USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 54
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In 1859 and 1860 the church edifice of this congrega- tion was much improved by a general alteration in its internal arrangements, and in 1876 a handsome parson- age was built near it, on a piece of land donated for that purpose by Colonel I. Condit Smith, of Troy. In 1863 the stone walls in the rear and the iron fence along the front of the graveyard were erected. The stone posts were from Yost's quarry at Bloomfield and
were put in position by Christian Stanford. In 1870 the the control of a committee appointed by the conference.
fence of cedar posts and iron rails along the old road was put up by Simms & De Hart, of Boonton, and the elm and maple trees were planted by R. D. Mattoon.
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The Presbyterian church at Whippany was organized May Ist 1833, and immediately erected the present house of worship, much resembling the one at Hanover. Sev- eral ministers of marked ability have successively occu- pied the pulpit. The present incumbent, Rev. Mr. Bard- well, has been in the pastorate about ten years, and has by his earnestness and Christian simplicity won the affections of all his parishioners.
The society of this denomination at Morris Plains, whose chapel is just finished, is of too recent origin to have a history.
METHODIST INSTITUTIONS.
The Methodist society at Whippany was organized a little before the year 1825, at which date the present chapel was built. The ministrations at this place are conducted by students from Drew Seminary, at Madison.
The church of this denomination at Parsippany was built in 1830. Regular appointments to this post are made by the bishop presiding over the Newark Confer- ence, the Rev. John Faul being the present pastor.
The most noted place of Methodist worship in this township, and perhaps the most noted in the State, is Camp Tabor, near Denville. The camp meeting asso- ciation of the Newark Conference was chartered March 17th 1869, and on the 26th of the same month purchased some thirty acres of land near Denville. In April of the same year the work of laying out the ground was com- menced, and the first camp meeting was held in August. In 1872 a still further purchase of 100 acres was made, and the whole tract, comprising 130 acres, has been laid out in large lots with reference to the purposes for which it was bought. Upon these lots, sold to different persons, about 150 cottages have been built, varying in expensiveness from $300 to $2.500. These are generally occupied from about the Ist of June to about the Ist of September. The place is supplied by pure water pumped
from a neighboring spring into a reservoir located upon an eminence. Elegant saloons and airy tents are placed at intervals, where edibles of the choicest preparation can be procured, and bazaars stocked with fancy goods may be found when occasion requires. The tabernacle, from whose portico the sermons are delivered, is a tastefully planned and richly painted structure, which, together with the light and tent-like buildings for prayer meetings, gives an almost oriental aspect to the place. During camp meeting seasons good sermons may here be heard daily, and bursts of song, with well executed cornet and organ accompaniments, reverberating through the leafy arches, lift the soul of the listener into the regions of highest religious feeling. The grounds are under the control of twelve trustees elected for a term of three years; the terms of four trustees expire annually, and their places are filled by yearly elections by lot owners. Camp meet- ings are held yearly in August, and the services are under
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
Tne Roman Catholic chapel at Whippany, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was erected only a few years since. It is of a neat gothic design, with rose windows and bel- fry. The servies are conducted by the resident priest at Madison.
MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS.
At Irish Lot, the residence of Mahlon Hubbard, for- merly the seat of Captain Michael Kearney, lying among a heap of stones which once formed a well-laid wall in- closing a small spot of ground, is a broad, horizontal slab, bearing the following inscription:
"Sacred to the memory of Captain Michael Kearney, of his Britannic Majesty's Navy. He departed this life at the Irish Lott, the seat of his residence in Hanover, on the 5th day of April A. D. 1797, aged 71 years, 6 months and 28 days. In the naval service he was a brave and intrepid officer, which secured to him several marks of distinguished respect and confidence. In private life he exhibited the virtues of benevolence, hospitality and gen- teel urbanity."
In the old graveyard at Parsippany, engraved on verti- cal slabs of brown stone, are the following epitaphs:
" Here lies the body of Margaret, wife of Daniel Bauld- win and only child of John and Anna Wilson, who, to the inexpressible grief of her husband and all that knew her, bid adieu to this world November 20th 1772, being married 10 days; aged 19 years."
" You readers of this tomb, You soon may hither come ; Tho' now in health and free from pain Yet soon with me you may be lain."
"Here lies the body of Noahdiah Thomas, who died Aprl ye 4th 1777, aged 21 ye'rs & 10 months."
