USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 42
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Mr. Vanatta held few public positions; he was a mem-
and in the latter year was a candidate for the nomination for United States senator against the late William Wright; only failing by a vote or two in the Democratic caucus. He was frequently urged to accept gubernatorial or Congressional nominations, but always declined. At dif- ferent times he refused tendered positions on the supreme bench of the State. . He was appointed attorney general by the governor, but after holding the office for about fifteen months was compelled to resign it, because of the | immense pressure of his private practice.
In October 1852 Mr. Vanatta married a daughter of Dr. Aaron Dickerson, of Philadelphia; she was also a niece of General Mahlon Dickerson, General Jackson's secretary of the navy and ex-governor of New Jersey.
In private life Mr. Vanatta was kind and obliging; he was a safe and judicious adviser, a faithful and steadfast friend, a good citizen and an honest man. His life was doubtless sacrificed to his unwearied zeal and industry in his profession. At the same time his whole life furnished a remarkable instance of what ability attended with in- dustry and study can accomplish in overcoming adverse circumstances.
The malady which occasioned Mr. Vanatta's death was Bright's disease of the kidneys. He died at his res- idence in Morristown, April 30th 1879. The funeral services, held at the First Presbyterian Church, were at- tended by the State officers, judges of the supreme court, and men eminent in every walk of life. Impressive dis -. courses were delivered by the Rev. Rufus S. Green, pas- tor of the church, and the Rev. David Irving, D. D., a former pastor.
During the later years of his life Mr. Vanatta's time Resolutions setting forth in fitting terms the high esti- mate in which the deceased was held by his colleagues and services were largely monopolized by the great corporations of the country; he had become the regular were passed at meetings of the Essex county and Morris counsel of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, the Central Railroad Company, and more or less of many other corporations, and his engage- ments carried him frequently before the highest courts of New York and Pennsylvania and the United States supreme court
county bars. The addresses of Theodore Little, Hon. Augustus W. Cutler, Alfred Mills, Frederick A. De Mott and James H. Neighbour, delivered at the meeting of the Morris county bar, were most eloquent and touching personal tributes to the eminent worth and character of their late colleague and brother, and a most fitting ex- pression of their personal grief at the loss occasioned by
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Janvanatta C
V
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE HON, JACOB VANATTA, MORRISTOWN, N.J.
RESIDENCE OF V. B. KING, MAPLE AVE, MORRISTOWN, N. J.
HON. GEORGE VAIL.
Hon. George Vail, son of Judge Stephen Vail, was born in Speedwell, Morristown, N .. J., in July 1809. He received his education at the Morristown Academy, sit- uated - where the Library and Lyceum building now stands. Early in life he became interested in the Speed- well iron works, as a partner of his father. The pros- perity and high reputation of these works were due to the energy, diligence and practical knowledge of the bus- iness possessed by father and son. It was at Speedwell that Prof. Morse made his successful experiments in tel- egraphy, through the valuable assistance and suggestion of Judge Vail and his sons George and Alfred.
George Vail was for many years an active and influen- tial Democratic leader. He was elected to the Legisla- ture ; twice elected to Congress; was for several years consul at Glasgow, Scotland; and for five years judge of the court of errors and appeals of New Jersey. He was sent as one of the commissioners to the World's Fair in London in 1851. He was also one of the original com- missioners selected to procure a site for the new asylum building. He was a member of Cincinnati Lodge (masonic), of Morristown, and was at one time master of the lodge, and subsequently senior grand warden of the grand lodge of New Jersey. The following, written of him by one who knew him well, gives a just estimate of the general character of Judge Vail:
" Although possessed of wealth, which enabled him to gratify the ambition for display so inherent in poor hu- man nature, he was always plain and simple in his habits and tastes. Never, perhaps, did one pride himself less than he on beautiful possessions and surroundings. He loved that others should have them. His house was al- ways open to those who approached him properly. For the poor and needy he had an open heart and an open hand. Not long before his death he contributed a hand- some sum to the disabled ministers of the Presbyterian church, as I was informed, though not by himself. He had a tender and sympathetic nature. This trait re- vealed itself under circumstances that involved consider- able sacrifice of time and labor, as I have good reason to know."
