PART II.

C. C. Hine In 1895.C. C. Hine In 1895. “There may have been men of greater and more beautiful character than his, but I never knew any and never read of any. I count it one of the most fortunate things of my life to have been for so many years so closely associated with him. While it (the portrait) does not do full Justice to the subject (I do not think any photograph could), it is a face I am glad to look at and it recalls some of the pleasantest memories of my whole life and some of the things which, I am sure, have been of the utmost value to me in many ways. He left nothing but a trail of good wherever he went. My memory is of aliferather than of episodes; I only wish I could describe it as it was lived. The only two absolutely unselfish people I ever knew were Mr. Hine and my own mother.”

C. C. Hine In 1895. “There may have been men of greater and more beautiful character than his, but I never knew any and never read of any. I count it one of the most fortunate things of my life to have been for so many years so closely associated with him. While it (the portrait) does not do full Justice to the subject (I do not think any photograph could), it is a face I am glad to look at and it recalls some of the pleasantest memories of my whole life and some of the things which, I am sure, have been of the utmost value to me in many ways. He left nothing but a trail of good wherever he went. My memory is of aliferather than of episodes; I only wish I could describe it as it was lived. The only two absolutely unselfish people I ever knew were Mr. Hine and my own mother.”

C. C. HINE AND HIS TIMES.

This second part is intended to cover as well as may be the period of time beginning with the opening of Woodside as a residence section. During these years Mr. Charles Cole Hine took such an active interest in the welfare of the neighborhood and was so wrapped up in and identified with its best interests that its history is his biography, consequently I feel that it will be proper to give here a brief outline of his life previous to the year 1867, when he settled in Woodside.

When women could lift their little children up to “take a last look at the best friend they ever had”, as was done while the people passed by the coffin of Mr. Hine as it lay in the church, such as did not come in direct contact with the man may to some extent understand what a feeling of love he inspired in those who knew him.

For me he had a living reality that death has never removed; it was years before I could accept the situation. Concerning no one else have I ever had the same feeling. Death has removed others and I have accepted the condition as final, but for a long periodafter the death of my father I had a feeling amounting to momentary conviction that he had opened the office door and was coming toward me, and have looked up from my desk many a time to welcome him. This could not have been a matter of local association, for I was occupying an office which he never saw. What it was I do not know.

“Thy voice is on the rolling air,I hear thee where the waters run;Thou standest in the rising sun,And in the setting thou art fair.”

“Thy voice is on the rolling air,

I hear thee where the waters run;

Thou standest in the rising sun,

And in the setting thou art fair.”

Charles Cole Hine was born in New Haven, Conn., December 21, 1825. When six years of age his parents removed to Hornellsville, N. Y. His father was a carriage builder, but of nomadic tendencies, and the boy had small opportunity for schooling, though as a matter of fact he went to school all his life; he had an instinct for acquiring knowledge that could not be suppressed, and as a result those who knew him best in after life took it for granted that he was a college-bred man.

With the versatility of many another self-made man he turned his hand to many things in his youth while finding himself. He once went on a concert tour with three other young men, driving from town to town through Ohio and western Pennsylvania. At one time he turned to art for a living and actually did support himself, after a fashion, for a brief period,painting portraits. Mr. Hine’s father moved to Massillon, Ohio, in 1837, and there the boy grew up and cast his first vote. Once when clerking in a store in Massillon, among the commodities of which was a line of books, the proprietor, who was of a kindly disposition, allowed the young man to read as he liked, and as a result he read every book in the place, including an encyclopædia, some six hundred volumes in all.

When the telegraph was young he became interested in that and established lines through parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, contracting for poles and their erection, selecting the local operators and teaching them the Morse alphabet, and doing any other missionary work that was needed. That he was something more in this than ordinary is evidenced by the fact that in Reid’s “History of the Telegraph in America” Mr. Hine’s name is frequently mentioned, and always in complimentary terms. While in charge of the office in Louisville, he invented a transmitter to repeat messages in order to save the time of an operator, for in those days the electric fluid only carried a message so far, and long distance messages must needs be repeated by hand. Later some one invented and patented the same thing and made, I believe, a fortune by it.

An operator in the early days of telegraphy was a more important personage than at present. Mr. Hine has told how, when he was stationed in St. Louis, 1848-9, P. T. Barnum was taking Jenny Lind aroundthe country and, upon reaching St. Louis, he insisted on getting inside the telegraph office and making the acquaintance of the operator. As a result he took Mr. Hine riding with him and gave him two tickets for each concert, no mean gift when tickets were selling at $20.00 each.

The year 1849 was the year of the cholera and of the “great fire” in St. Louis. “The city was a charnel house; funerals were the principal events and the chief business of the hour; hearses went on a trot when they could not go faster.” Mr. Hine was convalescing from the disease and had been carried from a room at Olive and Main streets to his boarding house. That same night the “great fire” started on the levee. Four hundred buildings in the business heart of the city, which included Olive and Main streets, were destroyed.

