History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 109

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 109
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 109

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).

In 1874, George W. Horton was appointed to the Quakertown charge. Ile remained three years. Dan- iel Halleran followed in 1877. Some of the points of interest under his ministry are thus noted :

" The church united.

" A blessed revival, 116 persons at the altar.

" The inception [and completiou] of a new church enterprise. Size of building 44 by 70 feet, with tower projection and pulpit recess, 78 feet."

May 16, 1878, the corner-stone was laid by Rev. R. S. Arndt, presiding elder.

In 1879, T. E. Gordon came, served one year, and was followed by Charles E. Walton, who has charge at present (1880).

THIE BAPTIST CHURCHI AT CHERRYVILLE .*

Previous to October, 1849, the Rev. Edwin R. Hera Iabored as a Baptist missionary in Cherryville and vicinity. On the 2d of that month a meeting of mem- bers of the Flemington, Kingwood, and Bethlehem Baptist Churches was called at Cherryville "for the purpose of considering the propriety of organizing a distinct Baptist Church at Cherryville." Resolutions favorable to the organization were passed.

In compliance with Baptist usage, a council of churches was called for Nov. 21, 1849, for the purpose of recognizing the new church. Delegates were pres- ent from the Baptist Churches of Flemington, Lam- bertville, and Kingwood. Rev. Joseph Wright, of Lambertville, was made moderator, and Rev. Levi G. Beck, of Flemington, clerk. After due deliberation, the church was recognized. The recognition services were: Sermon by Rev. John Davis, of Lambertville : text, Matt. xvi. 18; prayer by Rev. William Shrope, of Flemington ; hand of fellowship, Rev. L. G. Beck ; charge to the church, Rev. Joseph Wright. The new church consisted of 49 members,-39 from Fleming- ton, 9 from Kingwood, and 1 from Bethlehem. The house was built in 1850.

The first pastor was Rev. Edwin R. Hera, April 1,

1850, to July 1, 1853. His ministry seems to have been successful, as the church numbered 95 when he resigned. For one year the church was supplied with . preaching by different ministers, among whom for six months was Rev. William Shrope. A unanimous call having been extended to Rev. R. B. Stelle, he entered upon his work July 1, 1854. His was the longest pastorate since the organization of the church. It continued for more than ten years, or until Aug. 9, 1864, when death dissolved the connection. During his ministry 84 were added to the church.

The next pastor was Rev. William D. Hires, Nov. 6, 1864, to April 1, 1867. During this time 29 joined. Rev. William Humpstone took charge June 1, 1867, and remained until April 1, 1868; 20 were added, mostly by baptism.

For more than a year no mention is made of any pastor. From May, 1869, to March, 1871, Rev. E. S. Lear was in charge. March 4, 1871, Rev. Charles E. Young became pastor, and remained until his death, Aug. 24, 1876. During his pastorate 45 were added.

From October, 1876, to May, 1877, Rev. M. B. Laning preached as a supply, when, receiving a call, he became pastor, in which capacity he remains to the present time. During his ministry 21 have been added.

The total membership of the church during the thirty-one years of its existence has been 305. Many of these have moved away, some have died, and about 160 are now enrolled. The parsonage was bought in 1869. The church is almost free from debt.

BURIAL-PLACES.

The oldest place of public burial in the township is the Friends' burying-ground at Quakertown. Here repose the ashes of many of the earliest settlers. Un- fortunately, there was among Friends an early aver- sion to the erection of tombstones with commemora- tive inscriptions. The records of burials do not date back of 1761, hence it is impossible to give any ac- count of the earliest interments. The first burials re- corded are:

" A Memorial of the time of Death and Burial of Joseph King Senior, departed this Life the 10th Day ot the 12th Month, 1761, in the Seventy- eiglith year of his age."

"Our antient Friend Samuel Willson Died the Nineteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1761, and was Inter'd in Friends Burying-Ground at Kingwood the Twenty-Second Day of the Same Month, about the Eigh- tieth your of his nge."

" This onr nutient Friend Samuel Large Departed this Life at his House in Kingwood, the 9th Day of the 6th Month, 1765, and was de- cently Intered in Friends Burying-placo there."

The oldest stone marked and dated bears this in- scription :

"W. E. Ag 31 yrs 1752."

Among other old inscriptions are the following :

"P. G. Died Feb. 13th, 1791."

"Susanna Atkinson, died Oct. 24th, 1792, nged 35 years."

" Aaron Forman, M.D., died Jan. 11th, 1805, agod 60 years."

"In Memory of Ann, wife of Dr. Auron Forman, who departed this life December 13th, 1794."

