History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 132

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 132
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 132

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).

The church membership, November, 1880, was 111. The deacons were Andrew B. Lare, John Prugh, J. S. Wyckoff, and Millard Prugh ; the elders, William B. Lare, I. C. Harvey, N. P. Wyckoff, and William H. Yauger; superintendent of Sunday-school, B. E. Young.

ALLERTOWN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Methodist Episcopal services were doubtless held at Allertown early in the nineteenth century, but his- torical recollections are meagre for want of testimony. It is known, however, that a Methodist church was built at Allertown in 1822, upon land donated by Henry Aller, and that in 1830 or thereabouts Revs. Winner and Atwood were preachers. There was no Methodist Sunday-school there then, but there was one conducted by the Presbyterians, which, in charge of John Lowe, had weekly sessions in the Allertown school-house. In 1875 the old church edifice was re- placed with the fine structure now standing upon its site. Since the beginning the church organization has steadily prospered, and has now a membership of about 200. The pastor is Rev. Mr. Mead, who holds weekly services. The Sunday-school superintendent is Benjamin Fritts. Referring briefly to the old church built in 1822, it may be of interest to observe that it was constructed mainly by the coutributions in labor and material furnished by the members, and that among those most prominent in church affairs then were Jeremiah Huff, Nathaniel Atchley, George Alpaugh, and John Green.

BURIAL-PLACES.

Doubtless the oldest graves to be found in Clinton township are in the old graveyard at Lebanon, but no evidence remains to prove the assertion, since many of those oldest graves are without headstones, while such as are thus marked boast no legible legends. There is an old burial-place on the John Fulkerson place, near Annandale, but, save in the cases of two graves that have been especially cared for, the resting-places of the dead in that spot are unmarked except by here and there a fragment of a headstone. The two graves

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alluded to are those of Hugh Martin and Martha, his brother's wife. About these graves David Fraser years ago built a stone wall, which fronts the high- way. Martha Martin's grave is designated by a plain slab, upon which is written :

" Here lies the body of Minrtha, wife of Alexander Minrtin, who died May 11, 1753, nged 74."

Over Hugh Martin's grave is a white marble tablet, upon which appears in plainly traceable characters the following story :

" Here lle the remains of Hugh Martin, who lived in this vicinity many years, during which, possessing the confidence of his government and his fellow-citizens, ho discharged the duties of several offices of profit and trust with Integrity and honesty. In the practice of the private and publie virtues, eminent ; as husband, father, relative, and friend, be- loved ; as n magistrate, revered. To religion a support, to science n patron, and to the poor, a friend. He was born in Ireland, County Ty- rono, and died March 7, 1761, aged 63.

" Let sculptured marble vaily boast, And birth and titles scan; God's noblest work, of value most, Here lies an honest man.

" His weeping sons in North Carolina pay this tribute to his momory. Go, traveler, and imitato his virtues."

The oldest record in the old Lebanon cemetery is that which tells of the death of Matthias Cramer, March 24, 1783, aged forty-six. One old headstone is marked " A. H. D., 1787," and no more. Among the okdlest inscriptions besides, are those of Philip Eyck, Sr., 1788; Eve, his wife, 1792; Charlotte Huffman, John Huffman, and Mary Huffman, 1801 ; Eve Eick and Mary Rodenbough, 1803; Mary Sharp, 1804; C. Huffman, 1805; John Wyckoff, 1806; Anna Huff- man, John Van Campen, 1809 ; Sarah Huffman, 1810; Jacob Huffman, Margaret Eike, Jacob Risler, Jacob Huffman, 1811; Mary Huffman, 1813; John S. Alpaugh, Jacob Apgar, Catharine Lindaberry, Maria Wack, Samuel Jones, 1815; and E. Huffman,

1816. A single tablet recites the sorrowful story of | Laura Huffman. The trustees for 1880 were James

the deaths, between Jan. 6 and 29, 1830, of Timothy L. Porter and his four children, Cornelia, William, Jolin, and Amy, all with a malignant fever.

TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.

