History of Morris County, New Jersey, Part 80

Author: Halsey, Edmund Drake, 1840-1896; Aikman, Robert; Axtell, Samuel Beach, 1809-1891; Brewster, James F; Green, R. S. (Rufus Smith), 1848-1925; Howell, Monroe; Kanouse, John L; Megie, Burtis C; Neighbour, James H; Stoddard, E. W. (Elijah Woodward), 1820-1913
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 540

USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 80

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Lying to the south of the said Cobb lands and Split Rock property is the Meriden tract of 669.30 acres, re- turned to Lemuel Cobb and John Salter on the 17th day of April 1789, and recorded in Book S 8, page 206. This tract includes the present village of Meriden and adjoin- ing properties.

Adjoining the above surveys is a tract of 422.70 acres returned to Samuel Neville and John Burnett on the 30th of April 1748, and recorded at Perth Amboy in Book S 2, page 209. The David Beaman farm, lying between Rockaway and Beach Glen, east of the Hubbard Stickle homestead, and on which James Ackly built a house and barn about forty years ago, is part of this last survey, and no doubt the said Stickle farm was called in 1800 the Francis McCarty farm, from the father of the late Morris McCarty and Judge Cummings McCarty.

The land lying south and east of the Meriden tract, including Lyonsville and part of Rockaway Valley, is part of a 1,250 acre tract returned to William Penn on the 22nd of August 1715 and recorded at Burlington in Book B, page 39.

Adjoining the last mentioned tract on the southwest is one of 1,420 acres, returned to James Bolland on the 8th of March 1720 and recorded in Burlington in Book B, page 198, &c.

Southwest of and bounding on the last two tracts is a survey of 421.10 acres, returned to Frederick Miller on the 17th of May 1788 and recorded in Book S 8, page 165; it lies on a small branch of the Rockaway River called Stony Brook. This survey includes lands in Rockaway Valley, the homestead farm of the late Wil- liam M. Dixon, deceased, and adjoining lands, and also a survey of 551.33 acres returned to Jacob Taylor April 18th 1789. On the southeast of the above mentioned 1,420 acres, 421.10 acres and 551.33 acres lies the Boon- ton tract, containing 3,656.97 acres, returned to William Burnet and Courtlandt Skinner on the thirteenth of Oc- tober 1765 (recorded in Book S 5, on page 282) and by them conveyed to David Ogden. This survey includes part of Rockaway Valley, Powerville, Boonton and the mountain west of Powerville known as the "Torn " or " Steeple ", and extends west from Powerville about two miles toward Denville.

Southeast of the White Meadow tract lies a survey of 776 acres, returned to the heirs and assigns of Hugh

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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.

Hartshorn and David Barkley, at the request of Samuel Neville, on the roth of June 1748, and recorded in Book S 2, page 226, etc.

On the southeast of the last mentioned survey lies a tract of 1,741.76 acres returned to Courtlandt Skinner and John Johnson, at the request of Benjamin Beach and John Munson, on the 21st of June 1774, and re- corded in the Perth Amboy records in Book S 7, page 134, etc. The two last named tracts cover Beach Glen, formerly called Horse Pond, and a large part of Rocka- way Valley, west of the village of Rockaway.

The village of Denville is located upon a tract of 1,250 acres returned to William Bidleon the 21st of February 1716; and south of it and adjoining lies a tract of 1,666 acres returned to Joseph Kirkbride and William Cant on the 21st of February 1716.

West of Denville and taking in Franklin and the farm of John O. Hill was a large survey made to John Bel- lars. We learn this from a recital in a deed to David Garrigus, made the 23d of December 1800, for 494 acres of land (said to be a part of this large survey). David Garrigus formerly owned the Hill farm and worked the Franklin forge. The deed was given to Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia, as attorney in fact for Sir John Bridger of the county of Surrey, Great Britain, knight, and Dame Rebecca his wife and others, and is recorded in the Morris county clerk's office in Book D, 252.

Robert Hunter Morris also had lands returned to him in this part of Rockaway township and on Pigeon Hill. We find a deed in the Morris county records (Book D, page 250) from Richard Morris of Westchester, N. Y., executor of Robert Hunter Morris, to David . Garrigus, dated December 31st 1793, for 117.13 acres of land re- turned to said R. H. Morris December 5th 1761.

