USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > History of Paterson and its environs (the silk city); historical- genealogical - biographical > Part 25
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
The first deed for property in Manchester township (besides that in- cluded in the Pacquanac Patents and Totowa) was from the Proprietors to Maryen Camblo-Marian Campbell-by her transferred to Blandina, wife of Petrus Bayard, a New York merchant, in 1697. November II, 1706, Petrus Bayard and wife conveyed this tract to George Reyerson, of Pompton, Reyer Reyerson and Francis Reyerson, of New York, for £145. This property embraced six hundred acres and was located on the Passaic river three-quarters of a mile below the Wagaraw brook. Three years later George and Francis Ryerson and Jurya Westervelt bought of the Indians 1,425 acres of land, embracing nearly the whole of the western half of Manchester and about all of the First Ward of Paterson, the Indians, however, tenderly reserving their tribal burying-place, Schichamack, or Sicomac. The grantees took out a patent for this purchase in 1717. The western part of Manchester, including Totowa, was originally patented in 1686 to George Willocks, one of the Proprietors, and was sold prior to 1710 to Anthony Brockholls, Hel- megh Roelofse and Roelef Helmeghse. This was called the Totowa patent and extended from the Passaic river back to the hills-the line of the Pac- quanac patent-and from Hamburgh avenue northwesterly three and a quar- ter miles, to about opposite the mouth of the Peckamin river. It was divided into three parcels ; the Van Houtens took No. I and bought No. 2. In 1768 the heirs of Brockholls sold No. 3, or what remained of it, to Garrebrandt Van Houten, Marte Ryerse, Holmer Van Houten and Abraham Godwin. A part of it, including the Great Falls, had been previously sold to Bastiaen Van Giesen. When Van Giesen made his will he provided for all his ten children before he thought of the Falls, and then gave them all an equal
P-13
194
PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
interest in it-for fishing, that being considered its only value at the time. Manchester has disappeared from the map of Passaic county. In 1898 the boroughs of Hawthorne and Totowa were set off from Manchester town- ship ; it lost more territory in 1901 by the formation of the boroughs of Pros- pect Park and North Haledon ; the borough of Haledon took what was left of the old township in 1908.
Some of the Acquackanonk settlers in 1711 bought of the Proprietors, for £660, a tract of 2,800 acres, extending from the Great Falls up the river to Peckamin river, and over to the summit of Garret Mountain. This pur- chase was divided into farms ten chains broad, running from the river to the mountain. This was the first settlement in the present Little Falls township. In 1732 Cornelius Board bought 157 acres near Little Falls, extending half a mile along the river, not unlikely with a view to building a mill. He re- mained there only four or five years, when he removed to Ringwood. Evart Van Ness settled in Little Falls early in its history. John Brower had a saw-mill, and David Brower a grist-mill, at Browertown, on the Peckamin river, as long ago as 1767, and Isaac Riker seems to have been in the tavern business in the same year. The first mill at the Little Falls was owned by Captain James Gray, in 1772. He had a foundry and mill where the mills of the Beattie Manufacturing Company now stand, and he had dammed the river where its current is still checked. And, to preserve the parallel still further, the Legislature of 1772 passed an act for lowering his dam, the pro- visions being almost precisely the same as those enacted by the Legislature of 1872, the object in both cases being to put a stop to the flooding of extensive areas of land above the dam. But Legislatures come and go, but the dam seems to remain. The Dey family, settling opposite Little Falls, acquired great property and had one or two saw-mills and grist-mills at the cataract. The Cranes came about 1760 and Hendrick Francisco was an old settler in 1772. Hendrick Messeke and Peter Sandford were there in 1775 and the Spiers came up from Acquackanonk through the Notch and settled in the valley below the Falls. Prior to 1797 only farm-roads and wood-roads led from Paterson to Little Falls on the south side of the river. In that year Stony Road was laid out; for forty years it was the most direct route to Browertown and Little Falls. The township lost some of its territory in 1914 when the borough of West Paterson was created.
