Fifty years ago, on September 15, 1961, the “reconstructed” covered bridge was dedicated. An alert reporter at the Star Ledger, Mike Frassinelli, reminded me of this fact, and that inspired me to reprint an article I wrote for “The Bridge,” the newsletter for Delaware Township, back in 2001, and also in the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, Fall 2003 issue.
Passenger Pigeons Once Were Slaughtered By Millions
The Species Is Now Extinct
by Egbert T. Bush, Stockton, NJ
as published in the Hunterdon County Democrat, April 17, 1930
For the stories of the wildwood
Of the mountain and the plain
(Any stories heard in childhood)
Are the stories that remain.Yes, the stories that were told us seventy years ago still come up in quiet hours to rouse the drowsy mind and stir the sluggish blood. Some scattering ones that do not seem to fit well in any particular place may recall fond memories in older people; and may be of more or less interest now and then to one of the younger generation, not for themselves but as inklings of the older times. Present conditions are not calculated to make them as vivid as when memory recorded them so long ago; yet perhaps enough may be depicted, even by a limping pen, to give a fair idea of things then made so clear, often quite thrilling and always interesting.
Here is a quote to live by:
I take my work seriously, but I just can’t manage to take myself seriously for any length of time. (I’m also not very good at taking other people as seriously as they take themselves.)
Got it today from this interesting post. There’s a bizarre video on the truth of Martin Van Buren: Myth or Legend. Sometimes even bad humor is good.
This past month there were several fires in southern Hunterdon County, all of them accidental. One of those fires gutted a house that I had researched many years ago, so I, along with current and past owners, feel somewhat heartbroken that this lovely home has been destroyed. It is located a short distance south of the village of Sand Brook, along the Sand Brook-Headquarters Road.
It has been awhile since I’ve written anything about the chronology of early West Jersey, but I’m glad I waited, for I just recently got my hands on a PhD. Dissertation by Frederick R. Black that has opened my eyes to events in the 1690s and solved some mysteries for me. It is entitled The Last Lords Proprietors of West Jersey; The West Jersey Society, 1692-1702, and is available from Rutgers Library, Special Collections, through inter-library loan. I can’t recommend it enough.
by Jonathan M. Hoppock
Democrat-Advertiser, 26 September 1901
The above view of this old mansion now standing on the farm of Manning Dilts in Raritan Township, at the top of what is known as Buchanan’s or Dilley’s Hill, built in 1725, making it one hundred and seventy-six years old, was recently photographed by Mr. J. C. Sunderlin of Flemington.1 From this elevation the eye has a view of the Raritan valley as far east as Bound Brook. Also from this point a view can be had of the Sourland Mountain range from the Delaware on the west, extending through the counties of Hunterdon and Somerset, presenting to the view a greater scope of country than can probably be seen from any other point in the county.
by Jonathan M. Hoppock
Democrat-Advertiser, 24 October 1901
This old building, erected in 1758 at Head Quarters, now Grover, standing on the corner of the road on the farm at present owned by Smith Skinner, was, between the dates given above, used as a recruiting station.1 As shown by papers in possession of the writer, Captain David Jones, of the Continental line, was the recruiting officer, and at this point, when the alarm was given that the then hated minions of King George had made a landing at Paulus Hook (Jersey City) or Amboy, would assemble the patriotic old citizen-soldiery, armed with the flint-locks, home-made bullets and powder horns, and from thence hasten to the front to assist the great Washington in beating back the invaders.2
