History of Clinton, New York
Beginnings.. the West Jersey Society and the first large landholders
Hunterdon County, named after Governor Robert Hunter, was formed March 11, 1713, consisting of nearly all of the present Mercer, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Warren counties. The new county was divided into several huge townships included Lebanon, in which what is now the town of Clinton began. Soon the West Jersey Society of London controlled the area, and began to sell off tracts of from 5000 to 100,000 acres. In November of 1751, the Society sold the land which was to later become Clinton to Mahlon Kirkbride. Records show that Kirkbride, who lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, bought 4180 acres; this tract contained a large part of the present site of Clinton, mostly on the east side of the South Branch. Jonathan Robeson, another rich land investor, formerly of Piscataway Township, Middlesex County bought over 800 acres from the West Jersey Society in 1752 on the west side of the river.
David McKinney, son of Mordecai McKinney, a known peripatetic miller found in many localities, began a grist mill on the east bank of the South Branch, after putting up a stone dam just below the mouth of Spruce Run as it entered the river. He built his stone mill and a house before he bought the land; McKinney bought 446 acres east of the river in the mill area from Kirkbride in 1761. Two years later he bought 1 1/2 acres on the west side of the river from Robeson. This was probably bought as a mill site or to avoid trouble with Robeson about flooding the land.
About the same time, Nehemiah Dunham and his brothers, Daniel and Stephen, bought from Robeson all the rest of his land on the west side of the river, except 100 acres which Robeson sold to Francis Quick, Jr., a tanner. One of the lots the Dunhams bought was known and described as the Limestone Lot. This was all of the land on the north side of what is now West Main Street to a point about opposite Hancock Street; this lot contained 51 acres. Daniel Dunham owned 20 acres on the south side; this was known as Daniel Dunham's meadow lot, and his farm was north of West Main Street, west of the Limestone Lot, and contained 196 acres. Nehemiah Dunham owned a large tract of 383 acres Stephen Dunham owned 100 acres on the south side of West Main Street.
McKinney's estate kept growing. He bought from Kirkbride another 165 acres and built a mill on the west side of the river. He needed an outlet to the "Great Road" from Elizabethtown to the Delaware, so he bought from Nehemiah Dunham one and three-quarter acres which included the current site of the Clinton House and stables, and the adjacent quarry. By 1769, McKinney was in financial trouble, and at the November term of court at Burlington, a judgment on 2400 pounds and cots was filed against McKinney's property and it was ordered to be sold by the sheriff. It was advertised but no one appeared at the sale. About a month later, Mahlon Kirkbride bought back the property, now consisting of the four lots that McKinney had bought at different times, totaling nearly 615 acres. Kirkbride, who was wealthy and still lived in Pennsylvania, had no use for the property and, shortly after he gained possession, advertised the property for sale in the New York Gazette or Weekly Post Boy:
"A valuable plantation and tract of land, situated in Lebanon, in the county of Hunterdon, in West Jersey; containing 615 acres; there is a good grist-mill and saw-mill erected thereon; the grist-mill is large and well built; has two pairs of stones; the boulting reels, and hoistings, go by water; this is a good frame dwelling house, with four rooms on the lower floor; it is a convenient place for a store, being a good wheat country, and thick settled; there is a large barn and hay-house, a large quantity of good watered meadow, and more may be made at a small expense, upwards of 100 acres of cleared plow land, and a young orchard on the premises. The said tract of land, may be divided into two plantations, and leave a sufficient quantity of land and meadow to accommodate the mill; it will be sold in parts or altogether, as part thereof, by applying to the subscriber, living in Bucks county, near the Falls Ferry or to David McKinney, on the premises, may be informed respecting title and terms of sale."
The property was sold to Mahlon Taylor, May 9, 1776. At this time there was conveyed 412 acres on the east side and 3 acres on the west side together with "pastures, meadows, waters, water courses, mills mill house, mill dams mill races and mill ponds,"
Revolution
Hunterdon County gave much to the cause of the Revolution, and Clinton had two prominent patriots. One was Captain Adam Hope, who was married to Sarah Dunham, daughter of Nehemiah Dunham. Captain Hope (3 Jun 1741 - 26 Sep 1821) had settled about 200 yards west of where the Clinton House now stands. Captain Hope commanded a company of New Jersey militia of the Second Regiment in the Battle of Monmouth.
