USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > The history of Newark, New Jersey : being a narrative of its rise and progress, from the settlement in May, 1666, by emigrants from Connecticut to the present time, including a sketch of the press of Newark, from 1791 to 1878 > Part 21
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199
FIRST "ST. PATRICK'S DAY" IN NEWARK.
would never consent to sit for his portrait, though urged repeatedly. No picture of his is known to exist. On the day of his funeral an attempt was made to photograph the features and form as they lay in St. John's in the embrace of death, but the darkness of the church defeated the design. The funeral services took place in St. John's, on Friday, July 27th, 1866, and were very imposing. There were sixty clergymen present, including Archbishop John Mc- Closkey (now Cardinal), Bishop Bacon, of Portland, and Bishop Bayley, who preached the funeral sermon. In his discourse, Bishop Bayley said Father Moran was never a strong, rugged man, but permitted nothing to interfere with the performance of his duty. " His body fainted, but his heart, never."
Coming back to our main theme, we find that the earliest Irish settlers in Newark were mostly employed at coach-making, hatting and in the quarries. They increased rapidly from 1828 to 1836, when, as already explained, the number was greatly decreased by the financial troubles, &c. The first St. Patrick's Day celebration. was held March 17, 1834. There was a procession, in which seventy-six members of the Hibernia Provident Society (incorporated in 1835), took part ; and at night there was a banquet at the South Ward Hotel, then kept by John O'Donnell. When prosperous times returned so did the Irish who had left Newark in consequence of the panic of 1837. The increase of their nationality became very rapid from about the year 1842. Whilst among the first ones of their race to settle here, there were no men of exceptional genius, ability or distinction ; as a class they were esteemed and respected as useful, industrious, law-abiding citizens. It used to be said of the English who were " planted " in Ireland during the Cromwellian settlement, that, fascinated with the manly and generous customs of the natives, they became more Irish than the Irish themselves. In like manner, it may be remarked that the Irish settlers here readily and eagerly became as thoroughly imbued with American ideas, habits and customs, as the Americans themselves. Whether they came from the legendary region of the Giant's Causeway, the " sweet vale of Avoca," the Round Towers or Killarney's lovely lakes; from the Wicklow hills or the vicinage of the famed field of Clontarf; from the shores of the historic Boyne or from "glorious Londonderry ; from heroic Limerick, the noble Shannon-coursed "City of the Violated Treaty," or "Sweet Cork," with its immortalized " Bells
200
THE GERMAN POPULATION.
of Shandon"; from the "Groves of Blarney," or the hills and valleys of "Royal Tipperary"; from Atlantic-bound Galway or Dublin, the scene at -once of Ireland's shame and glory, of Grattan's Grecian-like eloquence and young Emmet's sublime courage and patriotism-in a word, from whatever part they came, the sons and daughters of Erin, once here, became Americans in the fullest and proudest sense of the title, ever ready to bear its burdens and its duties, in peace or in war, and with a spirit and an alacrity inferior to none, not even to the descendants of the proto emigrants-those who came over in the Mayflower and landed on Plymouth Rock. Long before the Irish had any considerable representation in Newark, their illustrious countryman, Henry Grattan, had uttered the eloquent and prophetic apostrophe, which, beyond doubt, greatly influenced hitherward the Irish people :
" AMERICA ! the only hope of Ireland, and the only refuge of the liberties of mankind!"
Turning from the consideration of the germs of one important portion of Newark's population, we proceed to trace from its infancy another large and influential part-the German population. We have seen that in 1835, according to Pierson's Directory, corroborated by our own recent investigations, there were only about three hundred Germans in Newark. In 1830, as the author has been informed by a German citizen who came here then and is still living, there were about half-a-dozen of his countrymen then resident in Newark. In 1833, according to another reliable German still living, the number had increased to about seventy-five. The best known of these were Gotthardt Schmidt, George Rothe, Balthazar and Philip J. Krummeich, William Bauer, Johann Jacob Kraucr, Michael Kiesele, Gustav Bachmeyer, Rochus Heinisch, Philip Helmlinger, Jacob Hundertpfund, Andrew Schlecht, Jacob Widmer and Jacob Von Dannecker. The latter came to America in 1817, but not to Newark until eighteen or nineteen years later. He was an Alsatian by birth, but grew to manhood in Switzerland ; was a gardener by occupation, and owned and cultivated three and a half acres of land in East Newark, upon a portion of which now stands Hauck's brewery. His second wife-whom he married when she was quite young-still survives, and lives on property purchased by her husband in Orange street, near Broad. Gotthardt Schmidt and his brother George served under the great Napoleon, and used to relate
201
SCHILLING'S " SORCERESS"-THE SCHALKS.
