USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 11
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18II Cadwallader sold it to James and John R. Hinch- leading forgemen of his day. It was called "New man, for $1,000.
William Jackson wrote that the Brooklyn forge was built by Phineas Fitz Randolph previous to 1800, and carried on by him and James Hinchman for many years. In 1828 it was said to be the property of Charles F. Ran- dolph.
The Stanhope forges were built by Silas Dickerson, brother of Governor Mahlon Dickerson, soon after Brook- lyn forge was built. They were carried on by him until he was killed in the nail factory which he had just built, in 1807.
On the south branch of the Raritan there were at least three forges. William Stephens built one in 1840 about a mile below Budd's Lake, which was in operation but a few years, when it went down. George Salmon owned one at Upper Bartleyville, which was running as late as 1862; and at Bartleyville was the old forge known as " Welsh's forge," which ran down about 1840. Professor Cook gives the date of its erection as |1790.
There is located on an old map (1823) the site of an "extinct forge," called Eaton, near Bartleyville, and another below the junction of the north and south branches, called " Casterline's."
On the north branch at Flanders was an old forge, built by William Hinchman in 1802, and which ran for about forty years. In 1812 he advertised in the Morris- town Herald a large amount of property for sale, includ- ing " an excellent two-fire forge, in complete repair, for making bar iron, with workmen's houses, orchards, gardens, &c."
On Black River were also three forges-one, whose ruins are remembered by old people-about a mile above the grist-mill of the late General Cooper; one at Hackle- barney, which was running until a late date, and one about a mile below Hacklebarney, which has long gone to decay.
At Shippenport was built in 1844 a forge, to run by the waste water of the Morris Canal in summer and by a small natural stream at other seasons. This forge was greatly enlarged by Anson G. P. Segur a few years ago, and it is still in working order.
Of the forges on the Pequannock River, which is the northerly boundary line of the county, it is proper to give some account, though the buildings were not on the Morris county side of the river. Horace Chamberlain has furnished the following information concerning them:
Before the river leaves Sussex county, at the head waters was Canistear forge, worked at one time by 'Squire Adam
disuse. Below this forge is "Margoram forge," so named from its former owner Stephen F. Margoram. It was carried away by the freshets of 1850. Mr. Margoram said to Mr. Chamberlain, after that event, that he had been trying to get out of the iron business, but the freshets had closed him out. Going down the river, just below the junction of its two branches, near Snufftown, are the ruins of another old forge-probably the creation of the enterprising spirit of John O. Ford, one of the forge," and from this it may be supposed it was built after the others; but they were all of them comparatively recent.
Farther down the river but still in Sussex county is " Windham forge." The corner of the counties of Mor- ris and Passaic in the line of Sussex county is a rock marked " M. S.," on the edge of the stream, about four chains below this forge. Windham was built by John O. Ford and run by him and his sons, the last one of whom was Sidney Ford, who finished his career as an iron- maker there. After Sidney Ford left it Frederick W. Dellecker, formerly surrogate of the county, became the owner, and from him it passed to Albert R. Riggs, its present owner. It is the only forge on the Pequannock which is still in working order.
Next in order down the stream are the ruins of the old " Warner forge," so called from the Warner broth- ers, who, associated with a man named Hoops, under the firm name of "Warner & Hoops," purchased, improved and enlarged the forge about the year 1840, and after several years' unsuccessful operation vacated the prem- ises and returned to Pennsylvania, their native State. The site is now owned by Peter Tracy.
Two or three hundred yards down the stream was the " Methodist forge," in after years known as " John Lewis forge." By whom and when it was built is unknown, but it was probably built by John O. Ford. After Mr. Lewis it came into the possession of Daniel Hulme and after him of Ebenezer W. Temple. It is now owned by his brother William Temple.
Stockholm, next in order, some two or three hundred yards farther down the stream, was probably one of John O. Ford's enterprises. It remained in the Ford family until carried away by the freshets in 1850 while being worked by Horace Ford, one of the sons of John O. Ford. The three last mentioned forges are all on a tract of 492.22 acres returned in 1800 and known as John O. Ford's large tract.