Another patriot was Colonel Abraham Bonnell, who established a tavern at the west end of town in 1767. By 1770, Bonnell's tavern had become the meeting and voting place for the northern section of the county. The political activities at the tavern became even more important when, in the latter part of 1775, Charles Steward return from attending the Provincial Congress of New Jersey as delegate called a meeting of the local inhabitants at the Bonnell Tavern and organized a regiment of minutemen, supposedly the first of its kind in the colony. This was the regiment which was ordered by the Provincial Congress on February 15, 1776 to march to New York under the command of Charles Stewart, by then a colonel. These patriotic militiamen then joined forces with Major General Lee. In the following year, Abraham Bonnell was made Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment of the Hunterdon County Militia. By this time, Bonnell had taken part in discussions that culminated in the Declaration of Independence, and was selected as one of the delegates to the Sons of Liberty meeting at Ringoes Tavern in the southern part of the county.
However, there were people who supported the Tory or Loyalist side of the Revolution here. One family was the Voughts. Christopher Vought served as an officer in the NJ Volunteers, a British Provincial unit of loyalists. The Vought family had bought from Kirkbride a 480 acre tract, part of which was in North Clinton. In March 1774, at the annual meeting of Lebanon Township, Christopher Vought was appointed as one of Lebanon Township's Committee of Correspondance. Yet, two years later, Vought was to become one of the leading Tories of the area.
Christopher Vought and three of his family were arrested and imprisoned. His son, John, led a raid on the Jones Tavern, near what is now Clinton Point. They attacked and beat Thomas Jones and plundered the tavern. An ardent Patriot, Jones became a captain in the Hunterdon Militia during the Revolutionary War and used his tavern as a recruiting station. Captain Jones helped Daniel Bray of Amwell acquire the Durham boats for General Washington's Army to cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to Trenton in 1776.
Living in Hunterdon County became quite dangerous for Tory sympathizers. Adult males who refused to sign an oath of allegiance were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the British held areas. Christopher and John Vought went to the British during the winter of 1776-1777. On June 2, 1778, inquisitions were found against Christopher and John Vought and their property was ordered forfeited and sold. Part of this farm was to become Daniel Hunt's property.
The grist mill operated through the Revolutionary War years and was doubtless in service to Moore Furman, Deputy Quarter-Master General of New Jersey, who had an estate five miles away at the former Hoff's Mills, which he renamed Pittstown, where he carried out his duties. Abraham Bonnell's tavern was the major landmark shown for nascent Clinton on Revolutionary War maps made of the area, except for one map by Robert Erskine, which also showed "Taylor's" with the mill symbol. Dunham's had a large cattle farm on his 600 acres and was also a source of supplies for the Continental Army.
Hunt's Mills
Mahlon Taylor advertised the mill site for sale in November 1781, as having stone grist mill, also oil and saw mills with 150 acres, frame house and kitchen, almost all new, stone barn, and small tenements. An additional 145 acres with lime kiln and orchard of 200 apple trees and 145 acres with a frame house were also for sale. Mahlon Taylor sold the mill to Daniel Hunt, Esq., in 1782. The Hunt family, originally from Lawrenceville, Mercer County, also engaged in milling. The community around the mills began to flourish as a center for business and commerce in the largely agrarian county, and the site became known as "Hunt's Mills".
Daniel Hunt had two sons, Ralph and Benjamin, to whom he passed along 385 acres in 1803. Daniel Hunt died in 1809, and the children quarreled over the division of the estate. This resulted in Ralph buying out the shares of the others and taking over the mill operations on both banks; he built a stone structure near what is now Lower Center and Main Streets used for a store and at times for housing mill hands. Benjamin became the local doctor. By 1818, Ralph Hunt had on the east side of the river, besides the grist mill, a fulling mill, while on the west side, he had a flaxseed mill, a plaster mill, a woolen mill and a saw mill.
In the next two decades, a blacksmith, a cooper, a tailor, and a tanner opened shops in the near vicinity of the mill. A land sale in 1823 of a large tract referred to a few small buildings near the mill. In 1817, a school house was started in an existing shop on Center Street, and the next year a post office opened, indicating a population in town. Ishe Hunt, Ralph's son, became the first postmaster. Mail was received once a week by wagon from Trenton to Hunt's Mills and on to Frenchtown. At about this time, the colonial artery leading past the mills was being made over into the New Jersey Turnpike (New Brunswick to Easton), and this action, along with another to create the Spruce Run Turnpike between Flemington and the Union Forge, fueled a developer's spirit in John W. Bray.