marvellous stories of "hair.breadth 'scapes " and camp life in the Napoleonic wars. They were here about 1830. Philip J. Krum- meich was here about the same time, and still lives upon property in Canal street, purchased by his family from Postmaster Pruden Alling. William Bauer dwelt in a small frame house, situated on what is the sidewalk of the northeast corner of Rector street. He was the first to sell beer here-a weak imitation of lager-beer, obtained in New York. In Bauer's place of a Sunday almost the entire German population used to gather, and, over large glasses of small-beer, recall interesting memories of the Vaterland. Wilhelm Schilling is said to have brewed the first small-beer in Newark, on the property in William street subsequently leased by the late Dr. Christopher Eyrich. From William street Schilling moved to Walnut street. His brewing in the new place was attended with an amusing incident. The beer had an unaccountably queer taste. In vain the brewer tried to discover the cause. He began to believe that his place was bewitched; some sorceress exercised an evil influence upon the brewing, he said. One day an employe found floating in the well, whence was drawn the water supply, a large piece of soap. He sought Mr. Schilling. With a merry twinkle in his eye he said, holding up the soap: "Here, boss-here is the 'sorceress !'"
It is said that the first genuine lager-beer manufactured here was brewed in the old Franklin factory on High street, under the superintendence of a Brau-meister named Stahl, who was brought here from Nuremberg by some speculative capitalists in New York. Not long afterwards, however, Stahl left Newark. He was a fine- looking man, married a rich widow, and went South with her to manage a plantation which she owned. The first to establish the present extensive and highly important lager-beer brewing business, not alone of Newark but of New Jersey, were the Schalks. In 1849 John Nepomuc Schalk, a native of Moesskirch, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, came here and purchased from a Mr. Kirchof property on the corner of Napoleon street and Hamburg place. Here was started, with a beginning of twelve bushels of malt, the great brewery which, under the conduct of Adolph and Hermann Schalk, sons of John N., has achieved a reputation extending beyond the United States. Five or six years after establishing the business, the elder Schalk retired from its control and, with his wife,
202
PATRIOTS OF '48 AND '49-LEHLBACH.
returned to Germany, leaving his sons in full ownership of the brewery. It now occupies a large tract of land in Freeman street, between Bowery and Ferry streets. According to chemical analysis and other high authority, the quality of beer brewed by the Schalks is equal, if not superior, to the best manufactured even in Germany.
As it was with the Irish, so it was with the Germans. Once the children of the land of Luther, of Guttenberg, of Goethe, of Schiller, of Mendelssohn, of Mozart, of Handel and of Beethoven, began to come and establish homes in Newark, the influx of German emigra- tion increased in volume, until soon the few hundreds swelled into many thousands. What was vainly sought by those engaged in the disastrous Revolutionary outbreaks of 1848 and '49, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in Rhenish Bavaria, and elsewhere in Germany, was found by many of them in Newark. The brave and noble spirits who, at Berlin and at Vienna, at Frankfort and at Carlsruhe, at Offenbourg and at Munich, at Waghaeusel and at Rastadt, battled heroically in the great cause of popular rights as against the arrogant assumptions and aggressions of princes, discovered here a secure refuge and an abiding place for Liberty, just as had the founders of the town many generations before under circumstances not widely dissimilar. The number of German refugees who came and established homes in Newark was very considerable, and included half a score or more of those highly distinguished among their compatriots. Of these it is fitting that special mention should be made. Owing to the difficulty of obtain- ing reliable information, it is not proposed to do more than give brief sketches of them, and the order in which they are placed is not intended to indicate their relative merit or rank. It is not inappropriate that a man after the mould of Emerson, of Caldwell and of Macwhorter should be given precedence-another patriot- pastor.
Rev. FREDERICK AUGUST LEHLBACH, long the revered pastor of the German Evangelical Protestant Church in Mulberry street, was among the most prominent of the refugees. He was born at Ladenburg, Baden, in 1805, and was educated at Heidelberg and Halle. From 1832 to 1841 he was pastor of a church at Neunstetten. After that he took charge of a large parish in Heiligkreuzsteinach, and while there was several times chosen by the people as their representative in the Baden Legislature-the "Second Chamber."
