History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 113

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 113
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 113

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pursuits of farm-labor wherever he could find employ- ment. He used to say that he was one of the first to strike a blow towards clearing the land upon which the village of Newton stands. In 1771 he married a daughter of Benjamin Hull, of Frankford, and bought 80 acres of wild land in the present township of Hamp- ton, that land being a portion of the farm on which his son William now lives. A squatter named John Hendershott had been living on the land bought by Morris, who, with his bride, moved into the log cabin vacated by Hendershott. Moses Morris had a family of twelve children, of whom five were boys,-Jacob, Dennis, William, John, and one who died young. The four who grew to manhood settled upon farms in Hamp- ton.

Moses Morris fought not only in the Indian war of 1759, but in the war of the Revolution, although his term of service in the latter was not extended to any great length. À propos of his capacity as a hunter, he boasted of having unaided killed forty wolves with his own hand, and to have killed sixty more with the assistance of other hunters. His success as a wolf- hunter was something remarkable, even for that day, when every man in new settlements was more or less of a hunter; and such was his fame that it traveled even beyond the borders of the county. The bounty on wolf-scalps was a neat sum, and he found the busi- ness of hunting quite as profitable as, if not more so than, farming. His wife used to scold like sin because he "idled away so much of his time in hunting," but he loved the sport and the gain thereof too much to give it up because the old lady scolded about it; and so he hunted away day after day.

Morris got so he could imitate a wolf's cry almost to the life, and by the exercise of that accomplishment he frequently drew the beasts near to his hiding-place and then easily killed them. He once chased a wolf into a creek, and, wading in after, captured him alive. Tying him securely by the feet, he dragged him home- ward, and rather startled his peaceful neighbors dur- ing the triumphal march, for they were not exactly prepared to see even Morris bearing home a live wolf in that style.

Morris was on another occasion aroused from his midnight slumbers by an outcry from his hog-pen. Hastening out with gun in hand, he found a big bear playing havoc with the swine. Opening fire upon the

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invader, he succeeded in simply diverting Bruin's attentions to himself, and in a trice the bear, with distended jaws, made wildly for Morris, as if to devour him with a single gulp. The emergency was a des- perate one, but Morris was equal to it. Acting upon an instantaneous thought, he met the onslaught boldly, rammed his rifle down the bear's throat, and pulled the trigger. This was the end of His Bearship.

Mr. Morris died in 1827, at the age of eighty-four, upon the Morris farm, in Hampton, where he had lived fifty-six years, and ten years later died his widow, at the same age. One of his nephews, Fred- erick Shoff, died in Western New York, aged one hundred and seven. Moses Morris' son William, now on the old farm, was born there in 1786, and justly lays claim to the distinction of being not only the oldest native of Hampton, but the oldest resident therein. Sarah Morris, the widow of William's brother Dennis, has reached her ninety-fifth year; her present home is Stanhope, in Byram township.

The place now known as Baleville was founded by Peter and Henry Bale shortly before 1800, but many years before that Benjamin Barton built a grist-mill close to the dam and carried it on until some little time after the outbreak of the Revolution. Barton's Toryism was too strong, however, for the patriots of the vicinity, and when matters grew too warm for him to be comfortable he closed his mill and went into hiding. While the mill was thus idle the country people used to come in with grists all the same, and each man who understood anything about milling would grind what he wanted. Those who could not manage the mill would get some more skillful neigh- bors to do the work for them. Meanwhile, Barton was afraid to look after or profit by his property, and during the war the mill was destroyed by fire, -whether by accident or design was never known. Barton was not heard of after his fight, and of course his posses- sions were confiscated. While he was conducting the mill business his house was a well-known Tory ren- dezvous, and among others who wished to find out what was going forward there was Moses Morris. Morris could not get into the room where Barton and his crew were, and in his desire to draw some of them out cried out louilly from an anteroom that he stood ready to fight the biggest man in the Tory crowd. In response to this, Barton came out armed with sword and pistol, and, offering Morris and his men drink, bade them be quiet and go home. After that Barton was threatened with violence unless he left that part of the country, and so he wisely decamped.