Bray was one of a number of entrepreneurs attracted to the potential of the mill location. He was brother-in-law to Archibald Taylor of the family of Taylors of this vicinity, who lived in a house called "Solitude" where High Bridge is now located, a few miles distant. John W. Bray started a store or improved upon Hunt's store by the mill about 1825, and soon conceived the idea of a business partnership with Archibald's Taylor's son, John B. Taylor. Bray talked Archibald Taylor into buying half his general store inventory to make his son an equal partner in the business. The firm of Bray and Taylor was formed in 1828. A survey of the streets by the mill was ordered with the intention of selling off miniscule building lots for trade and housing. At the same time, Bray succeeded in getting Hunt's Mills renamed "Clinton" after Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York State, who had just died. Governor Clinton was generally admired by the public for his accomplishments in office and for the creation of the Erie Canal. Bray and Taylor also started a new tavern/hotel, The Clinton House, though there were others just outside of town. Bray also took over as postmaster in 1828.
Unable to pay his debts, Ralph Hunt was sold out by the sheriff in 1828. This included the mills and about 288 acres of land, which was sold for $15,820 to satisfy a mortgage of $12,605. Ralph left town to join his brother in Miami, Ohio, in the new settlement opened by Judge Symmes. Archibald Taylor was the buyer, the entrusted it to the management of it to Bray and Taylor.
Town Planned
Bray and Taylor had significant financial difficulties, and ran up huge debts backed by bank notes signed by Archibald Taylor. In 1830, Israel Smith opened the tavern previously erected by Bray and Taylor, now the Clinton House. In 1830 or 1831, they sold their store to James R. Dunham, the son on Nehemiah Dunham, and George T. Taylor. Finally in 1834, they abandoned their mill business - Dunham and George T. Taylor became the owners of the mill on the east bank and John W. Snider became the owner of the mill on the west bank.
Much had been accomplished in setting the village on a course of planned development. Archibald Taylor wrote to his other son, Midshipman George W. Taylor, "Clinton now looks perty(sic). You will hardly know the place when you return." A map of building lots was drawn and sales took place, first by this team and afterwards with Archibald involved. This offering served as a magnet to industrious Germans living in the region, and it is to their presence that the town owed its somewhat systematic growth. The new residents and shopkeepers had such names as Young, Stiger, Hoffman, Garman, Kline and Fisher. Another early primitive house was build on a lot purchase in the 1830s from Bray and Taylor by a Garman. It is of stone, steeply embanked. Near it was another like it, on land owned by a Hoffman, since demolished. This vernacular form was not uncommon for this period when newcomers were arriving as settlers. A third house like it, built for a laborer on Halstead Street, perhaps even at a later date, also follows this convention.
One other property sold in 1832 by Bray and Taylor backed up on the mill dam and fronted on the turnpike with almost 6 acres. This was in great contrast to the German's small lots and was indeed intended for a privileged citizen coming to town to set up a medical practice, Dr. Henry Field. In that same year, another hotel was started on one of the new lots by Israel Smith, this building to be in brick; Smith had sold his tavern west of the river to General Hope. As the turnpike continued across the river under the current name West Main Street, some development also occurred on its route. To this day, one farmhouse survives on a small portion of its tract; and two other houses more or less opposite each other at the outer end of the street so differ from the plain modest houses that that appeared spottily on the street that they must have been the homes of well-to-do farmers of the 1830s. They wear the refinements of the Federal era of building.
Although the names of Kline, Hoffman, and Young were added to the list of large property holding as time passed, the German culture did not leave any mark in material ways. The churches that were founded in the decade of the 1830s all represented faiths appealing to individuals of English stock. These were the Presbyterians, the Methodist in 1839, and the Episcopal in 1837 (which died out shortly, and was replaced by a private academy).
