History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 160

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 160
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 160

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).

" Mechanics' Hall," a three-story frame building, 40 by 60 feet, was built by John Snover in 1862. This hall was built to replace its namesake, also a three-story building, 32 by 50 feet, which stood in the forks of the road at the opposite end of the park, built in 1860, and destroyed by fire April 16, 1861. The present hall was for many years the scene of lively times, and at a later date was occupied succes- sively by the congregations of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches while building their respect- ive houses of worship.

The stone arch bridge across the Paulinskill flats, at Blairstown, was built by John Quick in the sum- mer of 1840, for the sum of $600.

One of the carly merchants in this place was John Bunnell, Esq., who owns the Bunnell Block, where he kept a -tore for thirteen years.

The building now occupied by Mrs. Raub as a resi- denee was built in 1834, and occupied as a storehouse for several years.

The William Snover storehouse, west of the hotel, was built in 1872, and now occupied by Smith & Wil- son, general dealers.

The pioncer druggist in this place was D. W. Shop- maker, who located here in 1875, in the store just east of the hotel.

The pioneer tavern-keeper was Jacob Butts, who kept tavern in the old log house that stood nearly on the site now occupied by Hon. J. I. Blair's residence as early as 1515, and in 1824 the tavern was kept by James Ridgeway. Out in front of the old log tavern

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WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

stood the "whipping-post," a foul relic of barbarism, as late as 1825 or 1830, and persons now living in the village have on many occasions seen the sentence of the law executed at the old post.

The present hotel has been owned by the following parties since it was built in 1840: George Vanscoten, sold in 1843 to John Hull, Hull sold in 1850 to John Snover, Joseph Snover purchased of the heirs of John Snover, and sold it in 1865 to Isaac Rosenkrans, and Rosenkrans sold to Stephen Cortelyou, the present owner. It is now kept by James P. Larowe.

The site now occupied by Andrew Snover's barn is supposed to have been occupied at one time by the : and Cornelius Stout located here soon after. There Indians as a burial-place.

As late as 1835 there was a stone wall on the south side of Main Street, from the bridge down to the lower end of the village, and on the north side was a rail fence. A large orchard formerly covered the lot and vicinity where now stands the Presbyterian church.

In 1876 a stone hog-pen stood on the site now oc- cupied by the Blairstown Press building. The latter building was erected in 1880, and occupied in Jan- mary, 1881.

In 1846 the previously unsatisfactory mail facilities were very much improved by the formation of a new tri-weekly route from Morristown to Stroudsburg by way of this place, the contract for carrying the mail in a four-horse coach being awarded to John L. Wood, Esq., who made the first trip over the road November 2d of that year.

The first daily mail to Blairstown was established in 1860. On the 2d of July of that year a stage left Blairstown for Waterloo, and another for Columbia, to return on arrival of the morning mail-train from New York and Philadelphia. In 1872 a route was established to Hackettstown, and after about eight months changed to Newton, as at present. These lines were continued daily (Sundays excepted) till the Blairstown Railroad was completed, when the Co- lumbia route was discontinued, since which time the mail arrives daily by rail. A daily mail-stage also runs between this place and Newton, in Sussex County, with William Morrison as proprietor and mail-carrier.

In January, 1881, there were in the village of Blairstown two churches, Presbyterian and Metho- dist; academy ; district school-house ; public hall ; "Blairstown Hotel," kept by James l'. Larowe; Blairs- town Press, by Jacob L. Bunnell ; four general stores, by Yetter & Craig, William King, Jr., Stoll & Sava- cool, Smith & Wilson ; two groceries, by Bunnell & Quick, Charles M. Keepers; one tailor, George Mc- Guinness ; three blacksmiths, Matticc McConnell, Augustus Carter, H. D. King ; one carriage-manufac- turer, L. C. Drake; once jeweler, E. H. Freeman ; one dentist, L. W. Johnston ; one druggist, D. W. Shoe- maker; two physicians, J. C. Johnson and M. N. Armstrong ; two shoemakers, C. II. Strickland and

William King; one marble-dealer, W. H. Drake; justice of the peace and insurance agent, P. D. Bun- nell; coal-dealer and commissioner of deeds, W. C. Howell ; postmaster, John D. Vail.