While living in St. Louis Mr. Hine met Mary Hazard Avery, whose parents had also removed from Connecticut, and was married to Miss Avery in that city July 4, 1853. Before that time he had established himself in New Albany, Ind., where in due course he represented the Adams Express Company, and was secretary of a plank road, notary for two banks and agent for several insurance companies, fire and life.

While living here the New Albany Theological Seminary removed to Chicago, leaving a splendid set of buildings vacant, and Mr. Hine thought he saw the opportunity of his life in the establishment of a girls’seminary. The property was easily obtained, and he spent all the money he had and all he could borrow fitting up the place but, as he once put it, “the New Albany Female Seminary opened simultaneously with the great panic of 1857”. He lost every cent he had and came out of the crash many thousands of dollars in debt.

When Mr. Hine wished to enter active business again he bought up the outstanding notes against him in order to protect himself and, although his former creditors had no claim on him thereafter, he gradually paid back every dollar of indebtedness with interest. In this he followed the somewhat unique method of ascertaining who among his old creditors were most in need, and paying these first.

As an insurance agent Mr. Hine had represented the Ætna Insurance Company, whose western general agent had said to him: “Mr. Hine, if ever you should want to go into insurance again, please let me know first”, and after the crash Mr Hine promptly sent word to the headquarters in Cincinnati that he wanted a position and as promptly got it. Thereafter he was connected with the western office of the Ætna until he removed to New York in 1865. Mr. Hine was brought east by the offer of the secretaryship of the International Insurance Company, but the methods adopted not being to his liking he resigned. He was then practically offered the position of Superintendent of the Insurance Department of the State of NewYork, but preferring to be his own master and delighting in editorial work, he purchased the Insurance Monitor in March, 1868, and that became his life work.

As soon as his work would permit he began to look about for a home, and ultimately decided on Woodside, which was then beginning to be exploited as a residence section for toilers in the city. In this connection it can do no harm to tell a little story which he often told of himself.

As a young man he spent many of his leisure hours painting, and in 1844 painted much with a certain man in Massillon, Ohio, who was something of an artist, and during this time painted the man’s portrait, but he had completely lost sight of his friend for more than twenty years.

In 1866, when looking for a home site, Mr. Hine answered, among others, an advertisement of a Mr. M., in Morrisania, and while inspecting the house saw a portrait which he recognized as that of his artist friend of 1844, and one which he had seen many times, but which the lady of the house told him was Mr. M., an entirely different name.

When the gentleman himself arrived Mr. Hine recognized him, but neither gave any indication of the recognition and an appointment was made for Mr. M. to call at the New York office of his prospective customer the next day.

Home Of Mr. Henry J. Winser.Home Of Mr. Henry J. Winser. House erected in 1866. Situated at 201 Washington Avenue. In the foreground stands the old apple tree that was used as a talking point by Mr. Ananias.

Home Of Mr. Henry J. Winser. House erected in 1866. Situated at 201 Washington Avenue. In the foreground stands the old apple tree that was used as a talking point by Mr. Ananias.

In the meantime Mr. Hine got out his old portraitof the man and placed it in his office where the caller would see it, expecting a good time in resuming the old acquaintance, but Mr. M. never came, and inquiry showed that he had disappeared suddenly, leaving no address, and that his house was vacant and in the hands of an agent.

Mr. Hine’s portrait of the man hung for many years over a door in the dining room at No. 209 Washington avenue, and he was fond of relating an entirely new supposition accounting for the mysterious disappearance of the gentleman, which was advanced by his pastor who, on a certain occasion, was dining at the house when the story was told, and who “looked up from his plate, gazed at the picture a moment, and then looking me square in the eye said, in a calm, deliberate voice: ‘Maybe he was afraid you would paint him again.’”

Mr. Hine first visited Woodside in August, 1866; the house at 201 Washington avenue was for sale, having been erected by a Mr. Babbitt, who was unable to occupy it. Mr. Hine concluded it could be made to meet his requirements, and immediately closed the bargain; but it seems that Mr. Henry J. Winser had before this discovered the house and, being attracted by the great trees growing on the place, secured the refusal of the property for a few days, and it was before this time had expired that Mr. Hine made the purchase.

Here was a state of things which was unpleasant for all except Mr. Babbitt, who had his money, and he referred Mr. Winser to Mr. Hine, thus dismissing the matter so far as he was concerned. Mr. Winser as city editor of the New York Times was then investigating the Tweed Ring and could not attend to personal matters, hence it devolved on Mrs. Winser to open the negotiations which resulted in a sale to Mr. W. and the purchase of property adjoining on the north by Mr. Hine.

