USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 23
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" CORNELIUS HARING
BEGS leave to present his most respectful compliments to the Public, and to inform them that he intends, on Monday, the first of May next, to open the NEW ESTABLISHED FERRY, from the remarkable pleasant and convenient situate place of William Bayard, Esq., at the King's Arms Inn; from which place all gentlemen Travellers and others who have occasion to cross that ferry will be accommodated with the best of boats, of every kind, suitable to the winds, weather and tides, to convey them from thenee to the New Market near the new Corporation Pier at the North River, opposite Vesey Street, in New York, at which place a suitable house will be kept for the reception of travellers passing to and from his house, and will have his boats in good order.
" Said HARING takes this publie method to inform all gentle- men travellers and others that he has a most elegant and conven- ient house, suitable for the purpose, where they will be provided with lodging, eatables and liquors of the best kind ; and particu- lar attention will be given to the elean feeding and doing striet justice to all travellers' horses. The elegance of the situation, as well as its affording many amusements, such as fishing and fowling, added to these, its being stocked with the greatest vari- ety of the best English fruits, will make it an agreeable place
'N. Y. Records, vii.
262
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
for the entertainment of large companies ; having besides a number of convenient rooms, one of fifty feet in length, by which means (as he will have the best cooks, particularly for the dressing of Turtle and every other dish fit to set before either Gentlemen or Ladies), he hopes to be honored with their com- pany ; assuring them there shall be nothing wanting on his part to make it convenient and agreeable, as well to entitle. him to the honor of their countenance as custom. And as his boats will always be ready to attend travellers and those Gentlemen and Ladies from the City of New York as well as those of the Province he lives in, at a minute's warning, flatters himself he will make it so convenient that during the summer season such as do not choose to come over to dine may always be provided with tea, &e., &c., pass the afternoon, have the best of fruit the different seasons afford, and return to town again before night, or honor him with their custom longer, as he will be striet with having good beds for the accommodation of Gentlemen and La- dies that are going to any part of the Jersies, Philadelphia or the northern country, and choose to have their horses and carriages brought over that night, and set out early the next morning ; or such as are coming from Philadelphia or elsewhere, that choose to stay at his Inn that night, and the next morning go over to the City of New York. He has one of the best wharfs for land- ing horses and carriages at all times of the tide ; and he may say the completest causeway in this country, between the island he lives on and the main ocean.
The boats are to be distinguished by the name The Iloobook Ferry, painted on the stern."1
During the war which shortly followed, this ferry, like its neighbor at Paulus Hoeck, was subject to the control of the army occupying New York. On the 7th of August, 1776, orders were issued from headquarters, in the city, that a subaltern and twenty men should be placed at the Hoebuck ferry to examine the passengers crossing there .? This was done to prevent dis- affected persons passing into New Jersey, as also to prevent the
1 Rivington's Gazette, April 27, 1775.
2 Am. Archives, 5th Series, i., 912.
263
THE HOBOKEN FERRY.
desertion of the continental troops, which at that time was of frequent occurrence.1 No mention is made of the ferry from this time until 1784, when John Allen, on the Sth of October, secured a lease of it for three years at a rent of £67 a year.2 He soon grumbled about the terms, and at his own request was, on the 20th of August, 1785, released from his contract,3 and Sylvanus Lawrence took the lease for three years at a rent of £37 a year.+ In June, 1787, he sold out his interest in the ferry to Charles A. Wiessenfels,5 who, on the 9th of July, 1788, ob- tained a lease from the city for three years from the 31st of August, 1788, at a rent of £5 a year.6 This arrangement soon fell through, and the Common Council asked for proposals for this ferry lease. On Wednesday, the 15th of April, 1789, the bids were opened. John Stevens, the owner of Hoboken,7 offered £10 a year, and was the highest bidder.8 This is the first time the name of that gentleman appears in connection with this ferry, though there can be no doubt that he was at this time its owner. He held the lease until the 12th of December, 1791, when Joseph Smith obtained it for three years at the rent of £91 a year. This was probably in the interest of Mr. Stevens. By various renew- als, Smith held the lease until the 26th of March, 1799, when the same was obtained by Zadock Hedden.9 In the mean time the ferry had improved, and the rent increased. At this time Elias Haynes was in charge of the ferry on the New York side, and John Town on the Jersey side. Town announced that he spared " no expense to render Hobuckin House and Ferry commodious." and that " he had the best boats on the river."10
On the 11th of March, 1799, the Common Council of New York established the following rates of ferriage for " Hobooc- ken : "
