USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 74
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309
CHURCHES OF PORT ORAM AND MINE HILL.
of erecting a new church. By fairs, picnics and con- tributions he collected a sum large enough to commence building. The plan of the new church was drawn by Jeremiah O'Rourke, of Newark. Work was commenced in November 1871. The corner stone was laid in June 1872, and the church was dedicated November Ist 1873. The building is made of stone found in the vicinity. It is 127 feet in length, 42 feet in breadth, 32 feet from floor to ceiling, 18 feet from water table to wall plate, and the steeple when finished will be 112 feet in height; cost of the whole about $50,000. Father McCarthy also procured grounds for a new cemetery, which was ded- icated in 1875. In 1876 Father McCarthy was called to the church of St. Pius in East Newark. His name will long be cherished in the memories of the members of St. Mary's Church.
The Rev. James Hanly succeeded Father McCarthy, and he is the present pastor. In the year 1880 he col- lected over $8,000, and paid off the floating debt. He also collected $3,500 which was paid on the standing debt. He is esteemed and praised for his consistent piety and for his judicious management of the financial interests of the parish.
Religious Interests of Port Oram .- The first place in which public worship was held was the room connected with the weigh scales of the Thomas Iron Works. The Rev. John R. Jenkins, a member of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange, and a boss miner called " the Welsh preacher," conducted the services, which were half the time, at least, in the Welsh language-the Welsh families of Mine Hill and the Richards mine meeting at this cen- tral spot. In 1859 this Welsh organization became con- nected with the Presbyterian church of Dover; but in 1870 the members withdrew and organized the Welsh Presbyterian Church of Richards Mine at Mount Pleasant, and built, by the aid of the Thomas Iron Company, a pleasant house of worship, where the religious services are still, a portion of the Sabbath, in Welsh.
A Sunday-school, with Alvan Trowbridge for super- intendent, was held in the school-house at Port Oram from the time of its erection in 1867 till the Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated. October 2nd 1868 the corner stone of the church was laid with appropriate ser- vices. In the corner stone was put a paper containing an account of Port Oram and surroundings, as follows:
" The church is to be 34 by 50, with a basement 9 feet; to cost $600. A blast furnace now in course of erection of the following dimensions: 52 feet square, 15 feet below the surface, 78 feet from bottom to the top (48 feet of stone, 18 feet of brick); cost $300,000. The following railways connect with Port Oram: Ist, Morris and Essex; 2nd, Mt. Hope; 3d, Baker Mine; 4th, Ches- ter; with others in contemplation. There are three churches in Dover; the Rev. B. C. Megie has been twenty- nine years pastor of the Presbyterian; Rev. Mr. Seran is pastor of First M. E. church, Rev. James A. Upjohn of the Protestant Episcopal, and Rev. Father Quinn of the Roman Catholic church, situated between Dover and Port Oram. Andrew Johnson is President of the United
States; Lucius M. Ward is governor of New Jersey; Morris county contains 35,000 population. Candidates for next governor John I. Blair and Theodore F. Ran- dolph."
The following ministers have been pastors of this church: Revs. Isaac Thomas, 1870, 1871; J. P. Daily, 1872, 1873; David Walters, 1874; Thomas Rawlings, 1875-77: G. T. Jackson, 1878-80. Joseph P. Macauley, 1881.
The church is usually well filled, and the prayer meet- ings are well attended, the members freely taking part in offering prayer and remarks. The singing is spirited and good.
Mine Hill Presbyterian Church .- A Sunday-school was organized under the superintendence of David Jenkins, who acted also as librarian and sexton. The Misses Ford (Emeline, Ellen and Mary) rendered efficient aid as teachers in the Sunday-school. The membership in- creased and the school became a bond of union to the families through the children, and created a desire for religious services. Speakers from a distance often ad- dressed the school; and the pastor of the Presbyterian church of Dover often preached in the school-house. Prayer meetings were held on Sunday evenings, conducted by David Jenkins and Pearce Rodgers, the former an el- der and the latter a deacon of the Presbyterian church of Dover. This state of things continued for several years. A church was formally organized May 27th 1874 by a committee of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange. It consisted of the following twenty-five persons, dismiss- ed for this purpose from the Presbyterian church of Do- ver: David Jenkins and wife, Pearce Rodgers, Mrs. Mary Powell, Isaac Bohenna, Elisha Paul, John M. Kel- liway, Mary May, Paul Martin, William H. Bray, Joseph A. Thomas, Elizabeth Ennor, W. G. Thomas, Mary Lib- |by, Jane Tonkin, Dinah Tonkin, E. Thomas, S. Fredin- nick, W. Williams, John Warne, Mary Warne, Henry Rogers, John Dyer, Charlotte Williams and Peter Lobb.