Mr. Vail was of splendid physique, and his large, mas- sive and portly person gave promise of many more years of robust life. His quiet, unpretentious disposition was quite in contrast and altogether unlooked for in one of such commanding presence.
After several weeks of illness he died at his residence in Speedwell, May 23d 1875.
Judge Vail left a wife, and two daughters by a former marriage. The latter are married and re- side in London, England. Mrs. Vail is a resident of Morristown.
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
HON. L. B. WARD.
Hon. Lebbeus Baldwin Ward was born in Chatham township, Morris county, N. J., April 7th 1801. His grandfather came from Virginia and settled at Morris Plains, Morris county, about the middle of the last cen- tury. His father, Silas Ward, was born there October 19th 1767. He married Phebe, daughter of Lebbeus and Mary (Baldwin) Dod. Her father was a native of New Jersey, and settled in the township of Mendham, Morris county, just before the Revolution. He was attached to the Revolutionary army during the whole war, with the. rank of captain of artillery. A more extended account of this Revolutionary patriot will be found in the history of Mendham township, in another portion of this volume.
To Silas and Phebe Ward were born nine children. Of the three sons John Dod and Samuel Shipman (twins), brothers to Lebbeus Baldwin, are deceased. Only three of the sisters are living, viz .: Mrs. Hannah Miller and Elizabeth Caroline, living in Elizabeth City, N. J., and Mrs. Phebe Greene, living in Catskill, N. Y. Silas Ward died October 12th 1862, his wife September 23d 1831, both at Elizabeth City.
When Lebbeus B. was nine years of age his father moved from Chatham and settled near Elizabeth, where he carried on a farm, and also engaged in milling. Young Ward received his education in the Adelphi Academy at Elizabeth. At the age of twenty-one he went to Mon- treal, Canada, and became a partner with his brothers John D. and Samuel Shipman Ward, in the manufacture of steam engines for the steamers which were then be- ginning to multiply on the St. Lawrence River and the lakes. The business was a large and prosperous one, and the reliable character and untiring energies of the broth- ers gave them a large share of it.
They were the first to banish liquors completely from their workshops, and were all along warm, consistent and liberal friends of the temperance cause, and indeed of every good cause. The brothers were prominent among those who organized and were for years liberal support- ers of the American Presbyterian church of Montreal. While a resident of the city Mr. Ward was a director in
the City Bank, also in the Montreal and St. John Rail- road Company, and became, in order to hold the latter position, as required by the laws of the province, a Brit- ish subject.
In 1837 he left Montreal, and during that and the fol- lowing year took an extended tour through England Scotland and most of the countries in Europe. With a view of informing himself in regard to the modes em- ployed for the manufacture of wrought iron, he visited many of the large iron works of England and Scotland, and brought away with him much valuable information upon that subject. Upon his return, in 1839, he settled in New York city, and established his iron works on the Hudson River, at 59th street. He was the first to intro- duce into this country the production of heavy wrought iron work, such as steamboat shafts, cranks, etc. He re- ceived a gold medal from the American Institute, for a "large wrought iron shaft " for an ocean steamer. These works were carried on by him until 1852, when he re- tired from business.
Mr. Ward was a member of the Legislature of New York for two sessions. He introduced and secured the passage of the bill incorporating the New York Juvenile Asylum. He was chairman of its building committee and was one of its active managers. In 1858 he was elected one of the police commissioners. He was one of the organizers of and a director in the National Broadway Bank, also in the Importers' and Traders' Bank. He has been a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church for nearly forty years, and for twenty years was a member of the executive committee of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In 1865 he left New York and trav- eled abroad, making an extended tour of the old country. Upon his return he settled in Morristown, where he has since resided. Here, as elsewhere during his whole life, Mr. Ward has identified himself with all interests which have for their object the betterment of society. He is a member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. Dr. Samuel B. Ward, professor in Albany Medical College, and Willard P. Ward, living in Georgia and owning large interests in iron mines in that State, are his only children.
!
LA. Ward
BOONTON.
BY HON. JOHN L. KANOUSE.
