Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1966 Forest, Forge, and Farm: an Historical Geography of the Musconetcong Valley, New Jersey. Peter Oscar Wacker Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Wacker, Peter Oscar, "Forest, Forge, and Farm: an Historical Geography of the Musconetcong Valley, New Jersey." (1966). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1230. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1230 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 6 7-1197 WACKER, Peter Oscar, 1936- FOREST, FORGE, AND FARM: AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MUSCONETCONG VALLEY, NEW JERSEY. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1966 Geography I University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan ! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FOREST, FORGE, AND FARM: AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MUSCONETCONG VALLEY, NEW JERSEY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Peter Oscar Wacker B.A., Montclair State College, 191? 9 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1961 A ugust,_ 1966 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The writer of this thesis is greatly indebted to Drs. Fred B. Kniffen, Professor of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, and Daniel Jacobson, Professor of Geography, Montclair State College, as well as to the faculty of the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University for their constant stimulation and guidance. Personnel associated with several libraries in the state of New Jersey have rendered great assistance. These.include, in alphabetical order, Mrs. Gerald May of the New Jersey H isto rical Society Library in Newark, Mr. Kenneth Richards of the New Jersey State Library in Trenton, Mr. Donald Sinclair and Mr. Anthony Nicolosi of the Rutgers University Library in New Brunswick, and Miss Miriam Studley of the Newark Public Library. Mr. Frank Kelland has skillfully executed the cartographic work. Several maps are the result of data gathered by the author's students in an Historical Geography of Anglo-America course in the fall of 196£. Appendix VII has been furnished by Albert C. Jones Associates, Consulting Engineers, Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania, through the courtesy of Mr. Eugene Engelbrecht. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS P age INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I - PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY ■' k Location and General Description b Climate lU Stream Flow 16 S oils 16 Flora " 2U Fauna 27 CHAPTER I I - ABORIGINAL OCCUPANCE 28 Paleo-Indian 28 The Abbot Farm S ite / 31 Historic Indians 35 Settlement 36 A boriginal Occupance in the Musconetcong Drainage System 39 Relations With Europeans $1 Aboriginal Effects on Flora and Fauna 58 CHAPTER I I I - PIONEER AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENT 63 A v a ilab ility of Land 63 Land Availability in the Musconetcong Valley 69 Origins of the Early Settlers of Northwestern New Jersey 70 Routes of Penetration 71 English Pioneers 7k New England Pioneers 77 Dutch Pioneers 79 Scotch-Irish Pioneers 83 Gerrnan Pioneers 87 Rapidity of Pioneer Settlement 92 CHAPTER IV - PIONEER AGRICULTURE 97 I n i t i a l A g ricu ltu ral Occupance 97 Commercial A griculture 100 Agricultural Products 100 Agricultural Practices 117 Pioneer Agriculture and the Iron Industry 130 Deforestation 133 CHAPTER V - THE PIONEER FARMSTEAD 135 Houses 135 Auxiliary Structures 16U CHAPTER VI - THE CHARCOAL IRON INDUSTRY 187 The Highlands Charcoal Iron Industry 187 Deforestation 2.08 i n Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. P age CHAPTER VII - PIONEER INDUSTRIES AND VILLAGES ' 2lU The Importance of Waterpower 2lU Tanning 227 Distilling / 229 Ratios of Service Industries to Population 230 Household Industries 231 The Settlement Pattern 232 Toponymy 237 CHAPTER VIII -.MARKETS AND TRANSPORT 2l|l Pioneer Markets P)|l Later Markets 21+2 The Road Network 2I4J4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 260 Aboriginal Occupance / 260 Pioneer European Settlement 263 Subsistence and Commercial Agriculture 263 The Pioneer Farmstead 267 The Charcoal Iron Industry 269 Service Industries and Settlement f 270 Markets and Transport 272 Conclusions 272 / REFERENCES 276 