NOTE—The following was received from Mrs. Mathews too late to insert it

in its proper place. Mrs. Mathews thinks that the house south of Second

river was built by John Van Cortlandt (5), son of the Stephen Van

Cortlandt who married Catalina Staats. It was his grand-daughter

Elizabeth who married John Van Rensselaer in the old house.

NOTE—The inscription below was omitted from its proper place in the list

of those stones now standing in the Coeyman burial ground:—

In memory of

Christina, wife of

Anton King who

died Dec. 10, 1791,

In the 91st year

of her age.

DIVISION ROAD.

Division road, or Boot Leg lane, was merely a cross road, connecting the

River and Back roads. This followed the present lines of Grafton avenue

and Halleck street with that bit of Washington avenue which lies

between, the jog being accounted for by a hill, which it was necessary

to circumvent.

The first house built on the lane was that of James Campbell, a silk

printer by trade, who worked in the factory of his brother, Peter, in

Belleville. This was situated at the foot of the hill in what is now the

northeast corner of Washington and Grafton avenues. It was later

occupied by Mr. Kennedy, the florist. The next house was built by Mr.

William Stimis (who gives me these facts) about opposite the above on

Washington avenue.

The third house erected was that of Mr. William Tobey (Halleck street),

an Englishman who was employed in the Bird factory. Mr. Tobey is

described as a stocky man, genial, full of story and pleasant wit, and

he appears to be remembered as something of a character. The place was

added to by Morrison and Briggs, and here Charles Morrison is said to

have lived for a time. Then came Mr. Stent, the architect, who designed

the present entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The house is at present

used for beer bottling purposes. Halleck street was at one time known as

“Tobey’s” lane.

The fourth house was that of Gilbert Stimis, on the south side of

Halleck street, and the fifth and last until we come to modern times was

the Edgecombe house, erected about 1858. The family consisted of the

mother and three daughters. They are said to have come here from

Paramus.

BACK ROAD.

Mrs. Charles Holt, who is 71 years of age, recalls the time when the

Phillips farmhouse was the only house on the lower Back road, between

the cemetery and Elwood avenue, and when this stretch was known as

“Phillips’s lane”.

As Mr. James S. Taylor remembers it, the only houses along the old Back

road, as far back perhaps as 1850, were, beginning at the south:—

First, the John C. Bennett house, built in 1852, at the S. E. corner of

Chester avenue; then, almost opposite, the Miles I’Anson house, which

now stands on a knoll along the northern border of Chester avenue. Next

the Phillips homestead, on the west, just below Delavan avenue, which

has since been moved back to Summer avenue. Above this there was no

house until the bend, now known as Elwood place, was passed. Some

distance beyond here stood a small stone house on the right occupied by

an Irishman. This was probably Pat Brady, who in the fifties built just

below the present Bryant street. Pat had the reputation of being a child

of fortune. It is remembered that, while very poor, he suddenly became

well-to-do, and this was only accounted for by the fact that he might

have “found a purse”. About opposite the Brady house stood the

“Magazine” house back in the field.

Probably the next was the Thomas Coeyman (son of William, who comes

next) frame house, opposite the Elliott street school. Then came the

William Coeyman house of stone, on the left and just above the head of

Halleck street. William Stimis states that his father, John Stimis,

worked on this house, which was erected about one hundred years ago.

About half way between Irving street and Montclair avenue stood the

house of Peter Coeyman (Peter and William were sons of Minard Coeyman of

the River road). Next was the Alexander house, a long, low,

story-and-a-half frame on the left just south of Verona avenue.

Following this was the Jesse Bennett house on the S. W. corner of Verona

avenue and opposite this on a lane which probably ran to the River road

stood the Riddle house, formerly the J. F. King house. Next the house of

Benson, the miller, which still stands at the S. E. corner of Summer and

Sylvan avenues. While still further afield, toward the rising sun, stood

the house of Jonathan Bird.

The Back road, in a deed made in 1812, is called the “Drift road”, while

in 1820 it was “the road leading from Garrit Houghwort’s to Captain

Stout’s mill ‘dam’“ (present cemetery to Second river). Now this highway

of other days answers to three different names: as Lincoln avenue,

Elwood place and Summer avenue. Mr. William Phillips has heard that in

1805 this road was merely a farm lane running not further north than the

present Elwood avenue; that here it stopped at a farm, the owner of

which would not allow it to pass through his property, and presumably

this accounts for the turn at Elwood place, it being a laudable effort

to get around the obstructionist. But, as will appear a bit later,

General Anthony Wayne marched up this road in 1779, and it seems

probable that the date, 1805, is too recent.

THE “STRAWBERRY” LOT.

When we were boys the Back road began at the “Strawberry” lot, a great

ball field where the “Waverlys”, the “Newark Amateurs” and others

furnished forth many a holiday. A member of the latter was, I have

heard, the first in this neighborhood to pitch a curved ball which, in

those days, was a great event. Part of the “Strawberry” lot is still the

home of the athlete, for here the Riverside Athletic Club reigned for

many years.

RIVERSIDE ATHLETIC CLUB.

Chronologically speaking the history of the Riverside Athletic Club

belongs to the second part of this book, but this seems the best place

to dwell briefly on the subject.

The club was organized about 1882, with some twenty-five members, among

the more prominent of whom were L. P. Teller, William H. Brown, Paul E.

Heller, Henry W. Heller, Frank Cadiz, Edmund Pierson and one Linehan. It

was known as “the school of the bowlers”, and turned out more good,

successful bowlers than any other athletic club in Newark; in fact it

almost immediately took a prominent place in athletics generally, its

track team was among the best, it was successful in football and had a

fine reputation for square, manly sport.

Starting without money, the members laid out the grounds and built the

track and tennis courts themselves, but so popular did it become that

within two years there were something like three hundred members and the

club continued to thrive for many years. Interest began to wane,

however, as time went on, and about five years ago the club disbanded.

Shortly thereafter the Park Presbyterian Church purchased the clubhouse,

and it was turned over to the Park Athletic Association, a church

organization, and is still so occupied, though I believe the association

is at present independent of the church.

A MILLERITE.

On the slender point made by the opening of Washington avenue stands the

house erected by Mr. Scharff, and which was the home of a Millerite in

the early days of Woodside, one Flavel by name, a baker by trade.

Whether working over the hot fires of the bakery awoke in Mr. Flavel a

desire to reach Heaven before his time, or whether he was one of those

uneasy mortals who do not like to stay long in any one place, has not

been explained, but he was a Millerite, that point is established. The

neighbors still remember how he used to adjourn to the roof, “in his

nightgown”, as one unsympathetic informant puts it, for the purpose of

being translated, but there was always some hitch, and I believe he

finally gave it up and ultimately took the route that is open to all of

us.

NAMES OF SOME EARLY OWNERS.

The “Strawberry” lot belonged to Joseph West, whose house stood,

according to the map of 1849, where Washington avenue now cuts into the

brotherhood of streets here. The old pump presided over by “Mose” in the

days of our youth, and from which the street car horses were watered,

was probably the pump attached to the West house. This house may have

been built by Gerard Haugevort; it was occupied by him probably 75 years

ago. It was also occupied, about 1845, by old “Mammy” Pullinger, who

started life on the River road, as a groggery and a rather low resort.

When Washington avenue was cut through Mr. Nichols moved the building a

few hundred feet down the Gully road, where it stands to-day.

Adjoining the West property on the north, and on the west side of the

Back road was a narrow strip of land owned by Jesse Bennett, then came

the Miles I’Anson property, which extended to that owned by John Morris

Phillips, who also owned to the bend in the road, now Elwood place—this

on the left. On the right the earliest map giving the names of owners,

and which is probably not older than 1865 shows, for the same stretch,

H. H. Nichols, John C. Bennett, Stoutenburg & Co., Romaine and Parker &

Keasbey.

A LESSON IN MANNERS.

There is a story of one of the old residents here who was not given to

taking impudence from anyone, particularly from those in his employ. He

at one time had an obstinate Irishman to deal with, and dealt with him

after the following fashion:—

It seems that for some piece of impertinence our citizen knocked his

Irish employee down and jumped on him, remarking as he did so: “I’ll

teach you to be a gentleman”, to which the under dog as promptly

responded, “I defy you”. Our friend soon had his misguided opponent by

the ears and was thumping his face into the dirt with a right good will

(“laddy-holing” I believe this particular process is called), and with

each movement of his arms he repeated over and over again his earnest

desire to make a gentleman of the Irishman, to which the latter

continued vehemently to respond, “I defy you! I defy you!” Whether he

succeeded in his laudable efforts is not recorded, but he can at least

be commended for his zeal in the matter.

MR. MILES I’ANSON AND PREVIOUS OWNERS OF HIS PROPERTY.

About 60 years ago a number of Englishmen settled in the northern part

of Newark. This immigration was due to two causes: financial depression

in the mother country and the Chartist agitation, 1839-1848. Among those

who came over at this time was Mr. Miles I’Anson, who settled in the

Woodside district, where he purchased a farm of about 30 acres,

including the property south of the Phillips homestead, extending about

as far as the present May street, on the west side of Lincoln avenue.

It was Mr. I’Anson, it is said, who first suggested the name of Woodside

for this locality.

A search of the I’Anson property made by Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins for Mr.

I’Anson contains many interesting items and names, and is here quoted

from at length.

