History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 153

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 153
USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 153

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2 " lhistory of Hudson County " (Winfield). New York. 1874, pago

1 By Bon. Anthony H Ryder.

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meeting, and the movements of the principals werereg- | these various stand-points yold Years ago says one : ulated by the stipulations agreed upon by the seconds. "" Here we are at the top of the hill! What a charin- The duel attracting most attention here was that of ing view of the great city, the river, the bay, the Hamilton and Burr, on the morning of July 11, 1804. steamers and other water-craft ! Look around us ; here is the Mountain Pavilion , yonder i- the seat of Mr. King; in front of us are the woody hills!" Each man was an eminent chief within his circle ; differences had arisen, and controversy led to this contest. When narrating the details of this summer tragedy one of our chronicler, says, " Judge Pendleton then explained to the parties the rules which were to govern them in firing." Upon the first discharge at this duel the ball from the pistol of C'ol. Burr frac- tured a rib and entered the body of tien. Hamilton, who fell, his second springing forward and lifting him to a sitting posture. Burr afterwards retired to the shore, entered his barge and returned to the city. Hamilton was conveyed to his boat ; he lingered till two o'clock the next afternoon. The following are sev- eral names of parties engaged in duels here, prenn-ing that Aaron Burr's first duel was fought with John B. Church on this ground Monday, Sept. 2, 1799: Henry Aitkin, Mr. Barton, De Witt ( 'linton, George .f. Eacker, Maj. Green, William (. Graham, Isaac Gouverneur, Philip Hamilton. Capt. Heath, John Langstaff, Wil- liam H. Maxwell, Oliver II. Perry, Benjamin Price Richard Riker, Thomas Sherman, John Swart wort, Robert Swartwort, Oliver Waldron.

Principles were grafted upon our judicial system putting aside this custom. Stout constables were stationed to frustrate anything like a duel, and men began to see clearly that there was really not so much valor in these pistol-shots after all. In fact, two of the parties on the above list, Aitken and Sherman, who came to the ground, Det. 19, 1835, to test their skill at a duel, were interrupted in the midst of the preliminaries. Squire Paradise a county official, took cognizance of their manouvres, and submitted them and their proceedings to the good graces of the grand jury. The inquisition held in November, 1504, had indieted Burr, charging that duelist with the crime of murder, and this indictment semained till November, 1×07, when at the instance of ('ol. Ogden it was quashed. In June and July of the latter year Burr underwent a trial for treason at Richmond, Va.

Scenery. Picturesque views are plentiful. Early and late chronicles refer to Castle Point as presenting many fascinations. The domain, with its ombowered and elevated outlook, awakens admiration at many prominences. When alluding to Highwood, the county's historian says : "From this height still opens as fair, as varied, a- beautiful a scene as mortal could wish to behold." No one appeciating rural surroundings and having a taste for scenery could pass unherdingly these groves, tall bluff- and rugged cliffs. The faet that poets and painters have been busy since the earliest periods of our history in portraying this scenery lead- the readers here to conclude as to a general estimation in which it is held. Excursionists enlivened by exertion are apt to become animated in the presence of an alluring prospect so pleasant as

The spacious pavilion at one period was chosen as a resilence for the late Daniel Webster, it being then owned by the late Judge Price. Mr. Webster made arrangements to assume a position here, but other en- gagements called him to another locality. About the year 1-55 the dwelling was the home of the late James Gregory. Adjoining was the abole to the west of the pavilion for years of Expire John Ehlers. A white Italian marble headstone, to the north of the southerly avenue within Grove Cemetery, bear thi inscription : " In memory of John Ehlen, of War hawken Heights, born April 13, 1791 Died Aug 29, 1874." The pavilion, in the occupancy of Mr. Greg- ory and the mansion of Mr. Ehlers, as these proprie- tors died, became the property of others, who made here extensive alterations. A considerable degree of the early scenery is retained, however, in many parts of the present township. This scenery is amply ap- preciated, and tourists carry with them over the globe delightful recollections of it. Many who have left this region, on recurring to these scenes when in dis- tant portions of the world, have discovered that they bear a fair comparison with localties holding what are noted as the choicest prospects, A resident of Weehawken in visiting, years ago, a prominent gallery in Europe, derived great pleasure in recognizing among it- most valued pictures one of the familiar scenes often observed by him when at home.

