USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Warren County, New Jersey > Part 12
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WARREN COUNTY.
Martin Hulshizer, the ancestor of those of that name in Warren County, came from Germany to Phillipsburg shortly after 1750. His four sons were Christopher, Jacob, Valentine and John M. The latter was born in 1747, and owned several hundred acres of land in this township, living himself at Bloomsbury. He died about 1811, leaving three daughters and seven sons-Godfrey, Martin, William, John, Daniel, Andrew and James. Of these, Daniel Hulshizer moved to Stewartsville and became possessed of much property. His children were Andrew, George, Abram C., Dr. Philip F., Theodore, Henry F., Mrs. Abram Baker, of Martin's Creek, and Mrs. Nicodemus Warne, of Broadway.
Jacob Creveling was the first of the name in this county. He lived on a farm near Bloomsbury before 1800. One of his children was George Creveling, who moved to Washington in 1812.
Lewis Cline came from Germany and in 1740 bought two hundred acres of land west of Stewartsville. One of his sons was also named Lewis, and another Michael. Lewis was born in 1766, and was the father of Jacob, of Lopatcong; John, of Franklin; Lewis, William and Michael. The latter resided on a part of the ancestral acres all his long life.
CHAPTER XIX.
HACKETTSTOWN.
Hackettstown is one of the few towns in the United States that has no duplicate in name. Before its incorporation in 1853 it formed a part of Independence. It is delightfully situated in the Musconetcong val- ley, and is nearly surrounded by Schooley's Mountain on the one side, and on the other a range of which Buck's Hill forms a part. It is skirted on its northwestern border by the Morris canal, and on its south- eastern border by the Musconetcong, whose excellent water power determined the location of a town at this point. The main line of the D. L. & W. railroad passes through the valley, and trolley connection both east and west is expected in the near future.
Hackettstown is named from Samuel Hackett, the earliest and largest landowner of this region, who is said to have contributed liber- ally to the liquid refreshments on the christening of a new hotel, in order to secure the name which, before this, had been Helms' Mills, or Musconetcong. The name is Halketstown on a map of 1769. On the same map is the name Helms, placed two miles further up the Musco- netcong. This is the name of a family that came from County Tyrone, Ireland, whose head was Thomas Helms, father of General Helms, of the Revolutionary army, and grandfather of Major Thomas Helms, of the War of 1812. The Helms' mill on the Musconetcong was on the site Youngblood's mill, and was the first mill in this vicinity, being built before 1764.
Other early settlers were named Hazen, London and Ayers. Oba- diah Ayers was one of three brothers who came to this country from Aberdeen, Scotland, and whose descendants are numerous in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Obadiah Ayers gave the land for the old
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Presbyterian Church and burying ground in 1764, and years later the first Methodist sermon delivered in this vicinity was preached in his house. The Ayers family operated mills at this place or at White Hall, a mile away, for more than a century. Peter Caskey operated a fulling mill here in 1778.
Other families in or near Hackettstown before the Revolution were named Thompson, Fleming, Little, Osmun, Sharpe, Groff, Cummins, Swayze, Todd, Day, Davis, Bell, Groff and Maclean, nearly all of whom have representatives living in Warren county today.
Silas Leonard was an innkeeper in Hackettstown in 1791, when a sheriff's sale of all that was left of Samuel R. Hackett's real estate, amounting to 686 acres, was held at his house.
Hackettstown is the station for the famous Schooley's Mountain Springs, which was for half a century the most fashionable watering place in America. Here the wealth and fashion of New York and Philadelphia were attracted every summer by the healthful mountain air, the mineral waters, and the comparative ease of access. The mountain is named in honor of Thomas Schooley, one of four brothers who came to New Jersey from Yorkshire, England. He is the ancestor of all of the name that early came to Warren county or vicinity.
Hackettstown is fortunate in owning its water supply. In 1853 the Hackettstown Aqueduct Company was incorporated, and for nearly twenty years supplied the citizens with water. In 1870 the company conveyed all its property to the town for $21,000, and a new reservoir on Schooley's Mountain was added to the one on Malvern Hill. Since then a third reservoir has been constructed, giving an abundant supply of water. The income from the water supply will have wiped out all of the town's indebtedness by 1912, and thereafter the net income from the water supply will be sufficient to meet all the expenses of municipal government.
The Cataract Hose Company is a volunteer fire department that
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was organized in 1877. It has done excellent work in the several important fires that have visited the place.
