USA > New York > Rockland County > History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 40
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THE PRESS IN HAVERSTRAW.
The first newspaper in this town was the North River Palladium. It was started in January 1829. It was a small double sheet, and at the head of the first column appeared " Printed by Ezekiel Burroughs in West street at the head of North, near the Post-office." The only copy of this paper known to be in existence is Vol. 1, No. 24, dated July 9th 1829. It is now in the possession of Rev. Dr. Freeman, of Haverstraw. This paper con- tinued but a short time.
The next paper was the Rockland Register. It was started in 1829, and was owned by John Taylor Smith, a grandson of Thomas Smith, of "Treason Hill." He was at one time sheriff of the county. He started this paper to aid him in his efforts to be elected meniber of Congress. It was under the editorship of Ezekiel Bur- roughs, but after the election, in which Mr. Smith, the owner, was defeated, it was changed to the Rockland Gazette.
On the north side of the road from Haverstraw to Ramapo, opposite the house of the heirs of David Burns, is a small piece of land, which was donated by Colonel David Burns, father of the Inte owner, for a burial place of those who had none of their own. It is In 1833, a paper, called the Rockland Advertiser, was established by John Douglass, and the next year the two papers were united under the title of Rockland Advertiser and Family Gasette. It lasted a few years and was dis- continued. said that the ancestor of the famous Lorillard family is buried there, but nothing marks his place of repose. It is also stated that Thomas Smith, who owned the land in Haverstraw village between Main and South streets, is lying there. Many years since, some occupant of the In 1834, another paper, called the North River Times, was started by Alexander H. Wells, but soon came to an end. land, unmoved by any feeling of sentiment, took up all the stones and put them in the wall around the lot. The only remaining one bears the inscription: " Phebe Smith. The Rockland County Messenger was begun by Robert Marshall, May 17th 1846. He continued it till 1852 when he sold it to its present owner, Robert Smith. Mr. died April 19th 1803." The remark of Father Taylor, that if the evil spirit did not get some people, it was of no use to have any evil spirit, applies with peculiar Smith was born at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumber-
23 -
Daniel. R. Wood
176
HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
land, England, August 29th 1806. At the age of twelve he began a seven years' term of apprenticeship in the printing business, and afterward worked as journeyman in various places in England. He came to this country, in 1828, and worked in several offices in New York. He came to Haverstraw in 1852. The Messenger is the lead- ing paper of the town and is the organ of the Democratic party.
The Sentinel was begun in April : 883 . It was printed the outside, in New York, the inside at Nyack. This was continued till April 1SS4, when an office was hired and a press set up at Haverstraw. It is a strong advocate of temperance and of local reform. The editor in chief is Rev. Richard Harcourt, of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
FIRE DEPARTMENT OF HAVERSTRAW.
On Sunday evening, January 22d 1854, Rev. Dr. Free- man was delivering an address from the pulpit, when one of his audience hearing an alarm, stepped out, and, im- mediately returning, almost raised a panic in the church by exclaiming, "We're all on fire!" As the Doctor de- scribes it, "There was a sudden vision of coat tails flying out behind, and a precipitous retreat of men, women and children, and finding myself standing in the pulpit facing empty seats, I concluded to suspend the services without the benediction." The cause of the alarm was the burn- ing of a barn, belonging to George E. De Noyelles, and the loss was estimated to be $2,500. This event caused the citizens of Haverstraw to. consider the necessity of being better prepared against the attacks of the dread element, and the following somewhat exciting notice was issued January 26th 1854:
"FIRE! FIRE !! FIRE !!!
" Citizens of Haverstraw, will you meet with us on Sat- urday evening next, January 28th, at the Ball room of the American Hotel, and assist us in raising an amount of money sufficient to purchase the necessary apparatus for a Hook and Ladder Company?
"James Creney, Samuel Cosgrove, Samson Marks, John Begg, John Felter, C. P. Hoffman, J. D. Bostwick, Jacob Allison, Alfred Hazard, Robert Smith."
