USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Warren County, New Jersey > Part 17
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dred thousand trees, mostly evergreens, have been planted by Mr. Worthington, according to the latest ideas of forestry on land that was once farmed between Buckwood Park and the river.
On a level plateau at the summit of the mountain lie two very pretty lakes. One, Buckwood Lake (formerly called Sunfish Pond), is a mile long, a half-mile wide, and lies 1,378 feet above sea level; the other is Catfish Pond, about half as long and wide, and is 1, 181 feet above the ocean.
Across the river from Buckwood Park, and four miles from the Water Gap, is the village of Shawnee, most of which forms a part of the great estate which Mr. Worthington and his associates own. While they intend to leave the Jersey shore in all the glory of its original wildness, on the Pennsylvania side, at Shawnee, they are planning under the name of the Rossiter Realty Company, to have others also enjoy the beauty of location. Here they are erecting a hotel called Buckwood Inn, and are building many bungalows of artistic design.
Manwalamink Island is the upper of two islands at Shawnee, each of which lies between the Delaware River and a Binnie Kill, which is a local word, meaning, according to Mr. Worthington, Minnow Stream. It contains 180 acres of fertile level land, and on it is the stump, six feet across, of the old Indian Council Tree, which was killed by lightning many years ago. Near it is a very large chestnut tree fully 175 years old, which must also have sheltered the Indians in their councils. Directly south of this tree was an Indian burying ground, out of which, during the flood of 1903, several skulls and some arrowheads were washed. Between Manwalamink and Shawnee islands is the original crossing place for the Indian paths from the Pocono to the New Jersey Minisink. Here for many years the river was forded by Indians and by travelers coming down the old mine road. Later Walker's ferry was established at this point, and is still operated by Mr. Worthington as a private ferry.
The earliest works of man in the State of New Jersey are the
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old mine holes in Pahaquarry. They are situated in the gully of Mine Brook, and within recent years have been reopened and explored. The one recently entered was about seven feet high, six feet wide, and ex- tended horizontally into the hill about one hundred feet, then ran to the right about fifty feet, and then to the left another fifty feet. There are several similar openings, and all seem to be exploratory in character. Before any extensive work was done they were abandoned. The only record found that may refer to these mines is in the "Documentary History of New York," which says that "Claaus De Ruyter exhibited in Amsterdam, Holland, specimens of copper ore taken from the Mini- sinks in America," in 1659. This record, slight as it is, supports all the traditions respecting the old mine road and the mine holes at the end of it. These are that, when this region was a part of New Netherlands, these mines were worked by a company of Hollanders, who hauled their ore to Esopus and shipped it to Holland, but abandoned the whole venture when the English conquered the country in 1664. None of the miners had been here for years when the first settlers came down the mine road, and those settlers were unable in any way to find out who had dug the holes, what ore they found, or when they had worked here. To reach the mines a road was constructed from Esopus, on the Hudson River, up the valley of a small stream and down the valley of another stream to Port Jervis, and thence along the Delaware River to the mines, about seven miles from the Water Gap. The road probably followed an earlier Indian path, and is one hundred miles in length. It was the earliest road of like extent to be built in America, and for scores of years it was the preferred route from New England to Phila- delphia and the South. The old mine road could not well have been built before Esopus was settled in 1652, and it was probably built be- tween that date and 1659, when "Claaus De Ruyter exhibited his speci- mens of copper ore." It was surely built and the mines abandoned by 1664, when the English made a conquest of the New Netherlands, for after this the Dutch would have no incentive to work the mines, as
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a heavy percentage of the nutput would be claimed for the English crown.
There is no question that the first settlers to come down the Dela- ware as far as Warren County after the early miners left were the family of Nicolaes Dupui, who followed the old mine road to its end, and in the vicinity found improvements in the shape of apple orchards and cleared land, which they bought of the Indians then in possession of them. Two Indians, Waugoanlenneggea and Pennogue, gave a deed to Nicolas Dupui in 1727 for land situated four miles above the Water Gap. The deed is now in possession of the Pennsylvania His- torical Society. Nicolaes Dupui received his title to the islands in the Delaware and the land at Shawnee from William Allen by two deeds bearing date September 10, 1730, and September 10, 1733. The land was originally surveyed by N. Scull in 1730, on a warrant dated No- vember 16, 1727, which warrant was transferred by William Penn (the grandson of William Penn) to William Allen on August 29, 1728.
