Part 5

The women went to New York to market, carrying butter and eggs to sell, and there are traditions in some families of their avoiding the "Mill and Church road" on their return, and climbing over the rocks, in the long walk from the ferry, fearing that they might be robbed of their store of silver dollars, carried in the large pocket, fastened about the waist and worn under the dress skirt. A story is told of a very philosophic old lady who sold buttermilk which her customers accused her of diluting with water. The proceeds she invested in a silver tankard. Upon her return from New York in a row-boat across the river, it was so rough that in the rocking of the boat the parcel with the tankard fell overboard and was lost. "Well," exclaimed the old lady, "let it go, it came from the water and has gone back to the water."

A great event to the children was the yearly candle-making in many families; they were all allowed to make a few little candles for themselves when they were so fortunate as to be the happy possessors of toy candlesticks. Candle-making was quite a long and wearisome process. First the proper length of candle wicking was doubled over long slender rods, and the ends twisted together to form the wick of the prospective candle. The number of these upon a rod depended upon the size of the candle to be made, whether six or eight to the pound. These were prepared the day before the dipping was done. In the early morning long pieces of scantling were laid upon two saw-horses, and across these scantlings were laid the rods with the wicks hanging down. At one side was placed a large "cauldron kettle" filled with hot melted tallow into which the operator dipped the rods of wicks. The kettle of hot tallow was kept replenished and the dipping process was repeated again and again until the candles were of the required size. After being properly cooled they were slipped from the rods, the wicks cut off and they were carefully packed away in boxes. Later candle moulds were invented, which made it very much easier than the old method.

In dress the women did not wear the ornamental caps, such as were worn in Holland, but very plain ones; neither did they wear as many petticoats as their sisters across the sea, three or four usually being the limit. It was not the custom here in Bergen, to set apart a dower chest for each daughter, to which yearly additions were made of household and personal linen, and a silver spoon, as was practiced by some of the Holland families in Albany and in some parts of Pennsylvania. Upon marriage each daughter was given a little store of linen; upon the death of her father, perhaps a little money; but, as a delightful old lady told me, "the land and the property mostly went to the sons, the girls were expected to marry money." Under the old Dutch law both sons and daughters became of legal age at twenty-five. The girls were carefully trained in household arts and in the use of the needle. Little girls under nine years of age wrought elaborate samplers. It was a common practice to make the pillow cases with an insertion of drawn work in linen at the closed end of the case, under which showed the bit of red cloth sewed on the end of the pillow; the open end of the pillow case was left untrimmed.

Children were taught to be very courteous to their elders; upon meeting any one in the street little girls curtesied and the boys made a bow. The Bergen Dutch women and their daughters were very practical thrifty women, most excellent housewives and devoted mothers. Both men and women devoted themselves in the most matter of fact way to the duties of life, never allowing anything less serious than a funeral to disturb to any great extent the routine of daily life. I have heard of a bride brought home upon her wedding day to her father-in-law's house, who, upon the first evening started out to milk the cows, saying she "preferred to take up the duties of her new position at once." I have heard also of a bridegroom, a merchant who attended to his usual duties upon the morning of his wedding day, and after the ceremony returned again to his store.

Slavery existed until 1820, when all slaves were made free at twenty-five years of age. The old slaves were cared for during the remainder of their lives. It was for the colored people that the first Sunday School in Bergen was opened in 1828, in the garret of the school-house. Many of the slaves ran away to New York and Connecticut. Those who went to New York lived in cellars or wherever they could find shelter. When any of them died their friends always brought them back to Communipaw to bury them, and their funerals were held at the old Garrabrant stone house, which used to stand on what is now Philip street. One peculiar feature was that on every coffin was placed a bunch of freshly plucked spearmint. They were buried on the Garrabrant farm in what is now Lafayette, and also on the Van Reypen place.

A hundred years ago, lotteries were held in great esteem, as a popular means of raising funds to build churches, colleges, schools, roads, prisons, and charitable institutions. The first ever drawn in this locality was at Paulus Hook in 1773, and in 1824 a "Queen's College Literature Lottery" was advertised in Jersey City. Some of Jersey City's most reputable people were engaged in lotteries and accumulated fortunes in the business. Later the Legislature passed laws making it illegal and the parties then conducting a lottery in Jersey City removed their business to Wilmington, Delaware, where it was carried on for many years.

JERSEY CITY.

