USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume II > Part 11
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Magee, J. B. Tallman, F. L. Buckelew, William H. Mount, L. E. Riddle, A. I. Richardson, Franklin and Alfred W. Dey, C. W. Johnson, J. B. Thompson and others. It is estimated that as many as 12,000 persons attended some of these gatherings.
Half-Acre is a small village, about two and one-half miles from Jamesburg. There are several curious stories as to how it gained its name, the most probable one being that in ancient times there were two roads passing the hostelry, one in front and the other in the rear. The latter was fenced in by the proprietor, Daniel Lott, said to have been the first occupant. This left an inclosure behind the tavern of half an acre, which caused the name of Half-Acre to be applied to the inn and later to the immediate vicinity. Prospect Plains is a station and a little village on the old Camden & Amboy railroad, on the western border of the township. Other small villages and hamlets are Red Tavern, Union Valley and Old Church.
The following are the principal officials of the township: Assessor, Robert R. Vanderbergh ; collector, Ernest A. Mount; treasurer, Harvey H. Dey ; clerk, Fred A. Clayton ; Board of Education-James F. Tilton, president ; Frank M. Denton, A. G. Farr, G. Duer Platt, Abijah Apple- gate, Raymond Croshaw, John R. and Harry M. Dey; and George Mount, clerk; town committee-John H. Butcher, Howard P. Jemison and Peter F. Dey ; counsel, John V. B. Wyckoff ; and physician, Dr. J. C. Shinn, Jamesburg.
Madison Township-This township is on the eastern border of the county, slightly south of the centre, and is a little more than eight miles in length, with an average width of about four miles. Its boundaries are: North, South Amboy and Raritan Bay; southeast, Monmouth county ; southwest, Monroe township; and northwest, East Brunswick township and South Amboy. The area is 19,560 acres, and much of it was formerly heavily wooded. The surface is rolling, and watered by several creeks and streams, the largest being Cheesequake creek, rising in the northern part and emptying into the Raritan river in the north- west corner of the township, forming for a short distance the boundary line between South Amboy and Madison. It is navigable nearly to its headwaters. Deep run, a mill stream of some importance, furnishes good water power in the western portion of the township, and empties into South river a little northwest of the Madison line. Tenant's creek and Iresick's brook both flow into South river, the former near the township boundary line, and the latter near the Bloomfield Mills.
South river and Matchaponix creek wash nearly two-thirds of the western border, and have been a source of material prosperity to the territory adjacent to them. The portion bordering on Monmouth is considerably higher than the remainder of the township, and more valuable for agricultural purposes. The soil is red shale and sandy
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loam; and west of Cheesequake creek are extensive and valuable beds of fire and potter's clays, which are a leading article of commerce. The native timber is pine, cedar, maple, ash and various varieties of oak, some of it having been found well adapted for ship-building and com- manding a ready and profitable sale. The Camden & Amboy branch of the Pennsylvania railroad runs along the northwestern border of the township for some distance, Old Bridge and Spotswood being conven- ient stations.
It is probable that settlement began at Cheesequake, near the head of navigation on Cheesequake creek, and that there, and in the Brown- town neighborhood, the majority of the pioneers located. The first of the recorded land owners did not become residents; but purchased the property with a view to its future value. On a map of the Raritan and South rivers, and the country bordering them for some distance inland, which was made between 1683 and 1686, by John Reid, deputy surveyor under George Keith (spoken of as a "disaffected Quaker," sent out by an English Episcopal organization, as a missionary), several tracts of land at the mouth of Cheesequake creek are shown as belonging to T. L. and S. Winder, 1,000 acres; the Scots Proprietors and William Dockwra, 2,000 acres; and T. Warne, 1,000, portions of which must have been in the township as at present bounded. No connection between the Warne above mentioned and the present family of that name in Madison has been traced.
David Owens settled near Cheesequake about 1730. One of his descendants owned a farm on the road to South Amboy, a portion of which contained one of the clay mines of Whitehead Brothers, of South River. David Hall at an early date located on the road from Cheesequake to Matawan, Monmouth county, and died there in the early part of 1800, leaving several descendants. David Bound came from Monmouth county about 1800, and owned a large tract of land along Raritan Bay shore. Members of the family are still residents of the township. Gen. James Morgan's father was an early settler in Cheese- quake, was largely interested in land extending along the Cheesequake creek to its mouth, and was a manufacturer of pottery before the Revo- lution. The general removed to South Amboy, and a number of his descendants continued to reside there for many years. Thomas Warne settled on the Mount Pleasant and Old Bridge turnpike previous to 1800 and purchased a tract of 1,000 acres, a considerable portion of which is now owned by numerous descendants.
