Christ Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues.Christ’s Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues. The second church edifice of this congregation. Erected 1906-7.
Christ’s Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues. The second church edifice of this congregation. Erected 1906-7.
Christ’s Church, Washington And Delevan Avenues. The second church edifice of this congregation. Erected 1906-7.
On December 6, 1903, the mortgage of $1,900 on the old church property was burned and the church cleared of all indebtedness.
February 4, 1904, the question of erecting a new church edifice was publicly discussed by the congregation, and the minister was instructed to appoint a building committee of twenty members.
March 10, 1904, the building committee met and organized with Judge Alfred F. Skinner as chairman, William B. Abbey as secretary, and George S. Bruen as treasurer. It was decided to limit the cost of building and furnishings to $25,000.
April 29, 1905, Charles G. Jones of Belleville was selected as architect.
March 20, 1906, it was decided to move the old building to the back of the lot.
April 12, 1906, ground was broken for the new building.
June 14, 1906, the corner stone was laid under the auspices of the Classis of Newark.
January 20, 1907, the new church was opened for worship.
January 21, 1907, the building was dedicated.
Memorial windows to the memory of Mr. C. C. Hine and Mrs. Mary H. Hine, to Mrs. Anna W. Hine and to the parents of Mr. Mellen, the minister, were placed in the building.
The cost of the new church complete was a trifle over $46,000.
This brief outline by no means tells the story. As before stated, the inception of the church is due to the Rev. Henry Merle Mellen, and the raising of money was also largely due to Mr. Mellen’s activity and unselfish devotion to the cause. The building committee was more than fortunate in its chairman and members, and the result of their work is an ornament to the locality.
During the very early days of the church on the hill, sexton Budd introduced his patent gasoline lamps for lighting purposes, and no doubt was proud of his accomplishment, but why the crazy things did not blow up the first time they were lighted is the chief mystery of the situation. As nearly as we can recall the outfit consisted of the ordinary glass font with a small metal tube at the top through which the vapor arose, which gave light when a match was applied. These did not stay long, for Mr. Hine, who was an insurance man, very shortly discovered their possibilities.
The lighting of Christ Church was first accomplished with kerosene lamps, there being no gas in the neighborhood then, except that made on the premises of Mr. Hine for his own house. It occurred to that gentleman that he could attach the church (which then stood on the lot adjoining his home)to that same gas machine, and thus do away with the dim and troublesome kerosene burners.
The idea was good, but the pumping machinery which forced the flow of gas through the pipes was inadequate for the extra work and, as a result, the pump must be wound up by hand two or three times during a Sunday evening. This usually fell to the lot of the small boys who did not go to evening service, they being strictly charged to visit the cellar every thirty minutes or so and do the necessary work; but small boys had a way of getting sleepy in those days, and there is a tradition that Mr. Hine, being warned by the gradual dimming of the lights, had to leave the church in a great hurry occasionally and operate the pump himself.
Mr. Hine was musical to his finger tips and found great enjoyment in the practice of the art. In his youth he composed a number of songs and ballads which were published in St. Louis. Naturally he had charge of the church music, and among the pleasantest experiences of his life were the choir rehearsals, and particularly was this the case when Mr. Jay Ten Eyck presided at the organ and the quartet choir consisted of Mrs. F. W. Schmidt, Mrs. Dr. J. E. Janes, Mr. Harrison I. Norton and Mr. Hine. One who knew him well at that time has said that “he was just like a boy going to a ball game when he came down to the church on choir rehearsal nights”, such was his enthusiasm.
The selection and preparation of special music for Easter and other occasions gave him the most keen delight. At such times he would come home with an armful of carols and spend evening after evening trying them, usually with his flute, his daughter-in-law being at the piano. The possibilities were then taken up by the choir and the resulting music was reasonably good, though considerable good natured fun was poked at the choir-master on one occasion, at least, when, after having labored earnestly over a long Easter Sunday anthem the domine immediately began his prayer with, “Oh, Lord, we thank Thee that it is finished”.
Mr. Hine was notably successful with the Sunday school music, having a peculiar faculty for arousing the enthusiasm of children. His “Now, children!” brought prompt and complete attention from all, and he was so absorbed himself in the work and was so much a part of it that the children abandoned themselves to his sway and responded with a gusto that made the singing of the school a great feature.
Woodside was set off from Belleville in 1868 and lasted as an independent town just about two years. Again I fall back on Mr. Swinnerton, who was town clerk both years, for details. He says:—
“When the new element came it found a lot of old-timers, very glad to welcome us and to benefit by the church and Sunday school privileges, but unwillingto spend any money for street or sidewalk betterment. Belleville contained many of the same sort, but there were some there who helped us secure our set-off into a township.”
