History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 86

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 86
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 86

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).

"'STEUBEN COUNTY :- This fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred, started from the mills of Frederick Bartles, on tho outlet of Mud Lake, two arks of the following dimensions : one, built by Col. Charles Williamson, of Bath, 72 feet long und 15 wide, the other, built by Nathan Harvey, 71 feet long and 16 wide, were conducted down the L'onhocton (after coming through Mud Creek without areident) to Printed Post, for Baltimore. Thuso nrks are the first bullt in this cunatry, except one built on the Couhocton, at White's saw-mill, five miles below Bath, by a Mr. Patterson, Swoony, and others, from Pennsyl- vanin, 70 feet long nud 10 wide, which was finished and started about the 20th of March of the same year.

"""This minuto is enteret to show, at a future dny, the first commence- ment of embarkation in this (it is hoped) useful invention.

"* By HENRY A. TOWNSEND, ""Clerk of Steuben County.'"

While Frederick Bartles was engaged in these en- terprises he made his settlement the busy centre of other industries. He was the first to manufacture forged iron in all the country west of Seneca Lake; from his nail-factory at Bartles' Hollow were carried wrought nails in saddle-bags to different parts of the wilderness, and are now to be seen in several of the ohl buildings in the vicinity built before or nhout the beginning of this century.

One of the sons of Frederick Bartles was Andrew, the father of our subject. He resided at New German- town, where he followed in early life the occupation of a hatter, but later that of a farmer. He married Catherine, daughter of John Plum, of New Bruns- wick, N. J., already referred to in connection with the iron interest. Mr. Pluim was a lieutenant in Wash- ington's army during the Revolution, and was with the army at Morristown while his home in New Brunswick was occupied by British officers. Cathe- rine, the mother of Charles Barthes, was then a girl of ten or eleven years of age, and waited upon the officers. A table on which these officers messed is now in the possession of Mr. Bartles, having been handed down as an heirloom in his family by his grand- mother. It is of solid mahogany, probably of ferman make, a fine specimen of the art, and, although con- siderably over a hundred years old,-possibly a hun- dred and fifty,-it is at this writing as good as new.

Andrew Bartles married Catherine Plum about the Year 1790. The fruit of their marriage was eight children,-four sons and four daughters,-of whom three survive,-viz., Charles, our subject ; Julia (un- married ), who resides with her sister near Flemington; and Phebe, wife of George B. Stoothoff.

Charles Bartles was born in New tiermantown, Hunterdon Co., N. J., March 18, 1801. His early life was there spent on a farm, where, besides receiving the advantages of the common schools, he attended the classical school of Ernest Louis Hazelius, a learned Lutheran clergyman, educated in Germany, afterwards Doctor of Divinity and president of Co- lumbia College, South Carolina. Mr. Bartles also stu- died under Rev. Dr. Studdiford, at Lesser Cross-Roads, in Bedminster, and finished his preparation for col- lege under Rev. Horace talpin, at Lamington. He was so far advanced by these excellent opportunities that he entered the junior class of Union College in September, 1819. William 11. Seward was at that time a member of the senior class. Mr. Bartles grad- uated with his classmates-Rev. Dr. Messler, Judge Hiram Gray, of Elmira, and others in 1821,-and on the day he was twenty-one years of age (March 18, 1822) he arrived at Flemington and entered as a stu- dent the law-office of Nathaniel Saxton, Esq.

During the four years which followed Mr. Bartles was engaged, in connection with his Inw studies and his admission to the bar, in discharging a pecuniary obligation which he had incurred in going through college. On account of the financial embarrassment. of his father, no assistance could be rendered him from home in procuring an education ; so that, during the last year at college, he had borrowed a small sum of his grandfather, and was, at the time of graduation. three hundred dollars in debt. This was no great amount, to be sure, but times were hard and business of all kinds very much depressed. It was during the time of depreciated values and scarcity of money which followed the financial crash of 1817. Still, Mr-