Wynant Wood came to the township about 1800, and spent the remainder of his life there, leaving a large family. Edward Furman, grandfather of the late Noah Furman, of South Amboy, was an early settler on South river, near Old Bridge. He was a large shipper of wood from Old Bridge and South Amboy, and bought and sold much
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woodland. Josiah Burlew, whose father emigrated from Bokoluh, Han- over, Germany, was in the Revolutionary War, and lived on the main road from Cheesequake to South Amboy. His descendants still reside in the township. Mulford Martin was an early resident of Piscataway, and lived for a time in South Amboy before locating in Madison. His son, Mulford, was for many years a blacksmith in Cheesequake. Among other old residents were the Buckelews, Gordons, Hilliers, Wrights, Clarks, Seamans, Provosts, Bennetts and Bloodgoods.
At a date probably considerably before the Revolution, a paper mill was established on the site afterward occupied by the Tecumseh Snuff Mills and, it is stated on good authority, in it was manufactured the paper upon which the Continental money was printed. In 1854 the Tecumseh Snuff Mills were built by Phineas Skinner, the firm eventu- ally becoming Skinner & Co., and for many years doing an immense and profitable business. On the site of the Bloomfield Mills, about midway between Old Bridge and Spotswood, on South river, Embley & Keyser began the manufacture of powder in 1805, and continued the business until 1833, when the plant was destroyed by an explosion.
Otto Ernst has valuable clay mines near the head of Cheesequake creek. Other clay miners have been Noah Furman, Theodore Smith, Charles B. Reynolds, the Morgans and others. The Bloomfield Mill Company was organized in 1872 by R. Atkinson, Richard S. and F. C. Conover for the manufacture of licorice from the licorice root imported from Spain and Asia Minor. John Dill erected a snuff mill in 1830 on Deep run, near the Mount Pleasant and Oldbridge turnpike, and was succeeded in the business by his son, William. Peter Jernee's grist mill, on Tenant's creek, was built at a very early date.
The only village in the township is Cheesequake, on the South Amboy and Mount Pleasant road, at the head of Cheesequake creek, lying chiefly in the fork of two brooks which flow together to form that stream. We have never heard the origin of the name. One theory is that the marshy ground thereabout suggests the "quaking bogs" that exist in Ireland. An effort was made years ago to rename the village Jacksonville, in honor of President Andrew Jackson; but the laudable design failed, and Cheesequake it remains to this day. Before the advent of railroads the traffic along South river and Cheesequake creek was large, great quantities of produce and commerce, designed for shipment to New York, being brought to the various landings from far inland by teams for transfer to vessels. Ship yards were numerous, and potteries were in operation throughout the whole section for many years. The pioneer tavern was the old Morgan House, established by General Morgan's father in 1750. Other hostelries were conducted by Col. Nathaniel Hillier, Stephen Hall and James Lamberson. The earliest merchant was Stephen Hall, who had a grocery store in 1830.
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For many years former Sheriff Andrew J. Disbrow was a leading mer- chant and business man. Courtney Hall also had a store in 1830 and for a number of years later.
The Baptist church at Cheesequake was erected in 1832, on the site formerly occupied by a log cabin, where the Old School Baptists held divine services. Twice each year Elder Silas H. Durand came from Southampton, Pennsylvania, and held services for two evenings, being conveyed thither by former Sheriff Richard Serviss. On several occa- sions the only light in the building was furnished by an oil lamp on the pulpit, by which the gray-haired patriarch read his text from the Holy Book, closed the volume and preached eloquent sermons to an interested and devoted flock. The burying ground attached contains the graves of members of the pioneer families about the Cheesequake creek and its headwaters. The remains of others who came later were interred in the Methodist graveyard. The graves of Martha, daughter of Seth Ellison ; Obadiah, Eleanor, Abigail and Susan Burlew, and T. Rose bear dates ranging from 1798 to 1825. The grave of Capt. John Bowne, of the Continental army, is marked with a brown headstone, brought from England, and bears the following inscription, still fairly legible :
How lov'd, how honored once avails thee not, To whom related, or by whom begot. A heap of dust is all remains of me; 'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be.
Occasional funeral services occur, but no regular religions meetings are held in the church.
There are no known records in existence of the Methodist church that will give any idea of its early history. After the organization of the society, the congregation met in the old Baptist church until the erection of the present house of worship, which stands in the centre of the village. The oldest grave in the burying ground is that of Thomas Clark, bearing date July 30, 1805. Other graves bear the names of Mellenney, Mary, William and Joshua Warne, William and John R. Hall, Elizabeth Herbert, Francis Bloodgood and Noah Furman.
