USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 1 > Part 3
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In the meantime an exhaustive examination was being made of various localities where it was deemed that the contemplated factory should be erected, and at last the " Great Falls," as they were then called, on the Passaic, were selected.
Paterson at that time had no existence, not even in name. There was a small hamlet on the opposite bank of the river known then as Ottowa, from the Indian name of the falls, after- wards called Manchester. A few small dwelling houses Were scattered A DUTCH HOUSE. around the present site of Paterson. This very important point, the selection of a locality for the practical operation of the society, being settled, the next step was the forma- tion of an incorporation. For this purpose the promoters of the enterprise turned towards the Legislature.
On the 220 of November, 1791, the Legislature of New Jersey passed an act incorporating the new society. The title of the law was this :
'" An act to incorporare the contributors to the Society for establishing useful mannfactures, for the encourage- ment of the said Society."
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This title does not give any corporate name, but one of the clauses of the act declared that the new corporation should be known as " The Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures." By this name its legal existence has been recognized throughout the State and by the courts, where it has been many times a snitor, either as plaintiff or defend- ant. In that name it has received its title to land pur- chased and by it it has made conveyance of real estate. But in the City of Paterson, where its affairs have been conducted since its organization, and in the surrounding country, it is called " The Society."
The statute by which the Legis- lature granted corporate powers to the "contributors" was the most liberal ever enacted, and abundantly manifested the esti- mation in which the company was held by the law-making body and the community, and the great hopes that were enter- tained of the immense advan- A COLONIAL GENTLEMAN. tages to be gained from the presence of such an organization. The act was most elaborately drawn, and was, evidently, the work of an intellect of the highest order. Alexander Hamilton undoubtedly prepared it, or dictated its several clauses; he certainly revised it; it bears the impress of his clear, thoughtful mind, the caution and wisdom of his judgment, and the expression of his comprehensive, far-reaching tore- thought.
The preamble gives the history, in the main, of the So-
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INCORPORATION OF A COMPANY
ciety, and also exhibits the motives which indneed the Legis- lature to pass so generous an act of incorporation :
WHEREAS, It is represented to this Legislature that a subscription has been made for the purpose of introducing and establishing nseful Manufactures, to an amount which already exceeds Two hundred Thousand Dollars. And
WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey having been deemed by the Contributors the most suitable for carrying the same into Effect, the aid of this Legislature has been requested in Promotion of the Views of the said Contributors. And
WHEREAS, it appears to this Legislature that the granting such Act will be conducive to the Public Interest. Therefore, etc.
Then follow the several clauses defining the powers and the restrictions and conditions imposed, and the rights con- ferred upon the corporation. The character of this statute is so extraordinary, so exceedingly favorable to the enter- prise and its results to the locality where the business of the company was established, and so important, that it seems proper that some of its salient features should be noticed.
The capital of the company was fixed at one million dol- lars, divided into ten thousand shares each of the par value of one hundred dollars, The powers and privileges of the Society were specified by the charter, among which were the following :
To hold real and personal estate, not exceeding four mil- lions of dollars in value, with power of sale.
To manufacture and sell any article, not forbidden by law, but with this restriction -- that the " said Corporation shall not dead, nor trade, except in such articles as itself shall manufacture and the materials thereof, and in such articles as shall be really and truly received in payment or exchange therefor."
" And the more effectually to encourage so useful and beneficial an establishment," no " taxes, charges, and im- positions " were to be levied on the real and personal prop-
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erty of the company for ten years. Artificers and manufac- turers in the immediate service of the corporation were exempted from all poll and capitation taxes and from taxes and assessments on their "respective faculties and occu- pations."
The company was authorized to dig canals and to clear and improve the channels of rivers, " the advantages of which will not be confined to the members of the said Society, who ought there- fore to be authorized to re- ceive a reasonable toll to defray the expenses of im- provements ultimately so valuable to the State."