David Jenkins, Wm. H. Bray and Joseph A. Thomas were elected and duly set apart to the office of ruling el- ders in this church, and were installed. Pearce Rodgers, a resident of Mine Hill, and a licentiate of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange, acted as their minister. A church edifice was erected and so far completed as to enable the congregation to use the basement, and on September 22nd 1874 Pearce Rodgers was ordained and installed pastor of this church. He still continues to be its pas- tor. The church edifice was completed at an expense of more than $6,000, and will seat about 400 persons. It was dedicated, free of debt, in the summer of 1878.
VILLAGES.
Port Oram is about two miles from Dover, on the canal and the Morris and Essex Railroad. The place was se- lected as an appropriate location for a store and a new settlement, because it had been the central point on the canal for the shipment of iron ore. In 1860 a store house was built; also a small freight depot of the Morris and Essex Railroad; and the place was called Port Oram,
310
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
after Robert F. Oram, the person chiefly concerned in its selection and development. The store was opened under the name of John Hill & Co. Mr. Hill retired from the company the next year, and the firm has since been Oram, Hance & Co., consisting of Robert F. Oram, John Hance and Wm. G. Lathrop. Up to 1864 only four buildings had been erected.
After the commencement of the civil war, on the day of the battle of Bull Run, June 21st 1861, a large patri- otic meeting was held in front of the store, and an ele- gant flag with the stars and stripes unfurled. The Hon. John Hill, member of Congress, presided; prayer was offered by Rev. B. C. Megie, of Dover; speeches were made by Hon. John Hill, Wm. Wood, afterward paymas- ter in the army, and Mr. McNeely, of Succasunna. A bul- let which lodged in the arm of Daniel Gard during the Revolutionary war, and was preserved as a relic by the pa- triotic soldier, was exhibited by his son, Ephraim Gard, and seemed to rekindle the flame of patriotism in the whole crowd. The meeting was a memorable one, and evinced a strong feeling of sympathy with the adminis- tration without regard to political parties; and from that time Port Oram was a place well known throughout the whole region. Five persons who belonged to Port Oram and who were present at this meeting enlisted for the war. Two were the sons of Ephraim Gard and grand- sons of the Revolutionary patriot Daniel Gard; two were the sons of John Hance, viz. George and William, the former entering the army and the latter the navy; and the fifth was Albert Wiggins, then a clerk in the store of S. Breese, in Dover. They all returned to Port Oram after the war except Albert Wiggins, who was drowned with thirty-one others from Morris county while crossing the Cumberland River in Kentucky. Mr. Wig- gins was a young man of splendid physique and great scendants still remaining here.
promise.
Port Oram did not grow much until after the war; but from the beginning a large business was done at the com- pany's store.
From 1864 to 1868 over forty buildings were erected, and the population increased from four to sixty-four fam- ilies, making nearly four hundred persons. The increase continued until the paralysis of the iron industry, 1872- 80. Since then business has revived, and the popula- tion may be over 600. Almost all the inhabitants are English miners, and employed by the Boonton Iron Company.
Mine Hill is a settlement about two miles west of Dover, on the road to Succasunna, having four or five A school-house was built at an early date (1867) and |hundred inhabitants. If its surroundings be included the the first teacher was Henry Allen, who was succeeded by population may be estimated at eight hundred. The the able and popular Erastus E. Potter, who is still the mines are the attraction which draw laborers here and principal, and who has elevated the literary character of the place.
furnish employment for them. Besides the iron mines there are a church, a school-house, a store and post-office. David Jenkins is the agent of the Thomas Iron Company, and popular and generally useful in the neighbor- hood.
Ferromonte is a settlement of a few hundred inhabi- tants about a mile south of Mine Hill. It might be con- sidered as a part of it, for the two places overlap each other and it would be difficult to draw the line where one begins and the other ends. But Ferromonte is the older VICTIMS OF THE CIVIL WAR. of the two places, and might claim Mine Hill as included The names of the soldiers from Randolph township in itself. This is the seat of the famous iron deposit who served in the army during the late civil war will be
known as the Succasunna mine, once considered the oldest and best iron mine in the State.
