History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 103

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140

USA > New Jersey > Sussex County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 103
USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 103

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However that may be, it is known that not far from the beginning of the nineteenth century Joseph North- rup owned considerable land in and near the village, and that at the village Northrup carried on a store, tavern, and grist-mill ; that James Ludlam had also a gri-t-mill there; that "Granny" Stewart kept tavern

* Since decensed.

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(and had been keeping it for years) ; and that there were at least four iron-forges at the place.

In 1810, Dan Hurd (always "Dan," and never " Daniel"), an iron-worker of Dover, bought of Joseph Northrup 256 acres of farming and 500 acres of tim- bered lands in and near the village of Sparta, includ- ing also the Northrup tavern stand, store, blacksmith- shop, grist-mill, and saw-mill, as well as a forge or two. Northrup then removed to Andover village, and Hurd took active possession of his Sparta property. He had then nine children, Charles, Isaac, Zenas, John, Stephen, and Pierson being the sons. Of these, only Isaac lives ; his age is eighty-six, and his home Sparta. Whitfield H. Hurd, the last son of Dan Hurd, was born in Sparta, in 1811, and lives to-day in the house that became his father's home upon his removal to Sparta, in the year named. The third of Dan Hurd's living children is Mrs. Isaac V. Coursen, of Stillwater township, now in her eightieth year. Dan Hurd's wife died in her eighty-eighth year. Longevity was the marked feature among the mem- bers of Mr. Hurd's family.

Dan Hurd carried on the Northrup tavern until 1832, and in 1835 his son Whitfield reopened and kept it seven years as a temperance house,-a novel enterprise of that time, when such a thing as a tavern without whisky was almost unheard of. In 1842 the temperance house was closed, and since then Mr. Whitfield Hurd has made it his residence.

To the time of his death, in 1835, Dan Hurd con- ducted with his sons the tavern, store, mill, and forge business, besides pushing forward a large farming in- terest. Mr. Hurd was naturally a man of mark in the community, and not only widely known, but held in high esteem by all who knew him.

James Ludlam, to whom reference has already been made, was in 1810 a man of note in Sparta; he owned a grist-mill and a forge. He had been engaged there for years in milling and forging, and was, moreover, a large landowner and farmer. He experimented to a considerable extent in growing hemp, and, although the experiment was not a conspicuous success, it re- sulted in reclaiming to the uses of agriculture large tracts of lowlands now rich with handsome farms.

In 1810, Ichabod McConnell was a blacksmith at Sparta, and in that year John Hurd set up a shop.

Stephen Hurd in that year established a store in a building near the Presbyterian church. The store of his father, Dan, stood opposite the Hurd tavern, and there the old building yet stands.

From 1825 to 1830 the Hurds were the only store- keepers in Sparta, but in the latter year James Mor- row commenced business, and after him came James McCarter.

In 1822, when Stephen Lyon came to Sparta, he found "Granny" Stewart and Dan Hurd keeping tav- erns, and Stephen IIurd, Dan IIurd, and James Lud- lam driving forges. Lewis Sherman married Stephen Ilurd's widow in after-years, and continued the forge

business. James Ludlam and Dan Hurd were the village millers, Dan Hurd and Stephen Hurd the storekeepers, and Ichabod McConnell the village blacksmith. James Ludlam had a distillery, where lie manufactured a good deal of excellent peach brandy. The iron made at the forges was carted to Rockaway, Hamburg, and New York. John Len- nington had a wheelwright-shop opposite the Pres- byterian church. This John Lennington came to Sparta in 1804 with his father, Thomas, who then bought the property now owned by Isaac Goble, and on that place carried on a distillery and forge until 1814. Thomas then sold out to James Ludlam, and in 1820 removed to Ohio with all his family except his son John. The latter apprenticed himself to learn the trade of a wheelwright, and at the age of fifteen resumed his residence in Sparta, where he lived after that until his death. For forty years he was a wheel- wright in Sparta village. In 1815 he built a residence in the village, and vowed he would never leave it alive. That vow he fulfilled. He died there in August, 1879, aged eighty-nine. He was a justice of the peace twenty-one years, and for forty-nine years a ruling elder in the Sparta Presbyterian Church.

In 1827, Robert Sinai, of New York, built a forge at the place now known as Decker's Mill, and leased it, among others, to Stephen Lyon and Joseph Young. Not long after 1830, James Decker and Lewis Sher- man bought the property, and in 1836 they took into partnership Nelson Hunt, a Vermont Yankee, who was to introduce the manufacture of iron anchors. He not only did it, but did it successfully ; and before long all the forges in that vicinity were making anchors.