The Winser family moved in on September 1, 1866. At this time there were five detached houses on this (east) side of what was then Belleville avenue; these were occupied by Messrs. Winser, Best, Baldwin, Neumann and Daniel F. Tompkins. On the west side were six houses, occupied (from south to north) by Messrs. Sommer, an artist; Shannan, Mrs. Van Wyck, James Gamble, George B. Callen and John P. Contrell. Between Elwood avenue and Carteret street the foundations for four houses were laid, and on the hill above Carteret street Mr. Charles D. Morrison who, with Mr. John I. Briggs, composed the firm of Morrison & Briggs, builders, was erecting his own dwelling. Below these groups on the south there was no building until we came to the spacious house, embowered in trees, of Mr. Horace H. Nichols, and across Washington avenue from Mr. Nichols, at thepoint, the house built by Mr. A. P. Scharff, later occupied by Dr. MacKie, Mr. James A. C. Van Rossam and one Flavel.

On what was then known as the Back road were the houses of Colonel Buck, Messrs. Samuel Royce, Miles I’Anson, E. A. Boyden, John Scharff, John C. Bennett; the first house of C. D. Morrison, present corner of May street and Summer place; the old Phillips farm house and the house of James Swinnerton, Jr., on the northeast corner of Elwood avenue, which was then Berkley street.

Within the year there were built the houses of Mr. Hine, Mr. Harlan, C. D. Morrison, Miss Teel, Mr. Pratt, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Faitoute, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. F. F. Mercer, Mr. Blackwood, Mr. McDonald and Wm. Chippendale, the latter a son of Richard Chippendale, who came to this country on account of the Chartist troubles in England, and about this time the house of Mr. Horace Carter on the Gully road was built.

Several new houses were built on the River road near Grafton avenue, and were occupied by Mr. Webster, Mr. Oliver Gordon, formerly of Brooklyn, who had a large business with China and was a colleague of the Lows; and Benjamin Brigg, son-in-law of Mr. Gordon and the representative of the Brigg woolen mills in Huddersfield, England.

HOMES OF AN EARLIER PERIOD.

Of the old settlers there were the houses of Sandford, Munn, Melius, Colonel Cumming, Stimis, John McDonald, Coeyman and Weiler, on the River road; Mr. Alfred Hardwick Gibbs on the high ground north of the Gully road, known as “Thornhill”; the “Cedars”, built by Frank Forester (H. W. Herbert), which had been bought by Mr. Sanchez y Dolce, and was then occupied by him, and also a group of houses about the junction of Washington and Grafton avenues and Halleck Street, which is treated of elsewhere.

On the west side of Belleville avenue near Second river was the interesting old house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bird and Mrs. Bird’s two sons by a former marriage, Lewis and George Ashmun. This was a most delightful house, and the hospitality of the Birds was renowned. Mrs. Bird was a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Strong, of Massachusetts, and inherited her gracious manner and charm of conversation from a long line of ancestors who were among the best people of New England.

They entertained with the grace of the early part of the nineteenth century, before the advent of that class of plutocrats that brought ostentatious pomp and more or less bad manners into society. Mr. Bird was a gentleman of the old school, and Mrs. Bird one of the most gracious and beautiful of women. It was always a delight to attend their evenings at home. One was sure of meeting all the charming people ofthe surrounding country and Newark, and there was no lack of brilliant conversation. When the gatherings were not too large and the company could assemble around the hospitable board the table-talk was sparkling with wit, while matters of graver import were freely discussed.

It is impossible to say when this old house was erected; it bears every evidence of having been a very fine place in its day. One informant recalls having heard Mrs. Bird state that the house was built before the Revolution by an Englishman who sympathized with his king and was consequently compelled to leave the country when war was declared. This information Mrs. Bird secured from a daughter of Harry Coeyman, who had received it from her father. Presumably this is Henry M. Coeyman, a son of Minard, who is said to have served in the Revolution, and the son would thus have come on the scene early enough to know the facts.

The records do not go beyond 1790. On July 5, 1790, James H. Maxwell conveyed the property to Alexander McComb who, on May 21, 1792, conveyed it to Daniel McCormick who, on July 18, 1792, conveyed to Thomas Bennett. The next transfer is a sheriff’s deed dated June 24, 1812, to Jacob Stout, and on April 9, 1825, his widow, Frances, conveyed to the President and Directors of the New Jersey Bleaching, Printing & Dyeing Company. On September 10, 1829, a sheriff’s deed conveyed to Samuel Wright etals. Then follow the names of owners as follows: Andrew Gray, Bolton et als., Edward Dwight et als., American Print Works, 1835; James K. Mills, 1853; George Bird, 1853, and Jonathan Bird, 1859.

During the time that the house was occupied by Mr. Bird the place was approached from Mill street by a bridge across Second river just above the present Washington avenue bridge.

After the many years of unclouded friendship that have existed between the families of Hine and Winser it is difficult to realize that there could ever have been any other state of feeling, but at the outset conditions were just the reverse and the cause of it is rather an interesting little story.

Both homesteads were situated within what was once a Stimis apple orchard and each contained several magnificent apple trees that were probably over one-hundred years old, and it was one of these trees and an unruly tongue that caused the trouble. The tree in question was a picturesque old giant that stood on the Winser premises near the street and near Mr. Hine’s line.

