USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > Jersey City > History of Jersey City, N.J. : a record of its early settlement and corporate progress, sketches of the towns and cities that were absorbed in the growth of the present municipality, its business, finance, manufactures and form of government, with some notice of the men who built the city > Part 6
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Mr. Gregory's removal to Jersey City was an important event for the town. He was thirty- four years of age, a man of affairs, possessed of large means, an extensive acquaintance and business relations, and he was a progressive public-spirited citizen. His life in the city, which continued forty years, has left footprints on the sands of time that never will be erased. Mr. Gregory was born in Reading, Fairfield County, Conn., February 5, 1800. His ancestors took an active part in the Revolutionary War, and removed to Albany in 1808. In 1814, Mr. Gregory was a clerk in the state comptroller's office, and held several important commands in the state militia. He was one of the guard-of-honor that received the Marquis de La Fayette, on his second visit to this country. He took an active part in every public movement after he settled in Jersey City. He was three times elected as a member of the Bergen County free- holders, to represent Bergen Township, as Hudson County was then called. He was twice elected to the Board of Selectmen of Jersey City, and became the first mayor under its city charter. He was sent to Congress from this district in 1846, and declined a renomination. There was no movement calculated to increase the wealth or prosperity, in which he was not a potent factor. He died December 8, 1874, and the whole city mourned the loss. Mr. Gregory built the first house in the sand lots. It stands on the corner of Sussex and Washington, and is now used for the Post Office.
Soon after Mr. Gregory's arrival he began a movement to have the ferry boats run at night. There was much complaint because the people were practically prisoners after nightfall. On
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HISTORY OF JERSEY CITY.
December 30, 1834, a meeting was held in Temperance Hall, at the northeast corner of Gregory and City Hall Piace, to devise means for securing night boats. Representative men from Newark and Paterson were present, and a committee consisting of R. Gilchrist, J. Cassidy, C. Van Vorst, G. Dummer, D. Henderson, J. Griffith and D. S. Gregory, was appointed to wait on the Associates. The Associates were slow in responding, and the Board of Selectmen passed resolutions on April 17th, urging night service. On April 20th the Associates reported through W. W. Woolsey, chairman of their committee, that the steamboat Washington would be put on night service as soon as it could be coppered and repaired. On June 8, 1835, the Washington be- gan half-hourly trips, until one o'clock at night. This event was celebrated by firing cannon, fireworks, bonfires, a band of music and a dinner. The impetus given by these events was felt in every direction. Auction sales of lots became frequent and were well attended. On June Ist a sale showed that lots on Essex and Morris streets, between Warren and Washington, were worth over $1,470 each. They were held at $500, with no buyers, two years before. On July 17th another sale showed that Montgomery Street property was appreciating. It had been a back street prior to that, with stables on the south side and the water front on the north, sweep- ing around to the windmill. On that day lot No. 28 Montgomery fetched $1,150; lot 30, $1,425; lots 42 and 44, $1,050 each; lot 85 Washington, $1,000; lot 87, next door and a corner, $1,550; lot 29 Mercer, $1,025; lot 31 Mercer, $1,000; lots 37 and 39 Mercer, $950 each; lot 25 Wayne, $1,000; and lots 27, 29 and 31 Wayne, each $800. All of these except 30 Montgomery Street and the four on Wayne Street were subject to the ground rent, and many of them required filling.