HIS township was formed from territory set off from Pequannock in 1867, and in area is the smallest in the county. Except in the vicinity of the town of Boonton, and in that part of Rockaway Valley coming within its bounds, this township has but little arable land. The northern and northeastern sections of it con- sist mostly of rough and hilly wood and pasture land.
In the eastern part there is a ridge of rough land called Mine Ridge. The existence of iron ore at this place was known more than a hundred years ago, and some openings were made, which doubtless gave origin to its name. Within the past ten years several mines have been opened along this ridge, and considerable ore taken out, the quality of which is said to be superior. But for some reason the mining of it thus far has not been very profitable, and recently little has been done toward fur- ther developement.
On the southern edge of this township, near the mouth of a small brook running into the Rockaway River, is a a ledge of soft gray sandstone containing in its crevices or seams fossil fish. Several explorations for these fos- sils were made many years ago, and some very handsome specimens were obtained. But the greatest effort was inade about three years ago by a professor from Colum- bia College, who spent some time and considerable money digging and blasting. His labor was rewarded by obtaining a large number of perfect and very valuable spec- imens. That part representing the fish is a black, hard substance resembling coal, showing the whole form of the fish, with the fins, tail, and scales, very perfectly. When placed on a hot coal fire this black substance burns with a blaze and smoke, emitting an odor like bituminous coal.
would be sufficient, by simply standing on the summit, to see, in a clear day, Staten Island and the waters of Newark and New York bays. Standing on this elevated spot on a bright. summer day and with a clear atmos- phere, the view spread before us is truly grand and charming, one that needs only to be seen to be appre- ciated and remembered. It is, as it were, a panorama diversified by mountains, hills and valleys, rivers and rivulets, green pastures with roving cattle, patches of forest and orchard, amid broad cultivated acres, green with growing crops and waving with the golden harvest. Presently we hear the shrill whistle of the tireless loco- motive, as it rapidly approaches from the east with its train of living freight and speeds away toward the far west and the lakes at the north. Then again we hear a heavy rumbling sound, and behold a ponderous loco- motive moving more slowly toward the east, with its train of a hundred cars loaded with coal, destined to feed the almost ceaseless fires of the busy factories and furnaces. Near by we observe the channel of the Mor- ris Canal, its water glittering in the rays of the sun, as we trace it miles away, in the distance appearing like a track of silver through the green fields and amid the hills and valleys in its course to tide water. The scene is not only thus varied, but extended. Looking south the eye reaches across the valley of the Passaic, to the moun- tains in the rear of Orange and Montclair. Looking east we have before us this valley for sixteen miles, to the break in the mountain range at Paterson; and through .this break, looking on over the valley of the Hacken- sack, the Palisade mountain range on the west bank of the Hudson is distinctly visible to the naked eye, al- though distant nearly thirty miles. Turning westward, the villages of Whippany, Madison, Chatham, and the Summit are visible in the distance; and still more to the west the eye meets the hilltops in Somerset and Hun- terdon.
Northeast from and near to the town of Boonton is a large elevation of ground, the highest point of which is said to be nine hundred and forty feet above tide water. Many years ago there stood upon the summit a large About fifty years ago the land in this locality was un- chestnut tree, dead, into which it is said some persons inclosed, and used by the neighboring farmers as a pas- ture in common, mostly for sheep, of which large flocks would congregate on that elevated range as their favorite resort. One night a number of dogs made great havoc climbed about twenty-five-feet and with the aid of a glass plainly saw the ocean at Sandy Hook. It is quite prob- able that, were it not for the intervening of the first mountain range at Montclair, the elevation at this point | among them, killing a large number; so that the dead and
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178
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
mortally wounded were carted home by the wagon-load, for the purpose of saving the pelts. This led to calling the place Sheep Hill, a name which has ever since been retained.
By the census of 1870 Boonton township contained a population of 3,432 white and 26 colored; total 3,458. In 1875 the population was 3,535 white and 41 colored; total 3,576. In 1880 the total population was 2,682, showing a decrease of 776 as compared with the year 1870. This falling off was mainly in the town of Boon- ton, and is attributable to the stoppage of the extensive iron industry there since 1876. There is a population of only about 400 in the township, outside the corporate limits of the town of Boonton.