The settlement of Pompton and West Milford townships was mainly due to one cause, their mineral resources. As long ago as 1718, one Joseph Kirkbride bought 625 acres in the upper part of Pompton township, but it is not certain where or when he settled, if indeed he ever took up his residence there. In 1736 Cornelius Board and Thomas Ward, then of Little Falls, bought a hundred acres at Ringwood and a hundred more at a place called by the Indians Taughpomapack, which may be the Indian name for Sheppard pond. In 1737 Board bought three hundred acres more at Ringwood and in 1740 another hundred acres. These purchases were made with a view to the mineral wealth hidden in the earth and great care was exercised in pick- ing out the land, lots of a few acres being taken up at various points. The
195
PASSAIC COUNTY
earliest reference to iron works in Passaic county is in 1737, when the "Busseton forge" is spoken of, "by Ringwood cold spring." It is evident that the Ringwood mines were well known by this time, for in 1740 the "old road" from Ringwood to Wanocquam Plains was altered, and several fami- lies were living between Wanaque and Ringwood, among them Conrad Line, Philip Tyce, John Garrison, Peter Post, James Johnson-family names still familiar in that region. A number of the Ogdens, of Newark, were probably the first to engage extensively in mining operations at Ringwood. In 1740 they constituted the "Ringwood Company," and as such bought sixteen acres at Ringwood from Board, for £63. They carried on operations until 1764- with what success is not known-when they sold their property, including a furnace, to Peter Hasenclever, for £5,000. The same year Hasenclever bought two other tracts in the vicinity, and the year following he added 10,000 acres, three miles from Ringwood, paying therefor £3,000. Some time before this there were furnaces or forges, or both, at Pompton village, Ringwood, Long Pond and Charlotteburg-the works at Pompton owned by the Schuylers or the Ryersons, and the others by the Ringwood Company. Hasenclever was the agent of a new company called "The London Com- pany." He was of German birth, but for many years had resided in Portu- gal. One day he conceived what he believed to be a brilliant idea : it was running a line of vessels from Europe to America. The vessels were to be laden with beads, dolls and all kinds of gimcracks in Portugal; this cargo was to be exchanged in the West Indies for fruits indigenous to the soil and these fruits were to be sold in New York, where the vessels were to be laden with iron, the latter to be returned to Portugal. Hasenclever could not con- vince the Portuguese of the brilliancy of his idea, but he had better success in London. But he had difficulty in inducing Englishmen to come to this country to be employed by a mining company ; he accordingly returned to his native home and there gathered together a number of German Catholics who were willing to take their chances under his leadership. The descend- ants of these early immigrants-the Sehulsters, Marions, Mabeys, etc .- are still numerous in West Milford. Retaining a deep love for the form of wor- ship to which they had been accustomed, they organized a church, which for nearly half a century was the only one of that denomination in New Jersey, it being ministered unto by a stray missionary priest occasionally from New York. The vessels in charge of Hasenclever made several trips over their triangular course, but the more miles they covered the greater grew the figures on the wrong side of the ledger of the London Company. The stock- holders accordingly determined on a change of management and entrusted the enterprise to John Jacob Faesch, another German. What little appears in the newspapers of the day relative to the change in management is about the beauty and engaging manners of Mrs. Faesch ; very little is known about the work done by Faesch. The next manager was Robert Erskine, a man of great intelligence, as may be judged from the fact that he actually made money for the stockholders of the London Company. He came to this coun- try about 1770 or 1771. He inventoried the company's personal property at
196
PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
£30,000, and said that the annual circulation of cash and supplies was from £20,000 to £ 30,000, while he had under him 500 or 600 men-clerks, over- seers, forgemen, founders, colliers, wood-cutters, carters and laborers. At that time American manufactures were prohibited in England and the Lon- don company could merely make its iron into pigs and blooms; these were transported over wretched rods, through Paterson, to Acquackanonk Land- ing, below Dundee dam, there loaded on sloops and carried to New York, whence they were shipped to England. Of the career of Robert Erskine, and his services to this country during the Revolution, more will be found on another page of this work, in the last chapter devoted to Passaic County in the Revolutionary War. The boundaries of West Milford township are the same as they were originally laid down, but Pompton township has been removed from the maps of Passaic county. It was the first to yield territory to the movement for the creation of the borough form of government, Pomp- ton Lakes borough being created in 1895. In 1819 the boroughs of Ring- wood, Bloomingdale and Wanaque divided up what was left of the territory of the former township.
The name of another township, the most famous of them all, is no longer seen on maps of Passaic county. As noted above, Passaic City was carved out of the domain of Acquackanonk and the rest of the township was changed into Clifton City in 1917.