203
HOLLINGER-UMBSCHEIDEN.
Upon the expulsion of the Grand Duke and the declaration of Baden as a Republic, Pastor Lehlbach was chosen a member of the Constituante, or Constitutional Assembly, by several Districts, but he accepted the election from his old District, Weinheim. Upon the collapse of the Revolution, he fled to Strasburg, was sentenced to fifteen years' solitary imprisonment, and, in November, 1849, came to this country. He had been in New York only a few days when he visited Newark, and settled here as pastor of the Mulberry street German Church. For a quarter of a century this estimable man maintained an exalted reputation here as a teacher of Christianity, and as an exemplar of morals. It was truly said of him when he died, on September 11th, 1875, that he was a man of advanced thought, and a fearless and zealous advocate of civil and religious liberty. He took a prominent part in educational and progressive measures, and was one of the founders of the Green street German- English school, the German Hospital and kindred charitable institutions.
. CONRAD HOLLINGER was also a native of the Grand Duchy of Baden, his birth-place being Waldshut. He began life as a clerk in a Freiburg bookstore, and subsequently studied law. In the early days of the Revolutionary movement he took advanced views in favor of it, and by his pen made himself so conspicuous that when the outbreak came he was seized and thrown into prison, and because of his many offences as a political "incendiary" was sentenced to terms aggregating one hundred years. After 133 days' close con- finement, however, he was liberated. He removed to Switzerland, but such was the potency of his pen that the Swiss Government considered his room preferable to his company, and compelled him to remove elsewhere. He came to this country in 1850, and the following year took up his residence in Newark. For a time he edited a humorous German paper called Der Nachbar (The Neigh- bor), and in 1856 founded the New Jersey Volksmann. He was a witty and an able writer, a most genial gentleman, and was greatly esteemed by his countrymen. He died March 26th, 1870.
FRANZ UMBSCHEIDEN was another of the brave 1848 patriots. He was born at Gruenstadt, in Rhenish Bavaria, and studied law and political economy at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich. He was a fluent speaker and writer, and when the Revolutionary movement began, he traveled from place to place delivering powerful
204
UMBSCHEIDEN AND THE TOWN TREASURER.
speeches in its favor. In the course of an oration delivered upon the cruel execution of Robert Blum, the brave German patriot, he used language of so ardent and impassioned a description, and so fiercely revolutionary in sentiment, that he had to fly to Strasburg, then a French city. There he remained until the Revolution fairly broke out in Rhenish Bavaria, when he returned and took an active part in it. He was made Major and Adjutant General on the staff of General Blenker, who is said to have served in Greece with Marco Bozzaris against the Turks in 1824. Major Umbscheiden was present at the occupation of Worms and the storming of the fortress of Landau. He subsequently served as Civil Commissioner, and was with General Franz Sigel in Baden. Upon the dispersion of the Revolutionists Umbscheiden fled to Switzerland, and while away was sentenced to death. One of the principal charges urged against him was that he laid violent hands on the public funds. It appears that, as Civil Commissioner, he ordered the Treasurer of a certain town to hand over for the use of the Revolutionists the funds in his possession. He demurred, but was brought to terms by. Umbscheiden, who threatened to fusillade him. Even in Switzer- land Major Umbscheiden was obliged to secrete himself in a hut in the mountains. While here he was overcome with illness, which resulted in a serious loss of hearing. Subsequently, for a time, he maintained himself as a private tutor, but in 1852 was ordered to leave Switzerland, as in the case of Hollinger. In May, of the same year, he arrived in Newark, and resided here up to the time of his death, December 13, 1874. At first he taught languages here, being a most accomplished linguist, and contributed to German papers in New York. In 1860 he became city editor of the New Yorker Staats Zeitung. Some years afterwards he returned to the Newark press and became associated with Hollinger in editing the Volksmann. He became its editor after Hollinger's death. " He was an educated gentleman, an able writer, and a genial and affectionate friend."
