The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-08-12
MOURN GOOD CITIZEN
Resolutions on Death of Hugh g. Holmes,
of Belleville, Will Be Passed Tonight
by Township Committee.

Resolutions on the death of Hugh g.
Holmes, Belleville's first and only
Mayor" who died in st. Michael's Hospi-
tai, this city, Saturday, from injuries sus-
tanned in a fall from a scaffold in Belle
vile last Monday. will be passed tonight
by the Belleyille Township Committee. Al
his funeral, tomorrow, for which the ar
engagements are not complete, it is planned
to have his nephews and grandnephews
OF whom there are many, act as pail
bearers. The Rev. c. E. Scudder, pastor
of the Wesley NJ. e. Church, Belleville
and the Rev. J. o. Winner, of Nutley,
will conduct the services. The interment
will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
Mr.. Holiness death was due to an acct
dent which occurred last Monday while
he was on a scaffold of a house which
he was erecting near his own, at 22 Main
street, Belleville. He was building the
house for his housekeeper, Miss Margaret
Moran, who had been with the Ianlily
for many years. The accident was VII
messed by his ~housekeeper and Mrs VIII
lam Vanderpoole, in whose house he re-
sided. They saw him topple over from
the scaffold, which was ten feet from the
ground. He was picked up unconscious
and attended by DIR. Joseph c. Winans'
He wa removed TO the hospital the next
day. 1t is planned to hold the funeral
from the home of the deceased's nephew
Hugh A Kingsland at $50 Main street.
Belleville.
Mr.. Holmes would have been 81 years old
next. month. His ancestors were amons
the early settlers of Belleville. In civil
War times he was identified with the pusl-
ness interests of Newark, conducting a
clothing establishment in Broad street, OPP
posite the Central Railroad station. In
the hfties he was secretary of the Belle
Vile Steamboat Company. which owned
the passenger steamer Belleville. The boat
piled between B~elleville and New York,
stopping at Newark. In 1859 the company
was dissolved. At its last meeting the
secretary rendered his final report in
rhyme. This and other Incidents OF his
career are told of in q book he published
about twenty years ago, giving reminis-
cences of Newark, Belleville and Nutley.
1t Is a work remarkable less for its his
toric value than for the curious informa-
ton ii furnishes.
In 1860 Holmes bought another steam
boat. In his book he tells Of a resort he
and others established on the river above
Belleville. The boat carried passengers
to and from this resort. and during the
war uSeu 10 transport the members oI du
organization known as the Belleville Mill
tary Society to its parade ground. The
society paid nothing, Holmes charging up
its expenses to the government. Though
he repeatedly sent In his bill to Uncle
Sam, he was never reimbursed, and finally
had to charge up the total, about $500. to
profit and loss.
In 1874, after a lively contention over the
form of government which should be main
tanned in Belleville, Holmes and others OBJ
tained legislation changing the town to u
city and he was elected Mayor. Two years
later the city charter was withdrawn. In
the meantime the town government had
maintained its organization, and claimed
the Mayor and City Council were 'usurpine
it's functions. The dispute over the righ'
and title to authority kept things lively il
the little municipality and the citizens
breathed easier when 1t was at an end.
Mr.. Holmes always took a keen inter
est in local affairs in Belleville, but IN
later life became much less active in q
political and business way. He was q
charter member of Belleville Lodge, F
and A. M, organized in the early COS.
His nearest living relative is a sister
Mrs. Mary Rusby, of Nutley. Z