History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 188

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 188
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 188

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The following officers were elected : Elders, Jacob R. Hardenbergh and Cornelius Johnson ; Deacons, Joseph Gulick, Cornelius Johnson, and Jonathan Combs, Jr.

Following are the names of the successive pastors, with the date at which each began his labors : Revs. John McClure, 1821; Henry L. Rice, 1825; John C. Van Liew, 1834; William R. Betts, 1842; William Knight, 1845; John H. Manning, 1847 ; A. Vande- water, 1854; Ralph Willis, 1868; Stephen J. Har- meling, 1881.

The first house of worship of this church was on Main Street. It was a small building, erected by subscription, and was dedicated Aug. 21, 1821, by Rev. John H. Livingston, D.D. The dedicatory ser- mon was preached by Rev. Philip Milledoller, D.D., of New York, the text being 2 Chronicles, vi. 18: "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee : how much less this house which I have built." The concluding prayer was made by Rev. Samuel B. House, of the Presbyterian Church.

This church served the congregation forty-five years, when it had become so numerous as to require a larger house of worship, and in 1866 the old church was torn down and the present one built on the same site. It is a frame structure, measuring forty by sixty- three feet, with a slate roof, surmounted by a steeple seventy-six feet high, which contains a bell costing three hundred dollars. The building is heated by a furnace in the basement, and is carpeted and cush- ioned throughout. It was completed and furnished at an expense of six thousand dollars. The parson- age, which stands on the church lot, cost three thousand dollars.

The present membership of this church is eighty. The officers are as follows : Elders, Henry Van Dyke, Joseph Johnson, H. Smith, and Thomas Smith ; Dea- cons, Benjamin Conover and Isaac Perdun; Treasurer, Lewis E. Skinner ; Secretary, Robert Frishmuth.

The Sunday-school was organized early in the his- tory of the church, and has had a continuous exist- ence to the present. Rev. Stephen J. Harmeling is the superintendent. The membership is sixty. The library contains one hundred volumes.

THE MILLTOWN GERMAN REFORMED (ST. PAUL'S) CHURCH .- During a short time previous to 1872 those of the German Reformed faith at Milltown met Sunday afternoons in the Methodist Episcopal Church, different clergymen of the denomination preaching as circumstances favored. During that year St. Paul's Church was organized and a house of worship built at a cost of about four thousand five hundred dollars, located something less than a quarter of a mile from Lawrence's Brook, in that portion of the village lying in the township of East Brunswick. It was dedicated by Rev. Charles Banks in 1872.

Rev. Mr. Banks was the first regular pastor of the church, and remained in that capacity two years, when, in 1874, he was succeeded by Rev. G. B. Chick, who has served the church uninterruptedly since that date.

In 1873 the Sunday-school connected with this church was organized, with F. Gerhart as superintend- ent. The present superintendent is Rev. G. B. Chick. The school has a membership of one hundred, and a library of two hundred volumes.

Burial-Places .- It is probable that the earliest interments in the township were made in private bury- ing-grounds on the farms of the early residents. Many of these are supposed to have contained not more than one or two graves, and to have disappeared long since in consequence of changes made about their localities by subsequent owners of the property.

In a small burying-ground, where no graves have been made for years, near the Summer Hill School- house, in School District No. 32, a number of the Obert family are buried.

On the farm now owned by James Bissett, on the lower road from Washington to Old Bridge, the early residence of the Barkelew family, are a number of

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old graves, in which lie the remains of some of the earlier generations of Barkelews. From headstones in this burying-ground the following names of de- ceased persons, with the dates of their deaths, have been copied :

Anne Sherer, wife of Gilbert Sherer, Sept. 21, 1791 ; Elizabeth, wife of Stephen Barkelew, Dec. 18, 1801; Ann Barkelew, wife of Abraham Barkelew, July 20, 1807 ; Stephen Barkelew, March 26, 1808; Abraham Barkelew, March 18, 1814; Isaac Barkelew, Jan. 8, 1814; Abraham S. Barkelew, July 5, 1818. On another portion of the old Barkelew farm is a burial- ground containing the remains of a goodly number of slaves who died on the place many years since.

There is a private burying-ground on the Furman Smith farm, where are some graves said to have been made as much as a century ago. Here are buried members of the families of Cheeseman, Perdun, and Smith.

