USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > Paterson, New Jersey : its advantages for manufacturing and residence: its industries, prominent men, banks, schools, churches, etc. > Part 10
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In the following camp, ISS9, there was a competition between the First Battalion detachment and the Gatling Gun Co. A, manned by veterans of the late war. The First Battalion gun made 126 points to 119 of the other or- ganization, but in volley firing the First Battalion gun fired 595 shots in 85 seconds, while Gatling Gun Co. A, fired 655 shots in 90 seconds, equal to 7.29 shots per second, or 0.29 of a shot in excess of the local gun. This speaks well for the First Battalion Gun Detachment, and we all regret the resignation of such a competent and enthusiastic officer as Lieut. Oborski.
INSPECTIONS OF THE FIRST BATTALION.
At the date of the mustering of the First Battalion into the National Guard of the State, the standard of the organ- izations was far below that of 1890. Though the Adjutant General in ISSI reports that "the high standard of drill and general efficiency of our several regiments and battal- ions have, I think, been fully maintained during the year," the detailed reports of the First and Second Brigade In- spectors do not show any such flattering picture. Isolated instances of companies and regiments merited this lan- guage of the Adjutant-General, but from the Brigade In- spector's reports, it would indicate that efficiency was the exception, and not the rule. The trouble was not so much with the men as with the officers, as the past and present
show, that with good officers our National Guard is equal to any emergency.
The improvement all along the line, and especially in the First Brigade is due to the improvement in the officers, and probably no cause for this improvement has been so potent as the mingling together of organizations and offi- cers, at the various parades and camps, and lastly, as the writer believes, to the influence and high standard aimed at by the First Battalion. The battalion was composed for the most part of picked men, who took great pride in the organization. The Commandant was indefatigable in his efforts to make the organization as perfect as possible, and he was ably assisted by a competent corps of officers. Of the muster and inspection of the battalion in ISSI, the In- spector-General says "but one officer and fourteen enlisted men were absent; companies parading an average of fifty-eight men, the highest for any battalion in the division. The command made an excellent appearance, is com- posed of good material : its discipline is superior, and its esprit de corps evident." The Brigade-Inspector Lt. Col. G. E. P. Howard reported : "This battalion is deserving of special mention for its proficiency in drill and the man- ual of arms, the result of hard work and careful attention to the tactics on the part of both officers and enlisted men."
In the limited space of this article it is impossible to quote the report of the Inspector for each year, and it is unnecessary to do so, as the following figures show a re- cord not equalled by any regiment or battalion in the: State.
FIRST BATTALION MUSTERS AND INSPECTION.
Year.
Total Strength.
Number Absent.
Percentage.
1880
126
100
1881
151
15
90
1882
153
13
91%
1883
202
17
9 3
1884
207
12
94.2
1885
205
1S
91.2
1886
246
13
94 7
1887
260
12
95号
188S
245
·2
99.2
1889
238
13
94}
1890
215
99.53
.
PATERSON, ILLUSTRATED.
97
TABULATED ROSTER OF OFFICERS OF THE FIRST BATTALION.
DATE OF COMMISSIONS. PROMOTIONS, RESIGNATIONS AND DEATHS.
FIELD AND STAFF.
Commissioned.
Promoted.
Resigned.
Lieut. Col
Joseph W. Congdon
May 5, '85
July 4, '87
Major
Joseph W. Congdon
July 15, '80.
May 5th, '85
July 13, 85
66
Saumel V. S. Muzzy
April 6, '86
Dec. 12, '85.
John R. Bean
Dec. 12, 89.
Adjutant
James Inglis, Jr.
July 27, '80.
Nov. 21, 85
Quartermaster.
John H. Hindle
July 27, 80
Nov. 28, '87
66
Ilobert I. Hopper
Feb 6, '88
*March 20, '89
66
Jolin H. Hopper
April 13, '89
Paymaster.
Alphens S. Allen
July 27, 80
Sept. 30, 85 May 13, '90
Surgeon
Charles F. W. Myers.