These surveys carry us to the Randolph and. Hanover lines, and complete, in a general way, locations for nearly all of the Rockaway territory. From them we can infer that settlements of from one to ten families commenced about the same time in different parts of the township, in the neighborhood of Rockaway Valley, Beach Glen, Denville, White Meadows, Rockaway and Mount Hope, where the land was level and adapted to agricultural purposes; but the remainder and greater part of the ter- ritory north of the above named places, being hilly and mountainous, and in many instances quite rocky and almost inaccessible, offered no inducements to agricul- ture, and its growth in population was, in consequence, very slow. There are many large sections of this terri- tory still remaining uninhabited, owing to the character of the country; and not unfrequently a ride of two or three miles will not discover a sign of a dwelling of any kind. The primitive hut or log cabin occasionally meets the eye in some secluded spot, and around it a few pa- ternal acres or the "clearing," as it is called, furnish pasture for the cattle and vegetables for the family. To the eye there was nothing to tempt the settler who was in search of broad acres and green fields; and wherever from choice a settlement was made we can still meet with the third or fourth generation of the settler's descendants,

who were obliged to remain for the simple reason that their limited means would not admit of their getting away.

It very seldom happened that the owners of these sur- veys or original locations occupied them in person; they were either too aristocratic to cultivate and improve the soil, or too rich to need even rents, issues and profits thereof. It was a matter of pure speculation, and the gain was in selling in parcels to actual settlers. But, while all these apparent obstacles in the way of bringing settlers into this part of Morris county existed, the pure air of the mountains and the many never failing streams of water were conducive to health; and to one accus- tomed to the place threw a charm over the secluded life that rendered it one of contentment.

SOME OF THE PIONEERS.

Among the settlers in Denville we have the name of David Broadwell, whose house and blacksmith shop stood where the Menagh hotel now is. Job Allen's house was on the Glover farm. William and Joseph Hinchman were also residents of Denville. The Garriguses, Ayers, Hills, Coopers and Smiths lived at Franklin and Pigeon Hill. Below Denville and down the valley came the Peers, Samuel and David, John Husk, John P. Cook, Peter Hiler, Adam Miller, Joseph Scott, David Smith, William Ayer, Aaron Miller, Frederick Hopler, Peter Hopler and Jacob Kanouse, the great-grandfather of Judge Kanouse of Boonton.

The old David Peer place, owned lately by Mr. Smith, was originally an Indian settlement. David Smith, else- where referred to as now living near Green Pond, who was apprenticed to David Peer, says he recollects the last old Indian of a tribe formerly living in Rockaway Val- ley. His name was Jonathan. The Indian and his squaw would occasionally come to Peer's place. David says he has heard John Peer, father to David, say that these Indians belonged to a southern tribe. They had settled there long before the war, and took sides with the British, and after the war were obliged to leave. John Peer was in the army. He was quite an old man when David Smith was a boy. Jonathan and his squaw lived at Bald Hill, near the Kitchel place at the Cranberry Pond. Smith says he was at their wigwam very often. Martin Hiler was the father of Peter Hiler, and lived in Rockaway Valley. The old stone house on the left side of the road after crossing Peer's lock toward Power- ville was built by Martin Hiler before the Revolution. David Peer was justice of the peace over fifty years, and died about 1830. Mr. Smith says that when he was a boy the old men were John Cook, grandfather of John P. Cook, John Husk, William Auger, Aaron Miller, Jacob Demouth, Frederick Hopler, Peter Hopler, Jacob Ka- nouse, Conrad Kanouse and old Jacob Bastedo, who was a preacher, as he called him, holding meetings occasion- ally at different houses, but was not settled over any church.

Frederick Miller lived further down the valley, on the property owned by William M. Dixon at the time of his

337

JOHN JACOB FAESCH AND HIS NEIGHBORS.

death. Part of the Miller house is yet standing. Wil- liam Dixon, son-in-law of Miller, also lived in that neigh- borhood. Frederick Demouth, or Demoth, as it was originally called, lived further down the valley, and was a farmer of considerable means and style for those early days.

A man who exercised a large influence in the township in the latter part of the eighteenth century was John Ja- cob Faesch, of Mount Hope, the " smart little Dutch- man," as Miss Agnes Walton calls him. He came to this country about 1766 and in 1772 purchased the Mount Hope property, in part from Colonel Jacob Ford jr. and life. Zindle ended his days at Mt. Hope about 1820, a part from Burnet and Johnson, and about this year built the Mt. Hope furnace.

