History of Morris County, New Jersey, Part 88

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 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Ministers have been appointed to this charge as fol- lows : Rev. William Day, 1852; Rev. Ralph Arndt, 1853; Rev. John Stevenson, 1854; Rev. John Atkinson, 1855; Rev. John S. Coit; 1856; Rev. H. Harris, 1858; Rev. T. S. Dederick, 1860; Rev. Cornelius Clark jr., 1862; Rev. William W. Voorhees, 1864; Rev. Fletcher Lummis, 1866; Rev. William W. Searles, 1867; Rev. J. P. Fort, 1869; Rev. James H. Runyon, 1872; Rev. G. H. Winans, 1875; Rev. T. H. Landon, 1878; Rev. Isaac Thomas, 1881, the preacher in charge.

The present official board is as follows: Presiding elder, Rev. C. S. Coit; pastor, Isaac Thomas; stewards, William H. Greene, Allen M. Hunter, William F. Potter, W. C. Thompson, J. S. McDougall, J. C. Buck, John T. Lawrence and William Hambly; trustees, William H. Greene, S. T. Lawrence, William F. Potter, Allen M. Hunter, John S. McDougall, John T. Lawrence, J. C. Buck, S. T. Plumstead and Whitefield Green; class- leaders, S. B. Cook and John Trevilcock. The church membership is 170.

The Sabbath-school was organized about 1850, H. K. Waer superintendent. J. C. Buck filled the office many years. The present superintendent is Rev. Isaac Thomas; there are 130 scholars.

The Draker ille Baptist Church was organized from the membership of the Mount Olive Baptist church, of which Drakeville was one of the out stations. June 29th SCHOOLS. 1873 a board of trustees was chosen. July 14th 1873 $2,000 had been secured by subscription to build a church, and building soon began. May 27th 1874 the in each. At Succasunna and McCainville the school- committee of organization reported 32 members ready

to organize. May 31st 1874 the basement room of the church was finished and the first service held; Rev. J. G. Entreken being minister. October 5th 1874 the organization was completed. S. D. Salmon, Daniel O. Wilkinson and Thomas K. Wilkinson were chosen dea- cons, and A. D. Salmon, George W. King, Daniel O. Wilkinson and Jeremiah Baker trustees.

Membership, 48; Sunday-school membership, 60; library, 150 volumes. The church was recognized by a council, at which Rev. Mr. Gunning, of Morristown, was chosen to preside. Rev. Dr. Parmely, of Jersey City, preached the sermon, and Rev. Mr. Seabury, of Newton, shared in the services.

Mr. Entreken was pastor from 1874 to 1878; Rev. Mr. Millington served a year and a half, to April Ist 1881.

Port Morris Methodist Episcopal Church .- In May 1874 a Sabbath-school was organized, chiefly by the ef- forts of Miss Mary Mills of Stanhope. For two years the place of meeting was the machine shop attached to the round-house, where seats of plank were arranged upon blocks. A preaching service was held at 3 P. M., after the Sabbath-school, when this Christian woman and those assisting her could secure the services of a minis- ter. In October 1875 Miss Mills secured the assistance of several Christian railroad men, working on the line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Ser- vice was held in this machine shop on Sabbath after- noon. Rev. C. E. Little, pastor at Hackettstown, preached. A large congregation of railroad employes and their families was present. The railroad men re- lated their experiences. The whole company was great- ly moved. Meetings were continued in the shop each Sabbath and each evening as convenient, till about one hundred professed conversion. About February 1876 a Methodist Episcopal church of some sixty members was organized, and connected with the Succasunna charge, Rev. G. H. Winans pastor. Official members: Rev. G. H. Winans, pastor; steward, W. B. Day.

The superintendent of the Sabbath-school at the organization was Miss Mary Mills; there were twenty scholars, and forty volumes in the library. The present superintendent is William B. Day. There are ninety scholars, and one hundred and fifty volumes in the library. The school meets at half past two. Rev. T. H. Landon was pastor from April 1878 to April 1881, being also the pastor of the M. E. church at Succasunna. The present pastor is Rev. J. M. Tuttle.

The chapel was built at Port Morris in April 1876, by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Com- pany, for the use of its employes, for church and school purposes. It thus becomes the center for a public school and a house of worship. This generous act of the railroad company is highly appreciated by this active community.

