Volume 12 • Issue 3 The Fall 2012 Historic County Newsletter Of The PASSAIC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Bloomingdale • Clifton • Haledon • Hawthorne • Little Falls • North Haledon Passaic • Paterson • Pompton Lakes • Prospect Park • Ringwood • Totowa In This Issue Wanaque • Wayne • West Milford • Woodland Park Smokey The Bear .............. 1, 6 Calendar of Events ................ 2 President’s Message .............. 3 Smokey The Bear Baseball City ...................... 4, 5 Morris Canal ........................ 5 Mascot of Lafayette Engine #8 Dolly Madison ........................ 6 When most people think about firefighter mascots, the Dalmatian immediately comes to Finding Aids .......................... 7 mind. While many fire companies have had dogs as mascots since at least the early Treasures From 19th century, canines were not the exclusive pet of the firehouse. New York City’s volunteer The Collections ...................... 7 Americus Engine #6 (made famous by ............................................ 8 “Boss” Tweed) used a tiger as its mascot Mark Your and symbol, even lashing a live one to their Calendar hand-pumped engine during a parade. Here See page 2 for more information at the Passaic County Historical Society about these and other we have our own 120 year-old firehouse upcoming events. mascot—“Smokey,” the stuffed black bear! September 12 Although he probably wasn’t originally Society Quarterly Meeting called Smokey, our bear was the mascot of “The Morris Canal, Yesterday & Today” Lafayette Engine #8 of Paterson’s volunteer presented by Phil Jaeger. fire company. As you see from the photo, he October 4 held a position of prominence in the parlor “In the Shadow of the Mountain ,” of Engine 8 on Wayne Avenue. He wears a The story of Luigi Del Bianco, chief carver of Mt. Rushmore. decorative “parade belt” and a special engraved collar. When the Paterson volun teer October 6 & 7 department was disbanded, he was given to History Fair the Exempt Firemen’s Association (made up October 23 of veteran firefighters with at least seven Annual Beefsteak Dinner years of service) where he resided in their at the Brownstone headquarters, most likely until the 1930s. November 2 Smokey’s next home was with Harry B. Holiday House Preview Night Haines, Paterson’s infamous newspaper - man. A new inscribed presentation plate to November 3-25 Haines was placed on Smokey’s collar. Holiday House Boutique Smokey had several wonderful years with Haines, leading a blissful existence. Given his December 9 notoriety and fame, it was inevitable that Smokey would eventually find his way to Storytelling with Santa Lambert Castle, entertaining young and old alike for several decades. December 15 & 16 Now it’s time for the Society to come to his rescue. Holiday Candlelight Tours cont. on page 6 PASSAIC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Calendar of Events Lambert Castle 3 Valley Road September – December 2012 Paterson, NJ 07503-2932 Museum: (973) 247-0085 Fax: (973) 881-9434 September 8 Genealogy Club Meeting at Lambert Castle, 10am. Peter Osborne presents “Great Graves,” a discussion of E-mail: [email protected] cemetery art. Website: lambertcastle.org Officers September 12 Society Quarterly meeting at Lambert Castle. Maria Carparelli President “The Morris Canal, Yesterday & Today,” Lorraine Yurchak presented by Phil Jaeger, 7pm. First Vice President Claire Salviano October 4 “In the Shadow of the Mountain”, The story of Second Vice President Luigi Del Bianco, chief carver of Mt. Rushmore, presented by Joseph Leone Lou Del Bianco, grandson of Luigi, Lambert Castle, 7pm. Treasurer Sharon Briggs Secretary October 6 & 7 Passaic County History Fair. Free admission and lots of fun events all around Passaic County, including Lambert Castle. Trustees John Boyko Robert Hazekamp October 13 Genealogy Club Meeting at the North Jersey Federal Glenn Corbett Credit Union, 711 Union Boulevard, Totowa, 10am. Helen Mault Dolores D. Most Lois Paterson October 23 Annual Beefsteak Dinner at the Brownstone, Paterson. Maryjane Proctor Entertainment by Elvis impersonator Don Anthony. John Pullara Mario Rosellini November 2 Holiday House Preview Night, 7-10pm. Edward A. Smyk Linda Spirko Robert Vermulen November 3-25 Holiday House Boutique John J. Veteri, Jr. Honorary Life November 7 Society Quarterly Meeting at Louis Bay Library, Hawthorne, 7pm. Trustees Sharon Ferrell presents a discussion on the wedding of Norman Robertson Grover Cleveland. Edward A. Smyk Honorary Trustee November 10 Genealogy Club Meeting at the North Jersey Federal Hazel Spiegelberger Credit Union, 711 Union Boulevard, Totowa, 10am. Staff Charles Casimiro December 7 Wine Tasting Party at Lambert Castle Historic Site Manager Heather Cunningham Curator December 8 Genealogy Club Holiday Brunch at the North Jersey Federal Linda Pabian, Librarian Credit Union, 711 Union Boulevard, Totowa, 10am. Dorothy Decker Administrative Assistant December 9 Storytelling with Santa at Lambert