USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 1 > Part 15
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Kanouse family is of Holland descent, the ancestor, John George Kanouse, coming here about 1720. He was unable to pay his passage, and, like many others, was sold on his arrival here to pay the amount due. His descendants have. ramified into many of the most respectable families in the county. One of them was the mother of John P. Brown, whose father, Peter P. Brown, and himself kept the famous hotel at New Foundland for more than seventy years. This lady survived until a few years ago.
There are several school districts in the township, but the sparsity of the population necessarily obliges the extent
241
RELIGIOUS AND AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS
of these districts to be large; the children as a general rule attend and much interest is manifested in the care and sup- port of the schools.
There are five churches in the township : a Roman Catho- lie and a Baptist at Echo Lake, two Presbyterian-one at New Foundland and one at the village of West Milford,- and a Methodist at New Foundland. Of these the Roman Catholic at Echo Lake is the oldest. It was established to meet the wants of the German population, who were Roman Catholics in their religious views. Hi has not, how- ever, been well supported, as the member of its attendants has not warranted the settlement of a regular priest. The other churches are well attended and well supported.
Agriculture is the principal pursuit of the inhabitants. The iron interests have not been sustained of late years, as formerly. In 1840 the town had ten forges, two tan- neries, two gristmills, tive sawmills, and a population of 2,108. In 1880 it had as many mills and as many forges, but these last were not in active nor continual operation, and its population was about 2,500. In 1900 it cast less than five hundred and eighty votes. The introduction into the township of railroad facilities has added greatly to the convenience of its citizens in the quick transportation of the products of the soil to good markets. Great quanti- ties of milk are daily sent to the City of New York.
Near Macopin, at the fooi of a hill, is quite a large deposit of kaolin of excellent quality. The depth of this deposit has not been ascertained, but the earth in wells dug in the vicinity, fifteen or twenty feet in depth, is discolored by the kaolin. The deposit seemed caught up between the roots of the hill and a ledge of rocks running parallel with the elevation from which this material seems to proceed.
There are some small and unimportant hamlets in West
242
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
Milford : Uttertown, Postville, Clinton, Cooper, Upper Ma- copin, and Hewitt. New Foundland and West Milford are more important villages. West Milford has 51,326 acres, of which 1,346 are covered by water and 37,363 by forests.
Pompton Township contains 34,172 acres, of which two hundred and four are under water and 26,433 uncleared. Like West Milford, its territory extends from the northern
OLD. REVOLUTIONARY HOUSE AT POMPTON.
to the southern lines of the county. It is bounded on the north by New York, on the east by Bergen, on the south by Morris County with the Pequannock River as a dividing line, and on the west by West Milford. In its western por- tion it is quite hilly, but the valley of the Wanaqua, where is found some excellent cultivable land, fills up ahnost its entire western part. Large quantities of iron ore have been mined in different parts of Pompton in years gone by.
The celebrated Ringwood mines are situated very near to the New York line. XThese mines at one time were very
243
EARLY SETTLERS
successfully conducted under the management of members of the Ryerson family, who were influential and successful in this township. They belonged after they went out of the control of the Ryersons to the Trenton Iron Company, owned by the philanthropist, Peter Cooper, and his son-in- law, Abram S. Hewitt, formerly mayor of New York City, who is still living at a very advanced age. Many years ago Mr. Hewitt, who was an accomplished expert in all mat- ters relating to iron from the ore to the finest steel fabric, declared that more than five hundred thousand tons of first rate ore had been taken from this Ringwood mine.
Pompion was one of the localities which early attracted Dutch immigration, and many descendants of these Holland immigrants abound here and in its vicinity. Such names as Van Ness, De Bow, Mandeville, Ryerson, Roome, Van Sann, De Bann, Doremus, Bertholf, Van Wagenen, Ro- maine, Mead, Berdan, and others, all undoubtedly of Hol- land origin, still are found here. Those who bear these names who are past middle life are all able to speak the Dutch language, and in many old dwellings, some built by the original ancestors, thai vernacular is the only mode of conversation in their households.
