USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > Woodbridge > History of Woodbridge Township > Part 2
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On March 6, 1882, a public meeting was held in Masonic Hall for the purpose of discussing a new depot for Woodbridge. The original and then existing depot, built in 1873, was a small one with the plat- form constructed high above the level of the ground so that passengers could step from the car platform to the station platform. A prior re- quest for this improvement had been made to the railroad and had been answered by Frank Thompson for the Pennsylvania to the effect that the application had been received and would be given early consideration. The procrastination of the railroad led to the appoint- ment at this meeting of a committee to wait on the railroad officials. This was followed by the arrival of a special train in April with rail- road officials to make a personal inspection of the depot, followed by a letter saying that "if the people of Woodbridge will procure a deed for additional ground required at the present station, the railroad com- pany will accept it and give the people of Woodbridge a station and grounds to their entire satisfaction." Thus the people of Woodbridge in 1882 desiring a suitable station building donated additional ground
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to provide landscaped approaches from the Green and Pearl Street sides. It was not until 1885 that the actual construction of the new depot was begun; by April the foundation was completed. The new depot, which was constructed of brick, was opened to the public in August, 1885, when Charles Numbers, the ticket agent, moved into the living quarters over the depot. The station, which was erected on the west side of the railroad, was demolished in 1939 when the grade crossings in Woodbridge were eliminated.
In 1872 the Central Railroad was opened between Newark and Elizabeth. Almost a year later the grading between Elizabethport and Perth Amboy was nearly complete, and the track was being laid be- tween East Rahway and Woodbridge (Sewaren). In July, 1873, John T. Johnston on behalf of the Central Railroad of New Jersey purchased the stock of the Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Railroad.
The first station built along the route of the Perth Amboy and Eliza- bethport Railroad was at Sewaren, the contract for the building of the depot and freight house having been awarded in November, 1874. The work, started in the same month, was to cost $6,500. The station was to be "something unique and perfect."
In August, 1890, after vainly endeavoring to secure better terminal facilities from other roads over which the Reading was obliged to send its coal and freight to New York, President McLeod of the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad determined that the Reading should have its own freight and coal terminal in the vicinity of New York. It was reported that the site chosen was in Perth Amboy. It was also reported that the new terminal would be connected with Bound Brook by a branch railroad. A total of 2,500,000 tons of coal was expected to be handled yearly. But while Perth Amboy expected to have the new terminal Mr. McLeod and William Hunter, chief engineer of the Phila- delphia and Reading system, selected Port Reading as the site and authorized the purchase of the property. The task of buying the neces- sary property was given to Charles A. Klink, a representative of the real estate department of the Philadelphia and Reading, who, in the deli- cate task of quietly buying up the many little tracts of land comprising the property, posed as a farmer. He was so successful in this character that the entire tract of over 300 acres was acquired at farm rates before anyone had suspected his purpose. Work from Bound Brook had progressed so far that by July, 1892, the work of grading had reached the "cut" between St. George's Avenue and the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge between Avenel and Edgar. The track had been laid to the docks at Port Reading in September, 1892, when the first shipments of coal were received. From year to year the business increased enor- mously over the one pier in operation; in order to facilitate all business offered, the management decided to build another pier and provide storage for one thousand additional cars. This work was completed on January 20, 1897.
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WATER TRANSPORTATION
Many of our enterprising citizens carried on a freight and pas- senger service to New York out of Woodbridge Creek. We find James Paton of Woodbridge offering in March, 1805, to sell his sloop "Mary and Isabella" of 32 tons burden and suitable for river or coastal trade. This sloop, incidentally, is one of the vessels believed to have navi- gated Woodbridge Creek and Heard's Brook to the bridge on Rahway Avenue, where James Paton maintained a store on the southwest corner of Rahway Avenue and Green Street.
In the early days of the steamboat, as in the case of locomotives, steam was generated by wood fires. In cases where it was necessary to maintain an even headway, especially in heavy seas or against a swift running tide, the pressure in the boilers was too great, with the result that fires, explosions and bursting pipes caused much injury and damage.