Castle Henrietta Weiss, Head Docent William Collins, Docent December 15, 16 Holiday Candlelight Tours at Lambert Castle Robert Esik, Docent Lambert Castle, a picturesque 1892 Victorian mansion For more information on any of these events, located on the Garret Mountain Reserve, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Castle is operated and managed by the Passaic County Historical Society, please call the office at 973-247-0085 a not-for-profit 501(c) educational institution. or visit us on line at www.lambertcastle.org. 2 New Finding Aids Available for Researchers Due to the diligent work of several of our interns, the PCHS library In the long term, these finding aids and box inventories will be now has several new resources available to assist researchers as created for each archival collection, no matter how large or small. they navigate the Society’s archival materials. As document They will be posted online as well as being made available in the collections are being returned to the Castle from our off-site facility, library, to assist researchers in narrowing down their searches and each is being painstakingly itemized, box-by-box, to create uncovering documentation and materials that would otherwise go inventories of each collection’s holdings. Once these lists are unnoticed. By making these finding aids available online, the created, and the scope and breath of the documents collection is library is also likely to attract researchers who might have over - better understood, a finding aid can then be created. looked the PCHS holdings in the past. A finding aid is effectively an abstract or summary of an archival Finding aids are now available in the library for the New Jersey collection, informing the reader of the size of the collection and the Bell collection, the Dillistin Papers, the Susanna Parker Papers, the dates and topics covered within, as well as some biographical Dowling collection and the Paterson Teacher’s Salary Adjustment information about the original compiler or collector where appli cable. Organization papers. Inventories are currently underway for the These aids allow a researcher to understand what a collection of Derrom Papers, the Passaic County Court Dockets, the Sydney documents contains, without having to physically look through box Lockwood collection and the postcard collection. after box of documents, thus saving hours of investigation. Treasures from the Collection: An Elizabethan Coin As our curator and her crew of interns and volunteers endeavor to edge is stamped “POSUI DEUM ADIUTOREM MEUM” which inventory our off-site collections, they have encountered many translates to “I have made God my helper.” Unfortunately the items expected and even common - image on the face side has been marred beyond recognition. What place for historical institutions one should see is Queen Elizabeth’s profile as she faces left, crown around the world. There are on her head and Tudor rose behind her to the right. The only part broken chairs, boxes of of her that remains is the line of her shoulders. However, the words stoneware jugs, portraits along the edge of the coin’s face can still be made out as of politicians and busi - “ELIZABETH D G ANG FRAN Z HIB REGINA,” nessmen. However, part which stands for “Elizabeth by the Grace of the excitement of this of God Queen of England, France project is that as one and Ireland.” goes through the boxes While we know what the coin one by one, occasionally is, how it came to the Society something a bit odd or different and what, if any, connection it appears. has to the county still remains a One such discovery was an English shilling, dated 1567. mystery. More research is being Clearly marked, this coin was minted in the reign of Elizabeth I conducted, in an attempt to under - and closely matches other coins of the same period. On the back stand how this coin, older than both side of the coin, one can see the English royal coat of arms, with Passaic County and the United States, three lions in the sinister chief and dexter base quadrants and made its way into our collection. Once uncovered, that story may three fleurs-de-lis in the dexter chief and sinister base. Along the be just as interesting as the discovery of the coin itself. 7 Baseball City by Robert Cohen Part One of a Three-Part Series W, Wagner, Guilliam was a local coach who had coached Honus Wagner and The bowlegged beauty; some of his brothers. Honus’ brother Al, also a top prospect, Short was closed to all traffic was already signed for the upcoming season, so Guilliam recom - With Honus on duty. mended Honus. After finding him in a rail yard near Carnegie, —Ogden Nash, “Line-up for Yesterday” Wagner’s hometown, Barrow and McKee made an offer which was accepted by Wagner, whose German heritage quickly made him a In 1896 Ed Barrow, who was part owner of the new Paterson fan favorite among the 10,000 German and Austro-Hungarian baseball club, convinced Garret A. Hobart, the owner of the local immigrants in Paterson.