The selectmen were urged to make street improvements. Petitions were presented to have York Street west of Washington filled in, to have Essex, from Hudson to the middle of Greene, and Greene, from Grand to Essex, and Essex west to Washington filled in, dug out and graded. From this it is easy to guess the little progress that had been made. The selectmen were powerless. The charter gave them the authority to do these things but gave no power to levy assessments to pay for doing them. The people chafed under this restriction, and com- plained of the Associates, who were charged with impeding improvements in order to escape assessments on their land. On March 8, 1836, the legislature passed another supplement which conferred power on the selectmen to levy assessments for street improvements. This did not solve the problem. There were other expenses to be incurred for which assessments could not be made, and the general tax levy was limited to 8300. The lighting of the streets, the night watch, fire service, wells, pumps and cisterns, and payment of employees had required more money. The people would not vote more money for the use of the selectmen, and the funds raised by assessments for street improvements were used for current expenses. In this way financial difficulties were invited and came. In the meantime the Morris Canal was completed to Jersey City in 1836 and gave hopes of increased prosperity. The selectmen called a meet- ing on November 16, 1837, to get the consent of the town meeting to the expenditure of $2,500 for a fire engine. Only thirteen citizens responded, and of these twelve voted against the appropriation. The selectmen could not meet their obligations and gave notes which were not met at maturity. On March 4, 1837, Cummings and Pollock protested the city's note for $3,000. It was renewed for three months, and SI,ooo cash, with a new note for $2,000, was given on June roth. On July 17th the same firm's note for $2,440.72 was paid with $1,000 cash and a new note for $1,440.72. The people were afraid to allow the selectmen to have a larger budget. D. S. Gregory, who had been elected a member of the board, in order to save its credit, took up its notes amounting to $4,000. He also advised the board to issue certificates of loan. Acting on this advice, the board issued $12,000 in circulating certificates in denominations of twelve and a half cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents and seventy-five cents. These certificates, sometimes called " shinplasters," were engraved by Rawdon, Wright & Hatch of New York, and resembled the bank notes of the day. They were inscribed : "This certificate will be received by the corporation of Jersey City for the sum of fifty cents in pay- ment of loans or debts, or will be redeemed on the ist of August, 1838, with interest at one per cent. per annum. Issued in pursuance of an ordinance of the corporation, passed 17th July, 1837." The other certificates varied in the amount for which they were issued. Each had a picture of the Spanish silver coin on it representing the amount it was issued for. There was no law for issuing this currency and it did not take well. On September 1, 1837, the
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HISTORY OF JERSEY CITY.
selectmen directed the President, William Glaze, to cease signing warrants until the money was provided. Then one citizen offered a loan of $500. His offer was accepted without debate and two notes, cach for $250, were given as evidence. The lack of money continued to obstruct improvement, and the boom of earlier months of the year died out. The sales ceased and 10 buildings were commenced. The selectmen were not resting patiently. Efforts were made to get a better charter, but strong opposition was encountered, both in 1836 and 1837. The need for a change was so urgent that on January 9, 1838, a mass meeting was called to consider the situation. The board of selectmen then met in the "long room " of John Buck's hotel, 68 and 70 York Street. This was a large frame building with an entrance for teams under its eastern end. The long room was over this team entrance. There was a livery and exchange stable at the rear, extending to Montgomery Street. The hotel stood until 1891, when it was torn down to make way for the extension of the Evening Journal plant. The mass meeting was held in the "long room." John Griffith was chosen chairman, and Thomas A. Alexander, secretary. The needs of the town were fully discussed, and the new charter, as prepared by the selectmen, was unanimously approved. It was passed by the legislature on February 22, 1838. By this charter Jersey City was incorporated as a separate municipality. It had up to this time been a part of the township of Bergen. The act to incorporate Jersey City gave the new corporation the name of the "Mayor and Common Council of Jersey City." The boundary was extended on the east to the middle of the river. That settled the vexed question of riparian jurisdiction for a time. The mayor and common council were entrusted with complete municipal power to raise money by taxation and to prosecute improvements.
This charter had to be submitted to the citizens for their acceptance. Its opponents, who had failed to defeat it in the legislature hoped this would be a stumbling block. They were mistaken. The election was held, after required notice, on March 20th. The election inspectors who served at the last general election were called upon to serve. They were William R. Taylor, Charles Gardner and Job Male. The election was held in the school-house on Sussex Street. There were 186 votes cast, and only nine of them were against the charter. The selectmen held their last meeting on April 7th, and the mayor and common council held their first meeting on April 16th. Both meetings were held in Buck's hotel. The first mayor was Dudley S. Gregory, and the common councilmen were: Peter McMartin, James M. Hoyt, William Glaze, Henry Southmayd, Isaac Edge, John Dows, John Griffith, Peter Bentley, Jonathan Jenkins and Ebenezer Lewis.
Thus the rule of the Associates ended, but their influence existed long after all the orig- inal members were dead. The company still exists and retains much valuable property. The officers in 1895 are: Trustecs, F. Wolcott Jackson, C. B. Thurston, Henry D. Welsh, H. H. Houston, A. Parker Shortridge, Alexander M. Fox, Wm. H. Barnes, John P. Green and Samuel Rea; F. Wolcott Jackson, President ; C. B. Thurston, Secretary ; Jos. S. Vanzandt, Treasurer.