The Blairstown Press has been published in this village since 1877 by Jacob Z. Bunnell .*

JACKSONBURG

is a small hamlet located in the narrow valley of Jack- sonburg Creek, one mile northwest from Blairstown village, in School District No. 76. This place was set- tled as early as 1800 by Joseph and Zebedee Stout, was at one time considerable business done at this place. There is at present a school-house, black- smith- and wheelwright-shop, store, and about twenty dwellings. There is also a grist-mill, owned by Sam- uel McConachy, and a distillery, operated by I. F. Read.

WALNUT VALLEY,

located near the mouth of Walnut Creek, was so named from the fact of the large number of black- walnut trees once growing in that vicinity. In 1812, when black-walnut lumber was in good demand for the manufacture of gunstocks, this valley was stripped of its noble black-walnut trees, and the lumber made from them converted into gunstocks for the Ameri- can army. In 1827 a post-office was established at this place, named "Walnut Valley," and Daniel Van- scoten appointed postmaster. His commission was signed by John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, and John McLean, Postmaster-Gen- eral. His name has ever since appeared on the books of the postmaster-general's office as postmaster at Walnut Valley,-a much longer period than any other man living can boast of holding the same posi- tion. Although Mr. Vanscoten is in his eighty-fifth year, and having been postmaster at this place for fifty-four years, and also kept a tavern in the same building since 1822, he is still in possession of all his faculties, and as active in business affairs as most men at the age of fifty years. He was born in the township of Knowlton, Jan. 16, 1797 (O. S.).

VI .- SCHOOLS.

There are in this township seven school districts and six joint districts, four of which belonging to Knowl- ton, one to Frelinghuysen, and one to Hardwick town- ship.

Blairstown District, No. 73, is located in the Paul- inskill valley, on the east side of the township.

The first building known to have been used for school purposes in this district was located not far from the present Presbyterian church, and almost upon the site where Mrs. Cooke's barn now stands. It was a frame structure, 16 by 20 feet, built of rough oak boards and shingles. It was not built originally

# See history of the Warren County Press, in this work.

BLAIRSTOWN.

for a school-house, and in 1819 it was removed a short distance and converted into a blacksmith-shop.

In 1822 a brick school-house was built on the south side of the Paulinskill, on the hill back of the old poplar-tree, on the farm then owned by John Lanter- man and Abram Buttz, at a cost of $250. Isaac Cris- man was the contractor and builder. The size of the building was 18 by 26 feet, with one room and a vesti- bule. Its general appearance was very ereditable at so early a day in the history of this place.

The building now occupied for a district school was built in ISIS of stone and rough-cast, and in size 22 by 50 feet, with 16 feet square wings on either end. The building is located on an eminence over- looking the village, and the main part surmounted with a belfry, which gives it quite a respectable ap- pearance.

Ax the State made little provisions for the mainte- nance of public schools at that date, the prominent citizens of Blairstown, of whom the venerable John Bunnell was the prime mover, had this building erected for a parochial school, and the place of its lo- cation deeded to the trustees of the Presbyterian Church and their successors for the purpose of a parochial school. Upon the removal of the parochial school to Blair Hall, in 1850, the "Old Academy" was leased to the school district, and is now in possession of its trustees, and their occupation of it for school purposes is not likely to ever be disturbed.

The names of all the teachers who taught in the first building eannat be ascertained, but it is known, however, that a Mrs. Bennett, the wife of one of the pioncer merchants, taught here for one or two terms. The pioneer teacher in the old brick school-house was Abner Conner, a Yankee, then Boyce and Allen, I-aac Stinson, then a Mr. Rogers, who was succeeded by Mr. Grinwell, an Irishman, and then a Mr. Ammer- man. He was followed by Charles Edgarton, who in turn was succeeded by Stryker Talmadge, and he by Morris Crisman, now an honored resident of this town- ship. Miss Margaret Shipman then made a most ex. cellent record here as a teacher. The two last teach- ers in the "old brick" were Miss M. Howell and Dr. Isaiah Condit. The doctor ceased teaching in 18-49, and has since then practiced medicine at his home in Dover, N. J.