Paulus Hook with its ferry rights passed from the possession of the Van Vorst family to Anthony Dey of New York, on March 26th, 1804. The consideration was an annuity of $6,000 in Spanish milled dollars. Dey conveyed it to Abraham Varick, who on the 20th of the same month conveyed it to Richard Varick, Jacob Radcliff, and Anthony Dey. These men were eminent and successful lawyers in New York and became the founders of Jersey City. They divided their purchase into one thousand shares, associating others with themselves. A map of the property was issued and a sale of lots was advertised for May 15th, then adjourned to June 12th, 13th and 14th. Upon the 10th of November, 1804, the Legislature passed an act incorporating the "Associates of the Jersey Company." This bill was drawn up by Alexander Hamilton. To this corporate body Radcliff and Dey conveyed Paulus Hook, February 1st, 1805. For fifteen years the Associates possessed the government and shaped the destinies of the town and their influence lasted long after the original members of the company were all dead. The corporation still exists and owns much valuable property.

MUNICIPAL CHANGES.

At various times the city limits have been extended, and various acts of Legislature have changed the governing power. In 1820 the Legislature passed an "Act to Incorporate the City of Jersey, in the County of Bergen." On the 23d of January, 1829, the corporate name was changed to "The Board of Selectmen and Inhabitants of Jersey City." On February 22d, 1838, the governing power was vested in the "Mayor and Common Council of Jersey City." It now ceased to be a part of Bergen Township and became a separate municipality. Dudley S. Gregory was the first Mayor of Jersey City. He served in that capacity in 1838-'39-'41-'58 and '59. He lived in the building now used as a post office on Washington street, in what is still a pretty part of the city, with its four park corners on Washington and Grand streets. Mr. Gregory was a man of wealth and of public spirit; he imported a large number of European shade trees, among them the variety of "horse chestnut" which has become a favorite shade tree throughout our eastern states, to such an extent that our native horse chestnuts or buckeyes are scarcely known in the east, the principal difference being that the native varieties have smaller clusters of flowers which shade from a yellow or pink tinge to a deep pink or dull red. On March 8th, 1839, the city boundaries were extended along the northerly side of First street to the center of Grove street, thence southerly into Communipaw Bay to the line of South street, extended. Hudson County was set off from Bergen County in 1840. The township of Van Vorst, founded in 1804 by John B. Coles, was separated from the township of Bergen, March 11, 1841; it included all that portion formerly known as Ahasimus. In March, 1851, it became a part of Jersey City.

In 1869 there was an effort made for the consolidation of the several cities and townships in Hudson County, east of the Hackensack river, into one under the name of Jersey City. At the election held October 5th, 1869, Jersey City, Bergen and Hudson City became one. The latter had been taken from the township of North Bergen and incorporated as the "Town of Hudson in the County of Hudson" on March 4th, 1852. On the 11th of April, 1859, it was incorporated as the "City of Hudson," with powers of government vested in a mayor and common council. In 1873 the town of Greenville was annexed to Jersey City by legislative act. Greenville was originally a settlement of German families on a part of the Gautier tract. Lafayette was never a separate municipality; the name was given by a land company to the Garrabrant farm when it was bought and mapped out in town lots in 1856. The lots did not sell well until after the war.

FORMING THE CITY.

In the map of the new city prepared by the Associates, the streets were laid out at right angles and one thousand three hundred and forty-four lots were laid down. The eastern boundary was Hudson street, which was laid in the water with the exception of a small piece of upland that extended outward at Morris street. The southern boundary was South street, later called Mason street, and a few years ago vacated by the city. Harsimus was the northern boundary. It was nearly circular upland, of which the greatest extent was from one hundred feet north of Montgomery street to one hundred and seventy-five feet south of Essex street. More than half of the site for the proposed city was marsh and land under water. The westerly boundary was a line drawn from the east side of South street to a point near the corner of First and Washington streets. It was the plan of the Associates that the western border should front on a tide water canal, an island city, bordered by piers and docks and surrounded by navigable water. The Jersey City Journal's History of Jersey City claims that the city has lost commercial prestige by the failure to carry out that idea, also that another and even greater blunder was committed by the filling in of Mill Creek, which had been navigable by small sloops. The new city met with many discouragements; New York claimed jurisdiction over all lands under water up to low water mark on the Jersey shore. Alexander Hamilton and Joseph Ogden Hoffman, as counsel to the Associates, gave a guarded answer that New York had no right to land under water at Paulus Hook. This boundary dispute was not settled until 1889. Mr. Van Vorst would not accept an equivalent for the annuity, which affected deeds and prevented many from purchasing the lots.

