History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 142

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 142

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).

Wesley Lake (then Lake Pond), now dotted with over four hundred nicely trimmed and painted boats, and Fletcher Lake (then Goose Pond), having twenty-three, had then but a

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

single craft,-a clumsy, superannuated fishing- both said it was a rusty old English penny, but upon further inspection it proved to be a Span- boat, which Mr. Osborn had bought for a small sum of the fishermen along shore, and had ish silver dollar. This was regarded as an christened her the " Barbara Heck." This augury for good. craft could carry, without inconvenience, nearly, if not quite the whole population of Ocean Grove at that time at a single trip. Bishop Simpson and his lady honored this old craft with their give us a passage to the sea ; and here in this presenee, and in it sailed along Wesley Lake up through the wilds towards the bridge, and thought the ride was very fine. But, alas ! one stormy night Wesley Lake, wearied with its long imprisonment, slipped out to sea, and with it carried the old " Barbara Heek," since which time all efforts for its recovery have been without avail.

Some days after the prayer-meeting referred to, Mr. Osborn thought we must hold a kind of eamp-meeting. The place fixed on was about where D. H. Brown's cottage stands. Two loads of boards were hauled from Long Branch, pine logs were cut, and on these the boards were placed for seats. A stand, rude as could be, holding three or four persons, a little straw seattered around, and invitations to the few people in the neighborhood being sent out, we were ready for work.

Edgar Orville Howland, of Troy, N. Y., an exhorter, held the first religious serviee at this little camp-meeting, the theme of diseourse be- ing "partakers of Christ," suggested by Heb. xi. 14, the congregation numbering thirty or forty persons. It was a very small, but very good meeting. It soon came to an end, how- ever, and we all went home greatly pleased and profited with our visit to the sea.

Up to the time of this meeting there had been no purchase of lands, save the one-third of a third of one hundred acres, fishing tract, di- reetly along the surf, of Britton White, for fifty dollars. The deed for this had just been obtained, and Osborn, in company with Charles Rogers, went down to see his new possession. It was eleven aeres of sand, nothing more, nothing less,-jnst as good and pure sand as the world produces ! As they walked and talked, Rogers saw some- thing at his feet that resembled a coin. He did not pick it up, but called Osborn's attention to it. He stooped and took it in his hand. They

Soon after this it was decided to purchase a few acres, lying in the grove, immediately along the northern lake, and enough beach land to small compass a few of us proposed, in the sim- plest and most unostentatious way, to assemble from year to year, and enjoy our summer rest in bathing, fishing, worshiping or sauntering socially along the shore, free from the heavy cares which we felt resting upon us, welcoming from the immediate neighborhood such as might choose to join us in our simple service by the sea. It was no speculation, no seheme for raising money, no device of any kind; but simply and singly social, recreative and reli- gions,-mainly, excepting the few neighbors who might desire to worship with us, for ourselves alone. The great world we did not seek, but shunned. We wanted simply to rest and re- cuperate.

As our plans became known, however, others wished to unite with us, and we were earnestly desired so to extend our enterprise as to inelude all who sought similar relief from the heavy cares of professional or business life. Yielding to this request, a meeting was held on the 22d day of December, 1869, in the Trinity Methodist Episco- pal Church, Trenton, N. J., of which the lamented Lawrence was then pastor, and an association, consisting of thirteen ministers and thirteen laymen, was formed, and a charter soon after ob- tained from the New Jersey Legislature, under the following title : "The Ocean Grove Camp- Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church." The following paragraphs precede the charter :

" Recognizing the beauty of the Scripture declaration 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof,' and being especially impressed with the propriety of having a portion of the land skirting the sea conseerated to sacred uses, we whose names are hereunto annexed, with a single eye to the divine glory, and in humble dependence upon our Heavenly Father's aid, do hereby solemnly covenant together to use eer-

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tain land which has been providentially com- mitted to our trust, for these high and holy purposes. And we further declare it to be our design to keep these lands a perpetual oblation upon Christ's altar, enjoining the same duty upon those who may suceced us. To this end we mutually pledge our Christiau honor."