There are some old gravestones in the churchyard of St. Peter's Episcopal Church at Spottswood, the records on which are scarcely legible, but challenge the attention and reflection of the observer. From some of these the writer has copied the following names with dates of death : Peter Lott, Jr., July 19, 1762; Peter Lott, Sr., March 9, 1764; Michael Rey- nolds, Dec. 3, 1769; Joseph Dennis, Oct. 7, 1779; John Kinnan, Sept. 13, 1793; James Dorset, Sept. 18, 1794; Jesse Stout, Aug. 18, 1795; Margaret Mears, daughter of Richard and Martha Mears, Sept. 9, 1796; Leonoro Bissett, Nov. 8, 1796; Richard Mears, son of Richard and Martha Mears, Oct. 15, 1803; John Combs, Oct. 23, 1803; Phebe, wife of John Herbert, Dec. 6, 1804; Gemina, wife of Samuel Culver, April 6, 1805; Asher Bisset, Oct. 3, 1805 ; Benjamin Brown, April 14, 1806.

The burying-ground of the old Baptist Church at Washington was opened early, and it is probable that interments were made there in 1800. The old graves are numerous, but none of them are marked by any headstones, except in some instances common field- stones with no inscriptions whatever. The oldest monuments to be seen have not been standing more than sixty years. Like many of those of a later date, they bear the names of deceased members of the families of Obert, Messler, De Voe, Rue, Barkelew, Norman, Stults, Frazer, Willet, Hardenbrook, Shep- pard, Kleine, Ackerman, and Booraem, all prominent names in the history of the township in successive periods. The following inscription is from one of the oldest monuments in the cemetery, that of Fred- erick A. Kleine, formerly a leading citizen of the vil- lage and southern part of Middlesex County :

" In memory of Frederick A. Kleine, who died the 18th day of An- gust, 1829, in the 52d year of his age. He was a native of Germany, but for many years a respectable resident of this place. As postmaster of this village he was faithful in the discharge of his duties. He was a man of sound understanding. Of a tenacious memory, und of an even, kind, and pacific disposition, he was a kind neighbor, a sincere and steady friend, and felt a brotherly attachment for the whole race of man."

The cemetery in the churchyard of the Reformed Dutch Church of Spottswood contains many graves, but none of them were made at a date sufficiently early to render the publication of inscriptions from any of the monuments of historical interest.

In the neighborhood of Old Bridge are some old graves, and it is possible there are others scattered about the township, which, if they could be rescued from the oblivion into which they are gradually sink- ing, would be regarded as interesting memorials of the days that are gone.

WASHINGTON MONUMENTAL CEMETERY ASSOCI- ATION. - The Washington Monumental Cemetery Association was formed Dec. 6, 1856, under the laws of the State. The first board of managers was composed of Nicholas Booraem, John S. Connet, Thomas Peter- son, John R. Reed, Samuel Whitehead, Sr., Elisha N. Blew, Robert M. Taylor, Henry Gordon, and Garret I. Snediker. The president of the association was Samuel Whitehead, Sr .; the vice-president, John R. Reed ; the secretary, Henry Gordon; and the treas- urer, John S. Connet. The cemetery is located on an elevation a little less than half a mile south of the centre of the village, overlooking Sayreville, Bonhamtown, and Piscataway. It is laid out in lots twenty-four by thirty-four feet each, is well shaded by numerous fine cedars, and is kept in good order. In the centre stands a monument about twenty-four feet in height, on which are cut the names of the contributors to its erection and the managers of the cemetery and several appropriate inscriptions. The first body interred in the cemetery was that of Re- becca J., wife of Peter Fisher, Jan. 3, 1857. The in- terments to the present time number about 1500.

CHESTNUT HILL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION .- The Chestnut Hill Cemetery Association was formed in 1861, with William Rogers as president, J. H. Blood- good as treasurer, James Cooley as secretary, and the following-named directors : William Rogers, John J. Disbrow, Stephen H. Herbert, John B. Herbert, and John A. Montgomery. The association purchased of David Bissett fifty acres of land on the elevation northwest of and overlooking Old Bridge village, which was surveyed and laid out in lots suitable for burial purposes, and opened to the public under the name of Chestnut Hill Cemetery. The present offi- cers of the association are A. J. Disbrow, president ; J. H. Bloodgood, treasurer; and Herbert Appleby, secretary. The directors are William Rogers, Wil- liam M. Appleby, J. H. Bloodgood, A. J. Disbrow, Herbert Appleby.