By a deed dated December 10, 1812, Richard L. Walker and wife sold the

Back road property to Peter Maverick. It is described as being located

on the “Drift” road, being bounded southeast on the Drift road northeast

by land now or late of David Phillips, northeast (northwest?) and

southwest by land now or late belonging to Isaac Plume.

Peter Maverick and his wife Mary on October 5, 1820, mortgaged to Hannah

Spencer the above lot and a lot beginning at the southeastern corner of

John Hawthorne’s lot on the western side of the “New Road” (probably the

Bloomfield turnpike and below the Woodside line), leading from Garret

Hogwart’s to Francis King’s; thence on the eastern line of said John

Hawthorn’s lot of wood; thence to the northern line of the lot of land

belonging to the estate of Isaac N. Kipp, dec’d; thence to the western

line of said “New Road”.

January 19, 1833, William Dow, Sheriff, sold to Hannah Spencer the above

two tracts of land.

April 1, 1833, Hannah Spencer sold both of these tracts to James

Flintoff and George Flintoff.

May 11, 1839, the administrators of James and George Flintoff sold both

tracts to William T. Haines.

January 5, 1842, William T. Haines sold the Lincoln avenue lot to David

Day.

January 7, 1842, David Day and wife sold the property to Miles I’Anson.

November 19, 1841, William T. Haines and wife sold to William Barnett a

part of the tract (as supposed) above referred to as situated on the

western side of the “New Road”.

June 9, 1846, William Barnett and wife sold their land to Miles I’Anson.

April 7, 1803, the executors of Isaac Plume, deceased, sold to John

Hawthorne land at the northwest side of “the Road or Drift Way Leading

out of the Public Road from Newark to Belleville”, thence east to

Ebenezer Smith’s land, thence north to David Walker’s land, thence west

to the road. (This is copied as the search gave it.)

September 14, 1822, Abraham Reynolds, Sheriff, sold the same land to

James Kearney, Esqr., except in the 6th course “sold under Decree in

Chancery, dated April 2, 1822, wherein Gerard Haugwort (the various

spellings of this name follow those in the search; the correct spelling

is probably Haugevort), administrator of Hester Sip, dec’d, is

complainant, and John Hawthorn and Margaret his wife, Aaron Munn and

Nathaniel Lindsley are defendants.”

September 14, 1822, James Kearney sold to Gerard Haughworth the same

land last above.

August 13, 1823, John Hawthorne quitclaimed to Philip Kearney for all

his interest in the last above described land.

The last will of John Hawthorne, dated August 18, 1841, and proved April

22, 1844, gives to John P. Hawthorne the lot of land containing 14

acres, called the Hogworth lot.

April 1, 1845, Philip Kearney quitclaimed to John Hawthorne for all his

interest in the same land last above described.

March 28, 1845, John P. Hawthorne sold to Miles I’Anson land beginning

at a corner of the said Miles I’Anson’s land on the west side of the

Road leading from Newark to the Belleville Paint Works; thence south

along said road, etc., the lot containing about 14 acres and bounded

south, west and north by land owned by Miles I’Anson.

December 14, 1853, Miles I’Anson sold to Robert Smith about an acre and

a half, apparently to straighten the latter’s line.

THE PHILLIPS FARM.

Not so very many years ago, those who journeyed back and forth to

Belleville by way of the old “Back road” passed the Phillips farm.

[Illustration: The Phillips Farm House. Erected before the Revolution.

Picture taken in 1869 shows one of the cherry trees that then lined the

sidewalk.]

At the south end of the estate stood a quaint little dwelling, bearing

unmistakable marks of antiquity upon its weather beaten boards and

crumbling shingle roof. This house had been the dwelling place of

several generations of the name.

Colonel Phillips, the founder of the family in America, was an officer

in the English army under Oliver Cromwell, and on the accession of

Charles II. to the throne of England, in 1660, he with others was

obliged to fly to America. He first settled in Killingworth (now

Clinton), Connecticut, and subsequently removed to New Jersey,

purchasing nine hundred acres of land near Caldwell. One of his

grandsons, David Phillips, settled in Newark and married Sarah Morris,

grandaughter of a Doctor Morris, who was also an officer under Cromwell,

and who fled to America with Colonel Phillips.

[Illustration: The Old Phillips Well. Said to date back to the time of

the Indians.]

David Phillips had this property from Morris Phillips, and he from

Samuel Morris. David Phillips began his housekeeping in the little house

which stands on the Lincoln avenue property, “purchasing 16 acres of

land for which his family received a deed from the proprietors of East

Jersey in 1696”, and here Morris Phillips, the father of John Morris

Phillips, was born and here he died. This Morris Phillips was one of the

proprietors of the quarries at Belleville which furnished the stone used

in building Fort Lafayette, Castle William on Governor’s Island, old St.

John’s Church in New York, which has recently been closed by the Trinity

corporation, and the old State House in Albany.

The farm house still stands on the property, though it has been moved

back to Summer avenue in the rear of the house erected some years ago by

Mr. John M. Phillips near the original homestead site. The old farm had

gradually acquired that human interest which only comes of long tillage

and close association with man, its fine orchard of ancient apple trees,

the wood lot on the eastern slope of the hill which lapped over into the

Mount Prospect avenue region, and which held for the man so many boy

memories of dog and gun, and the fertile flat lands which stretched

north along the old road. All these combined to entice the man back to

his boyhood’s home, and it is small wonder that Mr. John M. Phillips,

who had a keen sense of the beauties and wonders of nature, acquired the

place for his own at the first opportunity. Here was an ancient well of

delicious water, which tradition tells us was known to and used by the

Indians. Up to very recent times this stood with its long well-sweep

picturesquely adorning the landscape.

A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.

In the winter of 1779 General Anthony Wayne marched his troops up the

Back road to the fields between the present Elwood avenue and Second

river, where he went into camp. Mr. Frank Crane tells me that when a boy

it was a common thing to find along this hillside, all the way to Second

river, hollows in the earth which are supposed to have been dug by the

soldiers for shelter.

Just about the time the troops reached the Phillips farm, Mrs. Sarah,

wife of David, mentioned above, had finished a baking of bread; this she

took out and gave to the hungry soldiers with pretty much everything

else in the house that was eatable. It has been handed down in the

Phillips family, as elsewhere, that the soldiers when they halted stood

with their feet in their caps to protect them from the snow—those poor

naked feet which had been cut and torn by the sharp crust of the snow

until they marked the white highway with a trail of blood. The old

grandmother many times told the tale to the family gathered about the

warm hearth of the old farm house on wintry nights, and the boy John

never forgot it.

THE PEROU TRACT.

A rather interesting tangle over the northern end of the Phillips tract

has taken much patience to unravel. This concerned a small slice of land

now largely occupied by Phillips Park and Elwood avenue.

About 1825 Benajah Perou purchased a certain parcel of land from John

Morris Keen, of which the above was part. Perou was a seafaring man and,

in the spring of 1828, sailed for New Orleans, and nothing was afterward

heard from him. Being unmarried his heirs were his six brothers and

sisters, and in 1845 this property was divided amongst them, each

receiving a long narrow strip, 66 feet wide, fronting on the “road from

Newark to Belleville Paint Works”, and running back into the sunset.

Daniel Perou received as his share the northernmost strip, known as lot

No. 6. He was living back in the country and, in 1849, died intestate

and unmarried; thus his 66 foot strip fell to the five remaining

brothers and sisters, or their heirs, none of whom appear to have paid

any attention to the property. In the meantime said brothers and sisters

had been getting married and having children, and these children had

insisted on growing up and doing likewise, until generations arose who

knew not that they were interested in the property.

Naomi Perou, one of the sisters of Benajah, married Morris Phillips, and

in due time became the mother of John M. Phillips, who was one of the

last of the line to be born in the old farm house. And as time went on

and John M. prospered he began to buy up the interests of others in the

adjoining property until he owned all of the Perou tract, or thought he

did. But by the time an attempt was made to definitely fix the title to

lot No. 6 there were found to be more than three hundred shares into

which this lot must be divided, each one amounting to something less

than three inches in width, and extending from Lincoln avenue to Mount

Prospect.

The hunt necessitated to clear this title led all over the country. One

heir was traced as far as New Orleans, and lost; another vanished in the

Civil War; another moved to Mystic, Conn., and could not be traced to

his final end, and so it went. One was found in Kansas and another in

Western New York.

It cost more to perfect the title than the land was worth, and when it

was perfected the lot—or all that was left of it—was given to the city

for a park, a memorial to the late John Morris Phillips.

THE ANTHONY WAYNE CAMP GROUND.

It is family tradition among most of those whose ancestors resided here

during the Revolution that Gen. Anthony Wayne camped along the old Back

road, but so far as can be ascertained the books are silent on the

subject. The New York Historical Society can find nothing in its

archives, and if the New Jersey Historical Society has anything bearing

on this point it does not know it.

The only mention of the event that I have been able to find is an

unsigned article which appeared in the Daily Advertiser of December 12,

1884, which is quoted here entire, as it contains much of interest. The

Advertiser says:—

“The attention of an Advertiser reporter was recently called to a

tradition that Gen. Anthony Wayne with 2,600 men was camped for a

considerable time during the severe winter of 1779 in the vicinity of

what is now Elwood avenue, and the old Belleville road in this city. It

was rather doubted whether this could be possible, and all accounts of

it lost. Such an event would certainly have left an impression which

could not be entirely obliterated even in a hundred years. From

information obtained, however, from the late John M. Phillips, whose

grandfather was a revolutionary soldier; William A. Wauters, whose

grandmother owned the woods in which it is alleged Wayne camped,

together with a personal inspection of the ground made by Mr. Daniel F.

