Book__^ni-K: Copyright N"_. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. HISTORY OF NUTLEY OLD NUTLEY MANOR THE HISTORY OF NUTLEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY Compiled by ELIZABETH STOW BROWN Member of the New Jersey Historicai, Society NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY THE WOMAN'S PUBLIC SCHOOL AUXILIARY 1907 LIuRARY of CONGRESS Two Cwies Received MAV 7 190/ ^, Copynght Entry ^n A^_ '/,ff c 7, CLASS A XXc, No. COPY B. »' — ■ " ■ I M Copyright, 1907 by The Board of Education of Nutley, New Jersey DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN OF NUTLEY "Industrious Persons, by an exact and scrupulous Diligence and Observations, out of Monuments, Names, Words, Proverbs, Traditions, Private Rec- ords and Evidences, Fragments of Stories, Passages of Books that concern not Story, and the like, do save and recover Somewhat from the Deluge of Time." — Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Bk. 11. INTRODUCTION In January, 1906, a number of the members of the Woman's Public School Auxiliary and of the teachers of Nutley met to organize a Literary Section of the Auxiliary for the purpose of studying History. It was resolved to begin with the history of our own town. The following program was accordingly drawn up and carried out by the writing of papers, several of which required original research : 1. The Settlement of Essex County. By Mrs. A. B. Meredith. 2. Franklin, the History of its Corporate Existence. By Mrs. R. W. Booth. 3. The Story of the Passaic River. By Miss K. A. Lambert. 4. Old Landmarks and Traditions of Nutley (Franklin). By Mrs. R. J. M. Chase and Miss C. E. Wallin. 5. Old Documents and Records bearing upon the History of Nutley (Franklin). By Mrs. J. S. Brown. 6. Famous People who have lived in Nutley (Franklin). By Mrs. H. W. Goodrich. At the end of the season it was resolved to compile a History of Nutley on the basis of these papers and to offer it to the main society for publication. The Woman's Public School Auxiliary voted to assume the publication, deeming the work one pecuHarly fitted to their aims. The books for reference have been largely those ob- tained from the State Traveling Library which has been connected with The Park School Library. To Mr. William Nelson, Corresponding Secretary of the New Jersey Historical Society, and the first authority on historical matters of this neighborhood, we are indebted for verification in antiquarian re- search. The quotation from Bacon is also a contribu- tion from Mr. Nelson. Acknowledgment for his courteous interest is due to Mr. John Cotton Dana of the Newark Public Library, whose success in popularizing Newark history has been a direct incentive to us. To the Town Clerk, Mr. Frank Rusby, the Town Surveyor, Mr. Frank T. Shepard, and to Mr. George W. Symonds, we are greatly indebted for data in- volving consultation of records. Mr. Symonds has also helped us very generously by contributing the Nutley map, brought up to date. Mr. James R. Hay kindly loaned the photograph of C)ld Nutley Manor from which the frontispiece is made. For assistance in preparing the tablet on the old Vreeland or Van Zandt house, thanks are extended to Miss Schultz and Mr. Johnson Foy. The illustration is made from an impression taken by Mr. Frederic Dorr Steele, who generously placed his professional skill at our service. For traditions and old documents we would express 8 our thanks to Mr. Warren Vreeland, Mr. Silas Chap- pel, Miss A. L. Van Winkle, Mrs. J. R. Hay, Mrs. W. R. Nairn, Mr. Simon Tuers, Mrs. Barbara A. Hough, Mrs. Mary M. Booth, Mrs. Jared Speer, Mr. J. Fisher Satterthwaite, Mr. John Speer, Mr. and Mrs. Abram Stager; to Mr. C. F. Underbill of Newark; and to Mrs. Mary E. Tucker, Judge Theodore Sandford, and Mrs. S. W. Sargent of Belleville. Mr. E. F. Bassford has kindly furnished the history of the newspapers of Nutley. Mr. J. R. Hay, Mr. R. W. Booth, and Mr. A. B. Mer- edith, Superintendent of Schools, have very courte- ously assisted the compiler in the final revision of the manuscript. PREFACE As I have worked upon the historical material of Nutley, some suggestions have occurred to me which I should like to send forth with this little book. The first suggestion is that a public place be ap- pointed for the preservation of all historical material pertaining to the town. This should be not only for old documents of all sorts, but for the matter of the present day, for history in the making. The Public School Library might possibly have an Antiquarian Department and a Nutley Alcove. The Alcove should have not only shelves for Nutley authors, but files for all kinds of Nutleyana. Another suggestion is, that our small connection with the Revolution and with the Civil War be no longer ignored. Neither monument nor tablet stands within the town limits. A simple tablet on the River Road might record the passing of Washington's army along that old highway; while the entrance hall of one of Nutley's public buildings might at least show the list of the Franklin men who were enrolled in the Union armies. Even though more than half the veter- ans are dead, it is not too late to give their names a place of honor in the town. My thanks are extended to the group of "paper- writers" whose confidence and cordial co-operation have made possible this small public work, and to the society whose enthusiasm has undertaken its publi- cation. With such faithful friends and fellow-workers, the dream of a year ago became easily the reality of to-day. E. S. B. Nutley, March i, 1907. II CONTENTS Introduction Preface History of Nutley Civil Organization Societies, Associations and Clubs Public Utilities Statistics 13 ILLUSTRATIONS Old Nutley Manor Vreeland Tablet Map of Nutley 14 THE TOWN OF NUTLEY ESSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY Natural Features. — Three gentle ridges called some- times the "Foot Hills of the Orange Mountains" lie nearly parallel to the west bank of the Passaic River. Scattered forest trees of great height suggest the dense woods that less than half a century ago covered these hills. The outlook to the western horizon gives the wooded outline of Wachung Mountain at Mont- clair, while to the east are seen the hills beyond the Passaic with the trees, the farm divisions and the scattered dwellings of Union Township. Through the valleys run a number of little brooks, in some placed rapid, in others slower and broadening to ponds. The main stream within the town limits re- ceives four tributaries, of which only two are known by name,^ and finally empties itself into the wide and tranquil waters of the Passaic. This picturesque rivulet shadowed by overhanging willows and bor- dered by luxuriant green was called by the Indians 1 Basking Brook, corrupted to Bearskin, and Snicker's Brook, the outlet of Wichol's Pond. 15 Yountacah^ (also spelled Yountakah and Yantacaw) and by the English settlers, when they came, Third River or the third branch of the Passaic from its mouth. - Geology. — This part of Northern New Jersey be- longs to the Triassic or Red Sand Stone Age. The two systems of hills of Essex County known as First and Second Mountains are of trap-rock formation.^ Changes in Town Ownership and Name. — The area which we now call Nutley was the northeastern por- tion of the original Newark. In 1812 the northern part of the Newark tract was set apart and named Bloomfield, in honor of the famous general of that name.* In 1839, this area was divided and a new town- ship was formed from the eastern part and called Belle- ville from its principal village at Second River. The third "secession" was the separation from Belleville in 1874 of the present Nutley area, which was named Franklin from its leading village and post office. Nut- ley was the name adopted with the new charter of 1902. Boundaries.' — The boundaries of Nutley are on the north the township of Acquackanonck and the Passaic County line, on the east the Passaic River, on the 1 Meaning Ceremonial Dance. Near the mouth of the river in Pas- etaio County was the Indian meeting place for all the tribes around, the point where many trails centered. 2 Second River was at Belleville. First River was Mill Brook in Newark. 3 Shaw's Hist, of Essex and Hudson Counties, Vol. I. 4 General Bloomfield was major in the Revolution, brigadier-gen- eral in the War of 1812, governor and chancellor of New Jersey. i6 south the Belleville line,^ and on the west Bloomfield and the Morris and Essex Canal. ^ The Old North Boundary Line. — From the mouth of Third River=^ was surveyed the north line of the tract sold to the ''Newark ]\Ien" by the Indians in 1667. Governor Philip Carteret then ruled East Jersey for the Lords Proprietors, and Charles the Second sat upon the throne of England.* This line is described in the "Indian Bill of Sale" as follows : "The bounds northerly, viz. : Pesayack River reaches to the Third River above the town, ye River is called Yountacah, and from thence upon a northwest line to the aforesaid mountaine." This was First or Wachung Mountain at Montclair. When the Newark Patent or Town Charter was issued in 1713, this line is again described under "Boundaries of ye township of Newark," but from the other end^ from "a heap of stones. Erected to Ascertain ye Boundaries between s'd Town of Newark and the Town of Ac- quackanong, Thence on a South East Course to ye brook or Rivollet Called ye Third River, Where it falls into Pasayack River " When Newark's original tract, which covered nearly the whole of Es- sex County, was divided and subdivided, Newark, Bloomfield and Belleville successively lost this old 1 The "Big Tree" on Washington Avenue is 150 feet south of the Nutley line. 2 Opened in 1832. 3 At the mouth of Third River is a swamp and also a considerable sand bar. 4 Charles gave .Tersev to his brother James, Duke of lork, after- wards James II, who assigned it to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley as Lords Proprietors. Philip Carteret was sent over as Gov- ernor of East Jersey in 1664. See Lee's Hist, of N. J. as a Colony and as a State. 17 north line or portions of it. Nutley, however, holds the eastern portion of it as her entire northern bound- ary to-day. This is also a part of the present north- ern line of Essex County, established in 1837. The Acquackanonck^ Grant. — North of the Newark tract the Dutch came. They made their purchase from the Indians in 1679 and received their grant from the Lords Proprietors in 1684-5. The southern boundary of the Acquackanonck Grant is described as the "northernmost bound of the town of Newark." Ac- quackanonck claimed as far down as Third River, while Newark claimed north of Third River to the line of the Indian Bill of Sale. This disputed territory included about one-half of the present Nutley area, the northwestern part. It was claimed by both settlements until about 1795, and then Newark prevailed. Documents- are in existence which refer to a survey and map of the boundary region in 1792 and to suits "against the Possessors of disputed Lands lying on the north side of the Line between New Ark and Acquackanonck." Says Mr. Nelson,^ "The dispute as to the Boundary Line between Acquack- anonck and Newark had been a standing grievance be- tween the people concerned for fully three-quarters of a century before this time (1792 — 95)." 