UNION TICKET.For Judges of Election,CHARLES AKERS,EDWARD P. SNOWDEN,HORACE B. NICHOLS.For Assessor,NATHANIEL J. CRANE.For Collector,JAMES S. GAMBLE.For Town Clerk,JAMES SWINNERTON, JR.For Justice of the Peace,ELIAS OSBORN.For Town Committee,CHARLES AKERS,MILES I’ANSON,JOSEPH I. DOWLING,HORACE CARTER,JOHN McMULLEN.For Commissioners of Appeal,JOHN C. BENNETT,EDWARD G. FAITOUTE,JOHN I. BRIGGS.For Chosen Freeholder,CHARLES AKERS,HORACE H. NICHOLS.For Constables,JOHN BURKE,BETHUEL MUNN,PHINEAS M. SMITH.For Surveyors of Highways,TRUMAN H. ALDRICH,GEORGE K. HARRISON,JOHN C. BENNETT.For Pound Keepers,NATHANIEL J. CRANE,JOHN C. BENNETT,JOHN I. BRIGGS,JOHN McDONALD,GEORGE K. HARRISON.Road Tax $4,000 00School Tax, per child 3 00Poor Tax 500 00Dog Tax, as the law allows.Incidental Expenses 500 00
UNION TICKET.For Judges of Election,CHARLES AKERS,EDWARD P. SNOWDEN,HORACE B. NICHOLS.For Assessor,NATHANIEL J. CRANE.For Collector,JAMES S. GAMBLE.For Town Clerk,JAMES SWINNERTON, JR.For Justice of the Peace,ELIAS OSBORN.For Town Committee,CHARLES AKERS,MILES I’ANSON,JOSEPH I. DOWLING,HORACE CARTER,JOHN McMULLEN.For Commissioners of Appeal,JOHN C. BENNETT,EDWARD G. FAITOUTE,JOHN I. BRIGGS.For Chosen Freeholder,CHARLES AKERS,HORACE H. NICHOLS.For Constables,JOHN BURKE,BETHUEL MUNN,PHINEAS M. SMITH.For Surveyors of Highways,TRUMAN H. ALDRICH,GEORGE K. HARRISON,JOHN C. BENNETT.For Pound Keepers,NATHANIEL J. CRANE,JOHN C. BENNETT,JOHN I. BRIGGS,JOHN McDONALD,GEORGE K. HARRISON.Road Tax $4,000 00School Tax, per child 3 00Poor Tax 500 00Dog Tax, as the law allows.Incidental Expenses 500 00
UNION TICKET.
UNION TICKET.
For Judges of Election,CHARLES AKERS,EDWARD P. SNOWDEN,HORACE B. NICHOLS.
For Judges of Election,
CHARLES AKERS,
EDWARD P. SNOWDEN,
HORACE B. NICHOLS.
For Assessor,NATHANIEL J. CRANE.
For Assessor,
NATHANIEL J. CRANE.
For Collector,JAMES S. GAMBLE.
For Collector,
JAMES S. GAMBLE.
For Town Clerk,JAMES SWINNERTON, JR.
For Town Clerk,
JAMES SWINNERTON, JR.
For Justice of the Peace,ELIAS OSBORN.
For Justice of the Peace,
ELIAS OSBORN.
For Town Committee,CHARLES AKERS,MILES I’ANSON,JOSEPH I. DOWLING,HORACE CARTER,JOHN McMULLEN.
For Town Committee,
CHARLES AKERS,
MILES I’ANSON,
JOSEPH I. DOWLING,
HORACE CARTER,
JOHN McMULLEN.
For Commissioners of Appeal,JOHN C. BENNETT,EDWARD G. FAITOUTE,JOHN I. BRIGGS.
For Commissioners of Appeal,
JOHN C. BENNETT,
EDWARD G. FAITOUTE,
JOHN I. BRIGGS.
For Chosen Freeholder,CHARLES AKERS,HORACE H. NICHOLS.
For Chosen Freeholder,
CHARLES AKERS,
HORACE H. NICHOLS.
For Constables,JOHN BURKE,BETHUEL MUNN,PHINEAS M. SMITH.
For Constables,
JOHN BURKE,
BETHUEL MUNN,
PHINEAS M. SMITH.
For Surveyors of Highways,TRUMAN H. ALDRICH,GEORGE K. HARRISON,JOHN C. BENNETT.
For Surveyors of Highways,
TRUMAN H. ALDRICH,
GEORGE K. HARRISON,
JOHN C. BENNETT.
For Pound Keepers,NATHANIEL J. CRANE,JOHN C. BENNETT,JOHN I. BRIGGS,JOHN McDONALD,GEORGE K. HARRISON.
For Pound Keepers,
NATHANIEL J. CRANE,
JOHN C. BENNETT,
JOHN I. BRIGGS,
JOHN McDONALD,
GEORGE K. HARRISON.
Road Tax $4,000 00School Tax, per child 3 00Poor Tax 500 00Dog Tax, as the law allows.Incidental Expenses 500 00
Road Tax $4,000 00
School Tax, per child 3 00
Poor Tax 500 00
Dog Tax, as the law allows.