The meeting was a success. A sufficient fund was raised to purchase the necessary apparatus, and the Res- cue Hook and Ladder Company was organized as fol- lows: Foreman, Asbury De Noyelles; assistant foreman, James Creney; secretary, James King; treasurer, I. W. Edwards; steward, Lewis R. Mackey. Members: Sam- uel A. Ver Valen, Daniel C. Springsteen, Harman Felter, Edward Felter, William Felter, John Begg, Jolin Felter, Isaiah Milburn, John Jones, I. Weiant Edwards, William R. Lane, William Sedell, John Gaines, Theodore Polhe- mus, William B. McLauren, Edgar Freeman, George E.
John Cosgrove, Denton Fowler, Phillip Schoonmaker, Bradley Keesler, Matthew Gurnee, James Creney jr.
The cost was: For truck and ladders, $225; freight, &c., $13.64; axes, $11.75; total, $252.39.
The first chance to exhibit the usefulness of the com. pany was at the burning of a barn at Garnerville, on September 5th 1854. The village authorities had, on the 24th of April, voted $1,200 for a fire engine and hose carriage, and 400 feet of hose, and early in September the Rockland County Messenger published the following announcement: " Just as we go to press, this splendid machine, with hose carriage attached, is passing our of- fice on its first journey through our street." This, and the uniformed company belonging to it, rather eclipsed the glory of the old " Rescue." The latter had incurred a debt which they were unable to pay, and as a last re- sort, in April, 1859, the apparatus was transferred to the village authorities, who assumed the liabilities of the company. In July, 1862, the company was reorganized, and adopted a new uniformn. That the members were not all strict teetotalers, we conclude from an entry in the minutes of a meeting held at Larry Conkling's Hotel: " On motion, Resolved that the Treasurer put up at the bar for the benefit of the Landlord." It is quite unnec- essary to state that it was "adopted unanimously." The fires of patriotism evidently burned in their bosoms, for in 1867 a resolution was passed appointing a committee to procure a "life size portrait of the Father of his Country." After reporting progress for a year, the por- trait was procured, and it now graces the walls of the " Rescue " parlor. A while after this, by a vote of the tax payers of the village, a suitable building was erected, and it is now occupied by the company. Since the or- ganization of the company, there have been 42 fires, and they have been present on duty at all but one. Since the organization, 149 persons have been enrolled, of which 21 are deceased. This, the oldest fire company in Haverstraw, is still in existence.
General Warren Company, No. 1 .- The next organiza- tion after the " Rescue Hook and Ladder " was Hand Engine Company " Warren No. 1." This company was organized May 15th 1854, with the following list of members:
G. S. Myers, foreman; H. Ver Valen, S. F. Requa, E. M. Farrington, W. W. Oldfield, G. W. Bullis, D. De No- yelles, J. H. Miller, W. Searsby, G. W. Snedeker, G. An- derson, H. Stagg, W. Schank, S. G. Newman, S. Fowler, C. Ward, P. Schoonmaker, N. De Groat, H. Jones, J. Glassy, J. Wescoot, T. Brannan, T. Murphy, R. Mack- eral. W. H. Ferdon, John Phillips, James Serat, Michael Flynn, L. F. Williker.
This company continued in good condition till 1881, when, through some difficulty among its members, it was disbanded by the Board of Trustees. A few weeks after, lowing officers and members, all in connection with it at the present time: Fred Glassing jr., foreman; John Bra- ham, assistant foreman; Joseph Albert, secretary; Chris Myers, treasurer; Jacob Hahn, steward; Fred Mardon,
De Noyelles, Lewis S. Whitaker, Edward Peck, Silas G. it was reorganized (December 13th 1881), with the fol- Mackey, Matthew Rose, Aaron E. Milburn, Garret S. Storms, James Glassy, Jackson Rose, James Hazard, Jacob Allison, John P. Jersey, Theodore Fredericks, Stephen Fields, Abram D. Ver Valen, Nathaniel Cooper,
£
177
HAVERSTRAW-FIRE DEPARTMENT-LODGES.