A neighbor of both families, whom we will call Mr. Ananias, took a dislike to Mr. Hine, even before his house was finished, and undertook to make trouble for him. Knowing that both families admired and valued the trees which adorned their places he pitched on this particular apple tree, and first called on Mr.Winser and during a conversation managed to introduce the subject of the new neighbor, incidentally remarking that Mr. Hine, who was a new-rich upstart from the west, had taken a dislike to the Winser family and, having learned of its love of trees, had announced that he was going to have that apple tree down, Winser or no Winser, under the pretense that it interfered with his view.

Having planted and properly watered the seed of discord he proceeded to sow tares in the next field by informing Mr. Hine that the Winsers had expressed themselves in a very disparaging way concerning him and his, proposing to annoy him in any way they could and, having heard of his admiration for this great apple tree, intended to cut it down to spite him.

After this it was quite natural that the families should pass by on the other side—in fact the one turned its back on the other in so pronounced a fashion that there was no overlooking it.

The Winsers saw the family move in and noted that it consisted of one gentleman, two ladies and three children, and concluded that the slender lady, who was in black, was a widow, and that the slender boy was her son. And thus matters stood until one morning there was a bad accident in the Hine kitchen and Miss Avery, the supposed widow, came over for help. The cook had been burned and Mr. Hine, in beating out the flames, had had his hands burned until the skin hung from them in shreds.

Carron oil was wanted and a doctor was wanted, and Mrs. Winser, who was home alone at the time, did all in her power to assist the distressed by sending her horse for the doctor and coming to offer personal help. When she first saw Mr. Hine he was sitting with hands extended to avoid contact with anything, and when she expressed a wish to help he gladly accepted, but voiced his surprise that, feeling as she did, the offer should be made. This led to a prompt retort, and almost before they knew it the situation was explained and the eyes of both opened, and thereafter there was a well-worn path between the two houses. During the ten days or more that Mr. Hine was confined to the house Mrs. Winser took down any matters he wished to dictate and made frequent journeys to his New York office in his behalf.

Much might be told in regard to the sayings of Mr. Ananias, but possibly one or two more of his pleasantries will suffice:—

Mrs. Winser recalls her first visit to Woodside and the swarms of mosquitoes in the horse cars that were on hand to greet her: they were the real Jersey mosquitoes of well-defined propensity. It was August, and as she and Mr. Winser alighted in front of the house, which was then building, and which later became theirs, they were met by Mr. A., and to him voiced their opinions of the pests, but he waived it off with the casual remark that Woodside only had mosquitoes for a week or ten days during the middle orlatter part of August, and while they were bad then, it was only for a brief period.

In July, 1867, Mr. Winser sailed for Europe on the destroyer “Dunderburg”, built by Mr. Webb, but finished too late for use in the Civil War, and which had been purchased by the French government. The trip was considered dangerous, as the vessel had been intended merely for coast defense, and the traveler not only made his will, having been warned that he was going to a watery grave, but left the most minute written instructions to help Mrs. Winser over the rough places.

What was Mrs. Winser’s astonishment when, as soon as her husband was out of reach, “the Woe of Woodside” (our friend Ananias) came to her with a memorandum saying that Mr. Winser had pledged himself to pay $300 toward the erection of an Episcopal church in Woodside. This was news to her, and she searched the book of written instructions in which all claims and all money matters had been entered by Mr. Winser without being able to find that he had made such a pledge as was claimed.

When she made this announcement to Mr. A. he promptly answered: “Well, if this amount is not paid by you, your husband’s honor will be at stake and you will be the cause”. Imagine the feelings of this wife of fifteen months when told that she must pay this moral (!) obligation or cover her husband’s name with dishonor. Finally, without consulting any oneversed in the ways of the world, Mrs. Winser paid over the money and, according to Mr. A., the name of H. J. Winser was put down on the subscription list with others, but some weeks later she learned that the name was not down among subscribers, but headed the list, and was used as a means of extracting money from other Episcopalians in the neighborhood.

The Winsers had brought their letters to Christ Church in Belleville, and had had no thought of making any change; hence, on the return of Mr. Winser, and the facts being known, he was filled with wrath. It was too late, however, to do anything. The reason for this conduct on the part of Mr. A. is supposed to have been purely monetary, as he expected to profit by the work involved in the erection of the proposed church building.

Thus when one acquainted with all the circumstances once remarked that “the church was conceived in sin and born in iniquity” the statement is thought to meet the situation with a fair degree of accuracy.

Mrs. Winser was later appointed treasurer of the church guild, and had great satisfaction in making Mr. A. toe the mark when his part of the work was not properly done.