Tompkins, of Woodside, his son and the writer, the following facts were

ascertained:—

“General Wayne, with a detachment of the American Army, after the

evacuation of New York, regained for a portion of the winter encamped in

the Coeyman woods, in what is now Woodside. His encampment extended from

a point a little west of and in line with the old Belleville road and

north of Elwood avenue, along the ridge up to Second river. Traces of

this encampment are found in the excavations which the soldiers made for

their huts. The excavations are found also along the line of the

Montclair & Greenwood Lake Railroad at the south side of the bridge

across the Second river. They are found also on the side of the hill

west of Mount Prospect avenue, and south of the line of Elliott street,

and extending north several hundred yards, the most marked being at the

northern limit. In one of these excavations the stones which marked the

temporary fireplace still remain. The troops cut down the growing timber

from these woods, and the owner, Minard Coeyman, was paid for it by the

government. About half a mile northwest of this ridge the old barn, in

which were slaughtered the cattle for the use of the army, still stands.

It belongs to the Crane family. Mr. Nathaniel Crane, who was born in

1808, well remembers hearing his father and uncle talk about the

encampment. Wayne had several field pieces with him, and the men used to

take the horses down to Second river to water at a point 100 yards from

the railroad bridge, and near the ruins of the old copper works,

opposite Woodside Park. In February Wayne moved his army to Morristown.

The close proximity of the British is given as the cause of Wayne

breaking camp. In his position at Woodside he was liable to be flanked.

Jasper King, father of the late William King, of East Orange, was a boy

at the time Wayne was at Woodside, and his father was a soldier in

Wayne’s army. Jasper went with his grandfather and his mother to say

good-by to his father at the encampment in Coeyman’s woods.

“Jasper King related to the late John M. Phillips that when the roll was

called the soldiers came out from their tents and some of them threw

their caps on the snow and stood on them with their bare feet. He said

it began to snow as the troops started on their march to Morristown and

some of the soldiers left marks of blood on the snow as they marched.

Their way was along the old Bloomfield road, which may have been reached

by crossing the fields past the old Crane Mansion, or by the way of

Keen’s lane, the outlines of which can still be traced southwest to the

Bloomfield road. From Bloomfield the march was through Caldwell, where

the snow became so deep that the artillery was left behind and remained

imbedded in the drifts on a by-road near where the penitentiary now

stands, until spring. At Bloomfield a picket was posted to guard the

rear. One of the men climbed onto the fence to see if the British were

pursuing. In the act his gun was discharged, killing him instantly.

“The story of Jasper King is corroborated by the known fact that on

February 3, 1779, a snow storm set in, which lasted three days, and the

snow was said to be eight feet deep on the Bloomfield road. The

inference that Wayne’s encampment at Woodside was in the winter of 1779

is made more probable from the fact that in his attack on Stony Point in

July, 1779, he had no artillery. That Wayne was on the coast and near

New York in the winter of 1779, is made exceedingly probable also by the

following letter from Lord Stirling, which if he had been at Morristown

with Washington would have been directed to the Commander-in-Chief:—

“‘Ramapogh, Jan. 5, 1779.—Dear Sir: From every intelligence I have

received I am induced to believe that Count D’Estaing is on this coast;

in consequence of it I need not explain matters to you. Notwithstanding

my situation of body, I will be at Paramis to-morrow and should be glad

to see you there as soon as possible, to concert every necessary measure

that may occur to us both.

“‘I am, D sir, your most ob’d sev’t.

”‘Gen. Wayne. STIRLING.’”

“That Wayne had artillery is evident from the fact that Mr. Tompkins

found a grape-shot on the ground of the encampment. He also found a

sword, which, evidently, had been worn by a noncommissioned officer.”

A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.

“During the winter of 1780-81 the British were at Belleville and may

have used the same encampment previously occupied by the Americans. It

is known that they occupied ground near where the new steel works of

Dodge, Blake & Lyon now are. During this time a party of British stopped

for the night on Keen’s lane, mentioned before on what is now Mr. Henry

J. Winser’s lot, on Washington avenue, opposite Carteret street. Another

party coming from Newark along the Passaic, stumbled on the pickets of

the first party and immediately began firing. There was quite a skirmish

in the darkness before the true state of affairs was learned.”

PHILLIPS FARM HOUSE.

“The old house in which the grandfather of the late John M. Phillips

lived stood flush with the old Belleville road at the time of which we

write, and was visited frequently by the American officers. It now

stands in the rear of the new house on Lincoln avenue, and is well

preserved. A middle-aged Irish woman came to the door at the knock of

Mr. Tompkins the other day and seemed inclined to deny an inspection of

the premises; but when it was made known to her that the visit was to

see the house where the men who whipped the British a hundred years ago

had lodged, she accorded a right royal welcome. A mere glance was

sufficient to prove that the house was not of modern date. There is no

plastering, and the joists that support the upper floors are thick and

strong and as substantial as when put in, more than a hundred years

ago.”

THE BRITISH ON WOODSIDE SOIL.

“While the British were encamped on this side of Second river, near the

steel works, the grandfather of Mr. Tompkins, who was a scout in the

American Army and noted as an athlete, was reconnoitering, with four

companions, on the old Belleville road. They accidentally came upon a

picket post in the dusk, the officer of which rode up and cried out:

‘Who you be for?’ Tompkins, to gain time, asked the same question, ‘Who

you be for?’ ‘For King George’, said the English officer. ‘We be for the

Continental Congress’, shouted Tompkins as he sprang into the woods.

There was a fence that stood in the way, and as Tompkins vaulted over it

the entire picket guard fired. Two of Tompkins’s companions who, instead

of jumping the fence had climbed over it, were killed, but the former

escaped by the balls passing under him as he jumped. One of the scouts

who was killed on that occasion lies buried in the old Bloomfield grave

yard. The enemy probably not knowing that they had killed any one, left

the bodies where they fell.”

THE MAGAZINE HOUSE.

The march of improvement, in the opening of Woodside avenue, has

recently caused the destruction of the “Magazine house”, a low stone

building which stood back of the present Summerfield M. E. Church. This

dated back to about 1812, when it was built for the storing of powder

made at the Decatur Powder Works, which were located on the site of the

present De Witt Wire Works, Belleville. There was a spirit of mystery

and adventure about the place that somehow tickled my boyish fancy

greatly, and I always passed it with a sense of adventure, but the above

is all that can be said of the spot. When Jacob Rutan was building the

calico print works on Second river he lived here and his wife,

Elizabeth, a member of the King family, formerly of the River road,

boarded the men who were doing the mason work. How they all slept in

this small building is a mystery.

EARLY LANES.

Just below the powder house; in fact, opposite the point where Elwood

place runs into Summer avenue, the John Morris Keen lane led away to the

Bloomfield road. This, it appears, was part of a lane from the River

road, the easterly section of which was known as the Stimis lane.

Whether the latter was opened for the purpose or, being established, was

merely used because convenient, has not been made plain, but I am told

that formerly a paper mill stood on the Bloomfield road, and that the

paper was made from reeds gathered on the Hackensack meadows, brought up

the Passaic river, landed possibly at the Point House landing and carted

from there via the two lanes to the mill.

THE HAUNT OF THE HIGHWAYMAN.

The Back road, in the Elliott street neighborhood, seventy-five or more

years ago, entered a deep gully surrounded on all sides by dense woods.

It is possible that this gave the early name of “Drift” road to the

highway, as it was a place into which snow could easily drift and cause

trouble to travelers. This was a noted spot for highway robberies, many

such having occurred here, and the place was long dreaded by those who

were compelled to pass this way.

The only actual hold-up of which I have heard is said to have occurred

in 1856, when four men who came out of the woods from the direction of

the Magazine house attempted to rob a passing farmer. What success they

had I do not know, but it appears that they were recognized and later

arrested. One of these, at least, was a Woodside man, but the names of

the others have been forgotten.

Tom Coeyman built about sixty years ago at the upper edge of this gully.

His house stood near the junction of Summer and Grafton avenues, and

this seems to have relieved the gloom of the place, for so far as known

there were no robberies after the one mentioned above.

NOT A CHRISTMAS CARROLL.

Probably before our time the Back road was the dwelling place of “Owney”

Carroll and his good wife Peggy. Both were convivial souls, and each a

character in his or her way, but our most vivid memories cling about the

old lady. One old resident recalls that in his youth the couple lived

where now stands the Elliott street school, and that one time when he

was passing with a load of wood Peggy was discovered in a somewhat

awkward predicament.

It seems that one or the other—or possibly both—had been looking on the

wine when it was red, as was their custom, and that the husband had

concluded that his better half would be improved by a bit of fresh air

and, having thrust her forth, locked the door. Now Peggy does not appear

to have taken this in good part and, finding an open window, she

proceeded to crawl within; but, when about half-sill over, the sash came

down on her back and pinned her fast—just as our informant was coming

down the road with a load of wood.

In the course of years Mrs. Carroll became a sort of attache of our back

door, and I have a general recollection that the old lady’s methods did

not always meet with the entire approval of my mother. She certainly

thoroughly disagreed with one of Peggy’s capers. My mother was a great

lover of plants, and among her treasures was a lemon tree which actually

bore lemons; these Mrs. Carroll discovered one day while cruising about

the back yard and, carefully gathering the treasured crop, she brought

the fruit to the back door and tried to sell it to my maternal ancestor.