A Passenger,
£0 0 9
1 Am. Archives, 5th Series, i., 886.
3 Ibid, viii., 309.
5 Ibid, viii., 566.
1 Winfield's Land Titles, 40.
9 Ibid, xii., 470.
2 N. Y. Records, viii., 184. 4 Ibid, riii., 322.
6 Ibid, ir., 101.
N. Y. Records, ix., 199.
10 Centinel of Freedom, April 18, 1798.
264
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
A Coach, Chariot, Coachee or covered Wagon, - £0
8 6
A Phaeton,
0
5 6
A Chaise or top Chair, -
0
3 6
A Chair. 0
2 6
A Sleigh,
0 3
6
Horses and Cattle,
0
1 9
0 A Sheep, Calf or Hog, - 0) 6
A large Trunk or Chest,
() 1 3
A small do
0 0 9
A Bushel of Salt,
0
( 23
A Pipe or Hogshead of Wine. Spirits or Molasses, 0)
8 0
A Barrel of do 0 1 0
A Barrel of Beef, Pork. Flour or Fish,
0 1 3
Plank of every kind, 0 0 2
Boards do
0 0 1
A Side of Sole Leather, - 0 0 2
Do of Upper do -
0 0 1 0 3
A Raw Hide, -
0)
Iron, Steel, Lead, &e., per cwt., -
C 0 6
A Desk, -
0) 3 0
A large Table,
0 1 0
A small do
0 6
A Mahogany Chair,
0 2
A common do
0 0
1
A Basket or Bag of Fruit of 2 Bushels 0
0
4
A Bag of Grain of do
() 0 3
A Crate of Earthenware, 0 2 0
A Tierce of do
0 2 3
A Feather Bed, - -
0)
6
A Clock Case,
0 1 0
A Chest of Tea, - -
0 2 0
Dye Wood, per cwt., 0 0 6
Gunpowder, per cwt., - -
0 1 0
A large Bale of Cotton, -
0)
2 0
An empty Hogshead or Pipe, Do do Barrel. -
-
0 1 0
0 0 3
Cabbages, per hundred, -
0) 1 6
-
-
.
265
TIIE HOBOKEN FERRY.
Shad, per hundred,
€0 2 0
And all other articles and things in like proportion.1
Holden held the lease only for a few months. Experience had taught the Common Council that a promise to pay and the payment of rent for ferry leases were two very different things. To make sure of the rent, they demanded security from Holden. Hle waxed wroth at the doubt of his honesty which the demand seemed to imply, threw up the lease, and refused to have any- · thing more to do with the ferry .? From this time until it was leased to Garret Covenhoven, the ferry was badly managed, and caused much complaint from the people.3 Covenhoven took it in August, 1802, for three years, at a rent of $250 a year. At the termination of his lease, Peter Voorhis took the lease, at a rent of $350 a year. His management was no more appreciated than that of Covenhoven.4 Then David Godwin desired to have the ferry, thinking he could meet the demands of the people. Being encouraged by the Bergen Turnpike Company,5 he snc- ceeded on the 4th of Jannary, 1808, in securing a lease for three years at a rent of $350 a year.6 During all these years, since the 26th day of July, 1784, John Stevens had been the owner of Hoboken, but remained quiet, with only an occasional remon- strance against the management of the ferry. Now, Decem- ber 11, 1809, he came forward as the discoverer of a new power in navigation. He claimed to be the first man in the country who had successfully applied steam as a propelling power. At the same time, he claimed to be the proprietor of this ferry, and earnestly remonstrated against the proposition to give to Elisha Bondinot and his associates the exclusive right to ferry by steam between New York and New Jersey. In Sep- tember, 1810, he asked for a lease of the Hoboken ferry, and promised to place a steamboat thereon." On the 13th of April, 1811, he obtained the lease for the landing on the New York side,8 and immediately set to work to complete his steam
1N. Y. Records, xii., 458.
