History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 71

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 71

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On the 2d of October, 1805, it was decided by the board to accept a draught produced by Mr. Holmes ; the size of the building to be forty feet in depth and sixty feet front. On the same day the board agreed with Jacob Holmes & Brother "to do the wooden-work, and with Mr. Murray2 to do the mason-work ; they to employ such meu as are capable of doing a sufficient day's work." The building was to be of brick, and the iron-work was done by William H. Bennett. On the 4th of Jan- uary, 1806, it was resolved by the board that "the new court-house is to be set as near the centre of the lot as follows,-that is, between Mr. John Craig's paling fence and the rang- ing line of the surrogate's office; the front of said court house to be laid five or six feet behind the present old one."

The stone material for the court-house was brought from the State of New York. The

2 William Murray (son of Joseph, who was murdered at his home in Middletown by Tory Refugees in the Revolution) superintended and built the cells and other masorry of the building. The substantial nature of his work was shown by the way the walls stood the test of the fire which de- stroyed the building in 1873. The foundation walls, and the front wall of the first story of the present court-house in front of the sheriff's office, the hall and the grand jury room remain the same to-day as when put up by William Murray more than three-fourths of a century ago.

1 On the residence lot of Dr. Throckmorton, at the corner of Main and Throckmorton Streets, workmen employed in digging a cellar, some years ago, found a number of hu- man skeletons, which were undoubtedly those of wounded soldiers who had died in hospital in Freehold. They had evidently been buried together in one grave.

407

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

bricks (except those from the front, which were was held the first Revolutionary meeting in brought from Philadelphia) were burned near New Jersey, and there the Monmouth commit- tees met when the dread intelligence of blood- shed came from Lexington and Bunker Hill. In the old court-room was announced the sign- ing of the immortal Declaration. Within the same walls the Rev. John Woodhull, of the Tennent Church, preached the funeral sermon the site of the building by Mr. Lippincott. The laborers on the work were paid five shil- lings (" York money ") per day, with a deduction of one shilling per day when the days were short. In May, 1806, there was some disa- greement about the allowance of grog to the i work-people, and the Board of Freeholders , of the patriot martyr, Captain Joshua Huddy; passed a resolution that the laboring men at and there the glad tidings were read of the work at the court-house should have a quart of treaty of peace that closed the war of independ- rum per week and the boys only a pint a week, to be under charge of the committee. The work on the building appears to have pro- gressed very slowly, for it was not completed until 1808, and was first occupied on the 1st of January, 1809. ance. In that historie structure, which had stood there when George Washington was born, the people met to listen to his funeral eulogy. Its name is so inseparably connected with his in history that every school-boy who learns of the deeds of Washington, knows also of the famous old court-house of Monmouth.

The old Revolutionary court-house stood (as has already been shown) entirely to the front of the site of its successor, with a space of a few feet between the rear of the old and the front of the new edifice. Therefore it did not interfere materially with the erection of the latter, and so it stood and was occupied by the courts until they were transferred to the new

Until after the close of the last century no building for a elerk's office had been erected, the clerk having either used a part of the court-house or had his office in his dwelling- house. There had been a clerk who had charge of the records from the establishment of the building, in January, 1809. Soon afterwards i county and first organization of the courts. the brick, stone and iron of the old building The books of conveyances, all of which have been preserved and are in existence to this day, were very few in number until after 1800. There was no need of a surrogate's office, for Jersey, granted letters testamentary and of ad- ministration until the year 1784, when the law was passed providing for the appointment of surrogates in the several counties. were sold at auction, and the house itself was also sold in the same way and removed across Main Street to a spot on South Street, in the rear of what is now Taylor's Hotel. There it the Governor, as surrogate-general of New was used for some time as a dwelling, and in 1819 as the printing-office of the Monmouth Star, but was afterwards converted into a barn, and it is said that still later a part of the an- cient frame was worked into the structure of a stable which is still standing on South Street.

