USA > New Jersey > Bergen County > Ridgewood > Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, past and present > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
The department is also responsible for the construction of all build- ings, in accordance with the provisions of the building code, and for the care of parks and publie property other than that assigned to another particular department.
60
PAST AND PRESENT
The Village Engineer
The Village Engineer has active charge of the department and makes periodical reports to the Commissioner direeting the depart- ment. He makes surveys and investigations; he designs all construc- tion work and draws the necessary specifications; he is responsible for all contraet work done for the Village and keeps a record of ex- penditures of the department classified so as to show actual and unit costs for all work done by the Village.
The Superintendent of Streets and Sewers
The Superintendent of Streets and Sewers reports to the Village Engineer and acts as the immediate head of all employes in the de- partment. He is responsible for the carrying out of all work done by the Village in accordance with his specifie instructions.
Sewer System
The department has in its eare approximately nineteen miles of sewer pipe and two sewer plants, one located on the west side, which aets as a pumping station, and another on the east side, constructed in 1903, which contains a large septie tank to which the pipe system first conduets the sewage. Here the bulk of the organic matter is precipitated and retained. It is then subjected to a bacterial action, which disintegrates and consumes it. The overflow of water is con- dueted to filter beds of coke covered with erushed stone. It is there purified and is then discharged into a stream running from the Village.
Sixty-one flush tanks have been installed at the dead ends of sewers. Once every twenty-four hours they automatically flush the sewer lines to which they are connected.
The cost of maintaining the sewage system, including wages of two men on day and two on night duty, expenditure for electric power at the pumping station, and expenses of repairs and up-keep of both plants, amounts approximately to $1.00 per inhabitant per year.
ADVISORY BOARD
With the establishment of the Commission form of Government in 1911, the newly elected Commissioners deemed it to be in keeping with the spirit of that form of government to invite the formation of a body of citizens into an Advisory Board who would meet with the Commissioners from time to time for the discussion of problems of public interest and their best mode of solution.
The present Board consists of George F. Brackett. De Witt Clinton, Jr., T. J. Foster, W. J. Fullerton, Bayly Hipkins, Frederick Pfeiffer. Franz Schwartz, J. H. Snyder, S. S. Walstrum, H. G. White, and J. D. Van Emburgh. While this Advisory Board has no legal standing in the government of the Village, the opinions and counsel of its members are of great value, not only to the Commissioners in deter- mining the policies to be pursued in public affairs, but also to every citizen of Ridgewood, who profits by a wise and efficient administra- tion of the publie business.
61
RIDGEWOOD, BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
The administration of justice, through the courts of law, is one of the most solemn and important exercises of the powers of govern- ment. The government which we have adopted in this country by the free choice of the people is based upon the absolute independence of the judicial department. The courts stand for the protection of rights, for the redressing of wrongs, for the punishment of crime. They are the great safeguards of the freedom of the people; hence we clothe these institutions with dignity and invest them with im- pressive formalities that they may be duly granted the respect and obedience which are due their exalted prerogatives and powers.
The judicial functions of the Village of Ridgewood are performed by three courts: The Court of Common Pleas, located in Hackensack and commonly known as the County Court; the District Court of Ridgewood, and the Recorders' Court.
Court of Common Pleas
Baron Van der Cappellen established a Court of Union Hill for the purpose of settling differences between the Indians and white set- tlers. The exact date of its institution has never been ascertained.
In 1655 Adrian Post was appointed by Van der Cappellen as his deputy to "treat with the Hackensack Indians for the release of pris- oners"; later, in 1657, a treaty was made with the Indians, through another deputy, Van Dincklogen, which provided, among other things, for the "submission of disputed matters to the Courts of Justice at Hospating, near Hackensack."
For nine years, from 1652 to 1661, and possibly longer, the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens exercised active operation. A local Court, consisting of a Schout (presiding judge) and three Schepens, or magistrates, was established at Bergen in September, 1661. This Court had civil and criminal jurisdiction, and any appeal from its decisions was made to the Director-General and Counsel at Manhattan.
