USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > History of Paterson and its environs (the silk city); historical- genealogical - biographical > Part 18
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
favorite belief that the "old people" built more substantially than do their degenerate descendants, but the facts do not warrant this faith. Stone walls laid up in clay naturally yielded to the elements soon, unless kept in con- stant repair, and none of those first houses remain to this day. In time, as the people acquired more means, and could afford it, they built their stone dwellings with the aid of mortar, sending to Albany, and later to New York or to Newark, for their lime. Several houses so built in the last century are still standing in Paterson-the Doremus house in Water street, the Van Winkle house in River street, near Mulberry, the Fairclough house in Hazel street, the Van Houten house near the West Side park, and others that will be mentioned hereafter. We may readily believe that the first houses were of but one room, with perhaps a loft, reached by a ladder. With increasing families, room after room was added, so that the prevailing style of stone houses was a long, low structure, usually about forty feet in length, and thirty feet in depth, a wide hall running through from front to rear, with two rooms on each side of the hall, and an open attic above. A broad stoop at the front door afforded a comfortable resting place, and this was sometimes expanded into a porch running along the whole front of the house, the low, projecting eaves affording a roof for this porch. The doors usually had an upper and a lower section, and the upper being open, the lower was a favorite lounging place for the young people, even as "leaning o'er the gate" is said to have taken its place in modern days. The roof sloped steeply from a very high peak, to within four or five feet of the ground, in some of the older houses, and was generally thatched with straw, until late in the last century, when shingles came more into use. Rarely, a house would be framed of oak, pinned together, with never a nail in the work, and shingled on the outside, roof and walls. But the prevalent style of architecture was the simple, unpretentious dwelling of stone, just described.
Will you step within one of those early Dutch dwellings? The good Huisvrouw will surely make you welcome, with brisk and voluble hospitality, as she chases her numerous young brood out of the way, to make room for the guest. How cool and sweet is the wide hall, with its snowy, sanded floor of great slabs, cut at the sawmill, and smoothed off by hand, with adze and plane. The dark oak beams overhead show the fine grain of the wood, as they are mellowed by age, and the flooring above gives a sense of airiness, of openness, which the later plastered ceiling will lack. On each side of the hall are two rooms, every one of them, except the kitchen, having a high, four- posted bedstead, with two down mattresses, one serving as a coverlet ; in the "best room" the bed is adorned with curtains, valance and blue-and-white counterpane, the bedding being the work of the skillful huisvrouw and her buxom dochter, whose reels and spinning wheels for wool and flax are con- spicuous in the "living room," while their loom is ever ready in an adjoining shed, or in the cellar of the house. With pride does the mother open her Kleerkist to show the piles of snowy homespun linen, fragrant with herbs, that attest the industry with which wheel and loom have been plied by busy hands, either her own or under her direction, while her girls modestly look on
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THE EARLY WHITE SETTLERS
the accumulation which has been made against the time of their setting up housekeeping for themselves, for no self-respecting Dutch girl of those days would have thought of marrying without a goodly dowry of her own making, in the shape of an ample stock of house linen. Gravely does the old lady take out and unfold the doodkleeder which she has provided for herself and her man, against the time when all other garments are to be laid aside, and they step down into the tomb, for this, also, is an indispensable provision in all well regulated households.
The floors of all the rooms are bare, of course, and white with constant scrubbing, a fashion from the Vaderland which has not been forgotten; in the best room the white boards are strewn with white sand, drawn into sym- metrical patterns. Carpets, even those made of rags by the prudent house- wife, were almost unknown until well on toward the middle of this century.
Besides the bedsteads, the furniture consists for the most part of a table and a few chairs, and perhaps a sitbank, or settle, made of maple, cherry or oak, all fashioned by the man of the house, or the neighborhood carpenter, the chairs being rush-bottomed by the women folk. As the house we are visiting is that of a farmer in ordinary circumstances, we must not expect to find such luxuries as looking-glasses or clocks. In the dwellings of the rich we might perhaps find a mirror or two, and even a tall clock, though the latter luxury was to be seen in very few dwellings until the latter part of the last century, or early in this. Pictures? There are none, save, in the best room, a coarse print of some historic or scriptural character. Stay! What is this on the wall? Ah, some ambitious maagdje, in whose bosom has lurked a vague aspiration after the beautiful, has sought expression of her ideas of art in a wonderful creation of worsted wrought upon a linen sampler, em- blazoned conspicuously with her name, age, and-prudent forethought- with a legend descriptive of the theme or scene she has attempted to depict, which else might have excited vain conjecture in the mind of the beholder.