The school districts in Clinton township are num- bered 54, 55, 56, 57, and 58, and named respectively Annandale, Bray's Hill, Lebanon, Round Valley, and Hnmden. Mr. John S. Cramer recollects attending school in the Annandale District as early as 1803, in a log school-house that stood near Peter H. Hutf- man's. The teacher wns Sallie Price, and among the scholars were John Aller, John and Peter Huffman, and Ann Huffman. A second log school-house was built pretty soon after that, just north of the present Stout place, and to that school went John S. ('ramer, John Grandin, Mary and Sallie Fox, Ann and Betsey Cregar, William Hunt, Ishe Hunt, and Philip Gran- din. Of course there were other scholars, but their names cannot be recalled. There had to be twenty- five scholars to make a school, and some of them had

to come a long way. The teacher in that second log school-house was William Thatcher. Not many of the pupils are left. Thatcher was also a teacher in the red school-house, near the Stout place, and third in the list of remembered school-buildings. The second teacher in the red school-house (next follow- ing 'Thatcher) was Charles Q. Phillips. The fourth school-house was built in 1836, and occupied a site about opposite the Dutch Reformed church. The building now occupied by the district school in An- nandale was erected in 1865 for a publie hall, and since 1869 has been the property of the district. It is a three-story frame structure, with seating capacity for about 250, although the average attendance does not reach beyond 100. R. C. Harvey is the principal, and Maggie Rockhill the assistant. The trustees are William A. Young, George Creveling, and J. II. Miller.

As to the Bray's Hill school, it can only be stated that there was a school there as early as 1810, and perhaps before. It is at all events certain that the carly dwellers in the Lebanon District sent children there, for in the latter district there was no school until as late as 1842. The present Bray's Hill school- house was built in 1845. It is a frame structure, 24 by 30, and in it the average attendance reaches 40. The trustees for 1880 were William Beavers, John D. Cregar, and Noah Tiger.

The first school-house built in the Lebanon District was a frame, 24 by 30, erected in 1842 at a point about a quarter of a mile north of the village. The first trustees were William II. Huffman, Henry A. Apgar, and Samuel Clark; the first teacher, Garrett Servis. The present house, a two-story frame, was built in 1869, and cost $3500. There are two de- partments, with an aggregate attendance of about 80. The principal is O. Il. Huffman, and the assistant Van Syekel, L. L. Grippin, and G. N. Apgar.

The first school-house known to Round Valley is said to have been built in 1785, upon a spot but 200 yards removed from the present house. It was a framed house covered with pine shingles, and meas- ured 18 by 20. The first teacher was a Mr. Blue, but tradition tells that there was a teacher and a school- house in the Valley even before Blue's time. David Haver has an arithmetic that was written in 1778 by J. S. Cramer, who is vaguely mentioned as having taught about that time in a log school-house "one mile down the Valley." The district has had five school-houses, of which the present, standing at the upper end of the Valley, is a two-story frame, 30 by 40, cost $3500, and was built in 1872. The principal is Henry Allen; the trustees are William Johnson, David Sharp, and John Rockafellow.

In the llamden District school was first kept at Allertown in 1814, in a house that had previously served as the residence of "Daddy" Butler, the cooper. The first teacher was a Mr. Cumback. A

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stone school-house is said to have been erected in 1826 near where the present house stands. The trus- tees in 1826 were John Grandin, Elias Hoagland, and Jacob McLain. The present house was built in 1849. It is a frame, 24 by 28, and can seat 40. The trustees for 1880 were Emanuel Fritts, Charles Case, and George W. Shafer.

The only information to be gleaned from the town- ship records touching the condition of the public schools previous to 1850 stands under the head of "School Report for 1849," from which it appears that in that year the State fund due the township amounted to $206.27, and that the amount of school tax was $400, the whole divided between nine districts. It is further learned that in 1863 the township contained fourteen school districts, with a total of 964 school children.

CLINTON IN THE REBELLION.

The first town-meeting in Clinton to consider the question of raising soldiers for service in the Rebellion was held Aug. 23, 1862, the object being to consider the propriety of raising a bounty-fund sufficient to avoid a draft for the nine months' service. On that occasion a resolution was adopted to raise by tax a sum sufficient to pay $100 each for all men assigned as the township's quota under the nine months' call. At the same meeting it was reported that the town- ship had already in the service 58 men.

Aug. 29, 1862, the township treasurer paid to 106 men the sum of $100 each as bounty, under resolution passed Aug. 29, 1862.

Dec. 23, 1863, a town-meeting was held to raise bounties for men to serve under the two calls recently issued by the general government, when it was voted to pay $350 each for volunteers to the number of 98, but only $300 per man drafted, in case a draft became necessary, and that every man in the town between the ages of twenty and forty-five liable to the draft should pay to the town committee the sum of $25 on or before Jan. 3, 1864, or, in default, forfeit all claim to the $300 appropriated for drafted men. Dec. 30, 1863, this assessment was paid by 290 men, aggre- gating $5500.

Under the calls 82 men volunteered and received a bounty of $28,700, the town borrowing $15,000 at sixty days, and $7500 at thirty days. The same year $17,000 was paid out to volunteers and for substitutes for those who had paid assessments to be insured against the draft.

