Willard W. Glazier

From New York to Newark.—Two Hundred Years Ago.—The Pioneers.—Public Parks.—City of Churches.—The Canal.—Sailing Up-Hill.—An Old Graveyard.—New Amsterdam and New Netherlands.—The Dutch and English.—Adventurers from New England.—The Indians.—Rate of Population.—Manufactures.—Rank as a City.

Nine miles, in a westerly direction, from New York, on a lovely morning in the early autumn of 1880, by the comfortable cars of that most perfect of all railways, the "Pennsylvania," brought our little party to Newark, which I had often heard spoken of as the leading commercial and manufacturing city of New Jersey.

Situated in the northeastern corner of the State, on the west bank of the Passaic, three miles from its entrance into Newark Bay—the city of Newark occupies the most delightful spot in a State famed for its beauty. In our short journey from New York we passed over broad, level meadows, bearing some resemblance to a western prairie. The Passaic and the Hackensack rivers traverse these prairie-like meadows, while rising abruptly in the distance you behold the historic Bergen Heights.

Disembarking at the conveniently located Market Street Depot, we sought and found a temporary home, and then lost no time in gratifying our native curiosity, by exploring the city and learning something of its origin and history.

Newark is over two hundred years old, and yet is regularly laid out; its wide and well paved streets are adorned and shaded with grand old elms—some of them coeval with the founding of the city. Its chief business thoroughfare, Broad street, running north and south, through the central part of the city, has many fine business blocks, and a finer avenue cannot be found than the south end of Broad street, lined with wide-spreading elms, and extending, apparently, into infinitude. One peculiarity that absorbed my attention, was the vast number of manufacturing establishments here, located, for the most part, outside of the central streets, and these are doubtless the source of her prosperity.

About two hundred years ago Newark was an obscure hamlet of some sixty odd settlers. Since that time it has grown into a city of one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants. The handful of original settlers were, for the most part, upright, earnest and sturdy mechanics, of Anglo-Saxon blood, and they laid the foundation of what is now one of the most important cities of the Union, ranking, indeed, among the foremost of the world's industrial bee-hives—a monster workshop, whose skilled labor cannot well be surpassed anywhere. They called their village after the old English town of Newark-on-Trent; and Newark-on Passaic has now grown into a city ten times greater than its ancient namesake.

The public parks possess a startling interest to the stranger visiting Newark for the first time. Seldom have I found so many, and of such extent, in a city that measures only five miles long, by five broad. Possessed of such breathing places, a town must of necessity be healthy, and I accordingly found this strongly indicated in the faces of all I met, more especially of the blooming young maidens and their mammas. We are told that when the first settlers purchased the site of Newark and its surrounding lands, of the native Indians, and laid out their embryo city, they wisely reserved certain tracts for public purposes, and that most of these still exist as ornaments of the city. Besides those set apart for churches and graveyards, the principal reservations were the "Training-place," the "Market-place," and the "Watering-place." The Training-place is now Military Park, on the east side of Broad street, near its centre; and the Market-place is now Washington Park. These and several others in various parts of this favored city, form delightful retreats from the sun's rays—shaded by majestic elms—a veritable rus in urbe. The suburbs also are passing beautiful, extending to Orange on the west, and to within a mile of Elizabeth on the south—both busy towns.

Like Brooklyn, Newark may be called a city of churches, and its enlightened and industrious citizens are a church-going people. The Reformed Dutch Church dates from 1663; and the First Presbyterian from 1667. These were the parent churches, and their progeny are manifold and prosperous, as noted in the exceptionally high standard of morality that generally characterizes the peaceful workers in this hive of industry.

I was especially struck with the canal which flows under Broad street, and the ingenuity displayed in surmounting a hill that crosses it, by the barges navigating its waters. Here it may be almost said that among their numberless other inventions, the inhabitants of Newark have discovered the art of sailing up a hill! Instead of a lock, by which similar difficulties of inland navigation are usually overcome, the barges are drawn in a cradle up an inclined plane, by means of a stationary steam engine placed at the top of the hill, where the canal recommences, and the barges are re-launched to continue their course westward.

In my rambles down Broad street, on its well-paved sidewalk, flanked by flourishing stores, in which every commodity, from a five hundred dollar chronometer down to a ten cent pair of men's socks, is presented for sale, I stopped at an arched gateway on my right, my attention being arrested by a patch of green sward behind it. The gate stood invitingly open, and passing through, I found myself in a venerable and disused graveyard.

"This is the oldest of the city graveyards," said an elderly gentleman, to whom I addressed myself for information, "and is of the same age as the city itself. It is the resting-place of many of the original inhabitants. The first church of Newark stood here, and around, you will observe, are tombs, bearing dates of two centuries ago." Such, I found, on investigation, to be the case. These old stones—most of their inscriptions now undecipherable,—were erected to commemorate the dead colonists' names and virtues, more than one hundred years before Washington was born, or they had dreamed of casting off the authority of mother England. I reflected: what was Newark like in those far-away days, two hundred years ago? How did she compare with Newark in the year of grace 1880?