The company still owns the following property, viz .: North one-half of pier foot of Morris Street ; Lots 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 on Block 3 ; Lots 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 on Block 4; Lots to to 26, inclusive, on Block 5; all of Block 6, except Lots 6, 7 and 8, being 75x100 feet. cor. Hudson and York streets; and on Block 7, Lots II and 12 York Street ; all of the property east of Taylor's Hotel, and the piers foot of Sussex, Grand and York streets.
CHAPTER VII.
UNDER A CITY CHARTER-NEW LIFE INFUSED INTO THE LITTLE TOWN-WHAT ITS MAIN STREET THEN CONSISTED OF-HOW ITS INSTITUTIONS WERE ORIGINATED-THE FIRST ADDITION TO THE CITY'S AREA-DISAPPEARANCE OF ITS INLAND WATERWAY.
HE adoption of the charter of 1838 marks an epoch of special importance. Prior to that time the city had an anomalous government. The city was a part of the township of Bergen and consequently subject in some respects to the township government. It was subject to the special charter of the Associates in some important municipal matters. In addition to this dual government it had the tentative charters of 1820 and 1829. which added to the confusion. The Associates were anxious to see the city grow, because its growth would add to the value of their shares, but they were also unwilling to allow any form of government which would confer power on anyone to levy assessments on their property. Their holding still constituted four-fifths of the 1,334 lots into which the land had been divided and their influence was exerted against the only plan by which the city's growth could be stimulated. This influence was so potent with the legislature that the residents were defeated year after year in their attempts to secure legislative relief. The efforts inade by the Associates to attract men of means and enterprise were moderately successful, but the more that men of this class established homes and business in the city, the more the influence of the Associates declined. The passage of the new charter by the legislature and its adoption by the people was mainly due to a concentration of effort by the new life that had been attracted. The emergent city was freed from the clouds which had obscured its prospects and threatened its existence during the preceding thirty-four years. It had at last acquired the power to protect its independence. The result justified all that had been said and done on behalf of the little city. Before another period of thirty-four years had passed the village of less than 2,000 popu- lation which celebrated the passage of the charter, had taken rank as seventeenth among the cities of the nation. This glorious future was only visible to the eye of faith in 1839. What was physically visible was not very prepossessing. The boys used to run across lots from the old school-house in Sussex Street to a point near where the old City Hall stands, on Newark Avenue, to go in swimming. They would wait to see "the mail ride by " (a man on horseback carried the bag), then they would follow a path to the creek and swim without fear of inter- ruption from meddling policemen. The creek extended at that time on the line of Railroad Avenue to Newark Avenue. It was bordered on both sides by broad reaches of calamus plants. The shad fishers rowed in from the river and sold their fish from the boats on the Newark turnpike, and thus accommodated the residents of Jersey City and Van Vorst. The only house on the north side of Newark Avenue was near Henderson Street, and was occupied by a fisher who had a fish market. His yard ran down to the creek. Besides "the path in the cattails " worn by boys going in swimming, there was only one other path between Newark Avenue and Railroad Avenue leading north, and that was the path to North Point, which passed just west of the Windmill Wharf. Newark Avenue in Jersey City was simply a mac- adam roadway through the marsh.
The passage of the charter infused new life into the people, and many plans were put in operation for the general good. The well-to-do citizens lived in the section south of Grand Street and east of Washington. It was the habit of the men to call at David Smith's store on the northwest corner of Grand and Greene streets. This was a common meeting place for those who had no taste for sitting in drinking places. During the informal talks around the stove in this store the needs of the town were freely discussed, and from them came the gas-works and, later, the water-works. One night these visitors decided that the city should have a savings bank. That was soon after the charter was adopted, and in the following February the legis-
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HISTORY OF JERSEY CITY.
lature passed the act creating the Provident Institution for Savings. The incorporators were all visitors at the store, and included the most notable citizens. They were : John F. Ellis, Thaddeus B. Wakeman, John K. Goodinan, Samuel Cassedy, Cornelius Van Vorst, David Hen- derson, Henry Traphagen, John Frazer, John Gilbert, George Dummer, Jabez Wakeman, Wil- liam Barrow, Edgar Olcott, Cornelius Kanouse, J. Dickinson Miller, Phineas Dummer, Thomas A. Alexander, Job Male, John Bruce, Darwin F. Rockwell, James W. Higgins, William Wool- sey, William A. Paradise, John P. Hill, Johnson Durant, James Wilson, George Frazer, Stephen Garretson, Isaac Seaman, David Jones, Peter Sip, Hartman Van Wagenen, Jacob D. Van Winkle, Jacob Vreeland, Mayor D. S. Gregory and the members of the Common Council. The distrust of banks in the little community was well founded, and a number of meetings were held and much time wasted before the bank was organized. The officers were not elected until September 29, 1843. It is now one of the permanent institutions of the city.