It is very evident that the life of the house is in the kitchen. Here is where the family gathers at all times, except when in bed. The feature of this room is the fireplace, big enough to roast an ox whole. A wooden bench is fixed at each end, for the old grootvader and grootmoeder. Brightly- polished brass andirons bear the huge logs, that blaze away by night, when they give forth all the heat and light in the room. Across the cavernous space stretches a stout iron bar, from which hang the trammels, holding the great iron pots, griddles, kettles and other paraphernalia of the cooking constantly going on. On special occasions there is called into use the Dutch oven, for roasting some particular dainty, such as a pig or a turkey. Bread and pies are baked in the brick oven, built against the outside wall of the house, with a door opening into the kitchen. In this oven a fire is built of wood, and after it has thoroughly heated the interior, it is carefully drawn out, the floor swept up, and the bread or pies introduced on a long shovel, and set on the hot brick or stone floor, and the door being closed, in due time the savory viands are drawn out, "done to a turn." Many a story is told to this day at the expense of some of the old Dutch housewives, who were wont
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
to utilize these ovens when not needed for baking, by carefully storing away in them sundry valuables for safekeeping, and then forgetting them when a fire was built, and so losing their precious hoardings.
Against a wall of the kitchen, or in a corner, stands the kas, with its goodly store of blue delft, its earthen platters, jugs and mugs, a few shining pewter dishes, an ear-mug or two, and perhaps a queer-shaped china teapot, china being found in few houses in those days.
Hanging upon the chimney wall is a copper warming-pan, wherewith the chill is to be taken off the bed of the feebler members of the family. In a cosy corner by the fire is the foot-stove, ready to be filled with coals from the hearth, and placed in the wagon or sled when going to church or on a journey, and a very comfortable contrivance it is. A huge Holland gun, six feet long, rests on pegs above the mantel.
Will you ascend to the attic? Perhaps there is only a ladder, for indeed the attic seems more like the loft of a stable than the upper part of a dwell- ing. It is all open, and for the most part is filled with grain and farm products for the household consumption. When the children swarm over from the rooms below, they will find accommodation here, in rude shake- downs. There are plenty of just such houses within ten miles of Paterson to-day.
Do you miss anything? What? No, there is no bathroom, nor any of the ordinary sanitary accommodations considered absolutely necessary in our modern civilization-neither inside nor outside of the house. If we are to imagine ourselves in the last century we must bear in mind that the prac- tice of frequent bathing was regarded everywhere as a sign of effeminacy, to be viewed with amazement or contempt. The only bathtub was the wash tub, and that was used sparingly for the purpose. Running water within the house was an unknown luxury. Lacking that, other conveniences depending thereon were not feasible.
Does all this interior furnishing seem to you but a pitiful exhibit? So it is, according to our modern ideas; but in those days the denizens of Old Acquackanonk were fain to be content with what they had, and to thank God for their blessings ; and men were as stalwart, and women as beautiful, as if they had every modern luxury. The farmer spent as little as possible on household plenishing. All his personal property was concentrated on his farm equipment. The furnishing of the house was usually accomplished by the wife. For example, Cornelis Doremus, who was baptized at Acquacka- nonk in 1714, and who died near Montville in 1803, was possessed of goods and chattels appraised at $419.581/2. He was 89 years old when he died, and doubtless had turned his farm over to his children, so that he retained only what he needed for his personal comfort. Here is the list of his ward- robe, etc :
24 shirts at 821/2 cents, $19.88; 5 sheets, $7; 4 pairs pillow cases, $2.121/2 ; 4 pairs trowsers, $2; I sheet, $1.371/2 ; 2 handkerchiefs, 75; 8 caps, .75; 2 pairs shoe buckles and knife, .25; 14 pairs stockings, $5.25 ; 2 pairs "Mittins," .63; I linen jacket, .50; 4 pairs breeches, $2.63; 4 waistcoats,
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$3.50; 5 coats, $4.75; I yellow coat, $5; 2 hats, .25; I pair shoes, .1212; I chest, 75; I large chair, $1.50; I chest, .1212; I pair andirons, $2; I bed and bedding. $18; 2 pocket books, .3712 ; I small trunk, .1912 ; I castor hat, .871/2 ; 3 reeds, $1.66; 1 "Quill wheal," .50.
