USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 24
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Am. Archives, 4th Series, vi., 1659. 2 Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., viii., 122.
18
274
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY,
fore the boats were taken away. Lee's advance, passing down Cherry Lane, reached the ferry only to find it deserted.
BUDD'S FERRY.
In the year 1802, Nathaniel Budd, without any license, built or extended a dock in the Harsimus Cove, afterward known as Budd's Dock, and erected a ferry to New York. The western end of this dock was in Eighth street, about the middle of the block east of Provost street, and thence extended southeasterly between one hundred and two hundred feet. The exact date when this ferry was erected is not known; though, from a peti- tion of John Holdron, dated in May, 1803,1 that the Jersey City Ferry had been injured by a " new ferry" which had been in existence for ten months, the proximate date is ascertained. On the 22d of November, 1802, the Legislature appointed commis- sioners with power to lay out a road from the " Great Road leading from Newark to Paulus Hook " to Budd's Dock. The act also authorized Budd to erect a ferry from said dock to the city of New York. It would seem from the preamble to the act that he had been operating the ferry for some time, for therein it is said the ferry " hath acquired a great share of publie patron- age." Ile had landed on the New York side without the per mission or even knowledge of the authorities there ; for, in their report on Holdron's petition, on the 16th of May, 1803, the committee expressly say " the corporation was not aware of " any ferry as complained of by Holdron, and they recommended that unauthorized ferries be restrained. Just previous to this report, and immediately after the petition of Holdron, on the 9th of May, 1803, Budd petitioned the Common Council of New York " for liberty to establish a new ferry from the Barclay street wharf across the North River.""2 There seems to be a conflict between this petition and the act of 1802, explained probably by the fact that hitherto he had run it without authority. The request of the petition was refused on the 16th of the same month, for the rea-
1 Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., riii., 712.
2 Ibid, xiii., 694.
275
BUDD'S FERRY-BULL'S FERRY.
son that the ferries existing on the North River were then under lease for three years, and it would be improper for the corpora- tion to lease other ferries during that time, and, in the opinion of the committee, " the public interest would not be promoted by erecting another ferry on the North River."1
Notwithstanding this, he advertises as follows :
" BUDD'S FERRY.
" The subseriber informs his friends and the public that he has erected a Ferry between Powles Hook and Hobooken Fer- ries, has also provided good Boats and careful Ferrymen for carrying Passengers, Horses, Cattle, Carriages, Goods, Wares and Merchandize to and from the City of New York, as he hath obtained liberty from the Corporation of New York to land and take off from the same Dock and Ferry Stairs as the Powles Hook Boats do at the foot of Courtland Street, in the City of New York-and also entertainment for them and Horses, and hath erected convenient Stables adjacent to the said Ferry for those who would wish to bring with them their own forage for teams or without.
" Oct. 24, 1803." -C'entinel of Freedom, Oct. 25, 1803.
There is no record in the minutes of the Common Council of New York, up to 1824, that Budd ever received permission to land his ferry boats on that side of the river; yet, from Hol- dron's petition, there can be no doubt that his boats were running in 1802, and from the evidence in Gough vs. Bell,2 that "for some years after " 1804, he had a ferry and kept a ferry house.
BULL'S FERRY.
When and by whom this ferry was erected has not been discovered. The name was well known at the time of the Revolution. At that time there lived a family by the name of
'Proctor's N. J. Hist. Soc., xiii., 711.
2 1 Zab. Rep., 164.
276
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
Bull, at the place now known as Bull's Ferry, and the probability is that it took its name from that family, who then owned the land on the Jersey shore and erected the ferry. Nothing par- ticular concerning it is to be found in the New York Records. The following named persons have been lessees, and probably managed the ferry, or had an interest in it :
Cornelius Huyler, - 1788 to 1792.
Theodorus Brower, 1792 " 1805.
Garret Neefie, - 1805.
Lewis Concklin, 1806.
Abraham Huyler, - - 1808.
DE KLYN'S FERRY.