+ Ibid, xv., 435.
Ibid, xxii., 263.
2 Ibid, xii., 554.
5 Ibid, xvii., 422.
"Ibid, xxxv., 331.
3 Ibid, xiii., 60.
6 I bid, rriti., 7.
266
IIISTORY OF IIUDSON COUNTY.
ferry-boat. This was completed about the middle of September, 1811, and shortly afterward was made the trial trip of the first steam ferry-boat in the world. At this time a Mr. Godwin, of Hoboken, had charge of the ferry, and he employed the steam- boat. It was immediately put into use, and on the 23d of Sep tember, 1811, made sixteen trips, with an average of one hundred passengers each trip.1 At this time, the landing place on the New York side was at the foot of Vesey street. On the 24th of May, 1813, Colonel Stevens secured the lease of the Spring street ferry .? On the Vesey (now Barclay) street ferry, he soon abandoned the use of steam, and returned to horse boats as more profitable, and he claimed that this movement "promised to be highly valuable in facilitating the intercourse between New York and the Jersey shore."" He continued to operate both the Vesey street and Spring street ferries until January, 1817, when he sold to John, Robert and Samuel Swartwout the exclusive right of ferriage from Hoboken to New York. The Swartwouts proposed to have on the two ferries, by the first of the following May, " two horse boats and other craft for the accommodation of the public."" On the 7th of April, 1817, the Common Coun- cil consented to the transfer of the ferry leases and an extension thereof for ten years, on condition that the Swartwouts would give to the city $516.25 a year for the Vesey street ferry, and within six months from the first of the following May place thereon " two good horse boats of not less than eight horses to a boat ; " and for the Spring street ferry to give $25 a year, and place thereon "as many sail or ferry boats as the corporation may deem proper."5 About this time the landing on the New York side was changed to Murray street. But that location was found to be too " remote from the market to accommodate the country people," and as Vesey street was " too much covered with carts, &e.," Barclay street was selected as the landing place on the Sth of June, 1818. At this place it has remained ever
1Centinel of Freedom, October 1, 1811. Mr. Valentine fixes the date of the trial trip, October 11, 1811. Valentine's Manual, 1859, 604.
2 N. Y. Records, xxxvii., 7.
4Ibid, xxxii., 109.
3 Ibid, xxxviii., 221.
5 Ibid, arrii., 321.
267
THE HOBOKEN FERRY.
since. The Swartwouts held these ferries but little over one year. They assigned them to Philip Hone, of New York. The Common Council consented to the transfer. They gave him a lease for twelve years, and permitted him to " substitute a good substantial team boat in the place of a steamboat."1 About the 1st of March, 1821, an ejectment suit was begun against Hone to take from him the ferry.2 Before this snit came to trial the parties compromised, and the two ferries reverted to the Stevens family. In May, 1821, John C. and Robert L. Stevens purchased the interest which Hone had in them.3 They now proposed to place on the Barclay street ferry "a superior steamboat, from ninety to a hundred feet on deck, and forty-two feet beam, bnilt of the best cedar and oak," and promised to put on more than one if necessary. For the Spring street ferry they proposed an eight-horse team boat. The Common Council consented that John C. Stevens should have the lease of the Barclay street ferry for nine years from May 1, 1821, at a rent of $595 a year, and that he and his brother Robert L. should have the Spring street ferry for fourteen years, paying therefor. for the first four years one cent a year ; for the next five years $50 a year, and for the next five years, $200 a year. It was further agreed that the Barclay street lease should be extended for five years at a rent of $800 a year.4 The Hoboken Steamboat Ferry Company was incorpo- rated November 3, 1821.
On the 22d of April, 1822, the Messrs. Stevens made a trial trip of the first steamboat placed on the ferry since 1811.5 This was the "Hoboken." Thereafter it made trips " every hour by St. Paul's Church clock." On the 21st of July, 1823, they re- ceived permission to start the Canal street ferry and nse steam- boats thereon.6 On the first Friday in September, 1823, the "Pioneer " made its trial trip." In these boats the ladies' cabin was below deck, carpeted and warmed by open fire-places. From 1821 until the present time these ferries have been under the
1N. Y. Records, xxxv., 331. 2 Ibid, xlii., 249.
+I bid, xliii., 336.
5 Ibid, xlo., 211.
3 Ibid, xliii., 7.
6 Ibid, xlviii., 316.
" Ibid, xlviii., 446.
268
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
control of the Stevens family or of the Hoboken Land and Im- provement Company. The Christopher street ferry was started in July, 1836.
List of boats on the Hoboken Ferry.
Hoboken,
April 22, 1822. -
Pioneer, -
September, 1823.
Fairy Queen,1
- April, 1828. April, 1828.
Newark,
Passaic,2
- - -
-
1844.
John Fitch,
1846.
James Rumsey,3 1846. - - -
Phoenix, - 1851. -
James Watt,4 1851. 1 - -
Chancellor Livingston,5
1853.
Paterson, -
1854.
Hoboken,6 -
1861.
Hoboken,
-
-
1863.
Morristown,
1864.
James Rumsey,
-
-
1867.
Wiehawken,
186S.
Secaucus,
March 10, 1873.
THE PAVONIA FERRY.
Standing out boldly on the first page of this ferry's history is an exclusive right of ferriage, the King's Patent for which is as follows :
! This boat was rebuilt in 1851, and then named the Phoenix. It was the night boat in the summer of 1856.
2 This boat was taken from the line to Newark.
3 Destroyed by fire in 1853 while lying in the Barclay street slip. Her ma- chinery was afterward put in the Paterson.
4 Destroyed by fire August 2, 1870.
5 Chartered by the United States Government in 1861 for a transport. It was in the service about one year.
6 Chartered by the United States Government in 1861 for a transport. It was lost in the Burnside expedition to North Carolina in 1862.
269
THE PAVONIA FERRY.
" George the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain. France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
" To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Whereas, the convenient, speedy and safe carridge, transportation and conveyance of passengers, horses, goods, wares and merchan- dizes from one place or one province to another is the life of trade and commerce ; and whereas it has been humbly repre- sented unto us by our loving subject Archibald Kennedy, Es- quire, one of our Conneil of the neighboring province of New York, that the County of Bergen is a growing county and yearly increases in its number of inhabitants and productions of all sorts of necessaries, and that it lies the most contiguous to our city of New York, in our said province of New York; and whereas there hath not hitherto been any regular ferry or pas- sage boats, except from our said Jersey shore to our said City of New York, so as to transport or set over any passengers, goods or merchandizes, with any safety or certainty, to the great incon- veniency and detriment of all our loving subjects, the inhabi- tants of both our said provinces. And whereas the said Archi- bald Kennedy hath proposed and undertaken, though at very great expense and trouble and without any probability of any present advantage, to build a boat or boats, scow or seows, erect a wharf or wharves, and do everything necessary and commodi- ous for the keeping up and employing a regular ferry or ferries, for the transporting of passengers and horses, goods, wares and merehandizes as aforesaid, providing he might obtain our letters patent, granting to him, his heirs and assigns, the sole liberty and privilege of keeping and employing a ferry or ferries, at such place or places, and in such manner and under such pro- visoes as hereafter mentioned. And we, having always at heart the benefit, ease and safety of all our loving subjeets, and being ready and willing to give proper encouragement to all those who shall undertake to contribute to the same, we have thought fit to give and grant, and we do hereby, of our special grace and mere motion, give and grant unto the said Archibald Kennedy, his heirs and assigns, the sole liberty and privilege of keeping, nsing and employing a ferry or ferries, at a place called Pavonia, alias
