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 200
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 200
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The old depot, the first in the village, was built in 1833; the present one about 1848. The first general agent of the company at South Amboy was Jacob Campbell. His successors have been Abraham Ev- erett, Aaron H. Van Cleve, Charles Sayler, Samuel Wright, and Alexander Southerland, now in service. Charles Fish was freight agent from the beginning of the company's business until his death, a few years since. The present freight agent is Mr. J. V. P. Bis- sett. William G. Wisner has been constantly on the pay-roll of the company as an employé in the freight department, much of the time as superintendent, since 1831. The various departments of the company's local business are under the superintendence of Thomas Kerr, master-mechanic, with eighty men; Peter S. Bogert, foreman of car repairs, with fifty-two men; Joseph Wilson, foreman of the ship-yard, with ninety men ; Josiah D. Stults, road foreman, with twelve men ; Frederick I. Stults, foreman of road repairs, with ten men; John Sexton, foreman of the round- house, with ten men; and D. W. Cozzens, superin- tendent of maintenance of way, with forty-five men.
The increasing railroad business attracted many workingmen to the place, and the war of the Rebel- lion gave au impetus to the growth of South Amboy by the increased freight business of the railroad com- pany. A great number of soldiers and immense stores of munitions of war were shipped over the road, giv- ing employment to a large force of men at this end of the route. Several large steamboats and barges were employed to transport freight to and from South Amboy. Many bouses were built during this time, and the village assumed considerable importance. After the war ended the place continued to grow, but in January, 1872, the railroad was leased to the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, which soon after began to construct car-floats to transport loaded freight-cars across the Hudson River between New York and Jer- sey City. This change was the cause of the town's losing one of its most honored citizens in the person of the late A. H. Van Cleve, then agent of the Cam- den and Amboy Railroad Company at South Amboy, as well as nearly all of the vast freight business of the road. Many of our old citizens were thrown out of employment, as they were not able to do the work required on the coal-docks, which industry had been growing in importance for several years. The Penn- sylvania Railroad Company continued to increase the
shipment of coal and to build wharves for that purpose, until to-day South Amboy is one of the most impor- tant coal ports in the country. The coal docks and railroad-shops give the greater part of the employ- ment to be had in the place.
In July, 1875, the New York and Long Branch Railroad was opened to the public, with a station centrally located in South Amboy, from which New York may be reached in an hour's time. There are living in the village persons who remember when there was no other means of reaching the metropolis from that point than the slow and uncomfortable sloop, which often consumed from two to three days in making the trip. The local agent of this railway is Mr. C. H. Southwick.
MERCHANTS AND DEALERS .- The first store within the present limits of South Amboy was opened about 1808 by Samuel Gordon, Sr., near his hotel and dock. At a later period Oliver Johnson was a partner in the enterprise. Samuel Gordon, Jr., then a mere boy, was an assistant there, and tells many interesting anecdotes of trade there at that date. Many custom- ers came from a distance. It would probably be hard to conceive of a more heterogeneous stock of merchan- dise than was crowded into that little store, for the proprietors were alive to the demands of the people and the times, and made it a point to keep about everything any patron could possibly desire to buy. The nearness of this store to New York and Gordon's facilities for quick and cheap transportation of goods gave him an advantage over neighboring merchants in the way of low prices that, judging from the char- acteristics manifested in his other transactions, he was doubtless quick to avail himself of. This enterprise was abandoned after a time, and up to 1831 the town depended upon Perth Amboy for supplies, which, in cold and stormy weather or when the water was rough, were not brought over without much trouble.
John Perrine, father of Orlando and H. C. Perrine, now a resident at Bloomfield Mills, near Spottswood, and known as ex-Judge Perrine, in 1831 opened the first store in what we may perhaps be permitted to call the modern South Amboy, in distinction from the South Amboy of an earlier date, from which fact he is generally accredited with having been the pioneer merchant iu the village. The building in which it was kept was long known as " the railroad store," and was the lower building on the east side of Main Street, formerly the Wilmurt branch of the Borden- town turnpike. This structure was burned a few years ago. James Buckelew and Capt. Shippen, pay- master for the Camden and Amboy Railroad Com- pany, were also early identified with the management of " the railroad store." Thomas and Jolin Apple- gate traded there a while, and, after them, Charles Perrine. The latter was succeeded by James Breese and Charles S. Clark. Clark succeeded Breese about 1848, and traded there until a little after the begin- ning of the late war. This store was afterwards kept
829
SOUTH AMBOY.
