USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Montclair > History of Montclair township state of New Jersey; including the history of the families who have been identified with its growth and prosperity > Part 6
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Shortly afterward General Washington withdrew his troops from Cranestown to their strongly entrenched positions on the heights on the left bank of the Passaic at Totowa. Fortunately we have a very exact description of the location and appearance of each corps along the line of entrenehments here. The Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer under Count Rochambeau, was sent by the latter on a visit of observation at this very time through New Jersey and thenee on into Virginia: and he has given us a very clear statement of the disposition of the American forces at Totowa, as he found them November 23. 1750. It may be remarked, that General Lafayette (or the Marquis, as he was then usually styled) had, on the 7th of August previous, taken command of the corps of light infantry, consisting of six battalions, composed each of six companies of men chosen from the different lines of the army. These battalions were divided into two brigades, one commanded by General Hand, the other by General Poor. As the command of the Marquis was the pick of the army, it had assigned to it in position the post of honor as the vanguard. Both officers and soldiers were better clothed than the rest of the army, and made a handsomer appearance on parade. "Each soldier." say- the Marquis de Chastellux, " wore a helmet made of hard leather. with a crest of horse hair. The officers were armed with espontoons, or rather half pikes, and the subalterns with fusils ommuskets): but both were provided with short and light sabres brought from France, and made a present of to them by M. de la Fayette." " This corps was posted," says the Marquis de Chastellux, " in an excellent position. It occupied two heights separated by a small bottom, but with an easy communication between them. The river Totohaw, or Second River (Passaic). protects its right, and it is here that it makes a considerable elbow, and turning towards the south, falls into the bay of Newark. The principal front, and all the left Hank to a great distance, are covered by a rivulet (saddle Creek , which comes from Paramus, and falls into the same river." Two miles beyond this position of the vanguard, keeping the river on the left. lay the main army, under the respective commands of Generals Wayne, Huntington, Glover, Knox (Commander of Artillery), and others. " The army." continues Marquis de Chastellux. "wa- encamped on two heights, and in one line, in an
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
extended but very good position, having a wood in the rear. and in front the river, which is very difficult of passage everywhere except at Totohaw bridge. But the situation would be quite in favor of an army defending the left bank, the heights on that side everywhere commanding those of the right. Two miles beyond the bridge is a meeting-house of an hexagonal form, which is given to their places of worship by the Dutch Presbyterians, who are very numerous in the Jerseys." Not far from where the army lay, the same accurate observer tells us, was " the great cataract called Totohaw ( Passaic) Fall," which interested him much in passing. " At length, after passing thick woods on the right. I found myself in a small plain, where I saw a handsome farm : a small camp which seemed to cover it, a large tent extending to the court, and several waggons round it, convinced me that this was his Excellency's Quarter: for it is thus that Mr. Washington is called in the army, and throughout America."
Such, as far as we have been able, by throwing side-lights upon the screen to bring out more clearly the picture, were the circumstances attending General Washington's temporary occupancy of Cranestown with his army ; and such the position of the several lines at Totowa, on his return thither in consequence of the abortive scheme of General Lafayette to attack Staten Island. For five long years had New Jersey been the scene of varying warfare; and for a full year no important aggressive move- ment had been made by the army : while signs of depression were becoming more and more evident in the minds of the patriots, and not a few even began to doubt the outcome of the already long continued struggle. The troops, at this time, were, and had for months been, poorly clad and scantily fed. The term of service of not a few was expiring, and they were anxious to return to their (in some instances, devastated) homes ; Congress was well nigh powerless to aid by reason of the refusal of several of the States to recognize Congressional authority ; the credit of the country was at diseount, and money obtainable only on individual and responsible guarantees : treason had already shown itself, and might become unearthed elsewhere at any time-all these anxieties were pressing upon the mind of the Com- mander-in-Chief at once : and vet not a quiver of discouragement was apparent either in his countenance or his acts, but he proceeded to lay plans with the same imperturbability that had always characterized him. Just five days after the Marquis de Chastellux had left the entrenched army at Totowa (Nov. 28, 1780), General Washington assigned to the different divisions of the army (then reduced to only a little over 10,000 troops), their winter quarters, his own being established at New Windsor, Ct. The New Jersey line was to quarter at Pompton, N. J. ; the Pennsylvania line at Morristown ; the Maryland regiment of horse at Lancaster, Pa. ; and Sheldon's horse at Colchester, Ct. ; one New York regiment at Fort Schuyler, one at Saratoga, and the remainder of the line at Albany, Schenectady. and other exposed points. But a brighter dawn than any in the past was drawing nigh. As already stated, in less than a year from that very time (in October 17, 1781), came the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and the recognition of American Independence by the European nations.
