USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume II > Part 10
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The first tavern in the township is supposed to have occupied the site where Samuel Gordon, Jr., built his brick house in the village of Washington, allusion to which has heretofore been made, and was kept for many years by Peter Obert. The next inn was the East Bruns- wick House, on Main street, and conducted for many years by the late Benjamin B. Walker. Abraham Barkelew and Joseph Gulick built the Washington Hotel, also on Main street, and it was for a long time under the management of the genial J. Cyrus Voorhees. Capt. Samuel Martin was the landlord in 1823. He was a noted pilot and took several steamers to California through Magellan's Straits.
Samuel Whitehead, a native of England, came to this county about 1820, purchased a large tract of land about four miles from Washington, engaged in peach culture, and accumulated a fortune. Retiring from that business about 1850, he commenced the mining and selling of fire clays, fire and moulding sands and kaolin, which has ever since been one of the most important industries in this locality. He found upon the lands of this, and adjoining townships, adjacent to river navi- gation, the above mentioned materials, which in a few years became the only source of supply of those articles to New York and other cities. The business is most successfully carried on by the third generation of the family. Whitehead, Jacob Eaton and Samuel Stout were actively engaged in the manufacture of white and stoneware between 1840-1860. Other miners and manufacturers of clay have been James Bissett, Wil-
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lett & Yates, and Pettit & Miller, the last named being the ultimate successors to John Griggs, who established the first yard. At Old Bridge, between 1835-1840, Leonard Appleby, James C. Stout and a Van Wickle manufactured fanning mills; and Stout also was engaged in distilling apple brandy and whiskey until 1878. John Dill operated a snuff mill about 1860, and his son William conducted the business until 1875.
The Washington Monumental Cemetery, established December 6, 1856, is located on an elevation just outside South River borough. It is well shaded by cedar trees and kept in excellent order. In the centre stands a monument about twenty-five feet high, on which are cut the names of the contributors to its erection in 1857. The Chestnut Hill Cemetery is situated on land purchased from James Bissett in 1861, northwest from and overlooking Old Bridge village.
On February 28, 1870, the Legislature passed an act providing that the town of Washington should be governed by a board of commission- ers, elected annually, and defining the limits of the town as follows: "Beginning at South river, in a line of lands between Randolph Low and John Culver, and running thence, first, up said line, and on the same course, to the centre of the road leading from Old Bridge to New Brunswick, near (former) Sheriff Bissett's house; second, following the centre of said road, the different courses thereof, to a line of lands between Charles Vandeventer's and Messrs. Messler's; third, down the said line, and a line of Garline and Abraham Vandeventer to South River aforesaid; and fourth, up said river, the courses thereof, to the place of beginning." Among the commissioners have been Garret I. Snedeker, James Bissett, Charles Whitehead, W. C. Barkelew, Daniel Morgan, Fred Stults, George E. Brown, Thomas Booraem, Jonathan H. Peterson, Isaac N. Blew and Charles Serviss.
Captain Thomas McDowell, who succeeded the firm of Gulick & McDowell, merchants, of Washington village, had an active and pic- turesque career. In 1836 he built a sloop for the river trade, in 1838 a vessel for the coasting trade, and in 1848 a steamer for the Southern trade. In 1849 he became a pioneer merchant and business man, and an official at Sacramento City, California, and is said to have been mayor of that city. He revisited California in 1852 and 1858, was in business in Melbourne, Australia, in 1853-55, and was United States consul at the Cape of Good Hope, 1862-1864. He was fine looking, a good talker, and possessed of considerable ability.
It is almost impossible to get a correct list of the Revolutionary soldiers from this vicinity; but, after consulting the paper written by the late Dr. Charles D. Deshler, of New Brunswick, in 1882, and other authorities, we are inclined to believe that the following were from this part of the county : Captain Thomas Combs, Lieut. Andrew McDowell,
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Sergeants Simon Messler and James Griggs; Andrew Bissett, James Chambers, Jonathan, Samuel, Stephen and William Combs, William Davison, Peter Obert, Benjamin Ogden, Frederick Outgelt, Isaac Snediker, Peter Stults, Samuel and Hartshorn Willett and Samuel Whitehead.
