West Jersey

“ From the time of Hamilton’s departure for England until 1692 the inhabitants of East Jersey were left to the guardianship of their county and town officers, who seemed to have possessed all necessary powers to preserve the peace. So also in West Jersey. The course of events caused but little alteration in the general condition of the Province after the surrender of the government to Andros in April, 1688, and the subsequent suspension of his authority. ”

“ The northern half of the State is a region of mountains and lakes. As part of the original continent it had been under the ice sheet of the glacial age and was very unlike the level sands, swamps, and pine barrens of West Jersey which had arisen as a shoal and island from the sea. The only place in East Jersey where settlement was at all easy was along the open meadows which were reached by water near the mouth of the Hudson, round Newark Bay, and along the Hackensack River.
The Dutch, by the discoveries of Henry Hudson in 1609, claimed the whole region between the Hudson and the Delaware. ”

“ The book was dedicated to the West Jersey Proprietors, and its intent was to induce emigration of all who wished to better their worldly condition, especially the poor, who might in West Jersey “subsist very well without either begging or stealing.” French refugees or Protestants would find it also to their interest to remove thither where they might live “far better than in Germany, Holland, Ireland, or England.” ”

“ The Duke of York, owner of all the land in the New World which had once belonged to Holland, shortly gave part of it to two of his friends, who called their tracts East and West New Jersey. The owner of West New Jersey did not keep his share long, but sold it to some Quakers, who settled near Bur ́ling-ton. East New Jersey was likewise sold to William Penn and others; but both provinces were given up to the crown in 1702. New Jersey—as they were now called—was under the same rule as New York—until 1738, when it became a separate colony. ”

“ We, who come to woo Nature—for we love her with all the pure idolatry of a Thomson or a Davy—select the bye-lanes and the meadow paths. Yet even here we loiter not, although these garden meads of Jersey are the very choicest spots for the secluded rambles of lovers and the joyous festa of gipsying, especially when the warm south-west blows over the Atlantic.
But running water is well-nigh a blank in Jersey. As in all small islets, the rivulets are quiet little runnels rippling down from springs on the northern brow, and stealing south straight into the bays ”

“ The rock on which the man stands is at the intersection of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York boundaries
New Jersey lies between 73° 55′ and 75° 32′ west longitude and between 38° 56′ and 41° 21′ north latitude. Its northernmost point is marked by a rock on the shore of the Delaware River just south of Port Jervis, New York, known as Tri-States Rock. From this point to Cape May the length of the state is 166 miles. Its narrowest part, between Trenton and Raritan Bay, is 335 miles wide. Its widest part, measured on a line extending northwest from Great Egg Inlet, is 57 miles wide. ”

“ The fundamental laws of New West Jersey were published in March, 1677, and afford a striking contrast to “the Grand Model” of Carolina. They insured entire freedom of conscience, enacting that no person, at any time or in any way, should be called in question or suffer damage or detriment on account of religious opinion. Government was to be administered by a general assembly elected by ballot; every citizen being capable either of electing or being elected. Every member of the assembly was to be paid one shilling a day by his constituents, “that he may be known as the servant of the people.” ”

“ The state of New Jersey shall have the exclusive right of property in and to the land under water lying west of the middle of the bay of New York, and west of the middle of that part of the Hudson river which lies between Manhattan island and New Jersey.' 2. New Jersey is to have exclusive jurisdiction over wharves, docks, and improvements made or to be made on its shore, and over vessels aground or fastened there, subject to the quarantine and passenger laws of New York. ”

“ At Jersey City there come out to the Hudson River all the great Trunk Line railways from the West, with the single exception of the New York Central Railroad. In the Revolution, the site of the present Pennsylvania Railroad Terminal Station was a British fortification, which was partly stormed and captured, with a number of prisoners, in 1779, by Major Henry Lee. Jersey City is entirely a growth of the nineteenth century, at the beginning of which it had a population of only thirteen persons, living in a single house. ”

“ Jersey City is served by several inter-urban electric railways and by the tunnels of the Hudson & Manhattan railroad company to Dey St. and to 33rd St. and 6th Ave., New York City, and it also has docks of several lines of Transatlantic and coast steamers. The city occupies a land area of 14.3 sq. m. and has a water-front of about 12 m. Bergen Hill, a southerly extension of the Palisades, extends longitudinally through it from north to south. At the north end this hill rises on the east side precipitously to a height of nearly 200 ft.; on the west and south sides the slope is gradual. ”

“ This section leads the state in the manufacture of embroideries and is second only to Paterson in that of silk goods. Other industries are machine shops, marine construction, and the manufacture of pianos, lamps, lard, and rubber goods. In Secaucus vegetable gardening is important.
South of Jersey City lies the city of Bayonne, which is the third city of the state in the value of manufactured products. Its frontage on New York Bay on the east, Newark Bay on the west, and Kill van Kull on the south, gives it exceptional facilities for deep-water transportation. ”

“ On the one hand, fierce persecution urged him on; England and Germany seemed to be bent on driving out their most energetic and high-souled children. On the other, the way opened gradually and safely. In 1675, he was induced to become a manager of West New Jersey. After five years experience he bought East New Jersey in 1681, and in the same year the King granted him, by charter, the fine tract adjoining, now called Pennsylvania. ”

“ The Delaware and Raritan Canal, from Bordentown to New Brunswick, the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and the New Jersey Railroad were constructed in order to increase transportation facilities between Philadelphia and New York harbor. Now all parts of the state are connected with each other and with those great centers by many railroad lines. The importance of our railroads has been much increased by the development of the West and by the geographical location of the state in the path of direct communication between the western states and the city of New York. ”