Until the building was under cover services were held in Morrison’s Hall, Washington avenue, opposite Elliott street, and the Lenten services, morning andevening, in the Winser house; but, as I understand it, when the church was organized some of the first services were held in Mr. Hine’s house, as witness the following:—

“At the first regular meeting of the Vestry of St. John’s church of Woodside, N. J., the following resolution was offered by Mr. E. A. Condit and unanimously adopted:—

“Resolved, that the Vestry of St. John’s Church, Woodside, hereby tender their acknowledgments to C. C. Hine, Esquire, for his numerous acts of kindness and courtesy in their behalf, and especially for the free use of his house as a place of public worship during the past summer.

“Resolved, that the Secretary communicate this resolution to Mr. Hine and record the same in the minutes of the Vestry.

“E. A. CONDIT,”Secy. of the Vsty.“

“E. A. CONDIT,

”Secy. of the Vsty.“

On September 15, 1868, St. John’s Church was dedicated, the church building having been in use for some time previous to this. The annals of the parish pass this service over. Bishop Odenheimer and some twenty odd clergymen were present.

Rev. Mr. Lounsbury was the first rector; he remained only a short time and Rev. Samuel Hall succeeded him in February, 1868.

The following notes are from the parish register:—

“First meeting to organize, September 2, 1867.

“Cornerstone laid, November 29, 1867.

“Rev. Samuel Hall, rector, February 8, 1868, to February 8, 1873, when he resigned to become rector of the Church of the Redeemer, Morristown.

“Rev. H. H. Barbour, rector from April 17, 1873, to November 1, 1875.

“November 1, 1874, rectory occupied. Rev. Francis A. Henry, rector from April 29, 1876, to October 2, 1876.

“Rev. I. B. Wetherell, rector from November 29, 1876, to April 18, 1877.

“Rev. I. H. McCandless, rector from April 18, 1877, to November 1, 1877.

“Rev. George C. Pennell, S. T. D., rector from January, 1878, to January 15, 1880.

“Rev. Arthur B. Conger, rector from March 28, 1880, to April 1, 1882. Resigned on account of illness.

“Rev. A. L. Wood, rector from September 11, 1882, to September 1, 1891.

“Rev. Frank Albion Sanborn, B. D., rector, September 1, 1891.”

He was followed by Rev. George W. Lincoln, who was succeeded by Rev. Rowland S. Nichols, the present incumbent.

That the women of Woodside were unusually attractive there is no denying. Of one of them it is told that she found herself in Newark rather late one evening after the cars had ceased to run and, beingalone and unable to secure a livery team (for Newark was as primitive in its way forty years ago as was Woodside) she applied at the police station for help and an officer was sent with her on the walk home. They evidently had a very pleasant trip, for it was not more than three days later that the officer appeared at the lady’s home, dressed in his best, only to find that she was married. An introduction to the husband somewhat cooled his ardor.

There is a tradition that Captain Kidd buried treasure at a point in the Winser back yard where an ancient apple tree flourished when we were young, and the following facts seem to show good foundation for the belief:—

We are told that oft during the quiet of the night (this was before the day of the trolley and its outrageous roar) the sound of a pick being driven vigorously into the earth could be heard from the direction of the old tree, but when the hearers gazed out into the dark no one could be seen. Those watching with the sick frequently noted such sounds, and as there were no visible diggers and the following morning no indications that the earth had been disturbed, it seems impossible that the work could have been done by other than the shades of the departed pirates. What, indeed, is to prevent our supposing that the ghost of the pirate captain himself was on hand, superintending the work in his old burying ground?

Then there were the snakes that guarded this old apple tree—great black snakes of a peculiarly ferocious and menacing aspect—which, as is well attested by the most reliable witnesses, were known to deliberately simulate crooked sticks which, when about to be picked up by some unsuspecting human, would dart out a fiery tongue and with a terrible hissing sound drive the too venturesome explorer to the uttermost parts of the Winser lot.

Morrison & Briggs were the chief builders of the first Woodside houses. As nearly as can now be learned it seems probable that it was they who induced Messrs. Parker & Keasbey to purchase land here about 1865, open streets and lay out sites for residences. The builders at first had a very small shop on Berkley street (now Elwood avenue) immediately adjoining the house of Mr. Swinnerton, but it was not long before they erected a two-story woodworking establishment on Washington avenue, just north of Elliott street.

Charlie Morrison, of the firm, was a curious specimen, good natured to a degree it would appear, for he was seemingly so unwilling to disappoint any one that he would promise the impossible without a blink. His fondness for moving was epitomized by his better half (very much better) once when she remarked that if he died first she should have his coffin put on wheels, as he would never be content to rest in one place long.

Morrison & Briggs had not been exactly trained in the art of building but they managed to bungle it through in one way and another. The house at 209 Washington avenue is an example: this was built in 1866-7, and my recollection is of hearing that the cellar wall must needs be torn down twice before it would pass inspection. When the last payment on the house was due it was necessary to furnish the builders with a list (quite a long one) of those things left undone with a gentle intimation that the final check would be forthcoming when the deficiencies were supplied. There was then a very good feint at something doing, when another list, somewhat shorter than the first, was handed to the builders, and so by a gradual process of elimination, as it were, the house was pronounced complete.

