Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J. / Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now Living

by C. G. Hine

BACK ROAD.

Mrs. Charles Holt, who is 71 years of age, recalls the time when the Phillips farmhouse was the only house on the lower Back road, between the cemetery and Elwood avenue, and when this stretch was known as “Phillips’s lane”.

As Mr. James S. Taylor remembers it, the only houses along the old Back road, as far back perhaps as 1850, were, beginning at the south:—

First, the John C. Bennett house, built in 1852, at the S. E. corner of Chester avenue; then, almost opposite, the Miles I’Anson house, which now stands on a knoll along the northern border of Chester avenue. Next the Phillips homestead, on the west, just below Delavan avenue, which has since been moved back to Summer avenue. Above this there was no house until the bend, now known as Elwood place, was passed. Some distance beyond here stood a small stone house on the right occupied by an Irishman. This was probably Pat Brady, who in the fifties built just below the present Bryant street. Pat had the reputation of being a child of fortune. It is remembered that, while very poor, he suddenly became well-to-do, and this was only accounted for by the fact that he might have “found a purse”. About opposite the Brady house stood the “Magazine” house back in the field.

Probably the next was the Thomas Coeyman (son of William, who comes next) frame house, opposite the Elliott street school. Then came the William Coeyman house of stone, on the left and just above the head of Halleck street. William Stimis states that his father, John Stimis, worked on this house, which was erected about one hundred years ago. About half way between Irving street and Montclair avenue stood the house of Peter Coeyman (Peter and William were sons of Minard Coeyman of the River road). Next was the Alexander house, a long, low, story-and-a-half frame on the left just south of Verona avenue. Following this was the Jesse Bennett house on the S. W. corner of Verona avenue and opposite this on a lane which probably ran to the River road stood the Riddle house, formerly the J. F. King house. Next the house of Benson, the miller, which still stands at the S. E. corner of Summer and Sylvan avenues. While still further afield, toward the rising sun, stood the house of Jonathan Bird.

The Back road, in a deed made in 1812, is called the “Drift road”, while in 1820 it was “the road leading from Garrit Houghwort’s to Captain Stout’s mill ‘dam’“ (present cemetery to Second river). Now this highway of other days answers to three different names: as Lincoln avenue, Elwood place and Summer avenue. Mr. William Phillips has heard that in 1805 this road was merely a farm lane running not further north than the present Elwood avenue; that here it stopped at a farm, the owner of which would not allow it to pass through his property, and presumably this accounts for the turn at Elwood place, it being a laudable effort to get around the obstructionist. But, as will appear a bit later, General Anthony Wayne marched up this road in 1779, and it seems probable that the date, 1805, is too recent.

THE “STRAWBERRY” LOT.

When we were boys the Back road began at the “Strawberry” lot, a great ball field where the “Waverlys”, the “Newark Amateurs” and others furnished forth many a holiday. A member of the latter was, I have heard, the first in this neighborhood to pitch a curved ball which, in those days, was a great event. Part of the “Strawberry” lot is still the home of the athlete, for here the Riverside Athletic Club reigned for many years.

RIVERSIDE ATHLETIC CLUB.

Chronologically speaking the history of the Riverside Athletic Club belongs to the second part of this book, but this seems the best place to dwell briefly on the subject.

The club was organized about 1882, with some twenty-five members, among the more prominent of whom were L. P. Teller, William H. Brown, Paul E. Heller, Henry W. Heller, Frank Cadiz, Edmund Pierson and one Linehan. It was known as “the school of the bowlers”, and turned out more good, successful bowlers than any other athletic club in Newark; in fact it almost immediately took a prominent place in athletics generally, its track team was among the best, it was successful in football and had a fine reputation for square, manly sport.

Starting without money, the members laid out the grounds and built the track and tennis courts themselves, but so popular did it become that within two years there were something like three hundred members and the club continued to thrive for many years. Interest began to wane, however, as time went on, and about five years ago the club disbanded.

