Volume 14 • Issue 4 The Fall 2014 Historic County Newsletter Of The PASSAIC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Bloomingdale • Clifton • Haledon • Hawthorne • Little Falls • North Haledon Passaic • • Pompton Lakes • Prospect Park • Ringwood • Totowa Wanaque • Wayne • West Milford • Woodland Park THE SOCIETY’S MUSEUM An Eightieth Anniversary Reminiscence By E. A. Smyk, Passaic County Historian

Eighty years ago, on Thursday evening October 25, 1934, a cara van of Belle Vista , the name Lambert had given his brownstone and granite automobiles wended their way up Lambert Castle’s serpentine drive way. pile, attracted people from far and wide, but the one best remembered It was a bracing night, cool and crisp, the kind of weather that would have was William McKinley, the twenty-fifth President of the United States. After delighted Catholina Lambert during the golden decades he and his family being squired around by the beaming silk magnate, McKinley, in a burst occupied the showplace, with its glittering array of treasures gathered of ebullience, uttered words that must have gladdened Lambert’s heart, from the storied art capitals of Europe and America. Soon, a large gath er ing “We have here,” he quipped, “the nucleus of an American Louvre.” of people filed through the Castle’s huge oaken front door, ready to wit ness Lambert lived on through the first three years of the rambunctious Jazz Age, another chapter in the building’s history, the formal public opening of the albeit in reduced financial circumstances, until the infirmities of advanced Passaic County Historical Society’s museum and library. age claimed the old castellan, but Lambert himself passed from the scene eleven years on this particular night, as the before, but his memory still Great Depression continued to endured in the minds of many torment the average man and guests, this self-made, energetic woman, his presence lingered in Paterson silk tycoon who lived the thoughts of many who walked to see the essence of his through the Castle’s still impres sive rags-to-riches, Horatio Alger-like rooms. Dismal as the times were, ambitions recorded in the pages the Passaic County Historical of Silk City’s turbulent history. Society had found a permanent Was it a combination of fate, pure home, a headquarters to hold business adventure, and the lectures, disseminate historical potential for amassing a huge knowledge, and to display and fortune that ultimately lured him to house its fledgling, but ever Paterson? We shall never fully expanding collection of artifacts, books and documents. understand the reasons, but some Depression or not, it was a night for celebration and rejoicing. The Lambert facts are incontrovertible. The Castle’s spacious rooms had indeed persona, so entwined with the history of Paterson, would now become sheltered him through times of triumph and adversity. He built the place inseparable with the Society’s history. Garret A. Hobart, Jr., the son of to resemble an impregnable fortress high upon a hill, in this case, on McKinley’s vice president, and the chief executive of the Passaic County one of the rocky, yet commanding escarpments of Garret Mountain, and Park Commission, the proprietors of Belle Vista , had this comment to he would stuff it to overflowing with carefully chosen old world and make before the assembled throng: “Many times have I been in this impressionist oil paintings. Born in England, Lambert developed a knack Castle, the guest of Catholina Lambert, and I wonder what he would say for welcoming desirable visitors, not like a common Nouveau riche were he here this evening. Would he commend my action in inviting this businessman in search of ego-driven adulation, but rather like a splendid society? I am sure of it. The invitation came about from the refined British aristocrat who developed a hankering for sharing his inspiration I received as I understood the objective and the sincere superbly chosen acquisitions with all the verve of a sincere, well-informed interest and fidelity of the members.” art connoisseur. Continued on page 2 Lambert Castle Museum cont. from page 1 PASSAIC COUNTY HISTORICAL It was an evening of congratulatory messages. Dr. Leo Becker, representing his Passaic County Freeholder SOCIETY colleagues, told the assembled history lovers the freeholder board “will be glad to cooperate at all times for a furtherance of this work.” The Society’s Princeton-educated President, Paterson School Principal Charles Lambert Castle Enos Dietz, renowned for his passionate commitment to all things historical, summarized what had been 3 Valley Road Paterson, NJ 07503-2932 accomplished since the Society’s founding eight years before. Yes, the Society had diligently accumulated hundreds of relics and a library of nearly 1900 volumes, but as Dietz recounted, artifacts, books, and “the Museum: (973) 247-0085 enlargement