USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 69
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289
PEQUANNOCK IN THE CIVIL WAR-THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
township from Pequannock in 1844 there was yet a con- siderable amount of the surplus remaing, for the records show that in May of that year $1, 157.91 of it was paid to Rockaway as its proportionate share
PATRIOTISM IN THE CIVIL WAR.
In the early part of 1861, when the southern States were organizing for open rebellion, had declared their purpose of setting up another government, and were pre- paring to fire on Fort Sumter, the people of Pequannock were not slow to manifest their loyalty to the republic and the unity of the nation. On every prominent corner and at every hamlet poles were erected and the national banner, that emblem of unity and liberty, was floated to the breeze. When President Lincoln after the fall of Fort Sumter issued his proclamation on the 15th of April 186r for 75,000 troops to defend the national capital, the quota of Pequannock was promptly filled by volun- teers. Proof of the great alacrity with which the people of New Jersey responded to this call for troops is found in the fact that Govenor Olden's proclamation was issued on April 17th and the state's quota of four regiments, was filled and reported ready within thirteen days ; and this was before bounties was offered for enlistment. In- deed, so great was the desire to enlist at the first call, and immediately after the filling of the first quota, that that many enlisted in regiments in New York and Penn- sylvania. At each subsequent call for troops Pequan- nock township was prompt to respond in volunteers, and consequently was not subjected to a draft.
When the war was ended and volunteers were return- ing to their homes the people of Pequannock were not unmindful of their honored dead. About the first of June 1865 a meeting was called at Washington Hall in Boonton to consider what action should be taken in order to erect a suitable monument to the memory of those from Pequannock who volunteered and perished in the war. It was decided to have a grand and suita ble celebration of the Fourth of July and to devote the proceeds toward a monument, and to that end a com- mittee was appointed to canvass the township and ascer- tain the public mind. Everywhere throughout the town- ship that committee met with a favorable reception and found an earnest willingness on the part of the people to aid in the success of the object. The committee re- ported at an adjourned meeting, and immediate action was taken to fully organize, to effect the necessary ar- rangements. It was decided to add to the interest of the occasion by the representation of a sham battle, and for that purpose to secure the aid of the returned soldiers, and for their use to procure from the State arsenal six pieces of artillery. The day was propitious, and at an early hour a large concourse of people, estimated at 5,000 or more, had assembled to witness the proceedings and participate in the enjoyments of the day. The exer- cises opened with the battle scene, representing the bom- bardment, the storming and capture of the rebel fort, which was executed entirely by the soldiers who had just returned from the real battle field, and so successfully in all its parts that it proved very pleasing and instructive to the multitude of spectators. Immediately after this the people assembled in a grove near by and listened at- tentively to an able and eloquent address by Major Z. K. Pangborn, of Jersey City. The day was pleasant throughout, the multitude orderly and pleased, and the celebration was eminently a success. The result finan- cially amounted to over $2,500, from which deducting and starvation.
expenses-a little over $1,200-there remained a balance of $1,300 to be devoted to the erection of the soldiers' monument. This was at once invested in township and government bonds at six per cent., and the interest to- gether with other additional sums kept invested until 1876, when it was found that enough liad accumulated for the purpose, and a contract was made for the erec- tion of the monument. A site was selected for it at an elevated point on the west side of Main street in the town of Boonton; the work was completed and the mon- ument in position in time to be unvailed and dedicated with suitable exercises on the 4th day of July 1876.
The monument was designed and built by H. H. Davis, of Morristown, at a total cost, including foundation and inclosure, of $3,600. It is of Quincy granite and stands thirty-three feel high above the foundation. On the base, which is seven feet ten inches square, is the date of its erection, and above on the face of the die the fol- lowing inscription: "Erected by the people of Old Pe- quannock in grateful remembrance of their fellow citizens who volunteered in defense of the Union in the war of 1861-1865."
During the late war Pequannock township furnished 888 men for the Union army, of whom 547 were volun- teers and 341 substitutes. At first no bounties were paid, but toward the last bounties ranging from $300 to $600 were paid for recruits, which in this township made a large debt, amounting to $120,950, for which the town- ship by act of the Legislature was authorized to issue coupon bonds. These bonds with the interest have been promptly paid as they became due. There now (1881) remains a balance of $19,950 of the principal unpaid, and the last bonds will become due in 1884. The act of 1867 dividing old Pequannock into three townships provided that the bounty debt should be under the control of a joint committee of those townships, and the necessary tax to meet the bonds and interest as they became due should be apportioned each year among the three.
