Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-05-18
A STORY OF MISPLACED HOPES.
The History of ROOmtOn, N. MAT
uraI Fruits of OveF-PrOtectiOn-'
what HOt-Bed Forcing Did
for N Great Industry anda
Beautiful village.


what HOt-Bed Forcing Did
for N Great Industry anda
Beautiful village.
To the Editors Of The ~ Y Evening Post:
During a recent trip over the
Delaware, Lackawanna and West
ern Railroad, at only an hours dis
lance from New York / passed
through the once busy and thriving
village of Boonton, n. j. The con-
trast was sharp and striking be-
tween the former activity of the
large nail factory in this place,
when its fifteen hundred workmen
were turning out one thousand kegs
of cut nails day, and afforded a
striking illustration of your own
oft-repeated arguments against the
follies of the protective system, that
system having failed to prevent the
apparent destruction of an old and
extensive industry. 1t occurred to
me, therefore, that short sketch of
the rise and growth of this establish
ment may be of interest to such of
your readers who sympathise with
your earnest efforts to demonstrate
the true principles of political econ
Omy.
Boonton, although only thirty
miles from New York, on one of the
great lines of travel, and by far the
most picturesquely situated place of
its size to be found in the neighbor-
hood of the metropolis, is probably
known to but few of your readers.
1t nestleS on a mountain side,
sloping to the north and east at an
altitude of nearly a thousand feet
sparkling Rockaway dashes through
a rocky george at its base, with a
precipitous fall of forty feet, and
then passes cleaning like silver
thread through green meadows a
mile away. This rapid rocky river
is the source of the manufacturing
power and early importance of
BoOnton, the water pOwer-cOming
from fall of some two hundred and
fifty feet in the course of a mile.
The towns elevated position on the
shoulder of the mountain gives an
unbrOken view of twenty to thirty
miles to the east, south and south
west, affording charming prospect
of cultivated valleys, rugged hills,
clustering villages and widespread
ing forests. 1t appears from Lyons
history of the place that the original
BOonton had comprised about four
thousand acres, extending for about
five miles along both banks of the
ROckaway river, and including
several superior water-pOWers. The
first settlement of this neighbOr-
n hnnV1 nh
the year 1900; soon afterward sew
eral FORCES were built, and consider
able quantities of iron were manu-
featured in a primitive way, the
ore being brought from the newly
opened mines about ten miles to
the northwest, carried in leathern
bags on the backs of horses, and
converted into blooms at those for
ges with charcoal fire, the blooms
again being transported in like
manner over the Orange Mountains
to Newark and a market.
The English government at an
early day prohibited the manufac-
ture of iron in the colony, and even
the export of tools necessary for its
manufacture. This locality at the
time was admirably adapted for
carrying on secret and illicit opera
tiOnS, and enterprising men soon
made use of it. About the middle
of the last century the BOontOn
tract came into the possession of
David Ogden, at that time an emil
nent lawyer of Newark, and was by
him conveyed to his son Samuel
Ogden, known as Colonel Ogden,
who built a rOlling-mill for making
nails and rods, in addition to the
FORCES, and entered largely into the
profitable and Illegal business. The
process of Matchmaking then consist
ed in splitting thin iron plates into
several pieces by means of rolls ar
ranged for that purpose, these mar
row strips being afterwards cut into
lengths, pointed and headed. A
sawmill was afterWard added.
Colonel Ogden was noted through
out the country for a liberal hOspi-
tality. Upon the occasion of a visit
to his establishment of certain Eng
lish commissioners appointed to
seek out and suppress the Illicit
manufacture of iron, he secured their
first attention to a bOuntiful break
fast. They afterWard reported Col.
Ogden an estimable gentleman and
the proprietor of a most fourishing
lumber business, with no iron in
sight. After their departure theap-
parent supply Of lumber declined,
and the iron mill reappeared from
its wooden wrappings.
The wife of Col. Ogden was the
daughter of Mr.. Lewis Morris, of
MOrrisania, New York, and hiss son,
David BOOnsOn Ogden, stood for a
long time at the head Of the New
York bar. General Washington,
during his winter at MOrristOWn,
was a frequent guest at the house of
Colonel Ogden, and it is generally
believed that certain munitions of
war were manufactured at the
COlOnel's works for the use of his
army. OF those early works only
the foundations of the buildings
traces of an extensive dam and
large raceway, and some great beds
of charcoal dust, remain.
The present establishment dates
from about 1929, and is situated
about three-quarters of a mileabOVe
the site of the old works. 1t was
ClidI lIlC
name of the New Jersey Iron Com
pany, and was one of the immedi-
ate results of the opening of the
Morris Canal, which promised to
open market for the iron product
of the region. A full complement
Of workmen for pudding and
rolling mill having been selected in
England and brought hither direct,
a mill was put up, and the manu-
faGtUre of merchant iron began
about the time Of the completion of
the canal. Work went on with
varying fortune. About 1914 the
works were enlarged, the product
changed from merchant iron to
railroad iron, and large quantities
of rails were made here until the
general breakdown in the iron
business which followed the collapse
of the English railroad building of
1913. In 1850 the product was again |
changed, the establishment recog-
nized, new machinery introduced |
and the manufacture Of cut nails be- |
gun. The iron trade having suf-
fered a relapse about 1852, the whole |