Elysian Fields. " There, gentlemen," remarked an excursionist with a party on the road to Weehaw- ken Heights; ) " there on our right are the far-famed Elysian Fields and the long walk overhung with vines and trees. Just there on the river, among some tall trees, is a place called Turtle Grove, memorable a- a spot where, twenty years ago, certain aldermen and other great geniuses from the city manufactured their turtle soup, and invited their chums to come and par- take freely. Here punch and politics flowed in profu- sion, and jokes were adapte I to the capacities of the recipients. Dignity was laid aside for the noner. while great men sang and smoked and slandered just like common men " The same julnlant excursion- ist, in May, 1546, refers to long walks and long talk « of the "long ago." He allades to pleasant recoller tions of chowder-parties, of clam-bakes, of fishing- parties and shind foarte, identifying these gatherings with " the never-to-be-forgotten enjoyment- that stan 1 forth like green islands on the desert of business life."

As early as 1510 many parties doing business in New York selected this vicinity as a place of resi

1 June, 1-10

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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

dence, and the great park and picnie-ground on this side of the river is to some extent shorn of its former ample area. A shady retreat on the shore side-walk. Sybil's Cave, a grassy lawn, however, are still here, and yet yielding exuberant facilities for affording recreation of the purest and healthiest kind.

Yacht Club .- The club-house at the Elysian Fields has had its attractions many years. In organizing, the New York Yacht Club followed an act approved Aug. 7, 1848, entitled " An act to authorize the sec- retary of the treasury to license yachts, etc." Their rules and regulations, printed in 1852, define the starting-point when sailing for prizes to be " from the anchorage at the Elysian Fields." The yachts of this club in 1852 numbered twelve:

Alpha, Morris owner, Arab. Emmet owner; Ariel, Grinnel owner ; Breeze, Coles owner ; Cornelia, Edgar owner ; Dream, Hall owner; Ianthe, C'adwalader owner ; Maria, Stevens owner ; Spray, Wilkes owner ; Sport, Ferris owner ; Ultra, Miller owner ; Una, Waterbury owner.

The lightest of these was a schooner of eighteen tons, the "Arab ; " the heaviest was a sloop of one hundred and seventy tons, the "Maria." The club consisted of ten honorary and about two hundred regular members. Its regatta committee were Anson Livingston, Robert O. Colt and W. Holley Hudson. Squadron Officers . Commodore, John C. Stevens ; Vice-Commodore, Hamilton Wilkes; Corresponding Secretary, John C. Jay ; Recording Secretary, G. R. .I. Bowdoin ; Treasurer, William Edgar.

Early Chronicles .- A night attack, Feb. 25, 1643, by the whites upon the Indians, followed by depreda- tions, put the entire region encompassing this locality into a deplorable situation. Solitary plantations were in jeopardy, menaced day and night by the up- raised tomahawk of the savage. The war-cry was furious near the Raritan, about the Hackensack and along the west shore of the Iludson. Homes were abandoned and refuge was sought in the city. Years elapsed ere the security so needful for profitable in- dustry was vouchsafed to this vicinity. A dozen years, in fact, elapsed before much encouragement seemed to lead adventurers in this direction. although earnest efforts and a spirit of rivalry were here, as elsewhere, predominant in gaining possession of the more desirable plantations.

Scattering items have been noted in gleaning facts for the early chronicles of this locality, and a few obscure narratives bear upon existing fragments of the race at one time tarrying here. Little that is lucid and less that is entertaining were amongst the revela- tions. The race might have continued here one thou- sand years longer, and never, perhaps, thought of "making hay while the sun shines." Out of the three hundred words given us, not one names granary or barn. One designation applies as well to basket as to bag, and this is nutae. The minerals at Castle Point contributed to the Indiana' wants in the making of

smoking-pipes.1 Their dishes, which were of wood, were made with crooked knives; constructive skill, however, had the narrowest range amongst these people. A uniform disposition to deal fairly with these sons of the wilderness led Governor Stuyvesant, whom they styled the Great Doer of Justice, to com- pensate them for their land and accept a decd, dated Jan, 15, 1658. This conveyance transfers the territory early comprised in the township of Bergen, beginning, according to the indenture, "by the great rock above Wiehacken," then taking the sweep of what was west of the Hudson and east of the Hackensack Rivers, extending down to the Kill von Kull.

