History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 143

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224

USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 143
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 143

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Samuel Dally, son of Charles Dally and Nancy Gamberton, was born in Mutton Hollow, Woodbridge township, N. J., Jan. 26, 1810. As far as can be aseer- tained, his ancestry on his father's side was English ; his mother was of French extraction. The first and most remote ancestor bearing the family name was one Sarah Dally, widow, living in Bethlehem, Hun- terdon Co., N. J., Aug. 28, 1765. At this time she was quite advanced in years. Her husband's name is not known. She had a son Charles, who had em- igrated to Augusta County, Va. He married Eliza- beth Tilton, by whom he had one son, Samuel, born in I732. When Samuel was old enough to learn a trade he came to Woodbridge, N. J., and became a weaver. He married Mary Jones, by whom he was the father of four children, to wit : Sarah, May, Merey, and Jeremiah. The last named learned the weaver's trade with his father, and worked on a small farm which he owned. Jeremiah married Elizabeth Gage, by whom he became the father of Charles, who is mentioned above as the father of the subject of this sketch.

At the age of sixteen Samnel Dally was indentured to David Guyon, of Rahway township, as an appren- tice to learn the blacksmith's trade. After working

about two years in Rabway he was attacked with malarial fever, and became so enfeebled by it that his father stipulated with Mr. Guyon and secured his release from his indenture. After this he remained at home, working with his father at the weaver's trade, till he was married, Jan. 2, 1831, to Miss Deborah Barnes Harned, youngest child of Jonathan and Eliz- abeth Harned, of Woodbridge township. Tradition says he was a wild boy, but getting married tamed him. Industry took the place of idleness, and earnest business was substituted for profitless vacaney. His advantages to acquire an education were small at best, and lessened by his own indisposition to study and by his love of fun. For past folly he now strove to make amends as far as possible and fit himself for useful stations in life. He stipulated for a farm, and by assiduous labor in farming through the summer and by peddling oysters in the winters through the west of New York and Pennsylvania, exposed to many hardships and privations, he succeeded in six years in paying for the farm.

In 1840 he commeneed the butcher business, and proseented it successfully for eight years.

In 1846 his father died, and by his will made Samuel executor. In the division of the estate Charles M. received the homestead, and was thus constituted

584

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

the natural successor of his father in the clay business. But his tastes being foreign to the prosecution of the business, which his father had to some degree devel- oped (he being the first clay merchant of Woodbridge township), Charles proposed to sell the homestead to Samuel, and his proposition was accepted.

In 1848 Samuel quit the butcher business and commenced to quarry clay. In this branch of busi- ness he continued for sixteen years and amassed a comfortable fortune. In 1849 a great sorrow came to him in the loss of the wife of his youth. Seven chil- dren were made motherless and he solitary in this crushing bereavement. In November, 1849, he mar- ried Mrs. Catharine M. Stone, by whom he had four children.

The confusion and demoralization produced among the laborers by the recruiting officers offering large bounty for enlistment in army led him to quit the clay business in 1864. Since then he has not been in business.

It was a common saying in the community that whatever he put his hand to prospered. So it seemed from the beginning to the end of his business career. But no mere smile of the fickle goddess fortune secured for him this prosperity, success came according to the inflexible laws of human limitations and sur- roundings. In the elements of his character and the method of his working may be found an easy solution of all his prosperity. In early life he resolved to be a sober man, and such was the power of his will that to resolve was the invariable antecedent to the fulfill- ment of his resolution. He resolved to be prompt and to do without delay the duties of the hour. Hence he was saved all the time usually wasted in indecision and procrastination. His promptness in paying his bills led men to believe, long before he had a fortune, that he must be rich.

He resolved always to honor God, and never in the family nor in business did he compromise Christian principles. His good health and good judgment, joined with these resolutions, have made him a man of mark in the county in which he lives. At the age of seventy-two he is still strong and vigorous,-an example to young men of the fruits of sober industry and uncompromising piety.

THE BARRON FAMILY.

he dissolved his business relations with Laing & Ran- dolph, and formed a partnership with J. I. Codding- ton, and the same fall embarked in business in New Orleans. The house of Thomas Barron, during the twenty years of its existence, was one of the best known in the South, and had representatives in Liver- pool, London, and New York. In New Orleans he was a director of the Louisiana Branch of the United States Bank.