1 An Indian name meaning sluice dam, Dutch scJilotter dam.- — Nel- son. 2 See l^^ewarl- Toun Records, pp. 78, 94, 128 ; Van Hoiiten Mami- scripts, Wm. Nelson, Ed., pp. 63, 64 ; N. J. Colonial Documents, N. J~ Archives, Vol. XIII, pp. 315, 316, 324, 325. 3 See Introduction to Van Houten Manuscripts. i8 Third River on old Maps.*— The identification of this locahty, the Nutley area, on old maps of the state and colony is made plain by identifying the lower course and mouth of Third River, and the old north line of the Indian Bill of Sale and the Newark Patent. Slow Growth of the Newark Colony. — The govern- ment of the Lords Proprietors lasted only 38 years^ and in 1702 East and West Jersey were united into a Royal Province under Queen Anne. There were now but 600 inhabitants in the extensive tract called New- ark, and only 16,000 in both the Jerseys. Up to this time the greater part of the area which we now call Nutley was probably forest and so remained for many years more. Some of it was possibly even un- settled, for up to 1770 only one fifth part of East Jer- sey lands was ''located". - First Land Holdings. — The names of the men who first **took up" land in this area are few of them to be found in town or county records, though with a list of probable names diligent search has been made in all possible places of public registration or mention. English Settlers. — There are a few records of small holdings on Third River in the Newark "schedules".^ These are Plum (1679 and 1696), Rogers (1696), Har- rison (1694), Ogden (1679), and Dodd (Dode) (1679 and 1697). 1 See Examination of old Maps of Northern New Jersey with Ref- erence to the Identification of the Nutley Area and Washin^on's Route across it, and to the Boundary Dispute between Newark and Acquack- anonck. By Elizabeth S. Brown. — Proceedings of the N. J. Historical Society, Jan., 1907. 2 Wayne Parker's Taxes and Money before the Revolution. 3 Schedules of warrants of lands in Newark and Sui-veys of Iand» and to whom conveyed, — Bill in Chancery. (1747.) 19 Dutch Settlers. — It was the Dutch who character- ized this area by their settlement upon it. The evidence rests not so much upon registration of deeds and grants, as upon the Dutch names, the Dutch stone houses, and the church records of the Dutch settle- ments upon our borders, Second River, Stone House Plains (Brookdale), and Acquackanonck (Passaic), where our familiar names appear/ Landholders before the Revolution. — There is tra- dition that before the Revolution the river front had been divided among at least five proprietors, a Van Riper, Vreeland, Speer, Joralemon and King. Other names connected with farm or woodland holdings were Van Giesen (or Van Geesen, Van Giezen or Vangiesen), Riker (or Ryker), Pake, Van Winkle, Devosny, Cadmus, and Powelsson. Eleven Dutch names can be collected and nine English that probably represent the original hold- ers of title to lands in this little area. This may not be far from the whole number, for farms were large in those days and the Nutley area is less than four square miles. Besides those holdings of Newark men, who took land on Third River, presumably in this neighbor- hood, the Vreeland Estate on the Passaic River is the only one in the ''Schedules of lands in Newark and Surveys of lands and to whom conveyed."- The public registry agrees with the date given by a direct descendent." Old Nutley Manor stands upon the land 1 See Lloyd's Contribution to the Early History of the Reformed Church at Second River. 2 Bill in Chancery. See also Vreeland Genealogy, Winfield's Hist, of Hudson County. 3 Mr. Warren Vreeland. 20 taken for home and farm by Jacob Vreeland in 1702, just as this region had passed from a Proprietary to a Royal Province. Such is the traditional date. A little stone house was built, trees were cut down, and a farm laid out, but Vreeland, until 1719, did not "take title" to his estate of 1823^ acres "to the Eastward of the Third River in Right of Johnston and Alexander."^ All the Vreelands of this region were descended from Michael Jansen who came from Braeckhuysen, North Brabant, in 1636, settled near Albany and assumed the name of Vreeland from Vreelandt the town in Hol- land. One branch of the family worked southward and eventually reached Acquackanonck and Newark. A grandson of Jacob was John M. Vreeland who in- creased his inheritance by purchase in 1783 of a part of the confiscated land of the Tory Van Giesen. The Van Giesen farm which was bought by Captain Speer was in the center of the town where the Town Hall and The Park School now stand. The Vreeland pur- chase from Captain Speer was on the north side of Chestnut Street and included the homestead. The deed is in the hands of a descendant who received this land from his father and still lives upon it.^ Old Stone Houses. — A quaint and pretty feature of Nutley and its country roads is the old Dutch home- stead of red or brown sandstone, plain and low and small. The usual plan is a central hall with a room on either side and a loft above. Some of these little stone houses are two hundred years old, others a hun- dred or more. Some have additions of a later period, '1 Newark Schedules, etc. 2 Mr. Warren Vreeland. 21 but a number of them stand just as their owners built them from the sandstone which their thrifty Dutch eyes had so soon discovered.^ Some have a tablet set in the walls bearing date and initials. There may be stepping-stones leading to the door, cracked or broken or deeply pressed into the earth. Sometimes the old well is still in use and the tiny stope smoke-house stands at a little distance. Here and there one finds by a little cottage, half-dead fruit trees and overgrown shrubbery, or ancient and distorted box with the re- mains of a long neglected flower garden. Three of the smaller stone houses of the town are of a special antiquarian interest. The Van Zandt or Vreeland House by the Passaic, also known of late years as Bend View, was of the small plain type. The tradition of a lineal descendant is that it was built by Jacob Vreeland in 1702, and that hither he brought his bride in 1703. Unfortunately a modern wooden structure has been built around the old stone dwelHng entirely concealing it from the River Road by which it stands. Until about 50 years ago, the River Road ran on the east side of the house. The tablet at the back of the house is set into the masonry on a level with the top of the door and to the right. It was discovered under the shadow of the piazza, encrusted with many layers of whitewash, even partially covered with a moulding at the angle of the piazza and side wall. Re- peated washings and the removal of the moulding were necessary to disclose the inscription with its ornamen- tal border and decorations. 1 See Allbee's Historic Houses in Bergen County. Tapers and Pro- ceedings of Bergen Co. Hist. Soc, 1905-1906. VREELAND TABLET A "rubbing" was taken from which an ilkistration was made by the "direct process." It has always been assumed in the town that this tablet read 1702.^ It has therefore been a surprise to find the date 1792. The initials belong to no one who ever owned the house or lived there so far as is known. It seems not improb- able that the present nine may have been an alteration from a zero, as such mischievous changes are not un- known on tombstones. Judge Sandford of Belleville remembers a smaller stone house that stood opposite Bend View, nearer the river, when the River Road ran to the east of its pre- sent line. The Van Riper House, also on the Passaic, is a ram- bling old homestead of different periods of construction It has long been known as Four Maples, from the great trees on its front slope. The original part, which has been torn down, was at the north end, and is believed to have been built before the end of the 17th century by one Bradbury, an Englishman. The house is con- structed of dressed stone and is in an excellent state of preservation. The Van Riper House- also has a tablet in the rear upon which is inscribed I- L- V R Pr May ith 1788 The name of Van Riper" (also spelled Van Reiper, Van Reyper, Van Ryper, Van Ripen, Van Reypen and 1 Mr. Warren Vreeland also tells of a sign which was on the Van Zandt House when it was a hotel, and which bore the date 1702. 2 Now occupied by Mr. Alexander II. Schultz. 3 See News' Hist, of Pa~ssaic. 23 Van Reipen) is derived from the town of Ripen, in Jutland, Denmark, from which came the ancestor of the family of this vicinity, Juriaen Tomassen. With thirteen others he received the Acquackanonck Patent of 1684. His grandson was Abraham, born in 1716, v/ho married Elizabeth Bradbury, of the stone house by the Passaic. John Abraham, their son, was born in 1753, and married Leah Winne in 1776, and came to live in the old stone house. Their initials are those of the tablet which is said to belong to the largest addition to the original Bradbury house. Some years ago a sil- ver spoon was found in the garden marked "Letche Van Riper."^ The Vreeland Homestead on Chestnut Street, op- posite the Town Hall, was built according to tradition in 1702 or 1704 by the same mason who built Bend View. The house bears no tablet. This was erected for the Van Giesen home and was lost with its sur- rounding fields when the property was confiscated at the close of the Revolution. After John M. Vreeland bought the land from Captain Speer, he made this house his home for the rest of his life. The situation of this old stone house by the wayside makes it a familiar object to every school child in the town. An old cherry tree stands before the door and stepping- stones lead to the worn stone threshold. The well with its weather-beaten, though modern, well-sweep,- was dug when the house was built. As a reminder of the solidity and simplicity of the old days as well as of 1 Letche was Dutch for Leab. 2 Set up In 1901. 24 the sacrifices of a New Jersey "loyalist," it is one of Nutley's most interesting colonial monuments. The ruins of a little stone house stand on the edge of the slope on the east side of Washington Avenue, near the County Line. As one passes along, the end walls covered with ivy are outlined against the sky and the window holes and doorways frame bits of the distant landscape. The softened beauty of the little ruin suggests some romantic history, but the truth seems to be that it was only a barn belonging to the Van Riper estate. The other small stone houses in the town limits are : the Captain Speer house on Bloomfield Avenue, owned by Mr. Simon Tuers; the John Stager house on Bloomfield Avenue; the Richard Stager house on Franklin Avenue and the Rutan house on Harrison Street, both owned by Mrs. B. A. Hough; the Van Winkle house on Franklin Avenue, owned by Mrs. Marsh ; the Kingsland house on Harrison Street, owned by Mr. Abram S. Stager; the Pow house on the corner of Harrison Street and Passaic Avenue; the Sanderson house on Passaic Avenue, owned by the Methodist Church ; the old Speer house on Avondale Road near the railroad. Three stone mansions of a nobler fashion and a later date are found in Nutley. One of these, the Kings- land House, stands by a pond formed by the damming of the Yantacaw. It was built in 1796 by Joseph Kingsland, descendant of a younger son of Isaac Kingsland. He was a nephew of Major Nathaniel Kingsland, to whom was made the Kingsland Grant 25 across the Passaic in 1668.