Incidental Expenses 500 00
“The village had scarce gained its independence, however, when it was saddled with a heavy debt in the shape of bonds for the Midland (now Greenwood Lake) Railroad. This made it imprudent to attempt the raising of money for local improvements, but the year Mr. Hine was on the Town Committee $4,000 was raised for street improvements and divided between the five districts of River road, Washington avenue, Back road, Bloomfield road and the cross road in Woodside. Mr. Hine spent $600 in making a gravel walk from the cemetery to Carteret street, and gave the remaining $200 to General Cumming for use on the Gully road.
“Our portion went to Soho (which appears to have been then a part of Woodside). The others stirred the ground a little, leaving the mud as deep as ever.” Woodside was an awful mud-hole in wet weather.
The Town Committee met at night, usually in the house of Mr. Swinnerton, Town Clerk; none but the town officers attended these meetings. The two annual town meetings were held in a small hall on Washington avenue, opposite the Morrison & Briggs carpenter shop; this hall burned later. Two or three informal meetings were held in a small carpenter shop standing in Mr. Swinnerton’s yard, on the northeast corner of Elwood and Lincoln avenues (this was the first Morrison & Briggs shop). Here Woodside was given its present name.
So far as can now be recalled the Town Committeemen were General Cumming, for the River road; Mr. Hine, for Washington avenue; either Mr. Phillips or Mr. Faitoute, for Lincoln avenue; Charles Akers, for the Bloomfield road; “a fine, old Irish gentleman for Soho”, and Joseph Dowling for the cross street. James S. Gamble was Treasurer.
Possibly the only tragedy connected with Woodside was the shooting of Albert D. Richardson on December 2, 1869. Mr. Richardson was a celebrated newspaper correspondent and an author of some note. He had traveled over a large part of the United Statesand had settled in Woodside because of its rural beauty, having purchased the house built by Miles I’Anson, which now stands on Summer avenue, facing Chester.
A Mrs. McFarland, who was later known to literature as Abbie Sage Richardson, and who came of a good Boston family, married Daniel McFarland, the black sheep of a prominent New York family, and, after supporting him for a reasonable length of time, she secured a divorce. Mr. Richardson assisted her in establishing herself, and about this time McFarland, while under the influence of liquor, met him in the office of the Tribune and shot him down. Richardson was removed to the Astor House and lived for a week. He was a widower with three young children and, desiring Mrs. McFarland to look after them, he married her while on his deathbed.
From the beginning and up to comparatively recent times Woodside has been compelled to make a continuous fight for proper street car service.
The first car track laid extended from the cemetery to Orange street, where it met the track which had been laid in 1862 from Market street. There was but one car, and that was pivoted on the trucks so that, a king bolt being drawn, the body of the car was swung around while the trucks remained on the track—this instead of reversing the horses to the other end of the car, as was done later. About 1865 the trackswere extended north through Woodside to Second river, to what was then known as “Flanigan’s station”, and for six years they went no further.
It was many years before the Woodside section was treated as part of the main line, all sorts of bob-tail excuses being offered us. Cars would come as far as the “Pump” (cemetery), and there passengers could wait for the “bob-tail” or walk as they saw fit. There was no shelter against the winter’s storm or shade from the summer sun. “Old Mose”, who watered the horses at the pump, which stood just about where the Washington avenue sidewalk on the west now ends, was possessed of a movable bench which followed the shadows of the trees as the sun made its daily progress through the heavens, and this was the only spot whereon to rest our weary bones while waiting. Mose was a good natured old soul whom every one liked, and was as much of an institution as was the old West-farm pump from which he drew the water for the horses. His “Now, William, let her propel”, when it was time for a car to start, became a by-word.
Naturally those living in Woodside were always grumbling at the poor car service furnished, and there was a constant fight with Mr. Battin, and later with Mr Barr, and many a delegation descended on the Board of Aldermen, and almost invariably its head and front was Mr. Hine who, while he loved peace, did not believe in peace at any price. The company’scharter required that all cars should run to the city line (Second river), and Mr. Hine, with his wonted energy, at once inaugurated an active campaign by writing to the papers as well as stirring up the City Fathers, and by dint of his “sticktoitiveness”, as he called it, he won his point and the octopus was forced to loose his tentacles and be subject to the law governing its agreements.
In this connection a friend writes concerning Mr. Hine: “I remember, of course, his prominence in our town meetings and meetings after Woodside became annexed to Newark. He was the best speaker by far in our section, and better versed in parliamentary rules, so that he kept the meetings in better order than they would otherwise have been. He had a great faculty of leading people to state their views, thus getting a subject well ventilated and adding much interest to a meeting. In consequence of his great ability for speaking he was always chosen leader of our citizens’ delegations whether to the City Fathers for better horse car facilities, or to the Erie Railroad officials for improvements on that ‘system’.”