In March, 1804, Colonel John Stevens, who had bought the confiscated estate of William Bayard, known as Castile, founded the city of Hoboken. One of the first measures was to build a road to Hackensack and to the Five Corners to bring travel from the different villages to his ferry. In December, 1804, the Associates organized the Newark Turnpike Company, which built the road now known as Newark avenue from Warren street to the Hackensack river. Through lower Jersey City it was a macademized road through a marsh. Previous to this there were but three roads in Harsimus--one the causeway leading to Paulus Hook now known as Newark avenue, second "the road to church and mill." This followed what is now the line of Henderson street, along the shore of Harsimus Cove to First street, where a bend carried it to the corner of Grove street and Newark avenue; thence it followed the present line of Newark avenue to Monmouth street, along the foot of a sand hill which was the site of an earthwork outpost erected by the British during the Revolution. The last vestige of this hill, at the corner of Mercer and Brunswick streets, was removed in 1894. From this hill, nearly on the line of Railroad avenue, the road ran to Prior's Mill on Mill Creek just below the Point of Rocks, thence by what is now Academy street to the village of Bergen. The third road began near the Van Vorst house on Henderson street and ran northwesterly to a point where Jersey avenue and Second street now intersect; thence at an angle to the base of Bergen Hill, where it crossed the road built by Stevens to Hackensack.

The Associates built several little piers and a retaining wall along the east side of Hudson street from Grand to Essex, which served as a wharf for light draught vessels. They partly graded several streets and set out along them some six hundred shade trees, among them some Lombardy poplars, of which almost the only survivor is, or was recently, still standing near Mills' Oakum works on Wayne street. Lombardy poplars were introduced into this country by Andre Michaux, a French botanist, who came here in 1786 with letters from Lafayette to Washington. He was authorized by the New Jersey Legislature to acquire an alien's title to two hundred acres of land and to "establish a Botanical Garden at Bergen." His place was known as the "Frenchman's Garden," and is now included in the "Macpelah Cemetery." The Associates reserved land for churches, a school, a shipyard and a public market. They urged Robert Fulton to establish his works in Jersey City and sold to him a block of ground for $1,000 on five years time without interest. The deed was dated November 3d, 1804. His foundry was on the corner of Green and Morgan streets, with a dry dock in front of it; here he built his first machinery for propelling a vessel by steam. The first steam boilers were of copper and wood was used for fuel.

THE FERRIES.

In 1804 Joseph Lyon, of Elizabethport, leased the ferry and moved the landing and stairs about midway between Grand and York streets, the slip opening diagonally up the river. There were two row-boats with two oarsmen each and extra oars for the passengers to use if they were in haste to cross, and two periaugers. In 1805 the Associates built a new tavern of brick, known as the Hudson House. It is still standing on Grand near Hudson street, and is part of the Colgate Soap works. Between this hotel and the ferry landing was a semi-circular plot around which the stages would run to unload their passengers. In the center of this plot was a willow tree which was sometimes used as a whipping post. Winfield tells that as late as 1814 a white-headed old man here received thirty-two lashes. The newspapers of the day advertised over twenty daily stage lines, besides the irregular stages, communicating with all parts of the state, and farmers wagons, even from Pennsylvania, brought produce to New York by way of this ferry. Horses and wagons were lifted on to the sail boats, but the ferriage was so expensive that in general the produce and freight was put upon the boats and the teams and wagons left in the stables of the Hudson House. The ferry site has been frequently changed. Its second removal was to the foot of York street; on April 1st, 1839, it was changed to the corner of Montgomery and Hudson streets; in 1856 the block east of Hudson street was filled in and the landing was changed to its present location.

In the fall of 1809 several Newark gentlemen subscribed $50,000 to start steam ferryboats, and Fulton was asked to construct such a boat as he would consider suitable for the purpose. In March, 1811, they obtained the lease of the ferry and the right of landing on the New York side. Two boats were built by Charles Brown, a noted ship-builder of New York, who had built the Clermont in 1807 for Fulton, and whose shipyard was on East river near Fourth and Sixth streets. They were eighty feet in length and thirty feet in width. The boats were named the Jersey and the York. The Jersey was the first boat finished and began her regular trips on July 17th, 1812. A passenger on its first day wrote to the "Centinel of Freedom," "I crossed the North river yesterday in the steamboat with my family in my carriage, without alighting therefrom, in fourteen minutes, with an immense crowd of passengers. I cannot express to you how much the public mind appeared to be gratified at finding so large and so safe a machine going so well. On both shores were thousands of people viewing this pleasing object." There was a grand entertainment to celebrate the occasion given at Lyons Tavern, to the Mayor and Common Council of New York and others.

