USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 66
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His great interest in all inatters relating to the welfare of Roselle led him to take a prominent part in securing the separation of this borough from Linden township. In this matter all the politicians of the township were against him, but the quiet voter was with him, and Linden township lost an important part of her territory by refusing to do justice to Roselle. Within three months after the separation, the sewerage system of Roselle was under way.
Mr. Hope has been prominently connected with the Republican
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Club, and has served long and well on the executive committee of his party. Mr. Hope is a son of William A. Hope, whose brother, A. D. Hope, was the founder of Roselle, where he still resides, and of the old Hope Express, which operated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before the Rebellion, and which was bought by the proprietors of the Adams Express. A. D. Hope was born at Hunts Mills, New Jersey, December 14, 1817. He was in early life a teacher, and subsequently started the above mentioned express, which was operated most successfully. About this date, 1864, he aided in establishing the New York Safe Deposit Company of New York, the first in the world.
Mr. Hope fixed his residence in Somerset, New Jersey, just before the war, and was a large stockholder in the bank of that city. Party lines were a sharply drawn on the war issues about this time, and, as many of the stockholders of the bank were opposed to converting the institution into a national bank in aid of the government, which Mr. Hope was most anxious to do, the latter withdrew from the old bank, and established a national bank, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. He also established a Union paper, and employed an able man to preach loyalty and mould sentiment for the Union. These acts brought him prominently into notice over the state, and he was urged to become a candidate for governor.
James W. Hope was married in 1885 to Cornelia Quackenbush, daughter of a retired New York merchant.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
TOWNSHIP OF CRANFORD .*
HE act of creating the township of Cranford was passed by the senate and general assembly of New Jersey on March 14, 1871. The territory lying within the boundaries of this town was taken from the townships of Westfield, Springfield, Union, Linden and Clark.
The surface is generally level; soil clay loam, mixed more or less with sand, and generally productive in wheat, oats, rye and grass. This township is well watered. It is nearly cut in two parts by the Rahway river, which empties into Staten Island Sound. There are six substantial bridges built over this river, and perhaps no other town- ship in the state can count as many. There are large forest trees lining the banks of the stream, and most of the farms have a large number of acres of heavy timber, and there are also many orchards of choice fruit.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The Cranes of this township are descendants of Stephen Crane, one of the first Elizabethtown Associates. He was born in 1673. John Crane (son of John and Huldah .Grant Crane) married Phebe Ross, daughter of David Ross, of Westfield. They had eight children: (1) Rebecca, who married Major Jotham Potter (of Revolutionary fame), son of John. Both are dead. They left three children. (2) John Grant Crane, married Sally Pierson, daughter of William, son of William, and had two children,-John Davis Crane, who married Catharine Potter, daughter of William B. Potter; and William, who married Keziah, daughter of John Miller, of Westfield. They are both dead. (3) Elizabetlı, married Thomas Moore, son of Robert, of Woodbridge, and had five children, -David, Robert, John, Israel, and Phebe. (4) Phebe, married Benjamin Potter, brother of Major Jotham Potter. (5) Elias, born April 24, 1789, married Esther Maxwell, daughter of John, and lived in Union township, and had six children,-John, who married Sarah Cutter, daughter of William Cutter, of Woodbridge; Mary Anne, who married Nathan Winans, son of Aaron, of Elizabethtown; Phebe, who married Silas Miller, son of Abraham; Susan, who married Isaac Williams, of New York, son of Matthias; Elias Maxwell Crane; and
* This sketch was written by C. A. Leveridge for the History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey, published by Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1882, and is inserted here by permission.
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Amzi Armstrong Crane. (6) Josiah, married Electa Ross, daughter of John, of Union township (now Cranford), and lived where Colonel Jacob Crane formerly did, and had four children,-Mary, married Hampton Cutter, son of William Cutter; John Grant Crane, married Abby Miller (who is now deceased), daughter of John O. Miller, and lived on the old John Crane homestead, near the Rahway river, on the road to Springfield; Anne Elizabeth, married Job Williams, son of Moses Williams, of Union township; Josiah, married Sarah Jane Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller. (7) Huldah, married John Potter, also a brother of Major Jotham Potter, and had a daughter, Mary Hannah Potter. (8) Sarah, who was unmarried.