Barber and Howe in their Historical Collections (1842, 1844) saw Clinton village as set "in a delightful champagne valley" advantageously located on a river with great water power, an important post road, and only 10 miles distant from Flemington, the county seat. Claiming that the village had very few buildings in the 1820s, and those being generally associated with the operation of the two mills, they noted its spurt of growth in the next two decades. Listed were 3 mercantile shops, 2 large mills, one also having an oil mill, 3 taverns, about 15 mechanical shops of various kinds, a brickyard, a substantial limestone quarry, 3 churches, 62 houses and 520 inhabitants." One of the two schools was a grammar and classical school.
Meanwhile, in 1836, Archibald Taylor disposed of four tracts of land to another potential developer, Caleb Halstead of New York and New Brunswick, who afterward acquired additional land between Spruce Run and the river, from James Dunham, where the street now bearing his name lies. In the 1840s, this newly arrived developer hired a surveyor to map out more than 80 diminutive building lots.
Just about this time, another nationality was about to make an impact on the town's economy and growth, bringing its hard labor, skills and energies to the operation of a profitable business mining the limestone cliffs. As a result of the famine in Ireland, enterprising young men had been making their way to America, among whom was Francis Mulligan, who arrived in Clinton in 1840. He was followed by brothers Patrick and Terence. They worked at the quarry which was then owned by the miller J. W. Snyder, bought a small lot from Halstead and put up a house in 1845 which was shared by all three families. The mill alone was sold in 1847 to J. S. Stiger, and the brothers then seized the opportunity to buy the quarry the next year.
Additional Irish arrived in town, taking up work at the quarry and elsewhere, but choosing to huddle close to their own nationality in houses on upper Halstead Street, which led to its labeling as Irishtown. Together, these Irish were interested in having a Roman Catholic Church, and services were begun in the barn on Francis Mulligan's property. This was eventually replaced by a church building in 1879, which no longer stands. Another Mulligan gave a lot he owned for St. Mary's Cemetery. The original three brothers sold the quarry eventually and left town. A fourth brother, James, remained and the quarry was purchased all over again on three acres. Originally in 1848 it had cost $600; in 1866 it cost $5950. James' son Michael is perhaps best known in local history as the proud Irishman who wanted to prove he was as good as the oldtimers in town, and made his point by buying a house with a prestigious address directly opposite the Presbyterian Church.
The cemeteries associated with the Presbyterian and Catholic churches contribute to the Clinton historic district in recording town's history of families through burial sites. Clearly, the Presbyterian Cemetery is most significant as the favored place for respectable prideful people to rest in peace and be remembered. Graves of three of the Taylor family, all in military service, make it important. The local childhood resident, Foster Voorhees, later Governor of New Jersey, is also interred here. The cemetery is also noteworthy for its funerary art on grave markers for leading families, including the Klines and Shipmans. In the same manner, the later-opened Baptist Church and cemetery, both on land provided by wealthy congregation member John. T. Leigh, record another aspect of the town's history
Incorporated at Maturity
On April 5, 1865, the Town of Clinton became incorporated as a separate entity - "An Act to Incorporate the town of Clinton, in the township of Clinton, Franklin and Union, in the County of Hunterdon." The first town meeting was held at Weller's Hotel; John B. Weller and his brother had bought the brick hotel from Israel Smith in about 1845. The meeting was on the second Monday in April, 1865, when the following officers were chosen: Morris S. Stiger, Mayor, and as councilmen John B. Weller, Eli Bosenbury, John T. Leigh, James P. Huffman, John A. Young and Samuel Madison. John C. Besson was appointed clerk, and Nathaniel W. Voorhees was made Treasurer.
It may be coincidental that just before this time the first bank, Clinton National, was founded in town by a Board of Directors, with Robert Foster president, and Nathaniel Voorhees, father of the future governor, cashier. This building site is fitting for its purpose, being of ample proportions with a fine array of features in Italianate style. A second bank was formed in 1875, meeting in Weller's brick hotel on Center Street.
Maps of 1860 and 1873 show Clinton growing apace, with its present outline not yet achieved, and considerable available land held in a few private hands: some owned, for instance by the physician Sylvester Van Syckel, a Princeton graduate and native son. Widows occupy some of the small I-style houses. A directory of 1860 lists Holt's private academy on East Main Street. In this period, the Methodist Church replaced its first building with a larger more fashionable one, and the new Baptist Church is added to Leigh Street. The Bird's-Eye Map of 1886, however, shows the Town of Clinton in full bloom, with a train station, newspaper office, Presbyterian Church (before its facelift of 1890) and a number of fanciful tower-bedecked Queen Anne formal residences. It also shows the popularity of false fronts of parapets on buildings, especially commercial operations, but there were some on houses which still remain in place.