In 1683 the twenty-four proprietors responsible for "The Fun- damental Constitutions for the Province of East New Jersey in Amer- ica." decreed that neither "justice nor right should be bought or sold" and that "all tryals should be by twelve men, and, as near as it may be. peers and equals"; also that "in cases of life there shall be at first twenty-four returned by the sheriff for a grand inquest". It thus appears that our present jury system (grand and petit) was securely established at that early period in the history of American jurisprudence. Indeed it has been practically maintained without serious change, notwithstanding the constantly changing influences affecting the life of the people.
On May 14. 1688, an Act. passed by the General Assembly con- vened at Perth Amboy, provided for a "Court for Trial of Small Causes". This Court was to be held monthly at the house of Law- renee Andriss at New Hackensack, the name by which the settlement on the west side of the Hackensack River was then known, the terri- tory on the east side of the river being distinguished as "Old Hack-
62
PAST AND PRESENT
ensack". A similar Court convened at the house of Dr. Johannes, on the Hackensack River.
Prior to 1709 Bergen County did not include within its boundaries the territory west of the Hackensack River. In that year the lines of the county were extended, and the county lying west of the Hack- ensack River admitted. The Village of Hackensack became the County seat, and there the first Court house was built. This edifice stood on "The Green", near Main Street. It was destroyed by the British in 1780.
In 1704 the Supreme Court of this State was established by Lord Cornbury.
The second Court house and a jail were built in Youghpough, in Franklin Township, during the Revolution.
The third Court house of Bergen County, the first after the Rev- olution, was built at Hackensack, near Main Street, on property which later belonged to Richard Paul Terhune. A clerk's office was built about 1812 on the west side of Main Street, north of the Susquehanna Railroad, and remained until 1853. In 1819 the fourth Court house was built on property deeded by Robert Campbell. It was enlarged several times, and in 1892 was reconstrueted.
On July 6, 1910, was laid the corner-stone of the present County Court House on Main Street, Hackensack.
The administrative system of Common Law reaching down to us from colonial times, had its origin in the Common Law of England. Though modifications in forms and in practice are made from time to time to meet the requirements of modern changing conditions, vet the fundamental principles of the law, founded as they are on inherent rights, continue substantially unchanged from generation to generation. The tendency of our day is toward simplification of pleadings and practice. In the place of the dozen judges formerly required as essen- tial to rule our County Court a single judge now presides with marked efficiency.
In the earlier days most of the judges officiating in the Court of Common Pleas were not lawyers, but for many years it has been the invariable eustom to select the presiding judge from the ranks of men who have taken their legal degree.
Ridgewood has had the honor of representation on the bench of this Court when Honorable David D. Zabriskie served as its judge from 1898 to 1908.
District Court
The District Court ranks as one of Ridgewood's most useful insti- tutions. It has jurisdiction over the whole of Bergen County and supersedes the "ancient and honorable" Court of Justice of the Peace. There are three District Courts for the County, and these have their court rooms located as follows :
First Distriet in the City of Englewood; Second District in the Borough of Rutherford; Third Distriet in the villages of Hackensack and Ridgewood.
63
RIDGEWOOD, BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
The judges of these Courts frequently exchange courtesies by hold- ing court for one another. As the reader is, naturally, interested more particularly in what concerns Ridgewood, the Third District Court only will be referred to.
This Court was created by an Act of the Legislature of this State entitled "An Act to incorporate the Third Judicial District of the County of Bergen". This was passed April 11, 1908, and took effect January 1, 1909.
The territory assigned to the jurisdiction of this Court, as defined by the Act creating it, embraces that portion of Bergen County reach- ing from New York State line on the north to Garfield and Rutherford on the south, and from the Hackensack River on the east to the Passaic County line on the west.
With a view of avoiding possible inconvenience and annoyance that the extensive population over this wide territory might be subjected to, the Legislature decreed that Court should be held in two different places in this District. Hackensack and Ridgewood were thus chosen.
The Court has commodious court rooms in the County Court House at Hackensack and in the Trust Company Building at Ridgewood. At first the Ridgewood Court held its sessions in Prospect Hall but two years later moved to its present quarters.