Having amassed a competency he withdrew from active business life, and thereafter devoted his time to unostentatious philanthropy, to study, and his favorite sport of fishing. History and geography were favorite fields of research, but during the last decade of his life these were largely supplanted by astronomy. He read Herschel, Humboldt, and other important works, and few men were better read, and few men were better able to arrange and utilize their mental acqui- sitions. For many years he was a member of the New York Historical Society, a fellow of the Ameri- can Geographical Society, of the American Museum of Natural History, corresponding secretary of the New Jersey Historical Society, and for thirty years he kept a diary in which he noted the important events of the times. Ile loved his country, and took an active interest in the preservation of the Union, by making large contributions for sanitary purposes and the equipment and comfort of the soldiers, and after the war he aided largely the Military Post Library Association. He died Aug. 31, 1875, and in his will made munificent bequests to the New York Historical Society, New Jersey Historical Society, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Juvenile Asylum. Associa- tion for Improving the Condition of the Poor, Ameri- can Female Guardian Society, and Home for the Friendless, and, greatest of all, the Barron Library.

JOHN BARRON was the third son of Joseph and Fanny (Brown) Barron, and born at Woodbridge, on the family homestead, Oct. 18, 1792. His education was mainly obtained in his native place, being com- pleted by attendance upon lectures in New York while passing two years in that city (during 1809 and 1811), learning the trade of cabinet-making. Upon his return to Woodbridge he built a large manufactory and prepared to conduct his trade on an extensive scale. His adventure was in advance of the times, and, un- able to dispose of his wares near home, he sought a market for them in New Orleans, having some knowl- edge of this city from his brother Thomas, who had been a resident there for several years. Going South by sea, he was fairly successful in his sales, and these being completed, he returned to the North by the cir- cuitous stage and post route then existing.

THOMAS BARRON, second son of Joseph and Fanny Brown Barron, was born in Woodbridge, June 10, 1790. He received only a common school educa- tion, and at the age of fourteen hecame a clerk in his father's store, where he developed a prodigious apti- tude for business. He was soon commissioned by his The limited demand in his immediate neighbor- hood for cabinet-ware and his own failing health induced him to abandon his manufacturing. He purchased a farm on the then outskirts of Wood- bridge, and in agricultural pursuits he passed the father to buy and sell in New York, where in 1814 he took up his abode; for a short tinie was a partner of J. C. Marsh & Co., and then of Laing & Randolph, one of the leading houses in the West India trade. After making two trips to the West Indies in 1817, , remainder of his days. Until 1858 the farm remained

RE MRO

LAY RETORT

OFFICE 418 To 422 E. 23RD. ST. N. Y.

VIEW OF RAILROAD

JUNCTION.

FIRE BRICK FURNATIO BLOCKS TILES&SLABS

CLAY RETORT

OFFICE DEPOT

ALASKAN N. Y.

EXCELSIOR FIRE-BRICK AND CLAY RETORT WORKS. HENRY MAURER, PERTH AMBOY, N. J.

HENRY MAURER'S

EXCELSIOR FIRE-BRICK AND CLAY RETORT WORKS.

Joseph Forbes, of Perth Amboy, in 1850 started a brick-manufactory, and continued until the year 1862, when he sold out to Mr. E. W. Crossett, of Long Island, who remained a few years, and then sold to Horten & Mabie, of Peekskill, N. Y., when Mr. Caleb Hughes commenced making Portland cement and ground lime, and erected a Iloffinan kiln, the largest in this section of country. He afterwards sold out the works in 1872-73 to Charles Anness & Son, of Perth Amboy, but soon afterwards the present manager and owner, Ilenry Maurer, of New York City, purchased the property.

There are about seventy-five acres belonging to the works, and a mile of water front on Woodbridge Creek and Staten Island Sound; and eleven acres of elay- banks, situated in the village of Woodbridge, consist- ing of ware and other fire and retort clays.

The factory and clay lands are supposed to be worth $100,000. The brick-kiln building is 75 by 240 feet, two stories high ; the brick-retort building is 80 by 175 feet ; the central building, with drying-pans, is also 80 by 175 feet ; the machine-shop, engine-room, and pit-shed is 90 by 300 feet ; and the clay-sheds are 30 by 300 feet.

The following is an account of the clay interests and the manufacture of hollow bricks prior to 1875. Hollow bricks had been introduced for house building in Europe. They are light, strong enough to hold up all the weight that can be loaded upon them, and they make a drier wall. Dry bricks are not good conductors of heat, and the air inelosed in the hollows increases this non-con- ducting property. Houses built of such brick keep out the summer's heat and the winter's cold better than those built of solid brick. They were not much used

in this country until 1878. llenry Maurer, of Perth Amboy, has been engaged in their manufacture since that time, and this branch of his business is steadily increasing.