It was an ignoble fate for the venerable edifice. In it, courts had been held in the name of two British Kings, before the State of New Jersey had an existence. It had stood and done service through two great wars. It was a quarter of a century old at the time of Brad- dock's defeat on the Monongahela ; and in and around it, at court-time, men discussed the fresh news of the capture of Quebec and the death of Wolfe on the plains of Abraham. In that ancient building the people met to denounce the tyranny of the Stamp Act; there, in June, 1774,

In June, 1799, the first offices in the county of Monmouth built by the public authorities for the use of the clerk and surrogate were or- dered to be constructed. The plan proposed was to build them under one roof, of brick, thirty-eight by sixteen feet in dimensions, to be arched over with brick, and to be made, as far as possible, fire-proof. They were built very nearly on the above plan, but the depth was changed from sixteen to twenty feet. They were completed before 1803, as in January of that year the final account of the building com- mittee was settled. They were located in front of the site of the offices afterwards erected (and

408

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

burned in 1873) near the street, and probably on a line with the old court-house of 1730, which was standing and in use at the time of their ercetion. They remained until about the year 1851, when (upon the construction of new offices) they were removed to South Street, and there used for some years for business purposes.

The offices of the clerk and surrogate, ereeted in 1851, were one story high, the surrogate occupying the one nearest the court-house. In 1869 another story was added to both offices, and the building was connected with the court- house, a steeple being built upon it corres-

the court-room was remodeled, a portieo built on the front and the exterior ornamented. Be- fore that time the railing around the bar was cirenlar, the seats for the audience were raised as they receded from the bench, the aisle from the door to the bar was in the middle of the room and the prisoners' dock was just inside the railing of the bar.

About the year 1855 the cells in the court- house were converted into dwelling-rooms for the family, and a jail was built in the rear. One of the basement cells had been in use for a time, in 1825, for banking purposes, by the manager of ponding with that on the court-house. On the , the Monmonth Bank, then existing in Freehold.

On Thursday, October 30, 1873, between twelve and one o'clock A.M., a fire broke out in the Monmouth Inquirer building (located a little above Court Street, and on the north side of Main, where the fine brick block now stands), and, spreading rapidly in both directions, destroyed the court-house of 1808,-ex- cept the solid walls in front and rear,-together with the jail and the offices of the clerk, sheriff and surrogate. The post-office, Inquirer office, a number of business places and the fine old MONMOUTH COURT-HOUSE OF 1808-1873. dwelling-house of Colonel completion of these improvements the clerk , P. G. Vought were also included in the destruc- took possession of the entire lower story, and tion. The account of the origin and progress the office of the surrogate was removed to the of the fire, given by the Inquirer aud the upper room. These offices were well arranged, Democrat" in their next issnes, was as follows : and were regarded as among the most conve- nient to be found in the counties of the State.

The court-house of 1808-the immediate predecessor of the one which now stands on the same site-remained in use and occupation by the courts for nearly sixty-five years. In 1855, after a considerable damage to the interior, re- sulting from a fire kindled by a female prisoner,1

"It was shortly after midnight when Mr. William Burrell, bartender of the Union Hotel, was about to go to bed, when, glancing out of his window, he saw

1 The fire, which was discovered at one o'clock A.M., February 2, 1885, was set by Catharine Conner, who was serving an eight months' sentence for theft. A dispatch

was sent to Bordentown for aid, and it was promptly re- sponded to. Two fire-engines and their companies left Bordentown, and reached Freehold at half-past ten A.M., but in the mean time the fire had been subdued.

2 Both the newspapers named were printed from the same form,-that of the Democrat,-which Major Yard courteously tendered (as also the use of his press) to Colo- nel Applegate, the proprietor of the Inquirer, whose office and material had been destroyed by the fire.