Ferromonte was the residence of the Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, and here is the elegant residence of the late Frederick Canfield, the nephew of Mahlon Dickerson. This dwelling is occupied by Mrs. Frederick Canfield and her children. It contains one of the finest private cabinets of minerals in the country. The collection is extensive and the specimens are unsurpassed. It con- tains also a choice collection of birds, including all the birds of this latitude and the rarest and fairest of the tropical regions. After the death of General Dickerson his house was occupied by the Rev. Robert Crosset, who here held a classical school. It is now occupied by Col- onel Stanburrough, who uses it as a place of summer re- sort. The gardens and grounds were once famous for their rare specimens of plants and trees, for Mr. Dicker- son was a man of fine taste and a lover of nature.
Mill Brook is an old settlement, and now contains about fifty dwellings and a population of 300. Its his- tory has been given in part in the preceding pages, which contain an account of the early settlers. It is said that the residence of S. J. Searing marks the site of the first house in the township. On the stream from which the place take its name, which is a tributary to the Rock- away, entering the river at Denville, was erected the first mill in the township. This stream furnishes motive power for a saw-mill, a grist-mill and a cider-mill.
Among the earlier and worthy settlers of Mill Brook should be mentioned the names of William Schooley, Henry Brotherton, William Mott, David Tuttle, George Swain, Ulysses Kinney, Jacob Searing, Samuel Moore, and Messrs. Blanchard, Coe, Briant, Pierson, Munson, Lampson, Menard and Pruden, most of whom have de-
Mount Freedom and Walnut Grove may be grouped together and regarded as one settlement. The Presby- terian church is the proper center of Mount Freedom, and the tavern half a mile east of the Presbyterian church the center of Walnut Grove. These two places embrace about fifty dwellings and a population of 300. At Mount Freedom there are a church, a post-office, a store and twenty-five dwelling houses. At Walnut Grove there are a tavern, a school-house, a church, a blacksmith shop and twenty-five dwellings.
311
RANDOLPH'S SACRIFICE FOR THE UNION.
found in the general history of the county. The follow- ing are notices of those who died in the service:
Captain John T. Alexander, of Scotch parentage, early entered the United States army, and served five years as sergeant in Indian campaigns in Oregon and Nevada. When the civil war broke out he was residing at Walnut Grove, and entered the service as captain of Company B 27th New Jersey volunteers. He was at the battle of Fredericksburg in January 1863; at the front, support- ing Pettit's battery, on the 11th of February at Newport News. May 6th 1863, in crossing the Cumberland in a flat boat which was capsized, Captain Alexander and thirty-one others were drowned.
Sergeant William H. Bailey was a native of Newfound- land, Morris county, N. J., and enlisted at Newton, Au- gust 7th 1861, in the 2nd New York volunteer cavalry. He saw active service in twenty battles, from Ball's Bluff to the engagement at Aldie, in all of which he made him- self conspicuous for gallantry. In the fight at Aldie, in 1863, when Kilpatrick engaged and defeated Stewart, Sergeant Bailey was shot in the leg, which was amputated in the hospital at Alexandria, Va. He seemed to be im- proving, when one night an artery broke, and the next morning he was found dead in his bed.
in that year he joined Company B 27th N. J. volunteers. He was under fire at Fredericksburg and was with the regiment in its campaigns, doing his duty faithfully in every position to which he was assigned. He was one of those drowned on the 6th of May in the Cumberland River.
Burtis M. Broadwell, of Dover, enlisted early in the war in Company D 5th New Jersey volunteers. He was a faithful soldier, who saw a great deal of service, and died in hospital October 5th 1864.
Sergeant Charles H. Carrell was born in Center Grove, and continued to reside there till the outbreak of the Re- bellion. He enlisted in May 1861 in Company B 2nd N. J. volunteers, and was soon promoted to the rank of sergeant. He served with marked fidelity and zeal through the campaigns of 1861, including the first battle of Bull Run. In the summer of 1862 he was taken sick and removed to the hospital at Point Lookout, Md., where he died on the 30th of July in that year.
Corporal William Harrison Case was born in this vi- cinity, and entered the service in August 1862 as cor- poral of Company I 15th N. J. At the battle of Freder- icksburg, the first in which the regiment was engaged, he received a wound. On the 12th of May 1864, at Spottsylva- nia, his regiment was ordered to charge the enemy's works. They mounted the crest, and standing on the top of the parapet fired on the rebels. A rebel officer drew his re- volver and shot Corporal Case through his arm, the ball passing into his body. He fell down at the foot of the enemy's works, and for nearly twenty-four hours lay there, being once struck once by a spent ball; finally in the darkness he managed to crawl off, and, the ambulances being busily engaged, he walked to Freder- icksburg, a distance of twelve or more miles. From here pital, where he died, June 3d 1864.
