USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 26
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The limits of this article are too confined to allow more than a brief notice of the more striking features of this formation. The ridge from Long Hill to Morristown is quite level on top, and being of a light, porous soil, free from large rocks, it is well suited for building sites. These advantages have already attracted a large amount of wealth. Morristown and Madison are partly on this
the Whippany and the west branch of the Passaic River. Its average height above sea level is about 375 feet.
Mount Tabor is also composed of drift material. The gravel pit at the intersection of Clinton and McFarlan streets in the city of Dover affords a fine section of drift. The tableland west of Dover on which St. Mary's church is built belongs to this formation. The moraine hill which extends from Dunham's hill toward Duck Pond forms the divide between the head waters of the Passaic and Raritan Rivers. The finest examples of moraine hills are found in Berkshire Valley.
A noteworthy feature of the effect of glacial action on the topography of the county is seen in the changes that it has made in the drainage of the streams by reversing the direction of the flow. The original Green Pond Brook ran northeast to the Pequannock River, but a glacial dam prevents this and forces the water to make its escape at the opposite end of the lake. The natural outlet of Lake Hopatcong was through the Raritan River, but a bed of drift near Hopatcong station closed this channel and raised the water till it found an exit by the way of the Musconetcong Valley to the Dela- ware. Canfield Island was formed at the same time. The original outlet of Budd's Lake fed a stream which ran into the Musconetcong near Stanhope; a dam of | Longwood and Berkshire Valleys, following the west
drift shut this passage, and now the surplus water escapes to the Raritan. The drainage of Succasunna Plains was in pre-glacial times to the northeast to the Rockaway River, but the moraine above referred to turned the water into the Raritan. Burnt Meadow Brook once flowed into the Rockaway near Baker's Mill, but, being turned by a mass of drift, it passes over the lowest part of the dam at Mount Pleasant and meets the same river below Port Oram.
This reversal of the water courses is easily explained when the condition of things during the glacial epoch is understood. The flow of the ice fields came from the north, and on reaching a river acted as a dam, and back- ing the water up forced it to find a passage in some other direction, which was necessarily to the southwest, the mountain ranges preventing its escape elsewhere. As the ice retreated it left behind the vast deposits of drift, which, though smaller than the glaciers, were sufficient to control the flow of the streams, and in many cases made permanent the changes effected by the ice.
Morris county is well supplied with water; three of the largest streams in the State find their sources here, and with their tributaries so subdivide the surface that there are no large areas unprovided for. The system of water- courses may be divided into three parts, viz .: the water- sheds of the Musconetcong, the Raritan and the Passaic Rivers.
The Musconetcong rises near the Ford mine, in Jeffer- son township, and there bears the name of Weldon Brook. It flows into Lake Hopatcong, and thus be- comes a feeder to the Morris Canal, which draws its supply from this lake. The Musconetcong receives the ridge. It forms the divide between the watersheds of drainage of the west slope of Brookland and Schooley's Mountains, flows to the southwest and empties into the Delaware.
The Raritan is split into three parts, viz .: the "south branch," Black or Lamington River, and the "north branch." The first flows through Flanders and German Valley; the second, or middle branch, flows through Succasunna Plains and Hacklebarney; and the third, or north branch, rising near Mount Freedom, flows through Calais and Roxiticus. All of these streams leave the county before they come together.