Shortly thereafter the Park Presbyterian Church purchased the clubhouse, and it was turned over to the Park Athletic Association, a church organization, and is still so occupied, though I believe the association is at present independent of the church.

A MILLERITE.

On the slender point made by the opening of Washington avenue stands the house erected by Mr. Scharff, and which was the home of a Millerite in the early days of Woodside, one Flavel by name, a baker by trade. Whether working over the hot fires of the bakery awoke in Mr. Flavel a desire to reach Heaven before his time, or whether he was one of those uneasy mortals who do not like to stay long in any one place, has not been explained, but he was a Millerite, that point is established. The neighbors still remember how he used to adjourn to the roof, “in his nightgown”, as one unsympathetic informant puts it, for the purpose of being translated, but there was always some hitch, and I believe he finally gave it up and ultimately took the route that is open to all of us.

NAMES OF SOME EARLY OWNERS.

The “Strawberry” lot belonged to Joseph West, whose house stood, according to the map of 1849, where Washington avenue now cuts into the brotherhood of streets here. The old pump presided over by “Mose” in the days of our youth, and from which the street car horses were watered, was probably the pump attached to the West house. This house may have been built by Gerard Haugevort; it was occupied by him probably 75 years ago. It was also occupied, about 1845, by old “Mammy” Pullinger, who started life on the River road, as a groggery and a rather low resort. When Washington avenue was cut through Mr. Nichols moved the building a few hundred feet down the Gully road, where it stands to-day.

Adjoining the West property on the north, and on the west side of the Back road was a narrow strip of land owned by Jesse Bennett, then came the Miles I’Anson property, which extended to that owned by John Morris Phillips, who also owned to the bend in the road, now Elwood place—this on the left. On the right the earliest map giving the names of owners, and which is probably not older than 1865 shows, for the same stretch, H. H. Nichols, John C. Bennett, Stoutenburg & Co., Romaine and Parker & Keasbey.

A LESSON IN MANNERS.

There is a story of one of the old residents here who was not given to taking impudence from anyone, particularly from those in his employ. He at one time had an obstinate Irishman to deal with, and dealt with him after the following fashion:—

It seems that for some piece of impertinence our citizen knocked his Irish employee down and jumped on him, remarking as he did so: “I’ll teach you to be a gentleman”, to which the under dog as promptly responded, “I defy you”. Our friend soon had his misguided opponent by the ears and was thumping his face into the dirt with a right good will (“laddy-holing” I believe this particular process is called), and with each movement of his arms he repeated over and over again his earnest desire to make a gentleman of the Irishman, to which the latter continued vehemently to respond, “I defy you! I defy you!” Whether he succeeded in his laudable efforts is not recorded, but he can at least be commended for his zeal in the matter.

MR. MILES I’ANSON AND PREVIOUS OWNERS OF HIS PROPERTY.

About 60 years ago a number of Englishmen settled in the northern part of Newark. This immigration was due to two causes: financial depression in the mother country and the Chartist agitation, 1839-1848. Among those who came over at this time was Mr. Miles I’Anson, who settled in the Woodside district, where he purchased a farm of about 30 acres, including the property south of the Phillips homestead, extending about as far as the present May street, on the west side of Lincoln avenue.

It was Mr. I’Anson, it is said, who first suggested the name of Woodside for this locality.

A search of the I’Anson property made by Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins for Mr. I’Anson contains many interesting items and names, and is here quoted from at length.

By a deed dated December 10, 1812, Richard L. Walker and wife sold the Back road property to Peter Maverick. It is described as being located on the “Drift” road, being bounded southeast on the Drift road northeast by land now or late of David Phillips, northeast (northwest?) and southwest by land now or late belonging to Isaac Plume.