The civil list of Passaic county, as far as the prominent offices are con- cerned, is as follows :
Law Judges-1871, John S. Barkalow; 1882, Absolom B. Woodruff ; 1887, John Hopper ; 1897, John S. Barkalow; 1902, Francis Scott; 1912, William Hughes ; 1913, Abram Klenert; 1917, William W. Watson.
Lay Judges-1837, Cornelius G. Van Riper, Nathaniel Board, Horatio Moses, Abraham Ryerson, Cornelius C. Blauvelt, John S. Van Winkle, John R. Spear, Lambert Sythoff, Evert H. Van Ness; 1838, David Burnett, Cor- nelius Van Wagoner, Samuel Van Saun; 1839, Nicholas Smith, George W. Colfax, Isaac P. Cooley ; 1840, David H. Reeve; 1841, John Parke; 1842, Cornelius G. Van Riper, Horatio Moses, Cornelius C. Blauvelt, John S. Van Winkle, John R. Speer, Abraham Ryerson, Evert H. Van Ness, Lambert Sythoff ; 1843, David Burnett, George A. Ryerson, John K. Flood, Benjamin Sandford, Thomas Gould, Cornelius I. Westervelt, Henry Whitely, Melanc- thon S. Wickware, Benjamin N. Cleveland, Ebenezer Cobb, Jacob Van Hou- ten ; 1844, Cornelius I. Van Wagoner, Jacob Berdan, Benjamin Geroe, Henry Schoonmaker ; 1845, Peter P. Brown; 1846, Robert Morrell; 1847, David Burnett, Cornelius G. Van Riper ; 1848, Nicholas R. Terhune; 1849, George A. Ryerson, Samuel A. Van Saun; 1850, Peter P. Brown; 1851, Peregrine Sandford; 1852, Henry P. Simmons; 1853, Henry Coddington; 1854, Gil- bert M. Cooper ; 1856, Peregrine Sandford; 1857, Benjamin N. Cleveland ; 1858, Henry Coddington; 1859, Benjamin Geroe; 1862, Martin Canavan, Benjamin N. Cleveland; 1863, Patrick Agnew; 1864, Peregrine Sandford; 1865, Bernard O'Neill ; 1866, Garret Van Wagoner ; 1867, John N. Terhune ; 1868, John R. Daggers ; 1869, Peregrine Sandford ; 1872, John N. Terhune; 1873, Joseph R. Baldwin ; 1875, Peregrine Sandford; 1876, Peregrine Sand- ford ; 1877, John R. Daggers ; 1878, Henry P. Simmons ; 1883, James Inglis, Jr .; 1884, John Sanderson; 1889, John J. Warren; 1891, Alfred A. Van
197
PASSAIC COUNTY
Hovenberg; 1093, James Inglis, Jr. While Judges Hovenberg and Inglis were on the bench the Legislature abolished the office of lay judge.
County Clerks-1837, Peregrine Sandford, George A. Ryerson ; 1842, John Keenan ; 1852, Silas D. Canfield; 1861, Thomas D. Hoxsey ; 1866, Ben- jamin W. Hoxsey ; 1871, Jacob H. Blauvelt ; 1882, William M. Smith ; 1893, Albert D. Winfield; 1901, John J. Slater. In 1907 the Legislature created the office of Register of Deeds and Mortgages and Richard Cogan was elected ; he was followed five years later by John R. Morris, the incumbent.
Sheriffs-1837, Rynier S. Speer; 1840, Isaac B. Venderbekc; 1843, Moses DeWitt; 1844, Nathaniel Lane; 1845, William Masters; 1848, Na- thaniel Lane ; 1851, William S. Hogencamp ; 1854, William H. Quackenbush ; 1857, Richard B. Chiswell; 1860, William Douglas; 1863, Nathaniel Town- send ; 1872, John Allen ; 1875, James Blundell; 1878, Albert A. Van Voor- hies; 1881, Winfield S. Cox; 1884, James W. McKee; 1887, Cornelius A. Cadmus; 1890, Richard Rossiter; 1893, James Johnston; 1896, Joseph H. Quackenbush; 1897, William A. Hopson, Peter H. Hopper ; 1901, John W. Sturr; 1904, Charles A. Bergen; 1907, Frank J. Van Noordt; 1910, John Rancier ; 1913, Amos H. Radcliffe ; 1916, William B. Birpo; 1919, John Mc- Cutcheon.
