History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 102

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 466

USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey > Part 102

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The first bridge erected across the Passaic river, above Newark bay, was at or near the foot of Bank street, in Pat- erson. From occasional references in the records, this bridge would seem to have been built prior to December IO, 1737. It is again alluded to under date of December 22,

1761. The earliest account of any public expenditure upon it is in the shape of the following receipt, on an irregular fragment of paper, browned with age:

Couynty Van Bergen Januwarij th 16-1762

Dan ontfangen Van Magiel Enoch Vreelant De Volle Betaelingh Voor het timmerhout Van De Groote Brugh tot totowa Bij Aberaham God- Win Bij getuge Van onse handen1

Dierck Van Giesen

Reynier Van Giesen Gerrebrant van houten Robbert van Houten Helmig van houten

his

Corn1 C Garison

mark

Abrm: Godwin Cornelius Van houten

On May II, 1774, the Bergen county board of chosen freeholders ordered "that the County Collector Do pay unto Derick Van Giesen for Bolts and Spikes applyed for the Bridge at Totowaw the sum of 5s. 3d N. Y. money." The next official notice of action with reference to this bridge does not occur until Nov. 1, 1791, when the Bergen and Essex boards of chosen freeholders met on the spot and unanimously agreed "that the said Bridge be Rebuilt and that the same be built of wood, the Width of the Bridge to be fourteen feet, the Posts to be 14 by 8 inches Square Split or Sawed & 14 feet long the Standing Timber to be framed with the but ends downwards 2 Butment Sills 6 by ten Inches Square 20 feet long 4 posts 6 by 6 Inches Square 4 feet long 4 Braces 4 by 5 Inches Square 5 feet long the Rabiting Pieces to be of Chisnut 8 inches square the hand rails also of Chisnut 6 Inches Diameter to be put on Round with a Stud under Each hand Rail White Oak plank clear of sap 2 I-2 Inches thick 14 feet long All the Other timber to be of good white Oak Except the mud Seals to be of same Dimensions as that of the present Bridge to be built after the same Model Except what is herein Ordered to the Contrary. Ordered that John Ben- son, William Colfax, Esq., and Samuel Van Saun and Christian Zabriskie from Bergen, and Jacob Smith, Esq., & John Vreeland, Johannes Neafie & Amos Harrison from Essex be the Committee to Sell the said Bridge at public sale at lowest Bidder to be built as above described and that the counties aforesaid pay each one half of the money." On May 22, 1802, the two boards ordered the bridge to be rebuilt, of wood, on the same spot, to be fourteen feet in width in the clear. The new bridge was swept away in the great flood of November, 1810. The Paterson and Ham- burgh Turnpike Company had not yet built a bridge where their road crossed the river, at West street, and now came forward with a proposition to build a turnpike bridge, in partnership with the two counties, or otherwise. This was laid before the two boards of chosen freeholders, at a meet- ing held Jan. 7, 18II, but the boards decided to build a new bridge on tlie site of the old one, and entered into a

1 "County of Bergen, January 16, 1762. Then received of Michael Enoch Vreeland [probably county collector of Essex county] payment in full for the timber of the Great Bridge at Totowa next to Abraham Godwin's. Witness our hands."-Nelson MSS.

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HISTORY OF PATERSON.

contract (dated Jan. 12, 18II) with Judge Gerrebrant Van Houten for that purpose, agreeing to pay him $1,000.1 A special meeting of the two boards was held July 27, 1818, to decide whether to repair or to rebuild the bridge; it was concluded to repair. The same subject came up again Nov. 27, 1821, when it was once more decided to repair in- stead of rebuilding the structure. The reluctance to re- build was doubtless due to the fact that the bridge was still used by the Paterson and Hamburgh Turnpike Company, and it was felt that that company ought to build a bridge of its own. This matter was once more presented to the two boards on Jan. 4, 1822, and committees were appointed to cooperate with the company in the erection of a new bridge. The arrangement seems to have fallen through, however, and the old county bridge was again repaired. On Feb. 25, 1822, Main street was extended northerly from Bank street to the river, with a view to moving the old bridge to that site. This project remained in abeyance until 1827, when a number of the inhabitants on both sides of the river sub- scribed the money requisite to remove the old bridge, and to rebuild it at the foot of Main street. The freeholders gave their consent, May 23, 1827, and entered into an agree- ment with Gerrebrant Van Houten and Abraham Godwin for the purpose. The work was given out by public compe- titiou, June 21, 1827, and was accepted by the freeholders in the ensuing November. This bridge was about forty feet longer than the present structure, the street at the souther- ly end having been filled in to that extent. Formerly, the first pier rested on a large rock in the river; that rock is now under the southerly abutment. The bridge was re- paired and rebuilt from time to time until 1871, when the present iron structure was erected, by the Watson Manufac- turing Company, Sam Thompson doing the mason work. The masonry cost about $6,500, and the superstructure $23,750. A wooden block pavement .was put on the bridge, at a cost of $1, 250, but was subsequently removed.