Old Bridge is a thriving village of about 2,000 population, located at the head of navigation on South river and is on the former Camden & Amboy railroad, about nine miles from Perth Amboy. It derives its name from the fact that the first bridge over the South river was built there, and as other bridges were placed across the stream, the first one became the "Old Bridge." It early became a point from which large quantities of produce, wood, and other merchandise, some of which was brought from miles beyond the limits of the county, were shipped, by way of South river, to New York. Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, Gen. James Morgan and Jacob Van Wickle operated a pottery until 1828, and a second venture of a similar char- acter was started by one of the Bissetts about 1815 and continued until 1830. General Obadiah Herbert settled in the village in 1810, becoming a large property owner. He opened a store, built a dock and ware- houses, and engaged largely in shipping wood and other merchantable property to New York. He had several vessels for the trade built in the village, and a ship yard was operated there for several years. A distillery established by James C. Stout in 1835, Van Wickle's fanning mill factory from 1835-1840, and that of Stout & Appleby from 1840- 1850, and the snuff mill operated successively by John and William Dill, 1860-75, were prominent enterprises of the past. A sawmill, clothing factory, and a blacksmith and wheelwright shop were also in operation.
There are two churches, the Simpson Methodist Episcopal and the Independent Bethel Baptist. The public school is a handsome brick building, and is attended by about 125 scholars. Many of the older pupils attend high schools in New Brunswick and Jamesburg. Judge Andrew J. Disbrow, once sheriff, was postmaster for over forty-five years. There are two hotels and an excellent store.
The following are the principal officials of East Brunswick township: Russell B. Herbert, assessor; George D. Rue, collector and treasurer ; William L. Green, Alexander S. Conover and Henry Warnsdorfer, town- ship committee; and Asher B. Rue, clerk.
South Brunswick Township-The township is situated in the extreme southwestern part of the county, and bounded as follows: North by North and East Brunswick townships; east by East Brunswick, Monroe and Cranbury townships; south by Cranbury township and Mercer county ; and west by Somerset county. Its greatest length north and south was slightly more than eight miles, and from its extreme eastern to its extreme western part it measured eleven miles. The most exten-
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sive township of the county at the time of its organization, and one of the earliest formed, it has long been historically one of the most inter- esting of those south of the Raritan. Its area was considerably reduced in 1872 by the formation from its territory of a portion of Cranbury township.
The township was organized about 1685. In 1841 the Legislature authorized the township to vote by ballot at town meetings. Previous to that, the voters appointed a moderator, who conducted the elections by standing a candidate for office in a conspicuous place, and directing that such voters as were in favor of his election should place themselves on a given side of the road, and those opposed upon the opposite side. The count of votes was made by the moderator and the result declared.
The nearness of the township to Princeton and Trenton caused it to be early occupied, and the passage through it of the Trenton turn- pike, and the more winding George's road, known later as the New Brunswick and Cranbury turnpike, have rendered it long familiar to travelers from New Brunswick southward. The old Friendship and Ridge roads were much traveled thoroughfares in the southern part, and the "great ditch," as it was called, in the northeastern part, is evi- dence of the time and money expended in the drainage of Pigeon Swamp, an extensive tract of marshland, long unreclaimed. The "Indian Fields," near the southeastern extremity, mark the location of an encampment when settlement began.
The land is drained by Lawrence brook, which rises in the northern part of the township; by Devil's brook, in the southwestern; and by Heathcote's brook in the western part, the two last-named emptying into Millstone river, which flows for a considerable distance along the southern and western boundary of the township. The soil is fair tillable land and, like the greater part of the county south of the Raritan, abounds in gravel and contains much sandy and clayey loam. The New York division of the Pennsylvania railroad traverses the township north and south, and at Monmouth Junction unites with the Rocky Hill railroad and western extension of the Freehold & James- burg railroad. The Delaware and Raritan canal has its course in a northerly and southerly direction across the township's western part, parallel with the Millstone river, which it crosses by an acqueduct near Gray's Mills.
