leading along the banks of the Kill von Kull. Here was likewise an edifice originally designed for a lecture-hall, and dur- ing many years serving as a school-room. It was just east of the residence of the late Sheriff Garret- son. The expressive name of the district is very sig- nificant of agrecable remembrances. An epistle now before the writer of these chronicles, written at Lawrenceburg, Ind., by one of the teachers once here, says, "And I am this beautiful May morning almost lost in thought. I fancy myself in the ' Good Stay' school-room, where I passed many very pleasant and profitable hours." The writer portrays the May- walk and the picnic; he refers to the best choir and choice melodies, to travels among "the vineyards and wine-makers in America ;" and still there are happy recollections lingering of the Good Stay district. Nor is he by any means solitary in similar pleasura- ble remembrances, the writer having heard a number of the preceptors, whose experience occurred here. join heartily in corresponding retrospection At this hall convened for several seasons the Bergen Point Lyceum, an institution organized to promote mutual instruction among its members, the ordinary exercises consisting of debates and lectures.

The elements of sociability joined in rendering their contributions to the rounds of amusement and pleasure. A straw-ride and a sleigh-ride were among the seasonable diversions. The corn-husking party was as apt to have its agreeable features as the more

The epidemie continuing, caused no little conster- nation among the inhabitants. The newspaper be- fore quoted, at a subsequent date, announced, "the twenty-third death by cholera within the compass of a third of a mile, and the forty-third within a mile and a quarter." Compared with the population of ceremonious sociable. To the singing-class-a legiti- those places, the mortality here exceeded the melan- choly statisties of St. Louis or Sandusky.

mate successor to "ye ancient tuition in psalmody"- were united all the modern fascinations of the soirée. The occasional concert here won its notice and dif- fused its pleasurable impressions. In fact, here, as elsewhere, came forth the magical powers of the times. To be locally precise, at one period it may be said these elements were centralized at the Latourette House in the summer and more extensively scattered among the private dwellings during the winter. There were throughout the year constantly recurring forms of novelty in the phases of diversion and entertainment. No excursion, whether aquatic or over the land, seemed to lack features of pleasing diversion. Any gathering, conventional or convivial, gave evidence of animated sentiment. An examination and festival took place at the school-house April 13, 1854, chroni- cled at the time as a very pleasant affair.

Bergen Point .- This locality is favored with a commanding view of the New York Bay, Newark Bay and of the northerly side of Staten Island. So wrote a chronicler thirty years ago; and, continuing, added : "That beautiful island, which is also an out- let for the crowds of the great metropolis, whose daily business being over, they seek their homes amid the shaded hill-slopes of romantic Richmond, a county full of interesting reminiscences. Excursions are fre- quent during the summer season around Staten Island, in steamers with barges, passing through the Kill von Kull. Bands of music attend these tourists. The vessels are sumptuously decorated with flags and banners, and residents of the Point are much en- livened by these gala-day scenes. Even in midwinter here. when the ice is plentiful, the locality has attrac- It is suggestive and pleasant to know that modern tions. The currents running from the bay are often | history takes a course in a great degree varied from

1 Winhell's "Huden County, ' pp. 166-166.

" The Cheaten Intelligenter, Ang 9, 1214.

" There is a distinct sound in the wintry air chaly akin to that heard near the great cataract.

L T

Dr Oliver

1233

CITY OF BAYONNE

that of other times, and it is more dispose I to describe processes by which communities have been rendered happy than in commemorating startling alarms and tragic deeds. A history class at the local institut . may be registered here,~

John J. Itralley

I M Simenon

Willkomm A Burdett

A. F .. Burdett.

Wir Dutcher

George ( . Tuyhr

sophi Enyard

Harman Karr Atomn.

" A. Melick

Harriet A Trembly

,1 11 Parm!v

Ennon ! Story

Winfiell Poillust

Auta 6. Parmily

lulin S. Fargin

4 D. Mch & Jr Sarah : Want. r.

& 11. Rerd.

Civil Organization. Compared with present reg ulations, now governing five wards, it interests the reader to observe modes of official action in force nearly three decades ago. At the annual town-meet ing in the spring of 1855 it was decided to hold the spring and fall elections at the hotel of Egbert Wal- ters, to elect three constables only, and to raise for support of schools three thousand three hundred dol- I nounced that year three districts with schools well- lars, for repairs of roads five hundred dollar .. and for the poor three hundred dollars. Officials chosen that spring :

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 135

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 830

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830