There are nine school districts and a suitable building houses have two rooms, for two departments. The

370

HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.

earliest school was at Succasunna, previous to 1800. of the family are traced to 1490. The tradition is that Subscription was begun February 8th 1808 for an acad- emy, which was built and occupied in 1809. Onc hun- dred and twenty- five shares were taken at $8 per share. An iron weather vane in the shape of a fish, in which is cut the date 1809, was set upon this building. After forty years' service it was transferred to a carpenter shop near McCainville, where it still remains in good condi- tion. A bell was purchased for the academy in 1811. About 1825, new proprietors added 50 shares to the corporation. January 29th 1827 the shareholders elected as trustees Thomas Dickerson, Thomas Peterson, Absa- lom Woodruff, Joshua Case and John H. Oliver. Abont 1795 Mr. McCleod taught here. In the academy the fol- lowing were teachers: Messrs. Carpenter, Beers Hard, Payson, Kingsbury, E. R. Fairchild, Ezra Fairchild, Sar- geant, Brace, Miss Mercer, Mr. Decker, Mr. Belden, Joseph Riggs and Joseph McCord.

The Lower Berkshire school-house was built in 1870. Two miles west of Succasunna is the Alpaugh school- house; and two miles west of Drakeville a stone school- house near the Hilts iron mine.

LODGES.

Emanuel Lodge I. O. G. T., No. 46, was organized June 19th 1867, by J. B. Graw, G. W. C. T., and John Simpson, G. W. S., and consisted of seventeen members. The following were the first officers: Rev. Josiah Fisher, W. C. T .; Miss Lottie Thomas, W. V. T .; Henry Thom- as, W. Chap .; Rev. William N. Searles, W. Sec .; F. M. Buck, W. Asst. Sec .; William H. Buck, W. F. S .; Mrs. Jennie Doering, W. Treas .; Wilbur Palmer, W. M .; John H. Doering, W. D. M .; Joseph Harvey, W. O. G .; Ste- phen Buddle, W. I. G .; John Thomas, W. R. S .; John Doering, W. L. S .; Richard Richards, P. W. C. T. The present number of members is sixty, and the officers are: John Gordon, W. C .; Ada Endean, W. V .; Rev. I. Thomas, W. Sec .; William Thomas, W. F. Sec .; John Harris, W. Treas .; James Buddle, W. I. G .; Samuel Dan- iels, W. O. G .; Bessie Treverre, W. R. S .; John Losaw, W. L. S .; John Evans, W. M .; Anna Thomas, W. D. M .; George Losaw, W. Asst. Scc ; John B. Newcomb, W. L. D.

Roxbury Lodge I. O. of O. F., No. 184, was instituted April 14th 1874, by the grand lodge of the State of New Jersey, with thirty members. The first officers were: William Thomas, noble grand; William Case, vice-grand; James Dolan, recording secretary; William Rogers, per- manent secretary; John N. Young, treasurer. The offi- cers in September 1881 were: John Bout, noble grand; John R. Gordon, vice-grand; John B. Merchant, record- ing secretary; James Treverro, permanent secretary; Conrad Stumpf, treasurer. The membership was then fifty-one.

REV. E. W. STODDARD, D. D.

Rev. Elijah Woodward Stoddard, D. D., of Succa- sunna, is a descendant of Anthony Stoddard of Bostor., who emigrated in 1639 from London, where the records

their ancestor came with his cousin William the Con- queror from Normandy in 1066. The name Stoddard was derived from the office of standard-bearer. There were 14 children in the family of Anthony. The eldest son, Solomon, born in 1643, was educated at Harvard College, graduating in 1662. He entered the ministry and was called in 1669 to the church at Northampton, Mass., where he married Mrs. Esther Mather, the widow of his predecessor. They had twelve children. Of these the oldest three were daughters, who married min- isters. The second, Esther, married Rev. Timothy Ed- wards, whose son Jonathan Edwards was associated with his grandfather in the pastorate at Northampton, and be- came well known as a theological writer. The seventh child and oldest living son, Anthony Stoddard, was born August 9th 1678, graduated at Harvard in 1697 and set- tled as a minister at Woodbury, Conn., where he contin- ued 60 years. (His predecessor was settled 40 years and his successor 50 years.) Eliakim, the eldest living of eleven children, was born April 3d 1705, married Joanne Curtis in 1729, and resided in Woodbury, Conn. John, the eldest son of nine, born January 26th 1730, married (April 15th 1751) Mary Atwood, and resided in Water- town, Conn. John, the fifth child of nine, born July Ist 1763, married Sarah Woodward in 1785. Their home was in Watertown, Conn., until 1802, when they removed to Coventry, Chenango county, N. Y. Central New York was then an almost unbroken wilderness, famous for its large pine, hemlock and maple trees. The fathers and sons of these New England families began the work of clearing the forests.