Peter Maverick and his wife Mary on October 5, 1820, mortgaged to Hannah Spencer the above lot and a lot beginning at the southeastern corner of John Hawthorne’s lot on the western side of the “New Road” (probably the Bloomfield turnpike and below the Woodside line), leading from Garret Hogwart’s to Francis King’s; thence on the eastern line of said John Hawthorn’s lot of wood; thence to the northern line of the lot of land belonging to the estate of Isaac N. Kipp, dec’d; thence to the western line of said “New Road”.

January 19, 1833, William Dow, Sheriff, sold to Hannah Spencer the above two tracts of land.

April 1, 1833, Hannah Spencer sold both of these tracts to James Flintoff and George Flintoff.

May 11, 1839, the administrators of James and George Flintoff sold both tracts to William T. Haines.

January 5, 1842, William T. Haines sold the Lincoln avenue lot to David Day.

January 7, 1842, David Day and wife sold the property to Miles I’Anson.

November 19, 1841, William T. Haines and wife sold to William Barnett a part of the tract (as supposed) above referred to as situated on the western side of the “New Road”.

June 9, 1846, William Barnett and wife sold their land to Miles I’Anson.

April 7, 1803, the executors of Isaac Plume, deceased, sold to John Hawthorne land at the northwest side of “the Road or Drift Way Leading out of the Public Road from Newark to Belleville”, thence east to Ebenezer Smith’s land, thence north to David Walker’s land, thence west to the road. (This is copied as the search gave it.)

September 14, 1822, Abraham Reynolds, Sheriff, sold the same land to James Kearney, Esqr., except in the 6th course “sold under Decree in Chancery, dated April 2, 1822, wherein Gerard Haugwort (the various spellings of this name follow those in the search; the correct spelling is probably Haugevort), administrator of Hester Sip, dec’d, is complainant, and John Hawthorn and Margaret his wife, Aaron Munn and Nathaniel Lindsley are defendants.”

September 14, 1822, James Kearney sold to Gerard Haughworth the same land last above.

August 13, 1823, John Hawthorne quitclaimed to Philip Kearney for all his interest in the last above described land.

The last will of John Hawthorne, dated August 18, 1841, and proved April 22, 1844, gives to John P. Hawthorne the lot of land containing 14 acres, called the Hogworth lot.

April 1, 1845, Philip Kearney quitclaimed to John Hawthorne for all his interest in the same land last above described.

March 28, 1845, John P. Hawthorne sold to Miles I’Anson land beginning at a corner of the said Miles I’Anson’s land on the west side of the Road leading from Newark to the Belleville Paint Works; thence south along said road, etc., the lot containing about 14 acres and bounded south, west and north by land owned by Miles I’Anson.

December 14, 1853, Miles I’Anson sold to Robert Smith about an acre and a half, apparently to straighten the latter’s line.

THE PHILLIPS FARM.

Not so very many years ago, those who journeyed back and forth to Belleville by way of the old “Back road” passed the Phillips farm.

The Phillips Farm House. Erected before the Revolution. Picture taken in 1869 shows one of the cherry trees that then lined the sidewalk.

At the south end of the estate stood a quaint little dwelling, bearing unmistakable marks of antiquity upon its weather beaten boards and crumbling shingle roof. This house had been the dwelling place of several generations of the name.

Colonel Phillips, the founder of the family in America, was an officer in the English army under Oliver Cromwell, and on the accession of Charles II. to the throne of England, in 1660, he with others was obliged to fly to America. He first settled in Killingworth (now Clinton), Connecticut, and subsequently removed to New Jersey, purchasing nine hundred acres of land near Caldwell. One of his grandsons, David Phillips, settled in Newark and married Sarah Morris, grandaughter of a Doctor Morris, who was also an officer under Cromwell, and who fled to America with Colonel Phillips.

The Old Phillips Well. Said to date back to the time of the Indians.]