When good old Cornelis was all dressed up to go to church, in white shirt, stockings, knee-breeches, shoe-buckles, waistcoat, coat, castor hat, with an extra cap on his venerable head, a pocketbook and a handkerchief stowed away in his capacious pockets, and a pair of mittens on his hands, his entire suit was worth just five dollars and sixty-seven and a half cents. And in all probability he was better dressed than most of his neighbors.
Now read the list of household effects of Henry Gerritse, of Wesel, as inventoried and appraised in 1809, and bear in mind that he was one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens in Old Acquackanonk :
I Eight Day Clock, $37.50; I Looking Glass, $5; I Bed and Bedding and Curtains, $40; I Desk, $7.50; I Cubboard, $5; 8 table spoons and 8 tea spoons, $10; Furniture in one Closet, $8; Furniture in another Closet, $3 ; Andirons, Shovel tongs and Bellows, $3; 16 Chairs, $6; Boles [bowls] and pictures and Candlesticks, $5; 2 Tables, $3; I Stilliards and Coffee mill, $4 ; I Lot of ladles and household furniture, $1.50; 2 pots with butter, $6; I Dresser with its furniture, $4; I Bed and furniture in a Small room, $40; pots and Kittles and Kitchen furniture, $12; I Lot of tubs and lie [lye] cask, $3; I Water pot, .50.
Here is a total of $203.50 of household furniture, out of an aggregate amount of personal property appraised at $2,170.
When poor old John Amon (of whom, more anon) was sold out, in 1812, his humble shanty at the Falls contained these articles, which fetched the prices affixed : Cot bed, $1.75; warming pan, .51 ; woolen wheel, $1.06; reel and fixtures, .62; loom, $1.31 ; warping mill, .54; lot of jugs, .18; stone "Gug," .37; bake pan, .19; lamp, .12; stove [ foot-stove], .28; table, .381/2 ; table, .901/2 ; 4 tin pans, .15; small table, .25; shovel and tongs, .53; pair andirons, $1.25 ; musket, $4.6212 ; bedstead, $1.32; mule picker, .18.
Cornelis Westervelt, of Wagaraw, one of the most substantial citizens of this vicinity, had a "vandoo," on October 3, 1814, when he disposed of the following sundries for the trifling sums named: 1 pair andirons, 4s. 6d .; brass kettle, £2, 16s .; I looking glass, 9s. 6d .; I earthen pot, 3d .; coloring tub and earthen pot, 6d .; spinning wheel, 8s. 6d .; tongs and shovel, 14s .; decanters, dishes and plates, 2s., 9d. ; 4 chairs, 9s .; dresser, Is. After his death his estate was appraised, March II, 1816, at $781.78, including the following :
One Old Cubard 4 Silver Spoons Irin for Cooky pipe, $5; two tin Dishes 2 Do Smal and Old Watch, $1.50; one Old table 3 tramels, $3 ; three Chairs and Small Stan, $1.75; one Gridel old pot and thonngs and pan, $1.62 ; two Beds one bolster and three Pillirs, $8; two Linen Sheets, $3; one Set of Old Curtains, $5; four Woolin Sheets, $8; Five Woolin Spreds and Blankets, $12; two Bed Steds, $3.
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But we have forgotten the Library. First and foremost in the eyes of the children, there are the blue and white tiles set around the fireplace, and illuminated with scenes from Bible history, which they can read as they lie prone on the floor, in the flashing and glowing firelight from the blazing logs. On a shelf near the chimney rests a huge Dutch folio Bible, printed at Amsterdam as early as 1660, in black-letter type, with a margin in smaller print, overrunning the page. Scattered throughout the volume are maps, in which all the most puzzling geographical problems of this day are happily settled offhand by the omniscient engraver : the garden of Eden, Abraham's original abiding place, and the sources of the Nile, all being carefully located, while the tower of Babel, Jonah's encounter with the whale, and other inter- esting scenes are shown forth with all the fidelity of an artist on the spot. Ah, source of never-ending delight to the little folks on long Sunday eve- nings, were those pictures which made the Bible stories seem so realistic to their impressionable minds! And the outside of that Bible is worthy of its fascinating interior : the covers of oaken boards, half an inch thick, covered with cowskin, and adorned with ornamental brass bosses and figured work on the corners, with great brass clasps to hold the sides together. The rest of the good man's library consists of a serviceable copy of the Catechism, and another of the Psalms, which in well-to-do families is supplemented by a handsome small copy of the Psalter, with a paraphrase set to music, the covers daintily beautified with silver work; these for the ladies of the family. For the rest, there may be a Commentary by some Dutch divine, but more likely a controversial pamphlet or two on the burning difficulties between the Coetus and the Conferentie; or the famous Klaagte, in which Dom. Freling- huysen took so active a part. And, of course, there is the string of almanacs, browned by smoke and age, hanging against the fireplace. What more could anybody want in the way of reading matter? Small time, indeed, is there for reading of any sort. The drudgery of the farm and house takes up the week days, and the Sundays are spent at church, or on the way to and from the protracted services.