By a law passed March 7, 1844, the Township Committee was authorized to raise by tax, or otherwise, a sufficient sum to be expended under its direction in building a dock or wharf at the ancient public landing place on Staten Island Sound, near the mouth of Woodbridge, formerly Papiack Creek "on the northeasterly side thereof, to extend a sufficient distance to accommodate such vessels and steamboats as usually navigated the same." The ancient landing place was at the mouth of Woodbridge Creek, on the location of the Shell Oil plant. Before and after the passage of the 1844 law, difficulty in opening an old road to that point eventually led to an abandonment of that site for a dock built at the foot of the currently known Ferry Street in Sewaren, known as Steamboat Dock.
In 1850 the "Thomas Hunt" operated out of Perth Amboy, leaving that city at 7:45 A. M. daily. This steamboat is believed to have been the first steamboat to use the facilities of the Steamboat Dock. The fare from that point to New York was twenty-five cents. Because of the un- pleasant experiences the passengers underwent in reaching New York in December of 1858 and in the early part of 1859, due to the ice and fog, agitation was started for the early completion of the Perth Amboy and Woodbridge Railroad. Invariably during this period the steam- boats would get caught either in ice jams or fogs in the trips up the Sound, resulting in much discomfiture and delay to passengers. In 1859, the steamboat "Iolas" running between Keyport and New York stopped at Sewaren for passengers and freight to and from New York. The passenger fee was twenty cents. There were many other steam- boats plying among the New York, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Keyport harbors.
The era of the steamboat passenger traffic, however, faded with the advent of the 20th century so far as the port of call at Sewaren was concerned; thereafter, such transportation was in the form of excursion boats which touched at Boynton Beach.
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EDUCATION
Education was recognized from the date of the Township's exist- ence. The Charter of 1669 provided for the laying out of one hundred acres for the maintenance of a free school and for the erection of a school house to be forever exempted from taxation. Up to 1862 no at- tempt had been made to lay out or utilize the land. This neglect ul- timately encouraged the location of "squatters" whose evident intent was eventually to claim it. Drastic action had to be enforced to prose- cute all persons who refused to quit these lands. Means were taken for their future security when in 1701 a division of the common land was publicly discussed, prior to ordering the free school lands to be laid out. The actual division of lands, however, was not made until June, 1707, when the school lands were laid out as a "common field" to be planted with corn. In 1714, at a special meeting of the Freehold- ers, a committee of four was appointed to take "special care" of the school land, and a gift of two acres near Richard Skinner's, at Rahway, was made for the building of a school house at that place. In 1715 a resurvey was directed to be made of the school lands, which by the original survey of 1701 had been located at Iselin and for the past few years known as the Poor House Farm.
As the original settlers were Puritans, it is assumed that, following the custom of that sect in the colony of Massachusetts, the original school was maintained in connection with the church in the Meeting House.
The first school teacher in Woodbridge was James Fullerton who was elected to the position at a town meeting held March 3, 1689. It is probable that he taught at the Woodbridge school until sometime in 1691, when an offer was extended to John Beacher to teach on trial for six months and "until nine o'clock at night." Beacher was succeeded by John Brown of Perth Amboy who probably taught the Woodbridge children until 1695, when a tax was ordered levied to make up his salary, which was in arrears. Whether Mr. Brown continued his voca- tion or not under such circumstances is open to conjecture, but it is assumed that he sought more fertile fields and that between 1695 and 1711, the children were without benefit of schooling. The next teacher on record is George Eubanks, who was engaged in 1711, and probably was the first teacher to ply his vocation in the famous Strawberry Hill school house which is supposed to have been built around 1701 and which was located in the vicinity of Amboy Avenue and Bunn's Lane.
The management of the school land was given from year to year into the hands of committees appointed at the annual Town Meeting; but for want of authority to settle the accounts properly, or to prosecute persons committing waste and trespassing on the school lands, or to build a school house, or to make provision for the maintenance of proper teachers, application had to be made in 1769 for a charter regulating the affairs of the trustees. Such a charter was obtained and signed by William Franklin, Governor of the Province of New Jersey, at Burling- ton on June 24, 1769, wherein John Moores, Nathaniel Heard, Moses
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Bloomfield, Benjamin Thornall, Evenezer Foster, Joseph Shotwell and Robert Clarkson, then acting as trustees through appointment at Town Meetings, were constituted the first trustees under the charter as a body politic under the name of "The Trustees of the Free Schools of the Town of Woodbridge."