David Phillips had this property from Morris Phillips, and he from Samuel Morris. David Phillips began his housekeeping in the little house which stands on the Lincoln avenue property, “purchasing 16 acres of land for which his family received a deed from the proprietors of East Jersey in 1696”, and here Morris Phillips, the father of John Morris Phillips, was born and here he died. This Morris Phillips was one of the proprietors of the quarries at Belleville which furnished the stone used in building Fort Lafayette, Castle William on Governor’s Island, old St. John’s Church in New York, which has recently been closed by the Trinity corporation, and the old State House in Albany.

The farm house still stands on the property, though it has been moved back to Summer avenue in the rear of the house erected some years ago by Mr. John M. Phillips near the original homestead site. The old farm had gradually acquired that human interest which only comes of long tillage and close association with man, its fine orchard of ancient apple trees, the wood lot on the eastern slope of the hill which lapped over into the Mount Prospect avenue region, and which held for the man so many boy memories of dog and gun, and the fertile flat lands which stretched north along the old road. All these combined to entice the man back to his boyhood’s home, and it is small wonder that Mr. John M. Phillips, who had a keen sense of the beauties and wonders of nature, acquired the place for his own at the first opportunity. Here was an ancient well of delicious water, which tradition tells us was known to and used by the Indians. Up to very recent times this stood with its long well-sweep picturesquely adorning the landscape.

A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.

In the winter of 1779 General Anthony Wayne marched his troops up the Back road to the fields between the present Elwood avenue and Second river, where he went into camp. Mr. Frank Crane tells me that when a boy it was a common thing to find along this hillside, all the way to Second river, hollows in the earth which are supposed to have been dug by the soldiers for shelter.

Just about the time the troops reached the Phillips farm, Mrs. Sarah, wife of David, mentioned above, had finished a baking of bread; this she took out and gave to the hungry soldiers with pretty much everything else in the house that was eatable. It has been handed down in the Phillips family, as elsewhere, that the soldiers when they halted stood with their feet in their caps to protect them from the snow—those poor naked feet which had been cut and torn by the sharp crust of the snow until they marked the white highway with a trail of blood. The old grandmother many times told the tale to the family gathered about the warm hearth of the old farm house on wintry nights, and the boy John never forgot it.

THE PEROU TRACT.

A rather interesting tangle over the northern end of the Phillips tract has taken much patience to unravel. This concerned a small slice of land now largely occupied by Phillips Park and Elwood avenue.

About 1825 Benajah Perou purchased a certain parcel of land from John Morris Keen, of which the above was part. Perou was a seafaring man and, in the spring of 1828, sailed for New Orleans, and nothing was afterward heard from him. Being unmarried his heirs were his six brothers and sisters, and in 1845 this property was divided amongst them, each receiving a long narrow strip, 66 feet wide, fronting on the “road from Newark to Belleville Paint Works”, and running back into the sunset.

Daniel Perou received as his share the northernmost strip, known as lot No. 6. He was living back in the country and, in 1849, died intestate and unmarried; thus his 66 foot strip fell to the five remaining brothers and sisters, or their heirs, none of whom appear to have paid any attention to the property. In the meantime said brothers and sisters had been getting married and having children, and these children had insisted on growing up and doing likewise, until generations arose who knew not that they were interested in the property.

Naomi Perou, one of the sisters of Benajah, married Morris Phillips, and in due time became the mother of John M. Phillips, who was one of the last of the line to be born in the old farm house. And as time went on and John M. prospered he began to buy up the interests of others in the adjoining property until he owned all of the Perou tract, or thought he did. But by the time an attempt was made to definitely fix the title to lot No. 6 there were found to be more than three hundred shares into which this lot must be divided, each one amounting to something less than three inches in width, and extending from Lincoln avenue to Mount Prospect.

The hunt necessitated to clear this title led all over the country. One heir was traced as far as New Orleans, and lost; another vanished in the Civil War; another moved to Mystic, Conn., and could not be traced to his final end, and so it went. One was found in Kansas and another in Western New York.

It cost more to perfect the title than the land was worth, and when it was perfected the lot—or all that was left of it—was given to the city for a park, a memorial to the late John Morris Phillips.