The fullest power possi- ble was granted to enter lands for the purpose of sur- veying the same and locat- ing the lines of the proposed canal. The company was authorized to treat with the owners of such lands for the purchase thereof, and if nec- essary to take measures to condemn the property. The canal might be located from river to river, to tide water, or on such lines as might be deemed advisable by the corporation; toll might be col- lected on the canals, when constructed. The minutest de- tails of the proceedings for condemning the land necessary to be taken for the proposed canals are given in the charter with the greatest care and precision, and while the rights of
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FOUNDING OF THE CITY
the landowner were protected the corporation was afforded every advantage in securing the land consistent with those rights.
The United States, or any State, was authorized to be- come a subscriber to the capital stock, and the company was authorized to raise money to the amount of ten thousand dollars by the means of a lottery. But the most important provision of this charter was the one which led to the found- ing of the City of Paterson, which at that time had no existence whatever.
" After the Directors had made choice of the principal seat of their manufacture," then the inhabitants within a space of " six miles square " were incorporated into a municipal- ity with the most extraordinary pow- ers. li was to be called " Paterson," in honor of Governor Paterson, who signed the charter after it had been passed by the Legislature. The offi- cers were to be a mayor, recorder, twelve aldermen. twelve assistant aldermen, and a town clerk, who were to be appointed by the joint meeting of the Legislature; the other officers were to be elected by the people at their annual town meetings. The BOWS AND ARROWS. mayor, recorder, allermen, and assistant aldermen were " severally and respectively " made justices of the peace, and any seven of them were empowered to hohl a Court of Quarter Sessions, with jurisdiction over all crimes cogniza- ble by the several Courts of Quarter Sessions of the State, with full power to try criminals and punish such as were
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TIIE PASSAIC VALLEY
convicted with fine and imprisonment. The same officers were also empowered to act as a Court of Common Pleas, " with power to hold pleas of all such civil actions, suits, and controversies as are cognizable in the several County Conrts within the State; to summon and impanel juries, to give judgment therein, and to carry such judgments into execution in as full and ample a manner and by all such ways and means as any Court of Common Pleas within this State may or can do." This court should be a court of record, having a seal and possessing all the powers of other Courts of Common Pleas in the State. An amend- ment to this charter, passed in 1792, confined the power of acting as Court of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas to the twelve aldermen; the twelve assistant aldermen were to act simply as members of the Common Council and were to be elected by the people. Non-use of the charter was not to work forfeiture, and the act of incorporation was to . be construed in the most liberal manner in all courts in the State.
The district selected by the corporation was then situate in the Counties of Essex and Bergen, and was thus de- scribed : .
Beginning at the mouth of Third River, formerly called Yontecaw, where it empties into Passaic River, thence North 51 degrees 11 minutes, West 570 links, thence along marked trees, marked with a blaze, and the letters P. A., to a stake and stones, thence North 50 degrees, East across the Passaic River, . above the upper reef to the Little Falls, 50 chains to a large chestnut tree marked as before, thence North 49 degrees East 135 chains and 21 links, thence due East 144 chains, thence South 10 degrees East 450 chains to near Saddle River Bridge, thence South 19 degrees West 266 chains, thence North 51 degrees and 15 minutes West 28 chains to the place of Beginning and containing thirty- six square miles equal to six miles square.
This was the foundation of the City of Paterson, then really unknown, now recognized as one of the most impor- tant manufacturing centers in New Jersey.
PASSAIC RIVER BELOW HORSENECK BRIDGE.
PASSAIC RIVER FROM HORSENECK BRIDGE.
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The plan, however, as developed in the charter of the Society for the government of Paterson as a municipality and for the establishment of courts, was never carried out. The present town once formed a part of the old township of Acquackanonk, and was governed in the same manner as most of the other municipalities of the same character in the State. In 1831 the Legislature of New Jersey set off Paterson from its old neighbor, under whose rule the in- habitants of the new town had been restive for many years.