of the museum are not our greatest aims.” The kindly looking bespectacled school master Fax: (973) 881-9434 proclaimed loftier thoughts. He pointed out they were the “means to that greater objective: to arouse and E-mail: [email protected] cultivate in ourselves and our citizenry that historic consciousness that will learn, love and perpetuate the Website: lambertcastle.org history so abundantly made in our county; and honor and emulate the men and women who made that history locally and nationally from colonial to present days.” Officers The keynote address was delivered by Harry Gale McNomee, publisher of the Pompton Lakes Bulletin Glenn Corbett and vice president of the Bergen County Historical Society. McNomee was in the process of publishing a President 68-page book tracing the history of the historic Church of the Ponds in Oakland. He touched on the fluidity Linda Kaplanovich of local history, advising in his well-received address, “to study Ramapo valley we must forget county lines, First Vice President for the original section included part of New York State.” Other speakers included representatives from the Edwina Hibel national and state leadership cadres of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Historical Second Vice President Society, the New York Historical Society, and the Paterson Chamber of Commerce. Robert Vermeulen Looming as large as life over the Treasurer evening’s festivities was the substan - Vacant tial collection of artifacts given Secretary outright and loaned by Jennie Tuttle Hobart, the aged widow of Vice Pres - Trustees ident Hobart, and a remarkable per - Catherine Cavallo son in her own right. The Hobarts Andrea DeLuca were near legendary in Paterson for William Liess their charitable and cultural endeavors. Helen Mault At the time of her husband’s premature Phil Mezzina demise, in 1899, when income taxes Dolores D. Most were seen as a mere annoyance, Walter Nacnodovitz the successful lawyer turned politi - Maryjane Proctor cian’s estate was valued in excess of John Pullara $2,000,000, which in today’s Edward A. Smyk purchasing power is calculated at a Hobart family tableaux: four generations duly remembered, 1935. Cathy Tonnon From left, Garret A. Hobart, Jr., Jennie Tuttle Hobart holding Garret A. Hobart IV, staggering $57,900,000. Under and Garret A. Hobart III. Honorary Life the terms of the will, Mrs. Hobart was Photo, Hobart Collection, PCHS Trustees bequeathed half the estate. Norman Robertson Thus it came to pass that she was perceived as the reigning doyenne of local philanthropy, her sole Edward A. Smyk counterpart being the generous Nathan Barnert, the former city mayor affectionately dubbed by legions of admirers as “Paterson’s Grand Old Man” for his compassionate attentiveness to the less fortunate and Honorary Trustee downtrodden. Mrs.Hobart went about her charitable work in quiet ways, helping the dispossessed in France Hazel Spiegelberger and Belgium recover from the ravages of World War I, for which she was subsequently decorated by both governments. Staff On June 23, 1933, Rutgers University conferred upon her the degree of Doctor of Philanthropy, Heather Garside, honoris causa , in acknowledgement of her lifetime accomplishments. Dr. Robert C. Clothier, the President of Acting Historic Site Manager and Curator Rutgers, summed it up nicely when he said that “our country needs more women like you, who modestly and unassumingly, exert great influence toward appreciation of those values of life which are real and eternal.” Dorothy Decker, The life of Garret A. Hobart was on display that night, told in the family’s artifacts arranged by Mrs. Mollie Administrative Assistant Chadwick Winchester, Mrs. Hobart’s faithful chronicler, with “an eye for the dramatic rather than the passive,” Henrietta Weiss, Head Docent as The Paterson Morning Call reported. They were temporarily housed in Lambert’s former dining room, but William Collins, Docent were relocated soon afterward to the drawing room. Until 1977, when the “McKinley-Hobart Room” was dismantled and the majority of objects placed in storage, the memorabilia proved to be one of the Society’s Patrick Byrnes, Library Research Specialist more absorbing exhibits. Jennie Hobart thrived on telling and retelling her memories as the plucky and adaptable second lady of Lambert Castle, a picturesque 1892 Victorian mansion located on the Garret Mountain Reserve, is on the National the United States during the time her husband served as vice president. For her, the past was not dead and Register of Historic Places. The Castle is operated and buried, but churned with an unchecked vibrancy. The old dowager would often visit the room, on days managed by the Passaic County Historical Society, a not-for-profit 501(c) educational institution. the museum was closed to visitors, with her personal secretary and companion, Mary Adele Sheehan.

