USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume II > Part 6
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records at Perth Amboy. "Beginning at a large oak tree standing on the north bank of a branch of Great Pond running thence as the mag- netic needle pointed in 1740," etc., which gives the impression that the first survey of Wanamassa was made in 1740 and that the Gavin of the tradition was the grandson of Gavin, the settler and pioneer. It is the impression of Mr. George C. Martin, the genealogist alluded to above, that the legend relates to the original Gavin, judging from the inventory of his effects which included surveying instruments and an Indian deed dated April 6, 1687, from Wanamasoa, Wallammassekaman and Waw- winotunce, chief sachems to "Gwan" Drummond for a "tract within the branches of great pone (Great pond or Deal Lake) called Ulikaquecks (on the)n. Thomas Potter and Samuel White (on the) e. the pone, (on the) s. a brook (and on the) w. a line of marked trees."
Some year after his first (and tempestuous) meeting with Nis- sima, Gavin visited the home of a cousin, a minister, who lived near the Delaware Water Gap. There he found Nissima, who having acquired an education was installed in the clergyman's family, where she cared for and instructed the children. Gavin and the maiden were subsequently married and settled in the county. The territory now known as Deal Beach and for several miles back in the country was known as "Deale," or "Dale" before 1700. In 1712 all the land from Hog Swamp to the Beach was owned by Thomas White, who bequeathed it to his five sons. This tract was on the old highway from Long Branch to Manasquan, the road running through as is shown by the will. An old house at the in- tersection of the Deal Beach station road and the road to Long Branch was said to have been built in 1770, and in 1820 was owned by Jacob White and later became the property of Bloomfield Drummond and Samuel Hendrickson. "Gordon's Gazetteer" of 1834 says of Deal: "There are several boarding-houses at this place, where from fifty to one hundred persons can be comfortably accommodated."
The seashore from Deal Lake to the southern line of the incorpor- ated city of Long Branch is composed of numerous tracts of land taken up under several different patents and purchases. In 1820 Jacob Cor- lies owned a large tract of land bordering on Deal Lake and the ocean which was afterwards divided-a tract of 1,320 feet on the ocean and 4,224 feet on Deal Lake was once known as Loch Arbour and was plot- ted and laid out into lots and streets. It was not however until 1894 that Deal became a strictly residential spot. In that year the Atlantic Coast Realty Company purchased land which included the borough ex- tending north as far as Elberon-the largest real estate transaction ever made prior to this time on the coast of New Jersey. This tract of land was entrusted to Nathan F. Barrett, a landscape artist of national fame, to design and execute a plan that would supplement the natural advan- tages of the spot. The railroad station with a homelife effect of a well kept country house was one of his creations, as well as the broad esplan-
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ade reaching down to the ocean with its varied attractions. One of the early favorite hostelries on the coast was the Hathaway Inn, and the Deal Country Club has been the scene of many social gatherings.
The beautiful expanse of water known as Long Pond, now as Deal Lake, is the first break in the mainland south of the Atlantic Highlands. The lake was originally a neck or inlet from the ocean, the water being salt, but a dike was built near the ocean which prevented the further flow of salt water, by the use of gates. This body of water is about three miles in length, its width varying from six hundred feet to a half mile, and its few narrow arms give it a beautiful appearance. The small streams that flow from the hills along its western boundary are sources of its supply. Portions of the lake are very deep, others shallow; the water is of absolute freshness and purity. The lake is touched on one of its sides by Deal Park, a tract of nearly four hundred acres, a part of which was formerly owned by Thomas Murphy, for many years col- lector of the port of New York, and who entertained among them, being his warm personal friend, General U. S. Grant. The tract was opened to settlement by the Continental Investment Company at the beginning of the present century, its principal attraction being the Deal Golf Club, whose club house was constructed on a colonial type of architecture. The Deal Beach of the present day is entirely a residential locality, and large beautiful homes and hotels surrounded with spacious grounds make it an attractive spot. The population is not large, being less than five hundred persons. Its only religious edifice is St. Mary's Roman Cath- olic Church, on the corner of Richmond avenue and Woodford road.
