History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 92

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 92

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).

In March, 1767, the Rev. Charles MeKnight who was pastor of the church at Allentown, was called to the pastorate. The churches under this charge at that time were Middletown, Shrewsbury, Shark River and Middletown Point, at each of which places a church edifice was built. Rev. Dr. MeKnight remained in charge of the churches until his death, in 1778. He lived at Middletown and served his several churches from there. While visiting the Mid- dletown Point Church, in 1777, a party of British troops, led by Lieutenant Moody, at- tacked the place, burned the church and made the pastor and others prisoners. They were taken to New York and confined in a prison- ship, where Mr. McKnight was kept for some time, and then released. His sufferings while a

533

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

prisoner cansed his death soon after his release. He was a native of the north of Ireland, and became a prominent friend of American liberty. His son, Dr. Charles MeKnight, was a surgeon in the army, and his son Robert was a captain. In the Trinity Churchyard, in New York City,' is a tablet bearing this inscription,-

"To the memory of the Rev. Charles McKnight, for many years a beloved pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He departed this life January 1, 1778."

After the death of Mr. MeKnight the Mid- dletown Presbyterian congregation became dis- persed. Morgan Edwards, in his " History of the Baptists of New Jersey," says of this place, in May, 1790,-" The Presbyterian congregation is broken up, and their house is converted to ano- ther use." This is the end of the history of the ancient Presbyterian Church at Middletown.

THE REFORMED CHURCH OF MIDDLETOWN ' was organized July 4, 1836, from members chiefly of the Reformed Church of Holmdel. A meeting of citizens friendly to the erection of a Reformed Church in Middletown was February 25, 1836, and resolved to build a house of worship forty by forty-seven feet in size. The lot on which the school-house at that time stood, on the King's Highway, was purchased, and the corner-stone of a church was laid in June of the same year. The Rev. Abram Messler, of Somerville, delivered the address. The church was dedicated December 9, 1836, the Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman offici- ating. The church was organized in the pre- ceding July, at which time John Harris, John C. Lyster and Robert P. Morris were chosen elders, and James C. Robinson, Frederick Dor- set and Peter Lyster were elected deacons. The consistory offered the pews of the church for sale December 14, 1836. The church was remodeled in 1880. The present parsonage was built in 1873.

The Rev. Jacob T. B. Beckman, residing here, became a supply of the church until 1839. In September of that year John B. Crawford, a recent graduate of the Reformed Dutch Semi- nary of New Brunswick, was called to the

pastorate, and began his labors November 16, 1839, and closed them in 1841. The Rev. Alexander C. Millspaugh was called Decem- ber 7, 1841, was ordained on the 15th, and served until March 31, 1866. The Rev. George Seibert was called May 31, 1866, ordained August 12th, in the same year, and resigned January 8, 1873, preaching his last sermon March 2d, following. The Rev. Luther Van Doren was called August 9, 1873, became pas- tor, and remained in service until his death, in October, 1876. The church was then served by supplies for a short time. On the 21st of March, 1877, the Rev. Charles D. Buck, D.D., the present pastor, was called, accepted and was installed May 21st following. . The church has a present membership of eighty.

The carly physicians practicing in Middle- town and vicinity were Dr. Jacobus Hubbard, of Tinton Falls, and Dr. Edward Allen, of Shrewsbury. Dr. Edward Taylor, a descendant of the George Taylor who purchased land where Dr. Taylor now lives, studied medicine in New Brunswick, and began practice in his held at the public-house of William Wilson, , native place in 1826, and continued until

about 1874, when he retired, and is still living on the old homestead. His son, Dr. Edward F. Taylor, a graduate of the Medical Department of the university, located in Middletown in 1852, and is still in practice there.

In 1812 Middletown village contained two stores, a post-office, two taverns, the Baptist Church and Christ Church of the Episcopalians. William Murray was keeping a store on what is nowa vacant lot, opposite the parsonage of the Re- formed Church. He was appointed postmaster January 22d in that year, and kept the office in the store. George Crawford, who was keep- ing store in 1792, was still keeping it in 1812 in the store near his residence (now Edwin Beckman's).