Peter and Henry Bale were Germans, and came to Hampton not long after the close of the Revolution- ary war. Peter set up a blacksmith-shop in the Struble neighborhood, while Henry, obtaining the old Barton mill-site, built a saw-mill near the dam. Whether he built a grist-mill there or simply put a run of stone into his saw-mill cannot be told, nor can it be told when he located there, although it seems

pretty certain that he did so before 1790, since there are account-books of date 1795 showing that he was in business there then, and showing, further, that he had kept a mill account-book there before that date. However that may be, it is known that he built, in 1800, the grist-mill now carried on by A. J. Bale, as well as a carding-mill, and a few years later a woolen- factory, in which he manufactured cloth for a wide stretch of country about, and drove for some years a remarkably brisk and profitable business.

The preserved account-books kept by Mr. Bale be- gin with the date 1795. Taking the books between that date and 1810, a list of the names of his customers will not only show that his business was considerable, but it will also show pretty nearly who were the resi- dents in what is now Hampton township between those years. The list is as follows :

John Anderson, Paul Ackerson, Robert Adams, Nathaniel Ayers, Robert Bell, Peter Britton, John Bolton, Peter Hell, Jane Barnet, James Brink, Jacob Cary, Joha Cassidy, Jr., Moses Case, William Christy, Arthur Cox, John Case. William Campbel, Isane Canan, James Cur- rent, William Cassidy, Thomas Cook, John Chamberlin, Cornelins Cox, Philip Dermer, John Dammon, John Dannes, David Hemmorve, Azariah Prake, Niel Duffy, Ira Fuller, Eli Fuller, simmons Fisher, Grant Fitch, Samuel Griggs, Jr., Abraham Gulick, Thomas Gustin, Benjamin Griggs, Daniel Griggs, John Griggs, David Hunt, Jacob Hendershott, Sr., Peter Hendershott, Sr., Benjamin Ilul, Sr., Ephi- ruim House, John Hartin, George Haggerty, Dilley Holmes, Alex- ailer Hurtin, John Hendershott, Peter Hendershott, Jr., John S. Haggerty, Capt. John Huffman, Gilbert Ingerson, tilleon Ingerson, Samuel Ingerson, James Inglish, Sammel Jones, Andrew Johnson, Heury Conse, Jr., John Couse, John Rays, Sr., David Kays, Mathais Lane, John Lenterman, Sr., Daniel Luse, Peter Lance, Jacob Lance, Sr., Mathew Little, Robert Lambart, George Marring, Jr., Jacob Morris, Sr., Hugh MeConnel, Abralium Murrit, Peter Mains, Jr., Moses Morris, Sr., John More, Moses Northrup, Abraham Norris, George Ousted, Joshuu Pridmore, Joseph Pridmore, Michel l'ough, Samuel Pettee, Henry Primrose, Charles Pemperton, Ileury Peters, John Pridmore, Benjamin Pridmore, William Phillips, James Phil- lips, Pavil Phillips, Daniel Pridmore, Samuel Price, Daniel Prid- more, Esq, Gabriel Payn, Michael Roof, Christopher Roof, Jacob Ro if, Jatnes Ryerson, Sammel Rohrabach, Benjamin Roe, Sr., Sam- nel Rawsel, William Reed, George Struble, Jr., Jacob Struder, Capt. Peter Smith, Joseph South, James Smith, Mathias Snook, Anthony Struble, John Solomon, Esq., Henry F. Smith, John A. Stoll, Samuel Sonth, Thomas South, Peter 1 .. Struble, Jacob Struble, Sr., Henry Space, Caspar Snook, John Stoll, Sr., Daniel Struble, Joseph schoolry. John Truesdell, John Tarner, Pavid Van Dorn, Esy., Simenn Vaughn, Mawnes Shaw, Jobn K. Snook, Henry Smith, Richard H. Struble, Jacob Stolt, Joseph Warbes, Philip Waldruff, Christian Wil- over, Peter Washer, William Williams, Jacob Youst, Peter Yount. James Hurt n, Henry Hand, Michael Hendershott, Joel Hutchinson, Jacob Hendershott, Jr., Joseph Bates, John Gustin, - Cholester, Muses Clark, Brice Dalrymple, James Dalrymple, Cornelius Deworv, Jaunes Fox, Elijah Griswoll, Garret Brink, Samuel Harker, David HInat, Benjamin Halsey, John Holmes, - Headley, John John- sun, Samuel Johnson, Jagger & Mattison, James Kays, Cornelius Lowry, Philip Mains, Jacob Misner. James Primrose, George Rohm. bach, Anron Rose, William Ryerson, Henry Snook, Stephen Strong, Frederick shaun. Isaac Sharp. Mark Thompson, James Truax, Henry Washer, Amo, Woolverton, Willlam Woud, Pavid Yotinan, James Haggerty, James Morrow. Peter Cause, silas Hopkins, Joseph North- rup, Patrick Haggerty, Abraham ShadIng, Leonard Struble, Gourge Stubde, Zachariah Prire, Martin Ryerson, Edmund Smth, Henry Shistar, T. Huston, Isaiah Youngs, James Hunt, Simen Howard, hum Millham. Thos, Arartrung, Hezekiah Phillips, Mark Thomp- Nn & Son, Jus Phillips, Richard Rusel, Jun. Strikland, Arthur Vanwey, Judge Bidden, Joseph Shadwell, Abraham Samb rs, Abijah Hopkins, Wilson Huffman, Jacob Huffman, David Hogy , Wm. Mat- tox, saml. Seeley, Wm. Morrow, Gr. Mori , Samt Celery, Miner Branlerlek, Ralph Hunt, Solomon Honderd k. a. se Holly, Was. ..