In 1854, James Decker and his son James L. (now sheriff of Sussex County) built a grist-mill at that point ; James L. Decker still owns and carries on the mill. During the Rebellion he operated the forge for a time.

It is difficult to say when the Sparta post-office was established or who was the first postmaster. It is likely that there was a post-office there during Joseplı Northrup's time, and that he, being the village store- keeper, was also the postmaster. Mail was probably brought in once a week on horseback. The village was on the road between Milford and Dover, over which thoroughfare there was a good deal of travel. Those who were postmasters at Sparta after Northrup may be briefly named as Stephen Hurd, James Mor- row, John McCarter, Elias Beach, Whitfield H. Hurd, Benjamin Bradbury, Reeves Hudson, John B. Bass, and James B. Titman.

Although Dr. Hunt, of Newton, visited and pre- scribed for the ailing citizens of Sparta long before 1821, it was not until that year that the village boasted a resident physician,-Dr. Charles Vail, to wit, who came from Morristown. After a brief stay he removed to Pennsylvania, and was succeeded at Sparta by his brother William. He tarried but

GEORGE B. BEATTY.

Thomas Beaity and Margaret, his wife, paternal grandparents of George B. Beatty, early settled in An- dover township, and afterwards sold their property and removed to Ohio.

Their son, Thomas Beatty, Jr., remained in New Jersey. He was born about the year 1775. He had opportunities for obtaining only a very limited educa- tion, and early in life engaged in farming. In 1796 he married Jane Mills, who was born in 1774. Eight children were born of this marriage,-viz., Robert ; Mary, wife of Samuel Craig; John; Holloway H .; Margaret, wife of William Whitehead; Jane, wife of Andrew MeDevitt ; Elizabeth, wife of David R. Flynn ; and George B. Beatty, all of whom except George B. are now deceased.

His father, in politics, was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and in church relation was a Methodist. He was hon- ored with official position in the church, and was a liberal supporter of both church and schools. Ilis mother was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church, and trained her children in that fuith.

Thomas Bentty, Jr., died May 6, 18JO, and was buried at Sparta, N. J. His wife died June 5, 1837, from in- juries received from a fall on the ice.

George B. Beatty was born in what is now the town of Sparta, N. J., April 10, 1811. Ile had only such opportunities for education as were afforded by the common schools of that day till he attained the age of fourteen years. He was then put out to work for his brother at five dollars per month. On June 11, 1832, he married Elizabeth Stites, daughter of John and Ruth Stites, of Somerset Co., N. J., and there were born to

them six children. The first two died in infancy; the others were named Charles J., Christopher, Calvin, and Abiah. The latter died at the age of ten months. His first wife died Aug. 2, 1843; she was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His second wife was Abiah Duston, daughter of Amos and Mary Duston, whom he married Oct. 22, 1844. Iler father was a sol- dier in the Revolution, and was present at the capture of Burgoyne. Heroie blood coursed also in her mother's veins. In an emergency she not only used her musket with deadly effect against some of the treacherous red- faces who then infested this country, but took their scalps as trophies of her valor. Of this marriage there were born three children,-Eliza J., wife of Daniel K. Fisher; Sarah M., who resides with her parents ; and George B., who died at the age of three months. Soon after his first marriage he rented the farm where he now lives and assumed the support of his aged parents, and cared for them till the close of their lives. This farm he subsequently bought of Judge Morris ; it then con- sisted of two hundred and twenty neres. He has added to it by purchase till at present it exceeds four hundred acres.

Mr. Beatty has been quite actively identified with local politics, and at the close of his present term will have served twenty-five years continuously as justice of the peace He has also been called to till other minor township otlices. Ilis wife, Abiab, is a devout and earnest member of the Presbyterian Church. Although both have lived to seo threescore years and ten. they are still well preserved in body and mind, and give promise of activity and usefulness for years to come.

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briefly, and then located in Warren County. Dr. Halsey was Sparta's doctor for a number of years, and then migrated to Mississippi. About 1836, Dr. David M. Sayre came from Morris County, and after a residence in Sparta of about twenty years he re- turned to it. Daniel Stewart came from Newton to take Dr. Sayre's place, but, the latter electing to re- turn to Sparta, Stewart vacated the field; Dr. Sayre ultimately removed to Newton, where he died. Dr. llavens, now of Newton, was Sparta's next resident practitioner, and Dr. T. H. Andress, since then the village physician, came in 1865. During Dr. An- dress' time, Dr. J. B. Boss practiced in the village, and there died. Dr. B. F. Ferguson was also in the field, but only briefly.

