History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 108

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 108
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 108

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).

ASSESSORS.

1826-37, N. Armstrong; 1>38-40, N. Drake; 1-41, J. R. Vliet ; 1842-50, N. I make; 1851-53, S. IT. Hunt; 1854-36, II. Drake; 1837-60, W. Shiner : 1861-62, T. F. Ilunt : 1663-66, Samuel Hill; 1867-69, J. H. Ayers ; 1870-75, S. Lawrence; 1476, J. H. Ayers ; 1-77, S. Lawrence ; 1878-79, Saomel Ilill; 1880, I. C. Snook.

COLLECTORS.

1820-27, F. Buchner ; 1828-29, P. B. Primrose ; 1830-33, O. Wilson; 1-34, T. H. Cansk : 1835, .I. R Vliet; 1836-41, T. II. Cook ; 1845-48, A. K. Stinson; 1849, W. S Bennett ; 1×56-54, George B. Drake : 1×51-56, Job Decker: INI, George B. Drake ; 1&14-61, T. T. Couk ; I201, A. K. Stinson : 1863-65, J. J. Decker ; 1866-67, C. VAss ; 1868-70. Samuel 11. Hunt; 1>71-75, J. J. Decker: 1876, Satunel Hill ; 1877-7-, R. Van Syckle ; 1879-80, O. O. Wills to.

FREEHOLDERS.

1825-27, William Green, Elijah Everitt, M.D .; 1828, William Green, Thomas P. Runt; 1829-30, William Green, Frederick Buchner ; 1831, Andrew Shiner, Frederick Buchner ; 1:32, Thomas Egbert, Elijah Everitt, M.D. : 1×33, Thomas Egbert, John Drake; 1:34, Sam- uel Hill, John Drake; 1835-39, Sanmiel Ilill, William Sharp; 1840, ADIOS HI. Kennedy, Joseph Slater; 1841, Aaron N. Decker, Lewis Freeman ; 1842, Isaac Shiner, Lowis Freeman ; 1843-44, Isanc ShIner, Joseph Slater; 1845-47, Isaac Shiner, John Bardin; 1848, Joseph Slater, Freeman C. Clawson ; 1819-53, Isaac Shiner, John llardin ; 1×54, Isaac Shiner, James B. Titman ; 1855-50, Lewis Wilson, James D. Titmon ; 1857-58, John Kelsey, Isaac C. Snook ; 1859-60, George D. Drake, Isaac C. Snook: 1861, John Kelsey, Hezekiah Drake; 1x62, John Kelsey, David L. Junt ; 1863, George Greer, David L. Tunt; 1864-65, George Greer, William Chandler; 1866-67, Davil Emmons, William Chandler ; 1868, Job J. Decker, David Emmons ; 1869-70, Job J. Decker, George B. Drake; 1871, Theodore Longcor, George B. Drake ; 1872-733, Theodora Longcor, Andrew F. Vass ; 18;4, Juhın Wolfe, Andrew F. Vass; 1875, John Wolfe, George B. Drake; 1876, Isaac C. Suook, Hezekiah Drake; 1877, Sylvester J. Hardin, Ralph Dildine; 1878, Sylvester J. llardlin, Philip R. Hardin ; 1x79-80, Samuel II. Hnut, Theodore F. Youngs.

IV .- SCHOOLS.

Henry Hart, living now in Andover, recolleets at- tending school in Tranquillity District in 1815, in a log school-house, which was then an antiquated affair. The teacher in 1815 was Archibald Warden, who had been there some years. In 1830 a framed school-house was built, and in 1878 the present house replaced it. The trustees for 1880 were Marshal Banghart, A. B. Runyon, and Hezekiah Drake. The total amount provided annually for the support of the school is $650. The value of the school property is $750. The enrollment of school children in the district is 51, and the average attendance thereof about 26.

