A Historical Tour of Ye Olde Springfield
By Mottel Baleston
A Community service of
Evangel Baptist Church, Shunpike Road, Springfield, NJ
Morris Avenue, downtown
Springfield, NJ, circa 1908 Trolley tracks at right
| Morris Avenue, downtown Springfield, NJ, circa 1905. This view was taken about 50 feet further along than the photo above. At left is the house known as Dr. Barnes residence, at right is the sign for the Revolutionary War Cemetery, where some soldiers who fell in the 1780 Battle of Springfield are buried. |
Overview of "downtown" circa 1903-06. Most of Springfield was still
open fields.
Springfield center, circa 1906
Morris Avenue, looking westward toward
downtown Springfield, NJ, circa 1908,
Trolley tracks at left
Trolleys
in 1912. The 'Olde Church' is just out of view to the right.
Twin
Trolley Tracks down Morris Ave. circa 1915.
Trolley on Morris Ave in front of
Historic Presbyterian Church - circa 1915
Three Arch Bridge over the Rahway River,
circa 1904 (Hand-Colored B&W Photo)
| In Pre-Colonial times, Springfield New
Jersey was inhabited by the Unami band of the Lenape Indian nation. The
first recorded European settlers were the Briant family who came from
Hackensack circa 1717. The headstone of William Stites, dated 1729,
marks the oldest of the burials in the "old burying ground" on
Mountain Avenue. A number of others mentioned in the history books were
the Denman, Woodruff, Whitehead and Van Winkle families. During Colonial times, farms, mills and lumbering provided the livelihood for the small number of people in the area. During the fighting in the Revolutionary War, the British entered the town a number of times to take away farm animals, grain and other needs, keeping people in a constant state of alert. As a result, the Colonials set up a chain of signals, the nearest to Springfield being on Beacon Hill in what is now Summit. When necessary, a cannon called “Old Sow” was fired to alert our militia on both sides of the mountain and to warn people to flee to a place of safety. The Watchung Mountain range, immediately behind Springfield, was crucial as it formed a natural defense for the Iron Ore forges in Randolph and Roxbury Township which produced cannonballs for the Colonials. General Washington had his Military Headquarters in Springfield from June 7 to June 22, 1780. On June 23, 1780, "The Battle of Springfield" was fought. The British advanced from the Elizabethtown area with infantry, cavalry and several field artillery pieces. Washington had left the area leaving General Nathanial Greene in the vicinity with Colonel Angell and his Rhode Islanders at the Rahway River vicinity. For more than 40 minutes Colonel Angell and his men fought five times their numbers to a standstill. The British slowly pushed the Militia back to the second bridge over Van Winkle’s Brook on Morris Avenue, just west of the present day Mountain Avenue. During the heat of the battle, Reverend James Caldwell, Chaplain of Colonel Elias Dayton’s Regiment, whose wife had been murdered by a British scout 16 days before, passed out the Isaac Watts Hymnals from the Presbyterian Church for use as Musket wadding. His cry of “Give Them Watts, Boys”, has lived on the become a Motto of that conflict. As they retreated, British started burning and looting homes. Only four houses remained after the Battle. Still standing are: the historic Cannon Ball House on Morris Avenue (headquarters of the Historical Society, it is open to the public by appointment), the Swaim House on South Springfield Avenue and the Sayre House. The British goal of reaching Morristown was thwarted and the Battle of Springfield marked the last invasion of the British into New Jersey and removed the danger to Washington's Continental forces. According to “Melick’s Story of An Old Farm”, Jonathan Dayton, a doctor born in 1732 and son of Jonathan Dayton and his first wife, was married to Keziah Miller and they lived in the Cannon Ball House. He was a Revolutionary soldier. In the same book, mention is made that the house was hit by a cannonball during the battle. After his death on August 16, 1778, his widow operated a tavern stop in the house. Mrs. Dayton died in 1797. The second wife of the first Jonathan Dayton had a son Elias who became Colonel Elias Dayton. Elias had a son named Jonathan. This Jonathan was one of other four men from New Jersey who helped form and sign the Constitution of the United States. Our high school was named after this Jonathan Dayton. He also served in Congress. On May 27, 1793, an Act was passed by the General Assembly at Trenton, forming the Township of Springfield from the Townships of Elizabeth and Newark in the County of Essex. This new township included Springfield proper, Millburn, part of Summit, South Orange, Maplewood and New Providence. This act remained in force until November 8, 1809 when New Providence was withdrawn. In 1857, the County of Union was formed. It included Springfield, and left Millburn, Maplewood, and South Orange in Essex County. On March 17, 1869 part of Summit Township was formed from the western part of Springfield. Since then the boundaries have remained unchanged. Two centuries ago the area surrounding Springfield was covered with dense forests. Only a primitive road connected Morristown and Elizabethtown until 1801, when a turnpike road was constructed between Elizabethtown Point and the Delaware River in Sussex County. To avoid paying a toll on the Morris & Sussex Turnpike (Morris Ave.), the natives built a parallel road and, appropriately, named it “Shunpike Road”. Today, the Baltusrol Golf and Country Club is located here. Many examples of "Olde Springfield" history remain. In addition to the Historic Houses, the stone arches of the bridge on Morris Avenue at Van Winkle’s Brook date back to 1873. One of the main roads, known now as Springfield Avenue, was originally called Seven Bridges Road since that many were needed to cross the many small streams feeding into the Rahway River. Primarily a rural area during the 1800's, yet by the 1830 Census the Springfield area (including Summit) had a population of 1,653. There were 12 paper mills, one distillery, seven merchants, three taverns, five stores, and two churches. Much has changed, but some of our early history can be seen, visited, traced or felt in the Springfield of today. |
