NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

CITY, VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP HISTORIES, MORRISTOWN.

BY REV. RUFUS S. GREEN.

MORRISTOWN^(*), the county seat of Morris county, is, like Zion of old, "beautiful for situation." It nestles among the hills, of which no less than five ranges furnish most charming building-sites. The drives about the city are unsurpassed in variety and loveliness. Add to its natural beauty purity of air and water, and freedom from debt, and we have the causes which have dotted these hills with elegant villas, and which are attracting more and more the wealth and culture of neighboring cities. The death rate is less than 15 for 1,000 inhabitants. The town lies thirty miles due west from New York city. The Green is 371 feet above the ocean level.

The population of Morris township, with Morristown, has grown pretty steadily during the period of census returns. These have been as follows: 1810, 3,753; 1820, 3,524; 1830, 3,536; 1840, 4,006; 1850, 4,997; 1860, 5,985 (182 colored); 1870, 5,673 (239 colored); 1875, 6,950 (285 colored); 1880, 6,837 (Morristown, 5,418).

The statistics of property, taxation, etc., in 1881 were as follows: Acres in the township, 9,125; valuation of real estate, $4,360,000; personal property, $1,365,000; debt, $325,000; polls, 1,570; State school tax, $13,751; county tax, $12,832.42; road tax, $7,000; poor tax, $300.

On the 29th of March 1684 David BARCLAY, Arthur FORBES and Gawen LAWRIE wrote to the Scots proprietors respecting this part of the country: "There are also hills up in the country, but how much ground they take up we know not; they are said to be stony, and covered

with wood, and beyond them is said to be excellent land." This would indicate that this region was at that time terra incognita.

But little definite information can be obtained concerning the first settlers of the township of Morris. They probably came from Newark, Elizabeth, Long Island and New England. This much the names which first meet us would seem to indicate. The same uncertainty attaches to the date of their settlement. In the year 1767 the Rev. Jacob GREEN, third pastor of the Presbyterian church of Hanover, wrote a history of that church, which still survives in manuscript, in the preface of which he says that "about the year 1710 a few families removed from Newark and Elizabeth, &c., and settled on the west side of the Passaic River, in that which is now Morris county." In the East Jersey Records, Liber F 3, p. 28, at Trenton, there appears the copy of a deed of a tract of land within the bounds of this township, consisting of 967 37 acres, which was conveyed on the 1st of June 1769 by "the Right Hon. William, Earl of Sterling, and Lady Sarah, Countess of Stirling," for the sum of £2,902 to Colonel Staats Long Morris, of New York. The deed says this tract was originally surveyed in 1715.

In the same year the land on which Morristown is built was surveyed to Joseph Helby, Thomas Stephenson and John Keys or Kay. The last named had 2,000 acres, and each of the others 1,250 acres. Keys's claim embraced the land now occupied by the park. That of Helby ran from George W. Johnes's toward Speedwell, and southwest to the former residence of General Doughty. That of Stephenson included the Revere and neighboring farms. We append the deed to Kay:

"By virtue of a warrant from ye Council of Proprietors, bearing date ye tenth day of march last past, I have surveyed this Tract or Lott of land unto John Kay within ye Western Division of ye Province of New Jersey, in ye Last indian purchases made of ye Indians by ye said Proprietors; Situate upon & near a Branch of Passamisk River Called whipene, beginning at a small hickory corner standing near a Black oak marked K, ten cha: distance from a corner of Wm. Pens Lands; thence North west one hundred sixty & fiva cha: crossing ye said Whipene to a corner white oak marked also K; thence South west one hundred twenty and seven cha: & twenty five link to a poast for a corner under ye side of a hill called mine mountain; from thence Southeast one hundred sixty & five cha: to a poast; then North East one hundred twenty seven cha: & twenty five links, & by ye bound of Govn. Pens land to ye place of beginning; Containing Two thousand acres of Land besides one hundred acres allowance for Highways; surveyed April ye 28th 1715 pr me R Bull Survy.

"Ye 22 of August 1715 Inspected & approved of by ye Council of Proprs. and ordered to be Entered upon Record.

                   "Tests,        JOHN WILLS clerk." 

We cannot be far out of the way in placing the date of the first settlement of Morristown back nearly or quite to 1710, as found in the manuscript history of the Rev. Jacob Green.

We know not when, where, or by whom the first house was built. It stood, no doubt, near the bank of the Whippany, where the grist-mill, the saw-mill and the forge were soon erected. The Indians had not then disappeared from the region; while game abounded along the streams, and bears, wolves and panthers roamed through the forests.

The motive which led to the settlement of the place by these early pioneers was probably the betterment of their temporal prospects--many of them being drawn hither by the iron in which the mountains abounded. To their praise be it said, however, that they were a God-fearing people. Religion had a controlling voice in all their movements. It was the religious element that led the New Englanders and the Scotch and the Irish to this province, whose fundamental condition guaranteed the largest liberty of conscience to all settlers; it was here that many came to be freed from the spiritual despotism which galled them at home, and to certain localities some repaired to test their favorite scheme of a pure church and a godly government in which power was to be exercised only by those who were members of the church, and where everything in active antagonism with this principle was to be removed. On this basis Newark and a few other towns were founded. Those who came into this region from older settlements where religion was deemed vital to the best interests of the people brought with them the sacred love of liberty and of truth, and the highest regard for religious institutions, which was operative here as elsewhere in honoring the Sabbath and the sanctuary and in regulating social and domestic life.

Among the regulations made by the Duke of York for settlers in this province, under which regulations Morristown was probably settled, we find the following, respecting the support of the gospel: "Every township is obliged to pay their own minister, according to such agreement as they shall make with him, and no man to refuse his own proportion; the minister being elected by the major part of the householders and inhabitants in the town."

Such being the character of the people, we are not surprised to find a church established as early as 1718. This was in Hanover--the church of which the Rev. James A. Ferguson is the present pastor. To this house of worship the people of West Hanover (Morristown) resorted until the year 1733. By that time, the number of inhabitants having largely increased and the distance being so great, the desire became general to have a church of their own, which was accomplished a few years later, when the First Presbyterian church began its long career.

In 1738 the village, if it might be so named, was centered mainly in Water street, though Morris street might boast of an occasional hut, and perhaps two or three might be found amidst the clearings of the Green. Elsewhere the forest trees were standing, and what is now the park could boast of the giant oak, the chestnut and other noble specimens of growth. The woods around were visited by the panther and the bear, while wolves in great numbers answered each other from the neighboring hills. The sheep and cattle were brought into pens for the night. Roads were scarcely known. The bridle path or Indian trail was all that conducted the occasional traveler to Mendham, who saw on his way thither a mill, a blacksmith's shop and two dwellings--in three separate clearings. There was scarcely a better path to Basking Ridge. There were no postal routes, no newspapers and but few books to instruct and amuse. Life was then a reality. In the new settlement every one had to be busy in order to procure such comforts and necessaries as were required. Frugal habits and simple manners distinguished their every day life; and their domestic relations partook more of the patriarchal and less of the commercial, for worldly prosperity had not been sufficient to create that jealous distinction of rank with which we are so often charged as a community. Religion had a moulding influence upon the household, and from dearth of news often formed the principal topic of converse between neighbors. The Sabbath was rigidly kept, and the church was regularly frequented.

One church, as yet without a pastor, two public houses, a grist and saw-mill, a forge, a few scattered houses, an almost endless forest wherein still lingered the Indian and wild beast, a law-abiding and God-fearing people--these are the known conditions of that early time.

TOWNSHIP HISTORY TO THE REVOLUTION.

We come now to the second period of our history,--from the formation of the township to the beginning of the war of the Revolution.

The original name of Morristown was West Hanover. This appears from the minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, to which we shall have occasion again to refer. As late as 1738 this name occurs in the synod's minutes. It was also called New Hanover, as appears from the licenses granted by the county court to keep public houses. A record in the first volume of minutes of the court of common pleas for Morris county, which is printed on page 21, fixes the date of the adoption of the present name of the township as March 25th 1740.

Of this period between the formation of the township and the war of the Revolution little more need be said. The town grew but slowly. Some improvements were made. A Baptist church was organized and built and a court-house erected. A steeple was added to the Presbyterian church and a bell placed in it.

The needs of the people were few, and their mode of living was simple. Indications are not wanting, however, of the presence and gradual increase of families of wealth and culture, who gave to the town a reputation, which it still retains, of being "aristocratic."

Sunday was the great day of the week. Good Pastor Johnes, of the First Presbyterian Church, could see his congregation coming through the forest from the neighboring farms, not riding in wagons, but (if the distance was too great to walk) on horseback, the wife behind her husband on the pillion, while the children managed to cling on them as best they could. The women were clothed in homespun, from the fruits of that industry which has given the name of "spinster" to the unmarried daughters of the family, showing their constant occupation. In the winter they brought their footstoves, filled with live coals, to put under their feet during service, while the men disdained such an approach to effeminacy. If there was an evening service each family brought one or two candles, and persons sat holding them during the meeting; for even candlesticks on the walls and pillars were not then provided. But though the men could bravely sit with cold feet in the winter, they did not hesitate to take off their coats in the heat of summer, and if sleep seemed likely to overpower them they would stand up and thus remain until the inclination to drowsiness had passed. The men sat together upon one side of the house, and the women and children upon the other side, separated from each other by the broad aisle. The young people occupied the galleries, the young men and boys upon one side of the church, the young ladies and girls upon the other. This necessitated the appointment of certain men of grave and staid aspect to sit in the galleries to preserve order.

There is one item of history, however, which falls within this period, which can scarcely be passed over, and which we may place under the head of

COUNTERFEITERS.

It is not surprising that there should be at least one blot upon the fair history of Morristown. We would fain pass it by, but truth is inexorable, and the historian has no choice. The following account is for the most part a condensation from two articles, to which the reader is referred for fuller details--one by William A. Whitehead, on "The Robbery of the Treasury in 1768" (Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. V., p. 49), and the other by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., on the "Early History of Morris County" (Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. II., p. 15).

Samuel Ford was the leader of a notorious gang of counterfeiters, who infested this region just previous to the war of the Revolution. He was the grandson of widow Elizabeth Lindsley, the mother of Colonel Jacob Ford. His father's name was also Samuel. His mother was Grace, the daughter of Abraham Kitchel, of Hanover, and sister of Aaron, the Congressman. Her greatgrandfather was Rev. Abraham Pierson sen., of Newark. His family connections were therefore of the best and most respectable. Most of his companions in villainy also stood high in society. These were Benjamin Cooper, of Hibernia, son of Judge Cooper, before whom he was afterward tried for his crime; Dr. Bern Budd, a leading physician in Morristown, and a prominent member in its society; Samuel Haynes, and one Ayres, of Sussex county, both, as was also Cooper, justices of the peace; David Reynolds, a common man with no strong social connections; and others whose names will appear as we proceed.

Ford had followed the business of counterfeiting, which he pleasantly called a "money-making affair," for a number of years before he began operations in this vicinity. In 1768 he was arrested by the authorities of New York on a charge of uttering false New Jersey bills of credit; but we cannot find that he was ever brought to trial. Shortly after this he went to Ireland to improve himself in his profession, this being his second transatlantic trip in the prosecution of his business. Ireland was reputed to furnish at this time the most skillful counterfeiters in the world. Here Ford became, it is said, "a perfect master of the business." He returned to this country in 1772, and at once set to work on an extensive scale. He established himself about midway between Morristown and Hanover, in a swamp island on the Hammock. For the greater part of the year the surrounding water was a foot deep. Through this swamp Ford was obliged to creep on his hands and knees to get to his work. He would leave his house at daylight with his gun, as if in pursuit of game, and thus unwatched would attain his secret resort; for this practice was so much in accordance with the idle life he had apparently always led that it excited neither surprise nor remark. Still it was difficult for people to understand how a man whose only ostensible means of livelihood were a few acres of swampy land, the cultivation of which moreover was sadly neglected, could wear the aspect of a thriving farmer with plenty of money. In one way and another suspicion was aroused; and at last, on the 16th of July 1773, Ford was arrested and lodged in the county jail. That very night, however, or the day following, he succeeded in effecting his escape, being aided by a confederate by the name of John King, who in all probability was the same "John King" who was "late under-sheriff of Morris county." His position gave him, of course, every facility to aid his companion in crime. Nor did Sheriff Kinney escape the charge of implication in this matter. He was afterward indicted for remissness of duty in allowing the escape of so dangerous a prisoner. The privy council regarded him as "blamable for negligence in his office, respecting the escape of Ford," and advised the governor "to prosecute the said indictment at the next court."

Ford first fled to a lonely spot on the mountain, between Mount Hope and Hibernia, and hid himself in a deserted colliery, called "Smultz's Cabin." Sheriff Kinney with a posse of men sought him there, but so leisurely that when he reached the cabin the bird had flown. From Hibernia Ford fled southward, boldly paying his way with his spurious Jersey bills and counterfeit coin. At last he reached Green Briar county, among the mountains of Virginia, where he settled and assumed the name of Baldwin. Here he followed the trade of a silversmith, forming a partnership with another man. During a severe illness he disclosed his real history to his partner's wife, who so sympathized with him that after his recovery and the death of her husband she married him, and thus became his third living wife. His first wife, as we have seen, was Grace Kitchel, of Hanover. While in Ireland, perfecting himself in his "profession," he married an Irish girl, with whom he is said to have received considerable money. She came to this country with him, and was well nigh crazed on finding that he already had a wife and children. She is said afterward to have married an Irishman, and lived for many years in Whippany.

The pursuit of Ford was not of a very diligent character. When his whereabouts became known in the course of time it does not appear that he was molested. His oldest son, William Ford, and Stephen Halsey (son of Ananias) visited him in Virginia, where they found him with "a great property," a new wife, and some promising young Baldwins; and thus the possible ancestor, so the historian suggests of the Virginia Baldwins who have figured in public life. To his son and Mr. Halsey he seemed to be a "most melancholy man." He professed to them a deep penitence for his sins, and a grace which led to a religious life; the sincerity of which we may however be permitted to doubt, as it did not lead him to abandon his adulterous relations and do justice to the excellent woman in New Jersey whom he had left to support herself and his family without a farthing's aid from him.

At the time of Ford's arrest and escape several other persons were taken up on suspicion of being connected with him in his "money-making scheme." On the 4th of August 1773 a special term of oyer and terminer was held for the purpose of eliciting information respecting the parties implicated and the extent of their guilt. On the 14th one of those concerned, that he might mitigate his own punishment, made a partial confession, and was followed by another who gave a full and explicit statement of all the details. The swamp was examined and the press found, together with a set of plates for printing the bills of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey; a quantity of type and other materials, and a leather wrapper in which the money was kept. The late Sheriff Robertson of Morris county became the owner of the house in which Ford lived, on the Hammock, and in repairing it found some of Ford's counterfeiting tools in the walls, where many years before he had secreted them.

But the confessions of which we have spoken led to other results than the discovery of the counterfeiters' paraphernalia. Men who occupied high positions in society were arrested. Their names have already been given--Cooper, Budd, Haynes, Reynolds and Ayers. The last was of Sussex, and was tried in that county. The other four were arraigned in the old court-house at Morristown on the 19th of August 1773. A thousand people were thought to be within its walls, and among them all scarcely an eye could be found which did not exhibit some tokens of sympathetic sorrow. Having pleaded guilty, the sentence was now to be pronounced upon them, viz. that upon the 17th of September following they should expiate their crime upon the gallows. One of the magistrates before whom the case was tried was father of one of the culprits. The best families and society in the county had representatives in the number of the condemned. But the sentence thus faithfully pronounced was not to be as faithfully executed. The respectability of the culprits and their influential connections were made to bear with great effect upon the pardoning power. The day fixed for their execution arrived, and Reynolds, who seems to have been really the least guilty of the lot, but who alone unfortunately for himself had no influential friends, suffered the ignominious death to which he had been sentenced; while the other three were remanded, and finally in December, after a number of respites, Governor Franklin gave them a full pardon.

Dr. Budd continued to live in Morristown until his death, from putrid fever, December 14th 1777, at the age of thirty-nine. So great was his reputed skill in the practice of his profession that he still found many ready to employ him. One of his patients, a very inquisitive woman, the first time she had occasion for his services after his pardon, asked him very naively "how he kind of felt when he came so near being hanged." His answer is not recorded.

This "money-making scheme" of Ford and his companions has a wider than local interest from its connection with the robbery of the treasury of East Jersey, at Perth Amboy, on the night of the 21st of July 1768, in which £6,570 9s. 4d. in coin and bills were stolen. Cooper, Haynes and Budd, under sentence of death for counterfeiting, as above narrated, made confessions which pointed to Ford as the planner and prime mover of this bold and successful villainy, the first of whom admitted having received £300 of the stolen money. Ford strenuously denied the charge; but his denial could scarcely counterbalance the confessions just noticed. He was never tried for the crime, having fled, as already seen, beyond the reach of the law before the confessions were made.

The career of this bad man is the one foul blot upon our local history, bringing disgrace to the town, and sorrow of heart to the estimable family of which he was a most unworthy representative.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

PATRIOTS OF MORRIS COUNTY.

The period of the war of the Revolution forms a chapter by itself in the local history of Morristown, a chapter to which the leading historians of those eventful years have paid too little attention. This neglect will justify a somewhat full account of this memorable period. Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, pastor of the Presbyterian church of Madison from 1854 to 1862, and Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., pastor of the Presbyterian church of Rockaway from 1848 to 1862, and since that time president of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., have done much to preserve the revolutionary history of this region. Valuable articles from their pens upon this subject may be found in The Historical Magazine, published at Morrisania, N. Y., by Henry B. Dawson, in the numbers for March, May and June 1871. To these articles we are largely indebted in the preparation of this sketch.

When the war of the Revolution began the village of Morristown numbered, it is said, about 250 inhabitants, while in the region about was a thriving and somewhat populous farming community. From the rolls of the church, which good Pastor Johnes so carefully kept, and from the records of the court, we are able to determine pretty fully these early names. Colonel Jacob Ford sen., Colonel Jacob Ford jr., Dr. Jabez Campfield, Major Joseph Lindsley, Jacob Johnson, Silas Condict, Rev. Timothy Johnes and John Doughty were among the leading citizens, while the names of Prudden, Pierson, Fairchild, Freeman, Howell, Allen, Day, Dickerson, King, Wood, Lum, Cutler, Beach, Tichenor, Hathaway, Frost, Blatchley, Crane, Coe, Munson, etc., are of frequent occurrence.

The Hathaway and Johnes families owned and occupied property to the north of the town, the Ford family to the east, General John Doughty to the south, and Silas Condict and his brothers to the west. Colonel Jacob Arnold, of "Light Horse" fame, was keeping tavern on the west side of the park, in the building now owned by P. H. Hoffman; while Colonel Jacob Ford had just built the mansion in which Washington passed a winter, and which is now known as the "Headquarters."

The financial condition of the people at that time was far from prosperous, but they were none the less zealous in their attachment to the cause of freedom and desire for the prosecution of the war. While the great mass of the inhabitants were Whigs, there were nevertheless a few tories. An amusing incident is told of "an English immigrant," residing in Hanover, "a man of considerable property and not a little hauteur, who had drunk deeply into toryism," who held "many an ardent controversy" with "Parson Green" on the subject of American independence. Ashbel Green, the parson's son, heard the talk and afterward saw this tory standing up in the church on a Sunday, while the minister read his confession of the sin of toryism; being earnestly moved thereto by the rumor that some of the hot bloods of Morristown had threatened him with a coat of tar and feathers. This was in the forenoon; in the afternoon the culprit rode rapidly to the said "neighboring town" to get Dr. Johnes to read for him the same confession there, which the doctor at last convinced him was unnecessary. The courts were less forbearing to tories, from the records of which it appears they had either to "repent or perish."

On the 11th of January 1775 the Legislature met at Perth Amboy. The representatives from Morris county were Jacob Ford and William Winds. It is quite evident from the proceedings that the Assembly and the governor were by no means in accord. In fact their views were as wide apart as the poles. Cortland Skinner, of Perth Amboy, was speaker. On the 13th of January the governor addressed the Assembly; his speech was short, but was pointed and filled with suggestive warnings of the fatal consequences of treason. The speech was read twice after its delivery and then "committed" to a committee of the whole house. Before this action a "committee of grievances," consisting of ten members, was appointed, Jacob Ford, from Morris county, being a member. This committee or any three of them were authorized to meet at such times and places as they might think proper to appoint, either during the sitting of the Assembly or at any other time. The address of the governor had given the Assembly much trouble, as that body in a committee of the whole house had spent several days considering it and in preparation of a reply. In his rejoinder the governor declined further argument.

The following resolution, passed at a meeting of the county committee of observation held in Hanover, February 15th 1775, is but the prelude to the drama of sacrifice and suffering so soon to be enacted:

"Resolved unanimously, that this committee will, after the first day of March next, esteem it a violation of the seventh article of said association if any person or persons should kill any sheep until it is four years old, or sell any such sheep to any person who he or they may have cause to suspect will kill them or carry them to market; and further that they will esteem it a breach of said article if any inhabitant of this township should sell any sheep of any kind whatsoever to any person dwelling out of this county, or to any person who they may have cause to suspect will carry them out of this county, without leave first obtained of this committee."

No toothsome lamb to tickle the palates of these stouthearted patriots, while the wool from the backs of the live animals was needed to make the necessary garments for themselves and their families. No woolen fabrics for them from the looms and factories of their oppressors, while they could shear and children could pick and wives and daughters could card and spin and weave the wool of the native sheep into cloth. No linen or cordage from across the water if they could raise hemp and flax. The same committee at the same meeting also provided protection of a certain sort for the consumer of domestic manufactures. While they urged the care and growth of fabrics for home consumption and placed the tariff of public opinion most strongly on the wares of their great enemy, they protected the consumer from exorbitant prices. So they resolved that "if any manufacturer of any article made for home consumption or any vender of goods or merchandise in this township shall take advantage of the necessities of his country, by selling at an unusual price, such person shall be considered an enemy to his country; and do recommend it to the inhabitants of this township to remember that after the 1st of March next no East India tea is to be used in any case whatsoever."

At the beginning of the war one of the most enterprising of Morristown's "leading citizens" was Colonel Jacob Ford. The past and present prominence of the Ford family in local history warrants the insertion of the following genealogical note. In the diary of the late Hon. Gabriel H. Ford, son of Colonel Jacob Ford jr., was found the following entry:

Thursday, 22st June 1849.—A census was taken in the years 1771 and 1772 in the British provinces of America, and deposited, after the Revolution, as public archives, at Washington; but their room becoming much wanted, those of each province were delivered to the members of Congress from it, to cull what they chose, preparatory to a burning of the rest. General Mahlon Dickerson, then a member from New Jersey, selected some from the county of Morris, and sent me yesterday a copy verbatim of one entry, as follows; "Widow Elizabeth Lindsley, mother of Colonel Jacob Ford, was born in the city of Axford, in old England; came into Philadelphia when there was but one house in it; and into this province when she was but one year and a half old. Deceased April 21st 1772, aged 91 years and one month." I always understood in the family by tradition from her (whose short stature and slender, bent person, I clearly recall, having lived in the same house with her and with my parents, in my grandfather's family, at her death and before it) that her father fled from England when there was a universal dread of returning popery and persecution, three years before the death of Charles the Second, A. D. 1682, and two years before the accession of James the Second, in 1684; that while landing his goods at Philadelphia he fell from a plank into the Delaware river and was drowned between the ship and the shore, leaving a family of young children in the wilderness. That she had several children by her first husband, whose name was Ford, but none by her second husband, whose name was Lindsley; at whose death she was taken into the family of her son, Colonel Jacob Ford sen., and treated with filial tenderness the remaining years of her life, which were many. I am in the 85th year (since January last) of my age, being born in 1765, and was 7 years old at her death.

Her son, Colonel Jacob Ford sen., was, as we have seen, one of the judges of "the inferior court of common pleas for Morris county" in 1740, and for many years thereafter he appears to have delivered the charges to the grand jury, and was not infrequently a member of the lower house in the Provincial Assembly. His second son and namesake was not less prominent than his honored father. Though a young man he had been previous to the war intrusted with difficult missions by the State, which he had faithfully executed. But his name comes into special prominence as the builder of an important powder-mill, on the Whippany River, near Morristown, the exact location of which we regret we have been unable to ascertain. Early in the year 1776, as may be gathered from the Boteler papers in the New Jersey historical library, he "offered to erect a powder-mill in the county of Morris, for the making of gunpowder, an article so essential at the present time"; and the Provincial Congress agreed to lend him £2,000 of the public money for one year, without interest, on his giving "satisfactory security for the same to be repaid within the time of one year in good merchantable powder"; the first installment "of one ton of good merchantable powder" to be paid "on first of July next, and one ton per month thereafter till the sum of £2,000 be paid." This "good merchantable powder" did excellent service in many a battle thereafter, and was one of the main reasons of the repeated but fruitless attempts of the enemy to reach Morristown. That the brilliant services of Colonel Ford were appreciated at the time may be seen by reference to the American Archives, Vol. III., 1,259, 1,278 and 1,419.

Such an attempt was made but a few months after the powder-mill was put into operation. But the man who was capable of making "good merchantable powder" was capable of using it and thus defending his invaluable mill. On the fourteenth of December 1776 the enemy reached Springfield, where they were met by Colonel Ford's militia, numbering seven hundred, with such spirit that they were glad to relinquish their design of reaching Morristown, and retreat the next day, under General Leslie, "toward Spank-Town." On the 13th of the same month, the day before the engagement at Springfield, a company of British dragoons had penetrated as far as Basking Ridge, where they captured General Charles Lee.

These incidents lead to a correction of the prevalent mistake that no portion of the American army was in camp in this vicinity until after the battle of Princeton. On the 20th of December 1776 Washington wrote to the president of Congress that he had "directed the three regiments from Ticonderoga to halt at Morristown, in Jersey (where I understand about eight hundred militia had collected), in order to inspirit the inhabitants, and, as far as possible, to cover that part of the country." These were "eastern regiments," and were led hither under the command of Colonel Vose. They were: "Greaton's regiment, about 250 men; Bond's do., 100; Porter's do., 170; in all 520 men." In a letter of General McDougall to Washington, bearing date December 19th 1776, he says he came to Morristown the day after General Lee was captured at Basking Ridge, and that Vose arrived at Morristown "day before yesterday," which was therefore the 17th of December. General Washington did not reach Morristown until the 7th of the following month. The importance of Colonel Ford's powdermill in the estimation of both friend and foe was doubtless the main reason why Washington ordered these eastern regiments to remain in Morristown at a time when he so greatly needed them. The absence of a Morris county regiment in the north, who were in the regular service under the command of Colonel William Winds, it should be said, had largely diminished the local means of defense, and rendered necessary the presence of these eastern regiments. Colonel Ford's militia doubtless remained under arms until the arrival of Washington. On the 22nd of December he led them home from Chatham, where they had remained to watch the movements of the enemy. On the 31st of the same month they were on parade, only a week before the arrival of Morristown's greater guest. It is not probable that they had disbanded before that time.

WASHINGTON'S FIRST WINTER IN MORRISTOWN.

Washington reached Morristown January 7th 1777. The memorable campaign which had just closed; the retreat through New Jersey, known as "the mud rounds;" the brilliant victories of Trenton and Princeton, need not be here related. On the 4th of January the battle of Princeton was fought, and three days afterward the American army went into winter quarters at Morristown and vicinity. Washington himself located at the Arnold tavern. This historic building is still standing, though considerably altered since it sheltered its illustrious guest. It is situated on the west side of the Green, or what is now called Park place, and is occupied on the first floor by the grocery store of Adams & Fairchild, the clothing store of P. H. Hoffman and jewelry store of F. J. Crowell, At that time it was a two-storied house. The first floor was divided into four rooms, with a hall running through the center from front to rear. Washington, according to Mr. Tuttle, occupied the two rooms on the south side, where is now the grocery store, using the front room as a general office and sitting room and the back for a sleeping apartment.

The present owner of the building, P. H. Hoffman, says Washington slept in the front room over his store; where the grocery store is was only one room--the parlor. The hall through which the great man was wont to pass was recently fitted up as a store, and is now occupied by the jeweler above mentioned. Among the traditions concerning the occupancy of this house by Washington is one that he was initiated into the mysteries of freemasonry in this building, though some accounts say it was in a different building but occurred while his headquarters were in this one. This tradition will, however, appear further on to have no foundation in fact.

Those were dark days for Washington and his fellow patriots. He had scarcely settled in his new quarters before trouble began. Four days after his arrival he was called to mourn the loss of the brave and noble Colonel Jacob Ford jr. On the parade of the 31st of December, to which reference has already been made, Colonel Ford was seized "with a delirium in his head and was borne off by a couple of soldiers, after which he never rose from his bed." He died January 11th 1777, at the early age of nearly thirty-nine years, being born February 19th 1738.

Thus died, in the midst of his usefulness and in the vigor of his manhood, one of the most promising and brilliant men whom Morristown and Morris county ever produced. On January 27th 1762 he married Theodocia, daughter of Rev. Timothy Johnes, who afterward became the hostess of Washington in his second winter at Morristown, in the house now celebrated as the "Headquarters." Colonel Ford was buried, by the order of Washington, with the honors of war. On the 19th of the same month his father, Colonel Jacob Ford sen., died of fever, at the age of 73, being born April 13th 1704.

Death made fearful inroads that memorable winter, both in the army and among the citizens. On the 11th of January 1777, the same day the younger Ford died, the death of Martha, widow of Joshua Ball, from smallpox, is recorded, the sad forerunner of the darkest year this community ever saw. There were two more deaths during the month from the same disease; and then the roll rapidly increased until in that one year it had reached 68 deaths from smallpox. No age or condition was spared. The infant, the mother, the father, the youth, the aged, the bond, the free, were reckoned among its victims.

But smallpox was not the only disease working havoc in that dread year. Putrid sore throat, dysentery, and other maladies swelled the death roll of the parish to the astounding number of 205, exclusive of all who died in the army.

"An establishment," says Sparks, "for inoculation was provided near Morristown for the troops in camp; one at Philadelphia for those coming from the south, another in Connecticut, another in Providence." Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, in his "Sketch of Bottle Hill during the Revolution" (Historical Magazine), however, has clearly shown that this was not "an establishment," but a series of inoculating hospitals in the towns of Morris and Hanover. From him we learn that one of these hospitals was the house which stood at that time on the farm of the late John Ogden, about two miles south of Morristown. The house was then owned and occupied by Elijah Pierson, and for several months it was continually filled with both soldiers and citizens, who repaired thither in order to guard themselves, by inoculation, against the smallpox. "I have been informed," says Mr. Tuttle, "by some of the Brookfield family, residing but a little distance from the Lowantica camp ground, that they received it from their Revolutionary ancestors, who lived and died on the ground, that during the same winter there was a small encampment on the hill back of the Bonsall mansion, a short distance north of the place last described [Pierson's]; and it has seemed to me not improbable that there was an arrangement also made for inoculating the army."

The old First Presbyterian and Baptist churches, the predecessors of the present buildings, were not exempt from the necessities of this terrible scourge. They, too, were turned into smallpox hospitals for soldiers. Under date of September 16th 1777, when the plague had been stayed, we find in the trustees' book of the former church the following minute:

"Agreed that Mr. Conklin, Mr. Tuthill, Mr. Lindsly & Mr. Stiles or any two of them wait upon some of the Docts. of the Hospital in Morristown & apply for a resignation of the meeting house, and if obtained then to apply to the Commanding Officer at this post to remove the troops thence; & at their discretion to proceed further in cleansing and refitting the house for Public Worship & to make report of their progress in the premises at their next meeting."

It would appear that the progress made in the premises was not altogether satisfactory, for under date of July 13th 1778 appears this entry: "July 13th 1778 the Trustees met at Docr. Tuthill's; present, Mr. Conklin, Mr. Tuthill, Mr. Stiles, Mr. Lindsley, Mr. Mills & the President; agreed that Mr. Tuthill, Mr. Stiles & Mr. Mills be a committee to wait on Doct. Draper & inform him of the Law of this State Relative to Billeting of Soldiers, & that the committee or either of them be Impowered to prosecute such Person or Persons who may take possession of the meeting house or other property of the Trustees contrary to the said Law, & that they make report what they have done in the premises to this Board at their next meeting."

As the army left here in May 1777 we may infer from this last minute that the church was retained as a hospital for those incapacited by sickness from the severities of active warfare. If this be so the pastor and people were obliged for a year and a half to worship, as we know they did a part of the time, in the open air.

An incident of special interest to the writer of this article may be mentioned in this connection. He has heard his mother relate the old stories which her father, Nehemiah Smith, told her when a child of his experience in the Revolutionary war. Although she does not remember the name of Morristown, yet these stories are so circumstantial as to leave no doubt in her mind that he was a smallpox patient in the old church of which the writer was lately the pastor. In the work of inoculation, to which the people seriously objected, Washington was greatly aided by the influence of the ministry, especially of Dr. Johnes and Parson Green.

How large the death roll in the army was cannot now be ascertained, but that hundreds were swept away by the plague cannot be doubted.

Disease, however, was not the only cause of anxiety to the guest of the "Arnold tavern." Very soon after reaching here he wrote the following letter, which reveals another serious source of alarm:

"HEADQUARTERS, MORRISTOWN, January 31st 1777.

"The great countenance and protection shown and given to deserters by persons in the different neighborhoods from whence they originally came has made that vice so prevalent in the army that, unless some very effectual measures are fallen upon to prevent it, our new army will scarcely be raised before it will again dwindle and waste away from that cause alone.

"I know of no remedy so effectual as for the different States immediately to pass laws laying a very severe penalty upon those who harbour or fail to give information against deserters, knowing them to be such, and strictly enjoining all justices of the peace and officers of the militia to keep a watchful eye over and apprehend all such persons as shall return from the army without a discharge.

"In order that this most salutary measure may be carried speedily into execution, I have not only desired Congress to recommend it to the different States, but have myself wrote circular letters to them all, pressing their compliance with my request. Desertion must cease of course when the offenders find they have no shelter.

"I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your most obedient servant, Go. WASHINGTON.

"To the Hon. the representatives of the State of New Jersey."

Then, too, Washington was not altogether satisfied with the position of Morristown as a place for locating his army. On reaching here he writes: "The situation is by no means favorable to our views, and as soon as the purposes are answered for which we came I think to remove, though I confess I do not know how we shall procure covering for our men elsewhere." That he did not soon remove, and that he returned here for another winter, would indicate that as he became more familiar with the topography of the county his early impression of "the unfavorable situation" was changed.

January 13th, scarcely a week after his arrival here, he wrote two letters to Lord Howe, on the subject of "the barbarous usage" our soldiers and sailors were receiving in New York, "which their emaciated countenances confirm." "Did he not endeavor to obtain a redress of their grievances," he writes "he would think himself as culpable as those who inflict such severities upon them."

The correspondence which passed between these two distinguished persons during the winter had in the midst of all its seriousness, if tradition may be believed, an occasional vein of humor. Howe is said to have sent to Washington, at one time, a copy of Watts's version of the one hundred and twentieth Psalm, as follows:

"Thou God of love, thou ever blest, 
Pity my suffering state; 
When wilt thou set my soul at rest 
From lips that love deceit?

"Hard lot of mine! my days are cast 
Among the sons of strife, 
Whose never ceasing brawlings waste 
My golden hours of life.

"O! might I change my place, 
How would I choose to dwell 
In some wide, lonesome wilderness, 
And leave these gates of hell!"

To this, it is said, Washington returned Watts's version of the one hundred and first Psalm, entitled "The Magistrate's Psalm," containing the following pointed verses:

"In vain shall sinners strive to rise 
By flattering and malicious lies; 
And while the innocent I guard 
The bold offender sha'nt be spared.

"The impious crew, that factious band, 
Shall hide their heads, or quit the land; 
And all who break the public rest, 
Where I have power, shall be supprest."

Rev. Dr. J. F. Tuttle states that he received the above tradition from two entirely distinct sources.

Still another trouble weighed heavily upon the anxious heart of Washington. The term of enlistment of many of his troops was about to expire; and most earnest letters were sent "to the council of safety," "to the president of Congress," "to the governors of the thirteen States," calling for more men and munitions. On the 26th of January he wrote: "Reinforcements come up so extremely slow that I am afraid I shall be left without any men before they arrive. The enemy must be ignorant of our numbers, or they have not horses to move their artillery, or they would not suffer us to remain undisturbed."

One of the members of "the council of safety" was Silas Condict, of this town. The following letter of his is not without interest:

                                                               "MORRISTOWN, April 7th 1777. 
"DEAR SIR,--This day I received your favor of the 23d ult., wherein you acquaint me that I have been appointed one of the council of safety. I am much concerned that you have so few members attending at this critical season; and, although it is extremely difficult at present for me to leave home (my family being inoculated and not yet through the smallpox), yet I will come at any time rather than public business should suffer, on notice being given me that it is necessary. Colonel De Hart told me to-day that the battalion had arranged its officers, and only wanted an opportunity to present it for commission. The colonel says that he has at General Washington's request examined several of the prisoners now in jail here, and that it will be best for the council of safety to sit in this county soon; and if this is thought proper I think it will be best to sit either at Mendham or at Captain Dunn's, in Roxbury, as the army is still at Morristown, and it will be inconvenient to sit there.

  "I am, with great respect, your most obedient and 
     humble servant, 
                                                            "SILAS CONDICT. 
  "His Excellency Gov. Livingston." 

The jail, as Mr. Condict's letter informs us, was full of prisoners. These were spies, tories, and dangerous characters. The presence of such persons was another source of annoyance and anxiety. But their cunning was not always successful. Dr. Tuttle relates an anecdote which he had from G. P. McCulloch, who heard it from General Doughty, a Revolutionary soldier, residing in Morristown. A certain man was employed by Washington af a spy, to gain information concerning the enemy, but it was suspected that he carried the enemy more news than he brought to those in whose employ he was. General Greene, who acted as quartermaster-general, occupied a small office on the southeast corner of the Green, where the drug store of Geiger & Smith now is. One day Colonel Hamilton was in this office when the suspected spy made his appearance. The colonel had prepared what purported to be a careful statement of the condition of the army, both as to numbers and munitions, making the numbers much more flattering than the actual facts. Leaving this statement on the table, apparently by mistake, Colonel Hamilton left the office, saying he would return in a few minutes. The spy instantly seized the paper as a very authentic document, and left with it for parts unknown. It was supposed that this trick did much to preserve the army from attack that winter.

Still another source of trouble is apparent from the following "general order:"

      "HEADQUARTERS, MORRISTOWN, 8th May 1777. 
"As few vices are attended with more pernicious consequences than gaming--which often brings disgrace and ruin upon officers, and injury and punishment upon the soldiery--and reports prevailing (which it is to be feared are too well founded) that this destructive vice has spread its baleful influence in the army, and in a peculiar manner to the prejudice of the recruiting service, the commander-in-chief, in the most pointed and explicit terms, forbids all officers and soldiers playing at cards, dice, or at any games except those of exercise, for diversion; it being impossible, if the practice be allowed at all, to discriminate between innocent play for amusement and criminal gaming for pecuniary and sordid purposes.

"Officers attentive to their duty will find abundant employment in training and disciplining their men, providing for them, and seeing that they appear neat, clean and soldierlike. Nor will anything redound more to their honor, afford them more solid amusement, or better answer the end of their appointment, than to devote the vacant moments they may have to the study of military authors.

"The commanding officer of every corps is strictly enjoined to have this order frequently read and strongly impressed upon the minds of those under his command. Any officer or soldier, or other persons belonging to or following the army--either in camp, in quarters, on the recruiting service, or elsewhere--presuming, under any pretence, to disobey this order, shall be tried by a general court martial. The general officers in each division of the army are to pay the strictest attention to the due exercise thereof.

"The adjutant-general is to transmit copies of this order to the different departments of the army. Also, to execute the same to be immediately published in the gazettes of each State, for the information of officers dispersed on the recruiting service.

         "By his Excellency's command, 
                  "MORGAN CONNOR, Adj. pro tem." 

It is not to be wondered at that under all these depressing circumstances the troubled heart of Washington turned for support and comfort to the God of all strength, to the God of nations and of battles. We are not surprised, therefore, that as the time of the communion drew near, which was then observed semi-annually, Washington sought good Pastor Johnes, and inquired of him if membership with the Presbyterian church was required "as a term of admission to the ordinance." The doctor's reply was, "Ours is not the Presbyterian table, but the Lord's table, and we hence give the Lord's invitation to all his followers, of whatever name." This pleased and satisfied the general, and on the coming Sabbath, in the cold air, he was present with the congregation assembled in the orchard in the rear of the parsonage, the house now occupied by Mrs. Eugene Ayers, on Morris street; and in the natural basin still found there he sat down at the table of the Lord, and in the remembrance of redeeming love obtained no doubt relief from the scenes that appalled and the cares that oppressed him. The common opinion is that the Lord's Supper was administered in the church. This is so stated in Sparks's life of Washington and by other writers, but the true version is as already given. The church was occupied by invalid troops till the close of the year 1777, if not till some time in 1778, as the records of the trustees show. This was the only time after his entrance upon his publie career that Washington is certainly known to have partaken of the Lord's Supper.