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Bartles resolved that his indebtedness should be paid, as the first object to which he would devote himself before considering plans for the future. The accom- plishment of this truly honest and worthy object ne- cessitated a course of self-denial and discipline which proved of the greatest service to him through life,- which, indeed, as Mr. Bartles himself thinks, laid the foundation of his future success. He was obliged to earn all he could and save all his earnings, to say " No" emphatically to every temptation to engage in so- cial pleasures and amusements,-temptations enough of this kind being offered in the social habits of members of the bar, and even of the bench, of those days, in the convivial parties and, often, nightly ca- rousals and dissipations witnessed at the principal hotel in Flemington. Mr. Bartles, as a student-at- law and as a young lawyer, was often solicited to join these convivial parties, under the plea that such asso- ciations would introduce him to business, but he found it necessary to decline. His evenings, and sometimes a good portion of the night, were occu- pied in writing at his desk. Being often solicited by friends to join evening parties at the hotel, he persist- ently declined, first because he deemed it dishonora- ble to accept such entertainments when he had not the means of reciprocating them, and, secondly, be- cause such habits would lead to dissipation, neglect of business, and final ruin, as, alas ! proved true in the cases of some of those who invited and urged him to attend their parties. Mr. Bartles, in view of his own convietions and the necessity which he felt laid upon him, adopted habits of strict temperance, econ- omy, and persistent labor. He resolved to waste no time and to buy nothing for which he could not pay the money down. Guided by these principles, he ad- dressed himself, first of all, to the work of paying his indebtedness; and he paid, little by little, as he could earn the means, till it was all finally discharged. Could a certain drawer in an old desk reveal its secrets, it might disclose how many small sums were there daily and weekly deposited from scanty earn- ings before the three hundred dollars were finally made up. It took him till twenty-five years of age to square the old score, and at that period he began life for himself, with no capital except the intellectual and moral strength he had gained and the sound principles he had adopted for self-government.

For fifteen months after graduation he taught school in Flemington. He was admitted to the bar in 1824, and at once commenced practice at Flemington. His business increased, and was continued till 1854. Hon. Alexander Wurts, P. I. Clark, William Maxwell, Nathaniel Saxton, and himself then constituted the Hunterdon County bar.

In 1832, in connection with Aaron Van Syckel, he engaged largely in real estate operations, which were continued till 1860. During this period they handled farming property amounting in value to over a quar- ter of a million of dollars, and all these sales were

settled without the foreclosure of a mortgage, the re- turn of a property, or the distress of a purchaser in any way. They never lost a dollar in all these trans- actions, and never sued but one man, and then for a sum of less than five hundred dollars.

In 1850, Mr. Bartles turned his attention to rail- road matters : he succeeded in securing the construc- tion of the Flemington Railroad, giving Flemington direct connection with Philadelphia, and conferring substantial advantages, not only upon the town itself, but upon a large tract of intervening country.

In 1854, in company with J. R. Reading and Mr. Fisher, he engaged in the lumber business and pur- chased large tracts of timber-land in Pennsylvania, on Bennett's Branch of the Sinnamahoning, erecting mills at Williamsport. The firm of Reading, Fisher & Co., at Williamsport, of which Mr. Bartles has been an active member, has been among the heaviest operators in all that country for more than twenty years. They have disposed of their lumber chiefly to wholesale dealers. The investments have proved very profitable, for, in addition to the timber on the lands, a large portion has been found to be underlaid with coal, which is now accessible by railroads.

Mr. Bartles has devoted himself so thoroughly to business as to have no time or inclination for political offices, although as a politician and statesman he might have achieved eminent success. His extensive information, his comprehensive views, above all, his knowledge of men and his tact and influence in man- aging them, are qualities which fit him admirably for the sphere of the politician and the legislator, and they have often been called into requisition by his friends and by the exigencies of various public enter- prises. As one of the pioneers in internal improve- ments in the State, he was early enlisted in the Cam- den and Amboy Railroad and in the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and assisted these companies in pro- curing various acts of legislation favorable to their interest. This he did, not for pay,-for he never re- ceived a dollar for his services in their behalf,-but simply as a citizen, believing these improvements to be of great advantage to the State. He was always, in the face of the most bitter local opposition, the constant and unswerving friend of the Camden aud Amboy Railroad Company, and possessed in a very high degree the confidence of that corporation. Hence he was often called upon to assist them in procuring amendments to their charter and other acts of legislation ; and when their influence was needed to assist him in any emergency, it was always cheer- fully rendered.