The by-laws declare the objects of the asso- ciation to be as follows : "To provide for the holding of camp-meetings of an elevated character, especially for the promotion of Chris- tiau holiness ; and to afford to those who would spend a few days or weeks at the sea-shore an opportunity to do so at moderate cost, free from the temptations to dissipation usually found at fashionable watering-places."

Any surplus funds remaining to the corpora- tion after defraving the necessary expenses for improvements or otherwise are to be devoted to such benevolent objects as may be determined by the association at its regular meetings.

The names of the twenty-six original mem- bers of the association, each of whom paid twenty-five dollars to constitute a fund with which to commence our work, are found in the charter in the following order: Ellwood H. Stokes, Ruliff V. Lawrence, George Hughes, William B. Osborn, David H. Brown, John S. Inskip, William H. Boole, Benjamin M. Adams, Alfred Cookman, Adam Wallace, John H. Stockton, Aaron E. Ballard, William Frank- lin, Robert J. Andrews, Joseph H. Thornley, George W. Evans, Christopher Sickler, George Franklin, Samnel T. Williams, William Mana- han, John Martin, George W. Cheeseman, James Black, Oliver L. Gardiner, Gardiner Howland and William F. Jordan. From the original twenty-six, a board of officers was elected, with the Rev. E. H. Stokes as president. He immediately felt, in assuming the duties of the office, that a great work had been under- taken, and said that inasmuch as all the mem- bers of the association had their callings, which absorbed their time, it was a necessity, in view of the magnitude of the enterprise, that the superintendence of the work upon the grounds should be the undivided business of some one person. So all felt. It was then proposed to secure from the New Jersey Conference the ser-

vices of Rev. W. B. Osborn as superintendent, which being done, the work commenced.

The incipient movements were to clear a part of the Grove from underbrush, stake out the lots, and secure, as soon as possible, a hundred subscribers for lots at fifty dollars each. This was soon done, and on the 1st day of June, 1870, the subscribers came to claim their prop- erty. It was mutually decided that the choice should be sold at auction. The first choice brought eighty-six dollars, and was paid by James A. Bradley, Esq., now of Asbury Park, for the lake lot (still vacant) lying between W. l'. Breek's and the cottage of Rev. B. M. Adams. The premiums for lots on the ocean- front ran down as low as one dollar, and lots bought there for fifty-one dollars have since, in some instances, been sold as high as fifteen hundred dollars. The aggregate of premiums on that day amounted to fifteen hundred dollars, which was thought to be a great success.

The price of lots then advanced to seventy- five dollars, then to one hundred and twenty- five dollars, and finally to two hundred and fifty dollars. After this other purchases were made by the association ; but the whole land question in connection with Ocean Grove has a history, which, if ever written in full, will be found to possess an interest amounting to more than romance, because thrilled with facts that pushed ns ont often to the crumbling verge of despair, and unless relief had come from God, must sooner or later have involved some of us, though innocent and pure in these transactions as the first-born son of light, in irretrievable disaster, if not utter ruin. But to the trusting heart there never yet was a Red Sea of diffi- enlty that some Moses was not found ready and able to smite and divide the waters. So here. After eighteen months of weary watching, working, waiting and praying, till hope began to grow sick with the long delay, it was found that our title to a part of our lands, for which we had paid five hundred dollars, and on the strength of which we had surveyed our prop- erty, sold lots, and on which cottages had been built, was worthless! but could (as a special furor to us !) be made perfeet by the payment of seventeen thousand dollars more. The

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

whole Ocean Grove property, consisting of about two hundred and sixty-six aeres, was acquired by the purchase of ten different tracts, for which ten deeds had to be given. To vali- date these deeds required ninety-two signatures, but in the transfer (several different parties being interested in the same tract) some of the names had to be obtained as many as four times, and each time with increased difficulty. The actual number of different owners was forty- four. The following are the names of the parties from whom the grounds were bought :

Britton White.