409

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD).

that the Monmouth Inquirer building, directly opposite, talling upon the roofs. Rev. F. Chandler, after ad- was on fire. He rushed out to give the alarm, and vising with some of our citizens, went to the telegraph- office, and, using Governor Parker's name, telegraphed to the Fire Departments of New Brunswick, Trenton and Bordentown for help. Responses were received from New Brunswick that they had but one engine available, and that it would not be prudent to spare it ; from Trenton and Bordentown, that their men and machines were ready awaiting transportation. met Mr. Will Sanders, a clerk in General Haight's law-office, which is located in the Inquirer building, and together they hastened across the street with a view of saving the general's books and papers. These per- sons were the first to enter the burning building. Mr. Sanders says that the fire was in the side of the building occupied by the printing-office and had burned through the ceiling of General Haight's office. Colonel Ap- " By this time the buildings on both sides of the Inquirer building were in flames. Burtis's store, on the north, separated from the clerk's office by Court Street, a narrow alley-way, was an old building of the most substantial character,-the frame and timbers of oak. With its rear additions, it extended about one hundred and fifty feet on Court Street. It burned fiercely, and made a great heat. Owing to the narrow passage-way between it and the clerk's office, the firemen were soon driven out by the heat. plegate and his son, who were in the office until a late hour, deelare that no fire was kept in the front room of the office, that the fire in the back room was nearly out, and that everything was safe when they left. Their opinion is that the fire originated in the law- office, from the gas jet, which, owing to the low ceil- ing, when the lights in town were turned off, caused the flame to play against the ceiling. Another opinion is that the fire originated on the first floor, on the theory that to form so fierce a fire in so short a time it must have commeneed at the bottom instead of the top of the building. Of course, in the excitement occasioned by the discovery of the fire, no one thought of observing its nature, with a view of ascertaining its origin, and conjecture is now useless.

"There was a delay in giving the alarm, as those who first discovered it had their attention engrossed by the effort to rescue property from the burning building. Half an hour is said to have elapsed before the bells were rung. The Seminary bell gave the first alarm. We happened to be among the first who were aroused, and when we arrived upon the ground the flames were bursting in great sheets from the front windows of the building and through the roof. Mr. Postmaster Fleming was also early on the ground, and rescued the mails and other property in the Post-Office. Messrs. Sanders and Burrell got ont a few of General Haight's law books, but all his valuable papers were destroyed. Sanders and Burrell remained at work so long that their retreat by the stairs was cut off; the former escaped by leaping from the porch roof, but the floor fell in before Burrell got out, and he went down with it, and in some almost miraculous way escaped through the front of the building without any serious injury.

"The Hook and Ladder Company, with their appa- ratus, were promptly on the ground, rendering all the assistance in their power. They put up their ladders upon the adjoining houses, and passed water up, and with their hooks and ropes endeavored to tear away the rear of the burning building, but their apparatus was soon disabled, owing to the strength of the oak timber>. It now became apparent that the fire would rapidly spread, and it appeared as if nothing could be done to prevent a general conflagration of the town. The Union Hotel, D. C. Perrine's store, William Lloyd's store and dwelling, and G. S. Conover's drug- store, on the opposite side of the street, were scorching from the heat, and showers of burning cinders were

"The court house, which includes under the same roof the clerk's and surrogate's offices on the south end and a jury-room and law-offices on the north end, was a substantial brick building, handsomely built and adorned with a wooden roof, two wooden cupolas and an elaborate wooden cornice. Recently the Board of Chosen Freeholders, as a protection against fire, authorized the construction of a reservoir of water, to which was attached a powerful force-pump and a sup- ply hose1. This apparatus had been promptly put in operation under the direction of Sheriff Hendrickson and County Clerk Arrowsmith, and the roof and the sides of the building were constantly flooded with water. Presently the cry went up that the cornice was on fire, and soon volumes of smoke began to pour through the cupolas and out of every crevice in the roof. The firemen redoubled their exertions, but they could not reach the fire. It ran along and under the cornice and under the roof, and the flames soon burst out in every direction, presenting a scene of beauty and grandeur rarely witnessed, but coupled with the sad- dest reflections and apprehensions of the greatest danger.

1 . Mr. John Bawden. of the Freehold Iron Foundry, had obtained considerable experience in the service of the Fire Department of Brooklyn, which enabled him to ren- der more efficient service here. Under his direction, the hose from the iron foundry was attached to the force- pump of the court-house, by means of which a stream was carried to the top of the court-house. Driven from there, he retreated with his apparatus to the offices on the north end of the building, where, resisting the efforts of some zealous but inexperienced persons to tear down the brick walls of the offices, he reserved the water until the roof fell in, when, by a judicious use of the hose, he extinguished the fire on the second floor of that building. Ile also di- rected the efforts by which the fire was prevented from spreading to the buildings of R. A. Ellis & Son, adjoining the court-honse property, by which all the northern end of the town was saved from destruction."