On the 14th of October, 1799, John Towne and Barent De Klyn erected a ferry from the new wharf " south and north " of the State Prison to Hoboken.1 In March, 1806, the location of it was referred to a committee of the New York Common Coun- eil,2 but nothing more has been learned concerning it.
The following attempts were made to erect other ferries across the North River. There is no evidence, however, that either of them were successful.
On the 19th of May, 1805, Anthony Lispenard and others petitioned the Common Council of New York for " a new Ferry across Hudson River, between De Klyn's Ferry and the Market."3
On the 2d of September, 1805, Joseph Watkins and others petitioned for a " new ferry from the Market in Greenwich street," and Gabriel V. Ludlow and others petitioned for a " ferry from the foot of Duane street."4
THE ELIZABETHTOWN POINT FERRY.
This ferry is only incidentally connected with Jersey City. About the year 1808, it was purchased by Colonel Aaron Ogden,
1N. Y. Records, xii., 548.
2 Ibid, xv., 518.
& Ibid, xv., 328.
4 Ibid, xv., 349.
277
THE ELIZABETHTOWN POINT FERRY.
and by him leased to John R. and Robert J. Livingston, who owned a monopoly of navigating New York waters by steanı. They placed on this ferry the Raritan, the first steamer between New York and Elizabethtown Point. It was not long, however, before Colonel Ogden had built, by Cornelius Joralemon, of Belleville, a boat, fourteen feet beam and seventy-five feet keel. in which Daniel Dod, of Mendham, put a twelve-horse engine. It was called the Sea-Horse. This boat the Colonel placed on this ferry, but, to avoid seizure under the New York navigation laws, ran her to Jersey City. On the 18th of May, 1813, she was advertised as " an elegant steamboat provided to run between Elizabethtown Point and Paulus Hook ; fare four shillings." She made two trips a day. The fare was afterward reduced to three shillings and sixpence. On the 21st of June, 1814, she was advertised to meet the team boat Substitution, at Panhis Hook, which would carry the passengers to New York.
" The Bellona, owned by Gibbons, ran from Elizabethtown to Jersey City, fare 123 cents. In the advertisement was flung to the breeze a banner inscribed with the motto, . New Jersey must be free.'"-Sentinel of Freedom, July 31, 1821.
POWLES HOOK AND BROOKLYN.
During the Races at the Union Course on Long Island, in October, 1822, a Brooklyn ferry boat made four trips a day between that eity and Jersey City.
CHAPTER X.
History of Jersey City-Paulus Hocck-Paulus Hoeck race course-Early lot- teries-British graveyard-Names of city officials-Consolidation with Van Vorst township-With Bergen and Hudson City-As a port of entry -Water works-Post-office-Bull-baiting - Floating theatre-The old wind mill-History of Bergen-Its officers-History of Harrison-Captain William Sandford-Petersborough-History of Harsimus-West India Company's farm-The Duke's farm-History of Hoboken-Its first occu- pant-Made into a city-Its officers-History of North Bergen-Secaucus -Three Pigeons-The Frenchman's garden-History of Hudson City- Its officials-Beacon race course-Horses running and time made.
As WILL be seen hereafter, the territory comprised within the county of Hudson includes all the land within the limits of the old township of Bergen, and that part of New Barbadoes Neek now within the bounds of the townships of Harrison and Kear- ney. This territory has, since the ereetion of the county, been cut up into several municipalities, a brief sketch of some of which we now propose to give.
JERSEY CITY was incorporated January 28, 1820, but remained a part of the township of Bergen. It was then bounded on the west by a creek and ditch between the lands of the "Associates of the Jersey Company " and Cornelius Van Vorst (Warren street nearly); east by the middle of Hudson's river; north by Harsimus Cove (First street), and south by Communipaw Cove (Sonth street). This territory was the old Paulus Hoeck of the Dutch and Aressick of the Indians. It was sold by the West India Company to Abraham Isaacsen Planck, May 1, 1638, for the sum of four hundred and fifty guilders, calculated at twenty stivers to the guilder.1 It remained in the Planck family until August 2, 1699, when it was sold to Cornelius Van Vorst for £300, " current money of New York."2 From this time until
IN. Y. Col. MSS., i., 14.