Sept. 29, 81.
Ass't Surgeon
Charles F. W. Myers.
Sept. 10, 80.
Sept. 20, '81
April 20, 86
Chaplain
Charles D. Shaw
Ang. 5, 80.
Judge Advocate
George &. Chiswell
Ang. 5, '80
Ang. 7, '86
Albert A. Wilcox
Sept. 8, '86
Oct. 24, '89
Inspector of Rifle t'ractice.
Albert Tilt
Ang. 5, '80
Sept. 30, 85
Lient. of Gnn Detachment Florian Oborski
Jan. 14, '86.
Sept. 10, '89
LINE OFFICERS.
Co. A .- Captain.
James Berus
June 15, '80
March 27, '82
66
Aaron V. H. Doremus.
May 12, 82
May 5, '85
66
Samnel V. S. Muzzy
May 21, '85
Dec. 12, '89
66
John R Beam
April 29, '86
Dec. 12, 89
Ist Lieutenant.
Jolın H. Berdan
June 15, '80.
Sept. 15, '81
$6
Aaron V. H. Doremus.
Oct. 14, '81
May 12, 82.
66
Samuel V. S Muzzy
May 12, 82
May 21, 85.
66
Henry Muzzy
April 29, 86
Feb. 20, '90
2d Lieutenant. . . .
Aaron V. H. Doremus
June 15, '80
Oct. 14, '81
Samuel V. S. Mazzy
Oct. 10, 81
May 12, 82
John R. Beam
May 12, '82
May 21, '85
Feb. 11, '86
66
Robert H. Sterrett
Feb. 20, '90.
Co. B .- Captain
Charles Curie ..
June 15. '80.
Feb. 5, '83 Nov. 24, '84
.6
James Beggs
April 23, 83
Feb. 10,'85
May 30th, '86
16
Robert HI. Fordyce
July 22, '86
1st Lieutenant.
Alexander T. Groser
June 15, '80
May 3, '82.
Samnel Thorp
June 20, '82.
Feb. 10, '85.
Robert H. Fordyce.
Feb. 10 '85
July 22, '86.
Angustus Van Gieson
July 22, '86
2d Lieutenant.
John T. Hilton
June 15, '80
May 2, 83
Robert H. Fordyce ..
May 25, '83.
Feb. 10, '85.
Jan. 25, '86
66
Angustus Van Gieson ..
March 16, '86
July 22, '86
66
Charles Reynolds.
July 22, '86
Co. C .- Captain.
Alexander T. Groser
Feb. 26, 83
Nov. 17, '84
Ist Lieutenant
William F. Decker
Feb. 26, '83
Jan. 9, '85
66
Walter Van Emburgh. James Parker
Aug. 16, '89.
2d Lieutenant.
. . .
Walter Van Emburgh.
Feb. 26, 83
Jan. 9. '85
James Parker
Jan. 9, 85
Ang. IG, '89
Cornelius V. W. Fonda.
Aug. 16, '89
April 29, '86
Robert J. Burket.
July 22, 86.
Joseph C. Enrushaw
June 23, '87.
Feb. 20, '90
Henry Muzzy
Feb. 20, 90
May 21, 85.
April 29, '86.
Joseph C. Earnshaw
Feb. 20, '90.
John C. Bowering
May 21, 85
Henry Muzzy
March 18, 86
Samuel Thorp
Frederick T. Vaudervoort.
Feb. 10, '85.
William F. Decker.
Jan. 9, '85.
Jan. 9, '85.
July 23, '89
66
Jolın I. Conklin
Nov. 10, 85
Rush Neer. .
Sept. 29, '81
Thomas F. O'Grady
July 22, '86 ..
Robert Williams
April 14, '90
Edinud G. Edwards
Nov. 10, '85
Jolm T. Hilton
Dec. 8. '85
Aaron V. H. Doremus
May 5 '85
Dec. 12, '89
Samuel V. S. Muzzy
*To Brigade Staff as Judge Advocate, Major. 1Died May 11, 18 7, while in commission.