by Richard S. Conover, with Capt. P. V. De Graw in charge, until about the close of the war. John Mount was the next merchant there. He was suc- ceeded by John Cozzens, who was the last. Ward C. Perrine came to South Amboy from Hightstown in 1852, and opened a store on Augusta Street, near Broadway, which was destroyed by fire in February, 1860. Mr. Perrine occupied a building on Broadway belonging to Abraham Everett until the following August, when he removed into his store, then just completed, at the corner of Broadway and Augusta Street. In March, 1881, he was succeeded there by J. E. Montgomery, who, in September of the same year, sold out to William G. Howell.
Philip J. Parisen, a portion of the time in partner- ship with George W. Warner, had a store on Broad- way, between Augusta and David Streets, from 1853 to 1857, when he was succeeded by Orlando Perrine. His son, A. C. Parisen, is a druggist on Broadway. C. C. Parisen is a dealer in coal and wood.
Orlando Perrine came to South Amboy in 1857, and began business in the Parisen store. In 1862 he left the place, returning in 1871 to open a store at the Hillmaun stand ou Broadway. In December, 1878, he removed to the store he lately occupied at the cor- ner of Broadway and First Street, and in February, 1882, returned to the Hellmann store with the inten- tion of there remaining.
B. F. Howell began in South Amboy as a merchant in 1866, in a building on the site of his present store, which was removed and replaced by that uow in use in 1875. Mr. Howell has an extensive coal-yard, and was formerly engaged in the lumber trade.
John Hillmann, William Thoru & Son, Jacob Goodman, Isaiah Disbrow, and others, whose names cannot now be recalled, have been merchants in the village at different periods for a longer or shorter time. Moses Laird built a store on Broadway some years ago, which he has rented to several persons who have traded there. Meinzer & Stutzel had a store at the corner of Broadway and the Bordentown turn- pike, and were succeeded by a son of the former. The merchants and shop-keepers of the present are as follows, their places of business being, unless otherwise designated, on Broadway: E. C. Akin, proprietor of the ship-stores, Wyoming pier; William Birmingham, grocer, Augusta Street; Joseph Chris- toph, boot and shoe dealer ; William C. Cook, grocer, First Street ; J. O. Cozzens, grocer ; Philip Dangler, clothier; J. L. Disbrow, grocer, David Street ; Peter Disbrow, tobacconist and confectioner, Conover Street; L. Dolan, tobacconist; G. Lawrence, boot and shoe dealer, Augusta Street ; Joseph Guttman, dry-goods dealer; Mrs. Lizzie Hoffman, dealer in dry-goods and fancy goods ; William G. Howell, gro- cer; B. F. Howell, general merchant; George W.' Jaques, druggist ; J. Knochel, dealer in boots and shoes ; James Levy, dealer in boots and shoes, Au- gusta Street ; Mrs. McAdams, confectioner ; Neil Mc- 53
Gonigle, jeweler; Nathan Marks, clothier ; John Martin, furniture-dealer and undertaker ; J. E. Mont- gomery, general merchant; L. O. Morgan, druggist ; J. B. Merrill, druggist; Phineas Mundy, dealer in boots and shoes; A. C. Parisen, druggist ; Orlando Perrine, general merchant; Alfred S. Rue, tobac- conist and confectioner, Conover Street ; Bernard Roddy, news-dealer ; Frank Schantz, dealer in stoves and tin-ware ; Jacob Schmid, jeweler; Mrs. M. E. Sex- ton, confectioner; William Sexton, furniture and hardware-dealer; Andrew J. Slover, grocer ; M. B. Thompson, grocer; Henry Timmins, dealer in stoves and tinware; J. M. Voorhees, green-grocer; Frank Weaver, dealer in boots and shoes; Henry Wolff, general merchant; A. Blodgett, jeweler; and Mrs. Patrick McCormick, grocer, David Street.
Semuel Pimlott, Jolin Disbrow, and William Dixon are bakers, and meat-markets are kept by Christian and Gottlob Straub.
PROFESSIONAL MEN .- The pioneer lawyer at South Amboy was Charles Morgan, still practicing his pro- fession there. Other attorneys are Thomas J. Cloke and James Corkery.