During the winter of 1868 the Winser horse came to a bad end. It seems that a brother of a certain General S. had rented a house on Halleck street, and as the General was an old friend of Mr. Winser it was taken for granted that the Major, his brother, was of the same standing, and he was immediately taken into the Winser bosom.

About this time the Winsers, having small use for their horse, had arranged to board it for a period in Westchester County, but when the Major heard of this he suggested that he take the animal, and that then if they wanted it at any time it would be near by.This was more than agreeable to the owners, and “Nelly” was soon installed in the Major’s stable.

In the course of ten days Mr. Winser dropped in to see how his favorite was coming on, and was told by a stableman that his master had driven her to Pamrapo where he was superintending some road building. This seemed reasonable, but when a second visit some two weeks later elicited the statement that the Major had shipped “Nelly” from Pamrapo to Maryland, and it was found that the Major’s house was closed and that he would not return until January, it seemed about time to move in the matter.

The case was laid before a well-known lawyer in Newark, who would not touch it because the Major and he were on the same Republican Committee. It was then given to Mr. Runyon, later Chancellor and Ambassador to Berlin, and he, not being of the same political faith as the Major, took the case with great gusto.

The Major turned up in Newark in the course of time and the case was heard before Judge Depue. The Major said that “Nelly’s” bones were bleaching on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; that she was absolutely valueless, and that he had taken her out of pure pity to save her from ill-treatment. He had but one witness, who declared that he had driven with the Major, and had no hesitation in saying the horse was lame, half starved and not fit to be put in harness.

Mr. Runyon demolished this testimony by provingthat this witness had no knowledge of the points of a horse, by showing that he was indebted to the Major for his position at that time and that he had not seen the horse until she had been in the Major’s possession for some time. The Major was inclined to be flippant with the Court and, finally, when asked how he stood in regard to certain transactions, he answered that he “stood in his shirt and trousers”. The judge warned him that he would have to answer for contempt of court.

After ten minutes’ deliberation the jury returned a verdict against the defendant for $400 for the value of the horse and also assessed the costs on him, but it is needless to say that he never paid either amount, being a politician of note. The Republican party in Newark has certainly been loaded with a hard lot of citizens, first and last.

It will now be necessary to go back a bit in our chronology in order to get at the beginnings of the Woodside we know.

The opening of Washington avenue, about 1865, was the beginning of a new era for the neighborhood, for then Parker and Keasbey purchased a considerable tract in the vicinity of Washington and Elwood avenues and cut it up for suburban dwelling purposes and Morrison & Briggs, contractors, appeared on the scene.

To be sure “the opening of the new highway consistedmerely in setting the fences back and making a narrow cut through the hill just north of Carteret street, the earth from which was used to fill the ravine further north”. A single car track was then laid from the cemetery to Second river, and Woodside was open for business.

But it was not Woodside in those days. The first name attached to the locality, and which appears to have come into use about 1863, was Ridgewood. There was, however, a post office of this name already established in the state, and when the town was set off from Belleville the name was changed to the present form.

In 1865 this was a part of Belleville, but it was not long before efforts were made for a separation, as the following documents indicate:—

ASSEMBLY—NO. 498. STATE OF NEW JERSEY.An Act to set off from the township of Belleville, inthe county of Essex, an election district, to beknown as Woodside.1 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly2 of the State of New Jersey, That all that3 part of said township of Belleville, lying and being4 south of the Second river, be set off from the5 township of Belleville, and made and constituted6 an election district to be known and called Woodside.1 2. And be it enacted, That Alfred Keen,2 Charles D. Morrison, and Charles Akers be and3 are hereby appointed inspectors of election with4 power to elect and appoint a clerk for said election,5 at the annual town election to be held in April6 eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at Woodside7 polling district in the public hall known as Woodside8 hall, and who are hereby required and authorized9 to perform all duties required of inspectors10 of election, in and for said district, and shall11 preside at said first town meeting in said district,12 as inspectors of election.1 3. And be it enacted, That at the election to be2 held in April, anno domini eighteen hundred and3 sixty-eight, and at each succeeding April, three4 persons shall be elected as judges of election for5 such election district for the term of one year, who6 shall possess the powers, be required to perform7 the duties, and be subject to the liabilities as other8 judges or inspectors of elections, according to the9 general laws of the State of New Jersey, as they10 now are or may hereafter be, and said judges so11 elected shall act as judges of all elections to be12 hereafter held in said district, no ballot for this13 purpose shall contain more than two names; in14 case more than two names are voted for, the ballot15 shall only be void as to said judge, and the16 three persons who receive the highest number of17 votes shall be deemed and taken to be elected18 judges of election, in case two persons shall have19 received an equal number of votes, the first person20 named on the ballot for judge of election shall be21 elected, and the said judges and clerk shall receive22 two dollars per day for their services, and the said23 judges of election shall procure a proper box for24 said district, of which place and time of holding25 elections they shall give at least two weeks’ notice26 in five of the most public places in said district,27 and the said board shall have power to appoint28 a clerk, who shall perform such duties as is29 required in the act to which this is a supplement.1 4. And be it enacted, That all acts or parts of2 acts inconsistent with this act be and the same are3 hereby repealed.1 5. And be it enacted, That this act shall take2 effect immediately.