The third system is that of the Passaic River, which may be divided into the Passaic River proper, the Whippany, the Rockaway and the Pequannock Rivers. The Passaic rises near Mendham, flows south for about two miles to the county line, which it forms from this point to Two Bridges, a distance of over forty miles, and receives directly all the drainage south of Morristown and as far east as Madison. The country north and east of Morristown forms the watershed of the Whippany, which, rising near Mount Freedom, flows through Brook- side, Morristown and Whippany, drains the Troy Mead- ows and empties into the Rockaway River at Hanover Neck. The Rockaway rises in Sussex county, enters this county near Hopewell, flows southwest through
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
northeastern part of the county, and is largely used
base of Green Pond Mountain, around which it turns at Baker's Mill, and taking a southeasterly course for manufacturing purposes at Bloomingdale and empties into the Passaic River at Hanover Neck. It re Pompton. ceives the Burnt Meadow Brook and Jackson Brook near Dover, and the Whippany River about half a mile from its junction with the Passaic, and flows through Dover, Rockaway, Powerville and Boonton, furnishing valuable water power at these places. The Pequannock River rises in the Waywayanda Mountains, in Sussex county, and does not enter Morris county, but forms the
The soils of this county are generally very productive, especially on the hills that furnish native earth, as this material seems to have the power of resuscitating itself if allowed to rest from time to time, and properly worked in the meantime. The yield of the limestone soils will compare favorably with that of any other part of the State. The open and porous soils are more easily ex- boundary line from a point near Snufftown to Two hausted, and require the renewal of fertilizers from year Bridges, where it meets the Passaic, a distance of nearly thirty miles. This river receives the drainage of all the
to year, which if furnished render the soil very pro- ductive.
CITY. VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP HISTORIES,
MORRISTOWN.
BY REV. RUFUS S. GREEN.
ORRISTOWN*, the county seat of Morris county, is, like Zion of old, “ beautiful for situation." It nestles among the hills, of which no less than five ranges furnish most charming building-sites. The drives about the city are unsurpassed in variety and loveliness. Add to its natural beauty purity of air and water, and freedom from. debt, and we have the causes which have dotted these hills with elegant villas, and which are attracting more and more the wealth and culture of neighboring cities. The death rate is less than 15 for r,ooo inhabitants. The town lies thirty miles due west from New York city. The Green is 371 feet above the ocean level.
The population of Morris township, with Morristown, has grown pretty steadily during the period of census returns. These have been as follows: 18ro, 3,753; 1820, 3,524; 1830, 3,536; 1840, 4,006; 1850, 4,997; 1860, 5,- 985 (182 colored); 1870, 5,673 (239 colored); 1875, 6,- 950 (285 colored); 1880, 6,837 (Morristown, 5,418).
The statistics of property, taxation, etc., in 188r were as follows: Acres in the township, 9,125; valuation of real estate, $4,360,000; personal property, $1,365,000; debt, $325,000; polls, 1,570; State school tax, $13,751; county tax, $12,832.42; road tax, $7,000; poor tax, $300.
On the 29th of March 1684 David Barclay, Arthur Forbes and Gawen Lawrie wrote to the Scots proprie- tors respecting this part of the country: " There are also hills up in the country, but how much ground they take up we know not; they are said to be stony, and covered
with wood, and beyond them is said to be excellent land." This would indicate that this region was at that time terra incognita.
But little definite information can be obtained concern- ing the first settlers of the township of Morris. They probably came from Newark, Elizabeth, Long Island and New England. This much the names which first meet us would seem to indicate. The same uncertainty at- taches to the date of their settlement. In the year 1767 the Rev. Jacob Green, third pastor of the Presbyterian church of Hanover, wrote a history of that church, which still survives in manuscript, in the preface of which he says that "about the year 1710 a few families removed from Newark and Elizabeth, &c., and settled on the west side of the Passaic River, in that which is now Morris county." In the East Jersey Records, Liber F 3, p. 28, at Trenton, there appears the copy of a deed of a tract of land within the bounds of this township, consisting of 967 37 acres, which was conveyed on the ist of June 1769 by " the Right Hon. William, Earl of Sterling, and Lady Sarah, Countess of Stirling," for the sum of £2,902 to Colonel Staats Long Morris, of New York. The deed says this tract was originally surveyed in 1715.