^ Major Kingsland had estates in Barbadoes whence his West Indian pro- ducts were sent to the New York markets. Reports were brought back to him of these fertile New Jersey- lands and of the liberality of the Grants and Conces- sions.^ He sent an agent from Barbadoes to secure a grant, but never came himself to Jersey. His nephew Isaac represented his uncle in New Barbadoes, as it was named, and inherited the estate at his death. After the Revolution, Joseph Kingsland came from New York to the west bank of the Passaic and purchased a tract of woodland, part of which was in the Nutley area.^ Mr. Kingsland set his slaves to cutting the timber, built a mill* to saw it, and shipped it on his sloops to New York to make wooden curbs for the town. The dock was at the mouth of Third River. Some years later he left New York to make his home here. In 1796 Mr. Kingsland built a grist mill and the pictur- esque stone house by the pond, which was occupied by his descendants till 1902. Another spacious stone house owned by Mr. J. R. Hay stands in the "Enclosure"^ near the Third River. It was built in 1812 by John Mason, who also owned a cotton mill by the dam near by. The house, covered with ivy, stands on a knoll well back from the street. 1 For further account of the Kingsland family and grant, see Whitehead's East Jersey under the Proprietors. 2 The original constitution of Jersey under which the first settlers took land. See Lee's Hist, of ^. J. as a Colony and as a State. 3 The Kingalands were most of them loyalists. 4 A grist mill was already there. — Mrs. J. R. Hay. 5 "Enclosure", a private park of 15 acres, containing nine resi- dences and the Nutley Library. 26 and huge willows mark where the borders of the old pond once extended. Old Nutley Manor by the Passaic is a large square stone mansion, overlooking one of the most beautiful views of the river. It was built in 1826 or 1828 by Peter Crary, then Mayor of New York, who gave it to his daughter, Mrs. James Morris.^ Mr. Morris was then building the Paterson and Hudson Railroad, now the Erie, and was President of the road.^ Mr. Morris bought the estate from Robert Rutgers, from whom Rutgers College was named, and Rutgers had pur- chased it in 1803 from the Dikes. Thomas W. Sat- terthwaite^ purchased the estate of 144 acres in 1844 and it is still in possession of the family. The derivation of the name Nutley is uncertain.* When ''Old Franklin" wished to assume a more distinctive title, "Nutley" was the choice of the townspeople. Old Roads. — In the Fundamental Agreements^ of the Newark settlers in 1666, one of the "Highways" decided upon was "by the Great River Side and along by the Meadow." This extended northward, became our River Road, opened in 1707. In the old Road-Book of Essex County our first roads are found described.^ The River Road, believed to have been an Indian Trail, once ran close to the river bank in the northern part of the town.'^ It was 1 Mr. J. Fisher Satterthwaite furnishes this account of Old Nutley Manor. 2 This road was originally a horse-car line. 3 See Shaw's Hist, of E. and H. Counties, Vol. II. 4 Mrs. W. R. Nairn. 5 See Newark Town Records. G Nelson's Passaic County Roads. 7 Judge Theodore Sandford. 27 straightened about i860. The Road-Book refers to it : 1707 — Mar. 26. — Highways laid out: ''beginning at the North end of Newark and running to Hock- quackonong, as the path now runs."^ Another road is thus described: 1713 — Nov. 25. Essex Roads. A. 20. — A road laid out, "beginning at a white oak tree in the Queen's Road near the corner Abraham Vreeland's field of two Rods Wide, running to the brow of the Hill by Jacob Juorall's (Jeroloman's) fence, thence along the south side of said fence, till it comes to the walnut saplin that is marked; from thence by the line of mark trees to the third River where we have ordered a Bridge to be made, and from thence by a line of marked trees, till it meets the Old Road, and along said Old Road, till it goes to the Division Line between Derick Tolson and Simon Vanwincle, and along the South side of the sd line to the west corner of Derick Tolson's (Roelofsen's?) and from thence by a Line of marked trees to John Morris's East corner of his land, and from thence along the north side of his line down to the Third River." (This was doubtless where the road turns in at Kingsland's paper mill. — Nelson.) The description of an old road illustrates the method of laying out, so as to cut up fields as little as possible. Other references to roads across this area before 1800, in the Road-Book, are: 1739, Nov. 13; I755» Nov. 17; 1760, July 8; 1760, Nov. 28; 1787, July 24. In the description of a road of 1796, there is mention of "Kingsland's saw mill," thus establishing one date at least for that early mill. 1 "As the path now runs" in old descriptions, refers to an Indian trail. 28 The old road to Bloomfield through this area was opened soon after the River Road. And a little later was laid out the road now Passaic Avenue. South of the Quarry or Avondale Road it was known as ''Spring Garden Road" and so appears in old deeds. There was another old road called the "Back Road" which crossed the southwestern part of the Nutley area running from Belleville to Bloomfield. Opening of the Revolution. — As the era of the Revolution drew on, these scattered farmers must have felt the coming storm. The Stamp Act and the Port Bill were subjects for meetings and remonstran- ces in Newark, only five miles away. Tory or Patriot. — As a whole the Dutch were sturdy patriots, coming from a land of ideals of freedom. Tories were many around Passaic, but the name of only one comes down to us from this settlement. Abraham Van Giesen, a substantial land-owner, "went over to the enemy," as the phrase was in the records of the "Council of Safety."^ His estate was confiscated and he was never heard of again.^ The Retreat Across the Jerseys. — It was the second year of the Revolution, and the Declaration of Inde- pendence^ was but a few months old. Washington's reverses in New York were disheartening. The battle of Long Island was lost on August 27th, 1776. Fort Washingtoti fell November i6th, and Washington 1 See Stryker's Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolution. 2 See reference to Vreeland and Speer estate, p. 31. 3 Read for this region at the old school house on the site of the present Watsesslng School, Bloomfield. 29 crossed to Fort Lee. Cornwallis followed over the Hudson, and the Continental army was ordered to abandon Fort Lee and to retreat to the Delaware, "over the Essex Hills." Thus began the memorable "Retreat across the Jerseys" when the patriot army under General Washington and the pursuing British under General Lord Cornwallis marched through the region which we now call Nutley. Acquackanonck Bridge. — Washington had hastened from Fort Lee to Hackensack. To reach Newark the Passaic River must be crossed. The only avail- able bridge was at Acquackanonck (Passaic) and the village was rumored to be a "Tory hot-bed." A de- tachment was sent ahead to hold the bridge and to send on stores and ammunition to Morristown by way of Great Notch. Orders were given to destroy the bridge as soon as the army had crossed. The patriots approached with the British often so near that "the sound of their bugles was heard."^ Over the rude wooden bridge they tramped and that evening or the next day a force from the neighborhood destroyed the bridge with axes and saws and burned the approaches.* Washington's March through the Nutley Area. — Washington spent one anxious night at Acquack- anonck, November 21 st, 1776.^ The next day, the 22nd, with 3,500 men he started for Newark along the River Road. Near the northern limits of our area, his forces 1 Baker's Itinerary of Washington. 2 Entrance to Revolutionary Bridge now occupied by unused drive- way opening into Lower Main Avenue, Passaic, 30 feet south of oflBce of S. M. Birch Lumber Co. Bridge rebuilt in 1777, Present trolley bridge is short; distance above old site. — Pape and Scott, News' History of Pa>ssaic. 3 See Washington's Writings, Letter from Acquackanonck. Head- quart:er8 were the old Tap House on Main Avenue, near the "Old First Church," burned in 1870. — Pape and Scott. 30 divided, one column to continue by the River Road, the other to go "over the hills" to Bloomfield.^ There one brigade remained for several days while another went on to Orange and thence to Newark.^ Washington spent six days in Newark and on November 28th, pro- ceeded to "Brunswic" (New Brunswick).^ His head- quarters in Newark are uncertain.* Pursuit of the British. — Cornwallis pursued in two divisions. One came from Hackensack to Rutherford, and crossed the Passaic at the ford where Delawanna now is, camping there for several days.^ The rest of the British army followed Washington through Lodi and Wallington to the bridge to find it destroyed and 3,000 men on guard. They turned and crossed above Passaic Falls.® Cornwallis spent a week between Pas- saic and Newark, a week filled with carousals and rev- els and forages extending widely inland.'^ He took the River Road to Newark. "Their advance guards were entering the town by the time our rear got out," wrote Washington from "Brunswic."^ Flight of British in 1778. — There was another flight of soldiery through this region in 1778, after the battle of Monmouth, when the British were running before 1 See Glover's Retreat of '76 across Bergen County. 1905. 2 It has been claimed that Washington did not cross the Acquack- anonck Bridge, but approached Newark by a route on the east side of the river. For a discussion of this heresy and a long list of references to refute it, see Pape and Scott, News' Hist, of Passaic. 3 See Washington's Writings, Letters from Newark and Brunswic. 4 The old Eagle Tavern, Broad Street, just north of City Hall site, is considered the most likely place. — Atkinson's Hist, of Newark. A tradition exists that he stayed in camp with his men on the hill to the west of Broad Street. — Glover. 5 A cannon ball recently picked up upon the grounds of the Yaun- takah Country Club, evidently dates from the encampment there. 6 Pape and Scott, News' Hist, of Passaic. 7 For Cornwallis's policy in pursuit, see Glover's Retreat of '76, etc. 8 Washington's Writings, Vol. IV. 31 the Americans to reach the Hudson. Skirmishes took place at Belleville and at the restored Acquackanonck Bridge, the red coats escaping across it in the dark- ness.^ The Raiders and Refugees. — While the British were in possession of New York and Staten Island, no part of Jersey suffered more from raids than the banks of the Passaic. Farms were stripped of crops, cattle and sheep were driven off, and the defenceless inhabitants on their scattered farms were wantonly murdered in defending their property. So great were the terror and sufferings of the people of this region that a guard of State Militia was raised for the ^'Defense of the Frontiers." There was a guard house at Belleville and Captain Speer's company was stationed there. John Vreeland, grandfather of Mr. Warren Vreeland of Nutley^ was a River Guard who rode up and down the river bank on the lookout for raiders, or ''refugees"- as they were also called, British, Hessian, or Tory. He carried two huge brass-mounted pistols, one of which is now in Mr. Vreeland's possession, marked "J. V. 1776." Though he often shot to frighten ''raiders," only once did the young soldier actually kill an invader across the river. Captain Abraham Speer. — The most striking figure that we can summon from dim colonial times in this farm and woodland region is the young Dutchman, Abram Speer. He was the eldest of five sons of John Speer of Second River, who owned a large estate in the 1 Lee's HiM. of N. J. as a Colony an4 as a State. 