USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Warren County, New Jersey > Part 8
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On February 3, 1854, the Belvidere-Delaware railroad was opened to traffic as far as Phillipsburg. On that date a train of fifteen coaches, bearing nearly a thousand excursionists, arrived from Philadelphia, and
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received a royal reception. The Belvidere-Delaware railroad was com- pleted in 1854. It was leased to the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company in 1876, and assigned to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company the same year. It connects at Manunka Chunk with the Dela- ware, Lackawanna and Western, and runs its passenger trains over the tracks of that road as far as Stroudsburg.
The Warren railroad was chartered in 1851, to connect with the New Jersey Central at Hampton Junction, and with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, then under construction, between Scranton . and Warren County. The active spirit in the building of this road was John I. Blair, who, with this as a beginning, laid the foundation of one of the largest fortunes in America, made largely in the development of railroads.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad and the War- ren railroad were opened in May, 1856, from Hampton Junction to Binghampton, New York. The Morris and Essex railroad had been an active competitor of the Warren railroad in an effort to connect with the Lackawanna, but its promoters were outgeneraled by John I. Blair, so that the Morris and Essex was built to Easton. The Morris and Essex railroad was eventually leased by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and made a part of the latter's main line.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western in 1909-1 I built twenty- eight miles of road from Slateford, two miles below the Water Gap, to Lake Hopatcong, at an expense of eleven million dollars. This im- provement is known as the "Cut Off," and shortens the main line by eleven miles, and avoids the Manunka Chunk and Oxford tunnels, so that a gain in time of half an hour will be made between New York and the West. This is considered the most expensive railroad construction in the East. Two beautiful reinforced concrete bridges are a part of the line. One crosses the Delaware, the other the Paulins Kill.
The Blairstown railway was constructed in 1876 by John I. Blair.
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It extends from Delaware Station to Blairstown. It is now a part of the New York, Susquehanna and Western railroad.
An unsuccessful effort was made in 1873 to extend the New Jersey Midland railroad from Sussex County by way of Johnsonsburg and Hope to Belvidere, and also to build the Pequest and Walkill Valley railroad from Belvidere to Warwick.
The construction of the Boston and South Mountain railroad was begun at Blairstown on August 26, 1873, and after various changes of name, through Pennsylvania, Poughkeepsie and Boston, Pennsylvania and New England, to Lehigh and New England, a road was finally built from the coal fields to Poughkeepsie Bridge.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company began the construction of a line through New Jersey in 1872, as at that time its only route through the State was by way of the Morris Canal, which it had leased in 1871. The line across the State was called the Easton and Amboy railroad. It crosses the lower end of the county, and gives excellent service.
The Lehigh and Hudson River railway was constructed in 1881, mainly owing to the energy of Grinnell Burt, who was for many years its president. It followed in Warren County the line of the proposed Pequest and Walkill Valley railroad, which was chartered in 1869. The interests of the line are now closely connected with those of the New Jersey Central, the Pennsylvania, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western. It is becoming an important route for all New England freight. It crosses the Hudson river by way of the Poughkeepsie bridge, which is largely due to the enterprise of a Warren County boy, Mr. W. W. Gibbs.
One trolley line crosses our county from Phillipsburg through Stewartsville, New Village, Broadway, Washington, Port Colden, Port Murray and Beattystown to Hackettstown. When this is completed a line is to be built connecting Belvidere, Buttzville and Oxford with it at Washington. The Warren County lines were consolidated in 1910
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with the trolley system of Phillipsburg and Easton. Mr. Robert Petty has been the moving spirit in the trolley enterprise, and it is due to his energy that the county has this accommodation.
Electric lighting plants have been established at Phillipsburg, Washington, Hackettstown, Belvidere, Blairstown and Oxford, besides many private installations. From Columbia the Eastern Pennsylvania Power Company distributes electricity to Stroudsburg, Bangor, and even as far as Dover. Efforts are being made to develop the magnifi- cent water power of the Delaware in the vicinity of Belvidere as a source of electricity.
Since 1892 Warren County has built fifty-five miles of macada- mized roads with State aid. In addition, many miles of gravel or crushed stone roads have been built by the various towns and townships. There is now nearly a complete macadam road from Phillipsburg through Stewartsville, New Village, Washington, Beattystown and Hackettstown, to Allamuchy, and from Hackettstown through Vienna, Great Meadows, Buttzville, Belvidere and Harmony to Phillipsburg. A new road is building from Washington to Asbury. These fine roads have served as models for the other county roads, and a great improve- ment is to be seen in the method of building our country roads.