" Here lies a young man who in his prime Ran bold adventures for liberty and pace. But now he is gone, and left his fraynds behind To mourn for him & for their follies past. Not many years before this date I then rejoysed in youthful state, But now alone 'tis here I lie. My friends, prepare, for you must die."
R. J. W. Fraicheco
227
THE SCHOOLS OF HANOVER TOWNSHIP.
" Delicia ehu fugaces ! Conjugis amabilis et amata, prudentia eximia, officiisque omnibus filia, uxoris ma- trisque praestantis, morte subita et inopinata abrepta, valde defletæ. Filii parvuli, precari, multo meritoque delecti, docilis, alacris, solertis, spei eximia, æquo subito derepti amore conjugis parentisq. superstitis memoria con- secratum."
" Maria Caroline, wife of Walter Kirkpatrick, Esq., born Oct. 12th 1798, died Oct. 6th 1826. Eugene Walter Kirkpatrick, born May 2d 1825, died July 23d 1828."
It is not often that the home affections are expressed in inscriptions of so classical a character, and a brief history of this case may not be out of place. Walter Kirkpatrick was a native of Somerset county, a graduate of Princeton, a lawyer by profession and a surveyor, in the practice of which last calling he became acquainted with the late Colonel Lemuel Cobb, of Parsippany, a frequent visitor at the colonel's abode, and the success- ful suitor for the hand of Maria Caroline, his young, lovely and accomplished daughter. Among other suit- ors for the fair hand of the maiden was the celebrated Sylvester Graham, who, being something of a poet, chronicled his disappointment in this matter in an allegorical burst of rhyme which was printed, and for- merly quite largely read in the vicinity. After a brief married life the lady died, and the grief-stricken hus- band indited the above inscription for her memorial, which, however, was not erected until within the last few years, and long after the death of both husband and wife.
In the burying ground at Hanover is the following:
" Here lies interred the body of Eleanor Troupe, who died October 26th 1769, in the 59th year ot her age."
This inscription becomes somewhat interesting in con- nection with the history of a relative's widow, the daughter of Dr. Darby of Parsippany. In the same graveyard may also be read the inscription to the mem- ory of David Young, which is given in connection with a biographical sketch of that notable man.
SCHOOLS.
The township under the public school laws of the! State is divided into districts, the names and school popu- lation of which are given in the annexed extract from the report of the State superintendent for the year 1880: Monroe, 77; Littleton, 89; Malapardis, 60; Whippany, III; Hanover, 58; Hanover Neck, 49; Troy, 87; Par- sippany, 76; North Parsippany, 34; Old Boonton, 41; Powerville, 97; total 779. Average number of months the schools have been kept open, 9.6. Value of school property in the township, $9,950.
tion which was the parent of the lodge in Morristown. The old altar, and rude engravings of the mystic em- blems emblazoned upon the walls, were objects of mixed curiosity and awe to the youngsters of fifty years ago. The building at Troy was erected in 1807, and thoroughly repaired about 1846. It is two stories in height, and has two assembly rooms, the lower one now used for the public school, and the upper one occupied by the select school of B. S. Condit. The building at Parsippany, which stands on a commanding eminence at the western extremity of the village, is of wood, two stories in height. It was built in 1871, upon the site previously occupied by the old brick academy, which was burned about the year 1859.
The destruction of this substantial edifice caused quite a commotion in the community. The mastership was at that time held by a man from Connecticut by the name of Pease, who afterward became a somewhat prominent post-bellum politician at the south, and was appointed to fill an unexpired term in the United States Senate. The fire was discovered about midnight, and upon the arrival of those first on the ground had made such progress that entry into the building was found to be impossible. The discovery in the morning that certain personal property of the teacher was lying secreted in a neighboring fence led to the suspicion that the building had been purposely fired by the master; a suspicion strengthened by the fact that a long standing contention existed as to the right to hold the premises as public school property. Upon Mr. Pease's appointment to the United States Senate the op- position papers seized upon the now almost forgotten im- putation, and it became a subject of extended newspaper comment throughout the land, and Mr. Pease was com- pelled to leave his lofty place at Washington, and apply to his obscure quondam employers for a vindication of his character. In this he succeeded so well as to secure a strong vindication from several who at the time of the burning showered denunciations upon his head. Whether this was the result of excessive powers of persuasion ac- quired in the exalted body of which he was a member, or of afterthought on the part of the vindicators, will perhaps never transpire; but it will be a subject of regret with the older citizens of the place that the old substan- tial structure has disappeared from the site it so long occupied.