In the first year of the present century, Deal and Allenhurst con- tained numerous Catholic residents. Father Crean, alive to the situa- tion, said mass for the first time June 9, 1901, in the Hathaway Casino at Deal. The following Sunday services were held in a tent, and for the remainder of the season a "canvas church" was used. Father Crean ministered to the Deal congregation during the season of 1902, and in the following February Rt. Rev. James .A. McFaul, Bishop of Trenton, owing to the increase in the congregation, formed Deal and Allenhurst into one parish and named the Rev. John W. Norris as resident rector, who began his duties in May, 1903. The tent was again used for ser- vices, and amongst the first announcements made by the new rector was that Daniel O'Day of New York offered to subscribe $10,000 towards a new church if a like amount was raised by the congregation. This amount was soon raised, and the cornerstone of the present stone edifice . was laid June 22, 1904, and the church was completed the following Octo- ber and dedicated July 2, 1905, the Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul, Bishop of Trenton, assisted by Rev. John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, officiating. The parish was in charge of Father Norris until he was raised to the rank of Monsignor and assigned to the cathedral at New Brunswick, New Jersey. His successor was the Rev. William H. Lynch,
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who remained in charge of the parish until his death, August 26, 1921.
Adjoining Deal Beach on the south, a mile from Asbury Park, is the borough of Allenhurst, which was erected from Ocean township, April 26, 1897, with the following boundaries: On the east by the At- lantic ocean, on the north by the southerly line of lands of the Deal Beach Land Company, on the west by the middle of the north arm of Deal Lake, and on the south by Loch Arbour. The territory was origi- nally the property of Thomas White, a Scotchman who gave to his home the name of Loch Arbour. The borough has many handsome residences, a large number of which are owned and occupied by business men of Asbury Park.
Allenhurst before 1896 was a tract of farm land, when in that year the Coast Land Company was organized under the presidency of Edwin P. Benjamin. The company attracted to the place many men of wealth and position and it was soon transformed into a thriving village. The settlement is under a borough organization with a commission form of government, and has a system of waterworks, adequate sewerage and electric light. A fine esplanade extends along the entire ocean front of the borough, in center of which is a spacious pavilion. The population of the borough is in the neighborhood of five hundred souls, and the people observe August 10th as the anniversary of its settlement with a general celebration.
To the north of Deal Beach, two and a half miles south of Long Branch is Elberon, which will ever be remembered as a place of a pitiful scene-Garfield, hurt to his death by an act of an assassin, slowly sinking away into the great beyond with ever before his eyes the mighty ocean, a type of the wondrous import of the hand of His Maker. The village, the site of which was formerly owned by Benjamin Wooley from whom Lewis H. Brown purchased one hundred acres and laid it out into lots and streets, is the most exclusive residential settlement on the coast, its natural beauty being greatly enhanced by landscape gardening of the highest order of artistic excellence. The population is small, not exceed- mg one hundred persons. It is located on the two Long Branch divi- sions; its railroad station completed in the summer of 1899 is of stone and wood, and stands in the midst of a grassy lawn containing flowering shrubs and plants and a broad driveway. Elberon has its own sewerage system; its bathing facilities located on the beach are private.
In the northeast part of Ocean township from the north line of the incorporated district of Long Branch to a point three-fourths of a mile below the Highland bridge over the Shrewsbury river, are lands that formerly belonged to the Monmouth Beach Association, the Seabright Fishing Company, the village of Sea Bright, and what was known as the Smith property. All these lands were originally patented by Eliakim Wardell, the first sheriff of Monmouth county and also one of the asso- ciate patentees. This original proprietor came from England to Boston,
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Massachusetts, before 1640; he was a follower of Ann Hutchinson, therefore was obliged to leave his first adopted home in this country and remove to Exeter, New Hampshire, where he married his wife, joining the Quakers. This brought persecution, and they removed to Rhode Is- land, coming to Monmouth county in 1670, and secured a patent of land in Shrewsbury lying north of Long Branch, bounded by Pleasure bay, South Shrewsbury river and the ocean. The Indian rights to this tract were extinguished by the payment of four pounds. Eliakim Wardell lived at what is now Monmouth Beach, and had a family of several chil- dren. This tract of land descended through several generations, and in 1865 Dr. Arthur V. Conover purchased of the heirs of Major Henry Wardell all the land from what was then called Atlanticville (afterwards North Long Branch) between the South Shrewsbury river and the ocean, to a mile north of Sea Bright, with the exception of the track of the rail- road company.