VIEW IN EASTSIDE PARK, PATERSON. Photo by Vernon Royle, Paterson
The Society, unfortunately as it seemed at the time, be- came, notwithstanding its magnificent prospects, embar- rassed and was obliged to abandon the enterprise of manu- facturing, to which its great projector had given so much thought and had made such elaborate preparations. Most unfortunately it fell into the hands of a reck -. less adventurer, a Frenchman, Major L'Enfant, who" launched out into the most extravagant undertakings, among them the laying out and digging of a ship canal from Paterson to tidewater on the Passaic River, below
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MODERN PATERSON
what is now the City of Passaic. This and other almost equally as chimerical plans undertaken by Major L'Enfant involved the Society in enormons expenses, and finally obliged its stockholders to abandon the main feature of the enterprise for establishing manufactures. The plan. how- over, had taken deep root in the minds of some of its sup- porters, and it was destined to develop into a substantial and well-grounded system. The Society had erected a small factory and had purchased a large amount of real estate, much more in extent than was needed for their pur- poses. The immense water power and the nearness of ac- cess to the great market of New York invited manufactur- ers of different kinds of products, at first mostly of cotton fabrics, but latterly of other goods, and Paterson was soon filled with a population of busy workmen and their families, who have added by their industry and thrift to the material pros- perity of this great manufactur- ing town. Many of these were of foreign birth who left their native FLAG OF HOLLAND. countries to seek employment in this Manchester of New Jersey. The various patronymies to be found in the directory of Paterson indicate the different nationalities gathered with- in its borders, but the recurrence of many other names is a sure evidence that the main element of the population is of Holland origin.
The present prosperous condition of this flourishing town is undoubtedly due to the existence of the Society for the Establishing of Useful Manufactures. It has now one hun- dred and twenty silk factories, producing as excellent fab- ries of that character as can be manufactured in any other
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country. These factories employ twenty thousand oper- atives. Besides these, many products of other kinds are manufactured, such as machinery, locomotives, and other appliances into which iron largely enters. The population of this important manufacturing city, according to the last census, is over 105,000. Among its most prominent and in- fluential citizens of to-day are many descendants of skilled workmen who were invited from Europe at the close of the eighteenth century to come to Paterson to aid in the de- velopment of the plan of the Society. They came from Eng- land, Scotland, France, and Germany, and a few from Switzerland. They remained, and they and their children, by their worth and industry, have materially aided the manufacturing interests of the whole country and to make Paterson what it is to-day.
ARE
ONE
VV.S
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CHAPTER III
BERNARD TOWNSHIP AND ITS NOTED MEN
HE PASSAIC RIVER, in its course sonthward from its rise in Morris County, near Mendham, strikes within a very few miles the northwestern corner of Bernard Township, in Somerset County. The ground changes materially from that in which the river rises. There it is marshy, although in an elevated region. Here it becomes exceedingly picturesque and beautiful. Many hills, several of almost sufficient elevation to be classed among mountains, are scattered in rich profusion, with narrow vales and a few broader valleys. Mountain brooks, some mere streamlets, shine and shimmer in the sunlight, and add grace and charm to the landscape. Most of them unite with the Passaic, but some flow into a branch of the Raritan.
Madisonville, a small hamlet, known to the immediate residents as the " Coffee House," is the first named locality reached in Somerset. Just beyond this hamlet, a short dis- tance to the southeastward, Bernardsville, one of the most inviting localities found in New Jersey, lies nestled among the hills, beautiful for situation, and presenting many at- tractions to families seeking rest and recreation during the summer. Many such have located here and more are sure to follow. The recent excellent facilities for travel afforded by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad through its Passaie and Delaware branch have encouraged this immigration, and now scattered among the valleys
-
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and on the hillsides of this romantic region are to be seen numerous dwellings, where wealth and taste have revelled in adding appliances for comfort and ornament.
Bernardsville once rejoiced in the enphonious name of Vealtown. By this name it was known during the Revolu- tion. In Bryant's History of the United States it is so called in the recital of the movements of General Lee dur- ing Washington's retreat through New Jersey. Old resi- dents in its vicinity still know it only by its ancient title,
and with some diffi- culty recog- nize its mod- ern appella- tion; they still call it by the name given to it in the long ago. 01 course, the new element A COLONIAL TEA SET OF GOLD. of population, now controlling the interests of the locality, could not toler- ate the old name and hence the change.