The first resident physician was Dr. L. D. Morse, who came about 1832. The second was Dr. Bene- dict. Drs. George Hubbard, Charles Marsh, and George W. Stout practiced there at different times. One of the oldest of the present physicians is Dr. Ambrose Treganowan, who came in 1860. For a number of years previous to the lease of the Camden and Amboy Railroad he was a salaried surgeon in the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, and has since sustained a similar relation to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Other practitioners of the " old school" are Drs. L. O. Morgan, Leon White, and J. H. Carman. Dr. Thomas T. Howard, Jr., a homœo- path, is well known, and has a good practice among the adherents to the principles of his "school."
POSTMASTERS .- The post-office at South Amboy was established about 1844, with Charles Perrine as postmaster. His successors have been Dr. L. D. Morse, George W. Warner, Charles S. Clark, Peter P. Voorhees, Oliver Cox, Albert Roll, Abraham Everett, Henry C. Cadmus, and Mrs. H. C. Cadmus, widow of the last mentioned, who was commissioned in 1881 by President Arthur.
Organization .- An offspring of the once extensive township of Piscataway, and formerly included in that wide sweep of country known in early records as " the South Ward of Perth Amboy," South Amboy was erected as a separate township soon after the organization of Middlesex County in 1685. Origi- nally it was eighteen miles long and six miles wide, and had an area of sixty-four thousand acres. In 1838 Monroe was taken from its territory; in 1869, Madison ; and in 1876, Sayreville. It is now the smallest but still one of the most important townships in the county, embracing little more than the village of South Amboy.
830
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
An act passed by the Council and General Assem- bly of New Jersey, Feb. 23, 1838, erecting the town- ship of Monroe out of that part of South Amboy lying west of the Matchaponix and South Rivers, also provided that the inhabitants of that part of the said township of South Amboy that lies east of the Matchaponix and South Rivers “ be constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the In- habitants of the Township of South Amboy, in the County of Middlesex," appointing the first town- meeting to be held on the second Monday of April, 1838, at the public-house of Clarkson Brown. Al- though there appears nothing in the records of either township to warrant the statement that South Amboy was reorganized at the time of the erection of Monroe, such would seem to have been the case, judging from the clause in the act referred to. None of the records of South Amboy prior to 1838 are to be found. April 16th that year the township committee ordered four dollars to be expended in the purchase of "town books," and the records now to be seen appear to have been then begun in new books of entry. The min- utes of town-meetings, 1864 to 1869, inclusive, appear to have been torn from the books, and the present authorities disclaim any knowledge of them.
Below is as complete a civil list of South Amboy as the records afford data to present. The list of chosen freeholders was obtained from the records of the Mid- dlesex County board of freeholders, and is believed to be complete to date :
CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS.
Charles Suydam, 1781.
James Egbert, 1782-85.
Joseph Hight, 1786.
John Dey, 1786.
Abrabam W. Brown, 1841-51, 1853, 1858.
J. V. L. Gordon, 1842-51, 1857-63, 1865-70.
Edward R. Honks, 1852-54.
Noah Furman, 1852, 1854-57, 1865- 66, 1870-71.
Ward C. Perrine, 1855-56, 1867-69, 1872-77.
Obediah Clark, 1859-60.
Hendrick H. Brown, 1861-63, 1869. David H. Brown, 1864.
Horatio S. Burlew, 1864.
John Scully, 1871. Benjamin F. Howell, 1878-79. H. Rathburn, 1878. George W. Stout, 1872-75. Leonard Furman, 1876-77. A. H. Furman, 1880-81.
ASSESSORS.
Clarkson Brown, 1838-41.
Warner Brown, 1842.
Daniel Burlew, 1843-45, 1848-49.
Henry French, 1861-62.
Samnel Gordon, 1846-47. Nathaniel Hillier, 1850.
A. V. Applegate, 1869-74, 1876-78, 1880-81.
Johnson Ilolcomb, 1875.
I. B. Martin, 1879.
COLLECTORS.
Stephen Burlew, 1838-41. Joshua B. Brown, 1842-48.
-
Robert M. Taylor, 1850.
Jolın Diebrow, 1851-58, 1874-75,
- 1877.
Abraham N. Applegeta, 1859-63.
H. C. Perrine, 1869.
Johnson Holcomb, 1870-73.
TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE.
Phineas Mundy, Jr., 1838-39, 1812-44.
J. V. L. Gordon, 1838-39.
Charles Abraham, 1838.
Jacob Soby, 1838.