(For the proof of this interesting historical incident the reader is referred to The Record for June and August 1880.)

Washington was a frequent attendant upon these openair meetings. On one of these occasions, according to an account handed down by Doctor Johnes, Washington was sitting in his camp chair, brought in for the occasion. During the service a woman came into the congregation with a child in her arms; Washington arose from his chair and gave it to the woman with the child.

The Rev. O. L. Kirtland, a former pastor in this town, in a letter to the Presbyterian Magazine, and copied in The Record for June 1880, relates the following, which not only reveals the terrible trials of that winter, but the character of Washington, and the great secret of his power over the army:

"Soon after I came to Morristown, in 1837 I think, I visited my native place, and met there an old man, bowed down with age, leaning tremblingly upon the top of his staff. His name was Cook. In my early childhood he had been the physician in my father's family. As the old man met me, he said, `You are located in Morristown, are you?' `Yes, sir.' `I was there too,' said the doctor, once; 'I was under Washington in the army of the Revolution. It was hard times then--hard times. There was a time when all our rations were but a single gill of wheat a day. Washington used to come round and look into our tents, and he looked so kind, and he said so tenderly, 'Men, can you bear it?' `Yes, general, yes, we can,' was the reply; `if you wish us to act, give us the word, and we are ready.'"

Tradition relates that Washington amidst all his other troubles during that dreadful winter was not himself exempt from the hand of disease. He had, it is said, a dangerous attack of quinsy sore throat, so that his friends felt serious apprehensions about his recovery. In this fear they asked him to indicate the man best fitted to succeed him in the command of the army, and without hesitation he pointed to General Nathaniel Greene.

Thus that ever memorable season wore away. The homes of our citizens were filled with the soldiers billeted upon them, and for whom they had to provide. Suffering, deprivation, disease and death were upon every hand. Never were these combinations of evils better calculated to undermine the courage of all concerned in the struggle; and yet their faith in God never failed. Washington was not an unmoved spectator of the griefs about him, and often might be seen in Hanover and Lowantica Valley cheering the faith and inspiring the courage of his suffering men. His labors were very heavy in the southeast room of the "Arnold tavern:" urging on Congress the necessity of tendering an oath of allegiance to all the inhabitants and outlawing those that refused it; now advising and inspiring his generals--Benedict Arnold among them, but too base to be elevated by his communion with the great spirit of the age; now hurrying forward the enlistment of troops and the collection of munitions; now teaching Lord Howe some lessons in humanity by the law of retaliation; "although," says he, "I shall always be happy to manifest my disinclination to any undue severities toward those whom the fortune of war may chance to throw into my hands." His situation is extremely trying, for on the 2nd of March he writes: "General Howe cannot have * * * less than ten thousand men in the Jerseys. * * * Our number does not exceed four thousand. His are well disciplined, well officered and well appointed; ours raw militia, badly officered and under no government." The balance sheet thus struck seemed to be against him. But then Robert Morris, the great financier of the Revolution, did not express himself too strongly in writing that very winter to Washington: "Heaven no doubt for the noblest purposes has blessed you with a firmness of mind, steadiness of countenance, and patience in sufferings, that give you infinite advantages over other men."

About the end of May Washington led his army from Morristown to engage in the campaign of 1777, made memorable by the bloody reverses of Chad's Ford and Germantown.

WASHINGTON'S SECOND WINTER AT MORRISTOWN.

We pass over the intervening time between Washington's leaving Morristown in May 1777 and his return to it in December 1779. The duty of selecting the winter quarters in the latter year had been committed to General Greene, who had reported two places to the commander-in-chief, the one at Aquackanock, the other within four miles of Morristown. Greene preferred the former, but Washington's preference was the latter. On the 7th of December 1779 he writes to Governor Livingston from Morristown that "the main army lies within three or four miles from this place." And on the 15th he ordered Generals Greene and Duportail "to examine all the grounds in the environs of our present encampment for spots most proper to be occupied in case of any movement of the enemy toward us," the positions to be large enough for the maneuvers of ten thousand men.

On the 1st of December 1779 Washington became the guest of Mrs. Ford, the widow of Colonel Jacob Ford jr. and daughter of the Rev. Timothy Johnes.

On the 22nd of January 1780 he wrote to Quartermaster General Greene, whose duty it was to provide for the comfort of the commander-in-chief: "I have been at my present quarters since the 1st day of December, and have not a kitchen to cook a dinner in--nor is there a place at this moment in which a servant can lodge with the smallest degree of comfort. Eighteen belonging to my family and all Mrs. Ford's are crowded together in her kitchen, and scarce one of them able to speak for the colds they have." Soon a log kitchen was built at the east end of the house for the use of Washington's family. At the west end of the house, and but a little distance from it, another log cabin was built for a general office, which Washington occupied particularly in the day-time, with Colonel Alexander Hamilton and Major Tench Tighlman. This cluster of buildings was guarded night and day by sentinels. In the field southeast of the house huts were built for Washington's life guards, of whom there are said to have been two hundred and fifty, under command of General Colfax, grandfather of Schuyler Colfax, late vice-president of the United States.

Several times in the course of the winter false alarms were given of the approach of the enemy. First a distant report of a gun would be heard from the most remote sentinel, and when one nearer, and so on, until the sentinels by the house would fire in turn. From them it would be communicated on toward Morristown, until the last gun would be heard far to the westward at camp. Immediately the life guard would rush into the house, barricade the doors, open the windows, and about five men would place themselves at each window, with their muskets brought to a charge, loaded and cocked ready for defense. There they would remain until the troops were seen marching, with music, at quick step toward the mansion. During one of these alarms an amusing incident occurred tending to show the coolness of Washington. One evening, about midnight, when some of the younger officers were indulging themselves over their wine, in the dining-room, an alarm was given. A guest, a young man from New York, something of a bon vivant, was in much trepidation, and rushing out into the entry exclaimed, "Where's the general? Where's the general?" Washington, just then coming down stairs, met him, and in moderate tones said, "Be quiet, young man, be quiet."

Timothy Ford, a son of Washington's hostess, was a severe sufferer all that winter from the effects of a wound received in a battle the previous fall; and among other pleasing courtesies we are told that every morning Washington knocked at Timothy's door, and asked how the young soldier had passed the night. There was sometimes scarcity at the headquarters as well as in the camp, as the following anecdote will show: "We have nothing but the rations to cook, sir," said Mrs. Thompson, a very worthy Irishwoman, and housekeeper, to General Washington. "Well, Mrs. Thompson, you must cook the rations, for I have not a farthing to give you." "If you please, sir, let one of the gentlemen give me an order for six bushels of salt." "Six bushels of salt; for what?" "To preserve the fresh beef, sir." One of the aids gave the order, and next day his excellency's table was amply provided. Mrs. Thompson was sent for, and told she had done very wrong to expend her own money, for it was not known when she could be repaid. "I owe you," said his excellency, "too much already to permit the debt being increased, and our situation is not such as to induce very sanguine hope." "Dear sir," said the good old lady, "it is always darkest just before daylight, and I hope your excellency will forgive me for bartering salt for the other necessaries now on the table." Salt was eight dollars a bushel and could always be exchanged with the country people for articles of provision.

A sketch of Washington now before me, says: "He (Washington) sometimes smiled, but is not recollected to have been seen laughing heartily except on one occasion. This was when he was describing Arnold's escape, and giving an account of his ludicrous appearance as he galloped from the Robinson House, near West Point, to embark on board the enemy's vessel." Dr. Tuttle in his paper on "Washington at Morristown," says:

"The late General John Doughty of Morristown was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and knew Washington both winters he spent at Morristown. He often told his friends that he never heard of Washington's laughing loud but once during the two winters. The exception was one that took place in the spring of 1780, when Washington had purchased a young spirited horse of great power, but which was not broken to the saddle. A man in the army, or town, who professed to be a perfect horseman, and who made loud proclamation of his gifts in that line, solicited and received permission from the general to break the horse to the saddle. Immediately back of Southside, below Market street was a large yard, to which Washington and his friends went to see the horse receive his first lesson. After many preliminary flourishes, the man made a leap to the horse's back, but no sooner was he seated than the horse made what is known as a `stiff leap,' threw down his head and up his heels, casting the braggart over his head in a sort of elliptical curve. As Washington looked at the man, unhurt but rolling in the dirt, the ludicrous scene overcame his gravity and he laughed aloud so heartily that the tears ran down his cheeks."

Count Pulaski frequently exercised his corps of cavalry in front of the headquarters. He was an expert horseman, and performed many feats of skill. He would sometimes while his horse was on full gallop discharge his pistol, toss it in the air, catch it by the barrels, and throw it ahead as if at an enemy. With his horse still on a jump, he would lift one foot out of the stirrup, and with the other foot in, bend to the ground and recover the weapon. Some of the best horsemen in the army, belonging to the Virginia Light Horse, attempted to imitate the feat; they would be successful in three or four trials as far as to catch the pistol; none, however, were able to pick it up, but in trying they got some severe falls.

An officer who was with the army in Morristown thus gives his impressions of the commander-in-chief, while partaking of the hospitalities of his table:

"It is natural to view with keen attention the countenance of an illustrious man, with the secret hope of discovering in his features some peculiar traces of the excellence which distinguishes him from, and elevates him above, his fellow mortals. These expectations are realized in a peculiar manner in viewing the person of General Washington. His tall, noble stature and just proportions, his fine, cheerful, open countenance, simple and modest deportment, are all calculated to interest every beholder in his favor, and to command veneration and respect. He is feared even when silent, and beloved even while we are unconscious of the motive. The table was elegantly furnished and provisions ample, though not abounding in superfluities. The civilities of the table were performed by Colonel Hamilton and the other members of the family, the general and lady being seated at the side of the table. In conversation his excellency's expressive countenance is peculiarly interesting and pleasing; a placid smile is seen frequently on his lips, but a loud laugh, it is said, seldom if ever escapes him. He is polite and attentive to each individual at table, and retires after the compliments of a few glasses. Mrs. Washington combines, in an uncommon degree, great dignity of manner with the most pleasing affability, but possesses no striking mark of beauty."

Among the letters that were written by Washington that winter was one to "Major General Arnold" in answer to his letter asking "leave of absence from the army during the ensuing summer," on account of his health. Washington wrote, "You have my permission, though it is my expectation and wish to see you in the field;" then, alluding to the birth of a son, he says, "Let me congratulate you on the late happy event. Mrs. Washington joins me in presenting her wishes for Mrs. Arnold on the occasion."

How little either of the parties to these felicitations could forsee the future! Before that infant was six months older his mother was raving like a maniac over her husband's infamy, and the name of Arnold had become a stench in the nostrils of every American patriot.

An important incident of that time must not be forgotten. We learn that on the 18th of April 1780 the French minister, Chevalier de la Luzerne, and Don Juan de Miralles, a distinguished Spanish gentleman, representing his court before our Congress, arrived at Morristown. That was a great day in the Wick farm camp when these two distinguished foreigners were to be received. Even soldiers who had neither shoes nor coats looked cheerful, as if the good time so long expected was now at hand. Washington had many plans to lay before these representatives of two powerful allies, and of course time did not hang heavily. On the 24th Baron Steuben, the accomplished disciplinarian to whose severe training our army owed so much, had completed his preparations for the review of four battalions. This parade probably took place somewhere in the vicinity of Morristown. An eye witness makes a large draft on his stock of adjectives in describing the review. "A large stage" he says "was erected in the field, which was crowded with officers, ladies and gentlemen of distinction from the country, among whom were Governor Livingston of New Jersey and lady. Our troops exhibited a truly military appearance, and performed the evolutions in a manner which afforded much satisfaction to the commander-in-chief, and they were honored with the approbation of the French minister and all present.

Our enthusiastic witness forgot to say whether Baron Steuben did or did not bring forward on that brilliant occasion any of the patriots who had no shoes or coats; but probably they did duty in camp that day, while those who were better clothed, but no better disposed, flaunted before spectators their gayest war-plumage! In the evening General Washington and the French minister attended a ball provided by our principal officers, at which was present a numerous collection of ladies and gentlemen of distinguished character. Fireworks were also exhibited by the officers of the artilery, so that doubtless that night of the 24th of April 1780 was a very merry night: rockets exploded, cannons occasionally roared like thunder, and some very curious inventions whirled and snapped to the delight of some thousands who did not attend the ball. O'Hara's parlors were as light as they could be made with good tallow candles, requiring to be snuffed.

But while all this was passing where was "that distinguished gentleman, Don Juan de Miralles?" We learn that he visited the Short Hills on the 19th or 20th of April. When Baron Steuben on the 24th of April was reviewing the four battalions to the delight of Washington, De la Luzerne, and others, and that night, while the fireworks were flashing their eccentricities in the darkness, and the sounds of music and dancing were heard at O'Hara's, Don Juan de Miralles was tossing with death fever. Four days afterward he died, and on the 29th of April his funeral took place, in a style never imitated or equalled in Morristown since. Dr. Thatcher exhausted all his strong words in expressing his admiration of the scene, and doubtless would have used more had they been at hand. Hear him:

"I accompanied Dr. Schuyler to headquarters to attend the funeral of M. de Miralles. The deceased was a gentleman of high rank in Spain, and had been about one year a resident with our Congress from the Spanish court. The corpse was dressed in rich state and exposed to public view, as is customary in Europe. The coffin was most splendid and stately, lined throughout with fine cambric, and covered on the outside with rich black velvet, and ornamented in a superb manner. The top of the coffin was removed to display the pomp and grandeur with which the body was decorated. It was a splendid full dress, consisting of a scarlet suit, embroidered with rich gold lace, a three-cornered gold-laced hat, a genteelcued wig, white silk stockings, large diamond shoe and knee buckles, a profusion of diamond rings decorated the fingers, and from a superb gold watch set with diamonds several rich seals were suspended. His excellency General Washington, with several other general officers, and members of the Congress, attended the funeral solemnities and walked as chief mourners. The other officers of the army and numerous respectable citizens formed a splendid procession, extending about one mile. The pall-bearers were six field officers, and the coffin was borne on the shoulders of four officers of the artillery in full uniform. Minute-guns were fired during the procession, which greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion. A Spanish priest performed service at the grave in the Roman Catholic form. The coffin was enclosed in a box of plank, and in all the profusion of pomp and grandeur was deposited in the silent grave in the common burying ground near the church at Morristown. A guard is placed at the grave lest our soldiers should be tempted to dig for hidden treasure."

This pompous funeral, so pompously described, was quite in contrast with the funeral procession which the previous week entered the same burying ground. The neighbors and friends of Jacob Johnson, who had been a bold rider in Arnold's troop of light horse, made a long procession. Dr. Johnes and the physician led the procession on horseback, and the only wagon present was used to convey the coffin to the graveyard. At the house the pastor drew heavenly consolation for the afflicted from the word of God, and at the grave dismissed the people by thanking them for their kindness to the dead. And had Dr. Johnes officiated at the funeral of General Washington his services would have been just as simple and unostentatious. These two funerals made no uninteresting feature in the social life of Morristown when Washington spent his last winter there.

No one has studied more fully, or written more carefully, the Revolutionary history of Morristown than the Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., former pastor of the Presbyterian church of Rockaway, and now president of Wabash College. In the interest of our readers we can not do better than to reproduce here, with his permission, a portion of an article from his pen, entitled "Washington in Morris county, New Jersey," published in The Historical Magazine for June 1871.

On the 30th of November 1779 General Greene, the quartermaster-general, wrote from Morristown to one of the quartermasters of New Jersey that "we are yet like the wandering Jews in search of a Jerusalem, not having fixt upon a position for hutting the army;" and he says that he has described two favorable positions to the commander-in-chief, "the one near Equacanock, the other near Mr. Kemble's, four miles from this place." The next day he writes to the same gentleman that "the general has fixed upon a place for hutting the army near Mr. Kimball's, within about four miles of this town. His reasons for this choice are unnecessary to be explained, but whatever they are they will prove very distressing to the quartermaster's department. * * * I beg you will set every wheel in motion that will give dispatch to business." His predictions concerning the commissary were fulfilled more literally than he himself dreamed of.

The position actually chosen is one of the finest localities in Morris county, and can be reached by two roads. The one principally traveled that winter is the old road to Mendham, over "Kimball's Hill," as it is called to this day. The camping ground is about four miles southwest from Morristown. Following the Basking Ridge road four miles, through a region famous for its excellent soil and fine scenery, with the mountain on your right, you come to the Kimball property, now owned by H. A. Hoyt, Esq. Here you turn to the right and ascend the highlands for a mile, and you are on the ground which must be considered as consecrated by the unparalleled hardships of the American army. The different camps where were quartered the troops from New England, the middle and the southern States were on the lands which then belonged to Mr. Kimball and Mr. Wick, including some one thousand acres. The house on the Wick property is still standing, very much as it was in that winter, and it is worthy of a brief description. It is on the crown of the hill, whence you descend westward to Mendham and eastward to Morristown. In front of the house was an old back locust--cut down in 1870--at least two feet and a half in diameter; and at the east end is the largest red cedar I have ever seen. Both these trees were standing in 1780. In the immediate vicinity of the house are several immense black cherry trees, which belong to the same period. The house itself is nearly square, and is built in the old style of New England houses, with a famous large chimney-stack in the center. The very door which swung then is there still, hanging on the same substantial strap-hinges, and ornamented with the same old lion-headed knocker. Passing through this door, which fronts southward, you come into a hall some eight feet wide, its width being just the same as the thickness of the chimney. Turning to the right, you pass from the hall into the ordinary family room, and to the left into the parlor. A door from the family-room and the parlor leads you into the kitchen, which is about two-thirds the length of the house. The fire-places of these three rooms all belong to the one huge stone stack in the center; and everything about them remains as it then was. They would alarm modern economists by their capacity to take in wood by the cord. The spaces above the old manteltrees are filled up with panel-work, and in the parlor evidently were once quite fine, especially for that day. On the north side of the parlor is a door leading into the spare bedroom, with which is connected an amusing incident.

Great difficulty was experienced in the spring of 1780 in procuring teams to remove the army stores, and horses for cavalry. Mr. Wick's daughter, Tempe, owned a beautiful young horse, which she frequently rode, and always with skill. She was an admirable and a bold rider. One day, as the preparations for removing the army were progressing, Miss Wick rode her favorite horse to the house of her brother-in-law, Mr. Leddel, on the road to Mendham; and on her return was accosted by some soldiers, who commanded her to dismount and let them take the horse. One of them had seized the bridle-reins. Perfectly self-possessed, she appeared to submit to her fate, but not without a vain entreaty not to take her favorite from her. She then told them she was sorry to part with the animal, but as she must, she would ask two favors of them; the one was to return him to her if possible, and the other was, whether they returned him or not, to treat him well. The soldiers were completely thrown off their guard, and the reins were released, they supposing she was about to dismount, than which nothing was farther from her intentions; for no sooner was the man's hand loose from the bridle than she touched her spirited horse with the whip, and he sped from among them like an arrow. As she was riding away, at full speed, they fired after her, but probably without intending to hit her; at any rate, she was unharmed. She urged her horse up the hill, at his highest speed, and coming round to the kitchen door, on the north side of the house, she sprang off and led him into the kitchen, thence into the parlor, and thence into the spare bed-room, which had but one window, and that on the west side. This was secured with a shutter. The soldiers shortly after came up and searched the barn and woods in vain. Miss Wick saved her horse by keeping him in that bed-room three weeks, until the last troop was fairly off. The incident, which is authentic, shows the adroitness and courage of the young lady, who afterwards became the wife of William Tuttle, an officer in the Jersey brigade during the entire war.

The descriptions of the different camps which are to be given are quite imperfect, but interesting; and, such as they are, are derived from the late Captain William Tuttle, who was stationed with the Jersey troops during that winter. It cannot be sufficiently regretted that some friendly pen was not ready to record the conversations of this fine old soldier, an officer in the Third Jersey regiment and perfectly acquainted with all the localities of the encampment on Kimball Hill. He was 20 years old at the time, and from the conclusion of the war until his death, in 1836, he resided most of the time either on the Wick farm or in the immediate vicinity. Very often would he go over the ground, especially with his young relatives, pointing out the precise spots occupied by the different troops, and filling up hours with thrilling anecdotes connected with that winter; but these conversations no one was at the pains to record, and now they are hopelessly gone. He enlisted in the regular service in 1777, and remained in it until peace was declared. He suffered the exposures of winter quarters at Middle Brook, Valley Forge, and Kimball Hill; was in the battles of Chad's Ford, Germantown, Brandywine, Monmouth, Springfield, and "others of less note;" was with Lafayette in his Virginia campaign; and was at the siege of Yorktown; and yet his careless relatives culpably have suffered his history to be shrunk into the compass of his own meager but modest affidavit in the pension office.

As good fortune will have it, a former tenant on the Wick farm occupied it several years before Captain Tuttle's death; and, in company with the old gentleman, frequently passed over the camp grounds. Under Mr. Mucklow's direction a small party of us passed over the various points of interest. Taking the old Wick house as the starting point, we crossed the road, and, following in a southwest direction, came into a tract of timber on an easy slope and extending to a living spring brook. In the upper end of the woods, near the brook, we found the ruins of several hut-chimneys. Following the side hill, in the same direction as the stream, that is in a southeast course, we found quite a large number of these stone chimneys, and in some of them the stones seem to be just as the soldiers left them. At one point we counted two rows containing forty chimneys; some of them evidently belonging to double huts. Just below these we came into a fine level opening, almost bare of trees, and which may have been grubbed clean of stumps and roots for a parade ground. A few rods higher up the side of the hill were other ruins, extending with some degree of regularity around the face of the hill, in a curve, until the row was terminated at a brook on the east side, which puts into the stream already mentioned. On the crown of the hill is another row of ruins; and Captain Tuttle informed our guide that the cleared field on the hill was once covered with similar remains. Thus far we counted 196 of these and had been over the ground occupied by the Jersey brigade. Frequently did Captain Tuttle relate the fact that he had seen the paths leading from the Jersey camp to the Wick house marked with blood from the feet of the soldiers without shoes!

On the same side of the road, and near to it, is a cleared field. In this field a spring brook rises, around which the hill slopes in the form of a horseshoe. On the north side of this was a slaughter-house, and a little lower down on the same side are the remains of the huts built for the commissary department, and in the vicinity of a beautiful spring. On the opposite side of the brook we found several ruins, which, with those just mentioned, amounted to 23. On the ground of the slaughter-house Mr. Mucklow plowed up an old bayonet.

Crossing the road, directly opposite this point we came into a cleared field, which is in the southern slope of Fort Hill. Along the road fence is a row of stones which were in the hut fire-places, and which were drawn off to clear the ground for plowing; but higher up in the woods are several remains. East of this lot and lower down the hill is an open field, in which we saw several rows, in regular order, containing sixty fire-places; and thence, following the curve of the hill in a northeast course, in regular rows, we counted 100 more. We were informed that the remains are to be seen around the entire hill, but want of time forbade our pursuing the inquiry farther.

We now ascend Fort Hill, around the sides of which we had been walking for some time. It is shaped like a sugarloaf, and from the northeast to the southeast its sides are very steep, making the ascent not a little difficult. I was on this point in the spring, before the leaves had put out, and the view from it is surpassingly beautiful. Fort Hill is one of the most commanding points in Morris county. Westward you can see the Schooley's Mountain range, and, as I fancied, the mountains along the Delaware. Southward is a fine range of highlands, in the midst of which is Basking Ridge (where General Lee was captured), so distinct that with a glass you can tell what is doing in its streets. Southeast of you Long Hill and Plainfield Mountain stretch far in the distance, from the top of which you may see from New York to New Brunswick, if not to the Delaware. East of you are the Short Hills, so famous as the watchtower of freedom during the Revolutionary war, and on which night and day sentinels were observing the country along the Hackensack, Passaic and Raritan, and even to New York and the Narrows. Northeast you can see the two twin mountains in the vicinity of Ringwood, and beyond that the blue-tinged mountains toward Newburgh. Between these prominent points are intervening landscapes beautiful as the eye ever rested on.

At the east and northeast, on the top of Fort Hill, are some remains not like those we had previously examined. They evidently were not the ruins of breastworks, but seem to have been designed to prepare level places for the free movements of artillery; and a close inspection shows that cannon stationed at those two points on the hill top would sweep the entire face of the hill in case of an attack. This undoubtedly was the design. In the immediate vicinity are the remains of quite a number of chimneys, of huts probably occupied by a detachment of artillerymen.

Passing down the west side of Fort Hill, toward the old house, we came into what has always been called the Jockey Hollow road, at a place which tradition points out as the spot where Captain Billings was shot, when the Pennsylvania troops mutinied, on New Year's day 1781. The aged mother of Robert K. Tuttle, of Morristown, pointed out a black oak tree by the roadside as near the spot where the unfortunate man was shot down and buried in the road where he was killed. Mrs. Tuttle was at the time living on a part of the Wick farm, so that the tradition is undoubtedly true.

We now returned to the house in order to visit Hospital field, as it is still called, and also the Maryland field, so called because the Maryland troops were there encamped during the winter of 1779-80. These fields are about half a mile north from the house. Hospital field is on the slope of a high hill, facing east and southeast; and at the bottom is a fine spring brook, in the vicinity of which were huts for the hospitals. Of these there are no remains, as the plough has long since obliterated them; but near by is a most interesting place marked by a grove of locust trees, planted to protect the graves from the plough. Here are two rows of graves where were buried those who died at the hospitals that winter. A granite monument ought to be built immediately there, to commemorate those unnamed men who died in the service of their country. The length of space occupied by the graves, as far as can now be seen, is about one hundred and seventy feet, thus making a single row of graves about three hundred and forty feet long. The graves evidently are near together, so that quite a large number must have died in the hospitals that winter. Whether there was any other burying ground used it is impossible now to determine; but it is very probable that the hillsides in the vicinity contain many graves which will remain unknown until the morning of the resurrection.

Directly east from Hospital field, on a hill opposite, the Maryland troops and perhaps the Virginia were "hutted;" but we were assured that no remains are left, as the ground has all been ploughed, so that we did not visit it. In all we had counted three hundred and sixty-five chimney foundations, marking the sites of as many huts, besides many which inadvertently we omitted to count. We must have seen more than four hundred in all; and I am thus particular in describing their positions because a few years more may entirely obliterate all traces of the camps on Kimball Hill.

If we return to the top of Fort Hill, and cast the eye over the prominent points already mentioned, we shall perceive how admirably they are adapted for the purpose of spreading alarm by means of beacon-fires. The ranges of the Short and Long hills and Plainfield Mountain on the southeast and east, Schooley's Mountain on the west, the mountains near Ringwood and along the New York line on the north and northeast, all are as distinct as light-houses. Very early in the war there was a beacon station on the Short Hills, near the country residence of the late Bishop Hobart; but in the winter of 1778-9 Washington communicated to the governor of New Jersey a plan for establishing these beacons throughout the State; and in accordance with his request, on the 9th of April 1779 General Philemon Dickerson, one of the most able militia officers in the State, was instructed to carry the plan into effect. Hitherto no traces of a written plan have been found, but there can be no doubt as to some of the locations. That on the Short Hills is remembered by persons still living [1854] from whom the Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle derived the account he gives of the matter. "On that commanding elevation," writes Mr. Tuttle, in his lecture on Bottle Hill during the Revolution, "the means were kept for alarming the inhabitants of the interior in case of any threatening movement of the enemy in any direction. A cannon, an eighteen-pounder--called in those times `the old sow'--fired every half hour, answered the object in the daytime and in very stormy and dark nights; while an immense fire or beacon light answered the end at all other times. A log house or two * * * were erected there for the use of the sentinels, who by relieving one another at definite intervals kept careful watch day and night, their eyes continually sweeping over the vast extent of country that lay stretched out like a map before them. The beacon light was constructed of dry wood, piled around a high pole; this was filled with combustible materials, and a tar-barrel was placed upon the top of the pole. When the sentinels discovered any movement of the enemy of a threatening character, or such tidings were brought them by messengers, either the alarm gun was fired or the beacon light kindled, so that the tidings were quickly spread over the whole region. There are several persons still living in this place who remember to have heard that dismal alarm gun, and to have seen those beacon lights sending out their baleful and terrific light from that high point of observation; and who also remember to have seen the inhabitants, armed with their muskets, making all possible haste to Chatham bridge and the Short Hills."

That there was a system of beacon lights there can be no doubt, although, unfortunately, the most of those are dead who could give us information about it, and there are no documents describing the various points where these lights were kindled. Of one we have some knowledge. Seven miles north of Morristown, near the present railroad depot at Denville, is a mountain which rises abruptly to a considerable height, from which you can see the Short Hills. On this point there was a beacon light, managed by Captain Josiah Hall, whose descendants still reside in the vicinity. A fire from this point would be seen from the top of Green Pond Mountain, several miles farther north; and a fire on that mountain would probably reach the portion of Sussex county where the brave Colonel Seward, grandfather of Senator Seward, resided. Tradition says that such was the case; and that often at night the tongue of fire might be seen leaping into the air on the Short Hills, soon to be followed by brilliant lights on Fort Hill, on the Denville mountain, the Green Pond Mountain, and on the range of mountains on the Orange county line. To many it has seemed inexplicable, and it was so to the enemy, that they could not make a movement toward the hills of Morris without meeting the yeomen of Morris, armed and ready to repel them. I have conversed with several old men who have seen the roads coverging on Morristown and Chatham lined with men who were hurrying off to the Short Hills, to drive back the invaders. The alarm gun and the beacon light explain the mystery; and, as an illustration of scenes frequently witnessed, I may give an incident in the life of an old soldier, by the name of Bishop, who was living at Mendham. He was one morning engaged in stacking his wheat, with a hired man, when the alarm gun pealed out its warning. "I must go," exclaimed Bishop. "You had better take care of your wheat," said his man. Again they heard the dull, heavy sound of the alarm gun; and instantly Bishop slid down from the stack, exclaiming, "I can't stand this. Get along with the grain the best way you can. I'm off to the rescue!" Hastily he packed a small budget of provisions; and, shouldering his musket, in a few minutes he was on the way to Morristown. He says that on his way there he found men issuing from every road, equipped just as they left their fields and shops, so that by the time he reached town he was one of a large company. Here they were met by a messenger who said the enemy was retreating. It was by such alacrity that it came to be a boast of the Morris county people that the enemy had never been able to gain a footing among these hills. They frequently made the attempt, but never succeeded. Once, as it is said, for the purpose of exchanging prisoners, a detachment did reach Chatham bridge, which was guarded by brave General Winds, to whom the braggart captain sent word that he proposed to dine next day in Morristown. The message called out the somewhat expressive reply that if he dined in Morristown next day he would sup in —— (the place infernal) next night!

So far as possible let us now relate the facts which show the sufferings and heroism of our soldiers on Kimball Hill the winter of 1779-80. On the 9th of December General Greene wrote: "Our hutting goes on rapidly, and the troops will be under cover in a few days. The officers will remain in the open field until the boards [from Trenton] arrive, and as their sufferings are great they will be proportionably clamorous." The New England troops on the 9th of that month were at Pompton; and Doctor Thatcher, in his Military Journal, says: "On the 14th we reached this wilderness, about three miles from Morristown, where we are to build huts for winter quarters." The severity of the winter may be inferred from Doctor Thatcher's description: "The snow on the ground is about two feet deep and the weather extremely cold; the soldiers are destitute of both tents and blankets, and some of them are actually barefooted and almost naked. Our only defense against the inclemency of the weather consists of brushwood thrown together. Our lodging the last night was on the frozen ground. Those officers who have the privilege of a horse can always have a blanket at hand. Having removed the snow we wrapped ourselves in great coats, spread our blankets on the ground and lay down by the side of each other, five or six together, with large fires at our feet, leaving orders with the waiters to keep it well supplied with fuel during the night. We could procure neither shelter nor forage for our horses; and the poor animals were tied to the trees in the woods for twenty-four hours, without food except the bark which they peeled from the trees." "The whole army in this department are to be engaged in building log huts for winter quarters. The ground is marked, and the soldiers have commenced cutting down the timber of oak and walnut, of which we have great abundance. Our baggage has at length arrived; the men find it very difficult to pitch their tents in the frozen ground; and, notwithstanding large fires, we can scarcely keep from freezing. In addition to other sufferings the whole army has been seven or eight days entirely destitute of the staff of life; our only food is miserable fresh beef, without bread, salt or vegetables."

The general fact that that winter was one of terrible severity is well known; but we may obtain more vivid ideas of this fact by a few details. In the New Jersey Gazette of February 9th 1780, published at Trenton, the editor says: "The weather has been so extremely cold for nearly two months past that sleighs and other carriages now pass from this place to Philadelphia on the Delaware, a circumstance not remembered by the oldest person among us." As early as the 18th of December 1779 an officer who visited some of the smaller encampments along the hills in the vicinity writes: "I found the weather excessively cold." On the 14th of January Lord Stirling led a detachment against the enemy on Staten Island; and on the morning of the 15th he crossed on the ice from Elizabethtown Point. The Hudson was so bridged with ice as to permit foot passengers to cross from New York to Hoboken and Paulus Hook.

But the unparalleled depth of snow added to the intense sufferings of the soldiers. On the 14th of December, as Thatcher says, the "snow was two feet deep." On the 28th of December an officer says in the New Jersey Gazette, "While I am writing the storm is raging without." But the great storm of the winter began on the 3d of January, when the greater part of the army were not protected by the huts, which were not yet ready for occupation. Doctor Thatcher thus deseribes the storm: "On the 3d inst. we experienced one of the most tremendous snow storms ever remembered; no man could endure its violence many minutes without danger to his life. Several marquees were torn asunder and blown down over the officers' heads in the night, and some of the soldiers were actually covered while in their tents and buried, like sheep, under the snow. My comrades and myself were roused from sleep by the calls of some officers for assistance; their marquee had blown down, and they were almost smothered in the storm before they could reach our marquee, only a few yards, and their blankets and baggage were nearly buried in the snow. We (the officers) are greatly favored in having a supply of straw for bedding; over this we spread all our blankets, and with our clothes, and large fires at our feet, while four or five are crowded together, preserve ourselves from freezing. But the sufferings of the poor soldiers can scarcely be described; while on duty they are unavoidably exposed to all the inclemency of the storm and severe cold; at night they now have a bed of straw on the ground and a single blanket to each man; they are badly clad and some are destitute of shoes. We have contrived a kind of stone chimney outside, and an opening at one end of our tents gives us the benefit of the fire within. The snow is now from four to six feet deep, which so obstructs the roads as to prevent our receiving a supply of provisions. For the last ten days we received but two pounds of meat a man, and we are frequently for six or eight days entirely destitute of meat and then as long without bread. The consequence is the soldiers are so enfeebled from hunger and cold as to be almost unable to perform military duty or labor in constructing their huts. It is well known that General Washington experiences the greatest solicitude for the sufferings of his army and is sensible that they in general conduct with heroic patience and fortitude."

This storm continued for several days, accompanied with violent winds, which drifted the snow so that the roads were impassable. So deep was the snow that in many places it covered the tops of the fences, and teams could be driven over them. Under date of January 22nd 1780 an officer on Kimball Hill wrote the following lively description of the condition of the army in consequence of this storm: "We had a fast lately in camp, by general constraint, of the whole army; in which we fasted more sincerely and truly for three days than we ever did from all the resolutions of Congress put together. This was occasioned by the severity of the weather and drifting of the snow, whereby the roads were rendered impassable and all supplies of provision cut off, until the officers were obliged to release the soldiers from command and permit them to go in great numbers together to get provisions where they could find them. The inhabitants of this part of the country discovered a noble spirit in feeding the soldiers; and, to the honor of the soldiery, they received what they got with thankfulness, and did little or no damage."

The manuscript letters of Joseph Lewis, quartermaster at Morristown, prove this description to be truthful. On the 8th of January he wrote: "We are now as distressed as want of provision and cash can make us. The soldiers have been reduced to the necessity of robbing the inhabitants, to save their own lives." On the next day he wrote: "We are still in distress for want of provisions. Our magistrates, as well as small detachments from the army, are busy collecting to relieve our distresses, and I am told that the troops already experience the good effects of their industry. We are wishing for more plentiful supplies." And, in real distress, he writes under the same date: "The sixty million dollars lately collected by tax must be put into the hands of the superintendent for the new purchases. You will therefore have but little chance of getting cash until more is MADE. If none comes sooner than by striking new emissions I must run away from Morris and live with you at Trenton, or some other place more remote from this, to secure me from the already enraged multitudes."

On the 8th of January General Washington wrote from the Ford mansion, the comforts of which must have made the sufferings of his soldiers seem the more awful: "The present state of the army, with respect to provisions, is the most distressing of any we have experienced since the beginning of the war. For a fortnight past the troops, both officers and men, have been almost perishing for want. They have been alternately without bread or meat the whole time, with a very scanty allowance of either, and frequently destitute of both. They have borne their sufferings with a patience that merits the approbation and ought to excite the sympathy of their countryman. But they are now reduced to an extremity no longer to be supported." This letter, which was addressed to "the magistrates of New Jersey," is one of the noblest productions of his pen; and right nobly did those thus feelingly addressed respond to the appeal. And in this none were superior to the people of Morris county, on whom of necesssity fell the burden of affording immediate relief, and whose efforts did not cease when this was effected. On the 20th of January Washington wrote to Doctor John Witherspoon that "all the counties of this State that I have heard from have attended to my requsition for provisions with the most cheerful and commendable zeal;" and to "Elbridge Gerry, in Congress," he wrote: "The exertions of the magistrates and inhabitants of this State were great and cheerful for our relief." In his Military Journal (page 182) Doctor Thatcher speaks with enthusiasm of "the ample supply" of food furnished by "the magistrates and people of Jersey;" and Isaac Collins, editor of the New Jersey Gazette, on the 19th of January says: "With pleasure we inform our readers that our army, which, from the unexpected inclemency of the season and the roads becoming almost impassable, had suffered a few days for want of provisions, are, from the spirited exertions now making, likely to be well supplied."

Provisions came with a right hearty good will from the farmers in Mendham, Chatham, Hanover, Morris, and Pequannock; and not only provisions, but stockings and shoes, coats and blankets. "Mrs. Parson Johnes" and "Mrs. Counsellor Condict," with all the noble women in the town, made the sewing and knitting needles fly on their mission of mercy. The memory of the Morris county women of that day is yet as delightful as the "smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed!" and this tribute to their worth is not woven up of fictions, but of facts, gathered from living lips; and therefore never may those women perish from the memory of their admiring and grateful descendants.

The generosity of which we have spoken is much enhanced by the fact that the people supposed themselves to be giving, and not selling their provisions. According to the prices--continental currency--affixed to various articles by the magistrates of Morris county in January 1780, they gave away thousands of dollars to soldiers at their tables; and as for provisions, nominally sold, they were paid for either in continental bills or certificates, both of which they considered as nearly worthless. Their opinion of the bills was not wrong, since after the war hundreds of thousands of dollars were left on their hands, which were never redeemed; but many of them made a serious mistake in their estimate of the certificates, which were redeemed with interest. Yet many of these men threw these certificates away as worthless, and esteemed themselves as doing an unpaid duty to their country.

It is interesting to ascertain the prices of various articles used in the camp that winter. On the 27th of January Quartermaster Lewis wrote: "The justices, at their meeting, established the following prices to be given for hay and grain throughout the county [of Morris], from the 1st of December 1779 to the 1st of February next, or until the regulating act take place. For hay, 1st quality, £100 per ton; 2nd, £80; 3d, £50; for one horse, 24 hours, $6; for one horse, per night, $4; wheat, per bushel, $50; rye, $35; corn, $30; buckwheat and oats, $20. This certainly is rather a startling "price current;" but it was only in keeping with such significant advertisements as frequently appeared in the papers of that day: "one thousand dollars" for the recovery of "my negro man Toney;" or "thirty Spanish milled dollars for the recovery of my runaway Mulatto fellow Jack." "Forty paper dollars were worth only one in specie;" and the fact increases our wonder alike at the patriotism of the people and soldiers, which was sufficient to keep the army from open mutiny or being entirely disbanded.

To leave this gloomy side of the picture a little while, it is well to record the fact that on the 28th of December 1779, while the snow "storm was raging," Martha Washington passed through Trenton, on her way to Morristown; and that a troop of gallant Virginians stationed there were paraded to do her honor, being very proud to own her as a Virginian, and her husband also. She spent New Year's day in Morristown; and now, in the Ford mansion, you may see the very mirror in which her dignified form has often been reflected. The wife of the American commander-in-chief received her company, did the honors of her family, and even appeared occasionally at the "assembly balls" that winter dressed in American stuffs. It is a pleasing anecdote which was once told me by the late Mrs. Abby Vail, daughter of Uzal and Anna Kitchel. Some of the ladies in Hanover, and among them "the stately Madame Budd," mother of Dr. Bern Budd, dressed in their best, made a call on Lady Washington, and, as one of them afterward said, "we were dressed in our most elegant silks and ruffles, and so were introduced to her ladyship. And dont you think, we found her with a speckled homespun apron on, and engaged in knitting a stocking! She received us very handsomely, and then resumed her knitting. In the course of her conversation she said very kindly to us, while she made her needle fly, that American ladies should be patterns of industry to their countrywomen; * * * * "we must become independent of England by doing without those articles which we can make ourselves. Whilst our husbands and brothers are examples of patriotism, we must be examples of industry!" "I do declare," said one of them afterward, "I never felt so ashamed and rebuked in my life!"