John R Beam
Some Old Paterson Houses.
By WM. NELSON, Attorney-at-Law and Corresponding Secretary of New Jersey Historical Society.
HE wonderful transformation that has come over the city of Paterson within a few years is em- phasized by the presence here and there of a ¿LO - relic of other days in the shape of an old-fashioned stone house, dating back to the time when the Dutch were almost the only residents in this part of the country. These ancient dwellings are gener- ally of one type-long and low, seldom more than one-story in height, with gambrel roof rising high up in the air, afford- ing space for several rooms under it. besides a capacious attic above all. Broad and low, like their old-time build- ers, these houses were erected to stand for generations. But alas ! as generation after generation has arisen, the old houses have been deserted by them, one by one, until there is not a dwelling within the limits of the city of Paterson that has been occupied by one family for a century. Let us briefly mention a few of these ancient landmarks before their very memory is forgotten.
The most famous of ancient houses in Paterson is the Passaic hotel, on River street, at the foot of Bank street. When it was erected it is impossible to tell, but probably about the year 1774. by Abraham Godwin, in whose fam- ily it remained as a tavern for sixty years.
A short distance further west, in the same street, is an- other okt stone house, which preserves its ancient appear- ance, unchanged. It was probably erected by Cornelius Van Winkle, about the year 1770, but passed out of the hands of the family many years ago.
The old house standing on Madison avenue near what is now called Park avenue, was occupied by John P. Mer- selis about the beginning of this century, which it perhaps antedates by twenty years.
The stone house at the corner of Market street and the Wesel road is from eighty to one hundred years old. It was originally occupied by one of the Merselis family, but long since passed out of their hands.
The other stone houses in that neighborhood are from sixty to seventy years old.
It is doubtful if in the whole of the Third Ward of Pat- erson there are any buildings older than Brown's tannery, in Main street between Fair and Division. The brick stores on the northeast corner of Broadway, and Main street were erected in 1819-20, and are among the very oldest structures in that Ward.
In the whole of the First Ward of Paterson there proba- bly is not a building standing that dates back to 1820.
In the Second Ward there are two or three that ante- date this century. One is on Totowa avenue neur Pater- son avenue, thought to be a century old. Another is the Van Houten homestead, on Totowa avenue near the West Side Park. The small house on Jasper street just north of Doremus street was built fully seventy-five years ago The large brick and stone house on Hamburgh avenue, near Doremus street, occupied by Miss Westerfield, was erected about sixty years since.
In all probability the oldest house in the city of Paterson is the Doremus homestead, on Water street, between Hamburgh avenue and Temple street. In 1768 Gerre- brandt Van Houten, Helmegh Van Houten his brother, Martin Ryerson and Abraham Godwin bought of the exc- cutors of Henry Brockholst a tract of 628 acres, extending from the Passaic river back to the mountain, and from the line of the present Marion street to the line of Clinton street. They subdivided the tract in the spring of 1769 into seven smaller lots, of which Gerrebrandt Van Houten took one lying between Clinton and Northwest streets, and extending back to the line of the present Doremus street extended. It is believed that in the summer of 1769, if not earlier, he erected the eastern half of the present Dore- mus homestead Ilis grandson, Gerrebrandt Van Houten, who was President of the original Paterson Bink, and the leading capitalist of his day, erected the western part of the building about 1822. His daughter Catharine married Ralph Doremus, who in 1825 erected the brick mansion on the corner of Water and Albion streets, in its day the handsomest dwelling in Paterson. After the death of
99
PATERSON, ILLUSTRATED.
