USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the city of Trenton, New Jersey : embracing a period of nearly two hundred years, commencing in 1676, the first settlement of the town, and extending up to the present time, with official records of the population, extent of the town at different periods, its manufactories, church history, and fire department > Part 30
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October 26th, 1810, a petition was presented from a number of citizens of Trenton, praying for permission to bring in a bill to incorporate the proprietors of the Trenton Aqueduct Com- pany ; whereupon a bill was presented for that purpose.
On the Ist of November, remonstrance was presented against the same from the president and directors of the Trenton Water Works, praying that the legislature would not incorporate said company. On the 29th of January, 1811, it passed the house, was sent to the council, by them amended and passed, reported back to the house, and on the 8th of February passed with the amendments.
On the Ioth of April, 1812, congress passed an act to author- ize a detachment from the militia of the United States of one hundred thousand men, and on the 15th of April the president called upon the executive of this state to take effectual measures for having five thousand of the militia of this state, being her quota, detached and duly organized and properly armed and equipped for actual service, and on the 25th the commander-in- chief issued his order to that effect, requiring them to be ready to march whenever called upon.
War having been declared between the United States and the kingdom of Great Britain and the dependencies thereof since that time, it became the duty of the legislature of this state to put the state into the best posture for aiding in protecting the country and carrying on the war. The militia were to be pre- pared for actual service by their state governments respectively.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
Five hundred men were called into active service immediately, and provision was at once made for arming and equipping one thousand men.
February 17th, 1813, a petition was presented to the house from a number of the stockholders of the Trenton Library Company, praying permission to erect a house on a part of the government lot, for the purpose of using the same as a library room, which petition was referred to Messrs. William Potts, of Hunterdon, Thomas H. Hughes, of Cape May, and Silas Con- dit, of Essex, with leave to report by bill or otherwise.
The committee presented a bill, and on the 19th it passed the house unanimously, and on the 20th it passed council.
The size of this building was not to exceed twenty feet in width by thirty feet in depth.
On the 28th of January, 1817, an act was passed giving the mayor, recorder, and aldermen of the city of Trenton the power and authority of justices of the peace (for the time being) of the state of New Jersey, and the mayor, recorder, and alder- men, or any three of them, of whom the mayor or recorder were to be one, were to constitute a court of general quarter sessions of the peace of the city of Trenton, with all the powers, author- ity, and jurisdiction within the said city of Trenton, except the granting of tavern licenses, and excepting, also, the hearing and determining of appeals in pauper cases with which the several courts of general quarter sessions of the peace of the several counties of this state are or may be vested.
The former was left to the common council, and the latter to the overseer of the poor.
This court was termed " The Court of General Quarter Ses- sions of the Peace of the city of Trenton."
It was 'a court of record, and held four sessions in each year, on the second Tuesday of the months of April, July, Septem- ber, and January, with power to adjourn from day to day, and to hold special sessions when the mayor, recorder, and aldermen should deem such special sessions necessary.
The clerk of the city was clerk of said court, performed the same duties, and was entitled to receive the same fees and emolu- ments, and subject to the like penalties and forfeitures as the
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clerks of the courts of general quarter sessions of the peace of the several counties of this state.
On the 28th of February, 1835, the Assanpink Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of cotton or woolen cloth, or both, was incorporated.
Its incorporators were Philemon Dickinson, Lewis Waln, William Grant, William Waln, and Thomas J. Stryker.
The capital stock of the company was three hundred thou- sand dollars, divided in shares of one hundred dollars each.
March 5th, 1836, the Union Manufacturing Company, for the purpose of manufacturing, bleaching, or printing articles of which cotton, flax, or wool were the principal parts, was incor- porated.
Dr. John McKelway, Thomas J. Stryker, and Xenophon J. Maynard were the incorporators.
The capital stock was three hundred thousand dollars, divided in shares of one hundred dollars each.
March 9th, 1836, the Trenton Silk Manufacturing Company was chartered, with a capital stock not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, divided in shares of fifty dollars each.
The corporators were John Titus, John Mershon, William P. Sherman, Benjamin Chapman, Zachariah Rossell, and George Miller.
On the same day the Phoenix Manufacturing Company, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton, wool, and flax, and dye- ing, printing, and bleaching the same, was incorporated, with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in shares of one hundred dollars each.
February 4th, 1837, the Trenton Flax Company was incor- porated, for the purpose of dressing, bleaching, and manufactur- ing flax, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, divided in share of fifty dollars each.