James A. Bradley.

Caroline White.

Helen M. Bradley.

Theodore Fields.

James White.

Saralı Fields.

Sarah White.

James Fields.

William C. White.

Charlotte Hubbard.

Drummond White.

Susan Borden.

Hannah A. White.

Andrewetta S. Brinley.

Goyan Drummond.

Joseph White.

Divine Algor.

Sarah E. White.

John E. White.

William Thorne.

Yonmans B. White.

Martha A. Thorne.

Henry White.

William Swanton.

Elizabeth White.

Ann Swanton.

Russell White.

Charles Rogers.

William W. Jeffrey. Jane Jeffrey.

Mary E. Rogers.

Borden W. Sandford.

John Sickles.

Deborah Sandford.

Henry Fields.

Benjamin White.

Ruth Ann Fields.

Jennie White.

Jacob Fields.

Franees Corlis.

Helen R. Russell.

Martha C. Corlis.

And when it is remembered that these were seat- tered through different States, some minors, others in peculiar mental conditions, and all to be consulted, and such arrangements made with them as the almost endless variety of circum- stanees and views of the case demanded, the ad- justment of the questions at all seems to us nothing short of divine interposition. The chief human agent in unraveling these entangle- ments was D. H. Brown, Esq., treasurer of Ocean Grove Camp-Meeting Association, whose patience in the matter has only been equaled by the intense desire he has felt to see all these questions brought to a satisfactory end.

The water question was in the beginning, one of great anxiety. There was plenty of water in the sea, in the lakes-all around-but what should we do for water to drink ?

There were no springs, no living fresh-water streams. The prospects were discouraging. Sunset Lake seemed to be the most feasible source ; but that was too far off. Finally, at- tention was called to the tube-pump, and it was thought it might work here. It was tried, and up to this time, with the hundreds of pumps now upon this ground, has proved a tri- umphant success Better water, with a supply less likely to fail, hardly exists perhaps upon the continent.

After the Ist of June, 1870, lots were fairly in the market, and there were sold that year three hundred and seventy-three. During that year the first cottage was built-corner of As- bury Avenue and Kingsley Place-by H. Y. Lazear, then of Warwiek, N. Y., now of Chi- cago. In the winter, Messrs. Fuller and Hay- wood built, and in the spring of next year, Thornley, Stetson, Stokes, Mrs. Duffield and Mrs. Hulse. At the close of the year there were sixty in all.

The first camp-meeting held on these grounds commenced on Tuesday, July 26th, and closed on Friday night, August 5, 1870. It was well attended, the weather was delightful, the order perfect, and the infinence, from its in- ception to the close, heavenly and divine. To accommodate this meeting, and that of 1871, tents of the Round Lake Camp-Meeting Asso- ciation, numbering nearly one hundred and fifty, were hired, at an expense of five hundred dollars, with the additional cost of transporta- tion from Round Lake and baek, together with the wages, traveling expenses and the board of an overseer sent with them. After these meet- ings tents were purchased, and the association now owns a great number of them.

" It is important now," said President Stokes, " to call even more special attention to the ob- jeet of this organization-and it is a pleasure to me to say that it is pre-eminently religious. All the members of our association must be mem- bers of the Christian Church. An act that would expel them from the church expels then from our association. All our business meetings commence and end with religious services. . . . Our rules, which have been the subject of much comment, especially by those who never read

William Fields.

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them, we have published, and ask all to study. They are simply a mutual protection-not more for us than for you. If we sold our lots in fee- simple rather than by lease, you might have something offensive next to your cottage, which you have built for a pleasant summer retreat. If we allowed the transfer of a lot without our approval, you might soon be annoyed with most offensive neighbors. If we allowed the indis- eriminate occupaney of cottages during the win- ter months by any who may chance to get the privilege, the danger from fire would be greatly increased, and the little summer adornments of your property might soon be destroyed by ehil- dren and others who have little or no interest in the place. As it is, we allow no one to stay during the winter unless they are known to be proper and responsible persons, and there are good reasons why they should remain. When this is clearly shown, there have never been refusals for any to remain.