Chris Spissenger, Henry Rembe. E. P. Burd, Joseph Dennis, Terrence McGowan, John Siebold, Joseph Smith, George Stark, Henry Hahn, Jacob Hahn, John Lunken- heimer, Jacob Hafele, J. S. Kauder, Charles Helbig, Wil- liam Smith, Fred Keiser, William Fox, H. Goldstein.
Lady Warren Company, Steam Fire Engine .- The means for protecting the village against fire were ren- dered almost complete by the organization of the above company in July 1869. The company was reorganized February 20th 1871, and a steam fire engine was pro- cured. This engine was rebuilt and improved in 1876, and it is exceedingly efficient.
List of first members: James H, Fleming, foreman; Timothy Hargaden, Patrick W. Redmond, Thomas Reil- ley, John Hoey, John McGovern, John Conley, John O'Brien, Thomas Burke, George Ward, Anthony Schmidtz, Michael Toppin, Timothy Byrnes, Patrick Sliney, Mi- chael Kelly, Thomas Sheridan, John Reilly, James O'Bri- en, Thomas Nolan, Peter McCabe, Thomas McCauley.
Present members: Thomas F. Clarke, John T. Hoey, John Shankey, Thomas McGowan, Terrence Brady, Pat- rick Phelan, Patrick J. Hogan, James Cahill, Philip Fox, Henry Horan, Thomas Finegan, James Rinn, John Ho- ran, Frank Donnelly, Richard Murphy, John Peters, Ed- ward Coffey.
Triumph Hose Company .- This company was organized at a special meeting of the Board of Engineers, Septem- ber 11th 1878, with the following officers and members: Daniel De Groot, foreman; John Bernhart, assistant fore. man; Henry F. Dorl, secretary; John I. Cole, treasurer; Christopher Dorl, steward; Cyrillus Fredricks, George B. Wygant, Sylvester Wood, John Fredricks, Robert Bell, Charles Rockwell, William Applegate, Michael Hoffer- man, William Duryea, Warren Kingsland.
The Rescue Hook and Ladder Company has, in addi- tion to its other appliances, a first class "Babcock Fire Extinguisher," which is capable of very efficient service.
By an Act of Legislature in 1859 the members of the fire companies were authorized to elect a chief engineer and two assistant engineers.
The following is a list of the chief engineers who have been elected: Samuel A. Ver Valen, Belden Barns, John Ten Eyck, Daniel R. Lake, John A. Miller, Ornimal W. Parsons, J. Clark Conkling, Patrick Barrett, John Brohm, William Benson, Alonzo Bedell. Thomas F. Clark.
SOCIETIES.
ward I'ye; 1857, John I. Cole; 1858, - Call; 1859-6r, George S. Oldfield; 1862-64, William H. Wiles; 1865, Stephen G. Newman; 1866-68, L. V. E. Robinson; 1869, Charles H. Briggs; 1870, 1871. A. Edward Suffern; 1872, 1873, Charles H. Briggs; 1874, 1875, Ornimal W. Par- sons; 1876, 1877, Alonzo Wheeler; 1878, A. Edward Suffern; 1879-SI, Luther O. Markham; 1882, Ornimal W. Parsons; 1883, Luther O. Markham.
The following are the present officers: Luther O. Markham, master; Hart B. Hargreaves, senior warden; William T. Purdy, junior warden; Ornimal W. Parsons, treasurer; Charles H. Newman, secretary; Silas G. Mackey, marshal; Heman B. Mckenzie, chaplain; J. Bennet Weyant, senior deacon; Andrew Jersey, junior deacon; Richard W. Oldfield, sr. master ceremonies; Du- ane F. Knapp, jr. master ceremonies; Alonzo Bedell and Isaac M. Purdy, stewards; Eugene M. Newman, organ- ist; Charles E. Abrams, tyler. Trustees, John Oldfield, James Osborne, John D. Norris.
