History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 119

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 119
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 119

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" THOMAS GONDON, M.C."

IV .- COUNTY BUILDINGS.

Respecting the location of the public buildings of the county, the board of chosen freeholders passed the following resolution on May 16, 1825:

" Resolved, That the board of chose freeholders recommend to the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to fix upon the site for the location of the pubic buildings in and for the county of Warren, that they do fix the site at aoy place within the limits of their power, wher- ever the largest sum of money may be offered for the purpose and use of the public buildings for the county of Warren."

The commissioners -Thomas Gordon, Benjamin McCourry, and Nathaniel Saxton-met the board of chosen freeholders at the house of Joseph Norton, Esq., in Belvidere, May 17, 1825, and after due con- sultation the site was chosen for the public buildings of the county. At their meeting on the 18th the board resolved that the buildings should be of brick, and should be built upon contract for the various kinds of materials, advertisements for proposals being published for at least three weeks before the day ap- pointed to receive them in the Belvidere Apollo, the Sussex Register, and other newspapers.

At the meeting of the board May 11, 1826, meas- ures were taken to raise the necessary funds for the erection of the buildings. It was

" Resolved, That the sum of three thousand five hnodred dollars be raised in the year 1826 for the use of the public buildings, and that two thousand dollars be raised for State and county tax."

Alexander White and John Kinney were author- ized to loan the sum of fifteen hundred dollars on the credit of the county, and a committee was appointed to write to Garret D. Wall requesting him to pay his subscription of one thousand dollars towards the erection of the public buildings, which was accord- ingly done. A committee to superintend the con- struction of the buildings was appointed, consisting of John Kinney, George Hiles, and Jeremy Mackey, Esqs., Judge Kinney being chairman, and being in- vested with the chief responsibility, with power to call to his aid, when necessary, the other members of the committee. The board of freeholders also ap- pointed a committee of five from their own members to visit and inspect the work every month.

On April 3, 1827, the board of chosen freeholders met in the court-house. The first business of the meeting was the appointment of a cominittee, con-

sisting of Moses Van Campen, Jonathan Robins, John Schmuck, Archibald Robertson, Anthony Belles, George Mott, and James Hoagland, to settle the ac- count with the building committee. The committee appointed to settle the accounts reported :

" We bave carefully examined the accounts of the said committee, kept by John Kinney, Esq., and find that the amount of vouchers and other expendituree, and the charges of the said John Kinney, Esq., for superintending the construction of the public build- ings of the county amount to the sum of. $9942.24

And that the sum of money received of the county collector, money borrowed, and suudry articles sold belonging to the county amount to. $9380.43

And that the said John Kinney has made a donation of. 100.00

9480.43

Leaving a balance to said John Kinney of. $461.81

The committee also beg leave to report that they have also settled with George Hiles, one of the building committee, and paid a balance due him for his services of. 96.24

$558.05

" The foregoing sum of five hundred and fifty-eight dollars and five cents appears to be the whole amount of expenditures for the public buildings uopaid by said building committee to thie date, excepting two or three small accounts, which it is supposed will not amount to more than fifty or sixty dollars. All of which is respectfully submitted.

"JOHN SCHMUCK, " GEORGE MOTT,

" ANTHONY BELLES,

" MOSES VAN CAMPEN, " A. RODENTSON, " JONATHAN ROBINS, " JAMES HOAGLAND."

On motion, John Kinney, Esq., was "authorized to employ workmen for the purpose of making blinds to the windows of the court-room, and for finishing the cistern and garden-fence attached to the court-house."

" Resolved, That the building committee are entitled to the thanks of the board for the faithful manoer io which they have discharged their duties."

The court-house erected in 1826 was a brick build- ing, forty by sixty feet, two stories in height, contain- ing the jail in the lower story, and the clerk's and surrogate's offices included in the same building. The court-room was thirty-six by forty feet. The plan was furnished by Thomas Gordon.

The building, as it now appears, is somewhat modi- fied from the old plan. The main building has been raised slightly and extended back about forty feet. A fire-proof extension has been made in the rear of the clerk's office; the cells in the jail apartment have been so altered as to be placed in the centre, in tiers, with walks around them, instead of along the sides, as originally, and a brick building has been erected on the west side for the accommodation of the sheriff, or jailer, in case the latter is the resident offi- cer in charge of the inmates. The food of the pris- oners is supplied from this building.