The Highlands of Navesink are embraced in the Indian purchase which was made by John Bowne, Richard Stout and others in the winter of 1663-64, as has been more fully noticed in the chapter on Settlements and Land Titles. That purchase was of the "three neckes of land,"

534

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

which the natives called Newasink, Navarum- sunk and Postapeck. To the purchasers of these Indian lands Governor Richard Nicolls, in 1665, granted the Monmouth patent, covering the same lands, and a great area of territory be- sides,-embracing nearly all of the present county of Monmouth. Afterwards the pro- prietors of East Jersey granted the lands to the patentees, ignoring the title of the Monmouth patent. Richard Hartshorne came to New Jersey from London in September, 1669, and made his first purchase of land at and on the " Weikce" (Wakake) Creek, and built a house, and resided there until the year 1700, as is shown in various affi- davits and official records. In an affi- davit dated December 26, 1670, he says : "I, Richard Hartshorne, of Weikce," etc. November 25, 1672, " William Goulding, of Graves End and Richard Hartshorne, of Wei- kee," came before Edward Tartt, town clerk, and declared their consent to the recording of a certain deed.

The proprietors granted William Lawrence, December 22, 1700, ten acres of land on the east side of Wakake Creek, bounded by the creek and land of Richard Hartshorne, and "fifteen acres of unappropriated sedge and meadow on ye east side of said creek from Hartshorne's residence to ye mouth of ye ercek. . . . "

In an affidavit, made by Hartshorne in 1716, ; he says he was seventy-five years of age, by which it would appear he was born about 1641, and about twenty-eight years old when he eame here. He was appointed high sheriff of Mon-

mouth County in 1683, but declined the office. He held various positions of trust in the county,-was deputy for several years, Speaker in 1686, a member of the Conneil in 1684, 1698-99, etc. In the minutes of the General Assembly, pages 122-123, it is stated that Gov- ernor Dongan, of New York, issued a writ, addressed to the anthorities of New Jersey, ordering the arrest of Richard Hartshorne, then Speaker, and that he be taken to New York for trial, which the Council refused to execute. What was the offense charged against him is not stated.

In the year 1703, Richard Hartshorne made a deed of gift of the Highlands estate, inelnding Sandy Hook, to his son, William, who lived at the place now called Portland. After this trans- fer Richard Hartshorne moved to Middletown village, where he had purchased lots at differ- ent times from May 24, 1670, and resided in the house, now standing, adjoining the Baptist Church parsonage. He lived in the house until his death, in 1722, and was buried in the burial- ground adjoining the house, and which he had set apart for that purpose. William, his son, lived at Portland until his death, in 1748, and left the Highlands estate mostly to his sons, Robert and Esek. John, another son, was left two hundred acres on Claypit Creek and Nave- sink River (which are now occupied by the Misses Hartshorne, who are descendants of Rich- ard), also a large tract of land in Rumson Neek. The Highlands estate of Hartshorne remained intaet until 1762, when Esek released to Robert all his title to lands south of a line drawn east

Mr. Hartshorne had been in possession of the Highlands from about 1670, and a house was upon the land in 1687, as in a road record dated March 2d in that year mention is made of the road as passing " through Richard Hartshorne's and west through the Highlands, making each land, as the way now goes, to his house, and thence to the most northerly point of Sandy Hook." Mr. Hartshorne came to the possession of the Highlands by patent from the proprietors, with an additional grant of five hundred acres of land, also from the proprietors. The large tract contained two thousand three hundred and twenty aeres, ineluding Sandy Hook. traet about seven hundred and forty-seven aeres, and each retaining a half-interest in Sandy Hook. The property of Robert (being the south part) lies on Navesink River. It was kept by him until his death, in 1801. His son Richard, born in 1765, came to the estate of his father, and lived at Portland until his death, in 1831. His son, Robert, born in 1798, also lived at Port- land till his death in 1877. The property is now owned by his sons,-Benjamin M. Harts- horne and Edward Hartshorne, of Portland.

The north part of the Highlands estate of Esek Hartshorne was sold by his executors,

535

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

June 8, 1797, to Tylee Williams, including an built and run by Captain Joseph King between New York and Sandy Hook and the Highlands, undivided half-interest in Sandy Hook, the whole being about eight hundred acres. The at what is now Highland Bridge. The hotel south part of this tract, containing one hundred was then owned by Woodward, and the next year was bought by Peter W. Schenck. The boat ran for several years. and seventy acres, came to the possession of Nimrod Woodward before 1812. His executors sold it, in 1830, to Peter W. Schenck. On the same date the west part was sold to James Patterson. A portion was still retained by the

In 1865, when the sea-shore railroad was built on the Sandy Hook peninsula, a ferry was established across the river by James Schenck, family, and is now the eastern part of the At- and was continued until the bridge was com- lantic Highlands.