\ The Ryerson name was borne by some of the most noted men in the State. Martin J. Ryerson, who for many years condneted and was the owner of the Ringwood mines, was State senator from Passaic for three successive years. Martin J. Ryerson. his uncle, was the owner of a large furnace at what is now called Pompton Lakes, was a very snecessful iron manufacturer, and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Bergen County. His son, Peter M. Rver- son, succeeded him in the business, and was for many years the largest iron manufacturer in the United States. At the age of fifty-seven he entered the Union Army as captain in
244
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
a New Jersey regiment of infantry, was afterward promoted to major, and was killed at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. On the day he left for the front he expressed to an intimate friend his conviction that he would be killed, and expressed the hope that he would be in the command of his regiment. His hope was realized, for on the day of the battle both his colonel and lieutenant-colonel were ab- sent, and he necessarily took the command. His son, David A. Ryerson, now a successful lawyer in
Newark, after his father's death raised a company from the hardy mountain- eers of West Milford and Pompton, and entered the service as captain with his brother, Peter M., Jr., then a cadet at West Point, as one of his lieu- tenants. Peter M., Jr., was killed in Tennessee, and ~David A. was wounded at Gettysburg. Another son, Richard W., BREUKELEN IN HOLLAND. physically unable to enter the ranks, went into the quartermaster's department and re- turned safely to his family.
There are several villages and hamlets in Pompton. The villages are all important, and are Bloomingdale on its southern border, where there are several churches and a postoffice; Pompton in the southeastern corner with an old Reformed (Dutch) Church and a postoffice; and Ringwood
245
WAYNE TOWNSHIP
in the extreme north, where are situate the Ringwood mines and a postoffice. The hamlets are Boardville, Stonetown, Midvale, and Wanaqua.
Pompton Lakes, one of the five boroughs of Passaic, is situate in Pompton Township, near and around the spot where once stood Judge Martin J. Ryerson's furnace, and in- ciudes the ponds used by him in connection with his iron manufactures. These collections of water give name to the borough. Pompton derives its title from the Pompton In- dians, who frequented this region.
Wayne Township is situate in the central part of the county, is of irregular shape, and extends southerly from the locality where the county is compressed into narrow di- mensions, as already described, until it reaches Little Falls. Its boundaries can not be very accurately defined in conse- quence of this irregularity of formation. It is narrow at each end and broadens out in its center, and is bounded north by Bergen, east by Bergen, Paterson, and Little Falls, south by Essex and Little Falls, and west by Morris and Essex. It is mostly level, and excellent and well culti- vated farms abound within its territory. Several small streams flow over its southern part into the Pequannock, which passes along the western boundary, dividing the township from Morris. It contains 17,107 acres, ninety-six of which are covered by water, 9,488 are cleared, and 7,523 are still forest land. It has a few hamlets and villages- Preakness, Wayne, and Mountain View or Mead's Basin, where there is a station on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which traverses the southwestern part of the township on its way from Paterson to Boonton. The New York, Susquehanna and Western also passes over a small portion of Wayne with a station at the village of Wayne. The township is divided into two undefined dis-
246
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
tricts called Preakness and Pacquanack. These divisions are arbitrary and denote no particular peculiarity either of locality or of interest.
This township has an exceedingly interesting history. Its earliest settlement was the second oldest in the county. It had then no municipal organization, but afterward it formed a part of Manchester, from which it was taken Feb- ruary 17, 1847, and created an independent township by an act of the Legislature. It was settled more than two cen-
AT A COUNTY FAIR.
turies and a half before that date, when Arent Schuyler and Major Anthony Brockholst, the original grantees of the title for five thousand five hundred acres in Passaic, covering a large part of Wayne Township, immigrated to Wayne and lived on a part of their purchase. The settlement prior to this was in Acquackanonk. These first two settlers, who were Hollanders, although Schuyler was born in Albany in New York, were soon followed by numerous permanent immigrants of the same race, whose descendants to-day com-
247
WAYNE TOWNSHIP
pose the majority of the citizens of Wayne. This Arent Schuyler was undoubtedly the ancestor of the numerous and influential family of Schuylers scattered all over New York and New Jersey. An examination of the list of offi- cers of the township shows that much more than one-half are of Holland descent. The names most prominent are Schuyler, Ryerson, Berdan, Doremns, Mandeville, Van Riper, Kip, and Demarest.
The manufacturing interests of Wayne are inconsider- able, the people being mostly engaged in agriculture. Some years ago a large powder mill was established at the village of Wayne under the man- agement of the Laflin and Rand Powder Company. Several brick yards have been very successfully con- ducted at Mountain View and other points.