2 The term refugee was properly applied only to the Tories who hJid fled from their homes and who returned to ravage familiar ground. It was loosely applied to all raiders. 32 center of that village and who was a descendant of John Hendrick Speer, an original grantee near Hack- ensack and also one of the Acquackanonck patentees. Abram (or Abraham) came over Third River seeking a wife. He found her in the daughter of one Wou- terse or Wouters who had a blacksmith shop at Pover- shon. It was by the Water Cress Springs, as they are called to-day. In 1760 Wouters built a stone house near by for his daughter, and this was the home of Captain Speer until his death. This house, now re- modelled, is still occupied by a descendant.^ In Cap- tain Speer's day five stone houses stood around this corner (Bloomfield Avenue and Center Street) of which but two remain. The springs of delicious water were said to have been drinking-places of the Indians long ago, and to have quenched the thirst of Revolu- tionary soldiers on the memorable retreat.- After the Revolution broke out we find no record of young Speer until he is commissioned captain^ in the Second Essex Regiment on May 28, 1777, and is stationed at Belleville with his company to ''guard the river." It was his father who from the church steeple shot the "refugee"* across the Passaic. After the war was over and Captain Speer had bought the confiscated estate of Van Giesen, the Tory, a part of which he immediately sold to the Vreeland family, he became one of the largest land-owners of the region. In time he was 1 Mr. Simon Tuers. 2 The ancient laospitality of the springs is still maintained by the dipper and the little sign by the wayside, "Drinking Water." 3 See Stryker's Officers and Men of N. J. in the Revolution. 4 The refugee was an English officer going from Paulus Hook to Morristown. His watch, an English bull's eye, was presented to Speer for his marksmanship, and is now in the possession of a descendant, Mrs. Tucker, of Belleville. 33 elected Justice of the Peace, and his name is found on old deeds. He built a grist mill on the Yantacaw and also a blacksmith shop by the river at Chestnut street. From that time a blacksmith shop has stood in turn on all four corners here. The first one was on the southwest corner where some years ago a boy digging in the earth turned up hand-wrought nails and horse- shoes.^ From beyond the western hills came a young man, John Stager by name, to run the grist mill. He ground corn so successfully that he won the heart of his employer's eldest daughter. Young Vrouw Stager died early, leaving five little sons who remained with Captain Speer. They were brought up in his house- hold and eventually inherited the greater part of his property. Captain Speer had no sons, but four daugh- ters, the younger ones marrying a Pake and a Jora- lemon. One^ of the descendants of the old Dutchman re- members him as a very tall old man in a long snuflf- colored coat, always followed by "old Judge/' a huge dog just the color of his master's clothes. Captain Speer was said to be "very Dutch" in physiognomy, and Dutch was probably his common speech. "Fad- dy" and "Oty" were the names by which Captain Speer and his wife were called by children, grand- children, and neighbors. Another great-granddaughter^ speaks of his gener- ous kindly nature and of his "faculty" for "getting property." He owned woodlands even in Caldwell. 1 Mr. Warren Vreeland. 2 Mrs. Mary M. Booth. 8 Mrs. Barbara A. Hough. 34 In his household he held to the patriarchal customs of the old Dutch settlers, where several generations lived under one roof, or were established in small de- tached buildings in the door-yard. Even his grand- sons brought their wives home to the old stone house. "Nancy," the old slave, had her separate kitchen, a tiny one-room stone building with a loft. Here ate and slept all the single men of the household and enter- tained their friends with unbounded hospitality. The cellar was hung with sides of beef and hams and pork,, and each household took what they wanted. A great- granddaughter of Captain Speer tells of the molasses cookies of old Nancy which she delighted to make for the children unto the third and fourth generation.^ An- other recollection is of the winter visits across the snow between' the widely-separated farmers, how they took the wood sled and all the children went, even to the baby. They had a "grand supper," which the elders ate first, while the children sat in the corners. After their turn came and they were surfeited, they were put to sleep till it was time to go home. Meanwhile till twelve o'clock, the grown people sat around, drank their grog, and played cards. At midnight the wood sled was reloaded and the horses turned towards home. Captain Speer was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church at Belleville. It was a regular thing for the family to walk the two miles or more to the church. The story comes down of how the three girls of this frugal race used to carry their shoes in their hands till they came to the edge of the clearing near the church. Captain Speer lived to be nearly ninety and died in 1 Mrs. Mary M. Booth. 35 i834- In 1833 he signed a deed in the shaking hand of an old man. In 1835 another deed describes a piece of land as bordering on the ''estate of Ab™ Speer, de- ceased." His grave, with others of his family, lies under the western extension of the Reformed Church at Belleville. An eyewitness of the rebuilding of the church in 1850 tells also of the headstones laid flat upon the graves. Captain Speer's signature and that of his wife, Em- metche, are in existence on deeds in the possession of a number of his descendants in the town. While the house that he lived in, the pewter plates that he ate from and the chair that he sat on are cherished posses- sions of his descendants in Nutley. Designation of Localities. — In early days various localities acquired special names. North Belleville was a stretch along the Passaic River. Spring Garden was the flat from Chestnut Street to the Belleville line, famous for its market gardens. Povershon was the region around Center Street and Bloomfield Avenue and the hill westward. This name has given rise to much speculation and many anecdotes to explain it. The probability is that it is an old Indian or Dutch name, and that it was the earliest designation of local- ity in this area. It appears as Powershon in deeds in the possession of Miss Annie L. Van Winkle, dated 1809, and of Mr. Warren Vreeland, dated 1795. Franklin village, named in honor of the last Royal 36 Governor of New Jersey, was the settlement in what is now the center of the town.* The only Dutch name that has been discovered is Houtteyn, meaning Hightown, applied to the western hill region. Early References to the Settlement. — In Gordon's Gazetteer of New Jersey, 1834, Spring Garden and Povershon are mentioned as follows : ''Spring Garden or North Belleville, Bloomfield t-ship, Essex Co., upon the Third River, and about a mile W. of the Passaic river, contains from 50 to 70 dwellings, a cotton manu- factory, a school and a Methodist Church." And "Povershon a small village of Bloomfield t-ship, Essex Co., 5 miles north of Newark, contains a school house and several dwellings. The poorhouse of the t-ship is in the valley near it." In Barber and Howe's Historical Collections, edition of 1852, under Belleville, we read, "Franklinville, formerly called Spring Garden, a flourishing little man- ufacturing village, contains about 25 dwellings and a Methodist Church." In the records of the Methodist Church circuit which included Franklin or Spring Garden the community here is several times mentioned in 1824 and 1825 and in 1827 a camp meeting was held in Spring Garden on June i8th, and the days following.^ Nutley (Franklin) in the Civil War.— The call for volunteers in 1862 found Franklin a part of Belleville. 1 William, son of Benjamin Franklin, was governor from 1763 to 1776. He adhered firmly to the royal cause and was finally arrested for refusal to submit to the new government. He was held for two years and then exchanged. He returned to England in 1782, and died tkere In 1813. 2 Hist, of the Franklin M. E. Sunday School, loaned by Mr. Calvin Rutan. 37 A small military company of about forty men had been drilling for some time under Cornelius McClees, in the old school house on Avondale Road.^ Twenty-six of this little company immediately volunteered and with fourteen others from Belleville marched with McClees to Newark to Camp Frelinghuysen. Here they were mustered into the State Service on September 3rd, 1862, and were enrolled in Company C of the '26th New Jersey Volunteers for nine months. The regi- ment was made up of men from adjoining towns, Orange, South Orange, Bloomfield and Caldwell, each furnishing one company, while Newark furnished the remaining six. Three weeks later, after they were officered and equipped, they proceeded to Washington. Samuel H. Pemberton, of Newark, was chosen captain of Company C and Cornelius McClees first lieutenant. The "26th New Jersey" was in the three engage- ments before Fredericksburg, the great defeat of the Union troops, under General Burnside, on December 13th, 1862, and the two minor engagements of May 3rd and June 5th, 1863, under General Hooker. In the great battle of December 13th, as raw troops, they faced the terrific fire of the Confederate batteries, and for three nights lay down upon their arms. They also took part in the memorable "mud march" back to Camp. After the season in winter quarters near Belle Plain they again took the field, and eventually captured and held the Heights of Fredericksburg.^ The regi- 1 The facts of this account have been verified by Mr. McClees, now a resident of Passaic. After the war Military Hall was used for drills. 2 For a detailed history of the service of the New .Jersey Volun- teers, see Essex County In the War of 1861-65, Shaw's Hist, of B. and H. Counties. Also Foster's New Jersey in the Rebellion, and Stryker's Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War. 38 ment returned to Newark when their term of enlist- ment expired and was mustered out September 19th, 1863. Seven Franklin men were enrolled in the 39th New Jersey Volunteers. They enlisted at Newark from Camp Frelinghuysen and left for the South in detach- ments, in October, 1864. The 39th Regiment was in the long and terrible siege of Petersburg and as- sisted in the capture of Fort Mahone, April 2, 1865. A part of the regiment was transferred to the 33rd New Jersey Volunteers, and discharged with that regiment. The remainder were mustered out near Alexandria, Va., June 17, 1865. Four Franklin men were enlisted in the ist New York Mounted Rifles. The companies forming this regiment were organized in New York State and mustered into service in 1861 and 1862. The ist New York Mounted Rifles took part in the operations against Petersburg and Richmond, and in a great number of minor engagements. In 1865, they were consolidated with the 3rd New York Cavalry Regi- ment, forming the 4th Provisional Cavalry.