On Navesink River, near Portland, is the club-house of the Neptune Club, of New York. house on land of Benjamin M. Hartshorne. They number forty members.

pleted in 1872. A small steamboat was also used in the summer season.

A dock was built by Peter W. Schenck, in The club was chartered in 1858, and erected a 1834, in front of the East View House and south of the present bridge. It was washed away and rebuilt by the government in 1846. This afterwards shared the fate of the first, and since then has not been rebuilt. After the death dueted by his son, Peter F. Schenck, until 1859. The hotel (now the East View House) passed to his mother, Mrs. Sarah A. Schenck. It is still kept as a hotel.

The first settlement on the east side of what is now the Highlands of Navesink was made by Nimrod Woodward, who built a hotel there ; of Peter W. Schenck the business was con- before 1812. It was kept by him and his fam- ily until March, 1830, when Peter W. Schenck bought the farm (consisting of one hundred and seventy acres) of the executors of Woodward. Peter W. Schenck was a son of William Schenek, In 1852 a post-office was established at the Highlands, with Peter F. Schenck as post- master. It was not continued over two years, but was restored about 1872, with Charles Van Berner as postmaster. He was succeeded by Mortimer Johnson, and on February 13, 1882, the present postmaster, J. H. Brainerd, was ap- pointed. who served in the Revolutionary War, after which he settled temporarily at Middletown Point, and was then appointed keeper of the Sandy Hook light-house, which position he re- tained until his death.1 Peter, his son, had charge of the grounds from that time until 1831, when he removed to this place and kept the hotel. In 1841 he enlarged it and remained The Sea View House, owned by Mrs. Jarvis, was erected between the East View House and the Atlantic Pavilion. At this house James P. Donnelly murdered Albert S. Moses, on the 1st of August, 1857, for which he was hung at Freehold January 8, 1858. there until 1849, when Joseph I. Thompson rented it and conducted it until 1851, when he purchased eight acres of land south of the hotel, and on it erected the Atlantic Pavilion, of which he is still the proprietor.

On the 18th of February, 1830, an act of the Legislature was approved incorporating the Monmouth Steamboat Company, with a capi- tal of twenty thousand dollars. The corpora- tors were Martin Chandler, Peter W. Schenck, Joseph King, Thomas L. Parker and Jeremiah Chandler. The steamboat " Saratoga " was

In 1879, Benjamin M. Hartshorne built on the shore the Swift House, which was kept by Thomas Swift. It was destroyed by fire January 26, 1884, and rebuilt by Thomas Swift, who is the present proprietor.

The Highland Bridge Company was incor- porated in 1871, and ereeted a drawbridge across the Navesink River at this place, four- . teen hundred and fifty-two feet in length, eighteen feet in width, with a draw of one hun- dred and eighty-six feet. The cost of the structure was thirty-five thousand dollars. It

I Peter W. Schenck was the pioneer in the wrecking business on this and Long Island coast, and had control of it for many years. He and his brother, Henry, took off over sixty square rigged vessels and forty schooners and sloops,

536

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

was formally opened December 5, 1872, and continued in use until July 1, 1875, when a schooner ran into the draw and disabled it. The bridge remained in this condition three years, and was then sold on foreclosure. The Navesink Bridge Company was formed, bought the bridge, repaired the draw, making it one hundred and ninety-four feet in length, and opened it for travel June 27, 1878.

The Jackson Club have a building on the coast on a small plot of ground purchased by them several years ago. In 1866 this club began to make this their annual summer camp- ing-ground, and in 1868 they leased ground of Peter F. Schenck and built upon it. On the expiration of lease they moved to the house they now occupy.

An actors' colony has sprung up at the Nave- sink Highlands, just above the mouth of the Navesink River. Three or four summers ago Mr. John Webster was at the Highlands, visit- ing his friends, and he became very much interested in the various attractions of the place. Up on the hill, just below the Highland Twin Lights, he bought an eligible building site, upon which he erected a fine mansion. Next on the right is the country palace of W. B. Hayden, manager of Thomas W. Keene, the tragedian, one of the most picturesquely situated of seaside residences. Mr. Wheelock's cottage flanks the Webster house on the other side. From all of these houses, situated some four hundred feet above the water's edge, there are very fine views. The buildings on Coney Island can be easily distinguished, as can also, in clear weather, the great Rockaway Hotel. Further down the road is the handsome summer resi- dence of Mr. Neil Burgess. Not far from his house is the cottage of Horace Me Vicker, who usually manages the starring tours of Edwin Booth. Mr. Mc Vicker's wife is professionally known as Miss Affie Weaver, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Weaver, occupy a portion of the large, white Me Vicker cottage. At the · base of the bluff along which these actors' sum- mer houses are stretchel runs the Navesink River. On the other side of the stream there is a strip of land just wide enough to contain the tracks of the New Jersey Southern Railway.