John, the third son and the fourth child of nine, was born July 15th 1794, and married Merab Parker in Sep- tember 1817. Their seven children are all living at this date (December 1881).

Elijah Woodward, the second son, was born April 23d 1820. His first view of life was on a forest farm, and during all his minority the clearing of new land was a part of each year's toil. The log house and the log school house were to be seen in all directions. The seats of the school-room were slabs of pine logs, with two oaken pins at each end for support. The writing- desk was a smooth board fastened against the wall, and the writer turned his back to the school. The pupils usually recited singly, rarely in classes. The blackboard for object teaching was not known. School-going was for three or four months in the winter. A lady teacher took charge of the small scholars in the summer. Books were few and every child was needed in the daily toil. Fondness for study alone could insure success, and Elijah Woodward gave every moment of leisure to the acquisition of knowledge. The Bible was emphatically the book in that Christian household, and the lad, taught that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," at the age of 12 years united with the disciples of Him who at that age commenced to teach in the temple

At 18 such mastery of the ordinary English branches as enabled him " to pass an examination " permitted the

Eng ª by H&C Koevoets, N'Y

EM Stoddar

371

THE LIFE OF REV E. W. STODDARD, D. D.

beginning of school teaching. Here was enjoyed a priv- ilege at this day unknown, that of boarding around. A knowledge of parents and teachers was thus gained as it cannot be under the present system. Five winters were spent in teaching, the summers being passed at home.

At 23 the decision for the ministry was reached. Norwich and Oxford Academies prepared our sub- ject for Amherst College, which he entered in Septem- ber 1845. Graduating in June 1849, he entered the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in September of that year and graduated in May 1852. He was delegat ed by the American Home Missionary Society to Mo- mence, Kankakee county, Ill., and labored there a short time; then the uncongenial climate made it expedient to remove to Hawley, Pa. This pastorate continued three years. In November 1856 a call was received from the Presbyterian church of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y .; in May 1860 a call to the Presbyterian church of An- gelica, N. Y., and May Ist 1864 a call to the Presbyterian church of Succasunna, N. J. After Mr. Stoddard's first year in the ministry there were but very few and very brief interruptions from sickness. The students of the parish, as they have pursued their Latin, Greek, or mathematics, have spent helpful hours in the pastor's

study, and gratified his love of teaching. In September 1880 Maryville College, of East Tennessee, conferred upon him the unexpected degree of D. D .; while those who knew hirn best feel that it was honor given where honor was due, his faithful ministrations have given a title to that heart reverence that has no synonym in let- ters. If we were to note some of the characteristics of the man at work, we would say an intense love of delv- ing into the depths of a subject, which inspires to thorough research; a willingness to undertake any hard work in the line of duty and follow it patiently to the end; a practical remembrance of the commission " Feed my lambs," as well as "Feed my sheep;" a desire to spend and be spent in service; a faith that overcomes the world in its every day toils and trials and gives abid- ing peace; a steadfastness in purpose that proves the anchorage of hope; a courtesy that illustrates the charity that never faileth; an equipoise that may restrain from an impetuous assault on the enemy, but that holds, and guards, and moves steadily forward. But it is at the end of the race that the victor is crowned; it is at the har- vest home that sheaves can be numbered; it is when work is done that the Master, looking on the folded flock, shall say to the shepherd, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

BY REV. B. C. MEGIE, D. D.

ASHINGTON is the most westerly town- ship of the county. It was one of the six townships into which the county was divided in 1798, before which time its territory con- stituted a part of Roxbury. It is bounded on the northeast by Roxbury township, on the southeast by Chester, on the southwest by Tewkes- bury and Lebanon townships in Hunterdon county, and on the north by the Musconetcong River, which separates it from Mansfield township in Warren county.

A large portion of it is occupied by Schooley's Moun- tain, which, although rising 1, 100 feet above the level of the sea and 600 feet above that of the surrounding coun- try, forms a plateau or tableland, whose soil, unlike that of most of the other mountainous sections of the county, is deep and rich. The south branch of the Raritan flows nearly through the center in a westerly direction, with suf- ficient fall to supply a number of mills with an excellent water power. The Black River courses for a few miles along the southeastern boundary, but its descent is very gradual at this place. The Musconetcong on the north- west has considerable decline, and several fine mills have been constructed to profit by the aid which nature has given. Several other small streams, of sufficient size to turn mill-wheels, run through different portions of the township and have been utilized.