The boundary between Jersey City and the township of Van Vorst was poorly defined. Creeks entered the marsh from north and south. During the revolution these were connected by a broad ditch. It was the intention of the founders of Jersey City to deepen and widen this waterway. Unfortunately, those who came after them were not so wise. They thought the ereeks and ditches should be filled up. As a preliminary to this work they had a supplement to the charter passed at the session of 1839, by which the boundary of the city was extended westerly along the northerly side of First Street to the centre of Grove Street, and thence southerly to the line of South Street in Communipaw Cove. This was the first enlargement of the city's area. It was also the beginning of a movement which resulted in having the swamps and creeks filled in and brought to grade. It brought Jersey City much nearer to the neighboring town of Van Vorst and prepared the way for its absorption.
The first meeting of the Common Council under the new charter was held on April 16, 1838, in Buck's Hotel, which still served as the City Hall. The influence of Mayor D. S. Gregory was a stimulus and a broader policy was inaugurated. The city's deficiency was found to be $4,533.79 if all assessments were paid. Under the old regime this would have been con- sidered a dangerous sum, but it was passed as an incident that would be taken care of in due season. A new profile miap was ordered, and in response to a shoal of petitions portions of Wayne and Washington streets, and all streets west of Washington Street, between Grand and Montgomery were ordered graded. A new fire engine, to be known as No. 2, and 200 feet of hose were ordered at a cost of $920, and repairing on the old fire engine was ordered at a cost of $341. Licenses for liquor saloons and shad fisheries were ordered and a revenue derived from them. Mayor Gregory, who was also a member of the Board of Freeholders, was directed to get $3,800 that was due to Jersey City as its share of the surplus revenne apportioned among the States by the general government. As the spring wore into summer the council kept at its work, and much was accomplished. The school house on Sussex Street was moved to the rear of the lot at a cost of $1,300, a bridge was built across the canal at Warren Street, wells and pumps were planted in many places, the grade map was established and 10,000 loads of earth filling ordered for street improvement. The street committee asked for 17,847 cubic yards of earth, and $6,000 was borrowed to pay for it and the necessary labor. The loan certificates of the selectmen were called in and the plates ordered destroyed. Public wharves were ordered built on Hudson Street, from York to Mercer. The paving of Montgomery, York, Grand, Sus- sex, Morris and Essex streets, from Warren to Washington, and Warren from Essex to Mont- gomery, was ordered. An ordinance to regulate curbing, guttering and paving was passed; a stone retaining wall ordered for the east side of Greene Street, from Wayne to Steuben, to pre- vent the filling from sinking into the marsh, and Greene from Wayne to Steuben, Steuben from Greene to Washington and Washington from Steuben to Wayne were ordered filled in. Sus- sex Street from Warren to Grove was ordered graded. Two new engine houses were ordered built at a cost of $2,000. A wharf was built at the foot of Montgomery Street. The school house on Sussex Street was practically rebuilt at a cost of $700, and the reconstructed building was officially designated the Town House. Flag sidewalks were laid on Essex, Morris, Sussex, Grand, York and Montgomery streets, from Washington to Warren, and on Warren from Essex to Montgomery Street. Grand Strect from Greene to Hudson was sewered and repaved by the city at the expense of J. P. Hill, the sewer contractor, who had neglected to do it. All this material advancement was completed before January 1, 1839. The new council had done more
.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY CITY.
in its first nine months than all of its predecessors. Even this formidable list of work done did not cover its industry. Peter Bentley had been appointed corporation attorney, and had attacked the Morris Canal Company for infringing on city property in Bergen Street. George Dummer had been prosecuted for squatting on the market square at the foot of Washington Street ; assess- ments had been made a lien on property, and property had been sold for unpaid taxes and assessments, the sale being for a terin of years ; an ordinance against sunken lots and stagnant water had been adopted and all such lots ordered filled in ; ordinances had been passed to punish unlicensed saloonkeepers, to provide a city physician and to supervise wharves and wharfage, and to provide for the free education of the children of indigent parents. Engine No. 2 had been located at 30 and 32 Sussex Street and the council chamber had been finished in the new town house.