Doubtless Cranestown, in common with the adjacent towns, furnished its full quota of stalwart young men for the service during the war, but of these only a very few names have survived to identify them in it. The blood-stained trenches for the burial of the nameless, promiscuous dead found slain on battle-fields, and unknown graves in neglected church-yards, might tell of the patriot heroes of the war from its precincts within them, but they will not be known to the living on earth in time. Major Nathaniel Crane, of Cranestown, who survived the war many years and resided till his death therein, and whom I myself have often, when a boy, met, was in the ranks. William Crane, my great grand- father, the owner at the time of the " Ilead Quarters," was in Capt. Abraham Lyon's Company, Second Reg. Essex Co., and also served with the State troops, besides others whose names have been obliterated by time.
It only remains to add that the old Crane mansion, which General Washington and his staff occupied in the Autumn of 1780. still stands essentially the same that it was at that memorable period. The additions attached to the rear, and the stucco covering on the outside, were not there then. Some slight changes have been made in the interior but none materially modifying its original integrity as then seen.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Still stands lonely the mansion, a more than a century's relic,
Which, when men's souls trembled in watching the issues of warfare, Opened its doors to the Chieftain, the father revered of his country, Giving himself and his staff a hearty and generous welcome. Still stands quaintly its gables to greet the return of the morning. Or to reflect from the hilltops fading the smile of the sunset. Still stands sentry the mansion, but where are the tents that before it Shone in the sheen of the sunlight and dazzled the eyes of beholders? Where are the blasts of the bugle and tap of the matinal drum-beats. Echoing notes from the mountain, and giving the signals for rising? Gone are the patriot heroes, who breasted the dangers of battle, Prompted by love of their country and hope of entailing its freedom. Still stands olden the mansion, guarding the memories sacred Clustering hallowedly round it, and marking the spot for remembrance. Where was encamping his army, and Washington's STATION AT CRANESTOWN.
Additional data of this interesting period is given in " The Revolution and it> Traditions," by Rev. Charles E. Knox. He says : " This part of the Newark colony touched the Revolutionary contest at several points. The fact that Nathaniel Crane, a private,-after the Revolution well known as Major Nathaniel Crane,-was in the battle of Long Island on September 15, 1776, and one of the last to leave the field under a shower of bullets, indicates that citizens here early entered the military service. From 1777 the enlistment- were common throughout the county. Among those known to have been from the Montelair region. were Capts. Abraham Speir, and Thomas Siegler, Second Lieut Joseph Crane, Sergt Obadiah Crane. privates. Jonathan and Joseph Baldwin, Aaron, Matthias, Nathaniel, Joseph. Eleakine, Benjamin, Oliver. William and Phineas Crane. Peter Davis, Nathaniel and Parmenus Dodd, Amos Tompkins, AAbraham and Francis Speer, John and Levi Vincent, John Smith and a Van Gieson.
" After the retreat of Washington from Acquackanonek, through the lower part of the town, to New Brunswick, universal consternation prevailed. The people ted to the mountains and over the mountains. The pastor of the Mountain Church was marked for capture. The scouting parties of the British carried devastation everywhere. But not till the reaction of the next year 1777. did the people venture back to their desolate lands and plundered houses.
" Nathaniel Crane-and we may infer that others were with him- was at the battle of Monmouth, in 1775, where was also Gen. Bloomtiekl.
" When Gen. Anthony Wayne-according to tradition-left his camp at Second River, just south of the ruins of the copper works, his troops took their march in the famous snow storm of Jan'y. 1779 up the old road to Horseneck, posting a picket at Bloomfield, and abandoning their cannon embedded in the snow in Caldwell.
" The bold hill on the east side of the notch, was, it is said a favorite lookout of Washington. From that height he once detected a raiding party of British sallying from Elizabethtown to the mount- ains. He dispatched at once a troop of cavalry behind the hill to Springfield, who cut off the foragers, and reclaimed the fine lot of cattle they were driving off. The army here was in that deplorable condition which led. in 1751, to the mutiny of the Pennsylvania troops at Pompton. The detachment extended along the road and the mountain southward from the Crane homestead. Confiscated house- hold furniture taken from the British, is still in possession of a family here, purchased with Continental currency earned by working for the soldiers." A part of this was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1890. The mahogany stand or writing table which was used by General Washington while at the Crane mansion is in the possession of Mrs. Harry C. Crane, daughter of Rev. Oliver Crane. D.D.
