History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 99

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 99

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Thus in the course of time Acquackanonk developed a large trade, being the "Landing place" for the whole coun- try region for many miles back, so that its shipping interest became very considerable, vessels trading thence to New York, Albany, Long Island and even to New England, as

basin. He was pelted with stones by boys until he was exhausted, whereupon one of them, John Winters, waded into the water and clam- bered on the back of the huge fish, while another seized him by the throat and gills, and brought bim ashore. The Bergen Express and Paterson Advertiser of Wednesday, Sept. 3, 1817, devoted half a column to an account of the incident, under the heading, "The Monster Taken."

1 Epicures thought the shad caught in the basin had lost something in flavor by having been too long in fresh water.

389

SUBSTITUTES FOR CASH.

well as to points along the New Jersey shore. Iron from the furnaces and forges at Pompton, Ringwood and Char- lottesburgh was brought on horseback or muleback and later by wagon to Acquackanonk and there shipped by vessel to New York. Hoop-poles were carted thither in vast quanti- · ties and sent by the cheaper water route to the markets. This trade increased, and Acquackanonk Landing thrived, until the advent of the railroad, in 1832, which, curiously enough, struck a fatal blow at the prosperity of the place, from which it did not recover for many years, until the rail- road proved itself a successful substitute for the shipping interest, formerly so essential to the neighborhood.

Not alone to the farmer was the country store a conven- ience. His wife and his daughters were also greatly inter- ested therein, for the "store" introduced the latest fashions in women's wear-katoen (calico), osnaburgs (not a bit better than the homespun linen of our own Dutch Vrouwen), and sometimes even such extravagances as striped silk muslin, lace or silk mittens or gloves, silk stockings, silk dress goods, bombazine, sarcenet, serge, silk ribbons, cambric, and bonnets, which, if not as varied as in these modern days, nevertheless appealed to the innate taste for the beau- tiful which lay not always dormant in the bosoms of the wo- men dwelling in these remote rural regions, far from the haunts of Fashion. Of course, the farmer having occasion to drive all the way to New York often brought home some new article not to be found in the scanty stock of the coun- try store. The tale is still told of a neighborhood black- smith who once (about 1800) brought back with him from New York four handsome silk umbrellas, for his wife and daughters, having paid $7 each for them-an extravagance that was the talk of the region for many a long year. Silk umbrellas were entirely unknown, and the proud possessors longed earnestly for a rainy Sunday whereon to disport their new finery, it not occurring to them that they might with propriety be carried as sunshades also.

THE STOREKEEPER AS THE NEIGHBORHOOD BANKER.

It has been remarked that the country storekeeper's trade was principally a system of barter. Whatever money there was in the neighborhood usually found its way into his pockets, and thus he became also the Banker for the region. Men gave notes for trifling amounts, even for a few shil- lings, and the storekeeper accepted these notes in payment for groceries. Men who had credit would pay small ac- counts by an order for groceries, directed to the trader, and he would be asked to advance cash in small sums at times when nothing else would suffice. Here are a few extracts from the Van Houten Manuscripts, showing the class of or- ders accepted by Judge Gerrebrandt Van Houten at his store in Water street (in the old Doremus house), early in the present century :

Mr. Garibrant Van H sir please to pay Mr Anthony Van blaricom the sum of one Dolar and charge it to me

Benony Kinyon May the 28th 1804

Mr Garibrant v. Houten Esqr Sir please let my son have sum wine on my accompt

Paterson July the 4th 1804

Benony Kinyon

August the 22 1804

Sir please to let Mr Taylors sun have one galon of spirets and and Charge it to your frend Daniel Hedden

Let the Bearer have 2 lb Candles

Sept 15th 1804 C. Kinsey

October the 17th 1804 Mr V Houten Sir please to let the bearer have one quart of Spirits and two white bowls and a pound of Sugar and Charg the Same to my Account Jacob Booman

And if you please to let him have those few articles I shall Certenly Come and pay you on Saturday Evening

Plese to let the barer have the Amount of teen Shilling in so duing you will obliege your friend Hennęry Kipp

October 19 1804

let Mrs Weeks have the Amount of three Shillings on the Acct of 3rd Dec. 1804 C. Kinsey.