Still, it must not be supposed that the people had no respite from their toil. They worked hard, and when their work was done they threw them- selves with good heart into their enjoyments. The great day in the calendar was New Year's Day. What a merry round of visiting, of cheery interchange of right good will, was seen on that day! What potions of cider were poured down capacious throats, and what feasts of Nieuwjaar's koekjen (New Year's cakes) were relished by the little folks as they called at every house within convenient distance. Kersdag (Christmas) was far behind in the generality of its observance.
Spring was ushered in with the joyous festival of Paas, harbinger of the ever recurring miracle of a new creation, even as it commemorated the first resurrection from the dead. What merry times then for the children, as they went about with pockets or aprons full of eggs dyed all in brilliant reds, blues or greens, and tested their relative hardness with each other! So late as 1860 Paas was probably more generally celebrated in the country round
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about Paterson than any other holiday in the year. With great readiness the custom of the country has been adopted by successive generations of working people, so that from a time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, the mills of Paterson have invariably shut down on Paas, the schools have been closed, and it has been observed as fully as a legal holiday.
Practically the same may be said of Pinkster ( Pentecost, Whitsuntide). It also has been recognized in Paterson and vicinity as a holiday, on which it would be almost unprecedented to perform ordinary labor. In former days it was celebrated very generally by parties seeking the country, espe- cially the mountain districts, in quest of the beautiful Pinkster blossoms- the mountain laurel; but the mountains have been denuded of the shrubs that once afforded such exquisite decorations, and the day is observed with the usual routine of picnics, excursions, dances and out-door games.
The Fourth of July was celebrated by a parade, in which the Cap of Liberty was borne by the oldest citizen ; the procession resorted to some con- venient grove or tavern, and there those so minded could hear the Declaration of Independence read, and listen to an address by the "orator of the day," usually the village schoolmaster, or some aspiring statesman. This, however, belongs to a later day than "Life in Old Acquackanonk."
The glories of the Fourth of July were eclipsed by the wild excitement of "Training Day," when every able-bodied citizen was required under dire penalties to turn out, fully uniformed and armed-at his own expense-for a day's drill in the art and mystery of war. The whole affair was regarded as a frolic, with the usual concomitants of refreshment stands and booths, and a general holiday for the whole populace.
Besides these regularly established days of festivity, there were the special days in the history of the family, when the Dominie made his stated call to catechise the children and to hold spiritual discourse with the elders. Then the best the house could afford was brought forth to do honor to the occasion, and the little folks were inspired alternately with emotions of fear and joy as the solemn function went on-fear of the Dominie, joy at the un- wonted abundance of good things, and dread lest there might not be enough to go 'round, or they be banished ere their turn should come. It was not customary, indeed, for the children to sit with their elders on such occasions ; if they were permitted to come to the table at all, they stood about the board, during the meal ; but in many families, if not in most, they ate in the kitchen. Spinning bees, quilting bees, corn huskings and singing school furnished many an opportunity for young and old to indulge their social bent to their heart's content.
What a vast expenditure of time and talent was there not on these festive occasions in the way of cooking in those cavernous fireplaces ? Roast pig, roast turkey, roast goose or roast chicken ; the customary snppawn gave way to the appetizing short-cake, two feet in diameter; while the children reveled in olie-koekjen, the crisp, fat kruller, and the delicious wafel. At Christmas time, of course, the toothsome deuvekatjer (a combination of dough-nut and apple) was prepared in accordance with ancient custom.
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In the early spring what rich provision there would be of choice fish that came swarming up the Passaic from the ocean. As many as a hundred fine. shad were sometimes taken at one haul of the net, below the Dundee dam. The twaalft, or striped bass, was also abundant, and even sturgeon, of a huge bigness, were frequently caught as far up as the Falls basin, there being no dams of sufficient height to deter any of these ocean fish from leaping them. In those days the shad fisheries at the Falls and at lower points along the rivers were considered worth mentioning in deeds and in wills, as we have already seen. When the shad were too abundant for immediate use they were split open, cleaned and salted down in barrels, to be eaten from time to time, broiled or smoked. And what a fine relish was the famous salmagundi-the salted shad sliced up with onions, and seasoned with vinegar and pepper.