Roofing tiles have been long in use, and now fill an important place in ornamental architecture, and their strong colors and manageable forms make them an effective addition to the resources of the architect. The New Jersey buildings on the Centennial grounds at Philadelphia in 1876 were covered with tiles made by Mr. Maurer.

Draining tiles are prepared from the same elay that is used for common brick, of which great quantities are made from the brick clays of this district.

Mr. Maurer has every facility for increasing his works, and at the present time is erecting a number of buildings to accommodate his employees. This property is situated in Perth Amboy, at nearly equal distance from the depots of that place and Woodbridge. There have been a number of analyses made out of seven of the richest and purest clays. The sum of the averages for silica, alumina, and water is as follows, upon the basis of 100:

Silic 45 20

Alumina 40.42

Water 14.88

Mr. Maurer, the proprietor of the Excelsior Fire- Brick and Clay Retort Works, and also manufacturer of every variety of hollow brick for fire-proof build- ings, has his principal office and depot at 418, 420, and 422 East Twenty-third Street, New York.

Horny Maurer ٧

585

WOODBRIDGE.

as when he cultivated it, but since then, in common with other outlying portions of Woodbridge, it has undergone an entire change. Barron Avenue divides it, the Congregational Church stands upon land that formed a portion of it, and a large section purchased by the Hon. Charles A. Campbell has been covered with handsome buildings.

In politics, as in everything else, John Barron was a man of decided opinions. An old-line Whig, he spoke out his views with no uncertain voice, and in warmly-contested elections his influence was always an important factor in the success of the Whig ticket in Middlesex. In the Polk-Clay campaign he was especially active, his energy having a very consider- able influence upon the vote in his section of the State. Being much depressed by the loss of his wife in 1851, his feeble health grew feebler day by day till his death, which occurred Oct. 16, 1853.

JOHN C. BARRON, M.D., New York, son of John and Mary (Conner) Barron, was born in Woodbridge, Nov. 2, 1837. After receiving preliminary education at a select school in his native town he entered Bur- lington College at Burlington, N. J., the institution being at that time under the rectorship of the Right Rev. George W. Doane, D.D., bishop of the diocese of New Jersey. In 1858 he passed bence to Yale College, studying in the scientific department, and at the same time attending lectures in the eminent private school of Drs. Jewett, Hooker & Knight. In 1860 he entered the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, New York, graduating thence in 1861. In April of that year, immediately upon receiving his degree, he entered the United States volunteer army as an assistant surgeon, being passed by the " Board of Army Examiners" sitting at Albany, and was as- signed to the Mechanics' Rifles. This position was declined on account of being tendered the assistant surgeoncy of Sixty-ninth New York Regiment, then in the field. This regiment was among the foremost to offer their services to the general government early in 1861.

Dr. Barron immediately upon his appointment, with a detachment of the regiment, proceeded to Washing- ton and was sworn into the service of the United States, going at once to active work with the regi- ment, then the advance-guard in Virginia, and, as stated in the publications of the day, "showing his devotion to the cause by donating one thousand dol- lars for medical supplies, etc., to the hospital depart- ment." The Sixty-ninth saw much service, being at Blackburn's Ford, and at the first Bull Run battle, at the latter losing in killed and wonnded nearly two hundred men. He held his commission until the fol- lowing August. In June, 1863, he re-entered the army, being assigned assistant surgeon of the Sev- enth New York Regiment, N.G.S.N. Y., and serving with the reserves called out in 1863 to repel the ad- vance of Lee. In July, 1869, he was promoted to the surgeoncy. In June, 1871, he resigned from the regi-

ment, and was appointed surgeon-general of the First Division, N.G.S.N.Y., with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Maj .- Gen. Alexander Shaler. IIe was married, June 23, 1869, to Harriet M., danghter of Rev. Albert Williams, of San Francisco, Cal. After spending a year in Europe, including an extended tonr of the Eastern countries and a trip of seven hundred miles np the river Nile, he returned and set- tled in New York City, where he now resides.

HENRY MAURER.