THE ANTHONY WAYNE CAMP GROUND.

It is family tradition among most of those whose ancestors resided here during the Revolution that Gen. Anthony Wayne camped along the old Back road, but so far as can be ascertained the books are silent on the subject. The New York Historical Society can find nothing in its archives, and if the New Jersey Historical Society has anything bearing on this point it does not know it.

The only mention of the event that I have been able to find is an unsigned article which appeared in the Daily Advertiser of December 12, 1884, which is quoted here entire, as it contains much of interest. The Advertiser says:—

“The attention of an Advertiser reporter was recently called to a tradition that Gen. Anthony Wayne with 2,600 men was camped for a considerable time during the severe winter of 1779 in the vicinity of what is now Elwood avenue, and the old Belleville road in this city. It was rather doubted whether this could be possible, and all accounts of it lost. Such an event would certainly have left an impression which could not be entirely obliterated even in a hundred years. From information obtained, however, from the late John M. Phillips, whose grandfather was a revolutionary soldier; William A. Wauters, whose grandmother owned the woods in which it is alleged Wayne camped, together with a personal inspection of the ground made by Mr. Daniel F. Tompkins, of Woodside, his son and the writer, the following facts were ascertained:—

“General Wayne, with a detachment of the American Army, after the evacuation of New York, regained for a portion of the winter encamped in the Coeyman woods, in what is now Woodside. His encampment extended from a point a little west of and in line with the old Belleville road and north of Elwood avenue, along the ridge up to Second river. Traces of this encampment are found in the excavations which the soldiers made for their huts. The excavations are found also along the line of the Montclair & Greenwood Lake Railroad at the south side of the bridge across the Second river. They are found also on the side of the hill west of Mount Prospect avenue, and south of the line of Elliott street, and extending north several hundred yards, the most marked being at the northern limit. In one of these excavations the stones which marked the temporary fireplace still remain. The troops cut down the growing timber from these woods, and the owner, Minard Coeyman, was paid for it by the government. About half a mile northwest of this ridge the old barn, in which were slaughtered the cattle for the use of the army, still stands. It belongs to the Crane family. Mr. Nathaniel Crane, who was born in 1808, well remembers hearing his father and uncle talk about the encampment. Wayne had several field pieces with him, and the men used to take the horses down to Second river to water at a point 100 yards from the railroad bridge, and near the ruins of the old copper works, opposite Woodside Park. In February Wayne moved his army to Morristown. The close proximity of the British is given as the cause of Wayne breaking camp. In his position at Woodside he was liable to be flanked. Jasper King, father of the late William King, of East Orange, was a boy at the time Wayne was at Woodside, and his father was a soldier in Wayne’s army. Jasper went with his grandfather and his mother to say good-by to his father at the encampment in Coeyman’s woods.

“Jasper King related to the late John M. Phillips that when the roll was called the soldiers came out from their tents and some of them threw their caps on the snow and stood on them with their bare feet. He said it began to snow as the troops started on their march to Morristown and some of the soldiers left marks of blood on the snow as they marched. Their way was along the old Bloomfield road, which may have been reached by crossing the fields past the old Crane Mansion, or by the way of Keen’s lane, the outlines of which can still be traced southwest to the Bloomfield road. From Bloomfield the march was through Caldwell, where the snow became so deep that the artillery was left behind and remained imbedded in the drifts on a by-road near where the penitentiary now stands, until spring. At Bloomfield a picket was posted to guard the rear. One of the men climbed onto the fence to see if the British were pursuing. In the act his gun was discharged, killing him instantly.