Flesh, fowl and game were the product of the farm or the adjacent forests. The young colts and cattle were turned loose in the springtime, or driven into the wild lands and woods, where they roamed during the season and "found themselves," and in the fall the men went after them and picked out their own animals, which were identified by a private "mark," which was required to be registered with the town clerk. This mark was usually branded on the ear, or consisted of a slit or cut of a peculiar shape, and hence was called an "ear-mark." If strange horses or cattle strayed into the fields of another, the owner of the field was required to give notice to the town clerk, who straightway posted the same with a description of the ani- mal, and its "ear-marks." Here are some advertisements of comparatively recent date, taken from the Paterson town records :
A red Steer about one year old a little white under the Belley a little white on the Inside of the wright hind leg a little white on the end of the tail a kind of a fork slit in the left ear and a piece cut off the wright ear.
A Bull Believed to be one and a half years old Last Spring the coular is a redish yellow with white Spots no particular mark on the ears Paterson Decr 3rd 1831 HARTMAN C. VREELAND
STRAY CATTLE-
One red steer some white on the forehead 2 Years Coming 3 years-No Mark-
One red heifer 2 years Coming 3 years some white on her forehead and under her belly the left ear cropped and the right ear, and a square cut out of the side of the ear and a slit in the under side of the ear-taken up by me Weasel Novr 19-1835 JOHN P MERSELIS
Came into my Enclosure on or about the first day of november a pole Red Heifer about 3 Years old next Spring. Marked. the left ear cropped and a Half moon cut out of said Left Ear also the Right Horn Broken off Paterson Novbr 21st 1836 CORNS M VREELAND
The woods along the base of the Wesel mountain, and the broad spaces on top of that mountain, were favorite resorts of the cattle thus left to shift for themselves, as well as of the pigs driven into the woods in the fall, and
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left to fatten during the winter on the abundant supply of acorns. When the cattle were brought home at the approach of cold weather, there was a busy season at the "killing time," and neighbors assisted each other in slaugh- tering and dressing the beeves for the winter store of family provisions. These gatherings were made much of by the men, who, when the day's work was done, would gather in the spacious kitchen of the hospitable host, and after a substantial repast would spend a jolly evening in singing, telling stories and dancing, while the hot rum went merrily on its rounds among the assembled company.
At this season, also, the women were busy preparing for the winter, filling larder and cellar with ample supplies of eatables. What stores of mince and other pies were baked! for those sturdy old Dutch people ate mince pie for breakfast, dinner and supper, when they had it to eat. In some well-to-do families they would bake thirty or forty mince pies at one time, and even such a quantity would hardly last till Christmas. Then there were the rolletjes-chopped beef and suet, seasoned and spiced, rolled and sewed up in tripe, and boiled for twenty-four hours or longer, and served from time to time, in slices, either cold or fried. Sausages, of course. And beuling-buckwheat, with brown sugar or molasses, and spices, made into a stiff pudding, and eaten cold or fried. The pumpkin was a favorite vege- table, and was used in various dishes : pumpkin bread-the boiled pumpkin mixed with buckwheat flour and baked ; pumpkin koondjes-boiled pumpkin mixed with Indian meal and fried in small cakes.
The farmer was, in those early days, even more than now, largely inde- pendent in the matter of provender for his household. What he lacked, in the way of groceries, he brought at first from Bergen; then from Newark; and in the course of time a considerable country store was established at Acquackanonk Landing, where the docks are now located, at Passaic. This was no doubt as early as 1740, and perhaps some years before that date. There was probably another store on the Wesel road, perhaps before the Revolution ; and some account has been given in previous pages of Abraham Godwin's store at the Totowa bridge, started about 1755, for the convenience of the residents in that neighborhood, and to the north and west of that place. At these stores the farmer bought his salt, sugar, tea, coffee, heel moei stroop ("very fine molasses"), his tobacco, and other necessary supplies that he could not raise on his own land. Money was scarce, and commerce was chiefly a system of barter and exchange, the storekeeper taking farm produce, but principally wood, hoop-poles and pot and pearl ashes for his groceries. It was not uncommon for a farmer to drive ten miles with a load of cord-wood to Acquackanonk or Hackensack, to exchange it for a gallon of molasses. The storekeeper would send these bulky articles by water to New York, and there exchange them for new supplies for his store.
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