Its corporators were Charles Green, Ralph H. Shreve, and John R. Dill.
March 3d, 1837, the Delaware Manufacturing Company was incorporated, for the purpose of manufacturing, bleaching, and printing articles of which cotton, flax, and wool are the principal parts, with a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars, in shares of one hundred dollars each.
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The corporators were Dr. John McKelway, Benjamin Coates, and Charles Wurts.
On the 24th of February, 1838, an act was passed to incor- porate the Mercer Cemetery Company.
The corporators were Elisha Gordon, Ogden D. Wilkinson, Crispin Blackfan, Thomas Slack, Charles C. Yard, John D. Hester, Andrew Allison, Enoch W. Green, Henry N. Barton, David Witherup, Joseph Witherup, Charles Hunt, Thomas Gor- don, Jasper Scott, James T. Clarke, and John A. Hutchinson.
Mr. Jacob M. Taylor (now deceased) having, sometime in the year 1857, conceived the idea of erecting a cemetery on the high lands in the southern part of the city, and at that time owning an undivided half of about twenty-six acres, partly on the low and partly on the high lands, submitted his views to a number of gentlemen, when, on the 16th of January, 1858, a preliminary agreement was signed by Jacob M. Taylor, John R. Smith, Isaac Stephens, William M. Force, William S. Yard, and David With- erup to take what had been purchased by Mr. Taylor, and use their endeavors to purchase more, all to be vested in Jacob M. Taylor, until a sufficient quantity was obtained and a charter pro- cured from the legislature ; an application was made, and finally passed and approved February 26th, 1858, with the privilege to hold fifty acres of land. The charter was accepted by the cor- porators on the Ist day of May, 1858.
The work of fencing, laying out, grading, and planting trees was then commenced, and the first lot was sold to the lamented Captain William E. Hunt, on the 22d of February, 1859; at the date of this notice, May Ist, 1871, there are about eight hundred lot owners.
The cemetery embraces about thirty acres, twenty-five of which are on the high lands, and is represented by fifteen hundred shares of stock at twenty dollars each, being about one thousand dol- lars per acre, with all its improvements. The stock is now held by sixteen persons.
February 26th, 1838, the Trenton Gas and Insurance Com- pany was chartered.
The commissioners appointed to open books of subscription
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
were Isaac Southard, Joseph Wood, Benjamin Fish, Joshua Hol- linshead, and Zachariah Rossell.
The first directors were Lewis P. Higbee, John Titus, Samuel McClurg, Joseph Wood, Joshua Hollinshead, Zachariah Rossell, Jacob Kline, Philemon Dickinson, and William Grant.
The capital stock was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with power to increase it to three hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
They were authorized to effect insurance on all kinds of prop- erty, as well as insurance upon the lives of persons, and to grant annuities.
They were also empowered to engage in the manufacture of gas, and dispose of the same to the city of Trenton and indivi- duals, and all incorporated or other companies who might desire the same, and to carry their pipes through any of the streets of the city.
March 9th, 1839, an act was passed allowing them to erect a reservoir, in or near the city, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of Trenton, Bloomsbury and Mill Hill with good and wholesome water, provided they did not take their water directly or indirectly from the spring or fountain of the president and directors of the Trenton Water Works.
February 23d, 1843, an act was passed incorporating the Mer- cer Cemetery at Trenton.
The corporators were Charles C. Yard, Joseph C. Potts, Samuel Lloyd, Alexander H. Armour, David Witherup, and Joseph A. Yard.
This is the present Mercer Cemetery on Clinton street and the Assanpink creek.
February 26th, 1839, the Nottingham Manufacturing Company was incorporated.
The amount of capital stock was not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars.
The company was incorporated to manufacture silk, cotton, wool, hemp, and twine.
The corporators were George W. Halsted, John Whittaker, James Perkins, William Stevens, Zachariah Rossell, William Halsted, and James S. Green.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
March 2d, 1841, the Temperance Beneficial Society was incor- porated.
The corporators were David Milledge, Henry Pierson, Thomas MacPherson, Obadiah Howell, Jr., Thomas Gandy, Daniel B. Coleman, Franklin S. Mills, Andrew Newton, Amos Hutchin- son, and Charles C. Yard.
Their clear yearly income was not to exceed two thousand dollars.
March 2d, 1842, the Trenton Insurance Company was incor- porated.
Its capital stock was one hundred thousand dollars, divided in shares of one hundred dollars each.