In 1820 school was taught at Greensville, in a por- tion of William Green's store, by a young man named Atkinson. In 1824 there was a log school- house, in which the teacher that year was Alexander Boyles, afterwards sheriff and State senator of Sus-

430

SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

sex County. The third school-house was a stone structure that stood just beyond the village. It was built in 1832, and is still there, although in disuse. In 1866 the district joined the Methodists and Pres- byterians in the erection of the Greensville Union Chapel, and in that building school has been held since that date.

School was kept in 1813 in a log cabin about half a mile south of Greenville by Betty Willson, a Quaker- ess. She taught there a couple of years, and achieved a reputation not only for learning, but for the excel- lent management of her pupils. Andrew Shiner, now living in Newton, says he was one of Betty Willson's scholars in 1813, and well remembers how Betty used to make the scholars piece bedquilts and busy them- selves with kindred industries during odd hours sim- ply to keep them out of mischief. Mr. Shiner recalls the fact that he used to do a good deal of bedquilt piecing under Betty's eagle-eyed instruction.

The total amount received from all sources during 1879 for the support of the Greenville district school was $300. The value of the school property is $700. In the district 45 school children are enrolled, and of these the average attendance is 25. The trus- tees for 1880 were William H. Labarre, Charles Stackhouse, and Anthony Longcor.

The first school held in the township was doubtless tanght at or near Huntsville, for there the town re- ceived its first settlers. Nothing definite can be gleaned, however, touching early school history in this locality. The stone school-house standing near Theodore Young's residence was built about 1835, but was abandoned in 1865, when the present fine brick house was erected. In that house the first teacher was Annie Willson. The district trustees for 1880 were Theodore, F. Young, I. A. Straley, and James Hardin. The enrollment is 50, and the aver- age attendance 30. The school property is valued at $2500.

Touching the Huntsville District, it is said that in 1790 a log school-house stood in the forks of the road just northwest from Huntsville. Samuel H. Hunt says he has heard his mother relate that she went to school there in 1790 to a teacher by the name of Burton, and that among the school children were those of the Harts, McGowns, Buchners, Youngs, and Reeds. Anent the reminiscences of that school, Mr. Hunt remembers that his mother told him of one of the boys who was nicknamed "the blackbird" because of his most extraordinary passion for sing- ing, in and out of season, and during every moment he could spare from sleeping and eating.

In the Washington District there was an old log school-house in 1820, on the Isaac Hull farm, where James Warbasse now lives. South of that there was at that time an old abandoned school-house which had evidently stood there a good many years. The trustees of Washington District for 1880 were William C. Gray, M. T. Hlibler, and D. R. Warbasse. The

brick school-house now in use was built in 1873, and is valued at $2000.

North of Washington District, a school was taught in the Willson neighborhood in 1830 by Richard Allen, whose temple of learning was a log cabin. He remained but a short time. Euphemia Hank- inson succeeded him, and during her reign an effort was made towards the building of a new school- house. Nathan Armstrong took charge of the sub- scription-paper, but unhappily lost it. When it was found the popular desire for a school-house had sub- sided, and the project came to naught. The people of that neighborhood are now attached to Fredon School District, in Stillwater.

V .- RELIGIOUS.

TRANQUILLITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Green has never boasted a very extraordinary sup- ply of churches or church organizations. One edifice is all the town now has, and all it has ever had, aside from the union chapel at Greensville, used conjointly by the district for a school-house and citizens as a place of religious worship. Until 1828, indeed, when the Tranquillity Methodist Episcopal church was built, there had been no house of worship in Green. The people living in the southern portion of the town- ship attended church at the Yellow Frame or the Friends' meeting-honse, just over the line, in Warren County, while those abiding farther northward found church-going to Newton a convenient journey. There was therefore no very strong occasion for church organization at home.