The resources, taxes, etc., of the township in 1881 were thus indicated by the assessors: Acres, 3,490; valu- ation of real estate, $867,925; personal property, $130,- 550; debt, $16,650; polls, 515; State school tax, $2,500; just below where the Presbyterian church stands, and county tax, $2,333; bounty tax, $2,418.61; road tax, $1,- 500; poor tax, $150.
THE TOWN OF BOONTON.
This town includes within its corporate bounds con- siderable space on the west side of the river, which is in Hanover township; and the total present population of the town itself, including East and West Boonton, may be estimated at fully 2,500.
millinery shops, three boot and shoe stores, two bakeries, one news-room and stationery store, one harnes's manu- factory, one carriage manufactory, one machine shop, four blacksmith shops, three butcher shops, one lumber yard and three coal yards. With a greater diversity of industry, the starting again of a portion of the great iron works, and some reason to believe that the whole will soon be in motion again, this town certainly has a brighter future.
TURNPIKE AND CANAL CONSTRUCTION.
The construction of the Morris Canal had an intimate connection with the start and growth of this place. Prior to 1829 the neighborhood was a quiet spot. with the grass growing in the middle of the roads. The hill where the town stands was then mostly a rocky wil- derness with the exception of one small cleared field
another near the corner of Church and Main streets, on which there stood a log house occupied by a family of the name of Fredericks. This spot is marked by some pear trees (probably nearly a hundred years old) still standing near the residence of Jacob Holmes.
There was an old road passing through to Rockaway Valley, a rough path and but little used, leading over the hill a little east of the log house of Fredericks and a few rods west of where the Presbyterian church stands; pass- ing on near to and between small tracts which Charles Norway and Christopher Loweree had purchased and settled many years before; and thence, part of the way through a very dense forest called the Dark Woods, out to its junction with the valley road near the residence of Jacob Kanouse sen.
The town is situated on elevated tableland, about five hundred feet above tide water, at a break in the hills through which the Rockaway River flows over a perpen- dicular fall and a succession of rapids, making in half a mile a descent of about one hundred and fifty feet. The river here forms the dividing line between the townships of Boonton and Hanover. The corporate limits of the In 1823 William Scott, who had just prior to that town embrace considerable territory on the western or bought what is known as the Old Boonton tract, at con- siderable expense had a new road opened and graded leading through that tract on the east side of the river, and near to the falls, toward his grist-mill and forge at Powerville; being no doubt prompted by a desire to bring into notice the fine water power presented by the fall in the river at this place.
Hanover side, but the greater part of the town is on the east- ern side of the river. Its elevated position gives a com- manding view over a region of country from twelve to twenty miles in extent, looking southerly, easterly and westerly. Its pure air, good waters, fine scenery, pleas- ant drives, good roads, and healthful climate render it to many a desirable place of residence. It is ten miles At this time the construction of the Erie Canal in the State of New York, which was approaching completion, was awaking great public interest, and thoughtful minds were considering the possibility of constructing a canal connecting Easton, on the Delaware, with tide water at Jersey City, with a view to developing the iron interests of the northern section of this state, and providing a cheap way of transporting anthracite coal, a new kind of fuel, then beginning to be brought into use. Because of the immense cost, and the great elevations to be over- come, the practicability and financial success of a work of that kind were seriously doubted. Prominent among those in Morris county who took an active interest in this project were George P. McCulloch, of Morristown, and Colonel John Scott, of Powerville, a brother of William Scott. A charter for a company to build the canal was obtained December 31st 1824, and the work northeast of Morristown, sixteen miles west of Paterson and nineteen miles northwest of Newark, with all of which places it is connected by rail, and with Newark by a good wagon road which for more than half the distance has a Telford pavement. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad passes through here to Hoboken, to which place the distance is 29 miles, and the time by express trains one hour. There are six trains daily go- ing east and six west, all stopping at this place. The ex- press trains between New York and Binghamton and Os- wego go by this route. Notwithstanding the depression following the stoppage of the iron works in 1876, and the loss in the next four years of nearly 800 in population, Boonton is a place of considerable business enterprise. It has seven stores keeping a general stock of merchan- dise; one hardware store, four groceries, two drug, three clothing, three fancy goods and two jewelry stores, three of construction was commenced in July 1825. It was so
179
THE CANAL IN BOONTON-IRON WORKS.