Judge Van Houten, in 1829, Mr. Doremus occupied the whole of the old stone homestead, with his wife and child- ren-Henry C. and Francis E. Doremus until his death in 1SS6. His son Henry's family continued in the occupancy of the western part of the building until June 11, 1890, when they. too, left the ancient homestead, after it had been occupied by the family for a period of more than one hundred and twenty years. No other house standing in Paterson has been occupied by one family for anything like a similar period of time. This old house is typical of its class, and therefore a description of it may be of inter- est. The older part, on the east, formerly had but one great living room on the ground floor, with kitchen exten- sion ; the front door, opening on the street, had half-doors until about twenty years since. In the upper part, under the roof, there were four sleeping rooms. The western or more modern portion, is divided into four rooms on the first floor, two on each side, separated by a hallway ten
feet wide extending from the front to rear. On the east is a double parlor, and on the west a dining room and kitchen. As will be seen by the accompanying illustra- tion the house is but one-story high under the eaves, but the roof is so lofty that there is a spacious second story, with six rooms, and an ample attic overhead.
There is something sad in the thought that these old houses are destined to give way to more modern structures, to be occupied by those who are strangers to all the joys and all the sorrows that have been experienced under these ancient roofs. But there is something consoling in the fact that the modern houses, after all, have comforts and conveniences that the old had not, and that under these modern roofs there may be at least as much of joy and per- haps less of sorrow than under the old. And yet, while it is with gladness that we "ring out the old, ring in the new," we cannot but feel a sympathetic interest in these relics of other days-the ancient stone houses of Paterson.
Cemeteries.
CEDAR LAWN CEMETERY.
In 1865 a number of gentlemen, deeming the time ripe for a new cemetery. secured from the legislature an act. approved March 28, 1865, incorporating "The Cedar Cliff Cemetery Company," "for the purpose of establishing a publie burying ground in the city of Paterson." No steps were taken to organize the company, and in the fall of 1866 several other gentlemen became impressed with the beauty and fitness of the location of the present Cedar Lawn for a cemetery, and obtaining control of the above charter, they subscribed the requisite amount of stock, Oc- tober 10, 1866, and at a meeting of the stockholders, held at Berry's hotel. Oct. 25th, at which Mr. John J. Brown was chairman, and Mr. Adam Carr secretary, they elected as Directors Messrs. Franklin C. Beckwith, Thomas Barbour, Thomas D. Hoxsey, Adam Carr, Henry B. Crosby, William S. Kinch and James Crooks. Mr. Beckwith was elected president and Mr. Carr secretary and treasurer of the company. The next month General Egbert L. Viele was engaged to lay out the grounds, which he praised very highly after viewing them. The name of the cemetery had meantime been discussed at length : "Cedar Grove" was agreed upon, then "Sacred Rest," and finally "Cedar Lawn Cemetery," and by a sup- plement (approved March 4, 1867) to the act of incorpor-
ation that name was fixed upon, and its appropriateness has never been questioned since.
The nineteenth day of September, 1867, witnessed the dedication of Cedar Lawn-the first rural cemetery in this section of the State. The event excited a great and gen- eral interest in the community. and the procession to the grounds included most of the city and county officials, the clergy, several civic societies, and large numbers of citi- zens, who walked all the way to the cemetery. The Seventh Regiment band from New York furnished the music.
The land selected for the cemetery was comprised in three farms, owned by Hartman Van Riper, Garret Dem- arest and David Demarest, embracing about two hundred and fifty acres, extending from the Dundee Lake westerly almost to the Erie Railway. As the charter of the com- pany authorized the holding of only one hundred acres, all above that was sold, and formed the site whereon the vil- lage of Lakeview was located. The section reserved for the city of the dead is rectangular in shape, being about sixteen hundred feet from east to west, and about twenty- four hundred feet from north to south. The location was pronounced by General Viele to be the finest he had ever seen for the purpose, and it is the general opinion of all who have visited it that no lovelier spot could have been found wherein to lay the departed.
PATERSON, ILLUSTRATED.