Chapter VIII.
EVENTS LEADING TO, AND ERECTION OF. BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP IN 1812 .-- NAME OF CRANETOWN CHANGED TO THAT OF WEST BLOOMFIELD .- ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES .- TONEY'S BROOK, THE SOURCE OF SECOND RIVER, AND ITS MANUFACTORIES. - THE FIRST SAW MILL .- ISRAEL CRANE'S MILL ON TONEY'S BROOK .- WEST BLOOMFIELD MANUFACTURING CO .- IHENRY WILDE & SONS .- WILDE BROTHERS,-FIRST MANUFACTURE OF PLAID SHAWLS IN THIS COUNTRY .- JOHN WILDE .- BURNING OF THE LOWER MILL. - MILL PROPERTY LEASED TO, AND SUBSEQUENTLY PURCHASED BY GRANT J. WHEELER AND OTHERS, FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND OAKUM UNDER THE FIRM NAME OF CRANE, WHEELER & CO .- MANUFACTURE OF STRAW BOARD BY MACHINERY. BY GRANT J. WHEELER & CO. INDIAN RELICS FOUND BENEATH THE WHEELER MILL,- REMOVAL OF WHEELER TO WAVERLY, AND CLOSING OF THE MILL. - VALUABLE PEARLS FOUND ON NOTCH BROOK, THE SOURCE OF THIRD RIVER .- CONSTRUCTION OF NEWARK AND POMPTON TURNPIKE .- BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF WEST BLOOMFIELD .- CONSTRUCTION OF NEWARK AND BLOOMFIELD R. R .- THE NEW SETTLEMENT .- THE NAME OF MONTCLAIR SUBSTITUTED FOR THAT OF WEST BLOOMFIELD.
F the children of Deacon Azariah Crane only Nathaniel and Azariah, Jr., are mentioned in eonneetion with the settlement at Cranetown. They acquired by purchase, as well as by inheritance, large traets of land within the present boundaries of Newark, Orange and Montelair. Dr. Wiekes, in his " Ilistory of the Oranges," states that : "Their lands were bounded south by the Swincfield Road, east by the Cranetown Road, now Park street, west by Wigwam Brook, which was the division line between the Crane lands and those of the Harrisons and Williams, and on the north by Antony's Brook at Montclair, the northern boundary of Second River. The family of Crane also held land on the south side of the Northfield Road to the summit of the Mountain. It afterwards came into the possession of Simeon Harrison (1) being conveyed to him by the executors of Caleb Crane. There is a tradition that when the Lords Proprietors claimed the payments of the quit-rents for lands taken by Azariah and Nathaniel Crane, they brought in a bill for their services as surveyors in the employ of the Proprietors as an offset. Their bill was not accepted, and the controversy was finally settled in the Supreme Court in favor of the surveyors."
A RELIC OF SLAVERY.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that I, Enoch Williams, of the township of Newark, in the County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred and eighty dollars paid, or secured to be paid by Phineas Crane of the Town. County and State aforesaid, unto the said Enoch Williams, for which payment I have given, granted, bargained and sold unto the said Phineas Crane, my Negro man named Tom: to have and to hold the said Negro man unto the said Phineas Crane, for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns; and doth warrant, secure, and forever defend the sale of said Negro man named Tom unto the said Phineas Crane, his heirs and assigns forever. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine.
Sealed and delivered } in the presence of f ELIZABETH CRANE. POLLY WILLIAMS.