“The story of Jasper King is corroborated by the known fact that on February 3, 1779, a snow storm set in, which lasted three days, and the snow was said to be eight feet deep on the Bloomfield road. The inference that Wayne’s encampment at Woodside was in the winter of 1779 is made more probable from the fact that in his attack on Stony Point in July, 1779, he had no artillery. That Wayne was on the coast and near New York in the winter of 1779, is made exceedingly probable also by the following letter from Lord Stirling, which if he had been at Morristown with Washington would have been directed to the Commander-in-Chief:—

“‘Ramapogh, Jan. 5, 1779.—Dear Sir: From every intelligence I have received I am induced to believe that Count D’Estaing is on this coast; in consequence of it I need not explain matters to you. Notwithstanding my situation of body, I will be at Paramis to-morrow and should be glad to see you there as soon as possible, to concert every necessary measure that may occur to us both.

“‘I am, D sir, your most ob’d sev’t.

”‘Gen. Wayne. STIRLING.’”

“That Wayne had artillery is evident from the fact that Mr. Tompkins found a grape-shot on the ground of the encampment. He also found a sword, which, evidently, had been worn by a noncommissioned officer.”

A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.

“During the winter of 1780-81 the British were at Belleville and may have used the same encampment previously occupied by the Americans. It is known that they occupied ground near where the new steel works of Dodge, Blake & Lyon now are. During this time a party of British stopped for the night on Keen’s lane, mentioned before on what is now Mr. Henry J. Winser’s lot, on Washington avenue, opposite Carteret street. Another party coming from Newark along the Passaic, stumbled on the pickets of the first party and immediately began firing. There was quite a skirmish in the darkness before the true state of affairs was learned.”

PHILLIPS FARM HOUSE.

“The old house in which the grandfather of the late John M. Phillips lived stood flush with the old Belleville road at the time of which we write, and was visited frequently by the American officers. It now stands in the rear of the new house on Lincoln avenue, and is well preserved. A middle-aged Irish woman came to the door at the knock of Mr. Tompkins the other day and seemed inclined to deny an inspection of the premises; but when it was made known to her that the visit was to see the house where the men who whipped the British a hundred years ago had lodged, she accorded a right royal welcome. A mere glance was sufficient to prove that the house was not of modern date. There is no plastering, and the joists that support the upper floors are thick and strong and as substantial as when put in, more than a hundred years ago.”

THE BRITISH ON WOODSIDE SOIL.

“While the British were encamped on this side of Second river, near the steel works, the grandfather of Mr. Tompkins, who was a scout in the American Army and noted as an athlete, was reconnoitering, with four companions, on the old Belleville road. They accidentally came upon a picket post in the dusk, the officer of which rode up and cried out: ‘Who you be for?’ Tompkins, to gain time, asked the same question, ‘Who you be for?’ ‘For King George’, said the English officer. ‘We be for the Continental Congress’, shouted Tompkins as he sprang into the woods. There was a fence that stood in the way, and as Tompkins vaulted over it the entire picket guard fired. Two of Tompkins’s companions who, instead of jumping the fence had climbed over it, were killed, but the former escaped by the balls passing under him as he jumped. One of the scouts who was killed on that occasion lies buried in the old Bloomfield grave yard. The enemy probably not knowing that they had killed any one, left the bodies where they fell.”

THE MAGAZINE HOUSE.

The march of improvement, in the opening of Woodside avenue, has recently caused the destruction of the “Magazine house”, a low stone building which stood back of the present Summerfield M. E. Church. This dated back to about 1812, when it was built for the storing of powder made at the Decatur Powder Works, which were located on the site of the present De Witt Wire Works, Belleville. There was a spirit of mystery and adventure about the place that somehow tickled my boyish fancy greatly, and I always passed it with a sense of adventure, but the above is all that can be said of the spot. When Jacob Rutan was building the calico print works on Second river he lived here and his wife, Elizabeth, a member of the King family, formerly of the River road, boarded the men who were doing the mason work. How they all slept in this small building is a mystery.

EARLY LANES.