From documents not very important in themselves we sometimes derive impressive lessons. The original of the following subscription for assembly balls in Morristown that winter is still in possession of the Biddle family, on the Delaware: "The subscribers agree to pay the sums annexed to their respective names and an equal quota of any further expense which may be incurred in the promotion and support of a dancing assembly to be held in Morristown the present winter of 1780. Subscription moneys to be paid into the hands of a treasurer hereafter to be appointed." The sum paid in each case was "400 doll's," and the contributors were as follows: Nath. Greene, H. Knox, John Lawrence, J. Wilkinson, Clement Biddle, Robt. H. Harrison, R. K. Meade, Alex. Hamilton, Tench Tighlman, C. Gibbs, Jno. Pierce, The Baron de Kalb, Jno. Moylan, Le Ch. Dulingsley, Geo. Washington, R. Clairborne, Lord Stirling, Col. Hazen, Asa Worthington, Benj. Brown, Major Stagg, James Thompson, H. Jackson, Col. Thomas Proctor, J. B. Cutting, Edward Hand, William Little, Thos. Woolford, Geo. Olney, Jas. Abeel, Robert Erskine, Jno. Cochran, George Draper, J. Burnet.

The amounts thus paid constitute the somewhat imposing sum of $13,600 "for the support of a dancing assembly the present winter of 1780." Now I frankly confess that this paper produced an uncomfortable sensation in my mind, by the somewhat harsh contrast between the dancing of the well-housed officers, at O'Hara's tavern and the "hungry ruin" at Kimball Hill. The assembly was not so well set off with gas-lights and fashionable splendor as many a ball in our day. No doubt it was rather a plain affair of its kind; and yet it reminds one that, while these distinguished men were tripping "the light fantastic toe" in well-warmed rooms, there were at that very time, as Captain William Tuttle often told it, a great many tents in which there were soldiers without coats and barefoot, shivering and perishing in the fearful storms and colds of that same "present winter of 1780;" and that there were paths about the camps on Kimball Hill that were marked with real blood expressed from the cracked and frozen feet of soldiers who had no shoes!

However, I do not allude to this contrast as peculiar to that place and those men, for feasting and starvation, plenty crowned with wreaths of yellow wheat and gaunt famine wreathed in rags and barefoot, dancing and dying, are facts put in contrast in other places beside O'Hara's and Kimball Hill, and at other times than "the present winter of 1780."

The principal object of introducing the subscription paper here is to show the kind of currency on which our Revolution was compelled to rely. Here we find the leading men in Morristown paying a sum for the dancing master and landlord, the ministers of a little amusement, which nominally is large enough for the high figures of Fifth avenue millionaires; but a closer inspection shows that the sum $13,000 was not worth as much as three hundred silver dollars. Doctor Thatcher says significantly: "I have just seen in the newspaper an advertisement offering for an article forty dollars. This is the trash which is tended to requite us for our sacrifices, sufferings, and privations while in the service of our country. It is but a sordid pittance, even for our common purposes while incamp; but those who have families dependent on them at home are reduced to a deplorable condition." The officers of the Jersey troops, in their memorial to the Legislature of New Jersey, declare that "four months' pay of a soldier would not procure for his family a bushel of wheat; that the pay of a colonel would not purchase oats for his horse; that a common laborer or express-rider received four times as much as an American officer."

If such were their circumstances let us rather admire than condemn these brave men at Morristown, who were striving to invest the stern severities of that winter with something of the grayer and more frivolous courtesies of fashionable life.

As for fighting, there was but little, the principal expedition being the descent of a detachment on Staten Island, under Lord Stirling. The expectations raised by this expedition are quite flatteringly told in an unpublished letter of Joseph Lewis, quartermaster. He writes, under date of "January 15th 1780," that he had orders from General Greene to procure three hundred sleds to parade Friday morning at this post and at Mr. Kimble's. * * * * I did not fail to exert myself on the occasion, and the magistrates gained deserved applause. About five hundred sleds or sleighs were collected, the majority of which were loaded with troops, artillery, &c. These sleds and as many more are to return loaded with stores from the British magazines on Staten Island, except some few that are to be loaded with wounded British prisoners. About 3,000 troops are gone, under the command of Lord Stirling, with a determination to remove all Staten Island, bag and baggage, to Morristown!"

This expedition failed of realizing its object, because the enemy,by some means,had been put on his guard. Still, Collins of the New Jersey Gazette was sure it would "show the British mercenaries with what zeal and alacrity the Americans will embrace every opportunity, even in a very inclement season, to promote the interest of the country by harassing the enemies to their freedom and independence." And on the 22nd of that January Quartermaster Lewis wrote in quite a subdued tone: "I suppose you have heard of the success of our late expedition to Staten Island. It was expensive but answered no valuable purpose. It showed the inclination of our inhabitants to plunder." This expedition was at a time when "the cold was intense;" about 500 of the soldiers had their feet frozen.

The enemy, by the way of retaliation, on the 25th of January crossed to Elizabethtown and burned the townhouse and Presbyterian church. They also "plundered the house of Jecaniah Smith." The same night another party "made an excursion to Newark, surprised the guard there, took Mr. Justice Hedden out of his bed; and would not suffer him to dress; they also took Mr. Robert Niel, burnt the academy, and went off with precipitation." Rivington's Royal Gazette speaks of this Justice Hedden as "a rebel magistrate remarkable for his persecuting spirit."

It was marvelous that Hedden survived that march, in such weather, from Newark to New York; but the tough man was nerved thereto by his brutal captors.

But have the troops enough to eat? General Greene's letter to "the colonel of the Morristown malitia" gives us a most sorrowful answer. "The army," writes Greene in January, "is upon the point of disbanding for want of provisions, the poor soldiers having been for several days without any, and there not being more than a suffificiency to serve one regiment in the magazine. Provisions are scarce at best, but the late terrible storm, the depth of the snow, and the drifts in the roads prevent the little stock from coming forward which is in readiness at the distant magazines. This is, therefore, to request you to call upon the militia officers and men of your battalion to turn out their teams and break the roads from between this and Hackettstown, there being a small quantity of provisions there that cannot come until that is done. The roads must be kept open by the inhabitants, or the army cannot be subsisted; and unless the good people immediately lend their assistance to forward supplies the army must disband. The direful consequences of such an event I will not torture your feelings with a description of; but remember the surrounding inhabitants will experience the first melancholy effects of such a raging evil."

On the 11th of January Greene wrote: "Such weather as we have had never did I feel," and the snow was so deep and drifted "that we drive over the tops of the fences." He then describes the sufferings of the soldiers, and adds: "They have displayed a degree of magnanimity under their sufferings which does them the highest honor." On the 10th of March Joseph Lewis tells his superior officer: "I should be happy to receive about fifty thousand dollars to persuade the wagoners to stay in camp until May, which will prevent the troops from suffering." And on the 28th of the same month he again writes: "I am no longer able to procure a single team to relieve the distresses of our army, to bring in a supply of wood, or forward the stores which are absolutely necessary. * * * I wish I could inhabit some kind retreat from those dreadful complaints, unless I had a house filled with money and a magazine of forage to guard and protect me. Good God! where are our resources fled? We are truly in a most pitiable situation and almost distracted with calls that it is not in our power to answer."

But there is another fact which adds a deeper shade to this picture of suffering, since from Thatcher's Military Journal we have this sentence, in which, with no little exultation, he says: "Having to this late season--February 14th -- in our tents experienced the greatest inconvenience, we have now the satisfaction of taking possession of the log huts just completed by our soldiers, where we shall have more comfortable accommodations," and yet in March he says: "Our soldiers are in a wretched condition for want of clothes, blankets and shoes, and these calamitous circumstances are accompanied by a want of provisions."

From these letters, written by actual witnesses, we are able to gather enough of facts to aid us in appreciating the condition of the army.

I may appropriately close this historical monograph with an original letter of Washington, which has never yet been published, and which is a very striking commentary on the difficulties of his position the last winter he was in Morristown. It was found among some old papers in the possession of Stephen Thompson, Esq., of Mendham, a son of Captain David Thompson, who is referred to in this article. It will be remembered that the great snow storm which caused such distress in camp began on the 3d of January 1780. The famine which threatened the army caused Washington to write a letter "to the magistrates of New Jersey," which is published in Sparks's edition of the Writings of Washington. A copy of that letter was inclosed in the letter which is now published for the first time. It is a valuable letter, as showing that Washington's "integrity was most pure, his justice most inflexible."

     HEADQUARTERS, MORRISTOWN, January 8th 1780. 
"SIR,--The present distresses of the army, with which you are well acquainted, have determined me to call upon the respective counties of the State for a proportion of grain and cattle, according to the abilities of each.

"For this purpose I have addressed the magistrates of every county, to induce them to undertake the business. This mode I have preferred, as the one least inconvenient to the inhabitants; but, in case the requisition should not be complied with, we must then raise the supplies ourselves in the best manner we can. This I have signified to the magistrates.

"I have pitched upon you to superintend the execution of this measure in the county of Bergen, which is to furnish two hundred head of cattle and eight hundred bushels of grain.

"You will proceed, then, with all dispatch, and call on the justices; will deliver the inclosed address, enforcing it with a more particular detail of the sufferings of the troops, the better to convince them of the necessity of their exertions. You will, at the same time, let them delicately know that you are instructed, in case they do not take up the business immediately, to begin to impress the articles called for throughout the county. You will press for an immediate answer, and govern yourself accordingly. If it be a compliance, you will concert with them a proper place for the reception of the articles and the time of the delivery, which for the whole is to be in four days after your application to them. The owners will bring their grain and cattle to this place, where the grain is to be measured and the cattle estimated by any two of the magistrates, in conjunction with the commissary, Mr. Voorhees, who will be sent to you for the purpose, and certificates given by the commissary, specifying the quantity of each article and the terms of payment. These are to be previously settled with the owners, who are to choose whether they will receive the present market price--which, if preferred, is to be inserted--or the market price at the time of payment. Immediately on receiving the answer of the magistrates you will send me word what it is.

"In case of refusal you will begin to impress till you make up the quantity required. This you will do with as much tenderness as possible to the inhabitants, having regard to the stock of each individual, that no family may be deprived of its necessary subsistence. Milch cows are not to be included in the impress. To enable you to execute this business with more effect and less inconvenience, you will call upon Colonel Fell and any other well affected active man in the county, and endeavor to engage their advice and assistance. You are also authorized to impress wagons for the transportation of the grain.

"If the magistrates undertake the business, which I should infinitely prefer on every account, you will endeavor to prevail upon them to assign mills for the reception and preparation of such grain as the commissary thinks will not be immediately needful in the camp.

"I have reposed this trust in you from a perfect confidence in your prudence, zeal and respect for the rights of citizens. While your measures are adapted to the emergency, and you consult what you owe to the service, I am persuaded that you will not forget that, as we are compelled by necessity to take the property of citizens for the support of the army, on whom their safety depends, you should be careful to manifest that we have a respect for their rights, and wish not to do anything which that necessity, and even their own good, do not absolutely require.

  "I am, sir, with great respect and esteem, 
           "Your most obedient servant, 
                              "GO. WASHINGTON." 

 

Washington left Morristown in the early part of June. On the 10th of June he was at Springfield, where he had his headquarters until the 21st, on which day, with the exception of two brigades under General Greene, the whole army was marching slowly toward the Hudson via Pompton. On the 6th of June General Knyphausen had attempted to reach Morristown. He landed at Elizabethtown Point and proceeded as far as Connecticut Farms; but was met so warmly by General Maxwell and "his nest of American hornets" that he beat a hasty retreat. During this incursion Mrs. Caldwell, wife of a chaplain in our army, was wantonly murdered in her own house. When the enemy learned the troops were on the march they made another attempt to reach Morristown, and on the 23d of June the vigilant sentinels on the Short Hills discovered signs of invasion and gave the alarm. On that day the battle of Springfield was fought. Washington heard of the invasion when near Pompton and hastened back, with a body of troops, to support Greene; but the enemy, after having forced back the Americans and burned Springfield, finding they were likely to be surrounded by a superior force, retired.

The following pasquinade, in ridicule of this British attempt to reach Morristown, was publicly posted in New York city, August 12th 1780, and afterward printed in the Political Magazine, London, 1781, pages 290, 291:

               "Old Knip--(Knyphausen) 
                And old Clip--(Gen. Robertson) 
                Went to the Jersey shore 
                The rebel rogues to beat; 
                But at Yankee Farms 
                They took the alarms 
                At little harms, 
                And quickly did retreat. 

                Then after two days' wonder 
            Marched boldly to Springfield town, 
            And sure they'd knock the rebels down; 
                But as their foes 
                Gave them some blows, 
                They, like the wind, 
                Soon changed their mind, 
                And in a crack 
                Returned back 
                From not one third their number!" 

 

The remarkable fact remains that the enemy never reached our county, except now and then a marauding party.

MUTINY AMONG THE TROOPS.

Although the main army left Morristown in the summer of 1780, this point was of too great importance to leave entirely undefended. The local militia and some other forces still remained. It was on the first day of the following year, January 1st 1781, that the mutiny of the Pennsylvania troops, under General Wayne, the "Mad Anthony" of the Revolution, occurred. These troops, 2,000 in number, had enlisted for three years, "or during the war." There was no thought that the war would last longer than three years; and the phrase "or during the war" meant, they claimed, that they should be dismissed at its expiration in case it did not last three years. Their officers gave to it the other construction, that they had enlisted for the war, no matter how long it might continue.

Added to this cause of dissatisfaction was the fact that they had received no pay for twelve months, and were without necessary clothing and food. These circumstances were sufficient to excite a spirit of insurrection, which on the date above mentioned manifested itself in open revolt.

On a preconcerted signal the whole line, except a part of three regiments, paraded under arms without their officers, marched to the magazines and supplied themselves with provisions and ammunition; and, seizing six field pieces, took horses from General Wayne's stable to transport them. The officers of the line collected those who had not yet joined the insurgents and endeavored to restore order; but the revolters fired and killed a Captain Billing, and wounded several other officers, and a few men were killed on each side. The mutineers commanded the party who opposed them to come over to them instantly, or they should be bayoneted, and the order was obeyed.

General Wayne endeavored to interpose his influence and authority, urging them to return to their duty till their grievances could be inquired into and redressed. But all was to no purpose, and on cocking his pistol they instantly presented their bayonets to his breast, saying: "We respect and love you; often have you led us into the field of battle, but we are no longer under your command; we warn you to be on your guard; if you fire your pistol, or attempt to enforce your commands, we shall put you instantly to death."

Finding both threats and expostulation in vain, General Wayne resolved to accompany his men, and ordered his quartermaster to supply them with provisions.

That these troops were inspired by no traitorous sentiments is evidenced by the fact that Sir Henry Clinton, hearing of the mutiny, sent two emissaries, a British sergeant, and a New Jersey tory by the name of Ogden, to offer them flattering inducements to place themselves under the protection of the British government. These offers were spurned, and the two emissaries in due time handed over to General Wayne. They were eventually tried as spies, convicted, and immediately executed.

On the 4th of January the mutineers reached Princeton, where they were met by a committee of Congress, and their demands satisfied.

The Jersey troops were not proof against the example of their Pennsylvania comrades, as appears from the private journal of William S. Pennington. He writes:

"Monday, 22d (of January 1781), we received information that the Jersey line had followed the example of Pennsylvania in mutinying, in consequence of which a detachment of artillery, consisting of three 3-pounders, to be commanded by Captain Stewart, was ordered to parade immediately. I was ordered to join the above detachment vice Alling.

25th.--This day the detachment marched to Smith's Cove, and halted for the night.

26th.--This day we marched to Ringwood, and joined a detachment under Major General Howe.

"Saturday, 27th.--This day the above detachment marched at 1 o'clock, and at daylight surrounded the Jersey encampment near Pompton, where the mutineers were quartered. No other terms were offered to them than to immediately parade without their arms. General Howe likewise sent them word, by Lieutenant Colonel Barber, that if they did not comply in five minutes he would put them all to the sword, rather than run the risk of which they surrendered. Upon which the general ordered a court martial in the field to try some of their leaders, three of whom, namely, Grant, Tuttle, and Gilmore, were sentenced to suffer death. Grant, from some circumstances in his behavior, was pardoned. Tuttle and Gilmore were immediately executed. The mutineers returned to their duty, and received a general pardon."

THE MORRISTOWN GHOST.

Shortly after the Revolution considerable local history was made by the appearance of the far-famed Morristown Ghost.

It is not remarkable that the people of a century ago should have believed in witches and hobgoblins. We need not enumerate the causes of this superstitious credulity. The fact is that which now concerns us. The staid people of this vicinity were no exception to the general belief of that time in ghosts. The more recent freedom of our community from this superstition is probably due as much to the exposure of his ghostship, which we propose to relate, as to the advanced enlightenment of the age.

In the latter part of the last century a book appeared of which the following is the title page:

"The Morristown Ghost; an Account of the Beginning, Transactions, and Discovery of Ransford Rogers, who seduced many by pretended Hobgoblins and Apparitions, and thereby extorted money from their pockets. In the County of Morris and State of New Jersey, in the year 1788. Printed for every purchaser--1792."

Who wrote and who published this pamphlet can not now be certainly ascertained. Some supposed that Rogers himself wrote it, in order to increase his revenues and also to punish the Morristown people for their treatment of him. From the resemblance of the type and paper to that used in the New Jersey Journal of that date the suspicion is not unwarranted that the pamphlet was published by Sheppard Kollock, of Elizabethtown.

The names of many prominent persons in the community figured in this pamphlet. It is not difficult therefore to believe the tradition that the edition so far as possible was bought up and destroyed. Such things, however, refuse to die. David Young, "Philom.," whose name figured so conspicuously on the title pages of half the almanacs of forty years ago, accidentally found a copy of the work in Elizabeth; and thus in 1826 appeared "The Wonderful History of the Morristown Ghost; thoroughly and carefully revised. By David Young, Newark. Published by Benjamin Olds, for the author. J. C. Totten, Printer."

In 1876 a fac-simile copy of the original history of the Morristown ghost, "with an appendix compiled from the county records," was published by L. A. and B. H. Voght, and it can, we believe, still be secured from them.

The affair created intense excitement at the time, and not a little merriment at the expense of those so cleverly duped. A few years later it furnished the materials of an amusing comedy, which was played at a public exhibition in Newark, the author of which, if tradition may be trusted, was a son of Rev. James Richards, D. D., a former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of this place.

In the following account of this humbug we suppress the names of the duped, as they are not generally known and some of their descendants are with us unto this day.

It was a common opinion at that time that large sums of money had been buried during the Revolutionary war by tories and others in Schooley's Mountain. It was supposed to be thus concealed to protect it on the one hand from confiscation by the colonists, or on the other from the demands of the war. Many of these tories never returned to their homes, while many of the other class died during the contest; their treasures being, so it was believed, still under the ground.

Moreover these treasures were guarded by the spirits, so that no one could obtain them who did not possess the art of dispelling spirits.

In the summer of 1788 two Morris county men, traveling through Smith's Clove, New York, fell in with a school teacher from Connecticut, one Ransford Rogers. These men had long been in search of some one who possessed sufficient power to recover the Schooley's Mountain treasure. Rogers professed to have a "deep knowledge of chymistry" and all the sciences, which gave him, he claimed, the power to raise and dispel good or evil spirits. Visions of speedy fortune rose before the two travelers, and they urged him to accompany them to Morristown; this, after a modest refusal, he consented to do, they promising him a school in the neighborhood. He accordingly came to Morristown and was installed as school teacher about three miles from the town, on the Mendham road; the school-house stood on the hill near where is now the residence of Samuel F. Pierson. He took charge of this school early in August, but being importuned to exhibit his art he found he needed an accomplice and accordingly went back to New England for one, returning in September. Rogers now gathered his believers, to the number of about eight, and held a secret meeting; he assured them the treasure was there, and that it was absolutely necessary to raise and consult the guardian spirits before it could be obtained; this he assured them he was able to do, and at the close of the conventicle enjoined them to refrain from all immorality lest the spirits should be provoked and withhold the treasure. The members of the company, transported with dazzling, golden visions, communicated their hopes to friends, and their number was soon increased to forty. Rogers pretended to have frequent meetings with the spirits, and, to strengthen the faith of the weak, compounded substances which being thrown into the air would explode, producing various extraordinary and mysterious appearances, which the spectators believed to be caused by supernatural power; others were buried in the earth, and after a certain time would occasion dreadful explosions, which in the night appeared very dismal and caused much timidity. The company was impatient of delay, and wished to proceed in quest of the promised riches. A night was appointed for a general meeting, and though very stormy all were there, some riding as much as twelve miles for the purpose of attending. The spirit now appeared, and told them they must meet on a certain night in a field half a mile from any house, where they must form certain angles and circles, and not get outside the boundary of the same, on pain of extirpation. On the appointed night they assembled, and about half past ten went within the circle, and forming a procession marched round and round. They were sud denly shocked by a terrible explosion in the earth, a short distance from them, caused as above stated but attributed by them to supernatural causes. Immediately the pretended ghosts made their appearance, hideous groans were heard, and they conversed with Rogers in the hearing of the company. The spirits informed them that in order to obtain the treasure it would be necessary for the members to deliver twelve pounds apiece to them (the spirits) as an acknowledgment. The company were adjured to acknowledge Rogers their leader. The pretended "ghosts" had machines over their mouths which so changed their voices that they were unrecognizable. This was in November 1788. Frequent meetings were now held and at all some "manifestations" took place, such as groans, rappings, jingling of money, and sometimes a voice saying "PRESS FORWARD!" These spirits favored specie payment and refused to take the "loan paper" which was at that time current in New Jersey. But the members of the company, being confident of speedy reimbursement, would give almost any discount to obtain the hard cash. In March, therefore, the money was nearly all paid, and several of the most credible gentlemen of the company were called out of bed at night by pretended spirits, and directed how to proceed. They now convened, privately as usual, and with various "manifestations" were told they should receive the treasure the first of May. The appointed time soon came, and the whole company assembled in an open field, in the aforementioned circles, and awaited the ghosts; these soon made their appearance, but at a small distance from the circle. "They exhibited symptoms of great choler and uttered the most horrible groans, wreathing themselves into various postures which appeared most ghastly in the circumambient darkness. They upbraided the company with the utmost severity, declaring that they had not proceeded regularly, that some of them were faithless, and that several things had been divulged which ought to have been kept profoundly secret"; that the wicked disposition of many of the company and their irregular proceedings had debarred them from receiving the treasures at present. The offended ghosts appeared so enraged that all thoughts of money were forgotten, and the members looked to Rogers only for protection. He appeared as much frightened as the rest, and was scarcely able to appease the spirits; after a variety of ceremonies, however, he succeeded in dispelling the apparitions, and tranquillity once more reigned within the circle. The company dispersed still believing in Rogers, and confident the spirit would return and conduct them to their anticipated fortunes. So ended the first lesson.

If Rogers had stopped here and now he might have been feared and respected to the end of the chapter. But such was not the case. During the winter in which the preceding events were taking place Rogers had given up his school and moved into Morristown. Here he became acquainted with two young men recently from Yankeedom, and they by some means became privy to his "ghostly" secrets. They wished to enter the company but he refused to admit them. They now persuaded him to undertake a second venthre. This he agreed to do, and accordingly met five persons whom they had induced to join in the enterprise. The old tricks of groans and peculiar noises were resorted to, also a new one, viz.: Each one of the company, the plotters included, took a sheet of paper from a pile, and wrapping it around his wrist held it out at the door, for the spirit to write upon. After holding them thus a considerable time they withdrew them and, having previously huddled the papers together, examined them, when lo! on one was written a time when they were to convene and receive further directions from the spirit! It is needless to say one of the plotters had previously prepared this paper. On the appointed night they met at Rogers's house, and having first united in prayer each took a sheet of paper again, and proceeding to a field near the house they drew a circle, and with one arm raised fell on their faces and continued in prayer with their eyes closed, that the spirit might enter the circle and write on the papers. After a time they returned to the house, when, after shuffling the papers together, one was found to contain writing, so elegant they did marvel exceedingly! The import of the paper was that the company must be increased to eleven members, eaeh of whom must pay the spirit twelve pounds gold--the old amount. Rogers now determined the scheme should be conducted under a religious garb, and he visited church members in the character of "the spirit of a just man," enjoining them to join the company. In this way he increased the number to about thirty-seven, mostly religious men. Individual members frequently received nocturnal visits from the "spirits" and were told to "pray without ceasing," "look to God" etc. All the old tricks were resorted to to keep up the faith. Finally, when part of the money had been paid, Rogers presented each man with a parcel of burnt bones, powdered, which he told them was dust of the spirits' bodies, which he had received from them as a sign of their approbation. This was to be carefully guarded and not to be opened. The spirits advised all to drink liquor freely, and as a quantity of this was always provided it is to be feared these church members did not always return home sober. Rogers even compounded pills, of which each person must take one and then drink freely to prevent serious effects--this by the spirits' orders.

All has worked well so far; now comes the explosion. One of the aged members, having occasion to leave home, through forgetfulness left his parcel of powder behind. His wife found it, and out of curiosity broke it open; but, perceiving the contents, feared to touch it, lest peradventure it should have some connection with witchcraft; she went immediately to Rev. Mr. _____, for his advice on the subject. When her husband returned he was terrified at what she had done, declaring he was ruined forever. She now insisted on knowing the contents, and, after promising to keep it secret, was told the story. She thereupon declared he was serving the devil, and refused to keep the secret, saying it was her duty to put an end to such proceedings. This alarmed Rogers, and he and his accomplices were now more busy than ever appearing as spirits. At last Rogers, having imbibed too much, appeared to converse with a gentleman one night, but made several blunders. The man's wife noticed this, but the man did not. Next morning, however, he arose early, and where the pretended spirit had been he had found tracks of a man, which he followed to a fence near by and there found a horse had been tied. Rogers was now tracked down, arrested, and confined in jail. He protested innocence, was bailed out and attempted to leave the State, was again arrested, and confessed. Most of his followers remained firm before, but were compelled to believe his own confession. Rogers soon made his escape, how is not related. He had kept up the imposture about a year, and swindled his dupes to the tune of $1,300.

The moral of the Morristown Ghost is too apparent to need to be stated.

THE CHURCHES.

In our history for the present century we shall have occasion in detailing modern institutions often to go back for their beginnings to the last century. We begin with the churches. First in order of time is

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The desire of some to divide the Hanover church, referred to on page 110, was strenuously opposed by the eastern portion of the parish. To quiet matters a resort was had to the casting of lots, which resulted against the proposed division. To this decision, however, this branch of the congregation would not submit. For their action in this matter, though they gained their point, yet the church when organized called them to account. A public confession was required from Joseph Coe, John Lindsley, Joseph Prudden, Matthew Lum, Uriah Cutler, Stephen Freeman, Peter Condit, Jacob Ford, Joseph Howard, Benj. Bailey, Philip Condit, &c. The whole affair was carried up to synod in 1733, who strongly disapproved of the casting of lots, and resolved that in their poverty and weakness it might be very advisable for the people of West Hanover, at least for some time, to join themselves with the congregations of East Hanover and Basking Ridge "as may be most convenient, until they as well as the said neighboring congregations be more able to subsist of themselves separately." Yet if reunion was impracticable "the synod judge that the people of West Hanover be left to their liberty to erect themselves into a separate congregation." No doubt knowing the temper and state of feeling in this part of his field of labor this deliverance of synod was in no way satisfactory to Mr. Nutman, the pastor at Hanover, for at the same session of the body he asked for a dismission from his presbytery if this action was enforced of forming a separate congregation; whereupon the synod earnestly recommended the Presbytery of East New Jersey to labor with the people of West Hanover to effect a reconciliation, and if this was impossible then to dismiss Mr. Nutman upon his application. The next year the matter again came before the synod in the reading of the minutes, when the use of lots was condemned; and yet say they: "We are afraid that much sin has been committed by many if not all that people in their profane disregard of said lot, and therefore excite them to reflect upon their past practices in reference thereunto in order to their repentance."

This implied censure in no way healed the breach. There had been too much said and done on both sides again to work in concert; so that, independent of the counsellings of synod, this branch of the congregation made application to that body on the following year for the ordination of one who had recently come among them. The synod referred the matter to the Presbytery of Philadelphia. In May 1736 the people pressed the presbytery to proceed in the ordination of Mr. Cleverly, when they directed the congregation to appoint a day and give them due notice, that they might attend properly to the business. For some cause no day was designated; so that the presbytery in August 1737 met here, but found opposition on the part of some of the people to his settlement. In virtue of this state of things they urged him to seek another field of labor, and wrote to the rector of Yale College to send a candidate, giving as a reason that they knew no other way to supply them. This advice to Mr. Cleverly was not taken, as he remained in Morristown till his death, in December 1776. He never married. His small property became nearly exhausted toward the close of life and he was reduced to hardships.

The synod in 1738, finding the difficulties still existing and anxious to bring the case to a final issue, appointed a large committee, which met on the 26th of July, at Hanover. The members present were Andrews, of Philadelphia; Gilbert Tennent, of New Brunswick; William Tennent, of Freehold; John Cross, of Basking Ridge; Crowell, of Trenton, and Treat, of Abington. An opening sermon was preached by Gilbert Tennent from Ezek. xi. 19, "I will give them one heart." The eastern part were still anxious for a union if it could be had on reasonable terms. To this the western portion were however averse, and represented according to truth that they were much increased in number, being nearly one-half abler than they were; and the committee, finding that they both were better able to support the gospel, unanimously concluded that there should be two seperate societies, and that no further attempts should be made to merge them in one, and in this dicision all parties expressed their entire satisfaction.

In those days, however, it was not an easy matter to find a pastor, and as Mr. Cleverly still resided here he no doubt officiated occasionally or regularly until, in 1742, a pastor was chosen. Previous to this time, apart from the minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, we can find no trace of the state of this church in any of its ecclesiastical movements.

The first pastor of the church was the Rev. Timothy Johnes, his pastorate beginning August 13th 1742 and continuing to the time of his death, covering over half a century. He was of Welsh descent; was born in Southampton, Long Island, May 24th 1717, and graduated at Yale College in 1737, from whence in 1783 he received the degree of doctor of divinity. Mr. Webster, in his history of the Presbyterian church, says: "Of the period between his leaving college and going to Morristown we have seen no notice, except that in that perilous time, when some haply were found fighting against God, those who separated from the first parish in New Haven worshiped in the house of Mr. Timothy Johnes." From this it would appear that he studied theology at New Haven. He was no doubt licensed by the Congregational body, and came to Morristown by means of the letter of presbytery to the president of the college or by a subsequent request to the same. Tradition asserts that he labored for a short period on Long Island in some of the vacant churches. With Mr. Johnes this church assumes historic character, shape and life, as from the date of his settlement the church records begin. Though for a time the entries of sessional business are meager, yet they are sufficient to indicate the presbyterial character of the church in its government and relations.

The strength of the church in numbers and wealth at its organization cannot now be learned. Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, in his history of the Madison Presbyterian Church, another off-shoot of Hanover, a few years later, says: "In or about 1740 a small and very feeble church was organized and established in Morristown." But it would seem from the action of the committee of synod, as well as from the whole course of procedure of this section of the church, that they were able from the beginning to support the gospel. There were 102 in full communion when Mr. Johnes was installed pastor, by no means "a very feeble church;" small in comparison with the power it has since attained, but by no means to be ranked in those days among the feeble churches in the land.

The names of these 102 members are appended, with the addition so far as we have been able to ascertain of the date of their death or burial:

John Lindley, died March 9 1750, aged 50. Elizabeth Lindley, his wife, buried April 21 1772, aged 91. John Lindley jr., died September 10 1784, aged 56. Sarah Lindley, his wife. Jacob Fford, died January 19 1777, born April 13 1704. Hannah Fford, his wife, buried July 31 1777, aged 76. Joseph Prudden, buried September 27 1776, aged 84. Joanna Prudden, his wife. Caleb Fairchild, buried May 3 1777, aged 84. Anna Fairchild, his wife, buried April 8 1777, aged 86. Joseph Coe. Judith Coe, his wife. Joseph Coe jr. Esther Coe, his wife. Solomon Munson, buried February 8 1803, aged 78. Tamar Munson, his wife, buried January 28 1779, aged 79. Benjamin Pierson, died August 2 1783, aged 81. Patience Pierson, his wife, died January 7 1785, aged 77. Stephen Freman, buried August 2 1771, aged 84. Hannah Freman, his wife, buried July 22 1779, aged 85. Matthew Lum, buried May 21 1777, aged 70. Susanna Lum, his wife, died May 23 1758, aged 63. Peter Cundit, buried July 11 1768, aged 69. Phebe Cundit, his wife, buried July 26 1768, aged 65. Philip Cundit, died December 23 1801, aged 92. Mary Cundit, his wife, buried September 30 1784, aged 72. Joseph Howard. Mary Howard, his wife, buried January 30 1782, aged 79. Sarah, wife of Samuel Ford. Benjamin Bailey, buried March 20 1783, aged 83. Letitia Bailey, his wife, buried August 11 1781, aged 78. Samuel Nutman. Abigail Nutman, his wife. James Cole. Phebe Cole, his wife. Benjamin Coe. Rachel Coe, his wife, buried December 20th 1776, aged 58. Thomas Kent. Ebenezer Mahurin. _____, wife of Ebenezer Mahurin. Uriah Cutler, buried February 5th, 1795, aged 86. Timothy Mills, died March 4th 1803, aged 85. Job Allen, of Rockaway. John Clark. Abigail Clark, his wife. Benjamin Beach, of Rockaway; suspended May 26th 1756. Abner Beach, of Rockaway; suspended May 8th 1752. Jonah Arstin. _____, his wife. Zeruiah, wife of Isaiah Wines, "now of Captain Samuel Day," buried December 21st 1776, aged 56. Sarah, wife of Isaac Price. Martha, wife of Cornelius Arstin. Susanna, wife of Caleb Tichenor. Sarah, wife of James Frost. Mary, wife of Isaac Clark. Elizabeth, wife of David More. Ann, wife of Alexander Robards. Ann Allen, widow. Sarah, wife of Abraham Hathaway. Bethiah, wife of Thomas Wood, buried November 7th 1773, aged 74. Experience, wife of Benjamin Conger, buried September 30th 1784, aged 73. Charity, wife of Benjamin Shipman. Phebe, wife of Shadrach Hathaway. _____, wife of John Jonson. Catharine, wife of Peter Stagg. _____, wife of Eliacam Suerd. Mary Burt. Comfort, wife of Joseph Stiles, died June 17th 1785, aged 76. Joanna, wife of Peter Prudden. Samuel Sweasy. Susanna Sweasy, his wife, buried November 5th 1776, aged 80. Joseph Fowler's wife Hannah. Hannah, wife of Jeremiah Johnson. Martha, wife of John Fford. Abigail, wife of Jonathan Conklin, "now of Samuel Bayles." Charles Howell, died June 18th 1759, aged 38. Deborah, wife of Charles Howell, died December 19th 1765, aged 43. Daughter (?) of Charles Howell. Doctor Elijah Jillet. Jane, wife of Doctor Jillet. Elder Morris, of Basking Ridge. Mary, his wife. Abraham Campfield's wife (Sarah); buried July 22nd 1783. Phebe, Joshua Ball's wife. Elizabeth Kermicle, widow. Nathan Ward's wife. Jemima, wife of Deacon Matthew Lum. Samuel Baldwin, of Mendham. Rebecca, Zach. Fairchild's wife. Elizabeth, Captain Clark's wife. Wife of Samuel Mills (Sarah), buried January 15th 1785, aged 61. Elizabeth, wife of David Gauden. Mattaniah Lyon, died February 2nd 1794, aged 69. _____, his wife. Alexander Johnson's wife. Silas Halsey. Abigail, his wife; buried March 26th 1777, aged 60. Bathiah, Benjamin Halsey's wife, died January 23d 1785, aged 62. John MacFeran, buried November 22nd 1778, aged 80. Elizabeth, his wife, buried September 13th 1778, aged 77. Nathan Price. Peter Prudden, buried April 21st 1777, aged 55.

At the head of this list stands the following:

"The number and names of the persons that were in full communion when the church was first collected and founded, together with the number of those that came since from other churches, with their removal."

The first entry upon this roll after those above given is:

"Aug. 15 1765, Naomi, wf. of John Laporte, turned from the Anabaptists and received on ye foot of her being a member of that ch. in good standing."

Thus it would seem that all named previous to this date were in full communion when Mr. Johnes assumed charge of the church.

The names on this list (and the same may be said of those upon deeds) clearly point, as already indicated, to a New England origin.

On the 8th of September 1756 a charter of incorporation was granted the church by Jonathan Belcher, the captain-general and governor of the province of New Jersey. This charter may be seen in full in The Record for January 1880.

The following is the preface to the trustees' book, which then began to be kept:

"A Record of the Transactions of the Trustees in and for the Presbyterian Chh & Congregation at morristown, in Vertue of a Charter granted to the said Chh. & Congregation by his Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esqr., Captain General and Governor in Cheif in and over his majesties Province of Nova Cesarea or New Jersey and territories thereon Depending in America, Chancellor and Vice admiral in the same, &c., which Charter was granted the eighteenth of September, in the twenty-ninth year of his majesties Reign, 1756, the expense of which Charter, being about seven Pound Proc. was Raised by Publick Contribution Excepting the writing of Sd Charter, which was Generously done by Ezekiel Cheever, member of Sd Society.

"The Incorporated Trustees, Viz.: messiurs. Benjamin Hatheway, President; Benjamin Bayles, Thomas Kent, Benjamin Coe, Charles Howell, Sam'l Robarts & henry Primrose, on the Receiving the Charter at the ministers hous from the hands of Mr. Johnes, who had Been Desiered and was Principally Concerned in obtaining the Sd Charter, the Trustees by a Vote did then and there appoint Sam'l Robarts the Corporation Clark."

The first church edifice was no doubt reared before the coming of Mr. Johnes. It was a wooden building nearly square, with shingled sides, and stood a few rods east of the present structure, on land given by Benjamin Hathaway and Jonathan Lindsly for a parsonage and burial ground. On January 24th 1764 the trustees granted permission to erect a steeple, 125 feet in height, and agreed that Colonel Ford should have "the care, management and oversight" of the work. In this tower a bell was hung, the gift tradition says of the king of Great Britain. It had on it the impress of the British crown and the name of the makers--"Lister & Pack of London fecit." The same bell still rings out its summons to the house of God, though recast some 20 years ago. The vane of the steeple was afterward given to the old academy at New Vernon.

The increasing number of members made the enlargement of the building a necessity, which was accordingly done in 1774.

A still further increase of membership, the growing population of the town, and the hard usage to which the church had been put during the war of the Revolution as a hospital for the army, led after much discussion to the conclusion to build a new edifice. At a meeting of the parish, held October 8th 1790, the final plans were adopted and committees appointed. The church was to be 75 feet long, 55 wide, the steeple 20 feet square, 9 of which were to be taken from the main building, leaving an audience room 66 feet in length. Judge Condict, Dr. Johnes jr., Dr. Jabez Campfield, Squire Carmichael, Squire Lindsly, Mr. Phillips, Jonathan Dickerson, Major Lindsly, Deacon Allen, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Mills and Mr. Halsey were appointed a committee of direction. The said committee were to have leave to apply to the Legislature for the privilege of a lottery to raise a sum of money equal to the expense of building the new meeting-house--a method of procedure very common in those days. If this application were ever made it was refused, as we hear no more about it.

In a memorandum book of one of the committee for the purchasing of materials we have the following entry: "Timber to be all white oak, cut in old moon of Dec., Jan'y or Feb'y, and delivered on the Green by the_____ day of _____ next. Nov. 1790." The work was commenced in the spring of 1791. The head carpenter was Major Joseph Lindsly, assisted by Gilbert Allen, both elders in the church and men of great moral worth and highly beloved by the congregation. The frame was raised on September 20th 1791, and on several successive days, some 200 men assisting in the work.

The first site selected for the building was in the graveyard not far from the old church; this fact is gathered from an account book of that date, which has been very mnch mutilated but in which is the following entry: "William Cherry Cr. by one day's work done in the graveyard towards the foundation where the house was first ordered to be built, 5s." The site was changed chiefly through the agency of Dr. Jabez Campfield, but the reason is not known. The location has never given satisfaction and several attempts have been made to move the church; but without success, and it will no doubt stand where it is until superseded by a new house of worship.

From the diary of Joseph Lewis, Esq., we take the following: "Thursday, Augt. 18 1791.--This afternoon, agreeably to notice given, the congregation met to lay corner stones of the new meeting-house. Rev. Dr. Johnes laid the S. W. corner of the house; Rev. Mr. Collins, by Rev. Mr. Cooly, S. E. do.; the deacon, N. E. do.; elders, N. W. do.; trustees, N. W. do. of the steeple; managers, S. W. do.