All these lords of the soil, representing the Six Na- tions, inade their marks in presence of witnesses, inter- preters and of Wharimes Van Couwe, formerly an owner of the lands aforesaid : Bomokan, Koghkenningh, Mem- irvokan, Seghkow, Wawapehack, Wewenatokwee.

In the year IGGI the inhabitants were notified to have their lands surveyed and to take out patents. the current of events leading to something like permanent settlement. Active husbandmen directed their atten- tion to improvements. This vicinity bore a share of the burden, whatever that might be, in making up the evidences of gennine advancement. This was one of nine distriets into which the extensive township of Bergen had to pareel out the labor in keeping the roads in repair. As early as June 3, 1718, a road was laid from the vicinity of the Kroma Kill to the

Weehawken Ferry .- This convenience for the transportation of passengers, cattle, horses and coun- try produce existed here for nearly a century and a half, starting anterior to the year 1700. Quite a number of the senior inhabitants of the northerly por- tion of Hudson County retain recollections of this ferry, though more than fifty years have elapsed since it ceased operations. The ferry-house was occupied at one period by Crines Bartolf, at another by Lucas Van Boskerek. The latter removed subsequently to Iloboken. There was no slip at the river-side, but a little doek extended into the stream, at which the boat, a periauger, landed. One of the early residents of Secaucus, at the time a lad, remembers this ferry distinctly, and the fact that a road leaving the turn- pike near the Mountain House led down the hill to this ferry. He was in the habit of resorting to this route when sending garden-truck to the city market. A yoke of oxen attached to a wagon loaded with full baskets was driven to the landing, and the baskets were conveyed to the city, the lad's mother having charge of the market sales, as was the fashion in those days. The ferry-house, at one time owned by Daniel Smith, passed into other hands. A spirit of rivalry induced the running of two ferries here. a " new " and "old" ferry. The Bergen Turnpike Company con-

1 The pipe je made of a soft stone ; the bowl, Into which the tobacco is put, ie circular, and at the bottom it is flat and much broader. The pipe is frequently carved in a curious manner ; the stem is of wood, auch ux has a sınall pithi." -- Harmon's "Account of the Indians, " page 376.

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structed its roadway from Hoboken to Hackensack in held to service suffered no lack of appreciation and 1804, lines of stages were running to Hoboken, and much travel formerly resorting to the old perianger ferry took the other route; so this ferry, after efforts to compete with steam were seen to be unprofitable, was discontinued.

Residents .- Conspicuously among the carly inhal- itants of this locality was Capt. Deas, whose cosy home at Dens' Point, was pleasantly located upon a knoll or elevation near the river. James Deus was a native of Scotland, a sea-captain. His wife was Nie Suzan Ludlow, of Rahway. Mr. Deas, whose soll 19 now living at the age of eighty -four, died when this son was about ten years old. His remains were con- signed to a vault at the Wall Street Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member. Mr. Frnezer Deas, now residing east side of the Bergenwood road. near the fireve Church, is still hearty and vigorous. and retains distinct recollections of events here in the curly part of the current century. The farm here of his father was tilled, producing, with the usual garden fruits and vegetables, buckwheat, corn and rye. In his early days he often took a load of grain to the Secaucus grist-mill. He has recollection of a san - mill where white cedar was saved in considerable quantities for tubs and pails. That saw -mill was created by Gammel Ordway. A circumstance con- nected with this enterprise is mentioned by Mr. Deas. "One morning more than sixty years ago," saidh . "my mother called attention to a raft on the river ap- proaching the shore. It was Ordway, who had come down the river fetching with him materials for a saw - mill. He explored the neighborhood, and discovered water sufficient for his purpose in the brook a little below our place ; he built a dam and put up the mill on Edward Earle's land." This is the brook where, in the history by Winfield, it is noted that Nicholas Bayard had a mill at an carly day.