Villages and Hamlets .- WASHINGTON is located on the left bank of South River, three miles from its confluence with the Raritan, five miles from New Brunswick, and thirty-five from New York. It is said to have been first settled about 1720 by Harts- horne Willett,1 who owned considerable land in the

1 There is a tradition that a man named Sheppard was there earlier, and that the locality was called Sheppard'e Landing.

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vicinity, from which circumstance the locality was known as Willettstown until about 1784, when Abra- ham Barkelew, a pioneer and a great admirer of Washington, renamed the then mere frontier settle- ment in his honor. The post-office was established under the name of Washington, and was so called until it became necessary to change the title on ac- count of frequent miscarriage of mail intended for this place to other post-offices of the same name, when the present post-office name of South River was adopted by authority of the Post-Office Department.

In 1800, Washington did not embrace more than half a dozen houses. In 1823 the number did not exceed ten. There was one store, kept by Vincent Barkelew, then the principal business man, on the south side of Main Street near the dock. About 1825 the post-office was opened by Frederick A. Kleine, first postmaster, in a small building within the pres- ent limits of Theodore Willett's brickyard, where Robinson Thomas was at that time manufacturing paints. The present postmaster is Mr. H. Schroeder.

The earliest local merchant of whom any record exists was a man named Perrine. Reden Wood and Elias Doughty had a store at the dock during the war of 1812-14, and were engaged in carrying govern- ment property via the South River. In consequence of the embargo of that time great quantities of goods were brought overland to Washington and carried thence by water to New York. Samuel Gordon, of South Amboy, and later of Washington, was then a prominent boatman. In 1823 he came to Washing- ton, and was instrumental in securing the passage of an act of Legislature authorizing the construction of a canal from the South River to the Raritan with a view to improving the transportation between New York and Washington, later constructing the canal under contract. He also opened the road from Wash- ington to Cranbury. His son, Samuel Gordon, Jr., still a resident of the village, erected the first brick house there in 1825.

Under the influence of the wood and grain trade a large shipping business grew up at Washington. From 1825 to 1855 the peach trade was a prominent interest, and Washington became a depot for the transportation of fruit to New York. From 1840 onward until the trade subsided it was not uncommon to see the streets of the village filled for a long dis- tance from the dock with wagons laden with peaches awaiting their turn to unload, and from four to half a dozen steamers left Washington daily for New York. These industries caused an increase in popu- lation, and in 1834 the village had two taverns, three stores, and thirty or forty dwellings. Several docks were built, which were known respectively as " Overt's," " Reed's," "Barkalew's," "Dunham's," " Booraem's," and "Blew's." Some of these have been abandoned, and some of them are now known by the names of later owners.

Washington occupied an advantageous position on

the shortest and most direct route between New York and Philadelphia before the era of railways. In 1823 a steamboat route was established between New York and Washington, whence a regular line of stages conveyed passengers to the Delaware River at Bordentown, provided with the facilities for freight transportation then in vogue. It was known as the "Citizens' Line," and was superseded about 1830 by the Camden and Amboy Railroad, then completed as far as Hightstown. During this period Washington advanced somewhat in population and importance. New inhabitants moved into the surrounding country, larger stores were built, and an extensive trade grew up, which has continued in a great measure to the present time.

Prominent among local merchants of the past were Messrs. John Combs, James R. Dunham, Reid & Snedeker, Aaron Gulick, Thomas McDowell, the Stults Brothers, William Conover, and William Whitehead. John Combs has been referred to as a pioneer and the son of a pioneer. Mr. Dunham was highly esteemed, and has been dead many years. John R. Reid was a large property-owner and a suc- cessful business man. He died two years ago, aged eighty-five. He began his mercantile career in the store of John Combs as a clerk. Messrs. Snedeker and Gulick were both enterprising men, and left their impress on the fortunes of the village. The latter was for a short time a partner of Thomas McDowell's, who succeeded the firm of Gulick & McDowell, es- tablishing a large trade and engaging largely in the carrying trade. In 1836 he had a sloop built for the river trade, in 1838 a vessel for the coasting trade, and in 1848 a sea steamer (for the Southern trade mentioned below). In 1838 he engaged in the carry- ing trade between Charleston, S. C., and Georgetown. In 1840 he was prominent in the introduction of steamers between Washington and New York in the peach trade. In 1849 he became a pioneer merchant, business man, and official at Sacramento City, Cal., and revisited that State in 1852 and 1858; was in business in Melbourne, Australia, 1853-55, and was consul at the Cape of Good Hope, 1862-64. The Stults brothers, Henry and Frederick, are both else- where referred to, and are still living. Mr. Conover is remembered as an enterprising man. Mr. White- head represents the interests of Whitehead Brothers in New York. These merchants dealt largely in wood, fruit, and all marketable produce. An early physician was Dr. Tomlinson, who was there some time, dying about 1832. About this time came Dr. Henry B. Pole, a man of fine attainments, previously a Professor of Mathematics and a teacher under the direction of Rutgers College. He died about twenty years ago. His widow survives him, aged eighty-six. Dr. John C. Thompson came about 1857, and still re- mains. Dr. Dye came a few years ago, remaining only a short time.

