History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 139

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148

USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth county, New Jersey > Part 139

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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MATAWAN TOWNSHIP.

burned. Some time in the year 1826, Joel Aumack and wife, who lived in a house that stood near where Mr. Peter Cortelyou now resides, and Elisha Walling and wife, who lived at Middletown Point, while attending meetings held in the Bethany Church, were all converted. Soon after prayer-meetings were held at the house of Elisha Walling, and occasionally elass-meetings. The first regular elass was formed about this time, which was the nucleus of this church, and con- sisted of six persons. The leader of the class was -Joseph Carhart, who lived at Bethany. The six members were Joel Aumack and wife, Elisha Walling and wife, John Summerhays and Ann Van Pelt. The class-meetings were held every two weeks at the house of Joel Aumack, Mount Pleasant.

In 1827, and until 1831, there was regular preaching at the residence of Elisha Walling, which stood on the present site of E. H. Dayton's residence. The first sermon preached, according to the recollection of Joel Carhart, was by a Mr. Sweeny, from the text, " Who will show us any good ?"

The presiding elder at that time was Rev. Charles Pitman, and the preachers were Revs. L. Prettyman, R. W. Petherbridge, John Woolston, J. L. Gilder, Isaac Felel and Thomas Neal. The only place open for Methodist preaching was the house of Elisha Walling, and because of his re- moval, it was changed to the home of Joel Aumack, a mile from the village, where it was continued from 1831 to the fall of 1835. Prayer- meetings were held also at the house of James Stoney, still standing, and midway between Mount Pleasant and Morganville. During these years Revs David Bartine, T. G. Stewart and Mulford Day preached there.

In the fall of 1835 the appointment was again changed to the village. Joel Carhart, converted at Bethany, having married the Ann Van Pelt referred to as one of the first six, moved to the village, and regular services were established at his house.

In 1836 there was preaching in an old shop which stood nearly opposite the present church. During this year a lot was purchased, and Rev. Mulford Day, with Joel Carhart, made an effort to secure the means for building a church. They

met with much opposition, and were told that this was preoccupied ground, and a Methodist Church was not needed here. But amid many discourage- ments they erected it, at a cost of about eighteen hundred dollars. This church was dedicated about the 14th of December, 1836. The location was on Jackson Street. There had been much difficulty in securing a lot, the pioneers being obliged to take what they could get; and it was said by some in their bitterness that the location among the barns was good enough. About eigh- teen years afterwards this buikling was soll to Mr. Hubbard, who removed it to Main Street. The entire membership at this time was about twenty- five; five of these were colored people. The place was yet included in Freehohl Cireuit. The next spring (1837) it was connected with High Point Circuit.

A Sabbath-school was organized in April, 1837, with Joel Carhart superintendent. The teachers were William J. Wooley, Augustus Fountain, Henry Van Horn, Stephen Aumack, Daniel Van Cleaf, Mary A. Carhart, Mary W. Stillwell, Eliza Fountain, Emeline Walling, Elizabeth Roberts, Elizabeth Vanderhoof and Ann E Carhart. Fifty-four scholars composed the school. The names were James T. Fountain, James H. Hor- nor, George B. Day, William Van Cleaf, William Van Horn, Jacob Smock, David Carhart, Alfred Crook, Andrew Van Horn, William Smoek, Charles W. Fountain, Charles Crook, C. G. Harris, Charles H. Roberts, John Van Cleaf, Daniel Roberts, G. Simmons, Albert Fountain, John Fountain, John W. Simmons, Charles Farrington, Reuben Harris, Henry W. Harris, John Giles, Harriet B. Day, Amanda Aumack, Elizabeth Carhart, Catharine Van Cleaf, Maria Harris, Hannah Van Horn, Mary Ann Carhart, Catharine J. Smock, Sarah Van Horn, Sarah A. Hornor, Caroline Price, Henrietta Bedle, Sarah Price, Eleanor Van Pelt, Susan Roe, Margaret Gravatt, Rachel Cottrell, Hannah Tice, Elmira West, Margaret Carhart, Maria Van Cleaf, Susanna Giles. Colored : Simon Van Cleaf, Betty Shemo, Jane Willet, Oliver Holmes Clarissa Van Cleaf, Catharine Perrine.

Joel Carhart served four years as superintend- ent, and was succeeded by George W. Bell and Augustus Fountain, each of whom served one

838

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

year. In 1843, A. H. Harris was appointed, L. R. Dunn, A. M. Palmer, W. H. Jeffreys and and he remained until February, 1877 (a period ; E. M. Griffith. These pastors and their successors of nearly thirty-four years), when David A. Bell was elected his successor. occupied a number of different residences until 1868, when the present parsonage was built, and has since been occupied by the successive pastors.