Along the stage routes, taverns were established at an early date at Rhode Hall. Dayton and Kingston, and about these inns settlements gradually formed until the locality became generally populated. The pioneer landlord at Rhode Hall was David Williamson, from Scotland, who bestowed upon the little settlement the name by which it has since been known. He came about 1730, purchased a large tract of land, and gathered about him a number of families, the majority of
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which were Scotch by birth, or descent. Thomas McDowell located there in 1774, purchased Williamson's estate and engaged in farming and innkeeping. The Terhune family lived at Dayton, it is believed, as early as 1700, and there is a record of the birth of Garret Terhune, at South Brunswick, in 1737. Simmons and John Pierson, farmers, set- tled in the neighborhood about 1760. About 1774, Farrington Barkelew became an extensive landowner. John Probasco, carpenter, came about 1775. The Van Dyke family located here before the Revolution, and left many descendants. Reuben Van Pelt and Benjamin Petty, farmers, located here between 1775 and 1780. William and John Rue, farmers, were early settlers, the latter living in the township during the Revo- lution.
As early as 1700, Jediah Higgins purchased 1,000 acres near Kingston, from the Indians, the price being "a sow and a litter of pigs." This will doubtless seem strange to many, who do not know of the love of the redmen for fresh pork. The Claytons have been and still are an influential family in the township. It is thought the first of the name was John, who located here soon after the Revolution. Samuel Combs settled at Fresh Ponds about 1780, bought much land and established the first distillery in the township. Isaac and Daniel Slover, Hollanders, came about 1785. In a list of residents of the township who claimed to have sustained loss or damage to property during the Revolution appear the names of Armstrong, Bayles, Britton, Cruser, De Witt, Griggs, Groendyke, Longstreet, Skillman, Stothoff, Van Tine, Wagner and Wetherell. The settlement at Kingston, which is partly in South Brunswick, Somerset and Mercer counties, began at a very early date. Van Tilburgh and Withington were the pioneer landlords, the former's house being honored by frequent visits from Gen. Washington and the early Governors of the Province. Withington's was a great stage depot and one of the most famous hostelries in East Jersey.
It was at Kingston that Washington's army eluded the British on the day of the battle of Princeton, by filing off to the left at the church, down a narrow road leading to Rocky Hill, while the enemy, supposing he had gone to New Brunswick to destroy their winter stores, kept on the main road.
Dayton, a village southeast of the center of the township, and on the line of the New York division of the Pennsylvania railroad, was named in honor of William L. Dayton, of Trenton. On October 16, 1869, a Presbyterian church with fifty-eight members, principally from the First and Second Churches of Cranbury, was organized. The church was dedicated in 1870, the first pastor being Rev. J. W. Hubbard. The Baptist church was erected in 1848, and the first service was conducted by Rev. Jacob Gessner. No records of the church are known to exist, but a legal organization is maintained. A church was built at Monmouth
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Junction in 1879, and was devoted to use of all Christian denominations. An old frame church was built many years ago, and served as a mis- sion church under the auspices of the Methodist Protestant denomina- tion.
It is very probable that the first school house built was near Kingston. It is known that a church existed there in 1723 and that shortly after a school was connected with it. The first school house of which any information has been obtained was built in 1776. In 1831 another was erected in the southern portion of the township. There were early schools at Dayton (once called Cross Roads), and Rhode Hall. The present public schools are located at the following points : Sand Hills, Deans, Fresh Ponds, Ridge, Dayton, Rhode Hall, Pleasant Hill, King- ston and Monmouth Junction.
Gray's Mill, Gray's grist mill, on the Millstone river, in the south- western part of the township, is the successor of a mill which stood there many years before the Revolution and was first known as the Aqueduct Mill, the earliest proprietor being one Cooley. During the Revolution it was burned, rebuilt and finally became the property of Alexander Gray, from whom the locality gained its present name. About 1810 Abraham built a sawmill at what is now known as Deans Station, on the Pennsylvania railroad. Aaron, Abraham's son, built a grist mill adjacent to the sawmill. In 1845 John H. Martin built several houses and opened a store there, and from that time until after the rail- road station was established the hamlet was known as Martinsville. In 1852 Mr. Martin and J. C. Powers operated distilleries at and near Deans. Hay presses were established at Deans and Dayton in 1873 and 1875. North of Mapleton, on the Millstone river are quarries of gray freestone, which were used in the construction of locks on the Delaware and Raritan canal.