The slope to the south from Schooley's Mountain is abrupt, varying from 400 to 600 feet in a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, and faces a range of hills which rise more gradually to nearly the same elevation. These ranges in the southern part are known as Fox

surprising distinctness on a still night at a distance of several miles.

The land throughout the township is very rich, and fine crops of wheat, corn, oats and rye have been raised for years, both on the mountain farms and on those in the valley. It is said, indeed, that the farms on the mountain, by the gradual disintegration of the soil, are constantly becoming more productive, notwithstanding insufficient manuring. It has been thought on some hands that deposits of potter's clay, or kaolin, exist in considerable quantities in the township; in regard to which the following remarks from the geological report for 1878 on the " clay deposits " are applicable:

"Throughout much of the highlands and gneissic rock district of the State, and particularly towards the southwest, in the western portions of Morris, in Warren and Hunterdon counties, the disintegration of the strata near the surface, resulting in what is often called 'rotten rock,' is a characteristic feature in the geology of these counties. The Bethlehem clay is one of these out- crops or localities of rock, thus altered in appearance and composition. Other localities, where a little of such clay can be dug, are reported, but they have not been considered as sufficiently developed to be included in this report. That others of workable extent and of value may yet be discovered is highly probable, and care- ful researches, prudently carried forward, within the limits of the gneissic and associated outcrop of the so-called azoic formation of the State are advised."

STATISTICAL INFORMATION.

The census of the township shows comparatively slight changes in population for many years past. In the period Hill, and between them and Schooley's Mountain, is a of forty years from 1840 to 1880 the gain was only a lit- valley, which in this township is called German Valley and is about eight miles in length. Perhaps no portion of it is more beautiful than that which lies in Washing- ton; and the view to be had, especially in the summer season, in descending from Schooley's Mountain to Mid- dle or German Valley is rarely to be surpassed by ordinary landscape scenes. On the northern side of the moun- tain there is also a very fine view, looking toward the Musconetcong Valley in Warren county. The air here is very clear and pure, and the trains on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad can be heard with tle over two hundred, while in the thirty years preceding it was nearly seven hundred. This difference in the rate of increase is due in large part to the tendency in the population of rural and old settled districts to emigrate to the west and to the towns. It may be true also that the number of children in families is not as large now as formerly, although we are inclined to think that the average has changed but little, if at all. The popu- lation of the township in 18ro was 1,793; 1820, 1,876; 1830, 2,183; 1840, 2,451; 1850, 2,502; 1860, 2,504; 1870, 2,484; 1880, 2,681. The figures for the several villages

373

STATISTICS OF WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP-ANTIQUITIES.

in 1880 were as follows: German Valley, 130; Middle Valley, 60; Unionville, 57; Naughrightville, 81.

taxable property, from which there is to be deducted 576. The rate of tax for county purposes was $3.33 per $1,000; for schools, $2 per $1,000; for township pur- poses, 60 cents per $1,000; roads, $2.08 per $1,000. Total amount of taxes to be raised, $10,200.61, of which there were for expenses of the county $4,016; schools, $2,384.61; roads, $2,500; township, $1,300. The num- ber of marriages in 1878 was 13, of births 58, of deaths, 22.

According to Gordon's Gazetteer there were in the township in 1830 8 stores, 11 saw-mills, 6 grist-mills, 3 forges (?), 20 tan vats and 10 distilleries. The taxes for that year were: State $314, county $703, schools $300; total, $1,617.

In 1840, according to the " Historical Collections of New Jersey," there were in the township 17 (?) stores,

I lumber yard, I forge, 1 tannery, 4 flouring (?) mills, 6 ity to and difference from more modern conveyances in grist-mills, 8 saw and 4 oil-mills. The capital invested the language used. It reads as follows: in manufacture was $127,000.

The following list of prices, by decades, for the period 1811-51, was furnished by Judge Robertson, of Bea- tyestown, a gentleman distinguished throughout the State for the accuracy as well as the extent of his knowledge; and, although it may not be of a strictly local nature, it can hardly fail to be interesting:

18II.

[821.

1831.

1841.

1851.

Wheat

2.00

.75@.80

1.25

1.00

1.25

Rye

1.00

·35@.40

.40@.50

.50

.75

Oats

.50

.35

.25

.35

Corn .

1.00

·35@.40

.40@.50

.50

.60

Buckwheat.

.50

.35

·45@.50

.50

Day's Labor ..

.50

.75

Harvest Wages

1.50

1.25

1.50

Hay Making .. Pork

1.00

1.1272

1.25

.04@.05

.05

.06

Beef

.08@.10 .05

04@.05

.05

.07

ANTIQUITIES.