"Jeremiah King, died July 2, 1829, in the 93d year of his age."

* Data kindly furnished by the pastor, Rev. M. B. Laning.

Hiram Deats

441

FRANKLIN.

" In memory of George Scott, who died April 12th, 1821, aged 78 years." " Morris Robeson."

" Elizabeth Robeson."

The next oldest burying-ground is the one opposite J. L. Nixon's, formerly known as Craven's. It was deeded to the Society of Friends by Daniel Doughty, son of Jacob Doughty, by conveyance bearing date Sept. 20, 1764. It is therein described as "the lot known as the grave yard," showing that it had pre- viously been used as a place of burial. It was then bounded north, south, and west by lands of Samuel McFerson. The eastern boundary was a line running in the middle of the Trenton road. The Friends, who still hold the deed for it, opened it to the public, making it, of course, free to all. Their object, it is said, was to prevent their own graveyard at Quaker- town from being crowded with the remains of those not in sympathy with their society. The oldest in- scription, rudely chiseled on a rough stone, reads thus:

" Samuel McFerson Sener was born April the 4 1709 and departed thì life September the 2d 1772. Aged 63."

Other inscriptions :

"Temperance Sutton departed this life April the 16 Day in the year of our Lord 1774."

"In memory of Mary Drake, daughter of Imla & Temperance Drake, who dopartod this life September 21st, 1794, aged 7 years and 5 menthis."

" In memory of Sarah Lair, wife of Wm. Lair, who departed this life January 15th, 1798, in the 421 year of her age."

" In memory of Elizabeth MeFerson, Consort of David McFerson, died December 4th, 1801, In the 58th year of her age."

"In memory of Joseph Stockton who died Dec. 27th, 1800, aged 68 years, 9 months and 2 days."

" In memory of Peter Teeple who departed this life November 29th, A.D. 1831, aged 85 years."

" In memory of Sarah, wife of Peter Teeple, who died April 14th, 1852, in the 98th year of her age."

There was once a colored people's ground in what is now J. L. Nixon's field, about 100 yards northwest of his house. It is said to have been the place of burial for the early slaves of this vicinity. People how living remember when two negroes belonging to HIugh Runyon, who lived at " Allen's Corner," were buried there. The stones are now torn out and the graves plowed over, leaving no trace of their last resting-place.

The ground at Cherryville was set apart for burial purposes in 1850. The first three interments were those of Jolin K. Everitt, died March 5, 1850; Ann Maria McPherson, died March 16, 1850; Hannah Maria Johnson, died April 6, 1850.

" The Locust Grove Cemetery" was incorporated in 1867. The original members were Henry S. Trim- mer, Sedgwick Little, Benjamin Egbert, Wm. M. Stryker, Elijah Hartpence, John B. Tomer, W'm. Large, John W. Welch, Joseph Everitt, and Abram Bennett. The first interment was that of William Haver's chikl; the second, that of Christiana, wife of Benjamin Botman.

In the edge of a wood in the southwest corner of David Burd's farm is a lone grave marked by a roughi stono bearing this inscription :

All memory of her seems to have been completely lost. The writer has tried in vain to find out who she was and the circumstances of ber burial.

INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.

The cultivation of the soil has always been the leading industry of Franklin. IIer soil, made fertile chiefly through the agency of lime, produces fine crops of all the grains and fruits common to this lati- tude. The peach-crop is rapidly growing in import- anec. In 1846 the first peach-orchard was planted by Joseph K. Potts, on the farm now owned by George and Jacob Race. The other pioneers of this industry were Thomas S. Potts and John Seett. The fruit was then carted to Easton. The business bas increased so rapidly during the last decade that it is now a leading industry.

Milling has been carried on from a very early day. The abundant water-power furnished by the Capoolon, the Lackatong, and the South Branch was not long suffered to run to waste. It is said that the first grist-mill was what was known in later years as the old fulling-mill at Pittstown. It was built by Ed- ward Rockhill before 1748. This was used as a grist- mill until after the Revolution. It is said to have been for a long time the only one withih a wide ex- tent of country. A new mill-that now owned by Charles Hann-was built by Moore Furman during the Revolution for." army purposes." Subsequently the old mill was used for fulling. Thomas Twining carried on the business at one time, and Samuel Grant in 1813.

Another grist-mill was built at a very early day by Joseph King, Sr., where Young's Mills now are. The new mill at that place was built in 1850 by Peter R. Young and Nathan Shurts, The factory-building was erected in 1845 or 18-16 by Peter R. Young, and the business of wool-carding and weaving was begun by Sheppard & Brother. It was closed in 1878.