Captain Edward Payson Berry was born in Dover, in 1839. At the breaking out of the war he was teaching school at Branchville, and studying for the ministry. He was a member of the Presbyterian church of Dover. August 18th 1861 he and his friend Captain Charles F. Gage bought uniforms and started for Harper's Ferry, Va., where they joined as privates Bramhall's 6th New York mounted battery. They served in this battery two months without pay, and without being mustered in. They were then transferred to the 5th New Jersey volunteers and mustered into the service. From this he was taken to Washington, and placed in Carver Hos- time young Berry served in every engagement his regi- ment was in-and it saw a great deal of service-until Thomas Dean went out in the famous 69th (Irish) regi- ment of New York, and was shot off a pontoon bridge at the first battle of Fredericksburg. the time of .his death, July roth 1863. His first pro- motion was to the post of hospital steward. At the battle of Fair Oaks he was second lieutenant, and so con- Job W. De Hart was born at Center Grove, July 31st 1839. In the early part of the war he enlisted as a private in Company B 160th N. Y. volunteers, and served in the army under Generals Weitzel and Banks until his death, which occurred January 2nd 1864, in the U. S. hospital at New Orleans. ducted himself that he was promoted to be first lieuten- ant. Soon after he was made quartermaster, then adju- tant, then captain. At the second battle of Bull Run he was taken prisoner and marched to Richmond; during the long march he received no food except some corn that fell from the feed baskets of the horses of the guard. Abraham Earles went out in October 1864 in Company K 39th N. J. volunteers. He died of disease in the ser- vice. After two weeks' confinement in Libby prison he was ex- changed, and at once returned to his command. In the terrible carnage at Gettysburg, July 2nd 1863, he was Alonzo Freeman, of Dover, enlisted at the outbreak of the war, when 18 years of age, in Company H 61st N. Y. volunteers. At the battle of Antietam, September 17th 1862, he was wounded in the thigh, and he lay upon the field nearly a week before he was discovered. He was removed to the hospital at Frederick City, Md., where he died the latter part of October. acting major of his regiment in Sickles's advance, when Longstreet massed his forces upon him. He was wounded in the leg, and left on the field when the line fell back. Here he lay three days and nights without food or drink, except a bunch of cherries which had been shot off from a tree and fallen near him. On the 5th of July he was taken to the hospital Noah Haggerty, of Dover, enlisted May 18th 1861 in the Ist N. J. Attached to the provost guard, he served at the headquarters of Kearney, Montgomery, Torbert at Gettysburg, where his leg was amputated, from the effects of which he died on the roth of that month.
Erastus Brant was living in this township in 1862; and and other generals, saw a great deal of service, and was a
312
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
brave soldier. He died in May 1867 of consumption, contracted from cold and exposure in the army.
Charles Albert Hughson was a native of this township, and resided at Walnut Grove. Early in the contest he enlisted in a New Jersey regiment, and performed with distinguished zeal and ability the duties assigned him. At the terrible battle of the Wilderness he was severely wounded while doing his duty, and was removed to Fair- mount Hospital, Baltimore, where he died June 16th 1864, aged 25 years.
Jacob Kinney, of this township, belonged to the 6th New York light artillery, and is supposed to have been killed in the Seven Days fight in 1862.
Dorastus B. Logan, a native of Randolph, was appointed captain of Company K 11th regiment of New Jersey vol- unteers, in July 1862. He was at the second battle of Bull Run, at Fredericksburg and at Chancellorsville; was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg July 2nd 1863, and died on the field.
James H. Losey, of Dover, went out with Captain Price in September 1862 in Company B 27th N. J. volun- teers. He followed the fortunes of the regiment through all its service, doing his duty well, and when the 27th was mustered out, after ten months' service, he re-enlisted in Company B 33d N. J. His regiment was with Sher- man on his famous " march to the sea," and in the sum- mer of 1864 the brave fellow was wounded in the leg at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, before Atlanta. He was removed to the hospital at Kingston, Georgia, where he died from the effects of the amputation of his limb.
Andrew J. Love, of Dover, enlisted in Company A ist |burgh, and was in the battles of Bull Run (second), N. J. cavalry, and was discharged because of sickness. He died March 4th 1862.
George Love, brother of the foregoing, of Company E 9th N. J. volunteers, was discharged because of sickness, and dicd February 24th 1862.