410

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

"In the northern direction the fire was stayed. The thick walls of the court-house confining the flames, and the extraordinary exertions of the people in flooding the roofs with water, and hanging wet car- pets on the sides of the buildings exposed to the heat, were successful in preventing the fire from extending beyond the public buildings.

" As soon as fears for the safety of the court-house were entertained, measures were taken by the officers in charge, to save the records. The books and papers of the county clerk were carried to Davis' Hotel, and afterwards transferred to Captain Arrowsmith's residence. The books and papers of the surrogate's office were also conveyed to a place of safety. Both offices were stripped of everything of value; all that was left behind were a few loose papers in the pigeon- holes, and a huge pile of justice's dockets, dating back to a short period after the flood. The doors of the vaults were then closed, and the place was aban- doned. As soon after the fire was over as possible the vaults were opened, and the papers left behind were found safe." 1

Westward from the point where the fire originated it spread to and destroyed the stores of R. Morris Hartshorne, Conover & Thomp- son and E. B. Bedle. Conover & Thompson's store was built mostly of hemlock timber, and was soon destroyed. The first floor was occu- store, in the second story front was the law- office of William H. Conover, Jr., and in the rear was the manufacturing department of the clothing-store. The third story was unoccupied. In the second story of Bedle's store was the law office of William H. Vredenburgh. In this office was the valuable law library collected by his father, Judge Vredenburgh, and most of the valuable collection of Daniel B. Ryall, both of which had been purchased by Mr. Vreden- burgh. So rapid was the progress of the flames that little could be done towards saving his

1 The offices of the clerk and surrogate were destroyed with the court-house, to which they were attached. "The vaults and safes of these offices were intended to be fire- proof. and they stood the test of fire. Not a single article left in them was injured ; the very plants and flowers, which were the pets of the clerk [Mr. David S. Crater] of the surrogate, were found, upon opening the vault. to be green and blooming in the midst of destruction on all sides." This quotation is made from an address made before the court by the Hon. Joel Parker on the 31st of October, 1873, from which address much of the preceding account of the old court-houses and jails of the county has been taken.

property. He secured most of the valuable papers and books in his safe, but none of his furniture and but few of his books.

" The buildings on the east side of the street were now scorching and smoking from the heat. D. C. Perrine had prudently provided a cistern of water, a force-pump and sufficient length of hose to reach the roof of his large store, which is built of brick. He brought his apparatus into service, and poured water on the roofs of the Union Hotel and Lloyd's store and dwelling, adjoining him on the right and left. . 1 small garden-engine was also used to keep the front of Mr. Lloyd's buildings wet. Several times the hotel seemed upon the point of bursting into flames, but by constant exertion it was saved.

" Adjoining Bedle's store on the south, separated by an alley-way, stood the old ' Ryall Homestead,' owned and occupied by Colonel P. G. Vought, who, with his wife, are now traveling in Europe. The house was one of the best and most substantial dwellings in the town, was handsomely built, and but a few years ago was thoroughly renovated and repaired. Extra- ordinary exertions were made to save it. The sides and roof of the building were covered with carpets, which were kept constantly saturated with water. The furniture was taken out and carried to a place of safety. The people labored with great energy and perseverance, but without avail. The firemen were at last driven from the buikling by the flames, and the pied by the owners as a clothing and furnishing : beautiful dwelling was abandoned to its fate.