Different parts of the work were sold at public vendue to the lowest bidder, with the provision that if any person's contract amounted to more than he had subscribed toward the building he should wait until the money could be collected, or take orders upon those subscribers who were not working out their subscriptions. The managers kept an account with every one who subscribed or worked; some of the entries are curious and interesting. Perhaps nothing could better illustrate one feature of the difference between the religion of the past and the present than the following entries, the first from the managers' day-book and the second from some stray leaves, which were probably connected with it: "Daniel Phoenix jr., cr. by 13 gills of rum furnished the hands this day, 2 shillings 2 pence." This was in the beginning of the work; the next is February 2, 1794: "Meeting-House dr. to Joseph Marsh, for licker for raising gallery," 13 shillings.

On November 26th 1795 the congregation worshiped in this house for the first time, though it was not until several months afterward that the whole was completed. The pulpit was not finished and furnished until some time in 1796, when this fell, as in later times, to the ladies, who collected from their own sex the sum of $125 "for the purpose," as their subscription paper ran, "of dressing the pulpit, getting curtains for the large windows of the meeting-house, a new funeral pall, and a gown for the minister." In the following year the walls were whitewashed and "the inside of the church ordered to be a light blue." Gradually the whole was finished, at a cost considerably over $10,000. We have heard the sum stated at $12,000.

This for the times was a great undertaking. Commenced soon after the close of the protracted war with Great Britian, when taxes were heavy and must be paid, when the country was burdened with debt, paper money the only currency, nearly every farm mortgaged, and when creditors ran from their debtors, afraid of the continental money, when a silver dollar was scarcely seen and gold was if anything rarer--yet steadily was the work prosecuted in the midst of the most trying discouragements, while the willingness of the people to be taxed nearly $10,000 for the purpose of defraying the expenditure shows a noble spirit; and the readiness with which so many came forward--over 360 persons in all--to contribute to the undertaking reveals the fact that more were willing to share and bear the burdens of the sanctuary than at present. The communicants at that time numbered but little more than half of the subscribers, as scarcely 40 pews were reserved for sacramental days.

The later history of this church will be sufficiently noticed under the successive pastorates, which we now proceed to recount.

1. Rev. Timothy Johnes, D. D., began his labors August 13th 1742; was ordained and installed February 9th 1743; continued pastor until his death. In 1791 he fractured his thigh bone by a fall, which confined him for months to his bed, and made him a cripple for the remainder of his life. After more than a year's confinement he was able to attend public worship. Aided by one or two of his elders he reached the desk, where, seated on a high cushioned chair, he would occasionally address the people. In this condition he preached in 1793 his half-century sermon to a crowded assembly, who came from all quarters to hear it. His text was, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course," etc. In the delivery of that discourse he manifested unusual animation, and in the closing prayer he seemed to breathe out his whole soul in fervent petition for the peace, prosperity and salvation of his people. The service was closed by singing the 71st Psalm--"God of my childhood and my youth," etc. In reading the first verse, said an eye-witness, "his voice began to falter and became tremulous. He proceeded with much emotion, while the tears trickled over his venerable cheeks, and before he could utter the last line his voice seemed to die away admidst the sobs and tears of the whole assembly."

Seldom did he address his people after this. In the following winter, as he was riding to church on Sabbath morning, his sleigh was upset a short distance from his house, which broke his other thigh bone. He was carried to his home, and never left it till he was removed by the hands of others to the graveyard. He died September 15th 1794, in the 78th year of his age, the 52nd of his pastorate and 54th of his ministry.

His tombstone bears the following inscription: "As a Christian few ever discovered more piety--as a minister few labored longer, more zealously or more successfully than did this minister of Jesus Christ."

During his pastorate of over half a century he received into the church 600 members and 572 half-way members, officiated at 2,827 baptisms, and 948 marriages, and disciplined 170 members.

Those who desire to see the first four of the above lists may find them in full in successive numbers of The Record.

The last list contains many curious things. A few samples are given.

Some difficulty seems to have early arisen between Timothy Peck and one Nutman on the one side and William Shipman on the other, and the two former must have wished to have the latter turned out of the church, and made an accusation against him with that intention; for the session declares it finds the charge groundless, and then goes on to say (intimating that Shipman had complained of losing a steer): "As to Peck and Nutman taking away the steer, it doth not appear but that" they "had a toleration for their action, though at ye same time they are to blame in going at such a time when as appears they were apprehensive sd. Shipman was not at home; and also for saying they were sorry he was not at home, though it doth not appear the property of the steer was fixed to any." It was adjudged that said Peck and Nutman should "pay sd. Shipman for wintering the steer, according to his demands, and also that they should pay him forty shillings, as or in lieu of his quota of some household goods."

Members were disciplined as follows:

January 3d 1760, Mr. _____ "and wife for partaking of stolen watermelon;" "July 26 1766, _____ for a premeditated fist quarrel;" "January 1 1772, _____ for taking hold of an antient man & member of ye ch., and shaking him in an unchristian & threatening manner;" "June 30 1786, _____ & wife for ye premature marriage of wife's sister after first wife's death." A frequent cause of discipline was intemperance, which slew its victims then as now. In all these cases the record shows the kindly heart and wise discretion of the pastor.

The moulding influence of this honored minister of Christ upon this whole section of country warrants a somewhat elaborate review of his official life and work. This cannot be better given than in the following sketch by the Rev. Albert Barnes, taken from a manual of the First Presbyterian Church, prepared and published by him in 1828, while pastor of the church:

"Dr. Johnes has left nothing except the general impression of his labors on the minds of the church and congregation, by which the nature and value of his services can now be distinctly known. [Only one of his sermons has ever been printed, which may be found in the Record for October 1880. The writer of this has in his possession a number of MS. sermons, but few of which are still in existence.--R. S. G.] The fact, however, that he received the highest honors of a college deservedly ranking among the first in the United States, and that at a time when literary degrees were not conferred indiscriminately, and were therefore proof of merit, is a sufficient evidence that his standing in the ministry was of a very respectable order, and that he was well known in the American churches. He was a man of respectable literary attainments, but was rather distinguished for his fidelity as a pastor. As a preacher he is said to have been clear, plain, practical and persuasive. His discourses were rather an affectionate appeal to the heart than profound and elaborate disquisitions on abstruse points of theology. He aimed rather to win men to the practice of holiness than to terrify and denounce them. Though faithful in reproving and warning, yet it was with mildness and in the spirit of true Christian affection. He suffered no public vice to escape without reproof; but the reproof was administered in order that he might show them a more excellent way. He seemed to have come to his people, particularly towards the latter part of his ministry, as an affectionate Christian pastor; their father, counsellor, and friend. No man could have had a better claim to the title of "father in the gospel;" and no man, probably, would have used the influence thus derived more to the practical benefit of the people. Though not elaborate, or remarkably profound, or highly eloquent in the pulpit, yet Dr. Johnes had the faculty of instilling successfully the principles of religion into the minds of the people. He was much with them. He visited much from house to house. He had become acquainted with the circumstances of every family. He had the moulding and training of the congregation. He had the power, therefore, of stamping his own sentiments on their minds. Beloved as their pastor, and venerated as their spiritual father, his sentiments on religion were always received with high respect, and almost uniformly with cordial approbation. He endeavored to bring religion home to the business and bosoms of men--to associate it with their ordinary notions of living--of bargain and sale--of social and political intercourse--with all their attachments, hopes and fears. By being much with the people, and by a faculty of adapting his instructions to their circumstances and capacities, he labored successfully to instill into their minds pure sentiments, to form them to good habits, and to train them up to the practice of holy living. The consequence was that at his death there were probably few congregations that were so thoroughly instructed in all that pertained to the practical duties of religion. Dr. Johnes was eminently a peacemaker. His respectable standing, his high character, his long experience, his practical wisdom, and his undoubted integrity secured the confidence of the people and led them to listen with profound deference to him as the arbiter of their disputes. Without interfering farther than became him as the venerable pastor of a people in the controversies which arise in neighborhoods, he yet contrived successfully to suppress a spirit of litigation and to produce an adjustment of difficulties in consistency with the laws of affection and concord. Habits of litigation he regarded as eminently inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, and he therefore labored that his people might endeavor to hold "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." Nor did he labor in vain. He was regarded as the tried friend of his people, and they unhesitatingly reposed with confidence on his judgment.

"Dr. Johnes was a warm and decided friend to revivals of religion. He received his education in the time of President Edwards and Whitefield and the Tennants. He came to this place in the period of the greatest excitement on the subject of religion that this country has ever known. Many of the older inhabitants of this place can still recollect the interest with which he read to his congregation accounts of revivals in other parts of the country. He labored and prayed fervently that his own congregation might be brought also to a participation of the blessings that descended on other parts of the land. His sentiments on this subject are recorded in incidental notices attached to the names of those who were added to the church during these seasons of special mercy. In one place he says, `These the sweet fruits of the wonderful effusion of God's adorable grace began on our sacrament day, July 1st 1764.' In another, 'those that follow the ingatherings of the divine harvest in 1774--sweet drops of the morning dew.'

"Few men have ever been more successful as ministers of the gospel than Dr. Johnes. To have been the instrument of founding a large and flourishing church; to have been regarded as its affectionate father and guide; to have established the ordinances of the gospel, and formed the people to respect its institutions; to have produced that outward order and morality and love of good institutions now observable in this congregation, was itself worthy of the toils of his life. In being permitted to regard himself as, under God, the originator of habits and good institutions which are to run into coming generations, he could not but look upon his toils as amply recompensed.

"But he was permitted also to see higher fruit of the labor of his ministry. It pleased a gracious God, not only to grant a gradual increase of the church, but also at two different times to visit the congregation with a special revival of religion. The first occurred in 1764. This commenced, as has been noted, on the sacrament day, July 1st. The fruits of this revival were the admission to the church, within the space of about a year, of ninety-four persons. Of the characteristics of this revival little is known, except that it was a work of deep feeling, much anxiety, awful apprehensions of the nature of sin and of the justice of God, impressive solemnity, and sound and thorough hopeful conversions to God. The second revival commenced in 1774. As the result of this about fifty were added to the church. In 1790 there was another season of unusual excitement on the subject of religion, and about forty were united to the church."

2. Rev. Aaron C. Collins was settled January 6th 1791 as colleague pastor of Dr. Johnes; he was dismissed after a brief and unpleasant pastorate, September 2nd 1793.

3. Rev. James Richards, D.D., was settled May 1st 1795, and dismissed April 26th 1809. Like Dr. Johnes, Dr. Richards was of Welsh descent. He was born at New Canaan, Conn., October 29th 1767. He labored first as a licentiate at Ballston, N. Y., and afterward supplied two small congregations on Long Island. On the 21st of July 1794 a call from this church was made and put into his hands, in which he was offered $440 salary in quarterly payments, the use of the parsonage and fire wood. This was in due time accepted by him, and on the 1st of May 1795 he was ordained and installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of New York. Dr. McWhorter, of Newark, preached the ordination sermon from Acts xx. 24. Dr. Rogers, of New York, presided; Mr. Austin, of Elizabeth gave the charge to the people. In the year 1801 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Princeton College, and in 1805, at the age of 37, was chosen moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

In November 1795 the old church was taken down, vacated, and sold in lots. A good part of it was converted into a distillery and cider-mill on Water street, So great, so it was said, was the attachment of many of the members for it that they could not refrain from visiting it in its new location. On November 26th 1795 Mr. Richards preached the first sermon in the new and present house.

The old plan of rating and collecting was now discontinued; and in its place the pews were sold and assessed. The number purchasing or renting pews was 158, and the sum paid was $533.35. The expenses for 1797, according to an old memorandum, were: Salary, $440; sweeping the church, $15; sexton, $15; cake for wood cutters, $19; printing, $2; "Cyder," $5.62. Total, $496.62. Cake and cider formed it would appear no inconsiderable part of the sum total of expenses. The minister was promised so much salary, parsonage and fire-wood. The "wood-frolick," as it was called, was a great event in the parish. It brought together the greater part of the congregation, the ladies preparing supper at the parsonage, which was heartily enjoyed by those who were busy during the day in bringing together the year's supply of fuel for their minister, which averaged about 40 cords. We find the amounts expended by the parish for these frolics in 1797, as seen above, to be for cake and cider, $24.62; in 1798, bread and beef, $18.94; in 1799, 1 cwt. of flour and 200 lbs. of beef, $10.83.

The spinning visit was similar in character, though we do not find that it was attended with expense to the parish. By this means there were collected together various amounts of linen thread, yard and cloth, proportioned to the "gude" wife's ability or generosity. The thread was woven into cloth for the use and comfort of the pastor and his family, and as it was not always of the same texture and size it sometimes puzzled the weaver to make the cloth and finish it alike.

The meagerness of Mr. Richards's salary was a source of great perplexity to him as the expenses of his growing family increased, and finally led to his accepting a call from the First Presbyterian Church of Newark, N. J. During his pastorate of fourteen years he admitted to the church on examination 214, and on certificate 29. He baptized 444, and solemnized 251 marriages. At the time of his dismission the church numbered 298 members in full communion.

Mr. Richards remained in Newark fifteen years, when he resigned his charge to accept the professorship of theology in the theological seminary at Auburn, N. Y. Here he remained until his death, August 2nd 1843.

4. Rev. Samuel Fisher, D. D., settled August 9th 1809; dismissed April 27th 1814.

Jonathan Fisher was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary army, was taken sick in the performance of his duties, and died of camp fever in this town in March 1777, three months before the birth of his son Samuel, the successor of Mr. Richards. He was buried in the old cemetery in the rear of the church. Samuel was born in Sunderland, Mass., June 30th 1777; graduated at Williams College in 1799, and afterward filled the position of tutor in the college for some time. He was ordained November 1st 1805, and settled over the Congregational church of Wilton, Conn., from whence he was called to this church. He was an able minister and laborious pastor, yet the political excitement of the time was such that he gave offense in certain sermons preached in 1812 (which he afterward published to show the groundlessness of the charges made against him); this finally led to the resignation of his charge. The last person he received into the communion of the church was an aged woman who thirty-seven years before had attended his father in his last illness. While here he officiated at 86 marriages and 279 funerals. There were added to the church in thh same time 65 on profession and 32 by certificate. His congregation embraced and he visited in his pastoral work over 500 families. In the years 1811 and 1812 he took a census of the village and township, and found the number of white males to be 466, females 511, blacks 134--total, 1,111; inhabitants out of the village--white males 1,018, females 1,020, blacks 68--total, 2,106; in all 3,217. Number of baptized persons in the village, 152; in the country, 378; total, 530. Church members in the village, 102; in the parish, out of the village, 206; total, 308.

5. Rev. William A. McDowell, D. D.; settled December 13th 1814; dismissed October 23d 1823. Dr. McDowell was born at Lamington, N. J., in May 1789; studied at Elizabethtown under Mr. Henry Mills, a son of this church and afterward professor in the theological seminary at Auburn, N. Y.; graduated at Princeton in 1809 and was then tutor in the same; entered the first class in the theological seminary at Princeton in 1812; was ordained and installed pastor of the church at Bound Brook December 22nd 1815, where he remained less than a year. His pastorate in Morristown was highly successful, and large numbers were added to the church, 130 in 1822. The severe labors of this great revival seriously affected his health, never vigorous. He was obliged to go south; and shortly after this, receiving a call to Charleston, S. C., he felt constrained on the ground of health to accept it. He died in this place, September 17th 1851, having shortly before returned here to put himself under the care of his old physician, Dr. Johnes. During his pastorate of nearly nine years 271 were added to the church on profession, and 46 by letter--317 in all.

In 1816 a Sabbath-school was established in connection with the church. Before this a few active friends met on Sabbath to instruct the colored people, which may be considered as the first movement in this section for planting that institution which God has so much honored and blessed to both teacher and scholar. The school of this church was first under the superintendance of one or two devoted ladies, assisted by an efficient corps of teachers, among whom we find the names Mills, Condit, Johnson, Johnes, Schenck, etc., all ladies.

In 181?? lecture room, the predecessor of the present one, was built under the management and supervision of John Mills.

In 1822 stoves and lamps were first introduced into the church. The former innovation was very much opposed by a few as leading to effeminacy. Their fathers and mothers had faithfully attended the sanctuary without any such comforts, being satisfied with the smell of fire from the foot stoves. One good man affirmed that they had always trusted Providence for keeping warm and should do so still; opposition was slight, however, and stoves and lamps were soon fixtures in the church, at an expense of $254. Previous to this when the church was lighted, which was but seldom, it was done by candles taken by different members of the congregation. Opposition to stoves was on a par with the repugnance of many to insuring the church, which was deemed a wanton disregard of God's providence and an act that boded no good. These wood stoves continued till 1835, when they were found insufficient for warming the building; coal stoves were then substituted and were used until the furnaces were introduced. The lamps remained until 1842, when others were purchased sufficient to give a fine light over the whole church. These were rendered useless by the introduction of gas.

6. Rev. Albert Barnes; ordained and installed Feb. 8th 1825, dismissed June 8th 1830. Mr. Barnes graduated at Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y., in 1820. His theological studies were pursued at Princeton. This was Mr. Barnes's first pastorate, and to his Master's work here he consecrated all his powers. His sermons were close, pungent, discriminating and pointed, making no compromises with sin, and fearlessly uttered. The greatest commotion was excited in the early part of his ministry by his decided and unflinching course on temperance. That great work was beginning to occupy the thoughts of many. Here he found drinking customs in vogue, and distilleries dotted all over the parish. Within the limits of his pastoral charge there were 19 places where ardent spirits were made and 20 where they were sold. To arrest the evils that are ever associated with this vice, and remove if possible the curse from the community, he early called the attention of his people to the subject by a series of sermons in which he appealed to their reason, conscience and religion, and sought to lead them to an abandonment of social drinking usages, and of the places where intoxicating drinks were manufactured and sold. Some engaged in the traffic were first indignant at his interference and radical measures, and after listening to his discourse determined never again to be present to listen to another; but at the time for the delivery of the next sermon they were in their places anxious to hear what he would say, and at last so convinced were they of the injury that they were doing to the morals of the place and the happiness of families that soon 17 of the distilleries were closed, and not long after his departure the fires of the other two went out.

Here also commenced that system of early rising and literary labor which resulted in his well known commentaries on the Bible. He devoted the hours from 4 to 9 o'clock in the morning to this work. Here also was preached and published the sermon called "The Way of Salvation," which was greatly instrumental in his being called to the First church of Philadelphia, and which from its statements in regard to certain doctrines led to discussion, opposition, censure, trial and a temporary suspension of his ministerial duties and finally to the division of the Presbyterian church into the Old School and New School branches.

No man has left his impress upon this congregation more than Mr. Barnes. He came here in his youthful vigor, and God largely owned his labors, and few ministers have had a more attached people than his parishioners, who loved him for his excellencies, revered him for his piety and have followed his after life with undeviating interest; 296 were admitted to the church, 228 on profession and 68 by certificate.

He was installed pastor over the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia on the 25th of June 1830, where he remained to his death, Dec. 24th 1870.

7. Rev. Charles Hoover; settled February 8th 1832; dismissed March 10th 1836. According to its report to the General Assembly the church under the pastorate of Mr. Hoover was the largest in the State of New Jersey. On June 26th 1833 Mr. Hoover assisted in the organization of a church at New Vernon, drawn mainly from this society; 30 were dismissed that year from this church and several during the next two years. That enterprise received material aid in the erection of a building from this church.

8. Rev. Orlando L. Kirtland; settled March 23d 1837; dismissed August 26th 1840. One of the first acts of the new pastor was to make a corrected list of the members of the church. The number found to be in actual communion was 453. Mr. Kirtland was dismissed to become the pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, organized under him in this place.

9. Rev. A. Henry Dumont, D. D.; settled January 20th 1841; dismissed July 9th 1845. During the four and a half years of this pastorate 111 were received by letter and on profession into membership of the church.

On September 1st 1845 a call was made and presented to Rev. Jonathan B. Condict, which was not accepted.

10. Rev. Alexander R. Thompson; ordained and installed January 14th 1846; dismissed July 28th 1847.

11. Rev. James Richards, D. D.; settled December 28th 1847; dismissed April 15th 1851. Mr. Richards was the son of the second pastor of the church. He added to the church 19 on profession and 53 by letter.

12. Rev. John H. Townley; settled December 27th 1851; died February 5th 1855. Mr. Townley came here from the church at Hackettstown. He labored faithfully and zealously, and God blessed his labors; but consumption had marked him as its victim, and cut him off in the midst of his usefulness and years. He was born at Westfield, N. J., in March 1818. The following minute is quoted from the session-book: "That as a pastor his qualities of mind and heart and his excellencies of life and character have made him a rich blessing to this church and congregation." During his pastorate 85 were received into communion with the church, 50 by letter and 35 on profession. In February 1852 Hon. J. Phillips Phoenix presented the church with a town clock at a cost of $450.

13. Rev. David Irving, D. D.; settled November 5th 1855; dismissed May 10th 1865. Dr. Irving's pastorate here was largely blessed; 376 were added to the church, 168 by letter and 208 by profession. He largely stimulated the church in benevolence. Bringing with him the true missionary spirit from his experience as a missionary in India, he infused the same spirit into the people. Under him the church became noted for its liberality, a distinction which it has continued to maintain. It is unnecessary to say that since his dismission from this church he has been one of the secretaries of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church.

14. Rev. Gavin Langmuir; settled July 17th 1866; dismissed September 9th 1868. Mr. Langmuir came here directly from Princeton Seminary. His health soon gave way; and after laboring about three months he was sent to Europe by the church, where he remained until his resignation. He is at present pastor of the American church at Florence, Italy.

15. Rev. John Abbott French; settled December 21st 1868; dismissed January 31st 1877. Mr. French's pastorate was highly successful. He added to the church 336 in all, 128 by letter and 208 on profession. He resigned to accept a call to the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Ill. After laboring there for three years he was obliged to resign because of ill health?? and he still remains for the same reason unsettled.

16. Rev. Rufus Smith Green began his labors here June 17th 1877, and was installed on the 18th of the following month. Under his pastorate, which closed October 11th 1881, 131 were added to the church, 77 by letter and 54 on profession.

Officers of the Church.--The present officers are: Ruling Elders--Enoch T. Caskey, Joel Davis, Henry M. Dalrymple, Wm. D. Johnson, Wayland Spaulding, Wm. W. Stone, James Richards Voorhees, Lebbeus B. Ward, Aaron D. Whitehead, Joseph H. Van Doren, Theodore Little, clerk. Deacons--Victor Fleury, Henry M. Olmstead. Trustees--Aurelius B. Hull (president), Thos. C. Bushnell, Wm. E. Church, Edward Pierson, Henry C. Pitney, Joseph H. Van Doren (clerk). Treasurer of parish, A. B. Hull; clerk of parish, James R. Voorhees; superintendent of Sunday-school, Wm. D. Johnson; sexton, Francis L. Whitehead. The present membership of the church is 600; number in the Sunday-school, 450; congregational expenses for year, $6,500; beneficence for year, $9,000.

We append a complete list of ruling elders of the First Church from its organization, with the date of taking office:

1747--Joseph Prudden, Matthew Lum, John Lindsley, Joseph Coe, Jacob Ford; 1752--Abner Beach; 1754--Solomon Munson, Daniel Lindsley; 1761--Daniel Morris, Timothy Mills, Matthias Burnet; 1769--John Ayres, John Lindsley jr.; 1770--Ezra Halsey; 1777--Joseph Lindsley, Gilbert Allen, Philip Condict, Jonas Phillips; 1785--Joseph Prudden jr., Caleb Munson, Philip Lindsley, Ezra Halsey; 1792--Isaac Prudden, Samuel Freeman, Jesse Cutler, Matthias Crane; 1805--Henry Vail, David Lindsley, Zophar Freeman, James Stevenson; 1812--Stephen Young, Jacob Pierson, Lewis Mills, Peter A. Johnson; 1826--Timothy Tucker, William Enslee, George K. Drake, Frederick King, Jonathan Thompson, Jonathan Oliver; 1832--Stephen A. Prudden, Jonathan D. Marvin, John B. Johnes, M. D., John R. Freeman, Jonathan Pierson, Sylvester R. Whitehead, John W. Cortelyou; 1843--Ezra Mills; 1846--Ira Condict Whitehead; 1857--David Olyphant, Richard W. Stevenson, M. D.; 1859--Joel Davis, Theodore Little; 1870--Henry M. Dalrymple, James D. Stevenson; 1871--Lebbeus B. Ward, Austin Requa, William W. Stone, Enoch T. Caskey, Joseph H. Van Doren, William G. Anderson; 1880--Aaron D. Whitehead, James Richards Voorhees, William D. Johnson, Wayland Spaulding.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

The Baptist is the second of the Morristown churches in point of age. It was formed August 11th 1752. On the 8th of the previous June eleven persons obtained dismission from the church at Piscataway, and were organized by Elders Isaac Eaton, Benjamin Miller and Isaac Steele into "The Baptist Church at Morristown." Their names were Daniel Sutton, Jonas Goble, John Sutton, Melatiah Goble, Jemima Wiggins, Daniel Walling, Ichabod Tomkins, Sarah Wiggins, Mary Goble, Naomi Allen and Robert Goble. On the 19th of August they held their first meeting for business, elected a deacon and clerk, and although destitute of a pastor made arrangements for public worship and the observance of the ordinances. The house occupied for worship was a small building a mile or two south of the village, on the road to New Vernon, in which direction the principal part of the membership appears to have lived. This house was occupied until May 1771, when a new building was dedicated on the site upon which the present church stands.

Malcom Brookfield, of Newark, has in his possession an old memorandum book, kept by his grandfather, John Brookfield, from which we learn that February 15th 1769, at a meeting of the Baptist church at Morristown, it was concluded that subscription papers be drawn up as soon as possible for the building of a new meeting-house "on Morristown Green." If £200 were signed, exclusive of what the church members gave, they were to go on with the building. The following subscriptions were made:

Zopher Gildenshaw, 13s. 11d.; Jeams Brookfield, 10s. 10d.; Jeams Miller, 1s. 9d.; Benjamin Goble, 9s. 8d.; Robard (Robert?) Goble, £2 5d.; Elijah Person, 9s. 2d.; Captain Stark, £3 3s. 9d.; Ephriem Goble, £8 1s.; John Linsly, 6s. 2d.; Fradreck King, £2 16s. 2d.; Joseph Wood, £2 10s. 6d.; Garshom Goble, £3 6s. 10d.; John Brookfield, £5 2s. 9d.; Samuel Serin and Zopher Freeman, in part, £1 18s. 9d.; Moses Monson, £1 5s. 10d.; Anais Holsey, £6 10s. 4d.; Gilbard Allien, £1 4s. 3d.; William Goble, £1 9s. 9d.; Hanah Lincton, 5s. 6d.; Jonathan Wood, 13s. 5d.; Solomon Monson, 4s. 2d.; Solomon Southard, £3 18s. 6d.; Aaron Stark Jun., £6 13s. 11d.; Peter Jollomons, £6 3s. 3d.; John Stark, £1 1s.; Jacob Allien and John Allien, £3 17s.; Daniel Congar, 5s. 1d.; Abraham Person, 2s.; John Lepard, 9s. 9d.; Thomas Wood, 2s.; Waitstill Monson, 19s. 6d.; Gorge Goble, 1s. 1d.; Joseph Fairchild, 5s. 11d.; Anney Wilkison, £1 2s. 2d.; Benjamin Goble by Jemimey Day, £1 7s. 7d.; Moses Person, £1 16s. 6d.; John Conkling, £1 3s.; John Shadwick, 1s. 1d.; Abraham Ludlow, 10s. 9d.; Jeams Hill, £1 15s. 8d.; Robard Goble, 13s. 5d.; William Cullen, £3. Total, £76 19s.

"Aaron Curnit also gave £8 Proc. and £12 Lite."

During the encampment of Washington here this building, like that of the First Presbyterian Church, was used as a hospital for the sick of the army.

After seventy years of service a new edifice was felt to be a pressing necessity. It was thought best to change the location, and build the new house at Littleton. Accordingly, at a church meeting held April 24th 1840, the trustees were "authorized to offer the meeting-house and lot for sale, and to give title therefor." In accordance with this decision they commenced negotiations with a committee of the Second Presbyterian Church (then about being organized) for the disposal of the property, at the price of $2,500, reserving the cemetery adjoining. The terms of sale were agreed upon, except that the committee demanded a part of the cemetery. To this the church would not agree, and the negotiations were consequently concluded. This failure to dispose of their property prevented the removal to Littleton. They now commenced the erection of a new meeting-house, which was dedicated on the 8th of October 1845. During the time of building they worshiped by invitation in the session-house of the First Presbyterian Church. In 1857 the church was improved and enlarged. On the 27th of January the following year it was rededicated, and it is still occupied by the congregation.

The church roll shows the following numerical strength: in 1752 organized with 11 members; in 1826, 45 members; in 1834, 35; in 1847, 42; in 1853, 116; in 1860, 132; in 1868, 177; in 1872, 194; present membership, 173.

The list of pastors is as follows:

1. Rev. John Gano, from May 1754 to Sept. 25th 1757.

2. Rev. Ichabod Tomkins, Nov. 6th 1759 to Jan. 8th 1761. Mr. Tomkins was one of the constituent members of the church. He was ordained on the first of the dates opposite his name, and died on the last, a prey to that then dread disease the smallpox. Some of his descendants are still counted as worthy members of the church to which he so briefly ministered.

3. Rev. John Walton, from June 17th 1767 to Oct. 1st 1770. Like his predecessor he was ordained at the time of his installation over the church, and after a brief pastorate he fell a victim to the same foul disease. It was during his pastorate that the present site of the church was purchased and an edifice commenced, the completion of which he did not live to see.

4. Rev. Reune Runyon, from Oct. 2nd 1771 to 1780. He was not ordained when he assumed charge of the church, and remained a licentiate until June 1772. His pastorate fell in those terrible times which tried men's souls. From the meager records which remain we judge that he was a brave man and true, loyal to his country, as well as faithful to his God. In 1780 he accepted a call to the mother church at Piscataway, of which he had formerly been a member.

5. Rev. David Luffbury, from 1787-----. Little is known of his pastorate. The year previous to his settlement, on the 27th of Sept. 1786, a considerable number of members residing in the neighborhood of Schooley's Mountain were dismissed to form an independent church, which was constituted under the name of Schooley's Mountain Church.

6. Rev. David Jayne supplied the church once a month during the year 1791. In August of this year it was voted to join the New York Association, and to send delegates to the convention of churches to meet in that city for the purpose of forming said association. From its organization to the present time the church has been united with the Philadelphia connection.

7. Rev. William Vanhorne, from 1792 to 1807. Mr. Vanhorne, however, like his predecessor, supplied the pulpit only once a month, being during the time the pastor of the Scotch Plains church. The same arrangement was continued for another year by the

8. Rev. John Ellis, from 1808 to 1809; he was serving the church at Mount Bethel as its pastor.

9. Rev. John Lamb, from April 1st 1811 to 1812.

10. Rev. Samuel Trott, from August 30th 1812 to June 1815.

11. Rev. John Boozer, from 1817 to 1821.

12. Rev. Samuel Trott, from 1821 to October 1826. Upon the resignation of Mr. Trott in 1815 he removed to Kentucky. Returning from that State about the time of Mr. Boozer's resignation, he was again called to the pastorate of the church, a mark of the high esteem in which he was held; though it was said he was not without enemies, owing to the rigid Calvinistic views with which his sermons abounded.

Following the second dismissal of Mr. Trott the church remained for eight years without a pastor. The membership was reduced to thirty-five, of whom only six were males, and of these six only two resided in town. The members were widely scattered, some living ten miles from the church. It se‚med as though the organization must be abandoned. But a few brave spirits, among whom were Deacons John Ball, Ezekiel Howell and John Hill, with brother William Martin, were unwilling to see their beloved church die, and so they prayed and toiled on. Near the close of 1834 a call was given to

13. Rev. William Sym, who was pastor from 1834 to April 1st 1839. Mr. Sym was a great help to the church, and succeeded in strengthening it. He went from here to the First Baptist Church in Newark, N. J.

14. Rev. W. H. Turton, from 1839 to October 1847. During this pastorate the new edifice of which mention has already been made was built. Mr. Turton was a zealous pastor, and under him the church acquired a greater strength than it had ever before attained. He removed from here to Elizabeth.

14. Rev. W. B. Tolan, from July 1848 to July 1853. On the 18th of July 1852 the church celebrated its hundredth anniversary, at which Mr. Tolan preached an interesting historical discourse. He was dismissed to the Baptist Church at Rahway, N. J.

15. Rev. Washington Kingsley, from January 8th 1854 to September 1854.

16. Rev. Josiah Hatt, from October 4th 1854 to June 16th 1857. The latter date was the day of his death, he being the third minister who died in the service of this church.

17. Rev. C. D. W. Bridgman, from January 27th 1858 to April 1860. Mr. Bridgman was installed on the same day that the renovated and enlarged church was dedicated. Though his pastorate here was brief yet his marked abilities greatly strengthened the church. He was dismissed to become the pastor of the Baptist church at Jamaica Plains, Mass. His successful pastorate at Albany, and more recently in New York city, where he now is, is too well known to need more than mention.

18. Rev. G. D. Brewerton, from March 1861 to September 1861.

19. Rev. J.B.Morse, from 1862 to October 29th 1863, when he was dismissed to Bunker Hill church, Charlestown, Mass.

20. Rev. A. Pinney, from April 1st 1864 to April 1st 1868.

21. Rev. E. D. Bentley, from November 1868 to July 6th 1873. Mr. Bentley was called from here to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Norwalk, Conn., where he still is.

22. Rev. J. Henry Gunning, from February 1st 1874 to March 25th 1877. Titusville, Pa., was the next home of Mr. Gunning. He is now successfully laboring at Nyack, N. Y.

23. Rev. J. V. Stratton, from October 1st 1877 to April 30th 1880. In October of the same year Mr. Stratton removed to Waltham, Mass., where he was settled over the First Baptist Church.

24. Rev. Addison Parker, the present pastor, came here in May 1881, removing from Palmyra, N. Y.

The present officers of the church are: Pastor, Rev. Addison Parker; deacons, John O. Hill, David F. Moore, Isaac R. Pierson; church clerk, Isaac R. Pierson; trustees, L. C. Tompkins (president), James P. Sullivan (treasurer), Isaac R. Pierson (secretary), F. J. Mather, William Lewis, Jeremiah Stalter, William Hobbs; superintendent of Sunday-school, Isaac R. Pierson.

The property of the church is unencumbered, and is valued at $25,000.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

This is the third oldest in the sisterhood of our local churches. The organization was effected in 1826, and rapidly advanced in numbers and influence. In the great revival of 1827-8 over two hundred joined the society on probation. It was a time of great excitement on the subject of religion. Stores were closed for several days, and the people gave their whole attention to religious matters. Anthony Atwood and the father of Dr. D. W. Bartine, afterward pastor of the church, conducted the services. Previous to this Morristown was simply an appointment in a large circuit.

The first church building erected by the Methodists was a two-story brick structure, about 40 by 60 feet, with a gallery on three sides, pulpit on the north end, and choir gallery opposite; located where the brick stables are now, nearly opposite the Farmers' Hotel. It fronted on Market street. The corner stone was laid in 1827, and the dedication occurred on the 14th of October in that year. The Rev. Noah Levings, of New York, officiated, preaching from Eph. xi. 20-22.

The second church was a white frame edifice, having a basement, erected on the lot of Jacob Mann; the corner stone was laid in 1840, the dedication occurring in 1841. Sermons were preached by Rev. Charles Pittman and Rev. Anthony Atwood. This building was donated by the family of Hon. George T. Cobb to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and it is now in use by them on Spring street.

The third church building was devised and the corner stone laid in 1866, Rev. J. T. Crane, D. D., pastor; and in 1870 Bishop Janes dedicated the church, assisted by Rev. Dr. John McClintock and Bishop R. S. Foster, then both members of the faculty at Drew Theological Seminary, Madison. Rev. Dr. Henry A. Buttz, now president of Drew Theological Seminary, was then the pastor. This magnificent structure is mostly the munificent gift of Hon. George T. Cobb, who died before its completion. Mr. Cobb contributed about $100,000 toward it. The church is built of conglomerate, or "pudding" stone (purple clay, interspersed with white pebbles), found in this vicinity, and so far as known nowhere else. It was doubtless deposited here in the glacial period of the earth's formation. The trimmings are of native and Maine granite. The style of architecture is the solid old Norman. Towering over the entrance is a noble spire 150 feet high. Inside everything is of the most solid description. The wood-work is butternut of a light shade, trimmed with black walnut. The windows are of stained glass. There are front and side galleries, and the total seating capacity is about 1,100. A wing, built across the rear of the church, contains Sunday-school, lecture and class rooms, and pastor's study. In a brick building in the rear are the sexton's residence and church parlors. The parsonage is next door to the church on the south side. The whole property is valued at $175,000.

The Philadelphia Conference in 1826 embraced Morristown; in 1837, by a division of that body and its territory, Morristown fell into the New Jersey Conference, and in 1857, by another division, this church and charge were assigned to the Newark Conference, as at present.

The following is a list of the successive pastors from the organization of the church to the present date, with the years of their respective service:

George Banghart, J. Thompson, 1826; George Banghart, Anthony Atwood, 1827; D. Bartine, Anthony Atwood, 1828; Nathaniel Porter, 1829; John Potts, 1830, 1831; John Kennady, 1832; D. Parish, 1833; J. Dandy, 1834; Anthony Atwood, 1835, 1836; James M. Buckley, 1837; Francis A. Morrell, 1838, 1839; William Hawley, 1840; David W. Bartine, 1841, 1842; Lewis T. Maps, 1843, 1844; Thomas M. Carroll, 1845, 1846; Manning Force, 1847; Jefferson Lewis, 1848; Caleb A. Lippincott, 1849, 1850; Samuel Vansant, 1851, 1852; Elwood H. Stokes, 1853, 1854; John K. Shaw, 1855, 1856; Robert B. Yard, 1857, 1858; C. S. Vancleve, 1859; M. E. Ellison, 1860, 1861; L. R. Dunn, D. D., 1862, 1863; J. T. Crane, D. D., 1864-66; Henry A. Buttz, D. D., 1867-69; J. K. Burr, D. D., 1870-72; D. W. Bartine, D. D., 1873-75; S. Van Benschoten, D. D., 1876-78; S. L. Bowman, D. D., 1879-81.

The following have been the presiding elders of the district: Manning Force, 1826, 1833-40; L. M. Coombs, 1827, 1828; Charles Pitman, 1829-32; John S. Porter, D. D., 1841-44, 1856-59; Daniel Parish, 1845-47; Thomas Sovereign, 1848-51; Thomas M. Carroll, 1852-55; C. S. Vancleve, 1860, 1861, 1865; Alexander L. Brice, 1862-64; Charles Larew, 1866-69; M. E. Ellison, 1870-73; Thomas H. Smith, 1874-76; R. Vanhorn, 1877-79; J. H. Knowles, A. M., 1880, 1881.

The Sabbath-school was organized in 1829, Rev. Nathaniel Porter, pastor, acting as superintendent. He was followed in this office by James Cook, the first layman who assumed its duties, and he by Erastus Moses, John Reeves, Moses A. Brookfield, David Morrow, Asa A. Barnes, Thomas K. Ross, John V. Bentley, Samuel F. Headley, Isaac Bird, George T. Cobb, Ichabod Searing, and Francis A. Day, the present incumbent. The male teachers at the organization of the school were George King, James James, Daniel Meeker, Peter McDermot, Jacob O. Burnett, and George Adams (colored). The female teachers were Mary L. Mann, Martha Condit, Susan Guerin, Maria B. Laing, Emily S. Chamberlin, Phebe Towland, Eunice Minton, Ellen Humphreyville, Electa Vale, and Mary Halsey. The infant class was organized in 1854, with 15 scholars, by Mrs. I. H. Totten, who in 1859 resigned the position; there were then 80. The officers of the Sunday-school in 1881 were: superintendent, Francis A. Day; assistant, J. Searing Johnson; secretary, -- Hall; treasurer, S. W. Vancleve; librarians, G. H. Quayl, Isaac Van Fleet, Charles Beach, W. L. Corriell, D. H. Rodney, C. G. Van Gilder.

The church organization for 1881 was: Pastor--Rev. S. L. Bowman; trustees--James M. Bonsall (president), E. L. Dobbins, E. L. Pruden, Wilbur F. Day, W. B. Skidmore, Charles W. Roberts, James E. Parker; stewards--F. A. Day, S. W. Vancleve, Lewis A. Vogt, James V. Bentley, Samuel Eddy, Edwin Ross, Aaron Schenck, David H. Rodney; recording steward, S. W. Vancleve; treasurers--Wilbur F. Day for the trustees, A. Schenck for the stewards; class leaders--George Green, J. Searing Johnson, J. E. Parker, Mrs. W. L. Pruden, John W. Thompson, J. Hazen Stiles; local preacher, Rev. B. N. Reed; exhorters--Stephen Day, Thomas Fry, Abraham Van Gilder, W. Rosevear. The present number of members is 516; probationers, 40.

ST. PETER'S (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH.

The first time the service of the Protestant Episcopal Church was used in Morristown, so far as is known, was in the summer of 1812. At that time Bishop Hobart, of New York, was visiting Mr. Rogers at Morristown, and, by invitation of the officers of the First Presbyterian Church, he officiated one Sunday in their church, preaching and using the Episcopal service.