He was a liberal supporter of the Rockaway church, and held several local offices in the county. He took sides with the colonists on the breaking out of the Rev- olutionary war. Large quantities of cannon balls for the American army were cast at his furnace, and on a visit to Mt. Hope by General Washington, Faesch had the honor of entertaining him at his house. Jonathan Wig- gins, the grandfather of William F. Wiggins, now of Suc- casunna, was one of Faesch's foremen about his works. Wiggins was the driver of a four-mule team for Faesch, and one of his exploits was to amuse Faesch by cutting off the heads of chickens with his cartwhip whenever poultry was needed. Whether this was done on the occa- sion of Washington's visit we could not ascertain with any degree of certainty. A Captain Freesburgh was partner with Faesch during this time, and according to a state- ment of William F. Wiggins built the present stone Man- sion House at Mt. Hope. Ephraim Burwell, Reuben Walton and Jonathan Fordham (grandfather of William F. Wiggins on his mother's side) were also among Faesch's men-all of whom are buried at the "Walton " burying ground.

Faesch built several houses at Mt. Hope, some of which are standing at this time. A large corner cupboard built by Faesch for one of his houses is now in the possession of Miss Walton. She also has a chair over one hundred years old, formerly owned by Adam Miller, who lived on the Uhel farm at Middle forge. William F. Wiggins is the owner of a pair of spectacles and their case used by Faesch when at Mt. Hope, and the writer of this sketch of the former owner used them in getting it up, these glasses having been loaned by Mr. Wiggins for that pur- pose. They are quite a curiosity, and who knows but the former owner wore them while he entertained Gen- eral Washington, on the occasion mentioned?

The object of General Washington's visit to Mount Hope was partly to arrange with Faesch about taking some Hessian prisoners to board for their work in chopping wood in Faesch's coaling job; at least we know that Faesch took 250 of these prisoners from General the close of the war the British had a certain number of days to gather up these hired soldiers, as they were re- quired to pay for every one they did not return to the old country. Among the 250 men was Leopold Zindle.

When the British officer visited Mt. Hope for the pur- pose of getting these men he commanded Zindle to go with him. Zindle replied, " Me no go; me can die first." This so aroused the officer that he drew his sword and struck Zindle in the breast, breaking the weapon in three pieces-one remaining in Zindle's body, one in the offi- cers hand and one falling to the ground. Zindle still persisted in saying " Me no go, me die first." This oc- curred in the presence of a large crowd, and seeing the resistance which Zindle made, and the many friends he had, the officer was obliged to retreat to save his own

very old man. William F. Wiggins, who relates this in- cident, knew him very well, and was at his funeral. Zin- dle's children were Abraham, George, Charles, Mary, Margaret, Catharine and Sarah, the last named and youngest of whom is Mrs. William F. King, now living in Dover and the mother of Dr. Joseph D. King.

The Mt. Hope Pond, back of the furnace site, was supplied entirely by springs in its bed, as no stream ran into it. It is now a meadow bottom and last summer yielded a fine crop of hay. Besides the Mt. Hope lands Faesch also owned the Jackson mine lot in Irondale, purchased of Moses Tuttle November 27th 1772. About 1790 he removed to Morristown, and became one of the proprietors of the Morris Academy lot, as we find a deed to him and others from the trustees of the Presbyterian church, dated August Ist 1792. From Morristown he removed to Old Boonton, where he died in 1799; he was buried at Morristown.

Moses Tuttle was among the earlier settlers at Mt. Pleasant: He came there in 1760 to manage the forge property of his father-in-law, Colonel Jacob Ford sen. His mansion stood on the west side of the turpike, near the present residence of Jesse S. Langdon, until within ten or fifteen years back. It was a long, low structure, with a porch on the front, and was one of the landmarks for surveyors, as we find several surveys referring to the chimney of Moses Tuttle's house, which was a prominent point, and could be seen from different localities. This is the same house elsewhere referred to as the Mt. Pleasant Hotel.

Descendants in the sixth generation of both Colonel Ford and Moses Tuttle are still living in the county of Morris.

Dr. Jonathan Hunting was the first physician who lived within the bounds of the township. He owned part of the Pond meadow, lately the property of S. B. Halsey, opposite the present rolling-mills. He was also a pew-holder in the church prior to 1774, for it appears that after his death, which occurred in that year, his son Matthew occupied the same pew which his father had occupied.

Dr. Ebenezer H. Pierson came next as resident physi- Washington, and erected five log houses for them. At cian, and lived near Franklin, on the Palmer farm, having bought the lot used by the parish church as a parsonage, near Henry B. Palmer's new residence. Dr. Pierson graduated at Princeton College in 1791. The parsonage deed is from Job Allen, Josiah Beaman, Thomas Conger,

3.38

HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.