ASSEMBLY—NO. 498. STATE OF NEW JERSEY.

An Act to set off from the township of Belleville, inthe county of Essex, an election district, to beknown as Woodside.

An Act to set off from the township of Belleville, in

the county of Essex, an election district, to be

known as Woodside.

1 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly2 of the State of New Jersey, That all that3 part of said township of Belleville, lying and being4 south of the Second river, be set off from the5 township of Belleville, and made and constituted6 an election district to be known and called Woodside.

1 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly

2 of the State of New Jersey, That all that

3 part of said township of Belleville, lying and being

4 south of the Second river, be set off from the

5 township of Belleville, and made and constituted

6 an election district to be known and called Woodside.

1 2. And be it enacted, That Alfred Keen,2 Charles D. Morrison, and Charles Akers be and3 are hereby appointed inspectors of election with4 power to elect and appoint a clerk for said election,5 at the annual town election to be held in April6 eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at Woodside7 polling district in the public hall known as Woodside8 hall, and who are hereby required and authorized9 to perform all duties required of inspectors10 of election, in and for said district, and shall11 preside at said first town meeting in said district,12 as inspectors of election.

1 2. And be it enacted, That Alfred Keen,

2 Charles D. Morrison, and Charles Akers be and

3 are hereby appointed inspectors of election with

4 power to elect and appoint a clerk for said election,

5 at the annual town election to be held in April

6 eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at Woodside

7 polling district in the public hall known as Woodside

8 hall, and who are hereby required and authorized

9 to perform all duties required of inspectors

10 of election, in and for said district, and shall

11 preside at said first town meeting in said district,

12 as inspectors of election.

1 3. And be it enacted, That at the election to be2 held in April, anno domini eighteen hundred and3 sixty-eight, and at each succeeding April, three4 persons shall be elected as judges of election for5 such election district for the term of one year, who6 shall possess the powers, be required to perform7 the duties, and be subject to the liabilities as other8 judges or inspectors of elections, according to the9 general laws of the State of New Jersey, as they10 now are or may hereafter be, and said judges so11 elected shall act as judges of all elections to be12 hereafter held in said district, no ballot for this13 purpose shall contain more than two names; in14 case more than two names are voted for, the ballot15 shall only be void as to said judge, and the16 three persons who receive the highest number of17 votes shall be deemed and taken to be elected18 judges of election, in case two persons shall have19 received an equal number of votes, the first person20 named on the ballot for judge of election shall be21 elected, and the said judges and clerk shall receive22 two dollars per day for their services, and the said23 judges of election shall procure a proper box for24 said district, of which place and time of holding25 elections they shall give at least two weeks’ notice26 in five of the most public places in said district,27 and the said board shall have power to appoint28 a clerk, who shall perform such duties as is29 required in the act to which this is a supplement.

1 3. And be it enacted, That at the election to be

2 held in April, anno domini eighteen hundred and

3 sixty-eight, and at each succeeding April, three

4 persons shall be elected as judges of election for

5 such election district for the term of one year, who

6 shall possess the powers, be required to perform

7 the duties, and be subject to the liabilities as other

8 judges or inspectors of elections, according to the

9 general laws of the State of New Jersey, as they

10 now are or may hereafter be, and said judges so

11 elected shall act as judges of all elections to be

12 hereafter held in said district, no ballot for this

13 purpose shall contain more than two names; in

14 case more than two names are voted for, the ballot

15 shall only be void as to said judge, and the

16 three persons who receive the highest number of

17 votes shall be deemed and taken to be elected

18 judges of election, in case two persons shall have

19 received an equal number of votes, the first person

20 named on the ballot for judge of election shall be

21 elected, and the said judges and clerk shall receive

22 two dollars per day for their services, and the said

23 judges of election shall procure a proper box for

24 said district, of which place and time of holding

25 elections they shall give at least two weeks’ notice

26 in five of the most public places in said district,

27 and the said board shall have power to appoint

28 a clerk, who shall perform such duties as is

29 required in the act to which this is a supplement.

1 4. And be it enacted, That all acts or parts of2 acts inconsistent with this act be and the same are3 hereby repealed.

1 4. And be it enacted, That all acts or parts of

2 acts inconsistent with this act be and the same are

3 hereby repealed.

1 5. And be it enacted, That this act shall take2 effect immediately.

1 5. And be it enacted, That this act shall take

2 effect immediately.

“Woodside, 13 Mar. 1868.

“Gentlemen—At a meeting of the citizens of Woodside, held last evening to consider the matter of a new Township it was resolved that the passage of the Bill now before the Legislature was desirable and Major Sears and Mr. Alfred Keen were appointed (with power to select three associates) to proceed to Trenton and urge the passage of said Bill.