The first public house in Dayton was kept by James Whitlock in 1750. Thomas Wetherel built and conducted an inn there until about 1818. Abraham Terhune erected the Exchange Hotel in 1860. The first store was kept by Mrs. Abigail Van Pelt, who retailed all kinds of dry, and a considerable amount of "wet goods." Thomas W. Schenck conducted a remunerative store for about thirty years. Andrew Ely, a prominent citizen and formerly a chosen freeholder, has conducted an excellent general store for many years.
Fresh Ponds, a hamlet, is located at a cross roads in the northeastern part of the township. It was so-called because of its proximity to several marshy ponds, known collectively as Pigeon Swamp, some years ago partially drained by the improvement heretofore alluded to as "the great ditch."
Mapleton, taking its name from a family formerly located there, is a hamlet on the turnpike from Trenton to New Brunswick, and fifteen miles from the latter city.
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Among former chosen freeholders have been Aaron Dean, John Smock, Frederick Farr, Thomas W. Schenck, Gabriel Ten Broeck, Clarence M. Slack (afterward county clerk), David D. Applegate, John L. Suydam and Andrew Ely.
The present township officials are: N. H. Vreeland, assessor ; Ferd. S. Rule, collector and treasurer ; William Oberman, chairman ; Reuney D. Petty and W. W. Emmons, township committee; George Walter; Walter Suydam, counsel; Dr. Edward Carroll, physician; William R. Perkins, president ; Frank R. Stout, clerk; Reuney D. Petty, Harvey R. Dey, Salter Slover, C. B. Garretson, John Terhune, Noah Golden and William Van Dyke, Board of Education ; Floyd L. Evans, supervising principal; Board of Health-Township committee, assessor and town- ship physician.
CHAPTER XXXI. TOWNSHIPS OF MONROE, MADISON, RARITAN AND CRANBURY.
Monroe is the most southern township in the county, and is bounded on the north by East Brunswick township, on the east by Madison township and Monmouth county, on the south by Monmouth and Mercer counties. and on the west by Cranbury and South Brunswick township. It was named in honor of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. It is watered centrally by the Manalapan river, and along its eastern border by Matchaponix creek, which, uniting at its northern extremity, form the South river. These two streams were so named by the Indians as descriptive of the country through which they flow, as it was regarded by them, "manalapan" signifying a good country, producing good bread, and "matchaponix" not producing anything out of which good bread might be made. The surface of the township is rolling, and the soil quite productive, containing clayey and sandy loam to a considerable extent.
In 1684 the Proprietors of East Jersey offered to grant fifty acres of land to each head of a family settling in the Province, and twenty-five acres to each member of the family. Acting upon this offer James Johnstone came from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1685, and settled on the southern bank of Manalapan river, near Spotswood, and within the present borders of Monroe township. He soon purchased additional land, extending toward Matchaponix creek, and was probably the first person to reclaim land in the township. William Davison, another Scotsman, located on a tract, part of which is now within the limits of Jamesburg borough. He had many descendants, who did much in improving the land and promoting the agricultural interests in that vicinity. Other early settlers were Tice and Peter Mount, Englishmen, at Matchaponix, known locally afterward as "Texas," in the north- eastern part of the township; also, at Matchaponix, Joseph Perrine, of French extraction, his ancestors having fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and came to Perth Amboy on the "Caledonia." Peter Vanderhoof, James Gulick, farmer and black- smith, and Thomas McDowell, all settled at Rhode Hall, now in East Brunswick township. James Snediker, of Dutch nativity, located near the South Brunswick line, and lived to the age of one hundred. Cornelius Van Dorne and Henry Stults settled in the vicinity of Prospect Plains.
About 1745, Rev. David Brainerd, a Scotsman, who as a missionary had first preached to the Indians in the woods near Albany, New York, turned his attention to the Indians at the forks of the Delaware and at
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Crossweeksung, and his labors met with remarkable success in the fol- lowing year. When Alexander Redmond purchased the property in 1841, many cellars showing the location of the Brainerd settlement were visible, and Mr. Redmond long retained stones that had been used as hearths and many relics of the Indians were exhumed there. The brook from which Wigwam Grove took its name has its source in springs located in the former settlement. An old deed was in possession of Mr. Redmond dated July 12, 1754, whereby Rev. John Brainerd, brother of David, conveyed to Peter Deremer the land adjacent to Wigwam brook, including lands afterward owned by the Redmond family, Edmund Rue and the James Buckelew estate. The historic character of this locality is also interesting from the fact that Rev. William Tennent, at that time the remarkable pastor of the Tennent Church, at Englishtown, Monmouth county, was colaborer of Brainerd in his work. On the Monroe side of the Manalapan river were found remnants of a dam said to have been used by the Forge Company (Perry, Corne and Hays), before the Revolution.