Beyond the sand strip the ocean rolls upon as fine a beach as there is along the shore.

Parkertown lies at the head of Sandy Hook Bay on a level piece of ground at the foot of the Highlands. It contains a Reformed Church, a store and forty or fifty dwellings. It was set- tled by people who made fishing a business, and it is still carried on extensively.

In 1873 the Rev. A. W. Allen, a Congre- gationalist minister in failing health, came to the Highlands and settled. He began teaching children and visiting the people from house to house. Religious services were held in this way, several were converted and a church was organ- ized. The majority decided to bring the church under the care of the Reformed Church Classis. The church was organized February 9, 1875, with twelve members. Mr. Allen was called to be their pastor, and labored with them until his death, in December, 1884. A church building was begun in 1874, and completed in 1875.

On the Navesink Highlands, the first light or beacon was put up in 1746, when the Brit- ish and French governments were at war with each other, and the merchants and people of the city of New York were in a state of alarm, in expectation that French ships might enter the bay and destroy the city. At a meeting of the Council of New Jersey at Perth Amboy, Au- gust 13, 1746, President John Hamilton received a communication from the New York author- ities requesting that a beacon be erceted on the Highlands to give warning of the approach of hostile ships. On receipt of this communication the Council took action, which is shown by the tenor of the president's instructions to the col- onel of the Monmouth County militia, as fol- lows :

"I am this day advised by His Majesty's Council that it will be for the security not only of this Prov- ince, but also of the City and Province of New York, that a proper Beacon be Sett up and Erected upon the most Convenient Part of the Highlands of Never- sinks in Order to Give the Erlyest Alarm of the Ap- proach of an Enemy, And Do therefore, in pursuance of the said Advice, Order that a proper Beacon be Erec- ted upon the Said Highlands of Neversinks in such place and in such manner as you shall think most prop- er. And I do hereby further Order and Direct that You Give or Canse to be Given Orders to the Severall Per- sons who shall be appointed to Keep Watch near the

537

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

said Beacon, when Erected, that they do not Presume to Sett Fire to it without Your Order or the Order of one of the Field Officers of the Regiment under Your Com- mand, or the order of Richard Saltar, Nathaniel Leon- ard or Robert Hartshorne or of any one of you or them ; but npon the approach of Six Ships or more, the Person then upon the Watch is immediately to ap- ply to some one of the Persons above mentioned, who upon Such application, is Requested to Proceed to the Said Beacon, and if he Judges the said Ships to be Enemys, he is then to order the said Beacon to be fired, and is to send Immediate Notice to You or to one of the Field Officers of the Regiment of the said County, who is hereby Required, upon Receipt of Such Intel- ligence, to Send Notice thereof to Me or to the Com- mander-in-Chief of the Province for the time being."

On the same day that these orders were issued "the Board being informed that John Little, Esq., Lienten't-Coll'l, and John Redford, Esq., Major of the Regiment of the County of Monmouth, were in Town, Requested their At- tendance," to give information as to how far the militia officers of that county had carried out the orders and instructions given in a proclama- tion by the late Governor Lewis Morris for the establishment and keeping up of watch-stations at several points along the Monmouth sca-coast. The lieutenant-colonel and major thereupon came to the Council meeting and " Informed His Honour and the Board that, Pursuant to the said Proclamation, on the 28th and 30th Days of April Last Watches were Stationed at Squan, Deal, and the Highlands of Neversink, all upon the Sea-Coast, and that these Watches have been from Time to Time Relieved, and are at present supplyd from the Regiment of Foot of the County of Monmouth; that the Instructions given to these Watches are to give Notice to the next Commanding officers, who have orders upon such Notice to Call together their Companys, and to send forward the Alarme to the Commanding Officer of the County."