For more than 140 years there has been a hotel on the site of the Warren House. The first one was doubtless built of logs. A frame structure succeeded this and was rebuilt in 1840, since which time it has been known by its present name. The American House was kept by Jacob Sharpe as early as 1823. The present proprietors are McCracken & Guerin, whose catering attracts many automobile parties. The Hotel Clarendon was built about thirty-five years ago. Its present proprietor is A. B. Mathias.
Beginning in 1815 with Jacob Day's factory, the carriage industry was for many years one of the most important in the county. Now relatively few carriages are made here by Ed. Hayward & Son.
A blast furnace was erected in the seventies, but was never operated successfully, and was finally bought by Joseph Wharton. It has not been in blast for thirty years. A car wheel works was another unsuccessful venture of the Hackettstown Land Improvement Company.
The present manufacturing enterprises are the Lackawanna Leather Company, the American Saw Mill Machinery Company, the Torrid Steam Heating Works, the W. H. Ashley Silk Company, the Ellor & Company hat factory, and the Brown underwear factory. These are all prosperous, and give employment to hundreds of hands.
The Hackettstown National Bank was organized in 1855 with a capital of $100,000, which was increased to $150,000 in 1865. Its president is Seymour R. Smith, and its cashier is Henry W. Whipple. The People's National Bank was organized six years ago with R. A. Cole as president, and M. T. Welsh as cashier, both of whom were connected with the Hackettstown National Bank for many years.
The earliest physician known to have located at Hackettstown was Dr. Stockton, who arrived before 1790. Drs. Fowler and Hoag- land soon followed, and later came Drs. Hampton, Beach, Stewart and Rea. Dr. Silas Cook practiced here from 1828 until 1841 and
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from 1857 until 1873, and two of his sons, Lewis and John S., also were in active practice here for more than a third of a century. Other physicians who have been identified with this place are Drs. Blackwell, Crane, Dalrymple, Van Syckle, Martin, Osmun, Woodruff, Miller, Cline and Miss Allen. The last six are still in active practice.
The early schools of Hackettstown were private, and the price per pupil of five dollars a quarter was such as to exclude the poorer children from their advantages. The present commodious brick school building was erected in 1874, at a cost of $39,000. The Centenary Collegiate Institute, or, as it is familiarly known, the Seminary, was erected by the Newark M. E. Conference, at a cost of $200,000, in the years between 1869 and 1874. Rev. George H. Whitney, D. D.,
Centenary Collegiate Institute, 1874-1899.
was elected its president, and served from 1869 until 1895. A disastrous fire October 31, 1899, destroyed the entire property, but inside of two years the conference was able, in 1901, to rebuilt it at a cost of $300,000. Until 1910 it was a college preparatory school for both sexes, but now it is a school for girls only. Rev. Jonathan M. Meeker, Ph. D., D. D., is its efficient president. A farm has been added to the property, through which runs a stream that adds much to its beauty and usefulness.
Present Centenary Collegiate Institute, (Partial Front View).
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The First Presbyterian Church of Independence was built at Hackettstown in 1764, but for several years before that date services had been held in a log meeting house. The early preaching was by supplies from the New Brunswick Presbytery. In 1786 a call was made to Rev. Peter Wilson, who also preached in the church at Mans- field Woodhouse, now Washington. Obadiah Ayers in 1764 presented the ground on which the church was built, and again in 1792, for a nominal consideration, gave the burying ground, the stone wall surrounding which was built in 18.12. The frame church was torn down in 1819 and a new building was erected the same year. Dr. Campbell acted as pastor for this congregation from 1809 until 1838. He delivered forceful sermons, which were afterwards published. He was succeeded by Revs. Dr. Schenck, John H. Townley, Dr. Wilson, F. R. Harbaugh, G. C. Bush, Thomas McCauley, Alexander Proudfit, John Lowrey, J. C. Chapman and the present pastor, Rev. Dr. Martyn.
The present Presbyterian Church edifice was begun in 1860 and
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Entrance to Union Cemetery, Hackettstown, N. J.
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dedicated in 1861. The fiftieth anniversary of its dedication was celebrated in May, 1911. In 1906-7 the building was remodelled, redecorated and refurnished, and a new heating plant and a new organ installed at a total cost of $19,000.
The Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church of Hackettstown was organized in 1832. A church was erected in 1833, in which "circuit riders" preached until 1849, when Hackettstown was made a separate charge. A new edifice was erected in 1858, which was replaced with the present handsome structure, one of the finest in the county.