Mrs. Carroll did not call at the house again for some time.

THE WOODS OF THE OLD BACK ROAD.

Those who sought knowledge at that fount known as the Elliott street

school, when it was but a country schoolhouse, delight to recall how

they were allowed to roam the woods that then bordered the old road on

the west, for the first flowers of spring, and how the schoolmaster

would ring the bell from the schoolhouse door summoning a return to

study, and the children would come scampering back with hands full of

bloom—windflowers and hepaticas mostly, whose blue and white are so

emblematic of the springtime heavens. To those who can hark back so far

that patch of woods is remembered as a wonderfully attractive spot.

JESSE C. BENNETT.

Jesse C. Bennett came to this country from Stockport, England, in 1833,

to superintend the calico print works, which lined the south side of

Second river from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond, and he built a

house at what is now the southwest corner of Summer and Verona avenues.

Mr. Bennett was an Episcopalian, and as dancing was one of the

accomplishments of the day and not barred by that creed, he engaged a

master of the art who once in so often gave the small Bennetts (there

were twelve of them) lessons in an addition at the rear of the dwelling

which provided a suitable room. As time wore on Mr. Bennett became a

Second Adventist and turned this rear room from a dancing hall to a

place for prayer. One of the fervent brothers of these times was Mr.

Harry Harvey, who was given to long prayers; in fact he thought nothing

of praying for an hour at a stretch. For these exercises the children

were brought in and ranged under the long mantelpiece on one side of the

room, but an hour was a long time to be good in those days, and

generally one or two or three would steal awhile away without being

noticed. This gradually emboldened the others, and one time while the

heads of the elders were bowed in devotion the entire youthful

congregation managed to get out unnoticed, and there was considerable

commotion when the fact was discovered and, as I understand it, the

commotion was not entirely confined to the elders.

Later Mr. Bennett became a Methodist and joined the church of that

denomination in Belleville.

Mr. Bennett once had a man working about the place who was fresh from

the Emerald Isle and he, venturing out one evening shortly after his

arrival, came running back a badly scared Irishman, and announced that

the woods were full of fairies, for he had seen their lanterns. It

proved to be his first acquaintance with fireflies.

THE CALICO PRINT WORKS.

The calico print works which lined the south bank of the Second river

from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond developed into a large

industry under Messrs. George and Jonathan Bird. This part of the river

bank has been a mill site for more than one hundred years.

The first on record was the grist mill of Captain Bennett. His mill was

a small affair which stood on the bank where the Back road crossed. Next

came a Captain Stout, who rebuilt the mill. Both of these lived in the

dwelling later known as the “Bird” house.

[Illustration: The “Bird” House, Sylvan Avenue. Legend has it that this

was built by an Englishman who was compelled to leave the country when

the Revolutionary war broke out.]

About 1824 the Stout mill and lands were sold to the Eagle Printing

Company, which erected a large factory for the printing of calicoes

along the south bank of Second river, extending from the Back road to

the De Witt mill pond. The concern employed several hundred hands and

conducted a business of great magnitude for those times, but it finally

fell on evil days and failed about 1855.

At this time the Back road was so narrow that wagons could hardly pass;

indeed, so much of a country lane was it that even as late as 1850 the

passing of a load of calicoes from the mill was an event to call the few

inhabitants to the windows to see the sight.

After this Andrew Gray and one Wright successfully conducted the

business for some time, and finally George and Jonathan Bird became the

proprietors. Jonathan Bird lived in the stone house that has since been

known as the “Bird” house, and here dispensed a hospitality that was

famed for many a mile around. In due course George Bird died, and later

Jonathan sold to a stock company, of which John Eastwood was a member.

This company put in some expensive machinery but, owing to internal

strife, the business was abandoned after a brief existence.

After remaining idle for some time the hat manufacturing concern of

Moore & Seeley purchased the buildings, but before they did much the

factory burned, and was never rebuilt. The story given out to account

for the fire was to the effect that it was due to Chinese cheap labor.

According to this version the hatters introduced Chinamen and the Irish

element, which predominated at the time, objected, and the fire gave

point to their objections, but there are some still living who account

for the fire in a wholly different way.

A FLESH AND BLOOD GHOST.

There was a time when the Back road bridge across Second river was

haunted by a headless ghost—at least I am so informed—but it seems that

when off duty the ghost was known as old Sam Adams’s daughter, Mary Ann.

When I was a boy the ruins of the old grist mill still stood close to

the southeast corner of this bridge. It was then known as Benson’s mill,

a man of that name having been the last miller. Some time some one was

either murdered and thrown into the mill race here, or else was

accidentally drowned. In either case the situation furnished the proper

material for a mystery, and it would appear that there was talk of an

apparition having been seen on the bridge shortly after the occurrence.

This was taken advantage of by Mary Ann Adams to frighten the boys, and

as a result few people cared to cross the bridge after dark, as too many

had actually seen the ghost to leave any doubt of its existence. This,

of course, was long ago, when Mary Ann was young. She died some six

years ago, an old woman.

WASHINGTON RESTS AT SECOND RIVER.

There is a legend that Washington once rested at the grist mill, and

that here his troopers purchased feed for their horses. This was

probably during the retreat from Fort Lee.

Somewhat south of the mill stood the miller’s house; in fact the

building is still standing on its old foundations, at the southeast

corner of Summer and Sylvan avenues. Here was born Col. Henry Benson,

whose accidental death at Malvern Hill during the Civil War furnished

Belleville with its first military funeral.

THE OLD BLOOMFIELD ROAD.

[Illustration: The Old Bloomfield Road in 1903. Looking north to houses

at the corner of Clifton and Berkley Avenues. This part of the old road

is now obliterated. Those who laid out this hill top had no appreciation

of the fact that a crooked road is a line of beauty, both this and

Murphy’s Lane having been suppressed in favor of a series of right

angles. What would New York above 59th street be if the curves of

Broadway were straightened?]

The old Bloomfield or Long Hill road is frequently spoken of by the

older inhabitants as a former Indian trail “from the mountain to the

river”. This may have been one of the many paths which intersected the

great Minisink trail extending from the Shrewsbury river to Minisink

Island, in the Delaware river below Port Jervis, where the council fires

of the Leni Lenape constantly burned. This particular branch probably

passed through Great Notch on the First mountain, meeting the main path

near Little Falls.

The white man’s road began where what is now Second avenue joins

Belleville avenue, and labored up the grade to the present Prospect

place, where it turned toward the north for Bloomfield. The old road is

less prolific in story and incident than any other part of this region.

Those interviewed have invariably wished that I might be able to talk

with some one now gone who was full of ancient lore, but as dead men

tell no tales I have found myself at a disadvantage.

Not only have the inhabitants gone, but the old road itself is largely a

memory, for those who are now exploiting this region have almost

obliterated the former highway, finding that its meandering course

interfered with their straight lines, and not having in mind the

attraction that a bend in the road, the curving line of beauty, with its

mystery of a fair, unknown country beyond, has for the stroller.

LORENZO DOW.

Along this road during the early days of the last century passed the

eccentric preacher Lorenzo Dow, on his way to the little Methodist

church beyond Sunfish pond. Dow was an occasional visitor in the

vicinity and left a memory of peculiar sayings and doings that flavored

the local gossip for the better part of a hundred years. It is said that

a toll-gate once stood near the canal bridge, which was kept by

Archibald Jacobus, and those who were boys when I went skating on

Sunfish pond will recall the ruins of an ancient grist mill whose wheel

was turned by the waters of the pond. Concerning this Mr. Walter S.

Nichols remembers when a boy making regular journeys to this mill with a

grist of corn for the grinding—this was in the fifties, after the

Searing mill on the canal had been abandoned.

THE OLD ROAD A HIGHWAY.

Until the toll-gates were removed, some twenty-five or more years ago,

from the Turnpike or “New” road, as the present Bloomfield avenue was

called, the old road was the avenue for pleasure driving and also for

much heavy traffic between Newark and Bloomfield. This made the highway

of prime importance and may help to explain the inflated values set on

land in this region before the panic of ’73.

ADRIAN SCHARFF.

The Adrian Scharff house, which stood just within the Woodside line, was

erected some time before 1850. It seems that Mr. Scharff brought his old

world ideas with him to this country and thought he must either have a

river frontage for his home or a view. He had almost decided on the site

now occupied by the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, but finding that that was

not available, contented himself with the next best spot near the

hilltop.

THE “WHITE-HOUSE” SMITHS.

Beyond the Scharff house the road ran through dense woods for a short

half mile to the Robert Smith property—known as “White-house” Smith to

distinguish him from “Brick-house” Smith further north. The records show

that this property was sold by Thomas Saffin to Thomas Havens, and by

him to Ebenezer Smith. When this house was built is not known, but

probably it was erected by Ebenezer Smith, father of Robert.

Ebenezer Smith, born February 24, 1791, who was one of a large family,

was the son of Scotch parents who immigrated to this country before his

birth. Ebenezer had two sons, Robert and Ebenezer, Jr., and one

daughter. Robert fell heir to the “White-house” Smith property.