December 4th 1804 Due the Bearer Hereof the Sum of Eleven Dol- lars and forty Cent on Demand by me Abel McPherson

Febary 19th 1805 Sir please let the Barer here of Peter Stephens have one quart of Melases and a yarde of Tobacco on my Account

Peter Van Allen

Patterson March 30th 1805 Mr Van Houten Sir Please to Let the Bearer Mrs Erasket have goods to the amount of twelve Shillings and Charge it to your friend Jamcs Young

Aprill the 26 1805

Sir Pliese to pay my son Richard Ryerson the sum which is due to me from Anthony Van BlarCum wich is six Dollars and fifteen Cents

Please to pay the Barer the sum of six Dollars and the 15 Cents in Writing paper, and this shall be your Recipt for the same

To Garrabant Esquire Francis D Ryerson

Paterson 7th 1805 June I Promes to pay the baicr the Sum of four pound ten shilings In fourten days after dait-as Witnes My Hand Mary Hedden Daniel Hedden

Paterson 18th June 1805

Please to let me have I Dollar in cash this sum I have been hanted for three & four times a Day I have tryed to get that much but Qould not if I Dont pay him by 9 Oclock this Day he will prosecute me-So that if you will Oblidge me with the above sum it will save me trouble and Cost-Also send me 1% of a lb of green tea

Mr Gart Van Houten Esqr? Paterson- You will much oblidge your Friend Jacob Stagg-

Please to Pay the Baror Samuel Garner Eight Shillings and [charge] it to my a Count

October 19th 1805

Robert Van Houten

Please Let Jacob Stagg have goods to the Amount of nine Shillings and Charge the same to me

Paterson, Apriel 5th 1806 James Young

Paterson Landing February 29th 1808 ] Due the Bearer thirteen Shil-

lings in trade G. & D. Van Gieson

Mr Van Houten plase give the Berer twelve shillings worth of goods And you'l oblige yours

Paterson April 13th 1808

St Leger & Flood

Mr. G. V. Houten, Please To let Paul Retan have Six shillings in goods and oblige yours &c

Paterson Novbr 7th 1808 Benjn Weller

Please let the Bearer have Four shillings and Six pence and charge the same to acct of Benjn Weller

Sir place to leat Piter Aimon have Eight Shillings in trade and Charge the same to a Count

May 8th 1810 Owen McDermott

Mr Venhuttar Sir Plaese to Pay Pattar Stavens 50 cents In trade and Charge the same to my ACount

Pattarson Agust 19 1812 James Boon

Please to let Mr Corby have I barr of Iron & Charge the same to Yours &c

Decr 30 1812

Jno. Parke

390

HISTORY OF PATERSON.

Deu Corns. W. Van Winkle or order Two 82-100 Dollars for Value Received without defolcation or discount

Paterson July 27 1826

Paul Ruton

Some of the men who gave these orders, for the lack of cash, were among the most prominent business men in the community. Daniel Hedden had a bark-mill northeast of Haledon. Charles Kinsey had the first paper-mill in Pat- erson, and in 1816 was elected to Congress. Jacob Bow- man was a prosperous blacksmith. Henry Kip was a well- to-do farmer, and Peter Van Allen was another. James Young was a cotton manufacturer. Jacob Stagg formerly had a saw mill in Paterson. St. Leger & Flood had a con- siderable dyeing and fulling establishment in West street; their order for "twelve shillings worth of goods" was prob- ably to one of their workmen, whose wages they could not pay in any other way. Benjamin Weller had a hat shop, and John Parke a cotton mill. That such men were with- out ready money indicates the scarcity of currency in those days. Fortunate was he who had credit with the storekeep- er. He could pay his workmen, aid his friends and pro- vide for his household even as though he had silver and gold in abundance.