James Kitchel, David Broadwell, David Peer and Ben- jamin Beach, trustees of the First Presbyterian congre- gation at Rockaway, to Ebenezer H. Pierson, and is dated December 28th 1795 (Book O, 343). The lot con- tains 47.50 acres, and is described as being on the road leading from John P. Losey's to Rockaway and adjoining lands of James Kent, Richard Dell, and John Clark.

Bernard Smith, whose name is closely connected with the early history of Rockaway, was a German and a par- ticular friend of John Jacob Faesch. He kept a store in the village in the old Gaston house, now owned by John F. Stickle. He was the owner of White Meadow and the Guinea forge. His children were six sons and four daughters. Beman, the eldest, was a member of Con- gress from this State; James was an officer in the United States army; John was a printer; the history of Samuel is unknown; Frederick entered the navy, and William was killed under Wilkinson in 1812, while serving as an officer in the army.

Gilbert Headen (Hedden or Heddy) in 1753 is de- scribed as being of Morristown, in 1762 as of Pequan- nock, and 1778 as of North Carolina. He was the owner of the first grist-mill, which was standing below the present rolling-mill, and the site of the rolling-mill was in all probability the bed of the mill pond.

There are other persons whose descendants still occu- py the land, of whom honorable mention could be made if space permitted. Suffice it to say, their records are clear, and, whatever imperfections and shortcomings may have been visible in a few instances, the general tone of the people in those early days was an honest one. James Kitchel is known to have said, many a time, that in his business transactions notes were never taken, or at least very seldom; a man's word was as good as his note. Samuel S. Beach, father of S. S. Beach of Rockaway, gave his note for about $80 to an old lady in payment for some land which she had sold him. The note was allowed to run nearly twenty years without ever being presented for payment or any interest asked; after so long a time the holder of the note called upon Mr. Beach with some doubts as to the payment of it, and admitted it outlawed, and so forth, but Mr. Beach said his notes never outlawed, he had not forgotten it, and paid it at once, principal and interest. That was not the age of "smart " cashiers, confiding bank officers, and superfi- cial government officials.

Others of the early inhabitants are noticed in the his- tory of the Presbyterian church of Rockaway, and in other connections.

THE NAME ROCKAWAY.

The name Rockaway at present designates several dis- tinct places and things immediately connected with the history in question, viz., the village of Rockaway, the Rockaway River, Rockaway Valley, Rockaway Neck, " Old Rockaway" and Rockaway township; and all without doubt originated from one and the same source. Surveyor Reading's journal of 1715 clearly show that the name Rockaway was then used by the pioneers to

designate the stream of water now known by that name in Rockaway township, and also to designate some of the land in its vicinity. We have no reason to conclude that the name originated either from the Eng- lish or Dutch settlers; on the contrary, all conjecture was placed at rest upon that question when among the many original surveys which were shown us by Wil- liam Roome we came across one made November 20th 1745 for George Ryerson, for 425.25 acres, described as lying " near to a brook called by the Dutch Rotegeval, a branch of the Rockaway River, which it falls into by an Indian field called Rockaway, from which the river had its name; " and also another survey, made the 14th of August 1749, for Abram Balding and others, containing 120.44 acres, which was located "at a place called by the Dutch Oullekill [near Montville] and by the English Rockaway," the English settlers, of course, taking the Indian name as before recognized. From this evidence in reference to the name of Rockaway it must be conceded that the Indians were the first to use the word, and gave it to the settlers; and that the river is so called from a field or Indian encampment beside it. The question naturally arises, where was the Indian field called Rock- away? There are two surveys which refer to "Old Rockaway." One is a survey returned to Frederick De Mouth on the 5th of April 1748, covering 3272 acres ly- ing to the north of "Old Rockaway; " and the other is a survey returned to John Miller on the 15th of May 1748 for 82 acres, lying to the north of " Old Rockaway." The 3272 acre tract is known to lie east of the home- stead of the late William M. Dixon, in Rockaway Valley, about three miles northwesterly from Powerville; and the 82-acre tract is a part of the original John Miller farm in Rockaway Valley, and near said Dixon's farm. These references indicate very strongly that the Indian field called Rockaway was the whole or at least a part of what is now known as Rockaway Valley, in Rockaway township, and more particularly that part of it in the im- mediate neighborhood of the junction of Stony Brook with the Rockaway River, northwest of Powerville; and that the Indian field was called "Old Rockaway " in 1748 by the settlers to distinguish it from the village of Rockaway.