The total amount received for school purposes in 1879 was $375; value of school property, $2000; total number of children in district between the ages of five and eighteen years was 80; number of months taught, 9; number of chiklren on school register, 62; number of children the school-house will seat, Go; average attendance, 26 ; one female teacher employed.

Centreville District, No. 70, is a joint district with Knowlton, and located in the southwest part of this township. The school-house is located on the town- ship line, and valued at $900. Appropriations for 1880, $300; scholars in district between the ages of five and eighteen, 48; ten months' school, with 41

pupils registered and an average attendance of 18. The school-house has a scating capacity for 50 pupils. There was employed during 1880 one male teacher.

Kalarama District, No. 71, is an interior district, south of the Paulinskill Creek. The school-house is located near Painter's Mill, and is valued at $1000, with a seating capacity of 50. The school was taught ten months during the year, with an average attendance of 22. There are 54 pupils in the district of school age. and 47 enrolled on the school register. There was one male teacher, and an appropriation of $300.

Union Brick District, No. 72, is located in the southwest corner of the township. The school-house is near the centre of the district, and is valued at $800. The school-house will seat 45 scholars. There are in the district 40 pupils of school age, 36 enrolled on the school register, and an average attendance of 11. The appropriation for 1880 was $300, and ten months' school, with one male teacher.

Walnut Valley District, No. 74, is located on the north side of the Paulinskill Creck. The school in this district in 1813 was taught by Coryell Moore, in the house where Joshua Smith now lives, and the first school-house was built at Jacksonburg. The present school-house is one-third of a mile north of Walnut Valley Post-Other, near the centre of the district, and is valued at $1000, and will seat 75 pupils. There are in the district 59 pupils of school age, 57 registered, with an average attendance of 24 in Isso. The appropriation for the year was $300, and one female teacher.

Mount Vernon District, No. 75, is a mountain dis- triet, occupying the west corner of the township. The school-house is in the south part of the district, and is valued at $200. There are 23 pupils of school age in the district, and 23 registered in 1880. In 1880 there was a school three and five-tenths months by one male teacher, and an appropriation of $$0.05. The school-house will accommodate 40 scholars.

Jacksonburg District, No. 76, is an interior district, situated on the north side of the l'aulinskill, with a school-house valued at $400. There are in the district 53 of school age, 52 registered, and an average attend- ance of 22. There was in 1880 an appropriation of $300 for nine and five-tenths months' school by one male teacher. The school-house will accommodate 50 scholars.

Washington District, No. 77, is the companion of No. 75, and occupies the side of Blue Mountain. The school-house is located in the south part of the dis- triet, and is valued at $450, and has a senting ca- pacity of 55. The appropriation for 1880 was $300, for one male teacher, with nine and five-tenths months' school. There are in the district of school age 53, and 41 registered, with an average attendance of It.

Total amount of apportionment from the State ap- propriation for Blairstown in 1879 was $2180,6%.

Total amount received from all sources for public school purposes, $293.05.

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WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

BLAIR PRESBYTERIAL ACADEMY .*

This flourishing institution of learning is located in the pleasant, thriving, and healthy village of Blairs- town, Warren Co., N. J., at present the terminus of the Blairstown Railway, by which it is connected with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad at Delaware Station, N. J. There are two trains daily each way between Blairstown and New York, Phila- delphia, Scranton, Binghamton, and intermediate points.

The academy, as indicated by its name, is under the charge of the Presbytery of Newton, in the Synod of New Jersey. It is essentially religious in its char- acter, but has never been a proselyting institution. It is designed to benefit not only the children of Pres- byterians, but those of all denominations, who are freely received and partake equally of its advantages. In fact, not to speak of the lawyers, physicians, teachers, and others who have here been prepared for college or for business, a number of ministers now prominent in other denominations of Christians have been among its students at some time in the past. The effect of the institution upon a previously ne- glected region has been most salutary. It is with pleasure we record the interest manifested by many in this community in the education of their children. Numbers who have never enjoyed special educational advantages themselves have shown a commendable zeal in sustaining an enterprise by which those advan- tages may be secured to their offspring.

So far as human instrumentality is concerned, three men are especially worthy of commendation on ac- count of the honorable zeal manifested in behalf of the institution in its infancy.