The popularity of iron grilles in fascias, nicely worked into classical Greek design, has been commented upon. It suggests the availability of a source. Hiram Deats, well known for his plow improvement, had a foundry in Pittstown, just five miles away and also sold his wares in two shops in Clinton: metal and sheet iron at A. Stiger and Sons and at Hoffman, Foster and Company.
Up to this time, the bridges crossing the South Branch at two locations - between the mills and over to Halstead - were periodically replaced by the Freeholders, who sometimes chose interesting new designs. The Main Street Bridge, raised in 1870, is of special significance because of its early date, and very few of its type now survive in America. Designed by Francis E. Lowthorp, it is based on the pony truss web system patented by Caleb Pratt in 1844, featuring diagonal members in tension and simple pin joints. Lowthorp obtained his own patent in 1857. This bridge has been described as "an outstanding example of the early use of cast and wrought iron in truss bridges." The bridge is also significant for its important role in carrying the former New Jersey Turnpike across the river, allowing commerce and trade to flow in and out of town to great advantage.
The Town of Clinton was at its high point of achievement by the 1880s. It as picturesquely located in a rich agricultural district with almost inexhaustible limestone quarries, according to County Historian James P. Snell, who found the "village handsomely laid out" and commented that it had "mercantile trade of considerable importance." It had two grist mills, one with a woolen operations as well; two banks, two hotels, and a newspaper. At the time it also had four active churches, the most recent being the Roman Catholic, and a fine public school. The school was built atop a hill on John T. Leigh's farm, on land he provided, and it was in design far more impressive than the usual rural school, judging by its representation on the 1886 Bird's-Eye Map of town. It was lost to a fire. A new school now occupies its site.
In 1881, a branch line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad was brought to the very edge of West Main Street into the service area traditionally serving the Clinton House Hotel across the road. Although the station is gone, photographs of it, as also a sketch on the 1886 map, indicate that it was on the same scale as the station in Flemington, the county seat, and was in a parklike setting. Prior to this, a coach carried passengers to the station in Annandale, a few miles away, to travel on the New Jersey Central line. With its own connection, a more sophisticated life became possible, with easy travel to distant towns, including New York. And, in turn, it made it possible for entertainers, salesmen, and others, including cityfolk escaping the summer heat, to visit. The depot, which continued in operation until recent times, was equally important to the lifeblood of the town, having three platforms for shipping of various kinds: produce, livestock, ice, lumber and coal among them.
Next to the station, a hay storage facility was first converted into a small entertainment hall, which was twice replaced. The town finally gained a building worthy of the name Music Hall, which still stands: a large tall brick gable-fronted structure, whose original appearance unfortunately has been marred by changes after its original use ended. The Music Hall presented circuses, plays, choral societies, light musicals, dramas, benefit programs, local talents, and eventually, silent and talking movies. Traveling actors came in by railroad and stayed at the two local hotels.
The Great Fire
Shortly after the 1886 map was completed, disaster struck Clinton. On October 20, 1892, a devastating fire swept across Main Street. The results were crushing to a small town. The Clinton Democrat, a thriving newspaper (established 1868) said simply, "All is lost." There was no fire department; the townspeople fought hard to save the houses and stores of Main Street, but the damage, when calculated, included 17 businesses destroyed and a total of 23 buildings, and 18 families were left homeless. The estimated loss was $125,000. (Houses were then valued at $1500 to $4400; businesses from $1200 to $7000). By the following October, Main Street had been rebuilt, but the fire had changed Clinton forever. As the merchants put up their buildings, they used brick or stucco. There are fewer private houses, the residents finding housing on other streets. The Clinton Fire Department was organized in April of 1892 and many of the forty charter members were the merchants who had suffered losses. The opportunity to rebuild made it possible to raise the ground level of buildings above street level by a flight of steps to overcome a former problem with periodic flooding from the South Branch River.