The finances had been looked after carefully. The unpaid taxes were reduced to $87.12, and $8,056.68 of the old scrip had been redeemed, besides $1,000 that was exchanged for a bond by Benjamin O. Edge, one of the public-spirited citizens. An arrearage of $1,542. 11 was col- lected from the Associates on account of assessments ; Mayor Gregory had been paid $4,000 that he advanced to the old city government ; a committee had been appointed to secure a settle- ment of the school funds from the corporation of Bergen Town and Bergen County, and a part of the new town house was set apart for a public school, and Mayor Gregory had obtained $3,500 from the county for Jersey City's share of the surplus revenue. Nine wells had been sunk, at a cost of nearly $1,000, and at the end of the current year the receipts had been $11,819.11, and the disbursements $10, 103.29, outside of bonds issued.
Nathaniel Ellis had been appointed poundmaster, city prison keeper, city marshal, and janitor of the town house, in which a dwelling had been provided for him. He was the most dignified man in the city, probably on account of the number of titles he bore. The business transacted revealed some defects in the charter, as was to be expected, and in December a committee was directed to report a bill to be presented at the ensning session of the legislature as a supplenient to the charter. The supplement was to make all assessments a lien ; to increase the council's power in opening and extending streets ; to limit the height of wooden buildings ; to authorize excavation of docks ; to authorize the city to fill in sunken lots at the expense of the owners, and to regulate partition walls and fences. The bill was sent to the legislature in February. The advent of winter had put an end to out-of-doors work, but the mayor and council maintained their activity, and at the end of the fiscal year, in April, 1839, had trans- formed the city. They had not only made material and visible improvements in excess of all that had been done by their predecessors, but they had infused public spirit into a large pro- portion of the 2,500 persons who composed the population.
Justy Cin 1879.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE COUNTV SEAT AT HACKENSACK TOO FAR AWAY-MEETINGS HELD TO SECURE BRANCH COUNTY OFFICES-THE PLAN FAILS AND PETITIONS SENT TO THE LEGISLATURE FOR A NEW COUNTY- OPPOSED BV BERGEN COUNTY-ARGUMENTS PRESENTED AT TRENTON-HUDSON COUNTY SET OFF -OFFICERS ELECTED-A COURT HOUSE BUILT.
HE growth of Jersey City and the contiguous towns had materially augmented the business their residents had to transact at the County Court House. This was situated at Hackensack, and trips to the court house involved time and expense that became burdensomne. One of the questions that agitated the residents of Jersey City was the search for means to remedy this evil. It was suggested that the principal county officers should appoint deputies for Jersey City and that the court should sit in Jersey City some portion of each term. After Jersey City was fairly started as a municipality these temporary propositions were swept away by a plan to have the lower part of Bergen County set off to form a new county. This plan was very popular in that part of Bergen County which now constitutes Hudson County. Bergen then had 195,290 acres of area, and the part that was asked for to form a new county had an area of 47,666 acres. It included what is now Union Township, then called Lodi, in Bergen County. Meetings were held in Jersey City and the other towns to further the erection of the new county, and a bill was presented to the legislature at the session of 1838, but it failed, the most effective argument against it being of a political nature. It would have created a Whig county. The agitation was continued during the following year, and again the legislature failed to pass the bill. The question would not down at the bidding of the poli- ticians, and meetings were held in Lodi and Bergen townships at various times, and petitions were circulated that secured the signatures of a majority of the residents, of whom there were 12,000. On January 12, 1840, the petitions were presented to the legislature. These set forth the disadvantages under which the people labored. A large number of the residents lived from ten to fifteen miles from the court house. Jurors were inconvenienced and burdened with ex- penses ; witnesses were harassed by having to attend court from day to day before being called, and were unable to return to their families and business. Two-thirds of the eases before the courts came from the southern end of the county, and the accumulation of causes involved delay and inconvenience to the parties to suits and to their witnesses. The traveling expenses and hotel bills made legal redress cost excessively and deterred many from obtaining justice. The difficulty and expense of access to the records caused many to pass and accept real estate con- veyance without proper searches, and thus clouds were formed on titles. The great expense attending the arrest and removal of prisoners to the county jail prevented proper policing and thus endangered the security of property. The geographical peculiarities of the two town- ships and the commercial and manufacturing future of the southern part of the county were set forth, and the strides already made in that direction were demonstrated. It was shown that it was the unanimous wish of all the residents and property owners to be allowed a separate municipal existence.
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