The regular Court days are: Tuesday in Ridgewood; Friday in Hackensack. Special days for jury trials are set by the judge.
Judge Cornelius Doremus was the first judge to hold this Court. He was appointed by Governor Fort on January 18, 1909, to serve for a term of five years. He occupied the bench for the full term, and was succeeded by Judge Peter W. Stagg, the present incumbent.
The Court has civil jurisdiction only. Criminal cases are tried elsewhere.
It is a busy Court ; each session lists a long calendar of landlord and tenant eases, actions for breach of contract, accident suits, actions to enforce ordinances, and similar actions other than those involving offenses against criminal laws, and equity cases. It is essentially what is popularly described as "The People's Court". Its sessions con- time the year round and by its expeditious trial of cases at a mini- mum of cost to litigants, has well deserved its popular title.
Its reputation and importance are further evidenced by the large volume of business brought to it. The majority of the cases are tried by the judge without a jury. The court opens promptly at 9:30 in the forenoon and continues in session until all cases marked "ready" are disposed of. Frequently a court day lasts until six o'clock, often later.
The Court officials consist of a judge, clerk. assistant clerk. ser- geant-at-arms, and stenographer. Judson B. Salisbury of Ridgewood has acted as clerk of the Court almost since its organization.
The old saying. "The Law's Delay", has no application to this particular Court. Usually not more than two weeks are occupied from the presentation of a case to the rendering of a decision. There are sixteen fixed rules governing the Court's procedure, besides the "Gen- eral Rules of Practise" fixed by the statutes of the State.
64
PAST AND PRESENT
During the first five years of the existence of the Court, upward of six thousand suits were introduced and disposed of in Hackensack and Ridgewood, and not one per cent of these were appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Court is already well advanced in its second five-year term. "The Court of the People" is one of the institutions of which Ridge- wood is justly proud.
Recorder's Court
This Court was established by the Village Commissioners on April 28, 1914, under the authority conferred upon them by an act of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey entitled "A supplement to an aet-An Act for the formation and government of Villages-approved February 23rd, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-one", ap- proved March 26, 1914.
The act provides that "Such recorder shall have the same juris- diction, power, and authority in criminal matters, affiliation proceed- ings, relief, removal and settlement of the poor, breaches of the peace, vagrancy and disorderly conduct, and violation of the municipal or- dinanees, as are now conferred upon justices of peace in this State".
On the date first mentioned the Village Commissioners appointed Frederick V. Watson, Counsellor-at-Law of the State of New Jersey, practising in this Village, as its recorder for a term of four years. Prior to the institution of this Court recorder's duties were exercised by justices of peace, who were elected by the people by popular vote. Dr. George M. Ockford, the present Village Postmaster, then a justice of peace, formerly acted in this capacity for this community.
The Recorder's Court has jurisdiction in all matters specifically conferred by statute, other than the above mentioned, notably for violations of the laws applying to the use and operation of motor vehicles.
The Recorder is also a peace officer. He has the power to commit to the county jail, to await the action of the prosecutor as to admission to bail or retention in such county jail, all persons charged with any serious violation of the criminal statutes of this State. Since persons charged can waive such hearing if they so desire and be committed forthwith, or they may make a statement, the recorder's duty requires him to investigate whether or not they have committed the breach of the criminal statute charged. Should he find reasonable grounds for assuming that they have committed such violation, it is his duty to commit them forthwith, and rest the final outcome upon the decision of the prosecutor and the grand jury of the county.
Bar of Ridgewood
The story of the judicial institutions in which the citizens of Ridge- wood are interested would be incomplete without at least some refer- ence to those of the legal profession who have, at various times. represented our residents in the Courts.
As in other activities of the community, the legal business of the eiti- zens was taken care of by lawyers having offices in nearby communities,
65
RIDGEWOOD, BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
principally in Hackensack, where the County Court had been estab- lished and which offered an attractive sphere for their calling.
The increase in population and the growth of the community in the last years have brought a number of the legal profession to the Village. While a few of these maintain offices in Hackensack and New York City, those who have offices in the Village at the present time, are the following. The year recorded after each name respec- tively indicates the time of establishing practice.