" The next rule that has called forth remark is that requiring our gates closed on the Sab- bath. On this we simply say we are a religious place and a religious people. To open our gates on the Sabbath would disturb the outside world, make a great deal of unnecessary travel, break up congregations in the country for miles around us, and so unsettle us inside that one of the primary objeets of our association-viz .: quiet- ness and rest-would be defeated. I have just to say that with thoughtful people our Sabbath regulatious are one of our chief attractions, and there is no human probability that these rules

On the 31st of July, 1875, at the sixth anni- versary of the first religious meeting held upon these grounds, there was erected, as commemo- rative of that event, in connection with the an- niversary exercises in Memorial Park, a " Me- morial Vase," at a cost of a little over one hun- dred dollars. The vase is of iron, and stands about eight feet high. It is designed, not sim- ply as commemorative of the first religious meet- ing held upon these grounds, but as the mem- bers of the association die, their names will be nearly half an acre of ground.

inseribed upon the marble panels found upon the several sides.

The panel facing Main Avenue has inseribed upon it :

OCEAN GROVE CAMP-MEETING ASSOCIATION

OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. ORGANIZED DECEMBER 22, 1869. "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD." ERECTED JULY 31, 1875.

On the panel facing west is inscribed :

IN MEMORIAM : ALFRED COOKMAN, RULIFF V. LAWRENCE, GEORGE FRANKLIN.

Since 1875, when, at the anniversary meet- ing, President Stokes delivered the address em- bracing the history of the place down to that time, as above given, Ocean Grove has had a very great increase of population and import- ance, as will be seen by the account which fol- lows:

The religious services and ceremonies at Ocean Grove are held chiefly in the open air, in the great Auditorium, and in the Janes Memorial Tabernaele, there being but one regu- larly organized church, and one (prospective) church edifice in the place.

The Ocean Grove Auditorium, as it now stands, has a capacity (inelnding platform and camp-chairs) for seating about five thousand people. Its present location was fixed in 1870 by Rev. W. B. Osborn and the Rev. E. H. Stokes. Then a covered platform was erected,

will ever be revoked. All our other rules , with a cupola, which contained a small bell. are so obviously simple and reasonable that they do not even need a passing remark from me."

Pine plank were used for seats. These served for four years. In 1874 one hundred and fifty park settees were purchased of the New Jersey Conference Camp-Meeting Association at Pit- man Grove, N. J. In 1875 a substantial frame, seventy-five by one hundred feet, was ereeted, and covered during the season with pine-boughs. It served for two camp-meetings, and in 1876 was roofed over and so used until 1880, when it was enlarged to one hundred and thirty-six by one hundred and forty-six feet, with outer posts eighteen feet high and centre posts twenty-four feet high. The building thus enlarged covers

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Association Hall was erected in 1871. It is of brick, sixty-five feet square, three stories in height, with a basement. The corner-stone was laid March 24th. The association occupied its business office early in July following, and on the 1st of August the building was dedicated. It is occupied by the business office of the as- sociation, the post-office, the executive commit- tee rooms, the Library Association and commit- tee rooms. A large hall is on the second floor, which is used for religious services. The tower of the building contains a four-faced clock and a bell weighing twelve hundred pounds.

The model of Jerusalem was donated to the association in 1880 by the Rev. W. W. Wythe, M.D. It is erected on the plat of ground north of Ocean Pathway, between Central and Pilgrim Pathways. It was inclosed every win- ter to protect it from storms, until 1884, when it was permanently incloscd.

The Bishop Janes Memorial Tabernacle is a frame building, sixty by eighty feet in size, having a capacity of seating one thousand per- sons. It was dedicated June 14, 1877.