About three-eighths of a mile down said stream, where the mountains seemingly diverge to the right and left to give room for that valley of farming land known as Newfoundland, we come to what is called in common parlance the "Gregory forge," from its founder, Samuel S. Gregory, who gave it the more classic name of " Car- thage." One of the lots of this forge property was lo- cated in 1763. It now belongs to Jetur A. Riggs.
The Pequannock River after leaving the mountains flows more slowly and sluggishly along, now to the right
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
and now to the left, through the farming and meadow lands some six or seven miles to the village of New- foundland, the center of which is the hotel of John P. bernia, Powerville, etc. It is now owned by Hon. Abram Brown. At this village a small forge was erected about S. Hewitt. forty years ago by an association of persons, among A mile below Charlotteburgh was a small one-fire forge, erected by the late John Smith in 1850, at a place called Smith's Mills. But little iron was made here-hardly enough to make a cinder bank-and it long ago went to destruction. whom were the late Peter B. Brown and Ebenezer Cobb. It stands on a tract of 320.16 acres returned for James Alexander and Robert H. Morris, October 25th 1754. This forge has been called "'Squire Cobb's forge," "Cobb & Bigalow's forge," and "Bigalow & Dceker's The next forge down the stream is the Bloomingdale forge, owned by Martin John Ryerson, near the old Ogden furnace. It is not now in operation. forge," and sometimes " Tobacco forge " from its limited power. Its present owner, John W. Bigalow, has con- verted it into a saw-mill.
About a mile above Brown's hotel Cedar Brook, flow- ing from the north, joins the Pequannock; up this brook about a mile was the celebrated Clinton iron works (so called in honor of De Witt Clinton), built by William Jackson in 1826 and in the six years following. Though entirely in Passaic county it was a Morris county enter- prise and undertaken by Morris county men. William Jackson was a son of Stephen Jackson of Rockaway, and had but recently, with his brother, built the rolling-mill there. Selling out his interest in the Rockaway mill he entered this then perfectly wild forest region, erected a saw-mill, forge and blast furnace, sawed timber and made iron, which he carted to Dover and Rockaway for mar- ket. The first blast was made under the supervision of John F. Winslow, a son-in-law of Mr. Jackson, afterward one of the proprietors of the Albany iron works. It commenced October 4th 1833 and continued until Feb- ruary 5th 1834. The second blast commenced May 9th 1834, and ended April 29th 1835. The third and final blast commenced August 25th 1835, and ended January 30th 1836. Mr. Jackson employed many men and teams in the transportation of his lumber and iron to their destination, and the returning trips were made with ore. He made roads and built dwelling houses and out-build- ings for his men and teams and such as were necessary for his business; also a grist-mill. An anchor shop was built and anchors were made. While the works were being constructed iron fell one half or more in price, ow- ing to the tariff legislation, and Mr. Jackson was obliged to stop operations. All the works have long been idle. Forge, saw-mill and grist-mill have disappeared, but the furnace stack still stands. The water power is a splendid one and the water, descending in three or four falls be- tween one and two hundred feet, presents a beautiful and romantic place to visit.
Mr. Winslow went to Troy, N. Y., where he entered into partnership with Erastus Corning. The "Monitor," which met the " Merrimac " off Fortress Monroe in 1861, was built by them and actually owned by them at the time of its wonderful victory.
About two miles below Mr. Brown's is Charlotteburgh, or Charlottenburg, as it is generally called; so named, it is said, in honor of Queen Charlotte. Here, as has been said, the London Company had its furnaces, etc., before the Revolutionary war. The property was long in the possession of Chilion Ford De Camp and his son Edward
De Camp, both Morris county men-the latter a son-in- law of Colonel William Scott, owner at one time of Hi-
CHAPTER VIII.
CHARCOAL FURNACES-POMPTON, HIBERNIA, MT. HOPE AND SPLIT ROCK.