2 Winfield's Land Titles, 45.
278
279
JERSEY CITY.
1764 it was used as farm land, as most of it continued to be until 1804. In 1764 the ferry was established, and Michael Cornelison built, just north of Grand street, near the water, a low frame house about forty feet in length, with a piazza in front and an extensive Dutch roof which projected over the piazza. In 1800 this house, used as a tavern and ferry house, and several spacious barns and stables and a store house were the only buildings on the Hoeck. Here, when passengers arrived by stage and no boat was at hand to take them to New York, they could get both food and drink. In addition to this, the host would regale them with an inexhaustible fund of anecdote, for he was well ac- quainted with the world ; had seen much of it ; had taken part in the War of the Revolution, and was a shrewd observer. Such was the straight, stout, jolly Major David Hunt.
Late in 1800, or early in 1801, a small shanty was put up along the turnpike, a little way from the ferry house, and occupied, as is now supposed, by John Murphy. The portentous sign, OYGH-STORS FOR SALE HEAR, put on the side of the establishment, indicated to the hungry traveler good cheer within and incipient opposition to the sirloins of the Major.1
The old tavern, at least as much of it as could be moved, was finally taken to a lot of Colonel Dod, so well known as the vet- eran post-office man, who for so many years buffeted the storm and ploughed his way through fields of ice in performance of the laudable duty of transporting the United States mail over the river in a row boat !
The Hoeck was made up of a number of sand hills, some of them of considerable height. Around these, and generally along the edge of the upland, Cornelius Van Vorst, in the summer of 1769, made a track for horse racing. It was one mile in length. Here the lovers of fast horses and good sport gathered from the
1 I find the following in a paper of that date: " The Steer fattened by Major Hunt and killed by Aaron Munn & Co. weighed
The Quarters,
Hide and fat, 260
1266
Total, -
1526."
280
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
neighboring eity and surrounding country, until the Revolution broke out and war put a stop to fun. The first notice met with relating to this course is as follows:
" POWLES HOOK RACES.
" On Monday, the 9th day of October next, will be run for over the New Course at Powles Hook, a Purse of FIFTY POUNDS, New York Currency, by any Horse, Mare or Gelding, not more than three Quarters Blood; and those less than three Quarters Blood to be allowed 5 1b. The best of three 3 Mile Heats ; three Years old carrying seven Stone; four Years old seven Stone, eight pounds ; five Years old eight Stone, two Pounds ; six years old eight stone, eleven Pounds; and aged Horses 9 Stone, seven Pounds, Saddle and Bridle included ; Fil- lies to be allowed three Pounds. Any Horse, &c., running two Heats shall not be obliged to start a third to save his Distance. To run according to the King's Plate Articles.
" Tuesday, the 10th, the beaten Horses to run the best of three Heats for the Stakes.
" Wednesday, the 11th, there will be a Fox Hunt in Bergen Woods,1 and on Tuesday, the 12th, there will be a Purse of
1 This sport was continued until quite recently. Some are yet living who took part in the chase through Bergen Woods. The following receipt for din- ners shows that some of our best citizens belonged to the hunt, and that when the fierce delight of the chase was over they knew how to quiet their over- strained nerves :
" JERSEY CITY, February 18, 1831.
"Gentlemen Fox Chasers,
To Freeman Anderson, Dr.
Colonel Ogden, to 1 Dinner,
- $1 00
Doctor Gotier,
1 00
Cornelison, - 1 00
Henderson,
1 00
Hugh Mccutcheon, 2
- 2 00
Gilchrist, 1 1 00
Mr. Miller,
1 00
Mr. James,
1 00
Mr. Freeland, .. 46 -
1 00
,
281
JERSEY CITY.
Twenty Pounds, free for any Horse, Mare or Gelding not more than Quarter Blood, Weight for age as above. The Horses, &e., to be shown and entered at the Starting Post, the Saturday before running, between the Hours of 3 and 5 in the afternoon, in presence of the Judges, who will be present, paying 50s. Entrance for each Horse, &c., that starts for the Plate of 501., and 20s. for every Horse, &c, that starts for the 201. Plate. Any Dispute that may arise to be determined by a Majority of the Subscribers present.
