New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,,o,.,, oxrv AND THE FIRST STEAM
ENerSE ~ ERlcA Will f s9sr NScf' az and ia
SCHUYLER Copper sGe Mon MornIoweT Fany BY WILLIAM
recording Secretary Of the New-Jersey HIS
t;eaI Society Read before the society, al NeN"A'
, msT " sG Sss3 syo 1T. so Newark N j.
The Saturday Rerieu lately commented upon tn0
,cndcncy Of recent historical students 10 re-wIlo
,;s,orv This handsome little pamphlet IL an hins-
.rotjon of this tendency. Scattered through cycIo
,edias and technical works may be found many no-
tees of Josiah Hornblower and OF the hrst s'ein
engine In America, most of these notcoS Ce'1nins
With errors. Mr. Nelson, who has done mueh vaiu-
~ ~ -, local history IN New-Jersey, has here
gone 10 original sources, and has also cSroiuuS
sifted every published statement relating 10 the
rtacts touched upon by him, giving the authorlly
Gore than eighty works being cited Tor every as
.Artion he makes so that the critical feader may
iudce for himself to his accuracy. lie mas mus
rroducel a really valuable contribution 10 Amerl-
can biography and history. Incidentally some IN
teresting notices are given of the development Oh
the steam engine with which, II appears, the horn
blowers were closely identified Joseph, inc Iatner
of the subject of this memoir, being employed by
Newcomer, the builder of the first practical engine
20 SGT mp the second engine In Cornwall about
17o5 ten wears before James Watt was born; While
Jonathan IT,, q nephew Of Josiah, invented the
eompound-engne. now so essential to the swltt ana
economical navigation of the ocean.
Josiah Hornblower came 10 America IN the
fall of 1853, with the first steam engine
seen in this country, sailing III Nora
vim mission vessel. bnilt at Staten Island
and commanded by Captain Nicholas GARRISON a
native ~ that island. The brief sketch given Oh
Abe little craft and her pous commander, skilfully
woven together out of the prosaic chronicles OF the
United Brethren, reads like veritable romance.
The engine was brought over to pump the water out
of the SCHUYLER copper mines at what was then
known rs Second River" being just above the
present pump-honse of the Jersey City.Water Works.
opposite the village Of Beleville, New-JerSey
Much new light is here thrown upon the discovery
and earliest working of these mines, which are said
10 have been the FIRST operated within the present
United States, and the fabulous wealth OF winch
has been chronicled in many standard" work.
Mr. Nelson remorselessy dissects these pleasing
stories and concludes that the mines never amount
cd to much and that they never paid expenses after
The introduction of the steam engine A. curious
description is qven of the first engine and the diff
culties encountered in erecting It, year ana nall
being occupied in that arduOus task. writer who
saw it twenty years later was lost In admiration at
its magnitude, it being far greater than that en-
ployed for watering New York City" Meanwhile
the young engineer was captvated by the beauty OF
Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel William kmgSland
was allied by descent and marriage to several of the
Oldest and most notable of NewYOrk families and to
come distinguished Jerseymen well. Marrying her
in 100 Mr. HornblOwer settled down near the
mine subsequently engaging Ill general mercantile
business on the west shore of the Passac and soon
assuming a leading position in the community.
Thus we find him in 1850 of the commissioners
Of lottery, "erected purely for the honor OF God
and the good of mankind" to wit: scheme TO
raise $3.50 for the impoverished Trinity Church AT
Newark and to help erect new English church
at Second River.
At the outbreak of the Revolution the young
Fnglislnnan sided with his adopted coun-
try and being sent TO the Legislature was foremost
in urgiug the most vigorous measures. In 1850,
being then Speaker Of the Assembly. he narrowly
escaped capture by bold party OF British refugees.
After six years Of service in the Legislature he
elected TO Congress, which then met in NewYork
City; and in that body consistently favored every
measure calculated 10 strengthen the lettering
Union. The concise summaries given Of the meas
ures brought forward in the New-Jerscy Legislature
and in the Continental Congress during his service
are not the least interesting features Of the work
Retiring to private life, pleasant picture is given
of him in his hoSpitablc homo OH the banks of the
Passaic where he years later had the pleasure
of entertaining the men engaged in constructing the
first steam engine built in Amortization the Pha-
delphia Water Works; and not long after witnessed
at Beevillc some of the earliest attempts in Amer
lea at steam navigation when Nicholas |. Roosevelt
was trying to carry out the chimcrical ideas of
Chancellor Livingston. before making his own eX-
perimemts with side wheels which were destined to
solve the problem of successful steam navigation
In this connection is given characteristic note
from the Hon. Abram s. Hewitt, whose father, it is
claimed, made the patterns for the castings used in
the first American steam engine. In an appendix is
given a readable account of the lannon's controversy
between BOulton & Watt and Jonathan Horn
blower. jr. The genealogy contains ten pages of
descendants of Josiah IOTnblOwer, among the more
notable of whom were Chief Justic IIornblowcr of
jersey, his youngest son; and the lattes's
youngest son. the late Rev. DR.. Hornblower, OF the
Western Theological Presbyterian Seminary. at Al
legheny City, Penn. Among other distinguished
men named in tho list may be mentioned Justice
Bradley. of the Supreme Court of the United States,
who married u daughter of Chicf Justice Horn
blower; the late Judge Lewis b. Woodruff, OF this
city. who married another daughter; United States
Senator Don Cameron and others. The believer in
hereditary genius will be interested in tracing the
descendants of DR. Josiah Hornblower. Of the
first Josiah, in America. lie practised medicine in
old Bergen County for half a century more; two
of his Sons were physicians three of his daughters
married physicians and three of bis grandchildren
and two of his great grandchildren have adopted
the same profession. The genealogical record has
evidently been compiled with great thoroughncss
An index of five pages completes this excellent little
work
NEW VOLUME BY WHITTIER.