Mr. Bartles obtained the charter for the Fleming- ton Railroad in 1850, which was finished through in 1854. Ile was elected first president of the road, and held that office till it went into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was also one of the first directors in the Belvidere Delaware Rail- road, and has been a member of the board ever since.

John C. Hopewell

341

FLEMINGTON VILLAGE.

He was elected president of the Hunterdon County Bank (now the Hunterdon County National Bank) in 1858, and is still holding that important office.

Of the influence of Mr. Bartles in various local im- provements much might be said had we the space to enter into the minutiæ of his active and useful life. In most of the improvements which have changed the aspect of his village and much of the surround- ing country, rendering them beautiful and fruitful compared with half a century ago, he has not only been a pioneer but a steady and constant worker. He early saw the importance of a good water-supply for the village of Flemington, and also, in conjune- tion with Mr. Hopewell, the advantages of lighting the houses and streets with gas. The inhabitants were few and the stock hard to dispose of; neverthe- less these men united their energies and procured charters for the gas and water companies in the win- ter of 1859. A large share of the stock they took themselves, and have since managed these interests successfully, and to the great benefit of the village. Mr. Bartles has held the presidency of the Fleming- ton Water-Works since their establishment.

He married Eliza, daughter of Neal Hart, of Flem- ington, in the spring of 1833. She died Feb. 25, 1845. Of three sons and one daughter, the issue of this mar- riage, two are now living (1880). He has also two children by his second marriage to Eliza Randall, of New Hartford, N. Y., who died March 19, 1877.

On the Ist of April, 1823, Mr. Bartles came to board in the house where he now resides. He boarded there until his marriage, in 1833, when he bought the place and the family moved out, leaving him in possession. He has lived there ever since, and expects to spend there the remainder of his days. For one of his age, -nearly eighty years,-he is remarkably hale and active, being in the vigorous possession of nearly all his bodily and mental faculties.

JOHN C. HOPEWELL.

Jolin C. Hopewell was born at Mount Holly, Bur- lington Co., N. J., Nov. 26, 1814. He is the son of Becket und Rebecca Hopewell. The former was born Sept. 16, 1768, and died in 1827. John C. Hopewell, when a boy, was apprenticed to the hatter's trade, which he learned partly at Mount Holly and finished in the city of Philadelphia, at the age of nineteen. Ile then followed his trade as a journeyman in Phila- delphia about three years, at the expiration of which time he engaged in the hat and cup trade in that city. and continued till the financial crash of 1837, which resulted in his failure, with many of the best business houses in the country. .

In 1842 he removed to Flemington, N. J., and re- established himself in the hat business, which he carried on successfully five years, and then returned to Philadelphia with good credit and means enough to establish himself more favorably in business than

at first. After seven years of very successful trade, he retired from business in 1854 and settled at Flem- ington, N. J., on property purchased of Judge Joseph Brown, now included within the village limits. In the improvement of this property Mr. Hopewell has expended over ten thousand dollars, having crected upon a portion of it a fine residence for his son, Mr. John B. Hopewell, cashier of the Hunterdon County National Bank, and has made other desirable im- provements.

Mr. Hopewell married Ann Housell, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 10th of September, 1835. She was born and brought up near Flemington, N. J., and was the daughter of Abraham Housell. The children of this union were seven in number, six of whom- three sons and three daughters-are living.

Since his settlement in Flemington, Mr. Hopewell has been active in various local enterprises tending to benefit the village and adjacent country. In 1859 he built the Flemington Gas-Works, which have been under his management ever since, and in 1860 the Flemington Water-Works. When he removed to Flemington he was elected a director in the old Hunterdon County Bank. When the bank was changed to a national bank, in 1865, he was elected director and vice-president, and still holds these offi- ces. In 1864 he built the fine brick building of the Hunterdon County National Bank. It contains the bank, the post-office, and a store in the first story, lawyers' offices in the second, and a commodious public hall in the third. He was instrumental in getting for the village, in 1864, the steam fire-engine, hose, and apparatus, and the brick engine-house. Ile was president of the gas company from its formation till 1868, when he leased both the gas- and water- works, and consequently resigned the presidency of the former. He was president of the Hunterdon County Agricultural Society from 1858 till February, 1878, when he declined re-election, on account of his advanced age.