Thomas Twining bought, at a sale of James Dil- worth's property, in 1785, the mill-site now known as King's. About two years later he built the old full- ing-mill, now used as a dwelling. The grist-mill was erceted in 1799 by the same man. In 1811, Joseph King bought the property of Twining, who removed to the State of New York. William L., son of Joseph King, built the okl oil-mill during the same year, and in 1812 commeneed to manufacture linseed oil. The first mill proving insufficient, in 1827 he built the one now in use.

The first mill at Little's (now Tomer's) was built hy Christy Little, date unknown. The new one, still in use, was built by John Little in or about 1815, after which the ohl one was for some time used as a distillery. The saw-mill, farther down the stream, was also first built by Christy Little. It was rebuilt about 1835 by Christy, Jr., a nephew. The stono building near by was built about 1818 by Christy and Oliver Little, for a fulling- and oil-mill.

"Sarah Yard, Died Apriel 12th, 1790, aged 42 years."

442

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

The old mill at Sidney is said to date back to the last century. In 1860 a new one was built by John M. Baldwin.

The saw-mill at Oak Grove was built in 1805 by Samuel Willson; the grist-mill in 1856 by Josiah Willson.

Hiram Deats began to manufacture plows near Quakertown in 1831, started a foundry for casting his plows in 1836, and added the casting of stoves in 1841. In 1852 the stove business was transferred to Stockton, N. J. In the same year he built the machine-shop at Pittstown, on the site of the old fulling-mill, using the same pond and tail-race, just as they were, perhaps, a hundred years before. In 1859 the foundry was built at Pittstown, and the entire business removed from Quakertown. In 1860, Mr. Deats began to manufacture reapers and mowers; in 1866 he formed a partnership with William J. Case, Rutsan Case, and his son, L. M. Deats, doing business under the firm- name of Deats, Case & Co. Later the firm was L. M. Deats & Co. For fifty years, up to April 1, 1881, Mr. Deats has been either sole proprietor or senior partner.

About a hundred years ago Daniel Potts and James Dilworth owned the land west of Cornelius Best's, and there operated a forge. Subsequently, Daniel Potts and his son William followed making scythes, just below the hill. The forge was about 100 yards south, on the other side of the Capoolon. As late as 1817 a large grain-distillery was in operation on the mill property at Pittstown. It was carried on by Benjamin Guild, who lived where William R. Smith now resides. Charles Hoff had a forge in front of the tavern at Pittstown before the Revolution, traces of which may still be seen.

The manufacture of hats was at one time extensively carried on at Quakertown and vicinity. Early in the present century Thomas Craven lived on the farm now occupied by J. L. Nixon. He built the old house by the road for a hat-shop, and carried on the business there. Henry Cliffton and William Cliffton also manufactured hats. John Spiby had a hat-shop on the lot now owned by Aaron Trimmer. He was fol- lowed by Lewis Batterson, who relinquished the busi- ness in 1843, and Spiby in 1848 moved to Ohio.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. The following documents explain themselves :

MANUMISSION } " I do hereby manumit & set free from Bondage my Negro Child Caty Allen.

CATY ALLEN. J

" Witness my hand & ceal this 18th day of Nov., A.D. 1805.

" LORANNA ALLEN."

"Received, December the Eighteenth, one thousand seven hundred & Ninety-Seven, of Henry Cliffton, in behalf of Mingo Whano, the sum of seventy-five pounds, proclamation money of the State of New Jersey, it being the full consideration for a certain Negro Woman named Christiana & her Child named Samuel Coates Whano, sold by me this Day to the Baid Mingo Whano & to his Heirs and assigns forever, recd. per me. "JACOB RACE, Junr."

Mingo Whano, thus having purchased his wife and

"her son," manumitted them in due form, as is wit- nessed by John Rockhill and Robert Emley, and re- corded by Henry Cliffton.

The following extract from an inventory of the personal estate of Dr. James Willson, taken March 15, 1777, shows that it was no trifling matter to set up housekeeping at that time :

£ s. d.

6 Buehela of Wheat in Beller.

2 5 0

134 barrels of Pork in seller. 10 10 0

1 Copper Cittle .. 6 10 0

1 frying pan.

14 0

1 grid Iron

7 6 0

11 mettle Spoons ..

5 0

1 Clock. 14

5 yde. of 12 Hundred Linnen ...

11 Coarse Sheats.

11 fine Sheats ... 16

5 0

1 pare of Smoothing Irons ..

568 1hs. of Bacon at 1s. 3d. per pound ..

0 0

" By Us,

" ROBERT LARGE,

" JOSEPH KING."

MILITARY.