In July, 1880, Sparta village was reported to have a population of 292. It is an attractively-situated rural village, eight miles southeast of Newton, and thirce miles south of Ogdensburg, the nearest railway station. The Wallkill River, flowing near the town, possesses there a power that is utilized by two grist- mills. The country round about is rugged, but nat- urally beautiful. The air is salubrious, and by its health-giving virtues, as well as by the pleasing prospects presented by the varied landscape of the region, many people are tempted during the summer season from even far-distant places.

OGDENSBURG.

Previous to 1848, when the New Jersey Zine Com- pany inaugurated active operations at Stirling Hill, . there was very little in the way of a village upon the present site of Ogdensburg. The beginning of min- ing operations marked also the beginning of a con- centrated settlement.

John George, who came in 1853 to take charge of the business of the zine company, then opened the first store at the embryo village, and still carries on business there. His connection with the zine company ceased only in December, 1880, when the Franklin Iron Company gained control of the for- mer corporation's interests.

The village must have been at first a sinful place, for it was christened "Sodom"-so the story goes- by dwellers in the vicinity, who looked upon it as given over in the main to the consumption of cheap whisky and the concoction of deviltry. The story goes on to say further that the name of Sodom grew extremely distasteful to the villagers, and, resolving to bear it no longer, they rechristened the place "Og- densburg," in remembrance of the Ogdens, who were among the earliest settlers near there.

When the New Jersey Midland Railroad was com- pleted to that point, Ogdensburg looked up a little and greeted its first tavern, now the Ogdensburg House. A post-office had, however, been established since 1853, and a mail-route opened to Newton. Henry Perry was the first postmaster, John M. Grey- cen the second, and John George the third.

Ogdensburg's first physician was Dr. Rogers; he remained but a few years, and was succeeded in 1874 by Dr. Condit, of Dover. The present village phys- ician is Dr. Potter.

Ogdensburg is now possessed of an alleged popula- tion of 562, of whom a considerable number are en- gaged in labor at the zinc-mines. There is an excel- lent graded school, two taverns, a church, and three stores, which latter derive a good trade from the vil- lage and surrounding agricultural district, as well as from the residents at Ogden Mine, two miles distant, where there is sometimes a population of 300 or more.

Ogdensburg is within easy communication with all points by the New Jersey Midland Railroad, and in the mild seasons of the year it receives many visitors. who come to enjoy the charoring natural view> that here meet the eye upon every hand.

IX .- MINING INTERESTS.

The mining interests of Sparta are exceedingly valuable, and in their development employ a great number of people and a vast amount of capital. The ores include zine and iron, and reach through a stretch of country whose length, breadth, thickness, or richness cannot begin to be estimated, although it has been contributing its richness to the world for upwards of a century.

ZINC ORES-STIRLING HILL MINE.

Ores of zinc in workable quantities are found in New Jersey at but two localities. Both are in Sus- sex County,-one near Ogdensburg, in Sparta, and the other at Franklin, in Hardyston.

Stirling Hill-so named because it was once the property of Lord Stirling-was purchased at sheriff's sale by Robert and Elias Ogden for .£40. In ISIS, Dr. Samuel Fowler, son-in-law to Robert Ogden, he- came the owner of the tract, which he sold in 1836, together with the mines at Franklin Furnace, to Oakes Ames and Nathaniel Witherel. Statements have been made-but how supported cannot be said -- that shafts were sunk and galleries seen in the Stirling mine as early as 1740. Dr. Samuel Fowler mined franklinite at Stirling Hill in 1830, and un- dertook experiments to smelt it into iron, but the effort failed by reason of the presence in the ore of manganese, which obstructed the fusion of other ores in combination. It is said that red oxide of zine from Stirling mine was first reduced to metal in the United States in 1835, but the process proved so ex- pensive as to discourage its continuance.

The Stirling Hill mine has its outerop on Stirling Hill, at a height of 100 feet above the valley of the Wallkill. The report of the State geologist in 1868 remarks of the mine :

" It is uncovered and explored from Its northeastern extremity in na direction south-southeast for His feet, then went-northwest about 3. fect, and then curves and ruus north. northrust 475 feet, when It pitches

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beneath the surface. The breadth of the veiu is from 4 or 5 feet in the narrowest part to 15 or 20 in the widest part."