The first directors were James M. Redmond, Jacob Kline, Philemon Dickinson, Thomas J. Stryker, Benjamin Fish, Charles G. Green, Crispin Blackfan, Richard J. Bond, John Whittaker, Isaac Baker, Emley Olden, John B. Mount, and James T. Sher- man.
They were to insure houses and other buildings and personal property against loss or damage by fire.
March 4th, 1842, the New England Manufacturing Company of South Trenton was incorporated for the purpose of manufac- turing, bleaching, and printing all goods of which cotton or other fibrous materials form a part.
The capital stock was five hundred thousand dollars, the shares to be divided as the proprietors might think fit.
The corporators were Stephen Hansen, David S. Brown, John H. Shortridge, Thomas J. Stryker, William Grant, John C. Ben- son, Benjamin Fish, Joseph C. Potts, and William R. Hansen.
March 8th, 1842, an act was passed for the relief of the Evan- gelical Reformed Church of the city of Trenton.
On the 9th of March, 1836, this church was incorporated under the general act to incorporate trustees of religious socie- ties, as the First Evangelical Reformed Church of Trenton.
At that time it was united to the synod of the German Re- formed Church in the United States, but dissolving its connec- tion with that body in 1842, they made application, and obtained the above special act, giving them the privilege of obtaining a new certificate of incorporation from the clerk of the county.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
On the 8th of March, 1841, the Trenton Monument Associa- tion was chartered.
Its corporators were Garret D. Wall, William Pennington, Mahlon Dickinson, Joseph W. Scott, Robert D. Spencer, Peter D. Vroom, Joseph C. Hornblower, Isaac H. Williamson, Robert F. Stockton, Philemon Dickinson, Dudley S. Gregory, Robert G. Johnson, Henry W. Green, Stacy G. Potts, and Charles Burroughs.
This company was chartered for the purpose of erecting a monument at Trenton to commemorate the victory obtained by the revolutionary army under the command of General Wash- ington, on the 26th of December, 1776.
Garret D. Wall, Joseph C. Hornblower, and Henry W. Green were empowered to call the first meeting of the corpora- tion by giving twenty days' notice in a newspaper printed in the city of Trenton, and in one printed in the city of Newark.
March 13th, 1844, the Trenton Improvement Company was incorporated, to manufacture such articles as were not prohibited by the laws of this state.
The object of this company was to purchase property and erect a manufactory along the stream called Petty's run.
The capital stock was to be two hundred thousand dollars, to be paid in gold or silver coin, or current bank notes.
They were not to go into operation until one-fourth of the capital stock was subscribed and paid in.
No part of the capital stock could be employed or used, directly or indirectly, for banking purposes.
The incorporators were Edwin A. Douglass, Joseph C. Potts, Moreau Delano, William P. Sherman, and William H. Potts.
March 15th, 1844, an act was passed for the establishment of public schools in the township of Nottingham, in the county of Mercer.
The inhabitants of the township were authorized to raise, at their annual town meetings, any sum of money not exceeding six hundred dollars, for the support of common schools in said township.
They were to elect five persons, inhabitants of said towhship, as trustees, to serve for one year after their election, to have
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
entire charge and control of the public schools within the town- ship.
In case the amount of money raised was found to be insuf- . ficient for the support of the schools, the trustees were author- ized to assess upon each scholar such sum of money not exceed- ing one dollar per quarter as might be found necessary, but they were authorized to remit the whole, or part, upon such scholar or scholars as circumstances might in their opinion require.
March Ist, 1849, an act was passed giving the inhabitants power to raise, at their annual town meetings, any sum of money they may think proper, not exceeding three thousand do !- lars, for the purchase of land and erection of school-houses, and for the establishment and maintenance of common schools in the township.
They were also empowered to elect four trustees, who, with the town superintendent, were to have the entire charge and con- trol of the public schools within the said township.
CHAPTER XX.
Trenton Iron Company-Trenton Mutual Life and Fire Insurance
Company-Trenton Gas Light Company-Union Health Insur- ance Company-Trenton and Lehigh Transportation Company -Pacific Mutual Insurance Company-Locomotive Works- Widows' Home-Patent Promoting Company-Trenton Boat and Dockyard Company-Horse Railroad - City Bridge- Union Industrial Home Association-Masonic Hall Associa- tion.
A PRIL 15th, 1846, Peter Cooper was authorized to construct a railroad from his basin on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, in the township of Nottingham, upon any public road or other land over which he has or may have the right of way, by the best and most eligible route, to his rolling-mill, on the race- way of the Trenton water-power, provided the same does not interfere with the ordinary travel upon any road.