The buildings of the other districts in the township are of comparatively recent date, and in general poorly lo- cated.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
Close upon the hill country in the western part of this township, on the part known as Morris Plains, is situated one of the noblest structures of the age, the Insane Asy- lum. The committee appointed by the State authorities, after thoroughly canvassing the matter, selected this locality as the best suited for the purpose in view. The loveliness of the surrounding landscape, the purity of the atmosphere, the mildness of the
Of the buildings in which these several schools are convened, those of Whippany, Parsippany and Troy occupy the sites which have been longest held for the purposes of education, and around each of them cling many associations of "auld lang syne." The building at Whippany is a long two-story frame structure, which has been enlarged by several additions. The upper story was formerly used as a masonic lodge, by the organiza- climate and excellence of the water furnished by the
31
228
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
numerous springs in the vicinity, irresistibly rec- ommended this point to their favorable consideration, and finally decided their choice. A full statement of the cost of the building and of the later management of this great charity may be found in the annual reports to the Legislature. It is a source of extreme gratification to the people of the township of Hanover that a portion of its territory should have been considered the best suited for so noble an object, and they derive great pleas- ure from the universal admiration bestowed upon the scenery in the midst of which it is placed.
The buildings erected for the county poor-house stand upon a farm purchased for the purpose near old Boonton, in the northern part of the township. The principal building, which surrounds a quadrangular court, has been from time to time enlarged until it has attained its pres- ent extent. The farm is extremely fertile, contains 240 acres, and is so managed as to bring in no small part of the supplies needed for the maintenance of the unfortun- ates who seek its favors. The establishment is under the supervision of a steward appointed by the board of chosen freeholders, to whom reports are annually made. The number of inmates is from 100 to 150.
THE FAIRCHILD FAMILY.
Dr. Stephen Fairchild, youngest son of Jonathan Fair- child and Sarah Howell, was born in Littleton, Morris township, N. J., October 28th 1792. At an early age he showed a decided thirst for knowledge, and after a com- mon school education prepared himself for the study of medicine. He studied with Drs. Ebenezer and Charles E. Pierson, of Morristown, and attended medical lectures Mrs. Ephemia M. Fairchild, daughter of George D. Brinckerhoff and Euphemia Ashfield, was born at Mount Hope, N. J., in September 1796. Her father, George D. Brinckerhoff, retiring from business, purchased a resi- dence in Parsippany, N. J., to which he moved his family in Philadelphia. He practiced medicine about a year in New York; then, upon urgent solicitation, he came to Parsippany in 1816, to succeed Dr. Hartwell, who had lately been removed by death. In 1818 he married Euphemia M .; daughter of George D. Brinckerhoff and in 1797. It had been a tavern in the Revolutionary times. Euphemia Ashfield.
Dr. Fairchild followed his profession with high appro- bation and success for_fifty-six years. His last sickness was one of intense suffering, but his faith never wavered. He died surrounded by his family, July 13th 1872, and was buried at Parsippany. Dr. Fairchild was not merely a skillful physician, but an earnest and devout Christian; educated, refined and a Christian.
bringing not only healing remedies but the consolation of the gospel to the chambers of the sick and dying. Very few physicians were ever more honored and loved than Dr. Stephen Fairchild.
Dr. Richard Van Wyck Fairchild, only son of Dr. Stephen Fairchild and Euphemia M. Brinckerhoff, was born February 22nd 1819. He was prepared for college at the classical school of Ezra Fairchild, at Mendham, N. J., entered the junior class at Princeton College, N. J., in 1837, and graduated in 1839. He studied med- icine with his father, and subsequently with Dr. McClel- lan, of Philadelphia, and Dr. Mott, of New York. Dr. Fairchild entered upon his practice with his father in 1843. He had unquestioned skill as a physician and surgeon. As a friend he was true and steadfast, and generous and kind to the poor. At Princeton he was the college wit, and through life his keen sense of the ludicrous, his abounding humor and powers of imitation and representation, together with his wide and varied in- formation, made him a most agreeable companion. He was a man of fine physique, a very able writer, of a poetic mind; nor was he deficient in music, having a well cul- tivated voice and ear.