^ Veterans of Nutley. — The names of the men of Franklin who fought in the struggle for the Union are here given in a list that has been carefully revised. Before many years it is to be hoped that some imper- ishable memorial may honor these names and keep them constantly before the younger generations whose country they helped to preserve. To the names of those who enlisted from Franklin are added a number of residents who enlisted else- 1 See New York in the Rebellion. 39 where, and a few veterans who have become residents here since the war. Men of Nutley (Franklin) in the Civil War. 26th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, Company C. First Lieutenant. .Cornelius McClees First Sergeant George H. Stager* Corporals Joshua W. Dodd* James R. Rutan, also in 2nd New York, Harris Light Cavalry. Privates Henry Ackerman'^ James Blair''' Hiram M. Booth Garrett Brown* Henry Brown* Stephen Brown* Robert Day* Frederick Jenkins* James McGirr* Horace Mesler William E. Oueman Abraham Riker* Jacob Riker Calvin Rutan Abraham H. Stager William H. Stager* George Surgent George Kingsland* James H. Cunningham* (killed at Fredericksburg) • Deceased. 40 Simon Tuers Robert Williams Jacob Labaugh Richard V. Cueman Thomas Hennen 39TH Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. Privates John Corb, also in 25th, N. J. V. David Jenkins Enoch Booth* John Hanily John Garrabrant Michael Gaffney Garrett L. Stager 1ST New York Mounted Rifles. Samuel M. Brown George Pollock William H, Speer* Herman Brown Franklin Men Who Enlisted in Other Regiments. Bryan Carroll* David McGirr* Hiram Brown, loth Reg., New Jersey Volunteers Stephen P. Vreeland, 2nd Reg. New York Volunteer Cavalry John Donaldson** James Jenkins, 3rd Reg., New Jersey Cavalry Charles A. Pierce* Byron Lawton*** William Sargent William Conover* • Deceased. •• Died In service. ••• Died in action. 41 J. Fisher Satterthwaite, 7th Reg., New York Volun- teers and 22nd Reg., New Jersey Volunteers. Charles Jacobus* William Fleming Other Resident Veterans. Robert P. Travis, 9th, 83rd and 94th New York Vol- unteers. A. M. Hallidy, 2nd Regiment, District of Columbia. William Clark George W. Symonds, 12th New York State Volunteers. Henry G. Prout, 57th Massachusetts Infantry. For some years a Veterans' Association was main- tained in this town. Many of the resident veterans be- long to Garfield Post, Newark. The Separation from Belleville. — The people of this little area successively withdrew from larger to smaller and closer municipal relations. The desire for entire independence was the natural end of their repeated "secessions." In this respect the history of Nutley presents a curious exception to the general tendency of the times, where smaller municipalities consolidate with larger ones, instead of separating from them. The intense public spirit of Nutley and the share taken in public affairs by the best class of the citizens goes far to justify its exceptional municipal position. Thirty-three years ago, the taxpayers of this part of Belleville felt much dissatisfied with their assess- ments and their allotment for public works. A move- ment for separation arose. A large public meeting was held and a committee waited on the governor who ap- pointed a commission from Belleville and Franklin to * Deceased. 42 consider the matter. A bill was soon introduced into the Legislature for a formal separation. Opposition was naturally offered by Belleville interests and the line of division was with difficulty agreed upon. But the bill as originally drafted was finally passed, March 12th, 1874, and the Township of Franklin came into existence, with a population of about 1500.^ Extracts from the First Amiual Report of Franklin Township.- — "Valuation reported by County Board of Assessors, $762,000. Total amount asked for the running of the town, $9,000. Poll tax, $4. Total re- ceipts from all sources, $11,000. Road districts laid out, 5. The year's outlay on roads and sidewalks, $535.10-" Greenwood Lake Railroad Suit. — Among the mat- ters brought up for settlement between Belleville and Franklin was the question of Franklin's liability for a portion of the debt incurred by Belleville in the build- ing of the Greenwood Lake Railroad (now a branch of the Erie). Suit was brought by Belleville. A long litigation followed to be decided in the New Jersey Supreme Court against Franklin in 1885. The infant township was obliged to issue bonds to satisfy the claim of $7,000. Hard Roads. — In 1891, the demand for hard roads became so imperative that a bond issue of $50,000 was authorized for road improvements. The excitement over the question of narrow or wide Macadam roads ran high, and causes this to be remembered as one of the historic contests of the town's existence. 1 state census of 1875 gives population of Franklin as 1,556. 2 In possession of Mr. Richard W. Booth, who has a complete file of Franklin Town Reports. 43 Board of Health. — The Board, as organized at the formation of the township in 1874, was reorganized in 1892. A Sanitary Code was then formulated which has been used until the .present year. The rapid increase of population has made the old regulations inadequate. A new Sanitary Code has just been issued, which is printed and distributed to every householder. Attempted Separation of a Borough. — An episode of 1894 was a movement to form a borough from the northeastern portion of the town. The proposition was defeated. New Charter and Name. — In 1901 the town had grown to 4,000 inhabitants and it was felt that the Town form of government offered definite advantages over the Township form. A bill was introduced into the legislature petitioning for the change of form and also for the change of name to Nutley. This bill was passed March 5th, 1902, and the Town of Nutley suc- ceeded to the Township of Franklin. History of the Schools. — In early days in Franklin there were two school districts separated by the Yan- tacaw River, and known as the Upper and the Lower. Later five districts were recognized. In 1894 the School Law did away with district divisions in town- ships. In the Lower District, a one-story stone schoolhouse was built about 1794 on land given "for school pur- poses" by John K. Speer, at Passaic Avenue and Avon- dale Road. The school which moved into this building had already been organized a number of years and had occupied a site on the Avondale Road opposite Phil- 44 lips's quarry. The present Avondale Schoolhouse re- places the old stone building. The "Old Red Schoolhouse" in the Povershon or Upper District stood at the corner of Center Street and Bloomfield Avenue. After years of service in this spot, about 1844, it was moved bodily to Elm street, near the present School Park. The next step was a frame schoolhouse for the "upper district" built on Church street, in 1856, whose second story was used for some years by the Reformed Church. This building was burned in 1874 and in 1875 was rebuilt in brick. In early days the expenses of the schools were de- frayed by district taxation on the basis of each family's attendance, a system then in use in most of the middle States. In 1890, the present School Park of twelve acres was purchased for $15,000. Several mills stood here, one of which was retained and remodelled. A graded school system was adopted in this year. What is now the Town Hall was used for the first High School. Ac- commodations for the increasing numbers of the children were soon inadequate and The Park School was built and opened in 1894. The School Park affords a fine athletic field or ball ground which is used by the public as well as by the school children. The Yantacaw School was build and opened in 1902. The growth of the town has been rapid and soon these four school houses were overcrowded. By the beginning of 1906, rooms were used in various places for extra classes, and the subject of increased school accommodation overshadowed all other public ques- tions. In February the town met the demand by 45 voting $52,500 to enlarge The Park School and to re- model the Avondale School, thus adding seventeen new rooms. The excitement over this ''school election" will not soon be forgotten in Nutley. It was the first occasion in the town when women in any numbers made use of their privilege to vote on school questions. The school course covers thirteen years, complying with state and county requirements, and comprises one year kindergarten, four years primary, four years grammar, and four years high school, fitting for all colleges and scientific schools. The School Library, established under a small state and town appropriation, is an excellent selection of over 1,700 standard works, free to the public. Churches. — It was long the custom for the dwellers in this area to journey to Newark or to Belleville for their church privileges. At Belleville the Dutch Re- formed Church dated from 1725 ; Christ Church, Pro- testant Episcopal, from 1746; Methodist services from 1792, the church from 1803; St. Peter's Roman Catho- lic Church from 1838. Before any church society was organized or church edifice built, there existed in this region a unique Sunday School whose scope is shown by an old paper, a fac-simile of which appears in a 'Tlistory of the Franklin M. E. Sunday School" : "Subscriptions and Donations For the support of the sabbath school established in Spring Gardens, May 16, 1829, For the Instruction of Children belonging to all Denominations." This "sabbath school" was soon followed by the open- 46 ing of schools for the different denominations and marked the beginnings of the several churches. The Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest society and church edifice in Nutley. The first church was built in 1830, the present structure in 1853. The society became a separate charge from Belleville in 1849. A nev^ church is soon to be erected. A cemetery adjoins the present church. The Dutch Reformed Church v^as organized in 1855, the church built in i860. For a number of years before this services had been held in one of the school houses by a pastor from a neighboring town. A cemetery is adjacent to the church. Grace Church (Protestant Episcopal) was organized and built its church edifice in 1873. Before this time, for several years, services had been held in a school- house or in the Methodist Church. The present church is inadequate and will soon be replaced by a stone structure on another site. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Avondale (East Nutley) was built in 1876. St. Paul's Congregational Church was organized in 1894. The church edifice was built in 1898. Post Office Facilities.— Before 1840, the inhabitants of this area went to Belleville for their mail. The first advance towards post ofiice privileges was a mail bag brought once a day to ''old Franklin." The mail was distributed from a store in a central location for the next nine years. The first regularly appointed post office was established at Franklin (Nutley), July 17th, 1849; the second at Avondale (East Nutley) August 47 igth, 1873.