Mr. Josiah Crane was one of the first who were instrumental in building the Presbyterian church in Cranford, and resided on the same farm which he had occupied from the first, living to see a large town and population surrounding him, and in a few years selling his farm, which was needed for lots and building purposes, and purchasing a residence, formerly occupied by Mr. Anderson, where he died a few years since. Mrs. Crane died in November, 1879. Benjamin Crane (third son of Benjamin, second son of Benjamin, first son of John, son of Stephen Crane) married Sarah Thompson, and lived on the road to Westfield, near Vreeland's mills. They had eleven children, who are of the sixth generation from Stephen Crane: (1) John, married Mary Clark, daugh- ter of Robert, of Rahway; (2) Abigail, married David Keyt, son of James; (3) Esther, died at abont eighteen or twenty years, unmarried; (4) Hezekiah Thompson, married, first, Amanda Osborn; (5) Phebe, married, first, Francis Randolph, son of Dr. Robert Randolph, and, second, she married George R. King, of Warren county, and lived there ; (6) Charlotte King, married Hedges Baker; (7) Norris, who went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and married there; (8) Jacob Thompson, who went to Cincinnati, and died there at thirty-five years, unmarried; (9) Benjamin (4th), married Electa Baker (as her second husband), daughter of Daniel; (10) David Johnson, married Ann Eliza Roll, daughter of Isaac, son of John Roll; (II) Moses Thompson, married Anna Eliza Scudder (Mrs. Crane died December 13, 1881). They had two children,-Theodore Augustus and Sarah Anne, who died.
Moses T. Crane has built himself a fine residence upon Walnut avenue, the old Westfield road to Elizabeth; William Crane (son of John Grant Crane and Sally Pierson, daughter of William Pierson) married Keziah, daughter of John Miller, of Westfield. He owned and lived on a farm on the road from Cranford to Branch Mills. He died a few years ago. His son is John Henry Crane, now engaged in the general grocery and merchandise business in the village of Cranford. William Darbie, or Darby, was an early settler; he came in 1688. In that year, April 16th, the widow Agatha White sold all the lands of Richard Beach, in Elizabeth Town, bought of him in March of the
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same year, to William Darbie, or Darby, of Elizabeth Town. A William Darby was one of the respondents, in 1752, to a bill in chan- cery. Rev. John Darby was the pastor of the Connecticut Farms Presbyterian church in 1758. He had one son and two daughters by his first wife, and the eldest daughter, Hester, married a British officer named Fox. His second wife was Hester White Hunting, a widow lady from East Hampton, Long Island. They had one son, Henry White Darby, M. D., and also two daughters, -Helen, the wife of General O'Hara, and Lucinda, the wife of Christian De Wint. Rev. Mr. Darby was probably a son or grandson of William Darby. The family of Darbys are from the same stock who are residents of this township. Marsh Darby, who died December 27, 1881, was the son of William Darby. He died on the farm, in the year 1815. The farm is now occupied by Benjamin Westervillt (1882).
John O. Miller, son of Abner Ist, who married Betsey Kyte, was the son of John 3d, son of John Miller, Jr., son of John Ist, and married Sarah Ludlow, daughter of Benjamin and Keziah Ludlow. He lives on the old Miller homestead, about a mile from Cranford depot, on the old road to Elizabethtown. The family are amongst the earliest settlers in this township. His ancestor came from Long Island about the year 1668, and was one of the first associates of Elizabethtown. William, his son, was an alderman of the borough of Elizabeth, and his name is in the second list of the associates of 1699. Andrew, his second son, inarried Mary Andrus, of Newark, New Jersey. Enoch, who married Hannah Baker, had nine children, Enoch, Jr., Andrew, Moses, Jacob, Jedediah, Lydia, Elizabeth, Josiah and Hannah. The fourth son of John Ist was John, whose wife was Martha. His fifth son, Aaron, who mar- ried and had first Aaron, Jr., was a noted clock-maker in Elizabethtown. The following advertisement is from a newspaper called the New York Post Boy, November 23, 1747 :
Aaron Miller, Clock Maker, In Elizabeth Town, East New Jersey, Makes and sells all sorts of Clocks after the best Manner with Expedition. He likewise makes Com- passes and chains for Surveyors; as also Church Bells of any size, he having a foundry for that Purpose, and has cast several which have been approved good, and will supply any Persons on a Timely Notice with any of the above Articles at very reasonable Rates.