The Paterson and Hamburgh Turnpike Company erected a wooden bridge; in a single span, in 1822, at the foot of West (then called Bridge) street, but it fell down as soon as the supports were removed. Another bridge was built within a few years, and was still standing in 1826. In 1834 the bridge was rebuilt. Two spans of the bridge were de- stroyed by a freshet, Aug. 3, 1853. In 1854 the Company vacated its road through Paterson, and the bridge became a county charge. It was rebuilt and repaired from time to time until 1869, when the first iron bridge in the city was erected there.

The residents at Acquackanonk Landing were so accus- tomed to rely upon their numerous boats for transportation across the river that it was not until 1766 that they peti- tioned the Legislature to authorize the erection of a bridge at that place. At their request the boards of chosen free- holders of Essex and Bergen counties were empowered, by act passed June 28, 1766, to "build a Bridge over Passaick River, near the Dutch Church at Acquackanonk." As it

lay near the house of Walling Van Winkle on the Bergen county side of the river, it was frequently referred to as "the New Bridge at Wallince's." For the first eight years the bridge seems to have sustained but little damage from wear and tear, the cost of repairs being trifling. At a meet- ing of the two boards, May 15, 1776, it was ordered that the bridge be repaired in a thorough manner. The bridge was cut down,, Nov. 21, 1776, by the American troops, on their retreat through the Jerseys. It was doubtless rebuilt soon, for in 1780 Washington speaks of having ridden from Preak- ness "as far as the Acquackanonk bridge." Probably in the winter of 1781-2 the bridge was destroyed by the ice. On June 18, 1782, the Legislature passed "An Act to empower the Justices and Freeholders of the Counties of Bergen and Essex, to erect a Bridge over the River Passaick, near the Church at Acquackanunck." The preamble sets out that "sundry Inhabitants of the Counties of Essex and Bergen have, by their Petition presented to the Legislature, prayed that a Law may be passed to empower tlie Justices and Free- holders of the said Counties to erect a Bridge over the River Passaick, from the Place where the Highway, leading from New-Barbadoes, in the County of Bergen, strikes the said River, to the fast Land in the County of Essex," and the act therefore authorizes the two boards to "erect and build a Drawbridge over the River Passaick, directly at the Place where the Highway, leading from New-Barbadoes, in the County of Bergen, strikes the said River, and a little to tlie Southward of the Dwellinghouse of the Widow Jannetje Van-Winkle, and so across the said River in the shortest and most convenient Manner to the fast Land in the County of Essex." The expense was to be shared equally by the two counties. It was not until April 8, 1783, that the two boards met, viewed the site and agreed to build the bridge, of wood. The committee appointed to carry out this reso- lution consisted of Isaac Vanderbeck, Esq., Adrian Post and Edow Merselis, of Bergen county, and James V. Campbell, Esq., Col. Matthias Ward and Jacob Van Riper, of Essex county. The bridge was swept away the next year. The freeholders tried to induce the people in the vicinity to re- build it, and Bergen county offered to contribute £25 for the purpose, provided the bridge should be rebuilt within six weeks. This offer was not accepted. The Bergen county board met again Nov. 19, 1784, and renewed its offer "to pay £25 towards rebuilding the bridge at Ach- quacnunck above Where part of the former Bridge Now stands. Otherwise to bear our Equal proportion With Essex county to built it across the Passaick at the place Where one Mr. Blanchard1 now Lives where this Board Judge there Can stand A Bridge With Less Danger of ice & freshets than Where part of it Now stands." This offer was not accepted by Essex county. The Bergen county board met on the spot again, May 18, 1785, and "resolved that no repairs should be Done to the Bridge at Ahquac- nuncks; we are of opinion that no Bridge can be kept there," and they renewed their offer to share the cost of re- building at Blanchard's. The issue of the controversy does

1 The original contract, with " the bill of timber," is among the Van Houten MSS., in the author's possession.

1 Rynier Blanchard was a boatman on the east side of the river.

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EARLIEST ROADS AND BRIDGES.

