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Information found on
the family pages in Italics are my own additions to the original information.
While I believe that this information is correct, and have listed the sources
with it, please use this additional information only as a guide to your own research.
Brianne Kelly-Bly, Dover, NJ, 1999-2002
All items beginning with NOTE or in parens ( )
that are not in italic are from the original book.
Table of Contents:
Family List (List
of primary family names found in this book with links to pages)
Errata (List
of corrections by John Littell. These corrections are in the process of being
incorporated as links to the appropriate web page)
Appendix -
Additional Family Information by John Littell for the following family names:
Baker; Ball, Broadwell; Caudwell; Crane; Conklin; Clark; Hall; Stites; Miller
FAMILY RECORDS:
OR
GENEALOGIES
OF THE
FIRST SETTLERS OF PASSAIC VALLEY,
(AND VICINITY,)
ABOVE CHATHAM--WITH THEIR
ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS,
AS FAR AS CAN NOW BE ASCERTAINED.
BY JOHN LITTELL.
STATIONERS' HALL PRESS, FELTVILLE, N. J.:
DAVID FELT AND CO., STATIONERS AND PRINTERS.
1851.
Appeal of Antiques More Old Mills
By WALTER H. VAN
HOESEN
The Park Commissions of two counties hold title to land on
which are located old mills to be restored and several private projects similar
in aim have reached the talking and planning stage, according to word from many
quarters since a November article in this column concerned with the more than
1500 mills in New Jersey dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
A letter from Russell W. Myers, secretary-director of the
Morris county Park Commission, tells us that land has been acquired by that
agency along the Black River, in Chester, upon which is an old mill. "At
present the mill is in rather poor condition," according to Myers,
"but it is hoped it will be restored in the near future."
Until advances of the last several generations made
operation unprofitable, the mill had served the needs of farmers over a wide
area in grinding grain since early in the 19th century.
Prosperous
The Union County Park Commission is engaged in a
restoration job on two mills, both of which are along the Blue Brook Valley in
the Watchung Reservation. Situated in a valley between the first and second
ranges of the Watchung Hills, they were of major importance when Feltville was
at the peak of its prosperity as a village-like community from 1845 until nearly
1860.
James B. Hawley of Summit, a member of the Trailside
Museum Association, connected with the Union County parks, has taken on the role
of historian and promoter of the Feltville area. The two mills, one for grinding
grain and the other for sawing lumber, are believed to pre-date the settlement
which was then in the Township of New Providence. The two mills, combined with
an adequate water supply and bountiful countryside, suited David Felt, a
prosperous New York City merchant, when he was looking for a place to locate his
printing and other ventures.
Records of the Post Office Department in Washington reveal
that the community was officially named Feltville in 1845 and a Post Office was
opened there. A population of 200, according to census figures, included a
general manager, clergyman, school teacher, 12 printers, 6 bookbinders, a
blacksmith, shoemaker, barber, tailor, wheelright, machinist, farmers,
housewives, domestics and laborers. Felt adapted the mills to the making of
paper from wood pulp, printing and binding of pads, business journals and even
the printing of books and pamphlets.
Used for Books
A product of Felt's genius and the mills at Feltville was
the so-called marble paper used so widely for inside cover sheets of
books.
Felt sold the community lock, stock and barrel in 1860 and
left the village in August of that year. His destination and later activities
have not been learned. Gradually the people of the village left. The mills,
printing shops and bindery closed down. Attempts to get started again were
without success. The village became practically a ghost town by 1880, with
cottages and other buildings deserted and lacking repairs.
Since the Union County Park Commission undertook to restore
what has been known for generations as the Deserted Village, some of the more
than a century old cottages have been made habitable for families of employees
assigned to the area. During New Jersey's tercentenary this year additional
restorations are planned and visitors to the community will be encouraged. They
will be requested, however, not to seek admission to the cottages or otherwise
infringe on the privacy of occupants.
PREFACE.
It is an interesting object of curiosity to most men to
search into the origin of their own families, to trace their descents, and to
collect the history of the individuals who compose them. However remote in time
or consanguinity, it is natural to believe that we inherit from our fathers
their mental and physical peculiarities, though modified by circumstances. We
enter affectionately into their concerns, and rejoice in their honors or
prosperity, and are personally grieved by their misconduct or misfortunes.
These sentiments are undoubtedly founded in the innate and
best feelings of the human heart, which delights in multiplying and extending
the ties that bind us to our fellow creatures. The love of our kindred is the
first degree of expansion of the heart in its progress towards universal
benevolence. The history of states is but a history of families.
To satisfy this curiosity, in some measure, has been my aim
in collecting the materials for the genealogies in this publication. Much pains
have been taken to obtain correct information respecting families. Wherever
family records could be obtained, they have been used; but in most cases no such
record could be had. I therefore had to depend on the memory of some one or more
of the family, and in consequence, no doubt, many errors may be found; but I
hope for the most part the names are correct. With the exception of one or two,
every family may be traced back to some branch that lived in Passaic Valley
previous to the year 1800.
I have now submitted to the public, and especially those
whose families or ancestors are named, the labors of some seven years, hoping
that some, at least, will be pleased to learn something more of their ancestors
and connections than they would otherwise have known.
JOHN LITTELL.
Passaic Valley, New Providence, April, 1852.
Family List
This list is in the same order as found in the original
book.
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