^ The present Nutley post office is of the Third Grade and is located in the Town Hall. The East Nutley office, of the Fourth Grade, is in the rail- road station. The Mills of Nutley, Old and New.— The water power and the sandstone were the foundations of the early as well as the later industries of Nutley. The Bradbury who built the first portion of the Van Riper house, is said to have had a grist mill on Third River, but where it stood has been long forgotten.^ This is supposed to have been many years before the Revolution. Captain John Speer's saw mill, grist mill and tannery combined, was located on Third River at Vreeland Avenue. This and the Kingsland saw mill were built just after the Revolution. Captain Speer's saw mill had neither cogwheel nor pulley in it, yet sawed pine boards and veneers which were "carted" to New York, on the corduroy road across the marshes. An old account book, in the possession of Mr, Warren Vreeland, tells of sales from this mill. Mr. Vreeland also has a plan of the rude machinery from which he can describe its working. The millstones of the old grist mill lie to the present day at the bottom of the river, just where they fell when their work was done.^ This mill, after a long rest, was remodelled to manufacture cotton goods and the pond became known as the Cotton Mill Pond. Farther upstream, on Third River, was the Abraham Speer grist mill, and many years after, in 1853, were built the woolen mills near the south boundary. The 1 Information from IT. S. Post Office Department. 2 Possibly the grist mill that Joseph Kingsland found on Third River was that of Bradbury. See p. 36. 3 Mr. Warren Vreeland. 48 woolen mills still go on, but the others have long passed away. On what is now The Park School prop- erty, was situated a large shawl and blanket factory, started in 1852. The shawls were embroidered by the women of the surrounding country, some of whom came from as far as Pompton on foot. A grist mill on a pond of Basking (Bearskin) Creek has gone since the last flood carried away the dam, and the saw mill and grist mill of long ago, on Kingsland's Pond, are replaced by modern factories just across the county line. The tannery and shoe factory in the southeastern part of the town, where shoes were made for Washington's army, are also but a memory ; while the mills for the manufacture of fine paper, which were established in the northern part of the town in 1812, are still in prosperous activity. Some of the other ar- ticles that are or have been manufactured in Nutley (Franklin) besides those of the old mills are hats, sand paper, matches, leather goods, cutlery, steel, lubricating oils, chemicals, stove polish and buttons. The Quarries. — It is not known how early the first quarries were opened in the Nutley area. In many parts of Essex County the red or gray sandstone was taken out for building purposes before 1700. With the Van Zandt House and the Vreeland Homestead, probably 200 years old, we can be certain that sandstone was quarried somewhere in this area or near it by 1700. The several active quarries of Nutley are all near the Passaic River. Two abandoned quarries are found in the town Hmits. In the northeastern part of the town an excavation was carried to a great depth when a spring was encountered which led to the stopping of 49 further work. The vast hole contains an unknown depth of water, black as ink. The old King quarry, near the Belleville line, has been untouched for over sixty years and appears as a ravine thickly overgrown with trees and bushes. Slavery. — A few slaves are well remembered in this region. Joseph Kingsland cut the wood upon his estate with slave labor, and it is related, by one of his descendants,^ that he had four slaves who were freed in 1820. The Gradual Emancipation Act of 1804 and the Abolition Act of 1846 enabled slavery to exist in isolated cases in New Jersey until the Thirteenth Amendment. The last two slaves owned in this town were Black Nancy and her husband. The wife belonged to Captain Speer and was given her freedom at his death (1834). Her husband was owned by Daniel Van Winkle and died in captivity. Black Nancy was old and decrepit when she received her freedom. Under the law she could not be sent to the poor house as a pauper but must be supported by her former own- ers. She was accordingly provided for from the estate of Captain Speer until her death. A bill of sale for a negro, dated 1808, is in the posses- sion of Mrs. Jared Speer of this town. The Passaic River." — The ''Avon of New Jersey" the earlier lovers of the river called it, a name perpetuated in *'Avondale" (East Nutley). Poets of sixty years ago extolled the charms of the river; and Washington Irving wrote delightfully of the beauties of the Pas- saic, while he execrated the mosquitoes of Newark.^ 1 Mrs. James R. Hay. ^ , 2 "The Story of the Passaic River" was read at Old Nutley Manor^ 3 In Salamag-undi Papers. 50 The Passaic is by far the most important river of the state and has a course of ninety miles from its source in the Great Swamp in Morris County to its mouth at Newark Bay. It receives two tributaries from the Nut- ley area besides the Yantacaw. One of these, on the southern boundary, is nameless, the other is called Darby Brook. Though slow and sluggish for much of its course, the Passaic has enormous hydraulic force from its two great waterfalls, Little Falls and the Passaic Falls. Since records have been kept, the Passaic River has been known to overflow its banks in great floods about once in twenty years, though showing each spring a considerable rise. Narrow gorges above with low meadow lands below, combined with the rapid gradient of tributaries afford the necessary conditions. The most disastrous recent flood was that of 1902 when the Nutley shores of the Passaic as well as the banks of the tributary streams shared in the calamities of the cities of Paterson and Passaic. The Passaic River was famous for its fish till the water became foul about twenty years ago. The In- dians resorted to the river for their winter supplies, a custom kept up by the white settlers. Shad, perch, roach-herring, bass, catfish, sunfish, smelts and even sturgeon, called ''Albany Beef," were caught in enor- mous quantities.^ This beautiful stream has the reputation of being the worst polluted river in the world. But it has been pointed out that as the contamination is largely chem- ical, it is not unsanitary in proportion to its color. 1 See Holmes' Reminiscences of 75 years in Belleville, Frwnlilin and Newark. However, the sentiment that the river must be re- stored to its pristine purity has prevailed. The act of the Legislature passed in March, 1906, w^ill put a stop to its contamination, and in a few years, it is to be hoped, the words of Peter Sluyter, in 1679, will again come true. He wrote to his friends in Holland, "The river is the pleasantest we have yet seen^ it being a pleasure to look upon its everchanging views, its ever- greens of pine and cedar and its clean bottom and fresh clear water." Growth and Development of Nutley. — The increase of population, building operations and valuation since the incorporation has been remarkable. In thirty years the population has increased from 1,500 to nearly 5,000. The valuation in the same time has grown from $762,000 to $3,875,939. Woodland and farm, but four- teen miles from New York, were not long to lie undis- covered after the railroad was opened in 1872. River scenery and vistas to green hills, wooded slopes and hurrying brooks, valley and plain and height, all are found in the narrow limits of Nutley. As the town has grown, to the gifts of Nature have been added the orderly beauty of cultivation. Lawns and shrubbery and flowers surround well-appointed homes on the hill- sides and in the valleys. The Improvement Society. — The ladies of Nutley or- ganized a society in 1901 to preserve the natural beau- ties of the town and to add to them. The trees which are the glory of Nutley, of charming variety and of un- usual height and symmetry, are their especial care. Vines and flowering shrubs have been planted around the railroad stations, the Town Hall, the schoolhouses, 52 and at the approaches to bridges. Rubbish is cleared up in streets and vacant lots. Seats have been placed at important corners along the trolley line. Prizes are offered annually for best-kept grounds. Funds are raised from annual dues and benefit entertainments. Newspapers of Nutley. — The "Franklinite," a small single sheet, started in 1890, was the first evidence of newspaper enterprise in Franklin (or Nutley). This little paper was edited by Mr. E. F. Bassford and printed on a small press by Mr. W. C. Ryan. The *'Franklinite" was published at varying intervals till 1893, when it was consolidated with the ''Nutley Re- view." The ''Nutley Review" was started in October, 1892, by Mr/C. D. Bailey and Mr. J. Smith, Mr. Smith soon retired, disapproving of the "radical" policy of Mr. Bailey. The latter's extreme views soon brought his paper into disfavor, and he desired to merge it with the "Franklinite." This was accomplished in 1893, and the "Nutley Review" was the name retained. Mr. Bailey continued as manager and Mr. Bassford as editor. On account of the serious illness of Mr. Bailey, however, the "Nutley Review" soon came to an end. In a few months, another little paper appeared, called the "Rising Sun," established by Mr. G. R. Miller. The editor used most of his space for a long serial poem composed by himself. When the poem was finished, Mr. Miller, finding himself out of favor with his fellow- townsmen, sold his paper to Mr. William Taylor, brother of Bayard Taylor. The "Rising Sun" now be- came the "Nutley Sun" and was enlarged and im- proved. In 1900, Mr. Taylor assigned his interests to 53 Mr. J. D. Foy, who made the *'Sun" the "Legal Paper of the Town of Nutley." Under this last ownership the paper has been developed into a substantial success. "The Nutleyan" is the latest newspaper of Nutley, started in September, 1906. Authors and Artists who have lived in Nutley.* — The two names that head the list of Nutley authors are Frank R. Stockton and Henry C. Bunner. Stockton was born in Philadelphia in 1834. He was one of nine- teen children. His mother, who was his father's second wife, brought to the old New Jersey stock a mixture of French and Irish blood, which may partly account for the capricious charm of Stockton's fancies. His father was a fierce controversialist, writing stinging pamph- lets against the Jesuits, slavery, intemperance, and having a special abhorrence of novels. When Frank emerged from a mischievous boyhood, he began to study engraving on wood. Even then he wrote fairy stories, and contributed to some of the New York papers. In i860, he married Miss Marion Tuttle of Virginia and soon after came to Nutley to live. About this time he took a position on Hearth and Home, and in 1873 became associate editor of St. 