Under the President's call of July, 1864, for 500,000 men, Clinton was to furnish 79; 56 volunteered, and received bounties of from $500 to $675, or a total of $36,650 ; 23 substitutes were purchased at $600 each, so that for the 79 men the town paid out $50,450. Inci- dental to raising the money for this expenditure there was an additional expense of $1371.29 for interest, etc. Under the call of December, 1864, the town paid for substitutes and volunteers the sum of $47,610, 79 men being furnished.

Of those who entered the military service from Clinton during the war of 1812 the names are recalled of John Aller, from Sussex County, - Doolittle, Saul Hoppock, Peter Hoppock, and Peter Lance. Lance went out as a substitute for David Sharp. Benjamin Fritts was drafted, and hired John Loomi- son as a substitute; but, luckily enough for Loomison, the war closed before he got started, although not before he had got his hire of Fritts. John Aller, the last of the survivors, died in 1875, at the age of eighty- five.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

REV. ROBERT VAN AMBURGH.

Rev. Robert Van Amburgh was born Jan. 9, 1809, about six miles south of Poughkeepsie, in the south- ern part of Dutchess Co., N. Y., and is of both Hol- land and French descent. His early occupation was that of husbandry, and in all the varieties of ag- ricultural pursuits he was among the first in labor and success; even at ten years of age he could handle a scythe with the same ease and agility as any older laborer.

His first twenty years were passed in the usual routine of a farmer's life, receiving such education as the common schools of his neighborhood af- forded. When he had nearly attained his majority, he received a decided religious impression, accom- panied by a strong sense of Divine responsibility that he should devote himself exclusively to the service of the Lord. He at once began to prepare himself under the tutelage of the Rev. Eliphalet Price, a very able and worthy Presbyterian minister, of Hughsonville, N. Y., and from thence he repaired to Whitesboro', in the same State. In 1834 he entered Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, from which institution he gradu- ated in the class of 1837. He subsequently matricu- lated in the theological seminary in the same city, and took his degree iu 1840. In both institutions the highest honors were conceded to him.

When he entered the public ministry, his preaching was so popular and so significantly successful that he was tendered a call in almost every vacant church where he ministered. He accepted a call to the Re- formed Church of Lebanon, N. J., and in a compara- tively brief period the congregation grew until the church was filled to its utmost capacity. The field of his labors embraced a rich, rural country, thickly set- tled, about ten or twelve miles square. The calls to duty were frequent, and the duties themselves multi- form and various. His labors were numerous, often burdensome, and little time was left him for study or recreation. Years glided by, with scarcely any cessa- tion or rest, until August, 1837, when he resigned his charge and went to Fordham, N. Y., where he became pastor of an old church. The congregation there had

Robert Vantuburgh

Jonathan Dawes

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been for years agitating the expediency of erecting a new edifice; but internal and external strength was apparently paralyzed, and their efforts resulted in nothing, notwithstanding for seventeen years they had been striving to attain their object. In this state of lethargy he came among them, and instilled new life into the fold. The old dilapidated structure was filled to overflowing during the first year of his min- istry, and in February, 1838, a meeting was called to take measures for the erection of a new edifice. In August following a beautiful brick building was dedi- cated, free of debt, with the exception of about twelve hundred dollars. This building was soon filled with an interested worshiping assembly, and his salary was largely increased from the pew-rents.

From Fordham he removed to Hughsonville, N. Y., after the former charge became independent. He was recalled to Lebanon in August, 1853, and almost im- mediately the old brick church was converted into a new, convenient, and elegant frame structure, not sur- passed by any church edifice at that time in Hunter- don County. Here also his labors were crowned with remarkable success. Great numbers of the middle- aged, as also of the young and old, were added to the church, and from the adjoining counties the popula- tion flocked to this church, insomuch that all could not obtain sittings, even on ordinary occasions, and it became the largest assemblage of any country con- gregation in the State.

In 1869 he accepted a call to High Bridge, a church of his own organizing, it having grown under his care from a very few worshipers in an obsenre school-house to a fairly-sustaining congregation with a church edi- fice. When he had become settled as their permanent pastor, the building was found to be too small to ae- commodate the necessary congregation, whereupon he immediately agitated the question of building a new edifice, and in the face of strenuous opposition he pushed the matter forward, and soon had the corner- stone laid, obtained the means, and speedily there was completed one of the finest specimens of Gothic ar- chitecture in the State, which now lifts its spire heavenward, as if indicating its future prosperity and the moral elevation of the surrounding inhabitants.