At the Town Meeting of 1766, the question of applying the interest of the school fund for the "schooling of the poor people's children" was voted down; but in 1789, the Town Meeting authorized the use of the interest and from that year to 1824 directed the Collectors of Taxes to "pay to the President of the school land the dog tax to be ex- pended for the schooling of poor children." In the Town Meeting of 1825, the receipt of dog taxes was directed to the payment of damage caused by sheep.
Before 1800, New Jersey was classified among the sixteen States forming the Union as depending upon church schools for the schooling of poor children. An act to incorporate societies for the promotion of learning was passed in New Jersey in 1794. In the year preceding, subscriptions were obtained to build the Woodbridge Academy. Much of the timber for this school was donated by the Trustees of the Free School Lands. It was built and completed in May, 1794. The site oc- cupied by this school was on the west side of Rahway Avenue and al- most directly across from the building formerly owned by the Barrons, the Boyntons and now by Dr. Rothfuss.
It was on the site of the Inn of Henry Potter on Rahway Avenue that, on April 17, 1826, the Woodbridge Seminary or Elm Tree Institute, was opened. All the preparatory branches of science necessary for the farmer, mechanic, merchant, doctor, lawyer, or divinity student were embraced by the course of instruction. Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English, French and Spanish were taught, as well as arithmetic em- bracing bookkeepping, algebra, trigonometry and geometry with prac- tical application to surveying. Chemistry, botany and history were offered. This school had an elaborate library, spacious lodging rooms, and a large campus in the rear of the building for recreation.
In 1817, a law was passed by the State Legislature which provided for the creation of a fund for the support of free schools. In 1820 the townships of the State were, for the first time, authorized to raise money for school purposes by vote of the town meeting for "such poor children as are paupers belonging to said township and the children of such poor parents, resident in said township, as are or shall be, in the judgment of said committee, unable to pay for schooling the same." In 1827 it was estimated that $50 was necessary to defray the expense of tuition of eight poor children in the township.
By an act to establish public schools passed April 17, 1846, pro- vision was made for the appointment of a State superintendent of schools and for the election at town meetings of a town superintendent who was, on and before the second Monday in May, 1846, to "set off and divide the township into convenient school districts" with power
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to alter and change as circumstances required. The pay of the local superintendent was to be one dollar a day. He, together with the trustees of each school district, was to select the text books to be used. The first superintendent of schools in Woodbridge was Jacob B. Clarke, of Rahway.
The School Act of 1846 provided that school districts might be incorporated by adopting a name and a seal and causing the bound- aries to be recorded in the office of the county clerk. When incorpor- ated they could raise by a two-thirds vote any district taxes they might desire for maintaining the school, purchasing land, or building school houses. The first district to take advantage of this law was School Dis- trict No. 1 which was incorporated April 19, 1852, under the name of "The Colombian School." The section of the township now known as Colonia caused its School District No. 3 to be incorporated April 22, 1854, as "Washington School." The school district at Fords, covering the territory from Fords to Bonhamtown and from Fords to the Perth Amboy line, was incorporated March 15, 1858, as the "Fairfield Union School." On January 5, 1859, School Districts 11 and 12 in the north- west section of the township were incorporated as the "Oak Tree School." The uptown school district of Woodbridge, however, was not incorporated until May 24, 1860, when it was designated "Jefferson School District." The Iselin or "Uniontown School District" was in- corporated April 6, 1861. The "Washington School District" No. 13, formerly No. 3, was re-incorporated April 4, 1864. "Star School District" No. 2, for the Carteret, Port Reading and Sewaren district, was incorpor- ated in 1865.
In 1854, the Township of Woodbridge had seventeen School Dis- tricts attended by 1,173 children between 5 and 18 years old out of a total of 1,748 eligible between those ages. Nineteen teachers were em- ployed, of which 12 were male and 7 female. The salary paid a male teacher per annum was $375; female teachers received $180 per annum.