"Separated from the Ryall house was a long two- story building, built nearly a century ago. It was oceupied on the first Hoor by J. W. Swartz's law-office and the Home Sewing Machine Agency, and in the second story by Dr. W. W. Pitman's dentistry. After a brief consultation between a few citizens, the order was given by the chief of the Fire Department, Mr. James J. Conover, to Mr. George C. Hulitt, foreman of the hook-and-ladder company, to tear down the building, and thus make an opening in the path of the fire. Hulitt rallied his men, and with axes, crow- bars and ropes they rushed to their work, assisted on the ropes by the bystanders generally. Everybody worked with desperate energy. The timbers, of sea- soned oak and hardened by age, for a long while re- sisted the efforts of the laborers. It was almost like cutting iron to work through post or beam. The crowd heaved at the ropes until the strands cracked, but the old house never shook, even. At last a piece of the roof gave way, and the firemen had a better stand for their work. In the mean time the Ryall house, with its strong timbers and brick lining, con- fined the heat and flame within its walls, and so shielded the firemen at their work. Piece by piece the roof of the old building was torn off, and so they fought their way gradually to the ground, but not before the flames were playing dangerously around | them."

411

THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

The destruction of the building adjoining Colonel Vought's dwelling stayed the fire in that direction. It was now nearly five o'clock, and the fire had been raging about four hours. The total loss by the conflagration was estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The public buildings were estimated at sixty thou- sand dollars (a high figure), and the insurance on them was thirty thousand dollars. Neither the bell which had been on the court-house nor any trace of the metal composing it was ever found among the ruins.

Measures were taken at once to rebuild the court-house, and arrangements were made for the holding of the courts, in the mean time, in the session-house of the Reformed Church. The walls of the old court-house remained standing, and the plan adopted was to work these walls into the new structure, which plan was carried out, except with regard to a part of the rear wall, which fell soon afterwards. The rebuild- ing was done by the insurance companies which had carried the risks on the old building ; and the work of construction was pushed with so much of vigor and energy that in a little more than four months from the time of the fire the present court-house (embracing the offices of the sheriff, clerk and surrogate under its roof) was completed ; and on the 18th of April, 1874, the first jury case was tried within its walls, before Judge George W. Shinn. Since that time the courts have been held there regularly. The clock which now tells the hours from the enpola of the court-house was procured by subscription, and was first set in motion June 5, 1874. An ad- dition to the court-house, on its rear, and on the line of Court Street, has been in process of con- struction during the present fall, and is now (November, 1884) nearly completed. The ob- jeet of it is to extend the accommodations of the clerk's office, and its cost will be about seven thousand five hundred dollars.

After the destruction of the public buildings, the county prisoners were transferred to the Mercer County jail, and were kept there and in the " lock-up" at Long Branch until a new place of confinement was finished in Freehold. On the 9th of February, 1874, the Board of Freeholder= resolved to build a jail and jailer's

residence, at a cost not exceeding sixteen thousand dollars. The work proceeded, and the building which forms the prison and residence was com- pleted during the year following. It stands in the rear of the court-honse, having its front on Court Street.

ST. PETER'S (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH edifice has stood on its present site in Frechold for at least a century and a quarter, while the church in its organization is still many years older, ranking among the most ancient of religious organizations in the county of Monmouth and in the State of New Jersey.

The first promoter of the establishment, in Monmouth County, of religious worship accord- ing to the usage and creed of the Episcopal Church was Lewis Morris, of Tinton Manor (afterwards Governor of New Jersey), who, in the year 1700, wrote the bishop of London, urging the sending hither of George Keith as a missionary for that purpose. Keith, who, in 1685, was a member of the Society of Friends, came to America at about that time, and settled in Monmouth County, in the township of Free- hold, but a year or two later removed to Philadelphia, where he remained several years, during which period he returned several times to Monmouth County, and in the year 1792 he took a leading part in the organization of a dis- senting branch of the Quakers, and in the building of a meeting-house for their use,-he having quarreled with and seceded (or was ex- pelled) from the Orthodox wing of the society in Philadelphia. Soon afterwards he returned to England, where, after a little time, he entirely renounced the Quaker doctrines and joined the Established Church, becoming a clergyman of some prominence in it. In the year 1702 (probably in the pursuance of the suggestion made by Lewis Morris to the bishop of London, already mentioned) he was sent out as a mis- sionary by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Early in the au- tumn of the year named he arrived at Perth Amboy, and preached his first sermon in that town on the 3d of October. Of that meeting, he says1 that there were among his audience a

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 71

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