The first telephone that we find mentioned in the county connected the organ factory of Daniel F. Beatty with his office in 1880. Shortly thereafter the Pennsylvania Telephone Company covered the lower part of the county with its lines, which were a part of the Bell System. The main line of the American Telegraph and Telephone Company passes through the Musconetcong Valley from Hackettstown to Phillipsburg. The West Jersey Toll Line now has charge of nearly all. the telephone lines in the county outside of the exchanges at Washing- ton and Hackettstown. Phillipsburg is connected with the Easton ex- change. The West Jersey Toll Line was built in 1896, mainly through the iniative of Dr. G. W. Cummins.
The first thing looking like a bicycle in the county was a two-
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wheeled "velocipede," as it was called, built by Benjamin Hall, at Vienna, about 1873. It was propelled by the toes touching on the ground. About 1881 the "ordinary" bicycle appeared, with its high wheel in front, and a very small one behind. This was the ordinary bicycle during the eighties. The "safety" bicycle, about like the present form, but with cushion tires, appeared shortly after that, but made no great headway until the pneumatic tire, by its adaptability to this form, forced the "ordinary," about 1891, entirely into the background. With- in a few years everyone had the craze to ride a bicycle. In 1895 there were 300 bicycles owned in Belvidere alone, where now there are not a score of riders. The gentler sex began to ride them, too, in 1892, and not a few donned bloomers that they might enjoy the sport the better.
An important industrial development of the last thirty years has been the truck farming on the Great Meadows and elsewhere. The crops raised are onions, celery and lettuce, which, in the rich soil, make a quick luxuriant growth.
Two plants on the meadows dry the muck for use as a drier and filler for fertilizers. The product analyzes as high as three per cent. of nitrogen.
Within the last few years the farm fences, as they are rebuilt, are made most frequently of wire. Now but rarely is a new Virginia rail fence built, owing to the labor involved and the growing scarcity of timber.
Gone, too, within the last twenty years, is the boot and the inevit- able boot-jack. The shoe has completely taken the place of the high top boot.
An industrial development of the past dozen years is the cement industry. The cement deposit, of which that in Warren County forms a part, furnishes one-sixth of all the cement manufactured in America. Three large cement mills now give employment to hundreds of men at Alpha and New Village.
The first newspaper published in this vicinity was the Northampton
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County Correspondent, a German journal started in 1800 by Colonel Christian J. Hutter, at Easton.
The Easton Sentinel was established in July, 1817, and the Easton Argus in 1826.
The oldest published newspaper in the county is The Belvidere Apollo. The first issue was published January 11, 1825, by George G. Sickles, whose son, General Daniel E. Sickles, is more widely known. In 1827 Sickles sold out the paper to Edmund P. Banks. He was fol- lowed by Sitgreaves & Browne, who called the paper the Belvidere Apollo and Warren Patriot, and later The Belvidere Apollo and New Jersey Weekly Advertiser. The paper remained non-partisan until the publication of The Warren Journal, in 1832. The latter being a Jack- son paper, the Apollo became strongly anti-Jackson, and has kept up its antagonism to Jacksonian Democracy to this day. The editor of the Warren Journal was James T. Browne, one of the previous owners of the Apollo, who had sold that paper. A succession of owners and editors followed, among them Hon. J. P. B. Maxwell and Judge W. P. Robeson. From 1849 to 1869 the paper was known as The Intelli- gencer, when it became The Apollo again. Joshua Ketcham became editor and proprietor in 1871, and remained such until his death in 1904. His estate in 1907 sold it to the present proprietor, J. Madison Drake, Jr., son of General J. Madison Drake, of Elizabeth.
The Warren Journal was first published October 30, 1832, being edited by James T. Browne, a former owner of the Apollo. It came out for Andrew Jackson, and has been strongly Democratic ever since. John Simerson became its editor in 1859, and remained as assistant editor even after the paper was sold to Adam Bellis in 1867. Bellis owned the paper for about thirty years, when it was taken by his grand- son, Martin Simerson, who, with William O'Neil, conducted it success- fully until 1899, when it came into the possession of Smith Brothers, one of whom, Elmer Smith, is still its editor and proprietor.
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The largest and most representative paper published in the county is the Washington Star, first issued by E. W. Osmun, on January 2, 1868. After a succession of owners it came into the possession of its present able editor and proprietor, Charles Stryker.
The Warren Tidings is published at Washington by the Tidings Publishing Company, and is Republican in its affiliations.
The Hackettstown Gazette was first issued by M. F. Stillwell in 1853. Between 1854 and 1861 it was published by Eben Winton, who sold it to Godley & Able. Eli W. Osmun or his father, Ziba Osmun, published the paper for many years, beginning with 1866. The present publisher is Charles Rittenhouse.