In the same year the land on which Morristown is built was surveyed to Joseph Helby, Thomas Stephenson and John Keys or Kay. The last named had 2,000 acres, and each of the others 1,250 acres. Keys's claim em- braced the land now occupied by the park. That of Helby ran from George W. Johnes's toward Speedwell, and southwest to the former residence of General Doughty. That of Stephenson included the Revere and neighboring farms. We append the deed to Kay:
" By virtue of a warrant from ye Council of Proprietors, bearing date ye tenth day of march last past, I have sur- veyed this Tract or Lott of land unto John Kay within ye Western Division of ye Province of New Jersey, in ye Last indian purchases made of ye Indians by ye said Proprietors; Situate upon & near a Branch of Passamisk River Called whipene, beginning at a small hickory corner standing near a Black oak marked K, ten cha: distance from a corner of Wm. Pens Lands; thence North
* In preparing the following pages for [the "Illustrated History of Morris County " the compiler desires first of all to thank the many who have cheerfully aided him. Without this aid it would have been impossible for him, hurdened with the care of a large church and parish, to have performed the work. He has made free use of the materials placed in his hand, not hesitating to adopt the language, where it suited his purpose, as well as to record the facts furnished. To state this is due as much to himself as to the friends who have as- sisted him. He will venture to say that, from the time and care he has expended, as well as from the trustworthy character of the materials he has had at his disposal, he hopes few, if any. important errors will be discovered. He has conscientiously sought to make these pages a reli- able history.
IIO
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
west one hundred sixty & fiva cha: crossing ye said Whipene to a corner white oak marked also K; thence South west one hundred twenty and seven cha: & twenty five link to a poast for a corner under ye side of a hill called mine mountain; from thence Southeast one hun- dred sixty & five cha: to a poast; then North East one hundred twenty seven cha: & twenty five links, & by ye bound of Govn. Pens land to ye place of beginning; Containing Two thousand acres of Land besides one hundred acres allowance for Highways; surveyed April ye 28th 1715 pr me R Bull Survy.
"Ye 22 of August 1715 Inspected & approved of by ye Council of Proprs. and ordered to be Entered upon Record.
" Tests, JOHN WILLS clerk."
We cannot be far out of the way in placing the date of the first settlement of Morristown back nearly or quite to 1710, as found in the manuscript history of the Rev. Jacob Green.
We know not when, where, or by whom the first house was built. It stood, no doubt, near the bank of the Whippany, where the grist-mill, the saw-mill and the forge were soon erected. The Indians had not then disappeared from the region ; while game abounded along the streams, and bears, wolves and panthers roamed through the forests.
The motive which led to the settlement of the place by these early pioneers was probably the betterment of their temporal prospects-many of them being drawn hitler by the iron in which the mountains abounded. To their praise be it said, however, that they were a God-fearing people. Religion had a controlling voice in all their movements. It was the religious element that led the New Englanders and the Scotch and the Irish to this province, whose fundamental condition guaranteed the largest liberty of conscience to all settlers; it was here that many came to be freed from the spiritual des- potism which galled them at home, and to certain locali- ties some repaired to test their favorite scheme of a pure church and a godly government in which power was to be exercised only by those who were members of the church, and where everything in active antagonism with this principle was to be removed. On this basis Newark and a few other towns were founded. Those who came into this region from older settlements where religion was deemed vital to the best interests of the people brought with them the sacred love of liberty and of truth, and the highest regard for religious institutions, which was operative here as elsewhere in honoring the Sabbath and the sanctuary and in regulating social and domestic life.
Among the regulations made by the Duke of York for settlers in this province, under which regulations Morris- town was probably settled, we find the following, respect- ing the support of the gospel: "Every township is obliged to pay their own minister, according to such agreement as they shall make with him, and no man to refuse his own proportion; the minister being elected by the major part of the householders and inhabitants in the town."
This was in Hanover-the church of which the Rev. James A. Ferguson is the present pastor. To this house of worship the people of West Hanover (Morristown) resorted until the year 1733. By that time, the number of inhabitants having largely increased and the distance being so great, the desire became general to have a church of their own, which was accomplished a few years later, when the First Presbyterian church began its long career.