It was expected that the lighting of the bea- con would be seen in New York, and the alarm communicated thence by the authorities to the commanding officers of the militia of Bergen and Essex Counties, who had instructions there- upon to march their commands to the assistance and defense of the city without delay. But about a month afterwards one of the beacons on the Highlands was set on fire (by'accident, as

was stated), and no notice taken of it in New York, which called forth a letter from Presi- dent Hamilton, of New Jersey, to the Council of New York (dated September 27, 1746), in which, after mentioning the fact of the acci- dental firing of the beacon, he said : "However Lucky it may be thought that Your Province has Escaped a false Alarm, Yet I make no Doubt but that you are of Opinion with Me that an Alarm from any Quarter, when Rightly Given, must be of the Utmost Importance, and therefore hope you will, for Our Mutual Secur- ity, take such Steps in Regard to your Watches as will Effectnally Prevent the Like Neglect for the Future." But this affair destroyed con- fidence in the efficacy of the beacons for the timely communication of alarms, and it does not appear that they were successfully used (or needed) as against a French invasion ; but years afterwards, during the Revolution, they were in almost constant use when the British fleets were in the bay or the offing, and they often did good service in calling the militia of the county to threatened points upon the bay and ocean coast.

The first permanent light-house on the High- lands was erected a short time prior to 1765. Smith, in his "History of New Jersey," pub- lished in that year, says: " At the Highlands of Navesink the New York merchants have lately erceted a commodious light-house for the security of navigation."

The "twin light-houses" on the Highlands were built by the United States government on land purchased for the purpose of Nimrod Woodward, July 26, 1826. The first appro- priation for the Highland light-houses was made in an act of Congress approved May 18th, in that year, which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to have them built by contract. They were first in use in 1828, rebuilt in 1840, and again in 1862. The two towers stand one hundred yards apart. The lights are two hun- dred and forty-eight feet above the level of the sea ; heights of towers from base to light, fifty- three feet. The lanterns are first-class lens, both fixed, visible over twenty-two nautical miles, at an elevation of fifteen feet above the level of the sea. The north tower is octagonal, and the south one square. The lights are farther

538

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

above the level of the sea than any on the At- lantie coast.

At the twin lights a signal code of numbers was used to communicate from the place to the bluffs on Staten Island and to Holt's Hotel (now the United States Hotel). A signal tele- graph station, one hundred and eight feet in height, was erected between the keeper's dwell- ing-house and the south light, from which the signals were shown on large arms. This was used until the telegraph superseded it. The keepers of the Highland lights since 1828 have been,-Joseph Doty, James Wilson, Joseph Lo- pez, Joseph I. Thompson, James D. Hubbard, Samuel Mullen, Gordon Sickles, Smith Cono- ver, Taber Chadwick, - Van Allen and Captain Daniel Calkins, who is the present keeper. The cannon that lies on the brow of the hill near the light-house was found there when the land was cleared of timber.

Navesink post-office village is a small settle- ment lying west of the Highlands and near the head of Clay-pit Creek. The lands of this place and vicinity are west of those which formed the extensive Highland estate of Rich- ard Hartshorne more than a hundred and eighty years ago. These lands were owned by John Bowne, and in 1765, David Burdge had pur- chased a tract of land and built a saw-mill on a branch of Clay-pit Creek. In 1795 one John Bowne sold to Jacob Burdge a small piece of land on Clay pit Creek, on which was situated the "old saw-mill dam." He bought a small tract the year before of James Lewis, adjoining his brother, Benjamin Burdge, who purchased, June 28, 1786, of Joseph Brown and his wife and Rachel Maclise. As early as 1820, Rice Hatsell came to the place now called Navesink, and opened a store. The place was called Riceville until 1867, when the post-office name was changed to Navesink, as at present. It contains a post-office, with John M. Johnson, postmaster, a Methodist Church, Baptist Church, the All Saints' Memorial Chapel, and a public hall, which was built in 1879.

THE NAVESINK BAPTIST CHURCH,1 pre- 1 By Edward Hooper.

viously known as the Second Middletown Bap- tist Church, was the outgrowth of the First Baptist Church of Middletown. It was ocen- pied as an ont-station or missionary field by the First Church ; and, as far as can be ascertained, the first pioneer or mission-work was com- menced in this part of the large territory of the First Church by Rev. Thomas Roberts, in his settlement with the First Church in 1823. This part of the country at that time was thinly settled; large tracts of land were held by pat- ents and grants from the mother-country by the Hartshornes and others; very few of the inhabitants were found to be in sympathy with the Scriptural principles of the Baptists; High Churchism and Antinomianism strongly pre- vailed; yet there were a few prominent and earn- est Baptists; such were Deacon John D. Burge, the sisters Debowe, Captain W. Leonard and others who were always foremost in good words and works.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 92

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