History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 182

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 182
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 182

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1933

749

NORTH BRUNSWICK.

children in the districts attending private schools: No. 27, 15; No. 28, 6; No. 29, 2. Estimated number of children in the districts who attended no schools during the year: No. 27, 33; No. 28, 48; No. 29, 9. Seating capacity of school-houses and condition of same: No. 27, 50, good; No. 28, 150, very good; No. 29, 60, good. Number of male teachers employed : No. 27,1; No. 28, 1. Number of female teachers employed : No. 27,1; No. 28,1; No. 29,1. Average salary per month paid male teachers: No. 28, $45. Average monthly salary of female teachers: No. 27, $31; No. 28, $30; No. 29, $25.

Industrial Pursuits .- A grist-mill was built where Milltown now is, on the North Brunswick side of Lawrence's Brook, at a very early day. Soon after the beginning of the present century it was owned by Jacob I. Bergen, and called Bergen's Mill. Its pre- vious history the writer has been unable to trace. The water-power at Brookford was first made use of as long ago as 1750, when it turned the machinery of a grist-mill which stood within the area now occu- pied by Parsons' Brookford Snuff-Mills. Early in the present century a saw-mill was in operation there under the same roof with the grist-mill, and the concern was owned or operated, or both, by Isaac Petty, who after a number of years sold out to Matthew Edgerton.

A fulling-mill was introduced, and when machin- ery put an end to the domestic carding of wool and the periodical bringing of it to a mill to be made into cloth for private families, the works were con- verted into a snuff-mill, and as such were operated by Mr. Edgerton from 1839 to 1856.

In 1851 the establishment was destroyed by fire, and whatever remained of the old grist-mill and saw- mill disappeared forever. The snuff-mill was rebuilt in 1852, and the manufacture of snuff was carried on with considerable success by Mr. Edgerton until he disposed of the property to Mr. William G. Parsons in 1856.

Such, in brief, is the history of manufacturing en- terprise at this locality, which from about the time of any general settlement in the surrounding country has been a scene of industry and business activity second to no other in the country south of the Rari- tan either in importance or celebrity.

THE BROOKFORD SNUFF-MILLS .- These mills, the property of Mr. William G. Parsons, he purchased of Matthew S. Edgerton in 1856, and has improved them from time to time, erecting the large brick building, now so conspicuous, in 1872. He is engaged in the manufacture of four varieties of snuff, known to the trade as "Scotch,", " Maccaboy," "Lundyfoot," and the "French Rappee" snuffs. His purchases of tobacco are large each year, and it comes mainly from Richmond, Va., though some is bought from Missouri, Kentucky, and in the New York market. Little or no Connecticut, Delaware, or New Jersey tobacco is used, that grown in these States being too i tries," revised to date, with additions.

light for use in this factory. Of the four varieties mentioned, the Brookford mills make many times as much "Scotch" as of all the remaining three kinds. The quality of the snuffs manufactured here is as good and the price they bring as high as those of any snuffs in the market. Mr. Parsons sells in large quantities, and to a considerable extent supplies the New York jobbers. But it is to the South that snuff is sent in the largest quantities, and there it is in most general use, and there it is that Parsons' yellow "Scotch" snuff is in the greatest demand and has the best reputation.

The Brookford mills are situated on the bank of Lawrence's Brook, the old-time water-power pre- viously referred to supplying the motive-power, about three-quarters of a mile from Milltown. In the management of the concern Mr. Parsons is assisted by his sons, James M. Parsons and William G. Par- sons, Jr.

THE MEYER RUBBER COMPANY.1-The cradle of rubber shoe manufacture is undoubtedly at Milltown. It was there that Christopher Meyer, who had begun his investigations soon after Goodyear and Day, made his first essay at manufacturing, and there, obtaining his right under the Goodyear patent and fighting the battles with Day under the Goodyear banner, he went on inventing and improving machinery and perfecting the process of rubber shoe making. To- day no man more thoroughly understands all the branches and details of the rubber trade than Mr. Meyer. He is the leading spirit of three companies, all having manufactories in the county,-the Meyer Works at Milltown, and the New Jersey Works and the Novelty Hard Rubber Works at New Brunswick, -and all occupying important places in the rubber trade.