Late in 1861, the old Fairfield School at Fords was destroyed by fire. This school, which was immediately replaced by a much larger structure on the same site, was re-opened on May 27, 1862. The new building which measured 45 by 30 feet was made of wood. It could be divided into two rooms separated by glass doors. This building with- stood the test of time. It was removed some years ago to a site across King George's Road, not far from the original site, to make room for the new modern school now known as School No. 7 at the corner of King George's Road and Hoy Avenue.
The Jefferson School in Woodbridge opened on March 12, 1866. The fact that the school was forced to close before the conclusion of the school year was cause for calling a meeting which was held May 14, 1867, to raise money sufficient to carry on until then. At this meeting but six taxpayers appeared; they voted to raise $500. It was also made known at this meeting that 105 pupils were too many for one teacher to handle, so it was voted to employ an assistant. The Jefferson School was located on the south side of Main Street on what is now Columbus
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Avenue. It was moved after the erection of No. 1 School to the corner of Main and Pearl Streets where it was used for commercial purposes. Later it was moved to a location opposite the Memorial Building.
On July 9, 1875, the Jefferson and Academy School Districts were consolidated at a meeting held in the Masonic Hall preparatory to the erection of a new modern grade school. It was originally planned to erect the new school in the vicinity of Masonic Hall on the "square" near the Pike House, but the final site chosen was that of the present School No. 1, then known as Brown Street. On April 20, 1876, ground was broken for the building, and excavating commenced for the founda- tion. The plans for the building called for a style of architecture re- sembling modern Italian in brick two stories high with six rooms on each floor surmounted by a tower with a bell and town clock. The cost of the building was estimated to be $25,000. The bell weighed 1,500 pounds. Inscribed upon the outside was the following: "School District No. 24, AD 1776. C. W. Boynton, President; Howard Valentine, D. C .; William H. Berry and Charles Campbell, Trustees." "Wisdom is better than gold." The placing of the bell was an invitation to the mischievous youth of Woodbridge to ring the bell at unseeming hours. On October 30, 1876, the tower was adorned with a spire supporting a gilt weather vane seven feet in length with the cardinal points of the compass below in large gilt letters. On November 8, 1876, a large clock from the fac- tory of E. Howard & Company, of New York, was put in running order. The works of this clock, which cost $600, were placed 35 feet from the dials which were six feet in length and which prevented the works from being affected by the shaking of the tower when the bell was being rung. The striking apparatus of the clock was operated through a hammer which struck upon the outside of the bell.
Dedication exercises for the new school building were held on January 20, 1877. When the school officially opened two days later, over 400 pupils were in attendance.
In 1877, Woodbridge had seven schools in the township with a total attendance of 1,278 pupils of which 794 were enrolled at Public School No. 1. The other schools were at Locust Grove, Six Roads, Rah- way Neck, Blazing Star, Uniontown, and Fairfield Union.
At the school election held March 21, 1899, an appropriation of $14,000 was requested; and the voters were asked to vote an appropri- ation of $5,000 for a new brick school house at Port Reading, the Sewaren Improvement Company having agreed to donate to the Board of Education a plot 100 feet square for the building.
The number of schools in the township for the next sixteen years remained the same. In 1894 the school laws abolished the old form of school district in charge of three trustees for the present form in which all of the schools in the township function as a unit under nine mem- bers of a Board of Education.
In May, 1895, the late Mr. John Love was appointed principal of School No. 1, his term to commence with the opening of school in Sep-
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tember. In 1900 he was made the first supervising principal of schools in the township.
What we know now as the High School had its beginning in No. 1 School with a small group of students. What can be called the first graduating class from Woodbridge High School completed a three-year course about 1881 with the following pupils being given a certificate of graduation: Sidney Pearson, Sadie Brewster, Clara Melick and Lulu Bloodgood.
A new high school was not commenced until 1910.