In the foreground is Dundee Lake, the charming sheet of water formed by the expansion of the Passaic river for three or four miles. On the opposite side of the water are" handsome country houses, green meadows and well culti- vated fields, with nothing to mar the prospect. Along the hither shore, the ancient Wesel road, one of the favorite drives near the city, runs between the lake and the ceme- tery. The land then stretches in a level greensward wes- terly for six or eight hundred feet, forming a beautiful lawn, which is preferred by very many for burial places. In this valley, as it were, there seems to be something pe- culiarly suggestive of rest. From this gentle vale there rises a hill with not too steep an ascent, to a height of per- haps one hundred feet above the lawn at its base. This hillside is dotted all over with graves, while its summit has been regarded as a peculiarly choice situation. And no wonder. It is illuminated by the dawn's first blush, emblem of the eternal day which all who there repose are waiting to rise and greet: it commands a wide reaching view of other hills, stretching farther and farther away. and higher still, till in the distance they merge into heav- en's azure, even as have the spirits whose earthly habita- tions are here : and on this hill, as on those in the far dis- tance, there rests a perpetual peace, such as all hope to find after this life's troubles are ended.
There is something surpassingly lovely in the view from the higher parts of the cemetery-the meadow and the Lake below : the placid fields and blue hills of Bergen County, rising into the Palisades far away in the east ; the tree clad hills toward the south, in the direction of Passaic ; the bold cliffs of Garret or Wesel mountain in the west, and the rugged Preakness range rising higher beyond ; and the groves and heights to the north-all combined com- pose a scene whose quiet beauty never fails to make an undying impression upon the beholder. About the whole prospect, and especially about the cemetery itself, there dwells such an atmosphere of absolute repose that thou- sands come here weekly to enjoy the perfect tranquility which soothes and cheers the tired worker.
The site selected for the cemetery has the double advantage of being reasonably near the city and at the same time in such a retired nook that it can never be an obstruction to the city's growth-a fortunate circumstance, when we consider how ruthlessly the march of improvement tramples over everything which hinders its progress. But there are other guarantees that this hallowed ground shall never be profanely disturbed in the interest of Mammon. The bar- riers here erected by nature are a still stronger assurance than human laws or human pledges. The lake on the east and the hill on the west prevent encroachments from those directions and there can never be any occasion for travers- ing the grounds from north to south, when there are two such fine thoroughfares as the Wesel road and Lake View avenue on each side and within a few hundred feet of each other. Again : It is quite out of the direct line of the city's progress. It is in the extreme southeast corner of
the corporation limits and so isolated that the city might grow close up to it and the cemetery would still retain its air of sweet solitude and rural beauty. In a cemetery there is no more important consideration than its security from intrusion-its permanence. There is something re- volting in the thought of disturbing the dead, no matter how urgent may seem the demands of the living, and when we lay our loved ones under the sod we want to feel as- sured that they have found their last resting place on earth which none shall ever begrudge them.
Few cemeteries anywhere have such facilities of access as Cedar Lawn. It is reached from any part of Paterson by horse cars. Market street, one of the main thorough- fares of the city runs directly thither. Other routes are by way of Park avenue and Vreeland avenue ; Main street and Crooks avenue : Market street, Trenton and Buffalo ave- nues ; or Market street and Lake View avenue. The main entrance is within three miles of the City Hall. in a straight line, thirty minutes' ride in the horse cars. The remotest point within the city limits is but six miles distant, or within an hour's ride. The gate house is scarcely three miles from the neighboring city of Passaic, to which there is a delightful drive by the Wesel road, or by Crooks ave- nue and Main street. The direct road to Hackensack, the beautiful court house town of Bergen County, is close at hand, and an hour's drive brings us thither. Over all these roads almost daily may be seen solemn funeral pro- cessions wending their way to Cedar Lawn.