Just below the powder house; in fact, opposite the point where Elwood place runs into Summer avenue, the John Morris Keen lane led away to the Bloomfield road. This, it appears, was part of a lane from the River road, the easterly section of which was known as the Stimis lane. Whether the latter was opened for the purpose or, being established, was merely used because convenient, has not been made plain, but I am told that formerly a paper mill stood on the Bloomfield road, and that the paper was made from reeds gathered on the Hackensack meadows, brought up the Passaic river, landed possibly at the Point House landing and carted from there via the two lanes to the mill.

THE HAUNT OF THE HIGHWAYMAN.

The Back road, in the Elliott street neighborhood, seventy-five or more years ago, entered a deep gully surrounded on all sides by dense woods. It is possible that this gave the early name of “Drift” road to the highway, as it was a place into which snow could easily drift and cause trouble to travelers. This was a noted spot for highway robberies, many such having occurred here, and the place was long dreaded by those who were compelled to pass this way.

The only actual hold-up of which I have heard is said to have occurred in 1856, when four men who came out of the woods from the direction of the Magazine house attempted to rob a passing farmer. What success they had I do not know, but it appears that they were recognized and later arrested. One of these, at least, was a Woodside man, but the names of the others have been forgotten.

Tom Coeyman built about sixty years ago at the upper edge of this gully. His house stood near the junction of Summer and Grafton avenues, and this seems to have relieved the gloom of the place, for so far as known there were no robberies after the one mentioned above.

NOT A CHRISTMAS CARROLL.

Probably before our time the Back road was the dwelling place of “Owney” Carroll and his good wife Peggy. Both were convivial souls, and each a character in his or her way, but our most vivid memories cling about the old lady. One old resident recalls that in his youth the couple lived where now stands the Elliott street school, and that one time when he was passing with a load of wood Peggy was discovered in a somewhat awkward predicament.

It seems that one or the other—or possibly both—had been looking on the wine when it was red, as was their custom, and that the husband had concluded that his better half would be improved by a bit of fresh air and, having thrust her forth, locked the door. Now Peggy does not appear to have taken this in good part and, finding an open window, she proceeded to crawl within; but, when about half-sill over, the sash came down on her back and pinned her fast—just as our informant was coming down the road with a load of wood.

In the course of years Mrs. Carroll became a sort of attache of our back door, and I have a general recollection that the old lady’s methods did not always meet with the entire approval of my mother. She certainly thoroughly disagreed with one of Peggy’s capers. My mother was a great lover of plants, and among her treasures was a lemon tree which actually bore lemons; these Mrs. Carroll discovered one day while cruising about the back yard and, carefully gathering the treasured crop, she brought the fruit to the back door and tried to sell it to my maternal ancestor. Mrs. Carroll did not call at the house again for some time.

THE WOODS OF THE OLD BACK ROAD.

Those who sought knowledge at that fount known as the Elliott street school, when it was but a country schoolhouse, delight to recall how they were allowed to roam the woods that then bordered the old road on the west, for the first flowers of spring, and how the schoolmaster would ring the bell from the schoolhouse door summoning a return to study, and the children would come scampering back with hands full of bloom—windflowers and hepaticas mostly, whose blue and white are so emblematic of the springtime heavens. To those who can hark back so far that patch of woods is remembered as a wonderfully attractive spot.

JESSE C. BENNETT.

Jesse C. Bennett came to this country from Stockport, England, in 1833, to superintend the calico print works, which lined the south side of Second river from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond, and he built a house at what is now the southwest corner of Summer and Verona avenues.

Mr. Bennett was an Episcopalian, and as dancing was one of the accomplishments of the day and not barred by that creed, he engaged a master of the art who once in so often gave the small Bennetts (there were twelve of them) lessons in an addition at the rear of the dwelling which provided a suitable room. As time wore on Mr. Bennett became a Second Adventist and turned this rear room from a dancing hall to a place for prayer. One of the fervent brothers of these times was Mr. Harry Harvey, who was given to long prayers; in fact he thought nothing of praying for an hour at a stretch. For these exercises the children were brought in and ranged under the long mantelpiece on one side of the room, but an hour was a long time to be good in those days, and generally one or two or three would steal awhile away without being noticed. This gradually emboldened the others, and one time while the heads of the elders were bowed in devotion the entire youthful congregation managed to get out unnoticed, and there was considerable commotion when the fact was discovered and, as I understand it, the commotion was not entirely confined to the elders.