" No Quarter Blood that ever won the value of 40s. can start for the Purse of 201.
" Good Crafts will be ready at each Ferry to convey over all Persons who may incline to see the Races ; good Stables, with excellent Hay and oats, will be provided for the Horses, and good Accommodations for the Grooms. To start at 2 o'Clock precisely each Day ; Certificates of the Ages of the Horses, &c., to be produced at Entrance. from under the hands of the Breed- ers."1
The race came off at the time named. Four horses started for the £50 purse. It was won by Anthony Rutger's horse Luggs. Mr. Morris' horse Partner had the misfortune to run over a dog. The eur threw the horse and the horse threw the rider, who was very much hurt. Up to the time of this mishap the
" Bottles of Champaigne, 14 00
3
Port, 3 00
1
Madeira. 2 00
9)29 00
3 224
" April 26, 1831.
" Received by the hands of J. D. Miller three Dollars 22-100 from Doctor Gau- tier, Dr. Cornelison, David Henderson, Robert Gilchrist and J. D. Miller, respect- ively, being their quota of amount on the above bill, and acct. in full for the same.
FREEMAN ANDERSON."
" Received, Jersey City, December 4th, 1830, of Henry Lyon, Twenty Dollars, in full, for the Use of the Hounds and myself attending the Club of the Jersey Hunt, which is full satisfaction to me.
" $20.00.
JOHN BANGHER."
1N. Y. Mercury, August 14, 1769.
282
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
race " in doubtful balance hung," as Luggs had won the first heat and Partner the second.1
The proprietor of the course was anxious to keep the races in good repute. One of the rules was : " No persons to be con- cerned in a confederacy in running their Horses together or in dividing the Plate."2 Thus it would appear that it was whole- some for horsemen to be subjected to a little watching even in those days of honesty.
On the 27th of August, 1771, a purse of £100, and on the following day a purse of £50, was run for. For the first purse, Captain De Laneey's chestnut colt Sultan, Mr. Perkins' black horse Steady, Mr. Dick's gray horse Vitriol and Israel Waters' bay mare Nettle started. Nettle won without difficulty. For the second purse, Whitehead Cornell's horse Booby, Armstrong's horse Hero, Elsworth's gray colt Quicksilver, Butler's bay horse Bastard, Timothy Cornell's black horse Richmond, Dick's gray horse Vitriol, Perkins' black horse Steady and Van Horne's gray mare Dove started. The race was won by Booby in three straight heats, hard running.3
On the 31st of May, 1773, a fine race was run with the fol- lowing result :
Heats.
Elsworth's bay horse, Cyrus, -
- 5 1 1
Jackson's gray horse, Quicksilver,
1 3 3
Tallman's gray mare, Dove, -
4 4 2
Wickoff's black horse, Richmond,
3 2 0
Patterson's black horse, Gimerack, - 2
dr 0)
Waters' horse, Valiant (5 years old), 6 dr o
On the following day the four-year-olds ran for a purse of €50, with the following result :
Anthony Rutger's bay colt, Macaroni,4 - 1 1. 0 IN. Y. Mercury, October 16, 1771. Ibid, April 15, 1771. 3I bid, September 2, 1771.
4 This was a beautiful horse. His dam was out of Ariel, by Old Spark. His sire was Wildair, he out of Old Cade, and he out of Lord Godolphin's Arabian. Wildair's dam was Roxana, daughter of Bald Galloway, and granddaughter of Old Spark.
283
PAULUS HOECK RACES.
Heats.
Patterson's bay mare, Virgin, - 3 2 0
Waters' brown horse, Xanthos, -
230
Cornell's bay horse, Bashaw, -
4 4 01
On the 23d of May, 1774, a race was run for a £50 purse, as follows :
Cornell's black horse, Steady, 1
4 3 1
Rutgers' bay horse, Macaroni, - 2 123
Waters' bay horse, Auctioneer, -
5 2 1 2
Elsworth's bay horse, Cyrus, -
3 3 dr
Jackson's gray horse, Quicksilver,
4 5 dr
At this race the spectators were numerous, the weather fine. the sport excellent, but the most confident in the betting branch were grievously disappointed .?