not appear in the records, but it is believed that the bridge was rebuilt at Blanchard's, or in the rear of where Speer's wine warehouse now stands. At low water the posts of the old bridge can be seen in the river at that point. The bridge was again destroyed, in February, 1792, and the re- mains of it gathered on either side of the river, and sold. The two boards failed to agree, either as to their power to rebuild, or as to the proper location, until May 14, 1793, when they decided to build "oppisite the house now occu- pied by Cornelius Stagg at or near as may be on either of the sites where the first Bridge stood;" to be built of wood, the piers to rest in stone boxes; the bridge to be sixteen feet wide, and to cost the two counties not more than £100-or $250. Doubtless the people of the neighborhood had to contribute the rest. The draw in the new bridge was 20 feet wide, and was fixed between the first and second bents on the Essex county side. The contract was awarded to Eldric Yorks, for £483. The new structure was badly damaged during the next winter, and still more in the great freshet of August, 1795. In the flood of November, 1810, it was entirely swept away. The freeholders held several meetings to discuss the situation, and after repeatedly vot- ing that they had no power to build a bridge across a navi- gable stream, and that it was inexpedient, anyhow, they final- ly voted, May 23, ISII, to rebuild. The two boards agreed, Nov. 25, 1834, to build a new bridge, and tried to get the pecuniary assistance of the turnpike companies which used the public bridge; this effort did not succeed. The bridge was rebuilt in 1841, 1853 and 1857, each time of wood. In July, 1886, a contract was made with the Passaic Rolling Mill Company, for rebuilding the substructure of stone and the superstructure of iron, for $15,809.

The Paterson and Hackensack Turnpike Company was incorporated by act of the Legislature, Feb. 6, 1815, and laid out a road across the Passaic river from the foot of Market street, and built in 1826 a turnpike bridge to span the river at that point. Messrs. John N. Terhune, Richard Alyea and Cornelius Van Riper sold the road, bridge and franchises to the two counties, Sept. 23, 1869, for $1,000. The superstructure was rebuilt of iron, in 1884, by the Pas- saic Rolling Mill Company, for $5,620. Some of the piers having settled, a contract was made in June, 1893, with Dean & Westbrook, for rebuilding the entire substructure and superstructure, for $26,550. It is known as the Wesel bridge.

The turnpike met with bitter opposition from John Ander- son, of Hackensack, and others, who caused a new road to be laid from the end of Broadway to Hackensack, passing through Red Mills, and raised a fund for the building of a new bridge, at Broadway. A meeting of the subscribers to this fund was held at the house of Garret Oldis, at Red Mills, Jan. 27, 1816, when a committee was appointed, con- sisting of George Doremus, John Van Blarcom and John Anderson, to "receive proposals and attend to the build- ing of said bridge across the river at Garrabrant's [Garrabrant Van Riper's] lane." This committee gave ont the contract for the bridge in April, to James Blauvelt, of Godwinville. It was several years ere the boards of chosen freeholders

accepted the bridge as a public charge. On August 26, 1822, they voted to rebuild the bridge, and in July, 1828, they contracted for its repair. It was then known as "the new bridge across the Passaic river near the house of Abra- ham Van Winkle," who kept tavern at the Bergen county end of the bridge, on the premises now owned by Col. Wil- liam Barbour. It was not till many years later that it came to be known as the Broadway bridge. In 1835 the road over the hill was for the first time cut down several feet. The bridge was rebuilt in 1847-48; again in 1872-73, at a cost of about $13,000, at which time it was also raised five or six feet. The present iron superstructure was erected in 1891-2, the substructure being rebuilt at the same time, and the bridge raised somewhat. The cost was about $9,600. Dean & Westbrook were the contractors.

Before the erection of these several bridges there were numerous fords across the Passaic river: one about a mile or two below Passaic, where a ledge of rock afforded sure footing at low tide; another just above the Dundee dam, at the lower end of a large island; the next was at the foot of Willis street; another near the site of the Broadway bridge; also one where the Wagaraw bridge is now; then one about on the site of the West street bridge.

The earliest bridges were only ten or twelve feet wide, the piers being of hewn logs resting in boxes of stone. Every freshet damaged them seriously; in particular, the spring freshets, breaking up and bringing down the ice, usually carried away a bent or two. The bents, or spans, were twenty to twenty-four feet long, and the numerous piers were an added obstruction to the river and menace to the bridges.