The first school in Wayne, accord- ing to tradition, was opened as late as . 1776, in a " dng ont " at the bottom of a hill near Mead's Basin or Mountain View. This dug ont had a substan- tial roof, and was used by General DUTCH PATROON. Anthony Wayne as a stable during the Revolutionary War and while he was stationed in the vicinity. There are now five school districts, each with a comfortable house.
The old Reformed Church at Preakness was established in 1798, when a small church editice was built. The con- gregation was poor, and for years struggled against great disadvantages, unable to secure the services of an independ- ent minister of their own and depending for such religious instruction as they could obtain from the pastors of the
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THE PASSAIC VALLEY
neighboring churches. But in 1843 they were able to call to their aid the Rev. John A. Staats, who ministered to them for nearly twenty years. In 1852 they were enabled to re- build, and are now an active, progressive congregation, with Sunday school and other organizations.
During the Revolutionary War portions of both contend- ing armies at times visited the township, but no particular incidents connected with their presence are of any interest. The township is named in honor of Major-General Anthony Wayne.
Stoner Point 16 th July VVVq Dear Gene 20 Clock a.m
The fort OGaminom with Lol: Johnston am very Simen behaved like me who an determined to the frece Jours many Sincerely
AnnMagne
ANTHONY WAYNE'S NOTE TO WASHINGTON ON THE CAPTURE OF STONY POINT.
CHAPTER XIX
LITTLE FALLS AND MANCHESTER
ITTLE FALLS is the smallest township in Passaic County, having only 3,175 acres, none of which are under water; 2,589 are cleared and the balance is still covered by the forest. The importance of this township is centered in its manufacturing interests at the town of Little Falls.
The land is of good quality in certain portions, but at. the southern end of the township there is a small extent of swampy ground and some mountains, through one of which an extensive gap or notch has been ent by some convulsion of nature, affording a passage for the Greenwood Lake Rail- road. The township is well watered. The Passaic runs through the western portion of Little Falls and Peckman's River traverses the central part. Both these streams afford excellent water power, especially the Passaic.
By no possibility can any information be given as to the first settlement of this part of the county. IL seemed to have had no iron mines to be explored, its great advantages in the possession of immense water power on the Passaic were overlooked, and it was not until 1711 that any records can be found giving any definite knowledge as to the immi- gration into this section of Passaic. It is altogether prob- able, however, that its contiguity to Acquackanonk must have induced some of the population of that locality to have
250
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
turned their attention to the advantages of the country so near their own residence. In 1711 a purchase was made by eight Acquackanonk farmers of two thousand eight hundred acres. These eight farmers all bore Holland names; they were Francis Post, John Sip, Harmanus Gar- retse (now written Garretson), Thomas Jurianee (now called Van Riper), Christopher Stynmets or Steinmetts, Cornelius Doremus, Peter Poulesse, and Hessel Pieterse, now modernized into Peterson. The land thus purchased extended from the " Great Falls " at Paterson, up the Pas- saic to Peckman's River, and over to the summit of Gar- ret Mountain, and included a large part of Little Falls, and was afterward divided into tracts ten chains wide passing from river to mountain. From AN OLD HOUSE. this time onward immigrations were frequent, and at first generally of those bearing Dutch names and undoubtedly of that race. Those names were Board, Van Ness, Brower, Riker, Jacobus, Dey, and Messeke, now written Masker, but a very uncommon name and not found elsewhere. Most of these names have now disappeared and have given place to new comers. In the list of officers of the township for the year 1881 only one Holland name appears, while in 1868, the first year of the independent history of Little Falls as a township, nearly one-half of these offices were filled by men of Dutch origin,
251
LITTLE FALLS AND ITS INTERESTS
but they gradually disappear, their places being taken by new settlers.
The township is bounded on the north by Paterson, on the east by Acquackanonk, on the south by Caldwell in Essex, from which it is separated by the Passaic, and on the west by Wayne.
Besides the town of Little Falls there is a small hamlet in the township named Singac, taking its title from the stream of that name situated in the extreme northwest of the town- ship. This locality was settled by a Hollander called John Riker, but at what date can not be easily ascertained; prob- ably, however, in the early part of the eighteenth century. Ile owned most of the land in the immediate vicinity, and his descendants are still in this locality, some of them very recently living on a part of the land purchased by their an- restor. This is a village of some importance. Singae gate, for the collection of toll on the Newark and Pompton Turn- pike, was a landmark in this part of the country early in and until the middle of the nineteenth century. A post- office is placed at Singac.