The Great Fire of 1891 turned into an opportunity in the end to erect far larger buildings in totally new end-of-century styles. These buildings still serve the locals but also draw a wide variety of visitors, contributing to a new source of income for the town. As a streetscape, it offers an interesting combination of buildings, the fire survivors themselves reflecting the commercial enterprise from the small combination house with store front, the final building by the bridge, which still has a Greet Revival in antis entrance and 1860s buildings (including the first bank). The Stockton Hardware Store has a date stone, 1892. The Elks building is another example of unique design. The Duckworth Store at the bridge corner, as illustrated in the 1886 Birds-Eye Map, was a prominent building offering stylistic interest; its rebuilding/replacement (demolishing the c. 1809 stone store attached to it) took on decided turn-of-century features in fenestration and roof treatment.
Turn of Century Growth: Commerce and Cultural Activities
By July of 1895, the streets were lighted with electricity. A local electric company, privately owned, was housed on the present grounds of the Red Mill complex. In 1898, using funds from the estate of Daniel Grandin and land purchased by the citizens of Clinton, the Grandin Library building on East Main Street was erected. Also as a gesture of civic pride, it boasted having main facades of cast iron, a building fabric not often seen in country towns of this size. It continued into use until 1966.
By the turn of the century, telephone and telegraph were in use, and in time both water and waste-water companies were established and are run by the town until present times.
The Hunterdon County Directory of 1914 gave the population of Clinton as 836. Interestingly, many residents whose names were listed gave their occupation as farmer. The directory also contains advertisements run by Rittenhouse & Co. Clothiers and Outfitters, and Daniel Fox for coal and lumber (sash, blinds, moulding, builders' hardware, slate, cement, etc.). There were as many and more boxed advertisements for similar and additional services in all nearby towns of the region, indicating lively competition for survival.
With the increasing use of the automobile, Clinton won out as the hub of Northwestern Hunterdon County, quite possibly because of its size and the number of shops it had. Main Street remained the merchant center with grocery, shoe, drug, clothing, bakery, dry goods, hardware, and paint stores well into the 1950s. Doctors, lawyers, dentists, barbers, beauticians, and others offering like services could be found on Main Street. A car dealership was opened off West Main Street. The hitching posts, like those still remaining around the corner on Center Street, were eventually removed as vehicular parking replace horse tethering.
During the decades of the teens and twenties, another house building surge occurred, and it was as up to date in current taste as the changes on Main Street, reflecting new ideas in architecture and design. These bungalows, four squares and other manifestations of classical or traditional forms added a layer of building choices, representing still another generation in a vibrant town.
The mills closed and became cultural centers. The Red Mill, on the west bank of the Raritan, is now the Historical Museum, privately owned, and Dunham's stone mill on the east bank is the Hunterdon Art Center. Both continue as landmarks and add to Clinton's cultural life and visitor attractions. 18 The 1870s truss bridge still spans the river for vehicular and pedestrian use, while proving a similar view of Main and Lower Center Streets as depicted by Barber and Howe in 1844. As part of that historic center is the Clinton House, of the same vintage, which remains in operation, modernized at ground story, where it has a large restaurant. The historic core of Clinton, the town, is still intact.
Overall, most of the town's buildings are well preserved and have not been subject of restoration. There is the feel of authenticity, which is underscored by various additions, mostly at rear, and a degree of eclecticism in combinations of architectural detail applied over the years. Many homeowners have been lifelong residents and have a regard for the town based on close association. There is as much civic pride today as there has always been, and this has been a factor in the successful ongoing life of the town.
Notable People
People of consequence have been associated with the history of Clinton. These include rugged individualists and pioneers like the Hunt family that ran the mills opposite of each other at the confluence of two streams of water for so long in the 19th century that the village's first name was "Hunt's Mills."
Then there is the Taylor family in its several branches, most of whom were mill owners, as here too, but also connected with the iron forge operation three miles distant on Spruce Run known as Union Forge during he Revolution. Robert Taylor was its superintendent. Archibald, Robert's son, bought up 600 acres of land between the streams and his son John went into partnership with John Bray in opening a merchant's store opposite the mills, then starting a hotel, the Clinton House. The Taylor name, much familiar to local history, appeared again when the new Presbyterian Church opened a graveyard and received the body of Midshipman Robert Taylor for first burial (reinterment).
Another family of local stature was headed by Nathaniel Voorhees. He filled the second position, cashier, of two officials, after the first bank was founded in the village and then, under different circumstances, decided to head his own bank, thus forming the First National Bank. He also served in various positions in the local government. His son was Foster Voorhees.