Before 1828 the Methodists of Southern Green and near by in Warren County used to assemble for re- ligious worship at the residence of Mr. Shotwell and Dunham Rose. By and by the Methodists and Pres- byterians agreed to build a house of worship in con- junction, and the result was the erection, in 1828, of Tranquillity meeting-house,-so called, perhaps, from the fraternizing of the two denominations. The Methodists were organized before that date, but the Presbyterians who worshiped there were members of the Yellow Frame. In 1866 they transferred their place of worship to the Greensville union chapel.

Joseph Ayers, now the oldest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Tranquillity, joined the class in 1837, and remembers that the leading adherents of the organization then were Mrs. William B. Snyder, Mrs. A. B. Snyder, Dunham Rose, John B. Van Syckle and wife, John C. Potter and wife, Robert Steele and wife, Jefferson Kennedy, Sarah Kennedy, Shafer Kennedy, Mrs. Margaret Redding, Freeman Clausen, Caroline Armstrong, Ebenezer Drake and wife, Amos H. Kennedy, Jonathan Shot- well and wife, Mrs. Till, Adam Dunham and wife, Phoebe Ilibler, William Hibler and wife. The church edifice was rebuilt in 1868 at a cost of several thou- sand dollars, and now ranks among the most commo- dious of similar structures in the county.

431

GREEN.

There are now four classes, with a total membership of about 180. The leaders are Hezekiah Drake, Alex- ander B. Runyon, Thompson Mains, and Joseph Ayers. The trustees are William HI. Hart, E. V. Kennedy, Phineas Drake, Jacob Vreeling, James Shotwell, Alexander B. Runyon, Joseph Ayers, and Thomas Longcor. Rev. Jolin O. Winner is the preacher in charge.

GREENSVILLE UNION CHAPEL.

The union chapel, built in 1866 by the Greensville School District and members of the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations, cost about $3500. The second story is used as a district school and the lower floor for religious meetings, the pastors of the Yellow Frame and Tranquillity Churches officiating for the respective denominations. The trustees are Casper Shafer, Obed O. Willson, and William H1. Labarre.

VI .- THE DARK MOON BURYING-GROUND.

The old Dark Moon burying-ground, now a wil- derness of brambles, bushes, weeds, and broken head- stones, lies on the road between Johnsonsburg and tireensville, on the line between Green township and Warren County, just south of the site of the old Dark Moon Tavern, from whose designation it probably took its name. But few of the old-time headstone inscriptions are legible. Some of the most aged are here reproduced as follows :

" Here lies the body of Anno Reeder, the - of Benjamin Reeder, who departed this life in the 25th year of her age, June 25, 1769."

" Mary, daughter of John and Anne Wright, aged 17 years. Died July 9, 179].

" In faith she died, In dust she lies, But fuith foresces that dust shall rise When Jesus calls, while hope illumes And bonsls her joy among the tombs."

"Thomas Allun, died 27th January, 1796, eged 65 years."

" Anna Hunt, wife of Abram Hunt, died Nov. 16, 1796, aged 26 years, 9 manths, and 20 days. Mourn not, dear friends, for me. For why? My ruce is run because it is the will of God. So let His will be done.". " M. Luse, diud February 8, 1796.

" My race is run, My time is spent : No mortel soul Can denth prevent."

" John Wright, diedl 1597."

" Moses llazen, died October 11, 1799, aged 23 years."

" In memory of Isaac Lanning, Sr., elder of Hardwick church, died August 30, 1811, in the 84th year of his age."

VII .- VILLAGES. HUNTSVILLE.

The village now known as Huntsville was settled as early as 1750, and perhaps before that, but just when cannot be ascertained. It was in 1750 that Thomas Woolverton located on the site of Huntsville and built a stone tavern, in which the County Court was held in 1756. The deed" for that property set forth under date of Sept. 3, 1750, that "Samuel Green, yeoman, of Hardwick, Morris Co., transferred to Thomas Woolverton, shopkeeper, of Bethlehem, Hun- terdon Co., 91 acres of land to be taken up and sur-

veyed in any part of the western part of New Jersey not yet taken up and surveyed." There seems no reasonable doubt that Woolverton selected the 91 acres at and near the site of Huntsville, for in 1753 he was licensed to keep tavern, and in 1756 court was held there, as already observed.