Dr. LOUIS GREINER was another of the refugees who, in the Vaterland, sacrificed the brightest personal prospects for the cause of the people. Like his compatriot, Umbscheiden, he was a graduate of Heidelberg and Munich Universities. He became Professor of Jurisprudence in the University of Munich, and therefrom received the degree of Doctor of Laws. Very early
205
GREINER-ZIEGLER-CAMERER.
he became convinced that the best system of government was that which would be purely pro bono publico, and when the issue was made between the rights of the people and the assumptions of the princes, he unhesitatingly threw his influence and his destiny with the people. He was one of the five persons who established a Provisional Republican form of government in Rhenish Bavaria. His zeal and ability in this direction secured to him, when the Revolution was overthrown and the princes had triumphed, the sentence of death. Through the affections of the people, however, his prison bars were broken, and he came to this country in 1851. Two years afterwards he settled in Newark, and was admitted to the Bar of Essex County. At one time he took quite an active part in American politics, and, up to the time of his death, which occurred October 25th, 1874, worthily bore the reputation of a high-minded, honorable and useful citizen.
CHARLES T. ZIEGLER, who still enjoys robust health and the esteem of his fellow-citizens of Newark, is yet another of the Baden political fugitives. At the time of the breaking out of the Revolution he was the legal adviser of the city of Carlsruhe, his home. By virtue of this office he was also a member of the Common Council, and, being an enthusiastic adherent of the popular cause, was appointed to the office of Civil Commissioner. In the city and vicinity he was clothed with powers somewhat similar to those exercised by sheriffs in this country. In all the important military and other councils held at Carlsruhe by the Revolutionists and the officers under General Mieroslawski (the Polish commander of the insurrectionary forces until after the first disastrous engagement with the Prussians, when General Franz Sigel was given command), Commissioner Ziegler was an active participant. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, but found his way to Switzerland, and, shortly afterwards, to America, settling in Newark. Like Greiner, he was admitted to the Bar, and still practices his profession.
AUGUST CAMERER, a townsman of Ziegler's, and likewise a city officer of Carlsruhe-he held the position of City Surveyor- is another notable surviving member of the Newark colony of German political refugees. During the Revolution, he was Commissioner of Supplies for his District. and a member of the committee charged with providing for the welfare of the people
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206
QUICK-WITTED FRAU CAMERER-FRIDOLIN ILL.
(Wohlfahrts-Ausschuss). Acting as Commissioner of Supplies, he was sent from Carlsruhe with supplies for General Sigel's army, then at Heidelberg. On the way back, in company with a small force of men, Commissioner Camerer was captured by the enemy and imprisoned in the Castle of Kisslau, situated between Carls- ruhe and Heidelberg. He was tried and found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. After serving nine months his health gave way, so that the Government was persuaded to liberate him until his physical condition might be restored. Instead of waiting for this and finishing his sentence, he fled to America. At the time of Camerer's capture, there were in his house at Carlsruhe a number of important papers. These, if secured by the Government, would have seriously compromised many persons who had escaped molestation. Camerer, luckily, had a quick-witted wife. Upon being early advised of her husband's arrest, she collected the dangerous papers and set fire to them. Soon after, when officers took possession of the house, they searched in vain, of course. Frau Camerer had stolen a march on them.
Dr. FRIDOLIN ILL, another resident survivor of the refugees, and a native of Ueberlingen, was drawn into the Revolutionary movement when he was in his twenty-seventh year, and had just fairly started in the medical profession with bright prospects. Before the Revolution broke out he was an assistant physician in an asylum for the insane, and was among the first to cast his fortunes with the popular cause, and, with others already named,. was present at the first assembly of Revolutionists in Offenburg. He was appointed Civil and Military Commissioner of the District of Ueberlingen1. With the great majority of his compatriots, he aimed, at first, not for a Republic. He desired liberty and unity and the acknowledgment by the princes of the constitution adopted by the Popular Assembly (Reichsversammlung) at Frankfort. He was among those who approved the offer to the then King of Prussia, Frederick Wilhelm, of the Imperial Crown of United Germany ; a dignity that monarch was not willing to accept from the people whatever he might have done had the princes proffered it. When disaster cruelly upset the plans of the insurrectionary leaders, Dr. Ill fled with others, and, in July, 1851, found his way to Newark, where he has prospered in the practice of his profession, and
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207
MEYER-SCHUIFFNER-BALBACH.
continues to enjoy the highest respect of his countrymen and citizens generally. He was sentenced to six years' penal servitude for the part he bore in the Revolution.