In the spring of 1871, Cortlandt Parker, Anthony Q. Keasbey and John Torrey, of Newark, ex-Secretary of the Navy Robeson, and Senator Cattell of New Jersey, with others, purchased the land and spent a large amount of money in laying out the property as a desirable summer re- sort. The New Jersey Southern track was removed from the beach to Its present road bed at the cost of twenty thousand dollars. The old Wardell house was remodeled into a casino, and the Sea Bright and Long Branch turnpike was built. Lots were graded on both sides of Ocean avenue, cottages erected, and St. Peter's of Galilee Episcopal Church was built at a cost of $8,000 and dedicated August 26, 1873.
On March 9, 1906, the borough of Monmouth Beach was set off from Ocean township, the bounds running as follows:
Beginning at a point in the low water line of the Atlantic ocean at Monmouth Beach, where the same is intersected by the southern bound- ary line of the Borough of Sea Bright, which line is also the southerly line of a lot of land on the east side of Ocean avenue, formerly belonging to Dr. Henry Tuck, deceased; thence southwardly along the low water line of the ocean to the northerly boundary of the city of Long Branch which line is the division line between properties of Edgar Levy and Aphie James; thence westerly along said division line being the north- erly line of lands now or formerly belonging to said Levy and being also the northerly boundary line of the city of Long Branch to a point in line with the middle of Fresh Pond road; thence continuing along the north- erly boundary line of Long Branch to the northerly line of a lot of land on the north side of Columbia Place, now or formerly belonging to Har- riet Russell, thence continuing along said northerly boundary line of Long Branch westwardly along the northerly line of said lot of Harriet Russell and the northerly or rear lines of lots fronting on the north side of Columbia Place to the easterly line of a tract of land formerly be- Jonging to John R. West, deceased; thence continuing along said north- erly boundary line of Long Branch northwestwardly along the easterly line of said land of John R. West, deceased, to the middle of a small arm or branch of Mannahassett creek, commonly called Solomon's creek;
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thence continuing along the northerly boundary of Long Branch, north- westwardly along the middle of said branch, and along the middle of Mannahassett creek, the several courses thereof, to the middle of the main channel of Branch Port creek; thence northerly along the said creek and the middle of the main channel of South Shrewsbury river known as Pleasure Bay, to the turn of the channel commonly called Turn Channel; thence northeasterly along the middle of the main chan- nel. of Pleasure Bay to a point in line with the southern boundary line of the Borough of Sea Bright, proceeded westerly and thence easterly along the line of said borough, proceeded westerly and the southern boundary line of said borough itself, to the place of beginning."
Between Sea Bright and Long Branch in a stretch of three miles there were in 1871 but two buildings; at the present day a population of fve hundred persons inhabit the borough of Monmouth Beach, living along the sea coast in cottages that are built on continuous lots and forming a suburb to Long Branch.
Sea Bright, a little more than twenty-six miles from New York, lies on a narrow neck of land between the ocean and Shrewsbury river. The land forming the site of the borough was purchased in 1869 by Mifflin Paul from Dr. Arthur V. Conover. Mr. Paul was the contractor of the Long Branch & Seashore railroad and finished the building of that road from Long Branch to the steamboat wharf on Sandy Hook in 1865. The land he purchased extended from the north line of the Sea- bright Fishing Company's lands which were located two hundred feet on the ocean and three hundred feet on Shrewsbury river between Mon- mouth Beach and Sea Bright, northward to what was known as Bellevue. William W. Shippen and Samuel B. Dod became partners of Mr. Paul, July 1, 1869, with the intention of developing the property; one stipula- tion of the purchase was that a bridge between three hundred and four hundred feet in length should be built across the river, thereby making connections with Rumson. This bridge was used until 1881, when it was replaced with an iron structure at a cost of $30,000. Cottages were built in 1870, and Robert Emery erected the first hotel, which was known as the Sea Bright Inn. This was soon followed by the erection of other hotels, among the earliest the Octagon, the Pennsylvania, the Hotel Shrewsbury, the Rutherford Arms, besides others. The principal busi- ness portion of the village in 1890, also the adjoining fishing settlement of Nauvoo, which was a relic of the days long past of unsightly, un- painted single-story shacks and packing houses in direct contrast with the homes of wealth and culture in Sea Bright, was destroyed by fire.