SOME HOME INDUSTRIES.

While the men were afield the women were not idle. In every well-regulated household there was a steady round of tasks to be performed, and every member of the family had his or her appointed labors. As from time immemorial, the distaff fell to the females. They sewed the flax, cut, hack- led and spun it, wove and bleached it, and made it into sheets, shirts and other garments. This homespun linen, bleached by nature's own processes, the dew of the heavens and the cleansing rays of the sun, was almost indestructible in its wearing qualities.

After the men had sheared the sheep, the women took the wool, washed it, carded it with hand-cards, spun it, and wove it into cloth, which in the earlier days they dyed them- selves, fulled, pressed, and made into clothing for men and women. In later times mills were established in various neighborhoods, where the dyeing, fulling and pressing was done at moderate rates. Linsey-woolsey-a fabric having a linen warp and woolen filling-was a common product of the household looms, and was very much used for clothing, being lighter than wool, cooler and cheaper. The blue-and- white beddedeken, which are the pride of those fortunate enough to own any, were usually the work of skilled arti- sans, educated to the art and mystery of weaving the blue woolen yarn into a white cotton warp, making a most dura- ble blanket.

· A forgotten industry was the making of pot- and pearl- ashes, for the manufacture of soap. This was begun as early as 1700 in New Jersey, and there was a strong dis- position in the mother country to encourage its advance- ment here.1 It was carried on in a small way in the Dutch families, as a matter of necessity, for their own convenience. Shortly before the Revolution the manufacture was attempt- ed on a large scale at Ringwood and vicinity. Aside from

that, nearly every family made its own soap, utilizing for the purpose the refuse fat of the kitchen, and combining it with the homemade potash.

"The Light of the Household" was the blaze from the kitchen fire, or the tallow dip. In lack of candles, much store was set by the fire on the hearth, and it was a com- mon superstition that this fire should never be allowed to go out, except on New Year's eve. A coal from the hearth sufficed to light the good man's pipe, or lantern, or for any other incidental purpose. Of course, there was the steel and flint, and the accompanying tinder-box or tinder-horn, filled with linen rag ashes, which ignited from a single spark flashed into it by striking the flint with the steel; but this tinder must be extinguished as soon as it answered its pur- pose of kindling a fire or making a light, else it would burn out speedily, and it was not easily replaced. The prudent housewife set about making candles as soon as her other la- bors permitted, and this was a regular industry every fall, when tallow was most abundant, after "killing time." Then the supply was made up for the ensuing season. "Store candles" were hardly known a hundred years ago, and it was well on to the middle of this century ere they displaced those of home manufacture, by reason of their greater cheapness.

The introduction of "locofoco" matches was an event in the household. It is still remembered how a farmer brought home from New York, about sixty years ago, a bunch of the new-fangled splints tipped with sulphur, and unfortunately let them fall, almost as he entered his house, whereupon the matches caught fire and were burnt up in one grand combustion before he could show his admiring family how to use them.

At first the trade of currier, shoemaker, harness-maker and general worker in leather was combined in one person, as we have seen in the case of Hendricus Doremus, of Sloot- erdam, Peter Simmons, of Wesel, Simeon Van Winkel, of the White House, and others. The shoemaker was an itin- erant artisan, after the ancient European custom. With his kit of tools, and sometimes with an assortment of sole leath- er, thread, etc., he would journey through a neighborhood, making his rounds once or twice a year. At many a farm- house he would find a bench and a supply of leather; at others he would provide all the materials himself. The farmer who tanned his own leather would not generally have hide stout enough for sole leather, but only for calf- skin uppers. The very lightest calfskins were made into Sunday shoes. The women wore heavy calfskins. The men went about in cowskin shoes. Children wore none, except in winter and on Sundays, and cried when obliged to put them on at any other time. A "corn-doctor" would have starved to death in Old Acquackanonk. The shoemaker plied his awl and hammer in the living room, where every- body had a personal interest in watching his progress, and in listening to his gossip brought from other parts of the neighborhood. He would spend several days at each house, repairing all the shoes of the family, and making new ones where desired. It should be borne in mind that the coun- try people, adults as well as children, especially in the last