Immediately after the race Elsworth (" Dine " Elsworth, of the Paulus Hoeck Ferry) bought the horse Macaroni, and entered him for the race on June 7. at Centre Course, near Philadel- phia.3 Sometimes the programme was changed from a race of blooded horses to a scrub race of Dutch horses, in which the steeds of Bergen and Communipaw had an opportunity to show the metal of their pasture.4
These are the particulars of a few of the races run on this course. It was not used during the war, but revived afterward, and continued until the Associates graded down the sand hills and began a new city. A track was then laid out at Harsimus, about where Henderson street erosses the Erie Railway tracks. This was in successful operation in 1808 and 1809.
About a century ago lotteries were much in vogue and very popular. Churches, colleges, schools, roads and prisons were built, and many charitable institutions sustained by them. Paulus Hoeck was a favorite place for this enterprise. The first lottery drawn here was in the summer of 1773. It was noticed as fol- lows :
' Rivington's Gazette, June 3, 1773.
3 Ibid, June 2, 1774. .
2 Ibid, May 26, 1774.
+N. Y. Mercury, May 9, 1774.
284
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
" POWLES HOOK CASHE LOTTERY.
" SUBJECT to a deduction of 15 per cent. on the Prizes to be given for Purses to be run for at Powles Hook.
1 Prize of 400 Doll. is
400
1 66 200 66 200 200
2
100
50 66 - 300
12
25 - 300
31
66
10
66
- - 310
69
5
.C
-
345
37S
66
23
-
-
945
500 Prizes.
1,000 Blanks.
1, 500 Tickets at 2 Dollars each,
3,000
-
" The Lottery has two blanks to a prize ; will be drawn as soon as full. After the drawing, printed handbills with the for- tunate numbers will be distributed among the adventurers, and the prizes regularly paid at Powles Hook,"1
During the first quarter of this century Yates and MeIntyre conducted the lottery business in Jersey City, and in March, 1824, advertised a " Queen's College Literature Lottery."
During the British occupancy of the Hoeck there was a bury- ing ground south of Sussex street and west of Washington street. In this ground many of the enemy were buried, among whom was Major John Smith. Connected with his grave is an interest- ing fact. The equestrian statue of George III., which was set up in 1770, in the centre of Bowling Green, New York, was torn down on the 9th of July, 1776. It is said to have contained four thousand pounds of lead, covered with gold leaf .? The slab upon which the statue was placed now lies in the sidewalk in front of Cornelius Van Vorst's residence, on the south side of Wayne street, near Jersey avenue. It is a coarse marble, and is said to
' Rivington's Gazette, June 3, 1773.
"Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., viii. 125.
6
285
JERSEY CITY.
have been brought from England. The holes in which three of the hoofs of the leaden charger were fastened are yet to be seen. During the war it was brought to Paulus Hoeck-when, by whom or for what purpose (unless for the purpose to which it was afterward put) is not known. On Friday evening, July 23, 1783, Major John Smith, stationed at Paulus Hoeek, died, and was buried on the following Sunday with military honors.1 This slab was placed over his grave, with the following inscription engraved upon it :
In Memory of Major John Smith, of the XLIInd or Royal Highland Reg't, Who died 25 July, 1783, In the 48th Year of his Age, This Stone is erected By the OFFICERS of that Reg't. Ilis Bravery, Generosity & Humanity During an honorable service of 29 Years Endeared him to the Soldiers, To his Acquaintance & Friends.
When this part of Jersey City was graded, Mr. Van Vorst (" Faddy ") took the slab to his house in Harsimus, where, from supporting the charger of a king, it became the stepping-stone of a republican. That building was torn down in 1818, when the stone was taken to the residence of his grandson, on the north- east corner of Wayne street and Jersey avenue. It there beeame a step at the kitchen door. When this building was torn down, in (about) 1854, the slab was placed where it now is. In 1828 an English gentleman offered Mr. Van Vorst five hundred dol- lars for it.