Iona Lodge, No. 128, K. of P .- The present lodge was organized here December 7th 1874, under the name of Iona Lodge, No. 128. Alonzo Bedell, Louis Echstein, Edward Bedell, Lewis Levinson, ,Cyrillus Myers, John R. Smith, Marcus Washburn, John Gordon, Henry Hahn, George S. Myers, Eugene M. Newman, Peter Riahowe, Moses Richmond, Edward Schnohl, and Charles Sears were the charter members. The following named gen- tlemen are the present officers: Charles Zundel, C. C .; John Meyers, P. C .; Eugene B. Laird, V. C .; Leonard Cooper, M. of E .; Lewis W. King, M. of F .; William H. Wilcox, P .; John W. Freeman, K. R. S .; Chris E. Dorl, M. A .; Isaac W. Abrams, I. G .; Samuel Brooks, O. G. Present membership, 90.
Ancient Order of Hibernians .- This order was estab- lished April 5th 1882, with the following officers: Nicho- las Murphy, county delegate; William P. Bannigan, pres- ident: Thomas Finnegan, vice-president; Edward Ryan, recording secretary; Thomas Sweeny, financial secretary; James McLaughlin, treasurer. The society was orga- nized with twenty-three members. At the present time there are one hundred and twenty-five. The first parade of this society was on St. Patrick's day, 1884, at which time it appeared in full force and made an imposing ap- pearance. The present officers are: Nicholas Murphy, county delegate; John Foley, president, John Mahan, vice-president; Edward Ryan, recording secretary; John O'Connell, foreign secretary; Felix McCabe, treasurer.
Stony Point Lodge, No. 313, F. & A. M .- A lodge of HAVERSTRAW MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE. free masons was established here June 17th 1853, under the name of Stony Point Lodge, No. 313. The charter The want of a school of advanced grade was much felt in Haverstraw about the year 1852. Mr. Lewis B. Hard- castle, at that time teaching in Nyack, with a view to supply this want, and at the solicitation of Messrs. Henry M. Peck, Amos Briggs, and other Haverstraw gentlemen, purchased of Mr. George E. De Noyelles the property now known as the Mountain Institute. Having altered and enlarged the dwelling, he erected along side of it a two story school building, 25 by 50 feet. Mr. Hardcastle members were: George L. Allison, Henry Christie, Ed- ward De Noyelles, John Hunting, Samson Marks, Abram Marks, Edward Payson, Abram H. Richardson, Abram P. Stevens, and James D. Swartwout. The first officers elected were: Henry Christie, W.M .; John Hunting, S. W .; Samson Marks, J. W .; Abner H. Richmond, T .; Edward Payson, S. The following are the names of the masters of the lodge since its beginning: 1853, Henry Christie; 1854, John Hunting; 1855, Joseph P. Brower; 1856, Ed- | opened the Institute October 31st 1853, and offered, as
JAMES WOOD.
178
HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
have his successors, to teach the advanced English branches and to prepare for business or college, both day and boarding pupils.
Mr. Hardcastle was assisted on opening by Mr. C. M. Dodd, now Professor of Mathematics in Williams College, by Mr. Jamieson of Princeton College, afterwards by Mr. Dickson, now Rev. James M. Dickson, pastor of the James Wood was a native of Colchester, England, and came to this country in 1801. His portrait adorns our pages and a more extended account of his early days will be found in another place. Soon after arriving in New York he went to the village of Sing Sing and there start- Thirty-fourth street Reformed Church, New York city, and by Mr. Henry B. Millard, now an eminent physician in New York city. Miss Mary Rutherford was lady principal. Under Mr. Hardcastle the school was largely attended, and at one time was full to overflowing, but ed as a brick maker, a trade he had learned in the "Old Mr. Hardcastle's health failing, financial difficulties fol- lowed and he was compelled to relinquish the school and property in the fall of 1856.
Mr. Henry B. Millard, the assistant of Mr. Hardcastle, became his successor and continued the school till the spring of 1857, when he was followed by Mr. Luther H. Northrup, of New Haven, Connecticut, who entered on his duties May 4th.