'Nicholas. *'Rudder Grange" was at first a story which he wrote for Scribner's. Its cordial reception led him to en- large it to the present delightful volume. This was the first book he wrote for "grown-ups," although the elders had long been reading his children's tales with delight. Then followed years of giving out his unique stories, quaint, impossible fancies told in a straight- 1 This account was made up largely from personal reminiscences of residents of the town, and from letters in answer to inquiries from the authors and artists themselves or their families. 54 forward, matter-of-fact manner which made any questioning of their probability seem quite preposter- ous. Eggleston said there was one chamber of Stock- ton's mind denied to other brains. "The Lady and the Tiger," written, so it has been said, for an evening party at Mr. Boardman's in Nutley^ has been transla- ted into many languages, and one day in India a group of Hindoos were heard gravely discussing the probable fate of the hero. Stockton came to Nutley because of his friendship for Mr. William H, Boardman, who is the boarder in ''Rudder Grange." The Stocktons lived in the house on Walnut Street near Nutley Avenue, lately occupied by Mr. Fenton. The following is its description by Mrs. Stockton, the delightful Euphemia of his tales. ''The first place in which we set up our household goods was at Nutley, N, J. Our dwelling there was a pretty little cottage where we had a gar- den, some chickens, and a cow. This was our home during his editorial days, and here 'Rudder Grange' was written." Here also he wrote a number of his other stories. One called "Our Archery Club" was written from experiences in the Nutley Archery Club which was the forerunner of the present Field Club. Stock- ton's archery equipment cost something like $103.10. When he took this story to the publishers he asked to a penny what his outfit had cost him, no more, no less. In the same way, he dug a well at his next house at Convent, New Jersey, which cost him, perhaps, $320.23. He wrote a story about it, asking and receiving exactly that amount in payment. Mr. Boardman recalled how on a certain Sunday morning he was awakened by hearing his name called. Looking out he saw Mr. 55 Stockton crossing the street from his home carrying under his arm a black hen. He proceeded to tell Mr. Boardman how they had broken the spareroom wash- bowl and not caring to spend money for a new one, he offered this guaranteed setting-hen for a washbowl. A long dickering and discussion of terms followed result- ing eventually in the transfer of the articles. Euphem- ia's elaborate chicken-raising may be remembered. To the account in "Rudder Grange," it should be added that the Stocktons named their chickens after writers, and still called them by their names when they reached the table. Later, Stockton lived at Convent and at Madison, N. J., where he could have a more complete country life. A few years before his death he became the possessor of a beautiful estate in West Virginia, Claymont. The land had been owned and the house designed by Washington, and for that reason it was twice spared from destruction in the Civil War. Stock- ton died in 1902 in the full maturity of his powers, with the popularity of his works and per- sonality at its height. "There was no bitterness in his humor ; he was neither a satirist nor a preacher nor a teacher." His writings had absolutely no motive but to beguile wearied hearts and brains away for a little into summer lands of unreality. There everything speaks of simplicity, sweetness and humor, and every perplexity has a happy ending. Mrs. Stockton, the bright Euphemia, died in November, 1906, at her home in Washington. The principal works of Stockton are Rudder Grange, The Rudder Grangers Abroad, The Lady or the Tiger, The Late Mrs. Null, The Casting Away of Mrs. Leeks 56 and Mrs. Aleshine, The Dusantes, The Hundredth Man, Personally Conducted, The Merry Chanter, The Squirrel Inn, The Watchman's Wife, Pomona's Travels. Mr, Henry C. Bunner was not born in Nutley, but he lived here many years before his death in 1896. Much of his poetry and story-telling breathes the atmosphere of his adopted neighborhood. He was born in Os- wego, New York, in 1855. He was educated in New York and started upon a business career. Finding this most uncongenial he entered journalism in 1873, ^"^ began his editorship of Puck in 1877. The first edi- torial outfit consisted of himself and a desk. "Here he was responsible for everything, letter press, mechan- ical make-up, and many times he wrote half the num- ber himself. For ten years he poured into it an endless stream of matter, and was ready for anything at a moment's notice." With his wit and humor he had nevertheless the gentle delicacy of the poet, and it is perhaps by his verses that he will be longest remem- bered. Bunner dearly loved his Nutley home. It was the house now owned by Mr. Barron on Whitford Avenue. Every nook and corner of the house, every inch of garden was dear to him. He built the little log cabin for his daughter Nancy. He is accused of having had thirteen different kinds of fence, each with some pet purpose of its own. He writes to Lawrence Hutton, "When you push your way up the Passaic Valley where Irving, Hofifman, and Frank Forrester lived, come up and see a fellow named Bunner, who lives up that way in the House of Spare Bedrooms. We've vaccinated a baby to-day, we keep a pig, two 57 dogs, two cats and are contemplating a donkey." Mr. Bunner's warmth of heart was shown in his instruc- tions to the doctor of the town that he might call on him for any expense in connection with the illness of his needy patients. To make this help more lasting he originated the plan of an entertainment, the proceeds of which were to go to a Red Cross Fund for Nutley. This famous Amateur Circus brought into its pro- gram all the available talent of the town. It was a memorable occasion for Nutley. The railroad even ran special trains to bring people from New York and the adjoining towns. Bunner's principal works are The Midge, Airs from Arcady, Natural Selection, Story of a New York House^ Short Sixes, Zadoc Pine, Jersey Street and Jersey Lane, and The Suburban Sage. Passing from Stockton and Bunner we find a long list of Nutley names, famous beyond our borders. Most of these belong to quiet authors and artists ; but a few suggest careers of adventure and daring. A native of Nutley is Dr. H. H. Rusby, Professor of Materia Medica, University and Bellevue Medical College; Professor of Botany, Physiology and Materia Medica in the New York College of Pharm- acy, Columbia University; Curator of the Museum of the New York Botanical Garden, and member of many learned societies at home and abroad. Dr. Rus- by when but a boy showed a great interest in botany. He began the formation of an Essex County herb- arium, which, finished in after years, received a Centennial medal as the most complete offered from a single locality. In 1879 the New Jersey Botanical 58 Club was formed with Dr. Rusby as its President. In 1880 he was sent by the Smithsonian Institute to the southwest to explore the flora of that region. In 1885 he was commissioned to visit South America, to in- vestigate the medicinal plants of the Amazon. Alto- gether he has contributed several hundred new species to our pharmacopoeia. He has written a number of important books on Plants and Materia Medica and a still larger number of pamphlets and scientific articles, as well as a "History of the New York College of Pharmacy." Before Henry Goslee Prout came to Nutley, life furnished him with many romantic episodes. He served through the Civil War and when there was no more fighting to be done, he entered the University of Michigan, graduating with the degree of Civil En- gineer in 1871. In 1873, when the Khedive of Egypt sent for an American engineer to become a Major of Engineers in the army of Egypt, Prout was chosen. "Our job," he says, "was to start a meridian line to be run from the great pyramid north to the sea, to be the backbone of a survey of the Delta. An episode of this was the erection of a flagstaff on the top of the Great Pyramid, which still stands there covered with the names of tourists and probably there is not a man in Egypt who knows who put it there or why." While in Darfour, Prout was ordered to the head of the Nile to take over the command of the Equatorial Provinces which Gordon relinquished on being made Governor- General of the Soudan. The Equatorial Provinces, however, being soon brought under the Soudan Gk)v- ernment, Prout came to serve under Gordon. He was 59 rapidly promoted to the rank of Colonel, his com- mand extending to the Great Lakes or about one thousand miles as the Nile runs. His troops were about three thousand Arabs and negroes. Within a year, Colonel Prout came down with the fever and Gordon sent him to London to build steamers. These steamers were the first to go up the Nile. Before he could return, the Khedive had abdicated, the whole Upper Nile project was given up, and so Prout re- signed. Khartoum fell and Gordon perished. Return- ing to this country, Colonel Prout became editor-in- chief of the Railroad Gazette, a post which he held for a number of years. L. Frank Tooker has been for many years one of the editorial staff of the Century. He built for himself the house now occupied by Mr. Root, on Nutley Ave- nue. Among his poems are '^Aspiration," "The Call of the Sea/' "Homeward Bound," and "On Gilgo Beach." The lovers of "David Harum" will perhaps be sur- prised to know that they owe that popular story to the discrimination of a Nutley critic. The manu- script of that work, after repeated rejections by others, reached the hands of Mr. Ripley Hitchcock, then reader for Appleton's. The simple trick of transferring the famous horse-trading chapters from the middle of the book to the beginning gave it the needed send-off, and once started, it was an undoubted success. Mr. Hitch- cock and his gifted wife, Martha Hitchcock, after- wards dramatized the novel for William Crane. They lived some time in the house now owned by Mrs. Bayne. They took a most active interest in everything that pertained to the town, in home, church or club 60 life. Mr. Hitchcock was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1857. He first became a special correspondent to the New York Tribune, then art critic on the Tribune from 1887 to 1890, when he became Hteiary adviser to Appleton and Company. He has been a writer upon American history, art and literature. Mrs. Hitchcock has published a number of delightful poems, among which are "Fruition" and "Revelation." The house known as the "Annie Oakley House" was the home later of Richard Kendall Munkittrick, the "Dean of the Poets of Printing House Square." He was born in Manchester^ England, in 1853. He was on the editorial staff of Puck from 1889, and has been editor of Judge since 1901. He is well known as a writer of humorous verses. His best qualities are shown in his poems of "The Moon Prince and other Nabobs" and "New Jersey Arabian Nights." Nutley has always had the reputation of being a favorite home for artists. Frank Fowler, Arthur Hoeber, Albert Sterner, Francis L. Day, E. L. Field, Frederick Dana Marsh, Frederick Dorr Steele, Hamil- ton Hamilton, Harry Chase, Charles Kendrick and Ferdinand H. Lungren are of the number. Mr. Kendrick is an Englishman, whose work is largely the illustration of children's books. His