Dr. GALLUS MEYER, who died some years ago in Newark, was likewise a leader of the Revolutionists. Before the outbreak he held some position in the University of Heidelberg, under the celebrated Professor Max Joseph Chelius, recently deceased. He also was at the Offenbourg convention, representing Heidelberg in it, and was an ardent advocate of Revolution. With the others, after serving in the Revolutionary army as a physician, he fled and found a home here.
Dr. EMIL SCHUIFFNER was still another of the active spirits in the German Revolutionary movement who sought safety and a home in Newark. He was born at a place called Mittweyda, in Saxony, and was a lawyer and judge there for several years before the Revolution broke out. While yet a student he belonged to the " Haut Veute Universelle," a Revolutionary association which from Paris had spread all over France, Italy and part of Germany. In the insurrectionary movement of 1848 Schuiffner became an ardent disseminator of Revolutionary and Republican doctrines, through the columns of a semi-weekly paper which he published in Saxony. He took part in a number of popular meetings, and was ultimately chosen an alternate member of the Reichsversammlung, at Frankfort, the regular member being Ludwig Erbe, of the City of Altenburg, and now a Federal officer in the City of New York. The real cause of Dr. Schuiffner's flight, which took place in the summer of 1850, was not his connection with the 1848 movement, but his participa- tion in the Dresden insurrection afterwards. Upon settling in Newark the Doctor became a member of the Bar of Essex County, and still practices his profession.
ARTHUR BALBACH, a brother of Edward Balbach, the well-known Newark smelter and refiner, was a captain in the regular army of Baden, but, having imbibed copiously at the eternal fount of popular rights and liberties, joined the insurrectionists, and was appointed Military Commander of the sea-coast District (See Kreis). He came to America in 1851, and, thanks to his topographical knowledge and engineering skill, was commissioned by the United States Government to make surveys along the Gulf coast-principally along the coast of Florida. Upon the inauguration of President
208
CONRAD KATZENMAYER.
Lincoln, in 1861, Captain Balbach was in Washington in command of a force of volunteers organized to suppress apprehended disorders. But for the breaking down of his health, it is believed that he would have inscribed his name on the record of the Civil War in letters not less conspicuous than those forming the names of Sigel, Heintzelmann, and others of his countrymen. He died a number of years ago.
CONRAD KATZENMAYER was likewise a conspicuous figure among the refugees who found homes in this neighborhood. He was a native of Constanz, Baden, and was born in 1802. He was educated "at the college in his native city and afterwards at Freiburg Univer- sity. In 1832 he was elected City Clerk of Constanz. This position he held until 1849. In the movements of that year and the one preceding it he took a very active part on the side of the Revolutionists. He was chosen Civil Commissioner. When the Revolutionary army was defeated, and on the retreat to Switzer- land, it moved by way of Constanz. It having been rumored that the people of Reichenau, an island in the Bodensce, intended to cut off the retreat, Katzenmayer was sent with a small force of sharpshooters, in boats, to ascertain the truth or falsity of the rumor. On landing, Katzenmayer moved forward alone, leaving his force in the boats, and had an interview with the Burgermeister of the place. He was received cordially, and assured of the falsity of the rumor. Meanwhile, some anti-Revolutionists gathered and threat- ened to lynch Katzenmayer. Soon after, a captain of gens d'armes appeared, and, pointing two pistols at Katzenmayer's head, compelled him to surrender. He was marched off to the camp of the enemy. General Shaeffer, of the Hessian force, ordered him to be imprisoned, and intimated that short work would be made with him. For a long time it was undecided whether he would be tried by a court-martial or by civil court. The circumstance that he entered the island unarmed and alone saved him from court-martial and certain death. He was handed over to the civil authorities, and, after an investigation lasting over thirteen months, during which time he was in jail (no bail being accepted), he was sentenced to ten years' confinement in State's prison. This sentence, on appeal, was commuted to six years' imprisonment. After serving for eleven months in the State's prison at Freiburg, he was pardoned by the intervention of the then Prince of Baden, the present Grand
209
ON BENDED KNEES IMPLORING MERCY.
Duke, the condition being that Katzenmayer would forever leave his native land. The Prince was moved to this act of clemency by the piteous supplication of the wife of the patriot. On bended knees she appeared before him and pleaded for her husband's release. In the year 1851 Katzenmayer emigrated with his family to this country. Until 1855 he lived in New York, and from there he removed to Orange, where he resided up to the time of his death -- July, 1868. All who knew him honored and respected him for his honesty, integrity and outspoken opinions, and for his uprightness and steadfast adherence to principles.
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