Edward Earle, a bachelor, living with his mother, who attained the age of ninety-seven, had a dwelling on the hill near the earlier home of James F. Gard- ner. The house, two stories, with large garret and a kitchen adjoining, fronted the south. In the door- yard was a well. thirty feet deep, with the locket attached to an old-style sweep. In the kitchen was the broad fire-place, with oven near by, and the ancient adjustments, -the fashion of those times. A barn, with hovel and barrack, a large pear-tree and rural shrubbery, added to the cartilage Large orchards were near this domi ile, yielding excellent o seuted the Fifth District of this State in the Thirty - fruit, and the woods in the distance had in the warnt reason a dense foliage. Two roads, one leading west and the other south, were near this house. Attached to this household were four bond-people, the law at the date to which our notice is given permitting persons of African descent to be hell as heir- looms in a family. In many cases at the period mentioned persons this connected with a plantation in a variety of ways gained mutual benefits. Those

entertained no want of a comfortable abiding-place ; in return there were labors performed and frequently interest shown in the domestic welfare. The system, for all that, was repugnant to the principles eine] by the founders of our independent institutions. and has been happily since set a lrift. These slaves were called Pompey, Hannah, Ben, and Pompey (the younger

Old Pomp was a hard case, and gave his master no small degree of annoyance He ultimately hit. Hanmah was transferred to another branch of the sune Earle family at Secaucus, by whom she was sold to Henry Day, who afterwards hold her to one Kingsland, a farmer at Barbados Neck, not far from Belleville. Ben died about the year 1-1, and the younger Pompey, like the great prototype of that name, got to be artful and intriguing, and run away from his master in his eighteenth year. Thu father of Edward, the proprietor bere, was named Robert Earle, whose widow at her death lett foor children, one daughter, Polly, wife of James F. Garder, and three sons, Edward, Philip and Job. The real estate here was sulne quently sold to James l. King who, with James Brown, both banker, in New York l'its, became extensively interested in the landet property and riparian interests within this township.

Mr. King, the third son of Rufus King was born in 1791. His father was a member of the convention that framed the United States Constitution, and was delegated by Washington minister to the court of St. James, acting there as representative of the republic till the second year of Jefferson's administration. He died on Long Island. April 20, 1527, aged seventy-two, James fiore King was educated in England, and entered business at Liverpool, in 1813, as one of the firm of King & Gracie. His wife was a daughter of Vrebi- bald Gracie and a sister of his busines co-partner. About the year 1828 he joined in forming the Hotel firm of Prime, Ward & King, a house that became prominent in commercial circles. At the closing up of that establishment, after the demise of the elder Mr. Prime and Samuel Ward Sr, Mr. King, with his son and son-in-law, started the banking-house of James ti. King & Sons. He noted at one period as president of the New York and Eric Railroad Company and evinced a zeal in many enterprises designed in promote internal improvements. His home here had choice comforts and attractions. Mr. King repres first Congress, beginning March 4. 1549 Jus predecessor was D. S Gregory. Mr. King's brother, John . A., WHs IL Representative in Congress from the District of New York the same term, the close of which was March 3, 1851. Mr King was a genial, eminently practical and considerate citizen, calculating to make proml- But whatever enterprise enlisted his notice. In the campaign of 1552, when Gen. Scott was a Presiden- tial candidate, that old hero received many a compli-

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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

ment from Mr. King. At a meeting at the Three Pige ms, in New Durham, Mr. King delivered a speech very cordially indorsing that veteran for the office. The succeeding October had not closed, and this estimable resident was no more. His death happened suddenly from an asthmatic attack, to which he was subject, having reached his sixty-second year. Ilis widow, four daughters and three sons survived him. The widow died a few years since at the family resi- dence here, Highwood.

James Brown joined Mr. King, investing largely in the woody regions of Weehawken. The charm- ing residence he built and adorned here, called Cliffton, won notice for a considerable period, its occupants investing it with all those incidents one takes pleasure in recollecting. Mr. Brown was benevolent in a great many cheering seuses of that much abused word, and traced a career in an eminent degree animating to one's notier. He was born Feb. 4, 1791, came to this country when a lad, his father, Alexander Brown, settling in Baltimore about the year 1800, and begin- ning, about ten years after. a business there, the tirm style being Alexander Brown & Sons. The father had, it appears, four sons, -William, George, John .A. and James. John P. Kennedy, the fascinating anthor of " Swallow Barn" and other American classics. in an autobiography quoted by Tuckerman,' refers to these "hoys" by name. They, or as he remem- bers distinctly, John, James, and George,-he is not so sure about William-were school-fellows of Ken- nely. He was there upon his preliminary studies at Priestly's school, which was in the best repute in those days. Priestly gave up his Baltimore academy about the year 1808. Kennedy alludes to the sons of Alexander Brown-John, James and George-as "the principal bankers of the United States and Liverpool." James, after a few years' residence in Philadelphia, settled in New York in 1825. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce Sept. 4, 1827, and upon the retiracy, in 1838, of John A., he became the head of Brown Brothers, remaining so till the time of his death, Nov. 1, 1877. That commercial establishment under his regulations moved with a financial force signally efficient and serviceable all over the globe. With such a span of mercantile conceptions, it may readily be inferred that Mr. Brown's perceptions were not at all shortened when he turned his attention to other than business purposes. He had many methods of fostering utility, the evidences of which are traced in this vicinity, while the cirenit of his munificent charities commends itself to all who would be generous. Mr. Brown, not only during his residence here, made many contri- butions to various objects, but he has bequeathed by lus will liberal sums to promote beneficent purposes .?