In 1839, Mr. Meyer went to New Brunswick from Newark to put up for Horace H. Day the first steam- engine and machinery Day ever owned for the first rubber-works ever put in operation there. Day was then making carriage-cloths and rubber shoes, but the former was so odorous as to be intolerable, and so soft that when the carriage-top was put down the folds of the cloth stuck together and peeled off, and the latter in summer were similarly unfit for use, while in winter they became hard as bricks. Mr. Meyer devised a plan by which the unpleasant smell was almost entirely obviated and the cloth and shoes rendered more durable. Mr. Day refused to recog- nize the value of this process, and Mr. Meyer there- upon decided to leave his employ, even insisting upon doing so after Day had reconsidered his refusal.

In 1840, Mr. Meyer began business on his own account near the Landing Bridge in New Brunswick, and remained there three months. Messrs. Hutch- inson and Onderdonk had meanwhile dissolved part-

1 Largely from a pamphlet entitled "New Brunswick and its Indus-

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

nership in a rubber business they had been carrying on in Water Street, New Brunswick, and the latter started the rubber manufacture in James Neilson's old saw-mill, the former going to Newark. Failing in his experiment, Mr. Onderdonk sold out to Mr. Meyer, who ran the works with his own machinery two years so successfully that Mr. Onderdonk in turn bought him out, and, in company with Mr. Johnson Letson, established the works now of the New Bruns- wick Rubber Company.

At this juncture Mr. J. C. Ackerman proposed to Mr. Meyer to build for him a factory on the site of the old Milltown grist-mill, and this was done, Mr. James Bishop joining with Mr. Meyer in the man- agement. This was in 1843. In 1844 the works were started and engaged in the manufacture of shirred goods, carriage-cloth, and rubber shoes with leather bottoms, the latter being soon substituted by the Goodyear all-rubber shoe, for though Goodyear had a patent on the process, it was not respected and soon became common property. Before the process of vulcanization was understood the rubber had to be dissolved in turpentine and acids. The caoutchouc was received from Para in three forms,-in sheets, in bottles, and in rough shoes formed by dipping clay moulds in the sap. All these were utilized by Mr. Meyer. The rough shoes were fur-tipped and pre- pared for sale; the gum bottles were dissolved and spread over cloth for carriage-cloth; the imported sheets were cut into fore-uppers and joined with cloth quarters to cover leather soles for shoes. In this manner the works turned out about one thousand pairs of shoes per week. These shoes, however, were found to get hard in winter and sticky in sum- mer, and were soon condemned by popular disfavor, and the business received a serious check. The works also turned out rubber ponton-bridges and boats for government use in the Mexican war. In 1845 the factory was burned down, with Mr. Meyer's residence, leaving him absolutely without a cent of capital and without stock or machinery. Mr. John R. Ford then came in and furnished capital to start the works anew, and under the name of Ford & Co. they con- tinued in operation for several years. The new build- ings measured twenty-five by one hundred and thirty and thirty by forty feet, and in them the business steadily grew and improvements were made until in 1851 a second fire visited the establishment. In 1852 a stock company was formed, named the Ford Rubber Company, and all of the present buildings except the new brick building were occupied. In 1858 the name of the company was changed to the Meyer Rubber Company, and so it still remains. The con- pany is now working with $200,000 capital stock, and is officered as follows : President, Christopher Meyer ; Treasurer, John R. Ford ; Superintendent, John C. Evans. Mr. James C. Edmonds very efficiently filled the office of secretary from 1846 until his death, Dec. 6, 1879. For a long time Mr. John Evans, father of

the present superintendent, was in charge of the fac- tory, and his close attention to all the details of man- ufacture, of which he had an admirable knowledge, conduced much to the success of the enterprise. The present superintendent has a practical knowledge of the business, gained by years of experience, which fitted him to fill the responsible position made vacant by his father's death.

The buildings occupied for manufacturing purposes hy the Meyer Rubber Company are eight in number, the larger ones so separated that some of them might be saved in case of fire, and the smaller ones attached to them. A large frame building, measuring fifty by one hundred and twelve feet, four stories high, with a wing extending from it about thirty feet, contains machinery for steaming, crushing, and washing crude rubber, obtained in immense quantities from Para, Nicaragua, Esmeralda, and other places in Central and South America, store-rooms, the "stripping"- room, a last-room, a varnishing-room, a large room occupied as a stock-room and for the manufacture of " Arctic" overshoes, and a room in which rubber boots are made. Attached to one end of this building is a steam heater in a building forty by fifty-eight feet, to which is attached a boiler-house containing ap- paratus for supplying steam to the heater, and attached to this building also are two round dry heaters. In the wing are located the offices of the company.