RUNKLE REA.

Runkle Rea was born in Flemington, Hunterdon Co., N. J., Jan. 19, 180-4. His father, George Rea, was born and brought up near Pittstown, in the same county, and was a clock- and watch-maker by trade, carrying on that occupation at Princeton, Trenton, and, later, at Flemington, after his removal to the latter place. He finally gave up the business, and in the latter part of his life devoted himself to farming and milling, having erected a grist-mill on Sand Brook, where he lived and died. For about twenty years of his life he was one of the judges of the county court. He married Elizabeth Runkle, and had a family of ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in the order of birth. Runkle was brought up on a farm, receiving such education as the common schools afforded, and continued a farmer till after his

342

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

marriage to his first wife, Rachel Manners, which oc- * curred in 1834. In 1835 he gave up farming and en- gaged in mercantile business at Reaville, then called Greenville, but upon the establishment of a post- office there the name was changed to Reaville, in com-

RUNKLE REA.

pliment to Mr. Rea, who was appointed postmaster. He remained in mercantile business there about thirty-four years, and held the office of postmaster from the time of the establishment of the office till 1862, when he was appointed deputy collector of in- ternal revenue, and held that office till 1877, when he went out, on account of his age, being seventy-four years old.

Mr. Rea was a capable and efficient officer of the government, and left a record which has beeu com- mended by both political parties for its soundness and honesty. In 1869 he disposed of his mercantile in- terest at Reaville and removed to Flemington. Ifis enterprise and means have enabled him to take an active part in the improvement of the beautiful county-seat of Hunterdon County, he having built several houses in the place, besides his own com- modious residence. He has been for several years a director in the Ilunterdon County National Bank. Iu politics he is a Republican. For many years he has been treasurer of the Hillsborough Fire Insurance Association, located at Neshanic, Somerset Co. IIe has also been president of the Street Commission and Fire Department of Flemington.

Although in his seventy-seventh year, at this writ- ing, he is hale and vigorous, and attends to business with remarkable activity for one of his years.

He had seven children by his first wife, five of whom are living. She died in 1847, and in 1849 he

married, for his second wife, Ellen Sullivan, daughter of Nathan P. Sullivan, of Philadelphia, by whom he has had one child, a son, deceased.

PETER I. NEVIUS.

Peter I. Nevius was born on the North Branch of the Raritan, in Somerset Co., N. J., Jan. 8, 1824. He is a son of Mina and Johanna (Stoothoff) Nevius. The former was a miller and agriculturalist in the town- ship of Branchburg, Somerset Co., and in the latter part of his life removed to Readington, Hunterdon Co., where he followed the same occupation till his death, which occurred in 1861. He had six children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the fourth and the only surviving member of the family.

The early life of Mr. Nevius, up to the age of eighteen, was spent in Branchburg and Readington townships, where he received such educational advan- tages as the common schools afforded. He began his apprenticeship as elerk in the dry-goods business in New Brunswick, whence he removed to South Branch, Somerset Co., and was clerk in a store at that place two years. Early in 1846 he removed to Fleming- ton, where he engaged as clerk for George W. Risler, remaining two years, when he became clerk for Wm. P. Emery, and remained two years in that position.

Mr. Nevius then entered into partnership in mer- cantile business at Flemington with William E. An- derson, under the firm-name of Anderson & Nevius, in which relation he remained till 1856, when, Maj. Lambert Boeman being admitted as a partner, the firm became Andersou, Nevius & Boeman, and so re- mained till 1861, when Mr. Boeman went into the army and the firm was dissolved, Messrs. Anderson and Nevius selling out to Fulper & Connet. After about a year Mr. Nevius accepted the offer of a part- nership with Messrs. Fulper & Connet, the firm being Fulper, Nevius & Connet, which it remained a year or two, when the other partners purchased Mr. Con- net's interest and the firm became Fulper & Nevius. Mr. Nevius continued a partner in this firm till the spring of 1867, when he became a member of the firm of Anderson, Nevius & Connet, which existed till 1872; the firm was then Peter I. Nevius & Co., Mr. Ezekiel Williams being taken in as a partner, and so continued till the spring of 1880, since which time Mr. Nevius has been sole proprietor. He is esteemed an honorable dealer, and by close attention to business has been quite successful. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Flemington, and for a num- ber of years has been a ruling elder in that body.