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From entries in Mr. Bale's books it is learned that carpenters then received as wages 12s. a day ; that corn was 5s. per bushel ; wheat, 18s. ; grinding wheat, 55s. per hundred bushels; rye, 7s. per bushel ; that Edmund South was charged $4.50 for "a pair of leather Breatches ;" that buckwheat was 6s. per bushel, and flour 26s. 6d. per hundred ; incli boards were Ss. 5d. per hundred feet; cider whisky, 6s. per gallon ; shad, 1s. 6d., and a coffin "made for Noar Ogden," 6s. Feb. 26, 1800, George Struble was charged with "two shillings, lent at the time of seeing General Washington."

Mr. Bale appears to have dealt also quite largely in " tickets in Bidde's lottery." These tickets he sold at first at 10s., but presently advanced the price to 12s.,-probably on account of the extraordinary de- mand. Charges for tobacco and mutton are frequent. A " saddel" is charged once, as is "making a sled." To one man he sold a "bool" for $15, and a haystack for $12. Pork was 6 cents per pound, and " caster hats" $6 apiece. For "boarding the taler twenty days," he charged at the rate of 1s. 4d. per day.

Judged from the fact that boots, stockings, and other supplies were kept on hand, as well as the arti- cles already enumerated, Mr. Bale must have kept a store at Baleville, although there is no telling where it was located.

Sept. 17, 1804, a record appears to the effect that Mr. Bale sent by the hands of Alexander Huston for collection two notes against William Current and David Kimble. Money with those gentlemen was probably scarce about that time, for below the record of delivery of notes appears the legend, "These notes returned to me again." Mr. Bale records further : " My youngest daughter, named Abigail Bale, died Oct. 9, 1804, my only comforter I had in this world, and a funeral sermon delivered by Mr. Fellows, Oct. 10, 1804."