Unfortunately, there are few records covering the period of the Revolution. Though never the scene of hostilities, Franklin, according to reliable tradi- tional authorities, was visited by detachments from both the British and the American armies. The British, it is said, were at one time encamped in the locust grove northwest of Quakertown. The officers were quartered in the house of John Allen, now he- longing to John Laing. It is also a tradition well established that a part of the American army was once encamped at Pittstown, where there was a gov- ernment store-house. This store-house is said to have been a barn on the farm now owned by Hiram Deats, who removed the building about twenty years ago. Tradition says that Washington visited this village when on his way from Morristown, and stopped for a short time in the old house that stood partly on the present site of the dwelling on the same farm.

Iu the Rebellion, Franklin bore her full share of the burdens. Co. D, Thirtieth Regiment, and the Hunterdon companies of the Thirty-first Regiment, contained many of her patriotic sons, while many others enlisted and served in the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, Fifteenth, Thirty-fourth, Thirty- fifth, Thirty-eighth, and other infantry regiments, in the Second Cavalry, with a few representatives in the artillery and naval service.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ASA McPHERSON.

Asa McPherson was born in Raritan township, Hunterdon Co., N.J., Feb. 2, 1798.

He was a son of Samuel and Betty (Polhemus) McPherson, and his grandfather was born in Scot- land, and immigrated to this country. Samuel was twice married, and had in all seven children, of whom

DANIEL LITTLE.

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FRANKLIN.

Asa was the first-born. Asa MePherson married Eliza Porter, of Clinton township, Hunterdon Co. They had seven children, three of whom died in childhood. Those living are Samuel, farmer, residing in the township of Alexandria; Amos, farmer and drover, of Franklin township; Theodore, farmer, re- siding in the same township; and Mary, wife of the late George Housel, of Flemington, N. J.

LITTL

ASA McPHERSON.

Asa McPherson was an active, enterprising business man of his township, and, as a drover and agricul- turist, accumulated a handsome competence. He was highly respected as a citizen, was an earnest and san- guine Republican, but in no sense an office-seeker. He was a member of the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church till his removal to Flemington, in 1866. He spent the last years of his life with his daughter in Flemington, departing this life Feb. 25, 1880, aged eighty-two years and twenty-three days.

Theodore Mel'herson, who occupies the old home- stend, near Cherryville, in Franklin township, was born on an adjacent farm, and removed here when about six years of age. He was brought up a farmer, and has made that his business through life. In 1866 he married Anna Stout, of Mount Salem, Union township, and has one son, Asa MePherson.

DANIEL LITTLE.

Daniel Little was born on the estate where he now resides, March 27, 1810. His grandfather, Thomas Little, purchased the homestead of the executors of Thomas Rockhill, the deed bearing date Dec. 4, 1749. After his death the executors conveyed the property

to John and Christy Little, sons of Thomas, in a deed bearing date Jan. 30, 1804.

Thomas Little married Esther Christy, a native of Ireland, and had six children, four sons and two daughters, all deceased. Ile died before the Revolu- tion.

Ilis son, Christy Little, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in a log house which stood upon the site of the present stone house on the Little estate. Ile served five years in the Revolutionary war as brigade teamster, entering the service at the age of fifteen and continuing till the close of the war. Re- turning home at the close of the war, he settled upon the farm, and married, Dec. 26, 1801, Rachel, daughter of Jacob and Joanna Cook. She was born Dee. 28, 1777, and died Feb. 10, 1859; he was born Sept. 11, 1761, and died Oct. 17, 1850. Their children were : 1. Charles,* born Sept. 16, 1802; 2. Joanna,* born April 29, 1804; 3. Esther,* born March 9, 1806; 4. Adelaide,* born Dec. 27, 1807; 5. Daniel, born March 27, 1810; 6. Sedgwick, born .April 5, 1812; 7. Mahala, born July 25, 1814; 8. Thirza, born Dec. 12, 1817.

The four members of the family living reside at and in the immediate vicinity of Littletown. Mahala married George Besson, and Thirza, William Taylor, farmers.

Daniel Little was brought up on the homestead, which has been in the possession of the family since 1749, and received such education as the schools of his neighborhood afforded. His occupation has been farming and milling, having been joint proprietor with his brother Sedgwick in the flouring-mills at Littletown for seven years, from 1836 to 1843; at the latter date he sold his interest to his brother, and has since given his attention to agriculture. He is a Democrat in politics, and has discharged the duties of the most important local township offices. He has been for some three years past an elder in the King- wood Presbyterian Church, and for many years a member of its board of trustees.

Mr. Little married Maria Hoff, Dee. 6, 1839, who was born Feb. 11, 1821, and died Aug. 2, 1856. They have two daughters, -Margaret AAnn, residing at home, and Emma Relis, wife of Norris Shupe, of Shiloh, Ohio.