Mr. Hine’s character was of a grade not often met with. I was with him probably more than any one else, as for many years we came and went together morning and night and were closely associated during business hours, and I can in all truth say that never once have I heard him utter a word, even by implication,that could not have been uttered in any presence, nor did I ever hear him gossip of his neighbors nor offer a criticism of any one not present except once, and that was so gentle that, had it come from another, it would have passed unnoticed. In this one case he referred to an erratic genius who played the church organ for many years, and who sorely tried his patience.
But it must not be supposed that because of his gentle ways Mr. Hine could not fight. Nothing could stop him when a sense of duty impelled; not even the fear of death—if he ever had any such fear. As an instance: When traveling for the Ætna Insurance Company Mr. Hine, shortly after his marriage, and when a wife and baby were dependent on him, was sent to a town in Arkansas to establish an agency for the company, being instructed to select a certain man if he was found to qualify.
They met and Mr. Hine, being satisfied, gave the man his commission as agent, but during the following evening he discovered that his new appointee had celebrated by getting drunk, and immediately concluded to take up the agency. Those acquainted with the man, however, insisted that he do nothing of the sort, stating that his agent was a fire eater, who would accept it as a personal insult and would shoot.
Mr. Hine believed that only a coward carried arms and never did so himself, though he had been much in the Southwest and recognized the small value puton life (this was about 1857 or 8). However he saw what he believed was his duty and, while admitting later that he faced the man with considerable fear of the consequences, he did face him, and as briefly and with as little sting as possible, stated his reasons for withdrawing the commission. Strange to say the “fire-eater” acknowledged the justice of the move and expressed himself as sincerely sorry at the outcome. Only the highest class of courage can compel a man to face such a situation.
I once by chance heard him tell an individual himself that he was either a knave or a fool, but neither knew that the remark was overheard, and Mr. Hine never again spoke of the matter so far as I know. He could tell the man himself, if necessity demanded it, but would never speak of it to others.
His contempt for money, except for the good it could be made to do, was genuine and deep seated. His charities, considering his limited income, were boundless, as evidenced by his check stubs after his death. An examination of these showed merely that the $50 or $100 had gone to “an old friend”, or were marked with the one word “charity”. While in many cases money thus handed out was ostensibly loaned, Mr. Hine early learned never to expect its return, and he was seldom disappointed. One of his pet aphorisms, “gratitude is a lively sense of favors to come”, was frequently applied to this situation.
The fact that he was imposed on and defrauded bycharity fakirs time and again never made any difference; the next time he would take chances rather than run the risk of not helping where help was needed. He often said that “he could swallow anything he could get through his shirt collar”, and his shirt collar was a mighty easy affair, as many “a friend in need” discovered.
On the other hand, no matter how much it might curtail his income by antagonizing a customer, he would hit every head in sight if he thought it deserved it, and he knew how to hit—none better. He had a way of grasping a situation and clarifying its follies or crooked features that was at times merciless.
As before stated, Mr. Hine’s opportunities for school education were limited in his youth. On the other hand, his knowledge was almost universal. How he kept abreast of the times as he did was a mystery, even to his own family, for he had no time to read, beyond his morning and evening paper between home and office. His evenings, when not filled with church matters, were largely taken up by those who were ever calling on him for help and who never went away without receiving the best he had to give, whether they were young or old, or the poorest of the poor. He would explain a matter to a child with as much courtesy and patience as to an adult.
On one occasion when he was confined to the house with some slight indisposition a small girl appeared at the back door with a straggling bunch of field flowersin her hand and handed it in with the simple message, “Tell Mr. Hine that I love him”. Hardly anything could have touched the recipient more deeply, and yet that small girl voiced a sentiment that was almost universal among those who knew him best.
Mr. Hine was as punctilious in doing for his own boys as for the church, and while he believed in making them earn those things they desired, that they might the more fully appreciate them, he always stood by his agreements, not only in letter but in spirit. His idea seems to have been to make the boy feel satisfied that he had been given a square deal. Possibly one or two small instances will do no harm here:—
One of the boys once saw a velocipede in a Newark store that he thought he wanted, and began to save his money for that purpose. As I recollect it, the machine was to cost $12. In the meantime the father saw one in New York for $10 that looked to him just as good, and told the youngster about it, and announced that he would bring it out. On arrival it proved to be a size or two smaller—a $10 size—and the boy was disappointed, but instead of telling him it was just as good, he seemed to get down to the lad’s level and appreciate that it was a matter of importance to him, and he made good without a hint of grumble at the extra trouble involved in taking the machine back and bringing out the larger one, and he paid the added $2 himself. He had said he could get one just as good for less money. He seemed to expectno particular thanks, merely giving the impression that he was only doing what he had agreed to do.