In 1878 a brick building (now the main building) was erected. It measured fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, is four stories high, and contains on the ground floor machinery for preparing rubber for manufacture into boots and overshoes, while on the three floors above are carried on the various processes of cutting and manufacturing until the boots and shoes are turned ont complete. Attached are an engine-house, twenty- two by fifty feet, containing an engine of five hun- dred horse-power; a hoiler-house, thirty by forty feet, containing three boilers; and a building, thirty by sixty feet, in which are compounded from divers ingredients the various colors given to rubber for use in these works. The other buildings are a three-story brick store-house, sixty by seventy-five feet, where are stored both the crude material as received at the factory and the products of the same awaiting ship- ment, and a frame three-story building, forty by sixty feet, on the opposite side of Lawrence's Brook, in which are manufactured the boxes in which goods are packed for shipment. The two principal build- ings are connected by an elevated gangway over the street, and the box-factory is connected with the large wooden building by a narrow and slender bridge, which spans the brook. Besides these factory buildings the company owns a farm of about one hundred acres, upon which is raised produce to sup- ply the stock, consisting of a dozen or more horses.

From 350 to 400 hands are employed by the Meyer Rubber Company, mostly German, and about equally divided between the sexes. Over 7000 pairs of san-

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NORTH BRUNSWICK.

dals, boots, shoes, " Arctics," etc., per day, or between 1,400,000 and 1,800,000 per year, at a value of $1,000,000, are turned out. Most of the shoes are made for city wear, light and stylish, and the works often introduce new and attractive styles. It is at this factory that most of the important improvements in machinery for rubber manufacture have been in- vented and perfected. For example, the sole of a rubber shoe was formerly made in three parts, because three different thicknesses were required for the sole, the shank, and the heel. Here a machine was in- vented which converted a sheet of rubber at once into shoe-soles of three thicknesses in one piece, all ready for the uppers. The machinery for making the pres- ent style of sandal was prepared here ; also the pat- ented engraved steel roll, by which a permanent impression is made upon the upper to resemble the ridge-effect obtained in other factories by laying rub- ber cords on top of the fore upper, which by saving the manufacture, the cutting it, and the laying it on by hand, cheapens the cost over a cent and a half per pair, and saves eight thousand dollars or ten thousand dollars a year to such companies as have secured the right to use it. The new process of mixture for the manufacture of shoes, including the use of resin and tar, was also devised here by Mr. Meyer, and is next in real importance, in the estimation of practical manufacturers, to the invention of vulcanization itself, but was never patented on account of the difficulty of sustaining patents at the time against infringe- ments. It was kept a secret for a while, but has now become common property. Altogether, the Meyer Rubber-Works are interesting, both on account of their extensive business, and as being the birth- place of most of the improved machinery for making rubber shoes, and of all the new styles of shoes which the market brings out. As a local industry they take rank with the first in the State, and Milltown and the surrounding country are better off for their pres- ence and that of the substantial workingmen to whom they afford well-paid employment.

THE VOORHEES STATION TANNERY .- In Frank- lin, Somerset County, is a stopping-place on the Branch Railway to Millstone, known as Voorhees Station. The depot is just west of the Princeton and New Brunswick turnpike, across which highway, within the borders of North Brunswick, is located a tannery, which was first put in operation at a date so remote that it cannot be more definitely stated than as dur- ing the latter part of the eighteenth century. In 1806 it was the property of Daniel King, and at that time was by no means a new structure. In 1826 it was destroyed by fire.

The present building was soon erected on the old site by Mr. King, who was the proprietor until his death, about two years later. The property was then sold to James Moran, who disposed of it to John Christopher in 1836, when he could not have been the proprietor more than a few months. Mr. Christopher

carried on quite an extensive business there until his death in 1850, when the premises passed into the pos- session of his son, Jacob V. D. Christopher, the present owner. The tannery contains twenty-eight vats. A fifteen horse-power engine is used, and four men are employed. Harness, shoe, and upper leather is man- ufactured.

OTHER INDUSTRIES .- Considerable nursery stock is raised in the township, and in various localities are a convenient number of wheelwrights', blacksmiths', shoemakers', and other small mechanics' shops.