Mr. Nevius married for his first wife, June 6, 1855, Christiana, daughter of Hugh Capner, Esq., of Flem- ington, by whom he had two children. One died in infancy ; the other, Hugh Nevius, is in business with his father as a clerk. Mrs. Nevius died Dec. 13, 1865, and Mr. Nevius married his present wife, Mary F., daughter of Rev. Peter Allen, of Rockland Co., N. Y., Oct. 10, 1867.

- 1

WEST AMWELL.

GEOGRAPHICAL-AREA, ETC.

WEST AMWELL is the most southerly township in Hunterdon County. It is bounded north by Dela- ware township, east by East Amwell,-both in Hun- terdon County,-south by Hopewell, in Mercer County, and west by the Delaware River, which separates it from Bucks Co., l'a. It is the smallest township in the county, its area being only 19.4 square miles, or 12,185 acres. Its present population is (1880) 1040,- a very slight gain since 1870, when it contained 1032. The increase in Lambertville during the same period has been 338, which shows that here, at least, the tendeney of immigration is rather to "city" than to "country." It contains 160 farms.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

By far the larger half of the township is hilly ; the northern portion, however, is pleasantly undulating and well adapted to the raising of cereals, etc., but the eastern and southern parts, from Rocktown to Goat Hill, are hilly, rough, and in some places almost mountainous. Still, very much of the surface of these rugged slopes is cultivated, and found well adapted to small-fruit culture. "tioat IIill" is bold and pic- turesque, and of considerable elevation. Its primitive rocks outerop in many places ; upon its western face, near the Delaware River and Canal, are extensive quarries of sienitie granite and trap, worked for building purposes, for monuments, and for the Bel- gian-block pavements. The prevailing rock-formation is the red shale, which outerops in many places, in others covered with a thin coating of alluvium, which is principally disintegrated shale. The south part of the township is in many places strewn with bowlders varying from a few hundred pounds to as many tons' weight.

The Alexsocken Creek forms a portion of the north line of West Amwell. In old deeds is found the term "alias Socken," which leads to the conclusion that the present cognomen is a commingling of the two words .* This stream rises in the township and flows mainly westerly and southwesterly, emptying into the Delaware at Lambertville. The brooks and rivulets which swell the Alexsocken in this township are quite insignificant in volume and length, and flow

principally in a northerly direction. Moore's Creek crosses the southeast corner of the town, below Goat Hill, and southwesterly to the Delaware. The reader is referred to the general chapter upon the " Physical Features of Hunterdon County," antecedent, in this work, for much interesting information upon this topic.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The territory embraced by what is now the town- ship of West Amwell included the tracts of Winder, Stevenson, Bull, Wheeler, Calow, etc. The Winder tract was in the southwest corner of the township, fronting on the Delaware.

The Thomas Stevenson tract lay east of the Winder traet in the southern and eastern part of the township. Neil Grant owned land next north of Winder, and bordered on the Delaware, as did also the 400 acres of Benjamin Field (1700), and the lands of John Read- ing.

To the northward lay Richard Bull's tract, and, next above, that of Gilbert Wheeler.

In the northwest corner of the township, and ex- tending over the Alexsocken into Delaware township, was the tract of John Calow, from George Hutchin- son, 1695.

The central and upper part of West Amwell was occupied by the Robert Dimsdale tract, of 1200 acres.

The Delaware Indians had a path through the woods from Lambertville, through Mount Airy, Ringos, and Reaville, to Newark, upon which line the Old York Road was subsequently laid ; while another path ran from the banks of the Minse,t north of Flemington, to the wigwams of the Assunpink, at Trenton. These paths crossed nt Ringos. Long before there were any settlers in Amwell these woods were traversed by the landed proprietors, surveyors, and " those going to and fro between the settlements of the lower Delaware and those of East Jersey. When, therefore, land had been nearly all taken up around those early settlements, attention was directed to this well-known and attractive region."#

One of these proprietors, and possibly the first set- tler of Amwell, was John Reading, father of the Gov- ernor. He was a Quaker, and one of those who left England on account of persecution. With his wife,

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 86

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