“It was also resolved that the means to defray the expenses of these gentlemen be provided by a contribution of one dollar each from the signers of the Memorial, and I was appointed to collect such contribution. It being impossible for me to spare thenecessary time to call upon you all, I request that you will hand the amount to my son, the bearer.

“Respectfully yours,”C. C. HINE,

“Respectfully yours,

”C. C. HINE,

“To Messrs. C. D. Morrison, Lorenzo Hart, Wm. A. Wauters, A. Bigelow, Edw. Carrigan, Jonathan Bird, E. Coeyman, Sam’l Royce, J. S. Gamble, Louis Dovell, T. H. Blake, E. B. Smith, Geo. W. Harlan, H. McFarlin, B. Dodd, T. A. Roberts, E. F. Higgins, P. Smith, J. P. Contrell, Dan’l F. Tompkins, N. Caughlin, Edw. Morrison, Jas. Swinnerton, Jr., J. C. McDonald, H. E. Joraleman, Geo. Ashmun, John H. Meeker, Wm. Dixon, Geo. T. Teel, A. Van Riper, J. P. Fowler, Alfred Sears, John I. Briggs, Geo. B. Callen, A. C. Neumann, W. J. Harlan, B. R. Sage, D. Evans, Geo. W. Keen, Owen Carroll, C. C. Hine, B. F. Baldwin, H. J. Winser, Wm. Jacobus, Stephen Joraleman, G. W. Cumming, E. G. Faitoute, Aaron H. Keen, Anthony Epworth, E. Charlier, Henry Farmer, Geo. W. Gore, Patrick Brady.”

If there were more names than these they were on another sheet which has been lost.

The separation was effected apparently without much difficulty, and thereafter for a brief period Woodside was independent. For the gobbling of it by Newark see the early pages of this book.

The following items are taken from the “Reminiscences” by Mr. James Swinnerton, which wereread before the Woodside Sunday School on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, 1887.

“At first a single stage which ran every hour was the only public conveyance between Newark and Belleville. This region was then a very primitive neighborhood. Early comers recall the fact that Washington Irving and his friends roamed over these beautiful hills and wooded vales with gun and dog. It was a veritable Sleepy Hollow, and Irving, had he been a resident, instead of an occasional visitor, might easily have rendered the Passaic and its valley as famous as he did Tarrytown and the Hudson. The hill above Carteret street through which Washington avenue was cut was then a well known spot to sportsmen, quail, ground-doves and rabbits being the chief game as now recalled.

“The infusion of new blood in Belleville quickened the old, a direct avenue to Newark was demanded and a horse railroad determined upon. Farmers and others gave their time and the use of their teams to break through the ridge north of Carteret street, and a rough pathway was made over the hills to the bluff on this side of Second river. Those traveling further north must do so on foot after descending the bluff by a steep flight of steps and crossing the river on a rickety foot bridge of logs.”

“The early settlers found a country beautiful to behold, but with the usual discomforts of a newplace. There were no stores, when short of provisions neighbor must forage on neighbor; there were no schools, Sunday or secular; there were no churches, there were no Sunday horse cars—ride to church we could not. There were no sidewalks, but there was a superabundance of mud—walk, therefore, we dared not. Those who were bold enough to do so found mud over shoe and usually arrived at the church door in a state of mind. Mud in Woodside at this time came early in the fall, stayed the winter out and lingered through the spring. Goloshes were at a premium and blacking brushes at a discount.

“A Woodsider of the period has been compared to a duck standing on one foot, with the difference that the duck stands thus from instinct, the Woodsider for the reason that he had no spot on which to place his other foot.

“During the day the horse-cars ran on twenty and forty-five minutes’ headway and seldom ventured out after dark, owing largely to the peculiar facility with which they ran off the track and the difficulty of setting them in the straight and narrow way again.

“Your present get off, cross over and wait for the bob-car arrangement is an improvement on the past, decidedly; as such it may afford you some consolation and hope for the future”. (Mr. Swinnerton thus wrote in 1887 when there was loud and prolonged indignationover the “bobtail” car service furnished Woodside).

These with other discomforts made life in Woodside interesting and will serve to show the situation during the first year. We were without the bread of life—often short of the bread that perisheth.

As there were no sidewalks the middle of the road was used as a foot path by those too early for the next car. “One day”, writes Mr. Swinnerton, “in the middle of the road, and in the spring of 1867, I met and was introduced to Mr. Hine. After the usual civilities Mr. Hine declared his purpose to start a Sunday school just as soon as he had moved into the settlement. This was good news, but I wondered how the ways and means were to be provided. Many of us had spent our last dollar when moving in, and there was not a spare room in the hamlet large enough to accommodate a Sunday school.”

“Several months before this the residents met under an old apple tree before the door of a small carpenter shop (Morrison & Briggs’s) to consider church and other interests, but the carpenter shop had disappeared and the apple tree promised little comfort beyond shade.

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