In November 1852 Dr. Fairchild married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Howell, of Troy, N. J., who lived but a few years. June 13th 1866 he married Ruth E., daughter of James H. Tichenor and Lydia T. Nuttmann, of Newark, N. J. He died suddenly February 24th 1874, and was buried with his maternal grandparents and his father in the burial ground at Parsippany, N. J. Dr. Fairchild survived his father scarcely two years; they were loving in their lives and in death not long divided.
The old homestead, the birthplace of Dr. Richard V. W. Fairchild, was burned in November 1874, but another house was built in the spring of 1875 by Mrs. R. V. W. Fairchild, on the old site, where Mrs. Euphemia Fairchild is passing her remaining days.
Mrs. Fairchild is a lady of the old school, amiable,
Stephen Fourchild
Е. М. Капсула
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.
BY REV. B. C. MEGIE, D. D.
HIS township is situated in the northwestern corner of Morris county and contains 25,000 acres. It is bounded on the northwest by Sussex county and Lake Hopatcong, on the northeast by Passaic county, on the south- east by Rockaway, and on the southwest by Rox- bury township. In shape it is nearly a parallelo- gram, about twelve miles long and of an average width of four miles.
The census returns of population for this township from the first have been as follows: 1810, 1,281; 1820, 1,231; 1830, 1,551; 1840, 1,410; 1850, 1,358; 1860, 1,471; 1870, 1,430; 1875, 1,740; 1880, 1,792.
The statistics of valuation, taxes, etc., for 188r were as follows: Acres, 24,647; valuation of real estate, $475,175; personal property, $152,525; total taxable property, $596,- 100; debt, $31,600; polls, 406; State school tax, $1,517.43; county tax, $1,416.56; road tax, $1,200.
The surface of the township is broken and rugged, and the scenery is, in many places, wild and almost grand; in all beautiful and picturesque. The Rockaway River runs through almost the whole length of the town- ship between two ranges of hills, whose height varies of the old lake." from 400 to 600 feet above the river bed. The valley thus formed, which is very narrow, rarely exceeding a mile in width, contains most of the arable land in the territory.
The evidence of the action of a large body of water or ice upon the sides of this mountain is evident to an ordi- nary observer, in the rounded appearance of detached stones of all sizes that abound along the entire course of the river, as well as in the gap or break in the mountains in the neighborhood of Berkshire Valley, which has the appearance of having been torn out by the force of a vast flood. To a practiced geologist, however, there are many proofs to this end entirely convincing. The fol- lowing account is condensed from the State geological report :
valley. The flat bordering the river is from twenty to sixty feet lower than the general level of the drift hills and benches. The gravelly terrace formation is half a mile wide on the line of the Sparta turnpike, and the same width is continued southward. Cuttings in the Long- wood road and also at Berkshire Valley disclose strata of land gravel, cobble stones and a few small boulders. The thickness as shown by a well at F. W. Fichter's place is at least sixty feet. "The uniform height of the terrace formation in this long and narrow valley, rising but forty feet from the terminal moraine at Berkshire to the watershed northeast of Milton, a distance of eleven miles, and then descending thirty feet in four miles to Newfoundland, leads us to infer the existence of a long and comparatively shallow lake, which formed the term- inal moraine, and which was connected with the waters of West Milford and Greenwood Lake basin. The out- let was at first at the southwest, by the Rockaway and through the terminal moraine. The retreat of the glacier northward opened the Pequannock and permitted a part of the waters to escape eastward. The small pond holes and the Little Mooseback Lake are the undrained parts
EARLY SETTLERS.
Ths earliest settler of whom we can obtain any infor- mation was Humphrey Davenport, or Debenport, as the name was then written, who came from Devonshire, England, and purchased land at Newfoundland. His arrival was probably about the year 1720. His son was also named Humphrey, and he and his son Captain Cor- nelius Davenport lived on the homestead at Newfound- land. The place still remains in the possession of the family. Captain Cornelius Davenport married Rachel Davenport, a member of another family of the same name. Their children were Captain Enos Davenport, who enlisted in the war of 1812, John C., Nathan, Charles, Cornelius, Phoebe, Julia Anne, Jane, Fanny and Mahala. Enos Davenport married Fanny Keepers, who was a near relative of the famous Captain John Paul Jones, and their family was large; but only two of them now reside in Jef-
Throughout the greater part of the valley is a glacial drift of considerable depth. At Milton wells sunk to the depth of forty feet do not go through it. Between Petersburg and Russia the drift partly covers the slate ferson township, namely: Charles, who married Affie strata except on low, long outcrops which range with the Spencer, and Jane, who married William Winterbottom.