Judge David D. Zabriskie 1884
Judge Cornelius Doremus
1887
John B. Zabriskie 1904
Frederick V. Watson 1907
George V. Halsey
1909
Grant C. Fox
1911
Lewis R. Conklin
1913
Clyde A. Bogert
1915
66
CHAPTER IV EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
10 one who is interested in the present public school system of Ridgewood there is a certain fascination in tracing its growth from small beginnings. Today there are six different centers, where 64 teachers are engaged in the work of educating our 1,600 children. The system is administered by a Board of Education, elected by the citizens, the present personnel of which are :- Dr. II. S. Willard, President ; E. B. Lilly, Vice-President ; Hadley Ford, Clerk; A. Frank Halsted, E. M. Bull and D. R. Bacon.
Standing on Harrison Avenue near the Paramus Church, a little, one-room churchlike structure, disused since the Kenilworth School was built, was for many years the place where the lamp of knowledge was kept aglow in the Paramus region by a long succession of school- masters and schoolmistresses.
Four other schools had preceded the present building on approxi- mately the same site. The first. used in the year following the Treaty of Peace that established the independence of the United States, was formerly a dwelling-house. It was located about fifty feet southeast of the present Paramus Church building, a slight depression of the earth still marking the spot. This building was itself the successor of a still earlier schoolhouse built in that vicinity.
In 1810 a change became necessary and a small stone house was erected for school purposes near the sexton's house of the Paramus Church.
In 1820 a second stone school building was ereeted about two hundred feet east of the present structure. This, in 1845, gave place to a frame building near the same ground. It was used until 1871, when the present building was erected.
It is interesting to note that the supervision of schools rested with the church authorities until the civil powers took over their admin- istration.
On Midland Avenue there is in present use an attractive school building the predecessor of which, a hundred years ago, stood on Paramus Road between Ridgewood Avenue and Grove Street. In these two schools, for generations, the little Dutch children from the scat- tered farms studied their A B C's and applied themselves to the mastery of the three R's.
Several miles to the west of Paramus, beyond the fields and wood of the Van Emburgh farm, the little Village of Godwinville had come into existence a hundred years ago on the heights just beyond the western borders of the present Ridgewood. Here. on the Goffle Road between the present Midland Park Railroad station and the brook, stood a little brownstone school where Dutch and English were com-
67
---
Aljian Studio
High School-Beech Street.
PAST AND PRESENT
monly spoken. Part of a blacksmith shop, still standing, is the only trace that remains of this old school. Children of a later day were provided with more modern accommodations and better instruction in the newer Midland Park Public School and in the Dutch Christian Private School.
A part of a brick building, erected in 1770, just south of the resi- dence of Garret 1. Hopper at the junction of Harristown Road and Rock Road (now used as a dwelling and within the present limits of Glen Rock), furnished a generation ago, a one-room school-the fourth. In this meagre building many of Ridgewood's citizens had their earliest schooling. It seems to have been attended mainly by the children living in that section extending from Harrison Avenue through the present center of the Village to Glen Rock, which it included.
In 1872 the four schools mentioned proved too remote to be at- tended by many children in the homes which had sprung up. A new school district was then formed, and a wooden schoolhouse containing two rooms was built on the site of what is now the present Union Street School. When Ridgewood Township was set off from Franklin Township, four years later, this remained the only schoolhouse in the Township, and here all the children of Ridgewood received their school- ing. Later, increasing attendants made it necessary to add two more rooms. The attic was converted for this purpose. Subsequently the basement of the Dutch Reformed Church was used as an annex to provide for the ever-increasing pupils.
At this juncture public opinion ventured to assert itself. At a school meeting it was voted to buy the cornfield on the corner of Beech Street and Franklin Avenue and to build upon it a large wooden schoolhouse at a cost of $35,000. But public opinion had not fully expressed itself-the women had not yet spoken! On the fol- lowing day a petition was framed and put into circulation by the women asking the Trustees to call another meeting to reconsider the resolution and to ask for enough money to build a structure of brick. instead of frame. The Trustees complied, a meeting was called, and almost unanimously $47,000 was voted and a brick building ordered. This building, located on Beech Street, was completed and occupied about October 1, 1895. It is still, in certain respects, the best school building in the Village of Ridgewood. With eight good-sized class- rooms, seven small rooms, and an assembly hall on the third floor, the building afforded a welcome relief from the crowded conditions of the Union Street School. The use of the latter building was discontinued, and later it was torn down to make way for the present Union Street School building.