Nearer to the river and a short distance from Bernards- ville is Basking Ridge, another charming village spreading itself along the broad top of an elevated ridge rising sev- eral feet above the surrounding country. Basking Ridge differs greatly from Bernardsville, mostly in this respect : it is so situated that it may be compactly built, with regu- lar streets, while Bernardsville is so broken up by hills and narrow vales that it is impossible to preserve any regularity in the erection of dwellings or location of streets.
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BASKING RIDGE AND CHARLES LEE
There are four churches at Basking Ridge: a. Presbyte- rian, a Methodist, an Episcopalian, and one Roman Catho- lic. The first two congregations occupy very respectable editices, especially the Presbyterian, which is large and com. modions; the other two congregations are small and strug- gling. A noticeable fact connected with the Presbyterian organization is that, in its history, it has been honored by the ministrations of some of the most distinguished divines of that denomination, many of whom have spent long pas- torates in that particular field. Trees on each side of the main street add grace and ornament to the village. It is a busy, thriving small town, with possibilities of greater prosperity in the future. A railroad -that impelling force in securing success-now passes through the village, and it probably will prove an appliance for the growth of popu- lation and of material benefit.
Like Bernardsville, Basking Ridge is a well-known local- ity spoken of in the history of the Revolutionary War. It was here that Charles Lee, one of General Washington's corps officers, was captured during the time of the com- mander-in-chief's retreat through New Jersey before the vie- torious British army after the loss of the battles on Long Island and the capture of Forts Lee and Washington. Lee was in command of a large force at North Castle, near the Hudson. While on his retreat Washington's position be- came exceedingly dangerous, and he sent four positive orders within ten days to Lee to bring up his troops and unite them with the retreating Americans. But that ofti- ver disregarded these orders, lingered, delayed, and leis- urely marched at his own pleasure.
Lee was vainglorious, conceited, disliked Washington, and was insanely ambitions of displacing him, or at least of se- curing for himself an independent command. Sixteen days
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THE PASSAIC VALLEY
after receiving these direct commands he crossed the Hudson and moved southward with his corps, ostensibly for the pur- pose of uniting with the commander-in-chief. Nine days aft- er he began his march he was no farther than Vealtown, or Bernardsville, as it is now called. Leaving his main army there, he pushed on with his staff and about a dozen guards to Basking Ridge, where he spent the night at a tavern kept by a Mrs. White and known as " White's Tavern," still standing, somewhat altered, but not materially. A Tory liv- ing in the neighborhood, learning of his presence and rest- ing place, rode twenty miles the same night that Lee arrived to a British scouting party, whose commander, with a small squad of men, hurried to Basking Ridge, reaching that place at ten o'clock the next morning. Lee was still dawdling away his precious time and was captured. Placed on horse- back, his arms pinioned, his legs tied under the animal, he was conducted in this ignominious manner to the British headquarters and detained as a prisoner of war. He was aft- erward exchanged and returned to the army to renew his ambitious designs against Washington and repeat his treason, committed in March, 1777, when he furnished a plan of campaign to the British officers, pledging his life that it would so isolate Washington from his other commands that he could easily be captured and thus end the war in the en- tire subjugation of the colonies. Lee was at the battle of Monmouth, where he was reprimanded by the commander- in-chief. He was afterward retired from the army and died in obsenrity.
William Alexander, who claimed to be the rightful heir to the title and estates of the Earldom of Stirling in Scot- land, and who is called Lord Stirling in the history of the day, was a resident at one time in the Township of Bernard, near Basking Ridge. His father had purchased a large
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LORD STIRLING
traet of land in Somerset County. The son had utilized part of this purchase for a residence, and had formed ont of it one of the most elegant country seats in New JJer- soy, fitting it up with all the appliances of the times for comfort and convenience. He built on it a large and com- modious mansion, with garden and grounds attached, filled with fruit trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and had added a park stocked with deer, and stables with blooded horses and cattle of _approved breeds. The edifice used as a dwelling was standing until sometime in the second quar- ter of the nineteenth century, but the grounds, garden, and well appointed stables have disappeared.