Mr. Northrup, beginning amid the depressions of a financial crisis which was felt throughout the whole coun- try, met with varying fortune, but was especially success- ful as a teacher of music, being a superior performer on a piece of land which was on the river shore directly op- the piano and organ, and familiar with other musical in- posite the old burying ground of the De Noyelles family, and there started the first brick yard in Haverstraw. struments. He retired from the school in the fall of 1860.
Meanwhile the property had been sold by the assignees of Mr. Hardcastle to Mr. John Knapp, and by Mr. Knapp to Mr. Abraham B. Conger.
.
Mr. Lavalette Wilson, of Williams College, leased the property of Mr. Conger, reopened the institute April 16th 1861, and has remained its principal to the present time. The school, while receiving and educating- many fromn abroad, has for thirty years offered to the youth of Hav- erstraw aud vicinity the opportunities of a higher educa- tion, of which large numbers have availed themselves. Probably a large majority of the younger men now in business in Haverstraw are graduates of the Mountain Institute. It has representatives among the students or graduates of Princeton, Rutgers, Williams, and Yale Col- leges, and of Madison and New York City Universities.
THE BRICK BUSINESS OF HAVERSTRAW.
The immense beds of clay, the deposit of the tertiary period and the results of the decompositions of primary rocks in ages long since past, had long waited for the time of their development for the uses of man. The early Dutch settlers had confined their energies to the cultivation of the surface of the earth, entirely unmindful of the wealth beneath their feet, and it was reserved for the English race to develop the source of wealth which has made this town one of the most flourishing on the banks of the Hudson. The few inhabitants in the days before the Revolution had made small quantities of un- shapely bricks, sufficient for the fire-places and chimneys of their humble dwellings, but the first kiln of bricks for a regular market was made about 1810, when a company of men from Philadelphia set one up on the bank of the
Minisceongo Creek, not far from the place where the iron bridge crosses the stream. This enterprise proved a failure and was abandonded, and it remained for a man, whose skill and enterprise have laid the foundation for the wealth of Haverstraw to renew the business at a later day.
Country." He remained there a year and then went to George's Island, opposite Grassy Point, where he stayed two years and a half, then returned to Sing Sing, and re- mained till 1815, when he came to Haverstraw. The reason of his coming to this place was not only vast de- posits of clay but the apparently unlimited supply of wood which was growing in the vast forests near. Here he hired a house, yet standing, which at the time of the Revolution had been the homestead of Major Edward W. Kiers* whose dock was the only landing at Haverstraw at that time. He leased of John and Peter De Noyelles
It is a singular fact that from the time when the chil- dren of Israel labored' in the clay, under the eyes of Egyptian taskmasters, to the time when James Wood came to this town, there had been no improvement made in the business of brick making. The clay was during all that long interval trodden by human feet and mould- ed by human hands without the slightest aid from ma- chinery, and Mr. Wood was accustomed to say that " brick making was a poor man's business, as it required no capital to start with." When he set up his trade in Haverstraw the process of making brick may be thus de- scribed:
The clay and a due proportion of sand were mixed, tempered by treading with the feet, and, when properly mixed, placed in the moulds by hand. The brick moulds then used were boxes without tops or bottoms, and di vided by partitions, so as to hold the clay for three bricks lengthwise. These were placed upon a table, the clay put in them, and struck off. The mould was then drawn sideways to the edge of the table, carefully tipped on its side, and thus carried to the drying ground. In spite of all care the bricks would settle out of shape and seldom had the true outline which now distinguishes them, and as one of Mr. Wood's descendants remarked: "A cargo of them carried to New York at the present time could neither be sold nor given away."
One day a sloop ran aground near the place, and the crew coming on shore, went to the brick yark. One of them, who had been working in the business at Tarry- town, showed him how to make a mould with a bottom
*After the death of Major Kiers his heirs sold it to George Suffern, who transferred It to John Suffern, and it was sold by him to William C. Thompson, and by him to John Gardner, from whom it was bought by the De Noyelles, and is now Felix MeCabe's.