ST. PAUL'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, at Ocean Grove, was organized in 1874, with the Rev. H. B. Beegle as pastor. ITis succes- sors have been L. La Rue, 1875 ; W. Abbott, 1876-77; W. Barnhart, 1878-79 ; E. H. Stokes, 1880-82; Dr. W. W. Wythe, 1883; J. D. Westcott, 1884.

The Ocean Grove Association, in October, 1874, donated the land on which the church was erected and one thousand dollars to the building fund. The corner-stone was laid Au- gust 1, 1875, by Bishop Scott. The church was completed and ready for use May 28, 1876, and was dedicated by the venerable Bishop Ed- mund S. Janes, August 1, 1876. The building cost about eight thousand dollars. It was used until sold to the school district of Asbury Park, in the spring of 1882. From that time ser- vices have been held in Association Hall. The society has purchased a large plat of ground on Embury and New York Avennes, facing on Embury Avenue. The corner-stone was laid December 2, 1884. Owing to the cold weather, the exercises were held in Association Hall. The

Rev. W. W. Moffat, presiding elder of this dis- triet ; the Rev. Dr. E. H. Stokes, president of the Ocean Grove Camp-Meeting Association; the Rev. Dr. Benjamin C. Lippincott, of Long Branch ; the Rev. Messrs. George W. Bancroft, Samuel Dillingham and Samuel Jaquet, of Ocean Grove; and the Rev. William Franklin, of Ocean Beach, took part in the services. The congregation marched to the new lot, where Presiding Elder Moffat laid the corner-stone. The church will be a frame edifice, and cost about twenty thousand dollars.

In West Grove a chapel, thirty by fifty feet, was erected in 1883 at a cost of seven hundred dollars, where religious services are held and a large Sunday-school is taught. It is under the care of St. Paul's Church.

The following is a summary of the services held at Ocean Grove in the season of 1884, and is a fair showing of every year's services : There have been during the season : addresses, 574 ; memorial services, 7; original poems, 3; young people's meetings, 62; holiness meetings, 75; sermons, 59; Sabbathı-school sessions, in- cluding three divisions-primary, intermediate and Bible class, 10; surf meetings, 10; chil- dren's meetings, 9; Bible readings, 7; special experience meetings, 19; Women's Temperance Union, 13; love feasts, 3; service of song, 3; twilight meetings, 11; stereopticon exhibi- tions, 2; lectures, 11; National Temper- ance Convention meetings, 14; New York Conference Temperance meetings, 4; chaplain reunions, 9; family devotions, 27; Young Men's Christian Association meetings, 3 ; Eliz- abeth, N. J., young people's day, 1; National Convention Methodist Seminaries, 1 ; Method- ist Episcopal historical day, 3; fourth of July celebration, 1; Ocean Grove anniversary, 1; anniversary prayer-meeting, 1; Lord's Supper, 2; consecration meetings, 11; helping hand, 14; Mrs. Smith's, 8; mothers' meetings, 7; re- vival meetings, immediately following the camp- meetings, 5. Total number of meetings, 419 ; add to these all the addresses, sermons, cte., and there is a grand total of nine hundred and ninety-four as the result of the summer services.

The Ocean Grove Association entered into a

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contract with J. P. L. Tilton and Stiles to run a line of stages between Long Branch and Ocean Grove. This line was continued until August 28, 1875, when the first railroad-train arrived at Asbury Park, and the stage-line was thus rendered unnecessary.

The water supply for the association grounds, prior to 1883, was obtained largely from the well in the cellar of the association building. In December, 1882, it was decided to make the experiment of obtaining water by means of an artesian well. As this was the first artesian well sunk on the shore, its progress is here de- scribed, as given from the report of the president

in 1883. In reference to the need of water for the sand, without increase of water, the same kind of fire and sewerage purposes, he says :

"To meet these requirements, an Asbury Park and Ocean Grove Water Company was organized two or three years ago, consisting of the best business men of both places. Numerous meetings were held, plans discussed, explorations made, money expended, and the result was that, after various efforts and delays, the company dissolved.