230
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
John C. Davenport married Delilah Turner, and their two daughters-Mary Ann, who married Mahlon Jen- nings, and Lavinia, who married Thomas K. Norman- both reside in the township.
We have no definite information of any other settle- ments after the Davenports until the time of the Revolu- tion. The tradition is that seven or eight hunters and trappers came to the township between 1775 and 1778 and established themselves there. Whether these tra- ditionary forefathers came together, or at intervals, does not now seem to be very well known. Slack was the name of one, and he owned a farm near Little or Bleach- ley's Pond, now a portion of Lake Hopatcong. It is stated that William Headley was also one of these early settlers, and that he lived on the land where Joseph Headley now resides. He came from the Wyoming Val- ley, in Pennsylvania, where he was living just previous to the massacre of the whites by the Indians. He was warned by a friendly Indian of the impending disaster, and had just time to escape with his family before the blow descended. He at first settled in the mountains imme- diately north of the township, but ultimately removed to the spot which we have mentioned.
The arrival of the Normans was also about this time. Peter Norman was a Hessian, and at the close of the war settled on the mountains behind Milton and Sparta, perhaps in Sussex county.
It was not far from this time that Captain Cornelius Davenport built his stone house at Milton, which is one of the oldest houses in the township.
It was a custom for these early settlers to meet once a year at the house of one or another of them, to compare notes and relate their adventures. At one time they as- sembled at Slack's house, when the latter is stated to have declared that he was accustomed to eat a piece of the meat of every animal that he shot. Not long before he had killed an otter. He selected the choicest look- ing piece of the meat and had his wife cook it with care, and then proceeded to eat. "There ain't no kind of meat that I can't eat," Mr. Slack concluded, to the amusement of his friends; "but otter meat is just about a leetle the darndest meat I ever put into my mouth."
Philemon Dickerson, the brother of Gov. Mahlon Dick- erson, of Mine Hill, was a frequent visitor at these social gatherings and was said to be one of the most successful in the athletic games practiced on such occasions. One exercise was to put the toe through the ring of the old fashioned 56-pound weight and throw it to as great a dis- tance as possible with the foot. Mr. Dickerson could cast it farther than any of the others.
On one occasion there was some writing to be done, and Mr. Dickerson called for a pen and ink, which were live in the State at the present time.
promptly furnished him. After trying the pen he de- clared it to be the worst one that he had ever seen. "I shouldn't wonder if it was," retorted his host, Captain Davenport, " for it's the same one you left here last year."
Among other of the early settlers were the Dows, Stanburroughs, Hulmes, Coopers, Chamberlains and Sewards.
The Hurd family originally came from Randolph township, near Dover. Two brothers, Joseph and Daniel Hurd, moved to Hurdtown about the year 1800. Joseph married Miss Long, and their children were David B., James L., Uel, and Mary, who married Charles F. Ran- dolph. David B. married Eliza Condit, of Morristown. Their children were Mary, Edward C., Lewis and Phoebe A. Other children were born to them, but they died young. Mary Hurd married Dr. William B. Lefevre, and their surviving children are Eliza C. (married to Harlan W. Cortright, at Nolan's Point) and William J. Lefevre, an artist of distinction now resident at Dover. Edward C. Hurd married Rebecah Wright, and now resides at Dover. Lewis Hurd resides at Hurdtown, in the house formerly occupied by David B. Hurd. Phoebe A. married William A. Wood (since deceased), and resides at Dover.
William Wood, the first of that name in the township, moved to Hurdtown about 1804 or 1805. He married Susannah Berry. Their children were: Freeman, who married Mary B. Jackson, and is now a judge of the court of common pleas for Morris county and resides at Dover; Maria Wood, who married John M. Losey, and Willaim A. Wood, who married Caroline, daughter of James L. Hurd, and after her decease Phoebe A., daugh- ter of David B. Hurd. His daughter by his first wife married Mr. McPherson, a brother of Senator McPherson, and is now resident in Chicago.
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