For two summers, in or about 1820 and 1821, the Episcopal service was used in the large room of George P. McCulloch's boarding school on Sundays, by Mr. Cummins, the assistant teacher in the school, who was an Episcopal minister.

For about two years previous to the establishment of the parish, in the year 1827, there was a missionary station here. Services were held in the old Baptist church.

The first missionary was Rev. John Croes, son of Bishop Croes. He was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin Holmes, who became rector of the parish when it was started in 1827. While thus officiating here, as missionary and afterward as rector, he was in the habit of holding service here on Sunday morning, and at Orange in the afternoon. At Orange he started St. Mark's church, and when he resigned the rectorship here he became rector of that church, where he remained until his death.

From the Jerseyman we clip the following notices, the first from the issue of December 27th 1826:

Public Notice.--The ??subscribers, members of the congregation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Morristown, in the county of Morris, and State of New Jersey, for the purpose of incorporating themselves, and becoming a body politic and corporate in law, agreeably to the laws of the State of New Jersey, do hereby give notice that a meeting will be held in the Baptist meeting-house in Morristown aforesaid, being their usual place of meeting for public worship, on Monday the first day of January next, at 10 o'clock A. M., for the purpose of electing a number of the said congregation, not exceeding seven, to be trustees of the same, pursuant to the laws of New Jersey in such case made and provided. Dated Morristown Dec. 4th 1826.--Benjamin Holmes, Sylvester D. Russell, Henry A. Ford, Dayton I. Canfield, Mary Ogden, Elizabeth Kemble, Catharine Kemble, Catharine Doughty, Frances Ford, L. D. Parson, B. Shaw, Timothy S. Johnes, Silas C. Cutler, L. Ayers, Samuel C. Burnet, J. W. Miller, John R. Brown, S. P. Hull, Jacob M. King, Thomas Richards, Benjamin Douglass, John Nystrom, John Boykin, Wm. B. Paterson, Dan'l C. Martin, George P. McCulloch, Abm. C. Canfield, Z. W. Concklin, John E. Canfield, John Young, James Cook, Lewis Hayden, Charles Freeman, Charles H. Ogden, Stephen Freeman, Henry Mooney, Jacob Drake, J. L. Jones.

"The corner stone of the new Episcopal church in South street will be laid this afternoon. Service to commence at 3 o'clock precisely.--Jerseyman, Nov. 14th 1828.

"The Prostestant Episcopal Church, which has lately been erected in this town will, by divine permission, be consecrated to the service of Almighty God on Thursday the 4th of December next, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Croes. Divine service will commence at 11 o'clock A. M. A collection will be taken up to assist in defraying the expenses of the building.--Jerseyman, November 26th 1828.

The list of rectors of St. Peters is as follows: Benjamin Holmes,June 1st 1829 to Feb.21st 1831; Hewlet R. Peters, March 28th 1831 to Aug. 6th 1834; Wm. I. Kip, July 13th 1835 to Nov. 2d 1836; Reuben I. Germaine, April 30th 1837 to Oct. 13th 1839; Wm. Stanton, May 13th 1840 to April 14th 1847; Chas. W. Rankin, Sept. 13th 1847 to June 13th 1853; Rev. Robt. N. Merritt, D. D., Sept. 28th 1853 to the present time.

St. Peter's Church was admitted into the convention of the diocese of New Jersey at the meeting of the convention held at Paterson the 30th and 31st of May 1827. Its first officers were:

Trustees--Sylvester D. Russell, Dayton I. Canfield, Henry A. Ford, Timothy S. Johnes, John Boykin; wardens--Sylvester D. Russell and Dayton I. Canfield; vestrymen--Henry A. Ford, John Boykin, Samuel P. Hull, Timothy S. Johnes, John R. Brown, Jacob W. Miller, Charles H. Ogden.

The church was reincorporated April 12th 1830, with the following officers:

Wardens--Dayton I. Canfield and Henry A. Ford; vestrymen--John Boykin, Timothy S. Johnes, Jacob W. Miller, John R. Brown, Jacob W. King Isaac W. Canfield, Jacob Wilson, John Nystrom, Edwin E. Ford.

The present officers are:

Rector--Rev. Robert N. Merritt, D. D.; wardens--Alfred Mills, Henry W. Ford; vestrymen--Charles H. Dalrymple, John D. Guerin, Henry W. Miller, Henry Shaw, John M. Cuyler, Charles Y. Swan, Edward V. B. Kissam, Winfield Poillon; superintendent of Sunday-school, Alfred Mills.

The number of members is about 200.

In 1858 the church was enlarged by adding a chancel at the southwest end, since which time it has been a free church.

THE SOUTH STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

is the fifth in our galaxy of churches. At a meeting of the session of the First Presbyterian Church, held January 26th 1841, the following paper, signed by 146 persons, was presented:

"We, the subscribers, respectfully request of the session of the first Presbyterian Church, Morristown, a dismission from said church, with a recommendation to the Second Presbyterian Church to be organized in Morristown."

The action taken is best stated in the words of session; "Whereupon it was resolved, unanimously, that the above request be granted, and that the persons named be dismissed to be organized into a new church, and when so organized their relation to this church will cease."

At a meeting of session held June 8th 1841 60 other persons were dismissed for the same purpose.

Rev. Orlando L. Kirtland was dismissed from the pastorate of the First church August 26th 1840, and became the pastor of the new organization, although he was not installed until some time after.

The first service was held in the upper room of the old academy on Sunday February 21st 1841, in which place the meetings continued to be held until the 14th of October of the same year, when the new house of worship was dedicated, and the pastor was installed. On the 17th of May 1841 the first board of trustees was elected, consisting of John B. Johnes, Lewis B. Stiles, Ephraim Young, Jonathan H. Smith, Francis Child, B. O. Canfield, and Stephen Vail. On the 27th of the same month Jabez Mills, John W. Poineer and William B. Johnson were elected ruling elders. On the 1st of June 1841 the church was duly organized under the name of "the Second Presbyterian Church," by a committee of the then presbytery of Elizabethtown, consisting of Revs. David Magie and Nicholas Murray and Elders Richard Townley and James F. Meeker. The first communion service was celebrated June 6th in the old Academy hall.

At a meeting of the parish held May 17th 1841 it was unanimously agreed to proceed at once to the erection of a house of worship. Joseph M. Lindsley, Ephraim Young, Enoch Ketchum, John W. Poineer and William B. Johnson were chosen as a building committee. They selected Mr. Poineer as treasurer, at an annual salary of twelve and a half dollars. The first thing in order was to secure a site on which to build. Several lots were offered, among them one on the lower end of Elm street, near the depot; another on High street, about opposite Prospect street; the Baptist church property, and the lot upon which they finally built. At that time this lot was in a very different condition from that which it now presents. Where the parsonage stands was a deep and muddy ravine, reaching across South street, and forming a very low hollow. The lot was owned by Israel Russel, and upon it stood an old frame building which had been used as a printing office by Henry P. Russel, the publisher of the Palladium of Liberty and later of the Morristown Herald. He had moved to better quarters on the Green, and the building was then occupied by a family. The trustees authorized B. O. Canfield and Francis Child to sell the building for what it would bring. Moses Cherry was the purchaser, for the sum of $25. He moved it to Bank street, where it still stands, being a part of the Fennel house, at the lower end of that street.

On April 19th 1841 Israel Russell gave his deed to John W.Poineer for this property,which is described in the deed as containing 1.62 acres, having 196.02 feet frontage on South street. The price paid was $2,500. Poineer conveyed it to the trustees of the church July 14th 1841.

Ths plan for building adopted was that of the Third Presbyterian Church of Newark. Ground was broken on the 7th of April and on the 27th of May the corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, Rev Alfred Chester delivering the address. Messrs. Lindsley and Young were the boss carpenters, with the following assistants: Ezra Cooper, Wm. L. Crowell, Sevalon Mulford, Charles Marsh, E. L. Lounsbury, Samuel Bailey, Enoch Ketchum and some others. Benj. H. Lindsley was the boss mason. The work was done by local mechanics, and largely without pay.

Members of the church sent their teams, wagons, carts and men to aid in the work. Thus the cellar was dug, and the sand taken therefrom was used to fill the boghole where the parsonage now stands. Thus also the stone was quarried and hauled and the timber drawn, most of which was hewn in the big swamp, and sawed at Samuel Roberts's mill, near Green Village. John M. Moore oversaw this part of the work. Jarzel Turner made the iron bolts by which the rafters and beams were solidly secured.

A bell was presented by Judge Stephen Vail, and a clock and Bible by Mrs. Vail.

At the dedication, October 14th 1841, the music formed one of the chief attractions. Jacob Jenkins, a school-master, acted as chorister. The accompaniment consisted of a concert flute, played by W. W. Fairchild; a violin, played by James Noyes, and a bass viol, played by Wm. Day. The lady members of the choir numbered 22, all of whom were unmarried. Among them were Emily and Phoebe Day, Mary and Jane Conklin, Harriet and Henrietta Johnson, Mary Woolley, Anne and Abby Smith, Nancy Johnson (now Mrs. Lewis Pierson jr.), Abby Johnson (now Mrs. C. H. Johnson), Phebe Conklin (later Mrs. W. W. Fairchild), Kezia Elmer, Harriet Lindsley (later Mrs. H. Jones of Newark) and Miss Grey (now Mrs. Daniel Alexander). Among the gentlemen were Dr. Theodore Johnes, Stewart Elmer, Edward T. Lyon, John Smith, Lewis Pierson jr., C. H. Johnson, Aram Johnson, A. H. Condit, Wm. McMurty, Edward Thompson, Daniel Alexander and Wm. Jaggers. Such satisfaction did their efforts give that they afterward gave two grand concerts for the benefit of the church. The three instruments above named continued to be used in the choir for two years or more, until they were superseded by a seraphine. The seraphine in turn gave way to a small second-hand organ, which in 1860 was sold to the church at Branchville, Sussex county, for $200, and a new instrument, built by Hall & Labagh of New York, was purchased at a cost of $1,500.

The cost of the building and lot was estimated at $10,840, and upon this sum an assessment of 10 per cent. was fixed to meet current expenses.

The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Kirtland continued to October 1851. During this time, not including the original 207 from the First church, there were added to the church by letter 140 and on profession 123; total 263.

Rev. James C. Edwards was the second pastor of the church. He was installed in January 1852 and dismissed in April 1860. During his pastorate 143 persons were received into membership, 59 by letter and 84 on profession. Mr. Edwards died here June 28th 1880, aged 73, having previous to his death resided in town about three years.

Rev. Arthur Mitchell, D. D., the third pastor, was installed in November 1861, and dismissed in October 1868. The additions to the church during his incumbency were, by letter 91, on profession 110; total 201.

December 27th 1864 a parish meeting was held to consider the question of enlarging the church building. At an adjourned meeting, held January 5th 1865, the following were appointed a building committee: Dr. E. B. Woodruff, Messrs. Gordon Burnham, Matthew Mitchell, H. O. Marsh and S. S. Halsey. The original dimensions of the church were 46 feet front by 72 feet deep. They extended it 26 feet and 8 inches, added a wing and enlarged the tower. Silas Norris was the contractor for the woodwork, and John Thatcher did the painting. These improvements cost $11,032.83. A debt of $5,000 remained on the work, which was paid off the following year.

Mr. Mitchell was called from here to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Ill., where he remained until last year, when he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, Ohio. In June 1861 the church was transferred from the Presbytery of Passaic, and received under the care of the Presbytery of Newark, under the name of "The South Street Church of Morristown."

Rev. Albert Erdman, D. D., the fourth and present pastor, was installed in May 1869. During his pastorate, up to September 1st 1881, there were added to the church by letter 202, and on profession 244; total 446; making in all 1,260 persons who have been members of the church since its organization.

In June 1872, by vote of the church, the plan of the limited term of eldership was adopted, with a session of nine elders arranged in three classes, the full term of service being three years. The year previous a bench of six deacons was chosen on the basis of the same plan.

On Wednesday January 10th 1877 the church edifice was totally consumed by fire. The cause was supposed to be a defective chimney, although some thought it the work of an incendiary--an attempt of this sort having been made a few months before. On Sunday January 14th services were held in the public school chapel, when an appropriate sermon was preached by the pastor. The First church offered the use of its chapel for the Wednesday evening meeting, which offer was accepted. At the completion of Lyceum Hall, May 1st 1877, the church moved into it, and continued to hold its services there until the dedication of its new edifice.

Steps were immediately taken to build. The building committee consisted of J. W. Roberts, William L. King, Hampton O. Marsh, George H. Danforth, Dr. P. C. Barker, E. A. Graves and Matthew Mitchell. The committee adopted the plans of J. C. Cady, of New York, and commenced work on the 21st of June, when ground was broken.

The total cost of the building was $45,600, toward which the trustees received $23,000 insurance on the old building. The balance was raised by subscription in the congregation. The result is a building unsurpassed in beauty by any church edifice in the State. Being built at a time when materials and labor were at the lowest point, it could scarcely be duplicated at the present time for $100,000.

The style of the building may be described as late Byzantine. The auditorium will seat about 1,000 persons, and is without galleries. In the rear are the Sunday-school rooms and pastor's study. The church was dedicated July 12th 1878, the sermon being preached in the afternoon of that day by Rev. Dr. Hoge, of Richmond, Va., from Psalm xxvi. 8.

In the evening of the same day congratulatory addresses were made by the pastor, Rev. R. S. Green, Rev. Robert Aikman, D. D., Rev. I. W. Cochran, Rev. Theodore F. White, D. D., Rev. Thomas Carter and J. C. Cady.

The following persons have served the church as ruling elders: Jabez Mills, John W. Poineer, William B. Johnson, Absalom Woodruff, M. D., Amos Prudden, Ezra J. Cooper, Amzi Cary, Edwin Graves, Isaac R. Noyes, Edward J. Danforth, Heman Mead, J. W. Roberts, Charles G. Hazeltine, M. C. G. Witte.

The present officers are: Pastor--Rev. Albert Erdman, D. D.; ruling elders, Matthew Mitchell, John C. Hines, P. H. Hoffman, F. G. Burnham, E. A. Graves, W. L. R. Haven, S. L. Young, Joseph F. Randolph; deacons--Wm. S. Babbitt, Theodore Ayres, F. W. Owen, Chas. W. Ford, F. H. Fairchild, A. G. Hazletine; trustees--E. A. Graves, president; P. C. Barker, M. D., George H. Danforth, P. H. Hoffman, Wm. L. King, H. O. Marsh, and J. W. Roberts; Sunday-school superintendent, Joseph F. Randolph; sexton, James Paul.

The present membership of the church is 543; of the Sunday-school, 400; congregational expenses for year, $6,900; benevolent contributions, $7,121.

A. M. E. CHURCH.

The colored people have a church of their own. They first organized in December 1843, and built a small church on Spring street, in which they worshiped until 1874, when the present place of worship was built. It is a neat frame building, with a basement, which is occupied by the colored school. There are 51 communicant members. Rev. A. H. Newton is the present pastor; George Yates is superintendent of the Sunday-school.

CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION.

The first Catholic church in Morristown was built in 1847; it was a small wooden building capable of seating about 300 people, and is now used by the parish school. At that time there was but one Catholic church in the the county--at Madison--to which people used to go, on foot, from distances as great as 20 miles. The congregation was at first too poor to support a pastor, and was supplied from Madison for several years. A priest was finally stationed here, but had charge of churches which had been established at Mendham and Basking Ridge also; this continued until 1871, when the congregation here had grown so large as to require all the time of the priest, and the other places were accordingly dropped from this charge. The increase in the congregation made a new and larger church necessary, and the present edifice was erected in 1772. It is of the best red brick, 122 feet long by 52 wide. In front the appearance is very handsome, the roof rising to a sharp point, surmounted by a fine stone cross. There is a tower on the left hand, or Madison street corner, which reaches an elevation of 125 feet, capped by a spire. This tower is 14 feet square at the base, and, like the building, is of brick with stone facings. The church proper has two side wings; the outer edges of the roof of which are twenty feet from the ground, while the inner edges are six feet from the lower sides of the roof of the main building. The roof is covered with slate in ornamental colored bands. The windows are of stained glass. Inside the church is finished in yellow pine oiled; handsome carved drop pillars support the roof. The main altar is in the center; on the right is one dedicated to St. Joseph, and on the left one to the Virgin Mary. Over the entrance is an organ and choir gallery. The pews of the church will seat nearly a thousand persons. The cost of the building was about $40,000. The congregation numbers one thousand. There is a parish school, with three departments, supported by the church.

Father James Sheeran was priest from 1871 until his death, April 3d 1881. He was succeeded in June of the same year by Father Joseph M. Flynn.

CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER.

The idea of forming a second Episcopal congregation in Morristown took shape in the year 1852. The originators of the movement were Lieut. C. P. R. Rodgers, U. S. A.; Alfred Vail, Samuel P. Hull, E. T. Lyon, John Hone, W. A. Duer and Henry S. Hoyt. These, together with others not mentioned, met on the 17th of June to take the initiatory steps toward the formal organization of a parish, to be known under the name of The Church of the Redeemer. The vestry chosen on this occasion consisted of W. A. Duer and Alfred Vail, wardens; and Samuel P. Hull, Edward T. Lyon, Henry S. Hoyt, John Hone and C. P. R. Rodgers, vestrymen. Subsequently Dr. John P. Schermerhorn was elected a member of this body. Mean while the necessary measures were adopted which resulted in securing the incorporation of the new parish in accordance with the requirements of the canons of the discese and the laws of the State. August 7th the Morristown Academy was secured for the purpose, and regular services begun, a lay-reader serving in the absence of any ordained minister. Some four weeks later the Rev. James H. Tyng, a presbyter of New Jersey, but residing in the city of New York, was requested to officiate. He accepted the invitation, and on the first Sunday in September preached and administered the holy communion. The next Saturday, at a meeting of the vestry, he was unanimously elected rector, and immediately assumed the duties of that position. At this time the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church came forward with the kindly offer of their session room as a temporary place of worship for the new organization. The hospitality thus considerately extended was gratefully received. In accordance with it the congregation removed from the academy to the above building, and continued to worship there so long as the necessities of their case required.

Immediate effort, however, was begun to secure a more permanent home. During the winter plans were obtained, and a lot for a church edifice. The site selected was the one now occupied by the Church of the Redeemer, but the building itself has since then undergone some alteration, an organ chamber being added to the west transept in 1879 and again in the present year, 1881. Early in the spring of 1853 the actual work of erecting the structure determined upon was undertaken. By September 4th sufficient progress had been made to warrant occupation. Accordingly on this Sunday the first service was held in the almost-completed church. Somewhere about this date, it would seem, Mrs. Peter Stuyvesant presented to the parish a communion service. It is still in the church's possession though not now in use. Prayer books etc. for the chancel were donated by Mrs. August Belmont. The organ and other furniture were the gift of several ladies of the congregation. The edifice itself was completed in 1854, and on the 14th of October was visited for the first time by Bishop Doane and consecrated. The rectory which now stands in the rear of the church was placed upon the property so late as 1871, during the incumbency of the Rev. W. G. Sumner, now professor of political economy at Yale College.

We append a list of the successive rectors of the parish, prefixing to each name the date when the call was extended: September 1852, Rev. J. H. Tyng; September 1858, Rev. S. F. Cornell; November 1861, Rev. J. Bolton; December 1863, Rev. John G. Ames; April 1866, Rev. T. G. Clemson; October 1868, Rev. Charles C. Fiske; September 1870, Rev. W. G. Sumner; February 1873, Rev. Samuel Hall; July 1880, Rev. George H. Chadwell.

The parish now numbers 53 families and 114 communicants. The present officers are: Rev. George H. Chadwell, rector; John Hone, senior warden; John E. Taylor, junior warden; vestrymen--George W. Colles, C. A. Edwards, J. J. Derry, J. Smith Dodge, Charles E. King, E. C. Lord, V. B. King, S. H. Little, James Maury; treasurer, John E. Taylor; clerk, George W. Colles; organist, C. A. Muir; sexton, Theodore Egbert; Sunday-school superintendent, J. E. Taylor; librarians, James Maury, Lemuel E. Miller.

Officers of the Woman's Parochial Aid and Missionary Society: President, Miss Benson; vice president, Mrs. Chadwell; secretary, Miss J. E. Dodge; treasurer, Mrs. S. H. Little.

MORRIS PLAINS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

People upon "the Plains" attended until recently upon the services of the churches in town. A Sunday-school was early organized here, and taught almost exclusively by women. A few years ago Rev. Dr. Oliver Crane began ??o preach gratuitously to the people with good results. May 10th 1874 a Presbyterian church was organized, and the Rev. R. S. Feagles was invited to labor in it as a stated supply. He remained with it nearly a year. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Gardner, who remained from May 1875 to June 1876. On the 1st of October 1876 Rev. James W. Hillman was ordained and installed as pastor of the church. Mr. Hillman resigned his pastorate in the fall of 1878.

Rev. R. S. Feagles was invited to take charge of the church for the second time,and began his labors December 1st 1878. He resigned in August 1881, and the church is at present without a pastor. It has but two elders, Nehemiah H. Johnson, and ----- Colman.

A neat and commodious edifice has been, built free of debt. It was dedicated Dec. 21st 1877.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

was organized May 18th 1880, with 33 members, 21 with letters from the Methodist Episcopal church and 12 on profession of faith.

The church was dependent upon supplies until the 1st of May 1881, when a call, which was accepted, was issued to Rev. C. H. H. Pannell of Brooklyn, N. Y.

The clerk is S.F.Beach. The superintendent of the Sunday-school is D. L. Pierson. The present membership of the church is 38, that of the Sunday-school 75. The church meets in a hall on Market street.

CEMETERIES.

Previous to 1855 the Presbyterians interred their dead in the graveyard in the rear of the First church, the Baptists theirs in the rear of their church, the Episcopalians in the graveyard of St. Peter's church, and the Methodists in a graveyard on the Basking Ridge road. A list of burials in the two yards first named was kept between the years 1768 and 1806, and published in a quaint old book called the "Bill of Mortality," of which the following is the title page:

BILL OF MORTALITY.

Being a Register of all the Deaths which have occurred iu the Presbyterian and Baptist congregations of Morris-Town, New-Jersey, for Thirty-Eight Years past.--Containing (with but few exceptions) the cause of every decease.--This register, for the first twenty-two years, was kept by the Rev. Doctor Johnes, since which time by William Cherry, the present Sexton of the Presbyterian Church at Morris-Town.--"Time brushes off our lives with sweeping wings."--Hervey. Morris-Town, Printed by Jacob Mann, 1806.

NOTE.--Those marked thus*were Church Members--thus ??Baptists--thus *?? Baptist Church Members.

A supplement was afterward added bringing the list down to 1812.

After the formation of the Evergreen Cemetery Association burials in the Baptist and Methodist yards were discontinued. The other two are still used. The "Bill of Mortality" contains a mournful list of 1,675 burials between the years 1768 and 1806.

The Catholics have until recently buried their dead in a graveyard near their church, but in the fall of 1875 they secured fifteen acres of land on the Whippany road, a mile and a half from town, and had it dedicated as a cemetery.

FIRST CHURCH YARD.

The oldest of our cemeteries is that in the rear of the First Presbyterian Church. The pastor of that church has an incomplete list of over 4,000 burials in it. Large numbers of soldiers were buried in it during the Revolutionary war, of whom he has no knowledge. Large trenches were dug, and the dead laid in them in rows. Old military buttons have been dug up in quantities. The same is true of the Baptist yard.

The oldest stone in the cemetery has the following inscription: "Her Lyes ye Body of Martha Wife of Abraham Parson Aged About 23 Years Decd Janry 2d 1731." Other epitaphs worthy of preservation abound, of which we note a few:--

"SACRED To the memory of JOHN DOUGHTY, Captain of Artillery in the American Revolutionary Army. He died September 16th 1826, Aged 75 years."

"IN Memory of PETER DICKERSON, Member of the first Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1775, afterwards captain of the 2nd company 3d Regiment of the Jersey Brigade of the Revolutionary Army of 1776. He was born at Southold, on Long Island, in the year 1724; removed to Morris County, New Jersey, with his three brothers--Thomas, Joshua and Daniel--and one sister, Elizabeth, about the year 1745; and died on the 10th day of May 1780, in the 56th year of his age."

"Sacred to the memory of Colonel Jacob Ford Jun., son of Colonel Jacob Ford Sen. He was born 19 February anno Domini 1738, and departed this life 10 January A. D. 1777; and, being then in the service of his country, was interred with military honors."

"This tomb is dedicated to the memory of our beloved brother Richard Brinkerhoff Faesch. He was second son of John Jacob and Elizabeth Faesch; was born 19th of July 1778, and departed this life 25th of October 1820."

"Ici reposent les restes d'Elizabeth Madelaine Siette de la Rousseliere, epouse de Louis Paubel; nee a St. Benoit, Isle de Bourbon, le 6me Aout 1763, et decedee a Bottle Hill, Nouveau Jersey, le 12me Mars 1818. Sa grande piete et sa resignation a la volonte de Dieu font la consolation de son mari et de ses enfants, qui ne cesseront de la pleurer."

As usual in such places, the poetrie muse was by no means neglected. On one stone appears the following pathetic exhortation:

            "Come see ye place where I do ly 
             As you are now so once was I 
             As I be now soon you will be 
             Prepare for death and follow me." 

Here is another:

            "O my dear wife, do think of me 
             Although we'm from each other parted, 
             O do prepare to follow me 
             Where we shall love forever. 

             Farewell, my children and my love, 
             Till we do meet again above; 
             But when in this yard my grave you see 
             O, my dear friends, do think of me. 
             My time was short, no warning given, 
             And I hope to meet you all in Heaven." 

THE EVERGREEN CEMETERY ASSOCIATION

was organized in May 1855, under the "act authorizing the incorporation of rural cemetery associations." Hon. George T. Cobb presented the association twenty acres of land about a mile north of Morristown on the Horse Hill road, now called Water street. Twenty-five acres more have since been added. The spot was happily chosen; the scenery presented to view from Landscape, Fountain and other avenues is highly picturesque, embracing a large portion of Morristown, the position of the churches, the court-house, the stately headquarters and many beautiful private residences. The Whippany river flows in the windings near the base of the grounds. Mount Washington or the Kimball Mountain, with its historic interest, and varied undulations, can be seen as far as New Vernon. The Loantica hills, the Orange, Shongum and Watnong mountains in the distance fill up the background, and present to the visitor a scene of landscapes varied in interest and of extraordinary beauty. The natural beauties of the spot are enhanced by the good judgment used in artificial embellishments. There are many handsome monuments, among them that of Morristown's benefactor George T. Cobb.

The cemetery is controlled by nine trustees, three of whom are chosen annually by the lot-owners. The present officers are as follows: President, E. B. Woodruff, M. D.; vice-president, Theodore Ayers; treasurer, Byram C. Guerin; secretary, John B. Ayers; superintendent, Samuel Muddell. The number of interments to July 16th 1881 was 1,923.

HOTELS.

The first knowledge which we have of hotels in the town is derived from the records of the court. In 1738, at the May court of Hunterdon county, which then embraced all the territory from Trenton (where the court-house was) to Port Jervis, we find that the petitions of Jacob Ford and Abraham Hathaway to renew their licenses to keep public houses in "New Hanover" for the ensuing year were granted, showing that the place was large enough at that time for two hotels, however it might be for one church.

We have already spoken of two taverns which came into prominence during the war of the Revolution. One of these was owned and kept by Colonel Jacob Arnold, who, as commander of a squadron of light horse during the war, did efficient service. This hotel was the headquarters of General Washington during the time of his first encampment here, in the winter of 1777. The other caterer to the wants of the public was George O'Hara, at whose tavern were held the famous "assembly balls," already described, of the army during Washington's second encampment here, in the winter of 1779-80.

Nothing further under this head needs special mention until about the middle of the present century. By this time Morristown had become widely celebrated for its healthfulness, and had begun to be a favorite resort for invalids. The numbers became so great and the accommodations so inadequate that the late William Gibbons, then of Madison, was solicited by gentlemen in New York to erect a suitable public boarding-house and hotel with modern improvements. After mature deliberation Mr. Gibbons acceded to the proposition, and during the years 1842 and 1843 he erected a splendid large brick and brown stone hotel on the south side of the public square, and called it the "Morris County House," afterward changed to the "New Jersey Hotel," which was destroyed by fire in 1845. This was a magnificent structure, and an ornament to the town, covering an area about equal to A. T. Stewart's up-town store in New York. It, together with the stables, etc. (all of which were built of brick, in the most substantial manner), cost its owner about $200,000, on which there was no insurance, and all of which was a total loss, except the stables. When this building burned the loss to Morristown was several times greater than to Mr. Gibbons. It was over twenty years before possession could be had of the ground to rebuild upon. At the time of the fire there were a large number of guests in the house, all of whom were saved but one (a Mr. Bailey), who was burned to death.

On the 8th of December 1881 a similar fire occurred, of which one of the New York papers of the 9th gave substantially the following account:

The only fire that has been attended with loss of life in forty years at Morristown, N. J., occurred yesterday morning. A large frame building in South street, near Elm, belonging to the Wood estate, rented for the past ten years by the Misses Hunter, and kept by them as a boarding-house, was totally destroyed, and two of the inmates were burned to death. The alarm was given at 6 o'clock by several of the servants, who had been to early mass and, on returning, found the flames under full headway. The rest of the large family were still in their beds, unconscious of danger. Lizzie Ketch, one of the servants, ran from room to room, as far as she could, alarming the inmates, many of whom were saved through her exertions. The brave girl sacrificed her own life in this thoughtfulness for others. She was lost in the confusion. It is supposed that she was blinded by the smoke and flame and suffocated on her way out. The other victim was Mrs. Walsh, 40 years of age, the widow of a captain in the United States navy, and daughter of George Wood, of Fifth avenue in this city. Her escape was cut off by the fire, and while hesitating to jump from a window she is supposed to have fainted and been overtaken by the flames.

A partial list of present hotels and boarding-houses is appended:

Mansion House; United States Hotel, Park place, A. E. Voorhees; Park House, Park place, S. W. Luse; Farmers' Hotel, Market street, George Hedden; City Hotel, Speedwell avenue, John H. Halsted; Avenue House, Mendham avenue, Mrs. Nellie Duncan; Duncan House, Morris street, Mrs. J. C. Lindsley; Losey House, Mt. Kemble avenue, Mrs. Ogden; there are a number of others. During the summer months Morristown has in its various hotels, boarding-houses and private residences about 1,500 transient residents.

The Mansion House, situated on Washington street near the court-house, is probably one of the oldest hotel properties in the county. B. C. Guerin bought it in 1864, built new stables, sheds and carriage houses, and rebuilt and refitted the old house. He kept it until 1878. Then, in response to a desire of the citizens for a better hotel, Mr. Guerin undertook the construction of the present Mansion House. It accommodates from 80 to 100 guests. It is of pressed brick, with hard wood floors, heated with steam, lighted with gas, and has electric bells connected with each room, a bath room on each floor and all other modern improvements. Mr. Guerin opened the old house December 11th 1864, and the new one December 11th 1878. He has always kept a large livery stable in connection with the house. This property was considerably run down when he bought it. Since then it has done a large business.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The first fire association of Morristown was organized July 26th 1797. Its officers were: Samuel Tuthill, moderator; Joseph Lewis, clerk; Alexander Carmichael, Caleb Russell, Colonel Benoni Hathaway, Moses Estey, Captain David Ford, and Dr. William Campfield, executive committee. How efficient this association proved and how long it continued we are unable to state.

The next trace we find of a fire company is in the Palladium of Liberty, August 16th 1815, in the following notice: "The Morris Fire Company will please recollect that their annual meeting is the first Monday in September; they will please to meet at N. Bull's [tavern] in the afternoon at 6 o'clock. It is hoped that there will be a general attendance of the inhabitants of the town, and that the committee appointed to procure ladders, hooks, &c., &c., will be able to make a full report." At this meeting the following officers were elected: President, Israel Canfield; treasurer, Henry P. Russell; secretary, William Beach ; directors, Daniel Phoenix, William Dixon, Charles Carmichael, David Mills, Andrew Meeker, Benjamin Lindsley, William Campfield, Mahlon Ford, and James Willis.

That this was a different company from the one organized in 1797 is apparent from an editorial in the same paper a year or so before, urging upon the citizens the necessity of forming such a company, that the town might have some protection against fires.

This second company was short-lived, as appears from an editorial in the Palladium April 17th 1817. After speaking of a fire in town it says, "We hope measures will speedily be taken to reorganize the sometime-since defunct fire company." This kindly advice was heeded. In December of the same year Lewis Mills, Charles Carmichael, and William Dixon, committee, called a meeting for the purpose of organizing and electing officers for the Morristown Fire Association. The after history of this association we have been unable to obtain.

Another company was organized in 1836, and purchased a hand engine for $250. A year later a second company was formed, and a second hand engine was bought. This same year (Feb. 27th 1837) an act was passed incorporating the Morristown Fire Association, which immediately took charge of the apparatus of the two companies. This association had power to raise, by taxation, a small sum of money annually to meet its expenses. It continued in existence until the present Morristown Fire Department was organized under a provision of the charter.

Aug. 7th 1867 the Morristown Fire Department was organized, under an act of the common council. Col. Richard M. Stites, to whose energy the department chiefly owes its existence, was appointed chief engineer. This office he held until Nov. 5th 1875, when he resigned. Chas. McCullum was his successor, but filled the office only until the following June, when Mr. Stites was reappointed by the council, at a salary of $300 per annum, the duties of the position being found to be too onerous to be performed without compensation. Mr. Stites again resigned on July 6th 1877, and was succeeded by Wm. Y. Sayre, who filled the office to June 1879. Wm. A. Halsted was chief engineer from June 6th 1879 to June 1880, since which time James A. Bonsall has been chief. The salary of the chief is $10 per month.

The first assistant engineers have been Ellis T. Armstrong, 1867, 1868; Wm. H. Voorhees, 1869-73; Alfred Cranston, 1873-77; James M. Bonsall, 1877-80; Harrie A. Freeman, since June 1880. Second assistant engineers: Chas. McCullum, 1873-75; Wm. J. Cooper, 1877-80; Isaac G. Arnold, since June 1880.

The department consists of the following organizations:

1. Fire Wardens.--This company is limited to twenty men. It has no apparatus, but is appointed for the purpose of securing compliance with the fire ordinances and regulations of the council, inspecting or prohibiting the storage of combustible materials, protecting the apparatus of the department when in use, and acting as police at times of fires. Organized August 13th 1867. The present number of members is 19. William Y. Sayre was

foreman from 1867 to 1876; James W. Carrell, 1877-79; James Dixon, 1880; William Lewis, 1881.

2. Independent Hose Company was organized August 13th 1867. It is entitled to and has 30 members. The successive foremen have been George H. Doren, Mahlon Bayles, George W. Derrickson, Charles H. McCullum, Charles H. Green, Hayward G. Emmell, James M. Bonsall, J. Frank Lindsley, James R. Voorhees, Eugene Carrell, George H. Quayle and Frederick E. Babbitt. The present officers are: Frederick E. Babbitt, foreman; J. Brad. Stevens, assistant; Frank Mulford, secretary and treasurer; Eugene Carrell, steward. The hosehouse is on Market street.

3. Washington Engine Company, No. 2, was reorganized May 1st 1872. The foremen since the reorganization have been: John W. Hays, 1872, 1873; William J. Snudden, 1873-75; John M. Moore, 1875-77; William J. Snudden, 1877, 1878; Theodore S. Mulford, 1878-80; Charles H. Green, since August 10th 1880. The present officers are: Foreman, Charles H. Green; assistant foreman, John Romaine; secretary, A. K. Field; treasurer, Amos Prudden; steward, Frank Chilar; engineer, D. L. Allen; assistant engineer, William J. Snudden. The number of men is 38. The steamer for this company was bought October 14th 1879, and is worth $3,000. The engine-house is on Market street.

4. Niagara Engine Company, No. 2, was organized August 10th 1869. The following foremen have served: George W. Crocker, 1869, 1870; Sidney W. Stalter, 1870-79; Thomas F. Clifford, 1879, 1880; James C. Mullen, 1880, 1881. The present officers are: Foreman, Thomas F. Clifford; assistant foreman, E. V. Dempsey; secretary, Thomas Welsh; treasurer, John W. Hess; janitor, William McCombs; engineer, William C. Paul; assistant engineer, William T. Meeker. The present number of men is 39; the full number is 60. The cost of the engine was $3,750. The engine-house is on Speedwell avenue.

5. Resolute Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, was organized June 14th 1869. It is entitled to 60 and has at present 41 members. The foremen have been: William A. Halsted, 1869-76; E. D. Allen; William Becker jr., 1877, 1878; H. A. Freeman, 1879; E. J. Thatcher, 1880. The officers in 1881 were: Foreman, E. J. Thatcher; assistant foreman, F. B. De Bois; clerk, William K. Norris; treasurer, William A. Halsted; steward, Edward Babbington; committee of inquiry--William K. Norris. J. E. Stiles and George Udall.

From 1876 to his death, April 20th 1881, Augustus W. Bell was president of the company. That office is now filled by H. A. Freeman.

The cost of apparatus is about $1,200. The truckhouse is on Speedwell avenue.

"The Exempt Firemen's Association of Morristown" was incorporated February 25th 1875. The incorporators were William Y. Sayre, Isaac G. Arnold, Richard M. Stites, Charles McCullum, William H. Voorhees, Sidney W. Stalter, Samuel K. Smack, Isaac Van Fleet, Charles H. Green, Hayward G. Emmell, Mancius H. C. Jennings and Louis H. Atno.

"The object of this association shall be to provide means for the relief of distressed, sick or disabled members thereof and their immediate families; and in case of fire to render such assistance as the officers of the association may deem proper to direct, by the advice and consent of the constituted authorities of this town."

Mr. Stites has been the only president. The following is the present board of officers: President, Richard M. Stites; vice-president, Charles McCullum; secretary, Charles H. Green; trustees--B. C. Guerin, John Thatcher and Eugene Troxell; standing committee--E. D. Allen, John M. Moore and James Dickson. The number of members is 80.

Fire Department Charitable Fund.--On the 9th of March 1869 there was passed "an act to incorporate the trustees of the Morristown Fire Department Charitable Fund for the relief of indigent and disabled firemen and their families." The fund began with $75, and has now reached the sum of $1,500. The following have served as presidents of these trustees: Richard M. Stites (1869-78), Isaac G. Arnold and John M. Moore. The following are the present officers: President, William Y. Sayre; secretary, John M. Moore; treasurer, William R. McKay; trustees--William Y. Sayre, John M. Moore, John D. Guerin and Luther M. Baird.

The present department is excellent and efficient. Many of the best citizens are members of it, and their constant aim is to maintain a high standard of morality and efficiency.

SCHOOLS.

That the advantages of higher education were appreciated by our early townsmen may be inferred from a record in the old session book of the first Presbyterian church, which shows that in 1769, the trustees of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) having represented to the presbyteries that the interest of their capital was inadequate to the annual necessary expenses of the college, the following subscriptions were made by the church named: Rev. Timothy Johnes, £9; Jacob Ford, £21; Deacon Matthias Burnet, £9; Captain Timothy Mills, £6; Elder Daniel Lindsley, £3; Abraham Ogden, £3; Elder John Lindsley, £3; Joseph Wood, £6; Henry Gardiner, 16s.; Nathan Reeve, £3; John Ayres, £9; Thomas Kenney, £3; William De Hart, £3; Thomas Morrell, £4 10s.; Jonas Phillips, £4 10s.; Isaac Pierson, £3; Jonathan Cheever, £1; Peter Condict, Peter Prudden, Moses Prudden and Joseph Prudden, £2 11s. each; Benjamin Pierson, £9; Samuel Tuthill, £3; Silas Condict, £3; Ezra Halsey, elder, £12; Samuel Robarts, £3; Augustine Bayles, £3; Mrs. Phebe Wood, £3; Jonathan Stiles, £1 15s.; Captain Benjamin Halsey, 10s.; total, £140 5s.

In 1787 further subscriptions were made for Princeton, of which the principal were the following: Caleb Russell, $22; Joseph Lewis, $11; Silas Condict, $42; Jonathan Dickerson, $16; John Mills, $9.

The first authentic information which we can find concerning

our local schools is in the trustees' book of the first Presbyterian Church, in the following minutes:

"January 12 1767, the trustees being called and met at the School hous henry Primrose Joseph Stiles and Benjamin Coe absent Proseaded and chose Benjaman Bayle President and Gave Lieve than a school hous might be Built on the Green Near whair the old hous Now Standeth."

"Octob 7 1771 the trustees met at Doct tuthills Esq. Sam Robarts absent and agreed that the money that Mr. Watt Left to the town Should be Laid out towards Purtchasing utensils for the communian Table also that the school hous how on Peter Mackees Land be Removed onto the Parsonage Land and there to Remain During the Pleasure of the trustees and then Lyable to be Removed."

Who the teachers were we have no means of ascertaining. On the roll of members of the above named church appear the names of Mrs. Dow and Doritheah Cooper, "school madams," who were received into the church, we judge in 1774, from some sister church.