V .- POOR-HOUSE AND FARM.

In 1829 a committee was appointed by the board of chosen freeholders to report upon the expediency of

477

GEOLOGY OF WARREN COUNTY.

procuring a poor-house and farm for the indigent of the county. The committee reported in favor of im- mediate action in that direction, and George Mott and Archibald Robertson were appointed a committee to visit and examine poor-house establishments in other counties of New Jersey and in Pennsylvania, and make report to a subsequent special meeting of the board.

To the special meeting convened on the 17th of December, 1829, the committee made an elaborate report, setting forth the pecuniary advantages to the county, as well as the improvement on the score of humanity, likely to result from a system of taking care of the poor such as they had examined in Bucks Co., Pa., and in the township of Amwell, Hunterdon Co. The report was accepted, and it was imme- diately resolved that a committee of one from each township be appointed, "whose duty it shall be to agree upon a site and purchase a farm upon which a poor-house may be erveted."

The committee consisted of Ross Crane, William Hankinson, George Mott, John Young, l'eter Kline, Archibald Robertson, and Moses Van Campen ; they purchased a farm of Nathan Sutton, in the townships of Oxford and Mansfield, consisting of about 390 acres, for the sum of 88950, payable in three equal annual payments. The large farm-house on the premises was utilized for the purposes of a poor- house, an addition being made to it, upon the recom- mendation of the committee. Archibald Robertson, chairman of the committee on by-laws and regula- tions, reported a system for the government and man- agement of the poor-house and farm, placing the institution under the care and superintendence of three directors, to be elected annually by the board of chosen freeholders, and providing also for the annual appointment of a steward, to have the imme- diate supervision and management of the establish- ment.

Archibald Robertson, William Hankinson, and Daniel Axford were elected the first board of direc- tors, March 15, 1830. William McDaniel was ap- pointed, in May, 1831, as the first steward of the institution, and the first physician was Dr. J. T. Sharp, appointed in May, 1831, to serve till the next annual meeting of the board.

CHAPTER IL. GEOLOGY OF WARREN COUNTY.

1 .- AZOIC FORMATION-GNEISS.

Ix describing the gneiss of the Azoie formation in this section or belt, Professor Cook says,-

mation. The number and dimensions of these cuts are such as to pre- sent a very large exposure of rock at frequent Intervals. Very much of the rock, especially between Lebanon and Washington, is in a state of ilisIntegration, due to the decomposition of the feldspar. . . . The cut- cast of Washington show a rotten guelss, composed of feldspar and quartz, course."

It has generally been supposed that the gneis- for- mations present a poor and unproductive soil, but this impression is wearing away under that practical hus- bandry which is turning many of these unpromising hills into fruitful fields. "It is observed that the rocks are in many places subject to rapid decay, and that in such localities the soil is susceptible of high cultivation."

II .- POTSDAM SANDSTONE.

This subdivision of the Paleozoic rocks in the val- ley of the Pequest is a fine-grained, light-colored free- stone, working readily under the hammer, and a good building material. It takes its name from its local observation by the New York geologists at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., in that State. The rock is evenly stratified, though some of the conglomerate beds are very thick.

" About one-eighth of n mile east of Kennedy's Mills, in Warren County, near the road-corner, the number of looso blocks of sandstone is such as to lead to the conclusion that there is a narrow band of this rock Interposed between the limestone, which crops out only a few rods west of it, and the gneiss, which occupies the higher portion of the hill on the wwst."

III .- MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.

The magnesian limestone is the common blue lime- stone of the Kittatinny valley, and is a prevailing and important formation in Warren County. It lies above the Potsdam sandstone, forming the second in the series of the Paleozoic Age or Epoch.

The magnesian limestone traet occupies the valley of the Pohatcong Creek from Mount Bethel to Stewarts- ville, and the open country bounded on the north by Marble and Scott's Mountains, west by the Delaware River, and southeast by the Polatcong. Above Stewartsville it generally contracts in breadth, until it finally disappears in the narrow valley below Mount Bethel. Between Washington and Stewartsville it averages one and a half miles. Within these limits there is a narrow ridge of slate near the centre of the valley.