Foster McGowen Voorhees, the governor of New Jersey, 1898-1902, was born in Clinton on November 8, 1856. His father, Nathaniel, was related by marriage to the prominent Leigh family of the town. He was educated locally and at Rutgers University. Voorhees became a lawyer through study in the office of William Magie, the Union County Republican State Senator. In 1888, Voorhees was elected to the New Jersey Assembly, and headed the Republican minority. In 1893, he was elected to the New Jersey Senate, and served as majority leader. In 1896, after re-election, he became Senate President. Upon the resignation of Governor Griggs, Voorhees became acting Governor in 1898. In October of the same year, Voorhees resigned his Senate seat to escape the state's law that a governor could not succeed himself. Consequently, in November 1898, he was elected Governor. Among his accomplishments were the opening of the State Village for Epileptics at Skillman, NJ, which represented an advance in the care and treatment of sufferers from this malady. He also appointed a Children's Guardian Board for foster care. In other areas, he acted to open the Rahway Prison, to construct sewer lines in Newark, and to initiate revision of school funding. In 1902 he left government service and became President of Banker's Life Insurance Company. In 1925, illness caused his retirement to his farm near High Bridge where he died in 1927. The farm property was willed to the State of New Jersey and is now Voorhees State Park. He was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Clinton.
Clinton also had its professionals, who were well-educated physicians who lived in town, invested in rental properties and most of all took care of the residents' health. Dr. Henry Field was among the earliest, living on what then was considered an estate in a house that he brought to Grecian stylishness. Dr. John Manners, who had more than one career, filling elected office at one time, was another. Dr. Sylvester Van Syckel was a graduate of Princeton.
But a person who gained celebrity status was a woman, Anna Case, who became an outstanding opera singer. Anna Case was born at 15 East Main Street, on October 29, 1889. Her father was the local blacksmith. When she was young, her family moved to South Branch, Somerset County. She assisted her father by collecting bills and cleaning up his shop. Anna seemed to have a natural gift for music, and at 15 she became the organist and choir director at Neshanic Dutch Reformed Church, earning $12 a month. She had no formal piano or organ lessons. Anna Case began to take voice lessons from Catherine Opdyke of Somerville, until Opdyke revealed that she did not have the capacity to teach Case and took her to Madame Ohrstrom-Renard in New York. On November 20, 1909, at the age of 20, Anna debuted as a cast member in "Lohengrin" at the Metropolitan Opera. Six months later her first solo came in the opera "Werther." Anna Case was the first American signer at the Metropolitan who had no European training or international reputation. She remained at the opera house from 1909 until 1920, and traveled on concert tours extensively. Case married Clarence Mackay in 1931. He was a millionaire who had founded a postal telegraph system, which later merged with Western Union. They had no children (Mackay died in 1938), but she became stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. One of his daughters, Ellen, married Irving Berlin. Although she retired at the time of her marriage, she continued to write songs. None of her 50 songs is familiar today. There is a plaque dedicated to Anna Case in the lobby of the Metropolitan Opera House.
George W. Taylor, son of Archibald Taylor, was raised at "Solitude", a special elitist residential area that became High Bridge. His family was wealthy. His education included training as a Navy Midshipman. For whatever reason, Taylor transferred to the Army, and in that service built a reputation as a strong disciplinarian during the ware against Mexico. It was in that area that he met Philip Kearny, the "Jersey Devil." When the Civil War broke out, Governor Olden appointed Taylor to command the First New Jersey Brigade. He was joined in the military by his son, Archibald, as his aide-de-camp, and by his nephew, a captain in the Third New Jersey Infantry. Taylor, a brigadier, led his brigade into McClennan's Peninsula Campaign. At the second battle of Bull Run, Taylor's unit came up against the larger forces of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. In the fierce battle, Taylor was mortally wounded. His body was accompanied to Clinton Station (now Annandale) on the Central Railroad by his nephew. There had been a double tragedy for New Jersey, for Kearny had died in battle the same day at Chantilly. The Daily Advertiser (Newark) published the account of Taylor's funeral. The people of Clinton, respectful of his patriotism, followed the elegant flag-draped casket from the railroad station to the Presbyterian Churchyard, where burial took place. One year later, the nephew was killed at Chancellorville, and was buried beside his uncle in the cemetery. His son Archibald survived the war, and continued in the military over a long period of time. George W. Taylor was Hunterdon County's only Civil War General.
Clinton Fire Department
In October, 1891, Main Street, Clinton suffered a fire which raged for several days, destroying much of the business district as well as the dwellings of many merchants and townspeople. Because Clinton had no fire department, Mayor Johnson telegraphed for help from the existing companies in Flemington, Somerville, Easton and Phillipsburg. Flemington, Easton and Phillipsburg sent equipment by train on the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
The citizens of Clinton fought hard to save Main Street, but without fire equipment, the loss was great. Shortly after the fire, the merchants and citizens began planning a local fire department. On March 14, 1892, the Clinton Steam Engine Company No. 1 was formed. There were forty original active members, many of whom were local merchants who had sustained losses.
The first act of the Company was to purchase a steam engine, to be pulled by hand to local fires, and by horses to outlying districts. The August 1892 tax map notes: "one Amoskeag Steamer, 1500' new rubber hose, and three ladders purchased. Water supply: nearby river and cisterns." The members of the fire company purchased the equipment and paid dues to fund the company, and received no payment for their services. On April 1, 1894, the New Jersey State Firemen's Association authorized the organization of the Clinton Firemen's Relief Association for the protection and relief of injured firemen and their families. In 1898, the Company moved its equipment, previously stored in a shed, to the new firehouse - a section added to the western side of the Grandin Library Building on East Main Street. To the rear of the building stood a narrow tower in which hose was draped to dry.
Throughout the years, the Fire Company showed steady growth. It became mechanized in 1925, when the town purchased a modern fire truck. In 1938, an American LaFrance body on an International chassis was purchased to render service to the eight or ten mile radius outside of town. The truck was sent by freight car from Elmira, New York, and was greeted by two hundred invited guests, most of whom had contributed or solicited funds over a three year period to pay for the $3900 machine. George R. Hanks, a major contributor, gave a speech, and a bottle of water was broken over the engine, christening it the "Nancy Hanks". On August 15, 1938, the membership voted to incorporate "as an association not for pecuniary profit." registered its selected name with the New Jersey Secretary of State, and became the Clinton Fire Department.
The Clinton Fire Department marked its fiftieth anniversary on March 14, 1942. On April 6 of that year, a program was presented to a full house in the Music Hall on West Main Street. The organization presented a play, written by Lester Oliver, Sr., based on the actual minutes of the first three fire company meetings. America was at war, so the play was followed by a speech by Leo A. Smith, of the State Defense Council, whose topic was "Firemen and Bomb Attacks. Mr. Smith's talk was followed by a demonstration by local firemen on how to handle incendiary bombs. The demonstration was held in the railroad freight yard adjacent to the Music Hall. At the time of the fiftieth anniversary, four charter members were living: John Rowland, Oscar Rittenhouse, John Reed and Frank Van Syckle.
Many of the fires covered in the 1940s were farm fires, and very often securing enough water to save buildings and livestock was a problem. In one 1941 fire, snow was packed against the burning wood, confining the blaze and saving several nearby buildings. In 1949, the ladies auxiliary was organized, and has been an integral part of the Department ever since. As the Clinton area became less agricultural and less rural, the nature of firefighting changed. When the Acme Grocery Store closed in 1975, the Fire Department purchased and renovated the building to accommodate its increasingly technical fire and safety equipment.
The Clinton Fire Department is an active, progressive organization, dedicated to serving the community. The Clinton Fire Department handles all the fire department duties -- extinguishing building fires, resetting fire alarms, supplying water at car accidents, and other miscellaneous jobs -- for the town of Clinton. Besides covering Clinton, it also cover parts of our neighboring towns, Franklin and Union Townships. The Clinton Fire Department web site provides more information about the organization.
In Summary
The Clinton Historic District, like many other districts in New Jersey, could be described as chronicling the growth of a crossroads hamlet on a major turnpike that grew up in the 1840s and continued into the post-Victorian era. From this general origin of villages, Clinton can now be distinguished from other villages by the fact that its particular location at a great source of water power with major limestone cliffs inviting to quarry operation, was always attractive to entrepreneurs - originally Englishmen, later Germans and Irish - which led to the development of a substantial town, flourishing as an agricultural and mill center and later a cultural center and visitor attraction.