The report goes on to say :

" The largest portion of mineral matter in the vein is a variety of cal- cite, in which the carbonate of lime is replaced by carbonate of mangan- ese. The percentage of carbonate of lime is $2.23, and of carbonate of manganese 16.57. Disseminated through this rock are the minerals which contain the zinc. The most important of these minerals are franklinite, red oxide of zinc, and willemite."

Although mining operations at Stirling Hill were pursued to some little extent at odd times up to 1848, it was not until then that anything like an urgent effort was made to bring the mine's resources into vigorous development. In that year the New Jersey Zinc Company entered actively upon the work of mining at Stirling Hill, and placed English Kimball in charge of the works. The first year there was a force of thirty men, and, as business developed, the force was strengthened. In 1853, John George was called to be the superintendent, and directed affairs until Dec. 1, 1880. Until the opening of the New Jersey Midland Railroad, in 1872, lack of transpor- tational facilities restricted the mining operations of the company. After that date the business was pushed to its fullest possible capacity.

The New Jersey Zinc Company and the Franklin Iron Company litigated in 1868 touching the right to mine in Stirling Hill ores containing iron and zinc in conjunction (one company having bought the right to iron ores, and the other the right to zinc ores), and that litigation, carried on with much industry for twelve years, at a cost of something like $1,000,000, resulted, in December, 1880, in a compromise, whereby the Franklin Iron Company came into control of the New Jersey Zinc Company's business at Stirling Hill. The company work now two shafts, respectively 75 and 325 feet deep, employ forty miners, and get out from 60 to 65 tons of ore daily, which is shipped to Newark for manufacture into paint and zinc. The yearly yield is about 20,000 tons.

The New Jersey Zinc Company sent to the World's Fair at London, from the Stirling Hill mine, a solid mass of zinc ore weighing upwards of eight tons. The value of this great zinc tract is almost incalcu- lable, and its supply practically inexhaustible.

PASSAIC ZINC COMPANY.

This corporation-an outgrowth of the New Jersey Zine Company-commenced operations at Stirling Hill in 1856, and in 1861 erected there commodious and expensive works for the crushing of ores. They mine red zine, silicate, and franklinite ores, of which the aggregate yield is 50 tons daily, or about 16,000 tons annually. Shipments are made to Jersey City, where the company's factory is located. The average number of men employed is thirty-eight. Timothy A. Marshall, the superintendent, has been in charge of the work since 1861.

The veins owned by the company are respectively 20 and 10 feet in width, the latter being, however, ex-

ceedingly irregular. The shafts are two in number, and measure respectively 200 and 100 feet in depth.

The operation of crushing the ores at Stirling Hill was continued until 1877, when it was abandoned by reason of the introduction of improved methods at the company's manufactory, looking to the achieve- ment of the same ends there.

MANGANESE IRON ORE COMPANY.

The Manganese Iron Ore Company of New York have been at work in Stirling Hill extracting frank- linite, of which they have obtained within the past four years perhaps 15,000 tons. Since October, 1880, the works have lain idle by reason of litigation, which called a temporary halt upon the company's enter- prises.

IRON ORES-THE OGDEN MINES.

About 25 miles southeast of Ogdensburg are the Ogden Iron-Mines, so called because the tract they cover once belonged to Elias Ogden, who mined there and smelted the ore in a four-fire forge.

The first of the Ogden mines worked was known as the Horseshoe mine, whose opening may yet be seen just below that of the Lehigh Valley mine. The Horseshoe is said to have been opened in 1772 by Spargo & Harvey, two enterprising Englishmen, who sent their ore over to the forges at Sparta and Hope- well. Roads were out of the question, and so the ore had to be transported on the backs of horses and mules. Of course, with such transportational facili- ties, there was not much call for a very extraordinary . production of ore, for it could not be shipped.

There was, doubtless, mining at the Ogden at irreg- ular intervals after Spargo & Harvey gave it up, but the extreme difficulty encountered in getting the ore out of that mountainous region made the process a necessarily slow and tedious one. Before 1840, Col. Edsall, of Hamburg, and Col. Samuel Fowler, of Franklin, mined some at the Horseshoe, and about that time Thomas D. Edsall got out some ore there for the Franklin Furnace. The Roberts mine was likewise opened, not far from 1840, by Clarkson Bird, and, in 1845, Mahlon Dickerson was operating in the Lehigh Valley mine with a force of about thirty men. In that year the two mines yielded about 1000 tons of ore, and that was regarded as good work.