As to the character of the rock in this geological district, it is most commonly found in thick beds, with some shaly members in greater or less thickness at different localities, fine grained or massive, and of a dull-bluish aspect. Limestone was seen in the ex- eavations made for the rolling-mill of the Oxford Furnace, at J. J. Pace's quarry, near the river. It is also found on Axford's farm, north of Oxford Fur- nace. With these outerops, and from the surface of the country, the whole valley is assumed to be of limestone basis, the boundaries of which coincide

"Several cuta along the Central Rallroad botweon Lebanon and Hampton Junction, and along the Warren Railroad to the request Hiver, afford the best section of the rocks of the Highland range, cross- Ing as they do the several belts at right anglos to the strike of the for- ! with the basis of the mountain- that inclose it.

478

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

IV .- FOSSILIFEROUS LIMESTONE.

Small areas of this formation are found in Warren County. The rock is rough, thin-bedded, and full of indistinct fossils. It is known in New York and elsewhere as the Trenton limestone. In New Jersey it is found only in a particular belt of country, which stretches across the counties of Warren and Sussex from near Belvidere to the New York State line. Its thickness is believed to be nowhere more than 100 feet. It is a carbonate of lime, containing no mag- nesia, and when burnt produces pure lime. The stone is dark-colored and crystalline in fracture; it readily breaks, and is difficult to obtain in large masses.

V .- HUDSON RIVER SLATE.

This formation is so called because it is found on the Hudson River from Newburg northward. It is fine-grained, dark-colored, easy of cleavage ; it readily splits into slates of any desired thickness, and divides as easily in the lines of stratification, rendering it practicable to obtain flags of enormous size.

On the Delaware, from Columbia to the Water Gap, the road for about two miles passes over this slate formation. At the Water Gap it is at least 3000 feet thick, and its dip is steeply to the northwest through- out the whole distance in that vicinity.

In the Musconetcong valley the slate consists of a long elevated ridge, extending from a little south of Hackettstown to near the Warren Railroad. It fills up the valley from the river to the gneiss range on the west, attaining an altitude of about 300 feet and pre- senting the smooth, rounded surface common to the słate hills.

VI .- ONEIDA CONGLOMERATE.

This formation lies along the western edge of the slate of the Kittatinny valley, forming the upper stra- tum of the Blue Mountain range. The large coarse pebbles which make up the lower part of it are cemented by a light-colored quartzone paste. The layers of pebbles decrease in size as we ascend towards the top. The rock is hard and unyielding, and long resists the action of the elements. The summit-rock at the Water Gap is of this formation, where it is over 1000 feet in thickness. The rock in this section contains no fossils, but gold, copper, and lead ores have been found in it in small quantities.

VII. - MEDINA SANDSTONE.

The Medina sandstone occupies the western slopes of portions of the Kittatinny Mountains, generally close to the main ridge. It appears at the Pahaquarry copper-mines, north of Pahaquarry, on the Walpack road, near the Warren slate-works, northeast of the Kittatinny House, and at some other point in the county, though its area is not large or very definitely described. It is easily distinguished from the con- glomerate by its high red color. Its probable thick- ness has been estimated by Professor Cook at about

1800 feet. Though no fossils have been found in it in New Jersey, ripple-marks are very distinct and pre- served with remarkable accuracy.

VIII .- SURFACE GEOLOGY.

As a general rule, the surface receives its character from the rock upon which it lies. The limestone, slate, and sandstone soils are marked by characteristic features, no less than the drift and alluvial deposits. The limestone soils frequently, even where they are underlaid by rocks containing 90 per cent. of carbon- ate of lime, are not strongly impregnated with it, from the fact that it has been dissolved out and washed away. The slate soils are very nearly the same in composition as the slate itself, but all soils are modified very much by intermixture with each other.

Large quantities of drift material, in which soils and fragments of rocks from nearly all formations have been floated over the Kittatinny and other val- leys during the glacial period, cover the surface in many places to a great depth. These deposits are most marked in the upper part of Warren County, and in Sussex, but are found more or less in the whole valley east of the Blue Mountains.

Diluvial lands of great richness are found in the valleys of the streams. Some of the streams, running through flat districts, have upon them large tracts of marshy land, where the rich sediment of ages and the decomposed vegetable matter have settled and perma- nently remained. One of the largest of these is the Great Meadows, on the Pequest, in this county, extend- ing from Danville up the stream to beyond the Sussex line. Their average width is a mile and three-quarters, and their area about 6000 acres .*

IX .- DELAWARE WATER GAP.