Ebenezer, Jr., married a daughter of Matthias Baker, and thus came into

the property on which his son, Matthias Smith, erected the home of the

“Brick-house” Smiths. Ebenezer, Jr., had two sons, Robert (2) and

Matthias. Robert (1) lived in New York and used this as a summer home;

he died in 1858. Robert Smith was a lover of fast horses and was in the

habit of driving from Jersey City to his home. He had one horse, of

which he was particularly proud, that would cover the distance in an

hour.

In those days the Hackensack meadows were covered with a dense cedar

growth which was a hiding place for those whose deeds were evil, and the

road was the scene of many hold-ups. On one occasion Mr. Smith, while

driving home, overtook a woman who asked for a ride, and he took her in

his trap, only to discover that the supposed woman wore heavy boots; he

then concluded that they would later meet with others who would assist

in relieving him of the necessity of carrying his money home. Having

made up his mind to rid himself of the passenger, he dropped his whip

and requested her to get it, as he could not leave his restive horse;

and, of course, once she was out, he did not wait for whip or passenger.

The children of Robert Smith all of whom are now dead, were Charles H.,

Eugene B., Robert A., Sarah and Agnes W.

LAND VALUES BEFORE THE PANIC OF ’73.

This property was purchased by Peter H. and John H. Ballantine just

before the panic of 1873 (the deed is dated January 31, 1873) when

prices were greatly inflated, and they paid therefor the sum of

$217,000, paying $50,000 down and giving a mortgage and bond for the

remainder. It was not long before the new purchasers saw the error of

their ways and desired to relinquish the property and the $50,000, but

to this the Smith estate would not agree. It is hardly probable that

they will ever see a profit on the investment, as interest at 5 per cent

(and it was more than five in those days) would in itself now amount to

almost twice the original outlay, and when the taxes and assessments to

which the property has fallen heir are added to the loss of interest,

even eighty dollars a foot can hardly seem a large sum to the Ballantine

estate.

WHERE JOHN MORRIS LIVED.

Passing the Robert Smith place we come to the home of the Bartholfs,

which was erected more than sixty years ago, as it is so designated on

the map of ’49. Who Mr. Bartholf was or where he came from I have not

ascertained. The records show that John G. Bartholf purchased the

property from Samuel Morris, who had it from Zebulon Morris, to whom it

came from John Morris. This was probably that John Morris who was a

resident of the old Bloomfield road during the Revolution.

Mr. John Morris Phillips, in the Daily Advertiser of February 19, 1880,

stated that John Morris was his great-grandfather, and that it was to

his house that the son of Joseph Hedden came when he fled from the

British (referred to elsewhere), having nothing on but his night clothes

and a pair of stockings. His feet were frozen to the bone as a result of

the exposure.

Some time in the sixties Mr. Albert Beach acquired this property which

he at first used only as a summer home. The house was taken down in

November, 1909.

KEEN FAMILY TRADITION.

The Keen homestead adjoined the Beach property on the north. Just when

the farm house was erected is not known, but that it is

pre-Revolutionary there is no question.

[Illustration: The Keen Farm House. Pre-Revolutionary. This shows the

building as it stands to-day.]

In 1765 Thomas Keen, a native of England, and Miss Clorinda Lake, of

Holland, were married on Long Island, and subsequently settled at

Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey.

Their son, Joseph Lake Keen, was married to Abigail Morris in 1790.

Their son, John Morris Keen, was married to Peninah Sanford in 1820.

Their son, Zebulon Morris Keen, was married to Hanna Maria Garrabrant in

1863.

Their surviving son, John Morris Keen, was married in 1908 to Helen

Virginia Brainard.

The grandfather of the present John M. Keen was born in 1797, and

Peninah Sanford was born in Kearney (New Barbadoes) in 1792. She was a

descendant of Capt. William Sanford, mentioned elsewhere.

The Keen homestead still remains, the house being substantially

unchanged, but the barns, cribs and smoke house have long since been

removed. Pear trees standing in the yard over twenty years ago were said

by Mrs. Peninah Keen to be over two hundred years old. This same

grandmother, who began life in 1792, has stated that Washington, in one

of his journeys to and fro, came up the old Keen lane and stopped at the

farm house for a glass of water. This lane has been in use for at least

one hundred and fifty years, as seventy-five years ago trees lined its

borders which were then not less than seventy-five years old.

THE “BRICK-HOUSE” SMITHS.

Almost opposite the Keen home lived the “Brick-house” Smiths. This

building was erected fifty-three or fifty-four years ago by Matthias

Smith on the site where formerly dwelt his maternal grandfather,

Matthias Baker. The latter had the property from Isaac Soverhill.

THE SIDMANS OF OTHER DAYS.

The Sidman family dates back to the time of William the Conqueror, when

the first ancestor of whom there is any record is said to have come to

England from Normandy. He appears to have been a favorite of the great

William and received from him a considerable grant of land on the river

Syd and from this the family derived its name—Sydenham, which was later

shortened to Sidman.

The introduction of the Sidman family to this neighborhood began with a

romance, when John Sydenham ran away with Susannah Handcock, in 1711. It

seems that Edward Handcock, “yoeman” (or Handcook, as one document gives

the name) was living on this property in the year above mentioned, and

that John Sydenham, who happened along from no one knows just where,

fell desperately in love with Susannah, an only daughter, but the stern

father frowned on the young man’s suit and Susannah was locked in an

upper room.

However, John brought around a ladder one night, and the two adjourned

to the parson. That they were promptly forgiven is evidenced by the

following extract from a deed, made in 1711 by Edward Handcock, in which

he says: “for and in consideration of the love, good will and affection

which I have and do bear unto my loving son-in-law, John Sydenham, etc.,

and my only daughter, Susannah, his wife”. He then deeds to his

son-in-law four acres of his land situated on the “highway to

Acquacanong”, and six acres on the “highway to Watersson”, which latter

adjoined land owned by Jasper Crane and by John Godon.

The following genealogy of the family is furnished by Miss Laura M.

Sydenham of Plainfield, and is taken largely from the family Bible:—

John Sydenham (1) married Susannah Handcock, 1711. They had issue: John

(2), born March 16, 1714; died in 1754. Samuel, who died intestate and

unmarried in 1759. There is some doubt about this Samuel, there being

but slight mention of him in the records, but it is presumed that he was

the son of John Sydenham (1).

John Sydenham (2) married Martha Longworth, December 8, 1741. They had

issue:—

Dorcas, born November 30, 1742.

David, born October 11, 1744.

William (1), born July 8, 1746.

John (3), born May 10, 1748. He removed to parts unknown on the

upper Hudson river, and nothing further has been learned concerning

him.

Susannah, born February 15, 1750.

William (2), born November 15, 1751.

Thomas, born November 4, 1753; died August 12, 1816.

Thomas Sydenham married Sarah Fordham, in October, 1779. They had

issue:—

Susannah, born 1780; died 1852.

Martha, born 1783.

John (4), born 1785; died 1859.

Mary, born 1788.

Sarah, born 1791; died 1831.

David, born 1795; died 1822.

Bethiah, born 1798; died 1844.

John Sydenham (4) married Amelia, daughter of Matthias Baker, August,

1817. They had issue: Mary E., Martha A., Albert T., Sarah E., John E.,

Matilda L., Harriet and Julia.

John Sydenham (2) married Martha Longworth, as stated above; she was

born August 23, 1724, and died May 12, 1804. Her sister Mary (born April

22, 1737, died September, 1793) married a Mr. Eckley. The sisters both

resided in the Sidman house now standing. One Isaac Longworth, who owned

a store in New York in 1759, and was the owner of a sloop which traded

up the Passaic river, is believed to be the father of Mary and Martha,

and also of a son Nicholas, who removed west to Cincinnati, and became

the progenitor of that branch of the family.

[Illustration: The Sidman (Sydenham) Homestead. Date of erection not

known. Picture taken in 1909.]

The house now standing is not the Hancock house of 1711, though it is

known to be more than one hundred and fifty years old. The Dutch oven,

where bread and pies were formerly baked, is still a part of the

structure, and the long-handled, wooden shovel, used to remove those

edibles when baked, is still a part of its furnishings.

The present spelling of the name Sidman has been in occasional use for

at least one hundred and fifty years, as the name is so spelled in the

grave-digger’s bill for John (2), who died in 1754. In the paper

detailing the settlement of the estate of John (2) the name is spelled

Sidnham. In an inventory of his goods is mentioned “Hagar, a negro

girl”, who was valued at £40. In a document dated in 1816 the name is

spelled Sidingham. The present spelling came into general use with

David, son of Thomas, who refused to sign his name other than Sidman.

Miss Laura M. Sydenham tells me that when she was a child a certain

hollow on the crown of the ridge which had the appearance of having been

surrounded by a heavy stone wall, and which was situated in the fields,

she thinks, somewhere between the house of Mr. Elias G. Heller and the

Presbyterian church, was pointed out by the elders as the site of a fort

erected for protection against the Indians, but nothing more definite

than this is known.

Miss Sydenham also remembers having been told that a Tory, whose house

was burned because of his unpatriotic tendencies, resided between the

present Sidman house and Murphy’s lane.

The woods on the Sidman place were used to some extent as a camping

ground by certain Indians. Miss J. A. Sidman recalls having heard her

grandmother tell of an invitation extended to her by these Indians to

dine with them and, as she preferred not to offend the red-skinned

neighbors, the invitation was accepted; but this proved to be one of the

times when a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, for she arrived in

time to see the dinner preparing and the careless and uncleanly methods

of her hosts so nauseated her that she invented some excuse and came

away.