"Some of us at Ocean Grove held tenaciously to the thought that the water supply was beneath our feet. In this faith, the matter was brought before our last annual meeting (1882), and the project of sinking a test-well was favorably received. and referred to the executive committee with power. At the next execu- tive committee meeting, held December 5, 1882, D. II. Brown reported that Mr. H. C. Safford, of Brooklyn, N. Y., would sink a well six inches in diameter, sixty feet deep, just south of the ice-house, for $6.50 per foot. It was then decided to do the work at an ex- pense not exceeding three hundred dollars. Decem- ber 21st, it was decided to bore one hundred feet, if necessary. The weather continuing unfavorable, the work was not commenced until February, 1883. At the executive committee meeting, March 7th, there being no signs of procuring water at the depth of one hundred feet, it was resolved to bore fifty feet deeper. At the meeting, April 11th,still boring through impervious blue clay, a letter was received from Pro- fessor Cook, State geologist, accompanied with geologi- cal charts, urging us to proceed, with assurances that we would find water at the depth of two hundred and fifty feet. The order was given to bore two hundred feet. At the session of the semi-annual meeting, May 8, 1883, the depth of two hundred feet had been reached, and the same seemingly unending, stiff, almost rock- like, impenetrable blue clay continuing, the board of administration awaited further orders. Already fifteen hundred dollars had been expended. To stop now, with the probability of being in the immediate vicin- ity of water, would be not only an actual loss of that

amount, but a discouragement to all future efforts. It was therefore resolved to go fifty feet further, and still on, at the discretion of the executive committee. When the committee met, on the 16th of June, the depth of two hundred and seventy-five feet had been reached, and still stiff, blue elay. The prospects were not encouraging, but there was a deep and abiding conviction that we were on the line of water. The board was therefore authorized to go twenty-five feet deeper,-fifty feet, if found necessary, - indeed, to go on until water should be found. At two hundred and eighty-five feet a thin stratum of sand and shells was reached and a slight flow of water. It was like an oasis in the desert to the swollen feet and blistered lips of weary travelers. All hearts were jubilant, and faith increased a hundred-fold. The boring re- commenced, and after passing about seven feet through stiff, blue clay was again reached, which continued with but slight variations, involving toil, extending to weeks, and even months, expensive and testing faith and patience, to the last extreme. Many said, ' You will never find water.' And so we sometimes almost felt ourselves ; but never quite losing courage, kept on, until at last we adopted, as a kind of watch- word, 'Water or China.' Finally, through the oak land soils. through the pine land soils, through the upper marl bed, through the red sand bed, through the lower marl bed, at a depth of four hundred feet, laminated sands, according to the geological survey of Professor Cook, were reached, and we were in the water region. We thanked God and took courage ; but our troubles were not at an end. The flow of wa- ter was small, and the difficulties in the way of de- veloping the well were many. A four-inch iron pipe, four hundred feet long, was sunk to the bottom of the bore, and held there with cement. An inch and a half iron pipe, four hundred feet long, was placed in- side the four-inch pipe for the purpose of forcing water down by means of a steam-engine, to wash out the sand and form a cavity at the bottom. The experi- ment was not at first successful. The small pipe met an obstruction, and would not go to the bottom, the machinery broke, the men became discouraged, almost demoralized. D. H. Brown, the treasurer, was inces- sant in his efforts to devise, encourage and help in the manipulations in all possible ways. Mr. Safford brought all his large experience to bear to insure success. Nothing was left undone. A week passed without much progress. Messrs. Brown and Safford were in constant consultation. All were intensely interested. To fail now would be not only failure to us, but a blight to all the efforts to secure water along the New Jersey coast. We were laboring for others as well as ourselves. Friday, August 10th, arrived. A last effort was to be made to sink the small pipe to the bottom. Mr. Brown and Mr. Safford tried all the morning, with but partial success ; in the afternoon the efforts to pass the obstruction were continued.

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 142

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