CHAPTER XII.

HUMAN SLAVERY IN OLD ACQUACKANONK.

God . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth .- Acts xvii, 26.

Through departing from the Truth as it is in Jesus, through intro- ducing Ways of Life attended with unnecessary Expences, many Wants have arisen, the Minds of People have been employ'd in studying to get Wealth, and in this Pursuit some departing from Equity have retain'd a Profession of Religion, others have look'd at their Example, and thereby been strengthen'd to proceed further in the same Way: Thus many have encourag'd the Trade of taking Men from Africa, and sell- ing them as Slaves .- John Woolman, 1754.

THERE is little or no evidence that slavery existed among the first settlers of Old Acquackanonk. As the shrewd old Mount Holly Friend indicates, it was one of the evils attendant upon increasing prosperity, which usually seeks the aggrandizement of self. In the first settlement of New Jersey, the Proprietors, "that the Planting of the said Province may be the more speedily promoted," granted to

404

HISTORY OF PATERSON.

every Freeman settling in the Province before January I, 1665, 150 acres of land, English measure, "and for every weaker Servant or Slave, Male or Female, exceeding the Age of fourteen Years, which any one shall send or carry, arriving there, Seventy five Acres."1 Similar grants, of lesser quantities, were promised to subsequent settlers. It may be doubted whether the "slaves" here referred to were other than white persons, sold into servitude for a term of years, or sentenced to penal servitude in the Colonies for offences felonious, political or ecclesiastical. Negro slav- ery, however, was recognized as an institution existing in East Jersey as early as 1682.2 In Queen Anne's instruc- tions to Lord Cornbury, whom she sent out in 1702 as Gov- ernor of New Jersey and New York, she expressed a solici- tude that New Jersey might have "a constant and sufficient supply of merchantable Negroes, at moderate rates, in money or commodities."3 The first settlers of Acquack- anonk were too sturdy and self-reliant to care for slave labor on their farms or in their houses, and there are few indications of the blight in this neighborhood until the sec- ond quarter of the eighteenth century. Possibly the lack of capital may have been another reason why slavery was so little known hereabout at first. However, an examination of the wills and inventories on the preceding pages of this work will show that comparatively few of the settlers who died before the Revolution make any mention of slaves in their wills; although this is not conclusive it tends to con- firm the belief that slavery was by no means general in this vicinity at that period. The "Barbarism of Slavery," so vividly depicted less than half a century ago by Charles Sumner, is shown in the legislation which it caused to dis- grace the statute books of New Jersey. "An Act for Regu- lating of Slavery," passed March 17, 1713, provided that , any negro, Indian or "Mulato" slave, found five miles from his master's habitation, without a pass, "shall be Whipt by the Party that takes them up, or by his Order, on the bare Back, not exceeding Twenty Lashes; and the Taker up shall have for his Reward Five Shillings," besides costs of transportation of the slave to his home. Any negro, Indian or mulatto slave coming from another Province without the written license of his master, was to be whipped by the nearest constable, not exceeding twenty lashes, on the bare back, for which service the constable was to have three shillings, paid by the master. Any negro, Indian or other slave, who should murder, "or otherways Kill (unless by Misadventure, or in Execution of Justice) or conspire or at- tempt the Death of any of Her Majesties Leige People, not being Slaves, or shall commit any Rape on any of the said Subjects, or shall willfully burn any Dwelling-House, Barn, Stable, Out-House, Stack or Stacks of Corn or Hay, or shall Willfully Mutilate, Maim or Dismember any of the said Subjects, not being Slaves, as aforesaid, or shall will- fully Murder any Negro, Indian or Mulatto Slave within this Province," might be tried without indictment by a grand jury, by three of the justices of the peace and five