Another of the early memories is Mollie, an old Indian basket maker, who

frequented the neighborhood, securing her material from the Sidman

woods. She frequently slept on the floor of the kitchen, always in a

sitting posture. One day other Indians came this way and the wild

instinct returned to the old basket maker who, after an excited

conversation with her new-found friends, departed with them never to be

seen again in the neighborhood.

The upper end of Branch Brook park, which was formerly a part of the

Sidman domain, was known as “Blue Jay” woods.

FOREST HILL BEFORE MORRISTOWN.

Some years before his death Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins called at the Sidman

house and made the statement that he had found in New York a document

which contained information to the effect that Washington contemplated

establishing his winter camp at “Sidman’s (Sydenham’s) Clove”, but owing

to its proximity to the British lines the idea was abandoned and instead

he fixed the camp at Morristown. Mr. Tompkins believed that this

referred to this Sidman property which then covered a considerable

tract, but no member of the family had ever heard any part of the estate

called the clove, and nothing further was developed. A brief search

among the records of the New York Historical Society fails to reveal the

source of Mr. Tompkins’s information.

A KEEN HOMESTEAD.

On the corner of the old road and Murphy’s lane stands another Keen

homestead. The original house, which has been added to until it has lost

much of its identity, was part of the Crane estate and came into the

Keen family through the marriage of Alfred Keen with a sister of

Nathaniel J. Crane. The older part of the house was probably built a

hundred years ago. The front part was erected by Alfred Keen about fifty

years ago.

THE FARRAND FAMILY.

The old Moses Farrand home formerly joined the Keen property, extending

to the canal. The building was torn down some years ago. It was a fine

old place in its day, having been erected, it is said, near the close of

the eighteenth century. The rooms were spacious for those days, while a

great central hall extended from front to rear. The walls were thick and

massive, the brown stone of which they were constructed is supposed to

have been taken from the quarry at Soho.

Dr. Edward D. Griffin pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark

from 1801 to 1809, was in the habit of riding out to this house to

conduct religious services for those living in the neighborhood.

The family record in the old Farrand Bible, now in possession of Miss

Anna B. Farrand, begins with Moses, who was born in October, 1728, and

died September 19, 1805; following him comes Samuel, born July 25, 1759,

died December 26, 1826; he married Sarah Andruss, who was born December

30, 1769, and died in June, 1874; Joseph, born January 10, 1792; Moses

Andruss (2d), born October 11, 1793, died January 26, 1862; Rachael,

born August 13, 1795, died August 19, 1816; Sarah Ann, born August 4,

1797; Charles, born July 29, 1799, died in June, 1874; Joseph, born

December 20, 1801, died August 19, 1830; Phœbe, born November 23, 1802;

Samuel Edward, born June 2, 1803; John Herman, born June 2, 1805, and

Samuel Edward (2d), born May 19, 1807.

The oldest Farrand home in this region was situated on our old road, but

across the line in Bloomfield. Here Washington is said to have been a

guest. This property fell to Charles, father of Miss Anna B., who has

given me most of the family history.

The Farrands, name originally spelled Ferrant, were Huguenots, and

presumably were part of the emigrants who left France owing to the

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, following which several hundred

thousand Frenchmen were compelled to seek refuge in other lands. A

considerable colony of these settled in the neighborhood of New York

during the early part of the eighteenth century.

There is nothing further of interest concerning the old Bloomfield road;

the short stretch beyond the canal which lies within the confines of

Woodside offers no discoverable history or legend that may be used for

this sketch.

MURPHY’S LANE.

The Lower Road From Belleville to Bloomfield.

THE VAN RIPER FLOWER GARDEN.

One who knew Murphy’s lane in years gone by would naturally begin with

Charlie Van Riper’s flower garden. When we were young, Charlie Van Riper

lived in a frame house, the northern windows of which overlooked Second

river. The foreground of his view was a neglected expanse through which

meandered Murphy’s lane, and also a second cart track which, as I recall

it, merely shortened the distance a few feet for those seeking

“Murphytown” from the south. This cart track, which is now Sylvan

avenue, west of Summer avenue, ran close by the old-fashioned flower

garden, which Charlie knew so well how to encourage to do its best, with

its marigolds and hollyhocks, and all the old friends set out in little

odd-shaped beds bordered with box. Charlie was as generous with his

flowers as his flowers were generous to him, and many a child who

stopped to gaze through the picket fence into that wonderland of

gorgeous color went on his way with a bunch of blossoms given to him by

the kind old soul.

That portion of the wild land which was not interfered with by the

traffic of Murphy’s lane offered inducements to the youngsters that I am

inclined to think they rather preferred to the Van Riper flowers, and

these were the hazel bushes which grew in abundance, the ripened fruit

of which was a great attraction.

BIRD’S WOODS.

“Bird’s Woods”, where “The slant yellow beam down the wood-aisle doth

seem like a lane into Heaven that leads from a dream”, should have had a

Sidney Lanier to immortalize its cool and delicious depths. It was the

picnic resort of many a Sunday school, but picnics in the early days

were simple affairs and did not call for changes that seriously marred

the beauty of the forest. The growth was almost wholly pine and hemlock,

and the balsam-laden air is refreshing even yet to think of. A few

swings and a sheltered platform, where lunch was served, were the only

attempts of man to improve on the situation.

Second river with its babbling waters, the ruins of the old paint mill,

and the old dam, with its waterfall at the woods’ end, all combined with

the forest to lend enchantment and to a child furnished possibilities

for entertainment that were inexhaustible. How well I remember the rush

of small feet when the Sunday school children reached the entrance to

the woods, and how they spread out like a fan through its coverts of

mystery, each one intent on finding something new or re-discovering some

old friendly spot.

[Illustration: The Waterfall On Second River At Bird’s Woods. Picture

taken in 1903, before all the beauty of the region had been destroyed.]

Then the woods were full of sound, and I can still recall the infectious

laugh of Mr. Hine, who, as superintendent of the school and chief

promoter of jollity, urged the children on to a full enjoyment of the

occasion and his call to a stray robin that might at the moment be

voicing his approval of the place, “That’s right, old fellow. Go it!”

and then he would whistle to the bird in the tree in a way that started

him all over again. We will never see the like of “Bird’s Woods” again.

NAMES OF FORMER DWELLERS ON MURPHY’S LANE.

As nearly as can now be recalled the line of houses on Murphy’s lane was

in the following order: Joseph Johns (later John Tyner), William T.

Wauters (later John Beardsley), John Murphy, Thomas Murphy, James

Murphy, Pat Murphy (the chief ingredients of “Murphytown”), Bill

“Whitehead” Bennett, N. J. Crane and Alfred Keen (on the corner of the

old Bloomfield road).

The Shields Guards was, before the Civil War, one of the institutions of

Murphy’s lane. The armory in which the guns and accoutrements, loaned by

the state, were stored, was situated some distance back from Charlie Van

Riper’s house, near the present Mt. Prospect avenue. There were many

Irishmen in the neighborhood and they formed this company as a rival to

the Continental Blues, which numbered Belleville’s best among its

members.

THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL IN WOODSIDE.

Among Mr. Hine’s papers is a note to the effect that about 1822 a Sunday

school was carried on in Woodside (for how long he could not ascertain)

in the house of Mr. Joseph Johns, on Murphy’s lane. This was an old

stone house containing two rooms on the ground floor, in one of which,

about fifteen feet square, the Sunday school was held. The house stood

at the lower end of Murphy’s lane, very near Second river. It was torn

down during the winter of 1886. Mr. Hine says:—

“Mr. Johns himself does not appear to have been exactly a saint, but his

wife, Peggy, was a woman of exceptionally fine character and a devoted

Christian. She died thirty-three years ago (this was written by Mr. Hine

in 1887), and those who were children during her later years speak of

their visits to her house as among the bright spots in their child life.

From the best information I can obtain, it was she who gathered the

children of the neighborhood together for Sunday instruction, but I

learn also of students from a seminary in Bloomfield who came down there

to teach, and who also established a school in Franklin; they called it

Pobishon. Whether that was an Indian name of the region or merely a

local title, I do not know, but children from Belleville used to go to

both schools.

“I have not been able to find out whether this ancient Woodside school

was divided in classes or taught in a body by the person conducting it;

but the exercises were simple and now and then a tract would be given to

a child, who in those early days, set great store by the simple gift. I

only know of two persons now living who attended this school of

sixty-five or more years ago: they are Mr. Henry Stimis, who lives on

the River road in Woodside and his sister Eliza, who are well known to

many of us. Mr. William Wauters, who was a cousin of Mrs. Peggy Johns,

has for many years, and until recently, been a resident of Woodside, and

is the father of two former faithful workers in this school, the Misses

Lizzie and Lucy Wauters.”

In view of the fact that the first Sunday school in Newark was held in

1814 (Daily Advertiser, Oct. 27, ’83.) it speaks well for this country

region that one was held here only eight years later.

AN EASY WAY TO DIVIDE EVEN.

As nearly as I can gather from current remark, Mr. Joseph Johns was a

remarkably fine specimen of an awful example for a temperance

lecture—certainly that appears to be the impression he left behind among

the neighbors. A story still survives which indicates that Mr. Johns was

also somewhat original in his method of doing things.

It seems that he once had a sum of money in shape like a parcel of bills

of tempting thickness, and Mrs. Johns, believing that it would be rather

more safe in her possession than in his, tried to persuade him to give

it up, but, failing in this, she firmly insisted that half of the amount

belonged to her, and that he should at least divide. To this proposition

he agreed and, taking the package to the chopping block, with one whack

of an axe he cut it in two and handed one bundle to his wife, saying

“there’s your half”.