A borough government of Sea Bright was established in 1886, which maintains excellent streets, a system of waterworks, and perfect sewer- age. The first school house, built in 1874, was destroyed by fire four years later, when it was rebuilt of brick and enlarged in 1882. The Ocean Fire Company was organized May 25, 1881, a fire apparatus pro- cured, and a substantial engine house erected on Ocean avenue. The
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social life of the community during the summer months is exclusive and is in large degree centered in various clubs whose membership is restricted to cottage owners and summer visitors of recognized position in society. Religion is represented by the Sea Bright Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in February, 1875, with six members, and Rev. William P. Strickland as pastor. Services were held for a time in private houses. A church edifice was dedicated June 26, 1875, by Bishop Janes. The present pastor is the Rev. D. W. Shipp. A small Presbyterian church was erected in 1877 and replaced in 1880 by the present church; it is only used in summer and is supplied by visiting clergymen. A Roman Catholic congregation was organized in 1888 and services were held in a public hall. There is a colored congregation of the Methodist de- nomination in the borough.
Pleasure Bay, noted for its clambakes, located on the Shrewsbury river on the outskirts of Long Branch, has for its principal feature a great park with ample accommodations for seating large assemblages of people. With its numerous hotels and the novelty and picturesqueness of surroundings, Pleasure Bay is one of the most attractive of the many resorts along the New Jersey seacoast.
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MANASQUAN South Street First Presbyterian Church-St. Denis R. C. Church-Main Street
CHAPTER XLIII.
WALL
Wall township is in the southeast corner of the county and bounded as follows:
On the north by Atlantic, Shrewsbury and Neptune townships; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by Ocean county and on the west by Howell township. The principal streams are the Shark and Manasquan rivers, the former marking the township's northern boundary against Shrewsbury and Neptune townships, and the latter a part of its southern boundary against Ocean county. The Seashore railway ex- tends from Sandy Hook along the coast of Monmouth and Ocean coun- ties, and passes through the township on its entire ocean front from Shark to Manasquan rivers. The township was erected from a portion of Howell township in 1851, the Act reading as follows: All that part of Howell township, beginning at the ocean, in the middle of Shark River Inlet, and from thence running up the middle of the main stream thereof, along its general windings, to a place known as Horse Pound, to a certain pine tree standing by the edge of the brook in said Pound, lettered I. P., said to be the beginning of a tract of land returned to Joseph Potter, de- ceased; thence westerly along the line between Howell and Atlantic townships sixty-one chains; thence southerly on a straight line to the mouth of Squankum brook where it empties into Manasquan river, on the south side thereof; thence from the mouth of said Squankum brook south three degrees and thirty minutes east to the northerly line of Ocean county; thence northerly on said line to Manasquan river, near the old Squan Bridge; thence down the middle of said river to the ocean at Manasquan Inlet; and thence along the ocean to the place of begin- ning.
The township was named in honor of Garret D. Wall, a native of Middletown, where he was born March 10, 1783. After receiving an academical education he studied law at Trenton, and was licensed as an attorney in 1804. He commanded a Trenton volunteer company in the War of 1812 and was stationed at Sandy Hook. Senator Wall served five years as clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, was quarter- master-general of the State for over a score of years, and though elected governor in 1829 declined the office to accept the position of United States District Attorney. He was a member of the United States Senate from 1885 to 1841, and from 1849 till his death at Burlington, New Jersey, was a judge of the Court of Error and Appeals.
As early as 1685, a large area of land bordering the south shore of Wreck Pond, the seashore from Wreck Pond southward to Manasquan river, and up the north side of Manasquan river nearly to the Long Bridge, was purchased from the Indians, and later patented from the
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Proprietors by a company formed for the purpose, and composed of men who had previously located on lands in Middletown and Shrewsbury townships. These patentees were Richard Hartshorne, John Hance, Judah Allen, Eliakim Wardell, Tobias Hanson, Ephraim Allen, John and William Woolley, Remembrance Lippincott, William Lawrence and Ed- mund Lafetra. They were authorized to buy the Indian rights at Man- asquan, provided they did not exceed in quantity 2500 acres. In 1763 the county freeholders changed the route of the old Squan road from Long Branch to the Manasquan river, and in 1768 a road was made from Tom's River to the Manasquan, and the old Squan bridge was probably built soon after to connect the two roads; it was in use during the Revo- lution. The "Long Bridge" over the Manasquan was originally built about 1816 and was rebuilt in 1830.
