West Side High School - Lamp Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 11 text:

He was cautioned by the Puritan leaders against entertaining strangers indiscriminately. The farmers took their products to New York where they exchanged them for tools and products from England. The orchards about the town yielded an excellent cider which began a side line industry. A mill was built to grind corn into meal. In 1676 the first school with John Catling as schoolmaster was founded, for those children who were able to pay the fee. The tannery was started on Market Street near Springfield Avenue. There was little social life in the early years. The church and work were the chief things in all men’s minds. If anyone entertained young folks after nine o’clock at night he was liable to a fine unless he had permission from one of the town officers. Boys and girls, fun loving as always, posed a problem, and the town appointed an officer to sec that they behaved properly during the church services, which were compulsory for all citizens. This settlement grew in peace and prosperity. In 1773 Colonel Ogden saved his wheat from ruin by reaping it on a Sunday. He was publicly censured by the church and as a result Trinity Episcopal Church was founded. Princeton University moved to Broad Street and Branford Place, Newark in 1747 where it grew in nine years under the charge of Reverend Aaron Burr, pastor of the “Old First” Presbyterian Church and father of the Vice President of the United States. In 1774 Essex County held a meeting to protest the tyrannies of the Crown and selected delegates to the first Congress. By 1776 Newark Old First Presbyterian Church stood on Broad Street about where Branford Place now begins. It is the oldest fully organized church congregation in New Jersey.

Page 10 text:

winter quarters, to their summer camp by the sea. Here the Puritans wished to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Newark was the final effort of the Puritans in that direction. Newark was first governed by Robert Treat, the pastor Reverend Abraham Pierson and three other leading men. In less than a year after settlement the town meeting began to choose officers to attend to the business of the town. By 1670 five select men were elected annually to have general charge of town affairs. The center of this land of abundant natural resources was designated as Broad and Market Streets. The former was an old Indian trail, the latter was intersected by a brook. The settlers were each given six acres as a homestead. Eight acres were given to Captain Robert Treat, the site on which stands the First Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. A military ground. Military Park, was established. Other necessary public facilities such as a market place, W ashington Park, a watering place and the burying ground were established. A church was erected on Broad Street and Branford Place. It was to serve for religious services and a fortress against possible hostile Indians. Reverend Abraham Pierson was chosen minister, and the town was called Newark after Newark in England, where Mr. Pierson preached before he came to America. The growth of the community was rapid. The settlers worked hard at building homes and working farm lands. As the town prospered other settlers came, and by 1671 Henry Lyon opened the first inn.

Page 12 text:

men were drilling in Military Park; Trinity Church and the Old First were converted into soldiers' hospitals. British and Continental troops in turn held the town throughout the Revolution. Minute men drilled in the training ground; and did not cease fighting until the necessity was over. General Washington after being selected by the Continental Congress as Commander in Chief of the Army stayed in Newark. He wished to fight the British in Newark but did not have enough troops to aid him. When the people received word of Washington’s capture of the Hessians at Trenton, the town rejoiced. Gifford’s Tavern7 on Broad and Market Streets became well-known as planters from the south frequently stopped here. It opened shortly after the War of Independence and was a resort for all people passing through the country. Newark began its trade with the south. Washington Irving wrote many essays at Cockloft Hall, and was often entertained at Gifford’s Tavern. Park House on the cast side of Park Place opposite tlie southern end of Military Park. Lafayette and Washington were both entertained here. Henry Clay made an address from the steps, November 20, 1833.