270
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
Ahasimus, situate on Hudson's, or the North river, in our said province of New Jersey, and at a certain distance on each side of the said place along the shore, that is to say, from the said place called Pavonia or Ahasimus, to the most southerly part of a place called Communipaw, down the said river, and up the said river from the said place, Pavonia or Ahasimus, a quarter of a mile beyond for above Wechawk, for transporting and carrying of passengers, goods, wares and merchandizes, with the liberty of taking and receiving such sum and sums of money, ferriages and hire for the same, as hath been usually taken and received in such cases, or now is, or at any time hereafter shall be legally established or appointed for that purpose. To have and to hold the sole liberty and privilege, ferriages and hire aforesaid, to the said Archibald Kennedy, his heirs and assigns, to the sole and only proper use, benefit and behoof of the said Archibald Kennedy, his heirs and assigns forever. And we do strictly for- bid all our loving subjects to carry any passengers, horses, goods, wares or merchandizes, contrary to the liberty and privilege afore- said, under the pain of our displeasure and the highest penalties the law can inflict, provided always, and these presents are upon this condition and limitation, that the said Archibald Kennedy, with all convenient speed, shall provide a sufficient boat or boats, scow or scows, and sufficient persons or hands for the transport- ing, carrying and ferrying of passengers, horses, goods, wares and merchandizes as aforesaid, and the same being so provided shall from time to time and at all times hereafter, continue to keep, or cause to be kept such boat or boats, scow or scows, in good and sufficient repair, with good and sufficient persons or hands to give due attendance for the transporting, carrying and ferrying of passengers, horses, goods, wares and merchandizes as afore- said, according to the true intent and meaning hereof, otherwise this present grant, and every matter and thing contained herein, shall cease, determine and be utterly void to all intents and pur- poses whatsoever.
"In testimony whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent and the seal of our province of Nova Cesarea, or New Jersey, to be affixed. Witness our trusty and well-beloved
271
THE PAVONIA FERRY.
William Cosby, Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over our provinces of New Jersey and New York, and ter- ritories depending thereon in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, and Colonel in our army, &c. At Fort George, in the city of New York, this Seventh day of January, in the seventh year of our reign, and in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty-three."1
It is quite certain that Captain Kennedy did not fulfill the conditions of the above patent, and so forfeited all the rights in- tended to be granted thereby. The next notice of this ferry is a petition to the Common Council of New York for a ferry from the " west end of Pearl street " to Harsimus, on the 23d of March, 1753.2 Nothing came of this movement. On May 3, 1765, Archibald Kennedy and William McAdam made an at- tempt to secure for themselves the exclusive right of ferriage from New York to the Jersey shore.3 This was a blow at the Paulus Hoeck ferry, but it fell short. Excepting Budd's ferry, the next that is heard of a ferry from Harsimus is on the 13th of April, 1818, when a number of persons petitioned for a ferry from the foot of Chambers street to Harsimus.4 Nothing more is heard of this ferry until on the completion of the Bergen Tunnel by the Long Doek Company in 1861. The Erie Railway Com- pany, lessees of the Long Dock Company, revived the Pavonia Ferry.5 It began business May 1, 1861, with three old boats- Niagara, Onalaska and Onala-from the Brooklyn ferries. The Erie Railway Company have since put upon the ferry the
Pavonia, built in - - 1861.
Susquehanna, built in 1864.
Delaware, built in - 1865.