Browntown is a small neighborhood, and owes its designation to the families of that name who resided in the locality. From an ancient document, still in an excellent state of preservation, we learn that John and Susannah Brown lived in a log cabin in 1737. One of his grand- children, Abram, became a State Senator, sheriff, and was a justice of the peace for many years. His son, the late Hendrick H. Brown, was a lay judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals and also of the Middlesex Court of Common Pleas, a town committeeman, and held several other offices. Clarkson Brown, no relative of the above, was a prominent surveyor, and left a number of descendants.
The public schools are at Morristown, Cheesequake, Cedar Grove,
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Browntown, Brunswick Gardens, Hillsboro and Millbridge. The Super- vising Principal is Raymond E. Voorhees.
The township was organized March 2, 1869, with the following officers : Assessor, Courtney H. Warne ; collector, Abram Warne; town- ship committee, Charles Brown, Hendrick H. Brown, A. L. Warne, George Dobson and Obadiah Clark; clerk, Martin L. Burlew. The present officials are: Assessor, Robert Higgins; collector, Harry W. Lambertson; township committee, Ebenezer Bowne, president; Wil- liam Oertel and Richard Burlew; clerk, Frederick Schulemeister; coun- sel, Judge Henry Ackerson ; physician, Dr. Ira C. Crandall ; board of edu- cation, Arthur W. Brown, president; Samuel Cosgrove, Walter D. Ben- nett, William Miller, Luther H. Quackenbush, Jacob Gaub, Charles Eifert, Parkinson, Dill; and William C. Ludi, clerk. Among former chosen freeholders have been Lawrence K. Hillier, David H. Brown, William R. Dill, Abram, Ira, Courtney and Hezekiah Warne, Joseph Driskell and Asbury Fountain, the last named being the director for a number of years.
Raritan Township-This township, formed from portions of Wood- bridge and Piscataway townships on March 17, 1870, derives its name from the river that constitutes its southern boundary, and which took its title from the Indian tribe that dwelled in the hills and vales along its banks. The Indian word, Raritan, means "forked river," and refers to the two streams that united to form it. The township is generally described as equal portions of Woodbridge and Piscataway town-hips, bordering on the Raritan river, and extending back therefrom about three miles, the boundaries being: On the north by the Union county line, on the east by Woodbridge township, on the south by Raritan river and on the west by Piscataway township. This territory has, therefore, practically the same history, in its earliest days, as the above-mentioned townships. The pioneer settlers were the Stelles, Martins. Campbells, Bonhams, Dunns, Dunhams, Edgars, Comptons, Tappens, Thornalls, Hamptons, Ackens, Laings, Kellys, Ayres, Freemans, Bloomfields, Paynes, Robins, Mundys, Carmans, Rowlands, Laforges and others.
The village of Piscatawaytown (formerly a part of that township). is the earliest settlement, dating back to 1668, and described as three miles from New Brunswick, one mile from the Raritan river and on the turnpike road from that city to Woodbridge, and contains an Episcopal church, a Baptist chapel, a store and some twelve dwellings. It was an old Indian village, and was once the seat of justice for Middlesex and Somerset counties, the courts being held alternately at that place and at Woodbridge. Stelton, about four miles from New Brunswick, on the Pennsylvania railroad, was settled by the Stelles in 1668. Bon- hamtown, five miles northeast from New Brunswick, was named for Nicholas Bonham, who was one of the first settlers, having become a
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freeholder in 1682, and so recorded as owner of lands by allotnient. The majority of the above-mentioned came from Newbury, Massachu- setts, and the balance were probably passengers on the vessels "Henry and Francis" and "Caledonia," both sailing from Scotland and landing at Perth Amboy. Many of these were Presbyterian Covenanters.
It was at Stelton, alluded to above, that the Baptists established the first church organization in 1680. In 1748 the first house of worship was erected, very near the site of the present church. This was taken down in 1824 and in the following year a larger building was erected, which was destroyed by fire in 1859, and the present church was built in the same year. The pastor for about fifty years, and up to about 1739, was John Drake, one of the early settlers. He was succeeded by Benjamin Stelle, of Huguenot ancestry, who served for twenty years, and was followed by his son, Isaac, who was pastor till 1781. From 1783 till 1812 Reune Runyon, son of an early settler, was the pastor. The chapel in Piscatawaytown was an adjunct of the old church. Rev. L. H. Chamberlin is the present pastor.