The Hoeck remained in possession of the Van Vorst family until the 26th of March, 1804, when, with the ferry rights, it was
1 Rivington's Gazette, July 30, 1783.
286
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
conveyed to Anthony Dey, of New York, for an annuity of six thousand Spanish milled dollars. On the 18th of April, 1804, Dey conveyed it to Abraham Varick, who, on the 20th of the same month, conveyed it to Richard Varick, Jacob Radcliff and Anthony Dey.1 These three men were the founders of Jersey
1 The founders of Jersey City were three eminent and successful lawyers. RICHARD VARICK was born in 1752 ; licensed to practice law, Oct. 22, 1774; appointed Military Secretary-General in June, 1775, with the rank of Captain ; in February, 1776, appointed by Congress Deputy Commissary-General of Mus- ters for the northern army, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was pres- ent at the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga. After Burgoyne's surrender, Colonel Varick was stationed at West Point until after the treason of Arnold, to whose family he was for some time attached as aide-de-camp. Shortly after- ward he became a member of Washington's military family, and was by him appointed his Recording Secretary. After the evacuation of the city of New York by the British in 1783, Varick was appointed Recorder of the city, which office he held until 1788. In 1789 he held the office of Attorney-General of the State of New York, and in the same year was appointed Mayor of the city, which office he held for twelve years. He was President of the Cincinnati for nearly thirty years. He died in Jersey City, July 30, 1831.
JACOB RADCLIFF was the eldest son of William Radcliff, a Captain and Brigadier-General of Militia in the Revolution. By profession he was a lawyer ; began practice in Poughkeepsie, and was soon raised to the bench of the Su- preme Court. He then removed to the city of New York, and in a short time resigned his judicial office and resumed the practice of his profession. He was Mayor of that city in 1810, '15, '16, '17.
ANTHONY DEY was born at Preakness, Bergen County, N. J., in the month of February, 1776. His father, General Richard Dey, and his grandfather, Colonel Tunis Dey, were both of them officers in the Revolutionary army. He was a lineal descendant (the oldest son of the oldest son) of one Derrick Dey, who came to New York city from Holland in 1640, and established a mill and ferry at the foot of Dey street in that city. He resided on Broadway, at the head of that street. The mother of Richard Varick was a Miss Dey, and sister of An- thony Dey's grandfather. At the age of sixteen years Anthony came to the city and studied law in the office of his cousin, Colonel Richard Varick, to whose influence and connection he probably owed his early success in the practice of his profession, for he became a very successful and wealthy lawyer. He was also a very energetic, industrious and persevering man. He made it a rule through life to ignore political preferment, and never held any office, but was, nevertheless, foremost in everything that could be called a public improvement, especially in Bergen County, or that part of it now called Hudson County. He was the owner of large tracts of meadow land lying between the Hackensack and Passaic rivers, and during a long life made their improvement his particular interest and hobby. He was a Director for many years of the New Jersey Rail-
Jacob Radcliff
Sun, faruk
THE FOUNDERS OF JERSEY CITY.
287
JERSEY CITY.
City. They divided their purchase into one thousand shares, and associated other persons with themselves.1 The whole plot was mapped by Joseph F. Mangin, and the map, dated April 15, 1804, entitled. "A Map of that part of the Town of Jersey com- monly called Powles Hook." Anticipating the completion of this map, the owners, on the 12th of April, advertised a sale of lots for the 16th, afterward postponed until the 15th of May. It is probable that this sale was precipitated by the advertisement of John Stevens for a sale of lots in Hoboken. The parties in- terested now agreed upon a name for their future corporation, and gave notice of an application for an act of incorporation. The required act was passed by the Legislature on the 10th of November, 1804, and the "Associates of the Jersey Company" became not only a body, but a power in the State. For fifteen years, like an imperium in imperio, it possessed the government and shaped the destiny of the infant city .? To this corporate body Varick, Radcliff and Dey conveyed Paulus Hoeck, Feb. 1, 1805.
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