For ten years after its opening, the Sabbath- school had no sessions in the winter-time, but when the experiment was tried, it was found that the children would attend in winter as well as in the summer, and since 1847 it has been held the year round. In 1855, when the school entered the present church building, it numbered seventy-two scholars, under the following-named teachers : Asbury Fountain, E. D. Gravatt, Charles W. Fountain, P. G. Snedeker, Constantine Bell, Wil- liam A. Fountain, Euphemia Bedle, Eliza Crook, Lydia A. Walling, Augeline W. Carhart, Mar- garet Allen, Eliza Fountain, Mary Smith, Mar- garet Smith.

After the church was built (1837) the weekly prayer-meetings were held in the building opposite Washington Hall. Originally it was a one-story building, used for a wheelwright-shop by Joel Carhart, who added another story, making a school-room of the upper part, and in that room the week-night services were held until 1841, when Asbury Fountain built a lecture-room adjoining the chinrch, on Jackson Street.

The church continned its connection with High Point Circuit until 1840, under the care of Revs. Mulford Day, J. Loudenslager, G. S. Wharton, Samuel Jaquet, N. Chew, T. T. Campfield, James Long and L. R. Dunn. Mr. Dunn had preached but a part of two years under the presiding elder; hence was not a member of the Annual Conference. While on this circuit he was instrumental in start- ing the church at Keyport. It was by the Quar- terly Conference of this church that he was recom- mended to the Annual Conference, as was also Rev. William Franklin.

Nothing like a revival occurred until 1840, when meetings were continued nine weeks, and about twenty-five persons were added, more than doubling its members.

In 1841 the church was set off as a station, with Rev. Zerubbabel Gaskill as pastor, who remained in charge until 1842. From then until 1854 the following elders and pastors were in charge: Elders, D. Parish, J. Winner, J. K. Shaw and W. A. Wil- mer; Pastors, J. (). Rogers, Wesley Robertson,

The debt of four hundred dollars on the old Jackson Street Church building increased, and at the end of six years from the dedication had reached seven hundred dollars. A strong effort was made to reduce it, Joel Carhart spending some time in soliciting aid from other churches, so that it was reduced again to four hundred dollars. The location of the old church was an unfavorable one, and this, with the growth of the congregation, made the necessity for improved accommodations apparent, and in 1851 the matter was taken into serious consideration, but was for the time aban- doned. Three years later, during the ministry of Rev. E. M. Griffith, the trustees again took the matter of building into consideration; a lot was secured with some difficulty ; the sum of five thou- sand dollars was raised, and on the 13th of June, 1854, the corner-stone of the present church build- ing was laid. On the 15th of November following, the basement being finished, was dedicated by the Rev. Dr. Bond. The debt was then four thou- sand dollars, and it was determined not to finish the audience-room until it could be paid for. In the next year, however, through the urgent efforts of the pastor, Rev. A. H. Mead, the church was completed at a total cost of eleven thousand dol- lars, and was dedicated by Bishop Janes, Novem- ber 1, 1855. About eight hundred dollars was raised on the day of the dedication, leaving a debt of five thousand dollars. The debt remained for several years, but in 1866 had been reduced to three thousand dollars, which it was determined to raise at once, and on Sunday, July 15th, in that year, the matter was brought before the congrega- tion, when, to the surprise of all, subscriptions to the entire amount were obtained ; but it was after- wards found that a large item of the debt had been overlooked and was unprovided for, while the failure of some to meet their promised payments added still more to the burden, and left the church still quite heavily in debt.

The Rev. A. H. Mead, during whose pastorate the present church edifice was completed, remained in charge one year, and was succeeded by the Rev.

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MATAWAN TOWNSHIP.

J. W. Kramer, who remained two years ; Rev. George HI. Neal, two years (Rev. A. E. Ballard, presiding elder). In 1860-61, Rev. B. F. Wools. ton was pastor (Rev. George Brown, presiding elder). Then came Rev. C. R. Hartranft, two years ; Rev. George IInghes, one year (Rev. W. E. Perry, presiding elder). At this time the two- year rule for ministers was changed to three years. Rev. H. Belting was pastor 1865 to 1867 inclusive. Rev. M. Relyea followed, and was pastor in 1868-69, and during his second year a remarkable revival ocenrred. The services were continued about thir- teen weeks, and one hundred and forty-five persons were received on probation. The whole number received by Mr. Relyea in his two years was one hundred and sixty-eight. During this pastorate the present parsonage was erected, and was first occupied by Mr. Relyea. The church at Morgan- ville was also built during his stay. In 1870-71, Rev. A. Matthews was pastor; in 1872-74, Rev. W. S. Zane, with Rev. A. E. Ballard, presid- ing elder.