HE first furnace within the present limits of Morris county was probably the one built at Bloomingdale, about a mile above Pompton, by the Ogdens. Benjamin Roome, for many years a deputy surveyor of the board of pro- prietors, and who has been engaged all his life in surveying and searching titles in Morris and Passaic, ascribes its erection to them. He states that he saw the stack still looking fair seventy years ago. It was close to the high bank, about one-eighth of a mile below where Stony Brook empties into the Pequannock. The Midland Railroad now passes just in front of its site. It has not been in blast since 1800, and must have been built many years before. It is now gone. The Ogdens were from Newark, and were the pioneers in furnace- building in this section, as well as in the manufacture of iron generally. April 15th 1740 Cornelius Board sold to Josiah Ogden, John Ogden jr., David Ogden sen., David Ogden jr. and Uzal Ogden, all of Newark and called the "Ringwood Company," sixteen acres of land at Ring- wood, where they built the furnace afterward purchased of them in 1764 by Peter Hansclever for the London Company. The Ringwood Company was thus the pre- decessor of the London Company. Josiah Ogden and David Ogden were brothers, and David had sons. John, David and Uzal. Josiah had a son named David and one named Jacob. It is quite probable that the David Ogden jr. was the son of Josiah Ogden, and the same afterward known as the Old Judge, and whose sons-Samuel, Abraham and Isaac-were men of mark in their day, Samuel being in partnership with or succeeding his father in Old Boonton.
November 27th 1766 John Ogden and Uzal Ogden of Newark mortgaged to Thomas Pennington and Ferdi- nand Pennington, of Bristol, England, several tracts in the counties of Bergen and Morris, and among the rest a tract at Bloomingdale partly in Morris and partly in
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POMPTON AND HIBERNIA FURNACES.
Bergen, conveyed to them in two lots-one, containing 137.64 acres, by Philip Schuyler and wife, August Ist 1759; the other, containing 34 acres, by Guilliam Batolf, October 1765. It is altogether probable that on this tract the furnace stood and that the deeds to the Ogdens indicate when it was built.
After the sale in 1764 to the London Company by the Ogdens we meet frequently with their names in the his- tory of the iron business of Morris county. Samuel Ogden resided at Boonton. April 17th 1776 Joseph Hoff speaks of a moulder whom he desired to obtain having been applied to by Messrs. Ogden, of Pompton furnace, to work at that business. It seems from this that the Ogdens after locating at Old Boonton still had their furnace at Pompton.
HIBERNIA FURNACE.
If the Bloomingdale furnace was not built before 1765 then the first one in the county was the Hibernia furnace -styled in its beginning " The Adventure." A very in- teresting sketch of this enterprise during the Revolu- tionary war has been written for the May 1880 meeting of the New Jersey Historical Society by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., and published in the 6th volume of the society's proceedings. Much of the material used in making up this sketch is taken from that article.
Hibernia is situated about four miles north of Rocka- way and is now connected with it by a railroad. Horse- September 17th 1765 a lot of 20.39 acres adjoining the Ball survey was returned to Thomas Stites, and by pond Brook, coming from between high hills on the west, here falls into a little valley almost surrounded by other him conveyed to Lord Stirling; and the next year and hills. On the northeast side of this valley and from the in 1768 and 1769 several other tracts in the neighborhood side of one of these hills the celebrated vein of iron ore of Hibernia were returned to Lord Stirling. Three of them located in 1766 are said to be for the purpose of conveying them to James Anderson and Benjamin Cooper. There is no record of the transaction; but it would seen from these locations, and from the fact that in 1771 a suit was brought against Stirling, Benjamin Cooper and Samuel Ford, that Anderson had sold his interest to Stirling about this time. From a letter written by Cooper while in Morristown jail under sen- tence of death it also appears that Ford had that year conveyed his interest to Stirling, and that he (Cooper) had done the same. The letter was written in his dire extremity with a view to interest Stirling in his welfare, and pretending that he could be of great assistance to him if his life was spared, and could show him wherein Ford was overreaching him in the sales. Taking all these circumstances into account it is probable that in 1771 Stirling became the sole owner of Hibernia. outcropped. Here John Johnston obtained his ore for his "iron works " at Beach Glen, without troubling him- self as to ownership. May 17th 1753 Joshua Ball located the level ground on which is built the village of Hibernia, his tract covering both sides of the brook and a strip sixteen chains long up the face of the northerly hill, containing the outcrop, with a view, no doubt, of including the vein of ore for that distance. July Ist 1761 Colonel Jacob Ford located a lot of 1.87 acres on the vein next northeast of the Ball survey. It is de- scribed as "lying upon Horse Pond Mountain, which is on the east side of Horse Pound Brook;" and the metes and bounds begin ninety-four links from the northwest cor- ner of Ball's survey, " upon a mine called Horse Pound mine." The land about this tract was afterward located by Samuel Ford, and disputes frequently arose as to its boundaries, by reason of the uncertainty of its descrip- tion and the variations of the magnetic needle, by which the lines were run and which was entirely untrustworthy in the presence of such large bodies of magnetic iron ore. The mine on this lot is still called the "Ford mine."