Peter Bale, brother to Henry, had a blacksmith- shop in the Struble neighborhood, and afterwards one at Baleville, where Henry Bale and James Fox also had one. Henry Bale had three sons, named James, John, and Peter, who were all at one time concerned with the mill business at Baleville. James removed to Ohio, and lives there yet, aged eighty. John and Peter continued the business together for some time, when Peter, moving to Warren County, left the mill to John, who managed it until his death, in 1873. The property is now owned by his son, A. J. Bale. Of the three runs of stone put into the first grist-mill by Henry Bale, one run has been in constant use in the mill ever since.

A grist-mill was built at Pleasant Valley by Peter Shiner some time, it is supposed, during the Revolu- tion. It was on the kill, but a stone's throw below Baleville, and was always known as the "lower mill." It stood until 1870, when fire destroyed it. Of its carly history or the history of Mr. Shiner's operations there scarcely anything can be learned.

The first store kept at Baleville, aside from Henry Bale's, was opened by Benjamin Curry. When a post- office was established there it was given the name of Pleasant Valley, which it still retains. The first post- master was Robert Lewis, storekeeper.

The Strubles have been connected with the history of Hampton since 1776. In that year the great-grand- father of William P. Struble came from Morris County to Sussex, and made his home on the Allen tract, near what is now known as the W. I. Shotwell house, on Smith's Hill, in Hampton. The ruins of the old log house in which he lived are said to be yet visible. After a short stay in Hampton he moved to Pennsyl- vania, taking with him two of his sons, and in Penn- sylvania he died, at the age of one hundred. Of the seven sons he left in New Jersey, two, named Leonard and Daniel, settled on farms upon Smith's Hill. Leonard's four sons were named, Anthony, Leonard, Jr., Peter L., and Jacob. Anthony settled in Hamp- ton, where his son Leonard now lives; Leonard, Jr., in Franklin; Peter L. in Hampton, north of where Oliver Struble (his son) lives; and there too Jacob made his home. Of Daniel's sons, Peter and John died in Hampton; Richard and Henry removed to Ohio. Daniel himself moved to Franklin, and died there at the age of eighty-five. Leonard, his brother, moved to the present Oliver Struble neighborhood, about the close of the Revolutionary war. His son Peter L., who carried on the farm after his father's death, married a daughter of Jacob Lance. Of his sons, William P. and Oliver live in Hampton, and Elias in Ohio.

Benjamin Hull, whose daughter married William P. Struble, lived on the present William P. Struble place before 1800. He was a bachelor for some time after he settled, and had his sister with him as house- keeper. He married a daughter of Christopher Case, of Newton.

One of Hull's neighbors was Martin Ryerson, who dealt largely iu land and owned many acres in Hamp- ton. He was a surveyor, and in the course of his professional pursuits came frequently upon chances to speculate profitably in lands ; and these chances lie was by no means slow in improving. Martin lived a while near the present Merring place. His son David was likewise an extensive dealer in lands. IIe bought the Levison and Joy tracts for $8 per acre, and sold at from $15 to $20 per acre. On one tract he is said to have cleared $12,000.

Mathias Little was a sort of land-agent for the Ry- ersons, and lived near Benjamin Hull's. His son-in- law, John Chamberlain, built a log blacksmith-shop near there before 1800. The shop was afterwards used as a school-house.

Henry Smith came from England to Philadelphia in 1760, and engaged in the business of stock-driving. In its pursuit he and his son Henry frequently visited Sussex County, and rode many a time over Smith's Hill. His son Henry carried in a belt about his body

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the gold taken out to purchase stock, and wore his hips so sore that a hundred times he wished the devil would take the money. Henry told the present Peter Smith in after-years that when he and his father used to ride over Smith's Hill there was no house between Harelocker's, at Newton, and Hollingshead's log house, at Halsey's Corners.

During the Revolution, Henry Smith lived with his family in Morris County, and there he died. His sons Henry and Peter farmed the present county-farm in Frankford until about 1795, when they dissolved part- nership. Peter then bought of the Allen tract, for $1600, a parcel comprising 273 acres, where his son Peter lives (in Hampton). Daniel Struble had been living on the place perhaps some years. There had also been there a tenant by name Joseph South, but when and how long he lived there are questions that cannot be answered.