THE IRON MINES.

In the early days of these locations the hills were well covered with a primitive growth of timber, and several discoveries of iron ore before the war of the Revolution induced a few capitalists to embark in the iron business along the mountain streams. Iron was then mined and manufactured on a small scale, and the business opened a market for wood and charcoal. In the absence of all agricultural inducements the iron business became the leading interest, and brought in many families of miners, bloomers, colliers and teamsters. But as it is to-day so it was then; there existed a marked contrast between the forgemen and the ironmasters; the former were thriftless working but for to-day and not troubled about the things of to-morrow, while the latter were exclusive, and in

339

IRON MINES IN ROCKAWAY-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

many instances lived in a style luxurious and elegant at home. Yet while the workmen in these mountain forges saved nothing, and barely subsisted on the "store " trade allowed them for their wages, they did not grow any poorer. The ironmasters, however, as a general thing ooo for the lessor.

not only lost the capital which they had invested in the business, but struggled on against the tide until many of them became involved in debt and were obliged to quit and give way to their creditors. One of those ironmas- ters who was able to stem the current of loss is the ex- ception. The proceedings in our court record the names of several of these forge owners whose property was struck off under the sheriff's hammer.

The greater portion of this hilly territory of Rocka- way township was, as we have said, of very little value for farming purposes; and the discovery of iron ore opened up an industry of a very different kind, and, as the sequel has proved in our times, a much more pro- ductive source of wealth. In the early days and early discoveries of the iron deposits the facilities for mining were rude indeed. In those early times there was no market for iron ore; the forge and mine, as a general thing, belonged to the same party, and there was no motive to mine in excess of the ability to manufacture. The work was done with the least possible expense-all by man power, and without the shafts, drifts, props, stoops, sinks, pillars, whips, engines and underground engineering now thought so necessary in mining operations.

If we take the Hibernia mine, about four miles east of Rockaway village, for an illustration, we find that a fur- nace was located there as early as 1765, and the mine was worked during the Revolutionary war and earlier. Yet during these many years no developments to any ex- tent were made until within the last fifty years. The ancient workings were all at the foot of Hibernia Hill, where mining was easy, and where the soft top ore could be procured. In 1873 the Hibernia Underground Rail- road Company was incorporated by the laws of New Jer- sey, and it has constructed a mile of railroad in the mines following the vein, and is operating the same with two locomotives, and carrying out for different parties about 100,000 tons of ore per year.

Rockaway township may well be proud of the rapid increase in mineral wealth and growth in population and manufacturing interests which her own rough-hewn hills have given her in the past thirty-five or forty years, and of the new developments which are constantly made in her iron deposits. To give the reader an idea of her mineral wealth we cite the purchases made between the years 1865 and 1868 by Conrad Poppenhusen, of the city of New York. He bought a part of the Hibernia mine, and undeveloped lands adjoining, embracing between six and seven hundred acres. In these purchases Mr. Pop- penhusen invested about half a million of dollars; yet in this large tract there was not a building suitable for a dwelling place, nor an acre of land under cultivation, and very few susceptible of any profitable tillage without im- mense labor. We also cite a fact well known to many who were then interested in the Hibernia mining opera-

tions, that a mineral lease on ten acres of the Hibernia vein of iron ore, made about the year 1870, fixing the royalty at one dollar per ton for the ore, sold in open market to the highest bidder at a premium of over $35,-

It was truthfully said in the United States in years gone by "cotton is king," and to-day " coal is king" in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. May we not also with like assurance say iron is king in Rockaway town- ship ?

CHURCH HISTORY.

The church history of Rockaway township centers principally in that of

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT ROCKAWAY VILLAGE,

which is one of the oldest church organizations in the county. The labor of collecting the material for this part of the history has been greatly lessened by the val- uable researches of Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., presi- dent of Wabash College, Indiana, and also by the his- torical manual of the church compiled by the Rev. H. E. Platter, and published in 1880.

The Rockaway Presbyterian church was for many years the only church in the township, and its history dates back to the early part of the eighteenth century, although no church organization or building was in existence until about the year 1758. We get this last fact from the first known subscription paper for the erection of a church. On the second day of March 1758 two papers were drawn up and signed by those interested in the church, and it may not be out of place to refer to them here to show the primitive style of such papers and the import- ance of the undertaking; we will give them literally:

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