We are unable to find any record of the number of those from Pequannock who enlisted and were killed in battle or died from wounds received or disability incurred in the service, but it is estimated that the number of such was equal to 6 per cent. of the number furnished, and that fully 6 per cent. more returned to their homes in a greater or less degree disabled. It is well known that after the war ended there were vacant chairs in. many family circles, and numerous widows and children were thrown upon the government as pensioners. There were some families in which all the able bodied male members of suitable age enlisted in the service. The accounts of extreme suffering to which some taken prisoners by the rebels were subjected would seem almost beyond belief were it not that they had been fully corroborated by credible living witnesses. Charles F. Hopkins, now a prominent citizen of Boonton, enlisted early in the war, was wounded, taken prisoner and confined in the notor- ious Andersonville prison, from which after a term of great suffering he was released, reduced to a mere skel- eton. Under careful treatment in a hospital, by reason of the remaining vitality of a naturally strong constitu- tion he recuperated, and lives to tell of the horrid scenes of suffering he witnessed, where hundreds were crowded in that stockade amidst the greatest filth, obliged to sleep in the open air without covering, or for protection to burrow like beasts in the ground, and where some of his fellow townsmen suffered a lingering death from sickness
RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP.
BY REV. B. C. MEGIE, D. D.
ANDOLPH is the most central township of Morris county and the largest in population, and excels the other townships in prospective prosperity. The Morris Canal and the Del- aware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad pass through it; also the High Bridge branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The D., L. and W. connects with the Chester Railroad, as it does also with sev- eral smaller railways which tap the iron mines in the vi- cinity. Dover, an incorporated borough in the township, where these railroads center, is situated about midway between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, being forty- two miles from New York and forty miles from Easton.
Randolph township was formed from Mendham town- ship, in 1805, and so named after Hartshorn Fitz-Ran- dolph, one of its most eminent residents. Morris county was formed in 1739. Sixty years later, in 1798, Mend- ham township was set off, and seven years after that, viz. in 1805, Randolph was formed from Mendham. The late Richard Brotherton, who while living was the best authority for the early history of the township, often amused himself and astounded his hearers by announcing the paradox that in the same room in his father's house three persons were born, who were all born in different counties and different townships. The first was born in Burlington county and Whippanong township; the second in Hunterdon county and Mendham township, and the third in Morris county and Randolph township.
Situated in the northern highlands of the State, the country is uneven and hilly, which is favorable to health and affords landscapes beautiful and picturesque. The soil, if not the most fertile, yet possesses those essential elements which under wise cultivation will render it abundantly productive; but the mineral resources beneath the soil have attracted and will continue to attract more attention and yield a more liberal remuneration to the workman than the soil itself. Iron ores of the richest quality are found in great abundance.
THE INDIANS.
The aborigines, numerous in other parts of the State, do not seem to have been so much so in this town- ship. Still, evidences of their existence remain, not only in the names of the streams, mountains and lakes, but also in the arrow heads, stone axes and spears, and other rude implements still found in certain localities. Near the residence of Mrs. Jacob Hurd, just above the canal where it crosses the stream called Granny's Brook (which passes under the canal acqueduct and unites with the Rockaway River), tradition says, are traces of an old Indian village. Smith in his Colonial History of New Jersey says that within every ten miles square was to be found in 1760 a distinct tribe of Indians, named after the river or mountain of the neighborhood. We in our day within every five miles square give a different name, not to the people but to the place in which they dwell. The red men gave a name not to the place but to the persons who lived there; and these numerous tribes were not dis- tinct classes of people, but parts of one greater tribe or nation. All the Indians of New Jersey belonged to one nation, whom the English called Delawares, but the Delawares called themselves Lenni Lenapes, which means original people. They claimed not only to be aborigines, but the origin of the aboriginal tribes of this country.