The Warren Republican is published by Curtis Brothers, at Hack- ettstown and is the successor of the Herald, which was established dur- ing the Greeley campaign in 1872.
For many years, beginning with 1866, the Warren Democrat was published at Phillipsburg. It was established by Thaddeus G. Price, . and later owned by C. F. Fitch. At present the only paper published in Phillipsburg is the Post, published every evening except Sunday, by Michael T. Lynch.
TheBlairstown Press was established in 1877 by J. Z. Bunnell. It is the only paper published in the northern part of the county. De- witt C. Carter is its present editor and proprietor.
Warren County has three large cement mills in active operation, namely: The Vulcanite, the Alpha, and the Edison, and two more at Martin's Creek are so close to her border as to affect substantially her material prosperity. The Edison company also has an extensive deposit of limestone in Oxford Township, which it is working partly for use in the manufacture of cement and partly as a fertilizer. The Edison Cement Company began to build its extensive plant at New Village in 1901, and began the manufacture of cement commercially in 1904. It has a capacity of 200,000 barrels a month, employs 600 hands, and owns 1,200 acres of land.
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The automobile industry has not invaded the county as yet, but every one of our large towns has one or more garages, all of which have been among the developments of the last ten years.
At present the only iron deposits worked commercially in Warren County are the magnetic ores in the vicinity of Oxford, which have been nearly a continuous source of wealth since their first working by Jonathan Robeson in 1741, and the hematite mines near Belvidere, which have been operated for several years by the Hudson Iron Com- pany.
CHAPTER X.
HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF WARREN COUNTY.
Geologists tell us that there are no older rocks in the United States than the Archaean rocks forming the ridges which we know as Jenny Jump, Marble Mountain, Scott's Mountain, Pohatcong Mountain, Schooley's Mountain and Musconetcong Mountain. From its earliest history, the most valued mineral wealth of our county has been its great deposits of magnetic iron ore, which are found exclusively in the Archaean rocks. Hematite ore is found in the Archaean and in the later Silurian formations.
Next in age to the Archaean are the Cambrian conglomerates and sandstones, situated usually close to the Archaean. The next oldest rocks in our county are the Magnesian Blue limestone or Kittatinny limestone, which is present in every valley of the county.
The pure limestone known as the Trenton limestone is of more recent formation than the Magnesian Blue limestone. The cement rock, which may be considered as a cross between pure limestone and slate, is of about the same age as the Trenton limestone. It occurs in various places in the county, notably at Alpha, New Village, Belvidere, Carpen- terville, Hope and elsewhere and may be looked for at any place where limestone and slate occur near together. The slate of Warren and ad- jacent counties is known as the Hudson River slate, and forms nearly the whole bulk of the two well defined ridges, one on either side of the Paulins Kill Valley, and of a lesser ridge in the Musconetcong Valley, especially noticeable between Hackettstown and Washington.
The rocks of the Kittatinny range are Oneida conglomerate and Medina sandstone, and are of more recent formation than any other
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rocks in the county, and even these were made in the Silurian period, or ages before the greater part of the rocks of New Jersey to the south were laid down.
For thousands of years the mountains of northern New Jersey were subject to erosion, and furnished the great bulk of material out of which New Jersey south of Warren County was formed. This, con- tinued until finally the great hills were worn down nearly level with the ocean, and formed a part of a great coastal plain, remnants of which are to be seen in the level line of the summit of the Blue Mountains, and in the great plateau of Schooley's Mountain. This is called by geolo- gists the Schooley Pene-plain.
In the Tertiary period the whole northern part of New Jersey was gradually raised about 600 feet, and with the first elevation there began the erosion that changed the prairie-like plain to the rugged region of hills and valleys that we know to-day. As the land rose, the rivers cut deeper and deeper channels for themselves, until they had cut a great part of the country down to new levels with ridges of the harder rocks in between. After ages in this condition, another uplift occurred, rais- ing our mountain tops to their present level, or about 900 feet above their previous height. The gaps in the mountains were begun with the first rise of the coastal plain. The waters gathered together and sought the easiest way out, and, as the land continued to rise, the streams cut deeper and deeper channels through the rocks. The so-called wind gaps in the mountains were all formed by streams which have since found other ways to the sea. There is evidence that the Delaware River found a weak spot in the mountain at the Water Gap, as a careful com- parison of the strata on the two sides shows a lack of conformity. In other words, a fault or break had occurred here and rendered this the vulnerable spot and determined the location of the Water Gap.