£
179
HAVERSTRAW-THE BRICK BUSINESS.
and " a vent," which was a new discovery. This was the first improvement in brick making. Soon after this he made the great discovery of his life. An Englishman of his acquaintance sent him a small quantity of anthracite coal as a sort of curiosity, Placing a portion of it on the fire he saw with surprise that it burned with an in- tense heat, but without emitting the smoke he had seen in the burning of bituminous coal. He remarked: " If that stuff will burn it will burn brick." Borrowing a pes- tle and mortar he pulverized a piece of the coal and mixed it with the clay for four bricks, and marking them, he placed them in the kiln. After the kiln was burned they were examined, and a glance showed that his exper- iment was successful. He had made a great discovery, and from that moment the business of brick making was completely revolutionized. He next tried mixing coal dust with the bricks which composed the upper layers of the kiln, and found the result to be that they were burned as hard as the rest, a thing which had never happened before. Up to that time it was impossible to make the bricks in a kiln of uniform quality. They were always divided into three classes: "Hard," "Salmon," and "Pale." The latter were soft and useless for most pur- poses, but by the new discovery they were equally burned · throughout. Another great advantage was the saving of time. It had previously taken thirteen or fourteen days to burn a kiln. The same is now done in six or seven. Like most inventors, Mr. Wood made but little by his discovery. Although he obtained a patent, his rights were infringed by others in the business, who robbed him of his justly merited profits. Among other inven- tions he contrived a machine for tempering the clay. This consisted of sections of wooden logs with a hole bored through them and placed on a shaft. Spokes about three feet in length were driven into the logs, and the whole, revolving around a central shaft, mixed the material in a more expeditious manner than the primitive method.
Mr. Wood removed to Tarrytown in 1842, and thus the town lost a citizen whose ingenuity has been the cause of its wealth and prosperity.
From that time brick making has been the principal business at Haverstraw. The enterprise soon assumed vast proportions. The land owners have, in most cases, grown rich from the materials furnished by their lands, and | that his claim to the improvement was fully sustained, the manufacturers have gained wealth from the products of their industry. The proximity of the great city has furnished a ready market, and the river is a means of com- munication that renders transportation cheap and certain.
The first brick yard after Mr. Wood's was established by the Allison family, a short distance north of the foot our limits; but the following tables will show the extent of Main street. Owners and lessees of the land near
Grassy Point quickly availed themselves of the peculiar facilities which that region afforded. The enterprise of David Munn and others rapidly developed the resources hidden beneath the surface, and the demand for laborers quickly increased the population of the village.
In 1852, a fresh impetus was added by the invention of the Automatic Brick Machine, for which the public are indebted to the skill and ingenuity of Richard A. Ver Valen. For some time previous, what was known as Hall's Improved Machine had been in use; but peculiar circumstances rendered a further improvement highly desirable. At that time the firm of Peck & Briggs had . obtained an eastern market, through schooners which came from Connecticut and Rhode Island, loaded with wood, and carried back cargoes of brick. In the old machines the clay was pressed into the moulds by a lever worked by hand, and the moulds with the bricks were drawn out of the press by the man in charge. To do this with any degree of rapidity required a combination of strength and quickness which few men possessed; and although higher wages were offered as an inducement, it was soon found that the labor was so exhausting that it could not be endured for more than a few days at a time. Another great disadvantage was the fact that to render it possible to press the clay in the moulds it must be in a condition so soft that when placed on the drying ground the bricks failed to retain their shape if exposed to any pressure. The great desideratum was to obtain a machine which would obviate these defects, and for this purpose they applied to Mr. Ver Valen as the most likely person to accomplish the desired result. After long thought he invented the machine now in use, which not only tempers the clay, but presses it into the moulds while sufficiently stiff to cause the bricks to retain their shape in the most perfect manner. A slight change in the motion shoves out the mould ready to be placed on the truck and carried to the drying field. The import- ance of the improvement was so apparent, that, during the succeeding winter, he had orders for 150 machines. The inventor of Hall's machine, conceiving this an in- fringement on his patent, commenced suits against the persons using them and also against Mr. Ver Valen. When the trial came, Mr. Ver Valen stated the case to the judge and jury in so plain and forcible a manner,
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