Surrogates-1837, Silas D. Canfield, Benjamin W. Vandervoort ; 1842, Charles D. Ridgway; 1845, David Burnett, John Hopper ; 1855, John M. Gould; 1860, William Gledhill; 1869, Zebulon M. Ward; 1870, Isaac Van Wagoner ; 1880, Henry McDonalds ; 1885, Charles M. King; 1910, Frederic Beggs.
County Collectors-1837, George I. Ryerson ; 1841, Cornelius G. Garri- son ; 1845, Joseph Gledhill; 1847, Cornelius G. Van Riper; 1849, William S. Hogencamp; 1851, Horatio Moses ; 1854, Garret A. Hopper ; 1855, Hal- magh Van Winkle; 1858, Joseph N. Taylor; 1864, Alexander P. Fonda ; 1867, James M. Smylie; 1870, William M. Thomson ; 1871, Harmong Hock- enberry ; 1875, William H. Hayes ; 1888, P. H. Shields; 1906, John L. Conk- lin ; 1919, George W. Botbyl.
State Council-1837, Andrew Parsons; 1839, Nathaniel Board; 1841, Silas D. Canfield ; 1842, William Dickey ; 1843, Silas D. Canfield.
State Senators-1844, Cornelius G. Garretson; 1846, Martin J. Ryer- son ; 1849. Silas D. Canfield; 1852, Thomas D. Hoxsey; 1855, Jetur R. Riggs ; 1858, Benjamin Buckley; 1867, John Hopper; 1870, Henry A. Wil- liams ; 1873, John Hopper ; 1876, Garret A. Hobart; 1883, John W. Griggs ; 1889, John Mallon; 1892; John Hinchliffe; 1895, Robert Williams; 1898, Christian Braun; 1901, Wood McKee; 1907, John Hinchliffe; 1910, John D. Prince; 1913, Peter McGinnis; 1916, Thomas F. McCran; 1919, Albin Smith.
Assemblymen-1837, Aaron S. Pennington; 1838, Henry M. Brown, Henry Doremus; 1839, Elisha F. Clark, John F. Ryerson; 1840, James Speer, John F. Ryerson; 1841, George I. Ryerson, Samuel A. Van Saun; 1842, Martin J. Ryerson, Samuel A. Van Saun; 1843, William S. Hogen- camp, Thaddeus Board ; 1844, George W. Colfax, Chileon D. DeCamp ; 1845, Chileon F. DeCamp, George W. Colfax; 1846, Abraham Prall, Henry R. Van Ness ; 1847, Henry R. Van Van Ness, John M. Demarest ; 1848, Cornelius S. Van Wagoner, Oscar Decker; 1849, Cornelius S. Van Wagoner, Thomas D. Hoxsey ; 1850, Thomas D. Hoxsey, Benjamin Geroe; 1851, Thomas D. Hoxsey, Benjamin Geroe ; 1852, Philip Rafferty, Jacob V. R. Van Blarcom, Cornelius Van Winkle; 1853, Philip Rafferty, Charles H. May, John J. Laroe; 1854, William M. Morrell, John Schoonmaker, William C. Stratton ; 1855, Benjamin Buckley, John J. Schoonmaker, Peter H. Whitenowe; 1856, Benjamin Buckley, John J. Brown, James B. Beam; 1857, Benjamin Buck-
198
PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
ley, Patrick Maginnis, Richard Van Houten; 1858, Samuel Pope, Joel M. Johnson, Richard Van Houten ; 1859, Samuel Pope, Joel M. Johnson, Isaac P. Cooley ; 1860, Samuel Pope, Socrates Tuttle, Isaac P. Cooley ; 1861, John N. Terhune, Socrates Tuttle, Chandler D. Norton; 1862, Samuel Pope, Joseph N. Taylor, Charles F. Johnson ; 1863, Aaron Kinter, Joseph N. Tay- lor, Charles F. Johnson ; 1864, Aaron Kinter, Garret Van Wagoner, Isaac D. Blauvelt; 1865, Aaron Kinter, Garret Van Wagoner, Isaac D. Blauvelt; 1866, David Henry, Joseph R. Baldwin, Edward A. Stansbury ; 1867, David Henry, Joseph R. Baldwin, Albert A. Van Voorhies; 1868, John N. Ter- hune, Garret Van Wagoner, Isaac D. Blauvelt; 1869, Hugh Reid, Henry Hobbs, Charles P. Gurnee ; 1870, John O'Brien, Charles Hemingway, Robert M. Torbet ; 1871, Henry McDanolds, Charles Hemingway, Robert M. Tor- bet ; 1872, Henry McDanolds, George Barnes, Garret A. Hobart; 1873, David Henry, John P. Zeluff, Garret A. Hobart; 1874, David Henry, John P. Zeluff, Robert M. Torbet ; 1875, John W. Griggs, John Sanderson, Joseph