Mention has already been made of Little Falls and its great advantages for the establishment of factories arising from the great water power found there. These advantages seemed to have remained unnoticed until 1772, when Thomas Gray erected a foundry and a mill on the ground afterward occupied by Beattie's carpet factory. Mr. Gray built a dam across the stream which excited some oppo- sition from the Legislature, but not serious enough to pre- vent the completion of the dam. The title to this property of Gray passed through other owners, one of whom was a clergyman named John Duryea, until it became the prop- erty of Robert Beattie, who in 1846 established an exten- sive carpet aud woolen factory. The first building used
252
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
for his purposes was of wood, but owing to the increased demand for the products of the factory the appliances have been largely increased by the erection of brick buildings. The enterprise has been very successful, and several hun- dred employees have daily crowded within the walls of the buildings. In 1850 George Jackson established the Little Falls mills for the manufacture of hair and wool felt and carpeting. Other factories for the manufacture of many
VIEW AT LITTLE FALLS.
articles in demand all over the country have been estab- lished here from time to time until Little Falls has become a hive of industry.
As long ago as when Trinity Church of New York re- built their church edifice search was made by the architect employed to conduct the erection for the proper kind of stone, and after considerable search he found it at Little Falls. A quarry of brown stone was developed there and leased by that wealthy organization for five years. At the
253
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION
expiration of these five years it was leased to William HI. Harris, of Montelair, and afterward bought by Robert Beat- fie. Professor George II. Cook, State geologist of New Jersey, speaks thus of the stone quarried at Little Falls at page 505 of his annual report for 1868:
The color of this stone is from a light gray to red. It comes in thick beds, and stones seventeen by twelve by four feet are sometimes got out. Most of it is very fine grained, and is styled by the workmen " liver roek." The quarry has furnished stone for several of the finest brown stone structures of New York and the adjacent eities. For any architectural purposes it is certainly a very superior material. It has been successfully used for sculpture.
Little Falls was organized as a township by act of the Legislature approved April 2, 1868. In the act of incor- poration its territory is thus described :
All that part of the township of Aeynackanonk, in the County of Passaie, lying westerly of the line running from the line of the City of Paterson along the steep roeks and mountains southerly to the line of the County of Essex, being the same line known as part of the westerly line of the old Aequackanonk patent, as deseribed in an indenture made by the Proprietors of East New Jersey to llans Diederiek and others, dated March fifteenth sixteen hundred and eighty- four, and recorded in the office of the Secretary of State of New Jersey in Liber A of Deeds page one hundred and sixty-four.
The earliest school in the locality now known as the Township of Little Falls was conducted under an apple tree, so says tradition. The tree was large, its branches outspreading, and its hollow trunk, five feet in diameter, was used as a cloak and hat room. The appliances after- ยท ward used for some time were no very great improvement on the first. The apple tree gave way to the ravages of time, and then the school met in an old distillery and there a room seven by twelve was utilized. In 1850 there was only one school district in the township. Now there are several, and excellent school facilities are provided for the young.
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THE PASSAIC VALLEY
In 1825 services after the form of the Methodist Episco- pal Church were first held in a school house at Little Falls. The congregation then gathered was very small. It struggled, however, against many disadvantages, and after a season, receiving in the mean time, in connection with three other parishes, the ministrations of a pastor until 1860, it was able to secure the services of a regular minister of its own. In 1839 an edifice was erected for the purposes
TWO POUNDS.
No. 8486
NEWYORK
Bra Law of the Colony of New- York, this BILL thall be received in all Payments in the Treasury, for TWO POUNDS. NEW - YORK, February 16, 1771. II.L.
+
Bache Samt Vezranch
SIGIEL . CI
PRORAC
VITAT . NO
70%.
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Tis Death to counterfeit.
COLONIAL CURRENCY.
of the congregation. On the 17th of October, 1837, a Re- formed (Dutch) Church was organized at Little Falls by a committee of the Classis of Bergen. The congregation was obliged to share with the church at Fairfield, in Essex County, in the care of a minister. But in 1844 the Rev. Edwin Vedder was installed as pastor and devoted his whole time to the pastorate. This organization is now a strong and vigorous body.