While each petty tribe in the State had a chief of its own, it yet acknowledged a chief of the nation, to whom all the rest were inferior and in subjection. About the middle of the preceding century the proud and popular chief of the Lenni Lenapes was named Teedyuscung. He was so much esteemed by his nation that after he be- came sagamore he was crowned king of the Delawares. Teedyuscung often kindled his council fire within this county, on Schooley's Mountain, and there held import- ant consultations with his tribes. From the place of his council fire near Drakestown the people of that neighbor- hood still point out an Indian path, which led through the hunting grounds of the highlands to the fishing places on the Delaware River. Teedyuscung was a Christian, a convert of the Moravians, who had several mission stations among his people, and after his conversion a
The assessors' figures for 1881 were as follows: Valu- ation of real estate, $1,254,550; personal property, $293,- 900; debt, $28,100; polls, 1,608; State school tax, $3,879 .- 21; county tax, $3,612.92; road tax, $5,000; poor tax, warm friend and patron of the renowned Presbyterian $300.
missionary David Brainerd. This chief and king ren-
291
PIONEERS OF RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP.
dered valuable services to the English during the French and Indian war.
The Minisinks were the most savage and warlike of all the tribes belonging to the Delawares in this State. They were the Indians of Morris county, and extended from the borders of Hunterdon county to Carpenter's Point and beyond. The Minisinks were divided into smaller tribes, which called themselves by different names in dif- ferent localities, as Whippenongs, Parsippinongs, Pe- quannocks, Hopatcongs, Pequots, Pohatcongs, Lopat- congs and the like.
EARLY PURCHASERS AND SETTLERS.
In 1713, the same year in which Hunterdon county was set off from Burlington, John Reading, a public sur- veyor and a prominent character in New Jersey, at one time president of the "Council," and acting governor of the State, made a survey of land in this township and portions were offered for sale. The first purchaser was John Latham, who bought of the proprietors 527 acres. Thus early, even twenty-five years before Morris county was organized, efforts were made to attract settlers to the northern part of the State, and speculators were in the field. It does not appear that Mr. Latham himself occu- pied any of his 527 acres, but in 1722 he sold this property to John Jackson, who was the first actual settler. It was the magnetic iron ore of this region that attracted Mr. Jackson. He erected a dwelling where Mrs. Jacob Hurd now lives, on the site of the old Indian village; and on the stream immediately in front built a forge, and com- menced the iron business. The ore which was made into iron in this forge was brought from the famous Succa- sunna or Dickerson mine at Ferromonte, about two miles northwest of the forge. Moses Hurd, the ancestor of the Hurds of this township and vicinity, soon after came from Dover, New Hampshire, and worked in this forge. Dover, N. J., was originally called Old Tye; when and how it obtained the name of Dover is uncertain, but in all probability Moses Hurd may have named it after his former place of residence in New Hampshire.
In 1722, when the first settler moved into Randolph, not equal to those of the present time; for the Philadel- phia paper of that year says, "The mail from New York to Philadelphia is three days behind time, and is not yet arrived." Other persons found their way to Jackson's forge and found employment there, and the first settle- ment grew slowly.
The second purchase of land in the township, which brought settlers into another part, was made by Joseph Kirkbride. His first purchase was made of the proprie- tors in 1713, the same year in which John Latham bought his 527 acres. In two several purchases, in the south and middle parts of the township, he bought property amounting to 5,779 acres; and in 1716 he bought 558 additional acres, which included the Dickerson mine, then called the Succasunna mine, making in all 6,337 acres-a little more than one third of the township.
Joseph Kirkbride died and left his property to his
three sons, Joseph, John and Mahlon; it was equally di- vided between them, except the Succasunna mine, which was held by them jointly till it was sold, first to Jonathan Dickerson, who purchased an interest in it; and after- ward Jonathan Dickerson and Minard Lefevre, in 1779, . purchased the whole. It does not appear that any of the Kirkbrides settled in Randolph township, but they in- duced other persons to move in and purchase of them. In the year 1732, about the time that Joseph Kirkbride died, Daniel Carrell purchased one hundred and fifty acres south of Centre Grove and a little to the northwest of the Presbyterian church; this descended to his son Daniel, from him to his grandson James, and from him to his great-grandson James, who still lives on it. Another great-grandson, John Carrell, lived on a farm just east of the old homestead, where he raised a good family and left a good name. A few years ago he sold this farm to a Mr. Eddy, from New York. John Carrell still lives in the neighborhood.