1 N. J. Archives, III., 304, 329, 341.

391

HOME INDUSTRIES .- A FOREIGN INVASION.

century, were not partial to shoes, and wore them only in winter, or at times when social usage seemed to make the habit necessary. When Hendricus Doremus went courting, something more than one hundred years ago, he prudently carried his shoes in his hand. Not that he was afraid of wearing them out, for he was a shoemaker himself-but be- .. cause they hurt his feet, unaccustomed to such fetters. Many a good woman, and many a pretty girl, in the last century, and even so late as 1830, might have been seen wending her way to church on Sundays, dressed in her best gown and bonnet, but carefully carrying her shoes and stockings, until she got near the church, when she would stop at some wayside well, wash her feet, don her shoes, and calmly make her way into church, where she endured as best she might the discomfort of the stiff foot-gear, of which she would relieve herself as soon as she got well away from the building after service. When a neighborhood was somewhat thickly settled, the shoemaker of the vicinity would erect a small pothuis in front of his dwelling, near the road, where he would work when not making his rounds.

Every man was his own carpenter, mason and wheel- wright at first, and the most successful farmer was the "jack-at-all-trades." In the course of time it was found advantageous to encourage the settlement of mechanics in various lines. The mason was one of the earliest artisans to find employment in the new settlement. The carpenter followed. Then the blacksmith, who was also a wheel- wright and wagon-maker. These trades were often taken up by such of the farmers' sons as were disinclined to farm work. In certain families hereabout the men have been car- penters for five or six generations, as in others they have been masons, blacksmiths or shoemakers. Some young men had a special knack at weaving, and set up shops of their own, adjacent to the family residence, and so the work of the farm and household became specialized.

The first mills were saw-mills and grist-mills. In time others followed, and the tanner and currier was glad to buy his bark from a mill devoted to its manufacture, as the wo- men folks were pleased to have mills where they could have their loom-products dyed, fulled and pressed with greater uniformity of results than were possible when the work was done in a small way, at home.

" common belief that the "old people" were so thoroughly ac- customed to the use of liquor that it had no deleterious ef- fect upon them. The facts are the other way. History tells of Dominies deposed from their pulpits for intemper- ance; of neglected farms and wasted lives because of the ownership of a brew-kettle or a still; of ruined homes and scattered families through the baleful influences of intoxi- cants. It was not until about 1840 that any systematized attempt was made to check the evils of intemperance in this vicinity. Nowhere was the effort more needed than among the mill owners and mill operatives of Paterson. But it was also timely among the farmers and other denizens of Old Acquackanonk.

The development of the brewing and distilling interest at- tracted coopers into the settlement. Allen Quimby settled between the Notch and Stone House Plains, about 1790, and plied that trade there' for many years. In a bill of his, dated 1801, he makes these charges: hooping one churn, 6d. ; hooping a "pale," 6d .; making a handle in a pail, 6d .; hooping a tub, Is .; mending a "Pale," 2s .; hooping a "piggen," 6d.

A FOREIGN INVASION.

Quimby was by no means one of the earliest of the foreign element that gradually found its way into this Dutch neigh- borhood.

The roving Irish schoolmaster, with a modicum of learn- ing and a superabundance of wit and jollity, doubtless tried his hand at imparting a knowledge of the English branches, flavored with a rich brogue, to the Dutch youngsters, with more or less satisfactory results. Irish weavers, skilled in the art in which their countrymen have long excelled, also drifted thither for temporary sojourns. Bernardus Mollen [Barney Mullen] was living in Acquackanonk when he mar- ried Klaesje Andriesse, Jan. 2, 1731; they had a son, Jaco- bus, born here August 13, 1731.