Manasquan is located in the southeast corner of the township, near the Manasquan river and the ocean, and at the seacoast junction of the Seacoast railway line with the Freehold & Jamesburg railway. The site of the present village in 1815 was heavily timbered with the exception of a small clearing. In 1818, Timothy Bloomfield opened a tavern, and a mail route was established from Freehold to Tuckerton, passing through the settlement, which had been named Squan Village. In 1825 Dr. John Morford commenced to practice here, and continued to do so until his death in 1839. The first merchant was Lewis Pearce, followed in suc- ceeding years by Osborne Curtis, Brannin, Bailey & Co., Benjamin D. Pearce, Errickson & Wainwright and others. About 1835 the prin- cipal land-owners that owned the land between the Middle Bridge and Wreck Pond, were Abram Osborne, Hendrick Longstreet, Derrick Long- street, Sr., Derrick Longstreet, Jr., David Curtis, James Morris, John Longstreet, Benjamin Pearce, William Newberry, Thomas Sherman and William Parmater. Squan at this time referred to a large extent of country extending to the coast, and was much frequented for sea-bathing, the farm houses affording comfortable accommodations. The village was sometimes known as Crab Town, which name was retained until it was changed to Squan Village. It consisted of a public house kept by Peter Barley, a small store of which Jacob Curtis was proprietor, and three or four dwelling houses, the residences of Benjamin Pearce, Sr., William McKnight and the Curtis family. Religious services were held in the school house or at private residences.
The postoffice was established February 15, 1819, with Samuel F. Allen as postmaster, the office being first located at Manasquan Bridge, which was on the mail route established by Congress, April 20, 1818, which route was from Freehold by Squankum, Manasquan, Tom's River, Cedar Creek, and Manahawkin to Tuckerton, where an office had been established January 1, 1798. A mailbag came once a week from Free- hold to Tom's River by way of Squan Bridge. In 1840 the office was removed to Squan Village, a route having been established to Red Bank.
MANASQUAN Manasquan River and Bridge --- U. S. Coast Guard Station 105-The Dyke
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The Court of Common Pleas of Monmouth county was petitioned December 2, 1887, by Stephen W. Newbury and others for the organiza- tion of a borough under the act approved April 5, 1878, to be known as the borough of Manasquan. The boundaries were described as fol- lows:
Beginning at a stake on the shore of the Atlantic ocean at ordinary high water line distant 510 85-100 feet on a course south 52 degrees 30 minutes east from the northeast corner of the main building known as the United States Life Saving Station No. 9 on Squan beach in the town- ship of Wall, thence running from said stake in a northwesterly direction to a stake the southwest corner of the Sea Girt Land Improvement Com- pany's property, thence northerly along the westerly line of the said Sea Girt Land Improvement Company's property now occupied by the New Jersey State Militia to a point on the southerly edge of Sea Girt avenue where said westerly line intersects said avenue thence westerly along the southerly edge of said avenue to a point on the division line between lands of Brannin Newbury and Henry Clayton, thence southerly along the division line between the said Newbury and Clayton to a corner in the division lands of Eliza A. Higgins and said Henry Clayton thence westerly along the division line of Higgins and Clayton to the northwest corner of said Eliza A. Higgins lands, being also the northeast corner of James Curtis lands thence along the division line between lands of Hig- gins and Curtis southerly to the point of intersection of said division lines with the northerly edge of the public road leading from Manasquan Village to the Friends' Meeting House, thence southerly in a straight line to a stake on Robert's Swamp brook; said stake being at the south- west corner of a tract of land now owned by Howard Osborn, thence along said brook and the several courses thereof easterly to the south- east post of the bridge crossing said brook on Union avenue, thence southeasterly in a straight line to a point on the shore of the Atlantic ocean or ordinary highwater mark where said line intersects the north- erly line of the public road leading from Brielle to the sea, thence north- easterly along the shores of the Atlantic ocean at ordinary highwater line to the place of beginning.
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