It has been observed that early operations at the Ogden mines were restricted to a narrow volume by reason of the lack of means for transporting the ore to market after it was mined. It was evident that thic value of the mining-lands would remain largely theo- retical until some easy outlet for the material was provided. Until 1868, however, no such advantage was extended. In that year the Ogden Mine Rail- way, reaching from the Ogden mines to Nolan's Point, on Lake Hopatcong,-a distance of 10 miles,-was constructed by the Ogden Mine Railroad Company, whose projectors were largely composed of owners of the mining tracts at Ogden and of iron-works to

JUST previous to the breaking out of the Revolution- ary war Donald Ross came from the North of Scotland, bringing with him his wife and four children, and set- tled in Orange Co., N. Y. He was a direct descendant of the distinguished Crawford family, from whom Sir William Wallace was descended. He died in the town of llardyston, Sussex Co., N. J., in the year 1799, aged seventy-two years and nine months.

William Ross, eldest of his children, born in Scotland in 1758, was fifteen years old when the family came to America. Immediately after his arrival here he enlisted in the army, but was rejected on account of his youth. After two years he again offered his services, was mus- tered into the ranks, and served until the close of the war. For several years he managed a farm ut New Brunswick for Judge Morris, and about 1785 purchased of that gentleman a farm of two hundred acres in the township of llardyston, Sussex Co. During his resi- dence at New Brunswick, about the year 1800, he mar- ried Phebe Noble, of that place. The children born of this union were seven,-viz., Donald, Jacob, Isabel, Isune, John, James, and Rachel. About the year 1813 ho settled on his farm in Hardyston, where he spent the remainder of his life, and died Nov. 25, 1830; his wife died in April, 1833. llo was a member of the Presby- terian Church, but his wife affiliated with the Method- ists. In politics he belonged to the old Federalist party, but supported Andrew Jackson for the Presidency.

John, son of William, is father of our subject, and

was born Sept. 5, 1812. Until the age of seventeen he spent his time at home, where he received the limited opportunities then afforded for obtaining an education in the common schools. At that time he began learning the wagon-maker's trade, and has since carried on that business in Sparta. Ile married, in February, 1844, Ellen, daughter of William MeKinney, of Andover, N. J.

William E. Ross is their only surviving child, and was born July 18, 1845, in Sparta. He was a teacher for some two years, and in 1864 he was graduated at Bryant & Stratton's Business College in Newark, N. J. Subsequently he was engaged for three years as book- keeper at Petroleum Centre, Venango Co., Pa., and as foreman of the machine-shops in the Central Machine- Works. In 1867 he came to Newton, N. . I., und in 1868 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Sussex County, under Sheriff' Jesse Ward. lle was reappointed by Sheriff' Simonson, and served until the spring of 1871. During the yeur 1870 he served as clerk of the township of Newton, and for one year was one of the coroners of Sussex County. He Served as justice of the peace from the spring of 1871 to October, 1873, when he resigned that office; the same fall he was elected sheriff on the Democratie ticket, and in consequence of a change in the State constitution served for five consecutive years, being the only sheriff' in the State for so long a term. llis wife is Clarissa E., a daughter of Delos S. Merrick, of Nunda, N Y., whom he married lun. 1, 1577. They have one child, William E. Ross.

Those Mally

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which the mines were tributary. The railroad com- pany built, moreover, a broad and smooth roadway up the mountain-side from Ogdensburg to Ogden mine, over a streteh of 23 miles, at a cost of $24,000. The work, which was a difficult and expensive ono; was undertaken on behalf of the zinc ore companies working at Ogdensburg, that they might find im- proved transportation for their ore. The zine and iron ores were carted over the road to Ogden, and there reshipped via the railway for Nolan's Point, whence they were forwarded by the boats of the Mor- ris Canal Company to all points. The zine ore com- panies agreed to guarantee to the railroad company gains enough from their shipments to compensate for the outlay of $24,000 upon the road, and that in four years was a ratified promise. By that time the New Jersey Midland Railroad was completed to Ogdens- burg, and of course the zine companies then aban- doned the mountain-road as an outlet.

A majority of the lands now mined at Ogden are owned by the Ogden Iron Company of Dover, who lense the property to various parties.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 103

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1140

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140