ENOCHI WILLIAMS.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
After the erection of Bloomfield as a separate township Cranetown was embraced within its boundaries, and later became known as West Bloomfield. The latter remained as a part of the township uf Bloomfield until the separation and erection of the new township in 1>60, under the name of Montelair. Bloomfield owes its name, as well as its existence as a township, to the organization of its first church society in 1796. Rev. Stephen Dodd. of East Haven, Conn .. in his MS. History of Bloomfield, prepared in 1546, says :
" It had been the practice for many years to use the word Wardsesson, supposing that it was derived from some person or family by the name of Ward. But this was a palpable mistake. The real name was of Indian origin. Waterssing. Watsesson, written in both forms in the ancient records of Newark: but the first is doubtless the correct spelling. It was first used with reference to the School- house Hill and the adjacent Plains, as formerly named. Thu- the ancient deeds of our ancestor, Daniel Dodd, and his brother, Samuel Dodd. the grandfather of the late Aaron Dodd. mention Watsessing Hill. Watsessing Plains, as also some other records. * # # The neighborhood north of the Meeting-house was once called Crab Orchard, from the crab-apple tree- which were standing there in the time of the first settlers. The young men tried to introduce the name Hopewell, but did not succeed.
EFES
.14
OLD HOMESTEAD OF DEMON JOSEPHE CRANE
" Crane Town was a name early given to that tract under the mountain settled by the Crane families from Newark. The two first were brothers. Azariah and Nathaniel. Azariah. the grandfather of Aaron, and my mother lived about where Elias B. Crane resided : the brother of Azariah, and father of William and Noah, lived where Major Crane died.
" Under these circumstances, our fathers thought it expedient to attempt to introduce some general name to apply to all the ground covered by the proposed Ecclesiastical Congregation. For this purpose they held several meeting> for consultation, which resulted as follows :
" In the Sentinel of Freedom, of Dec. 7. 1796. I find the following notices:
... At a numerous meeting of the Congregation of Wardsesson. Oct. 13. 1796: Joseph Davis Esq. in the Chair :
". It appearing that agreeably to a resolution of a meeting held the 10th inst., advertisements have been set up in three of the most public places within the bounds of the Congregation, notifying the objects of the present meeting ; the members proceeded to choose a name by which the society should be distinguished. when it appeared that the name of BLOOMFIELD had a large majority of votes.
". ISAAC W. CRANE. Secretary.'
" . Extract from the minutes.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
" To the preceding I will add, from memory, in which I may be incorreet. that Isaac Watts Crane being acquainted with Gen Bloomfield, of Burlington. a man of wealth, and having no children thought it might be poliey to take his name and engage his generosity towards this child of adoption. And, as it will appear in the sequel. the plan produced some good fruit. This plan was carried ont by giving Gen. Bloomfield suitable notice of what had been done respecting the adoption of his name, accompanied with a barrel of eider, the produce of Bloomfield."
The Sentinel of July 12. 1797, contained the following :
"COMMUNICATION FROM BLOOMFIELD .- On Thursday, the 6th inst .. Maj Gen. Bloomfield and his lady made a visit to the Society of Bloomfield. They were eseorted from Orange by Lient Baldwin's (lesse ?) division of cavalry, and other gentlemen, to the house of Joseph Davis Esq., where they were received by a numerous concourse of people belonging to the Society A procession was then formed in the following order :
" The farmers, headed by Col. Cadmus. and Mr Timothy Ward: the masons and laborers ; the trustees and managers ; the venerable elergy : Gen. Bloomfield and suite ; the battalion officers : Lient Baldwin's division of horsemen ; forty young ladies uniformly dressed in white. their heads neatly orna- mented with turbans and corona hedera, crowned with ivy, besides two hundred young children belonging to the sehools of Bloomfield : and in the rear of the whole Capt. Crane's elegant company of infantry, giving the procession a dignified appearance. The procession being thus formed. proceeded to the new stone church and from thenee to a large bower, prepared for the occasion, where a prayer was made by the Rev Mr White, adapted to the occasion ; and anthems were sung by forty young ladies, uniformly dressed in white. Gen Bloomfield, from an eminence, addressed the assembly. recommending the virtues of patriotism and of political and Christian union An answer was returned by Mr Watts Crane in behalf of the Society recehoing the same sentiments "
A white marble tablet, with inscription, " Bloomfield, 1796." was set in the brown free-stone tower, to mark the beginning of a new township. The civil township was not erected until 1812, when it included the territory from the erest of the mountain to the Passaic River.