We give this quaint old notice, showing the enterprise and business tact of one born in this township. He had a daughter, Betsey, who imarried Isaac Brokaw, who was a noted maker of these old family clocks which are in so much demand by relic-hunters, and who resided in Somerville, New Jersey. He has two older son, Cornelius and Robert.
John Miller also has two daughters, Hannah, who married, first, Nathaniel Bonnel Ist, and for her second husband Deacon Whitehead ; his other child was Susannah, who married first a Mr. Crane, and for her second husband John Ross Ist, being his third wife.
John O. Miller is still living on the old homestead at an advanced age (1882). His wife, Sarah Ludlow, died a few years since. His
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children are: Abigail, who married John Grant Crane, son of Josiah Crane; Louisa, who married Elias M. Crane, son of Elias, of Union ; James, who married Sarah Jane Marsh, daughter of Eli Marsh, of West- field ; John Alfred Miller ; and Benjamin Ludlow Miller, who lives with his father.
James Keyt's family homestead was on the back road leading from where the late Gideon Ross resided to Rahway. His property adjoined that of the late Samuel Headley, on the west, and that of Moses T. Crane on the south. Mr. Keyt had a number of children. David Keyt married Abigail Crane, daughter of Benjamin Crane 3d ; they removed to Ohio. Abner Miller married Betsey Keyt, daughter of James Keyt and Betsey Jessup. The family on the male side went to the west, and James Keyt's grandchildren are found in the Coriell family of New Market, New Jersey; the Searing family, in Union township; Ichabod Ross' family, in Westfield, and the Miller family, in Cranford township, New Jersey.
The Denman family were early settlers here. John Denman, the first of that name, is mentioned in the early records as one of the asso- ciates, and, in 1668, resided upon his allotment in the borough. The family is quite numerous in the township, and they are mentioned among the first settlers. John Deninan lived on his homestead, where he died in 1849, at an advanced age. He was engaged much in the purchase of timber for ship-building. The homestead is sit- nated on the corner of the Westfield road and the road leading to the Stephenson homestead, Cranford. The Tooker (sometimes spelled Tucker) family owned a small place nearly opposite to the Headley farm, where Mr. Tucker died a few years ago (1882).
John Winans (sometimes spelled Wynes, Waynes, Winons, Win- nons, Wynons, Wynens, Wynans, Wynnings and Wynants) was doubtless of the company that came from the east end of Long Island. It is quite likely that he was of the same family with Barnabas Wines, their names being frequently spelled alike. He was bred a weaver, a handicraft in great request at that early day. He had a house lot con- taining five acres ten chains, bounded north by Jacob Melyen, west by Humphrey Spinage, or Spinning, and south and east by highways. He had also sixteen acres of upland "on the Neck," between Matthias Hatfield and Samuel Marsh, Sr .; also one hundred and twenty acres of upland "on Peach Garden brook," bounded by Robert Morse, Matthias Hatfield, Robert White, and unsurveyed land; also forty acres of land "on the south branch of Elizabeth creek or river," bounded by Hum- phrey Spinage, Matthias Hatfield, and the plain; also four acres of meadow "at Rawack," and six acres on Elizabeth creek, in all two hundred acres. When his next neighbor, Melyen, had removed to New York, Winans bought, February 8, 1678, his house lot, house, barn, orchard, etc. He died at the close of 1694. His estate was
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valued at two hundred and seventy-one pounds, fifteen shillings, eight pence. The names of Winans as early settlers are found in the records of this and adjoining townships. In the civil list the name is met with frequently. Jonathan Dayton Winans is owner of lands on the forks of roads leading from Westfield to Rahway and Elizabeth, in this town- ship, and has carried on the wheelwright and blacksmith business, his stand being well known all over the country. Alfred Winans, living on the farm south on the Rahway road, is the son of 'Squire Ross Winans, of Lyons Farms.
William Garthwaite, the father of a numerous family, was born 1677, in England ; married, as early as 1702, Ann, the daughter of Maximilian Laulon, of France. He came here as early as 1703, his son Henry having been born in this borough. It is supposed from family tradition that he came at an earlier date, 1695, but his name appears in one of the early documents in 1806. He or his son located on what has since been known as the Roberts property, on the west side of the town. He died December 11, 1738, leaving at least two sons, Henry and James. The family have long been residents of this township, and still own property by the Rahway river. The family here is now repre- sented by Edwin B. Garthwaite, who resides upon the old homestead.