When he came to and realized the destruction he had wrought, he was at

great pains to paste the bills together again, and in this condition

they were put into circulation. For some years it was a common thing to

find some of “old Johns’s money” among change received at the Belleville

stores.

WAUTERS—WAUTERSE.

Beyond the Johns house stood the dwelling of William T.

Wauters—Wauterse, as his Dutch forefathers spelled it. The house is

shown on the map of 1849, but could not have been erected a great while

before that date.

POLLY VAN WINKLE AGAIN.

It seems that Polly Van Winkle, mentioned in connection with the River

road, was an inhabitant of Bloomfield and used Murphy’s lane as one of

her routes to and from the water side. She left the same general memory

here that she did elsewhere—a little, old woman, bent nearly double with

years and the weight of an enormous pack, which was her constant

companion.

MURPHYTOWN.

Not much has been learned of the Murphys, who appear to have been

brought over to work in the calico mills, and who settled so thickly

about midway of the lane that the spot became known as “Murphytown”.

[Illustration: A Bit Of Murphy’s Lane. As it was twenty years ago.]

THE GYPSIES DO BUSINESS.

Some time before the Civil War a small band of gypsies, headed by one

James Trail, who had been in the habit of camping in the woods on the

south side of the lane, purchased some of the Murphy property for the

purpose of establishing a winter home. In those days this was an out of

the way spot and quite suitable for the nomads.

During the warm months these gypsies wandered over the country and at

one time, while in Tennesee, they came upon a gullible person named

Ferris. Him they induced to bury a pot of gold, or at least to allow

them to bury it, at an auspicious moment when the moon and stars favored

increase, on the theory that if left a certain length of time, long

enough to allow them to get well out of the country, it would multiply

the dollars to a marvellous extent.

At the proper time Mr. Ferris dug up the pot and found it heavily laden

with—lead, and was sorely vexed. So far the plans of the gypsies had

worked as they wished, but what they had not counted on was the

persistence of their victim, who managed to trail them to their winter

lair. He then sought out ’Squire Sandford of Belleville, and offered him

a reward if he would capture the thieves and get the money back, which

the ’Squire did in short order.

All who knew ’Squire Sandford in his active days know how useless it was

to attempt to bluff him, and it is hardly necessary to state that the

gypsies promptly came to terms. This resulted in their giving up the

property on Murphy’s lane in order to avoid further trouble, and the

’Squire received half of the land in lieu of a money reward.

THE BENNETT PROPERTY.

On the far edge of Murphytown stood the home of Bill “Whitehead”

Bennett. There were many Bennetts in the neighborhood, and it was

necessary to distinguish one “Bill” from another—this one appears to

have been a blond. The records show that the heirs of Joseph Crane sold

this property to John P. Durand, and he to Simon Sainsimon, he to Daniel

Crane, he to Aaron I. Crane, he to William Bennett, he to Abram S.

Hewitt, and he to Dr. Grenville M. Weeks. The following items in regard

to the ownership of the property I have from Dr. Weeks.

PETER COOPER OWNS LAND HERE.

Early in the fifties Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt bought a tract

comprising about 38 acres just beyond “Murphytown”, their intention

being to make a homestead of it, but they did not build. In 1860 Dr.

Grenville M. Weeks who was then a young man, living in Bloomfield,

discovered the place and, liking it both for its beauty and for what he

thought would be its future possibilities as the city grew, saw Mr.

Cooper and asked if he would sell. The latter said no, as he had

purchased intending to make his home here, but that since then he and

his son-in-law had been looking at a place near Greenwood Lake, and they

might sell a year hence, if they decided on the latter place, as Hewitt

thought the city would crowd them out of this spot.

DR. GRENVILLE M. WEEKS COMES ON THE SCENE.

In ’61 the Doctor again called on Mr. Cooper, who said, “Well, are you

as hungry after that place as ever?” and when the young man said yes,

the owner wanted to know how much he would pay down. The Doctor who was

only twenty-one, had a half interest in a small drug store in

Bloomfield, which had netted him $500, a very considerable sum to him,

and when he said he had $500, Peter Cooper said, “$500! Young man, have

you any idea what the relation of $500 is to a $10,000 place?” The

Doctor then thought he could raise another $500, and the owner said, “I

will make a contract and give you a deed when you can save another

$1,000 and give me a mortgage for $8,000.” The Doctor had by this time

entered the Navy, and was thus enabled to secure the second thousand and

the deal was consummated.

In the course of time John I. Briggs bargained for the property,

agreeing to pay $15,000, and paid $100 down to bind the contract, but he

never paid interest on the mortgage, and the Doctor was compelled to

foreclose.

MR. JAS. YEREANCE A RESIDENT.

Next came Jeremiah Counsellor, a conductor on the M. & E. R. R., and a

well-known character, and he asked the Doctor for an opportunity to sell

the property, stating that he would sell it inside of a month, and that

he wanted as his commission half of all he could get over $50,000. This

was just before the panic of ’73, when prices were largely inflated and

the Doctor was naturally pleased, as, having been attached to the

government service most of the time, he had not appreciated the rise in

land values. Shortly thereafter the sale was made to Mr. James Yereance,

a New York business man, for $57,000, $25,000 being paid down. The

interest was paid for some years, but Mr. Yereance was finally unable to

meet the payments, and an amicable arrangement was made whereby part of

the property was deeded to the father of Mr. Yereance and the remainder

was bought in by the Doctor at Sheriff’s sale. The Doctor speaks very

highly of the honest manner in which Mr. Yereance treated him all

through these transactions.

DR. WEEKS AND THE MONITOR.

Dr. Grenville M. Weeks carries with him a useless right arm as a memento

of the Civil War. He was surgeon on the Monitor when she sank, and tells

such an interesting story—not only of this event, but also of the

conception and building of the Monitor, many points of which he says are

not commonly known—that a brief outline of his story is embodied here:—

DR. THEODORE RUGGLES TIMBY.

Dr. Theodore Ruggles Timby, who died November 10, 1909, at the age of 91

was, the Doctor believes, the real inventor of the Monitor. In 1843, Dr.

Timby gave thought to the immense unprotected stretch of coast which

this country presented to an enemy, and recognized how impossible it

would be to construct forts that would cover its vast extent. It then

occurred to him that if floating forts could be constructed which could

be taken to any point threatened, the difficulty would be met. It is

said that the old circular fort on Governor’s Island first suggested a

revolving turret to him.

By much thinking he gradually evolved the Monitor type, and fifteen

years before the Civil War broke out had perfected his plans and

submitted them to the various European governments, even sending them to

China, but they all scouted his idea, some one of them remarking that

every inventor had his soft spot, and evidently that of Dr. Timby was

the thought that he could float an iron ship.

Dr. Timby returned home and continued to work over his plans, placing

airtight compartments in bow and stern, and in such other ways as he

could devise meeting the objections that had been raised.

When the Civil War came the inventor managed to get his plans before Mr.

Lincoln, who immediately became interested, and who used frequently to

visit his workshop in Washington to discuss them. Finally Mr. Lincoln,

who had some knowledge that the Merrimac was being constructed and knew

that something must be done to meet the emergency, sent Dr. Timby with

his plans to three of the wealthiest and most prominent men in New York,

with a request that they submit the plans to the best engineer they

could find.

These took the model and plans to John Ericsson, then regarded as the

best engineer in the country, and he, after shutting himself up with

them for ten days, submitted a report in which he stated his belief in

the feasibility of the plan, and that he could construct the vessel in

one hundred days. The order was immediately given to go ahead, and at

the end of the one hundred days the “Monitor” was floating on the waters

of New York harbor, to all appearances a success.

An interesting addition to this story, which belongs here, comes from

Mrs. Lucy Cate Abercrombie of Forest Hill, and, while it is not part of

the Doctor’s narrative, it helps to complete the history.

When Ericsson announced that the Monitor could be built, he was called

to Washington for consultation and, among other questions, was asked

where the plates necessary to armor the proposed vessel could be

secured. He responded that he did not know, that such plates were only

made in Glasgow, and that it was impossible to secure them from there,

but that there was a man in Baltimore who had invented machinery for

rolling large plates, and perhaps he could do the work.

MR. HORACE ABBOTT MAKES THE MONITOR A POSSIBILITY.

This was Mr. Horace Abbott, the grandfather of Mrs. Abercrombie, who had

perfected a machine for rolling heavy plates, by the invention of the

third roll, but he had put his last dollar into the invention and the

stagnation of business due to the war was writing ruin for him in very

large letters. Mr. Abbott was sent for and a contract was signed, and in

forty-eight hours thereafter the first plate had been rolled, and this

led to other government work. Thus the Monitor not only saved the

fortunes of the Union, but also those of one of its inventive citizens.

Mr. Abbott’s invention revolutionized the methods employed in rolling

heavy plates; it has never been materially changed and is in use to-day

in every rolling mill in the country.

THE MONITOR GOES TO HAMPTON ROADS.