St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church was established in 1704 in Piscatawaytown, but it was not until twenty years later that the build- ing was completed. It was completely destroyed by a tornado in 1835, and the present church was erected during the same year. The first officiating clergymen were the Messrs. Brooks (who commenced his labors in 1704), Vaughan, Halliday and Keith. The parish subsequently passed into the charge of the missionaries at New Brunswick, and for many years was under the pastoral care of Rev. Dr. Alfred Stubbs, of that city. Among the vestrymen we find the names of Hopewell Hull, Thomas Wetherell, John T. Martin, Joel Dunham, John Conway and Edward Allen. The present rector is Rev. Mr. Gifford. The oldest gravestone in the cemetery bears the name of John Borrowe, died April 9, 1733, aged sixty-six years.
The first school house, built of logs in 1694, was in Piscatawaytown, near the old burying ground, adjoining the church. It was destroyed by the tornado in 1835, rebuilt in 1837 and enlarged in 1852. The most notable figure in educational affairs during the early part of the last century was Bethune Duncan. Born in Boston, June 6, 1786, he came to the Oak Tree school as teacher in 1819 and served as such for forty- five years, having as pupils the children of three generations. His former mercantile training, united to a good English education, and a genuine love for books and children, rendered him exceptionally capable as a teacher. An excellent penman, thorough in spelling, arithmetic and bookkeeping, a disciplinarian and devoted to his work, he proved most successful in his chosen work. Full of years, and beloved by young and old, he returned to the home of his sister in Waltham, Massachusetts, and there passed the remainder of his life.
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During the Revolution five British regiments were stationed at Bonhamtown, and robbed and harried the residents for a considerable period, burning the houses and barns, and committing other outrages. The people were very loyal to the patriot cause. Captain Nathaniel Leonard, who served throughout the war, died in 1803, and is buried in the old Presbyterian cemetery, near the railroad station, in Metuchen. In this ancient "God's Acre" are gravestones with dates ranging from 1731 to 1836, and bearing the names of Campbell, Compton, Ayres, Car- man, Bloomfield, Eddy, Ford, Freeman, Knapp, Hampton, Kelly, Laforge and many others. The oldest is that of John Campbell, 1731, aged 72 years. Next to that is the grave of Neil Campbell, who died 1777, aged forty-three. Lord Neil Campbell, brother of the Duke of Argyle, and like him obnoxious to the English government, was obliged to flee from Scotland, and arrived at Perth Amboy, with members of his family and retainers, in 1685. The two mentioned above were probab'j kin of the famous family.
The first township election was held April 16, 1870, in the old Me- tuchen Academy with the following result : Luther H. Tappen, assessor ; Charles C. Campbell, collector; Manning Freeman, . W. E. Crowell, Augustus Blackford, Theodore A. Wood and Augustus Stelle, town committee; John T. Martin, clerk; Michael M. Lupardus and Lewis Thomas, chosen freeholders ; Israel Thornall, overseer of poor. Among other chosen freeholders have been R. Bruce Crowell, Alexander Camp- bell, Thomas N. Acken, Manning Freeman, Forman Martin and Luther Tappen. Freeman and Tappen were also members of the General Assembly. Henry and Thomas N. Acken, Lupardus, Chas. C. Campbell and Wm. F. Carman have been sheriffs.
There are eight excellent schools, viz: At Piscatawaytown, Bon- hamtown, Oak Tree, Stelton, Fords, New Durham, Menlo Park and Lafayette, with 1,200 pupils, and Charles Runyon as supervising princi- pal. The board of education is composed of the following: Charles Anderson, president ; Otto Will clerk; Oliver Kelly, W. T. Woerner, Jere. W. Letson, Jacob Becker, William F. Miller, Percival E. Dixon, and John O'Connor. William R. Drake, custodian.
One of principal interests of the township is the mining, shipping and manufacturing of fire-clay, fire-sand and kaolin. The M. D. Val- entine & Brother Co. has an extensive factory midway between Fords and Metuchen, on the line of the Lehigh Valley railroad, where a large amount of fire-brick is made. The Raritan Ridge Clay Company, with mines and docks on the Raritan, is a large shipper of clay, sand and kaolin. The late firm of Robert N. and Howard Valentine, Henry Maurer & Sons and Charles Bloomfield, are also miners and shippers. The Pennsylvania railroad passes through the township east and west, while the Lehigh road, passing through from Easton to the coal fields, gives all needed fuel to the factories and dwellings.
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The New Dover M. E. Church was built in 1848 by an organized congregation, after it became united with the Woodbridge church in the preceding year. At the Conference in 1850 it was made a separate charge. In 1856 the Metuchen church was united with New Dover ; but the latter was again made a separate charge in 1858, and has so con- tinued until the present time. The pulpit is filled by supplies from the Conference.