Church History .- THE GEORGE'S ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH .- The field occupied by the George's Road Church was missionary ground of the New Jersey Baptist State Convention. Before any church organ- ization was formed Rev. John B. Case labored there as a missionary of the Convention. Brethren also from the New Brunswick Baptist Church-G. S. Webb, Randolph Martin, and Robert Lyle -- used to visit the place and hold preaching services, prayer-meetings, and Sabbath-school sessions. Those who were bap- tized as the fruit of these labors were received into the fellowship of the New Brunswick Church. After a while measures were taken to constitute the present church. This movement seemed to be a proper one, as the distance from New Brunswick was five miles, and to some of the members it was twice that distance ; and besides this, the road was a hard one to travel. Nevertheless there were sisters who used to walk there to attend Mr. Webb's ministry.

At a meeting held at John T. Bennett's on the 20th of January, 1843, articles of faith, church cove- nant, and the name of the church were agreed upon. On the 23d of January, 1843, a Council met, consisting of the following Baptist Churches : First New Bruns- wick, Independent Bethel at Washington, Hights- town, Penn's Neck, Nottingham Square, Piscataway, and Jacksonville. Everything being satisfactory to the Council, the new organization was recognized with appropriate exercises as a regularly constituted Baptist Church.

The number of members thus organized were 33, whose names are as follows :

Rev. John B. Case and his wife, Mary B. Case, from the Independent Bethel Church at Washington ; Mary Steward, from the Abysinia Church, New York City; and the following thirty members dismissed from the New Brunswick Church : David Provost, William Suydam, Elizabetlı Creamer, Ann Meseroll, Thomas W. Bastedo, William W. Dchart, Jane Eliza Buckelew, Phebe Drake, William Bound, Peter Z. Buckelew, Jane Suydam, Mary Thompson, Elizabeth Sperling, Margaret Ann Bennett, Eliza Dehart, Fred- erick W. Buckelew, Maria Ann Bennet, William Major, Ida Buckelew, David Creamer, Phebe M. Thompson, Louis Sperling, Elizabeth Meseroll, Leah Dehart,. Fanny Buckelew, Mary Buckelew, Catherine Major, and Sara Hendricks.

Its first pastor was Rev. John B. Case, who re-

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

mained a little over two years. At this time the church had no meeting-house, but held meetings at private houses and at the school-house. In March, 1845, Rev. Mr. Case resigned, and an invitation was given to Rev. David P. Perdun to become the pastor, which he accepted, commencing his pastorate in April, 1845. In this year the church began to build a house of worship, which was dedicated on the 17th of March, 1847. Rev. Mr. Hopkins, from New York City, preached the dedication sermon from Haggai ii. 7 : " And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come : and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."

Mr. Perdun was noted for revival effort, and quite a number were brought into the church through his protracted meetings. In his last will he left a legacy of $300 to the church, which it found to be very use- ful. In December, 1847, Rev. Mr. Perdun resigned his charge of the church, after which the pulpit was supplied for a few months by Rev. Mr. Gesner. The next pastor was Rev. B. Stelle, who came as a supply, and later assumed the pastorate, remaining until the close of 1853. In October, 1854, Rev. Morgan Cox came, and remained until April, 1860, after which the pulpit was supplied for a time by Rev. Mr. Night- ingale. In 1862, Rev. Charles Cordo was called to the pastorate, and was in charge until June, 1863. After this few meetings were held during the suc- ceeding two years, the church having neither sup- plies nor pastor. In March, 1865, Rev. Christian Brinckerhoff was called, and was pastor until 1868, and remained somewhat longer as supply. Rev. Mr. Brinckerhoff was a builder of churches both spiritual and substantial. During his pastorate the house underwent a very general alteration, which much improved it in appearance internally and externally. During the winter of 1868 and 1869, Rev. " Father" Webb acted as a supply, when an interesting state of religious feeling was manifested. In the early part of the latter year Rev. Louis Silleck became pastor, remaining until February, 1874, and the parsonage was built during his pastorate. Rev. Messrs. Davis and Babbage acted as supplies for a few months, and in 1875 the latter accepted a call to the pastorate, the duties of which he still continues to discharge.

From the organization of this church to 1880 there were added to it by baptism, 144; by letter, 33. The decrease was as follows: Dismissed, 67; deceased, 33; excluded, 60. The membership at this time is about 60.

The first officers of the church were the following :

William Major, David Provost, Matthew Edgerton, Peter D. Buckalew, and John Wolf, trustees; Wil- liam Major, John Hendricks, and John Wolf, dea- cons ; William W. Dehart, clerk.

The present officers are William Major, Ross Drake, and Isaac Messeroll, trustees ; William Major and Ross Drake, deacons; Edwin B. Drake, clerk ; David Pearce, treasurer.