Word was sent to Lincoln that the Monitor was afloat and he, knowing

that the Merrimac was almost ready, ordered it to proceed immediately to

Hampton Roads. Ericsson, however, responded that this was impossible,

that the vessel was intended only for harbor defense and would not last

in a sea, as she was merely an iron deck set on a scow with an overhang

at each end of twenty-five feet, and that the force of the waves under

this overhang would lift the upper works from the hull. He had not

followed Dr. Timby’s plans as to the hull, which would have saved the

vessel in the storm off Hatteras referred to below. The only excuse for

the twenty-five foot overhang that can be thought of now is that the

short hull was sufficient to float the structure and cost less than a

longer hull. The President, however, sent peremptory orders that the

Monitor should go, and we all know the result.

TALE OF THE MERRIMAC’S ENGINEER.

Some years after the close of the war Dr. Weeks met the engineer of the

Merrimac in Dakota, and as the conversation drifted to the days that had

been, the engineer told how the Southerners were highly elated at the

first success of the Merrimac, and felt that nothing could stop them,

and when they came out of the James river on the morning that the

Monitor arrived, the captain was annoyed to see what he supposed was a

raft lying between him and his intended prey, the Minnesota, and not

realizing what it was or that it could offer resistance, ordered full

speed ahead, expecting to ram and destroy the obstruction.

“You can imagine our amazement”, said the engineer, “at the shock of the

impact, which threw us to the deck; it was like running on a ledge of

rock. The iron prow of the Merrimac, which was made for ramming, was

bent and useless, and had we not struck a slanting blow the result to

the Merrimac would have been serious.

“But what finally overwhelmed us were the enormous balls, eleven inches

in diameter, which came thundering at our railroaded sides until they

began to make breaches. Finally one of these ripped through us from stem

to stern, killing or wounding seven or more, upsetting gun carriages and

causing terrible devastation. Then it was that we realized that

destruction awaited us unless we could escape.”

DR. WEEKS TRANSFERRED TO THE MONITOR.

One of the mistakes made by Ericsson was the placing of the conning

tower, from which the vessel is fought, aft of the turret instead of on

its top, as the plans called for. Because of this the officer in charge

was compelled to swing the bow forty-five degrees out of her course in

order to see ahead. This delayed the fight greatly and also caused

Lieut. John L. Worden, who fought the Monitor, to be almost blinded by

smoke and burned powder. This fact led to the transferring of Dr.

Grenville M. Weeks to the Monitor, as it was necessary to relieve

Lieutenant Worden and the Monitor’s surgeon, Dr. Daniel C. Logue, went

with him to the Brandywine, while Doctor Weeks, who was surgeon on the

Brandywine, was ordered to replace Dr. Logue.

CAPTAIN BANKHEAD IN COMMAND.

Captain Bankhead succeeded Lieutenant Worden in command of the Monitor

and, as the Doctor says, there was a certain poetical justice in the

succession of Captain Bankhead to this command. It seems that a board

consisting of General Bankhead, the Captain’s father, and Colonel

Thornton of the army, and Joe Smith of the navy, had been appointed some

years before to determine whether this was a great piece of folly, as

the Europeans thought, or whether it was of value, as the inventor

believed. Thornton and Smith reported against the invention, while

General Bankhead made a minority report in its favor. The Bankheads were

Southern men, but loyal when the Civil War came.

SINKING OF THE MONITOR.

The Monitor was ordered to Charleston, S. C., and on December 29, 1862,

was taken in tow by the Rhode Island, a powerful side-wheel steamer. A

West India hurricane was raging up the Atlantic Coast, and two days

after the start that very thing happened to the Monitor that was

predicted by Ericsson, the tremendous lift of the seas under the long

overhang of twenty-five feet caused the deck to break away gradually

from the hull, and soon the cabin was awash and the heavy dining table

was crashing into the stateroom doors and cabin sides as the rolling of

the clumsy little vessel rushed the water from side to side.

At this point the Doctor went below for something and found an engineer

so sick in his stateroom that he did not realize their perilous

position, and when the man refused to move the Doctor attempted to force

him out, but now a wave swept over the deck and the Doctor, supposing

the Monitor was going down, sprang for the companionway and had to fight

his way up through a solid wall of water.

Once outside he sought the top of the turret with the Captain; in the

meantime rockets had been set off to notify the Rhode Island that her

tow was sinking and the latter had cut her loose. By this time the fires

were nearly out and the Monitor was so waterlogged that she did not rise

to the seas, but dived into them, while her officers and men could with

difficulty hang on, shutting eyes and mouth until the flood had swept

astern.

The Rhode Island immediately proceeded to lower a boat on its port

quarter, but while this was being done one of the most desperate

situations of this desperate night occurred. In some way an end of the

immense tow rope which had been trailing astern became entangled in one

of the paddle wheels and stopped the machinery. Thus she lay helpless

for the time being. In the meantime the Monitor, which was still slowly

running under her own power, her fires as yet not having been drowned

out, was bearing down on the Rhode Island. In the darkness the proximity

of the two boats was not discovered until the Monitor was on the point

of ramming. Just at this critical moment the paddle wheel was cleared

and the Rhode Island began slowly to forge ahead, and consequently the

blow was not severe enough to cause serious damage, but it was a

heart-rending moment to those on both of the vessels, who felt that they

were very close to eternity.

The collision smashed the boat which was being lowered but another

quickly took its place and, recognizing how easily it could be stove,

this was well guarded with rope fenders.

It was midnight and very dark, the two vessels had drifted apart again,

but finally the small boat was discovered close in on their starboard

quarter. It did not dare come alongside, however, for fear of being

smashed, and the men were compelled to jump.

The Doctor was one of the last to leave the Monitor, and by this time

the small boat had drifted so far off that he fell short into the icy

water, but those on board caught him by the hair and collar and he was

dragged to safety. The Doctor will never forget seeing one of the

engineers, who had been the life of the party and who was loved by all,

miss the boat by five feet as he jumped, and go down in the darkness

never to be seen again.

There were sixteen in the small boat, but it was staunch, and they felt

comparatively safe. The waves were tremendous; at one moment the boat

was riding the crest of a mountain, the next it was engulfed in the

depths. While thus momentarily between two great seas they dimly saw the

bow of a second boat from the Rhode Island hanging above them, which the

next moment would come down athwartships and grind them to pulp. A shout

of warning enabled each helmsman to throw his tiller over and sheer off

to some extent, but what saved the situation from becoming a catastrophe

to all was the Doctor’s quick wit. He tells the story very modestly

himself. Springing up and bracing his feet he grasped the bow of the

oncoming boat as firmly as possible and pushed it to one side and this,

with the prompt action of the helmsman, just prevented the impending

collision, but, as the one boat came down on the other, the Doctor’s arm

was gripped between them and he was pulled down to the water, his arm

was dragged from its socket and hung attached to his body by a few

stretched muscles. The intense pain caused him to faint, and had it not

been that the cold water revived him as his head went under he would

have been pulled overboard.

When the boat reached the Rhode Island they found a spar extended from

which depended ropes up which the sailors scrambled as only a sailor

can, and then the Doctor thought of death, and it was not pleasant in

spite of the intense pain he was enduring. One sailor lost his grip and

fell into the sea, never to be seen again.

What could a man so maimed as the Doctor was do to save himself under

such circumstances? Nothing. There seemed no hope for him, and he

thought of descending into that watery grave and slowly disintegrating

in the ooze at the bottom of the ocean; and the horror of it took hold

on him, for he was a young man and wanted to live.

Finally all were out of the boat but the men at bow and stern, the

Doctor, and George W. Tichenor, when the latter shouted that they must

do something to save the man who had saved them all. A rope was then

thrown from the vessel and a bowline passed over the Doctor’s right

shoulder and under his left arm, and the poor, maimed body was dragged

on board as a bag of potatoes might have been, but he was saved. It was

good to feel the wooden deck under foot once more.

NOTES ON THE CRANE FAMILY.

The last property on this old road was the Crane estate. The first of

the name to settle here was Jasper Crane (born 1680), and he is supposed

to have come here about 1730. The family genealogy goes back to an

earlier Jasper, born 1600, who is said to have been a son of Gen. Josiah

Crane, who was in the service of King James I. of England. Jasper

married in England, as his son John was born there in 1635. Jasper came

from England about 1639 and was one of the early settlers of New Haven,

Connecticut, where he was a magistrate for several years. From there he

removed to Branford and from the latter place to Newark in 1665. Here he

was a magistrate, was first president of the Town Council and was first

on the list of deputies to the General Assembly of New Jersey for six

years after the settlement of Newark.

John Crane, born 1635, had a son Jasper, born 1680 (the first to settle

here). His son Joseph was born 1722; this Joseph had a son Joseph, born

1767, and his son was Nathaniel Jonas Crane, born 1808.

[Illustration: Crane Homestead. Supposed to have been erected about

1760. Picture taken in 1890. The barn which stood back of this house was

the one in which cattle were slaughtered for the troops of General

Anthony Wayne.]

The old Crane stone house is supposed to have been erected about 1760 by

Joseph Crane; this was taken down about 1890. The small wing at the

right of the building is believed to have been the older part of the

house. Those now living remember that in the attic of this part were

several swords of various descriptions which Nathaniel J. Crane has said

were used by members of the family who fought in the French and Indian

War. The barn which stood in the rear of this house is the one referred

to elsewhere as having been used as a slaughter-house when General

Anthony Wayne was camped under this ridge.

Beyond the Crane house is the Keen homestead, which is mentioned in

connection with the old Bloomfield road.

Note for page 126.—Information concerning the Sidman family which

was received after this book was in type and inserted at the last

minute, shows that Jasper Crane owned land here as early as 1711.

See page 100.