The court records testify that upon the assembling of the court at Woolverton's, in February, 1756, the grand jurors were present, but "by reason of trouble- some times with the Indians" they were not sworn. In May, 1756, the condition of affairs was similarly alarming, and for the same reason the grand inquest was passed over.

Woolverton's property included a mill-site on the Pequest, and there he erected a log saw-mill and grist- mill, as well as a forge, for which latter ore was oh- tained at the Andover Mine. Tradition says the forge was a failure as a business undertaking, and proved from the outset a losing venture. It was commonly known as Bango Forge (but why " Bango" no one can now say), and in illustration of the poor fortune that attended it people thereabouts used to say that when the hammer was doing its work it cried continually, "Come, penny; go, pound," as if to appeal for an influx of profit that never wouhl come. After satis- fying himself thoroughly that the forge could not be made to pay, Woolverton gave it up.

How long Woolverton lived at the place, or what the locality was called during his time, is a question that cannot be answered. Before long, however, he sold the mill property to Nathaniel Pettit, from whom the hamlet took the name of P'ettit's Mills. Pettit sold the property in 1792 to A. D. Woodruff for the sum of .£5, and from Woodruff in turn it passed to the possession of Joseph Gaston, who built the pres- ent grist-mill. At his death the mill property passed into the hands of his son-in-law, Dr. Elijah Everett, and Gaston's homestead farm to his other son-in-law, the Rev. John Boyd. This farm was about five miles northwest from the mills, and is owned and occupied by William C. Rory. Upon the death of Dr. Everett, Judge Abram Hunt became the owner of the mill, and from that time forward the village was known as Huntsville, instead of Pettit's Mills.

Judge Hunt had been keeping a store at Pettit's Mills for many years before that,-perhaps as early as 1800; and before that time, even, tradition says a store was kept there, but by whom is not known. Hunt's store stood upon the site of Lewis Willson's storehouse, which latter is said to contain a portion of the old Hunt building. The storehouse was badly built, and the walls were removed and the stone was used for other buildings. Judge Hunt died at Hunts- ville, in 18-45, at the age of eighty.

In the early days there was a yellow-ware pottery at Pettit's Mills, but who was the proprietor is not known.

The road through Pettit's Mills was a direct high- way to Newark and New York, and was a much-

. Now In the possession of S. H. Hunt, Ex, of Green.

432

SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

traveled thoroughfare, especially for freight-wagons conveying supplies towards New York. Woolverton and his stone tavern passed out of existence at a re- mote period, for even the oldest of present inhabit- ants in that neighborhood possess but vague remem- brances of having been told once upon a time of the existence of a tradition saying that Thomas Woolver- ton kept tavern at Pettit's Mills "a long while ago." Judge Hunt's was the only house (after Woolverton) that was regarded as a stopping-place for travelers passing through Huntsville, although he protested against the imputation that he kept a tavern. I. A. Straley, now the oldest inhabitant,-that is, the person longest resident-of Huntsville, came to the place in 1846 and bought the blacksmithing business then carried on by Delancey McConnell. J. & S. Hill were keeping store at that time in the old Hunt build- ing, and Titman & Kelsey a store in Macksville (as the locality just across the Pequest was called).

In 1851, Lewis Willson, having bought the mill property at Huntsville, took possession of it, and has been the mill proprietor ever since.

In 1855, Lewis and Obed O. Willson engaged in mercantile trade, and at the end of six years Obed re- tired. Lewis carried on the business after that on his own account until 1875, when he gave it up. Since then Huntsville has been without a store.

A post-office was established at Huntsville about 1840, as a point on the route from Newton to places in Warren County, but after a while the office was discontinued. In 1865 it was revived, with Lewis Willson as postmaster. In 1879 he retired in favor of Isaac A. Straley, the present incumbent.