In 1738 the village, if it might be so named, was cen- tered mainly in Water street, though Morris street might boast of an occasional hut, and perhaps two or three might be found amidst the clearings of the Green. Else- where the forest trees were standing, and what is now the park could boast of the giant oak, the chestnut and other noble specimens of growth. The woods around were visited by the panther and the bear, while wolves in great numbers answered each other from the neighboring hills. The sheep- and -cattle were brought into pens for the night. Roads were scarcely known. The bridle path or Indian trail was all that conducted the occasional trav- eler to Mendham, who saw on his way thither a mill, a blacksmith's shop and two dwellings-in three separate clearings. There was scarcely a better path to Basking Ridge. There were no postal routes, no newspapers and but few books to instruct and amuse. Life was then a reality. In the new settlement every one had to be busy in order to procure such comforts and necessaries as were required. Frugal habits and simple manners distinguished their every day life; and their domestic relations partook more of the patriarchal and less of the commercial, for worldly prosperity had not been sufficient to create that jealous distinction of rank with which we are so often charged as a community. Religion had a moulding in- fluence upon the household, and from dearth of news often formed the principal topic of converse between neighbors. The Sabbath was rigidly kept, and the church was regularly frequented.
One church, as yet without a pastor, two public houses, a grist and saw-mill, a forge, a few scattered houses, an almost endless forest wherein still lingered the Indian and wild beast, a law-abiding and God-fearing people- these are the known conditions of that early time.
TOWNSHIP HISTORY TO THE REVOLUTION.
We come now to the second period of our history,- from the formation of the township to [the beginning of the war of the Revolution.
The original name of Morristown was West Hanover. This appears from the minutes of the Synod of Phila- delphia, to which we shall have occasion again to refer. As late as 1738 this name occurs in the synod's minutes. It was also called New Hanover, as appears from the licenses granted by the county court to keep public houses. A record in the first volume of minutes of the court of common pleas for Morris county, which is printed on page 21, fixes the date of the adoption of the
Such being the character of the people, we are not present name of the township as March 25th 1740. surprised to find a church established as early as 1718 ..
Of this period between the formation of the township
JII
SUNDAY IN OLD MORRISTOWN-FORD THE COUNTERFEITER.
and the war of the Revolution little more need be said. The town grew but slowly. Some improvements were made. A Baptist church was organized and built and a court-house erected. A steeple was added to the Pres- byterian church and a bell placed in it.
The needs of the people were few, and their mode of living was simple. Indications are not wanting, however, of the presence and gradual increase of families of wealth and culture, who gave to the town a reputation, which it still retains, of being " aristocratic."
Sunday was the great day of the week. Good Pastor Johnes, of the First Presbyterian Church, could see his congregation coming through the forest from the neigh- boring farms, not riding in wagons, but (if the distance was too great to walk) on horseback, the wife behind her husband on the pillion, while the children managed to cling on them as best they could. The women were clothed in homespun, from the fruits of that industry which has given the name of "spinster " to the unmar- ried daughters of the family, showing their constant oc- cupation. In the winter they brought their footstoves, filled with live coals, to put under their feet during ser- vice, while the men disdained such an approach to ef- feminacy. If there was an evening service each family brought one or two candles, and persons sat holding them during the meeting; for even candlesticks on the walls and pillars were not then provided. But though the men could bravely sit with cold feet in the winter, they did not hesitate to take off their coats in the heat of summer, and if sleep seemed likely to overpower them they would stand up and thus remain until the inclination to drowsiness had passed. The men sat together upon one side of the house, and the women and children upon the other side, separated from each other by the broad aisle. The young people occupied the galleries, the young men and boys upon one side of the church, the young ladies and girls upon the other. This necessitated the appointment of certain men of grave and staid aspect to sit in the galleries to preserve order.
There is one item of history, however, which falls within this period, which can scarcely be passed over, and which we may place under the head of
COUNTERFEITERS.
It is not surprising that there should be at least one blot upon the fair history of Morristown. We would fain pass it by, but truth is inexorable, and the historian has no choice. The following account is for the most part a condensation from two articles, to which the reader is referred for fuller details-one by William A. Whitehead, on " The Robbery of the Treasury in 1768" (Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. V., p. 49), and the other by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., on the "Early History of Morris County " (Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. II., p. 15).