On this land Nicolaes Dupui and his sons, Samuel, Daniel, Aaron and Benjamin, lived. In 1753, when eighty-three years of age, Nicolaes gave a deed for the Great Shawna Island and forty acres "Where the new dwelling house, barns, orchards and grist mill stands," to Daniel Dupui. Samuel occupied the homestead, as did his son, Nicolas, and his descendants after him, until Robert Dupui, the last of the line, died, and the property was bought by the present owner, Mr. C. C. Worthington. Aaron Dupui kept the first store in Warren County at Oxford Furnace, in 1741. His old account book is still in the posses- sion of one of his descendants, Mrs. H. A. Croasdale, of the River Farm, at the Delaware Water Gap.
Nicholas Dupui, who arrived at New Amsterdam in October, 1662, from Artois, France, is the ancestor of all of the name Dupui, Dupuis, Depue or Depew in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew. Nicholas died at New York
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in 1691, leaving five children, who were John, Moses, Aaron, Susannah and Nicholas, the last being the settler at Shawnee.
The Depues of Warren and Northampton counties are descended from Moses, who settled on a large tract of land in Ulster County, New York, probably before his father's death in 1691, and became the most prominent man in that county. Of his children two, Moses and Benjamin, settled near Flat Brook. At present there are living in Pahaquarry, William Depue, son of Moses, who died at Calno in 1909, and Norman and Cloyd Depue, sons of Daniel, who died at Calno in 1910. Moses and Daniel were sons of John Depue, who lived near Calno all his life.
With regard to the Minisinks in general, we have evidence furnished by the visit of Arent Schuyler, in 1694, that at that time no white settlers were known in this region. The Governor of New York, who thought the Minisinks belonged to that State, learning that the French and French Indians from Canada had taken possession of the Minisinks, or were about to do so, sent Arent Schuyler to investigate. He went to Port Jervis and down the river to the Indian settlement, where he met some Indian sachems, who said they had seen no French or French Indians, and would let the Governor know at once if any appeared. Schuyler does not report meeting any white men in this visit to the Minisinks in 1694. In 1697 he patented a tract of 1,000 acres in the territory he had visited, and as that was the first patent for lands in the Minisinks, it is fair to asume that actual settlers did not come until some time later yet than this. In 1704 the Minisink patent was issued to a number of people. In 1718 Joseph Kirkbride located 1,200 acres at Flatbrook. In 1731 John Black purchased 600 acres on the Flat Brook, which were sold to John Cleve Symmes in 1760. These examples give an accurate idea of the date of the earliest locations of land in the Minisink. In John Reading's journal, in pos- session of the New Jersey Historical Society, we find that in 1719 set- tlements extended down as far as Minisink, and that in the seven towns
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on the Delaware and Macacamac branch there were twenty-six married couples, sixty-one unmarried males, and fifty-six unmarried females.
The first family to settle permanently in the Minisinks in Warren County was that of Colonel Abram Van Campen, who purchased from the heirs of George Hutcheson, of New York, on March 8, 1732, a tract of land called by the Indians Pahaqualin, containing by estimation 1,666 acres, for the sum of 735 pounds. This tract included all the level land in the upper part of Pahaquarry for seven miles, its upper limit being at a rift in the Delaware called Sombo, one mile south of Flatbrookville. Colonel Abram Van Campen had four sons, named Benjamin, Moses, Abram and John. Of these, Benjamin and Moses had no children. Abram, Jr., the eldest son, had two sons named James and Abram (3rd.). James was the father of Abram, Elijah, Moses and Henry. Abram (3rd.) had one son, Moses.
Three hundred acres of the original 1,666-acre tract are still owned by Theron Van Campen and his sister, Mrs. John Lamb, who are chil- dren of Benjamin, and grandchildren of Moses Van Campen.
John Van Campen, son of Colonel Abram, was father of Abram, who had no sons. Catherine Van Campen, a daughter of Colonel Abram, married Benjamin Depue and, moving to Mt. Bethel Town- ship, in Northampton County, became the ancestor of many named De- pue in that region and in Warren County. Some members of the Van Campen family settled every farm from the old mine holes to the Sussex County line, and many have also lived in Sussex County.