February 16th, 1847, the Trenton Iron Company was incor- porated, for the purpose of manufacturing iron and other com- modities and articles of which iron formed a principal part, and for the transaction of such business as may be properly con- nected therewith.
The capital stock was five hundred thousand dollars, in shares of one hundred dollars each, the mills and manufactories to be located in the borough of South Trenton.
The corporators were Peter Cooper, James Hall, Edward Cooper, and Abram S. Hewitt.
March 25th, 1852, their capital stock was increased to one million dollars, and that part of the act which confined the mills
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and manufactories to the borough of South Trenton was re- pealed.
February 7th, 1854, the capital stock was increased to two millions of dollars.
February 5th, 1847, the Trenton Mutual Life and Fire Insur- ance Company was incorporated for the purpose of insuring all kinds of property from loss by fire, and to insure the lives of individuals.
The corporators were Philemon Dickinson, Xenophon J. May- nard, John A. Weart, Jasper S. Scudder, Joseph C. Potts, Jona- than Fisk, and Eli Morris.
February 19th, 1847, the Trenton Gas Light Company was incorporated for thirty years.
The capital stock was one hundred thousand dollars, in shares of twenty dollars each.
The corporators were Xenophon J. Maynard, Gregory A. Per- dicaris, John A. Weart, Jesper Harding, and Joseph C. Potts.
February 22d, 1849, the Union Health Insurance Company was incorporated, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, in shares of twenty-five dollars each.
The corporators were Joseph G. Brearley, Philip S. Phillips, Jonathan Fisk, Benjamin W. Titus, Elias Cook, John B. Ander- son, and Joseph C. Potts.
February 28th, 1849, the Trenton and Lehigh Transportation Company, for the purpose of transporting goods, wares, and merchandise to and from White Haven, in the state of Pennsyl- vania, to the cities of Philadelphia and New York and all inter- mediate places, was incorporated.
Elias Cook, Jonathan Fish, and Jonathan Cook were the incor- porators.
The vessels and barges, eleven in number, constituted the capital stock of the company, and said stock was to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.
The company were authorized from time to time to increase their capital stock to an amount not exceeding fifty thousand dollars. The office and records were to be kept in the city of Trenton.
February 19th, 1851, the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company,
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
for insuring houses and other buildings and merchandise against loss or damage by fire, was incorporated.
Its capital stock was two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each.
John F. Hageman, Xenophon J. Maynard, Philemon Dickin- son, and William A. Ingham were appointed commissioners.
February 19th, 1851, the Temperance Hall Assaciation was incorporated, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars
Jacob S. Yard, John A. Hutchinson, James Hamilton, Joseph G. Brearley, Xenophon J. Maynard, Joseph Hannum, Theodore L. Cuyler, Charles T. Allaire, Charles B. Smith, Herbert F. Yard, Charles Skelton, John D. Hester, Samuel H. Lake, Richard Thomas, Reuben Groves, Peter Obert, and Henry B. Howell were the first corporators.
March 3d, 1854, the Trenton Locomotive and Machine Manu- facturing Company was incorporated, with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, in shares of five hundred dollars each.
Its corporators were Aaron H. Vancleve, William R. Mckean, Isaac Dripps, and Joseph C. Potts.
They were incorporated for the manufacture of locomotives, steam engines, railroad cars, trucks, carriages, and other vehicles.
Their charter gave them the privilege of increasing their capi- tal stock to two hundred thousand dollars.
February 6th, 1855, the Merchants Transportation Company was incorporated, to carry freight on their vessels through the Delaware and Raritan Canal, between the city of Trenton and the cities of New York and Philadelphia.
The vessels and other property of said company constituted their capital stock.
Thomas J. Stryker, William G. Cook, and Jonathan S. Fish were the corporators.
February 19th, 1855, the Indigent Widows' and Single Women's Home Society of Trenton was incorporated.
Subscription to the funds of the same, to the amount of three dollars annually, constitutes membership in the association.
The object is to provide a home for destitute females.
March 3d, 1855, the Trenton Oil Cloth Manufacturing Com-
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
pany was incorporated, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.
They were empowered to carry on the manufacture of oil cloths, from the lightest to the heaviest fabrics, in all their varie- ties, whether for floor, furniture, carriage, or other coverings.