A family by the name of Youngs, consisting of Robert Youngs, Mitchell Youngs and John Youngs, settled on a farm west of the Carrell property, where Lawrence Dal- rymple now resides, but they have left no descendants in the township.
In 1767 Joseph Dalrymple purchased land where Sol- omon Dalrymple now lives. He had fourteen children, among whom was Solomon, who left nine children, in- cluding Daniel Dalrymple. The last named lived on the old homestead; his only surviving son is Solomon, who now occupies the original farm.
Daniel P. Merchant, who died in 1881, belonged to an old family, and was a leading townsman; several of his children dwell in the vicinity. Daniel Bryant, at Golden Corners, belongs also to one of the old and leading fam- ilies of the township. Thomas Coe and Henry Menard were old residents, who should be mentioned in this con- nection. Mr. Coe's descendants are still prominent in the township.
The winter after Daniel Carrell moved into the town- ship, viz. 1740, was called "the hard winter." There was a deep fall of snow, and the cold was extreme; and,
the facilities for travel in other parts of the State were in order to save his cattle from starving, for several suc- cessive weeks he brought hay on his back a distance of two miles and a half, walking, with the aid of snow-shoes, on the uneven crust. Some cattle perished; and a man who had dug his way to the barn under the snow and could not get back, and his wife, who was left alone in the house, were found dead after the snow melted in the spring.
In the summer of 1740 William Schooley, son of the noted pioneer William Schooley from whom Schooley's Mountain derived its name, moved from that mountain to this township, and purchased of Mr. Kirkbride 600 acres, which included what is now known as Mill Brook. His son Robert Schooley built a grist-mill at Mill Brook, which was the first mill in the township and the first mill started west of Morristown. His children were daughters, who lived and died in the township, after changing their name to Brotherton.
39
292
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
Henry Brotherton in 1744 purchased ot Kirkbride 400 acres, a little to the west of Mill Brook, and married the oldest daughter of William Schooley. James Brotherton, brother of Henry, married the second daughter of Wil- liam Schooley, and settled near his brother. The first Schooley, whose name was Thomas, came from England in the ship " Martha," which landed at Burlington in 1677. The next year Robert Schooley, brother of Thomas, came from England to Burlington, in the ship " The Shield." William, the son of Robert, made his way to the northern part of New Jersey, and in 1730 (?) bought a large tract of what is called Schooley's Moun- tain.
William Jeff Lefevre, son of the late Dr. William B. Lefevre, who now resides on Orchard street, Dover, is a young artist of some promise. Some of his larger paint- ings were on exhibition in the art gallery of Philadelphia in the summer of 1881 and were spoken well of. He ex- cels in rural landscape, and especially in cattle painting. Mr. Lefevre descends from some of the oldest families of this region, both on his father's and mother's side. He is a lineal descendant of Hippolyte Lefevre, who came to the province of New Jersey in 1675, in the ship " Griffith," which was the first ship to come to this colony with emigrants. At that date special efforts were made by the proprietors of West Jersey to colonize the province, and in this ship a number of persons came with money, in order to improve their financial condition. Hippolyte Lefevre landed at Salem and settled in the southern part of the State; but in 1750 his grandson, Minard Lefevre, was the owner of a farm in this township, and in 1779, with Jonathan Dickerson, joint owner of the famous Suc- casunna mine. His son, John Lefevre, married Eliza- beth, the granddaughter of J. Jeff. His son, William B. Lefevre, M. D., was a prominent man in this region, and died July 2nd 1881, in his 77th year. Dr. William B. Lefevre married Mary C., daughter of David B. Hurd. William Jeff Lefevre is of the fifth generation in descent from Hippolyte Lefevre. Of his descent from the Jeff family the line is as follows: J. Jeff was the owner of a line of vessels which sailed from England to this country. He settled at Elizabethtown about 1750. His daughter Mary Jeff married in 1779 Aaron Day of Elizabethtown, a lieutenant in a Jersey regiment during the war of the Revolution. Their daughter Elizabeth in 1801 married John Lefevre. The son of this couple, Dr. William Bonner Lefevre, in 1840 married Mary C. Hurd. Wil- liam Jeff Lefevre is the son of William B. Lefevre, M. D.