The earliest tavern in the village of which any in-

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formation is obtainable stood on the present site of the residence of Samuel Gordon, Jr., and was early kept by Henry Obert for many years. Capt. Samuel Martin was the landlord in 1823, and the building was torn down about 1830. George Obert kept another early tavern on Jackson Street, which was also torn down. The next was the East Brunswick House, now kept by B. B. Walker. Its builder, Robert Carson, was an Irishman, educated and of fine address, a man of honor, who died childless, leaving a large es- tate. Abraham Barkelew and Joseph Gulick built the Washington Hotel, now kept by J. C. Voorhees. In the past it has been kept by both of the builders, and later by Stephen H. Barkelew.

Ship-building has been carried on from 1824 to the present by the Booraems, father and sons, many ves- sels, large and small, having been built. From 1825 to 1860 much potter's ware was made by Jacob Eaton, Samuel Stout, and Samuel Whitehead. There was a grist-mill, owned by Whitehead & De Voe, in opera- tion about 1867 for a short time, and there are some later enterprises of lesser magnitude. During recent years brick-making has been a leading industry, and a large business is done in the stronger clays, known as "fire-clay," " fire-sand," and "kaolin," nearly all the lands in the village bordering the river being de- voted to these two interests.

An act entitled " An act for the improvement of the town of Washington, in the county of Middle- sex," was passed in the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, and approved Feb. 23, 1870. It provided for the improvement of the vil- lage under the direction of a board of commissioners, to be elected annually, defining the limits of the town, as follows:

" Beginning at South River, in a line of lands be- tween Randolph Low and John Culver, and running thence first up said line and on the same course to the centre of the road leading from Old Bridge to New Brunswick, near (formerly) Sheriff Bissett's house ; second, following the centre of said road, the differ- ent courses thereof, to a line of lands between Charles Van Deventer and Messrs. Mesler's; third, down the said line, and a line of Garline and Abraham Van Deventer, to South River aforesaid; fourth, up said river, the courses thereof, to the place of beginning."

The first meeting of the commissioners was held May 12, 1870, at the public-honse of B. B. Walker. The following have served as commissioners: Garret I. Snediker, 1870, 1872, 1874, 1875; James Bissett, 1870; Charles Whitehead, 1870-74, 1875-81; W. C. Barkelew, 1870, 1871; Maximilian Frommel, 1870, 1873; Daniel Morgan, 1871, 1874-76; William Van Zandt, 1871-73; Charles Connet, 1871; Frederick Stults, 1872, 1874-78; George E. Brown, 1872, 1876- 81; Thomas Booraem, 1873-76; Jonathan H. Peter- son, 1873; William H. Peterson, 1873; Isaac Blew, 1877-79; Isaac Barkelew, 1877-81; Charles Serviss, 1879-81; Daniel Selover, 1880, 1881.

The population of Washington is about 1200. It contains one extensive dry-goods and clothing-store, Jacob Levinson, proprietor, three large grocery and provision-stores, with Messrs. F. W. Bissett, Kleine & Thorburn, and C. W. Connet as proprietors, and a smaller store kept by Mrs. Phebe Tuttle, two hotels, several saloons, a liquor-store, a ship-yard, four brick- yards, a shirt-factory, the usual variety of small me- chanics' shops, and a Methodist and an Episcopalian Church and two Baptist Churches.

SPOTTSWOOD is on the southeast border of the township, on South River, near the mouth of Macha- ponix Creek, and is a station on the Camden and Amboy branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, ten miles from South Amboy.

Among the earliest residents at or near there of whom any records are extant were Right Hon. David Carnagie (Lord Rosehill), John Lewis Johnston, James Rue, Samuel Neilson, David Stout, Richard Lott, James Abrahams, and Joseph and John Per- rine, referred to in the charter of St. Peter's Church, granted Nov. 23, 1773, by William Franklin, the last royal Governor of New Jersey, as " all freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Spottswood," etc. There are at least two different accounts of the manner in which the village received its name, and there is a difference of opinion as to whether Spottswood should be spelled with one t or two. The historian inclines to the belief that John Lewis Johnston, of the ancient family of "Spottiswoode in Scotland," conferred the name upon the then small settlement which the village now bears in honor of his ancestral town, and that having been derived from such a source its correct modernized orthography is as it appears in these pages. In the charter referred to above Spottswood is described as being "in the South Ward of the city of Perth Amboy," and from the fact that Joseph and John Perrine, grandfather and father of Judge John Perrine, were both at that time located at Machaponix, now in Monroe, it would appear possible if not prob- able that the area known as Spottswood in 1773 was much more extensive than the present boundaries of the village. It is pretty certain some of those above mentioned did not remain at Spottswood as permanent residents. John Lewis Johnston or another member of his family whom he represented was in possession of much land at and adjacent to the present village.