Samuel Ford was the leader of a notorious gang of counterfeiters, who infested this region just previous to the war of the Revolution. He was the grandson of
widow Elizabeth Lindsley, the mother of Colonel Jacob Ford. His father's name was also Samuel. His mother was Grace, the daughter of Abraham Kitchel, of Han- over, and sister of Aaron, the Congressman. Her great- grandfather was Rev. Abraham Pierson sen., of Newark. His family connections were therefore of the best and most respectable. Most of his companions in villainy also stood high in society. These were Benjamin Cooper, of Hibernia, son of Judge Cooper, before whom he was afterward tried for his crime; Dr. Bern Budd, a leading physician in Morristown, and a prominent mem- ber in its society; Samuel Haynes, and one Ayres, of Sussex county, both, as was also Cooper, justices of the peace; David Reynolds, a common man with no strong social connections; and others whose names will appear as we proceed.
Ford had followed the business of counterfeiting, which he pleasantly called a " money-making affair," for a number of years before he began operations in this vicinity. In 1768 he was arrested by the authorities of New York on a charge of uttering false New Jersey bills of credit; but we cannot find that he was ever brought to trial. Shortly after this he went to Ireland to improve himself in his profession, this being his second trans- atlantic trip in the prosecution of his business. Ireland was reputed to furnish at this time the most skillful counterfeiters in the world. Here Ford became, it is said, "a perfect master of the business." He returned to this country in 1772, and at once set to work on an extensive scale. He established himself about midway between Morristown and Hanover, in a swamp island on the Hammock. For the greater part of the year the sur- rounding water was a foot deep. Through this swamp Ford was obliged to creep on his hands and knees to get to his work. He would leave his house at daylight with his gun, as if in pursuit of game, and thus unwatched would attain his secret resort; for this practice was so .much in accordance with the idle life he had apparently always led that it excited neither surprise nor remark. Still it was difficult for people to understand how a man whose only ostensible means of livelihood were a few acres of swampy land, the cultivation of which moreover was sadly neglected, could wear the aspect of a thriving farmer with plenty of money. In one way and another suspicion was aroused; and at last, on the 16th of July 1773, Ford was arrested and lodged in the county jail. That very night, however, or the day following, he suc- ceeded in effecting his escape, being aided by a confed- erate by the name of John King, who in all probability was the same " John King" who was "late under-sheriff of Morris county." His position gave him, of course, every facility to aid his companion in crime. Nor did Sheriff Kinney escape the charge of implication in this matter. He was afterward indicted for remissness of duty in allowing the escape of so dangerous a prisoner. The privy council regarded him as "blamable for neg- ligence in his office, respecting the escape of Ford," and advised the governor " to prosecute the said indictment at the next court."
16
II2
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
Ford first fled to a lonely spot on the mountain, be- tween Mount Hope and Hibernia, and hid himself in a deserted colliery, called " Smultz's Cabin." Sheriff Kin- ney with a posse of men sought him there, but so leisure- ly that when he reached the cabin the bird had flown. From Hibernia Ford fled southward, boldly paying his way with his spurious Jersey bills and counterfeit coin. At last he reached Green Briar county, among the moun- tains of Virginia, where he settled and assumed the name of Baldwin. Here he followed the trade of a silversmith, forming a partnership with another man. During a se- vere illness he disclosed his real history to his partner's wife, who so sympathized with him that after his recov- ery and the death of her husband she married him, and thus became his third living wife. His first wife, as we have seen, was Grace Kitchel, of Hanover. While in Ireland, perfecting himself in his " profession," he mar- ried an Irish girl, with whom he is said to have received considerable money. She came to this country with him, and was well nigh crazed on finding that he already had a wife and children. She is said afterward to have mar- ried an Irishman, and lived for many years in Whippany.
The pursuit of Ford was not of a very diligent charac- ter. When his whereabouts became known in the course of time it does not appear that he was molested. His oldest son, William Ford, and Stephen Halsey (son of Ananias) visited him in Virginia, where they found him with " a great property," a new wife, and some promising young Baldwins; and thus the possible ancestor, so the historian suggests of the Virginia Baldwins who have figured in public life. To his son and Mr. Halsey he seemed to be a "most melancholy man." He professed to them a deep penitence for his sins, and a grace which led to a religious life; the sincerity of which we may how- ever be permitted to doubt, as it did not lead him to abandon his adulterous relations and do justice to the excellent woman in New Jersey whom he had left to support herself and his family without a farthing's aid from him.
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