The Sunday-school connected with the George's Road Church has four officers, nine teachers, and seventy-three scholars. The average attendance is forty-five. The library numbers one hundred volumes, and the superintendent is Mr. E. B. Drake.

THE MILLTOWN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. -In 1844 a Methodist class was formed at Milltown by Rev. Ralph Stout, a local preacher and a member of the Liberty Street Methodist Episcopal Church of New Brunswick, the meeting-place being in an old school-house opposite the site of the present parsonage, and was attached to the Liberty Street Church. In the spring of 1846 this class and the organizations at Washington, Old Bridge, and Fresh Pond were formed into a circuit, known as the Middlesex Circuit. Three years later the Milltown charge was separated from the Middlesex Circuit, and again attached to the Lib- erty Street Church, and in the spring of 1851 it was separated from the New Brunswick charge for the second time, and since that date has been an inde- pendent church.

The constituent members of the Milltown Meth- odist Episcopal Church were nineteen in number, named as follows: Christopher Meyer, Margaret Meyer, James C. Edmonds, Mary E. Edmonds, Ella Evans, Evans Edmonds, David Evans, Mary A. Van Arsdale, John Evans, Elizabeth Howard, Lewis S. Hyatt, Hannah A. Hyatt, John M. Thompson, Charles C. Hyatt, Catharine Atcherson, Elizabeth Titatus, Susan Stephens, and - Brown.

A meeting was called by the society, Feb. 19, 1851, at which arrangements were made for the erection of a house of worship, and John R. Ford, Christopher Meyer, John Evans, James C. Edmonds, Isaac G. Van Arsdale, Lewis S. Hyatt, and Charles C. Hyatt were elected trustees. The board of trustees organ- nized with Christopher Meyer as president, Isaac G. Van Arsdale as treasurer, and James C. Edmonds as secretary. The trustees started a subscription with pledges of eleven hundred dollars. John R. Ford donated a lot, upon which a church was built by Ed- ward B. Wright, contractor, at a cost of two thou- sand five hundred dollars, and dedicated Dec. 25, 1852; the bell, which cost one hundred and twenty- two dollars, being donated by Mrs. John R. Ford. A wing was attached to the main body of this church, which was occupied as a chapel.

The church above described was torn down, and the chapel sold and removed, and the present brick church was erected on the old site in 1872, at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars, and was dedicated by Bishop Simpson, of Philadelphia. It is located on Main Street, nearly in the centre of that part of the village northwest of Lawrence's Brook.

The following-named preachers have served the class and church in Middletown in the order named : Revs. Ralph Stout, 1844-46 ; James Ayers, 1846-47 ; James Jaquette, 1847-49; James Hilliard, 1849-52 ; James Freeman, D.D., 1852-54; I. D. King, 1854-56; Jo-

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NORTH BRUNSWICK.

seph Horner, 1856-57; A. Owen, 1857-58; H. P. Staats, 1858-60; T. D. Hanlon, 1860-61; S. E. Post, 1861-63; Jesse Styles, 1863-65; William Franklin, 1865-67; A. Lawrence, 1867-71; G. Reed, 1871-73; T. C. Carman, 1873-74; C. F. Garrison, 1874-77 ; S. C. Chatlin, 1877-79; L. M. Atkinson, 1879-81.

In 1858 the trustees purchased the present parson- age, at a cost of seven hundred and fifty dollars. It is a comfortable two-story frame dwelling, situated on Main Street, near the church.

The Sunday-school was organized in 1851. James C. Edmonds was the first superintendent. At his death, in December, 1879, he was succeeded by E. J. Carhart, having served continuously twenty-eight years. The membership of the Sunday-school in 1881 was one hundred and sixty-five. The library contained abont one linndred and fifty volumes.

THE LIVINGSTON PARK CHAPEL .- This is a small frame building, occupied by any or all of the denom- inations of Christians represented at and in the vicin- ity of Franklin Park. It was erected in 1875 and 1876 on land donated by the late Henry K. How, and dedicated in June of the latter year by Rev. Henry F. Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Brunswick, just one year to a day from the death of the generous donor of the site, religious services hav- ing previously been held in the house.

On the first Sunday in each month in 1881, Rev. Henry F. Smith or Rev. Mr. Marsh holds a service in the chapel. On the remaining Sundays in each month services are conducted by theological students from Rutgers College.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 182

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