As a sample of what these early schools were we subjoin a description of a common school about three miles from Morristown, as given by Mahlon Johnson, who lived to the goodly age of four score years and two and died December 20th 1857:

"The school building was constructed of logs, and instead of glass for windows sheep skins were stretched over apertures made by sawing off an occasional log. These windows had one virtue--they were an effectual screen to prevent pupils from being interrupted in their exercises by what was going on outside. The time was regulated by an hour-glass, and they drank their water from a tumbler made of cow's horn or ground shell. Arithmetic was not taught in classes, but the pupils ciphered when they were not reading, spelling or writing. The latter branches were taught in classes. A chalk line or a crack in the floor was the mark they were required to toe. The common school was hardly considered a school in those days unless the whack of the ruler or the whistle of the whip was frequently heard."

THE MORRIS ACADEMY

was organized November 28th 1791. This was done by 24 gentlemen, who subscribed each one share of £25 for the purpose. The subscribers were Caleb Russell, Israel Canfield, Daniel Phoenix jr., Alexander Carmichael, Gabriel H. Ford, Timothy Johnes jr., Moses Estey, Jabez Campfield, William Campfield, Aaron C. Collins, Jonathan Hathaway, John Jacob Faesch, Richard Johnson, John Kinney, Abraham Kinney, Isaac Canfield, George Tucker, David Ford, Nathan Ford, Theodorus Tuthill, John Mills, Joseph Lewis, Jacob Arnold, Chilion Ford.

The first board of proprietors consisted of Jabez Campfield, president; Caleb Russell, first director; Gabriel H. Ford, second director; Nathan Ford, third director; Daniel Phoenix jr., treasurer; and Joseph Lewis, clerk. Mr. Campfield resigned at the expiration of one month, and was succeeded by Mr. Russell.

The contract for building the academy was let to Caleb Russell for £520. The lot was purchased from the First Presbyterian Church, as appears from the trustees' book:

"At a meeting of the trustees at the house of Caleb Russell, Esq., 5th day of September 1792, the president, Mr. Lindsley, Mr. Ford, Mr. Mills, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Ogden being met, a deed being made out for one hundred feet of land in front and one hundred and thirty feet deep on the hill opposite the Conners land, agreeable to a vote of the parish requesting the trustees to act discretionary on this affair, the 22nd Feb. 1792--the said deed was then signed, conveying twenty-nine hundredths of an acre of land to the proprietors of the intended academy for the sum of thirty pounds Jersey money. Caleb Russell, Esq., gave his obligation for said sum."

After the building was completed Caleb Russell, although he was clerk of the county and had a variety of other business to attend to, consented to take charge of the academy as principal. On the 5th of November 1792 the school opened, with 33 scholars, as follows: Elias Riggs, Stephen Thompson, Anthony Day, Henry P. Russell, Henry Axtell, David Bates, Munson Day, Charles Russell, Ezra Halsey, Richard B. Faesch, Jacob Stiles, Jacob Lewis, Timothy J. Lewis, James Wood, Nancy Lewis, Betsey Estey, David Estey, Phoebe, daughter of Jeduthan Day, Sally Conklin, Hannah Hathaway, Eleazur Hathaway, George W. Cook, Thomas Kinney, Henry Mills, David Stites, William Beach, John B. Johnes, Alexander Phoenix, Silas Day, Robert M. Russell, Eliza P. Russell, Charles Freeman, Chilion Stiles.

Mr. Russell continued in full charge of the school until the close of 1795, and in partial charge until August 1797. He graduated in 1770 at Princeton College, and studied law with Judge Robert Morris, of New Brunswick. He was appointed clerk of Morris county four terms of five years each. He died in office June 8th 1805, aged 56 years. Under him the academy took a very high rank, attracting scholars from New York, Philadelphia, Trenton, New Brunswick, Amboy, Charleston, S. C., and many other places. From November 5th 1792 to April 1795 he had a total of 269 scholars. In the eighth volume of the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society the names of these students, together with those of their parents, are given in full. Among them will be found many who afterward distinguished themselves in Church and State.

Mr. Russell was assisted by Elias Riggs, Henry Axtell, and John Ball, who were among his first pupils, and also by John Woodruff.

The prices of tuition were: For languages, mathematics and surveying, 25s. per quarter; for French, 30s.@40s. per quarter; for English studies, 12s., 15s.@16s. per quarter.

Mr. Russell was succeeded in August 1797 by Rev. Samuel Whelpley, who continued in charge until 1805 He was a New England man, and until coming here was a Baptist. Here he relinquished his intention of becoming a Baptist minister, and united with the Presbyterian church. In 1802 or 1803 he delivered a discourse in the First church, in which he gave the reasons for his change of views. He was quite widely known as a writer. In 1806 he published "An Historical Compend," in two

volumes, which were printed by Henry P. Russell of this place. He removed from here to New York city about 1810 or 1811, and shortly afterward published a volume called the "Triangle," a theological work in which the leaders and views of what was afterward known as the Old School theology were keenly criticised and ridiculed. The book caused a great sensation in its day, and did not a little toward hastening the division in the Presbyterian church into Old and New School.

Mr. Whelpley was too strict a disciplinarian to give entire satisfaction to all the patrons of his school. Opposition to him became so marked that in 1800 and 1801 a new institution was organized, called the Warren Academy, and opened under the charge of James Stevenson, who was succeeded in the principalship by John Ford. The building, which stood in the northeast part of the town, was accidentally burned March 6th 1803. It was rebuilt with brick on the Morris Green, on a lot purchased from the trustees of the First church, where now stands the Park House. It continued, however, but a few years, and the property was sold.

After the resignation of Mr. Whelpley, in 1805, he opened a private select school in his own house, which was well patronized, principally by familiesfrom New York and the south. Among his students were two of his sons, who afterward became ministers; one of them, Philip Melancthon, becoming the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York city. Mr. Whelpley died in New York city, July 15th 1817.

From 1793 to 1820, with the exception of three or four years, an annual theatrical exhibition was given by the scholars of the academy. The popularity of these exhibitions may be judged from the fact that the average yearly income from them was about $210, which sufficed to keep the building in excellent repair, and purchase many needed articles, among other things a bell in 1798, from John Jacob Faesch's Boonton iron works

The following advertisements, copied from the Palladium of Liberty, 1809, will serve as a specimen of these popular theatricals:

"DRAMATIC EXHIBITION.--On Thursday and Monday evenings, the 5th and 9th of October next, will be represented by the students of Morris Academy Cumberland's Celebrated Comedy of THE WEST INDIAN: to which will be added HIGH LIFE BELOW STAIRS, an excellent farce. Doors will be open at half-past five. Admittance 25 cents."

"EXHIBITION.--On Monday, the third day of April, the students of the Warren Academy will present Kotzebue's Much-Admired Comedy THE WILD GOOSE CHASE. To gratify the wishes of a respectable body of people, instead of a Farce, on this occasion, a few select pieces will be spoken before and after the Comedy; and on Friday, the 7th, the WILD GOOSE CHASE repeated, to which will be added THE WEATHER-COCK."

The expenses of these entertainments were not great, as we may see from the following:

                 "Morristown, N. J., Sept. 8, 1795. 
     "Proprietors of Morris Academy, DR. 
 

Who drank the "wein" we are not informed, but suppose it was the door keepers, as it was customary in those days thus to stimulate these dignitaries to the faithful discharge of their official duties.

Space forbids dwelling at length upon the administration of the successors of Mr. Whelpley. The academy continued for more than sixty years to be the great institution of the town, attracting large numbers of scholars from near and far, and exerting an influence which has given this town a high reputation for intelligence.

Previous to the opening of the public school in December 1869 J. Henry Johnson, then principal, had over 100 pupils. The academy was then for a time closed, and the building unused. The proprietors finally sold the lot to the directors of the library and lyceum for $10,000, taking stock to that amount in the new enterprise, on condition that rooms be reserved in the new building for a classical school for boys. The school was reopened in September 1878, under the principalship of Wayland Spaulding, a graduate of Yale College. Mr. Spaulding severed his connection with the academy in June 1881, after which the directors secured the services of Andrew J. West, a graduate of Princeton College, who assumed charge in September 1881.

The successive presidents of the proprietors of the academy have taken the office as follows: Jabez Campfield, January 11th 1792; Caleb Russell, 1792; Alexander Carmichael, 1793; Jabez Campfield, 1800; John Doughty, 1805; Gabriel H. Ford, 1815; Rev. Wm. A. McDowell, 1816; Sylvester D. Russell, 1823; Rev. Albert Barnes, 1826; Rev. Chas. Hoover, 1832; Lewis Condict, 1834; Rev. H. A. Dumont, 1839; Lewis Mills, 1841; Henry A. Ford, 1854; Rev. R. N. Merritt, 1865.

Since the transfer of the property to the directors of the library and lyceum the school has been under the care of a committee of that body, consisting of A. B. Hall, H. C. Pitney and Alfred Mills.

We wish we might be as explicit with reference to the principals of this institution. The minutes of the proprietors are singularly lacking in information concerning the teachers employed in the school.

The appended list of principals is, we fear, inaccurate. The minutes being deficient we have sought the files of newspapers, but in vain. The memories of the "oldest inhabitants" conflict so essentially that we cannot rely upon them; only where we have been sure of dates have we incorporated them.

Caleb Russell, 1792-97; Samuel Whelpley, 1797-1805; Daniel Mulford; Henry Mills; Wm. A. Whelpley, 1811; Ira C. Whitehead; James D. Johnson, resigned in 1821; Rev. Asa. Lyman, engaged in 1821; Rev. Alfred Chester; D. A. La Rue; James L. Baker; Mr. Blauvelt, resigned in 1852; John Paul, engaged in 1852; Mr. Harrison; E. A.

Allen, resigned in 1855; Herman Mead, 1855; J. Henry Johnson, 1861 to 1870; (interregnum;) Wayland Spaulding, 1878-81; Andrew J. West, the present principal.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

on Maple avenue was opened in December 1869. The school is principally due to the generosity of the late George T. Cobb, to whose large-hearted liberality Morristown owes so much. He gave the lot on which the building stands, and in addition $10,000 in money.

In the chapel is a beautiful tablet dedicated to his memory.

The whole cost of the building was $55,000, and it is an ornament to the town.

The control of the school is vested in a board of education, of nine members, three of whom are chosen yearly, which has power to make rules, expel disobedient scholars, appoint teachers, &c. The present board of education is: John D. Guerin, president; Stephen Pierson, M. D., treasurer; Hon. Augustus W. Cutler, Hampton O. Marsh, George W. Colles, Joseph W. Ballentine, Joseph F. Randolph, George W. Forsyth, and L. Dayton Babbitt. The secretary, Edward C. Lyon, is not a member of the board.

The teachers are: W. L. R. Haven, principal; Miss Minnie L. Bottom, vice-principal; Mrs. Ophelia K. Dix, Misses Rebecca W. Thompson, Mary L. Easton, Hattie C. Youngblood, Phebe A. Day, Emma E. Hackett, Maggie T. Daly, Kate S. Fennell, Etta M. Briant, Annie F. Shaw, Florence Hawthorne, Clara E. Brown, and Mr. W. L. Brown (colored).

Mr. Haven has been principal since the opening of the school. The scholars number about 600. The expenses for the year ending June 1st 1881 were $15,326.71.

The colored children are taught separately in the basement of the A. M. E. church building on Spring street, and are under the control of the board and subject to the same rules as the others. Before the erection of the present public school building there were three small district schools in the town, one at the corner of Speedwell and Sussex avenues, one at the corner of the Green and Water streets, and one on Franklin street.

THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS

of Morristown have been numerous and of a high grade. Early in the present century Mrs. Phebe Scribner (widow of Captain Nathaniel Scribner, an officer in the Revolutionary army) came here with her daughters Esther, Elizabeth, and Anna, and opened a boarding school for young ladies. They removed in 1814 to New Albany, Ind., and were succeeded by the Misses Gallaudet, Miss R. D. Jenison, and after her by John M. Benedict, then again by Mrs. Stone, and more recently by the Misses Emmell, Miss Woodward, and Miss Longwell. This school was during the summer of 1881 finally closed.

A rival school to Mrs. Scribner's was established by Mrs. Wetmore in the next house, the one now owned by George W. King, on South street.

Miss M. L. Mann and her sister, daughters of Jacob Mann, taught for a dozen years or more a very successful school. At the same time with the Misses Mann, in 1822, Miss Phebe Babbitt opened a school on Bridge street (now Speedwell avenue), nearly opposite Mrs. Schenck's. A little later a Lancasterian school was established by William Woolley. Miss H. M. Mills opened a school in 1831. The following advertisements taken from the Palladium of Liberty bear a still earlier date.

"MR. BARTHELEMY continues to teach the French and Italian languages at the new Warren Academy, in which the trustees have granted him a convenient room for that purpose.--April 21st 1808."

Another of about the same date:

"MORRIS-TOWN FRENCH ACADEMY.--Mr. Martin, lately from New York, informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Morris-Town and its vicinity that he will open his French school on Thursday the 26th inst. [June 1808] from five to eight in the morning for young men, and from nine to twelve for young ladies. A few young gentlemen may be received as boarders in the family, where French is generally spoken. Private lessons in the course of the day. English taught to foreigners."

Query--how many young men of to-day would Mr. Martin be able to induce to rise at 5 for the charms of French?

"EVENING SCHOOL.--On Monday the 2nd November next [1808] Mr. Dutton will open his evening school in the Warren Academy, for the purpose of teaching reading, writing, arithmetic and Italian book-keeping on moderate terms, and in the most approved methods."

The Morris Female Institute was incorporated in August 1860. The original subscription amounted to $16,050, of which $15,600 was collected. The trustees were William C. Baker, George T. Cobb, Theodore Little, E. W. Whelply, John Hare, Theodore T. Wood and Jesse Smith.

The lot cost $3,800. The main building (the plan being modified on account of the depression of business following the commencement of the war) was let by contract to Cyrus Pruden, in behalf of himself, Muchmore and Lounsbury and other mechanics, who formed a syndicate, for $11,960. The property had cost, prior to the recent addition, which was substantially a completion of the original plan, $17,700 in round numbers. It was leased to Mr. Charles G. Hazeltine for five years, commencing May 1st 1862.

He continued to occupy it until it was leased, April 1st 1877, to Miss Elizabeth E. Dana, who is its present successful principal. The recent additions cost $11,000.

Successful boys' schools have been taught by George P. McCulloch, Rev. Alfred Chester, Rev. Samuel N. Howell and others.

The city has at present among others the following schools: Morris Academy, South strect; public school, Maple avenue; Morris Female Institute, South street; young ladies' school, Maple avenue, Mrs. R. W. Stevenson preceptress; Miss Bostwick's school for young ladies. Maple avenue; kindergarten, De Hart street, Miss Emma

Campbell preceptress; Sisters of St. John the Baptist school (Episcopal), Maple avenue; Roman Catholic school, Maple avenue.

EDITORS AND PRINTERS.

On the 24th of May 1797 the first number of the first newspaper of Morristown was issued. Caleb Russell was the prime mover in this enterprise, having purchased a printing press and secured the services of Elijah Cooper, a practical printer, to attend to the details of the business. The name of the paper was the Morris County Gazette, and it was issued by E. Cooper & Co. Cooper remained until November of the same year, when he left, and Mr. Russell continued sole editor. Early in 1798 he invited Jacob Mann, who had learned the printing business of Sheppard Kollock in Elizabethtown, to come to Morristown and take charge of the paper. The Morris County Gazette was continued until the 15th of May 1798, when the name was changed to the Genius of Liberty. This paper was edited by Jacob Mann until May 14th 1801, when he retired and went to Trenton, where he conducted the Trenton True American, in company with James J. Wilson. Mr. Russell then gave the entire establishment of the press and newspaper to his son, Henry P. Russell, who continued it for several years.

The Genius of Liberty was succeeded by the Morristown Herald, which was edited and published by Henry P. Russell from 1813 to 1820, when Mr. Russell removed to Savannah, Ga., and the paper was discontinued.

In 1808 we find Jacob Mann once more in Morristown, and the editor of a new paper called the Palladium of Liberty, the first number of which was issued March 31st of that year. Mr. Mann continued to edit the Palladium until January 1832, when he was succeeded by N. H. White. Mr. White probably proved a failure, as Mr. Mann in a few months resumed charge of the paper, and toward the close of the year made room for E. Cole and J. R. Eyers. Early in 1833 Cole retired, leaving Eyers sole editor and proprietor. June 4th 1834 Mr. Eyers changed the name of the paper to the Morris County Whig.

The Jerseyman made its first appearance October 4th 1826, under the editorship of Samuel P. Hull. He continued in this position until 1852, when he was succeeded by Alanson A. Vance, who purchased the paper in that year and became its editor. In 1869 Mr. Vance sold a half interest to L. O. Styles, who still continues its publication. The Jerseyman is the leading Republican paper in the county. The office is on Park place.

The True Democratic Banner is owned by Mrs. L. C. Vogt, and edited by her two sons, Louis A. and LeClerc. It was established in 1838 by Louis C. Vogt. Mr. Vogt came here about 1836, having learned the printing business in the office of the Commercial Advertiser of New York. He started a paper in that year, called The Democratic Banner. Some misunderstanding arising with his patrons, he started The True Democratic Banner in the year aboved named. This is the leading Democratic organ in the county. Its office is in the Banner building on Washington street.

The Morris Republican was established May 8th 1872, by F. L. Lundy. It was short-lived, continuing only until July 1877, when Mr. Lundy removed from town. It was very ably conducted during its brief existence.

The Morris County Chronicle was begun November 2nd, 1877, under the charge of T. J. O'Donnell. He was succeeded after a few months by D. H. Prime & Co. Joshua Brown, the present editor, took charge of the paper January 21st 1880. The Chronicle is independent in politics. Its office is at the corner of Washington and Court streets.

The Record can scarcely be called a newspaper, being devoted entirely to local history. It was begun in January 1880 under the editorship of Rev. R. S. Green, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and issued monthly. It has printed a list of nearly 1,000 marriages, 2,000 baptisms of children, and 2,000 deaths in the last century, besides a list of members of the First church up to 1800, two historical sermons by the Rev. David Irving, D. D., and many other valuable articles. It has been largely serviceable in the writing of the present history.

Before passing from this subject, although not directly belonging to it, two or three facts deserve mention. In the early part of this century Morristown achieved considerable distinction for the number of books here printed. Jacob Mann, Henry P. Russell and Peter A. Johnson took the lead in this worthy enterprise.

One of these books is a complete Bible, together with the Apocrypha, published by Jacob Mann in 1805. Though not as famous as the "Wicked" and the "Breeches" Bibles, it has nevertheless attained quite a notoriety from a mistake which has secured for it the name of "the Arminian Bible." The mistake occurs in Heb. vi. 4, which in this Bible reads, "For it is possible for those who were once enlightened, * * * if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance."

Another is "An Historical Compend," in two volumes, by Samuel Whelpley, A. M., principal of Morris Academy, printed at Morristown in 1806, by Henry P. Russell. These volumes became deservedly popular in their day, and reached a goodly circulation. At the end of the second volume is appended a list of 233 subscribers to the work, with the places of their residence.

Another of these early issues of the local press was "A Syllabus of Lectures on the Visions of the Revelation," by Rev. Amzi Armstrong, A. M., "Minister of the Presbyterian church in Mendham, N. J.," which was published in 1815 by Peter A. Johnson, and printed by Henry P. Russell.

Another fact worthy of mention in this connection has to do with one whose inventive genius and artistic skill may be said to have revolutionized the art of printing. In January 1818 Joseph A. Adams came to this town and entered the printing office of Jacob Mann as an apprentice. He remained here seven years, during which time he mastered all the details of the business, and if we may judge from his after history a good deal in addition thereto. He went from here to New York city, where he

soon became a skillful wood-engraver. Some of his attempts in this line while still here are preserved by his old friends. In 1839 he commenced experiments in electrotyping plates from wood-cuts, and succeeded so well that in 1841 an engraving was reproduced by this process and printed in Mapes's Magazine. In this great invention of

ELECTROTYPY

the name of Joseph A. Adams, the apprentice of Jacob Mann, publisher of the Palladium of Liberty, takes first rank. Not only was he the inventor, but to him belongs the chief credit of bringing it to its present state of perfection. By continued experiments he secured at last a full and perfect current for a long time, and an equalization of the action of the battery until it was nearly exhausted of its acid. He also invented an entirely new process for covering wax moulds in a few minutes with a coat of copper, for which, on the 29th of January 1870, a patent was granted him.

On the 19th of April in the same year he patented the "Electric Connection Gripper," whereby the metal pan is taken entirely out of the current of electricity, and the copper is precipitated only upon the mould.

For a long time he was connected with the Harpers, and he had the whole charge of the engravings in their famous Bible of 1843. In the American Art Review (Vol. I., number 6, April 1880), published by Estes & Lauriat, of Boston, is an article from the pen of W. J. Linton, which describes the work of Mr. Adams and accords to him the highest praise, not only for his inventive genius, but for his marked ability as an artist. Mr. Adams died September 17th 1880, aged 78 years. He was the uncle of James Sylvester Adams, of the firm of Adams & Fairchild, Morristown.

POST-OFFICE.

Morristown has had but few postmasters. The first was Frederick King, commissioned early in 1782 by Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard. Henry King, his son, succeeded him on the 14th of June 1792, receiving his commission from Postmaster General Timothy Pickering. He held the office 42 years, and was succeeded by Edward Condict, who was commissioned the 10th of April 1834 under the administration of Andrew Jackson. Since then the following have held the office: Jacob M. King, Augustus Carmichael, Jason King, Joseph I. Roy, Philip W. Crater, Nathan B. Luse (1853-61), A. A. Vance (1861-75), and John R. Runyon, the present incumbent.

The business of the office has considerably more than doubled in the last ten years. For the quarter ending December 31st 1880 it amounted to $2,048.

WATERWORKS.

Among the attractions and advantages of Morristown as a place of residence its excellent and abundant water supply is not the least prominent.

On Nov. 16th 1799 a charter of incorporation was granted to the following "proprietors of the Morris Aqueduct:" John Doughty, Wm. Campfield, James Richards, David Ford, Aaron Pierson, John Halsey, Wm. Johnes, Gabriel H. Ford, Henry King, Caleb Russell, Daniel Phoenix jr., Israel Canfield, Benjamin Freeman, David Mills, George O'Hara, Rodolphus Kent, Joseph Lewis, Lewis Condict, Abraham Canfield, Samuel Ogden, Elijah Holloway, Edward Mills, Wm. Tuttle, Matthias Crane, Jonathan Dickerson, and Daniel Lindsley.

From an editorial in the Genius of Liberty, Nov. 21th 1799, we condense the following: "An aqueduct, four miles in length including its various branches, has been laid and completed in this town since the 20th of June last. The fountain is 100 feet above the town, on the north side of a small mountain covered with wood. The pipe has been laid 3 feet under ground, at an expense of between $2,000 & $3,000. The work was executed by Pelatiah Ashley, of West Springfield, Mass."

This "fountain" was on the "Jockey Hollow" road (about one mile from town), where one of the reservoirs is now situated. The water was conducted from there to the town through brick tile. How many years this was continued we cannot say, but are informed that for many years the aqueduct was a dry one, and Morristown was again left dependent on wells, and so continued until the chartered right was purchased by James Wood, who repaired it and laid chestnut logs of two inches bore as the aqueduct, and had a small distributing "reservoir"--a wooden cistern, capable of holding one hundred barrels of water--in town, on the Jockey Hollow road, now Western avenue.

In 1846 John F. Voorhees became the proprietor of the aqueduct; he relaid it with cement pipe, and built a distributing reservoir eighteen feet square, on Fort Nonsense, where the present one is situated.

In 1869 the present proprietors--still a joint stock company--purchased it, and under their care the supply has been steadily enlarged. There are besides the distributing reservoir, which is on the eminence southwest of the court-house, three other reservoirs; viz., one near the Jockey Hollow road, of the capacity of forty thousand barrels; one in Jones's Ravine, near the Mendham road, capacity sixty thousand barrels; and a third, by far the largest, a few rods above the last mentioned in the same ravine, which is of the capacity of five hundred thousand barrels and was completed during the year 1880. Great pains are taken to exclude all stagnant and surface water, and to keep the reservoirs perfectly free from mud and vegetable matter and filled with pure spring water, which before entering the mains is exposed to the action of the atmosphere in the form of spray as far as practicable.

This aeration has been found to be of the greatest importance and the result is a quality and purity of water believed to be unsurpassed elsewhere.

There are twelve miles of mains, supplying all districts within the city limits, and as the supply of water is ample and the head of sufficient altitude the contiguous neighborhoods and towns will naturally seek to share in the advantages presented, of which disposition there are already important indications

The directors of the company are Henry C. Pitney, president; Hampton O. Marsh, William L. King, Aurelius B. Hull and Edward Pierson, secretary and treasurer.

COUNTY BUILDINGS.

The first Morris county court-house and jail was built in 1755. It was a small log building, and is said to have stood near the middle of the present Green.

The wants of the county, however, soon outgrew this primitive structure. From the trustees' book of the First Presbyterian Church we append the following minutes:

"May 17 1770 the trustees being Duely Called and met at the county hous and agreed to Convey a Part of the meating hous Land to the freeholders of the County of morris for the Benefit of the Court hous

"June 7 1770 the trustees met & Gave a Deed for one acre of Land on which the Court hous Standeth to three majestrets and the Freeholders of the County of morris."

The house was shortly afterward built, and stood nearly opposite the United States Hotel, the front standing about the middle of the present street, which was then only a narrow lane. It was a one-story frame building, the sides as well as the roof of which were shingled. In 1776 a second story was added. Near it stood the pillory, which was last used in 1796. The county paid the trustees of the church £5 for this one acre of land, "strict measure."

A feature of the jail was the "debtors' room." In this room was an old-fashioned open fireplace of the times; about half way up the chimney iron bars were placed across to stop unlawful egress. One Uriah Brown, being placed in "durance vile" by his creditors, was left locked in for the night, but early next morning the deputy sheriff, whose apartments were in the building, was awakened by a knock at his door, and there stood Brown, waiting to come in, as he said he was afraid of being arrested as a jail breaker. He refused to tell how he got out, so the deputy supposed some one had stolen his keys and let him out; but next morning, and again the next, Brown was at the door; then they thought he had a devil in him and were going to chain him, when he acknowledged he had succeeded in loosing a bar in the chimney, which enabled him to get out, but he could not get back the same way.

The court-house and jail answered the purposes of the county until 1827, when the present building was completed.

In the July term of that year the dedicatory services took place, as appears from the books of the court, as follows:

"Morris Common Pleas, July Term 1827.--The Hon. George K. Drake, William Halsey, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Henry A. Ford and Jacob W. Miller, Esqs., the committee appointed by the court to form a plan of arrangements to be carried into effect at the opening of the new court-house in Morristown, in the term of September next, having met, and appointed Hon. George K. Drake chairman, and Jacob W. Miller secretary, the following arrangements are respectfully submitted to the court:

"That the procession be formed in the following order: 1, music; 2, sheriff; 3, board of chosen freeholders; 4, building committee; 5, master builders; 6, clergy and orator; 7, gaoler and crier; 8, constables; 9, coroners; 10, justices of the supreme court; 11, judges of the common pleas; 12, justices of the peace; 13, clerk and surrogate; 14, attorney general and prosecutor; 15, members of the bar; 16, grand jury; 17, petit jury; 18, county collector and assessors; 19, citizens.

"Order of dedication: 1, open with prayer; 2, address; 3, prayer; 4, opening the courts in due form of law; 5, calling and swearing the grand jury; 6, charge to the grand jury; 7, adjournment of court to the next day."

The programme was carried out as above given. The address was delivered by Henry A. Ford, and was printed in full in The Jerseyman of October 24th 1827.

The court-house is on the south side of Washington street, between Western avenue and Court street. It is of brick, painted white, with brown stone trimmings. It is partly of the Ionic style in architecture, two stories high, with basement. A cupola in which hangs a bell ornaments the roof. Over the entrance is a statue of Justice with the traditionary sword and balance in her hands. The natural beauty of the building is increased hy its surroundings; standing on high ground it overlooks the Green and the main part of the town. On the first floor are, at the right of the hall, sheriff's private apartments; left, the sheriff's offices; in the rear on either side are cells. A separate building of stone, containing the work-house and additional cells, is in the rear, on the west side. The court-room occupies half the second story and has a gallery. In the other half are jury rooms and rooms of the sheriff's family. In the front part of the basement are the kitchens, etc., in the rear the dark and dismal dungeons, where contumacious prisoners are subdued.

The surrogate's and clerk's offices are separated from the court-house by the jail yard; they face on Court street, and were built in 1847. The building is of red brick, two stories high. Each office has two fireproof vaults. On the second story is a hall called the County Hall, and in it meet the board of freeholders and grand jury.

TRAVELING FACILITIES.

The younger generation knows little or nothing of the pleasures of stage coaches and bad roads. Previous to 1838 Morristonians reached the outside world only by this luxurious method of travel.

Benjamin Freeman claims the honor of running the first stage from this place to Powles Hook (Jersey City). This was in 1798, or possibly 1797. For $1,25 the traveller could start from here at 6 A. M. on Tuesday or Friday, and be drawn by four horses through Bottle Hill (Madison), and thence to Chatham, where "if he felt disposed he could take breakfast," thence to Springfield, Newark, reaching Powles (also spelled Paulus) Hook some time the same day according to circumstances. On Wednesday or Saturday he could return by the same route, and at the same price.

John Halsey soon entered into partnership with this primitive Jehu. The profits of the enterprise must have been considerable, for the following year, 1799, Matthias Crane started a rival stage. We doubt however whether the rivalry of Matthias gave the original firm much anxiety, as he could only muster two horses. But other competitors arose. The columns of the papers of those early days abound with flaming advertisements of these rival concerns, not omitting descriptions of the beauties of their various routes. The majority of them ran to Powles Hook, but some only to Newark, and others to Elizabethtown Point, from which places the passengers were transported by boat to New York.

In 1838 the Morris and Essex Railroad was completed as far as Morristown, which was then the terminus. The depot was in DeHart street near Maple avenue and the route taken was along Maple avenue until near the Catholic church, thence across to Madison avenue and then to the line of the present route. Eleven trains arrive at this station daily for and from New York. Seven trains daily leave for stations westward, and the same number arrive here from those stations. The time table distance of Morristown from New York, via express train, is one hour and twenty-five minutes. An elegant new depot is at this writing (September 1st 1881) rapidly approaching completion.

LIBRARIES.

The first library in Morris county was established in 1792. On the 21st of September of that year 11 inhabitants of the county met at the house of Benjamin Freeman, at Morristown, and "advised and consulted" upon the propriety of organizing a society which should be called "The Morris County Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures."

Captain Peter Layton (a relic of the Revolution) was chosen chairman, and Colonel Russell clerk. The constitution presented was rather defective. A committee was appointed to revise it. The meeting then adjourned to meet at Mr. Freeman's house on September 25th 1792.

One hundred people were present at this meeting. Samuel Tuthill was installed chairman, with Colonel Russell again clerk. The constitution was read as revised, and was adopted. From it we take (Art. VIII.) the following: "Upon the application of any member of the society for a book he shall deliver him one, and at the same time take a promissory note for the same, to be returned in one (1) month from the time, on paying one shilling for every week over time." On October 7th 1793 this was amended, and the librarian was only to keep an account of the book taken. Article XI. informs us that the dues were one dollar a year, "to be paid on the first Monday in October of each year," and that the stock was transferable. Ninety-seven of those present then signed the constitution, and a good portion of these paid several dollars over the dues for the sake of encouragement. The total receipts were $227.

On October 1st 1792 the election of officers came off. Samuel Tuthill was elected president; Joseph Lewis, vice-president; Dr. William Campfield, secretary; W. Canfield, librarian; Israel Canfield, treasurer. Six gentlemen were then elected a committee of correspondence.

It was resolved that the society purchase three books, and a stamp for marking all books. "They then adjourned." The next meeting was April 1st 1795, at which the by-laws were read and adopted, from which we learn that the librarian was to be at the library to deliver books on all days, Sundays excepted, from 6 A. M. to 9 P. M.," and "that he shall collect all dues in specie." The society started with 96 volumes. At the end of the year the treasurer reported $35.47 on hand, and an addition of 20 volumes to the library.

MORRIS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

The society thus organized went along swimmingly until 1812, when a "Morris Library Association" was started, and the "Association for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures" merged in it.

February 3d 1812 a party of gentlemen met at Bull's Hotel and agreed to the measures necessary for the organization of a library, and adjourned until February 24th, on which day G. H. Ford was elected president and secretary. A seal was ordered to be engraved. At the next meeting, April 6th, they elected Jabez Campfield librarian. They received also a communication from the president of the "Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures," who wished to sell out the old organization. The proposition was duly accepted. The inventory showed 123 names, which were to be placed on the new company's books, together with 396 volumes, and other articles, amounting to $656.55. At this meeting a code of laws was read and adopted which was to govern the library. It allowed a person holding a share to have a book out not longer than one month, for which each year he was to pay 50 cents.

It also recognized strangers and non-possessors of shares, but charged them extravagant prices for allowing them the use of books. No subsequent meeting is recorded until February 11th 1815, but all this time the library was in good running order. This meeting was of little importance. In 1820 an amendment was made to the code of laws that any person paying one dollar was entitled to all the privileges of a stockholder. From the report of the librarian for 1820, the first report since its organization, we gather the following: The amount of script taken was $417. The first year (1812) 144 books were taken out, at a fee to the librarian of six cents each, and in 1820 600 were taken out, at two cents each.

In 1823 a number of shares were confiscated by the association and advertised for public sale in the Palladium of Liberty. They were all sold except four. In 1825 the trustees presented Rev. Albert Barnes, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, with one of these (No. 1) shares, "to be used by him so long as he may remain pastor of the said church," and not subjected to yearly annuity. Mr. Barnes accepted the share, and was elected a trustee.

APPRENTICES' LIBRARY.

The next library for public benefit at Morristown was instituted June 16th 1848. The books and chattels of the former organization were purchased by the infant association, which started with the brightest prospects imaginable. This library was begun solely for the benefit of the apprentices of Morris county.

From the constitution, which is a finely written article, by Dr. R. W. Stevenson, we learn that the capital stock of the association was limited to fifteen hundred dollars, divided into shares of three dollars each, half of which was in three months subscribed.

The library started with fifteen hundred volumes, ranging, with many and frequent gaps, from Mother Goose to the English Encyclopedia, and was considered for the times a very good collection. The library rooms were in the building now used by James Douglas as a drug store.

The association with various vicissitudes lived from 1848 until 1851. This library did without doubt a great deal of good. It had at closing some twenty-five hundred volumes, from the ancient books of the "Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures" to the "latest edition of Shakespere, in eight volumes."

THE MORRIS INSTITUTE

succeeded the Apprentices' Library Association. It lived, however, but a short time. It was founded February 11th 1854, with G. T. Cobb as its president and J. R. Runyon its secretary. They rented rooms in "Mr. Marsh's building," which is now called Washington Hall. They purchased or rented all the books of the Apprentices' Library, and in addition had a reading room with some of the prominent weekly and monthly periodicals. But the enterprise was not a success, the books were old and the privilege of reading cost so much that but few availed themselves of it. The society dissolved in two years and all the books were stored away in the building on the corner of Court and Washington streets. Soon afterward this took fire and about half of the books were destroyed. The rest were stored in a safer place, where they remained until they were claimed for the "new library."

MORRISTOWN LIBRARY AND LYCEUM.

The subject of a public library began to be agitated in 1861. A number of meetings were held by those most interested; but the excitement of those days of war prevented action for some time. In 1865 interest in it took definite shape. Toward the close of the year a circular was sent out to prominent citizens, as follows:

"DEAR SIR,--At a meeting held at Washington Hall on Tuesday evening December 26th, with reference to a public library, the undersigned were appointed a committee to mature and report a plan. They will not be prepared until a later day than the one to which the meeting was adjourned. Their report will be ready to be presented at a meeting to be held on Monday evening January 8th, at 7 1/2 o'clock P. M., at Washington Hall. The subject of a public library is one of the greatest importance, and you are particularly invited to attend the meeting on Monday January 8th 1866."

This was signed by John Whitehead, John F. Voorhees, William C. Caskey, William S. Babbitt, R. N. Merritt, J. T. Crane, E. J. Cooper, George T. Cobb and Alfred Mills.

The charter of incorporation was granted March 6th 1866, and Alfred Mills, John Whitehead and William C. Caskey were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock, which was restricted to a sum not exceeding $50,000. When ten thousand of this amount had been subscribed a meeting of stockholders was held and a board of seven directors chosen.

The directors hold office one year, and elect a president, secretary and treasurer. The stock is divided into shares of $25 each, and is free from all taxation. When the time came to look for a building site it was found there was none on the Green except at a price which was considered impracticable. The Morris Academy was standing, dilapidated and unused, on South street, and the stockholders therein offered to assign their stock to the Library and Lyceum for an equal nominal value in its stock--the lot to be taken at a valuation of $10,000--on condition that a room be reserved in the new building for a classical school for boys. This was agreed to, and it was decided that a stone building should be erected on this site. Plans were submitted, and that of Colonel George B. Post of New York city was adopted. A beautiful specimen of stone, found on the property of the proprietors of the Morris aqueduct, near the Jockey Hollow road, was selected; this the aqueduct company generously gave. Ground was broken in February 1875, and the laying of the foundation was begun in the following May; work was pushed rapidly, and the building was inclosed early the ensuing winter. The building cost $55.000.

The public opening occurred August 14th 1878. Each member of the board of directors has been from the conception of the enterprise until the present time active and efficient; and the result is a noble institution, unsurpassed by any in the State, and of which the citizens may well be proud. Special praise is due to J. Warren Blatchly, now deceased, for his donation by will of $5,000 for the purchase of books; to William L. King for his untiring energy in the interest of the library, and for his generous gifts to it, amounting in all to about $20,000; to John Whitehead for the time and pains bestowed in the selection, purchase and arrangement of books, and preparation of the catalogue; and to William S. Babbitt, the efficient secretary of the institution.

Oil portraits of Messrs. King and Blatchly, painted by J. Alden Weir, have recently been placed in the library by friends of the institution.

From the last annual report we take the following: Total number of accounts during the year, 332; volumes in library, 8,280; added during the year, 557; issued during the year, 14,078; visits to the reading room, 11,170; more recent additions make the present number of volumes about 10,000.

The board of directors consists of William L. King, president; John Whitehead, vice-president; W. S. Babbitt, secretary; John E. Taylor, treasurer; Henry C. Pitney, Alfred Mills, Theodore Little, Aurelius B. Hull, Samuel Eddy.

The board was increased in June 1879 from seven members to nine, the present number. At the same time the capital stock was increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

LODGES AND SOCIETIES.

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS.

Cincinnati Lodge, No. 3. -- The "American Union Lodge"--an army lodge--had its warrant granted February 15th 1776 by Colonel Richard Gridley, deputy grand master of Massachusetts, to certain brethren of the "Connecticut line." At the close of the year 1779 it was located with Washington's army at this place.

On the 27th of December 1779 a meeting of the above named lodge was held to celebrate the festival of St. John the Evangelist; and the record shows the presence of sixty-eight brethren, including General Washington. There is a tradition that Lafayette was initiated at this meeting.

It is very commonly stated that General Washington was initiated into the mysteries of masonry while in camp here, and the room in the old Arnold tavern where the ceremony of initiation took place is pointed out. Truth compels us to disturb this pleasant local tradition. General Washington was a mason previous to the Revolutionary war, at Fredericksburg, Va. The books of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, have the following entries: "Nov. 6th 1752.--Received George Washington; his entrance £2 3s." "March 3d 1753.--George Washington passed fellow-craft." "Aug. 4th 1753.--At a meeting of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, transactions of the evening are: George Washington raised Master Mason; F. P. Willford, W. M.; R. S. Chew, S. W.; C. B. Willford, J. W." While in Morristown steps were taken by the members of the American Union Lodge for the appointment of a grand master over all the colonies, and it was signified by the committee having the matter in charge that General Washington was their choice for general grand master. Nothing, however, ever grew out of it, each State afterward establishing a grand lodge of its own, presided over by a separate grand master.

On December 18th 1786 a convention of master masons was held at New Brunswick for the purpose of establishing the grand lodge of the State of New Jersey. At a communication held at New Brunswick January 30th 1787 a dispensation was granted for three months to certain master masons to open a lodge at Morristown, to be distinguished by the name of Hiram Lodge, No. 4. On the 2nd of April 1787 the dispensation was canceled, and a warrant issued by the grand lodge, which warrant was subsequently (on the 5th of July 1796) returned on account of the non-attendance of members.

A warrant was issued November 10th 1812 to twelve master masons to open and hold a lodge at this place, under the name St. Tammany's Lodge, but this was also returned after a few years.

On the 8th of November 1803 a warrant was granted to James Burras, W. M.; Wm. Bailey, S. W.; and John Sturtevant, J. W., to hold a lodge at Montville, in this county, to be called "Cincinnati Lodge, No. 17," November 11th 1806 permission was granted by the grand lodge to change the place of meeting to Hanover (Whippany), where it continued to meet until December 26th 1844, when it was removed to Morristown, under dispensation of the M. W. grand master. The number of the lodge was changed from 17 to 3 November 8th 1842.