In 1608 Henry Hudson descended the noble river which bears his name, and the settlement of New Amsterdam by the Hollanders soon followed. Next, New Netherlands was added to the territory of the Dutchmen, then a great maritime people. Down to the beginning of the seventeenth century the colonization of New Netherlands, on the western banks of the Hudson, had made but little progress. It was all a wilderness, peopled only by Indians. The white man had scarcely penetrated its fertile valleys. The story is told, however, that some of Hudson's hardy crew had sailed in their boats through the Kill-von-Kule, at the north of what is now Staten Island, and passed northward into the Passaic River. The enterprising Dutch traders were no doubt fully cognizant of the boundless possibilities of the country, whose fairest spot was destined to form the site of the city of Newark.

But these Dutchmen were only lawless adventurers. By right of discovery, a priority of title to all the lands in North America was claimed by England, who declared war upon Holland and all her reputed possessions. New Amsterdam and the province of New Netherlands were among the first to succumb, and in 1664 England obtained complete command of the Atlantic coast. New Amsterdam then became New York, in honor of the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II; and New Netherlands became New Jersey, in compliment to the Countess of Jersey, a court favorite. To this conquest by England we owe our English tongue, for had the Hollanders vanquished the English, and retained possession, we should doubtless all be speaking "low Dutch" to-day, instead of English. But this is a digression.

Colonization rapidly followed when the phlegmatic Dutchmen were turned out, and the first English governor of the province of New Jersey inaugurated a very liberal form of government. This induced many adventurers from New England to unite their fortunes with the colonists of New Jersey. Under the leadership of the enterprising Captain Treat, these New Englanders proceeded to select a site for their new town. They soon found a spot exactly suited to their wishes; a fertile soil, beautiful woodlands, and a navigable stream; while away to the eastward was a wide and sheltered bay.

In May, 1666, about thirty families, John Treat being their captain, laid the foundation of Newark. A conference was held with the Indians, which resulted satisfactorily to all. They transferred the land to the white men, and received in payment for what now constitutes the county of Essex, "Fifty double-hands of powder, one hundred bars of lead, twenty axes, twenty coats, ten guns, twenty pistols, ten kettles, ten swords, four blankets, four barrels of beer, two pairs of breeches, fifty knives, twenty hoes, eight hundred and fifty fathoms of wampum, two ankers of liquor, or something equivalent; and three troopers' coats, with the ornaments thereon."

A few years later a second purchase was made, by which the limits of the city they were building were extended westward to the top of Orange Hill, the equivalent being "two guns, three coats and thirteen cans of rum."

For many years, Newark grew and prospered. In 1681 she was the "most compact town in the province, with a population of 500." In 1713 Queen Anne granted a charter of incorporation, thus making the township of Newark a body politic, which continued in force until the Revolution. With the successful close of the war, Newark entered on a new and prosperous era, and the population increased very largely. In 1795 bridges were built over the Passaic and the Hackensack. In 1810 the population is given as 6,000, and in 1830 it had increased to 11,000. From this date its rate of progress has been very rapid, and at the present time Newark ranks as the thirteenth city of the Union in population.

I cannot conclude this chapter without a few words on the manufactures of Newark. The early settlers were, as we have said, in the main, mechanics and artisans, and from this circumstance the growth of the city lay in the direction of manufactures. Newark, to-day, is among the foremost cities of the Union in intelligent industry. So early as 1676 efforts were made to promote the introduction of manufactures. The nearness of the city to New York, the chief market in the Union, with shipping facilities to every quarter of the globe; with the great iron and coal fields easy of access, and a thrifty and industrious people, Newark drew to her mills and factories abundant capital and skilled workmen. She has contributed more useful inventions to industrial progress than any other American city. The Newark Industrial Exposition was originated in 1872, for the purpose of holding an annual exhibition of her local manufactures. The enterprise met with signal success. We have counted no less than four hundred distinct manufactories in operation in this extraordinary city, a list of which would occupy too much of our space. Hardware, tools, machinery, jewelry, leather, hats, and trunks seem to predominate. Of the last-named indispensable article, Newark has the most extensive manufactory in the world, 7,000 trunks per week, or about 365,000 yearly being produced here. It is said that in the manufacture of the best steam fire-engines, Newark ranks first. The number of persons finding employment in the factories is about 25,000, and the amount of wages paid weekly averages $250,000, or about $13,000,000 per year. The annual value of the productions of all her manufactories amounts to about $60,000,000.

Thus it is seen that Newark has developed into one of the principal producing cities of the United States, the value of her diversified manufactured products making her, in this respect, the third, if not the second city of the Union.

CHAPTER XIX.