freeholders of the county, and upon conviction by any seven of this summary court, should "suffer the Pains of Death in such manner as the Aggravation or Enormity of their Crime (in the Judgment of the Justices and Free-holders afore- said)" should merit and require. The master or mistress of any slave so accused might demand a jury trial. The pen- alty in extreme cases was usually death by hanging, but sometimes, such was the brutality of the times, resulting from the debasing influences of slavery, the justices and freeholders, for the purpose of striking terror into the hearts of other slaves, would order the offender to be burnt at the stake. Inasmuch as the owners might be induced to send their slaves out of the Province, to avoid losing them by capital punishment, it was further provided that they should be reimbursed by the county, to the amount of £30 for a man, and £20 for a woman so executed. The county also paid for the firewood used at the burning. A careful examination of the court records of the last century fails to reveal any instance of the infliction of the death penalty on any negro slave within the bounds of the present Passaic county. Other localities were less fortunate.1 The law al- ready cited also provided that any negro, Indian or mulatto slave stealing to the value of sixpence and under five shil- lings, might be tried by two justices of the peace, and on conviction should be "whipped on the bare Back at the Pub- lick Whipping-Place with Thirty Lashes, by the Constable of such Township or Place where the Offence was commit- ted, or by such Persou as he shall appoint." Larceny to the value of five shillings or above was punishable by forty lashes, in the same manner; the constable received five shillings for each whipping, to be paid by the master or mistress of the slave. Evidence of slaves was admissible "on Tryals of such Slaves on all Causes Criminal." To check their aspirations toward independence it was enacted that no freed slave should have the right to hold real prop- erty withiu the Province. The same act provided that any person manumitting a slave should enter into security to the Queen, in the sum of £200, to pay yearly to such freed slave £20 for his or her support; and if any slave was made free by will, the executors of the testator should give like

I In January, 1729, a negro was tried at Perth Amboy, on a Saturday, for the murder of an itinerant tailor, was convicted, and on the follow- ing Monday was burnt at the stake .- N. J. Archives, XI., 201. Peter Kip's negro man "Jack," probably living at or near Polifly, Bergen county, or nearer to Rutherford, threatened several times to beat his master and his son, and to burn down his master's house, and when ar- rested, on Aug. 13, 1735, tried to destroy himself. He was convicted, and the next day was burnt alive, "on the road between the court house and Hackensack."-Bergen County Records. In January, 1739, a negro slave of Robert Lettis Hooper, at Raritan, Somerset county, shockingly mangled the little son of his master's overseer, and set fire to his master's barn. He was taken, tried and the third day was burnt alive .- N. J. Archives, XI., 558. In 1741 the inhabitants of New York city were alarmed by rumors of a threatened servile insurrection; the alleged plot was believed to have spread into the adjacent country. On May 1, 1741, Albert Van Voor Hezen's negro man "Jack," and Derreck Van Horn's negro man "Ben," were arrested on suspicion of having set fire to several barns in the vicinity of Hackensack; they were tried May 4, by three justices and five freeholders, convicted, and burnt at the stake the next day, at "Yellow Point, the other side of Hackensack river, near the house of Derreck Van Horn."-Bergen County Records.

1 Grants and Concessions, 20-21.

2 Ib., 250.

3 N. J. Archives, II., 530.

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THE WHIPPING POST.

security, or the manumission should be void.1 By an act passed May 10, 1768, the preamble of which simply states that the foregoing mode of trying slaves for capital offences "hath, on Experience, been found inconvenient," it was enacted that slaves accused of murder or conspiracy to mur- der, or ravishing, or wilfully burning any dwelling-house, barn, etc., and who should be convicted by confession or by verdict in the supreme court, oyer and terminer or quarter sessions, should suffer death without benefit of clergy; and any slave convicted in either of said courts of manslaughter, larceny above the value of £5, or any other felony or bur- glary, should suffer death, or such other penalty as the court should think proper to inflict.2 The proceedings on a trial for petit larceny are shown in the following record, in the writer's possession:

Bergen County ss Decr 7th, 1805.

The State

Negro Claas ) vs. An Accusation for Larceny under Six Dollars

The prisoner heing apprehended hefore us the Suhscrihers two of the Justices of the peace in & for said County hefore whom the sd prisoner Consented to he tried-Whereupon the said Court appointed Richard Terhune to prefer an Accusation in writing against the said prisoner, in Obedience thereto the Accusation was drawn up and the said prisoner Charged thereon, to which the said prisoner plead not Guilty.

The Court then proceeded in the trial of the Cause, in the Course of which The following Witnesses were Sworn on the part of the State To Wit-Henry Goetschius Luke Van Alen Francis Ryerson David Van Blarcom Jacoh Van Dein

Witness on the part of the prisoner-Ahraham Post

After having duly Considered the Testimony for and against the prisoner the Court is of Opinion that the sd prisoner Claas is Guilty of the Charge and Accusation Alleged agt him and do sentince the sd Negro Claas to receive Immediately Nineteen lashes on the hare back and that he further stand Committed until the legal fees are paid

fee Bill

Examination & Costs 0 19

Warrant & Serving . 85

Drawing Accusation. 30

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History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 102

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914 Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 466

Author: Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Paterson : Press Printing and Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 466