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

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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.

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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.

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Moses Combs is known to be the first manufacturer to send goods to the south. He made shoes well and taught the people of Newark to sell their goods. At one time one third of the people in Newark manufactured shoes. We began sending shoes far and wide. Delving into the progress of industry Seth Boyden worked hard and diligently in this field. He made the tools that the people used in their work, constructed the first locomotive used on the Morris and Essex Railroad, was the first manufacturer of patent leather in this country and made numerous other inventions. Surely mankind has benefited from his effort and hard work. Many prominent men have lived or visited the tow’n. Lafayette who had a great deal to do with the ending of the War of Independence visited Newark in 1824. Vice President Aaron Burr was bom here in 1756. The French diplomat Talleyrand made his home here for a short while. On his way to Washington before his inauguration Abraham Lincoln stayed here. Thomas Edison did much of his experimenting on inventions in Newark. The speaking part of the telephone and telegraph instruments were made here. The population expanded and the industries boomed. Newark was on its way to become the thriving metropolis we know today. As a plant growing in good soil, our city ripened into a fruitful center offering a good life of work and satisfaction to all. ! !The Old Court House, on Broad Street, was the site of one of the first meetings in the entire province of New Jersey to protest against the tyranny of King George the Third. I I