He next took charge of the Presbyterian Church at Lower German Valley. This also was an infant con- gregation, and under his ministry it rapidly advanced in strength and devotion. At the close of his pastor- ate at Lower German Valley he settled over a congre- gation he had previously organized at Annandale, N. J. At this point a large debt had been nearly liquidated in about two years, and the number of at- tendants nearly doubled. He remained their pastor till November, 1878.

He is now in the seventieth year of his age, and is yet as vivacious in spirit, active in labor, and as per- severing in his efforts as he was in his youth. He possesses a warm temperament, with great decision of character, accompanied by an energetic spirit, that contends earnestly for victory in the battle of life. He is a benevolent and generous giver, and his house is where the needy and afflicted are wont to gather.

Mr. Van Amburgh is not at present in charge of any congregation, but his time is occupied with occa- sional preaching and his various business interests, in connection with his farm and property in the village of Lebanon.

JONATHAN DAWES.

Jonathan Dawes, son of John and Catharine (Por- ter) Dawes, was born in Lebanon (now Clinton) town- ship, in the same house where his ancestors for sev- eral generations lived and died. His great-grand- father, Adrian Dawes, came from White Marsh, near Valley Forge, where he lived when Washington's army lay there during that memorable winter of the Revolutionary struggle. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and was born in Wales, whence he immigrated to this country.

John Dawes, son of the above, and grandfather of our subject, settled on the present homestead in 1775.

He married Alice Janney, of Bucks Co., Pa., a daughter of Thomas and Margery Janney, of Cheshire, England, who settled in Bucks County in 1683. HIe (Thomas Janney) died Dec. 12, 1696. John and Alice Dawes had six children,-two sons and four daughters. The father of Jonathan Dawes was the youngest of the family, and was born Feb. 10, 1787 ; he married l'atharine Porter, May 3, 1807; they had four children, of whom Jonathan Dawes was the only son, born Feb. 9, 1808, and brought up on the farm where he now resides. The house where he lives was built by his grandfather, in 1787.

He was a member of the Legislature two years,- 1841 and 1842,-elected on the Democratic ticket, with which party he has always voted. He married Jane Kline, daughter of David M. Kline, Sr., Dec. 29, 1835. She was born Dec. 2, 1817, in Clinton township, Hunterdon Co. They have had four chil- dren, whose record we give as follows :

Martha, V., born March 6, 1837, married George T. Stryker, of Clinton township; Elizabeth, born July 9, 1840, died Ang. 9, 1841; Mary W., born May 30, 1844, married William Craig, residing near New Germantown; John, born Nov. 23, 1847, married Laura Sharp, of Clinton township, Dec. 24, 1879.

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

JOHN F. GRANDIN, M.D.

JOIIN F. GRANDIN, M.D.

Daniel Grandin and Mary, his wife, came from France and settled in Monmouth Co., N. J. Their sons, John and Philip, both came to Hunterdon and purchased one thousand acres of land on the South Branch, being a part of the five thousand acre tract of Daniel Coxc. They called this the Hamden tract. They did not buy it all at one time, but huilt their mills when they came from Monmouth. The original deed was destroyed by fire when the old Grandin house, which stood near the late residence of Joseph Fritts, was burned. They owned the mill property as far back as 1759, and probably several years earlier. The water-right, still owned by Jacob M. Johnson, at the mills was given in 1752, and transferred to the Grandins in 1759, at which latter date they appear to have been established for some time at the mills. The land where Dr. Grandin and family now live at Hamden was sold in 1763 by Samuel Rogers to Sam- uel Lippincott, and, in 1772, Samuel Lippincott and wife sold it to John and Philip Grandin. John mar- ried Abigail Lippincott; they had no issue. Philip was the progenitor of the Grandin family. He mar- ried Eleanor Forman, and was a fuller, dyer, and miller. John attended to the store and farm, and was a justice of the peace, but both lived in the same house, the one burnt near the Fritts residence. Philip and Eleanor (Forman) Grandin had two sons and five daughters,-viz., Dr. John Forman Grandin, Philip, Mary, Jane, Abigail, Eleanor, and Rachel.

John Grandin, born in Monmouth, April 28, 1721, died Aug. 5, 1777. Ilis wife, Abigail Lippincott, died

JOHN GRANDIN. 1

March 18, 1788. They were both buried in the Friends' burying-ground at Kingwood, now Quaker- town. Philip died Feb. 23, 1791 ; Eleanor, his wife, died March 1st of the same year, just six days after, and both were huried in the same grave, at the King- wood Friends' burying-ground.