Henry Manrer, born in Southern Germany, March 19, 1830, came to New York when eighteen years of age, having spent five years previously in Paris, France, learning the trade of cabinet-making. Upon his arrival in New York he entered the employ of one Kreischer, a relative, as journeyman in the man- ufacture of fire-brick, receiving small wages, where he remained some eight years, when he became a part- ner under the firm-name of B. Kreischer & Nephew. This continued until 1863, when he sold his interest to the senior member of the firm, and began the same business with one Weber, under the firm-name of Maurer & Weber, with whom he remained twelve years, when he disposed of his interest to his partner and came to Perth Amboy and purchased the fire-brick works of Joseph Forbes, the present site of his manu- factory, known as the Excelsior Fire-Brick and Clay Retort Works. The original manufactory was a meagre concern, having but two kilns and one small engine. . Mr. Manrer has spent some $50,000 in get- ting his works to their present capacity and condition, which are equal to any of the kind in this portion of the State. The business comprises the manufactory of fire-brick, gas retorts, furnace blocks and tiles, hollow brick for fire-proof buildings, and Frenchi roofing tile. He is constantly increasing his facili- ties and capacity, and in 1881 used five thousand tons of fire-clay in the manufacture of five hundred and twenty thousand hollow brick and one million seven hundred and fifty thousand fire-brick, gas retorts, tiles, etc. The capacity was increased one-third in 1882.

Mr. Maurer employs about one hundred men, uses none but the best machinery known in the trade, and has also invented valuable machines which he en- ploys. His business has increased so rapidly that the Central Railroad of New Jersey Company have prom- ised to extend their road to the works, an event which is likely to soon take place.

Mr. Maurer is owner of some of the best fire-clay mines in New Jersey, located in Woodbridge, N. J. Has furnished hollow brick for the Vanderbilt build- ings, D. O. Mills, R. L. Stewart, White's building on Broadway, and many of the best-known citizens of New York. At the Centennial the building of the State of New Jersey was covered with his roofing tile.

Mr. Maurer married in 1856 Mrs. Dr. Weber, of

586

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

New York. They have eight children. They reside at 219 Second Avenne, and his office and depot are located at 418 to 422 East Twenty-third Street, New York.

CHAPTER LXXXII.

PISCATAWAY.

THIs township was incorporated in 1798. It is about eight miles long and six miles wide, and is bounded north by Plainfield township, Union County, east by Raritan township, south by Raritan River, and westerly by North Plainfield township, Somerset Connty. A small portion of this township was taken off in the formation of Raritan township in 1843, and of Plainfield township in 1847.

Natural Features .- The surface is nearly a level, north and westerly bordering on the Green Brook, and extending as a belt to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The soil is a sandy loam, covering over the whole extent until the outcropping of the red shale near the village of New Market, when a ridge of high land rnns quite across it east and west, dividing it into nearly equal parts, from which the land slopes in a gentle declivity north and sonth. This township is free from much of the glacial drift rock, and only in the extreme southerly part is much gravel or peb- bles to be seen, and these are so intermixed with the red shale that it is a benefit more than a determent in the keeping of the soil in a loose, easy way of cul- tivation, while in other parts of the township we find a stiff clay soil. The land is fertile, and agriculture is in a high state of progressive improvement.

Most of the streams of this township flow towards and empty into the Raritan River. The Green Brook, on the borders of the township, is the largest, fed by springs from the mountains. The New Brooklyn Pond, which stream passes through the village of New Market, and the Ambrose Brook are water- courses, fed in the northeasterly part of the township by smaller streams from other townships.

Early Records .- The early records of this town- ship date back to the 25th of June, 1675. They are a miscellaneous collection, consisting of land grants, organization of the township, surveys, deeds, the first town officers, marks of sheep and cattle, laying out of highways, and building of "cart" bridges, as they were called at this early date. Here may also be found a list of early settlers and prices paid for the killing of wild animals. This old record locates many of the first farms, and gives the names of the first justices of the peace, who were the subscribing witnesses to the certificates. We give a few items of considerable interest of ye olden time.

The first land was granted to Jodiah Higgins, Jan. 1, 1682,

" by the 'fowne of Piscataway end wae layed out to ye said Higgins the 24th of ye monthe by John Longstaff, Benjamin Hull and Godferry Man- nin, and was bounded as followeth.

Beginning N. pole marked on four sides by ye fild by ye side of ye Blow or swamps nar Mr Smallys honse from thence downed the swamps 20 rod to a stake marked on four Sides from thence runninge East sixteen rod to a small bush marked on four sides and from thence runninge Northly West twenty Rud to ye highway to a place marked on four Sides from thence running south west sixteen Rod to ye stake where they first be- gun in all two acres-June 254h 1683 Regestered

" LIEUT EDWARD SLATHER

" Toune Clarke."