“ New Jersey is well provided with transportation facilities. Railroads which approach New York City from the west or Philadelphia from the east necessarily traverse its territory. New Jersey, therefore, has a greater railroad mileage in proportion to its area than any other State. The mileage increased from 560 in 1860 to 2109 miles in 1890, and 2242 miles in 1900. The terminals of the lines centring in New York City are on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. ”

“ New Jersey is in the track of storms, which cross the continent from the west. The south and east winds blowing from the ocean toward the storm centers bring with them much moisture and insure the state an ample rainfall. ”

“ And now to compass the beauty of Jersey. The walks should be around and across the south-west and south-east corners, from Town to La Corbière, and to Gourey, the northern coast from Le Tac to St. John’s, and thence to St. Martin’s. A pony may carry us to any of the northern villes, from which we may reach the magnificent points of the northern coast, or a carriage may take us along the Devonian valley of St. ”

“ Here they found a pleasant climate, plenty of game, and no human inhabitants whatever. They therefore appropriated it as their own, and gave it the name of Scheyichbi; and any one who endeavors to pronounce this name will be likely to feel glad that it was afterwards changed by the white settlers.
Before this first discovery of New Jersey, the Lenni-Lenape had settled themselves in the beautiful and fertile country about the Susquehanna and the west shore of the Delaware, and here established their right to their name, which signifies "original people;" ”

“ It is perhaps proper to mention that some time in the year 1868, a grand scheme originated in the fertile brains of some of the wise men of Jersey City, whereby a bill was prepared and introduced in the Legislature, which provided for the holding of an election in this county, at which the voters were to determine whether or not the county would be consolidated into one city, and under the corporate name of Jersey City. ”

“ James, duke of York, in June 1664, conveyed New Jersey to John, lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, in fee. The bounds of the territory granted were, the main see and Hudson's river on the eest, Delaware bay or river on the west, Cape May on the south, and on the north the northernmost branch of Delaware bay, or river, which iz forty one degrees and forty minutes of latitude, crossing over thence in strait line to Hudson's river, in forty one degrees of latitude. ”

“ Plain′field, N. J., an attractive city in Union County on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, ten miles north of New Brunswick and 25 west of New York City. It has many charming residences and is tastefully laid out. It has a public library, art-gallery, Muhlenberg Hospital and other civic and philanthropic institutions, and its school-system fits pupils for college entrance. Its manufatures embrace silks, gloves, safes, dynamos and other machines and a machine-tools works, together with large establishments for the manufacture of printing-presses. Population 20,550. ”

“ These are West Hoboken, Union, West New York, North Bergen, Weehawken, Guttenberg, and Secaucus. These are all populous and thriving communities. There are many valuable industries, among which the manufacture of silks and embroideries is the most important. ”

“ The building is still standing on the west side of Barrow street, between Newark and Railroad avenues. Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1836. It is said that the first Catholic services in Jersey City were held for the French potters that were brought over to make porcelain, but the Roman Catholics of New Jersey were under the jurisdiction of the diocese of New York until October 30th, 1853, when the diocese of New Jersey was created. St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, begun in 1831, opened for service in 1837, stood on the site now occupied by St. ”

“ Northern New Jersey was recognized as one of the riskiest regions of the United States. Time out of mind, American readers have noted, with the short-lived American anger, the many newspaper tales of Paterson and anarchy, of New Jersey and New Thought, of socialistic ranters hailing from this or that semi-foreign community, in one of the oldest states in the American union, whose battlefields in our first war for freedom are spread on many glorious pages of our country’s history. The battlefields of Jersey are different now, and are not so glorious. ”

“ For the sake of your State—for the sake of her reputation throughout the world—for your own sakes—and those of your children, and their children yet to be—say to the world that New Jersey shares in the spirit of this age,—that New Jersey is not a survival of the Dark Ages,—that New Jersey does not still regard the thumbscrew as an instrument of progress,—that New Jersey needs no dungeon to answer the arguments of a free man, and does not send to the penitentiary, men who think, and men who speak. ”

“ The soil of New Jersey is not generally so fertile as that of the states which have been named, being sandy along the sea-coast, and hilly in the interior. Although this state has an extensive sea-coast yet, as there are few very commodious harbors, to vie with that of New York on the one side and of Philadelphia on the other, it has but little commerce:—These cities import almost all the foreign articles and dispose of most of the manufactures and produce of this state. ”

“ In order to pass from Cape May to Atlantic City one takes a long circuit by rail through the Jersey sands. Jersey is a very prolific State, but the railway traveler by this route is excellently prepared for Atlantic City, for he sees little but sand, stunted pines, scrub oaks, small frame houses, sometimes trying to hide in the clumps of scrub oaks, and the villages are just collections of the same small frame houses hopelessly decorated with scroll-work and obtrusively painted, standing in lines on sandy streets, adorned with lean shade-trees. ”

“ The surface of the country is broken by winding valleys having a general direction from north to south, and as they approach the south uniting so as to form small plains. The lofty hedges which bound the small enclosures into which Jersey is divided, the trees and shrubberies which line the roads and cluster round the uplands and in almost every nook of the valleys unutilized for pasturage or tillage, give the island a luxuriant appearance, neutralizing the bare effect of the few sandy plains and sand-covered hills. Fruits and flowers indigenous to warm climates grow freely in the open air. ”