2 It became almost a ritual. A telephone call would come from Carroll Hall, In December 1968, Robert P. Brooks, one of the Society’s founders the Hobart residence in Paterson, announcing that Mrs. Hobart wished and erudite members, decided it was time for him to retire from the board to be received at the museum. Not long after, a chauffeured limousine of trustees. He had done his part, and even more, but he was unshaken would conduct her to the front entrance. Awaiting her presence was in his optimism that the Society would continue, and be invigorated by then Curator Rudolph C. M. Hartmann, white haired, scholarly, newcomers who shared his sense of interest and commitment. with wire- rimmed spectacles, looking the soul of discretion. He expressed in gracious words, “the earnest hope that the She would be escorted to the Hobart room, where she dedicated and selfless men and women who have worked would gravitate toward one of the intricately carved, long and hard will continue to do so, and that many new velvet cushioned chairs that once had a place of honor persons will come forth to assist them in this service.” in Carroll Hall. Curator Hartmann would occupy Indeed, these are fitting remarks to conclude this its twin, and then, as if a switch was flipped, narrative, where a mostly all volunteer group of Mrs. Hobart’s memories would spill from her lips, people carved from nothing a museum, library and unabated, for about one hour. Suddenly, she would archives. The Society has stood the test of time. stop speaking, the signal that her voyage back in time It wears the cloak of tradition, and the knowledge of had ended, and that her chauffer must be sum - a task well done. moned for the return home. (Curator Hartmann made Charles E. Dietz, the Society's second president, 1929-1935. notes on the retrospective after Mrs. Hobart had left He authored A History of Paterson and Passaic County . the premises, but no trace of them have ever surfaced.) Photo, Founder's Collection, PCHS The Hobart legacy has dimmed through time, but it References Consulted seems especially bright now, as the Society celebrates the Much of the information contained in this narrative is drawn from the yet to museum’s eightieth birthday. When the Society organized, in be published manuscript by Edward A. Smyk and Robert P. Brooks, “The Origin March 1926, Lambert Castle was looked upon as an appealing and Early History of the Passaic County Historical Society.” Additional sources are Flavia Alaya, Silk and Sandstone, the Story of Catholina Lambert and His Castle , (Paterson: prospect for a headquarters building, but it was for all intents and Passaic County Historical Society, 1984); Bulletin of the Passaic County Historical Society , purposes just a wish. Nothing concrete materialized, but in October 1931, (December 1955), IV, No. 3; “Historical Group To Use Old Castle, Passaic Society Will Open the Society made known its intentions, on a strictly private basis, with a New Library and Museum in Lambert Mansion,” New York Times , October 21, 1934; “Historical Society Opening Thursday, New Home At Lambert Castle To Be Dedicated,” Garret A. Hobart, Jr. Exactly what persuasive maneuvering took place did Paterson Morning Call , October 22, l934; “Historical Society Dedicates Rooms, Quarters not make it into writing, but official park commission and historical society at Lambert’s Castle Opened to the Public,” Paterson Morning Call , October 26, 1934; correspondence and minutes indicate that progress toward accommo - Dr. William H. Rauchfuss, “Passaic County Historical Society Opens Castle Headquarters,” Paterson Evening News , October 27, 1934; and “Garret A. Hobart’s Will, Estate of the Late dating the Society was well along by mid-June 1934, when alteration Vice President Valued at $2,000,000, A Million For Mrs. Hobart,” New York Times , December 2, work had resumed on adapting the Castle as the park commission’s 1899. Also consulted were the Minutes of the PCHS Board of Trustees held in the Society’s central administrative building. Working in tandem with park officials, the archive, the Minutes of the Passaic County Park Commission , and the file of correspondence maintained by the commission between 1934 and 1958 relative to establishing the Society’s unassuming Secretary, Edward M. Graf reported that the first Soci ety’s museum, including related and miscellaneous administrative matters. The latter artifacts had been moved from the Danforth Memorial Library in Paterson, documentation was photocopied and indexed by E. A. Smyk in November 1982. The story with the museum’s auspicious opening date set for October 25th. The of Mrs. Hobart’s impromptu visits to the Castle was imparted to him by the late Edward M. Graf, the Society’s Secretary, and later Curator as well as Librarian, in the summer of 1964. move generated, both before and after press attention, with The New York In preparing this article, the author wishes to acknowledge the editorial contributions of Times leading off with an article datelined October 21, “Historical Group Heather Garside, PCHS Curator/Historic Site Manager, and Robert Hazekamp, the Society's to Use Old Castle.” Librarian Emeritus, for his graphic design talents.

President’s Message Some historical societies were created to provide a venue for lectures One particular aspect of this information collection effort is an assess - dealing with the past. Others were started to save a historic building. ment of each item’s condition and need for restoration and repairs. We Many historical societies came into existence to preserve artifacts of take damaged or degraded items to conservation experts who have know- the past. how in the particular type of item, be it a painting, a piece of clothing, or Since our inception, the Passaic County Historical Society has amassed a document. Thanks to the wonderful donation from the estate of PCHS thousands of items, including a chair made of wood from the original member Jean Wardle, we are able to greatly increase our conservation Society of Useful Manufactures’ directors table, original Curtiss Wright efforts. During our Holiday Boutique, we will be sending off the Lambert files, a collection of Julian Rix paintings, and the largest collection of dining room chairs to a historic furniture conservator, which will make souvenir spoons in the country. Simply put, we have an incredible much needed repairs, including restoring the chairs’ intricate carvings. wide-ranging set of artifacts and ephemera. All of these possessions While we have many items in our collection, we are always looking for require proper storage and care. Conservation is critical. more. We are interested in items directly related to Passaic County, be it Over the last few years, we have been cataloging our entire collection, an early photo of home or a nineteenth century set of clothing worn by entering detailed information and photographs into a museum-specific a Passaic County resident. We are particularly interested in “up-county” software program. Thousands of items have been entered already. artifacts from the northern reaches of Passaic County. If you have some - Eventually, the information that we have recorded will allow us to make thing you’d like to donate, please contact our curator Heather Garside. our collection more accessible through our Society website to interested people all around the world. I look forward to seeing you all amongst our castle-filled artifacts! Glenn Corbett

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NONPROFIT ORG. Passaic County Historical Society U.S POSTAGE Lambert Castle, 3 Valley Road PAID Paterson, New Jersey 07503 PATERSON, NJ PERMIT NO. 132