The Faitouts were early settlers, and came from France during the persecutions there. They were known as the Huguenot refugees. The family has been represented in the East Jersey allotments of lands in first division, 1667. Aaron Faitout resided in Perth Amboy. He was an owner of a pew in St. Peter's Episcopal church, No. 16, at a yearly rental of five pounds, seven shillings. The family have been owners of large tracts of land in this and Union townships. The names of Edward, Aaron, Jonathan, Clark, and Moses Faitout (sometimes spelled Fatout) have been represented among the early families. Henry B. Faitout married Rebecca Davis, daughter of John Davis, of Westfield, who resided just outside of the boundary line of this township.
Among the early family names was that of Meeker, in which line there are numerous descendants. One of them lived on the old road to Elizabeth Town, just easterly of where Philip Johns now resides. William Meeker was one of the Elizabeth Town associates. He came from New Haven, Connecticut, where he took the oath of fidelity July I, 1644. He was "propounded, October 7, 1646, to be loader to Mill for a 12 month, to goe in all seasons except unreasonable weather." Frequently he appears in the records as "Meaker " and " Mecar." He was appointed a constable of the borough on the 13th of October, 1671. He had sons, Joseph and Benjamin, also numbered among the eighty associates. The name of Benjamin Meeker is in the second generation of associates, admitted in 1699.
In this township we find such names as Aker, Badgley, Baker, Brooks, Crane, Clark, Craig, Cory, Connet, Davis, Denman, Dunham,
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Frazee, Faitout, Frost, Gennings or Jennings, Garthwaite, Hendricks, Hinds, High, Hetfield, Hole, Kyet or Keyt, Lambert, Littell, Ludlum, Meeker, Miller, Mash or Marsh, Pierson, Robinson, Lilley, Robins, or Robinson, Morris or Norris, Ross, Sinnago, Scudder, Tooker or Tucker, Terry, Williams, Freeland or Vreeland, Darby, Woodruff, Winans, Wilcox, and Yoemans, but many of them are only known now in old deeds and records.
CRANEVILLE.
In the year 1849 the residence of Mr. Josiah Crane, Sr., was visited, on the 4th of July, by some Sabbath school children from Westfield. They spent a pleasant day rambling along the river banks, fishing, etc., Mr. Crane, in his hospitable manner, doing all in his power to make it pleasant for them. He owned lands on both sides of the Rahway river, and his homestead was on the main road, now called Union avenue, near the railroad track. A few trains occasionally stopped on signal, there being no regular station built. Before the children left for their homes somne of them marked with some chalk on an old building near the tract in large letters the name of "Craneville," and such it remained for years, until the present commodious depot was built in 1869, and the nanie was changed to Cranford.
POST OFFICES.
Until 1867 the residents of this then scattered village, Crane- ville, as it was called, depended upon Westfield and Connecticut Farms post offices for their mail, and the religious weekly papers were taken to church on Sabbath morning by one appointed, who distributed the Christian Advocate and the New York Observer, while letters were brought that during the week had accumulated at the post office. When Saturday evening came and "chores " for the week were done up, the custom was to go to the store where the office was kept, and there meet neighbors, and, returning home, bring all the mail for the neighbors at Craneville. This was the practice up to the time when John Baldwin built his store and also took charge of the station at Cranford. For a time he also acted as postmaster. By the explosion of a barrel of kerosene he was burnt to death, with the store and con- tents, hardly anything being saved. It is related that he went in the cellar where the barrel was kept, about half-past nine o'clock in the evening, to draw some of the oil for a customer. George O. Totten was appointed postmaster in 1870, and continued until he removed from Cranford, when John L. Derby was appointed, and he is still post- master.
CRANFORD.
[BY JOHN ALFRED POTTER.]