Mr. Hine’s eldest was probably born with a streak of tar in his composition, for he has been an ancient mariner ever since I first knew him. No sooner was the boy large enough to run around a bit than he wanted a row boat on the river; but his father promptly responded to such a proposition with, “No, young man; not until you can swim across the river”, evidently in the belief that this was still some seasons off. But the lad wanted the boat, and the moment he could stand the temperature he was in the river, and generally several times a day (his mother never suspected how often), and by hard work and much persistence he managed to get the hang of the thing long before the summer was out, and one day announced that he could swim across the river and wanted the boat.
Naturally his father was a bit incredulous, but they went to the water’s edge, and while the elder hired a boat at the Point House, the son retired to the privacy of the Melius dock and stripped for the ordeal. His clothes were put in the boat and the two started, and you can be sure that the father kept close by in case of accident, but there was none, and the boy got across all right. Then his father asked if he could swim back, and he said he would try, and did.
No sooner were his clothes on again than he said: “Now, can I have that boat?” and quite as promptlycame the answer, “Yes; we will go down town now and get it”. There was no quibbling or hesitation or delay, and no matter how the father may have felt in allowing his small son to have a boat, he had given his word and that settled it, and within the hour the lad was rowing up the river in his own boat, as proud as any small boy could be and without any idea of the situation except that both parties to the bargain had lived up to it.
His methods of punishment were usually well fitted to the occasion. I still recall one instance with a clarity of vision that omits no detail. Mr. Hine was left in charge of the Winser premises during the absence of that family in Europe and, during that portion of the year when “sling shots” are in vogue, a group of young highwaymen, of which the younger two hopefuls of the Hine family were members, thought it was fine fun to sling stones between the blinds of the Winser house, then vacant, and hear the glass smash. But one day Mr. Hine discovered what was going on, and appointed himself a committee of one to investigate. He made no fuss whatever—just said we would have to replace the glass. It made no difference that others besides ourselves had helped in the mischief; if the others would help to pay for it that was all right, but none of his affair. Of course few of the other boys could see the thing from our point of view, and it took just about all of our little hoard, which had almost reached the point where wecould purchase a greatly desired printing press, to pay for the damage. It was a cruel blow, but we never broke any more glass.
Mr. Hine, just as a matter of course, did any little thing he could for friend or neighbor; it never occurred to him to hesitate when he saw the opportunity.
When the matter of a station agent was first being agitated for the Woodside stop on the Newark branch of the Erie, one who thought he wanted the job fixed up a petition and went to the depot one morning to secure the signatures of such commuters as he knew. Seeing Mr. Hine and hoping for his name to head the list, he offered the paper to him, asking that he sign it if he approved. After reading Mr. Hine not only signed, but himself took the paper to every man present and insisted that each one sign, responding to those who objected that they did not know the young man, that he did, and had known him almost all his life, and knew he was safe to indorse. The result was that twice as many signatures were secured from that group as were hoped for. It was a small thing, but the prompt and hearty way in which it was done made it a benediction, and that man still thinks of Mr. Hine with pleasure and likes to tell why.
Mrs. Mary Hazard Avery Hine was born in Westport, Conn., January 29, 1821. Her parents removed to the West when she was a young woman,and she met Mr. Hine in St. Louis, Mo., and there married him. Mrs. Hine was educated in New Haven, receiving the best schooling which that city could give a girl eighty odd years ago, and she grew up under favoring circumstances. She was a woman of fine mind and great breadth and strength of character, and a recognized leader.
Mrs. Hine was the third president of the Y. W. C. A. of Newark, and remained at its head through the many trying years of its youth, and when it was a very different institution from the present and very differently managed. She was also for many years president of the New Jersey branch of the Women’s Indian Association, and one of its most active members.
Nearer home she organized and conducted a Zenana Mission Band which, in itself, would have been considered work enough by most women and, in addition, she carried on a large Bible class in the Sunday school—all this without interfering in the least with her household duties, which she was slow to delegate to others.
The Zenana Mission Band, which was started by Mrs. Hine, became quite an institution, with its bi-weekly meetings and annual fair, which were held in the home at 209 Washington avenue. Just when it was begun, or how, I am unable to state, but it was many years ago, and the meetings were only stoppedwhen advancing years compelled Mrs. Hine to give up the responsibility.
The meetings began early in the fall and lasted the day out. These continued until a fair was given during the following May or June, at which time the entire lower floor of the house was stripped of its furniture and devoted to the event. Tables and booths for the sale of all manner of articles, from embroidery to ice cream, being erected in every available corner.
Mrs. Hine designed the embroidery patterns used and both she and Miss Avery, being expert with the needle, began the pieces and set the pace for the others, they having been brought up at a time when household duties and the finer uses of the needle were a part of every girl’s education. Some of those with whom I have talked look on the educational value to those who came to these meetings as possibly the more important feature, believing that many of the young women who attended would never otherwise have had their taste and skill for such work developed, for the embroidery was most rich and elaborate, requiring exceedingly careful manipulation.