The main physical features of our county, the mountains, the val- leys and the streams, were, except superficially, in nearly their present condition at the beginning of the quaternary or present era. Then came
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the great ice age, which lasted for many centuries and covered all the northern part of our continent with a coating of ice, in some places several thousand feet thick, and the ice traveled slowly from north to south as a mighty glacier, filling the valleys and going over the tops of our highest mountains as easily as the Delaware goes over a rift. In its resistless course it caught up rocks, some of which it ground to sand and clay, while others were worn round and smooth and transported many miles from their parent ledge. The glacier extended as far south as a mile below Belvidere, and there the Sun's rays melted the ice as fast as it came down, and there the ice left its burden of sand, gravel, rocks and clay, as a terminal moraine, which extends across the county from Belvidere, past Hazen, Bridgeville, Buttzville, Townsbury, Great Meadows and Vienna to Hackettstown. The edge of the great ice field must have wavered for many, many years along this line to have deposited the morainic material that we find in the Pequest Valley, be- fore the ice finally receded, under milder climatic conditions, to the far north, depositing all the way more or less material such as we find in the great terminal moraine.
The changes produced by the great glacier in our topography are mainly superficial. The general contour of physical features was ren- dered rounder, less rugged and more pleasing to the eye. In many places the valleys were dammed up and lakes were produced, which later became fertile meadows. Vast beds of sand suitable for building and gravel for making roads and concrete were deposited in profusion over the northern half of the county.
The thousands of years that have elapsed since the ice disappeared have made no great change in the general physical aspect of our hills and valleys. Some of the lakes have been filled up or have been drained by the cutting away of the dam that produced them, and the rivers and streams have redistributed the gravel left in their old beds, and as they deepened their channels down through the gravel, they have left river
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terraces paralleling their course. At Belvidere there are three well marked terrace levels.
The most pronounced effect of the great glacier was the damming up of valleys by the glacial debris, thus producing our meadows, swamps and lakes. Above Townsbury the valley of the Pequest was dammed by the moraine to such a height as to produce a lake reaching up into Sussex County. Since then the Pequest has been cutting its channel deeper and deeper through the mass of clay and gravel, until we have now the Great Meadows instead of a lake. Similarly, Green's Pond was formed, and at one time this covered all the low land of the adja- cent swamps and meadows. The swamp was produced partly by the filling in of the lower part of the lake, and partly by the washing away of the glacial dam.
At the Water Gap a mass of glacial debris filled the old river channel to a height sufficient to dam the river and make a lake reaching for many miles to the north. The red men had a legend of the existence of this lake, and their name, "Minisink," applied to the level lands along the river between the Water Gap and Port Jervis, meant "The water is gone." The lake finally disappeared when the river had cleared its channel to its previous condition.
CHAPTER XI.
CIVIL LIST OF WARREN COUNTY.
Our county has furnished her share of men prominent in the State and Nation. A partial list is given of those who, at some time have been connected with this county and have held important civil positions.
Peter D. Vroom was Governor of New Jersey from 1829 to 1832. George T. Werts, who was born in Hackettstown, was Governor from 1893 to 1896.
The following residents of Warren County have represented this district in the National Congress : 1837-39, 1841-43, John P. B. Max- well; 1849-53, Isaac Wildrick; 1865-69, Charles Sitgreaves; 1881-83, Henry S. Harris; 1883-85, Benjamin F. Howey; 1893-95, Johnston Cornish; and when this was a part of Sussex County the following were in Congress : 1795-99, Mark Thompson, and 1801-II William Helms.
In 1900 David A. Depue was appointed Chief Justice of the State of New Jersey. George W. Robeson was attorney-general of the State of New Jersey from 1867 to 1870, and Secretary of the Navy in the cabinet of President Grant.
Garret D. Wall was a clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1812 to 1817, and George B. Swain was State treasurer of New Jersey from 1894 to 1902.
Hon. Joseph B. Cornish was secretary of the Senate in 1868-69, and the Hon. Samuel C. Thompson filled the same office in 1893.
In 1814-15, William Kennedy, and in 1835 Charles Sitgreaves, served as vice-presidents of Council of New Jersey. In 1810-11 Will- iam Kennedy was speaker of the House of Assembly, and in 1887 Will- iam M. Baird filled that office.
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The following were members of Council of New Jersey :
1825, Jacob Thompson; 1834-35, Charles Sitgreaves;
1826-28, Jeremy Mackey; 1836-39, Robert H. Kennedy ;
1829-30, Jonathan Robbins;
1840, Caleb H. Valentine ;
1831, Samuel Wilson;
1841, Henry J. Van Ness ;
1832-33, Charles Carter;
1842-44, Charles J. Ihrie.