ASA CASE.

Asa Case, son of William and Rachel (Evans) Case, was born in Raritan township, Hunterdon Co., N. J., April 14, 1821. Ile is the youngest of fifteen children, twelve of whom reached maturity, and his life has been devoted to agricultural and horticultural pursuits. The farm on which he now resides consists of one hundred and fifteen acres of well-improved land. He purchased the farm eleven years ago, and has since given his attention chietly to peach-growing, from which he lias realized very successful results, He is

· Deceased.

444

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

a devoted temperance man, and an exemplary mem- ber of the Baptist Church at Cherryville. July 24, 1847, Mr. Case married Elizabeth Ann Rodenbock, a

ASA CASE.

native of Hunterdon County. She is a member of the Baptist Church and teacher in the Sunday-school. Of the four children, the fruit of their marriage, three, two daughters and one son, are living, and are also church members with their parents.

HIRAM DEATS.

The subject of this sketch is of German descent on his father's side. His grandfather, William Deats (Deitz), canie from Germany and settled in Hunter- don County, about four miles northwest of Fleming- ton, where he followed the occupation of a wheel- wright, being a workman of great skill and ingenuity. He had a family of several children, of whom John, the father of our subject, was the only son.

John Deats married Ursilla, daughter of Capt. Eli- sha Barton, who, with his eldest son, Henry, served through the Revolutionary war. Capt. Barton lived on the old homestead in Raritan township both before and after the war, and died there about 1820. The property then passed to his son Jolin, and from him to his son Isaac, and from Isaac to his son John, the present occupant. Mr. Deats has lived to see five generations on the old homestead of his maternal grandfather, and the sixth growing up in its imme- diate neighborhood. Three generations lie buried in the old graveyard on the place.

John Dcats, like his father, was a wheelwright by

trade, and followed that occupation most of his life. He began early to experiment in plows, and made the model of the celebrated Deats plow, which, in the hands of his son Hiram, has hecome so widely and favorably known. He obtained the patent for it, and, not being able to engage in its manufacture, went West for the purpose of disposing of rights there, and never returned.

Hiram Deats was then a young man verging upon his majority. He was born April 12, 1810, and had spent a portion of his minority in working at the shoemaker's trade near Flemington. The thought occurred to him that he could take his father's model and do something with it in the way of manufactur- ing plows for his immediate neighbors. He was a young man, then scarcely of age and extremely poor, and he little dreamed of the magnitude to which the business would ultimately grow. The wish to do something in this direction was father to the deed, and in 1831 Mr. Deats hegan at Quakertown, near his early home, the manufacture of a plow which has well stood the test of all competition for fifty years. Being of an ingenious turn, the patterns for the first castings were made hy him, and he was able to turn his hand to almost any mechanical job required in the fitting up and working of his foundry and shop,-a gift or faculty which was really the key to his future success ; for, had he been obliged to hire all these things done, he never could have succeeded, and his enterprise must have died in its infancy. For many years he was successful in everything he touched, and, indeed,' his whole life since has furnished but few exceptions to this general rule of prosperity.

In 1831, as we have said, he began manufacturing the Deats plow near Quakertown. In 1836 he started a small foundry for the casting of his plows. To this he added the casting of stoves, which grew to be a considerahle business and continued till 1852, when he divided the business, transferring the stove-casting to Stockton, N. J., and built a machine-shop at Pitts- town, on the site of the old fulling-mill which was originally used as a grist-mill in the time of the Rev- olutionary war and afterwards, using the same pond and tail-race which were then used. (This was the only grist-mill throughout a large extent of country at that early day.) At this shop he commenced the manufacture of horse-powers, threshing-machines, corn-shellers, etc., leaving the foundry and plow business at Quakertown.

Seven years after, in 1859, he moved to Pittstown, and built an addition to the machine-shop and a new foundry the same year, bringing all the business from Quakertown, and in the year following added to the business the manufacture of reapers and mowers.

Seven years later, in October, 1866, he formed a co- partnership with William J. Case, Rhutson Case and his son, L. M. Deats, doing business under the firm- name of Deats, Case & Co. Seven years later Rhut- son Case bought the interest of William J. Case, and

445

LEBANON.

the business was conducted under the name of L. M. Deats & Co, making in all fifty years up to April, 1881.

A severe blow fell upon Mr. Deats and his house- hold in the death of his son, Lemuel Madison Deats, whose name stands at the head of the firm. He de- parted this life July 26, 1879, in the prime of his manhood and usefulness.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 109

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170