The following is the list of W. masters of the lodge since its organization:

1803, 1804, James Burras; 1805-8, John T. Bentley; 1809-14, Jeptha B. Munn; 1815-18, Abraham Reynolds; 1819, John S. Darcy; 1820-22, William Scott; 1823, 1824, Royal Hopkins; 1825, 1826, James Quinby; 1827, William McFarland; 1828, Stephen Fairchild; 1829-34, 1842-45, 1848, 1849, James Clark; 1835-37, 1846, George Vail; 1838, Albert G. Hopping; 1847, 1851, 1854, Jabez Beers; 1850, W. C. Mott; 1852, 1853, Davis Vail; 1855, 1856, Thos. B. Flagler; 1857, Wm. H. James; 1858, 1859, Job J. Lewis; 1860-63, John S. Stiger; 1864, 1865, Alanson A. Vance; 1866, 1867, 1869, 1876, James V. Bentley; 1868, Chas. H. Dalrymple; 1870, Roswell B. Downing; 1871, Henry M. Dalrymple; 1872, Richard M. Stites; 1873, Jacob O. Arnold; 1874, Eratus D. Allen; 1875, John W. Hays; 1877, James W. Carrell; 1878, 1879, Wm. Becker jr.; 1880, 1881, Sidney W. Stalter.

THE FEMALE CHARITABLE SOCIETY

of Morristown was organized on the 13th of August 1813. Mrs. Samuel Fisher, wife of the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, was first directress, Mrs. Israel Canfield second directress, Mrs. Arden treasurer, and Miss A. M. Smith secretary. The board of managers were Mrs. Mills, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Phoenix, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Mann and Mrs. Vail. Mrs. Silas Johnson succeeded Mrs. Fisher as first directress, but resigned the office at the end of two years, and Mrs McDowell was chosen in her place.

In the year 1830 Mrs. George P. McCulloch was elected first directress of the society, and she remained its honored and beloved head for nearly thirty-four years. Mrs. McCulloch died in 1864, and Mrs. George T. Cobb was chosen to fill her place.

The semi-centennial of the society was held in 1863. At the annual meeting in November 1879 Mrs. Cobb resigned the presidency of the society because of ill health, and Mrs. J. W. Miller was elected first directress. Mrs. Miller has been a member of the charitable society sixty years, filling the various offices of manager, second directress, etc. She is the daughter of Mrs. McCulloch, who for so many years directed the society's affairs.

The present officers are: Mrs. J. W. Miller, first directress; Mrs. Albert Erdman, second directress; Mrs. R. W. Stevenson, secretary; Mrs. Eugene Ayers, treasurer; board of managers--Mrs. L. N. Hitchcock, Mrs. Henry Shaw, Mrs. L. B. Ward, Mrs. Theodore Little, Mrs. H. C. Pitney, Mrs. E. C. Lord, Miss Benson, Mrs. F. G. Burnham, Miss Rowe, Mrs. S. F. Headley, Miss

Watson, Mrs. G. Werts; honorary managers--Mrs. R. N. Merritt, Mrs. R. S. Green, Mrs. Chadwell, Mrs. Bowman.

The society distributed during the past year $616.82 in charities.

ODD FELLOWS.

Roxiticus Lodge of I. O. of O. F. was instituted September 11th 1849 and continued to 1863. It was reorganized in March 1871, and is still in existence. We judge that it is quite unappreciative of the importance of its history to after generations, as we made not less than six applications to it, but all in vain, for whatever is worthy of record in its past and present existence. We regret this for the sake of those unborn generations.

Its present officers are: N. G., Alfred M. Armstrong; V. G., Edward Cobbett; secretary, Charles R. Lindsley; treasurer, John McGowan; district deputy of Morris county, William Lewis. The present number of members is 50.

The lodge meets Wednesday nights in the Bell building.

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

The first post of the grand army in Morristown was organized September 3d 1868, and was known as Phil. Sheridan Post, No. 18, Department N. J., G. A. R. The name was afterward changed to Ira J. Lindsley Post, No. 18, in honor of Captain Ira J. Lindsley, Company C 15th N. J. volunteers, who fell in the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3d 1863. The officers of the post were: Commander, Samuel J. Hopkins; S. V. C., James M. Brown; J. V. C., Heyward G. Emmell; adjutant, George W. Derrickson; quartermaster, Ellis T. Armstrong; S. M., Charles P. Case; Q. M. S., John Moreland.

The post surrendered its charter in 1874.

Winfield Scott Post, No. 24, was organized July 14th 1879. The name of the post was changed on the death of General Torbett to A. T. A. Torbett Post, No. 24, G. A. R., there being a large number of his old brigade members of the post. The present officers are: Commander, Heyward G. Emmell; S. V., William S. Earls; J. V., James Shawger; surgeon, Stephen Pierson, M. D.; chaplain, Theodore Searing; adjutant, L. P. Hannas; quartermaster, William Becker jr.; officer of the day, Edward Cobbett; officer of the guard, Alonzo Hedden; Q. M. S., George Pierson; S. M., E. A. Doty.

The post numbers about fifty men.

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY.

This society was organized in 1873, for the purpose of aiding poor and worthy women in town by giving to them such work as they could perform and paying them a generous price for it. It was designed thus to cultivate a proper self-respect among the poor, and remove the pauperizing influence of alms-giving. In this respect the society has done an excellent work. According to the last annual report it paid out for work during the year over $700, and sold garments to the amount of nearly $800. Its total receipts for the year ending November 1st 1880 were $1,338.66, and expenditures $1,288.81.

The officers are: First directress, Mrs. C. H. Hunt; second directress, Mrs. P. C. Barker; treasurer, Mrs. E. C. Lord; secretary, Miss J. E. Dodge; managers--Mrs. W. E. Bailey, Miss Benson, Mrs. G. W. Colles, Mrs. J. Smith Dodge, Mrs. H. W. Ford, Mrs. Hillard, Miss M. Lord, Mrs. R. W. Lyon, Mrs. H. W. Miller, Mrs. Henry Shaw, Mrs. George Vail, Mrs. L. B. Ward; honorary manager, Mrs. J. W. Miller.

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.

For a number of years before the organization of this association its various branches of work (including reading-room) were carried on by the young men of the two Presbyterian churches. The reading-room was over the store of W. S. Babbitt. The expenses of this organization were jointly borne by the churches just named.

The Young Men's Christian Association had its rise in a preliminary conference of young men of the different churches at a private house in December 1873. This led to the formal organization of the Young Men's Christian Association on the 2nd of January 1874, in the Baptist Church of Morristown. On that occasion over 100 men assembled and 61 members were enrolled.

The presidents of the organization have been as follows: J. V. Bentley, Wm. E. Church, Frederick Wooster Owen, Jonathan W. Roberts, George E. Voorhees, James P. Sullivan and John Edward Taylor, the present incumbent; vice-presidents, Isaac R. Pierson, Wm. E. Church, W. F. Day, J. E. Parker, Wm. D. Johnson, Isaac Pierson and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. The first recording secretary was M. W. Stoll, the first treasurer the lamented George L. Hull. The first executive committee consisted of Geo. E. Voorhees, J. J. Davis, L. E. Miller, E. E. Marsh, Isaac R. Pierson, Levi J. Johnson, W. F. Day, J. Searing Johnson, W. S. Babbitt and E. A. Muir.

The year 1876 saw the association initiating and successfully concluding the scheme for freeing the African M. E. church from debt. It is a significant fact that Morristown at large contributed through the Y. M. C. A. $3,800 for that purpose, fully acquiring the church property and vesting its official control in the association.

In this same memorable year the association held 361 prayer meetings in Morristown and vicinity, induced the citizens to feed the poor on Thanksgiving day at an expense of $200, prepared the way for the "mission chapel" movement, and distributed 100 Bibles and about 1,500 tracts.

In 1877 the association became an incorporated body. In January 1880 the "coffee-room and gymnasium" and "evening school" movements were inaugurated, and they have proved highly successful. The committee in charge of the former was Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, T. B. Nutting and J. E. Parker; of the latter, J. H. Van Doren, W. L. R. Haven, S. Moore and Theodore Little.

The receipts of the association during the year 1880 were $1,589.58; the expenditures $909.32.

The officers during the year 1881 were J. E. Taylor, president; Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, vice-president; W. S. Mulford, corresponding secretary; D. H. Rodney, recording secretary; H. T. Hull, treasurer; executive committee--J. H. Van Doren (chairman), George G. Ely (secretary), William K. Norris, George W. Colles, William Lewis, George N. Yates, I. R. Voorhees, William S. Babbitt, W. F. Day, T. B. Nutting jr., Lansing Furman. Charles A. Edwards, J. D. Guerin; devotional committee--Kiliaen Van Rensselaer (chairman), Truman H. Scott secretary), (T. B. Nutting jr., James Welsh, Isaac R. Pierson, William D. Johnson, P. H. Hoffman, H. H. Fairchild, Walter N. Coriell; corporation--F. W. Owen (president), I. R. Pierson (secretary), H. T. Hull (treasurer), J. E. Taylor, George E. Voorhees, P. H. Hoffman, W. F. Day, A. A. Schenck, William D. Johnson, George Yates.

THE MORRISTOWN LYCEUM

was organized in September 1879, having previously existed for a few years as a debating society under the name of "Young Men's Lyceum." Its object was to preserve the best features of the debating society, to add a reading room for newspapers etc., a course of lectures, and other literary entertainments.

The first officers were: President, Paul Revere; vicepresident, E. A. Quayle; treasurer, W. B. Wood; recording secretary, Mahlon Pitney; corresponding secretary, F. Schraudenbach.

The office of president has since been filled by W. W. Cutler, C. F. Randolph and J. B. Vreeland.

The present board of officers is as follows: President, J. B. Vreeland; vice-president, W. B. Wood; recording secretary, H. Hillard; corresponding secretary, W. P. Fennell; treasurer, A. W. Bell; members of executive committee--T. C. Bushnell, W. W. Cutler.

The meetings are held on Monday evening, during the winter. A commodious and well-furnished room in the library building is the place of meeting. A course of lectures has been given each year, and a public debate held just prior to adjournment for the summer.

"THE MORRISTOWN GREEN."

In the year 1771 (September 7th) "the trustees, Henry Primrose, Benjamin Bayles, Benjamin Cox, Samuel Roberts, Joseph Stiles, Samuel Tuthill and Stephen Conkling, in consideration of £5 and also for and in consideration that the justices and freeholders of Morris county and successors do constantly and continually keep full and in passable repair that part of the hereafter mentioned lot of land commonly called the Gully" (a portion of the present "Green"), deeded "one acre, strict measure, for the sole use and purpose of a court-house, gaol," etc. This deed specifies "that if the court-house aforesaid shall be removed to any other place then this indenture and everything herein contained to be void, and title to the aforesaid lot of land to revert to said Henry Primrose," etc.

About 1816 the project of inclosing the remainder of the land now embraced in the park for the purposes of a common was mooted. It was owned by the First Presbyterian Church. An old surveyor by the name of Edward Condict, however, laid claim to it as unlocated land. Finally he was induced to forego his claim in view of the fact that the church was ready to sell the land for a green to certain citizens. The price paid was $1,600. The deed bears date of April 1st 1816. It is signed by John Mills, president of the board of trustees, and by those who had subscribed to the purchase fund, with the amounts given. These names ought to be preserved, and we consequently append them. The parties of the second part were the original subscribers; those of the third part later subscribers.

Parties of the second part: Daniel Phoenix, $100; Lewis Mills, $100; James Wood, $150; Israel Canfield, $200; Samuel Halliday, $50; P. A. Johnson, $50; Henry King, $25; Ebenezer H. Pierson, $50; David Mills, $25; Theodore F. Talbot, $25; Jonathan Ogden, $100; Sylvester D. Russell, $35; Andrew Hunt, $25.

Parties of the third part: William M. O'Hara, $10; Henry P. Russell, $30; the bank, Daniel Phoenix president, $50; Henry I. Browne, $25; Abm. C. Canfield, $25; William H. Wetmore, $25; Loammi Moore, $50; Stephen Halsey, $5; William Dixon, $50; Charles A. Pitney, $5; Lewis Hayden, $50; Stephen J. Ogden, $35; George K. Drake, $10.

This deed is recorded in Book O O of deeds, page 417, etc.

The deed provided "that no dwelling house, store, shop or barn, or any other building of any kind should be thereafter erected on the aforesaid green or common, except a meeting-house, a court-house and jail, and a market-house." These last specifications did not seem so important to the more recent trustees as to those whose names are above recorded. Accordingly in 1868 they reconveyed the property to the trustees of the church, who immediately transferred it back to the trustees of the Green, with the objectionable specifications omitted, thus prohibiting building of any sort upon it; also agreeing when a new church is built to place its front line forty feet further back than the front line of the present edifice.

The Green is in shape a square, divided by walks into eight triangles. It contains about two and a half acres, and the distance around it is a quarter of a mile. Around this square are situated the principal business places and three of the churches. In the center of the Green are a "liberty pole" and a rustic summer-house for the band, and at the northeast corner the soldiers' monument, of which notice is taken elsewhere.

LAFAYETTE'S VISIT TO MORRISTOWN.

Thursday the 14th of July 1825 was a great day for Morristown and vicinity. Preparations had for a long time been makiug for it. As far back as the previous September a pressing invitation had been extended to General Lafayette, "the nation's guest," to visit this place. The invitation had been in due time accepted, and the above date appointed as the time of the visit. The following large committee, consisting of the foremost

men of the community, had been chosen to make the necessary arrangements: General John Doughty, chairman; Gabriel H. Ford, James Wood, James C. Canfield, Cornelius Ludlow, Colonel Lemuel Cobb, Colonel John H. Glover, Joseph Dickerson jr., Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, Lawrence Hager, Captain Richard Reed, Abraham Brittin, Hon. Lewis Condict, George K. Drake, Captain Daniel C. Martin, S. D. Russell, General John S. Darcy, Silas Cook, Robert Colfax, Major William Hunt, Samuel Sayre, Colonel Benjamin McCurry, Doctor Jephtha B. Munn, Lewis Mills, Jacob Mann, secretary.

The arrangements were all completed, the stand was erected, the speakers appointed, the military in readiness under General Darcy, the tables in Mr. Sansay's long room spread in readiness for an epicurean feast for all who could pay three dollars for a dinner ticket, while the parlor of Mr. Ogden (by whom General Lafayette was to be entertained while here) was put in readiness for the ladies of the town to whom the honored guest was after the dinner to be introduced.

Early in the afternoon a booming cannon announced his arrival at Whippany; and an hour later a second salute told the expectant throng that he was approaching Morristown. He came accompanied by Governor Williamson, Colonel Ogden and William Halsey, a joint committee from Paterson and Morris, a deputation from the committee of arrangements who met him at Whippany, and a military escort of the Morris cavalry, who had joined him at the county line. He was conducted through the throng directly to the platform, where an address of welcome was delivered, to which he briefly responded.

The band played, the choir sang patriotic airs, the people cheered, and the general no doubt felt satisfied with the reception which Morristown tendered him, honorable alike to himself and to the people whose guest he was.

THE SPEEDWELL WORKS

were built about 1812, by Stephen Vail. They were closed shortly after his death, which occurred on the 12th of July 1864, and have not since been in operation. Their importance, however, during the period of their activity warrants a somewhat extended account. They are located a mile north of the Morristown Green. They have been the principal, and we may say the only, manufacturing interests in the town.

THE VAIL INVENTIONS.

Speedwell may be called the home of the electro-magnetic telegraph. The following letter from Prof. Morse has, we believe, never before been published:

                   "NEW YORK, November 25th 1862. 
"MY DEAR SIR: 
"Your favor of the 21st inst. is this moment received. On the subject upon which you request some observations I would say that I well remember the trials made at Speedwell of the operations of the telegraph. The date, January 6th 1838, I believe to be correct in regard to those experiments. In 1835 the telegraph was operated in my rooms in the university, but with only a short line of wire. Your nephew, Alfred Vail, was shown my experiments in 1837, he being then a student in the university, and he took from that time a strong interest in the invention, and became associated with me in labors and expenses and profits of the invention. Through this interest of Mr. Alfred Vail I was furnished with the pecuniary means to procure a greater length of wire and more effective instruments, which were made under my superintendence at Speedwell. Ten miles of wire, in two spools of five miles each, were prepared at the university to exhibit to Congress the operations of the telegraph at Washington, and the trial at Speedwell was made when about three miles of the wire had been completed. You will see in Mr. Alfred Vail's work, "The American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph," at pages 74 and 75, the results of an experiment on a short wire of 1,700 feet, which I made on the 4th of September 1837, in the university; but the line of about three miles at Speedwell was the longest which at that time had been used.

                  "Yr. mo. ob. sert., 
                              "SAM'L F. B. MORSE." 
"To Dr. William P. Vail, 
   "Johnsonburg, N. Jersey." 
On the 11th of January 1838, five days after the trial above mentioned was made, the public was permitted to see the wonderful performance, when hundreds came from the surrounding country to witness it.

It is in point here to state that the public has never done justice to Alfred Vail for the part he took in this great enterprise of giving the telegraph to the world. Nor did Prof. Morse himself pursue that generous course toward him which Mr. Vail had the right to expect. He claimed, or at least allowed himself to receive, all the honor of the inventions of Mr. Vail, which the latter abstained from claiming, owing to a delicate sense of obligation incurred by his contract with Prof. Morse, "to devote his personal services and skill in constructing and bringing to perfection as also in improving the mechanical parts of said invention, * * * without charge for such personal services to the other proprietors, and for their common benefit."

Alfred Vail first produced in the new instrument the first available Morse machine. He invented the first combination of the horizontal lever motion to actuate a pen or pencil or style, and the entirely new telegraphic alphabet of dots, spaces and marks, which it necessitated. The new machine was Vail's, not Morse's. To Alfred Vail alone is due the honor in the first place of inventing an entirely new alphabet; secondly, of inventing an entirely new machine, in which was the first combination of the horizontal lever motion to actuate a pencil or pen style, so arranged as to perform the new duties required with precision, simplicity and rapidity; and, thirdly, of inventing, in 1844, the new lever and grooved roller, which embossed into paper the simple and perfect alphabetical characters which he had originated.

Space forbids adducing proofs of the above claims; for them we would refer those interested to the following works, where they will find the claims abundantly substantiated.

"Up the Heights of Fame and Fortune," by F. B. Read, 8vo. Cincinnati, 1873.

New York Sun for September 25th 1858; an article by its editor, Moses S. Beach.

Scribner's Hours at Home, September 1869; an article by Dr. William P. Vail.

A pamphlet entitled "History Getting Right on the Invention of the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph," 1872.

An Historical Sketch of Henry's Contribution to the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, etc.; by William B. Taylor (from the Smithsonian Report for 1878), Washington; Government Printing Office, 1879; pages 84-87.

From the last named work we quote the concluding paragraph (p. 87): "Surely it is time that Alfred Vail should receive the tardy justice of some public acknowledgment of his very ingenious and meritorious inventions in telegraphy, and of grateful remembrance particularly for his valuable contribution to the `Morse system' of its practically most important element."

Mr. Vail died January 18th 1859. At a meeting of the directors of the Magnetic Telegraph Company, held at Philadelphia on the 16th of February 1859, for the purpose of giving expression to their feelings in view of his death, the Hon. Amos Kendall said: "If justice be done the name of Alfred Vail will forever stand associated with that of Samuel F. B. Morse in the history of the invention and introduction into use of the electro-magnetic telegraph. Mr. Vail was one of the most honest and scrupulously conscientious men with whom it has ever been my fortune to meet."

Mr. Read in his book already mentioned relates a conversation between a friend of Mr. Vail and Professor Morse during the last sickness of the latter, in March 1872. "In a conversation of two hours," says this friend of Mr. Vail, "he [Professor Morse] several times said, `The one thing I want to do now is justice to Mr. Vail.' * * * Just four weeks from that day he passed from earth; and I have never heard that he left one word for it. Indeed, I did not expect that he would." To this statement Mr. Read adds: "Here we leave Professor Morse and his relations to Alfred Vail. Our only purpose has been simply to bring the facts concerning this wonderful invention to the light of day."

On March 3d 1843, one minute before midnight and the adjournment of Congress, the "telegraph bill" passed the Senate, having already been acted upon by the lower house. Prof. Morse, utterly discouraged and wearied out by his anxiety, had gone to his lodgings, having given up all hope, as at 9 o'clock in the evening nearly a hundred bills still remained upon the docket. The next morning, as he was about to sit down to breakfast, the servant announced that a young lady desired to see him in the parlor. It was the daughter of Henry L. Ellsworth, a college classmate of Prof. Morse. She had called at her father's request to announce the passage of the telegraph bill. As an appropriate acknowledgment of her kindness and sympathy Prof. Morse promised that the first message by the first line of telegraph between Washington and Baltimore should be indited by her. When the line between these two cities was completed he apprised her of his readiness to comply with his promise. A note from her enclosed these words: "What hath God wrought." And this was the first dispatch sent over the electro-magnetic telegraph, the date being Monday May 27th 1844. Alfred Vail was the operator at the Washington station, and H. J. Roger at Baltimore. The only one remaining of these two original instruments has been until recently preserved at the "Headquarters" in Morristown, and is now at the Metropolitan Museum, New York city.

An item from Dr. William P. Vail may not be out of place in this connection:

"Allow me to call attention to a matter which deserves a place in the History of Morris County. In the beginning of this century Jeremiah H. Pierson, of Ramapo, N. J., started the first nail factory in the United States, and the first cut nail ever made in this country was made there. Stephen Vail, then a very young man and a born mechanic, who could understand a machine at sight, heard of this strange thing and he longed to see it. Accordingly he went to Ramapo, but how to get the coveted sight was the question, as it was against the law of the establishment to admit spectators. However by some means he found his way inside, in the character of an unskilled, curious country boy, and wandered around in apparently stupid wonder at what he saw. At length Mr. Pierson, who had just come into the factory, saw the country lad intently looking at the cut nail machine. Instantly waving a bandana handkerchief, he beckoned him to the entrance, telling him very bluntly that he had no business there. Making an affectedly awkward apology he took his leave, but he took that cut nail machine away with him, in his head. He had seen enough. Not long afterward a cut nail machine was at work in Dover, Morris county, N. J. When Mr. Pierson heard of it for the life of him he couldn't tell how it got there. Many years afterward Mr. Pierson and Mr. Vail, both being iron men, formed an acquaintance. One day Mr. Vail asked Mr. Pierson if he knew how the nail factory in Dover came to be started. Of course Mr. Pierson didn't know; whereupon Mr. Vail, who loved a joke and a hearty laugh, told him all about it, and then they enjoyed the joke and the laugh together. This history Judge Vail gave me many years ago, and at my request he repeated it to me a short time before he died, which was in 1864, at the ripe age ,of 84, still a hale, vigorous man."

FIRST STEAMSHIP BOILER AND CAST-IRON PLOW.

The fame of Speedwell is not confined to the telegraph. It has the honor of having manufactured the first boiler for the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic.

The London Times of June 30th 1819 says: "The `Savannah,' steam vessel, recently arrived at Liverpool from America, the first vessel of the kind that ever crossed the Atlantic, was chased a whole day off the coast of Ireland by the `Kite', revenue cruiser on the Cork station, which mistook her for a ship on fire."

The same paper on June 21st 1819 contained the following, credited to Marwade's Commercial Report of that week:

"Among the arrivals yesterday at this port we were particularly gratified and astonished by the novel sight of a fine steamship, which came around at 7 1/2 P. M. without

the assistance of a single sheet, in a style which displayed the power and advantage of the application of steam to vessels of the largest size, being 350 tons burden. She is called the `Savannah,' Captain Rogers, and sailed from Savannah, Georgia, United States, the 26th of May, and arrived in the Channel five days since. During the passage she worked the engine eighteen days. Her model is beautiful, and the accommodations for passengers elegant and complete. She is the first ship of this construction that has ever undertaken a voyage across the Atlantic."

Some of the lighter machinery of the "Savannah" was made at Elizabethtown. The heavier parts were made at Speedwell by Judge Stephen Vail, the father of Alfred Vail. Dr. William P. Vail, the brother of Stephen, writes: "I well remember seeing parts of it [the engine] from time to time loaded on wagons for the transportation to Elizabethtown Point, there to be shipped to New York." This was in 1819.

Tradition also says that the first cast-iron plow was made at Speedwell. In answer to a letter of inquiry on this point Dr. William P. Vail writes:

"As to when, where, and by whom the first cast-iron plow was made, I can tell only what I have heard from an honored relative, Mr. Jacob Johnson, who lived many years an active, useful and respected citizen of Newark, N. J., but who was a native of Morris county, N. J., learned the trade of a printer with Jacob Mann, of Morristown, the editor of the old Palladium, and who now sleeps there in the old cemetery of the First Presbyterian church. He assured me that his father, Mahlon Johnson, of Littleton, Morris county, N. J., was the real inventor of the cast-iron plow, which was afterward patented by Freeborn, of New York, whose name it bore. This statement I have no doubt is altogether correct."

It seems a pity that after the noble history of the Speedwell works they should now stand disused and forsaken.

BUSINESS CORPORATIONS.

BANKS.

On the 17th of March 1812 Aaron Kitchel, Edward Condict, Jonathan Ogden, Charles Carmichael, and Ebenezer H. Pierson, commissioners, opened subscription books for the State Bank at Morris. The officers were: President, Daniel Phoenix; directors--John Resto(?), David Welsh, Isaac Southard, Richard Hunt, William Brittin, Solomon Doty; cashier, H. J. Browne.

This bank continued business for a number of years, in the building on the corner of Park place and Bank street, now belonging to the estate of Aug. W. Bell. It finally went into bankruptcy.

The same fate overtook the old Morris County Bank, which for a considerable time carried on a flourishing business in the building now occupied by F. S. Freeman as a hardware store. It was incorporated February 24th 1836. The incorporators were Henry A. Ford, Dayton I. Canfield, George H. Ludlow, Joseph Jackson, Richard S. Wood, James Wood, Henry Hillard, Jephtha B. Munn, Silas Condict, Timothy S. Johnes, Jonathan C. Bonnell, George Vail, and William Brittin. The capital stock was $100,000. James Wood was the first president. After his death he was succeeded by his son Nelson Wood.

For a long time this was the great bank of the county. In the financial troubles of 1857 it was obliged to suspend for a while, but was able to meet its obligations in full. At last, however, about 1865 or 1866 it finally closed its doors.

National Iron Bank.--This bank was started at Rockaway in 1855 or 1856, under the name of the Iron Bank of Rockaway. It was moved to Morristown in February 1858. Its first directors after the removal were Simeon Broadwell (president), Horace Ayers (cashier), C. S. Hulse, Samuel W. Corwin, John Bates, James Holmes, George S. Corwin, Francis Lindly and Henry C. Pitney. Its original capital stock was $50,000, which was increased to $100,000, and again in July 1871 to $200,000, at which figure it still remains. Up to 1865 this was a State bank, since which time it has been a national bank. Mr. Broadwell remained president until 1869, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent. Mr. Craig became cashier in 1861. In 1870 the present banking house was built, at a cost (including lot) of $40,000.

The present officers are: President, Hampton O. Marsh; cashier, Daniel D. Craig; directors--Henry C. Pitney, George E. Voorhees, H. B. Stone, Edmund D. Halsey, James S. Coleman and Byram K. Stickle.

The First National Bank of Morristown was organized April 4th 1865. May 27th 1865 authority was given by the controller of the currency to commence the business of banking. June 21st 1865 it commenced business, with a capital of $100,000. The first board of directors consisted of Daniel Budd, William G. Lathrop, John F. Voorhees, J. Boyd Headley, Henry M. Olmstead, Theodore Little, Columbus Beach, George T. Cobb, and Louis B. Cobb. The first officers were: Theodore Little, president; Louis B. Cobb, vice-president; Joseph H. Van Doren, cashier.

The present capital is $100,000. The directors are Theodore Little, Alfred Mills, William G. Lathrop, Charles H. Dalrymple, David A. Nicholas, Charles E. Noble, Edward C. Lord, Augustus Crane, and Robert F. Oram.

The present officers are: Theodore Little, president; Augustus Crane, vice-president; Joseph H. Van Doren, cashier.

The bank is located at the corner of Park place and Washington street.

The Morristown Institution for Savings was incorporated April 9th 1867, by George T. Cobb, Austin Requa, Lebbeus B. Ward, Joseph W. Ballentine, Augustus W. Cutler, Louis B. Cobb and William C. Caskey. The first deposit was made May 25th 1867. The first officers were: President, Louis B. Cobb; vice-president, Joseph W. Ballentine; secretary and treasurer, J. B. Winslow.

The present officers are: President, Charles E. Noble; vice-president, William G. Lathrop; counsel, Thodore Little; treasurer, D. A. Nicholas; secretary, E. E. Crowell; managers--William G. Lathrop, Henry M.

Olmsted, Robert F. Oram, John R. Runyon, Augustus Crane, P. C. Barker and Alfred Mills.

The business of the bank is now being closed up. One hundred cents on a dollar have already been paid to depositors, and there will be a surplus of about $30,000. From May 25th 1867, when the first deposit was made, to February 1st 1881, when deposits ceased, there were deposits amounting to over $1,520,000. The largest amount of deposits at any one time reached above $540,000.

The Morris County Savings Bank was incorporated March 3d 1874, by William L. King, Henry W. Miller, Theodore Ayers, George E. Voorhees, Henry C. Pitney, Thomas B. Flagler, James A. Webb and Augustus C. Canfield. Mr. King was elected president and John B. Byram secretary and treasurer on the 7th of the same month. Mr. King was president until the 1st of January 1881. Mr. Byram still occupies the position to which he was first elected. The president is Henry W. Miller; vice-president, Aurelius B. Hull; managers--Augustus C. Canfield, Aurelius B. Hull, Henry C. Pitney, Charles Y. Swan, George E. Voorhees, Philip H. Hoffman, James S. Coleman and Hampton O. Marsh.

The deposits were about $200,000 until February 1st 1881, when the Morristown Institution for Savings began to wind up its business, since which time they have increased until at present (September 1st 1881) they are $500,000.

THE MORRISTOWN GAS LIGHT COMPANY

was chartered February 19th 1855, Messrs. John F. Voorhees, William N. Wood, Albert H. Stanburrough, Augustus W. Cutler and George T. Cobb being the incorporators. The first. gas was not made until October 1859. The business of the company has so increased that it has been necessary to augment the capital stock to $40,000. Most of the stores and the more opulent private houses have discarded the lamp for the safer, more pleasant and more brilliant gas. In 1874 the receipts of the company was $17,628, the price of gas being $4.50 per thousand feet. In 1875 the receipts were $17,347, the price being $4 per thousand. Seventy street lamps are supplied with gas and light the town at night. The gas works are at the corner of Water and Spring streets.

January 1st 1879 the price was again reduced, being now $3 per thousand feet. The gross receipts for 1880 were $14,650.

The present officers of the company are: President, E. B. Woodruff, M. D.; secretary and treasurer, Edward Pierson; directors--E. B. Woodruff, M. D., H. B. Stone, E. D. Halsey, James R. Voorhees, Samuel Pierson, M. D.

MORRISTOWN'S MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

The act to incorporate Morristown was approved April 6th 1865. The city limits are as follows:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That all that tract of land situate, lying and being within the limits and boundaries hereinafter mentioned and described--that is to say: beginning on the Basking Ridge road, at and including the house of Joseph Thomson; thence in a straight line to the New Vernon road, to and including the house of William H. Howland; thence in a straight line to the Spring Valley road, to and including the house formerly owned by the Rev. J. M. Johnson (and known as the Bellevue House); thence in a straight line to the Madison road, to and including the house of John Sneden; thence in a straight line to the Whippany road, to and including the house of Mrs. Joseph M. Lindsley; thence in a straight line to the Horse Hill road, to and including the house of Mrs. G. Meeker; thence in a straight line to and including the house of E. Boonen Graves; thence in a straight line to the Morris Plains road, to and including the house of Gordon Burnham; thence in a straight line to the Walnut Grove road, to and including the house of Byron Sherman; thence in a straight line to the Mendham road, to and including the house of Jacob T. Axtell; thence in a straight line to the place of beginning on the Busking Ridge road, containing about one thousand acres--shall be and the same is hereby ordained, constituted and declared to be a town corporate, and shall henceforth be called, known and distinguished by the name of Morristown."

This act was amended March 15th 1866 as follows:

"1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That the first section of the act to which this is a supplement shall be so amended as to include within the boundaries of Morristown the dwelling-house of John T. Foote and the dwelling-house of J. Cowper Lord; and that next after the words `Joseph Thomson' in said section the words `thence in a straight line to New Vernon road' shall be stricken out, and the words `thence in a straight line to and including the house of John T. Foote; thence in a straight line across the New Vernon road,' be inserted; and further, that the words in said section `to and including the house of Gordon Burnham' be stricken out, and instead thereof the words `to and including the house of J. Cowper Lord' be inserted."

The city is governed by a mayor, recorder, two aldermen and five common councilmen--all unsalaried officers, and elected every two years. A marshal and two assistants comprise the police force. The other appendages of local government machinery are clerk, treasurer, assessor, collector, street commissioner, city surveyor and police justices, all of whom are appointed by the common council. The only indebtedness of the city is $11,000 fire bonds.

On the other hand the city owns unencumbered property worth $35,000. The city tax levy for the year ending April 1st 1881 was a little more than $14,000.

The following is a register of the several common councils of Morristown.

Council of 1865 (term of office one year; council elected May 8 and sworn May 9).--Mayor, George T. Cobb; recorder, J. Boyd Headly; aldermen--William C. Baker, Isaac Bird; councilmen--Edwin L. Lounsbury, Samuel S. Halsey, Silas D. Cory, Victor Fleury, Sherwood S. Atno; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1866 (term of office made two years).--Mayor, George T. Cobb; recorder, William C. Baker, did not accept; aldermen--Louis B. Cobb, Isaac Bird; councilmen--Hampton O. Marsh, Silas D. Cory, Victor Fleury, Sherwood S. Atno, Oswald J. Burnett; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1867.--Mayor, George T. Cobb; recorder,

Theodore Ayers; aldermen--Louis B. Cobb, Jeremiah F. Donaldson; councilmen--HamptonO.Marsh,Silas D.Cory.

Council of 1868.--Mayor, George T. Cobb; recorder, Theodore Ayers; aldermen--Jeremiah F. Donaldson, Lewis D. Bunn; councilmen--Oswald J. Burnett, Joseph W. Babbitt, Victor Fleury; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1869.--Mayor, George T. Cobb; recorder, Theodore Ayers; aldermen--Lewis D. Bunn, Oswald J. Burnett; councilmen--Sidney W. Stalter, William A. Halsted, Henry M. Dalrymple, Charles J. Pierson, Isaac G. Arnold; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1870.--Mayor, Samuel S. Halsey; recorder, Theodore Ayers; aldermen--Oswald J. Burnett, Richard Speer; councilmen--Henry M. Dalrymple, Charles J. Pierson, William Y. Sayre, Benjamin O. Canfield, George H. Ross; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1871.--Mayor, Samuel S. Halsey; recorder, Henry W. Miller; aldermen, Richard Speer, William L. King; councilmen--William Y. Sayre, Benjamin O. Canfield, George H. Ross, Eugene Troxell, Erastus D. Allen; clerk and treasurer, Francis R. Atno; from July 18th 1871--Sidney W. Stalter, Elias T. Armstrong, William A. Halsted; clerk and treasurer, James V. Bentley.

Council of 1872.--Mayor, Joseph W. Ballentine; recorder, Henry W. Miller; aldermen--William L. King, William C. Caskey; councilmen--Eugene Troxell, Erastus D. Allen, Edward E. Pierson, Silas Norris, James Anderson; clerk and treasurer, Francis R. Atno.

Council of 1873.--Mayor, Joseph W. Ballentine; recorder, Henry W. Miller; aldermen, William C. Caskey, James P. Sullivan; councilmen--Edward E. Pierson, Silas Norris, James Anderson, John D. Guerin, William W. Fairchild; clerk and treasurer, Edward C. Lyon from June 2nd 1873.

Council of 1874.--Mayor, Alfred Mills; recorder, Henry W. Miller; aldermen--James P. Sullivan, John Bird; councilmen--John D. Guerin, William W. Fairchild, William R. McKay, George L. Hull, James S. Adams; clerk and treasurer, John D. Canfield from June 5th 1874.

Council of 1875.--Mayor, Alfred Mills; recorder, John E. Taylor; aldermen--John Bird, Philip H. Hoffman; councilmen--William R. McKay, George L. Hull, James S. Adams, Isaac G. Arnold, Thomas B. Pierson; clerk and treasurer, John D. Canfield.

Council of 1876.--Mayor, Theodore Ayers; recorder, John E. Taylor; aldermen, Philip H. Hoffman, James V. Bentley; councilmen--Isaac G. Arnold, Thomas B. Pierson, Charles E. Noble, Charles H. Dalrymple, J. Searing Johnson; clerk and treasurer, John D. Canfield.

Council of 1877.--Mayor, Theodore Ayers; recorder, George L. Hull; aldermen--James V. Bentley, Julius A. Drake; councilmen--John B. Bryam, Charles H. Dalrymple, J. Searing Johnson, William R. McKay, Charles E. Noble; clerk and treasurer, John D. Canfield.

Council of 1878.--Mayor, Theodore Ayers; recorder, George L. Hull; aldermen--Julius A. Drake, Daniel H. Leek; councilmen--John B. Bryam, James W. Carrell, William R. McKay, Thomas B. Pierson, Louis A. Vogt; clerk and treasurer, John D. Canfield.

Council of 1879.--Mayor, Theodore Ayers; recorder, James P. Sullivan; aldermen--L. Dayton Babbitt, Daniel H. Leek; councilmen--James N. Coriell, William W. Fairchild, John Hone jr., Thomas B. Pierson, Louis A. Vogt; clerk and treasurer, Edward C. Lyon.

Council of 1880.--Mayor, Henry W. Miller; recorder, James P. Sullivan; aldermen--L. Dayton Babbitt, George W. Colles; councilmen--James N. Coriell, John Hone jr., John Thatcher, Collins Weir, Joseph York; clerk and treasurer, Charles H. Green.

Council of 1881.--Mayor, Henry W. Miller; recorder, Richard M. Stites; aldermen--John C. Beatty, George W. Colles; councilmen--Charles McCullum, John Thatcher, George W. Vreeland, Collins Weir, Joseph York; clerk and treasurer, Charles H. Green.

City Officers for 1881.--Manning Johnson, assessor; Charles H. Mulford, collector; David L. Pierson, street commissioner; J. Frank Johnson, city surveyor; William J. Easton, police justice; Thomas Malley, marshal; Arthur Hoops, first assistant marshal; Edward Whitehead, second assistant marshal.

The health board of the city consists of the mayor, one alderman, and one common councilman. The city clerk acts as clerk of the board. The marshal's duties include those of health inspector. The board appoints a health physician, who attends to the needs of the indigent. The salary of this office is $300 per year. It is now filled by James C. Lindsley, M. D.

From the annual report of the controller of the treasury of the State for the year ending October 31st 1880 we append the financial condition of the township and city:

Morris Township.--Rate of tax for State school purposes, thirty-four cents per $100; rate of tax for county and township purposes, twenty cents per $100; road, fourteen cents on $100; dogs, forty cents per capita; amount of tax ordered to be raised, $37,707.80; annual expenses of repairing roads, $7,000; poor, $300; counsel's salary, $100; elections, $288; commissioners of appeal $45, besides incidental expenses arising as occasion requires, including printing, room for committee meetings, etc.

City of Morristown.--Amount of funded debt, $12,000, at 7 per cent., contracted for the establishment of the fire department. Falls due, $1,000 in 1881, and $1,000 each succeeding year until paid. Rate of tax for local purposes, twenty-seven cents on $100; amount of tax ordered to be raised, $13,041. In addition to the above the corporation of Morristown receives 66 per cent. of the road tax raised in Morris township, amounting in 1880 to $4,620, and five-sixths of the poor tax raised in said township, amounting in 1880 to $250. The annual expense of police is $1,690; board of health, $850; interest on fire bonds, $940; discounts, $300; street lamps, $2,506.50; fire department, $2,766; streets, $6,858.50; miscellaneous, $2,100; total annual expense, $18,011.

PROMINENT INSTITUTIONS.

THE MINARD HOME.

The late Abel Minard of Morristown, in the year 1870 gave to the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States a valuable property for the purpose of affording a christian home for:--

1. "The female children of foreign missionaries of the M. E. Church so long during their minority as their parents may be engaged in their work as such missionaries."

2. "Female orphans and half orphans who are children of ministers of said church."

3. "Such other female orphans or half orphans as the trustees may designate."

The property consists of a handsome and commodious brick building, in every way adapted to the purposes for

which it has been erected. The rooms are all pleasant and airy, heated by steam, supplied with hot and cold water and well furnished. The property is valued at about $60,000.