New Durham, near the border between Piscataway and Raritan town- ships, is a hamlet composed of a number of families and a school house. Menlo Park, on the Pennsylvania railroad, a few miles from Metuchen, has a few houses, a postoffice and a school. Thomas A. Edison, the noted inventor, made it his home for several years, and built a minia- ture electric railway there, before he removed to Orange.
The present township officers are W. T. Woerner, assessor ; Paul F. ' Ran dolph, collector; W. R. Woodward, clerk; S. W. Heath, Martin Conway and Everett B. Tappen, committee; William R. Drake, treas- urer ; and Edmund A. Hayes, counsel.
Cranbury Township-Cranbury, originally containing nine thousand one hundred and sixteen acres, is territorially the smallest township in the county and was the last organized. In its entirety it is the most southern, although the southern extremity of Monroe extends further southward. It is bounded north by South Brunswick and Monroe townships, east by Monroe, south by Mercer county and west for a short distance also by Mercer county. The surface is slightly rolling, and the soil well cultivated and generally quite productive. It is drained by Cranbury brook, which flows across it from east to west, and the Millstone river, which runs along its southern border. The Amboy division of the Pennsylvania railroad marks a portion of the eastern border and the main line of the same road crosses the township near its southern extremity.
The earliest records are to the effect that after the confirmation of the grant of East Jersey to the twenty-four Proprietors by the Duke of York (March 14, 1682), John Haywood and Thomas Cooper being included in the twenty-four, that Haywood conveyed his share to Robert Burnett, who divided his land and sold it in parcels, one of which, embracing a tract in Cranbury, bounded east by George's road and south by Cranbury brook, was granted in 1703 by Isabella Mckenzie to Philip French, of New York City. In 1734 French sold this tract to Noah Burton, who sold the part on which nearly the whole of the northern portion of Cranbury has been built, to Samuel Leonard. From him it passed to Peter Wyckoff, and a portion of it is still in the pos- session of his descendants. Cooper appears to have retained the land embracing that part of the village south of the brook until 1683, when he sold one-half of his tract to Sir John Gordon, whose son, Robert
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Gordon, sold the same to John Rochead in 1720. In 1736, Rochead conveyed four and one-half acres along the brook to Thomas Grubbs, doubtless as a site for a grist mill, as it is recorded in 1741 that Grubbs conveyed the same lot, together with a grist mill, to John Collins. It is not known how large a settlement at that time had grown up about the mill, which must be regarded as the probable nucleus of the town. The settlement received its name from the brook on whose banks it had its beginning, and the village transmitted the name to the township. When and by whom Cranbury brook was named is not known, and in former years it was often erroneously spelled "Cranberry." The name of the fruit cranberry is of Scotch origin. It was called "craneberry," from a real or fancied resemblance of its stem to the neck of a crane, and was modified by dropping the "e." It was the badge of the clan Grant. The name was undoubtedly given to the brook from the fact that the berries were found upon its meadows. The old British custom, which our early fathers followed, was to call a district or town a bor- ough, which was contracted into "burg," or "bury." When the village began to grow it was called Cranborough, or, contracting it, Cranbury. It is possible that a few later settlers located west of the present town, toward Plainsboro; but it is not considered probable. In July, 1739, James Rochead conveyed to Coert Van Voorhees and Thomas Storey a lot adjoining the mill property, "to be for the use of the Elders and Deacons of the Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, for erecting a house of worship, in consideration of Two Pounds to him in hand duly paid."
The settlement must by that date have contained a number of families, as a church had been formally organized. Voorhees and Storey conveyed the lot to Nicholas Stevens and Peter Perrine, elders, and John Brown and William Magee, deacons of said church, which is thought to have been only recently organized. At the meeting of the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1738, John Chambers came, as a commissioner from Cranbury, asking for a supply. Rev. Gilbert Ten- nent was appointed to preach there and at Allentown, Monmouth county. At a subsequent meeting, in the autumn of the same year, Stephen Wagner presented a petition from the people of Cranbury and vicinity, asking advice concerning a house of worship. It appears that Presby- terians and "people of the Church of England persuasion," as they were termed, had united in building a church on the spot afterward occupied by the "Old Church" school house, east of Cranbury, in Monroe town- ship. When the house was built, and how it was used, it has not been possible to ascertain ; but a school was conducted there for many years. The Presbytery met at Cranbury and advised that one of the parties sell their right. The Presbyterians evidently sold out, for the next year they took measures to erect a church near the mill. A number of the early settlers have been alluded to, and among others may be mentioned
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