April 6th 1765 and June 25th 1765 five tracts were re- turned to Samuel Ford, four containing ten acres each and one containing 10.34 acres, which were "about one mile and a half above John Johnston's iron works." They were upon the vein of ore and upon the stream
above the Ball survey. They were located evidently for the purpose of building the furnace, and the work was immediately begun; for November 23d 1765, in describ- ing a tract of land returned to Henry Tuttle, farther up the stream, it was said to be "about three fourths of a mile from the new furnace called the Adventure."
Though the lands were returned to Ford alone, yet this was probably for greater convenience only, as Octo- ber 28th 1765 Ford and his wife Grace, by two deeds of that date, conveyed one third of the several lots so lo- cated to James Anderson and another third to Benjamin Cooper, retaining the other third. Of James Anderson very little can be gathered except the recital in the deed to him that he was from Sussex county. The other two partners became notorious for their crimes, which brought one under sentence of the gallows, and made the other a fugitive for his life. Samuel Ford was a nephew of Colonel Jacob Ford sen., and Cooper was a son of Daniel Cooper, one of the judges of the county. Both were found to be engaged in counterfeiting; and Ford is supposed to have been concerned in the robbery of the treasury at Amboy, in 1768. Ford was the master spirit; and Cooper, when convicted and sentenced to be hung, at the September term of the Morris court, in the year 1773, charged his misfortune to his partner. The history of this crime and the fate of its perpetrators is related in another part of this book.
William Alexander, or Lord Stirling, as he is generally called, was a man of high character and standing, and very prominent in the councils of the State. His biog- raphy, written by his grandson, Hon. William A. Duer, has been published by the New Jersey Historical Society; but a brief account of his life may properly be inserted here. He was born in 1726, in the city of New York, the son of James Alexander, a fugitive from Scotland on account of his adherence to the house of Stuart. On the breaking out of the French war in 1755 young
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
Alexander became the aide-de-camp of General Shirley, and he served in that capacity during the greater part of the war. In 1737 the earldom of Stirling became vacant, and on the death of his father, who made no claim to it although entitled to do so, William Alexander preferred his claim, and in 1757 went to England to press his suit in person. In America his right to the title was never questioned. In 1761 he returned to America, and shortly after built the mansion at Basking Ridge in which he after- ward resided. He was chosen a member of the Provincial Council and held that office till the Revolution. He was also surveyor-general of the State. On the breaking out of the war he was commissioned as colonel of a regiment of Somerset militia by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey; but before the regiment could be gotten ready he was appointed by Congress to take command of two regiments in the continental service. March Ist 1776 he was commissioned by Congress to be a brigadier-general and was stationed at New York. At the battle of Long Island he was captured, with a force of about four hun- dred Marylanders, part of his command, with which he had attacked a superior force under Cornwallis in order to enable the main body of his men to escape. On the 19th of February 1777 he was promoted by Congress to be a major-general, and as such served with distinction until his death, which occurred at Albany, January 15th 1783, in consequence of fatigue of body and mind, to which his arduous military service had exposed him.
From the building of the Adventure furnace in 1765 until 1775 the business of making iron was carried on; but to what extent we have no record. After 1775 we have some account of its operations in the letters of Jo- seph and Charles Hoff, who were Lord Stirling's man- agers at Hibernia, and whose letters to their principal have been preserved. In that year Joseph Hoff, a brother-in-law of Benjamin Cooper, came from Hunter- don county to take charge of the works. He was assisted at first, and at his death, in 1777, succeeded by his brother Charles Hoff jr., who was in turn assisted by a younger brother John. Charles Hoff continued to be manager at Hibernia until 1781, when he removed to Mount Pleasant, at which place he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1811. Extracts from his letters will best give the history of matters during the busy scenes of the war. The works of the London Com- pany had been burned, and the furnace at Hibernia and that recently erected at Mount Hope became important to both the army and people.