Later Mr. Bennett became a Methodist and joined the church of that denomination in Belleville.

Mr. Bennett once had a man working about the place who was fresh from the Emerald Isle and he, venturing out one evening shortly after his arrival, came running back a badly scared Irishman, and announced that the woods were full of fairies, for he had seen their lanterns. It proved to be his first acquaintance with fireflies.

THE CALICO PRINT WORKS.

The calico print works which lined the south bank of the Second river from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond developed into a large industry under Messrs. George and Jonathan Bird. This part of the river bank has been a mill site for more than one hundred years.

The first on record was the grist mill of Captain Bennett. His mill was a small affair which stood on the bank where the Back road crossed. Next came a Captain Stout, who rebuilt the mill. Both of these lived in the dwelling later known as the “Bird” house.

The “Bird” House, Sylvan Avenue. Legend has it that this was built by an Englishman who was compelled to leave the country when the Revolutionary war broke out.

About 1824 the Stout mill and lands were sold to the Eagle Printing Company, which erected a large factory for the printing of calicoes along the south bank of Second river, extending from the Back road to the De Witt mill pond. The concern employed several hundred hands and conducted a business of great magnitude for those times, but it finally fell on evil days and failed about 1855.

At this time the Back road was so narrow that wagons could hardly pass; indeed, so much of a country lane was it that even as late as 1850 the passing of a load of calicoes from the mill was an event to call the few inhabitants to the windows to see the sight.

After this Andrew Gray and one Wright successfully conducted the business for some time, and finally George and Jonathan Bird became the proprietors. Jonathan Bird lived in the stone house that has since been known as the “Bird” house, and here dispensed a hospitality that was famed for many a mile around. In due course George Bird died, and later Jonathan sold to a stock company, of which John Eastwood was a member. This company put in some expensive machinery but, owing to internal strife, the business was abandoned after a brief existence.

After remaining idle for some time the hat manufacturing concern of Moore & Seeley purchased the buildings, but before they did much the factory burned, and was never rebuilt. The story given out to account for the fire was to the effect that it was due to Chinese cheap labor. According to this version the hatters introduced Chinamen and the Irish element, which predominated at the time, objected, and the fire gave point to their objections, but there are some still living who account for the fire in a wholly different way.

A FLESH AND BLOOD GHOST.

There was a time when the Back road bridge across Second river was haunted by a headless ghost—at least I am so informed—but it seems that when off duty the ghost was known as old Sam Adams’s daughter, Mary Ann.

When I was a boy the ruins of the old grist mill still stood close to the southeast corner of this bridge. It was then known as Benson’s mill, a man of that name having been the last miller. Some time some one was either murdered and thrown into the mill race here, or else was accidentally drowned. In either case the situation furnished the proper material for a mystery, and it would appear that there was talk of an apparition having been seen on the bridge shortly after the occurrence.

This was taken advantage of by Mary Ann Adams to frighten the boys, and as a result few people cared to cross the bridge after dark, as too many had actually seen the ghost to leave any doubt of its existence. This, of course, was long ago, when Mary Ann was young. She died some six years ago, an old woman.

WASHINGTON RESTS AT SECOND RIVER.

There is a legend that Washington once rested at the grist mill, and that here his troopers purchased feed for their horses. This was probably during the retreat from Fort Lee.

Somewhat south of the mill stood the miller’s house; in fact the building is still standing on its old foundations, at the southeast corner of Summer and Sylvan avenues. Here was born Col. Henry Benson, whose accidental death at Malvern Hill during the Civil War furnished Belleville with its first military funeral.