far completed in 1830 that the canal may be said to have been opened to Newark in that year, and fully for navigation to that point in 1831, and to Jersey City in 1836. This is the first and probably the only canal where inclined planes have been adopted as a means of transferring boats over great elevations from one level into another. At first the machinery of these planes worked rather imperfectly, at times causing some delay. The ponderous iron chains attached to the cars occa- sionally broke. Such an accident occurred at the inclined plane at Boonton shortly after the opening of the canal for navigation. A boat called the "Electa," of Rockaway, owned by Colonel Joseph Jackson and partly loaded with merchant iron, was on its way to Newark, having on board the captain, his wife and two children. Just as the boat passed the summit the chain broke, and the car with the boat ran down with great velocity, striking the water with such force as to throw an immense wave over the towing path, which carried the boat with it down an embankment from fifteen to twenty feet in height and landed it on the rocks below, amid some trees standing there, but fortunately without striking any. People hastened to the boat to ascertain the fate of those on board. On opening the cabin door the wife, with her two children, was found sitting there rather composedly, and uninjured. When told what had happened she seemed sur- prised, and said she " thought the boat went down very swift, but supposed that was the way the thing worked." This heavy chain was long since discarded and a steel wire rope substituted, which has proved far safer and in every way more satisfactory. Since the enlargement of the locks sectional boats have been in use, which can be passed over the summit of planes with less strain upon the machinery, and the tonnage has been increased from eighteen in the beginning to about eighty at present. This canal passes through Boonton, Montville and Pe- quannock townships, and from where it enters at Power- ville to where it leaves near Mead's Basin, a distance of about nine miles, the descent is three hundred and fifty feet, by means of four locks and four inclined planes.
THE IRON WORKS.
the use of the whole head of water at this point, immediately available through a race-way and from a dam built entirely at the cost of the canal company. He had it in his power to use not only the natural flow of the river, but also the feed passing through the canal, be- ing bound only to return it into the level below the plane.
This was a master stroke of policy on the part of Scott; it no doubt aided him very much in disposing of this water power, and added largely to the value of the two hundred acres of land, for which he received $5,000.
A short time before the completion and opening of the canal to Newark some capitalists from New York had ex- amined this location, and in view of the water power available, and the facilities for transportation by canal, concluded to purchase, and erect extensive iron works. David W. Wetmore, of the firm of Green & Wetmore, deal- ers in iron and hardware in New York, made the first purchases of land, two hundred acres from William Scott and several smaller tracts from Daniel T. Peer, among which was one of about ten and a half acres, lying between the river and the inclined plane on the canal, and bounded by the river on the west, and the canal on the east. On this tract the rolling-mills, puddling furnaces and foundry stand. The two hundred acres bought of Scott com- menced on the river above the ten and a half acres pur- chased of Peer, and extended eastward, including the greater part of the ground where the northern part of the town stands. These several tracts of land purchased by David W. Wetmore in his own name were on the 30th of November 1830 conveyed by him to the New Jersey Iron Company, a stock company organized for the pur- pose of building and operating these works.
The erection of the iron works was commenced in September 1829, and completed so that iron was first rolled in them in May 1831. The first machinery was imported from England and arrived June 10th 1830. The first workmen, puddlers and rollers came from Eng- land in' June 1830, and others in the latter part of the same year. As a preliminary step houses had to be built for the employes, and a number of buildings were erected under the hill and opposite where the Boonton Iron Company's office stands. One of these was used as a store to furnish supplies. One of the first dwellings erected was quite a large building to be used as a board- ing-house, which, old and dilapidated, is still standing on tho east side of Main street, just above the falls. The erection of other buildings, on what are now Main and Church streets, followed soon. This was the start of Boonton, and it is not probable that town would have existed to-day if the project of the Morris Canal had not been pushed to a successful completion. The grounds where the factories and furnaces stand, in the beginning naturally rough and uninviting, would probably never have been selected for the location of a great manufactur- ing industry in the absence of adequate means for heavy and cheap transportation.
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