The following estimate of the amount of matter thrown out of this chasm or worn out by gradual at- trition is made in Brodhead's work upon the "Dela- ware Water Gap:"

" Estimating the height of the mountain on either side at sixteen hundred feet, the width of the space or distance between the mountains at half their height to be one thousand feet, the whole distance through at one mile, would give the enormous amount of eight billion four hundred and fifty-one million six hundred thousand cubic feet,-a suf- ficiency of matter to overwhelm a township of ordinary size to the depth of five feet.

" The waters of the Delaware at this point approach the mountain with a gentle current, and, gracefully eweeping from the north towards the east, turn suddenly and pass through the Blue Ridge, cutting it to the base, while its ragged, sloping sides, towering up to the elevation of sixteen hundred feet, frown down upon the river as it calmly pursues its course towards the ocean."

Not only in summer are the beauties of nature lavish at this point, but winter in some respects adds an additional charm. Writers tell us that tourists and persons from the city, failing to visit the Water Gap in winter, " lose some of the grandest scenes the place affords."

# For improvement of theso lands see History of Allamuchy town- ehip.

479

CIVIL HISTORY OF WARREN.

This section will ever continue to be an inexhausti- ble field for the researches of geologists,-

" Crags, knolls, end mounds in dire confusion hurled, The fragmentary elements of an earlier world."

CHAPTER IIL.

CIVIL HISTORY OF WARREN.

NOTES FROM THE FREEHOLDERS' MINUTES.

THE first board of chosen freeholders of the county of Warren met May 11, 1825, at the house of James McMurtrie, in Belvidere. Daniel Swayze, Esq., was chosen director, and Benjamin Hunt, clerk. The names of the members of the first board were Moses Van Campen and Jacob Brotzman, of Pahaquarry ; Uzal O. Howell and George Mott, of Hardwick; John Schmuck and Robert Thompson, of Independ- ence; David Reed and Daniel Swayze, of Knowlton ; Alexander White and Nathan Hoagland, of Oxford ; Alexander Robertson and (farret Lacey, of Mansfield; Peter Kline and Jonathan Robins, of Greenwich. To this list we find attached the following certificate :

" I, Matthias O. Halsted, Clerk of the County of Warren, do testify that the above is n true Hist of the Board of Chosen Frecholders in and for the County of Warren, as taken from the returns of the officers elected nt the late annual town-meetings filed in my office.

" Witness my hand nud seal this eleventh day of Muy, in the year of our Lord one theasand eight hundred and twenty-five. " MATTHIAS O. IlALSTED.""

The first action of the board was the appointment of a committee, consisting of Peter Kline, Robert Thompson, and Garret Lacey, to draft rules and reg- ulations for the government of its proceedings. The committee reported the following :

"1. Any member desirous of making a motion must rise and address the Director.

"2. No motion to be considered a motion anless seconded.

"3. If more than one member shell rise at the same time, the Direc- tor shall decide which shall speak first.

"4. The Director to appoint all the committees, to consist of three unless otherwise directed by the Board.

"5. No member to rise more than three times en any one debate.

"6. No member to absent himself without lenve of the Director, under the penalty of twelve and a half cents.

"7. A motion for an adjournment to be always In order.

"8. There is to be no smoking in the room while engaged in the business of the Board.

"9. Any member behaving disorderly shall be ndmenished by the Director.#

After settling a few accounts, the board proceeded to the election of a county collector. Charles Carter was chosen, but not until the patience of the board had become somewhat exhausted by ten ballots.

Mr. Carter presented the following, which appears to have been the first financial report made in War- ren County, the amounts being due from the county of Sussex :

" From David Ryerson, County Collector .... ......... $193.8-1 The executors of the estate of N. Moore .............. 100.12 Amount of license unpaid from E. Green. 42.88

$J36.84"

This repletion of the treasury enabled the county to honor the demandIs made upon its infant exchequer by its publie servants, Messrs. Benjamin W. Hunt, Isaac Wintermute, and Matthias (). Halsted, who were granted certificates for services rendered. They were probably the first who drew money out of the county treasury.

" It was moved and seconded that the sum of $2500 be raised for the State and County taxes, exclusive of any other taxes, which motion was agreed to by the Board."

May 17, 1825, the board of chosen freeholders regu- lated the rates of ferriage at Belvidere as follows :

" Resolved, That the rate of ferringe over the Delaware River be as fol- lowa, to wit :

4 horses and wagon .50

do .25

I horse and chaise .... .20 Single foot passenger. .04 Nent cattle. per head.