Spottswood owes its existence as a village to the splendid water-power there and near there. It has been known as a manufacturing point since 1750 and perhaps longer. An association of three men named Perry, Corne, and Hays, and known as the "Forge Company," were manufacturing iron there for at least twenty-six years before the beginning of the Revolu- tion, at which time or soon afterwards they are sup- posed to have fled to England, whence it is thought they had come, abandoning their property, which con- sisted, as is believed, of a grist-mill, a furnace with trip-hammer, a store, and several houses and other

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buildings, and an extensive tract of land or numerous small tracts near each other. By a series of transfers the site of the active operations of these men has come into the possession of Isaac De Voe. During the Revolution there was a paper-mill in operation where the Tecumseh Snuff-Mills now are, in which it is authoritatively stated the paper was manufactured on which the Continental notes were printed. A still earlier mill-site was that where Outcalt's hominy- mills are located, where the half-Indian Weech- queechley had a saw-mill at a date too remote to be fixed at this time.

The supremacy which Spottswood thus early as- serted as a manufacturing centre it has maintained steadily to the present, especially in certain depart- ments of manufacturing industry, most prominent among which has for many years been snuff-making, nearly all the snuff-mills in New Jersey having been located there. From some-time early in the present century until 1881 Messrs. Daniel Snowhill, William Dill, Andrew Snowhill, George H. Snowhill, John Appleby, William Appleby, Isaac De Voe, Augustus A. De Voe, John D. Outcalt, John Outcalt, John Browne, William Perrine, Leonard Applehy, George W. Helme, Phineas M. Skinners, William A. Skin- ners, Lewis E. Skinners, and others have all been extensively engaged in snuff manufacture, some of them adding a large business in the manufacture of fine-cut tobacco and cigars, involving an immense aggregated capital and affording employment to many persons of both sexes. The milling interest has always been prominent. It has been represented by many enterprising men, among them the "Forge Company," John Hilliker, John H. Disborough, George H. Snowhill, William Conover, John Ap- pleby, Isaac De Voe, and Charles B. Hulit ; the paper- making business by John H. Disborough and Dis- borough & Beebe; the tanning interest by Matthias Prest and George Lane; and the distilling interest by John Browne and John H. Disborough. The leading manufacturers of the present time are Isaac De Voe & Son, Skinners & Co., and George W. Helme, snuff manufacturers ; Charles B. Hulit, mil- ler ; John Outcalt, hominy manufacturer; and Leon- ard Appleby, manager of Rothschild's shirt-factory, several others carrying on a variety of manufacturing and mechanical pursuits in shops in various portions of the village.

Merchants have been numerous in Spottswood, and some of them only remained in the village a short time, years since, and their names cannot now be recalled. Prominent tradesmen there have been the following : Messrs. Perry, Corne & Hays (the " Forge Company"), Daniel Snowhill, John Disborough, Stephen Smith, Jr., Richard Manny, Merrill Mundy, John Perrine, Remsen Appleby, George H. Snowhill, Orlando Perrine, John Appleby, James D. Farring- ton, Isaac De Voe, Male & Mathews, Stephen D. Smith, James L. Cole. The present merchants are

Messrs. E. Ayres, J. A. Charlton, Charles Breucker, L. A. Snowhill, W. A. Skinner & Son, C. B. Culver.

The following are the names of the principal phy- sicians who have practiced at Spottswood : Drs. Cor- nelius Johnson, H. D. B. Lefferts, F. L. Wagner, H. J. Disbrow, and H. B. Garner, the present resi- dent practitioner. The first public-house was built by Jacob Van Cleef, and kept by him for many years. After his death it was for a time presided over by his widow. Her successors have been Joseph Wallace, James Jernee, and the present landlord, John Vleit. Another tavern was kept by George Sharp, and later by James Jernee. It is now out of use. The Railroad House was built by some of the Snowhills, and completed soon after tlie con- struction of the railway through the village. It was kept by William Snowhill, and at a later date and until a few years since by his widow. William Saw- yer succeeded to the management, and at his death was succeeded by his widow, Mrs. M. E. Sawyer, at present in charge.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 188

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