L. Cunningham ; 1876, John W. Griggs, John Sanderson, Joseph L. Cunning- ham; 1877, John Kennell, John O'Brien, John H. Robinson; 1878, George W. Conkling, John O'Brien, Joseph H. Robinson ; 1879, Robert A. Haley, John O'Brien, Thomas B. Vreeland; 1880, Jacob Latus, Robert B. More- head, Thomas B. Vreeland ; 1881, Robert B. Morehead, Thomas B. Vreeland, Jacob Latus ; 1882, Joseph A. Greaves, Patrick H. Shields, William F. Gas- ton; 1883, Patrick H. Shields, William F. Gaston, Thomas Flynn; 1884. Clark W. Mills, William Prall, Cornelius A. Cadmus; 1885; John Scheele, DeWitt C. Bolton, Thomas Flynn; 1886, John Scheele, DeWitt C. Bolton, George H. Low, William B. Gourley ; 1887, George H. Low, John Donohue, Robert A. Carroll, James Keyes; 1888, George Law, James Keys, James H. Rogers ; Eugene Emley ; 1889, James Keys, John I. Holt, Charles T. Wood- ward, William W. Welch; 1890, Thomas F. McCran, John King, John F. Kerr, Robert Williams; 1891, John King, John F. Kerr, Robert Williams, Richard Carroll; 1892, Thomas Flynn, James Parker, Frank Gledhill, John F. Smith ; 1893, Thomas Flynn, Frank Gledhill, John F. Smith, John I. Holt ; 1894, Thomas Flynn, John I. Holt, John McKelvey, William I. Lewis ; 1895, Samuel Frederick, James Robertson, Samuel Bullock, John King; 1896, James Robertson, Samuel Bullock, John King, Henry W. Gledhill; 1897, John King, Henry W. Gledhill, Frank Atherton, Phineas Bridge; 1898, Henry W. Gledhill, Wood McKee, John W. Sturr, John Donohue; 1899, Wood McKee, John King, John W. Sturr, Vivian M. Lewis; 1900, John King, Richard Berry, Vivian M. Lewis, Edmund G. Stalter; 1901, Vivian M. Lewis, Edmund G. Stalter, William B. Davidson, Hiram Keasler; 1902. William B. Davidson, Hiram Keasler, Edmund G. Stalter, Raymond Bogert, Frederick W. Van Blarcom; 1903, Edmund G. Stalter, Hiram Keasler, Fred- erick W. Van Blarcom, Anton L. Petterson, George H. Dalrymple; 1904, Thomas R. Layden, Ernest Shaw, George H. Dalrymple, Jacob DeLazier, Frederick W. Van Blarcom; 1905, Ernest Shaw, George F. Wright, Henry Marelli, Thomas R. Layden, George H. Dalrymple; 1906, George F. Wright, Henry Marelli, John D. Prince, Colin R. Wise, Arthur M. Smethurst; 1907, William A. Merz, Abram Glenert, Frank A. Pawelski, Henry J. Earle, John D. Van Blarcom; 1908, Amos H. Radcliffe, Samuel McCoid, William B. Burpo, John D. Prince, Henry C. Whitehead ; 1909, Amos H. Radcliffe, Wil- liam B. Burpo, Edward T. Moore, James G. Blauvelt, John D. Prince ; 1910; Amos H. Radcliffe, Thomas F. McCran, Leonard Pikaart, Edward T. Moore, Thomas R. Layden ; 1911, Thomas F. McCran, Leonard Pikaart, Arthur P. Jackson, Thomas R. Layden, Amos H. Radcliffe ; 1912, Amos H. Radcliffe, Thomas F. McCran, Leonard Pikaart, William W. Watson, George H. Ver- meulen ; 1913, Robert F. Buckley, James E. Kerwin, Robert A. Roe, James
199
PASSAIC COUNTY
Matthews, Joseph A. Delaney; 1914, William J. Barbour, George H. Dal- rymple, William Hughes, John Hunter, Edmund B. Randall; 1915, William Hughes, William J. Barbour, George H. Dalrymple, John Hunter, Edmund B. Randall; 1916, George H. Dalrymple, John Hunter, Edmund B. Randall, John H. Adamson, Josiah Dadley; 1917, George H. Dalrymple, Edmund B. Randall, Clinton D. Ackerman, Henry G. Hershfield, Frederick J. Tattersall ; 1918, Henry G. Hershfield, Frederick J. Tattersall, Thomas Foxhall, Jr., William R. Rogers, Albin Smith; 1919, Henry G. Hershfield, Frederick J. Tattersall, Thomas Foxhall, Jr., William R. Rogers, William W. Evans.