I give Fulton's description of the boats as quoted by Winfield in his History of Hudson County: "She is built of two boats, each ten feet beam, 80 feet long and five feet deep in the hold; which boats are distant from each other ten feet, confined by strong transverse beam knees and diagonal traces, forming a deck thirty feet wide and eighty feet long. The propelling water wheel is placed between the boats to prevent it from injury from ice and shocks on entering or approaching the dock. The whole of the machinery being placed between the two boats leaves ten feet on the deck of each boat for carriages, horses and cattle, etc.; the other having neat benches and covered with an awning, is for passengers, and there is also a passage and stairway to a neat cabin, which is fifty feet long and five feet clear from the floor to the beams, furnished with benches and provided with a stove in the winter. Although the two boats and space between them give thirty feet beam, yet they present sharp bows to the water and have only the resistance in the water of one boat of twenty feet beam. Both ends being alike and each having a rudder she never puts about.

"The dock is one hundred and eighty feet long and seventy feet wide, the bridge is fastened to the middle of the bulkhead. The boat being only thirty feet wide and the dock seventy, leaves twenty feet vacant on each of her sides; in each of these twenty feet spans and in the water are floating stages, made of pine logs, which lie favorably to the boat for thirty feet, and these run diagonally to the extreme end of the wharves, so that the boat when coming in hits within the seventy feet and the stages guide her direct to the bridge."

In 1813 the York, built on the model of the Jersey, was completed and placed on the ferry. It is said that "they ordinarily took an hour and a half to make a trip." They started at sunrise from each side of the river and ran all day, every half hour, by "St. Paul's Church clock." The fares were collected on the boat during the passage over. The Jersey was in service for many years and finally being condemned, was broken up and sold to Mr. Isaac Edge, who built a stable from its planks and beams. From a portion of this wood two canes were made, which are still treasured in the Edge family.

The Ferry Company had a very unfortunate experience; they sank all of their capital and in 1824 were obliged to assign their lease to Francis B. Ogden, Cadawalder D. Colden, and Samuel Swartout, who secured a new lease for fifteen years and six months from November 1st, 1825. They were to provide two good steamboats, but were afterwards permitted to use a team-boat in place of one. They were also to provide row boats. They bought and placed on the ferry the Washington. Within a year Messrs. Ogden and Swartout transferred their interest to Mr. Colden; he failed to make it remunerative and surrendered the lease to the owners, "the Associates of the Jersey Company." January 1st, 1831, they leased it to the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company. By renewals the lease was continued until 1853, when the Railroad bought up the stock of the Associates and became the owners of the ferry. The first night boat was put on in June, 1835. The line to the foot of Desbrosses street was started in 1862. These ferries were transferred to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1871. Among the various schemes to secure patronage for the ferry by bringing people from New York, was the erection in 1825 of a large amphitheatre on the south side of Sussex street, between Hudson and Green streets, on land leased from Mr. Drayton, Sr. For about two months large numbers, mostly from New York, gathered here on Fridays to witness the fighting of bulls, bears, buffaloes and dogs.

EDGE'S WINDMILL.

A quaint and interesting landmark of lower Jersey City, for some thirty years, was the windmill near the corner of Montgomery and Green streets; to be exact, it stood upon a pier one hundred feet in length, seventy-five feet north of Montgomery street, and fifty feet east of Green street. According to the family traditions this mill, an exact duplicate of one owned by himself in Derbyshire, England, was sent by Mr. Edge, Sr., to his son Mr. Isaac Edge, soon after he settled in Jersey City in 1806, in appreciation of his success in the New World. Every part was marked to insure its proper erection. The motive power was a windmill upon an octagonal stone tower seven stories in height. The fans on the wings were originally of canvas, but these were destroyed by a September gale in 1821, when Mr. Edge replaced them with iron fans. It was quite a celebrated mill and considered the best in America. It faithfully ground its grists until taken down in 1839 to make room for the New Jersey Railroad tracks; but its days of usefulness were not over, it was removed to Town Harbor, L. I., from there it was taken to Southold, L. I., where it continued to do good work until destroyed by fire on June 25th, 1870.

In connection with the mill Mr. Edge started a bakery, which not only supplied Jersey City people with their daily bread at twenty-five cents a loaf, but ships also. The bakery stood on the southwest corner of York and Green streets. It was burned in 1811, but Mr. Edge rebuilt it and the building is still standing. The family still have in their possession the ledger of the old mill and some of the entries are very interesting. The accounts were kept in English currency until 1816. In 1812 flour was sold at the mill for eighteen dollars per barrel. Abraham Reynolds paid one pound, sixteen shillings to have forty-five bushels of wheat ground and three shillings and six pence for its ferriage across the river. The freight on three barrels of bread sent to Sandy Hook was four pounds, four shillings, three pence. James Parker received for his labor only five shillings a day, while Jabez Spinning received thirteen shillings. Mr. Edge lived at the corner of Green and York streets on the water front.

CITY HALL AND SCHOOLS.