When completed, the Beech Street School was deemed second to none of its size in the State. It was constructed during the adminis- tration of Mr. D. W. La Fetra as President of the Board of Educa- tion. This worthy citizen has always taken an active interest in public school work and, for many years, has been a telling influence in educational matters in the Village. It may be interesting to note that the idea of "The Graded School System" which was incorporated into a law by the State of New Jersey originated with Mr. La Fetra.
69
RIDGEWOOD, BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
Though the plan was introduced in the State Legislature by Dr. Thomas G. Chattle of Long Branch, it was suggested by Mr. La Fetra to Dr. Chattle, while a teacher in the early fifties under the latter's ineumbency as School Superintendent of Ocean Township, New Jersey.
The progressiveness of the Ridgewood of twenty odd years ago is indicated by the fact that in 1894 a kindergarten class under Miss Ivy W. Green was established in connection with its school. This was one of the first public kindergartens in New Jersey.
In 1895 the nine years' elementary course was remodeled into an eight years' elementary course, followed by a three years' high-school course. That same year, Sewing, under Miss Sara Denison; Manual Training, under Mr. B. C. Wooster, and more advanced Art and Me- chanieal Drawing, under Miss Maggie Vreeland, were made a part of the school curriculum. Those were pioneer days in the introduction of handwork in the public schools. Under the leadership of Mr. Wooster, Ridgewood became one of the pioneer school communities in industrial education.
During the ten years from 1895 to 1905, the Beech Street School building housed all the Ridgewood school children.
In 1905 Ridgewood met the increased needs of its school children by constructing three four-room school buildings: The Kenilworth Place, Union Street, and Monroe Street schools.
During the year 1905-1906, under the superintendency of Dr. Wm. T. Whitney, the high-school course was extended to cover four years, and the work of extending and modernizing the school, which Mr. Wooster had begun, was greatly advanced. The high-school graduates of that year began to enter college and normal schools. Each sueceed- ing year has seen their numbers increase.
In 1906 four rooms were added to the Union Street School.
The schools grew so steadily for the next five years that, in 1911, the pressure of need demanded the immediate erection of a new build- ing. The Harrison Avenue School was begun. At the same time work of extension was started upon the Kenilworth Place and Monroe Street buildings. To each of these buildings seven rooms and assembly hall, were added.
In 1912 the growing educational needs of the section known as Upper Ridgewood prompted an appropriation for the purchase of a plot on Erie Avenue, corner of California Street, containing 2 acres, and for the erection thereon of a one-story portable building.
In 1913 the IIigh School grew almost to the limits of the capacity of the Beech Street building. Only one room remained unoccupied. To cope with other demands for space three portable schoolhouses were placed on the adjacent grounds to provide, temporarily, for three grammar grades. In the same year the citizens of Ridgewood voted to purchase as a site for a new High School building and an athletic field the property of Captain John A. Edwards, situated on East Ridgewood Avenue, corner of Heermance Road, and the field fronting the same formerly known as the White Star Baseball Field.
The hill on which it is proposed to erect the building comprises a
70
t
PAST AND PRESENT
plot of 518 feet by 346 feet. With the athletic field it covers a total of approximately nine acres.
The old Edwards house was removed, and the large barn was placed on the Athletic Field at the north end and has been renovated and put in first-class condition, making an attractive club house for the use of the High School athletes. Set in among fine old trees, it pre- sents an attractive appearance which is much enhanced by the large flagpole, erected on the ground adjoining, presented on July 4, 1915, to the school children by the Independence Day Association of Ridge- wood. A large American flag, for use on this pole, was also presented on the same day, by Bergen Council, Junior Order of American Mechanics.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.