In the year 1758 an act was passed by the colonial Legislature appointing commissioners and authorizing them to buy up Indian lands and to extinguish the claim of the Indians to all lands in the province of New Jer- sey, and also to purchase a tract for a dwelling place for them.

There was formerly an Indian trail in this township, whose location is still remembered. It is said to have commenced at the falls of Lamington, at the corner of Somerset and Hunterdon counties, and run thence in nearly a straight line to the Delaware Water Gap. It crossed the south branch of the Raritan a little below the German Valley bridge. It" crossed Schooley's Moun- tain a few hundred feet west of the mineral spring. It

is said that the medicinal properties of the spring were well known to the aborigines and they frequently visited There are 20,932 acres of land in the township, accord- ing to the comptroller's report for 1880, valued at $1, 101,- 432; in 1880 the personal property was valued at $481,- it. The trail passed on to the Musconetcong, near New- burg, and thence by way of Barker's Mills in Warren county to the Water Gap. It was said to be the dividing 138, making a total of $1,582,570 assessed valuation of line between two tribes of Indians.

One of these tribes is said to have released to the com- $377,770 for debts. The number of polls in 1880 was missioners above mentioned, and to have removed to a tract of 3,044 acres purchased under the same law, for the benefit of the Indians, and called Edgepelick, in the township of Evesham and county of Burlington. Al- though local tradition makes only one of the two tribes to have released to the State, it is probable that there was little difference in the time of the surrender of both, inasmuch as a note to Allison's laws declares that the commissioners appointed by the act of 1758 "obtained releases and grants from the Indians, fully extinguishing their claims to all lands in this colony."

In the possession of Hon. H. W. Hunt of Schooley's Mountain are a number of very old and unrecorded deeds. We quote from one of these, which carries a claim of title back to 1726, and which is interesting, aside from other matters, on account both of its similar-

" This indenture, made the 23d day of April 1745, be- tween Samuel Schooley of Bethelhem in the county of Hunterdon, in the western division of the province of New Jersey, yeo., and Avis his wife, of the one part, and William Henn of Lebanon in the county of Hunterdon aforesaid, yeo., of the other part, witnesseth that the said Samuel Schooley and Avis his wife, for the consid- eration of one hundred and fifty pounds of Proclamation money to them paid by the said Wm. Henn, the re- ceipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, and thereof acquit and forever discharge the said Wm. Henn, his heirs and assigns, by these presents, have granted *

* * and * * unto the said William Henn * to bis heirs and assigns a certain messuage or tenement plantation and tract of land thereunto belonging, situate in Lebanon aforesaid; beginning at a stone set for a cor- ner, thence southwesterly by De Cow's land to a white oak tree inmarked (T S) for a corner; thence north- westerly by the land late of Thomas Stevenson and the land of Wm. Cook to a corner stake; thence easterly by the said Wm. Cook's land to a corner stone; thence northerly by the said Wm. Cook's land to a white oak tree marked for a corner; thence easterly by Honnas Rushe's land to the first mentioned corner stone, the place of beginning; containing by estimation one hundred and ninety (190) acres be the same more or less. Being the remainder of three hundred and fifty acres of land which Isaac De Cow, of the town and county of Burlington in the western division of the province of New Jersey, yeoman, by indenture of the eleventh of the month called January, anno Domini 1726, did grant unto the said Samuel Schooley, his heirs and assigns in fee. Together also with all and singular the buildings, improvements, ways, easements, woods, waters, water courses, fisheries, fowlings, hawkings, huntings, right6, liberties, privileges, hereditaments, and appurten- ances whatsoever unto the said messuage or tenement plantation, tract of land and premises hereby granted or mentioned to be granted, belonging or in any wise ap- pertaining. * cruing for the same to the chief lord of the fee thereof." * Under the yearly quit-rent ac-

374

HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.

There were several log houses in the township. One established at that place in 1746, and are mentioned is not far from William Martinas's place. Another, elsewhere in this narrative. A more extended mention of a few of these families, however, is given below : which stands just above Stephensburg, at some distance from any public road, was occupied a long time by Hetty Sullivan; and a third is on William Hann's place, also near Stephensburg. There is also across the road from the graveyard in German Valley a log house, which was occupied six or seven years ago. There is an old stone building at German Valley, said to be one of the oldest houses in the township, although it is also declared to have been erected in 1776; it is called the " fort." It was rebuilt in 1876, by Mr. Shonheit.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.