John Ludlow came hither from Long Island prior to 1732, and became one of the leading merchants, as were his son, Richard, and his grandson, John R. Ludlow. The last- named not only kept a general country store, but also did a heavy freighting business via the river, buying and shipping to market large quantities of hoop-poles, staves, barrel- heads, and other products of the region tributary to Ac- quackanonk.

The Dutch people were accustomed to beer-drinking, a liabit inherited with many other traits from Vaderland. It Stephen Bassett settled on the Wesel road, near the pres- ent Paulison farm, about 1730. His house was on the east side of the road, a long, low, stone building, with a roof that came down to within five or six feet of the ground, and projected so far over that the interior of the building was al- ways damp and dark. There were three entrances in the front, two for the whites, and one for the blacks. Bassett's nationality is uncertain. The name is French, but is found in England and Ireland. He was a blacksmith by trade, but with a versatility not uncommon in his day, he also did a little surveying. He married Ann Milledge, a resident of Essex county, Oct. 2, 1730; he died Jan. - , 1763, aged 54 yrs., 4 days, and is buried at Acquackanonk. It is a curi- ous fact, not without its touching pathos, that the second was found to be economical for several families to join to- gether in buying and maintaining a brew-kettle and the oth- er appurtenances requisite for making home-brewed beer, and frequent mentions of such joint ownership are made in the preceding pages. Sometimes several families would in the same way be interested in a common still, for distilling apple whiskey. In well-to-do families the cellar was stocked with casks of beer, wine, whiskey and rum, and the sideboard was always set out with decanters and glasses, for the entertainment of the casual guest. The drinking habit was universal. Everybody drank beer or whiskey, usually both, and it was considered discourteous to refuse a proffered drink under any circumstances. The women drank their whiskey or rum diluted and sweetened. It is a , oldest tombstone in the Acquackanonk churchyard, is a tiny

392

HISTORY OF PATERSON.

brownstone slab, in a perfect state of preservation, commem- orating the death of a child of Stephen Bassett, in 1737, at the age of nine days. Other children were: I. Eleanor, d. Feb. 20, 1745, aged 14 yrs., 10 mos., 5 days (so says her tomb- stone); 2. Maria, m. the Rev. Martinus Schoonmaker, June 27, 1761; 3. Sarah, m. Adolf Bras, of New York, April 14, 1757; her son, Adolf, b. at Acquackanonk, m. Marregrietje Vanderhoef, July 5, 1778. The Bras family lived near Stone House Plains.

Robert Drummond, probably a Scotchman, or of Scotch descent, married Sarah Millits, Dec. 2, 1734. The record says they were both of Acquackanonk, which may mean, however, only that they lived within the jurisdiction of that church. His wife was not unlikely a sister of Mrs. Stephen Bassett, the difference in spelling being trifling to the Dutch scribes of the day. Nothing further is known of this Rob- ert Drummond; he probably lived at Preakness, at least in his later years.

James Billington, schoolmaster, married Anna America, May I, 1742, and was probably the father of Edward, who m. Marytje Garrabrants, and had a son, John, b. July 2, 1772. Edward's widow m. Cornelius Thos. Johs. Dore- mus, Jan. 28, 1781.

John Mac Carthy settled at Slooterdam about 1760, and there m. Abigail Van Bussen, by whom he had Abigail, b. Oct. 10, 1763; and prob. John, b. in New York, but who was afterwards of Slooterdam, where he m. Rachel Van Rypen, of Wesel, Nov. 19, 1790, and 2d, Elizabeth Post, Feb. 5, 1796.

The Ennis family first appears in the person of William Ennis, who m. Lea Douchee, and had a dau. Marregrieta, b. Nov. 19, 1755; and prob. Jacobus, m. Marytje Spier, May 26, 1776.