In 1872 great improvements were made in the church, at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars, by modernizing the high and massive pulpit, purchas- ing an organ, painting and frescoing the walls and introducing gas and heaters. In 1875-77, the church was in charge of Rev. W. W. Moffett, pas- tor (Rev. J. B. Graw, presiding elder), who was succeeded by Rev. G. C. Maddock, 1878-80; Rev. J. G. Crate, 1881 ; and the Rev. L. O. Man- chester, 1882 to the present time.

TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF MATAWAN was founded in 1850, and through the liberality of Colonel John Travers, who resided at the month of Cheesequakes Creek, the present neat and sub- stantial stone edifice was erected. The title was not received by Bishop Scarborough until the spring of 1884. The church was supplied largely by young men from the New York Seminary. Among those who have served here are Revs. Put- nam, Kinney, Chetwood and J. D. Moore. Part of the time the rector of St. Mary's, of Keyport, has supplied this pulpit. On the Ist of November, 1884, the Rev. Mr. Norwood assumed charge of St. Mary's, of Keyport, and Trinity Church, of Matawan.

The first newspaper published in this locality

was edited by Philip Freneau, an account of which will be given in the sketch of Mount Pleasant.

No further attempt of the kind was made here until 1844, when Edgar Hoyt established the Mid- dletown Point Union, which was continued about two years, after which the press and material were moved to Stanford, Conn. About 1848 George C. Waite started The Democratic Banner and Monmouth Advertiser. He sold to George W. Bell and Charles W. Fountain in the spring of 1851. It was a six-column paper, twenty-four by thirty-eight inches. On March 25, 1852, they sold to Henry Morford, who soon after changed the name to New Jersey Standard. After remaining about a year he removed to Keyport. The Atlan- tic was started here by - O'Brien in 1853, and continued some time, then moved to Keyport, and ceased to exist. Jacob R. Schenck purchased the press and material and opened an office in Mata- wan, and in 1857 published the New Jersey Weekly Times, and soon after added the name Keyport Weekly Advertiser, which was continued until 1862, when it ceased to be published. The Matawan Journal was established in July, 1869, the first issue being July 25th. It was originally four columns, and in 1871 was changed to six, and in 1879 to seven columns. At first it was inde- pendent in politics, but in 1878 became Demo- cratic. David A. Bell, the founder of the paper, is still editor and proprietor.

THE FARMERS' AND MERCHANTS' BANK OF MIDDLETOWN POINT was chartered in 1830, with an authorized capital of fifty thousand dollars. The bank was opened in a building near where Henry S. Little's office now is. De Lafayette Schenek was chosen president and William Little cashier. Mr. Sehenck was succeeded, in 1835, by William Little, who was the president until 1843, when he was succeeded by Asbury Fountain, who, in 1876, was succeeded by the present president, William Henry Hendrickson. William Little's successor as cashier was Elihu Baker, who re- signed in March, 1854. He was followed, succes- sively, by Archibald Parkhurst, H. W. Johnson and Charles Wardell, the present cashier. About five years after its organization the bank built the banking-house which it now occupies. The capital at present is two hundred thousand dollars.

840

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

HON. WILLIAM H. HENDRICKSON, farmer and ex-State Senator of Holmdel township, was born June 3, 1813, in Middletown, and is the son of the late William H. and Eleanor (Du Bois) Hendrick- son. His paternal ancestors were among the pio- neer settlers of Monmouth County, having located here as early as 1698, and he still owns and re- sides upon the old homestead, which has been in possession of the family since their first settlement in the county.

His education was obtained at the grammar school of Rutgers College, which he left on the death of his father, being then a member of the sophomore class. He has since given his attention largely to agricultural pursuits, and with marked success. As an appreciation of his sterling charac- teristics, the people of Monmouth County have chosen him at three different times to represent them in the State Senate,-1858-61, for a second term 1872-75, and by re-election for a third term following the second. During his legislative career he was a member of the finance, printing and education committees, and during his first term chairman of the last-named committee. His election in 1872 was without opposition, and his service in the Senate was a credit to himself and an honor to his constituency. The office sought the man, and not the man the office. For several years he was a member of the Board of Freeholders of Monmouth County, president of the Middletown and Keyport Steamboat Company, and is president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Matawan. He married, February 28, 1839, Elizabeth E. Woodward, of Cream Ridge, Monmouth County, who died December 13, 1865. Ilis second wife is Rebecca C. F. Patterson, whom he married June 24, 1868.