When the fair fell on rainy times and the fancy goods did not go off as desired Miss Avery would take a bundle of the best to New York and there dispose of the articles among her friends, for just about so much money was wanted to send out to India each year, and if it did not come it must be gone after.
MISS JANE A. AVERY.
In this connection I cannot forbear from a brief word concerning Miss J. A. Avery, Mrs. Hine’s sister and aid in all good works. Miss Avery was one of the most lovable persons I have ever met, her self-sacrificing spirit and constant thought of others being most marked. And with a saintly spirit she had an attractive personality quite beyond the ordinary.
She has been compared to a bit of delicate Sevres china, and possibly that is as good a comparison showing her daintiness as could be made, but Miss Avery was something more than merely attractive; her devotion to any duty in hand was such that she never had a thought of fear, nor did she allow the discomfort of pain to interfere. Before the day of trained nurses she was caring for an uncle—Judge Edward Avery of Massillon, Ohio—who required constant attention, and while so engaged the bones of one foot were crushed by the falling of a heavy iron. The doctor insisted that she must not stand on this foot, but this injunction she felt it was impossible to obey, and made that same doctor whittle out a thin board and bind it to the injured foot, and thus she hobbled about in constant pain, but giving the unremitting attention required by her patient.
One who knew Miss Avery well for many years writes that she “was one of those rare characters whose mission it is to bring comfort and cheer to their fellows. She was one of those large natures of whomGoethe says, ‘They impress not by what they do, but by what they are’.
“Wherever she went she was welcome; she had the remarkable faculty of seeing at a glance what was needed, and without a word doing the right thing, the wonderful gift of tact which, with a loving nature, makes the possessor a tower of strength. So winning was her personality that she made friends wherever she went, and always said laughingly that she could travel all over Europe with only her mother-tongue.”
It is impossible at this date to go into details concerning all those who were active during the early days of this period, but there are a few in regard to whom I have been able to secure some bits of information.
Mr. Horace H. Nichols was a man who left his impress on all those who came in contact with him. Mr. Nichols was a carpenter and builder in Newark before his removal to Woodside. He secured the contract for fencing the cemetery and that brought him this way, and the beauties of the country gave him a longing to turn farmer, and so he bought a considerable tract here in 1846, and in 1852 built the white house which still stands back from the road. Here he started the growing of fruit, and was very successful, as many of us can testify.
Mr. Nichols had the character of a saint and,while not an aggressive man, was always ready “to dig down in his jeans” whenever the church called for help, and was ever looking for the opportunity to do his share—rather an unusual trait.
Mr. Henry J. Winser was not with us during much of the very early period, owing to his appointment as consul at Sonneberg, Germany, during the eight years when Grant was President, and also through the term of President Hayes, and he had little opportunity for local activity.
Mr. Winser’s earliest experience in the War of the Rebellion was as military secretary (with the rank of first lieutenant) to Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, whose blood was the first shed in the war.
The friendship with Ellsworth began in 1855 when he came to New York, a youth of seventeen, from his home in Saratoga County, hoping to be appointed as cadet to West Point. In this, however, he was disappointed, as the politicians desired the places for their friends’ sons.
He then began the study of law in Chicago, but also kept up his study of the art of war and, becoming impressed with the tactics of the French Zouaves during the Crimean War, and being well known in military circles in Chicago, it was an easy matter for him to form a company. This was organized as the Ellsworth Zouaves, and was composed of the flower of the youth of Chicago.
The fame of the “Chicago Zouaves” had become so widespread that a year or two before the war Ellsworth was asked to bring his men East, and so great was the enthusiasm over their exhibition that Colonel Ellsworth’s methods were soon widely copied.
At the time of Mr. Lincoln’s election to the Presidency, Ellsworth was employed in his law office. He accompanied him to Washington and remained near the President during the unsettled period which followed the inauguration. He was among the first to obtain a military commission from President Lincoln, and was sent to New York with instructions to form a regiment from the ranks of the Volunteer Fire Department of the city in the shortest possible time.
Mr. Winser was impressed into the service on this occasion. In a very short time Ellsworth had twelve-hundred men enlisted and mustered into the service of the United States under the call for three months’ volunteers, and in the extraordinarily brief period of three weeks from the time he arrived in New York he marched at the head of a thousand well-equipped men to the steamship at the foot of Canal street. On reaching Washington this body of raw recruits was at first given quarters in the Capitol building, owing to lack of camp equipage.
There were many anomalous things connected with the organization of the volunteer forces in the early stages of the war, and not the least anomalouswas the fact that Ellsworth appointed Mr. Winser his military secretary, with the rank and uniform of first lieutenant.
The advance into Virginia had been determined upon and instructions were given to embark at two o’clock in the morning for Alexandria. Ellsworth then entered the tent which he and Mr. Winser shared and asked the latter to get some sleep while he finished his final arrangements. Then it was that he wrote that brief, but pathetic letter to his parents which drew tears from many unaccustomed eyes after it was published. The letter is in an old scrapbook of Mr. Winser’s, and reads as follows:—
“Headquarters First Zouaves,”Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 23, 1861.