Among the settlers of the Minisink before 1780 were those named Depui, Van Campen, Van Auken, Van Etten, Westbrook, Brink, Shoemaker, De Witt, Brodhead, Hyndshaw, Stroud, Quick, Cortright, Rosenkranz, Transue, Storm, Middaugh, Dingman, Decker, LaBar, Detrick and Miller. Shortly after 1800 some families came from Bucks County to Pahaquarry. Among them were John Gariss and Yost Yetter, who settled at Flatbrookville. The latter's son, Jacob Yetter, is father to Andrew Yetter, of Blairstown, whither he moved
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in 1852, and has become one of the most influential men of the region. Many descendants of John Gariss are still living in the vicinity of Millbrook.
The schools in this township are at Millbrook, Calno, and Dun- field.
Brotzmansville was once a village opposite Shawnee, but is now only a memory. Here is the dwelling of the Fish and Game Warden for Warren County, Mr. Harry E. Cudney, who is also overseer of Buckwood Park.
Dimmick's Ferry, near the old mine holes, has been conducted by members of the family of that name for many years.
Dunfield at one time bore the name which has been reserved since for the larger town across the river called the Delaware Water Gap. The mountain scenery in this vicinity is the finest in the East, and has the additional advantage of being very easy of access from our large cities. The Water Gap forms a great natural passageway through the moun- tains, which is utilized on the western side by the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western railroad, and on the eastern side by the New York, Susquehanna and Western. The latter crosses the Delaware just above . the Gap, on an iron bridge. The extreme end of Blockade Moun- tain, which, with Mount Minsi and Mount Tammany, encloses . the Water Gap, is a park of several hundred acres, in which is situated the Karamac Inn, from which one of the finest views in America is obtained.
CHAPTER XXIX.
PHILLIPSBURG.
(Written with the assistance of Dr. John H. Griffith.)
Phillipsburg was first organized as a township in 1851, and at that time included Lopatcong, which was not set off until March 8, 1861, when Phillipsburg was incorporated as a town. An addition was made from Lopatcong to Phillipsburg in 1903.
Phillipsburg is on the site of an Indian village called Chintewink, which is still the name of one of its alleys. The present name is vari- ously ascribed to an Indian chief Philip, who lived in the village, and to a family named Phillips who settled there later. It is one of the five towns in the county that had a name in 1769, the others being Oxford, Changewater, Halketstown and Bloomsbury. In "Hallesche Nach- richten, published in 1787, we read (p. III) : "Phillipsburg was an Indian town as early as 1654. The name Phillipsburg is found on a map of 1749." It also appears on a map published by Evans in 1755. The burden of evidence seems to favor the derivation of the name from that of an extensive land owner here named William Phillips, who was located in the neighborhood as early as 1735. His daughter Mar- garet married John Roseberry, and a son, William Phillips, was the most prominent man in Phillipsburg.
In 1715 Daniel Coxe, of Burlington, received a warrant to locate 1250 acres of land opposite to "The Forks of the Delaware River," the Lehigh being considered the west branch of the Delaware. The Delaware river frontage in this Daniel Coxe tract ran from just above the square in Phillipsburg to the Andover Furnace. In 1769 the heirs of Coxe conveyed 500 acres of the southwest part of this tract to John
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Feith (Feit), and it is described as adjoining the lands of Peter Ken- ney and John Roseberry. In 1772 the Coxe heirs sold 200 acres to John Roseberry, and 228 acres to Michael Roseberry, in 1779. This tract ran from Hudson Street to the Andover Furnace, then over one mile back to John Feit's tract and thence along the Feit, Kinney and John Roseberry tracts, and along Hudson Street to the river. On Michael Roseberry's death this tract became the property of his brother Joseph, who sold it to John Roseberry in 1784.
Dwelling built in 1785, by John Roseberry, one of the earliest residents of Phillipsburg. It is now used as a blacksmith shop.
The site of the town of Phillipsburg seems to have fallen to the lot of John Tabor Kempe, one of the Coxe heirs and a royalist, and it was confiscated and sold in 1789 by James Hyndshaw, high sheriff, to Jacob Arndt Jr., of Easton. The description says, "Including the
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town of Phillipsburg," containing 913/4 acres. To the east it ran along William Phillip's land 40 chains 50 links, to the north along the ferry land 14 chains and 50 links, thence down the river 35 chains and 66 links to John Roseberry's land, and along his land, about where Hud- son Street is, for a distance of 40 chains. This tract embraced the whole of the ancient town of Phillipsburg as laid out by the Coxes. On January 5, 1793, Jacob Arndt Jr. sold the town of Phillipsburg as above described for £106 15s. to Philip Seager and Jacob Reese. In neither of these deeds is there a single reservation, indicating appar- ently no previous purchasers of town lots. Seager and Reese made a division of the town whereby Reese got two tracts in the northern part, containing respectively 363/4 acres and 13 acres, and Seager took the southern portion. Reese sold the 13-acre tract to Thomas Bullman, who gave or sold the entrance to the Delaware bridge at the square in 1800. In 1739 David Martin was given a grant to keep a ferry across the Delaware at some point between Lopatcong creek and the Mus- conetcong creek. The grant included 105 acres of land above the Coxe tract, or Phillipsburg town line. In 1742 the Martin ferry across the river was but a canoe to take over people while their horses swam alongside. At that time the site of Easton was covered with woods and brush, and the only road to Bethlehem was an Indian path.
From a letter written by William Parsons, ex-surveyor-general of Pennsylvania, and a resident of Easton, we learn that in 1752 there were eleven families in Easton, and that the Jersey side of the river was more settled opposite the Forks than the Pennsylvania side. The letter mentions Mr. John Cox's project of laying out a town on his land adjoining Mr. Martin's land opposite Easton. By 1755 Easton had grown to be a town of forty dwellings, including five taverns. By 1763 the town had sixty-three dwellings, including six taverns.
Rev. Mr. Peters bought the Martin tract and ferry rights and sold them to Richard Penn, and he sold them to Jacob Arndt Sr., who in 1 794 conveyed the 105 acres to Lewis Goch, and he to Thomas Bull-
.
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man, in 1798. Richard Peters also bought of Joseph Turner, in 1754, 4II acres of land to the north of the ferry land, which gave him control of the river front as far as Marble Mountain. This was not a purchase friendly to the interests of Phillipsburg, but was made by Peters at the instance of Richard Penn, to whom he conveyed both properties for the purpose of holding the town of Phillipsburg in check and favoring the growth of the new town they had laid out across the river and called Easton. The 41 I acres came into the possession of the Howell family in 1809.
About 1802 the New Brunswick turnpike was built to Union Square. The Washington turnpike, called the Morris turnpike, was incorporated in 1806 and built soon thereafter. Both of these turn- pikes followed roads that had been established for half a century or more.
The oldest house now standing in Phillipsburg is No. 119 South Main street. . It was built by a Mr. Roseberry in 1750. The first house built on the hill, in the third ward, was erected by John H. Leida in 1858, and is now No. 233 Chambers street. Shortly after 1800, Thomas Bullman built a tavern on Union Square, and later sold it to an Albright, so that it was known for many years as Albright's tavern. In 1810 John P. Roseberry built the present Union Square Hotel, which is now ably conducted by David W. Smith. The Lee House was built in 181 1 for a store kept by John Mixsell. Its present propri- etor is M. O. J. Hile. Other hotels are the Phillipsburg Hotel, owned by Harry Smith; Hotel Columbia, by W. H. Carey; and the American House, on Jefferson street.
"On the 16th day of December, 1776, a portion of the American Army under General John Sullivan passed through Phillipsburg on their way to Trenton to join Washington, crossed the Delaware river above where the bridge now stands, and encamped over night near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
"In May, 1779, General Sullivan again came this way, by order of General Washington, and rendezvoused in Easton, Pennsylvania, pre-
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paratory to his march to Wyoming Valley to avenge the massacre of the year before at that place. General William Maxwell, of Greenwich township, with the New Jersey brigade accompanied General Sullivan."
The first bridge across the Delaware at this point was erected about 1800, and was washed away by a freshet in a few years. In 1805 the Easton Delaware Bridge Company raised by a lottery enough money to build a wooden arch bridge in the style of the one now at Columbia, which served for nearly a century, when it was torn down and the present iron one was erected in its place in 1895.
One hundred years ago, in 1811, Phillipsburg contained fifteen families, named Reese, Roseberry, Ramsey, Mixsell, Myers, Bullman, Albright, Seager, Barnes, Beers, Carpenter, Bidleman, Skillman, Phil- lips and Shaup. The completion of the Morris Canal in 1832 bene- fitted the town somewhat, but not to the extent expected. In 1820 Phillipsburg contained thirty or more houses, scattered for a mile along the Sussex road, now North Main street, and the New Brunswick turn- pike, or George street, now partly South Main street. The first brick building in town was erected by Garret Cook in 1845. There were no more than fifty dwellings here in 1847, and the town had no post- office until 1854, while Easton's post-office was established March 20, 1793. The first important growth began with the building of the New Jersey Central railroad, which was completed to Phillips- burg on July 1, 1852. On July 2d the first passenger train of eight cars arrived amid great rejoicing. John Alpaugh, now residing at Phillipsburg, and aged eighty-five, was fireman on this first train.
The Phillipsburg Land Company, formed in 1853, purchased the Roseberry farm, laid it out in lots, and induced many people to settle in the town. "In all, they bought three hundred acres, laid out eleven hundred and thirty lots, and paid for lands $55,000." Since 1853 the growth of Phillipsburg, in population, wealth and diversity of indus- tries has been rapid and continuous. Phillipsburg was incorporated as a town on March 8, 1861.
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The first election in the newly incorporated town was held in the Union Square Hotel, then conducted by Joseph Fisher, on April 8, 1861, and Charles Sitgreaves was chosen as the first Mayor.
"The greatest railroad strike in the history of the State took place in 1877, with Phillipsburg as provisional headquarters for two or three weeks, with General W. J. Sewall in command of the State troops.
"October 21, 1892, the Columbian parade took place, and was the greatest industrial exhibition ever given in this community; 183 large and magnificent floats were in line taking three hours to pass a given point."
On May 10, 1906, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was dedi- cated and unveiled on the grounds of the Lovell School building, in the presence of Governor Edward C. Stokes, the G. A. R., and the Second Regiment of the National Guard of New Jersey. The total height of the monument is about 48 feet, and it cost $5,500.
"The three mortars around the monument and the one on the soldiers' plot in the cemetery are the property of Tolmie Post. They were a donation made by the War Department through a special act of Congress. All of these mortars have a record; two were in the siege at Vicksburg, Miss., during the engagements there in 1862 and 1863 ; one was captured and recaptured three times at Island No. 10; one was at the front in the engagement at Fredericksburg, Va.
"On July 4, 1870, General Theodore Runyon dedicated a Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the Phillipsburg Cemetery, which was after- wards removed under very peculiar conditions which constituted the highest grade of vandalism ever permitted by the loyal citizens of an enlightened community."
Phillipsburg celebrated its fiftieth anniversary by an "Old Home Week" in the first week of July, 1911.
The population increased rapidly from 1,500 in 1860 to 5,950 in 1870, 7, 176 in 1881, 9,500 in 1899 and 14,000 in 1911. There are now six wards, and the town is governed by a mayor, eighteen council- men, and a police force of eight men.
The early church records give us some of our first authentic dates
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in the history of this vicinity. The "Hallesche Nachrichten" makes mention of Lutheran services at the Forks of the Delaware as early as 1733. The Presbytery of New Brunswick sent missionaries in 1737 to the Forks of the Delaware, or, as the Indians called it, Lechauwitung. A log meetinghouse was built on what is now Brainard street, near the Morris and Essex freight depot at a very early date and a cemetery is remembered as being on the hill between it and the river. This is undoubtedly the church referred to in several old surveys, one of which reads "May 27, 1762, Surveyed a Lott in Phillipsburg, Whereon is a Lutheran Church and Burying Ground." This earliest church became but a memory, and "the last vestige of a marked grave was that of Gen- eral John Phillips, with a modest tablet or headstone, and that, too, has disappeared, but may be found in the garret of some distant relative." When building the Morris and Essex railroad, the workmen cut through this old graveyard in 1867, and again, in 1906, when digging the foun- dation for a part of the freight house, many skeletal remains were found. Many years ago the site was owned by John Bach, who used the foundation stones of the old church in the cellar of a house, and made a present of the logs composing the church to Henry Walters. No other church was erected in Phillipsburg until 1854, or about a century later, than the first one. During this century Phillipsburg depended for houses of worship on Easton and on the "Old Straw Church," erected by the Lutherans in Greenwich before 1760, and now known as St. James' Lutheran Church. The First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich, too, served the people of that denomination as early as 1739, and in their log meetinghouse the missionary David Brainerd preached twice on the Sabbath, December 9, 1744.
The First Presbyterian Church of Phillipsburg was organized on December 13, 1853, at the Academy, on the site now occupied by the Sitgreaves school building, A sermon was preached by Rev. George C. Bush, and thirty-two became members of the new church. The corner stone of a church building was laid in 1854, and the building
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