1. John Bunnell, then doing a large and successful business in carriage manufacturing, and a ruling elder in the church at Blairstown, was one of the very first to urge the importance of building an academy. He was active in circulating a subscription to raise funds for the original building, bringing to the enterprise an enthusiastic zeal which never faltered until the institution was firmly and successfully established. Without his earnest advocacy, it is doubtful whether the school would have been established when it was.

2. The late Rev. John A. Reiley, long pastor of the church of Blairstown, of whom we have spoken more fully on another page. (See account of Blairs- town Presbyterian Church.)

3. John I. Blair, Esq., whose name it bears, who is widely known not only as the generous founder of the academy, but as the friend of Christian education elsewhere, and whose name is held in grateful re- membrance especially at Princeton and Lafayette Colleges.

To the fostering care of the Presbytery of Newton, particularly for the labors and attendance of members of its body as members of the board of directors and

committees of examination, from the organization until now, is the academy indebted for much of the success that has attended it through all its history. The board of education of the Presbyterian Church also at different times in its earlier days favored the institution with substantial material aid.

On the 6th day of April, 1848, at a public meeting held in the Presbyterian church at Blairstown, a building committee, consisting of Peter Lanterman, John Bunnell, Dr. I. W. Condict, John Hull, John Konkle, John I. Blair, and John Messler, was ap- pointed to superintend the erection of a two-story frame or stone academy, not to be more than 36 by 24 feet in size, on a site offered gratuitously for that purpose by the owner, John I. Blair. During the summer of that year, after frequent deliberations, the foundations of a substantial stone edifice, 48 by 24 feet, one story high, were laid on the above site, and the work so vigorously prosecuted that the building was completed and occupied during the succeeding holidays, the school having in the meau while been opened on the 16th of November in the district school- house, a small brick building then standing on the hill beyond the Blairstown Railway depot, and just south of the present residence of John R. Logan. The lot was conveyed to a board of trustees, Aug. 22, 1848, by deed giving the control to the Session of the Blairstown Presbyterian Church. The academy build- ing was divided into two rooms, occupied by the pri- mary and higher departments respectively, separated by folding-doors, which were thrown open during the opening and closing exercises, and on other necessary occasions. Across the end of the classical department was a broad platform, occupied by the desk of the principal and by the classes in recitation, as well as for purposes of declamation. The enlightened and highly Christian plan recommended by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, of engrafting the religious element upon seminaries of learning, commending itself to the majority of those interested, the institution was accordingly opened as a parochial school, with I. W. Condict, M.D., then a practicing physician of the village, now of Dover, N. J., as teacher.

At the opening of the school it was remarkably well patronized, not only by the immediate com- munity, but from the surrounding neighborhood. Numbers coming from a distance obtained board in the place for the purpose of attending it. It was from the first emphatically a religious school. Special etforts were made to give prominence to the Word of God. Not only was the Bible read in the opening exercises of each day, accompanied by services of prayer and praise, but it was made a book of study and daily reference in various ways. Apart from its religious character, the school was efficiently con- ducted, and well deserved the liberal support it re- ceived, which doubtless contributed in no small de- gree to lay a broad foundation for what has heen

* By C. E. Vuil.

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BLAIRSTOWN.

accomplished in subsequent years. Confidently be- lieving, from what was already visible, that a bright future awaited their beloved enterprise, in the sum- mer of 1849 the Session of the church of Blairstown, through their pastor, Mr. Reiley, made a tender of their school to the Presbytery of Newton, and it was formally taken under the care of the latter as a Pres- byterial academy.

Mr. Moore, as well as his predecessor, had had con- siderable experience in teaching, and the (now) Pres- byterial academy under his care continued to enjoy a fair degree of public favor. A goodly number of pupils continued to come into the village from abroad to enjoy the advantages of education that were here offered, and quite a number of young men from the immediate neighborhood were soon stimulated to enter upon a course of study preparatory for college. Of the latter class the institution soon had graduates from West Point Military Academy and from Prince- ton and Lafayette Colleges, and from year to year since has furnished students for these and other col- leges, including Yale, Rutgers, and the University of Pennsylvania. Quite a large number of young men, also, who have here been fitted for college, have taken a theological course, and are now preaching the gos- pel in different parts of our land, while others still are now pursuing their studies with the view of en- tering the same sacred calling.