There is at Huntsville an old cemetery, but not much can be related concerning the earliest interments there, since the oldest graves appear to have been un- marked by headstones. The oldest one to be found there now bears date 1780, and stands in remembrance of a member of the Buchner family. The burial- ground was doubtless laid out years before the com- mencement of the Revolutionary war, for there were settlers in that vicinity about 1750.

Huntsville is now but a quiet hamlet, boasting a mill, a saw-mill, a blacksmith-shop, a wheelwright's shop, and perhaps a dozen dwellings.

GREENSVILLE.

The founder of Greensville, and the man after whom Green township was named, was Ephraim Green, whose ancestors came to America in the famous ship "Caledonia."

Mr. Green was a Quaker, and settled at Greensville, within hail of the Quaker colony in Warren County,* but when his settlement was effected at the point named is now altogether a matter of conjecture, for none of his descendants can be found in Green town-

ship. That he settled there before the opening of the Revolution is certain, inasmuch as it is of record that during that conflict he carried on a tannery at Greens- ville and manufactured shoes for the use of soldiers in the Continental army.

Samuel Dildine, one of Green's journeyman shoe- makers, and the owner of land also in Green township, lived to be a very old man, and is yet remembered by a few of the dwellers in the township. He belonged to the militia, and, telling once how he and other militiamen were sent out to chase Moody the Tory, said that all hands stopped en route to decorate their hats with sprigs of pine; so that by those tokens each would know the other, and in case of a scrimmage with the enemy there would be no mistaking friend for foe.

Ephraim Green had a strong fancy for making cranberry-wine, and devoted much time and attention to the cultivation of the berry, at which business he was eminently successful. Green was not only tanner, shoemaker, and farmer, but Quaker preacher as well, and, it is said, held forth frequently and with remark- able vigor at the Friend's Meeting south of Greens- ville, in the Quaker settlement. He was exceedingly fond of delivering a discourse that he entitled "The Wallet." The moral philosophy he sought to ex- pound in the course of that sermon was that many people were prone to put their sins into the dark parts of their wallets, and the sins of their neighbors into such portions as readily disclosed them to sight. His admonition to all such persons was that they should change the order of things once in a while, and by exposing their own sins to the light of discovery con- vince themselves that they were sadly in need of re- formation. His language was plain but forcible, and never failed to impress itself as the outpouring of a sincere conviction.

One of Ephraim's sons, Ephraim, Jr., was succes- sively chosen clerk and sheriff of Sussex County, and was for some time president of the Sussex Bank of Newton. Another, David, was a practicing physician and died in New York. George, another son, also a physician, lived at Belvidere. William was the only one of the sons to settle in Green. He succeeded to his father's business upon the latter's death, and added to it a store, the first in Greensville. He moved to New York, and thence to the West, where he died.

About half a mile south of Greensville one Zophar Hull had a grist-mill that must have been there some time before 1800, for in 1802, when Amos Shiner moved to Greensville, Zophar Hull's mill was called "the old mill." Hull was the monarch of that old mill until his death, about 1820, and after that the mill-wheel turned no more.

Amos Shiner, whose father, Peter Shiner, built a grist-mill at Pleasant Valley, on the Paulinskill, be- fore the Revolution, settled in Stillwater village pre- vious to 1800 and set np a blacksmith-shop there. In 1802 he sought to improve his fortunes and so moved

* Within the original Quaker settlement his near neighbor was Lundy, the ancestor of Benjamin Lundy, the noted emancipationist and editor of the Genius of Emancipation, published in Baltimore about 1825, and for a number of years afterwards.

433

GREEN.

to Greensville, where he resumed business as smithy, -the first to start in that trade at Greensville. He followed it until his death, and then his sons Isaac and Andrew continued it for several years, Mr. Shi- ner's children numbered eight, of whom the sons were Isaac, Andrew, Robert T., and Enoch T. The only one now living of the eight children is Andrew Shiner, of Newton. Enoch T. settled in Hope and died in Newark. Isaac and Robert died in Newton.