THE TOWN PATENT OF CHARTER of Newark, given in 1713, defines the west, north and east line of what became afterward Bloomfield :
" Purchased from ye Indians, now known by ye Name of Newarke, Bounded easterly by a great creek that runs from Hackingsack Bay, through ye Salt Meadow called by the Indians Wequahick, and now known by the Name of Bound Creek. and continuing from the head of ve Said Creek to the head of a Cove to a Markt Tree ; from thence it Extended Westerly upon a Straight Line, by Computation Seven Miles be the Same more or Less. to the End or foot of the Great Mountain, and to the Ridge thereof, called by the Indians Wachung. Near where Runs a branch of the Rahway River: from thenee extending on a Northerly Course along the Ridge of the Said Mountain to a heap of Stones Erected to Ascertain the Boundary between the s' Town of Newark and the Town of Achquickatmmek ; from thenee Running a South-east course by Achquickatnunck Bound Line to where the brook or Rivalet Called by the Indians Yantokah, but now known by the Name of the Third River. Emptieth itself into Pasavack River, and from thence Continuing Down along by the said Passaiek River and Ilackingsack Bay to the month of the said Bound ('reek."
The sonthern line of Bloomfield was established in 1806, when the township of Newark was divided by its own authority into three wards-the Newark Ward, the Orange Ward and the Bloomfield Ward. The Orange Ward became that same year the township of Orange, and the Bloomfield Ward became the township of Bloomfield in 1812. The line between the Orange and the Bloomfield Wards was established. in 1806, as follows:
" Beginning at the Green Island in Passaik River and running thence to the Boiling Spring on land of Phineas Baldwin, dec'd and from thenee to the Bridge at the Slough between the houses of Jonathan Baldwin and Elihu Pierson, and from thence to the bridge near Martin Richards', and from thence to Turkey Eagle Rock, on the top of the first Mountain ; which we agree shall be the line between the Bloomfield Ward and the wards of Newark and Orange."
1
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
The " inhabitants of Second River and the Body of Newark " acted separately " in all affairs relating to the Poor for fifty-three years." The line of division was in part the line which afterward divided Belleville from Bloomfield. The description given in 1743-44 is as follows :
" Beginning at Passaiek River at the Gully near the house of Dr Pigot. thence northwest to Second River, thence up the same to the Saw Mill belonging to George Harrison, thence a direet line to the north-east corner of the Plantation of Stephen Morris, thence to the Notch in the mountain, leaving William Crane's house to the southward, thence on a direct line to Stephen Van Sile's Bars and Abraham Francisco's to the Northward of said line : and it was agreed that all on the Northward of said lines should be esteemed Inhabitants of Second River, and all on the southward of the Body of Newark."
The Notch referred to is probably the little opening in the mountain just north of the present Mountain House.
" Cranetown" by popular designation became after 1512 West Bloomfield, and so continued until Isis. Its Surface Streams and Soil are thus described by Rev. Mr. Knox in his History of Bloomfield
VIEW ON TONY'S BROUK.
Township: " Between the natural boundary of the mountain erest on the west and the natural boundary of the Passaie River on the east lies an unusually diversified and beautiful expanse of country. Parallel waves or ridges of land run from north to south. The mountain slope descends into plain and valley. and rises again upon a wave nearly the length of the township known now as the Ridgewood line. This territory forms the beautiful region of what is now Montclair."
Two rivulets rise in the northern part of the present township which flow southward and eastward to form in Bloomtiekl the little stream anciently known as Second River. The first of these known as " Tony's Brook " (named probably from Anthony Oliff, one of the early settlers at the mountain), though now an insignificant stream, was early utilized for manufacturing purposes, and furnished sufficient power to run two or three mills, which gave this part of the township its first impetus. As early as 1695, accord- ing to the " Towne Records of Newark," Thomas Davis had " liberty to set up a saw mill." It has been supposed that this was the saw mill on a site near the pond above the old dilapidated vacant building
. 36
HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
formerly known as Wheeler's paper mill. Israel Crane, who, in 1801, in connection with Charles Kinsey, leased a mill seat at Paterson, and erected the second cotton mill there, was the first to make use of Toney's Brook for manufacturing purposes. About 1812-15 a company was organized under the name of the West Bloomfield Manufacturing Company. The prime mover in the enterprise was Israel Crane. Associated with him were Daniel P. Beach, E. P. Stiles, Michael Cockfair, Peter Doremus and others. Two large buildings were erected near the present Wheeler mill, where the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods was carried on for some years. The property subsequently passed into the hands of Israel Crane, and the factories were closed for some time.
In 1827 these mills were leased to Heury Wilde and Sons, who came from Yorkshire, Eng. Ile had long been engaged in the manufacture of broadcloths and other woolen goods in the old country, as had also his father and grandfather. He began the manufacture of plaid shawls which, it is said, were
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