“Headquarters First Zouaves,”Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 23, 1861.
“Headquarters First Zouaves,”Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 23, 1861.
“Headquarters First Zouaves,
”Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 23, 1861.
“My dear Father and Mother:—
“The regiment is ordered to move across the river to-night. We have no means of knowing what reception we shall meet with. I am inclined to the opinion that our entrance to the city of Alexandria will be hotly contested, as I am just informed that a large force has arrived there to-day. Should this happen, my dear parents, it may be my lot to be injured in some manner. Whatever may happen, cherish the consolation that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred duty, and to-night, thinking over the probabilities of the morrow and the occurrences of the past, I am perfectly content to accept whatever my fortune may be, confident that He whonoteth the fall of a sparrow will have some purpose even in the fate of one like me. My darling and ever-loved parents, good-bye. God bless, protect and care for you.
ELMER.“
Just as daylight was breaking on the morning of the twenty-fourth of May, the steamers carrying the Ellsworth Zouaves arrived at Alexandria. The commander of the sloop-of-war Pawnee, which lay off Alexandria, had already proposed terms of submission which had been accepted by the city, and it was supposed that there would be no resistance to the occupation of the town.
The following is Mr. Winser’s account of what occurred:—
“Ellsworth was the first to land, and then Company E, Captain Leveridge, formed upon the wharf. Without waiting for the remainder of the regiment to disembark the Colonel gave some hurried instructions for interrupting the railroad communication and, calling to me, said: ‘Winser, come with me to the telegraph office. It is important to cut the wires.’ Mr. E. H. House, correspondent of the New York Tribune, had accompanied the expedition, and he and the Rev. E. W. Dodge, chaplain of the regiment, who were standing near, asked if they might go with us. We had gone only a few paces when I suggested to Ellsworth that perhaps it would be well to take a squad of men as an escort. He assented at once and I soon overtook him with a sergeant and four menfrom Company A. We ran up the street for about two blocks on a double-quick in the supposed direction of the telegraph office, meeting a few sleepy-looking people on the way. The Colonel at this moment caught sight of a large Confederate flag which had just been raised above the roof of a building apparently two or three blocks distant to the left. He at once said: ‘Boys, we must have that flag!’ and told the sergeant to go back and tell Captain Coyle to follow us with his entire company.
“Not heeding the mission to the telegraph office for the moment, we pushed on toward the building with the flag flying over it and found it was the Marshall House, an hotel of second-class grade. As we rushed into the open door the Colonel called out to a man in shirt and trousers who was entering the hallway from the opposite side: ‘What flag is that over the roof?’ The fellow looked neither surprised nor alarmed at the irruption of armed men, and answered, doggedly as I thought: ‘I don’t know anything about it; I am only a boarder here.’ Without further parley the Colonel ran up the long winding stairway to the topmost story, the rest of us following closely. It did not take long to find the attic room, whence opened a skylight with the flagstaff within easy reach, and the large flag was soon upon our heads.
“I passed it down to the men below, and as I got off the ladder I saw the Zouaves tearing off pieces asmementos of the exploit. This I stopped, saying that the flag must not be mutilated, but must be preserved as a trophy. The entire occurrence could not have occupied more than a couple of minutes. I was busy rolling the long flag over my arm when Ellsworth turned to the stairway holding one end of the flag. He was preceded by Private Francis E. Brownell, of Company A. Mr. House and Chaplain Dodge were close beside him, and I was a few steps behind, still rolling the flag on my arm as compactly as possible. There were two men in the attic room whom we had not noticed at first in our eagerness to get down the flag. They arose in great bewilderment to witness our deed and were almost fully dressed. They had, however, no connection with the tragic event.
“In the order I have mentioned we began our descent of the broad, winding stairway. My attention was too much occupied in managing the bulky flag to know by actual observation precisely what happened in the first instant of the lamentable tragedy. I heard the clash of weapons and at the same moment the report of two guns, with so imperceptible an interval between that it might have been taken for a single shot. I saw Ellsworth fall forward at the foot of the first flight of stairs, and I saw Brownell, standing on the landing near the turn to the second flight, make a thrust with his bayonet at the tottering form of a man which fell headlong down half the second flight of stairs. No explanation of whathad happened was needed. As Brownell reached the first landing place, after the descent of a dozen steps, a man rushed out and, without noticing the private soldier, leveled a double-barreled gun squarely at Ellsworth’s breast. Brownell said that he made a quick pass to turn the gun aside, but was not successful, and the contents of both barrels, slugs or buckshot, entered the Colonel’s heart, killing him instantly. He was on the third step above the landing when he received the shot, and he fell forward in that helpless, heavy manner which showed that every spark of life had left his body ere he reached the floor. The murderer’s fingers had scarcely pressed the triggers of his weapon when Brownell’s rifle was discharged full in the centre of his face, and as he staggered to his fall the shot was followed by a bayonet thrust of such force that it sent the man backward down the upper section of the second flight of stairs, where he lay for hours afterward with his face to the floor and his rifle beneath him. This man proved to be James T. Jackson proprietor of the Marshall House, and I fully recognized him as the person we had met as we entered the house.