.06

Sheep, per houd ... .02

Single man and horse.

.121.5

.01 Any kind ef grain, per bushel.

In common water."

May 9, 1827, George Mushback, the sheriff, in a written protest, presented the jail as unfit for the safe keeping of prisoners. Whether any prisoners had actually escaped we are not informed, although it appears that those incarcerated at the time must have been a very docile set ; for there was no proper lock on the back door. A committee subsequently ap- pointed to investigate the matter reported that they found the jail "in good order, and, in their opinion, perfectly secure, except the back door, which they think requires a stout lock." Whereupon the report was accepted, and John Kinney, Jr., was requested to place such a lock upon the door.

We find in the freeholders' minutes that on Aug. 22, 1828, George Mushback, late sheriff, made an ap- plication for allowance on account of a certain lia- bility he incurred by the escape of William Kirk- patrick out of the county jail, where he was confined for debt amounting to $65.97, besides the cost of ap- peal, as appears by Justice Bartow's transcript of judgment in favor of Russel D. Harris against said Kirkpatrick, dated Oct. 1, 1827. Cost of appeal, $1.01. The county pocketed the loss and gave the sheriff his desired indemnity.

The tax levied for 1829 was as follows :

For State tax. $1639.03

" jurors' Ices .... 1000.00

county purposes.

1500,00

Last installment of public buildings. 2192.97

Debt due J. Stewart, jaller. 118.00)

The board this year awarded premiums on wolves' scalps,-$8 for a full-grown wolf, and $4 for a young one.

Of the money raised for the poor-house and farm $4750 were in notes, given by the director of the board of freeholders and the directors of the poor-house as follows :

To John Kinney, Jr ......... ...... $1500

Thonny Lomninsson .... 2000

' Abraham Curtis 1200

480

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

All dated May 1, 1831, and due April 1, 1832, with interest.

The committee appointed by the board in May, 1831, to ascertain and report upon the amount of money necessary to be raised for the ensuing year reported as follows :

"That $9000 be raised in the following order .- viz., $4000 for State aud conaty purposes ; $3100 for the second payment on the poor-house prop- erty ; and $1900 to pay debt and expenses of the poor-house establish- ment."

In the minutes of the board for May, 1831, is the following :

" Resolved, That George Ryman be allowed $19.34, it being the amount of Hunt & Blair's bill for opium furnished to Isaac H. Albertson by order of William Haukinson.">

The following entry occurs in the freeholders' rec- ords, May 12, 1831 :

" Resolved, That John M. Sherrerd, Esq., be allowed the use of the public square in front of the court-house on the conditione of his written proposition and subscribed by him, as follows,-viz. :

" If the Board will let me have the use of it (viz., the public square) for ten years, I will put up good substantial board fences around it, plant forest, fruit, and ornamental trees on the same, and guarantee at the end of the term to leave at least one hundred trees alive ou the square, leave the fence around it, and leave the ground leveled and in grass. The ex- penses of this fencing and planting will not be less than one hundred dollars, and, as the ground left after taking off the four-rod street all around it will be less than four acres, I consider one-tenth of the money and the interest a full and fair rent. Should the public be dissatisfied at any time during the ten years with its being shut up, aud the Board of Freeholders express such wish to me, and pay me a proportional part of my expendituree, of which I will keep an exact account, it shall be immediately given up to the Board.

" Very respectfully yours, &c., " JOHN M. SHERRERD. "BELVIDERE, 12th May, 1831."

We give below the total expenses of the county for the year ending May 11, 1831, as they appear in the records :

Total expenses. $5651.50 Items as follows :

For stocking the farm, furnishing the house, and other incidentals.

$2585.38

Provisions purchased.

796.69

Clothing for paupers ..

237.23

For labor on the farm

245.25

Labor in the house ...

137.60

Keeping out paupers ..

95.19

Jacob Hull, for one pauper ..

27.00

Overseers of Mansfield.

82.72

Independence

70.48

Hardwick.

117.10

Greenwich

127.85

Knowlton.

149,66

Greenwich

94.47

Building expenses ..

854.88

$5651.50

Deducted for produce sold

272.41

Balance against the county

$5379.09

CHAPTER IV.

CIVIL HISTORY OF WARREN (Continued).

CIVIL LIST. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

THE following named persons, resident in the county of Warren, have represented the Third and Fourth Districts in Congress for the years named :

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 119

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