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 APPENDIX I 3U7 APPENDIX I I , 3I4.8 APPENDIX I I I 3^9 APPENDIX IV 330 APPENDIX V ' 331 . APPENDIX VI 332 APPENDIX VII / 333 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES P a g e ( s ) Table I - Temperature and Precipitation Data for Three Weather Stations Near the Musconetcong Valley, Averages of Monthly Means - 1931-1955 15 Table II - Present Mature Forest Vegetation According to Land Typ^s, Musconetcong Drainage Basin 2$-26 / v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure ' Page 1 - Musconetcong Valley - Place Names 5 2 - New Jersey - Physiographic Provinces 8 3 - Musconetcong Valley - Surface Geology 11 1+ - Musconetcong Valley - Land Types 18 5 - Limestone Valley of Later Drift. Waterloo, New Jersey 20 6 - Limestone,Valley of Earlier Drift. Near Bloomsbury, New Jersey 20 7 - Slaty-Shaie Uplands of Earlier Drift. Near Asbury, New Jersey 23 8 - New Jersey and Adjoining States - Conjectured Routes of Major Indian Trails Along With Selected Place Locations - 30 9 - Indian Sites and "Barrens" I 4.O 10 - Northwestern New Jersey - English, Dutch, and New England Pioneer Settlement 75 11 - Northwestern New Jersey - Scotch-Irish and German Pioneer Settlement 81+ 12 - Staked and Ridered Woim Fencing, Late Nineteenth Century. Near Johnsonburgh, New Jersey 126 13 - Post and Rail and Worn Fencing, Late Nineteenth Century. Near Oak Ridge, New Jersey 128 1I4 - Stone Wall Fencing Without Rails, Late Nineteenth Century. Near Oak Ridge, New Jersey 128 15 - New Jersey - Distribution of Log Structures - 171+2-1782 13.6 16 - Reall Log House. Near Friesburg, New Jersey lii.3 17 - Log House Occupied As Late As 1911. Near Hardwick, New Jersey l!+9 18 - Byerly LogHouse. Doylestown, Pennsylvania 150 19 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of "I" Houses - 1965 . 153 20 - "I" Houses. Port Colden, New Jersey 15U 21 - "English" House. Near Hackettstown, New Jersey 157 22 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of "English" Houses - 1965 159 23 - East Jersey Cottage. Beattystown, New Jersey 160 2l+ - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of East Jersey Cottages - 1965 . 162 25 - The Deep East Jersey Cottage. Near Hackettstown, New Jersey 163 26 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of Deep East Jersey Cottages - 1965 - 165 v i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Figure Page 27 - Remains of Typical Outdoor .Cookhouse. Finesville, New Jersey 167 28 - Musconetcong V alley- Distribution of Outside Kitchens - 1965 169 29 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of Springhouses - 1965 171 30 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of English Barns - 1965 175 31 - New Jersey - D istrib u tio n of Dutch Bams - 17U9-1782 178 32 - Musconetcong Valley - Distribution of Bank Barns - 1965 179 33 - A'Prosperous Late-Nineteenth-Century Farmstead. Lopatcong Township, Warren County, New Jersey 180 3k - Raising a Barrack Roof, Early Twentieth Century. Warren County, New Jersey 183 35 - New Jersey - Distribution of Barracks - 1730-1782 186 36 - Eighteenth-Century Charcoal Iron Furnace. Eastern Pennsylvania 19U 37 - Charcoal Ironworks Erected In and Near the Musconetcong Valley Before 1805 197 38 - Remnant of the Brookland Forge Earth, Boulder, and Gravel F ill Dam. Lake Hopatcong State Park, New Jersey 212 39 - Musconetcong Valley - Eighteenth-Century Industries Utilizing Waterpower 219 I4O - Musconetcong Valley - In itial Eighteenth-Century Village Foci 233 v ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT A chorologic study of the changing cultural landscapes of the Musconetcong Valley, New Jersey, was undertaken. The Valley is typical, both culturally and physically, of the Highlands, which is that portion of the Reading Prong of the New England Upland lying within the state of New Jersey. Human occupation of the Musconetcong Valley has endured for perhaps ten thousand years, beginning with Paleo-Indians. Aboriginal occupance of the region served mainly to establish initial road and farm locations for the settlers of European origin and also to begin the deforestation which had affected most of the limestone valley by the end of the eighteenth century. Both Indian and European generally avoided locations north of the Wisconsin terminal moraine. By the end of the eighteenth century, settlers