Philip, son of the first Philip, and brother of Dr. John Grandiu, married Merey Gray ; they died with- out issue, and were buried at Kingwood.

Dr. John F. Grandin's wife, Mary Newell, was a first cousin of that gallant hero, Capt. Lawrence, whose dying words have thrilled the world with their eloquent import, whose name is upon every school- boy's lips, whose last utterance we might well take as a precept in all our struggles through life,-" Don't give up the ship !" Dr. John F. Grandin and Mary, his wife, had six children,-to wit, Elizabeth, born April 18, 1785, married Dr. Benjamin Hunt, son of Daniel Hunt, of IIunt's Mills, now Clinton; both re- moved to Ohio and lived there. Eleanor, born Sept. 15, 1786, married the late Joseph Reading, near Flem- ington; she died in Philadelphia. Mary, horn Feb. 3, 1788, married John W. Bray, of Clinton; after- wards removed to California, where they hoth died. Lucy, born April 2, 1790, married Elmore Williams, of Cincinnati, who built the first brick house ever erected in that city, where he died, leaving an estate of over a million of dollars. John, born May 28, 1792, married Elizabeth H., daughter of the late Daniel Reading, who lived on the farm at Flemington now known as the Fair Ground. This family of Readings were descendants of Hon. John Reading, well known as a very useful and highly-esteemed

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man, once temporary Governor of New Jersey, and always prominent in the early history of the State.

Philip Grandin, the youngest son of Dr. John For- man Grandin, was born Feb. 11, 1794; he married Hannah Piatt, removed to Ohio, and died there, leaving a large fortune. His widow and children still live in Kentucky and Ohio, near Cincinnati.

Elizabeth H. Grandin died Oct. 14, 1842, and was buried in Bethlehem.

John and Elizabeth HI. Grandin had five children, -Daniel Reading Grandin, Mary Newell, Elizabeth, Dr. John Forman Grandin, and Jane Elizabeth. The third child died June 10, 1832. Mary N. mar- ried George F. Slocum, of Wilkesbarre, a son of Joseph Slocum, Esq., who was a brother of Frances Slocum, who was carried off from her father's house Nov. 2, 1778, by the Indians.

Dr. John Forman Grandin, the elder, was the father of John Grandin, born on the homestead, May 28, 1792, and who still resides there at the advanced age of nearly eighty-nine years. The former studied medicine with Dr. Newell, of Allentown, N. J., whose daughter Mary he married, and reared a family of two sons and four daughters, of whom John only survives. Dr. Grandin practiced medicine all his life at Ham- den, and had a very large and successful practice. He died in 1811 ; his wife died in Cincinnati, in 1849, aged eighty-seven years.

For three generations there were but two sons in the Grandin family, and they bore the names of John and Philip., The present family of John Grandin and Elizabeth Reading is an exception, there being two sons, Daniel Reading and Dr. John Forman Grandin, both living on the old homestead near Hamden.

John Foreman Grandin, M.D., was prepared for college under the instruction of Rev. John Van Der- veer, deceased, at Easton, Pa .; entered Lafayette Col- lege, where he spent the freshman and sophomore years, and completed the junior and senior years at Union College, graduating from the latter in 18-19. He studied medicine with the Ilon. John Manners, M.D., at Clinton, N. J., and received his degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1852. He has prac- ticed his profession ever since where he now resides. Ile was married, Oct. 13, 1880, to Fannie Todd, of Lebanon, N. J.

JOSEPIt FRITTS.

Joseph Fritts was born in Lebanon (now ('linton) township, Hunterdon Co., N. J., Oct. II, 1802, and died March 2, 1879. He was a son of Charles and Susan (White) Fritts. His brothers were Peter, Charles, and Benjamin, and his sisters Maria, Chris- tiana, Sally, Laney, and Elizabeth. Six of the fam- ily are living at this writing.

Joseph Fritts married Anna, daughter of Henry Aller, Esq., and had nine children, six sons and three daughters, viz .: Charles, deceased; Mary, wife of

David McCloughan; Susan, who married, first, George Larue, und, second, David B. Huffman ; Henry, who died in infancy ; Arzilla, deceased, wife of George V. Creveling; Joseph A., farmer, near

JOSEPH FRIETS.

Lebanon, who married Susan Huffman ; Stires, man- ufacturer of flax, etc., in Clinton township, who mar- ried Margaret Probasco; Emanuel, farmer, in Clinton township, who married Mary Elizabeth Kuhl ; Oliver, farmer, in Clinton township; who married Elizabeth C'regar, of High Bridge.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 132

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