Sergeant James McDavitt was a native of Randolph, and a resident of Dover. August 18th 1862 he entered the service as sergeant of Company E rith regiment of New Jersey volunteers. He was at the second Bull Run battle, at Fredericksburg and at Chancellorsville, where this company lost 9 killed and 27 wounded. Sergeant McDavitt's comrades Horton, Cook, Mann and O'Brien fell about him; then Captain Halsey was wounded, and McDavitt ran to his assistance, and while binding up his wound was struck in the head by a ball and died in a few moments.
Jacob Miller, a German by birth, joined Company E Irth N. J. volunteers, and with unflagging zeal followed it in its long marches and severe engagements, till the awful contest at Gettysburg on the 2nd of July 1863, where he gave his life for the country that adopted him.
Charles Mulligan, of Irish parentage, a resident of this township, went to the front with the 15th N. J. regiment in 1862, proved himself a gallant soldier, and was killed at the battle of Winchester. His body is supposed to have been buried on the field.
Daniel Palmer was a resident of Dover. In August 1862 he enlisted in Company E 11th N. J., and was in
all the campaigns of this regiment. He received a bullet in his shoulder at Chancellorsville, and was removed to the 3d corps hospital at Acquia Creek, Va. He was taken to Chestnut Hill, Washington, D. C., where he died from his wounds, June 23d 1863.
Thomas Plumstead was a resident of Dover. He entered the service in October 1864, in Company K 39th N. J., and was with his regiment when it garrisoned Fort Davis, and with the command on April 2nd 1865, when it charged the enemy's works. In this charge he was struck by a bullet and instantly killed. His companions in arms bear witness that he was. distinguished for bravery and uniform good behavior, and he died beloved and regretted by all.
John Powers was born at Mill Brook, where he con- tinued to reside until the breaking out of the war. In 1861 he enlisted as an artificer in Company K Ist N. Y. engineers. He was with this company in all its varions campaigns, until October 1862, when he was taken sick with a disease of the throat resembling diphtheria, from which he died on the 9th of that month.
Captain Benjamin Price, a native of New York, was teaching school at Mill Brook when the war broke out. Having some knowledge of military tactics he gathered the older boys of his school in front of the old Quaker meeting-house, and drilled them in military maneuvers; a number of these boys afterward entered the army. In the fall of 1861 he closed his school and entered the army, and was appointed captain of Company D Ist New York Excelsior regiment. He was wounded at Williams-
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Man- asses Gap. July 24th, having been brevetted major for his gallant conduct, as he was leading his troops in a charge on the enemy's works he was shot through the neck and instantly killed.
Elias Roff was a resident of Walnut Grove, and was drowned at Washington, D. C., while in the performance of his duty.
Private Henry Smith enlisted from Walnut Grove, and gave his life in behalf of his country. The date and manner of his death are not known.
Daniel D. Tuttle was born at Mill Brook. In the sum- mer of 1862 he enlisted in Company B 27th N. J. He joined the army under Burnside on the 15th of De- cember; was under fire at Fredericksburg, and partici- pated in Burnside's famous "mud march," and most likely at that time, through fatigue and exposure, con- tracted the disease that finally terminated his life. Soon after that campaign he was taken sick and died, March 2nd 1863, in Odd Fellows' Hall, Washington.
Louis Weise was a Dane by birth and served in the army of his native country. He also enlisted from near Walnut Grove, in Company K Ist New York engineers, and was killed August 19th 1863, by a shell from Fort Sumter, while in the discharge of duty near Morris Island.
Sergeant Albert D. Wiggins, at the time when Captain Alexander was raising his company, was residing in Dover, employed as clerk in Breese's dry goods store. He en-
0000 0 8
BILLIARD ROOM)
RESIDENCE of JOHN HANCE, RANDOLPH, MORRIS CI,N.J. OPERA HOUSE AND ORCHESTRA HALL; DOVER, N. J. DANIEL MOLLER PROP'R.
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM S. GREEN, DENVILLE, MORRIS CS N. J.
313
OFFICERS OF RANDOLPH TOWNSHIP-DOVER INCORPORATED.
tered the service for nine months as a sergeant in Com- pany B 27th N. J .; was with his company at the first battle of Fredericksburg, marched with it through all its wearisome campaigns, and on the 6th of May 1863 shared a watery grave with his gallant captain in the Cumberland River, having been in the boat that was capsized.
Edward Wolfe resided near Walnut Grove, and at the breaking out of the war enlisted in Company K Ist New York engineers, as an artificer. He died of measles, January 16th 1862, at Hilton Head, S .. C.
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