The Minard Home is not an orphanage, asylum or charity school, but a home, where all who are received are recognized as members of the family of the missionary in charge. The children of missionaries, by the conditions of the donation, are entitled to its advantages first, and the other classes afterward in their order; the trustees have decided, however, to admit the first two classes only to the privileges of the institution. The design is to make the Home all missionaries can desire when they are seeking the best place to leave their daughters while they are absent from them.

The institution has been incorporated by the Legislature under the corporate name of the "The Minard Home of Morristown," and is free from taxation of a sum not exceeding $100,000. Its management is vested in a board of eighteen trustees, who are appointed quadrennially by the General Conference of the M. E. Church.

The Home is situated on South street, below Madison avenue, and is capable of accommodating twenty-five wards.

LUNATIC ASYLUM.

The "State Asylum for the Insane at Morristown" is located about three miles and a half north from the city, in the township of Hanover, on a tract of land four hundred and fifty acres in extent. It is a massive structure in lineal form, built of gneiss, of a light gray color, resembling granite in solidity and texture. It was erected by the State, under the direction of commissioners appointed for the purpose, and cost, including the lands, etc., about two and a half million dollars. Work on the building was commenced in the spring of 1872, and the building was opened for the admission of patients, quite complete, on the 17th of August 1876.

The structure consists of a central edifice, six stories high, and four principal wings on either side, four stories high, with two at each extremity, two stories high. The latter form, with the fourth wings (which are at right angles with the first three), hollow squares, and are used for the more excited and irregular class of patients, of each sex.

The capacity of the building is for eight hundred patients, together with the resident officers, attendants and assistants, most of whom reside within it constantly.

The building is formed to so large an extent of incombustible materials that it is practically fire-proof. This result is secured by the use of stone and brick in the outer and inner walls, and iron floor beams, filled between with brick arches; while the roofs and stairs are constructed of slate, with ridges, gutters, hips, valleys and conductors of copper.

Considering the great size of the building, about twelve hundred and fifty feet long in a direct line; the durable character of the materials of which it is composed, and the careful workmanship throughout, it may be truly said that it has few equals and perhaps no superiors.

The center, or administrative building, contains rooms for public offices, for the accommodation of resident officers, a chapel, an amusement room, kitchens, etc. The apartments, passages, fixtures, etc., common to the various wings are as follows: Central corridors, with rooms on either side; two flights of stairs of slate near each extremity, front and rear; bedrooms for patients and attendants; dining rooms with china closets and dumb waiters; a sitting room, bath and closet rooms; standpipes for water, with outlets for attaching hose, to be used in case of fire and for other purposes.

The building furnishes arrangements for sixteen full and twenty partial subdivisions of each sex, which are ample for the classification of inmates.

The water supply is from springs on the hillside, one hundred and ten feet above the foundation of the building, where are located storage reservoirs, with a capacity of six million gallons. The house is lighted by coal gas, made on the premises, and warmed by steam fixtures of approved arrangement and construction, the fuel for which is delivered directly into coal vaults at the boiler-house from cars brought over a spur of road connecting with the main line at Morris Plains station. Other and important auxiliary arrangements, buildings, fixtures and machinery exist and are in successful operation. Among the most important of these is the boiler-house, with eight boilers for supplying steam for all purposes--power, warming the building, cooking, ventiliation, &c.; a laundry with all its departments; shops for wood, iron and other work; also a mechanical bakery, with adapted fixtures and machinery for making aerated or unfermented bread.

It may be added in regard to the arrangements for the latter object, that, so far as is known, bread-making by this process has been done in no institution except the State asylums of New Jersey. This is deemed a remarkable circumstance, and particularly as it is quite certain that bread made by this method is more wholesome, cleanly and economical than any other.

As before stated, the building is warmed by steam throughout, the radiating surfaces being placed in the cellar stories of the corridors of the center and wings, the warm air in winter and the cool air in summer passing over and through them, to flues in the corridor walls, and thence to all parts of the building above. The ventilation is accomplished by the aid of force and exhaust power; the former being supplied by two fans, driven by engines which are duplicated, and the latter is effected by the aid of two upright shafts in each wing, heated by steam coils. The course of the foul air, in its passage outward, is through flues in the outer walls, the direction from the rooms being downward, through openings near the floor, to horizontal trunks in the cellar that deliver the air at the bottom of the aforesaid heated shafts.

Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia was the architect of the building. General Fitz John Porter, of Morristown, was superintendent until his appointment in New York city as commissioner of public works in March 1875. He was succeeded by S. H. Moore, of Newark, who died

after holding the office a few months. R. S. Johnson was contractor for masonry and plastering. Meeker & Hedden, of Newark, superintended the carpenter work.

The general government of the institution is vested in a board of managers, appointed by the governor and Senate; while the daily administration of its affairs, internal and external, is confided by the managers to a medical superintendent, aided by medical assistants, steward, matron and treasurer, all but the last being residents of the house.

The following are the managers of the asylum: Francis S. Lathrop, Madison, president; Beach Vanderpool, Newark; Anthony Reckless, Red Bank; George A. Halsey, Newark; William G. Lathrop, Boonton; John S. Read, Camden; Joseph D. Bedle, Jersey City; Samuel S. Clark, M. D. Belvidere; Hiram C. Clark, Newton, secretary.

The resident officers are as follows: Superintendent and physician, H. A. Buttolph, M. D. LL. D; asistant physician, Edwin E. Smith, M. D.; second assistant physician, Thomas M. Lloyd, M. D.; steward, Martin B. Monroe; matron, Miss Mary Tabor.

From the fifth annual report to the governor of the State, dated November 1st 1880, we gain the following additional items of interest: There were in the asylum during the year 687 patients--335 males and 352 females; total number of patients October 31st 1880, 586, of whom 94 were private. From the opening of the asylum, August 17th 1876, to the date of the report 999 received treatment--493 males and 506 females; 130 had died in the asylum, 35 during the year reported. The products of the farm, garden, dairy, and stock-yard amounted in the year to over $10,000. Total receipts for the year, $142,776.25. Total expenditure, $137,892.67.

THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT

stands on the corner of the "Green" facing the First Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal churches. It was "erected by the people of Morris county to perpetuate the memory of her soldiers and sailors who fell during the great civil war." This monument is an elegant one of Quincy granite, fifty feet high. It is surmounted by the figure of a "soldier boy at rest," eight feet high. On the shaft are inscribed the names of the battles in which the New Jersey troops fought. Around the die are, besides the inscription quoted above, "A grateful country mourns the loss of those who fell in her defense," and "Their memory shall never fade who fall in defense of a just cause." The monument was unveiled in the presence of the governor and other dignitaries of the State, July 4th 1871. Its entire weight is about one hundred tons and it cost $15,000. It has been admired by all who have seen it, and reflects credit on the patriotism of the people of the county. The designer and builder is H. H. Davis, of Morristown.

FORT NONSENSE.

The hill known as Mount Washington, or Kimball Mountain, ends abrubtly in Morristown back of the court-house, with what is called Fort Nonsense. There are still signs of work having been done here as if in preparation of some kind of a defense. There are two accounts given of this fort: one is that Washington designed to plant cannon there, with which to command the entrances of the town in case of an attack from the enemy; the other and more probable account is that Washington, finding his troops needed exercise, both for purposes of health and military subordination, set them to work at this fortification, as if it were a matter of the utmost importance in defending the stores, the people, and the army itself. Having answered its design, tradition says, Washington asked one of his friends what the useless fort should be named; the reply was, "Let it be called Fort Nonsense."

Fort Nonsense is a pleasant, cool, shady retreat in summer. The view from the summit is a very fine one. East, west, north and south a panorama is spread out before the eye; hill, valley, winding stream, solitary farm house, little villages, with here and there a modest spire--all this, diversified and never ending, forms a scene on which the eye may feast hours at a time. On a clear day, with a good glass, Staten Island and other places in the vicinity of New York can be seen from it.

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS.

We acknowledge indebtedness to an address delivered by ex-Governor Randolph at the formal opening of the Headquarters, July 5th 1875; and also to Rev. J. F. Tuttle's paper on "Washington at Morristown," for our account of this famous house.

This grand old historic building lies on a gentle elevation half a mile east of the Green, from whence it can be plainly seen, and in full view as you approach the town by railroad. Morris avenue (Whippany road) and Washington avenue (branch of the Madison road) unite before the house and form Morris street, one of the five thoroughfares which branch out from the Green as do spokes from a wheel. Nearly opposite the Headquarters on Washington avenue is the noble mansion of Henry W. Ford, a lineal descendant of "Jacob Ford jr."

During the summer of 1873 this property, so long and widely known from its historic connections, was offered for sale in order to settle the estate of the late Henry A. Ford, of Morristown, who had been its owner. A few gentlemen present at the sale, headed by ex-Governor and U. S. Senator Randolph of Morristown, concluded to purchase it; and having done so formed an association known as the "Washington Association of New Jersey," the principal object of which is to perpetuate this house with its great historic associations. The Legislature of New Jersey granted the association a very liberal charter; among its provisions are total exemption of the property from taxation; prohibition to the erection of any unsightly object adjacent thereto; police powers upon or near the grounds and the semi-annual payment from the State treasury of the sum of $1,250 to keep the Headquarters in repair and open to the public. The capital stock is limited to

$50,000. This stock is transferable only with the consent of the association, and then only to a male descendant of the holder. If no such descendant claims it within five years after the death of a holder the stock becomes the property of the State.

As you approach the Headquarters you are forcibly struck with the beauty of its position. The stars and stripes float proudly from the flagstaff on the roof; the terraced lawn in front is studded with trees and ornamented with pieces of brass cannon, the property of the State. "It rarely happens that art, nature and circumstance combine in elements of attractiveness. To this place belongs the infrequent fortune of blending much that is interesting in art, more that is charming in natural scenery, and most that is stirring in circumstance."

This house had its foundations laid in 1772 and was occupied by the Ford family in 1774. They builded well; sledge and hammer and trowel shaped and placed these broad foundation stones before England's king had ceased to rule the land. Axe and adze hewed out girder and beam from massive oak, that yet defies the storms of a century. The oaken planks that make the outer walls, caulked like the hull of some great frigate, are as sound as when they sheltered Washington from the terrible storms of 1779-80. They builded well! The carved work about the doors and the beautiful cornices are rare specimens of elegance in woodwork; it would be difficult to excel their chaste design to-day.

The same oaken doors open to you which opened to Washington; the massive knocker his hand was wont to touch yet waits obedient to your wish. Raise that knocker; the doors are opened, and now the floor he trod with anxious thought and weary brain you tread!

On entering one naturally thinks, "What a wide hall!" This hall runs directly through the building; it is furnished with furniture of one hundred years ago, but contains no articles of special interest. The front room on the right is the association room, and is interesting only from having been Washington's reception room. The front room on the left contains the more interesting relics. Here in the center is a round table, of plain oak, which was Washington's reception room table. On one side is his secretary, with its secret drawers; near it is a plain little table--his dispatch table; in another corner is the old sideboard, from the dining-room, in its day, undoubtedly, an elegant piece of furniture. There is the plain but substantial old camp chest left here by Washington, and two straight-backed chairs with sheepskincovered bottoms--his reception chairs. On the walls are revolutionary portraits and engravings, among others a portrait of Paul Revere, and with it his commission in the British army, the property of General Joseph W. Revere, of Morristown. There was also here when we visited it a "seedling magnolia grandiflora, from a tree planted by General Washington with his own hands at Mount Vernon."

Take this old chair which Washington once used, and seat yourself by this old seeretary at which he often wrote; or take this plain little table--a favorite with Washington that winter--on which he is said to have written many of those noble letters which issued from Morristown that winter; look at the very ink spots on that table, said to have been left by him, and then read carefully the letters which he wrote in this house; let your imagination bring back the past--not only Washington, but his dignified wife, the brilliant Alexander Hamilton. the recreant Quaker but magnificent soldier Nathaniel Greene, the stern Steuben, the polished Kosciusko, the accomplished Stirling, the noble Knox, and perhaps, as an occasional visitor, Benedict Arnold, a satan in paradise--and you have the materials with which to start your emotions, however lethargic they may be.

Having recovered, proceed on your tour of inspection. In the rear left room you will find show cases filled with old books, old documents, old newspapers, &c. Here is the first telegraph instrument, presented by Mrs. Stephen Vail; shoes of 1776; old continental and colonial currency; several old swords used in the Revolution, muskets captured at Trenton and Princeton; "soldier's water bottle," a small tub-shaped vessel, capable of holding about two quarts; Washington's mail bag, resembling those of the present, but open on the side instead of the end; antique furniture. In the room opposite this are more show cases and more old documents; here we find "Mrs. Alexander Hamilton's tea caddy" and a pair of General Putnam's pistols, with case and ammunition pouch; numerous Indian relics, continental currency and coins, and a copy of the laws passed by the Legislature in 1800.

As you go up stairs you enter a room to your left, in the rear; here are old furniture, old spinning wheels, &c., with no particular interest except their age. The hall is the counterpart of the one down stairs; here are an ancient clock used in the house in Washington's time; two of his office chairs, and much other old furniture. The most interesting room on this floor is the front one on the southeast side of the hall, which was Washington's bedroom; here over the fire place hangs a large giltframed mirror used by Washington; here is his dressing bureau and washstand; also "Lady Washington's mirror"--much smaller than the general's--and her dressing table, all very plain. In the room in the rear of this is old furniture; opposite in the room in front is a piece of the carpet which was in Washington's bedroom that winter; here is more antique furniture, some of it very fine. If you desire to go up into the attic you can see that "the century has wrought no change in rafter or beam, or floor or sheltering oak." All appear good for centuries to come. From the roof, which is reached through a scuttle, the view is very fine, taking in the mountains to the north and west, the new asylum and other points of interest.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

HON. THEODORE F. RANDOLPH.

The New Jersey Randolphs--or Fitz-Randolphs as they once wrote themselves--came to Middlesex county, New Jersey, from Barnstable, Mass., in 1630, to which place they emigrated from Nottinghamshire, England, in 1622. They were of the emigrants who left England for "conscience sake"--a portion of the name landing at Massachusetts Bay and another portion in Virginia, during the years from 1621 to 1630.

The Randolphs of England have had a prominent place in English history from early in the tenth century, as have those of Scotland--from whom "the Bruce" was descended--in Scottish history.

All of the American Randolphs are from English and Scottish stock, and all are directly descended from the "adventurers" who, sailing from England in 1621-30, landed in Massachusetts or Virginia. Most of those who thus came, and who had Scotch blood in them, wrote their name Fitz-Randolph, while those of unmixed English blood retained the simple name of Randolph.

Theodore F. Randolph, the subject of this sketch, was born at New Brunswick, N. J., June 24th 1826. His father, James F. Randolph, was for forty years editor of the Fredonian, and was its founder. He also filled many offices of public trust, among them being that of a representative in Congress from 1824 to 1830 The mother of Theodore was the daughter of Phineas Carman, and his grandparents were active revolutionists during the war for independence.

Theodore F. Randolph was educated at Rutgers grammar school, New Brunswick; entered upon mercantile life at 16 years of age, and spent the succeeding ten years as a clerk, accountant, and principal in business, mostly in Southern States. During his school days he partly learned, in spare hours, to be a printer, and was also given a subordinate position in editorial work.

In 1852, at Vicksburg, Miss., Mr. Randolph married a daughter of Hon. N. D. Coleman, a member of Congress from the Maysville district, Ky. The succeeding year he moved to Easton, Pa., and immediately thereafter to Jersey City--engaging in the business of mining coal and transporting iron and ores.

In 1859 Mr. Randolph was elected from the 1st district of Jersey City to the House of Assembly of the State Legislature. By his party friends he was tendered the speakership of the House at this session, and declined it. The session of 1859-60 was the one immediately preceding the outbreak of the civil war. As a "war Democrat" Mr. Randolph was put on many important committees--among them the committee on Federal Relations, which reported at his suggestion the bill appointing commissioners to the peace congress of 1861. The commission was strictly non-partisan, and included the leading statesmen of both political parties in New Jersey.

Mr. Randolph was also a member of the special or war session of 1861. It convened April 30th. On the 1st of May he introduced and had passed the first bill giving relief to families of volunteers. He also suggested and advocated many of the principal appropriation bills during this session.

In October 1861 Mr. Randolph was elected from the county of Hudson to the Senate of the State to fill a vacancy, and thereafter was mainly in charge of legislation connected with federal affairs during the session of 1861-2. In August 1862 he was appointed by Governor Olden the commissioner of draft for Jersey City and Hudson county. This office he held till the close of the year, sending forward--as volunteers, however--several thousand men. In November 1862 Mr. Randolph was re-elected to the Senate of New Jersey for three years, receiving 6,300 of the 6,400 votes cast.

During this term beginning with 1863 he was chairman and a member of the committees of Finance, Federal Relations, Taxation, etc. He began during this term the advocacy of a more equitable system of taxation between corporations and the people, resulting somewhat later in powerful antagonisms to him. He also led the opposition to a scheme by which the State was to be burdened with nearly $10,000,000 of local bounties; and introduced and had passed the first relief bill which extended equal benefits and bounties to white and colored volunteers.

The office of State controller was created in 1865, at Mr. Randolph's suggestion, the bills of the State, amounting to many millions of dollars since the war had opened, suggesting this additional safeguard. The creation of this office is said to have saved half a million of dollars to the State during the first few years of its existence.

In 1867 Mr. Randolph was elected president of the Morris and Essex Railroad Company, resigning the position, however, in 1869 upon his election as governor. During his presidency there was completed the main line across the State to Pennsylvania; a branch road built to Chester; an extension made of the Montclair branch and the Boonton division branch, and the whole line was opened to the coal and iron trade, nearly doubling in eighteen months the gross tonnage of the company and its money receipts, and advancing its securities largely. He then negotiated the existing lease, by which the Morris and Essex stockholders and bondholders are guaranteed in perpetuity 7 per cent. upon par values.

In January 1869 Mr. Randolph was sworn in office as governor of New Jersey. His term of office--three years--was filled with unusual affairs, and they can only be rapidly alluded to. His first message--at once after his inaugural--was aimed at the abolition of the so-called Camden and Amboy monopoly, which had substantially controlled State affairs during the previous thirty years.

At the outset of his administration a law was put in force which forever abolished the "transit duties" on passengers and freight across New Jersey, and substantially concluded the hated railway monopoly agreement with the State. The State public treasury, moreover, was largely benefited under the operation of the new law.

An effort--powerfully backed--was made in 1869 to "bond" certain cities and townships of the State, ostensibly

to aid in railway construction. Some favorable legislation had been obtained under a preceding administration, and the scheme presented in 1869 was most specious and attractive as well as dangerous. After a severe contest and several vetoes all these measures, involving many millions, were finally defeated by the governor.

During 1869 Governor Randolph advocated and appointed the first "Riparian Commission." The labors of this body have given an income to the State of over $3,000,000.

In 1870 he urged the passage of a system of general laws by which all special legislation should be avoided. This system was finally adopted by the State.

The more noted recommendation of Governor Randolph during 1870 was that which was contained in the annual and in special messages to the Legislature touchng the taxation of corporations. In these he urged that corporate capital, being the possessor of special privileges, was peculiarly the subject of taxation. These messages gave rise to much controversy.

During this period the Legislature gave authority to the governor to appoint a commission to remodel the State-house, and he was the president of that commission, which began and completed the work.

The State prison inmates had been a source of large cost to the treasury for many years prior to this administration. The shops were enlarged, the business carried on in them reformed, and during this gubernatorial term a saving to the State of more than $100,000 was effected.

A disturbance known as the Bergen Riot occurred during 1870. Large bodies of men were opposing each other and hundreds of trains were delayed. The riot was quelled by the governor without serious injury to any one, and the conflicting railway companies were brought into court to settle their difficulties.

The legislative session of 1871 was a noted one, principally on account of the passage of "an act to reorganize the government of Jersey City." The act was vetoed by Governor Randolph in a message of unusual severity. It was finally passed by a strict partisan majority over the veto. Within sixteen months its principal advocate was in State prison, and Jersey City has ever since been oppressed by wrongs which that charter made possible. The "election bribery law," which was most effectively enforced in every county of the State by Governor Randolph, was written by him and urged upon and passed by the Legislature during this session.

Of other public acts of this period the most memorable one, perhaps, is that known as the "Orange Proclamation." It was occasioned by the decision of a body of Orangemen to parade in Jersey City on their anniversary day (July 12th), which action was promptly met by others' purposing to prevent the parade. A highly excited condition of affairs in New York city aggravated, no doubt, the contending parties in New Jersey. Large bodies of men were known to be gathering for unfriendly purposes, and Governor Randolph, acting upon established information, finally issued the so-called "Orange Proclamation." It asserted the right of peaceful assemblage by citizens, irrespective of nationality, creed or religion. It warned all people against interference with such right. It commanded all officers to enforce the laws, and, though closing with a rebuke to the Orangemen for reviving an unnecessary religious and political feud, of no general interest to Americans, it assured the people that the right of assemblage would be asserted and protected "at any cost." The proclamation was followed by an order for State troops, to the number of 3,000. The laws were enforced. No serious injury came to any person in New Jersey, although, from causes the same and occurring at the same hours, on the New York side of the Hudson many lives were unfortunately lost.

Upon the recommendation of Governor Randolph the Legislature during 1869 gave authority for the purchase, with the governor's approval, of a site for a new lunatic asylum. He approved of the site near Morris Plains, appointed the commissioners to prepare plans and begin the work, and took an earnest and active part in the construction of the great edifice, till its completion and occupancy.

The great fire at Chicago occurred during Mr. Randolph's administration, and he promptly issued a proclamation, which was responded to so promptly and generously by the people of New Jersey that car loads of clothing and provisions, and thousands of dollars, were en route to Chicago before the flames were subdued.

An interesting and novel case occurred toward the close of the administration. The chancellor summoned Governor Randolph to appear before him in court to answer touching the executive action on a certain Legislative bill, which it was claimed should have been filed with the State department, and thus become law. The governor denied the power of the chancellor to inquire into executive action or non-action; a long controversy occurred, the governor maintaining throughout that the executive was amenable alone--as to his official acts--to the Legislature.

In 1875 Mr. Randolph was elected to the Senate of the United States, in which he served the term of six years. Much of this time he was chairman of the Military Committee, and all the time was a member of the Committee on Commerce. He was on various other committees, as those of Education, Civil Service Reform, and the Centennial Exhibition, and was also of the special Senate committee appointed to examine the political frauds in South Carolina. His speeches--not many in number--were upon the Count of the Electoral Vote, the Centennial Exhibition, the Bi-Metallic question and other financial ones, the case of General Fitz John Porter, the Use of Troops at Polling Places, etc. They are of recent history and therefore do not need special reference. The speech upon Mono-Metallism had an especially large publication and circulation.

Mr. Randolph has filled other positions not herein enumerated, as, a delegate to national and State conventions; chairman of the Executive National Democratic Committee; president of the Washington Headquarters Association, of which he is one of the founders; trustee of Rutgers College and other institutions; and director of many corporations and institutions of which no record has been given us.

AURELIUS B. HULL.

This gentleman descends from one of the oldest families in New England. The first of the name of whom there is any record was a physician living in England; a son of whom emigrated and settled in New Haven, Conn., soon after the settlement of that colony. One of his descendants afterward settled in Derby, Conn. The latter had seven sons. One of these, Captain Miles Hull, was great-great-grandfather to Aurelius B. He located at Cheshire, Conn., and raised his family there. His son Miles was a captain of Connecticut militia in the Revolutionary war. "He was much esteemed by officers and men, and in private life was highly respected for his sound judgment and excellent character."

Dr. Amzi Hull, son of the latter, was born in Cheshire, about 1762. He was proficient in the science of medicine, and during his short practice acquired eminence in his profession. He died October 3d 1795, in Woodbridge, Conn. His wife, Mary Ann, was a daughter of James Kasson. She received her education under the instruction of Dr. Belamy, a celebrated divine and minister in her native place, Bethlehem, Conn.

To this worthy couple were born five children, one of whom, Aroetius Bevil Hull, father of Aurelius B., was born in Woodbridge, Conn., October 12th 1788. He was graduated from Yale College in 1807; subsequently taught the Wethersfield Academy; then on account of his health went to South Carolina, and afterward to Washington, D. C., teaching in the families of Colonel Fishburne and Albert Gallatin. Returning to New Haven he was tutor at Yale from 1810 to 1816. He was licensed to preach in October 1816. May 5th 1817 he married Abigail Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Aurelia (Mills) Darling, of New Haven. Mrs. Hull's great-grandfather was an officer under General Wolfe, in the French and Indian war. After his marriage Mr. Hull preached in Brookfield and other places about four years. On the 23d of May 1821 he was installed pastor of Old South Church, Worcester, Mass., and for five years, to the time of his death, was its able and honored minister. He died May 17th 1826.

His wife survived him many years. She died in Brooklyn, at the residence of her son Aurelius B. Hull, January 9th 1860.

Of six children only two are now living, viz.: the Rev. Joseph D. Hull, now residing in West Hartford, Conn.; and Aurelius B. Hull, the subject of this sketch.

The latter was born in New Haven, Conn., November 1st 1819. He was educated, with a view to entering Yale College, at the high school in New Haven, the academies of New Canaan and Farmington, Conn., and the Washington Institute, New York city. The confinement of study not agreeing with his state of health he decided to turn his attention to some active employment, and through the influence of General Heard, of Worcester, he secured a position in the store of Daniel Hol brook, at Westboro, Mass. This engagement soon terminated by the death of Mr. Holbrook and consequent closing up of the business. In 1835 he went to New York city, where he obtained a situation in the East India house of Josiah Dow & Co., 157 Pearl street. In 1837 he determined to try his fortune in the west. After visiting Sandusky, O., he went to Pittsburg, and while there he fell in with William K. Strong, of the firm of Tonnele & Hall, of New York city. He had brought there large quantities of woolen manufactured goods, with a view to disposing of them in the western markets. An arrangement was made with Mr. Hull to take invoices of these goods for disposal in the markets of Louisville and St. Louis. This venture was carried out to the entire satisfaction of his employer.

Returning to Pittsburg he secured a clerkship in the commission house of Atwood, Jones & Co., and in 1841, under the patronage of this firm, he opened in his own name a commission house in Louisville, Ky. This business was eventually given up for the purpose of entering the employ of B. A. Fahnestock & Co., wholesale druggists, of Pittsburg. After a series of successful trips in the interest of this firm, in different parts of the United States, Canada and the eastern provinces, it was decided to establish a branch house in the city of New York, and Mr. Hull became its sole manager March 25th 1843. At first only a commission business was done, but in 1844 it was decided to open a wholesale drug house at No. 49 John street, corner of Dutch street. In 1852 it was moved to 51 Cliff street. A branch house was also established in Philadelphia.

During the twenty-two years of Mr. Hull's partnership with this house the business was conducted under the following firm names: B. A. Fahnestock & Co., B. A. Fahnestock, Hull & Co., Fahnestock, Hull & Co., B. A. Fahnestock's Son & Co. They always ranked among the most successful and extensive firms in their line in the country. Of the consolidated firm of 1857 Mr. Hull is the sole survivor. In 1865 he sold his interest and withdrew from active business.

In the years 1849 and 1850, for the purpose of recruiting his health, he took an extended tour, visiting the principal countries of Europe. Though withdrawn since 1865 from active participation in business, Mr. Hull, by his official connection with a number of prominent organizations, has been kept sufficiently employed to be counted a "busy man." He was one of the corporators of the Continental Insurance Company, and has ever since its organization been a member of its board of directors. He is a director in the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York, the United States Warehouse Company, and the New Jersey Zinc and Iron Company. He is vice-president of the Morris County Savings Bank, Morristown, and one of the proprietors of the Morris aqueduct of that place. He is also president of the Cayuta Wheel and Foundry Company, at Sayre, Bradford county, Pa.

During his business career in New York and up to 1870 Mr. Hull resided in Brooklyn. He then moved to Morristown, where he has since resided.

He has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1836, and at the present time is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, of which he is one of the board of trustees and treasurer. He married, October 25th 1843, Sarah Morris, daughter of Rev. James W. and Harriet A. Tucker.

Their children were: Mary Amanda, born January 7th 1847, died May 15th 1847; Charles Aurelius, born May 26th 1848, secretary of the Howard Insurance Company, New York city; George Lawrence, born May 8th 1850, died April 29th 1879; Harrie Tucker, born October 25th 1858.

WILLIAM L. KING.

William Lewis King was born in Morristown, Morris county, N. J., on the 30th of January 1806, and was the son of Henry and Charlotte Morrell King. He was the ninth of ten children, and is the last survivor of them. His grandfather Frederick King removed to Morristown from Long Island in 1762. Both Frederick and Henry King were well known citizens of Morristown. Frederick was the first postmaster at Morristown, and his son Henry succeeded him in the office. The first members of the King family who came to this country settled in Salem, Mass., about the year 1650, whence one branch removed to the east end of Long Island.

The homestead at which William L. and all his brothers and sisters were born is located about 200 feet east of the present railroad station in Morristown. His brothers Jacob M., Frederick, Henry H. and Charles M. King were well known among the business men of this state and of New York.

William L. had the advantage of a good English education, with some instruction in the ancient classics at the old Morris Academy, which was then under the charge of James D. Johnson as principal. In the year 1821 he went to New York city, as clerk for Henry Youngs, who was then keeping a dry goods store in Broadway near Chambers street. He continued with Mr. Youngs until 1824, when he went to Richmond, Va., as clerk for his brother Henry, who was one of the firm of King & Richardson. In 1829, on the removal of King & Richardson to New York, he went with them to the latter city, and remained with them until the dissolution of their firm in 1832. He then entered the office of Naylor & Co., New York, that firm being the American branch of the old mercantile house of Naylor, Vickers & Co., steel manufacturers, of Sheffield, England. In the year 1843 he became American partner of the firm, which was then doing a very extensive business in New York and Boston. This position he occupied, residing in the city of New York and giving close attention to business, until the autumn of 1862, when he withdrew from the firm and retired from active business.

In 1828, while living in Richmond, William L. King connected himself with the First Presbyterian church of that city, which was under the pastoral care of Rev. William J. Armstrong. After removing to New York in 1829 he united first with the Spring Street church, of which Rev. Henry G. Ludlow was pastor, and in 1843 connected himself with the Mercer Street Presbyterian church, which was under the pastoral care of Rev. Dr. Skinner. In the year 1852 he took an active part in establishing a "boys' meeting" for wandering street boys. Several of these "meetings" were about this time established in the upper part of the city of New York. To the work connected with these meetings Mr. King devoted a part of each Sabbath for several years. The work thus commenced has grown into the "Children's Aid Society," of which Mr. King was one of the founders, and which is now one of the foremost charities of the city of New York. The great success of this society is mainly due to its indefatigable and devoted secretary and manager, Charles L. Brace.

William L. King married Mary Dabney Hallam, daughter of Edward Hallam, of Richmond, Va. They had two children only--Harriet Lincoln King, and Mary Virginia King.

In the summer of 1861 Mr. King went to Europe with his family, for the benefit of their health. His eldest daughter, Harriet L., died on the 8th of March 1862, at Paris, France. On account of the delicate health of their surviving daughter Mr. and Mrs. King remained in the south of France for several years.

In the years 1866 and 1867 Mr. and Mrs. King with their daughter traveled in Italy, Spain and Germany, and they returned home by way of England in the summer of 1867.

Mr. King's detention in Europe during the civil war was very trying to him. He took great interest in the progress of the war and the success of the national government, and remitted funds to the Sanitary Commission.

In the spring of 1867 he purchased, through the agency of his brother Charles M. King, the old Lewis place in Morris street, Morristown, and moved into it in the autumn of that year; and he has since that time made it his residence.

Since his removal to Morristown Mr. King has taken an active part in all public and benevolent enterprises

there. In 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the common council of Morristown. For a number of years he was a director in the National Iron Bank and the president of the Morris County Savings Bank. He is and long has been a trustee of the South Street Presbyterian church of Morristown. He was one of the most active of the founders of the Morristown Library and Lyceum, an account of which appears on another page. He has been its president from the beginning, and has contributed very largely toward the funds raised for erecting the building and carrying through the enterprise. Besides that, he has given a great deal of his time and personal care to the conduct of the institution. At the urgent request of many of his friends his portrait was painted in the spring of 1881 by J. Alden Weir, of New York city, and it now hangs in the reading room.

Mr. King's kind and generous spirit and actions have endeared him to all his townsmen, and, indeed, to all who know him.

HON. JACOB VANATTA.

Hon. Jacob Vanatta was born on the banks of the Musconetcong, near Washington, Warren county, New Jersey, on the 4th day of June 1824. He early devoted all the time he could possibly spare to study and the improvement of his mind.

He had always desired to embrace the profession of the law, and in 1845 he entered the law office of Theodore Little as a student. He was licensed as an attorney in October 1849, and as counsellor in February 1853. From the very first he had an extended and lucrative practice. He quickly assumed a leading position, and in a short time became the foremost lawyer in Morris county. There has scarcely been an important case tried in the county since his admission to the bar that he has not been connected with. In all his cases he was painstaking, and he expended upon them an amount of thought and labor truly wonderful. His practice grew until at the time of his death it was probably the largest in the State. His reputation advanced with his practice, and for years he stood at the head of the New Jersey bar, as an able, faithful, conscientious and untiring advocate and counsel.

During the later years of his life Mr. Vanatta's time and services were largely monopolized by the great corporations of the country; he had become the regular counsel of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, the Central Railroad Company, and more or less of many other corporations, and his engagements carried him frequently before the highest courts of New York and Pennsylvania and the United States supreme court

Mr. Vanatta was always a firm, consistent and unwavering Democrat. He was the recognized head of the party in his county, and all over the State was for years regarded as one of its ablest men. In 1856 he was a delegate to the national convention that nominated Buchanan. In the memorable struggle of 1860 he adhered to the fortunes of Stephen A. Douglas, and was chairman of the Douglas State committee; as such he refused to join the fusion ticket, and thus succeeded in dividing the electoral vote of the State between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas. During the war he followed his chieftain, and was throughout a war Democrat. At the convention which nominated General McClellan for governor he was appointed chairman of the State committee, a position he held at the time of his death.

Mr. Vanatta held few public positions; he was a member of the House of Assembly in the years 1862 and 1863, and in the latter year was a candidate for the nomination for United States senator against the late William Wright; only failing by a vote or two in the Democratic caucus. He was frequently urged to accept gubernatorial or Congressional nominations, but always declined. At different times he refused tendered positions on the supreme bench of the State. He was appointed attorney general by the governor, but after holding the office for about fifteen months was compelled to resign it, because of the immense pressure of his private practice.

In October 1852 Mr. Vanatta married a daughter of Dr. Aaron Dickerson, of Philadelphia; she was also a niece of General Mahlon Dickerson, General Jackson's secretary of the navy and ex-governor of New Jersey.

In private life Mr. Vanatta was kind and obliging; he was a safe and judicious adviser, a faithful and steadfast friend, a good citizen and an honest man. His life was doubtless sacrificed to his unwearied zeal and industry in his profession. At the same time his whole life furnished a remarkable instance of what ability attended with industry and study can accomplish in overcoming adverse circumstances.

The malady which occasioned Mr. Vanatta's death was Bright's disease of the kidneys. He died at his residence in Morristown, April 30th 1879. The funeral services, held at the First Presbyterian Church, were attended by the State officers, judges of the supreme court, and men eminent in every walk of life. Impressive discourses were delivered by the Rev. Rufus S. Green, pastor of the church, and the Rev. David Irving, D. D., a former pastor.

Resolutions setting forth in fitting terms the high estimate in which the deceased was held by his colleagues were passed at meetings of the Essex county and Morris county bars. The addresses of Theodore Little, Hon. Augustus W. Cutler, Alfred Mills, Frederick A. De Mott and James H. Neighbour, delivered at the meeting of the Morris county bar, were most eloquent and touching personal tributes to the eminent worth and character of their late colleague and brother, and a most fitting expression of their personal grief at the loss occasioned by his death.

 Hon. George Vail, son of Judge Stephen Vail, was born in Speedwell, Morristown, N. J., in July 1809. He received his education at the Morristown Academy, situated where the Library and Lyceum building now stands. Early in life he became interested in the Speedwell iron works, as a partner of his father. The prosperity and high reputation of these works were due to the energy, diligence and practical knowledge of the business possessed by father and son. It was at Speedwell that Prof. Morse made his successful experiments in telegraphy, through the valuable assistance and suggestion of Judge Vail and his sons George and Alfred.

George Vail was for many years an active and influential Democratic leader. He was elected to the Legislature; twice elected to Congress; was for several years consul at Glasgow, Scotland; and for five years judge of the court of errors and appeals of New Jersey. He was sent as one of the commissioners to the World's Fair in London in 1851. He was also one of the original commissioners selected to procure a site for the new asylum building. He was a member of Cincinnati Lodge (masonic), of Morristown, and was at one time master of the lodge, and subsequently senior grand warden of the grand lodge of New Jersey. The following, written of him by one who knew him well, gives a just estimate of the general character of Judge Vail:

"Although possessed of wealth, which enabled him to gratify the ambition for display so inherent in poor human nature, he was always plain and simple in his habits and tastes. Never, perhaps, did one pride himself less than he on beautiful possessions and surroundings. He loved that others should have them. His house was always open to those who approached him properly. For the poor and needy he had an open heart and an open hand. Not long before his death he contributed a handsome sum to the disabled ministers of the Presbyterian church, as I was informed, though not by himself. He had a tender and sympathetic nature. This trait revealed itself under circumstances that involved considerable sacrifice of time and labor, as I have good reason to know."

Mr. Vail was of splendid physique, and his large, massive and portly person gave promise of many more years of robust life. His quiet, unpretentious disposition was quite in contrast and altogether unlooked for in one of such commanding presence.

After several weeks of illness he died at his residence in Speedwell, May 23d 1875.

Judge Vail left a wife, and two daughters by a former marriage. The latter are married and reside in London, England. Mrs. Vail is a resident of Morristown.

HON. L. B. WARD.

Hon. Lebbeus Baldwin Ward was born in Chatham township, Morris county, N. J., April 7th 1801. His grandfather came from Virginia and settled at Morris Plains, Morris county, about the middle of the last century. His father, Silas Ward, was born there October 19th 1767. He married Phebe, daughter of Lebbeus and Mary (Baldwin) Dod. Her father was a native of New Jersey, and settled in the township of Mendham, Morris county, just before the Revolution. He was attached to the Revolutionary army during the whole war, with the rank of captain of artillery. A more extended account of this Revolutionary patriot will be found in the history of Mendham township, in another portion of this volume.

To Silas and Phebe Ward were born nine children. Of the three sons John Dod and Samuel Shipman (twins), brothers to Lebbeus Baldwin, are deceased. Only three of the sisters are living, viz.: Mrs. Hannah Miller and Elizabeth Caroline, living in Elizabeth City, N. J., and Mrs. Phebe Greene, living in Catskill, N. Y. Silas Ward died October 12th 1862, his wife September 23d 1831, both at Elizabeth City.

When Lebbeus B. was nine years of age his father moved from Chatham and settled near Elizabeth, where he carried on a farm, and also engaged in milling. Young Ward received his education in the Adelphi Academy at Elizabeth. At the age of twenty-one he went to Montreal, Canada, and became a partner with his brothers John D. and Samuel Shipman Ward, in the manufacture of steam engines for the steamers which were then beginning to multiply on the St. Lawrence River and the lakes. The business was a large and prosperous one, and the reliable character and untiring energies of the brothers gave them a large share of it.

They were the first to banish liquors completely from their workshops, and were all along warm, consistent and liberal friends of the temperance cause, and indeed of every good cause. The brothers were prominent among those who organized and were for years liberal supporters of the American Presbyterian church of Montreal. While a resident of the city Mr. Ward was a director in the City Bank, also in the Montreal and St. John Railroad Company, and became, in order to hold the latter position, as required by the laws of the province, a British subject.

In 1837 he left Montreal, and during that and the following year took an extended tour through England Scotland and most of the countries in Europe. With a view of informing himself in regard to the modes employed for the manufacture of wrought iron, he visited many of the large iron works of England and Scotland, and brought away with him much valuable information upon that subject. Upon his return, in 1839, he settled in New York city, and established his iron works on the Hudson River, at 59th street. He was the first to introduce into this country the production of heavy wrought iron work, such as steamboat shafts, cranks, etc. He received a gold medal from the American Institute, for a "large wrought iron shaft" for an ocean steamer. These works were carried on by him until 1852, when he retired from business.

Mr. Ward was a member of the Legislature of New York for two sessions. He introduced and secured the passage of the bill incorporating the New York Juvenile Asylum. He was chairman of its building committee and was one of its active managers. In 1858 he was elected one of the police commissioners. He was one of the organizers of and a director in the National Broadway Bank, also in the Importers' and Traders' Bank. He has been a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church for nearly forty years, and for twenty years was a member of the executive committee of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In 1865 he left New York and traveled abroad, making an extended tour of the old country. Upon his return he settled in Morristown, where he has since resided. Here, as elsewhere during his whole life, Mr. Ward has identified himself with all interests which have for their object the betterment of society. He is a member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. Dr. Samuel B. Ward, professor in Albany Medical College, and Willard P. Ward, living in Georgia and owning large interests in iron mines in that State, are his only children.

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