St. James Episcopal Church erected its present edifice in 1859, The church prospered when Schooley's Mountain was the noted summer resort of fifty years ago. In 1887 it was sold to Sheriff Van Campen, and for ten years was an amusement hall. In 1897 Rev. W. M. Mitcham came here, and in three years bought back the church property. The church has now eighty-six enrolled communicants.
St. Mary's Church was erected in 1864, by Rev. Edward McCosker. Rev. William H. Orem served the parish from 1872 to 1889, since which time it has been a mission of St. Joseph's, at Washington.
The first burying ground was the old Presbyterian Churchyard, in which interments were made in 1770. The plot of ground presented by Obadiah Ayers in 1792 was used as a union cemetery until 1860, when the new Union Cemetery was bought across the Musconetcong. It has a fine entrance and is well kept. There is also a fund for the perpetual care of the old burying ground in the hands of the treasurer of the Presbyterian Church.
"Sully Grove is a beautiful sylvan retreat along the Musconetcong river, just out of the borough limits, and is owned by the town and maintained as a recreation park open to all. This pleasure park was named in honor of Mr. Alfred Sully, whose summer home is on the crest of the mountain overlooking the town. It was his generosity ; that made public ownership possible." .
CHAPTER XX.
HARDWICK.
Hardwick is one of the two oldest township names in the county. At its greatest extent it included all Frelinghuysen Allamuchy, Hacketts- town, Independence, Stillwater and Green. In 1782 Independence was formed from it, including Allamuchy, Hackettstown and Green. On the separation of Sussex and Warren in 1824, Stillwater remained in Sussex, and finally Frelinghuysen, in 1848, took away all south of Paulins Kill and left Hardwick with its present boundaries.
Among the first to settle in this viciniay were John Peter Bern- hardt and his son-in-law, Caspar Shafer, who in 1742 came up the Delaware and Paulins Kill from Philadelphia and settled in that part of the old Hardwick that is now Stillwater. On Bernhardt's tombstone is inscribed "Geboren zu Kerzenheim, Grafschaft Bolanden, mit Frau and Kindern Komen en Amerika 1731, und starb Aug. 28, 1748."
At the time of the French and Indian war, Shafer built a stockade around his home, into which all the people of the neighborhood would come in time of danger. Once "he found himself hotly pursued by an Indian and likely to be overtaken; whereupon he turned upon his pur- suer, and, being an athletic man, he seized, threw, and with his garters bound him hand and foot, leaving him prostrate, while he went on his way and procured assistance." He was born in 1712 and died in 1784. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1738. He very soon built a rude grist mill, a saw mill and an oil mill, and in 1776 built a larger grist mill, which could serve the large population that was here by that time, Some of the product of his mill he shipped as far as Philadelphia by flat-bottomed boats. Caspar Shafer was collector of funds, authorized by the County Committee of Safety in the Revolution, and a member
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of the Legislature. Peter B. Shafer, a member of his family, built the first grist mill strictly within this township, at Paulina, in 1783, later used as a saw mill and axe-helve factory. Another son-in-law of Bern- hardt was John George Wintermute, who is the ancestor of those of that name in Warren County. He built a fulling mill on the Paulins Kill about 1770-the first to be built in Sussex or Warren County- about on the line between the two counties. He was born May II, 171 1, in Punestadt, Germany ; came to America in 1736, married Mary Elizabeth Bernhardt, and settled on the Paulins Kill. His children were John, father of Catherine, Bernhard and Jacob; Peter, father of John George, Peter, Joseph, William, Charles and Thomas, and John George, father of Johannes and Peter.
An Indian trail known as the "Minisinks' Path" ran across this township from the gap in the mountains above Sand Pond to Marks- boro, and on past Allamuchy and Budd's Lake to Elizabeth. It was wide enough for men to travel in on horseback when first visited by white men in 1715. It was along this path over the mountains that the early settlers in Hardwick had to take their grain to mill on horse- back to the earlier settlement in Pahaquarry.
The settlers of the Paulins Kill Valley in this township were nearly all Germans, as evidenced by the family names of Shafer, Wintermute, Vass, Snover, Konkle, Kishpaugh, Shuster, Lambert, Wildrick, Vought, Hetzel, Crissman. The first settlers came about 1740, among them Frederick and Jacob Snover. "John Teel and John Mingle both located here about 1755." "Jacob Armstrong was at one time owner of the larger part of what is now Hardwick Township."
Lists of officers of the original Hardwick Township from 1744 are given by Snell, but they give but little information as to who lived in the present township, as it included about one-third of Warren County originally.