Trinity Lodge, No. 20, F. and A M .- The first Masonic Lodge in this place was warranted by the Grand Lodge as follows: " At the session held on November 10, 1807, a warrant was granted to John Mott, Master; Robert Shannon, S. W .; Jesse Hedges, J. W., for a Lodge at Middletown Point, in the county of Monmouth, by the name of Trin- ity Lodge, No. 20."

This lodge remained in existence until the Anti- Masonic excitement, when, with many others, it

suspended work. The Grand Secretary, in his re- port to the Grand Lodge, November 9, 1841, re- ported of fifty-seven lodges warranted in the State, only eight were in working order; seven had been stricken off; among them Trinity, No. 20; thirty- three had ceased work, but retained their warrants.

Aberdeen Lodge, No. 90, F. and A. M., was formed by six members of Caesarea Lodge, No. 64, of Keyport, who asked a recommendation from that lodge October 9, 1867. A charter was granted and the lodge instituted early in 1868. Meetings were held for a time in Odd-Fellows' Hall, and later in rooms fitted up in a building now occupied by J. G. Conover. The charter was forfeited in 1878, and restored and finally surren- dered m 1879, the lodge having at the time twenty- six members. The Past Masters were Judson G. Shackleton, William J. Maggs, Rens. W. Dayton, William A. Fountain and David P. Van Deventer.

Knickerbocker Lodge, No. 52, I. O. of O. F., was chartered February 5, 1847. The charter members were R R. McChesney, G. D. White, P. F. Ten Eyck, W. W. Hughes and Tunis Hubbard. It was instituted March 30th in that year. It now has a membership of sixty. The present officers are J. G. Conover, N. G .; E. A. Smith, V. G .; William Rogers, Sec .; Richard Bedle, Treas .; Peter Ten Eyck, Per. Sec.

J. W. Shackleton Post, No. 83, G. A. R., was instituted November 1, 1883, with twenty-seven members. Meetings were first held in the Wash- ington Engine-house, and in December of the same year rooms were fitted up in the White build- ing, and are now occupied by the post. George A. Fountain is Commander, and E. S. Griffith, Adju- tant. The post now has fifty-eight members.

Washington Fire Company, No 1, of Matawan, was incorporated March 17, 1870, with David H. Wyckoff, William S. Hornor, William Spader, Charles W. Fountain and Jesse S. Sickles as trus- tees. The present engine-house was then erected and engine purchased. The present officers are : Foreman, Jesse S. Sickles; Assistant Foreman, William Maggs; Secretary, William Rogers; Treas- urer, William A. Fountain. The company has at present thirty-four members.

Matawan Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1, was incorporated in October, 1878. The present building was erected for their use by Judge Wil-

Was A. Hen dricks ony

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MATAWAN TOWNSHIP.

liam Spader. The company numbers thirty-eight members.

year or two later the Presbyterian Church was built there, as mentioned in the account of that In 1815 a tannery was put in operation at Mid- dletown Point by De Lafayette Schenck, a nephew of Ruloff V. Schenck. It was known many years afterwards as the Matawan Tannery, and was sold to George W. Bloodgood in 1864. It is no longer in operation as a tannery. church organization in Matawan. An old tomb- stone standing a few years since, indicated that the burial-place had been used as early as 1740. A school-house at this place was also mentioned in the road record of 1768. One was built on the northeast corner of the church lot long before In 1835 a new grist-mill, situated a mile from Isaac P. Van Doren. It was sold to Cartan & Co., who now own it on the old site. 1800, and was used till the present house was Middletown Point, was offered for sale by the owner, 'built. The family of John Burrowes were buried here, and also Dr. Peter Le Conte, of whom nothing is known save the fact that he was In 1838, Richard Low made earthenware in the rear of William Little's store. He continued the business till 1850. buried here and that he died January 29, 1768, in his sixty-sixth year. Dr. Thomas Barber, a surgeon in the Revolutionary army, was also a resident In 1852, Josiah Van Sehoick and Ezra Dunn built the Matawan Pottery, with two kilns. In 1859, William A. Dunlap became a partner ; the firm-name became Dunn, Dunlap & Co. here. His wife, Mary, died March 3, 1788, in her thirty-sixth year. He died several years later and was buried by her side, but no stone marks the place. Members of the Forman family were buried here before 1800. Major Thomas Hunn died September 15, 1797, aged sixty years. The Rev. George S. Woodhull, pastor of the died December 25, 1834, in the sixty-second year of his age and the thirty-seventh of his min- istry. Also Mathias Hulsart, who died April 11, 1846, aged eighty-nine years. It is said that he was a soldier in the Revolution.