Cranford is located seventeen miles from New York city, in the most beautiful and healthful section of New Jersey. Its rich, roll-
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ing soil is especially adapted to the growth of shade trees, and in this respect it is not surpassed even by the world-famed City of Elins. The river is beautiful beyond description. Its natural attractiveness has been heightened by the hand of man, who has constructed across its course a dam that underlies a musical cascade and inakes navigation possible for a mile up stream. Upon its high banks are located the homes of well-to-do business men, who take pride in keeping their lawns and houses attractive. The healthfulness of Cranford is a matter, not of speculation, but of record. During the years 1886 to 1891, inclu- sive, forty persons died,-the average annual death rate being 5.32 per one thousand. Malaria, the bane of many suburban towns, is almost un- known. Two railroads, the Jersey Central and the Lehigh Valley, pass through the town and convey its residents to or from the metrop- olis in less than forty ininutes. Their charges for transportation are low, and the train service is admirable.
The cost of living in Cranford is moderate, when the convenience it affords is taken into account. Property is assessed at but one-fourth of its market value, yet the tax rate this year is only two and a half per cent. The town is well lighted; its streets are kept in good condition; its buildings are protected by an efficient fire department, and private schools are admirably conducted. Pure water, gas, electric light, per- fect drainage,-all are within the reach of the Cranford villagers.
The business portion of the town will compare favorably with that of any other community of twice our population. Large stores, stocked with all the necessaries and most of the luxuries of life, cluster around the station. In the opera house block and the Rath building are some offices adapted to the needs of professional men. Cranford has five churches, four protestant and one Roman Catholic. The clergymen are eloquent and faithful workers, who, by precept and example, keep the religious life of the community vigorous and aggressive. Socially Cranford occupies a pre-eminent position. Its Country Club, Athletic Club, Wednesday Morning Club, fraternal, dramatic, charitable and church societies, keep up an almost constant round of recreative and beneficial entertainments.
A VINE OF THE LORD'S PLANTING .*
Thon hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadows of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars .- Psalm 80 : IO.
There are those who attribute every event to a strictly natural cause, and who make no exception of the church and sacred history. But those who accept revealed truth, and acknowledge the fatherhood of God, believe that the church is, as our text declares, a vine of the Lord's planting. The period of the healthful and expanding life of the church, described in our verses is the period from Abraham to Solomon-the golden age of Jewish history. Of the vine planted in Egypt by the divine fingers, and trans-
* The article here incorporated is from a historical sermon, preached in the First Presbyterian church, of Cranford, New Jersey, April 9, 1893, by the pastor, the Rev. George Francis Greene.
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planted to the soil of Caanan, the following assertions may be made. Its original environment was unfriendly. It roots nevertheless struck deeply. Its growth was healthful. And it finally revealed an expulsive power that destroyed every other growth opposed to its own.
Surely the Lord is the husbandman who, in every age, shields and nurtures the organism of which Christ is the vine and his people the branches. And the same is true of every individual church of the Master. In looking backward through the forty-two years of the life of the particular church to which we belong we find constant proofs that its continued and enlarging strength and fruitfulness have been due to the wisdom and love of the everlasting Father. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, for the continuous prosperity which has been enjoyed by our beloved church from its birth until this day!
There are those here who remember the Old Red School House which stood for many years on the corner of Union avenue and the old Westfield road, not far from the present residence of Mr. S. J. Cox. For more than a century a school house stood on that spot. Mrs. John E. Mathews, now of Newark, who was born in the Denman homestead, but a stone's throw away from the site, has informed me that records are in her possession showing that a school house stood there prior to the Revolution. This ancient building was succeeded by a second, and that in turn by a third, all on the same corner. From the beginning, religious services were held from time to time on the Sabbath in these school houses. Once the eccentric though renowned Methodist itinerant, Lorenzo Dow, passed through the place and preached in the school house. It was about 1820, before the most of us arrived in Cranford. Mrs. Mathews' father entertained the preacher ; and after service, as the door was thronged with people, Dow sprang nimbly through the open window. Mr. Denman, a man weighing about two hundred pounds, with some difficulty followed through the same avenue. Then Dow mounted his horse and disappeared.
The Red School House with which we are concerned was the third and last of the series we have mentioned. In that little building our church had its birth. There, from 1832 until 1851, a Sunday school met weekly, its principal superintendents being, in succession during that period, Andrew H. Clark, Isaac Miller, Josiah Crane, Patrick Clark, Isaac H. Pierson and S. W. Thompson. Occasionally on the Sabbath a preaching service would be held in connection with the Sabbath school, the same being conducted by the pastor of some neighboring church.
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