The following were State Senators of New Jersey :
1845, Charles J. Ihrie; 1876-78, William Silverthorn;
1846-48, Jeremy Mackey; 1879-81, Peter Cramer;
1849-51, George W. Taylor; 1882-84, George H. Beatty;
1852-54, Charles Sitgreaves; 1885-87, James E. Moon;
1855-57, William Rea; 1888-90, Martin Wyckoff;
1858-60, Philip Mowry; 1891-93, Johnston Cornish;
1861-63, James K. Swayze; 1894-96, Christopher F. Staats;
1864-66, Henry R. Kennedy ; 1897-99, Isaac Barber;
1867-69, Abram Wildrick; 1900-02, Johnston Cornish;
1870-72, Edward H. Bird;
1903-05, Isaac Barber;
1873-75, Joseph B. Cornish ; 1906-12, Johnston Cornish.
The following were members of Assembly of New Jersey:
1825, James Egbert; 1834, Jacob Brotzman;
1825, Daniel Swayze; 1834-37, George Flummerfelt;
1826, Archibald Robertson; 1834, Henry Hankinson;
1826-27, Jacob Armstrong; 1835-36, John Young;
1827-28, Jonathan Robbins ;
1837-38, William Larrison;
1828-29, Daniel Vliet ;
1837-38, Henry Van Nest;
1829, Jacob Summers;
1838-39, Samuel Shoemaker;
1830, Samuel Wilson;
1839-41, George W. Smyth;
1839-41, John Moore;
1 840-42, Jacob H. Winter ;
1831-33, Charles Sitgreaves;
1 842-44, Stephen Warne;
1832-33, John Blair;
1842-44, Abram Wildrick;
1832-33, Isaac Shipman;
1843-44, Robert C. Caskey.
The following were Assemblymen of New Jersey :
1845, Abram Wildrick; 1846-48, Amos H. Drake;
1845, Stephen Warne; 1847-49, Samuel Mayberry;
I845-46, Robert C. Caskey; 1849-51, Andrew Ribble;
1846-48, Jonathan Shotwell; 1849-51, Benjamin Fritts;
1830-32, 35-36, Caleb H. Val- entine ;
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WARREN COUNTY.
1850-53, John Loller;
1876, William Carpenter ;
1876-78., Elias J. Mackey;
1852-54, John Sherrer;
1877-79, Silas W. DeWitt;
1879-81, Coursen H. Albertson;
1880-82, William Fritts;
1855-57, Archibald Osborn;
1855-57, John White; 1857-59, Isaac Leida;
1883-85, Stephen C. Larison; 1883-85, Isaac Wildrick;
1858, Abram S. Van Horn;
1858-59, William Feit;
1859-61, Robert Rusling;
1887-89, Samuel B. Mutchler;
1860, Philip Shoemaker;
1888-91, Eliphalet Hoover;
1860-62, John C. Bennett;
1890-92, Daniel W. Hagerty;
1861-63, David Smith;
1862-64, William W. Strader ;
1863-65, Elijah Allen;
1864-66, Charles G. Hoagland;
1895, George W. Smith;
1865-66, Silas Young;
1866-68, Andrew J. Fulmer;
1867-68, John N. Givens;
1867-69, Nelson Vliet;
1869-71, Absalom B. Pursell;
1869-71, Caleb H. Valentine;
1 870-72, William Silverthorn;
1872-74, Valentine Mutchler; 1873-75, Joseph Anderson;
1875, John M. Wyckoff;
1910-II, George B. Cole;
SURROGATES.
1825-30, John M. Sherrerd; 1869-74, Wm M. Mayberry;
1830-34, Jeremy Mackey; 1874-79, .George Lommasson;
1834-39, George W. Ribble;
1879-84, Martin C. Swartswel-
1839-44, Aaron Robertson; ler ;
1844-49, Joseph Norton;
1884-94, William O'Neil;
1849-54, Lewis C. Reese; 1894-99, George L. Shillinger ;
18.54-59, Philip H. Hann; 1899-1904, Charles B. Sharp;
1859-64, William Allshouse; 1904-1909, James A. Allen;
1 864-69, William L. Hoagland;
1909-1913, Jonas E. Bair;
COUNTY CLERKS.
1825-31, Matthias O. Halstead;
1841-46, David M. Stiger ;
1831-41, Phineas B. Kennedy ; 1846-50, James I. Browne;
1852-54, David V. C. Crate;
1854-56, George H. Beatty;
1882, Robert Bond;
1886, Thomas L. Titus;
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