The incorporators were B. W. Titus, Isaac V. Brown, X. J. Maynard, T. Abbott, and Joshua Jones.
March 6th, 1857, the Trenton Patent Promoting Company was incorporated for the manufacture and sale of such articles as they may have the right, or may hereafter secure the right of manufacturing under any patents, as well as such articles of wood, metal, iron, or minerals as may be advantageously con- nected therewith.
The capital stock was not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
The corporators were William I. Shreve, William H. Inskeep, John D. Lloyd, William Howe, and John W. Murphy.
February 4th, 1858, the Trenton Boat and Dockyard Com- pany was incorporated, for the purpose of carrying on the busi- ness of building, constructing, altering, and repairing boats or vessels, and erecting and constructing buildings, basins, and such other improvements on their lands as may be useful or necessary for the purpose aforesaid.
The capital stock was fifteen thousand dollars, divided into shares of twenty dollars each.
The corporators were Garret Schenck, William H. Norcross, Thomas P. Johnston, William I. Shreve, and Robert C. Belville.
February 2Ist, 1858, the Union Manufacturing Company was incorporated, for the purpose of manufacturing, casting, and working iron and other metals, and erecting and constructing such buildings on their lands as may be useful or necessary for the purposes aforesaid.
The corporators were Liscomb R. Titus, John Valentine, Wil- liam Howe, William I. Shreve, and J. Weigand Lloyd.
The capital stock was seventy-five thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
February 26th, 1858, the Riverview Cemetery Company was incorporated.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
The incorporators were Isaac Stephens, John K. Smith, Wil- liam S. Yard, and David Witherup.
March 8th, 1859, the name of the Trenton Monument Associ- ation was changed to that of the New Jersey Monument Associ- ation, and a large number of corporators were added from every county in the state.
March 8th, 1859, the Trenton China Company was incorpo- rated, for manufacturing and selling porcelain, china, chemicals, drugs, and other articles of which clay, sand, and other earthy substances form the basis or principal ingredients.
The capital stock was fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
The corporators were Isaac Stephens, Joseph Whittaker, George James, Jesse M. Clark, and Albert J. Whittaker.
March 9th, 1859, the Trenton Horse Railroad Company was incorporated, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars, with privilege to increase the same to one hundred thousand dollars, and to be divided into shares of twenty-five dollars each.
The incorporators were Timothy Field, Robert Aitken, Wil- liam M. Force, Lewis Perrine, Thomas P. Johnston, Jonathan S. Fish, Charles Moore, Joseph Whittaker, and James T. Sher- man.
March 15th, 1859, by an act of the legislature, John Kirk- bride, Mahlon Kirkbride, James H. Farrand, John Hendrick- son, David Taylor, Elisha Reeves, and Mahlon Moon, of the state of Pennsylvania, and Thomas J. Stryker, John L. Taylor, William A. West, Thomas P. Johnston, Barker Gummere, Greg- ory A. Perdicaris, and Jonathan Steward, of the state of New Jersey, were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of the Trenton City Bridge Company, in the place of the commissioners theretofore appointed for that pur- pose.
March 17th, 1858, the name of the Trenton Patent Promoting Company was changed to the Mercer Manufacturing Company.
February 14th, 1860, the Excelsior Iron Manufacturing Com- pany was incorporated, for the purpose of carrying on a general manufacture of all articles of which iron or steel formed the principal part.
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
The corporators were Thomas P. Johnston, Orrin Waterman, James S. Lynch, J. Harris Cogill, James L. Gibson, Edward T. Green, and Joseph D. Hall.
The capital stock was twenty thousand dollars, with power to increase the same to the sum of fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
February 2Ist, 1860, the Union Industrial Home Association for destitute children of Trenton, New Jersey, was incorporated, the object of which is to provide and sustain a home for desti- tute children, and to afford them the advantages of moral and religious training.
The corporators were Mrs. Caroline E. Roney, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Clarke, Mrs. Mary D. James, Mrs. Kate Dill, Miss Rebecca S. Potts, Miss Mary E. Beatty, Mrs. Elizabeth Street, Mrs. Fan- nie H. Darrah, Mrs. Margaret H. Wilson, Mrs. Sallie Gause, Mrs. Huldah M. Tyler, Mrs. Eliza J. Hunt, Mrs. Julia Darrah, Mrs. Hannah W. Sterling, Miss Catharine L. Beatty, Mrs. Amanda Bond, Mrs. Emma Forst, and Mrs. Elizabeth Jones.
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