About the time Peter Smith bought his farm of Allen, Jacob Lance bought the place now occupied by Henry J. Griggs, and Matthias Lane a farm that took in the present site of Washingtonville. Both Lance and Lane bought their land of Allen.

Henry Smith lived a while on the Shotwell place, and ended his days in Frankford. Peter, his brother, died in Hampton in 1822. During the war of 1812, Peter Smith was a captain in the militia, and used to have company trainings at his farm. Once, when there was a call to fill a vacant majorship, the claim lay between Capt. Peter Smith and Capt. Thomas Gustin. Capt. Smith, who tipped the scales at the healthy weight of 350 pounds, concluded that he did not want to be a major, and so, in announcing that fact to Capt. Gustin, said, "I guess I'd look bet- ter on the ground than I would on a horse : you may have the majorship in welcome."

Although Capt. Peter was a staunch patriot, his brother was just as staunch a Tory, and for his pretty freely expressed convictions was carried to Morris- town and marched around the green as a show. Ile stuck to his convictions, however, and during the war of 1812 was as violent a partisan of England's king as America contained.

Jacob Lance died on his Hampton farm in 1830, and Matthias Lane about the same time. Of these names, none are now to be found in Hampton.

In 1808, Benjamin Halsey and his son-in-law, tirant Fitch, came from New York State to the place now called Washingtonville, and bought a considerable tract of meadow-land, where they un- dertook the cultivation of hemp. They opened a store the same year, and from that time forward the locality was known as Halsey's Corners, The hemp venture proved a failure, and in a little while the store was given up. Fitch moved to Newton, where he afterwards founded the New Jersey Herald. HIal- sey devoted himself to farming, and died at the Corners in 1852, at the age of eighty-nine. He was n man of note in the locality in which he lived, and

used to boast that during his long service as justice of the peace he married more than fifty couples.

The first tavern at Halsey's was opened by Grant Fitch. The tavern and smithy were afterwards ear- ried on by Alexander Drake. The stage route be- tween Jersey City and Owego passed through Halsey's Corners, and over it there was a deal of travel. The tavern at Halsey's was not, however, a stage- house, for there was one at Augusta, a few miles farther on.

Peter Case settled in 1823 on the William Snook farm. In 1827 he located at falsey's Corners. His grandfather was crier of the Sussex County court thirty years, and is said never to have missed a ses- sion. During the thirty years, he was constable fifteen years. He made a pork-barrel in 1810, and to this day that pork-barrel has been in the pos- session and use of his family, his grandson, B. S. Case, now owning it.

S. P. Case came to Halsey's in 1843, and built the present Case tavern. In 1849 he sold the property to B. T. Case, who has been the tavern landlord ever since.

James Smith and Alexander Huston lived on farms east of the Paulinskill at an early day, and Daniel Waldruff, about 1800, on the Abram Shotwell place. The farm was in the Levison traet, which contained about 1000 acres. David and Thomas Ryerson and Richard Morris bought it, and parceled it out into small farms.

In 17-19, John Henry Couse came from Germany at the age of fourteen, and, joining a German family living on Germany Flats, in Andover, worked as a farm-hand until he married. Then he settled on the place now owned by James F. Hitl, in Andover. His children were Maria, John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Eve, l'eter, and Henry. John Henry, the father, died in Frankford, and his widow in llampton, on the place now occupied by David Couse. Of his sons, John moved, in 1787, soon after his marriage, to what is now llampton, and located on a farm formerly owned by a Morris, and on which a Predmore is said to have made some improvements. There was a log house on the place, into which John moved. In 1808 he built a new house, of which a portion is now used as a resi- dence by his son David.

John Couse had nine children, - Henry, Peter, William, John, David, Catherine, Susan, Mary, and Ann. Peter settled on the Francis Northrup place in 1819, William died in Virginia, Henry died in Hampton, and John in New York State. David, who was born on the homestead in 1806, now owns it, and proudly boasts that he has not been away from it more than two weeks at a time since he was born. The only one of his sisters now living is the widow of William HI. Johnson, of Newton.