The railroad facilities are also an important feature. The New York, Susquehanna and Western railroad has a sta- tion within half a mile of the entrance to the cemetery. The Erie Railway has a station at Lake View within a mile and a half of the gate house, and another nearer the centre of Paterson, two and a half miles from Cedar Lawn, connecting there with the horse cars. The Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad has two stations within three miles of the cemetery. The remains of per- sons from a distance are frequently brought over these dif- ferent railroads to be interred in this favorite place of sep- ulture, which can be reached in less than an hour and a half from the City Hall in New York, by any of these routes. Thus it is quite as convenient of access from New York or Jersey City as Greenwood. Woodlawn or Cypress İlill.
For this, among other reasons, not a few lot owners at these cemeteries have bought plots at Cedar Lawn and bury their dead here in preference to elsewhere.
The interments in the cemetery number over ten thou- sand.
The following are the present officers of the company :- President, II. B. Crosby : vice president, John J. Brown ; treasurer, G. A. Ilobart : secretary, George II. Albutt ; superintendent, Sidney Ileminsley ; Board of Directors :- Robert Barbour, A. W. Bishop, Edmund G. Edwards, William II. Williams, 11. B. Crosby, John J. Brown, G. .A. Hobart, James Inglis, Jr., Charles L. Hindle.
IOI
PATERSON, ILLUSTRATED.
LAUREL GROVE CEMETERY.
In 1872 several of the leading citizens of Paterson real- ized that the time was not far distant when the cemeteries then in use would be wholly inadequate to meet the needs of the people. In that year through the efforts of the late Charles Hemingway, then a member of the House of As- sembly from Passaic County, the charter of the Laurel Grove Cemetery Company was granted by the Legislature and in it the following gentlemen were named as incorpo- rators : John H. Hindle, Hiram Gould, Albert A. Van Voorhies, Joseph R. Baldwin, Alpheus S. Allen, John Beaumont, George J. Hopper, Harmon Hockenberry, Charles Hemingway, Henry A. Hopper, Garret A. Hobart and James W. Ensign.
The death of Charles Hemingway in January. 1873. followed by the panic in the fall of that year, caused delay in the formal organizing of the company-and the idea of opening another cemetery was allowed to sleep until the summer of ISS7. The deplorable condition of the Sandy Hill Cemeteries was then brought to public notice by the reports of the Paterson Board of Health. There was a strong public demand for another cemetery where lots could be purchased by people of moderate means at reasonable prices. Through the instrumentality of Mr. James A. Morrisse a sufficient amount of money was subscribed by several of the leading citizens to enable the company to purchase the present site. A meeting of the original incorporators was held and those who did not desire to take stock in the company resigned and others were elected in their stead.
The company was at once placed on a solid financial basis and the work of laying out the grounds was the ab- sorbing topic of discussion. It was soon determined that the "Lawn System" should be adopted. and Mr. John Y. Culyer, who was for twenty years Landscape Engineer and Superintendent of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, was se- lected to take charge of this department and the work that he has already done shows that the company made a wise selection.
The cemetery is situated about half-a-mile in a south- westerly direction from the city of Paterson and contains about 130 acres of land. It has the Passaic river, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and the Preakness road for its boundaries and can never be en- croached upon by the growth of the surrounding country and will never retard development.
The soil being sand, loam, and gravel is admirably adapted for burial purposes.
The general contour of the ground is such that on in- spection one cannot but be charmed with the work of nature upon it before it was touched by the hand of man.
The surface ranges from six to one hundred and forty feet above the river road and the ascent is so gradual that the highest point can be approached by carriages with the greatest ease.
Standing on its summit and looking to the northeast you behold the city of Paterson. You see her beautiful dwell-
ings and churches, her large factories and mills, and the volume of smoke and steam that you see floating from the tops of those lofty chimneys tells you of the activity and work that is going on there. On the west we have the Preakness mountains and on the south you behold the mountains of Orange, Bloomfield and Montclair ; and you behold the Passaic river quietly following its winding course through the beautiful valley, hastening on toward the busy city to do its part in perpetuating the union of the spindle and the loom. Thus, far removed from activ- ity and noise, you are in a position to appreciate the beauty that surrounds this spot as well as the place itself.
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