WARS
The War of 1812 is not one which appeals to the enthusiasm of one which arouses undue patriotism. Probably one of the most out- standing figures in this war was Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who was born near Trenton, February 5, 1779, but who spent his boyhood in Woodbridge, the place of his ancestors. He was the son of Col. Zeb- ulon Pike, one of the local residents who had distinguished himself in the Revolutionary War. At the age of 21, he was a first lieutenant in the army. When President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to the Northwest, he sent Zebulon Pike to the Southwest. Their reports laid the foundation for the great migration across the Mississippi and the unfolding of all the mighty empire of the West. While on his mission to the Southwest in 1806, he was credited with the discovery of "Pike's Peak" in Colorado. In 1812 he was stationed on the frontier and in the following year was made a brigadier general. He was killed at York, capital of upper Canada, on April 27, 1813, by the explosion of a mine in which several lives were lost. Just before he died, General Pike gave his sword to his aide, Col. Donald Frazer. This sword was offered to the New Jersey Historical Society in November, 1903, by a resident of Georgia.
Another illustrious son of Woodbridge was Joseph Bloomfield. He was born in the old Bloomfield homestead off Freeman Street near the corner of Barron Avenue in 1753. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he was studying law but joined in the cause of the colonists and was commissioned a captain and later a major. He fought in the battles of Monmouth and Brandywine. After the war, he resumed the study of law and acquired a successful practice in Burlington, N. J. The Assembly and Council elected him governor annually from 1801 to 1812, except in 1802 when there was a tie vote and the president of the Council administered the affairs of the State. No governor of New Jersey has occupied the exalted position of governor for the length of time Bloomfield did. The city of Bloomfield in Essex County was named after him on October 13, 1796. He died at Burlington on October 3, 1823.
It was not until 1815 that the subject of the War of 1812 was taken up in Woodbridge. As a matter of fact, no mention was made of war in the annual town meeting held April 12, 1813. It was necessary to call a special town meeting on May 24, 1813, to take measures for the defense "of our national rights pursuant to an extraordinary meeting
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of the Township Committee on the 13th instant at which the Township Committee was ordered to call this meeting to take into consideration means of defense against the common enemy." This meeting was held at the Inn of James Jackson where it was voted that seven hun- dred dollars be raised by assessment "for the defense of this town against the enemy."
On December 24, 1814, the treaty of peace ending the War of 1812 was signed at Ghent; but the news was not received in Woodbridge until February 20, 1815, when cause for rejoicing was made by firing a gun salute, the tolling of church bells, and the assembling of the town folk in church.
The Civil War had begun with the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861. When the news reached Woodbridge, loyalty to the cause of the North was made by a display of flags at the private resi- dences throughout the community. On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln made his first call for 75,000 volunteers. In Woodbridge, twenty young men of the Pike's Guards left for war on August 26, 1861, in answer to the President's first call. The number was much larger than Wood- bridge's quota.
The members of the Pike Guard joined with the members of the Clark Guard of Rahway and, on August 23, 1861, were mustered into the Federal service at Trenton as Company "H" of the 5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry for a period of three years.
During its term of service in the cause of the Union, Company "H" of the 5th N. J. V. took part in thirty-two battles, the most important of which were the siege of Yorktown, Va .; Williamsburg, Va .; Fredericks- burg, Va., and Gettysburg, Pa.
Under the call of President Lincoln for nine-month volunteers, issued in September, 1862, a company composed almost entirely of Woodbridge Township men was organized and was to be known as Company "F," 28th (Middlesex) Regiment of New Jersey Volunteer In- fantry. This company was recruited by Isaac Inslee, who was later appointed captain of the unit. During the whole time the 28th New Jer- sey Volunteer was associated with the army of the Potomac, it held a position in the immediate front, at all times fighting gallantly and suffering many casualties.
The Civil War ended with the surrender of General Lee at Appomat- tox on April 9, 1865; and the news to Woodbridge, as well as to the rest of the country, was cause for general rejoicing. The church bells were rung at 6 P. M. and fireworks were displayed in the evening.
The next week Lincoln died. On receipt of this news, all the public places in Woodbridge were draped in mourning, and flags were low- ered to half mast. The train bearing the remains of Lincoln passed through Rahway on April 24 enroute to New York City where the people turned out in great numbers to pay tribute. The train stopped at the Rahway station for a few minutes, so some got a view of the casket through the windows of the car.
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