" Timothy Chandler his mark for cattel and hoggee ass a cross on the off Ear And a Slit on the under side of Noarse cami entered this 21 of February 168 2 " ISAAC SMALLEY Towne Clarke."

"John Crushroune ass marke for Cattoll, swine and horsese As a half penny on the outside off Near Earee Entered this twenty fifthe of June 1688

" ISAAC SMALEY Towne Clarke."

" Thomas fitzrandell Junior his mark for catel Horsess and hogges a half Penny on the uper sides of ech ear

"The 27th Agust 1712

JOHN MOLLESON Clerke."

Robert Mackllon enters a Deed to Isaac smalley dated 10th daye of August, 1688. Also recorded deed of hopewall hull to Edmond Dunham dated 13 days of Jonewory, 1689. Witnesses: Edward Slater, Nic:ho Roynoll, Isaac Smalley, Towne Clerke. Also recorded 1690, LaSlore (his mark) alias re- missial to Thomas Grub, blacksmith. Also recorded 1687, Bonia hull to Comamon Hull. Deed given by exchange of other lands, no consideration in money mentioned. Also Issaac Tappin sells to one hull in 1690 a tract of lands, and witnessed by Hendricks, Doriell, and Isbout.

In the year 1698, Jaques Pollion, of Richmond, Staten Island, comes to this township and sells Hen- dricks Garrison, yeoman, a large traet of land now situated on the old York road and bordering upon the Raritan River, consideration, £112. Witnesses, Thomas Shotwell, John Stillwell, and Elias Dux- bury.

The name of John Royce is here found as justice of peace in the year 1706. He was a large owner of lands, not only in Middlesex County but in and near Sommerville, Somerset Co., and from him the small hamlet now known as Roycefields took its name, a station on the New Jersey Central Railroad.

The following gift from father to son is interesting ; we only give a part of the contents devised in the deed :

" To all Christina People to whom these P'ressante shall come,

" Know ye That 1, Joseph Fitz randolph, Senior of Piscattaway, for And in Consideration of the Love, good will, and affection which I have and do bear towards my well beloved son, Jonathan F'itz-randolph, of l'isscataway, New Jersey,-llave given, granted, and by these l'resents dve freely, fully, clearly, and Absolutely give and grant to the said Jonathun Fitz-randolph, his heirs and Asigns forever, Lands that he had bought of John Laing, Deed hearing date November Je 28, 1703, will att Large appeare which sd Land beginnith at a White oake tree, etc.

"JOSEPH FITZ-RANDOLPH (bis mark).

" In Presence of BEN HULL, HENRY SCAINNON."

" Memorandum yt Androw Smialloy has quit this Mark & takin his fathers in ye Room of this as it is enterd this 29 day of April, 1762. " REUNE RUNYON, Clk."

This old volume of two hundred years ago has pages filled with records of the marking of cattle, and at the side of each a rough drawing of the head

587

PISCATAWAY.

of the creature showing the markings. At that early day, there being few fences for inclosures, horses, cattle, and swine were let loose to feed upon thou- sands of acres in the township. Each owner's name and mark was recorded so as to prevent any dispute that might arise in selecting his stock from his neighbors. The ears were slit, clipped, or bored as the drawings show. We find an order upon the town clerk as follows :

"Came to the Plantation of the Subscriber about the first of Novem- ber a black calf, one white spot on the Belley, no certificates, mark sop- posed to be coming two years old, but small for that age, the town clerke will plese to mark it.

" ISAC BROWN."

On account of damage done by dogs to sheep and cattle, they were accordingly registered by town clerk.

The following is recorded in the book "for the poor of ye town," showing the prices on Nov. 15, 1759 :

2 Waggons Load of Wood

to 6s. 0d.

1 Bushel of Rie.

0 3 6

14 fbs. of Flower ..

0 2 6

One-half Gallon of Mollasses.

0 2

11/2 ths. of Butter. 0 1 4

"Nov. 13, 1759, Recd from Reune Runyon, Esq., the fine of Wm. Classon, son of Conl. & his wife for profane Swearing the sum of £1 68. 0d

" March 24, 1760. There received of Joseph Michol for bis Excisses for ye year 1759 ye sum of £2 128. 4d.

[The above is Tax of Tavern-keeper.]

" Feb. 29, 1760, for 16 It. Tea. " 12 Gall. Rom.

3 0

" and 1 tb. of Candles 3

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 143

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts Number of Pages: 1224

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224