Edward Hurd, one of the owners of the Hurdtown mine, is descended from Moses Hurd, the foreman in John Jackson's forge in 1722. Joseph and Daniel Hurd, Jesse King lived in a house occupying the site of Dr. Condit's residence on Prospect street, Dover, and had a blacksmith shop near by. He was also foreman in the iron works. He and his wife lived and died there, each upward of 90 years old. Jesse died one day, and his. sons of Moses, bought in 1790 a large tract of land at what from them is called Hurdtown, but at that time was called " The Two Partners." They built a saw-mill, started a forge, and opened the Hurdtown mine, now perhaps the most valuable iron mine in the State. This wife the next, and both were buried at the same time .. property was sold at sheriff's sale, and bought by Ed- ward Condit, president of the State Bank of Morristown.
David B. Hurd, son of Joseph Hurd, was clerk in the State Bank, and married Eliza Condit, daughter of the president of the bank. Through this marriage the prop . erty came back to the Hurd family, in which it still re- mains. Edward Hurd is the son of David B. Hurd and the great-grandson of Moses Hurd.
In the year 1745 Joseph Shotwell purchased of the proprietors 90 acres on the south side of the Rockaway River, including the water power and water privileges, and comprising what is now the principal part of Dover.
In 1756 General William Winds purchased of Thomas and William Penn, the heirs of the great William Penn, 275 acres about one mile east of Dover. His house stood a little west of the present residence of Thomas Oram. This distinguished patriot, who took a prominent part in the Revolutionary war, lived and died on this farm.
In the year 1757 Josiah Beman purchased upward of a hundred acres on the north side of Dover. He erected a forge near where the rolling-mill stood, a few rods north of the stone M. E. church, and carried on the iron business for many years and until the war of 1812.
Most of these early settlers belonged to the Society of Friends. Even John Reading, who surveyed and. laid out the first piece of land in the township, was originally a Quaker; but; being sent to England for an education, he became partial to the Presbyterians, and afterward joined that denomination, and he and his descendants became prominent and efficient members of that church. In 1719 John Reading, together with Joseph Kirkbride and James Alexander, the surveyor-general of East Jer- sey, were commissioned by Governor Hunter to deter- mine the northern boundary of the State. Mr. Reading was always a strong friend of the Quakers, and he was the means of several of that denomination coming to this township.
Banjamin Lampson bought of the proprietors a farm about a mile south of Dover, on the road from Rockaway to Mill Brook. This farm is occupied at the present time by. his grandson Charles Lampson.
Ezekiel Munson worked for several years in the old forge of John Jackson, and afterward purchased a farm near Benjamin Lampson's, which is now occupied by his grandson Mahlon Munson. Other grandchildren- Charles, Robert, Emeline, Rhoda and others-are still residents of Dover or its vicinity.
Titus Berry, the father of Asa and Henry Berry, came from Pennsylvania during the whiskey rebellion in that State, and purchased land in the northeastern part of the township. Many of his descendants still live in the township.
His daughter Margaret King married Jeremiah Baker, the father of Henry and William Baker. John D. King
RES. OF EDWARD C. HURD. DOVER, MORRIS CO., N. J.
RES, OF H. Mº FARLAN. DOVER , MORRIS CO., N. J.
293
EARLY SETTLERS IN RANDOLPH-ASSESSMENTS IN 1769.
and William King and their children are descendants of Jesse King.
Moses Doty, in the year 1800, moved to Dover and built a house in the park, near the residence of Henry McFarlan. When the park was enclosed about thirty years ago his house was torn down and part of it put up on Elliott street. His son, Aaron Doty, had sixteen children who lived to grow up to manhood, and some of their descendants are still found in the neighborhood of the old homestead.
Jeremiah Baker moved from Westfield, in this State, in 1810, and brought all he had in his knapsack, with money enough to buy a yoke of oxen. By industry and economy he become the largest landholder in the neigh- borhood. He married Margaret, daughter of Jesse King. He left three sons and as many daughters. He is a good illustration of what honest labor with prudence may accomplish.
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