On May 17th 1775 Joseph Hoff writes to Robert Erskine, the manager for the London Company at Char- lotteburgh, Long Pond and Ringwood, and in his letter says:
" I lately received a letter from Messrs. Murray, N. Y., informing me that all the powder in that place had been secured for the safety of the province in case matters were to come to such desperate lengths as that they must have recourse to blows with the parent State. Alarmed at this piece of news I went immediately to New York to know what was to be done with the works, they being lately put in blast, a large stock of wood cut and great
number of hands employed at the coaling and other business, and not more than five weeks ore now raised. They answered me that, although the most diligent search has been made for powder, not a single pound was to be had; but that a little before this general stop- page took place 34 cwt. had been sent for us to Eliza- bethtown, which they hoped would serve us as a tem- porary relief till more could be had. I went immediately to Elizabethtown, where I found the committee of that place had seized on all the powder we had there and would not suffer it to be removed in this exigency."
The letter further states that in case the powder is not to be had he will be obliged to adopt a measure " disa- greeable to both of us," and prevent Erskine " from tak- ing oar from the upper part of the mine called Lord Stirling vein," which he was doing under permit of Colonel Ogden. Colonel Samuel Ogden, who is the one referred to, claimed an interest in the Ford mine. But this threat did not produce the desired effect. Erskine visited Ogden at once at Old Boonton and Ogden main- tained his right to the ore.
Under date of May 25th 1775 Hoff writes to Stirling: "The furnace goes well, as do all the other branches of business. We have made 70 tonns iron already, but not more than four or five tonns gone down. I wrote you we received two casks of powder from E. Town." Again he writes, " The furnace goes extremely well-we shall make at least twenty tons weekly."
April 17th 1776 Hoff writes to Messrs. Murray that " Lord Stirling told me he would find us work at casting cannon that would weigh from 25 to 30 cwt., which are 9 or 12 pounders; these we can do, but not heavier." He further inquires as to quantity and price, and says, " It will do to engage at 45 or 435 proc. [proclamation money] per ton provided we have the making the balls for the cannon, and they should alway go together." In May the manager drops the subject of cannon to write: " Our people are so distressed for rum that I believe I must have one hogshead, let the price be what it will. They must pay accordingly. I hope you will not forget about the powder." June 9th 1776 he writes: " All the miners have been quite idle for want of powder. The furnace will soon get ahead of us, using. the ore so fast, when it will be impossible for the miners to keep her going."
Under the same date he writes that himself and Faesch are anxious to receive the moulds for the cannon, etc., which had not yet arrived. August 3d Mr. Hoff writes:
" Last night we made a trial at casting one of the guns, but unfortunately for us we brought the furnace too low and it missed in the breech. All the rest was sound and good. We have had to make a good many preparations; our clay was bad. However, we are not discouraged, but willing to try again, being convinced that the iron will answer. I have now to inform you that we shall set about it with all the vigor imaginable. We shall not, however, cast any more till we have all things in readi- ness. We propose to have twelve or fourteen of the moulds ready by the last of next week, after which the moulder assures me he will make three or four a day till the whole are finished. But as a most enormous expense attends the business it will not be in our power to make the small guns under 7d. York money per pound. If
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MILITARY WORK AT HIBERNIA-HESSIAN LABORERS.
51
the general consents thereto you will please by the return of the post to inform."
Under date of August 31st 1776 Mr. Hoff writes to to the scarcity of men, coal, &c .- " Don't your lordship Colonel Moylan:
" A certain Mr. Thomas Ives apply'd to me to make a number-say 36 or 38 three-pounder cannon for the gundolers. We had two ready for trial some two days past. I wrote twice to Mr. Ives to come up for that end, but not hearing from him I yesterday charged the cannon with two full cartridges made up for the three- pounder and two balls, and have the pleasure to inform you it stood and is undoubtedly good. I made no agree- ment with Mr. Ives as to the price, and as a most enor- mous expense attends the business I do not choose to go on till I hear from you. I have consulted with Mr. Faesch and Messrs. Ogden, ironmasters, and we are clear that we cannot make cannon at less than £50 proc. per ton and powder to prove them. If you consent to allow me that price I will immediately engage a set of mould- ers and drive on the business with spirit. We can make, I believe, from three to nine and perhaps twelve-pound- ers. I would be much obliged for your answer by the return of the Morristown post."
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