In the winter of 1849-52 the infant academy received a valuable library of 1000 volumes and upwards of $100 in money from friends in Philadelphia, Prince- ton, Trenton, and New Brunswick, through the per- soual solicitation of the Rev. Mr. Reiley, aided by the generous and friendly secretary of the board of edu- cation, the Rev. Dr. Chester.

In the summer of 1851 the institution was favored with what had from the beginning been felt to be a great desideratum,-viz., a boarding-house into which pupils from abroad could be received, in order to their being under the immediate care and supervision of the teacher. A capacious, convenient, and imposing two-story frame building, 64 feet long by 26 feet deep, with covered piazza in front, was erected partly on the site of the present larger stone edifice of the same name at a suitable distance from the academy, and appro- priately designated " Blair Hall," it being, together with the grounds and appurtenances, the munificent gift of Mr. Blair for the sole benefit of the school. The advantage of this building as a permanent residence for the principal, in which he could accommodate a family of forty without expense to the community and free of rent to the teacher, was felt to be one de- serving to be held in highest estecm.

In the spring of 1852, Mr. Moore resigned his situ-

ation as principal, and about the middle of the en- suing July was succeeded in office by the Rev. J. Kirby Davis, the doors of the institution having in the mean time been kept open, and instruction given by J. C. Johnson, M. D., then and still a resident phy- sician of the place, together with the pastor, Rev. Mr. Reiley.

Mr. Davis entered upon his duties under circum- At the close of the first year, Dr. Condiet, in ac- I stances somewhat discouraging, it being in the middle cordance with the understanding at the time of his acceptance of the office of teacher, resigned his situ- ation, and was succeeded in the autumn of 1849 by the late Rev. James G. Moore.

of the term, and the school having suffered materially in the absence of a teacher devoted exclusively to its interests. In the following winter, however, the prospects brightened, and encouraging numbers were again in attendance. From this period until 1854 the school continued to be reasonably well attended, when the principal, for reasons considered satisfac- tory, again resigned.

On the 10th of May of that year, J. Henry John- son, A.M., now of Morristown, N. J., upon the earnest solicitation of several of its patrons, took upon him- self the management of the academy. At this time the only public conveyance was a tri-weekly stage passing through the village between Waterloo and Stroudsburg, and it was with no little difficulty that scholars and their baggage were transported over the mountains and hills to and from the "unknown regions" of Blairstown.

Mr. Johnson possessed one advantage over all his predecessors which, with other influences, gave to the academy under him a greater degree of prosperity than it had enjoyed at any previous time, and marked his advent as an epoch in its history. He was not only known as an experienced and successful teacher of youth, but was at the time of his election to this sit- uation at the head of an interesting school in the city of Newark. Upon his leaving there for his new field of labor about a score of his former pupils came with him, and the school during his principalship and for some years subsequently continued to enjoy a liberal share of patronage from that place. The number of pupils from abroad was now greatly increased. The academy soon became too small; so that in the sum- mer of 1855 it was found necessary to ereet a wing at either end of the original building, without which enlargement it would have been impossible to accom- modate the school. So completely were the most sanguine hopes of its friends realized in the prosper- ity of the school that both hall and academy were filled to their utmost capacity. The faculty at this time consisted of the principal, one male and three female assistants, including a teacher of voeal and instrumental music, and a teacher of the parochial school, with which the district or public school was then connected.

It may interest some to know that the maximum charge at this time for board, tuition (except extras ), and washing was only $120 for forty-four weeks. Such a scale, of course, could only be possible under the prices then ruling for provisions,-four $5 a bar-

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rel, good meats 10 cents a pound, and other things in proportion.

One of the most precious revivals of religion with which the school was ever blessed-and there have been many during the third of a century of its exist- ence-occurred during one of the earlier years of Mr. Johnson's connection with it. Commencing almost without observation, it extended until all the boarding-pupils and many of the day-scholars were interested, and was only interrupted by the close of the term and the scattering of the pupils.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 160

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