North of the Couse place in the olden days was Maj. Thoma- Gustin, who kept a store on what is now the town line. He died there, and after his

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death his family moved westward. He was a major in the militia, but his neighbor, John Conse, bore the record of having been in the Federal ranks at the battle of Germantown.

A Revolutionary soldier, by name Dermer, lived over in the northeastern corner of the town, and died there. Near him lived Moses Northrup, on the place now occupied by Richard V. Northrup. Moses erected a fulling-mill and saw-mill there, and did a thriving business some years in carding and dressing cloth. He died at Newton, in 1846, aged eighty-two.

Peter Space, a participant in the war of the Revo- lution, lived on Germany Flats before the outbreak of that conflict. He wore in his military service a broad-brimmed hat, through whose brim a bullet once made its way. The hat he clung to ever afterward, and took a vast deal of pride in directing attention to the bullet-hole. Fourteen years before his death, at the age of eighty-five, he became blind. His son Mannas was born on Germany Flats, and died there at the age of seventy-seven. Mannas had fourteen children, of whom seven were boys. The only one of the seven to locate in Hampton was William, who in 1829 came to the place he now owns. James Ryerson had been living on the place, which belonged to his father, William, who lived in Frankford.

In 1835, Adam Van Etten came from Branchville to the place now owned by his widow, and before 1835 owned by Jacob L. Drake. In 1840, Dennis Morris came from Frankford and cleared the farm now owned by his son Oliver. In the same year James Williams bought of the Strubles, and settled on the farm now occupied by Charles M. Williams. The great-grand- father of James Williams was named Mathew Wil- liams, and became conspicuous throughout the land by reason of his extreme age. He came over to America with Gen. Wolfe (after having served thirty years in the British army and navy), and fought with Wolfe at Quebec. The most of his life in America he passed in Frankford township, and, at the age of eighty-six, entering the Federal service for the Revolutionary war, fought all through that struggle. He was blind for some years before his death, which occurred in Frankford township Jan. 3, 1814, just after he had passed his one hundred and twenty-fourth birthday.

Among the early settlers in Hampton not already noticed were William Snook (on the cast side of the town), John, James, and Andrew Cassidy, the Pit- tingers, Coursens, Sherreds, Hunts, Andersons, the Griggs family, Samuel Jones, and Hiram Bell.

William Snook, now aged cighty-eight, came to Hampton from Wantage in 1825, and bought a piece of land of David Ryerson. Absalom Youngs had been living on the place and had put up a log house; but beyond that improvements were scarce. Andrew Merring bought his land of David Ryerson in 1831, and in that year moved to it. For about ten years previous to that time Robert Morris, a renter, had lived on it.

III .- TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.

Andover and Hampton townships were formed from Newton under act approved March 10, 1864. The section creating Hampton reads as follows :

" Be it enacted, etc., That all that part of the township of Newton ad- joining the lines of the townships of Green, Stillwater, Sandyston, Frankford, and Lafayette which lies northorly and westwardly of the following line-namely, beginning in the line between the townships of Green and Newton where the road leading past the residence of the late Obed Wilson crosses said line, and running thence by the line of Andover township to the Devil's Hole (so called), on or near the line be- tween the farms of William M. Babbitt and John McCarter, Jr., and from thence to the bridge ovor the stream crossing the highway near the farm-house of William M. Babbitt ; thence to a point of woods where oue fence intersects another on the farm belonging to the heirs of John A. Horton. deceased, a short distance westwardly of the mansion on suid farm ; from thence to a point in the highway leading from Newton to Washingtonvillo whore the lands of George M. Ryerson and Dennis Cochran corner upon said highway : thence along the line between their lands and following the lino of said Ryerson's land until it intersocts the said ditch made by the Panlinskill Meadow Company; thence down the said ditch to the line of Lafayette township-be, and the sante is horeby, set off into a new township, to be called the township of . Hampton.'"

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 113

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