THE NATION'S WARS. CHAPTER I.
Acts of British oppression as they affected local industries-Protests at Acquackanonk and Hackensack voiced by men from Passaic County. Organization of a General Committee-Doings of the General Assembly-Beginning of the Revolution.
We hold these truths to be self-evident : That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness .- Declaration of Independence.
"Tis done! and Britain for her madness sighs- Take warning, tyrants, and henceforth be wise, If o'er mankind man gives you regal sway, Take not the rights of human kind away. When God from chaos gave this world to be, Man then he form'd, and form'd him to be free. -Freneau.
The quiet farmers of the territory now embraced within the county of Passaic were not so remote from the centres of political activity but that echoes of the stirring discussions reached them from time to time. The people of this region had cheerfully sustained their representatives in the Assembly who had voted men and money for the various expeditions against the French on the Canadian frontier, the success of which expeditions gradually led men to think that possibly the American colonies might be able to protect themselves without the aid of British soldiers. They had borne, not without murmuring, the oppressive acts of the British Parliament, whereby the cutting down of white pine trees (technically styled "mast trees") in the unenclosed lands was prohibited, thus depriving the people of a fruitful source of revenue. The men who were sinking large amounts of capital in the development of the iron industry in the Wanaque and Ring- wood valleys, at Charlottesburgh, Greenwood Lake and Sterling, felt it to be a cruel blow at their efforts when Parliament prohibited the manufacture of the iron into bar-iron or rods, and forbade the erection of slitting mills, etc., so that the mine owners would be obliged to export the iron in pigs and sows to the mother country, there to be manufactured for export to America again. These restrictive measures materially affected the shipping interests of Acquackanonk, also. In common with the residents of other parts of New Jersey, the residents in this vicinity had always been extremely jealous of their right to control their own taxes, as the Royal Governors of the Prov- ince had found to their cost, in their constant wrangles with the Assembly, to secure what they considered an "adequate revenue" for the support of the Provincial Government. As citizens of the British Empire, they had never questioned the right of the Parliament to enact laws for the regulation of trade, even by the imposition of vexatious duties. The Stamp Act of
202
PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
1765, however, was a different matter. The British Minister boldly declared that this was a revenue measure, and that it was a first step in the direction of imposing on and collecting from the American people a revenue to be applied at the discretion of the home government for the support and pro- tection of the Colonies. Although we have no account of any formal action by the people of this locality, there can be no doubt that they were as strenu- ously opposed to this important measure as were the people of Boston, New York and other places. The subsequent successive steps of the British Ministry in pursuance of the general plan for taxing the Colonies without their consent were steadily resisted by the people of Acquackanonk. When the first mutterings were heard of the approaching storm of the Revolution, 'Acquackanonk found a ready leader in Henry Garritse, who lived in the stone house at the northwest corner of the Wesel road and the cross road leading to Clifton. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Essex county (then including all of the present Essex and Union counties, and old Acquackanonk township), held at Newark, on Saturday, June II. 1774, the following action was taken :
This meeting taking into serious consideration, some late alarming measures adopted by the British Parliament, for depriving his Majesty's American subjects of their undoubted and constitutional rights and privi- leges ; and particularly, the Act for Blockading the port of Boston, which appears to them, pregnant with the most dangerous consequences to all his Majesty's Dominions in America; do unanimously resolve and agree,
I. That under the enjoyment of our constitutional privileges and im- munities, we will ever cheerfully render all due obedience to the Crown of Great Britain, as well as full faith and allegiance to his most gracious Majesty King George the Third; And do esteem a firm dependence on the Mother Country, essential to our political security and happiness.
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.