James M. Warne, 1838-40. Stephen Van Pelt, 1839-40. James Cottrell, 1840, 1856-60. Charles Morgen, 1841. Edward R. Hanke, 1841. Abraham W. Brown, 1841. Joseph M. Taylor, 1841. Abraham J. Brown, 1841. Courtney llall, 1842-43. Stephen Burlew, 1842-43, 1845. Charles Adame, 1842. John Wood, 1842.
John Burlew, 1843.
William Applegate, 1843-44.
Joseph Brown, 1844. Timothy Wood, 1844.
Eliss Disbrow, 1844-45. James R. Megu, 1845.
Ebenezer Price, 1846-47, 1850-51.
Thomas Roberts, 1846.
Elisba Disbrow, 1846.
Ephraim Rose, 1846-51, 1853-54, 1856-58, 1860-63, 1872.
Charles M. Brown, 1847-48, 1856, 1861-62.
Joseph Vanderbilt, 1847-49.
R. R. Sbank, 1847-50.
Abraham B. Everett, 1848-52, 1854- 55, 1857-59.
Joshua B. Brown, 1849-53.
William R. Mount, 1851, 1853-55.
Freeland Vanderwenter, 1852-55, 1859.
TOWNSHIP CLERKS.
Timothy Wood, 1838-43.
F. H. Tobias, 1872-73, 1875.
Courtney Hall, 1844, 1847-52.
John Disbrow, 1874.
Obadiah Clark, 1845-46.
T. S. Frazer, 1876-77.
John H. West, 1853-61.
John Martin, 1878-79.
Mattbew R. Dey, 1862-63.
John E. Rathburn, Jr., 1880.
William Birmingham, 1881.
COMMISSIONERS OF APPEAL.
John B. Johnson, 1838 41.
Lewis Weston, 1838-39.
| Sammuel Wood, 1860. David Wood, 1861, 1862.
Silvanus Cummings, 1861, 1862.
John Disbrow, 1862, 1863, 1871-73.
Andrew Petty, 1863.
John F. llillman, 1869, 1870, 1875, 1876. A. Everett, 1871.
Isaac Walling, 1872.
Orlando Perrine, 1874, 1877.
John R. Everett, 1874.
H. Timmins, 1875.
J. H. Worthington, 1876.
R. H. Guild, 1876.
. John Murphy, 1877. John Sexton, 1877.
Martin Berry, 1878.
J. D. Stults, 1878. Matthew Pease, 1878. John llestou, 1879. W. W. Cook, 1879. Heury Miller, 1879.
Thomas J. Cloke, 1880, 1881.
John Vandsmeter, 1880, 1881.
Obedieh Clark, 1849.
John P. Miller, 1835-36.
James Buckelew, 1837.
Charles Morgan, 1838-40.
Jacob Suydam, 1788, 1802.
Nicholas Van Wickle, 1778-79.
Matthias Rue, 1788, 1790-93.
Simon Van Wickle, 1789.
James Voorlees, 1790-96, 1803-10. James Morgan, 1794, 1803-5, 1808- 13.
Jobu Airhart, 1795-97.
Jolın L. Anderson, 1797-99, 1800-2.
Jacob Van Wickle, 1812-15, 1817, 1819-25, 1827.
John L. Johnston, 1814-16.
David Mercenau, 1817-22.
John Baird, 1824-30, 1833-34. Allison Ely, 1826. John 11. Disborough, 1828-32.
Peter Wyckoff, 1831-32. Joseph Taylor, 1833-41.
Hezekiah Warne, 1859, 1863.
John Disbrow, 1860.
Xerxes French, 1846. John Wood, 1847-50. Frederick Hennell, 1851-52.
Ephraim R. Rose, 1852-53, 1873-75. William R. Monat, 1852.
William Furman, 1854, 1856, 1859, 1860, 1863.
Benjamin Dill, 1855.
Isaac Walliog, 1855. William Taylor, 1856. Obadiah Clark, 1857-58. Horatio N. Burlew, 1857-61.
Nathaniel Dayton, 1853-56. Cornelins Hulshart, 1855. John Wood, Jr., 1856-58, 1863. Joseph H. Miller, 1857-59. Ward C. Perrine, 1859-62. Allen Quackenbush, 1860-61.
John Delow, 1860. John Disbrow, 1861. Clarkson Brown, 1862-63. William Clark, 1862. Hezekiah H. Warne, 1862.
Silvanns Cummings, 1863.
Joseph Morrell, 1863. Albert Roll, 1869. Johnson Holcomb, 1869.
John Sexton, 1869. William Rhes, 1869, 1881.
J R. Everett, 1869-70. John R. Culver, 1870.
J. F. Hillman, 1870. Henry Arrowsmith, 1870.
L. F. Meinzer, 1870. C. Rouke, 1871-73. R. H. Rathburn, 1871, 1879.
Daniel Fisber, 1871. Joho Scully, 1871. W. C. Diebrow, 1872. J. M. Capuer, 1872-73.
R. B. Dayton, 1872-73. E. M. Applegate, 1873. George W. Jaques, 1879. Neil McGonigle, 1879-80. William H. Brown, 1880. A. C. Parisen, 1880.
J. M. Voorhees, 1881.
C. Stranb, 1881.
William Ogden, 1869-71.
Garret Cothell, 1838-41. Jacob W. Fountain, 1840.
Warren Hall, 1841-42.
Abrahamı J. Brown, 1842.
Clarkson Brown, 1842, 1847-54. Lewis Brown, 1843-45.
Alpbonso Warne, 1843.
James Cottrell, 1843-59.
Peter Vandemeter, 1844. Warne Hall, 1844.
John Disbrow, 1845-46.
Obediah Clark, 1851-53, 1856. William W. Seward, 1854-55. Timothy Wood, 1857-58. .
L. T. Meinzer, 1878-79, 1881. Leonard Furman, 1880.
831
SOUTH AMBOY.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
John T. Hunter, 1854.
William Lamberson, 1854.
Timothy Wood, 1854. Philip J. Parisen, 1856. Abraham Everett, 1857, 1869, 1874. Oliver Cox, 1858-59.
Bernard Raddy, 1870. Heury Worthingham, 1870. William L. Davis, Jr., 1871.
Charles Fisk, 1872.
J. B. Sweeney, 1875. Lorenzo W. Johnson, 1876.
James Wood, 1859, 1874-75. Wynant W. Lamberson, 1859.
J. B. Martin, 1877. John F. Hunter, 1878.
Silvanus Cummings, 1860, 1873, 1881.
John Disbrow, 1869, 1874, 1879.
R. B. Daylon, 1878. Thomas J. Cloke, 1879. William Mills, 1881.
Industrial Pursuits .- The railroads and the coal trade supply most of the employment to laborers in South Amboy. Something of the extent of the busi- ness of the former may be learned from a perusal of other pages. The coal trade here is very large, and many men are employed about the docks and yards where it is handled. The following are the names of the principal coal agents, merchants, and shippers : Andrew J. Furman, C. C. Parisen, John Scully, B. F. Howell, Thomas Cahill, F. E. DeGraw, George R. Dingee. Formerly many carpenters at South Amboy found employment in building or repairing vessels which plied between there and New York. Elisha Blew was an early contractor and builder, erecting many houses for the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company. William Dayton was also a well-known builder. Messrs. Disbrow and Slover aud Ambrose Maxfield are builders of a later date. The lumber trade is now represented by Leouard Furman and others.
SAND AND CLAY .- A white clay crops out in South Amboy near the wharf at the end of Borden- town turnpike. It appears about five feet above high- water level. A few rods southwest of this point, and also along the shore, a dark, drab-colored clay crops out in the upland bluff, rising eight feet above tide- level. This appears to lie above the white clay. In Mrs. Clark's pits, near the shore, this clay is seen ten feet above the same level. The clay dug in these pits is very sandy, as is seen in the following analysis of a specimen :
Alumina and titanic acid, 17.58; silicic acid, 19.50 ; water (combined), 4.50 ; sand (quartz), 53.20; potash, 2.24; magnesia, 0.42; sesquioxide of iron, 1.42; water (moisture), 1.20.
Its composition is much like that of the stoneware clays of this district. It is used in making yellow- ware. Towards the bottom it is not so sandy, and is said to be too refractory for ware. In some of this drab-colored clay there is much lignite and many leaf impressions. Their outlines are well preserved and clearly marked. There is a close correspondence between this clay and that of Disbrow's bank at Old Bridge, both in position and chemical composition. The place of these clays is doubtful. They are cer- tainly below the horizon of most of the stoneware clays, and they are too high for the South Amboy fire-clay bed, unless there is a change in the rate of dip of the latter, and that is here higher than it would
otherwise be. The whiter portions resemble the fire- clays in external appearance. The leaf layer over this would also correspond with that seen over the fire-clay in the bank on the Brick estate. If it be a part of that bed, the drab-colored clay at the top and that dug for ware are hardly parts of the same stratum. Deeper diggings may discover the more refractory clay of the South Amboy bed.
The fire-sand of Maxfield & Parisen is dug at the side of the New York and Long Branch Railroad. It is ou the east side of the road, and about a quarter of a mile southeast of the station. There is at least thirty feet thickness of this bed. At the top there is a thin layer of loam. It shows fine lines of stratifi- cation, which descend at an angle of ten degrees to- wards the southeast. Along some of these lines there is a little yellowish earth. These alternate ir- regularly with the sand. The sand is very firm and solid in the bank, requiring the use of a pick to cut it down, and the bank stands up nearly vertical. The digging goes down to tide-level, and the sand is loaded on boats off the shore.
Everett & Perrine's clay pits are in South Amboy, near the Jacksonville road. The ground is ninety to one hundred feet high, and rises rapidly ou all sides excepting towards the east. The top of the clay opened in the several pits is eighty-two, eighty-four, eighty-five, and eighty-eight feet high. In some dug quite recently there is one to six feet of yellow sand and gravel at the top; then one foot or about that of black, sandy earth, quite full of wood; then four to ten feet of clay, light-colored and rather sandy, be- coming more sandy and of a darker color towards the bottom. Also pyrite occurs towards the bottom. It is underlaid by sand. This clay is dug for the supply of the pottery in South Amboy belonging to the Fish estate. It is used in making yellow-ware.
Southeast of the above openings clay was formerly dug at several points by Mr. Parisen. Sandy clay of a dark color and containing lignite and pyrite ap- pears in the old bank, but as no work has been done here in some years the lower strata have not been seen.
East of the Parisen bank there is another opening in the side-hill worked by Messrs. Everett & Perrine. The clay is covered by five feet of sand and gravel. At the top it is slightly stained on seams by oxide of iron. The main body is drab-colored, drying bluish white, and is very sandy. It is only a few feet thick, and is underlaid by sand. It is inferior to the clay of the western pits. It goes to the pottery on the bay-shore half a mile east of this opening.
Samuel Gordon, who began to dig clay in small quantities on his property at South Amboy as early as 1807, continuing until his death in 1834, was un- doubtedly the pioneer in the sand and clay industry, as he was in other enterprises in the township and elsewhere.
POTTERIES .- A pottery which came to be known
832
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
as Congress Hill Pottery was early established at the foot of the Bordentown turnpike, on the beach and near the old dock known as Gordon's dock, by William Hancock, an Englishman by birth, who manufactured a superior quality of chinaware. Hancock was soon succeeded by George Price and others, who carried on the manufacture of stoneware for several years, when the pottery was abandoned and stood idle until 1849, when it was purchased by Abraham Cadmus, who made Rockingham and yellow-ware until his death, about 1854. The pottery remained inactive until 1857, when it was bought by Joseph Wooton, who operated it until 1860, when he was succeeded by William A. Allen. In 1861 the establishment was destroyed by fire. This factory is well remembered by the older residents. It was a wood structure rest- ing on a brick foundation.
The Swan Hill Pottery, on Raritan Bay shore, was established in 1849 by Sparks & Moore, who manu- factured Rockingham and yellow-ware about a year, and in 1850 were succeeded in the business by Fish & Hanks, who, in the fall of that year, abandoned the enterprise. The pottery was idle until 1852. At that time the works were again put in operation by James Carr, Thomas Locker, Daniel Greatbach, and Enoch Moore, under the firm-name of James Carr & Co. Not long afterwards Messrs. Greatbach and Moore withdrew from the firm, and were succeeded by Joseph Wooton and Samuel Riley. In 1854 the pottery was destroyed by fire. It was soon rebuilt by James Fish and James Carr, who managed it during the ensuing year, tben removing to New York. Joseph Wooton next assumed control of the pottery, operating it about a year and a half, when he was succeeded by Charles Coxon, who managed the enter- prise during a period of about the same duration, giving way to J. L. Rue & Co., a firm in which James Fish was a partner. About 1867, Rue withdrew from the firm, E. O. Howell becoming his successor, the firm being styled Fish & Howell. At the death of Mr. Fish, several years later, Mr. Howell became sole manager. After conducting it a year, he sold the pottery to Mr. H. C. Perrine, the present proprietor, who manufactures Rockingham and yellow-ware, em- ploying about thirty hands, and consuming three hundred tons of clay per annum upon an average.
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