! The " Life of John Pendleton Kennoly." By Henry T. Tin kerman. New York Putman & Sons, 1x71, p ...

? His will enumerates a gift of four thousand dollars to the Grove Church, the Income of which is to be applied to neodful remmirs.

Mr. Brown left a widow (his second wife) and two sons, George H. and John C. His children by the first wife surviving him were Sarah B., widow of Alex- ander Brown; Mary Louisa, wife of Howard Potter ; and Margaretta H., widow of James C. Lord. A con- siderable portion of the land, now in use by the West Shore Railroad Company, on the river margin, per- tained to this estate. The ferry charter procured by Mr. Brown in 1871 was transferred to this company.

References are made by early residents to the Ludlow house, at the old ferry site, and by others to the Mountain House,-persons whostyled these dwellings their early homes. At the side of the Hill road in days long ago the William Tell House is re- membered. Tourists in years past remember these, yet more abiding recollections are with those who connect with these buildings those associations that make their lasting impressions. Who does not go back freely and fondly to the early home? Quite likely, ideas of this sort recur at times to those who, in years gone by, spent many a spring-tide hour amidst the busy scenes along the Weehawken shore, amongst whom are numbered now Ebenezer Deas, Thomas Gardner, Andrew Kennedy, John A. Ludlow, Baker B. Smith, David Van Zile, or will occur to the enterprising fishermen who were busy here during the annual fishing season,-Ran- dolph Clayton, John R. Johnson, Charles Ludlow, James Ludlow, Samuel Ludlow, Edward Van Zile Certain it is that much referring to fishing matters at Weehawken may be gleaned from these energetic followers of a renowned pursuit. Capt. John Ludlow has been for many years " at home" in these particu- lars. Year and year again, as the season came round, his recollections were chronicled by the city reporters. The "first shad" came to his net, and still the veteran is standing a sentinel at the very post he occupied half a century ago, ready to herald the arrival of the first shad as the next season comes round. " Inele John," as he is familiarly called, is the local umpire, by a sort of conventional agreement, in matters per- taining to this business. His "fathers before him," he asserts, were busily employed here, and his sons and brothers still thrive at the calling. The shore here, as elsewhere, met notice as it refers to where the tide ebbs and flows and to the rights of the State to its lands under water, old residents here and there taking considerable interest in this matter.

In his "Geological History," published by subscrip- tion in 1843, Issachar Cozzens, Jr., librarian of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, refers to a noted resort for mineralogists. He refers to ('astle Point, " as you go north from the ferry wharf, to that delightful walk, the Elysian Fields." That author is describing the mineral serpentine found here as a different kind from any seen in other localities. It contains, he says, a larger portion of magnesia than common; it is of a light-green color with variations, having carbonate of magnesia run-

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WEEHAWKEN TOWN, HIL'

ning in veins through it, the hydrate of magnesis not 1 th, being -> [ lenty. There are s me veins he abis, of magnesia carbonate of line, "a kind of guth dit accompanying it, in which are seen the lydrate in small scale .. " A werk published by Con stock like- wise makes frequent reteremos to this locality Noted, then as it may be for a mineralo_t il features it is still for more an for it - liter al result isvoices The historian speaks of the Jth of September, Je when the " Halt-Moon." Hudson's yacht, came to anchor at the great river of the moont us. He rear- also to that ración để the time when the eyes of white men first ruled ujeme the green share of heyichbi, or New Jersey WVe ammiry n tarally suggests iself here as to whether the reen mineral of the green folgen marred to I'mon the return down the river, when an hofe in Wer- hawken Cave, just almost Castle Point, October . 2nd, same year, special mention is made by Just at "a cliff that looked of the color of white-green, ss though it were either a copper of silver I've."

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 153

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