255
MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP
Manchester Township was once a part of Bergen, but on the formation of Passaic on February 7, 1837, it was annexed to that county. In the act of incorporation Manchester is de- seribed in these few words: " That part of Saddle River lying east of the middle of Gaetchin's road or lane." It contains 6,998 acres, none of which is under water; 4,556 are cleared, and the balance is still forest land. It is bounded north by Bergen County, south by Little Falls, east by Little Falls and Paterson, and west by Wayne.
As it was originally incorporated in the bounds of Saddle River it has no independent history prior to the time of its annexation to Passaic, when it became a township. It was settled as early as 1706 by immigrants of Holland descent. The names of the first pioneers, who were also the owners of the land on which they settled, determine that fact. Those names were Ryerson, Westervelt, and Van Houten. From the time that Manchester became an independent township up to 1881 one or more of these three names ap- pear nearly every year among the township officers, but after that date they are seldom found. Other Dutch tam- ilies settled in that part of Saddle River now Manchester soon after the advent of the persons bearing the three names just mentioned. Prominent among these were Van Winkle, Brockholst, Roelofse, Van Saun, Van Allen, Merselis, and the strange one of Helmeghee, undoubtedly now modern- ized into Halmagh.
The surface of the land is various: in the center and to- wards the south it is rolling, with valleys of fertile and level land; to the north and northwest some ranges of hills are found called Deer Hills.
Two of the new boroughs of Passaic, Haledon and Pros- pect Park, were taken from Manchester. Totowa and
256
THE PASSAIC VALLEY
Hawthorn Boroughs, created some years ago, were also carved ont of this township.
The first record of schools appears as late as 1822. A man named John W. House, who taught this first school for four years, was succeeded by his son, then a youth of only seventeen, who successfully taught in Passaic and Bergen for many years. His term of service in these schools was so long that in the last years of his life he not only met those who had been his pupils, but had also taught their children and even their grandchildren. The township is now divided into several districts.
The manufacturing interests of Manchester are over- shadowed by those of its greater neighbor, but it has many important and interesting manufactures carried on within its territory. A large factory for the manufacture of toys was established in 1875 by G. W. Knight. Two Italians named Gannetti and Gazzara, in the same year, began the business of making silk throwsters on commission. In 1879 the jute print works were removed from Paterson and car- ried to Manchester. Carpets were manufactured from this product, which was imported mostly from Dundee, Scotland, although the plant from which it was stripped was grown in India .- A wax bleaching factory was removed from Westchester in New York to Haledon as early as 1850. Other industries have been introduced and successfully con- ducted, so that Manchester can be ranked as a manufactur- ing center of some importance.
A survival of an ancient custom in many of the old set- tled localities, especially where the first settlers were of Dutch origin, is still in existence at Manchester. In the times of the early settlements, when cemeteries and even graveyards had not come into existence, it was customary for some part of the ancestral farm to be selected where
257
EARLY BURIAL PLOTS
the dead were deposited with pious care. When sales were made of the farms where any of these sacred spots existed they were excepted from the operation of the deed and spe- cial conditions inserted permitting burials to be made by de- scendants of the original owners in these family burial lots. An inclosure of this kind is to be found on the farm formerly owned by John Ryerson at Manchester, where there are sev- eral graves with headstones, some marked only by dates and initials, others by quaint poetical inscriptions.
CHAPTER XX
ACQUAACKANONK TOWNSHIP'
(QUACKANONK is the most southern township in Passaic Conty and the one earliest settled. It. bas been very largely diminished by much of its territory being taken from time to time and added to other townships or to create new municipalities. It be- longed to Essex County when it was first created in 1693, and continued to form part of that conuty until 1837, when Passaic was created and Acquackanonk annexed to the new county. At the time when it was an integral part of Essex its territory extended to the Passaic and embraced all that lay southwest of that stream now contained in the County of Passaic. In 1831 Paterson was dissevered from it; in 1851 and 1855 the territory now known as the first and see- ond wards of Paterson was taken from it: in 1866 Passaic Township was carved almost from its very conter; and again in 1868 the whole of Little Falls was made up of part of Acquackanonk. In 1869 Paterson was again enriched by another portion of this ancient municipality. In its shape it assumes some of the peculiarities of the county to which it now belongs, baving been ent and carved without much regard to symmetry of sides or of formation. It is bounded north by Paterson and Little Falls, east by Paterson and Bergen County, and south by Essex. Ii runs southward to almost a sharp point between Essex and Bergen.
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