Among those who are remembered as living near the village in the early part of the nineteenth century were Jonathan Lundy, a Quaker; Alexander Redding, who served as colonel in the war of 1812; Isaac Bird,* also a soldier of the war of 1812; John Sharp, William Sharp, Benjamin Lemmens, Col. John Ogden, Enoch Thatcher, and Christopher Hibler.

J. B. Stinson, now postmaster at Greensville, came to the village first in 1824, and there found E. G. Coursen and William Green carrying on a store, tan- nery, and shoemaking-shop. William Hibler, Robert Swartz, and J. P. Stackhouse were apprentices in the shoe-shop, into which Stinson entered as a journey- man. Coursen & Green manufactured a good many pairs of boots and shoes, which they sold generally throughout the county. In 1824 they leased the tan- yard to Francis A. Stackhouse.

There was also in the village a blacksmith and wheelwright-shop driven by Amos Shiner and his two sons, Isaac and Andrew, with whom Freeman Claus- son and Daniel Freeman were apprentices. Hampton Hazen was the village tailor and Timothy H. Cook the carpenter. Some person whose name cannot now be recollected had a small shop for the manufacture of spinning-wheels, but that industry did not last very long. Timothy Cook, the carpenter, was an old resi- dent, and in 1826 built the present village tavern, of which he himself became the presiding genius. The house in which E. G. Coursen lived is now occupied as the residence of Mrs. Cornelius Hull, and, as it was old in 1824, the impression prevails that it is now not far from the age of one hundred years.

Greensville endured a licensed tavern from 1826 to 1872, and then the temperance wave swept away the business of rum-selling in the townsh p. Since that time it has never been able to regain its hold, and tavern topers have therefore been pleasantly scarce.

Among the carly storekeepers in Greensville may be named Andrew Shiner and Nathaniel Drake, the latter of whom succeeded William Green.

Green was postmaster at Greensville in 1824, and had probably occupied the office some years at that date. After the lapse of Isaac Shiner's term as post- master, the freensville post-office was discontinued. In 1870 it was revived and called " Lincoln." J. B. Stinson, who was then appointed postmaster, has held the office ever since.

HUNT'S MILLS.

Hunt's Mills (or Washington) is scarcely even a hamlet, although it is a postal station. The only business interest at that point is the mill of Joseph B. and Theodore F. Hunt. It has been in the hands of the Hunt family ever since its erection, about 1780, by Ralph Hunt, who in 1768 married Elizabeth Phil- lips and removed to the site of Hunt's Mills to take possession of property (about 325 acres) left him by his father, Samuel Hunt.

Samuel Hunt was the owner of a good deal of land in Sussex County, and on one of his excursions of inspection, accompanied by a negro servant, he was taken ill. Although not alarming at first, his illness developed fatal symptoms in a little while, and the old man knew he would have to die. It appears that he had previously been struck with the idea that the bluff overlooking the sheet of water called by the Indians am-hole, and now known as Hunt's Pond, would make a good place for a cemetery. In pursu- ance of that idea, he directed his negro man to deposit his remains on that spot ; and there they still lie. Hle died in 1752, and, as already observed, Ralph Hunt occupied the property in 1768. He devoted himself to farming until 1780, when he erected a distillery, saw-mill, and grist-mill. Some time later he added a fulling-mill and carding-machine.t His business enterprise was keen and liberal and made him known to many. He died in 1821, aged upwards of seventy, and lies now in the graveyard selected by his father, in 1752, where also many of the name rest beside him.

Although Ralph Hunt owned the mills, he always lived chiefly in Stillwater, on the stage-road between Newton and Johnsonsburg, and there kept tavern. Joseph, one of his sons, had charge of the mill busi- ness in Green, and Theophilus, another son, of a second mill, in Stillwater. These two mills and about 1600 acres of land were left by Ralph Hunt at his death.

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.

History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 108

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