The old burying ground on the farm of the State Home for Boys, near Jamesburg, is undoubtedly the oldest graveyard in the township. An old building that stood there for many years, it is said, was built during the French war of 1754-56, and was used for the confinement of French prisoners. In the graveyard are headstones bearing date previous to that time. In 1778, when the British army evacuated Phila- delphia, and the American soldiers pursued from June 26th to the 28th, the patriot army was almost within hailing distance of Jamesburg, and the inhabitants were very much in evidence, and gave all the aid in their power to their brothers in arms. William Lyon, a Continental soldier, served throughout the war, and was in almost all the battles in which the Jersey troops were engaged. He died in the township in 1841.
The history of the early schools at Matchaponix are shrouded in the mists of antiquity. They were of the kind known as "pay" schools, supported by popular subscription, and do not appear to have been kept in regular school houses. The first remembered were log cabins of a primitive character, and the teachers were men who came to the settlement without any regular employment and opened schools, depend- ing upon the voluntary support of the inhabitants. A desire on the part of many citizens for more educational advantages than were afforded by the public schools induced Mr. James Buckelew and others in 1873 to erect a building for the use of an academic school, and to be known as the Jamesburg Institute. It was completed and opened that year by Mr. M. Oakey, and proved a decided success. The district public schools throughout the townships are now known as follows: Half- Acre, Matchaponix, Monroe, Grove, Old Church and Gravel Hill.
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Monroe township was created by act of the Council (Senate) and General Assembly of the State on February 23, 1838, and included all that portion of South Amboy township lying west of Matchaponix creek and South river, consisting of about 22,000 acres. A portion of East Brunswick township was taken from Monroe in 1860, and a por- tion of Cranbury township in 1872. The first town meeting was held at the house of Jacob Van Cleef, inn-keeper, April 2, 1838. Robert R. Vanderberg was town clerk continuously for thirty-two years. The first town committee consisted of Aaron Gulick, Peter W. Dey, John Applegate, Lewis Riggs and Thomas Potts. Among the Chosen Free- holders have been Joseph C. Magee, David M. and George Perrine, Anthony and John B. Applegate, Samuel D. Vanderberg, Peter Voor- hees, William Perrine, Frank Pownall and Robert R. Vanderberg.
In 1845 James Buckelew and Nathaniel Rue established a stage route between Jamesburg and Freehold, connecting with the railroad to New York, carrying in the second year 5,000 through passengers. Afterward they operated a through line from Philadelphia to Long Branch, which gave way to the Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural railroad, which began to run trains daily from Freehold July 18, 1853.
The State Home for Boys (formerly known as the New Jersey Reform School), providing for a reform farm school for boys between the ages of eight and sixteen, was founded by the Legislature in 1865. A farm of 490 acres was purchased near Jamesburg, buildings erected, and the school opened July 6, 1867. The boys are taught the elementary branches of learning and are accustomed to farming. When regarded as fit for removal (in not less than a year after admission to the school), homes are sought for them, the trustees continuing their guardianship over them during their minority. The first board of control consisted of Governor Ludlow, Chancellor Runyon and Chief Justice Beasley, with six others, among whom were Moses S. Higbie, of South Amboy, and George W. Helme, of Jersey City.
The Soldiers' Monument in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, at Cranbury, bears the names of the heroes of Monroe who gave their lives in their country's service during the Civil War. It is to the honor and credit of the township that in response to the demand of the President for the township quota of soldiers in 1864, a subscription was raised to defray the expense of placing the requisite number of men in the field, and so generous was the response that only half the money subscribed was required, and the balance was returned to the subscribers pro rata.
The Jamesburg Sunday School Convention Association was organ- ized in 1866, and continued to hold annual assemblages in Wigwam Grove on the fourth Wednesday of August until about 1900. The origi- nators were John Dunn Buckelew, T. Wilton Hill, John D. and Wm. H. Courter, Rev. Dr. Benjamin S. Everitt, Alfred Davison, Joseph C.
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