The Twenty-third street ferry was established in May, 1868.
BOATS.
Jay Gould, built in - 1869.
James Fisk, Jr., built in 1869.
Erie, built in - 1873.
1 Liber C 3 of Deeds (Trenton), 224. 2N. Y. Records, v., 329.
"Ibid, vi., 269.
+Ibid, xxxr., 149.
" The Pavonia Ferry Company was incorporated February 28, 1849.
272
ITISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
BROWN'S FERRY.
The Commissioners who were appointed on the 20th of June, 1765, to lay ont a road from Newark to intersect the road leading from Bergen Point to Paulus Hoeck, were authorized to ereet ferries over the Passaie and Hackensack rivers, together with all necessary ferry buildings.1 By the same act the owners of the land where the ferries were to be erected were permitted to oper- ate the same for their own benefit, on condition that they would equip the ferries and keep in repair the causeway over their land. Thomas Brown, of Bergen, was one of the commissioners, and owner of the land on the east bank of the Hackensack where the ferry was erected.2 From a supplement to said aet, passed June 28, 1766,3 it would seem that the ferry was erected before the latter date. Then arose a dispute between Captain Brown and Garret Newkirk concerning the title to the lands on the east side of the Hackensack, and the right to the ferry. It was decided in favor of the former, and from that time until the Revolution the ferry was known as " Brown's Ferry." For nearly thirty years this was the only thoroughfare between Paulus Hoeck and Newark and the extensive country beyond. It may well be sup- posed that it did a thriving business with its row boats and seows. A horn hanging to a tree served the traveler to summon the fer- ryman to his duty and reward. The safety of the ferries over the Passaic and Hackensack rivers was an early care of the Americans in the Revolution. On August 7, 1776, Richard Stockton, a delegate in Congress from New Jersey, sent to the New Jersey State Convention, then in session at Burlington, cer- tain resolutions of Congress requesting the Convention to make such provision for keeping open these ferries as would be effect- ual. They were accompanied by a Congressional promise to reimburse such expenses to the State. So prompt was the Con- vention in carrying out the wishes of Congress that on August 9 they passed an ordinance for keeping open the communica- tion between New Jersey and New York by way of these ferries.
1 Allinson's Laws, 276.
3 Allinson's Laws, 289.
" See the genealogy of the Gautier family.
4 Booth's Hist. of N. Y., 399.
DOUW'S FERRY. 273
The preamble of the ordinance declares the ferries poorly equipped and the proprietors negligent. The act took them out of the proprietor's hands and put them in the hands of William Camp and Joseph Hedden until the first of December following. They were to provide four scows to each ferry, supply a sufficient number of hands, and stretch ropes across the, rivers. Soldiers were to be ferried over for one-third of the regular rates.1 After the capture of New York the ferry was suspended. When the war closed the ferries were repaired, and continued in use until the bridges were built on the turnpike. They then fell into disuse until 1805, when they were again repaired. They remained in use until supplanted by the bridges built after the old road across the meadows was made into a plank road.
Douw's FERRY.
This ferry was located at the westerly end of Cherry lane, about 175 feet north of the present bridge of the New Jersey Railroad over the Hackensack river. It was probably set up about the time that Colonel John Schuyler constructed the Belleville turn- pike during the French war, and remained in operation until superseded by the bridge erected in 1794. It received its name from John Douw, a friend of Colonel Schuyler. He had for- merly operated the ferry over the Passaic at Belleville. The ferry house was on the west side of the Hackensack. Donw used it also as a public house, where he entertained travelers and guests. Bangs says that here, June 27, 1776, by him and Schuyler, " many Decanters of Wine suffered shipwreck, and many Bowles of Grog were poured down. * Nor was Egg Pop forgot among our Dainties."? It was at this ferry that boats had been provided on the night of Lee's attack on Paulus Hoeck to carry over the troops on their retreat. Their delay induced those in charge to believe that the forces had retreated along the hill, and there-
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