William Alexander always wrote his name " Stirling," disregarding his first name, Hirling William, and his patronymic, Alexander, after the style of English noblemen. His signa- ture, " Stirling Maj'r Genl.," in bold characters, is still preserved at Washington among the records of the great struggle. Ile was the son of James Alexander, a lawyer of great distinction practicing at New York, and a Scotchman who came to this country early in the eighteenth century, fleeing from his native land to escape mimishment for his active exertions in the cause of the Pretender. This James Alexander was one of the counsel in the celebrated Eliza- bethtown Bill in Chancery and prepared the bill in that CallSe.
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William Alexander, Lord Stirling, was born in New York, where his father was practicing. He espoused the patriotic cause soon after the struggle began between the mother country and the colonies. He was very much attached to Washington, became distinguished as an officer in the army, and rose to the rank of major-general. He was present and took a prominent part in the battles of Long Island and other contests, especially at Monmouth, where he com- manded one of the wings of the army and aided greatly in the success of that decisive conflict.
Lord Stirling's sister had married William Livingston, first Gov- ernor of the State of New Jersey, and his daughter, "Lady Kit- ty," as she was called, was married July 27, 1779, with great festivi- ties at the Stirling man- sion, to William Duer, JAMES ALEXANDER. a colonel in the Revolu- tionary army, and was the ancentress of the Duer family which afterward became so conspicuous in the social and political circles of New York. The elder daughter, known at the time as " Lady " Mary, had married Robert Watts, a prominent citizen of New York.
The wedding of Lady Kitty and Colonel Duer was cele- brated with unusual pomp and ceremony. A large number of army officers were present. The actual ceremony took
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ANDREW KIRKPATRICK
place on the lawn under a cedar tree in the presence of a large concourse of people. Lord Stirling was a bounteons host, and on this occa- sion he spared no ex- pense in providing for the entertainment of his numerous guests. Wine flowed in abundance, a whole ox was roasted, and the other refresh- ments were equally lav- ish.
Bernard Township has been prolific in its great men, who have added lustre to the his- tory of the State, and some of whom became MRS. JAMES ALEXANDER. conspicuous in the national councils of the republic.
SPERO MELIORA Andrew Kirkpatrick, who adorned the bench of the Supreme Court as one of its associate justices and as its chief justice for so many years, was born near Basking Ridge. His family claimed descent from Scottish nobility. A representative of it came to New Jersey in 1736, from Belfast, Ireland. He was, however, a Scotchman by birth, and removed in 1725 from his native LIVINGSTON ARMS. country to treland. He and his family wandered from New Castle in Delaware, where they first landed in this country, through Pennsylvania to Mine
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Brook, about two miles west from Basking Ridge. The site for a dwelling was well chosen. It was picturesque, romantic, and beautiful, but also well calculated for the support of a family. Near the chosen spot a spring of pure water gushed out of the ground by the side of the stream, affording an abundant and never failing supply of that nec- essary element. Enough water flowed in Mine Brook and the lay of the ground was such that a mill could easily and well be supplied with power. Before them and around them, on every side, spread out a meadow of virgin soil, rich and fertile and luxuriant in its native growth. The hills in the imme- diate neighborhood were covered with choice timber.
The sturdy Scotch family grew in numbers and prospered. An- drew, a lineal descendant of Alexander, the original settler in New Jersey, was born Febru- ary 17, 1756. His father was a strong-willed Scotch Presbyte- rian who believed in implicit ANDREW KIRKPATRICK. obedience by son to father. An older brother of Andrew, the future chief justice, was a clergyman, and the father destined his younger son to the same holy calling. So the young man early in life entered upon an educational career preparatory to his assuming the dignity of a clergyman. He was graduated from Prince- ton College, and then spent six months in the study of di- vinity with the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, a Presbyterian clergy- man. But the young man did not believe that he was fitted for a minister of the gospel, and he refused to proceed any
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ANDREW KIRKPATRICK
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