The J. L. Rue Pottery Company was started in 1860 at South Amboy, by J. L. Rue and others, under the name of J. L. Rue & Co In 1880 a company was formed by J. L. Rue, .I. T. Rue and Presbyterian Church, was buried here; he H. Arrowsmith, as the J. L. Rue Pottery Company., The present grounds were purchased and the com- pany erected two brick two-story buiklings, each one hundred by thirty-six feet, a kiln-shed forty- five by seventy feet, and two kilns, each fifteen feet six inches in diameter. H. Arrowsmith re- tired from the firm in the spring of 1884.

In the spring of 1879, C. S. Bucklin & Co. erected brick buildings, seventy-five by ninety, and thirty by one hundred feet, and commenced the business of eanning fruits and vegetables. They now employ about one hundred and twenty-five persons in the fruit season.

In Matawan township, on the road between Keyport and Matawan, are the gas-works that supply both those villages. The Gas Company was organized in 1870. The lot was purchased and the works were commenced in November, 1871. In the following year they were completed, and gas was introduced from them into the two villages.

Mount Pleasant was (and still is, to some extent) noted as the place of residence of Philip Frenean, "the popular poet of the days of the Revolution, who cheered the hearts of the citizens by his ready rhymes in behalf of the good cause and opposition to its foes while patriots were strug- gling for independence." Ile was born in Frank- fort Street, in New York City, January 2, 1752. The family was of French Huguenot descent. Pierre Freneau, the father of Philip and of Peter Freneau, distinguished in the history of South Carolina, hought an estate of a thousand acres in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, a family inherit- ance to which his son removed in 1734, occupied, and where he wrote many of his poems. Both the father and grandfather of Philip Freneau are buried in a vault in Trinity Churchyard, New York, by the side of their family relations.

MOUNT PLEASANT lies south of and immedi ately adjoining Matawan-being, in fact, nearly a continuation of the last-named village. The Of the boyhood of Philip Freneau little is name of this place appears in a road record in known, but it may be inferred from the position 1768, and was doubtless in use much earlier. A of his family and his subsequent attainments that

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

he was well instrueted at the schools of the eity, . . for in 1767 he was a student at Princeton College, New Jersey, where he graduated with credit, after the usual four years' course, in 1771. He began carly the practice of versification ; for in his sophomore year, at the age of seventeen, he com- posed a poem of decided promise, entitled "The Poetieal History of the Prophet Jonah," which appears at the head of his first general collection of poems Other compositions in various metres, on classical and historical themes, preserved in the same volume, were written during his collegiate | course.

It was a creditable year for the institution when In the year following the publication of the magazine, Freneau, having embarked as a passen- ger in a merchant vessel from Philadelphia, on he graduated, for in his class were James Madison, afterwards President, and other men of note, among whom was Hngh Henry Brackenridge, | another voyage to the West Indies, was captured a graduate with Freneau, afterwards a celebrated judge and author, who, like Freneau, had already developed a taste for poetry, and they united, for their commencement exercise, in the composition of a dialogue : " A Poem on the Rising Glory of America," which they pronounced together, sound- ing in animated blank verse the achievements of colonization in the past and the visionary grandeur of empire hereafter. This joint poem was pub lished in Philadelphia in 1772 The portion written by Freneau opens the collection of his poems published in 1865 by W. J. Middleton, New York.

The next information of Freneau is gathered from the dates of the poems which he contributed to the journals published by Hugh Gaine and Anderson, in New York, in 1775. They exhibit his interest in the important military affairs of the year in Boston, and are found in the work above named. In a poem of this year, " Mac Sniggen," a satire on some hostile poetaster, he expresses a desire to eross the Atlantic,-

"Long have I sat on this disastrous shore, And sighing, sought to gain a passage o'er To Europe's towns, where, as our travelers say, Poets may flourish, or perhaps they may."

His inelination for foreign travel was gratified in 1776 by a voyage to the West Indies, where he appears to have remained some time in a mer- cantile capacity, visiting Jamaica and the Danish island of Santa Cruz. Several of his most strik-

ing poems, as the "House of Night" and the " Beauties of Santa Cruz," were written on these visits.

In 1779, Freneau was engaged as a leading contributor to The United States Magazine; A Repository of History, Politics and Literature, edited by his college friend and fellow-patriot, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and published by Francis Bailey, Philadelphia. It was issued monthly from January to December, when its dis- continuance was announced " until an established peace and a fixed value of the money shall render it convenient or possible to take it up again."

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 139

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co. Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148