home was the house now occupied by Mr. Guy Edwords. Mr. Day has his home and studio on Maple Place, He has a reputation as a portrait painter and illus- trator. Mr. Chase was a well-known painter of marines, He lived in the Stockton house for several years. He 61 is most pleasantly remembered by his former friends here, and his untimely death was deeply deplored. A little house on Vreeland Avenue has sheltered three successive artists, who have set up their easels in the old barn with a skylight. Here Mrs. Florence, an Englishwoman of much talent and personal charm, lived and painted until her husband's death. Hamilton Hamilton was the second occupant. He is widely known as a landscape painter and etcher. George Waldo, an American of New England family, lived here also. His portrait of the actress Modjeska hangs in the Players' Club. Mr. E. L. Field built the house on Walnut Street which was his home. It is now occupied by Mr. Steele, the artist. Mr. Field studied in Paris, lived a good deal abroad, and was well-known as an etcher. Ralph Goddard was the only sculptor in Nutley's history. One of his best works was a life-size figure of a vigorous youth eager for the race of life. Mr. Lungren only recently left Nutley for Califor- nia. His has been an adventurous life in the West and among the Indians. He is an adopted son of one tribe and is a priest of the Antelopes. Distinctly a painter of the south and southwest, his pictures are brilliant with the rose color of the cafion and the blue of the Arizona sky. The present residence and studio of Mr. Marsh in the ''Enclosure" was built by Mr. Frank Fowler for himself. Here he lived until the death of his talented wife, who was herself a painter, musician and writer. Mr. Fowler was born in Brooklyn in 1852. He studied in Florence and in Paris where he was chosen 62 by Carolus Duran to aid him in painting the Luxem- bourg frescoes of the Apotheosis of Marie de Medici. His fame as a portrait painter is well known. His sitters have been many of them distinguished people. Everyone in Nutley felt a proprietorship in the frescoes of the Waldorf-Astoria which Mr. Fowler was com- missioned to make for the smaller ball-room. Weekly excursions were made to watch their progress at his Nutley studio, and the dancing nymphs and fawns look pleasantly familiar to his old friends as they now adorn the ceiling in the great hotel. The Fowler Studio did not long stand vacant before Frederick Dana Marsh took possession of it. Mr. Marsh was born in Chicago in 1872 and studied at the Art Institute of that city. He has studied in Paris and worked in his own studio there. He returned to America in 1900 and is obtaining recognition as a painter of unusual imagination. It is at Nutley that he has started out on a path quite untrodden by others, the portrayal of the life that goes on in connection with great commercial industries. He paints "the laborer at work on iron beam or bridge, swinging high in the air," working fearlessly eighteen stories high on the sky scraper, or "delving in cavernous mines with pickaxe and shovel, men heroes every day, working with un- conscious dignity at their perilous tasks." Mr. Hoeber, whose picturesque home is in Nut- ley's "Enclosure" has an almost equal talent for painting and writing. Although painting, especially of landscape, is preeminently his chosen field, he is also a well-known critic. He was born in New York in 1854, studied there and later in Paris under Gerome. In 1882 63 he first exhibited at the Paris Salon. He is a contribu- tor to most American exhibitions. He has been art critic on the New York Times, associate editor and dramatic critic of the Illustrated American, editorial writer of the New York Journal, and is at the pre- sent time art critic for the New York Globe and Commercial Advertiser. He is the author of two books, 'Treasures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art" and "Painting in the Nineteenth Century in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy." Of late years Mr. Hoeber has devoted himself almost entirely to painting landscapes. He especially delights in "streams wind- ing through marshy land under a twilight or a sunset sky, pictures which seem to carry one with them into an out-of-doors of sentiment and beauty." Mr. Steele is a Western man, who as a child drew and painted as naturally as he breathed. Coming East he soon was led into illlustration, and his charm- ing pictures of Myra Kelly's little East-side Hebrews, his apt illustrations of Stockton's "Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine" and his illustrations of Richard Hard- ing Davis's stories are delightfully familiar to us. Mr. Sterner has long occupied an enviable posi- tion as an illustrator. Mrs. Humphry Ward, in her preface to her latest novel, "Fenwick's Career," pays a rare tribute to him. From all illustrators of any country, Mrs. Ward chose Mr. Sterner as most sympathetic and strong. Born in London in 1863 and educated at King Edward's School at Birmingham, Mr. Sterner is however an American citizen. He studied in Paris at Julien's and at the £cole des Beaux Arts. He came to the United States in 1881, going 64 to Chicago. He studied, taught, painted scenery, tried lithographing, then came to New York. He began to draw for Life, and as his work became known, he appeared in Scribner's, the Century and Har- per s. His illustrations for Curtis's 'True and I" im- mediately established him as no ordinary illustrator. He has also illustrated Poe's works and Coppee's Tales, as well as the works of Mrs. Humphry Ward. Mr. Sterner is noted also for his water colors and his portraiture in crayon. The "artist life of the arena" has had its represent- atives in quiet Nutley. Eaton Stone, the first bare- back rider in the world and the first man to ride four horses, for a number of years made this the winter quarters for his troop. His circus building until a few months ago stood on Kingsland Road. The spirited performances, to which the townspeople were freely invited, are a cherished memory. The later genera- tion hear of them, only to regret that such delights have passed from Nutley. Annie Oakley, ''Little Sure Shot," (in private life, Mrs. Frank Butler) is another and more famous name. She shot with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show' for sev- enteen years. During this time she received honors from many of the sovereigns of Europe and prominent people of our own country. She was asked by the Prince of Wales to shoot with him, and perhaps more of a compliment still was the coming of the King of Senegal in person to buy her. He offered twenty thousand dollars for her, and wanted to take her back to his country to kill off the man-eating tigers. He could not understand the refusal of his offer ! Her one 65 public performance in Nutley was at the circus given in aid of the Red Cross fund. Mr. Kendrick, the artist, made a poster for the occasion, representing "Little Sure Shot" on horseback, ready to fire. She writes that after visiting thirteen countries she loves America and Nutley best of all, and adds that here she hopes to end her days. Conclusion. — From the far-off time of those Dutch and English pioneers who subdued the wilderness and the forest, we have come to the day of the gardens and homes and smiling beauty of modern Nutley. The history of the Nutley Area from the first European foothold is a record of two hundred and forty years. The history of the Town of Nutley is but just begun, but begun with a force and promise that assure her a strong and honored maturity. 66 CIVIL ORGANIZATION. Town of Nutley, in the County of Essex, New Jersey. Chosen Freeholder (county official) Mayor Town Council : 2 members from each of the 3 wards Town Clerk Town Treasurer Town Attorney Town Engineer Supervisor of Roads Collector Assessor Recorder Justices of the Peace Overseer of the Poor Dog Warden Chief of Police Constables Chief of Fire Department Water Department : Clerk and Meter Inspector Commissioners of Assessment Board of Health : President, Clerk and Inspector Board of Education: President, Superintendent of Schools, District Clerk. (yl SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND CLUBS. Civic Association Franklin Building and Loan Association Nutley Improvement Society Nutley Field Club Yountakah Country Club Nutley Fortnightly Club Povershon Tennis Club West Nutley Country Club Nutley Athletic Association Nutley Friday Afternoon Club Woman's Public School Auxiliary Lodges. — Nutley Lodge, No. 167, F. & A. Masons Kempton Council, No. 1545, Royal Arcanum Nutley Council, No. 286, Junior Order Uni- ted American Mechanics Stars and Stripes Council, No. 173, Daugh- ters of Liberty Crystal Council, Knights of Pythias. 68 PUBLIC UTILITIES. Railroad. — Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. Stations: Nutley^ (first called Stitt's Station), West Nutley, and Avondale. Trolley .—North Jersey Street Railway Company. Water Supply. — From East Jersey Water Company, Pequannock watershed. Telephone. — New York and New Jersey Telephone Company. Lighting. — Gas and electric light from Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. Fire Department. — Organized 1894. Yantacaw En- gine Company, No. i, with combination chemical engine, quarters in Town Hall. Avondale Hose Company, No. i, has its own building equipped with combination chemical engine. West Nut- ley Hose Company, equipped with hose and hose carriage. Bank. — Organized 1906. Located in Town Hall. Local Papers.— The Nutley Sun and The Nutleyan. Libraries. — The Public School Library, including the State Traveling Library, at The Park School. The Nutley Library, Passaic Avenue. 1 The present building was erected by popular subscription, after the first one was burned. 69 STATISTICS. Area of Ntttley: 3492 square miles. North boundary: 1.75 miles. East boundary: on Passaic River, 1.2 miles. West boundary: 2.1 miles, of which about one-sixth of a mile is the middle of the Morris and Essex Canal. Altitude. The highest point in Nutley is on Povershon Hill, 238 feet above sea level. The only official altitude ("bench") taken by State and U. S. Sur- vey, is the "rail of Erie R. R., opposite Nutley Station, 98.5 feet above sea level." Population from census of 1905 : 4,556. Assessable valuation: $3,875,939. Rate of taxation: $1.66 per $100. Outside hydrant district: $1.63 per $100. Poll tax: $1.00. Wards: 3. Streets: 112 named avenues, terraces, places, streets. Roads maintained by county : Washington Avenue, Kingsland Street, East Passaic Avenue, Center Street, High Street, Franklin Avenue from Har- rison Street to the Belleville line. Bridges, maintained by county : over Third River, 7 ; over Basking Brook, 3 ; over brook leading through Nichol's Pond,. 3 ; over raceways through "Yantacaw Park," 2. School Children enrolled: loio. Teachers enrolled: 34. Town appropriation for schools, for 1906-7 : $23,000. State "School Money," for 1906-7, $10,900.77; appor- tioned on character of work done, days at- tendance, and number of teachers and supervisors employed. Note. — State School Money is of vital importance to Nutley. Every absence recorded on the register reduces the sum that would be allowed to the town. 70 MAY 7 1907 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS