The Story of a Community
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LIVINGSTON The Story of a Community ! Written by Workers of the WPA Writers' Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of New Jersey ! Revised by the Livingston Bicentennial Historical Committee " American Guide Series ! Sponsored by the Township of Livingston 1939 & 2013 4th Revised Edition ! Acknowledgements ! This book is essentially a cooperative product of the people of Livingston Township, the former 1939 New Jersey Writers' Project and the Livingston Bicentennial Historical Committee in 2013. Every person approached by staff and committee members was glad to relate what he/she remembered, to show the documents and mementoes he/she owned, to suggest others who might supply information. It is obviously impossible to list all those who assisted in producing this book. The first edition was completed with the help of the members of the 125th Anniversary Committee: Freeman Harrison, chairman, who was unfailingly generous with his time and advice during the course of the work; Mrs. Lillias Cook; Miss Martha E. Devey, then township librarian; Leon O. Fisher, then superintendent of schools; Edward Gaulkin, then township recorder; the Reverend N. Lester Lawrence, then pastor, Livingston Baptist Church; and George B. Schulte. The first edition of the book was written by Richard A. Shafter from research material gathered by Miss Gertrude Tubby, Mrs. Katherine D. Hill and Fred Holden of the Essex County Unit of the Writers' Project. The first edition manuscript was edited for publication by Benjamin Goldenberg, supervising editor. The photographs were taken by Nathaniel Rubel, and the first edition was designed by Samuel Epstein, then Assistant State Supervisor. The Federal Works Agency’s Works Projects Administration in 1939 consisted of Commissioner F. C. Harrington, Assistant Commissioner Florence S. Kerr, Writer’s Program Director John D. Newsom, New Jersey State Administrator Robert W. Allan, Professional and Service Projects Director Elizabeth C. Denny Vann and Writers’ Project State Supervisor Viola L. Hutchinson. Livingston Bicentennial Historical Committee member Jack Chekijian digitized the original book (with the exception of some appendices), conducted research for and prepared this revision over the course of a year and a half, with the aid of a handful of other committee members such as Barbara Schaffer, Barry Goldberg, Renee Reskey and Russell A. Jones. Stories and facts of interest that did not make it into this edition may be submitted to [email protected] for consideration in a future edition. ! Bicentennial Steering Committee Bicentennial Historical Committee Chair: Scott Maynard Chair: Patty Arnold Co-Chair: Eleonore Cohen Co-Chair: Russell A. Jones, Jr. Barbara Schaffer Co-Chair: Judith Heller Anju Bhargava Bud Schweinberg Co-Chair: Arlene Johnson Christopher Bickel John Sitnik Patty Arnold Stu Bodow Liz Van deVaarst Charles "Buddy" August Susan Cai Betty L. Weber A. Bruce Bagdan Jack Chekijian Lois Weinstein Maureen Chase Rebecca Clark Maureen Daly Danielle Fishbein Nancy Dinar Alvin Friedland Craig Dufford Joanne Gillock Joe Fiodaliso Barry Goldberg John Graham Carol Huck Philip Hoops, Jr. Amy Hyfler Pat Ippolito Walter Joyce Russell A. Jones, Jr. John Kowalchuk Jessica Ganz Lipper Harold Kravis Ellen Maynard Judy Kron Emil Olson, III Joel Lightner Barbara Sherman Denise McDonald Elliot Sherman Pat Meeker Charles J. Tahaney Rick Meeker Norman Mitschele Jr. Pat Nave Lorraine Palmer 2 0 1 3 T O W N S H I P O F F I C I A L S Al Pichat Mayor: Rufino “Rudy” Fernandez Bunnie Ratner Deputy Mayor: Michael Rieber Jeremy Reich Councilman: Alfred “Al” M. Anthony Renee Resky Councilwoman: Deborah E. Shapiro Linda Rishty Councilman: Michael Silverman Alan Russo ! ! Foreword ! This revised book developed out of the celebration of Livingston's 200th anniversary. During the preparations for that event, the need became evident for some more permanent record of the community's history than could be provided by pageantry and oratory. The celebration now belongs to the history of Livingston, and this updated volume records it as the latest event in a past which reaches into the beginnings of State and Nation. Ours was seen as a comparatively small town when the first edition of this book was published in 1939, but this record of progress over two centuries is shot through with a lesson which all cities, whether they tower over the land or lie in the valley, may well heed. Livingston's history illustrates vividly that the best government is that which rules with the consent of the governed. The mayor of Livingston today, Rudy Fernandez, derives his prerogatives from the same source as the moderator of the first township meeting, we the people. The preservation of this principle has been Livingston's contribution to the growth of American democracy. From it has sprung the way of life cherished and practiced in our community: independence in individual affairs balanced by cooperation for mutual public benefits. This tradition in action is the heritage of Livingston, one which older residents would share with newcomers and future generations. It embraces memories of early schoolmasters, of stagecoaches marooned in snowdrifts on country roads, of struggles with drought and hard times, of all the problems confronting a township that changed from a cluster of loggers' camps to an agrarian community and then again to a residential suburb with a minimum of industrialization. The story of Livingston was gleaned from living sources, dusty old records and account books, forgotten diaries hidden in attics and letters which had long outlived their authors. No less important were the stories and anecdotes repeated from one generation to the next until they reached our own and were given permanent form in the pages of this book. A sense of kinship with the past was seen to pervade Livingston. That it was a dynamic yesterday rather than static is well illustrated by the following lines from a Livingston heir of that past. From Strahman's Hill 1 By George B. Schulte (1866-1963) ! I watched the evening sun pass slowly out of sight, A gorgeous world it made, seen from the mountain's height. Mile on mile rolling plain reached from where I stood To distant hills, clothed dim with purple wood. Through the hallow'd mist of night came History's hand And wrote what had been and would be in that !glorious land. Note on the 2nd Revised Edition The source and description of the township’s coat of arms has been amended in the appendix, as has the location of a house on p. 9 and a forge on p. 16. Note on the 3rd Revised Edition Information about a pond has been added on p. 7, and the locations of two houses on p. 9 have been amended. Note on the 4th Revised Edition !Minor grammar and punctuation fixes. ! ! ! 1 The title is a reference to the 27 acre property at the intersection of East Cedar Street and Northfield Avenue that belonged to Herman Strahman (1909-1994), and now to his family. The hill in question is above (north of) Trinity Covenant Church. Table of Contents Celebrating a Birthday . 1 From Logging Camp To Farm . 5 A Township Is Born . 19 Livingston Grows Up . 25 The Twentieth Century . 30 Police . 38 Fire Department . 42 Post Office . 46 Planning . 49 The People Who Made Livingston . 51 Livingston at Work . 65 From Indian Path to Motor Highway . 81 Religious Institutions . 93 Schools Old and New . 115 Community Life . 125 Free Public Library . 128 Parent Teachers Association . 131 Organizations . 131 Livingston's Old Houses Standing and Gone . 139 ! Appendix Livingston's Charter . 163 Anniversary Festivities (125th, 150th, 175th, 200th) . 165 Livingston’s Current Religious Institutions and Services 177 Livingston’s Current Clubs and Organizations . 178 Photographs: Then and Now . 180 Coat of Arms . 191 General Index . 192 ! ! ! ! LIVINGSTON The Story of a Community ! ! ! Celebrating a Birthday ! ! Two hundred years of history passed in review when the Township of Livingston in the spring and early summer of 2013 commemorated the date of its founding. But beyond that long stretch of history, Livingston can also visualize the days of Colonial and Revolutionary times when from the wilderness of the Horseneck Tract gradually emerged the cluster of seven hamlets that eventually combined into one community: Centerville, now Roseland; Teedtown, the Livingston Center area; Squiertown, west of Livingston Circle (particularly Walnut Street); Canoe Brook (more often spelled Caneuw Brook), an area that centered around Northfield Road at South Livingston Avenue; Cheapside, from the border with Florham Park on South Orange Avenue east to the intersection of Passaic Avenue; Washington Place, the southwestern-most area, on Passaic Avenue; and Morehousetown, the Livingston Circle area. Livingston is still close to its pioneer days. To a casual observer the town may seem simply an inviting residential suburb, but its police cars course over paved roads which cover Colonial roads and pass by land that was farmed and plowed by descendants of their pioneer owners as late as 2009. The farms are not all gone: the Schaeffer Farm at the Passaic Avenue and Parsonage Hill Road intersection, whose farm stand sells limited produce and firewood, and also the Evergreen Miniature Horse Farm at 240 East Northfield Road. Closed only recently was Bottone’s Farm at 272 Beaufort Avenue (established in 1922, and at one time encompassing 20 acres to the east and 37 acres to the west). Modern houses stand among remaining stalwart Colonial neighbors, small in size and of sturdy mortise and tenon construction, with low ceilings, wide clapboards and hand-hewn beams. Livingston, at the far edge of the Greater New York commuting area, approximately eight miles northwest of the heart of Newark, is Essex County's second largest municipality in area. In contrast to the City of Newark, where nearly 278,000 people fill little more than 24.187 square miles of land, Livingston has fewer than 30,000 inhabitants within its 14.08 square miles.