Anthony Pichstoon m. Antje Kip, and his son Daniel was b. Feb. 5, 1762. He had numerous other children, whose names gradually were transformed into Paxton, by which cognomen the family is now known altogether.

Robert McWilliams, an Irishman, m. Ann Nutter, b. in New York; both lived in Acquackanonk at the time of their marriage, Oct. 30, 1774.

The sojourn of the American army in Acquackanonk and vicinity during the Revolution, doubtless induced many of the soldiers to locate here when the war was over .. Wil- liam Morrow, born in Ireland, m. Nov. 27, 1784, Elizabeth Styles, wid. of Joannes Hennion; she was b. at Remmer- pock, but both lived in the Bogt at the time of their mar- riage.

Evan Barkow, b. in North Carolina, but living at Waga- raw, m. Mary Dougherty, wid., b. in Pennsylvania, but liv- ing at Wagaraw, Aug. II, 1792.

Robert Blair, a native of the county Antrim, Ireland, came to America in 1769, being then a young man of twen- ty-five years. He probably settled in Burlington county, N. J. When the Revolution began, he enlisted in the Ameri- can army, and had the rare distinction of being selected to serve in that chosen body of men known as Washington's

Life Guard, 1 first organized at Valley Forge in the spring of 1778. After the War he located in Acquackanonk, where he taught school, kept a small store, and in various ways acquired a fair competence, and won the respect of his fel- low citizens. He married Hillaca - probably one of the native girls of Acquackanonk, who would be better known among her associates as Hiletje. This marriage would seem to have occurred when Blair was past middle age. His wife bore him a son, Robert, who d. July 30, 1800, aged three days; she d. August 2, 1800, in her 30th year. He survived his young wife nearly thirty years, dy- ing Nov. 29, 1829, aged 85 yrs.2 In his will, dated Nov. 14, 1829, witnessed by Garret Van Houten, James Cadmus and Henry Schoonmaker, and proved Dec. 28, 1829, he leaves one-third of his property to his brother David for life, with remainder to his three children; one-third to his brother, Hugh Blair, of Shenango, Crawford county, Penn .; and one-third to his sister, Isabella Allen, of Rumney. Hamp- shire county, Va.3 Robert Blair, his wife and infant child are buried in the Acquackanonk churchyard.

David Blair, brother of Robert, probably came to this country with him, and also settled at Acquackanonk. As stated on p. 129, he married Beeltje Vreeland, and lived on what is now known as Vreeland avenue. His will, dated Sept. 30, 1826, witnessed by E. P. Merselis, John P. Merse- lis and Cornelius C. Vreeland, was proved March 31, 1831. 4 To the data given on p. 129 it may be added that his daugh- ter Marretje, who m. Uriah Van Riper, d. June 23, 1866; her husband d. Sept. 24, 1871, aged 89 yrs. His son, Hen- ry Blair, m. Rachel Ryerson, who d. Nov. 20, 1818. His daughter, Jane, d. Sept. 6, 1877, aged 79 yrs. ; her husband, Peter J. Curtis Mead, d. March 15, 1868, aged 72 yrs.

Other settlers of Irish, Scotch, English and French ori- gin have been mentioned on previous pages, and still others will be referred to hereafter. These "foreigners" were not generally regarded with favor, especially if they happened to marry into some of the Dutch families; but most of those who have been named had qualities which ultimately won the esteem of the old people, and they came to be recog- nized as among the best citizens of the neighborhood.

MINING OPERATIONS.

The discovery of copper, about 1710, nearly opposite- Belleville, on lands of Arent Schuyler, formerly of Pomp- ton, naturally attracted the attention of capitalists, and a great deal of prospecting was done in the ranges known as: the First and Second Mountains, during the half century after the Schuyler mine was first worked.5 The presence of

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History of the city of Paterson and the County of Passaic, New Jersey, Part 99

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