“We were dazed for a few seconds at the shocking calamity, but we rallied, not knowing how soon we should be called upon to defend our own lives. There were only seven of us, and Mr. House was unarmed. The noise and confusion of the last few moments had aroused the sleepy household, and we saw thatin point of numbers we were in a small minority. I stationed the three Zouaves at points commanding the approaches to the passages converging on the stairway where we stood, and directed that the first man who showed himself in the passages should be shot down. The occupants of the rooms in our immediate vicinity were gathered together in a single apartment and Brownell, who had reloaded his rifle, was placed as guard over them with instructions to shoot the first man who should evince a hostile disposition. The Chaplain and I searched the story above, finding only the two men whom I have before mentioned as being in the attic room when the flag was cut down; these we led down and put in Brownell’s custody. Mr. House, meanwhile, had kept watch that no one approached us from the story below. These defensive measures were only the work of a minute or two.
“We next turned our attention to our dear friend, the Colonel, whose life-blood had literally deluged the hallway. If we had not been too sadly sure that he was beyond the reach of any aid we could offer there would not have been even the slight delay there was ere we raised him from the floor. Mr. House and I lifted him up tenderly and laid him upon the bed in a room that was vacant. His uniform was so drenched with blood that it was almost impossible to discover the exact location of his wound. Unfastening his belt and unbuttoning his coat we foundthat the murderous charge had penetrated his left breast, taking into the wound much of the clothing, making a cavity almost large enough to insert a clenched hand. Poor fellow! We washed the stains from his face, which was beautiful in death—the expression of the handsome features not at all changed, except by the pallor, from that which his friends knew so well in life, and we composed his body, over which we laid the Confederate flag which had so long waved in defiance within sight of the White House, feeling that its use in this way purified it.”
The sword which Ellsworth wore at the time of his murder was given to Mr. Winser and is still in the possession of the family.
Mr. Winser was at the battle of Cold Harbor and had his horse shot under him. After the battle, during the night, a rifle ball lodged in the tent pole directly over his head, so low down that it must almost have passed through his hair, but so exhausted was he that he was all unconscious that death had been so near. During the Draft Riots in New York, in July, 1863, Mr. Winser was in command of the battery which protected Printing House Square. He also did effective work in communicating with the authorities on Governor’s Island, and although he was a marked man owing to his connection with the New York Times, he went fearlessly about the city looking after his friends in the sections where a reign of terror had set in.
Mr. Winser was once made prisoner of war by Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, who was in command at Beaufort, S. C. Mr. Winser had criticised his methods in a letter to the Times. This so angered the General that he caused his arrest, sending him on board the Arago, which was just leaving for New York, without permitting him to communicate with any of his friends. The publication of the affair resulted in Mr. Winser’s reinstatement at headquarters in South Carolina.
Mr. Winser was with Farragut at New Orleans, as a representative of the Times. In those days the means of communication were exceedingly slow, and Mr. Winser, recognizing the value to his paper of such a “scoop” as the first news of this important event would be, rowed down the Mississippi from Fort Jackson to the Gulf, where he found a schooner bound for Key West. This he boarded, and reached his destination a few hours ahead of the steamer from Havana, Cuba, which touched here for mail and passengers on its way to New York.
Thus the New York Times had an account of the bombardment and surrender of Forts Jackson and Phillip three days in advance of any other journal. This was considered the greatest “beat” ever known in the history of journalism. It was not only the means of giving the news to the country, but was also the first intimation that the government itself received of the success of the fleet. Mr. Winser returned to New Orleans and was there during the Butlerregime and chronicled the General’s achievements for his paper.
Mr. Winser was also present at the meeting of Grant and Lee under the famous apple tree to arrange for the surrender of the Confederate Army.
He was one of the commissioners for the exchange of prisoners from Andersonville, and his reports of the condition of the men were most harrowing.
When the famous Butler-Porter controversy occurred in 1889, it was Mr. Winser who was able to prove that Butler’s charges against Porter were untrue.
When Mr. Winser sent his report of Farragut’s passage of the forts below New Orleans (as narrated elsewhere), fearing there might be a miscarriage, he wrote a second account which was forwarded by the same steamer that carried the letters of other newspaper correspondents. This latter manuscript was returned to him and hence, when Admiral Porter wrote, asking him if he remembered the circumstances of the sudden order from Captain Porter to the flotilla to cease firing and return, Mr. Winser was able to give a transcript of the affair from his manuscript letter.
It was a great grief to Mr. Winser that General Butler should have placed himself in so unpleasant a position, for he had valued him as a friend and soldier, and was most reluctantly brought into the controversy.