Hardwick has two schools, one at Hardwick Centre, and one at Franklin Grove. With the exception of a church, now abandoned,
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which once was used by the Christians, there are no churches within the township as at present defined, but the inhabitants have been connected with the old Stillwater church for 140 years, and with the churches at Marksboro, Blairstown and Paulina. In 1771 a church was built at Still- water, then in Hardwick, for the use of the German Lutheran and Ger- man Calvinist congregations, who worshipped on alternate Sundays. The congregations had no regularly appointed preachers until 1816, when application was made by the Dutch Reformed element for admis- sion to the Classis of New Brunswick. From that time until 1823 sup- plies preached regularly. On June 13, 1823, the congregation was organized as the Stillwater Presbyterian Church, and services were held in the old stone church until 1837. The present church was built in 1838, and the Rev. T. B. Condit served it faithfully for forty-two years.
There are several small lakes in this township, the largest of which is White Pond, near Marksboro, the bottom and shores of which con- sist of the shells of a mollusk that make a marl that has been used as a fertilizer both as it is and burned into lime. An effort has been made to construct a cement mill to use the marl and clay for making Portland cement. At present the only use of the pond is to furnish ice, and plans . are under way to build ice houses with a capacity of 40,000 tons. Other ponds in the township are called Shuster Pond, Mud Pond and Sand Pond.
The industries of this region have always centered along the Paulins Kill, which in this township offers 550 available horsepower, about half of which has been utilized. There are several fine mill sites also along Blair Creek. Industries that once flourished in this town- ship were a tannery owned by James Hill; a cotton mill built by Mark Thomson, and in operation till 1835 ; a sash and blind factory operated by Heltermeyer and Snyder, at Paulina; a forge built in 1790 by Judge Armstrong, for making bar iron from pig iron, and operated for a few years; a tannery near Sand Pond, run by V. Hill.
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Aaron Hankinson moved to Hardwick from Amwell, Hunterdon County, in 1765. In the Revolution he was captain of Upper Hard- wick company under Colonel Ephraim Martin; second major, Second Regiment Sussex Militia, and later colonel of the same .. In 1793 he became brigadier-general of the Sussex Brigade. The Hankinson farm is not far from Stillwater
An interesting feature of the landscape at Hardwick, New Jersey, is the log cabin home of Mrs. Emmaline Blackford. This old house is a survival of the time, still within the memory of living men, when nearly every farm house was a log cabin.
1
A Log Cabin House in 1911.
CHAPTER XXI.
HARMONY.
Harmony was formed in 1839 from parts of Greenwich and Oxford, but lost a portion of its territory on the formation of Phillips- burg (now Lopatcong) in 1851. It takes its name from a town of the same name, which hovered between the choice of Concord or Harmony as the proper title.
Harmony is about equally divided between the fertile low land of the Delaware Valley and a mountainous portion consisting of Marble Mountain and Ragged Ridge, which are separated by the peaceful valley of the Lopatcong Creek, the upper part of which is called Harker's Hollow, from the main body of Scott's Mountain, which rises at Montana to a height of 1,259 feet.
Montana is a village in the extreme eastern part of Harmony, and is also a name applied indefinitely to a region several miles in area and extending into Oxford, Washington and Franklin. It is situated twelve hundred feet above sea level, and is thus more elevated than any other town in the county. The village was called Springtown until about 1860, when it became Springville, to distinguish it from another Springtown. It has been called Montana for forty years and before . the days of rural delivery it had a post office.
During the Revolution all of this region was filled with Tory sympathizers, who depended on the inaccessibility of the region for their safety.
Early settlers in this vicinity were named Blair, Inslee, Beers, Rush, Prall, Burd and Lambertson.
A Baptist church was built here as early as 1827 by a Mr. Cham- berlain. An old burying ground yet marks the spot. A new church
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was later erected in the village, but it has been without a pastor for many years.
The Scott's Mountain Presbyterian Church was organized at this place in 1815, and a building was erected the same year. The first pastor was the Rev. Garner A. Hunt. It was later known as the Pres- byterian Church of Montana. A new building was erected in 1870, but it had no pastor for many years and was finally torn down.
The Methodist Episcopal Church has been more successful, owing to the vicinity of Summerfield, and a church building was erected in 1887, at which services are regularly held by supplies.
All bearing the name Rush in Warren County are descended from Jacob Rush, who settled on the farm now occupied by Catherine Rush, which was formerly the homestead of the Blairs. Jacob Rush had a son, Jacob, who was father of Jacob, William, Henry, John and Isaac, and another son, Peter, who was father of Hiram Rush, who had five boys, named Peter, John, Bartley, of Montana; Hiram, who was killed at the battle of Bull Run, and Abraham.
Three miles from Montana, on the road to New Village, is an old forgotten grave yard, said to be that, of a Quaker settlement at this point. The tombstones are of sandstone, with no lettering visible.
One of the first settlers of Harmony Township was Harmon Shipman, who came from Germany about 1740. He owned 200 acres of land, which came in possession of his son, Harmon, while another son, Abraham, in 1807 bought a farm near Asbury, where his descend- ants have lived since.
Harmony is a name applied to two villages a mile apart, on the macadamized road running through the township between Belvidere and Phillipsburg. The earliest remembered resident of Upper Har- mony was Adam Ramsay. Other early settlers were Morgan Hineline and Charles Carhart.
The Presbyterian Church at Upper Harmony was formed from members in part from the Greenwich church, and in part from the old
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Oxford church. Supplies preached here as early as 1807 and even before this services were held in various houses. The present building was erected in 1840, taking the place of a stone edifice erected in 1807, on land presented by William Gardner.
Lower Harmony's earliest settler was Godfrey Person, who erected a clover mill and owned a tavern. Dr. A. O. Stiles located here in 1828 as a practicing physician. Later Dr. James De Witt practiced here for many years.
The first of the name DeWitt in Warren County were three brothers-Peter, Abram and Isaac-who settled not far from each other, along the Delaware River, in Harmony and Lopatcong. Peter and Isaac De Witt settled in Harmony, and Abram in Lopatcong. Sev- eral of the family were in the Continental army, among them Peter's son, Barnett, who was in charge of prisoners confined in the old forge at Bloomsbury. Peter DeWitt was the father of Levi, Peter, Isaac, John P., Alexander, Paul, and four daughters, descendants of most of whom are now in the county.
The first church edifice in Lower Harmony was known as "the Old Red Church," and in it both Lutherans and Methodists worshipped for many years. The Methodists erected their present structure in 1856.
On October 11, 1716, there were surveyed to Joseph Kirkbride a tract of land amounting with allowances to more than 1,300 acres, situated in the heart of the township and extending from the river to the mountain. This was sold by his heirs in 175 1 to Thomas Shipley, who transferred 768 acres of it in 1762 to William Phillips, who was the first local owner. He sold it in 1763 to John Van Nest, and he to John Hendershott in 1772.
A tract of 1,735 acres was surveyed to William Penn, extending from the foot of Foul Rift to Hutchison's. This was sold by Penn's heirs December 30, 1740, to Jacobus Vanetta, who divided it with
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his five brothers. It comprised all the fertile valley farms in the town- ship north of Hutchison's.
On August 8, 1759, 600 acres of land in the valley were surveyed to Joseph Hollingshead, who sold parts of it in 1775 to Andrew Sheep, and in 1777 to John Hendershot.
The Vannattas of Warren County are descended from a family that came from Holland to Raritan and from there to this township, where they bought 1,735 acres from William Penn's heirs. Five of the brothers were named Jacobus, Johannes, Benjamin, Thomas and Peter. The name is also spelled in old deeds Van Etten, Vanatto and Vanetta. It is believed that all the Vannattas in this township are descended from .John, while Hamilton Vannatta, formerly of Jackson Valley, is from one of the other brothers. Johannes Vanatto owned the farm at the foot of Foul Rift, by the large spring, and gave a deed for one acre in 1744 to Jonathan Robeson for use as a wharf. John Vannatta was a soldier in the Revolution, and late in life moved from Harmony to Ohio. Some of his sons seem to have been named Samuel, William, Isaac and George W.
Samuel Vannatta, a son of John was born about 1785, and died in 1855. In 1803 he purchased 160 acres of land at Brainard's, includ- ing the Snyder ferry, which he and his son, Silas, after him ran success- fully for many years. It is now operated by Stewart Fry, for a com- pany that owns it. The children of Samuel Vannatta were John, Henry, of Wisconsin; Aaron, of Wisconsin; Moses, of Wisconsin; Samuel, Silas, and six daughters.
John Vannatta, a son of Samuel, was born in 1801, and purchased a farm in Jackson Valley in 1832, on which he built a substantial stone house in 1837, and lived to be over eighty years of age. His children were John R. Vanatta, a step-father to J. Wesley Scott, of Belvidere; Samuel, of Pennville; Joseph, of Hackettstown; Moses, of Anderson; Lemuel, of Washington; Morris, of Martin's Creek, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Mary Ann Gardner, of Jackson Valley, and Elias, of Philadel-
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